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The First Drugpa Zhabdrung's victory declaration of 1619, composed after defeating Tsang's ruler through ritual sorcery, helped establish Bhutan's identity while asserting his talismanic power. Sixteen Self-Assertions གོང་མས་ལུང་བསྟན་སྤྲུལ་པ་ང་། ། ང་ནི་ཀུན་གྱི་སྐྱབས་སུ་བཟང་། ། འཆད་པའི་ངག་གི་དབང་ཕྱུག་ང་། ། ང་ནི་ལེགས་བཤད་འབྱུང་ཁུངས་བཙུན། ། Forefathers’ foretold emanation is I— I am the magnificent refuge of all beings. The sovereign speech of exposition is I— I am the respected source of eloquent discourse. བདུད་དཔུང་འཇོམས་པའི་དཔའ་བོ་ང་། ། ང་ནི་འབྲུག་པར་བརྫུས་རྣམས་བཅོམ། ། རྩོད་པའི་མཐུ་སྟོབས་བདག་པོ་ང་། ། ང་ནི་ལྟ་ལོག་མཁན་སུན་འབྱིན། ། The hero who conquers demon hordes is I— I am the destroyer of the Drukpa’s imposters. The powerful master of debate is I— I am the repudiator of those with wrong views. མཐའ་བྲལ་ལྟ་བའི་བདག་པོ་ང་། ། ང་མདུན་མི་འདར་རྒོལ་བ་སུ། ། རྩོམ་པའི་དབྱངས་ཅན་གྲུབ་པ་ང་། ། ང་ནི་རིག་གནས་ཀུན་ལ་མཁས། ། The lord of the unlimited view is I— I am the one before whom all challengers tremble. Sarasvatī’s accomplished wordsmith is I— I am the learned scholar in all fields of knowledge. དཔལ་ལྡན་འབྲུག་པའི་བསྟན་འཛིན་ང་། ། ང་ནུས་བཟློག་པའི་མཐུ་ཆེན་སུ། ། ལུགས་གཉིས་འཁོར་ལོས་བསྒྱུར་བ་ང་། ། ང་ནི་འདྲ་མིན་སྤྲུལ་བའི་གཤེད། ། The Glorious Druk’s doctrine holder is I— I am almighty, no sorcerer can defeat me. The dual system’s [ 1 ] Wheel-wielding Monarch [ 2 ] is I— I am the enemy of diverse apparitions. ཕྱག་དམ་འདི་གཞུང་གི་བཀའ་རྒྱ་གལ་ཆེན་རིགས་དང་། གཞུང་གི་ཁྲ་དེབ་ཁག་ལ་ངེས་པར་དུ་ཕྱག་དམ་འདི་ཐེབས་ཡོད་ན་ཀུན་གྱིས་བརྩི་མཐོང་ཆེན་པོ་བྱ་དགོས་པ་སྔར་སྲོལ་གལ་གནད་ཅན་ཞིག་ཡིན། ཞབས་དྲུང་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་རང་གིས་ཕྱོགས་ལས་རྣམ་པར་རྒྱལ་བའི་རྟགས་མཚན་དུ་ཕྱག་དམ་ང་བཅུ་དྲུག་མ་འདི་མཛད་པ་ནས་བཟུང་སྟེ་འབྲུག་གཞུང་གི་མངའ་འབངས་ཆབ་སྲིད་ཡོངས་རྫོགས་ལ་ཕྱག་དམ་དེས་དབང་བསྒྱུར་ཆོག་པ་ཡིན། དེ་བཞིན་ད་ལྟ་ཡང་འབྲུག་གཞུང་གི་ (དཔལ་ལྡན་འབྲུག་པ་ཕྱོགས་ལས་རྣམ་རྒྱལ) གཞུང་རྟགས་སུ་བཀོད་པ་འདི་ཡང་། ཞབས་དྲུང་རིན་པོ་ཆེས་ང་བཅུ་དྲུག་མའི་དོན་བསྡུས་ཏེ་གཞུང་རྟགས་སུ་བཀོད་པ་ཡིན། དཔེར་ན། རྒྱ་གར་གཞུང་རྟགས་སེངྒེ་མགོ་ལྔ་པ་ཅན་ལ་རྩིས་མཐོང་བྱ་དགོས་པ་ཆོས་རྒྱལ་ཨ་ཤོ་ཀའི་མཛད་རྗེས་མཚོན་པ་དང་འདྲ་བ་ཡིན། If this seal is visibly stamped onto the official documents of the government and important government orders, everyone will hold them in high regard because this tradition is of essential importance. Shabdrung Rinpoche (1594–1651) [ 3 ] composed this seal, "Sixteen Self-Assertions," as a symbol of the Complete Victor in all Regards. [ 4 ] Since then, this seal was permitted to exercise power over all citizens and political territory of the Bhutanese government. Accordingly, even today, the name of the Bhutanese government, “The Glorious Drukpa: The Victor in All Regards,” [ 5 ] is also established as an administrative symbol since it is the condensed meaning of Shabdrung Rinpoche’s "Sixteen Self-Assertions." Take, for example, the governmental symbol of India, the five-headed lion. The reason it is held in high regard is that it is the representation of the achievements of the Dharma King, Ashoka. This seal is comparable to that symbol. COLOPHON None NOTES [1] This is referring to the dual system of politics and religion. [2] A Wheel-wielding Monarch (cakravartin) is the de facto ruler of the entire universe, bring all under their control single-handedly. They tend to govern the world system in accordance with the spiritual and or universal law, the dharma. For more information, please refer to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. [3] zhabs drung 01 ngag dbang rnam rgyal, BDRC P509 [4] phyogs las rnam par rgyal ba [5] dpal ldan 'brug pa phyogs las rnam rgyal Photo Credit: Kidekhar College of Buddhist Higher Learning Published: May 2021 BIBLIOGRAPHY Slob dpon gnag mdog. 1986. Nga bcu drug ma. In 'Brug dkar-po : 'brug rgyal-khab kyi chos-srid gnas-stangs, pp 94–95. Thurpaling Monastery Bumthang: Lopon Nado. Abstract The first rendition of the seal was written in 1619 by the First Drugpa Zhabdrung, Ngawang Namgyal, after seizing military victory over Puntsok Namgyal, the ruler of Tsang in Tibet. It is purported that Zhabdrung accomplished this triumph through his tantric powers of ritual sorcery. The lines translated here are in a different order in comparison to other editions. Nevertheless, this epic declaration not only helps to establish the emerging country of Bhutan but centralizes Zhabdrung's power in a talismanic nature. SOURCE DOWNLOAD TRANSLATION GO TO TRANSLATION LISTEN TO AUDIO 00:00 / 01:07 TRADITION Drugpa Kagyu INCARNATION LINE Zhabdrung Sungtrul HISTORICAL PERIOD 16th Century 17th Century TEACHERS Tenpe Nyima Lhawang Lodrö TRANSLATOR Tib Shelf INSTITUTION Ralung Monastery STUDENTS The First Drugje Khenpo Pekar Jungn e The Second Drugje Khenpo, Sönam Özer The Third Drugje Khenpo, Pekar Lhundrub The Fourth Drugje Khenpo, Damchö Pekar The Fifth Drugje Khenpo, Söpa Trinl e Ngawang Samten Söpa Pekar AUTHORS Drugpa Zhabdrung, Ngawang Namgyal & Lopön Nadok Sixteen Self-Assertions VIEW ALL PUBLICATIONS NEXT PUBLICATION > < PREVIOUS PUBLICATION Home Publications Read Listen Watch People Information About Meet the Team Services Translators Donate Subscribe to our newsletter Support Tib Shelf's ongoing work & Subscribe Today! Name * Email* Submit Tib Shelf is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to translating, presenting and preserving primary source Tibetan texts across a vast array of genres and time periods. We make these literary treasures accessible to readers worldwide, offering a unique window into Tibet's rich history, culture and traditions. Tib Shelf has been accredited by the British Library with the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN): 2754–1495 CONTACT US | SHELVES@TIBSHELF.ORG © 2024 Tib Shelf. All rights reserved.

A heartfelt prayer to the ḍākinīs of three worlds, composed at Pemokö's Dudul Dewa Chenpo, seeking blessings to master the Vajrayāna path for all beings' benefit. The Magical Lasso: A Prayer of Aspiration to Accomplish Khecara ཨེ་མ་ཧོ། emaho Emaho! སྣང་གྲགས་འགྱུ་བའི་ཆོས་རྣམས་ཀུན། ། nangdrak gyuwé chönam kün All phenomena which appear, resound, and pass through the mind འཇོ་སྒེག་ལྷ་མོའི་རྣམ་འགྱུར་དུ། ། jogek lhamö namgyur du Are the appearances of the charming goddess, ཅིར་ཡང་རོལ་པའི་སྒྱུ་འཕྲུལ་ཅན། ། chiryang rölpé gyutrül chen Who magically displays as anything whatsoever: རང་རིག་ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་མོར་འདུད། ། rangrig chakgya chenmor dü To the reflexive awareness of the Great Seal Mahāmudrā, I bow down. ཐོག་མཐའ་མེད་པའི་རྡོ་རྗེའི་སེམས། ། togta mepé dorjé sem Through the vajra mind, which has neither beginning nor end འཁོར་འདས་ཀུན་ལ་ཁྱབ་པ་ཡིས། ། khordé künla khyabpa yi And which pervades the whole of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, འཆིང་དང་གྲོལ་མཛད་དེ་དང་དེར། ། chingdang drölzé dedang der You manifest in untold ways for those who are bound and set free— ཅིར་ཡང་འཆར་བའི་ལྷ་ཚོགས་དགོངས། ། chiryang charwé lhatsok gong Assembly of deities, please consider me! བདག་ནི་ཐོག་མ་མེད་པ་ནས། ། dagni tokma mepa né Throughout beginningless time, ཀུན་ནས་དཀྲིས་པས་རྣམ་པར་དཀྲུགས། ། küné tripé nampar truk I have been plagued by my [mental] entanglements, ལས་ཉོན་སྲ་བའི་ཞགས་པས་བཅིངས། ། lenyön sawé shakpé ching And the intractable lasso of karma and afflictions has tightened around me ཉམ་ཐག་འཁོར་བའི་གནས་སུ་འཁྱམས། ། nyamtak khorwé nesu khyam As I wander through the destitute abodes of saṃsāra. ད་ནི་འཇིགས་པས་ཡིད་གདུངས་ཏེ། ། dani jigpé yidung té Now my mind is tortured by fear, སྐྱབས་གནས་ཁྱེད་རྣམས་མ་ལགས་པའི། ། kyabné khyenam malak pé So from the depth of my heart, I take refuge in you, གཙོ་བོ་གཞན་དུ་སྐྱབས་མ་མཆིས། ། tsowo shendu kyabma chi For there are no principal protectors other than you, སྙིང་ནས་ཁྱོད་ལ་སྐྱབས་སུ་མཆི། ། nyingné khyöla kyabsu chi The sources of refuge! གདུང་བའི་མིག་ནས་མཆི་མ་འཁྲུག ། dungwé migné chima truk Tears flood from my despairing eyes; སྐྱོ་བའི་སྨྲེ་སྔགས་ཤུགས་རིང་འབྱིན། ། kyowé mengak shugring jin I cry out in sorrow and sigh deeply; བཟོད་མེད་སྙིང་རླུང་ཁོང་ནས་ལངས། ། sömé nyinglung khongné lang And an unbearable melancholy arises from within; གསོལ་བ་འདེབས་པ་འདི་གཟིགས་སམ། ། sölwa debpa disik sam Can you not perceive this supplication of mine? ཀྱེ་མ་བདག་ནི་ཁྱོད་བསམས་ནས། ། kyema dagni khyösam né Alas, I have been thinking of you ཉིན་མཚན་ལེ་བར་མ་མཆིས་པར། ། nyintsen lewar machi par Uninterruptedly, day and night. གདུང་བས་སྐྱབས་སུ་རེ་བ་ལ། ། dungwé kyabsu rewa la And so, will you not compassionately consider ཐུགས་རྗེས་དགོངས་པར་མི་མཛད་དམ། ། tugjé gongpar mizé dam My yearning hope for refuge? གཏིང་མཐའ་མེད་པའི་རྒྱ་མཚོ་འདིར། ། tingta mepé gyatso dir In this bottomless and boundless ocean, གནས་བཅས་འཇིགས་པས་གཙེས་པའི་དུས། ། neché jigpé tsepé dü When its inhabitants are oppressed by fear, དབུགས་དབྱུང་གཟེངས་བསྟོད་མི་མཛད་ན། ། ugyung sengtö mizé na If you do not provide respite and encouragement, ཁྱོད་ཀྱི་ཐུགས་རྗེས་ཅི་ཞིག་བྱ། ། khyökyi tugjé chishik ja What is the use of your compassion? ཡུན་རིང་དུས་ནས་བསྒྲུབས་པ་ཡིས། ། yünring düné drubpa yi As I have engaged in your practice for a long time, མ་གཅིག་ལྷ་མོ་ཁྱེད་རྣམས་ཀྱི། ། machik lhamo khyenam kyi Sole mother goddess, མཛེས་ཞལ་ནམ་མཁའི་རྗེས་འགྲོ་བ། ། dzéshal namkhé jedro wa Will you not deign to reveal just a tiny portion of ཟུར་ཙམ་སྟོན་པར་མི་གནང་ངམ། ། surtsam tönpar minang ngam Your exquisite face that resembles the sky? ལས་ཉོན་སྲ་བའི་དཔྱང་ཐག་འདི། ། lenyön sawé changtak di This tight collar of karma and mental afflictions, ཕན་མཛད་ཐུགས་རྗེའི་རལ་གྲི་ཡིས། ། penzé tugjé raldri yi If you do not swiftly act to sever it མྱུར་དུ་གཅོད་པར་མི་མཛད་ན། ། nyurdu chöpar mizé na With the beneficial sword of compassion, ཁྱོད་ཀྱི་ཐུགས་དམ་མི་ཉམས་སམ། ། khyökyi tugdam minyam sam Would this not undermine your sacred commitments? ཁྱོད་ཀྱང་སྔོན་གྱི་དུས་ཀྱི་ཚེ། ། khyökyang ngöngyi dükyi tsé When even in your previous lives, བདག་ལྟར་རྨོངས་པ་ཞིག་ལགས་ན། ། dagtar mongpa shiklak na You were once deluded like me; སྒོ་གསུམ་མི་ཤེས་བག་མེད་པས། ། gosum mishé bagmé pé If, through unawareness and carelessness of my three doors, ནོངས་པར་ཐུགས་ཀྱང་འཁྲུག་མི་འཚལ། ། nongpar tukyang trugmi tsal I make mistakes, there is no need to be upset. ཤིན་ཏུ་བཙོག་པའི་རྐྱལ་པ་ལ། ། shintu tsogpé kyalpa la How could the excellent nature arise རང་བཞིན་བཟང་པོ་ཅི་ལ་འཆར། ། rangshin sangpo chila char In such a filthy leather bag [as this body]? དེ་ཕྱིར་བདག་གིས་ནོངས་པ་རྣམས། ། dechir dagi nongpa nam Compassionate one, for this reason, བཟོད་པར་བཞེས་ཤིག་ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཅན། ། söpar shéshik tugjé chen Please be patient with the mistakes I have made! རྩ་གསུམ་ལྷ་ཡི་འཁོར་ལོ་ནས། ། tsasum lhayi khorlo né Bless me so that I may be benefitted བེམ་པོའི་རྣམ་འགྱུར་ཚུན་ཆད་ཀྱིས། ། bempö namgyur tsünché kyi By whatever manifestations are appropriate, བཀོད་པ་གང་ལ་གང་འཚམས་པས། ། köpa gangla gangtsam pé From the maṇḍalas of Three Root deities བདག་ལ་ཕན་པར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས། ། dagla penpar jingyi lob Down to expressions of inanimate form! གཟུགས་སུ་སྣང་བའི་དངོས་པོ་ཀུན། ། suksu nangwé ngöpo kün As all things which visibly appear མཐོང་བ་ཙམ་གྱིས་ཡིད་འཕྲོག་པའི། ། tongwa tsamgyi yitrok pé Arise as the display of the lovely and beautiful goddess, མཛེས་སྡུག་ལྷ་མོའི་རོལ་པར་ཤར། ། dzeduk lhamö rölpar shar Whose mere glance is enchanting; བདེ་ཆེན་འབར་བར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས། ། dechen barwar jingyi lob Please bless me that the great bliss blazes forth! ཟིན་དང་མ་ཟིན་སྒྲ་རྣམས་ཀུན། ། sindang masin dranam kün As all sounds, whether natural or deliberately produced, གྲག་སྟོང་སྔགས་ཀྱི་འཁོར་ལོར་འབྱོངས། ། dragtong ngakyi khorlor jong Manifest as the wheel of mantra—sound and emptiness, རླུང་སྔགས་གཉིས་སུ་མི་ཕྱེད་པའི། ། lungngak nyisu miché pé Please bless me so that the power of ནུས་པ་འབབ་པར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས། ། nüpa babpar jingyi lob The indivisibility of prāṇa and mantra arises! རྟོག་ཚོགས་གང་ཤར་སྣང་བ་ཀུན། ། togtsok gangshar nangwa kün Let whatever conceptual patterns arise, all appearances, སྔོན་བསུ་རྗེས་གཅོད་མེད་པར་དེངས། ། ngönsu jechö mepar deng Dissipate without being anticipated or pursued; རང་སར་བཞག་པས་ཆོས་སྐུར་གྲོལ། ། rangsar shakpé chökur dröl And as I allow them to rest in their own place, so that they are liberated in the dharmakāya, རྟོགས་པ་འབར་བར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས། ། togpa barwar jingyi lob Please bless me so that realisation may blaze forth! གནས་གསུམ་མཁའ་འགྲོ་མ་ལུས་པ། ། nesum khandro malü pa May all ḍākinīs of the three worlds རང་དབང་མེད་པར་གྲོགས་སུ་ཁུག ། rangwang mepar drogsu khuk Be summoned irresistibly as companions; ཡིད་ཀྱི་རེ་བ་སྐོང་བྱེད་པའི། ། yikyi rewa kongjé pé Please bless me that they may grant the attainments དངོས་གྲུབ་སྩོལ་བར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས། ། ngödrub tsölwar jingyi lob That fulfil the hopes within my mind! དམ་ཅན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་མ་ལུས་པས། ། damchen gyatso malü pé Let the ocean of oath-bound ones, without exception, འགལ་རྐྱེན་བར་ཆད་ཐམས་ཅད་སེལ། ། galkyen barché tamché sel Clear away all adversity and obstacles. རབ་འབྱམས་འཕྲིན་ལས་རྣམ་པ་བཞི། ། rabjam trinlé nampa shi Please bless me that they may accomplish, without hindrance, ཐོགས་མེད་བསྒྲུབ་པར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས། ། togmé drubpar jingyi lob The infinite array of the four types of enlightened activity! བཟང་ངན་རྐྱེན་གྱི་བྱེ་བྲག་ཀུན། ། sangngen kyengyi jedrak kün Let the variety of good and bad conditions ཐམས་ཅད་རོ་གཅིག་རྒྱན་དུ་ཤར། ། tamché rochik gyendu shar Arise as the ornament of one taste. འདེམས་ངོའི་དགག་སྒྲུབ་མེད་པ་ཡི། ། demngö gagdrub mepa yi Please bless me to practice the yogic conduct བརྟུལ་ཞུགས་སྤྱོད་པར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས། ། tülshuk chöpar jingyi lob In which there is no preference for cultivating or rejecting. སྣང་བ་སྟོང་པའི་རྩལ་དུ་ཤར། ། nangwa tongpé tsaldu shar As appearances arise as the dynamic expression of emptiness, སྟོང་པ་རྟེན་འབྲེལ་ཉིད་དུ་ངེས། ། tongpa tendrel nyidu ngé And emptiness is ascertained as dependent arising itself, ཟུང་འཇུག་ཅོག་བཞག་ཆེན་པོར་འབྱམས། །་ sungjuk chogshak chenpor jam Please bless me [to attain] the Great Perfection རྫོགས་པ་ཆེན་པོར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས། ། dzogpa chenpor jingyi lob And merge into the great, freely resting union. དབྱིངས་རིག་ཀ་དག་ཆེན་པོ་དང་། ། yingrik kadak chenpo dang The great primordial purity of space-awareness རྩལ་སྣང་ལྷུན་གྲུབ་ཐོད་རྒལ་གཉིས། ། tsalnang lhündrub tögal nyi And the spontaneously accomplished manifestation of dynamic energy, Leaping Over— རེས་འཇོག་ཕྱོགས་རེར་མ་གོལ་བའི། ། rejok chokrer magol wé Please bless me that I may practice the excellent path ལམ་བཟང་སྤྱོད་པར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས། ། lamsang chöpar jingyi lob That does not stray into favouring one practice over another. དང་པོར་ཆོས་ཉིད་སྣང་བ་ཤར། ། dangpor chönyi nangwa shar First, the vision of dharmatā arises, བར་དུ་སྣང་བས་ཕྱོགས་ཀུན་ཁྱབ། ། bardu nangwé chok künkhyab Then, the visions extend in all directions, ཐ་མར་ཀུན་ཀྱང་དབྱིངས་སུ་ཐིམ། ། tamar künkyang yingsu tim Finally, everything dissolves into space; གྲོལ་སར་ཕྱིན་པར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས། ། drölsar chinpar jingyi lob Please bless me to reach the state of liberation! གནས་མཆོག་པདྨོ་བཀོད་ལ་སོགས། ། nechok pemo köla