A Spiritual Love Story
13 April 2025
The Karmapa began by reviewing what had been covered so far. In the Fifty Verses, there are eight points on how to show respect to the guru, and he would be covering the third and fourth points, but first a short digression.
HH Karmapa began by quoting from the text:
It’s from the guru that one receives
Siddhis, high realms and happiness
So put every effort into
Not overstepping the guru’s commands (verse 25)
He started his discussion with an examination of the instruction: So put your every effort into not overstepping the guru’s commands. The first example he selected is the story of Rechungpa and Milarepa.
Rechungpa spent the longest time with his guru, longer than Gampopa, but there were some situations when he may not have really listened to the guru’s instructions, as illustrated by the story of the horn. Today, however, the Karmapa intended to tell a different story, one from the time when Milarepa was relating his life story at Rechungpa’s request. “It is a love story”, the Karmapa said.
When Milarepa was staying in Drophug, and Rechungpa was staying in the upper cave, many disciples, including Repa dharma brothers, students, patrons, and benefactors gathered. Teaching sessions began and the assembly became very large. At that time, the guru’s yidam deities, and dakinis inspired Rechungpa through signs in dreams. In response to these signs, Rechungpa made earnest supplications to Milarepa to tell his life story.
That done, Rechungpa developed a strong intention to go to Central Tibet. At that time, some of the patrons were saying, "The son who returned from India is even more exceptional than the father.” The younger patrons, especially the young women, went to meet Rechungpa while the older ones went to meet the Milarepa. On one occasion, when patrons came to make offerings to both Milarepa, the Venerable Father and Rechungpa, his ‘son’, they gave excellent offerings to Rechungpa but only minimal offerings to the great Milarepa. At that time, Rechungpa didn’t know it. He thought, "Since I have received this much, surely the Venerable One must have received even better offerings."
He went before Milarepa and asked, "Venerable Sir, did you receive good offerings today? Would it be good to offer a feast gathering to the Repas from our teacher-student offerings?" Milarepa replied, "We will certainly do that. My portion is in that wicker box, please bring it." When he opened the box, there was a piece of dried meat, a small chunk of moldy cheese, a container of sour chang, and a mere handful of tsampa. Seeing this, Rechungpa felt deeply unhappy.
Milarepa said, “Let’s have some so that the sponsors can accumulate merit.” Rechungpa gave some to his Guru, who ate it as if it were delicious. Rechungpa, however, had no appetite and felt nauseated. Rechungpa went into his cave and thought, "Considering how these patrons behave, even though I cannot match a single pore of this buddha-like guru, they are making improper offerings. Previously, I thought I would stay with the guru to receive complete instructions and serve him wholeheartedly. But now, if I stay longer, it seems I will not be serving the guru but bringing disgrace upon him.".
So Rechungpa offered many reasonable requests to the Venerable Guru for permission to travel to Central Tibet to circumambulate Lhasa, honor the two Jowo and Shakya statues, see glorious Samye, visit the seats of Marpa and Ngokpa, and so forth.
The Guru said, "Though your future disciples are in Central Tibet, now is not the time to go, so do not go." But Rechungpa did not listen. He was stubborn. The Guru said, "If you are determined to go to Central Tibet, in order to eliminate obstacles, perform one hundred prostrations to my hut, one hundred circumambulations, one hundred mandala offerings, one hundred torma offerings, one hundred water offerings, one hundred tsa tsas, and one hundred confessions, then go." Rechungpa was so happy that he had got permission to go, he promised to do them, but by the next morning he had totally forgotten his promise and left without doing all these meritorious deeds.
Then, having no other possessions to carry, he wore his cotton robe, held his three-cornered net or bag and a notebook of the whispered lineage under his arm, tucked an acacia-wood phurba at his waist, and put on his Indian pandita hat. He went to the great Venerable One to request blessings. The Guru was thinking, "I have been with Rechungpa for a long time, and now I don't know when we might meet again," and so he accompanied him a short way to the top of the La Kha pass.
As they parted, Milarepa said, “A child who stays with their mother grows bigger. An egg hatches more easily with the mother’s warmth. A great meditator has no danger of any pitfalls when near the guru. But since you are going without listening, I will not abandon you out of my love. Pray to me continually." Rechungpa, shedding tears, said, "I have an unceasing perception of the Venerable One as Buddha. Before, I had no one to rely on except you, and until I attain buddhahood, I will still rely only on you, the Venerable One. I request your protection and guidance in this life, the next, and in the bardo."
