The Vajrāsanavajragīti (Rdo rje gdan gyi rdo rje’i glu) and the Caryāgīti (Spyod pa’i glu) are works of Atiśa (982–1054) concerning Tantric Buddhism. Although Atiśa himself clarifies the Caryāgīti as the sequel to the Vajrāsanavajragīti, the relationship of those two works remains unclear in so far as the teachings of the Vajrāsanavajragīti are concerned with Vajrayāna, while the teachings of the Caryāgīti seem more concerned with Pāramitāyāna.
In this paper, I first examine the teachings and the characteristics of those two works, focusing on the procedure of practice. Second, I examine the relationship between the two works, focusing on the terminology that Atiśa uses. Finally, I clarify that the Mahāmudrā tradition plays an important role in Atiśa’s Vajrayāna theory.
