Within the Sakya tradition, meditation unfolds as a carefully structured path that unites sutra and tantra, most notably articulated in the Lamdré, the “Path and Result.” Foundational practices prepare the mind through reflections known as the Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind, together with refuge, the cultivation of bodhicitta, Vajrasattva purification, mandala offerings, and guru yoga. These preliminaries are not merely preparatory rituals; they shape the ethical, devotional, and contemplative ground on which deeper practices can genuinely take root. In this way, the Sakya approach insists that stable realization arises from a disciplined integration of view, meditation, and conduct.

At the level of core meditation systems, Lamdré serves as the distinctive framework that weaves together sutra-based calm abiding and insight with the full range of tantric methods. Alongside Lamdré, the mind-training teaching known as “Parting from the Four Attachments” functions as a concise contemplative guide, directing practitioners away from clinging to this life, to samsara, to self-centered aims, and to rigid conceptual grasping. These teachings collectively orient the practitioner toward a direct understanding of emptiness and compassion, while maintaining the Sakya hallmark of rigorous analysis joined with experiential practice.

Tantric deity yoga then becomes the primary vehicle for transforming this cultivated view into lived realization. The principal deity practice is Hevajra, especially as transmitted through Lamdré, with its generation-stage visualizations of the deity and mandala, and completion-stage yogas working with channels, winds, and drops. Other important deity practices include Vajrayogini as a central female yidam, Mahākāla as a protector embodying wrathful compassion, and Vajrakīlaya as a further wrathful form. Through these practices, ordinary perception is gradually reconfigured so that body, speech, and mind are recognized as inseparable from awakened appearance and emptiness.

Finally, the Sakya tradition also preserves specialized contemplative techniques that deepen and refine this realization. Mahāmudrā meditation on the nature of mind is cultivated within the Sakya context, and is complemented by advanced yogas such as tummo, dream yoga, and bardo practices. Additional Anuttarayoga Tantra cycles, including Chakrasamvara, are practiced in certain lineages, further exemplifying the school’s commitment to a complete path that moves from foundational reflections to subtle-body yogas. Throughout, the unifying thread is a disciplined, scholarly engagement with doctrine that is never allowed to drift apart from meditative experience, so that study and practice illuminate one another like two sides of the same coin.