Teachings on taking Wang

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kalden yungdrung
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Teachings on taking Wang

Post by kalden yungdrung »

Tashi delek,

Wang and Samayas, are "easier" (seen) in Dzogchen versus Tantra.
In Dzogchen is the most important Samaya the 4 correct views regarding faith :

These 4 points of faith are:
1. Mepa
2. Chawa
3. Chigpu
4. Tongpa

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Teachings on taking Wang by Khenpo Tenpa Yungdrung


TEACHINGS ON TAKING WANG

I'm going to explain a little bit about what 'wang' means. Wang is the Tibetan word and it translates as empowerment in English, rather than initiation.

We talk about giving a Wang or giving an empowerment, or we could say, to entrust someone (with power), to give power to someone. Then they are allowed to do something (with that Teaching/practice) or are able to activate it. So when we talk about giving a Wang, it is very much connected with spiritual practice, and has many different levels of meaning. What a Wang means depends on the individual's capacity and on the individual's motivation.


Generally our texts mention 2 kinds of Wang:

- Chiwang which is general Wang, and could be for many things
- Gokyiwang which is specific or particular Wang, and includes for example:

- Nyembai Wang, which is the empowerment to learn something, the Wang that allows us to listen;
- Shepai Wang which allows us to give teachings or explanations;
- Gompai Wang, the Wang which allows us to meditate or practise the Teachings.

There are many different types of specific Wang. For example, there are also Wangs which are specific to the different levels of the 9 Vehicles, called Thegpa Rimgui Wang. So the term 'wang' is very general.

Receiving a Wang is very, very important for any kind of practice, but especially for Tantric practice.

The Wang is the most important thing to enter into the door of Bön, especially for Tantra. The Teachings say 'the door of Bön is opened by Wang'. In this case, anyone who intends to follow the Teachings and practise the Bön, to enter into any kind of practice of Bön, must first receive the Wang regardless of whether they are already a practitioner or not, whether they are new or old; it doesn't matter.

That is why many Teachings, especially in Dzogchen and Tantra, begin by saying that first you must receive the complete transmission and initiation from a qualified master, then you must learn the instructions, then go to a place of solitude and concentrate and practise what you yourself have received from your Master.

That means that before you practise, before one enters any practice, first one is required to receive the Wang. In that case, the Wang is considered a kind of opening for this practice and it could also be considered as receiving a blessing and making a connection with this Teaching or practice.

Normally, it is best if one can receive an initiation with the full, complete ritual and ceremony, but if not, what we normally do is Guru Yoga. From the beginning, before you receive any kind of Teaching, we always give the Teaching on Guru Yoga. Guru Yoga is a very simple and very effective way to receive initiation or blessings from a yidam, Divinity or lamas. There are three phases of practice in Guru Yoga:

1. Focusing and developing one's concentration on the lama or yidam or whatever you are practising, so one generates and develops devotion at the same time;
2. Purification through receiving wisdom from the body, speech and mind (of the yidam or lama etc.) so one is purified and ready, one prepares oneself to receive blessing and empowerments and wisdom;
3. Once one has imagined that one is purified, one receives blessings in the form of A OM HUNG which represent body, speech and mind of the Deities, lineage masters, Buddhas, dakinis and so on.
This final Wang is called Wangzhi Lenpa8, the Four Initiations. When we receive a Wang as a beginner, we should take this initiation as receiving a blessing and making a connection with the Teachings and practice; that is the purpose. You can consider it that way.

What is a blessing? It depends on the person's level. If a person is a beginner, then through receiving this blessing one becomes more qualified, more ready to receive the Teachings, and gains more ability to listen to the Teachings and enter into practice. That is why we call this kind of Wang Gyudma Minpa Minpar Jyepai Wang: one's mind-stream is not ripe so this initiation ripens the mind of those beings whose mind is not yet ripened or mature.

By 'ripened' it means ready oneself. What do we have to mature? Normally our mind and attitude is conquered by our own worldly intentions - we call them the 8 Worldly Concerns; our mind is usually very, very strongly integrated with these, it is turned towards them or influenced by them.
Secondly, we don't have so much understanding, we have a lack of devotion, we are not so interested in a certain spiritual practice, we are not getting into it. That is why this kind of Wang can provide a kind of base. Even if one has heard some Teaching, maybe it doesn't come to us, it is like water pouring out of a pot.


Other Teachings explain that there are different types of pots :
- the pot which is turned upside down;
- the pot which has some poison in it;
- the pot which has no bottom.

If our mind is not mature, it is like one of these pots - for spiritual practice, not in general. If we are in this condition, even if we receive a very important Teaching, it can't be so effective because one side doesn't work. In order to get the Teaching, we should be ready.

That is why the Teachings, especially High Tantra and Dzogchen, speak about Norung, a person qualified to receive the Teachings.

But whether someone is qualified or not has to be judged or checked by each individual - others don't know your intention. That is why you have to understand whether you are ready or not. This is very important. If you are not ready, if you are Nomirung, you need to be a proper pot yourself to receive the essence of the Teachings or spiritual practice. If you are not a proper pot, you can become more suitable by practising Guru Yoga. Once you are proper, that is called, mature. We are immature, not ready, but we can become mature or ready to receive Teachings and practice through practising Guru Yoga and receiving blessings from the 3 Jewels - lama, yidam and khandro.

