Spring Teaching 2024 • Fifty Verses on the Guru • Day 4 •
20 February 2024
With warm greetings to everyone, the Karmapa opened the teaching session.
For ease of use, he explained, the teaching is structured according to the outline which Drogön Chögyal Pakpa gives in his Summary of the Fifty Verses on the Guru:
1. Introductory section
2. Main text
3. Concluding section
1. The introductory section is further divided into two parts:
A) The homage
B) The pledge to compose
1. The introductory section
A) The homage reads:
I bow down as is proper at the lotus feet of the Guru
Who is the cause of reaching the state of glorious Vajrasattva.
While the Sanskrit commentary Pancikā was the basis of the previous teaching session, the lion’s share of today’s teaching relies on Tibetan commentaries, in particular the oldest ones that are extant. His Holiness’s delineation centers upon two core commentaries. One is Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen’s commentary, Elucidation of the Fifty Verses on the Guru for the profound points he makes which set it apart from any other commentary. The other is the famous commentary by the great Je Tsongkhapa, Fulfilling All the Student’s Wishes: An Explanation of the Fifty Verses on the Guru.
‘The homage’ as explained in Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen’s commentary, Elucidation of the Fifty Verses on the Guru
Glorious – in this context, this implies that they possess the glory of non-dual wisdom.
Non-dual – applies to Vajrasattva.
Vajra – means emptiness.
Sattva – means non-referential great compassion.
Vajrasattva – is equated here to the wisdom of the inseparability of emptiness and compassion that is the vajra-like samadhi.
The state – is the level where the vajra-like samadhi becomes manifest.
The cause – refers to the cause for manifesting this Vajra-like Samadhi (the wisdom of inseparability of emptiness and compassion) and that is primarily:
-following the exalted guru
-receiving the instructions from them
-practicing the path
Therefore, achieving that unexcelled state of the Vajrasattva depends upon the guru.
One ought to pay homage to the lowest part of the guru's body, their feet. For this it is said that one prostrates at the lotus feet of the guru.
The opening line says: I bow down as is proper.
We prostrate to the guru who is worthy of prostration. One would prostrate to someone worthy of paying homage to, like Bhabilha for instance, in the manner of offering respect of one’s body, speech and mind.
‘The homage’ as explained in Je Tsongkhapa’s commentary, Fulfilling All the Student’s Wishes: An Explanation of the Fifty Verses on the Guru
Further, the Karmapa referred to the most well-known Tibetan commentary on the Fifty Verses written by Je Tsongkhapa who explains the same verse by asking:
Who or what are we bowing to?
To the lotus feet of the guru. – The author of the text, master Bhabilha, (Skt Vāpiladatta) is paying homage by bending the highest part of his body, the top of his head, down to the lowest part of the guru's body, his feet which are likened to the lotus – this is the display of an exceptionally deep respect.
How do we bow?
As is proper. – As stated in tantric scriptures, one is to bow not just in words but by way of the three gates: body, speech and mind, all of them together.
What are the traits of the guru who is worthy of these prostrations?
The guru is characterised by the phrase: [he] who is the cause of reaching the state of glorious Vajrasattva.
Glorious (Tib: pal; Skt: śrī ) – The 7th chapter of the 1st of the Two books of Hevajra explains it as the non-dual wisdom.
The root cause of our attaining the state of Vajrasattva is the guru who possesses the glory of non-dual wisdom – the object of our bowing down in reverence.
This is described in the explanation of the sixteen beings in the Vajra Pinnacle Tantra (Vajraśekhara-tantra), which says:
Why are they Vajrasattva?
The wisdom of the supreme awakening, is called a Vajra.
As he arises from the wisdom Vajra, he is called Vajrasattva.
So as this says, the supreme of the three awakenings, the dharmakāya that dwells inseparably from suchness is the Vajra.
The form kāyas which arise from it are the sattva. Such is Vajrasattva.
Vajra – represents the dharmakāya here.
Sattva – symbolises the two form kāyas.
In that manner, Vajrasattva is interpreted as the one who has both of these – the dharma and form kāyas inseparably. If you have the guru who actually is this indispensable, primary cause for achieving the state of the unification of the two kāyas – the state of Vajrasattva – you can attain that state in following such a guru.
That was the teaching on ‘the homage’, the first of the two parts of the introductory section.
