Padmasambhava's biography by Jamgon Kongtrul

Padmasambhava's biography by Jamgon Kongtrul: A Short Biography by Jamgon Kongtrul the First.

Longevity Chant for Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche at Rangjung Yeshe Gomde, Denmark

Thank you for posting this, René Kimose.

Here is the text so you can sing along.

Milarepa songs

Blazing-Splendor: From a collection of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche's favororite songs: From The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa , p. 131-135-folio 56-58

Pith Introduction

Tulku Chokyi Nyima and Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, with Erik and Namdol, in Hong Kong, 1981.

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche's main job in life was to teach Dzogchen, the pith instructions of Dzogchen to as many people as possible. That was the command he had been given, not only by the sixteenth Karmapa but also by his own root guru who was a reincarnation of Vimalamitra, an Indian master, matchless, only comparable to Padmasabhava.

That was the type of guru he had grown up with and been taught by. When Tulku Urgyen was young he was asked to teach by his guru some lay people and though still a teenager he did it gladly, he just gave pointing out instruction with great confidence and joy. Soon his guru said “You seem to be someone who has no hesitation. You seem very confident. Perhaps you will teach this a lot.”

Later his guru told that that was his main task in life and he taught up to he passed away thousands and thousands of people, the view and the practice of Dzogchen and Mahamudra. And if people wanted teaching on Prajnaparamita or Madhyamika, he would teach that, using almost the same words. Because as far as Tulku Urgyen was concerned there’s absolutely no difference in the view of Prajnaparamita, Madhyamika, a particular style of madhyamika (Ngedon Uma Chenmo) known as the Great Middle Way of The Definitive Meaning, the Essence Mahamudra, and then the excellence of Dzogchen. He often told this:

“Since you can become enlightened by any of these four views, would that mean that there are four different types of Buddhahood? Not at all. It is the same identity that one is supposed to recognise and train in and become stable in. And stability in the view of knowing the nature of this mind, that is another word for Enlightenment, Buddhahood.”

That was how he taught and it benefited so many people and it has been my greatest joy to see the light being switched on in peoples eyes from not knowing to knowing. He knew that button and how to press it.

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche knew how to introduce the view of the deepest teachings in the tantras not as a theory only but in actuality and I can vouch for that being the greatest kindness that any teacher can bestow on a student.

He often compared, that the path of Mahamudra and Dzogchen is like a wet rope in a lake, a thick long rope; it’s impossible to pull it up out of the lake, it’s too heavy. But if you get hold of one end of the long rope and you slowly pull it in, one foot at a time, then you end up with having the entire rope up on dry land. You need to get hold of the one end and that is called the pointing-out instruction.

These days Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche often corrects me when I use the words ‘pointing-out instruction’. I had coined that phrase many years ago for the Tibetan sems ngo sprod pa which means bringing face to face with the nature of mind, so I thought ‘pointing out’, meaning “that’s it”, and then ‘instruction’ would be fine. Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche has now re-edited it to be ‘Pith Introduction.’

I know that some of you have already received this type of instruction, perhaps many times but I also know that once or twice may not be sufficient, so ask for it again when you have the chance to meet a wisdom master, and if you have not received it before, pray to create the merit to receive it and when there is a chance, go there, get off your butt, travel, ask for it and receive it. Get hold of the one end of the rope and pull it in before you die.

I’m still pulling and mine is very wet and heavy.

For some people, and we’re not able to judge who’s who, that process is very fast, for some it is very difficult to comprehend, for some it takes a long time. It is different from person to person but it’s absolutely worthwhile and there are teachings that, if you don’t have merit to receive it, there are teachings on how to create that merit very fast like during one month, two months, half a year, a wonderful practice called ngondro which is specifically designed to make anyone who is not ready, ready.

This ngondro process is a very effective set of instructions. The first time it is mentioned is in one of the earliest Dzogchen tantras that appeared at the beginning of this world aeon. It’s called the Longsal Barma Nyimey Gyu--The Tantra of The Blazing Sun of the Vast Expanse.

