Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 47-minute teaching, Kyabje Rinpoche explains why your present lama deserves your deepest faith — using the image of spiritual poverty. Just as the person helping you when you have nothing is invaluable, the teacher showing you the Dharma, explaining which paths to adopt and reject, deserves the greatest gratitude among all Buddhas. This clarifies a common confusion: though the Buddha emanates in many forms suited to different students — Vajradhāra for tantra practitioners, Śākyamūni for followers of sūtra Buddhism, Tsongkhapa for later ages — you presently benefit only from your current guru. Rinpoche then walks through the Guru Puja visualization: recognize the entire field of collection (lamas, yidams, Buddhas, protectors across all four tantra levels) as emanations of your root lama, appearing also as Je Tsongkhapa, Śākyamūni Buddha, and Vajradhāra.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1992-08-14 – 10A – KR.mp3
UUID: 0cb84196-1ee6-49af-bc31-b6b51d0b9312
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Guru Puja – Lama Chopa
Date: 1992-08-14
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,825
We possess a human life which is endowed with the 10 freedoms and eight fortunes with making a total of 18 very special qualities which constitute the the finest basis upon which we can carry on a practice of Dharma. It has a tremendous potential and not only do we have these 18 qualities but amongst them we have also found in our Dharma pursuits we have found amongst the Buddhadharma the practice of secret mantra. And not only have we come upon the practice of secret mantra, but it is we have an opportunity to listen to and receive teachings in a non erring method from a qualified teacher. And together with this and our potential and our ability of mind this represents a tremendous opportunity, a wonderful occasion which will be difficult to find again. We have obtained this wonderful opportunity whereby to and this wonderful opportunity is not going to last forever, it’s going to end, it’s impermanent.
And not only is it going to come to an end, but it can be easily lost. And so we have to make use of it to bring about not only our own welfare but also the welfare of others. We can bring about the welfare of both ourselves and others by a combination of implementing the methods of both method and wisdom. So we should implement a practice of both method and wisdom. The method is essentially the kind hearted attitude of the awakening heart and the wisdom is the view of emptiness.
And within our practice we carry on the common practices of the universal vehicle, but within that we go on to practice the extraordinary path of vajra vehicle whereby in one life alone one can achieve the ultimate goal of the spiritual path. So we have found this wonderful means by which we can achieve Buddhahood within one lifetime, but even amongst various methods of the secret mantra or the vajra vehicle we are practicing highest yoga tantra whereby not only can it be achieved in one lifetime but it can be achieved even quicker than that. It be achieved extremely quickly and there is no other method which is able to achieve Buddhahood in this vast list of means. So, we can achieve this great even in this one life through the practice of secret mantra, but it is necessary in order to carry on a practice of secret mantra to depend upon the lama. And it is how are we to carry on our practice?
It is that we are to mainly the gaining of realizations according to secret mantra to practice the two stages of secret mantra that is the generation stage and the completion stage, and in order to achieve that the realization quickly it is necessary to practice the method of Guru Yoga. Without the practice of Guru Yoga there is no realization. So, we need the kind kind hearted motivation for carrying on our practice that for the sake of all living beings in order to achieve Buddhahood that I am listening to this teaching on secret mantra and within secret mantra the highest yoga tantra and I will meditate on these teachings in order to be a vast benefit to all living beings. So in general there are many different practices of Guru Yoga. For example there is Guhyasamāja Guru Yoga in which the central figure is Vajradhāra and Vajradhāra is looked upon as a condensation of all the Buddhist, the bodhisattvas, the heroes, the Dakinis, and the protectors and that this jewel body of the Vajradhāra is made offerings to as we show respect and reverence toward it.
So another Guru is the Guru Puja which was composed by Pänchen Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen in which the central figure is that of Lama Losang Tubwang Dorje Chang and that the entire field of collection is to be seen as an emanation of Lama Losang Tubwang Dorje Chang that they are not separate from Lama Losang Tubwang Dorje Chang. So the entire field which is made up of all the various direct and lineage lamas and the various deities and the four levels of tantra, the Buddha’s and the bodhisattvas, the dakinis, the heroes, heroines, and the Dharma protectors. This 11 tiered collection of the field of collection are all to be seen as emanations of the central figure of Lama Losang Tubwang Dorje Chang not separate and we should meditate it upon it in this way. So, they are are related. All the figures within the field of collection are related to Lama Losang Tubwang Dorje Chang, being emanations of Lama Losang Tubwang Dorje Chang.
