Is lamrim sutrayana?

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Hazel
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Is lamrim sutrayana?

Post by Hazel »

Is the lamrim sutrayana?

Should the teacher of lamrim be regarded as the guru?

:juggling:
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SilenceMonkey
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Re: Is lamrim sutrayana?

Post by SilenceMonkey »

Yes.

He or she is a guru (teacher), but not a vajrayana guru. Unless they teach you vajrayana methods. In the lam rim there should be a section on gurus and the different kinds of gurus one can have and how one should relate to them.
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Tilopa
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Re: Is lamrim sutrayana?

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Should the teacher of lamrim be regarded as the guru
No not necessarily. If over a period of time and after careful observation you develop faith in that person you can take them as a teacher but there's no automatic assumption of the role just because you sit and listen to them expound dharma.

There are several excellent articles that talk about various aspects of the guru/disciple relationship here: https://info-buddhism.com
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Hazel
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Re: Is lamrim sutrayana?

Post by Hazel »

Tilopa wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 10:38 pm
Should the teacher of lamrim be regarded as the guru
No not necessarily. If over a period of time and after careful observation you develop faith in that person you can take them as a teacher but there's no automatic assumption of the role just because you sit and listen to them expound dharma.

There are several excellent articles that talk about various aspects of the guru/disciple relationship here: https://info-buddhism.com
I ask because I've done that observation/assessment and have accepted them as my teacher and practice guru devotion and am curious if that is appropriate since they mostly just teach sutrayana.
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Natan
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Re: Is lamrim sutrayana?

Post by Natan »

Hazel wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 9:35 pm Is the lamrim sutrayana?

Should the teacher of lamrim be regarded as the guru?

:juggling:
Lamrim us about stages up to Vajrayana. But is just an overview. The guru gives an empowerment.
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Tilopa
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Re: Is lamrim sutrayana?

Post by Tilopa »

Yes it's appropriate.
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Hazel
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Re: Is lamrim sutrayana?

Post by Hazel »

Thank you.

I broke my own rule of not asking questions where I just wanted to hear one answer.... Luckily it worked out.

I also got some good advice about this offline.
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tobes
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Re: Is lamrim sutrayana?

Post by tobes »

In the TK's Lam Rim, guru devotion is the very first topic. Given the OP posted in the Gelug forum, I don't think the answer could be any clearer.
PeterC
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Re: Is lamrim sutrayana?

Post by PeterC »

There are many lamrim texts, but in general this is a pretty easy question to answer. Does it involve empowerment, or require empowerment to practice in part what is discussed? If yes, it's vajrayana, if no, it's sutrayana.
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Hazel
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Re: Is lamrim sutrayana?

Post by Hazel »

tobes wrote: Fri Apr 30, 2021 2:25 am In the TK's Lam Rim, guru devotion is the very first topic. Given the OP posted in the Gelug forum, I don't think the answer could be any clearer.
:good: :reading:

I was aware of this, but yet I started getting nervous I was doing something wrong.

I'm reading Heart of the Path by Lama Zopa Rinpoche and it's really inspiring. As has been the amazing results I've had through devoting to my teacher (a Geshe who is local to me).

Rinpoche outlines who you should consider a teacher and even includes your Tibetan alphabet teacher (if you learned the alphabet with the aspiration to learn dharma).
Happy Pride month to my queer dharma siblings!

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tobes
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Re: Is lamrim sutrayana?

Post by tobes »

Hazel wrote: Fri Apr 30, 2021 2:35 am
tobes wrote: Fri Apr 30, 2021 2:25 am In the TK's Lam Rim, guru devotion is the very first topic. Given the OP posted in the Gelug forum, I don't think the answer could be any clearer.
:good: :reading:

I was aware of this, but yet I started getting nervous I was doing something wrong.

I'm reading Heart of the Path by Lama Zopa Rinpoche and it's really inspiring. As has been the amazing results I've had through devoting to my teacher (a Geshe who is local to me).

Rinpoche outlines who you should consider a teacher and even includes your Tibetan alphabet teacher (if you learned the alphabet with the aspiration to learn dharma).
Keep going, you're doing great!

Lam Rim realisations are actually very difficult to accomplish. Guru devotion makes it far, far easier.
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