lake of lotus (3)-authentic versus fake gurus (spiritual teachers) (1)-the similarities and...

8/13/2019 Lake of Lotus (3)-Authentic Versus Fake Gurus (Spiritual Teachers) (1)-The Similarities and Differences for Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism- The Significan

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Guru Padmasambhava, the Great Master of

Oddiyana, warns:

Not to examine the teacher is like

drinking poison;

Not to examine the disciple is like

leaping from a precipice.

Lord Atisa mentioned in The Lamp for thePath to Enlightenment:

One should receive Bodhi vows from

virtuous Gurus.

Those teachers should be qualifed,

To have those attributes and

qualifcations,

To have in-depth understanding of the

various vows and sadhanas,

To have kept the vows purely within

himself,

To be able to transmit the Dharma

teachings with compassion. This is, indeed, the virtuous Guru.

The Tibetan Saint Jetsun Milarepa said in his

Song on How to Benet:

If the lineage of ones Guru is impure,

What benefts does one have to receive

initiations from him?

General Introduction

Basically, Buddhism can be divided into Sutra-yana (or Prajnaparamita-yana) and Mantra-yana(or Vajra-yana). In Sutra-yana, one takes refugesfrom the Three Jewels; that is, one takes refugesfrom the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. InMantra-yana, one takes four refuges, namely: to takerefuges from the Guru, the Buddha, the Dharma andthe Sangha.

In this way, Mantra-yana puts ones refuge from the

Authentic versus Fake Gurus

(Spiritual Teachers) (1)

Authentic versus Fake Gurus

(Spiritual Teachers) (1)

Yeshe Thaye

Translated byByron K.K. Yiu

The Similarities and Differences for Mahayanaand Vajrayana Buddhism

The Signicance of the Guru(Spiritual Master or Teacher)

Authentic vs Fake Gurus

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Guru before those of the Three Jewels, and thusregards the Guru as the core of ones practices,and thus has a supreme position. Furthermore,Mantra-yana conceives that the Gurus Body isequivalent to the Jewel of the Sangha, the Gurus

Speech is equivalent to the Jewel of the Dharma,while the Gurus Mind is equivalent to the Jewel ofthe Buddha. Hence, the Guru is being conceivedas the Combined Totality of the Three Jewels. Thiskind of phenomenon has always been controversialand has become the main focus of criticism by thegeneral practitioners of Sutra-yana.

While water can hold a boat, it can also sink it.Similarly, while re can have numerous benets,it can also be causes of destruction. Hence, boththe merits and demerits of water and re (used

here as examples for illustration) are not necessarilycontradictory to each other. There is no needto completely prohibit the usage of water andre because of the various harms that they canbring. Neither is there a need to avoid discussingtheir harmful effects, even though they can havetremendous benets.

Then, why is it that the Guru is being positionedin such a high place in the practices of VajrayanaBuddhism? What is the merit of doing so? Is itreally necessary? And what is the harm that this

might bring? What will be the consequences ifthis positioning is being eliminated? Why is it thatMahayana Buddhism does not have this issue?Since both Mahayana and Vajrayana belong toBuddhism, why is it that there is such a difference?So, what are their major similarities and differences?

The Similarities and Differences for

Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism

The teachings of Mahayana Buddhism is basedmainly on theoretical knowledge. It starts off withones own thinking through reection, so as toinspire the awareness of the practitioner, and thusslowly leads on to ones own practice. However,comparatively speaking, the part on the inspirationof awareness does not have substantial methodsof practices for ones own guidance, but insteadthe practitioner has to purely rely upon the degreeand the level of ones own wisdom in understanding

the essence of the Dharma teachings, in order toinspire upon ones awareness. For the part onthe actualization of practices, it is rather weak.Indeed, there is not even a single set of specic andrigorous methods on the practice, in order to guideand support the trainings of ones own thoughtsand mind.

Whereas, in the teachings of Vajrayana Buddhism,both theory and practice are of equal importance,and thus it can be said that it is half-and-half.Thus in Tibetan Buddhism, rst of all, a Dharmapractitioner was traditionally required to take twelve

The present Lord Buddha Shakyamuni

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years of study in learning all the essential teachingsof Mahayana Buddhism. It is only after that will theDharma practitioner be allowed to continue on withfurther trainings in the various Dharma practices ofVajrayana Buddhism.

For the part on the ways of Dharma practicesin Mahayana Buddhism, it emphasizes on the

fundamental and outer trainings of the body andspeech. For instance, the trainings of the bodyand speech include the carrying out of the SixParamitas and tens of thousand of other virtuousdeeds, the various meditation practices in order togain the Right Meditation (Samadhi), as well asthe recitation of the various Sutras and the SacredNames of the Different Buddhas and Bodhisattvas,and so on.

As for the method of Dharma practice in the Chan(Zen in Japanese) School, which puts comparatively

much more emphasis on actual practices, itslevel for the training of the mind is very highindeed. However, it will require only those Dharmapractitioners with great wisdom to be able to usethe mind (of the Master) to mind (of the disciple)transmission, and thus enable the disciple to cometo realize and receive the transmissions of the greatChan Masters in a non-conventional way of notelaborating by words, but by pointing directly toones own mind, so as to realize the true nature andto become a Buddha.

