There is so much benefit in requesting teachings, especially if you supplicate not just for your own benefit. If you request teachings with a motivation triggered by renunciation and compassion (bodhichitta) — if you are requesting the teachings to benefit all beings — this is the supreme way to request.

But if the guru is a proper, brave, qualified master, he might not give the teaching even if he seemingly has all the knowledge, time, and place to give it.

I requested specific tantric teachings from Kyabje Dejung Rinpoche many times over the course of two years. Finally, one day in Nepal, instead of sending me away, he told me to wait. He appeared to go through the hassle of searching his suitcases and summoning his attendants to search for his almanac. I think I had to wait an hour. He didn’t answer my questions—he didn’t even look in my direction as he was reading the almanac and making notes. Finally he said, “Good. This is the seventh time you asked, so I will teach you.”

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

from the book The Guru Drinks Bourbon?

Read a random quote or see all quotes by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche.

Further quotes from the book The Guru Drinks Bourbon?:

• Never opt for the easy way out
• Guru devotion and pure perception
• Hearing the Dharma
• Examining the Guru
• Controlled by circumstances
• The guru is like the horizon
• Celebrity Gurus
• Vajra hell
• Famous unintentionally
• Dharma without devotion
• Guru
• Look beyond titles and hats
• Samsara
• The path is practical
• You and only you will decide
• Pure perception
• The whole purpose of the outer guru
• Merging with the guru’s mind
• A different interpretation of austerity