Six Session Guru Yoga An Open Version Based on a teaching by Khen Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Tarchin Taught by Lama Dvora-hla
Based on a teaching by Khen Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Tarchin Taught by Lama Dvora-hla
Diamond Mountain, September 201 0
So I'm so happy you could make it. This teaching is just so important. I have received it from my Holy Lama, Khen Rinpoche 1 . Every Gelukpa lama that offers tantric initiation then gives this teaching, and it is a re quired practice. And this is my Lama's book about this practice, and in the introduction t o this book he says that “compared to all practices, including tantric practices, this is the most important practice”. That's what he says, in his book. He says, hundred times m ore. So by far, the most important practice.
So it is a tantric practice, but it has parts which can be shared. So the way I structured this teaching, is I separated the parts that can be shared from those that are unique to tantra. And what I have done is, I have taken the t ext - the English translation is by Geshe Michael, the Hebrew for those who speak Hebrew is mine - And I have extracted from the text the parts that are open, an d arranged them in a way that people who are not initiated into Tantra can make it into their daily practice, and it will be a very very powerful practice.
Of course, if you get into tantra, which eventually you all will, if you haven't already, then you'll get the full-fledged power of the pract ice. But even as is, in the open version – it is extremely powerful, if you practice it daily. So the Tibetan name for this practice, say:
Tun Druk .
Tun – means times or sessions ,
And druk - means six . Six sessions . 1
Khensur Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Tarchin, 1921-2004. Former Abbot of Sera Mey Monastery in India and Rashi Gempil Ling in Howell, New Jersey.
So it's called Six Session Guru Yoga in English.
Six session means – you practice it six times a day .
Now, this should remind you something, right? So here's a secret – the book is completely based on this practice. So it's not like Geshe Michael didn't teach the practice, he just taught a different way to do the practice. He taught us to do the book where we follow up on our vows, because that's the most important part of our practice. I mean, one thing is to receive teachings and to receive the vows, a whole different level of practice is to follow up on them every day in your book, six times a day, that's a different thing.
So Geshe Michael in his wisdom and kindness evolved the practice beyond what the Tibetans traditionally do. Because they do six time s, three times in the morning, and three times in the evening, and they do one full ti me, and then two abbreviated times, and the same they do in evening, whereas Geshe Mich ael had instructed people to do the book during the day, every two-three hours you open your book and you follow up on your vows.
It's done differently with the book, each time you open your book, you check one vow and how you acted with respect to the vow in the pa st two-three hours. In this practice, in the traditional way, they recite the v ows in the morning and they recite them in the evening. So it's a different way. They review: "Oh, this one , this one, this one" – but they recite all of them in the morning and all of them in the e vening. So I'm very much convinced that working with the book is more powerf ul as far as the vows go, much more powerful actually.
However, there are parts in this practice that you don't do with the book, the practice has more than just following up on the vows, and th ose parts are also extremely important. So this practice is not to replace your book, it's to complement your practice with the book, Ok? It's not instead, it's in addition. Often students hear so many beautiful teachings. In our lineage we have no shortage of teachings, and no shortage of practices, we have so many. And sometimes it's confusing – which one should I do? And I get lots o f emails, which one should I do? So this one, even in the open version, has what you need to have a very powerful practice. Not to take away from the other practices , it's just a very concise and a very powerful form to do them.
I have received teachings on this, as I said, from Khen Rinpoche, my Holy Lama, who taught this very beautifully and many times, and I have received also teachings on this from other lamas, I can think of at least three oth er lamas that I have received teachings from on the Six Session Guru Yoga. And ac tually, with each Highest Yoga Tantra initiation, the lamas would require that you do this for the rest of your life - the tantric version, not the open version. Everything t hat's here 2 is included in the tantric version, the other one is just longer, [it] has mor e in it.
For today's class and next time, I will use – well, this is a tantric book so I'm not recommending to you to get it, but eventually you w ill be able to. I'm excerpting from it the parts that can be taught in the open. Those are class notes from my Lama Khen Rinpoche, it's called "
And you may have heard this teaching because we tea ch it openly a lot and it's in the ACI courses a lot. Probably everything that you wil l hear here, if you covered all the
ACI courses, you have heard it in one way or anothe r, because that's the open part, but still, it's organized nicely into a concise practic e.