For those Dharma practitioners who do not havesuch great capabilities and wisdom, this kind of

method is too highfor them. Thus forthem, the training ofthe mind in the ChanSchool, such as itsmethods of sittingmeditation (Dhyana)and of reecting upona word or a sentencein a Koan (and soon), has quite often

become some kindof a ritualistic typeof homework, whichthen becomes hollowand not reliable as away of solid practice.In fact, this kind ofpractice is actuallyequivalent to thepractice of nothing.

There are other methods of practices in the differentschools, such as the Meditation on the ImmaterialUniversal Reality Beyond All Phenomena bythe School of the Three Sastras; the School ofDharmalakshana on the Meditation of the FiveLevels of Vijnanamatra; the Tian-tai School onthe Meditation of the One Mind and Three Visions(of past, present, and future); the Hua-yen (or

Avatamsaka) School on the Meditation on theDharmadhatu; the Chan (Zen in Japanese)School on the Meditation on the Original Face; thePure-land (or Sukhavati) School on the SixteenMeditations on the Buddha Amitabha; and so on.

However, when comparing the mind-trainingpractices of both Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhismthrough the methods of calm-abiding (Shamatha)and penetrative-insight (Vipasyana), MahayanaBuddhism seems to lack a comprehensive anddetailed plan of guidance, oral instructions and

practical skills. As for the various worldly skillfulmeans, as well as for the protection and clearingof obstacles, and so on, they are comparativelyinadequate. For those practitioners (with limitedmerits and wisdom) who are practicing in this worldwith ve impurities, their help seems to be verylimited indeed.

For the part on the actual practices of VajrayanaBuddhism, it emphasizes on the deeper layers oftrainings in the three aspects of the Body, Speechand Mind. Hence, on top of the trainings on thefundamental and outer layers, it further includes the

following aspects:-

1. To use ones body in order to train oneschannels, winds and wisdom drops, in usingspecic meditational techniques to lead onesmind, and thus help to mingle theory withpractice in order to reach a balanced state ofmutual support for both the body and the mind.In doing so, it helps to arouse ones hiddeninner potentials of the body. This power,if strong enough, can help to trigger andinspire ones wisdom, and to deepen ones

mental concentration, resulting in differentattainments in a much shorter period of time.

For example, the Vairocanas Seven-pointedMeditation, the Concentration of Inner Heat(Tummo), the Vajra Recitation, the Breathof the Precious Vase, the method on theDrinking of Emptiness and Prolonging OnesLongevity, and so on, could all be described asthe classic examples of trainings on using theIllusion (of the Body) to practice the Truth (ofReality). With all these practices, at the juniorlevel, it could help one to strengthen ones

Bodhidharma, the First Patriarch ofChan School of Chinese Bud-

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health, avoid sickness and prolong longevity;while at the more advanced and senior level,it could help the Dharma practitioner torealize ones own Buddha Nature. Hence,it encompasses both the worldly and spiritualmatters, and this is indeed the most uniquefeature of Vajrayana Buddhism.

2. To use ones speech to recite thesecret mantras of different Buddhas andBodhisattvas, and together with specicmeditations of the mind, it helps to arousethe channels, winds and wisdom drops toreach a state of smoothness, balance andclearness, in order to elevate to a higher leveltowards the Buddhas Wisdom.

3. To use ones mind to meditate, in accordancewith the trainings on the Emptiness (Sunyata)of the Nature of the Three Wheels (eg. the

donor, the person being donated and the act ofdonation), thus enabling oneself to get rid ofthe graspings of both the Ego and Dharma.In borrowing the support of ones body andspeech, it will further help oneself to entertowards the state of Neither Existence NorVoidness (the Reality of True Emptiness readers can refer to the English version of theVCD with this title, published by the DudjomBuddhist Association). Thus, with specialtrainings, it could be part of the mind-trainingprocess.

4. To use ones Body, Speech and Mind asmedia for the practices, so as to help mingledthe authentic Dharma teachings with onesown daily life, or during long-term retreats, inorder to swiftly accomplish enlightenment. Forexample,Guru Padmasambhava, the SecondBuddha of our time and the Founding Father ofTibetan Buddhism, had taught the Methods ofLiberation in the Bardo (the intermediate periodbetween death and rebirth), through which hetruly unveiled the conditions during this periodin great details, and taught the methods that

can liberate oneself. Hence, if these teachingsare further practiced in accordance with otherDharma practices, so as to help them mingledwith ones daily life, or long-term retreats,it will become a natural process for one tocontinue practice within twenty-four hours ofones daily life. It is practical, pragmatic andvery convenient as well.

Besides, for the teachings on thePreliminaries(Ngondro), they can benet and broadlyattune to all levels of sentient beings. At the

same time, these teachings have gatheredall the essential elements of the differentteachings of the Development Stage,Completion Stage and the Great Perfection,and so can help to consolidate the foundationsof Dharma practitioners. In the practice of itin a general manner, Dharma practitionerscould be liberated from the cycle of karmicexistence (Samsara) and enter the BuddhasPure-land, while to practice it in a much moreprofound way, the Dharma practitioners couldrealize ones Buddha Nature and become aBuddha. Furthermore, it could be practicedin accordance with the deeper layers ofpractices, for example: in the practices ofthe Six Yogas of dream yoga, luminosity,illusory body, bardo, transference, inner heat,as well as in the practices of Thekchod and

Thodgalin the Great Perfection, in such a waythat the power of practices can be so strongthat it could lead the Dharma practitioner torealize and attain ones own Buddhahood(total perfect enlightenment) either with thisvery body, or within this very life time.

