Within the Vajrayāna tradition, the distinction between Kriyā Tantra and Anuttarayoga Tantra can be seen as a movement from external ritual orientation to an increasingly internal and non-dual mode of practice. Kriyā Tantra, often translated as Action Tantra, emphasizes ritual purity, external observances, and devotional worship. The practitioner relates to the deity as an exalted, external presence, much like a master-servant relationship, and the deity is visualized in front rather than as one’s own identity. Practices such as ritual bathing, offerings, fire ceremonies, and mantra recitation are central, and strict adherence to rules of conduct and purity is stressed. This approach tends to work within a more dualistic framework, where the practitioner and the deity remain distinct, and realization is supported by devotion, ethical discipline, and ritual merit.

Anuttarayoga Tantra, by contrast, is regarded as the highest and most advanced class of tantra, emphasizing internal yogic transformation and the subtle energy system. Here, the practitioner does not merely worship the deity but fully identifies with it, recognizing the deity as the expression of one’s own enlightened nature and cultivating a non-dual relationship. The practices are more complex, involving generation and completion stages of deity yoga, where ordinary appearances are dissolved and re-arisen as pure, and where channels (nāḍī), winds (prāṇa), and drops (bindu) are directly engaged. Methods such as illusory body and clear light yogas are used to transform all experiences, including powerful emotions, into the path. This level of tantra is presented as a swift and direct means to Buddhahood, suitable for those prepared to work intensively with body, speech, and mind as a unified field of realization.