VISIT TO THE TIBETAN SETTLEMENTS IN SOUTHERN INDIA
IN RESPONSE TO repeated invitations for some years by the nun Gyaltsen Palmo from the settlement in Mysore and various invitations from the monasteries and other Tibetan settlements, I left Dharamsala on the fourth day of the ninth month. I flew from Delhi to Bangalore, where I was met at the airport by the head of the settlement in Mundgod and by the abbots and administrators of the Sakya, Geluk, Kagyü, and Nyingma monasteries, including the major monasteries of Sera, Drepung, and Ganden. I spent a night in a government circuit house in Bangalore. The next morning, when I arrived at the Mysore settlement, I was greeted by the ordained and lay members of the communities. It was arranged for me to stay in His Holiness’s residence.
At the request of the Jé and Mé colleges, I gave teachings at Sera Monastery on the Three Principal Aspects of the Path. Then, at the request of the nun Gyaltsen Palmo, I gave the complete initiation of single-deity Vajrabhairava. On the thirteenth I offered tea, bread, and five rupees to each of the Sera monks together with a ceremonial scarf. I offered one thousand rupees to the construction of a new assembly hall.
On that day I invoked protectors Shukden, Setrap, and Yumar Tsengö in trances through the new Panglung medium, Thupten Phelgyé, at which time the protector gave prophetic advice for a brief moment. On the fourteenth, I visited and made offerings at the Nyingma monastery Namdröling, the Sakya monastery, and the Geluk monastery Thekchen Chöling. At each monastery I gave teachings and performed consecrations. I also visited the administrative offices of the settlement as well as the hospital and the school and performed consecrations. On the sixteenth, I gave the permission of the Three Wrathful Forms Combined and the Amitāyus long-life initiation in the system of Drupgyal to a large gathering of monks and laypeople at the request of the settlement. These were given in the spacious green field in front of His Holiness’s residence, and afterward I advised everyone to carry out their religious and secular duties in accord with the wishes of His Holiness.
The next day I visited the settlement in Hunsur and gave the oral transmission of the refuge verse, the Praises to Tārā, and His Holiness’s long-life prayer to about eight hundred Tibetans who had come to the settlement from Gangtok. On the way I visited the future site of the headquarters for the Association for the Preservation of the Geluk Tradition as well as settlements 5 and 6 and performed consecrations.
On the eighteenth I gave prenovice and novice ordinations to eighty-three young monks of Sera Jé and Sera Mé. The following day the Sera Lachi administrations and the settlements offered me a long-life ceremony with Guru Puja and tsok offerings conducted by the monks. In the afternoon at the request of Sera Jé, I gave the permission of Lion-Faced Ḍākinī to the monks.
On the twentieth I left Bylakuppe by car for Mundgod and spent one night in a guesthouse at Shomogang. The next day when I arrived at the settlement in Mundgod, I was received by the Ganden, Drepung, Sakya, and Nyingma abbots and monks and by the officers and members of the settlement community. I stayed in His Holiness’s residence. On the twenty-second, on the occasion of Lord Buddha’s descent from the celestial realms, I performed the consecration of the statues of Jé Tsongkhapa and disciples that I had previously offered to the great assembly of Ganden Monastery. The statues were placed in a small chapel until the completion of the assembly hall. I offered seventeen thangkas complete with brocade borders and colored silk tassels to Ganden Shartsé. The thangkas included a depiction of the Buddha surrounded by the sixteen arhats and a set of Chinese embroidered thangkas depicting the lives of the Paṇchen Lamas.
In the following day, at the request of the administrations of Drepung and Ganden, I gave teachings based on the root text of the Hundred Deities of Tuṣita in the assembly hall of Ganden Jangtsé Monastery. I gave the permission of Lion-Faced Ḍākinī and teachings on the six-session guruyoga to the monks in the debate yard of Drepung Loseling. To sixty-five novices of Ganden and Drepung I gave prenovice and novice ordination. At the request of Ganden Shartsé I gave the permission of Jé Rinpoché as the triple deity to the monks of Ganden and Drepung. I visited Drepung Gomang and performed consecrations and gave the oral transmissions of the Praise of Dependent Arising. At the request of Ganden Jangtsé, I gave the permission of Palden Lhamo Maksorma. I offered tea, bread, and five rupees each with scarves to the Drepung, Ganden, Sakya, and Nyingma monks.
On the thirtieth the monasteries and the settlements offered me a long-life ceremony with a Guru Puja and tsok offering. On the first of the tenth month, I visited the retirement home, the hospital, the handicraft center, and the schools of the settlements. At each place I performed consecrations and offered words of advice. On the second, at the request of the settlements, I gave the permission of the Three Wrathful Forms Combined and the Amitāyus long-life initiation in the system of Drupgyal to a large gathering of tulkus, monks, and the public in the open area of the palace compound. I advised everyone that in their daily activities they should never do anything to undermine the wishes of His Holiness.
On the third I left Mundgod and went to Hubli and Bangalore by train. From Bangalore I flew to Delhi. In Delhi I stayed at the house of Mongolian Lama Guru Deva. On the eighth, at the request of Ama Chözom, proprietor of the York Hotel, I gave a long-life initiation of White Tārā to a large gathering of monks and laypeople at the Ladakh Buddha Vihar. On the tenth I left Delhi for Dharamsala, and on the fourteenth I paid my respects to His Holiness.
INDO-PAKISTANI CONFLICT
In the afternoon of the sixteenth, a border conflict broke out between India and Pakistan, and for a few days everyone lived in a state of anxiety. On the night of the twentieth, having just drafted a letter to the manager of Phabongkha Labrang, Trinlé Dargyé, about the final determination for the recognition of the incarnation, I dreamed of my refuge and protector Kyabjé Phabongkha Vajradhara. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the benefactor Lady Lhalu Lhacham Yangzom Tsering390 presented him with a scarf in an elaborate ceremony. Lama Vajradhara wore a ceremonial brocade gown, which he showed to me holding it up by the collar. Proudly he told me that he was dressed up for his birthday celebration.
Dagyab Hothokthu Rinpoché came to Dharamsala from Germany and stayed at our house. At his request, beginning on the eighteenth day of the eleventh month, I gave fifteen days of teachings on the Middle-Length Stages of the Path to Rinpoché and others, including Sera Jé Khamlung Tulku, Gönsar Tulku, Trehor Thupten Tulku, Sera Mé Sharpa Tulku, Sera Jé Trehor Geshé Ngawang Dargyey, Loseling Jangmar Tulku, and Ganden Shartsé Geshé Asong. Then I gave the blessing of the four sindūra initiations of Vajrayoginī to Rinpoché and a few others. Again I gave initiation of the sixteen drops of the Kadam lineage to twenty-nine tulkus and geshés including Rinpoché, Loseling Denma Lochö Rinpoché, and Ratö Chubar Rinpoché. I gave the oral transmission of the commentary to the praise of Shukden to nine tulkus and geshés, including Rinpoché himself. To Rinpoché alone, I taught on the long-life practice of Amitāyus based on the following four commentaries: the root text by Jé Rinpoché, a long-life practice compiled by Phabongkha Vajradhara, and two commentarial texts of the practice from the collected works of Jé Sherap Gyatso.391 After these teachings Rinpoché returned to Germany.
