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| Grand Master Sheng-Yen Lu The Living Buddha Lian Sheng |
General Purpose of Empowerment
by His Holiness Living Buddha Lian Sheng
This teaching was given at Seattle Ray Tseng Temple on Sept 19th, 1996.
After talking regarding the inner functions of empowerment the last time, we tend to shall name the overall purpose of empowerment these days.
The first empowerment one receives from one's guru once taking refuge is understood as affinity empowerment. The second empowerment one receives from one's guru is understood as Learning Dharma empowerment. The third empowerment is understood as understanding Dharma empowerment.
And the last empowerment is understood as teaching Dharma empowerment, that is additionally referred to as guru or acarya empowerment - to indicate that the recipient has the mandatory qualifications to show others the Buddhadharma.
This is the sequence of empowerment as so much because the purpose of the empowerment thinks about.
We have to receive four levels of empowerment in learning True Buddha Tantra, specifically outer Tantra, inner Tantra, Unsurpassed Tantra and nice perfection. The last empowerment is taken into account the very best level of empowerment one will receive.
Other Tantrayana college could adopt a special name like action Tantra, performance Tantra, Yoga Tantra and Highest Yoga Tantra. however they're primarily constant. excluding what I even have simply mentioned, there are several personal deity empowerments that we tend to should receive from that exact deity before we will cultivate his personal deity yoga.
Five forms of implements are utilized in the empowerment ceremony, specifically bell, Vajra, treasure Vajra, treasure crown and name. throughout personal deity empowerment, the private deity's picture/image like those of Amitabha Buddha or Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva could also be used as an implement to hold out the mandatory empowerment.
Empowerment has several purposes; there are many varieties of empowerment in Tantrayana.
They are not as straightforward as they appear. When a Vajra guru is performing an empowerment ritual, he needs to place in his heart and soul into it to make sure that it achieves its finish, though outwardly he could seem to be doing nothing outwardly.
As we tend to solely saw the guru taking an implement to the touch the top of a recipient, the empowerment could seem to be terribly straightforward. If that's therefore, then once the Dharma speak, the daddy will empower his son; the elder will empower his younger siblings. Unless the person performing the empowerment will summon the knowledge personal deity to grace the occasion, the empowerment will never be effective!
In True Buddha college, we've a really distinctive means of empowerment referred to as remote empowerment. what's this? You write to me posing for any sort of empowerment. notwithstanding time, place and your whereabouts, I simply perform the rites and raise my Dharma protector to bring the empowerment water to where you reside to spray on you to finish the mandatory empowerment ritual.
Distance isn't a barrier. as an example, if you're in Europe and that i am in Seattle (USA). I will still perform a foreign empowerment on you. once flicking the empowerment water with my fingers, I command the Dharma defend to fly to where you're and pour the water on your head. this can be referred to as remote empowerment, which may bring auspicious signs too.
During a foreign empowerment ritual, the recipient is needed to face the rising sun within the morning and chant "Namo Guru peh, Namo Buddha Ya, Namo Dharma Ya, Namo sangah Ya."
In one explicit instance, one among them felt tired and went back to bed. In his sleep he saw a Daikini showing within the area and spraying some holy water on him.
A disciple who has every kind of illness reported that once receiving remote empowerment, he was ready to jump out from his bed as if he were simply thirty years previous, though he was truly quite seventy.
Many disciples reported that they saw auspicious signs of empowerment once the rituals.
One of them once winding up the refuge rites and on the thanks to his workplace felt that somebody had sprayed some water on him. it absolutely was a sunny day and therefore the bus wasn't leaking. He felt the coolness of the water and even saw the water drops on his garments. These are some auspicious signs of effective empowerment as Daikini has sprayed water on them from the area.
The sole purpose of empowerment is transmission of Dharma stream.
If we tend to cultivate daily in our sacred shrine, we should always have experienced some authentic feelings, otherwise our cultivation effort desires abundant to be desired. throughout every and each session of our cultivation, our personal deity ought to return to grace the occasion, empower and energize us. In alternative words, in each session of our cultivation, our personal deity, guru, Daikini and Dharma protector can empower us.
