Kyabje Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
Essays and interviews by ten lamas surrounding the passing of a great master
Contents
The
Four Dharmas of Gampopa by Kyabje Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
Prayers
for the Swift Rebirth of Kyabje Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
Tarik
Tulku Rinpoche
Tarthang
Tulku Rinpoche
Tenga
Rinpoche
Thrangu
Rinpoche
Khenpo
Tsültrim Rinpoche
Orgyen
Tobgyal Rinpoche
Chökyi
Nyima Rinpoche
Chokling
Rinpoche
Tsoknyi
Rinpoche
Mingyur
Rinpoche
Grant your blessings that my mind may follow the
Dharma.
Grant your blessings that my Dharma practice may become the
path.
Grant your blessings that the path may clarify confusion.
Grant your blessings that confusion may arise as
wisdom.
Lord Gampopa
Since I do not possess any qualities of learning or accomplishment, I will simply repeat the flawless words of the Buddha in order to benefit those who show sincere interest in the Dharma.
The incomparable and world-renowned great master Gampopa condensed all the teachings that have been given and will be given by the one thousand buddhas in this good aeon into four sentences called the Four Dharmas of Gampopa. These extremely profound sentences are a combination of Sutra and Tantra, and were expounded upon by the great master Longchen Rabjam. If a practitioner receives these instructions and is diligent, he or she will be able to attain complete enlightenment within a single lifetime. It is amazing how extraordinary the vital teachings of the buddhas and accomplished practitioners are.
The buddhas have totally perfected all the qualities of abandonment and realization; they have abandoned the obscurations and realized the wisdom qualities. Out of their great love and kindness for other beings, similar to the love a mother has for her only child, the awakened ones taught the Dharma. The source of Buddhism on this earth is Buddha Shakyamuni, the completely enlightened one. His teachings have been transmitted through a lineage of bodhisattvas abiding on the bhumis, the bodhisattva levels. Thus these teachings have been passed down through an unbroken lineage of accomplished practitioners up to my own root teacher.
The first of the Four Dharmas of Gampopa is "Turn your mind towards following the Dharma!" This is done by reflecting on the four mind-changings. The first of these describes the difficulty of obtaining a precious human body endowed with the eight freedoms and ten riches. Since we are already human beings it might seem that we effortlessly obtained a human body; however, that was not the case. It takes a tremendous amount of positive karma accumulated in former lifetimes for an individual to be born in a precious human body. There are as many human beings as there are stars in the sky at night. But among these humans, those who have interest in practicing the sacred Dharma, beings with a precious human body, are extremely few, like the stars in the morning sky. Among people with interest in Dharma, those who have sincere diligence are even less. Genuine Dharma practice means to give up all worldly ambitions and to pursue instead the attainment of complete enlightenment in this very lifetime.
Although we have obtained a precious human body, it is governed by impermanence. Impermanence means that nothing, neither the world nor the beings in it lasts. In particular, the life span of a human is extremely short, as unpredictable and insubstantial as a flash of lightning or a bubble in water. On this earth no one lives forever; one after the other, people pass away. After death, if we end up in the three lower realms we will undergo unbearable, indescribable misery and pain. Currently we strive for perfect conditions, pleasure and wealth. But no matter what incredible state of worldly luxury and happiness we might now attain, we lack the power to bring any of it - our friends, family members or wealth - into the afterlife.
Although we feel love and affection for our family and our friends, at the moment of death we journey alone to an unknown place. We have repeated the same experience in all our past lives, leaving behind all our acquaintances and abandoning our possessions. No matter what happiness and abundance we achieve in this lifetime, it is as insubstantial as the dream we dreamt last night. To understand that nothing lasts, that everything passes by like a dream, is to understand impermanence and death.
If it simply were the case that our life ended in nothingness, like water drying up or a flame being extinguished, that would be perfect. There wouldn't be anything to worry about. But I'm sorry to say it does not happen like that, because our consciousness is not something that can die. After death we are forced to experience the effect of our former karmic actions. Due to ignorance we have wandered endlessly in samsara, unable to be liberated, continually circling between the three lower and three higher realms, one after the other. In order to free ourselves from the six realms of samsaric existence, we need to practice the sacred Dharma now while we have the chance.