You may ask: how can someone who has never had any connection with the Teachings or tradition or practice get a blessing and become a proper pot, a qualified person, through receiving initiation or empowerment? It is possible, although it is not always one hundred percent! Every sentient being has two types of karmic traces within their mind - white ones and black ones. The white ones are virtuous karmic traces, the black ones are negative karmic traces. When these are going to give their result depends very much on secondary causes. In a Sutra text of our Bon tradition there are four lines which are very, very important in this case.

They come from a story connected with one of Tönpa Shenrab's daughter Shenza Leichung. She was deceived by a demon called Khyabpa Lagring and became his wife for a while. There are many stories. When the others asked (how could that have happened) Buddha Tönpa Shenrab said: 'in Shenza Leichung's Store Consciousness are both karmic traces or seeds of virtuous and non-virtuous actions; these will ripen when they meet with secondary causes.' In the same way, which kind of karma will ripen very much depends on secondary causes. Even if someone has never had contact with spiritual Teachings, through this special ceremony of initiation or empowerment, by the blessing of the Deities, yidams, lamas, dakinis and Buddhas, and also through the power Of the ritual — we say Jinlab , a kind of energy or blessing, the power of the ritual - these act as a kind of secondary cause which draws out virtuous karmic traces, Lesepa/Rigsepa. 'Se' literally means awake, so this (ritual) awakens one's virtuous karmic traces. Then one can have special feelings or change one's attitude from the normal way, and so then one can be motivated to get into the Teachings. That is why we say that even someone who has no connection can take initiation; what kind of initiation it will become (for them) depends on the individual.

Not everyone receives a Wang or empowerment in the same way; depending on one's capacity or understanding, one can receive different levels of Wang. In this case , we can consider it as just a blessing, forging a connection, so we can call it Chiwang, External Wang.

Generally, we have 4 different kinds of Wang, plus the Ngöndro Wang, the preliminaries.


The 4 are:

Chiwang: External Wang;
Nangwang: Internal Wang;
Sangwang °: secret Wang;
Yangsang Wang : even more secret or ultimate Wang.

Nowadays, in modern times, when lamas give a Wang they usually give them one after the other in one day, or 2, 3, 4 or 5 days, depending on the cycle. But in fact, if you go strictly according to the Teachings then these Wangs should be given step by step as one receives the Teachings step by step and as one's practice develops step by step, so in that case it goes according to one's practice.

For example, the preliminary Wang is very general and is (more like) a blessing when you have lone the preparation and are familiar and stable. Then as a second step, one should be given the External Wang, then practise and then receive the Internal Wang. Wangs should be given in that way, but it is not done like that any more. They are all given successively.

When this initiation is given to someone who is more familiar with the practice, who has some understanding of it, this Wang can become more Gyudminpa Drolbar Jyedpa'i Wang22: the Wang which liberates those who are already mature. Receiving this Wang, one can develop our practice more and gain deeper understanding and a more stable experience of practice. This can happen. For such a person, this Wang is more like an Internal Wang, not merely an external one. I said it was a blessing, and (in this case), the blessing is not only external, it can be more internal, more in one's own experience.

Those who are very much familiar and stable can also receive Wang, and for them it is more like an Ultimate Wang, an ultimate introduction.
That is why we say that one can receive as many Wangs as possible; the more you receive the more benefit you can get. Normally we give the example of putting silk brocade on top of a cloak - you can combine more. But you can use another example!


That is why if we think what kind of person can or can't receive a Wang - sometimes in a real, Active Wang you have many Samayas and commitments and if you read them, it is not very easy to take the Wang, so you have to be very careful.

But another (type of Wang) is given in public, and there the intention is different, both for the person giving and the person taking. If one has no idea about Samaya but really and seriously has the heart-felt intention and motivation to receive (something) and is interested in knowing something in the future, then (the Wang) is like planting (a seed), so it is good to receive the Wang. I am not saying that you don't need to observe Samayas - you should keep them as much as you could. That is very important.

2 Tib. rgyud smin pa sgrol bar byed pa'i dbang.

How much one gets from the Wang depends on one's level; maybe someone can see some Tsakli or a Bumpa but not understand, but they can still think they receive some blessing. Our conception makes a lot of difference; if during this ritual you really think and feel: 'I am receiving something', then that is OK, it is according to your capacity. That is what counts. It is good to know this.

If those practitioners who are more serious receive a Wang as part of their Tantric practice and have some knowledge of Tantric practice, they must take the Wang more seriously because a Wang is the base of the whole of Tantric path.

Whether you receive the Wang or not depends on how much one keeps one's Samaya, and Samaya becomes the root of Tantric practice. The Wang functions through practising Samaya. If one receives the Wang with full understanding and then observes the Samaya according to the text, then this becomes the base or the pillar of your Tantric practice; without proper Samaya, a Wang cannot build any Tantric path. There are many different ways of counting Samaya. There are many different cycles and levels of Tantra; although they are slightly different, the system is generally the same. Generally, Samaya is very important.

Wang is a great method of introducing one to the Natural State of Mind, it is a great way of introducing Detong Yeshe25 - the wisdom of the unification of bliss and emptiness.
In this case, there are four different initiations according to one's realization:
- external
- internal
- secret
- most secret

These are classifications of the way of introducing. It is a vast subject, not easy to explain in one way as it depends very much on the individual person and their level of practice; there are many different things, many different ways. But usually in a simple way talk about these four.

