a heavy loss for you.

We are talking about the power to dismantle the net of defilements of the disciples and nothing more. Beyond that, any kind of worldly power is very dangerous unless the guru is a sublime being

Certainly, there are rules and guidelines regarding the sangha, and in particular how to treat elders in the sangha, but there are no instructions on politics, administrative systems, or the organization of monasteries.

often, despite appearances, we are serving the Dharma merely to promote our own ideas, our own values, our own center, our own lineage.

If you think the guru exists externally as a truly existing perfect being, like a half-human, half-god, then you are on the way to a very hideous, destructive, and utterly deceiving path.

the guru appears to be kind and generous in the midst of conflict, in this degenerate time, you cannot ask for more.

Even if we do our practices, it takes effort and mindfulness to turn them into antidotes to our habitual patterns.

Once you take the initiation, once you take someone as your guru, then you must think, “This is my projection.”

If a guru asks you to do something and you can’t do it for whatever reason, you should know that you are allowed to say no.