A Torch Lighting the Way To Freedom

Guru Yoga

~ DudjomTersarNgondro

The Importance of Guru Yoga in the Dudjom Tersar Lineage

1. The Root of Blessings

Dudjom Rinpoche teaches that all accomplishments arise from devotion to the Guru. He explains that the guru is not merely a person but the living embodiment of all the Buddhas—the root of blessings. Through Guru Yoga, one connects directly with the enlightened mind of the lineage, especially Guru Rinpoche, and receives the nectar of realization through blessings.

“The root of all attainments is devotion to the Guru. When unwavering devotion arises, blessings enter the heart.”

— Dudjom Rinpoche, from his commentary on the Ngondro

2. The Swift Path of Realization

In Dudjom Rinpoche’s Ngondro commentary, he emphasizes that Guru Yoga is the swift path. It condenses the essence of all paths and allows for direct transmission beyond conceptual understanding. When we dissolve the dualistic view and recognize the guru as inseparable from our own awareness, realization dawns.

“When you see the guru as the Buddha, and devotion arises naturally, realization will come without delay.”

3. Dissolving the Illusion of Separation

“The guru is not outside you. Your own awareness, when freed from clinging, is the ultimate guru.”

— Dudjom Rinpoche, oral instructions

4. Protection from Obstacles

In the practice of Guru Yoga, especially as taught in the Dudjom Tersar lineage, one visualizes the guru (often in the form of Guru Rinpoche) above one’s head, radiating light and wisdom. At the moment of merging, the boundary between self and other dissolves. This reveals the non-dual nature of mind—the ultimate Guru is your own awareness.

Dudjom Rinpoche also explains that devotion and Guru Yoga protect the practitioner from obstacles—both outer and inner. When you are connected to the wisdom heart of the lineage, you are like a child in the arms of a mother, safe and guided.

5. Essential for the Practice of Dzogchen

In the Heart Essence teachings of the Dudjom lineage, Guru Yoga is not preparatory—it is essential. Without the blessings of the guru, the recognition of rigpa, the innate awareness, remains obscured. Guru Yoga ripens the mind so that recognition is possible.

From A Torch Lighting the Way to Freedom: Complete Instructions on the Preliminary Practices ~ Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdral Yeshe Dorje

“Whether our teachers present in person are ordinary beings or emanations of Buddhas or Bodhisattvas, if we are able to pray to them considering them as the Buddha, there is absolutely no difference between them and the Buddha or Bodhisattva or yidam deity in person, because the source of blessings is devotion. So whichever profound practice we are undertaking, whether the generation phase or the perfection phase, we should begin by making the teacher’s blessings the path. There is no more to it than that. But as long as we have not received the blessings, we will not be genuinely on the path. It is said that if disciples who keep the commitments give themselves wholeheartedly, with devotion, to an authentic diamond master, they will obtain the supreme and common accomplishments even if they have no other methods. But without devotion to the teacher, even if we complete the approach and accomplishment practices of the yidams of the six tantra sections, we will never obtain the supreme accomplishment. And we will be unlikely to accomplish many of the ordinary accomplishments either, such as those of long life, wealth, or bringing beings under one’s power. Even if we do manage to achieve a little, it will have necessitated a lot of hardship and will have nothing to do with the profound path. When unmistaken devotion takes birth in us, obstacles on the path will be dispelled and we will make progress, obtaining all the supreme and ordinary accomplishments without depending on anything else. This is what we mean by the profound path of Guru Yoga. Now in making devotional prayer the path, the objects of our prayer are the ones who actually bestow on us the greatest kindness—the teachers themselves. We can therefore meditate on them in any form. Nevertheless, if we visualize our teacher in the form of the second Buddha, Padma Thöthrengtsel, who is the speech of all the Buddhas of the ten directions and three times appearing physically as a diamond master, all unfavorable circumstances and obstacles on the path will naturally be dispelled and we will accomplish the twofold goal in accordance with all our wishes. The dakini Yeshe Tsogyal speaks of this most essential and profound point as follows: 

In general terms, and for the people of Tibet in times to come, 

The Lotus-Born is your predestined teacher. To accomplish the Guru you should strive, Perceiving your own teacher in the form of Padma. 