Before moving on to the second part, ‘the pledge to compose’, the Karmapa presented a table with Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese and English translations of the key words.
B) The pledge to compose
Following them has been described in many stainless tantras.
I'll summarize it in brief. Listen respectfully to this. (1)
For the reference to Chinese sources, His Holiness primarily uses the translation by Ravikīrti (a translator from the Sung Dynasty) who translated from Sanskrit to Chinese.
However, today we are primarily looking at the Tibetan commentaries, so, for the current purposes, the translation by Tongshanyi, a translator from the Ming dynasty from the time of Kuomintang, is a very useful addition for the Chinese source reference.
Verse (1) ‘The Pledge to Compose’ as explained in the Sanskrit, Commentary on the Difficult Points of Following the Guru
The Sanskrit commentary poses the question: “After prostrating at the guru's lotus feet, what should you do?”
Stainless – refers to being utterly pure, faultless, with no flaws. Another way to explain the word stainless, in this regard, is the absence of the stains of non-virtue.
Has been described in many stainless tantras – The author of the Fifty Verses on the Guru didn’t write merely his own thoughts, making it up as he went along. Rather, he extracted the essential points from various tantras, which were taught by the teacher Vajradhara, and compiled them all here.
Tantra (within the compound bahutantragītā) – is that which is a continuity, according to the Sanskrit commentary.
In this framework, they're classified as three: the causal tantra, the resultant tantra and the tantra of means. Further, there are: kriya, charya, yoga, highest and unexcelled tantras. There are many different types of tantras. So, the proper and incorrect ways of serving the guru are explained in various tantras.
I shall summarize it in brief. He points out that it would be futile to simply show the entire tantras already composed by Vajradhara and so he has summarised the main points on the subject because most people lack the time, access or understanding to read them all.
There is a story:
When Atiśa was made the abbot of Vikramaśīla, which was the source of the Vajrayana in India at the time, he was the main master there. Many Vajrayana teachings were transmitted through the masters who studied at Vikramaśīla, the monastery which housed numerous texts on the Secret Mantra Vajrayana in its library.
At one point, Atiśa thought to himself that there was probably no Secret Mantra text which
he hadn't read. He was quite confident about this.
Then, one night, Tara appeared in his dream and enumerated various names of tantras, asking: “Have you ever read these?”
“Oh”, he answered “forget about reading them, I'd probably never even heard of those texts!”
Tara said: “You have the pride of reading all the tantric texts but you don't know them all, right? I have merely mentioned a few titles of tantras and you haven't even heard of them.”
When Tara put it like that, Atiśa’s pride deflated considerably.
On another occasion, in Tibet, following his visit to Tru, he went down to U-Tsang and visited the famous Samye monastery. There was a large library there which dated back to the time of the Tibetan emperors. Among the multitude of texts, there were many Indian manuscripts on the Secret Mantra. Reading these texts, he said, “There must be no end at all to the tantras of the Secret Mantra. I thought I'd seen all the Sanskrit texts in India but, here, there are so many texts, Indian texts, which I've never seen before.” So, he copied some of the Sanskrit manuscripts and sent them back to India.
If such a great scholar as Atiśa himself, who had first-hand access to the texts in Vikramaśīla, the home of myriad tantric texts at the time when Secret Mantra flourished there, kept discovering texts unknown to him – so what about us? It is far more difficult for us who have a much more limited access to the texts.
For this reason, Bhabilha took the actual essence of all of these, combined them all in one and taught in that way.
He ends the verse with: listen respectfully to this. What he suggests is that, having summarized the main points on following the guru, without mistake, from numerous precious texts difficult to find, it is very important for the fortunate students to receive them with respect.
Karmapa defined the three faults of a vessel as per the Sanskrit commentary, The Difficult Points of Following the Guru:
-being upside down
-unclean
-leaky
Therefore, one should listen without these faults and listen respectfully.
Verse (1) ‘The Pledge to Compose’ as explained in Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen's commentary
Following them – One way of understanding this expression is that, in his following the guru, he had learned from experience what the many stainless tantras say about the proper way to follow the guru.
Another way of viewing this is that the methods for following a guru appear in many different tantras. And there are many different ways.
Stainless tantras – The text relies on tantras which are not from non-Buddhists. These are the stainless words of the Buddha Vajradhara, who is not an ordinary being but free of the projections and denials of us ordinary sentient beings. So, they are stainless.
