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Guru Yoga
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Importance of
the Oral Transmission
Qualities of the
Lama
Examining the
Teacher
The Story of the
Shepherd-Lama
Relying on the
Teacher
The Great Master
Padmasambhava
The Practice of Guru
Yoga
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A Teaching given by H.H. Penor Rinpoche in
Berkeley, California July 19, 1996
 
Importance of the Oral Transmission
Regardless of the particular level of teaching or practice that we are
discussing in the Buddhist tradition, whether it be Hinayana, Mahayana or
Vajrayana, the process of spiritual development is one of the student
relying upon a teacher. We may call that teacher a lama, a guru, or
whatever, but the essential point is that there is an oral transmission
that takes place in which a teacher teaches the student: the student
listens to the teachings, absorbs their meaning and puts them into
practice.
There is a reason for this emphasis on an oral
transmission. From the time of the Buddha up to the present day, the
buddha dharma has always been transmitted and meant to be transmitted
orally, ensuring that there is a living tradition that is still embued
with the blessing and power of the original teachings. It also guards
against the possibility of so-called teachers simply coming up with their
own ideas. Instead, the teacher passes on a proven tradition of teachings.
This makes the buddha dharma different from other kinds of
learning where it may be possible for people to innovate. In such realms
of learning it may be appropriate to come up with new systems of thought
or to introduce new ideas. But when we are talking about the buddha
dharma, every teaching must connect with the original teachings of the
Buddha in order for a teaching to be valid. The teachings cannot be
something that someone is simply coming up with on their own. The
teachings are something that the teacher passes on.
Similarly, in
other types of human knowledge it may be permissible to present
information in a manner as entertaining and pleasing as possible. But
although it is important for dharma teachings to be presented in a manner
which is pleasant to hear, it is most important that the transmitted
teachings have the power to bless and influence those who hear them in a
positive way - not only in this lifetime, but in future lifetimes as well.
So even though the teaching of the dharma should be elegant and
well-presented, what is most important is the blessing of the essential
message.
Qualities of the Lama
The teachings we know of as Buddhism were first taught by the Buddha
Sakyamuni. These teachings have been maintained by a lineage of living
transmission up to the present day by those who have been inspired to
follow the example of the Buddha and to study that path and transmit it to
others. In any of the various Buddhist traditions we find that there are
countless numbers of people who through their study and contemplation have
become extremely learned and gifted with spiritual power and realization.
But the reason why they teach and the reason why these individuals
undertake to become learned in the dharma should not be to indulge in
self-aggrandizement. One does not become learned in dharma in order to
think of oneself as learned and to gain some special status. One does not
teach others from a sense of personal pride, either. Dharma is maintained
because it brings benefit to those who hear the teachings. That is the
motivation behind teaching.
In order to become an authentic
teacher of the tradition, it is not sufficient to simply read enough books
to become very clever at the teachings and then set oneself up as a
teacher. Rather, it is the case that one's own teacher, a particularly
realized individual, must give one permission to teach. It may also be the
case that one will be graced with a vision of one's chosen deity during
which experience the deity will confer upon one the blessing and authority
to teach.
So it isn't simply a question of ordinary people
developing enough cleverness to be able to talk well about the dharma. The
true benefit of the teachings doesn't come about through an ordinary
approach, because that more ordinary approach tends only to feed one's own
pride and conflicting emotions. No benefit that can come out of that. It
is only when the teaching is a selfless gesture to benefit others based
upon an authentic transmission that we really have the benefit that is
necessary for the dharma to be maintained.
If we take into account
all of the teachings of the Buddha, including all of the commentaries on
those teachings by the great mahasiddhas - the learned pundits of the
Indian, Tibetan and other traditions of Buddhism - it would be impossible
for a single individual to try and put all of that into practice. This
does not mean that there is any aspect of those teachings that are useless
and have no function. The Buddha Sakyamuni turned the wheel of the dharma
in three successive transmissions during his time in the world. In
vajrayana when we consider the thousands of volumes that collectively
known as the buddha dharma, including the 84,000 collections of the
Buddha's teachings and the 6,400,000 texts of tantra, it is obvious that
no single person could absorb and practice all of that.
