GURUYOGA Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Guru Yoga

According to the Preliminary Practice of Longchen Nyingtik

An Oral Teaching by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Translated by Matthieu Ricard (Gelong Konchog Tenzin)

Rab-gsal-zla-ba, Dis-mgo Mkhyen-brtse, 1910-

Guru Yoga : according to the preliminary practice of Longchen Nyingtik : an oral teaching by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche / translated by Matthieu Ricard (Gelong Konchog Tenzin) ; edited by Rigpa.

Guru worship (Rite)-Buddhism. 2. Rdzogs-chen (Rftin­ ma-pa) I. Rigpa. II. Title.

Dedication

For the reincarnation of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Urgyen Tenzin Jigme Lhundrup, for all the teachers who are Khyentse Rinpoche's disciples, and for all the masters of the Longchen Nyingtik lineage: may their lives be long and their enlight­ened activity fill the world! May Khyentse Rinpoche's wisdom, compassion, and power come to touch and transform the lives of people everywhere, and may his glorious vision and aspirations be fulfilled!

Foreword

Why do we practice Guru Yoga, "union with the nature of the guru"? With the help of the outer teacher, we can dis­ cover the inner teacher-the nature of our own mind. Until we reach that point, if we seriously wish to transform our­ selves, we should never be overconfident and rely solely on our own methods and our own experience. The path can only be trodden by ourselves, using our own effort, yet even so we can never dispense with the advice of an experienced guide.

To give that guidance is the role of the spiritual teacher. We have had the immense good fortune to meet extraordi­nary masters like Khyentse Rinpoche, who, without any doubt, possessed all the qualities of an authentic spiritual teacher. Such teachers are increasingly rare. It is of crucial importance to choose a teacher wisely, making sure that his qualities are at­tuned to those of the perfect masters of the past.

In my own case, I saw Khyentse Rinpoche at first as a most loving and wonderful grandfather. Then, gradually, my af­fection for him turned into a deep, unchanging devotion as I came to see him as my root master and spiritual guide. He is constantly in my thoughts, inspiring every instant of my life through his enlightened and compassionate presence.

Guru Yoga should be at the heart of every practice we do. It gives our practice strength and depth, and prevents us from straying into all the side-tracks dreamed up by our wild thoughts. The very essence of Buddhist practice is to destroy ego-clinging, totally-and the most inspiring way to do that is through the practice of Guru Yoga.

Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche

Introduction

Any spiritual history of the 20th century would be incom­plete without paying tribute to Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rin­poche (1910-1991), a figure of undisputed greatness, whose influence and inspiration have touched countless thousands of people around the world. He belonged to the last genera­tion of spiritual masters trained in Tibet, whose lives bore that same stamp of depth and mystery and singularity of pur­pose as those of the great Asian, European, and Middle East­ern saints and mystics of the past. The teacher of so many of the Tibetan masters of today, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Khyentse Rinpoche came, in the eyes of the Buddhist world, to personify the very archetype of a guru, his name a byword for authenticity and integrity, and for everything that was good and noble about Tibet and its Buddhist heritage. By simply being who he was, he naturally defined the crite­ria for what a great lama should be.

Much has been written in recent times about Khyentse Rinpoche and his extraordinary life, a life dedicated entirely to the welfare of others and to nourishing the life-force of the ancient teachings of Buddha. And there is so much to tell: his recognition, when young, as the mind emanation of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo; his twenty-two years in retreat; his stud­ies with over fifty legendary teachers; his devotion to his mas­ters, particularly Shechen Gyaltsap and Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro;

his amazing learning and deep realization; his revelation of the treasures of Padmasambhava; his twenty­ five volumes of poetic and inspired writings; his great achieve­ments in building, restoration, and publishing; his seemingly superhuman energy and tireless compassion; the captivat­ing beauty and completeness of his spoken teachings; the unique and effortless manner in which he taught and passed on the transmissions and teachings he held in such great num­ber; and his travels all over the Himalayas, India, Tibet, South­ east Asia, and the West to teach his thousands of disciples. That one human being could have achieved so much in one lifetime is almost inconceivable.

Khyentse Rinpoche was a teacher of the highest spiritual attainment, and yet, as all who knew or met him will say, a person of the most tender and disarming warmth and kind­ness. Head of the Nyingma School and a supreme master of Dzogpa chenpo, he was a champion of the "Rime" nonsec­tarian spirit, which was revealed in his remarkable ability to transmit the teachings of each lineage according to its own tradition. He carried forward the enlightened vision and ide­als of the 19th-century pioneers of the Rimey movement, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820-1892), Jamgon Kongtrul (1813-1899), and Chokgyur Lingpa (1829-1870), playing a vital role in the reconstruction of Tibetan Buddhist spiritual life and culture after the shattering blows of the Tibetan ho­locaust. Sometimes it is difficult to imagine that a master of

his calibre will ever be seen again, and yet one thing is cer­tain: if there are other masters who follow in his footsteps, or who even begin to emulate his greatness, then it will be thanks to him and to the care and attention he gave to the future survival of the Buddhist teachings, and especially the Nyingma lineage, as a living tradition of realization. And he ensured its continuity in all kinds of ways. In December 1997, his re­ incarnation, Urgyen Tenzin Jigme Lhundrup, born in 1993 on the anniversary of Guru Padmasambhava's birth, was en­throned at Shechen Monastery in Nepal.

The teachings on Guru Yoga presented in this book were themselves given during an extraordinary and historic occa­sion. No one who was there could ever forget those days dur­ing the summer of 1984 in Dordogne in France, when both Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche and Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche the two most eminent masters of the Nyingma tradition, the living representatives of Padmasambhava, and peerless exponents of Dzogpa chenpo-taught to about five hundred practitioners who had come from all over the world.

In the mornings Dudjom Rinpoche gave what was to be his last public teaching, on the practice of Dzogchen from Padma­sambhava's famous Prayer in Seven Chapters; in the afternoons Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche granted empowerments and gave teachings at his residence, La Sonnerie. Many other masters of the Nyingma tradition who were their students gathered there, including Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche, Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, Perna Wangyal Rinpoche, Jigme Khyentse Rin­poche, Shenphen Rinpoche, and Sogyal Rinpoche, as well as five great 9-akinis, the spiritual consorts of Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodr6, Dudjom Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Kangyur Rinpoche, and Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche.

It was during those long August afternoons, the gather­ing assembled on the lawn at La Sonnerie, with the sunlight slanting down through the trees, that Khyentse Rinpoche gave these teachings on Guru Yoga at the request of Sogyal Rin­poche and Rigpa, who were holding their annual summer retreat nearby. This particular Guru Yoga, called The Wish­ fulfilling Jewel, is the outer practice of the guru from the Longchen Nyingtik revelation of the visionary master Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa (1730-1798). It forms the climax to the Ngondro preliminary practice of Longchen Nyingtik, entitled the Ex­cellent Path to Omniscience, which was compiled by Jigme Lingpa's great disciple, Dodrupchen Jikme Trinle Ozer.

Jigme Lingpa's immediate incarnation was Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, whose own incarnation was Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, a lineage holder of the Longchen Nyingtik. Who better, then, to give this teaching, and espe­cially one who, for so many, had come to exemplify and em­body the guru?

As the Dalai Lama wrote:

Khyentse Rinpoche was a model for all other holders of the teachings. We should not only admire his inconceiv­able knowledge, wisdom and accomplishment, but, more importantly, we should follow his example and emulate those qualities ourselves ... Deep spiritual experiences, which seem to transcend logical explanation, are not eas­ily expressed in words or transmitted by means of ver­bal explanation. They depend, rather, on the inspiration and blessings received from the spiritual lineage through one's teacher.

This is why in Buddhism (and particu­larly Vajrayana Buddhism), the practice of Guru Yoga­ "union with the teacher's nature"-is given such great importance. This is all the more so for the realization of awareness, rigpa, in the Great Perfection (Dzogchen) tra­dition. Since the practice of Guru Yoga is so important, the qualities of the teacher himself are extremely impor­tant too. The qualities necessary for an authentic teacher were described in great detail by the Buddha himself in many sutras and tantras. All of these qualities I found in Khyentse Rinpoche.1

A teacher who quite naturally inspired devotion, Khyentse Rinpoche would constantly emphasize the importance of Guru Yoga, particularly with regard to the transmission and practice of Dzogchen. According to the approach of Dzog­chen, the wisdom mind of the master can actually be real­ized, not simply through study and practice, but through an uncontrived and heartfelt devotion; Khyentse Rinpoche used to illustrate this through the story of the origin of the Long­chen Nyingtik.

The cycle of Longchen Nyingtik, "The Heart Essence of Infi­nite Expanse," a collection of tantras and sadhanas, was dis­covered by Jikme Lingpa as a mind treasure.2 An overwhelm­ing awe and devotion had been awakened in him by reading the teachings of Longchen Rabjam (1308-1363), the excep­tional master and genius who had synthesized and clarified

the Dzogchen teachings in a series of brilliant writings. At the age of thirty-one, Jikme Lingpa undertook a three-year retreat in the Chimphu caves, near Samye. He prayed to Longchen Rabjam with such fervor that, although they were separated by some four hundred years, Longchen Rabjam appeared to him in his wisdom body on three occasions, granting him the blessing of his body, speech, and wisdom mind. This encounter was of extraordinary moment. It re­leased in Jikme Lingpa boundless wisdom and the highest realization of Dzogpa-chenpo, and empowered him to trans­mit and teach the Longchen Nyingtik.

In his Treasury of Precious Qualities, Jikme Lingpa wrote, "the supreme disciple is the one with supreme devotion," and he became renowned, in fact, as a master who attained tremendous learning without much study, but through pro­found meditation and through intense devotion. This, Khyentse Rinpoche used to say, was the auspicious prece­dent and tradition of the Longchen Nyingtik lineage, a lin­eage forever marked by unwavering devotion.

Because they inherited this special lineage, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Patrul Rinpoche both treasured this particular Guru Yoga as the heart of their practice. Devotion is what led to the revela­tion of the Longchen Nyingtik, it is what has characterized the lineage ever since, and it is what has guided its remark­able spread, to become one of the most popular and wide­spread cycles of Dzogchen teachings, both in Tibet and the Himalayas, and now in the western world.

The Guru Yoga teachings here were translated orally by Ven. Konchog Tenzin, Matthieu Ricard, who spent more than twelve years as Khyentse Rinpoche's assistant. Matthieu then edited the entire text in 1990, during Khyentse Rinpoche's final visit to France, when he gave teachings and empower­ments to one thousand five hundred people at the request of Sogyal Rinpoche and Rigpa, at Prapoutel, near Grenoble.

Perhaps there is no one better suited to introduce this book on Guru Yoga than Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, and Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche. Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, who wrote the foreword, is Khyentse Rinpoche's grandson and Dharma­ heir. Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Dzigar Kongtrul Rin­poche, and Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche, who contributed the preface, are three of Khyentse Rinpoche's closest disciples; they are the present-day incarnations of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Jamgon Kongtrul, and Chokgyur Lingpa, whose collaboration played such a huge part in shaping the Tibetan Buddhism we know today.

Preface

How fortunate we are to be able to read a teaching like this on Guru Yoga by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, who is actually the great master Longchen Rabjam in person. The Longchen Nyingtik has been treasured by all the great Khyentses of the past as their most important inner practice. Nowadays, when genuine devotion for the guru is rare because most of us lack the necessary wisdom and merit, to be able to receive this teaching from such a master is an extraordinary blessing.

The purpose of Dharma practice is to attain enlightenment. Actually, attaining enlightenment is exactly the same as rid­ding ourselves of ignorance, and the root of ignorance is the ego. Whichever path we take, whether it's the long and dis­ciplined route, or the short and wild one, at the end of it the essential point is that we eliminate the ego.

There are many, many different ways we can do this, for ex­ample through Samatha meditation, and they all work to one extent or another. However, since we have been with our ego for so many lifetimes and we are so familiar with it, every time we take to a path in our efforts to eliminate ego, that very path is hijacked by ego and manipulated in such a way that rather than crushing the ego, our path only helps to reinforce it.

This is the reason why, in the Vajrayana, guru devotion, or Guru Yoga, is taught as a vital and essential practice. As the guru is a living, breathing human being, he or she is able to deal directly with your ego. Reading a book about how to elimi­nate ego may be interesting, but you will never be in awe of that book, and anyway, books are entirely open to your own interpretation. A book cannot talk or react to you, whereas the guru can and will stir up your ego so that eventually it will be eliminated altogether. Whether this is achieved wrathfully or gently doesn't matter, but in the end this is what the guru is there to do, and this is why guru devotion is so important.

For a student who has true devotion, the guru is the em­bodiment of all sources of refuge, and devotion for the guru is the essence of all paths. Lama Jamyang Gyaltsen, a great Sakyapa master, said, "The guru is the embodiment of all ref­uge," meaning that when we take refuge, we see the guru present in all of the Three Jewels: the guru's physical pres­ence is seen as the Sangha, the guru's teaching is seen as the Dharma, and the guru's mind is seen as the Buddha.

Guru Yoga is the quickest, most effective method for at­taining enlightenment and is the one path in which all other paths are complete. Guru Yoga includes renunciation, bodhicitta, development (Kyerim) and completion (Dzogrim) meditation, and mind training (Lojong), which is why we can say that Guru Yoga is the embodiment, or the essence, of all paths. It is the key to them all, the special method that can take a practitioner through the stages of the bodhisattva path and the different Yanas. Other paths can take you to a certain level, but they are not complete. Guru Yoga is not only the complete path, but also the most condensed.

In order to practice Guru Yoga, first we must learn how to see our guru as the Buddha. In our day-to-day lives, even if we have a guru, we tend to look elsewhere for the solution to our problems. On an outer level, when we are ill we "take refuge" in a doctor, or if it's raining we "take refuge" in an umbrella. Similarly, on an inner level, if we have money prob­lems we may try to solve them with Jambhala practice, if we face obstacles and difficulties we may invoke the help of

Mahakala, or if we lack wisdom we may pray to Manjusri. This shows how weak our devotion is, because whatever it is we lack, we need only look to one source for help and guid­ance: the guru. The first stage of guru devotion, then, is to awaken and enhance our devotion, until it becomes sound and strong and we can actually look upon the guru as the Buddha. Gradually we will reach the second stage, where we don't simply think the guru is the Buddha, we see he is the Buddha. As our devotion becomes stronger still, it is with a growing sense of joy that we begin to rely entirely on the guru for ev­erything. Aninner confidence arises, an absolute certainty that the guru is the only source of refuge. No longer do we have to create or fabricate our devotion-now it comes quite naturally.