So what are the actual causes of taking refuge? The re's two causes that create true refuge:
Considering and thinking and reflecting on the suff ering in samsara – there is general suffering in Samsara, and there the particu lar sufferings of each of the six realms of existence.
And among the particular causes of sufferings, thos e of the three lower realms are especially heavy and very long lasting. Beings that fall into the lower realms, their suffering is extremely hard and painful and lasts a very long time. You know, you can imagine, when you're in pain, then even one moment of pain seems to you like it lasts an eon, because it's just [that] the suffering is g reat. – Khen Rinpoche used to say that the greatest suffe ring in our human realm is not even remotely comparable to the suffering of hell.
Or, he also said it the other way:
The lightest hell is infinitely more suffering than the toughest situation in this world. So therefore, beings that fall into those realms, i n their experience, they are there forever. For them time goes very very slow.
So there are the general sufferings that we are ref lecting on, including those of the lower realms. And then there are sufferings that ar e specific to us, as humans, that we need to reflect on, and you've all heard about the kinds of sufferings, right? That's one way to describe our suffering, which is:
The suffering of suffering – suffering of suffering relates to, things that w e normally call suffering: pain, broken legs, wars. T hings that nobody will dispute is suffering; Scarcity, loneliness, misfort une, disease, like that. So those are examples of suffering of suffering.
Then, there is the suffering of change – the second kind of suffering. And that one relates to the change in our life, the constant change. An example would be: We eat a good meal, and we're happy, and within a few hours we're hungry again. So there's this constant change that's drivi ng and causing suffering. And so no matter how good it is at this moment, we'll h ave to lose it, it will change.
You'll have to go search for another meal again, or we will lose partners, or we lose jobs, or we'll lose health. This kind of const ant change. And not all change we may describe directly as suff ering, but some of it we do. Things are changing, and then some changes are surprising us, and we say: "What happened, why? Why is this happening to me?"
But change is part of our being in samsara. So this is the suffering of c hange. c. And the third kind is the suffering which is called
Pervasive Suffering – in Tibetan:
And a Buddha emanates those manifestations to help the beings in whatever way is suitable for them. The enjoyment body – is a deity body, normally we cannot see that bod y. Until we are very very highly realized, we cannot directly s ee that body. Because of that, and because of the buddha's great compassion wanting to help us, their great compassion compels them to emanate to us in forms that we can see, and it would be in ordinary forms like a human teacher appearing to us.
The enjoyment body, the Sambogakaya is a very very subtle kind of form, and its essence is really wisdom. It's really a form derive d from mind. The wisdom body, Jñyana Dharmakaya , is buddha's wisdom. It really refers to buddha's omniscience, their knowledge. And then they have the essence body . The essence body relates to the emptiness of all the other bodies. And it means that all the oth er bodies have no self existence whatsoever, they're projections.
So one aspect of the essence body, or Svabhavakaya – that's Sanskrit, is the emptiness of the other bodies. � The other aspect of the Svabhavakaya is the ultimat e cessation, the irreversible abandonment of all the mental obscurat ions. The buddha has no obscurations what so ever, and that's an aspect of the essence body, or the Svabhavakaya.
Audience : Can you repeat the Sanskrit names of the four bo dies of the Buddha?
Teacher : Repeat what they are in Sanskrit?
Nirmanakaya – is the emanation body
Then, Sambogakaya – is the enjoyment body
Then, Jñyana Dharmakaya – is the wisdom body
And the last one is Svabhavakaya – it's the essence body
The Visualization for Going for Refuge
So we read the verse about going for refuge, and it said we should do it three times.
So, how do we go for refuge?
There's beautiful visualizations as you recite this , to make it powerful and strong. And it relates to what we call The Merit Field . Have you ever heard a teaching about the merit field? Oh, we have it 4 right above me, beautiful.
Your Lama
So, in the center – that's your lama. It's your lam a appearing in the form of a buddha, in your visualization. And you can see here in this picture there’s a vertical line above
A picture of the Merit Field. 11 him which are all the lineage lamas, so your lama’s lamas, and their lamas and their lamas, and they go up like that, so the highest one s are the oldest ones.
So your lama is in the center, their lamas above th em, their lamas above them, so it's like this whole wisdom descends into the lama and t hen comes to you. So that's the first part.
The lineage of bodhichita ] - Then, you see, there's a left side and right si de. On the right side of the lama, which is our left, is Maitr eya, surrounded [by the lineage of bodhichita]. This is the lineage of bodhichita, it' s called also "the lineage of wide- spread activities" - those are the teachings on bod hichita, on love, on acting on behalf of beings, on helping beings.
