Hundred Deities and Empowerments

Kathok Rigzin Chenpo Rinpoche

In the past, many people had deep meditative abilities which allowed them to transform things through meditation.  Furthermore, many people acquired the power of mantra. When we read the biographies of past lineage masters, there are many mentions of masters who possessed mantra power and what they achieved through it.  This was a phase when mantra power was emphasized.

Nowadays, people rely more on substance or the power of interdependence. Whether these alone can lead directly to liberation is a question, but they can certainly serve as supportive conditions to guide us toward the path of liberation, as a type of skillful means.

What does the power of interdependence and substance refer to? For example, during Dharma assemblies, we recite many texts as well as perform hand mudras and vajra dances.  Essentially, most practices that accumulate merits involve bodily actions.  This is due to the power of interdependence which benefits even those with lower capacities. It is very much like medicine which is effective regardless of who takes it, though the degree of effectiveness can vary with the individual’s physical constitution.  But some positive effect is sure to occur.

The practice of Hundred Peaceful and Wrathful Deities places great emphasis on repentance. This includes various methods such as performing full prostrations, making extensive Ganachakra offerings, creating deity images, chanting the deities’ names, and reciting mantras. There are both conceptual repentance and non-conceptual meditative repentance.

Both the Kagyu and Nyingma schools hold this practice in deep reverence.  Almost every monastery practices it. The most excellent masters who perform rituals for others can memorize the entire sadhana spanning some two to three hundred pages.

When we were in our teens, we also memorized these texts. Initially, it was not with liberation in mind, but for the sake of performing ceremonies. Back then, my personal teacher didn’t explain much about how this practice led to liberation.  He mainly taught us the sequence for chanting on behalf of the deceased, the various short, middle and extensive lengths of ritual practices, how to play dharma instruments, the melodies and how to make the tormas etc. We spent two to three years learning this.

Of course, this practice is extremely profound—it belongs to the class of the Anutarayoga Tantra (highest class of Tantra). It is an entire system of visualization and meditation — a Dharma-door for benefiting sentient beings and leading them to liberation.

Many Anutarayoga Tantra practices are kept secret and subjected to many requirements and restrictions.  The more secret the practice, the more restricted it became and was not given openly. This is because very few people are suitable vessels for such teachings. Qualified disciples with the right conditions, environment, and time to do these practices are rare, therefore they are kept secret.

However, there are two Vajrayana practices that are openly accessible to all in Tibetan Buddhism. One is the Kalachakra, which welcomes as many participants as possible — it is publicly transmitted. The other is the Hundred Peaceful and Wrathful Deities which does not impose many restrictions. Anyone who wishes to, whether the elderly or young kids, can participate. This is due to the aspirations of the Hundred Deities —simply hearing the names of these deities eliminates the karma of taking rebirth in the hell realms.

This is especially effective for those who hear these names recited for them before their death.  If they still have consciousness and do not commit any negative karma afterwards, they have a chance of liberation (at death).  At that point, they are not really able to create much new negative karmas anyway.

On the other hand, busy people nowadays might purify karma today, but tomorrow they generate afflictions again (Rinpoche laughs).  Today, they accumulate vast merit, chant the Hundred Deities' names and already possess the conditions for rebirth in a pureland, but the next day, they might generate a negative thought or a wrong view and create negative karma anew, leading to rebirths in the hell realms.

In such a situation, the Hundred Deities’ empowerment should be received as many times as possible. In Tibetan Buddhism, especially the Nyingma tradition, it is common to receive empowerments a hundred, thousand or even ten thousand times.

In the past, wealthy families or sponsors would invite a hundred masters or lamas to conduct ten-day ceremonies, bestowing over a hundred or a thousand empowerments. Everyone who had the time would attend. Only the Hundred Deities and Longevity practices emphasized receiving the empowerments a hundred or a thousand times.

I attended these thousand-times empowerments about three times when I was younger in my teens. It usually took ten days. As for hundred-times empowerments, I also attended a number of times. If there were many masters or lamas, it could be completed in a day. If there were fewer masters, the ceremony would take about two days.  In these events, the sadhana was performed more than a hundred times, the empowerments were given a hundred times. In this way, everyone underwent repentance and purification.  It is a purification ceremony.

Why repeat it so many times? By right, if something is truly effective, once should be enough. However, as ordinary beings, our minds are constantly moving, constantly creating new karma. Karma is not created once, but continually and repetitively.  Likewise, repentance must be repeated over and over again.

