I have done some more reading, checking out other sites and found that Hinduism in any of its sampradayas will not mesh with the core of Vajrayana Buddhism, intitation and empowerment or not. Not that I didn't believe anyone here, but you have to help yourself. God helps those who help themselves (and God help those who get caught helping themselves! 
).
What I read stressed the importance of the empowerment to keep things in check. One of the main issues was taking refuge, which I read is incompatible with Hinduism. I was told do not use the vajra and bell in sadhana. :no: That is high tantric practice. The bell is OK to use in regular sadhana and puja, but the vajra should only be kept as a decorative artifact. Apparently the (Hindu) tantra that Feuerstein writes about in The Path to Ecstacy is quite different than Vajrayana tantra. He says in the book that Hinduism became tantric at its core when the Vedic rituals were abandoned in favor of deity puja and puranic Hinduism. Whether most Hindus know it or not, they pracitce tantra, according to Feuerstein. Much different than Vajrayana, it seems.
Yet there's no apparent problem with venerating the buddhas and bodhisattvas as a Hindu if I so choose; Green Tara, for example is simply another aspect of Mother Goddess, as is Guanyin, Maa Kali, Maa Durga, Mahalakshmi. The Buddhist deities have aspects and characteristics that I think complement and supplement those of the Hindu deities. Manjushri, for example, cuts through ignorance with his sword; Medicine Buddha equates to Lord Dhanvantari. But I won't be performing any kind of sadhana or puja to the buddhas and bodhisattvas other than prayers of supplication and praise, as I do in my regular sadhana. My 'deity yoga' will be to Vishnu only, chanting His name and meditating on Him.
I'm sorry to make everyone jump through hoops in explaining, but maybe other readers have learned things too.
). What I read stressed the importance of the empowerment to keep things in check. One of the main issues was taking refuge, which I read is incompatible with Hinduism. I was told do not use the vajra and bell in sadhana. :no: That is high tantric practice. The bell is OK to use in regular sadhana and puja, but the vajra should only be kept as a decorative artifact. Apparently the (Hindu) tantra that Feuerstein writes about in The Path to Ecstacy is quite different than Vajrayana tantra. He says in the book that Hinduism became tantric at its core when the Vedic rituals were abandoned in favor of deity puja and puranic Hinduism. Whether most Hindus know it or not, they pracitce tantra, according to Feuerstein. Much different than Vajrayana, it seems.
Yet there's no apparent problem with venerating the buddhas and bodhisattvas as a Hindu if I so choose; Green Tara, for example is simply another aspect of Mother Goddess, as is Guanyin, Maa Kali, Maa Durga, Mahalakshmi. The Buddhist deities have aspects and characteristics that I think complement and supplement those of the Hindu deities. Manjushri, for example, cuts through ignorance with his sword; Medicine Buddha equates to Lord Dhanvantari. But I won't be performing any kind of sadhana or puja to the buddhas and bodhisattvas other than prayers of supplication and praise, as I do in my regular sadhana. My 'deity yoga' will be to Vishnu only, chanting His name and meditating on Him.
I'm sorry to make everyone jump through hoops in explaining, but maybe other readers have learned things too.
).
