The Heart of the Path This book is published by Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive Bringing you the teachings of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche This book is made possible by kind supporters of the Archive who, like you, appreciate how we make these teachings freely available in so many ways, including in our website for instant reading, listening or downloading, and as printed and electronic books. Our website offers immediate access to thousands of pages of teachings and hundreds of audio recordings by some of the greatest lamas of our time. Our photo gallery and our ever-popular books are also freely accessible there. Please help us increase our efforts to spread the Dharma for the happiness and benefit of all beings. You can find out more about becoming a supporter of the Archive and see all we have to offer by visiting our website at http://www.LamaYeshe.com. Thank you so much, and please enjoy this ebook. Previously Published by the LAMA YESHE WISDOM ARCHIVE Becoming Your Own Therapist, by Lama Yeshe Advice for Monks and Nuns, by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche Virtue and Reality, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche Make Your Mind an Ocean, by Lama Yeshe Teachings from the Vajrasattva Retreat, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche The Essence of Tibetan Buddhism, by Lama Yeshe Daily Purification: A Short Vajrasattva Practice, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche Making Life Meaningful, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche Teachings from the Mani Retreat, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche The Direct and Unmistaken Method, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche The Yoga of Offering Food, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche Teachings from Tibet, by various great lamas The Joy of Compassion, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche The Kindness of Others, by Geshe Jampa Tegchok Ego, Attachment and Liberation, by Lama Yeshe How Things Exist, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche Universal Love, by Lama Yeshe The Peaceful Stillness of the Silent Mind, by Lama Yeshe Teachings from the Medicine Buddha Retreat, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche Freedom Through Understanding, by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche Kadampa Teachings, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche Life, Death and After Death, by Lama Yeshe Bodhisattva Attitude, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche How to Practice Dharma, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche For Initiates Only: A Teaching on Heruka, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche A Teaching on Yamantaka, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche In Association with TDL Publications, Los Angeles: Mirror of Wisdom, by Geshe Tsultim Gyeltsen Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment, by His Holiness the Dalai Lama Lama Yeshe DVDs The Three Principal Aspects of the Path • Introduction to Tantra • Offering Tsok to Heruka Vajrasattva • Anxiety in the Nuclear Age • Bringing Dharma to the West • Lama Yeshe at Disneyland • Freedom Through Understanding • Life, Death and After Death May whoever sees, touches, reads, remembers, or talks or thinks about these books never be reborn in unfortunate circumstances, receive only rebirths in situations conducive to the perfect practice of Dharma, meet only perfectly qualified spiritual guides, quickly develop bodhicitta and immediately attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. Th e Heart of the Path ., Seeing the Guru as Buddha Lama Zopa Rinpoche Edited by Ailsa Cameron Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive • Boston www.LamaYeshe.com A non-profit charitable organization for the benefit of all sentient beings and an affiliate of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition www.fpmt.org First published 2009 Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive PO Box 356 Weston MA 02493, USA © Lama Th ubten Zopa Rinpoche 2009 Please do not reproduce any part of this book by any means whatsoever without our permission Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Th ubten Zopa, Rinpoche, 1945- Th e heart of the path : seeing the guru as Buddha / Th ubten Zopa Rinpoche ; edited by Ailsa Cameron ; foreword by H.H. Sakya Trizin. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. Summary: “Guru devotion is a greatly misunderstood but extremely important topic in the practice of Tibetan Buddhism. In this exhaustive treatment of the subject the author explains clearly what it is, what it is not, and how to practice it”—Provided by publisher. ISBN 978-1-891868-21-4 1. Teacher-student relationships—Religious aspects—Buddhism. 