Tantric commitments

Samaya (a Sanskrit word for a pledge, covenant, or sacred commitment) refers to the solemn vows that bind a practitioner in Vajrayāna Buddhism—the esoteric "diamond vehicle" of practice best known in its Tibetan forms, which works through ritual, visualization, sacred sound, and an intensely personal bond with a teacher. Samaya commitments come into force when a student receives an empowerment (abhiṣeka), the ritual initiation by which a qualified teacher authorizes them to take up a particular advanced practice.

These commitments bind the practitioner in several directions at once: faithful devotion and loyalty to the teacher who granted the initiation; ongoing maintenance of the meditation and recitation one has been entrusted with; harmony with fellow practitioners who share the same lineage; and a careful confidentiality, since tantric methods are traditionally kept private and given only to the prepared. In effect, samaya is the web of trust and discipline that is meant to make the powerful, fast-track methods of tantra safe to practice.

Because these vows are taken so seriously, the tradition warns gravely against breaking them—a damaged samaya is said to undermine one's practice and one's relationship with the teacher, and repairing it requires confession and purification. To an outsider this can look severe, but it reflects the inner logic of Vajrayāna: its potent techniques are thought to work precisely because they are held within a strong container of commitment, secrecy, and devotion. (The intensity of these teacher-bonds is also why the role of the guru in tantra has been a contested and, at times, troubled subject.)