Buddhism teaches us that there are three teachers in life.
Understanding these three teachers allows us to better integrate the Buddhist path, by seeing it as a tool for profound transformation.
This page is only a brief introduction. If you join the Lu Jong and Tog Chöd teacher trainings, we will go further into these different levels.
The first teacher, the Buddha, is the Ultimate Root Teacher. He shows a path, a method.
Many people in the West equate the Buddha with a god and Buddhism with a religion. This is a completely mistaken view. Buddhism is an inner practice of transforming the mind and our emotions through:
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knowledge,
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meditative practice,
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and understanding.
Understanding arises through the union of knowledge and meditative practice.
Buddha means “the awakened one.” The awakened one is a person who has found a path to free themselves from the sufferings of life—that is, from the sufferings generated by our emotions.
Once he found the path, he taught it for several decades, delivering countless teachings—84,000 in total, which are ultimately just variations of the main teaching. Through these many variations, he offered understanding suited to different kinds of individuals and states of mind.
However, for some people, the Buddha may seem distant, from another time, and it can be difficult to relate the teachings to the reality of our lives today.
Closer to us, there are teachers, Rinpoches, Lamas, and Professors who transmit these teachings directly, from “them to us.” They are the Root Teachers. They are near, we can meet them, ask questions, and engage in dialogue.
Their presence provides more concrete guidance in understanding the Buddha’s teachings on the path to awakening.
This path to awakening, all these teachings, are what we call the Dharma. The Dharma manifests in the form of teachings transmitted without interruption from the Buddha down to us through teachers, but also through the Universal Teacher.
The Universal Teacher represents all the problems and obstacles of our lives. The Root Teacher guides us by showing the links between our lives, our states of mind, and the teachings. The Root Teacher points to the Universal Teacher.
The Universal Teacher teaches us that our problems become our teachers, and obstacles become opportunities. Thus, little by little, we understand that nothing is truly negative, for what is initially perceived as negative is only a mistaken interpretation of the situation. In reality, difficulties are the best supports for meditation—to put the teachings into action, to apply the antidotes, and thus to transform ourselves.
This transformation manifests through the Inner Teacher’s wisdom. The Inner Teacher is the self-arising wisdom generated in meditative practice—through accepting challenges, observing and understanding the mechanisms that trigger emotions, and transforming our behaviors.
This transformation leads us from thoughts born of an unstable mind, agitated by negative emotions, to thoughts arising from a basis of purity, calm, and wisdom.
This pure wisdom is our deep consciousness—clear, pure, and knowing.
Thus, the Root Teacher introduces us to the Inner Teacher through the integration of the Universal Teacher.
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