“Lama (in Tibetan) means ‘nothing above’ that.” –Dilyak Rinpoche
“Before the guru, there was not even the word Buddha” –Nāropa
“There are all kinds of completion stage practices, but all you need is complete trust. There are all kinds of mantra recitation practices but all you need is heartfelt supplication.” –Gotsangpa
Introduction
In the run-up to the 43rd Anniversary of the passing of the great 16th Gyalwang Karmapa, Rigpe Dorje, the Karmapa Centre 16 in USA hosted a 3-day teaching and event online, and in person in Taiwan on the Guru Yoga sadhana, Continuous Rain of Nectar, written by the 16th Karmapa himself, which I had the good fortune to be able to attend.
As the 17th Karmapa requested in his speech on the second day (see transcript here), it was important for us all to support the initiative of the Karmapa Centre 16 in Illinois, Chicago, USA to build a memorial hall and stupa for the 16th Karmapa there. The 17th Karmapa emphasised that offerings should not just be ‘red envelope’ ones (meaning money). So, as well as the transcript of the 17th Karmapa’s speech, here is my second summary and transcript of the Guru Yoga event, a teaching by HE Dilyak Drupon Rinpoche.
I typed this teaching up before the 17th Karmapa’s speech but thought it more suitable to publish the Karmapa’s speech first.
Day One: The importance of the guru’s blessing for realisations
The first day (1st November 2024) was a teaching by HE Dilyak Drupon Rinpoche, originally from Bhutan, he was recognized as a tulku by the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa and officially enthroned as the second Dilyak Drupon Rinpoche at the age of six at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, India. In 1974, Rinpoche received novice vows from the 16th Karmapa, and later bodhisattva vows. He was trained by the great lamas of Rumtek, and attended the 16th Karmapa during his trip to the West in 1981.
As the 3-day teaching was open to anyone who signed up and donated, and there was no empowerment or special prior qualifications required to attend the teaching, I have transcribed it in full below not only for those who attended, but also those who are interested in practicing the Guru Yoga practice, who already have the oral transmission, or who might want to get it.
Dilyak Rinpoche’s teaching covered the following topics:
- Lineage and blessing of the 16th Karmapa and 12th Gyaltsab Rinpoche for him to give the oral transmission of the sadhana
- The three vehicles and the different terms and meaning of teacher in those three
- Outer, Inner and Secret Guru
- The Guru who is kinder than the Buddha
- Defining qualities of a qualified guru: Liberation Upon Seeing the form
- Enlightened Speech of 16th Karmapa
- Enlightened mind of 16th Karmapa
- The necessity of relying on a guru
- Three kinds of confidence and the importance of total confidence to receive the guru’s blessings
- The Black Crown of the Dakinis: Worn by the Karmapa at all times
- Milarepa’s Songs
- Shamatha and Vipassana and merging the mind with the guru’s mind
- Dedicating the Merit
Participating in the Guru Yoga sessions (even online), was a blissful and intense experience indeed where I felt the root guru’s body, speech and mind enter and pervade me completely, with one blissful and resounding AH as a peak. It reminded me of how fortunate we all are to have a guru like 17th Karmapa in our lifetime in this realm, the real thing and not some cheap, sugar-coated fake. Yet, sadness as to how he has been prevented from travelling and teaching freely in person for years, and still has yet to go to Rumtek and perform the Black Crown ceremony there. However, as Dilyak Rinpoche reminded us, the Karmapas wear the actual real wisdom crown at all times for those with pure vision and merit to see it. For more on the Karmapa’s black crown made of 100 000 black dakini hairs, as well as a translation of a Praise to the Black Crown and its History by the 8th Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje, see here.
As many of you who follow my website know, I have done extensive translation and research on the 16th Karmapa’s works, in particular relating to his Guru Yogas, one of which I translated in 2022, entitled Shower of Siddhis. For access to these and more on the 16th Karmapa, see the dedicated section of my website on him, here.
May this transcript offering be of benefit to the activities of the Gyalwang Karmapas, the Buddha Dharma and all sentient beings!
Written and transcribed by Adele Tomlin, 4th November 2024.
Transcript of Dilyak Rinpoche’s Guru Yoga Teaching
Lineage and blessing of the 16th Karmapa and 12th Gyaltsab Rinpoche for the Guru Yoga sadhana transmission
Dilyak Rinpoche first explained how the Taiwanese has asked him to give an empowerment but as he didn’t give many empowerments these days, he offered to give an oral transmission of the sadhana called Rainfall of Nectar, which was composed by the 16th Karmapa himself. The reason being there was a special purpose for him to do so, first it was the anniversary time of the 16th Karmapa’s parinirvana.
