His Holiness Dudjom Sangye Pema Zhepa Rinpoche's final speech after concluding Dudjom Tersar Empowerment at Samye Memorial Monastery in May, 2014

His Holiness Dudjom Sangye Pema Zhepa Rinpoche's final speech after concluding Dudjom Tersar Empowerment at Samye Memorial Monastery in May, 2014

Today, I want to share brief discourse about the Empowerment in general and the Dudjom Tersar Empowerment in particular. Until today, I have finished to confer almost entire empowerments from Dudjom Lingpa's Collected Works, except few Dharmapala life-empowerments and life-entrustments. As for the lineage, from whom I received, can be counted as follows: First one is Treasure Revealer Dudjom Lingpa (1835-1904) himself transmitted to his eight sons and heart disciple Gyurme Ngedon Wangpo - to Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje (1904-1987) - to Gojo Orgyen Chechok - and he conferred to me. Second one is from Dudjom Lingpa himself to his son Dorje Dradul (1891-1959) - to Kyabje Chatral Rinpoche, from whom I received the complete practice manuals and Dzogchen teachings. Third one is from Dudjom Lingpa himself to his son Trime Ozer (1881-1924) - to Dzongter Kunzang Nyima (1904-1958) - to Tulku Theklo (b. 1937) from whom I received entire Empowerments, including Dharmapala life-entrustments. Moreover, I also received empowerments and important major teachings of upper and lower Dudjom Tersar from Kyabje Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, like Secret-seal Heart Practices, Three Root Practices, Drollo and Vajrakilaya etc. Transmission lineage is like that.

So, many of you may already know, Empowerment is full of blessings and auspiciousness, and main source of accomplishment. As I daily read aloud Kaya Abhikhintsa Om: Vaka Abhikhintsa Aa: Citta Abhikhintsa Hung: etc. Abhikhintsa or Abhisheka means Empowerment. Etymologically, Abhikhintsa means "to scatter" or "to pour". Accordingly, the meaning is that the profound ritual of conferring empowerment washes, or scatters, the stains of the disciple's body, speech, mind, and pours an extraordinary capacity into the disciple's being, whereby he or she may develop the wisdom that ripens this into the five kayas and wisdoms, if he or she practice observing samaya properly. Empowerment can be categorized into three divisions: causal empowerment, empowerment of the path and empowerment of result. Empowerments given to disciples who have not been initiated before are called causal empowerment; the empowerment given to students for developing their maturation or restoring the broken precepts are classified as empowerment of the path; and empowerments given to those who are ready to achieve the final attainment and which cause the disciple to attain the ultimate fruition are classified as empowerments of result because they bring the final result.

Empowerment is to ripen or mature our buddha-nature. Even though all beings possess the buddha-nature, without receiving empowerment it is not possible to receive blessings and accomplishment through a particular practice, just as it will never be possible to get oil by pressing sand. Through the empowerment, you are empowered into the essence of the five buddha families and five wisdoms, inherently present as a natural attribute of every being. In particular, you are 'ripened' within that particular family though which it is your personal predisposition to attain buddhahood.

Generally, there are four levels or stages within any empowerment: the body empowerment of the vase, the secret speech empowerment, the mind empowerment of supreme knowledge and the precious word empowerment. On top of these four empowerments, there are few more levels in some empowerments, like empowerment of awareness' expressive power, Torma empowerments and supplementary empowerments like the eight auspicious articles and the eight auspicious signs.

By receiving the body empowerment of the vase, purifies the obscurations of the body and channels, one's body is blessed as the manifestation of the diamond body, the good fortune for reaching the level of the body of manifestation is established in one's being.

By receiving the secret speech empowerment, purifies the obscurations of the speech and energies, one's speech is blessed as the manifestation of the diamond speech, the good fortune for reaching the level of the body of perfect enjoyment is established in one's being.

By receiving the mind empowerment of supreme knowledge that is primal wisdom, purifies the obscuration of the mind and vital essence, one's mind is blessed as the manifestation of the diamond mind, the good fortune for reaching the level of the absolute body is established in one's being.

By receiving the precious word empowerment, purifies the two obscurations and all habitual tendencies, one receive the blessing that the infinite ornaments - the inexhaustible qualities and activities of all the Buddhas - are complete in oneself, the good fortune for reaching the essential body is established in one's being.

