Head of the Kagyu lineage

 The Karma Kagyu lineage of tibetan buddhism traces its origins to Shakyamuni Buddha through Marpa the Great Translator, who three times traveled to India to bring back authentic Buddhist teachings to Tibet. His teacher, Naropa, received the lineage transmission from Tilopa and so on, back to the Buddha himself. Marpaʹs most famous student was the greatest yogi in all of Tibet, the renowned Jetsun Milarepa, who passed the teachings on to Gampopa, who in turn transmitted the teachings to the First Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa. Since then, the Kagyu Lineage has been headed by a succession of reincarnations of the Gyalwa Karmapa. The line of the Karmapas is said to be self‐announced, because each incarnation leaves a letter predicting his next rebirth. All great Kagyu teachers regard His Holiness Karmapa as the embodiment and source of all of the blessings of the lineage. 455
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The Lineage of the Kagyu Kagyu Office 12‐2006 The great Indian yogi Tilopa, the most important source of the Kagyu order The Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism traces its origin back to Buddha Shakyamuni. The most important source of the Kagyu order is traced back to the great Indian yogi Tilopa (988‐1069), one of the 84 mahasiddhas of India, who first developed the spontaneous insight. He gained this realization through the methods that were taught by the historical Buddha Shakyamuni to his closest students, methods that continued to be practiced during the time of Tilopa. In turn, the realization or these masters was passed down to their disciples through the great forefathers of the lineage: Indian mahasiddha Naropa, Marpa‐the great translator, Milarepa‐the greatest yogi of Tibet, and then to Gampopa‐whose coming was prophesied by the Buddha. The lineage of the Kagyu emphasizes the continuity of oral instructions passed on from master to student, from whence the name ʺKagyuʺ derives. On this page, we provide information on the following topics regarding the Kagyu Lineage: Kagyu Scriptures Tantra and Mahamudra Journeys Four Main and Eight Additional Lineages Kagyu Seats in Tibet and Exile The Head of the Kagyu Lineage Kagyu Scriptures The general Buddhist canon of the Kagyur (bkʹa ʹgyur) ‐ ʺtranslated words of the Buddha,ʺ and Tengyur (bstan ʹgryur) ‐ ʺtranslated treatisesʺ provides the primary sources for the Kagyu lineage. In addition to that, the lineage relies on many hundreds of volumes from the Kagyu masters, starting with the Indian mahasiddhas, Tilopa, Naropa, as well as from the Tibetan yogis, Marpa, Milarepa, Gampopa, the Karmapas, and other great masters of all the kagyu lineages. Some of the most distinguished works of the Kagyu Tibetan masters are the works of Marpa, the Vajra Songs Of Milarepa, the Collected Works of Gampopa, of the Karmapas, of Drikhung Kyöppa Jigten Sumgön, and of Drukpa Kunkhyen Pema Karpo, and the works of many other masters too numerous to be counted. The Karmapas played a very important role in the preservation of the lineage through contributing to the Kagyu lineage scriptures. For example, the first Karmapa, Düsum Khyenpa (1110‐1193), second, Karma Pakshi (1206‐1282), and ninth, Wangchuk Dorje (1556‐1603) are known for their exceptional accomplishments in meditation and their contribution of writings mainly focused on the practice lineage. The third, Rangjung Dorje (1284‐1339), the seventh, Chödrak Gyatso (1454‐1506), and the eighth, 457
Mikyö Dorje (1507‐1554), are renowned for their scholastic works in sutra and tantra commentaries. The tenth, Chöying Dorje (1604‐1674) was a great artist and poet. Later in 19th century master, Jamgon Kongtrul the Great (1813‐1899) compiled the ʺTreasury Of The Kagyu Mantraya,ʺ which became one of the main sources of instructions, tantric empowerments, and sadhanas for the Kagyu lineage. Tantra and Mahamudra journeys The Kagyu lineage practices the quintessential points of both sutra and tantra teachings, with a special focus on the tantric teachings of the Vajrayana and Mahamudra teachings. In this tradition, there are two major paths: (1) the path of skilful means and (2) the path of liberation. 1) The Path Of Skilful Means (thabs lam) is the path of tantra or vajrayana that is rich in methods or skilful means. This path includes the journey on the four levels of tantras ‐ 1. Kirya‐tantra, activity or action tantra, 2. Charya‐tantra, engagement or performance tantra, 3. Yoga‐tantra, intensive spiritual practice, 4. Anuttarayoga‐tantra, unsurpassed or unexcelled yoga tantra. The last tantra has three main parts, the father tantra (pha rgyud), the mother tantra (ma rgyud), and the non‐
dual tantra (gnyis med rgyud). The Kagyu lineage emphasizes these three tantras in general and the mother and the non‐dual tantra in specific. All tantric practices are basically comprised of two main elements ‐ training in the Development Stage (bskyed rim or Utpatti‐krama), the visualization practices, and training in the Completion Stage (rdzogs rim or Sampanna‐krama), the fulfillment, perfection, or dissolving stage practices. The Development Stage of the Tantric Yidams (yi dam ‐ enlightened mind manifesting in different forms of the deity) practice in the Kagyu lineage is taught through a variety of Tantras and Yidam practices. The three main Tantric Yidam practices that are unique to the Kagyu School are Vajrayogini (rdo rje phag mo), Cakrasambhava (khor lo sde mchog), and Gyalwa Gyamtso (rgyal ba rgya mtsho). There are also some tantric protector practices such as the different forms of Mahakalas, and others. The Completion Stage of the innermost tantric practice is taught to be the most sacred and profound of all levels of tantric practice. This includes the practices of Prana (rlung), Nadi (rtsa), and Bindu (thig le). One of the heart essences of Kagyu lineage practices is the Completion Stage (rdzogs rim / Sampanakrama) practice of the Anuttarayoga Mother tantra, which is known as the Six Dharmas Of Naropa (nA ro chos drug), widely known in the west as the Six Yogas Of Naropa. This lineage of tantra continues in the present day in all schools of Kagyu and especially in the Karma Kagyu lineage. 2) The Path Of Liberation (grol lam) is the practice of the most renowned Mahamudra (phyag rgya chen po), or The Great Seal, which is the highest meditation training and the unique feature of the Kagyu tradition. In Gampopaʹs lineage, there are three ways of giving the Mahamudra instructions or the three types of Mahamudra. These three types of Mahamudra traditions are 1. the Sutra (mdo lugs) Mahamudra, 2. the Mantra (sngags lugs) Mahamudra, 3. and the Essence (snying po lugs) 458
Mahamudra. Gampopa, whose coming was prophesied by the Buddha, taught Mahamudra in these three different ways and this has become a tradition in the Kagyu lineage. This tradition and the lineage is continued to the present day. While taught in all Kagyu Schools, it is taught very clearly in the Karma Kagyu lineage. Both aspects of Tantra and Mahamudra teachings are connected to the direct understanding and realization of the nature of the mind, known in this tradition as the ʺordinary mindʺ (thamal gyi shepa) and the ʺvajra mindʺ (sems kyi rdo rje). These two main tracks of meditation practice and instruction are common to all schools of the Kagyu lineage in general, with respect to the terms of the Four Tantras or the pattern of ground, path, and fruition Mahamudra key instructions. However, there are slight differences in how these aspects are presented and the methods of approach to Tantra and Mahamudra. Four main and eight additional lineages Gampopaʹs Dakpo Kagyu tradition gave rise to four main or major schools founded by his accomplished disciples. The Four Main Schools I) The Phaktru (ʹphag gru) Kagyu Deshek Phakmo Trupa Dorje Gyalpo (1110‐1170), who was one of the main students of Gampopa and is especially known for his realization and transmission of the Mahamudra lineage, founded this lineage of the Kagyu school. He also founded a monastery in the Phakmo area, which was later called Densa Thil. Many additional schools of Kagyu lineage grew from Phakmo Trupaʹs disciples. II) The Kamtsang (kam tshang) or Karma (kar ma) Kagyu The First Karmapa, Düsum Khyenpa (1110‐1193), who was one of the main students of Gampopa, founded this lineage of the Kagyu School. In 1139 C.E., at the age of thirty, Düsum Khyenpa met Gampopa and became his disciple. This tradition has remained strong and successful due mainly to the presence of an unbroken reincarnate line of the founder, the successive Karmapas. All the successive incarnations of the Karmapas are very well know in every part of Tibet and among all Tibetan Buddhist practitioners, for their accomplishments in meditation, scholarship, and the activities of benefiting beings. His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje (1924‐1981) was the head of the entire Kagyu tradition. His incarnation, His Holiness the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa, is now living in India as an exiled Tibetan refugee. The Karma Kagyu lineage has played a very important role in preserving and continuing, not only the Karma Kagyu, but also the entirety of the Kagyu transmissions that have been passed down from Marpa, Milarepa, and Gampopa. The Karma Kagyu lineage is the most influential of the Tibetan buddhist lineages outside Tibet, and this tradition is studied and practiced all around the world today. 459
III) The Tsalpa (tshal pa) Kagyu Lama Zhang, otherwise known as Yudakpa Tsondu Dakpa (1123‐1193), whose main teacher was Wangom Tsultrim Nyingpo, a student of Gampopa, founded this tradition. He is also the founder of Gungthang monastery and had many learned students. IV) The Barom (ʹbaʹ rom) Kagyu Barom Darma Wangchuk, a student of Gampopa, founded this tradition. He was also the founder of Barom monastery in the northern Latö region of Tibet and the name of the tradition came from this. Eight Additional Schools: The eight additional or sub‐schools of the Kagyu lineage have developed within the Phaktru Kagyu. 1. The Drikhung (ʹbri gung) Kagyu was founded by Drikhung Kyopa Jigten Sumgyi Gönpo (1143‐1217). Drikung Kyapgön Chetsang Rinpoche (b. 1946), who resides in Dehradun, India, is the present head of the Drikhung Kagyu lineage. 2. The Drukpa (ʹbrug pa) Kagyu was founded by Drupchen Lingrepa Pema Dorje (1128‐1188), a student of Phakmo Trupa, and his disciple Chöje Tsangpa Gyare Yeshe Dorje, (1161‐1211). They founded the first seat of this lineage, Namdruk Monastery in central Tibet. Later, Kunkhyen Pema Karpo (1527‐1592) founded the Druk Sang‐ngak Chöling in southern Tibet, which became the main seat of this lineage. Kapgön Drukchen Rinpoche, who lives in Darjeeling, India, is the present head of the lineage. This lineage, adopted as the state religion of the Kingdom Of Bhutan, originally was brought there by the great Drukpa Kagyu master Shaptrung Ngakwang Namgyal and flourished in Bhutan throughout the centuries. His Holiness Je Khenpo of Bhutan and the present King of Bhutan Jigme Senge Wangchuk are the head of Drukpa Kagyu in Bhutan. 3. The Taklung (stag lung) Kagyu was founded by Taklung Thangpa Tashi Pal (1142‐
1210). Taklung Shapdrung Rinpoche, is presently heads the lineage, along with Taklung Matul Rinpoche and Tsatrul Rinpoche. 4. The Yasang (g.yʹa bzang) Kagyu was founded by Zarawa Kalden Yeshe Senge (? ‐ 1207 d.), a student of Phakmo Trupa, and his disciple Yasang Chöje Chökyi Mönlam (1169‐1233). Yasang Chöje founded the Yasang or Yamsang (g.yam bzang) monastery in 1206 C.E. and the name of the lineage came from that. 5. The Trophu (khro phu) Kagyu was founded by Rinpoche Gyatsa, nephew and a student of Phakmo Trupa, and his disciple Trophu Lotsawa Champa Pal (1173‐1225). Trophu Lotsawa founded the Trophu monastery and institute in the Tsang region of central Tibet and the name of the lineage derives from this. 6. The Shuksep (shug gseb) Kagyu was founded by Gyergom Tsultrim Senge (1144‐
1204), who was a student of Phakmo Trupa. He founded the Shuksep monastery in 460
1181 C.E., in the Nyephu area in the Chushur region of central Tibet, from whence comes the name of the lineage. 7. Yelpa (yel pa) Kagyu was founded by Yelpa Drupthop Yeshe Tsekpa (century?) who founded the monasteries in Yelphuk. 8. Martsang (smar tshang) Kagyu was founded by Martsang Sherab Senge, a student of Phakmo Trupa. Shangpa Kagyu The Shangpa Kagyu, one of the main Kagyu lineages, was founded by the great yogi, Khyungpo Nyaljor (978‐1079). Khyungpo Nyaljor traveled to Nepal where he met Acharya Sumati and received training as a translator and then traveled to India. He received teachings from one hundred and fifty scholars and yogis and mastered the vajrayana teachings. Khyungpo Naljorʹs main teachers are Sukhasiddha, Rahulagupta and Niguma, the consort of Naropa. When he returned to Tibet, he received the monastic vows from the Kadampa master, Langri Thangpa. Khyungpo Naljor established many monasteries in the regions of Phenyul and the ʺShangʺ area of the Tsang region of Tibet, and therefore, the lineage he founded came to be known as the ʺShangpaʺ Kagyu. He continued his activities of teaching and propagating the Shangpa Kagyu lineage for over thirty years in Tibet. He had many students and passed down the lineage he received, which continues today. Some of the main practices of the Shangpa Kagyu lineage are Chakrasambhava, Hevajra, Mahamaya, Guhyasamaja, the Six Doctrines of Niguma, Mahamudra, the Six‐
armed and the White Mahakala, and others. Jamgon Kongtrul the Great made a tremendous effort to revive and preserve the lineage of the Shangpa Kagyu, which is now flourishing in Tibet and outside through the blessings and aspirations of Jamgon Kongtrul and the Sixteenth Karmapa. Two of the main contemporary Shangpa Kagyu masters are the Very Venerable Kalu Rinpoche (1905‐89) and Bokar Rinpoche. Kagyu seats in Tibet and in exile The original seat of Marpa Lotsawa is in the Lhodrak region of southern Tibet. Not too far from there, one can still see the nine‐story tower built by his heart disciple, Milarepa. Milarepa, the greatest yogi of Tibet, practiced at many different mountain caves in the Himalayas, not only in Tibet, but also in some regions of Neapal. Lord Gampopa, the heart disciple of Milarepa, built his monastery at Dhaklha Gampo, in the area of Dhakpo in southern Tibet, which became the first monastic seat of the Kagyu lineage. These are the most sacred seats or places of the forefathers of the Kagyu lineage. All the chief disciples of Gampopa and the students of Phakmo Trupa developed monastic seats throughout Tibet. One of the principal seats is the Tsurphu Monastery, in the Tölung valley of central Tibet, founded by the First Karmapa Düsum Khyenpa (1110‐1193). This became one of the most important seats of the entire Kagyu lineage, and was maintained this place throughout the centuries. In exile, His Holiness 461
the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa founded the Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, India, which has become the main seat and the most important place for the Kagyu lineage in exile. Some of the other most important continuously maintained seats of the Kagyu lineage are: Drikhung Thil Monastery, in the Drikhung regrion of central Tibet, founded by Drikhung Kyopa Jikten Sumgön, the principal seat of the Drikung Kagyu (in exile, H.H. Drikung Kyabgon founded the Drikung Kaygu Institute (Jangchub Ling) in Sahastradhara, Dhera Dun, India); Namdruk Monastery, in central Tibet, founded by Drupchen Lingrepa and Tsangpa Gyare, and Druk Sang‐ngak Chöling in southern, founded by Kunkhyen Pema Karpo (1527‐1592), the two principle seats of the Drukpa Kagyu (in exile, Druk Thubten Sangag Choeling, in Darjeeling, India, founded by Thukse Rinpoche and H. H. Drukchen Rinpoche); Palpung Monastery in the Derge region of eastern Tibet, founded by the eighth Tai Situpa, Chökyi Jungney (1700‐1774) in 1727 C.E., one of the most important Karma Kagyu seats in Kham (in exile, the Palpung Institute, Bir, Himachal Pradesh, India, founded by H. E. the 12th Tai Situpa Rinpoche); Tsandra Rinchen Drak in the Derge region of eastern Tibet, founded by Jamgon Kongtrul (1813‐1899) the Great (in exile, Pullhahari Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, founded by H.E. 3rd Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche (1954‐1992)); Chögar Gong in Tsurphu, central Tibet, founded by the lines of Goshir Gyaltsabpa incarnations (in exile, Palchen Chökhor Ling in Ralang, Sikkim, India, founded by H.E. 12th Goshir Gyaltsapa Rinpoche). Many of these monasteries were destroyed either in 1959, during the communist invasion of Tibet or later at the time of Cultural Revolution. They have now been rebuilt in full or in part with the help of local devoted Tibetans as well as support from the buddhist communities in China, or outside. The masters from these monasteries have also established their exile seats in India, Nepal, and Bhutan, from where they preserve the lineage and train younger generations of lamas and reincarnate masters. Head of the Kagyu lineage His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa has been the head of the Kagyu lineage in Tibet and in exile India. His reincarnation, His Holiness the Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, was born in Lhathok region of Kham in eastern Tibet and received his initial education in the Kagyu tradition at Tsurphu, Tibet. His Holiness fled the communist control of Tibet in January 2000. He is currently residing in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India, and is continuing to receive the full lineage transmissions and education from the senior disciples of His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa. Kagyu Office 12‐2006 462
The Golden Rosary Marpa Lotsawa Forefather of the Kagyu Lineage The forefathers in the Kagyu lineage are known as the ʺGolden Rosary.ʺ The lineage of the Kagyu emphasizes the continuity of oral instructions passed on from master to student. This emphasis is reflected in the literal meaning of ʺKagyu.ʺ The first syllable ʺKaʺ refers to the scriptures of the Buddha and the oral instructions of the guru. ʺKaʺ has the sense both of the enlightened meaning conveyed by the words of the teacher, as well as the force that such words of insight carries. The second syllable ʺgyuʺ means lineage or tradition. Together, these syllables mean ʺthe lineage of the oral instructions.ʺ At the right is a detailed list of the Golden Rosary figures. Each name is clickable and takes you to further details on the main figures of the lineage, including the lineage of the Karmapas. Below is a short synopsis of the Kagyu lineage and a brief remark on some of the great founders who established this ancient tradition and passed it on from ʺmouth to earʺ for so many centuries. Kagyu Lineage The Kagyu Lineage traces its origin back to the historic Buddha, Shakyamuni through Marpa, the great translator and yogi, who brought the unbroken lineage from India to Tibet. Marpa The Translator Marpa first trained as a translator under Drogmi Yeshe (993‐1050), and then traveled three times to India and four times to Nepal in search of buddhist teachings. He is said to have studied with a hundred and eight masters and yogis, but his principal teachers were Naropa and Maitripa. 463
Tilopa And Naropa From Naropa, Marpa received the lineage of tantric teachings called the Four Special Transmissions (bKʹa‐babs‐bzhi): the yogas of 1) illusory body and transference of consciousness, 2) dream, 3) luminosity, and 4) inner heat. Naropa obtained these teachings directly from Tilopa (988‐1069), who in turn had received them from two original sources, called the direct and indirect lineage. The direct lineage and original source of the teachings was Buddha Vajradhara. The indirect lineage comes from four main teachers of Tilopa called the ʺfour special transmission lineages.ʺ Both Tilopa and Naropa are some of the greatest panditas, scholars, and siddhas, accomplished saints, of Nalanda, the famous Buddhist university of ancient India. Milarepa Marpa brought these lineages to Tibet, passing them on to his primary disciple and lineage holder, Milarepa (1040‐1123), the most renowned and accomplished of Tibetʹs tantric yogis, who achieved enlightenment in one lifetime. Milarepa held the lineage and tradition of the Practice Lineage. Some of the other great students of Marpa were Ngog Choku Dorjey, Tsurton Wangey and Meton Chenpo, who held the Marpaʹs tradition of the Teaching Lineage. This is how the two great systems of the practice lineage and the teaching lineage were founded in Kagyu lineage. Gampopa The great master Gampopa (1084‐1161), also known as Dakpo Lhaje, and Rechungpa (1084‐1161) were the principal students of Milarepa. Gampopa was prophesized in the sutras by Buddha. He pioneered in establishing the framework of the lineage by unifying Milarepaʹs Mahamudra lineage with the stages of the path tradition of the Kadampa lineage. This lineage and tradition is known as the Dhakpo Kagyu. Gampopa had three heart disciples: Düsum Khyenpa, Phakmo Drupa and Saltong Shogom. Düsum Khyenpa (1110‐1193), also known as Khampa Usey (literally, the ʺwhite‐haired Khampaʺ), became known as the First Karmapa, who established the Karma Kagyu lineage. Kagyu Office 12‐2006 464
The Karma Kagyu Lineage A B
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The Karma Kagyu lineage KPG 12‐06 !k0-
Trangu Rinpoché ‐ Ngondro Kamtsang Tchénrézig ‐ KTD ‐ Kagyu Office Vajaradhara / Dorge Tchang 1 2 Lodro Rinchen 3 Saraha ( ≈ 633) 4 Nagarjuna ( ≈ 645) 5 Shawaripa ( ≈ 657) 6 Maitripa A Tilopa (988‐1069) B Naropa (1016‐1100) 7 Marpa (1012‐1097) 8 Milarepa (1052‐1135) 9 Gampopa (1079‐1153) 10 1er Dusum Kyenpa (1110‐1193) 11 Situ Drogön Retchèn (1148‐1218) 12 Pomdrakpa ( 1170‐1249) 13 2e Karma Pakshi (1203‐1283) 14 Urgyen Rinchen Pel (1230‐1300) 15 3 e Rangjung Dordge (1284‐1339) 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Yungton Shikpo / Dordge Pel (1296‐1376) 4e Rolpe Dorge (1340‐1383) Khacho Wangpo (1350‐1405) 2e Shamarpa 5e Deshin Chèkpa (1384‐1415) Ratna Badra / Rikpe Raldri (1406‐1452) ‐ 3e Shamarpa 6e Tonwa Deunden ( 1416‐1453) Pengar Jampel Zangpo ( ≈ 1400) 466
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23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Gou Shih Paljor Dondrup (1427‐1489) 1er Gyaltsab R. 7e Chodrak Gyamtso (1454‐1506) Sangye Nyenpa Tashi Peljor ( 1457‐1525) 8e Mikyö Dorge (1507‐1554) Koncho Yenlak (1526‐1583) ‐ 5e Shamarpa 9e Wangchuk Dorge (1555‐1603) Chokyi Wangchouk (1584‐1629) ‐ 6e Shamarpa 10e Choying Dordge (1604‐1674) Yeshe Nyingpo (1631‐1694) ‐ 7e Shamarpa 11e Yeshe Dorge (1676‐1702) Cheukyi Deundroup (1694‐1735) 8e Shamarpa 12e Jangchoub Dorge (1703‐1732) Chokyi Jungne (1700‐1774) ‐ 8e Situ R. 13e Doudul Dorge (1733‐1797) 37 Chödroup Gyamtso (1742‐1792) ‐ 10e Shamarpa 38 Pema Ningé Wangpo (1774‐1853) ‐ 9e Situ R. 39 40 41 14e Teckchok Dorge (1798‐1868) Lodro Taye (1813‐1899) ‐ 1er Kongtrul R. 15e Khakyab Dorgé (1871‐1922) 42 Pema Wangchok (1886‐1952) ‐ 11e Situ R. 43 Kyentse Öser (1904‐1953) ‐ 2e Kongtrul R. 44 16e Rang Joung Rikpi Dorgé (1923‐1981) 45 Norbu Deundroup (1870‐ ) Lama de Kalu Rinpoché 46 Rang Jung Kunkhyab ( 1904‐1989) ‐ Kalu Rinpoché 47 Bokar Dorgé Chang Wang (1940‐2004) 48 Pema Döyö Nyinche ( 1954‐ ) ‐ 12e Situ R. 49 50 17e Orgyen Trinle Dordge (1985‐ ) Drinchen Tsa Wai Lama ‐ (Vajaradhara/Dorge Tchang)
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Kagyu Samye Ling thangka of , by Master Artist Sherapalden Beru The Kagyu lineage originates in the Buddha. Through an unbroken succession of enlightened masters, it has preserved perfectly intact the finest of the original Buddhism of India. Its teachings, taken from India to Tibet in the 11th century have been maintained on the snow‐capped roof of the world until the latter half of this century. Now they are present in every continent. In these pages, we will explore the ancient Indian lineages which form the Kagyu tradition, their content, the Tibetan transmission over the past 900 years and the particular role played by the Gyalwa Karmapas, the first and foremost reincarnate lamas of Tibet, whose profound and widespread spiritual influence has marked Tibet, China, Mongolia and many Himalayan kingdoms over that period. The Tibetan Patriarchs of the Kagyu Lineage Marpa was the Tibetan who spent over 20 years in India, studying under the great masters Naropa and Maitripa, in order to bring the Kagyu teachings to Tibet. The wealth of yogic and mahamudra teachings he gathered, mastered and translated were transmitted in their entirety to Jetsun Milarepa, famous for his arduous practice in icy mountain caves. His main disciple was Gampopa, the emanation of a very great bodhisattva. Gampopa combined the special teachings of Marpaʹs lineage with those of the Khadampa tradition and established the first Kagyu monastery in Tibet. Of his four main disciples, the most illustrious was the first Gyalwa Karmapa, Dusum Chenpa, an emanation of Buddha activity itself. Since then, Karmapas have emanated 16 more times in Tibet to assure the integral transmission of the lineage, i.e. the Kagyu teachings of mahamudra and the six yogas, as well as those of all the other lineages which have since been integrated in the Karma Kamtsang tradition. 469
The Spiritual Content of the Kagyu Lineage Marpa, the Tibetan founder of the Kagyu lineage, had been told by his guru Naropa that the lineage would grow stronger and stronger, from generation to generation. He compared to snow lions and garudas, whose offspring grow up stronger than their parents. Naropaʹs phophecy turned out true, as the yogas and tantras he taught Marpa became complemented by the complete mahamudra meditation teachings from Saraha. Gampopa combined all these teachings with the mainstream hinayana and mahayana teachings he had mastered through the Khadampa tradition. Then, successive Karmapas integrated other lineages into the Kagyu. A brief summary of the content is given diagramatically below. Altea Publishing 12‐2006 470
INTRODUCED MASTER Buddha Vajradhara
Samatta & vipasyana aspects of
(Ratnamati)
Mahamudra
Saraha
Tilopa
Dohas
(988-1069)
Father, mother & Non-dual tantras,
(tummo, ilusory body, dream, clarity, bardo,
powa), dakini teachings, Mahamudra
Naropa
6 Yogas of Naropa / powa drunjuk
(Nagarjuna)
(Savaripa)
(1016-1100)
Maitripa
mahamudra
Marpa (1012-1097)
Jetsun Milarepa (1052-1135)
Khadampa path and fruition
(mahayana), Monasticism (vinaya)
Gampopa (1079-1153)
Rechungpa
Formless dakini teachings
st
1 Karmapa : Dusum Khyenpa (1110-1193)
Widespread use of 'mani', Mahakala
Drogön Rechen (1148-1218)
3 Vajras lineage
Pomdrakpa (1170-1249)
"Peacemaking" (Chö), astrology,
Kalachakra view, Nyingmapa nyingtik
2nd Karmapa: Karma Pakshi (1203-1283)
Drubtob Urgyenpa (1230-1300)
3rd Karmapa : Rangjung
Dorje (1284-1339)
Many Nyingma linages
Gyalwa Jungtönpa (1296-1376)
4th Karmapa : Rolpe Dorje (1340-1383)
2nd Shamarpa :
5th Karmapa:
Kachö Wangpo (1350-1405)
Dezhin Shegpa (1384-1415)
6 Yogas of Niguma, Mahakala dance
Rinchen Zangpo (Ratnabhadra) (c. 1400)
6th Karmapa: Thongwa Donden (1416-1453)
Jampal Zangpo Pal. Dön.(1427-1489)
Logic system of Dignaga / Dharmakirti
7th Karmapa: Chodrag Gyatsho (1454-1506)
Zhentong view of voidness (Jonangpa)
Tashi Paljor (1457-1525)
8th Karmapa,
Mikyo Dorje (1507-1554)
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Marpa Image sculptée par le 10e Karmapa 473
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Marpa Lotsawa 1st Tibetan Patriarch of the Karma Kagyu Lineage (1012‐1097) is considered to have been an emanation of Hévajra, one of the profoundest vajrayana aspects of the buddha mind. Hévajra is a wrathful form, often depicted with a consort. His aspect of enlightenment conveys mahamudra, the heart‐essence of all the Buddhist teaching. Marpaʹs human manifestation, like Hevajra, was a daunting and wrathful one. Never a monk, he lived with his consort, Damema (whose name, tellingly, is the Tubetan translation of Nairatmya, Hevajraʹs consort, and means non‐ego). Marpa was responsible for conveying the mahamudra teachings from India to Tibet. He is therefore the Tibetan founder of the Kagyu lineage, which is often called the Marpa Kagyu in his honour. As his life work involved translating ‐ both in the narrow linguistic sense and in the larger sense of creating a bridge between the Indian and Tibetan cultures ‐ he is known as Marpa Lotsawa: Marpa the Translator. He was born in 1012 in the southern part of Tibet known as Lhodak. His father was Wangchuk Oser and his mother Gyamo Sa Dode. He was one of four sons. From birth Marpa was very strong of character, powerful in presence and full of energy. His overwhelming, natural magnetism made even his own parents unable to look him directly in the eyes. His clarity of mind and innate wisdom showed even as a child. He understood and immediately memorised whatever his first teacher, Lugyepa, taught him. His presence is said to have been not only awesome but also quite aggressive. The local villagers were frightened of him and kept their distance. This aggressiveness, fearful appearance and unpopularity led his father to send him far away to continue his education, to a teacher known as Drokmi the Translator. Marpa learnt Tibetan grammar, poetry and drama from him over a period of some 15 years and became a master not only of Tibetan but also of Indian languages and dialects. Marpa then 475
returned home. He had decided to go to Nepal for further study, even though the journey would be long, hard, and dangerous. He persuaded his father to give him his share of the family wealth, in return for a promise to stay forever away from the family and the village. He traveled to Nepal and remained there for some three years (near present‐day Parping), learning more about India and its languages. He also heard of Naropa, one of the most famous scholars and masters of meditation, who was living in India and determined to go to him. It was a difficult business traveling from small kingdom to small kingdom in India (which was not a single country at the time but many independent areas ruled by local rajas ). There were thieves, wild animals and ʹcustomsʹ officers who demanded heavy tolls before giving the right to leave a territory. Despite all these difficulties, Marpa prevailed and met his teacher, studying 16 years and 7 months at his feet. For some 40 years, of which half were spent traveling in India, he translated the teachings he discovered into Tibetan. Moreover, he practiced them until full attainment of their meaning was achieved. This made him able to translate them in every sense, across cultural barriers, in a way which would implant them authentically into their new land. Because of the hardships that Marpa was willing to go through, all the Kagyu traditions and teachings went to Tibet and are now filling the world. Without him they would not be available; without him the Kagyu tradition would not exist. In all, Marpa visited India three times. Part 2 Marpaʹs first visit to India was marked by a strange relationship with a sometime traveling companion, Ngo the Translator. Having different karmas, they were attracted to different teachers but sought out similar teachings (Guhyasamaja, Hevajra etc.). From time to time they met to compare notes. In the end, Marpaʹs understanding and inner realization always proved superior. They accompanied each other for some of the way back to Tibet. Ngo, jealous of his companion, conspired to have Marpaʹs sacred texts and translations fall irretrievably into a large river they were crossing by boat. This proved a powerful moment for Marpa, who at one and the same time saw the work of many years lost in a few seconds but also knew that there was no loss since he held all the teachings in his heart and had achieved realisation of their innermost meaning through meditation. Marpa had needed to return to Tibet to disseminate some of the teachings he had gathered in India and which had not yet reached Tibet at the time. He also needed to raise funds, to give to his Indian gurus on behalf of the Tibetan people, thereby involving them karmically/dharmically in his historic journeys. Over this and his other two visits to India, Marpa studied, perfected and brought back to Tibet the following teachings, among others: the samatta & vipasyana aspects of mahamudra the dohas (profound spiritual poems, sung as instruction) the father, mother & non‐dual tantras of the anuttara yoga tantra class, 476
some of the 9 formless dakini teachings, the 6 yogas of Naropa (tummo, ilusory body, dream, clarity, bardo, powa) the powa drunjuk teachings mahamudra as a synthesis of the above He received these from gurus Naropa, Maitripa, Sukhasiddhi, Kukuripa and others. Marpa had already visited India twice when the dakinis predicted that he must visit India again, to receive the formless dakini teachings from Naropa. This coincided with a powerful dream that his disciple (Milarepa) had, concerning a special form of consciousness transference (po‐wa). Marpa did not have teachings on this and knew he should get them from Naropa. But Marpa was by now quite old and his students in Tibet were very concerned about his undertaking such a rough journey. Since he was not very strong or in very good health, they suggested that he might send his son, Dharma Dode, in his place. Not listening to the advice of his students, Marpa left Tibet for India, according to the predictions of the dakinis. On his way, he met great master Atisha, who told him that Naropa had already ʺleftʺ (a euphemism like ʺpassed awayʺ). He gave Marpa no hint as to the pure realm in which Naropa could be found. Atisha proposed that Marpa accompany him to Tibet, as his interpreter, but Marpa declined. When the latter arrived in India, he met friends and senior disciples of Naropa, who told him that Naropa had just disappeared, again suggesting that he had passed on, in a ʹrainbow bodyʹ, to another realm. One after another, they expressed their opinion that Marpa had such deep faith and devotion for his guru that he might be able to meet him again if he looked for him. Marpa saught his teacher, without any clear idea of where he was or how to find him. He began searching in some very remote regions. Then at one point he recognized the footprints of Naropa on a rock. This filled him with new confidence and devotion. Making prayers and supplications, he went once again in search of Naropa. Inhis search, Naropa appeared under many guises, each designed to confront Marpa with whatever preconceptions about reality and good‐and‐evil still remained, preventing his mind from experiencing total, perfect enlightenment. Once, Marpa came near a tree known as ashik and saw a vision of Naitarmya, the consort of Hevajra. The image of her in the ashik tree was as clear as a mirror, as were the precise garlands of swirling mantras at her heart. Part 3 He finally met Naropa, adorned with six ornaments of bone, on the summit of a cliff. Having searched for Naropa for so long, filled with joy at finding him, he climbed up and embraced him immediately. Naropa was delighted to see Marpa, and told him, ʺI am now going to reveal a teaching that is unknown in the Land of Snows, Tibet. You are the one chosen to take this precious teaching to there.ʺ Upon hearing that, Marpa offered all the gold that he had brought with him to Naropa. Although Naropa said that he had no real use for gold any more, Marpa still insisted that he should have it, on behalf of the Tibetan people, in return for the 477
valuable teaching that he was going to give to Tibet. Taking all the gold dust in his hands, Naropa threw it in the air, in the forest, and it fell everywhere on the ground. As Naropa threw the gold and it scattered, Marpa felt a little regret about this action, probably because he had had so much hardship in gathering and bringing such a valuable quantity of gold. Naropa seemed to be reading his mind. With a smile on his face, he opened his palms and all the gold dust that he had thrown in the air was now again in his hands. Not only that, but Naropa pointed his finger, and at that very moment, the ground where they were sitting was transformed into solid gold. Having done that, Naropa said to Marpa, ʺNow you must be hungry. Letʹs eat something.ʺ And so saying, Naropa gazed up in the sky. At that moment, from the sky fell a huge fish, whose body was filled inside with tsok (feast offerings). Naropa told Marpa it came from the heavenly realm where Tilopa resided, and it came as a heavenly gift, a blessing from Tilopa. So they enjoyed the feast of tsok, and as they did, Marpaʹs inner strength, wisdom, and realization matured, simply by enjoying the offering from Tilopa from the heavenly realms. Having taken and enjoyed this blessing, Marpa experienced a significant renewal of his vital energies. He became stronger and more youthful, physically obtaining all his old strengths back, and he was no longer feeling the weakness of his old age. Naropa then asked Marpa to purify himself further by taking a bath in the small river that was nearby. Marpa went there to bathe. He took off all his clothes, including a very precious mandala protection (yantra) that he wore around his neck as a blessing. He left it on top of his clothes, and went into the river to bathe. At that moment, a black crow swooped from the sky, took his mandala blessing into its beak and flew away with it. Naropa, seeing that Marpaʹs blessing was being taken away by a black crow, pointed his finger at the bird. Both the crow and the blessing fell to the ground. This was a symbolic omen that Marpa was going to experience some negative obstacles and hindrances, not only for himself but also for the lineage of transmission, the mahamudra. It foretold that this transmission would experience some unfavorable circumstances. Naropa promised Marpa that these obstacles he would experience would be eliminated through his special blessing, which he gave Marpa. With that promise, Marpaʹs guru once again gave him all the empowerments that he had already given him before, to refresh the memories of his teachings. In addition to that, he gave a very profound teaching that he had never revealed to anyone before: the Six Yogas of Naropa. Part 4 Naropa then said, ʺNow, Marpa, your realization is entirely equal to my realization. There is no need for you to obtain further instructions or empowerments from me. You must go back to Tibet as my regent, and spread and cultivate this lineage.ʺ Shortly after, Naropa tested Marpa, by summoning him early in the morning. Marpa found himself confronted by Naropa, his guru, and, in the sky, a perfect presence in rainbow light of his yidam, Hevajra, vividly present and precise in every detail. Naropa ordered Marpa to prostrate and said he must choose whether to prostrate to Naropaʹs body or the sky mandala. Marpa chose the latter but then Naropa simply drew the entire mandala into his own heart chakra, showing it to be no more than his emanation. Through this slight mistake on Marpaʹs part (underestimating the 478
significance of the human guruʹs presence), Naropa predicted that, although Marpa had seven sons, there would be no continuity of his family in the future, just as no flower could grow in the sky. However, Naropa predicted that the lineage flowing from Marpa, through his disciples, would continue into the future, and that each successive lineage holder and his students would be brighter and have greater opportunity to achieve realization. And when he heard that Marpaʹs student was Milarepa, and that Milarepa had had the dream about powa drongjuk, he immediately folded his hands together in a gesture of reverence and respect, and bowed toward the direction of northern India. Naropa predicted that where there are beings living in the womb of darkness, Milarepa would be like the sun radiating upon the stainless snow, removing the darkness. It is said that because of this gesture of profound respect, all the trees there seem to also bow in that direction. The precition about his son (Dharma Dode) not continuing his spiritual line devastated Marpa. It triggered the obstacles that Naropa had foreseen when the crow stole the yantra. Marpa went through a period of powerful illness which lasted for a year. However, with the blessing of his guru and that of his his dharma brothers and sisters, Marpa returned to health and confidence and was even stronger than before. Before returning to Tibet and in honor of having received the dakini teachings, the powa drongjuk teachings, these final blessings and empowerment as regent from Naropa, Marpa offered a great feast. With all these extra and very precious teaching from his gurus, Marpa returned to Tibet. Although the journey through India to Tibet was very dangerous, because of his determination and courage he was able to return safely. On the way, he had very significant and powerful dreams of gurus Maitripa and Saraha. From the former, Marpa received, twice, complete transmission of the samatta and vipasyana aspects of mahamudra. On his return Marpa gave many teachings. He was especially trying to spread the teaching of ejection of consciousness, of which he had the very special transmission. Marpa did not gather a great number od disciples around him and did not become a widely popular guru. He remained a short‐tempered and aggressive teacher, and not many students liked him, and not many believed in his realization and his accomplishment. His teaching was a question of quality rather than quantity and his disciples were extremely gifted. When Marpa was passing away, he performed many miracles. And after he passed into parinirvana, his transmissions became very widely cultivated and spread around Tibet. Only then did the people in his village and other villages realize what a highly realized and important person Marpa really was; only then did they start to develop profound feelings for him. After his passing, there were four students who continued to spread Marpaʹs teachings very actively. Altea Publishing 12‐2006 479
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Marpa Lotsawa (1012‐1097) Marpa wa born in the southern part of Tibet known as Lhodak. His fatherʹs name was Wangchuk Oser and his motherʹs name was Gyamo Sa Dode. Marpa was born in 1012, and he was one of four sons. From birth Marpa was naturally very powerful, and he displayed many energies and strengths. Just as the nature of fire is warmth, the nature of Marpa was to be powerful. As a fire grows, its warmth increases; and as Marpa grew, his power too increased. His natural magnetic power was so great that even his own parents, if they looked directly into his eyes, were unable to bear the feeling of strength coming from him. When he was young, he was sent to a teacher named Lugyepa to study. Again, Marpaʹs understanding and wisdom was so profound that whatever the teacher taught him on one day, he would know by heart the next. So in that manner he surpassed his own teacher. Not only did Marpa look fearsome, he was also quite aggressive. His natural look of power and strength so frightened all the people in his village that he was not welcome in many homes. In fact, the only people Marpa could visit in his village were his teacher and his one friend. All the rest developed a fear of the magnetic power that Marpa displayed, and they would not welcome him. Owing to his aggressiveness and fearful appearance, and the resultant unpopularity of Marpa in the village, his father felt it best to send him to a different area to be educated. And so he was sent far from where he wasborn, to a teacher known as Drokmi Lotsawa, the Translator. From him Marpa was to learn Tibetan writing and reading, poetry, drama, and so forth. Marpa studied under Drokmi the Translator for fifteen years, and became a master not only in the Tibetan language but in the Sanskrit language as well. 481
Having mastered those languages, Marpa returned to his home village, but he was not to stay long. He decided to go to Nepal for further study, even though the journey from Tibet to Nepal was very long, hard, and dangerous. To help him get there, he collected all the possessions he could get from his friend and from relatives, and made the journey. But when he reached Nepal he learned that one of the most famous scholars and masters of meditation, Naropa, was in India. So he sought out this most accomplished teacher. Traveling in India at that time was full of hardship. The journey itself was a hardship, and of course there was a good chance of meeting robbers and bandits. At that time India was also divided into many states and kingdoms, all with different kings; because of this, the biggest hardship was the problem with customs. To get through the country, one was always leaving one state and about to enter another, and to enter each state one had to go through customs again. In customs they would take anything valuable that one had, so by the time one reached oneʹs destination, one would probably be walking naked, so to speak, through India. You must go to visit India to know about this. Despite all these hardships, Marpa prevailed and met his teacher. And because of the hardships that Marpa was willing to go through, all the Karma Kagyu traditions and teachings became available, and are available in the same way now. Without him they would not be available; without him the Kagyu tradition would not exist. At that period of time, when Marpa was translating the teachings from Sanskrit to Tibetan, translating did not mean only the literal word‐for‐word translation. Marpa himself went through all the hardships of the practice and communicated in the translation the experience of the teachings as well. He experienced it for himself. In Tibetan this is called ʺtasting the realization.ʺ Then he made the teachings available in their fullness. In that manner, Marpa really studied, worked, translated, and practiced for over forty years, and made all that he experienced available to others. During that time in Tibet, no translators were allowed to give word‐for‐word literal translations of teachings. They had to first practice, and reach some realization of the inner meaning of the teachings. Literal translations only gave one the shallow, surface meanings of what was taught, whereas ʺtasting the flavor of the realization,ʺ as the saying goes, gave the translator the real experience of the hard work and fulfillment of the actual practice. Only then were the translators allowed to actually translate, as then they brought experience and understanding to the words. Thanks to the dedication and persistence of these past translators, many practitioners have achieved realization from following their words, a further proof that the teachings were accurately translated, with the inner meaning conveyed. Marpa had already visited India twice when the dakinis predicted that he must visit India again. But he was quite old at this time, and his students in Tibet were very concerned about his undertaking such a rough journey. Since he was not very strong or in very good health, they suggested that he might send his son, Dharma Dode, in his place. Not listening to the advice of his students, Marpa left Tibet for India, according to the predictions of the dakinis. As Marpa journeyed from Tibet to India, he met Lord Atisha, who said to him that Naropa had already ʺleft.ʺ Now Atisha used a very polite form of the word ʺleftʺ so that it translated as ʺpassing away,ʺ and he gave Marpa no hint as to which pure 482
realm Naropa was currently in. Atisha then suggested that he could travel to India with Marpa and himself become his translator. But again without listening to anotherʹs advice or suggestions, Marpa went on to India. When Marpa arrived in India, he met friends and advanced students of Naropa. When he asked where Naropa was, they told him that Naropa had just disappeared, again suggesting that he had passed on to another realm. They felt, though, that Marpa, because of his deep devotion to and trust in Naropa might be able to meet him again if he looked for him. So Marpa went to seek his teacher, without any clear idea of where he was or how to find him. He began searching in some very remote regions. Then at one point he recognized the footprints of Naropa on a rock. This filled him with new confidence and devotion. Making prayers and supplications, he went once again in search of Naropa. He then came near a tree known as ashik and saw a vision of Dakmema, the consort of Hevajra. The image of her in the ashik tree was as clear as a mirror, and Marpa saw that at her heart were swirling mantras, all very clear. Then Marpa paid his respects and made supplications and said his prayers, but still he did not remain at the tree, but went in search of his guru. Finally, on top of a big rock, he saw Naropa, adorned with six ornaments of bone. Since he had been searching for Naropa for so long, he became filled with joy, and went to him on top of the rock and embraced him immediately. Naropa was very pleased to see and meet with Marpa, and he said to him, ʺAt this time I am going to reveal a teaching that has never been introduced in the snowy country of Tibet ever in the past. You will be the one who will take such a precious teaching to Tibet.ʺ Upon hearing that, Marpa offered all the gold that he had brought with him to Naropa. Although Naropa said that he had no real use for gold any more, Marpa still insisted that he should have it in return for the valuable teaching that he was going to give to Tibet. Taking all the gold dust in his hands, Naropa threw it in the air, in the forest, and it fell everywhere on the ground. As Naropa threw the gold and it scattered, Marpa felt a little regret about this action, probably because he had had so much hardship in bringing such precious gold with him. Naropa seemed to be reading his mind, and with a smile on his face, he opened his palms, and all the gold dust that he had thrown in the air was now again in his palm. Not only that, but Naropa pointed his finger, and at that very moment, the ground where they were sitting was transformed into solid gold. Having done that, Naropa said to Marpa, ʺNow you must be hungry. Letʹs eat something.ʺ And so saying, Naropa gazed up in the sky. At that moment, from the sky fell a huge fish, whose body was filled inside with tsok (feast offerings). Naropa told Marpa it came from the heavenly realm where Tilopa resided, and it came as a heavenly gift, a blessing from Tilopa. So they enjoyed the feast of tsok, and as they did, Marpaʹs inner strength, wisdom, and realization matured, simply by enjoying the offering from Tilopa from the heavenly realms. Having taken and enjoyed this blessing, Marpa once again experienced vital energies. He became stronger and more youthful, physically obtaining all his old strengths back, and he was no longer feeling the weakness of his old age. Naropa then asked Marpa to purify himself further by taking a bath in the small river that was 483
nearby. Marpa went there to take a bath, and took off all his clothes, including a very precious protection that he wore around his neck as a blessing, called a mandala protection. He left that on top of his clothes, and went into the river to bathe. At that moment, a black crow swooped from the sky and took his mandala blessing into its beak and flew away with it. Naropa, seeing that Marpaʹs blessing was being taken away by a black crow, pointed his finger toward the crow, and at that moment, both the crow and the blessing fell to the ground. Now this was a symbolic omen of something in Marpaʹs future. It seemed to say that Marpa was going to experience some negative obstacles and hindrances, not only for himself but also for the lineage of transmission, the mahamudra. It foretold that this transmission would experience some unfavorable circumstances. Naropa promised Marpa that these obstacles he was supposed to experience would be eliminated through his special blessing, which he gave Marpa. With that promise, Marpaʹs guru once again gave him all the empowerments that he had already given him before, to refresh the memories of his teachings. In addition to that, he gave a very profound teaching that he had never revealed to anyone before, and that was called the Six Doctrines of Naropa. Naropa then said, ʺNow, Marpa, your realization is entirely equal to my realization. There is no need for you to obtain further instructions or empowerments from me. You must go back to Tibet as my regent, and spread and cultivate this lineage.ʺ At that time Naropa predicted that, although Marpa had seven sons, there would be no continuity of his family in the future, just as no flower could grow in the sky. However, Naropa predicted that the line of the lineage holder would continue into the future, and that each successive lineage holder and his students would be brighter and have greater opportunity to achieve realization. And when he heard that Marpaʹs student was Milarepa, he immediately folded his hands together in a gesture of reverence and respect, and bowed toward the direction of northern India. Naropa predicted that where there are beings living in the womb of darkness, Milarepa would be like the sun radiating upon the stainless snow, removing the darkness. It is said that because of this gesture of profound respect, all the trees there seem to also bow in that direction. Having received such a blessing and empowerment, Marpa offered a great feast. With the precious teaching from Naropa, Marpa returned to Tibet. Although the journey through India to Tibet was very dangerous, because of his determination and courage he was able to return safely. On his return, Marpa gave many teachings. He was especially trying to spread the teaching of ejection of consciousness, of which he had had a very special transmission. With the accomplishment of this practice one can enter into the physical body of any dead being, and then become that being. But as we mentioned, Marpa was not too successful during his lifetime at accumulating students. He remained a short‐tempered and aggressive teacher, and not many students liked him, and not many believed in his realization and his accomplishment. But when Marpa was passing away, he performed many miracles. And after he passed into parinirvana, his transmissions became very widely cultivated and spread around Tibet. Only then did the people in his village and other villages realize what a 484
highly realized and important person Marpa really was; only then did they start to develop profound feelings for him. After his passing, there were four students who continued to spread Marpaʹs teachings, or the transmission of Marpa. There were three students who emphasized the learning of the skills that Marpa taught, and only one student, Milarepa, who emphasized meditation, the practice, the experience of Marpaʹs teaching. Milarepa was born in the year 1052 in the upper part of Tibet, in the state known as Upper Tsang. His fatherʹs name was Sherap Gyaltsen and his motherʹs name was Kargyen. His parents had a son and a daughter, and Milarepa was the older child. The life story of Milarepa has been put into many books now, and all the detailed information can be found there. But in essence the meaning of Milarepaʹs life was to be found in the progress of his life and is a teaching in itself. At the beginning of his life, his family had wealth, property, and land. It did not give them pleasure or happiness, but led him and his family to difficulties and hardship. It is first a teaching on the meaninglessness of samsaric possessions. After the death of his father, Milarepaʹs life became one of pain and torture dealt out to him at the hands of his own aunt and uncle. It is a tale that really brings many tears to many beings. This led to the next lesson. Because of the terrible punishment inflicted on Milarepa, he desired to seek revenge. He learned and performed feats of black magic for the destruction of many beings. Yet he became a great realized being, a saint, because he found and followed the right guru, and through his guidance overcame past negative accumulations and became purified. We then go on to learn from Milarepaʹs life that, in order to remove not only the negative karma of this lifetime but all that we have accumulated throughout many lifetimes, we need to have determination, perseverance, and diligence in removing faults. Milarepa learned the importance of persistence and diligence in following the teacherʹs directions, and the importance of developing deep devotion for the guru. Milarepaʹs life was also an example of the rewards of devotion to the practice. He never gave up, he never surrendered, he kept on practicing with a kind of determination and enthusiasm that is necessary to actually get rid of negative karma. Then finally he showed that, if one develops all those qualities, meeting the right guru, having devotion and perseverance, without giving up, it leads to the positive result of realization; it is not simply a waste of oneʹs self or energy or time. Through his practice Milarepa achieved realization, performed miracles, and eventually became the strongest person, comparable to the diamond. By following and staying on the path to enlightenment, he reached the complete fruition of his goal. This is a symbolic example to all. This teaching on the Life of Marpa was given by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche at KTD, Woodstock, NY, on March 25‐30, 1986. It was translated by Chojor Radha and edited by Andrea Price. Part I appeared in Densal Vol. 8, No. 1, Winter 1986/87; Part II appeared in Densal Vol. 8, No. 2, Spring 1987; and Part III appeared in Densal Vol. 8, No. 3, Summer 1987. 485
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Marpa ‐ His Teachings Marpa ʹThe Four Letters ‐ The Essence of the Glorious Sarahaʹs Mahamudra Beyond Activity of Mindʹ On this glorious and auspicious day of the waxing moon, The special time of the tenth day, At the ganacakra festival of the viras The son who does not stray from samaya You, the prince of Logkya have requested ʹSing a song not previously heard.ʹ I have travelled a long way And my body is overpowered by tiredness. So this song is not melodious or captivating to the heart. I am not skilled in poetic composition. However, because there is no‐one more important than you, And I cannot refuse an important man I will sing a wondrous song which has never been heard before A song of the thought of the great Brahmin. You followers of sutra and tantra, who sit on these seats, Please listen carefully and consider this in your heart. In the third month of last spring, I came up from central Nepal. After being on the road till lunchtime I arrived at the Nepali customs office 487
In a city of rough people. As the officials exploit anyone they meet, Along with other imprisoned Tibetans I was detained for several days unable to resist. One night while dreaming in a light sleep Two beautiful brahmin girls, With marks of noble birth, wearing a sacred thread, Smiling coyly, and glancing out of the corners of their eyes Came up to me and said: ʹYou must go to Sri Parvata in the south!ʹ I said: I have never gone there before And I do not know the way.ʹ The two girls said: ʹYou do not need to do anything difficult. We shall bear you there on our shoulders.ʹ They seated me in a palanquin with silk fringes And lifted it into the sky like a parasol. Like a lightning flash, in an instant I dreamed that I reached Sri Parvata in the south. In the cool shade of a grove of plaksa trees On a corpse seat Sat Lord Saraha, the Great Brahmin. I had never before gazed upon such splendour face to face. He was flanked by two queens. His body was adorned with the ceremony ornaments. His joyful face was smiling. ʹWelcome, my son!ʹ He said. Seeing the lord, I felt unbearable joy. The hairs of my body stood on end, and I could not hold back my tears. I circumambulated him seven times and prostrated to him. I received the soles of his feet on the crown of my head. ʹFather, hold me with your compassion,ʹ I supplicated. He blessed my body with his. As he touched the crown of my head with his hand My body was intoxicated with undefiled bliss. Like and elephant drunk on beer, An experience of immovability dawned. He blessed my speech with his. By the lionʹs roar of emptiness, He uttered the meaning of the ʹfour lettersʹ. Like the dream of a mute An experience of inexpressibility dawned. He blessed my mind with his. I realised the meaning of the simultaneously‐arising dharmakaya. Beyond coming and going, 488
Like being in a cemetery An experience of non‐thought dawned. From the vase of precious song, The pure speech of vajra‐bliss With the melody of brahma and in symbol speech He sang the vajra‐song showing the true nature The meaning of an empty sky free from clouds. Thus I heard this unborn utterance. ʹNamo! Compassion and emptiness are inseperable. The unceasing flow of natural mind Is primordially pure thusness. See it like space mixed with space Since the root remains at home Mind‐consciousness is imprisoned. As you meditate on this Nothing is sewn together in the mind. Recognising that the phenomenal world is the nature of mind There is no need for meditation as antidote. The true nature of mind is beyond thought So settle in this uncontrived state. If you can see this meaning you will be liberated. Like a little child, with the behaviour of savages Eat flesh and be a crazy man. Be like a fearless lion. Let the elephant of mind go free. See the bees hovering among the flowers. Not viewing samsara as wrong. Nor striving to attain nirvana. The way of ordinary mind Is to rest in uncontrived nowness. Do not think of activities. Do not cling to one side or direction, Look into the space of unelaboration.ʹ The exhaustion of dharmas is the essential truth, The summit of views is mahamudra. This symbolic meaning which captures the very essence of mind I heard directly from the Great Brahmin. At that instant I awoke. I was caught by the iron hook of this unforgettable memory. Within the prison of unawareness, I saw the vision of the wisdom of awareness, Like the sun rising in a cloudless sky, Clearing the darkness of error. 489
ʹEven if I met the Buddhas of the three times I would have nothing to ask them.ʹ I thought. When this decisive experience of mind arose Mental functions were exhausted, how wondrous! E ma! The prophecies of devatas and dakinis, And the profound words of the guru, Although I have been told not to discuss them, Tonight I cannot help but talk of them, Except for this very occasion I have not discussed this before. Listen with your ears and repeat it later. I am a man, who has travelled a long way Without friends or relatives. Now when my body is weary, Son, what you have done is in my mind. I will not forget this, it is held strongly in my mind. My dear friend you kindness is repaid. The lords who dwell above, the gurus, The bestowers of siddhi, the devatas The removers of obstacles, dharmapalas, May these, please, not be angry with me. May they forgive me if there is any error. (Translated into English by the layman Jampa Thaye.) 490
Marpa Realisation of Dreams and Mind Lord Paindapa, you who practice yogic discipline! Your name has been prophesied by the devas; what a great wonder! Under the hand of glorious Advayalalita Are the vajra brothers and sisters whose minds do not differ. Headed by Sri Gunamati, Dakas who are sitting in the right hand row, listen to me! After them, the secret yoginis, Headed by the consort Sukhavajri, Dakinis who are sitting in the left hand row, listen to me! Generally, all Dharmas are illusion. Dreams are exalted as special illusion. Early in the night, dreams arise born from habitual patterns. There is nothing whatsoever to rely on there. At midnight, the deceptions of Mara appear. One should not trust in these. At dawn, there are prophecies by the devas. How wondrous, how great indeed! At the break of dawn this morning, The great lord master appeared And taught the Dharma which revealed the ultimate. This is the unforgettable memory of what Maitripa said: ʺIn general, all Dharmas are mind. The Guru arises from mind. The Guru is nothing other than mind. 491
Everything that appears is the nature of mind. This mind itself is primordially non‐existent. In the natural state, unborn and innate, There is nothing to abandon by discursive effort. Rest at ease, naturally, without restriction. This can be shown by signs: A human corpse, an outcast, a dog, a pig, An infant, a madman, an elephant, A precious jewel, a blue lotus, Quicksilver, a deer, a lion, A Brahman, and a black antelope; did you see them?ʺ Maitripa asked. The realization of the truth was shown by these signs: Not fixated on either samsara or Nirvana, Not holding acceptance or rejection in oneʹs being, Not hoping for fruition from others, Mind free from occupation and complexity, Not falling into the four extremes, Nonmeditation and nonwandering, Free from thought and speech, Beyond any analogy whatsoever. Through the kindness of the Guru, I realised these. Since the experience of these realisations has dawned, Mind and mental events have ceased, And space and insight are inseparable. Faults and virtues neither increase nor decrease. Bliss, emptiness, and luminosity are unceasing. Therefore, luminosity dawns beyond coming or going. This transmission of the innate, the pith of the view Through the sign meanings which reveal the unborn, I heard from the great lord master. The reason why I sing these words Is the insistent request of the honourable lords. I could not refuse the Dharma brothers and sisters. Dakinis, do not be jealous! Thus, this song was sung for the Dharma brothers and sisters headed by Paindapa at the Rinchen Tsul monastery in Nepal to show the meaning of the signs of mahamudra as revealed by Maitripaʹs appearance in a dream. 492
Marpa Practice Dharma, and I will be Happy In response to Milarepaʹs request to return to his homeland, Marpa said, ʺOh Great Magician! There is no need for doubt and hesitation. I know you and you know me as well. If you are able to practice Dharma, I will always be happy no matter where I am, and you will always be happy no matter where you are. So be strong!ʺ Then Marpa sang this song: I supplicate the lord Gurus. Son, whose actions are in accord with the Dharma, May your body attain the Nirmanakaya Buddha. May your speech, the vajra recitation, by the taste of amrta, Attain auspicious coincidence, the Sambhogakaya. May the root of your mind and the branch of Bodhi Blossom into the leaves of the Dharmakaya. May the commands of the Guru, the vajra speech, Remain in your heart without being forgotten. May the blessings of the Yidams and Dakinis Remain in the root of your life. May the support of the Dharmapalas and Protectors Guard you inseparably. May the aspiration of profound auspicious coincidence Be accomplished quickly. 493
May the kindness of all those who practice the Dharma Accept you in all the three times. At the top of Silma pass in Tsang, The twelve local goddesses will receive you. Tomorrow, along the roadside, as you depart, The Dakas and Dakinis will see you off. In the fatherland, in the houses and fields you long for, You will find the holy Dharma of Impermanence and illusion. Among your relatives, your aunt and sister, You will find the oral instructions which destroy illusion. In the rock cave of an unpeopled valley, You will find the marketplace where samsara is bartered for Nirvana. In the monastery of the body that perseveres, You will find the temple of the divine Sugatas. In the ganacakra of nettles, which brings no sickness, You will find the amrta that pleases the Dakinis. Through mastery of the essence of hatha yoga, You will reap the harvest of precious results. In your homeland, a land of little human love, You will find undistracted spiritual practice for a little while. In strict retreat, away from people and dogs, You will find the torch by which the signs are quickly seen. In your own food, which is not a handout, You will find the inheritance of divine Bliss. In the divine palace, cleared of shadows, You will find the spectacle of the attainment of great benefit for oneself. In the divine Dharma free from deceit, You will find the Buddha activity of pure Samaya. In the harvest which comes from obeying the command, You will find the storehouse of all Siddhis. In the holy Dharma, the life and heart of the Dakinis, You will find the juncture of Samsara and Nirvana. In the children of Marpa the translator, There is the source of much good news. In the perseverance of Milarepa, There is the life‐tree of the Buddhaʹs teachings. Thus he sang. 494
Milarepa Image sculptée par le 10e Karmapa 495
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Jetsun Milarepa (1052‐1135) Tibetʹs most famous meditator Part one Birth, Family Ruin and Revenge through Black Magic Mila Sherab Gyaltsen, Milarepaʹs father, married Nyangtsa Kargyen when he was 21. The couple lived happily and prosperously in the village of Kya Ngatsa (also known as Tsa). Then some relatives of Milaʹs grandfather ‐ an uncle named Yungdrup Gyaltsen and an aunt named Khyung Tsha Pedon ‐ moved to the area.By then, Milaʹs family had been settled there a long time and had an impressive house, considerable land and a thriving business in trade. According to the custom, Milarepaʹs family helped their newly‐arrived relatives to establish a business, to find land and to build a house, and so things went well for these relatives as well. While Nyangtsha Kargyen was pregnant with Milarepa, her husband went away on a long trading tour, and during his absence the child was born. A messenger was sent to find the father and inform him that he had a new son, asked him to give a name and to return for a festival. (It is considered auspicious to have a special festival to celebrate the birth of a child.) The father replied: ʺThis is truly wonderful. Within each generation of our family, there is only one son born. I am delighted to hear that this son has been born, and I will call him Töpa Ga.ʺ ʺTöpaʺ means to hear, and ʺgaʺ means happy or joyous, so his name meant ʺMilarepa, a Joy to Hearʺ or ʺMilarepa Good News.ʺ This name actually accords very well with Milarepaʹs attributes, since later as a great practitioner he sang wonderful songs, and when people heard them their minds were filled with delight. After a while, the father returned home and gave a big celebration in honour of their son. 497
A few years after Milarepaʹs birth, a daughter was born into the family and she was called Peta Gonkyi. When Milarepa was seven years old, his father, Sherab Gyaltsen, became very sick. Realizing that he was not going to recover from his illness, he called together all the relatives for a meeting, including Yungdrung Gyaltsen and Khyung Tsha, the uncle and aunt. The father told them: ʺI am giving you the responsibility of my lands and all my goods, the house and so forth, because I realize that I will not get over this illness. You must take care of everything until my two children come of age. Please see to it that no harm comes to them, protect them from difficulties, and help them in whatever way you can. He also said that Zessay, a young woman from the village, had been promised Milarepa as his future wife through arrangements made with her parents. When Milarepa was of age, he was to be married to her, and all the property was to be given over to them. A letter was written as a testament, and signed and sealed. The aunt and uncle agreed to carry out these wishes, and having settled his affairs, Sherab Gyaltsen died. Afterwards, the aunt and uncle took the money and the land, everything entrusted to them, and used it for their own benefit. Milarepa, his sister Peta, and his mother were forced to work as servants for the aunt and uncle. They were given clothing and food that was of lower quality than the other servants, and burdened with a tremendous amount of work. The aunt and uncle made it extremely difficult for them. The mother, however, had managed to find a little bit of funds, and when Milarepa was fifteen years old, she bought a lot of beer, and invited the people from the village, including the aunt and the uncle. She said to them, ʺThopa Ga, Good News, is now 15 years old, and it is time for him to get married to Zessay, his fiance, and to begin his own life. Now please give us back what has been entrusted to you for all these years.ʺ The aunt and uncle replied, ʺWe donʹt have anything to give you. We have been taking care of you for so long that you have used up all your resources. There is nothing here for you, not even a needle or a thread left to give you.ʺ They spoke at length like this, denying that there was anything left. In addition, they beat Milarepaʹs mother. The parents of Milarepaʹs fiance, Zessay, were kind to him, giving him new boots and clothing. They comforted him, saying, ʺWealth is nothing permanent, but something that is made by people through their work. In the beginning your ancestors had no money, but they made it through working. For lack of money, donʹt be disappointed or discouraged. You must study and develop capabilities, and while you are doing this, whatever you need we will provide for you.ʺ In this way, they inspired and comforted him. Milarepaʹs teacher from the village, as was often the case, was also the local priest, and he went around to the different houses performing religious ceremonies and so forth. Milarepa accompanied him as an attendant, and on these rounds, they were often given food and drink. One day when Milarepa was returning home earlier than his teacher, his mother was on the roof of the house and saw him coming. Milarepa was a little bit tipsy and singing a song. When his mother saw this, she became outraged and yelling at him in a loud voice, came tearing down the steps of the roof with a stick in her hand. This stick was one used to push a stone mill to grind barley for tsampa, so it was quite a powerful one. She came after him with this stick, crying: ʺMila, you are a child with no father, and you are going around with your belly full of food and singing away drunk. Your sister and I are here in great suffering. What are you doing? Your mind has become totally deluded. Your aunt and uncle have 498
taken all of our cattle and our money, and here you are just wandering around drunk. We had great hopes that you would study and at least learn how to earn some money and develop good qualities, yet here you are wandering around in the gutter.ʺ Milarepa then wept and said: ʺYou are right. I have been behaving terribly, and whatever you say I will be glad to do. I had a little bit to drink at the house of a patron, but the song that I sang arose out of sadness. In the future I wonʹt drink. Please be patient with me.ʺ Milarepa and his mother stood there crying, and his sister Peta joined them. While Milarepa was studying, Zessay provided him with what he needed, but the mother now said: ʺI will take a job in another house, and I will work to get money for your clothes, your boots, and food. I will provide you with what you need. In our family there is a lineage of men who have been powerful in the use of mantra, and so I want you to go to a capable and skilled lama from whom you will learn how to perform various kinds of magic. Do this until you can create various signs that everyone can see. It must be obvious that you have these powers. If you canʹt do this I will jump off the roof of the house and kill myself. If you can do it, I will offer wonderful prayers for you. Milarepaʹs mother sent him on his way, and he arrived in Utsang, the central part of Tibet, where he met Yungton Trogyel of Kyorpo. From him Milarepa learned black magic and also how to send hailstorms. Back in his village of Tsa, the aunt and uncleʹs son had come of age, and in their house they were giving a large party for him to which many relatives had been invited. Through his black magic, Milarepa was able to make the house collapse and thirty‐five people were killed. Through his other magical powers, he was able to send hail on the village and that destroyed the harvest. His mother was filled with happiness. She took all the red cloths she had, tied them to the end of a stick, and, waving it like a victory banner at the top of the house, she communicated in a loud voice to the whole village the following message: ʺThe son that was born to Sherab Gyaltsen and myself has come of age and has been helpful to us. He has given an answer to our enemies and conquered them. My mind is finally satisfied. I am happy. Now if there are others in this village who wish to harm us, please come forth.ʺ With such proclamations, she went around the village. Part two Finding the True Way Although Milarepaʹs mother was delighted with what he had accomplished, Milarepa himself was disappointed. He knew it was wrong to kill and cause such destruction to the crops and this knowledge worried him. While staying with the teacher who taught him magic, he began to think: I have fought my enemies and achieved renown through it but I have also committed extreme;y negative actions. The only possible outcome of these actions for myself and for my mother is rebirth in a hell realm. The only way to free us from this is to attain Buddhahood in this lifetime. There is nothing else that can help. Milarepa was bothered by these thoughts day and night but dared not mention anything to his teacher, keeping his thoughts to himself. One day the teacher came to Milarepa, looking uneasy but trying to put on a brave face. Milarepa enquired what was a matter. 499
The teacher replied: An excellent sponsor died last night. All created things are impermanent. Through practising magic and makng hail, I have been able to accumulate a bit of wealth in this life but this will be of little help when I die. The only thing that can help us is the practice of Dharma, and that is what I would like to do. But I am old now and it is difficult to practice, yet since there is no other way to liberate myself from the evil consequences of my deeds, I must do it. You, on the other hand, are not as old as I. You have a lot of energy and diligence and could practice genuine Dharma. Doing this, you would be able to attain buddhahood in one life. You could liberate the consciousness of all the beings we have killed. Milarepa was very happy to hear this: That is exactly it. I have been thinking like that myself, but dared not mention anything. I will practice Dharma but which lama who can give me the teachings that lead to liberation in this very life. The teacher replied: Excellent. You practice dharma and I will provide you with what you need and help to create favorable conditions for your practice. I know of a wonderful lama, Rongton Lhaga, who teaches the Great Perfection tradition. Go and study with him. Milarepa was delighted to hear the name of this lama, and thanked his teacher for his advice. Milarepa then went to the western part of central Tibet, to lama Rongton Lhaga. Having bowed to him, he said: I have committed great negative actions. I have tremendous fear of samsara; therefore, please teach me the Dharma which will allow me to liberate myself in this life. The lama replied: If you can practice from the depths of your being, if you can totally involve yourself in this practice, then if you meditate for one day, this Dharma of the Great Perfection that I teach will bring liberation in one day. If you meditate only one night you will be liberated in one night. For fortunate beings, merely hearing this Dharma will bring liberation. Milarepa thought he must be one of the fortunate beings who, once they hear such a teaching will be able to realize liberation in one life. If in only twelve days of studying and practice, I was able to achieve the magical powers that allowed me to destroy the house and produce hail, as no one else was able to, I am sure I can accomplish this practice. All you have to do is hear it and your mind becomes happy. I have heard this, and I feel pretty happy. Thinking in this way, Milarepa went and slept for seven days. A week later, the lama came and inquired: What kind of experiences did you have? What kind of realizations arose? Milarepa replied: My mind is most peaceful and happy. Iʹve had a fine time sleeping here. The lama replied: I probably gave you this teaching a little bit too early. You are someone who has accumulated a lot of negative actions, and although this teaching has great qualities, I am not the one who will be able to train you. We donʹt have the karma to be teacher and disciple. You should go to a country called Drowolung, in southern Tibet where Marpa the Translator lives. He is skilled in the secret mantrayana. You should go and study with him. When Milarepa heard the name of Marpa, an inexpressible experience of joy arose within him. He set out on the road to Marpaʹs house and came to a place called Dharma Ridge, where children were playing. A man, who was covered with the dust of the road, stood nearby. Milarepa asked him: Where is the house of the King of Translators, Marpa? The man replied: I donʹt know where the King of Translators is, but a Marpa lives over there. He pointed down the road, which Milarepa followed. The night before Milarepa arrives at Marpaʹs house, Marpaʹs wife Dagmema had a dream in which 500
Naropa presented a crystal stupa, slightly soiled, and a golden vase. With the water in the golden vase, Marpa purified the crystal stupa and placed it on the peak of a mountain. From this peak, luminous rays of the sun and the moon filled the gigacosmos (a thousand sets of a thousand sets of a thousand world systems). That night as well, while Marpa was resting in clear light, a dream came to him in which Naropa appeared and gave Marpa a golden dorje, which also had some dirt on it, and along with it, a vase. With the water of that vase, the stains were washed away from the golden dorje, and it was placed on top of a victory banner from whence light radiated to the whole world. The next morning Marpa awoke feeling there was something beneficial and good to accomplish. When Dagmema came to bring him his morning meal, they told each other of their dreams. Dagmema asked Marpa: Are these dreams good omens? Do they foretell something positive? Marpa replied: They are dreams, and dreams arenʹt true. Nevertheless, I am going out to plow the field today. Get me some good beer. Dagmema was surprised: You never plow the fields. You are a great lama. Why are you going out and plowing fields? People in the town will talk and Iʹll be embarrassed. Marpa did not listen to her. He drank a full measure of beer, got a little bit drunk, and took another flagon with him while keeping a sharp eye out for whoever was coming along the road. Milarepa was walking along the road and came upon a group of children playing. Among them was a child who was well cared for and had long hair that was slicked down with oil. This was Dharma Dode, Marpaʹs son. Milarepa inquired of this young child: I am looking for the King of translators, Marpa, who is supposed to live in this area. The child replied: You are probably looking for my father. I will lead you to him. They walked along the path and came to a field where someone was plowing. This person had a well filled‐out body, with a certain brilliance radiating from it. The field was all plowed, but for a small part that was not yet finished. As soon as Milarepa saw this person, he was filled with such an intense emotion that he was unable to speak for awhile. When words came, Milarepa asked: Do you know where the palace (the polite way of saying house in Tibet) of the king of translators, Marpa, is? Marpa took a long, slow look at him from head to foot, and said: Stay here. Drink this beer, plow the field, and I will introduce you to Marpa. Milarepa finished off the pot of beer and plowed the field. Before long the child whom he had met before came to him and said: Follow me. The lama said to come, and I will lead you there. Milarepa did not leave right away but finished plowing the field and then went to Marpaʹs house. There Milarepa found, sitting on two cushions covered with a rug, the same man who was plowing the field. Marpa said to him: I am Marpa, so you can make your prostrations now. Milarepa offered his prostrations and said: I am a great sinner who has committed tremendous negative actions. I offer you, however, my body, speech, and mind. Please give me food, clothing, and the teachings of Dharma so that I can attain buddhahood in this very life. Marpa replied: It doesnʹt really concern me that you have committed all these negative actions. What is important is that you have offered me your body, speech, and mind. Now as for food, clothing, and Dharma: If I give you Dharma, you will have to get your food and clothing elsewhere. If I 501
give you food and clothing, you will have to get your Dharma elsewhere. So this depends on you. Whether you attain enlightenment or not‐‐that depends on you. Milarepa decided to receive Dharma from Marpa and to find his own food and clothing. In order to gather the latter, Milarepa had to leave for a tour of local villages. Wishing to leave his texts in a safe place, he put them in Marpaʹs shrine hall. When Marpa saw them there, he exclaimed: Take those books away right now! They are covered with obscurations. They stink of your negative practices and will pollute all my texts. Remove them immediately from the shrine hall. Milarepa thought: Marpa probably thinks these are my black magic texts and so took them out of the shrine hall. By begging, he amassed twenty‐one measures of grain, fourteen of which he used to buy a large copper pot with four handles. Milarepa had to go a long way on his begging rounds, and the road back was very difficult for him shouldering the big pot and heavy load of wheat. When he returned to Marpaʹs house, he was very relieved and quickly let his burden drop onto the floor of the house. It shook. Marpa left the meal he was eating to come and speak to Milarepa: Young man, you are very strong. Dropping this load of grain you carried has shaken the whole house. Perhaps you are getting ready to kill me. (Marpa was recalling Milarepaʹs black magic that had caused his aunt and uncleʹs house to collapse and kill many people.) Donʹt leave this grain here. Take it out! Milarepa thought Marpa a little quick to anger. Heʹs the wrathful type, he thought and took his sack of grain outside and left it there. He then offered Marpa the copper pot with the four handles, saying: Please give me the secret oral instructions that will allow me to free myself from suffering in this lifetime. Marpa lifted up the cooper pot and said, I offer this to the great master Naropa. Tears came to his eyes and he made a prophecy: You gave me an empty pot and this means that in this life while you are practicing in retreat, you may have a bit of difficulty with food, but when I hit the pot it gave off a wonderfully resonant sound. This is a sign that you will become very famous. The four handles facing the four directions are a sign that I will have great spiritual sons. (Milarepa would be one of them.) Finally, so that the lineage that Marpa was carrying would be rich and prosperous Marpa filled the copper pot with ghee (liquid butter) and inserted many wicks so that it glowed with the warm light of a great butter lamp. In the future, this copper pot should be placed within a great stupa, he said. In response to Milarepaʹs request for the Dharma, Marpa replied: Iʹve heard that you killed a number of people with your magic by sending hail. Is this true or not? Milarepa had to admit that it was true. Marpa then told him: In the village behind you, there is a place where my students must pass when they come to see me and the villagers treat them terribly. They beat them, they steal from them, and sometimes they donʹt even let them through. I want you to go there and send hail onto this village. If you can do it, there is no way that I could not be able to give you this precious, profound lineage of Naropa I have received with such hardship. Milarepa walked to the village and spoke to the people there, telling them how poorly they had treated Marpaʹs students and that there was no reason for this. He berated them severely and they responded with anger, attacking and beating him. As they were ready to kick him out of town, Milarepa said, Youʹve made problems for the 502
lama and his students, and now I will make trouble for you. Through my magic, I will send a powerful sign to you. It will not be pleasant. Milarepa left to perform his magic, and this time the result was to make the villagers fight, beating and knocking each other down. They finally realized that this was the result of Milarepaʹs magic, so they came to see Marpa and apologized. They offered their good will and promised not to hurt his disciples as they came through the village. Afterwards, Marpa gave Milarepa a new name, Great Magician. Having fulfilled this task for Marpa, Milarepa again asked for the teachings. Marpa said: There is another place a little bit distant from here, where they also give my students a difficult time. Go and send hail on their harvest. And then once you have done that, I will give you teachings. With the thought that in accomplishing the commands of the lama he would obtain Buddhahood in this life, Milarepa left for this second village. When he came to the countryside nearby, he stayed with an old woman. The harvest was growing very well and crops were flourishing. Milarepa told the old women that he was going to send hail and it would not only destroy the crops but also, when the hail melted, carry away the topsoil. The old woman was upset at the thought of losing her land and harvest. Milarepa suggested that she draw a picture of her land. He took a metal pot and covered the part of the map that was the old womanʹs land except for a little piece of it. He then performed his magic and the hail came. The harvest was destroyed and the topsoil was carried away, except for the small piece of land that belonged to the old lady. The small portion that was not covered by the pot was also carried away, but all that was covered was saved, while the rest of the village was devastated. The villagers were stunned and surprised that everything was destroyed except for the old womanʹs land. They came to speak with her: Why is it that your land was not destroyed? She replied: I kept by me a young monk who was very clever. I gave him food and lodging. You should ask him. They went to Milarepa. Why did this happen? they asked. He answered: You have made a lot of trouble for the students of my lama, Marpa. If you go to him and confess, then in the future such things will not happen. So they went to Marpa and confessed, promising not to harm his disciples. Afterwards, thinking about what he had done, Milarepa became depressed and discouraged. In the past he had killed human beings and he now realized that in sending hail he had killed a lot of small sentient beings as well. If I think of the causes and conditions for rebirth in a future life, I have killed many people, and now I have killed small sentient beings as well. I havenʹt been able to practice the Dharma properly and certainly Iʹll be born in the hell realms. He went to Marpa and begged him: My negative activity is increasing and certainly in the next life I will be born in a burning hot hell. Please, through your great compassion grant me the teachings of the Dharma. Marpa said: Indeed you have committed many negative actions and the antidote for the karma you have accumulated is the Dharma. However, if you think right now you are ready to get the precious Dharma for which I had to accumulate much gold to offer Naropa, and then travel along the hazardous route to India, if you think you are ready to get this now, you are overstepping yourself. Whatever work I have set out for you, you have done earnestly and well; however, in order to receive my Dharma, you must be someone who is willing to put their whole heart into it. Only that kind of person can truly receive my Dharma. Now I am going to test you to see if you have that kind of heart. I want you to build a house for my son Dharma Dode. 503
Once you have completed the house, I will give you the Dharma, and not only will I give you the Dharma, I will give you food and clothing as well. Milarepa asked, What happens if I die building this house before I can receive the Dharma? Marpa promised: I guarantee you will not die in building this house. You will receive the Dharma. Part three Hardships Serving His Guru Not far from where Marpa lived there was some open land in the middle of a village. The local people had all agreed that no one would own this land and it would be held in common. They had all signed a paper to this effect, except for Marpa, because he wanted to build a house there for his son. But he had to be clever about it. If he just went there and built it, the villagers would protest, so he had Milarepa first build a round house in the eastern direction. When Milarepa had half finished it, Marpa said: I donʹt think this turned out very well. He told Milarepa to tear it down, return all the stones to the place where he had taken them, and all the earth back to the holes where he had dug it. So Milarepa returned all the stones to their place, all the earth to where it belonged, and then went back to Marpa: I have followed all your commands, now please teach me the Dharma. Marpa replied It is not quite time yet. On the peak to the south, I want you to build a house in the shape of a half circle. Once you have finished building it, I will teach you the Dharma. Milarepa again went out and started collecting stones and earth and began to build up the walls of this second house. When he had progressed considerably, Marpa came to see him: Who told you to build this house? Milarepa said, You did.. Marpa replied I must have been drunk or crazy. I donʹt remember anything about telling you to build this house. So Milarepa again had to take down the house and return all the stones and all the earth back to their places. Having completed the task, Milarepa went back to Marpa and said, I have finished all the work you told me to do. Please grant me the teachings of Dharma. Marpa said to him Now in the future you shouldnʹt be doing work that you werenʹt told to do. Actually what really needs to be built is a triangular‐shaped building, which should be put on a peak in the western direction. If you finish this house, I will teach you the Dharma, and not only that, I will celebrate it with a great feast. This time Milarepa was a little anxious about the directive: Precious lama, the first time you said you hadnʹt thought it through very well, it wasnʹt what you really wanted, and the next time you said you really didnʹt remember having told me to build that house. Now again you are telling me to build a triangular‐shaped house. Would you mind if I brought in your wife as a witness to this? Marpa agreed that his wife Dagmema could be the witness. Dagmema said: Maybe this is work my husband doesnʹt really need. I am not really sure what the reason is behind all this work he has given you, but if it is done for the sake of the Dharma, then it is good work so I will be a witness. They wrote a letter that said once these walls were built, they would not be torn down and that Milarepa would receive Dharma teachings. 504
Again, Milarepa went to gather together earth and rocks to make a house, and slowly the walls of the house were built up. It was such heavy work however, that large sores began to appear on his back. Since he could no longer carry things on his back, he carried them on his hip, but then sores also developed there, and so he carried things on his chest and sores developed there. He was surrounded by sores, and not only that, the water and earth he was carrying to make mortar entered into them and it was very painful for him. Yet he thought, Well, this is the command of my lama and continued his work with diligence and energy. Though he was in such pain Milarepa reflected: I canʹt really show these sores or speak of these problems to Marpa because he is a very high lama and also he would probably get angry with me. His wife is full of compassion and kindness but if I show them to her, she would probably think I am proud of all the work Iʹve done. With no place to turn, he was filled with despair and weeping in the house. Dagmema came and asked him why he was crying, but Milarepa did not reply. She lifted up his chin and said: Donʹt cry; you will get the Dharma teaching. Milarepa finally told her his real feelings: You are kind to me as a mother. And in order to obtain the precious Dharma, I must build this house. Yet in building this house my body is becoming nothing but a huge wound. Until now I have worked as hard as I can carrying stones and earth, but it is extremely painful. Dagmema now looked at Milarepaʹs body which had been covered before, and seeing all his festering, open sores, she cried: You are right. Iʹve never seen such wounds on a human being before. Your situation is even worse than an animalʹs. A horse only gets saddle sores on its back, but you have them all over your body. I donʹt understand why Marpa is making you go through all of this. But stay here and I will take care of you. I will go to Marpa on your behalf and try to see if I canʹt arrange for you to receive the Dharma. Dagmema went to Marpa and described to him what Milarepa was going through, and Marpa also cried, Such diligence and great effort made for the sake of Dharma and to fulfill the commands of the lama makes me very happy. Marpa agreed that until Milarepaʹs wounds were healed, he could stay; Dagmema could give him good food and bring him back to health. She took good care of him and Milarepa was happy. His mind, however, was not satisfied; he had not yet received the Dharma. One day Marpa was giving the initiation of Chakrasamvara (Demchok). Many of his students had come and brought wonderful offerings. Milarepa also went and happily joined the crowd. But Marpa looked at him and said, What do you have to offer? Milarepa replied, Well, Iʹve been building this house and thatʹs my offering. Marpa admonished him: Youʹre building this house but itʹs not finished. Itʹs a finished house that you must offer. And he chased Milarepa away, but Milarepa did not leave immediately even though heʹd been told to. He made his request again: Please, let me stay and receive this initiation. Marpa came up to him, cuffed him across the face and tossed him outside. Milarepa went sobbing to Dagmema, who comforted him, Donʹt worry. Slowly, with time, you will receive the Dharma. Sometime after this initiation, Marpa came to Milarepa. We had a little bit of a set‐to the other day. Has your mind not turned against me for this? Milarepa replied, I have committed monstrous negative actions. They are the cause of the bad things that happen to me. My faith in the lama has not changed, not at all. Marpa said, Thatʹs true. I went through great difficulties in order to bring the Dharma back from India. So now, you go back and finish building the walls. 505
One day, Marpa came to Milarepa, who was in the process of building the triangular‐shaped house. Great Magician, who told you to build this house? Lama, you were the one who told me to build this house. Marpa retorted, This is a triangular‐shaped house. Triangular‐shaped houses are for evil magicians who use mantra in their practices. What are you doing? Planning on staying here and performing black magic on me? Are you going to kill me? Marpa commanded that he tear down this magicianʹs palace and replace the stones where they came from and carry the earth back to its place. Once more Milarepa returned and reported to Marpa that he had fulfilled his command. Marpa replied, ʺWell, what do you need then?ʺ ʺI need the Dharma. Please give me the Dharma,ʺ begged Milarepa. Marpa finally agreed and told Dagmema to make a very good meal and give it to Milarepa. Then Marpa gave him refuge vows and advice. He also gave him the short spiritual biography of Naropa that describes the twelve difficulties he had to go through. Marpa said to Milarepa, I have given you now what is called the common or general Dharma. As I said, if you want the uncommon or exceptional Dharma, you must have the capacity to go through extreme difficulties to demonstrate faith in the lama and to maintain stable, unchanging samaya. Is this something you can do? The fourth house that Milarepa was asked to buildt was to become the famous nine‐storied tower called Se Kar Gu Tok, ʺthe house with nine stories for the son.ʺ Marpa had drawn the plan for it on the ground, and Milarepa had started the construction. As the tower was located on the land of the village where no one was supposed to build, the people became concerned: Whatʹs going to happen with this house thatʹs going up on our land? Some thought, Well, maybe Marpa wonʹt really build it. Heʹs started all these other houses and theyʹve come down. Other people said: Well, I think heʹs just crazy. Heʹs having all these houses put up by this student whoʹs real strong. Three‐
cornered houses and four‐cornered houses, and theyʹre just going up and down and this one is going to come down, too, just like the rest of them. And then they said, If he doesnʹt destroy this house, then weʹll gather together and fight him. Weʹll bring it down ourselves. The nine‐story tower was built all the way up to the top. Milarepa built all himself, with not even one stone being carried by another person. He went through untold physical hardship, as related in his full biography, now published in English. By the end, the only thing missing was the roof. At last when the villagers realized that this one was not going to be destroyed, they got together and decided to attack it. Realizing what was happening, Marpa created an illusory army that circled the tower in all directions preventing anyone from coming close. The villagers were astounded. Where did all these soldiers come from to protect Marpa? Seeing they were up against a force beyond their strength, they went to Marpa, apologized, and promised that they would not destroy this tower. During the long and difficult period of the tower construction, no matter what Milarepa did, Marpa would never give him the teachings. Milarepa finally despaired: It looks as if Iʹm not going to get Dharma teachings from Marpa. Iʹll have to go to another lama. He went to Dagmema, and explained his thoughts to her. She consoled him, Well, itʹs all right. Youʹre not to blame for this. The lamaʹs very difficult, and heʹs given you a tough time. Keep working on the house, and I will work something out so that you can receive Dharma teachings. One day, Dagmema wrote a letter making it seem as if it came from Marpa, and sent it to one of his main disciples, Lama Nyokpa. It read, ʺIʹm extremely busy. Thereʹs much to do, too many students, and I canʹt give teaching to this Great Magician. Please, give him some Dharma teachings.ʺ There was a festival coming up, a 506
grand ritual celebration, and Dagmema had made some beer, actually very strong beer, which she gave to Marpa during the ceremonies. He got quite drunk and she was able to take his seal and stamp the letter. In Tibet, letters are not signed, but stamped with a personal seal, which is guarded carefully. Then Dagmema borrowed, so to speak, a ruby mala that had belonged to Naropa and also bone ornaments that had belonged to him. She sent these along with the letter as a sign that this was the real thing. Giving the letter, the ruby mala, and the bones to Milarepa, Dagmema said: Here, take these blessed objects and this letter, but donʹt say Iʹm the one who gave them to you. Pretend they are from Marpa and that you are one of his disciples. Take these to Lama Ngokpa. I will say prayers for you. Practice diligently. Donʹt have any wrong views about Marpa. I have great hope that you will indeed receive teachings from him eventually. She gave him tea, butter, and something like Tibetan cheesecake and sent him on his way. When Milarepa left, he was of two minds. On the one hand, he was very happy because he was finally going to receive the Dharma, and on the other he was sad for he had to separate from Dagmema, who had been so kind to him. He shed tears and asked her, ʺPlease do not forget me. Keep me in your prayers. Make prayers that we will meet again, and I will do the same.ʺ And so he parted from her. As Milarepa went along his way, he asked where Lama Ngokpaʹs house was and finally found it. As he approached, Lama Ngokpa was sitting on a high throne teaching hundreds of students. When Milarepa came to him, he was reciting these lines: I am the one who explains, I am the Dharma that is explained, and I am those who have gathered to hear the teachings. I am the guide of the world and the one who creates the world. I am of the world and beyond it. I am the true nature of spontaneous bliss. In Tibetan tradition, the point at which teachings are interrupted by such an event are considered very significant. Milarepa bowed to Lama Ngokpa from a distance. The lama stood up on his high throne, took off his hat, and bowed in response to Milarepaʹs prostrations. The students were surprised and asked their lama, Who is this that youʹre treating with such respect? Lama Ngokpa replied, Ask him who he is. His way of prostrating is like that of Marpa, so I assumed he was his disciple and bowed to him. One of the students approached and questioned Milarepa who responded as Dagmema had told him‐‐he lied. He said that he was a student of Marpaʹs, that he had come to take Dharma teachings from Lama Ngokpa, that Marpa had sent him, and that he had brought a ruby mala and bone ornaments from Naropa as confirmation. When Lama Ngokpa heard this from his students, he was extremely happy. Wonderful! Tell him not to come right away, but to wait. The students brought Milarepa some beer to drink, and said that they were going to form a great procession for him in the traditional style with victory banners, music, and the monks wearing all their fine robes. Milarepa was asked to wait until they could receive him properly. He was exuberant. With all the brilliant ceremony he thought had arrived in the land of the gods and now at least he was going to receive the teaching. He reflected this was all due to the kindness of Dagmema and shed tears remembering her. Lama Ngokpa gave Milarepa teachings and also taught him how to practice. Milarepa meditated for quite a while, but nothing happened‐‐nothing at all. There were no signs of realization, no experiences, nothing. Lama Ngokpa was astounded: With these teachings, thereʹs no way that nothing can happen. Whatʹs going on? He began to have some doubts, so he questioned Milarepa more closely, and finally Milarepa told 507
the truth: Well, actually, that letter wasnʹt from Marpa and neither was the mala or the bone ornaments. Lama Ngokpa replied, Well, that must be the truth, because without the lamaʹs blessing, experience and realization cannot arise. About this time a letter arrived for Lama Ngokpa from Marpa. It read: ʺThe house is finally finished and Iʹm going to have a big celebration in honor of this occasion. Please come with your students and bring whatever you have to offer. As for that lousy student of mine, you can bring him along, too.ʺ Except for one goat with a bad leg, which he thought wasnʹt good enough to offer and thus left at home, Lama Ngokpa took everything he had gathered throughout his life as an offering to Marpa. As they approached Marpaʹs house, Lama Ngokpa felt a little tired, it having been a long journey, and so he said to Milarepa: You go on ahead, and from the house bring me out some beer to drink. Before we get there, Iʹd like to just rest a little bit. Milarepa went to the house and met Dagmema, who was delighted to see him. He delivered Lama Ngokpaʹs message and Dagmema said, Fine, but first we should go and greet Marpa. Milarepa explained to Marpa that Lama Ngokpa had come, that he was a little tired from the journey and that he would like some beer. Marpa became furious: What! I went to India at the risk of my life to get this Dharma teaching from Naropa. No one was there to greet me with beer. Whatʹs this person talking about? If he wants beer, he can come to the house. Once again Dagmema demonstrated kindness, and sent beer out to them. Soon, the party arrived at Marpaʹs house. Lama Ngokpa then said to Marpa, I give you power over my body, speech, and mind, and all the wealth that I have. Whatever I possess, I offer to you. The only thing I havenʹt offered you is one goat with a bad leg. I ask you to give me the special instructions of the Dakinis. Marpa replied, All the other Dharma I know I have given you, but if you want to receive this secret instruction of the Dakinis, youʹll have to bring me that goat. Lama Ngokpa himself went back to his house and fetched the goat. It took him one day to return to his house, and then he walked the whole night back with the goat on his shoulders and offered it to Marpa. Part four Empowerment and Attainment Marpa was very happy: In order for you to receive these teachings, I really didnʹt need this goat. However, there was a purpose in your going to get it. You demonstrated great respect for these teachings, and showed that youʹre the proper kind of student. Whatever kind of difficulty youʹre given, youʹre able to carry through. This shows the strength of your devotion. Lama Ngokpa and all his students assembled for the empowerment, and yet again Milarepa was not allowed to attend. At this point, he was totally depressed. Extremely disappointed, he said: Iʹm going to jump in the river. Iʹm going to end it all. This is more than I can take. As he lifted up his things to put them on his back, he reflected that this indeed was a human body he had attained, despite having done a lot of negative things; moreover, in the future it wasnʹt certain that he would again attain a human body and meet a real lama. So again, he decided to stay but remained in a very distressed state of mind. Through his omniscient knowledge, Marpa knew what was happening within Milarepaʹs mind. When Dagmema came before him again, she said: Through all these hardships, this wonderful student of yours has neither rejected you nor the Dharma. Not once 508