In many stainless tantras – This is to say that they’re taught in all tantras, of course, but he specifically refers to five (although, there are six by count: Vairocana, Vajroṣṇīṣa,Yamāntaka, Śrī-paramādi, Guhyasamāja and Vajrapanjara tantras).
It is said that the Fifty Stanzas is the one text which contains all the essential points.
Verse (1) ‘The Pledge to Compose’ as explained in Je Tsongkhapa’s commentary
The great Je Tsongkhapa depicts it in like manner. He asks: “Having bowed, what should we do?”
Following them – the way to follow the guru is not just by mere words but by listening with great respect as this encourages the listener.
Described in many stainless tantras – this is said in order to instil confidence in the authenticity, because the author didn’t just make something up but relied on the vast array of tantric scriptures.
Summarising it in brief – the author of the Fifty Verses condensed the information which is scattered over numerous and extensive tantric texts, into an orderly form and so Je Tsongkhapa notes the name of the tantra of origin on each shloka. He searched through all the tantras and gave the sources. This special way of writing sets the great Je Tsongkhapa’s commentary apart from any other commentary.
This concludes 1) the introductory session with its A) homage and B) pledge to compose.
2) The main text
To clarify the meaning of the main part of the text, His Holiness organised the topics in line with Je Tsongkhapa’s commentary combined with Drogön Chögyal Pakpa’s outline.
The outline according to Drogön Chögyal Pakpa:
1. The introductory section (with homage and pledge to compose)
2. The main text
3. The concluding section
The outline according to Je Tsongkhapa:
The manner of following the guru (the explanation and how to receive the explanation):
Rationale for following the guru (definitive and expedient)
He gives an overview and detailed explanation.
a) Overview
1. The logic for showing respect
2. The manner of showing respect
3. Examining the one who is the object of respect and the one who gives respect (in terms of characteristics or qualifications)
1. The logic for showing respect to the guru
In the three times, the tathāgatas who dwell in world realms in the ten directions
Prostrate to vajra-masters who have received the supreme empowerment. (v. 2)
This verse teaches the immense importance and greatness of the master.
Verse (2) as explained in the Sanskrit commentary in the Tengyur the Difficult Points of Following the Guru
Empowerment (Skt. abhiṣeka) – means ablution, it washes away the external stains of the body.
Supreme empowerment (Skt: abhiṣeka-agra) – here it implies that it is the foremost. It is the foremost cause for reaching the supreme, unexcelled result.
So when we talk about the supreme empowerment, it can be thought of either as:
1. all of the empowerments of Secret Mantra Vajrayana because they are all a cause for achieving the supreme result, or
2. the precious Word Empowerment (the 4th empowerment among: Vase, Secret, Wisdom and Word empowerments) because it is the pinnacle, the supreme among the four.
Who have received – These qualified vajra masters have already received the supreme empowerment and they possess those qualities.
Vajra master (Skt: vajrācārya) – Based on the Sanskrit commentary, this term can be construed in two ways:
1. Vajra – is the discipline of Vajradhara. So, because they're engaging in that discipline, they're called a vajra master. Or,
2. Vajra – symbolises the non-dual wisdom – the inseparable wisdom and compassion. Just like a vajra – this nondual wisdom cannot be split or broken by any other thing. As they bring the students who are appropriate vessels to the path of this non-dual wisdom, lead them and make them engage in that path - they're vajra masters.
Tathāgatas (Tib: deshin shekpa, Eng: thus-gone ones) – The Sanskrit commentary gives two interpretations:
1. They correctly know in all times, in all ways, everything knowable. They know all phenomena like a piece of fruit in the palm of their hand.
As they have gone down the path, they understand this path and so we need to follow them in that path to awakening. As they have gone down the path – they’re gone thus.
2. They speak exactly as appropriate to all students. They know what Dharma to teach in accord with students’ intentions, their family and their time. Their teaching is suited to the individual's inclinations, capacities and their interests.
In any case, tathāgata is another word for a buddha.
Ten directions (Skt: daśdiś)
- the four cardinal directions: east, south, west, and north
- the four intermediate directions: southeast, southwest, northwest and northeast
- nadir
- zenith
The world realms (Skt: lokadhātu) – this should be understood as the pure realms (Sukhāvatī for instance) and impure realms (such as this world) of all the Buddhas.
