11/30/23, 11:36 AM On Gurus and Empowerments | Strategic Sorcery

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Among the classes I teach is a course on Phurba, and several Arcane Audio’s that present Christopher Orapello on Review of
Tantric Buddhist practices. Two questions that should come up for anyone who takes these Besom, Stang & Sword
are: Tom Jacobs on Review of Besom,
Stang & Sword
1. What about the Guru?

2. What about the Empowerment and Lineage?

WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN MISSING

Anyone taking the Phurba Course should read and understand the below.

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11/30/23, 11:36 AM On Gurus and Empowerments | Strategic Sorcery

ON THE GURU November 2023 (2)

In 1999 I had the extreme good fortune to live with Kunzang Dorje Rinpoche, one of the last October 2023 (2)
great Ngakpa Lamas from pre-invasion Tibet, for about a month and a half. I slept in the
September 2023 (2)
room next to his in Pharping Nepal, the same area as the Asura Cave, the place where
Padmasambhava received the Vajrakilaya texts before travelling to Tibet. I received many August 2023 (4)
empowerments, and teachings from Rinpoche as well as the blessing to wear the robes and
July 2023 (3)
accessories of a Ngakpa.
June 2023 (3)
When it came to the topic of having a traditional Guru Chela relationship with him, the kind
Naropa had with Tilopa, he explained that I would first have to live with him for a year, so May 2023 (2)
that we could evaluate each other. After that I would practice for three years living by his
April 2023 (1)
side, and then go on three year retreat under hos direction. I explained that my Visa would
expire, and he assured me that there are ways around that. I said flat out that I didn’t have March 2023 (4)
money to stay in Nepal for longer than the few more months I had scheduled, and he waved
February 2023 (1)
that concern away as well. In the end I think he knew that I would not take him up on it, but
it was a perfect display of wisdom that taught me two important lessons. January 2023 (2)

The first lesson is that even though the way Tantric teachings are transmitted is changing December 2022 (4)
drastically, there are still people doing it the traditional way.
November 2022 (2)
The second lesson is that if you are going to really do the Root Guru thing, viewing your October 2022 (2)
living teacher as inseparable from the Deity, and someone that you are bound to obey, there
has to be a very serious and lengthy period of evaluation. September 2022 (5)

That’s how its supposed to work. Before you decide someone is your Guru, you live with August 2022 (5)
them and evaluate them. That is unfortunately not how it usually works, yet weirdly both July 2022 (1)
students and teachers often insist on this kind of infinite blind faith devotion for people that
they barely know, or have only seen in ceremony. That is not how its supposed to work, and June 2022 (3)
whatever you think is going on, its not what is supposed to be happening.
May 2022 (2)

At the very first empowerment I ever took, Ratna Lingpa Vajrakilaya with Penor Rinpoche, a April 2022 (2)
nun told me that if the Guru walked by and chopped a child’s head off, my reaction should
be to think about how lucky that child is. I value my empowerments, and have a highest March 2022 (3)
respect for Penor Rinpoche, but to be clear: that is bat-shit fucking crazy. I just met this guy 2 February 2022 (2)
hours ago and participated in a ceremony with about 150 other people, and I am supposed
to hold that view? NOPE. January 2022 (9)

That said, she was just echoing a sentiment in the Fifty Shades, er I mean Fifty Stanzas on December 2021 (8)
Guru Devotion by Aryasura, but you know what? I don’t care. Sure, Naropa jumped off a cliff November 2021 (1)
when Tilopa suggested it, but he had already seen Tilopa perform miracles. No religious or
magical path is worth that level of blind faith. It can be corrupting for both the students and October 2021 (4)
the teachers, even well-intentioned ones. Needless to say the potential for abuse by bad
September 2021 (6)
actors is rampant. Thankfully, the Lamas that I learned the most from never suggested this
level of devotion, and a couple even warned against it. Those that did insist on this level of August 2021 (1)
devotion, I walked away from immediately.
July 2021 (6)
So when I teach on Dharma, please consider me an explanatory teacher. If you have a Guru June 2021 (5)
that you feel you know well enough to do Guru Yoga for, that’s great, keep on doing what
you are doing. Otherwise hold Padmasambhava or Milarepa or some great historical May 2021 (4)
Buddha as the object of your devotion. Don’t see me as the meditational deity. Definitely
April 2021 (4)
don’t consider yourself bound to do what I say. Maybe be a little careful about who you do
give that kind of power to. March 2021 (1)