5. Blessings The Chan (Zen in Japanese)School emphasizes on the importance ofusing ones own forces, while the Pure-land(or Sukhavati) School emphasizes on theimportance of using the forces from others.

Guru Padmasambhava, the Second Buddha of our time andthe Founder of Tibetan Buddhism

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In the case of Vajrayana Buddhism, again itemphasizes that half should be on the forcesof oneself and the other half should be on theforces from others.

6. If one only emphasizes on the forces ofoneself, the level of difculty will be very highindeed, and so it is very easy to fail and with

no safeguard at all. On the other hand, if oneonly emphasizes on the forces from others,it will loose ones own freedom, and will be toopassive. Hence, it will be quite difcult for oneto grasp the successful rate.

7. Besides the blessings from the variousBuddhas and Bodhisattvas, there are alsothe blessings from ones own Gurus and allthe Lineage Masters in Vajrayana Buddhism.Hence, when the Dharma practitioner lacksthe forces of oneself, one could still rely upon

the forces from others in order to be liberatedfrom Samsara. As both the forces of oneselfand from others areinteracting together, inbringing about the effects,the chance of successfrom both forces will bemuch higher than thatfrom either one of them.

8. Clearance of obstaclesand obscurations forthe various obstacles and

obscurations that mightexist during the path ofones practice, such as:with many diseases,short life-span, manyobscurations, poverty,stupidity and ignorance,feelings of inferiority,arrogance and vanity,enormous past karmicdebts from relatives, aswell as debtors demanding

for repayments of varioussorts, and so on. InVajrayana practices, one will be able tohandle these obstacles and obscurations invery practical ways, such that the Dharmapractitioners could clear away obstacles andobscurations on the one hand, and to do onesown practices at the same time.

9. Hence, it is not the way to handle thingsblindly as if these obstacles and obscurationsdo not exist. Otherwise, this could make the

path of ones practice to be full of obstaclesand obscurations. There are various methodsin Vajrayana practices of clearing awayobstacles and obscurations, such as thedifferent activities of pacication, increase,magnetization, subjugation, together withother methods of doing repentance andconfessions of sins, like the practicing of

Vajrasattva purication, smoke and waterofferings, and offerings of tormas and food,etc. Hence, with the correct instructions from aGuru with Pure Lineage, to be supported withoral instructions on mind-training, all thesepractices will be extremely helpful to thoseDharma practitioners who have practicedthe Dharma only within a short period of timeand are rather weak in terms of their mind-training practice.

The Signicance of the Guru

(Spiritual Master or Teacher)As Vajrayana Buddhismfocuses on the actualpractices of the Dharma, it isvery in-depth, detailed andconcentrated, and thus requiresa Guru (spiritual master orteacher) who is well-versed inboth theory (with theoreticalfoundation) and practice (withpractical experiences) of theBuddhist Dharma in order to

impart upon oneself the correctinstructions. Hence, one needsto receive the teachings andinstructions from a realizedGuru in order that what onehas learnt can become reallyeffective. This is most crucialand important: because if theteachings and instructions arewrong, the slightest effect onewill get is that ones mind willbecome distorted, while the

strongest effects one will havewill be a disbelief in the Dharma

while one is still alive, and will have downwardmovement to the lower realms when one passesaway. This is what is meant by even a very slightdeviation of less than a fraction of a mini-meter atthe very beginning, will eventually end up missingthe target thousands of miles away. Therefore, inthe tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, the Lineagesof ones Guru is extremely important and is muchemphasized.

The source of the Dharma has been transmitted

Guru Rinpoche & His 8 Manifestations

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and came down all the way from the top (of the lists

of past Gurus) to the bottom (of oneself) with onedirect path that links them up together. This kind ofthe transmissionof the lineage, in passing on fromone generation to another generation, is to havedesignated the most qualied holderof the lineageto become the Lineage Guru, in order to upholdand integrate all the teachings and to preservethe essences of the Dharma in order to benet allsentient beings. In this way, it also helps to keepthe pure and most supreme teachings of VajrayanaBuddhism from being distorted by others, or mixedwith impurities, and thus avoid many changes,distortions, pollutions and misunderstandings of

various kinds, which might bring about harmfuleffects to all sentient beings.

In order to ascertain and preserve the high qualityon the qualications of the Gurus, so as to passon the correct and authentic Dharma teachingsand instructions of the lineagewithout any kinds ofdisruption, distortion, pollution and weakness in itsstrength, it is most important to have special selectioncriteria in choosing those disciples that are suitablevessels to be responsible and have the abilities tokeep it pure and clean, thus being able to uphold

the lineage as it is. As the correct and authenticDharma teachings and instructions can dispel thedarkness of ignorance, it is analogous to the Lampof the Dharma. Thus, in this way, the transmissionof the lineage can continue on from one generationto another generation in its purest form, just like thetransmission of the ame from one lamp to anotherlamp, and so this important step of the transmission

of the lineage is called thetransmission of the lamp,while the disciple who has been transmitted thelineage and who can uphold it is called the lineageholder.

