Practice Teaching-Kyerimpa Studies
Anyone entering Gyuto Tantric Monastery directly without first having completed formal studies of sutra texts and a dialectical education must follow the course of studies detailed below and pass examination and tests in these subjects.
1. Memorization of texts covering around 700 standard folios:
- The first twelve chapters and part of the thirteenth chapter of the Guhyasamaja Tantra.
- The first chapter of the Chakrasamvara Tantra.
- The complete rituals of Guhyasamaja, Chakrasamvara and Vajrabhairava.
- The great ritual cake offerings for six different deities associated with fierce activity.
- The great consecration.
- The liturgy of the four Dharmapalas.
- Miscellaneous texts.
2. Training in chanting, harmonics and the use of ritual musical instruments:
- Classical concise and expanded chants and harmonics of the self-initiations, consecration and tantras as well as six new and twenty-five old chats of Mahakala and Dharmaraja.
- Use of ritual musical instruments such as cymbals, wind instruments and drums.
3. Drawing, sand design and three dimensional model construction:
- Drawing the base and constructing the fireplace for the four kinds of activities, peaceful, increasing, powerful and fierce.
- Drawings of all ritual cake offerings.
- Drawing of the earth deity connected with the positioning of mandalas, buildings and so forth.
- Two dimensional representations on cloth of the mandalas of the three great deities.
- Drawings of eight kinds of stupas.
- Designing and constructing three dimensional models of the mandalas of the three great deities including their symbols.
- Designing and laying out different mandalas with colored sand.
4. Preparation and collection of materials and objects of ritual offering:
- Recognition, collection and preparation of objects required for fire offerings.
- Preparation of major and minor ritual cakes.
- Preparation of objects required for self-initiation.
- Preparation of objects required for consecration rituals.
- Butter sculpture and their decoration as offerings during the great prayer festival on the fifteenth day of the first Tibetan month.