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Guru Yoga--How Is It Supposed To Work?
compassionate_warrior
Veteran
What are the guidelines for safe, psychologically and spiritually healthy Guru Yoga today? What types of devotional offerings are not appropriate? Should students follow Milarepa's example, as some teachers instruct, and be prepared to offer the guru their body, speech and mind? Is putting the teacher on a high pedestal ever appropriate? Under what circumstances does one practice Guru Yoga, and under what circumstances is Guru Yoga not called for?
0
Comments
For example on page 95 in the chapter reliance upon the spiritual guide Geshe Kelsang explains the functions and qualifications of a guide.
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Plgr0kPcsGcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=joyful+path+of+good+fortune&hl=en&ei=4ko8TZhjhpeFB4jruKcK&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
Have a look.
http://www.nic.fi/~lapin/guruyoga.htm
We Theravadins are mentioned as follows:
"Within the Hinayana or Theravadin tradition the lama, (the teacher) is not of major importance. The teacher is regarded more as a learned spiritual friend, who is a normal human being but spiritually advanced more than oneself."
It would be best if I don't make any further comment other than to say that from my own offline experience TB eventually turned out to be the wrong path for me. Different strokes for different folks as the saying goes.
And the whole idea of Guru Yoga being mainly for men is absurd. Guru Yoga is aimed at the realization of nonduality between the teacher and the initiate, and that gender is not an issue. I alreadty explained it in another thread very generally. FWIW there are Guru Yoga of Vajrayogini, Machig Labdron, Vajravarahi, Tara, Yeshe Tsogyal, Mandarava, etc., and men have practiced them without any troubles at all.
@Dazzle
If you are going to paint that same brush you have been painting with over and over again over a misunderstanding of a few lamas, you are just going to hurt yourself by ignoring a plethora of teachings which may just benefit you, and have not discovered yet.
I'm not saying Guru Yoga was intended to be only for men, but that in practice, there have been problems, and it has been misrepresented on occasion. I'm trying to understand it better.
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It's important to have a clear understanding of how guru yoga works, what is reasonable for the guru to ask of the student and what isn't, and in what context is guru yoga practiced (we have an answer to the last question: only when studying Higher Yoga Tantra or the equivalent). There's much misinformation about this floating around, so it's important to set the record straight for the benefit of students.
I see this thread as a continuation of the "Teacher-Student Relationship" thread. In order to insure that students can pursue their studies safely, we need to have an accurate picture of what is reasonable for the teacher to demand, what actions are acceptable (slapping a student across the face with a shoe would not go over well with some students, but maybe that's the point. Is this a reasonable action? We have no way of knowing unless we ask. Students who come to Buddhism expecting a "religion of kindness" and then find themselves being hit over the head or slapped by their teacher can get turned off). Clearly, Guru Yoga and HYT isn't for everyone.
Personally, I'd feel a lot more comfortable if women students could study with female teachers. That's what I would do if I chose to study advanced practices.
I remember someone telling me that the old standards of offering the Guru "body, speech and mind" no longer hold in these modern times. Offering one's body in any manner is no longer accepted practice. And following the guru's wishes only applies to spiritual practice, I was told. I hope this helps. Maybe someone can elaborate.
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:bowdown: :bowdown:
Be well and at ease.
All you must do is study the scriptures and meditate on their wisdom. In time your experience and knowledge will grow even in the absence of a guru. The books become your guru, until your knowledge is ripe and you can teach yourself.
The Buddha taught his students the true path. That is, to learn and understand by experiencing for themselves the true way of the world.
"Don't blindly believe what I say. Don't believe me because others convince you of my words. Don't believe anything you see, read, or hear from others, whether of authority, religious teachers or texts. Don't rely on logic alone, nor speculation. Don't infer or be deceived by appearances."
"When I was a young man, near the beginning of my life, I looked around with true mindfulness and saw that all things are subject to decay. Thus all things are subject to death, sorrow and suffering. I became aware that I too was of the same nature, the nature of beginning and end. What if I searched for that which underlies all creation, that which is nirvana, the perfect freedom from unconditioned existence?"
"After much seeking for truth and knowledge the profoundness of reality came to me with a clarity never before known. I knew that most people never see this reality because they attach to the material aspect of the world. Illusions of self and other fill their vision. I also realized there are those with little dust limiting their vision."
- The Buddha :thumbsup:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an03/an03.065.than.html