Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo

Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo

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GUIDES

Yeshe Tsogyal: A Guide for Readers to the Dakini Princess

yeshe-tsogyal

The first Tibetan ever to attain complete enlightenment was in all probability the woman Yeshe Tsogyal, closest disciple of Padmasambhava, the master who introduced the Buddhist teachings to Tibet in the eighth century. The first three books below are not just biographies—and very different from each other both in emphasis as well as some of the events accounted for—but  inspiring examples of how Buddha’s teaching may be practiced. Although these texts are of great antiquity, they nevertheless expresses a tradition that is still alive today and is an archetypal description of the teacher-disciple relationship. Yeshe Tsogyal follows the complete Buddhist path, including the Dzogchen teachings, and herself becomes a Guru of great power and wisdom. Passages of profound teachings are offset by episodes of exploit and adventure, spiritual endeavor, court intrigue, and personal encounter. Hers is a dramatic story, full of beauty and song, and offers an intimate glimpse of Tsogyal’s feelings, aspirations, hardships, and triumphs.

Biographical Accounts

Lady of the Lotus Born
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Lady of the Lotus-Born: The Life and Enlightenment of Yeshe Tsogyal

By Yeshe Tsogyal, Namkhai Nyingpo, and Gyalwa Changchub
Foreword by Jigme Khyentse Rinpoche
Translated by The Padmakara Translation Group

Lady of the Lotus-Born is a terma, or Dharma Treasure, written and concealed in the eighth century for future generations by the accomplished masters Namkhai Nyingpo and Gyalwa Changchub, the disciples of Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyal. The text was discovered nearly a thousand years later in the seventeenth century by the Tertön (Dharma Treasure finder) Taksham Samten Lingpa, who, by interpreting the symbolic script of the dakinis (reproduced at the beginning of each chapter), revealed the text in its entirety as it has been handed down to us.

Life and Visions of Yeshe Tsogyal
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The Life and Visions of Yeshe Tsogyal: The Autobiography of the Great Wisdom Queen

By Yeshe Tsogyal, rediscovered by Drime Kunga and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, and translated by Chonyi Drolma
Foreword by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

The many layers of the heroic life of Yeshé Tsogyal, Tibet’s best-known dakini and female master, are revealed in this inspiring work. Translated here for the first time, this terma, or “hidden treasure,” presents an outer narrative of her birth, family, and struggles in a traditional male-dominated society; an inner account of her meetings with the great master Padmasambhava; and a secret chronicle of her retreat at Chimpu and her visionary journey to Oddiyana. This accomplished translation is enriched by the refreshing insights of six contemporary scholars and teachers of Tibetan Buddhism, making this invaluable guide to the life of Yeshé Tsogyal a treasure for practitioners, scholars, and anyone intent on the possibility of awakening.

You can read a piece from the book Judith Simmer-Brown wrote here.

Sky Dancer: The Secret Life and Songs of the Lady Yeshe Tsogyel

By Taksham Nuden Dorje, translated by Keith Dowman
Foreword by Thinley Norbu Rinpoche

Another terma text is this extraordinary work, discovered by Taksham Nuden Dorje n the seventeenth century.

An Thinley Norbu Rinpoche says in the foreword,

Those who read the biography of the supreme tantric master, Padma Sambhava, and his Consort, Yeshe Tsogyal, have the chance to identify with them, and those who cultivate the inner wisdom Dakini:, the root Dakini:, progress towards becoming the supreme Sky Dancer, incomprehensible feminine wisdom,
the lover without motive.

and

In the dharmakaya's stainless space Yeshe Tsogyel is Kuntuzangmo, infinite and noble femininity itself. These names and qualities are no more than
indications of the nature of the dharmakaya which can never be contained in, or identified by, concepts. Sambhogakaya is the
glowing awareness of the dharmakaya, where the Five Buddhas and their Consorts appear as unobstructed luminous space-form. As the feminine aspect in the sambhogakaya, Yeshe Tsogyal is the Five Wisdom-Consorts.

Books Related to Khandro Yeshe Tsogyal

Fearless Lions Roar
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by Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche
Translated and introduced by David Christiansen

Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche was one of the most important teachers of the 20th century - an important teacher to some of the best living teachers.  In the pages of this book, Yeshe Tsogyal appears throughout.  Here is one section:

At present we are practicing the meditation deity in the form of the dakini, from the terma treasure teachings of the second Dudjom Rinpoche, Jigdral Yeshe Dorje (1904–87). It is a teaching that has been revealed specifically for the benefit of beings in this dark age. This practice stems from the compassion of the three jewels and the blessings and aspirations of the buddhas and is an actual method to accomplish Guru Padmasambhava’s consort Yeshe Tsogyal. The dakini Yeshe Tsogyal is the nirmanakaya emanation of dharmadhatu Samantabhadri, the consort of the dharmakaya buddha Samantabhadra, who is the female aspect of the ultimate deity (don gyi lha).

In order to help us realize this state for ourselves, through the power, blessings, and aspirations of Buddha Samantabhadra and consort, the dakini Yeshe Tsogyal arises as their actual manifestation and is born into this world. Yeshe Tsogyal was blessed and taught by Guru Padmasambhava and as part of her various enlightened activities, she wrote down and transmitted a method to follow her and accomplish the essence of her awareness wisdom (rig pa’i ye shes kyi ngo bo). Thus we have the practice of Yeshe Tsogyal as a yidam or meditation deity.

Cascading Waterfall
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A Cascading Waterfall of Nectar

To call Cascading Waterfall a book on the preliminary practices is a bit like calling the Mt. Everest a hill.  Coming from the vast wisdom mind of Longchenpa's emanation in our age, it is an indespensible guide to the path.  And Yeshe Tsogyal, who Rinpoche describes as Kuntuzangmo appearing in form, appears throughout.

Rinpoche includes a translation of Mipham Rinpoche's prayer to Yeshe Tsogyal, The Longing Melody of Faith.  

And the second part of the book is a commentary on the meaning of “The Continuously Blossoming Rosary of the  Lotus Assembly Palace” called The Light Rays of the Youthful Sun and Rinpoche offers us many teachings on the Great Exaltation Queen Yeshe Tsogyal who features in the prayer.

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Inseparable across Lifetimes: The Lives and Love Letters of the Tibetan Visionaries Namtrul Rinpoche and Khandro Tāre Lhamo

By Namtrul Jigme Phuntsok and Khandro Tare Lhamo
Introduced and translated by Holly Gayley

Namtrul Jigme Phuntsok and Khandro Tare Lhamo were an extraordinary 20th century terton visionaries as the translations of love letters.  Tare Lhamo is widely considered an emanation of Yeshe Tsogyal and this connection appears throughout Gayley's introduction as well as the letters themselves.