Milarepa said, "Since you insist on going, I will give you auspicious blessings for your journey. For auspicious connection, sit on my cotton robe." He folded his robe and spread it out. Rechungpa said "It is not appropriate to even step on the guru's shadow, so how can it be proper to sit on your cotton robe?" The Guru replied, "When the Guru gives permission, there is no fault," and had Rechungpa sit. The Venerable One himself sat in half-lotus position on a boulder, where his body left an impression, which is still clearly visible even now. Then the Venerable One sang an auspicious song:
When asked what my lineage is, my lineage is of bad people but good transmission. My lineage is the great Vajradhara. May there be auspiciousness of that excellent lineage! May there be auspiciousness for my son Rechungpa!
Furthermore, in his parting advice, he said, "In Central Tibet, a worldly female dog will grab you by the leg. At that time, do not forget your guru and your practice." Rechungpa made prostrations and circumambulations, requested a blessing from Milarepa’s foot, and made prayers before departing.
Milarepa thought, "He will look back once. If I don't stay here until then, he will be unhappy." So, he purposely remained for a while on the roof of Drophug Cave, but Rechungpa never looked back. "He is leaving without even a single glance back,” Milarepa observed. “Has he developed wrong views toward his guru and dharma brothers, or will he be able to withstand obstacles?"
Then, he went ahead of Rechungpa and first manifested as seven bandits who stole Rechungpa's food and clothing. Rechungpa thought, "This is because I didn't make prostrations and circumambulations this morning." He closed his eyes, meditated on his guru, and felt immediate relief. When he opened his eyes, he saw the seven bandits had transformed into seven unfamiliar Repas. To test Rechungpa's experience, they asked, “Who are you? Who is your guru?” Rechungpa thought, “No Repa would speak to me like this except as a manifestation of the Venerable One,” and he offered prostrations. The manifestations dissolved, and the Guru said, "I came to test you because you left without looking back even once. Since your samaya is undamaged, now you and I are inseparable due to our pure samaya. Go to Central Tibet.”
Rechungpa was delighted and, placing the Guru’s feet on the crown of his head, offered many prayers before departing for Central Tibet. To get there, Rechungpa held his breath in the state of guru yoga and traveled by miraculous powers, (lung gom) covering in one day what would take a normal Tibetan traveler a month, as he journeyed to the regions of Tsang and Central Tibet.
Rechungpa reached Yarlung and arrived at the palace known as Kyorlem seeking alms. When Rechungpa knocked on the door of the fortress and sang a melody, he encountered a princess named Lhachik Dembu who was caring for her sick father, the king. At that moment, she was outside the inner gate milking a dzomo and was startled. She fell off her milking stool and became annoyed, "Yogis are corpses. In summer they beg for white food. In winter they beg for sour food. These wanderers roam regardless of seasons." She grabbed a handful of dirt intending to open the door and throw it in his face, but when she saw Rechungpa's body, as handsome from every angle as a god’s, her anger subsided and a clear faith arose in her. "Where have you come from? Where are you going? What is your name?" she asked, staring him up and down, head to toe. Rechungpa said, "I have come from the direction of Nyam. My guru is Milarepa. I am called Rechung Dorje Drakpa. I've come here seeking alms, thinking to make an offering to request teachings."
The princess said, "You must let me make an offering." She took a silver plate full of tsampa and offered it along with the vessel, saying, "Guru, please stay here for a while. I will go to inform my father." The princess returned inside and went before her father, Tsepo Kyordem, and said to him, "Father, at our doorway, a yogi named Rechungpa, a most wonderful person, who seems to have practiced meditation and accomplished spiritual practices, has arrived seeking alms. If we invite him inside and request him as our guru and make offerings, do you think it might help your illness?"
King Tsepo replied, "Last night I had an auspicious dream. Something wonderful might happen. Invite him inside and offer him whatever alms he accepts."