Then, all our experiences, good or bad, are manifestations of the guru. Everything we experience in life becomes benefi­cial and has a purpose; everything we encounter becomes a teaching. Total trust and devotion for the guru is born within our heart, and the blessing of the guru dissolves into our mind. With this, we reach the third stage, which is when we real­ize that our mind is none other than the guru whom we have seen as the Buddha. Finally we have managed to merge our mind with the guru's mind, which takes us beyond all our ordinary habits of exaggeration and underestimation, and frees us from all sorts of expectation and fear. Our devotion is, at last, neither created nor fabricated but a true devotion, and once having achieved it, we will have realized the ulti­mate goal of all Buddhist practice.

Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche

I do Guru Yoga every day. For me personally, Guru Yoga prac­tice inspires me the most, and brings me in touch with my deepest nature. It also satisfies me the most; it makes me have no uncertainty about what I am doing with my life. That is really true-that much I can say.

Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was a siddha. He followed a great number of masters and attained the highest degree of learn­ing in most fields of knowledge. For us, he was an embodi­ment of the original wakefulness of all buddhas, the lord of all ma1:u;lalas-a master who was indivisible from the mind of Padmasambhava. His heart was at peace in his compas­sionate resolve to liberate all beings. And it was this resolve that showed itself in the immense turning of the Wheel of Dharma he manifested throughout his life.

Concerning Guru Yoga, there are outer, inner, and inner­ most types of masters. The outer master is the one who ex­plains to us the general points of spiritual practice, and how to begin the fourfold 100,000 preliminary practices. The in­ner master is the one who gives us Vajrayana empowerment and explains the meaning of the tantras, and how to imple­ment the tantric teachings in our lives. The innermost master is the one who gives us the pointing-out instruction, who brings us face to face with the naked state of non-dual aware­ness, so that we realize it in actuality within our own experi­ence. In this way, the guru awakens the buddha from within our heart.

It is taught that, compared to making offerings to all the buddhas of the ten directions, there is more merit in making offerings to a single hair in one pore of the guru's body. So persevere in Guru Yoga. It is through the sincere practice of Guru Yoga that your three poisons subside, that boundless samadhi unfolds, and inconceivable benefits result; so defi­nitely practice Guru Yoga!

Chokling Rinpoche, The 4th Tsikey Chokling, Mingyur Dewey Dorje Trinley Kunkyab

The Turning Point

There is not a single sentient being who, over the course of our past lives, has not been our mother or father and so treated us with enormous kindness. Instead of discriminating, then, between enemies and loved ones, it should be quite natural for us to have the same feeling of love for all beings as we have for our parents in this life. Each and every one of them, without exception, wishes only to find happiness, and yet, blinded by ignorance, they fail to recognize that the true cause of that happiness is to accomplish the Dharma. Equally, there is not one of them who wants to suffer, and yet they do not recognize that the very cause of their suffering is negative actions. Simply reflecting on this will cause a great wave of compassion to surge up inside our minds.

However, a mere feeling of compassion on its own is not sufficient to help all beings actually reach the supreme level of enlightenment. Right now we have obtained this precious human body, we have met a qualified teacher, and by receiv­ing his instructions we have crossed the threshold of the Dharma. So we find ourselves at a turning point-we can either go up or go down. Our principal motivation now must be the wish to establish all beings in complete enlightenment.

Yet, at the same time, we need to acknowledge that at present we simply do not possess the ability to free beings from sa a.Therefore it is essential for us first of all to perfect our inner potential, along with all its qualities. It is with this kind of supreme attitude-one aimed at the benefit of all sentient beings-that we should endeavor with all our strength to re­ceive the teachings, reflect on them, and put them into practice.

What practice can we do, then, to liberate all beings, to bring them to the highest level of enlightenment? At the mo­ment, we have this most precious human body, which is not just some ordinary physical body, but the perfect support. It is endowed with eight freedoms from unfavorable conditions, and ten advantages or favorable conditions,3 and so it is known as the "jewel-like human body." It is this which gives us the freedom to practice the Dharma.

However, to have this body is, by itself, not enough. We need to use it straight away to practice the Dharma, for death may strike at any moment. One fact we must realize is how all phenomena-both the outer universe and all the beings within it-are utterly impermanent. They pass like a flash of lightning striking through the sky, or like a waterfall rushing down, without an instant's pause. Just as the outer universe changes with the passing of the seasons, so from morning to evening, from moment to moment, the same holds true for human beings. It says in the sutras:

Whatever is born will die,

Whatever is gathered will be dispersed, Whatever is joined together will come apart, Whatever is high will be brought low.

This is why we should seize the opportunity of this hu­man life now, so as to practice towards enlightenment, in­ stead of squandering it, entangled in worldly affairs and pre­ occupations, always seeking to outdoor enemies and protect our kin, or look after our business affairs, land, and property. There we are, engrossed in all these activities, when suddenly death strikes us down. It will be too late then to practice the Dharma.

However beautiful you are, you will never beguile the Lord of Death. However rich you may be, you can never buy even one moment of life. However much power and influence you command, all your wealth and all your worldly achievements will in the end be utterly useless. Only the Dharma can help at the time of death.

Although it is a crucial point, simply to remember death is not enough; now that we have good health and freedom in both body and mind, we need to channel all our energy into practicing the Dharma. We should check, day after day, that we are not wasting our lives and that we are making every effort to blend the Dharma-the priceless instructions of the teacher-with our mindstream.

If we are able to do this and we are the best kind of practi­tioner, then at the time of death we shall be free from all fear and recognize the dharmakaya, the absolute nature. If we are a middling practitioner, we shall have the confidence of knowing that we will not be deluded by any of the phenom­ena that appear in the bardo state, and that we will then be able to achieve enlightenment. And if we are the most ordi­ nary kind of practitioner, at the very least we will be free from regret, because we will be confident we have done our best to practice the Dharma, and therefore we will not take rebirth in the lower realms, but find the support we need in the next life to continue our Dharma practice.

What we must realize is that at the moment of death we are plucked from this life like a hair drawn from a piece of butter, leaving everything behind, including this body we have held so dear. Death is not like a fire that simply goes out, or like water that vanishes when it lands on dry ground. There will be rebirth, and this rebirth will be conditioned by our positive and negative actions. If we have accumulated negative actions, we will be reborn in the lower realms. How­ ever much we long to be reborn in the celestial realms, unless we have prepared for this by accumulating positive actions, it will be quite impossible. As it is said: "There is no result that we have experienced that was not created by past actions, and

there is not a single present action that will not bear fruit." So we should never feel contempt towards accumulating even the smallest amount of merit and virtue, because the results can be enormous. Nor should we ever think that if we indulge in only a tiny negative action it is of little or no significance.

Following an authentic teacher and having received his instructions, we have to discriminate with great care between what is to be avoided and what is to be adopted, realizing that negative actions are the very cause of our ceaseless wan­dering in sansara.

This is why we need to ensure that all our actions are gov­erned by the Three Noble Principles. First is the preparation, which is the generation of bodhicitta-the wish to carry out whatever actions or accomplish whatever practice we can for the sake of all sentient beings. This links our practice with the supreme skillful means. Second is the actual practice, which is one-pointed concentration, free from any clinging. This renders our practice invulnerable to obstacles. Third is the conclusion, the dedication of all our merit for the good of all beings. This causes the merit of our practice to continue increasing until enlightenment. The very highest way of dedi­cating meritorious and positive actions is to do so for the enlightenment of all beings.

With these Three Noble Principles as our guide, we should constantly endeavor to cultivate goodness. We may amass all kinds of worldly virtue and merit, which may bring us temporary results like long life or wealth, but one day the fruit of all this merit will be exhausted, and we will plunge yet again into the lower realms. Even though the followers of the Fundamental Vehicle, the Shravakas and Pratyekabuddhas,4 can free themselves from sansara, it takes an ex­tremely long time, many aeons in fact, for them to reach buddhahood. Through the supreme path of the Mahayana, the bodhisattvas' Great Vehicle, we can attain buddhahood swiftly, for the sake and benefit of all others.

If we truly wish to find freedom from this ocean of suffering,

nothing could be more vital than to seek a correct, universal,

and ultimate source of refuge. But first, we need to recognize the nature of saq,.sara because until and unless we realize that saq,.sara is totally pervaded by suffering, a strong sense of renunciation will never arise in our minds. We will only go on thinking that saq,.sara is enjoyable, and the thought of wanting to escape from it will never even occur to us.

This is why it is so important to reflect deeply on saq,.sara and to realize that we are caught up in it like people trapped in the confines of a prison. There is no way that a prisoner can pos­sibly escape by means of his or her own strength, but only by appealing for help from someone in a position of greater power. In exactly the same way, we need the aid of someone who has gone beyond sansara.

We might wonder, "When did sansara begin?" No one except an omniscient buddha could point and say, "This is the beginning 0f sansara." The delusion perpetuated in saq,.sara's ocean of suffering has gone on throughout an infi­nite series of lives, and will continue for aeons if we do not do something to remedy it. As the Buddha said in the Sutra of Close Mindfulness:

If we were to pile up the limbs of all the insects Which had been our bodies in past lives,

They would make a mountain higher than Mount Meru.

What ordinary beings fail to recognize is that saq,.sara is nothing but suffering. They are like people afflicted with an eye condition that causes them to see a white conch shell as yellow. However hard they look, they will never see it as white. Three main types of suffering prevail in sansara: suffer­ing upon suffering, suffering of change, and all-pervasive suf­fering.

"Suffering upon suffering" is when one experience of suffering comes right on top of another. A good example would be the continuously renewed suffering endured in the hells and other lower realms. "The suffering of change" is the constant change and fluctuation that takes place between fleeting states of happiness and suffering. Enjoyment, wealth, or fame may come our way, but they never last. Say, for in­stance, one lovely summer's day we go on a picnic with our

friends. One moment we are sitting there on the grass, re­laxed, carefree and contented, and then suddenly we are bit­ten by a snake. This is the suffering of change. "All-pervasive suffering" indicates that suffering pervades sansara in its entirety and is always latent within it. Even those who dwell absorbed in states of deep samadhi on the higher planes of existence, like the formless celestial beings, do not escape suf­fering.

When their karma and the fruits of their concentra­tion are exhausted, they will fall once again into the lower realms, because their inner poisons have not been eradicated. What refuge can we seek for protection and freedom from this ocean of suffering? Ordinary objects of refuge such as mountains, stars, natural forces, or powerful individuals, which are not free from sansara themselves, cannot offer us enduring and universal protection. They can only disappoint us. The one and only supreme and infallible source of ref­uge-the one which is utterly free from any partiality, free from all attachment or rejection, and which possesses a uni­versal compassion towards all beings-is the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

The Buddha manifests as the three kayas and five wisdoms, which comprise all the qualities of having discarded what­ ever is to be discarded, and having realized whatever is to be realized. The Dharma is the teaching given by the Buddha, which shows the path and leads to the cessation of suffering. The Sangha is the virtuous community, endowed with all the noble qualities of understanding and liberation.

On the innermost level, the Three Jewels are all gathered within the lama, or guru: his body is the Sangha, his speech is the Dharma, and his mind is the Buddha. He is like a wish­ fulfilling jewel, the unerring union of all sources of refuge, his absolute nature beyond the intellectual mind. To remem­ber the guru is the same as thinking of all the buddhas. This is why, if we rely on him totally, just this in itself will em­brace the entire meaning and purpose of refuge.

Then, the principal path towards enlightenment is the generation of bodhicitta. Up until now we have segregated enemies and friends, those whom we wish to reject and those whom we wish to attract. But now we should think of all beings, without any discrimination, as being like our very own parents who have shown us the very greatest kindness. And if we stop to think about how kind our parents have been to us-how they clothed us, fed us, and devoted all of their time to our benefit and well-being-then our natural response and desire will be only to show our gratitude.

All beings wish to achieve happiness and avoid suffering, but because they do not know how to do so, all they succeed in doing is causing themselves more suffering. Everything they do runs counter to the fulfillment of their wishes. In or­der to free them all from suffering and lead them to enlight­enment, we must not only arouse a strong feeling of compassion for them in our minds, but also we must act upon it and strive to put it into practice through the six perfections. The six perfections are: giving with generosity, maintaining dis­cipline, meditating on patience, endeavoring with diligence, resting in equanimity, and realizing egolessness through the wisdom of discernment.

Guru Yoga

Of all practices, the one which, through its blessings, willful­ fil our aims and aspirations most rapidly is Guru Yoga (or Lame Naljor in Tibetan). Guru Yoga literally means "union with the nature of the guru" and it is both the quintessence and the ground of all the preliminary and main practices. It is the ultimate teaching, yet one which can be accomplished equally by anyone, whatever their capacity-superior, medium, or ordinary. For dispelling obstacles, making progress in our practice, and receiving blessings, there is no better practice than Guru Yoga. And it is as a result of the blessings obtained through practicing Guru Yoga that we can progress through the main practice-the development and completion stages, or Kyerim and Dzogrim and so on to Dzogpa chenpo.

Guru Yoga is the essence of the eighty-four thousand sec­tions of Lord Buddha's teachings. It is said that all the buddhas of the past, present, and future have attained, and will attain, buddhahood through following an authentic spiri­tual teacher. To rely upon a qualified guru is the true way of a bodhisattva. According to the Secret Mantrayana, Guru Yoga is the heart essence of the practice, and is treasured as the core of all practices in all lineages. In the Kagyu lineage, for

example, one of the main practices is called "Carrying Devo­tion to the Guru along the Path," and in their pith instruc­tions the greatest emphasis is laid on fervent devotion. The same holds true for the Sakya and Nyingma lineages as well.

There are many methods for accomplishing the three kayas of the guru, and there are practices which focus on the guru on outer, inner, secret, and most secret levels.5 Suffice it to say that Guru Yoga is the easiest to practice and yet the most profound. Here we are approaching it within the context of

the Ngondro preliminary practice of Longchen Nyingtik, known as Nam Khyen Lam Zang, or "The Excellent Path to Omniscience." The preliminary practice has six parts: the four thoughts which tum the mind from sansara; taking refuge; the generation of bodhicitta; the purification through Vajrasattva; offering of the mandala) and finally, Guru Yoga. It is important to remember that all practices, whether pre­liminary or main, have to take place within the sphere of Guru Yoga uniting with the nature of the guru.

In Guru Yoga, we pray and direct our devotion towards the master who arouses in us the greatest feeling of devo­tion. Here, we let him appear in the form of the Lotus-born Guru, Guru Rinpoche, who made a solemn promise that for anyone in this degenerate age who has great confidence in him and devotion to him, his blessing would be swifter than that of any other buddha. In his own words:

Those who accomplish me, accomplish all the buddhas; Those who see me, see all the buddhas.