The Tibetan water-bird year, 1972, was my seventy-second year. On the morning of February 15, the first day of the Tibetan year, I offered His Holiness the substances of longevity from my White Tārā long-life retreat. During the Annual Prayer Festival at the Thekchen Chöling temple, in the morning discourse on the tenth, I fulfilled the instructions of His Holiness by explaining the reasons for and the benefits of Mahayana mind training, the methods for practicing of the six perfections, and the way they should be practiced when following in the footsteps of the past buddhas, in conjunction with the oral teachings on the stages of the path. I covered these topics in my prefatory comments to a discourse on the Garland of Birth Stories — the past lives of the Buddha — in accord with the traditions of past masters. This discourse was attended by a large number of monks and laypeople. During the noon tea session, I led the prayers of refuge and bodhicitta. In the afternoon dry assembly, I led the dedication prayers and recited the Prayer for the Teachings to Flourish and the Prayer for Rebirth in Sukhāvatī in accordance with the tradition. On the twelfth I made offerings of tea, a meal of rice, and money to 550 monks attending the prayer festival, thus accumulating merit.
On the fifteenth, His Holiness presided over the sessions, and I attended them all from early morning throughout the day, including the confession ceremony. While attending the sessions, I reflected on the great qualities and achievements of both the Buddha and Mañjuśrī Lama Tsongkhapa, and I offered sincere prayers to the best of my ability.
On the sixth day of the second month, at the request of Yangdhar Chözin of Chatreng, Galu Losang Gyaltsen, and Töpa Kako Tashi, I gave the permission of Avalokiteśvara Who Liberates from All Lower Realms to a large number of monks and laypeople who had come to receive His Holiness’s teachings on the stages of the path at the Thekchen Chöling temple. At the request of the Lhasa nun Thupten Chödrön and Yangdhar Chözin of Chatreng, I gave the blessing of the four sindūra initiations of Vajrayoginī to six hundred monastics, including abbots and ex-abbots of the three seats and the two tantric monasteries, and to tulkus and two hundred laypeople. The following day, I gave experiential teachings on the two stages of Vajrayoginī to six hundred disciples who pledged to perform the retreat of the deity in addition to upholding a daily sādhana commitment. I gave teachings for seven days with four explanations, as is done in the Sakya tradition. At the conclusion of this discourse, for auspicious reasons, I gave an explanation and oral transmission of the long-life practice by way of vajra recitation with breath yoga.
I sent three thousand rupees through the former chant master of Ganden Jangtsé, who was returning to Mundgod, as a contribution to new statues being made, and an excellent pair of antique cymbals to be presented to Jangtsé College. Starting the thirteenth day of the third month, at the request of the two tantric monasteries, I gave teachings on the six Dharmas of Nāropa based on the commentary of Jé Tsongkhapa entitled Endowed with the Three Convictions and the teachings of Trehor Naktsang Tenpa Dargyé along with physical exercise yogas to 715 people, including abbots, masters, senior geshés, and resident monks from Dharamsala as well as tulkus and monks from other places. Although I lacked the confidence of having valid experience of them, I delivered the oral teachings of the compassionate lamas like a messenger. As there were many learned geshés and hermits present, I held the hope that they would preserve and make the teachings known through further explanations and practice.
Afterward, to the same group, I gave the permissions of the deities from the close lineage of the cycle of Mañjuśrī teachings that Lama Umapa transmitted to Jé Tsongkhapa and the permission of the thirteen aspects of Six-Armed Mahākāla. I also gave the oral transmission of the following: the Luipa tradition of Cakrasaṃvara’s self- and front-generation, initiation ritual, site ritual, and ritual fire offerings, Gyümé Tantric College’s manual of the Iron Fortress ritual, its supplement, and the eight major explanations, the Magical Wheel of Stacked Vajras Mountain for dispelling spirits, the ritual fire offering of the force of Vajrabhairava, Gyütö Tantric College’s supplement to the consecration ritual in conjunction with Cakrasaṃvara and Guhyasamāja, Thuken’s self- and front-generation of Secret Hayagrīva, the propitiation of Hayagrīva, its spirit-dispelling ritual, Throneholder Tenpa Rapgyé’s White Mahākāla treasure-vase ritual, and teachings on Fifty Verses on Guru Devotion, the Twenty Verses on the Bodhisattva Vow, and verses on the root and secondary tantric downfalls.
To three hundred disciples, including the above group, I gave the common torma initiation and uncommon body-mandala initiation of Cittamaṇi Tārā at the request of Drakgyab Ngawang Tsephel. After this I gave the permission of the mantra extraction of Vajrayoginī to forty-six tulkus and monks.
CONFIRMING THE RECOGNITION OF THE THIRD PHABONGKHA RINPOCHÉ
On the eighth I mailed Trinlé Dargyé, the manager of Phabongkha Labrang, the unanimous determinations along with the questions regarding the incarnation of the late supreme incarnation of Kyabjé Phabongkha Vajradhara. The results of His Holiness and Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché’s divinations as well as my own divinations and dreams and the predictions of the Gadong oracle and Shukden all agreed on the same candidate, Sönam Gyatso. He was born in Darjeeling to Drölkar and Tsewang Norbu. The parents ran the Lhasa Restaurant at Shipal Dora in Darjeeling. Together with a letter and so on, I sent a sum of money as a token of the three representations and a verse of auspiciousness.
On the second day of the fifth month, Khemé Sönam Wangdü of the Kunsangtsé family fell ill for a few days. All the members of our labrang did their best to provide medical treatment for him and make religious offerings. Despite our efforts, he passed away in dignity. He had reached the age of seventy-three and had been sick with various illnesses. When his condition became acute, I visited him, instructed him to reflect on virtuous topics, and recited sacred mantras into his ear. After he had passed away, I offered prayers on his behalf. As I am the only surviving member of the Kunsangtsé family and descendent of the Gungthang estate, I did all the things that were necessary and disposed of all his belongings for virtuous purposes, wasting nothing.
Starting on the third day of the sixth month, I did a retreat on Guhyasamāja in the Mañjuvajra system of Jñānapāda at the wish of His Holiness. I saw no visitors during the retreat.