Examining the Teacher
So this brings us to the topic of guru yoga. Let us look at the
etymology of the word 'lama' in Tibetan. The first syllable 'la' means
'that which is unsurpassable.' The second word 'ma' literally means
mother. This means that the attitude of the teacher is like that of a
mother towards her children. There is the implication that the
relationship with the lama carries with it a great deal of weight. There
is also tremendous potential for the student to benefit from that
relationship.
This is why in the secret mantra path of the
vajrayana teachings, it is emphasized that from the outset it is important
for the teacher and student to examine one another. There must be a
critical process whereby each one chooses the other. For example, it is
said in the tantras, if a lama is acquisitive, ambitious, subject to
conflicting emotions, full of pride, jealousy or competitiveness, then it
is not appropriate for a student to rely on such a teacher regardless of
who that lama may be. The lama must have the right kinds of
qualifications, including the quality of compassion. If the teacher does
not have these basic qualities, then it will be very difficult for such a
lama to grant blessing to the student in the way that is necessary for the
lama/student relationship to be effective.
In examining a lama's
qualities it may be difficult for an ordinary person to appreciate the
qualities of that lama's mind stream, especially at first meeting that
teacher. But one crucial factor to be considered is the lineage that the
lama holds and whether that lineage has been maintained with pure samaya.
One cannot determine simply from a teacher's degree of learning
whether they have the kind of spiritual power that can transmit true
blessing. If the teacher's mind stream is not moved by an altruistic and
compassionate quality - the quality of Bodhicitta¹ - but rather is
one of pride and afflictive emotions, then there is not going to be a
beneficial relationship even if that teacher is very learned. This is
because the motivation of the teacher is not a proper one.
So
initially it is important for the student to examine a prospective
teacher. Once the student has come to the decision to rely upon a given
teacher, there is no more discussion. The decision has been made. At that
point it is important for the student to rely wholeheartedly on the
teacher. If one has gone through the examination process of checking the
teacher's qualities and determining that this teacher is appropriate for
oneself, then one will be able to maintain a respect and a trust in the
teacher.
Provided that the student then maintains an attitude of
faith and devotion towards a lama chosen in this way, there is no student
that will not receive the blessings of the Buddha directly in this living
lineage. This is quite infallible.
The Story of the Shepherd-Lama
In Tibet there was a family of nomadic herdsmen. They raised and sold
animals for a living. They were in no way knowledgable about the dharma.
Their work was of an essentially worldly nature.
One of the
shepherds hired by this family would be given food when he took the herds
out every day. He would go to the bank of a river, let the herds graze and
sit down at midday to make tea and have his lunch. Where he was sitting,
there was a rock outcropping. Every day he would take the leftovers of
food and tea and put them on the rock. He was not motivated by any
consideration that this was either a good or bad thing to do. It was
simply an idle habit he had of placing leftovers on the rock.
This
particular rock outcropping had three surfaces on which he used to put the
food. As it happened, these rocks were inhabited by certain local spirits.
One of these was a naga spirit, one was a mara spirit and the other was of
a class known as the tsen spirits. These three non-human spirits were very
appreciative of these "offerings" that this seemingly spiritual person and
accomplished practitioner was giving them on a daily basis. They discussed
among themselves: "One of us, at least, should do something out of
gratitude. Who shall it be?" And as they talked among themselves it was
decided that the mara spirit would be the one to help the shepherd. And so
the mara spirit entered into the body of the shepherd which caused him to
undergo a complete transformation. He actually became a very erudite and
clever person.
When he returned home from the fields, he was a
changed man. Instead of just coming home as usual, he came home and began
talking about dharma he began teaching. Over time he came to have
thousands of students. He was so impressive as a spiritual teacher that he
gathered a huge retinue of students around him. He also wrote many books.
He gained a wide reputation for being very learned in the dharma. This
continued over many years and his fame continued to grow.
He was
continuing these activities when another lama who was traveling in the
area heard about him. Due to the visiting lama's authentic psychic powers,
he was aware of the fact that the shepherd-lama was not someone who really
had genuine qualities. He realized that the shepherd-lama's teaching
ability had been imparted by the possession of a mara spirit.
And
so the visiting lama said to one of his attendant monks: "I want you to
take this incense down to where this other lama is teaching and I want you
to burn it and waft the smoke through the area so that the lama and all of
the students smell the smoke. Can you do that for me?"
