Guru Yoga

by Zasep Tulku Rinpoche

Union of Sutra & Tantra Series
September 1998, Vancouver, BC, Canada
(transcribed from audio/video tape)

Tonight’s talk: the subject of the talk is Guru Yoga. I thought tonight I’ll talk about Guru Yoga, tomorrow night I will talk about the concept of sunyata, and Friday night I would like to talk about bodhicitta.

These topics are most important, very important, according to Lam Rim teaching and according to various sutras said that Guru Yoga is the root of the realizations of the path. So I think we have something to think about and maybe something to debate about. And you could ask questions: Is it really true? Guru Yoga is the root of the spiritual realization? You could also ask question to your Dharma brother or Dharma sister: Is it possible one can become enlightened or one can become Buddha without the guru or lama or master? Is it possible or not? You could ask question.

Now if you do need guru and establish guru-disciple relationship, if it is very important, if it is very, very necessary, then how long does one need guru and how long does one need guru-disciple relationship? For couple of years, three years, or six years, or many, many years or rest of your life — how long?

So this sort of question I think is very important. Also, can one have few gurus, or more than one guru, or can one have many, many gurus or not? This can be also a good question for us. It says Atisha had 157 gurus, and so one obviously can have many, many gurus. It’s almost as if you need to have a monogamous relationship with one guru, and maybe it’s not very healthy and maybe you don’t learn very much. And sometimes if you have this kind of guru-disciple relationship, one guru, then sometimes you’re not sure who’s guru and who is disciple and you become one. Sometimes, like a couple, together for so long so they become like one person and they say anyway — I don’t know, I haven’t been with someone so many years. People say even if you been with a pet, dog, you become like the dog and you even have a similar kind of personality, even looks similar sometimes. Sometime when you see man walking down street with his dog, they look similar, the way they walk, and so one can ask questions. I think it’s good to ask questions.

Also, is it possible or permissible to end spiritual relationship with one guru and start another one, and keep changing? Is it possible or not? Like male-female relationship, is it possible? So, I think these questions are important to ask and I think some people are not sure and they’re reluctant to ask questions. I think these are important. I shouldn’t talk too much.

So, in Lam Rim teaching it says, and in the sutras it also says that Guru Yoga is the root of the realizations of the path. It is necessary to have guru if oneself is committed to the path of enlightenment, or Dharma path, or Buddhist path, or Mahayana path, or tantra path, it is important to have a guru. If one wish to really cultivate realization, if one believes in the progress and one to become Buddha.

If you are only studying Dharma for the sake of study, sake of development of your understanding of Dharma, if you are only studying Dharma intellectually, just intellectually on intellectual level, then I don’t think you need a guru-disciple relationship. And also you can study with all kinds of teachers. It’s like going to university. You study with different teachers or professors, and you go on, you move on. But if you wish to commit yourself to the path, then it is necessary, because one needs to know how to accomplish the realization, how to practice the Dharma.

It says in the Lam Rim, even ordinary things, when you want to learn something good, something thoroughly, like art or music, crafts and woodwork, stonework, pottery and so on, or carpet, thanka paintings, weaving and so on and so forth. What we normally would call worldly matters, worldly things, it is necessary to have a teacher and to establish close relationship with authentic teacher.

Let’s say if you want to study thanka painting, Tibetan traditional thanka painting, it is necessary, it is beneficial to have a close connection and a relationship with one master, authentic thanka teacher, thanka painter, master, so you study with this person for seven years, six years, eight years, whatever. It depends on how much you need. Then one can learn a lot. Also, like if you’re studying astrology, numerology, or Tibetan medicine. According to Tibetan medicine and astrology, it says one should study minimum seven years under one teacher, master. Then you could become a good medicine man and one can become a good doctor. So it is like that.

Now, Dharma practice, meditation, is much, much more deeper, and these spiritual realizations that we are trying to cultivate, trying to accomplish, it is very profound and delicate. Therefore we do need master or teacher or lama or guru who can show us how to do the practice properly and correctly. So therefore we can learn easily and without confusion and without wasting time and energy. And also one can gain realizations faster and one can develop confidence in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha faster. Therefore it is necessary to have guru or teacher.

Then Lam Rim says — teaching says — Lam Rim teaching talks about benefit of having teacher, spiritual teacher or guru. So I’d like to go through this, the benefits.

One of the benefits, first benefit, is if you have a guru or spiritual teacher, one can become closer to the buddhahood. One could achieve buddhahood in this very same lifetime due to the kindness of guru, due to the guardianship of guru, advice of guru and the help of the guru. There are many great people who become enlightened in one lifetime by the kindness of the guru, help of guru, when working together as a guru and disciple. Famous yogis like Milarepa and Lama Tsongkhapa, Sakya Pandita and Dromtopa, the disciple of Atisha, and so forth. We have many authentic sources and stories, life stories.

And in the tantric sadhanas we have a prayer, or sort of like a request, or you could say praise to guru. It says, “By your great kindness I can attain enlightenment instantly.” Now is it possible one can attain enlightenment instantly? No, not possible, no way. But then, so why do they say, “By your great kindness I could become enlightened instantly“? So this means by the kindness of the guru, teacher, working with the teacher, one can become enlightened in this lifetime or next lifetime. In this lifetime or next lifetime. Maybe two lifetimes. In one hand, that is a long time. Let’s say you become enlightened or become Buddha after thirty years of studying and practicing, meditating, and you can say, “Oh, that’s so long — a long, long time. A long, long time — I didn’t know it takes so long to become enlightened. I didn’t know one has to sacrifice the rest of one’s life, or half of the life.” It is not a question of actually sacrifice. When we practice Dharma, we practice with joy and with love and with happiness, with excitement, great pleasure. It’s not some sort of obligation or sacrifice.