The princess came before Rechungpa and said, "Guru, do you know of any remedies? My father the king is somewhat unwell. If you come inside and provide a remedy, we will offer whatever service and offerings you accept.". Upon entering and meeting with King Tsepo, the king asked, "Guru, where have you come from?" Rechungpa replied, "I have come from a place called Nya Nang Drophuk." King Tsepo then said, “They say there are two gurus in that area; one is called Rechen and the other is Rechung. Whose disciple are you?” (Milarepa was called the Re Chen the great cotton clad, and Re Chungpa was the lesser cotton clad.)
To this, Rechungpa replied, "The one called Guru Rechen is Lord Mila Rechen (Milarepa), the undisputed accomplished master who is universally renowned. He is my guru. I am called Rechungpa, the heart son of the guru." The king said, "In that case, it is my good fortune to meet you after so long. If I had met you earlier, I might not have suffered so much. Now please embrace me with your compassion. I am afflicted and suffering from a serious illness. All the divinations and calculations said that if I requested blessings from a realized guru, it would help. And now you have come. If my illness can be cured, I will serve you and bestow whatever you want.”
So Guru Rechungpa performed the dharani of Ushnishavijaya, the blessing of Lady Tsheringma, and the cleansing ritual of Vajra Bhairava. He gave the empowerment and recitation instructions of the wrathful Vajrapani with Garuda wings and performed the practice. After seven days, the king's illness was completely cured without a trace.
The king, filled with devotion, said, "I have no son. I offer all my dominions and wealth to you. I request that you accept everything including my daughter, the princess, as your consort." He offered the Kyordem palace and the princess, who was the most beautiful among all women, along with all his dominions. Guru Rechungpa accepted all of these, promising to care for them all, and, under the king’s patronage, he built Rechung Cave, where he stayed for about three years.
At one time, a leprous beggar appeared whose origin was unknown. He came daily to request teachings, but no one saw where he went at night. He regularly came before Guru Rechungpa, repeatedly saying, "Please embrace me with your compassion." On one occasion, the guru asked, "You always say the same thing What is it that you want?" The leprous beggar replied, "I need a kind of wealth that will free me from poverty in this life." Then Guru Rechungpa said, "Well, as you keep coming wherever I go, when I receive wealth from offerings, I will give it to you."
The beggar replied, "Please keep that in your heart. I will request it." As it happened, his wish came true. Later, in a place called Gang Ra Drong Mar in Yarlung, there was an elderly couple without descendants who owned a large turquoise called "Blazing Firelight" about the size of a small child's fist. They were uneasy about it and discussed what to do. The old man said, "There's no use hiding it underground. If we keep it here, there's a risk of conflict with relatives and neighbors. Since such a wonderful guru is residing here, perhaps we should offer it to him." The old woman replied, "I've been thinking the same but couldn't say it. Now let's do as you suggest. From tomorrow onward, we'll be of one mind. Let's quickly prepare a feast, invite the guru, and make the offering."
Then the elderly couple invited all the villagers, the Guru and his disciples, and all the royalty and ministers. They arranged all the necessary food, drink, and enjoyments properly. They made many other offerings to the Guru and secretly offered the great turquoise "Blazing Firelight." The princess caught a glimpse of this from the corner of her eye, but even the attendants didn't see it. Then, a few days later, the leprous beggar appeared and secretly requested from the guru, "As I asked before, please have compassion and give me that turquoise." Rechungpa, motivated by compassion and generosity, quickly gave it to him, saying, "Don't stay here but quickly go to another place. If the attendants and others find out, they will come to take it back." The beggar vanished in an instant, and no one knew where he went.
The guru taught the dharma to the elderly couple and instructed them in the practice of consciousness transference, enabling them to find their way at the time of death.
Then Princess Lhachik thought, "How could I get that turquoise offered by the old couple? As the guru himself doesn't wear turquoise, I must obtain it." Despite trying various methods and deceits, she couldn't get the turquoise. She couldn't ask for it directly, and all her services and respect failed to obtain it. One day when Guru Rechungpa went out for relaxation, Lhachik, wanting to see the turquoise, opened the bundle and looked inside. The large turquoise offered by the old couple wasn't there, but there was a smaller, lion-like posture turquoise. Delighted, she tried it on her ear, on her neck, on her forehead while looking in a mirror, testing out the best place to wear it. She then put it back in its container as before, concealing her actions. Lhachik thought to herself, "Even though the other turquoise is gone, there's one similar to it. I must obtain it somehow."