The letters are poetic, affectionate, and prophetic, articulating a hopeful vision of renewal that drew on their past lives together and led to their twenty-year partnership. This couple played a significant role in restoring Buddhism in the region of Golok once China’s revolutionary fervor gave way to reform.

fearless dudjom
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Light of Fearless Indestructible Wisdom: The Life and Legacy of His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche

By Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal

This biography of Dudjom Rinpoche references Yeshe Tsogyal throughout.  It includes the Seventh Heap of Lightbeams which a brief explanation of Kyabje Rinpoche’s enthronement as a great tertön and regent of Guru Padmasambhava and of how Guru Rinpoche and wisdom dakini Yeshe Tsogyal entrusted him with terma.  Kenpo Tsewang also shares how in some terms teachings terma teachings it says that Guru Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyal reincarnated together in the form of His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche, so that he was their actual presence—only the body was different.

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by Judith Simmer-Brown

This is a classic of scholarship on the Dakini principle from the point of view of a practitioner.  Yeshe Togyal is discussed and referenced throughout.  Here is a sample:

As for her inner dimension, Yeshe Tsogyal was remarkable because she was not merely a mortal; in her dynamic nature she was a tantric Buddhist meditational deity. She is called Sarasvati (Yangchenma), the great female bodhisattva of learning, culture, and music, the peaceful consort of Manjusri, who carries a lute that serves as her symbol. Sarasvati is also called Vakisvari, (Ngawang Lhamo) or ‘‘lady of speech’’ for her connection with seed syllables, music, utterance, and poetry. She is the dakini of the mirrorlike wisdom, and the ‘‘white-cloaked lady’’ (Ko Karmo) who is dakini of inner heat in the yogic practice of tummo. It is said that Yeshe Tsogyal was Sarasvati in her previous life.

Yeshe Tsogyal in her visionary dimension was the radiant White Tara (Drolma Karmo) the savior who, with her compassionate seven eyes, attends to the health and welfare of beings in all quarters. In another manifestation, she was Vajrayogini or Vajravarahi, who are two aspects of the most important dakini  in the Tibetan tantric system. Vajrayogini is a semiwrathful deity, depicted as red and dancing, wearing bone ornaments; she is the most expressive of the qualities of wakefulness, the personification
of the widsom-mind itself. In her alternate identity as Vajravarahi she is the ‘‘Vajra Sow,’’ the manifestation of the nonconceptual quality of the mind, who severs thought with her hooked knife

 

Additional Resources

lotswa houseThere are a dozen or more on Lotsawa House related to Yeshe Tsogyal.

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Chanting the Names of Manjushri: A Reader's Guide

The Litany of the Names of Manjushri or Chanting the Names of Manjusri (’jam dpal mtshan brjod; Skt. Manjushrinamasamghiti) and also referred to as The King of All Tantras and Net of Magical Manifestation of Manjushri, is an extremely important tantric text, relied on by all the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. In particular it is connected with the Hevajra, Guhyagarbha, and Kalachakra tantras.

It was first translated into Tibetan by Rinchen Zangpo, but soon thereafter was revised and commented on. Jamgon Kongtrul mentions  Smritijnana, an Indian scholar who traveled to eastern Tibet where he taught extensively, helped in the translation of the new tantras, and wrote commentaries such as his commentary on Chanting the Names of Manjushri (Manjushrinamasamgiti). Some believe that after his death [Smritijnana] reincarnated in Tibet as the renowned Rongzom Mahapandita and subsequently Dudjom Lingpa and Dudjom Rinpoche.

It comprises 169 (in some editions) stanzas and begins with Vajrapani asking the Buddha Shakyamuni to explain the "chanting of the names" which has profound meaning. There are various levels of this, but one meaning of the"names" is the deities of the mandala.

Manjuvajra, the tantric form of Manjushri. This statue, which appears in The Art of Buddhism, is believed to be related to he Chanting the Names of Manjushri and comes from the tantric Bengal region in the Pala Dynasty.

Chanting the Names of Manjushri in English.

There are several straight translations that are easy to find online.

The most comprehensive commentary in English is included in the great 19th century Dzogchen yogi Choying Tobden Dorje's The Complete Nyingma Tradtion: The Essential Tantras of Mahayoga, Volumes 15-17.

As the translator, the late Gyurme Dorje, explains, Choying Tobden Dorje draws the interlinear commentary

specifically from the treatise of Candragomin, which is entitled Extensive Commentary on the Sublime Litany of the Names of Mañjuśrī. This commentary, which Candragomin is said to have received in a vision from Avalokiteśvara, is contained in the yogatantra section of the Derge Tengyur and in the yoganiruttara section of the Peking Tengyur ....The criteria on which the classification of the Litany of the Names of Mañjuśrī as Yogatantra or Yoga–niruttaratantra are based have been briefly noted in Davidson 1981,and Wayman 1983. Those same translators of the root verses have opted to follow commentarial sources other than Candragomin. Wayman, for example, bases his annotations largely on the treatises of Narendrakīrti, Candrabhadrakīrti, and Smṛtijñānakīrti, while Davidson utilizes the commentaries of Prahevajra, the prolific Mañjuśrīmitra , Vilāsavajra , and Vimalamitra, which have primacy within the Nyingma tradition. However, Choying Tobden Dorje and indeed Candragomin both acknowledge that the vajrapada of the root tantra lend themselves to multiple levels of interpretation. Those familiar with the earlier published translations and editions of the root tantra will note that, according to Candragomin, the core eulogies of the text are addressed to Mañjuśrī in the second person.

Another translation, dated but still of interest, with comments from a Tibetlogist is by Alex Wayman, Chanting the Names of Manjushri.

Some History

In The Ri-me Philosophy of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great:A Study of the Buddhist Lineages of Tibet Ringu Tulku details some of the history and classification of this tantra.

