Lineages, Lineage Holders and Their Duties

Abstract: There are three ways to practice; practicing under a lineage, just following oral instructions, and doing all the work alone. What is the difference ? What does a lineage even mean ? There are oral lineages as well as energetical lineages. Generally you may find oral lineages in Theravada tradition and the energetical ones in Maha-(Tantra)-yana tradition. Is  passing down knowledge or energy, like passing a baton in a relay race ? Do masters have preferences when passing down their lineages to the students ? Is Sakyamuni’s energy still alive in these lineages ? We try to explore these topics and answers to these burning questions. 

Fig. 1: Lineage transmission is a sacred (right-hand figure) process.

With the mass awakening of the humankind in this era, more and more people are interested in practicing meditation, reaching higher consciousness levels, doing yoga and becoming enlightened. This is a positive sign in my opinion. Although it may sound overwhelming to some people, we should always motivate such activities, then only this world will become a better place. When you are an independent, an unbias investigator, the truth could be nearer than you expected. Even finding a human guru, specifically a guru with karmic relation, may also happen unexpectedly. Following "only" oral instructions, or practicing meditation by yourself may even bring you to a self realization !

What is so special about practicing under a lineage ? What does it even mean ? Lineage is not just a chart that is hanging on a temple wall, right ? Every bit of energy that transfers through a lineage is sacred, including the master-disciple human bond.

If you look at the typical Theravada Buddhist traditions, be it Thai Forest sect, the Unbroken Sri Lankan one, they all practice the oral instructions passed down through the great masters of these lineages, and finally their realization is dedicated to Buddha Shakyamuni. The teachings, realizations are a mixture of general oral instructions, pith instructions, sutras and canonical studies. These were meant for the Shravakas who are as important as Bodhisattvas when it comes to the path of truth seeking.

If you look at Maha-(Tantra)-yana traditions, in addition to the above, there is another teaching or rather a “transmission” passed down through the lineage. This is what we refer to as lineage transmission, where the “enlightened energy” or the “enlightened consciousness” of the master (i.e. Shakyamuni) is passed down to his closest disciples. This type of a transmission could take place in a ceremony, wide opened to the public. Due to the sacredness, this could be a ceremonial event for the higher dimensions too. The dharma transmission never takes place out of personal preferences.  

Energy Passing Down Through Lineages

This energy is not clairvoyance or direct crossing as we generally believe in. In a true transmission, the energies that pass down from the master to the disciple looks like below:

Fig. 2: Transmission of the enlightened consciousness and its division, decaying through the practitioners.

The assigned fundamental (existing, non-existing energy), Dharmakaya, and Sambhogakaya of the divinely incarnated master are sacred universal energies and  therefore can only be held by the next in-lines of the lineage. These disciples are usually referred to as heart and bone-marrow like disciples. For instance, Shakyamuni's energies were passed down only to a handful number of masters such as Maha Kashyapa, Rahula (Son), Subhuti, Pindola etc. I consider them as highly realized Bodhisattvas at that time who were capable enough to grasp the advanced Mahayana teachings. In Theravada, we embrace all foremost disciples of Shakyamuni. Why do you think, only a certain set of disciples are venerated in Mahayana Buddhism and even considered as lineage protectors in Tantrayana tradition ? Now you have the answer.

The disciple's mind, body and energy system should be purified, be strong and flexible enough to handle these powerful energies. Purifying his mind is the most difficult aspect in this regard. The body should be nurtured too; appliance of proper herbal oils, plant-based diets, regular detoxification to the body, Tummo practice to handle body heat is important as these energies are contagious and have extremely subtle cellular vibrations. Many Buddhist yogis do not consume meat due to this reason as it can make your body really gross; however it is not a very strict requirement for the general Buddhist practice.

The Advantage of Practicing Under a Lineage

As you can see in Fig. 2, one of the advantages of practicing under a lineage is, the karmic energy acceleration. This means that the practitioner can progress through the lineage support. The initial awakening to the practitioner can be induced after laying the foundation. However this does not necessarily mean that the lineage helps the practitioner to eradicate all his fetters. IT CAN NEVER HAPPEN !!! It should be done by his own effort. Only with a certain maturity, a lineage transmission is possible and recommended.

In addition to this benefit, there are lineage protectors to guard the practitioners. Some of them could be well known bodhisattvas (i.e. Mahakala, Blue Tara etc.), Dakinis and certainly the 5 buddha bodies of the lineage origin himself. For instance when the practitioner is, let's say, in a danger, the Sambhogakaya/Tantric bodies of the lineage origin may come to assist/warn this person. Even after the (divinely incarnated) master's passing, his love towards the genuine practitioners of the lineage will remain energetically. This is why we say that, our (spiritual) ancestors (i.e. Shakyamuni, Old Tibetan Masters) still look after the devoted ones beyond their religious backgrounds, skin colors, labels. They only understand energies.

Duty of the Lineage Holder

Preserving the teachings and yogic techniques is obviously the primary goal. But there is much more to do than this, which is foreseeing the degeneration of the enlightened consciousness, the fundamental energy through the non-perfect physical bodies. For instance, if you look at the lineage spread from the Shakyamuni to Nagarjuna, it is about 10-14 generations and the pure universal energies cannot stay through a long line of succession for that long. 

"It is exactly like passing an electrically modulated RF signal through a coaxial cable. The signal strength deteriorates along the physical media, and therefore we need signal repeaters after several kilometers of distance gaps."

The old Tantric masters (even certain bodhisattvas during Buddha's time) realized this issue and try to preserve this energy to the best of their ability by either re-incarnating (i.e. Vimalamitra, Sarahapa), or achieving the full enlightenment and re-create new lineages in a single lifetime (i.e. Karmapa). Now you should understand why in Maha-(Tantra)-yana traditions, some practitioners wish to reappear in samsara. It is not for fun !

Is Shakyamuni's fundamental energy still alive in these lineages ? I honestly do not think so ! It is not a problem of the practitioners, of the lineages or in the way of practicing. Whatever that is created in this universe, has its own destructive mechanism too. 🙏🙏🙏