2. Guru worship (Rite)—China—Tibet. 3. Spiritual life—Buddhism. I. Cameron, Ailsa. II. Title. BQ7758.C62T538 2009 294.3'61—dc22 2008052190 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Cover photograph by Nicholas Ribush, Chenrezig Institute, Australia, 1975 Designed by Gopa &Ted2 Inc. Printed in the USA with environmental mindfulness on 30% PCW recycled paper. Th e following resources have been saved: 23 trees, 1,077 lbs. of solid waste, 8,384 gallons of water, 2,020 lbs. of greenhouse gases and 16 million BTUs of energy. Please contact the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive for more copies of this and our free books Contents ., Foreword xv Editor’s Preface xvii 1. Why Do We Need a Guru? 1 Th e root of the path 1 Why do we need a guru? 5 Manjushri’s advice to Lama Tsongkhapa 11 Th e four general benefi ts of guru devotion 14 Receiving the blessings of the guru 14 Guru devotion protects our mind from delusions 14 Guru devotion protects our merit 15 Guru devotion protects us from delayed realizations 15 2. The Power of the Guru 19 3. Checking the Guru 25 4. The Qualities of a Guru 29 Revealing the complete path to enlightenment 29 Qualities of a Mahayana guru 32 Qualities of a vajra master 33 Th e essential qualities 37 vi The Heart of the Path Th e fundamental quality 38 An additional qualifi cation 40 5. The Qualities of a Disciple 47 6. Who to Regard as Guru 49 Taking teachings 49 Do we need to formally request someone to be our guru? 63 Taking initiations 64 Taking vows 66 Should we regard our alphabet teacher as our guru? 67 Th e importance of visualizing every guru 70 How many gurus should we have? 73 Who is the root guru? 74 7. The Benefits of Correct Devotion to a Guru 79 Th e benefi ts of correctly devoting to a guru 80 We become closer to enlightenment 80 We become closer to enlightenment by practicing the advice given by our guru 81 We become closer to enlightenment by making off erings to and serving our guru 89 We please all the buddhas 100 We are not harmed by maras or evil friends 102 All our delusions and negative actions naturally cease 105 All our realizations of the paths and bhumis increase 106 We will never lack virtuous friends in all our future lives 117 We will not fall into the lower realms 120 We will eff ortlessly accomplish all our temporary and ultimate wishes 122 contents vii 8. The Disadvantages of Incorrect Devotion to a Guru 129 Th e shortcomings of not devoting to a guru or of devoting incorrectly 129 If we criticize our guru we criticize all the buddhas 131 Each moment of anger toward our guru destroys merit for eons equal in number to the moments of our anger and will cause us to be reborn in the hells and suff er for the same number of eons 135 Purifying our mistakes 138 Even though we practice tantra, we will not achieve the sublime realization 140 Even if we practice tantra with much hardship, it will be like attaining hell and the like 143 We will not generate any fresh knowledge or realizations and our previous knowledge and realizations will degenerate 145 We will be affl icted even in this life by illness and other undesirable things 151 In future lives we will wander endlessly in the lower realms 154 In all our future lives we will lack virtuous friends 158 9. The Importance of Devotion 165 How to devote to a guru with thought 165 Th e root, training our mind in devotion to the guru 165 10. Why We Should Look at the Guru as a Buddha 175 11. Why We Are Able to See the Guru as a Buddha 183 Th e mind can be trained 183 Focusing on the good qualities of the guru 186 Using the guru’s faults to develop our devotion 189 12. How to See the Guru as a Buddha 201 Th ere is nothing to trust in our own view 203 viii The Heart of the Path Even nowadays all the buddhas and bodhisattvas are still working for sentient beings 224 Th e guru is the doer of all the buddhas’ actions 230 Vajradhara asserted that the guru is a buddha 241 13. Debating with the Superstitious Mind 245 14. The Kindness of the Guru 253 Developing respect by remembering the guru’s kindness 253 Th e guru is kinder than all the buddhas 255 Th e guru is kinder than all the buddhas in general 255 Th e guru is kinder than Guru Shakyamuni Buddha in particular 258 Th e guru’s kindness in teaching Dharma 263 Th e guru’s kindness in blessing our mindstream 272 Th e guru’s kindness in inspiring us to practice Dharma through material gift s 275 Th e kindness of the guru in Guru Puja 279 15. Devoting to the Guru with Action 283 How to devote to a guru with action 283 Carrying out the guru’s advice 284 Off ering respect and service 284 Making material off erings 285 16. Is Absolute Obedience Required? 295 17. How the Past Kagyü Lamas Practiced 303 18. Exceptional Gurus, Exceptional Disciples 311 Tilopa and Naropa 311 Marpa and Milarepa 320 contents ix 19. What is Guru Yoga? 327 Th e real meaning of guru 332 20.