It exists in this world in several versions. The longest version is perhaps one revealed in Bhutan by a great master known as Dorje Lingpa, but there are shorter versions, one revealed by Ratna Lingpa. The longer version has more than one hundred chapters and in Dorje Lingpa’s version there’s one chapter for each of the Five Preliminary Practices that together make up the ngondro: refuge, bodhisattva vow, mandala offering, Vajrasattva recitation, and guru yoga.

In the early tantra, mandala offering and Vajrasattva are switched, so the mandala comes first, Vajrasattva after, don’t ask me why, and finally the most important part, guru yoga. These five aspects of practice together, make it so that almost all the hindrances that exist in this mind for becoming face to face with itself can be almost totally removed. After the person has gone through the ngondro training in a genuine and complete way, or some practice that has the same ability as the ngondro training, he or she can, when receiving the pointing out instruction, recognize the nature of mind almost immediately and that is indeed wonderful!

--from a talk given at Rangjung Yeshe Gomde, Doncaster, U.K.

For more about Longsal Barma Nyimey Gyu--The Tantra of The Blazing Sun of the Vast Expanse, see Wellsprings of the Great Perfection.

A Chariot for Knowledge-Holders, by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo

A Chariot for Knowledge-Holders, by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo

Om ah hung benza guru pema siddhi hung
Vast and indestructible sphere of wakefulness
 Joined with basic ...

Supplication in Seven Lines to Padmasambhava

Hung.
In the land of Uddiyana’s northwest border,
On the pistils of a Lotus flower’s stem,
You attained the marvel of the supreme siddhi,
And became known by the name the Lotus-Born.
With surrounding circles of many dakinis,
In your footsteps I will reach accomplishment.
Please approach in order to bestow your blessings.
Guru pema siddhi hung.

There is a wonderful explanation of these seven lines by the great Mipham entitled White Lotus: An Explanation of the Seven-line Prayer to Guru Padmasambhava. It gives many levels of explanation to inspire you as you chant this deep link to Padmasambhava's heart and realization.
Just recently, there is also The Sole Panacea: A Brief Commentary on the Seven-Line Prayer to Guru Rinpoche That Cures the Suffering of the Sickness of Karma and Defilement, by Thinley Norbu Rinpoche.

Praise of Yeshe Tsogyal

In one of the great master Chokgyur Lingpa's terma revelations we find this most beautiful eulogy of the dakini Yeshe Tsogyal. It begins with:


OM Dharmadhatu consort, the resplendent, beyond change,
Enjoying wealth of greatest ease, five families sublime,
Manifold capacity, dancing ...
>>Praise of Yeshe Tsogyal

...

Chanting the Praises to Tara in Twenty-One Verses

The nuns at Nagi Gompa are experts at chanting the Praises to Tara, using the very short lineage through Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche from Chokgyur Lingpa. In 2009 Ani Dekyi came to Denmark to lead a Tara retreat and during this time I felt compelled to retranslate the beautiful and deep verses to English in a chantable version.

>> Chanting the Praises to Tara in Twenty-One Verses ...<<

Dharma Friends & Pure Perception by Tulku Urgyen R...

One day Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was asked on advice on how to get along with "difficult friends" in the sangha. Here is his reply:

Be respectful, kind, beneficial and affectionate to all Dharma friends. Never harbor bad intentions, anger or deceit towards them, nor in...
Dharma Friends & Pure Perception by Tulku Urgyen R...:

Blazing Splendor in the Czech Republic

Blazing Splendor in the Czech Republic: I am pleased to announce that Blazing Splendor is now available from: Dharmagaia in the Czech Republic.

View from Lachab - Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche's monaste...

Blazing-Splendor: view from Lachab - Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche's monaste...: This picture was taken from the roof of Lachab monastery, the seat of the Ngaktrin tulkus and the young Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, before leavin...

Chatral Sangye Dorje - a brief biography

One day while visiting the grand master of Kathmandu Valley, the tutor of Katok Situ Rinpoche in residence, handed me a text he had written about Chatral Rinpoche. Here it is:

Chatral Sangye Dorje - a brief biography: Chatral Sangye Dorje Namo gurubhya Primordial protector, who realized the natural manifestation of original purity, Vajrasattva, t...

