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Guru Yoga in Deity Practice
by Kenpo Karthar, from The Mountain Dharma of Karma Chagme, Volume
One
The last section of the chapter on guru yoga also begins with the invitation
"Lama Tsondru Gyamtso, who emphasizes faith and devotion, listen." The reason
why the emphasis on faith and devotion is mentioned at this point is not
only to say that Tsondru Gyamtso strongly possesses these qualities but to
point out that they must be emphasized.
The practice of guru yoga, through which faith and devotion are generated,
is the most important form of practice. At the same time, without faith and
devotion, you cannot e ectively practice guru yoga. If someone with no
faith and devotion attempts to practice it, nothing much will happen.
The "jewel of many colors" is a legendary jewel that will adopt the color of
the surface on which it is placed. Here it is used as an analogy for the way
devotion to the guru can be used in conjunction with deity practice. The
jewel is the guru and one's devotion to the guru. Placing the jewel on a
surface that transforms its color is like visualizing the guru as a deity.
In the same way, by visualizing the glorious guru in the form of whichever
deity you wish, you will receive the blessing of that form on which you are
meditating. The point here is that the e ectiveness of any deity meditation
depends upon considering that visualized deity to be your root guru taking that
particular form.
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For any deity practice to be e ective, it has to be a form of guru yoga.
"That precious wish-ful lling jewel, although it has no thought, if it is placed on
top of a victory banner, will rain down jewels, food, and clothing. In the same way,
that precious guru, when placed at the top of the victory banner of your devotion
and supplicated with intense devotion and yearning, will rain down both common
and supreme attainments."
The guru is like the legendary wish-ful lling jewel that, if properly
supplicated, will produce whatever is needed or wanted without thought
of preference or partiality. Just as the wish-ful lling jewel has to be placed
on a victory banner for the blessing to be received, in the same way,
supplication with devotion causes the blessings of the guru, and therefore
all common and supreme attainments, to arise spontaneously, just as
supplication of the wish-ful lling jewel causes the rain of food, clothing,
and wealth.
Karma Chakme Rinpoche now goes through the ways that you can apply
this guru yoga to speci c purposes. For example, if you wish to purify
wrongdoing, visualize the guru as Vajrasattva, which is what we do in the
second part of the preliminary practices, where the Vajrasattva that you are
visualizing above your head is identi ed with your root guru. The purpose
of this is to purify wrongdoing.
If you wish to purify obscuration, visualize the guru as Akshobhya.
If you wish to pacify sickness, visualize the guru as the Medicine Buddha.
This will be most e ective if your wish to pacify sickness is not merely to
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pacify your own sickness but to pacify the sicknesses of all sentient beings
and the causes of those sicknesses.
If you wish to pacify demonic disturbances, visualize the guru as Vajrapani;
if you wish to exhibit miracles, visualize the guru as Guru Padmasambhava;
and if you wish for wealth, visualize the guru as Jambhala.
In all these cases, the motivation has to be altruistic. If you are wishing for
wealth or for the ability to perform miracles for your own bene t and
grati cation, it is simply not going to work. However if you wish for the
necessary resources or for the ability to perform miracles to bene t beings
and the teachings, then visualizing your root guru in the indicated form
and supplicating them will be e ective.
From one point of view Jambhala is a mundane deity, and from another
point of view he is supermundane. Here, in visualizing the guru as
Jambhala you are thinking of him as supermundane.
In the same way, if you wish to increase your longevity, visualize the guru
as Amitayus.
If you wish to perform great bene t for beings, visualize the guru as
Avalokiteshvara.
If you wish for a great insight, visualize the guru as Manjushri.
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If you wish to establish the doctrine and rmly plant the Buddha's
teachings, visualize the guru as the Lord of the Doctrine, which refers to
Buddha Shakyamuni.
If you wish to pacify a danger, visualize the guru as Tara.
The point of all of this is that you should not think that you can only
visualize the guru in one form. You should not think, "Well, the guru is
Vajradhara, so it is not acceptable to visualize him as Chenrezik or Buddha
Shakyamuni," or "The guru is Buddha Shakyamuni, so I should not visualize him
as Chenrezik."
You can visualize your guru as any of these wisdom deities and you will
receive the blessing of whatever deity you visualize him as. For example, by
visualizing the by visualizing the guru as Vajradhara, we receive the
blessing of Vajradhara.
In any of these cases, in essence it is always your root guru visualized in the
form of whatever deity you wish. By meditating on the guru and
supplicating the guru in the particular form that is suited to your particular
purpose, you will accomplish that activity e icaciously.
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