Following the Guru: Cultivating Devotion and Abandoning Pride
16 March 2025
The Essential Characteristics of a Qualified Guru
During the third day of the Spring Teachings, His Holiness the Karmapa pointed out that sometimes there are too many characteristics of a guru taught in the treatises, which can become a source of confusion if we cannot properly understand them or grasp the main points.
He then gave a presentation of a few masters’ summaries of the essential characteristics of the guru. The first was Gampopa, who had practiced the teachings on the Kadampa pith instructions and the practice lineage of Milarepa in union, spending most of his life practicing in retreat. He became recognized as the great founder of the Tibetan Practice lineage. Karmapa emphasized, “Gampopa's teachings were not mere words, but were connected to his own experience of actual practice, making them particularly beneficial.”
In Gampopa's dharma talk called the "Excellent Deeds," (Tib. ཚོགས་ཆོས་ལེགས་མཛེས་མ།) which condensed the many characteristics of a guru taught in both sutras and tantras into three characteristics:
The first is that they must have an unbroken lineage of the word, the second is that they have a good character and great compassion, and third that they have given up lesser attitudes and are a basis for rousing devotion.
Lord Dusum Khyenpa said in a dharma talk:
There is not a single scripture in the secret mantra or the prajñāpāramitā that does not speak of the characteristics of a lama. In Gampopa’s words, “You need someone who has cut the ties of dependence on this life, who can guide others on the path through great wisdom, and who, because of great compassion, does not forsake their students.”
These concise words of Gampopa were considered extremely beneficial for actual practice.
Karmapa then turned to Lord Tsongkhapa, who was highly learned in all texts on sutras and tantras, and first looked for a source in the commentaries on the sutras and tantras when he taught. Tsongkhapa writes in his commentary Fulfilling All the Student’s Hopes: An Explanation of the Fifty Verses on the Guru (Tib.བླ་མ་ལྔ་བཅུ་པའི་རྣམ་བཤད་སློབ་མའི་རེ་བ་ཀུན་སྐོང།): To summarize these points, intelligent students should take as their master someone who has five qualities: great compassion; stable, unshakable faith in the Mahayana; knowing the treatises of the common and special vehicles well; being thoroughly skilled in the steps of guiding disciples; and having tamed their senses by restraining from negative actions of the three gates.
These five qualities were considered essential for a guru, and finding someone with these qualities would make them worthy of being taken as a master.
Next, Karmapa referenced Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye, who had studied teachings across different traditions including Sakya, Gelug, Nyingma, and Kagyu. According to his Treasury of Knowledge (Tib. ཤེས་བྱ་ཀུན་ཁྱབ་མཛོད།), there are five characteristics of a guru:
The characteristics of a guru are that their lineage must be unbroken from Vajradhara to the present and they must have no stains of samaya; they should remain within the discipline of their vows and samaya; they must have pith instructions that have been passed down in the lineage; they must know the meaning of the word and treatises in general and in particular of the tantras; and they should have a compassionate altruistic mind.
Karmapa clarified that in the context of the secret mantra Vajrayana, although there are six different types of gurus, the common understanding of a guru primarily refers to one from whom one receives an empowerment. Regarding the minimum characteristics required for such a guru, we can refer to Tsongkhapa's Great Stages of the Path of Mantra (Tib: སྔགས་རིམ་ཆེན་མོ།):
The absolutely necessary characteristic as the Tibetan scholars say, is that they must have received the empowerments in full, dwell in samaya and their vows, and by seeing the practice of the lineage of gurus, know the ten suchnesses and be knowledgeable about the rituals of giving empowerment. They must have completed the approach, and be allowed or not prohibited by the deity. They definitely must have these three qualities.
Following a Guru
After outlining the stances of Gampopa, Tsongkhapa, and Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye, Karmapa pointed out two feelings that might arise. First, when we see the many characteristics of a guru that are taught, we realize an authentic guru is as rare as a buddha; we might then wonder to what degree we would be able to think of the guru as an actual buddha.
