E ma! All these appearances

Arise from oneself, naturally luminous—

That display, without inherent nature,

Dawns as the ḍākinīs of the three abodes:

To them I bow.

Aho! Holding Zhepe Dorje as the essence of refuge,

For all wandering beings without exception, as vast as space,

I generate bodhicitta in order to liberate them.

In the abode of the ocean of self-appearing ḍākinīs—

A charnel ground, a fearsome and potent place,

A grove that evokes both delight and a sense of renunciation,

A realm of manifold appearances—

Visualise your own awareness as the body of Zhepe Dorje,

Radiant white and red in complexion, with an energetic bearing,

His right hand playing the ḍamaru,

Gathering the oath-bound ḍākinīs of the three abodes,

His left holding a skull cup brimming with nectar,

Naked, wearing a silk turban,

Clad in a white cotton loincloth,[1]

Anointed with sindhura (vermilion) at the five points,

Sometimes wielding and blowing a thigh-bone trumpet,

At other times, performing mudrās and assuming different postures:

Sitting cross-legged, assuming royal ease, leaping, running, and so forth.

His appearance shifts unpredictably in every way.

His retinue consists of a hundred thousand beautiful maidens,

Engaging in all manner of yogic observances with a passionate demeanour.

Outside, the oath-bound Dharma protectors

Spontaneously engage in the activities of the four rites.

The deity in whom the samayasattva and jñānasattva are beyond union and separation

Abides in the very sameness of nature.

Having visualised this clearly, open the eyes wide and direct the gaze toward the sky, keeping the eyeballs motionless and the eyelashes from fluttering or blinking. Uttering “HŪṂ HŪṂ,” imagine awareness merging completely with the sky. At times, draw out [the sound of] HŪṂ as a melody and sing.

If discursive thoughts proliferate, utter a fierce PHAṬ and simultaneously hurl awareness into the sky, mixing space and awareness. To generate force, imagine that, as the principal deity and entire retinue proclaim the three syllables HŪṂ PHAṬ BHYO, the sky, the earth, and all the space between quake and shudder. At the same time, leap and shake the body. Perform leaping, running, and other movements, along with various mudrās; emit fierce cries, songs, whistles, and so forth; and sustain the experience freely, however it arises.

Resolve with certainty that all that appears is the display of the Guru and that this, in turn, is the magical display of one’s own mind. Resolve with certainty that the essence of mind is ungraspable, free from elaboration, and unborn. Then relax and rest.

Again, visualising clearly as before, pass the days and nights in this way. At the conclusion, apart from dedicating merit, there is no need for dissolution, invitation, or the like, nor for elaborate offerings and tormas. Why? Because it is nothing more than bringing clearly to mind the maṇḍala that is spontaneously present from the very beginning. There is no coming together or separation, and the entire universe and its inhabitants are established as offering substances.

COLOPHON

Thus, Zhepe Dorje composed this to clarify Pawo Tobgyal’s practice.[2]

Oṃ svasti!

The account of the outer, inner, and secret realisations

Of the yogic practitioner Zhepe Dorje—

Upon whom Padma, the Victorious Lord who knows the three times,

King Tsangpa Dungthöchen,[3] and all the other authoritative holy beings

Bestowed prophecy, blessings, respite, and encouragement—

And the vajra speech of the ocean of supremely secret ḍākinīs;

The cycle of the Pure Vision Dharma collection, the Uncontrived Array;

The profound path of the ḍākinī Guhyajñānā,

Its detailed explanation of the great completion-stage yoga, and so forth—

Through the pure intention of Orgyen Chöphel,[4]

These were brought to print.

Through the power of the ocean of virtue thus accumulated,

From now until the very heart of awakening,

May the ocean of ḍākinīs of the three abodes serve as companions;

With every desired aim conceived in the mind fulfilled,

May all realisations of the grounds and paths be brought to perfection without exception.

May all sentient beings, infinite as the reaches of space,

Within the maṇḍala of the ocean of supremely secret ḍākinīs,

Manifestly awaken in the celestial realm of Akaniṣṭha,

And be liberated all at once into the vajra body of light.

Through the compassion of the ocean of the Three Roots and Victorious Ones,

And through the power of unfailing dependent origination,

May every aim wished for in the mind

Be swiftly accomplished without any adverse conditions.

COLOPHON

Thus, at the request of the printing scribes, the vidyādhara Zhepe Dorje composed this rite for sealing the aspiration with words of truth.

NOTES

[1] Tib. Ang rag—rendered here as "loincloth."