The same principle applies to mantras.  If we had genuine mindfulness and recited the mantra seven times in a deep meditative state, that is enough to produce the results.  But since we lack such meditative ability, we need to chant up to a hundred million times, hoping that, in the process, our minds will be in a state of utter purity for at least five minutes.  It is for such a goal that we accumulate the mantras to such large numbers.  Similarly, we receive the empowerments over and over again for the same reason.

I often tell people that when Guru Rinpoche was asked if one should receive empowerment, he replied, "One must receive empowerment every year.”  Guru Rinpoche gave an example: if one lived to a hundred years old and received an empowerment every year, you would receive a total of a hundred empowerments before you died. Then, even if this person were reborn in the animal realm, he/she will become a powerful animal that is not easily bullied by others. (Rinpoche laughs.)  Empowerment is a way of gaining power.  It is also an authorisation.

In Tibetan Buddhism, there are two perspectives on this. According to one view, people are encouraged to receive many empowerments. The other view holds that too many empowerments can lead people to take them lightly and lose respect and appreciation for the teachings, so it is better to limit them, making each empowerment more precious. This reasoning is also valid.

Among my own teachers, both viewpoints existed. My uncle, Katok Zhichen Ontrul Rinpoche rarely gave empowerments. Sometimes, even after hundreds of disciples repeatedly requested, he would only give one empowerment with many requirements. He did not give empowerments easily. When he was young, he gave many empowerments, but after completing his Geshe degree, he stopped. Though originally a Nyingma tulku and Khenpo, he later studied in the Gelug tradition, eventually becoming the top Lharampa Geshe. After that, he seldom gave empowerments, believing that few masters and disciples were qualified and that if empowerments were given too freely, people would not cherish them.

Chatral Rinpoche also rarely gave empowerments. I received a few empowerments from him, including some of the Longchen Nyingthik Three Roots, as well as the Hundred Peaceful and Wrathful Deities. During a certain period, Chatral Rinpoche actively propagated the practice of the Hundred Deities, believing in the aspirations of the deities.  Rinpoche felt that people could purify negative karma — even the karma leading to rebirth in hell — simply by hearing the deities’ names or reciting the mantra, even if this person did not practice diligently. He felt that this practice was important to people in the degenerate age.

Chatral Rinpoche also printed many ritual texts of the Hundred Deities from the treasure teachings of Kathok. At that time, these texts were very rare in Nepal. A Bhutanese practitioner was tasked with checking and writing the text, but the process was filled with obstacles. After much difficulty, the texts were finally published and Chatral Rinpoche wrote a preface which was quite amusing.

He had instructed a disciple to have the text printed quickly. This disciple made a lot of efforts but the person who was responsible for writing sometimes came and sometimes disappeared. It took three years of waiting to accomplish the text. Chatral Rinpoche complained in his preface, “I provided the money and gave them time, yet it still took three years to receive the text.” (Rinpoche laughs.) Chatral Rinpoche scolded many people in his preface and commented, “The merit of sentient beings is insufficient; if this practice had been spread earlier, it would have been better.” The disciple in charge was not irresponsible—he was a good person—but the person copying the texts would sometimes vanish for six months at a time. Though he worked hard, he was also helpless in the situation. Still, Chatral Rinpoche mentioned his name in the preface and scolded him! But this disciple was someone Chatral Rinpoche doted upon very much.

For a period, Chatral Rinpoche focused on propagating the Hundred Deities.  As for the other teachings, he maintained extreme secrecy. For instance, other teachings on Anuyoga and Dzogchen were kept super secret. Some students requested these teachings for over a decade but he did not give them the teachings. They had finished all kinds of preliminary practices.  With Chatral Rinpoche, there were many requirements such as the number of retreats one had to complete or the number of mantra recitations one needed to accumulate. Many Tibetan masters would also impose such conditions.

Nowadays, teachers outside Tibet are much more lenient. (Rinpoche laughs.) The requirements have become fewer and fewer! But many masters in Tibet still adhere to such strict requirements.  In India and Nepal, I believe Chatral Rinpoche was one of the few masters with such rigorous requirements. However, for certain disciples, he sometimes relaxed the requirements, making them very easy.  It depended on the student’s capacity.

