It’s almost impossible to find a guru in this world at this time who has all the noble qualities of a Vajrayana master described in the ancient tantric texts. But in the Mahayana sutras the Buddha offered advice about what to do if we can’t find an authentic master. He said if you encounter a person who talks about buddha nature, such a person should be venerated as the Buddha himself. If you think about how many millions of people there are who talk only about food and clothes and bank balances and never about buddha nature, you see why the Buddha would say such a thing. In this degenerate time, if you can find a guru with even a few of these qualities, then you should consider accepting him or her as your teacher because such a person is so rare, on the verge of extinction.
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
from the book The Guru Drinks Bourbon?
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Further quotes from the book The Guru Drinks Bourbon?:
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- Modern Buddhadharma
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- Look beyond titles and hats
- Cultivating trust in simplicity
- Outer display of guru devotion
- Dharma without devotion
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- Check how the guru handles criticism
- Peeling of our patches of samsara
- Guru devotion and pure perception
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- A proper guru-student communication
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- Going beyond Rational and Irrational Devotion