The monk
said "No problem," and he took the incense down and burned it. He went
through the crowd of thousands of people who were listening to this
shepherd turned teacher. As soon as the shepherd smelled the smoke, the
mara spirit left his body. The poor shepherd sitting on his throne looked
around at the great crowd of people and said "Where are my sheep?"
The point of the story is that even though a teacher may be
clever, famous and capable of speaking about the dharma, that does not
determine authenticity. You need to examine clearly what it is you are
looking for in a teacher.
When you have gone through this
examination process as a student and have come to the decision that you
want to rely upon a given teacher, then you have no problem relating to
that teacher straightforwardly with a sense of faith and pure view. Then,
when you take teachings from that teacher, you are completely receptive to
what that teacher has to offer.
Relying on the Teacher
Some of the most important questions you should ask yourself are: Does
this teacher have the experience of becoming free of suffering and
delusion to be able to impart that kind of freedom to me? Is this teacher
motivated by Bodhicitta or not? Is this teacher truly compassionate in his
or her concern for me as a student? This is something we find in all of
the teachings of the sutras, of the tantras and particularly in the mind
teachings of the mahamudra and great perfection schools: It is extremely
important to examine the qualities of a lama to determine his or her
before relying on that teacher.
The whole point of the examination
process is not to critically judge a teacher in some public forum or in an
abstract sense. Instead, it is to evaluate the teacher from a very
personal level to determine whether or not that relationship with that
teacher will be beneficial for you as a student. Does this teacher have
qualities and teachings to offer that you, in receiving those teachings,
can benefit from? It is entirely from your own point of view and not from
some conceptual perspective.
Relying upon a
teacher is absolutely crucial in order for the student to purely receive
the transmission of the teachings. This is particularly true in the case
of the Great Perfection ("Dzogchen")teachings. You can only receive the
pure transmission of the Great Perfection ("Dzogchen")from a living
teacher. There is no source of transmission other than that of working
with an authentic teacher.
And again, it is
important that the lama or lamas upon whom you rely not be individuals who
are motivated by selfish desires for personal gain; that they not be in
any way tricky or deceitful people; that the way they speak the teachings
not be contradictory or counterproductive; that they not be proud of their
own qualities and constantly talking about or demonstrating their
qualities in a competitive or self-aggrandizing manner. Any and all of
these types of qualities in a teacher are to be avoided.
On the
other hand, when you encounter a lama or teacher who has a very noble
character, who has excellent qualities, who is skilled and insightful
concerning the practice of the Buddhist teachings in general and the
Vajrayana path in particular, whose mind stream is motivated by
Bodhicitta, who is extremely loving and compassionate in his or her
concern for others, and who has him or herself realized the fundamental
nature of phenomena in a very authentic and direct manner, when we meet
someone who embodies all of these qualities, then we have the ideal case
of someone upon whom you should rely as a teacher. This person meets all
of the qualifications of a good and authentic teacher.
Therefore,
when we speak of someone who is truly a lama, we are not simply speaking
of someone who has the title or who is some general or ordinary sense
considered a lama. Only when we speak of someone who really has these
authentic qualities are we truly speaking of a qualified and authentic
lama, i.e. someone upon whom it will only be beneficial for you to rely.
Your practice and your experience in the dharma will only grow as result
of a connection with someone who is truly worthy of the title "lama."
When the student's attitude toward his or her lama is one of such
faith and devotion that the student really sees the teacher as an actual
Buddha, or as the very emodiment of the dharmakaya Vajradhara, or as the
very embodiment of the student's yidam - when the student has that kind of
complete trust and faith, without any doubt, without hesitation - then the
blessings and qualities of the enlightened form, speech and mind of all
buddhas and bodhisattvas are transmitted through the lama to the student.
There are also cases in which one encounters a
lama with whom one has a connection over many lifetimes. The kind of
indication you will have of this is that simply hearing the name of the
teacher is an arresting experience for you: every hair on your body stands
on end. It is something which happens quite automatically and is not a
contrived experience.