This is his promise, a promise which can never deceive. For although Guru Rinpoche's compassion is the same for all sentient beings, it is particularly swift and powerful for those who live in this decadent age. Reflecting on our own root master, we will see that his qualities have the same na­ture as those of all the buddhas, and yet his kindness is even greater than theirs because he has come now, at the time when we need him. Take a group of people, for example, who are equally rich; the kindest is the one who uses his or her wealth to help the poor and those who need it most. It is just the same with the master.

If we practice Guru Yoga, perceiving that our root guru is inseparable from Guru Rinpoche, then the blessings we will receive will be both powerful and swift. When an enlight­ened master who has wisdom and compassion meets a dis­ciple who has faith and diligence, it is as if the sun's rays were suddenly concentrated through a magnifying glass and fo­cused onto dry grass, causing it to burst into flames at once. In the same way, the blessings we receive will correspond directly to the intensity of our devotion.

There are three main parts to the actual practice of Guru Yoga: first there is the visualization, next the fervent prayer to the guru, and lastly the receiving of the four empowerments.

The Visualization

In the sutras we can read how, on the eve of their attaining enlightenment, bodhisattvas such as Amitabha would make profound prayers and tremendous offerings to all the buddhas. They prayed that they might manifest a buddhafield and then emanate themselves within that buddhafield, so as to bring the greatest possible benefit to all sentient beings.

From the Vajrayana perspective, however, the understand­ing of buddhafields is a deeper one. The root of the Vajrayana is "pure vision," or the perception of the perfect purity of all phenomena. To enact this purity of perception, we do not perceive the place where we are now as just any ordinary place; we imagine it to be a celestial buddhafield. As we re­ cite the description in the visualization, we consider this place itself to be the supreme paradise of [[Guru

Rinpoche]], Zangdopalri-the Glorious Copper Colored Mountain­ where everything reflects total perfection. The ground is com­posed of gold, the trees are wish-fulfilling trees, and the rain is the rainfall of nectar. All beings are dakas and dakinis; the calls of the birds are the sounds of Dharma; the sounds of nature, wind, water, and fire reverberate as the Vajra Guru mantra; and all thoughts are expressions of wisdom and bliss. So here the perception of purity is much vaster and more omnipresent than in the sutras.

Within the perfect environment of this self-manifested buddhafield, we visualize ourselves as the mother, or source, of all the buddhas, Vajrayogini, who is inseparable from Yeshe Tsogyal, the consort of Guru Rinpoche. She is brilliant red, with one face and two hands. In her right hand she wields a hooked knife raised upwards towards the sky, and in her left hand is a skulkup full of blood.6

In the crook of her left arm is a khatvanga trident, surmounted by a vajra. She stands in a dancing posture on a corpse, a sun disc, and a lotus, poised on her left foot with her right knee bent. She is adorned with the eight bone ornaments: diadem, earrings, three kinds of necklaces, bracelets, anklets, and a bone apron and belt, all encrusted with jewels, and she wears the five silk scarves. Her three eyes gaze in fervent devotion towards the master, Guru Rinpoche.

Her appearance is Yeshe Tsogyal, the consort of the Lotus­ born Guru, endowed with all the blessings of the buddhas, while her essence is the manifestation of Jetsun Drolma (Tara), who carries out the activity of all the buddhas and confers their blessings, benefiting all beings everywhere.

In the sky in front of us or above the crown of our head, seated on the pollen bed of a hundred-thousand-petalled lo­tus, and a sun and a moon disc, we visualize Guru Rinpoche, the Lotus-born Guru of Oddiyana, embodiment of all sources of refuge and of the non-dual wisdom of all the buddhas. His nature is that of our root master, the one who has dis­played the greatest compassion and kindness towards us, and for whom we have the deepest devotion.

He appears as a beautiful eight-year-old child, his youth­ful splendor symbolizing his attainment of the unchanging vajra body, which is beyond death. His complexion is white tinged with red, and he is dressed in the robes of the Nine Yanas: a white inner garment underneath, then a blue gown, and upon these the red monastic shawl patterned in gold.

The Visualization

These represent, respectively, the vehicles of the Secret Mantrayana, the Mahayana, and the Hinayana. He also wears the monastic skirt, which symbolizes the Sravaka and the Pratyekabuddha Yanas, and wrapped around him is a dark blue brocade cape, which represents the Vajrayana.

He is smiling, with an expression which is at once peace­ful and wrathful, indicating his realization of the absolute nature and his subjugation of all negative forces. His eyes gaze straight into the sky; this is the vajra gaze that looks always into the absolute nature. In his right hand he holds a five-pronged golden vajra at the level of his heart. In this de­generate age, however, when evil forces and negative emo­tions run rampant, we can visualize Guru Rinpoche wield­ing the vajra in the sky in a gesture of subjugation.

In his left hand, which rests in the mudra, or gesture, of equanimity, he holds a skullcup that possesses all perfect qualities and characteristics. Within the skullcup is the vase of immortality, overflowing with the nectar of deathlessness. It symbolizes Guru Rinpoche's attainment of the level of vidyadhara of immortality. He sits in the posture of "royal ease," with his right foot slightly extended and his left foot drawn inwards. Just as no one would dare disobey the order of a king, there is no one in the three worlds of saqisara who would ever disobey the command of Guru Rinpoche, for he has realized the primordial wisdom of the absolute.

The five buddha families buddha, vajra, ratna, padma, and karma-are usually portrayed by their emblems: wheel, vajra, jewel, lotus, and crossed vajras. Here, they are symbol­ized by Guru Rinpoche's five-petalled lotus crown, which indicates that he belongs to the padma family, and that he is an emanation of Buddha Amitabha. In the crook of his left arm is the khatvanga trident, representing his secret consort, Mandarava.

Visualize the Lotus-born Guru clearly, even down to the black and white of his eyes, and the finest details of his clothes. His body is not composed of dense matter like flesh and blood, earth, stone, or gold, but of light, like a rainbow, transparent yet vividly clear. Visualize him there, resplendent amidst an expanse of rainbow light in five colors, which floods the whole of space.

There are three main ways of visualizing Guru Rinpoche and his entourage within this dazzling expanse of light. The first is to visualize all of the gurus of the lineage, from the Pri­mordial Buddha Samantabhadra down to our own root mas­ter (in the form of Guru Rinpoche), seated one below the other in a line extending upwards above the crown of our head. The second is to visualize a great gathering, like people in a crowded marketplace, or like massed banks of clouds. The third is to visualize Guru Rinpoche alone as "the one jewel that em­bodies all," or "the one all-sufficient wish-fulfilling jewel."

Although all three are essentially identical, here we will use the second, and visualize the -born Guru sur­rounded by a cloudlike gathering of his retinue. Amongst the retinue are the Eight Vidyadharas of India, holders of the eight transmissions; they include Manjushrimitra, who re­ceived the body transmission, Nagarjuna, who received the speech transmission, and Humchenkara, who received the mind transmission.8 Also, there are: all of the great siddhas of the New Translation School, such as Drilbupa, who achieved realization through practicing Cakrasamwara, and King Indrabodhi, who attained enlightenment through Guhyasamaja;

the eighty-four mahasiddhas of India and those of Tibet; the nine heart-sons and the twenty-five dis­ciples of Guru Rinpoche, as well as the eighty siddhas of Yerpa, who attained the body of light; the hundred and eight great meditators of Chuwori; the thirty mantrikas of Yangzom; the fifty-five togdens, or realized beings, of Sheldrak; the twenty­ five dakinis, the seven yoginis, and many others; the enlight­ teachers and saints of the Eight Chariots of Transmis­sion; the great paramitas, accomplished masters and vidya­dharas; all the deities of the three roots; the peaceful and wrathful yidams; the dakas and dakinis of the three places; the various protectors and guardians of the Dharma; the dei­ties of prosperity; and the protectors of the terma treasures.

They fill the sky like a vast cloud and, although they ap­pear as his retinue, as regards their nature there is no distinc­tion between them and Guru Rinpoche, since they are all his emanations. Just as the bodhisattva Norzang attended two hundred and fifty-two spiritual teachers in order to establish auspicious connections, so should we visualize the retinue as a vast gathering in order that we too may be able to meet perfectly enlightened teachers throughout our series of lives.

Like the main figure, the deities of the retinue are not sub­stantial like statues; they appear yet they are empty, like re­flections of the moon in water. We visualize them as pure and perfect so as to correct and put a stop to our ordinary perception of phenomena as impure. Think of them watch­ing us and smiling with their tremendous compassion, and consider them all as the various aspects of Guru Rinpoche.

This particular teaching of Guru Yoga, as we mentioned earlier, comes from the Longchen Nyingtik, the terma re­vealed by Jikme Lingpa. This concludes the first part, the de­ scription of the visualization required for accomplishing the practice.

Guru Rinpoche himself made this pledge:

If you have strong faith and confidence in me,

I will look on you with compassion: this is my promise, And never will I deceive you.

Without this kind of faith and confidence, we cannot re­ceive any blessings, but if we pray to Guru Rinpoche with unfailing confidence and devotion, then there is nothing we cannot accomplish. Being a fully enlightened buddha, he has the power to manifest his wisdom, his loving-kindness, and his strength. And remember that he will never, never desert us, for this was his promise.

Invocation

Having established the visualization, now we invite the wis­dom deity from the buddhafields. Just as we would invite an important guest by first preparing our home and then ask­ing him to come, so with the deepest respect we invite Guru Rinpoche with the Seven-Line Prayer, also known as the "Seven Vajra Verses," which is the most essential prayer to Guru Rinpoche.

When the celestial dakinis sang the Seven Vajra Verses, the letter HRi emanating from the heart of Buddha Amitabha, descended upon a red lotus blossom on the Lake of Milk in the northwest of the land of Oddiyana, and transformed into an eight-year-old child-Guru Rinpoche, the Lotus-born. Later, at the time when Guru Rinpoche was meditating in the Eight Great Cemeteries, the dakas and dakinis sang this Seven-Line Prayer to invite him and to request him to tum the Wheel of Dharma.

The Seven-Line Prayer carries the essence of all Guru Rin­poche's blessings. As Guru Rinpoche said: "To this very prayer, you can give your whole mind, in devotion." He also said:

When a disciple calls upon me with yearning devotion, And with the sweet-sounding song of the Seven-Line Prayer,

I shall come straight away from Zangdopalri,

Like a mother who cannot resist the call of her child.

The Seven-Line Prayer is to be found in all of the teachings of Guru Rinpoche revealed by the hundred and eight major and one thousand minor tertons, or treasure-discoverers. So it is a prayer that is most extraordinary, easy to practice, and replete with immense blessings.

To invoke the Lotus-born Guru, we recite the Seven-Line Prayer three times. At the same time, in the sky before us, we visualize the paradise of Zangdopalri with Guru Rinpoche and his retinue of vidyadharas, dakas, and dakinis. Then, what we visualize in the sky dissolves into the visualization we have already created. The buddhafield dissolves into the buddhafield, Vajrayogini dissolves into Vajrayogini, Guru Rinpoche dissolves into Guru Rinpoche, and the retinue of deities, dakas, and dakinis into the corresponding retinue. In this way, the jnanasattva, the wisdom deities invited from the buddhafields, and the samayasattva, which is our initial visu­alization, merge indivisibly into one.

Do not ever think that the buddhafields are far away, or doubt whether the buddhas may or may not come. For as Guru Rinpoche said:

I am present in front of anyone who has faith in me,

Just as the moon casts its reflection, effortlessly, in any vessel filled with water.

The Seven Branches of Devotional Practice

So as to receive Guru Rinpoche's blessings, we also need to complete the accumulation of merit and wisdom. The easiest and, at the same time, the most essential method for this is the one in seven branches. Praised by all the sages of the past, these seven branches condense all the many different ways of accumulating merit.

Prostration

The first of the seven branches is to pay homage with pros­trations. When we accomplish the preliminary practices of Ngondro, we perform 100,000 prostrations either while re­citing the refuge formula during the refuge practice, or while reciting the seven branches of devotional practice during Guru Yoga. In the same way that someone becomes very humble when they are in front of a person who commands great re­spect, our humility should increase when we do this practice in the presence of Guru Rinpoche and all the buddhas.

Visualizing ourselves in our ordinary form, we put aside all arrogance and pride, and demonstrate our respect by of­fering prostrations. There are three ways of performing pros­trations. The highest is with the View, while recognizing the

absolute nature the essence of buddhahood. The next is through meditation, where we visualize ourselves in an infi­nite number of forms, all prostrating in unison towards the source of refuge, and all reciting the prayer in seven branches, as if we were leading the prayers of all sentient beings. The third kind is where we generate faith and devotion as we pros­trate ourselves on the ground towards the source of refuge.

To do prostrations properly, you touch the ground with five points-the forehead, the two hands, and the two knees. Another method, used by the Kadampas, is to fling yourself forward, letting the hands hit the ground before the knees. This is known as the full or extended prostration and is the most secret way of purifying impairments of the samaya.

Before we begin the prostration, first we join the palms of our hands together at the level of our heart. The hands should not be held pressed flat against each other, but with an empty space in between them, so that they resemble a lotus bud about to burst into bloom. This symbolizes the blossoming of our bodhicitta. Then we raise our two joined hands to our forehead, consider that we are prostrating to the body aspect of all the buddhas, and pray:

May all the obscurations of my body be dispelled and May I receive the blessing of realizing the body of all the buddhas!

Then we place our hands at the level of the throat, con­sider that we are prostrating to the speech aspect of all the buddhas, and pray:

May all the obscurations of my speech be purified and May I receive the blessing of realizing the speech of all the buddhas!

Finally, we place our hands at the level of our heart and pay homage to the heart, or mind, aspect of all the buddhas, praying:

May all the obscurations of my mind be clarified and May I receive the blessing of realizing the mind of all the buddhas!

The Seven Branches of Devotional Practice

Then we prostrate and consider that when the five points touch the ground the five poisons are purified into the five wisdoms.

The benefits of doing prostrations are inconceivable. As it says in the sutras:

The number of particles of dust beneath your body when doing just a single prostration to the Lord Buddha will be the number of times you will be reborn as a universal monarch in future lives.

⦁ Offering

Offering includes both material offerings and offerings visu­alized by the mind. For the material offerings, we offer as much as we can, particularly the seven traditional offerings: water, flowers, incense, lamps, scented water, food, and music. For the offerings visualized by the mind, we imagine mountains, forests, beautiful plants, gardens, oceans, and all the ornaments and precious things of the universe and its inhabitants. We also visualize that the whole sky is filled with the eight auspi­cious signs and the eight auspicious ingredients,along with beautiful jewels, palaces, and celestial gardens.