This phenomenon of thetransmission of the lampis not unique to Vajrayana Buddhism. As the Chan(Zen in Japanese) School also emphasized on theactual practices of the Dharma, and therefore it alsoemphasized on the importance of the Lineages ofthe Chan (Zen in Japanese) Masters, as well asthe transmission of the lamp. Hence, there were

the various religious chronicles, which depictedthe important transmissions of the Chan (Zen inJapanese) Lineages from Masters to disciples allthrough the various historical periods, such as Tao-yuans Ching-te Chuan-teng Lu (the Transmissionof the Lamp of Ching-te) during the Northern SungDynasty, the Biographies of the Great Masters, theChronicles of the Fingers Pointing to the Moon,and so on. Similar situations also occurred in thePure-land (or Sukhavati) School and the JapaneseShingon School of Esoteric Buddhism, all of whichsupported the view of the importance of theGurusand the Lineages.

The teachings of Vajrayana Buddhism

emphasize that the Guru is the core of all practiceswith the following main reasons:-

1. The Source of the Dharma: even thoughthe source of the Dharma comes from theBuddhas and the Bodhisattvas, because ofthe fact that the Guru is equipped with allaspects of knowledge, realizations, wisdom,experiences, skillful means, spiritual and

physical efforts, and so on, he is beingauthorized and appointed by the LineageGurus of the past to transmit the Dharmateachings, and so this is indeed the root thatcannot be missed.

If a Dharma practitioner does not have theinstructions from a qualied Guru, he willnd it difcult to merge with the essences ofthe Vajrayana practices. If one simply relieson ones own wisdom to realize the essencesof the sutras and tantras, it would requirethree great Asankhya (one Asankhya is

Guru Rinpoche, the Precious Wish-fullling Gem

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the concept of 10 to the power of 51, and isestimated to be around the time period for 1.3billion plus 43 million 840 thousand years, andso three great Asankhya is referring to anextremely prolonged period of time that requirescountless rebirths) in order for one to haveaccomplishments.

If one can receive accurate and preciseinstructions from a qualied Guru, one couldthen avoid a very long and winding road inwhich one would just blindly spend a lot of timeand efforts in trying to do various practicesin the wrong ways, would go in the wrongdirections, and would face a lot of obstacles asa result. All these doings will result in nothingsubstantial about the real Dharma practices,but will only be wasting ones precious time andefforts. On the contrary, if one can be guided byones own Guru, who will be directly pointingto the essences of the Dharma, helping one

to re-establish a rm basis of the foundation,awakening ones drowsiness by hitting right-at-the-spot, arousing the wisdom of ones mind,and the triggering of more accurate, conciseand profound actual Dharma practices, this willallow the Dharma practitioner to use only half ofthe efforts in order to get the full benets, andthus hopefully to become liberated in this verylife.

For example, for the abovementioned SixYogas, if there are no clear instructions from

a qualied Guru, it can be very dangerous fora Dharma practitioner to do so on his own, andthat it will also be quite difcult for one to havea chance of success. Hence, for the Dharmapractitioners of Vajrayana Buddhism, onesGuru is not only the source of the Dharma but,

in fact, the Guru is also ones own creator ofspiritual life endowed with great kindness and

compassion.

2. The Focal Point of All Blessings: The GreatVajrayana Master Sakya Panditahas comparedthe Buddhas kindness and blessings to the raysof the sun. Let us use a match as an example,no matter how strong the power of the sun, thematch will not be able to burn by itself evenunder the powerful sun; instead it will requirea magnifying glass to concentrate and focusthe suns rays onto a point, and to a very greatextent that it will nally ignite the match. In the

same way, though the power of the Buddha isso strong that it can give blessings to Dharmapractitioners by sending lights of wisdom justlike the sunlight, yet it cannot help to aggregatesuch strong blessings in order to assist oneselfto become swiftly liberated from the cycle ofkarmic existence (or Samsara). Hence, one willstill need a Guru as a medium(of the magnifyingglass) upon which the Buddhas kindness andblessings can be concentrated and focused tohave a quick effect of a quantum leap of faithin order to assist oneself to become swiftlyliberated from the cycle of karmic existence.

Sakya Pandita, one of the great Lineage Mas-ters of the Sakya School of Tibetan Buddhism

Lord Maitreya, the Coming Future Buddha

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Hence, in all the practices of VajrayanaBuddhism, before one meditate, one mustalways visualize ones own Guru to besitting upon ones own head. In receiving theGurus lineage as ones own, then the lineageblessings will come directly through him. Theblessings from all the Lineage Gurus ofthe past, as well as those from the Yidams,Dakas and Dakinis, will only be connected andrecognized through the present Lineage Gurujust like the ow of a pipeline. Thus, it is onlyupon the trust on the present Lineage Guru,and then only through him, that the blessingsfrom all these Holy Beings can be transmittedto a Dharma practitioner. Both the worldly andspiritual Dharma protectors will only acceptrequests from Lineage Gurus in order to assistDharma practitioners. Similarly, dependingupon the various circumstances, the Guruwould then decide whether or not to use his

own power of blessings to directly impart uponhis own disciples. Thus, according to VajrayanaBuddhism, the Guru is the focal point of allblessings.

