How a Spiritual Mentor Should Impart the Buddhist Teachings to Students

A course of study and practice on the graded stages of the path to enlightenment should be taught by a fully qualified spiritual master. Such a teacher is not motivated by considerations of the money, fame or respect he or she might gain. Nor does he teach out of a sense of duty, feeling he is merely fulfilling the obligations of a job and not really caring whether his students learn or not. He accepts full responsibility for each and every one of his disciples and takes sincere interest in their spiritual development. A true master teaches motivated by a pure and exceptional resolve (lhag-bsam rnam-dag, Skt. viśuddha adhyāśaya) to be able himself to liberate all limited beings from samsara, their uncontrollably recurring problems.

In A Filigree for the Mahayana Sutras (mDo-sde rgyan, Skt. Mahāyāna Sūtrālamkāra) (XVII.10), Maitreya has listed ten good qualities such a master should have:

• Ethical self-discipline 
• A stilled and settled state of mind 
• A mind thoroughly pacified
• More knowledge (than the students)
• Joyful perseverance
• A wealth of scriptural quotations 
• A deep, stable realization of reality 
• The ability to express himself clearly 
• A nature of loving-kindness (brtse-ba, Skt. dayā), and 
• He needs to have given up ever feeling (that teaching is) tiresome. 

The first two good qualities are the result of mastering the trainings in higher ethical self-discipline and higher absorbed concentration. The third refers to a mind stilled beyond all obscurations – emotional obscurations and cognitive obscurations. The former would prevent his liberation, while the latter would be an obstacle for becoming omniscient. His freedom from such obscurations is due to his third training, that in higher discriminating awareness. 

He must have more knowledge than his students in the subject he is teaching and take special delight and pleasure in explaining it to others. This he must be able to do articulately, based both on scriptural support and on his own personal experience and insight. With a nature of loving-kindness, he should care only about helping his disciples become liberated from suffering and have no other ulterior, selfish motives. Also, he should never tire of explaining but be willing to teach disciples of all levels of intelligence and capability, not favoring the brighter ones nor being discouraged by the duller.

It may be quite difficult to find a master with all ten of these lofty qualifications. But, as Sakya Pandita has said in A Precious Treasury of Elegant Sayings (VI.20):

Just as it is rare for someone to have all good qualities, it is also rare for someone to have no skills at all. Therefore, the wise cultivate a healthy relationship with someone who, out of a mixture of faults and assets, has mostly good points.

In reference to this, Geshe Potowa has said:

My spiritual mentor Zhangtsun from Yerpa (Yer-pa’i Zhang-btsun) has not listened to many teachings at all, he has no patience for anything tiresome, and he never thanks anyone for his or her kindness. However, because he has these first five (good qualities), he benefits anyone who comes before him. (My teacher) Nyenton (bNyan-ston), as well, is not at all gifted in words, and when he has to make a dedication speech for a patron, I cannot help but think that no one will be able to make sense out of anything he says. However, since he too has these (first) five (good qualities), he benefits whoever is present around him. 

If such a qualified master explains the Dharma with a proper motivation, there are twenty beneficial effects which will follow, mostly in future lives. These refer to spiritual advances that come from his positive actions in accordance with the laws of behavioral cause and effect. Such a person, however, does not selfishly seek these results, but teaches solely with the wish to benefit his disciples. 

In the Sutra Inciting Exceptional Resolve, it has been said:

O Maitreya, twenty are the benefits received by anyone who gives teachings without wish for material wealth, gain or respect. If you ask what these twenty are, they are like this. He will come to be: (1) mindful (dran-pa, Skt. smṛti) (of the teachings) and (2) intelligent (blo-gros, Skt. mati) (from having listened to them before); (3) he will likewise come to have common-sense discrimination (blo-dang ldan, Skt. buddhimān) (from having pondered their meaning); (4) steadfastness (brtan-pa, Skt. dṛdha) (from having meditated on them), (5) (mundane) discriminating awareness (’jig-rten-pa’i shes-rab, Skt. laukikī prajñā, worldly wisdom) (for mastering all ten fields of knowledge).

The ten fields of knowledge are divided into five major and five minor subjects. The major ones are: 

• Art and craftsmanship
• Medicine
• Languages and grammar 
• Logic 
• Inner or exceptional self-knowledge. 

Someone who masters all five is conferred the degree “mahapandit” (pan-chen, great learned master).

The five minor fields are:

• Poetry 
• Rhetoric and synonyms 
• Prosody and composition 
• Drama and dance 
• Astrology and mathematics. 

Upon their completion the degree “pandit” (pan-chung, learned master) is conferred. 

