'SAMAYA HO!' exclaimed the Guru. `The bond is formed.'

'SAMAYASTVAM!' I replied. `You are the bond!'

'SAMAYA HRI!' exclaimed the Guru. `The bond is all!'

'SAMAYA TISHTHA!' I replied. `The bond is strong!'

'RAMO HAM!' exclaimed the Guru. `Let the fire burn!'

'RAGAYAMI!' I concluded. `We are burning together!'

~ The Secret Life and Songs of the Lady Yeshe Tsogyel

The transmission of teachings in Buddhism is different from intellectual learning. It cannot be learned from books. As Buddha said in his famous Flower Sermon “the subtle Dharma Gate does not rest on words or letters but is a special transmission outside of the scriptures”. This is why it is sometimes called mind-to-mind transmission.

In most Buddhist sects, once you receive transmission, you become part of the unbroken thread that began with Shakyamuni. You become your teacher’s dharma heir and belong to his lineage.

The 14th Dalai Lama describes the Buddhist lineage as a veritable “sacred trust”. He says that “the vital link through which the spiritual tradition is nourished and maintained is the profound connection between an enlightened master and perfectly devoted disciple.”(foreword to Karmapa: The Sacred Prophecy) In the Vajrayana tradition, the “devoted disciple” enters into a lifelong bond with his master called Samaya. This bond is considered sacred and the price of breaking it is no less than being plunged into “vajra hell”.

Buddhism is a blessedly Godless religion that does not adhere to any religious dogma or creed. One Zen phrase that I hold dear is Bodhidharma’s “Nothing Holy”, for it reminds us that Buddhism does not worship anything, not even Buddha. So when Buddhist students are expected to trust their teachers unconditionally; when, moreover, they are encouraged to formulate this as a vow to which they are held upon pain of punishment. Well, then the whole thing starts to wreak of... holy.

This is not to say that one should not cultivate religious feelings like faith and devotion. These encourage us to surrender the need for control that is so often the source of strain and struggle in our lives. The mistake is to transfer these feelings onto another person who is just as flawed as ourselves, which is not relinquishing your need for control. It is empowering another human being.

To take the dharma literally is to profane its mystery. As Buddha said, “the subtle Dharma Gate does not rest on words”. But can Buddhism be spared the literalism of vows and rituals, can dharma transmission be spared Lineage Delusions-- without completely evacuating its poetry?

That is the challenge.