has he turned his mind away from the Dharma no matter how difficult it was. She begged Marpa to give him teachings. Marpa finally assented and told Lama Ngokpa and his students to fill the shrine with abundant offerings, for that day the guest of honor would be Milarepa. First they made a place for Milarepa to sit because he didnʹt even have a seat of his own. Then Marpa briefly gave him a teaching on the Dharma in general, which included fulfilling the commands of the teacher and undergoing hardships for the sake of the Dharma. During the initiation of Chakrasamvara, Milarepa experienced directly the face of the yidam deity. Marpa held up a kapala filled with amrita, which functioned as a support for visualization. He dipped his index finger in the amrita and told Milarepa to look at it with great faith. In the sky in front of him, Milarepa saw the full mandala of Chakrasamvara‐‐the main deity and retinue with all the offerings complete. In complete unity with the deity Chakrasamvara, Marpa made a prophesy about Milarepa based on the empty copper pot with four handles that Milarepa had given him when he first came. The four handles represented the four main heart sons of Marpa, of which Milarepa was one. The fact that the pot was empty meant that he was going to have some problems with food during his practice in this life, but Marpa had filled it with melted butter and this meant that, in the future, his lineage would be very fruitful. He would have many excellent students and through them, the Buddhaʹs teaching would spread widely. Gods and men would sing praises to Milarepa and he would be able to prolong his life through the practice of samadhi. Above in the sky, all the gods were happy. In the earth, all the nagas were happy. And in between, in the realm of human beings, everyone was happy. After receiving initiation into the lineage of the deity, the reading transmission, and the secret oral instructions for the practice, Milarepa began his formal practice by going into retreat for eleven months. Balancing a full butter lamp on top of his head, he stayed in a cave that was walled in. Day and night he practiced in this way. At the end of the eleven months, Marpa and Dagmema came see him. Through the sealed cave, Marpa asked him, Youʹve been in retreat now for eleven months. Tell me, what are your experiences? What are the realizations you have achieved? Milarepa had been inside the cave for so long he was hesitant to come out. He didnʹt feel he could break down the wall himself, as he had taken a vow to be in retreat. Ever helpful, Dagmema said Youʹre right. Iʹll break it down for you. Then come out swiftly to meet your teacher, for your minds are in harmony. You have not broken any of your promises, so itʹs all right to come out. The wall to the cave was broken, and Milarepa emerged, made prostrations to Marpa and received his blessing. Milarepa was then led into the circle of disciples. Marpa gave Milarepa a kapala (skull cup) full of amrita, and Milarepa drank it all. Then, together with all the disciples, Marpa gave teachings on the nature of the mind. In addition, he bestowed initiations of various yidam deities, which matured the vajra body, speech, and mind of Milarepa. (It was these yidam deities who gave Milarepa the name Zhepa Dorje, the Laughing Vajra.) There were many auspicious signs at the time, such as flowers falling from the sky. Marpa and Dagmema gave Milarepa another name: Mila Dorje Gyaltsen, Vajra Victory Banner. After the initiations, Marpa gathered all students around him and addressed Milarepa. Great Magician, you are my karmically connected son. I knew this from the very beginning. When I was plowing the field, that was my way of going out meet you. (In Tibet, there is the tradition that when someone important comes, you donʹt wait home, but you 509
go out to meet them. The more important they are, the farther out you meet them.) However, you had killed many people and other sentient beings. In order to purify these negative actions, you had to go through all trials. Eight times you were thrown into despair. All these occasions were to purify negative actions, to make stronger your renunciation of samsara. Now, during this time, my wife, Dagmema, who has great compassion, was very kind to you. She gave you food and comforted you again and again, but this made for an imperfect situation. She did not challenge you enough, and, therefore, not all of your negative actions have been purified. You must go to a solitary place in the mountains and practice in retreat to slowly purify yourself of these negative actions. Although you went through great difficulties, never did you have wrong views, either about Dharma or myself. This is very wonderful: due to this circumstance, in the future your students will be genuine practitioners. They will also have faith and will not generate a negative view. Marpa continued: The view and the practice of Dharma that I teach is extremely important, wondrous, and most unusual, because within the secret Vajrayana, thereʹs a special link between the lama and the student. Whatever happens between the two of them happens in order to develop the qualities of the student. If anger arises, itʹs not a normal arising of anger. There is a purpose to it. All of the Dharma teachings that I brought back from India at the risk of my life, I will give to you. First, you have stayed eleven months in retreat, please tell us what kind of experience and what kind of realization you have attained. Milarepa responded: Thanks to the blessings of the Buddhas, the Bodhisattvas, my lama and his wife, I was able to attain a little bit of experience, a little bit of realization. In this completely matured body, this physical form of mine, it is possible to reach Buddhahood. This body is a boat that will take me across samsara to Buddhahood. However, itʹs also possible that I can use this very body to accumulate negative karma, and this will lead to rebirth in the hell realms. There is a choice. I can turn my mind towards positive activity and achieve Buddhahood in one lifetime or I can turn my mind toward negative activity and go to the hell realm. In order to cross over this fearsome ocean of samsara, the only protection is the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. I go to them for refuge. Amongst these three, the most important is the lama. It is through faith and samaya with the lama that protection comes. There are also the four thoughts that turn the mind: the precious human rebirth, impermanence, karmic cause and effect, and the imperfections of samsara. Meditating upon these turns oneʹs mind away from samsara. Then one generates bodhicitta, the mind of awakening, practices and dedicates any virtue for the benefit of all sentient beings. In this way, one enters the Mahayana path. (Milarepa spoke further, but this is a brief summary of what he said.) Within the Tibetan tradition, after one receives an introduction to the nature of the mind or some instruction from a lama and practices it, one offers to the lama oneʹs experience of realization. Whatever happened during the practice, exactly as it happened, without exaggerating or without forgetting anything, one relates only to the lama, not anyone else. Marpa was extremely happy with Milarepaʹs account: This is most excellent. You are truly a karmically connected, strong student. And in the future I will give you progressively all the oral instructions, and you must then give yourself fully to these practices. After celebrating Milarepaʹs emergence from the retreat, Marpa gave him more instructions in private for his next meditation practice. Not long into the next retreat, though, a blue dakini with golden hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes appeared to Milarepa in a dream . She said to him, Practicing the Six Yogas of Naropa is very good. However, there is one teaching that has not been obtained. Itʹs called ʹThe Instantaneous Attainment of Enlightenment.ʹ It is a kind of powa practice enabling you to send your consciousness into another body after you die. You must go ask for this. Having given this advice, she 510
disappeared. Milarepa then broke down the wall of his cave and went to Marpa, who was astounded to see him. Well, I just put you in retreat, what are you doing here? Why did you come out so quickly? Isnʹt this an obstacle to your practice? Milarepa explained to him that a dakini had appeared to him and told him that this teaching of powa had not been received and that it should be asked for. Was this appearance real or not? Was it a hindrance or not? Please tell me, he asked. Marpa replied, This is a true prophesy from a dakini. When I was with Naropa, he did speak of this kind of powa practice, but I really donʹt remember whether I have received the teachings or not. So they pulled out all the texts that Marpa had brought back from India, and spent days going through them looking for the teaching, but they could not find it. Marpa again undertook the arduous journey to India to meet Naropa. Marpa did not find him in his usual place, as Naropa had become a realized siddha, and moved freely. After a long search, he found him, and together they went to Pullahari, north of Bodh Gaya, where Naropa had a place of retreat. It was there that Marpa asked Naropa for the powa instructions. Naropa asked: Is this something coming from you yourself? Did you want to receive this, or is this something that a yidam deity told you to request? And Marpa said, No, it isnʹt from me. I did not receive this from a yidam. It was my student Good News. Naropa put his palms together and, bowing towards Tibet, he recited these famous four lines: In the thick darkness of the north, like the sun glistening on the snow, there is one called Good News; it is to this one that I bow.ʺ It is said that at Pullahari, all the trees around the retreat hut of Naropa remain bowing towards Tibet. Naropa also gave Marpa many other teachings, including the Whispered Lineage of the Dakinis. He prophesied that, in the future, the Dharma lineage of Marpa would be masters of this practice, and that his Dharma descendants would maintain his lineage and practice it well. When Naropa had finished giving him these teachings, Marpa emerged from the hut, and once outside he bowed again to Naropa. (This was actually the last time he met him.) As Marpa was making his bows, he left a footprint in the rock that is still visible. When Marpa returned to Tibet, he gave Milarepa, his main disciple, every single initiation that he had received, including the Whispered Instructions of the Dakini lineage. Marpa told Milarepa and the assembled disciples, Now I have given you everything I received from Naropa. There were, however, other disciples of Naropa who received different teachings, and Marpa encouraged Milarepa and his other students to go and meet them in order to obtain the remaining instructions. In this way, Marpaʹs students would maintain Naropaʹs lineage. While Marpa was in India, Naropa had also prophesied to him that Milarepa should go back into retreat and pointed out a particular cave. Following these instructions, Milarepa went back into retreat, with the continuing support of Marpa and Dagmema. During this practice, he had deep experience and realization. After many years, Marpa called all of his students together. He said, We are maintaining the lineage of Naropa, and we should now look into the future to see what will happen to this lineage. Tonight, watch your dreams carefully, and in the morning, let me know what youʹve seen. Milarepa dreamt of four great pillars, one in each direction. In the eastern direction was Tsurton Wangye, one of the four main disciples. The snow lion on top of his pillar signified that he had a heart like a lion. In the southern direction was Lama Ngokpa, to whom Dagmema had sent Milarepa for teaching. On top of this pillar was a 511
tiger, symbolizing the character of Lama Ngokpa. In the western direction was Meton of Tsangrong, and his symbol was the garuda. On the northern pillar was a vulture, and this represented Milarepa. Each one of the four has an extensive explanation but here we will focus on Milarepa. In Tibet, the vulture is considered a being who can endure all kinds of hardship. Vultures also come to eat the bodies that are offered at the cemeteries. They can even eat the bones, which indicates that they have a lot of fire in their bodies that allows them to digest anything. Milarepaʹs specialty was the practice of tummo, which is related to fire. In the dream, the vultureʹs feathers were all in place and they were beautiful with no fault whatsoever. This was a sign that all of the instructions Milarepa received would abide within his mindstream and he would remember them perfectly. The vultureʹs nest is usually high up on the rocks, and this was a sign that Milarepa would have a long life. Milarepa also dreamed that the vulture had many offspring, and that was a sign that Milarepa would have incomparable disciples. Flying around the vulture in the sky were many different kinds of birds. This was a sign that the Kagyu teachings would increase and spread. The vultureʹs eyes looked upward into the sky, signifying that Milarepa had cut his ties to samsara and that in the future, he would not need to take physical birth. At the end of the dream, the vulture flew into the sky, showing that Milarepa would reach the expanse of liberation, or the level of Buddhahood. After interpreting the dream, Marpa said, I have explained all this to you and my work now is finished. Itʹs your turn, my disciples, to do the work. And if my words are not false, but true; and if they have the strength to endure, then in the future, this practice lineage will flourish. According to Marpaʹs prophesy, one of the little vultures represented Gampopa, who became one of Milarepaʹs foremost disciples. It is said that his sun‐like disciple was Dakpo Laje, the doctor from Dakpo, or Gampopa, and that his moon‐like disciple was Rechungpa, Rechung Dorje Drakpa. Milarepa had many other close and highly realized disciples who taught and matured their own disciples and so the lineage continued. Flowing from Milarepaʹs teaching and lineage, the Kagyu tradition did spread and flourish. This hagiography is based on a teaching given at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra by the Ven. Bardor Tulku Rinpoche in December of 1992, translated and edited by Michele Martin. 512
Teachings of Milarepa Song of Transience with Eight Similes The Fleeting Bubbles Karma and Suffering The Song of Transience and Delusion Meditation, Study and Preaching The Deer and the Hunter Six Perfections Further Teachings on the Six Perfections It is Good For You Meditation is Service 513
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Milarepa Song of Transience with Eight Similes Upon the arrival of autumn, Milarepa decided to leave Upper Lowo where he had been preaching the Dharma during the summer, and go to Di Se Snow Mountain. His patrons gave him a farewell party, circling around him, and made offerings and obeisance. They said: ʺBe kind enough to give us, your disciples, some instructions and advice.ʺ The Jetsun then emphasized the transiency of all beings, admonishing them to practise Dharma earnestly. And he sang; Faithful disciples here assembled (ask yourselves): ʺHave I practiced Dharma with great earnestness? Has the deepest faith arisen in my heart?ʺ He who wants to practice Dharma and gain non‐regressive faith, Should listen to this exposition of the Mundane Truths And ponder well their meaning. Listen to these parables and metaphors: A painting of gold, Flowers of turquoise blue, Floods in the vale above, Rice in the vale below, Abundance of silk, A jewel of value, The crescent moon, And a precious son ‐ These are the eight similes. No one has sung before Such casual words (on this), No one can understand their meaning If he heeds not the whole song. The gold painting fades when it is completed ‐ This shows the illusory nature of all beings, This proves the transient nature of all things. 515
Think, then you will practice Dharma. The lovely flowers of turquoise blue Are destroyed in time by frost ‐ This shows the illusory nature of all beings, This proves the transient nature of all things. Think, then you will practice Dharma. The flood sweeps strongly down the vale above, Soon becoming weak and tame in plain below ‐ This shows the illusory nature of all beings, This proves the transient nature of all things. Think, then you will practice Dharma. Rice grows in the vale below; Soon with a sickle it is reaped ‐ This shows the illusory nature of all beings, This proves the transient nature of all things. Think, then you will practice Dharma. Elegant silken cloth Soon with a knife is cut ‐ This shows the illusory nature of all beings, This proves the transient nature of all things. Think, then you will practice Dharma. The precious jewel that you cherish Soon will belong to others ‐ This shows the illusory nature of all beings, This proves the transient nature of all things. Think, then you will practice Dharma. The pale moonbeams soon will fade and vanish ‐ This shows the illusory nature of all beings, This proves the transient nature of all things. Think, then you will practice Dharma. A precious son is born; Soon he is lost and gone ‐ This shows the illusory nature of all beings, This proves the transient nature of all things. Think, then you will practice Dharma. These are the eight similes I sing. I hope you will remember and practice them. Affairs and business will drag on forever, So lay them down and practice now the Dharma. If you think tomorrow is the time to practice, Suddenly you find that life has slipped away. Who can tell when death will come? Ever think of this, And devote yourselves to Dharma practice. 516
Milarepa The Fleeting Bubbles Travelling with his disciples, Milarepa came to Din Ri Namar where he enquired for the name of the outstanding patron. Learning that physician Yang Nge was a devoted Buddhist, he proceeded to his house where the physician said, ʺIt is said that Jetsun Milarepa can use anything at hand as a metaphor for preaching. Now please use bubbles of water in this ditch before us as a metaphor and give us a discourse.ʺ In response, Jetsun sang a song ‐ I pay homage to my gracious Guru ‐ Pray make everyone here think of the Dharma! As he said once, ʺLike bubbles is This life, transient and fleeting ‐ In it no assurance can be found.ʺ A laymanʹs life is like a thief Who sneaks into an empty house. Know you not the folly of it? Youth is like a summer flower ‐ Suddenly it fades away. Old age is like a fire spreading Through the fields ‐ suddenly ʹtis at your heals. The Buddha once said, ʺBirth and death Are like sunrise and sunset ‐ Now come, now go.ʺ Sickness is like a little bird Wounded by a sling. Know you not, health and strength Will in time desert you? Death is like an oil‐dry lamp (After its last flicker). Nothing, I assure you, In this world is permanent. 517
Evil Karma is like a waterfall, Which I have never seen flow upward. A sinful man is like a poisonous tree ‐ If you lean on it, you will injured be. Transgressors are like frost‐bitten peas ‐ Like spoiled fat, they ruin everything. Dharma‐practisers are like peasants in the field ‐ With caution and vigour they will be successful. The Guru is like medicine and nectar ‐ Relying on him, one will win success. Discipline is like a watchmanʹs tower ‐ Observing it, one will attain Accomplishment. The Law of Karma is like Samsaraʹs wheel ‐ Whoever breaks it will suffer a great loss. Samsara is like a poisonous thorn In the flesh ‐ if not pulled out, The poison will increase and spread. The coming of death is like the shadow Of a tree at sunset ‐ It runs fast and none can halt it. When that time comes, What else can help but Holy Dharma? Though Dharma is the fount of victory. Those who aspire to it are rare. Scores of men are tangled in The miseries of Samsara; Into this misfortune born, They strive by plunder and theft for gain. He who talks on Dharma With elation is inspired, But when a task is set him, He is wrecked and lost. Dear patrons, do not talk too much, But practise the Holy Dharma. 518
Milarepa Karma and Suffering This song is a further response by Milarepa to the physicians enquiry .... called, The Fleeting Bubbles ʺThis is indeed very helpful to mind,ʺ commented the physician, ʺbut please preach still further for me on the truth of Karma and the suffering of birth, old age illness and death, thus enabling me to gain a deeper conviction in Buddha dharma.ʺ In response, the Jestsun sang: Please listen to these words, Dear friends here assembled. When you are young and vigorous You neʹer think of old age coming, But it approaches slow and sure Like a seed growing underground. When you are strong and healthy You neʹer think of sickness coming, But it descends with sudden force Like a stroke of lighting. When involved in worldly things You neʹer think of deathʹs approach. Quick it comes like thunder Crashing round your head. Sickness, old age and death Ever meet each other As do hands and mouth. Waiting for his prey in ambush, Yama is ready for his victim, When disaster catches him. Sparrows fly in singles file. Like them, Life, Death and Bardo follow one another. Never apart from you 519
Are these three ʹvisitorsʹ. Thus thinking, fear you not Your sinful deeds? Like strong arrows in ambush waiting, Rebirth in Hell, as Hungry Ghost, or Beast Is (the destiny) waiting to catch you. If once into their traps you fall, Hard will you find it to escape. Do you not fear the miseries You experienced in the past? Surely you will feel much pain If misfortunes attack you? The woes of life succeed one another Like the seaʹs incessant waves‐‐‐ One has barely passed, before The next one takes its place. Until you are liberated, pain and pleasure come and go at random Like passers‐by encountered in the street. Pleasures are precarious, Like bathing in the sun; Transient, too, as snowstorms Which come without warning. Remembering these things, Why not practise the Dharma? Note: Yama ‐ The Lord of Hell before whom, according to some accounts, evil‐doers are dragged and tried. Such visions seen by one arising in the Hells are often explained as mental projections appearing very real to those who see them. They are, of course, the fruit (phala, vipaka) of unskillful action (akusala kamma). 520
Milarepa The Song of Transiency and Delusion Rechungpa after returning from India had contracted the disease of pride and in various ways Milarepa tried to cure him. As his disciple required food, they went for alms but were abused by an old woman who declared that she had no food. The next morning they found her dead and Milarepa said: ʺRechungpa, like this woman, every sentient being is destined to die, but seldom do people think of this fact. So they lose many opportunities to practise the Dharma. Both you and I should remember this incident and learn a lesson from it.ʺ Whereupon, he sang: When the transience of life strikes deeply into oneʹs heart Oneʹs thought and deeds will naturally accord with Dharma. If repeated and continuously one thinks about death, One can easily conquer the demons of laziness. No one knows when death will descend upon him ‐ Just as this woman last night! Rechungpa, do not be harsh, and listen to your Guru! Behold, all manifestations in the outer world Are ephemeral like a dream last night! One feels utterly lost in sadness When one thinks of this passing dream. Rechungpa, have you completely wakened From this great puzzlement? Oh, the more I think of this, The more I aspire to Buddha and the Dharma. The pleasure‐yearning human body is an ungrateful creditor. Whatever good you do to it, It always plants the seeds of pain. This human body is a bag of filth and dirt; Never be proud of it, Rechungpa, But listen to my song! 521
When I look back at my body, I see it as a mirage‐city; Though I may sustain it for a while, It is doomed to extinction. When I think of this, My heart is filled with grief! Rechungpa, would you not cut off Samsara? Oh, the more I think of this, The more I think of Buddha and the Dharma! A vicious person can never attain happiness. Errant thoughts are the cause of all regrets, Bad dispositions are the cause of all miseries, Never be voracious, oh Rechungpa, But listen to my song! When I look back at my clinging mind, It appears like a short‐lived sparrow in the woods ‐ Homeless, and with nowhere to sleep; When I think of this, my heart is filled with grief. Rechungpa, will you let yourself indulge in ill‐will? Oh, the more I think of this, The more I aspire to Buddha and the Dharma! Human life is as precarious As a single slim hair of a horseʹs tail Hanging on the verge of breaking; It may be snuffed out at anytime Like this old woman was last night! Do not cling to this life, Rechungpa, But listen to my song! When I observe inwardly my breathings I see they are transient, like the fog; They may vanish any moment into nought. When I think of this, my heart is filled with grief. Rechungpa, do you not want to conquer That insecurity now? Oh, the more I think of this, The more I aspire to Buddha and the Dharma. To be close to wisked kinsmen only causes hatred. The case of this old woman is a very good lesson. Rechungpa, stop your wishful‐thinking And listen to my song! When I look at friends and consorts They appear as passers‐by in the bazaar; Meeting with them is only temporary, But seperation is forever! When I think of this, my heart is filled with grief. 522
Rechungpa, do you not want to cast aside All worldly associations? Oh, the more I think of this, The more I think of Buddha and the Dharma. A rich man seldom enjoys The wealth that he has earned; This is the mockery of Karma and Samsara, Money and jewels gained through stinginess and toil Are like this old womanʹs bag of food. Do not be covetous, Rechungpa, But listen to my song! When I look at the fortunes of the rich, They appear to me like honey to the bees ‐ Hard work, serving only for othersʹ enjoyment, Is the fruit of their labour. When I think of this, my heart is filled with grief. Rechungpa, do you not want to open The treasury within your mind? Oh, the more I think of this, The more I aspire to Buddha and his Teachings. 523
Milarepa Meditation, Study and Preaching Drashi Tse, a patron, once asked Milarepa: ʹDo you think I should concentrate my effort on meditation alone or not?ʹ The Jetsun replied, ʹIt is for the very sake of practice that the Dharma is preached and studied. If one does not practise or meditate both studying and preaching will be meaningless.ʹ : Hearken, my faithful patrons! Even sinful persons, Not knowing the great power of Karma, Dream of achieving Liberation, Life wears out as days and years go by, Yet in pursuing pleasures People spend their lives.They ask ʹWill this month or year be good?ʹ Blind to lifeʹs speedy passing, Fools cherish foolish questions. He who truly wants to practise Dharma Should make offerings to the Holy Ones, Take Refuge in the Triple Gem, Give service to the Jetsun Guru, Pay respect to his parents, Give alms without hoping for reward. He should offer help to those in need, He should live and act up to The Dharmaʹs principles. Not much is needed for Buddhist practice; Too many vows lead to self‐cheating. Dear patrons, try to practise what I say. 524
Milarepa The Deer and the Hunter When Milarepa was sitting in meditation, a frightened deer dashed by, followed by a ravening hound. By the power of his loving‐kindness and compassion (Metta‐Karuna), Milarepa made them lie down one on either side of him, and then preached to them. Then came the fierce and proud huntsman, Chirawa Gwunbo Dorje, who was enraged by the sight of the Jetsun and shot and arrow at him, but missed. Milarepa sang to him and his heart began to turn to the Dharma. Then the hunter saw that Milarepa was living an austere life and great faith arose in him. He wished then to practice Dharma after talking with his family but the Jetsun warned him that his present meritorious thought might change and he sang: Hearken, hearken, huntsman! Though the thunder crashes, It is but empty sound; Though the rainbow is richly‐coloured, It will soon fade away. The pleasures of this world are like dream‐visions; Though one enjoy them, they are the source of sin. Though all we see may sem to be eternal, It will soon fall to pieces and will disappear. Yesterday perhaps one had enough or more, All today is gone and nothingʹs left; Last year one was alive, this year one dies. Good food turns into poison, 525
And the beloved companion turns into a foe. Harsh words and complaints requite Good‐will and gratitude. Your sins hurt no one but yourself. Among one hundred heads, you value most your own. In all ten fingers, if one is cut, you feel the pain. Among all things you value, yourself is valued most. The time has come for you to help yourself. Life flees fast. Soon death Will knock upon your door. it is foolish, therefore, oneʹs devotion to postpone. What else can loving kinsmen do But throw one into Samsara? To strive for happiness hereafter Is more important than to seek it now. The time has come for you to rely upon a Guru, The time has come to practise Dharma. 526
Milarepa Six Perfections Two scholar‐bhikkhus came to argue about the Dharma with Milarepa but the discussion (which was a demonstration of his mastery of meditation) turned against them. Upon which, one of them asked for his instruction in the Six Paramitas. In answer, Milarepa sang: If from parsimony one cannot free oneself, What is the use of discussing charity? (dana) If one does not forswear hypocrisy and pretence, What is the use of keeping discipline? (sila) If one abjures not malicious revilings, What is the use of exercising pretentious ʺpatienceʺ? (khanti) If one abandons not indifference and inertness, What is the use of swearing to be moral? (viriya) If one conquers not the errant thoughts within, What is the use of toiling in meditation? (samadhi) If one does not see all forms as helpful, What is the use of practising the Wisdoem (panna) If one knows not the profound teaching Of forbidding and allowing, What is the use of learning? If one knows not the art of taking and rejecting, What is the use speaking on Karma‐causation? If oneʹs mind does not accord with the Dharma, What is the use of joining the Order? If the poisonous snake of Klesa (*41) is not killed, The yearning for wisdom only leads to fallacy. If venomous jealousy is not overcome, Oneʹs yearning for the Bodhi‐mind will be an illusion. If one refrains not from hurting people, Oneʹs longing for respect and honour Is merely wishful thinking. If one cannot conquer ego‐clinging and prejudice, 527
Oneʹs craving for the Equality of Dharma Only brings wrong views. If one cannot subdue the demon, clinging‐ego, Oneʹs Klesas will be great and his Yoga bound to fail. If oneʹs actions conform not with the Dharma. One will always hinder the good deeds of others. If one has not yet absorbed oneʹs mind in Dharma, Oneʹs babbling and prattling will only disturb othersʹ minds. Therefore, do not waste your life in words and chatter But try to gain the assurance of no‐regret And the confidence of facing death! Milarepa said: ʺDear teachers, the proverb says: ʹJudging from the complexion of his face, one knows whether a man has eaten or notʹ. In the same light, the fact that one knows not or knows the Dharma, can easily be detected by whether or not one can conquer oneʹs own ego‐clinging desires. If he can, that proves that one knows and practises the Buddhist Teachings. One may be very eloquent talking about the Dharma and win all the debates, but if one cannot subdue even a fraction of oneʹs ego‐clinging and desires, but merely indulges oneself in words and talk, oneʹs victories in debate will never bring one any profit but will only increase oneʹs egotism arid pride. Further Teachings on the Six Perfections One of the scholar‐bhikkhus who had previously been Opposed to the Jetsun, gradually acquired faith in him and eventually came to him for the Dharma, requesting, ʺNow please be kind enough to instruct me in the essence of the Six Paramitas.ʺ In response, the Jetsun sang: I am not well‐versed in words Being no scholar‐preacher, Yet this petitioner is sincere and good. The Six Paramita contain all Buddhist teachings. To those who practise Dharma, Wealth is but a cause of diversion. He who gives his (wealth) all away, Will be born a Prince of Heaven. Noble is it to practise charity! Moral discipline is a ladder to Liberation Which neither monks nor laymen can discard All Buddhist followers should practise it! Buddhist patience, by the Patience‐preacher exemplified, Is it virtue which the Buddha cherished most It is a garment difficult to wear, Yet all merits grow when it is worn. Diligence is the short path to Freedom And a necessity for Dharma‐practice. 528
Without it nothing can be done. Ride then upon the horse of diligence! These four Dharmas bring merit to men, Being indispensable for all. Now I will speak of Wisdom. Meditation is a teaching between these two, As it applies both to Wisdom and Merit practice, By it all distractions are overcome For all Buddhist practice, it is most important. Wisdom‐Paramita is the teaching of Final Truth, The dearest treasure of all Buddhas. Enjoy it then without exhaustion, It is the Wish‐fulfilling Gem of Heaven, Fulfilling the hopes of all sentient beings. To those who can renounce activities, Wisdom‐Paramita will bring final rest. This provision of Wisdom is most precious; Whereby one will reach perfection step by step. This is my reply, Venerable Monk, Remember and practise it with joy! 529
It is Good For You Rechungpa had a wish to visit Central Tibet (Weu) but Milarepa tried to dissuade him from going by saying that it was not yet the right time for him to leave his Guru. But Rechungpa still kept pressing his request. Whereupon the Jetsun sang: It is good for you, the white lion on the mountain, To stay high, and never go deep into the valley, Lest your beautiful mane be sullied! To keep it in good order, You should remain on the high snow mountain. Rechungpa, hearken to my words today! It is good for you, the great eagle, on high rocks To perch, and never fall into a pit, Lest your mighty wings be damaged! To keep them in good order, You should remain in the high hills. Rechungpa, hearken to your Guruʹs words! It is good for you, the jungle tiger, To stay in the deep forest: if you rove About the plain, you will lose your dignity! To keep your splendour in perfection, In the forest you should remain. Rechungpa, hearken to your Guruʹs words! It is good for you, the golden‐eyed fish, To swim in the central sea; If you swim too close to the shore, You will in a net be caught. You should remain in the deep waters. Rechungpa, hearken to your Guruʹs words! It is good for you, Rechungdordra of Gung Tang, For you to stay in hermitages; If you wander in different places, Your experience and realization will dim. To protect and cultivate devotion You should remain in the mountains. Rechungpa, hearken to your Guruʹs words! 530
Milarepa Meditation is Service Five young nuns from Mon had become Milarepaʹs disciples. Having dwelt with him for some time, they decided to invite him to their village (whence they thought of returning). They said to him: Revered One, since your mind no longer changes, there is no need for you to practise meditation. Therefore, for the sake of sentient beings please come to our village and preach the Dharma for us.ʺ Milarepa replied, ʺPractising meditation in solitude is, in itself, a service to the people. Although my mind no longer changes, it is still a good tradition for a great yogi to remain in solitude.ʺ He then sang: Throught the practice (of meditation) I show gratitude to my Guru. Pray grant me your grace, ripen and liberate me. You gifted disciples, followers of Dharma, Heed carefuly, with all attention, While I sing of the profound Essential Teaching. The Great Lioness of the upper snow mountain Poses proudly on the summit of the peak; She is not afraid ‐ Proudly dwelling on the mountain Is the snow lionʹs way. The Queen Vulture on Red Rock Stretches her wings in the wide sky, She is not afraid of falling ‐ Flying through the sky is the vultureʹs way. In the depth of the great ocean Darts the Queen of Fish, glittering; She is not afraid (of drowning) ‐ 531
Swimming is the fishʹs way. On the branches of the oak trees, Agile monkeys swing and leap, They are not afraid of falling ‐ Such is the wild monkeyʹs way Under the leafy canopy of the dense wood, The striped tiger roams and swiftly runs, Not because of fear or worry ‐ This shows her haughty pride, And is the mighty tigerʹs way. In the wood on Singa Mountain, I, Milarepa, meditate on voidness, Not because I fear to lose my understanding ‐ Constant meditation is the yogiʹs way. ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ Those great yogis who have mastered the Practice Never desire anything in this world. It is not because they want fame That they remain in solitude; It is the natural sign springing from their hearts ‐ The true feeling of non‐attachment and renunciation. Yogis who practise the teaching of the Path Profound, Dwell always in caves and on mountains, Not that they are cynical or pompous, But to concentrate on meditation is their self‐willing. I, the cotton‐clad, have sung many songs, Not to amuse myself by singing sophistries, But for your sake, faithful followers who assemble here, From my heart I have spoken words helpful and profound. 532
Gampopa ‐ His Life and Teachings Gampopa Life of Gampopa Lifestories of Dharma Lord Gampopa Teachings of Gampopa Four Dharmas of Gampopa Ten Things to be Understood Song of Great Bliss Buddha Nature Gampopaʹs Magnificent Dream Gampopaʹs Final Prayer and Supplication to Milarepa 533
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Gampopa (1079‐1153) Part one: Early Life, Finding the Guru Gampopa, also known as Dakpo Rinpoche, is one of the most important figures in the Kagyu lineage. The foremost disciple of Jetsun Milarepa, he truly consolidated the Kagyu tradition by integrating its special teachings with those of the other main trends of Buddhism. Thus the mahamudra, Six Yogas of Naropa and other vajrayana teachings which are unique to the Kagyu lineage became firmly set within the monastic lineages that form the basis of hinayana Buddhism and the bodhisattva teachings of mahayana Buddhism. The latter came in the very complete and pure form in which they were taught to Gampopa through the Kadampa lineage. Both Gampopa and Dakpo Rinpoche are names derived from places (Mount Gampo and the Dakpo region of Tibet) where he later taught. He was born in the year 1079. He had already been a bodhisattva on the threshold of Buddhahood (i.e. a 10th‐
level bodhisattva) for many cosmic aeons. He manifested during the time of Shakyamuni Buddha, the fourth Buddha, as one of his most brilliant disciples, a bodhisattva and healer called Chandra Prabha Kumara, who cured people by giving herbal medicine. Sometimes merely hearing his name or physical contact with him could heal diseases. He invited Shakyamuni Buddha and his other bodhisattva disciples to his home. There, Shakyamuni Buddha gave a teaching on the sutra known as the Samadhi Raja Sutra. Having revealed this teaching on the Samadhi Raja Sutra, Buddha then asked members of the assembly to volunteer to spread the teaching of the Samadhi Raja Sutra in much later times, giving the world its teaching in their essential meaning. Chandra Prabha Kumara promised Shakyamuni Buddha that he would spread that sutra and make its profound teaching on the nature of mind available for future beings. When he made that commitment, Shakyamuni Buddha also promised that during the time when the bodhisattva would actually spread the sutra and benefit all living beings, he himself would help cultivate and establish the teaching firmly. Many thousands of bodhisattvas spontaneously ofered to also emanate at that time to help him. This is seen as the birth of the Kagyu/mahamudra lineage. 535
To fulfil this promise, the bodhisattva took birth in Tibet. He was a gifted child, interested in many things, who grew up to be both a doctor and a wise Buddhist, receiving teachings from various gurus.At that time his name was Sonam Rinchen. He had a wife and two children but this only lasted until he was 24 years old, at which time his children died from an epidemic, one shortly after the other. Then his wife became very ill. Even his skilful medicine could not do anything to heal her. But although she was in great pain and seemed to be dying, she was unable to actually let go of life and die. Realizing this, he asked her why she seemed to be so attached to her life. His wife said, ʺI am not attached to possessions, nor wealth, nor faith, but I am very attached to you. Because you are only 24 years old, and you are very handsome, it is very hard for me to leave you. It is because my attachment to you is so very strong that I am unable to die.ʺ Knowing there was no cure for her illness, and at the same time understanding that her attachment to him prevented her from dying properly, Sonam Rinchen promised that he would take the vow of complete celibacy, never to marry another woman, and to become a monk. This promise released her from her unnatural attachment, and she left her pain‐racked body and died. Fulfilling his promise, and inwardly very happy to renounce worldly life, he took monkʹs vows, within the Kadampa tradition and went into retreat. There he practiced meditation through the Kadampa tradition and saw signs and had many mystical experiences. Yet this practice did not satisfy him completely. Although he was in retreat, one evening he saw three beggars outside his cave. They seemed pretty hungry, and they were sitting around fantasising about what they wanted. One of the beggars said, ʺI wish a cup full of tsampa, with lots of butter, would fall from the sky, and we could all enjoy it.ʺ The other beggar said, ʺCome on, that is too small a thing to wish for, just a cup full of tsampa. That is nothing. I wish I were a king. In fact, I wish I had the power and the wealth of the kings of all Tibet.ʺ Then the third one said, ʺWell, gaining possessions or becoming a king seem very temporary to me. Since everything is impermanent, everything is bound to change. I wish,ʺ he said, ʺthat I had the power and realization of the great yogi Milarepa. That realization, that energy and power, is not destructible, is not subject to change.ʺ On hearing the name of Milarepa spoken thus by the beggars, Sonam Rinchen immediately fainted; so strong was the connection sparked in him when he heard Milarepaʹs name, that he just passed out. The next morning he made a special Tibetan butter tea and tsampa and invited the three beggars to have breakfast with him. He asked the older beggar about wanting to be like Milarepa, where Milarepa lived, and the direction he should take to get there. When he obtained that information, he immediately and without a second thought left the retreat hut to find Milarepa. With eager excitement, Sonam Rinchen walked for about a month and a half to where Milarepa was. While on the way he came to a house and asked if he could stay the night. The elderly woman who answered the door was wrapped in many cotton cloths. She asked who he was, and he said he was Sonam Rinchen and had come to meet the great yogi known as Milarepa. The lady then insisted that he stay at her house, because not only she, but her daughter also, were devoted students of Milarepa. In fact, Milarepa had told her and her daughter that the son of a very noble family and 536
a future great disciple was coming to be his student, and that they were to assist him in any manner they could. Milarepa had also told her daughter that they would accumulate great merit in accommodating him, so they hoped he would stay the evening. They appraised Sonam Rinchen of these facts and he felt some pride. The next day Sonam Rinchen went to see Milarepa. But before he got there, Milarepa sent one of his students to meet him. The student gave him a bunch of wood, dry twigs, and tea, with a message ʺYou have developed pride, you have become quite egoistic, therefore you must remove the stain of that pride. Keep the firewood, go under a rock, and stay there until you have purified the stain of pride.ʺ Sonam Rinchen stayed under a rock for half a month to purify his small impurity of self‐importance. After half a month, Sonam Rinchen was really not expecting anything to happen, having lost the hope of expectation. When Milarepa called for him to come, he still had no expectations. At this time, Milarepa was sitting on top of a rock. There he told Sonam Rinchen that their connection was very profound. ʺActually,ʺ Milarepa told him, ʺalthough you have just come to see me, we were never really separated before.ʺ And when Milarepa said that, Sonam Rinchen realized that the three beggars who were chatting outside his retreat hut were really emanations of Milarepa. Milarepa then asked him what his name was now, and he replied that it was Sonam Rinchen. Milarepa then told him that ʺSonamʺ means ʺmerit,ʺ and that his merit was inexhaustible and infinite; and that ʺRinchenʺ means ʺprecious,ʺ so he would be very precious to all sentient beings. Having explained this, Milarepa then offered Sonam Rinchen a skull cup full of beer. At this time Sonam Rinchen was hesitant to take the beer. After all, he was a Kadampa practitioner, a fully ordained monk who was supposed to abstain from any drinking. Also, he was with the great Milarepa and surrounded by all of his students, who were also yogis. Because of all this, he was reluctant to take the beer cup. Milarepa said, ʺGet beyond this inhibition, abandon all these thoughts and preconceptions. Drink without any hesitation.ʺ So Sonam Rinchen drank all the beer that was in the skull cup, without leaving a single drop. This was token of him obtaining, in the future, the complete teaching from Milarepa. As he was able to drink the beer without leaving a drop, he would be able to obtain the complete teaching from Milarepa without missing any points or teachings at all. After that, Sonam Rinchen offered to Milarepa the offerings he had brought: some gold dust and a bag full of tea. Milarepa said, ʺI have no pot, no vessel to boil the tea in, and,ʺ he said, ʺI am not that favorable to gold, either. You keep the tea. Also, you keep the gold dust. You might need to use it yourself.ʺ Part two: Meditation Experiences Saying that, Milarepa gave a very basic teaching and sent Sonam Rinchen off to meditate on it for seven days. After seven days of practicing, he gained such vital energy that he no longer needed ordinary clothing to remain warm but just a very thin layer of cotton cloth. He was also able to become absorbed in a very profound meditation, needing only to take one special breath a day. When he went back to 537
Milarepa and reported his great progress, Milarepa did not praise him nor find fault with him, but just told him to keep on meditating. He returned to his meditation. This time he experienced great darkness, so obscure that he was unable to see anything. At the same time he heard cries, but because everything was so dark he could not tell what was happening. Once again he went to Milarepa and told him about this experience. Again Milarepa said that this signified neither blessing nor curse, and that he should keep on meditating. ʺIn fact,ʺ he said, ʺwhen you are meditating there are changes in your nerve impulses and channel systems. So when you are sitting and feeling some changes in your usual perception, you are in the meditative experience.ʺ Following the advice of Milarepa, Gampopa went and kept on practicing, and in his next experience he became very uncomfortable. He experienced dizziness and felt nauseous, and he thought that he must be sick. So he went to Milarepa and told him that he must be sick because he felt dizzy and nauseous. Milarepa said that he must keep on meditating, just as he had explained before, no matter what he experienced. But Milarepa added that this time the cause of the problem could possibly be that Gampopa had tied his meditation rope too tightly, and so he should loosen it. Then, Milarepa taught him some more ways of mastering the various energies and their channels in the ʹsubtle bodyʹ. These are known as yogas. He taught him the various skilful methods of inner heat, known as tummo in Tibetan or candali in Sanskrit. Then he sent Gampopa back to meditation. Gampopa was then able to see very clearly the beings of the six realms, from the god realm to the hell realm. Not only that, he saw that they were all enjoying the milk of the stars, and it was a very fascinating experience. However, he also saw his own mother in a very weak condition. She seemed to be sick, with a very weak physical body. She was suffering from hunger and thirst, while all the other beings were enjoying the milk of the stars. He went back to Milarepa and told him of this experience, and Milarepa said, ʺThose are simply meditative experiences. Your previous experience of feeling nauseous was also a meditative experience. They come from the vital air entering the nerve channels and systems.ʺ Milarepa continued, ʺNow this experience of seeing beings of the six realms enjoying the milk of the stars happens when the ʹtigleʹ enters into the vital nerve system. The reason you experience the suffering and starving of your mother is that you have one nerve system that was not opened when the tigle entered.ʺ Because of that blocked channel, Sonam Rinchen experienced suffering. Giving him another yoga instruction, Milarepa then told Sonam Rinchen to go back and meditate without fear, expectation, or hope. At the same time Milarepa mumbled a word or two, and Sonam Rinchen thought he said, ʺThere is a supreme being.ʺ When he went back and meditated, this time he saw the mandala of the deities, the complete mandala of Chakrasamvara. He was able to see this complete mandala of the deities because he thought that was what Milarepa had meant by saying that there was a supreme being. Milarepa once again told Sonam Rinchen that this was neither a good nor a bad experience, and that he must go back and continue to meditate without fear or hope. He then gave him another yoga practice. This led to his next experience, seeing the 538
solar and lunar eclipses at the same time. The way he saw it in his vision, the eclipse was caused by a very thin, thread‐like cloud. This thread‐like shadow had the capacity to completely obscure the sun and the moon. Sonam Rinchen went back again and told Milarepa about the experience of the eclipse. Milarepa said that it was neither good nor bad, it was just a meditation experience. This one was caused when the tigle entered into the two nerve channels, called ʺromaʺ on the left and ʺkyangmaʺ on the right. The entering of the tigle into the right and left nerve channels causes the experience of the fine, thread‐like eclipse. Although Milarepa again told Sonam Rinchen that his experience was neither good nor bad, and that he must continue meditating, this time he gave him some advice. ʺIt seems,ʺ he said, ʺthat you are over‐taxing yourself in meditation. Meditate with less force, less tension. You must relax.ʺ Then, taking these words, and some new yoga instructions, Sonam Rinchen went back to meditate, as instructed by his guru Milarepa. Milarepa sent Sonam Rinchen (Gampopa) back to meditate many times and gave him many yoga instructions. Gampopa had by this time become very advanced in his meditations, and could accomplish them in very difficult situations with no discomfort. He learned lung (breath) practice and supplication prayers to his guru Milarepa. Part three : Significant Dreams By now, Sonam Rinchenʹs meditation was so advanced that he normally required little sleep. One night however, after his midnight practise, he dozed off. He had a very auspicious dream, in which were 21 very auspicious indications. When he awoke, the sun was already shining. He set off immediately to tell Milarepa about these dreams and signs. Milarepa was sitting on a big rock with his head covered by his robe, as though he were asleep. Gampopa said, ʺMaster, wake up. I have to tell you about my dreams.ʺ Milarepa replied, ʺDonʹt be so excited. I have had the same dreams and will tell you the meaning of its symbols.ʺ (There is also a symbolic meaning to the entire story: when Gampopa met Milarepa wrapped in a blanket as though asleep, with the sun shining brightly on the ground, it symbolized that this was the last time Gampopa would see his guru, meaning that Gampopaʹs Buddha activity would begin, and he would spread the teachings or transmission of Milarepa all over the world.) Gampopa explained his twenty‐one dream experiences precisely, one after another. Milarepa said, ʺIn the past, I have not explained to you the meanings of the experiences you have had in meditation. This time I will explain every dream and every symbol.ʺ In the first dream, Gampopa dreamt that he was wearing a white hat, or crown, with a very long point. This symbolized that although there were many vehicles for the teachings, many traditions of teachings, his tradition was superior, as shown by the high point of the hat. This hat was also surrounded by multicolored string, symbolizing Gampopaʹs complete union of profound prajna and compassion. The edge 539
of the hat was also decorated with animal fur; this fur was black, with a red color within the black. This symbolized that Gampopa would not need to mix, or mingle, with other traditions; that he would have his own completely independent transmission. Gampopa also dreamt that on the top of his hat, at the very point, there was the feather of an eagle. This symbolized that Gampopa would realize the supreme, stainless view of mahamudra. Again Gampopa dreamt that he was wearing brand‐new shoes, completely free from dust, mud, or stain. These symbolized his stainless commitment to keep every vow of the Three Yanas he took: the vows of Vinaya, the Bodhisattvayana, and the Vajrayana. The shoes were new and very attractive, symbolizing how Gampopa would become an example, keeping and maintaining the three types of vows in the future. The shoes were also decorated with four blue circles: one on the point of the left and another on the point of the right, and one on each back. These four circles symbolized that Gampopa in his lifetime would come to complete realization of the four kayas: dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, and nirmanakaya, and the svabhavikakaya. Also, they were Tibetan shoes, the kind of Tibetan shoes, or boots, that come to below the knee and have to be tied with a string or rope. Gampopa dreamt that at both ends of the rope that tied the shoes were two silver rings. These symbolized the unselfish conduct and behavior of past bodhisattvas, and that throughout the life of Gampopa he would never show selfishness, but always compassion, in the manner of past bodhisattvas. Gampopa also dreamt that he was wearing a very thin white cotton cloth wrapped around him. This cloth symbolized that although Gampopa as a teacher would have many defiled and neurotic students in his lifetime, his mind would always remain as stainless as the white cotton cloth. Gampopa also dreamt of a golden‐colored silken shirt, symbolic of Gampopaʹs unshakable, immovable kindness to all living beings. It meant that he would never discriminate between good and bad students, or high or low castes; his kindness would always extend to all beings. He was like gold, in that no matter what you do to it, whether you burn it or beat it, the color of gold always stays the same. Such was the immovable kindness of Gampopa. The cotton cloth in the dream had many multicolored dots on it. These symbolized that every living being could benefit through Gampopaʹs skillful means, and that each would benefit according to its capacity. Gampopa dreamt that he wore a woven belt, wound around his waist three times. This symbolized that in the past, present, and future, Gampopa would keep pure and stainless the commitment, the samaya of the Hinayana, Bodhisattvayana, and Vajrayana vows. The belt was decorated with white flowers connected with white pearls. These symbolized that Gampopa would master the three disciplines: those of right conduct, meditation and wisdom, and that he would become an example to future students of how to master these three. He was also wearing a white blanket made of pure wool over the white cotton cloth. This symbolized that whatever Gampopa might be doing externally‐‐walking, teaching, sleeping, meditating, whatever‐‐his mind would never be separate from the essential nature of dharmakaya. This white wool blanket was stitchless, free from any threads, and not cut, just naturally the right shape. This symbolized that Gampopaʹs realization of the dharmakaya was stainless and free from any doubts or conflicts. 540
Gampopaʹs experience was pure, free from any negativities, and that purity was symbolized by the blanket having no threads or cuts. The white blanket was decorated with a silver coin, round and somewhat flat. This symbolized that his realization of dharmakaya was not inferior or superior to that of Shakyamuni Buddha. In the dream he was carrying a long stick that was made of sandalwood, which symbolized that Gampopa had found an authentic master. The sandalwood stick was decorated with fine precious stones, symbolizing the knowledge and qualities of his master, his guru Milarepa. Along the middle of the stick there was an interwoven golden line. The golden line symbolized the unbroken, exact, person‐to‐person transmission that Gampopa had received and realized, deep in his heart. It was interwoven, symbolizing that in the future Gampopa would be able to spread this person‐to‐person transmission to many other practitioners. His holding of the stick in his right hand symbolized that whoever became his student, whoever followed his teachings, in the future would become liberated from suffering and would progress toward complete Buddhahood. Gampopa dreamt that in his left hand he was holding an empty skull (kapala), symbolizing the voidness of all phenomena as well as the realization of that voidness. This empty kapala was being filled with a yellow‐gold nectar (amrita), symbolizing that Gampopaʹs spiritual growth would always develop and increase. The yellow color of the nectar symbolized Gampopaʹs ability to remain in the natural state of clear light. He had dreamt that on his right shoulder were two grain bags filled with white rice, and that his left shoulder was covered by an animal skin. This was a kind of skin that is exactly in the form and shape of the animal it came from, with the legs and head left on. By covering his left shoulder, it symbolized that he would maintain the mindfulness, alertness, and accomplishment of the bodhicitta. Its having the four limbs and head symbolized that Gampopa would be benefiting all sentient beings, again with the mindfulness of the bodhicitta of the four limitless meditations. He began to use this skin as his mat, which symbolized that he would accomplish the realizations of voidness compassion, and inspire such in his followers. In the dream, Gampopa looked on his right side and there beautiful meadows of small hills covered with yellow grass. That symbolized Gampopaʹs mastering the knowledge and meditations of his own tradition, as well as all the traditions of all beings. In fact, he became known as the Knower the Three Times, meaning that nothing is excluded from his knowledge.In this same meadow he saw a beautiful mountain also covered with yellow grass, with baby yaks and lambs grazing on this meadow, enjoying the grass. This symbolized that Gampopa would not only benefit living beings through revealing the Dharma and making teachings available, but by giving the generosity of protection and of loving‐kindness. Then, in the dream he became a shepherd, someone to look over the lambs and young yaks. This symbolized that Gampopaʹs activities to benefit beings would be endless, just as sentient beings are endless.Then, Gampopa looked on his left side, and there he saw another meadow, perfectly even, covered with a beautiful blue grass, the color of turquoise. This was symbolic of his profound meditative realization, or samadhi, and his realization of the ability to remain in this profound state regardless of day or night. This beautiful meadow was also filled with flowers of varied colors: red, white, yellow, and so forth, symbolizing that he would also accomplish and experience the 541
physical warmth of the meditation. This is not just ordinary physical warmth, but meditation warmth. In this dream, Gampopa also dreamt that uncountable attractive women were prostrating themselves to him, with reverence and devotion. These were uncountable beautiful dakinis. By maintaining the unbroken and pure discipline of the monk, and other samayas, he symbolically subdued all the dakinis. In the very center of the meadow, forming a beautiful garden, were many groups of yellow flowers growing together. This symbolized that Gampopa would attract countless students and followers, effortlessly attracting them in the future. Just like clouds gather in the sky without needing the sky to invite them, students would gather and form around him in the future, effortlessly, naturally. In the center of all the yellow flowers, growing higher than all the others, was a huge yellow lotus, which had about a thousand petals. This symbolized that through the strength of Gampopaʹs prajna, his wisdom, he would be superior to, or above, all the beings of the three worlds. This means the complete attainment of enlightenment. In the dream, Gampopa sat on top of that lotus with a thousand petals in a bodhisattva posture, symbolizing that in the future he would benefit beings with ceaseless, endless emanations. Gampopa also dreamt that having sat on top of that lotus flower, in front of him he saw a huge fountain of water springing from the earth. This symbolized that he was the source of all the four greater Kagyu schools, the eight lesser Kagyu schools, and, in short, all the Kagyu traditions. Not only was he the origin, but he would continue, like the water fountain, to be the source of the Kagyupa traditions. Behind him emanated a white light, or aura, which symbolized that his lineage, his teaching would be established and spread in all Tibet, as the sun gives forth light to all beings everywhere. He dreamt his body was surrounded by huge burning flames, symbolizing that the blissfulness of his realization and the warmth of his meditation would burn away all external pain, suffering, and cold. He dreamt that from his heart was radiating the light of the sun and the moon, symbolizing that from that very moment until the end of his life, Gampopa would not experience any need for sleep, but would instead transform all his sleep into the clear luminosity.Having explained the many significances of Gampopaʹs dream, Milarepa noted all the auspicious predictions in it for his future. ʺHowever,ʺ he said, ʺalthough it is very auspicious, and a good omen for the future, you must again learn not to become attached to the dream, or to develop expectations from the dream. Nothing can be so positive that it could not turn negative if we hope or expect.ʺ In the same way, Milarepa advised Gampopa not to take any negative dreams seriously either. All negative or painful dreams are illusions, not real. If we can see them as they are, and avoid becoming attached to their negative meanings, they become positive things for us and enrich us for further development on the spiritual path. ʺSo,ʺ Milarepa advised Gampopa, ʺyou must learn to see the negative dreams as illusion and not to take them seriously, nor should you become attached to the meanings of positive dreams; that is the practice of the yogi.ʺ 542
Part four : Mastery Having explained the dream to Gampopa, Milarepa now said, ʺYou no longer have to stay with me. As you have reached complete realization, you must go out and benefit beings.ʺ And Milarepa directed him to the East, to a place called Gampo Tashi Riwo, where he was to begin his enlightened activity to benefit beings. It it through his long sojourn there that Sonam Rinchen became known as Gampopa ‐ the One from Gampo. In that place there was one huge mountain, like a jewel in a mandala encircled by seven other mountains, or like a king on a throne it was surrounded by seven reverent bowing ministers. As his parting teaching, Milarepa explained to Gampopa: ʺWhile you are alone there, benefiting beings, you may miss many things. Sometimes you may miss food, and at these times you must enjoy the food of meditation; sometimes you may experience cold and miss having clothes, and at these times you must enjoy the inner heat of tummo; sometimes you may miss your guru, and at these times you must remember that your mind and the mind of the guru are inseparable. There is no greater guru than the awareness or realization of the inseparability of your own and the guruʹs mind.ʺ When Gampopa left, Milarepa told his students, with a sense of extreme joy, that the ʺU‐pa Tonpaʺ (another name for Gampopa) would be a great being and benefit many beings. (ʺUʺ is central Tibet, and ʺpaʺ means ʺperson,ʺ so ʺU‐paʺ means a person who comes from central Tibet, and ʺTonpaʺ means ʺteacher.ʺ) Milarepa told them that he had had a dream about a white crane that flew high in the sky and perched on top of a huge, tall mountain. Having perched there, he then attracted uncountable other cranes, which landed there. Suddenly they all scattered, and the land of Tibet became white with cranes. This dream symbolized, said Milarepa, that Gampopa would be spreading the Dharma widely in Tibet. Following Milarepaʹs advice, Sonam Rinchen went to that special mountain, to which were attracted many bodhisattvas who were to become his disciples. They were, in fact, emanations of followers from the time of Shakyamuni Buddha: those who had promised to help Chandra Prabha Kumara spread its inner meaning . These bodhisattvas had been practising Dharma for many lives and so, when Gampopa simply gave one instruction, they all attained realization, without having to go through hardships of the practice. So in that manner, the 51,600 students, who were emanations from the time of Shakyamuni Buddha, received Gampopaʹs teachings and promised to support them. Out of all the bodhisattvas gathered together, three were particularly outstanding. They became known as the three Khampas, because they all came from the eastern part of Tibet known as Kham. One of these students, whose name was Dogyal, was a direct emanation of the Buddha himself, who had promised, with his disciples, to help Chandra Prabha Kumara spread the Dharma. The second one was from Due, the Due Khampa. This studentʹs name was U‐ser, and he was to be His Holiness Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa. He was called U‐ser because ʺUʺ means ʺhead,ʺ and ʺserʺ means ʺgrayʺ. Since he had been born with gray hair, he got the nickname ʺgrayhead.ʺ The third oneʹs name was Saltong Shok‐gam and he was from Namchen. 543
ʺSalʺ means ʺclarity,ʺ ʺluminosity,ʺ and ʺtongʺ means ʺemptiness,ʺ ʺsunyata.ʺ ʺShok‐
gamʺ means ʺharelip,ʺ so his name, Saltong Shok‐gam, meant ʺthe one born with a harelip who has the realization of clarity and emptiness.ʺ Except for the three Khampas, all the rest of the 51,600 students kept extremely pure discipline of the vinaya, or monastic ordination. The three Khampas, however, were very, very wild. Because they were completely realized, they were beyond any negative accumulations for their actions. So they did not keep the strict discipline of a monk. Over and over again they asked permission of Gampopa to let them drink alcoholic beverages. Finally he gave them permission and told them they could have three skull cups of barley beer each. They were pretty happy with that. One day, they took their beer up into the mountains to a beautiful location. It was the Vajrayogini day, the 25th of the month on the Tibetan calendar. So because of the day, and because they wanted to show how the beer didnʹt really affect them, they decided to perform some miracles, as a gesture. So Dorje Dogyal was chasing the trees of the forest, and they were all running from him. And Saltong from Namchen was bringing water in a fish net. Then U‐ser performed a miracle such that from the tip of one finger came the wind, and from the tips of all his fingers on his other hand came air and fire together. And they were having a wonderful time performing miracles. They had a great day on top of the mountain. They enjoyed the beer, performed many miracles, and sang many doha songs. In the evening they returned to the monastery, where all the other students lived. Yet they were still excited, having enjoyed themselves so much, and they were still singing and dancing. Now every monastery has a Discipline Master. Singing and dancing were not permitted at all in the monastery, and this disturbance greatly annoyed the Discipline Master. He began to beat them with his long, broad stick and told them they must leave the monastery immediately. Dogyal requested that they be allowed to spend the night, as it was already dark outside. He let them stay the night, but they had to agree to leave before dawn. Before dawn, the three of them left the monastery, beginning the long descent down the mountain into the valley. Now it happened that Gampopa himself was not actually in the monastery but above it, in a retreat hut, practicing meditation. He told one of his attendants that he had seen, as if in a dream, a vision of all the dakas and dakinis leaving the monastery, and he wanted to know what was happening there. He felt that maybe something had happened to those three yogis (he called them Milarepas). So he sent his attendant down to see if anything had happened. When his attendant reached the valley, he saw the three yogis prostrating themselves toward Gampopa. They were doing this because they had not been able to say good‐bye in person when the Discipline Master made them leave. The attendant returned and informed Gampopa that not only were the three yogis leaving, but all the birds were leaving along with them and not only were they making prostrations, but the grass and trees were bending toward where they were departing. Gampopa knew that their leaving was not good; he knew that the gathering of so many students was because of the commitment of these emanations from the time of Shakyamuni Buddha. So Gampopa himself went down to the valley and asked them please not to depart. After requesting them not to depart, he sang a song that explained who these three yogis were, how they were not ordinary beings but emanations of past 544
enlightened beings who had been present during the time of Shakyamuni Buddha. Knowing this, the others at the monastery never again had negative feelings toward the Khampasʹ unusual behavior. Gampopa passed away in 1053, and later the four main students of Gampopa (there were four by then) spread his teachings by what have come to be known as the ʺfour greatʺ schools of the Kagyupa. Then there were eight students of Dogyal, who also spread the teachings in the ʺeight lesserʺ schools of the Kagyupa. Altea Publishing 12‐2006 545
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Gampopa (1079‐1153) Gampopa was one of the great fathers of the Kagyu Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. He was the most famous disciple of Jetsun Milarepa, and is known for combining the Kadampa tradition with the Mahamudra teachings. The following spiritual biography of Gampopa was presented by the Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche. Milarepaʹs foremost student was Dakpo Rinpoche, Gampopa, who was born in the year 1016. Gampopa was already a bodhisattva during his many previous lives and incarnations. During the time of Shakyamuni Buddha, the fourth Buddha, Gampopa was his student, and a bodhisattva and healer who healed people by giving herbal medicine. Sometimes also, merely through the hearing of his name, or sometimes just by his touching the place of illness, he could heal diseases. During the period of Shakyamuni Buddha, he heard Buddha reciting and teaching on the Vultureʹs Peak in India. He invited Shakyamuni Buddha and all his other students, all the other bodhisattvas, to his home. There, Shakyamuni Buddha gave a teaching on the sutra known as the Samadhi Raja Sutra. Having revealed this teaching on the Samadhi Raja Sutra, Buddha then asked all his students to volunteer to spread the teaching of the Samadhi Raja Sutra, giving the teaching in its essential meaning.Dakpo Rinpoche stood up among all those accomplished students (generally when Dakpo Rinpoche is mentioned, he is not Dakpo Rinpoche yet), and promised in front of Shakyamuni Buddha that he would spread that sutra and make that sutra available for future beings. When he made that commitment, Shakyamuni Buddha also promised that during the time when Dakpo Rinpoche would actually spread the sutra and benefit all living beings, he himself, the Buddha, would help cultivate and establish the teaching firmly. So, having promised the Buddha to spread the teaching of the Samadhi Raja Sutra, Gampopa later took rebirth in 1079. In his childhood he displayed many 547
splendid qualities. At a very young age he was interested in many teachings. Because of his interest, his openness, and his devotion, he received many teachings from many gurus. In addition, he was highly interested in medicine, as he had been in the past. So he studied medicine and became a doctor. During that time his name was Sonam Rinchen. He had such qualities as to be able to study Dharma, become a doctor and a healer, and also he had a wife and a family life. He lived a family life until he was 24 years old, at which time his wife became very ill. It did not matter that he was a great doctor and healer; she still became very ill. And regardless of what medicine or method he tried to heal her with, it did not work. And although she was in great pain and seemed to be dying, she was unable to experience death. Realizing this, he asked her why she seemed to be so attached to her life. His wife said, ʺI am not attached to possessions, nor wealth, nor faith, but I am very attached to you. Because you are only 24 years old, and you are very handsome, it is very hard for me to leave you. It is because my attachment to you is so very strong that I am unable to experience death.ʺ Knowing there was no cure for her illness, and at the same time understanding that her attachment to him prevented her from dying properly, Dakpo Rinpoche promised that he would take the vow of complete celibacy, never to marry another woman, and to become a monk. This promise released her from her unnatural attachment, and she experienced her natural death. So, as he had promised his wife, he took the vow of a monk in the Kadampa tradition and went into retreat. There he practiced meditation through the Kadampa tradition and saw signs and had many mystical experiences. Yet this practice did not satisfy him completely. Although he was in retreat, one evening he saw three beggars outside his cave. They seemed pretty hungry, and they were sitting around fantasizing about what they wanted. One of the beggars said, ʺI wish a cup full of tsampa, with lots of butter, would fall from the sky, and we could all enjoy it.ʺ The other beggar said, ʺCome on, that is too small a thing to wish for, just a cup full of tsampa. That is nothing. I wish I were a king. In fact, I wish I had the power and the wealth of the kings of all Tibet.ʺ Then the third one said, ʺWell, gaining possessions or becoming a king seem very temporary to me. Since everything is impermanent, everything is bound to change. I wish,ʺ he said, ʺthat I had the power and realization of the great yogi Milarepa. That realization, that energy and power, is not destructible, is not subject to change.ʺ On hearing the name of Milarepa spoken thus by the beggars, Dakpo Rinpoche immediately fainted; so strong was the connection sparked in him when he heard Milarepaʹs name, that he just passed out. The next morning he made a special Tibetan butter tea and tsampa and invited the three beggars to have breakfast with him. He asked the older beggar about wanting to be like Milarepa, where Milarepa lived, and the direction of the path. When he obtained that information, he immediately and without a second thought left the retreat hut to find Milarepa. With eager excitement, Dakpo Rinpoche walked for about a month and a half to where Milarepa was. While on the way he came to a house and asked if he could stay the night. The elderly woman who answered the doorwas wrapped in many cotton cloths. She asked who he was, and he said he was Sonam Rinchen and had come to 548
meet the great yogi known as Milarepa. The lady then insisted that he stay at her house, because not only she, but her daughter also, were devoted students of Milarepa. In fact, Milarepa had told her and her daughter that the son of a very noble family was coming to be his student, and that they were to assist him in any manner they could. Milarepa had also told her daughter that they would accumulate great merit in accommodating him, so they hoped he would stay the evening. The next day, Dakpo Rinpoche went to see Milarepa. Before he got there, Milarepa sent one of his students to meet him. The student gave him a bunch of wood, dry twigs, and tea, with a message ʺYou have developed pride, you have become quite egoistic, therefore you must remove the stain, the obscuration of that pride. Keep the wood, go under a rock, and stay there until you have purified the stain of pride.ʺ So Dakpo Rinpoche stayed under a rock for half a month to purify that stain. After half a month, Dakpo Rinpoche was really not expecting anything to happen, having lost the hope of expectation. When Milarepa called for him to come, he still had no expectations. At this time, Milarepa was sitting on top of a rock. There he told Dakpo Rinpoche that their connection was very profound. ʺActually,ʺ Milarepa told him, ʺalthough you have just come to see me, we were never really separated before.ʺ And when Milarepa said that, Dakpo Rinpoche realized that the three beggars who were fantasizing outside his retreat hut were really emanations of Milarepa himself. Milarepa then asked him what his name was now, and he replied that it was Sonam Rinchen. Milarepa then told him that ʺSonamʺ means ʺmerit,ʺ and that his merit was inexhaustible and infinite; and that ʺRinchenʺ means ʺprecious,ʺ so he would be very precious to all sentient beings. Having explained this, Milarepa then offered Dakpo Rinpoche a skull cup full of beer. At this time Dakpo Rinpoche was hesitant to take the beer. After all, he was a Kadampa practitioner, a fully ordained monk who was supposed to abstain from any drinking. Also, he was with the great Milarepa and surrounded by all of his students, who were also yogis. Because of all this, he was reluctant to take the beer cup. Milarepa said, ʺGet beyond this inhibition, abandon all these thoughts and preconceptions. Drink without any hesitation.ʺ So Dakpo Rinpoche drank all the beer that was in the skull cup, without leaving a single drop. In this way, he symbolically obtained the total and complete teaching from Milarepa. As he was able to drink the beer without leaving a drop, he was able to obtain the complete teaching from Milarepa without missing any points or teachings at all. After that, Dakpo Rinpoche offered to Milarepa what he had brought: some gold dust and a bag full of tea. Milarepa said, ʺI have no pot, no vessel to boil the tea in, and,ʺ he said, ʺI am not that favorable to gold, either. You keep the tea. Also, you keep the gold dust. You might need to use it yourself.ʺ Saying that, Milarepa gave a very basic teaching and sent Dakpo Rinpoche off to meditate on that teaching for seven days. After seven days of practicing, he gained such vital energy that he did not have to rely on clothes for warmth. He was able to maintain his bodily warmth with a very thin layer of cotton cloth. He was also able to become absorbed in a very profound meditation. He only needed to breathe just once a day. He had reached a stage where his meditative contemplation became very deep and profound. 549
When he went back to Milarepa and reported his great progress, Milarepa did not praise him nor find fault with him, but just told him to keep on meditating. So he went back to practicing meditation. This time he experienced being in a very dark world, so dark he was unable to see anything. At the same time he heard cries, but because everything was so dark he could not tell what was happening. Once again Dakpo Rinpoche went back to Milarepa and told him about this experience. Again Milarepa said that this signified neither grace nor damnation, and that he should keep on meditating. ʺIn fact,ʺ he said, ʺwhen you are meditating there are changes in your nerve impulses and channel systems. So when you are sitting and feeling some changes in your usual perception, you are experiencing the meditative experience.ʺ Following the advice of Milarepa, Gampopa went and kept on practicing, and in his next experience he became very uncomfortable. He experienced dizziness and felt nauseous, and he thought that he must be sick. So he went to Milarepa and told him that he must be sick because he felt dizzy and nauseous. Milarepa said that he must keep on meditating, just as he had explained before, no matter what he experienced. But Milarepa added that this time the cause of the problem could possibly be that Gampopa had tied his meditation rope too tightly, and so he should loosen it. Then, Milarepa taught him some more yogas. Now, when we use the term ʺyoga,ʺ many of us immediately think of physical activity or exercise. The yoga that was taught to Gampopa at this time had much to do with vital air, or channels, which we call ʺtsa,ʺ and ʺtummo,ʺ the inner heat. It was yoga in that sense that Milarepa taught to Gampopa. Then he sent Gampopa back to meditation. So Gampopa went back and meditated. Now, when we are relating these biographies of enlightened beings, their progress seems to go so fast. But please, you must not expect results overnight yourselves. Although we heard that he (Gampopa) felt this, then went back, and then felt that and went back, he was probably meditating in isolation for many months. I am just telling a quick story, so please understand that. Gampopa went back with the instructions of Milarepa, and this time his experience was very fascinating. He was able to see very clearly the beings of the six realms, from the god realm to the hell realm. Not only that, he saw that they were all enjoying the milk of the stars, and it was a very fascinating experience. However, he also saw his own mother in a very weak condition. She seemed to be sick, with a very weak physical body. She was suffering from hunger and thirst, while all the other beings were enjoying the milk of the stars. He went back to Milarepa and told him of this experience, and Milarepa said, ʺThose are simply meditative experiences. Your previous experience of feeling nauseous was also a meditative experience. They come from the vital air entering the nerve channels and systems.ʺ Milarepa continued, ʺNow this experience of seeing beings of the six realms enjoying the milk of the stars happens when the ʹtigleʹ enters into the vital nerve system. The reason you experience the suffering and starving of your mother is that you have one nerve system that was not opened when the tigle entered.ʺ Because of that blocked channel, Dakpo Rinpoche experienced suffering. Giving him another yoga instruction, Milarepa then told Dakpo Rinpoche to go back and meditate without fear, expectation, or hope. At the same time Milarepa mumbled a word or two, and Dakpo Rinpoche thought he said, ʺThere is a supreme 550
being.ʺ When he went back and meditated, this time he saw the mandala of the deities, the complete mandala of Chakrasamvara. He was able to see this complete mandala of the deities because he thought that was what Milarepa had meant by saying that there was a supreme being. Milarepa once again told Dakpo Rinpoche that this was neither a good nor a bad experience, and that he must go back and continue to meditate without fear or hope. He then gave him another yoga practice. This led to his next experience, seeing the solar and lunar eclipses at the same time. The way he saw it in his vision, the eclipse was caused by a very thin, thread‐like cloud. This thread‐like shadow had the capacity to completely obscure the sun and the moon. Dakpo Rinpoche went back again and told Milarepa about the experience of the eclipse. Milarepa said that it was neither good nor bad, it was just a meditation experience. This one was caused when the tigle entered into the two nerve channels, called ʺromaʺ on the left and ʺkyangmaʺ on the right. The entering of the tigle into the right and left nerve channels causes the experience of the fine, thread‐like eclipse. Although Milarepa again told Dakpo Rinpoche that his experience was neither good nor bad, and that he must continue meditating, this time he gave him some advice. ʺIt seems,ʺ he said, ʺthat you are exhausting your enthusiasm for meditation. You must meditate with less force, less tension. You must relax.ʺ Then, taking these words, and some new yoga instructions, Dakpo Rinpoche went back to meditate, as instructed by his guru Milarepa. Milarepa sent Sonam Rinchen (Gampopa) back to meditate many times and gave him many yoga instructions. Gampopa had by this time become very advanced in his meditations, and could accomplish them in very difficult situations with no discomfort. He learned lung (breath) practice (or prana, as it is called in Sanskrit) and supplication prayers to his guru Milarepa. Because of this advanced practice of meditation, he did not require much sleep at all. One night, after his midnight supplication, he took a short nap. During that nap he had a very auspicious dream, which was really composed of twenty‐one very auspicious dreams, each revealing to him an auspicious sign. When he awakened, the sun was already up and shining. He set off immediately to tell Milarepa about these dreams and signs. Milarepa was sitting on a big rock with his head wrapped in a blanket, as though he were asleep. Gampopa said, ʺMaster, wake up. I have to tell you about my dreams.ʺ Milarepa replied, ʺCome on, donʹt be so excited. I have experienced the same dreams. I will tell you the actual meaning of the symbols.ʺ (There is also a symbolic meaning to the entire story. That is, when Gampopa went to see Milarepa and met him wrapped in a blanket as though asleep, with the sun shining brightly on the ground, it symbolized that this was the last time Gampopa was actually going to see his guru, meaning that Gampopaʹs Buddha activity would begin, and he would spread the teachings or transmission of Milarepa all over the world.) Gampopa explained his twenty‐one dreams precisely, one after another. Milarepa said, ʺIn the past, I have not explained to you the meanings of the experiences you have had in meditation. This time I will explain every dream and every symbol.ʺ In the first dream, Gampopa dreamt that he was wearing a white hat, or crown, with a very long point. This symbolized that although there were many vehicles for the 551
teachings, many traditions of teachings, his tradition was superior, as shown by the high point of the hat. This hat was also surrounded by multicolored string, symbolizing Gampopaʹs complete union of profound prajna and compassion. The edge of the hat was also decorated with animal fur; this fur was black, with a red color within the black. This symbolized that Gampopa would not need to mix, or mingle, with other traditions; that he would have his own completely independent transmission. Gampopa also dreamt that on the top of his hat, at the very point, there was the feather of an eagle. This symbolized that Gampopa would realize the supreme, stainless view of mahamudra. Again Gampopa dreamt that he was wearing brand‐new shoes, completely free from dust, mud, or stain. These symbolized the stainless commitment of Dakpo Rinpoche to keep every vow he took, such as the vows of the Hinayana, the Bodhisattvayana, and the Vajrayana. The shoes were new and very attractive, symbolizing how Gampopa would become an example, keeping and maintaining the Hinayana, Bodhisattvayana, and Vajrayana vows in the future. The shoes were also decorated with four blue circles: one on the point of the left and another on the point of the right, and one on each back. These four circles symbolized that Gampopa in his lifetime would come to complete realization of the four kayas: dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, and nirmanakaya, and the svabhavikakaya. Also, they were Tibetan shoes, the kind of Tibetan shoes, or boots, that come to below the knee and have to be tied with a string or rope. Gampopa dreamt that at both ends of the rope that tied the shoes were two silver rings. These symbolized the unselfish conduct and behavior of past bodhisattvas, and that throughout the life of Gampopa he would never show selfishness, but always compassion, in the manner of past bodhisattvas. Gampopa also dreamt that he was wearing a very thin white cotton cloth wrapped around him. This cloth symbolized that although Gampopa as a teacher would have many defiled and neurotic students in his lifetime, his mind would always remain as stainless as the white cotton cloth. Gampopa also dreamt of a golden‐colored silken shirt, symbolic of Gampopaʹs unshakable, immovable kindness to all living beings. It meant that he would never discriminate between good and bad students, or high or low castes; his kindness would always extend to all beings. He was like gold, in that no matter what you do to it, whether you burn it or beat it, the color of gold always stays the same. Such was the immovable kindness of Gampopa. The cotton cloth in the dream had many multicolored dots on it. These symbolized that every living being could benefit through Gampopaʹs skillful means, and that each would benefit according to its capacity. Gampopa dreamt that he wore a woven belt, wound around his waist three times. This symbolized that in the past, present, and future, Gampopa would keep pure and stainless the commitment, the samaya of the Hinayana, Bodhisattvayana, and Vajrayana vows. The belt was decorated with white flowers connected with white pearls. These symbolized that Gampopa would master the three learnings, those of discipline, meditativecontemplation, and wisdom, and that he would become an example to future students of how to master the three learnings. 552
He was also wearing a white blanket made of pure wool over the white cotton cloth. This symbolized that whatever Gampopa might be doing externally—walking, teaching, sleeping, meditating, whatever—his mind would never be separate from the essential nature of dharmakaya. This white wool blanket was stitchless, free from any threads, and not cut, just naturally the right shape. This symbolized that Gampopaʹs realization of the dharmakaya was stainless and free from any doubts or conflicts. Gampopaʹs experience was pure, free from any negativities, and that purity was symbolized by the blanket having no threads or cuts. The white blanket was decorated with a silver coin, round and somewhat flat. This symbolized that his realization of dharmakaya was not inferior or superior to that of Shakyamuni Buddha. In the dream he was carrying a long stick that was made of sandalwood, which symbolized that Gampopa had found an authentic master. The sandalwood stick was decorated with fine precious stones, symbolizing the knowledge and qualities of his master, his guru Milarepa. Along the middle of the stick there was an interwoven golden line. The golden line symbolized the unbroken, exact, ear‐to‐ear transmission that Gampopa had received and realized, deep in his heart. It was interwoven, symbolizing that in the future Gampopa would be able to spread this ear‐to‐ear transmission to many other practitioners. His holding of the stick in his right hand symbolized that whoever became his student, whoever followed his teachings, in the future would become liberated from suffering and would progress toward complete Buddhahood. Gampopa dreamt that in his left hand he was holding an empty skull (kapala), symbolizing the emptiness of all phenomena as well as the realization of that emptiness. This empty kapala was being filled with a yellow‐gold nectar (amrita), symbolizing that Gampopaʹs spiritual growth would always develop and increase. The yellow color of the nectar symbolized Gampopaʹs ability to remain in the natural state of clear light. Dakpo Rinpoche dreamt that on his right shoulder were two tsampa bags filled with white rice, and that his left shoulder was covered by an animal skin. This was a kind of skin that is exactly in the form and shape of the animal it came from, with the legs and head left on. By covering his left shoulder, it symbolized that he would maintain the mindfulness, alertness, and accomplishment of the bodhicitta. Its having the four limbs and head symbolized that Gampopa would be benefiting all sentient beings, again with the mindfulness of the bodhicitta of the four limitless meditations. He began to use this skin as his mat, which symbolized that he would accomplish the realizations of emptiness compassion, and inspire such in his followers. In the dream, Dakpo Rinpoche looked on his right side and there beautiful meadows of small hills covered with yellow grass. That symbolized Dakpo Rinpocheʹs mastering the knowledge and meditations of his own tradition, as well as all the traditions of all beings. In fact, he became known as the Knower the Three Times, meaning that nothing is excluded from his knowledge. In this same meadow he saw a beautiful mountain also covered with yellow grass, with baby yaks and lambs grazing on this meadow, enjoying the grass. This symbolized that Dakpo Rinpoche would not only benefit living beings through revealing the Dharma and making teachings available, but by giving the generosity of 553
protection and of loving‐kindness. Then, in the dream he became a shepherd, someone to look over the lambs and young yaks. This symbolized that Dakpo Rinpocheʹs activities to benefit beings would be endless, just as sentient beings are endless. Then, Dakpo Rinpoche looked on his left side, and there he saw another meadow, perfectly even, covered with a beautiful blue grass, the color of turquoise. This was symbolic of his profound meditative realization, or samadhi, and his realization of the ability to remain in this profound state regardless of day or night. This beautiful meadow was also filled with flowers of varied colors: red, white, yellow, and so forth, symbolizing that he would also accomplish and experience the physical warmth of the meditation. This is not just ordinary physical warmth, but meditation warmth. In this dream, Dakpo Rinpoche also dreamt that uncountable attractive women were prostrating themselves to him, with reverence and devotion. These were uncountable beautiful dakinis. By maintaining the unbroken and pure discipline of the monk, and other samayas, he symbolically subdued all the dakinis. In the very center of the meadow, forming a beautiful garden, were many groups of yellow flowers growing together. This symbolized that Dakpo Rinpoche would attract uncountable students and followers, effortlessly attracting them in the future. Just like clouds gather in the sky without needing the sky to invite them, students would gather and form around him in the future, effortlessly, naturally. In the center of all the yellow flowers, growing higher than all the others, was a huge yellow lotus, which had about a thousand petals. This symbolized that through the strength of Dakpo Rinpocheʹs prajna, his wisdom, he would be superior to, or above, all the beings of the three worlds. This means the complete attainment of enlightenment. In the dream, Dakpo Rinpoche sat on top of that lotus with a thousand petals in a bodhisattva posture, symbolizing that in the future he would benefit beings with ceaseless, endless emanations. Dakpo Rinpoche also dreamt that having sat on top of that lotus flower, in front of him he saw a huge fountain of water springing from the earth. This symbolized that he was the source of all the four greater Kagyu schools, the eight lesser Kagyu schools, and, in short, all the Kagyu traditions. Not only was he the origin, but he would continue, like the water fountain, to be the source of the Kagyupa traditions. Behind him emanated a white light, or aura, which symbolized that his lineage, his teaching would be established and spread in all Tibet, as the sun gives forth light to all beings everywhere. He dreamt his body was surrounded by huge burning flames, symbolizing that the blissfulness of his realization and the warmth of his meditation would burn away all external pain, suffering, and cold. He dreamt that from his heart was radiating the light of the sun and the moon, symbolizing that from that very moment until the end of his life, Dakpo Rinpoche would not experience any need for sleep, but would instead transform all his sleep into the clear luminosity. Having explained the many significances of Dakpo Rinpocheʹs dream, Milarepa noted all the auspicious predictions in it for his future. 554
ʺHowever,ʺ he said, ʺalthough it is very auspicious, and a good omen for the future, you must again learn not to become attached to the dream, or to develop expectations from the dream. Nothing can be so positive that it could not turn negative if we hope or expect.ʺ In the same way, Milarepa advised Dakpo Rinpoche not to take any negative dreams seriously either. All negative or painful dreams are illusions, not real. If we can see them as they are, and avoid becoming attached to their negative meanings, they become positive things for us and enrich us for further development on the spiritual path. ʺSo,ʺ Milarepa advised Gampopa, ʺyou must learn to see the negative dreams as illusion and not to take them seriously, nor should you become attached to the meanings of positive dreams; that is the practice of the yogi.ʺ Having explained the dream to Dakpo Rinpoche, Milarepa now said, ʺYou no longer have to stay with me. As you have reached complete realization, you must go out and benefit beings.ʺ And Milarepa directed him to the East, to a place called Gampo Trashi Rewo, where he was to begin benefiting beings. In this place there was one huge mountain, and like a jewel in a mandala it was encircled by seven other mountains, or like a king on a throne it was surrounded by seven reverent bowing ministers. (Khenpo Rinpoche notes that of all the scenery in Tibet, this landscape seems to be the most breathtaking.) And this is where Milarepa sent Gampopa to begin benefiting beings. As his parting teaching, Milarepa explained to Gampopa: ʺWhile you are out there alone, benefiting beings, you may miss many things. Sometimes you may miss food, and at these times you must enjoy the food of meditation; sometimes you may experience cold and miss having clothes, and at these times you must enjoy the inner heat of tummo; sometimes you may miss your guru, and at these times you must remember that your mind and the mind of the guru are inseparable. There is no greater guru than the awareness or realization of the inseparability of your own and the guruʹs mind.ʺ When Gampopa left, Milarepa told his students, with a sense of extreme joy, that the ʺU‐pa Tonpaʺ (another name for Gampopa) would be a great being and benefit many beings. (ʺUʺ is central Tibet, and ʺpaʺ means ʺperson,ʺ so ʺU‐paʺ means a person who comes from central Tibet, and ʺTonpaʺ means ʺteacher.ʺ) Milarepa told them that he had had a dream about a white crane that flew high in the sky and perched on top of a huge, tall mountain. Having perched there, he then attracted uncountable other cranes, which landed there. Suddenly they all scattered, and the land of Tibet became white with cranes. This dream symbolized, said Milarepa, that Gampopa would be spreading the Dharma widely in Tibet. According to the advice of Milarepa, Dakpo Rinpoche went toward that special mountain, and as he went he attracted many students. Now all the students that he attracted were really emanations of students of Shakyamuni Buddha. (Remember that in the very beginning of this story, Dakpo Rinpoche was present for the teaching by Shakyamuni Buddha of the Samadhi Raja Sutra, when all the other students made a commitment to support him in spreading the Buddhadharma.) Because of this, these students had been in the Dharma for a long time. Therefore, when Dakpo Rinpoche simply gave one instruction, they all had realization, without having to go through hardships of the practice. So in that manner, the 51,600 students, who were emanations 555
from the time of Shakyamuni Buddha, received Dakpo Rinpocheʹs teachings and promised to support them. Out of all these students gathered together, there were three outstanding students who became known as the three Khampas, because they all came from the eastern part of Tibet, known as Kham. One of these students, whose name was Dogyal, was a direct emanation of the Buddha himself, who had promised, with his students, to support Dakpo Rinpoche in spreading the Dharma. The second one was from Due, the Due Khampa. This studentʹs name was U‐ser, and he was to be His Holiness Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa. He was called U‐ser because ʺUʺ means ʺhead,ʺ and ʺserʺ means ʺgrayʺ. Since he had been born with gray hair, he got the nickname ʺgrayhead.ʺ The third oneʹs name was Saltong Shok‐gam and he was from Namchen. ʺSalʺ means ʺclarity,ʺ ʺluminosity,ʺ and ʺtongʺ means ʺemptiness,ʺ ʺsunyata.ʺ ʺShok‐gamʺ means ʺharelip,ʺ so his name, Saltong Shok‐gam, meant ʺthe one born with a harelip who has the realization of clarity and emptiness.ʺ Except for the three Khampas, all the rest of the 51,600 students kept extremely pure discipline of the vinaya, or monastic ordination. The three Khampas, however, were very, very wild. Because they were completely realized, they were beyond any negative accumulations for their actions. So they did not keep the strict discipline of a monk. Over and over again they asked permission of Dakpo Rinpoche to let them drink alcoholic beverages. Finally he gave them permission and told them they could have three skull caps of barley beer each. They were pretty happy with that. One day, they took their beer up into the mountains to a beautiful location. It was the Vajrayogini day, the 25th of the month on the Tibetan calendar. So because of the day, and because they wanted to show how the beer didnʹt really affect them, they decided to perform some miracles, as a gesture. So Dorje Dogyal was chasing the trees of the forest, and they were all running from him. And Saltong from Namchen was bringing water in a fish net. Then U‐ser performed a miracle such that from the tip of one finger came the wind, and from the tips of all his fingers on his other hand came air and fire together. And they were having a wonderful time performing miracles. They had a great day on top of the mountain. They enjoyed the beer, performed many miracles, and sang many doha songs. In the evening they returned to the monastery, where all the other students lived. Yet they were still excited, having enjoyed themselves so much, and they were still singing and dancing. Now every monastery has a chotrim, someone to take care of the discipline. You might call him a monk bully, or bouncer. Singing and dancing were not permitted at all in the monastery, and this disturbance annoyed the chotrim very much. He began to beat them with his long, broad stick and told them they must leave the monastery immediately. Dogyal requested that they be allowed to spend the night, as it was already dark outside. The chotrim let them stay the night, but they had to agree to leave before dawn. So before dawn, the three of them left the monastery, beginning the long climb down the mountain into the valley. Now it happened that Dakpo Rinpoche himself was not actually in the monastery but above it, in a retreat hut, practicing meditation. He told one of his attendants that he had seen, as if in a dream, a vision of all the dakas and dakinis leaving the monastery, and he wanted to know what was happening there. Dakpo Rinpoche felt that maybe something had happened to those three yogis (he 556
called them Milarepas). So he sent his attendant down to see if anything had happened. When his attendant reached the valley, he saw the three yogis prostrating themselves toward Dakpo Rinpoche. They were doing this because they had not been able to say good‐bye to Dakpo Rinpoche, because the chotrim had made them leave. The attendant returned and informed Dakpo Rinpoche that not only were the three yogis leaving, but all the birds were leaving along with them and not only were they making prostrations, but the grass and trees were bending toward where they were departing. Dakpo Rinpoche knew that their leaving was not good; he knew that the gathering of so many students was because of the commitment of these emanations from the time of Shakyamuni Buddha. So DakpoRinpoche himself went down to the valley and asked them please not to depart. After requesting them not to depart, he sang a song that explained who these three yogis were, how they were not ordinary beings but emanations of past enlightened beings who had been present during the time of Shakyamuni Buddha. Knowing this, the others at the monastery never again had negative feelings toward the Khampasʹ unusual behavior. Dakpo Rinpoche passed away in 1053, and later the four main students of Dakpo Rinpoche (there were four by then) spread his teachings by what have come to be known as the ʺfour greatʺ schools of the Kagyupa. Then there were eight students of Dogyal, who also spread the teachings in the ʺeight lesserʺ schools of the Kagyupa. Now the four schools of the Kagyupa are not very different from each other except in very little ways, all having the same origin. The various forms of teachings only make them more available to many. In total there are twelve traditions, twelve schools of Kagyupa, (four greater and eight lesser), all deeply rooted and cultivated in the soil of Tibet, and spread very effectively in China. This teaching was given by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche at KTD. Woodstock, March 25‐30, 1986. It was translated by Chojor Radha, and this article was edited by Andrea Price. 557
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Teachings of Gampopa Gampopa ʹThe Ten Things to be Understoodʹ Understand that outer appearances are unreal because they are illusion. Understand that inner mind is empty because it is devoid of self‐entity. Understand that thoughts are momentary because they occur due to conditions. Understand that both your physical body and your voice are impermanent because they are conditioned. Understand that the consequences of your actions are inevitable because all the pleasure and pain of sentient beings result from karma. Understand that pain is your spiritual friend because it is the cause of renunciation. Understand that pleasure and happiness are the demons of attachment because they are the roots of samsara. Understand that many engagements are obstacles for merit because they hinder spiritual practice. Understand that enemies and obstructions are your teachers because obstacles are inspiration for spiritual practice. Understand that everything is of equal nature because all phenomena are ultimately devoid of self‐nature. These are the ten things to understand. 559
ʹSong of Great Blissʹ I sing a song from the dharmadhatu of great bliss. I speak these words in the state of wisdom, Thus resolving the truth of nonduality. This compassion that is free from attachment and that benefits others Seize firmly as supreme upàya. This co emergent consciousness Seize firmly as wisdom. When certainty arises, that is it. These discursive thoughts of fixation Seize firmly as dharmakaya. When one experiences this, the essence is seen. Sights and sounds, the habitual patterns of labeling Seize firmly as ultimate truth. When certainty arises, that is it. These discursive thoughts are the birth of fixation. When one has mastered this, the truth is seen. If one desires to realize the truth of this, Practice continuously, like a river. Rest loosely, without further fabrications. Rest naturally without seeking further. Rest easily without thinking. Experience and realization are one. When realization is uninterrupted, that is it. When it is as limitless as space, that is it. When one sees oneʹs mind as buddha, that is it. Now, I may have realized the true dharmatà. Fixation may have been self‐liberated. Without thinking, I may have spontaneously achieved realization. This is not ordinary, and is not for the ordinary. This cannot be understood by great learning. This cannot be known by great knowledge. This is not for the labeling of discursive thought. I remain on the path of blessings, I attend to the words of the guru. It is the faithful who achieve realization. Is your realization like this, all you great meditators? This should not be told to everyone. ʺThe Rain of Wisdomʺ Translated by the Nalanda Translation Committee under the direction of Chogyam Trungpa. 560
Gampopa ʹBuddha Natureʹ Since the Buddha is essentially Dharmakaya and Dharmakaya Sunyata and since this Sunyata permeates all beings, the latter are endowed with Buddha‐nature. ‐‐‐ Beings are endowed with Buddha‐nature since in the Tathata of Buddhas and of sentient beings there is no differentiation into good or bad, great or small, high or low. ‐‐‐ As silver is found in and may be refined from its ore, sesame oil pressed from its seed and butter churned from milk, so in all beings may Buddhahood become a reality. (All quotes from Gampopaʹs ʺJewel Ornament of Liberationʺ translated by H V Guenther) ʹThe Four Dharmas of Gampopaʹ Grant your blessings that my mind may follow the Dharma. Grant your blessings that my Dharma practice may become the path. Grant your blessings that the path may clarify confusion. Grant your blessings that confusion may dawn as wisdom. 561
ʹMagnificent Dreamʹ One night, Gampopa fell asleep for a short while, and had a series of vivid dreams of unusual intensity and clarity. The next day, he went in a state of great excitement to report his dreams to his guru, Milarepa: Oh, wondrous Jetsun, cotton‐clad, Yogi who practices with incredible discipline, Like the ornament on a crown, like a wish‐fulfilling gem, You are the renowned Mila, venerated by all sentient beings. The beauty of your name fills the ten directions. Hearing your name for the first time Filled me with joy and inspiration. I traveled, following the stars of the Pleiades in the east. Not caring what hardships I had to endure, With great sincerity, I set out in search of you. Like in the story of Sadaprarudita, the Ever‐Crying Bodhisattva, (note 1) Throughout the trials of my journey I cried out with a yearning heart, ʹOh, when will I meet you, Jetsun Guru?ʹ When I reached a place one and a half days journey from here, My body and prana grew so weak that I nearly died, And I lay in the road like a discarded stone. But because of my intense devotion and unvanquished will, Like that of the Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita, Who met his guru, Dharodgata at Gandhavati in the east, I was able to complete my journey And meet you, Jetsun Guru, my father, At the wondrous place called Fortune Hill. When I first saw you I got goose bumps, And my hair stood on end in delight. No words could describe my joy, As my longing to see you was at last fulfilled. Although I had little illusory wealth to offer you, I had great disgust for samsara, I had fear of the endless toil of birth and death, I had renounced all worldly dharmas, And from the depths of my being, I desired only to practice, to meditate. You accepted me, Jetsun Guru, And embraced me with your compassion! I have not forgotten this kindness, It is branded in my mind. Please, my Jetsun Guru, always remember me, And embrace me with your compassion! 562
Lord Guru, please listen now to your servant, Who has something to report to you this morning. At dusk last night I recited the yidamʹs mantra. At midnight I prayed to you, Jetsun Guru. Later, I practiced the meditation on life prana. Then, just before dawn, I fell asleep, And free from my ordinary habitual thought patterns, These wondrous dreams arose: I dreamed I wore a white long‐pointed summer hat. On its brim, the hat was trimmed with multicolored silken tassels, Adorned with vermilion fur along its edge, And with a vultureʹs feather at the point. I dreamed I wore stainless new blue‐green boots, Well cut, with four rings and studs of brass, And fastened with two straps with rings of silver. I dreamed I wore a white silk shirt, Embroidered with pearls and golden thread, And a beautiful design of vermilion dots. I dreamed I wore a sash around my waist Made of cloth from Mon, (note 2) Embroidered with various fine multicolored flowers, And fringed with tassels and garlands of pearls. I dreamed I wore around my neck, A cape of white uncut kidʹs felt, Fastened with silver jasmine‐style ornaments. I dreamed I held in my right hand A long strong staff of sandalwood, Itʹs handle, golden filigree lattice‐work, Inlaid with seven precious stones. I dreamed I held in my left hand A vajra skull‐cup, filled up Brimful with golden amrita. (note 3) Then I felt, ʹI want to use This as my personal drinking cupʹ. I dreamed of multi‐colored tsampa bags, Filled with two loads of white rice. Then I thought, ʹI will use This for my Dharma provisions,ʹ And slung them over my right shoulder. I dreamed I wore a black antelopeʹs pelt, With head and all four hooves intact. I then said, ʹI want to use This as my meditation mat,ʹ 563