Last photo of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche

Last photo, by David Warren

Blazing-Splendor: last days: One of the last photos of Tulku Urgyen waving from the window of his room at Nagi Gompa in 1996. With him is his attendant Dondrub Tara. ...

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche teaches at Nagi Gompa Hermitage

Whether it was to a large group or a private audience of one or two people, Tulku Urgyen taught in exactly the same manner, there was no difference whatsoever. He always had a personal touch, and each and every member of a large crowd would feel that he was talking directly to them. The more people in the audience, the more confident and radiant he seemed to become, even his posture would reflect it. “I don’t know why I’m like this,” he once confided. “Even when I was quite young, Samten Gyatso once told me, ‘You seem to think that recognizing the nature of mind is so easy. You wonder why others struggle and have not recognized it already.’ It appears that it is so close that many just miss it even when it is right there with them the entire time.” It’s really incredibly easy to see, yet so many people insist that it is terribly difficult. Of course, due to our habits from this and countless previous lives, we are easily distracted and overcoming our own laziness, emotions and lack of diligence does take time; yet nothing could be easier than just letting go, recognizing mind essence and resting there for however long it lasts. Padmasambhava and the Buddha were quite realistic, they never told anyone that they had to be a fully enlightened right out of the gate, only that at the beginning one should get a taste. By simply recognizing for short periods repeated over and over again, uninterrupted stability develops naturally over time. Then as our habits of unawareness and distraction do slow the process down, various practices,such as the ngondro and deity visualization, have been developed to help break down such obstacles and speed up the process.

Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdral Yeshe Dorje (1904-87)

Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdral Yeshe Dorje (1904-87)

By Shenphen Rinpoche.

His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche, Jigdral Yeshe Dorje (1904-87) was appointed by His Holiness Dalai Lama XIV as the first supreme head of the...

See>> Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdral Yeshe Dorje (1904-87):

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche teaches a vajra song

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche was once asked to teach in Bodhgaya by Robert Pryor from Antioch University in Ohio, and he has been giving annual fall teachings there ever since. The teachings occasionally took place somewhere outside, such as under the sacred Bodhi Tree or inside the Burmese vihara where we stayed.

On the last day of the seminar, there was always an opportunity for people to take refuge and the bodhisattva vow to help all beings attain enlightenment. The food in the Tibetan kitchen tents was usually awful, but Robert arranged for delicious vegetarian meals for all the participants of the seminars and so we ate like kings. Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche would also allow anyone who happened to be in Bodhgaya at the time to attend the teachings for free if they so desired.

While there he began to write some vajra songs. I don’t know how many he has composed so far but they float spontaneously out of his mind. He had received a transmission from Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche which caused some sort of change within him, he told me. He became very free and playful, yet deeper in his teachings at the same time.

This year his younger brother Tsoknyi Rinpoche had accompanied my teacher on this pilgrimage. He requested that his older brother give teachings on one of these songs, over near Sujata’s stupa on the other side of the river. About forty people attended the teaching which took place in open air near the sister Bodhi Tree. As usual I sat to Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche’s left in order to translate for him, while Tsoknyi Rinpoche sat to his right.

As he started to give teachings something strange started to happen. While I continued to translate my perception altered completely. Everything became like a hologram: completely transparent. I began to see into what it was that was speaking, what it was that was translating, what it was that was perceiving and there was only space in all directions. However, everything still remained clear and distinct—what Rinpoche was saying and the English translation still came out of someone’s mouth, obviously mine.

At some point, Tsoknyi Rinpoche looked over at me and poked Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche in the ribs and said something to him. Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche then looked at me too. Either I looked very strange or they could sense that I had somehow changed. This experience of not really being there continued for the entire duration of the teachings, yet I was able to function completely unrestricted. I have no idea how or why it happened, but I like to believe that perhaps it was due to the blessing in that first vajra song that he taught.

