Yongey Mingyur Dorje Rinpoche

Karma Kagyu Lineage & Guru Yoga

Kagyu Samye Ling, Scotland, August 2003. Translator: Chdrak


Karma Kagyu Lineage
The subject of this teaching is Lineage and Guru Yoga. So we are going to discuss
the Karma Kagyu lineage. Generally there are many types of lineages in Tibet. Bu
t I dont have time to talk about all of these, so this talk is particularly about
the Kagyu lineage.
In our world the first Kagyu Lama was Tilopa who was an emanation of Dorje Chang
and Korlo Demchog. Through skilful means, for the benefit of sentient beings, t
o be able to tame them and especially for the benefit of meditation practice, Do
rje Chang emanated Tilopa.
When Tilopa was a young boy he looked after cows. He took them around the fields
and through the woods. One day, when he was walking with the cows amongst trees
, he saw a lot of different lights moving around and heard lots of different sou
nds. A dakini, Dorje Phagmo, appeared in themidst of the swirling lights and too
k Tilopa up to Urgyen, the pure land of Dorje Phagmo and Khorlo Demchog. There T
ilopa met Korlo Demchog face to face and received all the oral instructions of t
he Kagyu Lineage.
When he returned to earth he started teaching Dharma. However, a lot of people q
uestioned him and said: Who is your lama, who is your teacher? Tilopa replied: I do
nt have a human teacher. My teachers are Dorje Chang and Korlo Demchog. People dou
bted him and said: You cant have it like that. You are telling us lies. Maybe you
have received the blessing of the demons, so we are not going to listen to you.
Generating great compassion and using skilful means Tilopa started to take teach
ings and supplicate other lamas and teachers who were around at that time. This
meant that people could trust him because he was taking teachings from human tea
chers.
Though his essence was the same as Dorje Chang and Khorlo Demchog and he was act
ually a totally realised Buddha, he went through the motions of going to teachin
gs and taking instructions and behaving as a very humble person who didnt really
have much knowledge. Gradually over time he showed people the method or the exam
ple of how to take teachings and instructions and how to practise them gradually
and how to gain realisation through ones practise. Although he didnt need to do t
his for himself he did it for the benefit of others.
He travelled widely taking teachings from teachers residing in all the four dire
ctions and then condensed all these teachings. So the four lineages came from te
achers of the four directions within India. He condensed all the teachings that
he received from these teachers and made them into one. For example from a teach
er in one direction came the instruction in tummo or the internal fire, another
was the clear light, another was dream yoga and another was the illusory body. T
ilopa brought together all these teachings from different teachers in the four d
irections. From this came the single lineage which is called the Kagyu Lineage o
r the lineage of oral transmission.
The second lama in the Kagyu lineage is Naropa. Naropa lived in Nalanda Universi
ty and was very skilled in debate. He was able to defeat many people in debate a
nd give them answers immediately, so after sometime he generated some pride abou
t that. One day he sat on a rooftop at Nalanda University and sat reciting from
a text in the sunshine. All of a sudden, while he was looking at the text, a big
dark shadow appeared on the text and he couldnt see anything. It was a shadow of
a person and it covered all directions, so he looked upwards. When he looked up
he saw a really ugly old lady with missing teeth and very long hair looking dow
n at him and chuckling: Ha ha ha.
He said: Who are you? and she replied: Who are you? Im Naropa What are you doing, what
re you reciting? What do you know? He said: I know the text. The old woman question
ed Naropa and said: Do you know the words or do you know the meaning of the words
? Naropa thought about it and replied: I know the words. Ha ha ha! The old lady laugh
ed and became really happy and danced around. She was going up and down in space
, flying around, going back down to the earth and then flying up again.
Naropa thought to himself: If she gets so excited about me saying I understand th
e words, what is she going to be like when I tell her I understand the meaning a
s well! So he said to the old lady: I dont just understand the words, I understand
the meaning of the words as well. She said: You understand the meaning of the word
s? Uhu. She burst into tears, sobbing, looking very, very sad. She put her head d
own and all her hair fell down.
Naropa then questioned the old lady and said: When I told you I understand the wo
rds you became very happy, but when I told you I understand the meaning you beca
me very sad. What was all that about? The old lady said: You are telling me a lie,
thats why I became sad. Naropa said: What lie did I tell you? You dont understand th
e meaning of the words. You just know the words. You lied to me and said you und
erstand the meaning of the words, but you dont really and thats the reason why I b
ecame sad. Then Naropa said: Who is there in the world now who truly understands t
he meaning of the words? The old lady replied: My younger brother Tilopa, he knows
the meaning of the words.