The second feeling is the realization that finding a guru fulfilling all these characteristics as taught in Vajrayana would be incredibly difficult.
Karmapa then quoted from the Collection of Inspired Sayings (Udānavarga):
People are ruined by following the lesser.
Following one’s equal, one remains the same.
Following the best, one gains the highest.
Therefore we must follow those who are the best.
This explains that a guru should be someone superior to ourselves in qualities, rather than someone of equal or inferior qualities. He pointed out that it would be difficult to find someone without any faults who possesses all the positive qualities. Karmapa said, “We need to measure them; it’s like putting them on a scale. If the faults are more, we should not follow them. If the qualities outweigh the faults, then following such a person as a guru will be appropriate.”
From The Ultimate Approach (Skt. Paramārthasevā):
Due to the age of strife, gurus have mixed qualities and faults.
They are not entirely free of misdeeds.
Therefore, examine well whether they have more qualities,
And then the children should follow them.
During this age of the five degenerations, gurus are a mixture of qualities and faults. Therefore, we need to compare their qualities and recognize that someone who has more qualities is worthy of following.
His Holiness emphasized, “You can’t just simply follow any lama. Not everyone who is called by the name of ‘lama’, who is able to hold a vase in their hand, is the sort of guru you should follow. The reason for this is because we follow the guru to fulfill our wishes not just for this lifetime, but also for our future lifetimes.”
Given this, he advised that we need to maintain an impartial or objective attitude and examine whether the guru has the characteristics. We should not follow someone merely because in the short term we have some sort of feeling, or because someone tells us, "This is a good guru" or, "This is a good lama." Neither should we follow a guru simply because our parents or elders instruct us to do so. Some people might insist that we must go along and take empowerment from a particular guru, but we should not just agree to it.
He explained, “Before following a guru, we must be incredibly careful. Once we have started following a guru, we need to remain stable. No matter what circumstances occur, we need to keep our faith and samaya.” Even if we become sure that the guru that we have started following does not have the necessary characteristics, we should simply distance ourselves from them instead of criticizing or speaking badly of them. Karmapa cautioned that this would ruin the circumstances that would allow us to meet a good guru in the future.
The Guru and Student Connection
Next, what benefit comes from finding a guru who has these qualities, and why should we look at all these characteristics? Gampopa said in his String of Pearls: A Collection of Dharma Talks (Tib: ཚོགས་ཆོས་མུ་ཏིག་གི་ཕྲེང་བ།):
Thus, when a qualified guru and a receptive student come together, all the qualities can be accomplished in just an instant.
Likewise, from Gampopa's Questions and Answers with Düsum Khyenpa (Tib. དུས་གསུམ་མཁྱེན་པའི་ཞུས་ལན།):
It is just the nature of things that when a guru with realization gives genuine blessings to an authentic student, all the qualities will arise as if being heaped on all at once. They will receive the blessings of all gurus of the three times. They will receive the blessings of all the baskets of scripture. They will receive the blessings of all the buddhas and bodhisattvas. All the dakinis and dharma protectors are included in that.
In general, all Mahayana dharma arises from blessings. Within that, all the dharma of the Secret Mantra arises from blessings. In particular, Naropa’s dharma, the Kagyu lineage, arises from blessings. This lineage of mine is a transmission of blessings of continual siddhas. The Kagyu have spread, and the earlier ripen and liberate the later. The later ones cherish the earlier like jewels in the crown or like eyeballs.
This demonstrates that even if we have no qualities, we can still become accomplished because the guru has all the characteristics and qualities. This is because it is the lineage of blessings.
In addition, Tsangpa Gyare said in a song:
If you do not lack devotion for the lord,
Even if you do not know the dharma, that’s enough.
Even without instructions, that’s enough.
Even if you can’t meditate, that’s enough.
As a substitute for the yidam, that’s enough.
