Question asked by Bhavisha
How effective the practice/sadhna of particular deities which are allowed to do without initiation, in the comparison of same those practice/sadhna with initiation?
Is there difference in qualityo or quantity of results or effects? If yes, why? If no, then why initiation?
I m doing Manjushri and Saraswati without initiation….
Thank you dear Pastor…
Dear Bhavisha,
Thank you for your interesting question. In short, yes there is a difference. Either way, when we practise we still get benefit though.
When practising without initiation, we call upon the energies of that deity to affect a change in our lives, through developing certain qualities or general spiritual development.
Initiation plants a special blessing or energy in our mind stream so that we can generate ourselves as the deity we are practising and engage in their full practices, meditation etc. Without this type of blessing from the initiation, it is not possible to practise these deeper meditations. In fact if you try to practise the deeper meditations without the initiation, there can be negative consequences because you don’t have that blessing/energy in your mindstream. In addition, there are many more vows a person must take, sadhana commitments which cannot be broken, etc.
However, there are practises that you can do without initiation. The majority of practices on this blog for example you can practise without intiation (unless there is a warning not to practise without the initiation). The prayers and practises in general shared by Tsem Rinpoche and Kechara fall under this category, so they are safe to be practised by anyone.
Both the practices of Manjushri and Saraswati are excellent. Lama Tsongkhapa, the founder of our lineage, relied heavily on both these practises in his personal practice. They are very effective. I wish you luck, may you gain the blessings of both Manjushri and Saraswati and become close to them in your spiritual journey. Thank you.