When Naropa heard the name Tilopa all of the hairs on his body stood on end and al
l the hair on his head stood up, tears streamed from his eyes and great natural
devotion arose in him. He asked: Where is Tilopa? and the dakini replied: He is in
a cemetery quite far off. Then all of a sudden the old lady disappeared. Naropa t
hought: I really must go and meet this Tilopa.
In Nalanda monastery there were many monks apartments and so during the nighttime
he got up and ran away. He searched and searched but he couldnt find Tilopa. He
experienced many difficulties and problems trying to find him but finally he did
. When they met, Tilopa wouldnt teach Naropa anything. He started to give him mor
e problems. But Naropa had great faith and listened to whatever Tilopa said.
One day Tilopa and Naropa went to a top of a very tall building. It was maybe ni
ne stores high. Tilopa was just looking around from side to side. Looking to the
space he said: Hmm, if I had a student with faith, if I told him to jump off thi
s 9-storey building, he would just do it! Naropa looked around and thought: There
is nobody here except me. Tilopa continued: If somebody had faith in me they would
just jump off immediately. Naropa looked around again in case somebody else had
arrived and he thought: Im here just on my own. Maybe Tilopa means me. So then imme
diately he threw himself off the building. When he hit the ground he broke all h
is arms and legs. Tilopa came down - slowly. What happened to you? he said, Are you
in pain? Im not only in a lot of pain, Im almost a corpse! Naropa replied. In that
case Im going to call you Naropa. In Tibetan na means illness, ro is a name for a
corpse and pa means a person. So Naropa means the person who is sick like a corps
e. Tilopa gave him that name. Then he said: No problem, doesnt matter. and put his h
and over Naropas body. In one second Naropas body was healed, even better than bef
ore he jumped. Like that Tilopa gave Naropa twelve difficult things to do but st
ill wouldnt teach him any dharma.
Naropa came to Tilopa one day, offered a mandala and supplicated him saying: Plea
se, please, give me the teachings. He had completed all the difficult tasks Tilop
a had given to him and he supplicated for the teachings. All of a sudden Tilopa
took off one of his shoes, grabbed Naropa by his hair and said: You cant understan
d the nature of mind by words, you need to recognize it yourself! and hit him wit
h the shoe across his face. Naropa just collapsed, unconscious. When he emerged
from the unconscious state, he had truly vast and open realisation of the nature
of mind. So then Tilopa and Naropa became identical, of the same nature. Their
realisation was the same level. They didnt become the same person but their reali
sation of the nature of mind was the same.
Naropa became a powerful and accomplished siddha. The striking of the shoe acros
s Naropas face was Tilopa giving him the lineage of the meaning. And now, after N
aropa had fallen unconscious and woken up, Tilopa gave him the instructions of t
he meaning of the word, all the transmissions. So then, why did Tilopa give twel
ve difficult tasks to Naropa? It was like his preliminary practise or his ngndro;
he was purifying all the different things that Naropa needed to purify. Because
he purified all his negativities with the twelve difficult tasks, then in one m
oment he could realise, recognise the nature of his mind.
Naropa passed his lineage to Marpa Lotsawa. Marpa stayed with Naropa for twelve
years and seven months. Naropa bestowed on Marpa the entirety of all transmissio
ns, though Marpa also had to go through some difficulties. Then Marpa passed on
all the teachings to Milarepa. Milarepa also had to endure some difficulties: on
e day Marpa told him to build a house in a triangular shape, then he said: Destro
y it, I want to make a round house. Then he wanted Milarepa to make a rectangular
house.
After completing all these difficult tasks Marpa gave Milarepa the lineage of th
e meaning and all the oral instructions. Milarepa then gave all the instructions
to Gampopa, but Gampopa did not have to go through too many difficulties. He wa
s very lucky! (Just joking.) Gampopa stayed with Milarepa for three years. In a
gradual way Milarepa passed down the entire lineage to Gampopa.
From Gampopa the lineage developed into several lineages: four main ones and eig
ht minor ones. The four major ones are the Kamtsang Kagyu, Baram Kagyu, Phagdru
Kagyu and Tsalpa Kagyu. Those are the four main lineages of the Kagyu. The eight
minor ones are Drikung Kagyu, Drukpa Kagyu, Taklung Kagyu, Marpa Kagyu, and so
on. [Editor's Note: 1. Drikung 2. Drukpa 3. Taklung 4. Yasang 5. Trophu 6. Shuks
ep 7. Yelpa 8. Martsang ] These days the Karma Kamtsang Kagyu is the predominant
one of the four great lineages. There are a few Baram Kagyu people around but t
he majority of the other Kagyu lineages have faded away.
Out of the eight minor lineages the Drukpa Kagyu, Taklung and Drikung Kagyu are
still present and the rest of them but most of the other five have disappeared.
So there are three branches of the Kagyu existing today. There are others like t
he Shangpa Kagyu, the Surmang Kagyu and Nedo Kagyu, but they do not belong to th
e four major and eight minor lineages, they are like separate branches, although
they are Kagyupa lineages.

