[From a teaching on White Khechari Practice Instructions, Part 2 of 3 by Lama Tashi Topgyal. Translated by Lama Yeshe Gyamtso.]

We do need to recognize that our root guru and Guru Rinpoche are not two different individuals or two different things. We need to meditate on their inseparability or their unity. And if we don’t understand that much, if we don’t understand the inseparability of our root guru and Guru Rinpoche, there is simply no way that we can practice this tradition; nothing is going to happen; it won’t work. In fact, it would be correct to say that our root guru embodies the entire lineage of the victors’ intentions, starting with Samantabhadra all the way down to present. The reason why our root guru appears to us as a flesh and blood being is that if he didn’t, we would have no access to these teachings, no access to this wisdom.

With regard to his relationship to Guru Rinpoche: it was Guru Rinpoche who concealed these teachings — taught them and concealed them – and it is Guru Rinpoche who has reappeared as his emanation, as our root guru, in order to discover them and disseminate them. Especially for any vajrayana practice, we need to have that kind of devotion, that kind of understanding, of the root guru.

So cultivate the attitude of pure outlook, pure appearances. See your root guru as Guru Rinpoche. Recognize his entourage as made up of viras and dakinis. This will not affect or benefit your root guru or his entourage. This is for your benefit. Sometimes people wonder about this. They say, “These lamas, they’re always saying, ‘see the lama as pure and perfect, and see his entourage as dakas and dakinis’ — it sounds very self serving.” It’s not actually self serving. It doesn’t do your root guru any good, but it does you a great deal of good.

It’s normal in this educated and free-thinking society that you should question this. In fact it’s good that you question this because it’s a sign of intelligence, and you need intelligence on the vajrayana path. It requires great intelligence. But use your intelligence constructively. Use it to understand the real benefit of pure appearances.

For example, if you imagine this realm or this building the glorious Copper Colored Mountain and the Palace of Lotus Light on top of it, that doesn’t change the building, doesn’t help the building. It changes you. It helps you. So in order to help yourself, to help your mind and change your mind, please cultivate pure appearances.