Are the gods of Tantric Buddhism real or just facon de parler?

First of all, there is no such thing as Tantric Buddhism as the word Tantric is a totally Hindu word and the correct appellation for what you’re calling Tantric is Vajrayana. You see , Hindu Sanskrit words have dominated the Indian

subcontinent after Buddhism began collapsing in the Indian subcontinent after the 12–13 th century . In Hindu culture/mileu Tantra is the practice , in Vajrayana Tantra is the text books and

Tantrayana or mantrayana is the practice,the path, never Tantra. So this appellation Tantrik Buddhism is a misnomer.But of course ,you’re not at fault because Vajrayana in it’s Sanskrit form , the original , exists only in Nepal as an extreme minority ,while it exists in full

form only in Tibet /Mongolia /China as Chen yen /Japan as Shingonshu /Russian Buriyat /Kalmykhia /Bhutan and The nepali and Indian Cis Himalayan regions in their own NON-SANSKRITIC languages. Even the practitioner of Vajrayana is not called Tantric ( as in Hinduism ) which

would be Gyupa in Tibetan. They are called Ngakpa which is the exact Sanskrit translation of Mantrin/Mantradhara . And to be sure that is the word used in extant Sanskrit texts like the Hevajra Tantra and both Asvaghosha’s ( 2nd AD ) and Advaya Vajra’s ( 11th AD ) texts on Samayas too. Vajrayana is also called Mantrayana,Tantrayana , or Upayayana.Sahajayana and Guhyayana .

Now with that in the background, I shall answer your question. First of all, you used the word gods which again is inaccurate here . I presume you mean Devas by gods so I’ll answer them accordingly. There are various groups of beings in Vajrayana who you have rolled up into one name Deva/gods, which is inaccurate as not all of them are DEVAS.

Mahabodhisatvas like Manjusri , Avalokiteshwara ,Tara, Vajrapani are not Devas per se but Mahabodhisatvas who have reached that high stage ( tenth Bhumi ) through kalpas of practice and are almost Samyag Sambuddhas .

Then there are a series of what are called Yidam and the actual Sanskrit word is Ishta Devas but who are not Devas like the Hindu gods but more archetypal representations of the mind itself . These are called Devas but are not what you mean by Devas.And Ista Deva is not some being like Ram, Krishna but the mind itself . The Tibetan word is an exact translation of what was meant by Ishta Deva or Ishtam in Vajrayana

as opposed to Hunduism as a whole. Yid is mind and Dam is Samaya /Commitment . So it means Chitta Samaya or Commitment of the mind. In Sanskrit Ishta means close and what could be closer than the mind? And that’s the connotation meant here with the word Ishtam/Ishta Deva sometimes.These are meditative mandalas used in the Samatha - Vipashyana of Vajrayana

Then there is a group within Vajrayana of what YOU meant by Devas/gods. They are various Devas who had taken refuge with the Buddha himself, of which even the Theravadin Tripitaka mentions over a hundred thousand, some of whom had even reached the first stages of enlightenment

called Srotapanna even when the Buddha was alive . And again many more who came to challenge the Buddhist Mahasiddhas Like Virupada / Sarahapada /Krishnacharya et al and eventually took refuge in the Triple gem/Tri Ratna .

Those from the Indian subcontinent have the same names as some Hindu gods as they were local gods of the region where the Buddha was. But when Buddhism spread to Tibet,China et al then the same thing happened there and thus we have Tibetan etc Devas who took refuge. Now these

are called Dharmapalas/Protectors of the Dharma and even the Pali ,Theravadin Anguttara Nikaya at two places ,4th Nipat and again in the 5th Nipat ,Nivarana Vaggo , Licchavi Kumara Sutta , The Buddha himself says that these Devas should be offered offerings etc . In the Vajrayana tradition these are called Dharmapalas /Protector or Guardians of the Dharma

And last but not least are the Gurus like Guru Padmasambhava a spiritually very advanced Person who are also worshipped like Devas but they are not Devas. And again there are many such Gurus since the last 2500 years like Virupada, Sarahapada , et al.

Answer requested by Gary Smith