External Wang:
According to the Chipung cycle, External Wang is when you receive blessings according to an external object such as a Bumpa (vessel) or Tsakli (cards with images of deities) or any other particular object which acts as a support for the deity or as a symbol of inner knowledge or realization. This is the External Wang; it is a very general classification.

Internal Wang:
Through this imitation one transforms one's own body into the form of the Divinity or Deity and transforms one's own consciousness into Wisdom, that is called transforming one's own body and consciousness into the Wisdom Deity.

Secret Wang:
Leaving all objects and subjects and all conceptions of objects and subjects as they are without any conceptions, without any reference point. That means, let them liberate in the Natural State without conceptual construction.

Most Secret:
The nature of all phenomenal existence is realized as within the Nature of Mind, the Ultimate State of Nature. That is called the most secret initiation. That is actually the introduction of ultimate Nature, the Wisdom of the unification of emptiness and bliss.


Ultimately, real Wang is the introduction to one's Natural State f Mind, it is the most profound, ultimate empowerment, the most profound way of receiving blessings. This can also be classified as ^receiving blessing: one can receive blessings in many ways and forms.

Mainly you have to think that the main or ultimate Wang has always been within yourself. There is not really anything to be given or received as an empowerment externally. When you give or receive a Wang, it means introducing one's own Nature of Mind. That is the principle of Wang. That is why the definition of Wang is given as: introducing the ultimate Nature of Mind through the two causes and four conditions. So realizing the real meaning of Wang is realizing or receiving the introduction to the Natural State. But, before you reach that level, there are the other three Wangs.

First one receives blessings and instructions through symbolic sacred objects such as a Bumpa, so one imagines, for example, the Bumpa as the mandala of the relevant Divinity. The contents of the Bumpa are one third milk, one third water and one third is left empty. Different herbs and medicines, Nyingpo Nga , are mixed in. These are also blessed by the root mantra of the Deity. Then there is the Kajyen with peacock feathers which represents the Deity, you imagine it as the deity. So when you receive the Wang of the Bumpa, you have to imagine that the Bumpa itself represents the mandala and the contents represent the Deity, and inconceivable lights and nectars stream from the heart of the Divinity to you. Their essence is Wisdom and blessing, and they come to you so you become full of blessings and wisdom, it is similar to Guru Yoga; we do it in a different way but the meaning is always the same.

There are six sacred objects which are the support of practice, depending on the different cycles, example, there is a Dadar , a phurba and so on. When this is shown, in a similar way one should imagine the relevant Deity and receive blessings and transform everything into the body of the Deity while your thoughts and consciousness are transformed into Wisdom. It is a very simple way. There are many, many more details, but this is just a very simple explanation to give you an idea.

As for the more secret Wang, Sangwang, when the Tsakli of the main Divinities and their retinue are shown according to the yidam cycle - some have a lot of Tsakli, others not so many - it is similar to doing Guru Yoga with the different Lineage Masters, so when the Tsakli is put on your head, imagine you are receiving blessings from there.

As for the most secret initiation, Yansang Ngotro Dongyi Wang , this is a way of introducing the Natural State, so at that stage one should remember the Natural State and while the lama reads the sentences of introduction, one should try to have the experience of the Natural State at that moment to receive the full introduction rather than just the introduction through hearing and speaking.

These are called the 4 Initiations. It is not very simple. Each of these 4 could be further classified into 3, 4 or 5. For example, the initiation of the Bumpa could be classified into external, internal, secret and most secret.

For the External Wang is the initiation of the Bumpa itself, the Internal Wang is of the body, the Secret Wang is that which transforms into wisdom and the Most Secret Wang is that of the introduction (into the Natural State). So it is the same, but these are all within the Wang of the Bumpa and the Bumpa is a kind of metaphor. Then from this on can have deeper and deeper initiations and experiences.

As for Drubten - the support of practice - this has great meaning and different levels of understanding, but finally it all goes to the Natural State. In the Higher Tantra, there is a very large explanation of initiation and secret initiation in different ways, but we don't need to go into all the details here; it is just enough to consider that you are receiving blessings in different ways, on different levels.
Generally, as I wrote in the last issue of the 'Speech of Delight', I think that it is very important that we all receive this Wang now because for many years now we have all received the Teachings on Namkha Truldzo and many other Dzogchen Teachings, so that is very, very good and we must feel fortunate; it is very good to have this initiation.

Traditionally we speak about:
Wang -empowerment;
Lung - transmission;
Tri - instructions.


You have received the Lung from time to time and also instructions and explanations on practice, and clarifications on how to practise and so on. These three are all equally important. When one practices one must have all these three and then that is a complete set which functions and mutually help each other. Many things come through listening to explanations of the Teachings but you could have doubts, and these could be clarified when you receive a Wang or transmission, or you could experience a special state. Maybe if you have such an experience you become a practitioner.

As for Lung, that, too, has many different meanings, but it is a little harder (to explain). Generally 'lung' means a handle, and we can hold something by a handle, so we can explain a (spiritual) Lung metaphorically in that way. Or lung can also mean precepts, Phagpai Lung, the precept of superior beings. There is no discussion but there is some statement we could follow or consider.

Then in a Wang, these should all come together and support each other. This should apply to one's own experience, in one's own mind-stream and then this becomes the spiritual path of liberation.

Up until now our tradition has withstood many events in history and the lineage still continues. Normally one cannot give a Wang unless one has received it oneself, so for example if I give the Wang of Drenpa Namkha, I must have received it myself. So it has continued in for many centuries, from generation to generation, in this way. That is why it is very important for you to make this connection and be in the lineage. It is important. It makes one closer to the lineage and the Teachings; it can help on many different levels

Think this way when you are sitting receiving the Wang; you have to feel this and imagine the presence of all the Lineage Masters, and of Drenpa Namkha himself. That is very important.