And slung it over my left shoulder. Looking to the right I saw A beautiful golden grassy meadow, Where many sheep and yaks were grazing. Then in my dream I strongly felt, ʹI want to watch them like their shepherd.ʹ Then looking to the left I saw A meadow covered with beautiful turquoise‐blue grass, Filled with many kinds of colored flowers, And many beautiful women who bowed to me. In the center of this meadow, In a garden of countless lovely yellow flowers, Grew a huge golden lotus, Where I sat in bodhisattva posture. (note 4) I dreamed that before me a water fountain flowed, Behind me a brilliant white aura shone. My body emanated blazing flames of fire, And from my heart, sun and moonlight radiated. These were the wondrous dreams I dreamed. I know not if the omens were good or bad. Oh, lord of yogis, knower of the three times, Please tell me what you make of this. Notes: Note 1 : Sadaprarudita ‐ The story of Sadaprarudita searching for his guru is related in the last chapters of the Prajnaparamita Sutras. Note 2 : Mon ‐ Mon is a place on the border of Tibet and Bhutan. Note 3 : Amrita ‐ Nectar, elixir of immortality. Blessed liquor used sacramentally during tantric ritual. Amrita symbolizes poison transformed into wisdom. It also helps to break through oneʹs dualistic notions of pure and impure. Note 4 : Bodhisattva posture ‐ The meditation posture where the legs are loosely crossed, with the left leg drawn up close (symbolizing control of sexual energy), and the right leg slightly out in front (symbolizing readiness to act for the benefit of sentient beings). 564
ʹGampopaʹs Prayer and Supplication to Milarepaʹ Having heard the news of Milarepaʹs death, Gampopa sung the following spontaneous song to his guru,: Jetsun, when you stand at the summit of the white snow mountain, Your deeds are like a white snow lioness, You are the yogi who conquers the views of others. Jetsun, when you go to into the forest, Your actions are like the striped tiger. You are the yogi who is free from hope and fear. Jetsun, when you go to the white rock peak, Your way is that of the white vulture. You are the yogi who has conquered space. Jetsun, when you wander without a care in mountain solitude, Your path is like that of a wild animal. You are the yogi who is free from attachment. Jetsun, whose actions are like an elephantʹs, You are truly beyond meditation and post‐meditation. Jetsun, whose actions are childlike, You are truly free from inhibition. Jetsun, whose actions are beyond concepts, You have truly realized dharmata. Jetsun, since you have the highest perceptions, You have truly merged your inner mind with luminosity. Jetsun, whose thoughts for food and drink are slight, You truly enjoy the food of samadhi. 565
Jetsun, like the wish‐fulfilling gem, Whatever one needs, one receives from you. Jetsun, like the full moon among a sky full of stars, You are the most lovely among many. Jetsun, like the lotus rising above the mud, You are unstained by the faults of samsara. You are very kind and compassionate to all beings. You have accomplished the wishes of the Kagyu. Your virtuous qualities are without measure, And my praise is but a trifle. Hold me close with your compassion, and accept me. Even though I have no materials gifts of veneration to offer, I will practice Until we become one in the Dharmakaya. Do not cease your river of blessings. Do not let me go from the iron hook of your kindness. Through the virtue of these praises, May I meet the Jetsun himself. When we meet, please grant your blessings. 566
Supreme Heads of the Karma Kagyu order HH the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Urgyen Drodul Tinley Dorje When total enlightenment is attained, one becomes a Buddha. From that state of perfect wisdom, limitless compassion and supreme skill to help others, there emanate various manifestations. One ‐ known as the ʹsupreme emanationʹ brings the teachings of universal truth to a world, as did Buddha Sakyamuni, formerly Prince Gautama, 2,500 years ago. Thereafter, in the thousands of years during which those teachings remain alive, the Buddha mind emanates in many ways but sometimes as a perfectly‐
enlightened master, filled with the authority and majesty of insight and endowed with the power of buddha activity (buddha‐karma). This master is known as the Karmapa. In several sutras, such as the Lotus Compassion Sutra and the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, Buddha Sakyamuni predicted his future appearance as the Karmapa. The Karmapa appeared in India as the King of Siddhas, Saraha, and later in Tibet as Dusum Chenpa, the 1st Gyalwa Karmapa (1110‐1193). Since the latter, the Karmapas have reincarnated in Tibet, as heads of the Karma Kagyu (also known as Karma Kamtsang) lineage. They were the first lamas to reincarnate systematically like this: the first tulku. We offer you brief hagiographies of all 17 Karmapas. Altea Publishing 12‐2006 567
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The First Karmapa Düsum Khyenpa (1110 ‐ 1193) The First Karmapa Düsum Khyenpa, ʺKnower of the Three Timesʺ “In the future, you will be the buddha named Drukpa Sengge, In the present, you nurture all realms through many emanations. Lord of dharma, ruler of the teachings of the practice lineage, Düsum Khyenpa, we supplicate at your feet. ” from Supplication To The Karmapas Early Years Born to a family of devoted Buddhist practitioners in Teshö in eastern Tibet, the boy who was to become known as the first Karmapa was called Gephel as a child. He first studied with his father, and became a knowledgeable and seasoned practitioner, even as a young child. He continued his education with other Buddhist teachers of the region. First Teachers Already quite learned by the age of twenty, he moved to Central Tibet, became a monk and spent the next twelve years or so engaging in study and meditation practices. He studied with very well known masters of the time, such as Chapa Chokyi Senge (1109‐1169), a great logician and the founder of the debate system in Tibet, and Patsab Lotsawa Nyima Drakpa (1055‐?), who translated many madhyamaka texts (one of the highest schools of Buddhist philosophy) into Tibetan and was a great master of the Prasangika Madhyamaka tradition. 569
Training under Gampopa At the age of thirty, he received teachings from Gampopa, the heart son of the greatest yogi in Tibetan history, Milarepa. Düsum Khyenpa first trained in the foundation practices of the Khadampa tradition and, following that, in the general philosophy of the sutras. This training in the basis of all Buddhist traditions established a pattern for all future Kagyu followers by demonstrating the importance of establishing a correct basis of knowledge. This is true even when engaging in the most powerful of advanced vajrayana practices. Düsum Khyenpa also received and unified the lineage teachings he received from Rechungpa and other students of Milarepa. The Karmapaʹs accomplishment in meditation and the practices transmitted to him by his teachers were greatly enhanced by his own natural compassion. His practice produced rapid results and great accomplishments, or siddhis. Such accomplishment is often perceived by followers as the ability to perform miraculous activity and in fact, the legends of the Karmapas through the ages speak of their ability, through the manifestation of this seemingly miraculous activity, to create a great sense of wonder and faith in their students. All the Karmapas have since been known for their ability to inspire, through their simple presence, this profound sense of wonder and faith in the reality of the accomplishment which is the fruition of the Buddhist path. Establishing Monastic Seats At the age of 55 (1164), Düsum Khyenpa founded a monastery at Kampo Nénang; and at the age of 60 (1169), he started the Panphuk monastery in Lithang, in East Tibet. Later, at the age of 76 (1185), he established an important seat at Karma Gön, in eastern Tibet (1184). At the age of 80 (1189), he established his main seat at Tsurphu, in the Tolung valley, a river which feeds into the Brahmaputra, in central Tibet. The first Karmapa, Düsum Khyenpa, made predictions about future Karmapas. In particular, he was the first Karmapa to present a prediction letter, detailing his future incarnation. He gave it to his main disciple, Drogon Rechen, whom he chose to become the next lineage‐holder. Düsum Khyenpa passed away at the age of eighty‐four. Among his other main disciples were Tak‐lungpa, founder of the Ta‐lung Kagyu, Tsangpa Gyare, founder of the Drukpa Kagyu, and Lama Khadampa Deshek, founder of the Katok Nyingma lineage. The principal student who held the lineage of the Golden Rosary from the First Karmapa was Drogon Rechen. Kagyu Office 12‐2006 570
Dusum Khyenpa Life of the 1st Karmapa ‐ Dusum Khyenpa The 1st Karmapa ‐ Dusum Khyenpa (1110‐1193), was to be the foremost disciple of Gampopa. Born the son of a practising Buddhist in Ratay in East Tibet, Dusum Khyenpa received his first Dharma teachings from his father, who gave him teachings on Mahakali. As a result, it is said that Dusum Khyenpa was able to leave hand and foot prints on rocks. He continued his education with other Buddhist teachers of the region, and at the age of 20, he took ordination under the Kadampa tradition of Atisha. Then he moved to Central Tibet where he spent the next twelve years in meditation and in study of both sutra and tantra with famous scholars, among them Kyabpa Chokyi Senge, and Patsab Lotsawa Nyima Trag. At the age of thirty he went to Gampopaʹs monastry, Daklha Gampo, where he was given Kagyu teachings by Gampopa. Though perceiving Dusum Khyenpa to be a great bodhisattva, he made him practice the foundation practices of the kadampa tradition, and to study sutric philosophy extensively. Thus he emphasised the need for a valid and solid foundation as a basis for practice, something emphasised to this day in the Kagyu tradition. Gampopa instructed and initiated him into the practice of Hevajra, and he then spent four years practicing both the samatha (calming) and vipassana (insight) aspects of meditation. He was then given the full inner instructions of the Kagyu tradition, and made remarkable progress. According to tradition, he was able to absorb and master the teachings which it took Naropa 12 years to receive in a mere 9 days. Dusum Khyenpa was farther 571
connected with the lineage by teachings he received from Rechungpa and from other students of Milarepa. Ruchunpa passed on to him the teachings of the Six Yogaʹs of Naropa, and as a result, Dusum Khyenpa especially excelled at the practice of Tummo, or inner heat, due to his intense compassion for all beings. The depth of his practice was such that he developed siddhis (powers) that enabled him to visit the sacred sites of the Vajrayana in India. At one of these, Udhiyana, dakinis shared their wisdom teachings with him. He had great natural ability for meditation and spent many years meditating in mountain caves. At one point, he spent months in a hut so tiny that the meditation posture, cross‐legged and erect, was the only possible form of occupancy. Eventually, Gampopa died, and so Dusum Khyenpa returned to Gampopaʹs Daklha Gampo monastry in order to pay homage to his teacher. Dusum Khyenpa had a vision of Gampopa. As a result of the vision, he knew that it was the appropriate time to follow one of Gampopaʹs last instructions to him, which was to go to Kampo Kangra and practice Mahamudra. Kampo Kangra was to be the place where Dusum Khyenpa gained Enlightenment. Dusum Khyenpa took a vow that he would live to the old age of 84, in order to benefit the Dharma, and sentient beings. After years of meditation guided by his guru, Dusum Khenpa attained complete enlightenment. At the age of 50, whilst practicing dream yoga, he attained Liberation. His moment of enlightenment was celebrated by the dakinis who made him a gift of a crown made from their hair. The crown is said to have been thenceforth always present, though invisible, above the heads of all the Karmapas. Dusum Khyenpa was recognized as the first Karmapa, a manifestation of Avalokitesvara, whose existence had foretold by the Buddha in the Samadhirajasutra and the Lankavatara sutra. His name, Dusum Khyenpa, means ʹknower of the past, present and futureʹ which indicates both the timeless nature of Enlightenment, as well as the supreme lucidity which grants knowledge of the three times (past, present and future). At forty‐four, he left Central Tibet to return to the region of his birth, and spent the thirty‐nine years until his death in establishing three thriving monasteries, sharing the Kagyu teachings, and training his students. At the age of 58, he founded the Kampo Nenang monastry. Later he founded the Karma Gon monastic complex, and at the age of 74, he established another at Tsurphu. Situated in the Tulong valley, which leads to the Brahmaputra valley, and is near Lhasa, Tsurphu was to be the principal seat of the Gyalwa Karmapas for over 700 years. It is said that the abbot of the Buddhist monastry at Bodhgaya, (the place where Shakyamuni Buddha gained Enlightenment) sent Dusum Khyenpa whilst he was at Tsurphu, a conch shell. The conch shell was a symbol of Dusum Khyenpaʹs significance for the Buddha‐Dharma. Dusum Khyenpa created the special emphasis on meditation within the Kagyu order which has henceforth identified it as ʹthe practising lineage.ʹ He had many powerful disciples and of these, he chose Drogon Rechen to be the next lineage‐holder. Initiating a tradition within the Kagyu lineage, he wrote a prediction letter, which gave strong indications about his future incarnation, which he gave to Drogon Rechen. He was thus to became the first tulku known to take intentional rebirth for the sake of all sentient beings. 572
As he had previously predicted, Dusum Khyenpa did indeed pass away at the age of 84. It is said that his heart and tongue remained intact in the funeral pyre, despite the intense heat, and that many of his bones spontaneously manifested shapes of Buddhaʹs. Dusum Khyenpa created the special emphasis on meditation within the Kagyu order as a whole, which has henceforth identified it as ʹthe practising lineage.ʹ Dusum Khyenpa was also the guru of Taklungpa, who was to be the founder of the Taklung Kagyu; the guru of Tsangpa Gyare, founder of the Drukpa Kagyu and also of Lama Khadampa Deshek, who founded the Katok Nyingma lineage. Kagyu Asia Teachings of the 1st Karmapa ‐ Dusum Khyenpa ʹDirectionʹ This unbridled stallion, your mind, Used to gallop on errant paths. Now steer it onto the correct track! 573
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Drogon Rechen (1148‐1218) Drogon Rechen was born to an educated family in the Yarlung area of Tsang, part of Central Tibet. As a young child, he demonstrated his awakened potential in the gradual path of hinayana‐mahayana. At the age of nine, he connected to the Kagyu master, Zangri Repa, and received many teachings, including ear‐whispered teachings and dohas of the Mahamudra masters. He practiced meditation wearing only a cotton cloth and was therefore called ʺRechen,ʺ which means ʺgreat cotton‐clad yogi.ʺ He experienced many signs of meditative accomplishment. Studying in Milarepaʹs Tradition When he reached the age of fifteen, his teacher, Zangri Repa, passed into parinirvana. Before his passing away, Drogon Rechen was advised to find the disciples of Milarepaʹs lineage, receive the full lineage transmission, and practice hard so that he could become a great master in this tradition. In accordance with this, he studied and practiced under many Kagyu masters as well as with Dzogchen masters. Although he attained great qualities of samadhi he still was not fully satisfied. Deciding to leave his home to develop his practice further, he started a journey to Kham, in eastern Tibet, through Kongpo. On his way, he met and received many teachings ‐ from Thöpa Samdrup, he received the complete transmission of the Chöd lineage; from Ngari‐pa, he received Vajrapani and Vajrasaddhu; from Nyalpa Josey, he received Peaceful and Wrathful Manjushri and Mahakala. He established eighteen Tantric seats and many great practitioners have been produced as a result. 575
Meeting The First Karmapa Drogön Rechen mastered the prana and nadhi practices at this point, and a little bit of pride in his accomplishment developed. Upon hearing the fame of the First Karmapa Düsum Khyenpa, who was living at Kampo Nenang, Drogön Rechen decided to meet him. He simply wished to pay Düsum Khyenpa his respects, but had no intention of studying with the Karmapa. The First Karmapa told Drogon Rechen, when they first met, ʺO young tantric practitioner, you can go and study with my students.ʺ Drogön Rechen asked ʺwhat kind of students do you have?ʺ Karmapa replied ʺDeuchung Sangye, Baltsa Takdelwa, and so on.ʺ Drogon Rechen first went to see Deuchung Sangye who directed him to Baltsa Takdelwa. When he went to the cave of Takdelwa, he saw a huge tiger sleeping there and he ran back with great fear. Deuchung told him to go back again and when he did, he saw a little pond in the cave. He circumambulated the water and threw some pebbles in it and left. When he was told to go back and went, he saw an old yogi who had those pebbles he threw on his lap. At that time, he thought ʺif the students are like this, it is unnecessary to point out how great must be their teacherʹs realization and achievement!ʺ Making a strong commitment, he practiced under their direction for seven years and completely settled his practice and realization. Drogon Rechen became one of the most important heart disciples of the First Karmapa. He was fully ordained as a monastic at the age of thirty‐
seven and received the name Sönam Drakpa. He received the full Kagyu transmission from the First Karmapa for three more years, and became the lineage‐holder. When Karmapa traveled back to Central Tibet, Drogön Rechen stayed behind in the Kham region and continued the activities of the Karmapa and the lineage at the seats of Karma Gön and Kampo Nenang. At the age of 70, he passed into parinirvana on the 25th day and many relics arose from the cremation. His principal disciple and the Kagyu lineage holder was Pomdrakpa Sönam Dorje. These details about Drogon Rechen are compiled from Pawo Tsuklak Trengwaʹs Feast For Scholars (chos ʹbyung mkhas paʹi dgʹa ston), Beijing edition, vol. 2, pp. 873‐877. May this be virtuous! Kagyu Office 12‐2006 576
Pomdrakpa (1170 ‐ 1249) Pomdrakpa Sonam Dorje was born Dri Dampa Chöchuk in Central Tibet. At the age of five, he started his education, and at the age of nine, he received the mother Tantra transmissions from Nyen Lhakhang Gangpo. When he was fourteen, he heard the fame of the great master, Drogön Rechen. Upon hearing his name, a special meditative experience arose within him and he had a vision of red dakinis who prophesized Drogon Rechen as his teacher. Within ten days, he went to visit Drogön Rechen and received the full monastic ordination and was named Sönam Dorje. From that moment, he followed Drogon Rechen as his principal teacher, from whom he received many abhishekas. He practiced with great diligence for many years. Pomdrakpa had many visions of the wisdom deities during abhishekas and practice sessions, as well as a vision of the First Karmapa who gave him important instructions. From Drogön Rechen, he received the full Kagyu transmission and became the lineage‐holder. Holding The Kagyu Lineage Pomdrakpa received the full Kagyu teachings, and became a gifted master. Before the passing away, Drogon Rechen told Pomdrakpa and Lodrö Rinchen that they were the masters of the teachings, who could each hold this lineage. He also predicted that Pomdrakpaʹs activities would flourish, and the lineage would prosper even more during the time of his disciples and afterwards in the future. During that time, Pomdrakpa saw his teacher as the Buddha Shakyamuni surrounded by countless buddhas. This is said to be the auspicious sign of becoming the main lineage holder. Pomdrakpa Sönam Dorjeʹs activities of benefiting beings flourished as predicted, and he passed on the lineage transmission to the Second Karmapa, Karma Pakshi. These details about Pomdrakpa are compiled from Pawo Tsuklak Trengwaʹs Feast For Scholars (chos ʹbyung mkhas paʹi dgʹa ston), Beijing edition, vol. 2, pp. 877‐880. May this be virtuous! Kagyu Office 12‐2006 577
Pomdragpa Sonam Dorje (1170‐1249) THE GOLDEN KAGYU GARLAND Excerpts from The Garland of Moon Water Crystal by Situ Chokyi Jungnay and Belo Tsewang Kunkhyab Pomdragpa Sonam Dorje (1170‐1249) was born at Drikung in Central Tibet. He was a gifted child who mastered reading and writing by the age of five. When he was nine years old he started studying Buddhism with Lama Lhakang Gang. At fourteen he heard of Drogon Rechen and felt an intense desire to see him, sensing that Drogon Rechen was his destined teacher. At their meeting Drogon Rechen clearly saw that the child was very gifted and that he would become the next lineage holder. Thus he imparted all the teachings to Pomdragpa who put them into practice and became a great Kagyu master. His principal disciple was the second Karmapa, Karma Pakshi D‐K‐L 12‐2006 578
2nd Karmapa Karma Pakshi (1203‐1283) The second Karmapa was a child prodigy who had already acquired a broad understanding of Dharma philosophy and meditation by the age of ten. His teacher, Pomdrakpa, had received the full Kagyu transmission from Drogon Rechen, the first Karmapaʹs spiritual heir. Pomdrakpa realized, through certain very clear visions, that the child in his charge was the reincarnation of Dusum Khyenpa, as indicated in the letter given to Drogon Rechen. The young Karma Pakshi assimilated the deepest teachings effortlessly and required only one reading of a text to be familiar with it. He was already enlightened. Nevertheless, Pomdrakpa made a point of formally passing on all the teachings through the traditional empowerments, so that the stream of the empowerment lineage would be unbroken. This has been the case ever since: despite their innate clarity, young Karmapas receive all the transmissions formally. The second Karmapa spent much of the first half of his life in meditation retreat. He also visited and restored the monasteries established by the first Karmapa and is famous for having introduced to the Tibetan people communal chanting of the OM MANI PADME HUNG mantra of compassion. At the age of 47 he set out on a three‐year journey to China, in response to an invitation from Kublai, grandson of Ghengis Khan. While there, he performed many spectacular miracles and played an important role as a peacemaker. Although requested to reside there permanently, he declined, not wishing to be the cause of sectarian conflicts with the Sakyapas, whose influence was strong in China 579
at that time. Over the next ten years the Karmapa travelled widely in China, Mongolia, and Tibet and became famous as a teacher. He was particularly honored by Munga Khan, Kublaiʹs brother, who ruled at that time and whom the Karmapa recognized as a former disciple. After Mungaʹs death, Kublai became the Khan. He established the city of Cambalu, the site of present‐day Beijing, from which he ruled a vast empire stretching as far as Burma, Korea, and Tibet. However, he bore a grudge against the Karmapa, who had refused his invitation to remain in China some years before and had been so close to his brother. He ordered his arrest. Each attempt to capture, or even kill, the Karmapa was thwarted by the latterʹs miracles. At one point the Karmapa ʹfrozeʹ a battalion of 37,000 soldiers on the spot, by using the power of mudra, yet all the time showing compassion. He eventually let himself be captured and put in exile, knowing that his miracles and compassion would eventually lead to Kublai Khan having a change of heart—which did in fact happen. Returning to Tibet towards the end of his life, he had an enormous (sixteen‐
meter) statue of the Buddha built at Tsurphu, to fulfill a dream he had had long before. The finished work was slightly tilted and Karma Pakshi straightened it by sitting first in the same tilted posture as the statue and then righting himself. The statue moved as he moved. Before dying, he told his main disciple, Urgyenpa, details concerning the next Karmapaʹs birth. Text reprinted with permission of Altea Publishing from Karmapa, by Ken Holmes. Copyright 1995 by Altea Publishing. 580
The Second Karmapa Karma Pakshi (1204 ‐ 1283) Karma Pakshi, the Second Karmapa, meditator extraordinaire and miracle worker “Mastering the yidam, you gained control over the world of appearance. You tamed the haughtiness of the tirthika emperor of Mongolia, And conquered the energy of fire, water, poison, weaponry and demons. Karma Pakshi, we supplicate at your feet.” From Supplication To The Karmapas A Child Prodigy Born in Kyil‐le Tsakto in eastern Tibet to a noble family of yogins, the young boy was named Chözin by Khache Panchen. He was a child prodigy who already had a broad understanding of Buddhist philosophy and practice before the age of ten. On his way to Central Tibet for further education, he encountered Pomdrakpa, who had received the full Kagyu transmission from Drogön Rechen, the first Karmapaʹs spiritual heir. Pomdrakpa realized, through certain very clear visions, that the child he met was the reincarnation of Düsum Khyenpa, as indicated in the letter given to Drogon Rechen. Pomdrakpa conferred on the young Karma Pakshi all the teachings through traditional empowerments and formally passed on the lineage in full. Ever since this time, each young Karmapa, despite his pre‐existing knowledge and accomplishment of the teachings, formally receives all the transmissions of the teachings from a lineage holder. The second Karmapa spent much of the first half of his life in meditation retreat. He also visited and restored the monasteries established by the first Karmapa. He is famous for having introduced the melodious chanting of the Om Mani Padme Hung, the mantra of compassion, to the Tibetan people. 581
The Court of Kublai Khan At the age of 47 (1252), he set out on a three‐year journey to China, at the invitation of Kublai, grandson of Ghengis Khan. While there, Chinese and Tibetan histories, as well as statements of European visitors, record that the Karmapa was said to have performed many spectacular miracles at the court. He also played an important role as a peacemaker. However, the Karmapa declined to stay permanently in the court, which caused Kublai Khanʹs displeasure. Over the next ten years the Karmapa traveled widely in China, Mongolia and Tibet and became a teacher of the greatest renown. He was particularly honored by Munga Khan, Kublaiʹs brother, the Mongol ruler at that time. The Karmapa was presented the Great Golden Seal of ʺTi shro.ʺ After Mungaʹs death, Kublai became the Khan and ruled a vast empire. However, harboring resentment against the Karmapa for his refusal to stay in the court of Kublai and due to his perception that the Karmapa had paid more attention to the Munga Kahn many years before, Kublai Kahn ordered the apprehension of the Second Karmapa. The Karmapa thwarted each attempt to capture, or even kill him, despite the overwhelming forces sent against him. As the Karmapa continually responded to force with compassion, Kublai Khan eventually had a change of heart. As time passed, gradually Kublai Khan came to regret his actions against the Karmapa, and eventually approached him, confessing his misdeeds, and requesting Karma Pakshi to teach him. Miracles of Meditation And Scholarship In fulfillment of a long‐standing vision, His Holiness returned to Tibet and directed the building of a Buddha statue at Tsurphu, well over fifty feet in height. The finished statue was slightly tilted. In one of the most well‐known miraculous stories of the Karmapas, Karma Pakshi was said to have straightened the statue by assuming the same tilted posture as the statue, and straightening himself. The statue simultaneously righted itself. The histories record that the Second Karmapa composed over one hundred volumes of texts, which once were enshrined at the monastic library of Tshurphu monastery in Central Tibet. Before passing away into parinirvana, Karma Pakshi told details concerning the next Karmapaʹs birth to his main disciple, Orgyenpa. Kagyu Office 12‐2006 582
Orgyenpa (1230‐1312) Orgyenpa was born in Latö, in Northern Tibet, in the year of Earth Tiger, to a family of tantric practioners. At an early age, he mastered Vajrakilaya and other teachings and practices of his fatherʹs lineage. He was naturally inclined to meditation practices but decided that he should first study philosophy before beginning serious meditation practice. He was ordained as upasaka by Lord Götsangpa. From the age of seven, he applied himself to basic studies. When he was sixteen, he started studying various philosophical texts such as Abhidharma, Madhyamaka, Vinaya, and other topics of sciences at a monastery in Tsang province, which was famous for the quality of its teaching. He excelled among his contemporaries and mastered all subjects. He also received and practiced the Kalachakra tantra in full from Golungpa Namkha Gyaltsen and later clarified those teachings further with Lord Götsangpa. He traveled to Nepal, India, China, Pakistan, Tsari, Mount Kailash, Jalandara, and Odiyana to learn and practice further at these sacred places. He achieved great accomplishments in his practice and became a realized tantric master. At fifty‐three, he met the Second Karmapa, Karma Pakshi, and received the full Kagyu lineage teachings and transmissions. After he received the key instructions, he attained high realization and they became inseparable. Orgyenpaʹs activities of benefiting beings flourished throughout Tibet and he focused mainly instructing disciples through Gampopaʹs tradition of Mahamudra teachings. Among countless students, he had four renowned sons — two brothers of Nyedowa, Chöje Kharchuwa of Yazang, and Jamyang Sönam Öser of Langkhor; as well as eight close sons, four supreme ones, and many other scholars and yogis of Tibet and India. However, his main disciple and lineage holder was the Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje. These details about are compiled from Pawo Tsuklak Trengwaʹs Feast For Scholars (chos ʹbyung mkhas paʹi dgʹa ston), Beijing edition, vol. 2, pp. 913‐918. May this be virtuous! Kagyu Office 12‐2006 583
THE GOLDEN KAGYU GARLAND Excerpts from The Garland of Moon Water Crystal by Situ Chokyi Jungnay and Belo Tsewang Kunkhyab Drubtop Urgyenpa (1230‐1312) was born at Lato in Northern Tibet. As a child he spontaneously knew how to meditate. However, he wanted to begin the Buddhist path by studying the teachings and then engage in meditation practice. He studied many texts between the ages of seven till sixteen. At that time he went to the well‐known monastic college of Podong Er in the Tsang Province. He became an outstanding scholar of his time. Not being satisfied with this achievement, he sought out the master Gotsangpa from whom he received all the Kagyu teachings. Drubtop Urgyenpa was a follower of the Drukpa Kagyu tradition. He traveled to Nepal, India, China and Pakistan. During these travels he met with many gurus with whom he studied and meditated. At the age of fifty‐three he met with Karma Pakshi, who imparted the ultimate Kagyu teachings to him and predicted that Urgyenpa would become the guru of the third Karmapa. D‐K‐L 12‐2006 584
3rd Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284‐1339) The third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje, produced a black crown from nowhere at the age of three and announced that he was the Karmapa, telling his young friends that they were indulging in worldliness. At five, he went to see Urgyenpa, who had dreamt of him the night before and was prepared for his visit. He grew up in Tsurphu receiving not only the full Kagyu transmission but also that of the Nyingma tradition. Having spent some time on the slopes of Mount Everest in retreat and then taken full ordination, he further broadened his studies at a great seat of Khadampa learning. Rangjung Dorje had a tremendous thirst for learning from the greatest scholars and experts of his day. His approach embraced all traditions of knowledge and he had an intelligence and sensitivity which could assimilate and compare all that he studied. Through visions he received of the ʹWheel of Timeʹ (Kalachakra) teachings, he introduced a revised system of astrology. He studied and mastered medicine. In particular, his mastery of the profound Nyingmapa teachings of Vimalamitra meant that, in him, the Kagyu mahamudra and the Nyingma equivalent, dzogchen, became as one. By the end of his studies, he had learned and mastered nearly all of the Buddhist teachings brought to Tibet from India by all the various masters of both the ancient and restoration periods. 585
In the light of that eclectic wisdom, he composed many significant texts, the most famous of which is perhaps the Profound Inner Meaning (zab.mo.nang.don), pinpointing the very essence of Vajrayana. He visited China and there enthroned his disciple, the new emperor Toghon Temur. Through long‐life elixir received from the Karmapa, who returned to Samye especially to procure it, the emperor was the longest‐lived of all the Mongol emperors of China. Rangjung Dorje established many monasteries in Tibet and China. He died in China and is famous for having appeared in the moon on the night of his passing. K‐T‐D 12‐2006 586
The Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284 ‐ 1339) Rangjung Dorje, the Third Karmapa, learnt and mastered nearly all of the Buddhist teachings brought to Tibet from India “Through your miraculous ability in commenting on the many sutras and tantras, You reveal the heart meaning to the diverse host of beings, Vastly propagating the teachings of the great siddhas. Rangjung Dorje, we supplicate at your feet.” from Supplication To The Karmapas Born to a family of a tantric practitioners of the Nyingma lineage in Dingri Langkor, in the Tsang region of Central Tibet, Rangjung Dorje sat up straight at the age of three and proclaimed that he was the Karmapa. At the age of five, he went to see Orgyenpa, who had prepared for his visit on the basis of a prescient dream. Orgyenpa recognized the child as the reincarnation of Karma Pakshi, and gave him the Vajra Black Crown and all the possessions of the second Karmapa. Master Of All Buddhist Traditions Of Knowledge Rangjung Dorje grew up in Tsurphu, receiving the full transmissions of both the Kagyu and Nyingma tradition. At the age of 18 (1301), he received the preliminary monastic ordination. After a retreat on the slopes of Mt. Everest, he took full ordination, and further broadened his studies at a great seat of the Khadampa lineage. Not content with this, Rangjung Dorje sought out and studied with the greatest scholars and experts of different traditions of knowledge, learning from all Buddhist traditions of the time. By the end of his studies, he had learnt and mastered nearly all of the Buddhist teachings brought to Tibet from India. 587
Founder Of The Karma Nyingthik In particular, during a retreat in his early twenties he had the vision at sunrise of Vimalamitra and then Padmasambhava, who dissolved into him at a point between his eyebrows. At that moment, he realized and received all the teachings and transmissions of the dzogchen tantras of the Nyingma lineage. He wrote many volumes of teachings on dzogchen and founded the Karma Nyingtik lineage. Through his mastery of the profound Nyingmapa teachings of Vimalamitra, he unified the Kagyu mahamudra and the Nyingma dzogchen. At the age of 35 (1318), through visions he received of the ʺWheel of Timeʺ (Kalacakra) teachings, he introduced a revised system of astrology, which continues to this day called the ʺTsur‐tsiʺ or the Tsurphu Tradition of Astrology, and which forms the basis for the calculation of the Tibetan calendar in the Tsurphu system. He also studied and mastered medicine, which is in part related to astrological studies in the Tibetan system. Over the course of his life, Rangjung Dorje also wrote many treatises, including the universally renowned Profound Inner Meaning (Zab mo nang don), one of the most famous Tibetan treatises on Vajrayana. The Karmapa established many monasteries in Tibet and China. He visited China in 1332, where he enthroned his disciple, the new emperor, Toghon Temur. Rangjung Dorje later passed away into parinirvana in China. It is said his image appeared in the moon on the night of his passing. Among his many disciples, some of the main ones were Khedrup Drakpa Senge, Dolpopa, Yakde Panchen, and many others, and in particular the one who was to become the next lineage holder, Gyalwa Yungtonpa. Kagyu Office 18‐12‐2006 588
Gyalwa Yungtönpa (1296‐1376) Gyalwa Yungtön Dorje Pal, was born into a family of Nyingma tantric practitioners at Tsongdu Gurmo, in Southern Tibet, in the Wood Snake year. He was named Dorje Bûm. From an early age, he started to study the five sciences and developed incomparable knowledge in sutra and tantra. Most of his studies were at Shalu. He received the Do‐gyu‐sem‐sum, teachings on Mahayoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga of Dzogchen from Zur Champa Senge. He then received the Yamantaka cycle of teachings and abhisheka from Shangpa Shakbum. He studied and practiced hard under many masters and became one of the most respected and renowned teachers of the time. Gyalwa Yungtönpa made great contributions of material offerings to Sakya, Trophu, Shalu, and Sangphu. At the request of his mother, he accepted a consort and when the first child was born he asked permission from the family and received monastic ordination. He was named Dorje Pal. He then met the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje and received all the key instructions and transmissions of the lineage in full and attained highest realization. He practiced in Tibet and also in Paro, Bhutan for years. He composed a text differentiating the views of buddhahood in Sutra and Tantra and impressed and outshined many great scholars of the time, such as Yakde Panchen, who became his students. He manifested as a hidden yogi and benefited many sentient beings. At the age of eighty‐two, in the Wood Snake Year, he passed into parinirvana with many great signs of realization. Among countless students, his main disciple and lineage holder was the Fourth Karmapa, Rolpe Dorje. Pawo Rinpoche said that there are short and longer versions of autobiographies of this master.These details about Gyalwa Yungtönpa are compiled from Pawo Tsuklak Trengwaʹs Feast For Scholars (chos ʹbyung mkhas paʹi dgʹa ston), Beijing edition, vol. 2, pp. 948‐950. May this be virtuous! Kagyu Office 12‐2006 589
THE GOLDEN KAGYU GARLAND Excerpts from The Garland of Moon Water Crystal by Situ Chokyi Jungnay and Belo Tsewang Kunkhyab Gyalwa Yungton Dorje Pal (1296‐1376) was born at Tsongdu Gurmo in Southern Tibet. At the age of five, when his mother took him to the market place, he met Trophu Khenchen Sonam Senge, a great scholar. The child showed great devotion and was given the refuge‐vows and the precepts of a lay practitioner on the spot. By the age of fifteen he entered the famous Nyingma monastery Ugpa Lung where he was instructed in the Tantrayana by Lama Zurchung and Lama Bale. He also studied at the monastic college Shalu and became a famous scholar. He was known as a teacher who had mastered the teachings of both the Sutras and the Tantras. It is recorded that he attained the highest realization after he met with the third Karmapa who imparted the ultimate meaning of the teachings to him. Thus, Gyalwa Yungtonpa became the next lineage holder. He passed away at the age of eighty‐two. D‐K‐L 12‐2006 590
4th Karmapa Rolpe Dorje (1340‐1383) While pregnant , the Fourth Karmapaʹs mother could hear the sound of the mantra OM MANI PADME HUNG coming from her womb. The baby said the mantra as soon as it was born. His early life was full of miracles and manifested a total continuity of the teachings and qualities of his former incarnation. He could read books and received many profound teachings in his dreams. While in his teens he received the formal transmissions of both the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages from the great Nyingma guru Yungtonpa, the third Karmapaʹs spiritual heir, now very advanced in years. At the age of 19, he accepted Toghon Temurʹs passionate invitation to return to China. After a long and impressive journey, with many halts to give teachings, he arrived at the imperial palace. He gave teachings in China for three years and established many temples and monasteries there. On his return to Tibet, while in the Tsongkha region, Rolpe Dorje gave lay ordination to a very special child whom he predicted to be of great importance to Buddhism in Tibet. This was Kunga Nyingpo ʹTsong Khapaʹ future founder of the Gelugpa school, famous for its Dalai Lamas. When Temur died, the Mongol dynasty ended and the Ming dynasty began. The new emperor invited Rolpe Dorje, who declined the invitation but sent a holy lama in his stead. Rolpe Dorje composed wonderful mystic songs throughout his life and was an accomplished poet, fond of Indian poetics. 591
He is also remembered for creating a huge painting (thangka) following a vision of one of his students, who had imagined a Buddha image over a hundred meters tall. The Karmapa, on horseback, traced the Buddhaʹs outline with hoofprints. The design was measured and traced on cloth. It took 500 workers more than a year to complete the thangka, which depicted the Buddha, Maitreya and Manjushri: the founders of mahayana. K‐T‐D 12‐2006 592
Rolpai Dorje (1340‐1383) Rolpe Dorje, the Fourth Karmapa, engineered a 300 foot painting (thangka) of the Buddha by tracing the design of the Buddhaʹs outline with the hoofprints of a horse he was riding. “In various languages, you tame many types of beings. Through reasoning that is free of the extremes, you dispel all wrong assertions, And with perfect speech reveal the true state of things. Rölpay Dorje, we supplicate at your feet. ” from Supplication To The Karmapas The fourth Karmapa was born in Kongpo province, in central Tibet. It is said that while pregnant, his mother could hear the sound of the mantra Om Mani Padme Hung coming from her womb, and that the baby said the mantra as soon as he was born. At the age of three, he announced that he was the Karmapa. At a young age, he manifested the ability of the Karmapas to perform extraordinary activities, as spontaneously reading books and receiving many profound teachings in his dreams. As a teenager, he received the formal transmissions of both the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages from the great Nyingma guru Yungtönpa, the third Karmapaʹs spiritual heir. At age nineteen, Emporer Toghon Temur invited the Karmapa to return to China. He accepted and began an extended journey, stopping many places along the way to give teachings. He taught for three years in China, establishing many temples and monasteries there. Temur was the last Mongol emperor of China. The subsequent emperor of the Ming dynasty later invited the Karmapa to China, but Rolpe Dorje sent a lama in his place. 593
An Auspicious Meeting During his return to Tibet from China, Rolpe Dorje gave upasaka, lay ordination, to a very special child whom he named Kunga Nyingpo. Rolpe Dorje predicted that this child, from the Tsongka region, would play an important role in the Buddhism of Tibet. The child was to become known as the great master Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelugpa school. An accomplished poet, Rolpe Dorje was fond of Indian poetics, and composed many wonderful dohas, or songs of realization, a form of composition for which the Kagyü lineage is famous. After one of his students had a vision of a Buddha image over 300 feet tall, the fourth Karmapa engineered a huge painting (thangka) of the Buddha. It is said the Karmapa traced the design of the Buddhaʹs outline with the hoofprints of a horse he was riding. The design was measured and traced on cloth, and five hundred workers completed the cloth painting of the Buddha and founders of the mahayana after laboring for over a year. He passed into parinirvana in eastern Tibet. Among many disciples, his main disciple who became the next lineage holder was the second Shamar Rinpoche, Khachö Wangpo. Kagyu Office 12‐2006 594
Khachö Wangpo (1350‐1405) Khachö Wangpo was recognized as the reincarnation of Khaydrup Dragpa Senge, the first Shamar Rinpoche (1283‐1349) by the fourth Karmapa. He was born in Chema‐lung of Namshung, northern Tibet, in the Iron Tiger year. From an early age, he had numerous visions. At the age of seven, he met the Fourth Karmapa Rolpe Dorje and received upasaka and bodhisattva vows. The Karmapa gave him the Authentic Vajrayana Empowerments, Mahamudra transmissions, The Six Dharmas of Naropa, and the ear‐whispered lineage transmissions of the Kagyu Lineage. Khachö Wangpo also studied the sutras and the tantras with numerous great masters of Kagyu and Nyingma. The Fourth Karmapa, Rolpe Dorje, granted the ceremonial ruby Red Crown to the Second Shamar Khachö Wangpo. When the Fourth Karmapa passed into parinirvana, Khachö Wangpo continued the lineage activities and enthroned the 5th Karmapa. Khachö Wangpo was one of the first lineage teachers to record some of the key instructions put into writing. His collected works were recorded as having eight volumes. At the age of Fifty six, Wood Rooster Year, he passed away into parinirvana with many wondrous signs of realizations. Among many students, Sokwön Rikpe Raldri became an important disciple who later became the principal teacher of the 6th Karmapa Thongwa Dhönden. He transmitted the full Kagyu lineage to the Fifth Karmapa, Deshin Shekpa. These details about Khachö Wangpo are compiled from Pawo Tsuklak Trengwaʹs Feast For Scholars (chos ʹbyung mkhas paʹi dgʹa ston), Beijing edition, vol. 2, pp. 980‐900. May this be virtuous! Kagyu Office 18‐12‐2006 595
THE GOLDEN KAGYU GARLAND Excerpts from The Garland of Moon Water Crystal by Situ Chokyi Jungnay and Belo Tsewang Kunkhyab Khachö Wangpo, (1350‐1405) The second Shamarpa, Kacho Wangpo (1350‐1405), was recognized by the fourth Karmapa, Rolpai Dorje, and was his main student. He was a scholar as well as being accomplished in meditation. Kacho Wangpo identified the 5th Karmapa, Deshin Shegpa, and became his guru. He is well‐known for having furthered the Kagyu teachings to a great extent. He also authored many treatises which define the precise meaning of the Kagyu teachings. The tradition of succession by reincarnation originated in twelfth century Tibet with the example of Dusum Khyenpa, the first Karmapa. The Shamarpa Lineage dates back to the same century. It is the second line of reincarnates in the history of that tradition and it began when Rangjung Dorje, the third Karmapa, presented his principal disciple, Khaydrup Dragpa Senge, with a ruby red crown conferring the title Shamarpa (Holder of the Red Crown) on him. This Red Crown is an exact replica of the Black Crown worn by the Karmapas and exemplifies the close relationship that exists between these two lines of reincarnates. Furthermore, the second Karmapa, Karma Pakshi, predicted that ʺfuture Karmapas will manifest in two formsʺ. This statement was clarified later by the fourth Karmapa, Rolpeʹi Dorje, when he designated the Shamarpa reincarnates as the second manifestation. The Shamarpa is also known as a manifestation of Amitabha, The Buddha of Boundless Light. Tibetan historical records speak of the Karmapa as Karma Shanakpa (Karmapa the Black Crown Holder) and the Shamarpa as Karma Shamarpa (Karmapa the Red Crown Holder). They are referred to as such in the historical texts of Golo Shonnu Pal (1392‐1481), Pawo Tsuglag Trengwa (1504‐1516), the fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lozang Gyamtso (1617‐1682), and the eighth Situpa, Chokyi Jungnay (1700‐1774). It is important to understand that these crowns are simply symbols of activities to benefit beings. The crowns do not denote separate lineages. Both ʹThe Black Hat Lamaʹ and ʹThe Red Hat Lamaʹ belong to the Karma Kagyu Lineage. D‐K‐L 12‐2006 596
5 Karmapa: Dezhin Shegpa (1384‐1415) th
The fifth Gyalwa Karmapa , Dezhin Shegpa, was heard reciting mantras and the Sanskrit alphabet whilst in his motherʹs womb. He was the wonder child of yogin parents. He received the full transmissions of his lineage and soon completed his traditional training. At the age of 22, he received a moving invitation from Emperor Yung Lo (also known as Chʹeng‐Tsu), who had had a vision of him as Avalokiteshvara. It took three years for him to reach the imperial palace, where he was warmly received by ten thousand monks. The combination of Yung Loʹs devotion and the Karmapaʹs spirituality produced some extraordinary events: a hundred days of miracles that on the order of the emperor were recorded for posterity as silk paintings with a commentary in five languages. Following this, Dezhin Shegpa made a pilgrimage to the famous Wu‐tai Shan holy mountains, as the previous two Karmapas had done, to visit his monasteries there. The Fifth Karmapa saved Tibet from bloody war on several occasions by dissuading the emperor from imposing a single religious system there and by pointing out the value of alternative systems, suited to different mentalities. The emperor himself soon became an accomplished bodhisattva and one day, in purity of vision, saw the celestial vajra crown above his guruʹs head. 597
So that all beings might benefit from seeing something of this transcendent aspect of the Karmapa,he had a physical replica of it made, presented it to his guru and requested him to wear it on special occasions to bring liberation to those who saw it. This was the origin of the Vajra Crown ceremony. In 1408, Dezhin Shegpa set out for Tibet. There he supervised the reconstruction of Tsurphu, damaged by an earthquake, and stimulated the Buddha‐Dharma. He spent three years in contemplative retreat. Realizing that he would die at a young age, he left indications of his future rebirth and died at 31. The bones left in the ashes of his funeral pyre bore naturally‐formed images of many Buddhas. K‐T‐D 12‐2006 598
The Fifth Karmapa Deshin Shekpa (1384 ‐ 1415) Deshin Shekpa , the Fifth Karmapa, according to Chinese records, is said to have manifested 100 days of miracles in response to the extraordinary devotion of the Emperor of China. “By showing your major and minor marks, you instill in us lucid faith. You are the tathagata who is guru to the beings of the three realms, Fulfilling the needs of fortunate ones through supreme siddhi. Deshin Shekpa, we supplicate at your feet. ” from Supplication To The Karmapas The fifth Karmapa was born in the Nyang Dam region of southern Tibet to yogin parents. During the pregnancy, they heard the recitation of the Sanskrit alphabet and the Om Ah Ham mantra. Soon after birth, the infant sat upright, wiped his face, and said: ʺI am the Karmapa ‐ Om Mani Padme Hung Hri.ʺ When the child was brought to Tsawa Phu in Kongpo, Khacho Wangpo immediately recognized him as the incarnation of Rolpe Dorje, and presented him with the Black Hat and other possessions of the fourth Karmapa. He went on to give the Karmapa the full cycle of Kagyu teachings, and the Karmapa soon completed his traditional training. During the lifetime of the fourth Karmapa, Emperor Yung Lo (also known as Chʹeng‐Tsu) of China had a vision of the Karmapa as Avalokitesvara, the bodhisattva of compassion; subsequently he invited the fourth Karmapa to visit him in China. The visit had never took place; instead, Rolpe Dorje sent a lama as his emissary. Later, the fifth Karmapa, at the age of 23 (1406), made a three‐year journey to reach the imperial palace. Yung Lo became an extraordinarily devoted student of the Karmapa, whom he took as his guru. 599
Chinese records speak of the Karmapaʹs manifestation in response to such devotion as a hundred days of miracles. The emperor recorded these events for posterity in silk paintings with a multi‐lingual commentary. Following in the footsteps of the two previous Karmapas, Deshin Shekpa subsequently made a pilgrimage to the famous Wu‐tai Shan sacred mountains, to visit his monasteries there. The emperor achieved some realization, and had a vision in which he saw the wisdom Vajra Crown above Karmapaʹs head. So that all beings might benefit from seeing something of this transcendent aspect of the Karmapa, the emperor commissioned the creation of a physical replica of the wisdom Vajra Crown, which he saw as a black hat. He presented it to his guru, requesting him to liberate those who saw it by wearing the crown on special occasions. This was the beginning of the Vajra Crown (or Black Crown) ceremony. The emperor also offered Karmapa the highest‐ranking title: ʺTa Bao Fa Wang,ʺ (Great Precious Dharma King) with a golden seal. In 1410, Deshin Shekpa returned to Tsurphu to oversee the reconstruction of Tsurphu, which had been damaged by an earthquake. He recognized the Shamar reincarnation of Chopal Yeshe and spent three years in contemplative retreat. The next lineage holder, however, was the Karmapaʹs student Ratnabhadra. Realizing that he would die at a young age, he left indications of his future rebirth and passed away into parinirvana at the age of 31. In the ashes of his cremation fire were found relics, naturally‐formed images of many Buddhas. Kagyu Office 12‐2006 600
Ratnabhadra or Rikpe Raltri (Sokwön Rinchen Sangpo, 15th century) Ratnabadra was born into the well‐known family of Soksam‐khar Drongbu Goshir, in Soksam. From a young age, he was ordained as a monastic. He received the higher training in Buddhist philosophy, logic, and other fields of knowledge at Palden Sangphu. He then went on a tour to great monastic institutions in Tibet, engaging in debate and discussion on four main topics ‐ Madhyamaka, Prajnaparamita, Vinaya, and Abhidharma‐Kosha. He became one of the greatest scholars of sutra and tantra and thus was called ʺRikpe Raltriʺ (sword of philosophy and logic). He received the full transmission of the Kagyu lineage from the Fifth Karmapa Deshin Shekpa, through which he attained complete realization of the absolute reality and became one of the supreme meditation masters of the time. Ratnabhadra passed on the full transmission of the Kagyu lineage to the Sixth Karmapa, Thongwa Dhönden. Pawo Rinpoche said that the Sixth Karmapa Thongwa Dhonden wrote Ratnabhadraʹs biography but it was not available at the time of Pawo Rinpoche. So, here is the brief version as recorded by Pawo Rinpoche. These details about Ratnabhadra are compiled from Pawo Tsuklak Trengwaʹs Feast For Scholars (chos ʹbyung mkhas paʹi dgʹa ston), Beijing edition, vol. 2, pp. 1022‐03. May this be virtuous! Kagyu Office 12‐2006 601
Ratnabhadra (1406‐1452) THE GOLDEN KAGYU GARLAND Excerpts from The Garland of Moon Water Crystal by Situ Chokyi Jungnay and Belo Tsewang Kunkhyab Ratnabhadra (Tib. Rinchen Zangpo) (15th century) was born in the province of Soksam. He was ordained at an early age, received teachings and instructions from many masters of that time, and became one of the most well‐known scholars and meditation masters of the 15th century. The fifth Karmapa, Deshin Shegpa, gave him the pointing out instructions on the ultimate meaning of the Kagyu teachings. Thus, he attained complete realisation of the absolute nature of reality. He became the next lineage holder and the guru of the sixth Karmapa, Tongwa Donden. D‐K‐L 12‐2006 602
6th Karmapa Thongwa Donden (1416‐1453) The miraculous birth, prodigious qualities, and formal education of the sixth Karmapa echoed those of his predecessors. As a young man, he integrated the Shangpa Kagyu and the Shijay (the renowned practice of chod ʹcutting through egotismʹ) lineages into the Kagyu mainstream. He was a visionary who had many significant insights into Avalokiteshvara, Tara and other aspects of enlightenment. He composed many prayers for use in the traditional practices of his own lineage and thereby established a body of Kamtsang liturgy. Thongwa Dondenʹs life was mainly dedicated to this literary work and to travelling within Tibet, founding and restoring monasteries, having sacred books printed and strengthening the Sangha. Realizing that he would die at an early age, he entered retreat, making Gyaltsab Rinpoche his regent and giving him indications of where he would next take birth. His main spiritual heir was Bengar Jampal Zangpo, composer of the famous ʹShort Prayer to Vajradharaʹ, frequently used in modern Kagyu centers. The prayer represents his spontaneous utterance upon realizing mahamudra and homes in on the very heart of the practice. K‐T‐D 12‐2006 603
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The Sixth Karmapa Thongwa Dönden (1416 ‐ 1453) The Sixth Karmapa, Thongwa Donden, is well‐known for the body of liturgies he composed for the Kamtsang lineage. He also joined the lineages of the Shangpa Kagyu and the Shijay (Chöd ‐ ʺcutting through egotismʺ) into the main Kagyu lineage transmissions. “Through receiving prophecies from great siddhas, yidams and Dakinis, You display numerous miraculous abilities in yogic conduct. Protector of gods and humans, your power vanquishes arrogance. Thongwa Dönden, we supplicate at your feet. from Supplication To The Karmapas The sixth Karmapa was born in Ngomtö Shakyam, near Karma Gön in eastern Tibet, to a family of devoted yogins. Shortly after his birth, while his mother was carrying the young child, he suddenly became very excited when their path crossed that of Ngompa Chadral, a student of the fifth Karmapa. Ngompa Chadral asked the name of the child, who smiled and replied ʺIʹm the Karmapa.ʺ Ngompa Chadral cared for the infant for seven months and then took him to Karma Gön. The young Thongwa Dönden immediately began to teach. Shamar Chopal Yeshe came to Karma Gön during this period to crown the Karmapa. Thongwa Dönden received teachings and Kagyu transmission from Shamar Chopal Yeshe, Jamyang Drakpa, and Khenchen Nyephuwa. In particular, he received the full lineage transmission from Ratnabhadra, who was his principal lineage teacher. At a young age, he began to compose many tantric rituals, eventually establishing a body of liturgies for the Kamtsang lineage. He also joined the lineages of 605
the Shangpa Kagyu and the Shijay (Chöd ‐ ʺcutting through egotismʺ) into the main Kagyu lineage transmissions. He dedicated his activity to composition, teaching, restoring many monasteries within Tibet, printing books and strengthening the sangha. He began to develop the shedra system, the monastic university, in the Karma Kagyu lineage. Realizing that he would die at an early age, he entered retreat, and conferred a regency on the First Gyaltsab, Goshir Paljor Döndrup, indicating where he would next take birth. The sixth Karmapaʹs main spiritual heir was Pengar Jampal Zangpo, author of the ʺMahamudra Lineage Supplication.ʺ This renowned prayer of the Kagyü lineage represents his spontaneous utterance upon realizing mahamudra. Thongwa Dönden passed into parinirvana at the age of thirty eight (1453). Kagyu Office 12‐2006 606
Bengar Jampal Sangpo (15th ‐ 16th century) Bengar Jampal Zangpo was born to the family of Nyemo Dzongpa, siddhas in Damshang (most likely located in eastern Tibet). He began study and practice at a very young age. At the age of twenty, he began studying Sutrayana and Vajrayana scriptures with the maha‐pandita Rongton. Later, he received the Kagyu lineage transmissions and teachings such as the Six Dharmas of Naropa from the Sixth Karmapa, Thongwa Dhönden and followed his instructions one‐pointedly. He became a highly realized master of the lineage. Bengar Jampal Sangpo became the principal teacher of the Seventh Karmapa. He gave the full transmission and training of the Kagyu lineage to the young Karmapa, who became learned, disciplined, and with noble heart, just like Bengarwa himself. These details about Bengar Jampal Sangpo are compiled from Pawo Tsuklak Trengwaʹs Feast For Scholars (chos ʹbyung mkhas paʹi dgʹa ston), Beijing edition, vol. 2, pp. 1032. May this be virtuous! Kagyu Office 12‐2006 607
Jampal Zangpo THE GOLDEN KAGYU GARLAND Excerpts from The Garland of Moon Water Crystal by Situ Chokyi Jungnay and Belo Tsewang Kunkhyab Jampal Zangpo was born at Damshang in Eastern Tibet. He showed interest in the Buddhist path from an early age. He practised the meditation on Tara for many years until he had perfected it and had met with Tara face to face. He took ordination from Tsalmig Samten Zangpo at the age of twenty. He studied the entire Sutrayana and Vajrayana with the famous scholar Rongton, and during four years, he received the teachings on the Six Doctrines of Naropa from the sixth Karmapa, Tongwa Donden. Jampal Zangpo attained complete realization of the ultimate meaning of the Kagyu teachings. He was a master of outstanding qualities who became the guru of the seventh Karmapa, Chodrag Gyamtso. 608
Goshir Paljor Dhöndrup (1427 ‐ 1489) Goshir Paljor Dhöndrup was born at Nyemo in Central Tibet. Under the guidance of the Sixth Karmapa Thongwa Dhönden, he received transmissions of the Kagyur, Tengyur, and many others. He was fully trained in buddhist philosophy and meditation by Karmapa, as well as by Bengar Jampal Sangpo and other lineage masters. Later, he was appointed as the General Secretary of the Karmapa. He offered his service to the activities of Karmapa and the lineage. Paljor Dhöndrup is the first incarnation of Gyaltsab Rinpoche. He passed into parinirvana when the Seventh Karmapa reached twenty‐five‐
years, with many wondrous signs of accomplishments. He received the full lineage transmission from the Sixth Karmapa, which he fully passed on to the Seventh Karmapa, Chödrak Gyatso. These details about Goshir Paljor Dhöndrup are compiled from Pawo Tsuklak Trengwaʹs Feast For Scholars (chos ʹbyung mkhas paʹi dgʹa ston), Beijing edition, vol. 2, pp. 1031. May this be virtuous! Kagyu Office 12‐2006 609
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7th Karmapa Chodrag Gyatsho (1454‐1506) The seventh Karmapa, Chodrag Gyatsho, was heard to say ʺA ma laʺ (mother) when born and to declare, ʺAH HUNG, there is nothing in the world but voidness,ʺ at five months of age. At nine months his parents took him to Gyaltsab Rinpoche, who recognized the new Karmapa incarnation. When only some five years of age, he brought peace to the southernmost parts of the Tibetan plateau, where the people of Nagaland and Bhutan were at war. He worked hard for the protection of animals and instigated all sorts of projects, such as the construction of bridges. In particular, he encouraged individuals and groups of people to recite many millions of Mani mantras—ʺThe best cure for anything.ʺ Chodrag Gyatsho spent much of his life in retreat or half‐retreat. He was an extremely erudite scholar and author and it was he who founded the monastic university at Tsurphu. He also restored the large statue commissioned by Karma Pakshi. Often a peacemaker, he is remembered for his visions of Guru Rinpoche which led him to discover hidden valleys of refuge for people in times of war. He maintained contact with the remaining Buddhists of India and sent much gold to Bodh Gaya for the Buddha image there to be gilded. Knowing that he would pass away at the age of 52, he left details of his next incarnation and passed on the lineage to Tashi Paljor. K‐T‐D 12‐2006 611
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The Seventh Karmapa Chödrak Gyatso (1454 ‐ 1506) The Seventh Karmapa, Chödrak Gyatso, was heard to say Ama‐la (mother), while in his motherʹs womb, and ʺthere is nothing in the world but emptinessʺ at five months of age. “Tamer of deceptive oneʹs negative friends, You made vast numbers of representations of the three jewels. Your disciplesʹ attainment of siddhi spreads your fame in all lands. Chödrak Gyatso, we supplicate at your feet. ” from Supplication To The Karmapas Born to a family of tantric practitioners in Chida in northern Tibet, the seventh Karmapa was heard to say Ama‐la (mother), while he was being carried in the womb. At birth he spoke the Sanskrit mantra ʺAH HUNG,ʺ a sanskrit mantra, which symbolizes the ultimate nature, emptiness‐luminosity. At five months of age, he said ʺThere is nothing in the world but emptiness.ʺ At nine months of age, his parents took him to Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche, who recognized him as the seventh Karmapa, in accordance with the instruction letter of the Sixth Karmapa, Thongwa Dönden. At four, he was given a series of empowerments by Goshir Paljor Döndrub, and at eight, he was given the Kagyu teachings from Pengar Jampal Zangpo and Goshir Paljor Döndrub at Karma Gön. Chödrak Gyatso dedicated much of his life to retreat. He was also an extremely accomplished scholar, who authored many texts, such as a commentary on Abhisamayalamkara called The Lamp Of The Three Worlds. His most famous text is The Ocean Of Reasoning, his commentary on pramana (logic and reasoning) literature. 613
The Karmapa formally established monastic universities at Tsurphu and other places. He also restored the large Buddha statue commissioned by Karma Pakshi at Tsurphu. Something of an activist, he settled disputes, worked to protect animals, initiated bridge construction, and sent gold to Bodhgaya for the gilding of the statue of the Buddha at the place of the Buddhaʹs enlightenment. He also convinced numerous people to recite millions of Om Mani Padme Hum mantras as a universal cure for all ills. Before passing into parinirvna at the age of 53, he provided details of his next incarnation and passed on the lineage to Tashi Paljor. Kagyu Office 12‐2006 614
Tashi Paljor (1457 ‐ 1525) Denma Drubchen was born in the Denma area of Derge, in eastern Tibet. When he was five, upon hearing only the name ʺKarmapa,ʺ he showed great devotion. A year later, he met the Seventh Karmapa, who bestowed upon him the name Tashi Paljor. He studied in Denma with the scholar Sangye Pal. At sixteen, Tashi Paljor decided to follow the Karmapa, and for the next seven years he studied with the Karmapa and received the full transmission of the Kagyu lineage. Afterwards, under the guidance of the Karmapa, he went to the mountains of Kham and Central Tibet to practice, following the example of Milarepaʹs life. After practicing twenty years in solitary retreat, he attained full realisation, and became known as the first Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche. He became the principal teacher of, and passed on the full lineage transmissions to, the Eighth Karmapa, Mikyö Dorje. These details about Tashi Paljor are compiled from Pawo Tsuklak Trengwaʹs Feast For Scholars (chos ʹbyung mkhas paʹi dgʹa ston), Beijing edition, vol. 2, pp. 1200‐1205. May this be virtuous! Kagyu Office 12‐2006 615
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Sangye Nyenpa Tashi Paljor From RangjungYesheWiki The 1st Sangye Nyenpa, 1457‐1525) Sangye Nyenpa Tashi Paljor, (1457‐1525), the 1st Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche. Also known as Denma Drubthob or Denma Drubchen. A great and important lineage master of the Kamtshang or Karma Kagyu tradition. At the age of six, he met the 7th Karmapa Chödrag Gyatso in whom he developed extraordinary faith. From him he received the name Tashi Paljor. At the age of eight, he received novice vows (later on the full ordination), empowerments and profound instructions from the Karmapa and studied all the outer and inner sciences with great diligence under the guidance of both Bengar Jampal Sangpo , (15th‐16th cent.) and Geshe Paljor Döndrub (1427‐1489), the 1st Gyaltsab Rinpoche. For seven years he did not part from Karmapa Chödrag Gyatso and received the complete transmission of all empowerments and instructions of the Karma Kagyu lineage from him. The Karmapa then instructed him to meditate for three years at Kampo Nenang (kam po gnas nang), for two years at Tsurphu , for two years at Palpung and for one year in the Tangla mountains . It is said, that for these eight years he relied solely on the ʺfood of meditative absorptionʺ. After that he spent another five years meditating in seclusion on the Semodo island in the great lake known as Namtsho . He became the root teacher of the young 8th Karmapa Mikyö Dorje (1507‐1554), who had a clear vision of the protector Mahakala, telling him to take Sangye Nyenpa as his guru. When Tashi Paljor was 43 years old, he stayed in his native place of Denma (ʹdan ma, ʹdan yul). At one time he stayed on the top floor of a four storeyed building, when a great earthquake occured. Instead of being killed and buried under the rubble, he flew up into the air and escaped unharmed. Many people witnessed this and since this time he was called Denma Drubthob, or ʺMahasiddha of Denmaʺ. He passed into Nirvana at the age of 65. According to H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Sangye Nyenpa Tashi Paljorʹs ʺemanation basisʺ is the future Buddha Maitreya. He is also considered to 617
be an emanation of the Indian master Jnanagarbha, one of the teachers of the great translator Marpa. The picture shows a precious silver statue of Tashi Paljor that is kept in Tsurphu, the Karmapaʹs seat in Central Tibet, known as ʺthe silver statue [that floated] in midairʺ. It was made by the 8th Karmapa and is said to have floated in the air for seven days after the Karmapa had consecrated it. It contains some hair, bone fragments, pieces of the clothes and relic pills (ring sel) of Sangye Nyenpa Tashi Paljor and is said to have great blessings and powers. Ven. Benchen Tenga Rinpoche says that often rituals for the sick are performed in front of this statue. If the sick person will live, the eyes of the statue will look upwards into the sky. If the person will die, then the statueʹs eyes will look downwards. During the destruction of Tsurphu the statue was saved and buried on the mountain behind the monastery by one of the Tsurphu monks. Decades later, after the Tsurphu monastery was rebuilt, the same monk searched for a long time and eventually found the statue again. It is now enshrined in Tsurphu in a large silver reliquary (gaʹu) as one of the most precious relics of the Karma Kagyu lineage. 618
8th Karmapa Mikyo Dorje (1507‐1554) The eight Gyalwa Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje, was heard to say, ʺKarmapaʺ at birth. This was reported to the Tai Situpa who confirmed the child to be the new Karmapa but asked the parents to keep this fact secret for three months, to protect the young incarnation. He devised a test, which the baby not only passed but to which he was heard to say, ʺE ma ho! Have no doubts, I am the Karmapa.ʺ He spent the next years at Karma Gon. When he was five, another postulant for the Karmapa title was put forward in Amdo. The Karmapaʹs regent, Gyaltsab Rinpoche, set out from Tsurphu to investigate the two children. However, on meeting Mikyo Dorje, he found himself spontaneously prostrating and knew that he was the real Karmapa. He enthroned him the following year. The Eighth Karmapa had many visions during his life revealing the inseparability of his own emanations and those of Guru Rinpoche, both being the emanations of Buddhas to accomplish enlightened activity for however long their teachings are extant. Thus he saw he had been the Guru Rinpoche of the former Buddha Dipamkara and, in general, the activity‐aspect of all thousand Buddhas of our universe. Mikyo Dorje was one of the most renowned of the Karmapas, being a powerful meditation master, a prolific and erudite scholar, and author of some thirty important works, including very significant texts on the profoundest philosophy known to Buddhism: the devoid of other (shentong) view. 619
This represents the zenith ofthe Middle Way (madhyamika) school of mahayana Buddhism and is a valuable antidote for misunderstandings of voidness. He expounded this view at length and debated Mikyo Dorje was also a visionary artist, to whom we owe the Karma Gadri style of thangka painting‐‐a very spacious, transparent and meditative style. He also composed one of the main devotional practices of the Kagyu school, known as the Four‐Session Guru Yoga. He had been invited to China when quite young, but declined, knowing that the emperor would be dead by the time of his arrival. His refusal offended the envoys carrying the invitation, who returned to China only to find that his prescience was correct. The emperor had died. Realizing the imminence of his own passing, he entrusted a letter of prediction to the Shamarpa and passed away at the age of 47. K‐T‐D 12‐2006 620
The Eighth Karmapa Mikyö Dorje (1507 ‐ 1554) The Eighth Karmapa, Mikyö Dorje, realized the activity of the Karmapas and Guru Rinpoche as the activity‐aspect of all thousand Buddhas of our universe. “Your intelligence in regard to the modes of knowable objects is unobstructed. Thus, you are free of hesitation when elucidating the intended meaning of the scriptures. Of interfering with this conduct, distractions had not the slightest chance. Mikyö Dorje, we supplicate at your feet.” from Supplication To The Karmapas Born in a small village called Satam, in the region of Kartiphuk of Ngomchu, in eastern Tibet, to a family of devoted yogins, the eighth Karmapa was said to have spoken the words ʺI am the Karmapaʺ at birth. Upon hearing this report, Tai Situpa confirmed the child to be the new Karmapa. He spent the next years at Karma Gön. When he was five, a child in Amdo was put forward as the Karmapa. The Karmapaʹs regent, Gyaltsab Rinpoche, set out from Tsurphu to investigate the two children. However, on meeting Mikyö Dorje, he found himself spontaneously prostrating and knew that he was the real Karmapa. Tai Situ Rinpoche, along with Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche and other students of the previous Karmapa, devised a test, which the child not only passed but to which he was heard to say ʺE ma ho! Have no doubts, I am the Karmapa.ʺ Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche enthroned him the following year when he was six. 621
Mikyo Dorje studied with Sangye Nyenpa Tashi Paljor, Dulmo Tashi Öser, Dakpo Tashi Namgyal, and Karma Trinleypa. He took the essential Kagyu teachings from Sangye Nyenpa, Tashi Paljor. The Karmapa received an invitation to China when quite young, but declined on the ground that the Emperor would pass away before he could arrive, a prediction that turned out to be true. Mikyö Dorje was one of the most renowned of the Karmapas, a great meditation master as well as a prolific and learned scholar, author of over thirty volumes of work, including very significant commentaries on the sutrayana treatises and pithy instructions on tantras. The eighth Karmapa was also a visionary artist, to whom we owe the Karma Gadri style of thangka painting‐ one of the major schools of thangka composition. Mikyo Dorje also composed many sadhanas, practice liturgies, and other devotional practices for the Karma Kagyu school. The eighth Karmapa had many visions of the inseparability of his own manifestations and those of Guru Rinpoche. Guru Rinpoche carries out the activity of the Buddha himself, and is considered one of the ways in which the Buddha accomplishes his enlightened activity. The eighth Karmapa realized his prior manifestation was coincident with the Guru Rinpoche manifestation activity of another historical Buddha, Dipamkara, who according to Buddhist cosmology preceded Buddha Shakyamuni in an era prior to the history of the current era. In Buddhist cosmology, it is said there are to be 1000 such buddhas, and hence the Karmapa and Guru Rinpoche can both be said to be the activity‐aspect of all thousand Buddhas of our universe. Foreseeing his imminent passing, he entrusted a letter of prediction to the Shamar Konchok Yenlak and entered parinirvana at the age of 47. Among his many disciples, the main ones were Shamar Konchok Yenlak and Pawo Tsuklak Trengwa. His prediction letter said: ʺIn the life following this one, I will be born as the glorious, self‐arisen lord (Wangchuk) of the world. In the upper regions of the snowy region of Tre‐shö to the east, a place where there is the sound of water and the dharma is heard. I have seen the signs that it will not be long before I am born in there.ʺ Kagyu Office 12‐2006 622
Teachings of the 8th Karmapa ‐ Mikyo Dorje ʹSupplication to Dusum Khyenpaʹ Following a visionary dream of HH1 Karmapa, Dusum Kheynpa, when he was 32 years old, the 8th Karmapa wrote this account and supplication: I remember the father, I remember the Buddha of the three times. I remember the father, I remember Tusum Khyenpa. I remember the father, I remember the Karma Kagyu. I remember the father, I remember the wonders of the Practice Lineage. I have wandered aimlessly for so long in samsara. Lord, you have accepted me for so long with your kindness; Despite your acceptance, I am still greatly corrupted with delusion. How can I even hear your name at all, lord? This time, I have barely obtained this human body. I have entered into the gate of your teachings, lord, Into your completely pure teachings, lord. Having entered into your authentic teachings, Not only have I not made any offering of practice, But I possess the bad karma of destroying your teachings. To this savage who flaunts material goods, You have revealed your miraculous form. Once again you have accepted me. When I saw that your kindness is limitless For me who is even stupider than an ox, 623
Overwhelming longing arose from my depths. Since the day my mother gave birth to me until now, There is only one meaningful thing I have done. This did not arise from personal effort, But from your profound Buddha activity. Since this is free from samsaraʹs objectives, I understand this vision is a miracle transcending mind. I understand that from it confidence has arisen. If one makes suppication, this alone is enough: You are the true jetsun who fulfills supplication. Although I cannot bear the burden Of your pure teachings, lord, Just by turning to you, lord, with such longing, And just by not facing the wrong way, I have obtained the transmission of meaningful action. I offer this transmission to the jetsun guru Whose kindness is limitless as space. Thus, I supplicated. 624
Könchok Yenlak (1526‐1583) Könchok Yenlak was born in upper part of Kongpo called Kyen, in the Wood Rooster year. The Eighth Karmapa, Mikyö Dorje, recognized him as the fifth Shamar incarnation. He studied with the Eighth Karmapa as well as with his student, Pawo Tsuklak Trengwa, and became a great scholar and meditation master. He received the full transmission of the Kagyu lineage and the Karmapa empowered him as the lineage holder. Könchok Yenlakʹs collected writings number many volumes. Shamar Könchok Yenlak recognized the Ninth Karmapa and became his principal teacher. At the age of fifty nine, he passed into parinirvana with many great signs of realization. He passed on the full lineage transmission to the ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje. These details about Könchok Yenlak are compiled from Karma Gyaltsenʹs book called kam tshang yab sras dang dpal spungs dgon pa, Szechwan edition, p. 134. May this be virtuous! Kagyu Office 12‐2006 625
The Fifth Shamarpa, Köncho Yenlak, (1526‐1583) Gaden Kongsar was a very unpretentious little Tibetan trading post north of the Indian border, where hunters sometimes brought in raw hides in exchange for paints and dyes to put on their naked bodies. Their ways were so little understood that people, without malice, called them barbarians. It was, in fact, a place of sanctity where Gampopaʹs tooth was enshrined in a Stupa. It was further sanctified when the 4th Shamarpa chose it for his next re‐birth. When the 5th Shamarpa was born in the depths of winter, a profusion of flowers blossomed through the snow. The new‐born baby sat up ejaculating ʺAh Hungʺ three times, expressing the inexpressible. It was a spontaneous assertion of the unborn nature in the new‐born. For Ah Hung is the vocal expression of the unborn nature in every phenomenon. It was not until the age of two, when the Karmapa was in Tsari, a neighbouring province to Gaden Kongsar, Kongpo, that the Shamarpa was to meet the Karmapa. The Karmapa joyfully opened his arms to the delighted infant‐Rinpoche, exclaiming in wonder: ʺSo this is how the Shamarpa returns!ʺ He put him on the lap, cutting a lock of his hair, as the first step to his future ordination.The Shamarpa was given the name of Köncho Yenlak and in due course, his Red Crown was returned to him, ceremoniously. The Shamarpa remained with the Karmapa until the age of twelve, receiving the Six Teachings of Naropa, The Mahamudra and many other teachings of the Kagyü Lineage. It was said that the 8th Karmapa had two outstanding disciples, in Tsukla Trengwa, the 2nd Pawo Rinpoche; and in Shamar Rinpoche, a sun‐like disciple, who propagated the Dharma vigorously through the three great cycles of activities, learning and meditating; on the practical plane, he persued tiredlessly every course, opened to a better understanding of Buddha Dharma, including the building of monasteries. When the 8th Karmapa had passed away, the solemn and difficult task of identifying the future reincarnate was to a great extent lightened by a precise letter of prediction left by the Karmapa. The 9th Karmapa was duly enthroned with the Shamarpa as his Root‐Guru, who as Holder of the Kagyü Lineage and Teachings, passed on all the teachings in his safe keeping, to the youthful and receptive Karmapa. Kagyu Asia 12‐2006 626
9th Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje (1555‐1603) The ninth Gyalwa Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje, was heard reciting mantras in the womb. He sat cross‐legged for three days soon after birth and declared he was the Karmapa. He was soon recognized by the Tai Situpa, who was staying relatively close by, and a year later by the Shamarpa who enthroned him at the age of six. Much of his life was spent in a travelling monastic camp, in which strict emphasis was placed on meditation practice. His itinerant party received invitations to visit many places. They were unable to visit China, but made important trips to Mongolia and Bhutan. Wangchuk Dorje gave many teachings in southern Tibet and restored monasteries and temples wherever he went. He also received an invitation to visit Sikkim. Unable to go himself, he sent a senior representative who established three monasteries there. The Karmapa blessed and consecrated them from Tibet. One of them was Rumtek, the present seat of the Karmapas in India. Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje was not a prolific author but several of his texts, such as Mahamudra, The Ocean of Definitive Meaning and Mahamudra, Dispelling the Darkness of Ignorance, have made an important impact on the teaching of mahamudra. He and the next three Karmapas all played the role of peacemaker during the troubled political times in which they lived. K‐T‐D 12‐2006 627
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The Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje (1556 ‐ 1603) The Ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje, wrote three mahamudra treatises which have played a major role in Tibet on the teaching and transmission of mahamudra. “Once again, as lord of limitless compassion, You manifested as changeless vajra body, speech and mind And came to this realm as its guide. Wangchuk Dorje, we supplicate at your feet.” fom Supplication To The Karmapas As predicted by the eighth Karmapa, the ninth was born in the Treshö region of eastern Tibet. He was heard reciting mantras in the womb during pregnancy and he, too, sat cross‐legged for three days soon after birth and declared he was the Karmapa. In accordance to the prediction letter left by the eighth Karmapa, he was soon recognized by the Tai Situpa Chökyi Gocha, who was staying not far away, and by the Sharmapa Konchok Yenlak. A year later, Shamarpa enthroned him at the age of six and gave him extensive teachings. Once Wangchuk Dorje had received the complete Kagyu transmission, he began to teach throughout Tibet, traveling in a monastic camp, which strictly emphasized meditation practice. Wangchuk Dorje did not visit China but made important trips to Mongolia and Bhutan. He gave many teachings and restored monasteries and temples wherever he went. The ninth Karmapa also received an invitation to visit Sikkim and under his guidance, established three monasteries in Sikkim: Rumtek, Phodong, and Ralang. The Karmapa blessed and consecrated them from Tibet. Rumtek subsequently became the seat of the Karmapas in India in the early 1960ʹs. 629
Like the eighth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje was also a creative author and wrote many condensed commentaries on sutras and tantras, including three mahamudra treatises: The Ocean Of Definitive Meaning, Dispelling The Darkness Of Ignorance, and Pointing Out The Dharmakaya. These treatises have played a major role in Tibet for the teaching and transmission of mahamudra. At the age of 48 he passed into parinirvana, leaving his prediction letter along with instructions about the next incarnation to the sixth Shamarpa Chökyi Wangchuk. Kagyu Office 12‐2006 630
Teachings of the 9th Karmapa ‐ Wangchuk Dorje Wangchuk Dorje ʹSupplication and Urge to Virtueʹ At that time, remembering the good qualities of the guru, and of this place, I chanted this song of yearning supplication urging myself and others to virtue: Glorious Lokesvara, Karmapa, Lord, your vajra body, speech, and mind Hold the treasury of the secret inexhaustible mandalas. I pay homage at the feet of this kind father, the lord of dharma. At a lovely place where auspiciousness spontaneously arises, On the Jewel Rock Lofty Green Mountain, The vast assembly of peaceful and wrathful divine yidams resides. This is a good place to practice one‐pointedly. In the south, on the magnificent, wooded slopes of the mountain Are a variety of trees, frangrant like incense. There, the bhagavati mother, Tara, dwells in person. She easily bestows the supreme and ordinary siddhis. In the west, before the crystal stupa of the white snow mountains Abides the mandala of the victorious ones of the five families. Merely seeing this without obstruction 631
Clears away obscurations which arise from karma and klesas. In the north, on a slope of ruby rock, The mighty king, glorious Hayagriva, Surrounded by an ocean of divine dakas Has command over all samsara and nirvana. In the east, emanating from Jowo Sakya, the two brothers of Lhasa, On a hard boulder of jewel rock, The figure of the glorious king of the Sakyas naturally appeared. THis caused the pure teachings to remain for a long time. In the centre is the vajrasana of supreme Akanistha, Where Lord Tusum Khyenpa and others, The Buddhas of the three times, dwell. This miraculous monastery in the valley of Tsurphu Is unrivaled in all of Jambudvipa. Whoever sees it or makes a pilgrimage to it, Or even remembers it just one time Certainly clears away the evil deeds and obscurations of a whole kalpa. Confused and distracted, my mind is agitated. At the Lady of Glaciers, Tsurphu, and elsewhere, The dwelling places of the Kagyu fathers, I long to practice one‐pointedly. Though I long for this, the power of my antidote is weak, And I am unable to cut off attachment to this life. I fabricate in name only the temporary benefit of others. Day and night, I skitter about like an insect. When I think of myself now, I become depressed. While planning to practice the Dharma, my life slips away. Moreover, my actions are hypercritical. My father guru knows this and knows that it is harmful to me. Those who now desire to become followers of Karmapa Should arouse themselves because of the immediacy of death and impermanence. They should set aside all the affairs of this life And should make the Dharma practice their essence. They are certain to attain the permanent goal of life. Generally, much thinking will stir up your mind. With the goals of this doubting mnid, one goes nowhere. Rely on alms; obtain your clothes from a rubbish heap, A begging bowl as your eating vessel, and a few necessities. Obtaining your food without evil deeds, rely on the rasayana of an ascetic. Even temporary practice like this would be of great benefit. Generally, keep as your main concern the training of Bodhicitta. Selfish goals are despised by holy ones. 632
With compassion for the six realms of beings, our mothers, Meditate on the profound path of emptiness and compassion. From a single sloka of oral instructions Up to the collection of eighty‐four thousand Dharma instructions, If you do not incorparate this into your being, Even though you are eloquent, it is merely the repetition of a parrot. As for the oral instructions granted by the lord Guru, First, when you hear them, you should cut off your doubts. Secondly, when you contemplate them, you should put them in order. Finally, you should meditate one‐pointedly. When the concepts and klesas of the mind are completely pacified, Then the mind becomes firm and unwavering. The egolessness of all dharmas is supreme Prajna. Meditate in this natural state, the unity of samatha and vipasyana. To the father Guru, the wish‐fulfilling gem, You should fervently supplicate day and night. Since this confused appearance of dualistic fixation Is hazy and insubstantial, let go completely! On this mind which is free of past and future, It is futile to put artificial patches. In the insight nature of whatever arises, Rest at ease, naturally and continuously. Oneʹs mind is primordially Buddha. Since this is so, put your finger on that. O loppon, this is a real transmission, The supreme pith of oral instructions of the glorious Takpo. By whatever virtue is in these words, May all my students and followers Headed by you, my chief disciple, who made supplication, Quickly attain the glorious Vajradhara. Thus, requested by Karma Chole and others, I wrote this down in my cave, Samten Yidong Linggi Wangchuk, at the retreat place of Tsurphu. May the blazing splendour of auspiciousness ornament Jambudvipa. 633
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Chökyi Wangchuk (1584‐1629) Chökyi Wangchuk was born in Drikhung area of Central Tibet and the Ninth Karmapa enthroned him as the Sixth Shamar incarnation. From an early age, he followed and studied with the Ninth Karmapa and received the full transmission of the Kagyu lineage. He became one the most renowned Panditas of the time, in Sutra and Tantra, composing many commentaries. He was the teacher of Desi Tsangpa, who ruled Central Tibet at that time. He rebuilt the monastery in Kampo Neynang. He also traveled extensively to China and Nepal. He taught Buddhism in the original Sanskrit to the king, Laxman Naran Singh, in Nepal and to other devotees. He eventually passed away in the mountains of Helambu, Nepal. He passed on the lineage teachings to the Tenth Karmapa. He traveled to Kham, in eastern Tibet, and recognized and became the principal teacher of the Tenth Karmapa Chöying Dorje. These details about Chökyi Wangchuk are compiled from Karma Gyaltsenʹs book called kam tshang yab sras dang dpal spungs dgon pa, Szechwan edition, p. 135. May this be virtuous! Kagyu Office 12‐2006 635
Chokyi Wangchuk THE GOLDEN KAGYU GARLAND Excerpts from The Garland of Moon Water Crystal by Situ Chokyi Jungnay and Belo Tsewang Kunkhyab The 6th Sharmarpa, Chokyi Wangchuk was recognized by the ninth Karmapa, who was his main guru. He also received teachings from many other masters and is famed for his deep insight. By the age of seventeen he had memorized fifty volumes of sutras and tantras, and because of his extraordinary skill as a debator he was known as the Pandita of the North, the Omniscient Shamarpa in whom the great Manjushri delights. Chokyi Wangchuk became the guru of Central Tibetʹs ruler Desi Tsangpa and taught extensively throughout the region. During his travels in East Tibet he recognized and became the guru of the tenth Karmapa, Choying Dorje. At the time there was unrest in this part of the country. Chokyi Wangchuk was sucessfull in mediating a peaceful settlemen to the conflict. His travels also took him to Nepal, where he taught Buddhism in its original classical language Sanskrit to the King Laxman Naran Singh as well as to others who showed interest and devotion. Chokyi Wangchuk passed away in the mountains of Helampur in Nepal in the vicinity of a cave where Tibetʹs great yogi, Milarepa, had meditated. The sixth Shamarpa wrote ten treatises that explain the meanings of both the sutra and the tantra traditions. D‐K‐L 12‐2006 636
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Choying Dorje (1604‐1674) The tenth Gyalwa Karmapa Choying Dorje, took seven steps in each of the cardinal directions at birth. By the age of six, he could paint better than any of his teachers and was a gifted sculptor. Choying Dorje foresaw the wars and political strife that were soon to come as a result of the Gelugpa‐Mongol pact against the King of Tsang, whose family, followers of the Kagyu lineage, ruled most of Tibet. Thus, the tenth Karmapa distributed his wealth among the poor and needy and made Gyaltsab Rinpoche his regent, knowing he would be absent for a long time. There was much bloodshed as Gushri Khanʹs Mongol armies attacked first Shigatse and then the Karmapaʹs own camp, wreaking havoc and death. His followers saw Choying Dorje flying off through space holding the hand of his chief attendant. They ʹlandedʹ in the forests of Bhutan and spent more than three years living wild, helped by animals. They eventually went to what is today northern Yunnan, where the local monarch received them joyously. Altogether the Tenth Karmapa spent some thirty years in exile. As always, wherever he went, he fostered the Dharma and recognized incarnations of Kagyu tulkus. K‐T‐D 12‐2006 637
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The Tenth Karmapa Chöying Dorje (1604 ‐ 1674) The Tenth Karmapa, Chöying Dorje, anticipated the disturbances in central Tibet and traveled with an attendant, spending more than three years living in the wilds of Bhutan, and then going to what is today northern Yunnan, Burma and Nepal. “As that same being, you reveal the array of the great nirmanakaya To supreme, middling and common disciples, Insuring that all connections you make t hrough being seen and heard are meaningful. Chöying Dorje, we supplicate at your feet.” from Supplication To The Karmapas As predicted, the tenth Karmapa was born in the Golok region, in the far northeast of Tibet. He was recognized and enthroned by Shamar Chokyi Wangchuk, from whom he received the full Kagyu transmission. By the age of six, he was a better painter than his teachers, as well as a gifted sculptor. Chöying Dorje anticipated the wars and political strife that were soon to come, realizing that certain political interests in Tibet would enlist the Mongol armies in the Gelugpa cause. Knowing he would be forced out of central Tibet by the political strife, the tenth Karmapa gave away most of his wealth to the poor and appointed Goshir Gyaltsab his regent. Gushri Khanʹs Mongol armies attacked Shigatse and then continued the attack through much of Tibet, causing considerable destruction throughout the land, and eventually overrunning the Karmapaʹs camp. Chöying Dorje was forced to leave the area. With an attendant, he traveled throughout Tibet and then spent more than three years living in the wilds of Bhutan. 639
They later traveled to what is today northern Yunnan, Burma and Nepal. As always, wherever the Karmapa went, he fostered the dharma and he was able to establish some monasteries along his route. Twenty some years passed before he could return to his homeland. He recognized the next incarnations of Shamar Yeshe Nyingpo, Goshir Gyaltsab, and Pawo Rinpoche, and gave the transmission of the Kagyu teachings. Shamarpa became his main spiritual heir. At the age of 71, Chöying Dorjé passed into parinirvana, leaving instructions and a prediction letter. Goshir Gyaltsab Norbu Sangpo became the regent at Tsurphu. By this time the political landscape in Tibet had changed for good. Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, the fifth Dalai Lama, had become the official ruler of Tibet, and this role of the Dalai Lamas would continue to be filled by his successive incarnations. Kagyu Office 12‐2006 640
Teachings of the 10th Karmapa, Choying Dorje ʹParting Message of Oral Instructionsʹ Desiring to see the tulku of his guru and to practice in solitude, Choying Dorje decided to go to Do Kham in the east. As a parting message of oral instructions for the Dharma practitioners and his followers in U and Tsang, he bestowed this vajra song : I supplicate the kind Refuge. Grant your blessings so that this lowly one may keep to retreat. From now on, I shall stay on unknown mountains And wander through unknown kingdoms. Endless business Is like a child playing in the ashes. All that you did before is futile. If you act now, act virtuously. Formerly, you were subject to the confusion of dualistic fixation. Having obtained this precious human body, You threw it in the mud of futile samsara. When you look for it in the future, you will not find it. Therefore, now is the right time to accomplish the great objective. Although formerly you had your intimate friends, In the future, you will not be accompanied by your host of kin. When you go to the next world, Will there be familiar country and servants? If you are going to acquire a Refuge of guide, acquire one now. During this autumn season, changing and impermanent, Fields of varied flowers, bright and splendid, Existed yesterday, but today are withered. This is a teacher of impermanence and illusion. Think about this and pursue solitude. This body cannot bear one dayʹs hunger and thirst. Though you cling to it fondly, you will lose it in the end. The four elements change with the seasons. This groundless consciousness Is like a city created by a magician. You have no leisure to live here for a long time. If you understand this, practice the holy and divine Dharma. He is not appeased by giving away all oneʹs wealth. His ears are not seduced by sweet words. He is not turned away by actions of powerful force. He is infamously known as death. He has never before taken sides between enemies and friends. 641
The time of his coming is uncertain. If you consider him, nothing else has any significance. In the black darkness of the precipitous path of Bardo, You cannot see with your fleshly eyes. Therefore, prepare the torch of inner luminosity, So that even if you die tomorrow, you will have no regrets. Since you cannot find and opportunity for leisure, Now is the time to take an attitude of urgency. Placing no hope in fantasies of accumulating and hoarding, The good life is just seeking sustenance. Not hoping for soft plush silken clothing, Warm the body with old, torn, and tattered garments. Think about this and dwell in the mountains. Even the birds that soar in the sky, Although having great freedom to go where they please, Must be careful when they seek food on the ground. If they end up caught fast in a snare, what can they do? Although you have the great freedom to go wherever you please, If you wander in the land of bias, You must beware of the trap of entertainment, The deception of childish people. If caught by this, you will regret it in the future. Thinking about this, dwell in mountain retreats. This was sung at the supreme dwelling place of the dakinis, Miraculous Castle White Lake. 642
Yeshe Nyingpo (1631 ‐ 1694) Yeshe Nyingpo was born in Golok region of east Tibet and the Tenth Karmapa recognized him as the Seventh Shamar incarnation. He was extremely devoted to and followed the instructions of the Tenth Karmapa Chöying Dorje. He received the full transmission of the Kagyu lineage and had many signs of accomplishment in both Mahamudra and Dzogchen meditation. Yeshe Nyingpo passed into parinirvana at the age of sixty‐four, the Wood Dog year. Yeshe Nyingpo recognize and became his principal teacher of the Eleventh Karmapa, Yeshe Dorje. These details about Yeshe Nyingpo are compiled from Karma Gyaltsenʹs book called kam tshang yab sras dang dpal spungs dgon pa, Szechwan edition, p. 136. May this be virtuous! Kagyu Office 12‐2006 643
The Seventh Shamarpa,Yeshe Nyinpo, (1631‐1694) It was the expressed wish of the 10th Karmapa that the 6th Shamarpa was to take his next rebirth by the Marchu River, in the eastern province of Kham. A wish expressed was to be a wish fulfilled. For in the propagation of Dharma, their wishes were, and as always, identical. At the time of birth, the triumphant sound of ʹgyalʹ was heard ringing through the air. At the age of four, the nomadic Rinpoche could scale the highest face of a cliff with the greatest agility and perform other equally wonderous feats that no other nomadic child was ever expected to attempt. Outwardly a shepherd boy, that he was, in fact, the 7th Shamarpa had never crossed the minds of his simple family. The Karmapa was aware that the Shamarpa had been born when he was in jangyül a neighbouring province in China; thence he proceeded, unattended and on foot, through Kham, to come to the Shamarpa. The Shamarpa daily waited for him by the river, tending to his flock of sheep. When the Karmapa finally arrived, his clothes bore witness to the hardship of a long journey. The Shamarpa forded the river, in a rush, to bow down before him. No joyful tale of a reunion was more poignantly told, than in the simple gesture of a prostration. When permission was sought for, it was granted by his nomadic parents for the child‐
Rinpoche to leave home. Together the Karmapa and the Shamarpa left for Jangyül where the 7th Shamarpa was enthroned in the name of Yeshe Nyinpo. And the Red Crown was returned to him with all the teachings and instructions of the Lineage. All this accomplished, they returned to Tibet together. When the 10th Karmapa passed away, the 7th Shamarpa, as his Representative and Head of the Kagyü School, recognized and enthroned the 11th Karmapa Yeshe Dorje. Having transmitted all the Lineage Teachings and Instructions entrusted to him, he passed away. Kagyu Asia 12‐2006 644
11th Karmapa Yeshe Dorje (1676‐1702) The eleventh Gyalwa Karmapa , Yeshe Dorje, was a great visionary who performed many miracles. However, he was to be the shortest lived of the Karmapas. During his precious but brief existence, he blended together the Kagyu and Nyingma teachings. He died, leaving, as his predecessor had done, a detailed letter concerning his next incarnation. K‐T‐D 12‐2006 645
The Eleventh Karmapa Yeshe Dorje (1676 ‐ 1702) The Eleventh Karmapa, Yeshe Dorje, blended both the Kagyu and Nyingma teachings. “As that same being, you manifest your kaya out of compassion For as many eons as there exist beings to be tamed like us, And bestow supreme great bliss the very instant you are recalled. Yeshe Dorje, we supplicate at your feet. ” from Supplication To The Karmapas Yeshe Dorje was born in the Mayshö region in east Tibet to a devoted buddhist family. Shamar Yeshe Nyingpo and Gyaltsab Norbu Sangpo recognized him as the next Karmapa in accordance with the instructions of the previous Karmapa. Yeshe Dorje went to central Tibet and was enthroned at Tsurphu monastery. Yeshe Dorje received teachings and the mahamudra lineage transmissions from Shamarpa. He also received the Terma teachings, which are the hidden teachings of Padmasambhava, from Yong‐ge Mingur Dorje and Taksham Nüden Dorje. This fulfilled a prophecy of Padmasambhava that the eleventh Karmapa would hold certain terma lineages. Yeshe Dorje was a great visionary who performed many miracles. Yeshe Dorje also located and identified the eighth Shamarpa, Paichen Chokyi Dondrub, who became his close student and next lineage holder. However, he was to be the shortest lived of the Karmapas. During his precious but brief existence, he blended both the Kagyu and Nyingma teachings. He passed into parinirvana, leaving a detailed letter concerning his next incarnation with Shamar Palchen Chökyi Döndrup. Kagyu Office 12‐2006 646
Palchen Chökyi Dhondrup (1695 ‐ 1732) Chökyi Dhöndrup was born to a Nepalese family in Yolmo (Helambu), in the Kingdom of Nepal. The Eleventh Karmapa Yeshe Dorje sent an envoy with precise instructions on how to find this boy. With the permission of his parents, he was taken to Tibet at the age of seven, and enthroned by the Karmapa as the eighth Shamar incarnation. He received the full transmission of the lineage from the Karmapa and he also studied with the third Treho Tendzin Dhargye, Goshir Dhönyö Nyingpo and other masters. He traveled to China and Nepal and benefited many beings through his teachings. He passed away at the age of thirty eight, in the Water Mouse year. He passed on the full Kagyu lineage to the Twelfth Karmapa, Changchup Dorje. These details about Palchen Chökyi Dhondrup are compiled from Karma Gyaltsenʹs book called kam tshang yab sras dang dpal spungs dgon pa, Szechwan edition, p. 136‐7. May this be virtuous! Kagyu Office 12‐2006 647
The Eighth Shamarpa, Palchen Chökyi Döndrup, (1695‐1732) The birth of the 8th Shamarpa took place in Yilmo, Nepal. On the night he was born, the house was in a suffusion of light so bright, it was as if it were in the day‐time, and clearly visible even from without. As an infant of unguarded innocence, he would astonish his family with vivid tales of his past lives. The Karmapa had sent a letter of recognition with a party of monks, who were to invite and to see to his safe return to Tibet. The King of Nepal had, meanwhile, asked the three year old Rinpoche to honour the capital city, Kathmandu, with His Presence, where he was to remain until he was seven years old, when the Karmapa renewed the request for his return. Finally a full escort of monks were able to take the Shamarpa ceremoniously to a jubilant Tibet. The 8th Shamarpa received the Lineage teachings and instructions from the 11th Karmapa before he passed away. He, in turn, recognized and enthroned Changchub Dorje as the 12th Karmapa and acted as his Root‐guru, when it was time to do so. He also recognized and enthroned the 8th Situ Rinpoche. Later the Shamarpa and the Karmapa together with Situ Rinpoche and Gyaltsap Rinpoche went on an extended Kagyu Asia 12‐2006 648
12th Karmapa Changchub Dorje (1703‐1732) The twelfth Gyalwa Karmapa, Changchub Dorje, studied under many illustrious masters as a young child. He gave profound Kagyu teachings to the famous Nyingma master of Katok monastery, who in turn shared his Nyingma teachings. Changchub Dorje left troubled Tibet in order to make a pilgrimage to India and Nepal, accompanied by the Situ, Shamar, and Gyaltsab Rinpoches. In Nepal he was thankfully honored by the king for stopping a raging epidemic and for making rain to end a serious drought. They continued on to India, visiting the places of Lord Buddhaʹs birth and death. The young Situpa, who impressed Indian Buddhist scholars with his erudition, became a master of languages and went on to be one of Asiaʹs greatest scholars of all time. Returning to Tibet, the Karmapa accepted an invitation to China, and set out for that land accompanied by the Shamarpa. However, foreseeing difficult political times ahead and realizing the need to leave his body, the Karmapa sent the Tai Situpa a letter with details of his next incarnation and succumbed to smallpox, as did the Shamarpa two days later. K‐T‐D 12‐2006 649
The Twelfth Karmapa Changchub Dorje (1703 ‐ 1732) The Twelfth Karmapa, made pilgrimage to the sacred places of the Buddha in India and Nepal accompanied by the Shamar, Situ, and Gyaltsap Rinpoches. “You embody the nonconceptual, great bliss dharmadhatu, And expand the wisdom that knows the profound and luminous non‐dual nature. Dispeller of the darkness of ignorance, sole friend of all beings, Changchub Dorje, we supplicate at your feet.” from Supplication To The Karmapas As predicted by the previous Karmapa, the twelfth Karmapa was born at Kyile Tsaktor in Derge province of eastern Tibet. Chökyi Dhöndrup sent a search party and his envoys brought the child to Karma Gön where Shamarpa met with the young child and recognized him in accordance with the previous Karmapaʹs prediction and instructions. The young Karmapa studied under many illustrious masters. He gave profound Kagyu teachings to the famous Nyingma master of Katok monastery, who in turn shared his Nyingma teachings. Changchup Dorje left troubled Tibet in order to make pilgrimage to India and Nepal, accompanied by the Shamar, Situ, and Gyaltsap Rinpoches. Upon reaching Nepal, he was greatly honored by the King of Nepal, who credited him for stopping a raging epidemic and for making rain that ended a serious drought. In India, they visited the sacred places of Lord Buddha. After the Karmapa returned to Tibet, he accepted an invitation to China, and set out accompanied by the Shamarpa. However, foreseeing difficult political times ahead and realizing the need to leave his body, the Karmapa sent the eighth Tai Situpa a letter with details of his next incarnation and then succumbed to smallpox, as did the Sharmapa two days later. Tai Situpa became his spiritual heir. Kagyu Office 18‐12‐2006 650
Teachings of the 12th Karmapa, Changchub Dorje ʹThe Nature of Samsaraʹ When the Jetsun Guru was residing in the country of Mon to the south, he composed this vajra song of sadness about the nature of Samsara. Because the manuscript seemed difficult to read, Mara Damaka Vajra [HH13 Karmapa, Dudul Dorje] later wrote it out clearly: Namo Gurave I pay homage to the supreme Gru who is the profound embodiment Of all the lords, the objects of Refuge, and the Three Jewels. South of the land of snow, In a retreat place in the thick of the dense jungle, I pretend that laziness is Dharma. In the brilliant blue sky of alaya, Various objects arise as clouds of thoughts, Which I, a gullible person, have written down. In the misery of endless imprisonments, Sentient beings spin constantly without Liberation. Thinking of this, I become overwhelmingly depressed. Although the desire to free them all arises, I am a miser in my aspiration And so I am unable to accomplish the welfare of beings. The activities of the dark age become manifest, And I think, ʺThe vase of my mind holds the teachings,ʺ But it is empty of the nectar of renunciation and realization. This present successor of the holders of the Practice Lineage Is like a dog among horses. I am malicious and my being is untamed, Yet it is like poison which is transformed into amrta By the power of the host of devas, the infallible Refuge. In order that this son may fulfill the example of his father, Please spread out the garland of your rays of kindness. Because of the examples of the lord Kagyu forefathers, Despite my stupidity, my body trembles and I burst into tears. May we realize phenomena, the Dharmas of Relative Truth, as illusion; And may we realize the pith of profound secret mahamudra, Effortless complete liberation, as the Ultimate Truth. In the uppermost chamber of the palace of supreme unchanging great bliss, May I perform the dance of bliss and emptiness, endowed with all the supreme aspects. May I and all beings quickly attain The great kingdom of the glorious vajraholder. I casually wrote this in upper retreat amidst the woods of Pumthang in the south. May all things of good fortune arise everywhere. 651
