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Autobiography

M y father is a Dzogchen Master Zhichen


Bairochana, nowadays people commonly call him
Bairo Rinpoche. My mother Kelsang Yudron,
commonly known as Mayumla, was from Lhodrak
southern Tibet. They met there for the first time
when my mother was nineteen years old and they
met again in a sacred place of Guru
Padmasambhava known as Beyul (Hidden valley) on the Tibet and
Bhutanese border after three years.

I was born in Guru Padmasambhava's sacred place known as Tso Pema, (Rewalsar)
Himachal Pradesh, when my parents were on their pilgrimage in India. The birth took
place during a major ceremony of lama dances and a holy feast or ganachakra
celebrating the birthday of Guru Padmasambhava under the guidance of the late HH
Dudjom Yeshe Dorje, who was a realized and great renowned master of this age. It is
unfortunate that my memory cannot go back all the way to the moment of my birth.
According to the stories that I did gather from others, it was one of those rare,
magnificent and unforgettably precious days that we can only expect once in a while.
Most of the great realized Dzogchen masters who had just fled from Tibet not long
before were present at that time, celebrating the birthday of Guru Padmasambhava
with holy dances, along with cultural dances by the young boys and girls adorned
with all sorts of colorful costumes, and accompanying an enormous feast or
ganachakra with thousands of devotees and pilgrims from all over the Himalayan
region. I am, as you might say, proud to be born on that particular day and in that
particular place with the sublime support of my beloved parents. My name, Djigme
Padma Aungchen was given by the holy Master Dudjom Yeshe Dorje with his
traditional congratulations and divine blessings. Ever since then, I am blessed and
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entirely protected by him and Guru Padmasambhava forever.


At the age of four, I was taken to
Darjeeling, where my main monastery is,
as a reincarnation of the 11th Gyalwang
Drukpa. It was said that I could recognise
some of the servants who had served the
11th Drukpa as soon as they came to visit
me. I do not remember these things any
more. However, I remember saying to my parents two days before the late Thuksey
Rinpoche came to see us that "a white bearded man will come soon to pick me up". I
really do not know why, but I also remember that I was very happy to be taken as a
reincarnation with the late Thuksey Rinpoche. Some say jokingly that it was because
I had been the biological father of the late Thuksey Rinpoche, and therefore I was
obviously happy to be back with my son, meaning that Thuksey Rinpoche was the
only son of the 10th Gyalwang Drukpa. Whatever the reason, I felt very much at
home when I was with Thuksey Rinpoche, who was my first and profound spiritual
master and emotional support. I do not really care about whatever it was that made
me feel that way. It is past and the thing that I need to be considering is the future
and the present time, whether or not to be able to practice as this master wished me
to do. Nonetheless, I still believe that it would have been much easier for my parents
and especially for me as a small boy to grow up in an ordinary way.

However, I was put through the learning process of all the traditional rituals as well as
the memorization of volumes of Buddhist spiritual teachings, among others, from the
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early age of six. Most of my traditional study and memorization was completed by the
age of 13. My most difficult period of life is over. I had a very difficult upbringing
between the ages of 5 and 13. The traditional way of educating a child is not an
easy thing at all. It is indeed a difficult pipe to squeeze oneself through but I am glad
that I have made it, and I found out that it gave me a tremendously long-lasting
impact and security so as to appreciate the rest of the time in my life quite
contentedly. It is unlike many of those modern children who are raised in a princely or
princess-like style and who spend the rest of their lives as beggars who beg for
comfort and happiness, those who suffer immensely from dissatisfaction every day
and night. What I memorized and learned in that period of time does not count much
to me but the experience of the hard time I went through is a great help for me now. I
really feel that it was a treatment that was badly needed. No wonder my parents
ignored my request to help me by asking those teachers to treat me softly. I always
felt that I had nobody out there to cry to for support, not even my own parents, which
I lately realized gave me a tremendous confidence in the development of self-
strength.

I was keen on learning further the commentaries of the


philosophy of the Buddhist tradition as well as others.
Thanks to our karma, we had a great abbot known as
Noryang from Zigar Monastery in eastern Tibet, who had
infinite knowledge of everything that is possible to
understand in this universe. He was indeed a great
dictionary of the entire universe. If you knew the way to
ask a question, he always had the right answer, not only
on religious and spiritual things but also on global
knowledge, such as politics, economics, science and
sport, if asked. Unlike most of us, he had no pride in
himself whatsoever. He was always a great example for humankind. His unique
presentation and humility combined with all the knowledge was really magnificent.

I requested him through my parents to be my tutor but he did not desire the name of
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"tutor" or positions of any sort, yet he accepted the request to teach me whatever
would be appropriate, and only if I so wanted. Therefore, I had the golden opportunity
to study all the external and inner as well as the secret knowledge of the philosophy
of the universe with him for about eight years. Even though, regretfully enough, due
to my own ignorance and wildness, as well as the usual laziness of teenage years, I
did not get to utilize the golden opportunity as fully I could have, though indeed I feel
very fortunate to have had that glimpse of karma in his presence just before he
expired at the age of 73. After his parinirvana, I realized that I had much more to
learn and, in fact, I sort of achieved a kind of realization that the learning process in
this world should never be ending until the great enlightenment.

Prior to my nine golden years, I had humbly approached His


Holiness Dalai Lama several times and discussed with him the
issue of my further education. After a long discussion about who
should be the one to continue such a great transmission of the
entire universal truth with full humility and no contamination of
ego, and especially without the sectarian prejudices amongst
the different schools, His Holiness very kindly appointed one
great Nyingma master known as Ontrul Rinpoche. He said that
there were no masters like him in any orders or schools of the
entire Tibetan Buddhist tradition, that is, he was one who had the entire knowledge of
the universal philosophy and had no sectarian concept. However, it was evident that
he was not so easy to get though to, because no schools, colleges or individuals until
today succeeded to have him as a teacher. His Holiness told me I would have to be
the most fortunate in order for him to accept my request. We decided to appeal to
this master and His Holiness said that he would also be giving support to the idea
that he be my teacher. Furthermore, I came to know that this master originally came
from the same school and same monastery as my father. With a note from my father,
I sent a letter of request to him with a great hope and fear. After a month or so of
waiting anxiously for his reply, an extremely long and happy letter with very good
news came from this master, saying that he was waiting for a predicted or
prophesied student identified by his own Guru back in 1930. His Guru had said to
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him that towards the end of his life he would have the occasion to benefit an
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incarnated being and that he should not let this opportunity escape him when it
happens. My sought- after teacher thought that this was the time for him to come and
help me in order to fulfill the prophecy of his own Guru. Reading that letter was the
most enjoyable moment I had ever experienced in my life.

Subsequently, from that moment, he was already my beloved and respected Master
even though he was yet to be seen by me personally. After about a year, I started
receiving teachings and guidance on various kinds of subjects from him for more
than 9 years. He was the authentic "eye" for me, not only in religious and spiritual
matters but in the everyday life as well. Though I had a strong wish to spend with him
the rest of my life learning the boundless things of the vase which we call the
universe, and serve him, it is said that, "The demon will be very active where the god
is." Therefore, I had to discontinue the pleasure of being together with him, and
instead roam the world doing my so-called "duty". I was always thinking of
discontinuing these other activities soon after fulfilling certain aspects of service to
the lineage and the people of my lineage, and then have this precious Master
continuously for the rest of his or my life. However, as we all know, these fortunes
should always be seized when they are available. It is never recommended to let
them go, even for the price of one's life. Truly enough, my fortune of being with him
and seeking the infinite blessings of his presence and teachings never came back to
me. I am sure that he was not totally fulfilled by the time and effort that I could spare
myself for his teachings. For that I am very sad and I will never get myself out of it.
The only way to restore it is to attain the great enlightenment in this lifetime through
the contemplation of his words and example that he had generously given me. I am
working very hard on following what he really showed me as life's path. I will never
forget his infinite kindness and sublime knowledge bestowed on me in those beautiful
days when we were together having a fruitful time every day of the month and every
hour of the day. This master was not only a great teacher when he gave me the oral
teachings but every movement of his body and all the conversations, including the
jokes and those worldly tales, whatever came out of his mouth, had a tremendous
effect on my mind to improve myself and be compassionate. Additionally, the amount
of joy that one can experience just from his sight is an immeasurable vase, and
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profound, which is the true influence of his own accomplished kindness and infinite
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love.
While I was learning from him, I never used to dream of him, and I used to think that
it might mean he was inseparable from my heart and practice. However, one very
early morning, without his physical presence, I saw him coming to me in a garden
where we used to visit together and have Dharma chitchat. He was in a rush and
said he was running late to fulfill the next commitment and came just to say goodbye
to me. It was indeed a very kind of exciting and short dream, but after about a week, I
got the news of his parinirvana. I realized that it was the first and final dream that he
would ever come into; it was solely to tell me the final goodbye. He left me alone on
this lonely, dreadful planet before I even knew how to walk properly. I know finally we
all need to take our own liberty in leading our life but it was too short a time that I was
given by my karma to spend with him. I really regret not being smart enough to
renounce everything and hold the only opportunity of serving him that I could ever
have been given in my thousands of lives of past, present, and future. I understand,
though, when masters are left with not much spiritual interaction from students for a
period of time, they tend to have no wish to live longer in this world, and switch their
activities to another world to benefit its beings. I still hope with confidence that he
understood that my karma did not allow me to accomplish the commitment that I
have with him and that it was not because I was not interested in the spiritual path.

Furthermore, it is worth saying that although I had numerous amounts of masters


from different schools of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition who were equally kind and
precious to me, the late Ontrul Rinpoche was the one who truly made me a real
person. I would say he was the fundamental master for me because due to his
teachings and encouragement, I could appreciate the basic essence of all the
masters. I did not have any negative thoughts towards those masters ever since he
opened my spiritual eyes. I have not had any doubt in my practices ever since he
gave me the skilful torch with which to work. With him I began to understand who I
was on both the worldly and the spiritual levels due to his spontaneous example. I
realized how much the masters meant to me through the simplicity in his everyday
life. All the realizations that are possible there in my practices are based upon his
kindness. Now that he is no longer there in his physical appearance it totally depends
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upon my own diligence and inner discipline.


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That is all for now concerning my biography if you like. I jotted this down as it came
into my mind. It may be a deteriorated version of my biography, which was previously
seen on the web by many of you. Nonetheless, I am not interested in elaborating
upon my daily emotional life, nor on my so-called Dharma activities because that is
very relative and uninteresting, at least to me, to even think about. Good day and
night to you all.

About My Family
Category: My Family

I am the only son and, of course, they are the

only parents that I have in this life, so I can very


proudly say that we are three and this is the
beautiful family that I have. This is mainly
because we know the essential relationship
among us; we know each other very well.
Especially, we appreciate and remember the
kind of love and care that we have had for each
other as a basic knowledge. Therefore, we genuinely respect each other's opinion,
even though we sometimes get to a point where we disagree with each other's way
of looking at things.

The actual fact is, not only three of us are family members on this planet; all the
beings are the members of a great family. It is only due to our forgetfulness that we
cannot remember all the details of each other. For instance, if we are asked to tell
what we had for breakfast last Sunday morning, no matter how intelligent we are, we
will definitely have difficulty remembering exactly what we had and what to say. I
often forget if I had a breakfast this morning at all! In my solid retreat, when there is
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no servant, I often have double breakfasts and meals due to my forgetfulness.


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Similarly, we have forgotten what sort of relationship we had, with whom and when in
our past lives or even in this life.

