What is Guru Yoga in Buddhism?

Guru yoga literally means Uniting with the guru. It is the practice in which we try to merge our pure mind/consciousness with the guru's pure mind.

Philosophically, our pure mind is the buddha mind, and so is everyone's and every living beings’ pure mind, including the gurus'. Because every individual's pure mind is the same in nature then there is no separation/distinction between them. So, it is easy to merge them together in inseparable union. Just like when we merge (pour) a glass of water with (to) the water in a pond, once it merge together they are also become inseparable, it is impossible to pull out back the exact water from the glass.

With that said, this practice is very beneficial for the practitioner to recognize his/her buddha natutre, simply by familiarizing themselve of it using idol (guru) and try to merge their mind with the perfect mind of the idol.

Guru in this case, can be a physical guru which the practitioner admire for his/her attainment, or it can also be non-physical guru, such as The Buddha, Dieites, passed away gurus, etc. As long as the practitioner believes that the idol embodies the mind of the buddha, then this idol qualifies for the practitioner to practice the guru yoga.

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