The third class among the Father tantras is the Ignorance class, and its primary text is the tantra of the Manjushri Namasamgiti, or Chanting the Names of Manjushri. This text is the “Net of Meditations” chapter from the large tantra, the Manjushri Net of Magical Display in Sixteen Thousand Stanzas. This tantra is explained in different ways. For example, the bodhisattva kings of Shambhala explain it according to the Kalachakra Tantra, Lalitavajra explains it as a Father tantra of Anuttarayoga, and the bodhisattvas Manjushrikirti and Manjushrimitra explain it according to Yoga Tantra. In Tibet it is sometimes explained according to Atiyoga, and in India it is sometimes explained according to Madhyamaka. Around the year 1000, Lochen Rinchen Zangpo translated Chanting the Names of Manjushri into Tibetan. Later on, several translators revised the translation. Panchen Smritijnana gave the complete teaching of this tantra, including the empowerment, tantra, and pith instructions, to Kyi Jema Lungpa, who transmitted it to Ngogtön Chöku Dorje. This teaching lineage accords with the Yoga Tantra. Marpa Chökyi Lodrö received this teaching according to the Anuttarayoga Tantra from Maitripa. Marpa’s lineage of the empowerment and reading transmission still exists today, as does the teaching lineage that began with Panchen Smritijnana.

There are many different translations of Chanting the Names of Manjushri, but there are not many different meanings. The only difference is the wording, “the empty essence—one hundred letters” according to the Yoga Tantra, and “the empty essence—six letters” according to the Anuttarayoga Tantra.

It is said that if one gains confidence in this king of tantras, then one will gain confidence in all the Anuttarayoga tantras. And if one does not understand the meaning of this tantra, then one does not understand the meaning of Anuttarayoga altogether. It says in the Stainless Light:

In order to free all beings from doubt, the Tathagata collected Chanting the Names of Manjushri from all the Mantrayana teachings and taught it to Vajrapani. Whoever does not know Chanting the Names of Manjushri does not know the wisdom body of Vajradhara. Whoever does not know the wisdom body of Vajradhara does not understand the Mantrayana. Whoever does not understand the Mantrayana remains in samsara, separated from the path of the conqueror Vajradhara.

Further on Ringu Tulku relates that the "Sarma tantras are held in common by both the Early and New Translation traditions. Not only did the Nyingmapas spread the Sarma tantras through explanation and practice, but they never criticized them. Also, the Nyingmapas have held the teaching lineages of Chanting the Names of Manjushri and the Kalachakra Tantra with particular respect."

Chanting the Names of Manjusri in the Life of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

To demonstrate the centrality of this text for those in the Nyingma tradition, we do not have to look much further than Brilliant Moon: The Autobiography of Dilgo Khyentse where this texts come up repeatedly.

[Shechen] Gyaltsap Rinpoche was in the process of establishing a monastic school at Shechen, and on one astrologically favorable day, he said they should hold the opening ceremony. For a few days Khyentse Chökyi Lodro gave elaborate teachings based on a commentary written by Khyentse Wangpo on Chanting the Names of Manjushri, and together with Shechen Kongtrül, Gontoe Chöktrul, Gyaltsap Rinpoche’s nephew Khenchen Lodro Rabsel, and Khenpo Phakang, it was attended by all the participants of the Treasury of Spiritual Instructions. Later they all became unrivaled practitioners of sutra, tantra, and science, endowed with learning, discipline, and goodness.

and later:

From Lama Rigzin Tekchok, I received Mipham Rinpoche’s exegesis of the Novice Aphorisms, as well as Dodup Tenpai Nyima’s guidance on Chanting the Names of Manjushri.

And another instance:

Next I went to Dzongsar to study with the omniscient Jamgön Chökyi Lodro. He gave the long-life empowerment of the rediscovered treasure Combined Sadhana of the Three Roots, the explanation of the Condensed Perfection of Wisdom based on Mipham Rinpoche’s commentary, the great pandita Vimalamitra’s commentary on Chanting the Names of Manjushri, Hevajra according to the Sakya tradition, the major empowerment of the Khon tradition, and the major empowerment of the protector Gur.

Brilliant Moon also includes reminiscences from other masters who mention this text.

Rabjam RinpocheRabjam Rinpoche relates, "

Until Khyentse Rinpoche passed away, I used to do my morning and evening prayers with him. In the morning we did Chanting the Names of Manjushri and in the evening we did the protector chants. So I learnt most of them by heart, but there were maybe a hundred points where I made mistakes. When I chanted them by heart in front of Rinpoche, he knew exactly where I would make mistakes, and just before reaching the passage where I was about to go wrong, he would raise his voice to guide me to say it right. Later Rinpoche wrote all the sentences where I made mistakes in a small notebook—he had actually memorized all the mistakes I made!

Also, Trulshik Rinpoche wrote,

The daily ceremonies include morning and evening prayers according to the Mindroling tradition, starting with refuge, bodhichitta, the seven-branch offering, and the renewal of the two bodhisattva vows, followed by the reading of the Guhyagarbha Tantra and the Magical Net of Vajrasattva, one different chapter every day. Then there is the reading of Chanting the Names of Manjushri, the Epitome Sutra, and the Prayer of Excellent Conduct, which were spoken by the Buddha himself.

Jamgön Kongtrul Rinpoche on This Text
Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye

Jamgön Kongtrul mentions the text multiple times in the ten-volume Treasury of Knowledge.

In Volume 8, Book 3, in the section on "The Completion Phase in Father and Mother Tantras", he describes the text in this way:

To the family of delusion tantras, of those translated into Tibetan, belongs Chanting the Names of Manjushri. This is considered a delusion tantra because it teaches methods to purify delusion and is intended to treat persons whose strongest affliction is delusion.

The translators of this volume, Elio Guarisco and Ingrid McLeod include the following note:

This work, the first in the tantric section of the Dergé Kangyur, forms a class of its own. One set of commentaries explains it in terms of the system of highest yoga tantra; and another set, in terms of that of yoga tantra.

Manjushriyashas, in his Extensive Explanation of Chanting the Names of Manjushri, and Manjushrimitra, in his Commentary on Chanting the Names of Manjushri, expound this tantra from the perspective of yoga tantra, while Lalitavajra, in his Extensive Commentary on Chanting the Names of Manjushri, expounds it from the perspective of highest yoga tantra. The authors of the Commentaries by the Bodhisattvas interpret the Net of Magical Manifestation from the Kalachakra point of view. It has also been treated from the perspective of the central way and from that of the great perfection. Butön and others considered this tantra to be of the class of highest yoga tantra in terms of its nature but explained the sadhana in the format of yoga tantra.

Kongtrul states that, of the highest yoga tantra families of attachment, aversion, and delusion, Chanting the Names of Manjushri belongs to the delusion family. The main deity is usually a male figure without consort, although some sadhanas include a consort. However, there is neither the urging of the molten form of the deity nor the creation of the deities by emanating them from the womb of the consort. Moreover, Chanting the Names of Manjushri describes the ground, path, and result in detail but merely alludes to practices such as release and union. It teaches primarily a nonconceptual form of the phase of creation.