When it is a certainty in your mind that
this is truly the Buddha, this is truly the dharmakaya Vajradhara, or that
this is truly Guru
Rinpoche that you are encountering and relying upon in your lama, and
when you pray with that certainty in your mind, then you definitely
receive the blessings from that connection. But this also implies that
you, as a student, guard your own attitudes towards the teacher and ensure
that you are always respectful and receptive to what the teacher is
saying. Do not give in to your own ordinary habits of pride or
self-aggrandizement or in any way undermine the relationship with the
teacher by contradicting what the teacher says or by attempt to thwart the
teacher's efforts. Any and all of these attitudes are to be avoided since
they do not support the trusting and open relationship that is necessary
for the blessings to flow from the teacher to the student.
In the
tantras it is stated again and again the importance of relying upon the
lama as the source of blessings in one's practice. Regardless of the
particular prayer that the student offers to the lama, regardless of how
small or seemingly insignificant it may be, if it is based upon the
student's complete trust and faith in the lama, then the blessings of the
lama are always accessible to the student. In the Tantra of the Ocean
of Timeless Awareness, it states that it is far better to recite one
small prayer to one's lama out of pure faith and devotion than it is to
perform hundreds of millions of recitations of deity mantras. The effect
of prayer is far more powerful when it is truly an expression of one's own
faith and devotion in one's lama.
When one has
established a connection with one's lama based upon trust, faith and
devotion, there are different ways of relying upon that relationship
through which various kinds of accomplishment can come about. If a student
intends to attain the most sublime accomplishment of enlightenment itself,
the student identifies the lama with Vajradhara - the dharmakaya buddha.
If the student is particularly motivated to develop deeper wisdom, the
student identifies the lama with Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom. In
order to encourage his or her own love and compassion, the student
meditates upon the lama as inseparable from Avalokitesvara, the
bodhisattva of compassion. To gain greater spiritual power the student
focuses upon the lama as inseparable from Vajrapani, the bodhisattva of
spiritual power. To overcome various kinds of fear and anxiety one relies
upon the lama as the very embodiment of the venerable Tara. To promote
one's own longevity one meditates upon the lama inseparable from Amitayus.
To overcome illness and disease one meditates upon the lama as the
Medicine Buddha. To promote one's own wealth and prosperity one meditates
upon the lama as inseparable from Vaishravana, Jambhala, or any of the
wealth deities. To purify the effects of harmful actions and to purify
obscurations of one's body, speech and mind, one meditates upon the lama
as inseparable from the deity Vajrasattva. To increase one's own personal
glory, wealth and opportunity, one meditates upon the lama as inseparable
from the Buddha Ratnasambhava, the buddha of the jewel family. To increase
one's power - one's ability to exercise a powerful and beneficial
influence over the world - one meditates upon the lama as inseparable from
Amitabha or a deity such as Kurukulla. If one wishes to enact wrathful
activity, one meditates upon the lama as inseparable from Vajrabhairava or
any of the more wrathful yidams. If one wishes to adopt the approach that
combines all of these qualities in a single form, one meditates upon one's
lama as inseparable from Guru Rinpoche. In each of these cases, one's
attitude is that of one's own root lama being the very embodiment of one
or another of these aspects of enlightened being.
The Great Master Padmasambhava
The universal approach which subsumes all of these aspects is
meditation upon one's lama as the very embodiment of Guru Rinpoche.
Guru Rinpoche should not be thought of in this case as simply an
historical figure, i.e. as an individual who appeared after the Buddha
Sakyamuni in our particular time and space. The actual essence of Guru
Rinpoche predates the Buddha Sakyamuni by eons. The enlightened mind
stream that is the enlightened mind stream of Guru Rinpoche is the single
expression of the innate compassion, blessings and wisdom of countless
buddhas from countless eons in the past all focusing in this single mind
stream that is the mind stream of the great master Guru Rinpoche.
If we think of the buddha dharma as being divisible into the
teachings of the sutras and the tantras, the teachings that we know of
today as Buddhism are those which were spoken and taught by the historical
Buddha Sakyamuni. In the greater sense, however, the teachings of the
buddha dharma, and particularly the teachings of the secret mantra path
are not limited to the expression of that single buddha. This is where the
activity of Guru Rinpoche is considered to be so universal and so far
reaching. Wherever the Vajrayana teachings have been given by any buddha
in the past, or are being given or ever will be given, wherever a
spiritual teacher is transmitting those teachings, the essence of Guru
Rinpoche is embodied there - in that buddha, in that teacher, in that
lama. In different realms, in different universes, under different names,
in different forms, the manifestations of Guru Rinpoche have appeared and
continue to appear in countless numbers. There are any number of accounts
in the traditional literature that attest to this manifold display of Guru
Rinpoche's activity.
