Member of the FPMT

You have to understand that what causes all the realizations of the path and all the limitless qualities of the Buddha, whether you get enlightened or not, is guru devotion. Whether you get enlightened, and whether you are able to free countless sentient beings who are experiencing the intense sufferings of the lower realms and cause them to achieve the peerless happiness of liberation and enlightenment: all this depends on guru devotion. Therefore, when you are practicing, obstacles will arise from outside and within. Evil beings try to harm you because they don’t want you to get enlightened. They create obstacles for you, so you must be aware of this and constantly be on guard, never letting up even for a moment.

You must always be watching the mind, without a second’s break, because these interferers try to prevent you from gaining realizations. When obstacles do arise, whether from outside or inside, it is very important to make an effort, and never give up.

You must put effort into it, and inspire yourself. Encourage yourself, thinking: “I have Buddha nature, so therefore I can do this. No matter how much my mind goes down, I can bring it up again, because I have Buddha nature. Countless buddhas and bodhisattvas were once just like me, with delusions and obstacles, but they put effort into it and were able to gradually overcome them. Therefore, I must do the same. No matter how difficult, I must try and try.”

No matter what happens, no matter how much the mind goes down, no matter how many obstacles arise, you must make an effort, and try and try to overcome them.

You are asking about a very urgent and important practice, in other words, a protection for developing one’s mind on the path to enlightenment.

I’m not sure whether you have heard what His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said in regard to this matter, for example at the Western Teachers’ Conference. That advice was given according to the Western world. If it is not given that way, this topic is dangerous and becomes a problem for the Western mind.

Generally, in the monasteries, of course, there is the abbot or the disciplinarian and many others who can punish whatever mistakes are made in monastic rules or personal vows. They can even kick that person out. But up to now I have never heard that a disciple kicked a guru out of a monastery, or sued the guru. In the East, I have never heard of this.

According to the texts—the teachings of the Buddha, the lamrim—one should look only for good qualities and should only praise the guru. Acting contrary to that, having anger and heresy, and criticizing the guru in your speech, is the heaviest negative karma.

It is said in many tantric teachings—such as the Kalachakra and Guhyasamaja—that even if one has accumulated the five uninterrupted negative karmas, one can still achieve the sublime vehicle in this life, in particular the maha-anuttara path, which is the most skillful for granting enlightenment in a brief lifetime in degenerate times. But those who criticize the guru from the heart will not achieve this, even if they practice the sublime vehicle.

In Lama Tsongkhapa’s lamrim, it is clearly mentioned that even for the thought that the virtuous friend is ordinary to arise is a cause to lose realizations. This means also that it becomes an obstacle to developing the mind on the path.

The very important thing is to analyze and check as much as possible before making Dharma contact. With the recognition of guru and disciple, since the Dharma contact is established, then there is no going back. One has to have a new relationship. It is another world, looking at that person with a new mind, a pure mind.

It is said by Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo, the great enlightened being, the Heruka, that if one is able to stop all thoughts of mistakes and look only at good qualities, seeing the guru only as Buddha, then one can achieve enlightenment in this life.

This is not only for this life. Generally, one cannot get enlightened while seeing mistakes in the virtuous friend. But, with the realization of seeing all buddhas as the guru and all gurus as Buddha, one can. This is said in all four Tibetan Mahayana sects, in both sutra and tantra.

Making mistakes, allowing heresy, anger, or criticism to arise, giving up the virtuous friend: these become the cause for one not to find a guru in future lives. It is said in the Essence of Nectar that it causes one to be unable to hear the sound of the holy Dharma, not to mention being able to find a virtuous friend, and that one becomes impoverished in terms of a virtuous friend in all one’s lifetimes.

This is the last outline of the eight shortcomings of incorrectly devoting to a virtuous friend.

I often mention this quotation by the Fifth Dalai Lama:

When one’s own mistakes appear to one’s own hallucinated mind in the actions of the guru, one must realize that this is one’s own mistake and abandon it like poison.

This means that one must abandon the belief that there is a mistake in the actions of the virtuous friend.