The entire body of this world (universe) is


based on various kinds of relationship
between each other. Virtually no one has a
way to survive in this world free of
relationship. We have been in this world
countless numbers of times due to our string
of relationships and we are ourselves presently surviving based on these
relationships. Some of us may have difficulty in agreeing with such things merely due
to our individual religion or ways of looking at things. However, if one could follow the
flow of Nature with no fanatical ideas of self-created beliefs, one would definitely be
able to touch this point and be wise enough to comprehend the value of the great
family that we all belong to. We would then be able to live like one family in this world
with no misunderstanding of each other's needs and demands, and would appreciate
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the kind of love and care that we have gone through for each other as fathers,
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mothers, wives, husbands, lovers, sisters, brothers, uncles, aunties, etc.


All the little problems between us that are created by our own misunderstanding
would definitely be seen as a secondary issue or for the sake of an excuse. I wish all
of us on this planet would be able to live like my own family, the three of us, no
extreme fears and hopes that cause our ups and downs, highs and lows in emotion.

Just Love and Peace!!

My Father
Category: My Family

M y beloved father, commonly known as Zhichen

Bairochana. Nowadays people call him Bairo Rinpoche,


the 36th incarnation of the Lotsawa Vairochana. Lotsawa
Vairochana was a renowned enlightened translator and
he made all the Dharma teachings of three different
Yanas available in Tibet through his enlightened skills,
translating them into Tibetan language. My father's main seat or monastery is
Zhichen Kharmar Sangag Tangye Ling in Gulok, one of the major branches of
Kathog Dorje Dhan in eastern Tibet. Zhichen has its own group of over 20 branch
monasteries throughout the region.

My father came out of his area, Gulok, in eastern Tibet in about early 1958 with out
telling other people the truth where he was heading to, because people did not want
him to leave them. But my father said he could foresee that there was not much point
in continuing looking after all the affaires of monasteries and people back in Tibet. So
he took his liberty and made his journey by way of Lhasa and down to the Bhutanese
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border from Lhodrak in the south of Tibet, where my mother was from. They met
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there for the first time when my mother was nineteen years old and they met again in
a sacred place of Guru Padmasambhava known as Beyul (Hidden valley) on the
Tibet and Bhutanese border after three years. They were in a retreat for a couple of
years there. My birth took place when they were on their pilgrimage in India.

My father is a spiritual master for those who need him as guidance on their spiritual
path of life. For me, it has been a great gift being his only son. I love him not only in
relationship to him as a father but also as a father but also as a companion for every
moment of my life. I have never felt lonely in my life despite having gone through a
lot of difficulties in my younger days, and I now understand that it was him who gave
me the strength to pass through all the difficult periods. I do not think anyone of us
could possibly think of being as good a father as he was and is to me! When I was a
child, he used to come up with lots of attractive toys that were invented by him out of
the parts of broken watches, radios, tape recorders, etc. I never liked those other
commercial toys. I found homemade toys were much more interesting than those
expensive electronic toys. When I was a bit older, he had boundless energy and
patience to play, jump and run after footballs, shuttlecocks, Frisbees and the like for
hours with me. I also remember him making approximately one kilometer of winding
road on a big hill next to our home and pushing me in a three-wheeler bicycle all day
long up and down, pretending to be going up to see my parents and coming down
with them back home to where I was. He would not give up entertaining me even on
the rainy days. It seemed much harder for him to push me on the slippery muddy
surface. So he would lift both me and the cycle up in his arm from behind and take
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me on the same journey, up and down imaginary hills, and make lots of noise to
imitate the 4-wheel drive struggling with a steep muddy off-road climb. After
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becoming more of a man, I always liked horses and he often caught wild, unattended
horses from the mountains for me to see and touch, and sometimes he even put me
on the back of them if they were not too big and ferocious. He finally bought one for
me to ride on. My father has given me virtually everything that I want in this world. It
is such an honor to have not only a holy but a loving father like him and I feel more
honored and content to realize the fact of him being such a nice father.

Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro recognized my father as the reincarnation of


Vairotsana, at the age of eight. My father lived and educated in his main seat
educated in Zhichen Kharmar Sangag Tengye Ling Monastery in Gulok, eastern
Tibet. I think he had a very hard upbringing in his childhood, which is what I gather
from some of his conversations, as well as from some other sources. His parents or
any family members did not accompany him throughout his childhood from the time
he was sent to Gulok as a tiny reincarnation. Actually, I never heard him say a single
negative word in criticism of others' behavior or their treatment of him. He does not
say many good things about others as well; I guess he is not bothered as much as
we are. However, we should remember that these things do not really bother his type
of being easily, because they are well prepared long before they decide to take
rebirth in this world for the welfare of others. However, I, as his son still feel pity for
him even though I can do nothing for him now. Besides that, although he never
commented about his hardship in younger days, and happy times of later days, I
have actually gathered that, later on, with the moral support of my mother and the
genuine love that they have for each other, his life has been very much filled with joy
and peace. I always thank my mother from the depth of my heart for being so
genuinely loving and understanding for the sake of our family. I should also share
part of the credit with my father for appreciating this and valuing it. What a great
combination they are! Especially, I appreciate my father's deep knowledge about how
to discriminate between the happy life and the miserable life. Not like many of us who
run after different attractions and get ourselves caught in a soup. He knows where to
place the boundary to avoid all the unnecessary traps of attraction in this world. I
think that it is one of the many great methods that he uses to keep our family, as well
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as everybody around us, in super happiness and peace. Despite being known as the
head of an important lineage with over 20 monasteries comprising thousands of
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families and monks, my father prefers a simple and humble life with none of the
strings that are normally attached to those associations and organizations belonging
to different races, schools and lineages. He says getting caught by these movements
would eventually cause one's own life and the lives of others to be miserable. "It is
just a cause of negative accumulation. Why bother? Better to mind one's own
business." he says.

My father never cares about his fame. The first priority


for him is to create a comfortable environment for all of
us and try to have it not be corrupted by unnecessary
circumstances. Therefore, we never find him talking
about his own knowledge. In fact, he will indicate to you
that he knows nothing! For example, in his younger
days in Tibet, after he finished his thorough education,
my father left several palm and footprints in rocks as
signs of his achievement, which are still visible to this
day and remain as objects of homage for devout
pilgrims. However, I, as his own son, never heard a word from him until today about
these things. I am very tempted to hear something from him about his divine
knowledge and how he did those marvelous drawings and handprints on the rock but
my mother warned me numbers of times not to ask him directly because he could
have got annoyed as he wants this to be secret. I understand why, because unlike
many of us, he does not want to show himself off and get caught by fame. Not only
that, it may be that it is not meant to be mentioned at this point of time in this age,
and to people like me he is seen instead as merely a beautiful, loving father. I,
myself, would also not feel so at ease to ask him of these things, as he is so warm
and human to me. Therefore, I have had no perseverance to question him directly.

Due to the divine realization and compassion, those who meet with my father and
receive teachings from him will always be spiritually encouraged and one-pointedly
motivated to work for the benefit of every being. For that, I really admire him, and
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therefore, recently, I requested him to give more teachings to those monks, nuns and
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devotees from different parts of the world. He said nothing but laughed. Eventually,
my mother told me that he said he would teach because I have requested him. True
enough, nowadays, he is making himself available one month or so in a year to give
commentaries on various teachings of the spiritual path at his own new seat (Zhichen
Bairo Ling) in Kathmandu. I feel quite sorry for not asking him to teach during those
early years. What a waste! Not one of us ever had any idea of requesting him to give
teachings on realization. Instead, many of us have used him as a repairer of
watches, tape recorders, radios and a lot of other junk, because he can repair almost
every manual machine. I remember my father was once very interested in developing
films. He had several of those developing machines to play with. Obviously, people
liked the idea of having somebody there doing the job for free. Everyday, he had
something to do. My mother was not very happy with the idea of him working under
the bright light with a magnifying glass, sitting there gazing at the machine for many
hours everyday. She thought it might deteriorate his eyesight and the systems of
circulation in his body. Therefore, she requested him not to do those things any
more. Normally, knowing my father, he would never stop his favorite hobbies
whatsoever, but knowing that this request was coming from the genuine love and
care of my mother, my father left his hobby within a month. Ever since then, I have
not seen those machines at all. I wonder what happened to them! They may have
spoiled after years of not being used due to the humidity of the Himalayan valley.

Well, there are lots of things to write but that is all for the time being.

Cheers!

My Mother
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Category: My Family
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M y mother, Kelsang Yudron, is from a respected

family in the region of Lhodrak in southern Tibet. Her


home, which is known as Yoollha, the name of the god of
the region, was established by the genetic lineage of a
great yogi, Nyang Nyima Odser. My mother has been
practicing the spiritual path of meditation ever since the
age of fourteen, initially under the guidance of her grandmother, and more recently
under many holy yogis, realized beings and even from her own father, who was a
great master himself. Owing to her practices and realisations, she has been leading
her life very happily and lovingly despite her difficult time in leaving behind her home,
parents and all the members of her family in Tibet when she was 20 years old.

Like all other Tibetan refugees, she had a very difficult time in going through all the
cruel trials of parents and families being tortured and starved to death. Recently she
went back to see her surviving family in her home village after 40 years of
separation. She had planned to stay there for a month at the very least but came
back after a week and said that it was too sad to stay there for even one day longer.
She only stayed in the village for three days, finding literally no one there whom she
knew, though everybody welcomed her warmly.

Looking back at the great attachment that our family had towards their home,
properties, and status in those old days, it was a great teaching to see the ruins
of our home that "one almost could not recognize as being our home," she said.
"When I had first left my home, no one felt encouraged to leave due to their great
attachment to what they had. Only one sheep that was my constant traveling
companion to the remote areas of my spiritual retreats, and who used to carry my
bag, accompanied me, for I was afraid to leave him behind to be captured and eaten.
He would die years later in my lap in the country of Bhutan."
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My mother has had ill health ever since I was born. That bothers me quite a lot but
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she always tries to make my family, and myself including all others around us, happy
and free of worries by hiding most of her physical
discomfort. She can manage to do this due to her stability
of mind. Not like many of us, she does not complain
about any discomfort unless it is unbearable. I have
never seen her in either ups or downs of her emotion
level of mind in my life. She has been always happy and
smiling, except on one occasion in some villages up in
the Himalayas a few years ago, where we stayed in a
hotel. She saw a man cutting off the heads of chickens
and she came to me, crying and saying, "How could a
human being be that cruel to another being? How can we help this world to live
harmoniously if people keep on bullying each other just because the other has less
power than they have, and do not know how to love the other equally and
genuinely?" I had nothing much to say or any way to help her emotions at that
moment, except just to sit there and hold my breath. I guess I was a bit nervous to
see her crying and being emotional for the first time in my life and it was also the last
time until today.

Mostly, whenever she comes across a difficult condition within herself, she genuinely
thinks that it might be a dream that she is going through. And it does not bother her
as much as it would do otherwise. About twelve years ago, we had a minor car
accident together with my mother and none of us were really worried that much,
except about the inconvenience that we had to go through such as paperwork, etc.
Two days later, my mother said that she thought it was merely a dream and she was
a bit surprised to learn that the car was actually sitting in the garage to be repaired.
This was not the only such experience, but I do not think I can write all of them here.
think I can write all of them here.

She always takes care of others' problems, such as not being well fed, well
equipped, etc., especially those who are in very poor conditions. Pets, flowers, trees
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and small kids are her favorite companions. However, as I said earlier, she does not
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complain at all if the circumstances do not allow her to be with them. However, they
all love her spontaneously, including the flowers and
trees! Ninety-nine percent of plants that my mother
works with will certainly grow. For instance, she
could easily pluck a branch from a dying tree and
replant it somewhere else to have it grow beautifully
after some time.

I wish all of us had this authentic means of love and understanding to cope and work
with in our life. We would all be having a very easy approach to all the things in our
life, especially those unavoidable difficulties, so that our life and lives of others
around us would be much easier than it is now.

