When Vajrayana Meditation Practice Calls but ...

What happens when your love of Vajrayana style meditation makes you yearn for it, but you just can't do a traditional Tibetan Buddhist practice anymore because it carries too many negative associations? I don't know what happens for others, but this is what happened for me.

[@sundappled]

As ever, dear Tahlia, brilliant and encouraging. Thank you for your pioneering courage and intelligence,

[@wateracumen-vs1bx]

Very good honesty

[@namkhatsogyal]

I also dropped "traditional tibetan vajrayana". My practice is so simple now. It's Garab Dorje's Atiyoga non-practice non-meditation. No Tibet, old India.

[@laslobas1234]

Tell us what your practice is

[@lesscott4301]

I'm very sorry to hear of your very negative experiences in Buddhist practice. As a Theravada practitioner AND a man, I have slowly become very aware of the position of women in that tradition over the years and it is still a very male orientated tradition (although the Buddha didnt intend it to be). However, I have rarely heard of abuse by members of the Sangha against members of the opposite sex although of course it will go on for certain somewhere.
Monks of all levels are not allowed to be alone with a member of the opposite sex. So that inhibits it to some degree. There is really a strong emphasis on controlling sexual urges, such as reciting, every day, the major parts of the body, inside and out. This helps monks and nuns contemplate on the unateactiveness of the body. I know very little of the Mayana tradition, but I am surprised that there is nothing similar for the Sangha to work on desire.

[@wateracumen-vs1bx]

I’m beginning to use the Angel of water because I want Jesus included. People need to worship. But I don’t need some gigantic belief system invented by men long ago. I appreciate that many people just plain go into these Buddhist spaces and do whatever. But I think something about the educated American woman, well rounded, rejects the info. I’d rather study brain waves and that science along with the fact that I see how I create whatever state I want. But I like my new imaginary friend Angel ofWater taken from the Essences who Jesus belonged.

[@lingy74]

There is no vajrayana without a tantric master. You can do the sadhana practice without guru yoga but it’s not tantra anymore. 🙏
I suppose you can always use Guru Rinpoche as your root guru. And yes, there is no reason you can’t do that but an outer guru just speeds up the process tremendously, if of course the goal is to reach the other shore as opposed to rowing endlessly.
Edit - Abisheka is important and so are lineage blessings. And those are the heart of tantra.