benefit and happiness.
The full title of the sadhana in Tibetan is Lama Chopai Choga, which means The Ritual for Offering to the Spiritual Guide. Even though it was first composed in Tibetan, the first Panchen Lama also gave the title in Sanskrit – Guru puja se kalpa – at the head of the text. This was the practice that was usually adopted when a text was translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan to show that the text had not been invented by the Tibetans but was an authentic scripture from India. It is not usual to give a Sanskrit title for a text originally composed in Tibetan. Thus, Je Tsongkhapa’s Great Exposition of the Stages of the Path, for example, has no Sanskrit title but is known in Tibetan simply as Lamrim Chenmo. Why then did the first Panchen Lama give a Sanskrit title to Offering to the Spiritual Guide? His purpose was to indicate that, even though he had compiled the sadhana, the practices contained within it originate from the Sutras and Tantras, and in particular from the Tantric teachings of Conqueror Vajradhara.
It is the tradition of both Atisha and Je Tsongkhapa to base all their teachings on the word of Buddha and never to teach anything that contradicts Buddha’s teachings. According to these two great Teachers, unless an instruction is referred to in either the Sutras or the Tantras it cannot be regarded as an authentic Buddhist teaching, even if it is a so-called ‘terma’, or ‘hidden treasure text’. Whenever they gave teachings or composed texts, both Atisha and Je Tsongkhapa quoted liberally from both the Sutras and the Tantras. In this way they showed their great respect for Buddha’s original teachings and emphasized the importance of being able to trace instructions back to them.
In Ornament for Mahayana Sutras, Maitreya says that throughout the entire universe there is no one wiser than Buddha. Buddha understands directly and simultaneously all objects of knowledge and realizes the true nature of all phenomena. If we have faith in Buddha we should practise only those instructions that do not contradict his teachings. If we follow instructions that contradict Buddha we will make no spiritual progress and our practice will cause the degeneration of the Buddhadharma in this world. Similarly, if we claim to be a Buddhist Teacher but give teachings that contradict Buddha we will be destroying Buddha’s doctrine. Therefore, if we consider ourselves to be Buddhists we should take great care to practise only those teachings that originally come from Buddha. We should be careful not to be influenced simply by the reputation of a particular Teacher or book, but should check to see whether or not they are authentic. Even if we are told that by hearing a particular teaching or by reading a particular book we will attain enlightenment quickly, we should still be cautious and examine its authenticity first.
If, as the first Panchen Lama says, all the instructions contained within Offering to the Spiritual Guide had already been taught by Buddha, why did he compile the sadhana at all? Why did he not simply refer us to Buddha’s original teachings? There are two reasons. First, Buddha’s Tantric teachings are very difficult to understand, and second, they are scattered throughout various texts with no clear indication as to the sequence in which they are to be practised. If we were to try to practise these instructions by relying upon the Sutras and Tantras alone, we would soon become discouraged and might even give up our Dharma practice altogether.
In compiling Offering to the Spiritual Guide, the first Panchen Lama has presented all the essential instructions in a way that is easy to understand, and he has arranged them in the sequence in which they are to be practised. He has included in one practice not only the great preliminary guide of Guru yoga combined with all the essential practices of generation stage and completion stage of Highest Yoga Tantra, but also the essential practices of Lamrim and Lojong. By practising Offering to the Spiritual Guide, therefore, we are able to practise all the stages of the path of Sutra and Tantra in one session.
In his autocommentary, the first Panchen Lama says that the various practices contained within Offering to the Spiritual Guide are like precious jewels that have been retrieved from an ocean bed. Even if we knew of the existence of jewels at the bottom of a vast ocean, without the help of a skilled navigator and a diver we would never be able to gain access to them. If we were to try to retrieve them on our own we would definitely find ourself in great danger. In the same way, without the first Panchen Lama’s help in gathering up and presenting these precious jewel-like instructions, if we were to try to find them amongst the vast ocean of the Sutras and Tantras and put them into practice on our own, we would soon find ourself in difficulty.
Since the first Panchen Lama compiled this precious sadhana it has been transmitted, together with the uncommon Vajrayana Mahamudra of the Virtuous Tradition and all the other essential practices of the Emanation Scripture, through an unbroken lineage to our present Teachers. From Panchen Chokyi Gyaltsen the lineage passed through Drubchen Gendun Gyaltsen and Drungpa Tsondru Gyaltsen to Konchog Gyaltsen, who transmitted it to the second Panchen Lama, Losang Yeshe. From him it passed through various Lamas such as Losang Namgyal and Kachen Yeshe Gyaltsen down to Dorjechang Trijang Rinpoche, who passed it on to our present Teachers. The entire close lineage of these instructions is given in the Prayers of Request to the Mahamudra Lineage Gurus, which can be found here. If we read this prayer we will see that there is a completely pure and unbroken lineage from Conqueror Vajradhara down to our present root Guru.
By contemplating the special qualities of Offering to the Spiritual Guide and the purity of the lineage of these instructions we should come to feel extremely fortunate at having met such a precious practice. We should think:
This practice of Offering to the Spiritual Guide contains all the essential practices of Sutra and Tantra, and the blessings of this lineage are still complete. If I now practise this Guru yoga sincerely I will be able to attain enlightenment in this very life, and become just like Gyalwa Ensapa. How lucky I am!
Drubchen Dharmavajra
The Preliminary Practices
THE ACTUAL INSTRUCTIONS
The actual instructions on Offering to the Spiritual Guide are presented under two main headings:
1 How to practise during the meditation session
2 How to practise during the meditation break
How to practise during the meditation session is presented in three parts:
1 The preliminary practices
2 The actual practice
3 The concluding stages
THE PRELIMINARY PRACTICES
There are four preliminary practices:
1 Going for refuge and generating bodhichitta
2 Self-generation as the Deity
3 Purifying the environment and its inhabitants
4 Blessing the offerings
Going for refuge and generating bodhichitta has two parts:
1 Going for refuge
2 Generating bodhichitta
GOING FOR REFUGE
Before sitting down to begin the sadhana, we should clean the room and set up a shrine consisting of representations of Buddha’s body, speech, and mind. In particular we should set up images of our Spiritual Guide, Conqueror Vajradhara, Buddha Shakyamuni, and Je Tsongkhapa. In front of these we should set out at least one row of offerings including four waters. These will be explained below. We should then sit