In our particular time and space - as we
experience the legacy of Buddha Sakyamuni as one of the one thousand
buddhas who will appear during this age in which we live - all of these
thousand buddhas and all the activity of these thousand buddhas including
the Buddha Sakyamuni are all manifestations from a single source. They are
all different aspects of activity that derives from a single source of
blessing and a single source of transmission. Throughout this enormous
universe and this vast expanse of time, all of the hundreds of millions of
manifestations of buddhas and teachers that appear are manifestations of
Guru Rinpoche's energy. Therefore, the expression of Guru Rinpoche's
blessings cannot be limited to a single time frame and a single region
such as India or Tibet.
The accounts of Guru Rinpoche's miraculous
birth in India and his journey to Tibet to bring the teachings there are
simply one small aspect of the blessing and activity that is the totality
of Guru Rinpoche. Even the accounts of Guru Rinpoche's life that we have
do not speak of a single figure, but of eight manifestations of Guru
Rinpoche by way of expressing the enormous scope of Guru Rinpoche's
blessing and activity. This blessing and activity continues to manifest in
all of the great teachers and masters who are emanations of Guru Rinpoche.
Guru Rinpoche has not died. Guru Rinpoche has not passed away. Guru
Rinpoche continues to demonstrate this miraculous activity for the benefit
of beings now and on into the future.
None of this teaching
contradicts any of the teachings that were transmitted by the Buddha
Sakyamuni. The third turning of the wheel by the Buddha was the wheel of
teachings concerning the definitive nature of reality and it is in this
turning of the wheel that the basis of the Vajrayana teachings is found.
However, in our particular time and space, it is Guru Rinpoche who was
most instrumental in developing and presenting these teachings of the
Vajrayana.
In our ordinary perceptions what we perceive to be the
phenomenon of the Buddha Sakyamuni was someone who was born as a prince in
what was then the north of India, the son of King Shudodena and Queen
Mayadevi. He grew up and attained enlightenment, turned the wheel of the
dharma, passed into nirvana with his remains being cremated leaving relics
that are still with us to this day.
The essence of Guru Rinpoche
is birthless and deathless. It is not something that we can limit to an
entity that came into being at one point and passed out of existence at
another point in time. Guru Rinpoche's body is not a body of flesh and
blood. Guru Rinpoche's presence is not based upon any physical basis. It
is ever present. It always has been and always will be, because it is not
subject to the limitations of any corporeal form. There are many occasions
upon which kings and ministers in India would attempt to assassinate Guru
Rinpoche. In one instance his body was committed to flames. An ordinary
person would have been killed instantly, but Guru Rinpoche was never
physically harmed in any way because his embodiment was not of an ordinary
nature.
When Guru Rinpoche came to the Land of Snows and the king
of Tibet prostrated to him, the king bowed and touched his head to what he
thought was the knee of Guru Rinpoche seated in front of him. However, his
head passed through Guru Rinpoche's body and touched the carpet
underneath. When Guru Rinpoche departed from Tibet to the realm of the
cannibal demons, he didn't die in any ordinary way, passing from his body.
He actually left the land of Tibet in a miraculous fashion - something
that was witnessed by everybody present on that occasion.
However,
I have heard that in the West there are people who are in the business of
selling relics of Guru Rinpoche! There are said to be hairs, for example,
from the head of Guru Rinpoche. There is one case of a terma revealed by
Jatsön Nyingpo which is referred to as a hair of Guru Rinpoche, but it is
more like a filament of rainbow light - there isn't really any hair there.
To meditate upon one's root lama as the very embodiment of the
essence and blessings of Guru Rinpoche means that any practice you
undertake of any deity, or any activity that you intend to enact in your
practice - be it pacifying, enriching, magnetizing, or wrathful - in any
and all of these ways your practice will be successful and fruitful. If
you pray to your lama as inseparable from Guru Rinpoche with your mind
full of faith and devotion, Guru Rinpoche is never separate from you.
