Kalachakra

The Kalachakra Empowerment
Deer Park Monastery, 1981
Archival Video

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In July 1981, His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet, assisted by eighteen monks of Namgyal Monastery, conferred the Kalachakra Tantra empowerment to approximately 1,500 persons at Deer Park, a center for the study of Tibetan Buddhism near Madison, Wisconsin.  The Kalachakra Empowerments are the most renowned of all the public religious events of Tibet. This Kalachakra Empowerment was the first to be conferred in America and the first to be conferred by the Dalai Lama outside Asia.  At Deer Park, the preparations of the land, buildings and logistics for the initiation required more than a year.  In Dharmasala, India, the home of the Dalai Lama and the monks of Namgyal Monastery, preparations required more than six months of special preliminary rituals, packing of ritual implements to be used in America, and the construction of a new silk applique representation (approximately 20 feet in size) of the deity, Kalachakra. 

According to traditional scriptural accounts the Kalachakra Tantra was first taught by the Buddha to Sucandra, the King of Shambala, at Sridhanyakataka in South India.  It was preserved in Shambala until about the 9^th or 10^th century AD when it was reintroduced into India by Cilupa. Tibet received the Kalachakra Tantra from Somanatha and Samantashribhadra in the early 11^th century and the lineage of empowerments has continued uninterrupted until its transmission to America in 1981.

The Kalachakra is an Anuttara Yoga Tantra which describes a rapid path to enlightenment.  Generally speaking, it has three divisions called the External, the Internal and the Alternative.  It presents a complex system of religious practice while expounding a unique viewpoint on cosmology, physiology, psychology, history, geography and eschatology.  Eleven empowerments are required before one is empowered to practice the entire Kalachakra Tantra.  The first seven empowerments constitute initiation into the Generation Stage; the remaining four empowerments confer initiation into the Completion Stage.  At Deer Park the Dalai Lama conferred the seven empowerments of the Generation Stage.  These required three days to complete – July 15-July 17.  (see videotapes 5-16). The preliminary preparation rituals and construction of the sand mandala took place between July 6 and July 14. (See videotapes 1-4 for an edited summary of these preparations.) The concluding rituals occurred on July 18 (see videotape 17).

Perhaps for the first time in the ancient and profound history of the Kalachakra Empowerment, a combined team of Buddhist scholars and media professionals has attempted to  thoroughly documented its complex esoteric preparations and rituals.  Following is an index or guide to the 16 1/2 hour archival video series on the Kalachakra Empowerment.  The entries correspond to the video subtitle annotations on the videotapes themselves.  The first two and a half hours contain edited segments of the preparations for the Kalachakra Initiation.  The final four contain edited segments of the conclusion following the actual initiation.  The remaining 13 hours contain the entire unedited Empowerment.  It is important to note that because of inadequate original sound quality on tapes 1, 4, 5, 6 and 16 we have dubbed an additional audio recording onto these tapes; therefore, the Dalai Lama’s lips are occasionally slightly “out of sync” with his voice.  It is felt that this slight defect is a small price to pay for audibility. 

These archival videotapes resided in storage from 1983 until 2017.  Therefore, the video quality deteriorated somewhat.  Also tape number 17 was severely damaged and is not presently included in this video collection.   In spite of these unfortunate video quality issues, the archival videos provide an authentic historical record of this seminal event in the transmission of Tibetan Buddhism to America.

Many people gave their time, energy and expertise to this archival video project.  The following are owed our deepest thanks.  Geshe Lhundup Sopa guided the Kalachakra Empowerment from its inception to conclusion.  Sharpa Tulku coordinated the production and directed the editing and annotating of the videotapes.  Bob Victor was the video camera person who recorded days and nights of preliminary rituals and Empowerments.  Mike DeMark engineered the superb audio recording.  Choyog Thupten Jamyang and Geshe Lobsang Doyno consulted on the complex procedures and meanings of the initiation.  Professor Jeffrey Hopkins translated the Dalai Lama’s instructions into English.  Glenn Trudel, Bob Rashid and Marcia Keegan documented the event by still photographs.  Elvin Jones and John Davenport coordinated the Initiation and proceedings with the actual video production.  David Patt, Roger Jackson, John Newman and Sharpa Tulku prepared scholarly materials and translations on the Kalachakra. Professor Joseph W. Elder was the Executive Producer who helped organize University of Wisconsin assistants for the project from the following departments:  South Asian Studies, International Studies and Programs, the Graduate School, the School of Nursing Television Program, the Laboratory for Recorded Instruction, the Instructional Media Distribution Center and WHA Public Television.  Unnamed are the members of Deer Park and the monks of Namgyal Monastery whose extraordinary efforts made the initiation possible, and who greatly assisted the archival video documentation in many ways.  We are deeply grateful to Marilyn Groves for providing financial assistance for digitizing the original videos.

The purpose of this series of archival research videotapes is to provide essential original source materials for the study, understanding and practice of the complex and profound Kalachakra system.  We are extremely grateful to His Holiness, the 14^th Dalai Lama for his consent, complete cooperation and advice. 

Ed Bastian, PhD
Producer-Director

KALACHAKRA ARCHIVAL VIDEOS

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