At that moment, the guru returned, accompanied by many poor, disabled, and destitute beggars who clung to his robes, saying, "Precious guru, please give us something that is easy to hide, light to carry, and valuable to sell."
The guru, filled with intense compassion, said, "All of you come to the back of the palace." He took the lion-like posture turquoise from his bundle, wrapped it in a ball of dough, tossed it behind him, and said, "Don't eat this food here, go elsewhere and eat it." Some beggars said, "We asked for provisions from Guru Rechungpa, and all we get is leftover food, which he even tells us not to eat here. What use is this? Let's just eat it now." An elder said, "Rechungpa is an actual buddha. It's not good to disobey his words. Who knows what this might contain?" He went to a secluded spot and broke open the dough, finding within it the lion-like posture turquoise. They took it to the north of Uru and sold it, freeing all the beggars from poverty, and thus formed what became known as the beggars' community of Uru.
The story wasn’t over yet. At a feast for the consecration of the Jaser Temple in Yarlung Valley, there was a beauty contest and Lhachik wanted to attend. She said to Guru Rechungpa, "Guru, please finish your meditation early tomorrow as I'm going to the fair. My father has horses to ride, clothes to wear, and ornaments to adorn. I'll take the servants. You should represent the men at the gathering. No one is more handsome than you, and no one is more beautiful than me. I've won many beauty contests before. Please come this time, and I'll win again. Please also lend me the turquoise offered by the old couple and the turquoise in your bundle."
She made repeated requests, until finally the Guru said, “I gave the turquoise offered by the old couple to that leper; it’s gone. I gave the turquoise in the pouch to some beggars; it is gone. Girl, you've asked too late. If you want to go to the fair, go. I'm not going anywhere. The greatest spectacle is to look within one’s own mind.” Hearing that the turquoise had been given away, Lhachik became very displeased, her face darkened like a withered tree. “You’re the real beggar,” she said as she left.
That night, the Guru thought, "In general, possessions are the basis of afflictions and the pressure cooker of suffering. Such desirable wealth creates suffering in both this life and the next, so it was good to have given it away. Women tend to be greedy and miserly. Lhachik is very attached to turquoise and jewels, so she is unhappy.”
Lhachik was overcome by negativity towards Rechungpa. She thought to herself: "When Rechungpa first came, he was a beggar but I gave him the best food, clothed him in the finest garments, and offered him all royal power and authority, yet he won't give me two turquoise stones. He has become arrogant." She was so angry with him that the next morning, whereas before she had personally brought him only fine food, she sent a servant with poor-quality tea. Because his meditation wasn't finished, he didn't drink it.
All the people were on their way to the fair; the men were riding horses and all the beautiful women were wearing turquoise and jewels. Lhachik grew angrier and angrier. She wanted to go to the fair but couldn’t go and didn’t go. She brought him some poor-quality food and drink. Addressing Rechungpa, she said, "You, selfish beggar from who knows where! You gave two turquoise stones to beggars. Aren't you the real beggar? I seem to have shown you too much respect and service. If delicious food doesn't appeal to a beggar, then just eat this." She placed it before him and left. Seeing and hearing Lhachik's hurtful words and negative demeanor made him sad, but he saw the food and drink as a good omen.
After a while, Lhachik asked, "Did he eat it?" The maid replied, "He didn't eat it." Lhachik became enraged, took a white willow stick, and went to Rechungpa. Thinking, "If he gets up, I can't handle him. I must not give him a chance to rise," she struck him three times. His meditation mat scattered like bird feathers. She threw dirt and grass on his head, poured beer and vegetables on his body, and beat him repeatedly with reeds as if threshing grain until it broke into three pieces. He was covered with wounds and bleeding.
The Guru thought, "If I retaliate, my samaya will be broken. This must be the meaning of the prophecy about not going to Central Tibet, and the warning about an obstacle from a worldly female dog." He decided to leave Lhachik Dembu and go to his guru, the Venerable Milarepa. As he prepared to leave, Lhachik thought, "This man who has no attachment to anything might leave. I should take this instruction manual that he values highly." She took it, but he left without attachment even to that. "He has been without attachment from the beginning. That's why he gave away the turquoise too. Actually, I am at fault," she thought. Although she begged him not to go, her pleas were unsuccessful, and he gradually departed. Finally, at the Nyangpo ferry crossing, Rechungpa crossed the water with miraculous powers, making it impossible for her to follow. Lhachik, in despair, turned back. Then Rechungpa went to Drilche Cave where his guru Milarepa resided.
