Kurukulla Center

Date: 

Sun, May 25, 2025

Time: 

9:00 AM — 5:00 PM 

Event: 

One Day Meditation and Practice Retreat: Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga

Geshe Tenley will lead a one-day retreat on the Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga practice, on Sunday, May 25. This is the third in a series of one-day retreats Geshe-la will be leading this year. The retreat is open to anyone – there is no requirement to have received any particular initiations to participate.

Also known as the Hundred Deities of Tushita (Ganden Lha Gyäma), it is a seven-limb practice related to Lama Tsongkhapa, a great Tibetan scholar, saint, and yogi of the 14th century.

During the 26th meditation course at Kopan Monastery in 1993, FPMT Spiritual Director Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche described the benefits of doing this practice:

There are eight particular benefits of doing the Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga practice, as explained by Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo, the great enlightened being who taught Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, the commentary on the stages of the path to enlightenment.

The first benefit is that it establishes the root of all the collections of goodness. It establishes the root of all the collections of goodness of this life and future lives, which means happiness in this and future lives, temporal happiness and ultimate happiness: liberation from samsara and even highest enlightenment.

The second benefit is that whatever we do – listening, studying, reflecting, meditating – becomes effective, beneficial. Everything we do takes our mind in the right direction, diminishing the self- cherishing thought and so forth. Whatever Dharma study we do benefits to our mind.

The third benefit is that we don’t get harmed. We don’t receive obstacles, interferences.

The fourth benefit is that we are not harmed by nagas, spirits. For example, many diseases such as arthritis and cancer are related to naga harm; the outside condition is to do with nagas. Different types of spirits [bring different harm] such as paralysis or epilepsy. But we are protected because the Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga is not just Tsongkhapa’s aspect alone but an integration of the three deities, Manjushri, the Buddha of Wisdom; Chenrezig, the Compassionate Buddha; and Vajrapani, who is the embodiment of all the buddhas’ power.

The fifth benefit is that it brings all of us all our wishes.

The sixth benefit is that we see our own guru as inseparable from Lama Tsongkhapa. This is the particular benefit of doing this guru yoga. It transforms our mind into this pure thought of guru devotion, looking at our own guru as inseparable with Lama Tsongkhapa, integrated in these three deities, and in particular Manjushri. It is a common experience that through this guru yoga meditation people are able to develop [the seven] wisdoms: great wisdom, clear wisdom, profound wisdom, quick wisdom, the wisdom of explaining Dharma, debating wisdom and writing Dharma. It is a common experience that by doing this guru yoga practice related to Lama Tsongkhapa, people are able to develop wisdom, even just through doing a one or two-month retreat.

The seventh benefit is that from life to life we are able to meet Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings. There are special benefits from meeting the sutra and tantra teachings, but this is one of the very special benefits. One of the special qualities of Lama Tsongkhapa’s teaching is that they clearly show the most subtle points of the Dharma, in both sutra and tantric practice, ones that many famous meditators make mistakes with. Lama Tsongkhapa made very clear, detailed explanations, explaining what are the mistakes and what are the correct teachings, the right path to be practiced.

So, this benefit is not just having met Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings, which have these special qualities, the extensive, clear explanations, the clarification of these subtle points; it also allows us to have a successful practice with correct understanding, where we are protected from obstacles to quick enlightenment.

The eighth benefit of practicing the Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga is that even if we do not become enlightened in this life, when death comes we can reincarnate in the pure realm of Tushita, Lama Tsongkhapa’s pure realm. Once there, we will have the opportunity to practice tantra and complete the path and become enlightened.

Schedule of Retreat Sessions:
9:00 - 10:30 AM
10:45 AM - 12:30 PM
Lunch break: 12:30 - 2:00 PM
2:00 - 3:30 PM
3:45 - 5:00 PM
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