sok In the naturally manifesting buddha-fields of Akaniṣṭha གནས་གསུམ་མཁའ་འགྲོ་ཀུན་འདུ་བའི། ། nesum khandro kün duwé And places where all ḍākinīs of the three worlds gather, རང་སྣང་འོག་མིན་ཞིང་རྣམས་སུ། ། rangnang ogmin shingnam su Supreme holy sites, such as Pemokö, འགྲོ་དོན་སྐྱོང་བར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས། ། drodön kyongwar jingyi lob Please bless me to attend to beings’ benefit! དུས་གསུམ་རྒྱལ་བ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱིས། ། düsum gyalwa tamché kyi Please bless me that I may tame མངོན་སུམ་འདུལ་བར་མ་ནུས་པའི། ། ngönsum dülwar ma nüpé All beings of lesser fortune, however many there are, སྐལ་དམན་སྐྱེ་བོ་ཇི་སྙེད་པ། ། kalmen kyewo jinye pa Those whom all the victorious ones of the three times བདག་གིས་འདུལ་བར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས། ། dagi dülwar jingyi lob Are incapable of taming directly! ནམ་མཁའ་ཟད་པར་མ་གྱུར་པར། ། namkha separ magyur par Please bless me that I may carry out the benefit of beings, སྐྱོ་ངལ་མེད་པའི་སྤྱོད་པ་ཡིས། ། kyongal mepé chöpa yi Tirelessly and without discouragement, འཕེལ་འགྲིབ་མེད་པ་འགྲོ་བའི་དོན། ། peldrib mepa drowé dön Without my actions waxing and waning, བདག་གིས་སྤྱོད་པར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས། ། dagi chöpar jingyi lob Until space itself fades away! བདག་ནི་མཐོང་དང་ཐོས་པ་དང་། ། dagni tongdang töpa dang May all those who see or hear me, མིང་ཙམ་འཛིན་པར་བྱེད་པ་ཡང་། ། mingtsam dzinpar jepa yang Or even merely recall my name, ཁམས་གསུམ་འཁོར་བ་དོང་སྤྲུགས་ཏེ། ། khamsum khorwa dongtruk té Be delivered from the depths of saṃāra’s three realms. ཆམ་གཅིག་གྲོལ་བར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས། ། chamchik drölwar jingyi lob Bless me that I may simultaneously liberate them all! གང་ཞིག་ཕན་པར་སེམས་པ་དང་། ། gangshik penpar sempa dang Bless me to train those whose minds are altruistic, བཏང་སྙོམས་བར་མ་དག་ཀྱང་རུང་། ། tangnyom barma dakyang rung As well as those with feelings of indifference, བརྙས་སྨོད་བརྡེག་འཚོག་མཚང་འབྲུ་བ། ། nyemö degtsok tsangdru wa And especially those who would disparage others, ལྷག་པར་འདུལ་བར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས། ། lhakpar dülwar jingyi lob Or abuse them and expose their hidden faults. དུག་གསུམ་དྲག་པོས་རྒྱུད་སྦགས་ཤིང་། ། dugsum drakpö gyübak shing The beings whose mind streams are sullied by the intense three poisons, ངན་སོང་གསུམ་དང་ཁྱད་པར་དུ། ། ngensong sumdang khyepar du And those who experience the suffering of the three lower realms, བར་དོའི་སྡུག་བསྔལ་ལ་སྤྱོད་པའི། ། bardö dugngal lachö pé And in particular the suffering of the intermediate state; འགྲོ་བ་འདུལ་བར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས། ། drowa dülwar jingyi lob Please bless me so that I may tame them all! རིག་འཛིན་པདྨ་འབྱུང་གནས་དང་། ། rigzin pema jungné dang Please bless me so that my mind may be of one taste ཐུགས་ཀྱི་དགོངས་པར་རོ་གཅིག་པས། ། tugkyi gongpar rochik pé With the enlightened wisdom mind of Vidyādhara Padmasambhava, རྣམ་ཐར་མཉམ་པར་སྤྱོད་པ་ཡི། ། namtar nyampar chöpa yi And I may thereby accomplish the two aims དོན་གཉིས་འགྲུབ་པར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས། ། dönnyi drubpar jingyi lob Through conduct that is comparable to his life of liberation! བདག་ནི་གལ་ཏེ་ཚེ་འདི་ལ། ། dagni galté tsedi la If I do not seize བཙན་ས་ཟིན་པར་མ་གྱུར་ན། ། tsensa sinpar magyur na The citadel [of enlightenment] in this life, ནམ་ཞིག་འཆི་བའི་དུས་ཀྱི་ཚེ། ། namshik chiwé dükyi tsé Then, when I reach the moment of death, ཁྱེད་རྣམས་བསུ་བའི་ཕྱིར་གཤེགས་ཤིག ། khyenam suwé chirshek shik May you all come back to welcome me. ཞལ་གྱི་དཀྱིལ་འཁོར་གསལ་པོར་སྟོན། ། shalgyi kyilkhor salpor tön May you clearly reveal the maṇḍala of your face, དབུགས་དབྱུང་གསུང་གི་སྣང་བ་སྩོལ། ། ugyung sunggi nangwa tsöl Bestow the elucidation of your comforting speech, བརྩེ་གདུང་མཛའ་བའི་ཐུགས་རྗེས་བཟུང་། ། tsedung dzawé tugjé sung Embrace me with your compassion of love, affection, and friendliness, འོད་གསལ་བདེ་བ་ཆེན་པོར་དྲོངས། ། ösal dewa chenpor drong And lead me to the great bliss of luminosity. འཁྲུལ་བའི་སྣང་བར་ཨ་འཐས་པའི། ། trülwé nangwar até pé When the terrors of the intermediate state arise བར་དོའི་འཇིགས་སྐྲག་ཤར་བ་ན། ། bardö jigtrak sharwa na As deluded perception solidifies, མདུན་བསུས་རྒྱབ་སྐྱོར་མཐའ་ནས་བརྟེན། ། dünsü gyabkyor tané ten Be a welcome in front, a support behind, and an assistance all around. འཁྲུལ་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་རང་སར་སྐྱོངས། ། trülpa tamché rangsar kyong Keep all delusions in their own place! བར་དོར་གྲོལ་བར་མ་གྱུར་ན། ། bardor drölwar magyur na If I am not liberated in the intermediate state, སྤྲུལ་པའི་ཞིང་ཁམས་སྣ་ཚོགས་སུ། ། trülpé shingkham natsok su May I be born on the stem of a lotus པདྨའི་སྡོང་པོ་ལས་སྐྱེས་ཏེ། ། pemé dongpo lekyé té In various emanated pure lands, མཚན་དང་ལྡན་པའི་ལུས་ཐོབ་ཤོག ། tsendang denpé lütob shok And may I obtain a body endowed with the marks of enlightenment! སྤྱན་དང་མངོན་ཤེས་གཟུངས་སྤོབས་སོགས། ། chendang ngönshé sungpob sok Through the limitless gates of meditative absorption, ཏིང་འཛིན་སྒོ་བརྒྱ་མཐའ་ཡས་པས། ། tingzin gogya tayé pé Including the divine eye, clairvoyance, retention, and eloquence, བདག་རྒྱུད་ལྷག་པར་ཕྱུག་པ་དང་། ། dagyü lhagpar chugpa dang May my mind stream become abundantly enriched, འཕྲིན་ལས་རྣམ་བཞིར་དབང་འབྱོར་ཤོག ། trinlé namshir wangjor shok And may I gain mastery over the four kinds of enlightened activity! འབྱུང་བཞིའི་གནོད་པས་མི་བརྫི་ཞིང་། ། jungshi nöpé mizi shing May I not fall victim to harm from the four elements, འཆི་མེད་རྡོ་རྗེའི་སྐུ་གྲུབ་སྟེ། ། chimé dorjé kudrub té And may I accomplish the deathless vajra-body, རྡོ་རྗེ་ཐེག་པའི་རྣལ་འབྱོར་གྱི། ། dorjé tegpé naljor gyi And thus complete the paths and stages of maturation and liberation སྨིན་གྲོལ་ས་ལམ་མཐར་ཕྱིན་ཤོག ། mindröl salam tarchin shok Of the Vajrayāna yoga! མདོར་ན་གནས་སྐབས་ཐམས་ཅད་དུ། ། dorna nekab tamché du In brief, may the ocean of ḍākinīs grant their blessings, རང་དང་གཞན་གྱི་དོན་གང་ཡིན། ། rangdang shengyi döngang yin That I may accomplish ཐམས་ཅད་མཁའ་འགྲོ་རྒྱ་མཚོ་ཡིས། ། tamché khandro gyatso yi All that is beneficial to myself and others གཡེལ་མེད་བསྒྲུབ་པར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས། ། yelmé drubpar jingyi lob In all circumstances without ever wavering! དུས་གསུམ་བསགས་པའི་དགེ་ཚོགས་དང་། ། düsum sagpé getsok dang Through the accumulation of virtue gathered throughout the three times, ཁྱད་པར་རྩ་གསུམ་ལྷ་ཚོགས་ཀྱི། ། khyepar tsasum lhatsok kyi And in particular, the power of the truth of the inconceivable compassion ཐུགས་རྗེ་བསམ་གྱིས་མི་ཁྱབ་པའི། ། tugjé samgyi mikhyab pé of the Three Roots and the assembly of the deities, བདེན་མཐུས་སྨོན་ལམ་མྱུར་འགྲུབ་ཤོག ། dentü mönlam nyurdrub shok May these aspirations be swiftly accomplished! ཆོས་ཉིད་བསམ་གྱིས་མི་ཁྱབ་ཀྱང་། ། chönyi samgyi mikhyab kyang Although dharmatā is inconceivable, ཆོས་ཅན་རྟེན་འབྲེལ་མི་སླུ་བས། ། chöchen tendrel milu wé The truth never changes, བདེན་པ་འགྱུར་བ་མེད་པ་དེས། ། denpa gyurwa mepa dé Since the dependent arising of conditioned phenomena is infallible; ཅི་བཏབ་སྨོན་ལམ་འགྲུབ་པར་ཤོག ། chitab mönlam drubpar shok Thus, may any aspirations I have formulated be accomplished! COLOPHON ཅེས་གནས་གསུམ་གྱི་མཁའ་འགྲོ་རྒྱ་མཚོ་ཐམས་ཅད་དབང་མེད་དུ་འགུག་པར་བྱེད་པའི་སྨོན་ལམ་འཕྲུལ་གྱི་ཞགས་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་འདི་ཉིད་ནི་མཁའ་ཁྱབ་ཀྱི་མཁའ་འགྲོ་རྒྱ་མཚོར་གཅིག་ཏུ་མོས་པ་འཕྲིན་ལས་བློ་གསལ་གྱིས་ནན་ཏན་ཆེན་པོས་བསྐུལ་བ་དོན་ཡོད་པར་བྱ་བའི་ཕྱིར་དུ་ངེས་མེད་ཀུན་ཏུ་སྤྱོད་པའི་རྣལ་འབྱོར་པ་ཆགས་པ་རྡོ་རྗེས་འོག་མིན་སྤྲུལ་པའི་ཞིང་མཆོག་པདྨོ་བཀོད་ཀྱི་སྐུ་འཁོར་གྱི་ཆ་ལས་འཁོར་ལོ་ལྔའི་ནང་ཚན་སྙིང་ག་ཆོས་ཀྱི་འཁོར་ལོའི་ཆར་གཏོགས་པ་ཀློ་ཁུག་ཚོགས་ཀྱི་བདག་པོའི་ཕོ་བྲང་གི་ཉེ་འདབས་བདུད་འདུལ་བདེ་བ་ཆེན་པོའི་སྒར་དུ་སྤེལ་བ་བདེ་ལེགས་སུ་གྱུར་ཅིག ། In order to fulfil the insistent request of Trinlé Losal, who holds a singular devotion to all the oceans of ḍākinīs who pervade all of space, I, Chagpa Dorjé the aimless yogin, wrote “The Magical Lasso: An Aspirational Prayer” that spontaneously summons all the oceans of ḍākinīs of the three worlds. It was composed at the camp of Düdül Dewa Chenpo (Demon-Taming Great Bliss) in the vicinity of the palace of the lord of the Lo people. This area belongs to the heart dharmacakra, one of five cakras of the retinue of Pemokö, the supreme emanated realm of Akaniṣṭha. May there be happiness and well-being! NOTES Photo credit: Himalayan Art Resource Thanks to Adam Pearcey at Lotsawa House for his editing. Published: August 2021 BIBLIOGRAPHY Bzhad pa'i rdo rje. 1983–1985. mkha' spyod grub pa'i smon lam 'phrul gyi zhags pa sogs . In gsung 'bum/_bzhad pa'i rdo rje, vol. 7, pp. 421–428. Leh: T. Sonam & D.L. Tashigang. BDRC W22130 Abstract This aspirational prayer, composed at the request of Trinle Losal, calls upon all the ḍākinīs of the three worlds to grant their blessings, so that the practitioner may complete the Vajrayāna path and bring benefit to all beings. It was composed at the camp of Dudul Dewa Chenpo, the heart dharmacakra of Pemokö, the supreme emanated realm of Akaniṣṭha. It is a remarkably emotional and powerful prayer one that, in our opinion, really demonstrates the heartfelt wishes of the author. BDRC LINK W22130 DOWNLOAD TRANSLATION GO TO TRANSLATION LISTEN TO AUDIO 00:00 / 08:29 TRADITION Geluk | Nyingma INCARNATION LINE Lelung Jedrung HISTORICAL PERIOD 18th Century TEACHERS The Sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso The Fifth Panchen Lama, Lobzang Yesh e Damchö Zangpo Mingyur Paldrön Chöje Lingpa Dönyö Khedrup The First Purchok, Ngawang Jampa Ngawang Chödrak Yeshe Gyatso Damchö Gyatso Losal Gyatso Lhundrub Gyatso Dungkar Tsangyang Drugdrak The Second Dzogchen Drubwang, Gyurme Tekchok Tendzin TRANSLATOR Tib Shelf INSTITUTIONS Lelung Monastery Mindröling Ngari Dratsang Chökhor Gyal Trandruk Potala Tsāri STUDENTS Kunga Mingyur Dorj e Dorje Yom e Kunga Palzom Lobsang Lhachok Dönyö Khedrub Polhane Sönam Tobgy e Ngawang Jampa Mingyur Paldrön The Fifth Dorje Drak Rigdzin, Kelzang Pema Wangchuk Lhazang Khan AUTHOR Lelung Zhepe Dorje The Magical Lasso: A Prayer of Aspiration to Accomplish Khecara VIEW ALL PUBLICATIONS NEXT PUBLICATION > < PREVIOUS PUBLICATION Home Publications Read Listen Watch People Information About Meet the Team Services Translators Donate Subscribe to our newsletter Support Tib Shelf's ongoing work & Subscribe Today! 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This spontaneous song was composed by Lelung Zhepe Dorje (1697–1740) at Gyala in Kongpo in 1729, at the moment of departure from a gathered assembly of pilgrims and patrons on the threshold of the hidden land of Pemokö. A Spontaneous Song on Departing for Pemokö Above, in the deep blue sky, Five-coloured rainbow light swirls; In the spontaneously arising great palace— Dwells the sole father, Great Orgyen, together with consort and ḍākinīs— Please bestow upon the fortunate men and women gathered here, Supreme and common siddhis. Pemokö in the eastern direction, The second pure Khechara— We yogis who have turned our backs on our homeland, Without attachment or clinging, Depart to establish the instructions of the lamas and ḍākinīs. May all the patrons gathered here remain in good health. We, vajra brothers and sisters, Wholeheartedly directing our minds to the three-root deities, Set out with delight. Since illness and joy, death and ease are all certain, There is not the slightest hope or fear. The concerns of lamas and leaders, The narrow hope of seeking refuge, [2] The fetters of kin, friends, and monastery— The knotted shackle of both this and future lives Since we yogis are unbound by these things— we live as we please. Even though we return, it is with happiness; Even though we die on the road, it is with joy. Whether we stay or go, there is neither attachment nor clinging. If you wish to compete with us— come in this way. I make only this aspiration— to behold your fine faces once again. With that, I sang songs of whatever arose and beat out the dance. Amid the buzzing of the melodic recitation of the three syllables HŪṂ PHAṬ BHYOḤ, whistling songs, flute, hand-drum, and damaru, I went forth with leaping, running, and gazes of rigpa's tantric conduct. COLOPHON None NOTES [1] This spontaneous song was sung in Pemokö by Lelung Zhepe Dorje in 1729, and is found in his travel account entitled Pleasant and Truthful Words: Directions to the Supreme Pilgrimage Site of Pemak o. Lelung had embarked on an expedition to open the sacred sites of Pemokö having been commanded in a vision by Gesar Gyalpo. Far from a gentle paradise, he describes the region as a perilous landscape filled with venomous snakes, swarms of insects, predatory beasts, hostile tribes, and debilitating illnesses—fevers, swelling, blisters, tumours, and pustules—as well as malevolent spirits displaying magical emanations. By this point in the journey, Lelung had reached the rugged Gyala region in Kongpo with a small group of close companions, including consorts, mediums, and advanced practitioners. Having just bestowed empowerments and offered a great feast for local patrons and pilgrims, who remained behind, he and his inner circle prepared to press onward into the hidden land. It is at this moment of departure, as the expedition leaves the settled world and enters deeper into Pemokö, that he bursts into spontaneous song. [ 2 ] This is an interesting sentence and should be read in the context of having a narrow mind towards only certain lamas or traditions contrary to the spirit of non-sectarianism that Lelung Zhepe Dorje embodied. Photo credit: Photograph © Thomas Laird, from The Dalai Lama's Secret Temple: Tantric Wall Paintings from Tibet , Ian A. Baker (Thames & Hudson, 2011) Published: March 2026 BIBLIOGRAPHY Lelung Jedrung Zhepe Dorje (Sle lung rje drung bZhad paʼi rdo rje). 1983a. "Gnas mchog Padmo bkod du bgrod paʼi lam yig." In Sle lung rje drung bZhad paʼi rdo rjeʼi gsung ʼbum , v., 389–493. Leh: Sonam, T. and Tashigang, D.L. BDRC W22130 . Abstract This spontaneous song was composed by Lelung Zhepe Dorje in 1729 at Gyala in Kongpo, on the threshold of the hidden land of Pemokö. It is preserved in his travel account Pleasant and Truthful Words: Directions to the Supreme Pilgrimage Site of Pemokö , which records his expedition to open its sacred sites within a harsh and formidable landscape. Having just bestowed empowerments and presided over a great feast for a large gathering of local patrons and pilgrims, Lelung set out once more with his close circle of companions—consorts, mediums, and practitioners, leaving the wider assembly behind. It was at this charged moment of departure, as they pressed onward into the wilderness, that this spontaneous song arose. [1] BCRC W22130 DOWNLOAD TRANSLATION GO TO TRANSLATION LISTEN TO AUDIO 00:00 / 00:27 TRADITION Geluk | Nyingma INCARNATION LINE Lelung Jedrung HISTORICAL PERIOD 18th Century TEACHERS The Sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso The Fifth Panchen Lama, Lobzang Yesh e Damchö Zangpo Mingyur Paldrön Chöje Lingpa Dönyö Khedrup The First Purchok, Ngawang Jampa Ngawang Chödrak Yeshe Gyatso Damchö Gyatso Losal Gyatso Lhundrub Gyatso Dungkar Tsangyang Drukdrak The Second Dzogchen Drubwang, Gyurme Tekchok Tendzin TRANSLATOR Tib Shelf INSTITUTIONS Lelung Monastery Mindröling Ngari Dratsang Chökhor Gyal Trandruk Potala Tsāri STUDENTS Kunga Mingyur Dorj e Dorje Yom e Kunga Paldzom Lobzang Lhachok Dönyö Khedrub Polhane Sönam Tobgy e Ngawang Jampa Mingyur Paldrön The Fifth Dorje Drak Rigdzin, Kalzang Pema Wangchuk Lhasang Khan AUTHOR Lelung Zhepe Dorje A Spontaneous Song on Departing for Pemokö VIEW ALL PUBLICATIONS NEXT PUBLICATION > < PREVIOUS PUBLICATION Home Publications Read Listen Watch People Information About Meet the Team Services Translators Donate Subscribe to our newsletter Support Tib Shelf's ongoing work & Subscribe Today! Name * Email* Submit Tib Shelf is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to translating, presenting and preserving primary source Tibetan texts across a vast array of genres and time periods. We make these literary treasures accessible to readers worldwide, offering a unique window into Tibet's rich history, culture and traditions. Tib Shelf has been accredited by the British Library with the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN): 2754–1495 CONTACT US | SHELVES@TIBSHELF.ORG © 2024 Tib Shelf. All rights reserved.

