Gaṇacakra

gaṇacakra (T. tshogs kyi 'khor lo / tshogs ཚོགས་ཀྱི་འཁོར་ལོ།/ཚོགས་). A tantric practice wherein an assembly of practitioners gathers and makes a "feast offering" to the appropriate deities in order to accumulate merit (puṇya) and purify the sacred commitments (samaya).

Stefan Mang states:

Gaṇacakra (tshogs kyi 'khor lo) is a ritualized feast in which the deities of a specific tantric system are worshipped as part of a group practice. Gaṇacakra creates a particular kind of maṇḍala, or ‘sacred ritual space’, for the practices of many higher tantras (mahā, anu- and ati-yoga, or niruttarayoga). Gaṇacakra is an important milestone in the development of the internalization of tantric practices and the formation of group practice. The main goals of performing a gaṇacakra are to gather the accumulations of merit and wisdom (puṇya-saṃbhāra and jñāna-saṃbhāra; bsod nams and ye shes kyi tshogs) and to maintain and restore the commitments (samaya; dam tshig) made at the time of receiving empowerment or initiation (abhiṣeka; dbang) into the higher tantras. Since its introduction in the ~9th century, gaṇacakra gained great popularity, and it is practiced nowadays by many followers of Tibetan Buddhism on a regular basis.

Gaṇacakra is structured around several key elements that are consistent throughout the Indian and Tibetan traditions. We find gaṇacakra commentaries in both traditions that do not affiliate themselves with any specific tantric cycle, but rather aim to be as general as possible in order to be applicable to any instance of practice. While there remains a certain degree of variation amongst gaṇacakra rituals depending upon the sādhana, the ritual tradition, and the time of its composition, the following key elements consistently appear: gaṇacakra requires a specially prepared ritual place and a group of participants that include a ritual master, practitioners, both male and female, and ritual-assistant(s). Together these form the maṇḍala of the samaya beings (samayasattvas; dam tshig pa), that is, the assembly of deities visualized by the participants. The ritual is performed on specific days of the lunar cycle, in a sacred place or a specially prepared shrine. Non-initiates and those with broken samayas are prohibited from participating. The participants set up the ritual space and prepare the offering. The participants then invite the wisdom beings (jñānasattvas; ye shes pa), that is, the ‘actual’ deities, and through this the offerings are blessed and transformed into samaya substances. These substances are then offered to the deities and also consumed by the participants. This is accompanied by further rituals and practices, such as song and dance. Offerings are also made to worldly deities to satisfy and appease them and in order to invoke their protection. Finally, the visualization of the maṇḍala is dissolved and the jñānasattvas are requested to depart. The ritual is usually concluded by making prayers of aspiration and dedicating the merit for the benefit of all sentient beings.

External links

• ཚོགས་ཀྱི་འཁོར་ལོ་, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
• Tsok series, Lotsawa House
• Introduction to Gaṇacakra, Lotsawa House
• The Main Features of Tantra, StudyBuddhism
• Ganachakra, Wikipedia
• Tsok, Rigpa Shedra Wiki
• tshogs_kyi_'khor_lo, Rangjung Yeshe Wiki
• Tantric Feast (Ganachakra), Himalayan Art Resources