So if I become Buddha within one lifetime, within thirty years, or forty years, whatever, that time, that chunk of time — if you compare that time with how many lifetimes in the past we wander around in the samsara, life after life, birth after birth, death after death, bardo after bardo, we travel so many times in the past. We haven’t achieved really anything significant, spiritual realizations. And we could still travel if you don’t have Dharma in our lives, if you don’t have guru in your lives, if you don’t have a Sangha in our lives. We could still travel in samsara, reborn again and again, go through death, birth, old age, sickness, dissatisfaction, suffering and happiness, up and down, over and over. We can go on and on for thousands of lifetimes, hundreds of lifetimes. So comparing to that much time that we have to go through, if one become Buddha within thirty years, then that is like, almost like instant. This is the meaning, why they say, “By your great kindness I can become enlightened instantly.” If says in the sadhanas like Yamantaka sadhana, Vajrayogini self-initiation, usually in the self-initiation or sadhana it always says like that.

Time goes so fast, see. For example, if you think about your own life, some people here have been doctor for thirty years, some people here have been a psychologist for thirty years, some people maybe here who’ve been a nurse for thirty years. Some people here been school teacher for thirty years. I have been myself teaching Dharma in the west for twenty-one years. In India, little bit here and there, altogether probably twenty-five years. When I look back now, it’s — wow — I don’t remember ever seeing what I did and where I went. And it’s like a dream, it went so fast. So it just goes so fast. Time goes so fast and suddenly we realize I’m getting old, and we have to change our attitudes. We have to go to another existence. So therefore, it is like an instant.

Therefore we say guru’s kindness, a guru’s kindness is very special, or like treasure. Now you can see, therefore, we need a teacher, we need a guru. Some people might think, “I think there are people who never had a teacher or guru, never established formally a student-teacher relationship and who become Buddha. What about Jesus? What about Mohammed? What about Buddha himself? Who was Buddha’s guru? Did he have guru? Did he ever become disciple?” And people have questions, lots of questions. Buddha had a guru, Buddha had teachers. And I’m sure Jesus and Mohammed had teachers. I don’t know their teachers, the names of their teachers and their gurus and where they learned their path. And I’m sure they do have, from our Buddhist point of view and also from the Christian, many Christians, early Christians, their point of view, Jesus was reincarnation of a highly realized being, bodhisattva, I believe myself.

So it is necessary to have guru, to find a guru, to meet guru, but it is also necessary to find and meet guru, teacher, that we have special karmic connection. And you meet many teachers, gurus. Sometimes you don’t feel there’s a connection, there is no connection. Sometimes you meet high lamas, high teachers — they are very high, very special, very holy, wonderful teachers, they are living Buddhas. But sometimes you might personally feel you have no connection. Sometimes you meet a lama who’s not a famous lama, or guru who has hundreds and thousands of disciples, but a very highly enlightened being. And you meet, and sometimes you don’t feel connection.

When you meet the teacher or lama, you have that karmic connection and a karmic connection in the past. And you know from your heart. You don’t need explanation. Nobody has to tell you the qualities of the gurus. These are the qualities of the guru. Qualities of the great teachers, or qualified gurus — you don’t need to explain. You don’t need to go through this list of these things. You feel these. You feel, “This is my guru.” You feel very special. So it is important, Lam Rim teaching says it is important to study with guru that you feel there is a strong connection. That’s a very important one.

The second benefit of having guru is, it says if you have guru, if you have guru, if you established good teacher-student relationship or guru-disciple relationship it will be so beneficial. It will fulfill the wishes of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas because the Buddhas come to the world as a teacher, as a guru, as a master. Comes to the world as a human being. Because we as human beings, we don’t have the capacity or ability to receive teachings directly from dharmakaya, the Buddhas who are in the dharmakaya level, in the dharmakaya aspect.

We don’t have also the opportunity to receive teachings from sambhogakaya Buddhas, because we are not in that level, we’re not Bodhisattvas. In order to receive teachings directly from sambhogakaya Buddha one has to become Bodhisattva. We are not ready, not on that level. Even to receive teachings directly from nirmanakaya Buddhas one has to have lots of good karma. In other words good luck or you could say good karma. If one has very little karma, obscurations in our mind, defilements, then one could see nirmanakaya Buddhas, one can receive teachings from nirmanakaya Buddhas directly. So, many people are not on that level. Therefore it is necessary to have a teacher, guru who is accessible for us and we can relate as human-to-human, and one-to-one, and on very human level, and necessary. For that reason, the Buddha and Bodhisattvas reincarnate as a human being and what we call avatar or reincarnations or as a human being. Not necessarily the teacher is some kind of reincarnated lama, or recognized by some group or association or lab-rung or monastery. But Buddhas and Bodhisattvas do reincarnate all the time as a normal, ordinary human being in order to guide and help and teach sentient beings. We can relate on a human level, one-to-one.

It says in Tibetan word, [Tibetan word]. “??” means myself, “??” means like same level, equal. Even Buddha and Bodhisattva reincarnate as a human being, more or less same level, so then you can talk, you can share your pain and suffering. And even the guru will say, “I have pain, too. I am human, I have sickness, I have cold, I have flu and I have lung problems and stomach problems and so on. I can’t stand these kinds of pollutions and noise and so on and so forth. I’m hungry, I’m thirsty, I need sleep.” So just like any other human beings. Then you can share.

