In order to know the Precious Teacher, you must become a renunciate. This is not a sacrifice, however. You should not sadly enumerate the things you have to give up. Think of it as a privilege, because the very things you renounce are the ones that are killing you. You are only saving yourself. Taking vows (either as a lay practitioner or as a monk or nun) should be understood as a feast of opportunities. Look at the things that renunciates give up: hatred, greed, ignorance, self-absorption, blind faith in the five senses, a love of impermanent things. You are being asked to give up poison. Understand, once and for all, that there is no old God on a throne, forcing you to do something you dislike and grading you at every turn. Instead, you are weaning yourself from the things that have betrayed you. You are making contact with your true nature.
Discipline yourself to come to terms with your life. Take responsibility. Try to deepen. Take sincere refuge in the one unfailing source, and renounce that which keeps us wandering in samsara. The realization of your own nature—the awareness of true mind, the precious Root Guru, Guru Rinpoche will be born. At that point, the teachings that come to you will be the very voice of the Dharmakaya, the very voice of the Root Teacher.
Is it just a coincidence that the one path that can bring about realization in a single lifetime is the one path that focuses upon the Guru as the ultimate object of refuge? No, for it is the astonishing potency of the Guru’s appearance in the world that makes this possible. Devotional yoga becomes everything: the milk, the nectar. There is no other practice. All else is but a part of that.
In Vajrayana, the Guru is the central figure, the supreme object of refuge. We rely on the Guru to ripen our minds, to bring our minds to fruition. But this is difficult for Westerners to accept. We Westerners are taught to be strong, independent individuals. This is all we have ever known. We are brought up to reach for things that are outside us, to collect them—and to be constantly self-concerned. Our generation is the first to swallow pop-psychology unquestioningly, even unconsciously. There are so many new-age ideas and so much misinformation mixed in with what passes for Dharma teaching and spirituality. This is made up by people who have not achieved enlightenment.
True enlightenment cannot be described. It is totally different from new age “aha!” insights. People go from teacher to teacher until they have collected a pocketful of something that they can paste on themselves. They fail to realize how materialistic and “collecting” they have been brought up to be. If you have always been on a merry-go-round, you will not know that you are going around in circles. You will fail to recognize the cultural-intellectual baggage that keeps you from deepening in your practice of Guru Yoga.
At first, this difficulty may appear to be an inherent lack of capacity in students. But when I look more closely, I see that the capacity is there. So, how do we break through? How can we turn our minds so that we form new habitual tendencies? Anything that arises from samsara, like our old habits, results in samsara. We can see this in our entire lives. We are not yet sitting on a lotus in the middle of a lake. How then are we supposed to practice Guru Yoga? What is our relationship with the actual Root Guru? How does this relationship take shape? Human beings, it seems, learn through suffering and through observation. Just as children need to mimic “grown-up-ness,” we need to see what Guru Yoga looks like in someone’s life. I shall try to describe this.
First, if you have the good fortune to meet your Root Guru, and if you make a commitment in your mind, heart, and prayers or to the face of this Guru, you must never—even at the cost of your life—break that commitment. At first, make only commitments that you can work toward and keep. In the context of your Guru Yoga, a perfect preliminary level of commitment to your Teacher would be: “I will do more than I have ever done before, and I will continually deepen my devotion and practice.” Then as you grow on the path, you keep increasing your commitment. Some of my students have made flowery, dramatic commitments to me and then broken them as if they were merely hot air. Without exception, those are students who have become stagnant in their practice.
This is from my heart to your heart. When you make a commitment to your Root Guru, you must understand what you are doing: You are making a commitment to the condensed essence of all the objects of refuge, to all the Lamas, not just the one Lama, to all the Buddhas, to all the Bodhisattvas, to all the meditational Deities, to all the Dakinis, to all the Dharma Protectors. Moreover, you are making that commitment to the very door of liberation itself. Consider once again what the Teacher actually is for you. Remember that sentient beings are wandering helplessly in samsara—afraid, alone, and without hope. It is like being in a burning room with no way out. Nothing in samsara can help you to escape. Only the objects of refuge—all contained in the vessel that is the Root Guru—can provide an exit. The heat keeps increasing, and your body is fragile. The Lama is the way out, the door to liberation. Picture yourself in a burning room. Would you have difficulty concentrating on the door? I doubt it.
But again, if you are a “collecting” materialist, if you keep the greater portion of everything for yourself, for your own happiness, if you remain as the center of the mandala of your life, you cannot walk through that door. The Lama must be at the center of your mandala. Is that schizophrenic? Is it psychotic? Will you go mad? How can someone else be at the center of your spiritual focus?
