Q: I’m wondering if it is necessary to take refuge before the empowerment?
A: No, because you are taking refuge it is part of the empowerment. Every empowerment comes with the Bodhicitta, refuge and so on.
You have to keep in mind Buddhism is not about conversion. In other religious faith it is all about like, you have to be baptised “Oh, now you are this, now you are that”. In Buddhism ideally, there is no such as conversion, we take a refuge in the Buddha as an example figure, you know?
So every empowerment, every puja, there is always refuge, there always confession, there is always a Bodhicitta along with it.
So tomorrow afternoon, when I do the empowerment, there will be a time where I’ll say “repeat after me” so then you will be repeating after, sentence such as saying “I take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha” and so on, and “I want to benefit all the sentient beings” and so on. It’s part of the empowerment, so don’t worry about it.
Six-Armed Mahakala Teachings – Vajradhara Ling France
July 12, 2024 – Afternoon session (2h 17′ 02” – Q&A1)
Comments are closed.