As I can see, there are many khenpos, tulkus, lamas, lay practitioners and just lay peoples, many of them may know the meanings of empowerment and importance of it but some of them just come here hoping that they will get some blessings and accomplishments. Honestly speaking, I personally do not possess any extraordinary blessings and accomplishment to offer but the teachings which I am conferring you is Mind Treasure of Dudjom Lingpa himself, likewise there are earth treasures and visionary experiences directly with Guru Rinpoche and Yidam deities, and received direct oral transmission from them, so the teachings is so precious and full of blessings and accomplishments. I may have committed to disclose such precious secret vajrayana teachings, but you may be too fortunate to have met such rare opportunity to receive the blessings. And the other reason is that after completing my solitary retreats, Lama Yeshe Sangpo Rinpoche frequently requested to me to confer both upper and lower Dudjom Tersar Empowerments, before two years. But I responded him saying that I have to get permission from my root-guru (Kyabje Chatral Rinpoche). Though it might be disclosure of secret vajrayana teachings, Rinpoche kindly granted permission, but due to time limitation, I could only confer Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje's collections in the form of blessings and accomplishments according to this dark age, that year. Dharmapala life-entrustments were also not conferred then, because it is not that important to receive it just for personal practice in daily life, except for some holders of the teachings, who aspired to protect and propagate the Dudjom Tersar Lineage.

In fact, three later empowerments are also very profound and secret, but you all came from far away facing lot of difficulties, so I don't think you will be satisfied only with first vase empowerment, therefore, I conferred entire empowerments. I sincerely confess to the wisdom deities for the mistakes, deficit and surplus. Merely receiving empowerment is not enough, so, please, I humbly request you to observe the vows and samaya properly, and practice diligently. The samaya is very important in vajrayana, after receiving any empowerment. You have to correctly observe the general, particular, and additional samayas. Furthermore, it is said that from breaking the Secret Mantra Vehicle commitments, many unpleasant things will happen to us in this life, we will meet with obstacles on the path, and we will go directly to the Diamond Hell, as we read in the tantras:

Unbroken samaya is the best,

but if one breaks it, will be burnt (in hell).

If you observe the samaya properly, you will be blessed by yidam deities and accomplish siddhis, and if you break the samaya, it will cause you suffering and the seed of liberation will be burnt. Vajrayana samaya is not like government laws, you won't be caught and jailed for breaking it, but still you should be seriously concerned about the samaya with great importance. After receiving and empowerment, there is not one of us who has not entered the door of the vajrayan path. And once we have done so, if we do not subsequently keep the commitments, we will go to hell; if we do keep them, we will attain Buddhahood. There is no other destination than these two.

Samaya vow comes from the Sanskrit term samaya, which means something that is not to be transgressed. It also refers to the commands of great beings. Samayas are points of training that masterful practitioners do not transgress, but enact in accordance with what is to be engaged in and rejected. Samayas contain both general divisions and specific divisions. In brief, the vajrayana samayas are condensed into three categories: the general samayas, particular samayas, and superior samayas. General samayas are explained to be the vows of individual liberation, the trainings of the awakened mind, and the samayas of outer mantra. Since these are not to be transgressed without any real purpose, they form the foundation for, and are a facet of, the samayas of unsurpassable mantra. For this reason, they are also called the "common general samayas." The particular samayas are said to be the root and branch samayas that are found throughout the unsurpassable mantra itself. Alternatively, one may also say that the general samayas are termed "general" because all the vows of individual liberation, the awakened mind, and mantra are to be observed in general. According to the mental strength of the practitioner and the superior or inferior situation one may find oneself in, the samayas are upheld by applying the view, conduct, activity and so forth to one's own meditative experience. Since specific individuals uphold these vows, they are also named "specific samayas." The superior samayas are taught to be the unique vows that are taken during periods of great accomplishement.

Other tantras teach the fourteen root downfalls and the eight grave subsidiary downfalls. Moreover, the number of levels and categories within the samayas taught in the individual tantras differ from one another. So, the Secret vajrayana samayas are very subtle, numerous, and difficult to keep. Even Jowo Atisha said that after he had entered the Mantra Vehicle, he committed fault after fault in rapid succession. So for normal people like us who have few antidotes, weak mindfulness, and no vigilance (we do not even know the different categories of samayas, nor the point at which we break the precepts), there can be no doubt that breaches of our samayas are falling on us like rain. Only observing the root downfalls is also sufficient. But we should know that the samayas are like wish-fulfilling jewels in being the source of all that is needed. They are like the life force of all virtuous faculties. Whoever transgresses them will be wasting all the practices of mantra, in the same way that a broken vessel is unable to hold any liquid. In this way, since the samayas are like the ground in being the basis for all positive qualities, they are an indispensable basis for accomplishing the dharma-kindom of great beings.

In brief, among all the samaya, one should have pure perception among dharma brothers and sisters, after receiving empowerment in the same mandala and we accept the Guru (spiritual master) while receiving empowerment and that is in fact a very big acceptance; it is not like a simple promise. But it does not mean, I want you to do this and do that, causing you a torture. I just want you to make every effort not to transgress the samaya and practice in the right way.