3. The Cornerstone of Faith: If one does not havefaith, one could not be able to enter into thegreat Ocean of the Buddhist Dharma. Indeed,faith is the most basic and fundamentalcornerstone of all practices. Faith can allowa Dharma practitioner, in an anxiety-freesituation, to generate an incomparable strength

and momentum which is inexplicable, and canthus follow the teachings of Dharma practicewhole-heartedly with one hundred percent,resulting in the successful rate to be greatlyincreased. However, if ones faith is beingreduced by just 1%, then the successful ratemight fall all the way down to zero, and that isthe main reason for the failure. This concludesthe statement that: success and failure willdepend upon the minutest details, while theslightest bit of hesitation can decide whetherone will win or lose.

As for Vajrayana Buddhism, all the teachingsof the Dharma come from the Guru. All theteachings of pith instructions, the instructions forpointing out directions at the various crossroads,the guiding wisdom for solving doubts andworries within ones mind, the skillful means forthe avoidance of traps of various sorts in onesreal Dharma practices, and so on, will all comefrom the Guru. If there is no trust and faithupon the Guru, then all the teachings do nothave the basic grounding, neither do they have

any root and foundation to stand upon, and soall of that will become meaningless. Hence, theGuru is indeed the cornerstone of faith.

4. The Major Auxiliary Condition for ones Liberationfrom Samsara: All Dharma practitioners willneed to rely upon ones own forces to practicein order to become liberated from Samsara,

regardless of any of the schools of Buddhism.Even in the case of the Pure-land (or Sukhavati)School, the active recitation of the Names ofthe Buddhas is considered as part of ones ownforces. Ones own active participation is in itselfthe main cause, while to act in concert with othersupplementary practices are considered as theauxiliary conditions. Master Yan Kwong,the latecontemporary Great Master ofthe Pure-Land (orSukhavati) School,said: All Dharma teachingsrely on ones own forces. Even though onemay have a very

deep and strongfoundation frompast lives andcan thus has amind of thoroughunderstanding, ifone still has someminor doubts ofthe view (whendifferentiations andconfusions arisein the mind) and ofthe thought (whenattachments andgraspings arise inthe ve senses),then one will stillnot be able tobecome liberatedfrom the cyclicexistence of life anddeath (Samsara).Particularly, forthose who have reached the moment of rebirth,when one has encountered the situation and

started to grip onto it, those who could passfrom awareness to further awareness are few,while those who pass from confusion to furtherconfusion are many indeed. This statementclearly veries the importance of ones ownforces. From the Varjayana perspective, theGuru has given the essences of the Dharmateachings to the Dharma practitioner so as toempower, reinforce and increase the disciplesown forces up to the maximum level. It is inthis way that the Guru is the major auxiliarycondition to help oneself to become liberated

from Samsara in this very life. Indeed, it will be

Master Yan Kwong,, the greatmaster of Pure-Land School ofChinese Buddhism

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extremely difcult, if not impossible, for a Dharmapractitioner to nd, to take and to tread on thepath of short-cut of ones own Dharma practicewithout the assistance from ones own Guru, inorder to avoid the tens of thousands of obstructiveand dangerous situations of the general path.

5. Direct Communications: As the Guru is a

human being and is living in the same realm asthe Dharma practitioner, and so they can directlycommunicate with each other through language.In this way, the Guru can help the Dharmapractitioner by explaining in details the Dharmateachings, as well as to help him solved hisdoubts and problems. More importantly, throughin-depth communications and understandings,the Guru can teach the different levels of theDharma teachings according to the specic levelsof the Dharma practitioners. If there is no directverbal communication, it will be very difcult to

rely solely upon ones understanding through theintuition of ones own mind, which can be easilymisunderstood. Non-verbal communications couldonly be possible and can be applied to only a veryfew Dharma practitioners of great wisdom. If onerelies upon translation, the degree of progresswill be very slow, while the true meanings of themessages might either be easily lost, or even bedistorted.

As Vajrayana Buddhism is a very practical wayof Dharma practice, and so all the teachingsinvolved should not have any kind of discrepancyduring the teaching and learning process betweenthe Guru and the disciple. This will require theempowerment to practice, the follow up witheach case of Dharma practice, the correcting ofmistakes at the right moment, and the guidancetowards understanding and realization, and so on,all of which will need the attention and vigilancefrom the Guru. Hence, there requires a mutualin-depth understanding and trust between theGuru and the disciple. In this way, the directcommunications between the Guru and thedisciple has become a very important part of

Dharma practice and cannot be missed. Thus,for Vajrayana Buddhism, to be able to have directcommunications with the Guru is, indeed, wherethe preciousness of the Guru lies !

