Root teacher

Root teacher (Tib. རྩ་བའི་བླ་མ་, tsawé lama; Wyl. rtsa ba'i bla ma) — main teacher, especially the one who introduces you to the nature of mind. In Yeshe Saldrön, his famous commentary on the practice of guru yoga, Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö writes: "The root lama is

• the one from whom we receive complete empowerment into the great mandalas, or
• the one grant us the three sets of vows, or,
• most especially, the one who introduces us to the fundamental wisdom of the nature of mind."