Y I D A M S
The definition of a yidam is a tutelary deity. This suggests that the deity is a teacher, and that the student not only absorbs the deity’s qualities, but more importantly, merges completely with the deity, and becomes the essence of that god.
In the Kagyu lineage the two primary yidams are Vajrayogini and Chakrasamvara, which are generally practiced after the completion of Gnöndro— the preliminary practices. The purpose of visualizing oneself as the deity, as described by Milarepa, is to see ordinary reality become paler and less substantial than the visualization.