6. The Place of Refuge and the Best Field of Merit :Within the many lineages and sects of VajrayanaBuddhism, they all have their own Refuge Treescomprising of all the Holy Assemblies of their ownlineages. This Refuge Tree has aggregated,within each of their lineages, their entire list of all thepast Lineage Gurus, all the Buddhas of the past,

present and future, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, Sangha,Yidams, sutras and tantras, Dakas, Dakinis andDharma protectors. In this way, it has collected all

the splendid merits, as well as deep and profoundblessings into one place, and thus it becomes themost condensed Main Refuge Place for all thosewho take the refuge from this particular lineage,as well as the most splendid and the best Fieldof Merit. In this regard, the Refuge Tree is thesource of all the Dharma practices of VajrayanaBuddhism as this has aggregated all the meritsof the Holy Assemblies. In regarding this RefugeTree as the object of Dharma practice, the meritsso accumulated would be countless and limitless,and its strengths profound and broad.

In the centre of the Refuge Tree is the Guru,who is being considered as the Gem of all gems.In Tibetan language, the term of Rinpochemeans a precious Gem. The preciousness ofthe Guru is that he can directly bring benetsto the Dharma practitioners. The Guru will notonly be able to directly communicate with theDharma practitioners, but he can also help themto comfort their minds, and thus become theirultimate Refuge Place, upon which variousofferings can be made directly to him. This mutualdeed of making and receiving the offerings

Buddha Shakyamuni, the Lord Buddha of our time

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between the disciple and the Guru has no gapand no hindrance in between, and sothe Dharmapractitioner is being grateful to, and directlyrepaying the kindness of, the Guru. In so doing,the Guru is being revered as the most splendidand the best Field of Merit, among all kinds ofofferings. Basing upon the essences of all thesutras and tantras, the Bodhisattva Ashvagosha

had condensed, summarized and wrote The FiftyStanzas of Guru Devotionwhich clearly spelt outthe signicance of the Guru, and that all disciplesshould strictly adhere to the rituals of worship,making prostrations and offerings to the Guru.

Authentic vs Fake GurusThe Guru has taken upon himself heavyresponsibilities of all sorts,because of his wisdom andcompassion, in order to helpliberate sentient beings.Among these, he is not onlythe guide to lead otherDharma practitioners tospiritual accomplishments,but he is also the regulatorwho helps other Dharmapractitioners to re-adjust andre-structure their thinkingand behavioural patterns.As the Dharma practices ofVajrayana Buddhism stronglyrequire a Dharma practitioner

to have complete obedience,with strong devotion and faith,towards ones own Guru, thisfact thus gives the opportunityto be used by many impudentpersons of crooks who maketheir livings by cheating othersin numerous ways, those whoare very greedy and withgreat arrogance, as well asthose ambitious people withulterior motives. These kinds of fake gurus, like the

worms inside the lions belly*, are those people whoclaimed themselves to be teaching Buddhism but infact they are not. These con men just use Buddhismas a tool to cheat on others, through the use of theirevil and distorted views to lead other people astray,while they want to become the controller of othersby controlling their thinking and behaviour, both atpresent and in the future. In this way, they will lead alot of Dharma practitioners to fall into painful abysses.

(* The Lord Buddha Himself had used the parable ofthe worms inside the lions belly to predict about the

future of His teachings and the Spiritual Communitythat He Himself had founded. This parable is tocompare the Lord Buddhas teachings and theSpiritual Community as the lion, the king of the animalkingdom. Buddhism and its Spiritual Community, beinginvincible and cannot be destroyed by other outsideforces, yet there will be those who claimed themselvesto be the followers of the Buddhas teachings, but in

fact they will be destroying the Holy Dharma and theSangha Community. In the same way, the lion, afterits death, will not be devoured by other animals whichjust dared not to do so, but then it will be the wormsinside the lions belly that will decay and destroy thelions dead body.)

Since this is the Degenerate Age when sentientbeings are having very limited merits and wisdom,

and so these fake gurus areeverywhere. The numbersof sentient beings that had

been cheated by these fakegurus all through the ageswere countless indeed. Itis most shocking to realizethat the wounds that werebeing inicted upon countlesssentient beings were sohuge, deep and intense.For the outer wounds, suchas: with ones physical bodybeing played around, or onewas being cheated in termsof monies and other precious

objects, or being controlledand used as slaves, or bodilyinjuries due to the wrongteachings, or even ones lifewas being controlled, and soon. As for the inner wounds,such as: one was being hitand shattered emotionally, orones own belief system wasbeing tread upon mercilessly,or ones own mind and spirit

were being led astray to painful abysses, while those

who wanted to leave these fake gurus would thenbe cursed and threatened with their lives, and so on.Whereas for the wounds at the deepest level, such as:ones life of wisdom (that is, ones spiritual life) wouldbe terminated, or ones mind and thinking patternswould be distorted and polluted, or to be misled in thewrong directions such that ones greed, hatred andignorance to be increased rapidly. Because all theseactions have been much intensied, it will further leadto the rapid increase of negative causes while sharplyreducing the positive causes. Hence, in such a way,ones Dharma practice now becomes the cause forthe further deterioration and degeneration of ones

Longchenpa, one of the great Lineage Masters of the Nying-ma School of Tibetan Buddhism

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spiritual life, resulting in triggering the reection ofones mind to fall into three lower realms(of hells,hungry ghosts or animals) when one dies, never to beable to liberate oneself from the painful existence ofSamsara.