All of this is offered without the slightest expectation of any reward, as an antidote to greed and miserliness. Then we consider that out of their compassion and wisdom the buddhas joyfully accept our offering, so that we can accu­mulate merit.

Confession

We use confession to purify our negative actions, our defects and downfalls, for if such stains are not purified they will create a barrier to realization. In order to purify negative ac­tions, obscurations, and defilements, we need to rely upon four strengths, namely: the strength of the support, the strength of regret, the strength of the antidote, and the strength of the promise.

The first is the strength of the support. Just as when a crimi­nal appears in a court of law, the judge is surrounded by all those who represent justice, so too when we visualize Guru Rinpoche above our head, he is surrounded by a retinue of buddhas, bodhisattvas, and vidyadharas. This is the object to whom we present our regret and confession.

The second is the strength of regret. If we had not commit­ted any negative actions in the past, there would be nothing to confess and nothing to repair. So we acknowledge how throughout our countless lives we have repeatedly commit­ ted transgressions against the three vows: the pratimoksha vows, the bodhisattva vows, and the commitments of theSe­ cret Mantrayana. If these are not purified, they become like a poison inside us, and are responsible for our continuing to wander in sansara.

Third is the strength of the antidote, which is the actual prac­tice of purification. With ardent devotion, we pray to Guru Rinpoche and imagine that boundless rays of light stream out from his heart center and dissolve into us. This light cleanses us completely, as it washes out and dissolves all our imperfec­tions and negativities. Finally Guru Rinpoche, with a radiant smile, says to us: "All of your obscurations are purified."

Lastly there is the strength of the promise, which means to make an unshakable resolution: "From now on-even if my life is at stake-I shall never again indulge in negative actions." With these four strengths, all our negative actions can be purified. As it is said: "Negativity does have one good qual­ ity-it can be purified."

Rejoicing

Whenever we think of the good accumulated by others, how­ ever great or small, and we rejoice sincerely, from our hearts and without a trace of jealousy, this mere act of rejoicing will cause us to accumulate the same merit as if we had carried out those positive actions ourselves. Think about how Guru Rinpoche manifested in this universe: he came, free from any

The Seven Branches of Devotional practice

of the stains of the obscuring emotions, and benefited beings in all the three worlds through his countless emanations, turn­ing the Wheel of Dharma and teaching the Nine Yanas. If we rejoice wholeheartedly at such wonderful deeds, then we actually share in their merit. The same holds true whenever we experience a deeply felt joy at any virtuous action per­formed by others-teachers, disciples, hermits, or anyone who benefits others. So this rejoicing should be sincere, and come from the depths of our hearts.

Requesting the Turning of the Wheel of Dharma

Of all the activities of a buddha in bringing benefit to beings, the most precious and the most fundamental is turning the wheel of the three vehicles of the Dharma. After attaining enlightenment, Buddha Sakyamuni remained silent for three weeks to emphasize the rarity and value of the teachings. Then Brahma and Indra came from their celestial kingdoms to request the Buddha to turn the Wheel of Dharma for the good of all beings. Brahma offered him a [[thousand-

spoked]] golden wheel and Indra offered a white conch shell that coiled to the right. As a result of their request, the Lord Buddha first turned the Wheel of Dharma in the Deer Park at Varal)asi, when he taught the Four Noble Truths. He then turned the Wheel of Dharma a second time at the Vulture Peak, where he gave the teachings on emptiness, and a third time in vari­ous places, when he unfolded the ultimate truth of the union of emptiness and manifestation.

In the same way, if we request the teacher to turn the Wheel of Dharma according to the different needs and capacities of beings, then we will share in that merit. And as a result, we are rendering a great service to the teachings and to the Dharma as a whole.

Requesting the Buddhas and Teachers to Remain

The teachings given by enlightened beings are the expres­sion of their inner realization, which is why we should re­ quest the buddhas and masters not to pass away into nirvana,

but to remain until saqisara has been emptied. Realized be­ings who have attained the bodhisattva levels are not subject to ordinary birth and death, and when their activity is com­plete, they dissolve their physical form altogether. This is why we need to request them, as fervently as possible, to remain longer, in order to help all sentient beings, and to bring them to the level of buddhahood.

The Dedication of Merit

What we dedicate now includes the merit of offering this prayer in seven branches, as well as all the merit we have accumulated in the past or will accumulate in our future lives. The way in which we dedicate this merit is limitless, emulat­ing the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the past when they shared and distributed their merit among all sentient beings, and free from clinging to the three saqisaric concepts of an actor, an action, and an object of action. This implies that we have com­pletely realized the view of emptiness, but even if we have not, whenever we dedicate, it should be free from any ordi­nary clinging.

Devotion and Blessing

Devotion is the heart of the Guru Yoga practice; in fact it is the very practice itself. The qualities of devotion are respect, yearn­ing, and ardent faith. Without devotion, the seed of libera­tion will shrivel and die, whereas with devotion all the noble qualities of the path to enlightenment will blossom and grow. As beginners, we may well find that our faith and devo­tion are not spontaneous, and so at first it is important to generate that feeling actively, over and over again. To do this, we call to mind the qualities of the guru, especially his kind­ ness in leading us out of sa:qisara, and in granting us his pro­found instructions.

To help us remember that kindness, we visualize him above the crown of our head and pray to him with intense devotion. As a result, our contrived devotion will gradually be transformed into a spontaneous and con­tinuous one. Devotion will become so much a part of our stream of thought that at the mere mention or recollection of the guru's name, all ordinary perceptions will stop, disturb­ing emotions will no longer arise, and our thoughts will con­stantly flow towards the master. This means that our mind will remember nothing but the teacher; it will be completely captivated by him.

Then whatever good fortune may come our way, such as an increase in wealth, fame, or favorable conditions, we will realize that this is due to the kindness of the master. Yet we will also know that all these achievements are like a dream, devoid of any essence, and so we will be free from any pride or clinging. We will be glad, for example, to use all this dream­ like wealth as an offering to the guru.

On the other hand, if all kinds of undesirable circumstances and difficulties befall us, or people criticize us, we will un­derstand this as the fruit of having harmed others during our previous lives. Thinking of how we can purify our karma through this suffering, we pray to the guru: "May you grant me your blessing so that I can purify my past actions, and may my suffering completely exhaust the suffering of all other beings." And so we will come to view unfortunate circum­ stances as an expression of the guru's activity, there to help us purify our obscurations.

By thinking only of the guru, a fervent devotion will arise, and our eyes will fill with tears. As Guru Rinpoche said:

Complete devotion brings complete blessing; Absence of doubts brings complete success.

It is through a devotion such as this that the realization of wisdom will blossom within us. All the noble qualities of the Nine Vehicles, from the vehicle of the Sravakas up to the un­surpassed Dzogpachenpo, are all born from the blessings of the guru. So devotion should be recognized as the principal seed, the source, for progressing along the path, for dispel­ling obstacles and ultimately for attaining enlightenment.

This part of the Guru Yoga opens with a prayer to the Lotus-born Guru which begins with the words: "Jetsun Guru Rinpoche ... ," meaning, "O Guru Rinpoche, Precious One... " If we pray with the deepest fervor, and with a prayer as ardent and moving as this, then the blessings will swiftly enter our being. When we say, "Jetsiin," it indicates that Guru Rin­poche is the principal presence among all the buddhas and deities, and that he is the lord of all maJ::t9,alas. The word "guru" literally means one who is "weighty," and implies

Devotion and Blessing

that the guru is someone replete with all the qualities of buddhahood. "Rinpoche" means "great jewel." Such a jewel has six qualities: it is rare, flawless, powerful, supreme, un­ changing, and the ornament of the universe.

Consider that, outwardly, the guru is the union of the Three Jewels: his body is the Sangha, his speech the Dharma, and his mind the Buddha. Inwardly, he embodies the three roots: his body is the lama (guru), his speech the yidam (deva), and his mind the khandro (dakini). Secretly, the guru is the union of the three kayas: his body is the nirmanakaya, his speech the sambhogakaya, and his mind the dharmakaya. The guru is also the union of all deities, for there is not a single deity who is not the display of the Lotus-born Guru.

In the unsurpassable buddhafield of Akani tha, he is the Primordial Buddha Samantabhadra. He is also Vajradhara, or Dorje Chang. In the sambhogakaya buddhafields, he is Vajrasattva and the buddhas of the five families. In the nirmanakaya buddha­ fields, he is the Buddha Sakyamuni and the Lotus-born Guru, Padmasambhava. In brief, there is no manifestation of the Buddha that is not inseparably one with Guru Rinpoche, and so to pray to him is the same as praying to all the buddhas.

If we can pray with real fervor to Guru Rinpoche, he will remove all obstacles and enable us to progress along the path. All buddhas have the same compassion and the same love for sentient beings, but Guru Rinpoche has for countless kalpas made powerful prayers to benefit the beings of this difficult, decadent age, who are the victims of so much tor­ment. If we pray fervently to him, he will look on us as his only child, and he will come at once, from the land of the ralq;asas in the southwest, to appear before us.

Whenever we pray to Guru Rinpoche, we should not just mouth the words, but pray one-pointedly from the core of our heart, from the marrow of our bones, and with a devo­tion that consumes our mind.

To attain the omniscient state of buddhahood, it is neces­sary to realize the empty nature of all phenomena, through which the wisdom inherent in our fundamental buddha nature is unveiled. In the Root Vehicle of Characteristics, it takes three great kalpas of accumulating merit to achieve such realization. But through the path of devotion to the teacher, even an ordinary individual will achieve realization in one lifetime, thanks to the power of devotion and the blessings of the guru. On the other hand, to expect realization without faith and devotion is the same as hoping that the sun will rise on a cave that faces north.

We should constantly keep in mind that Guru Rinpoche is our sole refuge, whether in happiness or in sorrow, whether in the higher realms of sansara or the lower. Without any second thoughts, we should give our whole mind to him, like throwing a pebble into a lake.

The era in which we now live is known as the "Age of Five Degenerations." Our lifespan is shorter than it was in the Golden Age; this is the degeneration of life. Also, it is very rare to find someone who practices the Dharma and whose behavior really accords with it; this is the degeneration of karma, or activity.

This world of ours is constantly stricken by wars, famine, and disease, and there is but little hope of peace and happiness; this is the degeneration of the times. All the while, the root causes of this general degeneration are the intense emotions that plague beings: hatred, desire, misjudgment, pride, and envy; this is the degeneration linked with emotions. Finally, beings even turn their back on the Dharma; this is the degeneration of the view.

We have to wake up to the desperate and miserable con­ditions of this age; instead of finding it a source of fascina­tion and pleasure, we ought to feel like a fish writhing on a hook. We need to turn to Guru Rinpoche, the perfect buddha who vowed especially to help the beings of these decadent times, and call out to him with ardor and with longing: "There is no other hope for me but you! Unless you take me under your protection, I shall sink even deeper into sansara's ocean of suffering." This is how the sun of Guru Rinpoche's com­ passion, concentrated now through the magnifying glass of our devotion, will set fire to the dry grass of our ignorance and destructive emotions.

The Vajra Guru Mantra

Although at present we do not have the good fortune to see Guru Rinpoche's face or to hear his voice, we have his man­ tra, which he blessed with his wisdom, loving-kindness, and strength to be identical with him. This mantra is not com­posed of ordinary syllables, but has the power to dispel all obstacles and confer all the qualities of wisdom.

The scriptures tell us there is no mantra that carries more benefit than the Vajra Guru mantra. Its twelve syllables are the essence of the twelve branches of Lord Buddha's teach­ings. Bearing in mind the inconceivable benefit of reading the whole Tripitaka, if the twelve-syllable mantra is its es­sence, we can begin to appreciate the sheer power of its bless­ings. Then, our ceaseless wandering in saqt.sara is due to the interplay of the Twelve Links of Interdependent Origination, which arise from

ignorance and culminate in our taking re­ birth over and over again.15 By reciting the twelve-syllable mantra, these twelve interdependent links are purified, re­ leasing us at last from saqt.sara. The Vajra Guru mantra can be explained in many ways, and in particular in terms of nine levels related to the Nine Vehicles. Such explanations can be found in a terma revealed by Karma Lingpa, in the writings of Dodrupchen Jikme Tenpe Nyima, and in other scriptures.

The first three syllables of the mantra represent the three kayas, as well as the vajra body, speech, and mind of all thebuddhas. OM corresponds to the dharmakaya, the nature of Amitabha; AJ:I corresponds to the sambhogakaya, and the Lord of Compassion, Avalokitesvara; HUM corresponds to the nirmaakaya, manifesting as the Lotus-born Guru, Padmasambhava.

VAJRA

The vajra (dorje in Tibetan) refers to the diamond, the hardest and most precious of all stones. A diamond can cut through all other substances, yet cannot itself be cut by any of them. This symbolizes the unchanging, non-dual wisdom of the buddhas, which cannot be affected or destroyed by ignorance, but cuts right through all delusions and obscurations. It in­ dictates too that the qualities and activities of the body, speech, and mind of the buddhas can benefit all sentient beings, with­ out hindrance from negative forces. Like a diamond, the vajra is free from all defects. Its indestructible strength comes from the realization of the dharmakaya nature, the nature of Bud­ dha Amitabha.

[GURU]]

As we have seen, the word"guru" in Sanskrit means "weighty," or "heavy." Just as gold is the heaviest and most precious of metals, the guru is the most weighty and most precious of all beings, because of his inconceivable and flawless qualities. Here the guru corresponds, on the sambhogakaya level, to Avalokitesvara, who is endowed with the seven branches of union.16

PADMA

Padma, meaning "lotus" in Sanskrit, indicates the padma family from the five buddha-families. These five families­ buddha, vajra, ratna, padma, and karma are represented

The Vajra Guru Mantra

by the five buddhas: Vairocana, A obhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, and Amoghasiddhi, respectively. Guru Rinpoche is the nirmanakaya emanation of Amitabha, who corresponds to the lotus family and the speech aspect of the buddhas. It is stated in the slltras that simply by uttering the name of Bud­ dha Amitabha, you will be reborn in Sukhavati, the Paradise of Great Bliss, never to be reborn again in lower realms. In the same way, reciting the name of the Lotus-born Guru will bring us every kind of realization.

The incomparable qualities of the six-syllable mantra, the Ma,:,i, are also described in all the scriptures as being able to bring us to the realization of the bodhisattva levels, or bhumis. The Mal).i mantra of Avalokitesvara is the sambhogakaya as­pect of the Vajra Guru mantra, and also corresponds to the great Vairocana Buddha.17 This buddha, who is the size of the whole universe, holds a begging bowl in his two hands in the mudra of equanimity. It is said that within this beg­ ging bow1is a lotus with twenty-five rows of petals arranged one upon the other.

