Being Your Own Master

Series: The master-disciple relationship

Being Your Own Master

Despite increasingly precise and clear testimonies and texts, there is still often some confusion surrounding the very term “master.” It sometimes triggers a kind of automatic rejection, a defensive reflex. However, this modern interpretation is largely anachronistic and misses the point of what is really at stake in authentic spiritual traditions. In contemporary language, this term is often associated with dependency, loss of control or autonomy, particularly in relation to so-called spiritual “gurus.” However, this representation is far removed from the reality of the relationship with the master as understood in the Dzogchen tradition, or “Great Perfection.”

Several articles on this blog about the relationship with the master in Dzogchen and Tibetan Buddhism have already clarified this unique type of connection between master and disciple: the “functions” of the master, including in other traditions (Series, “The Friend of Good,” 1-4), the type of relationship or the three ways of “serving,” revering, or respecting the masters (tib. zhabs tog rnam gsum, pronounced shabtog namsum), etc. Between several accounts from the past about the first dzogchen masters and those contemporary with Mila Khyentse Rinpoche and his own master, Alags Chörten, a more fundamental conception of the “teacher” as a mirror and reflection of our own nature can be discerned; the teacher — whether woman or man — being a “skillful means,” a principle of method—but oh so precious and indispensable— which the student must use, with clarity and discernment, to recognize his or her own primordial nature.

 “What alienates us is not giving ourselfves freely to the master with “devotion”, but our unconscious dependency — stemming from the representations of our ego —, towards our own mental habits, and our illusion of control. ” 

Thus, commitment to a “master,” which is very different from any blind obedience devoid of will or critical thinking, is more accurately called ‘devotion’ (Tib. mos gus), which evokes the idea of genuine respect. Mos (pronounced “mö”) denotes aspiration, motivation, momentum toward, while gus (pronounced “gü”) denotes deep respect or reverence. “Devotion” is therefore a deep aspiration and unshakable trust in the ultimate nature of all things, which the master helps us to gradually recognize as we progress along our path. It is therefore not a matter of slavish obedience to a person, but of confident surrender, openness, a call, and an aspiration toward our more authentic selves.

This commitment obviously requires great discernment and a prior assessment of what we are placing our trust in — and a time for observation. We could ask the skeptical “spiritual seeker” within us: What do I usually rely on, if not the master as primordial nature? Isn’t my ordinary perception of reality a kind of dependence on my own personal tendencies and habits? Can I truly “free myself” from them by relying only on myself?

An authentic master does not require submission or dependency. Rather, he points to something that transcends both the master and the disciple as individuals, namely, a conception of the master as the ultimate nature of reality. Therefore, the term “master” can be misleading. Furthermore, in Dzogchen, the master in his human form never imposes anything. He is there to guide us and introduce us to the direct realization of our own mind’s nature. However, we alone must walk the path.

What alienates us is not giving ourselfves freely to the master with “devotion”, but our unconscious dependency — stemming from the representations of our ego —, towards our own mental habits, and our illusion of control. Committing to a spiritual path or master means training ourselves to stop obeying our automatic mechanisms, which only serve to keep us outside our own control — and hinder us on the path to liberation.

From this point of view, “devotion” can then become the most liberating act there is… A right relationship with the master therefore does not produce any lasting dependency. On the contrary, it gradually leads to the development of real inner autonomy, or “becoming one’s own master” (as Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche translated rang dbang — pronounced “rang wang” —: “being your own power”).

Perhaps the important question is not “Should we yield?,” but “To what are we already yielding without knowing it?” From there, the question becomes, “To what else should we submit in order to no longer be subject to anything, but rather to regain the perfect and complete freedom that is our ultimate and original condition?”

Note

On this topic, read, for example, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche’s book, The Guru Drinks Bourbon?, Shambala, 2016  BACK