Thus the blessings of compassion will flow the more abundantly. 

Practice on the Teacher’s Mind in sadhanas both long and short: I promise, you cannot but accomplish Buddhahood in one life. 

And according to his own diamond words, 

“For fortunate beings who have devotion And yearningly pray to me, 

By virtue of my special prayers of aspiration— Cause and effect being connected— My compassion is swifter than that of other Buddhas.”

Finding Balance with Nogondro

~ DudjomTersarNgondro

Dordogne, France

In the Dudjom Tersar Ngondro lineage, which comes from Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdral Yeshe Dorje, practitioners often ask deep and practical questions as they engage with the foundational practices. While specific questions may vary by experience level, here are the top three most frequently asked questions across the board:
1. “How do I balance Ngondro accumulation with daily life responsibilities?”
2. “What is the correct visualization and sequence for each section of Ngondro?”
3. “Why is Ngondro considered essential before Dzogchen practice?”

From the three which is the most frequently asked and pressing question?  It’s “How do I balance Ngondro accumulation with daily life responsibilities?”  This question comes up consistently for both new and longtime practitioners. Because Ngondro requires sustained effort and large numbers of repetitions, people often seek guidance on how to realistically commit to the practice while managing work, family, health, or other obligations.

Many of us wonder how to accumulate 100,000 prostrations or mantra recitations while raising families, working full-time, or caring for our health. Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche emphasized that consistency, sincerity, and devotion are more important than speed or numbers alone.

Rather than seeing Ngondro as a task to complete, we can view each session—however short—as an offering. Some days may allow for many repetitions, others only a few. What matters is the continuity of connection to the path, the teacher, and the ultimate goal of awakening.

When our daily life becomes the ground for practice—when every challenge deepens our compassion and every joy reminds us of impermanence—then Ngondro is not separate from life at all. It becomes the heart of it. Ngondro becomes the thread that weaves spiritual awareness into each part of our day.

Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche’s Guidance:

“Even if you do not have time to do many recitations or prostrations, it is essential to practice every day without fail. If you cultivate a constant attitude of renunciation, bodhicitta, and devotion, this alone will serve as the foundation for all further practice. These are the roots of Dharma practice, and they will spontaneously lead you to accomplish all the paths and levels.”

“Train your mind again and again in renunciation and bodhicitta. Then, whichever of the stages you are practicing—whether Refuge, Vajrasattva, Mandala Offering, or Guru Yoga—your practice will go well. If you practice regularly in this way, gradually your mind will change, your faith will increase, and your realization will grow.”


A Torch Lighting the Way to Freedom
by Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche
Padmakara Translation Group
Shambhala Publications

 

 

 

Specific Points on the Different Stages of Receiving Blessings ~ Part 2

~ DudjomTersarNgondro

Chatral Sangye Dorje, Jigdral Yeshe Dorje, Dilgo Khyentse

Continuation from August 23rd  ~ b. In particular
On the outer level, having gained the certainty that the triply kind teacher is the embodiment of all refuges, to pray with intense yearning, faith, and devotion is the approach.

On the inner level, the Secret Mantra Vehicle method of purifying ordinary appearances, sounds, and thoughts, which are based on deluded attachment, into the great, infinitely pure display of the teacher’s three secrets is the accomplishment.

On the secret level, to take the ultimate, absolute nature—the primal wisdom that is the essence of the empowerment—as the path and to grasp the ultimate accomplishment, the desired goal, is the activity.

One begins by clearly visualizing the support for empowerment, according to the text. One then condenses the essential points of accumulation, purification, and increase by accumulating merit and purifying one’s mindstream with the seven branches. With intense faith and devotion, one prays one-pointedly and invokes the teacher’s mind by reciting the mantra. Finally one receives the blessings—the wisdom of the four empowerments—in the path empowerment, with the emanation and dissolution of rays of light. By the force of one’s devotion, the support for empowerment melts into light and dissolves into one. The teacher’s mind—the wisdom devoid of thought—blends indistinguishably with one’s own mind, like water added to water, and one rests in evenness, maintaining, without tension or effort, the very nature of the Buddhas’ wisdom, the great self-manifestation free of bias.

~ Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdral Yeshe Dorje
A Torch Lighting the Way to Freedom
Shambhala