On the tenth I received a letter from Trinlé Dargyé in which he said that although the incarnation was only thirty-four months old, his bearing was dignified during the recognition ceremony at which robes were put on him and a long-life ceremony offered. Trinlé Dargyé also mentioned that the incarnation was relaxed and smiling with him, as if he had known him as his manager for a long time. These seemed like clear indications of instincts from his predecessor. Trinlé Dargyé was very pleased with how well everything went during the ceremonies, and he sent me photos of the incarnation. I was naturally filled with joy and felt relieved of a great burden of responsibility.
On the twenty-eighth day of the seventh month, I finished my retreat and did the compensating ritual fire offering. From the twelfth day of the eighth month, I did a retreat of Jinasāgara Avalokiteśvara, which is among the one hundred special mandalas of the mahāsiddha Mitrayogin. Upon the conclusion of the retreat I did the ritual fire offering.
One day, at the request of Barkham Shodo Dragom Tulku, I gave him the life entrustment of the protector Shukden and oral transmission of the ritual practices of the protector. Dragom Tulku’s predecessor was not only a Dharma friend but was also responsible for requesting many of the rituals of the protector in writing. Shukden was his main protector. I also lent Dragom Tulku my notes on the special points of the visualizations for the Shukden retreat.
On the fourth of the tenth month I gave prenovice and novice ordinations to Nadia from France and gave her the ordination name Losang Chödrön. Beginning on the fifteenth, I offered His Holiness a number of permissions starting with the common torma initiation and the exclusive body-mandala initiation of Cittamaṇi Tārā together with the most secret Heart Absorption permission. I went on to offer him the permissions of the seventeen emanations of Four-Faced Mahākāla Robber of Strength392 in order, including Split Faces, Striking the Vital Point, and Secret Accomplishment but excluding Entrusted Black Brahman.393
BODHGAYA AND SARNATH
On the twenty-first, I left Dharamsala for Bodhgaya with Palden and Norbu Chöphel. The illuminator of the practice lineage, Gyalwang Karmapa Rinpoché, was also in Bodhgaya. Because of our close connections, we were very pleased to see each other and visited one another several times.
From the ninth of the eleventh month, at the request of Chatreng Jungné, I gave the permission of Avalokiteśvara Who Liberates from All Lower Realms, and at the requests of the Shedra family bursar Mr. Manithang and his wife, I gave the blessing of the four sindūra initiations of Vajrayoginī to 150 people in the assembly hall of the Tibetan monastery. Also at the request of the monk Tsöndrü Gyatso of the Tibetan monastery, I gave experiential teachings on the two stages of Vajrayoginī to ninety-one disciples, who took the commitment to do the retreat of the deity.
On the morning of the seventeenth, the incarnation of Phabongkha Rinpoché and Trinlé Dargyé showed up from Darjeeling to meet me. I received them in my quarters. That day it so happened that I was to give the initiation of long-life deity White Heruka from the teachings of Mañjuśrī to Sera Jé Rikya Tulku, the abbot of the monastery in Tawang in the Mön region. The incarnation and Trinlé Dargyé also attended the initiation. When I was seven years old, Kyabjé Phabongkha Vajradhara was staying in our hermitage at Chusang. At the request of the late kind Ngakrampa, he gave the complete set of permissions of the cycle of Mañjuśrī teachings, and I received these as my first teachings from him. The coincidence that I was to give the White Heruka long-life initiation when I met the young incarnation for the first time felt like an auspicious indication of the continuous golden samaya bond with my most kind lama, who compassionately cares for me throughout my successive lives. Not only that, Heruka Cakrasaṃvara was the principal practice deity of Kyabjé Phabongkha Rinpoché.
On the eighteenth I paid my respects to the feet of Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché, who arrived in Bodhgaya after showering a rain of profound, vast, and magnificent teachings on the fortunate disciples in the Mysore area in South India. On the twenty-second, Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché’s labrang sponsored a long-life ceremony for me. This was done in conjunction with a Guru Puja and tsok offering conducted by both monks resident in Bodhgaya and those who had gathered from various places. During the ceremony Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché presented the eight auspicious symbols and substances to me, thus making firm the vajra-pillar of life. Afterward, I took the first snip of hair of the young incarnation and bestowed on him the name Losang Thupten Trinlé Kunkhyap with a scarf. At the request of Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché I offered him experiential teachings on the profound path of the Guru Puja based on the root text and Kachen Yeshé Gyaltsen’s commentary, teaching continuously until I had completed the explanation. In this way I made offerings of practice to the lama. On the twenty-fourth our labrang sponsored a long-life ceremony in conjunction with a Guru Puja and tsok offering to Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché, so that his feet might be firmly planted in the nature of indestructibility. During the rituals conducted by the monks, I presented the eight auspicious symbols and substances to Rinpoché followed by material offerings.
On the twenty-fifth I gave the first teachings of the Tibetan alphabet to the incarnation. Along with a scarf and the three representations, I presented the following verse, which I wrote spontaneously:
The young sun that was the supreme incarnation of Dechen Nyingpo,
the most incomparable spiritual father, has set in the celestial sphere,
but the enchanting smile on the beautiful face
of the new moon of his reincarnation
appearing over the eastern mountain of the fortunate
makes this day a happy one.
By hearing, contemplating, and meditating upon
the great ocean of sutra and tantra literature,
by holding the wonderful qualities of learning, ethics, and compassion,
by performing wonderful deeds of preserving, developing,
and propagating the teachings of the conqueror Losang,
I pray and yearn that you emulate the life of the former incarnation.
The next day the monk Tsöndrü Gyatso, who was the disciplinarian of the Tibetan monastery, sponsored a long-life ceremony in conjunction with a Guru Puja and tsok offering to Tutor Ling Rinpoché and myself.
At the feet of Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché I received teachings on the Dharmarāja sixteen-point Iron Fortress ritual, ground ritual, and supplement in the tradition of Gyütö Tantric College and the Iron Fortress of the Magical Wheel of the Torma Ritual of Vajrabhairava composed in three parts by the predecessor of Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché. As I had already studied the diagrams of collected mantras, Rinpoché proceeded with the textual explanations without practical demonstration of the diagram lines. This was very convenient, as Rinpoché was very busy and his disciple indolent, caught up in distracting activities. At the wish of Kyabjé Rinpoché I offered explanations on the root text of the Self-Accomplishment of the Peaceful and Wrathful Mañjuśrī, the Vajra Words by Jé Tsongkhapa, and the commentary by Jamyang Shepa, the Wish Fulfilling Hope of the Fortunate. Then, for the benefit of all beings, especially those connected with me, I made a thousandfold offering at the stupa, presented an all-day food offering at the monastery, and donated a thousand rupees toward the rainy-season retreat. While staying in Bodhgaya, I offered over ten thousand butter lamps.