After Rechungpa fled from Lhachik and reached his guru, he wasn't granted an audience for fifteen days. One day, being told to bring many feast and offering materials, Rechungpa sought an audience along with other practitioners. His guru had created a Chakrasamvara mandala and said he would bestow initiation on Rechungpa. At that time, the turquoise previously given to the beggars was recognizably sitting on a mandala plate. Rechungpa's body trembled with shock. The beggar was an emanation of Milarepa! Immediately, his attachment to samsara was completely reversed, and from then on, his desire for comfort was exhausted.
Then the Guru said, "You, Rechungpa, are my first disciple, so no matter what happens, I cannot give you up. Though you travel too much, I have kept you as my heart son. This time, because you have a bit of compassion and faith in the guru but still have dualistic perception, I have found support in you, and you have found support in me. He then sang a song:
Great is the blessing power of Father Marpa.
Great is the crucial point of Mila's miraculous powers.
Great is Rechungpa's compassion and generosity.
The turquoise given to the beggar was actually from Mila.
Tonight, make offerings for the Chakrasamvara initiation.
Before this, Rechungpa had been too ashamed to speak. After the Guru sang this, he gained confidence and offered confession before the Guru and the disciples of the mandala. The Guru was pleased and said, "The saying 'The downfalls of the learned are the heaviest' refers to people like you." He bestowed initiation on about fifty practitioners who all agreed that night was joyous. Then the practitioner Zhiwa Ö asked, "Many male and female yogis live together. Since we've confessed to our master and disciples, what is the meaning of all this?" The Venerable Master gave this instruction. "If you don't know the time for dharma practice, everything becomes misconduct. Dharma practice requires proper timing,"
The Best Way to Proceed if You Are Unable
Needless to say, fulfilling all of a guru’s instructions is difficult. Even when the guru says, “Practice dharma. Keep your vows and samaya,” it can be challenging to do this. And if you had to do as Tilopa instructed Naropa or as Marpa instructed Milarepa, it would be even more difficult, needless to say.
So with this in mind, Tsongkhapa’s commentary says:
Students with great intelligence, that is, great prajna, obey their guru’s commands or orders with great effort—they listen and fulfill them. This is not unwillingly but with an attitude of great joy and delight. You might wonder, must we accomplish all of them? Even if the command accords with the dharma, but you are unable no matter how you try, explain the reason well in simple words why you are unable to fulfill the command. If you do so, there is no fault if you do not accomplish it.
If the action is one that you cannot accomplish by proper methods but is a command that is non-dharmic, then do as described above and do not engage in it.
One point that we must consider is this: In general, when a qualified guru, a dharmic guru, gives us an instruction regarding dharma practice and we try our best to accomplish it, that is enough—there is no doubt about that. If we try with all our efforts in every way we can but are still unable to do it, there is no fault, as it is taught.
For example, when Nagtso Lotsawa promised the abbot of Vikramashila that he would bring Atisha back to India after three years in Tibet, later he was unable to escort Atisha back to India due to warfare in Nepal and other factors. Because of this, Nagtso Lotsawa became so distressed that his body became emaciated, but Atisha explained to him that there is no fault when one is unable to accomplish something.
If you do everything you can to finish what you have been asked to do, but you're unable to, there's no problem, the Karmapa commented. The main point is that these days, there are many people who pretend to be qualified gurus, when they are not. They deceive and mislead many people, and say, I need this wealth, I need this position, as if they really need it. They demand wealth and prestige, and so they, “You must do this and that for me, and if you don’t, your samaya will be broken.” There are more than a few stories of such gurus. This has obviously caused great harm to the Buddha’s teachings in general and Tibetan Buddhism in particular, so we cannot simply say “do whatever the guru says.” Instead, we need to consider what should be done when caught in such situations.
In this regard, we need to understand that in the history of Vajrayana, there are accounts of yogis sometimes engaging in practices such as all-conquering conduct, during which they drank alcohol, took consorts, and occasionally even killed beings.