Second, because the Guru Yoga was one of the first Dharma teachings he received as a small child when some European students visited the 16th Karmapa, at which he gave various empowerments and transmissions. The 16th Karmapa gave the Rinpoches present some responsibilities to give the European students the various transmissions and teachings. He was told by the 16th Karmapa to give the oral transmission (lung) of this guru yoga, Rainfall of Nectar.
Dilyak Rinpoche said that in order to be able to give the oral transmission of the sadhana, the 16th Karmapa instructed him to get the oral transmission for the guru yoga from the 12th Gyaltsab Rinpoche, and that he was only giving the transmission of it because the 16th Karmapa had requested him to do so and so it might be of benefit if he did. Otherwise he did not think he had the prajñā of hearing the experience of meditation or any other sufficient qualities to do so but as the 16th Karmapa had asked him to give the oral transmission, then his compassion and blessings would be transferred and that was his aspiration.
Dilyak Rinpoche explained that he had also asked the 12th Gyaltsab Rinpoche to explain how to do the practice and also to compose a commentary on the Guru Yoga , which he did and so this teaching now was based on that. He explained that Gyaltsab Rinpoche had told him he could compose something short because he does not have the qualities to compose an extensive commentary. However, there were also longer ones on it by Tai Situpa and Jamgon Kongtrul.
The three vehicles and the different terms and meaning of teacher in those three
After giving the oral transmission, Dilyak Rinpoche then gave a brief explanation, based on Gyaltsab Rinpoche’s commentary of the main aspect of the three different vehicles.
The Sutrayana is mainly about renunciation and non-harm. The main principle emphasized in the Mahayana is mainly about loving kindness and compassion and benefiting others and with establishing the ground to benefit others. The main roots of Vajrayana are about devotion and sacred outlook.
In the Sutrayana, the teacher is one who confers vows such as monastics vows and from whom one receives Dharma teachings. They are not referred to as a guru, but as an Abbott/Khenpo. the teacher is called lopon or khenpo (abbot).
In the Mahayana, the teacher is called spiritual or virtuous friend. In the Vajrayana, the teacher is called guru/lama. The meaning of lama in Tibetan is la means above and ma means nothing, So nothing above. In Sanskrit, the guru means the one who clarifies.
Outer, Inner and Secret Guru
The guru has an outer, inner and secret level. The outer guru is the one who teaches the Dharma, the one who guides the mindstream towards the Dharma. So in terms of the four Dharmas of Gampopa, this is connected to the first Dharma, one’s mind moving towards the Dharma.
In terms of the inner guru, that is of hearing and contemplation. So, understanding the Dharma or realizing the true state of Dharma. So the inner guru corresponds to the second of the four Dharmas of Gampopa, progressing along the path.
Then in reliance upon the outer and inner guru, one cane then realizes the true nature of mind, then that is the secret guru. That secret guru corresponds with the third and fourth of Gampopa’s Dharmas. The path dispelling confusion dawning as wisdom.
The importance of relying on a Guru who is kinder than the Buddha
In the text on the Mahamudra called the Ocean of Definitive Meaning” it is said that in these polluted ages, it is very difficult to find a guru who has only positive qualities and no negative qualities, so most gurus will have a mixture of both positive and negative qualities. The instruction is to find a guru who has more positive qualities than negative ones.
We can refer to a classical verse that is an homage to the guru, which begins with a line that says:
“The Guru is the embodiment of all the Buddhas.” Furthermore, the Guru is the embodiment of all the Buddhas, all the Dharma and all of the Sangha. Thus, the embodiment of the three jewels.
In terms of one’s own guru, they are equal in terms of positive qualities with all the Buddhas. But in terms of kindness, one’s own guru possessed even greater kindness than the Buddha. The reason for this is because one’s root guru is the one who points out to oneself the true nature of one’s own mind.
Therefore, we say that the guru is equal to the Buddhas in terms of positive qualities but excels the Buddhas in terms of kindness to oneself.
Defining qualities of a qualified guru: Liberation Upon Seeing the form
It is said that a guru must first possess renunciation, or relinquishing clinging towards samsara. And the guru must be someone who does not guide oneself or others towards negative actions. We can also speak of the qualities of the guru in terms of qualities of form, qualities of speech and qualities of mind.
In terms of qualities of form, there is the principle called “ Liberation Upon Seeing”. That quality is when, for example, we feel an extraordinary sense of faith merely upon seeing the guru. So , since we are focused upon a guru yoga of the 16th Karmapa, there were many disciples of the 16th Karmapa, who to this very day, regarded him and continue to regard him as being the form of Buddha in person.