As dakinis and dharma protectors, that’s enough.
For gathering the yakshas’ wealth, that’s enough.
For sponsors and places, that’s enough.
As a precious jewel, that’s enough.
This shows how genuine devotion will give us everything. In general, the guru is important to the Secret Mantra. In particular, in the Kagyu lineage, the connection between guru and student is extremely important. The guru blesses the student, and the student arouses devotion for the guru. This relationship is incredibly significant, as can be seen from the lives of the previous Kagyu masters and their writings.
Karmapa asked, “If we find a guru who has these characteristics, what should we be careful about when following them?” He proceeded to explain this by combining the Fifty Verses with the outline given in Tsongkhapa's commentary Fulfilling All the Student’s Hopes.
The teachings on how to follow the guru have two parts: 1. Abandoning disrespect, and 2. How to be respectful.
The first of these has four different points: 1. Abandoning criticism and denigration, 2. Abandoning upsetting the guru, 3. Explaining the unseen faults, and 4. A summary of those.
Abandoning disrespect for the guru includes three aspects: denigration, criticism, and upsetting the guru.
Karmapa explained that once we find a qualified guru with all the characteristics previously discussed, and receive empowerments, transmissions, and teachings from them, we have formed a connection of guru and student.
He shared a story from the life of Drukpa Kunley. Some people asked Drukpa Kunley if he would go to a guru who was giving many empowerments. Drukpa Kunley replied, "If I can take the empowerment but don't have to keep the samaya, but will still reach enlightenment, then I'll go and take the empowerment. Otherwise, if I take the empowerment and then I have to keep the samayas that are explained in the tantras, I'm afraid that I can't keep the samaya." He added, "I can't just go and take empowerments from whatever lama comes by."
If we look at this from the outside, we think about keeping samaya as doing what the guru says or not having wrong views. Karmapa stressed that this is not so easy: “If we have to do what an authentic guru says, then doing anything that is not dharma is basically breaking their words.”
When we talk about the samaya of the Secret Mantra, there are tens of millions of them. However, the main aspect of samaya comes down to the guru. Gampopa said, “When following a qualified guru, this is the ultimate samaya of the path of the Secret Mantra.” Karmapa explained that we need to keep this samaya assiduously; it is incredibly important to keep the samaya of the guru's body, speech, and mind.
The need for keeping samaya is not like keeping the present day law of a country, where you will be punished if you do not follow the rules. There are many aspects to keeping samaya, making it complicated and difficult. Some people want to practice Vajrayana but worry about not being able to keep the samaya and therefore avoid the practice altogether.
Karmapa pointed out that, unlike human-made laws where breaking them leads to punishment, the precepts and samaya are connected to the student's own practice of the dharma. The scholars and siddhas of India and Tibet taught samaya according to their own experience. He explained:
They encountered difficulties because they didn’t keep samaya. It is actually linked to their own experience. It’s not like someone writing down what they thought and making up the rules. If we don’t keep samaya, difficulties arise; if we keep it, great benefits arise. This is why keeping samaya is assiduously emphasized.
He clarified that samaya is something both the student and the guru need to keep. Some people mistakenly think that samaya applies mainly to what students do, while gurus can do whatever they want. This is incorrect because the guru is also the student of another guru.
According to the first of the fourteen root downfalls:
Because the vajra holders said
That accomplishment follows from the master,
Therefore, to denigrate them
Is taught to be the first root downfall.
Denigrating or criticizing the guru is the first root downfall of samaya. Likewise, in the Fifty Verses, the first thing taught is that we need to abandon denigrating and criticizing the guru. It then teaches how to follow the guru and provide them with service and respect.
Verse 10 reads:
Those who, having become their student,
Intentionally deride such lords
Have denigrated all the buddhas.
They'll reap perpetual suffering.