With this mindfulness, look at that person as Buddha, one who has eliminated all mistakes and has all good qualities. Then, if the guru asks you to do something, and it’s something that you don’t have the capacity to do now, if your mind hasn’t reached that level, then with this pure thought that I mentioned before, with this mindfulness, one respectfully explains to the guru that one is incapable of doing this, and in this way one tries to get the guru to excuse one from doing it.

This is what is mentioned in the Fifty Verses of Guru Devotion and in the Vinaya. If the guru says to do something that is not Dharma, one can ask permission not to do it. It doesn’t say to have negative thoughts or to criticize or sue him. This is how to deal with the problem without its becoming an obstacle to developing one’s mind on the path.

Of course, as His Holiness the Dalai Lama mentions all the time, when a special guru and special disciple meet, then every single thing the guru says is to be done, like Tilopa and Naropa, or Marpa and Milarepa, and so forth.

The main thing here is to be skillful and try not to hurt the holy mind of the guru. Hurting the mind of the guru is the greatest obstacle to developing one’s own mind on the path to enlightenment.

Especially in many tantric teachings, it is said that one should realize the path and one should understand it by hearing it from the holy mouth, pleasing the holy mind of the virtuous friend. Many secret things are mentioned like that.

After the connection of guru and disciple is made, even if the guru kills many thousands of people, it is the responsibility of the disciple to look at this as a positive action. It is said in the teachings by the ancient realized practitioners of the Tibetan Mahayana sects, even if the guru kills, one should look at it as a positive action, as a quick way of enlightening evil beings or a way to send the consciousness to the pure land. The conclusion is that this particular action of the guru is guidance for the benefit of that person.

There are a few quotations like this, describing how those past and present practitioners of Tibetan Mahayana sects have practiced guru devotion. It is also mentioned that even the action of having sex should be looked at as the guru enjoying the wisdom of great bliss, and so forth.

You should try to get an English copy of a small pamphlet in which I have translated these quotations during a short talk on guru devotion. The teaching was given because many other people experienced similar problems to you.

If the mistake is already made, one must confess from the heart. This way, you get the profit of lightening and purifying the negative karma. Of course, there are many other practices, such as Samayavajra and self-initiations, but one very good thing is to do some service, some practice that pleases the holy mind of the virtuous friend.

You mentioned sincerity, but in my view this sincerity is without wisdom. Sincerity is beneficial to others when it has wisdom, and is performed with compassion. If there is wisdom, usually there should also be compassion, I think, which means a very wide, encompassing wisdom.

For example, if someone comes along who wants to kill a particular person, and he asks you where that person has gone, and you think you should be sincere, without wisdom—which also should include compassion—then you will tell him where the person went, instead of saying you don’t know, which would save the person’s life.

One other thing is, in the West, there are many particularly Western concepts, for example, looking at a daughter or son’s mental or physical problems as being the fault of the parents. Now, people are realizing that this is not true. Even parents who love their children a lot experience many problems with their children.

The other thing is, one can always find mistakes. Also, we think it is a question of whether it is a big mistake or a small mistake. Even if the issue is not sex, there will be something else—too much anger, too much miserliness, too much pride, a partial mind, etc.

If you look for mistakes, you will see mistakes.

It is good that you haven’t said anything to others who are close to these lamas, as to have mentioned this to others would have been like a terrorist act, complete suicide, destroying yourself and others. It would have disturbed others’ minds in relation to their teacher, which would have been very heavy negative karma for all involved, causing a lot of destruction, just like a terrorist bomb.

I once went to translate for a group of Western students wanting to receive an oral transmission from the Panchen Lama in Tibet. At that time, I hadn’t yet decided whether or not to take the Panchen Lama as one of my teachers, as there seems to have been some politics involved with respect to the Panchen Lama and the Dalai Lama. If one actually receives the oral transmission, one must thenceforth regard the person giving it as one’s guru. I got all the way to the point of making the mandala offering—the last preliminary before the teacher would begin to offer the transmission—and then suddenly realized that, regardless of the politics, they are one. So I took the Panchen Lama as my teacher. There is no need to focus on politics.