Guru on the one hand as a human being, like ordinary person. At the same time, very same time, this guru is, or can be, a fully-enlightened one, the Buddha or can be Bodhisattva. And so if we are on the same level, I don’t mean spiritual attainment, of course, we’re not the same level. This is why we go to a guru, right? If you are on the same spiritual level, spiritual matter, then what is the benefit of going to somebody? Or you could share as a Sangha, as a friend. But on a spiritual level it is not the same. But on a human level it is as the same, so that you can share.

It says, “All the Buddhas and Bodhisattva reincarnated as a human,” and that’s the second benefit.

The third benefit is if you have a teacher, guru, and if you have a good and healthy spirit relationship with guru, good guru-disciple relationship, healthy one. If you have good relationship, then your Dharma practice will increase and your merit will increase and, Tibetan word is “sonam”, your sonam will increase.

Due to the blessing of guru and good energy and inspiration of guru one cannot be harmed by maras. Mara literally means evil spirit, but this kind of mara is different. It says here, “You cannot be harmed by mara,” which means defilements, delusions, and also one cannot be harmed by unwholesome karmas and obscurations.

And also one cannot be influenced by people who mislead you into the wrong direction, wrong path, and into wrong livelihood. Because if you have good teacher, because of the kindness of the teacher and skillfulness of the teacher, skillful means of the teacher and good influence you always have awareness, mindfulness, good energy, clear mind. So you won’t have confusion, you cannot be easily influenced by others — people who mislead into wrong path, or into involving wrong livelihood or unwholesome action and unwholesome karma.

The fourth benefit of having guru is the defilements, delusions and unwholesome actions of the body, speech and mind naturally more or less automatically, or naturally, subside, naturally decrease. Because due to the influence of the teacher and kindness of the teacher, guru, and one develops wisdom of skillful means. You know how to avoid unwholesome karma, unwholesome speech, unwholesome mind, unwholesome thoughts, and so on and so forth.

And one also learns skillful means and one learns how to collect virtues and cultivate virtues through our body, speech and mind, exactly and precisely and properly. And also due to the good influence of the guru and teacher, one learns how to practice patience, inexhaustible patience and perseverance. For example, if you look at certain lamas, their patience, perseverance, it’s unthinkable.

I heard once, Lama Zopa had interviews, one weekend he had interviews with fifty-five people in Australia in one weekend. Fifty-five people in one weekend! Some people, when you have an interview it takes a long time, maybe an hour. You know, because some people have so much to talk about, they have so many problems. So you can’t say, “Go away now, that’s enough. Go away.” You can’t say, “Buzz off!” [Laughs.] “O.k., go on. Tell me more. Then what happened?” You have to listen.

So some people when they talk about their stuff, like their Dharma practice, their problems with Dharma or problems with their life, and so on and so forth — so complicated. Very complicated people, extremely complicated. Sometimes it’s hard to understand what he’s trying to say. What he’s asking. Is he asking questions or telling me his life stories? What is he trying to say? Go around in a circle, don’t get into the point. So finally, after forty-five minutes you get into the point of the question. Some people are so complicated. And some people I found, they don’t know how to ask questions, and you try to figure out the question. “Do you mean this way?” And then we try to make question. “Do you mean this way? I think so. If you mean this way, then I think this might be the answer. If this is maybe your question, let me think about what is the best answer.” So it takes so long, takes so much energy. It’s quite exhausting.

So you can imagine like having interview with fifty-four people in a weekend? So think about the patience of lama like Lama Zopa, the perseverance and devotion to the Dharmais unthinkable. He’s doing this for the sake of sentient beings. I heard people say to him, “Are you tired? Lama, are you tired?” And he says, “For the benefit of all sentient beings, I am not tired. I never get tired.” And you don’t consider this work. This is part of life, this is a part of my life, part of my life. And I’m so glad — it’s my pleasure to serve the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, and people, and help. Of course, you are born to the world for this purpose, see. So the kindness is unthinkable.

So when you think about he kindness of the guru, they you naturally feel, “I have to be kind, I have to be patient, I should have perseverance.” So you learn. And this is the kindness of the guru, this is having a guru.

It also says that when you’re around with the guru, being around with guru, sitting with guru, talking with guru, and due to the influence of the guru it naturally decreases your bad habits. I know myself. I studied my teachers for so many years, I know. And because of the kindness of our teachers, and our habits and unwholesome thinking actions naturally decrease. And one of the sutras called “...” if you are protected by the guru, your practice or your meditation on bodhicitta will increase like the moon, like the new moon. Unwholesome karmas, unwholesome mind, delusions, ego, defilements cannot come, cannot slip into your mindstream. There is so much benefit having teacher, having guru.

And also, according to oral transmission of Kadampa tradition, and Gelugpa tradition, it says one learns actually the real Dharma, practical Dharma practice one learns from teacher, being around teacher, spending time with teacher, working with teacher, travelling with teacher, serving the guru, and one can learn the real practical Dharma. One can learn more than listening formal teachings and discourse from gurus. Because formal teachings are very formal. We are not always formal. When we receiving formal teachings, lot of time we don’t know how to integrate these formal teachings into our everyday life. But if you have a good connection or close relationship with a guru or gurus, then guru is an example so that you learn so much from observing, through your observation. And the way the guru deals with people, talking, teaching, helping, guiding through skillful means, sometimes becomes very wrathful, sometimes peaceful and so on and so forth. And one can learn real, practical Dharma teachings, the practice, the path. This is the benefit of having guru.

