Jump to content
Dharmaling Forums
Sign in to follow this  
Wangmo

Relationship with a spiritual teacher

Recommended Posts

Tashi Delek!

 

I apologise as this question has probably been answered already on this forum, but ... :(

 

I notice over and over again that some people regard themselves as advanced practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism and seem to have taken the highest Tantric initiations (like the Kalachakra, for example), but their relationship with a spiritual teacher seems to be very undefined ... They seem to travel from one place or initiation to another, and maybe listen to advice from real Lamas – but it doesn't seem like they have one Lama who is their root guru. I even heard someone claimed that »everybody is his teacher«; or some people regard as their teacher a Lama with whom they have very little contact, not to mention that I heard some have teachers who are "outside incarnation". 8O

But I think that to take the highest Tantric initiations, it isn't enough just to meet some Lamas and talk to them (no matter how qualified they are), but to establish a close relationship with one Lama who will know the person well and then also be able to act if he sees that something is going amiss in the mind of the student, for example after taking an initiation? So this means that on the part of the student, this relationship must be very clearly defined as a relationship of respect and trust towards a concrete, living Spiritual Guide?

 

And another question which seems to be related to this one: as I see many people say they are doing Ngöndro practices, is this something a person does when s/he feels it is time, or is it also defined by this same Spiritual Guide, or?

 

Thank you. :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Tashi Delek.

 

There are more types of the practicioners. These, you are describing, are probably those, who heard in their past lives some of the lessons, some of the wisdoms from those, who were already far ahead regarding the spiritual development. And these lessons were sown in practitioner`s mental continuum. Such practitioners feel within some kind of the unrest, which makes them unsatisfied with the usual, common solutions of the questions. This unrest urges them to look for the truth here and there, knowing that the truth is somewhere. Often they would lose their`s spiritual way, running after not proper teachers or from one teacher to the another, they get some truth here, some truth there,...But finally, if they would find an anchorage and start to gain the knowledge peacefuly, they would be able to use it in the next incarnation and make a further step on their spiritual path.

 

Best regards,

 

Simona

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Tashi delek,

 

Indeed the necessity of having a root Lama is fundamental in Tantra. We can say that one shouldn't even enter the highest Tantra without a clearly defined root Guru.

 

Of course, as Simona points it, if one has already created karmic connexion with Dharma in past lives, it make the whole process of understanding the necessity of a Master-to-Disciple more obvious and easily accepted. Nevertheless, some practitioners in this life, can also have enough spiritual maturity and understanding to engage themselves correctly and according to the Dharma Text.

 

As the prediction of Padmasambhava goes, some people, with poor knowledge of Dharma, delluded views, no guidance (in term of Master-to-Disciple relationship) are taking themselves as able to teach or guide the others! Blinds guiding blinds.

 

Ngöndro are the preliminaries. Yet, it is quite a commitment. So, one engage into these practices when well grounded in Dharma, having time and strengh, and surely in accordance with one's Lama's advises.

 

All the best, Gelong T. Shenphen

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Tashi Delek dear Rinpoche,

 

thank you very much. :)

 

Indeed the necessity of having a root Lama is fundamental in Tantra. We can say that one shouldn't even enter the highest Tantra without a clearly defined root Guru.

But I noticed many Initiations are given to whoever comes to them, without checking if the people have a proper relationship with a root Guru etc. This seems strange, but as I understand, it is the responsibility of the practitioners to not go where they are not supposed to go? 8O

 

I am asking this because with some people whom I met and heard they took some high Tantric initiations, but it didn't seem they had a clear relationship with a Spiritual Guide, I often had the feeling they behave very strange - on one side they seem confused, having difficulty to establish normal communication or understand what is being said to them - and at the same time having a very high opinion about themselves, behaving like some kind of omniscient beings, some seemed to think they are on the same level as high Gurus ... 8O

 

I thought that surely such character was the reason why they thought they can ignore the clearly set rule of having a Spiritual Guide before entering higher Tantric initiations.

But then I began to wonder that perhaps it is the other way around: can such "insanity" (this is the only word I could find for such state of mind) actually be caused by taking Initiations without proper guidance? :?:

 

Thank you. :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Tashi Delek.

 

[align=justify]We all have experiences of transiency of the world and the life we are living. Instead of going into deeper level, at which one knows that it is all right to let the things go, one can put all the effort to maintain the appearance of the stability. In this case, as far as the role of the spiritual guide is understood as being a kind of an ally in supporting the one`s appearance of the stability, so long the relation would be maintained. [/align]

 

[align=justify]At this point, the lesson is half learned and experiences are not fully digested. Being stuck somewhere “between” could be recognized also in one`s behaviour, which could be described with one word as rigidity. When one become or is rigidious, one would most probably disconnect the relation with the spiritual guide or think that one does not need the spiritual guide. [/align]

 

[align=justify] When one knows something from the experience, one can not go back any more. So, the only way is to go on...and the life will always oblige sooner or later.[/align]

 

Best regards,

 

Simona

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi everybody !

 

As I've no exeperiences concerning Master and disciple, I'll just take as an exemple the book : The Tibetan Book of living and dying writed by Sogyal Rinpoche, where he speaks about his "relationship" with his "Teacher", "Master". It's very interressant, because it still not like a definition like in a dictionnary but it's more deeper ...

 

All the best,

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Tashi Delek!

 

For some time now I've been thinking about the master-disciple relationship from the perspective of everyday life. To what extent should I "bother" my teacher with the details of my everyday life? It seems that some people ask their teacher about every decision they are about to make, regardless of how mundane it seems...

 

Best wishes,

 

Dechen

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Tashi Delek,

 

Here is Fifty Stanzas on Guru Devotion which puts things in the right perspective.

The Master-Disciple relationship is based on complete faith and trust, with Bodhicitta as its main compass. :) Minor everyday personal things may not be that important, if they don't intervene with practice of Dharma.

 

Best regards,

Khyenrab

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...