Soma999 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 11:45 pm
With texts alone you are stuck with the letters.
With the guru you reach the essence of the text.
The guru which is more than a person, which is a principle, is way above texts. They allow us to really perceive the essence of the text and integrate its wisdom.
Texts can make us fundamentalist, more especially if the letter is grasped. Guru awaken wisdom within so that the texts become a door to wisdom.
Guru is also inner wisdom, that shines as boddicitta reveals its presence.
Without the help of the guru principle, the texts are just letters.
It is easy to delude oneself with over-intellectualism on text. Gurus prevent this danger.
Of course we Vajrayana practitioners recognize the primacy of the Guru. But the Guru exists in context of a tradition, and that tradition includes "texts" as well as the oral tradition of explication, the tradition of application and practice, etc.
We all agree that texts on their own do not convey empowerment or permission, and this should be clear to all who practice Vajrayana at any level. Actual transmission is essential.
But the Vajrayana Guru shows us the Vajrayana Path. Not the path of Satsang, or Bhakti, or any other sort of tradition or transmission outside of Vajrayana.
Anyone who has been doing this "Vajrayana thing" for any length of time surely recognizes that there are people out there who identify as "gurus" or who are identified as gurus by others, who may in fact not be truly qualified to lead students on the Vajrayana path.
I am not speaking specifically of Garchen Rinpoche, or of any particular Guru, to be clear. I am trying to point out that Vajrayana practitioners cannot "isolate" the Guru from the tradition and all that it entails.
Without lineage, without tradition, without texts and techniques, there is no guru, in our tradition. These elements function together.
Following "text" without any sort of oral commentary or instruction can make fools of us, nevermind "Fundamentalists." But following a "Guru" who does not maintain a lineage, does not reflect a valid tradition, can lead to all sorts of problems.