I wonder how does a Lama pick a person to become an oracle? What are the criteria's? Does anyone know and can a lay person be chosen to also be an oracle?
1. A Lama may pick a person and train them. Some people have very strong aptitude towards this. Some the Lama feels would benefit greatly by being a oracular link for beings to give directions.
2. A person may ask to become a oracle and the Lama may accept or not accept for various reasons. So it is possible for a person to request, but they must go all the way and it's a lifetime of work. Your moods and personal wishes must be set aside to serve others. You must keep up your retreats, practices and samayas with your Lama very strictly for your whole life. The more retreats you do, the more immaculate your body will be to do the job as an oracle.
Retreats such as Tsongkapa/Migtzeyma are crucial. Samaya with your lama is the one single point that is very important for your retreats to be successful. Yamantaka is very powerful for clearning the body of interferences and opening chakras, winds, drops for the deity to 'easily' enter your body with minimal of pain after He leaves. And of course retreats of the actual deity entering you to get 'close' to them is very essential throughout your life. Remember, these retreats to Tsongkapa, Yamantaka and Shugden should not be done just so you become a good oracle, but to reach the highest purpose of life, which is to be enlightened. Your goal for retreats should never be anything but enlightenment. Becoming a good oracle is just a by product. Also in this case, by being an oracle, some can collect alot of merits by helping others. By helping others, you collect tremendous merits to actualize the generation and completion stages of Tantra such as Yamantaka.
Lord Buddha and Tsonkgapa taught for example the Yamantaka tantras for us to purify the powerful negative karmas from unlimited lifetimes that serve to obscure us from the truth and therefore stay in samsara. Yamantaka is for us to gain wisdom into reality (emptiness), and to attain the everlasting great bliss (enlightenment). Countless individuals by relying on Yamantaka practice have attained great wisdom, understanding, power to take rebirth as they choose to benefit, bodhicitta, emptiness and of course full enlightenment. So something as great as Yamantaka's practice or Tsongkapa's retreat should never be done with just the motivation of being a good oracle.
3. The deity Himself may pick the person he will inhabit. This happens quite often. The person the deity inhabits can be short term or long term. Meaning sometimes the deity picks a person to become a full fledged oracle or He inhabits the person once or twice to give a message or sign and that's it. But even if the Lama or deity picks you, you have to do the retreats, hold samaya, be very determined against all odds to do this for the rest of your life. You have to do your part and not just relax and think you've been picked so the Lamas/deity does all the work. Being an oracle is like any other dharma practice, you have to do your part, then you collect merits and wisdom will arise. Your wish to serve others must be steadfast. If you don't do your part, whether the deity or Lama picks you, you cannot fulfill the duties of the oracle. Is the Lama or deity wrong? Of course not. Tsongkapa taught Lam Rim, if we don't practice or give it up, it's not Tsongkapa's fault.
TK
