Tuesday

The Guru Principle: A Guide to the Teacher-Student Relationship in Buddhism

By Shenpen Hookham
Reviewed by Christine Heming

“Whether or not we achieve realization depends entirely upon our devotion to the guru.”
-His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

The role of the guru and the student-teacher relationship has been a source of considerable confusion to Western students of the dharma. Shenpen Hookham examines this conundrum, bringing to it over 50 years of experience, as both a student and a teacher, working with teachers and students in the East and West. She continually clarifies the difference between Western and Tibetan views, and concedes that the way the traditional texts present the student-teacher relationship does not reflect what actually happens for most people.

Lama Hookham addresses all our questions about the student-teacher relationship and also clarifies many terms, such as guru or lama, adhishtana, samaya, and transmission. She makes it clear that individual students have different motivations that can be addressed by different levels of teachers as well as by the sangha as a whole. In the introduction she lays the groundwork for how to approach our examination of the student-teacher relationship. She acknowledges that confusion exists regarding just who is a Buddhist teacher and that some “teachers” have neither realization nor any qualifications what so ever. 

On the other hand, she also tells us it is crucial students learn to listen to the dharma with openness, bringing their whole being to bear so that they can be receptive. This requires a certain kind of inner confidence.  She writes:  

“If we do not trust ourselves and our ability to recognize truth and goodness, then we will find it hard to listen with openness and be fully present with the person – or even the book – we are looking to in order to receive wisdom. We need to relate to our teachers as sources of wisdom and learning, whether they are our colleagues and fellow practitioners, instructors, guides, or siddha gurus.”

The Guru Principle

“Compared with meditation on a hundred thousand deities,
Meditation on the one and only Guru is supreme.”
-Jamgon Mipham

Quotations like the one above are common in Buddhist texts, especially in the tantras. How are we to understand “guru” in this context? Lama Hookham uses the term guru principle to bring some clarity to our understanding, but she also recognizes that what we mean by “guru” is nuanced and multilayered, referring variously to the person who can link us to the adhishtana of awakening, to the person who points out the true nature of mind as well as to the true nature of mind itself, and to the teachings of the Buddha and those who teach them.  

I found Lama Hookham’s use of the term guru principle very helpful. She explains that it is the Buddha who is the supreme guru for all beings. However, over the years, the Buddha’s truth and blessings or adhishtana have been passed on from teacher to disciple to the present day. This is not the mere transmission of knowledge but what Lama Hookham calls the transmission of the mandala of awakenment.  

Thus there is the supreme guru, the Buddha, and many other gurus who transmit the adhishtana and teachings of the Buddha and, in some sense, are one with the Buddha, having entered the mandala of awakenment.  “So, in effect the term guru comes to refer more to a principle or essence of all buddhas, which is to say, the nature of reality itself.”

She goes on to suggest that in the West when we talk about the student-teacher relationship, we generally focus on what an ideal relationship with another person should be. In the Buddhist tradition, however, the focus is on what an ideal relationship should be to the guru principle. Lama Hookham writes:  

“The distinction between guru as a person and guru as guru Principle is implied by the tradition but not usually made explicit. . . because the goal is to realize the nondifferentiation between the guru in principle, all the people (gurus) who teach us the Dharma (the truth), the very nature of our own being, and reality or totality itself.  It is all the one and only guru.”

This means that when the term “guru” is used to refer to a specific person, there is an implicit distinction made between the guru principle they embody and their less-than-enlightened manifestation. She refers to the Vidyadhara, Trungpa Rinpoche, as an example of a realized Mahasiddha, but says most people in the role of guru for us are still on the path. We can think of these gurus as Buddha in the sense that they transmit to a greater or lesser degree the Buddha’s truth and blessings without having to live up to our personal standards of perfection. We can relate to the guru personally as a human being with needs and perhaps failings of their own, while at the same time not loosing sight of their role for us as an embodiment of the guru principle.

Do we need a human guru? In principle, we may not, but in reality it is extremely difficult if not impossible to become enlightened on one’s own. But at the heart of all the confusion is the question of how to relate to the guru, who is a person, which also begs the question: What is a person anyway? And what is a Buddha? And what is enlightenment?

Lama Hookham addresses these and other questions: What is lineage and adhishtana? How do you find a genuine lineage? What is the nature of a meaningful relationship with a teacher?  What is samaya and transmission?

There is an excellent discussion of spiritual authority in Buddhism in which Lama Hookham draws from the Kalama and Canki Suttas. Our longing for the dharma is central, as is our exertion, and dialogue is the standard model for a student-teacher relationship. She notes that there are examples of the Buddha giving directives but not insisting on obedience. In conclusion, commitment to the guru is about making thoughtful decisions, not about blind submission to someone’s spiritual authority.  

The 12 Roles of a Guru

Lama Hookham identifies and discusses 12 roles that a guru or teacher might play, although not all gurus or teachers will take on all twelve. These include:  (1) setting a good example; (2) transmitting the adhishtana of the lineage; (3) accepting offerings; (4) giving pointing-out instructions; (5) authenticating experience and authorizing teachers; (6) teaching dharma doctrine; (7) giving practice instructions; (8)giving personal spiritual advice; (9) giving vows; (10) conducting rituals; (11) sangha building; and (12) acting as vajra master and “challenger” guru.