Geluk Founder Tsongkhapa Lobzang Dragpa 1357–1419 BDRC P64 TREASURY OF LIVES LOTSAWA HOUSE HAR Tsongkhapa Lobzang Dragpa was the founder of Gelugpa order, the most dominant religious sect in the history of Tibet. At the age of sixteen, he traveled from Tsongkha in Amdo to Utsang, central Tibet, a place where he came to influence greatly. He was a prominent teacher, philosopher, and yogi during a time when Buddhist intellectualism developed considerably. He emphasized the monastic code, reinterpreted Madhyamaka philosophy, inaugurated the Great Prayer Festival (Mönlam Chemo), founded Ganden Monastery, and composed his most famous work, The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (Lamrim Chenmo ). His intellectual legacy changed the course of Tibetan history and is still very much alive. Praises In Praise of the Goddess Sarasvatī Tsongkhapa Lobzang Dragpa Tsongkhapa's celebrated ode to Sarasvatī resonates beyond monastery walls into Tibet's artistic and literary spheres, becoming a cultural touchstone of devotional poetry. Read Translated Works Mentioned In Menu Close Home Publications Read Listen Watch People Information About Meet the Team Services Translators Donate Research Tool Privacy Policy & Terms of Use SUBSCRIBE Publications Watch People Listen

Getse Lama Jigme Ngotsar Gyatso, disciple of Jigme Lingpa and founder of Kilung Monastery, spread the Longchen Nyingtik teachings while establishing his own enduring legacy. Biography Of Getse Lama Jigme Ngotsar Gyatso Getse Lama Jigme Ngotsar Gyatso, the disciple of Rigzin Jigme Lingpa and the Third Dzogchen [Drubwang, Ngedön Tenzin Zangpo], was born in the Iron Dog year of the twelfth sexagenary cycle, 1730, into a pure noble family of the renowned nomadic clan of Getse. [ 1 ] This was in a sacred place protected by the prominent local guardian Dorje Penchuktsal of the god class, near the slow-flowing Dachu River, which belongs to a region of Derge in Dokham [eastern Tibet]. [ 2 ] His household was headed by his father Nyingbum Gyal, a chieftain of Getse, and his mother Drölma. [ 3 ] Since his early years, he clearly displayed signs of being an excellent person, such as having faith [in Buddhism] and renunciation. When he was young, he left a clear footprint in the stone as if trampling the mud, as he subdued a samaya-breaking evil spirit by manifesting in the form of Guru Drakpo and bounded it by oath. Once, looking to the southwest, he exclaimed: “I’m so delighted that the Yarlung valley will have a good harvest this year!” The elders sitting there inquired, “Why are you happy about the harvest in the Yarlung valley?” He replied: “Because my teacher from previous lives, the omniscient Second Buddha, lives there.” On another occasion, when all the local people were upset about having to pay the yearly tax to the kingdom of Derge, he made the following statement to his father: “You may be afraid of these chieftains now, but when I’m older, I’ll be the Derge king’s preceptor, and there’ll even be a time when I’ll be the object of their worship.” Through such assertions, he displayed mastery over the superknowledges and signs of a siddha. Since the age of eight or nine, he trained in writing and reading, which he had no difficulty comprehending. He also became proficient in the daily liturgical texts of the Dzogchen tradition [held at his monastery]. At the age of thirteen, he went to the mother monastery, Rudam Orgyen Samten Chöling, and was ordained by his spiritual mentor Sengdruk Pema Tashi. [ 4 ] Then, he took the bodhisattva vows of the two oral teachings from Gyalse Zhenpen Taye. [ 5 ] Additionally, learned and accomplished ones of this monastic center, such as the Jewön Pema Kundröl Namgyal, Ngedön Tenzin Zangpo, and so on, bestowed upon him maturating empowerments and liberating instructions of the Oral Transmission and the Revealed Treasures, as well as endless instructions on the traditions of sūtra and mantra. [ 6 ] Because of these trainings, he became known as Getse Lama Sönam Tenzin (“Meritorious Doctrine-Holding Lama of Getse”). [ 7 ] Then, when he was about thirty, as all the interdependent phenomena coincided—the deities’ [520] divine, symbolic prophecies, and Ngedön Tendzin Zangpo’s requests—it became evident that the time was ripe. Therefore, he went to meet his lineage lord of many lives, the Omniscient Lama Jigme Khyentse Özer. [ 8 ] After he was lovingly accepted as a disciple, he was given the name Jigme Ngotsar Gyatso, and became one of the heart disciples known as the Four Jigmes. [ 9 ] For a long time, he adhered to the three pleasing ways, [ 10 ] and as a result he received the general oral and treasure teachings of the Early Translations school, as well as tantras, transmissions, and pith instructions of the highest vehicle—the Secret Heart Essence, as if filling a vase to the brim. [ 11 ] He attained the highest view of realization after penetrating the vital points of the practice. At one point the Omniscient Lama [Jigme Lingpa] predicted: “Now, you will go to Dokham. There, you’ll establish a monastic community of the Heart Essence teachings and build a two-story temple on the scale of sixteen pillars, with newly constructed statues and sacred objects. This will benefit the Dharma as well as sentient beings extensively.” He then named the monastery Gönsar Ogmin Rigzin Pelgye Ling. [ 12 ] As for the inner sacred object of worship, he gifted him a chölichima bronze statue of Vajrakumāra in union, [ 13 ] handwritten notes of the Vajrakīlaya tantra tradition, a Kadam “lotus-bouquet” stūpa, a primary blessed kīla wrapped in the high-quality golden silk threads, an elephant tusk, Götsangpa Natsok Rangdröl’s hat, [ 14 ] the Omniscient Lama’s own empowerment hat, and offerings. He also bestowed a ceremonial bell of Chinese darlima bronze, [ 15 ] a silver-brimmed cup made from a yeti’s skull, a handmade life-force chakra of the three protectors Ekajaṭī, Rāhula and Vajrasādhu, a longevity arrow made of white sandalwood, nine wall-sized tangkas based on Ocean of the Eight Heruka's Pronouncement painted in gold on a black field, and a portrait of the Omniscient Lama. [ 16 ] Blended into the paint were countless sacred substances—namely, the nose blood of the Omniscient Lama himself, relics of the paṇḍitas, siddhas, and bodhisattvas from India and Tibet, some of the relics had the power to multiply. Powerful guardians of the Heart Essence such as Ekajaṭī, Rāhula, Vajrasādhu, and others offered their service by personally unrolling the canvas and preparing the painting materials, such as pigment. The way in which the Omniscient Lama himself created the tangka with his own hands is clearly delineated in the autobiography, An Ear of Grain Comprised of Excellent Deeds . [ 17 ] When this excellent master, Lama Jigme Ngotsar Gyasto, insistently requested the supreme Omniscient Lama [Jigme Lingpa] to ride out to Domé one time to carry out the earth-taming liturgy and site consecration for the temple, [ 18 ] the Omniscient Lama responded: “I’m now burdened with old age. Even if I were to go, the environment of a distant land wouldn’t suit me. There’s little need to do so and more reasons to say no.” Then the Omniscient Lama assured him: “Indeed in the past, when the Derge king’s escorts came to invite me, I only gave them [in return] a letter and three representations of body, speech, and mind, without having to go there myself. But student, for you and faithful disciples, signs of blessing and virtue will surely manifest, just as if I were going there myself.” Then the lord [521] ventured to his homeland of Dokham on foot. He surveyed the land for an appropriate site for the monastery but could not find anything for certain. Thus, feeling discouraged, he prayed to his teacher concentratedly. At that time, one night in his dream, three lamas in white robes appeared in a luminous manifestation from the western sky. They used their shawls as wings and, flying like birds, they descended upon the eastern-facing side of the vale. There, by hovering in the sky and performing a vajra dance, they left footprints on a boulder that looked like a white tent and chanted the mantra of Vajrakīlaya. The sounds of the environment and beings of that valley, including the creatures, plants, earth, stones, river, and so on, naturally resonated with the chant of Vajrakīlaya. The next day, in a group of five, the master and his disciples departed. In accordance with his dream, they found that the valley and the boulder with footprints were exactly there. The location of the monastery was thus identified. Because the vale possessed the natural sounds of Vajrakīlaya and was an empowered abode of the great, glorious Kīla, it was named Kilung (“Valley of Vajrakīlaya”). [ 19 ] At this sacred site, there was a housewife named Tashi Chözom. [ 20 ] As they went to a yak-hair tent, she held a ladle full of milk to welcome the master and his disciples. Auspicious connections, such as this, naturally coincided. Around the same time, the king of Derge requested a divination from the Omniscient Jigme Lingpa and Do Drubwang Rinpoche to see what kind of rituals should be performed for the prince. They said [to the king]: “Jigme Ngotsar, the disciple of the Omniscient Jigme Lingpa and a wonderful and fearless yogin practicing the Vajrakīlaya teachings, lives in Getse, which is in your jurisdiction. Invite him and command that he must not only perform a Vajrakīlaya drubchen ceremony but also give a longevity empowerment.” Accordingly, an important minister was specifically dispatched to invite him to the capital, where he fulfilled the wishes of the king, the queen, and the prince. The lord received innumerable worship for his service and all the required resources for establishing the new monastery. As soon as everything related to the monastery and the sacred objects it houses was completed, the great siddha Jigme Trinle Özer and the lord Jigme Ngotsar, with a hundred monks, performed a consecration ceremony. [ 21 ] Tens of regional people became permanent monks in the monastery, and the theories and practices of the Victor’s teachings were conducted as time went by. Especially, throughout the summer and winter, the lord continuously turned the wheel of the Dharma of the Great Perfection’s Secret Heart Essence. As a result, countless great disciples, who were sure to be inheritors of the lineage, arose: Jigme Gyalwe Nyugu, Mahāsattva Paltrul Rinpoche, Do Khyentse , and so on. [ 22 ] At that time, Ritrö Rigzin Gyatso, the great treasure revealer Nyima Drakpa’s heart disciple, and the first tulku of Mura in Dza, a great spiritual mentor and emanation of the noble and supreme Avalokiteśvara, resided in the Gödum valley in upper Dza, engaging in the essential practice and establishing a domain where people adopted virtue and abandoned evil deeds. [ 23 ] There he lived as a great being, benefiting whomever he encountered through such deeds as constructing, for the glorious merit of gods and humans, the Mura Dokhar Chenmo (“Mura Maṇi Wall”). [ 24 ] [522] The wall was replete with a great many collections of Dharmas carved onto stone plates—the Kangyur, Tengyur, and an incredible amount of dhāraṇīs and mantras. After being invited to the monastic seat, he was entrusted with the teachings of Gönsar Ogmin Rigzin Pelgye Ling. Having exhibited the completion of his disciples’ training for the time being, the lord [Lama Jigme Ngotsar Gyatso] passed into nirvāṇa around sixty years old. Subsequently, the second [Kilung] reincarnation, Jigdral Chokle Namgyal, born in Troshul of lower Dza, was identified by [the Fourth Dzogchen Drubwang] Mingyur Namkhe Dorje. His incarnation, Jigme Trinle Dorje, was born in the lower part of Getse. Along with Jigme Trinle Dorje’s reincarnation, Shedrub Nyide Özer, this lineage of tulkus sat on the monastic seat in succession. Because of them, the teaching there kept flourishing. [ 25 ] COLOPHON None NOTES [1] ’jigs med ngo mtshar rgya mtsho, b. 1730~1750, BDRC P2881 ; ’jigs med gling pa, 1730–1798, BDRC P314 ; rdzogs chen grub dbang 03 nges don bstan ’dzin bzang po, 1759–1792, BDRC P7404 ; dge rtse, BDRC C2CN10983 [2] rdo rje ’phan phyug rtsal; sde dge, BDRC G1539 [3] dge rtshe’i dpon po snying ’bum rgyal; sgrol ma [4] rdzogs chen ru dam o rgyan bsam gtan chos gling, BDRC G16 ; seng phrug pad+ma bkra shis, b. 1798, BDRC P2914 [5] rgyal sras gzhan phan mtha yas ’od zer, 1800–1855, BDRC P697 [6] rje dbon pad+ma kun grol rnam rgyal, 1706–1773, BDRC P6006 ; The Oral Transmission and Revealed Treasures are two primary transmissions of the Nyingma tradition. [7] dge rtse’i bla ma bsod rnams bstan ’dzin [8] ’jigs med mkhyen brtse’i ’od zer [9] The Four Jigmes were the heart disciples of Jigme Lingpa: (1) Dodrubchen Jigme Trinle Özer, (2) Jigme Gyalwe Nyugu (’jigs med rgyal ba’i myu gu 01, 1765–1842, BDRC P695 ), (3) Jigme Ngotsar Gyatso, and (4) Jigme Kundröl Namgyal (’jigs med kun grol rnam rgyal, b. 1719, BDRC P2AG29 ). Alternatively, there is a list concerning the Four Jigmes from Kham in which Jigme Kundröl Namgyal is replaced by Jigme Gocha (rig ’dzin ’jigs med go cha, b. 1763, BDRC P9099 ). See “Four Jikmes.” [10] The disciple pleases his teacher through material offerings, service, and practice. [11] rgyud lung man ngag [tantra, transmission, and pith instruction] can refer to the teachings of Mahāyoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga of the Nyingma tradition; gsang pa nying thig [12] dgon gsar ’og min rig ’dzin ’phel rgyas gling [13] Another name for Vajrakīlaya [14] Götsang pa Natsok Rangdröl (rgod tshang pa sna tshogs rang grol, 1605/1608–1677, BDRC P1687 ). [15] A kind of Chinese bronze. [16] dpal chen bka’ ’dus rgya mtsho, BDRC T01JR183 [17] Emending legs bshad yongs ’dus snye ma to legs byas yongs ’du’i snye ma; kun mkhyen ’jigs med gling pa’i rnam thar legs byas yongs ’du’i snye ma, BDRC WA4CZ1260 [18] mdo smad [19] kiHlung dgon, BDRC G3955 [20] bkra shis chos ’dzoms [21] rdo grub chen 01 'jigs med ’phrin las ’od zer, 1745–1821, BDRC P293 [22] rdza dpal sprul o rgyan ’jigs med chos kyi dbang po, 1808–1887, BDRC P270 ; mdo mkhyen brtse ye shes rdo rje, 1800–1866, BDRC P698 [23] mu ra 01 ri khrod rig ’dzin rgya mtsho, BDRC P2JM457 ; rig ’dzin nyi ma