Introductory Remarks
As a Benedictine nun it was an unexpected privilege to sit on the stage as an observer of the most demanding and profound tantric rite, the Kalachakra Initiation, held at a site near Bloomington, Indiana, in August, 1999. My role included serving on the organizational board for the event and welcoming His Holiness to Indiana prior to the initiation itself. I was also privileged to organize an interreligious Vigil for Peace at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Bloomington. This vigil was co-sponsored by MID and the Bloomington Tibetan Cultural Center.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama presided over the Kalachakra rites for the entire eleven days of the prescribed Buddhist ceremony. He accepted the invitation to conduct this from his oldest brother, Dr. Thubten Norbu, a retired professor from Indiana University in Bloomington. The ceremony itself was held at the Tibetan Cultural Center, located on 100 wooded acres of rolling land nine miles south of Bloomington. There were 5000 participants in the actual empowerment part of the ritual. Because of the presence of the Dalai Lama, security was tight, with neither food nor baggage being allowed in the hi-tech tent where the ceremony took place. A specially constructed stage allowed the Dalai Lama to be both the teacher of the crowd and also the priest performing the many gestures of the tantric ritual. Next to his high throne were a special canopy and stage where a sand mandala was constructed according to the strictest prescriptions. The sound system was outstanding, so every word was audible.

To help with the performance of this rite, a hundred monks came from India. Some were choir monks, others were musicians, artists, sacristans, and assistants. The monks sat on the floor before the stage and became the core respondents to all the prayers. His Holiness would enter at 7:00 a.m. and on some days would not leave until 5:30 p.m., with only 90-minute break at noon. He seemed to get stronger and stronger as the days progressed; the last day he bounced in with more vigor than any of the previous days.

The Kalachakra Ritual
As a member of the MID Board I received four books from India to read by way of preparation. The study of them was a big help, but mostly I relied on other participants to interpret for me what was going on. The Kalachakra Initiation Empowerment is the most revered of all Buddhist rituals because it is dedicated to creating world peace and harmony. The entire initiation takes eleven days from beginning to end. The word “Kalachakra” refers to cycles of time (kala meaning “time” and chakra meaning “wheel”), and the Kalachakra system presents three such cycles: external, internal, and alternative. The external and internal cycles of time (samsara) deal with time as we normally know it, while the alternative cycle consists of practices for gaining liberation from these two. The alternative cycle of time entails a graded series of meditative practices.

Kalachakra is a meditational system from the highest level of Buddhist tantra, anuttarayoga. The word “tantra” means an everlasting stream of continuity and involves a continuing stream of practice with Buddha-figures to purify one’s mind-stream of its fleeting stains in order to achieve, on this basis, the everlasting stream of the bodies of a Buddha. The possibility of gaining liberation from time does not imply that time does not actually exist. Instead, liberation from time means ridding oneself of confusions and of the instincts that repeatedly give rise to the impulses. As a result of a full understanding of reality, it becomes possible to generate cycles of forms that benefit others beyond any limitations imposed by time. In practical terms, one who is empowered in the Kalachakra is believed to have the ability to handle all situations at any time. Such a person’s life would be characterized by non-fickle love and compassion, ethical self-discipline, strict concentration, a firm understanding of reality, and skill in various means of helping others.

There are two ways of attending an initiation such as the Kalachakra Empowerment. A devout Buddhist can come as an active participant, whereas I came as an interested observer. Active participants take all the vows associated with the practice and try their best to do the visualizations so as actually to receive the empowerment. They subsequently model their lives in accordance with the guidelines of their vows and engage in at least the initial levels of tantric meditation. Someone like me who attended as an observer would not actually receive the empowerment. Broadly speaking, a tantric rite is the reverse of Zen. Instead of a Zen-like letting go of all conscious thought through awareness training, in which the ego is forced to bow to the pure experience of the moment, tantra uses visualizations. The student is given a particular religious image on which to meditate, for example the deity of the Kalachakra, which has 722 virtues. This is done so thoroughly that the participant is said to become that entity. He or she comes to recognize the arbitrary nature of all egos, including his or her own, and so escapes from bondage to the ego. The result: pure awareness. The Kalachakra Empowerment is like a play. Each of the virtues is put on as if it was already acquired and one acts the part. Doing this serves as an effective technique for attaining these qualities and achieving the facility quickly. So the technique is one of visualization and practice until it all actually becomes a part of the meditator.

