What is faith and devotion in Buddhism?

 
This article is an attempt to clarify the terms “faith” and “devotion” in Buddhism / Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. In order to clarify the terms “faith” and “devotion”, it is essential to begin with a sober definition from Buddhist scriptures as the starting point for further analysis and investigation.

Faith and devotion are not synonymous.

(1) Faith (དད་པ་, wylie: dad pa, pronunciation: däpa, sanskrit: śhraddhā)

According to Buddhist psychology, summarised in the genre Mind and Mental Factors ( བློ་རིག་, wylie: blo rig) which is based on Asanga’s Abhidharmasammuccaya, faith is a mental factor. It is the first mental factor listed in the group of the eleven wholesome mental factors.

In the definition below given by Asanga in his Abhidharmasammuccaya one must pair the following types of faith with their respective objects:

(1) faith of clarity (or inspirational faith) has as its object excellent qualities
(2) faith of conviction has as its object existent phenomena
(3) faith of wishing has as its object phenomena that have power/potential (one sees the potential and wishes to bring it to full maturation)

The faith of clarity is free of delusions and apprehends its object’s excellent qualities very clearly. This type of faith leads usually to a strong emotion; one is touched by what one has as the object of faith (e.g. the qualities of compassion, the qualities of concentration or the qualities of a person) and bodily responses can manifest like getting goose bumps, tears fill the eyes, the body hairs stand on end. That’s why it is also called “faith of inspiration”. So this type of faith is actually a strong, powerful but wholesome emotion that really moves you.

I think the essential key point to be understood is that faith has as its object really existent phenomena. Therefore, training in the faith of clarity doesn’t mean to project non-existent qualities but rather it is a seeing, a deep understanding or an intuition or wisdom that really sees or feels what qualities there really are and one is moved by these perceived, actually existent qualities.

Also the faults of an object (like the faults of Samsara or the faults of delusions) can be the object of faith [they can be the objects of the faith of conviction but not the objects of the faith of wishing]; so, it needn’t be only existing qualities which are the objects of faith.

Here is the explanation by Yeshe Gyeltsen (ye shes rgyal mtshan) (1713–1793), tutor (tib. yongs ‘dzin) of the 8th Dalai Lama Jampel Gyatsho, from his Lorig (tib. blo rig) commentary “A Necklace for Those of Clear Awareness Clearly Revealing the Modes of Minds and Mental Factors”, translated from the Tibetan by Toh Sze Gee:

[C1] Faith (wylie: dad pa)
Regarding the entity of faith, the Compendium of Knowledge [Asanga’s Abhidharmasammuccaya] says:

QUESTION: What is faith?
RESPONSE: It is a conviction, clarity, and wishing with respect to an existent that is endowed with excellent qualities and power. It has the function of acting as a support for aspiration.

Just as it has been said above, faith is a knower that has the aspect of conviction, clarity, or wishing, and it serves as the direct antidote for non-faith. When divided, faith is of three types:

1. clarifying faith,
2. faith of conviction and
3. wishing faith.

Clarifying faith is a clear mind engendered by seeing the excellent qualities of those so endowed, such as the Three Jewels. Why is it called “clarifying”? For example, when one places a water-purifying gem in dirty water, the murkiness of the water is immediately cleared away. Similarly, when this faith is generated, the murkiness of the mind is cleared away, whereupon all excellent qualities of realization become suitable to arise in one’s continuum.

Faith of conviction is the gaining of conviction through contemplating the modes of dependent-arising, cause and result, and so forth that are taught by the Conqueror.

Wishing faith, is, for instance, having contemplated the modes of the four noble truths, ascertained true sufferings and true origins as objects of abandonment, and true cessations and true paths as objects of attainment, and having understood that these can be attained if one makes the proper effort, the faith thinking, “I shall definitely obtain them.”

