THE KUSALI'S ACCUMULATION aggressor and victim, perceiving as deity and perceiving as demon, self and others-and all the resulting dualistic concepts of hope and fear, attachment and hatred, good and bad, pleasure and pain-you will find, as it is said: Neither deity, nor demon: the confidence of the view Neither distraction, nor fixation: the vital point of the meditation Neither acceptance, nor rejection: the vital point of the action Neither hope, nor fear: the vital point of the result When all concepts of anything to be cut and anyone to the cutting dissolve into the expanse of absolute reality where all things are equal, the inner harmful spirit of conceit is severed at the root That is the sign that you have realized the absolute and ultimate Cho I understand that there is no self, but still have gross concepts of "I." I have decided to renounce duality, but am beset by hopes and fears Bless me and all those like me who believe in a self That we may realize the natural state, the absence of self 307 Dudjom Rinpoche (1904-1987) An outstanding scholar and master of the Great Perfection, he held all the major Nyingma transmissions, discovered numerous spiritual treasures and was a prolific author and compiler of teachings He became the leader of the Nyingma school in exile, and taught extensively in the West and Far East as well as all over the Himalayan region This photograph was taken in Tibet He died at his home in the Dordogne, France, in 1987 CHAPTER SIX Guru Yoga, entrance-way for blessings, the ultimate method for arousing the wisdom of realization 233 First you followed a supreme Master and obeyed him; Then you practised, undertaking great hardships; Finally, your mind and your teacher's became one, and you inherited the lineage Peerless Teacher, at your feet I bow I THE REASON FOR GURU YOGA In order to practise true Dharma, it is of great importance first to seek an authentic spiritual friend, a teacher who has all the necessary qualifications Then you should obey his every instruction, praying to him from the very depths of your heart and considering him to be a real Buddha As one of the siitras says: It is through faith that absolute truth is realized Likewise, Atisa says: Friends, until you attain enlightenment you need a teacher, so follow a supreme spiritual friend Until you realize the natural state, you need to learn, so listen to his instructions 309 THE EXTRAORDINARY OR INNER PRELIMINARIES All happiness is the teacher's blessing, so always remember his kindness And Geshe Kharak Gomchung says: The teacher should be recognized as the source of all accomplishments, worldly and beyond the world and also: You may know the whole Tripitaka, but without devotion to your teacher that will be of no use to you Particularly in all the paths of the Secret Mantra Vajrayiina, the teacher has a unique and paramount importance For this reason, all the tantras teach the practice of Guru Yoga, and say that it is superior to all the practices of the generation and perfection phases In one tantra it says: Better than meditating on a hundred thousand deities For ten million kalpas Is to think of one's teacher for a single instant This is especially true in this particular vehicle, the heart essence of the natural Great Perfection, the vajra core-teaching Here it is not taught that the profound truth should be established on the basis of analysis and logic, as is the practice in the lower vehicles 234 Nor is it said that common accomplishments should be used in order to finally obtain supreme accomplishment, as in the lower tantras The use of the illustrative primal wisdom of the third empowerment to introduce true primal wisdom is not stressed, 235 as it is in the other higher tantras What is taught in this tradition is to pray with fervent devotion and complete faith to a supremely realized teacher whose lineage is like a golden chain untarnished by any variance with the samayas, to rely on him alone and to consider him to be a real Buddha; 236 in this way, your mind will merge completely with his By the power of his blessings being transferred to you, realization will take birth 237 As we have quoted before: Innate absolute wisdom can only come As the mark of having accumulated merit and purified obscurations And through the blessings of a realized teacher Know that to rely on any other means is foolish And Saraha says: When the teacher's words enter your heart 310 GURU YOGA It is like seeing you have a treasure in the palm of your hand Longchenpa, the Omniscient Dharma King, in his Finding Rest from Illusion, 238 wrote: In practices such as those of the generation and perfection phases, it is not the nature of those paths itself that brings liberation, for that depends on other factors, such as how one makes it a living experience and deepens one's practice In Guru Yoga, however, the pathby its very nature alone-awakens the realization of the natural state within one and brings liberation For that reason Guru Yoga is the most profound of all paths 239 The Tantra of the Array of Samayas says: Better than meditating for a hundred thousand kalpas On a deity with all the major and minor marks Is to think of one's teacher for an instant Better than a million recitations of the approach and accomplishment practices Is a single prayer addressed to the teacher And the Array of Ati: Whoever meditates on his kind teacher Above the crown of his head, In the centre of his heart Or on the palm of his hand Will have a thousand Buddhas' accomplishments The venerable Gotsangpa said: To practise Guru Yoga Exhausts all defects and perfects all attainments and also: There are many practices of the generation phase, But not one of them surpasses meditation on the teacher There are many practices of the perfection phase, But not one of them surpasses that total trust and surrender Drikung Kyobpa Rinpoche said: Unless the sun of devotion shines On the snow peak of the teacher's four kayas, 311 ... the teacher There are many practices of the perfection phase, But not one of them surpasses that total trust and surrender Drikung Kyobpa Rinpoche said: Unless the sun of devotion shines On the. .. will be of no use to you Particularly in all the paths of the Secret Mantra Vajrayiina, the teacher has a unique and paramount importance For this reason, all the tantras teach the practice of Guru... accomplishments The venerable Gotsangpa said: To practise Guru Yoga Exhausts all defects and perfects all attainments and also: There are many practices of the generation phase, But not one of them surpasses