Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 26-minute concluding session on Guru Puja, Kyabje Rinpoche walks through practical visualization: reciting in the morning, imagining the field of collection in the evening with seven-limb prayers and requests. He traces how all lineages and deities dissolve into the root lama, who descends to rest at the heart center surrounded by protective mantras. Food, drink, and clothing offered throughout the day become offerings to the lama there, accumulating blessings and merit. He emphasizes Guru Puja encompasses all Buddhist paths—common and tantric—calling it the quick path to enlightenment. Most importantly: hearing teachings means nothing without reflection and practice; he urges actual engagement, closing with dedication prayers to benefit all beings. For practitioners already initiated in Guru Yoga.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1992-11-20 – 20c – KR.mp3
UUID: e368f5a9-70e3-4518-91ba-aa3b1a6c15c7
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Guru Puja – Lama Chopa
Date: 1992-11-20
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~1,107
So in the morning, we can recite the Guru Puja meditate on what is being set out, and then in the evening we can imagine the field of collection. We recite a seven-limb prayer, offering mandala, making requests to our lama, and we’re looking at verse one fifteen where it says, Having, well maybe we’re not going to make requests to our lama, having thus been entreated to our supreme guru, pray grant this request so that you might bless this hapless light on the crown of our heads and once again set your radiant feet firmly at the core of our lotus hearts. So having offered a seven-limb prayer, the mandala, and making a request to your lama to bless oneself, the field of collection begins to dissolve into the root lama. And the lineage of the vast lamas begins to dissolve into, finally, Maitreya. The lineage of the profound lineage dissolves into Mañjuśrī.
The lineage of the tantra begins to dissolve downward into Vajradhāra. And so now therefore Maitreya dissolves into the right shoulder, and Mañjuśrī into the left, Vajradhāra into the crown, the lamas which are seated in front dissolve into the heart, and the other deities such as the dakinis and Dharma protectors dissolve upwards into the root lama. And so now there is only the lama left. Lama comes down to the crown of our head. At this time, one can meditate on the Lam Rim, the graduated path, and then finally making a request to the lama to abide at the central channel at our heart.
So having made that request, the lama moves downward along the central channel and sits at the center of a lotus at our heart within our central channel. And we should imagine that our mind and wind energies are inseparable entities with that of the lama at our heart and that surrounding them are rings of the mantras of Om Ah Hum such that the lama will be able to abide unremittingly till our death, protected by these circles of mantras. Whatever food or drink that we may eat, we should imagine the food is the five nectars and the five fleshes and blessing it with Om Ah Hum, offer it to the lama residing at our heart. Whatever clothes that we may put on, it’s offered to the lama. This way we accumulate the collection and receive a great wave of blessings.
So, it is a Tibetan tradition. For example, when a teaching on the Lam Rim is finished, that it’s considered auspicious to return to the beginning and recite a few of the words, such as it creates an auspicious condition to again receive these teachings. So the practice of Guru Puja incorporates all of the various practices of Guru Yoga and the seven-limb prayer. The practice of the of the common path and the practice of the path, that is the secret mantra, the vajra vehicle. And it also incorporates all of the various practices of the mind training, of mind training, and it’s extremely powerful and a great blessing.
It is really the quick path. And there’s nothing which exceeds this practice of Guru Puja. There’s nothing like it. And together, you having listened and my having taught, we have accumulated a tremendous amount of, accumulated a tremendous collection. That is a great number of skillful actions and you should rejoice in what you have accomplished.
I for my part in my teaching it have been greatly benefited and I have gained great new understand in having given this teaching as to whether you’ve been benefited or not, I don’t know. But I’ve enjoyed it. I have generated a great potential out of giving this to you. So this has really been a wonderful occasion. It’s been a golden opportunity to have listened and for myself to have taught.
We have implanted many powerful latencies within our mind. Not only have we implanted latencies, but if we were to really practice what we have been taught, then we can achieve the various stages that the great masters such as Mahasiddha Naropa, his teacher Tilopa, Milarepa, Marpa, Gampopa, and the various masters such as those who achieved Buddhahood in that very life. So we should we have to So we should practice well. And this is the purpose why the Dharma is taught. It is taught in order for us to put it into practice.
If we practice, then we will experience the results, the beneficial results in the future. If we don’t practice, then there’s going to be no benefit to our mind. It’s like if your house is on fire then you throw water on it to put out the fire. But if if if what? If there’s no water?
If but you can’t use water to burn. So what is the is the way that we can put out burning wood? Wood? We can put out fire. I get it.
You did you that Okay. But I like usually, if if if there’s a fire, we can use water to put it out. But what happens if the water itself is on fire? Then then there’s no way. There’s no way.
Okay. The way which we eliminate our unhealthy states of the mind is through the Dharma. So if the lama were to teach in the Dharma, it talks about subjects as impermanence and karma, etc. And one simply thinks, ah, there is such a thing as impermanence, there is such a thing as karma, noting words and that these things exist but in fact does not practice them, does not reflect upon them and practice them, then these teachings do not change one’s mind. It’s very important that we make prayers of dedication and making powerful prayers through this, our listening and teaching of the Dharma, we have accumulated a great wave of collection.
Have accumulated a great amount of skillful actions and that we are taking all of these skillful actions by bringing them together and combining them with all of the skillful actions of all the Buddhas as if placing them in an ocean of skillful actions in common with all the Buddhas and all living beings and dedicating these all the attainment of perfect, complete, unsurpassed Buddhahood and dedicate them to that one will attain human life in the future, that one will be able to receive the teachings of the Buddhadharma, one will always be within the care of a fully qualified lama. So make very powerful and strong prayers. These are very important. [unclear]
We we’re going to recite the final auspicious dedication prayer.