Here I have merely identified some illustrations of the three types of faith; it is not that all [instances] have been exhausted here. Nowadays, in our world, liking and faith are spoken of as if they are the same; liking beer is said to be “faith in beer,” but liking and faith are nevertheless not the same.* Faith is by entity a virtuous mental factor, whereas liking has both virtuous and non-virtuous factors. If this is explained in detail, there are the four possibilities:

1. that which is liking but not faith
2. that which is faith but not liking
3. that which is both
4. that which is neither

The first, that which is liking but not faith is, for example, liking one’s son, one’s wife and so forth, and liking sources of misdeeds, such as drinking alcohol and eating meals after noon [when ordained].

The second, that which is faith but not liking is, for example, fear from one’s depths and faith of conviction regarding the drawbacks of the sufferings of cyclic existence.

That which is both faith and liking is, for example, faith from one’s depths and liking due to contemplating the excellent qualities of the spiritual guide and the benefits of wholesome actions and their results.

That which is neither faith nor liking is anger, suffering, and so forth.

QUALM: Well then, are liking and respect the same or are they different?
RESPONSE: Again, in the world we speak of them as if they are the same, but in fact they are not. Liking a spiritual friend is faith, but respect for him involves contemplating his kindness, knowing shame, and valuing him highly. Hence, when [liking and respect] arise in the continuum, they are separate mental factors.

If, in accordance with how they appear in the great treatises, you analyze these modes in detail with the wisdom of individual investigation, examining the way in which they are generated in the continuum by turning your mind inwards, then you will get to know them; you cannot know them merely through words. With these meanings in mind, the Foremost Omniscient [Tsong-kha-pa] repeatedly advises that, in order to perform wholehearted practice, you must rely upon a skilful spiritual friend and acquire much hearing on the meaning of the scriptures. However, nowadays, when these great textual systems are explained to foolish beings who are deprived of the gem of intelligence and are inferior in merit, they become frightened, terrified and flee faraway, as though a poisonous snake had sensed the odor of musk, or a little child had caught sight of a whirlpool.

Those who view the exalted speech of the great scholars and adepts from the Land of Superiors [i.e., India] as pith instructions seem like stars during daytime.

Here, the function of faith is specified as “acting as a support for aspiration,” because, as explained above, the cause of all excellent qualities is effort; in order to generate effort, one needs the aspiration that seeks; in order to generate aspiration, one needs to see the excellent qualities as well as possess the faith of conviction. For this reason, faith is praised more than once as the foundation of all virtuous qualities in the scriptures and their commentaries. In this vein, the Formulae of the Three Jewels’ Blaze (Ratnolka-dharani) also says:

“Faith is the forerunner, and, like a mother, is the procreator.
It guards and increases all excellent qualities.
It dispels doubts and frees you from the four great rivers[1],
Faith signifies the city of happiness and goodness.

Faith is without murkiness and clarifies the mind.
It abandons pride and is the root of respect.
Faith is a jewel, a treasure,
And the best of feet.
Like hands, it is the root of gathering virtue.”

Also the Ten Teachings Sutra (Dasa-dharmaka-sutra) says:

“Faith is the best of vehicles
Through which you will be guided and definitely emerge.
Therefore, intelligent people
Rely on following faith.

Wholesome qualities do not grow
In people who have no faith,
Just as green sprouts [do not grow]
From seeds scorched by fire.”

Thus, all wholesome qualities are companions of faith. [Shantideva’s] Compendium of Trainings (Siksasamuccaya), stating, “having made firm the root of faith,” also teaches that faith is the root of all paths. Even the Great Being, the Protector Nagarjuna, emphatically taught that faith is the foundation of all paths. With these meanings in mind, the Foremost Omniscient [Tsong-kha-pa] made the statement “Training in faith, the root” one of the outlines in his Great Exposition of the Stages of the Path, and stated that “the root of all happiness and goodness is the faith of conviction.”

[1] From the causal point of view, the four rivers are: (1) ignorance, (2) views, (3) existence, and (4) craving.
From the resultant point of view, they are: (1) birth, (2) aging, (3) sickness, and (4) death.