Later, when we returned to Nepal, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche’s friend, mentor and teacher, an outstanding character himself who lives in Canada, Karma Trinley Rinpoche told him, “You should be very careful about sharing your innermost realization too early. Doing so could impair your health, so please be careful.”

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche took this warning to heart and didn’t teach on these songs again. He may have avoided some health problems, but personally it has made me a little sad. Still every now and again a song would be delivered to me in my monastery office and I would translate right then. I experienced that the translation of them would come very smoothly, almost directly, much like I imagine they had originally come to Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche himself. As he was fond of saying, “First thought, best thought.” So I would just let them flow like that.

These verses were similar in style to those found in the collection The Rain of Wisdom: The Essence of the Ocean of True Meaning, containing The Ocean of Songs of the Kagyu Masters and I think they really do belong there, or they could also be comfortably included with the Treasury of Songs of the Nyingma Masters which Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche has asked to be translated one day.

Erik Pema Kunsang Among Masters: Interview with Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche

Our lord of refuge, in Kuala Lumpur, 1981.

Erik Pema Kunsang Among Masters: Interview with Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche: 
Interview for Vajradhatu Sun, 1985. The following interview with Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was rec...

The Karmapa performs the name-burning ceremony

His Holiness' last Vajra Crown Ceremony 

in Olfert Fischersgade, Copenhagen 1977.

Photo: Benny Gunnø.

The Karmapa of course has several attendants, however the main one is usually a reincarnate lama, or tulku, who will then have the opportunity to be close to the Karmapa. This main attendant would then sleep just outside of the Karmapa’s bedroom in case his services should happen to be required during the night. When he was younger, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche had the honour of this position, so he witnessed many interesting details in the life of the Karmapa.

One time the Karmapa called out for a servant and told him to arrange a shrine, bring such-and-such a text and prepare for a name-burning ceremony. So they quickly gathered everything that he had requested and set up a small makeshift shrine beside his bed, where they set up the necessary tormas etc. The 16th Karmapa was a man of action and didn’t waste time discussing his intentions with others, he typically just got down to the task at hand. You might think of him as a benevolent dictator in an enlightened mandala, always doing what is best for everyone. As soon as everything was ready he opened the text and started chanting, then he performed the name-burning after which he sat quietly gazing into midair, then shouted the sacred syllable several times and snapped his fingers. He then finished chanting the text, wrapped it back up and motioned for them to take the shrine away. 

The Karmapa however never explained why he had performed the ceremony, and as far as Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche knew they hadn’t received any request to perform this ceremony so they were all left wondering why the Karmapa had just gone to all this trouble. Several hours later someone came running into the room exclaiming, “Yishin Norbu! Wishfulfilling Jewel! The King of Bhutan has passed away and we have just received a call from Bhutan requesting you to perform the name-burning ceremony for him. They said that you are the one in whom they have the most faith and please do it immediately.” The Karmapa calmly turned toward the panting monk and said, “I already did it.”

Later, he told Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, “Whomever I have had a link with in this life, either good or bad, they always come before me when they are passing through the bardo. Even though they no longer have a physical body, I always recognize who they are. Of course, they also know who I am as free of the limitations of the physical body the spirit in the intermediate state is now clairvoyant. If they have a pure karmic connection they will remain in my presence until I liberate them. If not, then they fly off and never come back, having taken some new form and new life.”

Even for the Karmapa, who was like a buddha in person, there was still no guarantee that you could be liberated. So it is important to both have devotion and to apply the teachings as to how to attain liberation in this very body and life. It is said, “if you can’t have intelligent faith in a great master, then at least have blind stupid faith.” Such advice is hard to swallow for Westerners I know, but perhaps it really is good advice and worth following. Death is a guarantee for us all, and many of us have no idea what actually happens when we die. 