[2] Pawo Tobgyal (Tib. Dpa’ bo Stobs rgyal) was a contemporary practitioner closely associated with Zhepe Dorje and appears repeatedly in his writings as a requester of ritual teachings. A 1731 colophon identifies him as ’Or shod G.yu ’brug Lha rtse’i sras. G.yu ’brug Lha rtse was not a personal name but the great assembly hall situated within the residence of the rulers of Dga’-chags in the O-rong region of Kongpo (Ehrhard 2022, 80 n. 27); sras therefore appears to identify Tobgyal as a son or scion of this ruling house. In the Dag snang gnod sbyin chen po’i sgrub skor mtshon brgya’i ’phrul ’khor, Lelung states that the work was composed in the Iron Female Pig year (1731) in accordance with Pawo Tobgyal’s earnest request (Sle lung 1983–1985b, 131–142). A Guhyajñānā fire-offering ritual, Gar gyi dbang phyug gsang ba ye shes kyi mkha’ ’gro ma’i sbyin sreg gi cho ga mthong ba kun grol, was likewise written by Lelung at the joint request of Pawo Tobgyal and Trinle Dargye (Sle lung 1974–1976, 295–333). The present text was composed “to clarify Pawo Tobgyal’s practice” (dpa’ bo stobs rgyal gyi nyams len gsal byed du) (Sle lung 1983–1985a, 171–175).

[3] Tsangpa Dungthöchen (Tshangs pa Dung thod can) was a protector deity with whom Zhepe Dorje appears to have maintained a particularly close ritual relationship. Lelung’s collected works preserve several compositions devoted specifically to Dungthöchen, including a rten mdos rite for Dungthöchen and his ministers, an invocation prayer, and a wrathful exhortation whose colophon calls him “the powerful chief of the war gods.” Another text records a ritual message offered directly to Dungthöchen during a deity-offering festival at Tradruk (Khra ’brug). Bailey likewise documents Lelung’s close relationship with the Tsangpa protector of Tradruk: in connection with his Nyingma practice in 1713 Lelung claimed that Tsangpa had prophesied his activities, and during the Dzungar crisis of 1717 he retrieved a special image of Tsangpa Karpo from Tradruk and brought it to Chökhor Gyal (Chos ’khor rgyal) for invocation and extensive offerings (Bailey 2017, 44–46). Lelung also names Tsangpa Dungthöchen among the major oath-bound protectors in a 1730 account (Bailey 2017, 227).

[4] Orgyen Chöphel (O rgyan chos ’phel) is otherwise unidentified. The present text associates his altruistic intention (lhag bsam) with the printing of a collection of Zhepe Dorje's writings, suggesting that he served as a patron or organiser of the printing project. The concluding colophon states that Zhepe Dorje composed the present rite at the request of the par yig pa, the printing scribes responsible for preparing the written model from which the woodblocks were carved. The preceding phrase rig pa’i ’byung gnas a yi char skyes pa’i, which syntactically appears to qualify Orgyen Chöphel, is clear in the source but remains obscure in meaning and has therefore been left untranslated.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Sources

Sle lung rje drung Bzhad pa’i rdo rje. 1974–1976. “Gar gyi dbang phyug gsang ba ye shes kyi mkha’ ’gro ma’i sbyin sreg gi cho ga mthong ba kun grol.” In Mkha’ ’gro gsang ba ye shes kyi chos skor, vol. 4, 295–333. New Delhi: Sanje Dorje. BDRC W9209.

Sle lung rje drung Bzhad pa’i rdo rje. 1983–1985a. “Bzhad pa’i rdo rje’i gsang sgrub snying por dril ba.” In Gsung ’bum Bzhad pa’i rdo rje, vol. 12, 171–175. Leh: T. Sonam and D. L. Tashigang. BDRC W22130.

Sle lung rje drung Bzhad pa’i rdo rje. 1983–1985b. “Dag snang gnod sbyin chen po’i sgrub skor mtshon brgya’i ’phrul ’khor.” In Gsung ’bum Bzhad pa’i rdo rje, vol. 12, 131–142. Leh: T. Sonam and D. L. Tashigang. BDRC W22130.

Secondary Sources

Bailey, Cameron. 2017. “A Feast for Scholars: The Life and Works of Sle lung Bzhad pa’i rdo rje.” DPhil thesis, University of Oxford.

Ehrhard, Franz-Karl. 2022. “The Treasure Discoverer from Dwags-po: Two Texts on the Life of Chos-rje gling-pa (1682–1720).” Revue d’Études Tibétaines 64: 57–83. 

Published August 2026