"Many people think that to serve the guru we have to be with the guru. This is not so. It doesn’t matter whether we’re living in the guru’s house or on the other side of the world. We could be on the moon or the sun and still be serving the guru by keeping purely the vows we have been given: refuge vows, pratimoksha vows, like the five lay vows or the eight Mahayana precepts, and higher vows, such as those of monastic ordination or the bodhisattva or tantric vows. If we are keeping those vows we are following the guru’s advice, fulfilling their wishes; we are serving the guru.

Also, meditating, studying such things as the lamrim, the commentaries and the philosophical teachings—learning the Dharma and integrating it into our practice—is what the guru wishes us to do, and doing all that is also serving the guru, fulfilling their advice. Doing whatever else the guru has advised us to do, such as going into retreat or teaching Dharma, is also service to the guru.

In general, anything that benefits sentient beings and helps liberate them from suffering is service to the guru because that is exactly what they advise us to do."

Lama Zopa Rinpoche