Tulku Urgyen once said, “If there was no continuation of consciousness after death then everything is fine. But if there is then you’ve got reason to worry.” We really can’t know for sure what happens when a person dies. Some people believe in reincarnation and are certain that they will be reborn as a human. However, in all the words of the Buddha I have not found anywhere where he said such a thing; so I really don’t know where such a belief came from other than one’s own hopes and dreams. According to the Buddha there is no guarantee as to what you will come back as in the next life; it all depends upon previous attitudes and habits, in a word: karma. We can never be certain whether we will be reborn with feathers, scales, fur or shell. Isn’t it true that the best approach is to have no preconceptions, and instead leave it open and hedge our bets.

Mingyur Rinpoche's first visit to Nagi Hermitage

Mingyur Tulku with Ivy, his maternal grandmother and Erik, 1980.

On the same day that I received the pointing out instruction from Tulku Urgyen up at Nagi Gompa I was standing outside chatting with someone on the lawn in front of the temple when I felt this strange feeling in my little finger. I swung my head to see who or what it might be but no one was there. Then I looked down and there was this lovely little boy, with ears like a little elf, rubbing one of his ears against my finger. He looked up at me and gave me a big smile.

Later, I happened to see him sitting in his room and he was running the whole show, ordering everyone around including his grandfather (who happens to be a respected lama himself) and his mother. He knew where everything was supposed to be and was acting like the head of the family. He was very sweet and very determined at the same time. I later discovered that this was no other than Tulku Urgyen’s youngest son Mingyur Rinpoche. And as he grew up it became apparent that no one could change his mind about anything, so it is a good thing that he is playing on the right side of the force.  

Today Mingyur Rinpoche is a world-renowned master in his own right and founder of numerous monasteries and Tergar centers.

Enacting the grand drama at the Great Stupa

Our lord of refuge, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche,
flanked by Trulshik Rinpoche and Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche.

Enacting the grand drama at the Great Stupa: Back in 1978, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was invited to Nepal to bestow the complete empowerments and reading transmissions for the New Treasu...

The Caves at the Lotus Lake

Tsopema, the Lotus Lake at Rewalsar in the Himalayas.

The simple caves above Lotus Lake, in Himachal Pradesh, are homes to a community of meditators and Buddhist practitioners. Some are monks and nuns, some are married. They don’t necessarily belong under the same flag or have the same guru, but most of them come together to practice once or twice a month in a small hall that looks recently built. Previously, they used to meet together in the larger cave, the antechamber to the caves of Padmasambhava and Mandarava.

I am given a small cave belonging to Ani Bumchung. Ani means nun and her name is Bumchung, which sounds like a nickname. Currently she is down at the lake. Twenty-five years later she will is still be a nun, practicing in that same little cave, beaming like a small sun. I hear from Lama Lena that she is now authorized to give Dzogchen guidance to others. As Lena writes: "the Little Girl Nun, short for Pumo Chungchung, is by now considered one of the last great living masters of Maha-Ati. After serving her teacher 10 months of the tear, every year, and making 2 months of retreat every year, she is retired now of active duty for reasons of age. She is now free to teach and does, often. She is considered the Tibetan holder of Wangdor Rimpoche's linage of direct teaching and deep practice."

Frankly speaking, her cave is not a cave, and I know--I live in it for four months. It’s more like a rock overhang where the front has been walled up with some stones and mud. There’s not even a real door, just a frame with some rags hanging. There is a small window that doesn’t close properly. It has no glass. The room inside is not tall enough to stand up, for a Dane at least, and I doubt that she could stand up either. But there is plenty of room to sit. There’s no bed, only two planks of rough wood, and my legs dangle out over the end. There’s no mattress so I use a blanket as mat. There’s no electricity and no running water. But there are plenty of enormous spiders who love to listen to a Dane’s accent while spelling his way through a text Tibetan.

The cave’s other inhabitant is a large rat who plays jazz on the tins and cans in a corner—always between two and three in the morning. A mangy cat comes by soon after. Not to catch the rat but to steal some warmth from my oblivious body. It stinks, and I try to push it away from the planks. It holds on to dear life and makes a miserable moan, like a child about to be pushed over the brink of an abyss. Compassion gets the better of me. And, of course, the fleas feast on my blood every night, mercilessly. The only option is to let them have their fill as soon as possible, otherwise there’s no sleep.

