In the teaching on the Clear Guide for the Generation Stage, Guru Rinpoche describes the various aspects of gurusadhana of means of accomplishment of the guru, and he classifies them as outer, inner, secret, and very secret. But the fundamental question is: Why practice guru sadhana? In spite of the fact that in his introduction to these practices, Guru Rinpoche describes the historical basis in which they occurred, the purpose of gurusadhana is not the commemoration of history.

In general, all vajrayana practice is concerned with one or more of the three roots: the gurus, who are the root of blessing; the yidams, who are the roots of attainment or siddhis; and the dharmapalas, who are the roots of activity. Of these, the guru is the most important and includes the other two. After all, it is said, “Before there was the guru, even the name of Buddha was not heard.”

So we practice gurusadhana because each and every one of us possesses buddha nature. In fact, the true nature of our being—the true nature of our mind—is buddha nature. It is, however, veiled by our kleshas. The purpose of practicing gurusadhana is that it is the most effective way of removing the veils that obscure our buddha nature, of gathering the two accumulations, and achieving the two siddhis in this life.

This means that if someone practices gurusadhana with intense faith, they can achieve the state of Vajradhara—the state of unity—in this very lifetime. When we say that, it sounds almost unlikely because when we think of where we are now and the state of Vajradhara, the distance between them sounds impossibly great. But remember that the actual force of this path is faith, and even one moment of intense faith can make a tremendous change in your being.

Because we have buddha nature, if we have enough faith in and devotion for our guru, and if we can practice with confidence—confidence in the fact that because we have buddha nature, we can achieve the state of result of this practice—then, we will definitely be able to do so.

If we have less confidence, if we think “Well, these are wonderful practices—this outer, inner, secret, and very secret gurusadhana—but, surely they are not meant for an ignorant person like me. They must be meant for people who are already somebody special. And no doubt it would work for them, but it won’t work for me;” in other words, if you practice with doubt about the efficacy of the practice for you, then you will achieve a doubtful result. And if you take the attitude, “Well, you know they say this stuff. But, you know, who knows? They’re just trying to get you to do it. So they exaggerate. And probably not much is going to happen,” then not much is going to happen. So the effectiveness of the practice depends on your mind, your faith, and your attitude.

Technical proficiency, clear generation stage, and lucid completion stage practice are, of course, important, but faith and devotion are far more important than any technical proficiency. After all, it is said, “Even if the yogin crying or praying with faith sounds like a whining dog, the blessings will still enter them.” Remember that.

Now, later, in between, and in all situations;
While walking, standing, lying, and sitting—in all activities—
Imagine above your head whomever you want to,
Such as your root guru, the protector Amitabha,
Avalokita, or Guru Padma.

Pray with devotion and yearning without a moment’s lapse.
Offer without reservation your body, possessions, wealth,
Retinue, spouse, children, and the four continents.
Repeatedly gather the accumulations.

Amrita streams from your guru’s body,
Purifying wrongs and veils.
Light rays from his five places dissolve into you.
Think that this purifies the veils of the three gates and their unity.

Your guru melts into light and dissolves into you.
In the indivisibility of your mind and your guru
Rest without a care but with self-recognition.
Don’t adopt stillness and reject movement,
Seeing one as good and the other as bad.
Apply yourself repeatedly to mere self-recognition.
Such meditation is the ultimate practice. Keep it in mind!

As requested by Arme Urgyen,
This was quickly written by Barway Dorje.

I would like to clarify the issue of samaya. Nowadays, some people think that samaya is something that you should be afraid of, that it is some kind of threat that is hanging over our heads. Here [in the Clear Guide for the Generation Stage], samaya is explained as all included within the person of the guru, and it is divided into the guru’s body, speech, mind, qualities, and activities. Why do we say that samaya is all included within the body, speech, and mind of the guru? As it is said, “The guru is the buddha; the guru is the dharma, the lord; the guru is glorious Vajradhara, the creator of all.” The meaning of this is that the guru’s body is the sangha; the guru’s speech is the dharma; and the guru’s mind is the buddha. And that is why in vajrayana, we refer to the guru as the overlord of all mandalas.

