A few things about the Kilaya Talismans.
1. To order them, write me at inominandum@gmail.com
2. I am giving away 5 of them, so if you are in need of obstacles being broken up in your life, but cannot afford the $50, please write me and I will let you know if there are any free ones available.
3. The equinox is not specifically connected with Vajrakilaya. Some of you have written me speaking as if it was. It is not. Any spiritual practice (or mundane positive practice, or negative practice for that matter) is multiplied on that day.
4. This is most important. The amulets are for you to WEAR. They do not make you Kilaya initiates. I know that there are Kilaya Sadhanas online, even the three day Dudjom Ter with me-le, but I strongly urge you NOT work with these sadhanas unless you have had the empowerment and explanation of how to do the practice from a qualified Lama. If you have the talisman and do the practice without an empowerment it will actually be worse than if you did not have the amulet, because you will have some connection to the current.
If you want to do the practice, become a Buddhist, get the empowerment, and have at it – I strongly encourage this.
Thats it.
BTW, Buddhism doesn’t require you to give up your other religious practices, not during the Buddha’s time nor during the time of the Mahasiddhas, nor in Dzogchen.
Did anyone suggest it did?
Jason you mentioned in an old lj post that Buddhist magic can be so practical, but when do the old gurus haunt a practitioner who dares forsake the spiritual goals?
If enlightenment is the end goal of all Buddhist paths, then y the gurus so srs?
Nope, but I just wanted to add that in case anyone was on-the-fence about that.
Still got amulets left?
yup
“If you want to do the practice, become a Buddhist, get the empowerment, and have at it – I strongly encourage this.”
I really appreciate that you give these warnings and suggestions
. If one has not experienced them, it is easy not to value empowerments and proper transmission of practice instructions. I remember when received my first empowerment. It totally erased my childish preconceptions of what the practice was about. After such an experience, it is impossible to say that empowerments are in any way unessential.
not speaking about anything that required transmission, but about the amulets connecting me to the specific energies and current: is it useful to use simple deity mantras in conjunction with that, like OM AH HUM VAJRAKILI KILAYA HUM PEY? in my theory, this should be a good thing i done with devotion, and also the mantra should be enhanced by the more direct link?
No.
Double triple quintupple no.
Vajrakilaya is not a god or diety, he is a wrathful manifestation of enlightened mind that is designed for people to practice within the lineage. Remember Tantra means thread and refers to the lineage. Without it there is no Tantra. Onto this Mandala are grafted various protector spirits and such that have retinues which can be harmful and are specifically designed to protect the integrity of the practice. The being IS the practice.
Yes, there are other Tantric dieties that you can work with without empowerment to one end or another – but not the Mahayoga/Anutoga ones.
I know that seeing the Root Mantra in a book or website it seems very simple, but remember that those mantras were never meant to be released for public consumption. The Mula Mantra (the one you mention) is still for people that have the empowerment.
The amulet is not a link IN to the Kilaya mandala. It is a medal charged with the Mantra in order to bring some of the obstacle clearing energy to the sphere of the wearer – THAT IS ALL IT IS. It is not a backdoor into the mandala.
Where do I start if I want to learn tibetan sorcery?
Do I start to visit a local tibetan buddhist centre, learn to meditate, take refuge and then take empowerments as and when they become available?
yes
Wow, Jason, that makes sense. Thank you for sharing
Anonymous, that is certainly a fairly common way to get started in learning about Vajrayana — depending on your location, there may be many local dharma centers which don’t require you to be a member or whatever to receive empowerments from visiting lamas, those are usually Nyingma and Kagyu centers though; the Gelugpas and Sakyapas tend to be more restrictive on giving empowerments.
Another way is through Chogyal Namkhai Norbu’s open webcasts. Google them and see for yourself. He gives direct introduction almost every webcast and at the end of each teaching he will give a whole bunch of “lungs” (reading transmissions) which have very practical uses for sorcery. You will need to be a member of the Dzogchen Community to buy the practice texts, but IMO it’s well worth it. Most of the time he will recommend a personal retreat of at least one week to activate the practice though.
Anyway, you can easily do both.
The Gelugpa and Sakya empowerments tend not to be large advertized affairs, but they are well worth the work to get into. Though I am a Nyingma, I have to say that taking Hevajra with just 25 people, and getting very personal attention during the Wang was VERY nice.
In Gelugpa, you may have more difficulty finding an empowerment, but then again you wont have to do the 100,000 prostrations either. Also, while it may be harder to start up, once you do, they tend to be much more forthcoming about the Dzog Rim than Nyingma and Kagyu are. If you have a Wang, you can get most Gelugpa to teach you about Tummo with no problem.
I actually have Guhyasamaja from a Nyingma (Moktsa Rinpoche) and got one on one instruction from a Gelugpa (Ven. Lobsang Samten) with little difficulty.
Norbu’s webcasts are great and all, but his style is pure Dzogchen, and if you listen he will tell you that if you want to do the full Tantric Trip with the Kye Rim, Dzog Rim, etc, you should get the four empowerment’s in person, in a Tantric Style, not just the transmissions. His practices are short and often boil down to the Mantras alone – which is GREAT – but I have found that it is really valuable to have studied the longer texts even if just to flesh out what is happening energetically and mentally during his sadhanas.
Where do I start if I want to learn tibetan sorcery?
I don’t feel this is the right approach. Tibetan Buddhism is Buddhism, not just Tantrik sorcery.
To answer your question, first take refuge and become a Buddhist. Then ask your lama about the rest.
Some people come to Tantra thru an interest in Buddhism, but other people do come to it the other way round.
The histories are full of Mahasiddhas and great Lamas who at first seek worldly power – even the power to steal – but in the process wind up with the spiritual rewards as well.