In the Guru Puja, the merit field comes from the primordial mind. It is all one, all a manifestation of one’s own mind of indivisible bliss and voidness. All the lamas are the same. They are all one.

Further, to see the lama as having mistakes should only bring to mind the kindness of that lama. The moment one sees mistakes (Rinpoche snapped his fingers), in that same moment, one should think “so kind.” Why? Because Shakyamuni Buddha said that during this degenerate time, this is how he would guide sentient beings, by taking an ordinary form. “Ordinary form” means having mistakes, so seeing the lama as having mistakes should only remind one of the kindness of the lama, who is taking an ordinary form in order to benefit one’s mind.

Heruka with consort is a form that is taken to benefit the minds of sentient beings. The guru having mistakes is the same. It is just another form that the primordial enlightened mind is taking to benefit sentient beings.

One can only see the guru according to the level of one’s own mind. We are so lucky that we are able to relate to the guru in human form, even with mistakes, and not as an animal that we can’t even talk to. Just being able to relate to the guru in human form, we are so lucky, so unbelievably fortunate. So, again, seeing the guru as having mistakes should only bring to mind how incredibly lucky we are that the guru is in human form and not an animal.

Your main goal in life is not just to study. Your main goal is to achieve enlightenment, to free all sentient beings from suffering and bring them to enlightenment. For that, you need realizations on the path to enlightenment. And for that, you need to purify your mind and collect merit. Therefore, study cannot be your only goal in life.

Everything depends on correctly devoting to the virtuous friend, so you might find a big difference once you change your motivation. The emphasis should be to do what most pleases the guru, and correctly devote yourself to the virtuous friend. Everything comes down to that, and that’s the essential practice. Study is not the main aim of life.

Afterward, Rinpoche commented that later it seemed the nun changed her idea about the goal of her life, and this opened a different view up for her. This made it easy, and released her from the difficult thoughts toward her guru and his not teaching her various subjects.

Thank you very much for your kind letter.
According to my observations, if you can, do these practices:

200,000 Vajrasattva mantras
100,000 prostrations to the 35 Buddhas

If I say to do them based on bodhicitta, that may be too nice for you. So I will say to do them with a strong thought of impermanence and death. If I say “bodhicitta,” maybe it will be too comfortable.

You must make a strong determination to have a new mind toward this person from now on. You must make a complete determination to see that person as a buddha, all the time. Making yourself see the person as a buddha is extremely important for practicing guru devotion with that person.

It is also very important in everyday life not to expect a pure view to come from the side of other people. If you have that expectation, when it doesn’t happen, your mind gets into trouble. So, in everyday life, you must always remain aware that the pure view must come from your own mind. From your own side, you must try to generate this view. In this way, it will happen that you see that person as being as pure as a buddha. This is very good.

This is a question of transforming the mind. For example, if you look at yourself as a buddha, visualizing that you are transformed into a deity and placing yourself in the mandala, then that will happen immediately when you want it to, without effort.

This happens when you attain the realization of the gross generation stage of the highest tantra. Similarly, during the subtle generation stage, you see yourself as a deity in a mandala that is very, very tiny, small enough to fit inside a drop the size of a mustard seed. This pure appearance comes from your own mind training, from being able to see yourself this way. Later, during the completion stage, your subtle-wind mind transforms into the deity in the mandala. Then you are able to do many practices with that. At that point, you can actually travel. Finally, when you become enlightened, no impurity appears to you at all. Your senses perceive only infinitely pure appearances.

All this comes from your own mind training. Seeing the guru in an ordinary form and making mistakes came from your own obscured, ordinary mind. You should always be aware also that seeing the guru as buddha has to come from your own mind.

Once you understand this, you still need to stabilize the thought of seeing the guru as a buddha. This thought becomes stabilized in your mind by using quotations and logic and your own personal experience with the guru. You should also read subjects on guru devotion from Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand.

I advise you to confess to whichever gurus with whom you feel you have made mistakes. Specifically, you should make a verbal confession to the guru toward whom you had negative thoughts.

