Editing Tibetan Buddhism (section)

=== Preliminary practices ===
{{see also|Ngöndro}}
[[File:IMG_1016_Lhasa_Barkhor.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.15|Buddhists performing prostrations in front of [[Jokhang Monastery]].]]
[[Vajrayāna]] is believed by Tibetan Buddhists to be the fastest method for attaining Buddhahood but for unqualified practitioners it can be dangerous.<ref>Pabongkha, p.649</ref> To engage in it one must receive an appropriate initiation (also known as an "empowerment") from a lama who is fully qualified to give it. The aim of [[Ngöndro|preliminary practices]] (''ngöndro'') is to start the student on the correct path for such higher teachings.<ref>{{cite book |author=Kalu Rinpoche |year=1986 |title=The Gem Ornament of Manifold Instructions |publisher=Snow Lion |page=21}}</ref> Just as Sutrayāna preceded Vajrayāna historically in India, so sutra practices constitute those that are preliminary to tantric ones.

Preliminary practices include all ''Sutrayāna'' activities that yield merit like hearing teachings, prostrations, offerings, prayers and acts of kindness and compassion, but chief among the preliminary practices are realizations through meditation on the three principal stages of the path: renunciation, the altruistic [[bodhicitta]] wish to attain enlightenment and the wisdom realizing emptiness. For a person without the basis of these three in particular to practice Vajrayāna can be like a small child trying to ride an unbroken horse.<ref>[[Pabongkhapa Déchen Nyingpo]], 649</ref>

The most widespread preliminary practices include: taking [[Refuge (Buddhism)|refuge]], [[Prostration (Buddhism)|prostration]], [[Vajrasattva]] meditation, mandala offerings and [[Guru Yoga|guru yoga]].{{sfnp|Powers|2007|p=295}} The merit acquired in the preliminary practices facilitates progress in Vajrayāna. While many Buddhists may spend a lifetime exclusively on sutra practices, an amalgam of the two to some degree is common. For example, in order to train in [[calm abiding]], one might visualize a tantric deity.

==== Guru yoga ====
{{main|Guru yoga}}
{{see also|Guru#In_Buddhism|label 1=Guru § In Buddhism}}
As in other Buddhist traditions, an attitude of reverence for the teacher, or guru, is also highly prized.<ref>''Lama'' is the literal Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit ''guru''. For a traditional perspective on devotion to the guru, see {{harvp|Tsong-kha-pa|2000|pp=77–87}}. For a current perspective on the guru-disciple relationship in Tibetan Buddhism, see [http://studybuddhism.com/web/x/nav/group.html_1305527811.html Berzin, Alexander. ''Relating to a Spiritual Teacher: Building a Healthy Relationship'']</ref> At the beginning of a public teaching, a ''[[lama]]'' will do [[prostration]]s to the throne on which he will teach due to its symbolism, or to an image of the Buddha behind that throne, then students will do prostrations to the lama after he is seated. Merit accrues when one's interactions with the teacher are imbued with such reverence in the form of guru devotion, a code of practices governing them that derives from Indian sources.<ref>notably, ''Gurupancasika'', Tib.: ''Lama Ngachupa'', Wylie: ''bla-ma lnga-bcu-pa'', "Fifty Verses of Guru-Devotion" by [[Aśvaghoṣa]]</ref> By such things as avoiding disturbance to the peace of mind of one's teacher, and wholeheartedly following his prescriptions, much merit accrues and this can significantly help improve one's practice.

There is a general sense in which any Tibetan Buddhist teacher is called a ''lama''. A student may have taken teachings from many authorities and revere them all as ''lamas'' in this general sense. However, he will typically have one held in special esteem as his own root guru and is encouraged to view the other teachers who are less dear to him, however more exalted their status, as embodied in and subsumed by the root guru.<ref>Indian tradition (Cf. ''Saddharmapundarika Sutra'' II, 124) encourages the student to view the guru as representative of the Buddha himself.</ref>

One particular feature of the Tantric view of teacher student relationship is that in Tibetan Buddhist Tantra, one is instructed to regard one's guru as an awakened Buddha.<ref name="Kapstein 80">{{harvp|Kapstein|2014|p=80}}.</ref>