grags pa, 1647–1710, BDRC P425 ; mu ra sprul sku’i skye brgyud, BDRC R8LS13176 ; mgos zlum; rdza stod, BDRC G2328 [24] mu ra’i rdo mkhar chen mo [25] This section contains the continuation of the Kilung incarnational line that began with the First Kilung Getse Lama Jigme Ngotsar Gyatso. Those listed in the text are as follows: the Second Kilung Jigdral Chogle Namgyal (kiHlung 02 ’jigs bral phyogs las rnam rgyal, 1836–1886) born in Troshul (khro shul) and recognized by the Fourth Dzogchen Drubwang Mingyur Namkhe Dorje (rdzogs chen grub dbang 04 mi ’gyur nam mkha’i rdo rje, 1793–1870, BDRC P1710 ); the Third Kilung Jigme Trinle Dorje, also known as Jigme Pema Dorje (kiHlung 03 ’jigs med phrin las rdo rje, 1887–1929); and the Fourth Kilung Shedrub Nyide Özer (kiHlung 04 bshad sgrub nyi zla’i ’od zer, 1931–1965). See “Kilung Incarnation Line.” BIBLIOGRAPHY bstan ’dzin lung rtogs nyi ma. dge rtse’i bla ma ’jigs med ngo mtshar rgya mtsho (22). In snga ’gyur rdzogs chen chos ’byung chen mo, 519–22. pe cin: krung go'i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang, 2004. BDRC W27401 . “Four Jikmes.” Rigpa Shedra Wiki. January 5, 2020. https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Four_Jikmes . “Kilung Incarnation Line.” Rigpa Shedra Wiki. February 12, 2020. https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Kilung_Incarnation_Line . Abstract Holder of the Longchen Nyingtik, disciple of Jigme Lingpa, and founder of Kilung Monastery, Jigme Ngotsar Gyatso, aka Getse Lama Sönam Tenzin, helped establish and promulgate the teachings of his masters. Come take a glimpse into the enlightened life of this master by reading his concise biography, penned by Tenzin Lungtok Nyima. BDRC LINK W27401 DOWNLOAD TRANSLATION GO TO TRANSLATION LISTEN TO AUDIO 00:00 / 00:27 TRADITION Nyingma INCARNATION LINE Getse Lama HISTORICAL PERIOD 18th Century 19th Century TEACHERS Jigme Lingpa Third Dzogchen Drubwang, Ngedön Tenzin Zangpo The Third Shechen Rabjam, Paljor Gyatso Bala Tashi Gyatso The First Dobrubchen, Jigme Trinle Özer Sengdruk Pema Tash i Gyalse Zhenpen Taye Özer Jewön Pema Kundröl Namgyal TRANSLATOR Shengnan Dong INSTITUTIONS Katok Monastery Dzogchen Monastery Palyul Monastery Samye Chimpu Kilung Monastery STUDENTS The Fourth Dzogchen Drubwang, Mingyur Namkhe Dorje Patrul Orgyen Jigme Chökyi Wangpo Orgyen Chechok Palgyi Dorje Gyalse Zhenpen Taye Özer Orgyen Drodul Lingpa Jigme Trinle Dorje Shedrub Nyide Özer Jigme Gyalwe Nyugu Dola Jigme Kalzang The Third Mura, Pema Dechen Zangpo AUTHOR Tenzin Lungtok Nyima Biography Of Getse Lama Jigme Ngotsar Gyatso VIEW ALL PUBLICATIONS NEXT PUBLICATION > < PREVIOUS PUBLICATION Home Publications Read Listen Watch People Information About Meet the Team Services Translators Donate Subscribe to our newsletter Support Tib Shelf's ongoing work & Subscribe Today! 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Through verse, Dudul Dorje explores addiction and worldly attachments, revealing how these forms of suffering stem from the clinging mind itself. Addiction [1] གུ་རུ་པདྨ་སིདྷི་ཧཱུྃ༔ GURU PADMA SIDDHI HŪṂ! [2] ཨེ་མ་དཀོན་མཆོག་འགྲོ་མགོན་པདྨ་འབྱུང༔ འཁོར་བའི་ཞེན་ཆགས་བྲལ་བར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས༔ Eh ma! supreme jewel, protector of beings—Lotus-Born One, Please bless me to sever my fixed attachment to saṃsāra! གཉུག་མར་རང་གསལ་ཆང་འདི་མ་འཐུང་ན༔ བྲམ་ཟེ་ཆང་མྱོས་འདི་ལ་མཐོང་ཚེ་ཡི་རེ་མུག༔ གཤིས་ལུགས་ཀ་དག་གི་ནོར་མཆོག་མ་མཐོང་ནས༔ བསླུས་ནོར་ཞེན་འཛིན་འདི་མཐོང་ཚེ་ཞེ་རེ་ལོག༔ How sad it is to see a brahmin [ 3 ] dissipated on drink, Having failed to imbibe the innate nature’s self-luminosity. When you don’t appreciate the supreme jewel of your primordially pure makeup, When you hang on to the counterfeit jewel of consuming fixation—this pains my soul .[ 4 ] མར་དམྱལ་བ་ཚ་གྲང་གི་སྡུག་བསྔལ་ཐར་མེད་དེ༔ བུ་རང་རྒྱུད་ཞེ་སྡང་གི་རྩ་དེར་འདུག༔ ཡི་དྭགས་བཀྲེས་སྐོམ་གྱི་སྡུག་བསྔལ་བཟོད་མེད་དེ༔ བུ་རང་རྒྱུད་སེར་སྣའི་རྩ་དེར་འདུག༔ The inescapable, harrowing heat and cold of hell below ,[ 5 ] My dear, [ 6 ] are rooted in your mind’s hostility. The ghost’s overwhelming, burning hunger and thirst, My dear, are rooted in your mind’s rapacity. བྱོལ་སོང་བླུན་རྨོངས་སྡུག་བསྔལ་བཟོད་མེད་དེ༔ བུ་རང་རྒྱུད་གཏི་མུག་གི་རྩ་དེར་འདུག༔ ལྷ་མིན་འཐབ་རྩོད་གྱི་སྡུག་བསྔལ་བཟོད་མེད་དེ༔ བུ་རང་རྒྱུད་ཕྲག་དོག་གི་རྩ་དེར་འདུག༔ The benighted brainlessness of a beast, My dear, is rooted in your mind’s vacuity. The asuras’ acidic quarrels ,[ 7 ] My dear, are rooted in your mind’s envy. འཆི་འཕོ་ལྟུང་བའི་སྡུག་བསྔལ་དོང་རིང་དེ༔ བུ་རང་རྒྱུད་འདོད་ཆགས་ཀྱི་རྩ་དེར་འདུག༔ དེ་ལྟར་དབུལ་ཕོངས་ཀྱི་སྡུག་བསྔལ་དེ༔ བུ་སྦྱིན་གཏོང་གཉིས་པོའི་རྩ་དེར་འདུག༔ The nightmarish chute of your fall from grace, [ 8 ] My dear, [241/242] is rooted in your mind’s indulgences. Likewise, my dear, the pauper’s pain Shares its root with the two kinds of giving .[ 9 ] འཁོར་འདས་ཤེས་བྱའི་ཐ་སྙད་དེ༔ བུ་རེ་དོགས་གཉིས་ཀྱི་རྩ་དེར་འདུག༔ བུ་རྫོགས་སངས་རྒྱས་པ་ཞེས་བྱའི་སྒྲ་ཆེ་དེ༔ བུ་རང་རིག་སྐྱེ་མེད་ཀྱི་ཀློང་དེར་འདུག༔ The conventions known as saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, My dear, are rooted in your hopes and fears. My dear, what’s called “exalted, perfect awakening,” Is there, my dear, in the unborn expanse of your self-knowing awareness. ཡིན་མིན་འབུང་བའི་གླུ་ཆུང་འདི༔ རང་འདྲའི་ཞེན་ཆགས་རྟག་འཛིན་མཁན་རྣམས་ལ༔ མཆོག་སྨན་ཆུའི་དབེན་ཁྲོད་དུ༔ འབུང་བའི་གླུ་ཆུང་སྨྲས་པ་ཟེར་རོ༔ This little song about the struggles of dignity— [ 10 ] For those like me who are hooked and think things last forever— Was sung with sincerity In isolated retreat where sublime Healing Waters flow. [ 11 ] COLOPHON ཧ་ཧ༔ དགེ་བས་འགྲོ་ཀུན་བུདྡྷ་མྱུར་འགྲུབ་ཤོག༔ རིག་འཛིན་བདུད་འདུལ་རྡོ་རྗེ་ཡིས༔ སྨན་ཆུའི་ཡང་དབེན་དུ་སྨྲས་པ་ཟེར་རོ༔ མངྒ་ལམ༔ Ha ha! By the good of this, may all beings quickly attain buddhahood. This little poem was written in the Healing Waters of total solitude .[ 12 ] By Rigzin Dudul Dorje. Maṅgalam NOTES [1] The title is literally “The Drawbacks of Alcohol.” In classical Tibetan literature, and even today, alcohol (chang) is used as a catch-all term for addictive substances. This is no doubt largely because, until recently, there was little access to other addictive substances on the Tibetan plateau, with the exception of tobacco and occasional opioid abuse among the economic elite (See McKay, “Indifference, Cultural Difference, and a Porous Frontier: Some Remarks on the History of Recreational Drugs in the Tibetan Cultural World”). We choose to render the title more openly as “addiction” since it does not focus on alcohol but on the mind afflicted by addictions to its own poisons. [2] The only edition we find of this text has rather curious punctuation. Each line ends with Sanskrit visarga marks (ཿ ), which are very commonly conflated with Tibetan terma marks (༔) that indicate a text is a revealed treasure. Since Dudul Dorje was a treasure revealer, his works are full of terma marks, however, the present poem shows virtually none of the characteristics of a treasure text and seems to be a personal composition intended for his student. Thus, the use of the visarga/terma marks may just be an editorial quirk. [3] Brahmin (bram ze): the highest caste in traditional Indian social strata. Brahmins are distinguished by their access to the sacred Vedic scriptures, which are the source of all knowledge. As a seventeenth-century Tibetan, Dudul Dorje likely uses the term figuratively as something like the English “gentleman,” as in someone whose nature is essentially good. Thus, the line might be read in contemporary English as “One hates to see a good man in the throes of addiction.” [4] “Soul” here is in the figurative sense of one’s innermost being (zhe), not, of course, in the non-Buddhist metaphysical sense of a permanent self. There are synonymic resonances in this stanza between “soul” (zhe), “innate nature” (gnyug ma), and “makeup” (gshis lugs), which is more commonly translated as “disposition,” “character,” or the extremely long “fundamentally unconditioned nature.” [5] This and the following stanzas have a repeating structure in which lines 1 and 3 repeat the word “suffering” (sdug bsngal) + an intensifier like “inescapable” (thar med) or “unbearable" ( b zod med). Since the meaning of the lines is unambiguous, rather than render a stiff word-for-word translation of the repeated phrases, we prefer to use evocative synonyms for each in accord with English stylistic conventions. [6] The word here is literally “son,” which is a common term of affection that a lama uses to address a close male student. We believe that in the present context, the term’s affectionateness is more important than its gender, and that using “son” might create needless confusion about whether he’s referring to his literal son or not. A good alternative is sometimes “dear student,” but we reluctantly choose “my dear” because it is slightly lighter in the meter. [7] Asuras (lha min) can be translated as “demi-gods”—powerful and privileged beings tormented by competitiveness with the gods who are even more powerful and privileged. [8] This line uses a phrase associated with the experience of gods when their positive karma runs out, and they traumatically descend back into lower realms. [9] Two kinds of giving (sbyin gtong gnyis po) is synonymous with two kinds of generosity (sbyin pa gnyis), which are the giving of things (zang zing gi sbyin pa) and the giving of Dharma (chos kyi sbyin pa). This line seems to emphasize that suffering and wholesome categories like generosity both have their root in the mind. [10] This interesting line deserves unpacking. It is literally “is and is not” (yin min) + “making effort” (’bung ba) + of + “little song” (glu chung). The phrase “is and is not” usually concerns moral questions of what is and is not good or right, so the line could be read as “this little poem about right and wrong.” Here, we prefer to handle it slightly more delicately since Dudul Dorje does not emphasize ethics in the poem but rather the epistemology of a mind addicted to its poisons. This is how we arrived at “the struggles of dignity (i.e., self-respect).” [11] sman chu dben khrod. This is almost certainly a place name, as in the sublime “Healing Waters Hermitage.” However, since we cannot confirm its location, we prefer to translate the terms, which have some poetic value. [12] Again, here “Healing Waters” (sman chu) is likely the name of the hermitage where he stayed. Dudul Dorje spent many years in retreat and revealing treasures in remote places, especially in the southern Tibetan regions of Powo (spo bo), Kongpo (kong po), and Pemakö (pad+ma bkod). Published: September 2023 Thanks to Lowell Cook for this editorial feedback. BIBLIOGRAPHY Dudul Dorje (bdud ’dul rdo rje). chang gi nyes dmigs. In gter chos bdud ʼdul rdo rje, 3:249–50. Edited by Zhichen Bairo (gzhi chen bai ro 03 padma rgyal mtshan). Darjeeling: Kargyud Sungrab Nyamso Khang, 1997. BDRC MW22123_D2C055 . McKay, Alex, Alex. “Indifference, Cultural Difference, and a Porous Frontier: Some Remarks on the History of Recreational Drugs in the Tibetan Cultural World.” The Tibet Journal 39, no. 1, Special Issue: Trade, Travel and the Tibetan Border Worlds: Essays in Honour of Wim van Spengen (1943–2013) (Spring-Summer 2014): 57–73. Abstract Using poetic verses, this work delves into the theme of addiction, whilst emphasizing the destructive nature of clinging to worldly attachments. Dudul Dorje draws parallels between various forms of suffering and the importance of recognizing that they are rooted in the mind. BDRC LINK MW22123_ D2C055 DOWNLOAD TRANSLATION GO TO TRANSLATION LISTEN TO AUDIO 00:00 / 02:02 TRADITION Nyingma INCARNATION LINE Dudjom Lingpa Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje HISTORICAL PERIOD 17th Century TEACHERS Drenpa Könchok Gyal Jatsön Nyingpo Derge Drubchen Kunga Gyatso TRANSLATOR Dr. Joseph McClellan INSTITUTION Katok Monastery STUDENTS Wangdrak Dorje Longsal Nyingpo Orgyen Palzang Nyima Drakpa Kunzang Pema Loden The First Dzogchen Drubwang, Pema Rigzin Nuden Dorje Orgyen Damchö Pal Tashi Özer AUTHOR Dudul Dorje Addiction VIEW ALL PUBLICATIONS NEXT PUBLICATION > < PREVIOUS PUBLICATION Home Publications Read Listen Watch People Information About Meet the Team Services Translators Donate Subscribe to our newsletter Support Tib Shelf's ongoing work & Subscribe Today! 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Do Khyentse's final aspirational prayer from his Dzinpa Rangdröl treasures, concluding the Exceedingly Secret Enlightened Heart Essence of the Ḍākinī collection. The Truthful Words of a Sage ཨེ་མ་ཧོ༔ emaho Emaho! ཆོས་སྐུ་རྡོར་འཆང་ལོངས་སྐུ་རྡོ་རྗེ་སེམས༔ chöku dor chang longku dorjé sem Dharmakaya Vajradhara, Sambhogakaya Vajrasattva, སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་དྲང་སྲོང་དྲི་མེད་གསང་བའི་བདག༔ tulku drangsong drimé sangwé dak Nirmanakaya Stainless Sage Loktripala, [ 1 ] དགའ་རབ་ཤྲཱི་སེང་པད་འབྱུང་བཱི་མ་ལ༔ garab shri seng pejung bi ma la Garab Dorje, Shri Simha, Padmakara, Vimalamitra, ཀུན་འདུས་རྩ་བའི་བླ་མ་ཐོད་ཕྲེང་རྩལ༔ kündü tsawé lama tötreng tsal The embodiment of all— root Guru Totrengtsel རྩ་གསུམ་ལྷ་དང་དྲང་སྲོང་རིག་འཛིན་ཚོགས༔ tsa sum lha dang drangsong rigdzin tsok The deities of the three roots and the assemblies of sages and vidyadharas, བདག་གི་བདེན་ཚིག་འགྲུབ་པའི་དཔང་པོར་བཞུགས༔ dak gi dentsik drubpé pangpor shuk Remain here as witness to the accomplishment of my truthful words. ཐོག་མར་འཁྲུལ་པ་ནས་བཟུང་ད་ལྟའི་བར༔ tokmar trulpa né zung danté bar Since the dawn of delusion until this moment in time, སྲིད་འདིར་བདག་ལུས་གྲངས་མེད་བླངས་གྱུར་ཀྱང༔ si dir dak lü drangmé lang gyur kyang We have taken countless births in this [conditioned] existence. སྟོང་ཉིད་བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་ཀྱིས་མ་ཟིན་པས༔ tongnyi changchub sem kyi mazinpé Yet, as we have not seized the mind of emptiness-bodhicitta, ད་དུང་ཆགས་སྡང་འཆིང་བ་དམ་པོས་བཅིང༔ dadung chakdang chingwa dampö ching We are fettered by the tight shackles of attachment and aversion and བདག་ནི་མ་རིག་འཐིབས་པོས་བསྒྲིབས་ལགས་ཀྱང་༔ dak ni marik tibpö drib lak kyang Are still enveloped by the darkness of non-recognition. བླ་མའི་ཐུགས་བསྐྱེད་དུས་སུ་སྨིན་པ་ཡིས༔ lamé tukkyé dü su minpa yi But by the timely ripening of the guru’s kind aspirations, བདག་ཅག་ཡང་གསང་རྡོ་རྗེའི་ལམ་དང་ཕྲད༔ dakchak yangsang dorjé lam dang tré We have met the exceedingly secret indestructible path. ད་ནི་ཆགས་སྡང་སྒྲོག་ལས་གྲོལ་བར་ཤོག༔ dani chakdang drok lé drolwar shok May we be freed from the restraints of attachment and aversion this very instant. གྲངས་མེད་སྐྱེ་བར་ལས་ཀྱིས་འབྲེལ་པ་ཡི༔ drangmé kyewar lé kyi drelpa yi Connected by the karma of innumerable lives, ཐབས་ལམ་རྣམ་པར་རོལ་པའི་བདེ་ཆེན་གྲོགས༔ tab lam nampar rolpé dechen drok Companions who enjoy great bliss on the path of skilful means, བྱམས་དང་བརྩེ་བས་བསྐྱངས་བའི་ཕ་མ་དང་༔ jam dang tsewé kyangwé pama dang Mothers and fathers who nurture us with love and kindness, དམ་ཚིག་གཅིག་ཏུ་འབྲེལ་བའི་རྡོ་རྗེའི་མཆེད༔ damtsik chik tu drelwé dorjé ché Vajra siblings who are connected by sharing tantric commitments, གཙོ་གྱུར་མཁའ་ཁྱབ་སེམས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀུན༔ tso gyur khakhyab semchen tamché kün Essentially, all sentient beings pervading space— བློ་ལྡོག་རྣམ་པ་བཞི་ཡིས་རྒྱུད་བསྐུལ་ནས༔ lo dok nampa shi yi gyü kul né May we invigorate ourselves through the four [thoughts] that turn