INITIATIONS AND ACTIVATIONS

Kalachakra Practice 6

“If we keep our devotion strong and direct our mind towards the Kalachakra teachings for today and the following days, we can receive the initiation through the power of our faith and will.”

The Dalai Lama (2017)

This is an exploration of the first part of Chapter 6 in the Kalachakra Tantra by the Dalai Lama. (There will be three parts to this chapter…)

In our path of pathlessness we

1. Recognize the reality of ordinary life, that beings suffer and wish happiness
2. Develop great compassion and an altruistic intention to become enlightened to help liberate others and awaken them to their own happiness within
3. Realize emptiness, let go and surrender to the great unknown, allowing the great river of life to have its own flow in us and through us
4. Make an intention to receive initiation through our faith and will

Imagine – you are receiving the actual initiation from the physical Christ and the physical Buddha.

You have done this before so you know how to do it again, deeply.

How would you prepare?

What would you do?

You are initially going to receive Seven Seals (the Seven Childhood Initiations)

As you receive these Seven Awakenings in the Kalachakra Tantra the Dalai Lama will go into detail about Our Light Family from the Tibetan point of view.

He describes the Light Family as giving the potential for “generation” and then “completion” in that first you develop clear appearance of the Light Family deities, and that when this meditation is successful it ‘vanishes’ so that all that is left once you surrender and let go is divine, god and goddess and Pure land mandalas like Avalon and Shambhala.

PRACTICE

For practicing the Kalachakra Tantra together we will be doing 15 initiations

SEVEN Childhood Initiations (the Seven Seals) – water, crown, silk ribbon, vajra & bell, conduct, name, and permission

FOUR High Initiations – vase, secret, knowledge-wisdom and provisional word

FOUR Supreme Initiations – vase, secret, knowledge-wisdom and definitive word

If you complete all these there is a final initiation of a Vajra (Diamond) master lord/lady.

It is enough at this point merely to know that the initiations exist and have been done in this way since the time of the Buddha and by the Buddha himself.

These are real initiations that touch the core of your being.

For example, in one of the initiations I experienced real fire and a flame lit in the space in front of me and I burned my hand in it.

In another I experienced the clear light of being and vanished completely.

In yet another I experienced the descent of the Holy Spirit or Bodhicitta into my body.

These experiences are just that, experiences we all have and share to bring us closer to full liberation, love and compassion for all beings. They are neither more, nor less important than the breath we take in and breathe out in every moment.

All is sacred. All we experience is sacred. None is a “better” experience. So please respect all your own experiences, visions and intuitions for the sacred messages they bring to you from the One Light and One Love.

So it is with the Dalai Lamas. Though all incarnations of Avalokiteshvara/Guan Yin, their experiences are also all different.

The Fifth Dalai Lama was “continually absorbed in the wisdom dance that experiences all appearances as pure vision” where many gurus of past ages, mandala deities, buddhas and bodhisattvas would appear directly to him and give him secret transmissions, initiations and teachings.

In direct contrast, The First Dalai Lama, presents the nuts and bolts of the Kalachakra tradition, in straightforward fashion, describing one of the initiations, the vase initiation as being associated with the initiation of a master, as this is the yoga of transforming lust and desire into a force of enlightenment. The masters, he said, regard sensuality as a potential path for enlightenment.

The Second Dalai Lama, again in a different way, received enlightenment through the Kalachakra Yogas from the controversial master Khedrup Norzang Gyatso, called “the Mad Yogi of the Olkha Mountains”.

The current Dalai Lama, has given initiations on many occasions, including in the West, so a Western Kalachakra tradition has also begun to emerge.

I will be posting links of the actual initiations given by the current Dalai Lama as we go. Here is an initial one if you are interested, in English.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK6p-s1rXaM

Sometimes friends have queried me on the practice of imitating a deity or saint or god and goddess, or taking on their qualities or behavior.

I will leave you with this quote from Our Sister St. Therese, about the practice itself.

“Most of all I imitate the behavior of Mary Magdalene, for her amazing – or, rather, loving – audacity which delighted the heart of Jesus, has cast its spell upon mine.”

-St. Therese of Lisieux

Love and soul blessings

Altair and Mother

(Artwork with deepest gratitude to Kusaba Kazuhisa)