Four empowerments

Four empowerments (Tib. དབང་བཞི་, wang shyi; Wyl. dbang bzhi) — in general, and according to the inner tantras, there are four levels or stages within any empowerment:

1. the vase empowerment (Wyl. bum pa'i dbang; Skt. kalaśābhiṣeka)
2. the secret empowerment (Wyl. gsang ba'i dbang; Skt. guhyābhiṣeka)
3. the knowledge-wisdom empowerment (Wyl. shes rab ye shes kyi dbang; Skt. prajñājñānābhiṣeka)
4. the precious word empowerment (Tib. tsik wang rinpoche; Wyl. tshig dbang rin po che)

The Function of the Four Empowerments

The Vase Empowerment

• purifies all the negative karma accumulated through negative actions of the body
• grants the blessings of the vajra body
• unknots and heals the nadi
• authorizes the student as a receptive vessel for kyérim, the generation stage of visualization
• sows the seed for the attainment of the state of a ‘completely matured vidyadhara’
• enables the student to attain the nirmanakaya level of realization.

The Secret Empowerment

• purifies all the negative karma accumulated through negative actions of the speech
• grants the blessings of vajra speech
• unblocks and re-balances the prana
• authorizes the student as a receptive vessel for mantra recitation
• sows the seed for the attainment of the state of a ‘vidyadhara with power over life’
• enables the student to attain the sambhogakaya level of realization.

The Transcendent Knowledge-Wisdom Empowerment

• purifies all the negative karma accumulated through negative actions of the mind
• grants the blessings of the vajra mind
• purifies and enhances bindu
• authorizes the student as a receptive vessel for the chandali practices of bliss and emptiness (i.e. tsa-lung and tummo)
• sows the seed for the attainment of the state of a ‘mahamudra vidyadhara’
• enables the student to attain the dharmakaya level of realization.

The Precious Word Empowerment

• purifies all defilements of body, speech and mind, and all karmic and cognitive obscurations
• grants the blessings of vajra wisdom
• authorizes the student as a receptive vessel for the practice of trekchö
• sows the seed for the attainment of the state of a ‘spontaneously accomplished vidyadhara’
• enables the student to attain the svabhavikakaya level of realization.

Further Reading

• His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Pure Appearance—Development and Completion Stages in the Vajrayana Practice (Halifax: Vajravairochana Translation Committee, 2002), pages 1-14. restricted publication
• Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Guru Yoga: According to the Preliminary Practice of Longchen Nyingtik (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1999), pages 63-70.
• Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse, Not for Happiness (Boston & London: Shambhala, 2012) Ch.13 'Abhisheka and the Four Empowerments in Guru Yoga'.
• Mingyur Rinpoche, Turning Confusion into Clarity (Boulder: Snow Lion, 2014), pages 331-335.
• Thinley Norbu, The Small Golden Key (Shambhala Publications, 1999), pages 60-63.
• Tulku Thondup, Enlightened Journey (Boston: Shambhala, 1995), Chapter 12 'Receiving the Four Empowerments of Ngöndro Meditation'.