the mind [toward practice], རྩེ་གཅིག་དམ་པའི་ཆོས་ལ་བརྩོན་འགྲུས་བསྐྱེད༔ tsechik dampé chö la tsöndrü kyé Develop diligence that is single-pointedly focused on the excellent teachings, བསླབ་པ་གསུམ་གྱི་ཡོན་ཏན་མཐར་ཕྱིན་ཤོག༔ labpa sum gyi yönten tarchin shok And perfect the qualities of the three trainings! མ་ཧཱ་ཨ་ནུ་ཨ་ཏི་ཡོ་ག་ཡི༔ maha anu atiyoga yi May the ripening blessings and four empowerments of སྨིན་བྱེད་བྱིན་རླབས་དབང་བཞིས་རང་རྒྱུད་སྨིན༔ min jé jinlab wang shi ranggyü min Maha, Anu, and Ati yoga mature our mind-streams. བསྐྱེད་དང་རྫོགས་པའི་ལམ་མཆོག་མཐར་ཕྱིན་ནས༔ kyé dang dzokpé lam chok tarchin né May we perfect the supreme paths of the creation and perfection stages, མི་ཉམས་རྡོ་རྗེའི་དམ་ལ་གནས་པར་ཤོག༔ mi nyam dorjé dam la nepar shok And uphold the vajra commitments without any degeneration. བདེ་ཆེན་རང་ལུས་རྒྱལ་བའི་དཀྱིལ་འཁོར་རྫོགས༔ dechen rang lü gyalwé kyilkhor dzok May we perfect the mandala of the victors within our own bodies of great bliss— རྩ་འབྱོངས་རླུང་ཆུན་ཐིག་ལེ་ལས་རུང་ཞིང་༔ tsa jong lung chün tiklé lé rung shing Train the channels, control the energy, and make the essences pliable, དགའ་བཞིའི་ཡེ་ཤེས་སྟེར་བའི་མཛའ་ན་མོར་༔ ga shi yeshe terwé dza namor Inseparably merging energy and mind through སྦྱོར་བས་རླུང་སེམས་དབྱེར་མེད་འདྲེས་པར་ཤོག༔ jorwé lungsem yermé drepar shok Uniting with the consort who bestows the primordial wisdom of the four joys. ལྟ་བ་འཕོ་མེད་ཆོས་སྐུའི་རྒྱལ་ས་ཟིན༔ tawa pomé chökü gyalsa zin May we seize the royal seat of the dharmakaya, the unshifting view, སྒོམ་པ་ཡེང་མེད་འཁྲུལ་གྲོལ་རེ་དོགས་བྲལ༔ gompa yengmé trul drol redok dral Meditate without hope, fear, distraction, and delusion, and སྤྱོད་པ་སྤང་བླང་བྲལ་བ་ཆོས་ཉིད་རྩལ༔ chöpa panglang dralwa chönyi tsal Conduct ourselves free of rejection and acceptance— ཁྲེགས་ཆོད་འབྲས་བུ་གཞི་ལ་རྫོགས་པར་ཤོག༔ trekchö drebu shi la dzokpar shok Resulting in the power of suchness completely cutting through to the ground. ཨ་ཏིའི་ལམ་གྱི་རྩ་བ་འོད་གསལ་གནད༔ ati lam gyi tsawa ösal né May we perfect the fundamental points concerning luminosity on the path of Ati, ཐོད་རྒལ་སྒྲོན་མ་བཞི་ཡི་ལམ་མཆོག་ལ༔ tögal drönma shi yi lam chok la [The meditational stages of] fluctuation, attainment, habituation, stability, and completion གཡོ་ཐོབ་གོམས་བརྟན་མཐར་ཕྱིན་རྩལ་རྫོགས་ནས༔ yo tob gom ten tarchin tsal dzok né Upon the supreme path of the four lamps of leaping-over; བློ་བྲལ་ཆོས་ཟད་ཆེན་པོར་སངས་རྒྱས་ཤོག༔ lodral chö zé chenpor sangye shok May we awaken to the great exhaustion of phenomena devoid of conceptualization. ལམ་ལ་མ་ཞུགས་འབྲེལ་པའི་སེམས་ཅན་ཀུན༔ lam la ma shuk drelpé semchen kün May all connected sentient beings who have not embarked on the path བདག་གིས་དུས་གསུམ་བསགས་པའི་དགེ་ཚོགས་དང་༔ dak gi dü sum sakpé gé tsok dang Awaken on the greatly glorious and blissful Mount Potala རྗེས་འཛིན་སྨོན་ལམ་དྲག་པོའི་མཐུ་ནུས་ཀྱིས༔ jedzin mönlam drakpö tu nü kyi Through the power of this caring and fervent aspiration prayer བདེ་ཆེན་པོ་ཊ་དཔལ་རིར་སངས་རྒྱས་ཤོག༔ dechen pota palrir sangye shok And my accumulated virtuous actions of the three times. བདག་ཉིད་སྐྱེ་ཀུན་རྡོ་རྗེ་སློབ་དཔོན་དང་༔ daknyi kyé kün dorjé lobpön dang May the vajra masters and vajra companions in all my lifetimes ཟབ་ལམ་དགའ་བཞིས་འབྲེལ་པའི་རྡོ་རྗེའི་གྲོགས༔ zablam ga shi drelpé dorjé drok Who are connected by the four joys of the profound path དམ་ཚིག་གཅིག་པའི་མཆེད་ལྕམ་རིག་འཛིན་ཚོགས༔ damtsik chikpé checham rigdzin tsok And the siblings and knowledge holders who share tantric commitments མི་འབྲལ་དཀྱིལ་འཁོར་གཅིག་ཏུ་འཁོད་པར་ཤོག༔ mindral kyilkhor chik tu khöpar shok Never part but be established in the same mandala. སྣ་ཚོགས་ཐབས་ཀྱིས་སེམས་ཅན་དོན་བྱེད་ཅིང་༔ natsok tab kyi semchen dönjé ching May the innumerable billions of emanations སྤྲུལ་པ་བྱེ་བ་ཕྲག་བརྒྱ་གྲངས་མེད་ཀྱིས༔ trulpa jewa trak gya drangmé kyi Who benefit sentient beings through various means རང་རང་སྐད་དུ་ཐབས་མཁས་ཆོས་སྟོན་ཅིང་༔ rang rang ké du tabkhé chö tön ching Skilfully teach the doctrine in their respective languages, འཁོར་བའི་རྒྱ་མཚོ་དོང་ནས་སྤྲུགས་པར་ཤོག༔ khorwé gyatso dong né trukpar shok Dredging the depths of the ocean of cyclic existence. མཐར་ཐུག་ཡབ་ཡུམ་ཐབས་ཤེས་མཆེད་ལྕམ་སྲས༔ tartuk yabyum tabshé checham sé May the children of the father and mother—method and wisdom ལོངས་སྐུ་ཆེན་པོའི་ཉམས་ལེན་མཐར་ཕྱིན་ནས༔ longku chenpö nyamlen tarchin né Ultimately perfect the practice of the great sambhogakaya. ཆོས་དབྱིངས་འོག་མིན་གཞོན་ནུ་བུམ་སྐུའི་ཀློང་༔ chöying womin shönnu bumkü long May they be liberated as a single mandala ཚོམ་བུ་གཅིག་ཏུ་དབྱེར་མེད་གྲོལ་བར་ཤོག༔ tsombu chik tu yermé drolwar shok In the Akanishta space of phenomena, the expanse of the youthful vase body. ཆོས་ཉིད་རང་བཞིན་རྣམ་པར་དག་པ་དང་༔ chönyi rangshin nampar dakpa dang May this aspirational prayer of truthful words be accomplished without obstruction, ཆོས་ཅན་རྒྱུ་འབྲས་བསླུ་བ་མེད་པའི་མཐུས༔ chöchen gyundré luwa mepé tü And the exceedingly secret teachings never wane but flourish far and wide བདེན་ཚིག་སྨོན་ལམ་གེགས་མེད་འགྲུབ་གྱུར་ནས༔ dentsik mönlam gekmé drub gyur né Due to naturally pristine suchness and ཡང་གསང་བསྟན་པ་མི་ནུབ་མཐར་རྒྱས་ཤོག༔ yangsang tenpa mi nub tar gyé shok The infallible power of the causes and results of [conditioned] phenomena. COLOPHON སྨོན་ལམ་དྲང་སྲོང་བདེན་ཚིག་འདི༔ ཡང་གསང་ཐུགས་ཐིག་མཐའ་རྟེན་དུ༔ དྲི་མ་མེད་པའི་གསུང་འཁྲུལ་མེད༔ པདྨ་ཐོད་ཕྲེང་བདག་གིས་ཕབ༔ བདེ་སྟེར་ཌཱཀྐཱིའི་ཁྱད་ནོར་མཛོད༔ ཡི་གེ་རིགས་ཀྱི་བུ་ཡིས་བྲིས༔ This aspiration prayer, The Truthful Words of the Sage, forms the conclusion of The Exceedingly Secret Enlightened Heart Essence. It is the stainless and unmistaken speech originating from Pema Totrengtsel. The words of the exceptionally valuable treasury of the bliss-bestowing dakini were written down by a son of a noble family. ཡང་གསང་ཐིག་ལེ་སྐོར་གསུམ་གྱི༔ བསྟན་པ་ཉི་འོད་ཀུན་ཁྱབ་ནས༔ རྩ་གསུམ་ཌཱཀིའི་བྱིན་ནུས་ལྡན༔ སྲུང་མའི་ཕྲིན་ལས་ཐོགས་མེད་ཤོག༔ May the three cycles of The Exceedingly Secret Enlightened Heart Essence pervade everywhere like the rays of the sun. May the powerful blessings of the three roots and the dakinis as well as the enlightened activities of the guardians be unbound. ས་མ་ཡཱ༔ གུ་ཧྱ༔ མངྒ་ལཾ། ཤུ་བྷཾ༔ Samaya. Guhya. Mangalam. Shubham. རྒྱ་རྒྱ་རྒྱ༔ ཨེ་མ་ཧོ༔ Gya gya gya. Emaho. ༈ ཆོས་ཚུལ་འདི་ཡང་ཉི་ཟླའི་དཀྱིལ་འཁོར་བཞིན། ། chö tsul di yang nyidé kyilkhor shin May this teaching like the mandala of the sun and moon ཕྱོགས་ཀྱི་ཐ་གྲུ་ཀུན་ཏུ་གྲགས་གྱུར་ཅིང་། ། chok kyi tadru küntu drak gyur ching Be renowned throughout every region, བློ་གྲོས་སྣང་བ་རབ་ཏུ་རྒྱས་བྱས་ནས། ། lodrö nangwa rabtu gyé jé né Cause the light of intelligence to fully expand, and སངས་རྒྱས་བསྟན་པ་དར་ཞིང་རྒྱས་པར་ཤོག ། sangye tenpa dar shing gyepar shok The teachings of the buddhas to flourish and spread. ཤླཽ་ཀ་འདི་ཀུན་མཁྱེན་ཀློང་ཆེན་པའི་རྡོ་རྗེའི་གསུང་ངོ་། ། This stanza is the vajra words of the Omniscient Longchenpa. ༈ ངོ་བོ་འགྱུར་མེད་རང་བྱུང་རྡོ་རྗེའི་སྐུ། ། ngowo gyurmé rangjung dorjé ku May the teachings of the three vajras flourish and spread: རང་གདངས་འགག་མེད་བྱང་ཆུབ་རྡོ་རྗེའི་གསུང་། ། rang dang gakmé changchub dorjé sung The vajra body of the natural, unchanging essence, སྤྲོས་བྲལ་དབུ་མ་འཇའ་ལུས་རྡོ་རྗེའི་ཐུགས། ། trödral uma jalü dorjé tuk The vajra speech of the unimpeded, natural enlightened expressions, རྡོ་རྗེ་གསུམ་གྱི་བསྟན་པ་དར་རྒྱས་ཤོག ། dorjé sum gyi tenpa dargyé shok The vajra mind of the rainbow body, the middle way devoid of elaborations. རྒྱལ་དབང་ཉི་མས་བྲིས་སོ།། སརྦ་མངྒ་ལཾ།། Written down by Gyelwang Nyima. Sarva Mangalam NOTES [1] Loktripāla is a wrathful form of Vajrapāņi as found in a treasure text revealed by Nyangrel Nyima Ozer (1124-1192). Thanks to Adam Pearcy at Lotsawa House for his editing Published: December 2020 BIBLIOGRAPHY Ye shes rdo rje. 2009. Smon lam drang srong bden tshig. In Gter chos/_mdo mkhyen brtse ye shes rdo rje, vol. 2. pp. 627–632. Khreng tu'u: Rdzogs chen dpon slob rin po che. BDRC W1PD89990 — 1974. Yang gsang mkha' 'gro'i thugs thig las:_Smon lam drang srong bden tshig. In Mdo mkhyen brtse ye shes rdo rje'i rnam thar, pp. 414–419. Gangtok: Dodrupchen Rinpoche, null. BDRC W18047 Abstract This aspirational prayer of Do Khyentse is the last text in his Natural Liberation of Grasping ( Dzinpa Rangdröl ) treasure cycle located within the Exceedingly Secret Enlightened Heart Essence of the Ḍākinī treasure cache. BDRC LINK W18047 DOWNLOAD TRANSLATION GO TO TRANSLATION LISTEN TO AUDIO 00:00 / 05:16 TRADITION Nyingma INCARNATION LINE Jigme Lingpa HISTORICAL PERIOD 19th Century TEACHERS The Fourth Dzogchen Drubwang, Mingyur Namkhe Dorje The First Dodrubchen, Jigme Trinle Özer Gyurme Tsewang Chokdrub Dola Jigme Kalzang Jigme Gyalwe Nyugu TRANSLATOR Tib Shelf INSTITUTIONS Mahā Kyilung Monastery Katok Monastery Dzogchen Monastery Tseringjong STUDENTS Losal Drölma Tsewang Rabten Nyala Pema Dudul The Second Dodrubchen, Jigme Puntsok Jungne Patrul Orgyen Jigme Chökyi Wangpo The First Dodrubchen, Jigme Trinle Özer Ranyak Gyalse Nyoshul Luntok Tenpe Gyaltsen Özer Taye Kalzang Döndrub Pema Sheja Drime Drakpa Kunzang Tobden Wangpo Gyalse Zhenpen Taye Özer Chöying Tobden Dorje Rigpe Raltri AUTHOR Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje The Truthful Words of a Sage VIEW ALL PUBLICATIONS NEXT PUBLICATION > < PREVIOUS PUBLICATION Home Publications Read Listen Watch People Information About Meet the Team Services Translators Donate Subscribe to our newsletter Support Tib Shelf's ongoing work & Subscribe Today! 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Treasure Revealer Dudul Dorje 1615–1672 BDRC P651 TREASURY OF LIVES PHOTO CREDIT Dudul Dorje, born in 1615 in eastern Tibet's Derge region, was a prominent treasure revealer whose spiritual journey spanned multiple Buddhist traditions. Trained initially in Sakya monasteries, he later embraced Nyingma teachings, receiving profound Dzogchen instructions and undertaking rigorous retreats. Guided by visions and empowered by Padmasambhava, he revealed significant treasure cycles, including texts, sacred objects, and rituals, often while enduring political and personal challenges. His teachings flourished despite resistance, particularly from the Fifth Dalai Lama's administration, and he ultimately found refuge in the southern Tibetan regions of Powo and Kongpo, where he trained influential disciples, opened pilgrimage sites, and preserved esoteric Buddhist practices. Dudul Dorje's legacy endured through his lineage, prominent disciples, and subsequent reincarnations, notably including Dudjom Rinpoche . Instruction Addiction Dudul Dorje Through verse, Dudul Dorje explores addiction and worldly attachments, revealing how these forms of suffering stem from the clinging mind itself. Read Translated Works Mentioned In Menu Close Home Publications Read Listen Watch People Information About Meet the Team Services Translators Donate Research Tool Privacy Policy & Terms of Use SUBSCRIBE Publications Watch People Listen

Jamgön Kongtrul celebrates Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo's mastery of diverse Tibetan spiritual traditions in this reverent biographical account. Abbreviated Biography of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo Namo guru! Your supreme name, difficult to utter, Is Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo! In all the worlds, including the gods’, Your fame shines brilliantly, And those with bejeweled crowns Bow down to your lotus feet. You are the sovereign of the complete teachings Because you are the sole refuge of all beings. You benefit all whom you encounter With the enlightened activities you possess, And your qualities make possible the impossible— How marvelous! Appearing with your charisma and reputation Generates amazement in the minds of the innocent. But these are not the qualities of an excellent being’s perfect liberation. The four elements are immensely powerful; take earth for example. Yet, they do not compare to all-encompassing space. It is the same when comparing the liberated lives of the doctrine holders in the Land of Snows With your extraordinary, marvelous, and outstanding life of liberation. How long would it take those with a hair tip of your understanding To plumb the depths of your [399] ocean of experience? You were not swayed by the power Of solicitation, intelligence, wealth, and the like. Through your inherent and cultivated qualities, You became the chief of all traditions of the victors in the land of Tibet; Solely in this way and in this world, You possessed the liberated lifestyle of a second Lord of Sages. The ten great pillars [ 1 ] that support the exegetical tradition, The eight great chariots [ 2 ] of the practice lineage, The maturing empowerments and the essential liberating instructions Of these traditions that are in the Land of Snows— You brought them to their perfection Through listening, contemplating, and meditating From non-birth, you displayed the manner of birth. From non-transference, you displayed the manner of transference. Similarly, although you reached the conclusion of all things to renounce and realize, You displayed training in skillful means as a disciple. The tantras, divisions of meditational practice, oral tradition, and treasure tradition All belong to the three yogas of the Early [400] Translations. You accepted these traditions as your own inheritance And established vast flowing networks of maturation and liberation. By the karmic propensities of your enlightened resolve, The timeliness of your disciples, And your unraveling of the vajra seals according to the ḍākinīs’ prophecy, Precious earth treasures, mind treasures, Pure visions that shine in the mind, the aural lineage, Recollected teachings of previous lives, Rediscovered teachings of previous masters, And previously known precious treasuries of the profound teachings, You opened these anew for fortunate ones And became the wheel-wielding monarch of all knowledge holders Of the Ancient School, the great secret root teachings. Muchen Cakrasaṃvara and Gyaltsab Sempa Chenpo [ 3 ] Were in actuality Khenchen Dorje Chang. [ 4 ] Tartse’s [ 5 ] relatives conferred empowerment to you, The great regent of the three secrets of body, speech, and mind. The scriptures of the primary forefathers And the auxiliary textual systems of Ngorchen, Gangkarwa, and Tsarchen and his heir [ 6 ] — You mastered all their instructions. The deities and lamas cared for you, And you established all disciples in the realm of Khecara. You left an immense legacy for the teachings And were an unrivaled lama of the Sakya tradition, The singular ornament of the teachings. Dagpo, Chenga, Karmapa, Drigung, Tak, Drukpa, and so forth [ 7 ] — You took [401] the essential nectar of their instructional advice, Obtained the actual lineage of blessings, And attained the empowerment of indestructible primordial wisdom. You established revulsion, the foot of meditation, Developed devotion, the head of meditation, And donned conscientiousness and compassionate activities, The armor of a sentinel of mindfulness. Obtaining the sign of heat of the four practices of the path of skillful means, You beheld the abiding nature of the vajra body, And realized the great mahāmudrā of the path of liberation. Thus, phenomenal existence arose nakedly as the dharmakāya. The border between your meditative equipoise and post-meditation was destroyed As your mind and appearance merged as one. Free from any sense of difference between distraction