Yesterday we talked about different types of Wangs, and what a Wang is. Basically, most Wangs which are given through a special ritual ceremony are done through Tantric Teachings.

So in Sutra we don't talk so much about Wangs and (the Teachings rest on) commitments, samayas so we could consider them as a Wang according to Sutra, although it is not conferred in a special ritual way.

Without elaborating too much, in Bön there is a kind of combination of Sutra as Tantra, so when we are talking about the 9 Ways, these are the fifth and sixth Ways Genyen Thegpa and Dransong Thegpa, each is classified as Donpai De and Chodpai De. Dönpa literally means readings and Chödpa is kind of worshipping or performing rituals. The ritual aspect of these 2 ways belongs to External Tantra and then the Dönpa, reading, mainly refers to the Sutra Teachings such as Prajnaparamita and so on.

So it mainly belongs to Sutra itself. It explains more about the View and method of practice, the 5 Paths, 10 Bhumis, the methods, the different ways of practising according to the Sutra system. Then the Chodbai De, the ritual class, explains more about the commitments and vows, such as monk vows, Genyen vows and so on; usually we have 4 different classes of vows according to Sutra, the 2 different types of monks vows Tsangtsug and Drangsong, then for lay practitioners we have Nyenne and Genyen, so these 4 different types of vows also count as Sutra practice, but it is more the commitment or Samaya aspect of Sutra Teachings. When we do this, we could consider it as entering into the path of Sutra teachings.

Then there are the 2 External Tantras which include a series of cycles of practices and teachings. We count this as part of Tantra. The view is different but it has more rituals and visualization of the cities so that is why it counts as Tantra, but if we speak about which of the 9 Ways it belongs to, it belongs to this Tsenyigyi Thegpa, the Sutra Vehicles. Genyen and Drangsong have 2 aspects, the Sutra aspect and the Tantra aspect.

This Inner Tantra has more details and a deeper sense of the meaning of Wang, the Inner Tantra has 2 classifications - higher and lower Inner Tantra. The text which Rinpoche is going to give is called Drenpa Yangsang and is the most secret sadhana or practice of Drenpa Namkha. It belongs to the Highest Tantra, Shintu Donden.

As we explained briefly yesterday and over the other days, if one achieves Buddhahood, one has all the potentialities and qualities of a Buddha, but according to our View and the necessities of sentient beings, different kinds of forms of Deities appear, so therefore there are also different ways or practices of Tantra. In Drenpa Namkha we have Drenpa Chidrub, Nangdrub, Sangdrub and Wang Drenpa Yangsang. So there is the external and internal way of practising Drenpa Namkha, the secret way and the more secret way. Then the Drenpa Tsedrub, the practice of Drenpa Namkha for Long-Life; the practice of Drenpa Namkha Wanggi Drubpa for empowering purposes, so there are different cycles and different types of teachings and practices. This is Drenpa Yangsang.

To explain the procedure of this initiation a bit, it is not that there is something new to explain if /ou go through this ceremony - we have already given all the Teachings so everybody has more-or-less received all the steps of the practices. In order to give a Wang, there are three main divisions:

the history, in order to gain confidence in this practice and teaching;
Then the history of this teaching, how it originates. This includes the explanation of the lineage, how the teaching was transmitted from the beginning until now.
Then the second part is the main initiation, and the last part is the conclusion.

If one knows Tibetan, then what the lama reads is an explanation of what the person receiving the Wang should imagine or think during each part of the ritual. But if one cannot follow the Tibetan language, then it is a little difficult. But in Tibet, even though they can understand, they don't pay so much attention. They think that just being there is a great blessing. So that is why Rinpoche says that when there are hundreds or thousands of people gathering for a Wang, they just sit there and chat to each other or drink tea or chang, you know, sitting in groups. We can consider that is just to make a connection by hearing the sounds of the Teaching or Wang and being present. It is just to have connection or receive a blessing, but just how much blessing you can receive is still questionable. That is not exactly the proper way to receive a Wang.

Beginning How to listen.
From the beginning, the first thing the lama reads is how we should listen during the Teachings and what kind of intention we should have while we receive initiation.

Briefly, one should listen and participate in the Wang with the intention of receiving it in order to gain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, for as all sentient beings have been as my parents, brothers and sisters. Basically, we should generate the intention of strong Bodhichitta when we receive a Wang; the purpose of receiving a Wang is to fulfill your intention of Bodhichitta. One should listen and be there showing great respect with body, speech and mind. There are different meanings. How we can show respect with our body depends on different cultures as different cultures have different traditions and ways of paying respect, but anyhow, you have to show respect. But the main thing is our intention, the intention of Bodhichitta and trying to generate a great feeling of devotion to the Teachings and the Lineage Masters and to the mandala of this cycle.


2. Pre-preliminaries

After this, the lama will keep reading and the meaning is Ledon. That is a kind of preliminary, very, very pre-preliminary. The text describes how our situation is, the situation of Samsara, what would happen if one were born in the Hell Realm, or the Hungry Ghost Realm or the Animal Realm. It explains the eight places where there is no freedom. Then he reconfirms that at the moment we ourselves are in a situation with great freedom, a good situation where we can do anything we want. These kinds of things are explained. We have already taught these things before so everybody here knows this and maybe understands the situation, and that is why we are here.