So within the field of collection are the all of these various emanations with you know the various lineages of the blessed lineage, lineage of the vast deeds, lineage of the profound, those who have taught you directly the Dharma, lineage of the lineage of the indirect teachers, the four levels of tantra, the Buddhas, the bodhisattvas, hearers, the solitary realizers, the dakinis and the Dharma protectors. So initially for the sake of all sentient beings in order to free them and to lead them to happiness that the Buddha generated the awakening heart and then intermediately practiced all the various vast deeds of the bodhisattva and then finally attained Buddhahood and this was all done in order to lead sentient beings to happiness. And for the sake of achieving this in or for the sake of leaving sentient beings to happiness, the Buddha emanated various beings in accordance with the individual dispositions of the sentient beings. For the sake of teaching secret mantra, emanation took on the aspect of Vajradhāra. For the purpose of teaching Sūtra, the Buddha took on emanated in the aspect of Śākyamūni Buddha.
For those who were really quite difficult to tame, then he emanated in the form of meditation or deities in a wrathful aspect. For those who were more suitable to be led in a peaceful manner, then such aspects as Chenrezig, Tārā, the Buddhas, the Bodhisattvas, and all the various levels of tantra and the solitary realizers, the hearers, all of these are to be seen as emanations. Whatever, in whatever form would most benefit the disciple that simply existing in one aspect would not be suitable to all the various dispositions of students. So, Buddha emanates in whatever form will be able to benefit an individual disciple in various yidams, various meditation deities, lamas, dakinis, very wrathful protectors, peaceful, wrathful. Whatever will be a benefit then the Buddha appears in that emanation.
Within within this the tradition of secret mantra, all the Buddhas are of the same entity and this entity is the wisdom of great bliss. That but they and this entity appears in various forms that the aggregate of impure forms, that is the impure wind energies which are purified and the mind is purified and this wind energy, this purified energy mind is pure and it is of the nature of the great wisdom, wisdom of great bliss. And so, all of the Buddhas are of the same entity. It is like, you know, all the various waters flow from flowing from different directions. Some flow from the North, some from the South, some from the East, etc.
They all have their different streams, but when they come down to the ocean all of these various streams of water combine to form a single entity with the same flavor, and the flavor is the wisdom of great bliss. So all the Buddhas according to the secret mantra tradition are of the same entity, which is the wisdom of great bliss, and this wisdom of great bliss then emanates according to the needs of each of the disciples. Sometimes this bliss, great wisdom, great bliss will appear in an aspect of a lama, of a yidam, dakini, Dharma protector, whatever aspect will be a benefit. So, we talk about Lama Losang Tubwang Dorje Chang, what we’re talking about is in fact the same great the same wisdom of great bliss. They are the entity and that entity is the wisdom of great bliss.
So, for example, you know, the all of these various different streams combine into the ocean. They all come down and they combine in the ocean and, for example, the ocean which surrounds Australia is in fact a combination of all the various oceans. You know it is the single entity of all oceans, and if you were to take a cup of that, a single cup, have the same properties as the rest of the ocean. A cup of that, a single cup would have the same properties as the entirety of the ocean. It would have the same property.
If we think about, if reason this out well then we can see that Chenrezig is in fact an emanation of all the Buddhists. He is the entity of all the Buddhists. So the same would hold true for Tārā, that Tārā is an emanation of all the Buddhas, entity of all the Buddhas. It is the condensation, that she is the condensation of all the Buddhas. She is condensation of all the properties of the Buddha.
Combination. Represents the embodiment of various possible levels of benefiting of the benefit toward various disciples. For example, Losang Tubwang Dorje Chang is in the aspects of one’s root lama, Tsongkhapa, Śākyamūni Buddha, and Vajradhāra. So that is to say the Buddhas emanate in various aspects for the purpose of cultivating the minds of various disciples. For some, they emanated in the aspect of Vajradhāra, they took on this aspect and in that aspect they taught secret mantra.
This was only beneficial to some students, it would not be beneficial to all, for example the hearers and solitary realizers, they would not be benefited by the teachings of Vajradhāra, they couldn’t even see Vajradhāra. So for them Buddhas emanated in the aspect of Śākyamūni Buddha in order to benefit hearers and solitary realizers. For those who couldn’t be benefited by Śākyamūni Buddha then they emanated in the aspect of Tsongkhapa. For those who didn’t have the relationship to be benefited by Tsongkhapa, then they emanate in the aspect of a lama or the virtuous friend for ordinary individuals. So, all of these are basis of emanation and therefore all of the field of collection which is in Guru Puja is to be seen as this entire collection of deities is of the same nature but appearing in different aspects for the benefit of different levels of sentient being.