and attentiveness, You perfected the dynamic energy of the yoga of one taste In which acceptance and rejection of the two truths do not exist, Resulting in your becoming the king of all realized practitioners Of the Kagyu tradition, the essence of the teachings. Yoga Tantra teachings, such as Splendor , Peak , and Space , [ 8 ] Are as rare as gold these days. Having received them all, you took up their practice. Through the Anuttara generally—and particularly, The maturation and liberation of Hevajra , Cakrasaṃvara , and Guhyasamāja And the commentaries of those tantras—you enacted the two benefits. Followers of Butön and Dölpopa, [ 9 ] To all their scriptures, you extended your reverence. By stringing along the thinned Golden cord of the excellent tradition, You scaled to the peak of all lineage holders Of the clarifier of the teachings, Jo Zhal. Through exposition, debate, and composition, You polished the rich textual traditions of the scholars of the noble land and Tibet— The two great charioteers [ 10 ] and their successors, Including the general texts, advice, and pith instructions Of the Teacher [402] found in the instructions Of the seven deities and scriptures, [ 11 ] And, in particular, the Kadampa of the new traditions, The view of the noble tradition of the Madhyamaka, The Prajñāpāramitā of the Mahāyāna, The subtle Vinaya conduct of the Hīnayāna, And the mother of all teachings, the Abhidharmakośa . By liberating a cache of fearless confidence, You are a majestic, mountain-like geshe Of the Gandenpa, the lord of the teachings. [ 12 ] The spiritual and temporal affairs of the Shen tradition, [ 13 ] You perceived their preservation as a cause For expanding the benefit and well-being of the teachings and beings. The holders of the Yungdrung Bön tradition, You highly praised and uplifted them, And so glorified those who preserved the teachings. Furthermore, since benefitting and providing comfort To even a single sentient being Is said to be the activities of a buddha, You never belittled them With the arrogance of erudition or accomplishment. Like a mother, you were close to all the philosophical traditions; Like a father, you praised all who possessed qualities; You saw the meek as your own children. Thus, I have told the story of your realization in brief, So that the shortsighted can differentiate your unique and marvelous qualities From those of other individuals. By this excellent deed, may all beings [403] follow your life of liberation— The life of an omniscient lama and lord— Fulfill all your wishes, and spread enlightened activities in every direction. COLOPHON Not only did the precious and omniscient lama personally promise to be a holder of the Buddhist traditions, he was also commonly perceived as an eminent preserver of his own teachings. He perceived me, a lowly clod of dirt with the name of Guṇa, [ 14 ] as gold; I was thereby fortunate enough to receive the bestowal of the extraordinary nectar that is the story of how his experiential realization came to be. On account of this experience, I faithfully and respectfully attempted to articulate a small portion. May it be the cause for attaining in every life to come this excellent lama’s three secrets and enlightened activities, in the very same way. May virtue increase! NOTES The Abbreviated Biography of the Omniscient Lama and Great Vajra Holder Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo honors the nineteenth-century master with a spiritual and historical list of his deeds and associations. This biography was composed by a close spiritual friend to Khyentse Wangpo, the renowned Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye (1813–1899), who composed it under the pen name “Guṇa.” The biography, located in volume 1 of Khyentse Wangpo’s Kabab Dun, begins with a note from the author that, for him, even just saying Jamyang Khyentse’s name is difficult—such is Jamgön Kongtrul’s respectful posture toward his teacher and friend, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. The initial section of the text is presented mainly in a temporal light, attributing mundane qualities to Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, such as charisma and reputation, that any influential spiritual leader can possess. However, those aspects are not what makes an individual’s life a liberating one, as the biography proclaims. The biography continues with Khyentse Wangpo’s all-inclusive acceptance, integration, and support of the diverse traditions of the noble lands of India and Tibet: from Nyingma to Bön, Abhidharma to Prajñāpāramitā, Geluk to Jonang, and Mahāmudrā to Dzogchen, the biography succinctly contains it all. [1] These are ten individuals who supported the exegetical lineages, which are emphasized in the monastic colleges (bshad drwa): (1) Tönmi Sambhoṭa (thon mi sam+b+hoTa, b. 619?, BDRC P5788 ), (2) Vairocana (bai ro tsa na, eighth century, BDRC P5013 ), (3) Kawa Paltsek (ska ba dpal brtsegs, eighth century, BDRC P8182 ), (4) Chokro Lu’i Gyaltsen (cog ro klu’i rgyal mtshan, ninth century, BDRC P8183 ), (5) Shang Nanam Yeshe De (zhang sna nam ye shes sde, mid eighth–early ninth century, BDRC P8205 ), (6) Rinchen Zangpo (rin chen bzang po, 958–1055, BDRC P753 ), (7) Dromtön (or Dromtönpa) Gyalwe Jungne (’bron ston rgyal ba’i byung gnas, 1004–1064, BDRC P2557 ), (8) Ngok Lotsāwa Loden Sherab (rnog lo tsA ba blo ldan shes rab, 1059– 1109, BDRC P2551 ), (9) Sakya Paṇḍita (sa skya paN+Dita kun dga’ rgyal mtshan, 1182–1251, BDRC P1056 ), (10) Gö Khugpa Lhetse (’gos khug pa lhas btsas, eleventh century, BDRC P3458 ). [2] These are: (1) the ancient translation tradition, or Nyingma (snga ’gyur rnying ma), (2) the tradition of precepts and instructions, or Kadam (bka’ gdams), (3) the tradition of the path and result, or Lamdre (lam ’bras), (4) the tradition of the transmitted precepts of Marpa, or Marpa Kagyu (mar pa bka’ brgyud), (5) the tradition of the transmitted precepts of the Shang Valley, or Shang Kagyu (shangs pa bka’ brgyud), (6) the traditions of pacification and severance, or Zhijé Chö (zhi byed gcod), (7) the tradition of vajra yoga, or Dorje Naljor (rdo rje’i rnal ’byor), and (8) the three adamantine states, or Dorje Sum Gyi Nyendrub (rdo rje gsum gyi bsnyen sgrub). [3] This refers to Muchen Sempa Chenpo Könchok Gyaltsen (mus chen sems dpa’ chen po dkon mchog rgyal mtshan, 1388–1469, BDRC P1034 ). [4] Jampa Kunga Tenzin (byams pa kun dga’ bstan ’dzin, 1776–1862, BDRC P3513 ). [5] The Forty-Fourth Ngor Khenchen, Jampa Namkha Chimé (ngor mkhan chen 44 byams pa nam mkha’ ’chi med, 1765–1820, BDRC P2526 ). [6] There are three main sub-schools that stem from the Sakya tradition. The Ngor (ngor) tradition is held at Ngor Ewaṃ Chöden Monastery (ngor e waM chos ldan dgon, BDRC G211 ), founded in 1429 by Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo (ngor chen kung dga’ bzang po, 1382–1456, BDRC P1132 ). The Dzong (dzong) tradition is held at Gongkar Chöde Monastery (gong dkar chos sde, BDRC G3509 ), founded in 1447 by Kunga Namgyal (kun dga’ rnam rgyal, 1432–1496, BDRC P3183 ). The Tsar (tshar) tradition is held at Dar Drongmoche Monastery (’dar grong mo che, BDRC G1KR1565 ), 7 founded circa 1550 by Losal Gyatso (blo gsal rgya mtsho, b. 1502–1566/1567, BDRC P786 ). [7] “Dagpo” refers to Dagpo Lhajé Sönam Rinchen (dwags po lha rje bsod nams rin chen, 1079–1153, BDRC P1844 ), better known as Gampopa; “Chenga” refers to Chenga Dragpa Jungne (spyan sna grags pa ’byung gnas, 1175–1255, BDRC P132 ); and “Karmapa” refers to the Fourteenth Karmapa, Tegchok Dorje (karma pa 14 theg mchog rdo rje, 1798?–1868?, BDRC P562 ). [8] Splendor is dpal mchog dang po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i rtog pa’i rgyal po (Śrīparamādyanāmamahāyānakalparāja); Peak is rgyud rdo rje tse mo (Vajraśekharatantra); and Space refers to the Vajradhātu maṇḍala taught in the first chapter of the Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha. [9] Butön Rinchen Drub (bus ton rin chen grub, 1290–1364, BDRC P155 ) and Dölpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (dol po pa shes rab rgyal mtshan, 1292–1361, BDRC P139 ). [10] Nāgārjuna (klu sgrub, second century, BDRC P4954 ) and Asaṅga (thogs med, c. 320 – c. 390, BDRC P6117 ) are known as “the two creators of the traditions of the two chariots” (shing rta’i srol ’byad gnyis). These two traditions are “the system of vast conduct” (rgya chen spyod pa’i srol) and “the system of profound view” (zab mol ta ba’i srol), attributed to Asaṅga and Nāgārjuna, respectively. [11] The deities and scriptures of the Kadampa school consist of four principal deities and the Tripiṭaka (Three Baskets). The four deities are (1) Śākyamuni Buddha (thub pa), (2) Avalokiteśvara (spyan ras gzigs), (3) Acalā (mi g.yo ba), and (4) Tārā (sgrol ma). The Tripiṭaka (“Three Baskets”) is composed of (1) the Basket of Discipline (’dul ba’i sde snod, vinayapiṭika), (2) the Basket of Discourses (mdo sde’i sde snod, sūtrapiṭika), and (3) the Basket of Abhidharma (chos mngon pa’i sde snod, abhidharmapiṭaka). [12] Geshe is commonly translated as a spiritual friend or mentor (dge ba’i bshes gnyen, kalyāṇamitra), and within the main Mahāyāna tradition, a spiritual friend is understood to be a necessity for spiritual progress toward enlightenment. In this case, however, geshe, which is a contracted form of the Tibetan, is an honorific title for an individual who has completed the monastic curriculum of the Gandenpa tradition, more commonly known as the Gelugpa tradition. [13] rgyal gshen mnyam chags rten ’brel here is the Bönpo version of the more well-known chos srid zung ’brel, or the combination of religion and politics. Thanks to Geshe Tri Yungdrung for this clarification. In both the 2013 and 2014 editions, the orthography of gshen is spelled with a ba prefix. Shen (gshen) is a familial name that marks the connection with the Bön tradition, which this passage concerns. [14] This is a pseudonym of Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye (’jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha’ yas, 1813–1899, BDRC P264 ). Published: March 2022 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License . Originally published for Khyentse Vision Project Photo credit: Khyentse Vision Project BIBLIOGRAPHY ’jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse’i dbang po. 2014. kun mkhyen bla ma rdo rje ’chang chen po ’jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse’i dbang po’i rnam thar nyung ngur bsdus pa. In ’jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse’i dbang po’i bka’ ’bu m, vol. 2 (kha), 294.5–299.2. khams sde dge rdzong sar dgon: rdzong sar blo gros phun tshogs. BDRC W3PD1002 ———. 2013. kun mkhyen bla ma rdo rje ’chang chen po ’jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse’i dbang po’i rnam thar nyung ngur bsdus pa bzhugs so . In mkhyen brtse’i bka’ babs , vol. 1, 397.1–403.3. dkar mdzes bod rigs rang skyong khul sde dge rdzong: rdzong sar khams bye’i slob gling. BDRC MW4PD2082 NOTES Abstract Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye praises Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo’s profound accomplishment in many of Tibet’s spiritual traditions. This work is an inspiring telling of the teacher’s life. BDRC LINK W3PD1002 DOWNLOAD TRANSLATION GO TO TRANSLATION LISTEN TO AUDIO 00:00 / 08:29 TRADITION Karma Kagyu INCARNATION LINE Dzogchen Kongtrul Jamgön Kongtrul Dzigar Kongtrul Zhechen Kongtrul Kalu Rinpoche HISTORICAL PERIOD 19th Century TEACHERS Khenchen Tubten Gyaltsen The Ninth Drukchen, Mingyur Wangyal The First Datrul, Ngedön Tenpa Rabgye The Eighth Pawo, Tsuglak Chökyi Gyalpo Sönam Lodrö The Fourth Dzogchen Drubwang, Mingyur Namkhe Dorje Karma Tegchok Tenpel Drubgyu Tenzin Trinle The Sixth Traleb, Yeshe Nyima Pema Tenpel Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo Gyurme Tutob Namgyal The Ninth Situ, Pema Nyinje Wangpo The Fourteenth Karmapa, Tegchok Dorje Chogyur Lingpa Karma Zhenpen Özer Karma Norbu Karma Ösal Gyurme Gyurme Tenzin Pelgye Rigzin Gyatso The First Gyatrul, Dongak Tendzin The Twelfth Lab Kyabgön, Wangchen Gyerab Dorje The First Tsangchen Dorje Lopön, Ngawang Chöpel Gyatso The Second Penor, Rigzin Palchen Dupa TRANSLATOR Tib Shelf INSTITUTIONS Kaḥtok Mindröling Dzogchen Monastery Zhechen Palyul Monastery Sekhar Gutok Dratang Densatil Tsal Gungtang Tsurpu Monastery Takten Puntsok Ling Samye Zurmang Dutsitil Dzongsar Longtang Drölma Lhakhang Dzamtang Tsechu Monastery Chöje Monastery Tsangwa Monastery Karma Monastery Pewar Reting Monastery Nenang Derge Parkhang Śrī Siṃha College Chagpori Palpung Tsetang Mawochok Alo Paljor Gang Yangpachen Trandruk Zurmang Namgyaltse Khoting Lhakhang Drak Yerpa Drak Yongdzong Lhasa Tsuklakhang Potala Samye Chimpu Tashi Dokha Tsādra Rinchen Drak Dzongshö Zangri Khangmar Maṇḍala Monastery Yarlung Sheldrak Tarde Monastery Ringul Monastery Changlung Monastery Dzö Monastery Tsogyal Latso Dzongo Monastery Kyodrak Monastery Lhadrang Monastery Namgyal Ling Pangpuk Yamalung Yilhung Lhatso Yumbu Lagang Sinpo Ri Lhakhang Hepo Ri Tashi Podrang Pemaling Lake Götang Bumpa Dagam Wangpuk STUDENTS The Fourth Shechen Gyaltsab, Pema Namgyal The Fourth Rotachetsang, Lobzang Chöjor Lhundrub The Third Dodrubchen, Jigme Tenpe Nyima Mipam Gyatso Loter Wangpo Ngawang Damchö Gyatso The Fifteenth Karmapa, Khakhyab Dorje Shākya Shrī The Fifth Dzogchen Drubwang, Tubten Chökyi Dorje The Third Kaḥtok Situ, Chökyi Gyatso Gatön Ngawang Legpa Sönam Chödrub The Second Dzaḥka Chogtrul,Kunzang Namgyal Tubten Gyaltsen Özer Jamyang Sherab Chökyi Nangwa The First Gyatrul, Dongak Tenzin Rigzin Gargyi Wangchuk Norbu Tenzin Orgyen Tenzin Karma Ngedön Nyingpo Kunga Ngedön Zhabpa The Eighth Dzamtang Chöje Kutreng, Mipam Chökyi Jampa The First Tsangchen Dorje Lopön, Ngawang Chöpel Gyatso Dzongwo Kyabgön The Tenth Zurmang Trungpa, Karma Chökyi Nyinje Tubten Legshe Zangpo Tashi Chöpel Tubten Nyendrak The Fifth Shechen Rabjam, Pema Tegchok Tenpe Gyaltsen Tenzin Drakpa The First Adzom Drukpa, Drodul Pawo Dorje The Third Gurong, Orgyan Jigdral Chöying Dorje Ayu Khandro Dorje Paldron The Second Penor, Rigzin Palchen Dupa Khenchen Tashi Özer Palden Chimé Tagpe Dorje Chogyur Lingpa The Sixty-Fifth Ngor Khenchen, Dampa Rinpoche Ngawang Lodrö Zhenpen Nyingpo Könchok Paldrön Ngawang Jampel Rinchen AUTHOR Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye Abbreviated Biography of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo VIEW ALL PUBLICATIONS NEXT PUBLICATION > < PREVIOUS PUBLICATION Home Publications Read Listen Watch People Information About Meet the Team Services Translators Donate Subscribe to our newsletter Support Tib Shelf's ongoing work & Subscribe Today! Name * Email* Submit Tib Shelf is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to translating, presenting and preserving primary source Tibetan texts across a vast array of genres and time periods. We make these literary treasures accessible to readers worldwide, offering a unique window into Tibet's rich history, culture and traditions. Tib Shelf has been accredited by the British Library with the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN): 2754–1495 CONTACT US | SHELVES@TIBSHELF.ORG © 2024 Tib Shelf. All rights reserved.