---

* Annotation by Tenpel: This example is given within a Tibetan cultural context at a certain time. It is not relevant in our time and cultural context.

Again, I think the key point to understand is that in Buddhism to have faith does not mean to project qualities onto animate or inanimate objects that they don’t really possess, and also that the mental factor of faith can include the perception of genuinely existent faults in animate and inanimate objects, like the faults of Samsara.

Haribhadra (ca. 700–770) discriminates additionally between faith based on reasoning and faith not based on reasoning. The former is stable and the attribute of beings with sharp intellectual faculties and the latter is not stable and it is the attribute of beings with dull intellectual faculties. The Abhisamayalamkara and its commentaries explain that both types of person, sharp faculty Bodhisattvas and dull faculty Bodhisattvas, will reach their spiritual goals.

This topic is quite complex and it has many consequences for Buddhist practice, spirituality and our society in general. A sober understanding and a careful, thorough analysis of it, using different texts and angles of discussion is therefore crucial.

To give some suggestions for further investigation and analysis:

1. The meaning of faith includes the ability to see really existent qualities in others, like seeing the generosity of a child, the patience of a person, their affection, their compassion, their caring attitude… It also means to understand the resultant benefits of those qualities like the benefits of compassion – e.g. compassion overcomes egoism, fear… it makes you strong, warm-hearted, connects you with others etc. You can read a Dharma book about the benefits of compassion and being deeply moved or touched by it you aspire naturally to cultivate compassion.
2. Faith is the basis for aspiration and aspiration is the basis for joyous perseverance; from joyous perseverance comes the fulfilment of all of one’s wishes (Nagarjuna). If you suffer from the three types of laziness then the right response is not to push and force yourself but to go back to cultivate faith in the qualities you are aspiring for: the more you are touched and moved by the qualities of the object you are aspiring for, the more you aspire for it, the more you aspire for it the stronger the mental attitude of enthusiasm becomes. In that way joyous perseverance naturally will unfold to attain the object of your aspiration and it will conquer the afflicted class of the three types of laziness. This is the reason why Buddhists text praise faith as the basis of all excellent qualities because without faith in really existing excellent qualities you are neither deeply aware that those excellent qualities really exist nor do you aspire and work joyfully to achieve them.
3. In Western society we have somewhat lost the tendency to see or focus on real human values, like compassion, self-restraint, patience, generosity, contentment, respect, gratitude, a sense of caring for others etc. In tandem with this lack of focus on perceiving good qualities there is also somewhat an over-emphasis on cynicism, on seeing and discussing the faults of others, which compounds further the day-to-day failure of western society in general to see or celebrate good qualities and real human values. Then in a vicious circle of neglect, basic human qualities cannot be further cultivated and will highly likely degenerate – like the wearing down of the innate altruism (or “basic goodness”) which can be found even in very young children. Seeing this, the emphasis His Holiness the Dalai Lama places on the importance of secular ethics and science is a real gift to the Western world, with far-reaching consequences for generations to come.
4. Self-confidence arises naturally when one sees one’s own qualities and faults realistically as they are. This needs introspection and honesty. That’s why the Dalai Lama stresses correctly that self-confidence comes from honesty: “If you conduct your life on the basis of truth and honesty, it gives you a sense of satisfaction and self-confidence.” Compassion itself gives you also self-confidence because it makes you more open and strong; strong enough to admit your faults without falling into extremes of self-denigration. Again the Dalai Lama: “Kindness and compassion give rise to self-confidence, which in turn empowers us to be honest, truthful and transparent.”

 
In 2014 I had the honour to be part of the opening discussion about »Cultures of Faith« at the International Festival of Literature in Berlin. The Danish writer Janne Teller spoke about ethics, power and confidence in the context of writing and the South African Bishop Dr. Ndanganeni P. Phaswana spoke about reconciliation and the ubuntu philosophy, which forms the basis for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission held in South Africa.  It was a very inspiring and fruitful intercultural discussion about these topics. I focused at that meeting on the Buddhist explanations of faith, because I think they are highly relevant to our lives and cultures.

