Vajrayāna · the Diamond Vehicle

The tantric stream: deity yoga, mantra, mandala, subtle-body practice, empowerment from a teacher, and a body of instruction kept deliberately restricted. It claims to be a faster route by using the energies other paths renounce.

The esoteric vehicle — and structurally the closest thing in Buddhism to what Kabbalah is within Judaism: an inner tradition with initiation, secrecy, and letters treated as living powers.