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8th Situ Rinpoche Chökyi Jungne (1700‐1774) The eight Tai Situ was Chokyi Jungne, who was a doctor, an astrologer, a poet, an artist, a consummate scholar, and author of many texts. His famous Tibetan Grammar is still the foremost advanced text in practical use today. Chokyi Jungne founded Palpung Monastery in eastern Tibet, which became the monastic seat of the Tai Situpas as well as an important center of learning and culture. With his disciple Tenpa Tsering, he set up the Derge Printing Press that produced over half a million wood block prints. The work is of such fine quality that much of it has been reprinted in modern editions and circulated to Tibetan archives in libraries throughout the world. K‐T‐D 12‐2006 653
Chokyi Jungney (1699 or 1700 ‐ 1774) The Eighth Situ incarnation, Chokyi Jungney, otherwise known as the Situ Panchen, was born in Derge, Kham, in the Earth Hare year. He studied and received the full transmissions from the 8th Shamar Chökyi Dhöndrup and the Twelfth Karmapa Changchup Dorje. He also studied extensively with many other teachers such as Rikdzin Tsewang Norbu. Chökyi Jungney went to see the Karmapa and Shamar Chökyi Dhöndrup when they were on the journey to China sometime around 1735. He was one of the most renowned scholars and meditation masters of Tibet. One of his major activities was editing and seeing to the printing of the woodblock editions of the Kagyur and Tengyur project of the King of Derge. This production is now well‐known around the world as the Derge edition, which is considered as one of the best original prints of these central texts of the Tibetan tradition. The activities of Situ Panchen flourished widely and he restored or established monasteries, retreats, and study centers all over Tibet and Jang. Situ Panchen recognized and enthroned the 13th Karmapa and the next incarnation of Shamar Rinpoche. He gave the full transmission of the Kagyu lineage to the Thirteenth Karmapa, Düdul Dorje. These details about Chokyi Jungney are compiled from Karma Gyaltsenʹs book called kam tshang yab sras dang dpal spungs dgon pa, Szechwan edition, pp. 85 ‐ 88 / 167 ‐ 214. May this be virtuous! Kagyu Office 12‐2006 654
13th Karmapa Dudul Dorje (1733‐1797) The thirteenth Gyalwa Karmapa , Dudul Dorje, had a powerful vision as a tiny child of the wrathful protector Mahakala and told many stories of his previous lives. He was recognized at the age of four and enthroned by Gyaltsab Rinpoche. At the age of eight, he met his main guru, the great Eighth Situpa Chokyi Jungne, whose long life had spanned all of the twelfth Karmapaʹs and was to span most of the thirteenthʹs. Dudul Dorje received the Kagyu transmissions from him and also studied the Nyingma teachings very extensively. He was very fond of animals and famous for communicating with them. At one point the famous Jokhang temple, home of the Jowo image, was threatened by rising flood waters. A prophecy from Guru Rinpoche had foreseen this and predicted that only the Karmapa could do something to stop it, as it was caused by a powerful serpentine spirit (naga). The Lhasa authorities requested him to come. Being unable to leave immediately, he resolved the problem by writing a special letter to the naga and invoking the compassion of Avalokiteshvara. On arrival at Lhasa, the Thirteenth Karmapa offered a white scarf (kata) to the Jowo image, and the arms of the statue changed position to accept it. They have been that way ever since. Dudul Dorje was also asked to consecrate a distant monastery. Unable to attend, he threw blessing grains in the air at Tsurphu at the moment of the consecration ceremony, and they were seen to shower down from the heavens hundreds of kilometers away at the monastery in question. K‐T‐D 12‐2006 655
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The Thirteenth Karmapa Dudul Dorje (1733 ‐ 1797) The Thirteenth Karmapa, Dudul Dorje, consecrated a distant monastery. from Tsurphu by throwing blessing grains in the air at the time of the consecration ceremony there. It is said the grains were seen to shower down from the heavens at the monastery though located hundreds of kilometres away. “With the great sun of vajra wisdom, you vanquish without remainder The darkness of agitated mind, Those forces that are the expressions of the degenerate age. Düdül Dorje, we supplicate at your feet.” from Supplication To The Karmapas In accordance with the prediction, the 13th Karmapa was born in Nyen Chawatrong in southern Tibet. Found by Tai Situpa Chökyi Jungney, the child was brought to Tsurphu. He was recognized at the age of four and enthroned by Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche. From the age of eight, Karmapa received full transmission and teachings of the Kagyu lineage from his main guru, Tai Situpa. He also studied with many great masters of the Nyingma and Kagyu lineages of the time, such as Kathok Rigdzin Tsewang Norbu, Kagyu Trinley Shingta, Pawo Tsuklak Gawa, and others. At one point the famous Jo‐kang temple, home of the Jo‐wo image, was threatened by rising flood waters. A prophecy from Guru Rinpoche had foreseen this and predicted that only the Karmapa could do something to stop it. Aware of the prophecy, the Lhasa authorities requested him to come. Unable to leave Tsurphu immediately, he resolved the problem by writing a special letter of blessing and invoking the compassion of Avalokitesvara. Later, when he was able to come to Lhasa, the thirteenth Karmapa offered a white scarf (kata) to the Jowo image, and it is said that the arms of the statue changed position to 657
accept it and have been that way ever since. Dudul Dorjé was also asked to consecrate a distant monastery. Remaining at Tsurphu, he threw blessing grains in the air at the appropriate moment of the consecration ceremony. It is said that they were seen to shower down from the heavens at the monastery in question hundreds of kilometres away. Düdul Dorje and Tai Situpa with Kathok Rigdzin Tsewang Norbu recognized the Shamarpaʹs reincarnation, Chödrup Gyatso, the younger brother of the fourth Panchen Lama, Palden Yeshe. He passed into parinirvana and Situpa Pema Nyinchey became his spiritual heir. He left behind the detailed prediction letter and instructions on his next incarnation. Kagyu Office 18‐12‐2006 658
Teachings of the 13th Karmapa ‐ Dudul Dorje The Four Renunciations Our only Refuge, the glorious Gyalwang Karmapa Vajra Conqueror of the Hordes of Maras, composed this vajra song to encourage his disciples to practice the Dharma: I supplicate the Three Jewels of Refuge. In the empty dwelling place of confusion, Desire is unchanging, marked on the mind Like an etching on a rock. You gullible guests, hearken to this! Generally, the suffering of samsara is inconceivable. Contemplating this again and again, I burst into tears. Above, in the deva realm of the thirty‐three, The hosts of the sons and daughters of the gods Promote pleasure and amusement; But when they have heard the sound of death, The following week, Their minds are pierced by a shaft of suffering. Because you have not realised your mind as Buddha, And have fallen into the ocean of existence, Now is the time for us to practice the divine Dharma. In the middle, in the excellent realm of Jambudvipa, Formerly, the Victorious Oneʹs teachings extended in the ten directions, And set out the path of Liberation, which ripens and frees many beings. The teachings were widespread in the golden age, But these days are the age of the five corruptions. The study of the texts of the Holy Dharma has been lost, And the weights and measures of deceit are held in hand. All those ʹgeshesʹ who wander through the cities and country Suffer in the realm of samsara When the faults of the material world begin to show. Now is the time for us to practice the divine Dharma. Below, in the eighteen regions of hell, The unimaginable sufferings of heat and cold, Experienced for countless great aeons, Are the fruit of completely ripened karma. Now is the time for us to practice the divine Dharma. Especially, this suffering of birth, old age, sickness, and death That everyone experiences does not fade away. If you do not offer this udumbara flower 659
To the Sambuddhas, How sad, it will naturally wilt. Having gained the eighteen conditions of being free and well‐favoured at this time, It is very stupid not to practice the Holy Dharma. The time when the messengers of Yama, the lord of death, And the seasonal rains come Is uncertain. When the time comes, even the divine Dharma Is certainly too late, O son of noble family. Human life passes quickly, And you, who are accomplished in nonDharma and laziness Will become old men before you know it. Still, you are planning to stay around. Having accumulated at home Roomfuls of goods and necessities, The five poisonous klesas Spread like fire in the ten directions, And consume all the precious Bodhi trees of virtue. Wretched, you hasten as if eager For the rock bottom of hell. This makes me utterly depressed. Generally, if you intend to practice the holy Dharma wholeheartedly, Reflect on the consequences of karmaʹs cause and effect As proclaimed previously by the Sambuddha In the Saddharma‐smrtyupasthana‐sutra and elsewhere. Everything is the natural expression of emptiness. If ego‐fixated mind Does not see its own face as Dharmakaya, There is not a momentʹs opportunity for happiness. Therefore, the supreme permanent state Is brought to realization on the quick path By the great truth of Mahamudra, The realization of things as they are. May it be abundant. Thus, he sang. 660
Mipham Chödrup Gyatso (1742‐1793) Mipam Chödrub Gyatso was born in Tashi Tse in Tsang region of Central Tibet as a younger brother of 6th Panchen Lama, Lobsang Palden Yeshe of Tashi Lhunpo. He was recognized and enthroned by the 13th Karmapa and the Situ Chökyi Jungne. He studied many years with Situ Chökyi Jungney as well as with Pawo Tsuklak Gawa and Rikdzin Tsewang Norbu and thus developed into a great scholar and meditation master. He went to Nepal in the 1780s, where he continued his bodhisattva activities of restoring the Swayambhu Stupa, a renowned pilgrimage site, and benefited many students in Nepal and Tibet. He passed away in Nepal, near the Boudhanath Stupa. He gave the full transmission of the full Kagyu lineage to the Ninth Situ incarnation, Pema Nyinje Wangpo. These details about Mipham Chödrup Gyatso are compiled from Karma Gyaltsenʹs book called kam tshang yab sras dang dpal spungs dgon pa, Szechwan edition, pp. 137‐40. May this be virtuous! Kagyu Office 18‐12‐2006 661
The Tenth Shamarpa, Mipam Chödrup Gyamtso, (1742‐1793) The 10th Shamarpa was a brother to the Panchen Lama of the Gelugpa Sect. His infant days were spent in the central province of Tsang. The child‐Rinpoche, with bubbling candor and innocence would tell many a tale of his past lives and also of events, happening within Tsürphu Monastery, much to the amusement and the astonishment of his parents. He was recognized and enthroned as the 10th Shamarpa by the 13th Karmapa Dündul Dorje and by the 8th Situ Rinpoche, from both of whom he had received all the Instructions of the Lineage. His education was, in the best sense, liberal, being under the broadening influence of many great lamas and scholars who belonged to other schools of thoughts. He traveled extensively, especially in Kham and within the areas of Derge and Nangshen, giving teachings and Empowerments to lamas and Tulkus as well as to the lay population. In central Tibet, having visited many holy places to pray and to make offerings, he returned to Tsürphu to see the Karmapa ‐ his Guru among gurus. Some years later, it was at the time when Tibet was fatalistically divided, both politically and ecclesiastically. The 11th Dalai‐Lama had passed away; the Regent with his sectarian followers, who were unable to see beyond the narrow interests of their monasteries, had stooped to the persecution of the Shamarpa and the seizing of his Red Crown. In collusion with the army, all the monasteries were forcibly appropriated and integrated into the Gelugpa School. Kagyu Asia 662
9th Tai Situ Rinpoche Pema Nyinche Wangpo (1774‐1853) The nith Tai Situpa, Pema Nyingche, fostered an important renaissance of Buddhist thought in the stimulating intellectual climate of Palpung. One of his main disciples was Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye (1813‐1899), an accomplished scholar and author of over 200 definitive texts that consolidated much of the learning of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism. 663
Pema Nyinje Wangpo (1774‐1853) Pema Nyinche Wangpo was born in Yilhung in east Tibet in the Wood Horse year. The thirteenth Karmapa recognized him as the ninth incarnation of Situ Rinpoche, with assistance of Shamar Chödrup Gyatso, and Pawo Tsuklak Gawa. The Indian master Padmasambhava predicted this incarnation of Situpa. He studied and practiced with many masters and especially with his two principal teachers, the 13th Karmapa and the 10th Shamar. He became a great scholar and meditation master and his dharma activities flourished throughout the land. He established many retreat centers, where he taught and greatly inspired many to practice and teach the Kagyu meditation practices. It is recorded that he his collected writings filled three volumes. He became the principal guru of the Fourteenth Karmapa and also Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye and gave full lineage transmission to the Fourteenth Karmapa, Thekchok Dorje. These details about Pema Nyinje Wangpo are compiled from Karma Gyaltsenʹs book called kam tshang yab sras dang dpal spungs dgon pa, Szechwan edition, pp. 88‐89. May this be virtuous! Kagyu Office 18‐12‐2006 664
14th Karmapa Thegchog Dorje (1798‐1868) The fourteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Thegchog Dorje, was born in midwinter, yet flowers spontaneously blossomed and many rainbows appeared. The baby recited the Sanskrit alphabet. He was discovered, enthroned and later ordained by the Ninth Tai Situpa. Thegchog Dorje lived very simply and exemplified the ideal monk. He was gifted in poetry and dialectics and participated in the spirit of the times, known now as rime (nonsectarian), whereby many noted scholars showed great interest in each otherʹs traditions and teachings. There was a particularly intense exchange between the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions, with the Karmapa passing on teachings to Kongtrul Rinpoche and Jamyang Chentse Wangpo. Thegchog Dorje himself received the Vajrakilaya tantra from the Nyingma visionary treasure‐text‐finder Chojur Lingpa. The ritual was subsequently introduced into the Tsurphu calendar. Chojur Lingpa had important visions of future Karmapas, up to the twenty‐first. These were noted down and painted in a thangka. The Fourteenth Karmapaʹs spiritual heir was the great rime master and prolific author, Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye. 665
The Fourteenth Karmapa Thekchok Dorje (1798 ‐ 1868) The Fourteenth Karmapa, Thekchok Dorje, lived very simply and exemplified the ideal monk. Endowed with inconceivable knowledge, activity and skillful means, And indestructible vajra‐like samadhi, Protector of the world who personifies effortless compassion, Thekchok Dorje, we supplicate at your feet. from Supplication To The Karmapas Theckchok Dorje was born in the village of Danang in the Kham region of eastern Tibet. He was born in mid‐winter, and the histories say that flowers spontaneously blossomed and many rainbows appeared. The baby recited the Sanskrit alphabet. He was recognized by Drukchen Kunzig Chokyi Nangwa, the holder of the thirteenth Karmapaʹs letter giving the details of his forthcoming reincarnation. He was enthroned and later ordained by the ninth Tai Situpa. The Karmapa received teachings and the lineage transmissions from Situ Pema Nyinche Wangpo and Drukchen Kunzig Chokyi Nangwa. Theckchok Dorje lived very simply and exemplified the ideal monk. He was gifted in poetry and dialectics and participated in the ri‐me (non‐sectarian) movement, whereby many noted scholars showed great interest in each othersʹ traditions and teachings. This exchange was particularly intense between the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions, with the Karmapa passing on teachings to Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche. Thekchok Dorje received some tantras from the Nyingma visionary treasure‐revealer ChogyurLingpa and those rituals were subsequently introduced into the Tsurphu calendar. Chogyur Lingpa had important visions of future Karmapas, up to the twenty‐
first. These were noted down and memorialized in a thangka, a Tibetan form of sacred painting. The fourteenth Karmapaʹs spiritual heir was the great ri‐mé (nonsectarian) master and prolific author, Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye. Thekchok Dorje taught widely in Tibet and recognized the tenth Situpa, Pema Kunzang. Thekchok Dorje passed into parinirvana at the age of 71, leaving detailed instructions on his next incarnation. Kagyu Office 18‐12‐2006 666
Thegchog Dorje Life of the 14 Karmapa ‐ Thegchog Dorje The 14th Karmapa, Thegchog Dorje (1798‐1868), was born in the village of Danang in the Do Kham region in east Tibet. He was identified by Drukchen Kunzig Chokyi Nangwa, the holder of the thirteenth Karmapaʹs letter giving the details of his forthcoming reincarnation. Thegchog Dorje was ordained by Pema Nyinche Wangpo and Drukchen Kunzig Chokyi Nangwa, both of whom went on to give the Karmapa the complete Kagyu transmission. He later found himself in the unusual position of taking teachings from one of his close students ‐ Jamgon Lodro Thaye ‐ who had been fortunate enough to receive the rare Tercho teachings, which he now passed to his guru, the Karmapa. Thegchog Dorje taught widely in Tibet. Thegchog Dorje lived very simply and exemplified the ideal monk. He was gifted in poetry and dialectics and participated in the spirit of the times, known now as Rime (non‐sectarian), whereby many noted scholars showed great interest in each others traditions and teachings. Thegchog Dorje himself received the Vajrakilaya tantra from the Nyingma visionary treasure‐text‐finder Chojur Lingpa. Chojur Lingpa had important visions of future Karmapas, up to the twenty‐first. These were noted down and painted in a thangka. Thegchog Dorje taught widely in Tibet. He identified the tenth Situpa, Pema Kunzang, but it was Jamgon Lodro Thaye who became the next lineage holder. 667
Teachings of the 14th Karmapa ‐ Thegchog Dorje Song to my Guru NAMO GURUAVE The embodiment of the Refuge Jewels, the lord of Dharma, Vajradhara, sovereign of all the families, The glorious great bliss in human form, Is known as Lord Padma Nyinche Wangpo. Your body with its splendorous major and minor marks blazes greatly. Your speech with its words of truth shows the way of Dharma to the tameable ones. Your mind, entering and arising from samadhi, is inconceivable. You are the ornament of the Golden Garland of Kagyus. Your mind is the profound and peaceful Dharmadhatu Inseperable from the Refuge victorious ones. We, your children who supplicate you, Ask you to consider us through your great compassion. You are supreme, not outshone by any assemblage. Your mountain of a body with its vajra posture Is resplendent with blessings. Remembering you with one‐pointed mind, I supplicate you. Dressed in monksʹ robes but acting like laymen, Our actions run contrary to the Dharma. To us who possess the marks of the present times, Grant your blessings so that we may act properly. Your speech proclaims the Dharma in the melody of Brahma. All your words are well uttered And so all men and spirits are convinced. I supplicate you with intense longing. Wasting our human life in falsehood and ignorant babble, Accumulating unvirtuous actions and undermining others, We are burdened by our evil deeds of speech. Grant your blessings so that whatever we say may follow the Dharma. The vajra gaze of your eyes fathoms space. The wisdom of your realization is as limitless as space. Accepting others, your kindness is effortless. I supplicate you with powerful longing. Boasting of proficiency in spiritual practice, Passing day and night in pervasive confusion, 668
Our lives have been aimless, empty, and wasted. Grant your blessings so that our minds may be workable. You are like the precious wish‐fulfilling gem; Your effortless virtues spontaneously arise, And you share your virtues with all you encounter. I supplicate you, kind Guru. Taking great pride in little virtues, Self‐regard and perverted views have obscured sacred outlook. I and those like me are bundles of bad faults. Grant your blessings so that our beings may be completely purified. You have completely exhausted selfishness and the eight worldly Dharmas. You do not ignore for an instant othersʹ benefit. Your Buddha activity benefits all that encounter you. With appreciation and longing, I supplicate you. Squandering human life in the activities of this life, Committing evil deeds merely for food and clothing, We unfortunate ones are unable to practice the Dharma. Grant your blessings so that we may act in accord with the Dharma. These days, only superficial appearances are held to be the teachings, And the signs of the dark age are multiplying. Human life is short, like a winterʹs day, And is oppressed by sudden misfortunes and manifold suffering. Though many profound teachings flourish, practice wanes. Charlatans, the destroyers of the teaching, fill the land. The practitioners of nondharma are exalted And those who practice Dharma properly are as rare as a star in the daytime. Having no trust in the three divine Jewels, People take Refuge in maras, spirits, and ghosts. They reverse what should be accepted and rejected And reap nine fold misfortunes. The teaching of the Practice Lineage, the essence of the Buddhaʹs teaching, Is rarely taken up properly. Although the surface of the earth is covered with people in yellow robes, For them to come to their senses in time of need is very rare. Kye ma! When I think upon sentient beings who are without Refuge, I am overwhelmed by compassion. When I think of the intensity of samsaraʹs confusion, sadness arises. When I see this self‐destruction, I burst into tears. Remembering the misery of the lower realms, I am terrified. 669
Contemplating this, I remember with longing the Takpo Kagyu. Especially I remember the incomparable, gentle Refuge, the lord of Dharma. This lord is called Padma, the mere sight of whom brings Liberation, The Sun Lord, who gratifies by a touch, The precious one, of whom a mere memory is enough. From the time of your birth in the land of Do Kham, Through inconceivable Buddha activity You skillfully guided on the good path Students from Tibet and greater Tibet. Your good works are as limitless as space, And you extensively spread the doctrine of the essential truth. Though your vast life example is immeasurable and impartial, You accepted me through the succession of my former lives And kindly gave me the transmission showing my mind as Dharmakaya. Lord, I ask you for Refuge. Through your loving kindness, consider myself and others, We children of gullible understanding, Who have been deceived by confusion from beginningless time. As ground, may revulsion and renunciation be the foot of practice. As path, may our beings be steeped in devotion and compassion. With the completely pure acton of samaya as an aide, May we attain the fruition of Dharmakaya in this life. Lord glorious Guru, grant your blessings. Thus, in response to the urging of Lama Karma Tsultrim Gyatso, Thegchog Dorje, the fourteenth holder of the Garland of Karmapas, wrote this song. 670
1st Jamgon Kontrul Lodrö Thaye (1813‐1899) Among the multitudes of disciples of Guru Padmasambhava during the time that he visited Tibet, twenty‐five were exceptional in that they equalled Padmasambhavaʹs realization. One of these disciples was the Great Lopon Vairotsana, a deeply realized being, a scholar and translator. When Vairotsana passed away, he was among the first of the practitioners in Tibet to enter into the rainbow body. This accomplishment is in itself a great mark of realization. Jamgon Kongtrul the Great is an emanation of Lopon Vairotsana. As a matter of fact, his emanations go back in the past as far as Shakyamuni Buddha. But the emanation referred to here was among the first Tibetan incarnations and because of his vows and practice in Tibet, he incarnated there from that time on. All of his incarnations were great scholars and realized beings, always actively involved in important sequences of the Dharma in Tibet. The birth of Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche was predicted in the Larkauatara Sutra where the Buddha said: A great being and liberator by the name of Lodro Thaye, Shore of the five fields of knowledge, Will come into existence. He will be a Bodhisattva of ineffaceable qualities. As prophesied by the Buddha, Jamgon Kongtrul the Great was born in Upper Eastern Tibet, to the east of Lhasa, in a place called Kongpo. That is how he got his name: Kong as in Kongpo and trul from trulku or the Tulku of Kongpo. When Jamgon Kongtrul the Great was born, he manifested many miracles which indicated that he was the reincarnation of an enlightened being. As a young 671
child he proved beyond doubt to be learned and realized. At that time in Kongpo the Bon tradition, an indigenous religion of Tibet, was quite prevalent and the Bon people, nevertheless, recognized and upheld him as their supreme spiritual guide. The Bon followers offered him the name of Teny Yungdrung Lingpa (which means ʺsecond to none,ʺ as Padmasambhava was called. He was as realized as the Buddha; they had not previously experienced one so realized). In the earlier part of his life he appeared as this Bon teacher, yet inwardly he manifested as a great Vajrayana Master. Thus, he imparted the profound Vajrayana teachings to the Bon followers in the most skillful ways and for the first time among the Bon followers a number of practitioners entered the rainbow body. Later on he travelled all over Tibet receiving teachings and transmissions from over one hundred of the most learned and realized masters of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism: Kagyu, Gelug, Sakya, and Nyingma. He performed all these activities as a simple monk carrying his basic needs on his back and seeking alms whenever food was needed. He never revealed himself as a greatly learned and awakened being. Finally, Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche compiled the most important teachings of the Buddha common to all the lineages of Tibetan Buddhism; these teachings are called ʺFive Great Treasures (mDzod‐lnga) of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great.ʺ They include: Rinchen Terzo 60 volumes plus Gyachen Kardzo of 5 volumes Ngadzo Dam Ngadzo Sheja Dzo of 3 volumes. (Each volume has a different number of folios from at least one hundred to an average of 300 to 400.) In these Five Great Treasures he has provided very clear and complete commentaries. He also went through the painstaking task of making sure that all these teachings maintained an unbroken line of empowerment, instructions and other forms required in a continuous line of transmissions. Because of the great responsibility he had assumed toward the preservation and spread of the Great Teachings, he was recognized by all the schools of Buddhism in Tibet as one of the greatest Rime (non‐
sectarian) masters. Among all his renowned teachers, his personal root guru was Situ Pema Nginje Wangpo, the 9th Situpa. Because of this, Jamgon Kongtrul the Great is among the golden chain of Kagyu Lineage masters. Not only did he preserve the essence of Buddhadharma through the Five Great Treasures, but during his lifetime he personally helped to sustain these unbroken lineages by giving empowerments and oral transmissions to numerous practitioners of the Dharma. When Communists invaded Tibet in 1950s, the existence of Buddhism was destroyed really. Yet mainly due to the work of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great, the unbroken line of Dharma teachings has been preserved; without him the teachings might have degenerated, possibly even if Communism had not taken over Tibet. In short, the presence and activity of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great was most timely and in accordance with the predictions of the Buddha that when there will be degeneration of 672
the Dharma, a great Bodhisattva willuphold it by preserving the teachings in writing and by transmitting the Dharma through an unbroken lineage. Jamgon Kongtrul the Great (Lodro Thaye) lived well into his eighties and before passing away he prophesied that he would have five incarnations of Body, Speech, Mind, Qualities and Activities. He also prophesied that his mind incarnation would make his main seat the great retreat caves Tsen near Palpung, the seat of the Situpas. In accordance with such predictions, the second Jamgon Kongtrul, Khentse Oser, was born as a prince son of the Fifteenth Karmapa, Khakhyab Dorje, and established his seat at Tsen. During his lifetime he maintained an immensely important role in the preservation of the Kagyu Lineage and became teacher to His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa. Thus again, he was among the golden chain of the Kagyu Lineage. At the end of his life, Khyentse Oser alerted his close disciples that soon he would be passing away. When his disciples made an ernest request that he live longer, he told them that it was time for him to go, but they should not mourn or worry because his emanation would be born soon. He prophesied that the birth would be in a family related to his mother and in fact, the house where he would be born could be seen from the house of his present mother. When his disciples requested more information, he convinced them that there was no need as the all‐knowing wisdom mind of the Karmapa will see whatever other information was necessary. He also said that the Third Jamgon Kongtrul would, in fact, play a more important and expansive role in the spread and preservation of the Buddhadharma. So in 1954, precisely in accordance with the predictions of the Second Jamgon Kongtrul, the Third Jamgon Kongtrul was born into a noble family from a dakini mother with noble qualities. From the time he was a little child, he was brought up under the special care of His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa. He received full transmission and education from both His Holiness and other eminent masters of the Kagyu Lineage. In 1984, His Eminence Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche was one of the four regents of His Holiness Karmapa. He was fully matured and manifested the wisdom, compassion and presence of the Kongtrul Lineage as well as that of His Holiness Karmapa. He paid close attention to the many important wishes of His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa and diligently fulfilled them with tremendous confidence and enthusiasm. For those who had the good fortune to experience his presence and teachings during his short visit to the United States in 1984, it was abundantly clear that His Eminence was an awakened heartfelt son of His Holiness Karmapa, and that he was completely trustworthy. By Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche; translated by Ngodrup Tsering Burkhar 673
Lodrö Thaye (1813‐1899) Jamgon Kongtrul the Great, Lodrö Thaye, was born in the village of Rong‐gyap in Derge, in east Tibet. The coming of this great master was prophesized by the Buddha Shakyamuni, in the Samadhiraja‐sutra, as well as by the Great Indian Vajra Master, Padmasambhava, in many of his termas (hidden teachings, for later revelation). He studied and mastered the teachings of the Buddha in general and tantrayana in specific including the Bön religion of Tibet. Among his many teachers, his primary teachers were the Fourteenth Karmapa, Situ Pema Nyinje Wangpo, the Great Khyentse, and many other masters of the time. He not only became one of the greatest masters and the lineage holder of Kagyu School but of all four Schools of Tibetan Buddhism as well as the Bön religion. Lodrö Thaye co‐founded the non‐sectarian movement in Tibet with the Great Khyentse in 19th century. He became the teacher of the fifteenth Karmapa Khakhyap Dorje, giving him the full Kagyu teachings. He is renowned as an accomplished master, scholar, writer, poet, and artist, and authored and compiled more than 100 volumes of scriptures. Among these, the best known is the Five Treasuries, made up of The Treasury of Kagyu Mantras, Treasury of Key Instructions, Treasury of Precious Termas, Treasury of Vast Teachings, and the Treasury of Knowledge. He became the principal teacher of and gave the full transmission of the lineage to the Fifteenth Karmapa, Khakhyab Dorje. These details about Lodrö Thaye are compiled from Karma Gyaltsenʹs book called kam tshang yab sras dang dpal spungs dgon pa, Szechwan edition, pp. 100‐118. May this be virtuous! Kagyu Office 18‐12‐2006 674
15th Karmapa Khakhyab Dorje (1871‐1922) The fifteenthGyalwa Karmapa, Khakhyab Dorje, was born with the highly auspicious ʹtreasure‐hairʹ growing on his brow. This is one of the thirty‐two marks of an enlightened being and was noted on the young Shakyamuni. He grew up receiving a very thorough education from famous scholars and eventually received the Kagyu transmission from Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, who also passed on to him the essence of his hundred compositions embracing the profound teachings of all Tibetan Buddhist traditions, as well as the domains of medicine, art, linguistics and general Buddhist studies. His life was a brilliant example of the bodhisattva with an insatiable desire for learning in order to help other beings. Some years before his passing, he entrusted a prediction letter to his closest attendant. 675
Khakhyab Dorje Life of the 15th Karmapa ‐ Khakhyab Dorje The 15th Karmapa, Khakhyab Dorje (1871‐1922), spoke the mantra of Chenrezig at his birth in Sheikor village in Tsang province in central Tibet. Five years later he was able to read the scriptures. Recognised and enthroned by the ninth Kyabgon Drukchen, Khakyab Dorje was given the Kagyu teachings by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye. Khenchen Tashi Ozer and other masters completed his education. Khakhyab Dorje was a disciple of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great, himself a disciple of the fourteenth Karmapa and a holder of the Kagyud lineage. Khakhyab Dorje mastered the teachings at an extremely early age and became an outstanding exponent of the Rime school, founded by his guru, which brought together the meditation teachings of all the Tibetan schools. He was an accomplished student of medicine and the author of memorable devotional poetry. He went on to teach and give empowerments throughout Tibet, and preserved many rare texts by having them reprinted. Unlike the previous Karmapas, Khakyab Dorje married, and fathered three sons, two of whom he recognised as the second Jamgon Kongtrul and the twelfth Shamarpa, Jamyang Rinpoche. An inspired teacher, Khakhyab Dorje had many important disciples, and His life was a brilliant example of the bodhisattva with an insatiable desire for learning in order to help other beings. Among his closest students were Situ Pema Wangchok Gyalpo (who Karmapa had recognised as the Situpa reincarnation), Jamgon Palden Khyentse Ozer, and Beru Khyentse Lodro Mizay Jampaʹi Gocha. Kagyu Asia 676
The Fifteenth Karmapa Khakyab Dorje (1871 ‐ 1922) The Fifteenth Karmapa, Khakyab Dorje, was born with the very auspicious circle of hair between the eyebrows (found on the young Sakyamuni and known as one of the 32 marks of an enlightened being). “You are the single embodiment of all the life examples, qualities and activity Of all infinite victorious ones combined. Protector of the Land of Snows, Gyalwang Karmapa, Blissful Khakhyab Dorje, we supplicate you.” from Supplication To The Karmapas Born with the very auspicious circle of hair between the eyebrows (found on the young Sakyamuni and known as one of the 32 marks of an enlightened being), Khakyab Dorje spoke the mantra of Avalokiteshvara at his birth in Sheikor village of the Tsang province in central Tibet. He was recognized and enthroned by the Kyabgon Drukchen, Migyur Wanggi Gyalpo along with Jamgon Kongtrul, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Terchen Chokgyur Lingpa, and Pawo Tsuklak Nyinchey. He grew up receiving a very thorough education from very famous scholars and eventually received the Kagyu transmission from Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, who also passed on to him the essence of his hundred compositions embracing the profound teachings of all Tibetan Buddhist traditions, as well as the fields of medicine, art, linguistics and general Buddhist studies. He studied with many great masters such as Khenchen Tashi Ozer. He continued his activities of teaching and giving empowerments throughout Tibet, and preserved many rare texts by having them reprinted. 677
Khakyab Dorje is the first in the line of Karmapas to get married, and had three sons, one of whom was recognized as the second Jamgon Kongtrul Palden Khyentse Öser. His life was a brilliant example of the bodhisattva with an insatiable desire for learning in order to help other beings. Among many disciples, his closest students were Tai Situ Pema Wangchok Gyalpo, Jamgon Kongtrul Palden Khyentse Öser, and Beru Khyentse Lodro Mize Jampe Gocha. Some years before his passing into parinirvana, he entrusted a prediction letter to his closest attendant Kagyu Office 18‐12‐2006 678
Teachings of the 15th Karmapa ‐ Khakhyab Dorje Khakhyab Dorje ʹTaraʹ The venerable Arya Tara is the wisdom form of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions. In the ultimate sense, she has, since primordial time, attained the state of original wakefulness that is the very essence of the female Buddha Prajnaparamita. However, to portray her background in a way that ordinary disciples can comprehend, here is her story. Long ago, in a past eon, in the world Myriad Lights, there was a Buddha known as Drum Thunder. It was in the presence of this Buddha that she was the princess Wisdom Moon and first formed the resolve to attain supreme enlightenment, and here she took the oath to work for the welfare of all beings in the form of a woman until the whole of samsara is emptied. In accordance with her vow, she practiced day and night and became able to liberate, every day, one hundred billion sentient beings from their mundane frame of mind and make them attain ʹthe acceptance of the non‐arising of all thingsʹ. Through this she was given the name Arya Tara, the Sublime Saviour, the mere recalling of whose name invokes the blessings to dispel both samsaraʹs sufferings and the shortcomings of the positive state of nirvana. After that she took the vow in front of the Buddha Amoghasiddhi to protect the beings of the ten directions from fear and all kinds of harm. On another occasion, she acted as an emanation of Avalokiteshvaraʹs wisdom in order to assist him in working for the liberation of all beings. In this way, her life examples surpass the reach of ordinary thought. Particularly in this world, during the Golden Age the compassionate Avalokiteshvara taught one hundred million Vajrayana tantras of Tara on Mount Potala in India and has continued up through this age of strife to teach medium and concise versions that accord with peopleʹs capacity. These practices pacify the eight and sixteen types of fear and cause a wish‐fulfilling attainment of all needs and aims. 679
Ultimately, one can realise the wisdom body of Mahamudra. There are innumerable wonderful stories of past practitioners to support this. In short, since Arya Tara is the activity of all Buddhas embodied in a single form, her blessings are swifter than those of any other deity. Most of the learned and accomplished masters of India and Tibet kept her as their main practice and attained siddhi. That is why today we have such a boundless supply of practices and instructions of Arya Tara. ʹMelody of Buzzing Beesʹ Teachings of the 15th Karmapa ‐ Khakhyab Dorje NAMO GURU‐GUNASAGARAYA You are the primordial ground, Buddha Vajradhara, Unobstructed manifestation, the body of great compassion. You posses the kindness that delivers Buddha into the palm of oneʹs hand, Please enjoy being an ornament on the top of my head. Having obtained a human body this one time, I was accepted by your great kindness, lord. You, the Jetsun who makes this fee and well‐favoured birth meaningful, Please dwell inseparably in the very centre of my heart. Your son supplicates with devotion and longing; Father Rinpoche, please look on me with kindness. Lord, by the light rays of your kindness, The darkness of confused ego‐fixation has been cleared. In this song of the realization of the pure ultimate natural state, These naive words are like the buzzing of a bee. Although they irritate the ears of the father Jetsun, Your son, with overwhelming longing, Offers this song of nonsense words; please think of me with compassion. In general, this body endowed with the eight freedoms and the ten favourable circumstances Is more excellent than the wish‐fulfilling gem. Obtaining this body, I know it to be the power of unperverted merit. Although I have obtained it, it is impermanent, And, therefore, the moment of death is unavoidable, as is said. Since one never knows when it will come, I wonder, ʺWhen will death come for me?ʺ The cause and effect of karma ripens infallibly in everyone Just like a see that has been planted. Because of my actions of deceiving myself and others, 680
I wonder, ʺWhat will my end be like?ʺ In general, ignorance, the great city of samsara, Is filled with endless and strenuous suffering. When I think about this, I almost lose my mind. Panic‐stricken, I wonder, ʺWhen will I be liberated?ʺ My body, blown by the wind of bad karma, Falls from the precipice of the wrong path. Now I am sunk in the mud of samsara; please look on me here! Kind lord, precious Guru, Please protect me from this terror. Through a break in my evil karma, I discovered good karma. I met the father Jetsun, the excellent true Buddha Whose essence if Sri Cakrasamvara. The skin of ignorant ego‐fixation fell away from me, And the great knot tied by passion and aggression was loosened. As for the klesas, produced by the three poisons, The object of their arising, the arising itself, and the one who gives rise to them Are all projections of mind. Like a reflection in a mirror, Their essence is empty. Like waves merging with the ocean, they subside into empty ineffable space. External phenomenal objects: forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and objects of touch, All these phenomena are no other Than the magical tricks of mind. Like a child who builds sand castles, It is mind that fixates on names. Realizing that this is unreal is also mind. Therefore, nothing exists as separate from mind Neither as substance nor as a mark. Realizing that everything is the manifestation of mind, So‐called samsara and Nirvana, Considered to be bad and good respectively, do not exist. Realization that mind is the manifestation of Dharmakaya, The natural state of self‐existing mind Does not exist as form or substance. It completely passes beyond even being shown by analogy. To say ʺemptinessʺ is not total negation; Rather, its nature is luminosity, All‐pervasive like space. To say ʺexistenceʺ is not to establish a reality. Just like space, 681
It does not exist, but it is very luminous. Although it arises, it does not exist as separate, But is liberated in the essence of this luminosity. Like clouds in the sky, It arises from space and dissolves into space. In short, the phenomenal world is mind. From the aspect of its luminosity, there is appearance. From the aspect of its essence, there is emptiness. Neither Buddhas nor sentient beings Exist as separately established things. All the so‐called gods and demons do not so exist. Everything is mind. Mind is self‐existing luminosity. It passes beyond all arising, ceasing, and projecting. It is free from dwelling, coming, or going anywhere. Other than this ineffable mind, There is no Vajradhara. Mind is luminous; I have confidence in realizing that this is so. Jetsun, this realization is your kindness. Rinpoche, now I remember your kindness. Please look upon me, one of bad karma, with compassion. Father Jetsun, ultimate Vajradhara, Time and time again I think of you and devotion blazes up; With undistracted longing I supplicate you. Father, grant your blessings so that we may be beyond meeting and parting. This song of experience I offer to your ears, father Jetsun. If there has been any stain of error, Please wash it away with the amrta of loving kindness. This son supplicates with one‐pointed longing; Please accept me with the iron hook of your compassion.. At the Karma Vihara of Akanistha, the great Dharma palace of the Buddha Karmapa, in the year of the Iron Tiger called Vikrta, I offered this song with great devotion of body, speech, and mind at the feet of the omniscient Jetsun, the king of Dharma. 682
11th Tai Situ Pema Wangchuk (1886‐1952) The eleventh Tai Situpa, Wangchuk Gyalpo, was a dynamic teacher and spiritual leader. He was responsible for recognizing the Sixteenth Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje. He remained the Sixteenth Karmapaʹs root Lama and transmitted to him the main teachings and empowerments of the Kagyu lineage. All indications are that the Eleventh Tai Situ Rinpoche was a very great saint and most learned personage. Around the age of fifty he retired to Surmang monastery, where he passed the remainder of his life in meditation. The monks of Surmang reported that they witnessed many unexplained miracles during the time he resided amongst them. The Eleventh Tai Situ Rinpoche died at the age of 67 in 1952. 683
Pema Wangchok Gyalpo (1886 ‐ 1953) Pema Wangchog Gyalpo was born in Lithang, east Tibet. He was recognized as the eleventh incarnation of Situ Rinpoche and enthroned by the Fifteenth Karmapa. He studied with many great masters of the time including Jamgon Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye and Khenchen Shenga Rinpoche, and he became accomplished scholar of sutras and tantras. He received the extraordinary Kagyu lineage transmissions from the Fifteenth Karmapa and regarded him as the principal teacher. Situ Pema Wangchok later found, enthroned, educated, and offered the full transmission of the Kagyu lineage to the Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa, Rangjung Rikpe Dorje. These details about Pema Wangchok Gyalpo are compiled from Karma Gyaltsenʹs book called kam tshang yab sras dang dpal spungs dgon pa, Szechwan edition, pp. 91‐97. May this be virtuous! Kagyu Office 18‐12‐2006 684
Palden Khyentse Öser (1904 ‐ 1953) Palden Khyentse Öser was born at Tsurphu as a son of the 15th Karmapa. At the age of twelve, he was recognized as the second incarnation of Jamgon Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye and enthroned at Tsurphu by the 15th Karmapa. He spent many years at Tsadra Rinchen Trak, the seat of the First Jamgon Kongtrul and studied with excellent masters. He received the full education and lineage transmission from the Karmapa. He expanded his teaching activities throughout Tibet and benefited many beings in Tibet and China. Palden Khyentse Öser was one of the most renowned Mahamudra masters, and held the ultimate lineage. He passed the innermost lineage of Mahamudra to the Sixteenth Karmapa, Rangjung Rikpe Dorje. These details about Palden Khyentse Öser are compiled from Karma Gyaltsenʹs book called kam tshang yab sras dang dpal spungs dgon pa, Szechwan edition, pp. 118‐26.. May this be virtuous. Kagyu Office 18‐12‐2006 685
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16th Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje (1924‐1981) The sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, was born in Tibet in 1924. He was recognized by the Eleventh Tai Situpa. Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje accomplished extensive retreats in his youth. His Holiness went on pilgrimage to Samye, Lodrak, and then to Bhutan. In 1945, Tai Situpa gave him full ordination vows and further comprehensive Kagyu teachings on the giving of empowerments. He also received from the Nyingma master Urgyen Rinpoche complete transmission of the Nyingma teachings of Terton Chojur Lingpa. In 1959, during the communist invasion that had begun in 1951, the Karmapa left Tibet with portable spiritual treasures and relics and 150 tulkus, monks and lay people. He settled in Rumtek, Sikkim, India. By 1966, the construction of the new Rumtek monastery was complete, and the relics were installed. This was to be the hub from which Kagyu Dharma would spread throughout the world. In 1974, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje set out on his first world tour. He took a second tour in 1977. As did the previous Karmapas, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje performed startling miracles. Numerous times he left footprints in rocks. He once tied sword blades in knots. During a visit to the Hopi reservation in northeastern Arizona, he made rain for the drought‐stricken area. The Sixteenth Karmapa died in 1981 in Zion, Illinois, north of Chicago. After his death, his body remained upright in meditation posture for three days, and the area over his heart was warm. During his cremation, his heart fell from the blazing body. The heart is nowa venerated relic, stored in a stupa at Rumtek monastery. Bones that remained after the cremation of Rangjung Rigpe Dorje formed Buddhas and many relics. The Sixteenth Karmapa is best known for having brought the Dharma out of Tibet into the Western world. 687
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The Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa The following is a personal appreciation of HH the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa, by Ken Holmes, from his book ʺKarmapaʺ, published by Altea The Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Rangjung Rikpe Dorje, was born in the kingdom of De‐ge, in eastern Tibet, in 1923, as the son of a noble family called A‐toop. Having received predictions that she would bear a great bodhisattva son, his mother had gone to stay in a holy cave, once used by Guru Rinpoche, where she waited to give birth. It is said that, at one point at the very end of the pregnancy, the future Karmapa disappeared entirely from his motherʹs womb for a whole day. He was to do many such things in his life which would confound materialists and doctors, as witnessed by physicians in the Chicago hospital, where he eventually died. The day of his birth, his mother returned to normal pregnancy size and soon gave birth to him. Those present heard him say to his mother that he would be leaving. Water in offering bowls there turned to milk. Realising that she had indeed given birth to a great bodhisattva, she pretended to have had a daughter, to protect the child through secrecy. The Eleventh Tai Situpa, one of the most eminent lamas of the Kagyu tradition, soon recognised the A‐toop child as being the new Gyalwa Karmapa and sought confirmation from HH the Dalai Lama. The details of the birth coincided properly with those of a prediction letter entrusted by the Fifteenth Karmapa to his attendant. Meanwhile, the child received his first ordination and bodhisattva vows from the Tai Situpa and from Palpung Kongtrul Rinpoche: his predecessorʹs two foremost disciples. Eventually, the Dalai Lama gave his aknowledgement. The boy was eight years old and still residing in the De‐ge kingdom, when he received the Vajra Crown and ceremonial robes of the Karmapa, brought to him from Tsurphu. He visited Palpung monastery, stopping to bless the famous De‐ge monastic printing works on the way, and was enthroned there, as the Sixteenth Karmapa, Rangjung Rikpe Dorjé, by Palpungʹs chief abbot, the Tai Situpa, who shortly afterwards accompanied him on the long journey to the seat of the Karmapas at 689
Tsurphu, in central Tibet, where the new incarnation was greeted by Gyaltsab Rinpoche, Palpung Kongtrul and Pawo Rinpoche. Tsurphu is close to Lhasa. Soon after his arrival, the Karmapa was received by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, who performed the ʺhair‐cuttingʺ ceremony. While so doing, the Dalai Lama had a vision of the celestial bodhisattva crown on the Karmapaʹs head. After this ceremony, the Karmapa was given a second enthronement, at Tsurphu, by the Tai Situpa and the Head of the Drukpa Kagyu school. He then studied for some years under Gongkar Rinpoche, an extremely erudite scholar who had mastered the entire tripitaka and who recorded several stories of former lifes told to him by the young Karmapa. It was a great loss that these stories remained with him in Tibet at the time of the troubles. He never escaped and the records were lost. Saving the Lineage After the initial turmoil of flight, a new reality was starting to take shape for Tibetans in India and the Himalayan kingdoms, living in refugee camps such as the one at Baxa. Some of the first contacts were made with sympathetic westerners, such as the now famous Freda Bedi, and an understanding of the world at large, into which they had been projected, began to form. The main task in the Karmapaʹs hands were to ensure the continuity of his lineage through the education of the young tulkus in his charge and the transmission to them of the many teachings and techniques of the Kagyu tradition, and to establish the temples and retreat centres needed for Kagyu Buddhism to continue. Yet, in another way, he simply continued to do what Karmapas have always done. The Sixteenth Karmapa sometimes shocked his followers, who saw him as a living Buddha and one of the most important people in Asia, by declaring in total sincerity, ʺI am simply a monkʺ. Unattached to any country, any people or any thing—
a friend and example for everyone—it was his duty as a monk to give teachings and nurture the dharma wherever he might be. This also explains the example he set by supervising the construction work at Tsurphu, right up to the imminent arrival of the Chinese. He doubtless knew what was to come and some may wonder, ʺwhy bother?ʺ. He was pointing to the sacred duty of doing all one can, every day, in a positive way. Thus his followers had made the good karma of building temples for absolutely as long as it was possible so to do and, from a Buddhist perspective, that good karma would be their best companion in times and lives to come. In 1964, following a successful petition for reinstatement made to HH the Dalai Lama by the unofficial Shamar incarnation, the latter was enthroned by HH the Gyalwa Karmapa as the Eleventh Sharmapa. His reincarnation had also been born into the A‐toop family and the young boy had been at Tsurphu and fled Tibet with the Karmapa but official recognition had been impossible in Tibet itself as Shamarpa incarnations had been banned by edict of the central Tibetan government from the late eighteenth century onwards, following accusations of war‐mongering. 690
A new seat By 1966 the construction of the new Rumtek was completed and the relics brought out from Tsurphu were installed. On Tibetan New Yearʹs day (losar) HH the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa officially opened his new seat called, ʺThe Dharmachakra Centre, a place of erudition and spiritual accomplishment, the seat of the glorious Karmapaʺ. This was to be the hub from which Kagyu dharma spread throughout the world and, step by step, the traditional monastic calendar of special prayers, lama dances, summer rains retreat and so forth was reinstated in that centre‐point to ensure the correct spiritual dynamic for the years ahead. Rumtek, the mandala with the Karmapa at its centre, became a very special place, described by many as ʺthe monastery wreathed in a thousand rays of rainbow lightʺ. In Sikkim itself the foundations of Kagyu dharma were established. Traditional texts were, studied, ordinations performed, tulkus found and enthroned, retreat centres built and texts carved onto wooden blocks for xylographic printing. The kindness of the Bhutanese royal family gave hospitality to his tradition in Bhutan also, with the gift of a palace and a large piece of land, upon which to establish a major monastery. Gradually, contacts were made in India and Nepal. At one point, His Holiness had a vision that the construction of many temples and monasteries close to the great stupa at Bodhnath in Nepal (which at the time had little except for the stupa, a temple and a few shops) would greatly help the spread of pure buddhadharma throughout the world. Mainly due to the Karmapaʹs inspiration, many teachers have established monasteries and temples there and it has become an important focus of Tibetan Buddhism. Reaching out to the world In 1967, the first Western Tibetan Buddhist centre, named ʺSamye Lingʺ after Samye, the first great monastery of Tibet, was established by Trugpa Tulku and Akong Tulku in Scotland, under the Karmapaʹs auspices. Through the early seventies several other centres emerged in the West and in 1974 the Karmapa set out on his first world tour. I had the pleasure of meeting him at that time and of preparing his arrival in Scotland and France. The way had already been prepared by the visits of the Very Venerable Kalu Rinpoche, whose monks first blew the earth‐shaking long horns (ra‐
dong) and oboes (ja‐ling) of Tibet in Europe. His Holinessʹ visit set the seal on the beginnings which had taken place. Accompanied by tulkus, a full entourage of monks and Freda Bedi, who was now the Buddhist nun Sister Kechog Palmo, ʺmummyʺ to the Tibetans, he performed the Vajra Crown ceremony in Western lands for the first time and gave empowerments and dharma advice. In hindsight, that first visit was the milestone which marked the true arrival of the Kagyu tradition in the world at large. A great wave of inspiration followed in its wake and His Holiness returned again for a fuller visit in 1977, this time with many more, new centres to visit. This was a very extensive world tour. He visited centres in four continents and met heads of 691
state, heads of religion, elders of many traditions and people from the world of arts. Sometimes in dharma centres, sometimes in huge public spaces holding crowds of many thousands, he performed the Vajra Crown ceremony, gave empowerments, ordinations, bodhisattva vow and refuge and many blessings to people of all faiths. On looking through hundreds of photographs of these visits, the striking feature is the contagious joy and happiness of His Holiness wherever he went. One of the few English words he knew was ʺHappy?ʺ: a question he posed gleefully after giving Refuge or Bodhisattva vow. His joyful, yet nevertheless powerful and authoritative, presence gave many people new to vajrayana the first real chance to meet a perfect guru, free to show the blissfull liberation of his enlightenment. During this tour, my wife and I had the honour of accompanying him for six months, I as a visa‐seeking cum centre‐preparing cum chauffeur factotum for the European stage of his tour, organised by Akong Tulku Rinpoche, and Katia as promoter of a major new monastery and dharma centre, to be built on land in Franceʹs Dordogne, donated by the inventor Bernard Benson. In travelling at his side during that time, through many different countries, I saw him time after time awaken the fundamental goodness and spiritual potential in people. It was like being with the morning sun as it passes over the earth, warming the ground, nourishing life everywhere and opening millions of flowers. Never had any of us met anyone who radiated so much fundamental goodness and joy, who spoke with such natural authority and fearlessness and whose every gesture was the living demonstration of mindfulness, compassionate care for everyone and lucidity. All paled next to the shimmering natural intelligence that he embodied and that seemd to permeate every place in which he stayed. We had the particular pleasure of helping him buy and look after the birds of which he was so fond. I saw breeders amazed as their normally fearful and hard‐to‐catch birds went peacefully to the Karmapa. But especially we saw the birds which died stay erect for days in a peaceful glow of meditation on their perches, instead of dropping to the cage floor, as is normal. Some said these birds were reincarnations of former disciples, who through some bad karma had this lesser body but who through their devotion were born into his presence. Enlightened activity Under the Karmapaʹs overall guidance, the tulkus and rinpoches of the Kagyu tradition developed the interest shown by Americans, Europeans and people in South‐
East Asia in the centres which they had been invited to establish. His Holiness dedicated himself to preparing what would be essential for the proper future growth of this interest, ensuring the education of the younger reincarnated lamas he had recognised, nurturing the growth of the sangha, and sponsoring the printing, collection and translation of the main scriptures and prayers. During his life he ordained many thousands of monks and recognised more than a hundred tulkus. In particular, he sponsored and distributed to many centres a complete reprint of all the Buddhaʹs teachings (tripitaka) and the main classical commentaries on them; some 300 volumes of scripture in all. 692
At one point early in his life, while still in Tibet, His Holiness had written a very telling poem, predicting his leaving Tibet. In it, he uses the analogy of the cuckoo which, in Tibetan folk culture, is known as the king of birds; a welcome bird whose call heralds the warmer weather. It is the bird that grows up in another birdʹs nest and the Karmapa, referring to himself as the cuckoo, obviously foresaw his own going to India. During the latter part of the Sixteenth Karmapaʹs life, people were already impressed by the accuracy of this prediction. Now it is seen to have had a double meaning, as the subsequent Karmapa goes to yet another nest and, significantly, a cuckoo landed on the tent, in which the Seventeenth Karmapa was being born, and sang its song. Miracles A great guru is the mirror not only reflecting his individual disciplesʹ needs but the general status of things in the world. When their bodies take sick, it can be viewed as being their purification of the sufferings in the world and in their disciples. They also set the example of how to relate to sickness. However, there is no one interpretation of such things, as they are the emanation of cosmic purity within our lives, showing anything that can help us to learn. However, this type of ʺinterpretationʺ could all be seen as just wishful‐thinking, were it not for the miraculous power over the body shown by the Karmapas. The Sixteenth Karmapa left footprints in rocks on many occasions and in many countries. One day poisonous snakes swarmed from a rock and covered him whilst he was bathing in the Tarzi hot springs, yet he danced joyfully, unharmed. He once tied a heavy sword blade into knots. In his presence, normally antagonistic animals got on well with each other. 693
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The Sixteenth Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje (1924 ‐ 1981) The Sixteenth Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, oversaw the establishment of his exile seat in Rumtek, which he named ʺThe Dharmachakra Center, a place of erudition and spiritual accomplishment, the seat of the glorious Karmapa.ʺ “Unerringly seeing the nature of dharmas and dharmata just as it is, You expand the wisdom of omniscience And give glorious bliss to the minds of all beings. Rikpe Dorje, we supplicate at your feet.” from Supplication To The Karmapas YOUTH The sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa, Rangjung Khyapdak Rigpe Dorje, was born in Denkhok of the Derge province in east Tibet, the son of a noble family called Athup. Having received instructions from different masters in Derge that she would bear a great bodhisattva son, his mother had gone to stay in a holy cave, once used by Guru Rinpoche, where she waited to give birth. She was accompanied by a Khenpo who instructed her on the cleansing ceremony. It is said that, at one point at the very end of the pregnancy, the future Karmapa disappeared entirely from his motherʹs womb for a whole day. The day of his birth, his mother returned to normal pregnancy size and soon gave birth to this great bodhisattva. Those present heard him say to his mother that he would be leaving soon . The details of the birth coincided precisely with those of a prediction letter given by the Fifteenth Karmapa to his attendant, Jampal Tsultrim, which set forth the circumstances of this new incarnation. Jampal Tsultrim handed the letter to the authorities at Tsurphu monastery, who then asked Tai Situpa, Beru Khyentse, and Jamgon Kontrul to clarify certain points. A search party subsequently located the incarnation. The Eleventh Tai Situpa soon recognized the child as being the new 695
reincarnation of the Gyalwang Karmapa and sought confirmation from HH the Dalai Lama. The Karmapa received first ordination and then bodhisattva vows from the Tai Situpa and Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, the two foremost disciples of the Fifteenth Karmapa. Eventually, the Dalai Lama gave his acknowledgement. While still residing in Derge, when he was eight years old he received the Vajra Crown and ceremonial robes of the Karmapa brought to him from Tsurphu. On the way to Palpupng Monastery, he stopped to visit and bless the Derge Monastic Publishing House, foreshadowing his publication of the Buddhist cannon in India. Tʹai Situ Rinpcohe enthroned him as the Sixteenth Karmapa, Rangjung Khyabdak Rigpe Dorje, by Tai Situpa. Tai Situpa then accompanied him on the long journey to Tsurphu, the seat of the Karmapas in central Tibet, where the new incarnation was greeted by Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche, Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche and Nenang Pawo Rinpoche. Soon after his arrival at Tsurphu, the sixteenth Karmapa was received by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama who performed the ʺhair‐cuttingʺ ceremony. While so doing, the Dalai Lama had a vision of the ever‐present wisdom‐crown on the Karmapaʹs head. After this ceremony the Karmapa was officially enthroned at his main seat of Tsurphu, by Tai Situpa and the Head of the Drukpa Kagyu school. He received the full Kagyu lineage transmissions from Tai Situpa Pema Wangchok Gyalpo and Jamgon Kongtrul Palden Khyentse Öser. The Sixteenth Karmapa then studied many sutrayana texts with Gangkar Rinpoche and tantric teachings with Khyentse Rinpoche. He received the mahamudra transmission from Jamgon Kongtrul Palden Khyentse Öser, and many other great masters of the time. Karmapa then visited the Lithang Pangphuk monastery, where, in the tradition of the Karmapas and their inconceivable activity, he is said to have left footprints in solid rock. 1941 ‐ 1944 The 18‐year old Karmapa returned to Tsurphu and between 1941 and 1944 spent much time in retreat. Tsurphu monastery was extended in size during this period. 1944 Beginning in 1944, His Holiness began to strengthen relationships with neighboring Buddhist states in the Himalayan region, as well as with India. During a pilgrimage in southern Tibet, the sixteenth Karmapa accepted an invitation from His Highness Jigme Dorje Wangchuk, the King of Bhutan. The Karmapa and his party then visited Bumthang (in northern Bhutan) and other areas in Bhutan, engaging in many spiritual activities. 1947 The Karmapa and his party continued their pilgrimage to Nepal, India, and Sikkim (India), visiting the major places of the Buddhaʹs life: Lumbini, just inside Nepal where the Buddha was born, Benares (Varanasi) where he first taught, and Bodhgaya, the place of Buddhaʹs enlightenment. 696
1948 After travelling through Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh in northern India) and Purang to visit Mount Kailash, His Holiness returned to Tsurphu Monastery in Tibet. 1954 With His Holiness the Dalai Lama, H.H. the Sixteenth Karmapa and other high lamas of Tibet visited China. The Sixteenth Karmapa subsequently returned to Tibet, stopping along the way at many monasteries in eastern Tibet. 1956 The Karmapa and party traveled to Sikkim and from there continued on pilgrimage. H.H. the Dalai Lama, H.H. the Panchen Lama, and H.H. the Karmapa visited India, at the invitation of the Mahabodhi Society of India, to join in the celebration of the 2,500th anniversary of Buddhism. During this trip, the Karmapa and his party revisited the holy sites of India as pilgrims. During this visit, the Karmapa strengthened his ties to his disciples Tashi Namgyal, the King of Sikkim, and Ashi Wangmo, the Bhutanese Buddhist princess. The King of Sikkim invited him to visit Rumtek, a monastery in Sikkim that the ninth Karmapa had founded at the end of the 16th century. His Holiness was unable to accept his invitation at that time but said that he would go there in the future, when it would be needed. 1959 Foreseeing the communist Chinese invasion of Tibet, and the inevitable destruction of Buddhist institutions in Tibet, the Karmapa informed the Dalai Lama of his intention to leave his homeland in the spring of 1959. The Sixteenth Karmapa, accompanied by a large entourage, left Tsurphu, and fled Tibet. The escape was organized by Dhamchoe Yondu, the General Secretary for His Holiness. The party also carried with them the sacred statues, paintings, reliquaries, and other precious items of the lineage of the Karmapas. The timing and organization of the departure made for a relatively easy journey to Bhutan. After three weeks, the party arrived safely in northern Bhutan, where the most senior Bhutanese government officials received them. The Choegyal (King) of Sikkim extended a formal invitation to His Holiness to set up his seat in Sikkim, and two months after entering Bhutan the party arrived in Gangtok, Sikkim. Of the several sites proposed by Choegyal Tashi Namgyal, the Karmapa chose to settle at Rumtek. The Karmapa stated that Rumtek could be his seat outside Tibet, although he hoped one day to return to Tibet. The Karmapa and his party left Gangtok for Rumtek shortly after the Choegyal extended his offer to settle in Rumtek. Although Rumtek monastery had been established many centuries earlier by the ninth Karmapa, by 1959 it lay almost in ruins. The area around Rumtek was also undeveloped and had no facilities for supporting the Karmapa and his party. The Karmapa, teachers and community lived in temporary quarters for many years, while His Holiness gathered resources to begin construction of new facilities to support his monastic seat and the lay people surrounding the monastery. 697
1962 Construction of a new monastery and other facilities for the Karmapaʹs monastic seat in Rumtek began in earnest three years later. The foundation stone of the new monastic center was laid by the new King of Sikkim, who had assumed responsibility for the kingdom after the previous Choegyal had passed away. Construction was led by the General Secretary for His Holiness, Dhamchoe Yongdu. It was funded primarily through the generosity of the Sikkimese royal family and of the Indian government, the latter occurring after the Karmapaʹs meeting with Pandit Nehru. 1966 Construction of the monastery was completed in four years and the sacred items and relics brought out from Tsurphu were installed there. On Tibetan New Yearʹs day (losar) H.H. the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa officially inaugurated the new seat called ʺThe Dharmachakra Center, a place of erudition and spiritual accomplishment, the seat of the glorious Karmapa.ʺ 1974 H.H. the Sixteenth Karmapa set out on his first world tour, visiting the United States, Canada, and Europe. Accompanied by other teachers, a full entourage of monks and other staff, he performed the Vajra Crown ceremony in the Western hemisphere for the first time, gave empowerments, and dispensed dharma advice. 1975 In mid‐January, H.H. the Sixteenth Karmapa flew to Rome and met with His Holiness the Pope Paul VI. 1976‐77 His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa again traveled to the West for a more extended visit, follwed by a wide‐ranging world tour. He visited religious centers in four continents and met heads of state, heads of religion, elders of many traditions and people from the world of arts. 1960ʹs ‐ 1970ʹs The Karmapa was given a palace and a large piece of land upon which to establish a major monastery by the royal family of Bhutan. The Karmapa strengthened his ties with Bhutan over these early decades. 1979 On November 28th, H.H. the Sixteenth Karmapa laid the ground for the construction of Karmae Dharma Chakra Centre southeast of New Delhi, at a ceremony attended by the President and Prime Minister of India. The Centre was envisioned as a study, meditation, and translation center . 698
The 16 Karmapa th
1980‐81 In May 1980, His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa began his last world tour, travelling through Greece, England, the United States, and Southeast Asia. During this tour, H.H. gave teachings, Vajra Crown Ceremonies, empowerments, interviews, audiences, and engaged in many beneficent activities. Nov. 5th 1981 H.H. the Sixteenth Karmapa passed away into parinirvana at the American International Clinic in Zion, near Chicago, Illinois, USA. His Holinessʹ kudung (body) was flown back to India. Dec. 20, 1981 Karmapaʹs cremation ceremony took place in Rumtek monastery. Indian dignitaries and several thousand of his disciples from all over the world attended the services. 699
The reliquary box (ʺJangchub Chortenʺ) for the sacred relics of His Holiness the 16th Karmapa Dec. 21, 1981 A general Karma Kagyu meeting was held in Rumtek at the request of Mr. Dhamchoe Yongdu, the General Secretary to the 16th Karmapa. He requested Shamar Rinpoche, Tai Situ Rinpoche, Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, and Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche to form a council of regents to take joint responsibility for the spiritual affairs of the Karma Kagyu lineage. He also asked them to locate Karmapaʹs instructions concerning his next rebirth and thus bring forward his next incarnation. The four Rinpoches accepted the task and expressed their sincere desire to fulfil the wishes of the Sixteenth Karmapa. Kagyu Office 18‐12‐2006 700
Teachings of the 16 Karmapa The Manifestation of Compassionate Activity By HH Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, 16th Gyalwa Karmapa. Tibetan Dharma is based on Mahayana Buddhism and in Tibet there is a special Mahayana tradition. Centuries ago, Indian Mahasiddhas collected the essence of the Buddhaʹs teachings which were subsequently brought to Tibet. Down to this present day, it is still possible to study these same teachings at an educational institution. In addition, you can actually come to experience the effect of what you have practiced. I have confidence that you all are capable of experiencing this fruition of Buddhahood. The heart of Mahayana teaching is the practice of experiencing Bodhicitta, or the enlightened mind. Bodhicitta can be seen from two aspects ‐ the aspiration to benefit oneself and to benefit others ‐ but when you are truly doing the practice then you generate Bodhicitta that includes both yourself and ALL other beings. As accomplishing some task, if you do it with the intention of benefiting others and with the understanding of cause and effect, then you generate trust in people and they can have complete confidence in what you do. The skillfull means of Bodhicitta allow you to be effective in helping others. Bodhisattva activities activities are divided into four kinds: ‐ Generosity ‐ Pleasant speech ‐ Beneficial conduct ‐ Consistency of word and deed. In practicing generosity, a Bodhisattva may see someone who is poor , spontaneously they would give food, clothing or whatever may be needed. Bodhisattvas also know that people will not listen well to words spoken in anger.They are sensitive to each personʹs situation and understanding this, they speak without abruptness, smoothly and calmly so that the other person feels comfortable. Bodhisattva conduct allows a Bodhisattva to adapt the Dharma to many different situations. If you consider Eastern and Western religions, you can see that the faith in religion can be the same even though the religions themselves are different. If you consider philosophy, however, you will see that there is a difference. In Western countries, therefore, teachers must speak according to Western thought patterns so that the seed of Dharma can fully enter into the experience of Western people. This is the way in which the lamas speak. Because we are in a fortunate time, America, Canada, Europe, the whole world receives the light of the Buddhaʹs compassion. People now want to do practice and it gives them much joy. But in order to do the practice, you have to meet with the right situation and this meeting itself is the extraordinary blessing of the Dharma. Once having received this wonderful blessing, it is the responsibility of the Dharma practitioner to pass the teachings on to those who are ready for them. 701
The root of the Dharma is precious Bodhicitta. As I said in the beginning of this talk, the root of the Dharma is precious Bodhicitta, and Bodhicitta is compassion for others. This is the essential meaning of everything I have spoken of today. Some people think it is very difficult to receive this teaching. Further, they to receive this teaching. Further, they believe that even though they have received the teachings, they are extremely difficult and take an inordinately long time to realize. Perhaps this is true. For example, as in this world it is difficult to get what you want, so it is not easy to achieve the profound, secret teaching of Mahayana Dharma. Through practicing Mahayana, it is not easy to achieve the state of bliss or enlightenment. But all this depends on your mind. Actually, you should follow the Dharma, practice and keep precisely in mind the workings of cause and effect. If you do this steadfastly and confidently, perhaps realization might not take a long time, nor be difficult. It is said in the secret Mahayana : In a moment, something becomes special; In a moment, Enlightenment is attained. Nevertheless, whether there are Dharma practitioners or not, this era is a hectic one, filled with distracting activity. During such a time, what kind of practice should we be doing? As an example, we can take the situation of our own needs ‐ whatever we might need, so will others. With this benefiting others ‐ that is the core of Dharma practice. We ground ourselves in this thought of benefiting others. If we have confidence in the workings of cause and effect, whatever work we do will have an excellent result. To take another example: IN this world we say ʺthese are my parents, this is my country, this is my property,ʺ etc. But from a Dharmic standpoint, we look on all beings and deeply wish that they be relieved of their suffering and achieve Buddhahood. Generating Bodhicitta in this way, we practice benefiting others. This thought is absolutely essential not only for Dharma activity, but for any activity in our lives. If we maintain the thought of benefiting others and recite only one ʹOm Ma Ni Pad Me Hungʹ that will help liberate them from suffering and help raise them to the level of Buddhahood. I would like to extend to you thoughts and blessings in whatever you may do and offer many wishes for your long life. (The following was from a public talk His Holiness 16th Gyalwa Karmapa gave at the University of Colorado in 1980. A revised translation was made from tape by Sangye Wangchuk with collaboration and editing by Michele Martin from Densal). 702
Compassion ‐ The Language of a Bodhisattva By HH Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, 16th Gyalwa Karmapa. The practice of Dharma involves certain possibilities. How these potentials evolve into actual situation for the practitioner, and how much is possible within these situations depend on the capacity of individual beings. It depends upon the level of teachings that one is able to relate to, such as Mahayana or Hinayana. At this particular time in our lives, the practice of the Mahayana teaching is possible. It is absolutely precious and absolutely rare. Our concern for development and our sense of responsibility has placed us in a position to integrate the preciousness and rarity of the Mahayana teaching with our lives. Through it there is the possibility of the experience of no‐returning back into Samsara and the experience of ultimate bliss that is self‐
knowing and in which there are no doubts. In the midst of the wandering of our minds we might sometimes fall into thinking that whether one practices or not, the Dharma will always be available. If you have that kind of notion, it is a very serious mistake. Any brief moment, any time at all that one could use as an opportunity for Dharma practice, one must use. If you do not take this responsibility and offer sincere respect to the Mahayana abd Vajrayana teachings, there is a definite possibility of causing harm to oneself as well as to those spiritual friends to whom one is linked. A lack of attention to the responsibilities of the Mahayana path constitutes a breaking of the Samaya principles, therefore, in whatever way one can hold to the teachings, one must sincerely do so. If you think that the teaching is negligible, such a reality will manifest because of your attitude, to your great loss. The fact is that the teachings is very much hidden from you, so you cannot really make speculations about it. On the other hand, the validity of the teaching has been witnessed by its ageless effectiveness from the time of the Buddha to this day. You must sincerely realize the sacredness of the teachings, to the point of understanding that: there is actually nothing more important than the practice of the Dharma within this lifetime, and inf lifetimes to come. In a simple mundane life situation, in the field of business, we know that the businessman develops a plan for a project, he knows what it will cost him, perhaps one million dollars, and every detail of the project is regarded with the utmost care. Absolute importance is attached to such a project in the business world, and a great deal of energy is put into bringing it to a successful conclusion. The point is if one is going to expand such effort for a result of such a temporary nature, why not put at least as much effort into a project that is going to cause one temporary as well as ultimate benefit? Whether you are receiving an empowerment, or an explanation , if you are able to have or develop that sense of importance about the Dharma, then there is purpose in your relationship with the Mahayana teachings and there is going to be fulfillment, too. If there is a genuine commitment to the teaching, you will be able to develop direct and meaningful trust and confidence in the teachings and sincere compassion towards beings. You will at the same time develop a true understanding of the university of the working of Karma and the nature of cause and effect. 703
The Bodhisattvaʹs aspiration and actions are powerful because from the very beginning when a Bodhisattva embarks on the Journey of the Bodhi Path, he aspires to work for the benefit and liberation of all sentient beings with a very determined, definite and powerful intention. Because of the sincere resolve that is within this aspiration, whatever actions need to be performed to benefit and liberate beings are performed with great power and tirelessness. Having undertaken such a profound journey by virtue of the aspiration to help beings, as the different stages of the Bodhisattva are experienced one finds oneself increasingly capable of benefiting countless beings. That is how the Bodhisattva work for the benefit of all beings with such appropriate aspiration and actions there is total fulfillment. The fulfillment is appropriate in the sense that there is no selfishness involved in the way of expectations, doubts, hopes, attachment or aversion regarding gains and losses of any kind. The Bodhisattva is completely pure and spotless, working incessantly and wholeheartedly for the benefit of beings. Not for a moment is there any hesitation or doubt, as these obstacles have been transcended. The ways of a Bodhisattva are gentle, since all harmful actions and indulgences have been abandoned. Not only are harmful deeds themselves eliminated in a Bodhisattvaʹs life, but also the creation of causes of future harmful situations. Work is done solely for the benefit of other beings, not only in direct deeds, but in laying the foundations for future benefits to accrue. When these Bodhisattvas initiate work, then, they are able to cause immeasurable benefit towards beings, and they do so manifesting fearless generosity without doubts or expectations, like the great Bodhisattva of Boundless Compassion, Avalokitesvara, or the Bodhisattva of Boundless Power, Vajrapani, and so on. All who comprise the great assemblage of Bodhisattvas are equally powerful and equally beneficial to countless beings, so that all things seem to be at their command. Sometimes beautiful lotuses and lotus trees are caused by them to grow from the middle of the ocean. Everything in nature is at the Bodhisattvaʹs call. Fire can appear as water; water can appear as fire. It is all because of the strength of the Bodhisattvaʹs attitude, the aspiration and action. For us this says that the practice of compassion must be given full consideration, and it must at all times be in our awareness and at all times performed. (This is an excerpt from an article sent to IKH for publication by Ms Ursula Altmaier of Divonne‐les‐
Bains/Arbere, France). 704
HH 16th Karmapa Song of Mahamudra This ordinary mind of nowness is untouched by fixations on birth and liberation. Its unceasing manifestation is unshaken by projections. The realm of Samsara and Nirvana appear simultaneously ‐ This is the effortless path of the marvellous mahamudra. Seeing the self‐existing ground of insight, The gates of Samsara and Nirvana fall into step, And the apparent confusion of the three worlds collapses into space. The three bodies of enlightenment are arrived at in a natural state, So why look forward to future results? This is the special teaching of the Kagyupas Thinking on that, I emulate my forefathers. 705
Towards the Supreme Illumination By HH Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, 16th Gyalwa Karmapa. Remain within this profoundity, undistracted No need to discipline body or voice, All will come spontaneously. There is nothing in This to realise: Understand that whatever is apparent is without own‐being. All phenomena are egoless and Dharmadhatu, the mind realm, is completely free of thought. The great transcending knowledge beyond duality is the Holy Spirit in which all is sameness. As the Great River flows on Whatever meditation sitting you do silently there is virtue in it. This then is always the Buddhaʹs nature ‐ Enlightenment. The word just isnʹt there and all us the great Bliss. All Dharmas, every single thing, is void in essence, and being void cannot be grasped by the mind. so automatically we are cleansed of attachment. Beyond intellect within the mind nothing arises. This is the Path of all the Buddhas, Enlightened ones. Composed by His Holiness Gyalwa Karmapa in the Monastery Wreathed in a Thousand Rays of Rainbow Ligth, Runtek, The Dharma Centre of Sikkim, August 1974. 706
Words of Advice By HH16 Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje All sentient beings experience the tiring and indefinite cycle of birth and death and mind illusions. Everything is ever changing at all times. The Buddhadharma has a simple meditative technique to calm the mind, thus making it clear and luminous. The purpose is to purify our habitual tendencies and our mind, in order for us to benefit all sentient beings. The focal point of this meditative technique is to benefit oneself and others. If you wish to benefit sentient beings, you will definitely benefit yourself in the same manner. Heart of Mahamudra By HH16 Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje Manifestation and sound arise from the subtle mental imprints created from thoughts. As a picture in water disappears of its own accord, so false appearances automatically fade away when their lack of reality is understood. Beyond essential reality there is nothing ‐ Such is the insight of the Mahamudra. When the door of the mind, through which appearances are created, remains unobstructed, unworped by concepts, then there is no solid reality, just bright light, and we let everything that appears just arrive naturally. Such a practice is the meditation of Mahamudra. Illusory appearances are born of the belief in a reality. Relying on a constant understanding of their non‐reality, we dwell at rest in original spontaneous nature and the space where there is nothing to accomplish is thus reached effortlessly. Such is the practice of Mahamudra. These three points are the treasure of my heart. Since the yogis who go to the heart of everything are like my own heart, for them I have pronounced these heart‐felt words, which cannot be communicated to others. 707
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Sua Eminência Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche (1904‐1989) Biografia composta por S.E. Dezhung Rinpoche Do site Quitemountain Kalu Rinpoche OM Possa Haver Felicidade e Bondade! O Venerável Lama Kalu Rinpoche, é o verdadeiro significado do Grande Dorje Chang ‐corporificando sua atividade e qualidades interna, externa e secretas de uma maneira que nós seres ordinários podemos perceber de acordo com nossas capacidades. Eu senti uma grande necessidade de que a história de sua vida fosse escrita, e uma grande esperança de que isso pudesse ser feito. Rinpoche nos deu agora, a seus seguidores e discípulos, a permissão para escreve‐la. Se as biografias dos seres santos não são claramente contadas neste mundo, é nossa grande perda. Então eu rezo para que vocês guardem isso em mente. Antes que eu agora conte algo do que eu mesmo vi e ouvi, devo pedir não apenas a permissão dos lamas e das dakinis, mas também seu perdão por quaisquer ilusões que surjam em minha mente através da minha impureza. Existem ambas as histórias das vidas passadas e a história da presente vida da essência desse venerável lama. Das muitas emanações de sabedoria de Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche Gyaltse Lodro Taye, ele é reconhecido como a Emanação da Atividade para subjugar os seres. Jamgon Kongtrul foi previamente nascido como o discípulo mais próximo do Buda, o Arhat Ananda. Ele foi o grande tradutor Vairocana, o erudito e realizado Khyungpo Neldjor, foi Sakya Pandita, Jonang Taranata, e Rigdzin Terdak Lingpa. Seu fluxo mental foi uma emanação profetizada pelo Senhor Buda no Samadhiraja Sutra e 709
no Mahaparinirvana Sutra, e profetizado por Urgyen Chenpo Padmasambhava em muitos termas. Jamgon Kongtrul nasceu em Derge/ Do‐Khams. De Sechen Pandita Gyurme Thutop Namgyal, daquele que tudo vê, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, e do seu lama‐
raíz, o extraordinário Situ Pema Nyinche, e de mais de cinquenta outros mestres, ele recebeu o grande oceano intelectual do ensinamentos do Sutra e do Mantra, os quais ele ouviu e contemplou inteiramente. Na sua experiência de meditação, ele recebeu vividamente o sinal da realização. Seus trabalhos incluem O Tesouro do Conhecimento que Tudo Permeia, O Tesouro dos Ensinamentos Tântricos, O Tesouro dos Ensinamentos Sussurrados, O Tesouro dos Preciosos Tesouros, e o Tesouro dos Ensinamentos Vastos incluído no Extraordinário Tesouro. Através do seu contínuo trabalho de amadurecimento e liberação ao compilar estes Cinco Grandes Tesouros, ele ressuscitou doutrinas das tradições Rimê, Nova (Sarma) e Antiga (Nyingma) que estavam a ponto de perecer. Ele realizou grande benefício para a doutrina e para os seres sencientes. Aos oitenta e oito anos passou ao espaço de pura paz. Existem incontáveis biografias sobre ele. A presente encarnação, Kalu Rinpoche, nasceu na família Ratak de Beru, em Hor Treshe. Ratak Tulku, nomeado Pema Norbu, era um discípulo de Jamyang Khentse e de Kongtrul Rinpoche. Para este detentor da Claridade dos Tantras Secretos, Rinpoche nasceu como um filho sagrado, no ano da Serpente Fêmea de Madeira. Para seu pai vieram muitos sinais em sonhos de que Kalu Rinpoche era uma encarnação de Kongtrul Rinpoche. Em particular, Dzogchen Rinpoche, Thubten Choky Dorje, apresentou muitas oferendas espirituais, os três objetos sagrados, um cavalo excelente, e outras oferendas. Ele disse a Ratak Tulku que sem dúvida seu filho era uma encarnação de Jamgon Kongtrul, e que ele devia ser oferecido ao Monastério Dzogchen. Ratak Tulku não concordou com isso, mas aceitou os presentes. Rinpoche disse que o cavalo lhe foi de grande benefício, e que ele ia com ele pra todos os lugares. Desde criança Rinpoche não era como as outras crianças. Todos o achavam atrativo. Ele tinha devoção e renúncia a todos os interesses mundanos. Tinha grande compaixão e inteligência. De seu pai aprendeu a escrita, fala, puja, atividades do dharma e outras coisas de cór. Pela força de sua perfeita memória ele era capaz de aprender quarenta páginas por dia. Com mais ou menos 15 anos, ele foi para o grande assento Karma‐ Kagyu, Monastério Palpung, onde ficou sob o cuidado compassivo de Situ Rinpoche, Pema Ongchuk Gyalpo, que o proclamou como a emanação da atividade de Jamgon Kongtrul. Foi instruído na prática dos ensinamentos dos Sutras e do Mantra pelo discípulo de Jamgon Kongtrul, Kesong Tashi Chopel e outros. De seu lama raiz, o grande realizado mestre de meditação Norbu Tondrup, recebeu o ciclo completo de transmissões das linhagens Karma e Shangpa Kagyu. De Situ Rinpoche e muitos outros mestres, recebeu contínua e completamente os ensinamentos dos Cinco Grandes Tesouros. Depois de completar o retiro de três anos e três meses no Centro de Meditação de Palpung, ele foi para o Monastério Bengen em Hor, sua casa. 710
Começando com vinte e cinco, Rinpoche passou cerca de treze anos humanos percorrendo em solidão muitas cavernas e lugares desabitados de meditação. Tolerando muitas dificuldades, com grande energia ele completou práticas preliminares de purificação, e as principais meditações do desenvolvimento e da realização. A fama da sua realização se espalhou por todas as direções. Depois disso a pedido de Situ Rinpoche, ele voltou para ser Mestre Vajra do Grande Assento Monastério Palpung, onde ele por muitos anos ofereceu iniciações, ensinamentos que liberam e transmissões orais, ele criou muitos discípulos realizados. Rinpoche saiu em peregrinação na região de U, Tibet Central. Ao mesmo tempo Situ Rinpoche Pema Ongchuk Gyalpo também veio em peregrinação. Á ordem de Situ Rinpoche, Rinpoche ensinou as inteiras libertadoras e amadurecedoras seis doutrinas de Niguma da (Linhagem) Shangpa Kagyu ao Grande Encarnado (Tulku) Detentor da Escola Gelugpa, Kar Dor Rinpoche, a Lhatsun Rinpoche e muitos outros geshes (da Escola) Gelugpa, de quem recebeu vastas oferendas feitas com grande reverência. No Templo Jokhang em Lhasa, Rinpoche fez grandes oferendas de ouro para a imagem de Shakyamuni, e realizou um grande número de recitações da prece ʺConduta Virtuosaʺ. Enquanto ele estava em peregrinação, para circumbular os locais sagrados em U, em Tsang, e em Ru‐shi‐shi, Rinpoche permaneceu na casa de um rico benfeitor na área de Kyangtsi. Em um sonho um menino de pele branca apareceu ante ele e disse, com grande tristeza, que era Khyungpo Tsultrim Gonpo, mas que nesta Época de Escuridão ele não poderia beneficiar nem a doutrina nem os seres sencientes. Rinpoche sonhou que em suas próprias vestes havia uma faca tigug e uma taça de crânio. Estas ele removeu, deu ao menino, e disse, ʺSe você estiver inseparável destes instrumentos, você realizará seu objetivo. Você não precisa se preocupar.ʺ Na manhã seguinte ele viu o filho de uma família que era realmente idêntico ao menino no sonho. Rinpoche disse aos pais que sem dúvida este filho era um ser santo, que deveria ser tratado com grande pureza e entrar pela porta do Dharma. Os pais ficaram muito satisfeitos e Rinpoche ofereceu à criança iniciações e ordenação. Enquanto estava no assento de Jetsun Taranata, o Gandon Puntso Ling em Tsang Lha Tser, Rinpoche ofereceu a uma grande assembléia de monges as iniciações, ensinamentos, e transmissões orais das Seis Doutrinas de Niguma. Eles apresentaram a Rinpoche vastas oferendas. Quando Rinpoche estava em Lhasa, Radreng Trichen e muitas outras pessoas pediram ensinamentos espirituais profundos a ele. Mas Situ Rinpoche disse‐lhe que seria melhor não permanecer lá. Seguindo este conselho, Rinpoche partiu na companhia do mensageiro de Situ Rinpoche e retornou a Kham. Rinpoche realizou cem milhões de recitações do mantra do Mahakala de Seis Braços (Chakdrugpa). E ao todo, trezentas mil recitações da prece ʺNobre Conduta Virtuosaʺ foram feitas, incluindo aquelas recitadas pelo próprio Rinpoche e aquelas patrocinadas por ele através de oferendas. Que maravilhosos feitos são esses! Os seres santos realizam benefício para a doutrina e para os seres sencientes através três ciclos: O ciclo da leitura, da audição e do pensamento; o ciclo de total 711
concentração, e o ciclo da atividade. Uma pequena parte dos ciclos de Rinpoche nós explicamos aqui. Conseqüentemente nós sabemos que as qualidades no seu fluxo de experiência de ser e conhecimento são verdadeiramente incompreensíveis. Mas sendo um ʺyogui silenciosoʺ, ele guardou os segredos da sua meditação, e esses segredos nós não vimos ou ouvimos. Entretanto nós sabemos que onde há fumaça, há fogo e onde há umidade, há água. Em um sonho Rinpoche encontrou Senhor Buda e seus oito discípulos mais próximos, ele então ofereceu a ʺPrece de Sete Ramosʺ. Em outro sonho, ele mesmo estava verdadeiramente transformado em Urgyen Guru Rinpoche, e de doze deusas tsan‐ma e outras dakinis recebeu oferendas musicais, doces canções e preces. Em outro sonho, ele encontrou o Jamgon Kongtrul anterior, que tocou seu sino e tambor, lhe conferiu as quatro iniciações, e finalmente se dissolveu em luz e se absorveu em Rinpoche. Em outro sonho, ele encontrou Arya Tara e ouviu muitas palavras de profecia dela. Em outra ocasião, em seu sonho, ele viu uma dança nas nuvens e ouviu essa canção: ʺNascido na parte superior de Hor, Então pela experiência meditativa Realizando o coração do Maha‐Ati, Finalmente no lugar da morte Falecendo em Samyes, Cidade da Areia, Então de novo tomando nascimento Entre Do‐Khams e Kongbu, Nascendo como um filho de mendigo Amadurecendo e liberando muitos seres Então deixando aquela vida Para ser nascido em uma flor de lótus Na Terra Pura do Oeste, No Samsara não mais nascerá.ʺ Pelo ciclo de sua atividade Rinpoche reconstruiu o antigo centro de meditação de Jamgon Kongtrul em Palpung em uma fina estrutura, feito com dosséis, tapeçarias de brocado, para‐sóis e bandeiras da vitória. Ele colocou muito dinheiro e bens em um fundo para manter os monges em retiro. Para ajudar Situ Rinpoche a construir Maitreya e outras imagens para seu templo, Rinpoche viajou por Hor arrecadando fundos, e fez grandes oferendas de brocado, dinheiro e muitos sacos de grãos. Ante seu próprio lama‐raíz, apresentou por três vezes oferendas de mandala com absolutamente tudo o que possuía. Enquanto no Tibet, onde quer que este lama estivesse ele construiu milhares de pedras‐mani, chortens (stupas), tsa‐tsaʹs e grandes rodas de oração. Ele não tinha apego egoísta a suas próprias posses. Quando muitos tibetanos escaparam para a Índia com medo dos Comunistas Chineses, ele estabeleceu dois centros de meditação no Butão. Ele estabeleceu cinco centros de meditação na Índia. Então em Sonada ele conduziu três retiros sucessivos em seu centro de meditação. Ele estabeleceu Naro Ling e Nigu Ling na França e começou a abrir a porta para a realização tântrica nos países estrangeiros do mundo. Ele estabeleceu incontáveis centros de dharma e continua a estabelecer mais. 712
Nós deveríamos apenas aumentar nossa confidente devoção na Bodhicitta e atos supremos desse grande Bodhisattva. Quem quer que tenha o karma e boa fortuna de ter fortes sentimentos pelo Dharma Sagrado deveria tomar os preceitos e as três ordenações deste venerável e precioso Lama, e então devotar sua vida para a realização. Ou pelo menos, realizar o retiro de três anos e três meses. Ou pelo menos, fazer um retiro de alguns anos ou alguns meses para obter experiência do dharma. Ou melhor, ao menos tomar refúgio e preceitos (leigos) e a iniciação do Grande Compassivo (Tchenrezí). Se a pessoa então pratica a meditação do Grande Compassivo mesmo que uma vez, então a existência terá tido algum significado, e a pessoa vai ter realmente algum significado, a pessoa vai ter verdadeiramente feito a si mesma uma grande bondade. Então , por favor guardem isso no seu coração. Boa Fortuna! Felicidade! Escrito pelo velho homem de nome Dezhung Lungriks Tulku, que foi salvo pelo néctar falado pelo Protetor Kalu Rinpoche. Possamos todos nós seres sencientes sermos abençoados!!! S.E. Dezhung Rinpoche é um tulku da escola Sakya do BudismoTibetano. Tradução: Pema Puntsog / Leonardo Diniz ‐ Através dessa virtude possam todos os seres atingir rapidamente o estado do lama perfeito. 713
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Sua Eminência Yangsi Kalu Rinpoche Yang Si Kalu Rinpoche Sonada ‐ 2004 As qualidades iluminadas da mente deste mestre foram eminentemente profundas e vastas, seria difícil para qualquer um mensurar sua profundidade e extensão ... Sua Eminência Yangsi Kalu Rinpoche, seu renascimento, que ocorreu tão rapidamente depois que sua aparência física se dissolveu no dharmadatu, é o fruto perfeitamente maduro de sua vida inteiramente consagrada a prece e á vontade de servir ao budismo e a todos os seres. Ele tomou nascimento novamente na familia dos Ratak, que contou em sua linhagem com o glorioso vencedor Karmapa Dusum Khyenpa e outros grandes mestres de meditação. O pai desta nova encarnação é Lama Gyaltsen, seu sobrinho e servidor próximo na vida precedente. Sua mãe é Kalzang Drolkar, originária de Kurto, ao sul do reino do Butão. Quando esta sublime manifestação do despertar retornou por sua própria vontade a este mundo, muitos sinais maravilhosos foram percebidos em sonhos pelos pais durante a gravidez. A flor do seu perfeito corpo apareceu pela primeira vez na época do ritual mensal de oferendas ao Mahakala de Seis Braços, Darjeling, na Índia, 17 de Setembro de 1990 (o 29º dia do 8º mês lunar do ano do cavalo‐fogo). Seu nascimento ocorreu sem nenhuma dor para a mãe. Neste momento, certos benfeitores fiéis à encarnação anterior sentiram uma felicidade e um bem‐estar físico não habitual, simplesmente ao ver a face da criança. Seu monastério de Sonada foi coberto por uma abóbada de árco‐íris e se produziram muitos sinais significativos e maravilhosos. Também, um grande número de pessoas no lugar e em outros lugares, ouviram que a sublime encarnação do seu Mestre Sublime havia renascido. Crescendo com o passar dos dias e meses, a criança revelou um caráter pacífico e disciplinado e a completa ausência de temor. Ele encontrou em particular, muito prazer ao tocar os instrumentos musicais rituais como os ragdungs e os gyalings. Esse é 715
só um exemplo de um comportamento natural, diferente das outras crianças. Todos aqueles que o puderam encontrar notaram detalhes indicando de maneira evidente uma personalidade que controlou o caminho anteriormente. O Senhor dos Refúgios Tai Situ Rinpoche, encarnação de Maitreya, viu sinais conclusivos de que a criança era efetivamente a sublime encarnação do precedente Kalu Rinpoche. Tai Situpa quis entretanto que o supremo representante dos ensinamentos do Buddha, Sua Santidade O Dalai Lama fosse consultado para examinar a criança por meios de sua visão onisciente. É por isso que, este supremo refúgio e protetor confirmou que no domínio de sua pura sabedoria, a criança, então com um ano e meio, era, sem dúvida nem erros possíveis, o renascimento de Kalu Rinpoche. No dia de bom augúrio, em que foi recebida no Monastério Samdroup Dargyeling, residência da precedente encarnação em Sonada (Darjeling, India), a carta oficial de Sua Santidade, eu mesmo, bem como o abade, os discípulos e monges, realizamos para a nova encarnação uma cerimônia lustral, nós oferecemos a ele as vestimentas monásticas, um nome, e representações do corpo, da fala e da mente do Buddha. Depois disso, com os monges do seu monastério à frente, religiosos e leigos vieram lhe render homenagem. Em Julho de 1992, a nova encarnação foi convidada a visitar os centros de meditação fundados pelo precedente Kalu Rinpoche na França. Durante sua estada, sua presença causou assombro e fé na mente dos seus discípulos e bem como das outras pessoas. Em Dezembro de 1992, indo para Bodhigaya, o local santo por excelência, ele realiza sua primeira peregrinação. Mesmo sendo ainda muito pequeno, ele participou diariamente do grande ritual de recitação da prece ʺAspirações a Conduta de Samatabhadraʺ. Sentado na frente da assembléia, ele tocou corretamente o sino e o damaru. Durante a sua permanência em Bodhigaya, ele realizou prosternações ante as representações do corpo, da fala e da mente iluminados e lhes fez oferendas; ele também distribuiu esmolas para os mendigos sem que ninguém o tivesse ensinado a faze‐lo. A alegria natural que experimentou ao realizar estes atos causou a surpresa geral, e suscitou a fé por ele. 25 de Fevereiro de 1993 (o 4º dia do primeiro mês lunar do ano pássaro‐água), a sede monástica de Samdroup Dargyeling será abençoada com a benevolente visita do nosso refúgio e protetor supremo, Sua Santidade O Dalai Lama, que em sua misericórdia, vai cortar uma mecha do cabelo superior da nova encarnação, irá lhe dar um nome e conferir‐lhe suas bençãos. Depois disso os lamas, os tulkus, os membros das comunidades monásticas de todas as escolas do Budismo Tibetano, os representantes dos centros de meditação budistas do ocidente e do oriente, os monges e os leigos, bem como toda a assistência, participarão da cerimônia perfeita e profunda de entronização e investidura da nova encarnação. Este relato foi composto pelo humilde servidor de Kalu Rinpoche, conhecido pelo nome de Bokar Tulku, que vive sob a sombra refrescante da compaixão deste protetor. Estas palavras são acompanhadas de aspirações e orações para que os pés de lótus dos três segredos ‐ o corpo, a fala e a mente ‐ desta nova encarnação de nosso mestre ilustre e sublime permaneçam em sua sede vajra indestrutível durante 716
inumeráveis kalpas, e que, quando tiver terminado o estudo, a reflexão, e a meditação, sua atividade, a exemplo da vida de seu predecessor , estenda‐se até os limites da terra. Bokar Rinpoche – Yang Si Kalu Rinpoche – Khempo Dönyo 07‐2004 Aos 9 anos de idade, S.E. Yangsi Kalu Rinpoche foi para o monastério de Bokar Rinpoche em Mirik a fim de realizar seus estudos. Mais tarde, com a morte de seu pai, Lama Gyaltsen, em 1999, Bokar Rinpoche tornou‐se seu tutor. Depois da morte prematura de Bokar Rinpoche em 14 de Outubro de 2004, Khenpo Dönyo o sucedeu como superior do Monastério de Mirik. Kalu Rinpoche iniciou o tradicional retiro de três anos no ano novo tibetano, Fevereiro de 2005, no Monastério de Mirik. 717
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Bokar Rimpoche, nasceu de uma família de pastores nômades no Tibete, no dia 15 de outubro do ano do Dragão de Ferro, 1940. Foi reconhecido aos quatro anos de idade como o renascimento do anterior Bokar Rimpoche, pelo XVI Karmapa. Estudou nos monastérios de Bokar e Tsurpu. Em face da invasão chinesa do Tibete, deixou sua terra natal aos 20 anos, exilou‐
se na Índia e tornou‐se discípulo do grande yogue e mestre tibetano Kalu Rimpoche, completando sob sua orientação, duas vezes o tradicional retiro de três anos no monastério de Sonada, Índia. Por suas notáveis qualidades e profunda e autêntica realização, sucedeu a Kalu Rimpoche como chefe da gloriosa linhagem Shangpa Kagyü, uma das oito linhagens originais pelas quais o budismo passou da Índia ao Tibete. Fundou em Mirik o seu próprio monastério, próximo ao de Kalu Rimpoche, especialmente destinado à prática de Kalachakra. É considerado, um dos principais mestres de meditação da linhagem Kagyü, tendo sido escolhido por Kalu Rimpoche para dirigir os centros de retiro de Sonada e por Sua Santidade, o XVI Karmapa, para dirigir o retiro de Rumtek, sede dos Karmapas, no Sikkin. Bokar Rimpoche encarnou perfeitamente a suprema compaixão de todos os Budas. Ser realizado, com um excelente conhecimento do Dharma, dotado de grande doçura possuía um estilo direto e profundo de ensinar, abordando os assuntos mais complexos com clareza e simplicidade e assim, garantia uma transmissão pura do Dharma, dando a cada um o melhor que podia receber. 719
Desde o falecimento de Kalu Rimpoche, em 1989, assegurou a continuação da transmissão da tradição espiritual, através de ensinamentos dados durante viagens ao Ocidente e de seminários na Índia de 1991 até 2004. Assegurou a formação do jovem Kalu Rimpoche desde seu reconhecimento como renascimento de Kalu Rimpoche. Infelizmente, Bokar Rimpoche nos deixou em agosto de 2004, e estamos aguardando o pronto renascimento de Sua Eminência. 720
Khempo Dönyö Khempo Dönyö Rinpoche, é o mais próximo discípulo de Bokar Rinpoche, que por sua vez é reconhecido atualmente como o principal mestre de meditação da ordem Kagyupa. Os dois lamas desenvolveram uma relação muito estreita desde sua infância, e nunca se afastaram desde então. Em sua biografia (A Vida de Bokar Rinpoche), Bokar Rinpoche consagrou um capítulo ao Khempo, no qual nos baseamos para apresentá‐lo. Assim como Bokar Rinpoche, Khempo Dönyö Rinpoche nasceu nos altos platôs de clima muito hostil que se estendem sobre o oeste do Tibete, em 1943, três anos depois daquele que se tornaria seu mestre. De sua família haviam saído, no passado, vários grandes lamas, particularmente dois eruditos: Mendong Tsampa Rinpoche, ao qual se devem vários de tratados, e Sourou Khempo. Seus pais eram pessoas de extrema pobreza, a ponto de lhes ser difícil garantir a subsistência de seus três filhos. Como se fazia nesses casos no Tibete, preferiram deixá‐
los no monastério, escolhendo o de Bokar Rinpoche, que não ficava longe. Khempo era o mais velho. Devia ter, na época, doze anos. No monastério, as crianças não tinham quem se ocupasse delas nem tinham um quarto. À noite, dormiam no chão mesmo, muitas vezes junto aos cachorros, para se aquecer. Bokar Rinpoche e seu tutor, Lama Teundroup Tachi, moravam no mesmo cômodo. A cada noite, Lama Teundroup Tachi preparava, no fim da refeição, um tchambou, ou seja, uma bola de massa espremida à mão, imprimindo‐lhe a marca dos dedos, e que era jogada do lado de fora, consagrada aos espíritos. Khempo tinha tão pouco o que comer que espreitava o momento em que Lama Tendroup Tachi lançava o tchambou, precipitava‐se para pegá‐lo e fugia para comê‐lo. Nyerpa Tratcheu, o administrador do monastério, logo reparou naquele menino tão pobre, e se apiedou dele. Sugeriu a Bokar Rinpoche colocá‐lo a serviço do ladrang (a residência do lama), para que, em troca de seu trabalho, recebesse o que comer e o que 721
