08/04/2018
🌱 The TRUE need for the Guru Avatar fulfilled. 🌱
https://www.facebook.com/nyingma.teachings/posts/1992552730962166
You will not be able to attain enlightenment by relying only on your own ideas and being totally independent.
It is true that pratyekabuddhas are said to be able to achieve liberation by themselves; but the fact that they have no spiritual teacher in their present life does not mean they did not have one in the past. Pratyekabuddhas, indeed, attend spiritual teachers and receive their teachings over countless lives. For each and every practice of sutra and ta**ra, an explanation from a qualified teacher is necessary.
If you now long to meet an authentic teacher, it is because of your inclination toward the Dharma from the past. Jetsun Milarepa, having heard no more than Marpa's name, could not rest until he actually met him.
The teacher stands at the juncture of the path, the point where you could either go up or down. You should receive teachings from him, and allow his instructions to mature through direct experience.
There are three main ways to fulfill the wishes of the teacher.
1) The best way is to put his instruction into practice, and spend your whole life experiencing the essence of the teachings and attaining realization.
2) The second best way is ro serve him with devoted body, speech, and mind. As you serve your teacher, your being will be transformed by his readily apparent qualities, just as a piece of ordinary wood in a sandalwood grove will gradually be permeated by the scent of the surrounding trees.
3) The third way to please the teacher is to make material offerings to him.
Someone who cannot help harboring many doubts, or whose character is not very refined, may find himself developing erroneous views of the teacher if he stays in close proximity to him. If this is the case, it is better to receive the teacher's instruction and go to practice elsewhere.
Staying near an enlightened teacher is said to be like staying near a fire. If you have enough faith and confidence in him, he will burn away your ignorance and obscurarions. But if your faith and confidence are inadequate, you will be burnt yourself.
Carefully applying your teacher's instructions, you will be able to progress on the path without hindrances, like a blind person who finds a perfect guide to lead him past a dangerous precipice.
But without the advice of an authentic teacher, trying to practice in a solitary place will not help you; there will be little to distinguish you from the wild birds and animals.
Even a few words of instruction from the guru can bring you to enlightenment. Therefore, pay attention, and assign great value to each and every word of his teachings. Reflect on their meaning, and meditate upon them.
Always check to see whether or nor the way you have understood the teachings and put them into practice works as an antidote to your inner confusion. Keep your devotion constant and unwavering - the teacher is the jewel that fulfills all wishes.
- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche - The Heart of Compassion - Shambhala Publications