Padmasambhava in the Guru Cave above Tsopema.

The environment is sheer heaven; I have never been in a place so beautiful. The air it is so fresh, the grass is lush, and the mountain ranges in the distance, beneath the endless sky, are dressed in every shade of delicate blue. Somehow, a chakra has opened and my heart bleeds liquid bliss, for days on end.

Provisions are carried up from the village down below. It’s a trek that takes an hour and a half, walking straight up the mountain, like on a staircase, continuously. Water, apart from the monsoon season, takes twenty minutes back and forth, also up and down the mountain. You cannot accuse the meditators up there for having attachment to the luxuries of this life, and yet, they all look very happy.

I have made the rounds once in awhile, they’re very hospitable, and at the end of my four months I have made friends with most of them, eaten their tsampa, listened to their stories. Especially I enjoy the company of one of the old geezers, who delights in telling the story of the Tibetan tyrant king, Langdarma, who tried to eradicate Buddhism, but failed because Palgyi Dorje assassinated him in a clever way -- and got away with murder--by dyeing his horse black with charcoal, and wearing a coat with two colors, white inside, black on the outside. As the assassin made his escape, he turned his coat inside out and rode through a river. The people chasing him of course asked around for a black rider on the black horse, but our hero had turned around to ride towards them, and of course lived to tell. The peaceful old monk laughs loud. Except, the assassin was the only one among twenty five close disciples of Padmasambhava who failed to attain the body of rainbow light at the time of his death. The monk beckons me to drink more Tibetan tea with rancid butter.

Yogi practitioners at the caves above Tsopema. Photo: Lama Lena.

That was just one of the stories I heard up there at the caves above Lotus Lake, and at the end of four months I am surprised and delighted to discover that I can follow a lot of their conversation.

The visit is interrupted by letter from Tulku Pema Wangyal that says “His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche is about to give a series of important teachings. Come immediately to Nepal.” Helena Blankleder, a girl from Czechoslovakia, who stays in one of the other caves, and I quickly pack our things and walk down to take the bus to Delhi.

Empowerment, Reading Transmission and Guidance

Wang, Lung & Tri

Dudjom Rinpoche

For the longest time I too had a very superficial impression of what an empowerment actually entailed. I thought you just sat there and waited until you got a couple of things bonked on your head such as a vase and a torma, then you got a little nectar to drink, and that was it you went home. So I was very surprised the first time I heard an empowerment explained on the spot: what to visualize, what to think, when to open your heart in a particular way, etc. This was when Dudjom Rinpoche was in Paris and the first set of westerners to go into three-year retreat, requested him to visit the Kagyu center in Paris and give a Padmasambhava empowerment. Although the empowerment text itself wasn’t that long, the empowerment took quite a long time, as Dudjom Rinpoche demanded that every sentence be translated so that the participants could understand everything clearly. Hearing the actual words and meaning of the empowerment I suddenly discovered that there was much more to this than I could ever have imagined. A whole new world opened up before me. Hence I have tried to translate a few of the more important empowerment manuals for practices from the Chokling Tersar.

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche doesn’t often give empowerments, but on the occasions that he does he typically explains each aspect as he goes along, and at the end he can then say, “Today, I feel that I really gave the empowerment because you all now understand something that you didn’t before. Some of you may have experienced something, a few of you may have realized something, but at least it wasn’t just throwing things around and bonking people on their heads. Of course, it is still some benefit to receiving the blessings and making a connection, but how much more so to actually understand even a little of the teachings contained within an empowerment.”

The method of passing on the teachings of vajrayana is not a Tibetan invention, but rather came from the buddha realms. Many may not believe it, however vajrayana belongs to the celestial realms and is brought down into this world. It is not the same as the nirmanakaya teachings that are found in the sutras which are given to normal human beings. The simple fact is that when one truly practices vajrayana, one is no longer a human being but transformed into a deity. You no longer see yourself as having a normal body of flesh and blood, but instead a radiant body of light. One’s hair is tied in a topknot, one wears a crown with five jewels and is adorned with the symbols of a deity. The fundamental principle of vajrayana practice is to accept one’s actual divine nature, and not just as an abstraction notion but visibly as well.