Normally when we do Ngöndro practice we reflect on the impermanence of our condition, on the preciousness of human life, the preciousness of meeting with the Teachings and having obtained the opportunity to practise. So we mainly think about these 4 different things: impermanence, karmic cause and effect, the preciousness of obtaining a human life and the defects of Samsara. We can reflect on these things.

3. History of the teaching.
Then conies the history of the teaching and the Lineage Masters. Sometimes they count and mention all the masters of the lineage.
That is the beginning or opening of the Wang.
Then comes the second phase - entering into the actual Wang.

This is also divided into 3 sections.

II. The Wang.
1. First, opening the path and doors of Ngondro as a preliminary;
2. Giving the actual Wang;
3. The conclusion, there are the prayers of aspirations


1. The opening of the door and the path of Wang as a preliminary
This also has 3 sections. I think we have to know this now so that when we do the Wang, one has a little bit of an idea, so it would be good.

a) Requesting the Wang; and then explanation of the Samayas or commitments of the Wang;
b) Securing the boundary and purification through water (ablutions) - Trusol50. Actually, this is not only through water, there is also inner purification and these are both called Trusol.
c) Opening the door of the mandala and showing the face of the Deity

a) Requesting the Wang.
Normally, in order to receive a Wang, we have to request. Now there are different systems according to different cycle. For example, according to the Mother Tantra, it is said that if you wish to receive the initiation of the mother Tantra, one should request this Wang at least three years in advance and then the lama will check whether you are suitable or not, through dreams and different signs, if he finds it is suitable, he will give advice as to how to prepare and to learn all the Samayas and what kind of practice you should do during these three years. Then three years later you can receive the Wang. You should also focus on doing Guru Yoga and all the other necessary preparations. This is similar. Then during the Wang ritual, the attendants stand up and read some text. You will see that, we will get up and read something; when we read these few sentences, they contain the request. So you can think and request at the same time. You can sit.


Then the lama will read something - sometimes the lama responds saying: 'you are qualified so I will give the initiation.'

After that comes the explanation of the Samayas. If you are receiving the Wang, you have to know rhat the Samaya is, so there follows the explanation. In this text there is a short explanation about amaya, but there are more detailed explanations in another general cycle. I think Rinpoche will surely briefly explain this in English at the time. But just to give you a brief idea, there are Chiyi Damtsig51, the general Samaya, Gokyi Damtsig52, specific Samaya, Chepargyi Damtsig53 particular Samayas.

General Samaya:

Here, it explains the general Samaya, with metaphors and many things, but to put it clearly and simply, one should receive as many of the Buddha's Teaching and precepts as possible without being satisfied immediately.

- One should be trained well and familiar with the instructions given by one's lama.
Then, constantly or regularly practise with Yungdrung Bon, that means whatever practice you know, you keep practising it.
Then, don't waste your precious human life but always try to live meaningfully, i.e., always try to engage in practice or virtuous actions. That is general.


Specific samaya:

One's lama is the root of all spiritual instructions, so one should respect and cherish him respectfully. The yidam or Deities are the root of all blessings so one should always visualize and contemplate with them.

The mantras and mudras are the root or source of wisdom, so one should always perform mudras and recite mantras without interruption.

The particular Vehicle, the unchanging, superior Vehicle, is the root of all Samayas. Here, the 'particular vehicle' refers to the Natural State, so one shouldn't insult or criticize, say bad things about other Vehicles or Ways of the Teachings. We have Nine Ways, Nine Vehicles, and Dzogchen is the highest, and Tantra is high, but you shouldn't disparage the other Vehicles because they are also Vehicles which were taught by the Buddhas - all these Nine Ways are equally Buddha's Teachings. These are taught according to the level and capacity of different beings, so it is not that one thing is good while another is bad.

The secret of one's spiritual practice and accomplishment is the root of all accomplishment, so one always has to keep one's practice and accomplishments secret. That is very important. When it is necessary to talk, one should talk to the person with whom you have to talk, such as your very close spiritual friends who are bound by the same Samaya in order to clarify things, or with one's lama -like this. It shouldn't be mentioned to everyone everywhere like normal gossip or normal discussion round the coffee table or something like this. This is not good, especially, as regards people who have no idea about this or who have no interest in it; there is no need to talk to them about what you are doing, about your practice or accomplishments.

These are the 5 specific Samayas.

Particular Samayas

- One shouldn't be immodest in front of one's Deities or yidam. One should not be immodest in front of the invisible spirits. One shouldn't be immodest in front of ordinary people.
- Not to be immodest in front of one's spiritual lama or spiritual brothers and sisters.
- Not to be immodest in front of one's own mind. This is the most important thing. This is very, very important. We speak about Samayas, commitments, so many things, saying I took Samaya from this and this lama, from this and this person, so I may brag or not, but mainly you should ask your own mind. Your mind has to be pure, there should be no dirt or stain. We call it Lhagsam, it's a superior mind. For example, we speak about a good or bad person, good or bad action, this is good, that is bad etc., but what kind of person we are or what kind of actions we do, we just have to look back to our own mind, we have to ask what we have done, what we are doing, what we are thinking. Only our mind knows that, nobody else knows.

That was a brief explanation of the Samayas.

Then after that comes the second, Securing the Boundary and Purification.

