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Comments on “You need to learn tantra”

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Only the dakinis can initiate you;

caveofthesun 2012-03-05

Hi

Only the dakinis can initiate you; is that kind of initiation found in scriptures?
Are there stories of tantrikas who did not have a human guru/lama? Well, I think I do tantra, and have no human teacher, Have never communicated about this before. Where I live its hard to find openminded buddhist sangha.

greetings

Dakini initiation

David Chapman 2012-03-12

Hi,

Sorry to be slow to reply; I was on retreat last week.

is that kind of initiation found in scriptures?

I’m not exactly sure… In the novel, this relates to a hypothetical initial phase of tantra which would have been quite different from what exists today. But, many/most of the tantric mythical histories begin with non-human beings. And, it still happens that tertons receive new teachings directly from dakinis, which (according to terma theory) involves transmission of abhisheka (initiation) from them.

Theoretical considerations aside, probably all Tibetan teachers would say you can’t practice tantra without a human teacher. But, they have a certain vested interest in that claim!

Personally, for what it’s worth, I think that having a human teacher is extremely valuable, whether or not it’s absolutely necessary. Finding one you are compatible with may be difficult, however.

Best wishes,

David

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