The vajrayana is like a supreme mystery school, which is still alive and well within the world today. It is out of this world, and already how things actually are; yet empowerment is necessary in order to know it completely. Once you enter through empowerment your whole understanding and progress speed up. It is like getting off your bicycle and stepping onto a high speed jet. You just have to prepare yourself so that you are ready to receive the empowerment, and then having received it follow the instructions and practices which will speed you to the goal of complete enlightenment. If you are not ready, then you need to gather a few provisions for the journey and remove any obstacles that are preventing you from achieving your goal. This is the meaning and purpose of accumulating merit and purifying obscurations. The great Indian siddha Shri Singha said,

Shri Singha

Request the four empowerments: ༔
the elaborate, unelaborate, very unelaborate and extremely unelaborate. ༔
Purify your mindstream, accumulate merit and practice the main part, ༔
by doing so the result will surely ripen in the basis. ༔

This human life is made extraordinary and valuable, here and now, by the vajrayana teachings. Vajrayana is a shortcut, and yet within it there is an even faster shortcut called dzogchen, the great perfection. However, without beginning at the beginning and properly preparing oneself, it is difficult for most people to just jump right into it. It is like trying to jump up to the observation deck on the Empire State building, which you can do if you are Superman, but the rest of us must use the elevator. So, vajrayana is like the express elevator which quickly transports you to the upper levels.

Receiving empowerment is like watering the seedlings sprouting from the seeds of your buddha nature. For everyone already has buddha nature, it is not something that is created but inherent within each and every sentient beings, however for its qualities to fully manifest this seed must be nourished. Empowerment and blessings are like a super condensed plant nutrient, causing the enlightened qualities to blossom forth in full splendor. It em-powers you, it gives you the confidence to realize and accept your enlightened nature. Of course, this right is inherent within everyone, but we tend not to trust ourselves, or fool ourselves as to what this nature really is and what it means. When I look into the mirror I don’t see the splendor of a deity but rather the worn haggard face of a fool. Even the most beautiful visage, when looked at closely, loses its lustre and beneath all the makeup and photo retouching are blemishes and dark circles, yet the form of a sambhogakaya is perfect and unblemished.

Once you have received empowerment it is up to you how fast or how slow you want to proceed. From there on it all depends on your own diligence and perseverance, for no one else, not even the Buddha himself, can do the work for you.

Following the empowerment comes a reading transmission, lung in Tibetan. This tradition originated was passed on from India, though it too originated in the sambhogakaya buddha realms. There are no books in the buddha realms, only natural sound which resounds spontaneously. However, upon hearing that sound you are then the bearer of its meaning. Back in ancient India and Tibet they had no printing shops or the like, so texts had to be copied out by hand, usually by one’s older vajra brother. The guru would then read it to the disciple before giving the text to him. So before you could read the book you received its contents both aurally and physically. Things weren’t freely available in those days, so you couldn’t just think, “Hey I’d like a copy of the highest Dzogchen tantras.” then casually download a copy from the internet as you can today. In fact, traditionally you weren’t even allowed to look at such a text unless you had first received a reading transmission.

Once you have had the empowerment and received the scripture so that you are now the bearer of the spoken word, only then can you have the meaning explained to you in full. Some people realize the complete meaning as clear as day just by receiving the empowerment, not only how to practice but more importantly how to be in the manner described. It is not a question of just sitting down and reading the verses of a sadhana aloud, not at all. One must actually embody or manifest the qualities of a deity, and not only in one’s imagination but in reality. And not only one’s own actions, speech and thoughts, but those of all other beings as well—one must realize the fact that the entire universe is a boundless celestial palace and all within it deities.

