The Kalachakra Initiation is generally given over 12 days. First, there are eight days of preparation rituals, during which the monks make the mandala. Then the students are initiated, after which they are allowed to see the completed sand mandala. The ceremony ends when the monks release the positive energy of the mandala into the everyday world through a final ritual.
The Tibetan word for initiation is wong-khor, which literally means giving permission, or granting the authority to practice the Tantra. The person conferring the initiation is known as the ritual master or Vajra Master, because the vajra is the ritual implement that cuts through illusion and represents the indestructible mind. Since the tantra itself lives through direct transmission by the Vajra Master, the initiation fulfils the Vajra Master’s pledge to pass on the tantra without diminishing it in any way, always for the benefit of all sentient beings.
During the initiation, the student makes a similar pledge to respect and uphold the teachings. In this way the student enters into the lineage. Students may choose to take on different levels of commitment. One who maintains the commitment to a conscientious daily practice will achieve greater results, and the lineage will be strengthened. Or, the initiation may be received simply as a blessing.
The student, by generating himself (or herself) as the deity, is introduced to new mental patterns which help him to abandon old, destructive conditioning, thus bringing him closer to the experience of the bliss consciousness of Kalachakra.
Many beautiful objects are used in the Kalachakra rituals. The thekpu is the special house where the mandala is built. There is a brocade throne where the Vajra Master, in this case His Holiness the Dalai Lama, sits to give the initiation and the altar to the Kalachakra deity contains elaborate offerings and ritual objects. Large silk tapestries of the Buddha, Kalachakra, and various protector deities are hung around the thekpu, the throne, and the altar.