"The Wheel of Time Sand Mandala" described the Kalachakra Initiation based on Khe-Drub description in the 16th century.

Wong-kur literally means "give permission" to practice tantra in Tibet. The Vajra master pledged to pass on the tantra without diminishing it while the student, during the initiation pledge to respect and uphold the teaching. After the initiation, the student enter the lineage.

The Kalachakra Initiation consist of fifteen separate initiations. The first seven is the Seven Childhood Initiations. The Four High Initiations and Four Higher Initiations are secret in nature and was not described in Bryan's book. The Kalachakra initiation usually takes over twelve days with ten days of preparation in which the first eight days is conducted by the master and monks only. The students join on the ninth day which is known as "The Preparation of the Disciple". The initiation takes two days and on the final day there are ceremonies which includes the dismantling of the mandala.

The assumption rite is done on the first day where a student representative request for empowerment and the master performs the rites to protect the student from internal and external obstacles until the actual initiation begins. The master prepares the mandala site and the instruments that reconstruct the mandala through a series of ritual . The master summons the deities through prayer. Then, the mandala is drawn and the master proceed with rituals and visualization to prepare himself for the initialization as he request Kalachakra to give him the authority. He then become the manifestation of Kalachakra. Before the students enter, the mandala is blessed and all deities are present.

The student went through approximately forty steps to prepare themselves to enter the mandala site. At the site, the teaching of Kalachakra along with its history and lineage is given to the student. The master also explain that the right motive is to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. Having the right motive is essential for the initiation to be effective.

The students now request to be born spiritually as the master's child. They complete this with a visualization process. The student takes two levels of vows: the common and the uncommon. The common vow is: I go for refuge to the Three Jewels, individually repent all misdeeds, rejoice in the virtue of others, will hold the mind of enlightenment.

At this point, the students are blessed and they again go through a sequence of visualizations.

There are couple of symbolic ritual in the initiation. One is dropping the tooth stick on a painted mandala board indicating the six families of Buddhas. This will decide which of the six afflictive emotions requires particular attention for keeping the vows. Scented water is consumed to remove subtle defilements while kusha grass is kept under the students mattress and pillow for clear thoughts. Red thread are tide around the upper arm to protect from harm. Sleep instructions are also given to the student to take the most advantage of dreams and the mandala.

The actual initiation begins on the tenth day. The master gives teaching on the five Buddha families, Kalachakra Initiation itself, and 25 modes of conduct. The students made pledges of correct behavior. In addition, they make pledges of secrecy of the initiation to the uninitiated.

Then, the students entered the mandala site with symbolic blindfolds. Flower is offered to the deity by the students and they are later placed on the student's head. This initiation creates a bond between the deity and the students. The students remove their blindfolds after the master exhorts Kalachakra to open the students' eyes. They can see the entire mandala. The master then guides the student through the three dimensional mandala through visualization and introduce them to the deities. After seeing the mandala and being introduced to the deities, the students sing a song of joy and this conclude the tenth day of the initiation.

On the eleventh day the students are given the seven childhood initiations.

1. Water Initiation - Corresponds to a child's first bath. This is to purify the student's five elements: wind, fire, earth, water, and space. A visualization process was conducted to symbolize the students emerge from the Vishvamata's womb. The vajra master proceed the ritual by using a conch shell to sprinkle on the student with water taken from the ten purified vases. The conch shell was then used by the master to touch five places of the students' body - head, shoulders, arms, thighs, and hips. This instills in the students the power to achieve the first bodhisattva level - The Very Joyous Level - as its fruit.

2. Crown Initiation - Corresponds to a child's first haircut. This is to purify the students five aggregates - form, feeling, discrimination(perception), compositional factor(unconscious tendencies) and consciousness. The Crown initiation instills the power to achieve the second bodhisattva level - the Uncontaminated Level - as its fruit.

3. Silk Ribbon Initiation - Corresponds to a child having its ears pierced. This is to purifies the ten winds circulating through the body. The winds are associated with speech. The mater touches the silk ribbons to the students five places. Then it is tied to the students head. This instills the power to achieve the third bodhisattva level - The Luminous Level - as its fruit.

4. Vajra-and-Bell Initiation - Corresponds to a child's talk and laughter. Vajra represents compassion, male, and the right channel while the bell represents wisdom, female, and the left channel. This initiation binds the two main channels of energy into the central channel. This is a step to prepare the students for attaining enlightened speech.

5. Conduct Initiation - Corresponds to the child's first enjoyment of the five senses This is to purify the sense powers and their objects. Through this initiation, the students may achieve the fifth bodhisattva level - The Difficult to Overcome Level - as its fruit.

6. Name Initiation - Corresponds to the naming of a child. This is to purify their "action faculties" : mouth, arms, legs, and reproductive, urinary and defecatory organs. The students receive names from the master. The prophesy has it that the student will become a Buddha with the specific name. This initiation enables the students to overcome the demons with Love, Compassion, Joy, and Equanimity. This initiation instills the power to achieve the sixth bodhisattva level - The Approaching Level - as its fruit.

7. Permission Initiation - Corresponds to a child's first reading lesson. This is to purify the defilement of wisdom. The master also give each student the authorization to teach. The Permission Initiation instills the power to achieve the seventh bodhisattva level - The Gone Afar Level - as its fruit.

On the eleventh day, the master instructs the students to abandon the fourteen root infractions. The students recite the following verses: Today my birth is fruitful My being alive is also fruitful. Today I have been born in the lineage of the Buddhas, Now I have become a child of the Buddhas.

On the last day, the mandala is dismantled put in a vase and poured into local river, lake or ocean. The master then rinses the vase and returns it to the mandala site with water in it.

This is a very crude description of the process. I intended to give the reader an idea and hopefully interested reader can proceed to the book itself.

References

1. "The Wheel of Time Sand Mandala" by Barry Bryant .