Kongtrul further points out that although some Indian scholars have explained this tantra in terms of yoga tantra, this does not necessarily signify that it is a yoga tantra, just as the fact that Anandagarbha’s expositions of the Guhyasamaja are written in terms of yoga tantra does not prove that the Guhyasamaja tantra belongs to the yoga class. In particular, as indicated in the Indian treatise written by Varabodhi, Mandala Rite of Manjushri: Source of Qualities, the descriptions of the secret initiation and the initiation of pristine awareness through wisdom are teachings on the inner-fi re practices involving four channel-wheels, the liberative path of contemplation of the deity in union, typical of highest yoga tantras. Th is point is explained in Smritishrijnana’s commentary on the Sadhana of the Net of Magical Manifestation of Manjushri. Moreover, the presence within the sadhanas of the Chanting the Names of Manjushri of the four seals and other practices that are the same as those of yoga tantras does not prove that this tantra does not belong to the highest yoga tantra class since such practices are also found in the Chatuhpitha.

Ngoktön Chöku Dorjé (1036-1102) was the holder of two lineages of the Chanting the Names of Manjushri: one transmitted from Marpa, who received the initiation and teachings on the tantra from Maitripa, and the other, from Purang Sherab Dorjé . (Ngoktön received the transmission from Purang before meeting Marpa.) The first of these lineages is exclusively that of the highest yoga tantra; the second lineage (which eventually vanished) was in accordance with yoga tantra. See Kongtrul’s Sadhana of Chanting the Names of Manjushri, Lord of All Tantras, Union of Families: The Blazing Sword of Pristine Awareness.

Chōgyam Trungpa Rinpoche on This Text

A final anecdote comes from Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche's third volume of the Profound Treasury trilogy"

The First Trungpa and Adro Shelu-bum

When Künga Gyaltsen left Trung Ma-se, he visited various places. As he traveled around eastern Tibet, he came to the fort of Adro Shelu-bum, who was the local landowner and local lord. When Künga Gyaltsen arrived, he was repeating a line from a very famous Manjushri text, the Manjushri-nama-sangiti (Chanting the Names of Manjushri). In the text there is a phrase, chökyi gyaltsen lekpar dzuk, which means “Firmly plant the victorious banner of dharma.” So he arrived at the door of Adro Shelu-bum’s castle with that particular verse on his lips, and he repeated that line three times. For that reason, at my principal monastery in Tibet, Surmang Dütsi Tel, we always repeated that same line twice when we chanted the text. And here in the West, that line has been made into one of the main slogans of Naropa University. We have translated it in that context as “We firmly plant the victory banner of dharma.”

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The Life of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo

The Life of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo: An excerpt from Tulku Thondup Rinpoche's Masters of Meditation and Miracles


Picture of Jamyang Khyentse WangpoAccording to Nyingma tradition, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo is the body incarnation of Jigme Lingpa. 259 He became one of the greatest masters, in whom the lineages of all of Tibetan Buddhism find their confluence. He became a prominent propagator of Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, and other teaching lineages. He was recognized as the rebirth of Jigme Lingpa (1730-1798) by the Nyingmapas and the Nesar Khyentse (1524-?) and Thartse Champa Namkha Chi-me by the Sakyapas. As Jigme Lingpa, he was also the manifestation of King Trisong Detsen, Vimalarmitra, and many other masters. He was the master of thirteen lineal orders and was regarded as one of the five kings among the hundred major tertons of the Nyingma tradition.

He was also known as D0rje Ziji, Perna Do-ngak Lingpa, Jigpa Mepe De, Tsokye Lama Gyepe Bang, Kunkhyen Lama Gyepe Bang, Jigme Khyentse Dakar, Manjughosha, and Kun-ga Tenpe Gyaltsen.

He was born near Khyungchen Trak in a family of the Nyo clan from the village of Dilgo in the Terlung Valley of Dege amid wondrous signs on the fifth day of the sixth month of the Iron Dragon year of the fourteenth Rabjung (1820). His father was Rinchen Wangyal, an administrator of the Dege Palace, and his mother was Sonamtso, from a Mongol background.

Once his father asked the first Dodrupchen whether he should become a monk. Dodrupchen replied, "Do not become a monk. If you don't become a monk and get married, a great tulku will be born among your offspring. He will become a great source of benefits for the Dharma and beings."

From childhood he could recall his previous lives, and Ekajati and Mahakala were visible in forms and in energies around him to offer their protection.

At the age of eight he started to study Tibetan, astrology, medicine, and other disciplines with his father and Lamen Chotrak Gyatso. He was very intelligent, and he perfected his recitation and writing studies without the slightest difficulty. He also understood the meanings of the profound texts merely by reading them.

One day when he was seriously sick, in a vision he was given Vajrakila empowerment by Guru Rinpoche and Yeshe Tsogyal, and the obstructions of his life were pacified.

At about age eleven, he went to Kathok Monastery, and his uncle Mokton named him Jigme Khyentse Dakar, which indicated that he was the tulku of Jigme Lingpa.

At twelve, Thartse Khenpo Kun-ga Tenzin (1776-?) recognized him as the tulku of his teacher and uncle, Ngor Thartse Khenchen Champa Namkha Chi-me, who was a great Khenpo of Ngor Monastery in Central Tibet and who then taught and died at Lhundrup Teng in Dege. Kunga Tenzin named him Jam yang Khyentse Wangpo Kun-ga Tenpe Gyaltsen.

At fifteen, in a pure vision he went to Bodhgaya and was entrusted with the treasures of the Prajnaparamita and Anuttaratantra teachings by Manjushrimitra. In front of the Bodhgaya temple, he purified the defilements of gross body by burning it and transforming it into a pure body like that of Vimalamitra.

At sixteen, in a pure vision, he went to Zangdok Palri, and from Guru Rinpoche, with hosts of dakinis, he received the introduction to the three Buddha bodies and the prophecy that he would become the "receiver of seven orders" (bKa' Babs bDun). Then Guru Rinpoche and the dakinis merged into Khyentse, saying:

Maintaining the emptiness intrinsic awareness nakedly,
Unstained by the grasped objects or
Unpolluted by the grasper thoughts
Is the vision of the Buddhas.

At eighteen he went to the hermitage of Zhechen Monastery and studied Sanskrit, poetry, and other subjects with Gyurme Thutop of Zhechen.
At nineteen, from Jigme Gyalwe Nyuku he received the transmissions of the Longchen Nyingthig cycle with miraculous signs. Then Lama Norbu, a disciple of the first Dodrupchen, gave him the introduction to the nature of the mind while transmitting the teachings of Amitabha discovered by Dodrupchen. Even in the latter part of his life, Khyentse Wangpo would say, "There is no more to progress [in the realization of the nature of the mind] than he realized then."

