Great-Bliss-Tantric-Sex-and-the-Path-to-Inner-Awakening

Vitally important is the devotion the student has to the teacher. You should see your teacher as a
fully enlightened being even if that person is not. Do not focus on their flaws or this will impede
your own progress. No one is perfect - but through your own eyes let your guru be perfect in
their wisdom and skill. As a wise student, you know you have four gurus: 1) the outer guru, your
physical teacher, 2) the inner guru, the deity, 3) the secret guru, your consort, and 4) the essential
guru, the dharmakāya, primordial wisdom, equal to the true nature of your own mind. Guided by
all your gurus, you make rapid progress on your path.
For those who do not have a qualified teacher to guide you in the Tantric Buddhist path, through
prayer you can invite the siddhas of Śabara’s lineage to bless you and guide you in your practice.
On the Guru in Indian Tantric Buddhism
The modern vision of an Eastern guru as “all knowing, all powerful, all wise” is heavily loaded –
and does not always fit the richly varied, complex, human realities of Tantric teacher-student
relationships. In India, these relationships ranged from the most severe, such as Tilopa’s testing
Nāropa with agonizing trials, to the most intimate imaginable - Kambala’s own mother was his
Tantric guru. Most siddhas were not full-time professional gurus, and comfortably integrated
their lives and work with teaching as the moment arose. Gurus were “gurus” to their students as
long as they needed to be - it was not a role by which they defined themselves, but simply a task
that needed to be done. Gurus and students sometimes even switched roles - Lakṣmīṅkarā and
Indrabhūti, for example, were both gurus and students for each other, taking turns teaching and
learning. Indian Tantric Buddhism stresses the profound equality of all people, and this view
could not help but permeate the gurus’ relationships with their students. Because gurus often had
sex with their students, and equality between partners is a sine qua non of Buddhist sexual yoga,
their relationships were generally marked by deep intimacy, equality, and mutual empowerment.
The final discovery on the path is that your real guru is never a person, but always your own
heart-mind.
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