How to Look for a Guru and Be a Student

by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche (excerpted from Gentle Voice : page 3)

Let's now talk about pure perception and Vajrayana Buddhism. First of all, I’d like to tell you that pure perception should not be understood as a code of conduct. That’s really important. Pure perception is not a rule. Unfortunately, when Vajrayana is taught, it's sometimes said that a practitioner must have pure perception towards the vajra master. So it sounds like a Vajrayana ethic.

You should try to approach pure perception differently.  It should be taken as a practice, meaning that you have to get used to it. At times, as a beginner, you will lose it.  You should remember that you cannot expect to have completely pure perception right from the beginning. It doesn’t exist. If you have that kind of expectation, it will lead you to guilt. Pure perception has caused lots of guilty feelings. Understand pure perception as something that you should aspire to; you have to practice pure perception.

Pure perception comes when you have an appetite for emptiness. When you as a vessel can accept the idea of emptiness, pure perception is easier. Understanding emptiness is basically knowing that whatever you see or experience is your interpretation. It’s only your perception; it doesn’t exist like that in reality. When you can accept that, not only intellectually but also practically, you're getting closer to the understanding of emptiness. Every time you make a judgment, make a point of telling yourself, "This is only my perception; this is my limited idea." If you can do that from the smallest level, such as a good or bad cup of tea, all the way up to the vajra master’s appearance, you can get used to pure perception.

We're not talking about thinking of the vajra master as Buddha. We're not talking about him as being golden in colour with extra arms, legs and a third eye. We don’t have to make believe; we don’t have to create a new phenomenon and consider it as pure perception. That’s wrong. Pure perception is when you know whatever you think, especially about the guru, is your perception.  Accusation, blame and complaint will slowly be reduced. When these cease, your perception is getting purer.

In Vajrayana Buddhism the guru is not only a being but the path. The purpose is to recognise that the ultimate guru is our own wisdom mind. And how do we reveal this inner wisdom guru? By dismantling the cocoon of our ego. The outer guru is a person who you hire, after a lot of analysis and contemplation, to do this job of deconstructing your ego. That's your primary aim. How you relate to the guru has to be founded on how much of the guru's interaction with you undoes this cocoon. Please keep in mind that the guru’s interest must also be in destroying the student’s ignorance. Based on that goal, the guru may tell you to do all kinds of amazing things. Amazing to what? Amazing to the ego, unacceptable to the ego. You should do these things as that is the best treatment.

On top of that, of course, treating the teacher with etiquette, respect and humility all apply. They're all ornaments. Without them prostrations and the like are just another layer of the cocoon that becomes thicker and thicker, so thick that it needs another kind of destruction. Everything goes back to the motivation of wanting to achieve enlightenment. Everything should be based on that.

There are many misunderstandings about the gurudisciple relationship. In particular, when a Vajrayana master tells a student to do whatever he says, this doesn't represent a theistic, dictatorial situation. It’s a mutual agreement. As a student you want to unveil the wisdom and the teacher wants to do that, too. That's the agreement between you and the teacher and, based on that, you are working together. If you don’t have that mutual agreement, it’s very hard.

The terms ‘vajra master’ and ‘root master’ are very Vajrayana language. Of course, Mahayana does have the concept of master or preceptor, but the Mahayana guru is mainly a guide, a tutor or a coach, whereas in Vajrayana he or she may appear as the coach, but more as the path itself. Even in the practice it is evident. In the Mahayana tradition there is never a method of dissolving oneself into the guru’s heart or of the guru dissolving into you.

However, in all the vehicles, especially Mahayana and Vajrayana, the main guru – make no mistake – is the wisdom aspect of our mind. In Mahayana the mind is emphasised more, but in Vajrayana nadi, prana and bindu are also spoken about. Loosely translated these words mean 'channels', 'wind' and 'consciousness'. The channels themselves, the wind that goes through them and the mind that has so much influence on them are inseparable.

Think of it this way: nadi is a bit like a flute, prana is the wind that goes through this flute and then there's a blower of the flute, the bindu. At the moment the flute is rusty and has fungus growing inside it. Some of the holes are blocked due to too many hamburgers, too many negative emotions or too many late nights! All kinds of obscurations have blocked the whole structure of our body.

So outwardly we try to change that through yoga. The essence of yoga is sitting straight and assuming a good posture. By doing that, we try to manipulate the flute. Then we try to control the prana; however the prana is very impure. Our perception is very limited – bad, good, tall, short – because the holes of the flute are blocked and there is so much fungus growing in it. Therefore, the air that is floating around inside is very shaky. By cleaning this flute, our perceptions slowly begin to change.

Let’s take the example of the perception of the guru, particularly as it's accompanied by your merit. According to Vajrayana, the guru has manifested in front of you through merit. Basically, your own wisdom mind is reflecting the external guru, so there's all the more reason to obey him. After all, you're obeying your true nature. The guru, the blower of the flute, is none other than your wisdom mind.

What do we mean by ‘obey’? We really don’t have to fear some truly existing vampire outside. It's basically your own mind’s perception projected out there, which has been interpreted by a translator called ‘merit’. If merit is not there, the mind will interpret the person as some arrogant bastard who is talking about righteousness and on whom you will not waste your beautiful weekend.

So what does ‘praying to the guru’ mean in Vajrayana? It actually means getting in touch with your true nature, nothing else. Yet we always come back to the one question, "Is the outer guru necessary?" So let's regard the guru as a mirror. We use a mirror when putting on lipstick to see our own reflection and to be better able to apply the make-up to our lips. Similarly, to actually see this inner wisdom, which is none other than the true nature of our mind, we are using the outer guru as a mirror. That is what’s happening!

Technically speaking, a vajra master is someone who gives you Vajrayana abhisheka or empowerment, especially the four abhishekas: vase, secret, wisdom and word. If someone gives you those, then he's a vajra master for you. But some scholars would disagree with this, maintaining that the guru is someone who introduces you to the nature of the mind and, by doing so, makes you understand that nature. These days there are so many introducers of the nature of the mind, but not everybody’s introduction to the nature of the mind works. It sometimes doesn’t even go inside the head. A vajra master might say something or he might not, but it should temporarily make the whole system stop. Even perhaps for only half a second the whole system will stop and you will wonder, "What is the benefit of yesterday, today and tomorrow? Why is there a yesterday? Why is there a tomorrow? What is a weekday? What is a weekend?" It’s almost inexpressible. Everything ceases, but it’s not like an experience of being drunk or overdosed. You're very aware of everything, conscious of everything, alive and vibrant, but the normal system stops. When that happens then maybe, whether you like it or not, this guy is your assassin.

(The Gentle Voice thanks Tom Pengelly and Claire Blaxell for the original transcription. This teaching is available from Siddhartha's Intent as an MP3. For details please contact Anna Vlajkovic at annavlaj@yahoo.com or phone 02 9518 1363.)