While it is not that difficult to understand how samaya can all be referred to the guru, people still often develop a misunderstanding about what that means. Understanding only part of what samaya means—that it is the way that one relates to one’s guru—they misconstrue the bond of samaya as being something like a marriage contract, that when you undertake samaya with a teacher, it is as though you become married to them and they become married to you.

Marriage is a mundane, social contract. The contract of samaya is something entirely different. It is not primarily an obligation. It is an opportunity. It is more of an opportunity or gift than a restriction. The point of samaya is that a connection has been established between a guru and a disciple. The establishment of this connection gives the disciple the opportunity to cultivate faith and devotion for their guru. The establishment of the connection does not mean that the disciple is obligated to cultivate faith and devotion for their guru. It means that, without that connection, they do not really have the same opportunity. It is not the case that once samaya has been undertaken, that it is, henceforth, illegal for that disciple to fail to cultivate sufficient faith and devotion.

From the side of the guru, the establishment of samaya with a disciple gives that guru the ability to effectively care for that disciple, to guide them, instruct them, advise them, and so on, starting with the administration of the vow of refuge and up to that disciple’s achievement of omniscient buddhahood. So the idea of samaya is a long-lasting, continuous connection. And here, this is explained quite clearly in the text when it says, “The root samayas are all included in the nature of the guru vajracharya’s body, speech, and mind.”  But what does this mean?

The text says, “The samaya of body is to meditate upon one’s aggregates and elements as deity’s and to view all that appears and exist as the deity’s form.” The idea of this is that you maintain this connection by meditation on a deity. And, essentially, what this consists of is the growing recognition that your own aggregates and elements, as well as things in the external world, are of the nature of that deity; therefore, you also recite the deity’s mantra.

And it says, “The samaya of speech is to perform the vajra repetition taught in many tantras.” This means that as the speech aspects of practice, you recite that deity’s mantra. So whatever deity you are meditating on, whether it is peaceful, wrathful, or semi-wrathful, you recite that deity’s mantra. But this is not the idea that you are, henceforth, restricted to reciting that deity’s mantra, that you have an obligation to exclude all other forms of practice and so on.  Again, it is an opportunity, not an obligation.

So, therefore in our text, examples of different forms of mantra practice are given, “At the three times, repeat the three syllables, the five-, ten- or the twelve-syllable [mantra], and so forth, practicing the vajra repetition, and the particular repetitions such as the Totrengtsal mantra.” So, for example, you recite whichever mantra is associated with that deity and whichever other mantra practice you wish to do as well.

And then we come to the samaya of mind. Fundamentally, the samaya of mind is to cultivate bodhichitta. And we do this especially because we are practicing Mahayana; we are of mahayana family and we take the bodhisattva vow. We, therefore, need to train our minds in aspiration and implementation bodhichitta. The text says in addition to that, “The samaya of mind is to meditate upon self-awareness and to rest evenly, without strain from the liberation in their place of all conceptual characterizations such as I and mine, subject and object.” What this means is that we try as much as we can to let go of thinking me versus you, this versus that, and so on.

Then the text says, “The samaya of qualities is the generation mantra and completion of peaceful and wrathful yidams.” If it is the qualities of the guru, why are yidams specifically mentioned? Because all yidams are the embodiment of the qualities of the guru. So all yidams are included within the guru and are the display of the guru’s qualities; therefore, yidam practice is regarded as the samaya of qualities.

Then comes the samaya of activity. Activity is to help beings and support the dharma and the teachings. And we do this by relying upon dharmapalas (or dharma protectors) who remove conditions adverse to dharma; who support and protect our practice from obstacles both outwardly and inwardly. Therefore the samaya of activity is the presentation of prayer, offerings, praises, and so forth to dakinis and dharmapalas. The text says, “These things are accomplished continuously, supreme and common siddhis and the various activities will be spontaneously achieved by themselves without having to engage in any other means and without difficulty.”

So, understand that samaya is a term for those things that will enable you to practice and achieve awakening. If this is wrong, if this description of samaya is incorrect, then it is not my mistake; it is Guru Rinpoche’s mistake. Yeshe Tsogyal asked Guru Rinpoche what samaya was, and [this is what] he told her. So, it would be really good for you to understand this clearly.