Alexander Berzin translates dad pa (Wylie, pronounciation: däpa) / śhraddhā (Sanskrit) as believing a fact to be true. He gives the following definition:

A constructive emotion that focuses on something existent and validly knowable, something with good qualities, or an actual potential, and considers it either existent or true, or considers a fact about it as true. Some translators render the term as “faith.”

Clarifying the details of dad pa / śhraddhā, translated by him as believing, Alex Berzin states:

The Buddhist discussion of believing refers neither to beliefs as mental objects that someone passively holds, nor to belief or faith as a general state of mind that characterizes a “believer.” Rather, as Asanga explained, believing is the constructive mental action of focusing on something existent and knowable, and considering it either existent or true, or considering a fact about it true. Thus, it does not include believing that an unknowable God or Santa Claus exists or that the moon is made of green cheese. Further, believing a fact occurs only while validly cognizing it and implies certitude. Therefore, believing also excludes presumption and blind faith, such as believing that the stock market will rise.

There are three ways of believing a fact to be true. (1) Clearheadedly believing a fact about something is a mental action that is clear about a fact and which, like a water purifier, constructively clears the mind. Vasubandhu specified that it clears the mind of disturbing emotions and attitudes toward its object. (2) Believing a fact based on reason is the mental action of considering a fact about something to be true on the basis of thinking about reasons that prove it. (3) Believing a fact with an aspiration concerning it is the mental action of considering true both a fact about something and that one can achieve the goal of an aspiration one consequently holds about the object.

Asanga further explained that believing a fact to be true acts as the basis for inciting intention. Intention, in turn, serves as the basis for positive enthusiasm to accomplish a goal.

Please note, that in the quote just given, intention and enthusiasm refer to two further mental factors. Intention (འདུན་པ་, wylie: ‘dun pa, pronunciation: dünpa, sanskrit: cchanda)¹ is the first mental factor in the group of the five object ascertaining mental factors, also translated as ‘aspiration’ or ‘interest’. Enthusiasm (wylie: brtson ‘grus) is one of the eleven wholesome mental factors, also translated into English as ‘diligence’ or ‘effort’. To clarify confusion arising due to different translations of these terms, see When Mind Travels by Klaus Löhrer.

In the context of faith it is also helpful to consider still another mental factor, which is listed second in the group of the five object ascertaining mental factors: firm conviction (མོས་པ་, wylie: mos pa, pronunciation: möpa, sanskrit: adhimokṣha)² – sometimes translated as ‘appreciation’ and ‘belief’. Mos pa is defined as “apprehending the ascertained object just like that [and to] make it inseparable [from attention]” and “apprehending just the object of attained certainty”. Alex Berzin writes about this mental factor in the context of relying on a Spiritual Guide:

Being Firmly Convinced of a Fact

Believing the fact that one’s mentor has good qualities – clearheadedly, based on reason, and with aspiration – naturally leads to the principal mental activity intended for this phase of guru-meditation. The activity is to focus on the qualities of one’s mentor with a firm conviction (mopa, mos pa) that they are a fact. Let us look more deeply at this technical term. It appears as the first component of the Tibetan compound mogu (mos gus), the main attitude or feeling needed for relating to a spiritual mentor in a healthy manner with one’s thoughts.

Vasubandhu defined mopa as the mental action of apprehending an object of focus as having a good quality. The good quality he meant was the object being interesting enough that one would want to stay focused on it. As a general mental action, it accompanies focusing on anything and its strength may vary from strong to weak. Thus, the mental action corresponds to taking interest in an object while focusing on it.

