Spiritual Practice - I. LAMA

just love or affection for the Almighty or for any saint or for any particular deity (or even just its species). It can also be the suffering from the load of samsara. It can also be a material interest. Spiritual practice includes specific techniques such as asanas, special physical exercises, walking (standing and running), pranayama. Also, spiritual practice includes exercises for the mind, such as meditation, mantras, prayers .reading the sutras. Spiritual practice also includes making changes to your lifestyle. Also, spiritual practice includes various ritual actions, ceremonies. Also, spiritual practice includes various options for making donations, oneself or one's actions or values. They conduct spiritual practice either independently or under the guidance of various mentors. They conduct spiritual practice individually or by joining any congenial groups. Many schools, approaches, ways and means of spiritual research are usually systematized, divided, correlated with the four yanas.

● Hinayana (literally «small chariot») – the path of individual, personal liberation. It has another name: Theravada. This path involves the departure of the adept from home, joining the monastic community and becoming a monk through the adoption of the appropriate monastic vows and commandments. Within the framework of the same yana, the practice of seclusion is also carried out, that is, when an adept discards worldly life, but lives outside the monastic community. It happens that seclusion is carried out outside the community, but under its control. If we compare the speed of spiritual growth in the community and without, then within the community, progress will be an order of magnitude higher. Lay people should aspire to become monks. If this is not possible, then a layman should build his life in such a way that it is as close as possible to that of a monastic. Among the recommended donations that lay people can make are there are donations to the monastic community. Through such a donation, a layman accumulates karmic data so that in his next life there will be no more obstacles to monasticism. The emphasized feature of the Hinayana is social isolation, autism, self-centeredness. To the extent that any communication, the social openness of the adept, casts his condition to the initial, mundane level. The adept is filled with data that he receives from another person, and these alien data, as a rule, become beyond his strength, and, because of this, he falls to the worldly level. The goal of Hinayana is a small nirvana. The one who has reached a small nirvana is called an arhat. After personal achievement, becoming an arhat, the adept will be able to choose what to do next: wait for death and enter a small parinirvana, or embark on the path of the Mahayana.

● Mahayana (literally «big chariot») – in the strict, original sense, this is the continuation of the path of spiritual growth after reaching the level of an arhat. This is the way of the bodhisattva. Bodhisattvayana. The main task of a bodhisattva is to bring all souls to spiritual awakening. The goal of the Mahayana is mahanirvana. The one who eventually achieves mahanirvana is called a buddha.

However, there is another, broader meaning of the word Mahayana. It turned out that the Mahayana can also be practiced at the Hinayana stage. Moreover, it turned out that if a person has not yet reached the level of a bodhisattva, however, despite this, he practices what a bodhisattva should do, then his speed of spiritual advancement increases by an order of magnitude. Therefore,

Mahayana – in a broad sense, it is the way of salvation of all souls. Mahayana adepts initially strive for achievement in order to save all souls. This approach is based on the development of bodhichitta. Bodhichitta (literally "enlightened consciousness") is the conscious choice and determination of the adept, whether that adept is already an arhat or not, to dedicate oneself to the salvation of all souls. Mahayana in this broad sense unites all other vehicles. Mahayana is practiced by both monks and lay people. Within the framework of Mahayana schools, there is often an erroneous opinion that mahanirvana differs from minor nirvana in that minor nirvana is entered individually, while mahanirvana is entered by all together. This is not true. Both are achieved individually (there are practically no cases of simultaneous collective awakening). The difference between the one and the other is in the spiritual level (the repentant sinner is higher in spiritual level than the righteous). The practice of the six yogas of Naropa is also part of the Mahayana.

● Tantrayana (literally «secret chariot», tantra translates as «connection, thread, sequence») is a secret esoteric vehicle. Tantrayana is included in the Mahayana and Vajrayana. In Tanrayana, non-trivial means are used to achieve the goal. Magic. Borderline states (life and death). Psychotechnics. Sociotechnics. Tantra is understood as the practice of attaining the ultimate result (“fruit”)—Buddhahood—by any means possible. "The word "tantra" is understood as the inseparability of the cause (base), skillful methods (path) and fruit." Rituals, mudras, meditations, yantras are practiced in tantra. All tantra practices are secret. You can't tell anyone about them. Otherwise, there will be no effect from the practice. An important detail of tantra is the bodhisattva vow. That is, the adept, without fail, whether he is an arhat or not, must take a vow that he will save all living beings. It is also an important condition for tantra to take a vow to achieve Buddhahood, in order to later save all or as many souls as possible. Tantra is considered the shortest and at the same time the most dangerous path. It is very important for a tantric adept to find a good teacher, who must also be carefully checked.

Tantra transforms the adept into a divine being. Identification with the deity (deities) occurs through mantras, mandalas, meditations, rituals. Of particular importance in practice are signs and symbols, in particular words written in Sanskrit characters (which is quite in line with Orthodox arguments about the need to read prayers in Old Slavonic;