Grand Master advised his students that a
Vajrayana Student must develop full faith in his Root Guru or he will never be able
to attain a full enlightenment. It is important that a student does not find
fault in his own teacher but to appreciate the positive values of the latter.
Grand Master did recognize the fact that all four of his Root Gurus had some form
of short comings individually but he chose to view them as their “magical plays”
(skillful means for teaching their own students). For instance, the 16th
H.H Karmapa was stern in his teaching too and some of his students could
not take it and left him. There used to be a big bird cage above his Rumtek
Monastery in Sikkim – the birds kept within were his students who fell into the
Animal Realm because of their wrong conduct in the past life. H.H Karmapa found
these birds and brought them back, placed them in the cage and chanted his
heart mantra for them regularly. There was also a goat which followed H.H
Karmapa closely during his time, which was actually the reincarnation of one of
his personal attendants.
Grand Master repeatedly stressed the three
crucial practices in Vajrayana: Dharmapala (the very basis for spiritual activities), Personal
Deity (the very basis for spiritual attainment) and Root Guru (the very basis for empowerment). Every evening, Grand Master would bid farewell to the
main deities enshrined in the temple before heading home. And he would also greet
the main deities in his personal shrine at home when he reached home. He
treated them as real beings but not lifeless objects, and he received real
power of blessing from them in return. If a student views the deities enshrined
as lifeless objects made of wood or metal, what kind of blessing will he get
from them?
Acho Rinpoche also pointed out a
quintessential teaching in Vajrayana: a student should practise Guru Yoga vigorously
while his Root Guru is still alive, as it is a lot easier for him to attain a
spiritual connection with his teacher while the latter is still around
personally. Once a student has accomplished his Guru Yoga, the rest will be easy
– the accomplishment of Dharmapala Practice and Personal Deity Practice.
A discourse
given by Acho Rinpoche on 9/5/2015, extracted and compiled by Sun Moon KFS