The fifth benefit, it says because of the kindness of guru, having teacher, good relationship, the path will increase and realizations will increase. Insights will increase, one’s own siddhi will increase. So there are many stories. We have many stories. Atisha’s disciple, famous disciple called Dromtonpa. There was also another disciple called Ami Jangchub Renchen. So Dromtonpa had very high realizations right from the beginning when Atisha met Dromtonpa. And people are wondering why Dromtonpa had so much realizations before he even met Atisha. Because Atisha knew through his psychic mind and clairvoyance, and Atisha said that Dromtonpa practiced perfect guru devotion. He had another guru called Lama Setsun. Dromtonpa, when he was young, he served Lama Setsun, and he received teachings and he practiced perfect guru devotion with the Lama Setsun. Therefore he accomplished high realizations.

And so we have many stories about the guru-disciple relationship and also benefit of serving the guru. For example, Dromtonpa was great disciple and example of disciple or yogi who practiced guru yoga perfectly. And there is a story, for example, when Atisha becomes very old and he was quite ill and he couldn’t get up from the bed and he couldn’t go out to field to pee, and he couldn’t go to the outhouse. So Dromtonpa took his pee pot out and he even scoop up his feces by his hand and he did service for his guru. It says one day he was taking out Atisha’s pee pot and walking down the steps, and all of a sudden Dromtonpa achieve, accomplished a very advanced clairvoyance because due to the power of serving guru purify obscurations of the mind. So there are lots of stories like this.

There is also a story of Sakya Pandita, the great scholar and great tantric master, teacher according to the Sakyapa tradition. He was serving his guru and Dyalpa Gyaltsen was also his uncle, and so they have a not only relationship of teacher-student, but they have uncle-nephew relationship. So sometimes Sakya Pandita felt there was some kind of obstacles. And he found out the obstacle was he felt somehow he couldn’t have a deep feeling or devotion to his uncle Dyalpa Gyaltsen as a Buddha. Because Dyalpa Gyaltsen was a fully-enlightened one, he achieved the holy state, enlightened state of Vajrayogini and Chakyasambara Heruka because these lamas are in the lineage of Heruka and Vajrayogini tantra. So he couldn’t really accept Dyalpa Gyaltsen as a fully-enlightened being, Buddha, because he felt always in part of his mind says, “He is my uncle. We have same blood, we are in the same family.” He felt too close, and somehow he couldn’t accept as a fully-enlightened one.

Then he was serving, and one day this obscuration was gone, and of course he knows Dyalpa Gyaltsen was his uncle, but same time he realized that when you’re very, very close, when you have blood relationship and when you grow up in the same family, sometimes, too close, you don’t see the greatness of this person. Like sometimes children don’t want to ask help from their mother or father, even mother or father can be great psychologist or philosopher. They feel they have to go to somebody else, because they feel too close. Even lamas, highly realized beings, have these kinds of human feelings. These things become an obstacle. So one day these obstacles is gone. And then Sakya Pandita become great scholar and great yogi, enlightened one. Like that, there are so many stories, we don’t have time now to talk about. You’re going to study the text, Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, and then you can have the pleasure to study and to do analytical meditation.

The sixth benefit of having guru is serving guru and having guru, is in the future you will never feel lack of teacher, lack of spiritual guide. Because if you have good spiritual teacher-student relationship, if have guru, because due to that good karma, continual karma. So that in the future lives one always find the right teacher, because you are creating this condition to meet other teachers from same lineage, from the same path.

The seventh benefit of having teacher is, it says that if you have a teacher, one will not experience sufferings of lower migrations and lower rebirth, or suffering like being in the lower realms, being reborn in the lower realms. And because of the power and kindness of guru, will purify those karmas. Because if one finds a good teacher, enlightened teacher, because of the skillful means of this guru’s conduct, and whatever the guru is doing to you becomes a teaching, becomes an enlightening experience.

There was a great Kargyupa lama called Dongun Sanpa Gyargye, great Kargyupa lama, great yogi, saint. He was a very famous poet, like Milarepa. He said when the guru is beating you, hitting you, you feel like you’re receiving great initiation. And you feel you’re blessed, totally blessed. When my guru is scolding at me, I feel like I’m receiving new mantra, and I’m receiving lung of transmission of new mantra, therefore all my obstacles on the path to enlightenment will immediately disappear.

So, I’m not sure you’ll find a guru who will beat you, and who will scold you. I’m not sure we will find one like this, that kind of guru these days. It will be a difficult one. It is also difficult for the guru. And in today’s North America society, if guru is beating disciple, or scolding, then guru could be charged for abuse and mental cruelty and physical abuse. Guru could end up in jail. [Laughter] I don’t think there are many gurus who dare to do that. Even if he wish to do that, thinks it’s good to do this, I think one has to be actually kind of enlightened disciple, one has to be enlightened guru, both, if you’re willing to take that kind of chance or challenge. Or you have to be back in Tibet, go back to Tibet, and live in the mountains somewhere and you have to have a real blind faith and say, “Please hit me, Lama! Teach me, Lama! I can’t meditate. I want you to hit me four times. Yesterday you hit me, and my meditation was so good. Please hit me more! I like having lumps on my head. [more laughter] I feel so good after you scold me. I feel so good. All my defilements went and I feel uplifted, I feel almost I was going to levitate.”