The reincarnation lineage of Tsoknyi Özer exemplified supreme devotion - illustrated by the Third Tsoknyi's offering of his burning finger as a lamp to fulfill his guru's wishes. A Brief Biography: The Successive Incarnations of Tsoknyi Özer The lord of the wheel of the infinite ocean of the three roots, The sole refugee of limitless sentient beings, The unrivalled knowledge holder of the three times, I supplicate at the feet of Tsoknyi Öser. THE FIRST INCARNATION The first Tsoknyi Öser was born in a place called Dewa Tang, Kyodrak in the twelfth sexagenary cycle of the Fire Snake Year, 1737, to a father named Kharpa Puntsok. Having been endowed with the characteristics of the excellent ones from a young age and with a great interest in virtuous activities, he went on pilgrimage to central Tibet. Thus, he met the Thirteenth Karmapa Düdül Dorjé (1733/34–1797/98) [ 1 ] and received many spiritual instructions. [At that time,] the Karmapa recognised him as the emanation of Chöjé Lingpa (1682–1720) [ 2 ] and performed many activities including this prophecy: “Since your future disciples and beneficial activities are in Kyodrak, go there and benefit them. In the future, you will be more valuable than others for the Barom teachings.” As such, the Karmapa bestowed upon him the name Tsoknyi Öser. Having returned home, he received the complete instructions of the liberating methods of the victorious Barom tradition from Saljé Chödrub Senggé. Subsequently, as there had only been black yak-haired tents in the encampment of Kyodrak, he built a fort called Pur Khang in 1779. There he conducted meditational practices, rituals, and offerings. In the Wood Dog Year, 1785, of the thirteenth sexagenary cycle, Tsoknyi Öser constructed Kyodrak Monastery’s new assembly hall along with the representations of the enlightened body, speech, and mind. His enlightened activities spread and flourished: He established the tradition of Chöjé Lingpa’s revealed treasure teachings. He became the object of worship for the people of China, Tibet, and Mongolia. He [built] innumerable and invaluable representations of the enlightened body, speech, and mind and established retreat centres at multiple hermitages. In brief, he greatly spread and proliferated the teachings of both theory and practice such as the dances, mask dances, and melodies in accordance with the traditions of previous knowledge holders. As such, Kyodrak Monastery installed him on the vajra throne, and everyone highly respected him as a great being and holder of the teachings. THE SECOND INCARNATION The second Tsoknyi was born to a father named Wön Tenzin Norbu and a mother named Sönam Drönma who was the chieftainess of Tsang Sar. He was recognised by the Fifth Dung Kar Śrī Bhadra of Kyodrak, who named him Karma Tsewang Künkhyab. He achieved the primordial wisdom of the aural lineage as he was primarily focused on meditation practice. Due to his yogic observances, he established everything he saw or heard onto the path of liberation. Certain aspects such as the dates of his birth and death are not available. In the end, he died at the age of sixty [ 3 ] and attained the rūpakāya, the form body. THE THIRD INCARNATION The third incarnation was born with a number of wondrous signs in the lower part of the Sengge district in Kham in the Earth Male Mouse year, 1828. His father was named Orgyen Gönpo and his mother Drongza Lhamo Dröl. Shugu Tendar, a monk from Kyodrak, knowledgeable in medicine and astrology, named him saying: “Since this child has good astrological signs, the name Tashi Tsegon should be given to him.” Since he was the descendent of the dignitary Lhagyari, a royal lineage of the dharma kings of Tibet, from a young age everyone called him Lhabu, the Divine Son. When an elder guru of Khang Né Monastery conferred the empowerment of Vajrakīla, the guru encouraged those who knew the mantra to recite the approach mantra for Vajrakīla and for those who did not, to recite the approach mantra for Vajrapāṇi. The Lord Lhabu, also, made a mala of kyerpa wood ( berberis aristate ) and performed over ten million prostrations and recitations of the approach mantra. Since he meditated on a protection circle, he was free from obstacles. From a young age, he had visions of Yeshé Gönpo, Padmasambhava, and Banak Genyen amongst others. Even while playing, he acted only in conformity with the doctrine. Frightened by the shortcomings of cyclic existence, he developed renunciation in his heart. In his dreams, he had many visions of Yeshé Chokyang, the Dharma Protector of Primordial Wisdom. From the fully ordained monk Ralo Tarlam of Kyodrak Monastery, he learned the way to posit the view and received experiential instructions on the way of meditating on Avalokiteśvara and Padmasambhava. Due to this, when he became slightly older, he already had a great propensity for the doctrine. On a number of occasions, he had pure visions of such things as sights, sounds, and awareness appearing as deity, mantra, and dharmakaya. When Karma Döndam Jigdral Wangpo, the reincarnation of Nedo Karma Dechen, gave instructions on th e Cutting Through ( trekchö ) and Leaping Over ( tögal ) meditational practices of the Peaceful and Wrathful Karling cycle to his father and some other people, [Lhabu] joined them. Consequently, his view was enhanced, and he realised the avenues through which the six lamps shine forth. After that, due to an unfathomable amount of blame and loss, the relatives, servants, mother and son left home and wandered to many different places. When they arrived in Tsari, he said there were ḍākinīs enjoying a tantric feast and they instructed him: “Yogin, eat this human flesh!” Two ḍākinīs stuffed human flesh into his mouth immediately saturating his mind and body with bliss. These were only some of the marvellous things that occurred. [While there], he visited the majority of the sacred sites in Ü and Tsang in central Tibet and then once again returned home. At the age of twenty-two in the Earth Bird Year, (1849), a strong attitude of renunciation enveloped his mind. He went to the Fifth Trülshik Mahāpaṇḍita, Palden Gyurmé Tsewang Trinlé, the victor of all the directions, and in the temple of Do Ngak Shedrub Ling he firstly took refuge and then the fundamental precepts. He changed his appearance and clothing and was given the name Ngawang Tsoknyi. A person of good faith offered him auspicious articles and yoghurt. He filled his bowl with the yoghurt and gave butter and cheese in return. With those actions, many auspicious doors were made. In the sixth lunar month, when the newly founded tradition of the first great accomplishment ceremony of The Eight Pronouncements: The Assembly of the Sugata was established, he was appointed as the leader of the practice sessions. Knowing that his guru and Padmasambhava were inseparable, he developed overpowering devotion. After that, for about two years, he memorised [texts] and even performed such activities as assisting around the monks’ quarters and fetching water. All the lamas and monks treated him lovingly due to his kind nature. He received numerous instructions, oral transmissions, and empowerments of Mahāmudrā and Dzogchen from A Deu Rinpoche and Yongdzin Lama Tenwang and engaged in their accompanying preliminary practices and purifications. When Tsoknyi was twenty-four, the Refuge-protector A Deu Rinpoche peacefully passed away. In order to fulfil his guru’s aspirations, he [set] the ring finger of his right hand [on fire] as an offering lamp. He was fully ordained by Tenpé Nyima of Taglung Monastery and was bestowed the name Mipham Loden. He received a great number of oral transmissions and empowerments including The Hundred Transmissions of Mitra ( Mitra Gyatsa ). Since Tenpé Nyima introduced him to the main practice of Mahāmudrā, he developed the faith that perceives the guru as a real buddha, and blessings entered him. The moment he met Rigzin Chögyal Dorjé (1789–1865/59), [ 4 ] in particular, an unbearable and blazing devotion arose, and their minds mixed as one. At different times when it was suitable, he received many empowerments, oral transmissions, and instructions including the instructions of the preliminary and main practices of Mahāmudrā of the glorious Drukpa [Kagyü tradition], the profound instructions of the [Dzogchen] rüshen practice, or the preliminary practice of differentiation, of the Peaceful and Wrathful Karling cycle along with the introduction of the main practice, the empowerment and instructions of the co-emergent Cakrasaṃvara and the two-faced Vajravārāhī, the supportive teachings for the Six Yogas of Nāropa, various oral instructions, numerous cycles of the aural transmission, and the profound treasure of The Wrathful Sky-Blue Guru ( Guru Drakting ). Furthermore, he relied upon many gurus including the incarnation of Vima, Karma Tengyé Chöpel, and the Seventh Chögön, Chökyi Nyinché as well as extensively receiving teachings of maturation and liberation. He reciprocally gave various suitable empowerments and oral transmissions to and from Trülshik Kyabné Trinlé Gyatso, Nagpo Togden, and Guru Pünchö, etc. In the Iron Pig Year (1851) at the age of twenty-four, he entered into strict retreat. After nine months had passed, despite running out of provisions, he was able to remain for about four years through engaging in immeasurable austerities. One time, when Rigzin Chögyal Dorjé had arrived at the meditation room of his retreat hut, the Lord Chögyal Dorjé bestowed upon him the profound treasure of The Wrathful Sky-Blue Guru , which he himself had extracted from Nyengyal Dorjé Khyung Citadel. He also conferred the empowerment, oral transmission, and instructions of The Guru White Jambhala: The Deity of Wealth ( Lama Nor Lha Dzam Kar ). In the catalogue of vajra prophecies it says: “At that time in Tibet when a short period of happiness like the glimpsing of the sun, a custodian of the teachings, a hidden yogi who is the emanation of Muné Tsenpo (8th–9th century) named Gaṇa will invoke an emanation of mine from eastern Ü named Dharmasūrya Candrabhadra. This emanation is a custodian of the doctrine and special transmissions and possesses the wisdom eye.” According to that prophecy, he is indicated as being that very custodian of the doctrine. The [guru] prophesied: “I offer this advice to you in place of retreat provisions. Put them into practice and you will not remain in your current state. You will have disciples, fame, students, and patrons in addition to power, wealth, and unrivalled authority.” The Lord [Tsoknyi] replied: “I have renounced this life. From a primordial state that is able to be content and has little desires, I focus the depths of my mind on the dharma. The depth of the dharma is to live as a beggar, the depth of living as a beggar is to live that way until death, and the depth of living that way until death is to entrust myself to a mountainous hermitage. In doing so, like Milarepa, I wish for a life untainted by the stains of the eight worldly concerns. The ordinary accomplishments are of no need.” The [guru] replied: “Even if you say you want it to be like that, you should wait and see how it turns out.” As such, Tsoknyi mixed excrement and urine together, smeared and spread it all over the meditation cave. This was greatly auspicious, and it increased his followers and enlightened activities as it was prophesied. When he was practicing the approach and accomplishment phases of The Wrathful Sky-Blue Guru there were many great signs including the guardians of the teachings actually displaying their forms, the eight classes of gods and rākṣasas displaying magical machinations, tumultuous noise, and a cacophony of sounds. Rid of intimidation and fear, he overpowered these challenging signs through the sheer brilliance of his vajra-like concentration. As an indication of this, they offered their life and heart to him. All of those who beheld lineages of the dharma, accepted him as one who dispels all adverse conditions and accomplishes any and all favourable conditions. From then onwards, his enlightened activities flourished even further: Humans congregated during the day and gods and demons assembled during the night. In the evenings and mornings, clothes and food were gathered. As all those were accumulated, the guru’s prophecy came to be true. When he performed the approach and accomplishment of the principal and retinue deities of Guru Orgyen: The Deity of Wealth: The White Jambhala, he had visions of the assembly of deities. One day, in particular, a stream of melted butter flowed down from the support beam of his meditation room and, in a single stroke, made his clothes and belongings very greasy. He himself even declared: “Due to engaging in severe austerities and the interdependency from accomplishing the White Jambhala , my successive students will not be impoverished as they will have food, clothing, and resources.” This can even be seen directly today. Generally, without any effort, he would have pure visions of whichever deity he practiced, as well as having visions of various other deities. He even composed an instructional text for The Wrathful Sky-Blue Guru . He newly constructed a retreat centre called Khachö Chödzong Dechen Rabar. Since he practiced The Three Bodies of the Guru ( Lama Kusum ), for seven years, the remaining beneficial karma from his past lives of Langdo Lotsawa Könchok Jungné (8th century) [ 5 ] and Ratna Lingpa (1403–1479) [ 6 ] was activated. All the physical yogas of the vajra body clearly arose in the mirror of his mind, which are contained in his mind-sadhana practice. In his pure vision, the wisdom body of Ratna Lingpa often took care of him, disclosing to him the secretly sealed [teachings] of the five kinds of secret instructions along with the physical yogas and giving him the secrets of the open and direct instructions. In this way, Ratna Lingpa was his companion on the path and his primordial wisdom flourished [due to this relationship]. There are numerous wondrous narratives such as those. [Through this] he received the name Pema Drimé Öser. In the Wood Monkey Year, (1884), Jamgön Kongtrül [Lodrö Tayé] (1813–1899) [ 7 ] bestowed upon him the cycles of the aural lineage concerning the path of skilful means, and he also received the complete instructions of the five stages of Ratna Lingpa’s The Exceptional Assembly of the Accomplishment of the Enlightened Mind ( Tugdrub Yangdü ). He was particularly praised as “Tsoknyi, the lord of the accomplished ones.” [Jamgön Kongtrül] also received many teachings from the Lord [Tsoknyi]. After that, he eventually came to Kyodrak by passing through Gadzo, Palshung, Tamkha, and Kyadzo. Since Lama Sal [Ga Rinpoche], Ten [Nying Rinpoche], Dung [Kar Rinpoche], and his father’s family had a profound patron-priest relationship, their good intentions integrated as one in both spiritual and temporal affairs. In particular, the Lord accepted Dungkyé Rinpoche Rigzin Düdjom Dorjé, who was the supreme guru of the previous lifetimes, to be the emanation of Barom Darma Wangchuk (1127–1194?). [ 8 ] He recited the seven-syllable mantra of Cakrasaṃvara hundreds of millions of times. He received the six dharmas of Mahāmudrā and Dzogchen from Chögyal Dorjé. Through engaging in the practices, he actually discovered the signs of accomplishment. From this unrivalled and excellent being [Chögyal Dorjé], who had visions of a multitude of deities and so forth, he received the Barom Mahāmudrā cycle of teachings concerning the six dharmas of The Lord of Bliss ( Degon ), Tulku Mingyur Dorjé’s (1645–1667) [ 9 ] pure vision teachings of The Sky Teachings (Namchö), and The Unified Oral and Treasure Teachings ( Karter Sungjuk ), written by the doctrine holder Chödak Chagmé Rinpoche (1613–1678), [ 10 ] which is an ancillary text to the mind treasures [of Mingyur Dorjé]. He received all of their empowerments and oral transmissions in their entirety. He also offered long-life prayers of the gurus as well as some of the empowerments and oral transmissions in return. Upon the invitations of his paternal relative Sowang Pün, his former enemy Rakshu Tsewang Dargé, Surmang Ati, and others, he gave instructions and spiritual advice, establishing them in the doctrine. Then he went into a strict retreat in the cave of Khyungtra having taken upon himself a tantric commitment. Banak Genyen, the protector of that sacred site, offered its life and heart to him, and Tsoknyi accepted him at his word. Then Banak Genyen gave him a key for the enlightened activities of magnetisation, and Tsoknyi was able to compose a profound meditational practice of that treasure protector [Banak Genyen]. With a seal of secrecy, he offered it to the gurus, abbots, and masters of Kyodrak Monastery, where the text can still be found. His experience and realisation thrived. He went to U, Tsang, and other destinations where he combined his beneficial works for sentient beings and for the practice. Finally, at the age of sixty-one on the twenty-ninth day of the fourth month of the Earth Mouse Year, 1888, he peacefully passed away. He had a great number of students including the Ninth Gyalwang Ngedön Tenpé Nyiché, the Sixth Jé Khamtrül Tenpé Nyima, the Sixth Trülshik A Dé Gyalsé, Tari Ngawang Chöjor, Togden Ngawang Gelek, Gechak Togden Ngawang Tsangyang Gyatso, Jamé Chöpal Gyatso, Jamtrül Tenpé Gyaltsen, Dru Jamyang Drakpa, Dompa Lama Püntsok Chögrub, Taru Togden Chöying Namdak, Lang Ngawang Lhündrup, Geshé Tenzin Sangpo, Künkhen Tsewang Namgyal, Ngor Khen Künga Tenzin, Nagpo Tertön Garwang Yeshé Rölpa, and Ngawang Namgyal Tenpa. THE FOURTH INCARNATION The fourth Tsoknyi, Lhagyal Dorjé, was born in the Chugru family of Kyodrak. He was recognised by the great treasure revealer Barwé Dorjé and gave him the name Tsoknyi Lhagyal Dorjé. Numerous historical accounts were lost during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) including his biography and the dates of birth and death. So, there is no clear account of him. THE FIFTH INCARNATION Foremost adept in the Land of Snows, Heart son of the lineage of Marpa, Mila, and Dakpo, Regarded as the reincarnation of Chöjé Lingpa, Tsoknyi Öser, I revere you full-heartedly. Although I do not possess the skills to write The outer, inner, and secret biographies of this excellent being, With the help of ancient records and oral narratives of the older generations My fingers felt at ease in penning them into words. The birthplace of the fifth incarnation, Tsoknyi Öser Karma Khyenrab Lodrö Chökyi Döndrub, [ 11 ] was in Kyodrak, [ 12 ] which is divided into two [areas called] Nang and Sog. [ 13 ] His birthplace was in the upper Sog district. This virtuous and auspicious sacred place has adopted its name because it is “where the dharma robes of Guru Rinpoche once dried,” as well as a place where a statue of Dorjé Drolö miraculously appeared. This marvellous sacred place was also predicted in the religious song of the great treasure revealer, Barwa Dorjé, [ 14 ] which says, “In this auspicious and virtuous place of Tranang Tashi valley, [ 15 ] there will be congregations of young men and horses.” In this place, where greatly accomplished ones have visited, the son, Karma Khyenrab Lodrö Chökyi Döndrub, was born on the twenty-eighth day of the eleventh month the Earth Bird Year, 1969, to his father Sé Pema and his mother Yesa Geyang. [ 16 ] During the turbulent times, [ 17 ] the retreat master Alho Nyingjé of Pedong [ 18 ] and other practitioners had no choice but to dig for caterpillar fungus to pay tax. When they arrived at the mountain, Alho Nyingjé continuously meditated. His student Sé Pema (Tsoknyi’s father) provided different kinds of service for him, including digging for fungus to cover both their taxes. At that time, Lama Anying stayed at Khong Yerpo, [ 19 ] where his mind dissolved into the sphere of reality (i.e. he passed away). One day, Alho Nyingjé made plans to come to the place known as Gepa Yangshar Yechok Shingkyong Yabyum (Parents of the Local Protectors of the Steep Cliff Facing East). [ 20 ] When his student Sé Pema arrived, he was not there. But Alho Nyingjé arrived after a short wait. Sé Pema asked, “Where did you go? I have been waiting for you here.” Alho Nyingjé answered along with providing a prophecy, “I fell asleep for a short while. When I fell asleep, I dreamt that you would have a son who will be a great help for the Barom teachings, but I am not sure that others will believe this.” Similarly, many noble beings prophesied in the same way. Furthermore, in the past, when Dungtrül Rinpoche came to Khatsa Traba, [ 21 ] Sé Pema helped him to set up his residence. When Dungtrül Rinpoche arrived at the monastery, he said to Sé Pema: “Your eldest son is the heart of your family. He is a superior being, but do not tell others.” Thus, he recognised him as Tsoknyi Rinpoche, but no one was informed for five years. When Situ Pema Wangchok Gyalpo [ 22 ] visited Kyodrak before 1958, he was strongly requested to recognise the reincarnation of Tsoknyi Öser, but he said, “There is no need to hurry now because in the future there will be someone who will certainly benefit the Dharma and sentient beings. As the saying goes, ‘although the gold is under the earth, its light shines in the sky.’ We can recognise him at a later time.” As such, based on the prophecies made by the Karmapa Düdül Dorjé now the karma and aspirations had ripened in time. When Saljé Rinpoche was on a strict retreat at Samten Chöling, Tsoknyi had an audience with him and received advice. Many natural, auspicious interdependent connections occurred during this audience, such as when Tsoknyi reached the top of the ladder, Saljé Rinpoche was carrying a full bowl of white yoghurt. Saljé Rinpoche said, “Tashi delek, come inside.” When Tsoknyi was prostrating three times, Rinpoche hurriedly said, “Please sit down.” Tsoknyi sat on the cushion, and the student and master had a long conversation beginning with inquiring about each other’s well-being. During lunchtime, some Taiwanese and Hong Kong students of Saljé Rinpoche were also present. When Saljé Rinpoche said, “Tsoknyi Rinpoche,” Tsoknyi said, “I have not used that name, and I am not willing to use it! There is a danger that it will produce pride in me.” Saljé Rinpoche said, “It was a slip of the tongue, but it has created good interdependent connections.” After that, Saljé Rinpoche offered another bowl of white yoghurt to him and said, “I am offering this to Tsoknyi with the aspiration that he receives complete instruction and benefits all sentient beings.” Tsoknyi remarked, “This is like the old story of the village girl Lekyima offering yoghurt to the Buddha, the Bhagavān. Because she offered yoghurt, she was blessed with peace throughout the three times and the realisation of the pure essence of the supreme wisdom. Hence with this aspiration, I’ll drink it all without leaving any behind.” From a young age, he possessed many excellent signs. For example, when the monastery was first granted approval, [ 23 ] many people used to gather in the dance hall, and the numbers were immense. Due to the small size of the hall, queues formed outside. Having moved through in file, he made it inside without any difficulties. This was the first time he heard the sounds of Dharma, and his mind was filled with joy due to his previous karma. After a brief moment, he and his father reluctantly had to leave due to overcrowding. However, in his heart, his desire to join prayer gatherings became like that of a thirsty person discovering water; yet since it was impossible, he could do nothing but cry. His mother said, “Don’t do that. Those people also need to join [the prayer gathering]. If you learn how to read, you will be able to become a monk.” Upon hearing these comforting words and from the incredible joy he felt, it seems that his karmic propensities awoke. Thus, he went to learn to read and write. [In relation to this] his father let the young boy sleep with him in his bed. Every morning his kind-hearted father chanted Shaking Samsara from the Depths [ 24 ] prayer and every evening The Kīla Prayer . As a result, the young boy learnt The Kïla Prayer easily even before learning to read. Moreover, he had delightful experiences and dreams. However, I fear there would be too many words, so I shall not write them here. While he was offering his hair [ 25 ] to Saljé Rinpoche of Kyodrak in 1982, Rinpoche asked, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Tsültrim Nyima.” Rinpoche replied, “Usually, we change the name when we perform the hair-cutting ceremony, but your name is good, so let us leave it as it is.” This was the moment he entered the Buddhist tradition. On that spring day, there was a bit of drizzle and fog had gathered on top of the sacred mountain of Gardzé. [ 26 ] On that distant mountain, he saw the Dzachu river, resembling a turquoise dragon ascending into the sky, and grass sprouting on the grounds of Kyodrak Monastery. Consequently, he stated that it was a difficult place to forget since he was very fortunate to have had that opportunity. Then, having enrolled in the monastery, he studied the monastic education programme in its entirety—learning ritual dances, musical instruments, and other disciplines. He also received a lot of exceptional instructions on [the paths of] means and liberation. From Jamyang Lodrö Rinpoche, [ 27 ] he received the cycles of teachings of the Barom tradition and empowerments and pith instructions. He received many empowerments and pith instructions from Saljé Rinpoche, who is endowed with the three types of kindness, and Dungtrül Rinpoche. [ 28 ] He received precepts of renunciation and the name Tsültrim Sangpo and also received the empowerment of The Kīla of the Secret Essence [ 29 ] from the Abbot Karma Jampa Yönten or Do Dé Rinpoche. [ 30 ] Moreover, he received various empowerments and transmissions from Sanggyé Tenzin, [ 31 ] over the course of a month. In particular, Rabjor Rinpoche [ 32 ] and Tsoknyi received the empowerment and instructions of the single lineage. On top of that, he received teachings on the medical sciences and The Four Tantras with its empowerment from Wön Gelek and Rabpel. [ 33 ] He received the details of the [medical] practices for those tantras from Wön Gelek. He also received teachings on astrology and other instructions from the chant master and vajra master of the monastery, Abbot Karma Orgyen, and education on Tibetan grammar, A Guide of the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life ( Bodhicaryāvatāra ), and other teachings from abbots and masters. From the yogi Yeshé Rabgyé, [ 34 ] he began to learn Nāropa’s Six Yogas of the path of skilful means and the Barom tradition’s practice of Mahāmudrā of the path of liberation. Having combined the methods of the profound instructions of the paths of skilful means and liberation with study, contemplation, and meditation, he engaged in a strict, solitary retreat of three years, three months, and three days at the Barom Meditation Centre. After his retreat came to an end, he stayed at the meditation cave of Tseril [ 35 ] for several years and received empowerments of Cakrasaṃvara and Mahākāla from Sanggyé Drakpa. [ 36 ] He became a fully accomplished excellent scholar having relied upon various non-sectarian great beings and having integrated study, contemplation, and meditation. As the Refuge-lord Saljé Rinpoche often had many excellent and wondrous dreams and signs, he recognised the Fifth Tsoknyi Rinpoche and named him Karma Khyenrab Lodrö Chökyi Döndrup. [ 37 ] Later, Tsoknyi visited the sacred sites of India and Nepal. He has come back to his fatherland three times since 2001. Keeping the monastery and its people in mind and with a pure intention, he constructed a five-story temple at Kyodrak Monastery that is comparable in size to a seven-story building. It has a gilded roof complete with a gold ornament and victory banner and seventy-eight rooms to accommodate about five thousand monks. Moreover, he built a three-story meditation hall called Chabti Serpuk [ 38 ] with a gold ornament above its assembly hall. Along with this hall, he also built seventeen monk’s quarters called Yabeb Khang [ 39 ] and a monastic college containing an assembly hall and eighty monk’s quarters. He made donations towards the construction of Serphug Namtsang assembly hall, [ 40 ] which is the abode of the renunciate Tsültrim Tarchin. He donated 300,000 Yuan towards [recovery projects after] the Yushul earthquake. He gave donations to the Serta monks and nuns for their prayers. He also donated clothes to the region of Yushul and offered 500 Samten Bülchung [ 41 ] to the meditators. He sponsors the twenty-ninth pūjā every year and donates money to the monks. With Khen Jiga [ 42 ] he sponsors the food and other facilities for the monks at the monastic college. He also diligently accumulates funds for Barom’s Prayer Festival. Other than that, he donates thermoses and quality incense to the abbots, retreat masters, and great meditators and clothes to the needy. Each and every year he strives in gathering the accumulations. The religious centres he has built with great effort for the benefit of others are Taiwan Dharma Centre, Barom Tegsum Chökhor Ling, Macao Dharma Centre, Ngedön Tegchen Ling, and the England Dharma Centre, Künpan Jampa Ling. Furthermore, he is currently visiting many countries, including Singapore, Macao, Honkong, Guato, and Mauritius to give teachings, rescue animals, and advise people in need. May all be virtuous! COLOPHON None NOTES [1] karma pa 10 bdud 'dul rdo rje, BDRC P828 [2] chos rje gling pa, BDRC P671 [3] This is a scribble error as the dates between the First Tsoknyi and the Third Tsoknyi does not make this possible. [4] chos rgyal rdo rje, BDRC P1711 [5] lang gro dkon mchog 'byung gnas, [6] rat+na gling pa, BDRC P470 [7] 'jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas, BDRC P264 [8] 'ba' rom pa dar ma dbang phyug, BDRC P1856 [9] gman chos mi 'gyur rdo rje, BDRC P659 [10] karma chags med, BDRC P649 [11] tshogs gnyis 'od zer karma mkhyen rab blo gros chos kyi don 'grub [12] skyo brag [13] nang sog [14] 'bar ba' rdo rje [15] bkra nang bkra shis lung pa [16] se pad+ma; g.yes bza' dge g.yang [17] Cultural Revolution [18] pad sdong a lho snying rje [19] a snying bla ma; khong g.yer po [20] gas pa g.yang shar g.yas phyogs zhing skyong yab yum [21] dung sprul rin po che; kha tsha pra ba [22] ta' sit u 11 pad+ma dbang mchog rgyal po, 1886–1952, BDRC P925 [23] This is approval is from CCP after the cultural revolution. [24] 'khor ba dong sprug [25] This is when the lama cuts the first tip of the hair before the individual becomes ordained. [26] gar mdzad ri [27] 'jam dbyangs blo gros [28] dung sprul [29] gsang thig phur pa [30] byams pa yon tan / mdo sde rin po che [31] sangs rgyas bstan 'dzin [32] rab 'byor rin po che [33] dbon dge legs; rab 'phel [34] ye shes rab rgyas [35] tshe ril [36] sangs rgyas grag pa [37] karma mkhyen rab blo gros chos kyi don grub [38] chab bsti gser phug [39] ya 'bebs khang [40] gser pug rnam tshang 'du khang [41] bsam rten 'bul chung [42] mkhan 'jig dga' Published: November 2020 Edited: September 2021 BIBLIOGRAPHY Dbon dge legs. 2020. Grub pa'i sa mthor gshegs pa'i skyo brag tshogs gnyis 'od zer sku phreng rim byon gyi rnam thar mdor bsdus bzhugs so . London: Tib Shelf P005 Abstract These introductory biographies of the successive reincarnations of Tsoknyi Özer invite us to the land of liberation by establishing their enlightened lifestyles as examples. The text highlights the significance of devotion towards a spiritual master as, for example, the Third Tsokyni lighting his ring finger on fire, offering it as a lamp to fulfill his guru's aspirations. TIB SHELF P005 DOWNLOAD TRANSLATION GO TO TRANSLATION LISTEN TO AUDIO 00:00 / 00:27 TRADITION Barom Kagyu INCARNATION LINE Chöje Lingpa Tsoknyi Özer HISTORICAL PERIOD 18th Century 19th Century 20th Century 21st Century TEACHERS The First Incarnation: The Thirteenth Karmapa Duddul Dorje Salje Chödrub The Second Incarnation: n/a The Third Incarnation: Ralo Tarlam Karma Döndam Jigdral Wangpo The Fifth Trulshik Mahāpaṇḍita, Gyurme Tsewang Trinle A De'u Rinpoche Yongzin Lama Tenwang Taglung Tenpe Nyima Rigdzin Chögyal Dorje Karma Tengye Chöpel The Seventh Chögön Chökyi Nyinche Trulshik Kyabne Trinle Gyatso Nagpo Togden Guru Punchö Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Taye Lama Salga Rinpoche Ten Nying Rinpoche Dungkar Rinpoche TRANSLATORS Tib Shelf Rachael Griffiths Michael Elison INSTITUTION Kyodrak Monastery STUDENTS TBC AUTHOR Önpo Gelek A Brief Biography: The Successive Incarnations of Tsoknyi Özer VIEW ALL PUBLICATIONS NEXT PUBLICATION > < PREVIOUS PUBLICATION Home Publications Read Listen Watch People Information About Meet the Team Services Translators Donate Subscribe to our newsletter Support Tib Shelf's ongoing work & Subscribe Today! Name * Email* Submit Tib Shelf is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to translating, presenting and preserving primary source Tibetan texts across a vast array of genres and time periods. We make these literary treasures accessible to readers worldwide, offering a unique window into Tibet's rich history, culture and traditions. Tib Shelf has been accredited by the British Library with the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN): 2754–1495 CONTACT US | SHELVES@TIBSHELF.ORG © 2024 Tib Shelf. All rights reserved.

Yogi Śākya Śrī 1853–1919 BDRC P620 TREASURY OF LIVES LOTSAWA HOUSE PHOTO CREDIT Śākya Śrī (1853–1919) was one of the great meditation masters of eastern Tibet, renowned for his direct realisation and unconventional path to awakening. Born into a nomadic family in Kham, he showed an early inclination toward spiritual practice, marked by deep compassion and a natural affinity for meditation. After initial training within the Drukpa Kagyu tradition, including Mahāmudrā instructions from the Sixth Khamtrul, Tenpai Nyima, and Dzogchen transmissions from Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, he later left monastic life to practise as a yogi in remote mountain retreats with his consort and family. Despite being dismissed by some as a “dirty yogi,” his profound attainment was eventually recognised by leading masters, earning him the title Drubwang (“Powerful Adept”). His reputation spread widely, drawing students from across Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sikkim, and he became a key figure bridging Kagyu and Nyingma lineages. Known for his simplicity, experiential teaching style, and deep realisation of the nature of mind, he is said to have attained the rainbow body at his death in 1919. Song A Song of the Great Perfection Śākya Śrī A short Dzogchen song of realization by Śākya Śrī, in which the master points to the natural liberation of all experience within the expanse of dharmatā. Read Song Arousing Desire of the Beautiful One: Simile and Meaning in Union Śākya Śrī A spontaneous karmamudra song by the yogin Śākya Śrī, uniting longing for his consort Namkha Dronma with direct recognition of rigpa. Read Song Song of the Dharma Dance Śākya Śrī Song of the Dharma Dance draws on the imagery of Tibetan ritual cham dance to guide an assembly of vajra siblings through successive Dzogchen contemplative instructions toward the recognition of great awareness-emptiness. Read Translated Works Mentioned In Menu Close Home Publications Read Listen Watch People Information About Meet the Team Services Translators Donate Research Tool Privacy Policy & Terms of Use SUBSCRIBE Publications Watch People Listen

Karmapa The Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje 1284–1339 BDRC P66 TREASURY OF LIVES LOTSAWA HOUSE The Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje, was one of the great scholars and meditation masters of the early Karma Kagyü tradition. Recognised as the successor to Karma Pakshi, he received an exceptionally broad education, studying Buddhist philosophy alongside Mahāmudrā, Kālacakra, Chöd, and Dzogchen. Rangjung Dorje travelled widely throughout Tibet and China, teaching, practising in retreat, establishing hermitages, and becoming an influential figure at the Yuan imperial court. His students included the First Shamarpa, Drakpa Sengge, and the renowned Nyingma master Longchenpa. A prolific writer and accomplished yogin, he composed works on Mahāmudrā, tantra, philosophy, astrology, Chöd, biography, and songs of realisation. Among his best-known writings are the Prayer to the Definitive Meaning of Mahāmudrā and the Profound Inner Meaning , both of which remain important works within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Song A Dream Song The Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje A song remembered from a dream in which Marpa Lotsāwa and other gurus discuss the Dharma, pointing to the innate state beyond conceptual thought. Read Translated Works Mentioned In Menu Close Home Publications Read Listen Watch People Information About Meet the Team Services Translators Donate Research Tool Privacy Policy & Terms of Use SUBSCRIBE Publications Watch People Listen