Well, it needs to be practiced; that is all we can think of. This great experience of
wisdom and helpful means of love can only, I think, be developed through the
practice of our mind training.

My Uncle
Category: My Family

M y uncle, Kyabje Moktsa Rinpoche, is the older

brother of my father. He is one of the five golden throne


holders of the Nyingma Kathog lineage and people call
him "the Father of Kathog lineage". My uncle himself is a
great master with many incredible abilities to help
beings. It would be of great benefit for those people who
are able to make a connection with him.
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Kadampa Deshek (1122-1192) established the Kathog monastery in Kham in 1159,


and with this he founded the Kathog lineage, which is the oldest of the Nyingma
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establishments. All of Kadampa Deshek's five principal disciples attained the rainbow
body. From them down to Nyala Pema Dudul
at the end of the 19th century, one hundred
thousand practitioners associated with the
Kathog lineage have attained rainbow body.
Guru

Padmasambhava said that the blessings that a person


could receive from visiting Kathog monastery were
equivalent to the Vajra Seat in Bodhgaya on which the
Buddha attained enlightenmend. Guru Rinpoche himself
consecrated Kathog monastery 13 times and he
prophesied that the Kathog monastery would be the unsurpassable holy place of
Tibet and the ultimate source for the propagation of Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal's
Vajrayana teachings.
The location of Kathog monastery is well-known as a
holy place. It has many self-arising signs of realisation,
such as self-manifesting letter of "AH", and self-
emanating Vajrapani on a rock and etc. There is also a
sacred spot where the footprints of one hundred
thousand dakinis can be found.

When I have time I will try to add more details about my uncle and his sublime
lineage.

His Holiness The Dalai Lama


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Category: My Gurus
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H is Holiness The Dalai Lama discovered me when I

was about 3 years old. Ever since then, he has been my


main inspiration in mundane as well as spiritual life.
Whenever I have some difficulties in dealing with day to
day life, be it spiritual or worldly, nothing is needed
except to remember him and his aspiring activities. I am
not the only one saying this or feeling this way, everyone
says the same about His Holiness. One of my friends
who works for His Holiness's office told me once that if
there is any problem to be sorted out, especially
something that is impossible to be sorted out, the only
thing they have to do is to go and see His Holiness at his office, and a solution will be
given in a minute or two. I am sure they can believe that it is His Holiness's great
blessings that help to resolve all the impossible issues, because they are physically
in contact with him. For people like me who don't have the opportunities to see His
Holiness often enough, if we can remember him, all the seemingly impossible
tasks can be sorted out by thinking of him. I think it's supposed to be like this with all
the enlightened gurus if you have firm and pure devotion and understanding about
the overall guru-disciple relationship.

Even though I can't remember very well my first meeting with His Holiness, because I
was only 3 years old, I could still recall the moment when I went to have my hair cut
by him at his residence as a part of a series of traditional rites. I was talking with
him and having a relaxed and good time. I don't remember exactly the subjects we
were talking about, the only thing I can remember is that he was asking me a lot of
questions and I answered relaxedly. Lately, I was told that Holiness was
very surprised that I was so relaxed in front of him, because not many
baby reincarnations were able to relax with him, many were afraid and most ended
up crying. This actually gave me a great feeling of accomplishment that I myself and
18

my lineage have a direct spiritual and devotional connection with His Holiness, not
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only in this and previous lives but also in lives to come. Ever since then up until now,
I have been nourished by His Holiness's presence in terms of spiritual growth and
confidence. Of course, it goes without saying that, we all the Tibetans have
been equally nourished by him.

Once I was at the driver's license renewal office, the officers didn't want to see me
because I was dressed in our kind of robes. Before saying any words, they asked
me, "Why are you in such a strange outfit? Please go back now and come back
some time next week." This actually means "Get lost". Then some foreign ladies
asked me, "Are you Dalai Lama?" Maybe her English wasn't that good and they
meant to ask, "Are you a follower of Dalai Lama?" I replied, "Yes, I am His Holiness
Dalai Lama's follower." We started chit chatting in the waiting room mainly about His
Holiness. All of a sudden, one officer from the same group who gave me some
problems just awhile ago came and asked me politely, "What can I do for you?" And
then within a second, my license was renewed. This is one of the fresh examples
that I can share with you. The incident also tells us how weak the Buddhists and
especially the Tibetan Buddhists are, because when others see somebody in robes,
naturally the sense to give difficulties arises, maybe because of what has recently
happened in India with some monks in robes that all others in the maroon robes have
to suffer as a consequence. However, we are fortunate that His Holiness is the
saviour for us.

I had a monk friend who also had similar experience having difficulties when he was
wearing monk's robes. My Guru always stresses on ethics, one of them is the dress
ethic, in that monks must be in proper robes. But my monk friend disagreed and
always said, "We should only be wearing robes when we are in the monastery. When
we go out, we should be in lay clothes, otherwise we would have a lot of obstacles in
doing everything." I didn't believe him and thought it was just an excuse for him to
have good fun of dressing up in different clothes and doing all sorts of things that the
monastery would not have allowed him to do. After my own bad experience, I feel
that he has a point. Not only my own experience, a lot of holy looking sannyasins,
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sadhus and practitioners, who roam around in the market or streets, everyone runs
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away from them as if they carry some contagious diseases, that is very commonly
seen. This is quite sad. The consequence of this is that the interest in spirituality will
diminish. Then of course, nobody would want to practise, because there is no point
and there is no encouragement from the world. Therefore, we all should work
collectively, not only among Buddhists, but also among all the spiritual beliefs, hand
in hand, we should find a solution so that we can all keep the spirituality for the
benefit of all beings. If somebody asks me, I would say that people from all the
spiritual beliefs should be working together, through finding our common interests
and building a harmonious way of transforming ourselves into better forms, so that
the whole world will respect us more. But don't ask me for a solution other than
this. As His Holiness also stresses about universal harmony in many interfaiths
conference, we should follow his footsteps.

His Holiness is always very fresh and energetic. One of the amazing things for me is
that he is always upbeat about everything and especially about helping others, no
matter how difficult the hardships he himself has to go through for the sake of
Tibetans and all sentient beings as a great Bodhisattva. This can only be done by a
real hero like him, who is able to put the interest of the entire universe before his
own. For us, if we have minor problems and have no solutions to get rid of them, we
may end up committing suicide, just because of selfishness and being caught up with
anger, pride and jealousy and all the afflictive emotions.

I don't know where I heard this from, but I can clearly recall about 15 years ago His
Holiness said in the public that he had completed millions of millions Mani mantras
ever since he came out of Tibet, and when he asked others how many they had
accomplished, no one could give him any satisfactory answer. People like us who
have a lot of free time cannot even finish half a million and yet His Holiness who has
to take care of the well being of all sentient beings (not only just praying but also on
the practical level) is able to keep his commitment for personal practice in benefit of
all beings. I myself have also committed 100 million Mani Mantra, after that 100
million Amitabha Mantra, followed by 100 million Guru Rinpoche Mantra, but I never
20

managed, so I wonder when my fortune will come allowing me to finish all this. It
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doesn't mean that His Holiness has 26 or 27 hours in a day. This tells us how divine
he is.

Well, I am not going to take much of your time, telling endless inspiring experiences
that I have received from His Holiness as showers of blessing because firstly he is
well-known worldwide, and secondly, it is going to sound as if I am egoistically trying
to use His Holiness to market myself, which definitely is the case with many people.
One of the saddest things that we always come across, even in Tibetan society, is
that people don't see and appreciate the real and authentic qualities of His Holiness,
and they just use him to promote themselves either for their spiritual status, political
reputation or their material gain. That is something that I can't bear. This is the
reason why I have been struggling for many years within myself whether to list him
down as my gurus in my website or not. But then just a while ago when I refreshed
my website, I discovered that 3 of my living gurus (the other two being my own uncle
and my father) are not listed as my gurus, this make me feel very awkward. I feel that
I have to be fair, as I have to live up to my reputation as "Mr Fair".

If you want to know more about His Holiness, as you all know you just need to make
a search on the web, and you will find millions of information about his heroic
activities.

Kyabje Trulshik Chokyi


Lodro
Category: My Gurus

K yabje Trulshik Ngawang Chokyi Lodro was born in


21

1923, in Yardrok Taklung, in central Tibet. He was


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recognised as a youth to be the reincarnation of Trulshik


Dongak Lingpa. His first master was Dzatrul Dorje Chang, who was one of the three
main disciples of Trulshik Dongak Lingpa. One day, Dzatrul Dorje Chang, after the
passing away of his guru, witnessed two flying sparks which he perceived to be
coming from the Copper Colour Mountain .One landed in a village near the seat of
his master and the other landed in his very own lap. The obvious meaning to him
was that there would be two incarnations of Trulshik Dongak Lingpa. One would be
found in that village and the other would be found by him and would be under his
care. This is what transpired. The spark in the village became extinguished after only
a short time, unlike the spark that came to him. Later, he understood that this was a
foreshadowing that indicated that the incarnation in the village would not live long,
because that is how things took place. Whereas, the incarnation which came to his
care, that of Trulshik Rinpoche, had a long life, indicated by the bright, long-lasting
light of the direct message from the Copper Colour Mountain. Indeed, this message
was pure joy, corresponding to the pure joy of the living Trulshik, who is still with us.
Kyabje Trulshik approached the greatest masters of his time and received a
complete traditional education. Kyabje Trulshik stayed with his disciples in a remote
place to the south of Everest. He is still spending most of his time in retreat there at
Thubten Dongak Chling. I have requested Kyabje Trulshik to write his
autobiography to inspire all the devotees with his divine example.

Kyabje Do Drupchen
Category: My Gurus

Subsequently, at the age of four, attendants and tutors implored him with sweets and
gentle talk to tell them where he had come from, to which he replied, "from the home
of Guru Yab-Yum", and he described the attendant rainbow beings and their
appearances, and admitted that their number and identities were confusing as, "there
were so many of them."
22

Between the ages of four and five, Drupchen Rinpoche received many methods of
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meditation and practice directly through the mind-stream transmission of Dorje


Phurba (Vajra Kilaya), He fluently delivered these teachings in spoken form but
unfortunately they were not all recorded. However, some were recorded by an
attendant and one realised abbot, Cho Chok, added a great commentary on it.

Although he had no need of purifying his own mind or accumulating any merit
whatsoever, to demonstrate to beings the rightful path Do Drupchen approached
numerous human masters for teachings, such as Ah Pang Terton , Choying Rangdrol
and many other great masters. And he accomplished numerous Ngondro practices,
years of retreat, and educated himself in all the common arts, sciences and crafts
such as drawing mandalas, calligraphy, astrology, pottery, architecture and numerous
other skills, all by the age of fifteen.

After this period, Jigmed Thinley Palbar, the 4th Do Drupchen, devoted his time to
benefiting beings by giving teachings, initiations and blessings, amongst other
activities. In 1957, He heeded a Dakini's prediction of forthcoming political events
and left Tibet, making his way to India and Nepal by way of Sikkim.

In this new phase outside Tibet, Rinpoche never wasted time, dedicating his every
moment to helping beings by his compassionate example, and continued to give
teachings, initiations and blessings to thousands of devotees and practitioners in
many places.
23

To this day, his presence remains the same: calm, humble, unadorned, simple and
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unassuming - yet profoundly beneficial. He resides at his main seat in Sikkim most of
the time. We all are lucky that such a master is still with us and able to be
approached. I have had the wonderful opportunity to seek his blessings of Dzogchen
Nyingthig teachings and initiations and genuinely wish that many will have the same
opportunity to receive his guidance. May conditions manifest for his longevity!