When you practice Guru Yoga correctly, you are practicing view. You gradually come to understand that upon recognizing the Lama, upon becoming non-dual with the Lama, you recognize your own true nature, your own true face, that which is beyond accepting and rejecting. If the Lama is in the center of the mandala of your practice, you are training yourself to awaken, to exit samsara, to achieve realization for the sake of sentient beings. But if you break the connection with your Root Guru, you cannot accomplish Dharma. No matter what happens, once you have made the offering of body, speech and mind to the spiritual friend who has hooked and established you on the path, to the Root Guru, you must never abandon that commitment. If you do, you are cutting off the very root and source of your accomplishment. After that there is no real accomplishment on the path, no matter what you do. You must always keep your view pure, and therefore the Guru Yoga will be your blessing and your true spiritual wealth. So even if you are on the other side of the planet, the Root Guru should rest upon your heart or above the crown of your head when you say your prayers. Never break that connection, even for a moment.
You should guard your commitment, thinking of yourself as Dorje Phagmo with fangs, as though you had fangs or weapons. Anything that prevents you from relying completely on your Root Guru should be cut away from your heart, cut out of your life. It’s as if you have fangs coming out, and that curved vajra blade in your hand, and you’re swinging at anything that comes near this connection. You’re guarding your own personal treasure, not allowing a single bit of impurity to be near it. Those fangs should always be out.
It seems really hard to believe this year is nearly over. Is impermanence moving faster these days? Must be. My pack and I are aging.
It is so strange. Of course we all know about impermanence intellectually but “getting it” is different. We see ourselves and others changing, but somehow remain convinced we and all else remain stable. Once my mother looked in the mirror and said “how did this happen to me?”
It is unfortunate that we have been protected from the reality of death. It is real, and part of life. Lord Buddha taught about the three human sufferings – old age, sickness and death. I’m at two out of three-LOL! No one escapes these things – which is why I keep harping on preparation for death.
What you do with your life should always go with an eye on our next rebirth. Great Lamas often leave amazing signs as to how to find their next incarnation. When His Holiness the Dalai Lama muses that he might be female next time LISTEN to him, he is a Living Buddha, Himself preparing.
Given this, it behooves us ordinary folk to make a MIGHTY effort. Before death, a Vajrayana Practioner should recite a BUM, or a MILLION recitations of Buddha Amitaba’s mantra OM AH MI DEWA HRI. I have aspired to recite the Seven Line Prayer to Guru Rinpoche. I am bumping up on my million.
His Eminence Gyaltrul Rinpoche told me way back; when I got past 300,000 recitations I should come for the most profound essence of the prayer and Guru Yoga. I did.
The teaching was not long, but Rinpoche leaned in close and deeply with his eyes and told me absolute VIEW. What IS and is empty – the Guru’s face. To me it was a teaching not of words alone. It was a subtle but POWERFUL teaching by indication. But I “got” it and was satisfied.
That night he put me in HIS bed, and HE slept in the top altar room. I felt held by Guru Rinpoche once more. I know I never walk alone. Such a gift!
Different schools of Buddhism in Vajrayana have different emphasis and sometimes method. All are good. Some say one should emphasize accumulating the three Roots of accomplishment. The three roots are Lama, Yiddam, and Dakini.
In some methods it’s step by step. His Holiness Kyabje Penor Rinpoche taught like that, step by step. He said if one dives into Dzogchen without preliminaries it is like throwing a seed on stone. The mind is too hard and the precious seed cannot grow.
It is, if one has practiced well and deeply, TOTALLY evident when a pretender speaks intellectually about Dzogchen from a superficial understanding. It is the experience that is the juice inside the hard shell of the coconut. No intellectual teachings or understanding will suffice. So when Lamas give Dzogchen to new students or those of lesser qualities it is harmful. Those students may think they know but they do NOT know.
In the movie “AVATAR” the Mother Shaman says “It is hard to fill a cup that is already full”. And so it is with Dharma. To practice Dharma well and properly, to prepare for rebirth, one must empty the cup of EGO. Especially pride, and then it is possible to drink the Nectar; and be fully satisfied, ready to go to Amitaba’s pureland; or Padmasambava’s Copper Mountain; this is according to Qualities and Accomplishment, and FAITH. I would not recommend entering the Bardo without the Shield of Faith.
When you pray to be reborn in Dewachen, what do you really mean? In the ultimate view, Dewachen is the celestial mandala of the Lord Amitabha. Lord Amitabha is a Dharmakaya Buddha. Thus Dewachen is Dharmakaya awareness or the Dharmakaya view—the pure, uncontrived, primordial-wisdom view, free of all conceptualization. To be reborn in Dewachen really means to experience the natural Dharmakaya state—the state that has no limitation. Dharmakaya has no consideration of self and other, no separation between form and formless. To awaken in that state is not to become a transformed or translucent ego. Please understand that if you want to become a better person, you want, somehow, to become transformed. You want to be a Buddha. Then people will say, “Look, there’s a Buddha!” Can you see the difference between that attitude and the experience of pure nature, suchness, free of all idea of ego?
