Our main practice during the meditation break is to maintain pure view out of compassion.  The guru is a portal between ordinary worlds and the pure worlds of the Buddhas.  Wherever we imagine a Buddha, a real Buddha goes, and accomplishes this function.  Thus out of compassion for all living beings we generate the guru everywhere.  It is valid to impute guru on everything since the definitive guru is the bliss and emptiness of all things, the ultimate nature of all things.  So he pervades everything. 

We maintain pure view out of compassion by imagining that everything takes place within the guru’s Truth Body, and that our mind is mixed inseparably with the guru’s mind.  We generate the guru at our heart so that when others interact with us it is the same as them interacting with the living lama Tsongkhapa.  We request the guru to work through us to liberate those around us.  Further, we have no idea how to help people ourselves.  We cannot read the minds of others; from our own side, we have nothing particularly worthwhile to say. Our guru however, knows perfectly.  He sees the mind of the other person, knows exactly what their difficulties are, and knows exactly what they need to hear to get better.  So instead of trying to help people ourself, it is far wiser (and more compassionate) to ask our guru to work through us to help the other person.  What we need to do is get out of the way and allow our guru to work through us to help those around us.  Our pride in our own abilities is obstructing our guru from working through us to help others. We need to actively get out of the way and stop relying upon ourself and start relying exclusively upon the guru.

We also should generate the guru at the heart of all living beings to draw out their pure potential.  We relate to their pure potential and this functions to draw it out.  We don’t pay attention to others faults but relate to their pure potential. 

We should finally generate Dorje Shugden’s protection circle around all living beings in order to lead all living beings into the good path to ultimate happiness.  We transform everything into offerings which we offer to the guru at the heart of everyone giving rise to great bliss.  We generate Tushita Pure Land around everyone to create the cause for them to take rebirth in Tushita Pure Land.  We maintain the string of clouds from their hearts to the heart of Maitreya, so that when they die, they take rebirth in Tushita.  We generate in their minds for them the minds they should be generating.  We do all of this with the guru’s mind.  We bestow upon them the realizations they need.

We should also put into practice the specific meditation break practice explained in the New Meditation Handbook that corresponds with our lamrim meditation of the day.  Even if we don’t have a formal Lamrim practice, we should still practice in the meditation break the meditation break practice and cycle through this.

When we are studying, we should do so with the guru’s mind.  When we don’t understand something, we can request the guru to reveal to us the meaning of the instructions.  We then close the book, request blessings, receive them, then re-approach the subject until we understand.

Most of us don’t realize that we can use our guru’s mind as if it were our own.  This is because we think that our mind is inherently separate from the mind of the guru.  We think there is this impenetrable wall that stands between our mind and his.  This impenetrable wall is merely a figment of our own deluded mind.  We need to tear down this wall, and then allow our guru to literally pour his mind into our own.  It takes deep faith in the guru to be willing to let him enter our mind, but once we do, he only does good.  We can come to bathe in his blessings day and night.  We have nothing to fear from having the guru in our mind, but we have everything to fear with having delusions in our mind.  With our admiring faith we create the space within our mind for our guru to enter.  With our wishing faith we wish that we had his good qualities within our mind.  With our believing faith we understand that he can emanate his mind in our own mind and that we can use his mind as if it were our own.  Without faith, such practices are impossible.  Faith is the beginning, middle, and end of the spiritual path.  Some people are so afraid of faith.  They are so afraid of letting go.  They are so afraid of allowing someone else to help them.  They are so afraid of relying upon anyone other than themselves.  I know these fears because I suffered from all of them.  But I can say, from my own experience, that from the day I opened my heart to my guru, and allowed myself to come under his influence, I have enjoyed a peace and protection which I cannot even begin to describe. His only wish is to lead us to perfect happiness.  We need to just trust him.

But this takes time.  We need to build up this trust.  We need to build up our awareness of how he is more reliable than ourselves.  Only when these understandings grow over time will we be able to eagerly grant him our trust from our own side.  We eagerly place ourselves into his loving care.  It is only by fully admitting that we have problems and he has the solutions that we can extend this trust from our own side.  To some, this may appear to be blind faith, but we should not be fooled into thinking it is.  Blind faith is faith without a valid reason.  We have a very valid reason, and that reason is our own acute awareness of how his mind is more reliable than our own.  If we do not have this awareness then allowing ourselves to come under the influence of our guru would be blind faith.  With this awareness it is simply the most intelligent and logical thing to do.

I dedicate the merit I have accumulated by doing this series of posts so that my every action of body, speech and mind may become my guru working through me to liberate others.  I dedicate that all living beings come to realize the inexhaustible fountain of goodness that comes from relying upon the guru’s mind alone.