Buddhism: Choedzong

compiled and explained by

S. E. Dagyab Kyabgön Rinpoche

Before asking your teacher for your first Tantric empowerment you should be well aware of the following points:

A disciple has to

1. have taken the Buddhist Refuge
2. have knowledge and practical experience of the Lam-Rim – the Graded Path – which is a condensed, structured compilation of Buddhist teachings. It goes without saying that the preliminary practices of all other Tibetan Buddhist traditions fulfill the same purpose.
3. strive for a motivation aiming at the attainment of Buddhahood in order to guide all other beings to Buddhahood. This ‘mind of enlightenment’ is called Bodhicitta in Sanskrit. Practitioners who have realized Bodhicitta are called Bodhisattvas.
4. know the Bodhisattva vows and be prepared to take them.
5. know the teacher who gives the empowerment and have checked whether he or she has the qualities of a Tantric teacher. The disciple needs to be aware that by taking a Tantric initiation an irrevocable teacher-disciple relationship will be created with all the resultant consequences.
6. be prepared to observe for the rest of their life all the duties, vows and promises that are taken during an initiation.
7. be aware of the karmic connection and the consequences for teacher and disciple.
8. take the initiation in order to actually practice the prayer/meditation involved or to receive an imprint on his or her consciousness (blessing).
9. ask his or her teacher whether he or she considers them suitable for the initiation. It makes little sense to practice Tantra without a personal relationship to the teacher and their ongoing supervision.

Tantra is a way of quickly achieving Buddhahood through deep meditation and the use of mantras, mudras and symbolic substances. As a rule the methods of Tantra are based on a meditative transformation of the unpurified mind into a pure one. Its swift, powerful effect can only unfold on the solid basis of a thorough understanding of the foundation (Lam-Rim), an intensive striving for a pure Bodhicitta motivation and a strict observance of the rules and vows. The method is not only quick and profound but dangerous as well. If Tantra is treated incorrectly, if, for example, the motivation is neglected or rules are disregarded, negative consequences can be expected in present or future lives.

There are four Tantra classes: Kriya Tantra, Charya Tantra, Yoga Tantra and (Maha) Anuttarayoga Tantra. The latter two involve a lifelong commitment of a daily recitation of the ‘Six-fold Guru Yoga’, according to the canonical texts.

What is an empowerment (Tib. wang)? Entering the mandala (the surrounding) of a deity is – if it is one’s first initiation – also the entrance into Tantra. A Tantric deity is a Buddha in a specific appearance that stresses and expresses specific qualities. Hence, Avalokiteshvara, for instance, is regarded as being linked to all-including compassion and Manjushri as connected to wisdom and knowledge. If the question is posed what a Tantric deity is made of, the answer is: the most subtle mind in the state of the great bliss realizing emptiness. This is why each Tantric meditation text (sadhana) begins with the formula of emptiness and a meditation on emptiness, out of which the deity then manifests.

Tantric deities can also be regarded as symbolic images. Through the practice of identifying with them as an exercise one anticipates one’s own future Buddhahood. By doing so, imprints on one’s own mind can be taken in accordingly. By meditating in this way a power arises, strengthening the bond between the deity and the practitioner and promoting the practitioner’s spiritual development.

The ceremony of empowerment, in our current practice, consists of two to four separate empowerments.

Wang or Wang-chen: Complete empowerment to do the practice of a certain deity, to pass on the empowerment (only after the corresponding preparation, such as retreat etc) and to perform certain Tantric rituals.

Jenang: Jenang, a so-called “permitting empowerment” is described in Tibetan by the term Nü-dän-du ja-wa (nus ldan du bya ba), which means roughly “power possessing to make”. It is the permission to use the mantra and to do the sadhana meditation. Strictly speaking, according to canonical texts, a jenang should only be given to those disciples who have already received a wang for any deity belonging to the same or a higher Tantra class. A teacher who deviates from this rule by giving a jenang to a disciple without a previous wang, as a blessing, for instance, has to leave out the part of the jenang which gives the permission to visualize oneself as a deity. That means, in this case, the disciple may not visualize him- or herself as a deity during meditation practice. Such a limited jenang can by no means serve as permission for a sadhana practice.

Lung: oral transmission by reading out loud with the purpose of giving a blessing to support the study of the text being read, to allow the recitation of mantras, or to enhance their power. The one who passes on the lung has to have received it before from an unbroken succession of masters within the lineage. A lung serves the purpose of securing the transmission of authentic texts. To be allowed to recite mantras one has at least to have received a lung.

Important: Generally well-known and often recited mantras like the mantra of Shakyamuni Buddha, Avalokiteshvara, Amitabha, Aryatara or Manjushri are exempt from this rule.

By taking the Bodhisattva vows during an empowerment a Tantric teacher-disciple relationship is created with the officiating lama – accompanied by all kinds of consequences (cf. Lam-Rim, the chapter “Teacher-Disciple Relationship” and “The 50 Verses on the Relationship with the Teacher”, Tib. Lama nga chupa by Ashvaghosha).

In addition, Yoga and Anuttarayoga Tantra empowerments are accompanied by Tantric vows and a lifelong commitment to practice the six-fold Guru Yoga. It is necessary to find out before any empowerment whether other obligations are involved, and what they are. It may be a commitment to do a retreat, to study the commentaries of texts, to do a sadhana meditation and/or to recite mantras. Commitments from Tantric empowerments have to be kept.

A further commitment is secrecy. To avoid confusion and other negative effects, practitioners are only allowed to speak with their own teacher about subjects like Tantric empowerments or their personal practice – or, if need be, with persons who have received the same empowerment and who firmly trust in the method. The same is true of doing meditation with others. The only exception is the Kalachakra initiation, said to have been given by Shakyamuni Buddha himself to keep or achieve peace for the whole world, while all other initiations are strictly given only to individual practitioners.