In three times (Skt: trikāla) – this context does not entail the three times of past, present and future, but actually, morning, midday and afternoon. On those three occasions, the buddhas come to the vajra master and prostrate to him/her.
Naturally, there's a doubt that comes up here. One might wonder: “Shouldn’t it be otherwise: that the vajra master prostrates to the buddhas? Why are they prostrating to the vajra master?”
The Sanskrit commentary gives two reasons:
1. A truly qualified guru is the body of Vajradhara. He is inseparable from Vajradhara. (This topic is described in more detail in the 22nd stanza.)
2. Vajradhara is inseparable from the nature of all the buddhas in ten directions.
There is an example of the importance of seeing the guru as the actual Buddha given in the Guhyasamāja-tantra, chapter 17:
Then the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Maitreya, prostrated to all the tathāgatas
and he asked this, “Bhagavan, how do all the tathāgatas and all the bodhisattvas view a master who has been empowered as Guhyasamāja, the great secret of the vajra of body, speech and mind of all tathāgatas?”
All the tathāgatas replied, “Son of noble family, all tathāgatas and all bodhisattvas view them as being the Bodhicitta Vajra. Why? The Bodhicitta Vajra and the master are not two and cannot be divided in two.”
The students ought to see the guru as Bodhicitta Vajra and not as an ordinary being. The qualified guru and Bodhicitta Vajra are indivisible in essence. That's why the buddhas pay respect to him/her.
Son of noble family, to teach how many in brief, all the buddhas and bodhisattvas who dwell and live and reside in the worlds of the ten directions, come in the three times and offer to the vajra master the offerings of all tathāgatas. They then return to their own Buddha realm and utter these words of the letters of vajra speech. ‘We are the fathers of all tathāgatas. We are the mothers of all the tathāgatas. We are the teachers of all tathāgatas’.
With regard to this point, Je Tsongkhapa explains:
The empowerment of Guhyasamāja also illustrates the empowerments of other tantras, so being empowered also indicates other vajra masters.
Bodhicitta Vajra is another name for Vajradhara.
A qualified guru who gives the empowerments of any tantra, not only the Guhyasamāja, is someone whom we should think of as a buddha. Bodhicitta Vajra is a synonym for Vajradhara.
In brief, as mentioned in the Sanskrit commentary here, this guru who gives you the empowerment of the Secret Mantra Vajrayana is inseparable from Vajradhara.
Verse (2) as explained in Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen’s commentary
This stanza is teaching why it's important for us to consider the guru as sacred.
It is only logical that, if the tathāgatas venerate the vajra master (who is either a buddha himself or an ordinary sentient being), then other ordinary individuals should certainly venerate him/her as well.
Then, he gives four different delineations according to four different tantras:
1. Vajroṣṇīṣa, 2. Guhyasamāja, 3. Māyāsaṃvara and 4. Vajrapanjara.
1. According to the kriyā tantra, the Vajroṣṇīṣa-tantra
Vajra master who has received the supreme empowerment is Buddha Dīpaṃkara.
Supreme empowerment is the vajra-like samadhi.
Vajra master Dīpaṃkara is the teacher of the buddhas in this fortunate aeon. When Shakyamuni was king Śūradatta in the city of Gunavat, the tathāgata Dīpaṃkara was the bodhisattva Sucandra. He was the master who gave Shakyamuni the bodhisattva vows. This was the time when Shakyamuni first realised bodhicitta. Later, when Dīpaṃkara awoke to buddhahood, he was the teacher for Shakyamuni and the other buddhas of this fortunate eon.
It is on that account that the tathāgatas of this fortunate aeon who have appeared and who will appear, Shakyamuni and others, prostrate to Dīpaṃkara in the three times of the day to repay their teacher’s kindness.
Likewise, all the future students who want to awaken to buddhahood should certainly follow the example of the masters of the past and also pay homage.
2. According to Māyāsaṃvara-tantra
Supreme empowerment is the complete vajra master empowerment. When both the student and master are ordinary individuals, once the empowerment is given and the master makes sure that the student receives the ten suchnesses and so forth, the student then becomes able to benefit beings by teaching the dharma and so forth. Thus, they become a vajra-master.