We continue in samsaric existence as long as we are covered by the obscuration of disturbing emotions and the cognitive obscuration. These two obscurations are precisely what hinder us from attaining the state of omniscient Buddhahood. In order to remove them we engage in the practices known as the preliminaries. These practices are included under the Second Dharma of Gampopa, "Make your Dharma practice become the path!" First we take refuge and do prostrations, thereby removing the karmic misdeeds and obscurations of our body gathered in countless lifetimes. In order to remove the negative actions and obscurations of speech which we have accumulated since beginningless time, we practice the meditation and recitation of Vajrasattva. To remove the obscurations and negative actions of our mind gathered during beginningless lifetimes, we make the outer, inner and secret mandala offerings. Finally, to remove the negative actions and obscurations which have been gathered through a combination of body, speech and mind from beginningless time, we practice the outer, inner and secret aspects of guru yoga. It is said that "realization occurs spontaneously when the obscurations are removed." Guru yoga is an extremely profound practice which is excellent for removing obscurations and developing realization. Though it is placed among the preliminary practices, it is said to be more profound than the main part of practice itself.
The Third Dharma of Gampopa is "Let the path clarify confusion!" 'Path' here should be understood within the context of ground, path, and fruition, a structure that encompasses all the teachings of Sutra and Tantra. The ground is the Buddha nature, sugatagarbha, the dharmakaya of all the buddhas that is present in all sentient beings. It is compared to pure, undefiled gold endowed with supreme qualities and free from any defects. How is the buddha nature present in everyone? The example given is that of oil in a mustard seed. When pressed, a mustard seed always yields oil. In the same way, in all sentient beings there is the essence of Buddhahood, the buddha nature. No one lacks it. All the buddhas and bodhisattvas have buddha nature, as well as all sentient beings down to the tiniest insect, without any difference whatsoever in size or quality.
The buddha nature, the sugatagarbha, encompasses all of samsara and nirvana. Space is beyond center and edge. Wherever space pervades there are sentient beings. Wherever there are sentient beings buddha nature is present. That is what is meant by the statement that buddha nature encompasses all of samsara and nirvana, all worlds, all beings.
Although buddha nature is present in everyone, we fail to recognize it. This ignorance is the main cause for wandering in samsara. Due to the ignorance of not knowing their own nature, sentient beings have strayed into confusion, like pure gold that has fallen into the mud and is temporarily defiled. Buddhas did not stray into confusion but retained their 'natural seat'. The difference between buddhas and sentient beings is the difference between knowing or not knowing our innate nature.
Although gold is gold, when it falls in the mud it gets covered by dirt and becomes unrecognizable. Gold temporarily covered by mud is the example for sentient beings who fail to recognize their own nature. All sentient beings are buddhas, but due to temporary obscurations they do not realize it. The ground is likened to pure gold, while the path is like gold which has fallen in the dirt and is covered by defilements. In this context, the path means the state of confusion.
Buddhahood, the realized state of all awakened beings, means not straying onto the path of confusion but recognizing the state of the ground as being pure gold. Due to the power of confusion we have now strayed onto the state of the path - the pure gold is temporarily covered by mud. We are temporarily under the power of confusion. Because of the sleep of ignorance, we go through the dreams of the three realms, taking rebirth among the six classes of sentient beings again and again, endlessly.
Intrinsic to our buddha nature are qualities called the three kayas or the innate body, speech and mind, also known as the three vajras. The vajra body is the unchanging quality of the buddha nature; the vajra speech is its inexpressible, unceasing quality; and the vajra mind is its unmistaken quality. In this way the vajra body, vajra speech, and vajra mind are inherently present as our buddha nature.
At this time the unchanging vajra body is obscured by our transient, perishable, physical body. The unceasing, continuous vajra speech, the voice of the nature of equality, is temporarily obscured by the repeated utterances of our normal talk. Likewise, the unmistaken vajra mind is obscured by our deluded thinking. Although the body, speech and mind of all the victorious ones are present in our buddha nature, they are obscured by our ordinary body, speech and mind.
Since we are under the power of confusion we are at the state of the path. Teachings are given in order to let the path clarify this confusion, thus purifying the obscurations of our body, speech and mind. The different practices taught are: development stage, to visualize our body as the form of the buddhas; recitation stage, to chant the mantras with our voice; and completion stage, to let our mind rest in the state of samadhi.
Development stage or visualization does not mean to imagine something which is not already present. The vajra body of all the victorious ones is within ourselves, intrinsic to our buddha nature. By practicing the development stage we remove the obscuration that covers this nature and prevents us from realizing it. The unceasing vajra speech of all the buddhas, the king of all melodious expressions, is also present in ourselves. Recitation of the three types of mantra - vidya, dharani, and guhya - enables us to remove the obscuration of our ordinary voice. The mind of all the buddhas, nonconceptual wakefulness, is also inherent to our nature, but it is covered by our momentary conceptual thinking. Simply resting in the evenness of the state of samadhi reveals our innate vajra mind.
