Purity of transmission

There are five types of unbelief (adharma):

1. religious rules that prevent a person from following the true Path are called vidharma,

2. spiritual principles introduced by others are called paradharma,

3. a new religion created by someone out of pride and not by the law of the Vedas is called upadharma,

4. misinterpretation of religion by juggling with words is called chhala-dharma

5. religion invented at the whim of a person who rejects his duties is called abhasa.

Bhagavata Purana, Canto Seven

You can avoid All this if you observe the samaya of the Teaching and maintain the purity of the transmission. How do we determine whether the samaya of the Teaching is being observed and whether the purity of the transmission is being maintained?

1. The transmission of the Teaching is done in the Guru-disciple relationship; it always presupposes the presence of these statuses.

The transmitter must have certain qualities, knowledge, experience, authority and must comply with ethics and principles. The one who transmits the Teaching is the Guru, and not a monk or lay instructor. From a monk, a novice, or a layman, one can receive a technique, an explanation, an introduction, but not a transmission; you can receive it only from a Guru.

Only a disciple can receive the transmission, that is, one who has accepted the authority of the Guru and his teachings as his Refuge.

Even if the Guru transmits the Teaching widely, it is impossible to receive the transmission as an outsider, listener or amateur because the transfer will not occur. The transmission is given only to disciples or those who intend to become them.

2. When practising the Teaching, you must observe vows (samaya).

3. The one who transmits the Teaching and the one who receives the Teaching must go through true tapasya, intense sadhana, asceticism, selfless devotion prescribed by the Teaching, for example, a long retreat or service, and have a personal, not mental experience of the Teaching.

4. The transmission may be oral, symbolic or non-conceptual, but it must be based in essence, in spirit, on the canonical sacred texts, not contradicting but confirming them.

5. During transmission, all basic principles (upayas) and key points (acharas) of the Teaching must be observed.

6. In particular, twelve signs of purity of transmission of the Teaching are observed:

• the terms of the Teaching are preserved,

• the logical schemes of the Teachings are preserved,

• the principle of Guru Yoga is preserved,

• the principle of Refuge in the Three Treasures is preserved,

• the transmission of the Teaching contains the spirit and attributes of all ten main principles (acharas),

• all methods of the Teaching are preserved strictly,

• otransmitting the Teaching is in samaya and ethical connection with the Three Treasures,

• the principles of the sixteen stages (kala) are preserved,

• The Tree of Teaching is preserved,

• the principle of two truths (view and behavior) is preserved,

• the fourteen vows of samaya are preserved,

• the transmitter adheres to the system of confirmations from the Guru.

Subject to these signs and criteria of purity of transmission, the Teaching will carry the light of blessings of the gods, rishis, siddhas, and Bhagavan Dattatreya for many thousands of years and will benefit countless living beings in the three worlds, giving them signs of realization.

How to perceive the Teaching

• When we receive the Teaching, it should be perceived only in pure vision and nothing else. The same attitude should be towards the Teacher and the sangha.

• The teaching should be perceived exactly as given, in the style, with the approaches and principles embedded in it.

• One should not fantasize about the Teaching, bring in one’s own conjectures dual assessments, confuse it with a worldly vision, impose mental projections on it, etc.

• One should accept the Teaching and practice it precisely in that bhava and the spirit as the Teacher gives it; otherwise, it will not be the same Teaching.

• Doubts arise among those who do not have a stable practice (sadhana) and who ignore philosophy, texts and contemplation. Therefore, practice is the best way to eliminate doubts; however, other methods, eliminating one doubt, give rise to ten new ones, and so on ad infinitum.