Jewels of Enlightenment - foreword

Foreword

Dear friends,

The precious teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni arrived on the Tibetan plateau in the 6th century and have survived there ever since. Under the patronage of Tibet’s kings, Buddhist teachers were invited from countries near and far; of these countries present day India is regarded as the mother source. It is often said that the inaccessibility of this land of snowy ranges helped to secure a purity of teaching and practice up until recent times. Yet, another major factor in retaining such purity is the sincerity that is embodied in the basic Buddhist principles of renunciation, bodhichitta, devotion and the true view.

Many countries have been blessed by the instructions of the Awakened One and Buddhism in its various lines of transmission is branded and categorized accordingly. Thus, people today speak of “Tibetan Buddhism.”

Seen from the Tibetan point of view, there are as many approaches or "vehicles" as there are different types of people, while practically speaking there are three main approaches: Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. It does not make sense to claim that one is higher or better than another. What really matters is what is right for the individual in order to progress from whatever point one is at this very moment. The three vehicles share the common perspective that allows that to happen -- how do we remove what hinders liberation and enlightenment, how do we provide the right circumstances to progress, and how do we gain further experience and realization.

The common denominator in each case is to identify the main culprit: our ignorance which allows selfishness expressed in emotions and actions. The three vehicles taught by the Buddha are more precious then anything else we could possibly find or achieve in this world because on every level they provide with practical and realistic tools on how we in actuality can deal with any present situation. Being given the knowledge of how to remove ignorance and selfishness is the most valuable gift -- don't you agree? Ignorance and selfishness are causes of so much suffering and their opposites, while wisdom and compassion are the source of all happiness and well-being. This is the most profound meaning of healing.

If I were to choose the primary characteristic that defines Tibetan Buddhism, it would be the ability to accommodate a vast variety of approaches and levels of profundity. Tibetan Buddhist masters have emphasized that there is neither conflict nor contradiction between any of the three vehicles and encouraged an understanding which encompassed all three vehicles. In the words of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, “Practice the three vehicles in the same session, on the same seat.”

The following selection of precious and practical quotes are in harmony with this perspective. They reflect the immense variety of approaches and profundity that have made the tapestry of Tibetan Buddhism a deep interest and daily practice of an ever-increasing number of spiritual seekers the world over.

In selecting these quotes, I have focused on unifying all the teachings into a single system. This is how most great masters understand them as well as being how I, myself, have been taught.

If you are interested in the plight of the Tibetans, here is a selection of valid reasons for preserving their rich cultural heritage.

If you are attracted to the beauty of Tibet, here is the landscape for their profound religion, like a range of immaculate snow mountains reflecting the sunlight of wisdom and compassion with the purity of noble intentions.

If you are looking for insights and the meaning of life, here are drops scooped up from enlightenment’s inexhaustible ocean.

These quotes are true jewels and their beauty transcends silver, gold and precious gemstones. String them together on the cord of your living moments.

Let them sparkle!

Karmapa with one of his birds

I will add in the story later.


Opslag af Isabelle Meggiolaro.

Bardo Song of Reminding Oneself

Just back from a wonderful weekend with beautiful people in Sweden. Here is the Bardo Song of Reminding Oneself from the Secret Dakini Training Mother Tantra of the Great Perfection.

H.E. Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche's Heart advice, Gomde Denmark 2013

Invoking Dzambhala - Prosperity flows from a generosity.

SONGS FROM SACRED ISLANDS: Invoking Dzambhala - Prosperity flows from a gener...: OM Granting every gift most eminent, giver of accomplishments, Embodiments of the triple roots, wishfulfilling precious gems, Guru Padm...

Chatral Sangye Dorje's wish for the Karmapa

Lord of Uddiyana, deathless triple roots in one,
Capacity to influence, your deeds a playful dance,
Mighty Vajradhara, lord of refuge Karmapa,
May your life be healthy, may your actions flourish far.

--This prayer was uttered by the vidyadhara vagabond Chatral Sangye Dorje.

Translated to be chanted in English, by Erik Pema Kunsang.

Yes, I am also a vegan

A Life Connected: VEGAN from NonviolenceUnited.org on Vimeo.

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.