Lesson 12 from A Comprehensive Commentary on the Words of My Perfect Teacher continues the teaching on the four metaphors, with particular emphasis on two dangers: over-reliance on the teacher's compassion, and the four wrong notions that invert the metaphors entirely.
The lesson opens by refuting the widespread belief that a guru's blessings can substitute for personal practice — the Buddha himself could not simply transfer realisation into an unwilling mind, and even Avalokiteshvara's great compassion cannot override a being's karma. The lesson then addresses the moment of death directly: quoting Padmasambhava, it warns that by the time empowerment is being given to the namecard of the deceased, it is already too late. The real turning point is now, while alive. A celebrated story of an old Tibetan woman illustrates this: she had never received empowerment, yet simply glimpsing thangkas of the peaceful and wrathful deities once — and hearing a monk explain them — was enough for her to recognise them at death and attain liberation.
The lesson closes by introducing the four wrong notions from Jigme Lingpa's Treasury of Precious Qualities: treating the teacher as a musk-deer, the Dharma as musk, oneself as a hunter, and practice as a trap — receiving teachings purely for personal gain, then discarding both teacher and vows.
