It’s usually safer to go with a guru who is not interested in fame. There is a chance that some gurus might be madly designing and printing pamphlets and buttons for the sake of all sentient beings. Not all lamas who are zealously promoting themselves and sitting on the highest thrones have an ulterior motive; some might actually be humble. But the greatest teachers of recent times said repeatedly and with complete conviction that they were not enlightened. They claimed to be totally ordinary beings, and they exhibited their humble devotion to their own gurus and teachers again and again. For example, when I asked Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche for his treasure teachings, his response was that there are so many great treasure teachings and that his were completely useless. He said I should not be wasting my time pursuing him. Instead, most of the time all he talked about was his devotion to his own teachers.
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
from the book The Guru Drinks Bourbon?
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Further quotes from the book The Guru Drinks Bourbon?:
- The very essence of the Spiritual journey
- The guru is like the horizon
- Skillful Guru
- Modern Buddhadharma
- Guru
- Look beyond titles and hats
- Cultivating trust in simplicity
- Outer display of guru devotion
- Dharma without devotion
- Abundance and variety in the teachings is so important
- Check how the guru handles criticism
- Peeling of our patches of samsara
- Guru devotion and pure perception
- Hearing the Dharma
- Teachings don’t just rain down
- The authentic guru lineage is indispensable
- A proper guru-student communication
- A different interpretation of austerity
- Going beyond Rational and Irrational Devotion