02. Empowerment of Buddha Prajnaparamita
2025.07.27
We’re gathered at this international Kadampa Festival as one family.
Geshe-la said:
The topic of this festival is to revisit the teachings and empowerment from Portugal 2013.
It’s helpful to recognise in the NKT that an empowerment is part of a profound meditation programme. You will be guided step by step along the common and uncommon paths. The final step, so profound, is Tantra.
So in the empowerment you can transform your mind.
The root of all spiritual attainments is faith in the Spiritual Guide.
Today you will receive the empowerment of the Great Mother Prajnaparamita.
There are 4 stages:
- The preliminary explanation
- Who is Great Mother Prajnaparamita?
- What are the benefits of receiving this empowerment?
- What is our motivation for receiving this empowerment?
- A special recognition we need to hold
- Training in common paths
- Training in uncommon paths
- Receiving the actual empowerment
1. The preliminary explanation
Who is Prajnaparamita?
Prajnaparamita is a female enlightened Buddha who is the manifestation of the perfection of wisdom of all the Buddhas. Great Mother Prajnaparamita fulfils the wishes of those who wish to accomplish liberation and enlightenment. Prajnaparamita is Sanskrit for ‘perfection of wisdom’.
What is the perfection of wisdom? It is a wisdom realising emptiness that is mixed with compassion for all living beings.
There are different levels of wisdom. The perfection of wisdom is a higher wisdom. Without this wisdom there is no attainment of enlightenment.
Her function is to bestow upon us wisdom, in particular the perfection of wisdom and the higher perfection of wisdom.
Arya Tara, Venerable Vajrayogini, and Great Mother Prajnaparamita are the same person. We use Tara in Sutra, Prajnaparamita in action Tantra, and Vajrayogini in HYT. Same person but different aspects.
The benefits of receiving this empowerment:
We should know that we need wisdom. With wisdom we can make ourself and others happy all the time. We can solve all our daily problems. We can understand what we need to know, what we need to abandon, what we need to practise, and what we can attain.
We are human beings. Our uncommon characteristic is that we have a special capacity or ability, which we should use to learn everything we need to know. Unlike animals. We need to know modern technology, but this is just temporary. If we die today knowing how to use computers, this knowledge is useless. We cannot carry these things with us when we die. What can you carry? In reality what we really need is wisdom. It will guide us throughout our life, and take us to a pure land.
Normally we have strong attachment to the fulfilment of our wishes, and when they aren’t fulfilled, we get angry, frustrated, depressed. So much mental pain. Some even want to die. Why? Because they have not found the correct way to fulfil their wishes. Because the method they’re using isn’t correct. With wisdom we find correct methods for fulfilling our wishes. Then we can fulfil all our wishes. Wisdom helps us from looking for happiness where it can’t be found.
We can find the spiritual path that leads us to the pure and everlasting happiness of liberation and enlightenment.
Our motivation for receiving this empowerment:
Our motivation should be compassion for all living beings
Of course in the beginning we can’t do this. But we can start. Since beginningless time because we lacked compassion we engaged in actions that harmed others. And because of this we experience the cycle of suffering in life after life - samsara.
Guided meditation:
Normally we believe the self we normally see is most important. We believe its wishes are most important. We neglect the happiness of others. This is ignorance. Because the self we normally we see does not exist. I can prove this. Normally we see ourself within our body or mind. Our body is not our self. Our mind is not ourself. The collection of our body and mind is not ourself. Our self is not separate from our body and mind. If we search for it with wisdom it disappears like a mirage. If it actually existed it would become clearer. We can do the same exercise with self with our body. It is mere name, mere imputation by mind. The thought, ‘body’.
Self-cherishing is deceiving us. In truth, the happiness and freedom of others is more important Because I am only 1, and others are countless. Thinking in this way, we should think, “I must liberate all living beings from their suffering by attaining enlightenment”. This is aspiring bodhichitta. We should maintain this good heart day and night. This good heart always gives good results, I promise.
The special recognition we need to hold:
Believe the place we are receiving this empowerment is the pure land of Akanishta, which was the first place that Buddha Shakyamuni attained enlightenment. We should regard the spiritual teacher granting this empowerment as the emanation of Buddha Shakyamuni and in the space in front is Great Mother Prajnaparamita surrounded by all the Buddhas of the 10 directions.
Mandala offering
2. Training in common paths
Because we have met Buddhadharma we have the opportunity to improve ourself, higher and higher, to the highest of being.
We don’t like to remain ordinary forever. This is improving ourselves in the most profound way. Animals can’t do this. If we don’t do this, how are we different to animals?
Don’t remain as an ordinary ignorant being.
We do this by training in the common and uncommon paths. We cannot attain enlightenment without ourself doing anything. This is impossible.
In this context, training in the refuge vow and the bodhisattva vow is training in common paths.
Why are they common? Because they are open to everyone.
Refuge vows is the gateway to Buddhism, and bodhisattva vows is the gateway to Mahayana Buddhism in particular. If we don’t enter this gateway, we won’t attain enlightenment.
This is the real meaning of our human life. This is why we need to take refuge and bodhisattva vows. Everything is based on reason and logic.
‘I not wish to remain in this prison of samsara, the cycle of suffering, one suffering continually leading to another. I must improve myself and advance from the state from an ordinary ignorant being to a higher and higher being until I reach the state of the highest being, Buddha, and liberate all living beings from their suffering.’
When we take the refuge and bodhisattva vows, from the depths of we heart we promise…
We need to commit ourself, otherwise we lose the opportunity to become an enlightened being.
3. Training in uncommon paths
This refers to training in self-generation where we generate ourself as Great Prajnaparamita in our pure land. This is tantric practice. We are creating ourself, imputing ourself, as Prajnaparamita.
Since beginningless time the way we believe ourself to be is mistaken. All the things we normally we see do not exist. If we correctly identify ourself as the union of appearance and emptiness, our mistaken appearance will reduce and cease completely. We will become the union of Great Mother Prajnaparamita. Because of emptiness this is possible.
Fortunately, the self we normally see does not exist. So we have choice.
Buddha explained emptiness in Sutra teachings in preparation for tantric teachings.
4. Receiving the actual empowerment
Training in common and uncommon paths is like sowing seeds. Receiving blessings is like water on these seeds.
We should never ignore imagination. Correct imagination is not ordinary imagination. It has great meaning. In Tantra it is very important. In reality everything is imagination. There are no inherently existent things at all.
Concluding advice:
To prevent the blessings from degenerating you should remember that Great Mother Prajnaparamita is always at your heart. This helps you to overcome obstacles such as delusions and makes your mind peaceful and happy
You should make requests to her to pacify obstacles and receive her blessings and help by engaging in the sadhana.
You should recite her mantra with great faith.