Within the Kagyu tradition, the main point, the main practise is the practise of
meditation. What came down most predominantly in the tradition of the Kagyu are
the instructions of how to practise, how to meditate. In the Gelukpa tradition
the main emphasis is on the studying of the texts, although the Gelukpas still h
ave practise. In the four major lineages of Tibetan Buddhism they all have their
own particular specialities or something very particular to them. It's said tha
t the Kagyu lineage is called the lineage of blessings. This is because there is
a great blessing to be obtained through the lamas' pure intention, devotion and
faith, connected through interdependence with the pure lineage.

So the explanation of the lineage is completed. Now we will talk about Guru Yoga
.


Guru Yoga

Within the Hinayana or Theravadin tradition the lama, (the teacher) is not of ma
jor importance. The teacher is regarded more as a learned spiritual friend, who
is a normal human being but spiritually advanced more than oneself. On the Mahay
ana path, one's perception of the teacher is like somebody who is on the bodhisa
ttva levels who has attained spiritual accomplishment. The teacher is like a doc
tor and the student is like a sick person receiving medicine. That's how you per
ceive the teacher to be. That's within the Mahayana and bodhicitta practice. Whe
n it comes to the Vajrayana viewpoint of the teacher, then the teacher is percei
ved as Buddha. What is the reason for this? It is because if you view the teache
r as the Buddha you obtain blessings of the Buddha. Why is the swift accomplishm
ent of blessings obtained? Because between the lama and ourselves there is a con
nection, a very good, positive
connection.
There are three very good connections between the lama and the practitioner: the
blessing of empowerment, of scriptural transmission and of explanation. For a p
ractitioner there is no better connection than these three. Also we are able to
see the lama, we can hear his teachings. Because of these things we can say we h
ave a very good positive connection with the lama and we have very good interdep
endence also. If we supplicate the lama with faith, all the blessings of the Bud
dhas come together and are united in the lama. So when we receive the blessing o
f the lama we therefore also obtain the blessings of all the Buddhas.

