ABSTRACT
Ritual in the Buddhist Tantras somehow always revolves about the “three mysteries of the Buddha”—his Body, Speech, and Mind, and how the tantric performer correlates his own body, speech, and mind with those “mysteries” or secrets. This chapter explains various topics of the Anuttarayoga Tantra, a note on mundane occult attainment, the “five ambrosias” of the Stage of Generation, finally the three ritual observances and other matters of the Stage of Completion. The word vrata for a ritual observance is of ancient usage in India. The standard Tibetan equivalent is brtul zugs, and the present materials happen to be mainly based on the Tibetan passages using this term. For discerning reality, one must have the voidness contemplation, which is an essential element in the Buddhist Tantras even though they do not treat voidness in the manner of a Madhyamika treatise, with its refutations of the opponent and the like.