Asanga, on the other hand, interpreted good qualities in the definition as meaning to be true. Thus, he restricted the scope of mopa and explained it as a mental action that occurs while believing a fact about its object of focus. Thus, Asanga explained being firmly convinced of something as a mental action that focuses on a fact that one has validly ascertained to be like this and not like that. Its function is to make one’s belief so firm that others’ arguments or opinions will not dissuade one. Shantideva added that firm conviction in a fact grows from long-term familiarity with the consequences that consistently follow from it.

Being firmly convinced of a fact, then, does not arise from blind faith. It requires valid cognition. In A Supplement to [Nagarjuna’s Root Verses on] the Middle Way, Chandrakirti gave three criteria for validating the cognition of a fact.

(1) Appropriate convention must accept the fact to be what one considers it to be. Here, the mentors’ features on which we focus must be those that the Buddhist literature agrees to be requisite qualities of spiritual mentors. If businesspeople consider these features as assets for teachers to possess in order to attract large audiences – for instance, that they be entertaining and adept at telling good jokes – their convention does not validate our considering the features positive qualities. The convention of people interested in fame and profit is inappropriate for the situation.

(2) A mind that validly cognizes the conventional phenomenon on which one focuses must not contradict what one considers true about it. Suppose that objective people who know us well correctly see that a certain quality of one of our teachers, such as an authoritarian, feudal manner, is having a negative effect on us. Their valid perception would invalidate our considering this feature to be self-assuredness and our believing it to be a positive quality.

(3) A mind that validly cognizes the deepest way in which things exist also must not contradict what one considers true. Regarding our mentors’ abilities as inherently existent in them, as if our teachers were almighty Gods, is an invalid cognition. A mind that correctly sees how things exist knows that good qualities do not exist in that way. Good qualities arise through behavioral cause and effect, by correcting deficiencies.

(2) Devotion

The Tibetan words which seem to be most commonly translated as devotion are མོན་གྲེ་ (wylie: mos gus, pronunciation: mögü), or གུས་པ་ (wylie: gus pa, pronunciation: güpa).

Mos gus³ is a combined term from mos pa² and gus pa⁴. Mos pa only translates adhimokṣa and its various forms. Mos pa as a mental factor basically performs the function, “of keeping the attention on just the thing desired, seen as suitable, so that it is not sidetracked to some other object.”² Gus pa translate two terms primarily, ādara and satkṛtya, both of which mean to “to pay respect to” or “to be respectful”.⁴

Thus the meanings of the Tibetan terms usually been translated as “devotion” are either a combination of two meanings 1. adherence to something seen as suitable without being distracted by other things and 2. paying respect / being respectful or just paying respect / being respectful.

Alexander Berzin refers to བསྟེན་པ་ (wylie: sten pa) when he rectifies the meaning of the term “devotion”. Tony Duff’s Illuminator dictionary explains sten pa as follows: “The meaning of this verb is that one ‘keeps close company with’ someone else in order to develop a connection with them and so absorb their ways. Or, when speaking of things or practices, that one ‘takes recourse to’ that practice or thing in order to develop oneself.” ⁵ Alex Berzin explains:

The glossary of his web site, http://www.studybuddhism.com (formerly The Berzin Archives), contains the following entry with respect to the Tibetan term bshes-gnyen bsten-pa (often translated as guru-devotion):

Entrusting oneself, through mind and actions, to a fully qualified spiritual mentor. Also called: relying on a spiritual mentor, entrusting oneself to a spiritual mentor, whole-hearted commitment to a spiritual mentor. Often translated as: guru-devotion.

In conclusion I hope that my analysis has made it clear that it’s really worthwhile to dig deeply into these topics and not to be satisfied with a mere superficial understanding of the terms faith, trust, belief or confidence. As the Dalai Lama put it: We need to be 21st century Buddhists.

