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Guru yoga is the last of the four foundational or Ngondro practices in Vajrayana Buddhism

From Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia
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Guru yoga is the last of the four foundational or Ngondro practices in Vajrayana Buddhism. It involves deepening the awareness of the intrinsic inseparability between the student’s true nature and the enlightened essence of the guru. Guru yoga combine refuge, bodhicitta, confessions, offerings, the paramitas and the accumulation of wisdom and merit and their dedication to all sentient beings.

In other words, it is a “complete” tantric practice. It is said to be practiced from within the Vajrayogini body of the buddha, that is to say, the practice occurs by finding deep awareness in all of the wonderful archetypes of Buddha, such as compassion, loving-kindness, patience, well-being and so on (this is a very basic idea of this concept and many of you will be more familiar with more in depth ideas of Vajra yogini.)

As a tantric practice, it is complete in the sense that this practice alone is all that is needed to awaken to enlightenment. But, so are many other practices. Because it is a Tantric practice, it requires refuge vows, an empowerment, oral transmission and teachings.

It cannot be done without the support of a qualified teacher who has permission to teach it. Once taught, the practice, however, takes place in mind, so no other person is involved. The Guru in this context, does not necessarily mean your own lama that is conceived of as the ultimate enlightened one, but can mean the “UltimateGuru, which is the true nature of budda-nature.

When one begins to study Vajrayana Buddhism, one takes refugevows”, meaning that they desire to learn the dharma and pursue the Buddhist’s Path. After some foundational teachings, students are encouraged to partake in 4 foundational practices which fulfill different purposes.

They are more complicated and advanced as one moves along them and each practice is done 111,111 times to ensure the student is well-experienced in the practice and understands its meaning. A mala or rosary is used to keep track of how many repetitions are done of each practice to reference and progress is discussed with one’s teacher.


All students of Tibetan Buddhism who intend to take ordination vows must complete these practices before moving on.


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