Empowerment & Transmission - Aro gTér Lineage

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Ngak’chang Rinpoche

Khandro Déchen

The fundamental damtsig is to sustain the experience of transmission through practice—and ultimately, in every moment.

The Tibetan word for empowerment is wang—dBang. When we use the word ‘empowerment’, we are referring to Tantric transmission through symbol—through ceremony. Empowerment comprises of wang, rLung, and tri. Wang means transmission through the power of symbol. This is the ritual aspect of the transmission, in which the Lama becomes the awareness-being into whose kyil’khor one is introduced. rLung means transmission through aural transmission. This is the aspect of empowerment in which one hears the awareness-spell connected with the practice of the awareness-being. Tri means transmission through teachings on the exact nature of the methods involved in the practice of the awareness-being—such as the mudras, places, times, gTormas, implements, and so forth. The wang, rLung, and tri can be given separately or all together—depending on circumstances. rLung and tri can be given in non-ritual form under certain circumstances, but under any circumstances the disciple has to actively prepare, and the circumstances have to be deemed appropriate in terms of external preparations.

If the experience of wang is lacking (that is, if you receive a wang and you fail to experience anything remotely different within that situation) then it is impossible to appreciate the significance of lung when it is given without the wang. Without experience of the significance of lung, tri merely becomes a set of instructions or a discourse on a Buddhist topic or method.

Without empowerment, as a real experience, the practice of Tantra is meaningless—or at best futile. Without the real experience of empowerment, it is impossible to maintain the fundamental damtsig of Tantra. This fundamental damtsig is to sustain the experience of transmission through practice—and ultimately in every moment. Empowerment underpins the possibility of Tantric teaching being comprehended. If empowerment is not experienced, then the teaching itself may seem nothing more than a fantastic dream theory.

Experiencing Electricity

We feel that it is of vital and fundamental importance that Apprentices are able to experience the sharp electricity of empowerment at a real (rather than an imaginal) level.

“My own experience of empowerment, in connection with Kyabjé Künzang Dorje Rinpoche, is something I feel I should share with you. During empowerment, the sense fields often dissolve into each other and one enters into the reality sphere of the Lama giving empowerment. The empowerment is not merely a quaint oriental ritual, but a ‘teasing apart’ of the dualistically fixed quality of the relative nature of existence. In that dissolution of conventional reality (experienced by the Lama) the power of his or her visionary integration is so clear that people sometimes faint or experience strong sensory shimmering. The word hallucination might be used, but this would be a mistaken rationalisation of what actually happens. From my own experience, both worlds exist at once. The visionary world of the Tantric empowerment and the nature of conventional reality can flicker and interpenetrate each other. I have often experienced Kyabjé Künzang Dorje Rinpoche as a blaze of coloured light—sometimes highly subtle, but sometimes totally overpowering apparent phenomena. Sometimes, with my Tsawa’i Lama, the transparency of concrete existence was distinctly not an alternative reality—the light essence of matter was the pervasive phenomenon.”
―Ngak’chang Rinpoche

Such experience, of course, is dependent on individual practice—on personal openness. But it is also dependent on the power of the Lama to permeate our own fixed reality. The greater the Lama, the more he or she can plunge us into primal iridescence, the energy of existence and non-existence. The disciple needs to have experience of practice, but also a sense of devotion—an openness of heart which allows the dissolution of possible and impossible. For those who are not so familiar with practice, or who have not worked with us for long, this description of empowerment (as a window on the primal dance of creation and destruction) may sound unattainable or merely a flight of fancy. But without this experience—there is no impetus to live in the Tantric world.

The Tantric world is ordinary—in fact nothing special at all. It is there for anyone prepared to risk the loss of their cramped identity—the seeming security of their dualistic boundaries. Living in the Tantric world does not mean that we begin to act in a crazy manner. The fact that primal incandescence expresses itself within the molecular structure of our perception makes us utterly sane—yet vivid. We realise that adopting an existential camouflage that would make us unrecognisable within a bowl of muesli – does not really set the world on fire. We can actually be glorious beings.

It is our wish to open the door to the Tantric world for you. If our vajra family is to function as an entrance to the Tantric world then empowerment must begin to give you at least glimmerings of what we are talking about. If this is not possible, then there is no purpose in anything we do. If this is not possible, then our relationship is merely emotional or theatrical.

Transmission in Dzogchen

Dzogchen transmission means non-ritual introduction. It is divided into direct transmission, symbolic transmission, and oral transmission. Direct transmission means Mind-to-Mind communication between Lama and disciple. This can happen at any moment and according to any circumstances. Symbolic transmission means that some essentially potent object (such as a crystal sphere, mirror, or faceted crystal) is displayed along with cryptic oral indications, which incite understanding.

Oral transmission means that a verbal clarification is given of the primordial nature of the individual. These are often referred to as the pointing-out instructions.

In the case of Dzogchen transmission, the outer circumstances can sometimes include travel to some remote location where the scenery is conducive to the appreciation of spaciousness. However this is not a fundamental requirement. It is up to the Lama what is considered to be the best means of introduction.

The Real Meaning of Transmission

The real meaning of transmission is continually to experience oneself in relation to the Lama. Our main function in life, as regards our apprentices and disciples, is to provide as much as we can of what our Tsawa’i Lamas provided for us. Our main rôle is not to ‘give teachings’ or even ‘empowerments’, but simply to be with you all in the living context of the teachings. If teachings or empowerments are being given, then that is fine. If we are practising together, that is also fine. But the actual wine and meat / blood and guts / emptiness and form of what can happen between us—happens when we are talking about New York pizza or the way that sand gets trapped in your navel. Our relationship has the potential to become transmission in any moment, or not.

“This is what it was like with my Tsawa’i Lama. The majority of the time I have spent with my Tsawa’i Lama cannot be characterised—in an external way—as having much at all to do with teaching. I have received many teachings from many different Lamas. Some of these Lamas were fantastic sources of teaching, but only with my Tsawa’i Lama have I been open to transmission in the way that I am describing. That is not to say that I have not experienced transmission through empowerment from the great Lamas I have encountered. Nor is it that being in the presence of great Lamas has not been powerful – but I have never been quite close enough to such Lamas to experience transmission in terms of discussing pizza toppings or the vintage of a bottle of Barolo.”
―Ngak’chang Rinpoche

This style of continual ordinariness-transmission is subtle. Most people miss it altogether. It is not a question of being ‘blissed out’ by trivia either. If people are so much in awe of the Lama that they’re reduced to simpering ‘Tantra groupies’ in his or her presence; that doesn’t work. It is a matter of being open and natural—loose yet disciplined. Being with the Lama is a practice in itself: if you are working to find that subtle balance – that precarious perch on the brink of sanity and insanity. This is something for us all to investigate – to explore with enthusiasm and integrity.