The tathāgatas paying homage pertains to the bodhisattvas who prostrate to a vajra master who is an ordinary individual. Here we are talking about the vajra master who is an ordinary individual and possesses all the qualifications of the vajra master and, here, the bodhisattvas prostrating to the vajra master is the same as tathāgatas prostrating to the vajra master.
To clarify: The bodhisattvas wear a crown ornament of the five tathāgatas, representing the five Buddha families. Because of that, when the Bodhisattvas prostrate to the vajra master, then the tathāgatas who are on their crowns are prostrating as well, saying: “Excellent! Excellent!”
A similar doubt as before may arise. One could ask: “How is it that if the bodhisattvas are prostrating, it is fine for them to prostrate to a vajra master who is an ordinary individual? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”
The elucidation given here is that the bodhisattvas begin to prostrate because they are pleased; they want to bring all sentient beings to buddhahood and the vajra master is actively helping.
Once you’ve aroused bodhicitta, you need to benefit sentient beings. Leaving it as mere aspirational bodhicitta is not enough. You need to actually engage in the activity of benefiting sentient beings. You also have to have engaged bodhicitta. You need to train in this.
And so, the vajra masters themselves who give the empowerments that ripen, teach Dharma,
give consecrations and so forth, are greatly benefiting many beings. In doing so, they lighten the burden of benefiting sentient beings which the bodhisattvas bear and thus bodhisattvas prostrate to them.
Some parents, unable to provide for all of their children, place a child into the care of relatives who feed them, cloth them, educate and raise them with love. Once the child is all grown up and returns to the parents, the parents are delighted and give thanks to the kind relatives.
Therefore, if the 10th level bodhisattvas prostrate to a qualified vajra-master who is an ordinary individual, so the ordinary students should certainly do the same.
3 and 4. According to both Guhyasamāja-tantra and Vajrapanjara-tantra (Eng: Vajra Dome, an explanatory tantra of the Hevajra-tantra)
Supreme empowerment – here described as encompassing the complete set of four empowerments.
Vajra master – is the vajra master who is, in this context, an ordinary individual who was a little lazy.
Tathāgatas who dwell in world realms of the ten directions – The interpretation here identifies them as the tathāgatas of the three times (past, present and future) who had received the empowerment from their master, practiced with extreme diligence and awoke to buddhahood before the master did. To repay his/her kindness, they prostrate in the three times (morning, noon and evening) to the guru who hasn’t achieved the buddhahood yet, due to being less diligent. The tathāgatas of the past prostrate to the masters of the past, and similarly, the tathāgatas of the present prostrate to the masters of the present and so is in the future.
There was a situation with Ānanda in the first council. He had memorized all the sutras, but even though he himself hadn't reached arhatship at that point, there were so many students he taught who consequently became arhats before the teacher did.
Verse (2) as explained in Je Tsongkhapa’s commentary
Supreme empowerment – is the causal ripening empowerment in this interpretation
There are three empowerments:
-the causal ripening empowerment,
-the liberating path empowerment
-the resultant empowerment, that is the liberation
In this setting, the supreme empowerment is the first, the causal ripening empowerment, because the passage is about the student showing respect to the master who has received the causal empowerment that ripens.
Supreme – refers to being pure, which is an empowerment given just as is taught in the tantras. It is a pure ritual and it is pure because it stems from the pure tantras.
Vajra master who has received the empowerment – From the fifth part (out of 40 instructions) of The Heads of Grain Pith Instructions (Jigme Jungne Bepa’s commentary on the Saṃpuṭa-tantra):
Vajra means bodhicitta, and the one who displays worldly and transcendent conduct because of having that nature is the vajra master, the guru.
Vajra master means the one who teaches the worldly and transcendent path with that bodhichitta.
It is for this reason that the tathāgatas who dwell in the ten directions come to such a masterat the three times of the day and prostrate which, naturally, implies that other students should certainly prostrate as well.
Je Tsongkhapa quotes the 17th chapter of Guhyasamāja (mentioned earlier) and also explains it in line with the 10th chapter of The Net of Illusion (Skt: Māyājāla-tantra), as well as according to many scholars and siddhas including Candrakīrti, Cilupa, Śāntipa and Vimalagupta who agree with the quotations from the tantras.