vestir. O jovem monge tornou‐se então servidor no ladrang, encarregado, de acordo com as necessidades, de tarefas variadas: cozinha, manutenção do fogo, supervisão dos carneiros e iaques etc. Ele não sabia ler muito bem, mas manifestava um forte desejo de aprender. Alguns achavam que não conseguiria, ou que isso não lhe serviria de nada, mas ele insistiu muito. Finalmente, o próprio Bokar Rinpoche começou a lhe ensinar as letras do alfabeto e viu que ele as assimilava com grande facilidade. Rapidamente, o jovem começou a ler os textos e conseguiu compreender seu sentido. Sua inteligência se revelou extremamente viva. Ele compreendia imediatamente tudo o que Bokar Rinpoche lhe explicava. Sua sede de saber era tão ardente que, sempre que tinha um momento livre, aproveitava para pegar um livro e estudá‐lo, e gravava uma quantidade enorme de coisas de cor. Toda vez que via uma nova obra, queria lê‐la. Ao contrário da maioria das crianças, não havia nenhuma necessidade de forçá‐lo para que estudasse. Era preciso, ao contrário, refreá‐lo, pois tinha a tendência de negligenciar seu trabalho para satisfazer seu desejo de conhecimento. Chegando à Índia na companhia de Bokar Rinpoche, depois de muitas dificuldades decorrentes da fuga do Tibete e dos primeiros tempos de exílio, Khempo Rinpoche freqüentou então a escola tibetana de Darjeeling, durante cinco anos. Estudava o tibetano clássico dos textos, o tibetano oral e o inglês. Obteve a cada ano o primeiro lugar nos exames finais. Em seguida, foi para a universidade tibetana de Benares, onde seguiu um ciclo de nove anos de estudos, saindo, mais uma vez, como o primeiro da turma. Recusando em seguida um convite, em virtude de seus resultados brilhantes, para ocupar um bom cargo em Dharamsala, a sede do Dalai Lama e do governo tibetano no exílio, Khempo Rinpoche preferiu juntar‐se a seu precioso mestre, que terminava na época um retiro em Sonada, não muito longe de Darjeeling. Desde então, continuou a assistir Bokar Rinpoche, agora estabelecido no monastério de Mirik, em todas as suas tarefas: formação dos monges e lamas do monastério, ensinamentos para os ocidentais, realização de rituais etc. Amante tanto da prática quanto dos estudos, ele consagra grande parte de seu tempo à meditação. 722
The XII Tai Situpa The lineage of the Tai Situpas is traced to one of the main disciples of the Gotama Buddha, the Bodhisattva Maitreya. Since that time there have been a successive chain of incarnations, whose achievements are recorded in Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan annals. A direct lineage that continues to the present day. The Tibetan incarnation Chokyi Gyaltsen 1377‐1448), became the first to bear the title Tai Situ. The title was presented in China by the Ming Emperor, Yung Lo, in 1407, and though the full title is lengthy it may be shortened to Kuang Ting Tai Situ which essentially means, ʺfar reaching, unshakable, great master, holder of the command.ʺ The Emanations Lineage of the Tai Situpas sherabling.org 1. Chokyi Gyaltsen (1377‐1448) 2. Tashi Namgyal (1450‐1497) 3. Tashi Paljor (1498‐1541) 4. Chokyi Gocha (1542‐1585) 5. Chokyi Gyaltsen Palzang (1586‐1657) 6. Mipham Chogyal Rabten (1658‐1682) 7. Nawe Nyima (1683‐1698) 8. Chokyi Jungne (1700‐1774) 9. Pema Nyingche Wangpo (1774‐1853) 10. Pema Kunzang Chogyal (1854‐1885) 11. Pema Wangchuk Gyalpo (1886‐1952) 12. Pema Donyo Nyingche (1954‐present) 723
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12th Situ Rinpoche Pema Dhonyö Nyinche (1954‐) The great lama Chokyi Gyaltsen (1377‐1448) was the first to bear the title Tai Situ, which means ʺfar‐reaching, unshakable, great master, holder of the command.ʺ The current, Twelfth Tai Situpa was born in 1954 to a family of farmers in the Palyul district of the Derge Kingdom. He was traditionally recognized and enthroned at Palpung Monastery at the age of eighteen months. When he was six years old, political conditions forced him to leave Tibet with only a few attendants. He traveled to Bhutan first and then to Sikkim, where he joined the Sixteenth Karmapa who had also come out of Tibet. After recovering from illness and exhaustion, Tai Situpa went to live at the newly constructed Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, the new seat of the Sixteenth Karmapa. He received his formal religious training under the guidance of the Sixteenth Karmapa, until 1975, when at the age of twenty‐two, he assumed his own traditional responsibilities. He established his first monastic project, called Sherab Ling, at the request of his Tibetan followers who had settled in northern India. In 1980, Tai Situpa made his first tour to European countries at the request of Buddhist organizations. Since then, he has traveled widely in North America, Europe and Southeast Asia lecturing on Buddhist philosophy and meditation. He founded Maitreya Institute in 1984 in response to Western interest in multicultural activity and spirituality. Tai Situpa visited his homeland, Tibet, in 1984, for the first time since fleeing the communist invasion. During his visit, he ordained more than 2,000 men and women and presented to the Chinese authorities a plan for the rebuilding, preservation, and propagation of the Tibetan Buddhist culture. His Eminence was instrumental in the identification and enthronement of His Holiness Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa, head of the Karma Kagyu Lineage. Currently, His Eminence is involved in the advancement of interfaith and intercultural humanitarian efforts around the world. Khentin Tai Situ Rinpoche is an emanation of the future Buddha, Maitreya. 725
The 12th Tai Situpa The current and twelfth Tai Situpa, Péma Tönyö Nyinjé, was born in 1954, in the Tibetan year of the Male Wood Horse, in the Palyul district of Dérgé, Eastern Tibet, to a farming family named Liu. His birth was accompanied by auspicious signs associated with the birth of a high incarnate lama. He was recognised as the Situ reincarnation by the sixteenth Karmapa. The Karmapa was visiting Beijing with the Dalai Lama, as part of a delegation, when he became aware of the imminent birth of the twelfth Tai Situpa. He composed a letter in which he gave a clear description of the identity of the parents and their place of residence, and that letter, coupled with the unmistakable signs surrounding the birth and unusual physical phenomena such as a rainbow inside the house and harmless earth tremors, enabled an accurate recognition of the current incarnation. At the age of eighteen months he was escorted to his monastic seat, Palpung Monastery, to be enthroned there by the Karmapa according to tradition. When political hostilities became acute in Eastern Tibet he was taken to the Karmapaʹs main monastery, Tsurphu, near Yangpachen in Central Tibet, where he performed his first Red Crown Ceremony, a practice that has become a tradition since the fifth Tai Situpa received the Red Situ Crown from the ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje. He stayed in Tsurphu Monastery for one year. At the age of five he left Tibet with his attendants for Bhutan, where King Jigme Dorje and the Queen Mother had been disciples of the previous Situpa Pema Wangchok. He then went to Sikkim, where he lived in Gangktok until he fell ill with tuberculosis, at which time he moved to Darjeeling, where he could be close to medical facilities. After his recovery he returned to Sikkim, this time to Rumtek Monastery, where he remained under the care of the Karmapa and received his formal religious training under his guidance. 726
Part Two As a child the present Tai Situpa, formerly head of great monasteries, had to struggle to survive with his few attendants, all suddenly refugees in India. He and his three monks barely scraped by until an American relief organization provided a sponsor for the young lama. Nola McGarry, his American foster mother, contributed to his support while he grew up and also encouraged him to learn English, both in her letters and by sending him books to study. She did not meet him until I980, during his first teaching tour in America. At the age of twenty‐two, Situ Rinpoche assumed responsibility for founding his own new monastic seat on some land that had been offered to him by disciples from Dege and Nangchen. With the blessing and encouragement of the Karmapa, he left Sikkim for Himachal Pradesh, a Himalayan state in Northern India. There he had tents set up on some forested land in the hills near Palampur, close to the Tibetan community of Bir, and began construction of Sherab Ling Monastery. For five years the monastery grew slowly. Along with the monks came a small group of Western students, some of whom sponsored the construction of retreat houses on the land, where people could engage in serious meditation practice under the Tai Situpaʹs direction. He made his first visit to the West in I981, when he taught at Samye Ling Tibetan Centre, Scotland. He returned for his first teaching tour of America in I982, having been there in November of I98I at the time of the passing of the sixteenth Karmapa, near Chicago. He also toured Southeast Asia. Since that time his activities have been divided between international teaching tours and his own quiet monastery in the hills of Himachal Pradesh. Besides his role as a Buddhist monk, teacher, and abbot, Situ Rinpoche is a particular commitment to world peace, which resulted in I989 in his Pilgrimage for Active Peace, involving religious leaders and humanitarians around the world in the effort to evolve practical means by which individuals can actively contribute to developing inner and outer peace for themselves and others. His concern to share the principles of Buddhism with others led him in I983 to found Maitreya Institute, a forum where different approaches to spiritual development can be explored and shared through the arts as well as through philosophy, psychology, art healing, without sectarian or religious bias. In the early 1990s, the Tai Situpa discovered that an amulet given to him by the 16th Karmapa contained the letter revealing his new incarnation. The Situpa ensured that the new Karmapa was properly found and he, along with the Goshri Gyaltsabpa, went to Tibet in 1994 to give first precepts to the new Karmapa and enthrone him at his traditional seat of Tsurpu. The Tibetan namthar, or biography of an incarnate lama, contains the history of the subjectʹs lineage of incarnations, because the current incarnation is seen as the same enlightened entity, though he is inhabiting a different body. The Tai Situpa is twelfth in a line of incarnations that spans over a thousand years and whose history is integral to the religious and scholastic development in Eastern Tibet, particularly Kham, where his large monastic seat, Palpung, is located. 727
Part Three ‐ History of the Situpa Line The history goes back to before the title of Tai Situpa was bestowed upon this line of tulkus, to the time of the Indian mahasiddhas, or ʺgreat accomplishers,ʺ who gained renown for their sanctity, often accompanied by miracles. According to tradition, the Tai Situpa is an emanation of the bodhisattva Maitreya, who will become the next Buddha, and who has taken form as numerous Indian and Tibetan yogins since the time of the historical Buddha. The mahasiddha mentioned in the biographies as such an emanation is Dombipa, king of Magadha, disciple of Virupa. He was a saintly man who practised tantra secretly for twelve years before he abdicated in favour of a contemplative life in the wilderness. Another incarnation was Denma Tsemang, one of the twenty‐five main disciples of Padmasambhava, who was noted for his phenomenal memory. One of the first Tibetan incarnations of significance was Marpa (1012‐97) who, as previously mentioned, studied in India, returning with the lineage transmission from Naropa and others, as well as with texts for translation. He made three trips to India in all, and his biography is of great interest to modern practitioners of Buddhism. He was a family man and a farmer, cantankerous by all accounts, who experienced such vicissitudes of life as the untimely death of a beloved son, but who managed to include scholasticism and fruitful practice into his laymanʹs routine, with the assistance of his exceptional wife, Dagmema. The incarnation of Drogon Rechen (II48 ‐ I2I8) established the link between the line which became the Tai Situpas and the Karmapas, a link which exists to this day. Drogon Rechen was one of the principal students of the first Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa, and since that time these two high incarnate lamas have maintained a continuous guru‐disciple interrelationship, which has been instrumental in the continuity of teachings and practices of the Karma Kagyu. It has become a custom for the Karmapa to recognize the Tai Situpa and become his main teacher, and for the Tai Situpa to recognize the Karmapa and transmit the teachings back to him. Two other incarnations as yogins of considerable attainment, Yeshe Nyingpo and Ringowa, followed the incarnation as Marpa. Yeshe Nyingpo was a disciple of the extraordinary second Karmapa, Karma Pakshi. Another incarnation was a Chinese emperor with unusual spiritual power whose name was Tai Tsu, who was the disciple of the fifth Karmapa, Dezhin Shekpa. He was clairvoyant and was able to perceive an ornament on the head of his teacher that could not be seen with ordinary sight, so he bad a crown fashioned that resembled what he perceived. He presented the crown to the Karmapa to wear so that more people could become aware of it and benefit from seeing an outer representation of the inner crown symbolizing advanced realization. This offering was the beginning of the traditional Black Crown Ceremony, which the Karmapas are noted for, and which they have performed up until present times. 728
The first Tai Situpa Chokyi Gyaltsen (1377‐1448) The first Situ Tulku, Chokyi Gyaltsen, was born in the fire‐hog year in the region of Karma Gon. He became a disciple of Deshin Shegpa, the fifth Karmapa, and from him he received the empowerments and teachings of the Mahamudra in the complete form. He perfected the teachings and traveled to China with the Karmapa. The Chinese Emperor Tai Ming Chen (Yung Lo) conferred the honorific title ʺKenting Naya Tang Nyontse Geshetse Tai Situpaʺ on him as well as a crystal seal and other gifts. He spent most of his life meditating in caves and was a great lama. Chokyi Gyaltsen (1377I448) was the first incarnation to bear the title Tai Situ, conferred upon him in I407 by the Chinese emperor Yung Lo of the Ming Dynasty. The complete title as it was given in Chinese is quite lengthy and is often shortened to Kuang Ting Tai Situ, which conveys the gist of it and is translated ʺfar reaching, unshakable, great master, holder of the command.ʺ Chokyi Gyaltsen was a close disciple of the fifth Karmapa and was appointed by him to the position of head instructor of Karma Gon, the Karmapas chief monastery at the time, located in Eastern Tibet. 729
The second Tai Situpa Tashi Namgyal (1450‐1497) The second Tai Situpa, Tashi Namgyal, was born in the iron‐horse year into a royal family in Tibet and was recognized by Tongwa Donden, the sixth Karmapa, who enthroned him and gave him the complete teachings. He was an excellent Lama and became the companion tutor to Chodrak Gyamtso, the seventh Karmapa. He visited many parts of Tibet, giving teachings and empowerments. Venerated by the Chinese Emperors, there were many auspicious signs at his passing. The second Tai Situpa, Tashi Namgyal (I450‐1497), was recognized and enthroned by the sixth Karmapa, who later gave Karma Gon Monastery to him. Karma Gon (c. II85) was known for its library, which contained many Sanskrit texts, as well as for the exquisite art that embellished it. Until its recent destruction it provided a unique example of the best of Tibetan caning, sculpture, painting, and scholarship. It was the original seat of the Karmapas, founded by the first Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa (III0‐1193). 730
The third Tai Situpa Tashi Paljor(1498‐1541) The third Tai Situpa, Tashi Paljor, was born in the earth‐horse year to a family descended from the kings of Tibet. He was recognized and enthroned by the seventh Karmapa and from him he received the complete teachings. He resumed the responsibilities of the lineage of Tai Situpas at Karma Gon monastery. The Karmapa Chodrak Gyatso, said that he and Situ Tashi Paljor were inseparable. The Tai Situpa found and enthroned Mikyo Dorje, the eighth Karmapa. He received golden tablets from the emperor of China written in silk of five colours and in five languages praising his wisdom and abilities. He passed away aged 43 at Karma Gon. 731
The fourth Tai Situpa Chokyi Gocha (1542‐1585) The fourth Tai Situpa, Chokyi Gocha, was born in Tse Chu near Surmang in the water‐
tiger year. He was recognized and installed by Mikyo Dorje, the eighth Karmapa, from whom he received all of the teachings, and who later acknowledged the Tai Situpa as a disciple identical to himself. He became renowned for his knowledge and insight. He recognized and enthroned Wangchuk Dorje, the ninth Karmapa, and passed away aged 45 in the wood‐bird year. There were many auspicious signs. The third Situpa, Tashi Paljor (I498‐I54I), and the fourth Situpa, Chokyi Gocha (I542‐1585), continued the beneficial work at Karma Gon and other monasteries within its sphere of influence in Eastern Tibet. Situ Tashi Paljor discovered the eighth Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje (I507‐1554), and was one of his principal teachers. He in turn became the teacher of the fourth Situpa. Chokyi Gyaltsen Palsang (I586‐I657), the fifth Tai Situpa, was distinguished by the ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje, who bestowed upon him the Red Crown in acknowledgment of his high level of spiritual accomplishment. The fifth Situpa built the large Yermoche Monastery and added to several existing ones while the Karmapa was away in China. 732
The fifth Tai Situpa Chokyi Gyaltsen Palzang (1586‐1657) The fifth Tai Situpa, Chokyi Gyaltsen Palzang, was born in the male fire dog year. He was recognized by Wangchuk Dorje, the ninth Karmapa, and from him received all of the teachings. The Karmapa proclaimed Situ Chokyi Gyaltsen Palzang to be inseparable from him and he was presented with the Red Crown radiant with gold, known as ʺThe Crown That Liberates on Sight,ʺ by the Karmapa in recognition of his spiritual attainments. He renovated Kampo monastery and built Yer Mo Che Temple (with 160 pillars in the main assembly hall) at Karma Gon. He traveled to Jang Sadam at the invitation of the king. He passed away in the female fire‐bird year amidst many highly auspicious signs. 733
The sixth Tai Situpa Mipham Trinley Rabten (1658‐1682) The sixth Tai Situpa, Mipham Trinlay Rabten, was born in Mesho, Dege to Kunga Phuntsok & Pundo. He was recognized and enthroned by Choying Dorje, the tenth Karmapa who passed all of the teachings to him. He studied at Tsurphu and Karma Gon monasteries where he impressed everyone with his great learning and insight. He made many predictions about his future incarnations to Alu Paljor. He performed the miracle of hanging his robes and rosary on a sunbeam and left many of his footprints on stones and rocks. The sixth Tai Situpa was a great Sanskrit scholar, astrologer, doctor and a fine painter. Many beautiful thangkas were made by his hand, and he also composed the Sung Bum a compendium of all knowledge. When trouble broke out in central Tibet he went with the Karmapa to Riwo Cha Gang in China where he passed away. There were many highly auspicious signs at that time. His disciples were numerous. Situ Mipham Chogyal Rabten (I658‐1682), the sixth Tai Situpa tulku, was a yogi credited in the texts with miracles that seem fanciful to the modern materialist mind, such as hanging prayer beads from a sunbeam and leaving footprints in rocks. 734
The seventh Tai Situpa Lekshe Mawai Nyima (1683‐1698) The seventh Tai Situpa, Lekshe Mawai Nyima, was born the son of the Royal family of Ling. He was immediately recognized as the reincarnation of the Tai Situpa and was nurtured spiritually by the eleventh Karmapa Yeshe Dorje. He passed away very young having received the essence of the teachings. The seventh Tai Situpa, Mawe Nyima (1683‐1698), was the son of the king of Ling and died at an early age. 735
The eighth Tai Situpa Situ Chokyi Jungne (1700‐1774) The eighth Tai Situpa, Chokyi Jungne, was born in the province of A‐Lu Shekar at Ataru. His father was Ngawang Tsering and his mother Tranguma. At the age of eight years he was recognized according to predictions left by Karmapa Mikyo Dorje, by Terton Sangye Lingpa, Takshampa Mingyur Dorje and by the eighth Shamar Chokyi Dondrup. He was taken to Tsurphu monastery for his enthronement and he received all the teachings and empowerments and studied philosophy and medicine from Karmapa Jangchub Dorje, Shamar Rinpoche, and Rigzin Tsewang Norbu. On the seventh day of the third month In the female fire sheep year (1727), he founded the great Palpung monastery near Derge in Eastern Tibet. He also built and restored countless other monasteries throughout his life. He visited Nepal on pilgrimage and was highly honoured there. Once, after a debate with Pandita Jaya Mangola of Kashmir, it was proclaimed that he must have been blessed by the Lord Shiva, since that was the only way he could have achieved such insight and learning. The Tai Situpa returned to Tibet and taught throughout the land. He translated many texts from Sanskrit, including prayers to Tara. All the precious teachings he passed onto his many disciples. He also visited China at the invitation of the Emperor Chiʹen Lung (1735‐1796) and was highly honoured. He was acknowledged as a supreme scholar who had no equal in the five knowledges and an unsurpassed artist responsible for the creation of a whole new tradition of painting. (The paintings illustrating the present and previous Tai Situ incarnations and emanations in this web site were painted by him and is a supreme example of his new Gadri school of painting). He found and recognized the 13th Karmapa Dudul Dorje and new Shamarpa, and imparted the complete linage to them. It is said that his limitless activities were equal to those of Nagajunaʹs in India. It was also a common saying at the time; that if all of the other Kagyu monasteries came together, their activity wouldnʹt be equal to that of Situ Chokyi Jungne. While meditating in the lotus posture of a Buddha he passed away and it was observed that his heart‐region retained heat for seven days and there was a strong smell of incense everywhere. His foremost 736
disciples were the thirteenth Karmapa, the tenth Shamar Tulku, Drukchen Trinley Shingta, Drigung Chokyi Gyalwa, Pawo Tsuklak Gyalwa, Drubtop Choje Gyal, Khamtrul Chokyi Nyima, and Lotsawa Tsewang Kunchab. Of all the incarnations, that of the eighth Tai Situpa, Chokyi Jungne (I700‐
1774), may well be the most extraordinary to date. He was a sage of great insight, a Sanskrit scholar, a doctor, and an innovative thangka painter. Even as a child he was a brilliant scholar and known for his ability to accurately predict future events. In 1727 be founded Palpung, the monastery in Dege that was subsequently the seat of the Tai Situpas. He was invited to China with the twelfth Karmapa, Changchup Dorje, but he remained behind to look after the monastery. When the Karmapa and the eighth Shamarpa died within a few days of each other in China, Situ Chokyi Jungne was left with the responsibility of the Karmapaʹs monasteries in addition to his own. He became the teacher of the thirteenth Karmapa, Dundul Dorje, of the ninth Shamarpa, and of Tenpa Tsering, the king of Dege. With the patronage of the Dege king, who had asked him to revise the Kangyur and the Tengyur, the eighth Tai Situpa set up the Dege Printing Press at Lhundrup Teng. Texts printed there were of such excellent quality that they have been reprinted in modern facsimile editions, with copies residing in Tibetan archives throughout the world. He was a linguist who taught in Sanskrit, Nepali, and Chinese, and his text on Tibetan grammar is still in use today. The eighth Tai Situpa traveled widely in Tibet, Nepal, and China. He composed numerous texts on astrology and medicine, and he established styles of drawing and painting that were later developed and passed on by his students. Palpung Monastery itself became one of the most important monastic centers in Tibet, and it developed a unique scholarly and artistic tradition which radiated to subsidiary monasteries in places as far flung as Shitzang, Yunnan, Chinghai, and Szechwan. With the Dege kingʹs sponsorship he established many monasteries besides Palpung. Situ Chokyi Jungne was an outspoken critic of the hypocrisy and greed that was rampant in some monasteries at the time. He deplored those who violated their vows and sacrificed compassion in favour of exploiting others for gain or fame. He characterized them in one poem as ʺcharlatan gurusʺ who ʺattain the siddhi of the fourteen root downfallsʺ and ʺsow the seeds of hell without purpose.ʺ He was an inspiration to his students, a number of whom became masters in their own right. He predicted the details of his next incarnation before he passed away. 737
The ninth Tai Situpa Pema Nyingche Wangpo (1774‐1853) The ninth Tai Situpa, Pema Nyingche Wangpo, was born in Yilung, near Derge in Kham, Eastern Tibet in the year of the wood‐horse. He was recognized by the Karmapa and Pawo Rinpoche, who had received a prediction from Guru Rinpoche in a vision. At the age of five years he was formally enthroned and received all of the teachings of the lineage from Karmapa Dudul Dorje, Shamar Chodrup Tenzin, and Dzingar Dorje Trakpa amongst other accomplished masters. He renovated Palpung monastery and made countless precious offerings to many monasteries of all traditions. He became the root‐lama to the first Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, Khyentse Wangpo Rinpoche, and Chokling Rinpoche, amongst others. He started the Rime (non‐sectarian) movement in Tibet, that was firmly established by his disciples. His life of freedom demonstrated genuine great accomplishment, and he exerted a great spiritual influence on the precious doctrine of the practice lineage. He spent most of his life in deep meditation and was a renowned scholar and teacher and performed many miracles such as leaving footprints in rock. At the age of 61 years he entered the retreat centre at Palpung, Drubgyu Samtenling, and practised the teachings for eighteen years. At the age of 79 he passed away. At that time the sky was filled with rainbows and there were many other highly auspicious signs. The ninth Tai Situpa, Pema Nyinje Wangpo (I774‐1853), mastered scholarly disciplines at an early age, and it was under his influence in the stimulating intellectual climate of Palpung that a renaissance of Buddhist thought was precipitated. He recognized the innate greatness of the child who was to achieve renown as Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, the primary genius of the nineteenth century renaissance now called the Rime, or ʺnon‐sectarian,ʺ movement. Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye (I813‐
1899) was one of the truly magnificent scholars in the history of Tibet; he called upon his profound knowledge of all traditions, from the Bon family into which he was born to the other lineages he later studied. Situ Pema Nyinje had the ability to recognize 738
genius and foster it, and he did so without making sectarian distinctions, which were all too common at the time. As a result he was surrounded by some of the finest minds of his age. He was one of the main teachers of the fourteenth Karmapa, and he was closely associated with the yogi Chogyur Lingpa and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, who became important figures in both the Nyingmapa and Kagyupa traditions. The ninth Situpa spent the last thirty years of his long life in retreat, during which time he often amazed his monks at his seeming omniscience in managing monastery affairs from his seclusion. One story is told about how he admonished a monk to stop drinking, much to the monkʹs surprise. The monk naturally thought his weakness was well hidden, at least from the head lama who was holed up in strict retreat. 739
The tenth Tai Situpa Pema Kunzang Chogyal (1854‐1885) In the year of the wood‐tiger,In Tang‐Lhaʹs land,My emanation Samantabhadra,Guide of beings, will appear. The tenth Tai Situpa, Pema Kunzang Chogyal, was born in Namtso in Chang, near to a lake, in the male wood‐tiger year. His formal enthronement was performed by the fourteenth Karmapa, Tegchog Dorje and the first Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, Lodro Thaye. From an early age he displayed many spontaneous displays of miracles and higher perception. Through the activity of his accomplishment he crossed the Dri (Yangtse) river in flood season on horseback, descended the Heavenʹs Ladder at the retreat centre on horseback, and rode an untamed horse from Derge to Palpung in two hours. Many persons found flowers in the horses hoof‐prints; it is said that Khyentse Rinpoche has some of these in his possession. In Denkok one person leading a wild bull met Tai Situpa on the road. He remarked, ʺDonʹt keep that bull of yours!ʺ The man ignored him thinking, ʺWhat wonʹt such a wild monk say.ʺ Later that bull killed the man. Once when traveling to central Tibet, the party came to a river swollen by the monsoon rains. Everyone said that it would be impossible to cross and began to pitch their tents. Tai Situpa gave everyone a fierce scolding and all of the persons entered the torrent and reached the far side without incurring any harm whatsoever. Such stories about Pema Kunzang were common, but still he was criticized as being ʺthe wild Situʺ. In response to this one of his spiritual masters, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo praised him saying, ʺHe is really the precious master from Oddiyana [Guru Rinpoche] in the flesh.ʺ Although he was generally given to wild behavior, such as wearing masks & costumes, drinking alcohol, competing in horse races and shooting rifles, he scrupulously avoided sexual relations because all of the Tai Situpas have appeared only as holders of pure monastic discipline. He spent the whole of his life perfecting the Kagyu teachings and became a Siddha. He left many of his footprints on rocks and was able to walk up sheer mountain faces. At the age of 32 in the year of the wood‐bird he passed away. There were numerous highly auspicious signs. 740
Situ Pema Kunsang (1854‐1885), the tenth Tai Situpa, was recognized and enthroned by his former illustrious students, the fourteenth Karmapa and Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye. He spent his relatively short life as a yogi who developed extraordinary powers through his meditation practices. The Eleventh Tai Situpa, Pema Wangchuk Gyalpo (1886‐1952) On occasion of his visit to the Kingdom of Bhutan at the invitation of His Majesty King Jigme Wangchuk, in 1936. The eleventh Tai Situpa, Pema Wangchuk Gyalpo, was born in the male fire dog year in Lithang. There were many unusual and highly auspicious signs at that time. The predictions of the Gyalwa Karmapa concerning his rebirth were found to be absolutely accurate. At the age of four years he was recognized by Karmapa and taken to the great Palpung monastery. From Khachab Dorje, the fifteenth Karmapa, he received ordination and teachings. The second Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche also taught and bestowed many empowerments on him. Situ Rinpoche later recognized the sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Rigpai Dorje, and performed his enthronement and ordination. He transmitted the complete teachings to him and bestowed all the initiations, explanations and empowerments. At about the age of fifty he visited the great Surmang monastery, and there performed many miracles. He passed the rest of his life partly in meditation and partly giving teachings to his many disciples. At the age of 67 he passed away amidst many auspicious signs. 741
His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa, and Situ Pema Wangchuk Gyalpo, together with high ranking reincarnate lamas of Palpung on the occasion of His Holinessʹs visit to Palpung Monastery in 1937. The eleventh and immediately previous Tai Situpa, Pema Wangchok Gyalpo (1886‐I950), was another incarnation with the reputation of tremendous power and productivity. He was evidently quite a character as well. People are still around who remember him, and some recount anecdotes about his tough and relentless discipline. He expanded Palpung Monastery, which by his time was the center of administration for the spiritual and temporal needs of thirteen monastic estates in different provinces of Central and Eastern Tibet. His representatives were sent to each of those communities to handle administrative and religious affairs. He himself traveled constantly to teach and refine conduct and discipline in the 180 monasteries under his care. He was held in awe by everyone, due to his reputation as a stickler on monastic propriety who had no qualms about delivering beatings to offenders. He recognized the sixteenth Karmapaʹs incarnation without benefit of seeing the fifteenth Karmapaʹs predictive letter, which had been spirited away after the latterʹs death by an absconding monk who was afraid of Situ Pema Wangchok. When the letter was finally recovered, it confirmed that the tulku recognized by the Tai Situpa was correct, supporting every detail. The eleventh Situpa was the main teacher of the sixteenth Karmapa. 742
The twelfth Tai Situpa Pema Donyo Nyingche Wangpo (1954 ‐ present) The twelfth Tai Situpa, Pema Donyo Nyingche Wangpo, was born in the male wood‐horse year (1954) in the Palyul District of the Kingdom of Derge, to a family of farmers. The details of his birth were completely in accordance with the prediction of the sixteenth Karmapa. He was later taken to Palpung monastery and at eighteen months was enthroned there by the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa. At this time it was acknowledged that he clearly recognised his old attendants and disciples. When he was 6 years old the political conditions forced him to leave Tibet, travelling first to Bhutan, and later joining the Gyalwa Karmapa, his spiritual master and supreme head of the Kagyu lineage, in Rumtek Monastery, Sikkim, India. He received his formal religious training from the Gyalwa Karmapa and many other teachers under his guidance. In 1975, at the age of 22, he assumed his traditional responsibilities by founding the monastic project, Sherab Ling, at the request of his Tibetan followers who had settled in northern India. In 1980 he made his first tour to Europe, and has since travelled widely in North America, Europe and South‐East Asia teaching Buddhist philosophy and meditation at the request of Buddhist, humanitarian and multi‐faith organisations. 743
In the winter of 1984 the Tai Situpa made his first return to Tibet. ʺIt was a completely non‐political religious trip,ʺ he emphasised, ʺprompted by the spiritual needs of the people.ʺ He was invited to an enormous number of monasteries of all traditions, where he gave teachings and empowerments, one of which was attended by over 100,000 people ‐ which is astonishing given the remoteness of Palpung monastery. l to r: Jamgon Rinpoche, Tai Situpa, Kalu Rinpoche, Saljay Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche ~ Losar 1989 In 1989 he lead the Pilgrimage for Active Peace to inspire people to take an active involvement in world peace. A documentary was made of the event which included an audience with Pope John Paul II, an exchange with the Benedictine monks in Assisi, prayers for peace on Mt. Shasta and an interfaith dialogue with the spiritual leaders of the worldʹs main religions in India. He returned to Tibet in 1991 where he ordained more than 1200 monks and nuns and transmitted a series of empowerments, (Dam Nga Zod), that was attended by over 65 reincarnate lamas, an estimated 2000 ordained Sangha from 92 monasteries and countless laypeople. His root‐teacher Karmapa Rigpai Dorje, passed away in 1981 and on 25th June 1985 took rebirth into a nomad family in Eastern Tibet. In 1992, following traditional methods, he was recognised by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and soon after enthroned in his monastery in Tibet by the Tai Situpa. l to r: Drubpon Rinpoche, Bokar Rinpoche, Tai Situ Rinpoche, Gyaltsab Rinpoche, Thrangu Rinopoche and Mingyur Rinpoche on the roof of Sherab Ling Institute 1996 744
In January 2000 the XVII Karmapa, Orgyen Trinlay Dorje, made a daring escape from his monastery in Tibet, to be able to continue his religious studies. The Tai Situpa is now guiding his spiritual training in exile near to Dharamsala, India The XII Tai Situpa continues the traditions of the practice lineage of the Tai Situpasʹ. A renowned Buddhist teacher, training in turn the next generation of Buddhist masters. On a more personal level the Tai Situpa is a scholar, poet, calligrapher, artist, author, architect and geomancer (the science of studying the properties and relationships between the environment, the elements and their interaction with lines, angles, surfaces and solids). As a person concerned for the future well being of the planet and its people, the Tai Situpa both organises and participates in conferences throughout the world attempting to make compassion and wisdom a part of the reality of life on earth.As a Buddhist master, he regularly tours the world giving teachings and empowerments at the request of the Dharma Centres, and holds long‐term Mahamudra courses to introduce the most profound and sacred of the Karma Kagyu teachings. The twelfth Tai Situpa is the founder and Spiritual Head of Sherab Ling. A leading spiritual teacher who tours the world, a campaigner for active‐peace, artist, poet, author, architect and geomancer. 745
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The twelfth Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche http://www.kagyu.org Gyaltsab Rinpoche The twelfth Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche was born in Central Tibet in Nyimo, near Lhasa. From generation to generation his family was well known for giving rise to highly developed yogis who achieved their attainments through the recitation of mantras and through Tantric practices. Gyaltsab Rinpoche was one such offspring who was actually recognized by His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa before he was born. In 1959, Gyaltsab Rinpoche made the journey to Sikkim with His Holiness. He remained for a while with His Holinessʹ settlement group in the old Karma Kagyu monastery, which had been built at Rumtek during the time of the Ninth Karmapa. In the early 1960ʹs, Rinpoche received several very important initiations from His Holiness. After these initiations, his father felt that his child should receive a modern education in English, so he took him to the town of Gangtok to study. However, with his extraordinary vision of what would be truly beneficial, the young Rinpoche chose to study Dharma in His Holinessʹ monastery instead of remaining at the school. Just after midnight one night he left his residence in Gangtok and walked the ten miles to Rumtek alone. At sunrise he arrived at the new Rumtek monastery. When he first appeared, all the monks who saw him were surprised at his courage, and most respectfully received him in the main temple, where His Holiness welcomed him. Despite the conflict of ideas between his father and the monks about his education, he began to study the Mahayana and Vajrayana teachings of the lineage with three other high Rinpoches. In Rumtek these four Rinpoches studied basic ritual rites and texts with private tutors. They also studied Mahayana philosophy through investigating numerous commentaries by early well‐known Tibetan teachers and scholars, and teachings by 747
masters of Indian Buddhism whose texts had been translated into the language of Tibet many centuries ago. In previous lifetimes all four of these Rinpoches have been great teachers and lineage holders. In each of their lifetimes, one complete and unique example had been set up, beginning from a childhood learning reading and writing and going through the whole process of study, with a youth spent in discipline leading to a fully ripened human being. Since the time of Shakyamuni Buddha, we are taught that we each must become a truly complete human being. For us as human beings the truth is that we develop the fruit of both good and evil by virtue of our own view, practice, and habitual reactions. This fruit of our own actions on both the physical and mental levels can be either positive or negative. As long as we are ordinary human beings we must deal with the truth of that experience. Great teachers like Gyaltsab Rinpoche show a perfect example to human beings and especially to those who can relate to the idea that one is responsible for oneself and for others as well, and that no one else is responsible for how we spend our lives, whether we build for ourselves experiences of happiness or suffering. They show us that the difference between an enlightened and an ordinary human being is not one of wealth, title or position, but only one of seeing the present reality of mind experienced at this moment. 748
The Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoches From RangjungYesheWiki Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, the first Sangye Nyenpa, Tashi Paljor (1457‐1525) was the root teacher of the 8th Karmapa Mikyo Dorje (1507‐1554). He founded the byang chub chos ʹkhor gling monastery in Kham. The 2nd and 3rd Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoches stayed mainly in the Surmang (zur mang) monastery of the Trungpa Rinpoches. The 4th Sangye Nyenpa (dge legs rgya mtsho) left Surmang and founded the great monastery of Benchen in Nangchen/East Tibet in a region named Ga. The present 10th Sangye Nyenpa was born in 1964 in Bhutan, and resides in his monastery in exile in Kathmandu/Nepal. In recent years he fully reconstructed the monastery of Benchen in Tibet. 1st Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, bkra shis dpal ʹbyor (1457‐1525) 2nd Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, lung rtogs rab brtan 3rd Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, dge legs snying po 4th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, dge legs rgya mtsho 5th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, bde legs snying po, 6th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, bsgrub rgyuʹi bstan dar 7th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, shes rab snying po 8th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, bstan ʹdzin grub mchog 9th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, dge legs grub paʹi nyi ma, (d.1962) 10th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, bstan paʹi nyi ma (b.1964) 749
4th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche From RangjungYesheWiki Geleg Gyatso (dge legs rgya mtsho), the 4th incarnation of Sangye Nyenpa Tashi Paljor and founder of the monastery of Benchen stayed, like two of his predecessors, in the great monastery of Surmang. But after a few years had passed he left there and began wandering around the countryside. One day he came to a region called Ga. He found a particularly pleasant spot and made his camp there. As he liked it there very much, he thought that this would possibly be a good place to establish a monastery. So he waited for any good omen to occur which would confirm his feelings. One day, as he was meditating, he noticed a particularly large crow. The bird had alighted upon a large rock and danced around on top of it, making a lot of noise. Intrigued by this unusual behavior, Sangye Nyenpa went closer to have a look at the bird. As he came near the rock, he saw how the crow dropped something out of its beak and then flew away. Sangye Nyenpa climbed up the rock and found the object that the bird had dropped. It was a small turquoise image of the protector Dorje Bernagchen (rdo rje ber nag can), the main protector of the Karma Kagyu lineage. This image was later enshrined in the main shrine of the monastery. As he considered this to be a very good omen indeed, he immediately proceeded to find out who the land upon which he intended to construct his monastery belonged to. The owner was a local chieftain named Rardha Pontsong (the Chime Rinpoche living in London is a direct descendant of that family). As Sangye Nyenpa related all that had happened, Rardha Pontsong was immediately very enthusiastic, gave all the land to Sangye Nyenpa and promised to help with the construction however possible. Construction work began soon thereafter. But strange obstacles occured, storms, gale‐force winds, earthquakes etc. The work of men was destroyed by demons in the night. It occured to Sangye Nyenpa, that this might be caused by the protector of the Rardha family, who had not been consulted or asked for permission to build the monastery. Sangye Nyenpa then approached Rardha Pontsong, related all the problems and asked him who the familiy protector was. He learned that it was Shing Kyong Kunga Zhonnu (zhing skyong kun dgaʹ gzhon nu), and right away started a one month retreat, propitiating the protector. When the protector finally appeared to Sangye Nyenpa, he promised to build a special shrine for him, worship him always and make him the special protector of Benchen and his lineage. Since then all the followers of the lamas of Benchen monastery benefit particularly from keeping Shingkyong Kunga Zhonnu as their protector. Immediately all obstacles stopped and the construction of Benchen monastery was accomplished very swiftly. Since this time Benchen monastery has been the seat of the Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoches and other lamas of the monastery. During the cultural revolution in the 1960s Benchen was completely destroyed. In recent years it was completely re‐constructed by the present 10th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche and the 3rd Tenga Rinpoche of Benchen. 750
9th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche From RangjungYesheWiki The 9th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche (d. 1962 ) The 9th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche who passed away in Rumtek monastery in 1962. He was the older brother of H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and the root teacher of Ven. Benchen Tenga Rinpoche. H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche has composed a short biography of his brother. It is entitled ʺsangs rgyas mnyan sprul dgu paʹi rnam thar mdor bsdus paʹi sa bonʺ and is included in Vol. 1, pp. 275‐306 of his collected works. 751
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10th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche From RangjungYesheWiki H.E. the 10th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche (b 1964 ) Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche (sangs rgyas mnyan pa rin po che). H.E. the 10th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche was born in 1964 near Paro Taktsang in Bhutan. He is the 10th incarnation of the famous ʺDrubthob Sangye Nyenpa Tashi Paljorʺ [1457‐1525], who was among the closest disciples of the 7th Karmapa Chodrag Gyatso [1454‐1506] and the root guru of the 8th Karmapa Mikyo Dorje [1507‐1554], and was recognised as such by H.H. the 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje. Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche was brought to Rumtek monastery at an early age and was inthroned there by H.H. the 16th Karmapa himself. Rinpoche was brought up there by the Karmapa, Ven. Benchen Tenga Rinpoche and many other masters and had a particularly close relationship with H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. The previous 9th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, who passed away in Rumtek in 1962, had been H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpocheʹs older brother. At the age of five he began his studies under these and other masters and received many teachings and transmissions from them. When the ʺKarma Shri Nalanda Institute of Higher Buddhist Studiesʺ was completed and inaugurated in Rumtek, Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche was among the first to enroll there as a student. He completed the full 10‐year study program and obtained the title of an Acharya. Following his studies there he stayed on for another three years as a teacher of the institute. Nowadays Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche is one of the most learned young Rinpoches in both philosophy and tantric rituals. He travels extensively in both South‐
East Asia and the West, particularly in Europe. In recent years he has, together with Ven. Benchen Tenga Rinpoche, restored his traditional seat in Nangchen, the great Benchen monastery, which was originally 753
founded by the 4th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche. Another of Rinpocheʹs projects is the construction of a monastic university, or ʺShedraʺ, in Pharping near Kathmandu, which nears completion. It is scheduled to start operating in early 2007. Once completed, Rinpoche plans to spend most of his time there teaching. He also plans a long‐term study program for western students which he intends to teach himself. The Shedra is situated close to the three‐year retreat center of the Benchen monastery in Nepal, which is being looked after both by him and the Ven. Benchen Tenga Rinpoche. On the 15th day of the new Tibetan year, 2006, the third three‐year three‐fortnight retreat began there under both Sangye Nyenpa Rinpocheʹs and Tenga Rinpocheʹs guidance. Information about Rinpocheʹs recent and future activites can be found at the Benchen.org website 754
The Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoches From RangjungYesheWiki Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche , an important lineage of Karma Kagyu masters very closely associated with the Karmapas. The seat of the Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoches was the Palpung monastery of the Situ Rinpoches, and the close‐by retreat center of Tsadra Rinchen Drak which was established by the first Kongtrul. Together with his contemporaries Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa, Paltrul Rinpoche and Ju Mipham, he was one of the leading figures in the 19th‐century Rime‐ or Non‐Sectarian movement. The present 4th incarnation was found and recognized in Tibet by the present 17th Karmapa. 1st Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, blo gros mthaʹ yas (1813‐1899) 2nd Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, ʹjam dbyangs mkhyen brtseʹi ʹod zer (1904‐1953) 3rd Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, blo gros chos kyi seng ge (1954‐1992) 4th Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, chos kyi nyi ma (b.1995) 755
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1st Jamgon Kongtrul From RangjungYesheWiki Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye Jamgon Kongtrul(1813‐1899)99). Also known as Lodrö Thaye, Yönten Gyamtso, Padma Garwang and by his tertön name Padma Tennyi Yungdrung Lingpa. He was one of the most prominent Buddhist masters in the 19th century and placed special focus upon a non‐sectarian attitude. Renowned as an accomplished master, scholar and writer, he authored more than 100 volumes of scriptures. The most well known are his Five Treasuries, among which are the 63 volumes of the Rinchen Terdzö, the terma literature of the one hundred great tertöns. Rinchen Terdzö From RangjungYesheWiki Rinchen Terdzö : ʹThe Great Treasury of Precious Termas,ʹ a collection of the most important revealed termas of Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra, Vairotsana, Yeshe Tsogyal and their closest disciples, gathered by Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thaye with the help of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Chokgyur Lingpa. Recently published in 63 volumes by His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, New Delhi, India, with the addition of several more volumes of termas and commentaries. Khakyab Dorje, the 15th Karmapa, described it is these words: ʺThe great Treasury of Precious Termas is the quintessence of the ocean‐like teachings of the sugatas (buddhas), the profound Vidyadhara Pitaka of the Early Translation School.ʺ 757
2nd Jamgon Kongtrul ‐ Karsey Kongtrul From RangjungYesheWiki Karse Kongtrul Palden Khyentse Özer (1904‐1953) Karsey (1904‐1953), alias Jamgön Palden Khyentse Özer, the immediate reincarnation of Old Kongtrul, reborn as the son of the 15th Karmapa, Khakhyab Dorje who identified and enthroned him (age twelve), in 1902, in Samdrub Choling at Dowolung Tsurphu. He resided at Tsadra Rinchen Drak, the seat of his predecessor in eastern Tibet. He received the full education and lineage transmission from the Karmapa. Among his other teachers were Zurmang Trungpa Chökyi Nyinche. He attained realization of the ultimate lineage, was one of the most renowned Mahamudra masters and transmitted the innermost teachings to the 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje. Many times over, he gave teachings, empowerments, and reading transmissions from the old and new traditions, such as the Rinchen Terdzö, and he rebuilt the retreat center of Tsadra Rinchen Drak (his residence above Palpung Monastery. He passed away on the tenth of May, 1952. He passed away in his forty‐ninth year. 758
The third Jamgon Komgtrul Rinpoche http://www.kagyu.org Jamgon Komgtrul Rinpoche The third Jamgon Komgtrul Rinpoche was born in 1954 to a prominent Lhasa family. Extraordinary signs accompanied his birth. Even at an early age, his devotion to His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa was unsurpassed. His entire life example manifested the perfection of a great bodhisattva. After the passing of His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa in 1981, Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche became one of the foremost holders of the Kagyu Lineage, and wore the mantle of regency with humility and great dignity. Revered by disciples of His Holiness Karmapa throughout the world, he was especially dear to students in the West who had the immeasurable good fortune to see or hear him during his short life. In the absence of His Holinessʹ physical manifestation, Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche virtually adopted Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, and was a frequent visitor and teacher.In 1984, in order to celebrate the visit of H.E. Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche to Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, the Ven. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche gave a short teaching on the life and activity of Jamgon Kongtrul The Great, concluding that for ʺthose who had the good fortune to experience [His Eminence the III Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpocheʹs] presence and teachings during his short visit to the United States, it was abundantly clear that His Eminence is an awakened heartfelt son of His Holiness Karmapa.ʺ Following the passing of His Eminence Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, his life story was published by the Jamgon Kongtrul Labrang at Rumtek as an offering of Dharma for free distribution. The life story was written by the Ven. Bokar Tulku Rinpoche as ʺA Brief Biography of His Eminence Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche.ʺ Also included in this memorial to H.E. Jamgon Kongtrul Karma Lodro Chokyi Senge was a translation of the Guru Yoga for the III Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, called ʺBillowing Clouds of Blessing.ʺ 759
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Namo Guru Mati Dharma Singha Ye. The true nature of the vajra realm is unchanging and permanent, Yet in order to train disciples, You display inconceivable, miraculous illusions, Such as the appearance of birth and death: I bow to you. Your wondrous nirmanakaya, complete with all the marks of the Buddha, Rests in meditation like a sun in the space of luminosity. At this time I have composed the mere seed of a biography To inspire the faith of myself and others. Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye was one of the most brilliant stars in the galaxy of scholars and siddhas from Tibet, the land of snow. Predicted by the Buddha, he was the crown jewel in the rime (nonsectarian) movement of Buddhism in Tibet. He was born on December 14, 1813, to Sonamphel and Tashitso in front of Mount Pema Lhatse, one of the eight sacred places in Kham (Eastern Tibet). Lodro Thaye became learned in the ten ordinary and extraordinary branches of knowledge, and it became his responsibility to explain and compose texts, which incorporated a great number of teachings from both the old and new traditions, including the lineages of oral teachings, hidden treasures (terma), and teachings of pure vision. These were all brought together in Lodro Thayeʹs great living Treasuries of Knowledge. Like a second Buddha, he served all traditions of Dharma without any bias, through his teaching, practice, and activity. At the age of eighty‐seven on January 19, 1899, he passed away. In the garden of Samdrub Choling at Dowolung Tsurphu, the unexcelled heart center of the dakinis, the second Kongtrul, Khyentse Ozer, was born in 1902 as the son of the Fifteenth Karmapa, Khakhyab Dorje, of whom he was the heart son as well. He studied, mastered, and practiced to perfection the treatises of the sutras and tantras in general, and in particular, the Five Treasuries, the path of skillful means, which includes the Six Yogas of Naropa, and the path of liberation, which focuses on the Mahamudra as it is elucidated in the special teachings of the Kamtsang Kagyu. Khyentse Ozer attained realization of the ultimate lineage and became the root guru of the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa. Many times over, he gave teachings, empowerments, and reading transmissions from the old and new traditions, such as the Rinchen Ter Dzo, and he rebuilt the retreat center of Tsatra Rinchen Drak [his residence at Palpung Monastery], supplying it with everything needed. He passed away on the tenth of May, 1952, having accomplished great deeds for the benefit of the teachings and sentient beings. The name of the third Kongtrul incarnation is spoken with reverence as Jamgon Lodro Chokyi Senge, perfect guide of unequalled kindness, whose aspirations, activity, and accomplishments for the precious Dharma and sentient beings in general, and the 761
Kagyu lineage in particular, have been a wondrous light in these dark times. As his last testament, the previous Jamgon Kongtrul, Khyentse Ozer, stated that his reincarnation would be in Central Tibet and that the household, parents, and time would be predicted by the Gyalwa Karmapa. Accordingly, in a first letter of recognition, the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa wrote the following prophesy: In the central part of the country, surrounded by snow mountains, With the fatherʹs name De and the motherʹs Pema, From a wealthy family of pure ancestry, A boy of the wood horse year with excellent signs Is without any doubt Jamgon, the incarnation of Lotsawa Vairocana. Raising the victory banner of the teachings, He will give life to all Buddhist traditions And especially to the lineage of Gampopa. According to this vajra prophesy, Jamgon Rinpoche was born on the first of October, 1954, the male wood horse year of the sixteenth cycle, in Lhasa, from whence the Dalai Lama guided the spiritual and temporal life of Tibet. His father was Tsering Tobgyal of Sadutsang, a family of wealth and high reputation, and his mother was Pema Yudron, the daughter of Sawang Ngawang Jigme Ngabo, a cabinet minister in the Tibetan government. Before and after his birth, many wonderful signs appeared to his mother, and he was recognized without any doubt as the reincarnation of Jamgon Kongtrul by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Gyalwa Karmapa through the vision of their stainless wisdom. Under their direction, Yonten Phuntsok, the Treasurer of the former Kongtrul Rinpoche, repeatedly requested the Sadutsang family to entrust the tulku to his Labrang (monastic organization). At last they consented, and when he was one year and five months old, Jamgon Rinpoche was formally recognized and offered robes and his title. At the age of six, he was enthroned by the Gyalwa Karmapa at the monastery in Rumtek, Sikkim. From then onwards, Jamgon Rinpoche as a heart son was inseparable from His Holiness, who supervised his education right from the very beginning, starting with reading, writing, and memorizing texts. At the age of thirteen, he received from His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa getsul ordination along with Shamar Rinpoche and Tai Situ Rinpoche on the fifteenth of Saga Dawa (the fourth Tibetan month) of the male fire horse year at Rumtekʹs Shedrub Chokhor Ling (Dharma Chakra Centre). At that time, he received the name Jamgon Lodro Chokyi Senge, Tenpay Gocha Ngedon Gyurme Trinle Kunkhyab Pelzangpo. Jamgon Rinpoche then studied a great number of texts, both in general and specifically, with Thrangu Rinpoche, a great scholar and holder of the Vinaya. His further studies also included all the tantras of Marpaʹs tradition, especially those of the Karma Kamtsang, and the lama dances, preparation of mandalas, chanting and musical instruments pertaining to the practices of Guru Rinpoche, Vajrakilaya, and others. 762
Jamgon Rinpoche received from Khyabje Kalu Rinpoche, master siddha and the activity emanation of Jamgon Lodro Thaye, teachings ranging from the Mahamudra Preliminary Practices of the Kamtsang tradition, up to empowerments, reading transmissions, and explanations for Gyalwa Gyamtso, Demchok, Dorje Pagmo, and especially, the Six Yogas of Naropa, Mahamudra, the Five Golden Teachings of the Shangpa Kagyu, the great empowerments of Kalachakra and Rinchen Terdzo, and at different times, countless other teachings of the old and new traditions. At the age of twenty, on the fifteenth day of the first month (the month of miracles) in the female water ox year, he received full gelong ordination at the Dharma Chakra Centre from His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, who acted as the khenpo or abbot for the occasion, since he is master of the qualities of discipline and learning, well‐versed in the pitakas, the second Shakyamuni of this degenerate time, and leader of all those who hold ordination. Jamgon Rinpoche took gelong vows along with Chamgon Situ Rinpoche and Khyabje Gyaltsab Rinpoche and was assisted by a master of procedure and other monks to complete the necessary number. Believing them to be the very foundation of the Dharma, Jamgon Rinpoche always guarded carefully these precious Vinaya rules, protecting them as if they were his own eyes. He gave the ordinations of getsul and gelong to about three thousand monks in India, Nepal, Tibet, both the worlds of the East and West, and so became a great holder of the Vinaya. From His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa, Jamgon Rinpoche received the Bodhisattva Vows, which are the foundation of the Mahayana path, from both traditions [of Nagarjuna and Asanga]. He continually practiced the many aspects of a bodhisattvaʹs path‐‐the six paramitas, the four ways of gathering disciples, and so forth‐‐training in the extensive activity of the bodhisattva, and becoming a great one himself. Jamgon Rinpoche had great faith, respect, and devotion for his spiritual teachers, the source of all paths and practice, and received from them many teachings of the sutra and tantra traditions. Especially, his relation to the Gyalwa Karmapa, embodiment of all refuges, was one of total devotion, respect, and pure vision, greater than that even for the Buddha himself. Rinpoche served His Holiness perfectly and received from him all the profound oral instructions, such as the Five Great Treasuries, all the empowerments, reading transmissions, and explanations of the Kamtsang Kagyu, the Root Text of Mahamudra, and so forth. In particular, the realization of Mahamudra, which is the heart blessing of the ultimate lineage, was transferred to him and he became a great siddha. 763
H.H. the XVI Karmapa, left, with Jamgon Rinpoche in the original shrine room at KTD In 1974, Jamgon Rinpoche accompanied His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa on a tour of numerous places in America, Europe, and Southeast Asia. After His Holinessʹ paranirvana, Jamgon Rinpoche continued to travel to Europe and Asia, and established the Rigpe Dorje Foundation [in the United States, Canada, and France] and the Paramita Charitable Trust [in India, to further his activities of social welfare for the benefit of others]. Through empowerments, explanations, and advice, he generously gave teachings for three different types of students in accordance with their needs and so became like the medicine that restored the teachings and healed sentient beings. In 1982, in order to counteract obstacles to the swift return of His Holiness the Karmapa, Jamgon Rinpoche built a Sidok Stupa with the proper measurements, mantras, dharanis, and consecration. For the same reason, he began the practice of l00 million recitations of the Vajrasattva mantra every year on the occasion of Saga Dawa (the fifteenth day of the fourth Tibetan month). In 1984, following the wishes of His Holiness, he started the construction of a new building for Karma Shri Nalanda Institute and it was inaugurated in June of 1987. Not only did Jamgon Rinpoche provide for all the furnishings of the entire building, including the statues and so forth for the shrine hall, but he also found the means to support about 150 students, comprised of many tulkus, lamas, and monks. Jamgon Rinpoche visited Tibet in 1984, and at Palpung Monastery, he gave empowerments and teachings to a vast gathering of monks and lay people, and ordained about 500 monks with getsul and gelong vows. He then visited Lhasa and Tsurphu Monastery [the Seat of His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa] where he gave empowerments and teachings to monks and lay people, and the ordinations of getsul and gelong to about one hundred. Furthermore, he was able to obtain permission for the reconstruction of Tsurphu, towards which he donated all the offerings that were made to him. In 1988, Rinpoche constructed a new monastery at Lava in Kalimpong [West Bengal], and presently about 108 monks reside there, ten of whom are involved in a three‐year retreat following the tradition of the golden Dharma in the Shangpa Kagyu. Likewise, in 1988 he started the construction of Phullahari Retreat Center in Nepal, where there are now about fifteen monks practicing. In 1990, he gave the great Kalachakra empowerment to the monks and lay people of Rumtek and donated funds to start a yearly Kalachakra practice session. 764
In 1991, Jamgon Rinpoche returned to Tibet and visited Derge Gonchen where he gave an empowerment, reconsecrated the old and new Derge Printing House, and made donations to them. Thereafter, he journeyed to Palpung Monastery and gave the great Kalachakra initiation to about 550 lamas and tulkus of the area, including Sangye Tendzin of Japa Gonzhab Surmang Tentrul, Dodrak Tulku, and many others. He also gave getsul and gelong ordinations to about 550 people. Next he travelled to Damkar Monastery in Nangchen where he again gave the Kalachakra empowerment to about 1,000 Sangha members, including lamas and tulkus, such as Shangu Tulku, Kyodrak Tendzin, Salga, Drukpa Tulku, Demon Tulku, and many others. In 1992, he gave the Kagyu Ngakdzo empowerments to the monks, nuns, and lay people of Rumtek, and inaugurated the Jamyang Khang, a primary school, which he had sponsored, designed, and constructed. As his last activity, Jamgon Rinpoche offered mantras and dharanis to fill the new statue of the Buddha in the main shrine hall of Rumtek Monastery and gilded the whole statue to create an auspicious connection for sustaining pure samaya. Once he had consecrated the statue, Jamgon Rinpoche told his attendants, ʺNow I have fulfilled all the wishes of His Holiness.ʺ In brief, to Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche one can say: ʺI pray to you, source of all qualities, the one rich in faith, discipline, learning, generosity, intelligence, modesty, and humility.ʺ From childhood, he naturally had all the qualities of a noble being. His faith and pure vision of his teachers was unparalleled, and especially, his devotion to his root guru, Vajradhara Gyalwa Karmapa, was fully equal to that of all the previous lineage holders of the Kagyu tradition. He never tired nor was careless for a moment in attending to the physical needs or following the commands and wishes of his lama. With great respect he served His Holiness even to the point of cleaning his bathroom and sweeping the floors with his own hands. His life is a great teaching to people like us who treat the Dharma and the lamas like water by the roadside, which we take when we need it, but do not respect or give devotion from our heart. Jamgon Rinpoche studied numerous sutras, tantras, their commentaries and oral instruction, from specific and general traditions. As a sign of having genuinely realized these teachings, he displayed the qualities of faith, pure vision, loving‐
kindness, and genuine concern for the well‐being of others that were so much a part of him that they became inseparable from his name. He constantly fulfilled the wishes of others through giving away all that was offered to build monasteries, establish centers of learning and practice, to create representations of the Buddhaʹs body, speech and mind, and to support the Sangha and the poor and needy. With clear wisdom of the world and Dharma, he soothed the mental sufferings of others, cut through the net of their doubts, and guided them onto the right path through direct and indirect means. To his attendants and all those, high or low, with whom he related, Jamgon Rinpoche always showed the qualities of constant friendship, modesty, humility, and gratitude; he had perfected all these qualities that are esteemed in this world. We, his disciples, should always remember this perfect life story of our supreme guide and seek to emulate it with faith, respect, and pure vision. 765
At the age of thirty‐eight, Jamgon Rinpoche suddenly passed away, due to the obstructions for Buddhism and people in general, and in particular, for the Kagyu tradition. Considering his age, learning, qualities, aspirations, and activities, his passing has been an unbearably sorrowful event for all his disciples and those who knew him. Yet, as ordinary people with limited understanding and realization of how things truly are, we are unable to know the profound methods for benefiting sentient beings in the right time and place. Therefore, we should always look at his life with pure vision, great faith and devotion, and try to attain in our lifetime the supreme achievement of Mahamudra through receiving in our mindstream the blessing of his body, speech, and mind. We should always turn our minds towards praying that his perfect incarnation will swiftly return, and that his life and activities will be brought to perfection following the aspirations he has made for the Dharma and sentient beings. From now until enlightenment, supreme Lama, May we always serve and rely on you. May we persevere in practice and complete the path, Giving up what is negative and perfecting the positive. Following the request of Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpocheʹs attendants, Tenzin Dorje and Sonam Chophel, this was written by Bokar Tulku, Karma Ngedon Chokyi Lodro, whose devotion is inspired by this life of Jamgon Lama, at Rumtek Retreat Center, Yiwang Samten Chokhor Ling, on the 5th of May, 1992. Sarva Mangalam. This was translated by Ringu Tulku and Michele Martin during May, 1992 in Sikkim. 766
Rime movement From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Rimé movement is a Buddhist school of thought founded in Eastern Tibet during the late 19th century largely by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, the latter of whom is often respected as the founder proper. It seeks to unify the various traditions and their philosophies into one coherent school of thought, and is responsible for a large number of scriptural compilations. Rimé: Wylie: ris med, literally: non‐sectarian The schoolʹs name is derived from two Tibetan words: Ris (sectarianism) and Med (refutation), which combined expresses the idea of unification, as opposed to sectarianism. The Rimé movement therefore is often mistaken as trying to unite the various sects through their similarities, which was not the case. Rather, Rimé was designed to recognise the differences between traditions and appreciate them, while also establishing a dialogue which would create common ground. It is considered important that variety be preserved, and therefore Rimé teachers are generally quite careful to emphasise differences in thought, giving students many options as to how to proceed in their spiritual training. Students who associate with Rimé do not leave their old traditions, but rather continue practising as their regular tradition would ascribe. Two of the founding voices of Rimé were Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, both from different schools. Thaye was from the Nyingma and Kagyu traditions, while Wangpo had been raised within the Sakya order. At the time, Tibetan schools of thought had become very isolated, and both Wangpo and Thaye were instrumental in reinitiating dialogue between the sects. Rimé was, to some extent, the re‐establishment of a rule or principle that had always been present in Tibetan Buddhism, but that had been de‐emphasized or forgotten. That is: to ignorantly criticise other traditions was wrong, and that misunderstandings due to ignorance should be immediately alleviated. Rimé is not a spiritual lineage, but rather a philosophical movement which seeks to establish, preserve, and cultivate dialogue between varying traditions, appreciating their differences and emphasising the need for variety. It was initially created to counteract the growing suspicion and tension building between the different traditions, which at the time had, in many places, gone so far as to forbid studying one anotherʹs scriptures. Rimé became thereafter an integral part of the Tibetan tradition, and continues to be an important school of philosophy in Tibetan Buddhism. Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö, Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyatso and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche are recent Rimé masters, known for their public influence and as being advisors to the 14th Dalai Lama. Other modern adherents include the late 16th Karmapa and Dudjom Rinpoche, both of whom gave extensive teachings from the works of Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro, as well as Akong Rinpoche who, with the late Chogyam Trungpa helped establish Tibetan Buddhism in Britain. The lineage of the late Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche, also a venerable master of the rimé tradition, is represented today in the teachings of Lama Surya Das. 767
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Chokgyur Lingpa From RangjungYesheWiki Chokgyur Lingpa Chokgyur Lingpa (1829‐1870). A treasure revealer and contemporary of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Jamgön Kongtrül. Regarded as one of the major tertöns in Tibetan history, his termas are widely practiced by both the Kagyü and Nyingma schools. Chokgyur Lingpa means ʹSanctuary of Eminence.ʹ Account by Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thaye, from the Rinchen Terdzö Vol. KA page 643‐658 Chokgyur Dechen Zhikpo Lingpa, the incomparable incarnated tertön who was an emanation of Prince Damdzin Murub Tseypo, also known as the glorious Yeshe Rölpa Tsal, was prophesied in Orgyen Drimey Kunga’s Tsemar revelation with the following words: Between the mountain passes of upper Yor and Dra, There will appear a Dharma Lord, an emanation of Padma’s mind, Bearing the name Ratna and Orgyen, Who will have the benefit of supreme Dharma treasures. In similar words and meaning he was also mentioned in the scriptures of Rongtön Pema Dechen Lingpa, as well as in the general predictions of Ratna Lingpa, as one of 25 holders of the Dharma: A bearer of the name Norbu will appear in the southern direction of Kham. In these ways he has been clearly mentioned. Accordingly, in the area of Gomdé Dranang which connects with upper Yor in the southern part of Dokham, his 769
father was Pema Wangchuk, a holder of the tantric precepts, belonging to the Achakdru family who were ministers and Nangchen Chinghu. His mother was Tsering Yangtso. And it was to these parents that he took birth on the 10th day of the six month in the year of the Male Earth Ox, accompanied by rainbow lights and other auspicious signs. From early age, he displayed the wonderful behavior of a noble being, and he learned both reading and writing with minor hardship. He was named Norbu Tendzin. Without being encouraged by anyone else, he undertook to do many practices. The tuft of his hair was offered to Künzang Choktrül of Lho and here he received the name Könchok Tendzin. This is the name under which he was widely known until much later, and that fits with the meaning of the prediction above since Ratna is Sanskrit for Könchok. While at the age of 13 he once went to a location known as Manika to play, Orgyen Rinpoche appeared in person and pretended to ask about the name of the place and other questions to which he offered the replies. [In response, Guru Rinpoche said]: “The place is called Manika, you are Norbu Tendzin, [645] and the valley is called Arya Nang. Therefore you will become exalted in this world.” Having given this prediction, he vanished like a rainbow. At this time, he received the novice precepts from Taklung Ma Rinpoche. Tsuklag Chökyi Gyalpo, who was the eighth Pawo, bestowed upon him the thorough reading transmission and blessings for a portion of Lama Gongdü known as Tukdrub Tsawa Martag and the practice text by the name Metok Trengdzey. “It would be excellent for you to practice this,” he admonished and thus implicitly entrusted him with the terma lineage. One after the other, from numerous teachers and mentors — including the Gyalwang Karmapa and the Drukchen, as well as their Dharma heirs, the Drigung Choktrül, and the khenpos and masters at Surmang — he received empowerments, reading transmissions and instructions of both Sutra and Tantra, belonging to the Sarma and Nyingma schools. He received both the explanatory and applied transmissions, as well as innumerable types of instructions in dance, proportions, chanting and the use of musical instruments. He appeared to become extremely learned in all of these topics with very little effort. When he reached the age of 25, in accordance with the Guru’s prophecy, he went to the monastic seat of Palpung, and here, in the miracle month of the year of the Water Ox, he met with Situ Rinpoche Pema Nyinchey Wangpo and offered him the Kilaya known as Wangchen Shepa and others, which he gladly accepted. This created the auspicious circumstance for dispelling obstacles and stabilizing his life. [646] In private, he was bestowed advice on the necessity to perform the practices of the termas and to keep their secrecy for the complete length of time. The Secret Prediction (gsang lung) mentions this: These are the Dharma holders who will appear at that time: At the summit of Glorious Mountain, on the left bank of the golden river, An emanation of my speech, by the name Pema Nyinchey, Will maintain the line of conquerors and plant the banner of practice. He will hold up a torch in the darkness of the final age, 770
Perfect the practice of longevity, and reach the age of 85. If the right circumstances arranged, he will uphold the teachings for 90 years. Lhasey will meet him when he is 25. Without reservations he should entrust himself fully. If that link is not arranged, many other circumstances will become spontaneously present. Accordingly, these types of primary auspicious links were kept intact. After a while he received the bodhisattva vow and several other profound teachings from the great pandita and bodhisattva Dabzang Tulku. From myself (Jamgön Kongtrül) as well, headed by Tukchen Deshek Kündü, he received most of the Nyingma Kahma, primarily the empowerment and explanation for the Magical Net of the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities, as well as many terma teachings. In particular, the Basic Framework of Auspicious mentions: The profound termas concealed at Sky Treasury Will not stay idle, but be revealed by man with aspirations. Lhasey, it will be your last incarnation. At that time most of the lotsawas and panditas, King and disciples, will assemble. In particular, the ruler and his sons will meet, And, assisting each other, their karmic traits will gradually awaken. They will connect with all the ultimate of my instructions And they will meet me in person in their pure visions. There will teach the direct application of the Secret Mantra instructions, Applying these in their own experience they will effortlessly attain accomplishment, And there will be numerous disciples who achieve siddhi. The outer, inner and innermost prediction manuals mention this with extreme clarity, and accordingly, in the ninth month, he went for the specific purpose of meeting with the lord guru Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, who is the crown jewel of the ocean of learned and accomplished masters in the Snowy Land, and a master of the entirety of Shakyamuni’s teachings. This master, as well, considering the link they shared from any previous lifetimes, bestowed, as the very first, the grand empowerments of Kilaya Yangsang Pudri and after that the empowerment for Kilaya of the Khön tradition. Through this he dispelled outer, inner and innermost obstacles. During the empowerment for the Wishfulfilling Jewel of Yangtig (yang tig yi bzhin nor bu), he (Chokgyur Lingpa) had extraordinary pure visions such as seeing the master as the great pandita Vimalamitra in person and he recognized awareness in its naked state. When he was given the entrustment to the life‐force of Ngaksungma (Ekajati), the magnificent occurrence took place that felt as if the earth was shaking and he beheld Ekajati in person. “After three years I will give both master and disciple a great siddhi!” she said. That was the omen for revealing the Three Sections of the Great Perfection (rdzogs chen sde gsum) in the future. With Chokgyur Lingpa was the age of 27, during the ninth month of the year of the Wood Rabbit, this master bestowed upon him the grand empowerments of the 771
Nine Deities of Vishuddha. During this empowerment he saw in a vision that the Guru Heruka dissolved down through the crown of his head and the knots at his heart center were untied. Beginning from this time, vajra songs poured from him unobstructedly. In the past, he had not decoded to the full extent the symbolic writing of Tukdrub Barchey Künsel but now he understood them without any difficulty. The lord guru (Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo) had the profound terma by the name Tukdrub Deshek Düpa and not only were they of identical meaning but for the most part the words also corresponded. Therefore, together they established without any hindrance [these termas] in the manner of combining them as mother and child. When they performed the terma practice together, as well, they had boundless pure visions including being accepted by the Guru and consort in actuality. Many auspicious circumstances were arranged such as the appearance of several address lists of termas. With trust in each other, the lord guru (Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo) as well received the ripening and liberating nectar of these new treasures, [649] and he enthroned (Chokgyur Lingpa). In this way they became great treasure revealers, undisputed and renowned like the sun and moon. To quote the Lord’s (Chokgyur Lingpa’s) own words: “first, the four mentors of the greatest kindness.” This means that he accepted these teachers: Taklungpa Ngawang Tenpey Nyima who was his preceptor for the outer vows of individual liberation, Datrül Karma Ngedön Tenpa Rabgye who was his spiritual guide for the inner bodhisattva trainings, Pema Garwang Lodrö Thaye who was his vajra master for the innermost tantric precepts, and Pema Ösel Do‐Ngak Lingpa who was his road guru of the ultimate, definitive meaning. [* so so la gtan tshig yod par snang]. Beginning from remaining in the recitation retreat of the most profound Könchok Chidü, at the secluded place of Yarkhyil, he followed the command of the guru and practiced, primarily by staying in strict retreat for three years at Ogmin Karma. Persevering in the various levels of practice, he reached perfection in the experience of development stage, competition stage and the great perfection. Through this he manifested boundless signs of accomplishment. By the power facts he proved to have become a great master who had gained mastery over the four kinds of activity. In particular, the Prophecy for the Three Sections of the Great Perfection mentions: Transmitted from one to the other unbrokenly, Profound termas in actuality and in mind, Rediscovered termas and termas of recollection, Pure vision, and hearing lineage; These are the seven kinds of transmission Received as the heritage of the father king and his son. They will be augmenters for the teachings in the dark age, And exceedingly unfold the sunlight and of the profound and the extensive teachings. According to this and many other predictions, these two great treasure revealers, emanations of the father and son, were each endowed with seven transmissions of profound teachings that can be specified from the three aspects of Kahma, Terma and Pure Vision. 772
The first of these is the long transmission of Kahma. He [Chokgyur Lingpa] received for the most part of what is currently in existence, and not only did he explain and propagate many times the three aspects of Do, Gyü and Sem, but as well, the profound termas of this lord, including Do and Gyutrül and so forth, were wonderful and unprecedented, capable of bringing forth texts with a wording exactly like the root texts of Kahma. In that sense, they as well belong to the Kahma transmission. The second is the earth termas, sater, belonging to his personal fortune. When he was 13 years old he revealed, from Dragkar Dzongchung, the 24 sadhanas that were the personal practice of Damdzin, as well as the vajra, skullcup and mirror that were the insignia for Gongdü. From that time onwards and until at the age 39 years [651] — when in accordance with the prediction lists and encouragement of the lord guru, he revealed from the Norbu Pünsum at Tsikey, the sacred teaching known as the Seven Jewel Cycles, the statue representative of Guru Rinpoche, and the ornaments of Sengdrok — it is renowned that he had 37 eminent termas. Nevertheless, including the Seven Cycles of Pacifying revealed at Drak Yangdzong, he revealed numerous and minor termas of material articles as well as the various types of prediction lists known as khajang, yangjang, nejang and nyingjang. The primary ones were: Tukdrub Barchey Künsel revealed from Danyin Khala Rongo; Tukje Chenpo Pema Tsuktor revealed from Nabün Dzong; the Seven Cycles of Profound Practice revealed from the slope behind Ogmin Karma; the tantras and statements, that are the subsidiary parts to that, revealed from Yegyal Namkhadzö; the principal Tukdrub known as Gongpa Kündü; the two statue representations; the sacred teaching known as the Three Sections of the Great Perfection (Dzogchen Desum) in revealed from the Lotus Crystal Cave at Meshö Dzomnang; the Sacred Teaching in Six Scrolls revealed from the upper and lower cliff of Sengchen Namdrak; the Lotus Magical Net of the Great Compassionate One and Overturning The Depth Of Samsara revealed from Khandro Bumdzong; Mamo Chidü revealed from Karmey Paldeu; Tukdrub Yishin Norbu revealed according to the command of the precious lord guru Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo from Norbu Pünsum at Kela; [652] Kabgye Deshek Kündü and the profound Refined Gold of the Great Perfection revealed from the Turquoise Turtle Cave on the southern slope of Yegal; the Tukdrub Dorje Draktsal and the Five Essential Cycles (Nyingpo Kor‐Nga) a revealed from Karmo Taktsang at Rongmey; the Demchok Sangye Nyamjor revealed from Rudam Gangtrö. As indicated by these, from each terma place he revealed an exceedingly great number of teachings, sacred substances, bodily representations and hand emblems. For the most part, these were revealed as public termas and, being witnessed by everyone, they were indisputable. 773
In short, he had 100 terma places of body, speech, mind, qualities and activities; 100 termas of Heart Essence (snying thig); as well as receiving the mandate for numerous substances that bring liberation through taste, as is clearly mentioned in the prediction scriptures. He also opened up for many sacred places, both the principal and subsidiary types of the 25 major sites of Dokham according to the list which he revealed from Pawo Wangchen Cliff. As termas, he also revealed three types of materials for image representations of Guru Rinpoche and so produced numerous copies of these images. These and other deeds were an amazing wonder. The third transmission are the rediscovered treasures, yangter, that are a subsidiary part of the earth treasures. This lord received a transmission through the power blessings for Gurdrak Hungmar Nyingtig from his previous lifetime as the great treasure revealer Sangye Lingpa. [653] He also received the transmission for the short lineage of the Secret Practices of Mother Tantra (ma rgyud gsang baʹi lam khyer) of the dakini Kunga Bumpa, the ripening and liberation for which he bestowed upon me. The forth is the profound mind treasure, gongter. Based on Jetsün Tara three times bestowing of upon him confirmation by uttering three times “Lekso!” he established in writing the Profound Essence of Tara. The fifth transmission was recollection, jedren, which stems from the mind treasure. When the master remembered his past life when born as Nub Khulungpa Yönten Gyatso, he was given the instruction of Lung Dorje Köpa as the final testament when Nubchen was passing on. He also wrote down a brief version of the Khapo of Nub. There were also the way of reciting the Rulu mantra as well as numerous types dances. By remembering his past life as Sangye Lingpa, he established in writing detailed instructions for the nine yoga exercises for training in Gongdü and these are still in existence. The six transmission is that of pure perception, dagnang. While he was opening up the terma place of Riwo Wangzhu, he had addition of the Great Pandita in the practice gave of Vimalamitra. He and he was given the Profound Essence of Vimalamitra and this instruction is still existing. The seventh transmission, corresponding to the above, is that of hearing lineage, Nyengyü. In a pure vision Chokgyur Lingpa went to the Glorious Copper‐
Colored Mountain, where he received from Orgyen Rinpoche the instructions of Ati Zabdön Nyingtig which was then committed to writing. Thus I have here briefly written down his life story endowed with the seven transmissions. The various visions and prediction he received successively, the practices to invoke the guardians of the Dharma treasures to carry out their activities, and the various versions of different lengths of his pure visions in which he went to the Glorious Mountain of Chamara, are many, but here I feel that this much detail will be sufficient. Chokgyur Lingpa performed approximately 33 drubchen ceremonies endowed with the four aspects of approach and accomplishment. These include the ceremonies 774
performed at his own seats and when he was invited to function as vajra master for assemblage ceremonies in other places. He performed the Kanen Rabji and Nechen Jinbeb in the most important places of Tibet and Dokham including Samye, Hepori, glorious Chuwori and many other places. By doing so he pacified invasions and other upheavals and was able to accomplish the vast predicted activities of ensuring happiness and well‐being for the entire country. He bestowed the profound teachings of ripening and liberation, both directly and indirectly, upon all the holders of the teachings without sectarian restrictions: the Kagyü hierarchies headed by primarily the Gyalwang Karmapa and the Drukchen, the Drigung and the Taklung, and the Nyingma masters headed by the throne holders of Mindroling, Katok, Palyül, Shechen and Dzogchen, as well as the glorious Sakyapa and so forth. His giving of liberation through taste permeated everywhere throughout the central and surrounding regions of Tibet and Kham. In particular, due to the auspicious circumstances being arranged, most of his ten primary holders of the teachings propagated immensely the activities of the terma teachings, primarily the Tukdrub Barchey Künsel. [655]. As exemplified by the medium length sacred dances of the Yangpur drubchen performed yearly at Ogmin Tsurphu, it is evident that the major and minor aspects of the teachings of these treasures flourished to increase the degree by holding drubchö ceremonies at numerous monasteries. Among the Ten Teachings to Ensure the Welfare of Tibet and Kham, he established in writing the Dharma cycle on auspicious coincidence and in accordance with its meaning, the wonderful ritual performance was held at Palpung, Katok and Dzogchen. It was a drama performed to commemorate “The Abbot, the Master and the Dharma King” with a threefold aspects of teaching, practice and activities of the twofold doctrines of Sutra and Tantra. His main seats were at Karmari Mountain, at the Neten Gang Ridge, and at the confluence of the Tsichu and Kechu rivers. In all these places he built temples with shrines and shrine objects. In the two latter places, he established a sangha congregation and the ongoing teaching and practice of Sutra and Tantra. Having completed these deeds, considering a greater purpose elsewhere, he displayed the manner of falling sick and had the pure vision of journeying to the pure buddha realms. This happened at the age of 42, in the year of the Male Iron Horse. On the first day of the fifth month, he entered into the composure of the peaceful basic space, while displaying wondrous miracles such as earthquake and rainbow lights. His main lineage holder was Gyurmey Tsewang Drakpa, his heart disciple and son who was predicted as being the emanation of Namkhai Nyingpo of Nub. He and others performed the funeral ceremonies with lavish rituals of offerings and rituals for fulfilling the master’s wishes. As stupa receptacle made of gilded copper, the size of several stories, was constructed and here his entire body was placed. Gyurmey Tsewang Drakpa also completed the building of the seat at Tsikey Norbu Ling which had been only begun. 775
As indicated by what I mentioned above, there have been countless instances of spreading the activities, including the profound Dharma of liberation through taste, propagated by numerous great masters headed by the precious Lord Guru. Even someone as simple as myself, who has received the blessing of these profound teachings, has to the best of my ability tried to serve most of these profound teachings by means of doing the practices of approach and accomplishment, performing the drubchens, spreading the teachings, and writing arrangements for the empowerments. When he (Chokgyur Lingpa) traveled to central Tibet, he offered for the first time the teachings of these new treasures to the Karmapa and Drukchen and their spiritual sons as well as many others. At the Crystal Cave of Sheldrak, he performed the drubchen of sacred medicine based on the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities of the Magical Net. Headed by that, in each of the sacred practice places of Guru Rinpoche, he performed the auspicious link for practicing the Seven Cycles of Profundity as well as making thousands of feast offerings. In this way, throughout the provinces of Ngari, Central Tibet and Tsang, [657] he performed the service, in a small degree, of bringing to the light of day for the first time the renown of the tertön’s name and the terma teachings. On the 15th day of the eleventh month of the same year in which the great treasure revealer had departed to the state of peace, Pema Ösel Do‐Ngak Lingpa — the great monarch of all the tertöns and siddhas of the snowy ranges of Tibet — had a vision in which he saw that in the Lotus‐Covered Buddhafield in the western direction, the great treasure revealer himself had manifested in the form of Bodhisattva Lotus‐
Sprout (Padmasattva). After meeting him, he received the nectar‐like instructions of the sadhana and the empowerment. For one month he kept the samaya seal of secrecy. Then, on the 10th day of the 12 month, he established these instructions in writing combined with a feast offering during which I received them. At this time the entire ground outside was suddenly warmed up, so that the ice and snow melted into a river. These auspicious signs were visible to everyone. In addition to these signs of blessings seen, considering the purpose of the followers of the cycle of these teachings, he bestowed a testament of oral instructions condensed to the quintessence. Consequently, it is a point of extreme importance that everyone belonging to the lineage of disciples of this great treasure revealer take this as their essential practice [658]. This was mentioned as an additional point. — this section is an extract from the Biographies of the Hundred Tertöns composed by the first Jamgön Kongtrül, and included in the first volume of the Rinchen Terdzö. (Translated by Erik Pema Kunsang. 776
Patrul Rinpoche From RangjungYesheWiki Patrul Rinpoche ( 1808‐ 1887 ) Patrül Rinpoche, Jigmé Chökyi Wangpo 1808‐1887 Patrül Rinpoche was born in the Dzachuka valley of Eastern Tibet. Although he is generally considered to have been the speech incarnation of the great tertön Jigme Lingpa, Patrül Rinpoche was originally recognized as an incarnation of Palgé Tülku, a lama from Dzogchen Monastery. The first Dodrupchen Rinpoche, one of Jigme Lingpaʹs two main disciples, entrusted young Patrül with the Longchen Nyingthik lineage shortly after the recognition. He practiced, studied, and taught this lineage throughout his life. Patrül Rinpoche studied with many different masters. His two main teachers, however, were Jigmé Lingpaʹs second main disciple, Jigme Gyalwe Nyugu, and the great tantric yogi Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje, the mind incarnation of Jigmé Lingpa. Under these and other important lamas, he studied a vast array of topics, from the foundational teachings of the Hinayana up to the most profound and secret oral instructions of the Great Perfection. At the age of twenty, Patrül Rinpoche left the residence of his predecessor and took up the life of a wandering hermit. For the rest of his days, Patrül wandered from mountain retreats to large monasteries, practicing the teachings, instructing students, and composing commentaries on important texts and practices. Though he was master of the Great Perfection teachings, he had a passion for teaching the Mahayana as well. He taught Shantidevaʹs Bodhisattva‐caryavatara over a hundred times. Throughout his life, Patrül Rinpoche demonstrated the impeccable life of a true siddha/scholar; he kept few possessions, had no fixed abode, and was often mistaken for a beggar due to his humble appearance. 777
In addition to the many stories of his life and exploits, which remain a much treasured part of Tibetan Buddhist lore, Patrül Rinpocheʹs writings have proven to be some of the most influential in recent history. His texts range from scholastic tomes on Mahayana philosophy to pithy poems on how to apply Buddhist principles in daily life. In particular, his text The Words of My Perfect Teacher (Tib: kun bzang bla maʹi zhal lung), a commentary on the Great Perfection preliminary practices, is studied in all of Tibetan Buddhismʹs four main lineages. He also composed a profound commentary on The Three Words that Strike the Vital Point, known in Tibetan asTsigsum Nedek. Patrül Rinpocheʹs heart disciple was Lungtok Tenpé Nyima, who lived with him for twenty‐eight years. His other disciples include some of the 19th centuryʹs most outstanding masters. Among them were Mipham Rinpoche, Khenpo Künpal, the 3rd Dodrupchen Rinpoche, the famed tertön and teacher of the 13th Dalai Lama Lerab Lingpa, and Adzom Drukpa. Patrül Rinpoche died at the age of 80. 778
Mipham Rinpoche From RangjungYesheWiki Mipham Rinpoche, Jamgön Ju Mipham Namgyal 1846‐1912 Ju Mipham ranks alongside Longchen Rabjam and Tsongkhapa as one of Tibetʹs most prolific and influential masters. His presentation of the Nyingma Schoolʹs unique approach to the view and practice of Buddhism, and in particular the relationship between Madhyamaka and the Great Perfection, has had an enormous impact on the past few generations of Tibetan Buddhist scholars and practitioners. Namdrolling Monastic College, currently the largest functioning Nyingma educational institution, includes twenty of his texts in its curriculum. By comparison, only five texts by Longchenpa are included and only one by Rongzom Mahapandita. Miphamʹs primary teachers were Patrul Rinpoche and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, both incarnations of the tertön Jigme Lingpa. Khyentsé Rinpoche requested Mipham to preserve the Nyingma teachings through teaching, debate, and composition—a task in which he admirably succeeded. About his remarkable student, Khyentsé remarked: “In this time, there is no one else on earth more learned than lama Mipham.” He excelled not only in study and teaching, however, but in practice as well. The numerous retreats he completed were always accompanied by miraculous signs of accomplishment. Mipham Rinpoche’s collected writings comprise twenty‐seven volumes and cover a vast array of topics. Among his most influential writings are The Speech of Delight—a commentary on Shantarakshitaʹs Ornament of the Middle Way, Gateway to Knowledge—which provides an overview of the Buddha’s teachings, and Beacon of Certainty—an elucidation of the view of the Great Perfection and its relationship to the Middle Way teachings. Mipham’s most important students were Dodrupchen Rinpoche, the Fifth Dzogchen Rinpoche, Gemang Kyab Gon, Khenpo Padmavajra, Palyul Gyaltrul, Karma Yangtrul, Palpung Situ Rinpoche, Ling Jetrung, Adzom Drukpa, Tokden Shakya Shri, Ngor Ponlob, and others. The great tulkus of Sechen, Dzogchen, Katog, Palyul, Palpung, Dege Gonchen, Repkong and others of all lineages, Sakya, Gelug, Kagyu, and Nyingma, all became his disciples. Mipham Rinpoche was also instrumental in training some of last century’s most important Nyingma teachers. His most prominent students include Khenpo Künpal, Katok Situ, Sechen Rabjam, Khenpo Pema Dorjé, and the tertön Lerab Lingpa. 779
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The Pawo Rinpoches From RangjungYesheWiki Pawo Rinpoche (dpaʹ bo), an important lineage of Karma Kagyu masters very closely associated with the Karmapas. The seat of the early Pawo incarnations was a monastery called Lhalung (lha lung) and at Sekhar Gutog (sras mkhar dgu thog). Now it is the monastery of Nenang (gnas nang) located in the same Tolung (stod lung) valley as the Karmapaʹs Tsurphu (mtshur phu) monastery. The 10th Pawo Rinpoche passed away in Kathmandu/Nepal in 1991. The present 11th incarnation was found and recognized in Tibet by the present 17th Karmapa. 1st Pawo Rinpoche, chos dbang lhun grub (1440‐1503) 2nd Pawo Rinpoche, gtsug lag phreng ba (1504‐1566) 3rd Pawo Rinpoche, gtsug lag rgya mtsho (1567‐1633) 4th Pawo Rinpoche, gtsug lag kun bzang (1633‐1649) 5th Pawo Rinpoche, gtsug lag phrin las rgya mtsho (1649‐1699) 6th Pawo Rinpoche, gtsug lag chos kyi don grub (1701‐?) 7th Pawo Rinpoche, gtsug lag dgaʹ baʹi dbang po (1718‐1781) 8th Pawo Rinpoche, gtsug lag chos kyi rgyal po (no dates) 9th Pawo Rinpoche, gtsug lag nyin byed, (?‐1911) 10th Pawo Rinpoche, gtsug lag smra baʹi dbang phyug (1912‐1991) 11th Pawo Rinpoche, (b.1993) 2nd Pawo Rinpoche From RangjungYesheWiki Tsuglag Threngwa (1504‐1566), a great scholar and very prolific writer. He composed works on history, philosophy, instruction manuals for a variety of meditation practices and more. He was a student of the 8th Karmapa Mikyö Dorje (1507‐1554). See the index of his collected works under Pawo Tsuglag Threngwa Sungbum. 781
10th Pawo Rinpoche From RangjungYesheWiki The 10th Pawo Rinpoche (1912‐1991) The former Pawo Rinpoche, Tsuglag Mawe Wangchuk (gtsug lag smra baʹi dbang hyug) was born in Tibet in 1912. He was recognized and enthroned by the 15th Karmapa Khakyab Dorje (1871‐1922). Like all previous Pawo Rinpoches, he was a close disciple of the Karmapa and the Tai Situpa. The Karmapa treated him like his own son and bestowed the transmissions of the entire Kagyu lineage upon him. In 1925 he met the 13th Dalai Lama Thubten Gyatso (1876‐1933) in Lhasa, who bestowed the name Thubten Kunsal (thub bstan kun gsal) onto Pawo Rinpoche. After having completed his formal education he spent many years in retreat. He was one of the teachers of the 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje (1924‐1981). In 1959 Pawo Rinpoche left Tibet and went to Bhutan and later to Kalimpong. Due to a fragile health, he later went to southern France where he stayed for many years. He lived a rather secluded life and established the retreat centre ʺNenang Samten Cholingʺ there. Just a few years before his passing away in 1991, he returned to Nepal and established a monastery in Boudhanath, Kathmandu. 782
The Shamar Rinpoches From RangjungYesheWiki Shamar Rinpoche , an important lineage of Karma Kagyu masters very closely associated with the Karmapas. The masters of the Shamar lineage, and others, are responsible for the continuation of the Karma Kagyu lineage in the absence and during the minority of the Karmapas. They were in the posession of a red crown, much like the black crown of the Karmapas, hence the name Shamar ‐ Red Hat. Their seat was the monastery of Yangpachen (dpal yangs pa can) until it was impounded and converted by the Lhasa government. There is much political controversy around the lineage of the Shamar Rinpoches. A. bkra shis grags pa (d.1282) Even though he is counted among the lineage of the Shamar, it is only the next one that was officially named as the ʹ1stʹ Shamar Rinpoche 1st Shamar Rinpoche, grags pa seng ge (1283‐1349) 2nd Shamar Rinpoche, mkhaʹ spyod dbang po (1350‐1405) 3rd Shamar Rinpoche, chos dpal ye shes (1406‐1452) 4th Shamar Rinpoche, chos grags ye shes (1453‐1524) 5th Shamar Rinpoche, dkon mchog yan lag, (1525‐1583) 6th Shamar Rinpoche, gar dbang chos kyi dbang phyug (1584‐1630) 7th Shamar Rinpoche, ye shes snyin po (1631‐1694) 8th Shamar Rinpoche, dpal chen chos kyi don grub (1695‐1732) 9th Shamar Rinpoche, dkon mchog dge baʹi ʹbyung gnas, (1733?‐1741) 9th Shamar Trizur, zhwa dmar khri zur gar dbang rgya mtsho, (b.1735?). For very unclear political reasons he had to ʹabdicateʹ the throne of the Shamar lineage, hence the name khri zur, and went into life‐long retreat. Nothing more seems to be known about him but that he became an exceptionally realized master. 10th Shamar Rinpoche, chos grub rgya mtsho, also known as dkon mchog chos kyi nyi ma (1742‐1792). Because of the alleged complicity of Chodrub Gyatso in the Nepalese invasion of Tibet, his monastery Yangpachen and the entire property of the Shamar Labrang were impounded by the Lhasa goverment. The recognition of further reincarnations of Shamar Tulku was prohibited. Therefore there is a large gap in years between the 10th and 11th incarnations. Apparently incarnations did appear, but were not officially recognized and lived out there lives in seclusion. They were exceptionally accomplished masters. 11th Shamar Rinpoche, ʹjam dbyangs rin po che (a son of the 15th Karmapa Kakhyab Dorje, d.1947?) 12th Shamar Rinpoche, an infant who was never named, (b.1948?) 13th Shamar Rinpoche, mi pham smra baʹi go cha, (b.1952) 783
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17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje (1985‐) The 16th Gyalwa Karmapa died in 1981. His reincarnation, the 17th Karmapa, born in 1985, was found in 1992 , in exact accordance with the prediction letter he had written not long before his death, and subsequently formally enthroned. The following is some of the story of his discovery and life so far, from Ken Holmesʹ book ʺKarmapaʺ, published by Altea, Scotland 1996. Part 1 Family background The parents of the present Karmapa, Dondrup and Loga, are nomads. Their life tending the family herd of some eighty yaks takes them from grazing area to grazing area, according to the humours of the four seasons. They are respected members of a group of some seventy nomadic families; more than four hundred persons, deeply‐
tanned with apple‐red cheeks, whose encampments are a travelling village of felt tents, made from long yak hair. As is customary, Dondrup and Loga dedicated their first son to their local Nyingmapa monastery—Kampagar, one of Khamtrul Rinpocheʹs monasteries— to be a future monk. They subsequently had five children, all daughters. Longing for another son, they sought help from Karma Norzang, the renowned yogi of Kampagar, reputed to be like a second Milarepa. He gave them some advice, which they followed as best 785
