Deity yoga in generation and completion stages

Domain XIII · Contemplative & religious disciplines · Tibet

What it is

Deity yoga is the central meditative method of Vajrayana (tantric) Buddhism in Tibetan traditions, and Bon has parallel generation and completion practices. In Highest Yoga Tantra it has two stages. In the generation stage (Tib. kyerim, bskyed rim), the practitioner visualises appearances as a…

Format

• Criteria for moving between stages. Set by the teacher and lineage, not by the therapist. Shechen Gyaltsab advises beginners not to be discouraged if visualisation is unclear, to practise in brief and frequent sessions, and to avoid hope and fear; beginners may train in a semblance of the practice…
• Retreat. Many lineages complete deity practice in retreat, including long, intensive retreats. Intensive retreat is the context in which screening matters most (section 4).

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Triangulation; the teacher and therapist giving conflicting instructions. Working: clear division of roles and the client feels supported by both.
• Shame, isolation, loss of meaning, suicidality. Working: the client rebuilds support and a relationship to practice, or to its absence, that they choose.
• Acting as a teacher; idealising or disparaging the client's teacher. Working: the client experiences you as respectful but separate from their religious life.
• Deference (the client agreeing to what they think you want); a client who wants you to act as a teacher. Working: the client can state the agreement in their own words.
• The client feeling they have failed or broken a commitment by reducing practice (see 4.10); escalation despite reduction. Working: arousal and functioning improve. Basis: The VCE study built a…

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.