I was introduced to him by His Holiness Dudjom Yeshe


Dorje, saying that I should get the rest of the Dzogchen
lineage from him as KyabjeTrulshik was inseperable
from Dudjom Rinpoche himself, meaning that he holds
all of the Dzogchen, including the unique lineage of His
Holiness. When I first went to see him, I travelled
anonymously for many days until I reached the site of his
monastery where I pitched a tent below the Gompa. He
was in a strict retreat but he sent a monk with a note that
said he had been waiting for me as His Holiness Dudjom
Rinpoche had indicated our meeting to him though he
was no longer in this world. Kyabje Trulshik to me was an omnisciently
compassionate one, yet his demeanor was that of a completely humble person with
no airs of any kind.

Unfortunately, my beloved Guru left us in September 2011. May he return swiftly to


continue guiding us.

Kyabje Dudjom Yeshe


Dorje
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Category: My Gurus

Kyabje Dudjom Yeshe Dorje


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T he king of all the great yogis in the 20th century,

Jigdral Yeshe Dorje, commonly known as Dudjom


Rinpoche (1904-1987), was the reincarnation of one of
Guru Padmasambhava's twenty-five disciples, Kyeo
Chung Lotsawa. Incidentally, one of his previous
incarnations was Lingchen Repa, root guru of the first
Gyalwang Drukpa Tsangpa Gyare Yeshe Dorje.
When past incarnation, Dudjom Lingpa or Geley Terton,
intended to leave his relative body and wanted to take
reincarnated form, he told his disciples to prepare to journey
towards Pemakod, where he said he would be going and
informed them that this place in southeast Tibet was like a
paradise on earth. Relatively speaking, he was very old, and
people had a difficult time believing he would travel that
distance, that is, until he started making a carriage for himself.
Some of his aged disciples even started their journey ahead of
him knowing that it could take them at least a year to get there.
The size of the carriage that he made for himself to ride in was
infant-size and people remained in a confused dilemma until the morning when they
found him in his completed state of meditation that continued for a few weeks. The
young reincarnated form of Dudjom was later found in Pemakod exactly where
Dudjom Lingpa wanted himself to be reborn. He was recognized by Phukhong Tulku,
a disciple of Dudjom Lingpa and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, according to Dudjom
Lingpa's specific instructions on how to recognize his father, who was Prince of
Kanam, a direct descendant of King Trisong Detsen, and his mother, Namgyal
Drolma. Dudjom Lingpa's disciples were so pleasantly astonished to see him
25

recognising all of them and communicating with them in the local dialect of the Gulok
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region where he had spent his past life. At the young age of fourteen, His Holiness
became widely known as a scholar and meditation master. Many of his students
have since shown signs of full enlightenment. There were no Yogis or enlightened
scholars who exceeded him in the region at that time. He followed his own
omniscience and decided to leave Tibet in 1958, before the difficult time in the
country occurred. He then dedicated his entire time and effort to teaching and
empowering millions of his devotees across the world. His Holiness told us that
despite all the activities that he had engaged in back in Tibet, he found the
empowerments with the teachings the most beneficial for others. He said that he did
try almost everything else to help beings, but unfortunately, due to the lack of positive
karma, not many of the activities became as beneficial as he expected.
Subsequently, he said he was not interested in anything but teaching and
empowering with the blessings those who wanted him to do so.

Kyabje Dudjom Yeshe Dorje


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Dudjom Rinpoche passed into parinirvana on the 17th of January, 1987 at his
26

residence in France. I was told by one of the masters who was there to serve him
that relics of his body were left as a sign of dissolving his Nirmanakaya body into the
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pure space of the Dharmakaya. His relative physical body had also shrunken by
almost 85 %. His remaining body that he purposely left behind for us devotees is
presently placed in a stupa in one of his main seats, near Boudhanath, Nepal.

Although I believe that I have a magnificent connection with this great yogi from
many past lives, somehow due to my lack of some particular positive Karma, I did not
have much chance to be with him physically in this life. However, I have had the
pleasure of receiving some direct instructions on mind and the entire Terdzod
empowerment, among others. On one special occasion I was given a 3-word
instruction on essential mind - and that was it! I could not explain what actually
happened with me at that moment. However, I have no interest to mention these
things. I wish these kinds of yogis and masters, in order to save all of us, would fill
the entire world. May I reunite with him wherever he is now!

<< Prev

Kyabje Thuksey

Category: My Gurus

M
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y first guru, Thuksey Rinpoche (1916-1983), Ngawang Gyurmed


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Pelsang, was born in 1916, as the son of the 10th Gyalwang Drukpa and the
grandson of Mahasiddha Shakya Shri. Thuksey
Rinpoche in Tibetan language actually means
'The Precious Heart Son,' in that 'Son' not only
postulates the biological essence of great
enlightenment but also the wisdom of its own
nature. Many of the holy masters, and especially
the 13th Dalai Lama, declared that this small child
was indeed the Speech Incarnation of Taklung Ma Rinpoche, the Head of the
Taklung Kagyud School. However, his father, the 10th Gyalwang Drukpa,
refused to give his son away to the Taklung order because he intuitively knew
that his son would become a guardian and benefactor of the teachings of
Buddha for the whole world, and particularly the teachings of the Drukpa
Lineage when it would suffer under the revolution that would take place in the
future. Instead, he was given to Ngawang Tenzin Pelzang, the 7th Zigar
Choktrul Rinpoche, to become adopted when he was little more than an infant.
He resided for most of his younger days at Zigar Gonpa in eastern Tibet.

Having trained and studied under the guidance of his own father and many
other high lamas, such as Zigar Choktrul Rinpoche, who was what he called
'the main refuge', he also included among his teachers his Mahamaudra guru,
Tripon Pema Chogyal, Drukpa Yongdzin Rinpoche, Togden Pagsam Gyatso,
Thuchen Choegon Rinpoche and Lobpon Sonam Zangpo. My guru, the 1st
Thuksey Rinpoche, was very serious and disciplined with his practice
throughout his younger years. He said that during his time at Zigar Gonpa,
after receiving all the yogic transmissions of blessings and teachings from his
main spiritual master, the great living Buddha Tripon Pema Chogyal in central
Tibet, he never passed even a day without accomplishing four sets of yoga
practice even when he was very occupied with activities such as the setting up
of the Educational Institute for Higher Studies or the disciplining of the
monastic community. Also, he pointed out to me how important it was for him
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to remain in the meditative state of consciousness in the stream of his Guru's


precious instructions throughout the day and night. Placed on top of the great
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view of Mahamudra, I think his main practice was the Six Yogas of Naropa,
though you can never be sure what these holy masters' practices are,
because the genuine practices are actually meant to be humbly and secretly
practiced. It is not like many of us who are always busy talking about our
practices, what we did in the past and what we are planning for the future. I
was told by many old monks of Zigar Gonpa that most of his life was spent in
continuous retreat doing practices with not much sleep and the other things
that we normally may do to kill our precious time. I heard him saying once that
he could see clearly the white bone of his leg where both legs had touched in
the continuous assumption of the vajra sitting posture. However, he
elaborated no further, therefore I presumed that he must have spent his entire
time in meditation, not only in his state of mind, but physically as well. He wore
a thin cotton shawl all year long, even in the winter when the temperature
dropped to around minus 10 degrees celcius, or even lower. He never
considered to make his hermitage warmer or wear more clothes. Everybody
witnessed that within an approximate two-metre radius around the hermitage
where he stayed, no snow or water could be turned into ice at all. Some even
saw flowers and green plants growing naturally there instead. This actually
was a spontaneous sign of a certain type of great Tantric achievement.
Although he would have liked to continue living the remainder of his life in
solitary retreat, he was persuaded by his students to leave his external retreat
and come out into the world to teach and benefit beings who were desperately
in need. Moreover, there was political instability and danger of attack upon
those masters and monasteries in Tibet during the late 50's. Consequently, he
was forced to leave his retreat and go down eventually to India with the 11th
Gyalwang Drukpa, Gelek Palsangpo, with several other holy masters and
attendants.

Lama Wangdor, who is now a genuine master of meditation and active in


benefiting beings through his skills of direct instruction, was one of those who
served my guru immensely on their difficult journey. Lama Wangdor is a great
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example of a genuine practitioner with devotion and realisation. Ordinary


people, even youngsters with nothing on their back, did have great hardship to
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cross certain bridges made out of a single tree log, tens of metres high. If one
falls off, there is not much hope to survive. Many died on
their way with all sorts of hardship but Lama carried my
guru on his back all the way to India with a pure heart. My
guru's relative body is not at all a small size, much bigger
than Lama himself, about 5 feet 8 inches tall.

Lama told me recently that it was one of the great


achievements in his life to be able to serve his guru in this way. He was the
one who gave us the privilege of having our guru remain with us. Moreover,
due to all the compassionate efforts of these masters, not only did Thuksey
Rinpoche and them make themselves available for us, but also managed to
bring out from Tibet some of the precious relics and ritual adornments of the
Drukpa Lineage such as the Six Ornaments of Naropa. Finally, they secured
rest in a refugee camp call Buxa in West Bengal, where the 11th Gyalwang
Drukpa passed away the following year at the age of twenty-nine. Thereafter,
my guru was entrusted with the duty of resettling the Drukpa order as
refugees in the middle of nowhere, and of looking for the reincarnation of the
11th Drukpa. The amount of effort that he put into rebuilding, not only the
external constructions but the inner constructions of people's discipline, is
really something beyond our imagination. If one does not have their base in
profound compassion, one will never ever be able to carry out this kind of
responsibility.

Kyabje Zhichen Ontrul Rinpoche

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Category: My Gurus
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A s prophesized by Dzogchen Thubten Chokyi

Dorje, Zhichen Ontrul Rinpoche was born in


Amdo of Eastern Tibet. He was recognized as a
manifestation of one of the greatest yogis of Tibet,
Thangtong Gyalpo. His immediate past life was
one of the head masters of the Nyingma Kathok
lineage and he was residing at Zhichen monastery, the same monastery as
my father.

After accomplishing his common monastic education until the age of 18, he
was in charge of looking after the welfare of the various branch monasteries of
Zhichen. He took the responsibility of searching for the reincarnation of
Zhichen Vairochana in Derge and Dzongsar, and discovered my father with
the help of the late Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche. Later on, he
enthroned my father in the Zhichen monastery.

Then he realized that taking responsibility of the monasteries and looking after
the administrative activities were similar to mundane affairs, so he wanted to
go into retreat and follow the genuine masters so as to learn the uncommon
path of spirituality. But he was requested by his people not to leave his
monastic responsibilities. He decided to fall sick and he told his subjects, "If
you don't allow me to follow the uncommon spiritual path, there is no point for
me to live and carry on this way. It is your choice to let me go or stay."

Like many of those enlightened masters, I think Ontrul Rinpoche somehow


knew that the situation of Tibet was getting dangerous and there would not be
any reason to develop monasteries materially, so he preferred to go on
searching for a spiritual path which would be beneficial to others in a spiritual
way, rather than the monastic way.
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His people had to let him go eventually according to his wishes. So my father
took the responsibility of taking care of the monasteries.

Ontrul Rinpoche's first destination was Baney Retreat, where he followed the
master Choktrul, from whom he received the spiritual teachings of Changthir
tradition of Nyingmapa. After staying at the Baney Retreat for a number of
years, he heard about the reputation Shugchung Tsullo, one of the greatest
masters in the late 19th century, and he went to follow his teachings.

From Shugchung Tsullo, Ontrul Rinpoche thus received the uncommon


Dzogchen practice as well as the common teachings of three yanas of
Buddhism continuously for 18 years. Right at the end of an uncommon
introduction to the Great View of Dzogchen, Shugchung Tsullo qualified him
as a lineage master, and asked him not to hesitate to teach whoever
approached him. But Ontrul Rinpoche did not leave the retreat place of
Shugchung until his guru passed away.

