Kalachakra Initiation and Buddhist Mandala Rituals

with precision in your heart. While I am wandering in the cycle of life driven by deep passion, may lord Amitabha, Buddha of Infinite Light guide me on the path of clear light of Discriminating Wisdom! Along the way may his consort Pandaravasini, the White and Pure sustain me, save me from the dangerous difficulties of the intermediate state and lead me to perfect illumination. Ratnasambhava (Origin of Gems), Golden Buddha, Matrix of the Gem, Yellow, Earth, Jewel, South (Enriches and fights greed) Wisdom of Justice (vs. greed) Realm of the Golden Buddha (Consort: Mamaki) At this moment from the yellow southern buddha land of Shrimat, appears the yellow lord Ratnasambhava, the Origin of Gems, riding a magnificent horse while carrying a precious gem that fulfills desires, united with his consort Mamaki the Divine Mother [...] From the heart of the Origin of Gems couple shines before you, yellow and penetrating, clear and blinding, adorned with sparkling drops, unbearable to your gaze the yellow light of the Wisdom of Justice and penetrates the center of your heart.[...] At this point without fear you must recognize that brilliant clear light, yellow, penetrating and blinding, as wisdom. Place mind in it and relax your awareness without doing anything else. If you can recognize it as energy of your consciousness, then you will unite indissolubly with all images and rays and become enlightened. Amoghasiddhi, Emerald Buddha, The Infallible Perfection, Green, Air, Double Vajra, North (pacifies and fights envy) Omnipotent Wisdom (vs. envy) Realm of the Emerald Buddha (Consort: Dolma) At that moment from the green northern buddha land, the green lord Amoghasiddhi, the Infallible Lord, appears to you seated on an eagle throne, holding a diamond-lightning cross united with his consort the Noble Green Star [...] on a background of rainbows and lights. From the heart of the Infallible Lord couple shines, green and penetrating, clear and blinding, adorned with sparkling dew, unbearable to your gaze, the green light of Omnipotent Wisdom and penetrates precisely the center of your heart. While I am wandering in the cycle of life driven by deep envy may lord Amoghasiddhi, the Infallible perfection guide me on the path of Omnipotent Wisdom! Along the way may his buddha consort Samayatara, the Noble Green Star, sustain me, save me from the dangerous difficulties of the intermediate state and lead me to perfect illumination! RITUAL AND LITURGY OF MANDALAS: THE KALACHAKRA To give you an idea of the kind of Initiation that takes place in relation to these Mandalas I wanted to report some guidelines of an initiation associated with a particular mandala which is the Kalachakra. This is perhaps the most important initiation of Diamond Vehicle Buddhism which is said to have been conferred one year after enlightenment by Buddha on the vulture peak to Sucandra the King of Shambala. This is also a very rare initiation that in its complete form is rarely conferred. The first phase which is the only one we deal with consists of 13 days. 1.First Day: After the preparatory and purification phase that lasts several days and in which one must prepare the place with purifying rites and the initiands. After having waited for the propitious moment for the performance of the ceremony. One must create the psychic protective enclosure with the invocation of protective Deities and the power of meditation on the Great Void. 2.Second Day: The creation of the psychic wall ends with the use of particular mantras and associated mudras. Then after the consecration of objects within the psychic wall the schematic drawing of the Mandala is traced on the ground. 3.Third Day: With the ritual the Deities are invoked in their respective seats. The cords of 5 colors representing the 5 female Deities with their energies are consecrated. Some specialized Lamas begin to draw the Mandala. 4. From the Fourth to Seventh Day the Mandala is drawn. 5. The Eighth day the Mandala is adorned with banners offerings and a meditation takes place to complete the formation of the psychic enclosure. 6. The Ninth day the Initiating Master performs a ritual dance for the purpose of consecrating the Mandala. 7. On the Eleventh day each of the disciples enters the Mandala blindfolded starting from the direction relative to the deity with which he is spiritually most akin. At that point the blindfold is removed from the initiate's eyes and he is asked to assimilate to the realities represented in the mandala. 8. On the Twelfth day they are conferred 7 initiations: of water, of the crown of the head, of the diadem, of lightning, of the bell, of right conduct (in which they are clothed with ornaments of human bones, hold cups obtained from human skulls and tridents. Finally they are given the secret name of the deity Kalachakra. 9. At this point the mandala is erased from the ground and the sand dispersed in the river waters. AWAKENING OF CENTERS OF CONSCIOUSNESS THROUGH YANTRAS So as we have said most mandalas are associated with a specific initiation and are functional to awaken the initiate's consciousness to transcendent forces to free consciousness from the bondage of demonic forces. In general terms then we have seen mandalas are structured according to a quaternary model that takes into account the quinary structure with which the transcendent Buddha, the Archetypal Man, the Adam Kadmon of Jewish tradition, reveals himself to cosmic man to redeem and save him with his five primordial forms represented by five lights. However there are specific mandalas for each deity that are associated with particular meditations, visualizations and rites. To understand them we must refer to a typically Indian doctrine that then spread to Tibet giving rise to this type of mandala. DOCTRINE OF CENTERS OF FORCE The doctrine in question is that relating to centers of force or chakra according to the Sanskrit language or korlos according to the Tibetan language. The doctrine is essentially simple: as we have seen at the beginning according to these doctrines the external world is nothing other than an expression of cosmic consciousness. Every external reality resonates with a particular reality