Guru Yoga

If you want to know your past life, look at your present condition. If you want to know your future life, look at your present actions.

Padmasambhava

All the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and enlightened beings are present at all moments to help us. and it is through the presence of the master that all of their blessings are focused directly at us.

All we need to do to receive direct help is to ask.

What most of us need almost more than anything is the courage and humility, to ask for help from the depths of our hearts; to ask for the compassion of the enlightened beings; to ask for purification and healing; to ask for the power to understand the meaning of our suffering and to transform it; at a relative level, to ask for the growth in our lives of clarity, of peace, of discernment; and to ask for the realization of the absolute nature of mind that comes from merging with the deathless wisdom-mind of the master.

There is no swifter, more moving, or more powerful practice for invoking the help of the enlightened beings, for arousing devotion and realizing the nature of mind than the practice of guru yoga. 

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche wrote the words, "Guru yoga means union with the nature of the guru." And in this practice we are given the methods by which we can blend our own minds with the enlightened mind of the master.

Remember that the master (the guru) embodies the crystallization of the blessings of all Buddhas, masters, and enlightened beings; so to invoke him or her is to invoke them all; and to merge your mind and heart with your master's wisdom mind is to merge your mind with the truth and very embodiment of enlightenment.

All the wisdom traditions of Tibet have placed so much importance on the practice of guru yoga; and all the foremost Tibetan masters have treasured it as their innermost heart practice.

Following is a simple practice of guru yoga that anyone whatever their religion or spiritual belief can do. 

This wonderful practice is Sogyal Rinpoche's main practice, the heart and inspiration of his whole life, and, whenever he does guru yoga, it is Padmasambhava that he focuses on.

As Buddha himself was passing away, he prophesied that Padmasambhava would be born not long after his death in order to spread the teaching of the Tantras.

It was Padmasambhava who established Buddhism in Tibet in the 8th century.

For Tibetans, Padmasambhava (or Guru Rinpoche as he is also called) embodies a cosmic timeless principle. He is the universal master.

He has appeared countless times to the masters of Tibet giving teachings and prophecies. He also left thousands of visionary teachings for future times which have been revealed again and again by many great masters who have been his emanations. One of these visionary treasures is the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

In the Tibetan tradition, Padmasambhava is considered the embodiment of all one's masters; and, so, when you merge your mind with him in guru yoga, all of them are included within him.

You can however use any enlightened being, saint, or master from any religion or mystical tradition for whom you feel devotion, whether they are alive or not.

This practice of guru yoga has four main phases: invocation, merging your mind with the master through his heart essence (the mantra); receiving the blessing (or empowerment); and uniting your mind with the master, and resting in the nature of rigpa. Rigpa is the knowledge of the ground. Erik Pema Kunsang translates a text which provides basic definitions of rigpa and marigpa in Dzogchen context: Unknowing (marigpa) is not knowing the nature of mind. Knowing (rigpa) is the knowing of the original wakefulness that is personal experience.

The first stage is invocation.

Sit quietly. From the depths of your heart invoke in the sky in front of you the embodiment of truth in the person of your master, a saint, or an enlightened being.

Try to visualize the master (or Buddha) as alive and as radiant and transluscent as a rainbow.

Believe with complete trust that all the blessings and qualities of the wisdom, compassion, and power of all the Buddhas and enlightened beings are embodied in him or her.

If you have any difficulty visualizing the master, imagine this embodiment of truth simply as a being of light, or try to feel his or her perfect presence there in the sky before you, the presence of all the Buddhas and masters.

Let all the inspiration, joy, and awe you feel take the place of visualization.

Trust simply that the presence you are invoking is really there.

The Buddha himself said, "Whoever thinks of me, I am in front of them."

Sogyal Rinpoche's master, Dudjom Rinpoche, used to say that it does not matter if at the beginning you cannot visualize, what is more important is to feel the presence in your heart and know that this presence embodies the blessing, compassion, energy, and wisdom of all the Buddhas.

Relaxing and filling your heart with the master's presence, invoke him or her very strongly with all your heart and mind, with total trust.

Call upon him or her inwardly: "Help me. Inspire me to purify all my karma and negative emotions, and to realize the true nature of my mind."

Then, with deep devotion, merge your mind with the master and rest your mind in his or her wisdom-mind and as you do so, give yourself up to the master completely, saying to yourself something like, "Help me now. Take care of me. Fill me with your joy and energy, your wisdom and compassion. Gather me into the loving heart of your wisdom-mind. Bless my mind; inspire my understanding."

Then, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche dingo says, "There is no doubt the blessing will enter your heart."

When we undertake this practice, it is a direct, skillful, and powerful way to carry us beyond our ordinary mind and into the pure realm of the wisdom of rigpa. There, we recognize, come to discover, and acknowledge that all Buddhas are present.

So feeling the living presence of Buddha, of Padmasambhava, of your master, and simply opening your heart and mind to the embodiment of truth really does bless and transform your mind.

As you invoke the Buddha, your own Buddha-nature is inspired to awaken and blossom as naturally as a flower in sunlight.

The second stage of guru yoga is maturing and deepening the blessing.

When you come to this part of the practice, merging your mind with the master through the mantra, recite the mantra: om ah hung benza guru pema siddhi hung, thinking of it as actually being Padmasambhava

and the blessing of all the masters in the form of sound.

Imagine your whole being filled with him and feel as you recite the mantra which is his heart essence. Let it vibrate and pervade you as if hundreds of little Padmasambhavas in the form of sound were circulating inside you, transforming your whole being.

Using the mantra, then, offer your heart and soul in fervent and one-pointed devotion, and merge, and mix, and blend your mind with Padmasambhava or your master.

Gradually you will feel yourself coming closer to Padmasambhava and closing the gap between you and his wisdom mind.

Slowly, through the blessing and power of this practice, you will find you actually experience your mind being transformed into the wisdom-mind of Padmasambhava and the master; you begin to recognize their indivisibility.

Just as if you put your finger into water it will get wet and if you put it into fire it will burn, so if you invest your mind in the wisdom-mind of the Buddhas, it will transform into their wisdom-nature.

What happens is that, gradually, your mind begins to find itself in a state of rigpa. The innermost nature of your mind is nothing other than the wisdom-mind of all the Buddhas.

It is as if your ordinary mind gradually dies and dissolves, and your pure awareness, your Buddha-nature, your inner teacher is revealed. This is the true meaning of blessing: a transformation in which your mind transcends into the state of the absolute.

This maturing of the blessing is the heart and main part of the practice to which you should devote the most time when you do the guru yoga practice.

The third stage is empowerment.

Imagine now that, from the master, thousands of brilliant rays of light stream out toward you and penetrate you; purifying, healing, blessing, empowering, and filling in you the seeds of enlightenment.

Know and feel that you are now empowered through the blessing with the indestructible body, speech, and mind of Padmasambhava, of all the Buddhas.

The fourth stage is resting in the rigpa.

Now, let the master dissolve into light and become one with you in the nature of your mind. Recognize beyond any doubt that the sky-like nature of your mind is the absolute master.

Where else would all enlightened beings be but in the rigpa, in the nature of your mind?

Secure in that realization, in a state of spacious and carefree ease you rest in the warmth, glory, and blessing of your absolute nature. You have arrived at the original ground, the primordial purity of natural simplicity.

As you rest in this state of rigpa, you recognize the truth in Padmasambhava's words "Mind itself is Padmasambhava. There is no meditation or practice apart from that."

*SOGYAL RINPOCHE, 1992, THE TIBETAN BOOK OF LIVING AND DYING*

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