At twenty, at the request of Thartse Khenpo, he went to Ngor Monastery in Central Tibet. There he discovered many teachings and objects as earth ter. They included Thugje Chenpo Semnyi Ngalso, discovered at Tragmar Drinzang; Lama Kuzhi Drupthap at Damsho Nyingtrung; Tsasum Gyutriil Trawa at Singu Yutso; and Tsasum Chida at Yarlung Sheltrak. At twenty-one, he took full monastic ordination from Khenpo Rigdzin Wangpo at Mindroling Monastery in Central Tibet. He received bodhichitta vows from Sangye Kiin-ga, the seventh Throne-holder of Mindroling.

Before the Jowo image at the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, the rice he threw as offering instantly turned into white flowers, and a hundred butter lamps burned without needing to be lit. While he was saying prayers for the benefit of others, someone requested him to make an aspiration for himself He said:

Without having any leader here [in me] or any servant over there,
Without having enemies to subdue or friends to protect,
In a solitary place, by taming my own mind,
May I accomplish the vast deeds of the bodhisattvas.

At twenty-four, at Oyuk, his memory of having been Chetsun Senge Wangchuk and his subsequent attainment of the light body of great transformation was awakened, and he discovered the profound Chetsun Nyingthig teachings. He made an extensive pilgrimage as an ascetic in Tsang, Ngari, and Central Tibet. At many places he perceived the images as the real Buddhas or the masters, and he beheld pure visions and had realizations. By the end of his twenty-fourth year, he returned to Kham and studied the teachings of the N gor tradition at Dzongsar Tashi Lhatse.

At twenty-nine, he went to Central Tibet again for three years. At Gegye in Changdrok, as he was receiving the blessings from Guru Rinpoche in a pure vision, he discovered Sangdrup Tsokye Nyingthig as mind ter. At Samye, he saw the Tsokye Dorje image transform itself as the actual Guru Rinpoche and merge into him. As a result, he discovered Tsokye Nyingthig. At thirty-five, while he was meditating on white Tara, he had the vision of the Tara. As the result, he discovered Phagme Nyingthig.

At forty, as a result of pure vision, he received blessings from Guru Rinpoche, which enabled him to see all the tertons and all the ter teachings that had appeared in the past, were appearing then, or would appear in the future in Tibet. Since that time he became the master of all of the ters.

From Khenpo Pem Dorje he received many transmissions including Longchen Nyingthig, Gyutrul Zhitro, Dupa Do, and the seventeen tantras. Also, from the fourth Dzogchen Rinpoche he received the common and uncommon ngondro teachings of Longchen Nyingthig. He also received Longchen Nyingthig transmissions from Jigme Gyalwe Nyuku and Jetstin Sonam Chokden.

Then he received the teachings of all the lineages that exist in Tibet from about one hundred and fifty lamas over a period of some thirteen years. He studied or received the transmissions of more than seven hundred volumes. They included the traditions of Nyingma, Kadam, Sakya, Drikung, Taklung, Kamtsang, Drukpa, and others.

His main teachers were Trichen Tashi Rinchen of Sakya, Thartse Ktin-ga Tendzin (1776-?), Champa Naljor, and Ngawang Lektrup of Ngor in Tsang Province in the west, Trichen Gyurme Sangye and Jetstun Thrinle Chadron of Mindroling, and Lhatsun Rinpoche of Drepung Monastery in D Province, and Zhechen Gyurme Thutop, Jigme Gyalwe Nyuku, Migyur Namkhe Dorje, Khenpo Perna Dorje, and Kongtrtil Lodro Thaye of Kham Province in the east.

He accomplished everything that he studied. However, according to Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse, Khyentse Wangpo's "main practice was the guru yoga of Longchen Nyingthig."

He made Dzongsar Tashi Lhatse Monastery of the Sakya tradition in Dege his main seat and rebuilt it after the destruction caused by Nyakrong forces.

According to the Nyingma tradition, he received the transmissions or became the receiver of the seven orders (bKa' Babs bDun) of teachings:

1. He received the transmissions of both the Old Tantras and New Tantras.
2. He discovered many earth treasures (Sa gTer).
3. He rediscovered many earth treasures that had been discovered by earlier tertons.
4· He discovered many mind treasures (dGongs gTer).
5. He rediscovered or reawakened many mind treasures that had been discovered by earlier tertons.
6. He discovered many Pure Vision teachings (Dag sNang).
7· He received oral-transmission teachings (sNyan brGyud) in pure vision from many divinities.

The third Dodrupchen, who studied with him, describes his personal experiences of Khyentse Wangpo:

Wherever he lived, a very strong sweet scent always filled the surroundings, which was believed to be the sign of his strict monastic discipline. Even a movement of his fingers was inspiring and meaningful, and people became powerless not to appreciate every gesture he made. Wherever he lived, you would always feel a pleasant heat, as if from a fire in the cold. Numerous people saw him in different forms of Buddhas or early masters. Whatever the season, people in his presence always had the feeling of being in the joy and prosperity of summer. He was exceptionally caring of poor people and spoke to them very gently. Arrogant and cruel people who were known as brave men would run from him without looking back, like escapees, or would submit as if their heads were falling off. Before him, every great master or powerful person became insignificant and humble. He was humble, honest, and kind. He was skilled in both Dharmic and secular ethical values. Before him, no one dared to express flattering or deceptive words. He taught all kinds of assemblies with great confidence, like a lion among other animals. In the midst of hosts of disciples, he was simple, and harmonious with all, and he spoke at the right moment and for the right length of time. His reasoning mind was swift like a river coursing down a steep mountain. His voice would fill the atmosphere as if it were the waves of the ocean. Sometimes he taught without caring to eat his meal. Because of the rush of disciples and the load of teachings, visitors sometimes had to wait weeks or even months to see him, but everyone felt joy in waiting for him.

Khyentse Wangpo constructed many temples and libraries, and inspired thousands of people to undertake activities on behalf of Dharma. He commissioned the building of about two thousand statues, the copying of about two thousand volumes of scripture, the carving of wooden blocks for about forty volumes, the making of more than a hundred copper statues gilded with gold, and the repair of many historical temples and monasteries.