I fully agree that there is no Tibetan Tantric Magic without the three vows (lets not limit ourselves to Buddhism, there is Bon after all.,..) but lets also not start demanding people adjust their interests before they even get out of the gate either.
Jason, have you ever thought about writing a book about Tibetan Buddhism? I have always found your explanations among the most lucid ones particularly on Dzogchen, and make sense in a way that other authors don’t manage.
Anonymous,
It is important to point out that going to a Dharma center then taking refuge within any of the 4 major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, and receiving an empowerment won’t necessarily initiate you into the more sorcerous practices of the Yidam per se. It will give you permission to visualize yourself as the Yidam and recite the mantra, but the trajectory of those practices is to awaken to Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient being. In most cases, that is all that is taught to us by the Lamas. Especially here in the U.S.
When an empowerment is given there are public instructions. To learn the sorcery, you would need the private instructions, also known as “pith” instructions. Now, you can just ask a Lama for pith instructions (in most cases). Generally that happens when the Lama spends quality time with the student and the LAMA is the one that offers the instructions if he sees certain qualities in the student. Usually the student won’t expect to get anything at all and then the Lama will offer some instructions.
By all means, go take refuge, take the Bodhisattva vows, and receive empowerments just don’t expect the Lamas to teach you about elements, energy, subtle body projection, weather control, levitation, because those subjects are almost never discussed publicly.
“By all means, go take refuge, take the Bodhisattva vows, and receive empowerments just don’t expect the Lamas to teach you about elements, energy, subtle body projection, weather control, levitation, because those subjects are almost never discussed publicly.”
Namkhai Norbu talked about almost everything there except levitation in the most recent webcast. ;p Of course he is far from traditional and people have various opinions about him.
Thank you everyone for the feedback.
One question: Am I being bad at teh internetz or does Namkhai Norbu only have the podcasts certain times a year and one has to listen live?
He has webcasts every few weeks, for the last few weeks even weekly. The last one was a closed one though, the next one in Japan will start Tuesday. If you have a local Dzogchen Community centre near you, you can try contacting them, they might stream it for local members there and since it’s open, you’re welcome to attend for free.
Any FAQ’s on Chogyal Namkhai Norbu for newbies like me?
found this page from a google search
Sorry my bad, the Japan one will start on Thursday.
Blame, you should try looking for a local Dzogchen Community centre near you. If not, go to dharmawheel.net quite a few DC people post there. If you’re coming from a magic PoV you probably shouldn’t talk about that to everyone there though — the senior students might be able to talk more about it, but newcomers, especially Westerners coming from a rationalist materialistic PoV might be uncomfortable with that.
They are discussed publicly by some Lamas, Namkhai Norbu being a prime example.
BUT
Yes, the real tasty stuff is discussed in private. Are you suggesting that one should spend decades as a Buddhist and not have a private conversation with a Lama? Honestly, they don’t talk about it more because it freaks out their biggest donors – the middle aged, yuppie crowd. If you ask about it, they LOVE talking about it in private.
It is really not hard to get a Lama to meet in person and give private instruction. Heck I once asked Lopon Tenzin Namdak to schedule a time to meet with me and teach me a specific piece of Naga Magic during a break in a public teaching in NYC. He told me to grab a notebook and he gave it to me right there during the break speaking softly so that no one else could hear us.
“Are you suggesting that one should spend decades as a Buddhist and not have a private conversation with a Lama?”
Not at all (lol). That would be a big problem if someone spent “decades” as a Tantric Buddhist and didn’t meet with privately with a Lama at some point.
I 100% agree with your observation about the middle aged, yuppies too. I’ve witnessed several Lamas get highly irritated at those types.
The Lamas do love to talk about these things in private though. I’ve asked several Lamas for private instructions like H.H. Jigdal Dagchen Sakya, head of the Phuntsok Phodrang house of the Sakya school. for Vajrakilaya mudras the day after he gave the empowerment. At the time, I had only been a formal Buddhist for 3 months and Rinpoche knew it.
What I will say is that the best instructions that I’ve received were given in private and they were ones that I didn’t ask for, but that the Lama had offered to show me.
Of course he is far from traditional and people have various opinions about him.
what people???
the shugden practitioners???lololololol
anyway although he is not the traditional lama and he is not giving the full tantric trip
his transmission works perfect. in next month it is my tenth anniversary from my first
live meeting with him at merigar and i still haven’t found one mantra that he gave and didn’t work….
LONG LIVE THE MASTER
IONNIS: No, a lot of people have opinions about this and that, including other Nyingma Lamas. That said, SCREW THEM. I love Namkhai Norbu. He is a Guru of mind and I do many practices based on his transmissions.
I think maybe you are not separating what I was saying about traditional empowerment vs the type of tsewang transmission he is giving. It is not a matter of his mantras not working or anything at all like that. There is however more to Tantra than that. I am talking about tsa-lung that is specific to particular Yidams, including the kamamudra practice, and so on.
I am not saying he SHOULD do this. In fact I think it would take away from the Dzogchen focus of his teachings. I am saying that there is a difference – a point that he himself has made on more than one occasion. No one is bashing Norbu here.
Chill man, no one is attacking him here.
Responding to ioannis, not Jason.
wwwwooooooowwwwww people!!!!
i was just making a positive comment about CNNR!!!!
I didn’t thought anyone here was attacking him
i was making a joke ….
also at the second part it was just a personal comment from my experience about his ”mantra transmissions” .
since i’m also practicing in the dudjom lineage i know the differences between the
traditional approach of the tantric path and the radicall approach of CNNR.
as for the opinions and the criticisms you know what they say opinions are like assholes everyone has one…
i hope it is clarified now.
ioannis
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