Taking Vows to a Tantric Master - Installing an Inner Critic?

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Sangye says:
July 18, 2018 at 10:34 pm

Indeed the empowerments bypass Samaya or replace it with a clue like “your commitment is to say a mantra once a day” .. which is what Samaya is about, practice – self discipline. It has been subverted by ‘oh those Samaya rules we wouldn’t tell you, well you broke them and now you are done” kind of infantile backstab once you catch them breaking their own commitments to ethical conduct.

(Samaya are the vows made to one's master, see below)

Samaya is invented at the time it is needed to control the population, but when people are concerned it is redetermined as “just be a good person”, or “try to not forget the practice”. Actually Samaya is impossibly hard so that nobody can ever keep it so it is more of a kind of aspiration to be perfect so we always fall short.

That means one has to perpetually do confession and develop a powerful inner critic that is another cult control accomplishment where the population control themselves and each other. They just need a gentle reminder to practice if something goes awry and they will figure out they are wrong even if they are right

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https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/5744/samaya

Definition - What does Samaya mean?
Samaya is a set of Buddhist vows and commitments that are given when one receives empowerment in the Vajrayana Buddhist order. They are given during the empowerment ceremony, called abhiseka, in order to initiate a relationship between the guru and disciple.

The Nyingma lineage outlines three root samayas:

Samaya of the body — to act respectfully toward the deities, buddhas and any living beings and also toward one's own body. To always offer one's self to the guru.

Samaya of the speech — to avoid angry or negative speech, not to differ from what the guru says and tell the truth. Always stay committed to the practice of mantra.

Samaya of the mind — to avoid bad thoughts, practice meditation and to stay on the cycle of completion.

Different sources mention a different number of samayas — three, five, 14 or 28 samayas — but, generally, it is believed that if someone keeps the three root samayas, he/she cannot break any other samaya

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Yogapedia explains Samaya
In the Vajrayana Buddhist order, the samaya vows are given by the guru, who must keep them as well. Breaking the samaya vows is worse than breaking any other laws. Breaking a samaya results in a heavy bad karma, especially if one disregards or dislikes his/her guru, the one who gave the teachings. Although there are three root samayas, some say that there is only one — the guru. One only has to keep the guru and that is it: that is how important the guru is.

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The fourteen vows described by Sakya Pandita, as elucidated by Shamar Rinpoche, are transgressed by the following fourteen root downfalls (Wyl. rtsa ltung bcu bzhi):

Physically harming or slandering the teacher from whom one received the abhi?eka - The following conditions must be present for the samaya to be broken: one must be fully aware of one's actions and intend them, be aware that they will displease the teacher, and fail to regret them. With intention but no follow-through, only a breach is committed.
Further, the severity of the breach is considered small, average or great depending on whether or not the student has received abhi?eka, explanations and pith instructions—if just the former it is small, if the first two it is average, and if all three it is great.

Opposing the words of the buddhas - Denigrating Buddhist teachings.
Strong negative emotions towards one’s vajra brothers and sisters - Becoming strongly hostile towards men and women who have received abhi?eka from the same teachers as oneself
Abandoning loving kindness and compassion for sentient beings
Abandoning the bodhichitta in aspiration or application
Criticizing other Buddhist traditions
Revealing secrets to those who are unworthy "If one describes the meaning of great bliss as taught in Vajrayana to individuals who do not possess the required educational background, they might misunderstand and abuse these teachings. "
Mistreating one’s body "The human body is the support for dharma practice, the basis upon which realization of the two buddhakayas is attained. With respect to Vajrayana the human body is considered to be an important instrument on the path. Therefore exposing the body to extreme conditions such as whipping, burning or destroying it by suicide, contributes to the breaking of the samaya."
Abandoning emptiness
Chamtrul Rinpoche.jpg
Keeping bad company Associating with samaya corrupters
Failing to reflect on emptiness
Upsetting those who have faith in the teachings
Failing to observe the samaya commitments "