The Need for a Proper Initiation in the Practice of Tantra
If we are to practice Tantra successfully we need to receive the proper initiation for the Deity we wish to practice. Often people are unaware of the difference between various types of initiations and therefore attend initiations and engage in practices for which they are not qualified.
There are many misinterpretations with regards to this subject so first we will identify two often confused terms in Tantra. One term is jenang, the other is wang.
A wang literally means ‘empowerment’, a jenang means ‘subsequent permission’. A wang is to be received first and the jenang is a blessing ‘subsequent’ to a wang that gives you ‘permission’ to practice a particular Deity. A wang could accurately be described as an initiation or an empowerment, a jenang is more of a blessing.
For the sake of this article I will continue using the Tibetan terms, wang and jenang to maintain clarity.
What is a wang?
A wang is an initiation into a mandala of a particular Deity; it always involves a mandala, whether it is a ‘body mandala’ a ‘painted mandala’ a ‘sand mandala’ and so forth. A wang usually last two or more days and is always preceded by the preparations of: Cleansing and purify, generating motivation, making requests and entering the mandala, receiving vows, throwing the tooth stick, receiving the water, kusha grass, and protection string, generating delight and advice for analyzing dreams. The second day is the actual empowerment, although sometimes both the preparation and the actual wang are bestowed on the same day.
A wang in Action Tantra has the vase and crown empowerments. Performance Tantra has, in addition, the empowerment of the Five Buddha Families. Yoga Tantra has all of the preceding empowerments plus the Vajra Master initiation. And a Highest Yoga Tantra wang has all the preceding empowerments – including the Vajra Master empowerment – plus, uniquely, the three higher empowerments of the Secret, Wisdom, and Word.
What is a jenang?
A jenang is a simple blessing of the Body, Speech, and Mind of a particular Buddha with slight variations and sometimes includes the blessing of the Enlightened Actions. Usually the oral transmission of a mantra is bestowed during the speech empowerment and sometimes at the conclusion of the jenang. There are numerous variations.
There are several distinctions between a wang and a jenang with regards to the preparations performed by the initiating Lama but here are not discussing that particular aspect of the wang. Instead we are discussing it from the aspect of the disciple receiving the wang.
The Need for a Wang to Practice any of the Four Classes of Tantra
Whether we are practicing Action, Performance, Yoga, or Highest Yoga Tantra we need to receive a wang from the appropriate class of Tantra. Each class of Tantra has its own wangs, vows received, and commitments to be maintained. Merely receiving a jenang does not qualify one to practice Tantra; in fact as we will see later in this article Lama Tsongkhapa explains that to practice any of the four classes of Tantra on the basis of merely a jenang is in fact a great misdeed.
The Three Lineages of Action Tantra
In the practice of Action Tantra there are three supra-mundane lineages; Tathagata, Lotus, and Vajra in order of superiority. If we receive a wang into a lineage of the Tathagata family we are permitted to practice that class of Action Tantra as well as the two lower lineages. If we then receive a mere Jenang in any of classes of Action Tantra we can do that practice, self-generate as the Deity and engage in a retreat without having to receive another wang for each Deity. If we receive a wang in the Lotus Lineage we are permitted to practice the Deities belonging to the Lotus and Vajra lineages. If we receive a wang in the Vajra lineage we are only permitted to practice the Deities in the Vajra lineage.
In other words:
- A wang for a particular deity empowers the individual to engage in all the practices of that deity.
- A jenang for a particular deity empowers the individual to engage in all the practices of that deity only when the individual has first received (1) a wang of any deity within that particular deity’s lineage, or (2) a wang of any deity from a “higher” lineage.
In each case we still need to receive the jenang or ‘subsequent permission’ to practice the Deities in the same lineage or lower but we do not need to receive a wang for each Deity. If we receive a wang into the Lotus lineage we are not permitted to practice the Deities of the Tathagata lineage. If we receive a wang into the Vajra lineage we are not permitted to practice the Deities in either the Lotus or the Tathagata lineages without receiving a wang from whichever of the higher lineages we wish to practice. Basically you can only practice the Deities belonging to the same lineage or lower from which you have received a wang.