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11/30/23, 11:36 AM On Gurus and Empowerments | Strategic Sorcery

ON EMPOWERMENT February 2021 (7)

For any Tantric Buddhist practice there are three things you should have: January 2021 (2)

December 2020 (3)

1. Wang, or Empowerment, which ritually introduces you to the deity directly.
2. Lung, or Transmission, which gives the teaching and the authorization to access it. November 2020 (5)
3. Trhi or Instruction in the meditations and practices. October 2020 (7)

Ideally you take a Tantric Empowerment, Transmission, and Instruction in person from a September 2020 (8)
Guru that you have already built a relationship with. Whether you know this Guru because
August 2020 (7)
they head a monastery you are a monk in, or because they are a family member, or because
they invited you to live with them at a gar or yogic encampment, this was the norm. July 2020 (5)

This is not what happens anymore. Every summer Lama’s come to Europe and the US and June 2020 (6)
bestow countless Tantric Empowerments, then leave town giving no instruction on how to
May 2020 (5)
do the practice. Other Lama’s give plenty of instruction, but just a transmission (lung) and no
empowerment. Others give both empowerment and instruction, but do it online. None of April 2020 (4)
this is ideal, but I don’t believe in letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. Since the
1950’s Vajrayana has been changing as it spreads from Tibet over the globs. How, and how March 2020 (7)

much, things change or stay the same is still being worked out. February 2020 (2)

I have the empowerments for anything I teach. In the case of Vajrakilaya, I have received all January 2020 (3)
the empowerments, transmissions, and instructions from most Terma’s (treasure texts
December 2019 (4)
revealed by Tertons over the centuries) and the Kama (practices actually taught by
Padmasambava during his lifetime). November 2019 (6)

In my courses I focus on instruction that incorporates a transmission as I read through the October 2019 (3)
text. I do not give the Empowerment. How you handle that is up to you...
September 2019 (4)
You may decide to seek out a Lama offering the empowerment and go and receive it. There August 2019 (3)
are certainly no shortages of Lamas offering empowerments into different lineages of Kila at
Dharma Centers all over the world. July 2019 (3)

You may decide to take one of the empowerments from Lamas that offer it online. Garchen June 2019 (7)
Rinpoche was kind of groundbreaking when he offered a video of the Ratna Lingpa May 2019 (15)
Vajrakilaya Empowerment online and said that anyone who watched it could consider
themselves as having the empowerment. Other Lamas are now following that model as well April 2019 (4)
and everything in between.
March 2019 (5)

You may decide that you don’t want the empowerment, but are going to practice it as a February 2019 (7)
magical practice anyway. That is on you. The information is already out there. When talking
about Phurba, between Martin Boord’s incredibly detailed yet difficult series of books on January 2019 (12)
Kilaya and Garchen Rinpoche’s very accessible volume, one could do this with or without my
December 2018 (4)
course.
November 2018 (10)
Which begs the question: do you even need this course?
October 2018 (7)
I dunno. That’s up to you. When I teach on Tantric Sorcery I tend to think of myself as serving
September 2018 (3)
a cross-walk. Some students are coming from an orthodox Tibetan Buddhist background
and looking for someone that is less concerned with reciting Sadhanas and more concerned August 2018 (5)
with the magic and yoga. I also have a different way of teaching than most Lamas, and am a
little less bound by trying to stick closely to one lineage or another. On the other side of the July 2018 (6)

street are students from a Western Occult or Witchcraft background looking to explore June 2018 (7)
Tibetan Buddhism through the eyes of someone familiar with both.