When it comes to deity practice, we may find judgments arising in
our mind saying, for example, that this deity is better that this deity,
or this deity is more powerful than another deity, or this blessing comes
more quickly with this deity. These types of ordinary thoughts are not
really appropriate when we are dealing with something of this nature. The
only qualifying factor is the devoted interest and faith in the student's
mind. It may be that under certain circumstances, your faith is stronger
in a given deity and therefore that deity practice is more effective for
you. But that does not mean that at a more ultimate level there is any
distinction to made between these various aspects of enlightened being.
They all arise from the single vast expanse of timeless awareness as
equally authentic manifestations of blessing and power. There is no
hierarchy, so to speak, among the deities. It is not the case that some
are more powerful than others, or some more blessed than others, or some
more productive of benefits than others. It is rather a question of the
degree to which you as a practitioner are motivated in a given direction.
If you are concerned about the degree to which you are receiving
blessings from your deity or from your practice, it would be far more
useful to examine the degree to which you yourself are developing faith
and devotion toward that yidam and toward your practice. The more our
minds entertain doubt and anything other than a truly firm and lucid faith
in our practice, that much are we confusing ourselves. We obscure our own
minds with that doubt, vacillation and lack of certainty and trust. It is
on that level that we can say there is no blessing in the practice. Not
because the deity has no blessing. Not because the lama has no blessing.
But because the student is closed to that blessing by his or her doubt and
confusion.
The Practice of Guru Yoga
The actual way in which you carry out the meditation of guru yoga is to
visualize yourself in the form of a deity, in this case the feminine deity
Vajrayogini. Meditate that in the space above your head, about a cubit in
length above your crown (it would be about the length of your forearm),
there is a seat formed of three lotuses, one above the other - a white,
red and dark blue lotus. Resting upon this threefold lotus seat, you
visualize the flat disk of the full moon. Above this you meditate the form
of Guru Rinpoche, considering him to be the quintessence of all of the
blessings of all buddhas and bodhisattvas united in this single form. Even
though the manifestation of Guru Rinpoche's form takes on a certain
appearance with specific posture, gestures, ornaments and garments, his
essence is inseparable from the essence of your root lama. Praying with
this conviction is the basis for guru yoga practice.
The
particular form of Guru Rinpoche is white in color with a reddish tinge.
He has one face and two hands and his expression is described as
semi-wrathful in the sense that it is basically a peaceful expression with
a just a slight hint of wrath - not an overtly wrathful expression. The
form of Guru Rinpoche is marked with the 32 major and 80 minor marks of
physical perfection so that there is nothing about the form that is any
way displeasing, disproportionate, lacking or unsatisfactory to the mind
of one who beholds such a form. The hair of the figure of Guru Rinpoche is
flowing over his shoulders and back. On his head Guru Rinpoche wears the
lotus crown that confers liberation upon all who behold it.
The
form of Guru Rinpoche is wearing a rich cloak that is referred to as the
Cloak of the King of Sawok. The origin of this cloak refers back to a
particular event when Guru Rinpoche was staying in the area now known as
Tso Pema to the Tibetans or Rewalsar in India. The king of that region
offered his cloak to Guru Rinpoche. In recognition of this worldly king
offering the symbol of his majesty of Guru Rinpoche, the form of Guru
Rinpoche is clad in this outer cloak. Additionally, Guru Rinpoche wears a
formal monastic robe emblematic of the Hinayana disciplines. He is adorned
with jeweled ornaments such as earrings, necklace, bracelets and anklets.
The right hand holds a five prong vajra to his heart center. The left hand
is in his lap in the gesture of meditative equipoise, holding a skull cup
filled with nectar in which there is a vase filled with the nectar of
immortality.
In the crook of the left elbow Guru Rinpoche cradles
a trident which is a veiled reference to feminine principle, the aspect of
Vajra Yogini. Various consorts such as Yeshe Tsogyal and Mandarava are
associated with Guru Rinpoche. Given that they were all essentially of the
same nature of Vajra Yogini, this then is the significance of the trident
in the crook of the left elbow.
When we find the reference of yab
and yum (masculine/feminine consort or father/mother consort) applied to
deities, we shouldn't make the obvious mistake of assuming that this has
to do with male/female in the physical sense. The deities are not male and
female beings, but masculine and feminine energies. The bipolar imagery of
the masculine and feminine illustrates the primordial union of appearance
(or form) and emptiness. One of the descriptions of this imagery is that
the masculine aspect, the yab aspect, refers to phenomenal appearance
while the yum, the feminine aspect, is the expression of emptiness. So the
way in which the deities manifest is simply a direct expression of the
fundamental nature of reality as it is.
