Tantric Buddhism and the Tibetan tradition

The course, given by the renowned Tibetologist Ramon N. Prats d’Alós-Moner and coordinated by Josep-Maria Terricabras, took place from 30 June to 17 July 2014. The course aimed to enable students to acquire knowledge of the principles and characteristics of the Tantric system of Buddhism and the Tibetan tradition.

Ramon N. Prats received his doctorate in Tibetan Studies in 1979 from the Oriental Institute of the University of Naples. He has taught Tibetology and Buddhism since 1981 in Italy, the United States and Catalonia. From 1998 to 2011 he worked at the Tibetan Buddhist Digital Archive (TBRC) in New York and at the Rubin Museum (RMA), which specialises in the arts of the Tibetan and Buddhist world, in the same city. He is a member of international academic institutions and has given numerous lectures and seminars in various countries. He is the author of sixty publications, including several editions and translations of Tibetan texts.

The programme was as follows:

  1. The original core of the Buddha’s teaching
  2. Monastic-based Buddhism: Theravada
  3. The great medium: Mahayana
  4. From esoteric Mahayana to Tantric Buddhism. The fulmine medium: Vajrayana
  5. Theoretical and practical elements of Hindu tantrism
  6. The yoga of the subtle energies. Bio-psycho-spiritual principles of the tantric system
  7. The World of Tibetan Buddhism
  8. Bon: the pre-Buddhist tradition of Tibet. Formation of Tibetan Buddhism
  9. The Tantric Revolution. The mystification of tantrism in the West
  10. The Alchemy of Ecstasy and Tantric Sex
  11. Beyond tantrism. Radical Buddhism. The system of the Great Whole (Dzogchen)
  12. The meditative experience. Techniques. Mental stability. Meditation in action