In these discussions, Lama Hookham continues to point out the differences between Western students and Tibetans. For example, with regard to setting a good example, she tells us that Tibetans find it relatively easy to see both the various deities in the Buddhist pantheon as gurus and as well as their own human teachers. Westerners find this more difficult, tending to view the deities more as mythology than real teachers. 

She highlights the second role of the guru and describes adhishtana as “coming from being in the presence of the Buddha.” She writes:  

“Something happens in that interface between the living presence of the person of the Buddha (or someone connected to awakening) and the open heart of someone who encounters them. Such a meeting is necessary for the power of their adhishtana to be effective; . . . for their spontaneous compassionate activity for the benefit of beings to be effective.”

I think this is what Trungpa Rinpoche often referred to as a meeting of minds – guru and student. This is the transmission of the adhishtana of awakening and the truth of reality itself. In Tibetan Buddhism, this direct access to the presence of the Buddha can only occur through the medium of a human teacher. By relating to that teacher as the Buddha, “we open ourselves to a living encounter heart to heart.” But this is not a one-sided affair, and Lama Hookham notes that the power of that experience comes to haunt us. Trungpa Rinpoche was known to tell Rigdzin Shikpo, one of his earliest students, that, of necessity, the truth of awakening comes to us from someone “other” than ourselves.

Lama Hookham calls this power of adhishtana “impersonal” – not in the sense of being mechanical or unfeeling, but in the sense that it is offered by someone who loves everyone equally. This could be an insult to our ego and our need to be special, but to our better nature it feels perfect.

There is a very interesting discussion of the role of “sangha building” and the need for the teacher and students to be committed, trusting, and loyal to each other. Teachers and students need to consider how to protect the sangha from unwanted outside influences, what constitutes membership, and what processes need to be in place as gateways in the involvement of a student within the sangha.  She writes further:

“A sangha needs each person who participates to share the values of that particular sangha. This takes time and education, both formal and informal. . . . Samaya bonds hold a mandala structure together; in the case of a sangha, these bonds are our heart connections with one another and our commitment to the central principle of the mandala.”  

The last role of the guru, acting as vajra master, has three separate but related sections: (1) the siddha Vajrayana guru, (2) the Vajrayana guru giving abhisheka and teachings, and (3) the role of challenging the student’s ego. Regarding the siddha guru, Lama Hookham uses the Vidyadhara, Trungpa Rinpoche as an example. To work with a siddha guru, one needs not only a strong karmic connection, but also extraordinary faith and a willingness to surrender all one’s ego defenses and conceptual clinging. Once this type of siddha has taken you on as a student, you can be sure the guru is going to interfere with your life.

Lama Hookham makes it clear that such a student-teacher relationship is rare, but nonetheless must be presented because of the central role it plays in the history of the lineage.  Trungpa Rinpoche could be extremely challenging and his behaviour at time quite bizarre. The question arises of how one could judge it?  She writes:

“The only way we can judge it is by results and by the attitude of his teachers and colleagues toward his behaviour. . . . All my teachers regarded him as a siddha and admired him greatly. . . . Yet in conventional terms, Trungpa Rinpoche could be outrageous and unpredictable; he drank, smoked, and had many relationships with women.  If you are a siddha, you function quite differently from average people – everything you do is intended for the benefit of others no matter how unconventional your actions may seem.”

She concludes by saying that our ability to see the guru as Buddha and everything the guru “does” as pure is accomplished through deep realization, which usually dawns gradually and is a sign that one has realized great equality.

With regard to receiving abhisheka, Lama Hookham admits there is a problem with the guru’s role of giving Vajrayana teachings that are supposed to be secret and not revealed to persons who have not received the empowerment. But students need to know what the abhisheka means and what they are committing themselves to before receiving it.  

Another issue is the understanding that before giving an abhisheka, a teacher is supposed to have accomplished the practice with some level of realization. The problem here is how to ascertain how qualified any particular lama is in this context. This is not an insignificant question. The danger is that an abhisheka or even the informal passing on of Vajrayana practices can weaken the power or adhishtana of the transmission process. A person might have recited many mantras but still be very confused and egocentric. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche has often said one can sit in three-year retreat building up ego rather than realizing egolessness.  In conclusion Lama Hookham writes  “A transmission lineage is a mandala that needs to be carefully maintained and guarded to preserve its authenticity and effectiveness.”

Guru Devotion and Guru Yoga

In one of the final chapters of The Guru Principle, Lama Hookham looks at what might be called “guru worship” in the Vajrayana tradition – the central role of devotion and the practice of guru yoga. The groundwork for understanding and entering into the Vajrayana view is, of course, based on developing genuine renunciation and awakening bodhicitta.  Lama Hookham writes:

“Taking refuge, taking the bodhisattva vow, purifying negative karma, accumulating punya, and then opening ourselves to union with the guru is the essence of the Vajrayana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen.”

It starts, she explains, with appreciating how to relate to our human teachers and through them coming to realize we are inseparable and indistinguishable from the guru.

Conclusion

By now it should be clear that The Guru Principle has been tremendously helpful to me personally as I traverse the issues of the role of the guru and the student-teacher relationship. Lama Hookham writes with directness, clarity, and fearlessness. There is no doubt that she has thought about these issues long and hard. I would say every Vajrayana student should read this book.

♦

Christine Heming is a writer and educator.  She has been a student of the buddhadharma for over 45 years, and a senior teacher and meditation instructor in Shambhala.  She lives in Port Royal, Nova Scotia.