On to Verses 20-30.
Having become the disciple of such a protecting
(Guru), should you then despise him from your heart, you will reap continual
suffering as if you had disparaged all the Buddhas.
If you are so foolish as to despise your Guru,
you will contract contagious diseases and those caused by harmful spirits.
You will die (a horrible death) caused by demons, plagues or poison.
You will be killed by (wicked) kings or fire,
by poisonous snakes, water, witches or bandits, by harmful spirits or savages,
and then be reborn in a hell.
Never disturb your Guru’s mind. Should you be
foolish and happen to do this, you will surely boil in hell.
Whatever fearful hells have been taught, such
as Avici, the Hell of Uninterrupted Pain, it is clearly explained that
those who disparage their Guru will have to remain there (a very long time).
Therefore exert yourself whole-heartedly never
to belittle your Tantric Master who makes no display of his great wisdom
and virtues.
As your Guru is a Buddha, despising him is the same as hating all who
are Enlightened. The state of Buddhahood is one of complete Liberation
from all suffering, ignorance, delusions and obstacles. It is the attainment
of all good qualities, complete perfection and total Omniscience. Despising
or belittling such a state by disparaging your Guru, you cast yourself
in the opposite direction from happiness and freedom. Having contempt for
wisdom and Liberation, you gain instead bondage and pain. Such tormented
states are what have been described in all the scriptures as the various
hells.
Thus there are great dangers in entering a Guru-disciple relationship.
Your Tantric Master may be the one who has given you empowerments, a tantric
discourse or even instruction on mandala drawing. As he has no pretension
and is never boastful, he will always hide his good qualities and never
hesitate to admit shortcomings. If you do not recognize such traits as
indications of his perfection, humility and skillful means, you may make
the serious mistake of belittling or seeing faults in him. Having established
a formal bond with this Guru and through him entered a pathway to Buddhahood,
you have then cast yourself into terrible suffering if from the depth of
your heart you break this link. Therefore you must have great awareness,
for although Guru devotion will elevate you to Full Enlightenment, a breach
of it will be your downfall.
(If from a lack of awareness you have shown disrespect) to your Guru, reverently present an offering to him and seek his forgiveness. Then in the future such harm as plagues will not befall you.
As a Buddha, a Guru will never hold a grudge, showing him disrespect cannot possibly offend or hurt him. The only one you harm is yourself. Therefore if you repent and beg his forgiveness, he will accept what you offer with great compassion. Then by the force of your faith, respect and devotion, you need not experience great misfortune.
The beneficial effects of Guru-devotion and the dire consequences of
a breach of it are not rewards and punishments from a godly Guru. They
follow directly from cause and effect. Your Guru is the focal point for
your practices leading to Enlightenment. The more devoted you are towards
the state of perfection he represents, the closer you come toward this
goal. Despising him can only take you further away into darkness and ignorance.
It has been taught that for the Guru to whom you
have pledged your word of honor (to visualize as one with your meditational
deity), you should willingly sacrifice your wife, children and even your
life, although these are not (easy) to give away. Is there need to mention
your fleeting wealth?
(Such practice of offering) can confer even Buddhahood
on a zealous (disciple) in his very lifetime, which otherwise might be
difficult to attain even in countless millions of eons.
Always keep your word of honor. Always make offerings
to the Enlightened Ones. Always make offerings also to your Guru, for he
is the same as all the Buddhas.
