[From a teaching on Songs of Barwy Dorje, Part 9, by Bardor Tulku Ronpoche. Translated by Lama Yeshe Gyamtso.]
Q: My two biggest worries are that I will not be reborn where I can meet my guru, and that I’ll not come in contact with gurus or teachers or lose the aspiration to achieve Buddhahood for the benefit of all beings. I want to do whatever I can in this life to prevent that.
A: The power of aspirations is inconceivably great and that includes the power of the aspiration in every lifetime to encounter one’s gurus, receive dharma from them, and to continue to pursue the path. With regard to the power of aspirations, the buddha said that if someone conceiving of perfect awakening were to raise even one hand in a gesture of prayer of devotion, not even both hands, that in itself would cause them to be irreversible from the future achievement of perfect Buddhahood.
On the other hand, the making of aspirations has to be heartfelt. It can’t simply be the mindless repetition of verses of aspiration that we’ve memorized. For example, at the end of many lineage supplications we recite the stanza: “In every birth, may I not be separated from the glorious guru and so enjoy the splendor of dharma. Having pursued and completed the paths and stages, may I speedily attain the state of Vajradhara.” And we recite this at the end of several lineage supplications because it’s so important. But at the same time, because we recite it either from memory or reading it in the text, we’re apt not to be thinking about what we’re saying when we do it. And the mere parroting of liturgy without mindfulness, without mindful attention to the meaning, does not constitute an act of heartfelt aspiration. But if you really mean it, if you really — with all your heart — pray for those things to come about, they will.
The primary factors in ensuring access to your gurus, and therefore to dharma in successive future lives, are the intensity of your aspiration for such access and the purity of your samaya with the guru. Even minor violations or fluctuations in your samaya and relationship, while they may cause some sporadic difficulty in getting access to the guru in future lives, will not cause permanent separation because all buddhas love all beings as though they were their only child. And that cannot be stopped.
Nevertheless, the degree of ease with which you will encounter your gurus in every future life and the degree of proximity to them that you will experience are largely functions of the intensity of your aspiration for such ease of access and proximity and the purity of your samaya with them. If those things are provided, then your access to the gurus in future lives is a certainty.