(II 1. b) - Securing the Boundary and Purification.
Securing the Boundary is very important and always comes first when we do rituals or Ganapujas or any other practice. Why? Because when we do very serious or intensive practice then there could always be obstacles or disturbances. So in order to avoid these, we secure the boundary. That is why we call it Tsamchepa55. There are several types:
- securing the external boundary;
- securing the internal boundary;
- the secret boundary and so on.

There are many different boundaries because there are different types of disturbances - external, internal and secret. Any external obstacles which come from outside fall into this category, such as if someone disturbs you when you are trying to do practice, or if there is some circumstance which doesn't allow you to continue. Different kinds of spirits or demons and many other different things can disturb you. We can say that our day to life is also an external obstacle as normally we say we don't have time to practise because of my job etc. These things stop you from engaging in practice so we could consider it as an external disturbance. This is something on the surface, not so deep.

Internal disturbances are more related with ourselves not with others. So physically speaking when we have some disease, that can be a disturbance; there are many different levels - mentally we have discursive thoughts, agitation, drowsiness - many different things. Usually we call it 'the demon that comes from conceptual thoughts', this is also related with one's physical condition, sickness and so on.

The secret obstacles are the most difficult and strongest; they are the obstacles of ignorance. Ignorance is the root of all our obstacles and negative emotions; because of our ignorance, we don't realize the Natural State and then that causes us to follow after all discursive thoughts and everything, so then that becomes bigger and bigger, emotions increase and there are more and more actions, and then that increases internal disturbances, so then external disturbances increase; everything comes from the root of ignorance. It looks as though the external disturbances come from outside, but in fact they are to do with our own internal or secret disturbances. If we are able to determine our own secret and internal disturbances within ourselves then external disturbances cannot come or affect us.

So these are the different kinds of disturbances. When we speak about the different boundaries, they are related with these different disturbances, and so we have to secure those boundaries by doing this (part of the ritual).

When we do a prayer with a drum, that is securing the boundary. When you hear the drum, you have to be in the state of a Wrathful Deity, expelling all external obstacles. All the internal and secret obstacles liberate into the Natural State. That is the best way to secure the boundary.



Purification (Trusol)

This is done in 2 sections, the first is the purification with objects. We mainly do it with water. Water will be sprinkled from the Bumpa. At that time, you have to imagine a stream of water coming from the Drenpa Namkha Yab-Yum which you visualize in front of you, and that is the essence of his 5 Wisdoms. These come to you and purify all your defilements and obscurations of the Three Doors. The lama who gives the Wang imagines himself as Drenpa Namkha and sends blessings and wisdoms in the form of a stream of water to all the recipients of the Wang, so defilements and obscurations are purified.

That is the purification with the object. Then there is inner purification. That is to do with the practice of refuge, bodhichitta, confession, mandala offering - all these practices come. So you have to take refuge in the Three Jewels, particularly lama, yidam, khandro and Drenpa Namkha in particular for cycle. You know how to do this. Normally one should take a refuge vow at this time. In the beginning f every initiation there is the refuge vow and the Bodhichitta vow.

This is the base of your own practice, then after that conies Bodhichitta. You engage with generating the mind of Bodhichitta. Then comes confession, you can imagine Drenpa Namkha and all his retinue in front of you, and you confess all the negativities you have committed up till now in front of them. Then comes mandala offering, you imagine the whole of the external universe as a mandala and the contents as different types of offerings, offer this to Drenpa Namkha, the retinues and all the Lineage Masters. They accept it and through the merit of making this offering, you purify all your negativities and accumulate the two accumulations and purify all defilements and obscurations. Imagine this as strongly as possible. That is internal purification.

c) After that, third part, opening the door of the mandala and showing the face of the yidam. These prayers will again be accompanied by a drum so you'll be able to notice. The attendant will light a lamp during the prayer. At that time, imagine that by opening the door of the mandala, externally you see the real Deities and Siddhas of this cycle. Internally, you liberate all appearances and body, internal beings -these are all liberated into wisdom. Secretly, imagine you have seen the divine face of your own Nature of Mind. That is the main thing to see. If you see the real Nature of mind, then we can consider you have seen the Deity's face, the external form. So here again there are three different ways you can imagine. Imagine this strongly if you can, imagine Drenpa Namkha's face and think and feel his real presence, then think that all external appearances and internal beings liberate into the state of Wisdom at that time. Then secretly, you realize your own Nature of Mind. If possible, keep in the Natural State. This is what you can do during this prayer.

That is the end of the preliminary part of the Wang.
II. Initiation proper. This has two sections:
a) Causing blessings to descend;
b) Giving empowerment.

a) Causing blessings to descend is also done with the drum. At that time, imagine very clearly Drenpa Namkha and all the cycle of Deities and Siddhas with their retinue, but as you are not familiar with the others, you can just imagine and feel the presence of all the Siddhas, lineage master, Deities and so on; they are all there. Feel this very strongly and generate strong devotion, as we do during Guru Yoga practice. With strong devotion and a strong feeling of all the hosts of deities of this cycle, recite the root mantra: SO OM GYER PUNG DREN PA MULA MA DHA KI HA RI NI SA DRUM DU so it's slightly different. While we are praying, with your visualization, recite the mantra and imagine that because of your devotion, from the body, speech, mind, quality and activities - from the five different places of the hosts of yidams, all their blessings and wisdom descend in a form you can imagine - light, nectars, whatever, it isn't specified here. They come to you and dissolve in your body, speech, mind, quality and activity and you yourself become inseparable from them so you are full of blessings. Imagine in that way as you recite the mantra.

b) Then comes the actual initiation, giving the empowerment.
There are 4 sections:
- the empowerment of the Bumpa or vessel as an external empowerment. The lama will hold the Bumpa and show it to you while reciting the prayer of empowerment. At that time, imagine the Bumpa/vessel as the mandala of the yidam. Imagine the contents as the host of deities - Drenpa Namkha Yab-Yum and the whole host of retinues. From their five places, five lights appear and descend to you and dissolve into your five places. Imagine you receive the five empowerments of those Deities. Imagine as clearly as you can, and you kind of feel and think you have received these empowerments.