For example, when Mother Dakmema (Nairatmya) sent Milarepa to request teachings from Lama Ngokpa, the lama said, “Today a group of merchants harmed my monks. Cast a hailstorm on them, and I will teach you the instructions I know." Unable to refuse the guru's command, he cast a hailstorm during which all the region's crops were destroyed and many creatures died, including birds in the sky and mice on the ground.
Lord Jetsun, the great magician, became furious and went to a hillside. He gathered as many of the dead bird corpses as he could find at the base of a tree trunk and went before Guru Ngokpa. He said, "When I come to request Buddhist teachings, must I commit such terrifying misdeeds that accelerate the path to hell and deepen its depths? Now where should I go?"
The guru exclaimed, "Oh my! Don't be alarmed. Throw these bird corpses into this fire." When the bird corpses were placed in the fire that was there in front, the guru snapped his fingers once, and the birds flew away into the sky with a fluttering sound. This brought some relief to Milarepa's mind.
Now, if someone asks, "Didn't Jetsun Milarepa cast spells when needed and send hailstorms when required to fulfill the commands of Marpa and Ngokpa? Weren't these non-virtuous actions?", the answer is that gurus like Marpa and Ngokpa were not merely qualified teachers in the ordinary sense. They were exceptional gurus with special miraculous powers who could transform others' lack of faith, revive the dead, and control the four elements. So, from the guru's perspective, it was different.
Also, Jetsun Milarepa had faith in them as if seeing the actual Buddha, so from the disciple's perspective, his faith and trust were unlike others. When these conditions are not there, it would be meaningless to casually follow whatever instructions come from gurus whose qualifications are incomplete, initially pretending to listen, then later losing faith—causing both guru and disciple to fall into lower realms.
His Holiness quoted a Tibetan proverb: "The fox who jumps where a lion leaps will break its back." Therefore, it's important to practice according to one's own level. It's better to carefully fulfill the dharmic instructions of the guru as much as possible while avoiding non-dharmic commands—this brings greater benefit with less risk.
And when Marpa the Translator treated Milarepa so badly, at that point it does not look good, but after a certain time has passed acting in such a way should become meaningful. If it gets worse as time passes, then it is not right.
When it's like this, those who have the title of lama or tulku, including myself, should not prioritize self-interest, but rather have pure altruistic intention and genuine compassion for the teachings in general, all sentient beings, and especially those who have faith in us. This is extremely important.
Generally, deceiving those who trust you—particularly misusing the holy dharma to harm sentient beings, and if this damages the teachings—needless to say, it creates extremely serious misdeeds. If you think, "I am a lama, so whatever I do is acceptable," you are only deceiving yourself.
A lama also has responsibilities and samaya commitments. In the Fifty Verses on the Guru, it states: "Because the guru and student would have / The same violation of samaya." This means that just as disciples can break their samaya, gurus can also break their samaya.
Likewise, we needn't worry too much about what to do if our guru were to give us instructions like those Tilopa gave to Naropa or Marpa gave to Milarepa. The reason is that that era is over, as was said long ago. Indeed, it is recorded in their biographies that Marpa instructed Milarepa, "Do not do to others what Tilopa did to Naropa and I did to you."
In Amdo, there was a student of Lachen Drokmi Shakya Yeshe who was the source of the Sakya teachings on the path and its result. His name was Drom. He practiced sorcery and liberated (killed) 25 enemies at once. Because of his fame, there were many people who made offerings to him. However, he grew sad and brought his wife and 30 members of his retinue to request dharma teachings from Lachen Drokmi, at the Nyugulung monastery in Western Tibet. Many people gave him offerings along the way, so he brought them along when he went to see Drokmi. He gave a pound of gold for each teaching session, but he only had enough for four sessions and then the gold ran out. He asked Lachen Drokmi whether he could give anything other than gold. Lachen said, “If you’ve run out of gold, I’ve run out of dharma.”
So Drom bought gold from Drokmi’s wife, offered it, and received the rest of the dharma completely. Then Drom’s wife died, so he offered all of her jewelry to Lachen Drokmi. Having served him for eight years, Drom needed to return to his homeland and take the dharma texts and so forth with him, so he asked Lachen Drokmi to lend him three horses for the journey. But Lachen Drokmi refused, saying, “It is inappropriate for a guru to make an offering to a student. Don’t go to your homeland, stay here.” The people with Drom got annoyed at Lachen Drokmi’s attitude and criticized him heavily.
