The Guru Business

I've found the following procedure to be useful in attaining the benefits of spiritual teachings: (1) establish a good motivation; (2) stabilize your mind through meditation; (3) get the information; (4) establish an appropriate practice through analysis, synthesis, resolution and dedication.

In the previous post, I listed some sources of printed information that you could use in step (3). It can also be useful to receive teachings in printed or spoken form from qualified teachers. As Je Tsongkhapa says in Foundation of all Perfections:

Following a kind master, foundation of all perfections,
Is the very root and basis of the path.
Inspire me to see this clearly
And to make every effort to follow well.

As quoted by the Dalai Lama in The Path to Enlightenment, the Third Dalai Lama in Essence of Refined Gold lists four ways that a well qualified and motivated spiritual guide (Tibetan lama, Sanskrit guru) can benefit trainees: (i) by providing supportive generosity (we'll cover the types of generosity later); (ii) by inspiring through gentleness and cheerfulness; (iii) by providing teaching and encouragement; and (iv) by providing a living example of the teachings.

We have all heard of incidents where such guides, under the influence of one or more of the Three Poisons, have abused students verbally, mentally, physically or sexually. Fortunately, the Lam Rim teachings provide us with several ways of protecting ourselves from such abuse:

1. Observe the teacher's behavior. Is it consistent with the list above?
2. Check whether the teacher is qualified. Here's the Lam Rim job description from the Third Dalai Lama; you could also apply it mutatis mutandis to teachers in other traditions:
   • The teacher's mindstream is: tamed with realization of the higher training in ethical discipline; stilled with realization of the higher training in meditation; completely tempered with realization of the higher training in wisdom.
   • The teacher has authoritative scriptural learning.
   • The teacher is in possession of an awareness that can perceive emptiness.
   • The teacher has more learning and realization than the disciples.
3. Check the teacher's attitude, as prescribed in the job description:
   • skill and spontaneous creativity in applying the methods for generating progress in disciples;
   • a pure motivation free from grasping for wealth, fame or power;
   • enthusiasm and joy in giving time and energy to teaching;
   • diligence and perseverance in teaching;
   • beyond losing patience with students who practice poorly.

As I said previously, I have found the Dalai Lama and Gelek Rimpoche to be highly qualified spiritual guides by these criteria. I am sure there are many more, but the evaluation and choice should always be that of the student, not the teacher. As Gelek Rimpoche has said many times, "If somebody says to you, 'I am your guru' - run away as fast as you can! Run a hundred miles away!'

As Christians, we can see that Jesus was a supremely qualified spiritual guide, and in that respect we can certainly follow the Third Dalai Lama's final advice on this subject:

If you can find a guru possessing these... qualities,
beg for the teachings.
And then follow them well.

...let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,
looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith....
-- Hebrews 12:1,2