The Vajradhāra appeared in India and taught specifically Tantra, he taught the various Tantra practices such as the practice of Heruka, Yamāntaka and Guhyasamāja, and there were those who it would be a benefit were able to listen to, they were able to the teachings and were benefited, but for many that we weren’t there, we weren’t able to get benefited, we weren’t able to receive those teachings. Then for those who couldn’t be benefited by Vajradhāra then the Buddhas emanated an aspect of Buddha Śākyamūni who appeared in India and taught the Dharma and was able, but we still were not able to be benefited by Śākyamūni Buddha, and Tsongkhapa was an emanation of the Buddhas who appeared in Tibet, and he was able to be of a tremendous benefit to beings, for example the various Lamas of the Sakya, Nyingma and Kagyu and they were greatly benefited but we again were not benefited by Tsongkhapa. So, we were not benefited by Vajradhāra, by Śākyamūni Buddha, by Tsongkhapa. We were not able to listen to his teachings, we weren’t able to meet him, his beings, but we have met the Lama who teaches us the Dharma and so seeing that the Lama is an emanation of the Buddhas and by teaching and by practicing the method taught we are able to remove all various faults and bring the consummation of all qualities and therefore this emanation in the aspect of a lama is actually that which actually directly benefits us.
So, you know through our relationship with the Dharma, through receiving the teachings, meditating on them, practicing, then we are able to remove all our various faults and develop all our excellent qualities. Can imprint latencies of these teachings in our mind, and all of these advantages, all of these benefits come about who brings them to us? It is the Lama, the teacher, it is through the kindness of the teacher of our Dharma who explains the teachings to us, who shows us what is to be adopted and what is to be rejected. It is only through the kindness of the that we receive all of these benefits. It is the Buddhas no matter how, all the Buddhas of the past, no matter how many have come, are not able to help us in the same way in showing us the path to liberation.
It is only the lama; the Buddhas presently are of no benefit to us. It is the lama, through his kindness who is of the benefit to who shows us the path to liberation. So, it is the lama who shows us what is to be adopted and what is to be That is by means of the lama showing us the methods whereby we are able to gain realizations. Presently we simply don’t know. We have small wisdom.
We aren’t we have limited very limited intelligence. But it is through the lama that we can showing us these various methods and us by practicing and meditating on what is shown that we can get develop realizations that we can progress. As we progress then we can begin to avail ourselves of different levels of emanations and for example we can begin to have visions of Chenrezig, we can have visions of Mañjuśrī, we have visions of the various Buddhas, but presently they are of no benefit to us. The only person that is of benefit to us presently in showing us the methods to develop is the lama. Way of analogy, if we were extremely poor we had nothing, we didn’t have food, we didn’t have clothing, and someone came along and gave us food, gave us clothing, gave us various possessions, gave us a home to live in, and they would be a tremendous benefit to us.
They would be of a tremendous help to us, and later on having gotten to this level of prosperity we actually went up and got more and more prosperous. We had got more possessions, we became educated, we became well off. And though at that time in having gained this high status and material prosperity, other people people are still going to help us in various ways. The person who was of the greatest help to us was that person who helped us when we were really down and out, when we had nothing. So this is analogous to our present situation in which we are as if poverty, in a state of poverty spiritually, and it is the lama who is of the greatest benefit to us and as we become enriched in our practice then of course we are able to be helped by beings such as Chenrezig and Tārā.
Though they are helping us in fact that being which was the greatest help was that individual who helped us when we were really in a state of spiritual poverty that is to say the Lama. So this is the line of thinking that we should follow when we’re practicing Guru Yoga, when we’re meditating on Guru Yoga and here that understand that what is appearing is in the aspect of one’s own root lama but in the aspects of Tsongkhapa, Śākyamūni, Buddha, and Vajradhāra. So these beings, one through lama, one, Je Tsongkhapa, Śākyamūni Buddha, and Vajradhāra, their quality, their excellent qualities are all equal. Though their qualities are equal, in fact it is the Lama who has shown you the greatest kindness. So you have been studying the Dharma, you have become educated in the way of the Dharma, you have understanding the Dharma, so therefore I have, for that reason I have explained the great benefits of the Lama.
Generally it’s quite difficult to talk about the Lama to Westerners in general. So, it is on the basis of Guru Yoga of making offerings generating respect and faith in the lama upon this basis that one goes on to meditate the path in the practice of Guru Puja. So we we have listed the various deities within the field of collection, the lamas, the various lamas, the yidams, the buddhas, etc, and these are all to be seen as emanations of Vajradhāra that they are not ordinary beings but they are beings who have eliminated all their various faults and have brought to culmination all their excellent qualities.