Unfortunately we tend to be somewhat closed and rather thick, and so we need to be convinced intellectually and have things explained to us through words. Then only after having everything clearly explained to us in a language that we can understand and resolving all the questions and doubts we have, do we finally go, “Ah! Now I understand.” Yet, what is it that they understand? Nothing more than the way things are, have always been and always will be. It was right there under our noses the entire time if we only had the sense to look and then the confidence to accept the wonder rather than doubt it. The real vajrayana however is not found in words, but rather in the direct immediate revelation of reality as it is. Just the same, not wanting to leave a single being behind, out of their infinite kindness and compassion the lineage masters also provide a verbal explanation which is known as tri in Tibetan which literally means guidance. As we seem to also have lousy memories these instructions now usually need to be written down and collected in texts so that we can refer to them later, hence now people often translate tri as guidance manuals.

Dudjom Rinpoche visits Chanteloube in Dordogne 1976

His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche visits Chanteloube in Dordogne while we were building the first retreat rooms. During this time I lived in a small hut built by Matthieu Ricard.

On the way to Shantiniketan: Bolpur Art Gallery

Tulku Pema Wangyal, Seattle 1976.

I wanted to improve my Tibetan, and asked Tulku Pema Wangyal where I should go to study. There were essentially two options at the time: Tulku Thondrup in Lucknow or Chimey Rigdzin Lama at the university of Shantiniketan. Tulku Pema did a divination, but the answer was only that going to Shantiniketan was the lesser of two quite unfavorable outcomes, so off I went. It turned out to be the case too, as I ended up getting kicked out of India, and losing all my belongings.

Somewhere on the huge railroad system that covers India lies Bolpur, a small town in Birbhum district of West Bengal. It has a transit station, a place where no one seems to live. Travelers come there mainly to switch trains to and from Shantiniketan, the famous international university founded by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore where cultures of the East and West meet and mingle. The million people who had passed through had a million aims. Mine is to learn Tibetan.

Tulku Pema Wangyal has sent me to seek the admission at the Tibetan department which is under the care of C.R. Lama, a tantric master disguised as professor. His divinations have been a tossup between Tulku Thondup in Lucknow and this university. Success in either looked like reading the meter of Erik’s lack of merit, if I was allowed to divine Tulku Pema’s face, but this was the lesser of two evils. Before departure, he hands me The Golden Garland Chronicles, Padmasambhava’s detailed biography. “Perhaps one day you can translate this into English.” The book is seven hundred and sixty five pages and I can barely read.

I reach the train station at night. It seems quiet, if you discount the loud clicking and clacking of the electric bulbs, as if hit by small objects. An undulating carpet covers everywhere, and crunches with every step you take. Now I see it is made of a sea of dead and dying mega-grasshoppers. They have all come to die together at this train station. Perhaps because it is the only place lit up brightly within a radius of thirty miles. Perhaps so they can see each other while they pass away from their grasshopper life.

A man wearing the official dark blue uniform uses a makeshift snow scraper, making corpse-free walkways, transporting blends of life-and-death over the side to the tracks, for rats to feast. I notice no particular expression on his face.

Under the corrugated iron roof there are benches and notice boards. I move over there, skipping from one tiny empty spot to the next. I hear the crunch of evil karma.

“Never mind,” a voice announces. “It happens like this every summer.”

On the notice board I see many hundreds of large photographs, close perhaps to one thousand. All are black-and-white, clearly defined, perfect focus. Each shows the face of a human being. Of all ages. There is writing beneath each, and some scribbles in Hindi. As I walk by them, I’m struck by the silence in their eyes. They have one more thing in common. Everyone has been photographed after death.

Each of these departed members of our human race must have posed lying down, with the photographer leaning close, right above, very intimate. In life they must have been too poor to have a name. And now their unclaimed faces are displayed in this gallery of masterful pictures, on a lonely railroad station near Shantineketan, where grasshoppers come to die under electric light on summer nights.

The silence I hear now is one I know. I’ve heard it many times before. When I stopped to listen on my way home from high school, with no plan in mind.

Soon my train arrives. I drink chai with roasted peanuts. Into the darkness vanishes Bolpur station, the place where no one seems to live.