For many decades he gave teachings and transmissions to disciples of different traditions. For example, he gave the empowerments of Vajrasattva discovered by Minling Terchen about fifty times and the empowerment and instruction of Longchen Nyingthig about twenty times.

At seventy-three, at the beginning of the first month of the Water Dragon year (1892), he said that he kept seeing Amitabha Buddha in the midst of an ocean of disciples. After the completion of an elaborate ceremony on the twenty-fifth day of the first month, he said to his offering master (mCh'od dPon), "From now on you don't have to do anything." The next day he started to show ill health. His disciples asked, "What prayers should we do for your longevity?" He replied, "None. Around the twentieth of next month, I will have recovered." When they insisted, he said, "It will be good if you say as many hundred- syllable mantras of Vajrasattva as you can."

Then in the morning of the twenty-first of the second month, he washed his hands and said, "Now take everything away [from my table). All my work is completed." Then, uttering lots of prayers of auspiciousness, he threw grain flowers, which is a sign of completion. Later that day, he was withdrawn into the expanse of the enlightened mind of Vimalamitra. In the surrounding land there were gentle earthquakes. Even after death, his face looked radiant like the face of the moon. His body became as light as if it were made of cotton. His main Nyingma disciples are listed in the lineage tree (page 340). Among Sakyapas, they are Sakya Dakchen, three Jetsunmas of Sakya, Kun-ga Tenzin of Ngor, Thartse Zhaptrung, Zhalu Losal Tenkyong, and Ngor Thartse Ponlop Loter Wangpo (1847-1914). Among Kagyilpas, they are the fourteenth and fifteenth Karmapas, Taklung Ma Rinpoche, Situ Perna Nyinche (1774-1853), Dazang Tulku, Dokhampa, Pal}.c;iita Karma Ngedon, Kongtrul Yonten Gyatso (1813-1899), and Samding Lineage of Longchen Nyingthig Dorje Phagmo. Among Gelukpas, they are Konchok Tenpa Rabgye of Tashi Khyil, Lhatsun Tondrup Gyaltsen, Hor Khangsar Kyabgon, and Lithang Champa Phuntsok.

Tibetan Buddhism, Dilgo KhyentseKhyentse Wangpo manifested many incarnations simultaneously. They include Chokyi Wangpo (1894-1909) of Dzongsar, Chokyi Lodro (1893-1959) of Kathok, Karma Khyentse Ozer (1896-1945) of Palpung (Beri), Guru Tsewang (1897-?) of Dzogchen, Kunzang Drodul Dechen Dorje (1897-1946) of Dza Palme, and Dilgo Khyentse Tashi Paljor (1910-1991) of Zhechen. Among them, Kathok Khyentse Chokyi Lodro was the most outstanding teacher. After the death of Dzongsar Khyentse, Kathok Khyentse moved to Dzongsar Monastery, the seat of the previous Khyentse Wangpo, and since then Kathok Khyentse became known as the Dzongsar Khyentse. Since the early 1960s, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, single-handedly upholding the unique tradition of Khyentse incarnations, propagated Dharma tirelessly in India, Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet, and the West.

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SNOW LION NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE

Dzongsar Khyentse on the Meaning of Empowerment

Dzongsar Khyentse on the Teacher-Student Relationship

From the Snow Lion Newsletter Archive:

What actually happens when we receive an empowerment? Here, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche helps us to understand a little about it, in this adaptation from Entrance to the Great Perfection: A Guide to the Dzogchen Preliminary Practices, a compilation created by Cortland Dahl.

The term “empowerment” derives from the Sanskrit word “abisheka.” Sanskrit is an exceptionally rich language, especially when it comes to the nuances of each individual word. Since one word can contain several levels of meaning, we can end up with different interpretations. That is the beauty of Sanskrit.

The term “empowerment” has two primary meanings. In Tibetan, we refer to these two meanings with the words torwa and lugpa, which can be translated as dismantling and pouring, respectively. In this case, “dismantling” refers to dismantling the cocoon, or shell, of ignorance. “Pouring,” on the other hand, refers either to pouring the blessings, or pouring/discovering buddha nature.

When it comes to understanding the implied meaning of empowerment, however, the terms we use can actually be misleading. To interpret the word “empowerment” to mean “pouring” and “discovering,” and even when we use the expression “receive an empowerment,” can inadvertently lead us to think we are being given a power that was previously not in our possession. The term “empowerment” almost has the connotation of conferring something, not unlike a knighting, for instance.

This interpretation is far from the true spirit of the tantric initiation. In being empowered, one is being introduced to something within oneself, albeit something that has gone unrecognized. Activating this recognition is what we mean by the term “empowerment.”

 

Cortland Dahl

There are various empowerments with numerous divisions, yet according to the highest yoga tantra, there are four main types. Each of these four, referred to as the “four empowerments,” is designed to dismantle one of the four defilements. These four are the defilements of nadi, which relate to the veins, chakras, or channels; the defilement of prana, which coincides with speech, or wind-energy; and the defilement of bindu, which is a defilement of mind. There are two ways to explain the fourth defilement: one is to say it is the residue of the three combined or, in other words, something similar to alaya. Alternatively, it can be described as “the ground of everything,” but this second way of explaining it is quite difficult to understand.

The empowerment ritual utilizes symbolic implements and substances. First, the guru will place a vase on your head and then pour some liquid into your hand, saying, “Drink this saffron water.” Next, the guru will use a kapala, which is traditionally filled with nectar. This substance is actually a mixture of the father and mother consort’s essence. These days, however, most of lamas use Bordeaux or Chianti if the empowerment is given in Europe, or tequila if it is being given in America. With the third empowerment, the substance is related to the consort. Nowadays, lamas will flash a picture of a dakini or something similar. Finally, for the fourth empowerment, which is referred to as the word empowerment, a substance like crystal is sometimes used, though technically speaking this is no longer a necessity. The crystal symbolizes the nature of mind.

Entrance to the Great Perfection

$22.95 - Paperback

By: Cortland Dahl

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The Powers of Tenth-Ground Bodhisattvas

The following article is from the Winter, 2012 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.

When bodhisattvas come back and start working on their mind again, they remember their previous existences and their progression in the practice. But they, too, have to travel along the path of liberation during each new existence since they develop from life to life a kind of training, "the training toward enlightenment," the liberation from suffering.

They rediscover the training from life to life as they are linked to other bodhisattvas who pursue the same goals. Each time, they come upon the teaching, receive, assimilate, practice, and realize it anew in order to finally transmit it themselves so as to prevent its loss and allow beings to be liberated from suffering. In this way, they form a sort of garland or malathe Buddhist rosarywhere each pearl immediately follows the previous one. This is why the tradition speaks of the "golden rosary" of the practice.