Enlightened Speech of 16th Karmapa
However, by contrast, there are not many students who gave rise to similar levels of faith based on the 16th Karmapa’s speech. This was because through merely seeing his form, they experienced incontrovertible faith. Whereas, as in many cases, people did not receive a single word of Dharma teachings form the 16th Karmapa, just on the basis of seeing his form, they connected with incontrovertible faith. This is what is known as liberation upon seeing the enlightened form.
Of course, the 16th Karmapa also possessed the enlightened qualities of speech. This relates to liberating the mind streams of disciples through teaching the Dharma. In terms of the enlightened quality of speech of the 16th Karmapa, there are many lamas present in the world, and if we recited the names of all of them, there would not be time to do so and you would not know many of them. But of those we can speak about and know, there are HE Situ Rinpoche, HE Gyaltsab Rinpoche, Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche. Many of you here are familiar with these gurus and have received teachings and transmissions from them. Many of you have experienced the liberation of your mindstream through their teachings. Well all these gurus have arisen on the basis of HH the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa.
So, in other words, they became gurus who were able to liberate the mind streams of others due to the enlightened speech of the 16th Karmapa. So all of these gurus abide in the world just in the same manner as Buddhas and Bodhisattvas liberating the mind streams of others. You do not need to take my word for it, but can ascertain it from your own experience and through observing the life examples of these masters.
Enlightened mind of 16th Karmapa
Then there are the qualities of enlightened mind. This refers to the compassion that is present in the enlightened mind of the guru. As for the compassion present in the enlightened mind of the 16th Karmapa, he had compassion for all sentient beings, great love, great compassion for all sentient beings, and not only humans but for animals too. He would express affection towards animals and would also teach them the Dharma so that when some animals died in his presence, they exhibited signs of attaining enlightenment upon their death. Some stories were recorded of this at the time of the Karmapa. So some ordinary people might say: “I like cats and dogs”. But it is not like that, not like us. The Karmapa had a great enlightened love and was able to teach them the Dharma in a way that actually affected liberation in their mind streams.
So, the 16th Karmapa’s enlightened mind included great compassion and also great wisdom, such as the higher cognitive powers through which he performed such actions as recognizing reincarnated masters and so on.
To give an example of such higher cognitive power, there was a story of a mother of a friend of mine. She was actually very poor but she went to get a blessing from one of the Black Crown ceremonies, which one normally makes an offering for. She got some kind of physical blessing substance as part of that ceremony. Later on, she lost those blessing substances and was not able to request them by attendance at another black crown ceremony because traditionally one needs to make a material offering of money, which she could not make. However, without her saying anything about it, the 16th Karmapa once again gave her all the physical blessing substances that are associated with the Black Crown ceremony. That is just one story.
The necessity of relying on a guru
In the Sutra Requested by ocean of Intellect it is said that one must rely upon the guru through great faith.
In the Hevajra Tantra it says an excellent student must rely upon a qualified guru. The reason forhis is because all the positive qualities arise from this relationship. Then the Tantrik essence of the Vajra says that a disciple must respectfully reply upon a guru. And it they do that while replying upon regarding the guru as the Buddha in person, they will attain the jewel of Buddhahood.
In the Seven Points of Mind Training, the master Atisha said that one must rely upon a guru as a support until one attains enlightenment.
Then, Potowa says in terms of accomplishing liberation there is no more important factor than the guru. Naropa said “Before the Guru, not even the word “Buddha” existed. And all the thousand Buddhas of the fortunate eon arise in dependence on the guru.
So taking the example of the fourth Buddha of the fortunate eon, Buddha Shakyamuni, he relied upon a guru in his previous lifetime. So in that lifetime, during which he attained Buddhahood, he did not rely upon a guru in that specific lifetime. But that was because he had relied on gurus in the previous lifetimes. So all the Buddhas arise in dependence on a guru.
Even if we want to practice the yidam deity, we also have to reply upon a guru because it is from the guru that we receive the empowerment, the guiding instructions, and transmissions that allow us to practice the yidam deity.
Three kinds of confidence and the importance of total confidence to receive the guru’s blessings
We rely upon a guru by way of three kinds of faith, lucid faith, longing faith and trusting faith. So we first might connect with a sense of lucid or inspired faith towards the guru. Then, after we cultivate longing faith and trusting faith.
Now we can talk about the guru yoga itself. If we talk about it in a very condensed way, we can say that the guru yoga practice consists of invoking the presence of the guru in the space in front of oneself, supplicating the guru, requesting the supreme and ordinary siddhis from the guru and receiving the blessings of the guru. Then, dissolving the guru into oneself and causing the guru’s mind to merge with one’s mind.
The Lord Gampopa said: “This Mahamudra lineage of ours is a lineage of blessings. So in order to received the blessing, one must have devotion towards the guru. If one does not have devotion towards the guru, the blessings will not enter one’s mindstream. But if one supplicates the guru with devotion, the blessings will enter effortlessly.