These rows correspond to the various aspects of the body, speech, mind, qualities, and activity of the buddhas. For example, the body alone has five subdivi­sions: body-body, body-speech, body-mind, body-qualities, and bodY,-activity. The present nirmanakaya paradise of the Buddha Sakyamuni is said to rest at the level of the heart, and corresponds to the row of the mind-mind subdivision, this being the reason why in this paradise the precious teach­ings of the Secret Mantrayana-the Vajrayana-could be taught and spread.

SIDDHI

The word siddhi means "true accomplishment." By remem­bering and praying to the body, speech, mind, qualities, and activity of Guru Rinpoche, both ordinary and supreme ac­complishments will be ours. Ordinary accomplishments in­clude freedom from sickness and endowments such as wealth and prosperity; the supreme accomplishment is to attain the complete realization of Guru Rinpoche himself.

HUM

Reciting the syllable HU!yf is like requesting or invoking the guru to come and to bless us with all the siddhis, ordinary and supreme.

Our master, Guru Rinpoche, and the mantra are insepa­rable. So when we utter the name of the guru by reciting the mantra, it's as if we are calling out repeatedly to someone who simply cannot fail to reply. The guru cannot but tum his compassion towards us, and so, if we pray one-pointedly like this, there is absolutely no doubt that Guru Rinpoche will come at once to grant us his blessings. When rain falls on the earth, it falls evenly everywhere, but only the good seeds will germinate, not the rotten ones. In the same manner, the com­ passion of Guru Rinpoche is unbiased; it is directed univer­sally to all beings, and yet his blessings will be swifter for those who have devotion and faith.

It is only through the blessings of a buddha that we can achieve realization. So a prayer like this, one that invokes Guru Rinpoche's very name, must go out from the marrow of our bones, from the core of our heart; then gradually our devotion will become spontaneous and unceasing. Remem­ber that without faith, there will be no accomplishment. At the time of the Lord Buddha, for example, there were those who could see and hear him in person, and still had no faith in him. Some of the heretical teachers even tried to poison him. Similarly, when Guru Rinpoche went to Tibet, the evil ministers plotted and schemed to kill him. For people such as these, spiritual accomplishment is out of the question.

This shows how important it is to have a faith that is very pure and genuine. And so, as a support, we visualize our outer environment as Zangdopalri, the beings around us as dakas and dakinis, ourselves as Yeshe Tsogyal, and above our head Guru Rinpoche, surrounded by his retinue. Then we pray, reciting the prayer in seven branches and the other prayers in the practice, with the confidence and trust that by so doing, accomplishment will surely blossom.

The Lineage Prayer

The Dzogchen teachings are transmitted in three ways: from mind to mind, by signs, and through oral transmission.19

In the first, the mind-to-mind transmission, there is no need for symbols or words, as the teacher and the retinue are by their very nature one. This is the way in which the transmis­sion was given from the Primordial Buddha Samantabhadra to Vajrasattva, and from him to Garab Dorje.

After Garab Dorje, the transmission continued with Manjushrimitra, Sri Simha, Jftanasutra, and Vimalamitra. Al­ though these masters manifested in human form, there was no need for them to give or receive transmission by words, since they were all fully realized beings. The transmission was effected simply by "signs"-by mudras or by symbolic utterances. When the master gives transmission in this way, the disciples apprehend its meaning at once and achieve com­plete realization of the three categories of Dzogpachenpo: mind, space, and pith instructions.

The oral transmission was passed from one individual to another, beginning with Guru Rinpoche. He gave it to his disciples: the twenty-five main disciples, the eighty siddhas of Yerpa, the fifty-five realized beings of Sheldrak, and others.

Guru Rinpoche's three main disciples were King Trisong Detsen, Vairocana, and his consort Yeshe Tsogyal. The trans­ mission then continued up until the Omniscient Longchen Rabjam, from whom it passed to the great Vidyadhara Jikme Lingpa, who transmitted these profound treasures to his dis­ciples. His four principal disciples were called "the four Jikmes,"-"the four fearless ones." Of these four, the two main ones were Dodrupchen Jikme Trinle Ozer and Jikme Gyalwe Nyugu, an

emanation of Avalokitesvara; the two others were Jikme Gocha and Jikme Ngotsar. From Jikme Trinle Ozer the transmission went to the great siddha Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje, and from Jikme Gyalwe Nyugu it passed to Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo; both Do Khyentse and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo were authentic emanations of Jikme Lingpa. The two lineages then fused in the great teachers Gyalse Shenpen Taye, Patrul Rinpoche, and Khenpo Perna Dorje. They in tum trans­mitted it to Wonpo Tenga, Nyoshul Lungtok, Adzom Drukpa, the third Dodrupchen Jikme Tenpe Nyima, and many other masters. Again, these lineages came together in the person of Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro, who was the emanation of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo.21

This is how this lineage of individuals has remained un­broken down to the present day. Although we say "individu­als," they are all realized beings who dwell in the bhumis, the levels of the bodhisattvas. Now, so that we can receive the blessings of these gurus, we need to pray to them with one-pointed devotion.

The Practice of Dzogpachenpo

As for the practice of these teachings, there are several meth­ ods, which correspond to the capacity of the individual.

Ordinary individuals simply endeavor to discriminate be­tween what is to be done and what is to be avoided, with the goal of attaining the temporary happiness of this life. Individuals of medium capacity will recognize that the very nature of the three worlds of cyclic existence is suffering, and

by reflecting on this, they will realize the preciousness of this human body, which is the support for attaining enlighten­ment. They will contemplate impermanence, which is the spur to their diligence, without ever forgetting that death may come at any time. Then they will realize how it is their own actions that are the cause of either suffering or happiness. Having seen that suffering pervades sansara entirely, a strong feeling of renunciation and of wanting, by every means pos­ sible, to free themselves from saqisara will arise in their minds.

Yet the wish to free ourselves from this ocean of suffering is not enough on its own; as we have seen, we need to rely upon a guide, an object of refuge. Supreme amongst them all is the vajra master, the authentic teacher qualified with all the signs of an accomplished being. Once we have found such a teacher, we need to protect our spiritual link with him as carefully as we would protect our very eyes.

To do this, we need to be wise in three different ways. First, we should be wise in finding an authentic teacher and exam­ ining his qualities through learning about his life and his teachings. Then, when we have found a teacher, we should be wise in attending to him perfectly, following his instruc­ tions to the letter. Finally we should be wise in realizing his instructions, by practicing them. If we are wise in these three ways, then we will travel along the path without effort and without "error.

There are also three levels of pleasing the guru and fulfill­ing his wishes. The best is to achieve the supreme accomplish­ment of enlightenment through the practice-to realize the View through meditation and action. The next best is to serve the teacher with your body, speech, and mind. The third is to make material offerings towards his work and teachings.

We progress along the Mahayana path by taking refuge and generating the enlightened mind of bodhicitta. Then, in order to dispel the obscurations and negative actions which create hindrances on the path, we perform the purification practice of Vajrasattva, and in order to gather favorable conditions

through accumulating merit, we make the mandala offering. Finally we arrive at the Guru Yoga practice, the most essen­tial practice for awakening and arousing wisdom.

The aim behind each and every one of these practices is not merely to meditate, to perform certain activities, or to recite a large number of prayers. They are all different means towards succeeding in our main purpose, which is to train and transform our mind. As it is said:

Transform your mind, and you will be perfect; All bliss comes from taming the mind.

So make a firm resolution, and decide: "From now until I die I will practice diligently, all of the time." If we can do so, we will end up like Jetsiin Milarepa, who accomplished the greatest method of pleasing the guru: attaining enlighten­ment. Since the very reason the guru has come into this world is to show us the path, the best way to fulfill his wishes is to realize the teachings. But as Jikme Lingpa pointed out:"Theory is like a patch, one day it will just wear off." We need to inte­grate the teachings into our experience, and make them an intrinsic part of our being, otherwise they are not really of much use.

Finally, for beings of superior capacity, there are the pro­ found paths of the development or generation stage (Maha.­ yoga), the completion stage (Anuyoga), and then the most sublime path of all, the Dzogpachenpo (Atiyoga).

Mahayoga

Having met a precious teacher, been accepted by him, and re­ceived his profound instructions, now we come to put the in­structions into practice. To do so, we need to transform our impure perception of outer phenomena into a vision of infi­nite purity.

To practice the inner tantra, we need to realize that every­thing is primordially pure. Accordingly, the outer elements

are not perceived as ordinary, but as the five female buddhas. The five aggregates within the body are also not perceived as

ordinary, but as the five male buddhas. ln the same way, the eight consciousnesses as well as their eight objects are per­ceived as the eight male and eight female bodhisattvas. Through this kind of perception, not only do we come to see the purity of all phenomena, but also we will perceive the "great evenness of saq,.sara and nirval)a." No longer then will we look upon saq,.sara as something to be discarded and nirviil)a as something to be attained; they will be seen and un­derstood as the "union of great purity and great evenness." Yet a state like this is not something which has to be fabricated anew; it has always been there, since the very beginning.

The essence of Kyerim-the development, or generation stage-or Mahayoga, is to recognize all appearances as the deity, all sounds as mantra, and all thoughts as the dharmakaya. This is the most profound path, through which we can actu­alize all of the qualities of the body, speech, and mind of the Buddha. We say "actualize," because these are but the ex­pression of the primordial nature of things, which is now sim­ ply being revealed.

Anuyoga

The practice of the completion stage, or Anuyoga, is based mainly upon the Six Yogas: tummo, or inner heat, the root of the path; gyuli.i, or illusory body, the foundation of the path; milam, or dream, the measure of progress along the path; osel, or luminosity, the essence of the path; bardo, or the interme­ diate state, the invitation to continue on the path; and phowa, or transference of consciousness, which will allow us to travel the remainder of the path.

Atiyoga

The practice of Dzogchen or Atiyoga is to realize the tathagata­ garbha, or "buddha nature," which has been present as our true nature since the very beginning. Here it is not sufficient to focus on contrived practices that involve intellectual effort and concepts. To recognize our true nature, the practice should be utterly beyond fabrication. The practice is simply to real­ize the emptiness and the radiance, or natural expression, of wisdom, which is beyond all intellectual concepts. It is the true realization of the absolute nature just as it is-the ulti­ mate fruition.

At the moment, our awareness-rigpa-is entangled within our mind, completely enveloped and obscured by mental activity. Through the practice of Trekcho, or "cutting through all attachment," and the "direct realization" of Toga!, we can unmask this awareness and let its radiance arise.

To accomplish this, we need to practice "the four ways of leaving things in their natural simplicity" (chokshyak) and by means of them, to acquire perfect stability in the Trekcho prac­tice. Then will come the "four visions of Toga!," which are the natural arising of visions of discs and rays of light, dei­ties, and buddhafields. These visions are naturally ready to arise from within the central channel that joins the heart to the eyes. This arising from the central channel will appear in a

gradual process: in the same way that the waxing moon increases from the first to the fifteenth of the month, these visions will gradually increase-from the simple perception of dots of light to the full array of the vast expanse of the sambhogakaya buddhafields. The manifestation of space and awareness will thus reach its culminating point.

These experiences are not linked with consciousness or intellect as former experiences were; they are a true manifes­tation, or radiance of awareness. After this, in the same way that the moon decreases and disappears from the fifteenth to the thirtieth of the month, all of these experiences and vi­sions-all phenomena-will gradually come to exhaustion and reabsorb themselves in the absolute. At this point the deluded mind which conceives subject and object will disap­pear, and the primal wisdom, which is beyond intellect, will gradually expand. Eventually you will attain the perfect en­lightenment of the Primordial Buddha Samantabhadra, en­dowed with the six extraordinary features.

The Lineage Prayer

This is the path intended for people of superior faculties who can achieve enlightenment in this very lifetime. For those of medium capacity, there is the instruction on how to achieve liberation in the bardo, or intermediate state. When we say "bardo," in fact we recognize four bardos: the bardo from conception until death, the bardo of the moment of death,

The bardo between conception and death is our present state. In order to destroy all deluded perceptions or deluded thoughts in this bardo, the ultimate practice is Dzogchen Atiyoga, in which there are the two main paths of Trekcho and Togal, as described above. The ultimate fruition of this practice comes when the ordinary body made of gross ag­gregates dissolves into the "rainbow body of great transfer­ence," or "vajra body," or it dissolves without leaving any physical remains.

But even if we cannot achieve such ultimate attainment within one lifetime, there is still the possibility of achieving enlightenment at the time of death. If our teacher or a close Dharma brother or sister is near us at the very moment of our death, he or she will remind us of the instructions-the introduction to the nature of mind. If we can recall our expe­rience of practice and remain in this nature of mind, we will achieve realization.

It is then possible to depart to a buddha­ field straightaway with no intermediate state. If this is not accomplished, then the bardo of the absolute nature, or dharmatii, will arise. At this point, the ground luminosity of the dharmakaya will appear. If we can unite the ground lu­minosity, or "mother luminosity," with the luminosity that we have recognized while practicing during our lifetime, called the "child luminosity," then we will be liberated into the dharmakaya.

If we are not liberated at this time, then countless mani­festations will appear, of sounds, lights, and rays. Tremendous fear will strike us because of these emanations and visions,

but if we are good practitioners, we will realize that there is no point in being afraid. We will know that whatever deities appear, wrathful or peaceful, they are all our very own projec­tions. To recognize this is to ensure liberation in a sambho­gakaya buddhafield.

But if this is not accomplished, then the bardo of coming into a new existence will ensue. This is when, if we practice in the right way, we can be liberated into a nirmanakaya buddhafield.

Essentially, the primordial nature of the Buddha Samanta­bhadra is like the ground or mother-nature of realization. The nature which has been introduced to us by the teacher is like the child-nature. When these two meet, we will attain com­plete realization and seize the fortress of enlightenment.

Even ordinary beings, unable to achieve liberation either in this life or in the intermediate state, can attain it in the nirmanakaya buddhafields.