Karmapa then explained this according to Tsongkhapa's commentary Fulfilling All the Student’s Hopes. Once we follow a guru with all the characteristics, we will experience perpetual suffering if we criticize or speak badly of that guru. Deriding the guru could be such as saying, "That guru is immoral; they don’t keep their discipline," or considering them lacking in diligence or qualities. If we think about it, making offerings to the vajra master has the same benefit as making offerings to all buddhas, but similarly, criticizing the guru is the same as criticizing all buddhas. Therefore, when we criticize the guru, it is an incredibly grave offence; when we are respectful of the guru, it brings many benefits.
The Importance of Devotion for the Guru
His Holiness gave an analogy to explain this. He recalled that when he was young, they would use flint to start fires by rubbing it on a rock, or some would use magnifying glasses to focus sunlight onto tinder. Similarly, the guru is like the magnifying glass, all the buddhas and bodhisattvas are like the sunlight, and the student's mindstream is like the tinder that can catch fire. The guru is the gateway to receive all the blessings of the buddhas and bodhisattvas. We have not yet reached the level where we can follow the buddhas and bodhisattvas directly.
The second reason is that the person who gives us the supreme and ordinary siddhis is the guru. Thus, if we criticize the guru, it is really a grave fault or offense. This is not just in the Secret Mantra, but is also sound in the teachings of the Foundation Vehicle.
In the Treasury of Abhidharma (Skt. Abhidharma-kośa):
Although they are not noble, gifts
To parents, the ill, or Dharma teachers,
The Bodhisattva’s last rebirth
Bring yields surpassing any measure.
This talks about four types of fields: the fields of wanderers, suffering, benefit, and qualities. Among them, the guru and spiritual friend are taught to be the field of benefit. In Vasubandhu’s Auto Commentary on the Treasury of Abhidharma (Skt. Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya), he details that dharma teachers belong in the field of benefit, because they give beings blinded by ignorance the eye of prajñā. They also teach them how to practice virtue and give up non-virtue and perform all the activities of the Buddha. Thus, it is not just in the Secret Mantra, but it is also the same in the scriptures of the Foundation Vehicle.
Likewise, Gampopa asked many gurus whether it was truly possible to achieve Buddhahood in a single lifetime in a single body. While many lamas said it was possible but really difficult, when Gampopa asked Milarepa the same question, he replied, "When a guru with all the characteristics and a receptive student meet, the best will awaken in this lifetime. The middling will awaken in the bardo. And the least will awaken in the next lifetime."
Gampopa also asked many Kadampa gurus about the most powerful way to accumulate merit in order to reach buddhahood.
When he asked Milarepa, he replied, “Doing what the guru tells you to do, just as they say to do it, and supplicating the guru with devotion and practicing properly is the greatest merit.”
In brief, the extent of devotion we have for the guru determines the extent of blessings we will receive. As Gampopa said, "The greatest blessings are for those with the greatest devotion, middling blessings are for those with middling devotion, and the least blessings are for those with the least devotion."
Even before Gampopa first saw Milarepa, he already had strong devotion. Merely hearing Milarepa's name brought tears to his eyes and gave him goosebumps. Milarepa told Gampopa that in the future, he would develop even more uncontrived and genuine devotion, and at that moment, he would perceive the nature of the dharmatā. Karmapa explained that if we have uncontrived and strong devotion, it enables us to realize the nature of dharmatā.
Earlier, we spoke on Gampopa’s explanation on the three characteristics of a guru: having the unbroken lineage, having great compassion for beings, giving up the lesser intentions and being a basis for rousing devotion. The third has two different parts: a good basis for oneself to develop devotion and for others to develop devotion.
If we think the guru does not have a lot of pith instructions or has lower realization than ourselves, thinking, “I have more blessings and higher realization,” then no matter how long we follow that guru, we will never receive blessings or develop realization. Thus, it is incredibly important to have devotion for the guru, and many faults will arise if we are disrespectful.
