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What an empowerment actually does

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This is the missing history of women in Tantric Buddhism. This course addresses the fascinating story of nuns, mothers, teachers, consorts, prophets, and disciples. Taught by scholar-practitioners whose groundbreaking research on women and Buddhism has changed the way we think of Buddhist history. This course will address the history of women in Buddhism, the history of yoginis and dakinis in India and Tibet, the stories of important Buddhist women, Buddhist philosophy on gender, sex, and sexuality, and the role of the consort in historical Tibet, and contemporary manifestations and so much more. Support the Buddhist Studies Institute by donating for…
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October 5, 2026 by Buddhist Yogis






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Buddhist Studies Institute

I want to write to you about what an empowerment actually is, because it is one of the most misunderstood aspects of Vajrayana practice, and because the tradition itself is precise about it in ways that make the question interesting rather than mystifying.

An empowerment, in Tibetan wang (dbang), literally means “power” or “authorization.” What it does is bring the practitioner into a specific lineage stream of a specific practice, so that the practice she then undertakes is not a private psychological exercise but a participation in something transmitted from teacher to student across the generations.

Without empowerment, one can read the texts of a deity practice. One can visualize the deity in a general way. One can recite the mantra. But the tradition holds that the specific transformative power of the practice, its capacity to bring about the awakening it describes, arrives through empowerment. The lineage stream itself is what carries the awakening. Empowerment is how a practitioner enters that stream.

For Vajrayogini, this matters especially, because her practice is one of the most powerful in the tantric tradition. And it is not a practice one enters through the printed word alone. Instead one enters into the relational stream of wisdom holders, whispered transmissions (lung), and rites of empowerment (wang).

The empowerment I am co-hosting with Drupon Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche on October 10 and 11 is such an entry point.

Drupon Rinpoche has practiced Vajrayogini daily for decades. He was ordained by His Holiness Drikung Kyabgön Chetsang Rinpoche in 1995. He completed two traditional three-year retreats, one at Almora and one at Lapchi, the sacred cave where Milarepa practiced. He has been teaching at BSI annually since 2020. When he transmits the Vajrayogini empowerment, he is transmitting a lineage of Vajrayogini that he embodies.

Following the empowerment weekend, there are four Monday evening sessions with me. I will teach on the historical foundations of the yoginī tradition. The teachings of the Black Ḍākinī. The love and treasure-revealer yoginīs. The consorts of the esoteric Buddhist tradition. Everything I have been studying and receiving throughout my life poured into four evenings for anyone drawn to join.

You do not need to have practiced Vajrayana before to receive this empowerment. The empowerment itself creates the ground and we provide ample ngondro resources for those who want to follow with serious practice. What is asked of you is presence and intention, and the willingness to enter a lineage. Many of the practitioners who will be with us this October are entering Vajrayogini for the first time, others are on the journey to receiving the empowerment twenty-one times. All are welcome.

Learn more about Vajrayogini —>

My best to you always,

The Vajrayogini Empowerment, Retreat and Program

Empowerment Weekend
Saturday and Sunday, October 10 and 11, 2026

Monday Evenings
5-6:30pm PT
October 12, 19, 26, November 2

Online via Zoom
with recordings for all sessions

Learn More about Vajrayogini

 

UPCOMING PROGRAMS 

Daily Meditation Online
with BSI Certified Meditation Teachers

Vajrayana Training
1st & 2nd Wednesdays with Pema Khandro

Vajrayogini Empowerment, Retreat & Program
The Fierce Joyful Ḍākinī and the Yoginīs of Tibet
Weekend Empowerment Retreat: Sat–Sun, October 10–11, 2026
Monday Evening Sessions: Oct 12, 19, 26, Nov 2
Vajrayogini Empowerment with Drupon Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche
and Teachings with Tulku Pema Khandro

The Lion-Faced Ḍākinī Retreat and Program
The Wrathful Sacred Feminine and the Great Perfection
Weekend Transmission and Retreat: Sat–Sun, Nov 7–8, 2026
Monday Evening Sessions: Nov 9, 16, 23, 30
with Tulku Pema Khandro

SAVE THE DATE – Dzogchen and the Body
Longchenpa’s Treasury of Words and Meanings
Sat & Sun December 5-6, 9am-1pm PT
with David Germano, PhD and Pema Khandro, PhD

 

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