Abhiṣeka (Buddhism)

ablution; sprinkling) is an esoteric initiation or transmission of secret teachings performed by a tantric guru (vajracharya) to a student in a ritual space containing the mandala of a Buddhist deity.

[1] The initiation is traditionally seen as transmitting a certain spiritual power (Sanskrit: adhiṣṭhāna, Tibetan: jinlap, sometimes translated as "blessings") which allows the tantric yogi to reach enlightenment swiftly or to attain other yogic accomplishments.

The reason for this is that the profound empowerment ritual produces a sudden manifestation of the ground maṇḍala that dwells primordially within oneself.

[7]Kongtrül defines empowerment as "what makes the [student's] mind fully ripened by planting the special seeds of the resultant four dimensions of awakening in the aggregates, elements, and sense fields of the recipient.

This empowerment consists of the direct introduction of the student to the intrinsic nature of their own mind-essence, rigpa, by their empowering master.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama holds a vajra offering mudra while preparing the Kalachakra mandala during a Kalachakra empowerment ceremony in Washington D.C., USA
A torma and mandala offering for a Vajrakilaya empowerment ceremony