Samaya – The sacred bond with the Guru

One year and three months ago I had the luck to meet my present teacher. That time I knew so little about the importance of having a guru in a spiritual path and even less of how is working this kind of relationship.

When i met my teacher for first time, I think he was the one who find me first. That time I was just freshly arrived in Nepal, and living in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery were everything was such a strange, new reality for me. Looking back at that first meeting, I had such a criticized mind and of course I was lacking of wisdom and knowledge of how things working in a karmic level inside conventionality. He was the first monk who talked to me and then I didn’t see him again, until I was ready for him.

With my Guru, on a pilgrimage at Pharping , Nepal.

In this time between my first and second meeting, I was really into a fusion of studies and experiences from the world that was presented to me through  Tibetan Buddhism. My faith was increasing and when everything was placed to where it should be, the right conditions appeared and had my second meeting with my teacher. 

That day I came out from the monastery to have a walk and then I saw him from afar. It was an experience beyond words. As much as I was getting closer to him a feeling of joyfulness was increasing.  A river of unconditional love was running from my heart to my Teachers heart and vice versa! A feeling that I never had experienced before. So clean and so strong.

In Tibetan Buddhism you can have many spiritual teachers, that can teach you the Dharma but you can have only one Root Guru. The difference is that the Root Guru is much more than a teacher is the embodiment of the Buddhadharma itself! Is the one that goes beyond and can transmit realizations through his actions and teachings, if the student is ready and open to them. 

The 3 kinds of a Guru. 

The Guru assume an ordinary form. He appears to has the same delusions as we have, such as anger, desire, hatred and so forth. But because of this ordinary form we have a chance to accumulate merit and wisdom. If the Lama remains in the dharmakaya state  then we wouldn't have any opportunity to listen to the teachings of the Buddha, practice and reach the omniscient state. 

The Guru assume a Nirmakaya manifestation, which is the physical aspect of an enlightened being. Awakening beings who have reached one of the 10 grounds ( Bhumis ) so their wisdom and love are beyond ordinary level, therefore have excellent qualities to guide the disciples.

The Guru assume a Sambhogakaya form, which is a non-material form, the body of enjoyment.  Is the unity of compassion and wisdom. The form of Sambhogakaya cannot be perceived by ordinary beings, for one needs to have a purified mind both to perceive it and to communicate it. 

Each disciple finds his teacher according to his level of realization. His Holiness the Dalai Lama often says, that someone needs to check a Lama for 12 years before commit himself to a guru-disciple bond but there are occasions that there is such a karmic connection with a teacher, that is inevitably this bond. 

Milarepa the Great Yogi of Tibet, image taken from here

Like in the history of the great yogi Milarepa , who attain enlightenment by all the transmissions and instructions he had from his guru, Marpa , the translator. When Milarepa heard for first time the name of Marpa, tears of joy filed up his eyes and love into his heart. Before he even see him in real he knew that it will be his teacher, and his perseverance until he can be accepted from Marpa is such an incredible inspiration for all of us here that we feel dissatisfy because we cannot see often our teacher or  attend his teachings. We think that only being close to him, we can have a good practice or realizations. Of course to be with your own guru is such a blessing but also we are often holding a wrong view about the essence of our guru.
The true essence of our guru's mind, is compassion and wisdom, this state of clarity  is ultimate the essence of our own mind, therefore, the supreme guru is never separate from us. He is never gone is always present !  
These days , the travels are very easy to be done, the Dharma is available in the West world, and teachers very often visiting centers around the world. So basically we are very fortune. Some hundreds years ago, in order to receive just 4 lines of a Dharma teaching the disciple would cross borders of lands and mountains by their own feet. Or like the Noble Lama Atisha, would travel by ship for 13 months in order to receive instructions on the Bodhicitta training from the Sublime master from Sumatra, Dharmakirti. Maybe nowdays things are a little bit more easy but in terms of purification i think back then, was more intense.