Shugchung Tsullo was one of the important lineage holders of the Do


Drupchen lineage as well as the Changthir lineage. He was not only a learned
scholar, but also a realized Dzogchen master; secretly, he was also a terton,
although externally he was mostly reserved about his qualities. Ontrul
Rinpoche recalled the day before Shugchung Tsullo passed away, there had
been a domestic dispute between his niece and his young monks, when he
was told of the problem, he felt, "I have been teaching for more than 30 over
years and yet my teachings have not helped those people, even my own
people are not able to live harmoniously, so there is no point to live on."

Therefore, Shugchung Tsullo 'caught' a flu the same evening of the dispute,
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and he passed away peacefully in meditation posture the following day. After
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that he was in meditative state for six weeks and the wondrous smell of his
body permeated equally in about 1km radius. As soon as he was out of his
meditative state, all the followers requested Ontrul Rinpoche to take the
responsibility of cremation.

On the night of cremation, Ontrul Rinpoche dreamt of his guru riding


confidently on a white horse in the direction of a high and gigantic spiraling
mountain, telling him, "I am leaving for the Copper-Colored mountain to be
reunited with Guru Padmasambhava. And you will follow my footsteps, but not
now."

In early 1960's, Ontrul Rinpoche fled to India with many other masters and his
own subjects, and he told me that he could manage to practice on his way to
India, even though it was a very dangerous period, amidst gun shots and
military activities. He had no fear because he was confident of his guru's
guidance, but he felt sorry that lives were sacrificed easily, for example wild
animals were killed to feed the hungry people, and people were killed by the
harsh weather and the aggressive military activities. At the same time, Ontrul
Rinpoche was able to differentiate among his group of escapers, practitioners
who were calm and compassionate in such a tragic situation and non-
practitioners who simply panicked and distressed over the pain and loss of
their possessions and loved ones, among these people, many were great
masters in his time. Therefore, through this experience, Ontrul Rinpoche was
given a great opportunity to learn from genuine masters whose attitude was a
exemplified model for him to follow for the rest of his life and to abstain from
following those who were putting up a shallow front which simply broke down
in time of tests.

Later on, in Kalimpong, India, Ontrul Rinpoche took the initiation of Dzogchen
lineage from the late Dudjom Rinpoche and many exchanges took place
during this time with many other genuine Dzogchen masters. He later told me
33

that he wanted to stay in a monastic environment of Nyingmapa school. But


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that time he could not find any. So he thought about follow a great abbot and
Dzogchen master, Polokhen Rinpoche, but he found out that Polokhen
Rinpoche had no permanent retreat place that he could reside and practice.
And then he decided to stay at the Drepung Gomang because he said to me,
"By staying in that kind of monastic community, I would have no obstacles in
spiritual practice, such as mundane attractions."

Ontrul Rinpoche stayed at the Drepung Gomang until the late 1980's, when
my father and I requested him to be my guru, and for that purpose, he moved
to my monastery. Years later, he went to Tibet to fulfill his final responsibilities,
and he benefited many people there. Unfortunately, after a short stay in Tibet,
he passed away. All of us who had followed him did not have enough positive
accumulations to have him with us any longer.

I think Ontrul Rinpoche must be in the Amitabha's pureland right now because
he was constantly making preparations to go to Amitabha's pureland after he
expired from this world. When he was with me, he sometimes jokingly said, "I
don't think I will be welcome by those dakinis in Copper-Colored mountain
because I am not a yogi, therefore I cannot fulfill their wishes. So I think the
Amitabha's pureland would provide me with a more welcoming reception,
because there may be more vinaya Gelongs, where I may fit in comfortably."
And he also said, "There should not be any problem for me to visit Copper-
Colored mountain once I am in Amitabha's pureland." Ontrul Rinpoche would
never say such things to the public, except to me and his closest attendant.
When he was about to pass away, he told this attendant, "You don't have to
worry for me, I will be going to Amitabha's pureland directly." This was
followed by some personal advice to the attendant.
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After the discovery and enthronement of the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa - that is
me! - as the reincarnation of his father, guru, or whatever complicated way you
would like to put it, my guru dedicated the remainder of his life to nurturing and
taking care of me, not only in the spiritual sense, but also in the sense of a
pleasing administration and precise beneficence of mundane achievement. In
early 1970, he built our existing temple, along with the entire east wing of our
monastery. Before that, he nurtured many poor people and monks by feeding,
educating and accommodating them for many years. When the monastery
was under construction, those monks at that time served my guru doing
laborious work tirelessly throughout the period of construction, which lasted
more than ten years. I am very proud of them that they could manage to serve
their guru unconditionally, almost like the way Milarepa did. Other than those
monks, we did not have much human support. Our real support came from
non-human sources. When we needed building materials they miraculously
appeared. Building stones just came to be near the monastery when lightning
struck the mountain and caused an avalanche. We only had to pick it all up.
We did a good turn for the local government at the same time! In the same
way, sand was provided easily. Water was created by natural spring and
rainfall whenever we need, and to this day we also have water flowing from a
perpetual spring. I know that all of these things happened due to his divine
35

power. So I would say we had more help from our protectors and divine
beings then those mundane local human beings for the construction of the
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current Druk Sanga Choeling Monastery. Nowadays, people call it Dali Gonpa,
whose name is derived from the name of the location where the monastery is
situated. Apart from teachings and divine activities in India and the Himalayan
region, my guru visited Europe and established three Drukpa chapters in
France In 1981.

After saving and preserving both me and my lineage


for years of crucial transition time, on 18th March
1983, my guru temporarily left me and all of us alone
in this world to carry on our duty to serve beings.
Though it is very sad and a great loss for this world, I
took it as a final silent teaching. His love and blessings
are always with us and all my activities are entirely
blessed manifestations of entirely blessed manifestations of Thuksey
Rinpoche, who permanently radiates the rays of the Dharmakaya. The rays of
the Dharmakaya or one of his nirmnakaya form in human appearance has
again come rapidly to help all of us and continue compassionate activities for
the sake of all beings. The Buddha said, "The compassion of a great master
will never cease until the cessation of the whole universe." It is really an
amazing thing to learn these secrets of the compassionate masters.ecrets of
the compassionate masters.

Lobpon Gangri Kunsang Dorje


Category: My Gurus

On his return to the monastery he met a Lama from Kham, eastern Tibet, who told
him that going on pilgrimage is a virtuous deed at the mundane level but to realize
36

the nature of the mind, one needed the guidance of a realized master. So he asked
the Lama if such a master could be found in the region. The Lama replied, "Don't you
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know that Thripon Pema Chogyal, a disciple of Shakya Shri and the holder of all the
Drukpa lineage teachings, is giving teachings at Tsibri Niu Teng?"

Just hearing the name of Thripon Rinpoche made him forget all the mundane
feelings briefly. Making up his mind to pursue a genuine spiritual path, he left for
Tsibri at the age of 27, without informing his siblings and relatives. He received
teachings on the Drukpa tradition four foundations from Jampa Rinpoche and
completed the practice twice. In 1947, at the age of 29 years he met Thripon Pema
Chogyal Rinpoche and requested to be Thripon's disciple.

After receiving all the transmissions, empowerments and teachings of the Drukpa
lineage from Thripon Rinpoche, Lobpon Gangri spent 14 years in retreat at Nirang
retreat center. Though he wanted to spend his entire life in retreat, the 1959
upheavals in Tibet forced him to come out of retreat and escaped to India, carrying
only scriptural texts with him.

After spending about two months in a cave in Walung, he came to Kalimpong to


receive empowerments of the Nyingma tradition from H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche. There
he met Dromo Kargyud Tulku who arranged Lobpon Gangri's stay at a log cabin in a
remote forested area in Rinag, Sikkim. He did six years of solitary retreat and over
thirty years of semi-retreat at the same place, resting in Mahamudra realisation with
no mundane obscuration whatsoever. I daringly requested him to stay in the Naropa
retreat centre in Darjeeling and lead all of us with his enlightenment, but obviously he
did not accept our request which would have interrupted his retreat. Similarly, He
denied the request of the 16th Karmapa to be the leading master of his retreat
centre.

"I would like to have a very good shower early tomorrow morning and both of us
should be celebrating a great morning after that," said my Guru to one of my Dharma
friends, who was fortunate enough to be there serving him, and smiled for a while.
37

On the morning of that next day, which was 20th August 1990, as soon as he had
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finished his morning session of formal meditation, he had a long shower and dressed
up very clean and nice, sat down in the meditation posture and expressed 'AH' (The
syllable of the Mahamudra) three times before dissolving himself into the
Nirmanakaya. This meditative state of mind remained for about a week in his body
that was totally in the meditation posture with gloriously smiling face. His meditation
had united with the great compassion.

He was one of my Mahamudra masters; from him I had received all the unique
teachings of meditation. Unlike us, he did not have a habit of using a text to teach.
His teachings were purely the immediate manifestation of the realization.
Unfortunately, not many beings in this world had the golden opportunity of seeking
his teachings. What a loss! There must be many reasons, but the main reason that I
can think of is that we are very busy looking for a famous Guru. Thanks to my own
Karma and the precious advice of my first master, Thuksey Rinpoche, I had the mind
to seek his teachings in this life.

Yogi Gen Khyentse

Category: My Gurus

T he great yogi, Gen Khyentse Gyatso, is a renowned Mahamudra guru. I could


38

not manage to assemble his biography in detail at this time, but meanwhile, I would
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love to share with you guys some of my brilliant experiences I had with him. Even
playing with him in those beautiful, old days did give me
much enlightenment. His astonishing gift was just
unbelievable.
He was basically from my main seat, Druk
Sangag Choeling, in southern Tibet and the
son of a most important personal assistant
to the 10th Gyalwang Drukpa. It is no
wonder he was given the name LOVING WISDOM by the 10th Drukpa.
He completed his common monastic education miraculously. He had a
magnificent way of learning things so easily, a way which no common
person could comprehend. According to some of our old monks,
Khyentse, as a young novice, was already constantly in meditation while
he was going through all these learning processes. Not like many of us
who need to put a lot of mundane intellectual effort into learning things. I believe that
he was discovering and getting this common education through his indestructible
meditative state of consciousness. However, after his graduation, he served as the
General Secretary to the Ministry of Administration for many years, and also he was
the most important and most loved example for the entire community of both lay
people and monks, even though he was in his teens. However, after he
accomplished some of his mundane activities for the sake of the common people
who were there in his presence, Khyentse left for continuous retreat under the
guidance of the great master Tripon Pema Chogyel, with no attachment to any of his
fame or adoration within the society. He served his master with his full-hearted
practice of Mahamudra. After Great Master Tripon Pema Chogyel's parinirvana, he
continued his retreat under the guidance of the great realised master Apo Rinpoche,
who was the grandson of Mahasiddha Shakya Shri.

When I say "retreat," in his case it is really a complete form of retreat for 24hours a
day and 12 months a year. Unlike most of us, Khyentse's mind of luminosity in
Mahamudra is extraordinarily fantastic, no matter what he is doing, wherever he is,
39

never getting distracted from the meditative state of the mind, yet relative
communication with everybody can still be held so effectively and warmly. I know it is
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not meant to be judged by someone like me, but as I had several opportunities to be
around him and receive many of the transmissions of Mahamudra, lately I cannot
stop thinking about him and admiring his profound radiating eyes that are resting
totally in their own nature (Mahamudra) as they were when he was involved in all of
his activities of Dharma teachings and common conversations, etc. Not like many of
us, who have great difficulty in uniting one's own activities and the practice
simultaneously. He was always available for people around him with all his sense of
humour, due to his infinite kindness and compassion.

