This chapter is on the final common preliminary practice of Guru Yoga. Taranatha goes into extensive detail about the master-student relationship and the examination of such a relation. He also introduces the ‘ten principles of secret mantra’ and why it is essential for the master to be proficient in them. It is divided into eight sub-sections:
- The characteristics of master and student: this chapter discusses the qualities of a master and student relationship and the ‘ten principles of secret mantra’.
- The examination of a master-student relationship
- The identification of guru yoga
- How to meditate with devotion and reverence
- The benefits combined with scriptural quotations
- The meaning of the phrase ‘the profound path’
- The categories of the guiding instructions of the profound path. This is divided into two sections: the guiding instructions on practice and the guiding instructions on supplication.
- The way of serving the teacher