The progression went from days of preparation using an earth ritual that blessed the space of this event, to the making of the mandala (symbolizing the divine residence and the resident deities), then to the preliminary teachings given by the Dalai Lama in a systematic fashion. During these teachings, and with the help of a translator, I heard some wonderful question-and-answer sessions as well as a thorough teaching about Shantideva’s classic treatise on the Bodhisattva’s way of life. To the question of whether one could be both Christian and Buddhist, His Holiness replied, “You can’t be half anything.” At early stages one may take both in, but at some point one must choose one path and be faithful to it: you cannot both believe in God and simultaneously adhere to a non-theistic religion. However, all genuine religions are in agreement about the need to treat other persons with love and compassion and to alleviate suffering wherever possible. “Christians should be good Christians. Buddhists should be good Buddhists. The differences are good, rich, and helpful to all sentient beings.”

After the preliminary teachings had been given, the active participants took the Bodhcitta Vows, a very serious obligation to abandon certain wrongful actions. Those taking the vows strive to act in a compassionate, Bodhisattvic manner in their daily lives. There followed a number of ritual dances and prayers by and with the initiates in order to purify them for the actual empowerment, which had various parts, such as being washed as a newborn infant would be and receiving a special headdress. The rite concluded with the solemn destruction of the sand mandala, the sand being placed in decorative urns and then poured into a stream on the property—a powerful symbol of the impermanence of earthly existence!

The Vigil for Peace
On one evening during these eleven days the Kalachakra ritual was interrupted so that all present could attend the above-mentioned interfaith vigil for peace at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Bloomington. The vigil was designed in such a way as to extend the teaching about “peace through compassion” to the wider faith communities of the Midwest. A dominant symbol in the church was a globe of the world placed before the sanctuary. As each person entered the church, he or she would make the traditional pilgrimage gesture of circumambulating this globe. Invitatory prayers were offered by representatives of the Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim traditions. Classical music from Schubert, Ravel, and Dvorak was performed by Michael Fitzpatrick and his group of Millennia Musicians. At one point the entire congregation of 800 persons sat for twenty minutes of silent meditation, after which two children stepped forward and sang a heartfelt Prayer of St. Francis, with the congregation joining in on a refrain. The silence, the children, and the image of the one globe we share said all that needed to be said about peace.

Concluding Reflections
As I reflect back on the events of those two weeks—the welcome of His Holiness in Indianapolis, the Kalachakra Initiation, and the Vigil for Peace—I feel overwhelmed by the privilege of helping advance the cause of peace through rituals and teachings. These events anticipated the peace we can experience already in this lifetime if only we do from the heart what is most Christian or most Buddhist. It is through events such as these that we come to know each other face-to-face and become more understanding about each other’s sensitivities and beliefs. While sitting at the Kalachakra ceremony, I reflected on Christian images that would in some way be comparable to the visualizations being prescribed for the Buddhists. I took refuge in Christ in the image of the Sacred Heart, for example, and also did lectio on St. Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle. Throughout, I asked the Holy Spirit to come upon us. I am left with many questions that will soak through my consciousness in the coming months, such as the question of whether our monastic lectio divina can be so strong as to serve us in the way a tantric master like the Dalai Lama serves his disciples. Should our own religious superiors take a more formational role in our lives? And what would happen if our own energies should fully awaken? It will take some years to know the effect all this has had on my own monastic life, my own living of my vows. Perhaps I should update this article in two years and let you know!