Therefore, for those people who would genuinely liketo practice the Holy Dharma, before they would like to

take the refuge from the Gurus, they should carefullyand seriously observe these Gurus. In the past, theDharma practitioners in Tibet would spend twelveyears in order to observe ones Gurus. So, how todistinguish an authentic Guru from a fake one hasbecome the most important topic for those genuinepractitioners of the Buddhist Dharma, and is indeedthe rst difcult issue to be tackled.

Hence, the following are themost essential elements thatcan help us to distinguish thecharacteristics of a Guruas to his authenticity orfakeness:

1. The Degree and Levelof Ones Mind-Training:The rst key point topractice the BuddhistDharma, which is alsothe most importantkey point that cannotbe changed, is to helponeself to reduce, and

even to eliminate, thethree poisons of greed,hatred and ignorance.When a sentient beingis passing away, thereection of ones mindwill take the lead. Thus,the level of greed,hatred and ignorancethat would be projected by ones mind, as wellas the direction of ones Dharma practice, willdetermine whether one will be reborn either in

the three upper realms (of gods, humans, ordemi-gods), or to fall to the three lower realms,or to be liberated from Samsara, or to becometotally enlightened (i.e. attaining Buddhahood).In this respect, the Guru himself must havean extremely high degree and level of mind-training, and that the Guru must also beemploying mind-training as the main thrustof his teachings. No matter how the Guru isbeing mystied and disguised, if the Guruonly teaches his disciples in such a way thatthe ultimate goal of Dharma practice is to fulll

his personal vanity, pride, greed, arrogance,evil thoughts, ignorance, and so on, thenwhether this person has enough evidence toprove himself to have the transmission of thelineage or not (as a Lineage Guru) is nolonger relevant and important. We can stilltreat him as a fake guru, simply because thispresent lineage will be terminated right there

and then by this contaminated person(throughhis perverted views which are full of greed,hatred and ignorance), resulting in the presentlineage will no longer have the blessingsthat it once had carried from the previousLineage Gurus (again, using the analogy thatall the essences will be totally lost in a burstingpipeline). In the nal analysis, the practice of

those transmitted teachingsfrom this fake guru will nolonger be effective at all. Thatis why it was mentioned by theTibetan Saint Jetsun Milarepa,in his Song on How to Beneft:If the lineage of ones Guruis impure, what benets doesone have to receive initiationsfrom him?

When an evil person usesthe authentic Dharma forhis evil ends (such that histotally perverted thinking willdistort the authentic Dharma,and then he will use these

already-distorted-Dharma indisguise as authentic ones ashis selling-point to mislead andmisguide others, and so in theend), the authentic Dharmawill also become tools of evilactions. For an evil-mindedperson to teach the authenticDharma (i.e., the using of

the authentic Dharma as a means to an evilend) is as dangerous as having a person who,while having mental illness with an inclination

to kill, is keen to teach others in the methodsof using a knife. The knife itself is neutral. Itcould be used to cut food and make deliciouscuisines, or to be used to carve wood intobeautiful sculptures; yet it could also be usedas an instrument to kill and murder people. So,it really depends on the intention of the user ofthe knife. This is similar for the Holy Dharma:the reason why we call those teachings that canhelp one to become liberated from Samsaraas the authentic Dharma is simply becausethey are leading the Dharma practitioners inthe right and correct direction of salvation and

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liberation, the path that was originally taughtby the Buddha Himself. On the contrary, ifsomeone has misguided and misled others onthe Dharma practice via a distorted way in thewrong direction, such as: it can help one tobecome rich, and to gain countless preciousobjects in the whole world, but then he did notexplain what will be the consequences of such

kinds of actions. In this way, the attitude andthe direction of the Dharma practitioner will bemisguided into an ever-increasing greediness,resulting in getting deeper and deeper intothe trap of the continuous cycle of Samsara.Even though, on the surface, the structuralframeworks and the contents of the authenticDharma still remains, yet deep down inside, itsdirections and meanings have all been changed,resulting in this so-called authentic Dharma(which is really the already-distorted-Dharmain disguise as authentic ones) to become theevil Dharma that will eventually and really lead

others astray towards the continuous cycle ofSamsara.

Hence, in following a fake guru for onesDharma practice, the damage is severe andunimaginable, and it will be detrimental to boththe body and the mind. On the contrary, forthose Gurus with high levels of mind-training,they will have high levels of self-cultivation.Though one might have great fame, for thoseGurus who can have the higher levels ofself-cultivation, there is always the humility,

peacefulness and the humbleness of heart, andthe more one will not be fastened by the worldlyconcerns of fame, glory and wealth. Thus, theviews and the conducts of these Gurus arein congruence with each other, and these arethe Gurus that one should pay respects andreverence. Conversely, fake gurus usually will

have some or all of the following characteristics:they act so as to please the public with claptraps,behave with pride and arrogance, boastful abouttheir so-called miraculous acts, their mindsare lled with heavy dosages of greed, hatredand ignorance, indulge themselves heavilywith worldly concerns, full of dissimulations andcheatings in their daily activities, pretentiousof their so-called connections with the

supernatural beings, such that their viewsand their conducts are so vastly different (i.e.,what they said are not what they meant andacted upon), and so on. All these characteristicscan be distinguished right away as long as onecan pay serious attention to them.