To summarize then, through the practice of the path of Trekcho and Togal we can reach the ultimate realization of the dharmakaya, the enlightened state of the Primordial Bud­ dha Samantabhadra, within this very lifetime. This is in the best case. If not, then we can be freed in the other three bardos: the bardos of the moment of death, of dharmata, and of re­ birth. Even if this does not happen, we can still be relieved of suffering and be liberated through the virtues or blessings of the Dzogchen teachings. Whoever has a connection with them is:

liberated by sight, on seeing the teaching or the teacher; liberated by hearing, on hearing the teacher or teaching; liber­ated by contact, on wearing the precious mantras and scrip­tures of Dzogpachenpo; or liberated by taste, and so on. As a result, we will be liberated into one of the five nirmanakaya buddhafields, that of Vairocana, A obhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, or Amoghasiddhi, and finally into the central buddhafield-"the Cemetery of the Blazing Mountain."24

The Four Empowerments

With the skillful means of the Vajrayana, the practitioner re­ceives the blessings of the teacher in the form of rays of light. This is the empowerment (abhiseka in Sanskrit, or wang in Ti­betan). It is called "empowerment" because when we receive it we are empowered to follow a particular spiritual practice, and so come to master its realization. Most of us have re­ceived empowerment from a qualified teacher, but to main­tain the stream of blessings of the empowerment and to re­new its power, we need to receive the four empowerments over and over again by ourselves, through the practice of Guru Yoga. This is in fact the most essential part of the Guru Yoga practice. In Guru Rinpoche's own words:

If you received an empowerment every year and lived for a hundred years, it would add up to one hundred empowerments. Then, even if you had to be reborn among the animals, it would be as their king.

The empowerment is the most essential way to receive the blessings of the guru's body, speech, mind, and wisdom, which will dispel the veils and obscurations of our own body, speech, mind, and inherent wisdom.

In order for us actually to receive these four empowerments, first of all we fervently invoke the gurus of the lineage with the Lineage Prayer, at the end of which all the lineage masters, yidams, dakas, and dakinis melt into light and dissolve into our root teacher, whom we visualize above our head in the form of Guru Rinpoche. Now he becomes even more radiant and even more resplendent than before, as within him are gathered the compassion and wisdom of all the buddhas of past, present, and future.

The Vase Empowerment

Brilliant rays of white light, radiating like the "water-crystal moon," stream out from a white syllable O,M at Guru Rin­poche's forehead center. They are absorbed into a white let­ter OM visualized in our own forehead center, and completely fill our entire body we are still visualizing ourselves as Vajrayogini. Through this, all the stains and obscurations due to negative actions of our body are dispelled,26 and our chan­nels (nti i in Sanskrit, tsa in Tibetan) are purified.

Within our body, we have three main channels, but be­ cause of our ignorance and delusion, it is karmic energy (in­ ner air or "wind") that circulates through these channels. They are blocked by twenty-two knots that bind the two lateral veins to the central one and prevent the circulation of wisdom en­ergy, thereby creating deluded perceptions. As these knots untie, two by two, we reach the levels of realization from the first to the eleventh bhumi, which is buddhahood.

Through receiving the blessing of the body of the guru in this first empowerment, all of the obscurations, stains, and impurities of the channels are purified. We receive the Vase Empowerment, which empowers us to meditate upon the de­ velopment stage, or Kyerim in other words, to meditate upon a deity. We might ask: What is the point of meditating upon deities? This kind of meditation allows us to realize that all appearances are primordially pure: the universe is a buddha­ field and all beings are 9akas and 9akinis, manifestations of

the guru; all sounds are the natural resonance of mantras; and all thoughts are the movements of wisdom. In our present state, we are deceived by appearances, so that whenever we see beautiful forms, we are attracted by them, and when we see ugly forms, we are repelled or disgusted. This is the very cause of our wandering in sa:rpsara.

Through the practice of Kyerim, pure perception will arise, and this is a sign that delusion has been dispelled. In truth, what is simply being revealed is the natural state of things, for example, that the five elements are the female buddhas of the five families, and the five aggregates are the male buddhas of the five families.

Through receiving the first empowerment, the seed for at­taining the level of the completely matured vidyadhara, or "wisdom-holder," is sown within us.27 At this level the mind of the practitioner has been transformed, or matured, into wisdom. Although his body is still there as an envelope, it is not made of ordinary aggregates, and is ready to dissolve into the wisdom body at the moment of death. In the same way that a fish placed on dry ground can be quite sure it will not survive for very long, the yogin whose mind has been freed into wisdom knows that this is his last ordinary body, and that as soon as this corporeal envelope is destroyed at death, he will achieve liberation. The level of the completely matured vidyadhara corresponds to the path of accumula­tion and the path of preparation in the five paths of the Sutrayana teachings. Through this empowerment the seed for realizing the nirmanakaya is sown within our being.

The Secret Empowerment

The second empowerment, which confers the blessing of the guru's speech, is known as the Secret Empowerment. From a red syllable Alj at the throat center of the guru stream out boundless rays of brilliant ruby-colored red light. These are absorbed into a syllable Alj visualized at our own throat cen­ter, and they completely fill our whole body. This purifies the four negative actions committed through speech: lies, divisive talk, harsh words, and irrelevant chatter.

There are three constituents to our body: the channels, en­ergy, and essence. The channels were purified by the first em­powerment; in the second empowerment the karmic energy (or wind: prii'!la in Sanskrit, lung in Tibetan), which gives rise to attachment, hatred, and all ordinary deluded thoughts and actions, is purified into wisdom energy. This karmic energy is like a blind horse carrying the crippled rider of the mind here, there, and everywhere. Since energy and mind are so closely related, by purifying the karmic energy into wisdom, the deluded mind is purified into primordial awareness. So when the red light pervades our body and all its channels, the wisdom of bliss-emptiness dawns in our being and we receive the second empowerment.

TheSecret Empowerment empowers us to practice the reci­tation of mantras. We might ask: Why are mantras so impor­tant? It is because they are not mere words ordinary sounds; they have been blessed by the deity to be the same as the deity itself. Mantras also include the name of the deity, so just as when you call someone over and over again they can­ not help but reply, the deities cannot fail to bless us.

Of the four vidyadhara levels, the second empowerment will bring the realization of the vidyadhara who has power over life. The name itself shows that such a being has real­ ized the unchanging nature of the absolute, and that both body and mind have been transmuted into wisdom.

Of the four kayas, this empowerment sows the seed for realizing the sambhogakaya, within which is found the dis­ play of the five celestial buddhafields, located in the center and the four cardinal directions.

The Wisdom Empowerment

This is the empowerment of the heart, or mind, of the guru and is known as the Wisdom Empowerment. At Guru Rinpoche's heart center is a syllable HU}y1, clear blue like an

autumn sky, which sends out boundless rays of dazzling blue light. They dissolve into another blue syllable HU}yf visual­ ized in our own heart center, and completely fill our whole body. With this, the three defects or negative actions of mind­ covetousness, malice, and wrong views-are purified, and we receive the blessings of the guru's mind, the non-dual wisdom of all the buddhas.

Of the three constituents of the body, here the essence (bindu in Sanskrit, tikle in Tibetan), which is carried along the channels by the energy, is purified. There are both red and white tikles, which in ordinary states are the cause of the vari­ous experiences of bliss and suffering. When these are puri­ fied, all the obscurations of the mind as well as the latent tendencies are purified, giving birth to absolute wisdom.

We are empowered to practice the various concentrations of Samatha (shyine in Tibetan), or "tranquil abiding," and Vipasyana (lhaktong in Tibetan), or "greater vision," through which we can recognize the true nature of the guru.

In fact, that which is to be realized, the nature of empti­ness, has no substance, color, or shape, and recognition of this comes about when we experience the Great Bliss of Wis­dom. This is an all-pervading bliss that has nothing to do with ordinary, deluded bliss. Great Bliss is generated through the practice of tummo. In this practice, the practitioner visu­alizes, below the navel center, a point resembling the right stroke of the Tibetan letter A. From it rises fire, swift and strong, which ascends through the channels to a white syl­lable HA!yf visualized at the top of the head. Touched by the fire, the HA!yf begins to drip a precious nectar, which fills the practitioner's body with an experience of Great Bliss, un­ stained by ordinary emotions.

Through the Wisdom Empowerment, of the four vidya­ dhara levels we will here attain that of the mahamudra vidyadhara. When Guru Rinpoche granted the empowerment of Vajrakilaya to his disciples, he assumed the form of Vajrakilaya at the center of the mar:u;lala. Such a capacity to display an infinite number of wisdom forms is the fruit, or characteristic, of this vidyadhara level. It demonstrates that body, speech, and mind are now pervaded with wisdom.

Of the four kayas, with this empowerment we establish an auspicious connection for realizing the dharmakaya, which is the pure dimension of the mind.

The Symbolic Empowerment

The fourth empowerment is known as the Ultimate Empow­ erment of the Absolute Nature. The blue syllable HU!y1 at the guru's heart center emanates another syllable HU!y1 which, like a shooting star, flies into our heart, instantly filling our whole body with light. All the subtle defilements that mask realization are purified, and deluded perceptions, dualistic clinging to subject and object, as well as all latent tendencies, are dispelled. The subtle defilements upon the universal ground (kunshyi in Tibetan) are purified. The universal ground is where the residue of past actions, our habits and tenden­cies, which create obstacles on the path to enlightenment, are stored. According to the Sutrayana, the subtle obscurations that veil realization are only cleared when we reach the tenth bhumi. However, according to the Secret Mantrayana, when our own awareness is seen as immaculate and becomes as vast as the sky, all the subtle defilements veiling the know­able are dissolved.

Now all the subtle stains caused by the ten unvirtuous actions of body, speech, and mind are purified, particularly the defilements concealing the "vajra wisdom." Here, vajra wisdom refers to the inseparability of the enlightened body, speech, and mind of the guru. For although on a relative level we may distinguish between the vajra body, speech, and mind, in reality they are all aspects of one nature, known as vajra wisdom. The body of a buddha is uncompounded, like the sky; his speech is the source of the eighty-four thousand sections of the Dharma; and his mind is sheer awareness. Yet these three are indivisible, and any one of the body, speech, or mind of a buddha can express the qualities of the other two.

This empowerment is called the Symbolic Empowerment because it indicates the absolute wisdom. Yet a mere indica­ tion is not wisdom itself, because words cannot describe the absolute. Through the blessing of such an empowerment­ the transference of the guru's blessings-we will actually re­ alize this wisdom for ourselves.

With this empowerment, we are empowered to meditate on Dzogpachenpo and we will reach the level of the sponta­ neously accomplished vidyadhara, which is equivalent to the level of buddhahood, and the indivisibility of the three kayas-the svabhavikakaya.

Through the blessing of the guru, our body, speech, and mind and the guru's enlightened body, speech, and mind will become indistinguishably one. Here, we simply remain in equipoise, within the state of emptiness and pure awareness. At the end of the practice, we arouse an even stronger de­votion towards the master, as a result of which the guru be­comes even more resplendent in compassion and kindness, and smiles at us with tremendous love.

Then a red light streams out from his heart like a shooting star, is absorbed into our heart, and fills our whole body with inconceivable bliss. As we experience this bliss, our body melts into a mass of red light the size of an egg, which gradually condenses into an exceedingly brilliant red sphere. Like a spark of fire, it suddenly shoots out and dissolves into Guru Rinpoche's heart. We then remain in this state, our mind inseparable from the wisdom mind of Guru Rinpoche.

Ordinarily speaking, the mind is that which constantly re­ members different thoughts and actions, negative and posi­tive, happy or sad. Yet if we examine this mind, we find that past thoughts are now completely gone; they are dead, like a corpse. Future thoughts are not yet born-we have no idea what will come into our mind tonight. So past and future thoughts do not exist. Then, if we also look into the present thought, we will see that even that does not exist; there is nothing, in fact, but emptiness.

So, just remain in a state of recognition, a fresh and vivid simplicity, the nature of the guru, in which our mind is not inferior in comparison with his, but all is merged into one nature. We should remain in this natural state for as long and as often as we can.

The Essence of Guru Yoga

When thoughts arise, we imagine ourselves once more as Vajrayogini, with Guru Rinpoche above our head. There is no need to do an elaborate visualization of the retinue and all the other details. Simply maintaining the presence of the guru above our head, we carry a strong feeling of devotion throughout all our daily activities.

The essence of Guru Yoga is simply to remember the guru at all times: when you are happy, think of the guru; when you are sad, think of the guru; when you meet favorable circum­stances, be grateful to the guru; and when you meet obstacles, pray to the guru, and rely on him alone. When you are sit­ting, think of the guru above your head. When you are walk­ing, imagine that he is above your right shoulder, as if you were circumambulating him. When you are eating food, visu­alize the guru at your throat center and offer him the first por­tion. Whenever you wear new clothes, first offer them to the guru, and then wear them as if he had given them back to you. At night, when you are about to fall asleep, visualize Guru Rinpoche in your heart center, the size of the first joint of your thumb, sitting on a four-petalled red lotus. He is emanating countless rays of light, which fill your whole environment,

melting the room and the entire universe into light, and then returning to absorb into your heart. Then the guru himself dissolves into light. This is the state in which you should fall asleep, retaining the experience of luminosity. If you do not fall asleep, you can repeat the visualization again.

When you wake up in the morning, imagine that the guru emerges from your heart and rises up to sit again in the sky above your head, smiling compassionately, amidst a mass of rainbow light.

This is how we can remember the guru and apply devo­tion during every activity. And should death come suddenly, the best practice then is to blend our mind with the mind of the guru. Of all the sufferings of the three intermediate states, the most intense is the suffering of the moment of death. For this moment there are practices of Phowa, or the transfer­ence of consciousness to the buddhafields. The practice of Guru Yoga is the most profound and essential way of doing Phowa.

Finally, this practice of Guru Yoga is sealed with a pro­ found prayer:

May I and all sentient beings reach the ultimate goal of the path: the realization of the absolute nature!

Having obtained this human body, met the teacher, received his instructions, and put them into practice,

May we make the seeds of the four empowerments blos­som into the four kayas, so dispelling the four veils!

By accomplishing the four kayas, may we achieve ultimate enlightenment!

It is with this wish-fulfilling prayer and many others like it that we should put the ultimate seal on all our practice.

In brief, and to conclude, Guru Yoga is the essence of all practices and the easiest on which to meditate. It entails no danger and it is endowed with boundless blessings. It has been the main object of practice of all the enlightened beings of India and Tibet, and in all the different schools. Through the Guru Yoga practice, all obstacles can be removed and all blessings received. And through merging our mind with the mind of the guru, and remaining in the state of inseparable

The Essence of Guru Yoga

union, the absolute nature will be realized. This is why we should always treasure Guru Yoga and keep it as our fore­ most practice.

In general, as I mentioned at the beginning, any practice or activity that we undertake must be governed by the Three Noble Principles. The first is to practice not for ourselves alone, but for all sentient beings, and therefore we generate the most precious attitude-that of wishing to guide all be­ings to the state of enlightenment.

Second, the main part of the practice is to practice one­ pointedly as we go through each step of the preliminary prac­tice: the four thoughts, refuge and bodhicitta, the Vajrasattva practice, the mandala offering, and Guru Yoga. Actions per­ formed with the body, recitation of the speech, and concen­ tration of the mind should all be done one-pointedly and without distraction.