On the twenty-ninth I left Bodhgaya for Varanasi and stayed at Guru Deva’s residence at the Chinese temple in Sarnath, where I met the incarnation of Kyabjé Phabongkha Vajradhara. For two days, many teachers and students from the Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies came to visit me, as did the incarnation of Dergé Dzokchen Pema Rikzin.394 On the fourth of the twelfth month, at the request of a disciple from Phakri living in Bhutan, I gave a White Tārā long-life initiation to three hundred monks and laypeople at the Tibetan monastery. On the seventh, the incarnation of Kyabjé Vajradhara went back to Kalimpong. I presented Rinpoché with a thousand rupees, a ceremonial scarf, and a token sum of the three representations. I gave gifts to the manager as well as to the attendants and parents of Rinpoché and advised them regarding his education and proper care. On the eighth, I made daylong offerings to all the monks and thousandfold offerings at the stupa. I gave prenovice and novice ordinations to the students of the institute. At the request of Ashé Yangkyi, the mistress of the late King Jikmé Sengé Wangchuk of Bhutan, I gave a long-life initiation of White Tārā to five hundred people. I gave the permission of Secret Hayagrīva according to the Kyergang tradition to Yangkyi and members of her family.
Lati Rinpoché came to see me. He had sponsored the teachings on Nāgārjuna’s six treatises on reasoning and Āryadeva’s Four Hundred (Catuḥśataka) given by His Holiness in Mundgod. Lati Rinpoché brought me a letter from Ganden Shartsé with the pictures of the gilded bronze statue of the Buddha that I had had made and presented to Shartsé to be their principal statue in the college’s assembly hall. The statue is four feet wide at the base of the lotus seat, and it was made well, as I had hoped. The statue contains many rare and precious relics, including pieces of clothes and hair of many Indian and Tibetan masters, as well as printed prayers.
At the request of the Geluk Students Association of the Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, starting the first day of the second twelfth month I taught for three days on Jé Tsongkhapa’s Three Principal Aspects of the Path and gave the permission of Avalokiteśvara Who Liberates from All Lower Realms. This was attended by four hundred monks, including the geshés, students, tulkus, and other monks who had gathered there, as well as two hundred laypeople.
Shakabpa Wangchuk Deden came to visit me, and he left with me three volumes of his writings on the political history of Tibet and asked me to go over them and give my suggestions and comments. He told me that the library in Patna contained a history of Ganden Shartsé. As this text was very difficult to obtain in India, I dispatched Sokpa Achok Tulku and Thupten Gönpo of Shartsé to copy the manuscript. On the tenth, at the invitation of Samdhong Rinpoché of Drepung’s Tsawa House, the principal of the institute, I went to his residence and gave him the life entrustment of Shukden in the morning and made tsok offerings in the afternoon. That day I made offerings of tea and money to all the teachers and students of the four traditions at the institute. I received the copy of the history of Shartsé in khyuk Tibetan script by Achok and Thupten Gönpo.
On the fifteenth I went to the banks of the Ganges River and released a large quantity of fish to save their lives from fisherman and dedicated prayers for the enlightenment of these creatures. As streams of pilgrims came to visit me without any break during my stay in Bodhgaya and Sarnath, it was very distracting and tired me out. On the twentieth, I left by night train for New Delhi and stayed at Guru Deva’s house.
On March 5, 1973, the first day of the Tibetan water-ox year, my seventy-third year, the representative, director, and the staff of the Bureau of His Holiness in Delhi and Tibet House, as well as many Tibetans staying at Ladakh Buddha Vihar, came to give me New Year greetings.
With the help of Bakula Rinpoché of Ladakh, I went to the Wellington Hospital for a medical check-up. After the doctors had carefully examined me, they told me that my health was good. On the night of the ninth, I left for Dharamsala by train and arrived at my house, Tashi Rabten. The following day Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché and his entourage arrived from Bodhgaya, and he called on me on his way home. We offered each other New Year scarves and had lunch together. One day I went to pay my respects to His Holiness, and I joyfully took the essence of his words into my heart.
TEACHINGS AND RETREAT IN DHARAMSALA
When the monks of Gyütö Tantric College arrived from Dalhousie to attend the Annual Prayer Festival, I requested them to make propitiation offerings to all the protectors and made offerings to the protectors for an entire day. I attended one session of prayer with them, when the monks chanted the propitiation of Mahākāla and Dharmarāja. It seemed their chanting melody was somewhat different from when I had attended Gyütö Tantric College. I can’t say whether my recollection was mistaken or whether this slight discrepancy was because there were now fewer senior monks than there had been before.
At the request of Assistant Tutor Serkong Rinpoché, I gave him teachings on the “three essential moments” in the Mitrayogin system of Avalokiteśvara. I gave prenovice and novice ordinations to the young incarnation of Gangkar Lama Rinpoché and five novices of Gyütö Tantric College, bestowing the name Losang Könchok Tenzin on the incarnation. Gyütö Tantric College sponsored a long-life ceremony in conjunction with a Guru Puja and tsok offering and the Halting the Ḍākinī’s Escort ritual for Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché and myself at the Nyungné temple in upper Dharamsala. The blessings of the monks strengthened our tree of life.
On the first of the second month I gave the permission of the Three Wrathful Forms Combined to Chokteng Thupten Norsang and others. I gave the permission of Siṃhanāda Avalokiteśvara and an Amitāyus long-life initiation in the system of Drupgyal.
Dromo Geshé Rinpoché offered me the complete set of the Lhasa edition of the Kangyur printed on high-quality Tibetan paper. I sent Norbu Chöphel to Ghoom Monastery in Darjeeling to receive the gift. He then conveyed the set to my house in Mundgod before returning to Dharamsala.
The upholder of the Nyingma tradition Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoché came to Dharamsala to conduct the full consecration at the Thekchen Chöling temple. During his visit he called on me, bringing with him the young incarnation of Dergé Dzongsar Khyentsé Rinpoché. As Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoché and I knew each other well, we had a very pleasant time together.
On my seventy-second birthday, on the twelfth day of the third month,395 Dzemé Rinpoché came to Dharamsala from Dalhousie. In order to eliminate the negative circumstances of my difficult seventy-third year, he along with a large number of tulkus and monks offered me a long-life ceremony with a Halting the Ḍākinī’s Escort ritual in conjunction with a Guru Puja and tsok offering. Because of the bond of our stainless guru-disciple relationship, it was very beneficial.
