page_title: Empowerment (Vajrayana)
section_title: Process
hierarchical_section_title: Empowerment (Vajrayana) / Process
caption_attribution_description: English: Tibetan བུམ་པ་ Bumpa vase on a Tibetan Buddhist shrine in London.
context_page_description: An empowerment is a ritual in Vajrayana which initiates a student into a particular tantric deity practice. The Tibetan word for this is wang, which literally translates to power. The Sanskrit term for this is abhiseka which literally translates to sprinkling or bathing or anointing. A tantric practice is not considered effective or as effective until a qualified master has transmitted the corresponding power of the practice directly to the student. This may also refer to introducing the student to the mandala of the deity.
  There are three requirements before a student may begin a practice:
  the empowerment
  a reading of the text by an authorized holder of the practice
  instruction on how to perform the practice or rituals.
  An individual is not allowed to engage in a deity practice without the empowerment for that practice. The details of an empowerment ritual are often kept secret as are the specific rituals involved in the deity practice.
context_section_description: The ritual for performing an empowerment can be divided into four parts:
  'vase' (Tibetan: bumpa) or water empowerment
  secret (Sanskrit: guhya) empowerment
  knowledge-wisdom (Sanskrit: prajna-jnana) empowerment
  word, fourth, or suchness empowerment
  The ritual is based on the coronation process of a king but in this case represents the student being empowered as the deity of the practice (i.e. a Buddha). The vase empowerment symbolizes purification of the body, senses, and world into the body of the deity and may include a vase filled with water or washing. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche compared that to baptism. The secret empowerment involves receiving nectar to purify the breath and speech into the speech of that deity. The knowledge-wisdom empowerment involves uniting with a real or imaginary consort, called the prajna, to experience the blissful wisdom (jnana) mind of the deity. The word empowerment involves means by word, sound, or symbols to realize the union, mind essence or mind nature, or the suchness of the deity.
caption: A bumpa
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