In the Vajrayāna environment of Tibetan Buddhism, entering into tantric practice unfolds through a carefully structured relationship with a qualified vajra master and a living lineage. The ground is laid by taking refuge in the Three Jewels and generating bodhicitta, supported by preliminary teachings and often by the performance of ngöndro, with its emphasis on purification, accumulation of merit, and guru devotion. This preparatory phase is not merely procedural; it is meant to stabilize ethical conduct, clarify motivation, and create the inner receptivity needed for the more esoteric stages. A bond of trust and responsibility is then established with a lineage-holding teacher who has themselves received the relevant empowerments and transmissions.

Within this framework, empowerment (wang) functions as the formal authorization and energetic “planting of the seed” for a specific tantra or deity practice. The ceremony typically includes ritual preparations such as mandala arrangements or visualizations, offerings, and confession or purification rites, all framed by refuge and bodhicitta. The lama then performs consecrations using mantras, visualizations, and sacred substances, while the disciple participates through attentive presence, visualization, and mantra recitation. In the context of Highest Yoga Tantra, this is articulated as four principal empowerments: the vase empowerment purifying the body and planting the seed for the form aspect of awakening; the secret empowerment purifying speech and subtle energy; the wisdom or knowledge empowerment purifying mind; and the word or fourth empowerment pointing toward primordial awareness itself. These empowerments authorize generation-stage and, in due course, completion-stage practice, and may be elaborated into many sub‑empowerments related to body, speech, mind, qualities, and activities.

Closely linked to wang are lung and tri, which ensure that the practice is not only ritually conferred but also textually and conceptually grounded. Lung, the reading transmission, consists of the teacher orally reciting the relevant text—whether a sādhanā, tantra, or commentary—while the disciple listens with faith and the intention to practice, thereby entering an unbroken chain of recitation and study. Tri, or instruction, then unpacks how to actually engage the practice: the sequence and meaning of the sādhanā, the visualizations of deity and maṇḍala, the use of mantra and mudrā, and the way these are integrated with the Mahāyāna view of emptiness and bodhicitta. Together, wang, lung, and tri form a triad: empowerment plants the seed, transmission connects to the living word, and instruction shows how to cultivate that seed in daily practice.

A further, indispensable dimension is the acceptance and maintenance of vows and samaya. During or around the empowerment, the disciple may take or renew prātimokṣa vows, bodhisattva vows, and tantric commitments specific to the deity and cycle of practice. These often include daily recitation of mantra or sādhanā, respect for the guru and vajra siblings, observance of particular ethical and behavioral boundaries, and appropriate discretion regarding esoteric details. After the ceremony, the real work begins: sustaining regular practice, periodically renewing connection with the teacher and lineage, and, when appropriate, receiving additional empowerments, transmissions, and explanations that deepen and refine the path.