Being true to the true guru. 2017
Read the PDF of this short piece of writing.
German translation. Dem wahren Guru treu sein
Being true to the true Guru
If the Guru is inseparable from the dharmakaya then she is the dharmakaya Guru and her manifestations arise from this unchanging pure ground.
If not, then this Guru is someone who hopefully, is on the path and who hopefully, is more advanced than you are.
In this latter case they will make mistakes since they are in samsara. They lack pure vision and due to their own karmic vision, what they experience is filtered through their own obscurations.
To believe that the Guru makes no mistakes is a practice. It is said that if faith is strong enough then even a dog’s tooth can emit light. But faith that can release the perverse investment of reification and false refuge is rare. Within duality you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.
Fake Gurus cause more trouble than fake news.
‘Guru’ is the presence of the dharmakaya whereas ‘teacher’ is a role that can be developed.
The Heart Sutra clearly shows that all that we encounter is empty and devoid of inherent self-identity.
Although ‘Guru’ is only a name applied by mind, if the mind is not understood then, due to ignorance, reification, and dualistic interpretation, the Guru and all appearances will be taken to be inherently real.
Then there is bias: this one is good and that one is bad. Within this view everything is relative. Only the dharmakaya Guru is able to shine through this authentically. The rest is the helpful or unhelpful theatre of the mind.
If meditating sky to sky is not possible then adopting the fixed position that the Guru is better than you is likely to become solidifying and confirmatory of duality. The Guru as superior is only useful as a method for opening to non-duality through utilising the tantric transformation of superior and inferior into equality within emptiness.
With pure vision the Guru can be perfectly imperfect, showing imperfections so perfect in their imperfection that they are perfectly just what they are.
If one is oneself trapped within karmic vision then again and again one must practise maintaining a vast view open like the sky and precise ethical behaviour, fine and fitting to each emergent situation.
The student has buddha potential, tathagatagarbha. This is the basis. They already have the key requirement.
For this potential to come to fruition, according to the tantric system both ripening initiation and liberating instruction are required.
For this to occur the guru has to have the power to bring this about. If they do not have this power they should not offer the initiation and instruction.
If unqualified people present themselves as gurus then they cheat themselves and others.
Those who support a cheating guru by validating them are colluding in deception. The inability to admit to mistakes is a fundamental failing.
If a student is deceived by a false guru the harm done belongs 90% to the cheating person and only 10% to the cheated person.
If the cheated student wakes up to the fact that they have been cheated this is helpful.
If the guru is a fully qualified and the ripening and liberation of the student does not occur
- this cannot be due to the buddha potential for it is unfailingly present
- this cannot be due to the guru for she is fully qualified
- therefore it has to be due to the defilements and karmic tendencies of the student or
- due to malevolent attacks by demons and the envious.
James Low. November 2017