Then the student asked for advice on a different topic. She said that when she thought about Dharma or listened to teachings, some very heavy thoughts came into her head, making her sleepy, unable to concentrate, and distracted. She thought maybe this was due to the negative thoughts she had toward the guru.

This heavy thought that makes the mind sleepy and unclear could be due to negative karma resulting from having abandoned Dharma in the past or having polluted holy objects or holy beings.

Here I will suggest some solutions. You should confess to the gurus who you thought made mistakes. In particular, you should confess verbally to the one toward whom you had negative thoughts, and you should practice offering a bath to the buddhas, to the merit field.

This actual practice involves washing and offering water to clean the guru’s holy body, to wash it yourself, massage it, ornament it, offer robes to it, and dress the guru. You do all this directly with your own hands. If there is no opportunity to do it directly, you can visualize this practice of offering a bath. I advise you to perform this practice, called trutor, 800 times.

Trutor is a particular practice for purifying pollutions, such as these kinds of obstacles to reading Dharma books or listening to teachings. Being unable to understand, falling asleep, or being unable to follow Dharma teachings are not external pollutions. They are inner pollution, mental pollution. Trutor is very good for similar sorts of pollution, such as from selling statues, scriptures, or other holy objects, and buying food with that money, and for many other types of pollutions.

I also suggest you do a Compassion Buddha retreat.

My very dear Kelvin
Thank you for your kind letter. I understand your situation. Don’t worry at all about the thoughts that arose. They do happen. I was once doing prostrations some years ago, and the thought came that maybe the Buddha doesn’t exist. It didn’t last long, though. This comes from heresy from strong negative karma from past lives. You should practice Samayavajra during guru puja, at the section after the offerings and before the confession.

You can also offer tsog to the guru to purify that, and also a few malas of OM AH HUNG.

It is also good to do prostrations to the 35 Buddhas, particularly to the last Buddha. This purifies negative karma connected with the guru, and should be done three times or more.
Much love and prayer...

My very dear Laurie,
Thank you very much for your kind letter.

As far as the subject related to Rinpoche, from a Dharma point of view what happened, staying overnight, was what most pleased your guru, so it was the best offering—the real Guru Puja, pleasing the holy mind. That purifies any negative karma related to Rinpoche in the past, and becomes the most powerful purification, and the quickest purification, and you have collected the most extensive merit. The more you please the guru, that much more quickly you will become enlightened.

On top of that, you are experiencing much pain and hardship, and that additional experience becomes the greatest purification for you. That pain purifies so many eons of the most intense suffering in the hell realms, preta realms, animal realms, or human realms. Even though it was unbearable, it was only for a short time, and you have purified countless eons, which now you don’t have to suffer. That is what you achieve. All the merit and the pain that you felt purifies obstacles to achieving enlightenment.

Even if you died during that time, I think that would be best. Even if that pain caused the end of your life, it would be extremely worthwhile, and I would say this would be much better than if you were walking on the street and someone shot you and you died that way. Comparing the two, if you died during the action that happened, it is much better than being shot at on the road, or if you got some serious disease and died. At that time you would not be sure of your mental state, but when you are with your guru and your motivation is to offer yourself, making charity, you create the quickest path to enlightenment. I would analyze it like that.

In this case, you completely dedicated yourself to Rinpoche, to your guru. Your motivation was totally pure, so if you died with that motivation, it would be great. This is what bodhisattvas do. There are bodhisattvas who become prostitutes to benefit other sentient beings, making a connection with them to purify them and in this way bring them to enlightenment and stop them from creating heavy negative karma.

It is said in the Fifty Verses of Guru Devotion: “Do whatever pleases the guru and abandon whatever displeases the guru.” Your motivation is pure, just making an offering, so even if you died, it would be while practicing Dharma, like dying doing a Nyung Ne. You should remember this, and look at it in this way.

Think that this was unbelievably kind. This is a special method to purify me, to end all my heavy, negative karma from the past, and all the obstacles to my realizations. This is for my success, for the highest enlightenment, to liberate me from samsara, and for the happiness of all my future lives.