So there's Maitreya, and he's surrounded by Lineage lamas, lamas whose main teaching is the teaching of love and of boddhicitta . [The lineage of wisdom] - Then, on the right side, to my side as I look at it , is the wisdom lineage, the profound wisdom lineage, which includes Manjushri and other lamas from whom we have received the wisdom teachin gs, many of them. Some lamas appear on both sides because they combine bea utifully both lineages, like Lama Atisha, for example, Je Tsongkapa - so they could b e here or there.
So you picture those on both sides. Then, in front of the lama are buddhas and arahats.
First there's Tantric buddhas and then there are su tra buddhas. There are buddhas from the listener lineage, buddhas from the self-ma de-buddha lineage, bodhisattvas that come with them.
Then, there's a front row, if you look very closely you'll see very strange looking begins - they are dharma protectors, that used to b e bad spirits but were tamed by the Buddhas and they are now protectors, and they prote ct dharma, they protect dharma practitioners, like that. So this is called the Merit Field , and as we go for refuge, first we create this visualization in front of us, of the merit field.
Now, it's a very detailed visualization, which for most people including myself is very hard to do. For most people it's hard, but some peo ple can. Some people like to have all those details. [For] some students you need to give a lot of details, because they need to occupy their minds
If it’s hard, they say You can visualize your lama, and imagine that they are representing this whole field.
Then, you're not going to refuge alone .
You want your refuge to be very powerful. So the tr adition says you picture your mother on your left, and your father on your right, and you're holding their hands. And then the female members of your family – are al so to the left, the male members of your family are to the right. And then behind them are all the beings.
That includes all kinds of beings, but they appear in the visualization as people and there's an endless number of them, they stretch behind you as far as space reaches, Ok? All the way.
The whole space is filled with those beings, and yo u are leading them. So you are chanting the verse, and you are le ading all those beings to refuge, you are their savior. As you repe at the verse, in your imagination they all say it with you, and thei r mouths are moving,. It's very very beautiful. You are like hel ping them, you are their voice. And then it becomes very powerful if you can do it that way.
It's also very beautiful to repeat it after your lama . So your lama is leading you to refuge. So in your visualization [your] Lama is say ing the line, and you are repeating it, Ok?
So you imagine you're hearing it from the Lama, and repeating it to the
Lama .
Question : You do it while you're standing or while you're s itting? Teacher : No, you sit. After you finish prostrations to the images and what they represent, you sit down, and this whole visualizati on is happening in your mind. It's like a meditation, it's a text that really guides y our meditation.
One word I need to mention about the visualization:
Where should we put that visualization? You put that in front of you. Not to o high, because then they say you may get agitated. Because it's quite a long practic e, if you do it properly, with all the the visualizations. So to not get agitated. Not too low, so you won't have a dull sinking mind. So they say at the level of your eyebrows, you put it kind of against the center of your ajnya chakra.
How far? They say don't put them too far away – bec ause that's a bad omen – it's like, you're enlightenment is very far, your lama is very far. They can't help you from far away.
Also not too close, because you need to leave enoug h room to prostrate to them and give them offerings ☺ . So they say – body length. They're there, and the n as you prostrate you can touch their Lotus Feet. So it's v ery beautiful.
Question : When we visualize the Lama, she's in front of us.
But then we picture all the other beings...
Teacher : Oh, well, they become smaller and smaller. You kee p the main image, the central figure at body length in front of you. Whatever makes sense to you. If she stands there or sits there then you can't see every thing else... Mind is so flexible. You know, it's like looking th rough a key hole and you can see everything out there even though the key hole is ti ny. You can do with your mind what you want. How long should we go for refuge? So how long do we need to go for refuge? Well, it s ays here in the verse: Until I reach Enlightenment 13 ☺ . You can't stop before. You constantly go for refu ge` until you yourself are a buddha, you have to rely on the buddha. You’re help less without them, you're completely helpless without them.
It says:
Through the merit of giving
And other good things I do
It refers to the six perfections – the merit of giv ing, and the other six perfections. By performing those good deeds we're collecting a huge mountain of virtue.
The virtues of giving are of four different kinds: .
The giving of material objects, b.
The giving of protection from fear, c.
The giving of love d.