The dakini Yeshe Tsogyal
is famous for having been the Tibetan consort of Guru Rinpoche, but we
should remember that her primary function as his consort was to gather and
codify his teachings. Her role is directly analogous to that which the
student of the Buddha, Ananda, performed after the passing of the Buddha -
to gather together the Buddha's teachings so that they could handed on to
future generations. This was exactly the function of Yeshe Tsogyal - to
uphold and codify and collect and gather the teachings of Guru Rinpoche.
While the dakini Yeshe Tsogyal did appear in human form as a woman in
Tibet, her ultimate essence was that of a dakini of timeless awareness. So
there is no contradiction in her manifesting that essence as a human woman
or as a trident held in the crook of the left elbow of Guru Rinpoche.
In addition, you meditate that the form of Guru Rinpoche above
your head is seated in the full vajra posture with the left leg on the
right thigh and the right leg on the left thigh. Meditate that the form is
radiating brilliant rays of light in all directions.
The
inexhaustable adornment of Guru Rinpoche's form is the essence of the
sangha principle; that of his speech, the dharma principle; that of his
mind, the principle of buddha as a source of refuge. The qualities of Guru
Rinpoche embody the chosen deity principle of Vajrayana; his activity,
that of the dakinis and dharmapalas (the dharma protectors.) In brief,
what appears initially to be simply the form of Guru Rinpoche is
understood on a more ultimate level to be the very essence of all buddhas,
yidams, dakas and dakinis, dharma protectors and the entire vast array of
the three jewels and the three roots all subsumed within a single
manifestation.
Regardless of the particular deity that you are
meditating upon in your own individual practice and regardless of the
specific form that you are visualizing, it is important that you visualize
that form to be pure appearance without any substantial or corporeal
nature. You are not visualizing the deity as a body of flesh and blood,
but rather as a form that is completely insubstantial - a form that is
nothing but pure appearance without any solidity or any substantiality.
For example, when you are practicing ka-gye (the eight commands on sadhana
practice), if you are meditating on Vajrakilaya or Chemchog or any of the
major herukas of this cycle, the visualization in the more extensive
practices involves the basic visualization of your form as the form of the
deity with whole mandalas of deities appearing at points in your body
associated with the concentration of subtle energy. So you are not
visualizing a form that has a skeletal structure, a circulatory system, a
digestive system or musculature. None of these ordinary physical elements
enter into the picture at all.
In our time and place Guru Rinpoche
is the source for the lineages that we receive. Even though the actual
presence of Guru Rinpoche is not perceptable to us directly, still we
connect with that source through the unbroken lineage that has been handed
down from generation to generation. When we rely upon the lama as the very
embodiment of Guru Rinpoche and inseparable from Guru Rinpoche, we connect
directly with that unbroken source that has come down to us historically.
In the pinnacle pure realm of Akanishta, Guru Rinpoche received
transmission from the dakini known as Leche Wangmo, the powerful goddess
of activity. The process in which he received this transmission was of her
transforming him into a seed syllable hung which she swallowed. As the
hung syllable passed through the chakras of her body, he received the four
stages of empowerment: the vase, the body, the wisdom awareness and the
fourth empowerment. She expelled him through her secret organ and he
reassumed his form. This is obviously not an ordinary process of her
swallowing something, digesting and excreting it.
This particular
process finds its expression as well in the many abishekas or empowerment
ceremonies that are performed by vajra masters. These include similar
visualizations in which the student is transformed into a syllable,
ingested by the vajra master, transformed and brought forth into the world
again as the deity. These are processes whereby the vajra master, in
transmitting the blessing to the student, purifies the student's mind
stream of the effect of harmful actions and of obscurations and transmits
the spiritual power of the empowerment.
Once the student has been
generated as the deity by the vajra master, the student maintains identity
with the chosen deity for the duration of the empowerment ceremony. The
student recognizes his or her essence to be the essence of that deity
manifesting in that particular form. The student's conception of him or
herself as the deity is the samayasattva, the commitment aspect, which the
vajra master imbues with the jnanasattva, the aspect of timeless
awareness. The vajra master then proceeds to use the various substances or
articles such as the vase and forth as the symbols that transmit ultimate
blessing of the various levels of empowerment. It is on that basis that
the true transmission of spiritual power and energy can take place.