Buddha Sakyamuni and Buddha Dorje Chang are very important, but if we were to su
pplicate Sakyamuni or Dorje Chang directly and we also supplicated the lama, the
n supplicating the lama would be more beneficial to us and it would bring swifte
r blessing. So the lama is more important. Why is that? Because we have never re
ceived empowerments, instructions or scriptural authorisations from Dorje Chang
or the Buddha Sakyamuni, we have never heard them speak, we have never heard the
ir teachings. Since we are able to receive these things from the lama, the lama
is more important for us.

We are given an example of what it is like for all of the blessings of the Buddh
a to be condensed in the lama and then for one to obtain the blessing of the lam
a. For example: this is the United Kingdom and the sun shines all over the Unite
d Kingdom. I have piece of paper in my hand. If you want to burn this piece of p
aper and place it on the grass in the sunshine, it will be difficult to burn it.
But if I bring along a magnifying glass, and I place it above the paper, the su
n's rays will be concentrated into the paper and it will burn very quickly. The
Buddha's blessing is like the sunshine. One's lama is like the magnifying glass
and through him comes the sunlight, which is the blessing. Having connected with
the lama's lineage, one obtains all the blessings of the Buddhas through him.

The main technique or main practice for us as Vajrayana practitioners is that of
Guru Yoga. Through practising Guru Yoga we will swiftly receive all the blessin
gs. If we have blessing we can attain enlightenment very quickly. If you remembe
r when we were doing the prostrations and refuge practice we had the "objects of
refuge" and of them there is the lama who is the embodiment of all of the objec
ts of refuge. Also in the Dorje Sempa practice, when you are visualizing Dorje S
empa above your head, he is inseparable from one's own lama. Then one does the y
idam practise of the development stage where one should feel that the yidam and
the lama are inseparable. Then there are the dharma protector practices where on
e feels that the dharma protector and the lama are inseparable.

Based on these practices one can swiftly obtain the blessings and the progress t
hrough the stages of enlightenment. What is the reason for this? It is based on
having a very strong positive connection between ourselves and the lama, because
we have had the empowerments, the scriptural transmissions and the instructions
. Even if we don't receive all these three sections from the lama, if we receive
empowerment from him or just instructions or just scriptural transmission, each
of them separately, we still have a very positive connection.

So then, when we supplicate the lama, whether we obtain the blessings of all the
Buddhas or just the lama depends on our faith. If we don't have faith, even if
our teachers were Dorje Chang and the Buddha Sakyamuni and we were next to them
all the time, no blessing would enter us. As an example, Buddha Sakyamuni had a
monk called Gelong Legpe Karma. He stayed with the Buddha for 25 years. But he d
idn't generate any devotion for the Buddha. Therefore he didn't receive blessing
s. So even if our lama is like a normal person and he doesn't have very high rea
lisation, if out of our faith we perceive him to be a Buddha then we will receiv
e all the Buddha's blessing completely. So generating faith for the lama is very
important.

What type of faith do we have to generate? We have to have faith that the lama a
nd the Buddha are inseparable, that they have the same qualities. There are two
reasons for this: one is based on the relative truth and one on the ultimate tru
th. The reason related to ultimate truth is that the lama has Buddha nature and
the Buddha nature is Buddha. Therefore the lama and all of the Buddhas are ident
ical in nature. So then the lama really is the Buddha. Not only is the lama Budd
ha, the student also is Buddha. Why is that? Because the student also possesses
Buddha nature.

If you understand that it is called the ultimate guru yoga. It is like the lama'
s mind and one's own mind meet and become one. When we say the lama's mind and t
he student's mind are united and become mixed, it's not like you have to pick so
me substance in the right hand and some substance in the left hand, grind them a
nd mix them up together. It doesn't mean that. What it means is firstly is that
one's own nature and the lama's nature are the same. Understanding that one also
understands that all the Buddhas are identical in nature. When you fully unders
tand or realise that, we can say the lama's mind and one's own mind become insep
arably mixed. That is the reason relating to the ultimate truth.