So, it’s part of our culture, maybe a little bit of blind faith mixed up, whatever. See the thing is, it doesn’t matter if it’s blind faith or whatever. If you do really have devotion, you have that kind of mind, faith, I mean trust. If you have a good teacher who is teaching you from pure heart, totally selfless, guru who has unconditioned love, compassion for you. If he thinks it’s important to hit you, then that kind of hitting, it is like an initiation, it is like blessing.

When I was young, I was small, I was teenaged, my guru beat me. Sometimes hard when teacher hitting, and then sometimes I see the difference next day, my meditation is better. I can memorize text really fast! So I feel, I wish he will come and beat me again, and sometimes I feel, “I should create conditions and maybe I should make him mad, and then he will come and hit me. But then if I make him mad, then it’s bad karma making guru being mad, that’s not good. So what kind of attitude is this?” [Laughter] It’s a guru-disciple game.

They say when the guru and disciple become very close to each other, and build up so much faith, so much trust, so then some teachers have a lot of confidence in certain students. So the teacher knows this student has so much confidence and faith, so therefore if he scold, if he hit, it doesn’t matter. This disciple has so much faith. So, and it is fine, and therefore it is ok to do that, then they do it. Sometimes the teacher who is very happy with certain student, the more he is happy the teacher is more scolding the student. You see this kind of thing in our tradition, in Tibet. And still happens in India, in the monasteries and meditation places, retreats. It happens like this.

The last benefit of teacher, it says that one can achieve all the temporary goals and ultimate goals. Temporary goals of Dharma practice, or aims of Dharma practice, and ultimate in goals of Dharma practice. And one can achieve the realizations, the siddhis of temporary and ultimate. There’s a quotation in this book from “The Prayers of the Stages of the Path” by Lama Tsongkhapa, “The path begins with strong reliance on my kind teacher, source of all good. Oh, bless me with this understanding to follow him with great devotion.”


I’d like to now ask a question to you, that you might have questions. Do you have questions regarding Guru Yoga? I am sure you have questions. I’m very happy to answer as much as I can.

Q: Some of the questions you brought up at the beginning of the talk, you were talking about the ability to have one or more gurus through the course of your study, and you used Atisha as an example of someone who did have many gurus.

I was also wondering, there being students involved with certain teachers whose conduct caused the teacher-disciple relationship to dissolve. Perhaps the student didn’t feel supported or didn’t feel the relationship was such that — even though he took refuge with this particular teacher and took vows with this particular teacher — perhaps the conduct of that particular teacher left that particular student with a sense of not having fulfilled the expectation the student had of proper conduct. So the student dissolved the relationship between the teacher and student and it also left a lot of students floundering, lost, very damaged actually by the process. And I am wondering how does one begin to rebuild that relationship with another teacher. Very cautiously, no doubt. I am wondering, perhaps you could speak to some of those questions between the guru-disciple relationship where difficulty arises. And perhaps you could cite some other examples where it had occurred in the past with other teachers and other students.

Rinpoche: I think that maybe you have two questions here. First thing is you raised the question about Atisha having many teachers. I think Atisha was exception because Atisha himself was a very highly realized being, right from the beginning. He was known as an emanation or manifestation of Manjushri, and so forth. He was a Bodhisattva; he was born as a Bodhisattva. He was exception, I think.

He received initiations and teachings from various teachers, like altogether 154-155. And he did trainings and so forth because he felt he had a great responsibility to preserve the Dharma. To hold the various lineages, keep them and then preserve them and then introduce them to places like Tibet. So he become the founder of Kadampa tradition. And also, he was in many ways also indirectly the founder of Gelugpa tradition as well. So, because you have responsibility, take all kinds of initiations to save the lineage of the initiation, I think that was the main reason. It’s not because he needed 157 gurus. It also doesn’t mean that he was implying to people that people should have lots and lots of teachers, lots of gurus.

I think it also says in the teachings, and I think it’s our own experience, we know it’s hard when you have so many teachers, too many teachers, different teachers. Especially when teachers come from different background, different training, different sect, different lineages. So these practices are quite different, and since they are so different, or quite different, we don’t know how to encompass, put it together and make one path. Therefore, it also suggests one should not take too many teachers, and better not to take too many. It’s easier to have few teachers. So I think, as I mentioned before, it is important to meet a teacher, have a teacher that you feel there’s a karmic connection.

But also, you don’t need a lot of teachers, because sometimes we have this grasping — we want more teachers, more initiations, more practice, more is better. It’s part of grasping mind. People do Dharma shopping, guru shopping, initiation shopping, shop, shop, shop. [Laughter.] And so it’s better to have fewer teachers.

And I think for guru it is also very hard, difficult, big responsibility having so many students. This is one of the problems, perhaps the problem that you were talking about. When the teacher has so many students, then how can teacher fulfill the wishes and expectations of so many students? It is very difficult for teacher to fulfill their expectations. Teacher has very little time.

Basically you are a human being. I think what happens is, when you have so many students and if the particular lineage and the teacher has so many Dharma centers, big organizations, then the teacher doesn’t know really what is happening a lot of times down there. And then, you have below you, other teachers, like junior teachers and meditation instructors, and there are lots of secondhand teachings and third-hand teachings. Different interpretations, people says, “Guru says this, guru says that. Lama said this and that.” There’s all kinds of interpretations, and then people confused.

And when the teacher has so many disciples, you have to wait for interview sometimes six months. I know, I heard from certain lamas, if you’re a student of certain lamas, you have to wait, sometimes six months for interview, sometimes one year. How much can you really talk about, how much can you really say? And how do you really establish relationship? It’s very hard.