This is simply an expression of a much larger principle. Whether
we are involved in activities of the dharma or whether we are involved in
ordinary work, it is our own mind that is the most important factor - how
our mind is viewing the situation, how our mind is relating to the
circumstances. Both the lama and the student have a responsibility here:
in order for true transmission to take place, both the mind of the lama
and the mind of the student conceive the situation in the appropriate
manner. Then and only then can there really be the authentic transmission
of blessings in an empowerment.
Returning to the actual meditation
of guru yoga: Having visualized the form of Guru Rinpoche as the union of
all buddhas and all sources of refuge above the crown of your head, you
meditate that the form is marked at the forehead with a white om
syllable, at the throat with a red ah syllable, at the heart center
with a dark blue hung syllable and at the navel center with a green
hri syllable. In addition you meditate that on the palms and soles
of Guru Rinpoche's form are the four syllables ha ri ni sa. Rays of
light shining from these syllables in all directions invoke the blessings
of all sources of refuge which return and are absorbed into his form above
the crown of your head. With one-pointed focus you begin the actual
practice of guru yoga which involves supplication to the lama and
recitation of the vajra guru mantra, the mantra of Guru Rinpoche.
Following the main body of the practice, you meditate first that
from the white om syllable in the forehead center of Guru Rinpoche
there comes a white ray of light, like a shooting star, that enters into
your own forehead and completely fills your body. The white light purifies
you on the physical level of the effects of obscurations and harmful
actions, imbuing your form with the blessings of enlightened form. By a
similar process you meditate that from the throat center of Guru Rinpoche,
from the red ah syllable, there comes a red ray of light that
enters your own throat center purifying your speech. From the heart center
of Guru Rinpoche, from the dark blue hung syllable, there comes a
thread or filament of light like a wafting of incense smoke that is
absorbed into your own heart center purifying your mind. And finally, you
meditate that from all of the centers of Guru Rinpoche's form come rainbow
rays of light of five colors, white, red, yellow, green and blue, all of
which are absorbed into your own chakras purifying the last traces of
obscuration and conferring the fourth level of empowerment. In this way
you receive the four levels of empowerment, the vase, secret, wisdom
awareness and the fourth empowerment. This establishes the potential for
your own realization respectively, of nirmanakaya, sambhogakaya,
dharmakaya and svabhavikakaya, the totality of the three kayas.
When you come to actually finish the session, you meditate that
the form of Guru Rinpoche above the crown of your head dissolves into
light. This light is absorbed into you and at that point you enter into
the formless completion stage of the practice. You meditate that Guru
Rinpoche's enlightened form, speech and mind are in no way separate from
your own body, speech and mind. There is complete non-dual union. You
meditate in a formless state of mind, without any frame of reference,
without any conceptual elaboration, simply allowing your mind to rest in
that state of non-dual union for as long as possible. Following that, you
conclude with the prayers of dedication and aspiration.
There are
a number of other specific ways in which the visualization of guru yoga
practice are presented according to specific lineages, specific traditions
and even specific situations. But the general principles that are
described in this presentation hold true in all cases: you visualize the
lama above the crown of your head. In this particular case you envision
the form of Guru Rinpoche as the form that embodies all sources of refuge.
In others systems of practice you may be instructed to visualize an actual
crowd of the sources of refuge, like a large assembly, above the crown of
your head. Or you may be instructed to visualize a lineage, with each
figure of the lineage above the other, extending vertically up above the
crown of your head. There are different details to the specific
visualizations depending upon the system you are studying, but you should
understand that despite the seeming differences in the details, the
essential nature of the practice is the same in each case.
As I
said before, the most important qualities to ensure the success of the
practice in the students' mind are faith, devotion, trust and pure view.
If a student is truly bent upon benefiting from his or her practice and
his or her association with the dharma, those qualities are indispensable.
Translated by Chökyi Nyima (Richard Barron). Edited by
Bill Speckart.
©1996, Namdrolling Monastery
© Copyright 1995-2000 by
Palyul Ling. All rights reserved. Please do not reproduce without prior
written permission.
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