The Sutra continues:

(6) (He will likewise come to have) supramundane discriminating awareness so as to have continual realization of reality. His (7) attachments, (8) hostilities and (9) naivety will all come to lessen, while (10) demonic forces will become unable to gain the advantage over him. 

Demonic forces may be either external or internal. The former includes, for instance, Mara himself, the one who had tried unsuccessfully to interrupt Buddha Shakyamuni during his absorption under the bodhi tree when he was demonstrating his enlightenment. Since such a limited being is included among the divine beings of the sixth or highest divine realm on the plane of sensory desires, this type of interference is also known as the demonic forces that are the offspring of the divine. Internal demonic forces, on the other hand, refer to the three poisonous attitudes of attachment, hostility and closed-mindedness and are also known as the demonic forces that are disturbing emotions and attitudes. There are two other demonic forces, making a total of four. These are the demonic forces that are the lords of death, and those that are the aggregate factors of our experience.

The Sutra continues:

(11) He will (also) come to be heeded by the Buddhas, the Bhagavans (the Vanquishing Masters Surpassing All), (12) protected by the quasi-humans, and (13) glorified by the divine beings. (14) Hostile parties will become unable to gain the advantage over him; (15) he will never become parted from friends; (16) his words will come to be heeded, and (17) he will become fearless (never nervous to teach in a crowd). (18) His blissful awareness will abound and (19) he will come to be praised by the learned. (20) Finally, he will come to (gain rebirths) suitable for giving (once more) the teachings and continually being mindful of them. These, Maitreya, are the twenty benefits.

This quotation is cited in Shantideva’s Compendium of Trainings (XIX.26). The first six benefits are the types of results that correspond to their cause (rgyu-mthun-gyi ’bras-bu, Skt. niṣyanda phala). By teaching mindfully, intelligently and so forth, a spiritual master will continue to possess such good qualities in future lives. The next three are results that are states of being parted (bral-’bras, Skt. visaṃyoga phala) from obscuration. By properly explaining the Dharma, his own poisonous attitudes will continually lessen. The nine subsequent benefits are dominating results (bdag-’bras, Skt. adhipati phala) since they affect a wide number and range of beings, such as the divine beings and so forth, and how they will treat him. The last benefit is a ripened result (rnam-smin-gyi ’bras-bu, Skt. vipāka phala), namely the aggregate factors (body, mind and so forth) of his future lives’ experience.

All these positive results will follow not only from delivering formal discourses on a high throne before a large audience, but also from teaching privately in a modest situation. Furthermore, they may derive as well from reading Dharma texts slightly audibly, while imagining a huge gathering of eager students around, drinking in every word. This is something fitting for us to practice now at our level. We may even reap such benefits from directing our casual conversations to spiritual topics, if we do this with skill and not in an obnoxious, overbearing manner. Therefore, we should consider how proper and beneficial it is, to both us and others, for us to explain and speak of the Dharma even if we cannot actually be considered a spiritual master.

When Buddha Shakyamuni delivered his Sutras on Far-Reaching Discriminating Awareness on Vulture’s Peak, he arranged the throne himself. This was not out of pride or self-interest, but to show respect and render service to the profound teachings he was about to impart. Likewise, before he or she begins to speak, a spiritual master remembers the kindness and genius of the Buddha, who is the source of what he is about to explain. In this way, he approaches his discourse in a state of great reverence and appreciation. He has his scriptural texts properly and respectfully wrapped in cloth, his ritual implements immaculately arranged and, if he is a monk, his robes worn in the correct manner to show respect for the Buddha and the Dharma.

Ngawang Dragpa from Dagpo has said in his Essence of Well-Spoken Advice:

(A spiritual teacher) should abandon a closed-fisted attitude (with regard to the Dharma), boasting about himself, being tired of explaining, mentioning others’ faults, postponing and jealousy. Having built up the habit of love for his circle (of disciples) and holding the five recognitions, he should consider how the positive action of teaching properly is the substance of happiness. 

This quotation is a paraphrase in verse of Tsongkhapa’s Grand Presentation (20.a6–21.a2), which derives from The Lotus Sutra (Dam-pa’i chos padma dkar-po’i mdo, Skt. Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra).

A true master is never miserly or close-fisted with the Dharma, unwilling to share his knowledge and wisdom with others. This does not mean, however, that he flaunts his learning and confuses his disciples with a flood of information, saying everything he knows and speaking far above their level of comprehension. He always suits his teachings to the needs and abilities of his audience. 