Simple points of checking the teacher. 
A teacher is someone who is compassionate, proficient in the three trainings of ethics, meditation and wisdom and he is well versed in Buddhadharma. Is someone who can answer our questions directly and clarify  our doubts, and whose outward appearance and behavior indicates an inner realization. But this doesn't mean that behave or speak strangely to show that is an awakening mind. In same way like his Holiness even he is a living Buddha, he always call himself a simple monk!    

A karmic connection that never ends.
When the teacher passes away doesn't mean that the guru-disciple bond is vanished. The root guru stays forever and the karmic connection is so strong that will find a way this imprint to ripen in next lives. The most important we can do as disciples for our teacher is to offer them our practices and relaizations. It is said that if a student can become a Bodhisattva following the instructions of his teacher, the merit that is gathered for our Teacher is infinite! Isn't such a great way, to give such a present to our kind teacher, and offer the fruition of our practices ?   

 We need to see that our teacher is the one who constantly aspire us to put Dharma practice in action and the one who every time gets us on the right track when we lost. He is teaching us what we need to adopt and what to abandon and make possible our progress on the Path and ultimately he make possible the way to the Buddhahood.

Niyamas a higher cultivation of the psychic energy

image taken from here

Shaucha – Purification

The purification in Buddhist terms refers to a clean clear mind, free from the 2 obscurations:

The afflictive obscuration covers our mental activity with disturbing emotions that cannot perceive reality without one of the 84.000 afflicted emotions and their attitudes and so prevent us from the samsaric liberation.

The cognitive obscuration  covers our mental activity with wrong views of cognizing all phenomena as true existent and therefore prevents us from the state of full awakening , the Omniscient state.

In the yoga world purification mainly refers to the purity of the body and of the subtle inner winds ( prana ) and channels ( nadis ) which results to the awaking of inner sacred energy which leads to a clear state of mind where you can find a higher level of awareness.  

Santosha - Contentment, satisfaction.

In our lives we suffer from covetousness, we are never satisfy with our body, our qualities, our education, our wealth and our social status. Therefore that pattern follows and gives rise to distorted expectations towards our practices in meditation and/or in our asana practice. The counter action to this unbalance is the practice of equanimity. Seeing everything as they are, and seeing that everyone, exactly as we do, try to find happiness and avoid suffering. So we have nothing to fear, nothing to feel that we need more or less as we all are in the same cyclic existence and we want to be free.

Tapas - fire, heat.

This for me can be translated to two aspects.

The fire that is cultivated through great enthusiastic perseverance, to keep cultivating great aspiration for the purpose of our practices and secondly is the process of transmutation, an inner alchemy that burns away our ignorance. In Buddhism that secret practice in the higher Tantra called Tummo and in Sanskrit called Caṇḍālī

 

Svadhyaya – A study conducive to self knowledge.

Refers specifically to the study of ancient scriptures or sutras. Why? What is the meaning of studying the scriptures ? To contemplate on the meaning of ancient and transcendental wisdom only enhance virtue into our mind stream. This positive and elevating influence is the true attitude we need to have, the root of a successful spiritual practice. 

Ishvarapranidhana – Surrender to a higher power.

The strong concept of devotion to our Spiritual Master, in Buddhist terms is the foundation of the Path that can bring us to the cessation of suffering. Faith and devotion doesn’t mean that is a blind faith, but to respect and to abide to the spiritual master’s instructions as long as they are wholesome ones and according to the Dharma. As our master is the medium for our training in ethics, meditation and wisdom we need to overcome the huge obstacle of seeing faults in our teacher and to let go of that negativity is by understanding that our impure body-speech-and mind cannot see the Buddha itself and receive direct teachings from him, even t the quality of all the Buddhas is everywhere. We are bound in this body and its limitations and with a cloudy mind by delusions; we cannot see that in fact our master is the Buddha for our level. Is the one who impart his knowledge and teach us what we need to adopt and what to abandon in our practice, and with great love and compassion teach us the path of illumination. The wisdom of course comes from personal experience and a long effort but how to learn to listen and respect our teacher is only in our hands. 

Check the post about Yamas on an older post : Ethics - Vinaya the basis of every spiritual practice