The empowerment with Tsakli as an internal empowerment. First the Lineage Masters are shown one by one, then the yidam, the main Deity. In this case, that means Drenpa Namkha Yab-Yum. When each Tsakli is shown, it is like doing Guru Yoga. So imagine his real presence and generate devotion, so then blessings, wisdom and empowerments come from his body, speech and mind in the form of lights and dissolve into you so you become inseparable. In that way, you are completely inseparable from this lama or yidam. All this process doesn't mean that you will immediately become the yidam or something like this, but you will receive blessings and this is a great way of doing aspirational prayer. Usually when we do an aspiration prayer we say something like: 'oh, may I obtain Buddhahood now. May I get the empowerment of the Deities.' But usually we are just wishing; now we are actually trying to engage in the action of receiving blessing, so it's more than merely wishing - we are actually doing something to gain blessings. This makes a great difference so we can consider it as a very good way of doing the aspiration prayer. Usually we say that when you receive the external empowerment you will dissolve your grasping at things as real. It doesn't mean you will dissolve immediately, but it is planting the seed of auspicious circumstances to dissolve your attachments or grasping at things as real. When one receives the internal initiation, one will transform one's physical aggregates or forms into the form of the Deity. It doesn't happen at once, but we are setting auspicious circumstances for setting our body as the form of the Divinity. We have to think in that way.

- As for the third one, the secret initiation, that is the initiation with the main torma. Generally we have different types of torma. One is the support of the Deity and represents the Deity. Another type is an offering to the Divinities, and there are many other purposes, too. In this case, the main torma represents the Divinity. The lama holds the torma and then reads the prayer of the initiation of the torma. At that time, imagine the torma as the real Drenpa Namkha and receive all the blessings and empowerments and wisdoms from him so you purify all your negativities and defilements and become inseparable from him. The way of receiving (blessings) is the same, (ultimate initiation) This is the initiation of nectar, a special kind of nectar that represents the deity. Actually, when we give this, imagine it is like a stream of nectar which represents the inseparable State of the Nature of Mind. Then by receiving blessings and empowerments through this, imagine you receive the empowerment of unpolluted wisdom of the unification of bliss and emptiness - the ultimate Nature. That means that one is introduced to the Natural State. So when one receives this, one tries to be in the Natural State.

c) After that there is a kind of conclusion, kind of entrusting. Sometimes, when we do a yidam cycle, we entrust a particular protector of the yidam, so then we get a particular interest in this protector so one should always keep and practise that protector. But here, it is entrusting spiritual objects like teaching texts or drums, bells, malas and so on, the things one uses in one's practice.
III. Then there is the aspirational prayer of the empowerment as the conclusion. In this case you make any kind of big aspirational prayers - very big and ambitious prayers. Then it works because of this ritual and ceremony; it is very auspicious circumstances, so if you make prayers, they can be fulfilled. Prayers related with practice! Not to become millionaires or billionaires! Prayers (to become) free from the Eight Worldly Concerns. In the text it says that the initiation of the unchangeable body, the initiation of the uninterruptible speech, the initiation of the undeluded mind, and the initiation of the arising of good qualities, the initiation of actions which are spontaneously perfect without effort. So we make the aspirational prayer to receive these initiations and in that way one obtains the spiritual paths and finally attains enlightenment so you are able to help inconceivable, unlimited sentient beings throughout the universe.

This was a brief explanation of the Wang of Drenpa Yangsang. Some cycles are very big and there are many things to do so it takes a few days and is very difficult, with a lot of work. But this is very simple, very complete, so that is why we decided to ask Rinpoche to give this empowerment, and also it is connected with Drenpa Namkha. There is another empowerment connected with Drenpa Namkha but it is larger and therefore more difficult to do here.

I forgot to tell you: while we are doing the aspirational prayers, we put a khatag or something to Rinpoche, to make a connection with the lama who gives the initiation, then they are spread out to some people, and people who can't reach them should hold onto other people who can, so in this way we tie the connection. So if all the people who receive the Wang hold onto each other, they are eventually connected to the person giving the Wang, so we are connected, there is a route to go. So you imagine that all the blessings etc. come through the Bumpa and so on, and then you are connected with the line.

Then if you check - for example, you receive a Wang from your lama, he received it from another lama who received it from another, so it has a living history and your practice becomes more alive, it is not something made up these days, not something like new age. It is authentic. It is very important to have this.

