The Merit of Pleasing the Guru

The Merit of Pleasing the Guru

Date of Advice:
May 2014
Date Posted:
February 2017

Rinpoche wrote this card with quotations to a student who had helped extensively at a Dharma center.

My very dear one,
How are you? I just want to express my great, great appreciation, and a billion, zillion skies of thanks to you for studying the Masters Program, and before that, for helping the teachings of the Buddha, sentient beings and a small mouse, me, and of course His Holiness, fulfilling His Holiness’ wishes.

[Skies of thanks for] your total service with your body, speech and mind, particularly to FPMT and to me, continuously giving teachings and not only teaching, but also serving in whatever way you can. I am always behind you, supporting you.

Please enjoy these cards. With much love and prayers...

PS. From the Drop of Mahamudra:

When wood is burned by fire it becomes ashes in one second. Like that, by pleasing the guru it burns the negative karma in one second. So many eons of negative karma are purified by pleasing the guru.

It is mentioned by Sakya Pandita:

Even though the beams of the sun are extremely hot, without a magnifying glass they cannot ignite a fire. Like that, without the guru we cannot receive the blessings of the buddhas, who are numberless.

Therefore, by pleasing the guru we please the numberless buddhas. This is a quick way to achieve enlightenment—the elimination of all the obscurations and completion of all the qualities.

Also, Sakya Pandita mentioned:

The merits from practicing the paramita of charity by offering one’s limbs [to sentient beings] for a thousand eons—even the merits received from giving away one’s limbs for a thousand eons—all that merit which took a thousand eons to collect is achieved in one second by the path of the guru.

This means the merit is collected in one second when you fulfil the guru’s wishes, and this means it is the quickest way to achieve enlightenment.