Medieval vs. Modern View of Guru

Medieval vs. Modern View of Guru

Chidambar wrote, "I watched it happen from the early days in Tiruvannamalai. I know an ex-girlfriend of (famous guru) when he was (known by his real name) who, while admitting that he definitely had developed some power to communicate the bliss of here now awareness, he had also always wanted to make it big, be a rock star and be worshipped and loved by many."

Kim: It is quite likely that someone who hasn't really done training, which includes ethics, will screw up like this. Even those who have done the training can screw up!

If he wanted to be a rock star, have fans, make millions and bang chicks, I wonder why he didn't pursue the path of becoming a rock star, instead. I mean he must have heard that there is this thing called karma that is ruthless especially towards those who being more enlightened than others, take advantage of those less evolved.

The feudal view, that the guru who is sitting in the front is perfect and cannot make mistakes, is laughable in its childishness. But even highly educated people, who otherwise exercise their intellect and reason, want to believe that! People want to see miracles and be enchanted by spirituality, by their guru, by the whole "spiritual" scene. They think that spirituality is about being special, about special experiences, about something extraordinary, out of this world, about learning levitation and magic. People want something special. This becomes their main pitfall, when they seek for a teacher because they hope, sometimes desperately, that their guru would be really special. So they go and find someone who seems to offer that. Someone with charisma, an exotic accent and who is comfortable being in front of people can become a famous guru quickly, when rumours spread among such people, and everyone wants to be part of that specialness. But then, after some time the whole thing comes down crumbling when it turns out the guru was after money and ass, like a lot of people. The poor fellow himself was confused whether he should become a rock star or a spiritual teacher, in the first place. I think many "gurus" confuse the two.

With the above, I don't mean to give the impression that it was people's fault that they become abused by charlatans. It's just that teachers need to be measured by their teachings and its effectiveness, rather than by the mundane features of charisma and outer looks. There are a lot of people in the world who have charisma, or in other words, some energy or power to their presence. But this is not an indication of realisation. Also, when we consider satsangs or events joined by many people, we need to remember that they themselves have energy. It is often the case that people confuse their own energy and hysteria to be energy emanating from the guru figure. So they feel the energy, and how special it is, and they become convinced they have found God. People want that specialness...

What is unfortunate is that after people get hurt or hear of people getting hurt by bad teachers, they go from one extreme to the other, from thinking gurus are the best and greatest to thinking gurus are worst scum, completely needless and that the true guru is within us. This is foolishness, throwing baby with the bath water. We cannot learn any art without a teacher. There are some, very few, exceptions to that rule but in general, teachers can be very beneficial, especially those who are clear about what they teach, why and how, and are good in teaching, pedagogy. Think of school teachers you studied with. Beneficial, no? The same needs to happen in dharma. This kind of view about the teacher needs to replace the medieval view.

We should become well educated about spirituality or dharma. We should not make decisions of following this or that teacher overnight, and we should certainly not make decisions about the direction of our life because we had some impressive experience in some group or its teacher. Have common sense. A teacher who is grounded and ethical would never allow his or her students to abandon their friends and family, or even jobs and school suddenly, out of whim. Balance is the key.

We need to become educated, learn what the main point of spirituality is (which is eradication of self-based confusion), and then find out how effectively the teacher in question can help us. It is important to focus on the task, not on externals, and see the positive change in us. We need to demand this change through the practice from the teacher. Dharma and dharma teachers are there to help people to become free and natural. This means lessening of fear, anxiety, limited views, separation among people (also spiritual) and increase of calmness, clarity and kindness towards others.

Eating meat by Shenpen Dawa Rinpoche

Eating meat

by Shenpen Dawa Rinpoche

(Dudjom Rinpoche's son)

Many, if not most of us, eat meat. I’m going to share some important

understandings regarding the eating of meat. Essentially we are eating one of our parent sentient beings. An animal has lost its life to feed your life. You need to remember this. Before you eat, be grateful that the animal has given its life for you. Renew your determination that by eating this meat you will practice well and dedicate all the merit to the animals. It is customary to first offer the meat — even the whole meal — to all the buddhas. Don’t just start eating. What you are eating becomes blessed when you offer it. Then think about all the positive things you will do, all the strength you will have by being nourished with this meat, this food. Dedicate the merit from this positive activity to them.

Eating meat has different meanings depending on your level of development.

For ordinary practitioners, giving gratitude and merit to the animals is the only thing they can do. Advanced practitioners bless the meat and it immediately turns into nectar. Even more advanced practitioners see that meat they are eating as part of their yidam. In that process, the animal receives total liberation. Literally, eating the meat is a blessing. When a great sage or extremely realized practitioner eats meat, it is not meat. It is liberation because this person has the power to liberate. To our eyes, it looks like he is doing something negative, but, in fact, what appears as negative is actually extremely positive.

When eating animals, be satisfied by consuming larger ones. That way, one life feeds many people. Why would you want to eat small animals, like small shrimp, twenty, thirty or forty of them at a time? A lot of lives are sacrificed in one shrimp cocktail. Believe me, all these animals living in the world, in our universe, are here to balance our ecosystem, not just to feed you. The animals are not in the world so you can eat them. We eat them out of necessity. If those animals disappear, it will unbalance the ecosystem. On the other hand, you need not worry about overpopulation of animals: nature will always rebalance the ecosystem through a cycle of balance and change.

Some of you are vegetarians or vegan for your health. Not everyone can be

vegan or vegetarian. It depends on what four generations of your ancestors have been eating. Only then can you change the habit to be a vegetarian. Until then, it is not in your blood system to become vegetarian. In an earlier time, we were all vegetarians.

That changed once we tasted the blood of animals. Our habitual system changed. If your ancestors were meat eaters and all of a sudden you change to being a vegetarian, you are diminishing your health. At the beginning, you will feel light, light headed, and weightlessness. Later, this will become total weightlessness. Eventually a sickness displays the imbalances in one’s air or lung. Yes, from the point of view of not taking life, it is good not to eat meat, but from the point of view of health, it may be essential to eat meat. (source)

Then particularly as practitioners when you are eating meat, have respect for the animal that has died and laid down its body for you.  Dedicate the merit. As you see the meat, dedicate it. There are different ways of eating meat depending on the level of your practice. The first basic level is to feel sorry for that animal that has laid down its life for you and that you are now partaking. Say, “whatever karma I get by taking this meat, may the strength I get from this being’s life be put into practice so that I can dedicate it for the benefit of others. Thank you for your gift. It is a gift that allows me to survive. I will put it into practice and I will dedicate the merit for all parent sentient beings. Thank-you for giving me that potential strength.” This is the least you can say when you eat the meat. If your meditation is a little bit higher than this then you transform the meat by the syllables Om Ah Hung. Purify by the three syllables and see the meat as nectar. Don’t see it as meat. Have respect for flesh and blood. It you want to go one step higher, as your Yidam, (main practice deity) you consume that meat as a means of liberation. You see it as a wrathful Buddha’s display that is now in front of you. For this the three satisfactions must be present; first, the satisfaction of the being you are consuming; second, the satisfaction of the Mandala; and third, the satisfaction of yourself as Yidam. Apply these satisfactions at this moment. Then, as Yidam, a wrathful Buddha, consume and liberate that being. Make sure you are able to liberate the being that embodied the piece of meat you eat. So then, to be clear here for this, the Mandala is satisfied, you are satisfied and the animal that has been killed is satisfied. Three satisfactions must come together.  This will only be possible once you have accomplished your Yidam practice to a certain extent. (source)