Drom also felt helpless to do anything. “From now on, even if Nyugulung were Bodh Gaya and Lachen Drokmi were Buddha Shakyamuni, I can’t come here again because I’ve become a beggar, and I’d be too embarrassed to go home on foot.” So he went to Dingri in Tö, and because he was well-known to be a student of Drokmi, many people asked him for teachings and made offerings to him. Then, as soon as he had taught the most precious pith instructions that Drokmi had given him, he broke his samaya, had a nosebleed and fell ill.
The next morning, he developed great clairvoyance. “My guru is Vajradhara in person, but I underestimated him and didn’t realize that. That has ruined me. However, he will take care of me in the bardo,” he said. He told his retinue, “Give all my possessions and these bones to him. If you ask him for instructions, he will give you the instructions without all the hardships I went through.” Then he passed away. When his remains were cremated, there was a rain of flowers.
His students took his remains and offerings to Nyugulung, coming from the foot of the valley blowing conches. Drokmi was making a torma and said, “Look, it’s like they are extracting my essence.” so he sent his student to find out what was happening. Drom’s students told him the story and offered the jewels. Drokmi took the remains into his lap and said, “Son, have you returned to your father?” weeping. “My guru told me to examine the vessel, but I examined him too much and that made problems. If any of you want the pith instructions, I shall give them.” There were not so many who asked for the instructions. They asked for the Hevajra empowerment, which Drokmi gave. Thus we can see that Lachen Drokmi also appeared to feel regret for examining his students too harshly.
These days, it's very rare to find any examples of such guru-disciple relationships. Since this is a degenerate age and the Buddha's teachings have spread not only in Tibet but throughout the East and West of the world, I think that when benefiting beings among different ethnicities and cultures, one needs to act with skillful means rather than merely following the old traditions.
In particular, the later Tibetan Buddhist tradition practiced not only Secret Mantra alone, but combined Sutra and Tantra together, practicing view, meditation, and conduct without contradiction. Especially the Dakpo Kagyu lineage combines the oral instructions passed down from Marpa and Mila (father and son) with the graduated path of the Kadampa tradition that descended from Lord Jowo (Atisha). Since they practice these as one, they are known as "Kadampa and Kagyu merged into a single river."
Therefore, not only in terms of inner practice, but also in outer conduct, practitioners should be pure and inspire faith and clarity in others' perception, act in accordance with the dharma, and benefit only the teachings. This is like the life-force of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
If a guru demonstrates qualities of realization, clairvoyance, and visible signs of accomplishment, that is a different matter. Otherwise, it is important to be cautious of those who merely bear the title of guru and act inappropriately. Even if one has already taken someone as a teacher, it's crucial to examine whether what they say accords with the Dharma. Furthermore, if you follow the guru as much as possible primarily in terms of the dharma, many of these difficulties will naturally be resolved.
In any case, if without any knowledge what the guru is like, from the outset you rush to do everything they say or teach, that can be very dangerous in this age, as you all know.
In summary, according to the oral tradition of some gurus, Vajrayana is like putting a snake into an iron pipe - you either ascend to enlightenment or descend to hell with no middle ground. It is well known that Vajrayana is extremely strict and is the sphere of those with the highest faculties; it is not said to be appropriate for everyone. The reason why you keep who your guru is and who your yidam is secret is that there are few who know how to practice and can get their heads around it. Moreover, there is a great danger people will misunderstand and use it improperly. So we need to be careful. The Buddha and many other scholars have repeatedly said we need to be secret and private about it.
For this reason, if one meets a qualified guru and properly relies on them as taught in the Fifty Verse on the Guru, there is the possibility of attaining enlightenment in the best case. Conversely, if one encounters a false guru or an unqualified, deceptive one, there is the risk of wasting both this life and future lives. Therefore, it is extremely important to be careful throughout the entire process.
I am not telling you today to offer everything you have to the guru, to sacrifice everything for the guru's sake, or to do whatever the guru says. However, in this time when we still have some qualified gurus living among us, I think it's important for all of us, both ourselves and others, to strive to properly rely on our gurus—even if we cannot follow 100% of what is taught in the Fifty Verses on the Guru—in a way that is meaningful and avoids unnecessary samaya violations. This is the main reason why I needed to explain the Fifty Verses on the Guru on this occasion.