When I was 14, I had a golden opportunity to be with him a few times and he used to
be the most beloved one to me, mainly because he always came up with lots of
ideas to make me laugh endlessly. Not only that, he could perform all the miracles
such as hiding items that were in my hand a second before, or sometimes asking me
to go to the next room to do whatever I would like to do, but when I came back, he
would tell me exactly what I did there as if he were with me. Also, he could always
predict the weather accurately for the forthcoming days while we bet, humorously,
not seriously. When I asked him how he did those things and how he knew those
things, he always said, "Well, that's just a trick that I learned back in my childhood,"
and smiled. I guess I was a bit dumb; I believed and took it as he said. Lately, when I
think back, it all convinced me in that it was a purely divine performance, along with
his loving kindness and entertaining humility for me. Well, these are part of my
limited experiences. I feel sad when I write these things because when the precious
masters were so kind to make themselves available for us to see, touch,
communicate with and hear the teachings, even through leisure time with joking,
playing, and so forth constantly guiding us, we did not appreciate their love and the
divine messages until later.

As all other masters, after he benefitted numerous people throughout the Himalayan
regions by his divine teachings on mind and Mahamudra, he left all of us behind and
did dissolve into his own great nature, Nirvana.
40Page
Tilopa
Category: Lineage Forefathers

T ilopa (988-1069) was born in a Brahmin family in

East Bengal, India. When he was still a young


shepherd, he met the great Bodhisattva Nagarjuna
who gave him preliminary teachings on the Mahayana
path and appointed him as the ruler of a kingdom in
Bhalenta. After a number of years leading a luxurious
royal life, Tilopa decided to renounce the kingdom and
become a monk. He took his ordination vows at the
Tantric Temple of Somapuri in Bengal and started his
monastic training

Thereafter, Tilopa had a vision of a dakini guiding him on the direct and esoteric path
of Enlightenment. From the dakini, Tilopa received the entire transmission of the
Chakrasamvara Tantra.

Tilopa also received several teachings and transmissions from great tantric masters
such as the learned translator Acharya Charyawa and the siddha Lawapa. From
these gurus, he mastered the instruction and practice of Bardo (the intermediate
state between death and rebirth), Phowa (the transfer of consciousness), Tummo
(the practice of inner incandescence), and many other oral-pith instructions. Although
Tilopa had several enlightened human masters, his root guru was Buddha
Vajradhara who directly transmitted to Tilopa many esoteric teachings, including the
practice of Mahamudra.
41

For 12 years, Tilopa was devoted to the practice of these teachings, and he took a
yogini as his secret consort. The monastic order immediately expelled him due to his
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involvement with the yogini. Tilopa led the rest of his life in solitude, but he was a
renowned great master. Amongst his disciples, Naropa was the one chosen to
continue his lineage.

Naropa
Category: Lineage Forefathers

T he great siddha Naropa (1016-1100) was born to a

royal family in Bengal, India. His yearning for spiritual


development was so strong that at age eight, he
journeyed to Kashmir to study with the master Arya
Akasha and received the lay ordination.

When Naropa returned from his spiritual and


intellectual pursuits, he was forced by his parents to
marry a Brahmin princess. However, the marriage only
lasted for eight years. Naropa unveiled his spiritual goal
to his wife and she decided not to be a hindrance on
his path.

Naropa took the vows of a novice monk at the Happy Garden Monastery and was
subsequently fully ordained in Kashmir. Thereafter, he stayed in Pullahari Monastery
to continue his learning and practice, and received further teachings and training at
the nearby University of Nalanda.

Naropa's wisdom, oratory skills and spiritual understanding earned him the
chancellorship of the famed University of Nalanda where he also became the
Northern Gatekeeper. He was constantly faced with difficult debates with the
42

heretics, but he was regularly victorious.


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Although Naropa was well-versed in the theoretical aspects of Buddhism, he realized
that he was still inept in the training of his restless mind. A dakini thus appeared
before him, explaining the importance of meditation, and advised him to seek the
guidance of Tilopa, a great master who could lead him to realize the ultimate nature
of the mind.

Traveling eastward, Naropa finally met his destined root guru, Tilopa, who instantly
put him to difficult tests. Naropa experienced 12 major and 12 lesser hardships so as
to purify his karma and emotion-induced obscurations. Through receiving great
blessings from Tilopa and accomplishing his own purification, Naropa realized the
clarity and harmony of mind, truly experiencing the state of Vajradhara. After attaining
this magnificent realization, Naropa taught in many places and had numerous
disciples, especially in Kashmir where many monasteries were established by
Naropa himself. Tilopa and Naropa were both recognized as two of the 84 great
mahasiddhas in the history of Buddhism.

Amongst Naropa's accomplished disciples was Marpa, the translator, who


succeeded Naropa in the lineage and brought the entire teachings and transmissions
to Tibet.

Marpa
Category: Lineage Forefathers

M arpa (1012-1096) was born in Chukhyer in southern Tibet. From the Sakyapa

lama Drogmi Lotsawa he learned Sanskrit and received a few teachings. Dissatisfied
with his learning progress, Marpa decided to trade all of his possessions for gold to
travel to India in order to receive more teachings, and to bring them back to Tibet.
43Page
It was during his trip to India through Nepal that
Marpa met two of Naropa's disciples, Kantapa and
Pentapa, and received teachings from them. Marpa
was so impressed by them that he decided to meet
Naropa in person to receive direct instructions. For
many years, Marpa studied under the guidance of
Naropa. He received teachings during the day, and
practiced with one-pointed devotion during the night,
mastering the theoretical and practical aspects of
Mahayana and Vajrayana. Naropa eventually
appointed Marpa as his successor in Tibet, and
prophesied that his lineage would prosper
considerably in the Land of Snow.

Marpa made repeated trips to India and Nepal, brought many teachings back to
Tibet, and translated them from Sanskrit to Tibetan for the benefit of the people of
Tibet. He underwent several hardships, and almost lost his life during the arduous
journey to seek the Dharma. He met many masters, but Naropa and Maitripa were
the most important amongst all.

Although Marpa was married with wife and children, his realization was incomparable
and was likened to a lotus in the mud, free from defilements. To him, samsara and
enlightenment were inseparable, and all worldly phenomena were no different from
Buddha nature. Therefore, he could lead a conventional samsaric life and remain
unstained. Marpa truly attained the state of Vajradhara, or Buddhahood, in one
lifetime.

Milarepa
44

Category: Lineage Forefathers


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T he great yogi Milarepa (1052-1135) was born in

the province of Gungthang in western Tibet, as the son


of the wealthy landlord, Mila Sherab Gyaltsen. But at
age seven, Milarepa's father contracted a deadly
disease and passed away after entrusting all the
family's possessions to Milarepa's aunt and uncle who
were asked to take care of the widow and children, and
to return these properties to Milarepa and his sister
when Milarepa reached majority.

However, upon his father's death, Milarepa's vicious


aunt and uncle took control of the property, and made his mother, sister and himself
work as slaves on the farm, without any compensation. As Milarepa approached
adulthood, not only did his aunt and uncle deny his rights to the property, they
claimed that these properties were repayment of debts owed by Milarepa's late
father. Outraged and humiliated, Milarepa's mother sent him to learn powerful black
magic to punish the traitors.

Milarepa soon mastered the dark power of destruction and killed many innocent
people in his vengeful acts. The regret and remorse he felt after all these misdeeds
prompted him to seek a righteous master to help purify the negative karmic afflictions
created. Milarepa met a Nyingmapa master, Lama Rongtn, who gave him teachings
on Dzogchen. But as Lama Rongtn saw Milarepa's past affinity with Marpa, he
suggested Milarepa seek the guidance of Marpa who should be able to help him on
his path to liberation.

In an effort to purify Milarepa's negative karma, the great master Marpa put Milarepa
through a series of difficult tasks before giving him any proper instruction on practice.
Milarepa single-handedly built one round building in the east, one building in the
45

shape of a half-moon in the west, a triangular building in the north, and a square
Page

building in the south. But before any one of them was totally completed, Marpa
ordered it be demolished and another to be built in another direction. Finally, after
Milarepa completed the construction of another nine-storey building according to
Marpa's instructions, Marpa officially began to impart all the teachings to Milarepa,
whom he considered as his heart-son.

Milarepa practiced with deep-rooted devotion, great renunciation, and willingness to


endure hardship. He became the foremost wandering yogi of his time and attained
enlightenment in one lifetime. Gampopa and Rechungpa were two of his most
renowned disciples, the former was likened to the sun, and the latter, to the moon.
Gampopa was the chosen one to continue the lineage after Milarepa.

Gampopa
Category: Lineage Forefathers

G ampopa (1079-1153) was born in Nyal in

southern Tibet to the clan known as Nyi. He was


brought up and trained as a physician by his father
who was in the same profession. By age 16,
Gampopa was already a great physician and a
knowledgeable scholar in Tantric studies. Gampopa
married and had two children, but all were killed in a
plague. This traumatic experience made Gampopa
renounce the conventional life and enter the monastic
46

order.
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At age 25, Gampopa took the full ordination from Khenpo Lodan Sherab of Maryul.
He then went to central Tibet to study the Kadampa tradition and began meditation
retreat.

When he first heard the name of Milarepa, he immediately experienced an


incomparable devotion and realized that Milarepa would be the destined root guru for
him. Gampopa sold his farm for gold and set out to find Milarepa in western Tibet.
Milarepa, who recognized Gampopa as his disciple, transmitted the entire Kagyud
teachings to him. After receiving all the transmissions from Milarepa, Gampopa
traveled to Dagpo to remain in meditation retreat for many years, and established the
Dagla Gampo Monastery.

Gampopa was the author of many important Buddhist texts -- "The Jewel Ornament
of Liberation" and "The Precious Rosary of the Excellent Path" have been two of the
most popular readings up to this day. Four of Gampopa's foremost disciples founded
the four main Kagyud branches, namely Karma, Phagdru, Shangpa and Darom.
Phagmodrupa (Phagdru) later established the eight sub-schools of the Kagyud
Order: Lingre, Drikung, Taglung, Yasang, Trophu, Shugseb, Yelba, and Martsang.
Lingre was founded by Lingchen Repa, the root guru of the first Gyalwang Drukpa,
Tsangpa Gyare Yeshe Dorje, founder of the Drukpa lineage.

Phagmo Drupa
Category: Lineage Forefathers

P hagmo Drupa (1100-1170) was born in Kham in eastern Tibet into a poor family

that made its living by impure means. However, Phagmo Drupa remained
undisturbed amidst the family's misconduct. At the tender age of four, he took the
47

vows of a novice monk and began his training on the spiritual path. He traveled to
central Tibet to receive further training from masters residing in the vicinity.
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He received intellectual and spiritual training from a
series of qualified masters, including Jetsn Sakyapa
who taught him the complete Lam-Dre teachings.
Phagmo Drupa mastered various tantras and
practiced meditation very seriously. He could remain
for days in meditation, totally absorbed in the state of
clarity and bliss.

Even before meeting Gampopa, Phagmo Drupa


already demonstrated the qualities of an
accomplished practitioner. In all his activities he
exercised complete humility and fairness towards
everyone, regardless of their social status and material well-being. He was
particularly compassionate and understanding towards the less fortunate, and was
constantly giving them his own possessions even though he did not have enough for
himself. Most importantly, Phagmo Drupa was grateful to be serving all beings
without exception. In practice, Phagmo Drupa spent most of his time in
contemplation and meditation.

Despite his spiritual accomplishment, Phagmo Drupa still felt that he needed the
guidance of a qualified master on the path. He therefore went to Dagla Gampo
Monastery. Upon the sight of Gampopa and after a brief discussion with him,
Phagmo Drupa immediately recognized his own wisdom mind, and fully realized the
ultimate truth. Within the following days, Phagmo Drupa completely mastered the
direct realization of Mahamudra.

