The Three Levels of Guru

The Three Levels of Guru

We are Mahasiddhas of samsara. We totally got the result. There’s no ending to our desire, anger, and ignorance. That proves we are a sentient being. We’ve overdone this three-poison samsara yoga. We’ve had enough. What then do we have to realize? We have to make a decision that, having this kind of precious teaching, I want to develop my pure wisdom nature. I want to develop my compassion. I want to develop the ability to penetrate beings with wisdom and compassion in order to benefit them. But how can we gain that kind of realization? You can do positive things on a mental level without a teacher, because mind belongs to you. You can try to create positive things. You can stop thinking negative things—that's possible. But wisdom, which is beyond dualistic mind, beyond ordinary mind—without a wisdom teacher, it's impossible. According to Vajrayana practice, without depending on the wisdom teacher, it's impossible to realize, impossible to recognize, impossible to experience, impossible to get realization. For that reason, we need guru yoga.

There's the outer guru, inner guru, and secret guru. Our own guru is a sublime being who manifests in form for us humans. They look like humans—like Buddha Shakyamuni, Padmasambhava, and in the present time, like Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche and Kyabje Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche. They look like flesh and blood bodies, like us—that's the outer form. But inwardly, their wisdom is inconceivable wisdom, inconceivable compassion, with inconceivable power to display their wisdom-compassion to others. This form aspect is the outer guru.

Then their teachings are genuine, pure, and harmless. Any kind of expression from them directly penetrates the student's mind—that proves their wisdom power. Sometimes people get confused. Those who don't have that kind of realization pretend, using ordinary human language and titles, trying to imitate realized beings. But it doesn't work. Only those who have full realization of wisdom can do this, because they display genuine loving compassion, and any words that come from their teachings directly penetrate to students.

The outer guru's teachings—from Buddha Shakyamuni, Padmasambhava, Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche, Kyabje Thinley Norbu Rinpoche—are directly transmitted to us, penetrating to our own mind. This outer guru and inner guru make a connection that penetrates your mind. Through that teaching, you wake up to who you are originally—your undeluded, undefiled state of mind awakens. At that time, the secret guru manifests.

In that state, there's no separation between outer, inner, and secret gurus, because the outer guru's realization is exactly the same as your own original mind. Everything mingles in oneness within the Dharmakaya mind, without any separation. That's the secret guru manifesting.

-- Edited excerpt from Lama Tharchin Rinpoche's July 1998 teaching on "Calling the Lama from Afar (Nying U Day Pay)"

There are so many gems in Rinpoche's teaching. You’ll find the teaching and a recording of Rinpoche reciting the practice on SoundCloud:

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