In the Nyingma tradition, nearly every monastery holds annual Hundred Deities ceremonies. The list of names of all sponsors or benefactors connected to the monastery—both living and deceased—are gathered and prayers are offered for them. Empowerment, deliverance puja and prayers for well-being are performed. The Hundred Deities is a popular practice in Tibetan Buddhism. Receiving the Hundred Deities empowerment many times is highly beneficial.

Before my teacher, Thubten Norbu, passed away, at around 4 am, he said that he was going to enter parinirvana. The abbot, Konchok Tulku, said, “Wait a little longer.   We have arranged for the entire monastery to perform the Hundred Deities ceremony for you today.”

At that time, Thubten Norbu was feeling unwell and had prepared for his death by putting on his full monastic robes, but upon hearing this, he said, “Simply hearing the names of the Hundred Deities ensures one does not fall into the lower realms. To have the chance to hear them before death is a great blessing. I will not die for the time being.” He said this himself. Over twenty of us were present and heard him.

He then removed his robes, placed them beside him.  It was a Guru Rinpoche puja then.  About a hundred monks came and performed the ceremony until about 8pm. During the empowerment, his consciousness remained very clear and he received the empowerments one by one.

After the monks dispersed, his close friend, Gonpa Tulku from the Karma Kagyu school, stayed by his side, along with us disciples and some relatives. At one point, Thubten Norbu seemed to fall into a coma. For some time, there was no sound, it seemed like he had stopped breathing . After a while, he regained consciousness. Gonpa Tulku said, “It is time for your basic awareness to merge with the Dharmadhatu.”

Thubten Norbu nodded and said, “I know.” He then stood up and performed the mudra of sealing the six sense doors. Finally, he lay down on his right side in the same posture as Buddha passing into parinirvana.

Gonpa Tulku and a few older monks were beside him. I was behind them.  Gonpa Tulku began reciting some Dzogchen guidance instructions for pointing out the nature of mind. At each verse, Thubten Norbu nodded in acknowledgment. At the end, when the final syllable “Ah… Ah… Ah…” was chanted, his mind dissolved into the Dharmadhatu, and he entered parinirvana.

At that point, the Hundred Deities ceremony had only concluded half an hour or one hour before,  and most of the monks had just returned to their quarters. Gonpa Tulku called for the monks to gather again.  This was how Thubten Norbu passed away in an easy and controlled manner.

Many masters recite the prayers of the Hundred Deities before they pass away.  The Hundred Deities practice includes outer, inner, and secret supplication prayers. At that time, Gonpa Tulku recited the secret supplication prayer, which was not very long.  It contained some verses on pointing out one’s true nature.  Many Nyingma masters recite this before their death.  This is their most commonly used prayer.

Some monks spend their entire lives performing rituals for others, seemingly obsessed with money, using Dharma as a means of livelihood. Among them, there are many who practice the Hundred Deities.  They practice it daily whether for others or for themselves.  They recite the prayers with concentration. There are many cases of such monks achieving realization. On the surface, they do not seem like serious practitioners, yet at the moment of their passing, they manifest great signs of attainment.  There are many such practitioners. Thus, the Hundred Deities is an extraordinary practice.

The Hundred Deities can be practiced by ordinary beings too.  How to do the practice? Just recite the mantras of Vajrasattva and the Hundred Deities.  This practice is dedicated to purification, in particular, the purification of the karma of falling into the hell realms. This practice was first given for the purpose of benefiting beings in the hell realms.  Vajrasattva and Vairochana (Kunrig) both made aspirations to benefit beings in the hell realms, in particular, those beings who have transgressed the Pratimoksha vows, Bodhisattva vows or Vajrayana samayas and who are heading for the Vajra hells.  Thus, one can recite this practice for oneself and others such as friends, relatives, ancestors, the power of the aspiration of the deities will benefit them too.

Tibet has nine major translators, the most important of which is Vairotsana. The three major translators are Kawa Paltsek, Chokro Lui Gyaltsen and Shang Yeshe De. Among these, Chokro Lui Gyaltsen supplicated Guru Rinpoche for a practice to eliminate rebirths in the hell realms, ie, the Vajrasattva or Hundred Deities Practice. Guru Rinpoche transmitted these practices to Chokro Lui Gyaltsen, and from the beginning, Chokro Lui Gyaltsen translated many of the texts related to this practice.