¹ Asanga’s Abhidharmasamuccaya says: “QUESTION: What is aspiration [wylie: ‘dun pa]? RESPONSE: It is the very wish to be endowed with this or that [attribute] of a desired thing. It has the function of acting as a support for making effort.”
Tony Duff: » ‘dun pa
I. <verb> v.i. འདུན་པ་/ འདུན་པ་/ འདུན་པ་//. This verb does not have an exact equivalent in English but like the noun, its precise meaning is important at least in Buddhist context where it is used very precisely. It has the specific meaning of that act of mind which takes interest in something and makes a decision to go towards it or to aim for it. Thus its meaning is both to seek after that which is worthwhile and then to motivate oneself towards what is found. It is similar to the English “to aspire” but that only corresponds to the first part of the definition just given; it loses the sense that the mind is directed towards and going after the things that is aspired to. It means “being motivated towards because of having seen as desirable / worthwhile / worth pursuing” and in fact, that is the sense that the Buddha used it in and which is found throughout Buddhist literature. The closest in English is “to be motivated towards”. E.g., [TC] ཚན་རིག་ལ་འདུན་པ།“motivated towards science / interested in science”; རང་གི་མེས་རྒྱལ་ལ་འདུན་པའི་མི་ཞིག་ཡིན་ཕྱིན་དེ་ལ་ཕན་ཐོགས་པའི་ལས་དོན་ཁོ་ན་བྱེད་དགོས། “you must give only a useful job to that man who has arrived here and who has the good of the Motherland at heart” (when another person arrives from another place in old Asia, it would be common to give them any old menial task just so they would have some livelihood unless, as in this case, the person was of special interest)”.
II. <noun> “Motivatedness”. Translation of the Sanskrit [NDS] “cchanda”. 1) One of the five object determining སེམས་བྱུང་ mental events q.v. There is no specific term for this mental event in English, which can be problematic because, together with what has been called “interest” above, it is the most commonly mentioned of all the mental events in Buddhist teaching. It has the three features of mind deciding that something is worthwhile, becoming inclined towards that, then going in that direction. Thus, it implies interest in but is primarily concerned where the mind has decided to go. It is like “orientation”. Aspiration, which has a sense of wishing with it, and yearning and zeal as some have given, are compound states of mind where this is a single mental event. The term was used frequently by the Buddha with the meaning of the direction towards which the mind was motivated”, for example, he famously said ” ཆོས་རྐྱེན་ནས་འབྱུང་སྟེ། འདུན་པའི་རྩེ་ལ་གནས། All dharmas arise from conditions; dwell at the vanguard of motivation”, meaning “stay right at the forefront of mind’s intention—the direction in which it has decided that it will go is a condition from which all will dharmas arise”. In other words, this “intention” is one of the fundamental factors of mind that drives the karmic process; it selects which avenues one will travel down, hence which causes one will make for the future and also which results will arise with that as a condition. 2) Following on from that specifically defined meaning, the term is also used a general term for having interest in and motivation toward. 3) “Chhanda”. The name of a ཉན་ཐོས་ śhrāvaka follower of the Buddha who was a member of ཉེ་བའི་དྲུག་སྡེ་ “the close group of six” q.v.