In my view, there isn’t the slightest cause of regret. Your regret is unnecessary; it is like regretting having found a wish-granting jewel. In reality, this experience has these benefits. Everything is merely labeled, so you should think in this way.

There is a story about my attendant Roger, when he was working very hard in Kathmandu. He was very poor and sick, and every night he had to walk back to Kopan Monastery. One time he collapsed while he was crossing the fields on his way up to Kopan. He was extremely sick and also completely exhausted, and just could not get up, so he tried to use psychology to make himself get up. He imagined that he was in a stadium, and there were lots of people watching him, and everyone was shouting, saying in one voice, “You can do it! Get up!” Everyone was saying this, and it gave him courage, and he was able to get up and walk up to Kopan. Even though physically he was unable, by using psychology he was able to get the strength to make it there.

There is also the story of how Tilopa treated Naropa—there were 12 great hardships and 12 small hardships that Naropa had to perform. Tilopa asked Naropa to jump off the roof, and there was a hole down below. Naropa jumped and almost died, but then Tilopa came and blessed him, and he was instantly healed. Then Tilopa told Naropa to jump into a fire. Naropa did it immediately and almost died, and Tilopa came and blessed him, and he was instantly healed. Then another time there was a wedding going on. The wife and husband were going by in a carriage, and Tilopa asked Naropa to run up to the bride and rub her breasts. Naropa immediately did it without hesitation, and the people beat him up. Again, he almost died, but Tilopa came and blessed him, and healed him immediately. Then Tilopa asked Naropa to go to the house of someone who was cooking and take the food from the stove. So, without hesitating, Naropa went to get it, and was beaten up by people and almost died. Then Tilopa came and healed him. After that, one day, Tilopa went pee-pee in the sand and then threw the sand into Naropa’s face. Then he told Naropa to look up into the sky—there was the transformed mandala of Hevajra. Tilopa then gave Naropa the initiation.

All these 12 great hardships were there to cause Naropa’s enlightenment, to purify him, through Tilopa’s great skill in guiding his disciple, with a strong devotional mind.

You are in my prayers every day.
With much love and prayer...

My very dear Nicola,
Thank you very much for your kind letter and news. I don’t think it makes any difference to you that the teacher had a physical relationship with you. If you had ordination vows it would be different, but that is not the case. Just accept the karma, and don’t get angry at the teacher. It will only make it worse for you now and bring much heavy suffering in the future, for a long time.

Not only accept the karma, but use it to receive and experience the obstacles of all sentient beings. Keep the vow you have taken to experience all those obstacles and heavy negative karma, and let them have all happiness up to enlightenment.

Since this has happened, you should use it. I think this is better and more useful than generating regret. Instead, purify the negative karma using tong-len, thinking that you have received all sentient beings’ negative karma and defilements, particularly obstacles and broken vows, and experience them for them. In other words, use the experience to develop bodhicitta, exchanging and giving up oneself for sentient beings and cherishing sentient beings. This is the method for transforming this suffering into happiness, obstacles into support, to achieve enlightenment, and to enlighten all sentient beings.

According to my observations, it came out best for you to recite 100,000 Vajrasattva mantras, not only to purify negative karma created recently but to purify negative karma created since beginningless time.

Also, the most powerful thing for you to do is self-initiation, if not the long version then the short version, every day. If you can’t do it every day, then twice a month on the 10th and 25th days of the Tibetan calendar, or any other day, or at least once a month. That will take care of so much, to liberate you, and purify all negative karma collected in this life and past lives, and definitely plant the seed of the four kayas in your mind, to achieve the completion path. It also purifies negative karma, broken pratimoksha vows, bodhisattva vows, and tantric vows and restores them. Self-initiation takes care of a lot. This is my suggestion to you, to at least do the short self-initiation every day.

So, enjoy your life. Think of Buddha nature and how you still have an incredible opportunity to benefit so many sentient beings.
With much love and prayers...

More talks by Lama Zopa on this topic:
Guru Devotion, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Dorje Shugden (a talk given in April 2001)