The three major translators also translated many texts related to the Guhyagarbha Tantra. Ma Rinchen Chok and other translators also translated some texts related to the Hundred Deities practice. In any case, we can see that there are many explanations or commentaries on the Guhyagarbha Tantra nowadays.  There were more than 20 Indian and Tibetan commentaries.  There are even more recent commentaries composed within these 300 years. But looking further back, more than 300 years ago, there were many commentaries already.

In Tibetan Buddhism and even in the whole world now, the Hundred Deities practice is one of the most influential among all the teachings passed down by Guru Rinpoche. For instance, the bardo teachings or the book by Sogyal Rinpoche, “Tibetan Book of Living and Dying” are just a snippet from the entire corpus of the Hundred Deities cycle of teachings. It is a very extensive cycle. There are the teachings on the six bardos or four bardos, and the practices for rescuing beings in the bardo etc.  Guru Rinpoche holds countless Anuttarayoga Tantric practices, but the one that had the widest activity and benefit for human beings is the Hundred Deities Practice, which exist in every school…

How do we do this practice?  We do the practice based on faith.  If you don’t know the visualizations, you can just recite the mantra.  The mantra is inseparable from the Hundred Deities themselves. The Hundred Deities are the sound of the mantra itself. This sound is transmitted from the pure dharmadhatu, if one trusts in this and recites the mantra, visualization is not always necessary. This is practice based on faith.

One can also visualize Vajrasattva, Samantabhadra Buddha or one of the five Dhyani Buddhas. Place your mind on this visualisation while you do the practice. This works too. This is practicing based on faith too.

Also, one can practice through the generation stage. Many people do not understand the generation stage. Although the view of the generation stage is considered profound and some people may not understand it, the practice itself is not difficult. Some people assume it is too complex and give up without trying—this is quite common.  Whether you practice the Generation or Completion stage, it is for breaking self-grasping.  Everyone has very strong attachment to the five aggregates. 

In Sutrayana, one primarily uses analysis and contemplation to break the attachment to the five aggregates. For instance, we analyze whether the body is same as self-grasping, or whether it is different.  Whether they are co-existing or whether there is self-grasping in the body or whether the body is in self-grasping etc. There are five or six kinds of investigations, four kinds of truths etc.  Through analysis, one reaches the conclusion that the five aggregates which self-grasping is based upon do not exist in the first place.  This concept arises.   It is called a concept because it arises as a thought.  However, it doesn’t arise as a feeling or an experience. 

In Vajrayana, the concept is not enough, one must have the direct experience and feel it.  When we are happy, there is the feeling of happiness. We experience it directly. The idea or concept of happiness is just an idea. We might speculate that doing a particular activity will bring us happiness, but whether it truly brings us happiness or not is uncertain. Once you engage in that activity, you will know for yourself what happiness or unhappiness results from it.

Likewise, in Vajrayana practices, through visualization in the generation and completion stages, you cultivate direct experiences and feelings.   You don’t just think about happiness and suffering but you truly experience and recognize that this is happiness or suffering. This is very important…

In the Vajrayana, many people struggle with visualization of a deity. Why? Because they cling on to the sense of self tightly, and their feelings of the practice being difficult block their path and blind them. If you don’t regard the practice as being difficult and simply try, sometimes you break through naturally. (Rinpoche laughs.) From the start, don’t assume it’s hard. Vajrayana is known as the “Path of Skillful Means,” right? It’s called the “Path of Effortless and Swift Accomplishment,” the “Shortcut Path,” and the “Essence of the Dakinis” because it is actually not so difficult. You just need to accept it, try it, and you will definitely gain some result.  If you think it difficult and give up, then it will really be difficult for you and you lose this opportunity.

There was a story about Chatral Rinpoche. In Tibet, hailstorms were common in autumn and often caused a lot of destruction to the crops. To counteract these calamities, powerful mantra practitioners were invited to use mantras and rituals to protect the area.  They could prevent rain when rain was not desirable. These practitioners had the ability to change the weather. We personally witnessed them redirecting the hailstorms and rain in another direction.

Once, some farmers came seeking help, and Chatral Rinpoche asked his disciples one by one, “Can you do it?” Many responded, “I don’t think I can.” Those who thought they couldn’t do it were really not able to do it. Chatral Rinpoche sighed, “It seems like none of you are able to.” Then, one person said, “I don’t think I have strong mantra power, but since my Guru sent me, I will definitely succeed.” Chatral Rinpoche replied, “Your confidence is strong, you should be able to do it.” He sent that disciple out, and this person became a well-known mantra practitioner in the end with many miraculous stories. When you believe you can, you truly can.