You, my disciple with genuine good intentions,
Don’t crave the busy distractions of this life.
Continuously recollect impermanence and death.
Spur yourself, from your heart, on the authentic path.

If your guru’s blessing doesn’t enter your heart,
It is hard for dharmic qualities to arise in your being.
Pray, therefore, to your root guru.

Rest freely in the freshness of your mind recognizing itself
Without the ignorant alterations of the intellect.
Whether there is stillness or movement,
Just cultivate mere no-distraction.

Never pollute it with “I’m doing this,” “I will do that,”
Desire for clarity, hope for the good,
Dislike of obscurity and movement, and other fears.
By cultivating this you will accomplish your great goal of liberation.

This was written in a moment by Barway Dorje
For the disciple Tenpa Dargyay
At the request of Dechen Gyalpo.

In vajrayana, we are taught to view our guru as the complete embodiment of the trikaya—three bodies—as the overlord of all buddha families, the principle of all the mandalas, the embodiment in the single form of all yidams.

Some people, who have studied Buddhism from the outside, have questioned this.  Observing the tremendous emphasis placed on the guru in the Tibetan Buddhist vajrayana tradition, they have called this not Buddhism but Lamaism. And they make a distinction between Buddhism and Lamaism. They say that all that Tibetan teachers talk about is lama, lama, lama, lama this; serve the lama; venerate the lama; pray to the lama; give to the lama, etc. It is just nothing more than self‑serving advertisement. To be honest, of course, there are lamas who justify this criticism. Obviously, charlatans exist as they do in every tradition, but it is not true that any authentic guru is self‑serving.

Authentic gurus teach the path of devotion and faith not because they need our devotion or our faith, but because we do. Authentic gurus do not want or need our respect. They have no use themselves for our service. They do not want or particularly enjoy our wealth. This is because they have no hope or fear. Hope and fear are born of dualism.  Authentic gurus are not dualistic, therefore, respect and disrespect and so forth are irrelevant to them. However the fact remains that while the guru may not need you, if you whole‑heartedly supplicate a guru who is authentically beyond dualism, you can achieve the same state as his in a single instant. In a single instant, you can achieve what we call “the mixing of the guru’s mind and your mind.” And it is this whole‑hearted open supplication that makes vajrayana the fastest possible spiritual journey.

The Buddha’s teachings are incredibly vast. Even among the teachings of the sutras alone, the teachings of the Tripitaka, the Vinaya, sutras, and Abhidharma are so vast that probably no one could even read through them once in a single lifetime, let alone attempt to practice all of them. And yet, in this [vajrayana] path, we do not have to go through that process.  The entire vajrayana path can be traversed in less time than it takes to read through the sutras. It is said, “In a single instant, the difference is made. In a single instant, samyaksambuddha is achieved.” 

Among gurus, Guru Rinpoche is extraordinary. He is extraordinary in his responsiveness, among other ways [in which he is extraordinary]. It is said, “Padmakara sleeps outside the door of everyone with faith in him.” It is as though when you have faith in him, he is literally sleeping outside your door at night. His emanations, such as the hundred treasure revealers and others, have been innumerable and it is also said that he truly appears among us on every 10th day of the waxing phase of the lunar month.

Through this kind of faith and devotion in this kind of guru, we can actually achieve the state of great unity, the state of Vajradhara. So if you want to be a genuine practitioner, remember that it depends upon having unfluctuating devotion, unfluctuating love and compassion for beings, and unfluctuating and ruthless honesty.