² Asanga’s Abhidharmasamuccaya says: “QUESTION: What is belief [wylie: mos pa]? RESPONSE: It holds an ascertained thing to be just the way it has been ascertained. It has the function of non-captivation.”
Tony Duff: » mos pa
I. <verb> v.i. མོས་པ་/ མོས་པ་/ མོས་པ་//. 1) Meaning for the mind to have decided that something is appropriate / trustworthy / good and therefore to turn towards that, take an interest in that, orient itself towards doing that. Hence, lit. “to be oriented towards”, “to tend towards”, “to be inclined to”, “to take interest in”. E.g., [HUC] ཡང་དག་པར་སྒྲུབ་པ་ཀུན་ཏུ་སྲུང་བ་དང་། ལོག་པར་སྒྲུབ་པ་ལ་ཡིད་མི་མོས་པ་ “I will totally protect true accomplishment and will not take interest in wrong accomplishment”. It is similar to འདུན་པ་ though that has more of the sense of actually striving after whereas this has a sense of simply liking, being appreciative of. It has a wide range of uses and on context means “to have a liking for”, “to fancy”, “to prefer”, “to appreciate”, and even “to be dedicated to”, “to have conviction in”. E.g., [TC] བདེན་དོན་ལ་མོས་པ། “appreciating / inclined or oriented to / interested in the truth (greater context is needed to know the exact meaning)”; གསར་བརྗེའི་དཔའ་བོའི་སྤྱོད་བཟང་ལ་མོས་པ། “appreciating the good behaviour of the heroes of the revolution [Communist]”; ཚིག་བཟང་ལ་མོས་པ། “preferring nice talk”. 2) “To think” that something is so, to direct one’s mind to a certain way of thinking. Often seen in Buddhist liturgies where a certain way of thinking, like with visualization, is necessary. E.g., ཚོགས་ཞིང་རྣམས་རང་ལ་ཐིམ་པར་མོས། “Think, ‘The parts of the accumulation field dissolve me'”. E.g., in the dedication portion of a liturgy, the dedication will be given and the text will say མོས། meaning “direct your mind to that dedication. Note that this meaning of “turning the mind to that specific thing” is sometimes translated as the function itself. E.g., some dictionaries say that this means “to visualize” or “to dedicate” but that is not the meaning of the this term; it means to turn the mind to the visualization, dedication, etc.
II. <noun> “Interest”, “adherence”. Translation of the Sanskrit [MVP] “adhimokṣha”. One of the ཡུལ་ངེས་ལྔ་ “five object-determining (mental events)”. It is defined as having the function of keeping the attention on just the thing desired, seen as suitable, so that it is not sidetracked to some other object. There is no specific term with this definition in English so many different terms have been used for the translation.

³ Tony Duff: » mos gus
<noun> “Devotion”. While the levels of Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna require དད་པ་ faith in the teaching and teacher, the level of Vajrayāna requires a much higher level of trust. This complete མོས་པ་longing and གུས་པ་ respect together is a special type of devotion which is not spoken of in the lower systems of Buddhist practice.
According to the Kagyu system of Mahāmudrā, there are at least two types of devotion. One is called the devotion of certainty, which is the devotion that comes from seeing the guru as the buddha in person. The second is called the devotion of dharmakāya, which is the devotion that causes the disciple to be able to experience the essence of mind directly because of their certainty that the guru is the buddha and hence is the dharmakāya in person.

⁴ Tony Duff: » gus pa
I. <verb> v.i. གུས་པ་/ གུས་པ་/ གུས་པ་//. “To pay respect to”, “to be respectful”. Note that this verb means to estimate that something is worthy of respect and make a display of respect, to be respectful. Although it has been translated as “to show reverence”, that means an extra level of appreciation not really contained by this term but more by terms such as བཀུར་སྟི་བྱེད་པ་ q.v. (the examples below under the nouns make that clear). E.g., དཔའ་བོ་ལ་གུས་པ། “showed respect to the hero / warriors”. The term is used freq. at the beginning of dharma texts in the section called the མཆོད་པར་བརྗོད་པ་“expression of worship” e.g., གུས་པས་ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལོ།“prostrate respectfully” is a very common phrase found in that context. The verb གུས་པ་ is freq. found as a verb or adj. used in conjunction with འདུད་པ་meaning “bowing down to”. It is found in the verb form as གུས་ཤིང་འདུད་པ་ “showing respect and bowing down”, and in the adv. forms གུས་པས་བཏུད་པ་ “bowed with respect” and གུས་པར་བཏུད་པ་ “bowed respectfully”. These are freq. abbrev. to གུས་བཏུད་པ་e.g., [JWP] །འཇམ་པའི་དབྱངས་ལ་གུས་བཏུད་ནས། །ཐོན་མིའི་ལེགས་བཤད་སུམ་ཅུ་པའི། །སྙིང་པོ་མདོར་བསྡུས་བཤད་པར་བྱ། “I bow respectfully to Mañjughoṣha and having done so will explain in brief the essence of Thonmi’s fine explanation The Thirty.” I have spent some time elucidating this term because it is freq. used and, many translators not knowing the precise meaning of the terms, have translated it imprecisely in many different ways.
II. <adv> 1) “With due respect”, “with all respect”, etc. A term used when someone regarded as higher than oneself. The term indicates that one is approaching in a respectful and humble way. E.g. [TC] གུས་པ་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་ནས་ཆེད་དུ་ཞུ་སྙིང་། “With due respect, Namgyal would like to ask regarding one matter”. 2) In the form གུས་པར་ and གུས་པས་, e.g., གུས་པར་འདུད་པ་ “to bow respectfully).
III. <noun> “Respect”. E.g., [TC] ཁེངས་དྲེགས་སྤངས་ནས་གུས་པ་ཞུ་བ། “dropping his arrogance, he spoke with respect”.
IV. <adj> “Respectful” ལུས་ངག་ཡིད་གསུམ་གྱིས་གུས་པའི་རྣམ་འགྱུར་སྟོན་པ། “to show a respectful attitude with body, speech, and mind”.
V. <pronoun> “Humble one”. The abbrev. form གུས་ is freq. used in letters instead of the normal first person pronoun in order to give the sense of humility, as in the English “humbly yours”, “your humble servant”.

