Whilst the Theravada or Hinayana (‘Small Vehicle’) branch of Buddhism is practiced mainly in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia, and the Mahayana (‘Great Vehicle’) branch is predominant in China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan, Vajrayana Buddhism (‘Adamantine Vehicle’) developed in Tibet, Mongolia and Bhutan and, to a lesser extent, Japan and China.

It is also known as Mantrayana (for the centrality of the practice of the recitation or oral expression of certain sounds or formulas, or mantras), Tantrayana (a name derived from tantra, as the sermons attributed to the Buddha are called), Lamaism (for the importance of the master or spiritual guide, or lama), esoteric Buddhism (because it is transmitted in secret from master to initiated disciple) or Tibetan Buddhism, because it took root in Tibet.

The Tibetan Canon consists of two collections of texts: Kanjur (literally, ‘Translation of the Word of the Buddha’), which includes the teachings attributed to the Buddha and considered most authoritative, and Tenjur (‘Translation of the teachings’), which concerns the commentaries on the scriptures and includes medical and alchemical treatises and texts on logic, grammar, rhetoric, poetry, and literary works from India.

In addition to mudras (gestures and postures conducive to meditation) and the recitation of mantras, the meditative techniques of the Vajrayana make use of mandalas – sacred diagrams or symbolic representations of the world, usually depicting the Buddha at the centre as an object of contemplation and visualization.