2. The Empowerments of the Lineage: For thosewho want to practice the Dharma practicesof Vajrayana Buddhism, one should followa pure lineage system and to be taught byan empowered, authorized and appointed

Lineage Guru in order that it can be benecialto oneself.There are some of those fake guruswho are both cheating others and themselvesby believing that: (a) there is no need for themto receive the transmission of the lineage from aLineage Guru, so long as they have receivedsome Dharma teachings from some of theseLineage Gurus; and (b) that if they havepracticed the Dharma teachings well, then theycan have the right to transmit these Dharmateachings to others.

Kyabje Chadral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche, whois publicly recognized as one of the greatestrealized Dzogchen Masters of TibetanBuddhism and is now 95 years of age, saidthese sincere words with earnest wishes:There are too many gurus that are transmittingthe Dharma teachings nowadays. So many ofthem do not have the authorization for such kindof Dharma transmission, or that some of themonly have some partial empowerments and yetthey just go ahead to transmit all the teachings.As they have not received the authorizationand recognition from the past Lineage Gurus,

Yidams, Dakinis and Dharma protectors, but stillwent ahead to transmit the teachings, and sothey will have many obstacles, with numerousillnesses and short life-spans. For thosedissimulate and inappropriate fake gurus,whether it be themselves or their disciples, notonly will there be no benets at all for them, andwhen they die, both will fall into the three lowerrealms. Therefore, one should be very prudenton the matter of selecting ones own Guru,and should not treat this lightly! That is whyGuru Padmasambhava, the Founder of Tibetan

Buddhism, warned his future disciples that not

Kyabje Chadral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche, the present Lord of theMandala (Vajra Regent) for the Dudjom Tersar Lineage.

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to examine the teacher is like drinking poison,and it is indeed so serious. Even though someGurus may have the authorizations to transmitthe teachings, but whether their lineagesystems are pure or not will also affect thosewho receive the teachings from them. As it isquite difcult for one to research and verify onthe authenticity and the purity of the lineagesfor a particular Guru, and also becausepeople in general are rather impatient to doso, or that they just want to get more teachingsand to receive blessings without questioning.All these are the reasons why nowadays thereare so many false lineages and fake Guruseverywherein the whole world, simply becauseof the fact that where there are huge demands,there will be huge supplies!

The Original Master Lord Buddha Shakyamuni

had once said, To verify whether someonesteachings are correct or not is like the vericationof the purity of gold by a goldsmith. First, he willuse re to burn it, then he will use a knife to cut it,and then he will try to grind it.So for those whowould like to learn the Holy Dharma, we shouldfollow the instructions of the Lord Buddha. Inorder to take refuge from a Guru, one shouldexamine him critically for a very long period oftime and try to inspect his degree and level ofmind-training, the amounts of greed, hatredand ignorance that he might have, whether

he has any Bodhicitta and compassion or not,the truthfulness of his teachings, and whetherhis view and his conduct match each otheror not, so on and so on. But never shouldone blindly and passionately just believe andfollow without questioning, neither should onebe attracted to his very limited and narrowly-focused acts of so-called worldly miracles andworldly cleverness, etc, in order to avoid being

harmed beyond repair, which is inconceivable,both in this life and in future lives. Whether ornot one has already taken refuge from this kindof guru, once we have found out that he is afake guru or is one who has no, or very low levelof, mind-training, then one should immediatelyleave him and do not stay behind. One shouldnot respond to his threats, or else the damagesdone would be even worst and one will then havedegradation once and forever. The so-calledworldly miracles could be something that wereleft behind from ones virtuous deeds of past

lives, or through a bit of mental concentrationto create the so-called super-normal abilities,and thus could be considered as illusionarymagic of some sort. After all, these are ratherunsound ways of searching for the Dharmafrom outside of ones own mind, and are notthe authentic Buddhist Dharma that can trulyliberate people from the cycle of Samsara. Tobe reluctant to leave, or even to attach to it, islike seeking temporary relief of ones problemsregardless of the ultimate consequences, justlike the drinking of a poisonous concoction inorder to quench ones thirst the result will befatal!

(To be continued)

Jigme Lingpa, one of the great Lineage Masters of the Nying-ma School of Tibetan Buddhism

If the teachings and instructions are wrong, the

slightest effect one will get is that ones mind will

become distorted, while the strongest effects one will

have will be a disbelief in the Dharma while one is

still alive, and will have downward movement to the

lower realms when one passes away.

Kyabje Chadral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche: ... For

those dissimulate and inappropriate fake gurus,

whether it be themselves or their disciples, not only

will there be no benets at all for them, and when

they die, both will fall into the three lower realms.

Therefore, one should be very prudent on the matter

of selecting ones own Guru, and should not treat

this lightly!

Spark of WisdomSpark of Wisdom

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lake of lotus (3)-authentic versus fake gurus (spiritual teachers) (1)-the similarities and...

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