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The Buddha taught a "progression" toward enlightenment in ten grounds, ten "levels" of realization. Those who have realized the tenth ground have attained enlightenment but refuse the state of the "thus gone," that is, buddhahood. They renounce it out of compassion for all beings, in order to "remain" with them in sam- sara without being stained by it, similar to a lotus growing in the mud. Thus, although they are among us, they are free from the confusion and suffering of ordinary beings and can therefore teach us how to leave suffering behind....

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According to the fifteenth Karmapa, Jamgdn Kongtrul Lodro Thaye and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo emanated in twenty-five different bodies each.

Multiple Emanations

Bodhisattvas of the tenth ground can emanate multiple manifestations, either with a physical nirmanakaya form or with a purely luminous sambhogafi kaya form. There can be many human emanations at the same time, often three or five, that are emanations of the bodhisattva's body, speech, mind, qualities, and activity. In the case of the Karmapas, only one emanation holds the name "Karmapa." Tulkus of high-ground bodhisattvas are only reflections of the activity of enlightenment.

images

They are thus able to emanate in multiple bodies, just as the moon is simultaneously reflected in a hundred lakes. According to the fifteenth Karmapa, Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo emanated in twenty-five different bodies each.

This does not mean that the mind is divisible, but rather that its fundamental nature, being empty in essence, is everywhere. This is why mind's activity has no limits for those who know how to direct it....

The present seventeenth Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, who has left handprints in rock on numerous occasions, comments on these exceptional faculties lent to the Karmapas, "You can call it supernatural powers. I believe that whatever power is there is the power of the Dharma [the teaching of the Buddha]. It is due to this that all my predecessors did many unusual things such as leaving hand- or footprints in stone. People say there are many things 1 can do. But for anyone who practices the teachings, these things might happen."

adapted from History of the Karmapas

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Guru Rinpoche: His Life and Times

The following article is from the Spring, 2002 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.

See also our Reader's Guide to Guru Rinpoche Padmasmbhava with a full list of resources.

Guru Rinpoche: His Life and Times

Padmasambhava, Guru Rinpoche, His Life and Times, Tibetan Buddhism

by Ngawang Zangpo

About this Book

To Tibetan Buddhists Guru Rinpoche is a Buddha. In 763, Tibet's powerful armies overran the capital of China and installed a puppet emperor. Why didn't Tibet continue its aggressive military campaigns? This transformation was due to Guru Rinpoche who tamed and converted Tibet to Buddhism and thereby changed the course of Asian history.

This book recounts Guru Rinpoche's historical visit to Tibet and explains his continuing significance to Buddhists. Four very different Tibetan accounts of his story are presented:

Buddhist accounts:

     A Biography of Guru Rinpoche by Jamgon Kongtrul

     The Immaculate While Lotus by Yeshe Tsogyal

One according to the pre-Buddhist Tibetan religion, Bon:

     The Bon Version of the Life of Guru Rinpoche by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo

One based on Indian and early Tibetan historical documents:

     The Indian Version of the Life of Guru Rinpoche by Taranata.

In addition, there are supplications by Guru Rinpoche and visualizations to accompany them by Jamgon Kongtrul.

Praise for Guru Rinpoche: His Life and Times

"The presence of Guru Rinpoche, a figure so important to Tibetan Buddhists he is called simply 'The Precious Master', can be felt still in each of these liberating stories translated here. Read side-by-side, they reveal an even wider picture, deftly highlighted by Ngawang Zangpo's introduction, of how history and culture interact with the inner spirituality that is beyond time and place."— Sarah Harding, author of Creation and Completion

"With a thought-provoking introduction and stimulating cultural, religious, and literary insights, Ngawang Zangpo offers welcome translations of four biographies of Gum Rinpoche and a set of famous supplications. This new work will certainly be enjoyed by everyone interested in the vast spiritual legacy of the Second Buddha' in Tibet." —Cyrus Stearns, author of Buddha from Dolpo

Ngawang Zangpo (Hugh Thompson) lives near Santa Cruz, California. His previous works include Sacred Ground: Jamgon Kongtrul on Pilgrimage and Sacred Geography.

Persons who cannot force themselves to board an airplane cannot fly; people who cannot accept a relationship based on faith and devotion cannot practice tantra.

Excerpt From Guru Rinpoche: His Life and Times

Non-Tibetans can now meet Guru Rinpoche, but the encounter can only be meaningful with faith. Our faith and devotion provide the only access possible to the timeless, ever-present Guru Rinpoche, and this faith and devotion must begin in relation to a human spiritual master and a lineage. For some people this is an impossible task, which should not be a problem unless they imagine they want to practice tantra. Persons who cannot force themselves to board an airplane cannot fly; people who cannot accept a relationship based on faith and devotion cannot practice tantra. Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche writes in the same book:

guru rinpoche padmasamb

The purpose of Dharma practice is to attain enlightenment. Actually, attaining enlightenment is exactly the same as ridding ourselves of ignorance, and the root of ignorance is the ego. Whichever path we take, whether it's the long and disciplined route, or the short and wild one, at the end of it the essential point is that we eliminate ego.

There are many, many different ways we can do this, for example through Shamatha [tranquility] meditation, and they all work to one extent or another. However, since we have been with our ego for so many lifetimes and we are so familiar with it, every time we take to a path in our efforts to eliminate ego, that very path is hijacked by ego and manipulated in such a way that rather than crushing our ego, our path only helps to reinforce it.

That is the reason why, in the Vajrayana, guru devotion, or Guru Yoga, is taught as a vital and essential practice. As the guru is a living, breathing human being, he or she is able to deal directly with your ego. Reading a book about how to eliminate ego may be interesting, but you will never be in awe of a book, and anyway, books are entirely open to your interpretation. A book cannot talk or react to you, whereas the guru can and will stir up your ego so that eventually it will be eliminated altogether. Whether this is achieved wrathfully or gently doesn't matter, but in the end this is what the guru is there to do, and this is why guru devotion is so important.

I believe that all tantric Buddhists should be as frank as this master about their path and what sets it apart from the other Buddhist paths: faith and devotion to the spiritual master. In Sanskrit they say, "Guru Yoga;" in English we might say, "communion with the spiritual master's mind." Tantra takes pride in its plethora of practices: it aims to answer everyone's needs with easy, accessible, and efficient ways to enlightenment. Yet every single one of those skillful means depends on the spiritual master, a human being from whom we receive transmission of empowerment, the lineage, and guidance; and, after we receive instruction, our success or failure depends not on our diligence, not on our goodness, and not on our intelligence, but on our faith and devotion to our spiritual master.