The text Deity Yoga contains sections 2 and 3 of Lama Tsongkhapa’s Great Exposition on the Stages of the Path of Mantra as translated by Jeffrey Hopkins. On page 74 of Deity Yoga, Lama Tsongkhapa says:
“It is unsuitable to bestow mantra on one who has not entered a mandala.
The General Tantra says:
If one not having seen well
A mandala repeats a mantra,
He will not attain feats and
After death will fall to a bad state.
Whoever shows to him
Rites of mantras and seals
Falls from his pledges and goes
To a hell of grieving beings.
Therefore, it is in all way unsuitable for one who has not entered a mandala of any of the four tantras and received an initiation to achieve a deity and so forth based only on a rite of permission. It is also unsuitable for a mantra to be granted to such a person.” (3)
The above passage from Lama Tsongkhapa’s Great Exposition on the Stages of the Path of Mantra, clearly establishes the need for a proper wang.
When Lama Tsongkhapa says ‘seen well a mandala’ he is referring to having entered the mandala, which is in the beginning stages of a wang. When he says, ‘repeats a mantra’ he is referring to engaging the practice of mantra recitation. This is for instance engaging in a retreat of a Deity having received a jenang without a proper wang as a preliminary.
In verse two he says ‘Whoever shows to him the rites of mantras and seals’, means how to engage in the practice of Tantra and how to perform hand mudras and so forth without the recipient having received the appropriate empowerments.
Finally he says ‘it is in all ways unsuitable for one who has not entered a mandala of any of the four tantras and received an initiation to achieve… He is saying there are no exceptions; it is in all ways improper and a great misdeed for both those who teach and those who listen. Finally he says, ‘based only a rite of permission’. It is important to note that Jeffery Hopkins is translating wang as ‘initiation’ and jenang as ‘rite of permission’.
So Lama Tsongkhapa is clearly saying that based solely on a jenang it is completely improper to practice any of the four classes of Tantra without having previously received a wang. (4)
The Importance of a Wang in the Three Higher Classes of Tantra
It should also be made clear there are jenangs in each of the three higher classes of Tantra all of which must be proceeded by a wang. For instance the popular Vajrayogini empowerment is actually a ‘blessing of the four empowerments’, and requires a wang into another Highest Yoga Tantra Deity as a preliminary. There are numerous other examples of jenangs of Highest Yoga Tantra such as Chittamani Tara.
Summary
To qualify to practice any of the four classes of Tantra it is necessary to receive the appropriate wang. These days most of confusion revolves around Action Tantra, many people mistakenly believe that by merely receiving a jenang they can engage in the practice of that Deity, but as we can see from Lama Tsongkhapa’s text even to recite a mantra or perform hand mudras without a wang is incorrect. If we wish to practice Action Tantra we need a wang appropriate to the lineage of the Deity we wish to practice. If we are practicing Performance, Yoga, or Highest Yoga Tantra we also need a wang from that class of Tantra to undertake these practices.
Colophon
At the constant urging of my own Guru, Gen Losang Chophel to clarify for western students the need for an appropriate wang I have composed this article with the sincere hope that this will in some small way contribute to the proper practice of Tantra in the non-Tibetan speaking communities and the world as a whole.
Notes
1. For a description of the Deities associated with each of the Three Supra-mundane lineages see Deity Yoga, Snow Lion Publications, 1981, page 237.
2. For more information on initiations and vows in Action Tantra see: Deity Yoga, Snow Lion Publications, 1981, page 15.
3. Deity Yoga, Snow Lion Publications, 1981, page 74.
4. For an excellent presentation of the empowerments see, Overview of Buddhist Tantra, published by the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, 1996.
© David Gonsalez, 2007
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