What is the reason connected to the relative truth? The Buddha said that general
ly all the Buddhas possess compassion and skilful means. For all the vast amount
of sentient beings the Buddhas do what they can to help each individual being i
n ways appropriate to that being's nature. We ourselves have negative karma and
illusions. Because of our impure perceptions we cannot perceive things purely. R
ight now at this very moment Dorje Chang is present before us. We can't see him.
We can't hear his teachings. This is due to our negative karma and negative or
impure perceptions.

So, what are we able to see when we look at the lama? We can see somebody who is
rather similar to us, somebody who has flesh and blood, who has suffering, who
appears to be like us because they have suffering and mental defilements. That t
ype of person we can perceive. So the Buddhas in their infinite wisdom, compassi
on and skilful means emanate beings who look like us; like Karmapa, Tai Situ Rin
poche, in the world now there are present many beings like that. They look like
us, they need to eat food, they become sick, they need to take medicine from tim
e to time, and they also manifest death. And sometimes they make a few little mi
stakes.

So they appear to be like us and because of that we are able to see them and rel
ate to them. And we are able to listen to the teachings they give. But really, t
hey themselves, their true nature is that of the Buddha. They are identical with
that, because they are emanations of Buddha. If the lama has all the characteri
stics and he possesses the true lineage, he is the emanation of Buddha. That's t
he reason relating to the relative truth.

So when we put it in brief, we need to have faith and supplicate the lama. The r
oot of blessing depends on our generating faith and devotion for the lama. In Mi
larepa's life story we hear what he did and what kind of experiences he had, how
he generated faith and so on. One day one of Milarepa's students approached him
and said: "You know, when you were with Marpa, he gave you all those difficult
things to accomplish and you did all of them, you practiced and finally you beca
me enlightened. Surely you aren't a human being like us; we can't hope to do the
se kinds of things. Maybe you are an emanation of Dorje Chang or maybe another B
uddha - would you please tell us, whose emanation you are?" Milarepa replied: "F
or you to think that I am an emanation of Buddha is a very good thing for you, b
ut as far as I'm concerned, I don't know whose emanation I am. Even if I happen
to be a reincarnation of a hell- being, because you perceive me as an emanation
of a Buddha it's very beneficial for you."

So then we can see that everything depends on the generation of faith and devoti
on. If you understand that the nature of the lama is the same as the Buddha but
that the lama's kindness is even greater than that of the Buddha, then you will
naturally give rise to faith and devotion for him. That's the explanation showin
g us that the nature of the lama and the Buddha is identical.

Now we can discuss how it is that the lama's kindness is greater than that of th
e Buddhas. Even though Dorje Chang and Buddha Sakyamuni are very important and g
reat beings, you are not able, or not fortunate enough, to hear their teachings,
to obtain empowerments or scriptural authorisations from them, you are not even
able to meet them. But we can actually meet the lama physically, hear his speec
h, and receive his teachings, empowerments and instructions. If we were to meet
Dorje Chang Buddha in person and ask for teaching, if he was going to liberate u
s and lead us to enlightenment, what could he give us? He could give us the inst
ructions of how to practise and liberate ourselves within one lifetime. Higher o
r better teachings than that he would not be able to give us. He couldn't just p
ick us up and throw us into a Pure Land.

And this type of instruction one's own lama can also give: how to liberate onese
lf in one lifetime and become enlightened. We are not able to perceive Dorje Cha
ng but we can perceive our own lama. So, who is more kind to us: Dorje Chang or
the lama? It is the lama. If one understands that point, faith and devotion will
arise. This is why in Vajrayana tradition the practice of Guru Yoga is not only
very important, it is the main point. That is the general meaning of Guru Yoga.

How do we actually practise the Guru Yoga? How do we do it? If we have the under
standing and appreciation that the lama's mind and the Buddha's mind are identic
al and that the lama is in fact a Buddha, then we can meditate on his body. If o
ne is not able to generate that strength of faith, then instead one can think th
at the lama manifests as an appearance like Buddha Sakyamuni or Buddha Dorje Cha
ng, rather than in his normal physical form. One also thinks that his manifestat
ion contains and is identical to, the essence of all of the Buddhas. One supplic
ates one's lama saying: "May I myself and all sentient beings be free from suffe
ring, temporary suffering now and all the suffering up until the point we reach
the end result, which is a perfect enlightenment". And then: "Please give me the
blessing that I will have the realisation of Mahamudra, please give me all the
blessings." One prays like that.