Tantra cannot be all things to all people. Some of us have serious issues with a relationship grounded in the intense devotion tantra demands. It is in no way a judgment of those individuals or of tantra to say that they were not made for one another. Tantra is not to everyone's taste, nor can it ever be made to be.

"...attaining enlightenment is exactly the same as ridding ourselves of I ignorance, and the root of ignorance is the ego. Whichever path we take, whether it's the long and disciplined route, or the short and wild one, at the end of it the essential point is that we eliminate ego."

Guru Rinpoche is for most Himalayan Buddhists the second Buddha, the Buddha of every form and teaching of enlightenment, with an accent on the tantras. Just as the Great Way teaches us to identify our enlightened nature and call it buddha-nature, tantra teaches us to first see our teachers as Guru Rinpoche. Then we see all phenomena as Guru Rinpoche, down to every atom of our own body, every atom of all beings equally, and every atom of every blade of grass, every grain of sand. Finally, when we recognize our own innate, timeless awareness, it as well is none other than Guru Rinpoche.

Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche writes:

The first stage of guru devotion, then, is to awaken and enhance our devotion, until it becomes sound and strong and we can actually look upon the guru as the Buddha.

Gradually we will reach the second stage, where we don't simply think the guru is the Buddha, we see he is the Buddha. As our devotion becomes stronger still, it is with a growing sense of joy that we begin to rely entirely on the guru for everything. An inner confidence arises, an absolute certainty that the guru is the only source of refuge. No longer do we have to create or fabricate our devotion now it comes quite naturally.

Then, all our experiences, good or bad, are manifestations of the guru. Everything we experience in life becomes beneficial and has a purpose; everything we encounter becomes a teaching. Total trust and devotion for the guru is born within our heart, and the blessing of the guru dissolves into our mind.

With this, we reach the third stage, which is when we realize that our mind is none other than the guru whom we have seen as the Buddha.

This Guru Rinpoche, while timeless, is introduced to us thanks to a lineage of masters who have passed on their wisdom in an uninterrupted stream to the present. In the preface to Masters of Meditation and Miracles, Tulku Thondup makes a statement that should be repeated in every Tibetan translation:

It was improper and indeed impossible for me to try to avoid the typical characteristic of Tibetan biographies, namely the inclusion of endless lists of teachers, teachings, and disciples of the masters, even though those lists might be boring for readers who are not Tibetan.

He then traces the lineages from Guru Rinpoche and other great masters down to the present, each an essential link. Each deserves to be honored by our attention. How many of us learned (or still learn?) the names of members of sports teams, or of rock bands, or of political parties, during their fleeting moments of fame and fortune? We definitely have the capacity to learn the names and personal histories of the enlightened individuals who have contributed to the wisdom bridge that reaches us.

The members of lineages from Guru Rinpoche should not be faceless, nameless persons: they have kept real and alive what is most important to us the full presence and blessing of Guru Rinpoche.

Lineages of wisdom have been compared to electricity that flows from a power plant to one's home: If the flow is interrupted or faulty at any point, the flow of electricity will stop. The members of lineages from Guru Rinpoche should not be faceless, nameless persons: they have kept real and alive what is most important to us the full presence and blessing of Guru Rinpoche. Different masters reflect the needs of their time on a superficial level, and thus might seem foreign to us, but the wisdom-electricity we receive from our teachers has passed through them and, thanks to them, is exactly the same as it was a thousand years ago.

Guru Rinpoche first appeared as an Indian, a guise that caused his expulsion from Tibet. Yet, with some more reflection over time, Tibetans came to worship Indian spirituality and Indian masters. To the present day, the focus of Tibetan Buddhism remains fixed not upon indigenous Tibetan masters, however impressive they were, but upon non-Tibetans, Buddha Shakyamuni and Guru Rinpoche.

These days, Guru Rinpoche first appeared to us primarily in a Tibetan guise. The Tibetan masters' priceless gift to us has been to introduce foreigners worldwide to Guru Rinpoche's timeless wisdom in such ways as to make it comprehensible, attractive, and accessible. They have had to confront in their new students many non-conducive attitudes, such as distrust, self-seriousness and solemnity, but they disarmed and relaxed us with their light humor, gentle warmth, and sincere concern (or love, to be more precise). Not only did they bring Guru Rinpoche into our lives, they made it seem that the most natural, clear-headed, and light-hearted thing to do is to discover eternal Guru Rinpoche within ourselves. What we saw as insurmountably distant proved to be innate, and what intimidated us proved to be child's play.

What we saw as insurmountably distant proved to be innate, and what intimidated us proved to be child's play.

Modern spiritual masters of all races now bring Guru Rinpoche to our level, but that is not to say that it would not be wise for us, on our part, to rise to the occasion. If you feel the urge to do yourself an enormous favor, attend any lecture by the Dalai Lama (or so many other tantric masters I could name) when he visits your continent. Or plunge into Journey to Enlightenment, Matthieu Ricard's book on the life of Dilgo Kyentse Rinpoche.

These masters, who introduce us so surely and gently to what has always been our nature, making it seem so familiar and close, provide living proof of the wondrous qualities of that same nature's manifest expression, which surpass all measure and understanding.

Who are these unfathomable beings if they are not Guru Rinpoche?

I cite them because they are persons of living memory, whom we can meet in person or in photographs or in words spoken directly in English, and I mention them because, they present us with a paradox. On the one hand, our recognition of our inner nature must accompany us on a "kitchen-sink level," as Trungpa Rinpoche used to remind us, and yet our inner Guru Rinpoche's positive qualities are what, we call, for lack of better words, inconceivable and inexpressible. These masters, who introduce us so surely and gently to what has always been our nature, making it seem so familiar and close, provide living proof of the wondrous qualities of that same nature's manifest expression, which surpass all measure and understanding.

Ngawang Zangpo (Hugh Leslie Thompson) completed two three-year retreats under the direction of the late Kalu Rinpoche. He is presently working on a number of translation projects that were initiated under the direction of Chadral Rinpoche and Lama Tharchin Rinpoche. He has also contributed to Kalu Rinpoche's translation group's books Myriad Worlds and Buddhist Ethics.

Guru Rinpoche

Padmasambhava (eighth century), the Indian meditation master, is the founder of the Nyingma tradition, the oldest Buddhist tradition in Tibet. In addition to introducing the practices of tantric Buddhism to Tibet, he also completed the building of Samye, the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet.

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