Then sometimes due to the problem of so many students, so many things going on, there’s also problems — personal dynamics problems. As a Dharma student, ordinary people, we have so many ego problems, delusions, power, competition, jealousy. It’s human. There’s so much happening, and the teacher doesn’t know these things. There’s Dharma politics going on, and these become a problem. Sometimes you get confused and sometimes you don’t know what the teacher is saying, or the second teacher, or the third teacher’s saying. You are not really sure what is going on here. So it is very confusing.

That’s why in Tibet some lamas have fixed disciples. They’ll say, “Only seventy students. Or only twenty-five students, no more. Can’t do it anymore. Too many students no good. Quality is better.” I have seen certain Hindu gurus, they have only twenty disciples, maybe twelve disciples. I know one of my teachers only had, only really heart disciples. He gives public teachings, but he won’t really formally accept many students. He had only fifteen to sixteen students because then you can work together closely, you can have good quality. You can produce good disciples, good yogis and yoginis. So it is very confusing, difficult. Then due to so much going on, teacher gets old and sometimes becomes sick, and then dies. Then disappointments — the disciples feel they’re abandoned and ignored and unanswered wishes and expectations, and things are falling apart. And then you need to go and find another teacher. So this normally happens because of too many students, too much big organization.

But at the same time, we have to think about also teacher — it’s up to them, up to their choice how many students to have. Students, it’s up to their choice how many gurus they want — or no gurus, it’s your choice. Also, many teachers feel it’s their responsibility to teach the Dharma to as many as possible. Some teachers prefer to have many students for the sake of the Dharma and Sangha. They want to spread the word of the Buddha as much as possible. Even you can spend very little time, you want to teach and help.

And sometimes — it’s again, as I said before, it’s a karmic connection with a certain teacher, and even if you don’t see this teacher for years and years. Maybe you see him or her once every three or four or five years, just glimpse of contact, physical contact, maybe have an interview once every four years, sometimes that’s good enough, that’s all you need. It depends on the karma, depends on your personal connection. It’s hard to say exactly what you need.

Like in the Hindu tradition, they have this, what they call in India “darshan.” Sometimes the guru doesn’t talk, he’s silent for thirty years. So he’s sitting there — you go up and he’s sitting in front of you. Who is he? Guru sits there, smiles, and so you make contact. You receive darshan, blessings. And you have a heart connection, you have devotion, and by the power of guru, by his presence you are blessed, moment you see him sitting in front of you. And that meeting, just eye contact, just sitting together for hour or half hour, whatever, it itself becomes initiation, without performing rituals, saying words. And that’s good enough. So various students have various needs.

So, like your question, like you said, there’s bitterness. There is confusion and problems because of conduct of teacher. Whatever the problem was, maybe it could come from the organization, the people under the teacher, or maybe could be problem come from the teacher. Whatever has happened, if the teacher is gone now, so in order to find inner peace and happiness, what we need to do is — what I would like to suggest is the teacher is gone now, so you should always remember, always be thankful for what you have learned from the teacher, from him or her. We are disappointed because we need all the time teacher’s advice. Sometimes we feel we are abandoned, like children when the parents die suddenly, the children can’t accept it, feel abandoned. So lot of times teacher-student relationship is like father-son relationship or mother-daughter relationship, similar. There is always this needy thing.

So we have to let go, accept that’s the way it is, law of impermanence. Teacher goes. Disciple goes. We all go. Buddha Shakyamuni himself passed away. He left so many disciples behind. He said, “I’m going now. This is teaching. This is teaching. But you have a teacher. I taught the Dharma forty-six years, all the teachings. That’s your teacher now. I have to leave this body. This body is like that old tree, it’s rotten, falling apart, falling down, and I’m expired.” So that we have to accept. Teacher is gone.

Whatever there is problem, we don’t really know what the problems are, where the problems come from — maybe from organization, maybe from teacher, maybe a lot of times our own mind, our own confusions, because we are confused. Normally we are all confused. Because as a samsaric person, if we don’t have realization of shunyata, actually bodhicitta, I can say we are all confused. I don’t mean all the time, but we are usually, generally, confused. The Tibetan word is called “turpa” — means confused. We don’t have direct perception of shunyata and life is like a dream, an illusion, and we are confused. So there is much confusion happening.

Also the guru’s conduct — if he appears immoral or unethical, whatever happened — maybe guru who passed away, maybe he had a problem. That also happens. See the thing is, guru — in one level, he is enlightened being, on a spiritual side. But then a part of guru, you are still human. There is still passion, still desire, still some kind of rigid mind, and fear and maybe insecurity due to childhood upbringing, environment, society. Because being a human, you still have problem, like short circuit, and confusion happens. Even with enlightened beings, it appears they have some problems. But at the same time, also very enlightened, great teacher. He helped so many people, liberated so many people.

So we have to accept it, that’s the way it is. So it is unhealthy to keep kind of negative feelings — “That guru wasn’t very good for me. He cheated me, what a rip-off! I had so much faith and I felt I’m cheated. I feel so bad!” So that’s unhealthy for us. What we need is we have to find peace. Most important thing is, whatever happened is gone. Now it is finished. So now, “I like to be thankful all the teachings, so many things I learned from you. Thank you very much.”