For the remainder of his life, Phagmo Drupa continued to practice meditation with
unceasing perseverance, serving as an example to others. He later founded a
monastery in central Tibet, and had innumerable disciples, amongst whom his eight
most accomplished disciples later established the sub-sects of the Kagyud Order.
48

Lingchen Repa, the spiritual teacher and guide of the 1st Gyalwang Drukpa, was one
Page

of the eight disciples chosen to continue his lineage.


Lingchen Repa
Category: Lineage Forefathers

L ingchen Repa Pema Dorje (1128-1188), also

known as Drubthob Naphupa, was born in the village


of Langpo Na in the Nyang Tod district of the Tsang
region in central Tibet. He was the youngest of four
children born to Gyalpo Kyongwe, a Tantric
practitioner, and his wife Sugmo Darchung.

By the age of nine, Lingchen Repa had mastered


reading and writing. Then he offered a plot of land to
Lhaje Remen and studied medicine under him. By
age 13, he gained complete knowledge of medicine.
At age 17, he began his spiritual education under Lopon Ling. He also received many
teachings from Lopoh Palyang.

Lingchen Repa once had a dispute with one of the local chieftains and was subjected
to harassment. He resorted to black magic to take revenge on the chieftain and it is
said that Lingchen Repa sometimes performed 20 black magic rituals in a month. As
a result, the chieftain's entire family became extinct. In those days, Lingchen Repa
was renowned for his black magic powers in the whole of the Nyang Tod region.

At Rinang Mila Gompa, Nyang Tod, Lingchen Repa met Lama Shang of U and
received many teachings. He also received teachings on Chakrasamvara and Vajra
Varahi from Ra Lotsawa. From Lama Khyung Tsangpa, the Guru of Ra Lotsawa, he
received the transmission of the teachings of Naropa. On the advice of Lama Khyung
49

Tsangpa, Lingchen Repa became a monk and received his ordination vows from
Geshe Womthangpa.
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At age 37, Lingchen Repa thought he had received all the teachings and therefore
decided to travel to Bhutan to contemplate and meditate. However, one night he
dreamt that a man in white denuded him and inspected his body from head to toe.
The man then said to him, "Don't go to Bhutan. Your wish will be fulfilled in four and a
half years' time." So Lingchen Repa abandoned his plans of meditating in Bhutan.

Four years later, Lingchen Repa went to Damshod, where he heard the name of
Phagmo Drupa, and decided to request Phagmo Drupa's teachings. On the sight of
Phagmo Drupa, Lingchen Repa was immediately filled with devotion, and began to
see not only his guru, but even his own friends and other sentient beings, as the
Buddhas.

Lingchen Repa spent most of his life in solitary retreat, and because he too wore the
white cotton cloth and led the life of a yogi, he was also known as "Repa". His power
of mind and spiritual accomplishment gained him the reputation of "The Saraha of
Tibet".

Lingchen Repa had many disciples. Tsangpa Gyare Yeshe Dorje continued Lingchen
Repa's tradition, and founded the Drukpa Lineage, of which he is considered as the
1st Gyalwang Drukpa.

Founder and His Reincarnations

Lingchen Repa
Category: Lineage Forefathers

L ingchen Repa Pema Dorje (1128-1188), also known as Drubthob Naphupa, was
50

born in the village of Langpo Na in the Nyang Tod district of the Tsang region in
Page
central Tibet. He was the youngest of four children
born to Gyalpo Kyongwe, a Tantric practitioner, and
his wife Sugmo Darchung.

By the age of nine, Lingchen Repa had mastered


reading and writing. Then he offered a plot of land to
Lhaje Remen and studied medicine under him. By
age 13, he gained complete knowledge of medicine.
At age 17, he began his spiritual education under
Lopon Ling. He also received many teachings from
Lopoh Palyang.

Lingchen Repa once had a dispute with one of the local chieftains and was subjected
to harassment. He resorted to black magic to take revenge on the chieftain and it is
said that Lingchen Repa sometimes performed 20 black magic rituals in a month. As
a result, the chieftain's entire family became extinct. In those days, Lingchen Repa
was renowned for his black magic powers in the whole of the Nyang Tod region.

At Rinang Mila Gompa, Nyang Tod, Lingchen Repa met Lama Shang of U and
received many teachings. He also received teachings on Chakrasamvara and Vajra
Varahi from Ra Lotsawa. From Lama Khyung Tsangpa, the Guru of Ra Lotsawa, he
received the transmission of the teachings of Naropa. On the advice of Lama Khyung
Tsangpa, Lingchen Repa became a monk and received his ordination vows from
Geshe Womthangpa.

At age 37, Lingchen Repa thought he had received all the teachings and therefore
decided to travel to Bhutan to contemplate and meditate. However, one night he
dreamt that a man in white denuded him and inspected his body from head to toe.
The man then said to him, "Don't go to Bhutan. Your wish will be fulfilled in four and a
half years' time." So Lingchen Repa abandoned his plans of meditating in Bhutan.
51Page
Four years later, Lingchen Repa went to Damshod, where he heard the name of
Phagmo Drupa, and decided to request Phagmo Drupa's teachings. On the sight of
Phagmo Drupa, Lingchen Repa was immediately filled with devotion, and began to
see not only his guru, but even his own friends and other sentient beings, as the
Buddhas.

Lingchen Repa spent most of his life in solitary retreat, and because he too wore the
white cotton cloth and led the life of a yogi, he was also known as "Repa". His power
of mind and spiritual accomplishment gained him the reputation of "The Saraha of
Tibet".

Lingchen Repa had many disciples. Tsangpa Gyare Yeshe Dorje continued Lingchen
Repa's tradition, and founded the Drukpa Lineage, of which he is considered as the
1st Gyalwang Drukpa.

Tsangpa Gyare Yeshe Dorje


Category: The Past Reincarnations

THE 1ST GYALWANG DRUKPA (1161-1211)


D rogon Tsangpa Gyare Yeshe Dorje, the 1st Gyalwang Drukpa, was born in

Nyangto Shulay in the province of Tsang, amidst miraculous signs and auspicious
52

omens, in 1161. As he was born fully wrapped in a membrane, his parents were so
Page

fearful that they abandoned him. An eagle who was in fact an emanation of a dakini
protected him with its huge wings until the baby broke
the membrane with his legs, casting a deep footprint in
a rock nearby.

After his birth, Tsangpa Gyare was recognized and


brought up by some siddhas of that time. The news of
his miraculous birth soon spread in the village, and
attracted many people to gather around his residence
so as to receive his blessings. However, the child was
too young and preferred to play with children of his
age; he often sat on a rock and gave them teachings
on Buddhism. The young Tsangpa Gyare grew up to
be a master in Sutrayana and Tantrayana.

When Tsangpa Gyare grew up, he became a disciple of Lingchen Repa, mastering
Mahamudra and the Six Yogas of Naropa. Through refining prana (energy) in the
nadis (subtle channels), and through the practice of inner incandescence (tummo),
he became immune to extremes of heat and cold. Even in the snowy mountains he
wore only a white cotton robe, and was known, like Milarepa, as a "repa", a cotton-
clad yogi.

After attaining complete spiritual realization, Tsangpa Gyare went to Lodrak in


Central Tibet. There he revealed a treasure of esoteric meditative instructions called
"The Six Equal Tastes", which Rechungpa, the moon-like disciple of Milarepa, had
brought back from India and hidden, to be rediscovered at the opportune time by the
appropriate person for the benefit of future generations. Later, after meditating under
a tree without changing his posture for three months, seven Buddhas appeared
before him and revealed the most esoteric pith-instructions, which he called "The
Seven Auspicious Teachings".
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Tsangpa Gyare founded the Shedrup Choekhor Ling Monastery at Ralung in Tsang
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under the instruction of his root guru, Lingchen Repa, who told him to teach widely.
Thereafter, Tsangpa Gyare went to U in order to establish a large monastic center in
a place especially suitable for spiritual practice. When he and his followers reached
Namgyi-phu, nine dragons (later said to be the manifestations of nine Indian
mahasiddhas) reared up from the earth and soared overhead, roaring like thunder,
while flowers miraculously rained down. Thus, the lineage became known as the
Dragon Sect or Drukpa (Druk means "dragon" in Tibetan). The monastery that was
established there, Druk Sewa Jangchub Ling (The Awakening Place of the Ultimate
Dragon Lineage), remained the principal monastery of the Drukpa lineage for a long
time, and the place came to be known as "Nam Druk", which literally means "Sky
Dragon" in commemoration of the auspicious appearance of the nine dragons.

Tsangpa Gyare discovered part of the holy pilgrimage site of Tsari, a powerful place
sacred to Chakrasamvara. At this unusual site, he saw his Yidam Chakrasamvara
who prophesied that he would be the future Buddha Mepa. According to the secret
instructions of the dakinis, he also made many treasures of Dharma accessible in
southern Tibet.

Due to his spiritual attainments, the 1st Gyalwang Drukpa became known as Druk
Thamchay Khyenpa, the Omniscient Dragon, the Omniscient Dragon, and
reverentially called "Je Drukpa" (Lord Dragon-Master) or "The Drukchen" (the Great
Dragon). Although often known as Drukchen Rinpoche, the proper name for this
enlightened lama, and all his incarnations, is Gyalwang Drukpa.

Tsangpa Gyare was a famous teacher whose teachings were sometimes attended by
as many as 50,000 people at once. It was reported that he had 88,000 eminent
followers, of whom 28,000 were enlightened yogis. His order became famous for the
purity, simplicity and asceticism of its adherents and the profundity of its spiritual
teachings. He wrote a renowned commentary on the Tantra of Chakrasamvara, and
taught widely.
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Tsangpa Gyare passed away in 1211 at the age of 51. When his body was cremated,
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the heart, tongue and eyes remained intact. His skull bore the image of Arya
Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri and Vajrapani, and 21 images of Arya Avalokiteshvara
appeared on 21 vertebrates of the spinal column. Because the relics of Tsangpa
Gyare manifested different forms of Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Great
Compassion, his devotees believed strongly that he was indeed the emanation of the
Bodhisattva. This explains why Tsangpa Gyare returned again and again, life after
life, to watch over the welfare of the beings, and especially those who followed the
footsteps of the Dragon lineage. Tsangpa Gyare prophesied that he would be
succeeded by nine Seat-Holders with the title "Sengey" (meaning "lion" in Tibetan),
after them existed three throne holders who would be emanations of Avalokiteshvara,
Manjushri and Vajrapani, before he returned to his people to guide them personally.

Amongst his students, Gyalwa Gotsangpa spread the Drukpa tradition in western
Tibet and his followers came to be called adherents of the Upper Drukpa School.
Followers of Choje Lorepa, another of his students, branched out to form the Lower
Drukpa School. Onray Dharma Singhe started the Central Drukpa School and Pariwa
started the Great Spiritual Sons Lineage of the Central Drukpa School. Another
disciple of Tsangpa Gyare, Phajo Druggom Zhigpo (1184 - 1251), left for Bhutan
following the prophecy of his teacher who instructed him to go south of Tibet. He
founded the first Drukpa monasteries in Bhutan at Phachok Deng and Tango.

Gyalwa Kunga Paljor


Category: The Past Reincarnations

THE 2ND GYALWANG DRUKPA (1428-1476)


T he 2nd Gyalwang Drukpa, Kunga Paljor, was only born two centuries after the

first one. As predicted, during the absence of a Gyalwang Drukpa, there were nine
successors with the title of "Lion" (instead of the usual "Dragon") who were all very
learned pandits, three of whom were emanations of Manjushri, Vajrapani and
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Avalokiteshvara. Kunga Paljor was popularly known as "Gyalwa Je", a name given
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by the dakinis, and he normally used this name.