The Fault of Pride
Karmapa explained that one way faults arise is through pride. It is often taught in the Mahayana sutras that pride is a great impediment to the development of qualities. For example, in The King of Samadhis Sutra (Skt. Samādhirāja-sūtra), when the Buddha was a cakravartin, a universal emperor, he was able to gain power over all the countries up to the realms of the gods. When he got to the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, the lord of gods Śakra came to welcome him, and he felt great pride and competitiveness. Immediately, he lost his miraculous powers, fell back to earth, and his life ended.
Likewise, the Gaṇḍavyūha-sūtra (The Stem Array Sutra) teaches nine types of cognition, including thinking of ourselves as inferior to the guru, such as being like garbage, rather than succumbing to pride.
Karmapa pointed out that sometimes when we get to know a guru too well, we start to think we are the same as them. We might think we eat the same food, have to wear clothes and use the bathroom; the only difference is the title. Similarly with friends, at first, there is some respect. Later, as people get to know each other, respect diminishes, and eventually, they just criticize each other.
He emphasized that we should never think of ourselves as better than the guru, but to always consider ourselves lower. As the Kadampa gurus of the past said, “The water of qualities cannot get into the balloon of pride.” To develop qualities and improve, we need to see our weaknesses and faults, and then take a humble position. We also need to improve by seeing other's qualities and continue studying. If we have a lot of pride, we cannot see our weaknesses or other's qualities. In addition, we start to denigrate others. So, for this reason, in Vajrayana, if we think that we are superior to the guru, then in addition to not being able to develop any of the qualities, we will lose all the ones that we already have.
Another example is the great mahāsiddha of Cakrasaṃvara named Kṛṣṇapāda. His guru Jālandhara told him he was not ready to go into yogic conduct, but he went off and engaged in the conduct anyway. In the past, this meant going off into the forest with a consort. When Kṛṣṇapāda did this, his activity flourished and he gained several thousand students. One day he got on a ship heading for Sri Lanka. On the way, the ship capsized and sank in the ocean. All of his students drowned except for Kṛṣṇapāda, as he had miraculous powers and could walk on the water without sinking. He thought, "I have this miraculous power that even my guru doesn’t." At that moment of pride, he lost his miraculous powers and sank into the water. Jālandhara appeared in the sky and scolded him. Kṛṣṇapāda confessed to the guru, who then told him, "You're not going to achieve supreme siddhi in this life. But you should write some treatises, then in your next lifetime, you will achieve the supreme siddhis."
Karmapa then continued with a story regarding the great Tibetan master, Milarepa. He had two main disciples, Gampopa who was like the sun, and Rechungpa who was like the moon. Rechungpa sometimes did not listen to what the guru said and did strange things quite a few times.
Rechungpa went to India a few times, but one time he went he met Tiphupa, the Tree of Secret Mantra. He also met Machik Druppay Gyalmo, and received the incredible cycles of the teachings of the formless dakinis. On the way back, he met a non-Buddhist, who said to him, “Rechungpa, you are going to Tibet to spread, uphold, and protect the teachings. To protect them, these instructions of mine are indispensable, so if you have any gold, give it to me.” Rechungpa gave him a bit of gold and spent seven days studying sorcery with the man.
At that time, Milarepa was in retreat at Drakmar Chongling, and had a vision that Rechungpa was initially like a stupa with brilliant light, but because a non-Buddhist had taught him black mantras, that crystal stupa disappeared and became like a tornado. Milarepa began to feel a little bit uneasy, sensing his student might have a problem, so he left his retreat and went to Palmo Plain to welcome him.
The master and disciple saw each other coming on the plain from far away, and Rechungpa thought, “I went to India and I have received all these dharma teachings and pith instructions. Now the guru is probably coming to welcome me, right? So, if I prostrate to him, is he going to prostrate to me?" However, when they met, Rechungpa prostrated to Milarepa, but Milarepa did not return the favor. He just sat there without saying a word. Rechungpa didn’t know what to do.