While we concentrate on what we are doing with the body, we must not let our speech drift into ordinary conversation. When we recite with our mouth, we must not let our mind wander away from the practice. The main part of the practice then is to be single-mindedly focused and to be free from any clinging, so that the benefit of our prac­tice will not be carried away by outer circumstances. For more advanced practitioners this second point means to dwell con­stantly in the realization of the emptiness of all phenomena.

The third Noble Principle is to conclude by dedicating the merit of the practice. Whatever merits we may have accu­ mulated in the past, and may accumulate in the future, we dedicate to all sentient beings so that they may achieve buddhahood. Our aspiration when we dedicate should have the same expansive and generous attitude as that with which the vast merit of the buddhas and bodhisattvas is dedicated.

Conclusion

This particular Guru Yoga practice belongs to the tradition of the Longchen Nyingtik. However, this does not mean that it is in any way limited because it belongs to one particular lineage. Although here we find Guru Rinpoche at the center of the practice, and in the new translation traditions the Bud­ dha Vajradhara, or Dorje Chang is the central figure in the Guru Yoga, they are identical in nature. The main point is to practice the Ngondro preliminary practice in a genuine way. It is the prerequisite for having a sound foundation for the main practice. Without the Ngondro, the main practice will not resist deluded thoughts, it will be carried away by cir­cumstances, it will be unstable, and it will not reach its ulti­mate goal. It will be like building a beautiful mansion on a frozen lake. No main practice should start without the foun­ dation of the preliminary practice. And as it says in the con­cluding verses of this text by Jikme Lingpa:

Through accomplishing this preliminary practice, you will eventually be reborn in the paradise of Zangdopalri, the Glorious Copper Colored Mountain.

So, at present you may be living in a country distant from the land where the Buddha's teaching was born, yet thanks to your good fortune you have been able to meet the Dharma and start practicing. This is a sign that you have a good con­nection. But in order to progress along the path you need to find a qualified teacher, otherwise all your efforts will be wasted. Having found a teacher, you should then practice in accordance with his instructions, remembering that within the preliminary practice all the vital points of the paths of siitra and tantra are included, and that you are truly fortu­nate to be able to practice them.

I received these teachings many times from my teacher Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro, as well as from Shechen Gyaltsap Rinpoche, and now I have shared the essence of them with you.

Emaho!

My entire perception, spontaneously perfect, is a realm of infinite purity,

The Glorious Copper Colored Mountain, arrayed in complete and perfect detail. Here, in its very center,

My own body is Vajrayogini,

With one face and two hands, brilliant red and holding hooked knife and skull,

My two feet gracefully poised, my three eyes gazing into the sky.

Above my head, on a blossoming hundred-thousand­ petalled lotus, sun- and moon-disc seat,

Inseparable from my own root master, embodiment of all sources of refuge, appears

Guru Rinpoche, in the supreme nirmal)akaya form of the "Lake-born Vajra."

His body glows with youth, white with a tinge of red. He wears a gown, monastic shawl, cloak and robe,

With one face, two hands, and in royal poise.

In his right hand he holds the vajra, in his left a skullcup containing the vase of immortality,

On his head he wears the five-petalled lotus hat,

Cradled in his left arm he holds the "supreme consort" of bliss and emptiness,

Concealed as the three-pointed khatyanga trident.

He presides amidst a shimmering aura of rays and rings of rainbow light.

All around him, enveloped in a beautiful lattice of white, blue, yellow, red, and green light,

Are King Trisong Detsen, the twenty-five disciples,

The pa:r;u,lits, siddhas, and vidyadharas of India and Tibet, yidam deities,

I;)akinis, and dharmapalas and protectors who keep the samaya-all gather like billowing clouds,

Visualized vivid and distinct, in the great equality of clarity and emptiness.

The Seven-Line Prayer

Hu!

In the northwest of the land of O iyana, In the heart of a lotus flower,

Endowed with the most marvelous attainments, You are renowned as the "Lotus-born," Surrounded by hosts of dakinis.

Following in your footsteps,

I pray to you: Come, inspire me with your blessing!

Prostration

Hfil:\! As many times as there are atoms in the universe, I multiply my body and offer you prostrations.

Offering

With both real offerings and those created in the mind through the power of samadhi,

I offer the entire universe in one vast gesture of offering.

Confession

All the harmful actions of my body, speech, and mind, I confess and purify in the luminosity of dharmakaya.

Rejoicing

Whether they be relative or absolute, I rejoice in all positive, virtuous actions.

Requesting the Tuming of the Wheel of Dharma

According to the receptivity and needs of different beings,33 I implore you to tum the Wheel of Dharma of the Thre Yanas.

Requesting the Buddhasand Teachers toRemain

Illl saqisara is completely empty, and all beings liberated, Do not pass into nirvai:ia, but remain here among us, I pray.

The Dedication of Merit

All the merit and positive actions of past, present, and future,

I dedicate so that all beings may attain supreme enlightenment.

Maturing the Siddhi

0 Guru Rinpoche, Precious One, You are the embodiment of

The compassion and blessing of all the buddhas, The only protector of beings.

My body, my possessions, my heart and soul

Without hesitation, I surrender to you! From now until I attain enlightenment,

In happiness or sorrow, in circumstances good or bad, in situations high or low,

I rely on you completely, 0 Padmasambhava, you know me: think of me, inspire me, guide me, make me one with you!

OM HA HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HU!yf

Invoking the Blessing

I have no one else to turn to;

In these evil times, the beings of the Kaliyuga

Are sinking in a swamp of intense and unbearable suffering. Free us from all this, 0 Great guru!

Grant us the four empowerments, 0 blessed one! Direct your realization into our minds,

0 compassionate one!

Purify our emotional and cognitive obscurations, 0 powerful one!

Olyf Alj HU!yf VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HU!yf

I pray to you from the bottom of my heart, It's not just words or empty mouthings:

Grant your blessings from the depth of your wisdom mind, And cause all my good aspirations to be fulfilled, I pray!

Olyf Alj HU!yf VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HU!yf

Emaho!

In the heavenly realm, free from all dimensions and extremes,

Is the Primordial Buddha, the dharmakaya Samantabhadra;

His wisdom-play, like the reflection of the moon in water, the sambhogakaya Vajrasattva;

Perfect with all buddha-qualities, nirma.J)akaya Garab Dorje;

To you I pray: Grant me your blessings and empowerment!

Sri Sirilha, treasure of the ultimate Dharma;

Manjusrimitra, universal ruler of the Nine Yanas; Jftanasfltra, great pal)<;iita Vimalamitra:

To you I pray: Show me the way to make my mind free!

Padmasambhava, sole ornament of this world of ours, Your supreme heart-disciples, Trisong Detsen, Vairocana,

Yeshe Tsogyal, and the rest;

The one who revealed a vast ocean of wisdom mind treasures, Longchenpa;

Entrusted with the space treasury of the 9-akinis, Jikme Lingpa:

To you I pray: Grant me liberation and fruition!

Master of the Dharma, Changchub Dorje; The siddha, Jikme Gyalwe Nyugu;

Supreme among emanations, Mingyur Namkhe Dorje; Son of the buddhas, Shenpen Taye;

To you I pray: Show me my original face!

Glorious heruka, Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje; Patrul Rinpoche, Orgyen Jikme Chokyi Wangpo; Lord of siddhas, Padma Vajra;

Padmasambhava himself, great Khyentse Wangpo;

To you I pray: Grant me siddhis, ordinary and supreme!

Natsok Rangdrol, who self-liberated all the dharmas of sarp.sara and nirvana

Omniscient Jikme Tenpe Nyima;

Embodiment of all sources of refuge, Chokyi-Lodro:

To you I pray: Bless my mind, inspire my understanding!

Prayer for This Life

Through true renunciation and disgust for sa)11Sara,

May I rely upon my vajra-lama meaningfully, as though he were my very eyes,

Following his instructions to the letter, and taking to heart the profound practices he gives,

Not just now and then, but with diligent and constant application,

May I become worthy of the transmission of his profound wisdom mind!

Since all appearances, sansara and nirvana, from the very beginning are the Akani tha pure realm of the buddhas,

Where all perception is liberated into perfect buddha forms, all sounds are purified into mantra, all thoughts are matured into dharmakaya reality,

And since Dzogpachenpo is free of any effort of abandon­ ing and adopting,

And since rigpa's self-radiance is beyond thoughts and experience,

May I see the naked reality of dharmata!

May all ordinary clinging to reality be totally liberated into rainbow light,

And the experiences of kayas and tikles increase!

May rigpa's strength be enhanced, maturing into the fullness of sambhogakaya perfection!

As all perception of phenomenal reality wears out, and the conceptual mind dies into the state of total enlightenment,

May I gain the stronghold of the Youthful Vase body, free from birth and death!

Prayer for the Bardo

But if I am not able to master the practice of the great Atiyoga in this life,

And this gross physical body is not liberated into the pure space of the rainbow body,

Then when the constituents of life itself fall apart,

At the moment of death may the ground luminosity arise as the dharmakaya, pure from the beginning;

May appearances of the bardo experience be liberated into sambhogakaya forms;

And, perfecting the path of Trekcho and Togal,

May I be liberated, as naturally as a child running into its mother's lap!

Prayer for the Next Life

In this great Secret Mantrayana path of luminosity­ Dzogpachenp the summit of all,

Enlightenment is to be sought nowhere but in the face of the dharmakaya:

If I am not liberated into the primordial state by actualizing this,

Then, through perfecting the five practices of "enlighten­ ment without meditation,

May I be born into the nirmal).akaya realms of the five buddha-families,

And especially in the "Palace of Lotus Light," the Zangdopalri heaven of Guru Rinpoche,

In the presence of the Lord of Orgyen himself, chief of the ocean of vidyadhara masters,

While he is celebrating the feast of the great Secret Mantra Dharma,

Let me be born as his favorite son or daughter,

To take upon myself the task of helping limitless beings!

Prayer of Fulfillment

Through the inspiration and blessing of the ocean of victorious vidyadharas,

By the truth of the infinite Dharmadhatu, beyond conception,

And with this free and well-favored human form, may I enact the interconnectedness of

Perfecting the qualities of the buddhas, ripening sentient beings, and purifying realms,

And attain the state of buddhahood!

The Vase Empowerment

In the Guru's forehead is the letter Oiyi, radiant and shimmering like moonlight;

From it rays of light stream out and enter my forehead. Negative actions of the body and blockages of the chan­nels are purified.

The blessing of the vajra body of the buddhas enters me,

The Vase Empowerment is obtained,

I become a receptive vessel for the visualization practice of Kyerim,

The seed of the completely matured vidyadhara is sown.

The potential of obtaining the level of nirmar:iakaya is implanted within me.

The Secret Empowerment

In his throat is the letter A , blazing like a ruby; From it rays of light stream out and enter my throat.

Negative activity of the speech and blockages of the inner air40 are purified,

The blessing of the vajra speech of the buddhas enters me, The Secret Empowerment is obtained,

I become a receptive vessel for mantra recitation practice, The seed of the vidyadhara with power over life is sown.

The potential of obtaining the level of sambhogakaya is implanted within me.

The Transcendent Knowledg Wizdom Empowerment

At his heart, from the letter HUM, sky-colored rays of light stream out And enter my heart.

Negative activity of the mind and blockages of the energy41 are purified.

The blessing of the vajra mind of all the buddhas enters me,

The Transcendent Knowledge-Wisdom Empowerment is obtained,

I become a receptive vessel for the Car:l<;lali practice of bliss and emptiness,

The seed of the mahamudra vidyadhara is sown.

The potential of obtaining the level of dharmakaya is implanted within me.

The Word or Symbolic Empowerment

Again, from HU/yf in his heart, a second letter HU/yf bursts out like a shooting star

And merges, indistinguishably, one with my own mind.

The karma of the "ground of all"42 and cognitive obscurations are purified,

The blessing of the vajra wisdom enters me,

The empowerment of the absolute truth, symbolized by the Word, is obtained.

I become a receptive vessel for Dzogpachenpo, pure from the very beginning,

The seed of the spontaneously accomplished vidyadhara is sown.

The potential of the svabhavikakaya-the final fruition-is implanted within me.

0M AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HU/y143

The Dissolution

When my life is at an end,

With my entire perception the heaven of Ngayab Ling, the Glorious Copper Colored Mountain,

The nirmcil).akaya pure land of indivisible appearance and emptiness,

My body, Vajrayogini,

Is transformed into a radiant, shimmering sphere of light And, merging, totally inseparable from Padmasambhava, I will attain buddhahood.

Then, from the play of vast primordial wisdom,

Which is the miraculous manifestation of bliss and emptiness, For every single being in the three realms,

Let me appear as their true guide, to lead them to li\,eration­ Jetsiin Padma, grant this, I pray!

From the heart-center of the Lama a beam of light, red and warm, suddenly bursts out and touches my heart; till now I visualize myself clearly as Vajrayogini. Instantaneously I am transformed into a sphere of red light the size of a pea, which shoots up towards Padmasambhava, like a spark that spits from the fire. It dissolves into Guru Rinpoche's heart, merges and becomes one with him: one taste.

Concluding Prayers

Glorious Tsawe Lama, precious one, Dwell on the lotus-seat in the depth of my heart,

Look upon me with the grace of your great compassion, Grant me the attainments of body, speech, and mind!

Towards the lifestyle and activity of the lama,

May wrong view not enter in for even a moment, and May I see whatever he does as a teaching for me:

Through such devotion, may his blessing infuse and inspire my mind!

In all my lives, may I never be separated from the perfect Lama; May I enjoy the complete benefit of the Dharma,

And so perfect the qualities of the five paths and ten stages, And swiftly attain the sublime level of Vajradhara!

Long Life Prayer for Dilgo Khyentse II of Shechen, Urgyen Tenzin Jigme Lhundrup Composed by Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche

0m Svasti!

Through the compasion of infinite buddhas and bodhisattvas, And the blessing of wondrous gurus, devas, and c;lakinis, The beloved master Khyentse, treasure of knowledge and love, Has manifested his matchless emanation, just as all have wished:

Fearless Holder of the Teachings of the Lord of Orgyen And of the nonpartisan tradition of siitras and tantras, All victorious one, let your life be forever firm and indestructible:

And accomplish, spontaneously and without effort, your vision-of present happiness and ultimate bliss!

For the sake of auspiciousness, our guide throughout saqtsaric existence and the peace of nirvai:ia, our refuge and protector, the supreme lord of victorious ones, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, kindly bestowed a name upon the precious reincarnation of the

lord of refuges, the great Vajradhara Dilgo Khyentse, at the long life cave of Maratika, at the same time as he was offered a set of robes. There, on the excellent eighth day of the wax­ ing phase of the auspicious eleventh month of the Wood Pig year-Friday, 29 December 1995-the bewildered bhik u Shadeu Trulshik, Vagindra Dharmamati, wrote and offered this, with a single-minded aspiration. Jayantu!