In the generation stage, you take on the deity’s appearance.  This breaks our attachment to a particular male or female self-image that we have of ourselves.  The self-image of being an ordinary sentient being etc is removed.  You replace your head with the deity’s head, your hands with the deity’s hands, your feet with the deity’s feet, and transform your impure body into the pure form of the deity. You shift from a state of limitation to a state where your body, speech, and mind embody the Buddha’s perfected qualities. This naturally instills a sense of capability—an empowering realization of “I am powerful.” When you practice with this confidence, strength arises.

We should not think that it is difficult right from the start.  Visualization has beginner level and progressively advanced levels as your skill improves.  At the start, it is not possible to have total clarity in your visualization. But never think, “I can’t do it”, “This is difficult” or “This is hard to understand”.

Instead, cultivate the mindset: “I have the blessings of the Three Jewels and the lineage masters.  I can do this!” There is a Tibetan proverb: “With a snow mountain, one need not fear a lack of water,” and “With the presence of lineage masters, one need not fear the absence of blessings.”  You should think, “I do not have the power but I have the blessings of the lineage Gurus behind me.  Their strength is always with me. I will definitely have the blessings.”  Think like this.

When receiving an empowerment, the confidence of “having received” is crucial. One should think, “I have received the empowerment perfectly.” Even if one is unsure, one should assume you have received it. This is a matter of recognition and affirmation. The precepts and vows in the three vehicles of Buddhism are also based on recognition.  Recognition or affirmation is the most basic requirement for receiving the vows.

If someone questions, “Did you really receive the empowerment?” One can ask in return, “Did you truly receive the monastic vows or refuge vows?” It is completely the same principle. If you can receive the refuge vows, I can also receive the empowerment.  Receiving refuge is also an internal recognition: “I am now a Buddhist, and I have taken the commitment.” This is the basic requirement.

The Bodhisattva vows function similarly—there is no physical object being handed over to you. Vajrayana empowerments also operate on this basis, they are all a matter of inner confirmation.

Receiving full monastic ordination (bhikshu vows) does not immediately make one an Arhat, just as taking Bodhisattva vows does not instantly make one a Bodhisattva of the first Bhumi. After receiving vows and empowerments, one must begin the path of learning and practice.   After receiving the Bhikshu vows, you begin to learn the practices related to the Pratimoksha vows. It starts with the unambiguous certainty that one has already received the vows.   Whether one has received the empowerment or vows depends on whether you have this certainty.

Some rare individuals like King Indrabhuti or the 25 disciples of Guru Rinpoche are said to have attained realization immediately upon receiving empowerment.  We cannot place such similar expectations on present-day students who do not have such sharp capacities.  It cannot be helped.  Some people or masters who do not encourage people to go for empowerments feel that the disciples should be like Indrabhuti and should attain realization upon receiving the empowerment.  They feel that if the student doesn’t attain realization, this shouldn’t be called an empowerment. But this is really the standard for students of the highest caliber.

Similarly, in terms of the Pratimoksha vows, even during the Buddha’s time, some monks or nuns instantly realized Arhatship when they received ordination while others—such as Ananda—had not attained realization even by the time of the Buddha’s parinirvana.  There are high, medium and low standards for receiving the vows. If we judge by the highest standards, not to mention the students, even the Gurus would be hard-pressed to possess such qualifications. Probably a rare few Gurus would be of such caliber, and probably a rare few of the disciples would be of such caliber.

There are more people who fit the medium standards.  For them, the conditions for receiving empowerment are faith in the deity, faith in the teachings, and confidence in their own Buddha-nature. With this foundation of faith, they are qualified to receive empowerment.  I feel that many people meet these conditions.

The conditions for a qualified teacher are: completing a deity retreat and receiving signs in dreams or meditative states or actuality. Many masters achieve this. After a hundred-day retreat, it is actually difficult not to have at least one good dream. (Rinpoche laughs.)  If you don’t have such dreams, it probably means you weren’t focusing properly in practice. If you spend all day visualizing the deity, it’s hard not to dream of the deity at night.  If we go by such standards, most masters are qualified.