they could. They were to do a hundred thousand refuge prayers, feed beggars, feed the fish in the rivers and go on pilgrimage to Lhasa. These things they did as best they could but, as destiny would have it, any benefit they produced was not to take effect immediately and their next child was yet another daughter. By the time they were contemplating another attempt at having a son, Karma Norzang had died and so they consulted Amdo Palden, the yogi abbot of Kalek, a Karma Kagyu monastery which formerly belonged to the King of Lhatok. At first Amdo Palden was not sure he could help but, upon further reflection, said that it may be possible for them to have a son but that they must promise to place him, should they have one, in his charge. They agreed to this. His way of helping was to confer empowerment upon them. Auspicious signs During her next pregnancy, Loga dreamt of three white cranes offering her a bowl of yoghurt. A brilliant golden letter sat atop the bowl and signified her forthcoming son. The cranes told her that they were sent by Guru Rinpoche and that the golden letter was the recognition letter for her son but that she should keep this information secret until the right time came. At another time she dreamt of eight auspicious symbols wreathed in rainbow light emanating from her heart. The night before the birth, in late June, 1985, the father saw rainbows over the tent and was surprised, for the sun had already disappeared behind the mountains. The baby was born the next day without pain or dificulty, just before the first golden rays of sunlight burst into the tent. At the same time, a cuckoo landed on the yak‐hair tent and sang. Two days later, the celestial sound of a conch shell, prophesied by the Sixteenth Karmapa in his letter, was heard by all the members of the nomadic community. Those outside their tents thought it came from the inside, and vice versa. Some thought a whole monastic orchestra must be accompanying a high lama but none could be seen. It continued through the afternoon for some two hours. Unknown flowers blossomed in the area and, some while later, three suns were seen in the heavens, a rainbow arching over the middle one. This last phenomenon was widely witnessed throughout eastern Tibet. A special wait When Dondrup and Loga went to Amdo Palden, to request a Buddhist name for their son, as is the Tibetan custom, he told them that this very special child should not be named by any ordinary abbot and that only a very great being, such as the Tai Situpa, could name him and that they should wait until such time as this proved possible. For need of some provisional name, they used one that their daughter said she was given for him by a magpie at a riverside, just after the birth, ʺApo Gagaʺ, meaning ʺhappy, happy brotherʺ. As a very young child, Apo Gaga was obviously a very special being, gifted with clairvoyance and authority. He was able, for instance, to tell people where to find lost sheep or cattle. As one might expect, his parentsʹ local monastery of Kampagar wanted to care for him and to give him the special training which would make him a lama to help many beings. But at that point, Amdo Palden reminded the parents of their promise and took him under his own care at Kalek monastery. Being more distant 786
from their encampments, this was less convenient but they nevertheless honoured their commitment and placed Apo Gaga in his care. When asked about the boy, a local oracle, gifted in a form of divination known as ʺmirror seeingʺ, saw the form of a white conch with a clockwise spiral. He predicted that Apo Gaga would greatly benefit sentient beings but that his destiny would not become clear until he was eight years old. Tibetans count a personʹs age as ʺfirst yearʺ—1—at birth and then adding one as each Tibetan New Year passes. This can make as much as a yearʹs difference with the Western way of counting. The young Apo Gaga spent about four years receiving a special education at Kalek, where he was given the attention due to an unrecognised reincarnate lama. He had a small throne to one side of the shrine hall, an attendant to help him and he was not allowed to get up to the same pranks and games as the other young novices, who showed him a great deal of respect. During this phase, he spent moments back with his family in their nomadic round. In those periods, his parents report that he would often build toy monasteries from earth and stone, or else make a small throne and sit on it to recite prayers. They say he would ride off into the hills on the backs of goats or wild animals, that he would cry whenever animals were being hurt or killed and that he always showed compassion. He showed a particular interest for trees, frequently planting them and being upset if he saw trees or plant life being destroyed. It is said that springs often emerged where he had planted small clumps of trees. Discovery In 1992 he insisted,without explaining why, that his parents move to their summer pasture one month earlier than they had intended. In the Tibetan calendar, summer is a 72 day period commencing three lunar months after Tibetan New Year. Thus, summer usually starts some time in May. Trusting Apo Gagaʹs advice, they moved camp early and it was this that put them in the location predicted in the Sixteenth Karmapaʹs prophecy letter, in time to be found by the search party. Apo Gaga prepared himself to leave, packing some things shortly before the advance search party arrived. He awoke early on the morning of the day they came and placed some of his clothes on the back of his goat, a special one without horns, and told his mother that his monks were coming and that he was now ready to leave for his monastery; it would be good if he could take one or two gifts with him from the Kalek monastery! His elder brother, Yeshe Rabsal, was at Kalek when the advance party arrived and called his brother down from the hills to say that monks from Tsurphu were at Katok, on their way to Barkor, probably looking for the reincarnation of a special lama. News of this brought great joy to the young Karmapa, who laughed and danced. His parents set up a special tent to receive the visitors. After the traditional politenesses of greeting and exchange of white scarves (katta), the advance party enquired after the births of Logaʹs children and about any dreams she or others in the family may have had. The parents told of the their sonʹs birth, the special signs, the dream of the cranes, the brother and fatherʹs dreams, the cuckoo, the sound of the conch shell, the three suns and so forth. In fact, the advance party had already heard most of this through the discreet enquiries that they had made among the other nomads of the camp. Lama Domo, representing Tsurphu in the advance party, then gave the father a copy of the Sixteenth Karmapaʹs prediction and Dondrup realised who exactly his son was. After passing a moment together, in the elation of joy of the 787
search party and astoundment of Dondrupʹs family, the monastic party then accompanied the young Karmapa to Kalek monastery to await the coming of Akong Tulku Rinpoche and Sherab Tarchin, who were expected within days. They soon arrived. Word of the precious discovery was sent back to the Tai Situpa and the Goshir Gyaltsabpa in India, who in turn informed HH the Dalai Lama. When their joyous confirmation of the new Karmapaʹs identity was received at Kalek monastery, Akong Rinpoche and Sherab Tarchin presented Apo Gaga, now become His Holiness the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa, with the special robes and sacred blessings of the tru.sol, that they were carrying on behalf of the Tai Situpa and the Goshir Gyaltsabpa and which had been especially prepared in India at the outset of their journey. As is usual with the discovery of a tulku, offerings were made to the Karmapaʹs parents to express gratitude for the care that they had given him up to the time of discovery. The initial finding of the Karmapa now completed, a short period was spent in the Kalek area during which Akong Rinpoche made acquaintance with the Karmapa and his family as the full import of what was happening settled in. Preparations were made for the journey to Tsurphu. Akong Rinpoche and Sherab Tarchin, representing the Tai Situpa and the Goshir Gyaltsabpa, and a new group of representatives just arrived from Tsurphu, eventually accompanied the Karmapa on his historic journey back to Tsurphu; the seat his former emanation had left some thirty‐three years previously. Before the party left Kalek monastery, three suns appeared in the hazy sky and were seen by many hundreds of people in the surrounding area. The middle one was larger and had a rainbow halo, while the other two were smaller and nestling in the clouds. There could well be a meteorological explanation for such a thing, but even so, it would still be what the Tibetans would call ʺan auspicious coincidenceʺ. Homecoming to Tsurphu His arrival at Tsurphu was a moving moment for the thousands of Tibetans who had quickly gathered there as news of his coming spread. Descending from his vehicle the Karmapa made the last part of the journey mounted upon a beautifully‐
apparelled white steed, wearing a special coiffe and accompanied by monks carrying silk banners and playing the traditional musical instruments. Tibetans are famous for their equestrian skills. Many were there on horseback as an escort, dignified in their upright bearing on their small but powerful mounts. The Karmapa entered Tsurphu itself beneath a gigantic golden parasol, sign of his high rank, to be greeted by a mighty crowd. Descending from his horse with great power of presence for one so young, he was seated in front of the main temple. Dancers in two‐man snow‐lion costumes performed antics and presented him with ʺsnow‐lionʹs milkʺ to drink, masked representations of the Kagyu protectors came to great him one by one as did the figure of an ancient sage, in symbolic wish for his life to be long and healthy. In general, the days following his arrival were a great celebration for the makeshift city of people that had spontaneously formed there. There were lay folk dances, instrumental music and singing. Every day, the Karmapa gave his blessing to the vast crowds. On June 27th, the government of the Peoples Republic of China officially approved Urgyen Trinley Dorje as the seventeenth reincarnation of the Karmapa. He who had been, 800 years before, the first reincarnate lama of Tibet became the first 788
tulku permitted by the Chinese government since 1959. This was undoubtedly aided by the fact that many previous Karmapas were gurus of the Emperors of China. Enthronement The Tai Situpa and the Goshir Gyaltsabpa sought visas for entry into Tibet to officially enthrone His Holiness and permission was also obtained for a hair‐cutting and naming ceremony to be held in Lhasaʹs famous Jo‐kang temple, the home of the statue of Buddha Sakyamuni brought to Tibet from China by Princess Wen Chʹeng in the seventh century. This statue is said to have come to China from India, where, some say, it had been made during the Buddhaʹs lifetime by the artist Visvakarman and blessed by Lord Buddha himself. It depicts the Enlightened One at the age of twelve and is believed to bring great blessing to those who see it. Also during this period, representatives of Kagyu Buddhism from many nations prepared themselves for a journey to Tibet to attend the enthronement of the teacher for whom they and their numerous organisations worldwide had been waiting so long. After years of uncertainty and anxiety and a distinct feeling of being in limbo, the joy of the Karmapaʹs discovery was as tremendous as one might imagine it to be upon hearing good news that one has awaited for a decade. Now, it was also crystal clear that the prediction of the great Nyingmapa visionary, Chojur Lingpa, was being fulfilled and that the Tai Situpa would be the main guru of the new Karmapa. Almost a century before, Chojur Lingpa had had a vision in which he had seen all the Karmapas up to the twenty‐first incarnation. This is how he described the vision concerning the Seventeenth Karmapa: In the area (of the vision) in front of the mountains, (there are) rocks and pine trees, and there is the seventeenth of the incarnation rosary, together with Khentin Tai Situ, their minds fused as one. This (signifies) that the leaves and petals of the Buddhaʹs teachings will flourish (under him) and there will be abundant fruit of the very essence of the transmissions of Gampopa. The Tai Situpa, to whom the previous Karmapa had entrusted the prediction letter, would be as one with the mind of the young Karmapa. This was also what the prediction letter itself had foreseen: He is sustained by Lord Dönyö Drup. Pema Dönyö is the name the Sixteenth Karmapa had himself given to the Tai Situpa, some thirty years previous. He gave that particular name according to Guru Rinpocheʹs prophecies, made in a text called the Gongdu, giving names for the Tai Situpas. This is the tenth of those names. In an address he gave, on Indian radio, to Kagyu followers, HH the Dalai Lama also made it clear that the Tai Situpa and the Goshir Gyatsabpa were the main lamas responsible for finding and establishing the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa. 789
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His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa The Kagyu Office website presents extensive information on His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa. The sidebar provides links to sections on His Holinessʹs current activities and schedule, as well as his personal history, from his recognition through his life in Tibet, his escape to India, to the current day. Below is an overview of the life of His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa. The Karmapas Karmapa means ʺthe one who carries out buddha‐activityʺ or ʺthe embodiment of all the activities of the buddhas.ʺ In the Tibetan tradition, great enlightened teachers are said to be able to consciously arrange to be reborn as a teacher who can carry on the teachings of a predecessor in a prior life. Pursuant to this tradition, the Karmapas have incarnated in this form of manifestation body (Skt. nirmanakaya), for seventeen lifetimes, as of the present, and all have played the most important role in preserving and propagating the Buddhist teachings of Tibet. Prior to the birth of the first Karmapa, the arrival of a Buddhist master who would be known as the Karmapa was been prophesied by the historic Buddha Shakyamuni and the great tantric master of India, Guru Padmasambhava. Throughout the centuries, Karmapas have been the central figure in the continuation of the vajrayana lineage in general and Kagyu lineage in particular, and have played a very important role in the preservation of the study and practice lineages of Buddhism. Birth and Early Years of the 17th Karmapa In 1985 a male infant was born into a nomad family in the Lhatok region of Eastern Tibet. In the months prior to his birth, his mother had wonderful dreams during her pregnancy. On the day of his birth, a cuckoo landed on the tent in which he was born, and a mysterious conch‐like sound was heard by many throughout the valley in which the family of the infant lived. . In Tibet, such events are considered auspicious portents of the birth of an enlightened teacher. The young nomad was called Apo Gaga. While his early years seemed, to his family, full of blessing, at first Apo Gaga did not talk of any connection to the Karmapas. However, in 1992, he asked his family to move the location of their nomadic home to another valley, and told them to expect a visit from traveling monks. Soon after setting up their home in the new location, followers of the Sixteenth Karmapa came to that valley pursuant to the secret instructions of the Sixteenth Karmapa, contained in his letter of prediction. The birth and the other details of Apo Gagaʹs life matched the predictions of the letter. Apo Gaga was discovered to be the Seventeenth Karmapa, Ogyen Drodul Trinley Dorje. In addition to his letter of prediction, the Sixteenth Karmapa wrote many poems, or songs, predicting that though he would leave his traditional main seat in Tsurphu, Tibet, he would soon return to Tsurphu again, that his root teacher would be HE Situ Rinpoche, and that he would study in India. After the death of the 16th 791
Karmapa, it became clear that these predictions applied to his successor. Furthermore, the 19th Century master Chogyur Lingpa made a number of predictions about the lives of the Karmapas, and for the 17th, Chogyur Lingpaʹs predictions matched the details of His Holinessʹs birth. Since these predictions were to be fulfilled in themselves without recognition by any other master, it is traditionally said that the Karmapa is ʺself‐
recognized.ʺ The Karmapaʹs Return To Tsurphu In Tibet, The Historic Seat Of The Karmapas In His Holinessʹs historic return to Tsurphu Monastery, Tibet in June 1992, he donned ritual clothing and approached on horseback The Seventeenth Karmapa did in fact return to Tolung Tsurphu Monastery in Central Tibet in 1992, where he was enthroned on September 27, 1992, with the permission of the Chinese government. The granting of permission by the Chinese was a first in Tibet. At Tsurphu, over 20,000 supplicants assembled to witness the return of His Holiness Karmapa. The following morning, some 25,000 people filed before His Holiness to receive a personal blessing. At Tsurphu, the Karmapa studied the Buddhist sciences of mind, learned ritual, and practiced sacred arts, such as dance. Each day he received hundreds of visitors from throughout Tibet and around the world. He eventually began to offer empowerments and participated in various rituals at the monastery. At the age of about 10, His Holiness recognized the rebirth of reincarnate teachers, including such eminent teachers as Pawo Rinpoche, Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche and the Dabzang Rinpoche. While His Holiness was at Tsurphu, the monastery underwent extensive rebuilding to restore the temples, shrines, stupas, a shedra, and residences that had been destroyed over the years, fulfilling one of the main duties of a Karmapa. As the years went by, however, His Holiness came under increasing pressure from Tibetan and Chinese authorities to act in ways which were contrary to his obligations as a Karmapa. He publically refused to denounce the Dalai Lama and to recognize the 792
Panchen Lama, and engaged in numerous other acts which were contrary to the wishes of the authorities.Though he was under constant surveillance from the Chinese government, who refused to grant him permission to leave the country even for a short time, he and a handful of attendants concocted a bold scheme to escape from Tibet to India. Finally, in 1999, recognizing perhaps that his usefulness in Tibet was being undermined, he decided to leave. Karmapaʹs Great Escape His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa meets His Holiness the Dalai Lama for the first time upon his arrival in Dharamsala on January 5, 2000 After months of careful planning, on December 28, the fourteen‐year‐old Karmapa pretended to enter into a solitary retreat, and instead, donned civilian garb and slipped out a window. Leaving Tsurphu Monastery with a handful of attendants, he began a daring escape by car, foot, horseback, helicopter, train and taxi, a heroic journey which was to become the stuff of headlines throughout the world. On January 5, 2000 he arrived, to the the great surprise and overwhelming joy of the world, in Dharamsala, India, where he was met by His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. He received refugee status from the government of India in 2001. His Holiness continues to live near Dharamsala, awaiting permission from the Indian authorities to leave Dharamsala and return to Rumtek Monastery, the traditional seat of the Karmapas in India. Information about His Holinessʹs activities in India since his arrival and his current schedule are also available at this website. 793
The Seventeen Karmapas Karma Pakshi successfully established himself as the incarnation of Düsum Khyenpa, whose letter to his disciple Pomdrakpa was instrumental in the recognition. Karmapa means ʺthe one who carries out buddha‐activityʺ or ʺthe embodiment of all the activities of the buddhas.ʺ The Karmapas have incarnated in this form of nirmanakaya, or manifestation body, for seventeen lifetimes, as of the present, and all have played the most important role in preserving and propagating the Buddhist teachings of Tibet. The arrival of a master who would be known as the Karmapa was been prophesied by the historic Buddha Shakyamuni and the great tantric master of India, Guru Padmasambhava. Throughout the centuries, Karmapas have been the central figure in the continuation of the vajrayana lineage in general and Kagyu lineage in particular, and have played a very important role in the preservation of the study and practice lineages of Buddhism. Historical background The Prophecies The Lord Buddha Shakyamuni has foretold the coming of the Karmapa in various sutras and tantras. Only a few of the buddhist masters are prophesied in the sutras and tantras and the Karmapa was certainly one of them. The following prophecies were compiled by Rinchen Palzang and appear in his work entitled The All‐Illuminating Mirror: An Index of Tsurphu Monastery. From the Samadhiraja Sutra (The King of Samadhi Sutra): Two thousand years after my passing, The teachings will spread in the land of the red‐faced ones, Who will be the disciples of Avalokita. [At that time,] the bodhisattva Simhanada, known as ʺKarmapaʺ, will appear. Possessing mastery over samadhi, he will tame beings And establish them in bliss through seeing, hearing, recalling and touching. 794
From the Lankavatara Sutra (Descent Into Lanka Sutra): Wearing monastic robes and a black crown, He will perform unceasing benefit for beings Until the teachings of one thousand buddhas disappear. From the Mulamañjushri Tantra (Root Tantra of Mañjushri): Endowed with a name beginning with ʺKaʺ and ending with ʺMaʺ, There will appear an individual who illuminates the teachings. The Karmapaʹs arrival was also prophesized by the great Indian mahasiddha, Padmasambhava in various termas. The Buddha Karmapa From the viewpoint of the ultimate essence, it is said that the Karmapa has attained enlightenment long time ago, as a Buddha in the past called Shenphen Namrol. He will be the sixth Buddha of this fortunate eon in the future, who will be known as the Trukpa Senge and he is inseparable with the present buddha, Shakyamuni. From the relative point of view, he manifests as the tenth level (bhumi) Bodhisattva and an emanation of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezik. The Karmapas have manifested in countless different emanations through the centuries. Some of the most prominent manifestations of the Karmapas are the Great Brahmin Saraha and Padmasambhava in India and many other emanations in Tibet, who upheld and propagated the teachings of the Buddha and benefited countless beings all over. However, only one nirmakaya form of the successive incarnations appeared in different times and they all have been the most outstanding master in Tibetan buddhist history. He is the first lama whose successive reincarnate lines were recognized, and he manifested from the 11th century to continues to manifest today. The Buddha Activity The Karmapas have not only played an instrumental role in the Kagyu lineage, but also in other Vajrayana Buddhist schools of Tibet. For example, the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje engaged in a key role in the preservation and development of the Nyingthik tradition in the Nyingma lineage; The Fourth Karmapa Rolpe Dorje recognized the outstanding qualities and potential of Je Tsongkhapa and became the first preceptor to Tsongkhapa, the founder of Gelukpa school; the Seventh through the 795
Ninth Karmapas contributed to the preservation and continuation of the Sutras, Tantras, and Mahamudra lineages of the Kagyu school, the Fourteenth Karmapa took part in the preservation and continuation of the Shangpa Kagyu lineage, which was at the brink of becoming extinct, and also had the vision of non‐sectarian movement in Tibet, which he encouraged his heart disciple, Jamgon Kongtrul the Great, to continue; the Fifteenth Karmapa Khakhyap Dorje partook in the preservation and continuation of the Terma traditions of the Nyingma lineage; and the Great Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, has been one of the most remarkable Tibetan Buddhist masters of our time, critical to preserving and continuing the various Tibetan buddhist lineages in exile. His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa dedicated a major part of his activity to the preservation of scriptures: staring with the Kagyur, translated words of the Buddha (approx. 108 volumes), and Tengyur, translations of the commentaries to the words of Buddha by the Indian masters (approx. 214 volumes). His Holiness reprinted the Derge edition in New Delhi and distributed the Kagyur freely to all the Tibetan monasteries in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, and USA, and Tengyur at the basic costs of printing to all the monasteries. This was a historic deed of His Holiness‐no Tibetan masters of the past ever distributed the Kagyur freely to all the monasteries. His Holiness also undertook the work of preserving the writings of great Tibetan masters, including all the works of Karmapas that were available, and propagated them in exile India through teaching, giving transmissions, and printing the scriptures. His Holiness the Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, is the leading Tibetan master in the post‐1959 era of Tibetan history. His Holiness is the first reincarnate Lama in world history to be recognized by a communist government. After being recognized to preside at Tsurphu, His Holiness contributed mightily to the development of buddhism in Tibet in the 1990ʹs. During this time, His Holiness rebuilt and fully developed the Tsurphu Monastery, the main seat of the Karmapas that was completely destroyed during 1959 and the ʹ60ʹs Cultural Revolution. He was eventually forced to leave Tsurphu at the end of 1999, and he fled to India. His Holiness is now temporarily living in Gyuto Monastery in the Dharamsala region, where he is receiving the full lineage transmissions and benefiting countless sentient beings. Thousands of Tibetans, Indian, Nepalese, Bhutanese, Asians, and Westerners visit His Holiness year around. His Holiness grants public and private audiences as well as special practice interviews for higher lamas. One of the most unique attributes of the Karmapaʹs is the Black Crown, which symbolizes the activity of the direct lineage of the Karmapas. Predictions Fulfilled: The Search Party Finds the Karmapa (May‐June 1992) ʺThe identity of a Karmapa is not decided by a popular vote or a debate between groups. It is decided only by the prediction of the previous Karmapa.ʺ Traditionally, the Karmapa is identified by matching the prophecies of his predecessor to the details of the birth of the candidate for recognition as a Karmapa. 796
Once the sacred letter of prediction of His Holiness the 16th Karmapa was located in 1992, plans were immediately made to locate the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa according to that prediction. ʺTo the north in the east of the land of snowʺ The 16th Karmapaʹs letter of prediction stated that he would be reborn ʺto the north in the east of the land of snow.ʺ This was interpreted at the March 1992 meeting of the council of the four seat holders to mean that he would be reborn in eastern Tibet (north of Rumtek). The council decided that H.E. Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche III would go to Tibet to oversee the search, as he was already scheduled to be there in June. On April 26, 1992, Jamgon Rinpoche tragically passed away in an automobile accident in Sikkim. Rather than allow this to delay the planned search for the Karmapa, Tai Situ Rinpoche and Tsurphu Gyaltsab Rinpoche continued the search initiated by Jamgon Rinpoche. (Shamar Rinpoche was not in Rumtek during the latter half of May, 1992.) They appointed Akong Rinpoche and Sherab Tharchin, as their respective representatives. In May, the two representatives arranged to go to Tibet for the dual purposes of requesting forty‐nine days of prayers for Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche at various monasteries, and locating the incarnation of the XVllth Karmapa using the previous Karmapaʹs instruction letter as a guide. Before the two representatives arrived in Tibet, information about the sacred testament, along with its interpretation by the council, was sent to Venerable Drupon Dechen Rinpoche at Tsurphu Monastery, the main seat of the Karmapas in Tibet. Drupon Dechen Rinpoche had been at Tsurphu since the 1980ʹs. In early 1980, when the communist Chinese government opened the Tibet‐Nepal border for older Tibetans to visit family and relatives, His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa had instructed Drupon Dechen Rinpoche to go back to Tibet to reconstruct the seat. Tsurphu was requested to dispatch an advance search party who would report their findings to Akong Rinpoche and Sherab Tharchin when they arrived. The officials of Tsurphu Monastery obtained permission from the government to conduct a search. The advance search party was headed by Lama Domo, representing Tsurphu. The members traveled by jeep for about five days through deep snow, heading for the province of Lhotak. 797
ʺWhere divine thunder spontaneously blazes, In a beautiful nomadʹs place with the sign of a cow. The method is Döndrub and the wisdom is Lolagaʺ The search party went to the village of Bakor (ʺbaʺ is one word for ʺcowʺ in Tibetan), near Lhatokgar, in the province of Lhatok (ʺLhaʺ means god, or divine, and ʺthokʺ means ʺthunder) Upon arrival, as a ruse, they stated that they had come from India with letters for a ʺMr.ʺ Loga. ʺWas there someone by that name in the village?ʺ They were told that there was a woman in the village by that name. One important detail of the letter was thus confirmed. They inquired about her husbandʹs name and were told it was Döndrub. They discovered that the couple had a young son, born in the Wood Ox Year, and that his birth had been accompanied by many miraculous signs. When the search party arrived in Bakor, they found that they had been expected by the eight year old son of Döndrub and Loga. He had for many weeks been planting trees and performing special blessing rituals, preparing to depart soon. The Early Years of HH The Karmapa (1985‐1992) A view of the area where the 17th Karmapa grew up When the advance search party arrived in the eastern region of Tibet called Lhatok, they discovered that that the birthplace and birthdate of a child living there matched the details in the sacred prediction letter of the 16th Karmapa. When asked, the parents told of their sonʹs birth, special signs, dreams of the mother, father and siblings, of a special bird heralding the birth, of the sound of a conch shell after the 798
birth, and other events. In fact, the advance party had already independently confirmed most of these events through conversations with other nomads of the camp. The early years of this young nomad, who was then called by the nickname of Apo Gaga, fulfilled all the predictions of the sacred testament of the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa. Apo Gaga Karma Döndrub and Loga, Apo Gagaʹs father and mother The Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa was born in the nomad community of Bakor, eastern Tibet, on the eighth day of the fifth Tibetan month, year of the Wood Ox (June 26, 1985). His father is Karma Döndrub and mother is Loga. He has six sisters and three brothers. The village in which he was born had about 72 nomadic families, comprising about 430 people. Born into the Nomadic Life The birth occurred without any difficulty for his mother. The circumstances of his birth were full of auspicious portents, but since he would not be identified as the Karmapa for many years, he was called Apo Gaga, which means ʺhappy brother,ʺ a nickname given to him by his sister. Before he was born, his mother had a number of auspicious dreams, such as three white cranes offering her a bowl of yogurt. A beautiful bird, of a type not commonly seen, landed on the roof of his familyʹs tent and sang a lovely song. At another time, a rainbow appeared over the tent. [With] the miraculous, far‐reaching sound of the white one; [This] is the one known as Karmapa. In the afternoon of the third day after his birth, the sound of a conch shell resonated throughout the valley for about one hour. For another half hour, the tones of various musical instruments were clearly heard by all the people in this nomad community. Flowers grew that had not been seen in the area before. 799
One day when he was playing with his youngest sister, he said ʺFatherʹs car has fallen down.ʺ When his sister told him not to speak in that way, His Holiness answered, ʺEverything is all right.ʺ Later the Karmapaʹs father came back and they discovered that his fatherʹs vehicle had indeed fallen off the side of the road. Fortunately, no one was hurt. The young Karmapa was treated with great respect by his parents and the Karmapa demonstrated remarkable gifts. Yet His Holiness felt that any such gifts were not evidence of any supernatural power in him, but only the manifestation of the teachings of the Buddha and the accomplishment of the previous Karmapas. Though many wonderful signs appeared during his life, he thought it would be disrespectful for someone to believe himself to be the Karmapa, prior to the arrival of an official search party. Hence, during his childhood in eastern Tibet, His Holiness thought of himself ʺas a human being, not as the Karmapaʺ; as far as he was concerned, he was like many other boys his age. The Karmapa and his family lived very simply, residing in tents and moving their location from season to season, subsisting on a staple diet of butter, meat and milk. Winters were bitingly cold. It was an extremely isolated and natural environment, and the people living there had a very strong faith in Buddhism. As was very common in Tibet, the Karmapa entered a monastery at a young age. Before the birth of His Holiness, his parents had consulted Thogden Amdo Palden Rinpoche, from Kalek Monastery, about having another child, and had asked him for his prayers. Because of that preexisting connection, Palden Rinpoche eventually took responsibility for educating the young Karmapa. At Kalek monastery, the Karmapa involved himself in the intensive study and practice of Buddhism. He was treated as a reincarnation, but he was not identified as the Karmapa or any specific tulku. In 1992, the seven‐year‐old Karmapa, then unrecognized, left Kalek Monastery to spend some time with his family. Upon arrival at his home, he asked his family to move the location of their nomadic home to the summer pasture a month early. Somewhat mysteriously, he had told his parents to expect a visit from traveling monks. Putting some clothes on the back of his special pet goat, he said, ʺNow I am ready to go to my monastery. It would be a good idea to take a few gifts from Kalek Monastery with me.ʺ Thus the search party discovered the Karmapa in Bakor, the name of which carries the sign of the cow. After satisfying themselves that the life of the young nomad matched the details of the prediction letter of the 16th Karmapa, the head of the advance search team, Lama Domo, provided the Karmapaʹs father a copy of the Sixteenth Karmapaʹs prediction. It was then that Döndrub realised who exactly his son was. After joyful celebrations by the family, the monastic party then accompanied the young Karmapa to Kalek monastery to await the arrival of Akong Tulku Rinpoche and Sherab Tarchin. Shortly thereafter, three suns were seen in the sky. They were the same size and arrayed in a row. A rainbow over the middle sun dissolved into the flanking suns. This phenomenon was reported throughout Eastern Tibet. 800
Confirmation by H.H. The Dalai Lama (June 1992) The Buktham Rinpoche of HH the Dalai Lama “The boy born to Karma Döndrub and Loga in the Wood‐Ox Year (of the Tibetan calendar) identifies with the prediction letter (left by the late Karmapa) and is hereby recognized as the reincarnation of the 16th Karmapa. With prayers for his well‐being and for the success of his activities.ʺ The Dalai Lama After the advance search team from Tsurphu had located the Seventeenth Karmapa in Tibet, the monastic party accompanied the young Karmapa to Kalek monastery. Akong Tulku Rinpoche and Sherab Tarchin soon arrived to verify the information of the search party. In India, meanwhile, Their Eminences Tai Situ Rinpoche and Gyaltshab Rinpoche in India waited at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim for news of the results of the search. In early June, they traveled to Dharamsala to inform the supreme leader of Tibet, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, that a search party had been dispatched to find the reincarnation, based on the sacred testament of the 16th Karmapa interpreted by the council of seatholder. In Delhi, on the way to see His Holiness, they were able to contact Tsurphu through an intermediary in Lhasa, and learned that His Holinessʹs incarnation had been found according to the letter, with verification of signs such as the name of the father, the mother, location of the family, and auspicious events surrounding the birth. Immediately they departed for Dharamsala to see His Holiness the Dalai Lama and seek his confirmation of the discovery. When they arrived in Dharamsala, they learned that His Holiness the Dalai Lama had left for Brazil. Through His Holinessʹs office in Dharmsala, their eminences relayed the information they had gathered, including the sacred letter, the confirming information about the details from Tibet, the manner of the search and examination, a drawing of the birthplace, Guru Rinpocheʹs prophesy and other details. In response to this, His Holiness provided his informal confirmation, replying that ʺIt is appropriate to recognize and confirmʺ the candidate Apo Gaga as the reincarnation of the 16th Karmapa. Based on this confirmation, the advance party decided to bring His Holiness Karmapa to Tsurphu. 801
After consideration of the evidence and additional meetings with Their Eminences Tai Situ Rinpoche, Tsurphu Gyaltsab Rinpoche and Shamar Rinpoche, His Holiness the Dalai Lama granted the Buktham Rinpoche, the official notification of the Dalai Lamaʹs approval of the identity of His Holiness the Seventeenth Karmapa. The Office of the Dalai Lama published specific additional details of the identifications on July 23, 1992 as follows: The personal identifications of the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa as indicated by the Sacred Letter of Prediction left by the 16th Karmapa, consistently confirmed by the search party, and as formally approved by His Holiness the Dalai Lama are as below. 1) Name of the Reincarnate: Ugen Thinley alias Apo Gaga 2) Date and Year of birth: June 26, 1985 (Wood‐Ox Year) 3) Place of birth Village: Bakor District: Lhatok Province: Kham Country: Tibet (occupied) Father: Karma Dondup Tashi Mother: Loga Names of Parents: Place of residence: Tsurphu Monastery, Tibet When the joyous confirmation of the new Karmapaʹs identity was received at Kalek monastery, Akong Rinpoche and Sherab Tarchin presented His Holiness the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa, with the special robes and sacred blessings of the tru.sol, that they were carrying on behalf of the Tai Situpa and the Goshir Gyaltsabpa and which had been especially prepared in India at the outset of their journey. Customary offerings were made to the Karmapaʹs parents to express gratitude for the care that they had given him up to the time of discovery. After a short period, His Holiness departed with an entourage for Tsurphu Monastery the traditional home of the Karmapas. Return to Tsurphu (June 1992) On the day the swan circles the edge of the lake And leaves its fledglings in the darkening swamp The day the white vulture soars in the depths of the sky, You will wonder where the man Rigdröl is. O Fledglings, I feel untold grief for you. Now I will not explain much; this is but a jest, 802
Yet unified with ultimate reality. When the Lord of the Path is held by the king of birds, In prayer I aspire that we gather in great joy. From The Song Whose Time Has Come: The Melodious Hum of the Bee (1944) by The Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa His Holiness the 16th Karmapa fled Tibet in 1959 and since that time Tsurphu Monastery had been without a Karmapa in residence. Thus the arrival of the reincarnation of the 16th Karmapa was greeted with great anticipation. When word reached the Tibetans that the reincarnation of the Karmapa had been found and hat he was being brought to Tsurphu Monastery, thousands of his followers gathered in great joy. On June 15, 1992, His Holiness arrived in an entourage of seven jeeps followed by two trucks along the main road to Tsurphu, which was adorned with greetings and filled with the aroma of burning incense. The motorcade was flanked by riders on horseback, with each horse and rider fully arrayed the noblest attire. As the motorcade moved slowly up the winding road towards the Monastery, the melody of the religious mescal trumpets called gyalings (rgya gling) welcomed the Karmapa back to his main seat, established so many centuries earlier by the 1st Karmapa, Düsum Khyenpa. The Karmapa first stepped out of the vehicles at his Summer Palace, about 15 minutes from the main entrance to the monastery. Accompanied by his parents and members of the search party, His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa received monks from Tsurphu and Chinese and Tibetan officials who had come to pay their respects. After tea, His Holiness was driven to the main entrance of the monastery, where he mounted a white horse. The 17th Karmapa was escorted on horseback through the front gate in a traditional grand procession, surrounded by monks holding a huge canopy overhead, with other carrying colorful banners and flags. As he entered 803
the main gate, monastic dancers arrayed in traditional costumes and masks as snow lions and other figures performed around him. His Holiness was seated in a special throne prepared for him in front of the main temple, where he was offered symbolic Snow Lionʹs milk, amidst the magnificent and sacred spectacle of the performance of the Mahakala Bernakchen dance. His Holiness was then escorted into the main Lhakhang, where he took his seat on the throne of the Karmapas. He was presented with elaborate offerings of Buddha statues, Dharma texts and precious objects. A blessing ceremony was held for the thousands of devotees eagerly waiting to be close to His Holiness, which went on for many hours. As dancing and singing in the courtyard continued for many hours into the late evening, opera singers resplendent in their colorful costumes and masks together with some other singers celebrated this historic arrival of the XVIIth Karmapa to Tsurphu Monastery‐‐home and original seat of all the glorious Karmapas. Enthronement (September 27, 1992) His Holiness at the naming ceremony In July of 1992, His Holiness received his formal name in a traditional ceremony before the most precious Buddha image in Tibet, at the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa. Situ Rinpoche and Gyaltsap Rinpoche conducted the elaborate ceremony, presenting His Holiness with a variety of blessed items sent by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and others. His Holiness was given the traditional name of the Seventeenth Karmapa, revealed to the Great Treasure Holder (ʺTerchenʺ) Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa by Guru Rinpoche in the 19th Century C.E.: Pal Khyabdak Ogyen Gyalway Nyugu Drodül Trinley Dorje Tsal Chokle Nampar Gyalway De. On 27th September 1992, His Holiness XVIIth Karmapa was enthroned at Tolung Tsurphu, the main seat of all the Gyalwang Karmapas since the 12th century. Before the ceremony began, His Holiness was present with an official certificate from the Beijing government accepting the recognition of His Holiness as a reincarnate lama. With that simple gesture, the heart of Tibetʹs cultural history was officially restored. 804
Dusum Khyenpa, the First Karmapa, had started the Tulku Tradition in Tibet in the 12th century, and it endured for 800 years. It came to an abrupt quiescence after the entry of the Chinese army into Tibet in 1959. With the acquiescence of the government of China, the XVIIth Karmapa had revived the tulku tradition. This was indeed a wonderful and miraculous occurence. As the religious ceremony commenced, the Karmapa was seated on the throne and His Eminence Tai Situ Rinpoche presented Ogyen Trinley Dorje with the confirmation letter, written by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, a copy of the Dakhaishalcham and the prediction of the Nechung Oracle, which had—at the request of an ecclesiastical representative of the Government of Sikkim—also ratified the selection of the Karmapa. In the traditional ceremony called ʺNgasol,ʺ His Eminence Tai Situpa consecrated the seven year old Karmapa with the eight precious ingredients, the eight auspicious symbols and the seven possessions of universal monarchs. Speech offerings followed, from eminent masters such as Khenpo Juno Dawa, Adi Rinpoche, Khenpo Lodro and others. This part of the ceremony concluded with an offering of an enomous mandala, by Gyaltsab Rinpoche, followed by the offering of an image of the Buddha symbolizing the body, a long‐life sutra text for speech and a stupa symbolizing the mind. Representatives of monasteries from all over the world, composed of more than 300 Tulkus and representatives of Dharma centers and governments, spanning four continents then made their offerings. The shrine room where the ceremony took place that day was completely full and tens of thousands of Tibetans congregated outside, having arrived the previous week and set up tents everywhere around the monastery grounds. 805
The following day, His Holiness individually blessed many of those present; over 30,000 people were eventually fortunate enough to receive his blessing. Two days later, at the tender age of 7 years, so recently plucked from his nomad home in Lhotak, His Holiness began his service as the 17th Karmapa by blessing the audience with the most beneficent and compassionate activity of the Lord of Compassion. The 17th Gyalwang Karmapa performed his first empowerment, the initiation of the standing red‐Chenrezig. It is said that flock of eagles circled in a clockwise direction and a horizontal rainbow appeared in the middle of the sky right above the monastery. His Holiness the Seventeenth Karmapa had fulfilled the prediction of the Sixteenth, returning to the seat of the Karmapas. Rebuilding Tsurphu (1992‐1999) Throughout Tibet and China, many monasteries were destroyed during 1959 and the Cultural Revolution. Tsurphu was no exception, suffering very heavily. This beautiful seat was completely destroyed and was left in total ruin in 1966. No inhabitants were able to remain there; after the destruction you could see from a distance only the the remnants of a mostly collapsed and ruined wall. In early 1980, when the communist Chinese government opened the Tibet‐
Nepal border for older Tibetans to visit family and relatives, His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa instructed Venerable Drupon Dechen Rinpoche to go back to Tibet to reconstruct the original seat, Tsurphu Monastery. Reconstruction of Tsurphu was extremely difficult because Tibetan people were very poor and any support they could provide was very limited. However, through the tireless effort of Drupon Dechen Rinpoche and the devotion and dedication of the Tibetan people, many aspects this large complex was rebuilt. After many years of hard work and dedication they completed the partial rebuilding of the main shrine and some of the other parts of the development. Upon the return of the Seventeenth Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the reconstruction was brought to a completely different level. Most of the original Tsurphu Monastery complex was restored and a new shedra, or monastic college, addition was built. Many devoted students and followers of the Kagyu lineage visited His Holiness Karmapa at Tsurphu and donated their services for the effort of rebuilding the original seat at Tsurphu Monastery. 806
His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa meets His Holiness the Dalai Lama for the first time upon his arrival in Dharamsala on January 5, 2000 Kagyu Office 12‐2006 807
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His Holiness the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, was born to nomadic parents in 1985 in the Lhathok region of Tibet. The parents, who had many daughters and one son, wanted to have another boy. They were told by the yogi abbot of Kalek, a Karma Kagyu monastery, that they might have a son but if they did they must place him at Kalek monastery. They agreed and a short time later they had a son. The boy was called ʺApo Gaga,ʺ which means ʺhappy brother,ʺ a nickname given to him by his older sister. Apo Gaga spent four years at Kalek monastery, where he received a special education and was treated as an unrecognized reincarnate lama. During this period, he also spent some time with his parents. In 1992, he suggested to his parents that they move their camp early. This decision to move placed them in the spot where the predictive letter written by the Sixteenth Karmapa had said the Seventeenth Karmapa would be found. Apo Gaga told his parents his monks were coming for him, and packed his things. Miraculous events and signs that occurred during the pregnancy and birth of Apo Gaga—the locale in which he was living matching exactly the place described by the prediction letter left to Tai Situ Rinpoche by the Sixteenth Karmapa; the names of the parents, also in the prediction letter; the appearance and manners of the young boy himself‐‐all led the monks from Tsurphu to determine if this boy, born to nomads, was the Seventeenth Karmapa. His Eminence Tai Situpa and His Holiness the Dalai Lama confirmed the identification. After a short time spent at Kalek, preparations were made for the journey to Tsurphu. Before the party left, three suns appeared in the sky and were seen by many hundreds of people in the surrounding area. On September 27 of the same year, the Chinese government officially allowed the recognition of Ogyen Trinley Dorje as the seventeenth incarnation of the Karmapa. This was the first time the Communist government allowed the recognition of any reincarnate lama. The hair‐cutting and naming ceremony was held in Lhasaʹs famous Jokhang Temple. It was only the second time that a Karmapa had received this ordination there. The enthronement was held at Tsurphu Monastery that day, September 27, 1992, where over 20,000 pilgrims assembled. His Holiness concluded the enthronement 809
by giving his personal blessings to the crowd that completely surrounded the monastery. The enthusiasm and overwhelming numbers of people trying to enter the monastery forced the blessing to be continued into the following day. That following morning, 25,000 people filed before His Holiness to receive his personal blessings. The following day the Seventeenth Karmapa bestowed his first formal empowerment, of Red Chenrezig, from a monastery rooftop. From his arrival at Tsurphu in 1992, His Holiness was involved primarily in dharma studies. This early education began under the direction of His Eminence Tai Situ Rinpoche; His Eminence Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche; and the abbot of Tsurphu, the late Drupon Dechen Rinpoche. Umdze Tubten Zangpo, who served the Sixteenth Karmapa at Tsurphu and Rumtek monasteries, was His Holinessʹs reading tutor until Umdzeʹs death in 1997. Other learned monks and lamas, including Lama Nyima, continued to tutor His Holiness. In 1994, His Holiness made visits to major sacred sites in central Tibet, including the Jokhang Temple and the Potala, and Tashilhunpo, Drepung, Sera, and Ganden monasteries, where he said prayers and made offerings. Shortly after returning to Tsurphu he departed on a formal visit to Beijing at the invitation of the government of the Peopleʹs Republic of China. During his stay in Beijing, he met with numerous officials and was formerly introduced to President Jiang Zemin and Chairman Li Peng. The Karmapa attended events commemorating the forty‐fifth anniversary of the founding of the government of the Peopleʹs Republic of China, during which he was excited to see his first fireworks display. He made pilgrimages to the famous shrine of the Buddhaʹs tooth relic outside Beijing, and also to Wutai Shan (the Five Sacred Mountains of Manjushri) where the Third Karmapa, Ranjung Dorje, had given teachings over six hundred years earlier. His tour continued with a first visit to the seashore and stops in Shanghai, Nanjing, and Chengdu before returning to Tibet. This trip provided His Holiness with a first‐hand view of contemporary urban life in China as well as modern transport and technology. Once he was back at Tsurphu, the Karmapa continued his studies of Buddhadharma including philosophy, debating, ritual practices, and sacred dance. Each day at 1:00 in the afternoon he would receive visitors—pilgrims from throughout Tibet and around the world—and offer his blessings. On special festival days when large throngs of pilgrims would make the trek to Tsurphu, His Holiness would offer blessings individually to thousands of people in a single day. As he grew older, he began to bestow more empowerments and play the primary role in various rituals at the monastery such as the annual Mahakala dances leading up to Losar, the Tibetan New Year. Beginning in 1994, His Holiness began to fulfill his legacy of predicting and recognizing the rebirth of incarnate lamas, or tulkus. The first such recognition was of Pawo Rinpoche, an important Kagyu lama who had passed away in Nepal in 1991. The Karmapa wrote a prediction letter specifying the details of the location and time of year of the childʹs birth, as well as clues to the names of his parents and information on the environment surrounding their home. After a search was conducted based on this prediction letter, the young Pawo Rinpoche was discovered in Tibet, and until 2001 810
resided at Nyenang Monastery near Tsurphu. He has since been moved by the Chinese government to Lhasa. In 1996, His Holiness wrote his next letter of prophecy for the rebirth of Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche. Again, the details in the letter, in addition to a set of sketches and maps drawn by the Karmapa, provided all the requisite signs and clues which led to the discovery of the Fourth Jamgon Kongtrul, then two years old. Today, Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche lives at Pullahari Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal. The Seventeenth Karmapa has gone on to predict, recognize, and confirm the rebirth of other tulkus, including the young Dabzang Rinpoche who now resides at his seat in Kham, eastern Tibet, and an incarnate lama found outside of Tibet. Shelri Dolpo Rinpoche, a close disciple of the Second and Third Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoches, was discovered in Nepal and now lives with the young Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche at Pullahari. Much of the physical rebuilding of Tsurphu Monastery and renewed dharma activity that continued what has historically taken place there over the past 800 years flourished since the Seventeenth Karmapa returned in 1992. Temples, shrines, stupas, a shedra, and residences were rebuilt and filled again with offerings, statues, and paintings. The giant Tsurphu thangkas were recreated and displayed on auspicious days, and sacred lama dances that had not been practiced for decades were once again performed in the main courtyard. In 1999 His Holiness Karmapa made another trip to Beijing at the invitation of government and religious officials of the Peopleʹs Republic of China. During this visit he attracted much attention from the news media and was featured on Chinese television in a special program chronicling his life and activities. On January 1, 2000, as the Western calendar marked a new millennium and Kagyu monasteries, nunneries, and dharma centers around the world celebrated by offering prayers for world peace and for the long life and flourishing of the Karmapaʹs buddha activity, His Holiness began a new journey. Just a few days earlier, on December 28, the fourteen‐year‐old Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa, left Tolung Tsurphu Monastery with a handful of attendants, and secretly escaped from Tibet. On January 5, he arrived safely in Dharamsala, India where he was met by His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. Since that time, His Holiness Karmapa has been living temporarily at Gyuto Ramoche Tantric University near Dharamsala. At Gyuto, he has been able to continue his studies in Buddhist philosophy and receive instructions, transmissions, and empowerments of Karma Kagyu vajrayana practices from masters of the lineage. His principal tutor has been Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, eminent scholar of the Kagyu lineage. While in India he has received thousands of visitors from throughout the world, including religious leaders, politicians, film stars, and people from all walks of life—
Buddhist and non‐Buddhist alike. Each week, His Holiness offers public and private audiences at Gyuto and on occasion bestows a public empowerment. Since arriving in Dharamsala, the Karmapa has developed a strong bond with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The two have had many opportunities to meet and on one occasion in February, 2000, the Karmapa gathered with other heads of the five 811
schools of Tibetan Buddhism to honor the sixtieth anniversary of the Dalai Lamaʹs enthronement. The Karmapa has been writing poetry characterized by scholars of the lineage as unusually sophisticated and refined for someone of his age. Several of his poems have been set to music by the internationally acclaimed Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA), which released a recording of these songs titled Melody of Truth. On February 2, 2001, Kalon Tashi Wangdi, Minister of Religion and Cultural Affairs in the Central Tibetan Administration (Tibetan Government‐in‐Exile) announced that the government of India had granted formal refugee status to His Holiness Karmapa. This news was great cause for celebration among the Karmapaʹs followers throughout the world as it paved the way for his ability to begin to travel. Shortly following the granting of his refugee status, His Holiness embarked on a pilgrimage to some of the sacred Buddhist sites in India. He participated in religious activities and celebrations during Losar in Sarnath (at Varanasi), where Shakyamuni Buddha first turned the wheel of dharma. The pilgrimage also included a trip to Bodhgaya, the place of the Buddhaʹs enlightenment. After returning from Bodhgaya, His Holiness held his first press conference, attended by members of the international media, to explain the details of his escape from Tibet and reason for going to India. Since then, he has made a pilgrimage to Ladakh, and in December presided over the Kagyu Monlam at Bodhgaya. In early 2002, His Holiness returned to Sarnath for several weeks, where he stayed at the Vajravidya Institute. During this time he joined His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Gaden Tri Rinpoche before the sacred Dhamekha stupa where they offered prayers. The Karmapa returned to his temporary residence at Gyuto Ramoche Temple near Dharamsla in February in time for Losar celebrations, and to continue his ongoing studies. That spring, Time Asia magazine named His Holiness Karmapa one of its Asian heroes, an honor the magazine conferred on ʺindividuals whose valiance inspires us.ʺ His Holiness was designated a hero from Tibet, whose ʺdaring escape from China keeps hope alive for Tibetans.ʺ In a formal ceremony on July 24, 2002, before hundreds of monks, His Holiness Karmapa received his novice monastic ordination from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, assisted by His Eminence Gyaltsab Rinpoche. The occasion was followed by several days of celebration at Gyuto Ramoche Tantric University. KTD 812
Dr Akong Tulku Rinpoche Biographical Details by Ken Holmes ‐ 01‐2007 Akong Rinpoche Born in 1939, near Riwoche in Kham, Eastern Tibet, he was discovered at a very young age by the search party seeking the reincarnation the previous (1st) Akong, Abbot of Dolma Lhakang monastery near Chakdado, in the Chamdo area of Kham. The search party was following precise instructions given by HH the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa, Supreme Head of the Kamtsang tradition. Around the age of four, the child was taken to Dolma Lhakang to receive the spiritual and formal education necessary for him to be able resume his work as Abbot later on. Dolma Lhakang was a monastery with some 100 monks and many associated small retreats and nunneries. Besides his religious studies, the young Akong also trained in traditional Tibetan medicine. As a teenager, he travelled from community to community, performing religious ceremonies and treating the sick. He then went to the great monastic university of Secchen, where he received transmission of the quintessential mahamudra Kagyu Buddhist lineage from Secchen Kongtrul Rinpoche. His spiritual training as a holder of the Kagyu lineage was further completed under the guidance of HH the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa , who also certified him as a teacher of Tibetan medicine. Rinpoche also holds many lineages of the Nyingmapa tradition.Throughout this period he was treated with much reverence and respect. The 1959 takeover of Tibet caused him to flee to India, in an arduous, nine month journey as one of the leaders of a 300‐strong party, of which only some 13 persons made it to safety in India. At one point, they were so hungry that they were obliged to boil the leather of their bags or boots to make soup. After spending sme time in refugee camps, he was asked, along with some other lamas, to look after yhe Young Lamas Home School, in Dalhousie, NW India. This was a place where young reincarnate lamas from all the Tibetans could receive an education. 813
Through the kind help of Mrs Freda Bedi, later to become Sister Palmo, he and Trungpa Tulku, Abbot of Surmang, sailed to England in 1963, to learn English in Oxford. Only the latter had a bursary and Akong Rinpoche worked for some years as a simple hospital orderly, supporting himself, Trungpa Rinpoche and Tulku Chime of Benchen Monastery in the small appartment they shared. The next 25 years (1963‐1988) were spent introducing the West to Tibetan religion and some aspects of its culture. This served a double purpose: it began to make available to the world at large a wealth of material from one of Asiaʹs finest and most extraordinary civilizations. By so doing, it also ensured its survival and perpetuation as living tradition. This work was centred around the development of the Kagyu Samye Ling Tibetan Centre, in Scotland; the first Tibetan Buddhist Centre in the West, developed jointly by Dr Akong Tulku Rinpoche and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in its first few years and thereafter by Dr Akong. Visited by people from all over the world, he made it first and foremost a place of peace and spirituality, with a strong accent on active, selfless compassion, open to anyone of any faith. In response to a growing demand for specific teachings from the Kagyu traditions, he invited its greatest living scholars and meditation masters to Scotland, (list of teachers and teachings 1967‐88) where they taught its main meditation practices and philosophical texts. The ground was laid for the proper development of these teachings in the West when the Supreme Head of the Kagyu Lineage, HH the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa visited Samye Ling in 1975 and 1977. Dr Akong Tulku was then asked by the Karmapa to be the organisor of his 1977 6‐month tour of Europe. Under the Gyalwa Karmapaʹs guidance, Dr Akong Tulku established a traditional 3‐year meditation retreat at Samye Ling and launched the construction of the Samye Project; the building of a major traditional Tibetan Buddhist temple and an accompanying College, Library and Museum. Phase 1 of the Samye Project consists of the temple, built entirely by the members of the Samye Ling community, under the active leadership of Dr Akong Tulku, who was often to be seen with a trowel in hand on the building site. The inside of the temple was exquisitely finished by a team of fine artists, sculptors, woodcarvers and other craftspeople working under the guidance of Sherapalden Beru. Sherapalden is one of the, if not the, finest master‐artists of the Karma Kagyu tradition. The grand opening of Samye Temple took place on the 8th August 1988, with a commemorative plaque being unveiled by the XIIth Tai Situpa and the Rt. Hon. David Steel MP (now Lord Steel). Senior representatives of the worldʹs religions attended. During this period of Samye Lingʹs development, various satellite centres and activities had come into being. Samye Dzong centres [premises without accompanying land] grew up in Belgium, Spain, Ireland, South Africa, Zimbabwe and the UK. On another front, the interest which many therapists and physicians showed in Dr Akong Tulkuʹs medicinal and therapeutic Buddhist skills led to the development of a unique therapy system, now thriving as the Tara Rokpa Therapy. Dr Akong Tulkuʹs main activity in the 1990s concerned the expansion of his humanitarian activities, principally in Tibet and Nepal, but also in Europe, where he created several soup kitchens to feed the homeless in major cities. With tremendous vigour and diligence, he has brought well over 100 projects into existence, each project 814
being a school, clinic, medical college, self‐help program or scheme to save the Tibetan environment. These are mainly located in isolated rural areas of the Eastern part of the Tibetan plateau. In Nepal, working mainly through Rokpa Internationalʹs Vice President Lea Wyler, Rinpoche has established an important project which feeds the hungry through the winter months. This has expanded to incorporate a childrenʹs home, clinic, womenʹsʹ self‐help workshops and so forth. In 1992, Akong Rinpoche was one of the main people to discover the reincarnation of the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa and he played a very important role in first finding him, then taking him to the Karmapa seat at Tolung Tsurpu monastery and later arranging the visit of the two Regents ‐ the 12th Tai Situpa and the 9th Goshir Gyatsabpa ‐ who gave him the naming ceremony and later enthroned him formally as the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, Urgyen Drodul Tinley Dorje. The increasing burden of his work in Tibet led Dr Akong to request his brother, the Ven Lama Yeshe Losal, to take over the running of Kagyu Samye Ling in Scotland. Lama Yeshe became the new Abbot and has since proved very successful, particularly in founding a strong monastic community there. 815
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Chögyam Trungpa From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Chögyam Trungpa Chögyam Trungpa (February 1939 ‐ April 1987) was a Buddhist meditation master, scholar, teacher, poet, artist, and a Trungpa tülku. Widely recognized, both by Tibetan Buddhists and by other spiritual practitioners and scholars (Midal, 2005), as a preeminent teacher of Tibetan Buddhism, he was a major figure in the dissemination of Tibetan Buddhism to the West, founding Vajradhatu and Naropa University and establishing the Shambhala Training method. His controversial career is characterized by his style of ʺcrazy wisdomʺ by his Western followers. He died of alcohol‐related liver failure at the age of 48. Biography Born in the Kham region of Tibet in February 1939, Chögyam Trungpa was eleventh in the line of Trungpa tülkus, important figures in the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1959, after having achieved wide renown for his teachings in his native country, he fled the Chinese invasion and crossed the Himalaya on foot into India. Among his three main teachers were Jamgon Kongtrul of Sechen, HH Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, and Khenpo Gangshar. The name Chögyam is a contraction of Chögyi GyatsoWylie: Chos‐kyi Rgya‐
mtsho), which means ʺocean of dharmaʺ. Trungpa means ʺattendantʺ. In exile in India, Trungpa began his study of English. In 1963, with the assistance of sympathetic westerners, he received a scholarship to study Comparative Religion at Oxford University in England. In 1967, he was bequeathed a former hunting lodge in Scotland that had recently been converted to a meditation center by a western Theravadan monk named Anandabodhi, which then became Samye Ling, the first Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the West. In 1970, after a break with his fellow lama Akong Tulku Rinpoche, Trungpa moved to the United States at the invitation of several students. Early in his time in the West, Trungpa gave up his monastic robes and adopted western dress and mores, in order, he said, to undercut the temptation of students becoming distracted by exotic cultures and dress, and by their preconceptions of how a 817
guru should behave. He drank, smoked, slept with students, and often kept students waiting for hours before giving teachings. Much of his behavior has been asserted as deliberately provocative and sparked controversies that continue to this day. In one account, he encouraged students to give up smoking marijuana claiming that the smoking was not of benefit to the spiritual progress and that it exaggerated neurosis. Students were often angered, unnerved and intimidated by him, but remained fiercely loyal, committed, and devoted. In 1973, Trungpa established Vajradhatu, encompassing all his North American institutions, headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. In 1974, Trungpa founded the Naropa Institute, which later became Naropa University, in Boulder, Colorado. Naropa was the first accredited Buddhist university in North America. Trungpa also founded more than 100 meditation centers throughout the world. Originally known as Dharmadhatus, these centers, now more than 150 in number, are known as Shambhala Meditation Centers. He also founded retreat centers for intensive meditation practice including Shambhala Mountain Center in Red Feather Lakes, CO, Karme Choling in Barnet, VT and Gambo Abbey in Cape Breton, Novia Scotia. In 1976, Trungpa began giving teachings, since then gathered and presented as the Shambhala Training, inspired by his vision (see terma) of the legendary Kingdom of Shambhala. Shambhalian practices focus on using mindfulness/awareness meditation as a means of connecting with oneʹs basic sanity and using that insight as inspiration for oneʹs encounter with the world. The Shambhala Training is described as a secular approach, rooted in meditation, but accessible to individuals of any, or no, religion. In Shambhala terms, it is possible, moment by moment, for individuals to establish enlightened society. His book Shambhala, Sacred Path of the Warrior, provides a concise collection of the Shambhala views. Among his most famous and well known students are Pema Chödrön, Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, and Diane di Prima. Ginsberg, Waldman, and di Prima were also teachers at Naropa University. In 1986, Trungpa, in failing health, moved Vajradhatuʹs headquarters to Halifax, Nova Scotia . There he died of liver failure on April 4, 1987. His body was packed in salt and laid into a wooden box to be delivered to Karmê Chöling, a major meditation center in Barnet, Vermont. His cremation there on May 26, 1987 is alleged to have been accompanied by a number of traditional signs demonstrating his enlightenment, including the appearance of rainbows, a body that did not immediately decay, a his heart remaining warm. (Miles, 1989, pp. 526‐528) Upon his death, the leadership of Vajradhatu was first carried on by his American disciple, appointed regent and Dharma heir, Ösel Tendzin (Thomas Rich), and then by Trungpaʹs eldest son and Shambhala heir, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. The next Trungpa tülku, Chokyi Sengay, was recognized in 1991 by Tai Situ Rinpoche. 818
Remarks on the Outer Life of Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche Names and Forms of Address Born in 1934 to a nomad family from Nangchen, Kham in Eastern Tibet, Sherab Lodro subsequently received the Dharma name ʺTsultrim Gyamtsoʺ (Ocean of Ethical Conduct) from one of his teachers. ʺKhenpoʺ is a title of scholastic mastery. ʺRinpocheʺ (Precious One) is a title of profound respect, devotion, and affection reserved for those masters who have achieved great realization. Early Years Here is a brief account of how a boy from an inaccessible area of a remote country became the world‐renowned teacher, scholar, and yogi: Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche. When he was two years old, his father died suddenly. Thereafter, his mother devoted herself full‐time to Dharma practice. As her youngest child, Sherab Lodro, as Rinpoche was called when he was young, accompanied her on pilgrimages and to Dharma teachings and initiations, even staying by her side when she undertook extended retreats. By nature and nurture drawn to spiritual practice, Rinpoche left home at an early age to train with a yogi who would become one of his root teachers, Lama Zopa Tarchin. The Wandering Yogi After completing this early training, Tsultrim Gyamtso embraced the life of a yogi‐ascetic. For five years he wandered throughout Eastern and Central Tibet, undertaking intensive, solitary retreats in caves to realize directly the teachings he had received. During these years he often lived in charnel grounds in order to practice and master ʺChod,ʺ a skillful means to cut ego clinging, develop compassion, and realize deeper levels of emptiness. Mind Transmission from the 16th Karmapa Reaching Tsurphu Monastery (historic seat of the Karma Kagyu lineage and its head, the Karmapa), Rinpoche received pointing out instructions on the nature of mind from His Holiness, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, the 16th Karmapa. While living in the caves above Tsurphu, Rinpoche was given key instructions on the Six Yogas of Naropa, the 819
Hevajra Tantra, and other profound practices from Dilyak Tenzin Drupon Rinpoche and other masters. India and the Refugee Camps The following year, while in retreat at a place called Nyemo, a group of nuns approached him for help against the Chinese invaders. Rinpoche led them and others over the Himalayas to safety in Bhutan and later built them a nunnery, retreat center, and school, which he still oversees. Rinpoche spent the next nine years at the Buxador Tibetan Refugee Camp in North India. Though full of hardship, this period of his life was extremely productive: He studied and mastered the sutras, the tantras, and all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism; became renowned for his skill in logic and debate; and received a Khenpo degree from His Holiness, the 16th Karmapa, and the equivalent Geshe Lharampa degree from His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama. More than a Quarter‐century of Traveling and Teaching On July 17, 1977, Rinpoche arrived in Paris, France, and began to teach Westerners Dharma and classical Tibetan Dharma language. Since then, Rinpoche has traveled extensively, completing annual world tours in response to invitations that flow in from Europe, the United States, Canada, South America, Southeast Asia, Africa and Australia. In 1986, he founded the Marpa Institute for Translators, in Boudhanath, Nepal, which offered intensive winter courses in language and scripture. Khenpo Rinpoche continued to supervise this annual event when it moved to Pullahari Monastery above Boudhanath. Though Rinpoche personally teaches less at Pullahari now, the program continues to draw students, both old and new, from all over the world. Training a New Generation of Khenpos During this time Khenpo Tsultrim Rinpoche, in conjunction with Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, trained a new generation of Kagyu tulkus and khenpos: the 1991 graduates of the Nalanda Institute for Higher Studies, in Rumtek, Sikkim. Among these young masters, the Khenpo has formed a special relationship with The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, whose many students particularly appreciate his fluent English and ease of teaching in that language. Ponlop Rinpoche has founded the Nitartha Institute, one of whose missions is to collect, archive, and build a complete database of Khenpo Tsultrim Rinpocheʹs oral teachings. Moreover, Khenpo Rinpoche serves as spiritual advisor for Nalandabodhi, the teaching arm of Ponlop Rinpocheʹs Dharma activities. Training Skilled Translators Over the years, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche has developed outstanding translators whose clarity and accuracy reflect years of study and practice, and whose dedication contributes immeasurably to making the precious Dharma of Tibet available in many languages. In addition to translating classic texts, these students are equally committed to preserving Rinpocheʹs own oral commentaries, talks, and songs of spiritual realization. Some of Khenpoʹs senior students now teach the very texts they translated or studied under his close supervision. 820
Unique Training of Nuns Khenpo Tsultrim has built a nunnery, school, and retreat center for women of Tibetan origin in the Helambu region of Nepal, near Milarepaʹs retreat cave in Yolmo. Both there and in his Bhutanese nunnery, Rinpoche demonstrates a firm commitment to providing nuns with the same opportunities—especially for study—as those traditionally extended to monks. An innovation in his approach is to train each nun to carry out every function of monastic life, rather than to specialize in just one. Thus, all anis learn musical instruments, make tormas, tend the shrine room, serve as chant or ritual master, do bookkeping, tend the garden, cook, etc. This departure from tradition, though personally and administratively demanding, fosters a democratic atmosphere among the nuns, develops their capabilities to the fullest, and allows the community to respond without disruption to unexpected situations and changing conditions. The Milarepa of our Time While Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso unites prodigious scholarship and intellect with great compassion, he also embodies the training and temperament of a true yogi. In fact, Rinpoche is often compared to the great yogi Milarepa, whom he resembles in both substance and style: Rinpoche has no fixed abode, few possessions; he has practiced for years in solitude, sometimes sealed in darkness. Like Milarepa, he is known for his dohas, spontaneous songs of realization that offer insight into genuine reality. Such dohas may emerge to answer a question, clarify a difficult point, or to expand or comment on one of Milarepaʹs own songs. The Autobiography that follows is an example of one of Rinpocheʹs spontaneous songs of realization. The life of a yogi, composed on Rinpocheʹs 20th teaching anniversary, in response to a studentʹs request for his story The Twenty Wonderful Miracles That Tell of Appearance and Reality Namo guru hasa vajra Samsara and nirvana are undifferentiable And even though you realize this To purify your thoughts of their attributes You gained Buddhahood in just one life Mighty hero, Shepa Dorje [Milarepa] At your feet, I bow with great respect. [Homage] Genuine reality transcends birth and death False appearances, birth and death are like watermoons Knowing this will make it easy to Cut through clinging to birth and death as true Such an explanation of birth and death— E ma! What a wonderful miracle! [1] Since no actor exists, neither does activity But in terms of appearance, they arise dependently Just like dream happiness and suffering 821
And in this way, good and bad deeds result in joy and pain Such an explanation of cause, result, and karma— E ma! What a wonderful miracle! [2] Samsaraʹs suffering has never existed Its appearances are like agony in a dream Of the very nature of dependent arising You canʹt separate appearance from emptiness Such an explanation of suffering— E ma! What a wonderful miracle! [3] The human body that has faith, diligence, and prajna Is so difficult to find, weʹre told in many ways But it, too, is just a watermoon Dependently arisen, this you should know This way of thinking about something that is so hard to get— E ma! What a wonderful miracle! [4] All phenomena outside and inside Decay each moment, they have no power to remain But this source of sadness, when examined closely Reveals that impermanence doesnʹt exist either! This way of meditating on impermanence— E ma! What a wonderful miracle! [5] Your friends depend on your enemies And your enemies depend on your friends All friends and enemies exist dependently Just like the ones that you meet in dreams This way of understanding friends and enemies— E ma! What a wonderful miracle! [6] Without joy, pain is impossible Without pain, joy is impossible They are the very essence of dependent existence They are without the slightest substance This way of understanding joy and pain— E ma! What a wonderful miracle! [7] When there is clean it is because of unclean And unclean itself depends on clean They are of the nature of equality As they are when they appear in dreams This way of eliminating thoughts of clean and filth— E ma! What a wonderful miracle! [8] Gain and pleasure, praise and sweet sounds—these four They rely on their opposites for their very existence Watermoons and dreams, they have no substance The eight worldly dharmas are such wonderful miracles! [9] Being learned depends on being stupid And being stupid depends on being learned 822
Both are just dreams and watermoons Scholar and fool not different—what a wonderful miracle! [10] From the unborn mind, beyond conceptuality Appearances self‐arise, and by themselves are free Just like waves dissolving into the ocean vast The basic way of being—what a wonderful miracle! [11] No one to progress, no path to progress upon No progressing whatsoever going on But the way of progressing that we see From cause and condition, arises dependently Like the moon dancing on the waves This way of traversing the path—what a wonderful miracle! [12] Nothing to realize, no one to realize it No realization can be seen, not even a little bit But our words can describe so carefully The way of realization that occurs dependently It is like seeing the moon in a dream This way of realizing the fruition—what a wonderful miracle! [13] Since fundamentally there are no conceptual elaborations, The basic state transcends all reference points and assertions Yet from this expanse that concepts cannot experience Conceptuality arises in great abundance! This way of explaining genuine reality— E ma! What a wonderful miracle! [14] The completely false appearances that you see Transcend both true and false in reality But to stop you from thinking that they are true You are taught that they are false To halt this clinging to falsity, it is not explained that they have any reality Liberation from true and false— E ma! What a wonderful miracle! [15] Genuine realityʹs dharmakaya Cannot be experienced by conceptual mind But there is the way the sambhogakaya Appears to the noble bodhisattvas And to the various beings, the nirmanakaya Appears in a watermoonʹs style This way of explaining the three kayas— E ma! What a wonderful miracle! [16] We have so many thoughts that we are suffering But this suffering is just like a dream! And if you can recognize these thoughtsʹ true nature Suffering will be self‐liberated as soon as it appears! The ice so easily melting into water 823
Transformation explained like that—what a wonderful miracle! [17] Though the wisdoms five and the kayas three Are all explained individually Like a soundʹs impermanence and composite nature Kayas and wisdoms are really undifferentiable This explanation of ultimate union— E ma! What a wonderful miracle! [18] Through great compassion, the Buddhaʹs activity Accomplishes the benefit of sentient beings But the benefitted ones really donʹt exist at all Completely falsely, the benefit performed is as in a dream This explanation of Buddhaʹs activity— E ma! What a wonderful miracle! [19] Pure and impure are just imaginary They do not exist in the expanse of equality Equalityʹs expanse encompasses absolutely everything And nothing can ever move from it at all This explanation of equality— E ma! What a wonderful miracle! [20] Why are all these so incredibly miraculous? Genuine reality, true being, free of conceptuality Appearances transcending truth and falsity— E ma! All phenomena are wonderful miracles! When you realize all of this You realize Mahayanaʹs profound meaning When you grasp all of this You are a worthy vessel for the Great Secret When you grasp all of this You help everyone in a natural way So may all you fortunate ones Realize this meaning well! So was the casual talk of Dechen Rangdrol [Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso] in the Garden of Translation near the Great Stupa of Boudhanath, Nepal, on Dec. 17th and 18th, 1997. Translated by Ari Goldfield. Translation revised Jan. 2, 2002 824
Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso The Skyʹs Excellent Path: A Concise Explanation of the Great Vehicle Om delek su gyur chik! The sun of wisdom shines in Dharmadhatuʹs sky, Light rays of love dispel the darkness of ignorance. To those who cause Dharma to flourish in the realms of wanderers— To the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions, I bow. (1) Genuine reality transcends ʺtop,ʺ ʺbottom,ʺ and directions, But through dependent imputation, ʺTop,ʺ ʺbottom,ʺ and directions are imagined to exist. This way [that] beings engage in direct and inferential valid cognition Is the basis of all conventions, all fabrications. (2) Samsaric happiness and suffering, beingsʹ birth, death, and so forth, Have never existed in realityʹs basic nature. Yet they appear to exist, and the Buddha taught as if they did. This way of teaching is a method Of getting beginners to enter the Dharma. (3) Experiences of happiness and suffering That come from positive and negative actions Are like dreams, illusions, and watermoons, the Buddha taught. Yet beings think these are real because they directly experience them. This is nothing more than a confused way of relating To oneʹs own karmic experiences. (4) 825
Past and future lives and the way of leaving one life and going to the next Have no self nature, like watermoons. Yet in order to counteract the view of nothingness, If beginners believe in them as being real, that is good. (5) The difficulty of finding the freedoms and advantages, The impermanence of this life, The infallibility of cause and result, And the sufferings of samsara: These help beginners turn their minds away from samsara, And so they are vital preliminaries for all practices of meditation. (6) Thinking of samsaraʹs varieties of sufferings is frightening, And when yearning for liberation arises, With a mind free of any doubts at all, Go for refuge to the three supreme and undeceiving protectors. (7) In order to make this the Great Vehicleʹs path, Cultivate great love, compassion, joy, and equanimity. And with these four immeasurables as the preliminaries, Give rise to the supreme mind Turned toward supreme enlightenment—bodhicitta! (8) Without wisdom realizing emptiness, There is no way to purify samsaraʹs confused appearances. So with profound intelligence investigate, investigate and meditate Upon the true nature of all phenomena, reality free of fabrication. (9) Meditating like this, one traverses the four levels Of the path of junction, called: Heat, Peak, Patience and Supreme Dharma. On each of these levels, respectively, What remains is clinging to true existence That is gross, subtle, extremely subtle, and the mere appearance of duality: This is a path of ordinary beings. (10) Then, at the end of the Great Supreme Dharma, Through the pacification of all signs of fabrication Actual reality, Dharmadhatu, becomes manifest. This is the path of seeing, Where the Noble Onesʹ grounds are reached. (11) Completely Joyous, Stainless, Luminous, Radiant, Difficult to Overcome, the Manifest, Gone Far, Unmoving, Excellent Mind, and Cloud of Dharma: these are the ten grounds. They are divided into the seven impure and the three pure ones. (12) 826
Generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, Wisdom, means, aspiration prayers, power, and primordial wisdom Are the ten transcendent perfections. When one connects the way they become more and more extraordinary Over the ten grounds, with the ten ʺMind Productionsʺ of the Entrance, That is excellent. (13) Then, when the realization of the ten grounds is perfected, The remedy, the Vajra‐like samadhi, defeats dualistic appearances, Together with the habitual tendencies that produce them. The abandonments and realizations are perfected, And Buddhahood is attained. (14) The Buddhasʹ three kayas, five wisdoms, and so forth, The glorious abandonments for the benefit of self, And the glorious realizations for the benefit of others become manifest. And compassion perfected ensures That deeds benefitting others never ceases. (15) This brief explanation of the Great Vehicleʹs path and fruition, A gateway for fresh minds, called The Skyʹs Excellent Path, From the wide open sky‐path above the Pacific Shone the radiance of Dechen Rangdrolʹs bliss/emptiness. (16) Through this virtue, may I and everyone with whom I have a connection Ripen our mindstreams on the Great Vehicleʹs path. And may the Great Secret Vehicleʹs Profound generation and completion stages Be a cause for our gaining Buddhahood in a single life! (17) These were some extemporaneous words spoken by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche in the expanse of sky above the Pacific, while traveling from Australia to Thailand on December 2, 1998. 827
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Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche The Two Truths Rinpoche first urges everyone to give rise to the enlightened mind, love, and compassion, and apply ourselves to listening to the teachings, reflecting upon their meaning, and meditating on them. The purpose of these actions is to achieve the enlightened state, and that is for the purpose of benefiting all sentient beings, in numbers as vast as the sky. In the Buddhaʹs tradition, the concept, or the presentation, of the two truths is very important. For that reason, in this first weekend course Rinpoche will give the presentation of the two truths through the various traditions of the Dharma. The two truths are the conventional truth and the ultimate truth. The conventional truth is the mode in which things appear, and the ultimate truth is the mode of being, or the way things really are. When we hold on to the mode of appearance of things, the conventional truth, as having some kind of true existence, then the various kinds of sufferings arise, and the various disturbing emotions. So conditioned existence or samsara arises from holding onto the way things appear as being real, as being true, as having some kind of innate existence. So then, realising the mode of the way things are, releasing the ultimate truth, pacifies or dispels all of the various disturbing emotions; from that one gains nirvana. Briefly, then, attaching to the mode of appearance as having true existence‐‐this is the confused mind or the bewildered mind. Therefore, it is necessary to reverse that bewildered mind and to realise the nature of things as they are. Whatever phenomenon there is to be known, that phenomenon can be known in terms of the conventional truth, or it can be known in terms of the ultimate truth, but only in terms of these two truths and not in terms of any other truths. Because of the importance of knowing that phenomena have their existence in terms of these two truths, the Buddha said that all phenomena whatsoever can be known through these two truths, ultimate and conventional, and not in any other way. In order to understand these two truths, the ultimate and the conventional, they have to be approached through the different Buddhist traditions. It is difficult to understand them without approaching them in that way. 829
The traditions can be divided into the Vehicle of the Hearers, or the Shravakayana, and the Great Vehicle, or the Mahayana. In the Vehicle of the Hearers, there is the division into the way of positing the two truths in terms of the Vaibhashika school and the way of positing the two truths in terms of the Sautrantika school. And in the Great Vehicle, or Mahayana, there is first the way of positing the two truths in the terms of the Cittamatra, or Mind‐Only school, and then the way of positing these truths in the Madhyamaka tradition. In the Madhyamaka tradition, further there is the Svatantrika approach to positing these two truths, and the Prasangika approach of positing them. Then there is also the empty‐of‐other approach. It is better to use the Tibetan word for this, which is zhen‐tong. ʺZhenʺ means ʺother,ʺ and ʺtongʺ means ʺempty.ʺ Literally it means ʺempty of other. ʺ In English it is a little awkward, so we will just say zhen‐tong. And finally, besides the zhen‐tong approach, there is the mantra approach to positing the two truths. Rinpoche will begin by positing the two truths according to the Vaibhashika school. The following quote is taken from the text The All‐Pervasiveness of All‐
Encompassing Knowledge, written by the first Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, Lodro Thaye. It is sometimes known as The Treasury of Knowledge. In the tradition of the Vaibhashika, the conventional truth Is the coarse object of continuum consciousness, which can be broken down. The partless, which cannot be rejected, is the ultimate truth. That is the root verse. Conventional truth refers either to something that can be broken down or destroyed physically (with regard to physical objects), or (with regard to the mind) to the continuum of consciousness that through analysis can be broken down. From the point of view of physical objects, the ultimate truth is the very small, partless atoms or particles that cannot be broken down any further. And in the terms of the mind, the smallest moment of consciousness would be the ultimate truth. So, briefly then the relative or conventional truth is the coarse object or the continuum of consciousness, and the ultimate truth is the atomic unbreakable particles and the smallest moment of consciousness. An example of the conventional truth, according to the Vaibhashikas, is the vase and the flowers. The reason they are conventional is because they can both be destroyed. The cup can be broken and the flowers can be taken apart. Once the cup is broken or the flowers are taken apart, then the idea, the concept of cup or the concept of flowers, will not arise. So that is the conventional level. Considering the same cup and flowers from the ultimate view they have an ultimate nature because they are physically made up, according to the Vaibhashika view, of atomic particles that are partless, that cannot be divided any further, and so they are beyond being able to be destroyed. As regards consciousness, the consciousness, for example, that arises from the moment we awaken until we sleep, that continuum of consciousness is called the conventional level. It is called the conventional level because if it is investigated and divided up, then it cannot be established as being existent any longer; since it has been divided. If one investigates that continuum of consciousness, then one sees that the past moment of consciousness has ceased to exist, the future moment of consciousness has not yet arisen, and the present moment of consciousness is fleeting. If one looks at 830
it closer and closer at each momentary instant, the continuum cannot be established as being ultimate; ultimately speaking there is no continuum. To summarise again, gross objects are the conventional level, and the continuum of consciousness is the conventional level. The smallest indivisible particle is the ultimate level, and the smallest instant of consciousness is the ultimate level or ultimate truth. What is meant by indivisible, according to Vaibhashika tradition, are the smallest, subtlest particles, which cannot be divided into, for example, a northern part, a southern part, a top part, or a bottom part. Since they cannot be divided like that, they are said to be ultimate. If they could be divided into those parts, then they would not be the smallest parts. Since these particles are small and indivisible, they cannot be destroyed. Since they cannot be destroyed, since they can not be broken down any further, these small parts are said to possess a particular energy, or power. The aggregation of these small indivisible particles constitutes the coarse objects. If you take the gross object and destroy it, what is left over are the smallest indivisible particles. From the point of view of consciousness, consciousness cannot be destroyed in the same way that an object can be destroyed. With consciousness, one analyses it into the consciousness that was, the consciousness that is yet to be, and the present consciousness. And with the present consciousness, one investigates it down to the subtlest moment or instant, beyond which it cannot be divided any further, and that is the ultimate truth. This smallest moment in the Buddhist tradition is said to be the time it takes a finger to snap, divided by 64. That is what is said to be the smallest instant in time; in the Buddhist tradition that is called the limit of time. Through oneʹs analysis, through oneʹs intelligence, one could say that the moment could be divided into hundreds, into thousands, into millions. Of course, that is possible. But in terms of the arising of thoughts, the thought arises in these 64 divisions of a finger snap. If you take an arrow or a bullet and you shoot it through 100 flower petals, it seems to go through instantaneously; one cannot break down the movement through 100 flower petals. But if one analyses it, one sees that is has to go through the first flower petal before it goes through the second flower petal, and so forth. Rinpoche says that previously the scientific position was that the ultimate truth was small atomic particles that could not be divided. He says that he thinks this is very similar, not exactly the same perhaps, but very similar to the Vaibhashika school. What is called ʺBuddha,ʺ or in Tibetan ʺsang‐gye,ʺ is the exhaustion of all confusions and bewilderment and the shining forth of the five wisdoms. What is called ʺsamsaraʺ is confused or bewildered appearances. The exhaustion of these confused, bewildered appearances, along with the habitual tendencies or karmic dispositions, is what is ʺBuddha.ʺ In the traditions of the Vehicle of the Hearers and the Vehicle of the Self‐
Realizers, the goal is to attain the state of an arhat, or ʺfoe destroyer.ʺ This is enlightenment or nirvana, but not the ultimate nirvana. It is only the exhaustion of the grosser veils, not the complete exhaustion or pacification of the very fine, subtle 831
confusions. So it is not ultimate enlightenment. Until one achieves the ultimate state of a buddha, one has not achieved the ultimate nirvana. When one attains the complete state of a buddha, the complete state of enlightenment, then there is a great benefit for other sentient beings. The reason for this is that when one has exhausted all of oneʹs own confusions, one is able to really and truly work for the benefit of other beings. For the benefit of all sentient beings, the Buddha taught the inexpressible or inconceivable Dharma, the limitless Dharma, the endless Dharma. He said that there is the way things appear‐‐the conventional truth‐‐and the mode of being of things‐‐the ultimate truth. Other than these ways, there is no third truth, no other way. The difference in the way of positing or expressing these two truths is the first main division between the Vehicle of the Hearers and the Great Vehicle, the Mahayana. In the Vehicle of the Hearers, you have the Vaibhashikasʹ way of positing the two truths, and the way of positing the two truths in terms of the Sautrantikas; and then, in the Great Vehicle, the way of positing these two truths in terms of the Mind‐
Only approach, and the way of positing these two truths in terms of the Madhyamaka approach. Then there is the Mantrayana or the Vajrayana (Diamond Vehicle) approach to positing these two truths. So there are many ways of positing the two truths. Rinpoche is basing his teachings upon the teachings of the first Kongtrul Rinpoche, Lodro Thaye, who discussed this matter in the book The Treasury of Knowledge. This book is composed of the root text, which is called ʺThe All‐Pervasive Knowledge,ʺ and the commentary, which is called ʺThe Ocean of Limitless Knowledge.ʺ If one were to ask why it is called ʺThe All‐Pervasive Knowledge,ʺ it is because it is describing or speaking about all phenomena‐‐that is, all phenomena of both nirvana and conditioned existence. And it is describing or speaking about the way in which things are, their mode of being or the nature of all phenomena. The reason why the commentary is called ʺThe Ocean of Limitless Knowledgeʺ is that the knowledge of the Dharma that is being expressed is said to be without limit and without end. It is said to be like an ocean because the oceans of the world are very, very vast and very, very deep. The reason for studying ʺThe Ocean of Limitless Knowledgeʺ is that if in the path stage on the way to Buddhahood, one does not study ʺThe Ocean of Limitless Knowledge,ʺ then at the fruition stage one wonʹt obtain a Buddhaʹs pristine awareness of omniscience or all‐knowing. This text by Kongtrul Rinpoche, composed of the root text, ʺThe All‐Pervasive Knowledge,ʺ and the commentary, ʺThe Ocean of Limitless Knowledge,ʺ is divided into 40 chapters. This presentation of the two truths is one of those 40 chapters. This particular chapter deals with the Buddhaʹs three turnings of the wheel of Dharma, and with the two truths. It also deals with the links of interdependent origination, but in this particular section that Rinpoche is teaching, it is only dealing with the two truths, not the three turnings of the wheel or interdependent origination. Yesterday Rinpoche briefly explained the way of positing the two truths in the Vaibhashika tradition and in the Sautrantika tradition. Today he will begin by briefly explaining how the two truths are posited in the Cittamatra or Mind‐Only tradition. 832
First there is the root text from the ʺAll‐Pervasive Knowledge,ʺ and it goes like this: ʺThe tradition of the Mind Only school posits a dualistic appearance depending on objects and object perceivers. The ultimate truth is the nature of the consciousness of there not being two.ʺ In the commentary to this, ʺThe Ocean of Limitless Knowledge,ʺ there is an explanation concerning this root verse, and Rinpoche is going to extract the essence of that and give a brief presentation or explanation. In this tradition, what is said to be conventional truth is the dualistic appearance of the outer, ʺheldʺ object and the inner, ʺholdingʺ entity, or the perceiving mind. So these two, holder and held, grasper and grasped, apprehender and apprehended, constitute the conventional level or the conventional truth. The mind that is beyond that, that is free from that, that sees both as being simply mind, that is the ultimate truth or the ultimate level. In this tradition, the dualistic appearance of holder and held, the consciousness that makes this division or separation, the thoughts or conceptualisations that make this distinction, need to be exhausted. For the purpose of exhausting this dualistic clinging, one needs to realise that the essence or nature is empty of these two. So the dualistic appearance, the seeming appearing of grasper and grasped, has no true existence, no reality, no truth. It is simply confusion, bewilderment, artificiality. One needs to understand that it is all of these things, that this seeming dualism does not exist, has no true reality. This dualistic appearance is like a dream. For the purpose of resolving this seeming duality, this appearing as two (grasper and grasped), it is necessary to realise the nature of the ultimate truth. If one does not understand that this dualism is bewilderment and confusion, one will not be able to realise its nature as being that of the ultimate truth. The best example to illustrate how these two truths function is the example of the dream. When we are dreaming, there appears to be a duality between the appearances in the dream and the perception of these appearances. However, this seeming duality is only conventional, only artificial; it has no true existence or true reality. This appearance of two, perceiver and perceived, is simply the bewilderment or the confusion of the mind. Both of these, holder and held, are simply the mind itself, simply the clear cognition of the mind itself, the luminous knowing of the mind itself. Rinpoche says that this is the brief explanation of this particular view, of the Cittamatra, in terms of the two truths. Then, we move on to the Madhyamaka approach and the two truths in relation to the Madhyamaka approach. First, the Madhyamaka is divided into what is called empty‐of‐self and empty‐of‐other. The Tibetan for ʺempty of selfʺ is ʺrang‐tong.ʺ ʺRangʺ means ʺself,ʺ and ʺtongʺ means ʺempty,ʺ so literally it means ʺself‐empty.ʺ ʺZhenʺ means ʺother,ʺ and ʺtongʺ means ʺempty,ʺ so the meaning is ʺother‐empty.ʺ The rang tong approach says that all phenomena of conditioned existence and nirvana are empty of having any self‐essence or self‐nature. The zhen‐tong or empty‐of‐other approach says that the nature of the mind, the Buddhanature, is endowed with spontaneous qualities, but is empty of any adventitious, fleeting, passing stains on that nature. 833
In the rang tong or empty‐of‐self approach, you have the two schools of the Svatantrika and Prasangika. The Svatantrikas make assertions about the nature of reality or the true nature; the Prasangikas do not make any ultimate assertions themselves. The Svatantrikas refute the idea of there being existence, true existence, and they assert non‐true existence. They refute the idea that things have their own nature, and they assert emptiness. The Prasangikas refute the idea that things have true existence, that things have any nature of their own. They do not, however, assert emptiness. They do not assert non‐existence. The do not assert even freedom from elaboration, because in their tradition the ultimate level is completely beyond being something that can be asserted. The root text says that in the tradition of the Svatantrikas, appearances exist as the conventional truth like a magical illusion. The ultimate truth is non‐existent like the sky. So in the Svatantrika tradition the conventional truth is said to be the appearances that arise owing to the coming together of causes and conditions. They are said to exist in the same way that appearances in a dream or appearances of a magical illusion exist. On the ultimate level, things are said not to have any nature of their own, to be nothing whatsoever, nothing at all, to be empty in the same way that the sky is empty. All of the sensory experiences, such as the experiences of form, sound, smell, taste, and touch are caused by the coming together of causes and conditions. These conventional appearances are like the sensations or experiences in dreams. Form, sound, smell, taste, and touch then have no real essence of their own. They are the results of causes and conditions, like a dream, having no essence of their own, empty of having self‐essence. This is the ultimate truth, the unmistaken truth. This is the reality or the real truth, that they are empty of any self nature, of any self‐mode of being. In the same way, then, all feelings of happiness and all feelings of suffering simply exist in a conventional way, like these same feelings of happiness and suffering in a dream. They are existing merely conventionally. They have no self‐essence or nature of their own. They simply come together as a result of causes and conditions. If one investigates and examines these feelings of happiness and suffering with oneʹs eye of wisdom, one will come to see that ultimately they have no existence, no nature of their own. They are completely empty, nothing whatsoever, in the same way that the sky is completely empty. Like the experiences of suffering and happiness that arise in a dream, except for being simply the coming together of causes and conditions, except for being artificiality, except for being confusion, they themselves have no nature, have no essence, are empty. In the tradition of the Svatantrikas, it is necessary to understand and realise that things have no self‐essence, no nature of their own, for the purpose of exhausting the clinging to things as being real. Moving on then to the explanation of the two truths in terms of the tradition of the Prasangikas, the root text says that the conventional truth is what is imputed by thought, the expressions of the world. The ultimate truth is free from elaboration, beyond thought and expression. The commentary briefly says that basically, in this tradition of the Prasangikas, what is conventional truth is anything that is imputed by 834
thought, by the mind. What is ultimate truth, then, is that which is completely beyond any elaborations or fabrications, any thought, any expression. In this tradition there are basically three different kinds of processes: the process of no analysis, the process of a little analysis, and the process of fine analysis. If one does not apply oneʹs reasoning, oneʹs analytical wisdom, to trying to ascertain what the ultimate truth is, then this is called the process of no analysis. If one uses oneʹs analytical abilities to do this, then this is the process of a little analysis: and if one does this in a very, very complete manner, then this is the process of fine analysis. What is the process of no analysis? In it, samsara is said to be of the nature of suffering, and karma (cause and effect) is said to function in such a way that when virtuous actions are committed, then virtuous fruits are reaped, and when nonvirtuous actions are committed, then nonvirtuous fruits are reaped. In the process of a little analysis, one is able to say that on one hand is the conventional truth and on the other hand is the ultimate truth. When one is able to make this differentiation, this is the process of a little analysis. In what is called the process of fine analysis, there is no longer a differentiation between conventional truth and absolute or ultimate truth. One is beyond making this differentiation, one is completely beyond all expressions, beyond all speech in terms of describing this. When one is free from all fabrications or elaborations of thought, free from all fabrications of the mind, this is the process of fine analysis. Briefly, in the Prasangika approach, all of the fabrications of the mind and all of the objects that result from these fabrications of the mind are relative, the conventional truth. For the purpose of exhausting or pacifying this relative perception of truth, it is necessary to realise and to understand the meaning of the state of the ultimate truth, the state that is free from conceptualisation, fabrication, elaboration. What is this fabrication or elaboration of the mind? It is to say, for example, that this is existence or this is non‐existence; or to say that this is both existence and non‐
existence; or to say that this is neither existence nor non‐existence. All of those are fabrications, elaborations. Where one has the thought of a perceiver and of a perceived, this is a fabrication. All of this is the conceptual level. For the purpose of pacifying or exhausting these elaborations, it is necessary to realise this, free from elaborations or fabrications. One can reflect again and again and take to heart these brief explanations of the meaning of these different approaches to the two truths. To summarise, the tradition of the Mind‐Only posits apprehender and apprehended, dualistic appearance, object and object perceiver. The ultimate truth is the nature of consciousness of not being two. In the tradition of the Svatantrikas, appearances exist as the conventional truth, like a magic illusion. The ultimate truth is non‐existent like the sky. In the tradition of the Prasangikas, the conventional truth is what is imputed by thought, the expressions of the world. The ultimate truth is free from elaborations, beyond thought and expression. 835
