Guru yoga

New branches: Tantric techniques: Fourfold division: Twofold division: Thought forms and visualisation: Yoga: In Vajrayana, guru yoga (Tib: bla ma'i rnal 'byor) is a tantric devotional practice in which the practitioner unites their mindstream with the mindstream of the body, speech, and mind of their guru.

Without the guru's example, blessings, and guidance, genuine progress in tantra is held to be impossible for all but the most keen and gifted.

[citation needed] One particular feature of the Tantric view of teacher student relationship is that in Tibetan Buddhist tantra, one is instructed to regard one's guru as an awakened Buddha.

Merit accrues when one's interactions with the teacher are imbued with such reverence in the form of guru devotion, a code of practices governing them that derives from Indian sources.

[b] By such things as avoiding disturbance to the peace of mind of one's teacher, and wholeheartedly following his prescriptions, much merit accrues and this can significantly help improve one's practice.