Rechungpa then asked, "Guru, how are you? Are you well?" Milarepa replied, "There is nothing wrong with me. I am a yogi; nothing is ever wrong with me." Rechungpa then explained, "I worked hard. I went to India and brought back the dharma cycles of the formless dakinis. These are incredible empowerments. For these dharmas to flourish in Tibet, please see if it is suitable for you. If you think it is good, then you should praise this dharma and celebrate."
At that point, Milarepa realized that Rechungpa had become very proud, so he sang a song to reduce his pride. Milarepa then picked up the pack of Rechungpa’s books and set off very quickly. Since Rechungpa had already travelled a long way, he was exhausted and unable to keep up with the guru. He thought to himself, "If I can't keep up with him, he might give all my books to some pointless person." Rechungpa then ran after him and told the story about how he went through so much difficulty to get all these instructions and dharma teachings. Milarepa then sang a song, saying "I have a better and deeper connection to Tiphupa than you do. Compared to you, I have been with Vajravārāhī longer; she is an older acquaintance of mine than of yours."
Then as the master and disciple went further up Palmo Plain, Rechungpa had a wicked thought, “With other dharma practitioners, they always have dharma provisions. While doing retreat, they have a bit of food to eat. But my guru, forget about having food to eat, he doesn't even have a good house, a good place to sit, or a good bed for the night. Look at his body, it’s going blue and decaying. His hair has matted into locks like felt. He has spent his entire life wearing a single cotton robe. He says he has reached accomplishment, but I've never seen any signs of that. A siddhi would probably not be a beggar with bad karma.” Rechungpa was disappointed and unhappy since he had undergone a lot of hardships to bring back all the texts from India, but Milarepa acted as if he did not really care about them or want them.
At that point, they came across a yak horn. Milarepa said, “Son, it is said that if you find unnecessary jewels, at some point they will become necessary, so carry that yak horn.” Rechungpa thought, “Sometimes my guru says that you need nothing at all. Like the saying, sometimes he is angrier than an old dog and greedier than an old man. What good is this yak horn? You can’t eat it, you can’t wear it.” Milarepa replied, “There will come a time when we need it.” A bit later Rechungpa asked again, “Do we really need this?” and Milarepa urged, “Carry it just a bit longer.”
It was a really beautiful clear day, but all of a sudden, the clouds gathered all at once and great hailstones the size of fists fell. Rechungpa threw down the yak horn and tried to run for shelter. But it was hailing so hard that he could not find any place to hide, so he just sat down and covered his head. He had no idea where the guru went and did not even think about it.
After a little while the hailstorm cleared, Rechungpa got up to look around. He looked everywhere, but he could not find the guru at all. Then, he heard the clear sound of a song. He wondered where it was coming from. As it seemed to come from the yak horn, he tried to pick it up. However, it was as heavy as a rock and he was unable to lift it, so he put his cheek down to the ground and looked inside the yak horn.
Without the yak horn getting any bigger, or without Milarepa getting any smaller, he saw Milarepa was way down inside the thinnest part of the horn. Not only that, he was doing yoga moves, and sang a song to Rechungpa. The main point is:
Rechungpa, sometimes your view is high, and sometimes it is low. Your meditation is sometimes clear and sometimes unclear. Your behavior is sometimes very relaxed and sometimes hurried. You aren’t stable. I’m in the thinnest part of the yak horn, there’s more room, so you should come into the wide part and stay with me.
Rechungpa wondered how to get in since even he could not fit even his knuckles into the horn. He then immediately supplicated the guru and gave a confession. Only then, Milarepa came out of the yak horn and gazed up at the sky. Immediately all the clouds just disappeared, and the sun shined really warm. All their clothes were wet from the hail, so they stayed there while they dried.
Karmapa pointed out that Rechungpa was actually very fortunate because Milarepa helped him to subdue his pride. There are many stories like this illustrating the difficulties and experiences Rechungpa faced, due to not doing everything the guru said, and doing what he was told not to do.
The teaching concluded at this point.