Kyabjé Trijang Rinpoché giving teachings at the Tibetan Children’s Village, Dharamsala, mid 1970s
ALEXANDER BERZIN
On the seventeenth, at the request of Assistant Tutor Serkong Rinpoché, I gave the long-life initiation of five-deity Amitāyus in the Mañjuśrī lineage from Jé Tsongkhapa, the distant lineage of the long-life initiation of Amitāyus, and teachings on the practice of Avalokiteśvara in the Nyen Tsembu tradition. These were attended by twenty-five tulkus and geshés, including Serkong Rinpoché, the former abbot of Gyümé Tantric College Samten Chöphel, Ratö Chubar Rinpoché, Denma Lochö Rinpoché, Lati Rinpoché, Dzemé Rinpoché, Lochen Tulku, Śrī Chusang Tulku, Geshé Rapten, Kangyurwa Losang Thupten, Geshé Ngawang Dargyey, and Geshé Rikzin Tenpa.
On the tenth of the fourth month, with instructions from His Holiness, I began the retreat of the protector Time of Approximation,396 one of the seventeen emanations of Four-Faced Mahākāla Robber of Strength. During the retreat I did not receive any visitors. That night in a dream I was in an unfamiliar room. Suddenly the place became filled with many people. Then an old man claiming to be the king of Muli,397 with a beard and moustache and dressed in a blue brocade robe, came into the room. I gave him a chair to sit on, but instead he sat on a thin cushion in front of me and appeared to be very pleased with me. Afterward, someone like the head lama of Muli came into the room and sat on the chair. Still in my dream I vaguely wondered why the king of Muli was wearing a chupa robe since he was a monk and so on. I thought these dreams might be an indication of the establishment of a close link with Mahākāla.
At the conclusion on my retreats on the emanations of Four-Faced Mahākāla called Time of Approximation, Time of Accomplishment, and Secret Accomplishment, I performed elaborate propitiation with offerings of tsok and ritual torma offerings with the monks of Namgyal Monastery. Near the conclusion of the retreats, I also had a few dreams of my closeness to the protectors. Within the same retreat boundaries, I started the long-life retreat of White Tārā for the longevity of Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché. On the conclusion of the retreat on the seventeenth, I went to visit Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché and presented him with the blessed substances of longevity with fervent requests that he firmly plant his feet to extend his life. Then I went to pay my respects to His Holiness and reported to him about the successful conclusion of the Four-Faced Mahākāla retreats.
I gave a long-life initiation to Shödrung Norgyé and his wife, the house parents to Tibetan students in the school in Bléneau, France, and to Mrs. Pasang Lhamo from Bombay. I gave the permission of the Adhipati Lords of the Cemetery to Sera Jé Lawudo Tulku, his teacher Thubten Yeshe, and their Western students Thubten Dönyö and Thubten Ngawang.398 I gave the life entrustment of Shukden to three of them, excluding Thubten Ngawang.
On the eighth of the seventh month I offered His Holiness permission of the very sensitive Stacked Faces, Striking the Vital Point, Secret Accomplishment, and Black Brahman from among the seventeen emanations of Four-Faced Mahākāla. At the end a tsok offering was made. On the fourteenth of the ninth month, I gave the permission of Jé Rinpoché as the triple deity to the incarnation of Geshé Jampa Khedrup of Dargyé Monastery in Trehor, Losang Tenzin, and Geshé Rapten. To Tseten Phuntsok, the bursar of the Marlam family, and four others I gave novice ordinations.
Gyütö Tantric College had made a statue of Lord Akṣobhyavajra399 in place of the former statue in Ramoché Temple in Lhasa that was destroyed by the Red Chinese. The new statue was made in Nepal and brought to the Thekchen Chöling temple in Dharamsala. At their request, I gave them fifty different types of sacred relics of Indian and Tibetan masters of all traditions to be put into the statue. On the nineteenth, Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché and myself along with the abbot and chant master and forty monks of Gyütö Tantric College blessed the prayers and relics and placed them inside the statue. In conjunction with the occasion of the Buddha’s descent from the deva realms, the monks performed the elaborate ritual of consecration of the statue by way of Vajrabhairava complete in all three stages — preliminary, actual, and concluding. On the day of the actual consecration, Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché presided over the rituals, and I attended the sessions for the entire day, engaging in the combined practice of self- and front-generation in the morning and continuing on to the conclusion of the ritual. His Holiness attended the ritual from the invitation of wisdom deities of the consecration to the conclusion of the initiations of the deities.
SARNATH
On the twenty-ninth I left Dharamsala for Sarnath with Palden, Norbu Chöphel, Jamyang Tashi, and Sönam Tenzin, arriving there on the evening of the thirtieth. Starting on the eighth day of the tenth month, I gave the preparation and the actual initiation of five-deity Cakrasaṃvara on two consecutive days at the request of Tau Losang Jampa. This was attended by seven hundred monks, including forty abbots and tulkus, at the Tibetan monastery. On the tenth, at the request of the nun Namgyal Chözom on behalf of her late husband the prime minister, and also at the additional request of Ngawang Tenzin, a former chef in the kitchen of His Holiness, I gave the blessing of the four sindūra initiations of Vajrayoginī with the commitment to practice the Vajrayoginī sādhana daily. This was concluded with elaborate tsok offerings.
On the following day, I began experiential teachings from memory on the basic sādhana of Vajrayoginī. The teaching lasted four days and was attended by 670 people, monastic and lay, including tulkus, with the commitment to do the retreat of Vajrayoginī. I gave the teachings in accordance with the Sakya method of teaching, fully explaining the oral teachings and the traditions of the lamas in hopes that it would further the continuity of the teachings.
During the initiation I did not feel well due to the cold, and as I continued teaching despite discomfort, I became seriously ill. After the teaching I had to undergo medical treatment and stopped seeing people for a few days. I had planned to leave for Mysore and Mundgod on the second day of the eleventh month, and train tickets had been bought, but because of my health and also because of a nationwide mass-transit strike in India, I remained in Sarnath and rested.
On the ninth day of the twelfth month, the young incarnation of Sera Jé Denma Tengyé Rinpoché came to meet me for the first time. I gave him prenovice and novice ordinations and the name Losang Thupten Gyaltsen. The incarnation revealed clear instincts from his predecessor. On the fifteenth I went to the bank of the Ganges to release fish, following in the footsteps of the merchant’s son Jalavāhana.400 On behalf of all those connected with me, both living and dead, I sent four thousand rupees through Tashi Gyaltsen, the manager of Samten Ling Monastery, to offer fresh coats of whitewash to the three stupas in Nepal and to make thousandfold offerings there. On the twenty-third, I left Sarnath for Dharamsala.