Tantrayana had it that: "The Dharma stream from empowerment never ceases!" this can be as a result of we will receive empowerment throughout our daily cultivation. As a result, our unwholesome karma can scale back and our wholesome karma can grow. Hence it's necessary that we tend to cultivate daily.
Empowerment is certainly not simply a traditional ceremony; we tend to should cultivate exhausting in order that Dharma stream will keep empowering us. it might be higher if we will manage to possess a psychic response with our personal deity, as we'll be ready to perform a strong and effective empowerment on others.
That is all for these days.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Tantric Empowerment (1)
by His Holiness Living Buddha Lian Sheng
Today I shall name Tantric empowerment - a vital ceremony in Tantra teachings. so as to cultivate Tantrayana, there should be a ceremony before we start. The grand and holy ceremony includes among alternative things, "taking refuge" and "receive empowerment". It serves the subsequent functions :
1.Purification - Once a lover receives empowerment from a Vajra guru, he can flip over a replacement leaf, as all his past unwholesome karma are deemed to possess been eradicated.
2.Energization - A Vajra guru will use his Dharma power derived from actual cultivation to energise his disciples. In alternative words, the Dharma stream from the cosmos consciousness and therefore the Dharma power from the Vajra guru are often injected into the disciple's body. It's a bit like Chinese Gong-fu fighting novel, when one skillful master transfers his power accumulated over his life to his disciple in order that he can have the strength like five hundred years of cultivation. the upper the ability the guru has, the upper the strength he will transfer.
3.Certification - Normally Sutra cultivation progresses from "cause to fruition". Tantric cultivation is different; it progresses from "fruition to cause". As normal individuals, we tend to cultivate and eventually become saints. This progress is "cause to fruition" - (from means that to end). Tantric cultivation of "fruition to cause" doesn't mean we tend to degrade from saints to normal individuals. It means that once empowerment, it's certified that we've received the non secular fruits. a bit like Dipamkara Buddha (the twenty -fourth predecessor of Sakyamuni) who certified and foretold that Sakyamuni would be enlightened in due course and be referred to as "Sakyamuni Buddha" within the past. once the certification, though we tend to are referred to as Buddhas, we tend to should still continue our cultivation in order that our non secular fruits can ripen in future.
4.Authorization - we tend to are given the permission to cultivate the Tantric Dharma once the empowerment. while not empowerment, it's illicit to cultivate the profound Tantra. so we tend to should take refuge and receive empowerment.
Why should we tend to take refuge?
Tantrayana values lineage. while not empowerment, there's no lineage to speak regarding. Moreover we tend to should always invoke personal deity and root guru to empower us in our Tantric cultivation. If we tend to don't take refuge, how will this be done? By taking refuge in our guru, we will receive oral directions from our guru, we will invite our personal deity to take a seat on our crown, and eventually we will raise all the past patriarchs to bless us.
The significance in empowerment are often described as "implant the consciousness of Buddha and his seed into the cultivator's body". it's a heavy matter. it's no simply a superficial ritual. a real Guru who has Dharma power are going to be ready to transplant the seed of non-public deity within the cultivator's body - Alaya Vijnana storehouse to be actual. In future, the seed can spout, strike root, grow to become a true cultivation implement, and eventually blossom into the private deity.
Empowerment is that the union of cosmos consciousness, guru and disciple.
If the empowerment is powerful, an auspicious sign are going to be shown - not like people who take refuge in Sutrayana, they're going to never expertise something. The disciples can feel power and energy flowing into their bodies. and that they can feel sturdy. a bit like the cartoon character Popeye the sailor man. once taking a will of spinach, he becomes terribly powerful. The auspicious sign of empowerment is just like the spinach taken by Popeye.
Tantrayana forever mentions regarding Dharma power. If we tend to are lucky to possess received empowerment from a real Vajra guru, our strength can increase immediately. The is that the main purpose of receiving empowerment.
That is all for these days.
