Host: We should talk a little bit more of Guru Yoga. I think Guru Yoga needs better marketing, Rinpoche [haha]. I was wondering, you know, if someone says “Oh, I’m interesting in Niguma practice, I’ve studied Buddhism for a while, I totally appreciate this idea of impermanence and life is precious and there’s something meaningful to be found in spiritual practice, but Guru Yoga I’m not sure, I’m not sure if I need too Guru Yoga, so why will I do Guru Yoga ?” Someone comes to you and says I want to do these practices “illusory body” and Dream Yoga but how Guru Yoga fit in these practices, what would you say Rinpoche ?
Kalu Rinpoche: I think in this modern world, I think all of your Guru is definitively His Holiness Dalai Lama and that without doubt. Because he is the first figure you see on the bookstore, he is the first figure you see on the television, newspapers, online, social media or whatsoever. And he gives teachings, everything, out there, out and open. So that’s definitively somebody that you have to consider as a Guru. He is a monk, he is a tantric master. I don’t think there is a higher example than that.
And then I’m sure that many of you also have a spiritual journey, that you have met your mentor by accident due to your friends and events and so on.
Because the reason why we place Guru Yoga very important is not because that we place the Buddha less important. The very purpose, the very idea of the Guru Yoga is that we see Guru Yoga practice equally important as the presence of the Buddha because we were not born in the time of the Buddha. We were not there, even we were there as an insect or as a dear or as a bird, right? But we were not there as far as we can remember.
So in this life we are introduced to the Dharma by Wisdom Publications or by His Holiness Dalai Lama or other great masters. So that is our Buddha.
The Buddha doesn’t mean that need to have a curly hear, it doesn’t mean that need to have a beam of light shining or blinding your eyes or something, right? The meaning of the radiance means they have the universal truth within them and then the true color shines by itself. It doesn’t mean like a magical rainbow shining out of the body.
When there is a great master who always stick to the ethics and the principle and the inner truth with the recognizing the nature of the mind, with the great compassion and there’s a natural light that shines through them. You don’t have to be skeptical about it, you just observe it and you see it even with the skeptical point of view. So that’s that.
Wisdom Dharma Chat | Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche – April 2024 (33′ 20”)
During this Wisdom Dharma Chat host Daniel Aitken and Rinpoche discuss his Wisdom Academy course Illusory Body and Mind, along with his new and upcoming Wisdom Academy course on Niguma’s dream yoga, and much more.
To be continued …
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