Sadhana from a former group

namahbuddha

If someone receives the empowerment of Chenrezig and have that as a daily practice following the guidance of the lama of the Buddhist group one follows and one day one leaves this group, should one continue to do this sadhana (or any other one received the initiation for) or should it only be done in the context of the group of which one was a member?

SherabDorje

From my own experience, once an empowerment is received, it's received, and it should make no difference what group you do the sadhana with. Do you mean like Gelug as opposed to Nyingma, usually referred to as "schools" rather than "groups"? Even then, it's not a problem. But if it's just one group associated with a specific lama I know of no problem with doing the sadhana with another group.

Also, some sadhanas, as you may know, don't necessarily require specific empowerments in an absolute sense- if I remember right, the Chenrezig sadhana is one of those. As far as I know a person is just allowed to do the sadhana and/or the mantra without specific empowerment, though empowerment is better. If I remember, right, Medicine Buddha and White Tara can be done without empowerment.

namahbuddha

thank you so so much SherabDorje, it really helped me.

namahbuddha

by the way SherabDorje, I really meant "group" as for rigpa, shamballa etc and all these names we find very frequently in the west even if at in the essence they are maybe from a same school.

SherabDorje

As far as I know it's still all the same. One initiation should be recognized in all the Vajrayana schools. Rigpa and Shambala are from different schools, as far as I know. You might do well to research the major Vajrayana schools: Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, and Gelug. This would be easy to find on the internet. But again, the initiations should be valid across the various schools.

namahbuddha

I was not saying rigpa and shambala were from the same school, sorry if I gave that impression, just was naming what I meant by group. sometimes I hear about someone receiving for ex. Green Tara from Atisha lineage or Green Tara from the Sakya treasures and you know when you go to some centers they really may ask you from which lineage you got the empowerment if you want to take place at the puja etc.

Mani

Is it possible to ask these questions to your teacher or the resident teacher at the centre you practice at? This may help to save time and confusion. If there are differences, then perhaps you could request the instructions on how to do the actual practices.

Mani

SherabDorje

The second group may just want to know if you have received a valid initiation, and asking where that valid initiation came from is a logical thing. I know of no reason initiations would not be valid coming from separate schools. I have never heard of it at all.

namahbuddha

thanks to all replies and for taking the time to answer me. As I don't dispose of a teacher or resident teacher at the moment I preferred to ask here just to have some ideas for the time being, I apologise if my questions sometimes can seam a little bit out of context. really appreciate all the replies , sorry again

Mani

Mmmm...No, I am just a memeber and fellow dharma practitioner. lol!

I find nothing wrong with your questions, in fact it is an important one to ask from the perspective of wanting to maintain a proper practice. In this way of was giving the advice from what I might do in this situation.

I was only making the suggestion as when it is possible to go right to the source, as this can be helpful. That is the only reason I made the suggestion. As a practitioner and one who teaches a specific meditation method here to westerners, whenever they have questions, if they are from a general standpoint, I may try to answer them. Otherwise we will try to take the trouble to get direct answers from our guru, as he is the best one to answer specific questions regarding practice...



Be well...

namahbuddha

sorry Mani I read again your message and realized what you meant
I have reacted a little bit too strong so I apologise to you and edited my answer a bit too late. I agree with you. thank you so much for all the help and support.

Mani

No worries, friend!

This is one aspect that makes communicating online a little difficult, I think.

Happy holiday's

namahbuddha

Happy holidays to you too. all the very best!!!

compassionate_warrior

As far as I know, once you're given an empowerment, you're supposed to practice daily the rest of your life. To choose to participate in an empowerment means you've made a commitment to that empowerment. Empowerments generally aren't like a smorgasboard of practices that you taste from here and there, now and then. Some lamas seem to recognize that some students attend more out of curiosity or a need for inspiration at a given time, and take a more flexible attitude, but my understanding is that one doesn't participate in an empowerment unless one is ready to make a lifelong commitment to the practice.

Mani

I suppose that it could be different for different teachers and different lineages, but I think generally this probably would not apply so much in terms of the lower classes of tantra, but more so for HYT. Keep in mind that for some students, they must progress a little more grudually through the lower classes, while others may not. For those that do, they will probably have to receive empowerments for the different practices. in that case, one cannot practice "everything everyday", I think the main practice (if one is practicing HYT) takes precedence.

I do agree though that one should understand the committments to the practice and to the guru (through samaya vows) ahead of time. Remember too, that in some cases, an empowerment can be given as a blessing to some people in different situations. ie, HHDL-kalachakra

Good point, though!