But, in the great commentary on the Kālacakra-tantra, called The Stainless Light (Skt: Vimalaprabhā), the illustration differs somewhat. In this setting, the verse is given two interpretations, definitive and expedient.
The vajra words in these profound texts have many different facets and, correspondingly, different explanations. That is why we can’t call such different explanations contradictory. But, it is worth noting that those explanations are not to be combined with one another because it wouldn’t be right within the particular context.
Definitive explanation:
Supreme empowerment – the unchanging bliss of Mahāmudrā – this is the guru’s actual attainment of the last of the four empowerments.
Vajra master who has achieved this supreme of the four empowerments, the unchanging bliss of Mahāmudrā, is Buddha Shakyamuni.
Tathāgatas – Buddha Shakyamuni is the supreme master, hence the bodhisattvas of the ten directions prostrate to him in the three times of the day. When the Bodhisattvas of the three times (past, present and future) prostrate to him at the three times of the day (morning, noon and evening) – this becomes an act of tathāgatas prostrating because the five aggregates of the bodhisattvas are the five tathāgatas.
Also, the tathāgatas sit on the-crowns of the bodhisattvas’ heads as the lords of their buddha families. When the bodhisattvas prostrate to the Buddha Shakyamuni, then the tathāgatas on the crowns of the bodhisattvas’ heads, as well as the five aggregates, are also prostrating to the Buddha.
This explains receiving the actual supreme empowerment which the guru has.
The expedient explanation
The student's body is called the ‘world realms of the ten directions’, and likewise, their five aggregates are called by the names of the five tathāgatas. This is another way of understanding why a student should prostrate to the guru.
To explain a critical point, the Karmapa cites from the commentary by Mipham Rinpoche on the great commentary on the Kālacakra-tantra called The Stainless Light.
These days, those who lack even the transmission, let alone the empowerment, who are greedy for the samaya substances – with a lot of attachment to material things - take the position of a master and pour water from the vase onto people’s heads. There is no certainty that all of them have true bodhicitta and deserve prostrations from all the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the three times. A qualified guru is the one with all the qualifications written in tantras.
His Holiness elucidated a statement by Tsongkhapa highlighting it as an extremely critical point. In this time of degeneration, there are many fake gurus. They don’t think about sentient beings nor do they think about the teachings. They manage to deceive many students who don’t examine much, those who don’t really know what is going on. One must scrutinise the guru’s qualifications. Only upon a lot of examination and verifying their qualities should one follow a guru.
The Karmapa pointed out:
The guru that we should consider to be so important is not just anyone who's given the name Lama. Not everyone who is known around the world as being a great Lama, is a great Lama.
It's something you have to look for with your own intelligence. You must get some knowledge and an appropriate level of understanding.
To get back to Je Tsongkhapa’s commentary, the Gyalwang Karmapa explains the qualities of the qualified guru with a quote from the Ultimate Service Tantra (Skt: Śrī-paramārtha-seva-tantra):
They destroy samsara for students who have qualities. They show their body to be the world of Brahma. They are the glorious guru; there is no other glorious guru. Infinite buddhas also always venerate them. Buddhas and bodhisattva in the directions always bow to them.
In Atiśa’s Compendium of the Sūtras (which is not a Secret Mantra Vajrayana text) there is a citation from the sutra called The Heap of Jewels, where the Buddha speaks to Ānanda. “Ānanda, if a bodhisattva is in a carriage enjoying and delighting in the five sensory pleasures, and they have no other driver of the carriage, Ānanda, the tathāgata will place that bodhisattva’s carriage on their head.”
They're a bodhisattva, but they have the appearance of an ordinary person delighting in the five sensory pleasures. They are sitting in a carriage and appear as if they are enjoying form, sound, scent, taste and touch. They're eating nice food and wearing beautiful clothes, surrounded by many beautiful people. However, because they are a bodhisattva, if there is no driver in the carriage, the tathāgata will place the carriage on their head. This means that, even though they might look like an ordinary person, they are the actual bodhisattva who benefits beings with their kindness. For such a being, different rules apply. For such a being, the Buddha will actually come to drive the carriage and the carriage will move.
Similarly, as Je Tsongkhapa illustrates, the qualified vajra master who has received the supreme empowerment is supported and championed by the buddhas.
With this profound point about the vajra master, His Holiness the Karmapa brought the Day Four teaching session to a close.