Some people like to meditate on their lama in the form he normally has, how he n
ormally appears and that's okay for them. But some people don't like that. Rinpo
che knows someone who was practising Guru Yoga but wasn't enjoying it. The reaso
n was that when he meditated on the form of the lama on top of his head, he reme
mbered that in real life the lama was constantly coughing, so when he visualized
the lama on top of his head he was uncomfortable, because the lama kept on coug
hing. There is another person, who unfortunately has a very pointed head, so whe
n he visualised the lama he felt the lama couldn't sit on the point of his head
and kept on falling off!

In India there was one person who had the experience that when he tried to medit
ate on the form of his lama upon his head he kept on falling off on one side or
the other. So he went to his teacher and asked what he could do. The lama said:
"Oh, you put the lama at the bottom and you sit on top of his head!" So then the
person meditated like that and it became very clear, the lama didn't move. So h
e said to his lama: "I meditated as you instructed and it was very clear, very g
ood." Then lama said: "Now you need to revert back to the original way, with you
on the bottom and the lama on the top. He did this, and this was also very clea
r. The reason why he couldn't achieve this in the first place was because he had
a very tight grasping idea that he had to have a clear visualization of the lam
a. Because of his intensity and grasping for that his mind became too tight and
so the lama would fall all over the place. When he turned around and changed it
so that he was on top and the lama was on the bottom, he didn't quite like that
position so, because he didn't have grasping, it became very clear. Afterwards h
e understood the meaning of what had happened and he could meditate very well.

If one can meditate the form of one's lama and the form of Dorje Sempa as insep
arable, one understands the meaning of Guru Yoga as it is explained in the ngndro
. When one is practising refuge and prostrations, other than during the ngndro, o
ne visualises one's guru in the form of Dorje Chang in front of one.

What is the main part of the practice of the Guru Yoga? It is the receiving of t
he empowerments. There are four empowerments. The first one is received when fro
m lama's forehead a white light radiates and touches one's own forehead. One fee
ls that one's physical obscurations, defilements and impurities are completely p
urified, and one receives the blessing of the body of the lama. That is called t
he vase empowerment.

The second empowerment is received when from the lama's throat a red light radia
tes and touches one's throat centre and one feels that all of one's impurities,
obscurations and defilements related to speech are completely purified and one h
as received the blessing of the lama's speech. This is called the secret empower
ment.

The third empowerment is received when from lama's heart centre a blue light rad
iates and strikes one's heart centre. One feels that all of the defilements, obs
curations and impurities related to mind - our mental impurities - are completel
y purified and one has received the blessing of the lama's mind. This is called
the wisdom-knowledge empowerment.


The fourth empowerment is received when one imagines that simultaneously white,
red and blue lights radiate from the lama's three places and strike one's own th
ree places. One feels that all of the impurities, defilements and obscurations o
f body, speech and mind are completely purified and one has received in totality
all the body, speech and mind blessings of the lama. This is called the word em
powerment.
Finally the lama dissolves into light and this dissolves into oneself. The meani
ng of this is really that in the end the lama and oneself become inseparable and
identical in essence. You need to understand that. And then one relaxes. That i
s the ultimate truth Guru Yoga.

Previously, when visualizing the lama external to oneself and supplicating him,
that part is related to relative truth.

That is the end of the explanation of the Guru Yoga. Do you have any questions?

We have had new information coming in: Marpa spent sixteen years (no twelve, as
stated above) and seven months with Naropa.

Question: Due to Naropa's misconception that Tilopa was asking him to jump would
he have had the same result whether he jumped or not? Was it wise for him to ju
mp at that point because he wasn't told to do so directly?