From the point of view of an authentic guru himself, his qualities are endless and innumerable. In the tantras, it is said, “The guru is the buddha. The guru is the dharma.  The guru is the glorious heruka. The guru is everything.” Nevertheless, in spite of the perfection and completeness of our guru’s qualities, whether or not we receive our guru’s blessing depends entirely upon our own attitude. The attitude we need is such that we actually view the guru as the embodiment of the Three Jewels; we think that the guru’s body is the Sangha, his speech is the Dharma, and his mind is the Buddha. We view the guru as the embodiment of the Three Roots, inclusive of the gurus—roots of blessing; the yidams—the roots of siddhi; and the dakas and dakinis—the roots of activity.  We regard our guru as the overlord of all buddha families and all mandalas. And this attitude is one‑hundred percent genuine; simply trying to convince yourself of that or faking it is not going to help. If we have that kind of attitude, we will definitely receive the guru’s full blessing and by receiving that and by that alone, we will achieve the fruition of this path.

In that way, the blessing of our root guru can be even greater than the blessing we would receive by meeting the historical Buddha. But if we think that the guru, although far superior to most others, is still not quite the same as the Buddha (after all, how could he be like the Buddha himself?), then we will receive less blessing than blessing of the Buddha. And if we think that the guru is somewhat superior to us (obviously), but how much we do not know, then we’ll receive the blessing of someone somewhat superior to us, but how much we do not know. And if we think that the guru is actually stupider than we are, then we’ll receive the blessing of someone who is stupider than we are.

The problem is that as long as we fail to mix our minds with dharma, the single moment in which the difference is made, that single moment in which samyaksambuddha is achieved, will remain very, very distant from us. If we mix our mind with dharma, then the guru and the guru’s blessing are immediately available. From that point of view, it is irrelevant whether the guru is physically close to us or physically distant, whether the guru is still alive or has passed away. None of these things make any difference as far as the guru’s ability to bestow blessings is concerned, because the blessings of an authentic, realized master are unceasing throughout all time. There is no such thing as physical distance where blessings are concerned.

A great deal has been written in the Jewel Ornament of the Liberation and in other books about how to attend gurus, how to relate to gurus, and so on. But fundamentally it all comes down to devotion. Especially for us of the Dakpo Kagyu devotion alone is the substance of our path. Even if someone were a mahapandita, who knew absolutely everything there was to know about Buddhism in terms of facts and terminology, without devotion it would not be possible for him or her to achieve the fruition of this path.

Many of us are very interested in the bardo or interval that occurs after death, and we want to learn about it. We want to learn what we can expect to experience, what sorts of things appear in the bardo, and what the stages of dying—the stages of dissolution—are that precede it. Especially nowadays many people are intensely curious about the practice of powa or the ejection of consciousness. They want to know where they can learn how to do this, how they can practice it, and be able to eject their consciousness at the moment of death.

The practice of the ejection of consciousness, of course, is a very good thing. And if someone can learn this, practice it, and gain the ability to do this, then they can be of great use to themselves and to others at the time of death. It is also very good to learn as much as you can about the bardo (the interval after death), what happens then, what you can do, and so on. But the actual vajrayana approach for the time of death is much simpler, much easier than all of those techniques.

The actual vajrayana approach to death and dying is something so simple that the most simple‑minded of human beings—someone who is even unable to comprehend basic meditation instruction—is still capable of implementing, because we are all capable of seeing our root guru. We know what our root guru looks like; we have seen his face. It does not take any special ability or technique to recollect the face of your root guru.

Nevertheless, in spite of how ordinary or simple that may sound, if the last thought you have at death is of your root guru (thinking of him above your head or in front of you), if you try to mix your mind with the mind of your guru as you die, then that alone is the best practice of the ejection of consciousness.

Conventional consciousness ejection is fairly technical and complicated. You have to be able to work with the various channels and winds, and be able to actually shoot your consciousness up from the navel to the heart level, up through the throat and the head, and then out the right aperture, and get it moving in the right direction and not the wrong one. It is kind of like plumbing [laughter]. But this technique, which does not rely upon any such mechanics, is far more effective. It is called the King of Ejections.

There is, after all, a very important reason why our gurus choose to appear among us as human beings, apparently like ourselves. As human beings they are easy to see; we can see them with our eyes and we can remember them. The memory of the guru—of your root guru—at death is the most important thing that you can do. And remember also that your consciousness at the time of death and immediately after death is ten times more powerful in its capacity to focus than your consciousness now. So that is another reason why the recollection of your root guru at the time of death can be a definitive cause of liberation.