Also, it’s possible if you study Lam Rim like the “Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand” it says that certain gurus are emanation of Bodhisattva, emanation of Buddha. And because Buddha and Bodhisattva reincarnate as a human in order to relate to human beings, as I mentioned before, they have to be on a human level. So they help human beings. So some gurus act like they’re mad, act like crazy, act like strange or a little lunatic, act like a drunk and does weird things.

You’ve heard the story of the divine madman of Bhutan. There’s this book written by Keith ? and translated, we call Dropa Gelig (?) He was a divine enlightened being, but he appeared like a madman. So we don’t know what is really happening. Hard to say what is happening there. Whether this person is divine enlightened being or a madman? Is he a divine enlightened being acting like a madman or is just a madman? [Laughter] Acting like enlightened being! We don’t know. Hard to say!

Q: If you have a good relationship with guru, he’ll be able to purify karma for lower rebirth. So how does guru then purify, at the time of death, the negative mind, and lower rebirths?

Rinpoche: Like it says, the guru’s kindness, power of guru, one can liberate from the lower migration, and rebirth of lower realms, and also liberate one’s own mind, state of mind that is like being in the lower realms, right? So we can have these kinds of minds, comes and goes. Sometimes we have minds like a hungry ghost and like sometimes we have a mind like an animal. We wake up in the morning and we don’t want to meditate, go back to sleep, and hungry, eat, eat, go back to sleep, forget about practice. We have animal mind, like pig-mind, dog-mind, horse-mind, eating all the time, or we have a monkey-mind, always running around all over the place. We have tiger-mind, grizzly bear-mind — arrgh! — always very mad. We have a snake-like mind, cobra-mind.

See the good influence of the guru, and kindness, and the skillful means — the influence of the skillful means of the guru and we learn how to deal with our negative emotions, we know how to apply the remedies. So we can eliminate our passion, aggression, ignorance, and so forth. So we can liberate ourselves from that. Also, when we say the guru mantra — when we do Guru Yoga we say the guru mantra — then, all of a sudden you can feel the guru’s energy, and you can even hear words of the guru, the teachings. The wholesome energy comes into our mindstream. So then, more or less automatically the defilements subside or decrease.

So that’s why at the time of death it is crucial and it is important — we have a prayer called “Calling the Lama from Long Distance.” [Laughs] Actually it’s called “Calling the Lama from Far Away,” but you could say “long distance.” It’s a prayer, so if you’re dying, if your lama is far away, most likely he is far away on a physical level, physical presence. So if you recite these verses, the Tibetan word is Lama [??]. ?? means “calling.” You recite that verses, or guru mantras, invoke the guru and visualize, then suddenly all the energy, blessing comes to you. And it comes in your dreams so your mind is filled with peace and joy.

Let’s say even the guru passed away. You can still have contact this guru in your dreams. Like I see my guru in my dreams. My guru passed away. I have seen many times in my dream, still sitting on throne giving teachings, receiving initiations. Sometimes I feel so much joy and suddenly I wake up! I can’t go back to sleep — I feel so happy, and then I sit there and meditate, and saying mantras and do my meditation, and so much energy, like charged, like I can’t go back to sleep. I feel like how can I go back to sleep? My guru appeared in my dream, he gave me these teachings. It’s a great opportunity. I should continue to practice. And sometimes when you wake up, you feel so joyful. Sometimes you have questions, thoughts, and then guru is answering questions in your dream, even if the guru maybe passed away a long time ago.

Q: What part of your guru is answering your questions? If he’s passed away and having rebirth?

Rinpoche: Whatever important questions that you have in your mind, if you have a special connection with the guru, the guru can appear in your dream and he can actually tell what you have to contemplate on. I had a dream like my teachers Ling Rinpoche and Trijang Rinpoche, a long time after they passed away, from time to time dreams. I see them sitting somewhere, or walking towards me, talking and giving teachings, answering questions. Always there’s some teaching happening.

Q: If there’s been damage in a relationship with teacher, how do you advise to repair the damage, or if it’s broken, or you broke it, how do you advise to establish a healthy one with another teacher?

Rinpoche: What do you mean by broken? That you can no longer work with that teacher, lost faith in that teacher? The relationship with the teacher is broken, but not the Dharma.

I think first question is if there’s damage, you can repair. Just like anything else, you repair. Find a good hammer, saw and find good glue. Put it together, fix it. If there’s damage, like you say, you haven’t lost faith and you wish to continue to follow or have the relationship, it is important to have dialogue, request interview. You have to be very direct. Say, “Because I am very confused and due to my negative mind, confusion, lack of understanding Dharma and especially guru-disciple relationship, and Guru Yoga, I’d like to apologize and ask for forgiveness.” Then you can fix this problem. Guru has compassion and gurus always know students. We have this kind of problem as a human. There is lots of room. So damage can be fixed, but you have to be very direct.

Now if the guru is not accepting the apologies. I don’t know, some cases I’ve heard some teachers, I don’t know why, they don’t accept an apology. They throw student out. I feel it’s very unfortunate. You start to think, “What happened? Where is the compassion?” This, I think, is unfortunate, because that means violating Bodhisattva vows, like abandoning disciple, what they call abandoning faithful one who has faith in you. Saying, “Go away, don’t come near me. I don’t want to be your teacher.” It’s actually violating Bodhisattva vow, but then again, we don’t know exactly the intention of the guru. He may say, “Go away, I don’t want you to be my student.” That could be also another teaching. Because maybe teacher needs to tell student to go away, don’t come to me, because maybe he has to figure it out himself. This is all that you can really do at the time.