And the giving of Dharma.
So actually even in the boddhisattva vows we have t hose listed as our commitments, right? So it says: Through the merit of giving And other good things I do May I become a Buddha To help all living beings.
So as we are doing the refuge, reciting the refuge lin es, we are keeping in mind the good things we have done . So at the same time, you're kind of recalling you r goodness, you're using up your goodness.
And you're not just remembering the good things you have done, you come with an attitude of offering them. You remember: "Oh, I did all those good things, I' m going to offer them to the buddhas and objects of refuge, as they're represented here with my lama. I'm going to offer them to my lama".
So with this virtuous attitude where you remember y our merit, and with a mind of offering, you go for refuge. And it's like begging them: "Please, use my virtue, take my virtue, and help me". You're bribing them with your virtue.
And it's actually how things work. The more virtue you're able to collect, the more the buddhas can help you. It seems the lama is helping you, but the only help that you're actually getting is your own, comes from your own goodness.
There's nothing they can do if you don't have the virtue. On the other hand, if you do, it will appear as if they're helping you. Last thing here, not in our lineage, [but] there are lineages - since we're getting ready to go to three year retreat - they have lists of p eliminaries you do before you go to a three year retreat. And one of them would be [to] say a 100,000 times this refuge with the visualization of the field. You create it, you say the refuge three times, you dissolve it - there's a whole Sadhana doing the refuge.
Doing a 100,000 of this, and there's a 100,000 of mandalas, a 100,000 prostrations, a 100,000 water bowels, and they have a list of preliminaries. It takes quite a while to accomplish all of that, in the meantime you are get ting purified. It's very beautiful and some people love that.
Our Lamas don’t require that. They say that if you study and understand emptiness, for example, and practice bodhisattva vows, etc. an d study the Lam Rim, develop the attitudes of renunciation, and bodhichitta, and correct view – this is a much more powerful preparation. But it's very beautiful, if you can and you have an opportunity to do the other 100 thousands of each, that's very beautiful. And you meet people who are doing them and they appear very pure, they’re very beautiful.
So Rinpoche says: You have to do this practice of refuge regularly, it means every day . And you know that – you have refuge vows, three times in the morning, and three times in the evening. If you do it with this visualization it's very powerful and it's included in this practice, and it's the very first part Question : You say this prayer three times, two times a day?
Teacher : I will describe to you how to do that. When you say this part, going for refuge, the very first part, you do the visualization like I taught you; you reflect on the meaning of the Three Jewels, you see all your mothers and fathers behind you. You repeat it three times in the morning, and three times in the evening. But, there's all the rest also. So the way it is done, in the Six Session – you will do the whole practice three times. So you do this whole thing three times in the morning, and this whole thing three times in the evening.
So, in the morning, you wake up, you're ready to do this. First time you go through this thing, this part you say three times. Then the re's another part that you repeat three times. Second time you go through it, you don't have to repeat three times, only once. So you accumulate quite a lot, right?
First time three times, then you just go through the thing without repeating. So three of those in morning, three of those in the evening. It will take you some time to do that, if you do it well.
Question : what priority should this particular visualization be given, in priority to other visualizations of taking refuge? Teacher : He said, "this is a hundred times more 5 ..." It's very important, it's very important to do it that way. Question : So what you recommend is when we need to take refuge, we take refuge like this? Teacher : Yeah, this is the teaching.
Once people enter into tantra, this gets a little m ore detailed. Not the wording, the wording remains the same, the visualization is different. So this part is common, I did not change the wording, I took it from the tantric practice, actually. The story of what you see is a little different [the explanations]. But really you have the essence here, you can do it this way, and it’s as powerful, really.
Quoting Khen Rinpoche's words, from the introduction of his book.
Question : You mentioned in the beginning of class that there are two main causes for taking refuge, one of them was thinking about the sufferings in samsara, what is the second one?
Teacher : Well, the second one is the thought that there's somebody that can help, and that you can trust. Because otherwise, just the fir st one it too bad, then you're hopeless. So the first one is seeing the disaster, the second one is seeing the opportunity, and you need both.
Can you just go with the Three Jewels and think about the opportunity and just skip the thinking about the suffering? Some people don't like to think about suffering and say: “why are you constantly coming back to suffering?” The lamas say that your refuge will not be as powerful. You need to understand where you're coming from, and where you're going, and you need both for it to be powerful.