RETURN TO SOUTH INDIA
The year 1974 was my seventy-fourth year. On February 22, the first day of the wood-tiger year, I attended the New Year celebration at Thekchen Chöling and visited His Holiness at his residence to pay my respects. On the twenty-fifth, Geshé Tamdrin Rapten sponsored a Guru Puja with tsok offering in conjunction with Cakrasaṃvara that was attended by the hermits living in the hills of Dharamsala. I appreciated the simple offerings made without unnecessary elaborations or false pretenses. On the twenty-ninth, Tutor Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché arrived from Mundgod and came to visit me. We offered each other scarves for the New Year. After that I did Gyalsong effigy rituals of Hayagrīva at Ratö Rinpoché’s house for his well-being.401
On the fifteenth of the second month, I gave long-life initiations of White Tārā to Rikya Rinpoché, his attendants, and Swiss nun Anne Ansermet.402 I gave oral transmissions and uncommon teachings of bodhicitta generation to Denma Lochö Rinpoché. On the eleventh day of the fourth month, at His Holiness’s instruction, Assistant Tutor Serkong Rinpoché along with the Namgyal monks performed the long-life ritual in conjunction with the deity White Heruka for me. The private secretary, the Kungo Tara, presented me with a scarf and gifts.
On the ninth day of the sixth month, I gave the following teachings to Serkong Rinpoché and Denma Lochö Rinpoché: the Life Accomplishment of Kurava by Jé Tsongkhapa, the Guru Yoga of Vajrabhairava That Is a Treasury of Attainments: The Way to Accomplish the Secondary Limbs, the Peaceful and Wrathful Protection of Mañjuśrī, and Methods for Restoring the Degenerated Commitments by Relying on the Five Buddha Families of Yamāntaka. On the night of the tenth, I dreamed of His Holiness the Thirteenth Dalai Lama. On the way to my house, he did not take any notice of the horses and cows that were there but toyed with a large black monkey with his rosary while the monkey remained indifferent. Then a monk bodyguard lifted up the door curtain for him to enter, and I greeted him. Looking very pleased, he gave me a scarf of the highest quality403 and a plate bearing two red tormas, which I received with respect. Then, among the gifts of His Holiness, an attendant placed before me a round metal plate bearing a carcass of fresh meat. When I had this dream, I was composing the wealth-generating rituals of one of the five emanations of Shukden. I interpreted this as an indication that the protector was pleased.
On the eighteenth day of the eighth month, I went to see His Holiness on his return from Switzerland, where he had been for medical treatment, to pay my respects and to take my leave, as I was going to Mysore and Mundgod. His Holiness told me of his medical checks and described his successful activities during his visit to the West.
I left Dharamsala on the third day of the ninth month and stayed at Nyakré Khentrul Ngawang Gelek’s house in Delhi. The next morning I flew to Bangalore, arriving at noon. I was greeted in Bylakuppe, Karnataka, by the Sera Monastery abbots, Lama Guru Deva, and the head of the settlement. I went to the new monastery of Tashi Lhunpo and officiated at its opening ceremony. For three days beginning on the eighth, I performed with the Tashi Lhunpo monks the full ritual of consecration in conjunction with Vajrabhairava according to the tradition of Tashi Lhunpo’s tantric college. At the conclusion of the consecration, the eight auspicious symbols and substances were presented to Lama Guru Deva and other patrons of the monastery. I made offerings of tea and funds to the monks and presented the monastery with a thousand rupees.
On the morning of the eleventh, the monastery offered me a long-life ceremony. I gave the initiation of thirteen-deity Vajrabhairava to a large number of monks, including the monks of Tashi Lhunpo, Gyümé Tantric College, and Sera, with the preparation on one day and the actual initiation on the day following. On the thirteenth, at their invitation, I went to Gyümé Tantric College in Hunsur, where I stayed in His Holiness’s residence. I accepted the invitation of the settlement of the people from Chatreng and visited them and gave them words of advice and then returned to the residence. The next morning I gave the oral transmission of the Praises to Tārā, the maṇi mantra, and His Holiness’s long-life prayer to the people of the settlement in Hunsur. I visited Dzongkar Chödé Monastery and performed a brief consecration.
On the morning of the fifteenth, I gave the permission of Jé Rinpoché as the triple deity to the monks of Gyümé Tantric College and advised them that they should preserve the past traditions of study of the tantric teachings and ritual methods. I had previously offered a contribution of a thousand rupees for the reconstruction of their monastery, and this time I made offerings of tea, bread, and five rupees with a scarf to each of the monks. After I left Hunsur, I visited Thekchen Chöling Monastery in settlement number 2, which was on my way, and performed purification and consecration rituals there.
I was received by the monks at Sera Monastery with a grand ceremonial welcome, and I stayed in the library of Jé College. Beginning on the seventeenth, at the requests of Sera Jé Denma Geshé Ngawang Lekden, I gave experiential teachings on the root text of the profound path of the Guru Puja with the commentary by Kachen Yeshé Gyaltsen to about eight hundred monks, including the monks of Sera, Gyümé Tantric College, and others who had come from Mundgod especially for the teachings. I gave the teachings in the assembly hall of Sera. It says in Staff of Wisdom:
Some volunteer to preach,
while others accomplish through silence.
The water lily bears no fruit,
but the walnut bears both flower and fruit.404
I, who am like the water lily and played the part of a speaker, gave teachings continuously for six days from one in the afternoon until six in the evening. On the morning of the eighteenth, the Sera administration with the Geluk Association and Geshé Lekden offered me a sutra-tradition long-life ceremony, which was attended by all the monks. I had previously given a contribution of a thousand rupees for the reconstruction of the assembly hall. On this occasion I offered tea, bread, five rupees, and a scarf to each of the monks. On the morning of the twenty-second, I gave oral transmission of the Praises to Tārā, Samayavajra, and so on, to all the people of the new and old settlements. On the twenty-third, at the request of Sera Jé Monastery, I gave the permission of Yakṣa Yamayamī,405 and at the request of Samlho Geshé Losang, I gave oral transmission of the Ornament of Realization and Entering the Middle Way. I told the monks that they themselves should become ornaments of the teachings through the path of study and practice. The next day at the invitation of Sera Mé, I attended a ceremony in their library. Arrangements were made by Pomra House for me to invoke the presence of Shukden and his retinue through the medium. At my insistent requests for prophetic advice, the protector gave a few predictions. On the twenty-fifth, I left Sera and performed consecrations in the new office complex of the settlement and in the temple of settlement number 1.
I left by train from Mysore and arrived in Hubli the next day, where I was received by the abbots of Ganden and Drepung monasteries and the head of the settlement, T. C. Tethong. I spent the night in a guesthouse. The next morning I left for Mundgod by car. There I was received with a ceremonial welcome by abbots, tulkus, monks, the lay populace, and schoolchildren. First I went to the general assembly hall of Ganden, where there was a brief ceremony with tea and rice. The administrations of Ganden Monastery and its colleges, Shartsé and Jangtsé, presented me with scarves and the three representations. Then I proceeded to my new house, Phuntsok Rapten. There the administrations of Ganden, Drepung, and the other monasteries as well as many individuals came to give me housewarming scarves and gifts to please a worldly being.