Om Mani Padme Hum
Intrinsic Meanings of Empowerment
by His Holiness Living Buddha Lian Sheng
This teaching was given at Seattle Ray Tseng Temple on Sept nineteen, 1996.
Today I shall name the intrinsic meanings of empowerment. many of us have mistakenly thought that Tantric empowerment is simply sort of a traditional ceremony for those seeking refuge in Buddhism. the reality is it's several intrinsic meanings.
Before a Vajra guru will perform an empowerment, he should cultivate the Dharma of non-public deity guilty of the ceremony initial. He should conjointly use his can power to invoke the private deity from the area to enter his body and eventually he should conjointly visualize morphing into his personal deity.
If the empowerment implement could be a vase, the guru should conjointly visualize the private deity enter and fill the vase with nectar flowing from his pores before he will use the vase to empower his disciples.
This is the preparatory work done by the guru.
As for the disciples, they need to grasp what reasonably empowerment they're going to be receiving. they need to savvy to chant the private deity's Mantra and type the proper Mudra. they need to conjointly savvy to envision the private deity sitting on their heads. The empowerment are going to be meaningless and doesn't achieve its functions if the recipients don't prepare themselves well.
In short, the guru should invoke the private deity, and morph into the private deity.
And the recipients should savvy to chant Mantra, type Mudra and perform the mandatory visualization.
Many of my disciples have asked me to empower them. once I asked them to chant the Mantra and type the Mudra for the particular empowerment, i used to be shocked that they failed to grasp. This was clearly against the Tantrayana tradition. Let me offer you an example, if you wish to cultivate Wei Guang Ru Yi Yoga, you want to savvy to make its connected Mudra. Let me remind all of you, if you wish to receive empowerment, you want to look for recommendation on the thanks to chant the Mantra, type the Mudra and do the visualization. Empowerment isn't an off-the-cuff affair; we tend to should prepare ourselves absolutely.
Some disciples were therefore bold that they asked for 10 forms of empowerment at one go. I asked them: " How does one invoke all the 10 knowledge personal deities at constant time?"
For me, this can be not a retardant. I will pray to all or any the Buddha King, Deity King and Earth King and raise them to support and defend me. I will raise Thousand-arm Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva to become my body shrine (Mandala) - briefly my invocation are going to be effective.
But the disciples who asked for all types of empowerment should grasp each facet of the private deities concerned as well as their Mantras and Mudras. Failing that, my empowerment won't be helpful. These are the intrinsic meanings of empowerment.
During an empowerment session, the recipient, the guru and therefore the implement should embody into one. Otherwise, no auspicious signs of empowerment are going to be forthcoming.
After empowerment rituals, several of my disciples have seen auspicious signs indicating to them that their unwholesome karmas are eliminated.
In one among the mass empowerment I did previously, several miracles were reported later on:
Someone's brain tumor simply disappeared.
Someone recovered from perennial illness with none medication. (He saw black karma flying out from his body, and nectar and Dharma stream flying into his body).
Someone took an X-ray and located the stones in his bladders disappeared mysteriously.
Someone not suffered from backache.
These are all auspicious signs of a good empowerment.
Sometimes once receiving empowerment, the recipients could have strange dreams.
A disciple dreamed that Buddha/ Bodhisattva radiated light-weight to empower him. Some lucky ones even dreamed that they were in the middle of the divine beings to fly round the varied heavens.
Some of them saw themselves eating some white stuff and vomiting black stuff - a symbol of purging their karmic hindrance.
Some one dreamed that several worms crawled out from his head and fell to the bottom when he was combing his hair. once this strange dream, his life-long headache simply disappeared while not a trace.
These are any samples of a good empowerment.
We should grasp that once receiving empowerment, we will have authentic experiences. Tantric empowerment is employed to represent receiving empowerment from the Dharma power.
When white Dharma power penetrates into our body, all our unwholesome karma are going to be eradicated. this can be the most distinction between empowerment and initiation ceremony.
Using the white Dharma stream to eradicate our unwholesome karma is that the main purpose of receiving any reasonably empowerment. that's all for these days.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
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