Acknowledgments

Our deepest thanks go to Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, Dzong­ sar Khyentse Rinpoche, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, and Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche for contributing the foreword and preface. Mention must be made here of the great debt of grati­ tude owed by so many to Perna Wangyal Rinpoche, who brought Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and numerous other great masters to the West, and made their teachings available to Western practitioners.

We would like to thank Konchog Tenzin, Matthieu Ricard, for all the care and attention he gave both to the translation and to Guru Yoga in general. Special thanks also to Jeff Cox, Chris Hatchell, and all at Snow Lion Publications, as well as to those members of Rigpa who took part in the editing process.

Patrick Gaffney Rigpa International

Notes

l. Matthieu Ricard, ourney to Enlightenment: The Life and World of Khyentse Rinpoche, Spiritual Teacher from Tibet (New York: Aperture, 1996), pp. 7-8.

⦁ For the biography of Jikme Llngpa and the revelation of the Longchen Nyingtik, see Tulku Thondup, Masters of Meditation and Miracles (Bos­ ton: Shambhala, 1996), pp. 122-128, Janet Gyatso, Apparitions of the Self (Princeton University Press, 1988), and Dilgo Khyentse, The Wish Ful­ filling fewel (Boston: Shambhala, 1988), pp. 4-8.

⦁ Eight freedoms and ten advantages constitute a precious human birth. The eight unfavorable conditions to be free from are: birth in hell, hungry ghosti or animal realms, amongst the gods or barbarians or those who have wrong views, in an age where no buddha has come, or without all one's faculties intact. Of the ten favorable conditions, five are intrinsic: to be born a human being, in a land where Dharma can be found, with faculties intact, without a negative lifestyle, and having faith in the Three Jewels. Five are external: the Buddha has come, he has taught the Dharma, it has survived, it is practiced, and we are guided by a spiritual teacher.

⦁ Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas, the "listeners" and "those who be­ come buddhas by themselves," form the Sangha, or community, of the Hinayana (or Fundamental Yana). Dilgo Khyentse, The Wish-Fulfilling fewel (Boston: Shambhala, 1988), p. 105.

⦁ For example, in the Longchen Nyingtik the outer method is this Guru Yoga practice, "The Wish-fulfilling Jewel," the inner method is the sadhana of Guru Rinpoche, "The Assembly of the Vidyadharas­ Rigdzin Diipa," the secret practice is where Guru Rinpoche appears in the form of Avalokitesvara, "The Self-liberation of Suffering-Dukngel Rangdrol," and the innermost secret practice focuses on Longchenpa with the Primordial Buddha Samantabhadra in his heart, "The Sealed Quintessence-Tikle Gyachen."

⦁ Patrul Rinpoche, in The Words of My Perfect Teacher (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1994), p. 313, says: "With her right hand she is playing a small skull-drum held up in the air, awakening beings from the sleep of ignorance. Her left hand is resting on her hip, holding the curved knife that cuts the root of the three poisons." When the visualization emphasizes Yeshe Tsogyal, she is described as above, whereas if the emphasis is on Vajrayogini, she is described in her usual form, holding a hooked knife and skullcup filled with amrta, or blood.

⦁ These are the Eight Sadhana Teachings (Drubpa Kagye) on the eight herukas, or chief yidam deities, of Mahayoga, transmitted to the Eight Great Vidyadharas.

⦁ Of the Eight Great Vidyadharas, Manjusrtmitra was the holder of the transmission of the body aspect of the yidam Yamantaka-the wrathful form of Manjusri. Nagarjuna received the speech aspect, Hayagriva, and Huqikara (or Huqichenkara) the mind aspect, Visuddha (Yangdak Heruka).

⦁ The Eight Chariots of Transmission, or great practice lineages which thrived in Tibet, are: Nyingma, Kadam, Sakya, Marpa Kagyii, Shangpa Kagyii, Shyije and Cho, Jordruk (Kalachakra: Dorje Naljor), and Dorje Nyendrup (or Orgyen Nyengyii). ⦁ ⦁ The Dhanakosa Lake in northwest O<;l<;liyana; in Sanskrit, dhana means "wealth" and kosa "treasury."

⦁ The eight auspicious signs, or symbols, are: the parasol, golden fishes, treasure vase, lotus flower, right-turning conch shell, glorious endless knot, banner of victory, and wheel. The eight auspicious ingre­ dients, or objects, are: mirror, ghiwang medicine, yoghurt, durva grass, bilva fruit, right-turning conch shell, cinnabar, and mustard seeds.

⦁ Seep. 77.

⦁ A kalpa is a vast period of time corresponding to the life-cycle of a universe, including its formation, duration, destruction, and the in­ terim period that follows. See Dilgo Khyentse, The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones (Boston: Shambhala, 1992), p. 218.

⦁ The twelve branches of Buddha's teaching are: general discourses (sutras), teachings through song, prophecies, verse, teachings to main­ tain the Dharma, teachings after specific incidents, anecdotes, stories of the past, previous lives, extremely detailed teachings, wondrous teachings, and establishing the meaning of the teachings through clas­ sification, description, and enumeration.

⦁ The Twelve Links of (Inter)dependent origination are: ignorance, karmic propensities, conditioned consciousness, name and form, the six sense fields (the five senses and mind), contact (sense impressions), feeling, desire or craving, grasping and attachment, coming into being (existence), birth, and old age and death.

⦁ The seven branches of union of the sambhogakilya, or seven as­ pects of supreme union, are explained by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche:

Whatever manifestations of realms, palaces and forms there are, peaceful and wrathful deities, they do not exist on a gross level. They are forms of shunyata endowed with all the supreme quali­ ties. Therefore, they are known as possessing the aspect of being without self-nature.

The minds of those buddhas are completely filled with the wis­ dom of unchanging non-dual bliss-emptiness. Therefore, they are known as possessing the aspect of union.

Their body, speech, and mind are eternally filled with the taste of great bliss, free from increase and decrease. Therefore, they are known as possessing the aspect of great bliss.

In the realm and palace, none of the chief and retinue, devas and devis, have ever known suffering. They are completely en­ dowed with all the good qualities of saqisilra and nirvil a. There­ fore they are known as possessing the aspect of complete enjoyment. Their wisdom of great bliss isfree from meditation and postmedi­ tation, neither increases nor decreases, and is without change or cessation. Therefore, they are known as possessing the aspect of freedom from interruption.

As for themselves, they achieved such virtues, but through com­ passion, they eternally care for confused sentient beings. There­ fore, they are known as possessing the aspect of having a mind completely filled with great compassion.

Their buddha activity tames others at all times in all directions throughout the three times. Therefore, they are known as possess­ ing the aspect of continuity. Quoted in Nalanda Translation Committee, The Rain of Wisdom (Bos­ ton: Shambhala, 1980), pp. 341-342.

⦁ See Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, Myriad Worlds (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1995), pp. 98-104.

⦁ "The monk Sunakshatra was the Buddha's half brother. He served him for twenty-four years, and knew by heart all the twelve categories of teachings in the pitakas. But he saw everything that the Buddha did as deceitful, and eventually came to the erroneous conclusion that, apart from an aura six feet wide, there was no difference between the Bud­ dha and him ... Because he did not have the slightest faith and held only wrong views, (he) ended up being reborn as a preta (a hungry ghost) in a flower garden." Patrul Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1994), pp. 147, 21.

⦁ The three transmissions are: the Mind Direct Transmission of the Buddhas, theSign Transmission of the Vidyadharas, and the OralTrans­ mission of Realized Beings.

⦁ For the lives of all the lineage masters mentioned here, see Tulku Thondup, Masters of Meditation and Miracles (Boston: Shambhala, 1996). ⦁ Kyabje Dorjechang Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro (1896-1959) was the activity emanation of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, and the teacher of Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

⦁ The six extraordinary features of the liberation of Samantabhadra are:

⦁ This liberation arises to our own awareness as the display of this awareness. There are no deluded perceptions that come from clinging to this display as an outer phenomenon.

⦁ This liberation transcends the aspects of "primordial ground" and "manifestation that arises from the primordial ground." H not, there would be a possibility of falling into delusion as phe­ nomena arise from the primordial ground.

⦁ U we recognize the primordial wisdom free from all obscurations, at that very instant all the qualities that dwell naturally within the expanse of that wisdom spontaneously appear. We realize that the obscurations related to the various karmic tendencies accumulated upon the amorphous basic consciousness are pure from the very beginning. Like a brilliant sun emerging from the clouds, we transcend utterly the ground of sansara.

⦁ At the same instant, transcendent insight matures as the kaya of the ultimate nature itself; we conquer the citadel of primordial purity and dwell there immutably.

⦁ The actualization of our own awareness is not born from outer circumstances provided by something other than awareness itself, and it is independent of all conditions. Buddhahood is achieved through awareness recognizing itsown nature, through its own strength.

⦁ The ground for liberation dwells primordially in the continuum of its own nature, and cannot be penetrated by the causes of delusion.

⦁ Also known as the natural bardo of this life, the painful bardo of dying, the luminous bardo of dharmata, and the karmic bardo of be­ coming. See: Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying (San Francisco: Harper, 1992), and Tsele Natsok Rangdrol, The Mirror of Mindfulness (Boston: Shambhala, 1989).

⦁ The central buddhafield, "Cemetery of the Blazing Mountain," is the central buddhafield of the ma c;lalas of the wrathful deities. Ac­ cording to the higher tantras of the Nyingma tradition, to enter this buddhafield corresponds to ultimate enlightenment.

⦁ See "Receiving the Four Empowerments of Ngondro Practice" inTulku Thondup, Enlightened Journey (Boston: Shambhala, 1995), pp. 191-230.

⦁ The three harmful physical actions are: taking life, taking what is not given, and sexual misconduct. ⦁ Or "knowledge holder with residues," see Tulku Thondup, Enlight­ ened Journey, pp. 218-220. ⦁ The five paths are the paths of accumulation, preparation, seeing, meditation, and no more learning. ⦁ This is also the practice of phowa, the transference of conscious­ ness at the moment of death. ⦁ The arrangement of the Guru ⦁ Yoga here is as practiced in the tradi­ tion of Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro. The translation of the Guru Yoga practice is in part by Sogyal Rinpoche and in part by Rigpa Trans­ lations.

⦁ See note 6, above.

⦁ The seven branches serve as antidotes: prostration is the antidote to pride; offering is the antidote to attachment, greed, meanness, and poverty; confession is the antidote to aggression and anger; rejoicing is the antidote to envy and jealousy; requesting the turning of the Wheel of Dharma is the antidote to ignorance; requesting the buddhas and teachers to remain is an antidote to wrong views; and dedication is an antidote to uncertainty and doubts.

⦁ This line was composed and added by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. The Tibetan actually reads "For disciples of the three kinds " These three kinds of capacity, ability, or receptivity can refer to either the Sravakas, Pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas, or to the three scopes or kinds of individuals.

⦁ From Sarnantabhadra to Vajrasattva is considered as the Mind Di­ rect Lineage of the Buddhas; from Garab Dorje to Padrnasarnbhava, the Sign Lineage of the Vidyadharas; and from then on the Oral Lin­ eage of Realized Beings.

⦁ Adzorn Drukpa (1842-1924).

⦁ Liberation through: seeing cakras, hearing mantras and dharar:us, tasting nectar, touching the rnudra, and remembering the phowa.

⦁ The five pure realms are: Ngonpar Gawa (Vajra-East); Paldangdenpa (Ratna-South); Perna Tsekpa (Padrna-West); Lerab Drubpa (Karrna­ North); and Meri Barwa (Buddha-Center).

⦁ Guru Rinpoche, identical to our own teacher.

⦁ Tib. rtsa; Skt. nii i

⦁ Tib. rlung; 5kt. prii a

⦁ Tib. thig le; 5kt. bindu

⦁ The ground of all, or universal ground (Tib. kun gzhi; Skt. iilaya). Tulku Thondup writes, in Enlightened Journey, p. 204-207, "the karma of the universal ground is the karma that is stored in the universal ground or according to Khenpo Ngagchung, it is the karmas created by the consciousness of the universal ground, which has dualistic con­ cepts (an intellectual obscuration) with traces."

⦁ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche says, above: "Through the blessing of the guru, our body, speech, and mind and the guru's enlightened body, speech, and mind will become indistinguishably one. Here, we simply remain in equipoise, within the state of emptiness and pure aware­ ness." According to Jarnyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro, if we cannot rest fully in that state at this point, we can recite the Vajra Guru mantra.

Selected Bibliography

Chagdud Tulku. Gates to Buddhist Practice. Junction City: Padma Pub­lishing, 1993. Chogyam Trungpa. Heart of the Buddha. Boston & London: Shambhala, 1991.

--. The Lion's Roar. Boston & London: Shambhala, 1992. Dilgo Khyentse. The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel: The Practice of Guru Yoga Ac­ cording to the Longchen Nyingthig Tradition. Boston & London: Shambhala, 1988.

--. The Excellent Path to Enlightenment. Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1996.

--. Enlightened Courage. Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1993. Dudjom Rinpoche. The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism. Boston: Wisdom, 1992. Jamgon Kongtrul. The Torch of Certainty. Boston and London: Shambhala, 1977.

Kalu Rinpoche. The Dharma. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1986.

Longchen Rabjam. The Practice of Dzogchen. Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1996.

--. Dakini Teachings. Boston & London: Shambhala, 1990.

Padmasambhava. Advice from the Lotus-Born. Boudhanath: Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 1994.

Patrol Rinpoche. The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones. Boston & London: Shambhala, 1992.

--. The Words of My Perfect Teacher. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1994.

Ricard, Matthieu. Journey to Enlightenment. New York: Aperture, 1996. Sogyal Rinpoche. Dzogchen and Padmasambhava. Santa Cruz: Rigpa Publications, 1990.

--. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1992.

Thinley Norbu. The Small Golden Key. Boston & London: Shambhala, 1993.

Tromge, Jane. Ngondro Commentary. Junction City, Ca.: Padma Publish­ ing, 1996.

Tulku Thondup. The Dzogchen Preliminary Practice of the Innermost Es­sence. Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, 1982.

--. Enlightened Journey. Boston & London: Shambhala, 1995.

--. Masters of Meditation and Miracles. Boston & London: Shambhala, 1996.

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. Repeating theWords of the Buddha. Kathmandu: Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 1992.

Yeshe Tsogyal. The Lotus Born. Boston & London: Shambhala, 1993.