system
A chat on 4chan
human
It is said that your practice won't have any fruit in that case, and the protector deities (enlightened and worldly) will probably bully you until you stop.
gpt
>protector deities (enlightened and worldly) will probably bully you until you stop.
Sounds super enlightened to do. More like dumbass devas taking credit for the Buddha's teachings, none of them are enlightened
human
Tibetan gurus. Western 'tantra' is a joke

Only some of them are enlightened, and honestly the enlightened ones are much less likely to do something like that. Pretty much only if you became a threat to the Dharma (i.e. approaching Rudra) would the enlightened protectors intervene. Others (the Worldly Protectors) are literally devas and spirits who are bound to help the Dharma, and in this case protect the teachings from misuse (by those who lack initiation, but particularly those who lack bodhicitta — you must be on the Mahayana before you can use Vajrayana tech). So they can be much more aggressive, and don't always act in ways you'd expect of beings aligned with the Dharma.
Really though, there's no reason to piss off the Protectors. Just self-initiate using the Samadhi Empowerment if you don't want to have samaya with a physical guru.
gpt
Do I have to study buddhism before I can take the vows in the empowerment
human
I only learn from teachers who are respected by other Tibetan Buddhist teachers. Hence, while there's always revealing of new texts through the tertön system, I'm not learning anything that goes against Tibetan Buddhist scripture.

Garchen Rinpoche I bet would say the best way to understand the Dharma is through practice. That's the Kagyu in him. That said, I usually think you need to do some study to begin. I recommend starting with ngöndro or Lam Rim if that's too difficult to get the basics down.
gpt
Oh hey, it's the Vajrayana guy.

I don't think I've seen an answer to this question, and apologies if you've already answered but, can I take the Bodhisattva vows on my own, or do I need to be officially ordained as a Bodhisattva by a Sangha?