⁵ Tony Duff: » sten pa
v.t. བསྟེན་པ་/ སྟེན་པ་/ བསྟེན་པ་/ སྟེན་/ […] It is commonly used in the case of a teacher; the student comes to the teacher and by staying close to him develops and maintains a relationship that allows the teacher to transmit what they know to the student. In the older ways of our human culture, the student would usually end up serving the teacher as part of this relationship but the idea of service is subsidiary to the idea of keeping company with the teacher in order to learn from them. Thus the modern translations currently in use “to rely on” or “to serve” are not quite the meaning intended. In fact, the term really means “to apprentice oneself” but that might not be accepted as a modern translation. The best translations are probably “to attend (to)”, “to serve under”, “to apprentice”. E.g., [TC] སྨན་པ་བསྟེན་པ། “served / studied / apprenticed under a doctor”; དགེ་རྒན་སྟེན་པ། “to attend a teacher; སུ་བྱམས་ཕ་མ་ལྟར་དུ་བསྟེན། “serve and attend whoever is loving like one’s parents”; ཡུལ་ཡར་ཀླུངས་ལ་བསྡད་ན་ལྷ་ཡར་ལྷ་ཤམ་པོ་དང་། ཡུལ་ཀོང་པོར་བསྡད་ན་ལྷ་ཀོང་བཙུན་དེ་མོ་བསྟེན་དགོས། “when you stay in Yarlung, you must propitiate the god Yarlha Shampo; when you stay in Kongpo, you must propitiate the god Kong tsun demo”.

See also

• How to develop realistic faith in a Buddhist teacher or any person by acknowledging the qualities and faults he / she really has – Alex Berzin
• The Guru-Disciple Relationship – Advice by HH the Dalai Lama
• Characteristics of those unsuitable to be gurus – Kalachakra Tantra
• Buddha about Intimate Friends – Mitra-vargha
• A Necklace for Those of Clear Awareness Clearly Revealing the Modes of Minds and Mental Factors by Yeshe Gyeltsen
• Discriminating bad from good Gurus (PDF) – Compiled by TP
• Part Three: »Buddhism in the Twenty-first Century« of The Dalai Lama’s Reflections on the Realistic Approach of Buddhism: Talks to Former Dharamsala Residents from the West – the 14th Dalai Lama (Berzin Archives/Study Buddhism)
• Die Bedeutung von Vertrauen im Buddhismus von Geshe Thubten Ngawang

Secarianism within Buddhism

• The Rime Movement of Jamgön Kongtrul the Great – Ringu Tulku
• Buddhism Without Sectarianism – The Venerable Deshung Rinpoche
• Sectarianism within Buddhism – Alexander Berzin

Last updated, March 1, 2019