He never gives his disciples all the answers or puts everything together for them. Like a mathematics teacher, a spiritual master presents the material for training the mind, sets up the problems clearly and gives the guideline techniques for figuring them out. Then, however, to train their minds, the disciples must work through the material themselves. How will a disciple make any spiritual progress toward a purified state if he is not taught to think for himself? 

A spiritual master also does not explain everything clearly or in full detail the first time he teaches a subject. If a disciple is sincerely interested, he or she will come back to ask questions and seek further instruction. This helps him develop perseverance and patience as he must sustain his interest and efforts over a long period of time. This in turn makes him appreciate and value the instructions so that he will take the indicated measures far more seriously. Spiritual training is not a process of merely transferring information from a teacher to a pupil. If, on the other hand, a disciple is not interested or not yet ready to pursue the subject any deeper, it would have been a waste of time and energy to have explained prematurely to him more than would fulfill his needs at that particular point in his training. In fact, too much instruction at once may discourage and deter a disciple from his spiritual pursuits.

Furthermore, a true master never praises himself nor speaks of his own good qualities or skills, nor does he ever criticize others out of attachment or hostility, mentioning their faults in order to humiliate them and aggrandize himself. After all, he is not competing with other spiritual guides. He never becomes tired, bored or discouraged while teaching, nor does he procrastinate out of laziness, putting off his lessons because he does not feel in the mood to teach. Further, he is never jealous and does not cast doubts in his audience about others’ good qualities or skills, nor does he demand charge for his lessons. Although he may accept offerings freely made, he does so without attachment.

As Geshe Potowa has said,

For all my teachings I have never expected even a thank you, let alone gifts and so forth.

His disciple, Geshe Sharawa (dGe-bshes Sha-ra-ba) (1070–1130), has similarly said:

A true spiritual mentor is one who is pleased by the practice of his disciples, not by their offerings.

In short, a true master’s thoughts when teaching are solely those of love and compassion for his students, while he himself has the five recognitions as have been listed in the Sutra Requested by Sagaramati:

• He regards himself as a physician
• His disciples as sick patients
• The Dharma as medicine
• The Buddha as a holy, non-deceptive being
• And the methods entailed by the teachings as something he prays long endures.

These are similar to the six recognitions the disciple should develop as mentioned before. The only one omitted is the feeling that the diligent practice of the Dharma is the way to become cured, since this applies specifically to the side of the student. The first three recognitions derive from the Sutra Spread Out Like a Tree Trunk (LIII), while the last two are taken from the Sutra Requested by Sagaramati.

As for his actions while teaching, a spiritual master should bathe beforehand and wear clean, fresh clothes. He sits on an elevated platform or throne, also to elicit respect for the Dharma. His manner is bright, cheery and smiling, and he explains his meaning clearly, using anecdotes, analogies, humor, scriptural quotations, logical lines of reasoning and sometimes even forceful expression in order to make his disciples gain certainty in their understanding. He never confuses the outline or the order of the teachings, like a hassled crow building a haphazard nest. Nor does he explain only the easy parts and skip the difficult, like an old man eating soft potatoes and spitting out the meat that is hard to chew. Furthermore, he never tries to explain something he does not thoroughly understand himself by only guessing about its meaning, groping like a blind man walking with a cane. He speaks confidently, from his own experience and learning, but never with pride or pretense.

Dagpo Jampel Lhundrub has given the following guidelines for delivering a formal discourse on the Dharma. The teacher should set his motivation firmly while he goes from his home to the hall. When entering the room, he imagines the spiritual master from whom he received these teachings seated on the throne surrounded by the previous masters of its lineage, and he pays homage by prostrating himself three times. He then visualizes the lineage masters dissolving one into the next, and finally into his own root teacher.

When ascending the throne, he should imagine his root guru dissolves into him. Once seated, he recites some auspicious verses and snaps his fingers in order to remember the nonstaticness of situations and thus overrule any pride he might feel at sitting on a high throne and being revered. Otherwise, he might become puffed up and pompous, feeling how holy and learned he is. Then, to banish any interference such as nervousness on his part or dullness (bying-ba, Skt. nirmagna, sinking) in the audience, he recites an appropriate mantra or the Heart Sutra (bCom-ldan-’das-ma Shes-rab-kyi pha-rol-tu phyin-pa’i snying-po, Skt. Bhagavatī Prajñāpāramitā Hṛdaya, The Heart of Far-Reaching Discriminating Awareness, the Vanquishing Lady Surpassing All). This is followed by leading the disciples in reciting the words of the ritual mandala offering made in order to request the teaching formally.