As had been requested, Shartsé Monastery had taken full responsibility for the construction of our house. The monastery had appointed Geshé Jampa Rapjor of Nyakré House to oversee this, and he went to a great deal of trouble and did his utmost to make the house excellent both in appearance and in durability. I was very pleased with the house. Although I am quite old and experiencing the suffering of aging, my disciples and patrons with genuine concern for the future had conveyed their hopes through Palden and other members of the labrang that we build a house in Mundgod at a convenient location, near Ganden Monastery. Everyone spoke in favor of this suggestion. As for myself, such a house would be but a guesthouse for an overnight stay, but because I could see various reasons and purposes for it, I transgressed and turned the wheel of holding to true existence, erroneously clinging to the appearances of this life. As Jé Kharak Gomchung said:
Building the walls of samsara’s prison rather than inhabiting a mountain retreat is a mistake.
Teaching the Dharma before crowds of disciples rather than reflecting on the truth in solitude is a mistake.406
Nāgārjuna said:
Some fools forget about death
and busy themselves with many works.
Are they not deceived by Māra?407
As stated by these masters, this clearly revealed my hypocrisy, the contradiction between what I teach and what I do.
On the third day of the tenth month, the members of my labrang invited Dzemé Rinpoché and some other monks and sponsored a long-life ceremony in conjunction with a Guru Puja and tsok offering for my longevity. The people of Chatreng also gave donations for the long-life ceremony and offered gifts. On the same day the administrations of Ganden and Drepung, Shartsé and Jangtsé, and the abbots of Sera’s Jé and Mé colleges came specially and gave me housewarming gifts.
One day I invoked the presence of the peaceful emanation of Shukden, who commended me for my efforts to further the excellent traditions of Jé Tsongkhapa through my teachings by living a long life. On the ninth, I made offerings of tea, ceremonial rice, and three rupees with a scarf to each of the monks of Ganden and to the tulkus and monks of Sera who had come for religious discourse. I invited Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché to preside over the offering, and in conjunction with a Guru Puja and tsok offering, I made dedicated requests for Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché to live to the end of the eon. I made offerings of gifts and presentations of the eight auspicious symbols and substances to him. Afterward Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché and his attendants came to my house and gave me housewarming gifts, and we had lunch together. About this time I made offerings of tea, bread, and three rupees to each of the Jangtsé monks and gave a large thangka of Jé Tsongkhapa with his two main disciples, complete with brocade borders and silk covers, to the monastery.
At Shartsé I made similar offerings and presented a set of nine thangkas of the Buddha, the Six Ornaments, and the Two Excellent Ones. The thangkas were framed in antique Russian brocade that had once been the outer layer of a ceremonial gown belonging to His Holiness the Thirteenth Dalai Lama. I had received it through a merchant who brought it from Lhasa. The thangka set was completed with silk covers and a pair of silver knobs for each. I also offered five volumes of the collected works of Paṇchen Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen and two pairs of antique cymbals. To Dokhang House I offered a pair of antique cymbals. At the Drepung assembly hall, I made similar offerings of tea and so forth and also gave a contribution of a thousand rupees for the reconstruction of the assembly hall. At the Sakya monastery, I made similar offerings of tea and so forth to sixty monks, and I gave two hundred rupees to the monastery, and I did the same for the Nyingma monastery and its thirty monks.
On the morning of the sixteenth, I went to Drepung Monastery and was given a ceremonial welcome by the monks of Gomang and Loseling colleges. I went to the assembly hall of Gomang, where the administration of Drepung and the two colleges presented me with scarves and the three representations during a ceremony with tea and rice. After that, in the debate courtyard of Loseling, I attended a long-life ceremony in conjunction with a Guru Puja and tsok offering sponsored by Ling Labrang. Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché presided over the ceremony, which was attended by the entire assembly of Drepung and by monks of Sera who had come to attend the teachings on the stages of the path. Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché presented the eight auspicious symbols and substances to me and recited the verses of auspiciousness. Thus the premise that all composite phenomena are impermanent as explained in the teachings was made insignificant. After that I went to the Ling Labrang and presented housewarming gifts to Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché and his attendants at his new residence. The labrang served us lunch.
On the eighth day of the eleventh month, Ganden and Drepung monasteries along with the Sakya and Nyingma monks and the people of Mundgod settlement made a long-life offering in conjunction with a Guru Puja and tsok offering to Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché and myself in the debate courtyard of Loseling. This was attended by the monks there and others. On the seventeenth, at the request of the administration of Drepung, I gave the permission of Vajravidāraṇa to the monks and a large number of settlers. At the request of Loseling College, I gave teachings on the Seven-Point Mind Training. The next day Loseling College made a long-life offering in conjunction with a Guru Puja and tsok offering to Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché and myself. At the request of Shartsé and Jangtsé colleges, I gave initiations of Guhyasamāja in the Ārya system of Akṣobhya and of thirteen-deity Vajrabhairava for three days starting on the twentieth. These were attended by over a thousand monks from Drepung, Ganden, and Sera. On the twenty-third, the administration of Ganden Monastery offered a sutra-tradition long-life offering ceremony to Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché and myself. That afternoon, Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché and I along with the abbots of Shartsé and Jangtsé, tulkus, geshés, and others performed the short ritual of consecration for the assembly hall and the sacred statues.
On the twenty-fifth, at the request of the mendicant Sönam Losang Tharchin of Chatreng to accumulate positive roots of virtue on behalf of the late Losang Bumkyi, I gave the blessing of the four sindūra initiations of Vajrayoginī to those who had attended the initiations of Guhyasamāja and Vajrabhairava earlier. The next day at the request of Apho Söpa Thokmé of Chatreng, I gave the permission of Medicine Buddha and the initiation of Life-Sustaining Jé Tsongkhapa to a large number of monks and laypeople on behalf of the late bhikṣu Geshé Gyaltsen.
On the first day of the twelfth month the Association for the Preservation of the Geluk Tradition awarded certificates of geshé lharam and ngakram to Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché, myself, and others who had taken the examinations in Tibet and later in India. The ceremony was held in the assembly hall of Ganden and was attended by the abbots and monks of the three seats and the two tantric colleges. Samdhong Rinpoché gave the opening speech, and the abbot of Namgyal Monastery, Samten Chöphel, gave an introductory speech. Then Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché and I were each given the certificate and a gold medal with the highest quality scarves. The other geshés were given certificates and flower garlands with scarves. After that Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché and I sat on thrones and were given congratulatory scarves by various institutions and individuals. The ceremony concluded with the chanting of verses of auspiciousness. On the third, the Association for the Preservation of the Geluk Tradition gave Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché and myself a sutra-tradition long-life ceremony in the assembly hall of Ganden.