Traditionally, when the Wang is finished, people come up one by one and all the objects of the Wang will be in front of Rinpoche so you can touch them, with your head or hand. You don't need to touch each one, but you can touch the table or the plate and imagine that you receive everything; it makes a difference - even when we go shopping in a supermarket, just seeing something thorough the glass is not enough, it's not enough to convince us to buy it. But when we can look and touch, then we are more convinced! So touching makes a difference, and that is why we do this. When there are fewer people, the lama puts them on your head, but when there are more people, you come up at the end. Just to make it clear, traditionally, if one wishes to make an offering, you can put a khatag or something at that time.
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Soma999
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Re: Teachings on taking Wang

Post by Soma999 »

Very interesting, thank you.
Lhasa
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Re: Teachings on taking Wang

Post by Lhasa »

This is wonderful!! Do you have more information or a prayer for setting the boundaries?
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Re: Teachings on taking Wang

Post by kalden yungdrung »

Lhasa wrote: Wed Jan 17, 2018 4:21 pm This is wonderful!! Do you have more information or a prayer for setting the boundaries?
Tashi delek L,

A prayer i have and that is the prayer of my individual / personal Guru Yoga.

Guru Yoga is for me personal the core of Bön Dzogchen practice.
To be present by doing Guru Yoga in the Bön Lineage, that is very important for me.
Our Master got it from the previous Master etc. until Kuntu Zangpo, that is real power and this power of blessings, can destroy bad karma too.
So the power of all those Lineage Masters is active and alive in the Refuge tree, no doubt about it.

Without devotion to the Bön (Dzogchen) Lineage , no blessings and no realization possible, even if we have got the Wang etc.
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Re: Teachings on taking Wang

Post by Lhasa »

(II 1. b) - Securing the Boundary and Purification.
Securing the Boundary is very important and always comes first when we do rituals or Ganapujas or any other practice. Why? Because when we do very serious or intensive practice then there could always be obstacles or disturbances. So in order to avoid these, we secure the boundary. That is why we call it Tsamchepa55. There are several types:
- securing the external boundary;
- securing the internal boundary;
- the secret boundary and so on.
So these are the different kinds of disturbances. When we speak about the different boundaries, they are related with these different disturbances, and so we have to secure those boundaries by doing this (part of the ritual).

When we do a prayer with a drum, that is securing the boundary. When you hear the drum, you have to be in the state of a Wrathful Deity, expelling all external obstacles. All the internal and secret obstacles liberate into the Natural State. That is the best way to secure the boundary.
From what I understand in the quotes above, 'securing the boundary' should come at the very beginning, before Guru Yoga. Is it a secret practice? I know there is a 'securing the boundary' in the Sang practice, I wonder if that part can be used to begin any practice.
Guru Yoga is my primary practice, but I need the 'securing the boundary because of my own karmic traces. How to do that??
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kalden yungdrung
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Re: Teachings on taking Wang

Post by kalden yungdrung »

Lhasa wrote: Wed Jan 17, 2018 7:02 pm
(II 1. b) - Securing the Boundary and Purification.
Securing the Boundary is very important and always comes first when we do rituals or Ganapujas or any other practice. Why? Because when we do very serious or intensive practice then there could always be obstacles or disturbances. So in order to avoid these, we secure the boundary. That is why we call it Tsamchepa55. There are several types:
- securing the external boundary;
- securing the internal boundary;
- the secret boundary and so on.
So these are the different kinds of disturbances. When we speak about the different boundaries, they are related with these different disturbances, and so we have to secure those boundaries by doing this (part of the ritual).

When we do a prayer with a drum, that is securing the boundary. When you hear the drum, you have to be in the state of a Wrathful Deity, expelling all external obstacles. All the internal and secret obstacles liberate into the Natural State. That is the best way to secure the boundary.
From what I understand in the quotes above, 'securing the boundary' should come at the very beginning, before Guru Yoga. Is it a secret practice? I know there is a 'securing the boundary' in the Sang practice, I wonder if that part can be used to begin any practice.
Guru Yoga is my primary practice, but I need the 'securing the boundary because of my own karmic traces. How to do that??
Tashi delek L,

We put on the 4 corners of the retreat area:

From right to left would that be:

East - Snow Lion Headed
North - Pig Headed
West - Bear Headed
South - Dragon Headed

The photos below are taken from the Lha Kang entrance of the Tashi Menri Monastery in 2008.

East - Snow Lion Headed
Bön Guardian of the East - The Snow Lion Headed 1.jpg
Bön Guardian of the East - The Snow Lion Headed 1.jpg (207.14 KiB) Viewed 2418 times
North - Pig Headed
Bön Guardian of the North - The Pig Headed 1.jpg
Bön Guardian of the North - The Pig Headed 1.jpg (155.91 KiB) Viewed 2418 times
West - Bear Headed
Bön guardian of the West - The Bear Headed 1.jpg
Bön guardian of the West - The Bear Headed 1.jpg (187.53 KiB) Viewed 2418 times
Last edited by kalden yungdrung on Wed Jan 17, 2018 7:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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kalden yungdrung
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Re: Teachings on taking Wang

Post by kalden yungdrung »

South - Dragon Headed
Bön Guardian of the South - The Dragon  Headed 1.jpg
Bön Guardian of the South - The Dragon Headed 1.jpg (185.41 KiB) Viewed 2418 times
Remarkable, they all fly on the cuckoo.

if we do Guru Yoga then from The Lineage Master like Taphiritsa comes fire, water and air which are the Wisdom aspects , and these Wisdom elements enter us through the heart chakra and clean us from mental and physical illness / impurities , and that means also karma.

The protection from the boundaries is done for the unseen outer evil spirits.
They are attracted by our positive energies.
You can also sent Yeshe Walmo going round the corners of the area, that is also perfect, she likes that ( to protect Bönpos)
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