Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

Fundamentally, our guru is Gautama Buddha, who is
now abiding in nirvana. If we practice enough to gain a
deep sunyata realization and develop compassion—then
why should he not appear as our guru?
In the West, a good guru in the flesh is hard to meet,
and so one should take an image of Gautama or
Milarepa, even if it is only made of paper, and worship
it sincerely. As a result of such devotion, images have
been known to speak clearly on the subject of
meditation, either in the light of one's practice or during
dreams.
There was once an Indian teacher who engaged in
debate with another. The latter felt certain that he could
defeat the teacher. Sure enough, the former met with
defeat but prayed earnestly that night to the stone image
of Tara. She then instructed him and that image's arms
even moved into a teaching mudra. This image is
famous and may still be seen in the unusual mudra
which it used to teach him the answers. The teacher was
victorious the next day, using the methods he had been
given to defeat his opponent.
Thus the instructions we receive and the gurus we get
depend on our devotion. We should not worry about
getting a guru but only about our own merits and
meditation. We should ask ourselves whether we are fit
for a real guru or not. If we do not gain a good teacher,
then it is not his fault, for the grace of ancient gurus is
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