So in order for the blessings of the guru to enter one’s mindstream, we must have faith and trust in the guru. An example to illustrate this is the warmth of the sun. The warmth of the sun can be present, but we need a good receptacle to receive the warmth of the sung. So that we can heat water with that warmth. Maybe even generate electricity with that warmth. If we do not have such a receptacle then we will not be able to do those things. In the same way, if we do not have faith and devotion and trust from our side, then the blessings of the guru, even though they are present, will not be able to enter our mindstream.
The Omniscient Longchenpa said “The Guru Yoga is the essence of the path, due to which realization arises in one’s mindstream. He said: “ My realization of the true nature has arisen exclusively due to the practice of guru yoga.”
The master, Gotsangpa said: “There are all kinds of completion stage practices, but all you need is complete trust. There are all kinds of mantra recitation practices but all you need is heartfelt supplication.”
In terms of the benefits of relying on the guru. In the Sutras, the Buddha said that all excellent qualities arise from relying upon the spiritual friend.”
The Black Crown of the Dakinis: Worn by the Karmapa at all times
Dilyak Rinpoche then gave the lung of the sadhana and a brief explanation of the stages of the practice. He explained how the shi8ngin black and gold crown the 16th Karmapa is wearing in the visualization was given to him by 100 000 dakinis which liberates upon seeing. Rinpoche explained that:
It is said that the Karmapa is wearing the black crown offered to him by the dakinis at all times. During his previous lifetimes when he had completed the process of gathering merit and purifying obscurations for many eons, in the southern region of India, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas conferred the crown empowerment on this individual who would later become known as the Karmapa. The crown was composed of the hair of 100 000 dakinis. Since that time, it is said that the Karmapa has been wearing the crown continually, but ordinary beings cannot perceive the presence of the crown.
Then, at the time of the 5th Karmapa, who was the guru of the then Emperor of China, Yonglo actually had a sacred vision in which he perceived the actual black crown above the Karmapa’s head. He asked the Karmapa’s permission if he could make a crown that looks like that, so other people can see it. And permission was granted. That is when the black crown perceivable by ordinary beings came to be made.
There were also many stories of people who actually perceived the wisdom black crown, the original black crown that is always present above the head of the Karmapa. Many people had sacred visions of that. For example, there was one lama who passed away now who was living near the stupa in Nepal and he went to see the 16th Karmapa perform the black crown ceremony at Swayambunath Stupa. This attracted many disciples who came to see the crown. Later, that same day the Karmapa was doing circumambulation of the stupa and said to this lama friend of mine “ He’s still wearing the black crown, but no one seems to be displaying the signs of faith as they did before, or reacting to it in the same way, why is that?” So it was decided that this sadhu was seeing the actual wisdom black crown, the real, true original black crown that is always present above the head of the Karmapa that not many people can see. There are stories like this throughout history.” Dilyak Rinpoche then went into a little explanation of the practice itself.
Milarepa’s Songs
He then explained why and how he finds the songs of Milarepa inspiring and takes them to read when he is on airplanes as they inspire him and he finds it very beneficial for his mind. Nothing profound in terms of experience or realizations but at least helping him to lessen his pride. Since sometimes people can think one is this or that, and then when they consult the life-story of Milarepa, they can see he did not do any of that stuff. The songs are also not complicated lectures or compositions but direct questions and answers, to the point.
Shamatha and Vipassana and mixing the mind with the guru
As for the presence of Shamatha and Vipassana, visualizing the guru corresponds with Shamatha and then merging the guru’s mindstream with one resting in non-conceptuality within that state corresponds to the prajñā. So the instruction here is that one merges the guru’s body, speech and mind with one’s own body, speech and mind and rests free of thoughts of the three spheres within that state. The action, object and performer of the actions.
The notion of mixing one’s mind with the guru’s mind is spoken of a lot. That is important to clarify here. There is no mixing of two different mind streams that occurs. The Guru’s mindstream is separate from our mindstream so we cannot mix those two things in a literal sense. What really happens though in practice in relying on the guru is that we practice the Dharma and through our practice of the Dharma, our mind becomes inseparable from the guru in the sense that we attain the same qualities the guru has attained. So that is the real meaning of mixing the mindstream with the guru and merging the body, speech and mind of the guru with our own body, speech and mind. Other than that, it is impossible to mix these two together.”
Dedicating the Merit
One then brings to mind all the merit of supplicating the guru and trying to merge one’s mindstream with the guru and dedicating the merit to all sentient beings with the aspiration that all sentient beings attain the state of the enlightened body, speech and mind of the guru.