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Ninth Khenchen Thrangu Tulku, Karma Lodrö Lungrik Maway Senge http://www.rinpoche.com Thrangu Rinpoche The Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche was born in Kham, Tibet, in 1933. At the age of five, he was formally recognized by His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa and Tai Situpa as the ninth incarnation of the great Thrangu tulku. He entered Thrangu monastery, where, from the ages of seven to sixteen, he studied reading, writing, grammar, poetry, and astrology, memorized ritual texts, and completed two preliminary retreats. At sixteen, under the direction of Khenpo Lodro Rabsel, he began the study of the three vehicles of Buddhism while in retreat. At twenty‐three he received full ordination from the Karmapa. Because of the Chinese military takeover of Tibet, Thrangu Rinpoche, then twenty‐seven, was forced to flee to India in 1959. He was called to Rumtek monastery in Sikkim, where the Karmapa has his seat in exile. Because of his great scholarship and unending diligence, he was given the task of preserving the teachings of the Kagyu lineage‐the lineage of Marpa, Milarepa, and Gampopa‐so that one thousand years of profound Buddhist teachings would not be lost. He continued his studies in exile, and at the age of thirty‐five he took the geshe examination before 1500 monks at Buxador monastic refugee camp in Bengal and was awarded the degree of Geshe Lharampa. Upon his return to Rumtek, he was awarded the highest Khenchen degree. Because many of the Buddhist texts in Tibet were destroyed, Thrangu Rinpoche helped in beginning the recov‐ery of these texts from Tibetan monasteries outside of Tibet. He was named Abbot of Rumtek monastery and the Nalanda Institute for Higher Buddhist Studies at Rumtek. Thrangu Rinpoche, along with Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, was one of the principal teachers at the Institute, training all the younger tulkus of the lineage, including The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, who was in the first class. He was also the personal tutor of the four principal Karma Kagyu tulkus: Shamar Rinpoche, Situ Rinpoche, Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, and Gyaltsab Rinpoche. Thrangu Rinpoche established the fundamental curriculum of the Karma Kagyu lineage taught at Rumtek. In addition, he taught with Khenpo Karthar, who had been a teacher at Thrangu 837
Rinpocheʹs monastery in Tibet before 1959, and who is now head of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra in Woodstock, New York, the seat of His Holiness Karmapa in North America. After twenty years at Rumtek, in 1976 Thrangu Rinpoche founded the small monastery of Thrangu Tashi Choling in Boudhanath, Kathmandu, Nepal. Since then, he has founded a retreat center and college at Namo Buddha, east of the Kathmandu Valley, and has established a school in Boudhanath for the general education of Tibetan lay children and young monks in Western subjects as well as in Buddhist studies. In Kathmandu, he built Tara Abbey, which offers a full dharma education for Tibetan nuns, training them to become khenpos or teachers. He has also established a free medical clinic in an impoverished area of Nepal. Thrangu Rinpoche recently completed a large, beautiful monastery in Sarnath, India, overlooking the Deer Park where the Buddha gave his first teaching on the Four Noble Truths. This monastery is named Vajra Vidya after the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, and it is now the seat for the annual Kagyu conference led by His Holiness the Seventeenth Karmapa. In January of this year, His Holiness the Dalai Lama came to Sarnath to perform a ceremony in the Deer Park with the Karmapa, Thrangu Rinpoche, and other high lamas. Around 1976, Thrangu Rinpoche began giving authentic Buddhist teachings in the West. He has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States. In 1984 he spent several months in Tibet where he ordained over one hundred monks and nuns and visited several monasteries. In the United States, Thrangu Rinpoche has centers in Maine and California, and is currently building the Vajra Vidya Retreat Center in Crestone, Colorado. Highly qualified monks and nuns from Thrangu Rinpocheʹs monastery will give retreatants instruction in various intensive practices. He often visits and gives teachings in centers in New York, Connecticut, and Seattle, Washington. In Canada, he gives teachings in Vancouver and has a center in Edmonton. He is the Abbot of Gampo Abbey, a Buddhist monastery in Nova Scotia. He conducts yearly Namo Buddha seminars in the United States, Canada, and Europe, which are also part of a meditation retreat. Rinpoche has now taught in over twenty‐five countries and has seventeen centers in twelve countries. He is especially known for making complex teachings accessible to Western students. Thrangu Rinpoche is a recognized master of Mahamudra meditation. Because of his vast knowledge of the Dharma and his skill as a teacher, he was appointed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to be the personal tutor for His Holiness the Seventeenth Karmapa. The Namo Buddha Seminar was established in 1988, to support the vast activities of Thrangu Rinpoche across the world. It especially concentrates on publishing the authentic Buddhist teachings from a realized teacher. Namo Buddha Publications has collected an audio library of over eight hundred tapes of Thrangu Rinpoche and has published many of these in twenty‐two books that are available from the Seminar. Thrangu Rinpocheʹs works soon will be digitized and available for download on the Internet, and soon a cyber‐sangha that will present Rinpocheʹs teachings in a long‐distance learning format on the Internet will be available. 838
Thrangu Rinpoche The Mahayana Councils and the Sutras, Tantras and Shastras How the Bodhisattvas authentically preserved the Buddhaʹs Teachings by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche http://www.simhas.org This history of the three councils actually relates more directly to the way in which the Hinayana teachings were preserved, particularly, the hinayana tradition of the Vinaya. But a similar councils occurred in the Mahayana tradition. Some time after the passing away of the Buddha, one million bodhisattvas met together under the leadership of the three great bodhisattvas Vajrapani, Maitreya and Manjushri on the top of mount Vimalasvabhava, which lies south of Rajagriha in southern India. All the teachings of the Buddha were also collected in the three same sections of Sutras, Vinaya, and Abhidharma. The bodhisattva Vajrapani recited the Sutras. The bodhisattva Maitreya recited the Vinaya, and the bodhisattva Manjushri recited the Abhidharma. So in this meeting they also collected all the teachings of the Buddha and classified them into these three main categories. A similar thing took place with the Vajrayana teachings. The Buddha taught four categories of tantras: the kriya tantra, the carya tantra, yoga tantra, and anuttarayoga tantra. With the lower three tantras, i. e. the kriya tantra, the carya tantra, and yoga tantras there was a special meeting of all the bodhisattvas in the god realm to gather all of these teachings led by Vajrapani. For this reason, in the vajrayana tradition he is known as “the Lord of Secrets,” with secrets referring to the secret mantra, that is, the vajrayana. How did he come to be the Lord of Secrets? First he was the one who requested the Buddha to turn the profound Dharma wheel of the tantras and then when it was turned, he was the most prominent of the disciples. Later when there was this meeting of all the bodhisattvas to collect all the lower tantras, Vajrapani was the 839
leader of this gathering and it is through his action that the tantras have been preserved up to now. As far as the anuttarayoga tantras, the father tantras and mother tantras were mostly requested and received by dakinis such as Vajrayogini, and it was also the wisdom dakinis who collected and preserved these teachings. The Hevajra Tantra was transmitted mostly to the bodhisattva Vajragarbha. He later on gathered the teaching and transmitted them in their integrity. The Kalachakra Tantra was transmitted mostly to the Dharma King Sucandra. He was actually an emanation of Manjushri. He was the one who also kept the teaching, collected them, and passed them on. What follows is an explanation of the Sutras, Tantras and Shastras. The Sutras Now the first turning of teachings were given in Varanasi which you can visit in India nowadays. The Buddha taught in the deer park (which is now called Sarnath) which at the time was a very remote and very solitary place.9 After the Buddha reached his enlightenment, he remained completely silent and didn’t teach for seven weeks. The reason for this was to show that the Dharma is very rare, very special, very valuable, and this is why the Buddha just remained silent for some time and until he was requested to teach. The request was made by many gods including Brahma.10 Having had the request to teach, the Buddha went to Varanasi and gave the teachings in the deer park. He gave the teachings to five men who were called “the five good followers” who were connected by previous karma to the Buddha and who through this link, were the first ones to receive his teaching. The subject matter of this first turning of the wheel of Dharma was the teaching of the Four Noble Truths. The Buddha expounding these Four Noble Truths to make it very clear to all those who were going to follow the Buddha’s path what the teaching was, why one needed to practice it, and what kind of results one could be expected from the practice. So to clarify the path the Buddha laid it out in a very clear form of the four truths. He showed that if we don’t practice the path of Dharma, we will wander on and on in samsara, but if we practice the Dharma, we will gain the liberation of nirvana. The Buddha first taught that suffering is inherent to samsara and that this is what we must really overcome. Secondly, he taught that the cause of this suffering are the disturbing emotions or kleshas and karma. To counteract samsara we must engage in the aspect of nirvana which again has two parts. The third noble truth of cessation or peace shows what we can achieve. Nirvana is cessation of suffering. And fourth the way to achieve this is the truth of the path. Since samsara is by nature suffering, we have to go beyond samsara to eliminate samsara. Since nirvana is peace, this is what we have to try to achieve. But achieving nirvana and eliminating samsara can not be done automatically. So it is done through working on the causes of these that we can achieve our goal. This is why the Buddha expounded on the four truths in the form of causes and their effects. The causes of the suffering of samsara are the disturbing emotions such as lust, anger, and ignorance and karma which need to be overcome. In the same way, the cause of peace and bliss of nirvana is the path which needs to be practiced. 840
So this is how the Buddha gave the whole outline of his teaching in the form of these four truths. Within each aspect of samsara and nirvana, there is this causal relationship between cause and effect. This series of teachings which began in Varanasi were called the turning of the first wheel of dharma. Later the Buddha taught the second wheel of Dharma at Vulture Peak in Rajagriha, India.12 The people who were present during this teaching were arhats and bodhisattvas in great numbers. The teaching itself was mostly the exposition of the Prajnaparamita. This is when the Buddha gave the teachings on emptiness and on the conduct of a bodhisattva through the teachings on the six paramitas. In the first turning of the wheel of Dharma, the Buddha showed that one had to abandon samsara to achieve nirvana. But how is this possible? Does it mean that we have to go on a long journey to where we have never been before to find nirvana? Does it mean that we have to create something new called nirvana? In fact, it doesn’t mean that at all. All it means is that we have to understand the actual nature of phenomena13 that we have to understand that our present view of reality is mistaken, and we have to remove our impurities. And once we see things as they really are, this is when we can achieve Buddhahood. The third turning of the wheel of Dharma is also called the teachings that gave complete clari‐fication. These teachings were given in Shravasti and other places in India in the presence of all the great bodhisattvas. These teaching revealed that Buddha‐nature is present in the mind of all beings. We may wonder why this was taught last. The reason is that in the second turning, the Buddha taught that everything was empty of inherent nature. This teaching could lead to the belief that the goal of the Buddhist path—nirvana—is actually simply complete emptiness or annihilation. To avoid this mistake, the Buddha gave this third set of teachings showing that the mind is not just nothingness. When one achieves Buddhahood, the original intrinsic luminosity of the mind becomes manifest. This luminosity or clarity of the mind means that the mind is not a dark, obscure thing by nature, but it has its own inherent, intelligent clarity. Once one has removed the veils, the thick shroud of ignorance, the inherent clarity of the mind, this brilliance of the intelligence of mind, will shine in its fullness. Once this clarity of the mind has manifest, then one can understand all things of nirvana and samsara very clearly. One has the understanding of phenomena and this knowledge is accompanied by the greatest of bliss and peace. The Tantras The three turnings of the wheel of Dharma that have just been described correspond to the sutras taught of the Buddha. The Buddha also taught the tantras which are the teachings of the vajrayana. The Buddha gave four tantras: the kriya tantras, the carya tantras, the yoga tantras, and the anuttarayoga tantras. These teachings were given in many places. Sometimes the Buddha gave these teachings in some of the god realms such as Tushita and some of the teachings were given in physical places in India. Those receiving these teachings were bodhisattvas and dakas and dakinis practicing the secret mantas. The sutras already provided very deep and vast teachings on the nature of phenomena. But with the vajrayana, the Buddha was able to give people the possibility to achieve the fruition of the Buddhist path very quickly and without major hardships. The vajrayana can do this by 841
providing special skillful means such as the meditation on the generation stage and the completion stage of a deity, and using meditation techniques of looking at the nature of the mind directly. So the Buddha turned the wheel of Dharma and gave all the various teachings of the hinayana, the mahayana, and the vajrayana14 in different places with different people and at all different times. But also because he was teaching students of vastly different abilities, at times it seemed to them as if the Buddha was mainly spreading the hinayana; at times it seemed to them as if he was teaching the mahayana and sometimes as if to the vajrayana. Of course, this was just a matter of the way in which the people were perceiving the teachings of the Buddha; it seemed to some that the Buddha was giving completely hinayana teachings and to others that he was giving completely mahayana teaching. The Buddha could also be somewhere else and through his miraculous powers giving other teachings to others. Because of this, some people started having the impression that the Buddha had only given the hinayana teachings, and had not given the maha‐yana teachings which were made up by someone else. Others believed that the Buddha had given the mahayana teachings, but had not given the vajrayana teachings and that these vajrayana teachings had been fabricated by his followers. The belief that the mahayana and the vajrayana teachings were created by someone else is based on the belief the Buddha was just an ordinary man with no extraordinary qualities of enlightenment instead of seeing a Buddha as being a very exceptional being who came into the world to help people out of his great compassion and to lead them to liberation. Once one thinks of the Buddha as an ordinary Indian man, then next one will have doubts as to whether he actually gave the various teachings attributed to him and one begins picking and choosing between teachings of the various vehicles. It is a mistake to identify the Buddha as an ordinary person and to start thinking that maybe the Buddha didn’t have complete knowledge, or was not able to teach a complete range of teachings or that the Buddha could have taught in this place, but not in that place. It is not worth entertaining such doubts because the Buddha was not an ordinary person nor was he a god who if pleased with you will send you to heaven and if displeased throw you into the hell realms. But at the same time, saying the Buddha is not a god doesn’t mean that we should think of the Buddha as someone devoid of any special qualities of knowledge, intelligence, and understanding or without any special direct intuition and insight. He was indeed a very special being who gave the complete set of Dharma teachings which were not in contradiction to each other. Each has its own relevance. Whoever practices a teaching of any level or vehicle properly will be able to achieve the respective result of that particular path. So this was the eleventh deed to the Buddha, the turning of the wheel of Dharma. The Shastras All the different categories of the Buddha’s teaching including the sutras and the tantras were transmitted to disciples who didn’t just hear these teachings, but who practiced and preserved them so that they were transmitted all the way down to the present time without any defect, alteration, or loss. There are two main categories of the Dharma. First there are the actual teachings of the Buddha (the sutras) and there are the shastras which are the works 842
that elucidate the meaning of the Buddha’s teaching. We’ve seen how the twelve deeds of the Buddha and the three councils and how this allowed all the actual teachings of the Buddha to remain intact and faultless up to now. As Buddh‐ism developed and spread in India, many different scholars wrote works trying to elucidate and clarify the meaning of the Buddha’s teachings for others. So these works are what we call the shastras. The shastras are intended to make the original teaching of the Buddha easier to understand. They do not contain any personal ideas of the writer and do not put forward the author’s own theory about anything. So when a teaching of the Buddha was very long and very detailed, the shastras may present a more summarized easier to understand form of these teachings. Then when the teaching of the Buddha was rather complex, the shastras may make these teachings much more easily under‐
standable. Finally, when a teaching of the Buddha on a particular topic was scattered in many different sutras, then a shastra might take all these different points concerning the same subject and collect them in one place. So the importance of the shastras is to present the meaning of the Buddha’s teaching in a form that was easy for people to understand. One could say that the meaning of these shastras is so close to the Buddha’s teaching that it could almost be counted as being part of the actual teachings of the Buddha. Some people have doubts because they think that maybe the shastras were just concoctions by different writers and scholars that don’t really have anything to do with the Buddha’s teaching. They also make too much between what is in the scriptures of the Buddha and what is in the shastras. But one shouldn’t think that there is a great difference between what the Buddha taught and the shastras and the meditation instructions and the spiritual songs. They should be thought of as a whole, as the same teaching which originated from what the Buddha taught. So whether dealing with the actual words of the Buddha or the instructions of realized masters, we should consider them as all having the same value. Whether we practice the teachings given by the Buddha or the teachings laid out in the shastras, there is no difference except that maybe we will find the shastras a little easier to understand. This is why Tibetans favored the shastras so much. The Buddha taught the various levels of the Dharma by giving teachings of the hinayana, the mahayana, and the vajrayana. It is said in a sutra of the Buddha that whenever the Buddha speaks even one word, that word can be heard in different places, in different times, in a different ways by the various people according to their spiritual maturity. This means that when the Buddha was teaching, those who are ready for the hinayana received his teaching from the hinayana viewpoint and accordingly were able to practice this path and be able to achieve the hinayana fruition. Simul‐taneously, someone who is ready for the mahayana received the teaching from the mahayana point of view and through practicing this was able to achieve the mahayana fruition. The same applies also to the vajrayana. In the hinayana tradition it is the Buddha’s teachings that are most important. But in Tibet, the shastras became extremely important. One might think that this was 843
rather strange because these shastras in Tibet became even more important in a way than the actual sayings of the Buddha. But this shouldn’t lead us to think that the Buddha’s teachings were forgotten and put aside and replaced by the shastras that were just fabricated by scholars who lived after the Buddha. In fact, what happened was that some individuals practiced the Buddha’s teaching. They assimilated the meaning of his teachings so well that through the power and blessing of the teaching, they managed to achieve the fruition of the path; so that if they practiced the shravaka aspect of the path, they became arhats. If they practiced the mahayana, they achieved the bodhisattva levels from the first up to the tenth bodhisattva level. Or if they practiced the vajrayana, they achieved the ordinary and the supreme spiritual accomplishments, in particular, the power of direct, intuitive knowledge. Once they had achieved this fruition of the path they were then able to write a shastra which is a landmark, a guidebook for others who were to follow to show them that if they understood the Buddha’s teaching very well and practiced properly, this is what would happen this is how one could go about it, and this is how one should understand it and so on. So the shastras that they wrote were not a contradiction of the Buddha’s teaching, but a reinforcement of the Buddha’s teaching. Those scholars or panditas who wrote the shastras didn’t necessarily write from their realization. If they wrote from their experience, the result was the same as teachings of the Buddha because they were so completely penetrated with the meaning of the Buddha’s teaching and they had assimilated it so perfectly that whatever they wrote was out of total conviction in the validity of the Buddha’s teaching. Whatever they wrote wasn’t just their own ideas put down on paper, but it was to make the Buddha’s teaching more easily understandable to most people. This is why we should consider the shastras as being the same as the Buddha’s teaching, not as being something foreign to the teaching. 844
Khempo Kartar Rinpoche http://www.kagyu.org Khempo Kartar Rinpoche Early Years Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche was born in Rabshi, east Tibet, in the province of Kham. He was born in the second Tibetan month of 1924, the fourth child to a modest but self‐sufficient nomad family. His parents practiced Buddhism diligently, and his father taught Rinpoche the Tibetan alphabet and various scriptures. Thus, he learned to read and write, and began to memorize texts. Thrangu Monastery in Tibet as it looks today When he was twelve, Rinpoche entered Thrangu Monastery, where he found that his training in written Tibetan and the scriptures prepared him well for the rituals and prayers that were now a part of his daily monastic life. For six years, he studied and practiced in the monastery. At eighteen, he and a few other monks were sent on a pilgrimage to Tsurphu Monastery, the seat of His Holiness Karmapa, to meet him for the first time. 845
Under ordinary circumstances, the monks could have received their gelong ordination (senior monkʹs vows) from the Karmapa, but at that time His Holiness was not yet twenty years old, too young according to ordination tradition to give the vows. When Rinpoche was twenty, he traveled to Palpung Monastery, the seat of the Tai Situ incarnations, where he received his gelong vows from the Eleventh Situ Rinpoche. Consequently, Rinpocheʹs root guru for the vows is the previous Situ Rinpoche, and he considers his root guru for the teachings and philosophy of Tibetan Buddhism to be Khenpo Lodro Rabsel. Training After his gelong ordination, Rinpoche returned to Thrangu Monastery for the rainy season retreat, a yearly tradition that began when Shakyamuni Buddha secluded himself during the rainy season in order to avoid accidentally killing the many insects and larvae that are most prolific during this wet period. After the three‐month retreat, Rinpoche undertook a one‐year solitary retreat. Soon after, he entered the traditional three‐year, three‐month, and three‐day retreat along with nine other retreatants, a retreat master, and a retreat attendant who provided food, supplies, and other necessities. These eleven were the only people Rinpoche saw during his three years of seclusion and intensive meditation at Thrangu Monastery. Contemporary, three‐year retreatants pose at the Thrangu retreat center with Thrangu Rinpoche (center, back row) When the retreat ended, Rinpocheʹs heartfelt wish was to remain in retreat for the rest of his life. However, on the advice of his teachers, he entered a one‐year retreat in his uncleʹs cabin.At the end of the year, Rinpoche was advised by Traleg Rinpoche, the abbot of Thrangu Monastery, to study more advanced teachings on Buddhist philosophy, psychology, logic, and metaphysics since he felt Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche had gained insight through his years in retreat. Rinpoche entered a new school at Thrangu Monastery which emphasized these subjects and was founded to educate Thrangu Rinpoche, who was then in his teens, and other monks.Five years later, when Rinpoche was thirty years old, his advanced training was completed. For the next several years he and Thrangu Rinpoche traveled together and gained teaching experience while pursuing their private studies and sharing long discussions on the dharma. 846
Flight from TibetBetween 1950 and 1958, the presence of the Communist Chinese in Tibet brought political, economic, and religious changes to the Tibetan people, along with vast suffering and rampant destruction of their way of life. In 1958, Rinpoche left the monastery with Thrangu Rinpoche, Traleg Rinpoche, Zuru Tulku, and other monks. Though many sacred objects and volumes of dharma texts were destroyed, Rinpoche was able to save some.With small provisions of food and clothing, and a few horses, Rinpoche and his party began their long trek westward, and were soon joined by a caravan of nomads with their flock of sheep. After fifteen days of travel, the Rinpoches stopped to rest, only to find themselves surrounded by Communist Chinese soldiers. Since night was falling, the Tibetan refugees were able to escape via a nearby swamp, and readied three horses to carry Thrangu Rinpoche, Traleg Rinpoche, and Zuru Tulku. Zuru Tulku, who was the eldest, could not have survived on horseback, so Khenpo Karthar Rinpocheʹs younger brother carried him.Everyone headed in separate directions across the swamp, which was very flat but punctuated with small gorges and areas where one could easily and quickly hide. On the second day, Rinpoche found a few of the monks and was relieved to know they were alive and unhurt. Gradually, the remaining monks were found and on the seventh day of their escape from the soldiers, they were joined by the Rinpoches. The party survived those seven days without food since the mule carrying the provisions had disappeared. They ate snow to prevent dehydration, and were forced to return to the place where the soldiers had surrounded them to look for food. The Communist Chinese were gone, and almost nothing was left but a few utensils and a little flour. Carrying the meager ration of flour, the lamas continued their journey. Their vision was blurring and they were so weak they had to avoid even the smallest incline by walking around it. After another week of travel, the Rinpoches found a horse carrying tsampa, a staple of roasted barley flour. They mixed this with water and although the mixture was very thin, a ten‐course dinner could not have been more appreciated. A few days later, the lamas met some nomads who gave them more provisions. Two and a half months later and without further incidents, the lamas reached the area of Tsurphu Monastery, not far from Lhasa in central Tibet. The Rinpoches spent a month at Tsurphu, which was still operating normally. But His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, with his profound understanding and vision, was completely aware of the impending danger. He told the group they must leave Tsurphu and continue toward Sikkim and India. On March 7, 1959, His Holiness gave the lamas five yaks and supplies and three days later, they left Tsurphu. In fifteen days, they reached the border between Tibet and Bhutan. 847
Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche left Tsurphu through this valley in Tibet The Bhutanese would not grant immediate passage through their country, so the lamas were forced to spend one month at the blockaded border, when more than a thousand Tibetans died of starvation. Finally, His Holiness the Dalai Lama secured the permission of the Indian government for the refugees to enter India. They were given rations, and the Bhutanese opened two roads through Bhutan. The Rinpoches traveled through to Buxador, a town at the border of India and Bhutan. Former prison quarters served as their housing, and food was provided by the Indian government. ResettlementEventually, more than 1,500 monks gathered at Buxador with a common vision of maintaining and preserving the dharma, organizing a Tibetan community, and teaching. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche remained there for eight years. During his stay, Tibetan settlements were established in several areas of India, and many monks resettled in the new communities. Rationing was slowly discontinued. In 1967, Rinpoche was sent to Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, the seat‐in‐exile of His Holiness the Karmapa, where Rinpoche taught the monks and performed various rites for local Buddhist families.Less than two years later, Rinpoche was sent to Tashi Choling Monastery in central Bhutan. Originally a royal palace of a previous king of Bhutan, the building was offered to His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa for use as a monastery by the Royal Queen Grandmother. Rinpoche stayed at Tashi Choling for six months, giving teachings as visiting khenpo, and teaching the nuns. From Tashi Choling, Rinpoche went to Tilokpur, a nunnery in Himachal Pradesh, founded by His Holiness the Karmapa. Rinpoche stayed at Tilokpur for a year and then traveled to Tashi Jong, the site of Khamtrul Rinpocheʹs monastery in Himachal Pradesh. While at Tashi Jong, Rinpoche and eight hundred others received the Dam‐
ngag‐dzod empowerment, transmission, and teachings from Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. The Dam‐ngag‐dzod is one of the five collections of Vajrayana teachings by the first Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche. After four months at Tashi Jong, Rinpoche returned to Rumtek where he remained until 1975, when he was sent to another monastery named Tashi Choling at Therabtse in Tashigang, East Bhutan. It was in 1975 that Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche officially received the title of ʺchoje lamaʺ (superior dharma master) from His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa.Rinpoche stayed at Tashi Choling only one year before he was called back to Rumtek by His Holiness and asked to serve as the abbot of a new Karma Kagyu 848
monastery that had yet to be built in the United States. The following spring, Rinpoche was on an airplane bound for New York City to begin a different life as a teacher of the dharma in a culture and environment far removed from his home in Kham. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche arrived in the United States just after the arrivals of Lama Ganga, another Kagyu teacher who also received his early training at Thrangu Monastery, and Yeshe Namdag, who fled Tibet with the Sixteenth Karmapa and served as his personal attendant at Rumtek. These three joined Tenzin Chonyi, who had been asked by the Karmapa to stay in America as his representative after his first world tour in 1974. Together, this group was charged by His Holiness with the task of establishing and building a monastery to serve as the seat of the Karmapa in North America. The group moved into a house which sat at the edge of 375 rustic acres of land in Putnam County, New York, that had been generously offered to the Karmapa by C.T. Shen, one of the great patrons of Buddhism in America. Khenpo Rinpoche began travelling to New York City on a weekly basis to offer teachings at a fledgling center that soon became the New York City Karma Thegsum Choling (KTC). In the wake of the Karmapaʹs second United States tour in 1977, more KTC centers were established in Palo Alto and Santa Cruz, California; Columbus, Ohio; and shortly thereafter in Albany, New York; and Cambridge, Massachusetts. Meanwhile, the search was on for a permanent site to establish His Holinessʹ North American headquarters. While visiting the Putnam County property in the spring of 1977 during his second world tour, the Karmapa told Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche that he should open the new dharma center on the auspicious day of Saga Dawa in the following year (May 25, 1978). It was becoming apparent that the donated land, although a fine piece of property with much natural beauty, was unsuitable even for building an access road. Through fortuitous circumstances, a mountain‐top property nestled above the town of Woodstock was found, and in early 1978, the Mead House was purchased to become the home of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra. Khenpo Rinpoche and the others, now joined by Bardor Tulku Rinpoche, soon moved in and began cleaning up the property. A formal shrine room was created on the ground floor of the 113‐year‐old house for public teachings and empowerments. Soon, it was May 25, and just as the Karmapa had predicted, Karma Triyana Dharmachakra opened in a new home as his North American seat, with Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche as its abbot. 849
Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche in the old Shrine Room at KTD During the first several years after KTD was established, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche continued to oversee and travel to a growing number of affiliate centers around the country. By the early 1980s, centers had been founded in Chicago, Ann Arbor, Santa Fe, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Seattle, and Chapel Hill (North Carolina), to name a few. In 1982, Khenpo Rinpoche embarked on a three‐week tour of South America, visiting Columbia and Venezuela where he established two more KTCs. Rinpoche continued to make annual trips for a number of years offering refuge and bestowing teachings to a growing South American sangha. In late 1985, Khenpo Karthar once again accompanied Thrangu Rinpoche on a teaching tour as he had done in their early years in Tibet, but this time they visited centers throughout the United States. By the mid‐1980s, there were thirty‐two affiliate centers in North and South America, and three in Taiwan. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche was now travelling to teach at all of them on an annual or semi‐annual basis. The centers in Taiwan were particularly enthusiastic to receive teachings and empowerments from Rinpoche. Since the early 1980s, he has made at least ten trips to the Far East, including some with Thrangu Rinpoche. During recent trips he has visited a dozen Karma Kagyu centers in Taiwan alone, including those in Yilan, Kaoshiung, Chiayi, Tainan, Changhua, and Tapei. With a solid base in Woodstock and a busy travel schedule, Khenpo Rinpoche initiated a tradition of longer, more intensive teachings at KTD. During the summer of 1981, he offered two month‐long courses: one on the Amitabha sadhana and the other on the Mahayana Uttara Tantra Shastra (The Changeless Nature). In the summer of 1983, Rinpoche taught a three‐month course on ʺGround, Path and Fruition,ʺ and in 1984 taught a series of courses on ʺView, Meditation, and Actionʺ from late May through mid‐September, with a month‐long course on the Medicine Buddha in‐
between. By 1989, Khenpo Rinpoche began to scale back the length of his annual summer teachings to better accommodate the growing number of students coming from farther away. Thus, the tradition of the ten‐day teaching began with ʺThe Profound Inner Meaningʺ during the first two summers, followed in 1991 by ʺThe Guru Yoga of 850
Marpa.ʺ The ten‐day teaching continues annually at the time of the July Fourth holiday, often coinciding with the anniversary of Buddha Shakyamuniʹs first turning of the wheel of dharma, one of the four great occasions in the Buddhist calendar. Throughout the 1980s, Khenpo Karthar was not only teaching, but also fully involved in overseeing the building of the new monastery. In addition to consulting on the construction, furnishing, decoration, and architectural geomancy, he was involved in every aspect from helping mix cement to fabricating the meditation cushions for the shrine rooms, sewing the brocade frames around the lineage thangkas, and overseeing the consecration of many of the rupas. Fulfilling More of His Holinessʹ Vision In 1980, the Sixteenth Karmapa had visited Crestone, Colorado and accepted a gift of two‐hundred acres of natural land in the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. His Holiness wished to see this site become a place where the dharma and Tibetan culture could be preserved. His Eminence Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche visited the Crestone site in 1988 and encouraged the sangha to first build a stupa before any other buildings were constructed. In the autumn of 1989, Khenpo Karthar travelled to Colorado to select an auspicious site and bless the land on which the Tashi Gomang Stupa would be built. The following year, he returned to Crestone with Bardor Tulku Rinpoche to formally consecrate the site of the stupa so construction could begin. Over the next seven years a devoted group of individuals living in the area worked tirelessly to raise funds and build the traditional forty‐foot‐tall stupa. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche and Bardor Tulku Rinpoche supervised all aspects of the construction from their base in Woodstock, with occasional visits to the site. Finally, in July of 1996, the two Rinpoches were joined by Bokar Rinpoche (who officiated) and other Rinpoches and lamas for the formal consecration of the completed stupa. Initially, the property in Colorado was seen as a prime location to build a traditional three‐year, three‐month Karma Kagyu retreat center. A key element of this plan was that Lama Ganga would serve as drupon (retreat master), but when he died in 1988 during a trip to Tibet, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche knew this role would fall to him. Since arriving in the United States, Khenpo Karthar had led individuals in solitary retreat‐‐one as long as twelve years‐‐and two small cabins on the KTD property met this need. But with a growing number of students wishing to do the traditional three‐year retreat, a facility was needed that was close enough to KTD to enable Rinpoche to serve as its drupon and maintain his teaching schedule at KTD and the KTCs. Clearly, Colorado would be too far away for such a retreat center. Auspiciously, in 1989, an anonymous contributor donated 40 acres of land in Delaware County, New York, an eighty‐minute drive from KTD. It was a perfect site for establishing the retreat facility. In 1990, Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche blessed the land and soon thereafter an access road was built on the property. Before the freezing winter weather set in, Khenpo Karthar and Bardor Tulku Rinpoche were able to bless the excavation of the first building of the Karme Ling Retreat Center before its foundation was poured. 851
Bardor Rinpoche and Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche at Khenpo Karthar Rinpocheʹs birthday at KTD Once again, under the direct supervision of Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, another facility for the practice of dharma envisioned by His Holiness Karmapa came to fruition. Rinpoche oversaw the construction of two retreat buildings (one for women and one for men), an ani house for nuns to live and practice, and a lama house to accommodate visiting Rinpoches and individual short‐term retreats. He saw to the assembling of all the interior details of these buildings, personally collecting an outstanding number of thangkas and rupas to adorn each shrine room. The first retreat at Karme Ling began on January 23, 1993, followed by a second in November 1996. The third retreat began on the auspicious day of Lhabab Duchen in late 2000. Return to Tibet Almost thirty years after he originally fled his homeland, Khenpo Rinpoche was fortunate enough to return to Tibet. In 1988 he travelled to Thrangu Monastery in Kham where he was reunited for the first time with many relatives and old friends. While there, he was able to impart the instructions he received in his youth for the rainy‐season retreat practices (yarney) to a new generation of monks, and then officiate at the month‐long retreat. He has returned to Kham three times since his first visit, most recently accompanying Thrangu Rinpoche. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche has strong family ties to Thrangu Monastery, since his nephew, the fifth Tulku Lodro Nyima, is the only one of four primary Rinpoches associated with Thrangu Monastery to live there and oversee its current operations. Rinpoche made a third trip to Tibet in 1992, shortly after the enthronement of His Holiness the Seventeenth Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje at Tsurphu Monastery. In front of the sacred Jowo Shakyamuni at the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, Khenpo Karthar participated in the formal ordination and hair‐cutting ceremony of His Holiness led by their Eminences Tai Situ Rinpoche and Goshir Gyaltsap Rinpoche. It was an auspicious time for Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche to reunite with His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa. Author After more than forty years of spreading and teaching the dharma outside Tibet, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche has a prolific body of work published in English and Chinese. Dozens of his teachings given over the past thirty years at KTD and some of the KTCs have been published in Densal magazine and as transcripts by KTDʹs Namse Bangdzo Bookstore. In 1992 his book Dharma Paths, an in‐depth introduction to the 852
Tibetan Buddhist path, was published by Snow Lion Publications, and in 1996, Snow Lion published Rinpocheʹs commentary on The Precious Garland of the Supreme Path by Je Gampopa with the title The Instructions of Gampopa. The English versions of Rinpocheʹs published works are available through Namse Bangdzo Bookstore. Chinese translations of Rinpocheʹs work, published in Taiwan, include Dharma Paths, The Profound Inner Meaning, The Four Dharmas of Gampopa, The Ocean of Definitive Meaning, Enlightened Women, and the Collected Teachings of Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche. Many of these have become top‐selling dharma publications in Taiwan. Forthcoming is a Chinese translation of the collected teachings of Gampopa. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche during the 2000 10‐day teaching at KTD As the abbot of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, Rinpoche has been responsible for insuring that preparations are in keeping with age‐old Tibetan traditions when visiting Rinpoches and lamas teach at KTD. Distinguished visitors include His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa, His Holiness Sakya Trizin, all the regents of the Karma Kagyu lineage, and numerous eminent Tibetan teachers. For over three decades Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche has patiently guided a great variety of Western students unaccustomed to the ways of these Himalayan traditions. He has imparted these traditions in a way that maintains great respect for the oral tradition of the Karma Kagyu practice lineage. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche is now preparing for a most important visitor to KTD, His Holiness the Seventeenth Karmapa. When Ogyen Trinley Dorje comes, he will see first‐hand some of the work done on his behalf to fulfill his vision for the dharma to spread throughout the world for the benefit of all sentient beings. This has been accomplished in no small part due to the teaching, building, writing, counseling, sewing, and tireless efforts of one devoted student: Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche. The ʺEarly Yearsʺ through the ʺResettlementʺ sections of this biography were edited from Eleanor Mannikkaʹs ʺBiography of Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche,ʺ published in Densal magazine. The rest of the biography was written by Tim Wolf. 853
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Bardor Tulku http://www.kagyu.org Bardor Tulku The present third Bardor Tulku Rinpoche born in 1950 in Kham, East Tibet. He was recognized by His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa at a very early age. Even after his recognition he maintained a nomadic life style with his family and Dharma tutor who were all constantly on the move with the yaks and dris that they grazed.Rinpoche was quite young when the family left East Tibet on a journey that took them first to Lhasa and then on to Tsurphu. From there, they travelled to Drikung where they were to remain for several years at the home of his grandparents. With the Chinese Communist occupation of Tibet, the political and social conditions worsened.Rinpocheʹs family, then a party of thirteen, set out towards India along with many other Tibetans who were also fleeing the fighting that was spreading toward them from Lhasa. They traveled through Kong Po and crossed the Himalayan mountain range, braved 17,000 foot passes, and then descended into the hot jungles of Assam, India. It was there, while in Pemakor near Assam, when Rinpoche was nine years old, that one after another of his family members died as they failed to adjust to the tropical heat. When his father, the very last member of his family, died, Rinpoche set out with a twelve year old friend and a group of other Tibetans who had also fled their homeland. At the township known as Bomdila, where the borders of Tibet, Bhutan and Assam, India meet, a bombing raid dispersed the group. Rinpoche and his young friend fled the attack and walked continuously for a day and a half. The two friends traveled westward along the border of Bhutan and India, through Gohat and Siriguri to Darjeeling. Upon arrival in Darjeeling, His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa was notified that Rinpoche had safely made his way out of Tibet. Filled with joy at the good news, His Holiness arranged for Rinpoche to be brought to 855
Sikkim, and for Rinpocheʹs friend to be taken care of. It was at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, under the tutelage of His Holiness Karmapa, that Rinpocheʹs formal training as a tulku began.After completing many years of study and practice, Bardor Tulku Rinpoche accompanied the Sixteenth Karmapa on his world tours in 1974 and 1976. It was in 1977 though, that His Holiness asked Rinpoche to remain in New York at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra. During his first two years at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, Rinpoche worked side‐by‐side with the staff to renovate and winterize the house and prepare for the last visit to the West of His Holiness as the Sixteenth Karmapa. In 1980, during that last visit, His Holiness directed that His monastery and Seat in North America be established at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, and performed the formal investiture. In 1981, His Holiness instructed H.E. Gyaltsab Rinpoche to make arrangements to conduct the groundbreaking ceremony. After the groundbreaking ceremony in May of 1982, Bardor Rinpoche directed the construction plans and activities, and labored each day to build the monastery. Bardor Rinpoche at work in Woodstock, New York on the construction of the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra monastery in 1982. In 1983 and 1984 Rinpoche visited Taiwan and Hong Kong where he taught the Dharma and was enthusiastically received by hundreds of students and practitioners there. During the years 1985 through 1987 Rinpoche spent many months in Nepal supervising the construction of Karma Triyana Dharmachakraʹs statues and ornaments: the Buddha rupa, the deer and Dharmachakra, the Gengura spire for the top of the monastery, and the Sixteen Arhats for the library shrine. He returned in 1988 with Tinley Chojor, who has since masterfully rendered traditional decorative painting of the monastery. In 1989, Rinpoche was joined by his wife, Sonam Chotso and daughter, Karma Sonam Wangmo. The following January, on the concluding evening of a seminar on the Twenty‐
one Taras and just shortly after having given the Green Tara Empowerment, Rinpoche took his wife to a local hospital where his second daughter, Karma Chimey Chodron, was born. Within two years, his third daughter, Rigdzin Chodron was born. 856
Bardor Tulku Rinpoche continues tirelessly to teach and work for the flourishing of His Holinessʹ Seat in Woodstock and its Affliates. Together with Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, Abbot of KTD, Bardor Rinpoche skillfully guides students in the US and world‐wide. Away from the shrine room, Rinpocheʹs warmth, openness and command of English communicates to all, simply and directly, the compassionate wisdom of the Buddha Dharma.In 2000, for the benefit of Dharma students and with the blessing of His Holiness the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa and His Eminence the Twelfth Tai Situ Rinpoche, Bardor Tulku Rinpoche established the Raktrul Foundation in Redhook, NY with Kunzang Palchen Ling as the dharma center under its auspices. Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) was the teacher of Nyupchen Sangye Yeshe, an early incarnation of Bardor Rinpoche. The First Bardor Rinpoche, Jikme Chokyi Senge, was born in the nineteenth century. He was the ninth incarnation of Nyupchen Sangye Yeshe, one of the twenty‐
five great disciples of Guru Padmasambhava. He was a terton (finder of hidden treasures), and became the First Bardor Rinpoche when he discovered a terma (hidden teaching) known as the ʺBarway Dorjeʺ (Blazing Vajra). This teaching had been hidden by Guru Padmasambhava in order that it might be discovered by Jikme Chokyi Senge and used for the benefit of the people of that time and for the generations that followed. Later, the First Bardor Rinpoche established Ratrulgon Monastery in Kham, East Tibet. The spiritual biography of the First Barway Dorje has been translated into English by Yeshe Gyamtso and published by KTD Publications under the title the Precious Essence. The Second Bardor Tulku was born in Kham, East Tibet, with the family name of Yi Mar Pon Tshang. He spent his early years at Situ Rinpocheʹs Palpung Monastery. Later, he served for many years as the Appointment Secretary to His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa at Tsurphu Monastery.Because the monks at Ratrulgon Monastery sought Bardor Rinpocheʹs help so insistently, His Holiness Karmapa gave him permission to return there for one year. Once there, though, his duties were of such proportions that his stay subsequently lasted several years. Truly regretting this delay, Bardor Rinpoche prostrated along the entire journey back to Tsurphu Monastery. Following that, Rinpoche remained in the service of His Holiness for some time, only to be again summoned by the monks of his Monastery. 857
This time, while he was at Ratrulgon Monastery, the King of Nanchen petitioned him to perform many rites and rituals. Consequently, with this second journey and all that it entailed, Bardor Tulku Rinpoche was not to see His Holiness again, until his next incarnation. 858
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche A l´instar de la terre et des autres éléments, Puisse je, aussi longtemps que demeure l´espace, Devenir le support et la subsistance De la foule infinie des êtres Au cœur même du monde bouddhiste tibétain se trouve le lama ou maître spirituel. Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoché était le modèle même du maître spirituel, un être que le voyage intérieur avait conduit à une profondeur de connaissance hors du commun et qui était devenu, pour tous ceux qui l’approchaient, une fontaine d’amour, de sagesse et de compassion. Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoché était l’un des derniers de la génération des maîtres accomplis qui reçurent une éducation et une formation complètes au Tibet. Il est né en 1910 au Tibet oriental d’une famille dont le lignage remonte à Trisong Detsen, le grand roi tibétain du IXeme siècle. Alors que sa mère était enceinte de lui, il fut reconnu comme un tulkou ou incarnation par l’illustre maître Mipham Rinpoché ( 1846‐1912 ). Plus tard, Shéchèn Gyeltsap ( 1871‐1926 ), un proche disciple de Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo ( 1820‐1892 ), reconnut formellement le jeune Dilgo Khyentsé et l’intronisa, à l’âge de douze ans, comme l’incarnation de l’esprit de Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo. Ce dernier était l’un des plus importants terteuns ( découvreurs de trésors spirituels ou termas capables de révéler les enseignements cachés par Padmasambhava pour le bien des générations futures ) et écrivains du XIXè siècle ainsi que la principale inspiration du mouvement Rimé ( non sectaire ). Khyen‐tsé signifie Sagesse et Amour. Les tulkous de la lignée Khyentsé sont des incarnations de plusieurs personnalités marquantes qui ont contribué au développement du bouddhisme au Tibet, comme KunKyen Longchenpa, Jigmé Lingpa et Vimalamitra. 859
Encore petit garçon, Rinpoché manifesta un ardent désir de se dévouer entièrement à la vie spirituelle. Bien que son père voulait qu’il suive ses traces, il laissa son fils agir selon ses vœux et ses aspirations. À l’âge de onze ans, Rinpoché entra au monastère de Shéchèn dans le Kham, l’un des six principaux monastères de l’école Nyingma.Il eut plusieurs grands maîtres dont le principal fut Shéchèn Gyeltsap, de qui il reçut l’intégralité des enseignements de la tradition Nyingma. Avant que Shéchèn Gyeltsap ne meure, Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoché lui promit qu’il enseignerait sans relâche à tout être qui le lui demanderait. Il passa la plus grande partie des treize années suivantes en retraite silencieuse. Dans les grottes, les ermitages solitaires et les pentes abruptes de la vallée de Denkhok qui l’avait vu naître, il médita continuellement sur l’amour, la compassion et le désir de mener tous les êtres à l’Éveil et à la délivrance. Il passa de nombreuses années en compagnie de Dzongsar Khyentsé Cheukyi Lodreu ( 1896‐1959 ) recevant de lui enseignements et initiations. Lorsque Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoché lui confia qu’il souhaitait passer le reste de sa vie en retraite solitaire, la réponse de Cheukyi Lodreu fut nette : « Le moment est venu pour toi d’enseigner et de transmettre aux autres les précieux enseignements que tu as reçus ». 860
Dès ce jour, Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoché travailla au bien des êtres avec l’énergie infatigable qui caractérise la lignée des Khyentsé. À la fin des années cinquante, l’invasion chinoise du Tibet commençait à faire rage au Kham, Khyentsé Rinpoché et sa famille fuirent de justesse le Tibet central laissant tout derrière eux, y compris les précieux livres de Rinpoché et la plupart de ses propres écrits. Des centaines de milliers de Tibétains comme Rinpoché, sa femme Khandro Lhamo et leurs deux jeunes filles furent forcés de quitter leur terre natale. Ils cherchèrent exil au Bhoutan où la famille royale les accueillit gracieusement. À leur demande, Khyentsé Rinpoché sʹy installa comme professeur dans une école près de Thimphou, la capitale. Bien vite, sa réalisation intérieure attira de nombreux disciples et, au fil des années, il devint le maître bouddhiste le plus important du pays, révéré par tous, du roi au plus humble fermier. Au Bhoutan, Rinpoché donna de nombreux enseignements, effectua des cérémonies, écrivit des traités et des textes, fit des retraites et supervisa la préservation et la construction de nombreux stoupas et statues. Rinpoché déploya une énergie considérable à la fondation et au soutien de temples, de collèges et de monastères pour l’étude et la pratique de la tradition bouddhiste. Une de ses dernières grandes tâches fut la construction d’un nouveau monastère de Shéchèn au Népal. Il y transplanta la riche tradition de Shéchèn dans un magnifique monastère près du grand stoupa de Bodhnath. Il souhaitait que l’authenticité et la pureté des enseignements soient préservées et se continuent tels qu’ils étaient étudiés et pratiqués au Tibet. Il nomma son petit‐fils, Rabjam Rinpoché, abbé du monastère et mit un énorme soin à l’éducation des jeunes lamas prometteurs capables d’assurer la continuité de la tradition. Le monastère compte maintenant 300 moines qui y étudient et y pratiquent. En Inde, il fit construire un stoupa à Bodhgaya et planifia d’en édifier sept autres sur des lieux sacrés pour prévenir et éviter les conflits, les maladies, les famines et pour promouvoir la paix dans le monde. Khyentsé Rinpoché était largement reconnu comme l’un des plus grands maîtres Dzogchen de son temps. Il a enseigné à d’importants maîtres dont Sa Sainteté le Dalaï Lama, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoché ainsi qu’à d’autres représentants éminents des quatre écoles du bouddhisme tibétain. Même pendant ses toutes dernières années, Rinpoché voyagea dans l’Himalaya ainsi qu’en Occident transmettant et expliquant les 861
enseignements à un nombre incalculable de personnes. Ses livres ont été traduits en plusieurs langues et son inspiration continue d’être fortement ressentie de nos jours. Une fois confirmée la possibilité de retourner brièvement au Tibet, Rinpoché y fit trois importantes visites. Il inaugura la reconstruction du monastère de Shéchèn qui avait été détruit durant la Révolution culturelle. Alors qu’il était au Tibet central, il demanda au gouvernement chinois la permission de restaurer le monastère de Samyé, insistant sur l’importance de l’héritage culturel du site pour l’humanité. Fondé au VIIIè siècle, Samyé fut le premier monastère bouddhiste du Tibet. Au début des années 1990, son temple principal avait été restauré. Où qu’il se rendit, Khyentsé Rinpoché était accueilli avec beaucoup de joie et d’émotion par tous ceux qui avaient attendu sa visite pendant de nombreuses années. Érudit, sage et poète, instructeur des maîtres, Rinpoché ne cessa jamais d’inspirer tous ceux qu’il rencontrait grâce à son extraordinaire présence, sa simplicité, sa dignité et son humour. Où qu’il fût, Khyentsé Rinpoché se levait bien avant l’aube et passait plusieurs heures à prier et à méditer avant de s’engager dans un flot ininterrompu d’activités et d’enseignements, s’adressant aussi bien à quelques personnes qu’à plusieurs milliers et ce, jusque tard dans la nuit. 862
Son immense connaissance, la chaleur de sa présence et la profondeur de sa réalisation intérieure donnaient à ses enseignements une qualité que l’on ne retrouvait chez aucun autre maître. Chacune des réalisations de Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoché suffirait à occuper une vie entière. Il passa en tout vingt ans en retraite. Il écrivit plus de vingt‐cinq volumes de textes et supervisa d’innombrables projets pour la préservation et la propagation des enseignements et de la culture bouddhistes. Rinpoché n’était pas seulement un grand érudit. De toute évidence, ce qu’il considérait comme le plus important et ce qui lui procurait le plus de satisfaction, c’était que les enseignements qu’il avait préservés, publiés, mais aussi pratiqués, réalisés et transmis soient mis en pratique par les autres. Il touchait profondément les esprits et les cœurs de ceux quʹil rencontrait. Les enseignements et l’action humanitaire de Khyentsé Rinpoché se poursuivent aujourd’hui à travers le travail de ses étudiants par le biais de la Fondation Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoché. Il mourut au Bhoutan, à l’âge de 81 ans, après une brève maladie. Plus de 50 000 personnes, dont plusieurs maîtres et disciples de partout à travers le monde, assistèrent à sa crémation. 863
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Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoché La vie de Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoché Par Matthieu Ricard Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoché, une des cinq incarnations de Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo, né en 1910, était le quatrième fils de la famille Dilgo, dont le lignage remonte à Trisong Detsen, le grand roi tibétain du IXè siècle. La maison où il vint au monde se trouvait dans la vallée de Denkhok, au Kham, la plus orientale des quatre grandes provinces du Tibet. Le Kham était constitué de nombreux petits royaumes, dont le plus étendu et le plus influent était celui de Dergué. Le grand‐père de Khyentsé Rinpoché, Tashi Tséring et plus tard son père, étaient ministres à la cour du roi de Dergué. Le frère aîné de Khyentsé Rinpoché a été reconnu comme l’incarnation de Sangyé Nyenpa, un grand maître dont le monastère était à Benchen. Même s’il était très religieux, son père dont le premier fils était déjà un moine ne souhaitait pas voir les autres embrasser la vie monastique. Khyentsé Rinpoché raconte : « Alors que ma mère était enceinte de moi, la famille rendit visite à Mipham Rinpoché, un grand lama qui vivait dans un ermitage à une heure de marche de chez nous. Mipham Rinpoché demanda tout de suite si ma mère était enceinte. Mes parents répondirent que oui et demandèrent si ce serait un fils ou une fille. « Ce sera un fils dit Mipham; dès qu’il sera né, il est important que vous m’avertissiez. » Il tendit à ma mère un cordon de protection et des pilules de Manjoushri, le bouddha de la sagesse, pour le moment de ma naissance. Ce jour‐là, avant même que j’aie pu boire une goutte du lait maternel, un lama écrivit sur ma langue dhi, la syllabe germe du mantra de Manjoushri, au moyen des pilules réduites en poudre et mêlées à de l’eau safranée. Trois jours après, mes parents m’emmenèrent voir Mipham Rinpoché, qui déclara que j’étais un enfant spécial. J’étais né avec de longs cheveux noirs qui descendaient sur mes yeux. Mon père demanda s’il fallait les couper. Mipham Rinpoché répondit que non et les lia lui‐même en faisant cinq houppes, à la manière de Manjoushri. À la demande de ma mère il me donna un nom, Tashi Peljor ( Gloire Auspicieuse ) et l’écrivit sur un bout de papier que ma mère garda toujours dans son livre de prières. Un peu plus tard, mes parents m’amenèrent de nouveau à Mipham Rinpoché. Il me donna une initiation de Manjoushri et déclara : « Dans toutes mes vies 865
je prendrai soin de toi. » J’ai le sentiment que cette bénédiction a été l’événement le plus important de mon existence. Alors que j’avais un an, Loter Wangpo, un grand lama de l’école Sakya, vint nous rendre visite. C’était le disciple le plus avancé de Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo. Il me bénit, chanta quelques invocations et dit à ma mère : « Cet enfant ne ressemble à aucun autre. » Il me donna une perle du rosaire de Jamyang Khyentsé qu’il portait à son cou. Il me donna aussi une écharpe blanche immaculée. « Cet enfant est l’émanation de mon maître, Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo. Quand je l’ai vu je n’ai pas eu le moindre doute. » Comme pour chaque événement d’importance, mon père demanda conseil à Mipham Rinpoché. « Il est encore trop tôt pour reconnaître l’enfant publiquement comme l’incarnation de Khyentsé, dit‐il. Cela pourrait créer des obstacles. » Mon père ne me donna donc pas encore à Loter Wangpo. Il ne m’envoya pas non plus au monastère de Dzongsar. Alors que j’avais deux ans, Mipham Rinpoché mourut et Shéchèn Gyeltsap Rinpoché vint prendre part aux cérémonies funéraires. Pendant son séjour j’allais souvent lui rendre visite. Il expliqua à mon père qu’il fallait m’emmener au monastère de Shéchèn, car je répandrais la doctrine bouddhiste et ferais le bien des êtres. Mon père lui demanda ce qui lui permettait de dire cela. Shéchèn Gyeltsap Rinpoché, généralement peu disert sur ces sujets, répondit qu’il avait vu en rêve la statue de Tséringma, la Protectrice de Longue Vie, qui se trouvait dans notre temple, devenir réellement la déesse et lui dire de prendre soin de l’enfant parce qu’il serait utile à la doctrine. Mon père, qui ne mâchait pas ses mots, lui répondit que si c’était vraiment le cas, il me laisserait partir pour Shéchèn, mais que si cʹétait juste pour occuper un trône du monastère et être mêlé aux intrigues ecclésiastiques, il n’en était pas question. Gyeltsap Rinpoché l’assura que je serais réellement utile à la doctrine et aux êtres, et mon père accepta de me laisser partir. Mais j’étais encore trop jeune pour aller à Shéchèn. » Lorsque la famille alla en pèlerinage, d’autres grand lamas tels que Takloung Matrul et Adzom Droukpa dirent que l’enfant devait être la réincarnation d’un lama. Mais son père ne voulait pas le laisser devenir un lama. Il avait une grande famille, un domaine et de nombreuses terres. Voici ce que Khyentsé Rinpoché nous dit: « Cette même année je me suis ébouillanté. L’été, la saison agricole la plus active sur notre domaine, on faisait cuire la soupe dans d’immenses chaudrons pour nourrir les nombreux travailleurs supplémentaires. Un jour que je jouais avec mon frère, je suis tombé dans l’un d’eux. La partie inférieure de mon corps portait des brûlures si graves que je suis resté au lit, très malade, pendant de nombreux mois, malgré toutes les prières de longue vie de ma famille. Mon père, désespéré, me demanda : « Selon toi, quelles sont les cérémonies qui t’aideraient à guérir? S’il y a une chose qui peut te sauver la vie, il faut la faire! » Comme ce que je désirais le plus, c’était de devenir moine, je lui répondis : « Porter la robe de moine m’aiderait. » Mon père fit rapidement coudre quelques robes et je les étalai sur le lit dans lequel j’étais couché. J’étais transporté de joie. Je mis aussi sur mon oreiller une cloche et un petit tambour. Le lendemain, je demandai à Lama Eusel de venir me tondre la tête. On m’a dit que ce jour‐là, quelques‐uns de nos vieux serviteurs avaient pleuré : « Maintenant que le dernier des Dilgo a pris les vœux, il n’y aura plus de descendants! » Mais moi, j’étais 866
tellement heureux que ma santé s’améliorait et que le risque de mourir prématurément devenait de moins en moins probable. J’avais dix ans. » Au nord de Dergué se trouve Shéchèn, l’un des six principaux monastères de l’école Nyingma. C’est là que Shéchèn Gyeltsap Rinpoché ( 1871‐1926 ), un proche disciple de Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo ( 1820‐1892 ), reconnut formellement le jeune Dilgo Khyentsé et l’intronisa, à l’âge de douze ans, comme l’une des cinq incarnations de ce lama hors du commun. Écoutons Khyentsé Rinpoché raconter lui‐même les années d’enchantement qu’il passa en compagnie de ses maîtres :« À notre arrivée, le serviteur de Gyeltsap Rinpoché nous accueillit avec des écharpes de bienvenue. Il nous dit que Gyeltsap Rinpoché souhaitait attendre une date favorable pour me voir, puisque c’était la première fois que j’allais le rencontrer à Shéchèn. Quant à Shédroup, ce n’était pas sa première visite, il pouvait venir quand il voulait. Nous avons attendu trois jours avant de recevoir un signe. Pour moi, dont c’était la première rencontre avec mon maître, cela parut très long. Enfin, on nous conduisit dans la résidence où il était en retraite. Gyeltsap Rinpoché ne portait pas les habits monastiques, mais une veste jaune doublée de fourrure. Comme il quittait rarement son ermitage, il laissait ses cheveux longs, frisés aux extrémités, retomber sur ses épaules. On nous fit asseoir et on nous offrit du riz safrané. Gyeltsap voulait tout savoir des maîtres que Nyenpa Rinpoché avait rencontrés et des enseignements qu’il avait reçus. Nyenpa Rinpoché parla pendant trois heures. L’ermitage de Gyeltsap Rinpoché était perché à flanc de montagne, à quarante‐cinq minutes de marche au‐dessus du monastère de Shéchèn. Le chemin qui y montait était raide, et glissant de surcroît pendant la saison des pluies. De la fenêtre on voyait le monastère et la rivière, en bas dans la vallée, entourés de montagnes couvertes de neige pendant la majeure partie de l’année. Gyeltsap Rinpoché était sans conteste l’un des lamas les plus érudits et accomplis de son temps. Une fois, il commença une retraite de trois ans, mais après seulement trois mois, à la surprise générale, il reparut et déclara qu’il avait terminé son programme. Le lendemain matin, son serviteur remarqua qu’une empreinte de pied était apparue sur la pierre d’entrée de l’ermitage. Cette pierre fut ensuite enlevée, puis cachée pendant la Révolution culturelle. De nos jours encore, on peut la voir au monastère de Shéchèn. Le monastère abritait plus de deux cents moines. Leur abbé était Shéchèn Rabjam Rinpoché, un autre de mes principaux maîtres; c’était lui qui instruisait les moines et leur donnait les initiations. Il allait aussi dans d’autres monastères, parfois jusqu’au Tibet central. Il y avait à Shéchèn un troisième grand lama, Shéchèn Kongtrul. Son ermitage se trouvait sur une autre avancée rocheuse à flanc de montagne, séparé de celui de Shéchèn Gyeltsap par un torrent. C’était un endroit délicieux avec des prairies tapissées de fleurs jaunes en été et une épaisse forêt de pins où l’on trouvait des champignons exquis. Shéchèn Kongtrul était un grand méditant. Comme Shéchèn Gyeltsap, il ne prenait aucune part à l’administration du monastère, qui était le domaine de Shéchèn Rabjam. Les mois suivants, Shéchèn Gyeltsap nous donna tous les enseignements les plus importants de la tradition Nyingma. Au cours des initiations, j’étais souvent bouleversé par la magnificence de son expression et de ses yeux au 867
moment où il montrait la nature de l’esprit et pointait du doigt dans ma direction. J’avais l’impression que, si ce n’était ma faible dévotion qui me le faisait voir comme un homme ordinaire, il ne différait en rien du grand Padmasambhava en train d’initier ses vingt‐cinq grands disciples. Ma confiance ne cessait de croître et quand, à nouveau, le doigt pointé, il me fixait du regard en disant : « Quelle est la nature de l’esprit? », je pensais avec une grande dévotion : « Voilà vraiment un grand yogi capable de voir la nature absolue du réel! » et je commençais à comprendre, moi aussi, comment méditer. À ma seconde visite à Shéchèn, je fus ordonné novice par Shéchèn Gyeltsap. » Avant de rencontrer Shéchèn Gyeltsap, Khyentsé Rinpoché étudia pendant plusieurs mois la philosophie bouddhiste avec un grand érudit nommé Khenpo Shenga. Il reçut de lui des enseignements détaillés sur La Voie du bodhisattva et la philosophie du Madhyamika ( la voie médiane ). C’est à Shéchèn que Khyentsé Rinpoché rencontra Jamyang Khyentsé Cheukyi Lodreu, qui était venu pour recevoir les enseignements de Shéchèn Gyaltsap. «À la fin des enseignements, Shéchèn Gyaltsap m’intronisa comme l’incarnation de l’esprit de Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo. Khyentsé Wangpo eut cinq incarnations, appelée respectivement émanations de son corps, de sa parole, de son esprit, de ses qualités et de son activité. Khyentsé Cheukyi Lodreu était l’émanation de son activité. Le matin de l’intronisation, je fis l’ascension jusqu’à l’ermitage. À l’intérieur, on avait préparé un grand trône. Shéchèn Kongtrul, qui était encore jeune, tenait de l’encens dans sa main et Shéchèn Gyeltsap avait mis ses plus beaux habits. Ils me demandèrent de prendre place sur le trône. Il n’y avait que quelques personnes dans la salle. Shéchèn Gyeltsap conduisit la cérémonie et me tendit des objets symbolisant les corps, parole, esprit, qualités et activité des bouddhas. Puis, il me donna aussi un document sur lequel on pouvait lire : « Aujourd’hui je prends en charge le fils de la famille Dilgo et le reconnais comme la réincarnation de Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo. Son nom sera Gyourmé Tekchok Tenpé Gyeltsen ( Immuable Bannière de Victoire de la Voie Suprême ). Je lui confie les enseignements des grands maîtres du passé. À présent, si je meurs je n’aurai aucun regret.» Tels furent, entre autres, les événements que je vécus à Shéchèn auprès de Shéchèn Gyeltsap, pendant à peu près cinq ans. Durant cette période, je n’étais pas au monastère même mais au centre de retraite en haut de la colline. Puis je revins dans ma famille et passai un an en retraite dans une grotte. Pendant l’hiver, sans sortir de ma retraite, je fis demander au savant Khenpo Thoupga de venir m’enseigner en détail le Tantra de la quintessence secrète. Il me l’expliqua trois fois et j’appris par cœur à la fois le texte et son commentaire de 300 pages écrit par Longchenpa. Un peu plus tard, j’allai à Kyangma Ritreu où vivait Khenpo Thoupga. Il n’y avait aucun monastère ni bâtiment, seulement des tentes. C’est là que j’ai appris par une lettre de mon père le décès de Shéchèn Gyeltsap. J’avais 15 ans. Pendant un moment je restai abasourdi. Puis, soudain, le souvenir de mon maître m’envahit avec une telle force que je me mis à pleurer. J’avais l’impression qu’on m’arrachait le cœur. Je retournai à Denkhok et commençai une longue retraite dans les montagnes, qui allait durer 13 ans. » Khyentsé Rinpoché nous parle de l’importance de suivre un maître spirituel :« Le cristal prend la couleur du support sur lequel on le pose, qu’il soit blanc, jaune, rouge, ou noir. De façon analogue, la direction que prendront votre vie et votre pratique sera pour une grande part déterminée par l’influence de ceux qui vivent avec 868
vous, que cette influence soit positive ou négative. Passer votre temps avec d’authentiques amis spirituels vous emplira d’amour pour tous les êtres et vous aidera à voir combien l’attachement et la haine sont négatifs. Vivre avec de tels amis et suivre leur exemple vous imprégnera naturellement de leurs qualités, de la même façon que les oiseaux qui volent autour d’une montagne d’or baignent dans sa lumière dorée. Pour vous libérer du samsara, le cercle vicieux de renaissances, et atteindre l’Éveil, vous devez vous appuyer sur un maître authentique. Un tel maître pense, parle et agit continuellement en accord avec l’Enseignement. Il vous montre ce qu’il faut faire pour progresser sur la Voie et quels sont les obstacles à éviter. Un vrai maître spirituel est comme la voile qui permet au bateau de traverser rapidement la mer. Si vous vous fiez à ses paroles, vous trouverez facilement le chemin qui mène hors du samsara. C’est pourquoi le maître est considéré comme si précieux. Vous ne pouvez atteindre l’Éveil en suivant vos propres idées : chacun des stades de votre pratique nécessite les explications d’un maître qualifié. Il est dit que les bouddhas du passé, du présent et du futur ont atteint ou atteindront tous l’Éveil en suivant un maître. » Khyentsé Rinpoché était le modèle même du maître spirituel, un être que le voyage intérieur avait conduit à une profondeur de connaissance hors du commun et qui était devenu, pour tous ceux qui l’approchaient, une fontaine d’amour, de sagesse et de compassion. Pour réaliser ces extraordinaires qualités, Khyentsé Rinpoché passa la plus grande partie des 13 années suivantes en retraite silencieuse. Dans les grottes et les ermitages solitaires, sur les pentes abruptes des collines boisées de la vallée de Denkhok qui l’avait vu naître, il médita continuellement sur l’amour, la compassion et le désir de mener tous les êtres à l’Éveil et à la délivrance. Il nous raconte lui‐même ces années :« Je pratiquais très tôt le matin, avant l’aube, jusqu’à midi; puis du début de l’après‐midi jusque tard dans la nuit. À midi, je lisais mes livres à voix haute pour les apprendre par cœur. Je passai sept ans dans la grotte de l’Ermitage du Rocher, trois ans au Bosquet Blanc et quelques mois de‐ci de‐là dans d’autres grottes ou cabanes, entouré d’épaisses forêts et de montagnes couvertes de neige. Ma grotte avait une échelle, mais pas de porte, et de petits ours venaient souvent grogner près de l’entrée. Mais ils ne pouvaient monter à l’échelle. Dehors, dans la forêt, il y avait des renards et toutes sortes d’oiseaux. Pas très loin vivaient aussi des léopards. Un jour ils attrapèrent un petit chien qui me tenait compagnie. Il y avait un coucou, qui me servait de réveil. Dès que je l’entendais, vers trois heures du matin, je me levais et commençais une séance de méditation. À cinq heures je me faisais du thé, ainsi je n’avais pas besoin de voir quelqu’un avant midi. Le soir, je laissais le feu s’éteindre lentement; le matin, les braises étaient encore chaudes. Je ravivais le feu et faisais du thé dans ma grande et unique casserole, sans quitter mon siège, juste en me penchant. J’avais beaucoup de livres. La grotte était spacieuse, assez haute pour que je puisse me tenir debout sans me cogner la tête, mais un peu humide. Comme la plupart des grottes, elle était fraîche en été et gardait un peu de chaleur en hiver. Dans la grotte de l’Ermitage je passai sept années sans sortir. Mes parents venaient me voir de temps en temps. J’avais 16 ans quand j’ai commencé cette retraite. Je restais continuellement assis dans une caisse de bois, en étirant mes jambes au‐dehors de temps à autre. Shédroup, mon frère aîné et mon maître de retraite, me disait que si je ne sortais pas de temps en temps je finirais un peu fou; mais je 869
n’éprouvais pas le moindre désir de quitter la grotte. Shédroup était en demi‐retraite dans une cabane près de là. Il avait un serviteur, qui allait régulièrement chercher des provisions chez nous, à trois heures de cheval. Ce dernier était encore vivant à mon retour d’exil, en 1985, et j’ai pu le rencontrer. Pendant cinq ou six ans je m’abstins de viande, et pendant trois ans je ne prononçai pas un seul mot. Après le déjeuner, je me détendais un peu et étudiais quelques livres; je ne perdais jamais mon temps à ne rien faire. Shédroup m’encourageait souvent à composer des prières, des chants ou des poèmes, pour m’entraîner à écrire. Je trouvais cela facile, et à la fin de cette période j’avais écrit environ 1 000 pages. Mais plus tard, quand je m’enfuis du Tibet, tout fut perdu. Cette grotte donnait une impression de clarté et mon esprit n’y était pas distrait. Je laissais mes cheveux pousser très longs. Quand je pratiquais la « chaleur intérieure », je ressentais une chaleur intense. Jour et nuit, malgré le froid glacial, j’étais assis sur une peau d’ours, vêtu seulement d’un châle blanc et d’une robe de soie sauvage. Dehors, tout était gelé, mais dans la grotte il faisait chaud. Plus tard je m’installai au Bosquet Blanc. Je m’y construisis une cabane en bois avec une petite fenêtre.» Son épouse, Khandro Lhamo, nous dit :« Rinpoché ne s’allongeait pas la nuit; il dormait assis dans sa caisse en bois. Le soir, après le dîner, il commençait à méditer et ne parlait plus jusqu’au déjeuner du lendemain. À l’heure du repas, son frère m’appelait et on mangeait ensemble en bavardant un peu. Aussitôt après, Rinpoché commençait une nouvelle séance de méditation et ne voyait plus personne jusqu’au soir. Au Bosquet Blanc, il est resté trois ans en retraite. C’était après la naissance de Chimé, notre petite fille. Même après une retraite, Rinpoché ne restait dans sa famille qu’une semaine ou deux chaque fois. Ensuite, il retournait dans son ermitage.» Sa retraite terminée à l’âge de vingt‐huit ans, Khyentsé Rinpoché resta de nombreuses années avec Khyentsé Cheukyi Lodreu ( 1896‐1959 ) que l’on tenait, lui aussi, pour une incarnation de Khyentsé Cheukyi Wangpo. Il considérait Cheukyi Lodreu comme son second maître principal. Après avoir reçu de lui les initiations du Recueil des trésors révélés, il lui confia qu’il souhaitait passer le reste de sa vie en retraite solitaire. Mais la réponse de Cheukyi Lodreu fut nette : « Ton esprit et le mien sont identiques, lui dit‐il, le moment est venu pour toi d’enseigner et de transmettre aux autres les innombrables enseignements que tu as reçus. » De ce jour, Khyentsé Rinpoché travailla sans relâche pour le bien des êtres avec l’énergie infatigable qui caractérise la lignée des Khyentsé. Il nous parle du temps qu’il passa à Dzongsar :« Khyentsé Cheukyi Lodreu était, lui aussi, un révélateur de trésors. Un jour il me dit : « Tu dois découvrir de nombreux trésors pour être utile aux autres. Hier soir, j’ai fait un rêve. Je voyais une multitude de bouddhas, de bodhisattvas, des nuages qui avaient l’apparence des huit signes de bon augure et diverses autres formes. De ces nuages tombait une abondante pluie de nectar qui aidait les êtres. Tu dois répandre les enseignements de tes trésors. » Il me demanda de lui donner l’initiation de certains de ces trésors, ce que je fis. » Dans une de ses visions de trésors, Khyentsé Rinpoché vit le mandala complet d’Amitayus, le bouddha de longue vie apparaître à la surface d’un lac, au Tibet oriental. À la suite de cette vision, il écrivit un volume entier d’enseignements et de pratiques spirituelles. 870
En tout, les trésors révélés par Khyentsé Rinpoché occupent cinq volumes. Cheukyi Lodreu demanda à Khyentsé Rinpoché d’aller dans la province de l’Amdo transmettre le Recueil des trésors révélés. À Rékong, pendant quatre mois, Rinpoché a donné les initiations du Recueil des trésors révélés à 1 900 yogis. Khyentsé Rinpoché rencontra et étudia auprès de 120 maîtres de toutes les écoles tibétaines. À la fin des années 1950, la mainmise des Chinois sur le Tibet se transforma rapidement en invasion militaire de grande envergure, surtout à l’est, dans le Kham. Khyentsé Rinpoché et sa famille fuirent de justesse au Tibet central laissant tout derrière eux, y compris les précieux livres de Rinpoché et la plupart de ses écrits. Ils se rendirent ensemble en pèlerinage à U et à Tsang. Puis, Rinpoché passa six mois devant la statue de Jowo, le bouddha couronné, a faire 100 000 offrandes symboliques de l’univers. Comme une épidémie dévastait Lhassa, il fit également de nombreuses prières et cérémonies pour les malades et les mourants, sans prêter attention aux conseils des siens qui craignaient qu’il ne fût contaminé. Pendant cette épidémie, sa mère et son frère Shédroup moururent. De Tsourphou, le siège du Karmapa, jusqu’au nord ouest de Lhassa, Khyentsé Rinpoché, sa famille et quelques disciples prirent la décision de sʹexiler. Ils atteignirent la frontière bhoutanaise avec presque plus rien à manger. Le gouvernement bhoutanais les accueillit. Arrivés à un endroit appelé Wangdi, quelqu’un entendit à la radio que Khyentsé Cheukyi Lodreu venait de mourir au Sikkim. Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoché avait alors 49 ans. Il est parti directement au Sikkim assister à la crémation de Cheukyi Lodreu. Il a aussi rencontré d’autres grands lamas dans la région, comme Dudjom Rinpoché à Kalimpong et Kangyour Rinpoché, et il a échangé des enseignements avec eux. À la demande de la famille royale, Khyentsé Rinpoché s’installa au Bhoutan, comme professeur dans une école près de Thimphou, la capitale. Mais bien vite, sa réalisation intérieure attira de nombreux disciples, et au fil des années il devint le maître bouddhiste le plus important du pays, révéré par tous, du roi au plus humble fermier. Le Bhoutan est un royaume montagneux resté insoumis et indépendant depuis l’époque où le bouddhisme Vajrayana y a été introduit par Padmasambhava au VIIIè siècle, par Péma Lingpa, le révélateur de trésors bhoutanais au XVè siècle, et enfin par Shabdroung Ngawang Namgyel, le très influent maître bhoutanais au XVIIè siècle. La culture bouddhiste a pu s’y épanouir sans obstacles et ses valeurs sont profondément ancrées dans l’esprit de ses habitants. Chaque colline porte son petit temple entouré de drapeaux de prières qui claquent au vent. Les torrents font tourner jour et nuit des moulins à prières. Montagnes et forêts sont parsemées d’ermitages où des gens se consacrent à la méditation. Trois à quatre fois par an, Khyentsé Rinoché effectuait de grandes cérémonies d’une à deux semaines appelées droupchen ( grand accomplissement ), qui se poursuivaient jour et nuit sans interruption. Une fois, Khyentsé Rinpoché passa deux semaines dans la grotte de la Tanière du Tigre, à Paro, où il fit l’offrande de 100 000 lampes et donna de nombreux enseignements et initiations. Jigmé Lingpa, le grand maître du XVIIIè siècle, lui apparut à cette occasion. Il mit sa main sur la tête de Khyentsé Rinpoché et lui dit : « Tu es l’héritier de mon enseignement, L’Essence du cœur de l’immensité ( Longchen nyingtig ). Tu peux en faire ce que bon te semble. » Il lui dit aussi que pour maintenir la paix au Bhoutan et assurer la préservation de la doctrine bouddhiste, il devrait construire quatre grands stoupas contenant chacun 100 000 stoupas miniatures. Ce qui fut fait. 871
Après sa fuite du Tibet et son arrivée en Inde, Khyentsé Rinpoché devint l’un des principaux maîtres du Dalaï Lama. Il avait rencontré ce dernier à plusieurs reprises à Lhassa. Peu de temps après l’arrivée de Khyentsé Rinpoché en Inde, tous les principaux lamas des quatre écoles du bouddhisme tibétain se réunirent à Dharamsala, le siège du Dalaï Lama en Inde, afin de prier pour sa longue vie et discuter de la préservation du bouddhisme tibétain en exil. On demanda aux écoles Nyingma, Sakya et Kagyu de choisir chacune un représentant pour offrir un mandala symbolique de l’univers au Dalaï Lama. Dans de telles occasions, celui qui fait l’offrande commence par un long discours savant dans lequel il décrit l’univers selon la cosmologie traditionnelle ainsi que les principes fondamentaux de l’histoire et de la doctrine bouddhistes. En général, l’érudit commence à composer son texte quelques semaines auparavant pour pouvoir le lire le jour venu, mais lorsqu’on demanda à Khyentsé Rinpoché de faire un discours, il ne restait plus qu’un jour avant la réunion. Néanmoins, il accepta sans se formaliser. Un des érudits eut pitié de lui. Il lui apporta un livre où figurait un discours similaire et lui suggéra de l’étudier ou de le lire à voix haute le lendemain. Khyentsé Rinpoché le remercia poliment, mais il mit le volume sur sa table, reprit la conversation qu’il avait commencée avec ses visiteurs et alla se coucher. Le lendemain, au moment convenu pour prendre la parole devant le Dalaï Lama et la savante assemblée, Khyentsé Rinpoché se leva, ouvrit le livre pour la première fois et, tout en le tenant à la main sans tourner les pages, fit un discours extrêmement érudit qui dura deux heures. À la fin, il offrit les huit signes de bon augure au Dalaï Lama, et on entendit un coup de tonnerre au moment où il prit la conque dans ses mains. Tous étaient stupéfaits de la science de Khyentsé Rinpoché, qui devint célèbre parmi la communauté tibétaine en Inde. Le lendemain, au moment où il faisait ses adieux au Dalaï Lama, celui‐ci lui dit : « C’était un bon signe, ce coup de tonnerre, n’est‐ce pas? » Par la suite le Dalaï Lama fit venir Khyentsé Rinpoché de nombreuses fois dans sa résidence à Dharamsala. Au fil des années, Khyentsé Rinpoché lui offrit la plupart des grands enseignements de la tradition Nyingma. Voici ce que Sa Sainteté dit à propos de Khyentsé Rinpoché :« Khyentsé Rinpoché était, parmi mes maîtres, l’un de ceux que je vénérais le plus. Depuis notre première rencontre, je reçus des signes très clairs, que nous avions une sorte de lien karmique particulier. C’est alors que j’ai commencé à recevoir ses enseignements. Aujourd’hui, j’éprouve envers lui une immense gratitude pour toute l’aide qu’il m’a apportée. Il était de toute évidence un grand érudit et un grand pratiquant, sans parler de ses qualités cachées. J’appréciais tout particulièrement son attitude profondément ouverte. Malgré son grand renom et ses nombreux disciples, Khyentsé Rinpoché était toujours aimable et humble. Il est vrai qu’on ne l’entendit jamais dire quoi que ce soit qui blessât ou fît souffrir les autres. C’est très remarquable. Le Bouddha a expliqué très en détail les qualités d’un maître authentique. Toutes ces qualités, je les ai retrouvées en Khyentsé Rinpoché. » Chacune des réalisations de Khyentsé Rinpoché suffirait à occuper un vie entière. Il passa 20 ans à pratiquer en retraite et plus d’un demi‐siècle à donner d’étonnants enseignements plusieurs heures par jour; il écrivit 25 volumes de textes et supervisa d’innombrables projets pour la préservation et la propagation des enseignements et de la culture bouddhistes; bref, il traduisit infatigablement en actes toute une vie consacrée à l’enseignement du Bouddha. 872
Sa connaissance de l’immense corpus de la littérature bouddhiste n’avait probablement pas d’égale. Il avait hérité de Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo la détermination à préserver et rendre disponibles les textes de toutes les traditions, en particulier ceux qui risquaient de disparaître. Au temps de Khyentsé Rinpoché c’est l’héritage entier du Tibet qui était menacé d’extinction par l’invasion chinoise et la Révolution culturelle. Dans des milliers de monastères, un nombre incalculable d’ouvrages furent systématiquement détruits et, dans leur fuite hasardeuse et précipitée, peu de lamas et d’érudits parvinrent à sauver leurs livres. Souvent, quand ils arrivaient en Inde, ils n’avaient plus pour bagage que les vêtements avec lesquels ils s’étaient levés le matin. Dans la plupart des cas, cependant, les textes survécurent, ne fût‐ce qu’en un ou deux exemplaires. De nos jours encore, des ouvrages considérés comme perdus continuent de resurgir. Il y a 20 ans commença la réédition de la quasi‐
totalité de la littérature tibétaine. Elle prit peu à peu de l’ampleur avec l’apport de nouveaux fonds et de main‐d’œuvre bénévole. Au fil des années, Khyentsé Rinpoché lui‐même prépara et publia d’importants textes, et parvint à sauver près de 300 volumes. Ses propres écrits, qui souvent complètent ou éclairent les œuvres des maîtres du passé, constituent une véritable encyclopédie de pratiques, de commentaires, de prières, de poèmes et de conseils. Rinpoché n’était pas seulement un grand érudit. De toute évidence, ce qu’il considérait comme le plus important et ce qui lui procurait le plus de satisfaction, c’était que les enseignements qu’il avait préservés, publiés, mais aussi pratiqués, réalisés et transmis soient mis en pratique par les autres. Il consacrait à l’enseignement ses moindres moments disponibles et répondait infatigablement à tous ceux qui demandaient à être instruits ou guidés. Parfois il enseignait toute la journée pendant des mois, devant une douzaine de personnes, ou aussi bien plusieurs milliers. Mais même après des journées si bien remplies, il répondait encore aux requêtes individuelles, et jusque tard dans la nuit instruisait une personne ou un petit groupe. Lors des longues cérémonies qui duraient toute la journée, au moment de la pause de midi il prenait rapidement son repas et utilisait chaque minute restante pour expliquer à quelqu’un certaines pages d’un texte de méditation ou d’un commentaire philosophique. Tout le monde était frappé par sa façon extraordinaire d’enseigner. Consultant peu le texte qu’il avait sous les yeux, il parlait sans effort, à un rythme régulier, sur un ton égal, sans emphase, en un flot continu, sans pause ni hésitation, comme s’il lisait un livre invisible ouvert dans sa mémoire. Aussi étonnant que ce fût, le sujet était toujours traité de façon équilibrée du début à la fin, exactement dans le temps prévu, et correspondait précisément à la capacité de compréhension des auditeurs. Dans sa bouche, quelques mots très simples pouvaient ouvrir la porte à une succession de découvertes spirituelles. Où qu’il fût, Khyentsé Rinpoché se levait bien avant l’aube et passait plusieurs heures à prier et méditer avant de s’engager dans un flot ininterrompu d’activités jusque tard dans la nuit. Chaque jour il s’acquittait d’une énorme quantité de travail avec une totale sérénité et sans le moindre effort apparent. Il était profondément doux et patient, mais la dimension de son esprit et sa présence physique impressionnante inspiraient à la fois crainte et respect. Avec ses disciples proches et ses serviteurs il pouvait être extrêmement strict; il savait qu’une discipline sévère affermit l’élève. Envers les visiteurs ou ceux qui ne lui étaient pas dévoués il n’avait jamais de mots 873
durs, mais avec ses disciples il était inflexible et ne laissait jamais passer une attitude, une parole ou une pensée mesquines. Ceux qui vivaient près de lui voyaient qu’à l’évidence il percevait toute hypocrisie, tout faux‐semblant. Bien que le bouddhisme enseigne que notre propre esprit est notre meilleur témoin, la présence bienveillance mais imposante de Rinpoché exerçait une influence très forte sur ses disciples et ne leur laissait pas le loisir de tomber dans la distraction. Au début de 1991, alors que Khyentsé Rinpoché enseignait à Bodhgaya, il montra des signes de maladie. Il termina néanmoins son programme, se rendit à Dharamsala et, sans difficultés apparentes, donna pendant un mois au Dalaï Lama les initiations importantes que ce dernier lui demandait depuis plusieurs années. À son retour au Népal au début du printemps, il devint clair que sa santé se détériorait inexorablement. Il passait une grande partie de son temps en prière ou en méditation, consacrant seulement quelques heures par jour à ceux qui avaient le plus besoin de le voir. Il avait projeté de se rendre une quatrième fois au Tibet, au monastère de Shéchèn, mais il dut y renoncer. Il décida plutôt de faire une retraite de trois mois et demi en face de la Tanière du Tigre, au Bhoutan, un des lieux les plus bénis par Padmasambhava. Après sa retraite, il semblait en meilleure santé. Il rendit visite à quelques‐uns de ses disciples qui étaient en retraite et leur parla du maître ultime, au‐delà de la mort et de toute manifestation physique. Mais peu après il montra à nouveau des signes de maladie. Pendant 12 jours il ne put ni manger ni boire. Le 27 septembre 1991, au crépuscule, il demanda à ceux qui étaient près de lui de l’aider à s’asseoir droit et entra dans un sommeil paisible. Aux premières heures du matin sa respiration cessa, et son esprit se fondit dans l’espace absolu. C’est ainsi que prit fin la vie extraordinaire de Khyentsé Rinpoché, une vie que, depuis son plus jeune âge, il avait entièrement consacrée à apprendre, à pratiquer et à enseigner. Où que ce fût, de jour comme de nuit, dans un même flot de bonté, d’humour, de sagesse, de dignité, il voua toute son énergie à la préservation et à la pratique de l’enseignement bouddhiste sous toutes ses formes. À la requête de ses disciples du Tibet et du monde entier, son corps fut préservé pendant un an par des méthodes d’embaumement traditionnelles. Puis, du Bhoutan, on l’amena au monastère népalais de Shéchèn, où on le laissa plusieurs mois pour permettre à davantage de gens de lui rendre hommage. Chaque vendredi ( le jour de son décès ), pendant les sept premières semaines, la communauté tibétaine et les moines unirent leurs efforts pour faire l’offrande de 100 000 lampes sur le stoupa de Bodhnath, près du monastère de Shéchèn. Enfin, en novembre 1992, son corps fut incinéré près de Paro, au Bhoutan, au cours d’une cérémonie de trois jours à laquelle assistèrent plus d’une centaine de grands lamas, la famille royale et les ministres, 500 disciples occidentaux et une foule de quelque 50 000 personnes. Un événement sans précédent dans l’histoire de ce pays. Il existe de nombreux grands hommes ou femmes, mais leur génie particulier dans une science ou dans une autre ne fait pas d’eux, pour autant, de bons humains. La grandeur de Khyentsé Rinpoché, elle, était parfaitement à l’unisson de ce qu’il enseignait. Si insondable que fût la profondeur de son esprit, d’un point de vue ordinaire il était également un être humain remarquable. Ceux qui ont vécu avec lui, même longtemps, disent qu’ils n’ont jamais été témoins d’une seule parole ou d’un 874
seul geste blessants envers qui que ce fût. Son unique souci était de faire le bonheur temporaire et ultime d’autrui. Il était l’image vivante de ce que l’on atteint au bout de la voie spirituelle, et la meilleure source d’inspiration possible pour quiconque désire accomplir son voyage vers l’Éveil. Enseignements Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoché Audace et Compassion Par Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoché Considérez toute chose comme un rêve. Ce précieux corps humain, bien qu’il soit l’instrument suprême pour atteindre l’Éveil, est lui‐même un phénomène transitoire; nul ne sait quand viendra la mort, nul ne sait comment elle viendra. Les bulles se forment à la surface de l’eau, mais, l’instant d’après, elles disparaissent, elles ne restent pas. Il en va de même pour le précieux corps humain que nous avons réussi à obtenir. Nous prenons tout notre temps pour nous mettre à la pratique, mais qui sait quand cette vie va finir, tout simplement? Une fois ce précieux corps humain perdu, notre flux mental continue son existence et prend naissance parmi les animaux, dans l’un des enfers, ou bien chez les dieux, là où le développement spirituel est impossible. À présent, d’après la perception de nos sens, l’univers extérieur – terre, pierres, montagnes, rochers et falaises – semble permanent et stable comme une maison en béton armé sensée durer des générations. Mais il n’y a rien de solide dans tout cela; ce n’est rien d’autre qu’un royaume sur lequel on régnerait le temps d’un rêve.Nous pouvons aussi prendre l’exemple d’événements appartenant à un passé plus récent : avant l’arrivée des communistes chinois, combien y avait‐il de monastères dans ce qu’on appelait alors le Tibet, le Pays des Neiges? Combien y avait‐il de temples comme ceux de Lhassa, Samyé, Trandrouk? Combien y avait‐il d’objets précieux, représentations du Corps, de la Parole et de l’Esprit du Bouddha? Maintenant, il ne reste pas même une statue. Tout ce qu’il reste de Samyé, c’est quelque chose de la taille de cette tente, à peine plus grand qu’une remise. Tout a été pillé, démoli ou dispersé; les grandes statues ont été détruites. Tout cela est bel et bien arrivé et nous montre 875
l’impermanence. Sans une certaine compréhension de l’impermanence, il nous est difficile de pratiquer les enseignements sacrés. Si nos continuons à croire que tout va rester tel quel, notre situation s’apparente à celle d’un homme riche qui fait encore des projets sur son lit de mort. A‐t‐on jamais vu de tels gens évoquer leur vie future? Cela prouve qu’ils n’ont jamais apprécié au fond d’eux‐mêmes le caractère inéluctable de la mort. C’est là leur tort et leur illusion. L´esprit Que dire de ce que l’on désigne par le terme de « pensées »? Examinons l’expérience mentale, la pensée que vous avez à l’instant en m’écoutant attentivement, alors que je suis en train d’enseigner le Dharma : a‐t‐elle une forme ou une couleur? Où la trouve‐t‐on, dans la partie supérieure ou inférieure du corps, dans les yeux, les oreilles? Ce qu’on appelle esprit n’est en réalité pas là. S’il était véritablement quelque chose, il devrait avoir certaines caractéristiques : une couleur ( blanc, jaune… ), une forme ( celle d’un vase, d’un pilier… ), etc. Il devrait être grand ou petit, vieux ou jeune… Vous pouvez découvrir si l’esprit est une entité existante ou non simplement en vous tournant vers l’intérieur et en réfléchissant soigneusement. Vous verrez que l’esprit n’a pas de commencement, n’a pas de fin, et qu’il ne réside nulle part; qu’il n’a ni couleur ni forme; qu’il ne peut être trouvé ni à l’intérieur ni à l’extérieur du corps. Et lorsque vous voyez qu’il n’existe pas comme une chose, demeurez dans cette expérience sans tenter de la définir ou la nommer. Toutes les souffrances proviennent du fait que l’on ne reconnaît pas l’ennemi : l’attachement à l’ego. Quand on nous frappe avec un bâton ou une pierre, cela fait mal; si l’on nous traite de voleur ou de menteur, nous nous mettons en colère. Pourquoi? Parce que nous nous tenons en haute estime et sommes très attaché à ce que nous considérons comme nous‐même; nous pensons donc : « On m’attaque! » L’attachement au moi est le véritable obstacle à la libération et à l’Éveil. Ceux que le « moi » appelle des faiseurs d’obstacles ou forces négatives – fantômes, dieux, démons – ne sont pas des entités extérieures. C’est de l’intérieur que viennent les ennuis. C’est à cause de notre fixation sur ce « moi » que nous pensons : « Je suis si malheureux, je n’ai rien à manger, je n’ai pas de vêtements, tant de personnes m’en veulent et je n’ai aucun ami. » Et ces pensées nous tiennent constamment occupés, ô combien en pure perte! Voilà pourquoi nous ne marchons pas vers la libération et l’état de Bouddha. Au cours de toutes nos vies successives, depuis des temps sans commencement jusqu’à aujourd’hui, nous avons pris naissance dans l’un ou l’autre des six mondes. Combien avons‐nous dû peiner dans les trois sphères du samsara, réduits en esclavage par notre attachement à l’ego? Mourir Maintenant, voici la conduite à tenir au moment même de la mort. Exactement comme le fit le Bouddha lorsqu’il abandonna son corps, on s’allongera sur le côté droit, la tête posée sur la main droite; on respirera par la narine gauche en maintenant la narine droite bloquée par l’auriculaire droit. En même temps, on méditera sur l’amour en souhaitant le bonheur de tous les êtres, aussi nombreux que le ciel est vaste, et on engendrera une forte compassion, animé du désir de les voir délivrés de la souffrance. En suivant le va‐et‐vient du souffle, on imaginera que l’on expire tout le bonheur, le confort et les biens que l’on possède, en les offrant à tous ceux qui souffrent, et que l’on inhale toutes les maladies et les émotions négatives des êtres pour les prendre sur soi‐
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même, Puis on fixera sa pensée sur le caractère illusoire du samsara et du nirvana, qui sont pareils au rêve ou aux productions d’un magicien. Tout est dénué d’existence intrinsèque, tout est perception de l’esprit. Là où rien n’existe, il n’y a pas de raison d’avoir peur, que ce soit ici‐même ou dans le bardo. On demeurera dans cette conviction sans la moindre fixation mentale. Bodhicitta S’accoutumer à la bodhicitta, c’est comme maintenir un jardin propre, sans broussailles ni bois mort, sans mauvaises herbes ni insectes. Pratiquons‐la en rassemblant toutes les qualités des Grand et Petit Véhicules, de façon à ressembler au boisseau qui se remplit de grain ou à la jarre que des gouttes d’eau finissent par emplir. Que nous pratiquions les vœux des laïcs ou l’entraînement des Bodhisattvas, ou encore les phases de développement et de perfection du Véhicule Adamantin, tout ce que nous faisons doit servir de support à nos vœux de bodhicitta. La pratique du Véhicule Adamantin doit en effet soutenir et confirmer nos engagements de Bodhisattvas. Méditez sur les difficultés auxquelles vous ne pouvez pas échapper et essayez d’engendrer la bodhicitta, d’autant plus intensément que cela est difficile. Méditez tout particulièrement sur l’amour et la compassion face à des personnes qui cherchent la compétition, à des amis qui, soudain et sans raison apparente, deviennent des ennemis, ou encore face à des gens avec qui vous ne pouvez pas vous entendre du fait de relations karmiques antérieures. Comme l’a dit Gourou Rinpotché : « Ne soyez pas un souci pour vos aînés, servez‐les avec respect ». En aidant nos parents, nos maîtres et ceux qui sont dans le besoin, nous marcherons sur les pas des Bodhisattvas. Faites ce qui est important Le Dharma a deux aspects : l’enseignement et la pratique. L’enseignement n’est que le travail de la bouche et ceux qui ne le pratiquent pas sont légions. Ne dit‐on pas : « Nombreux sont ceux qui entendent le Dharma, mais très peu passent aux actes; quant à ceux qui pratiquent un peu, ils s’écartent du chemin et se perdent. » Il est plus important de pratiquer le Dharma que de l’enseigner ou d’en parler; c’est en effet quelque chose qu’il faut véritablement appliquer. Il est en outre préférable de suivre les instructions de nos maîtres avec une parfaite concentration plutôt que de pratiquer en s’appuyant sur des connaissances livresques et sur notre propre jugement. De toutes nos activités, la plus importante est de nous asseoir et de pratiquer. Nous n’avons pas besoin de nous agiter en tous sens mais simplement de rester assis. En nous levant, nous ne ferons que trébucher! Restons donc assis dans une posture correcte, pas trop raide, en gardant à l’esprit que les meilleurs pratiquants sont ceux qui usent leur coussin et non les semelles de leurs chaussures. Extrait de Audace et Compassion Traduit et publié par les Éditions Padmakara 877
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Trois enseignements succincts Par Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoché Esprit et pensées Telles des vagues, toutes les activités de cette vie se sont déroulées sous forme de flux et de reflux incessants, ne laissant finalement qu’un sentiment de vide. Notre esprit est habité d’innombrables pensées, chacune dʹelles donnant naissance à beaucoup dʹautres, ce qui ne fait quʹaugmenter notre confusion et notre insatisfaction. En examinant de plus près ce qui se cache derrière nos habitudes les plus courantes, nous nous rendons compte que nous sommes fondamentalement incapables d’en analyser correctement les mécanismes sous‐jacents. Nous nous comportons comme si toute chose existe réellement, alors qu’il ne s’agit en fait que d’une illusion.En demeurant davantage attentifs, nous constatons que le monde des phénomènes ressemble à un arc‐en‐ciel éclatant, multicolore mais sans existence propre.Lorsqu’un arc‐en‐ciel fait son apparition, plusieurs couleurs magnifiques parsèment l’azur – sans qu’il nous vienne par contre à l’esprit de s’en draper comme une pièce de vêtement ou comme une parure. Il nʹy a rien que lʹon puisse tenir dans notre main. Sa survenance ne résulte que de la conjugaison de conditions variées. Le jaillissement des pensées procède de la même manière. Elles n’ont ni réalité tangible ni existence intrinsèque. Il nʹy a aucune raison logique qui fasse que les pensées pourraient avoir sur nous une emprise aussi forte, nous réduisant ainsi en esclavage. L’esprit est ce qui crée le samsara et le nirvana. Il ne faut pas conférer aux pensées plus d’importance que nécessaire. Une fois que l’on reconnaît que les pensées sont vides, lʹesprit n’a plus le pouvoir de nous tromper. Mais aussi longtemps que nous leur prêterons une réalité propre, elles continueront de nous assaillir sans fin de la même manière qu’elles continuent de nous tourmenter depuis plusieurs vies. Pour en venir à maîtriser notre esprit, nous devons être conscients de ce qu’il convient de faire et d’éviter. De même, il nous faut demeurer alertes et vigilants en portant une attention soutenue à nos pensées, à nos paroles et à nos actes. Pour mettre un terme à l’attachement, il est important de comprendre que tous les phénomènes sont vides. Ils sont comme lʹeau qui apparaît dans le désert et qui nʹest en fait quʹun mirage. La beauté et la laideur des formes ne sont utiles ni ne causent de tort à lʹesprit. Libérez‐vous de l’espoir et de la peur, de l’attraction et de la répulsion et agissez en toute équanimité en considérant 879
que tous les phénomènes ne sont que des projections de votre propre esprit.Une fois que vous aurez réalisé la vérité absolue, vous verrez que lʹinfini déploiement des phénomènes n’est quʹillusion ou rêve. Réaliser que les phénomènes et le vide ne sont quʹun, sʹappelle simplicité ou libération des limites conceptuelles. Soi‐même et les autres Le bonheur des autres devrait nous importer au moins autant que le nôtre. De la même manière, nous devrions formuler le souhait que tous les êtres sensibles, y compris nous‐même, puissent s’affranchir de la souffrance. Ce vœu pourrait se formuler ainsi :« Puissent toutes les créatures vivantes trouver le bonheur et les causes de ce bonheur. Puissent‐elles être délivrées de la souffrance et de ce qui en est la cause. Puissent‐elles jouir d’une félicité durable à l’abri de la souffrance. Puissent‐elles vivre en toute équanimité, sans attachement ou haine d’aucune sorte, animées d’un amour dirigé vers tous sans discrimination. »Faire preuve d’un amour débordant et d’une compassion à toute épreuve à l’égard de tous les êtres sensibles : voilà le meilleur moyen de réaliser le vœu le plus cher des Bouddhas et des Bodhisattvas. Même si, pour l’instant, vous ne pouvez aider quelqu’un, méditez sans relâche sur l’amour et la compassion jusqu’à ce qu’ils deviennent parties intégrantes de votre propre esprit. Rappelez‐vous toujours que la progression de votre pratique spirituelle n’a de sens que si elle s’opère pour le bénéfice des autres. Soyez humble et gardez en mémoire que tous vos efforts restent des jeux d’enfants comparativement à la vastitude et à l’activité infinies des Bodhisattvas. À l’instar de parents attentionnés envers leurs enfants chéris, n’allez jamais croire que vous en avez trop fait ou assez pour les autres. Même si vous parvenez à conduire toutes les créatures vivantes à la bouddhéité parfaite, pensez simplement que vous avez réalisé tous vos souhaits. En toutes circonstances, vous ne devez avoir aucune attente ou escompter quelque bénéfice que ce soit en retour. Surmonter l’attachement à l’ego et se mettre au service des autres : voilà l’essence même de la pratique des Bodhisattvas. Celle‐ci prend sa source dans l’esprit lui‐même et non à travers la perception que d’autres peuvent avoir des gestes que l’on pose. La véritable générosité procède du non‐attachement, de l’absence de désir qui représente la discipline ultime ainsi que d’une patience authentique qui se traduit par l’absence de haine. Les Bodhisattvas sont capables de se départir de leur royaume, de leur corps et des possessions qu’ils chérissent le plus, parce qu’ils sont parvenus à surpasser leur pauvreté intérieure en étant inconditionnellement disponibles aux autres. La pratique Les enseignements dont nous avons le plus besoin sont ceux qui seront une source d’inspiration et qui renforceront véritablement notre pratique spirituelle. C’est une chose de recevoir des enseignements de grande qualité ; c’en est une autre de se les approprier. Commencez par des pratiques que vous pouvez vraiment intégrer – en développant la détermination de vous affranchir des préoccupations mondaines, tout en cultivant l’amour et la compassion. Plus votre pratique sera stable, plus vous serez en mesure de maîtriser les enseignements les plus avancés. La seule façon de se libérer du samsara et d’atteindre 880