Do you still practice with an idea about what you will be? That very you consists of and maintains incorrect view. When you pray to be reborn in Dewachen—make no mistake about it—you are praying for the death of your ego. Eternal life implies the belief in self-nature as an eternal reality. Someone who believes in eternal life, consciously or unconsciously, is on a path without the understanding that if ego did survive forever, it would only insure the continuation of suffering. Such a path is not workable. If your secret prayer is somehow to become a transformed ego, if you are using Dharma words to disguise your wish to remain intact as a self, then you are asking to continue on the wheel of cyclic death and rebirth, the wheel of suffering, the wheel of samsara.
Perception, or revelation, varies according to the capability of one’s own mind. A mind dulled by obstacles and obscurations can go to a holy place, hear a holy teaching, even bow to a holy one—and walk away unaffected. The mind that is quickened and ready can come and drink, perhaps not understanding what it has drunk, but at least knowing that this is true nourishment. The mind that is truly realized can perceive that upon every atom there are Buddhas beyond counting; that one’s own Root Teacher is the Dharmakaya Buddha come at last; that Guru Rinpoche is the emanation of pure compassion who made all of this possible; and that He has entered, in many forms, into all levels of cyclic existence. Such a mind can understand that every sound is the voice of the Precious Guru, that every breath of air is the movement of His teachings.
Any revelation that purifies the mind of duality and delusion, bringing forth the nectar of compassion from deep within you is the Precious Guru appearing once again. Any path such as Vajrayana, which leads to enlightenment in a definable, reliable way—is itself the appearance of the Precious Guru. If you achieve realization in this lifetime, that is Guru Rinpoche. If you hear a teaching, which brings enlightenment closer, that is Guru Rinpoche. If compassion is born in your heart so that you will spend your life practicing and praying for others and discovering within yourself all-pervading compassion, that is Guru Rinpoche. He is the Guru of compassion, the Guru of boundless light, the Guru of great love, the Guru of supreme medicine. He is the voice, the body, the mind, the heart, and the very embodiment of the all-pervading, compassionate nature of Dharmakaya. He continues to appear in a form that is accessible and real in every culture. He simply is. He is present within you now. Even as you read this, you can feel His presence. You can see Him in every part of your life. Strive at every moment to birth Him in your mind and heart. Pray never to be separate from the Three Precious Jewels and always, in every breath of air, to encounter the Precious Guru.
If you sincerely wish to end suffering in this and all other worlds, sincerely wish to root out the causes of suffering in your own mind, the Guru is active within you. In that sincere wish, He is calling you. Because of that sincerity, you will see Him. You will see Him even physically, for you will surely find an excellent and perfect Teacher. As Guru Rinpoche said, “I will come as your Teacher.” If your heart is pure and sincere, the Guru will appear before you.
In Vajrayana, even if your teacher is not enlightened, you can attain realization through pure faith, provided you seek only that which will cleanse all non-virtue from your mind, which will reveal the true, uncontrived face of Dharmakaya as your own face, and if you deeply wish to end the suffering of all sentient beings. Then your Teacher, even unrealized, will act upon you as Nirmanakaya Buddha. If with pure intention you accomplish your part of the bargain, you will find that your teacher is in fact Nirmanakaya Buddha. Your job is only to keep your heart pure. If you do not practice, if you deceive yourself in your practice, if you do not practice sincerely, or if you practice for the wrong reasons, not only have you accomplished nothing but you are only fooling yourself, for you will never see that precious face.
What is available to you now is the realization of the Precious Guru. He is the medicine for all ills, the end of suffering. He appears on this earth by the virtue of primordial nature and uncontrived mind. His virtue and nature are such that they are constantly revealed. They are all-pervasive. That is the truth of the Precious Guru. He appears upon the earth time and time again, in whatever form the karma of beings requires. He is food and drink, available the moment you feel hunger and thirst. He brings you the path to supreme enlightenment. He abides in all aspects of that path: the Teacher, the Sangha, and the Dharma. You cannot cut Him out of your mind, but you can ignore Him. Yet even after that, the moment you turn around, He is there.
I hope that this is helpful to you. If it can inspire even a little devotion in your heart and mind, it is worthwhile. Great devotion is necessary on this path, but we are too stiff most of the time. Do you remember the story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples? That was an act of devotion, the perfect act of a Bodhisattva. We should all serve each other. We should care for others more than we care for ourselves. Devotion is the softener of hearts. It causes pride to be purified. It washes away the stiffness that accompanies egocentricity. Pure devotion itself can be a cause for realization. We should all engage in such holy activity, embodying the Precious Guru. Then, washing the feet of all sentient beings, we will finally understand our own true face.
