INFLUENCE OF SHAIVISM ON BUDDHIST TANTRAS

According to Indologist Alexis Sanderson, Buddhist
tantra is indebted to the Saiva tradition.He referred this as " pious plagarism".

Let's see some examples of pointed by him.
(Thread)

1) Textual Level: Scriptural Title
~ Buddhist title Yogini-
samcdratantra points directly to the Saiva ch.Yoginisamcara (in
Jayadrathaydmalatantra)

~Sarvabuddhasamdyogaddkinijdlasamvara, is closely influenced by the Sarvavirasamdyoga and the Yoginijdlasamvara

~Laghusamvaratantra (ch.19)
describes the characteristics of a class of yoginis known as"lamas" by draw-
ing directly on the Saiva Siddhayogesvarimata(ch.29)

~He says"long passages,amounting to some two hundred verses, nearly a third of the whole, can be seen from Saiva text"

~ Abhidhdnottaratantra(ch43), has drawn directly on the Picumata-Brahmaydmalatantra (ch85) for the rules (samayas) that bind initiates; the Samvarodayatantra (ch15) draws also upon the Picumata (ch4) for the classification of skull bowls.

The Buddhist tantras have taken their wrathful and erotic orientation from Saiva praxis.The terrifying, cremation-ground character of
the higher Buddhist tantras has its roots in Saiva mythology ex- brahma Vs Shiva

The mythical role model of the penance of Rudra became the direct inspiration
for early ascetic cults in the atimdrga ("outer path") stream of Saivism, such
as the Pas'upatas (dating from the second century) and in particular their
more extreme offshoot, the Lakulas.

Within the highest Buddhist tantras, however, the iconographical borrowings take an unexpected turn, as it is not the deities of outmoded Buddhist systems
that are trodden down, but the Saiva gods themselves.

Thus, while the
motif of subjugation is another example of the Buddhist reliance upon Saiva
norms, it clearly expresses the Buddhist superiority over those norms.
Source:A Study of the Cult ofVajrayogini in India Elizabeth English Wisdom Publications ,Boston

Further Buddhist tantra claim that Buddhist deities expounded knowledge of Hindu Tantra of shaivas. Which point out how Buddhist included them

But in later period ,Buddhist tantras also influenced hindu tantras as explained by Benoytosh Bhattacharjee.