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11/30/23, 11:36 AM On Gurus and Empowerments | Strategic Sorcery

BUT THE LAMA’S SAY…. May 2018 (10)

The Lama’s don’t say anything. They are not of one mind. Turns out 1200 years of tradition April 2018 (9)
split across multiple schools, lineages, and individuals have created diverse opinions.
March 2018 (3)

I remember a weekend in New York I attended a course on Dzogchen by Lama Wangdor. February 2018 (4)
Chagdud Tulku was teaching the same material on the west coast that same weekend. To
attend Chagdud Tulku’s teaching you had to have completed Ngondro (large accumulations January 2018 (7)
of practice, starting with 100,000 prostrations) and been practicing a major Tantra for a December 2017 (8)
certain amount of time. To attend the talk I went to by Lama Wangdor you just had to …
show up at a carpet shop in Chelsea. November 2017 (8)

When I wanted to learn Guhyasamaja, Lobsang Samten had me and a few others show up October 2017 (6)
early at the center in West Philly and receive the instruction. I didn’t have the empowerment September 2017 (3)
at the time, but he said “One day you will, till then you can still practice this.” And yes, BTW, I
have the empowerment now. I have met other Lama’s that will even teach Tummo and August 2017 (4)
Dream Yoga, usually classified as completion stage, to anyone that wants to practice,
July 2017 (9)
whether they have taken Tantrik empowerment or not.
June 2017 (5)
My point is not to defend one position over another. I truly do not have any interest in being
the Dharma Police or the Dharma Rebel. I am simply pointing out that there is a variety of May 2017 (7)
opinion out there, both among Tibetans and Western teachers. Some say empowerments April 2017 (3)
are necessary, some say transmission is fine. Some say that one empowerment for a deity
will cover you for all lineages related to that deity, some say you must have the individual March 2017 (13)
lineage transmission. Some say online empowerments don’t count. Some say they count
February 2017 (11)
only when attended live. Some say they count even if recorded. Etc, etc.
January 2017 (12)
When dealing with the spread of Vajrayana from a closed theocratic country to the rest of
the world, and now the radical changes brought by the possibilities of digital December 2016 (10)
communications, its only natural that people are still figuring out this new spread of
November 2016 (6)
dharma.
October 2016 (8)
I can offer no guidance here beyond this choice: If you already have a Root Lama that you
have evaluated extensively and who you trust, then trust their judgement and follow it. If September 2016 (6)
not, then use your own powers of discernment and logic and do the best you can. August 2016 (7)

July 2016 (14)

June 2016 (12)

May 2016 (9)

April 2016 (12)

March 2016 (9)

February 2016 (7)

January 2016 (10)

December 2015 (11)

November 2015 (4)

October 2015 (11)

September 2015 (8)

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August 2015 (10)

July 2015 (13)

June 2015 (12)

May 2015 (7)

April 2015 (14)

March 2015 (10)

February 2015 (9)

January 2015 (9)

December 2014 (13)

November 2014 (12)

October 2014 (13)

September 2014 (10)

August 2014 (7)

July 2014 (10)

June 2014 (12)

May 2014 (10)

April 2014 (10)

March 2014 (12)

February 2014 (5)

January 2014 (13)

December 2013 (19)

November 2013 (5)

October 2013 (9)

September 2013 (9)

August 2013 (13)

July 2013 (8)

June 2013 (8)

May 2013 (10)

April 2013 (8)

March 2013 (8)

February 2013 (9)

January 2013 (9)

December 2012 (11)

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November 2012 (9)

October 2012 (10)

September 2012 (14)

August 2012 (10)

July 2012 (11)

June 2012 (11)

May 2012 (8)

April 2012 (9)

March 2012 (15)

February 2012 (9)

January 2012 (13)

Disclaimer

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