Within the Gelug tradition, monastic vows are regarded as the indispensable ground upon which all higher commitments rest. The discipline of the prātimokṣa—especially celibacy, truthfulness, and restraint of body, speech, and mind—is not set aside when tantric practice begins, but rather is treated as the stable container that makes such practice viable. Ethical purity is seen as the very condition for tantric effectiveness, so what is explicitly forbidden by monastic discipline is not legitimized by appeal to tantra. When apparent tensions arise, the solution is not to relax the Vinaya, but to understand tantric instructions in a way that leaves the monastic framework intact.

This integration is often described as a hierarchy of three interrelated sets of vows: prātimokṣa, bodhisattva, and tantric. The monastic vows provide the basic restraint, the bodhisattva vows infuse that restraint with altruistic motivation, and tantric samaya refines method through deity yoga, mantra, and guru-devotion. These are understood as nested rather than competing: each higher level rests upon and presupposes the integrity of the lower. Thus, lower vows are never abandoned; they are recontextualized within a broader vision of bodhicitta and tantric transformation, while remaining non‑negotiable in practical conduct.

A key strategy for harmonizing the two domains is interpretive. Gelug exegesis treats the more transgressive elements of Highest Yoga Tantra—such as sexual union or the consumption of substances—as primarily symbolic or internal yogic processes for those holding monastic vows. Union is read as the joining of method and wisdom in meditation, and substances are approached as occasions for transforming perception into purity and emptiness, rather than as license for literal violation of discipline. Where practices could conflict with celibacy or other core rules, they are either not undertaken by monastics or are engaged with purely in visualization.

This careful balance is supported by a structured path of training and by ongoing practices of confession and restoration. Tantric initiations are generally preceded by substantial grounding in monastic discipline, philosophical study, and the cultivation of bodhicitta, so that practitioners know how to uphold all levels of commitment simultaneously. Daily practices such as Vajrasattva recitation or guru yoga, along with regular monastic confession ceremonies, function to repair and reinforce all three sets of vows. In this way, monastic discipline and tantric samaya are not two rival codes, but a single, graded ethical and contemplative path, in which the most esoteric methods are continually anchored in the most basic commitments.