Great Treasury of Merit. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
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cherishes us, as our father who provides us with all we need and protects us from danger, as the moon that cools the heat of the delusions in our mental continuum, as the sun that dispels the darkness of ignorance in our mind, and as a kind benefactor who gives us the priceless gift of Dharma.
To meet a fully qualified Spiritual Guide is infinitely more meaningful than to possess external wealth. Our Spiritual Guide is our real benefactor. He gives us the inner wealth of moral discipline, concentration, and wisdom, and eventually leads us to the supreme bliss of full enlightenment. Even if we have vast material wealth, if we lack these internal realizations, in reality we are impoverished. On the other hand, if through relying upon a Spiritual Guide we develop the realizations of the stages of the path to enlightenment within our mental continuum, we will be truly rich, even if we have no material possessions. Therefore, we should not be preoccupied with external wealth and development but should put all our energy into relying sincerely upon a fully qualified Spiritual Guide.
Putting our Spiritual Guide’s instructions into practice is the supreme offering. According to Je Tsongkhapa’s tradition, a qualified Spiritual Guide will be more pleased with his disciples’ Dharma practice than with receiving material offerings. Even if we make prostrations all day long, or regularly give presents to our Spiritual Guide, such practices will have little power if we are not following the spiritual path he has taught us. On the other hand, if we practise our Spiritual Guide’s instructions purely and with deep faith, even if we are unable to make physical prostrations or material offerings, we will be continuously making offerings that delight our Spiritual Guide.
By practising Guru yoga sincerely, even someone who was formerly very evil can become enlightened; but without relying sincerely upon a Spiritual Guide even the most intelligent person will never become a Buddha. To begin with, Milarepa was very evil. Using black magic he killed thirty-six people before he met his Guru, Marpa. Later, by relying sincerely upon Marpa he was able to purify his mind completely, accumulate merit and wisdom, and finally attain enlightenment in that same life.
Our Spiritual Guide is a powerful field for accumulating merit, purifying negative karma, and receiving blessings. We need to accumulate merit to meet with success in our spiritual training. In the Sutras Buddha says that those who possess merit have no difficulty in fulfilling their wishes whereas those who lack merit find it hard, no matter how virtuous their wishes may be. Similarly, if we do not purify our previously accumulated negative karma it will function as an obstacle to pure Dharma realizations. Just as plants cannot grow in polluted soil, so Dharma realizations cannot grow in an impure mind. The practices of accumulating merit and purifying negativity, therefore, are essential preliminaries to successful Dharma practice. In general, all the Buddhas and holy beings are powerful objects before whom we can accumulate merit and purify our minds, but the supreme object is our own Spiritual Guide.
Similarly, all Buddhas are very kind because they bless the minds of sentient beings and reveal the Dharma, but our Spiritual Guide is kinder than all the Buddhas because he or she gives us blessings and Dharma instructions directly. Thus, in Heruka Tantra it says:
He is the self-arisen Blessed One,
Foremost amongst the Highest Yoga Tantra Deities;
But the Vajrayana Spiritual Guide is superior to him
Because he gives instructions.
Realizing this, we should seek a fully qualified Spiritual Guide and rely upon him sincerely in both thought and deed.
In the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra in Eight Thousand Lines the story is told of a great Bodhisattva called Sadaprarudita who relied sincerely upon his Spiritual Guide, Dharmodgata, regarding him as more precious than his own life, and more important than all the Buddhas.
Even though he was a highly realized meditator, Sadaprarudita longed to meet a Teacher who would explain the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra to him, for he realized that it was impossible to attain either liberation or enlightenment without realizing the meaning of this Sutra. Even though he had a strong wish to meet a qualified Spiritual Guide, and even though he wandered the length and breadth of the land in search of one, he was unable to find a Teacher who could give him the instructions he desired. So saddened was he by his failure to find a Spiritual Guide that he wept constantly. Others who knew him called him ‘Sadaprarudita’, which means, ‘He who is constantly weeping’.
One day, while deep in meditation, Sadaprarudita received an extraordinary vision in which many Buddhas appeared directly before him. They told him that he had a close connection with a Bodhisattva called Dharmodgata and that he should seek him out and follow his instructions. Rising from meditation, Sadaprarudita set off in search of Dharmodgata. He travelled great distances and experienced many hardships, but his mind remained happy because he now knew that there was a Spiritual Guide who could give him the help he needed. Finally he discovered the whereabouts of Dharmodgata.
Sadaprarudita wanted to take some offerings to present to Dharmodgata, but he had no possessions at all. To raise some money with which to make offerings, he went to a nearby town and announced that he would sell his flesh to anyone who wanted it. The townsfolk assumed that he was crazy and ignored him, but the god Indra, seeing Sadaprarudita from the heavens, decided to test the sincerity of his intentions. Manifesting as an old man, he approached Sadaprarudita saying that he would buy some of his flesh. Sadaprarudita was delighted and immediately cut a piece of flesh from his thigh and gave it to him. The old man then said that he would also like some bone marrow. Sadaprarudita was even more delighted. Just as he was about to break his shin bone to extract some marrow, a young woman, the daughter of a local merchant, appeared on the scene and asked Sadaprarudita what he was doing. Sadaprarudita replied that he was selling his flesh and marrow so that he could make offerings to his Spiritual Guide. The woman asked how anyone could be so important that he would be prepared to go to such lengths to make offerings to him. Sadaprarudita explained that Dharmodgata would give him precious teachings on the perfection of wisdom and that by practising these instructions he would be able to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all living beings. Hearing this, the young woman developed great faith in Buddha and his teachings. She persuaded Sadaprarudita not to mutilate himself further, saying that she would ask her parents to donate the money he needed to make offerings.
At this point, Indra threw off his disguise and asked Sadaprarudita why the money was so important. Sadaprarudita replied that it was not the money that he needed but instructions on the path to enlightenment. Indra, seeing that Sadaprarudita’s intention was genuine, offered to provide him with all the riches he required, but Sadaprarudita declined his offer, saying that he would now receive from the young woman’s parents enough money to make offerings to Dharmodgata. He then set off with the young woman and many of her servants to meet Dharmodgata. They made offerings and received precious teachings on the perfection of wisdom, and by practising Dharmodgata’s instructions they later attained full enlightenment.
If we think deeply about this story, we will see that there is nothing more precious than a qualified Spiritual Guide who can give us correct instructions on the path to enlightenment. If a great meditator such as Sadaprarudita, who was able to receive instructions directly from Buddhas, still needed to rely upon a Spiritual Guide, it goes without saying that we must find a qualified Spiritual Guide and rely upon him or her sincerely.
The Pre-eminent Qualities of Je Tsongkhapa and his Doctrine
The essence of Guru yoga is to develop strong conviction that our Spiritual Guide is a Buddha, to make prostrations, offerings, and sincere requests to him or her, and then to receive his profound blessings. According to the Guru yoga of Offering to the Spiritual Guide, we develop conviction that our Spiritual Guide is the same nature as Je Tsongkhapa, who is an emanation of the Wisdom Buddha Manjushri. The commentary to this practice is presented under the following two headings:
1 The pre-eminent qualities of Je Tsongkhapa and his doctrine
2 The Guru yoga of Je Tsongkhapa
THE PRE-EMINENT QUALITIES OF JE TSONGKHAPA AND HIS DOCTRINE
One day, when Buddha Shakyamuni was giving teachings to his disciples, delivering the King of Giving Instructions Sutra, a young boy, who in reality was an emanation of