Rinpoche: It is true that Tilopa did not directly instruct Naropa to jump but he
did it indirectly, because there wasn't anybody else there on the roof with the
m. If Naropa didn't have wisdom, he wouldn't have listened to the lama's instruc
tion. But he had wisdom so he listened to the instructions.

Q: But there wasn't any instruction.

R: It was an indirect instruction, because there was nobody else standing there
and he took the meaning to be that I'm a person who has faith, so it must be me
because there is nobody else here, so I jump. We have an example of indirect ins
tructions or meanings in many places, not just here.

Q: If one has faith and devotion to several lamas, does one put them all into on
e form of the main lama and think they are all the same?

R: That is what was told yesterday, yes. That's fine. One doesn't have to think:
"Oh, this lama has got blessing but maybe this one has got more. If one has fai
th in many lamas, one can gather them into one, thinking that their essence is i
dentical.

Q: My lama was the 16th Karmapa and he passed away a long time ago. I wonder if
I can still see him as my lama? R: Of course

Q: Could Rinpoche explain the idea of "tsawe lama" (root lama)?

R: There are two types of root lama. The real meaning of the root lama is the la
ma who points out the nature of one's mind. That's one's true root lama. But bef
ore we get to the point of having pointing out instructions, we have to have var
ious lamas giving teachings. You can also perceive the root lama to be somebody
who is within a pure unbroken lineage with all the characteristics of a proper p
ure teacher, with whom one has a connection and faith and devotion. But when one
is doing Guru Yoga, it is more beneficial if one can feel that the lama who is
giving the empowerments and instructions and transmissions, is really there in e
ssence, and is one's main lama.
Q: Which were the four types of teachings which were held in different direction
s?

R: Tummo, clear light, dream yoga and illusory body. But they are just an exampl
e of the four types of teachings that were held in the different directions. Act
ually there are many, not just those alone.

Q: What does it mean for the guru to become the path?

R: Guru Yoga is the path. We don't say that the lama himself is the path. It's t
he Guru Yoga one is practising that is the path.

Q: At the very beginning of teaching today we heard that Dorje Chang manifested
to Tilopa. If he was so clever, why didn't he manifest to somebody in every coun
try of the world speaking every language and get it done much quicker?

R: If he could do that then he could just pick us up and throw us to the pure la
nds. Because of individual sentient beings' karma appearances like that don't co
me about. If it were like that we wouldn't have to stay in samsara now. We would
have been Buddha a long time ago.

Q: Would you tell us about Maitripa?

R: Marpa received three types of Mahamudra teachings. There were the sutra tradi
tion, tantra tradition and the essential Mahamudra tradition. Maitripa gave Marp
a the sutra tradition mahamudra transmission and Naropa bestowed the other two.
Marpa had various teachers: Maitripa, Kukkuripa and so on.

Q: As westerners we often have suspicions associated with figures of authority,
not like in the east where in India or Tibet people naturally have faith for the
parents and the lamas and they maybe accept authority figures better than we do
. So from time to time we have doubts and obstacles related to these figures of
authority. How do we deal with that?

R: It is important and necessary for one to follow the dharma instructions and a
dvice that the lama gives. But if it relates to everyday worldly life then one c
an be a bit more neutral about that. Sometimes we might not listen to some of th
at advice. You can check it out like this: these days when the really true and s
traightforward lamas talk to people and give advice it's not in the least for th
eir own benefit. They are thinking solely of the benefit of the person they are
talking to. But there are also present in the world lamas who have some idea of
mixing their own benefit in with that. So the second one is not beneficial for o
ne, and one needs to check that out. But then one's lama is perceived to have th
e Buddha nature and is really the Buddha in essence, so one supplicates remember
ing that. But if one comes into contact with false lamas who are really mixing u
p their own benefit in their teachings, one abandons them. That kind of advice a
nd connection you should leave. If one encounters a false lama, it's better to a
bandon them.