This Gyalwang Drukpa was noted for his attainment
in philosophy, Sanskrit and translation skills. As he
was a realized being, he often went around giving
teachings; he was renowned for teaching the direct
way to unveil the Buddha nature. Kunga Paljor had a
vision in which Gampopa himself conferred the
supreme authority upon him as the chief of the
Drukpa Order. His outstanding disciples were the
Three Divine Madmen of Tibet, Drukpa Kunley,
Unyon and Tsangnyon, as well as yogi Thangthong
Gyalpo

The Divine Madman Drukpa Kunley (1455-1520) is


still one of the most beloved and revered sages of Tibetan Buddhism. With his
wandering lifestyle, and eccentric and shocking behavior, he taught the essence of
the Truth. His songs and speeches are full of earthiness and humor. His manner of
relating to people, his compassion and care won him the hearts of the common
people all over Tibet, Bhutan, Ladakh, and Mongolia. His teachings and biography
are regarded to this very day as one of the most practical teachings.

With the guidance and prophecy of Mahakali Dusol Lhamo and the 2nd Gyalwang
Drukpa, Drukpa Kunley set off for Bhutan. There he gained the love, faith and
devotion of the Bhutanese people, to such an extent that some even thought that the
"Drukpa" in his name meant his nationality and not his lineage.

Jamyang Chodrak
Category: The Past Reincarnations

THE 3RD GYALWANG DRUKPA (1478-1523)


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J amyang Chodrak, the 3rd Gyalwang Drukpa, was

an erudite and accomplished pandit. He was a


master and lineage holder of all the Nyingma and
Sarma teachings and transmissions. During one
three-month meditation period, he received esoteric
oral pith-instructions in a visionary manner from
Rechungpa, Milarepa's moon-like disciple. The dakini
Sukhasiddhi (symbolizing "Great Bliss") offered him a
crown woven out of the hair of a hundred thousand
dakinis. He founded the Tashi Thongmon Monastery
in Jayul.

The 3rd Gyalwang Drukpa was also known to have possessed supernatural powers.
He often lifted himself in the air during meditation, and sometimes, during certain
practices, his dorje and bell rose and stayed in the air

Kunkhyen Pema Karpo


Category: The Past Reincarnations

THE 4TH GYALWANG DRUKPA (1527-1592)

S hortly after his birth, Pema Karpo, the 4th Gyalwang Drukpa, was heard by many

chanting the Six-Syllable Mantra seven times, and therefore, as a child, he was also
known as "Ah-Om-Mani-Pa", i.e. the child chanting the Six-Syllable Mantra. Pema
Karpo was widely known as "Kunkhyen", meaning "the All-Knowing" or "the
Omniscient One". He was the most famous and learned of all the Gyalwang
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Drukpas. During his lifetime, he was known as the grand lama amongst all grand
lamas, and was a teacher to many lamas and disciples all over Tibet. His Holiness
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the 5th Dalai Lama truly admired Pema Karpo for his
knowledge and understanding of the Truth.

Pema Karpo contributed 24 volumes of collected


works on Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, logic,
literature, history and astrology, which have been
studied by all sects and traditions to this day. He
constructed the monastery of Druk Sangag Choling
(The Dharma Garden of Secret Mantrayana) at Jar in
southern Tibet, and transferred the seat of the
Drukpa Order to this place.

This omniscient master was the first Gyalwang Drukpa to concoct the famous
enlightenment pill known as Ja-Tsukma, utilizing esoteric ingredients offered by the
dakinis. Before passing away, Pema Karpo promised that he would have two
incarnations to propagate the spiritual teachings. In accordance with this prophecy,
two incarnations were discovered.

Pagsam Wangpo
Category: The Past Reincarnations

THE 5TH GYALWANG DRUKPA (1593-1653)

T he 5th Gyalwang Drukpa, Pagsam Wangpo, was born in Chongye (in Tsang,

western Tibet) into the same family as the 5th Dalai Lama. He was an extraordinary
yogi, and spent many years alone in a solitary meditation retreat. During his time, the
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Drukpa lineage was most popular in the Himalayan range around northern India, and
Pagsam Wangpo received the royal patronage of many kings in the area. He was a
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unique yogi as he spent most of his time in solitary retreat.


Pagsam Wangpo had many disciples, the most
important of whom was the yogi Taktsang Repa, who
went to Ladakh at the request of the Buddhist king of
that region Sengay Namgyal (1570-1642). In Ladakh,
Taktsang Repa and this king founded the Hemis
Monastery, which remains the principal Drukpa
monastery in that area today. With the introduction of
Tibetan Buddhism and the Drukpa tradition, Ladakh
experienced an influence that altered its people's
lifestyle. It was this change and the interaction of such
varied cultures that gave Ladakh its unique
description as "Little Tibet".

Pagsam Wangpo's other disciples were the 1st Zigar Choktrul Rinpoche, who
founded the Dzigar Monastery, and the 1st Khamtrul Rinpoche who established the
Khampagar Monastery. Both monasteries were located in eastern Tibet and were
renowned for their strict discipline, meditation and Tantric practices.

Pema Karpo's other reincarnation, Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (1594-1651;


Shabdrung in Tibetan means "at whose feet we submit"), was born into the royal
Gya family. He was the 18th Abbot of Ralung, the first Drukpa monastery to be
established in Tibet. Following the prophecy of Pema Karpo, Shabdrung Ngawang
Namgyal left for western Bhutan, where the Drukpa School had already been
established, and founded the Cheri Monastery in 1619 in Thimphu valley. In 1629,
he founded his first fortress, Dzong Simtokha, near Thimphu. As the temporal and
spiritual ruler of Bhutan, Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal unified Bhutan for the first
time in its history. In time, Bhutan became known in the Tibetan and Bhutanese
language as "Druk Yul" or "The Country of the Dragon", in which the dragon
symbolizes the Drukpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.
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Mipham Wangpo
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Category: The Past Reincarnations


THE 6TH GYALWANG DRUKPA (1654-1717)

M ipham Wangpo, the 6th Gyalwang Drukpa, was

born in Lhodrak Kharchu in 1641. He was discovered


by the 5th Dalai Lama and spent most of his teenage
years in the Palace of the Dalai Lama in Lhasa. He was
an erudite master who excelled at confounding in
debating with the most learned geshes (or doctors of
divinity) at the three large monastic universities of
Lhasa: Ganden, Drepung, and Sera. He was officially
known as the Grand Omniscient Drukchen. He was
important politically during his day, and acted as a
mediator during the war between Tibet and Ladakh. Thus, he was also regarded by
the Dalai Lama as the Greatest Lama of Tibet.

Thrinley Shingta
Category: The Past Reincarnations

THE 7TH GYALWANG DRUKPA (1718-1766)

T hrinley Shingta, the 7th Gyalwang Drukpa, was one of a trio of the extraordinary

Sarma patriarchs of that era, along with Gyalwa Karmapa, and Tai Situ Rinpoche of
the Karma Kagyud lineage. He mastered all the Shangpa Kagyud teachings and was
extremely active in assuring the preservation and promulgation of both the Nyingma
and Sarma traditions. Thrinley Shingta wrote six volumes of philosophical
commentaries and precise meditation instructions, and established many
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monasteries. As counselor to the king of Nepal, he restored the three principal stupas
in the country: Swayambhunath, Boudhanath, and Namo Buddha. At
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Swayambhunath, there is a memorial rock describing
the meritorious deeds of Thrinley Shingta.

Kunzig Mipham Chokyi Nangwa


Category: The Past Reincarnations

THE 8TH GYALWANG DRUKPA (1768-1822)

K unzig Mipham Chokyi Nangwa, the 8th Gyalwang

Drukpa was an enlightened pandit who received


numerous revelations from dakinis and tutelary deities.
He was entrusted with many different esoteric
instructions from his gurus Pawo Tsuklag Trengwa,
Karmapa Dudul Dorje, and Dzigar Choktrul Rinpoche.
He wrote many volumes about the oral teachings and
rituals. During his lifetime, he was made the chief official
priest of the Tibetan Government, and was responsible
for all the Kagyud schools. He also performed the
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consecration rites after the Tibetan Government restored Samye monastery. During
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these rites many auspicious omens prevailed.


He was famous for his power of prediction, and for recognizing and finding tulkus, or
incarnate lamas. It was Kunzig Mipham Chokyi Nangwa who officially recognized the
9th Dalai Lama, Luntok Gyatso and the Karmapa incarnation of his time. He also
served as a special counsellor to the Tibetan Government.

Mipham Chokyi Gyatso


Category: The Past Reincarnations

THE 9TH GYALWANG


DRUKPA (1823-1883)

Drukpa, was extremely close to both the 14th


Karmapa, Theckchok Dorje, and the 8th Pawo
Rinpoche. He spent most of his life meditating in
solitude. He was the second Gyalwang Drukpa to
concoct the famous liberation pill called "Ja-Tsukma".
Criticised for remaining in seclusion, before passing
away he promised to return as two active tulkus, to
teach and impartially benefit all beings.
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Mipham Chokyi Wangpo


Category: The Past Reincarnations

THE 10TH GYALWANG DRUKPA (1884-1930)


M ipam Chokyi Wangpo, the 10th Gyalwang Drukpa,

took birth in the family of Tsering Dorje, a nephew of the


14th Karmapa. His principal guru was the supreme
siddha, Drubwang Shakya Shri, a peerless spiritual
luminary exemplifying both the Kagyud and Nyingma
traditions, and from whom he received all the secret
transmissions. Mipam Chokyi Wangpo was also active
politically. When the Younghusband Expedition came to
Tibet in 1904, and the 13th Dalai Lama sought asylum in
China, Mipham Chokyi Wangpo used his priest-patron relationship with Ugyen
Wangchuk, the dynamic ruler of Bhutan, and urged him to mediate and seek the
withdrawal of British forces from Tibet.
Foreseeing future difficulties for the Drukpa Lineage,
Mipham Chokyi Wangpo took the daughter of siddha
Drubwang Shakya Shri as his secret consort, and their
son, Thuksey Rinpoche, was destined to carry on the
Drukpa Lineage in exile during the lives of both the 11th
and the 12th Gyalwang Drukpas. When Mipham Chokyi
Wangpo was cremated, numerous relics were
discovered among the ashes, including images of
Avalokiteshvara which are still among the Drukpa
treasures.

The other tulku of the 9th Gyalwang Drukpa was the renowned Adzom Drukpa. As
predicted, he followed the path of Dzogchen, taught widely, and was a prolific author
as well as an influential Dzogchen Nyingthig lineage holder.
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Tenzin Khenrab Gelek Palzangpo


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Category: The Past Reincarnations


THE 11TH GYALWANG DRUKPA (1931-1960)
T enzin Khenrab Gelek Palsangpo, the 11th Gyalwang

Drukpa, was born in Lhasa and was recognized by many of


his gurus according to their predictions. He took the exalted
yogi Tripon Rinpoche, Trulshik Pema Chogyal, as his root
guru. Under the guru's direction, Tenzin Khyenrab Gelek
Palsangpo achieved great understanding and was
authoritative in both the theory and practice of the sutras
and tantras, and his wisdom blossomed immeasurably. He
received numerous Dzogchen instructions and
empowerments from Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Chokyi Lodro, and spent most of
his life in strict retreat practicing meditation according to both the Nyingma and
Sarma tantric traditions of Tibet.
During the Cultural Revolution in 1959, Tenzin Khenrab Gelek
Palsangpo along with Thuksey Rinpoche, Apho Rinpoche and
followers, left for India. They were only able to take with them some
very valuable and sacred items from the monastery. Unfortunately,
this enlightened master died soon thereafter in a refugee camp at
Buxa, West Bengal, near the Bhutanese border in the year 1960, at
age 29. Before passing away, he sat for days absorbed in deep
meditation without eating, drinking or sleeping. He then promised Thuksey Rinpoche,
that he would reappear in this world and continue serving the Dharma and sentient
beings.

"I will definitely take rebirth in India" Tenzin Khenrab Gelek Palsangpo said before
passing away. Those were his last words.
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