Then, in order to show his respect, the master touches to his head the text he is about to explain, after which he recites several verses for setting his own and the audience’s motivation. When all this is finished and he actually begins to teach, he imagines before him a huge assembly of all the beings of the universe, in their multitude of life forms, listening attentively and benefiting greatly.

These procedures derive from the tradition of Drubkhang Geleg Gyatso (Grub-khang dGe-legs rgya-mtsho) (1641-1713). Whenever this renowned teacher would deliver a discourse, he would spend a great deal of each session on such and other preliminaries. Some students complained, but he always told them that this was the most important part for gaining stable realizations. The Gelug master Drubkhang Geleg Gyatso was the root teacher of Purchog Ngawang Jampa (Phur-lcog Ngag-dbang byams-pa) (1682-1762) to whom the Second Panchen Lama transmitted the lam-rim lineage.

Gunaprabha has explained in his Rules of Discipline Sutra (Dul-ba’i mdo, Skt. Vinaya Sūtra) that a spiritual master may not teach the Dharma without being requested. Thus, he never takes the initiative to offer himself, as it might be presumptuous. Even if requested, he does not give the teaching at once. Rather, as has been advised in the King of Absorbed Concentrations Sutra, he should say such things as, “I do not know the subject matter very well,” or “How can I explain before someone as well-educated and learned as you?” In this way, the teacher deflates any pride he might have and remains ever humble. Humility is one of the greatest virtues a spiritual master can possess. Also, he takes the opportunity to examine thoroughly the character of his potential disciple to learn if he or she is ready and suitable for such study, and to determine how best to guide him or her.

A learned disciple without a warm, kind heart is as useless as a chopped-down tree thrown in a river: it gives no fruit. As for someone who is simply a nice person, however, it is quite another matter. If a master teaches him just a little, it will benefit him greatly, like watering a sapling. 

Therefore, Geshe Potowa has said:

If a prospective student is not very smart, but has a good character, a warm, kind heart and a gentle disposition, then by all means accept him as your disciple. If he does not learn, it is due to your deficiency as a skilled teacher. If, however, someone comes to you who is very clever and intelligent, but has a cruel heart, a vulgar manner and is very arrogant, let him go. Do not waste your time.

Thus, a true master accepts only those who are proper vessels for spiritual training. Then, in certain special cases, he may even volunteer a teaching or hint that if requested he would teach. This, however, would only be in regard to an extremely receptive disciple who was ripe for that particular measure.

At a discourse or private lesson, there are further criteria of respect and decorum that must be followed, as Ashvaghosha II (rTa-dbyangs) (10th century) has outlined in Fifty Stanzas on the Guru (Bla-ma lnga-bcu-pa, Skt. Gurupañcāśikā). A master does not teach someone who is sitting on a seat that is higher or of better quality than his own, nor someone standing. Nor does he teach someone lying down or with his head covered, unless that person is ill. Also improper are those wearing shoes or weapons of any description. However, when all the fit disciples are properly assembled and have formally requested once more by offering a mandala, the master happily teaches the Dharma with love and compassion. Also, as mentioned before, it is important to begin by leading the disciples in reciting verses to set the proper motivation for listening. In other words, everyone prays together that whatever positive karmic force (bsod-nams, Skt. puṇya, merit) is built up be for the benefit of all limited beings.

In general, there are two types of prayer. The first is an aspiration (smon-lam), a wish for a specific desired goal. The second is a dedication (bsngo-ba, Skt. pariṇāmanā), in which we aspire for a goal, but also dedicate toward its achievement the karmic force built up from such constructive acts as learning about the Dharma, making offerings and so on. Thus, if it is a dedication prayer, it is also an aspiration, but not the other way around. Both are methods for focusing our intention on achieving an aim. A dedication, however, relies on a material object of offering or some previous action as its base, while an aspiration has no such reliance.

There are three major aims commonly shared by both types of prayer:

• The first is to reach enlightenment so as to be able ourselves to liberate all beings
• The second aim is to be cared for by spiritual mentors in all future lives
• The third is to be able to uphold the Buddha’s teachings by having them ever increase on our own and others’ mental continuums.

At the conclusion of any study of the graded stages of the path, the teacher and disciple together once more offer in thanksgiving a mandala and then dedication prayers. Focusing our attention on the karmic force built up from our constructive actions of teaching and studying, we dedicate it as a root of positive force (dge-ba’i rtsa-ba, Skt. kuśalamūla, root of virtue) for bringing about our own and everyone’s attainment of enlightenment. We sincerely pray that this root never exhausts until its aim is completely fulfilled. This is the significance of the well-known phrase “we dedicate our roots of positive force for everyone to attain Buddhahood.”