Q: There is a special connection between His Holiness Karmapa and Tai Situ Rinpo
che. Could we have some explanation of that?

R: This comes about because of Chgyur Lingpa's prophecy, where he prophesies the
connection between the 12th Tai Situpa and the 17th Karmapa. Tai Situ Rinpoche a
nd Gyaltsap Rinpoche were students of the previous 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe D
orje and now the 17th Karmapa has taken birth and he is a young person. Gyaltsab
Rinpoche and Tai Situ Rinpoche became his teachers. This is based on the lineag
e: one is young and the older people look after them and then it changes around
next time. There are two factors here; there is the prophecy, which states that
there is a connection and also from his side His Holiness Karmapa has a genuine
faith for Tai Situ Rinpoche. So based on the teachings and transmissions the Kar
mapa has faith for Tai Situ Rinpoche and Gyaltsab Rinpoche. The lineage goes in
such a way that the Karmapa bestows all of the teachings on his main students, b
ut then when the Karmapa takes rebirth, although he has all the teachings in the
ir entirety because he is Buddha, he has to go through the motions of taking ins
tructions from human beings and human teachers. So now he has manifested as the
17th Karmapa and his teachers are Gyaltsab Rinpoche and Tai Situ Rinpoche.

They symbolically give back all the teachings that they received from the 16th K
armapa. The Karmapa himself already possesses them, but in order to show Dharma
students how to do it, they go through the motions of giving him back everything
.

Q: Who is your personal guru (tsawe lama)?

R: Tai Situ Rinpoche.

Q: We have noticed that lamas wear special hats from time to time. What do the h
ats and crowns signify, the black hat in particular?

R: Generally speaking when one wears these crowns, they are a sign of the respec
t for the nature of reality and respect to all the gurus. Generally the teaching
comes or is connected with the individual being's own perception. In olden days
a king could give somebody who was respected a crown to wear. The idea of that
crown is a token of respect, so there is this respect associated with wearing a
crown. Another reason for wearing them was that when sentient beings saw the cro
wn it gave them joy.

And why does the Karmapa have the black crown in particular? A long time before
the first Karmapa Dusum Khyenpa manifested as Karmapa, he was meditating in a ca
ve. Along came a great gathering of dakinis and they said to him: "In the future
you are going to manifest as a being who will be of immeasurable benefit for se
ntient beings, because of that we have great faith and devotion for you and we w
ant to make offerings to you". So they each pulled some hair out and wove a crow
n of it and placed it on the Karmapa's head. "Now you become like the king of D
harma", they said. The nature of this crown was rather like a rainbow, insubstan
tial and most people can't see it. It is with the Karmapa always, wherever he go
es. He doesn't have to take it on and off, it's always on his head. Then the Kar
mapa at one time went to China. The emperor of China at that time was an emanati
on of Manjushri. Immediately the Karmapa arrived the emperor perceived the crown
on the Karmapa's head. The emperor said: "Oh, that crown on your
head, everybody needs to see it, so we are going to make a copy of it, a real co
py".

So the emperor of China made a physical replica of the crown which he saw on the
Karmapa's head and he offered this to Karmapa. When he put it on his head, ever
ybody could see, because it was a physical object. Because of the interdependenc
e of the self-existing hat and the one made as a replica, blessing can be obtain
ed from seeing the crown.

Q: In the Dorje Chang Tungma there is a line that says: "Grant me your blessing
that uncontrived devotion may arise in me." In that context, what does blessing
mean?

R: It is a particular type of power. Various medicines have various types of str
ength or power. Water has a power to wet things and clean things. Fire has a pow
er to burn. When we put water in a field it helps to grow flowers or crops. All
phenomena have a particular power associated with them. Through the power of int
erdependence, when we ask for blessing, it comes as a particular type of power.
What happens is that one receives that power, the blessing and one's defilements
and obscurations are purified and dispelled. If one gives rise to devotion and
faith and supplicates, then one receives the blessing connected with developing
faith and devotion.

2005 by Mingyur Rinpoche

home