Because sometime we have a karma to study with teacher for a certain amount of time, then sometimes there’s a kind of time limit, the time or karma has expired. I don’t mean the karma expired to have a teacher-student relationship. But there’s a time to be with and to study, when that expires, the student is still grasping the teacher. The teacher says, “You are finished with me now. You go and study with somebody else.” That doesn’t mean he’s abandoning you. So we don’t know the intention of the teacher. But if the teacher’s intention is careless due to some kind of politics, part of his own problem, saying go away, then it’s sad. So we don’t know. In that case, damage can be resolved.

That’s the first question. Second question is broken. You said “lost faith,” right? If you lost faith and broken the commitment and then you have to figure out yourself. Think about it yourself, why did you lose faith? Is it because of what has happened? Has it been from your side or teacher’s side? Sometimes you never find an answer. It’s very complicated. But in any case, as I said, if you feel you lost faith or trust, therefore you don’t have the confidence any more to study with the same teacher, if you don’t want to study that’s your choice, your wish. So if you want to stay away from the teacher, it’s up to you. It’s like fire, you don’t want to be too close, it will burn. You stay away from fire, like that, but it’s your choice. Nobody forces you to study all the time.

Actually, guru do wish ultimately for you to go away, learn fast, become enlightened quickly, that’s the whole purpose. So sometimes guru has to do that, say to these people, “Go away, don’t come to me.” You have to grow yourself. So we don’t know.

But, in any case, it’s important not to blame teacher, not to say bad things about teacher, not have this negative mind carry on, walking around. That’s unhealthy for you and also negative, unhealthy for other people, other students. It’s bad for the general karma, and also, of course, bad for the teacher, too. So as I said, always you should remember the kindness of the teacher. I saw this when His Holiness the Gyalwa Rinpoche, many people ask the same question. He always says you keep distance if you want, you don’t want to take teachings that’s up to you, but you should always remember the kindness, what you’ve learned from him or her.

Q: What does one do when you realize how the mind works? (Inaudible) What is the next step?

Rinpoche: You’re talking about, like Mahamudra meditation, I think. You first develop awareness of mind, observing mind, being witness of your own mind, thoughts arising. Then stay there, then ceasing, then keep coming, going. So you are observing your thoughts, so you see all kinds of levels of minds, emotions, thought patterns, delusions, and virtuous mind. All kind of mental events — comes and goes, it’s like the waves, comes and goes. So you watch and observe.

So you actually gain great realization from that, observing your thoughts, emotions. You gain realization of impermanence, you can gain realization of emptiness. You can gain realization of non-attachment and renunciation, also compassion perhaps. And so you continue. But if at some point, if you feel you’re stuck, then you need advice from teacher, where to go.

Q: On the last line of the first stanza of “One Hundred Deities of the Land of Joy” does that mean sons and daughters, what does that mean?

Rinpoche: Well, it means sons. We have a thanka painting of Lama Tsong Khapa, and he has two chief disciples called Gyeltsap Je and Kedrup Je, so usually in visualizations, he usually has two disciples next to him, kind of like attendants. They’re also emanations. One is emanation of Chenrezig, the other one is emanation of Vajrapani. Himself is emanation of Manjushri, so when we do sadhanna, we request him to come down with his two disciples, or sons.

Q: Did he have any disciples who were women?

Rinpoche: Tsong Khapa? Oh yes, many. His mother was also his disciple and his teacher as well. His mother was actually a highly realized lama. And she reincarnated many times until recent times. His mother’s incarnation was called (??). Last one died in Chinese prison during Cultural Revolution, in Shanghai.

I had the good karma to see the skull of Lama Tsong Khapa’s real, actual mother. The last time when I went to Khombu monastery. I was going around in temple. The tour guide said, “Don’t tell anybody, I’ll show you something. Come up quietly.” He took me upstairs in top of the temple to the inner room. He said, “Come here.” He said, “I’ll show you Lama Tsong Khapa’s mother’s skull.” On his mother’s skull, on the top of the skull, there is OM letter appeared. The bone itself has the OM letter, it comes out, like what do you call? Embossed, in relief. It’s sticking up, you can touch the OM. After meditating OM, OM, so many years, the bone is changed. Actually OM is sticking up, you can see the OM. It was a wonderful experience.

Q: Was there a time when there were a lot of enlightened females, is it a cycle?

Rinpoche: Long time ago there were a lot of female teachers. In India and in Tibet as well. There were always female teachers, and one problem that we have is that most of the female teachers, their life stories are not recorded. There is no books, no texts. One reason for this is that the female enlightened beings, they didn’t have a lot of disciples. The reason is, many female teachers and enlightened beings, a lot of them had children, they lived at home. They didn’t really give formal teachings. They’re occupied with having children and so forth, but they were highly realized beings. They were recognized by other lamas — “She is emanation of Tara. She is emanation of Vajrayogini, so on.” So they didn’t have disciples. This is one reason.

Also, there were female teachers, like yoginis, who were wandering around, themselves living in caves and villages. Also, it’s partly because of society, you know, male chauvinist society. So the people always go to men teachers, lamas who have many disciples, they don’t go to female teachers. And also female teachers are modest and humble, so they just don’t care if they have disciples or not. They just do their own practice. So there was none recalled in stories, unfortunately. But there was many teachers, enlightened ones. And long time, of course, there were more female teachers. I think it’s possible, it’s true, there will be more women teachers in the future.

Okay, I’d like to end here, now.

Transcribed text courtesty of
Golden Blue Lotus Tara Center


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