Guru Yoga

There are many ways of practising Guru Yoga.

In the meditation called Guru Puja, the visualisation is as depicted on many Thangkas.

The Guru first appears on a lotus seat at the centre of the wish-fulfilling tree.

From him emanates light which takes the form of countless Buddhas and Bodhisattvas all seated on lotus thrones.

This whole assembly is visualised on the wish-fulfilling tree, and in the space above sits the whole lineage of Gurus.

However, this is very difficult for the beginner because of its complexity.

Guru Yoga can also be performed in conjunction with one particular meditational deity, for example Buddha Maitreya.

In the space before us, we visualise a pure white cloud on which rests a golden throne surmounted by a lotus seat and moon-disc.

On this sits Buddha Maitreya in a position which indicates that he is about to rise.

His feet rest on a lotus footstool; his body is radiant and golden; his hands are in the Dharmacakra Mudra at his heart, and from them come two flower stems.

The flower on his right supports a Dharmacakra; the flower on his left a flask of nectar.

His ornaments are rich and brilliant. At the centre of his chest at his heart, is a small moon-disc on which stands the golden syllable MAI. Around this letter, in clockwise direction, is the Guru Mantra; surrounding this is the short Mantra of Buddha Maitreya; and around this is the extended Mantra of Buddha Maitreya.

If Guru Yoga is performed with Tara as the deity, we visualise in the same way a cloud, lotus seat, and moon-disc.

Seated on this is Tara in the position and with Mudra and ornaments as described in the Sadhanas.

At the heart of this white or green Tara is a white or green TAM; around it stands the Guru Mantra; and surrounding this is the Tara Mantra both in clockwise direction.

With the Guru Shakyamuni, visualise the seed syllable MUM.

If the Guru is visualised as Vajrapani, Vajradhara, or other deities, the procedure is the same, only the outward form, seed syllable, and Mantra differ.

The most important point to remember is that in whatever form they are visualised, the Guru and the deity are of the same nature.

The deity and everything else visualised are all manifestations of the Guru.

The purpose of visualising the Guru as a deity is that, since our minds are deluded, to visualise him in his ordinary form might decrease instead of increase our respect, whereas if we see him as an extraordinary being, our devotion and reverence will grow.

However, we may visualise him in his ordinary form, if to see him in such a way does not present us with this difficulty.

If the Guru is alive, we visualise a golden throne with two cushions instead of the lotus seat visualised only if he has passed away.

When we do this practice with the Guru in his ordinary form, we visualise the blue letter HUM at his heart, and around this only the Guru Mantra.

Next, we make whatever physical offerings we can, and chant the verses of the Seven Limb Puja, slowly and as melodiously as possible, while contemplating on their meaning.

After this, the Mandala offering is made seven or twenty-one times.

If there is sufficient time, the Mandala of thirty-seven heaps should be offered seven times.

Otherwise, the first offering should be the long one and the subsequent offerings should consist of the Mandala of seven heaps.

Then, with deep respect and faith, the Guru Mantra is recited during which we visualise light and nectar emanating from the seed-syllable and from the syllables of the Mantras at the Guru’s or deity’s heart which shower down upon our head.

Within the nectar and light are small radiant letters of the Guru Mantra, and tiny forms of the Guru or deity which are absorbed into the body at the crown of the head, just as snow becomes one with the water of a lake as soon as it falls on it.

As they are absorbed, we are cleansed of all impurities.

If it is primarily purification we seek, the light and nectar are visualised as white, whereas for physical and spiritual development they are seen as yellow.

For the acquisition of power, they are seen as red, and as blue if our purpose is to defeat and subdue inner and outer obstacles and evil. After this, we should imagine ourselves as completely pure.

During each meditation on Guru Yoga, the Guru Mantra should be recited at least one hundred and eight times, and the Mantra of the deity twenty-one times.

The practice is continued until the Guru Mantra has been recited one hundred thousand times.

At the end of the day, when the recitation of Mantras is concluded, all the emanations of the Guru return to their source.

Then we visualise the Guru on our head becoming smaller until finally he is absorbed into ourselves.

At this moment the Guru nature and our own become one.

The same procedure is followed if our visualisation of the Guru is in the form of a deity.

Between sessions of Guru Yoga during the day, the Guru or deity is not absorbed in this manner, so that when we begin a new period of meditation their form is remembered.

In this practice, devotion to our Guru and complete confidence in him are of primary importance.

At present there is a great disparity between our Guru’s nature and our own; by exerting effort to eliminate the obstacles which separate our nature from his, this disparity will diminish.

The attainment of union of our own nature and that of the Guru is the accomplishment of Guru Yoga.

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This concludes the explanation of the Extraordinary Preliminary Practices.

In order to practise Dharma, we should learn about the different traditions and, after finding one which is best suited to ourselves, we should follow it sincerely.

The Buddha came to fulfil the wishes of sentient beings, to end suffering, and to attain temporary and permanent happiness.

All the various levels of teachings were delivered to individuals of different capacities by the Buddha Shakyamuni, and they are similar in the respect that their aim is one.

Therefore, because there is nothing taught by the Buddha that is not beneficial, distinctions such as good and bad, high and low, cannot be made.

If any tradition was partially or totally wrong, then it could not have been taught by a Buddha. Moreover, to disparage the teachings is to disparage the master himself.

The Karma produced by such an action is called ‘abandonment of the Dharma’, and the Buddha has stated in many Sutras that its degree of heaviness cannot be compared with killing as many Arhats as there are grains of sand in the Ganges.

The practice of Dharma is for the abandonment of unskilful actions and for the collection of skilful ones.

If simultaneously, the teachings are disparaged, it is like taking poison to cure an illness.

Knowing this, we should be extremely careful and, whatever tradition we follow, it should be done according to our own capabilities, while respecting equally the other teachings.

Complete certainty concerning this can be found in such Sutras as the Saddharma Pundarika Sutra and the Samadhiraja Sutra.

May all sentient beings, my fathers and mothers, become endowed with happiness;

May all the lower realms be constantly empty;

May the prayers of all the Bodhisattvas be speedily accomplished.

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(Source: Rabten, Geshe. The Preliminary Practices of Tibetan Buddhism. Translated by Gonsar Tulku. Compiled by Georges Driessens. Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, 1974.)

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