l’Éveil est encore de s’en remettre à un maître spirituel authentique. Ce dernier est comme la voile qui permet à un bateau de naviguer à vive allure. Le soleil et la lune transmettent leurs reflets instantanément dans l’eau claire et calme. De la même manière, les bénédictions des Trois Joyaux sont toujours présentes pour ceux qui ont une entière confiance en eux. Les rayons du soleil s’étendent partout uniformément; ce n’est qu’à travers une loupe qu’ils se concentrent pour mettre le feu à de l’herbe sèche. Ainsi, lorsque les Bouddhas diffusent partout les puissants rayons de leur compassion à travers la loupe de votre foi et de votre dévotion, le feu des bénédictions enflamme tout votre être. Les obstacles peuvent sʹélever des circonstances de la vie, bonnes ou mauvaises, mais ils ne devraient jamais vous abattre ou vous conférer un sentiment indu de puissance. Soyez comme la terre qui supporte indistinctement toutes les créatures vivantes, qu’elles soient bonnes ou mauvaises. La terre est simplement là. Vous devriez considérer les difficultés de la vie comme des catalyseurs vous permettant de progresser dans votre pratique spirituelle, de la même manière qu’un feu de jardin n’est pas étouffé par de forts vents mais brille davantage de tout son éclat. Lorsque quelqu’un vous fait du mal, considérez‐le comme un maître qui par sa bonté vous montre le chemin de la libération et mérite votre respect. Priez de pouvoir l’aider de votre mieux, et quoi quʹil arrive ne cherchez pas à vous venger de ce qu’il vous a fait. Il est particulièrement admirable de supporter patiemment le tort et les invectives de gens moins instruits, moins forts ou possédant moins dʹhabiletés que vous. Soyez attentifs à ce qui se passe et vous verrez que la personne blessée, celle qui vous fait du mal et le geste nuisible lui‐même sont totalement dépourvus d’existence propre. Qui oserait ainsi se mettre en colère devant autant d’illusions? En face de ces phénomènes vides, y a‐t‐il vraiment quelque chose à perdre ou à gagner? À aimer ou à détester? Tout est à l’image d’un ciel vide. Sachez le reconnaître! Une fois maîtrisée votre colère intérieure, vous vous apercevrez de l’absence de tout adversaire extérieur. Plus vous porterez attention à votre sentiment de colère et essaierez de vaincre vos adversaires extérieurs, même si vous deviez réussir, cela ne pourrait que favoriser la résurgence inévitable d’autres adversaires qui prendront la place des précédents. Même si vous parveniez à mettre sous votre férule la planète entière, cela ne servirait qu’à faire croître votre sentiment de colère; il ne pourra jamais se dissiper en agissant de la sorte. Le seul véritable ennemi reste la colère elle‐même. Pour venir à bout de cette émotion néfaste, il importe de méditer en se concentrant sur la patience et l’amour jusqu’à ce que vous en soyez véritablement imprégnés. Ainsi, vous n’aurez plus d’adversaires extérieurs à vaincre. Demandez‐vous combien, parmi les milliards d’habitants de cette planète, sont pleinement conscients de la valeur et de la rareté de cette précieuse vie humaine. Combien réalisent qu’il s’agit là d’une chance inespérée de pratiquer le Dharma? Combien parmi ceux qui ont songé débuter leur pratique le font véritablement? Combien poursuivent leur pratique spirituelle après l’avoir commencée? Combien parmi tous les pratiquants atteindront la réalisation ultime? Ceux qui y parviendront sont en fait aussi rares que les étoiles du ciel qui brillent en plein jour, comparativement à toutes celles que l’on peut observer la nuit par un beau ciel étoilé. 881
Aussi longtemps que vous n’aurez pas pris conscience comme l’immense majorité de la valeur de la précieuse vie humaine, vous ne ferez que gaspiller votre vie en activités et en distractions futiles. Au terme de votre existence déjà trop courte, vous n’aurez rien accompli de valable. Cependant, si vous êtes convaincus de l’importance unique que vous offre cette vie, toute votre énergie sera consacrée à pratiquer le Dharma et à en récolter les fruits plus tard. En utilisant au mieux la vie qui vous est donnée, vous pourrez atteindre l’Éveil dans cette existence‐ci. Tous les grands Siddhas du passé étaient, à l’origine, des gens ordinaires. En entrant dans le Dharma, en mettant en pratique les instructions d’un maître réalisé et en y consacrant toute leur existence, ils devinrent capables de manifester les activités des grands Bodhisattvas. Traduit par le Groupe de traduction Padmakara De Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoché Editions Padmakara 882
Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje From RangjungYesheWiki Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche, master among masters The reincarnation of Dudjom Rinpoche with Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche Contents: 1 Rinpocheʹs Birth 2 Conditions for Rinpocheʹs Rebirth 3 Rinpocheʹs Intensive Studies 4 Rinpocheʹs Great Realizations 5 Rinpocheʹs Spreading of the Dharma 6 Rinpocheʹs Children and Lineage Holders 7 Rinpocheʹs Parinirvana 8 A Short Introduction of the Dudjom Tersar Lineage by Yeshe Thaye 883
1) Rinpocheʹs Birth It is said in the prediction of Urgyen Dechen Lingpa, ʺIn the future in Tibet, on the east of the Nine Peaked Mountain, in the sacred Buddhafield of the self‐originated Vajravarahi, there will be an emanation of Drogben, of royal lineage, named Jnana. His beneficial activities are in accord with the Vajrayana although he conducts himself differently, unexpectedly, as a little boy with astonishing intelligence. He will either discover new Terma or preserve the old Terma. Whoever has connections with him will be taken to Ngayab Ling (Zangdok Palri) [The Copper‐
colored Mountain].ʺ Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche was born in the Water Dragon year of the 15th Rabjung Cycle‐ (1904), early in the morning of the tenth day of the sixth month, with many amazing signs. (on June 10, 1904), into a noble family in the southeastern Tibetan province of Pemakod, one of the four ʺhidden landsʺ of Guru Rinpoche. Dudjom Rinpoche was of royal lineage, descended fron Nyatri Zangpo and from Puwoo Kanam Dhepa, the king of Powo. His father, Kathok Tulku Norbu Tenzing,was a famous tulku of the Pema Köd region, from Kathok monastery; his mother , who had descended from Ratna Lingpa and belonged to the local member of the Pemakod tribe, was called Namgyal Drolma. His previous incarnation, Dudjom Lingpa, had told his disciples: ʺNow in this degenerate age, go to the secret land of Pema Köd. Whoever relies on me, go in that direction! Before you young ones get there, I the old one will already be there.ʺ He was already three years old when they recognized his reincarnation. Since His Holiness was a direct emanation of Dudjom Lingpa, he could remember his past lives clearly. 2) Conditions for Rinpocheʹs Rebirth It had been Dudjom Lingpaʹs intention to visit southern Tibet to reveal the sacred land of Pemakod, but being unable to do so, he predicted that his successor would be born there and reveal it himself. Za‐Pokhung Tulku Gyurme Ngedon Wangpo, who was a holder of the teachings of Dudjom Lingpa, and Lama Thubten Chonjor of Ling came to Pemakod and enthroned him. Gradually the disciples of the previous Dudjom came and paid their respects to him... as we have said, Phuktrul Gyurme NgedonWangpo and Lama Thubten Chönjor of Ling came to Pema Köd to enthrone him. Gradually the disciples of the previous Dudjom arrived. His Holiness was taught reading, writing and the five common sciences. 3) Rinpocheʹs Intensive Studies Rinpocheʹs studies began with texts and commentaries under Khenpo Aten. By the age of five, Dudjom Rinpoche was already discovering treasure texts and practices. He studied under Dudjom Lingpaʹs doctrine holders, Patrul Rinpocheʹs disciples, Mipham Rinpocheʹs disciples and Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro. He studied many texts and commentaries, such as the Dom Sum (Three Precepts), Chod Juk, etc. It was said by Lama Konrab that at the age of five, he started discovering Ter. When he was eight years old, he began to study Santidevaʹs ʺBodhicaryavataraʺ with his teacher 884
Urygen Chogyur Gyatso, a personal disciple of the great Patrul Rinpoche (A.D.1808‐
1887). He studied for sixteen years with Za‐Pokhung Tulku Gyurme Ngedon Wangpo and had great realizations on the teachings of Dzogpachenpo. From Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro, he received the tantric teachings (Gyud, Lung, and Men‐Ngag) of the ʺSangwa Nyingthigʺ. He further received Dzogchen teachings from Jedrung Thinley Jampai Jungne (Dudjom Namkhai Dorje) of Riwoche. In his teens, Dudjom Rinpoche attended the great monastic universities of Central Tibet, such as Mindroling, Dorje Drak and Tarje Tingpoling, as well as those of East Tibet, like Kathok and Dzogchen. It was to Mindroling that he returned to perfect his understanding of the Nyingma tradition. Thus from the Mindroling Vajracarya, Dorzim Namdrol Gyatso, he learned the rituals, mandalas, songs, dance and music of Terdak Lingpa, along with many other teachings. There were many other great teachers from whom Rinpoche had received all the teachings of the Nyingma School. From Phokang Tulku Gyurmed Ngedon Wangpo, his guru, who had been the foremost disciple of Dudjom Lingpa, His Holinessʹ previous incarnation he received the Dzogchen Nyongtri lineage . Dudjom Rinpoche attended various monastic shedras such as Mindroling, Dorje Drak, Kathok and Dzogchen. He also became learned in the rituals of the Terton Terdak Lingpa. He received all the Dzogchen teachings from Jedrung Rinpoche and was considered his heart son. Rinpoche became accomplished in the Vajrakilaya practice. He meditated at many isolated places and signs of accomplishment occurred. As he was taught, the power of his awareness blazed like fire. Whatever he learned he could comprehend through a mere indication. He studied many texts and commentaries, such as the Dom Sum, Chod Juk, etc. It is said by Lama Konrab that at the age of five, he started discovering Ter. He studied for sixteen years with Phuktrul Gyurme Ngedon Wangpo, who was a holder of the teachings of the previous Dudjom. From Khyentse Rinpoche he received the tantric teachings (Gyud, Lung, and Men‐
Ngag) of the Sangwa Nyingthik as if he were a vessel being filled. He also received the ʺrediscovered teachings from Gedrung Thinley Jampa Jungne of Riwoche and Gyurme Ngedon Wangpo that he could really understand. With the first Lama, he started fron Ngondro to Ngo Shi, studying completely. By listening to the She Rig Dorje Nonpo Gyud, the display of his own intelligence burst open. All of the tantras of Vajrayana, as vast as the ocean, and all of their difficult points, unfolded naturally. His Holiness would often say, ʺAll I know is thanks to the She Rig Dorje Nonpo Gyud.ʺ Ngedon Wangpo said to him, ʺThe Terdzöd represents the activity of Khyentse and Kongtrul. I have given this teaching five times and you will give it ten times. The deep teachings of the previous ones have been offered as a mandala in the hands of the ʹWealth Holdersʹ. Now as I have obeyed my teacherʹs orders, likewise use your experience for the sake of beings.ʺ His Holiness obtained realization through this. He himself said that while very young he always had various visions, and his karma to discover the deep ʹtreasuresʹ awoke. At thirteen he met Guru Rinpoche (Yab‐Yum) in person, and after having received the legacy of the self‐appearing non‐human teacher, the wisdom Dakinis gave him the yellow papers and he wrote down Ters. From Togden Tenpa he received both the wang and lung of the Dzogchen Nyingthig Yabshi, which was the lineage of Nyoshul Lungtok Tenpai Nyima. Then he 885
went to the center of the country and from Jedrung Rinpoche of Riwoche, Dudjom Namkhai Dorje, he received the Kangyur lung, Dam Ngag Dzöd, the seventeen Sangchen Ngepai tantras, Nyingthig Yabshi, etc., and all the teachings of the Dzogpachenpo. He received them completely and was considered his teacherʹs heart son. From Tulku Kunzang Thekchog Tenpai Gyaltsen he also received many deep teachings. From Ngagtsun Gendun Gyatso he received all the teachings of Pema Lingpa, the Dzöd Dun, and others. From Mindroling Vajracharya, Namdrol Gyatso, he learned the rituals, mandalas, songs, dance and music of Tertag Lingpa, along with many other teachings. From the great Khenpo Jamde, also called Pande Odzer (a disciple of Mipham Rinpoche), he received the Nyingma Kama, Khagyed empowerments, Sangye Lingpaʹs Lama Gongdu and Sangwa Nyingpo according to the Zur tradition; as well as the cycle of the Odsel Sangwa Nyingthig. He also received many tantra commentaries like the great commentaries of Mipham himself, the Nyingthig Yabshi, etc. ‐ thus receiving an ocean of deep and detailed teachings. His Holiness considered Khenpo Jamde as his second kindest Lama and took many vows of Pratimoksha, Bodhisattva, and the Vajrayana from him. He also received teachings from the great beings who were disciples of the great Khenpo Nyoshul: Ngawang Palzang, Chatral Sangye Dorje, Lama Orgyan Rigdzin, Kathok Chagtsa Tulku, Pulung Sangye Tulku, and others. He received teachings from them and he gave teachings to them. Taking his practice very seriously, he sent to a secret place called Kenpa Jong or Punsuk Gatsel, and accomplished Dorje Phurba. He practiced throughly the gradual path of Dudjom Namchag Putri. At Buddha Tse Phuk he did Tse‐Drub and his Tse‐
chang boiled. He received the auspicious signs when he was practicing the gong‐ter of Duddul Drollo (the Dudjom Dorje Drollo gong‐ter). When in Paro Taksang, he rediscovered the Putri Repung, the Tsokye Thugthig and the Khadro Thugthig, for which he wrote down the main parts. As he was trying to preserve the old Ter, he did not make much effort to rediscover new ones. (At Samye and at Taksang, even though they were there he did not take them.) In short, in all these important holy places where he practiced he always experienced the signs of accomplishment. Then he started benefitting beings. As his teachers prophesied. he gave the Rinchen Terdzöd (Empowerments and Transmissions) ten times, Pema Lingpaʹs Palden Chö Kor three times, the previous Dudjom Lingpaʹs work many times; the Jatsun Po Truk, the complete empowerment and transmission of Nyingma Kama and innumerable other teachings. 4) Rinpocheʹs Great Realizations Taking his practice very seriously, Dudjom Rinpoche went to a secret place called Kenpa Jong (or Phuntsok Gatsel), and accomplished the Dorje Phurba of ʺDudjom Namchag Pudriʺ. At Buddha Tse Phuk, Rinpoche did Tse‐Drup and his Tse‐
chang boiled. He further received the auspicious signs when he was practicing the gongter of Dudul Drollo. When in Paro Tak‐Tshang (the Tigerʹs Nest), Dudjom Rinpoche rediscovered the ʺPudri Rekpungʺ, the ʺTsokye Thugthigʺ and the ʺKhandro Thugthigʺ, for which he wrote down the main parts. In short, in all these important 886
holy places where he practiced, Rinpoche always experienced the signs of accomplishment. Rinpocheʹs Writings Dudjom Rinpoche was world famous as a very prolific author and a scholar. His writings are celebrated for the encyclopaedic knowledge they display of all the traditional branches of Buddhist learning, including poetics, history, medicine, astrology and philosophy. A writer of inspirational poetry of compelling beauty, he had a special genius for expressing the meaning and realization of Dzogchen with a crystal‐like lucidity. His ʺCollected Worksʺ (Sungbum), numbering twenty‐five volumes, did not include his complete output. Among the most widely read of his works are the ʺFundamentals of the Buddhist Teachingsʺ and ʺHistory of the Nyingma Schoolʺ, which he composed soon after his arrival in India. These works have now been translated into English by Gyurme Dorje and Matthew Kapstein and published by Wisdom Publications, while his Chinese spiritual representative Lama Sonam Chokyi Gyaltsan (Guru Lau Yui‐che), with the help of Ming‐chu Tulku, had also translated it into Chinese and published by the Secret Vehicle Publications in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Another important and major part of his work was the revision, correction and editing of many ancient and modern texts, including the fifty‐eight volumes of the whole of the Canonical Teachings of the Nyingma School (ʺNyingma Kamaʺ), a venture which he began at the age of 74, just as Jamgon Kongtrul had collected the Terma teachings. His own private library contains the largest collection of precious manuscripts and books outside of Tibet. 5) Rinpocheʹs Spreading of the Dharma In Pema Köd, he established many new monasteries for both Gelong (ordained monks) and Ngagpa (Yogis). He regrouped many texts. Nowadays, in this tradition both the books and the stream of empowerment exist and survive solely due to his kindness, which is impossible to measure. In Kompo region he reconstructed the Thadul Buchu Lhakhang and close to it he built anew the monastery of Zangdokpalri. He erected anew the tantric center of Lama Ling; at Tso Pema (Rewalsar) he established a retreat center; at Darjeeling, Tsechü Gompa; in Orissa, Dudul Rabten Ling; and in Kalimpong he founded the Zangdok‐Palri Monastery. In North America he established many Dharma centers, named Yeshe Nyingpo, as well as many retreat centers; in Europe he established Dorje Nyingpo in Paris and Urgyen Samye Chöling Meditation and Study Center in Dordogne, France. Many other Dharma centers around the world were under his guidance. Whenever he gave teachings in Tibet and India, great teachers ‐ like the two Mindrolings, Trulshik Rinpoche, Chatral Sangye Dorje, and others ‐ came to receive them. Among all the high lamas there are none who didnʹt receive teachings from him. They all had great confidence in his realization. So numerous were his disciples that they canʹt possibly be counted. Nyingmapas from Tibet, Bhutan, India, Ladakh and all around the globe were his students. Unique in having received the transmission of all the existing teachings of the immensely rich Nyingma tradition, Dudjom Rinpoche was famous in particular as a great Terton (treasure revealer), whose Termas are now widely taught and practiced, 887
and as the leading exponent of Dzogchen. Indeed, he was regarded as the living embodiment of Guru Rinpoche and His representative in this time. A master of masters, he was acknowledged by the leading Tibetan Lamas as possessing the greatest power and blessing in communicating the nature of mind, and it was to him that they sent their students when prepared for this ʺMind‐directʺ transmission. Dudjom Rinpoche was the teacher of many of the most prominent lamas active today. As his teachers had prophesized, Rinpoche gave the ʺRinchen Terdzodʺ (ʺTreasury of Precious Termasʺ) ten times, Pema Lingpaʹs ʺPedling Cho Korʺ three times, the ʺKangyurʺ and ʺNyingma Gyudbumʺ, the Drupwang of ʺKagyedʺ, ʺJatson Podrukʺ, the complete empowerment and transmission of the ʺNyingma Kamaʺ, as well as teachings according to his own Terma (ʺDudjom Tersarʺ) tradition, and innumerable other important teachings. Dudjom Rinpocheʹs main area of activity was in Central Tibet, where he maintained the Mindroling tradition, and especially at Pema Choling and his other seats in the Kongpo and Powo regions of southern Tibet. In Pemakod, Rinpoche established many new monasteries and two colleges for both Gelong (ordained monks) and Ngagpa (yogis). In the Kongpo region, he reconstructed the Thadul Buchu Lhakhang, and close to it he built anew the monastery of Zangdok Palri. He also erected anew the tantric centre of Lama Ling. Dudjom Rinpoche became renowned throughout Tibet for the brilliance of his spiritual achievements, for his compassionate Bodhisattva activities, as well as for his unsurpassed scholarship. Upon leaving Tibet, Dudjom Rinpoche settled in Kalimpong in India in 1958, and then in Kathmandu, Nepal in 1975. When the Tibetan culture was at a difficult time, Rinpoche played a key role in its renaissance among the refugee community, both through his teachings and his writings. He established a number of vital communities of practitioners in India and Nepal. At Tsopema (Rewalsar), he established a retreat centre; at Darjeeling, Rinpoche established Tsechu Gompa; in Orissa, he founded Dudul Rabten Ling; and in Kalimpong, Rinpoche founded Zangdok Palri Monastery. Near the Great Stupa at Boudhanath, Nepal, Rinpoche erected the Dudjom Gompa. He also actively encouraged the study of the Nyingma tradition at the Tibetan Institute for Higher Studies in Sarnath. In other parts of the world, Dudjom Rinpoche had also made tremendous progress in various Dharma activities. He founded many Dharma centres in the West, including Dorje Nyingpo and Orgyen Samye Choling in France, and Yeshe Nyingpo and Orgyen Cho Dzong in the United States. Over the last one‐and‐a‐half‐decades of his life, Dudjom Rinpoche devoted much of his time ot teaching in the West where he has successfully established the Nyingma tradition. In his first world‐wide tour in 1972, Dudjom Rinpoche visited the centre of his Chinese spiritual representative Lama Sonam Chokyi Gyaltsan in Hong Kong, and also visited London at the invitation of Ven. Sogyal Rinpoche. 6) Rinpocheʹs Children and Lineage Holders Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche, Manifested as a householder with family, married twice. His first wife was called Sangyum Kusho Tseten Yudron, and they had altogether six children, including two daughters and four sons. Their eldest daughter, 888
Dechen Yudron, is now in Lhasa, Tibet and is taking care of Kyabje Dudjom Rinpocheʹs seat Lama Ling in Kongpo. Their eldest son Kyabje Dungsay Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, who is himself a great Nyingma scholar and master like his father. Their second son is Dola Tulku Jigmed Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche of mainly the Sakya lineage, and he is now the father of Kyabje Dudjom Yangsi Rinpoche. Their second daughter, Pema Yudron, lives near Dola Rinpoche in Qinghai. Their third son, Pende Norbu, who is also a tulku, is now living in Nepal. Their fourth son, Dorje Palzang, went to school in Beijing in the late fifties but was unfortunately killed during the Cultural Revolution. Kyabje Dudjom Rinohceʹs second wife is called Sangyum Kusho Rikzin Wangme, and they had three children, including one son and two daughters. Their eldest daughter is Chimey Wangmo, and their younger daughter is Tsering Penzom. Their son is Shenphen Dawa Norbu Rinpohce who is spreading his fatherʹs teachings in both Europe and the United States. 7) Rinpocheʹs Parinirvana Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, who led a life encompassing the activities of one hundred tertons (treasure revealers), has said that Mopa Od Thaye (Dudjom Rinpocheʹs future incarnation as the last Buddha of this Light Aeon) will have the activity of one thousand Buddhas. That this great being will perform the activity of all his previous lives and have many disciples is all due to his own power of Bodhicitta and prayers. As Buddha Shakyamuni, even though enlightened, performed the illusory activity of dying for the benefit of worldly beings, likewise Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche entered into Mahaparinirvana on January 17, 1987. [This article was written with the acknowledgement of the following persons and articles: Nyoshul Khenpo Jamyang Dorjeʹs ʺHistory of the Dzogchen Secret Quintessence, Life Stories of the Vidyadharas of the Lineageʺ, in Terry Clifford (ed.) (1988) The Lamp of Liberation, pp.1‐5. Gyurme Dorjeʹs ʺHis Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche (1904‐1987)ʺ in The Middle Way, Vol. 62, No. 1 (May 1987), pp.25‐28. ʺHis Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche 1904‐1987ʺ, in Vajradhatu Sun, Vol.8, No. 3 (Feb./ Mar., 1987), pp.1‐
3. ʺThe Passing of His Holiness Dudjom Rinpocheʺ, in Snow Lion, Spring, 1987, p.3. Interviews with Bhakha Tulku Rinpoche in Pharping (Yang Leshod), Nepal on 18th September, 1997.] 8) A Short Introduction of the Dudjom Tersar Lineage by Yeshe Thaye The Great Terton Dudjom Lingpa (1835‐1904) In general, the ʺLineageʺ of a ʺTersarʺ tradition comes from those new ʺtreasuresʺ (termas) of an individual terton, and should include the initiations (wang), scriptural transmissions (lung), and oral teachings (tri) of all the important practices and sadhanas of that particular tradition. Such are the cases with the ʺChokling Tersarʺ and the ʺDudjom Tersarʺ Hence, it is not necessary to include all the writings of the Terton himself (except those related commentaries on those practices). For example, the 25 volumes of Kyabje Dudjom Rinpocheʹs Collected Works (Sungbum) include both his Tersar as well as his other writings. The ʺDudjom Tersarʺ as a Lineage forms a whole system by itself, and thus it does not include the works or termas of other Masters. However, there are cases that the works and termas of other great Masters are also included simply because of the realizations of the terton himself, such as Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche, that he felt it to be more beneficial to all sentient beings by either having some of the long termas of other 889
tertons to be condensed, or by elaborating on some of the more concise termas of other tertons, or both. In any case, the terton himself had done so with a pure intention to benefit all others through his own realizations. For example, there are two important practices on the Khandro Thugthig which was written by Kyabje Chadral Rinpoche that has been included in the Vol.16 of the Dudjom Sungbum by Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche himself. Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche had done so when he was still in Lhasa, as he thought this to be most appropriate and beneficial to all sentient beings. Terchen Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje (1904‐1987) One important thing that differentiates the important works of these great Masters, as compared with the commentaries on both sutras and tantras by other teachers, is the fact that these works are the true realizations of these great Masters who had truly experienced the Dharmata, in order that these works will have the blessings and the continuity of the Lineage all through its Lineage Holders. Kyabje Chadral Rinpoche was being appointed by Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche as his principal Doctrine‐Holder (Chodak) of the ʺDudjom Tersarʺ lineage. (Please refer to the letter written by Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche in appointing Kyabje Chadral Rinpoche as his Vajra Regent, as recorded in the life story of Kyabje Chadral Rinpoche.) •
There are four major cycles in the ʺDudjom Tersarʺ of Dudjom Lingpa, with the first three as ʺGong‐Tersʺ and the last one as ʺSa‐Terʺ namely: •
(a) The ʺDagnang Yeshe Drawaʺ cycle (The Wisdom Nets of Pure Visions), such as the Troma teachings; •
(b) The ʺMaha‐Ati Yoga Zabcho Gongpa Rangdrolʺ cycle (The Profound Teachings on Naturally Self‐liberating Enlightened Visions), such as the teachings of Chenresig; •
(c) The ʺChonyid Namkhai Longdzoʺ cycle (the Vast Space Treasure from the Wisdom Sky of the Ultimate Nature), with teachings of Thekchod and Thodgal; and •
(d) The ʺKhandro Nyingthigʺ cycle. •
There are four major cycles in the ʺDudjom Tersarʺ of Kyabje Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje, which are all ʺGong‐Tersʺ: •
(a) The ʺTsokyi Thugthigʺ cycle, for the practices on the outer, inner, secret and innermost secret sadhanas of the Lama; •
(b) The ʺPudri Rekpungʺ cycle, for the practices of the Yidam; •
(c) The ʺKhandro Thugthigʺ cycle, for the practices on the outer, inner, secret and innermost secret sadhanas of the Khandro; and •
(d) The ʺDorje Drollodʺ cycle. Here in the ʺDudjom Tersarʺ there is a cycle of ʺKhandro Nyingthigʺ discovered by Dudjom Lingpa, while there is another cycle of ʺKhandro Thugthigʺ discovered by Kyabje Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje. Then, there are two other two cycles of Dorje Phurba, namely: (i) The ʺThugdrub Sangwai Gyachanʺ cycle; and (ii) The ʺThugdrub Yeshe Nyimaʺ cycle, both of which are included in the ʺKhandro Nyingthigʺ cycle of Dudjom Lingpa. At the same time, there is the cycle of ʺNamchag Pudriʺ revealed by Dudjom Lingpa, and the cycle of ʺPudri Rekpungʺ revealed by Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje, both are of the yidam Dorje Phurba. 890
Kangyur Rinpoche From RangjungYesheWiki Kangyur Rinpoche / Longchen Yeshe Dorje At the beginning of the 1970s, a number of Westerners discovered a remarkable Tibetan teacher, Kangyur Rinpoche, living in exile in a tiny house in Darjeeling, India. Gradually a group of practitioners formed around this astonishing person. After his death, his eldest son, Pema Wangyal Rinpoche, invited two great lineage holders of the Nyingmapa school, Dudjom Rinpoche and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, to teach in the Dordogne, France. That was in 1975. Over the years they went again and again, to share their unique knowledge and experience with thousands of students from all over the world. Thanks to their inspiration and guidance Chanteloube became a place of meditation where people from many countries and walks of life have completed the traditional three‐year retreat. Maitrikara, a branch of Chanteloube, exists to uphold this lineage and tradition in the UK. 891
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Pema Wangyal Rinpoche From RangjungYesheWiki Pema Wangyal Rinpoche Pema Wangyal Rinpoche, Nyingma master living in Dordogne, France. Instrumental in bring Vajrayana, Nyingma in particular, to France. Heads the Padmakara Translation Group. Tulku Pema Wangyal, Taklung Tsetul (1945‐present), is the first son of the Rimey Dzogchen master Kangyur Rinpoche of Riwoche (1893‐1974). He is the main resident master of the 3 year Nyingmapa retreats in Dordogne, France, director of the Association du Centre dʹEtudes de Chanteloube and founder of the Padmakara Translation Group. 893
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Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche H.E. Chagdud Tulku Wylie: Lcags‐mdud) Rinpoche (1930‐2002) was a renowned teacher of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism. He was renowned in the West for his teachings, and also for his melodic chanting voice, his artistry as a sculptor and painter, his limitless compassion, and his sense of humor. He was the source of treasured Nyingma lineage transmissions for the thousands of people whom he taught in North and South America, Asia, Australia, and Europe. H.E. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche was the fourteenth recognized Chagdud incarnation. Chagdud means “iron knot,” and is said to derive from one Sherab Gyaltsan, the first Chagdud incarnation, who folded an iron sword into a knot with his bare hands. This feat deeply impressed the emperor of Mongolia and inspired him to shower honors on Chagdud. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche demonstrated the same extraordinary power several times in his youth when he compressed stout swords into folds. Contents: 1) Early life 2) Life in Exile from Tibet 3) Life in the West 895
1) Early life He was born in the Tromtar region of Kham eastern Tibet in 1930. His father was Sera Kharpo, who was actually a lama in the Gelugpa sect. His mother was Dawa Drolma, who was widely considered to be an emanation of Tara, and had a profound influence on her sonʹs spiritual life. By the time he was three years old he was recognized as the incarnation of the previous Chagdud Tulku, and soon thereafter traveled to Tempʹhel Gonpa, a monastery about two or three days by horseback from Tromtar. As he recounts in his autobiography, The Lord Of The Dance: “For the next seven years, until I went into three year retreat at the age of eleven, my life would alternate between periods of strict discipline in which my every move would be under the surveillance of my tutors and interludes in which my suppressed energies would explode. Throughout, I had many visions, many clairvoyant experiences, many extraordinary dreams, and within these, I sometimes had glimpses of absolute open awareness.” After this retreat he received numerous teachings, empowerments, and oral transmissions, from various spiritual masters. One of them, Sechen Rabjam Rinpoche, told him that Tara meditation would be one of his major practices. In 1945 shortly after completing his first three year retreat he went to see His Holiness Dzongsar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro. From Chökyi Lodrö Rinpoche he received the Rinchen Tangyud empowerments, and caught his first glimpse of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, who was attending the empowerments. By 1946 he entered his second three year retreat, this time under the guidance of the Tromge Trungpa Rinpoche. Near the conclusion of this retreat, the death of Tromge Trungpa forced him to leave before its completion. He then returned to Chagdud Gompa in Nyagrong, and after staying there for awhile, proceeded on a pilgrimage to Lhasa with an entourage of monks. He then did an extended retreat at Samye, the monastery built by Guru Padmasambhava, and afterwards attended empowerments given by H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche,who would become a main teacher as well as a source of spiritual inspiration for him. After this in 1957 he stayed for a year in Lhasa, Tibet, in the same household as Khenpo Dorje, whom he regarded as his root lama. During 1958, his last year in Tibet, Chagdud Tulku was advised to marry in order that he would have a companion and helper in the unsettled times to come. He later wed Karma Drolma, the daughter of a wealthy landowner in Kongpo. Later on in exile in India, they would have a son and a daughter, Jigme Tromge Rinpoche and Dawa Lhamo Tromge. 2) Life in Exile from Tibet Following Tibetʹs invasion by China in 1959, Chagdud Tulku escaped along with Khenpo Dorje to India, after enduring hunger, and many close calls, where it looked like they would not make it out. His route took him through Padma Kod region of Tibet, and his party came out from there into the Nagaland area of India. In India Rinpoche lived in a number of Tibetan refugee resettlement camps Kalimpong, Orissa, Dalhousie, Bir, and Delhi. He practiced Tibetan medicine, and was much in 896
demand as his fellow refugees had trouble coping with the heat, and subtropical diseases found in India. A year or two after his arrival in India, Rinpoche entered a retreat in Tso Pema, a lake sacred to Guru Rinpoche, located near the city of Mandi in Himachal Pradesh. At this location he met Jangchub Dorje, a primary disciple of Apong Terton and a lineage holder of this great treasure revealerʹs Red Tara cycle. Jangchub Dorje gave him empowerments for the Red Tara cycle, and then he re‐entered into retreat and signs of accomplishment in the practices came very swiftly. Later, when he began teaching in the West, Red Tara Sadhana would become the meditation most extensively practiced by his Western students. While he was living in Bir, circumstances there gradually led to an estrangement with Karma Drolma, and eventually they separated. After giving a teaching in Kulu Manali, the Dalai Lama extended an invitation for Rinpoche to go to the United States and teach, contingent upon him getting a visa. It was at this time that he moved to Delhi, and lived in Majnukatilla, a Tibetan Camp on the banks of the Jamuna river. The process of trying to get a visa went on for three years, and was ultimately unsuccessful. During this time period he met his first Western students, but he also caught malaria and nearly died, and was saved by an Indian doctor who finally made the correct diagnosis of what was ailing him. In the fall of 1977 empowerment cycles were given in Kathmandu, Nepal by H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche in order to propagate the sacred lineages to a new generation. Chagdud Tulku decided to travel there in order to receive all the empowerments of the Dudjom treasures from Dudjom Rinpoche. Hundreds of tulkus, scholars, yogis and lay practitioners gathered at Tulku Urgyen Rinpocheʹs monastery for these empowerments. About his experience he says this in his autobiography: “ During my stay in Nepal I received empowerments and oral transmissions for all the treasures he had discovered in this life and in his previous life as Dudjom Lingpa. It was a wealth of practices whose splendor is unsurpassed, and deep within me I formed the aspiration to offer this transmission to others through empowerment and teaching.” While attending them Chagdud Tulku met an older lama from Western Tibet, Lama Ladakh Nono, who was known for doing mirror divinations. He subsequently did a mirror divination for Chagdud and told him he should go to the West and benefit many people there by teaching the Dharma. He also predicted that a Western woman would come into his life and that this would be good. He continued to stay in Nepal on into 1978 in order to attend a new series of empowerments in the Choling Tesar cycle given by His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. It was while attending one of these empowerments, that a Western woman , Jane Dedman, approached Chagdud Rinpoche with the offering of a white scarf and a jar of honey. Afterwards he invited her to lunch, and shortly after this he gave her some teachings. A month or so later he accepted her offer to serve as his attendant in retreat after the empowerments. This retreat lasted for several months, after which Dudjom Rinpoche among other things suggested Chagdud go to America to teach. 897
3) Life in the West After many months of waiting he was finally granted a visa and landed in San Francisco on Oct. 24, 1979. Shortly after this, he married Jane in South Lake Tahoe, California. The early years of his teaching in the Americas was spent in Eugene, and Cottage Grove,Oregon. In 1983, at the request of his students, he established Chagdud Gonpa Foundation. He soon ordained his first lama, a Western woman named Inge Sandvoss, as Lama Yeshe Zangmo. Additionally in the time period of 1980 through 1987 he gave many teachings and invited many other renowned Lamas such as Dudjom Rinpoche, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Kalu Rinpoche, and Kyabje Penor Rinpoche to Oregon where they bestowed many empowerments and teachings. He also helped set up Padma Publications which eventually published his two books: The Lord of the Dance, and Gates to Buddhist Practice. Padma Publications also, with the assistance of Richard Baron began the monumental task of translating from Tibetan into English, Longchenpaʹs Seven Treasuries , of which three volumes have been published to date. In 1987 he returned to Tibet for the first time since 1959. He traveled to Kham, visiting the three monasteries of his youth ,and actually bestowed empowerments to the monastic staff there. His son, Jigme Tromge Rinpoche, traveled with him to Tibet and the next year immigrated to the United States, entering a three‐year retreat a few months after his arrival. Then in 1988 after land was acquired in the Trinity Alps of Northern California, the main seat of Chagdud Gonpa Foundation was created there as Rigzin Ling. It was here that Chagdud Tulku offered the empowerments and oral transmissions of the Dudjom Treasures in 1991, and several years later, of the supreme Dzogchen cycle, Nyingtʹhig Yabzhi. In 1992 he received an invitation to teach in Brazil and he would become a pioneer insofar as spreading the Dharma in South America. Throughout the 1990s he maintained an extensive teaching schedule, put many of his senior students into three year retreats, and helped to establish many Chagdud Gonpa centers throughout the Western Hemisphere. These include, more than 38 Dharma centers under Chagdud Tulkuʹs supervision and inspiration, in America, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Switzerland and Australia. The best known are Rigzin Ling in Junction City, California and Khadro Ling, his main center in Três Coroas, Brazil. In all his teachings he was known for stressing pure motivation in doing spiritual practice. He once wrote, ʺIn the course of my Buddhist training, I have received teachings on many philosophical topics and meditative methods. Of all teachings, I find none more important than pure motivation. If I had to leave only one legacy to my students, it would be the wisdom of pure motivation. If I were to be known by one title, it would be the ʹmotivation lama.ʹʺ (Chagdud,1992) In this context ‘pure motivation’ means the cultivation of bodhicitta, which is the enlightened intent of doing practice for the benefit of oneself, and all other sentient beings. In 1995 he moved to Khadro Ling, in Río Grande do Sul, Brazil, and it became the main seat of his Dharmic activities, for the rest of his life. In 1996 the first Brazilian Dzogchen retreat took place at Khadro Ling and a large Guru Rinpoche statue was 898
created there. In the next few years, he traveled in South America, giving teachings in Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile, in addition to different parts of Brazil. He also continued to travel to his centers in the United States, and made frequent visits to Nepal, a return to Chagdud Gompa in eastern Tibet and a visit to mainland China. During this same time period, in addition to leading Drubchens and month long Dzogchen retreats, he also trained his students in the sacred arts of sculpture and painting, as well as ritual dance, chanting, and music. In 1998, construction began on the lha khang (temple) of Khadro Ling. In July 1998, the empowerments of the Taksham Treasures were bestowed by Terton Namkhai Drimed in the still incomplete temple. This temple was followed by an enormous prayer wheel project, perhaps the largest in the Western Hemisphere, then eight magnificent stupas, and a monumental statue of Akshobhya Buddha. In the same period, in Parping, Nepal, Rinpoche built a new retreat center where eight people began training according to the Katʹhog tradition under Kyabje Getse Tulku. While Chagdud Rinpoche kept up a tremendous amount of Dharmic actvity, in the last few years of his life he was somewhat slowed down by diabetes, and in 1997, he entered a clinic and was diagnosed with a serious heart condition. In the last year of his life Rinpocheʹs body began to sabotage his outer activities. He tired more easily, and travel became difficult. In 2002, he cancelled a trip to the United States, which had been scheduled for October, and instead entered strict retreat. In the last week of his life, he concluded this retreat on Tuesday, November 12th , worked with a student artist to complete a statue of Amitabha, talked with many of his students, and led a training in phowa (transference of consciousness at the moment of death) for more than two hundred people. He continued teaching with great vigor until about 9 pm on Saturday night November 16th. Then on Sunday morning of the 17th, at about 4:15 a.m., Brazilian daylight time, he suffered massive heart failure while sitting up in bed. After this Rinpoche remained in a state of meditation for almost six full days. The ability to remain in meditation after the breath stops is known as (tʹhug dam).His son Jigme Tromge Rinpoche described this in a release to the Brazilian press: “After his last breath, my father remained in a state of meditation for almost six full days that prevented the usual deterioration of his body. The ability to remain in a state of meditation after the breath stops is well known among great Tibetan masters, but circumstances have rarely allowed it to occur in the West.Chagdud Rinpoche remained sitting in a natural, lifelike meditation posture, with little visible change of color or expression. During that time, no one touched his body. Until the sixth day, Friday, November 22rd, Rinpoche showed no physical signs that his meditation had ended.In the interim we were in constant consultation with a lawyer and other officials about local customs and regulations. Friday midday, his meditation ended and his mind separated from his body. Within hours, his appearance changed. He took on the signs typical of those occurring within the first 24 hours of death.” Afterwards his ku dun (the physical body) was flown to Kathmandu, Nepal, and then to the retreat center in Parping. During the forty‐nine days that followed, Getse Tulku Rinpoche and Jigme Tromge Rinpoche led ceremonies in Parping, to 899
purify inauspicious circumstances to Rinpocheʹs rebirth and to generate great merit through offerings and practice. A year later on the full moon of December 8, 2003, Rinpocheʹs cremation was held on Jigme Rinpocheʹs land in Parping, with Kyabje Mogtza Rinpoche, one of the highest lamas of Katʹhog Gonpa, serving as Vajra Master. Hundreds of Rinpocheʹs students gathered, to mourn the loss of his direct physical presence, and made prayers and offerings for his eventual rebirth. His wife Chagdud Khadro and his son Jigme Tromge Rinpoche continue to teach and carry on Chagdudʹs many projects and practices. 900
H.E. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche http://www.chagdud.org H.E. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche 1930‐2002 H. E. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche (1930‐2002) belongs to the last generation of teachers to have been fully trained in Tibet in the vast wealth of Vajrayana teachings and methods. He held superb teaching lineages, primarily in the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Vajrayana, which he taught unceasingly throughout his life. The main emphasis in whatever he taught was pure motivation. After the Communist conquest of Tibet in 1959, Rinpoche went into exile in India and Nepal. During the next twenty years, in various refugee camps and settlements, Rinpoche served as lama who administered to the refugees’ spiritual needs, as a camp leader who organized work projects, and as a physician Tibetan medicine. Rinpoche traveled to the United States in 1979. The combination of his warm personality, his depth of knowledge, and his meditative realization magnetized thousands of students. His tireless teachings led him to Europe, Russia, Korea, Hong Kong, Australia, and South America. He resettled in Brazil in 1995 after successfully establishing numerous centers and meditation groups in the United States and other places. In order to maintain his lineage teachings, he ordained a number of his Western students as teachers and gave them specific authorizations to teach. Rinpoche’s work is maintained by Chagdud Gonpa Foundation in North America, by Chagdud Gonpa Brasil, and by Chagdud Gonpa Hispanoamerica in Spanish‐speaking Latin America. The Mahakaruna Foundation administers support for Chagdud Gonpa and associated monasteries in Tibet and Nepal. 901
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Sogyal Rinpoche From RangjungYesheWiki Sogyal Rinpoche Sogyal Rinpoche Born in Kham in Eastern Tibet, Sogyal Rinpoche was recognized as the incarnation of Lerab Lingpa Tertön Sogyal, a teacher to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, by Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö, one of the most outstanding spiritual masters of the twentieth century. Jamyang Khyentse supervised Rinpocheʹs training and raised him like his own son. In 1971, Rinpoche went to England where he received a Western education, studying Comparative Religion at Cambridge University. He went on to study with many other great masters, of all schools of Tibetan Buddhism, serving as their translator and aide. With his remarkable gift for presenting the essence of Tibetan Buddhism in a way that is both authentic and profoundly relevant to the modern mind, Sogyal Rinpoche is one of the most renowned teachers of our time. He is also the author of the highly‐acclaimed and ground breaking book, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. Two million copies of this spiritual classic have been sold in 29 languages and 56 countries. It has been adopted by colleges, groups and institutions, both medical and religious, and is used extensively by nurses, doctors and health care professionals. Rinpoche is also the founder and spiritual director of Rigpa, an international network of 106 Buddhist centres and groups in 23 countries around the world. He has been teaching for over 30 years and continues to travel widely in Europe, America, Australia, and Asia, addressing thousands of people on his retreats and teaching tours. 903
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Lerab Lingpa Tertön Sogyal From RangjungYesheWiki Tertön Sogyal Lerab Lingpa Tertön Sogyal Lerab Lingpa (gter ston bsod rgyal las rab gling pa 1856‐1926). The great tertön Lerab Lingpa Trinlé Thayé Tsal, or Tertön Sogyal, was the body emanation of Nanam Dorje Dudjom, the speech emanation of Vajravarahi and the mind emanation of Guru Padmasambhava. He was born in the year of the Fire Dragon of the fourteenth calendrical cycle (1856) in Upper Nyarong in Kham. He quickly learned to read and write, and received teachings from Nyala Pema Duddul and from Patrul Rinpoche and Khenpo Pema Vajra at Dzogchen Monastery. From the age of 13 to 18, he stayed in retreat. During this time he saw many things directly through the power of his clairvoyance. Whilst in retreat, he deciphered a terma in the coded script of Yeshe Tsogyal. After the retreat, he travelled to Kathok with Lama Sonam Thayé and others and received empowerments from Tenpé Gyaltsen and other transmissions from Kathok Getsé Tulku. Later he went to Dzahka Sangak Rabten Ling and received instructions on the preliminaries and main practice of Longsal Nyingpo from Choktrul Rinpoche Kunzang Namgyal. He then went to receive instruction on the Longchen Nyingthig from Patrul Rinpoche’s disciple, Nyoshul Lungtok Tenpé Nyima. Later, he received detailed teachings on the Guhyagarbha Tantra from Mipham Rinpoche for a period of several months. In the Male Earth Mouse year (1888), he met the Thirteenth Dalai Lama for the first time in Lhasa. They went on to meet several more times, and the Dalai Lama became one of his main students and Dharma heirs. In 1895 he revealed the terma of Yang Nying Pudri together with Jamgon Kongtrul. In time, this Vajrakilaya practice became one of the regular practices of the Dalai Lama’s own monastery, Namgyal, and His Holiness composed a manual for practising it as a drupchen. He returned to Lhasa several more times in the following years, and travelled widely, revealing more termas including Tendrel Nyesel, ʹDispelling Flaws in 905
Interdependenceʹ, which became one of the most widely practised among his revelations. In the year of the Wood Mouse (1924) he offered the remainder of his termas to Dodrupchen Jikme Tenpe Nyima. At the end of their meeting the two masters exchanged white scarves, something they had never done before, and then each said, “I will see you again in the pure land.” During the Wood Ox (1925), he re‐concealed all those termas which remained incomplete and made aspirations to meet with them again in future. Finally, the great tertön displayed the signs of passing into nirvana on the tenth day of the first month of the year of the Fire Tiger (1926). He was one of the most prolific tertöns in history, his collected terma revelations filling almost twenty volumes. Several of his original written works, most notably his commentary on the Chetsun Nyingthig, have also survived. 906
Sakya Trizin From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sakya Trizin Name: Birth: School: His Holiness Ngawang Kunga,the 41st Sakya Trizin September 7, 1945 Shigatse, Tibet Sakya Sakya Trizin is the head of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism The spiritual leadership of the Sakya school is controlled by the descendants of the Köhn family, who around 750,[1] when Khön Jekundag was a minister of Trisong Detsen, got into contact with Buddhism and who were taught by Padmasambhava.[2] The family were viceroys of the Tsang province of Tibet at the time. After they received the teaching of masters like Sachen Kunga Nyingpo, they starting spreading the teaching throughout their territories from 1073 onwards.[2] After the Dalai Lamas asserted their rule over Central Tibet, they started to focus on Buddhism only. The leadership passes from father to oldest son contrary to the other schools. The current Sakya Trizin is the 41st Sakya Trizin. Because the leadership passes from father to son, the couple wanted a son, however their first son passed away as a child and thus their wish remained unfulfilled for most of their lives. The family made a pilgrimage to Kailash, Nepal, and Lhasa and asked Ngaglo Rinpoche, a great master, to perform rituals for them to ensure that the lineage would not disappear.[3] Their wish finally came true. On September 7, 1945 a son was born in a little village near Shigatse, Tibet and was called Ayu Vajra. After his first initiation he received his full name: Ngawang Kunga Tegchen Palbar Samphel Wanggi Gyalpo which is generally shortened to Ngawang Kunga.[4] He has an older sister, Jetsun Kushok Chimey Luding, who lives in Vancouver, Canada and travels round the world giving Buddhist teachings and is regarded as a master.[5] 907
His mother died when he was only three and his father died two years later and therefore he was raised by his aunt Trinley Paljor Zangmo.[4] When Ngawang Kunga was five years old, he was send to the monastry and in 1951, during a pilgrimage to Lhasa, he was crowned Sakya Trizin by Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama. After continuing his studies in Lhasa, he was formally appointed spiritual leader of the school in 1959, at the age of fourteen, because of the political condition in Tibet. Soon after Ngawang Kunga had to escape to India. In 1960 Ngawang Kunga moved to Darjeeling were he continued his education and in 1964 he founded new headquarters in Rajpur, India for the Sakya school. In 1974 he married Dagmo Kusho Tashi Lhakee and in the same year his first son, Ratna Vajra, was born. A new main monestry of the Sakya, Thubten Namgyal Ling, was opened in 1980 in Puruwala, Himachal Pradesh. 908
His Holiness Sakya Trizin http://sakyaonline.tripod.com Sakya Trizin A short biography The Khön family, to which His Holiness Sakya Trizin belongs, has a long history that extends back more than 1400 years to pre‐Buddhist Tibet. The Sakya Khön family’s ancestors were “The Gods of the Realm of Clear Light” and so the family was known as Lha‐Rig or “The Celestial Race”. Later, when they subjugated the Rakshas, they were called The Immaculate “Khön Gyi Dhung” or “The Family of Conquerors”. In the later eleventh century when they established the Sakyapa Order of Tibetan Buddhism, they were called “The Sakyapa Lineage”. In more recent times they became known as “The Dolma Phodrang” or “The Tara Palace Lineage”, as their palace was next to the Turquoise Tara Shrine at the Sakya monastery in Tibet. From the advent of the Khön race until now, many famous masters have appeared without interruption in this illustrious lineage, including the five great founders of the Sakyapa Order. Vajradhara Ngawang Conga Rinchen, the previous head of the Sakya Dolma Phodrang, and Sonam Drolkar, the sister of a renowned minister of the Tibetan government had four children together. The eldest, a daughter whose name is Jetsun Chime Thrinley was born in 1938 and currently lives and teaches in Canada. The next born were a son and daughter who both passed away in infancy. Their youngest son, the present Sakya Trizin, was born in the Sixteenth Rabjong* in the year of The Wood Bird on the first day of the eight‐month which is September 7th, 1945. He was born at the Sakya Palace of Tsedong. Immediately after his birth, profound rituals were performed to increase his wisdom, including tracing the letter “Dhih” on his tongue. Many auspicious signs occurred on the day of his birth. A rainbow tent appeared above the palace and milk collected from one hundred different Dris (female yaks) were offered to the palace as 909
well as a statue of Guru Padmasambhava. While he was an infant, his name was Ayu Vajra. Later, when his father gave him his first major initiation of “The Nine Deities of Amitayus”, he was given his present name Ngawang Kunga Thegchen Palber Thrinley Samphel Wangyi Gyalpo. When the family returned to the main Sakya monastery the next year there was an extensive celebration of the anniversary of his birth. He received the major initiation of Vajrakilaya and many other profound teachings from his father. Both parents died while His Holiness was still young so his maternal aunt, Thrinley Paljor Sangmo, with great kindness, took extremely good care of him. She appointed Jamphel Ponlop Kunga Gyaltsen as his first tutor and from him he learned the fundamental of the Tibetan reading, writing, memorization and the recitation of basic prayers. He learned chanting, music, ritual dancing, mudras and other subjects from his junior tutor Kunga Tsewang. After completion of these studies, a great celebration was held in which the Sakya Trizin officially entered both the Mahayana and Vajrayana monasteries to perform the traditional Sakya ceremonies. When His Holiness finished his studies at the Sakya Monasteries, he went to receive teachings at the Ngor E‐Wam monastery. There, at the age of five, he received “The Common and Uncommon Lamdre” and many other profound teachings, bestowed upon him by his main root guru the great Ngor abbot, Vajradhara Ngawang Lodroe Zhenphen Nyingpo. In 1951 the Sakya Trizin made a pilgrimage to Lhasa. There, at the age of six, he was designated the throne holder of the Sakya Order by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Accordingly, the next year a preliminary enthronement ceremony was performed in which he accepted the official seals of the office of the Sakya Trizin. The following year from Ngawang Zhenphen Nyingpo’s regent, Ngawang Tenzin Nyingpo, His Holiness received the initiation and reading transmission of “The collection of Dharanas”. From Lama Ngawang Lodroe Rinpoche, he received the initiations and profound oral instructions of the Three Red Deities, Three Vajra Yoginis and the two main Protectors of the Sakya Order. At the age of eleven he made another pilgrimage to Lhasa during which he received Dharma instructions in the Potala from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. There, before a large audience, he gave an extensive explanation of the Mandala offering due to which his wisdom came to be proclaimed throughout Tibet. During this period, from Jamyang Khyentse Choekyi Lodroe, he received many tantric initiations and teachings according to the Sakya tradition as well as the teachings and initiations of the Dzogchen Lineage. In 1957, he received the Lamdre again, this time from the great abbot Vajradhara Jamphel Sangpo, according to the tradition of the Khön Lineage Transmission. In 1959, at the age of fourteen, he was formally enthroned as the Sakya Trizin, beginning with a seven day Mahakala ritual followed by an elaborate three day enthronement ceremony during which representatives of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government were in attendance. Later that year, due to change in the political situation of Tibet, His Holiness along with some of his attendants moved to India. The next year, His Holiness established the Ghoom Monastery in Darjeeling and Sa‐Ngor Choetsog in Gangtok and thus began his task of reassembling the Sangha. 910
On many different occasions in Tibet, as well as in India, His Holiness received extensive philosophical teaching in Logic, Abhidharma, Pragna Paramita and The Clarification of the Three Vows from many great scholars like the abbots Dosep Thupten, Tritso Rinchen and Serjong Appey. From the last of them, he also received a thorough and detailed explanation of The Hevajra Root Tantra and many related teachings. From one of the four Ngor abbots, Phendhe Khen Rinpoche, he received the initiation and explanation of The Yamantaka in the Ra Lotsawa tradition as well as The Collected Writings of Ngorchen Khonchog Lhundrub. In 1964, He undertook the task of reestablishing the main seat of Sakya Order in Rajpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. In 1968 in order to benefit the lay followers of the Sakya Order, he established the Tibetan settlement in Puruwala in Himachal Pradesh, India. During the years 1971 and 72, he received the initiations from “The Collection of All Tantras”, “The Collected Writing of Ngorchen Kunga Sangpo”, “The Uncommon Lamdre from the Tsarpa Tradition” and “The One Hundred Teachings of the Jonang Tradition” from Chogye Trichen Rinpoche Ngawang Khyenrab Legshey Gyatso. In 1974, to maintain the unbroken lineage of Khön family, His Holiness married Dagmo Kusho Tashi Lhakyi, the daughter of a minister of the king of Dege. That year was highlighted by the auspicious birth of their elder son Ratna Vajra. In 1978, he received the complete reading transmission of “The Collected Works of the Five Great Founders of Sakyapa Tradition” and “The Collected Tantric Works of the Omniscient Teacher Gorampa” from the Lord of Refuge Deschung Rinpoche. In 1979, his younger son Gyana Vajra was born. The following Year, His Holiness performed the opening ceremony of the main Sakya monastery Thupten Namgyal Ling in Puruwala, Himachal Pradesh. In order to promote higher education and extensive philosophical training and to maintain the living transmission of the Sakyapa teachings and commentaries, His Holiness requested his own tutor, the most venerable Khenpo Appey Rinpoche, to establish the Sakya College and to be the Dean of the college. Through his hard work and vast wisdom, the Sakya College was established in 1972. Since then, the college has produced monks with exceptional scholastic virtues and caliber who had come from various monasteries. At the college they received high quality and in depth instructions in Tantra, Sutra and other common subjects. After graduation, they have returned to their respective monasteries or, as assigned by His Holiness, to serve in various capacities within the Sakya Order. Thus, they have contributed greatly to the spread of this glorious tradition all over the world and benefited many sentient beings. Through establishment of the Sakya College, His Holiness has revitalized both the sutric and tantric traditions of the Tibetan Buddhism and ensured the continuity of a new generation of well trained teachers and practitioners. Until now, His Holiness has performed major and minor retreats of twenty deities of the Sakya Lineage. From a very young age he has undertaken many retreats and has given many initiations such as “The Upper and The Lower Initiations of Vajrakilaya”. Since his arrival in India, he has given “The Common Lamdre” on four occasions and “The Uncommon Lamdre” once. In addition, he was bestowed “The Common Lamdre” four times and “The Uncommon Lamdre” twice overseas. 911
Therefore in total he has given “Lamdre” eleven times and “The Collection of Sadhanas” thrice and has bestowed many initiations on “The Collection of Tantras”. For the benefit of those who wish to study Lord Buddha’s doctrine, His Holiness has turned the wheel of Dharma all over the world. So far, he has given teachings in America, Australia, Canada, England, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Monaco, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Thailand. To all of his fortunate disciples, he has extended his infinite compassion and wisdom. This is evident in the books he has written. Until the present day, he has written two volumes containing the detailed list of all the teachings he has received from various masters and another volume enumerating the works of the great masters of the Sakyapa Order. He has also written an autobiography of two volumes and another in a brief version. He has written profoundly upon the Birwapa’s “Guru Yoga Puja” and many other ritual texts and composed dedication prayers as well as many other short verses. To preserve an unbroken lineage of teachings and the tradition of the Khön family, he has ensured that his two sons are receiving an extensive education of the Buddha Dharma. In short, His Holiness Sakya Trizin upholds the entire Buddhist doctrines and has spread it far and wide throughout the world. He has been an unfailing source of wisdom and compassion for all of his Dharma students. Most of the time when he is not on a teaching tour and when he is not engaged in other religious commitments, he lives in Rajpur, Dehradun, at the Sakya Dolma Phodrang, and extends his infinite compassion and blessings to a stream of devotee everyday. * Sixty years cycle 912
His Holiness Sakya Trizin http://www.simhas.org His Holiness Sakya Trizin His Holiness Sakya Trizin Ngawang Kunga was born in Tsedong near Shigatse in the Sixteenth Rabjong cycle, in the year of The Wood Bird, on first of the eighth Tibetan month (September 7, 1945). Sakya Trizin means ʺThe Throneholder of Sakyaʺ. His Holiness is the 41st Patriarch of the Sakya tradition, one of the four major traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. The Sakya lineage is often closely related to Manjushri (the youthful prince known as the bodhisattva of wisdom) Ngawang Kunga Rinchen, the previous head of the Dolma Phodrang, and Sonam Drolkar, the sister of a renowned minister of the Tibetan government, had four children. The eldest, a daughter whose name is Jetsunma Chime Luding, currently lives and teaches in Canada. The next born were a son and daughter who passed away in infancy. His Holiness Sakya Trizin remarked, ʺFor the sake of having a son, my parents went on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, to Nepal, to Lhasa and to South Tibet, but there was never any sign that a son might be born. They had given up all hope when they reached Nalanda Monastery, an important Sakya monastery north of Lhasa and told the monasteryʹs abbots of this. The leaders were shocked and very worried, as our family lineage, the Dolma Palace line, held the tradition of the most esoteric Sakya teachings and moreover, most of the heads of the monastery had received these teachings from my grandfather, so to them, the continuation of our family was most important. ʺThey urged my parents not to give up hope, and moreover they gave up one of their best teachers, Lama Ngawang Lodro Rinchen, so that he could travel with my parents. This was something of a loss to the monastery, but he was a very powerful 913
Lama who could perform all the different rituals, and in particular, his prayers had caused children to be born to women who had been unable to have children before. After his he always travelled with my father, and together they performed many rituals and prayed for a son to be born. At last it became clear that the prayers had been answered and my parents halted at Tsedong, a small, pleasant town near Shigatse. It had been decided that it was a good place for a child to be born, partly perhaps for its reputation as the birthplace of many great Sakya teachers such as Ngachang Chenpo Ngawang Kunga Rinchen. In fact, I was born in the same room as Ngachang Chenpo. A further problem arose: a succession of astrologically inauspicious days. As my parents wanted me to be born on an auspicious day, many more prayers were said. And I was not born on a bad day: I was born on the first day of the eighth Tibetan month, which was considered quite good. It is said that rainbows were seen over our house, and that an image of Guru Rinpoche was then offered to my father, which were good signs, but of course, I didnʹt know anything of this.ʺ Immediately after Sakya Trizin was born, birth, the sacred syllable letter Dhih (the letter of Manjushri) was written on his tongue with a special nectar made of saffron and many other things. While he was an infant, his name was Ayu Vajra. Later, when his father gave him his first major initiation of ʺThe Nine Deities of Amitayusʺ he was given his present name Ngawang Kunga Thegchen Palber Thrinley Samphel Wangyi Gyalpo. When the family returned to the main Sakya monastery the next year, there was an extensive celebration of the anniversary of his birth. His Holiness Sakya Trizin is the reincarantion of two great masters: a Nyingmapa lama known as Abong Terton and his grandfather the 39th Sakya Trizin Dhagtshul Thrinley Rinchen (1871 ‐ 1936). Early childhood and education His Holiness Sakya Trizin received the major initiation of Vajrakilaya and many other profound teachings from his father. He lost both parents at a very early age. So his maternal aunt, Thrinley Paljor Sangmo, with great kindness, took extremely good care of him. She appointed Jamphel Ponlop Kunga Gyaltsen as his first tutor and from him he learned the fundamental of the Tibetan reading, writing, memorization and the recitation of basic prayers. He learned chanting, music, ritual dancing, mudras and other subjects from his junior tutor Kunga Tsewang. After completion of these studies, a great celebration was held in which the Sakya Trizin officially entered both the Mahayana and Vajrayana monasteries to perform the traditional Sakya ceremonies. When His Holiness finished his studies at the Sakya Monasteries, he went to receive teachings at the Ngor E‐Wam monastery. There at the age of five, he received the the Common and Uncommon Lam Dre (Tshoshey and Lobshey) teachings, bestowed upon him by his main root guru the great Ngor abbot Vajradhara Ngawang Lodro Zhenphen Nyingpo. In 1951, His Holiness Sakya Trizin made a pilgrimage to Lhasa. There at the age of six he was designated the throne holder of the Sakya Order by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Accordingly, the next year a preliminary enthronement ceremony was performed in which he accepted the official seals of the office of the Sakya Trizin. Following the Parinirvana of His Root Guru Ngawang Lodro Zhenpen Nyingpo in 1953, the latterʹs Regent, Ngawang Tenzin Nyingpo, became another important guru to him. From this lama he received the initiations and reading tranmission (lung) for 914
Grub‐thab Kun‐tu (The Collection of Sadhanas). And from Lama Ngawang Lodro Rinpoche he received the initiations and oral instructions relating to the Marpo Kor Sum (Three Major Red Deities), the Marmo Kor Sum (Three Red Deities), and the two main Sakya Protectors. At the age of eleven he again journeyed to Lhasa where he received teachings from His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Potala Palace. Also on this occasion he gave an extensive explanation of the Mandala Offering before the Dalai Lama and a large assembly. This event led to his wisdom being proclaimed throughout Tibet. Another guru to His Holiness was the renowned Lama Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro, from whom he received many Tantric initiations and teachings, both Sakya and Nyingma. In 1957 he again received the Lam Dre teachings, on this occasion from the great abbot of Sakya, Vajradhara Jampal Zangpo, according to the tradition of the Khon Lineage transmission. Fleeing Tibet for religious freedom and preserving the Buddhadharma In 1959 at the age of fourteen he was formally enthroned as the Sakya Trizin, this three‐day ceremony being preceded by a seven‐day Mahakala ritual. Representatives of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government were in attendance. But by this time the political and military situation in Tibet had undergone a dangerous deterioration, and his flight to neighbouring Sikkim (a three day journey from Sakya) soon became necessary. Abandoning the holy principal seat of the Sakya tradition, which his family had occupied for nearly 900 years, His Holiness was able to take with him only the barest minimum of possessions and a few attendants. Arriving in India in 1959 at the age of fifteen, he was nonetheless able to found Ghoom Monastery at Darjeeling in the following year, and Sa‐Ngor Chotsok Monastery at Gangtok in Sikkim and also to begin the task of reassembling the Sangha. Under the oversight of his aunt, his studies continued with various of the great Buddhist teachers of the Sakya tradition who had survived the catastrophe in Tibet. From such great scholars as the Abbots Tritso Rinchen and Serjong Appey Rinpoche he received extensive philosophical teachings in Logic, Abhidharma, Madhyamika, the Prajnaparamita, and Discrimination of the Three Vowsby Sakya Pandita). Particularly from Khenpo Appey he received a thorough and detailed explanation of the Hevajra Root Tantra and other related teachings. And from one of the four Ngor abbots, Phende Khen Rinpoche, His Holiness received the initiation and explanation of Yamantaka in the Ra Lotsawa Tradition, as well as the collected writings of Ngorchen Könchog Lhundrup. On account of political tensions between India and China during the early 1960s which were giving rise to military activity in the border regions, His Holiness then moved from Darjeeling to the relative safety of Mussourie in the Himalayan foothills near Dehra Dun. Around this time he taught the Lam Dre Tshod Shey at Varanasi. The Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, a Tibetan Buddhist university, had recently been established at nearby Sarnath, and this was a time for regrouping and re‐
establishing of contacts for many Tibetan people who had been scattered and separated by the traumatic events of recent years. His Holiness, His Eminence Chogye Trichen Rinpoche (head of the Tsarpa branch of the Sakya Tradition and of Nalendra Monastery), and His Eminence Ngor Luding Khen Rinpoche (75th abbot of Ngor 915
Monastery) were all present. This event was seen by many as a watershed, after which a new blossoming of Dharma activity came about. Marriage and maintain the tradition of the Khön Lineage In 1974, to maintain the tradition of the Khön Lineage, His Holiness married Dagmo Kusho Tashi Lhakee, the daughter of the Minister of the King of Dege. That same year was highlighted by the auspicious birth of their first son, His Eminence Ratna Vajra Rinpoche. A second son, His Eminence Gyana Vajra Rinpoche, was to be born five years later in 1979. The Propagation and Preservation of Buddhadharma in the 1980ʹs In 1978, Sakya Trizin received the complete transmission of ʺThe Collected Works of the Five Great Founders of Sakyaʺ and ʺThe Collected Tantric Works of the Omniscient Teacher Gorampaʺ from the Kyabje Dezhung Rinpoche. Then in 1980 Sakya Trizin performed the opening ceremony of the main Sakya Monastery, Thupten Namgyal Ling at Puruwala. Later, in January 1988, on the anniversary of the parinirvana of Sakya Pandita, His Holiness consecrated and inaugurated the monastery and temple of Ngor E‐wam Choden at Manduwala, near Dehra Dun. Meanwhile larger permanent premises for Sakya College (referred to earlier) had been built at Rajpur, and by the present time it caters for 130 monks, producing twelve graduates each year. Thus from the difficult beginnings of exile from his homeland His Holiness has worked ceaselessly for the preservation and successful reconstitution of Sakyaʹs rich and profound Dharma heritage. Apart from these heavy responsibilities he has, in the course of his life so far, undertaken major and minor meditational retreats on twenty deities of the Sakya Lineage, given numerous initiations, written a large number of texts, and in particular has bestowed the vast Lam Dre teachings on no fewer than eleven occasions. Moreover he has not only been a beacon to his own Tibetan community in their time of crisis, but has taken an extensive part in making the Dharma available world‐wide, travelling repeatedly and regularly to teach in many parts of the world. These have included Australia, Austria, Canada, Estonia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, and United States. He is an unfailing source of wisdom and compassion for his fortunate disciples. He lives, when not engaged on his many commitments, at the Dolma Phodrang in Rajpur, Northern India, together with his wife and two sons, His Eminence Ratna Vajra Rinpoche and His Eminence Gyana Vajra Rinpoche, both of whom have themselves received an extensive education in the Buddhadharma which is in the interests of preserving unbroken the traditions of the Khön Lineage. 916
Karma Thinley Rinpoche http://www.dechen.org Karma Thinley Rinpoche Karma Thinley Rinpoche, master of the Kagyu and Sakya traditions, was born into the noble family of Bongsar in 1931 in the Nangchen area of Kham, Eastern Tibet. At the age of one month he received refuge and some two years later was recognised by the then head of the Sakya tradition, Sakya Trizin Dakshul Thinley Rinchen, as the tulku (incarnation) of the Sakyapa master Beru Shaiyak Lama Kunrik, thought to be an incarnation of the great Vairocana. At that time he received all the symbols and titles of his rank and authority. Due to Rinpocheʹs rank and the extraordinary profusion of spiritual masters among his extensive set of relations, he received a vast number of teachings during his childhood and youth. From his uncle, the famous yogin and terton Jigje Lama, he received various Kagyu and Nyingma precepts, as he did from his two great uncles Shabtrung Rinpoche and Pangchog Rinpoche, heads of Riwoche, the famous non‐
sectarian monastery. From the great Sakya masters Khangsar Khenpo Ngawang Yonten Gyamtso and Ngawang Tashi Chophel he received a wide range of Sakyapa teachings. You are the activity of the holders of the Black and Red Crowns Making the lineages of Buddhaʹs sutra and tantra shine like the sun. Supreme root lama, Karma Thinley May your life be long and your activities be completely fulfilled. Extracted from the Long Life Prayer by Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro At such monastaries as Lachung, Dilyak and Neten, Rinpoche studied the classical mahayana texts under a number of masters, including Khenpo Pad‐dam, Khenpo Gur‐ga, Drupon Sanjay Puntsok and Khenpo Tse‐gyam. Later at Tsurphu in central Tibet, Rinpoche received full monastic ordination from H.H. 16th Gyalwa Karmapa. 917
In 1959, Rinpoche left Tibet in the party of the Karmapa, fleeing from communist oppression. Subsequently Rinpoche became abbot of a newly established nunnery at Tilokpur in 1962. In 1967 he received the Path and its Fruit, the principal cycle of teachings of the Sakya tradition, from H.H. Sakya Trizin at Sarnath. It was about this time that Rinpoche met his first Western disciples. In 1971 Rinpoche settled in Canada, accompanying a group of Tibetan refugees as their spiritual teacher and a year later founded the Tibetan Society, to introduce Tibetan culture to Canada. In 1973 Rinpoche founded Kampo Gangra Drubgyud Ling meditation centre in Toronto, named after the first Karmapaʹs monastery in Kham. That same year Rinpoche spent three months in Scotland, where he met his English student Lama Jampa Thaye for the first time. Rinpoche returned to India in 1978 to receive the Rinchen Terdzod, the famous collection of Nyingma treasure cycles, from H.H. Dingo Khyentse Rinpoche. Four years later he made his first return to Tibet for over 20 years, travelling throughout Nangchen visiting his relatives and giving teachings. In 1983 Rinpoche received the Drubthap Kundu, the collected sadhanas of the new tantra schools, from H.E. Chogay Trichen in Lumbini. Over the last twenty‐five years Rinpoche has founded centres and taught extensively in Canada, the U.S.A., New Zealand and the United Kingdom. He has hundreds of devoted students, both Tibetan and Western. In addition to being an accomplished poet and artist, Rinpoche is a renowned historian, having written (in English) The History of the Sixteen Karmapas. His major projects at the current time are the continuing supervision of his nunnery Tegchen Lekshey Ling in Bodhnath, Nepal and the construction of Sangngak Phodrang in Nangchen. 918
His Holiness 14th Dalai Lama http://www.tibet.com/index.html His Holiness 14th Dalai Lama His Holiness the Dalai Lama was born in a peasant family on July 6th, 1935, in a small village called Taktser in north eastern Tibet. His Holiness was recognised at the age of two as the reincarnation of his predecessor the 13th Dalai Lama. When the 13th Dalai Lama passed away in 1935, the task that confronted the Tibetan Government was not simply to appoint a successor but to search for and discover a child in whom the Buddha of Compassion would incarnate.In 1935 the Regent of Tibet went to the sacred lake of Lhamo Lhatso at Chokhorgyal, about 90 miles south east of Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. For centuries the Tibetans had observed that visions of the future could be seen in this lake. The Regent had a vision of three Tibetan letters, Ah, Ka, and Ma, followed by a picture of a monastery with roofs of jade green and gold, and a house with turquoise tiles. In 1937 high lamas and dignitaries carrying the secrets of the vision were sent to all parts of Tibet in search of the place that the Regent had seen in the waters. The search party that headed east was under the leadership of Lama Kewtsang Rinpoche of Sera Monastery. When they arrived in Amdo, they found a place matching the description of the secret vision. The party went to the house with Kewtsang Rinpoche disguised as the servant, and junior official Lobsang Tsewang disguised as the leader. The Rinpoche was wearing a rosary that had belonged to the 13th Dalai Lama, and the little boy of the house recognised it and demanded that it be given to him. Kewtsang Rinpoche promised to give it to him if he could guess who he was, and the boy replied that he was ʺSera agaʺ, which means in the local dialect ʺa lama of Seraʺ. Then the Rinpoche asked who the leader was and the boy gave his name correctly; he also knew the name of the real servant. This was followed by a series of tests that included the choosing of correct articles that had belonged to the 13th Dalai Lama. 919
With these tests they were further convinced that the reincarnation had been found and their conviction was enhanced by the significance of the three letters that had been seen in the lake of Lhamo Lhatso: Ah could stand for Amdo, the name of the province; Ka for Kumbum, one of the largest monasteries in the neighbourhood; and the two letters Ka and Ma for the monastery of Karma Rolpai Dorje on the mountain above the village. In 1940 the XIVth Dalai Lama was enthroned. The Dalai Lamaʹs biography His Holiness the 14th the Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, is the head of state and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. He was born Lhamo Dhondrub on 6 July 1935, in a small village called Taktser in northeastern Tibet. Born to a peasant family, His Holiness was recognized at the age of two, in accordance with Tibetan tradition, as the reincarnation of his predecessor the 13th Dalai Lama, and thus an incarnation Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of Compassion. The Dalai Lamas are the manifestations of the Bodhisattva (Buddha) of Compassion, who chose to reincarnate to serve the people. Lhamo Dhondrub was, as Dalai Lama, renamed Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso ‐ Holy Lord, Gentle Glory, Compassionate, Defender of the Faith, Ocean of Wisdom. Tibetans normally refer to His Holiness as Yeshe Norbu, the Wishfulfilling Gem or simply Kundun ‐ The Presence. The enthronement ceremony took place on February 22, 1940 in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. Education in Tibet He began his education at the age of six and completed the Geshe Lharampa Degree (Doctorate of Buddhist Philosophy) when he was 25 in 1959. At 24, he took the preliminary examinations at each of the three monastic universities: Drepung, Sera and Ganden. The final examination was conducted in the Jokhang, Lhasa during the annual Monlam Festival of Prayer, held in the first month of every year Tibetan calendar. Leadership Responsibilities On November 17, 1950, His Holiness was called upon to assume full political power (head of the State and Government) after some 80,000 Peoples Liberation Army soldiers invaded Tibet. In 1954, he went to Beijing to talk peace with Mao Tse‐tung and other Chinese leaders, including Chou En‐lai and Deng Xiaoping. In 1956, while visiting India to attend the 2500th Buddha Jayanti Anniversary, he had a series of meetings with Prime Minister Nehru and Premier Chou about deteriorating conditions in Tibet. His efforts to bring about a peaceful solution to Sino‐Tibetan conflict were thwarted by Bejingʹs ruthless policy in Eastern Tibet, which ignited a popular uprising and resistance. This resistance movement spread to other parts of the country. On 10 March 1959 the capital of Tibet, Lhasa, exploded with the largest demonstration in Tibetan history, calling on China to leave Tibet and reaffirming Tibetʹs independence. The Tibetan National Uprising was brutally crushed by the Chinese army. His Holiness escaped to India where he was given political asylum. Some 80,000 Tibetan refugees followed His Holiness into exile. Today, there are more than 120,000 Tibetan 920
in exile. Since 1960, he has resided in Dharamsala, India, known as ʺLittle Lhasa,ʺ the seat of the Tibetan Government‐in‐exile. In the early years of exile, His Holiness appealed to the United Nations on the question of Tibet, resulting in three resolutions adopted by the General Assembly in 1959, 1961, and 1965, calling on China to respect the human rights of Tibetans and their desire for self‐determination. With the newly constituted Tibetan Government‐in‐exile, His Holiness saw that his immediate and urgent task was to save the both the Tibetan exiles and their culture alike. Tibetan refugees were rehabilitated in agricultural settlements. Economic development was promoted and the creation of a Tibetan educational system was established to raise refugee children with full knowledge of their language, history, religion and culture. The Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts was established in 1959, while the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies became a university for Tibetans in India. Over 200 monasteries have been re‐established to preserve the vast corpus of Tibetan Buddhist teachings, the essence of the Tibetan way of life. In 1963, His Holiness promulgated a democratic constitution, based on Buddhist principles and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a model for a future free Tibet. Today, members of the Tibetan parliament are elected directly by the people. The members of the Tibetan Cabinet are elected by the parliament, making the Cabinet answerable to the Parliament. His Holiness has continuously emphasized the need to further democratise the Tibetan administration and has publicly declared that once Tibet regains her independence he will not hold political office. In Washington, D.C., at the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in 1987, he proposed a Five‐Point Peace Plan as a first step toward resolving the future status of Tibet. This plan calls for the designation of Tibet as a zone of peace, an end to the massive transfer of ethnic Chinese into Tibet, restoration of fundamental human rights and democratic freedoms, and the abandonment of Chinaʹs use of Tibet for nuclear weapons production and the dumping of nuclear waste, as well as urging ʺearnest negotiationsʺ on the future of Tibet. In Strasbourg, France, on 15 June 1988, he elaborated the Five‐Point Peace Plan and proposed the creation of a self‐governing democratic Tibet, ʺin association with the Peopleʹs Republic of China.ʺ On 2 September 1991, the Tibetan Government‐in‐exile declared the Strasbourg Proposal invalid because of the closed and negative attitude of the present Chinese leadership towards the ideas expressed in the proposal. On 9 October 1991, during an address at Yale University in the United States, His Holiness said that he wanted to visit Tibet to personally assess the political situation. He said, ʺI am extremely anxious that, in this explosive situation, violence may break out. I want to do what I can to prevent this.... My visit would be a new opportunity to promote understanding and create a basis for a negotiated solution.ʺ Contact with West and East Since 1967, His Holiness initiated a series of journeys which have taken him to some 46 nations. In autumn of 1991, he visited the Baltic States at the invitation of Lithuanian President Vytautas Landsbergis of Lithuania and became the first foreign leader to address the Lithuanian Parliament. His Holiness met with the late Pope Paul 921
VI at the Vatican in 1973. At a press conference in Rome in 1980, he outlined his hopes for the meeting with John Paul II: ʺWe live in a period of great crisis, a period of troubling world developments. It is not possible to find peace in the soul without security and harmony between peoples. For this reason, I look forward with faith and hope to my meeting with the Holy Father; to an exchange of ideas and feelings, and to his suggestions, so as to open the door to a progressive pacification between peoples.ʺ His Holiness met Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in 1980, 1982, 1986, 1988 and 1990. In 1981, His Holiness talked with Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Robert Runcie, and with other leaders of the Anglican Church in London. He also met with leaders of the Roman Catholic and Jewish communities and spoke at an interfaith service held in his honor by the World Congress of Faiths: ʺI always believe that it is much better to have a variety of religions, a variety of philosophies, rather than one single religion or philosophy. This is necessary because of the different mental dispositions of each human being. Each religion has certain unique ideas or techniques, and learning about them can only enrich oneʹs own faith.ʺ Recognition and Awards Since his first visit to the west in the early 1973, a number of western universities and institutions have conferred Peace Awards and honorary Doctorate Degrees in recognition of His Holinessʹ distinguished writings in Buddhist philosophy and for his leadership in the solution of international conflicts, human rights issues and global environmental problems. In presenting the Raoul Wallenberg Congressional Human Rights Award in 1989, U.S. Congressman Tom Lantos said, ʺHis Holiness the Dalai Lamaʹs courageous struggle has distinguished him as a leading proponent of human rights and world peace. His ongoing efforts to end the suffering of the Tibetan people through peaceful negotiations and reconciliation have required enormous courage and sacrifice.ʺ The 1989 Nobel Peace Prize The Norwegian Nobel Committeeʹs decision to award the 1989 Peace Prize to His Holiness the Dalai Lama won worldwide praise and applause, with exception of China. The CommitteeÕs citation read, ʺThe Committee wants to emphasize the fact that the Dalai Lama in his struggle for the liberation of Tibet consistently has opposed the use of violence. He has instead advocated peaceful solutions based upon tolerance and mutual respect in order to preserve the historical and cultural heritage of his people.ʺ On 10 December 1989, His Holiness accepted the prize on the behalf of oppressed everywhere and all those who struggle for freedom and work for world peace and the people of Tibet. In his remarks he said, ʺThe prize reaffirms our conviction that with truth, courage and determination as our weapons, Tibet will be liberated. Our struggle must remain nonviolent and free of hatred.ʺ He also had a message of encouragement for the student‐led democracy movement in China. ʺIn China the popular movement for democracy was crushed by brutal force in June this year. But I do not believe the demonstrations were in vain, because the spirit of freedom was rekindled among the Chinese people and China cannot escape the impact of this spirit of freedom sweeping in many parts of the world. 922
The brave students and their supporters showed the Chinese leadership and the world the human face of that great nations.ʺ A Simple Buddhist monk His Holiness often says, ʺI am just a simple Buddhist monk ‐ no more, nor less.ʺ His Holiness follows the life of Buddhist monk. Living in a small cottage in Dharamsala, he rises at 4 A.M. to meditate, pursues an ongoing schedule of administrative meetings, private audiences and religious teachings and ceremonies. He concludes each day with further prayer before retiring. In explaining his greatest sources of inspiration, he often cites a favorite verse, found in the writings of the renowned eighth century Buddhist saint Shantideva: For as long as space endures And for as long as living beings remain, Until then may I too abide To dispel the misery of the world. For as long as space endures And for as long as living beings remain, Until then may I too abide To dispel the misery of the world. 923
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Words of Truth A Prayer Composed by HIS HOLINESS TENZIN GYATSO THE FOURTEENTH DALAI LAMA OF TIBET Honoring and Invoking the Great Compassion of the Three Jewels; the Buddha, the Teachings, and the Spiritual Community O Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and disciples of the past, present, and future: Having remarkable qualities Immeasurably vast as the ocean, Who regard all helpless sentient beings as your only child; Please consider the truth of my anguished pleas. Buddhaʹs full teachings dispel the pain of worldly existence and self‐oriented peace; May they flourish, spreading prosperity and happiness through‐ out this spacious world. O holders of the Dharma: scholars and realized practitioners; May your ten fold virtuous practice prevail. Humble sentient beings, tormented by sufferings without cease, Completely suppressed by seemingly endless and terribly intense, negative deeds, May all their fears from unbearable war, famine, and disease be pacified, To freely breathe an ocean of happiness and well‐being. And particularly the pious people of the Land of Snows who, through various means, Are mercilessly destroyed by barbaric hordes on the side of darkness, Kindly let the power of your compassion arise, To quickly stem the flow of blood and tears. Those unrelentingly cruel ones, objects of compassion, Maddened by delusionʹs evils, wantonly destroy themselves and others; May they achieve the eye of wisdom, knowing what must be done and undone, And abide in the glory of friendship and love. May this heartfelt wish of total freedom for all Tibet, Which has been awaited for a long time, be spontaneously fulfilled; Please grant soon the good fortune to enjoy 925
The happy celebration of spiritual with temporal rule. O protector Chenrezig, compassionately care for Those who have undergone myriad hardships, Completely sacrificing their most cherished lives, bodies, and wealth, For the sake of the teachings, practitioners, people, and nation. Thus, the protector Chenrezig made vast prayers Before the Buddhas and Bodhisativas To fully embrace the Land of Snows; May the good results of these prayers now quickly appear. By the profound interdependence of emptiness and relative forms, Together with the force of great compassion in the Three Jewels and their Words of Truth, And through the power of the infallible law of actions and their fruits, May this truthful prayer be unhindered and quickly fulfilled. This prayer, Words of Truth, was composed by His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet, on 29 September 1960 at his temporary headquarters in the Swarg Ashram at Dharamsala, Kangra District, Himachal State, India. This prayer for restoring peace, the Buddhist teachings, and the culture and self‐determina‐tion of the Tibetan people in their homeland was written after repeated requests by Tibetan government officials along with the unanimous consensus of the monastic and lay communities. 926
Human Rights and Universal Responsibility Non‐Governmental Organizations The United Nations World Conference on Human Rights Vienna, Austria 15 June, 1993 Our world is becoming smaller and ever more interdependent with the rapid growth in population and increasing contact between people and governments. In this light, it is important to reassess the rights and responsibilities of individuals, peoples and nations in relation to each other and to the planet as a whole. This World Conference of organizations and governments concerned about the rights and freedoms of people throughout the world reflects the appreciation of our interdependence. No matter what country or continent we come from we are all basically the same human beings. We have the common human needs and concerns. We all seek happiness and try to avoid suffering regardless of our race, religion, sex or political status. Human beings, indeed all sentient beings, have the right to pursue happiness and live in peace and in freedom. As free human beings we can use our unique intelligence to try to understand ourselves and our world. But if we are prevented from using our creative potential, we are deprived of one of the basic characteristics of a human being. It is very often the most gifted, dedicated and creative members of our society who become victims of human rights abuses. Thus the political, social, cultural and economic developments of a society are obstructed by the violations of human rights. Therefore, the protection of these rights and freedoms are of immense importance both for the individuals affected and for the development of the society as a whole. It is my belief that the lack of understanding of the true cause of happiness is the principal reason why people inflict suffering on others. Some people think that causing pain to others may lead to their own happiness or that their own happiness is of such importance that the pain of others is of no significance. But this is clearly shortsighted. No one truly benefits from causing harm to another being. Whatever immediate advantage is gained at the expense of someone else is short‐lived. In the long run causing others misery and infringing upon their peace and happiness creates anxiety, fear and suspicion for oneself. The key to creating a better and more peaceful world is the development of love and compassion for others. This naturally means we must develop concern for our brothers and sisters who are less fortunate than we are. In this respect, the non‐
governmental organizations have a key role to play. You not only create awareness for the need to respect the rights of all human beings, but also give the victims of human rights violations hope for a better future. When I travelled to Europe for the first time in 1973, I talked about the increasing interdependence of the world and the need to develop a sense of universal responsibility. We need to think in global terms because the effects of one nationʹs actions are felt far beyond its borders. The acceptance of universally binding standards of Human Rights as laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in 927
the International Covenants of Human Rights is essential in todayʹs shrinking world. Respect for fundamental human rights should not remain an ideal to be achieved but a requisite foundation for every human society. When we demand the rights and freedoms we so cherish we should also be aware of our responsibilities. If we accept that others have an equal right to peace and happiness as ourselves do we not have a responsibility to help those in need? Respect for fundamental human rights is as important to the people of Africa and Asia as it is to those in Europe or the Americas. All human beings, whatever their cultural or historical background, suffer when they are intimidated, imprisoned or tortured. The question of human rights is so fundamentally important that there should be no difference of views on this. We must therefore insist on a global consensus not only on the need to respect human rights world wide but more importantly on the definition of these rights. Recently some Asian governments have contended that the standards of human rights laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are those advocated by the West and cannot be applied to Asia and others parts of the Third World because of differences in culture and differences in social and economic development. I do not share this view and I am convinced that the majority of Asian people do not support this view either, for it is the inherent nature of all human beings to yearn for freedom, equality and dignity, and they have an equal to achieve that. I do not see any contradiction between the need for economic development and the need for respect of human rights. The rich diversity of cultures and religions should help to strengthen the fundamental human rights in all communities. Because underlying this diversity are fundamental principles that bind us all as members of the same human family. Diversity and traditions can never justify the violations of human rights. Thus discrimination of persons from a different race, of women, and of weaker sections of society may be traditional in some regions, but if they are inconsistent with universally recognized human rights, these forms of behavior must change. The universal principles of equality of all human beings must take precedence. It is mainly the authoritarian and totalitarian regimes who are opposed to the universality of human rights. It would be absolutely wrong to concede to this view. On the contrary, such regimes must be made to respect and conform to the universally accepted principles in the larger and long term interests of their own peoples. The dramatic changes in the past few years clearly indicate that the triumph of human rights is inevitable. There is a growing awareness of peoplesʹ responsibilities to each other and to the planet we share. This is encouraging even though so much suffering continues to be inflicted based on chauvinism, race, religion, ideology and history. A new hope is emerging for the downtrodden, and people everywhere are displaying a willingness to champion and defend the rights and freedoms of their fellow human beings. Brute force, no matter how strongly applied, can never subdue the basic human desire for freedom and dignity. It is not enough, as communist systems have assumed, merely to provide people with food, shelter and clothing. The deeper human nature needs to breathe the precious air of liberty. However, some governments still consider the fundamental human rights of its citizens an internal matter of the state. They do not accept that the fate of a people in any country is the legitimate concern of the entire 928
human family and that claims to sovereignty are not a license to mistreat oneʹs citizens. It is not only our right as members of the global human family to protest when our brothers and sisters are being treated brutally, but it is also our duty to do whatever we can to help them. Artificial barriers that have divided nations and peoples have fallen in recent times. With the dismantling of Berlin wall the East ‐ West division which has polarized the whole world for decades has now come to an end. We are experiencing a time filled with hope and expectations. Yet there still remains a major gulf at the heart of the human family. By this I am referring to the North‐South divide. If we are serious in our commitment to the fundamental principles of equality, principles which, I believe, lie at the heart of the concept of human rights, todayʹs economic disparity can no longer be ignored. It is not enough to merely state that all human beings must enjoy equal dignity. This must be translated into action. We have a responsibility to find ways to achieve a more equitable distribution of worldʹs resources. We are witnessing a tremendous popular movement for the advancement of human rights and democratic freedom in the world. This movement must become an even more powerful moral force, so that even the most obstructive governments and armies are incapable of suppressing it. This conference is an occasion for all of us to reaffirm our commitment to this goal. It is natural and just for nations, peoples and individuals to demand respect for their rights and freedoms and to struggle to end repression, racism, economic exploitation, military occupation, and various forms of colonialism and alien domination. Governments should actively support such demands instead of only paying lip service to them. As we approach the end of the Twentieth Century, we find that the world is becoming one community. We are being drawn together by the grave problems of over population, dwindling natural resources, and an environmental crisis that threaten the very foundation of our existence on this planet. Human rights, environmental protection and great social and economic equality, are all interrelated. I believe that to meet the challenges of our times, human beings will have to develop a greater sense of universal responsibility. Each of us must learn to work not just for one self, oneʹs own family or oneʹs nation, but for the benefit of all humankind. Universal responsibility is the is the best foundation for world peace. This need for co‐operation can only strengthen humankind, because it helps us to recognize that the most secure foundation for a new world order is not simply broader political and economic alliances, but each individualʹs genuine practice of love and compassion. These qualities are the ultimate source of human happiness, and our need for them lies at the very core of our being. The practice of compassion is not idealistic, but the most effective way to pursue the best interests of others as well as our own. The more we become interdependent the more it is in our own interest to ensure the well‐being of others. I believe that one of the principal factors that hinder us from fully appreciating our interdependence is our undue emphasis on material development. We have become so engrossed in its pursuit that, unknowingly, we have neglected the most basic qualities of compassion, caring and cooperation. When we do not know someone or do not feel connected to an individual or group, we tend to overlook their needs. Yet, the development of human society requires that people help each other. 929
I, for one, strongly believe that individuals can make a difference in society. Every individual has a responsibility to help more our global family in the right direction and we must each assume that responsibility. As a Buddhist monk, I try to develop compassion within myself, not simply as a religious practice, but on a human level as well. To encourage myself in this altruistic attitude, I sometimes find it helpful to imagine myself standing as a single individual on one side, facing a huge gathering of all other human beings on the other side. Then I ask myself, ʹWhose interests are more important?ʹ To me it is quite clear that however important I may feel I am, I am just one individual while others are infinite in number and importance. Thank you. 930
Statement by His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the new Millennium January 1, 2001 http://www.fpmt.org/ Many people seem to be excited about the new millennium, but the new millennium in itself will be nothing special. As we enter into the new millennium things will be the same; there will be nothing unusual. However, if we really want the next millennium to be happier, more peaceful and more harmonious for humankind we will have to make the effort to make it so. This is in our hands, but especially in the hands of the younger generation. We have had many experiences during this century—constructive as well as extremely destructive ones. We must learn from these experiences. We need to approach the next millennium more holistically, with more openness and farsightedness. If we are going to make the right kind of efforts to make the future of the world better, I believe the following matters are of great importance. 1_While engaging in material progress and taking care of physical well‐being we need to pay equal attention to developing peace of mind and thus taking care of the internal aspect of our being. 2_Along with education, which generally deals only with academic accomplishments, we need to develop more altruism and a sense of caring and responsibility for others in the minds of the younger generation studying in various educational institutions. This can be done without necessarily involving religion. One could therefore call this ʹsecular ethicsʹ, as it in fact consists of basic human qualities such as kindness, compassion, sincerity and honesty. 3_This past century in some ways has been a century of war and bloodshed. It has seen a year‐by‐year increase in defense spending by most countries in the world. If we are to change this trend we must seriously consider the concept of non‐violence, which is a physical expression of compassion. In order to make non‐violence a reality we must first work on internal disarmament and then proceed to work on external disarmament. By internal disarmament I mean ridding ourselves of all the negative emotions that result in violence. External disarmament will also have to be done gradually, step by step. We must first work on the total abolishment of nuclear weapons and gradually work up to total demilitarization throughout the world. In the process of doing this we also need to work towards stopping the arms trade, which is still very widely practiced because it is so lucrative. When we do all these things, we can then hope to see in the next millennium a year‐by‐year decrease in the military expenditure of the various nations and a gradual working towards demilitarization. Human problems will, of course, always remain, but the way to resolve them should be through dialogue and discussion. The next century should be a century of dialogue and discussion rather than one of war and bloodshed. 4_We need to address the issue of the gap between the rich and the poor, both globally and nationally. This inequality, with some sections of the human community having abundance and others on the same planet going hungry or even dying of starvation, is not only morally wrong, but practically also a source of problems. Equally important is the issue of freedom. As long as there is no freedom in many parts 931
of the world there can be no real peace and in a sense no real freedom for the rest of the world. 5_For the sake of our future generations, we need to take care of our earth and of our environment. Environmental damage is often gradual and not easily apparent and by the time we become aware of it, it is generally too late. Since most of the major rivers flowing into many parts of south‐east Asia originate from the Tibetan plateau, it will not be out of place to mention here the crucial importance of taking care of the environment in that area. 6_Lastly, one of the greatest challenges today is the population explosion. Unless we are able to tackle this issue effectively we will be confronted with the problem of the natural resources being inadequate for all the human beings on this earth. We need to seriously look into these matters that concern us all if we are to look forward to the future with some hope. January 1, 2000 932