Question asked by Dongho
Okay, I have been finding a root guru and have been having some problems. For one, Lama Kunga Thartse Rinpoche lives in California and will be visiting India for a whole month. However, how do I take refuge in a guru if they live faraway from an island like Hawaii? Also, can one take empowerments if the lama that provides it and the student are faraway from each other? I already felt the "cleansing water feeling" in my mind after talking to him on the phone, so I thought it was possible to take refuge through a phone. Also, if a guru is one of the heart sons of Milarepa and is a lama of the Sakya sect instead of the Kagyu, how does that work out exactly? Does the Kagyu lineage and Sakya lineage be combined together with the masters along with deities(except for mixing the sadhanas and mantras)?
As for the fortune telling, which one is correct? Is the numerology correct or the Tibetan Mewa reading? I have been getting very different past life answers as in the numerology as a tyrant and the Mewa as a red deer. I know it is of not much importance, but which is correct?
Dear Dongho,
Thank you for your questions. There are two ways of taking refuge with a guru, one is a short ritual ceremony and the other is you taking the teacher as your guru in your heart. In fact, we should take refuge in our guru every day, because for us, they are one and the same with the Buddha and enlightened beings.
Most people think that the ceremony is the more important of the two, however what is also important is that the practitioner develop the inner conviction that the teacher is their guru and they feel this from their heart. For example, you can set up your altar, make offerings, and think of the person your consider as your teacher, then make the strong conviction that you have accepted this person as your teacher. This way, you take refuge with your teacher. This has been stated in many of the Buddhist texts. But this needs to be expressed in the way you think about your teacher, how you follow his/her teachings, etc.
Since you have found a teacher that you would like to take refuge with, it is better if you contact this particular teacher and ask how to go about taking refuge with him, if you would like to undergo the short ceremony. As for empowerments, these need to be received in person, as the guru will plant the seeds of enlightenment in you. As part of the ceremony, the guru will have to perform some rituals and at certain points the practitioner would also need to be involved in the ritual to obtain the complete empowerment.
As for the mixing of the lineages, this is not the case. Even though many Rinpoches have previous lives that belong to other lineages, in this life these Rinpoche’s practice the lineage they have been trained in. For example, if you have a Rinpoche that is from the Gelug lineage, in a previous life he/she could have been a practitioner of the Nyingma lineage. That does mean to say that this Rinpoche would be practicing both lineages in this life. The mixing of lineages is not encouraged, but each should be taught, learned and practiced separately, rather than mixing. This is because they each have their own unique and individual manner in which they teach the Dharma, and also which deities they practice.
In the case of numerology and Tibetan astrology, both can be right. According to Buddhism we have all had countless previous lives, so it is definitely possible that both are indeed correct. Both are time-tested methods that have been used and relied upon throughout the centuries. From the Buddhist perspective, the reason why Tibetan astrology tells you what your previous life was, is to encourage you to do more practice. Because if you contemplate on the fact that you were a deer, your life most probably would not have been that good, and even in that life you would have been suffering, looking for food, surviving, etc. This should motivate you not to want to take such a rebirth again, and therefore practice the Dharma strongly in this life so that you can progress on your spiritual path and ultimately gain Buddhahood, which has no form of suffering at all. I hope this helps. Thank you.