Samaya is also the sacred link between master and disciple, and also between disciples, in the Diamond Vehicle. Although there are many detailed obligations, the most essential commitment on the part of the disciple is to consider the teacher's body, speech and mind as pure. After receiving such empowerment, Lama, tulku, khenpo, monks and nun and to those who can read (sadhana texts) and have time, please, I want you to promise to recite hundred thousand mantras of any of the three roots: Lama, Yidam and Khandro as per your wish. And those who cannot read and does not have time, also must promise to recite not less than ten thousand mantras (only) of any of three roots. You may call it an empowerment oath or samaya.

Let's say, if there are numerous samayas, do we have to observe all of them in daily life or not? Of course, we have to, but except main root downfalls, we cannot perceive making little faults and committing downfalls. We could not immediately apply mindfulness that what we should and should not do, so we should always make every effort not to break the samaya.

If we keep these faults secretly hidden away, the seed of the negative actions will combine with the water and manure of deceit, and they will grow bigger and bigger day by day. One day, one month, one year beyond, it cannot be revived or restored. But if we recognize them as faults and without hiding them, we declare them to someone else, they will cease to grow and will become weaker. This is what we call "sealing the action with the truth." Negative actions can be purified by intensely regretting and parting from them, and if we are diligent in this, we will have no difficulty in purifying our negative actions and downfalls completely. So, full of regret for all the negative actions and downfalls you have accumulated and firmly vowing not to repeat them in the future even if your life is at stake, then recite the hundred syllables vajrasattva mantra, Triskandhaka sutra, Zhitro Narak Dongtruk (the Narak mending and apology) and various confession sutra and tantra with four powers. The four powers are: regret, action and an antidote, the power of restoration and the power of the support. This process requires that the four powers be properly employed, one does not part from one's negative deeds simply by ignoring and forgetting them.

Samaya transgressed without proper confession within a year, is also very hard to revive, should be confess making elaborate feast offerings and reciting vajrasattva mantra along with Zhitro Narak Tongdruk confession tantra.

If I ask you to practice in solitary retreat for a whole life after receiving such precious empowerment, I don't know whether you can do it or not. But, please, do practice any of the Three-roots' practices from Dudjom Lingpa's Profound teachings making them one's yidam deity. Or, recite the any of the Three-roots' mantra thrice daily according to their daily practice manuals at least. If we can do so, then we are untainted by downfall for disclosure of secrets. And this will be very beneficial to you and other sentient beings as well. Well, I don't possess any extraordinary qualities to set an example, but with strong aspiration and karmic connection I happened to have met practice this profound (Dudjom Lineage) teachings in three years solitary retreat and now entitled with a great lama's name, and pretend to perform religious activities.

Well, you may have noticed that when I read the texts from oral transmission, Dudjom Lingpa and other great masters had keep those treasure texts, confidential for three to thirty or more years, even if they teach and confer empowerment, there were only five or six fortunate beings. If anyone reveals it openly in public, he or she will be penalized by dakinis and dharmapalas, so the risk is very high. Now, we both have committed by teaching and listening, so, if we do not abide by the samaya and practice properly, it is quite dangerous. You may do not have to suffer ripened result and causally concordant effect in this very life but as we (Buddhist) believe in next life, you will definitely be miserable in next life onwards. If we just leave it by mere hearing and listening to the empowerment, and neglect to practice without abiding by the samaya and do not recite three roots mantra, it is quite sure, there will be severe dakini and dharmapalas' divine retribution, may not be in this very life but definitely in next life. You may ask why? Because Dudjom Tersar and other new treasures is not quite like Old Treasure teachings, may it be earth treasure, mind treasure or pure vision, these are special share of dark age of our times. It is predicted in the text, that in the age of thirty or forty years' life-span these new treasure teachings will be flourished and there will be fortunate serious practitioner and unworthy hypocrite as well.

Today, we bowed down and prayed to the mandala, and also received empowerment and oral transmission as well. If mere receiving and listening to the vajrayana teachings without transgressing the samaya is also very beneficial, practicing even a little sadhana abiding by the samaya will be great, and receiving empowerment will be meaningful. As I have stated before, make every effort not to transgress the samaya and practice properly, then you will realize the meaning of empowerment and it will be easy and quicker to get accomplishment. This is my earnest request, please, do keep it in your mind.

Well, before two years, I had conferred entire empowerments from Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje's Collected Works, you might have received. And this time, I just finished to confer the entire empowerments from Dudjom Lingpa's Collected Works. So I am not going to confer both the lower and upper Dudjom Tersar's entire empowerment within five years from now. I rejoice if other Lamas confer, one who has not received can receive then. Because these empowerments are of very strict order and has severe retribution from guardian deities. Honestly speaking, I myself feel nervous, restless and uneasy while conferring Troma and Drollo empowerments, there was a very strange feeling. Seriously, it is not a joke and I am not being hypocrisy either. This is due to the precious teachings and its' profound meaning, intensive crucial points of practice, and severe retribution from guardian deities. Therefore, please, do make resolution to practice any of the Three Roots practices as per your wish and abide by the vows and samayas properly. Please, give your serious consideration on this. That's all I have to say.