On the morning of the eighth, at the request of Gomang College, Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché and I, along with their abbots, tulkus, and geshés, performed a brief consecration of their assembly hall. In the afternoon, at the wish of the local drama troupe, we attended an opera depicting the life story of King Sudhana. This was performed in the open area in front of His Holiness’s residence. We watched the performance for two hours and presented the dance troupe with gifts. Watching the performance made me recall a verse form the Garland of Birth Stories, and I even muttered the words of the verse:
Alas, this world is transient.
It will not remain. It will not bring joy.
Even the wonders of the kumuda lily
will become just a memory.408
This was not the first occasion that I had recalled the verse. It had often come to my mind when I attended government ceremonies and opera performances in the Norbulingka during the four-day Shotön summer festival as assistant tutor and later as tutor, and I did not enjoy the performances very much.409
Shartsé and Jangtsé colleges held a debate contest session for two days where most of the debates were on the Abhidharma. Since many years had passed since I took the examination, I could no longer remember enumerations in the Abhidharma. As stated in Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life (5.25):
Whatever has been learned, contemplated,
and meditated upon by one who lacks awareness,
like water in a leaky pot,
will not be held by the memory.
As most of the topics had been stolen by the thief of forgetfulness, I was not able to judge the quality of the debaters’ erudition. I gave gifts to young novices of the two colleges who had memorized either the Ornament of Realization or Entering the Middle Way or both and advised them of the importance of putting effort into their studies. On the fifteenth, I gave pre-novice and novice ordinations to fifty young monks of Shartsé and Jangtsé including Phara Tulku.
On the morning of the eighth, I left Mundgod by car for Belgaum, from where I flew to Delhi. There I stayed at Lama Guru Deva’s house.
RETURN TO DHARAMSALA
In 1975 I was seventy-five. On February 11, the first day of the Tibetan year, I performed a token New Year ceremony. The directors and staff of the Bureau of His Holiness and of Tibet House came to offer New Year greetings to me. On the sixth, I left Delhi, and the following day I arrived at my house in Dharamsala. The next day I visited His Holiness and paid my respects to him. On the third day of the second month, Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché returned to Dharamsala from Bodhgaya and on the way he came to my house. We exchanged New Year greetings.
On the fourth, at the request of Mrs. Pasang Lhamo to sow roots of virtue on behalf of her late husband, Karma Wangchuk, I gave the initiation of five-deity Cakrasaṃvara with the preparation on two consecutive days at the Thekchen Chöling temple. This was attended by 650 disciples, including the abbots of the three seats, the two tantric monasteries, Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, tulkus, geshés, hermits, the resident monks, laypeople of Dharamsala, and others who came from various places. The following day I gave the initiation of Cakrasaṃvara body mandala to 560 of the above-mentioned disciples who committed to perform daily the yoga of the three purifications. Beginning on the eighth I gave twelve days of experiential teachings on the generation and completion stages of the Cakrasaṃvara body mandala to 183 disciples who daily recited the full sādhana of the deity. This was given at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. Following this I gave teachings on the long-life practice with reliance on vajra recitation with breath yoga in conjunction with the yoga of the White Heruka longevity deity.
AUTHOR’S COLOPHON
Paṇchen Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen said:
Teaching others while not practicing oneself
is shameful in the presence of those with eyes of wisdom.
However, the teachings of the Tathāgata, just by transmission,
are said by the peerless Teacher himself to be meaningful.
As stated by the Paṇchen Lama, I accomplished the virtuous deed of disseminating the meaningful teachings of the compassionate spiritual father so others could receive the nectar. Also Āryadeva’s Four Hundred Verses states:
If by having an unstable mind
one is said to be mad,
then how could a wise one say
that anyone in this world is not mad?
Although I am aware that I do not possess even a fraction of the qualities of learning and practice required for others to regard me as their lama, many people, mistaking copper for gold, have shown me esteem, respect, and veneration. Due to this, like a crazy person with an unnatural state of mind, the nature of my life is the play of the mere form of a lama in this degenerate time, as stated by the omniscient Longchenpa:
Not realizing that gatherings and crowds of people
are just the devils of deceptive distraction,
you may think to give advice, teach the Dharma, and work for others,
but ask yourself, “Will they truly benefit by such behavior?”
Furthermore, Kadam Geshé Shawo Gangpa said:
Be not like those who, while lacking higher qualities within their mindstreams, aspire to be others’ masters. . . .
Be not like those who, while their teachings are high, have low realization.410
My life has not been beyond what these masters have related. It has been a story of a life set within the scene of an illusory play that accords with the norms of neither the Dharma nor the world. I have nothing to present here in writing about my life like the biographies of masters that inspire faith and admiration. Despite this, many have asked me to write the story of my life, especially Dagyab Rinpoché, who in a letter and when we met in person told me time after time that I should quickly finish writing my autobiography, as he wished to publish it and translate it into English. I also wrote thinking that in the future, whenever anyone wished to discuss my life, this work would help eliminate speculations based on fabrications and false assumptions. I also felt that writing the story of my life candidly would not be improper, telling of the alternating waves of positive and negative karma in the ocean of this deceptive life like the biographies of others who are comparable to myself.
Being in the lineage of the Ganden Throneholder Jangchup Chöphel by mere chance, I, Losang Yeshé Tenzin Gyatso, completed this autobiography in my seventy-fifth year in 1975, covering the story of my life up to the second month of the wood-rabbit year. Herein I have written the account of my life as far as I can remember it, supplemented by Palden’s diary of the events of my life up to the unforgettable happenings in 1959 in Lhasa. I was not able to write in much detail as a lot has been forgotten. I have eliminated here accounts of unnecessary distracting activities since my arrival in India and have presented an account of suitable length. Thus many years of my life have passed, but as the Tibetan master Mipham states:
Composite phenomena are like the play of the seductive maid of lightning.
Happiness and suffering are the wheels of a chariot.
I have seen the strange and wondrous expressions of samsara,
but unyielding karma is my share.
All composite phenomena possess the nature of transience and are subject to destruction, while all places, possessions, and our own bodies, brought together by contaminated samsara, are in the nature of suffering. This can be directly seen and experienced, as taught in the great scriptures. However, this spoiled and wild mind, clinging to reality and permanence, with its play of deception and guile, immerses itself only in actions that snatch away the very life of liberation and does not move at all to take the upward steps to the wisdom that thinks about the next life. This, I think, is the proliferation of my share of powerful imprints of previous habituation with bad karma.
In the delightful unexamined city of deception
are the thousand illusory dramas of the eight worldly concerns of this life.
To look at these wonders, transforming incessantly like lightning,
grandfather must manifest four faces, I think.
May goodness prevail!