Great Treasury of Merit. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

being written down, and only those with great good fortune even knew of its existence, let alone had the opportunity to practise the instructions. For this reason it became known as the ‘Ensa Whispered Lineage’. However, because times were becoming more and more impure, and because sentient beings had less and less merit, the Panchen Lama worried that this precious lineage might soon be lost altogether; and so to preserve it for future generations he decided to write it down. Accordingly, he wrote a text entitled The Main Path of the Conquerors, the Root Text of the Mahamudra. This contains all the essential instructions on Mahamudra from the Emanation Scripture.

      To practise Mahamudra successfully it is first necessary to complete four preliminary practices, which are known as ‘the four great preliminary guides’. These are:

      (1) The great guide of going for refuge and generating bodhichitta, the gateway to the Buddhadharma and the Mahayana

      (2) The great guide of making mandala offerings, the gateway to accumulating a collection of merit

      (3) The great guide of meditation and recitation of Vajrasattva, the gateway to purifying negativities and downfalls

      (4) The great guide of Guru yoga, the gateway to receiving blessings

      So that faithful disciples could practise the fourth great guide as a preliminary to the actual Mahamudra, the first Panchen Lama also compiled Offering to the Spiritual Guide based on the instructions from the Emanation Scripture. Since then, this practice has flourished in Tibet, Mongolia, China, and India; and now it is beginning to spread in the West. We should remember the great kindness of the first Panchen Lama in compiling this sadhana and try to practise it purely and sincerely.

      Although Offering to the Spiritual Guide was compiled by the first Panchen Lama, it was not invented by him. In fact all the practices contained within the sadhana were taught by Buddha in his Sutra and Tantra teachings. So as to make this clear, the first Panchen Lama wrote at the beginning of the sadhana:

      I shall prepare a throat ornament, a beautiful garland of flowers,

      Taken from the lotus garden of holy instructions of Sutra and Tantra,

      The sole supreme method for fortunate disciples

      To accomplish every benefit and happiness.

      The full title of the sadhana in Tibetan is Lama Chopai Choga, which means The Ritual for Offering to the Spiritual Guide. Even though it was first composed in Tibetan, the first Panchen Lama also gave the title in Sanskrit – Guru puja se kalpa – at the head of the text. This was the practice that was usually adopted when a text was translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan to show that the text had not been invented by the Tibetans but was an authentic scripture from India. It is not usual to give a Sanskrit title for a text originally composed in Tibetan. Thus, Je Tsongkhapa’s Great Exposition of the Stages of the Path, for example, has no Sanskrit title but is known in Tibetan simply as Lamrim Chenmo. Why then did the first Panchen Lama give a Sanskrit title to Offering to the Spiritual Guide? His purpose was to indicate that, even though he had compiled the sadhana, the practices contained within it originate from the Sutras and Tantras, and in particular from the Tantric teachings of Conqueror Vajradhara.

      It is the tradition of both Atisha and Je Tsongkhapa to base all their teachings on the word of Buddha and never to teach anything that contradicts Buddha’s teachings. According to these two great Teachers, unless an instruction is referred to in either the Sutras or the Tantras it cannot be regarded as an authentic Buddhist teaching, even if it is a so-called ‘terma’, or ‘hidden treasure text’. Whenever they gave teachings or composed texts, both Atisha and Je Tsongkhapa quoted liberally from both the Sutras and the Tantras. In this way they showed their great respect for Buddha’s original teachings and emphasized the importance of being able to trace instructions back to them.

      In Ornament for Mahayana Sutras, Maitreya says that throughout the entire universe there is no one wiser than Buddha. Buddha understands directly and simultaneously all objects of knowledge and realizes the true nature of all phenomena. If we have faith in Buddha we should practise only those instructions that do not contradict his teachings. If we follow instructions that contradict Buddha we will make no spiritual progress and our practice will cause the degeneration of the Buddhadharma in this world. Similarly, if we claim to be a Buddhist Teacher but give teachings that contradict Buddha we will be destroying Buddha’s doctrine. Therefore, if we consider ourselves to be Buddhists we should take great care to practise only those teachings that originally come from Buddha. We should be careful not to be influenced simply by the reputation of a particular Teacher or book, but should check to see whether or not they are authentic. Even if we are told that by hearing a particular teaching or by reading a particular book we will attain enlightenment quickly, we should still be cautious and examine its authenticity first.

      If, as the first Panchen Lama says, all the instructions contained within Offering to the Spiritual Guide had already been taught by Buddha, why did he compile the sadhana at all? Why did he not simply refer us to Buddha’s original teachings? There are two reasons. First, Buddha’s Tantric teachings are very difficult to understand, and second, they are scattered throughout various texts with no clear indication as to the sequence in which they are to be practised. If we were to try to practise these instructions by relying upon the Sutras and Tantras alone, we would soon become discouraged and might even give up our Dharma practice altogether.

      In compiling Offering to the Spiritual Guide, the first Panchen Lama has presented all the essential instructions in a way that is easy to understand, and he has arranged them in the sequence in which they are to be practised. He has included in one practice not only the great preliminary guide of Guru yoga combined with all the essential practices of generation stage and completion stage of Highest Yoga Tantra, but also the essential practices of Lamrim and Lojong. By practising Offering to the Spiritual Guide, therefore, we are able to practise all the stages of the path of Sutra and Tantra in one session.

      In his autocommentary, the first Panchen Lama says that the various practices contained within Offering to the Spiritual Guide are like precious jewels that have been retrieved from an ocean bed. Even if we knew of the existence of jewels at the bottom of a vast ocean, without the help of a skilled navigator and a diver we would never be able to gain access to them. If we were to try to retrieve them on our own we would definitely find ourself in great danger. In the same way, without the first Panchen Lama’s help in gathering up and presenting these precious jewel-like instructions, if we were to try to find them amongst the vast ocean of the Sutras and Tantras and put them into practice on our own, we would soon find ourself in difficulty.

      Since the first Panchen Lama compiled this precious sadhana it has been transmitted, together with the uncommon Vajrayana Mahamudra of the Virtuous Tradition and all the other essential practices of the Emanation Scripture, through an unbroken lineage to our present Teachers. From Panchen Chokyi Gyaltsen the lineage passed through Drubchen Gendun Gyaltsen and Drungpa Tsondru Gyaltsen to Konchog Gyaltsen, who transmitted it to the second Panchen Lama, Losang Yeshe. From him it passed through various Lamas such as Losang Namgyal and Kachen Yeshe Gyaltsen down to Dorjechang Trijang Rinpoche, who passed it on to our present Teachers. The entire close lineage of these instructions is given in the Prayers of Request to the Mahamudra Lineage Gurus, which can be found here. If we read this prayer we will see that there is a completely pure and unbroken lineage from Conqueror Vajradhara down to our present root Guru.

      By contemplating the special qualities of Offering to the Spiritual Guide and the purity of the lineage of these instructions we should come to feel extremely fortunate at having met such a precious practice. We should think:

      This practice of Offering to the Spiritual Guide contains all the essential practices of Sutra and Tantra, and the blessings of this lineage are still complete. If I now practise this Guru yoga sincerely I will be able to attain enlightenment in this very life, and become just like Gyalwa Ensapa. How lucky I am!

      Drubchen Dharmavajra