How to Cultivate Reliance on Our Teachers during the Session

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Lamrim: the Gradual Path to Enlightenment

About this section:
The Buddha gave teachings in order to share with us the path to enlightenment that he had actualized himself. These teachings are practical, give us the tools to deal with difficulties, and show us how to live a meaningful life.

The Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eight-fold Path are one way of formulating these teachings. The Gradual Path to Enlightenment is another. These two are compatible, and knowing both enables us to look at the same thing from different perspectives. In the early eleventh century, the Indian Buddhist master, Atisha condensed essential points from the sutras and ordered them into the text, Lamp of the Path. These were then expanded upon in the fourteenth century by the Tibetan Buddhist master, Lama Tzong Khapa into the text The Great Exposition on the Gradual Path to Enlightenment (Lam Rim Chemmo). Venerable Chodron comments on this text and relates these practical teachings to our daily lives.

Lamrim Outline in:
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- PDF format
- Microsoft Word format

Help with listening to audio recordings

Tapes of teachings given at DFF in Seattle can be ordered from DFF. Pls refer to: www.dharmafriendship.org

4.A.1.b. How to Cultivate Reliance on Our Teachers during the Session

Note: parts of the teachings were lost due to change of tape during recording.

*These are from a series of Lamrim teachings that Ven. Chodron gave at Dharma Friendship Foundation, Seattle, fr 1991 to 1994. The audio files were previously available on this website in realplayer format. These have been converted to mp3 format. The contents remain the same. The audio files and transcripts have also been renamed to run in sequence and to match the transcripts with their corresponding audio files. Another round of light editing has been done to most transcripts (revised on 5 Jan 2006).

The Buddha and His disciples.

*Proper Reliance on a Teacher - Part 1 of 4. 91/92. Dharma Friendship Foundation, Seattle. [Transcript in PDF format]

Introduction [8 min] : Download

Advantages of Relying on a Teacher - Part I
[17 min] : Download

Advantages Part II [10 min] : Download

Question & Answer [10 min] : Download

*Proper Reliance on a Teacher - Part 2 of 4. 91/92. DFF, Seattle
[Transcript in PDF format]

Review [5 min] : Download

First 2 disadvantages of Improper Reliance or Abandoning the Teacher [8 min] : Download

Question & Answer Part I: When the teacher does something which seems unethical, what does one do?
[10 min] : Download

Q&A Part II [14 min] : Download

Q&A Part III [22 min] : Download

*Proper Reliance on a Teacher - Part 3 of 4. 91/92. DFF, Seattle
[Transcript in PDF format]

Review of advantages & first 2 disadvantages;
The next 6 disadvantages;
Not discriminating between different teachers.
[12 min] : Download

How to rely on our teachers with our thoughts - I:
Developing confidence that our teachers are Buddhas: Why it is necessary & possible to regard our teachers as Buddha
[9 min] : Download

How to rely on our teachers with our thoughts - II:
What to think to be able to regard our teachers as Buddha ~ Dealing with a teacher's seemingly unethical or abusive behaviour
[24 min] : Download

How to rely on our teachers with our thoughts - III:
Thinking deeply about what it means to please or serve our teachers ~ Review ~ Illustrations of how our opinions aren't always reliable ~ Seeing our teachers' criticism in the right light
[20 min] : Download

Question & Answer Part I [21 min] : Download

Q&A Part II [14 min] : Download

*Proper Reliance on a Teacher - Part 4 of 4. 91/92. Dharma Friendship Foundation, Seattle. [Transcript in PDF format]

How to rely on our teachers with our thoughts - IV:
Developing loving respect for our teachers by remembering their kindness [15 min] : Download

How to rely on our teacher through our actions :
[17 min] : Download

How to do analytical meditation on these points;
Question & Answer [24 min] : Download

How to Rely on a Spiritual Teacher. 8 Oct 00, Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore

Part 1: Purpose of having a Spiritual Teacher. Qualities of a disciple. [18 min] : Download

Part 2: What qualities should a Spiritual Teacher have? What does it mean to be helped by our teacher?
[13 min]: Download

Part 3: What does having a good relationship with our teacher mean? [23 min] : Download

Question & Answer [26 min] : Download

Questions covered :

Please explain what is meant by seeing the Guru as Buddha.
If we receive help from somebody who is against our teacher, is this negative?
Deciding whether to attend Dharma teachings that we've heard before or to attend to some other task, given the many demands on us in our life.
If a teacher lives far away, how do you check on their qualities?
If our teacher only visits occasionally and we don't meet often, how do we maintain a student-teacher relationship with him/her?
About the Root Guru.
The Buddha said that we could hold on to his robes but be very far away from him. Couldn't we be fulfilling the instructions of our teacher without being physically close to him/her?
Is it necessary to have a Root Guru or can we just have many teachers?
We're fortunate to be here to hear teachings. What about the mentally retarded people who cannot understand the teachings -- how do they accumulate merit?
Getting bored with our Dharma practice.

How to Relate to a Spiritual Teacher. 30 May 2004, Sravasti Abbey, USA (in Realplayer format)

1. Part 1 [69 min] : Download | Listen

2. Part 2 (Q&A) [57 min]: Download | Listen

Relying on a Spiritual Mentor. Feb 05, Dharma Friendship Foundation (DFF), Seattle, WA, USA

Part 1 of 2: How to find a spiritual teacher; qualities of the Vinaya teacher, the Mahayana teacher and the Vajrayana teacher; role of the spiritual advisor of a Buddhist group; qualities of a disciple; question and answer session. [97 min] : Download mp3 file

Part 2 of 2: Why it is important to have a spiritual teacher and to have a good relationship with our teacher; what it means to have a good relationship and how it helps us to develop spiritually by looking at our projections on our teacher; appreciating the kindness of our teachers helps us to appreciate the kindness of other people; question and answer session.
[88 min] : Download mp3 file

Relating to a Spiritual Teacher. 16 April 05, Tse Chen Ling Center, San Francisco, CA, USA

Part 1: How to properly rely on a spiritual teacher, the qualities to look for in a spiritual teacher, and 3 levels of teachers. This frank discussion touches on many misunderstood points about how to rely on a spiritual mentor. [47 min] : Download mp3 file

Question & Answer [46 min] : Download mp3 file

How do you select a teacher?
Should we look for teachers that meet our personal expectations?
How can we tell the difference between healthy self-respect and ego attachment?
The different levels of breaking vows.
Should you study before taking tantric vows?
What should you meditate on when you have anxiety?
Can you explain how to meditate to develop on love and compassion?

Good Teacher, Good Student, 23-25 May 2009, Sravasti Abbey, Washington, USA

Click here for link to the teachings

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