Do not consider development stage to involve imagining something which is not real, like pretending that a piece of wood is pure gold. Development stage is not at all like that. It is simply acknowledging what already is, what already exists. Development stage means to mentally create or imagine the form of the buddhas. Even though visualization is at this point an artificial construct, a mentally fabricated act, still it is an imitation that resembles what is already present in ourselves. Until we are able to practice the ultimate development stage, we need to visualize or mentally create pure images in order to approach that absolute state.
The ultimate development stage involves simply resting in the essence of mind of all the buddhas, out of which the two form kayas - the sambhogakaya of rainbow light and the nirmanakaya of a physical body - spontaneously manifest. In fact, the buddha nature is the starting point for development stage, and this innate nature is actualized through practicing the samadhi of suchness. Development stage is created out of the samadhi of suchness, which is the dharmakaya of all the buddhas. Out of dharmakaya unfolds sambhogakaya, which is the samadhi of illumination, and from sambhogakaya the nirmanakaya appears by means of the samadhi of the seed syllable. That is how the development stage should take place.
The samadhi of suchness is the recognition of the buddha nature itself, the flawless and primordially pure state of dharmakaya. If we have not recognized this nature in our personal experience, we can approximate or fabricate it by imagining that all phenomena, all worlds and beings, dissolve into emptiness, by chanting, for instance, the mantra om maha shunyata jnana vajra svabhava atma koh hang. Out of the great emptiness, the clarity of cognizance unfolds like the sun rising in the sky and spreading light. That is called the samadhi of illumination, which is in essence the sambhogakaya. Out of space there is sunlight, and from the sunlight a rainbow appears. This is the analogy for nirmanakaya, the samadhi of the seed syllable from which the form of the deity manifests. Nirmanakaya is visible but not tangible; we cannot take hold of it with our hands and yet it appears. We should imagine the form of the deity as apparent but without self-nature. Just as a rainbow in the sky is not substantial or material in any way whatsoever, the deity is not composed of flesh and blood.
To reiterate, the development stage takes place within the framework of the three kayas. Dharmakaya is all-pervasive like space. Within this "space," the sambhogakaya is vividly present like the light of the sun. Nirmanakaya appears like a rainbow to accomplish the welfare of beings. Just as the sun cannot rise and shine without the openness of space, the unceasing sambhogakaya cannot manifest without the nonarising nature of dharmakaya. Without space the sun cannot shine; without sunshine a rainbow cannot appear. In this way the three kayas are indivisible.
Thus, the practice of the three samadhis provides the framework for visualizing the deity. Next, we invoke the ultimate deity from the realm of Akanishtha and dissolve it inseparably into ourselves. Then we make praises and offerings and so forth. All these seemingly conventional activities in the development stage resemble the activities of ordinary human beings, just like when we invite important people to visit, praise them, and give them good food and presents. The purpose of the development stage is to purify our habitual tendencies as human beings. It is not to appease some external gods by giving them offerings. Deities are not subject to pleasure when being worshipped or displeasure when not; it is we who benefit by purifying our obscurations and gathering the accumulations.
When practicing development stage, do it with a sense of vastness, immensity and openness. Don't visualize the deity in your own little house, in this little world. Everything is first dissolved totally into great emptiness, into vast space. Within the vastness of space, the mandala of the five elements is created. On top of it we imagine the immense Mount Sumeru. At the summit of Mount Sumeru is the celestial palace, and inside it is the throne with a seat of a sun and moon disk. It is on top of this throne that we appear in the form of the yidam deity, whichever it may be. This is how we should practice the development stage, not imagining we are sitting in our own little room.
The main purpose of development stage is to destroy our clinging to a solid reality. It is our fixation on concreteness that makes us continue in samsaric existence. The development stage dismantles that. How do we approach that? By imagining the world is a buddhafield, our dwelling place is the celestial palace, and the beings in it are the divine forms of deities, visible yet intangible like a rainbow in the sky.
Similarly, the recitation of mantra destroys our fixation on our normal discontinuous speech, which stops and starts. Mantra is called the king of verbal expression. It is the unceasing vajra speech. Finally, the unmistaken vajra mind destroys our normal conceptual thinking.
At the end of the period of recitation comes the completion stage, which in this context is the dissolution of the palace and the deity into emptiness and the reemerging from the state of emptiness in the form of the deity. The purpose of dissolving is to eliminate our habitual fixation on appearances as being real and permanent, as well as the tendency towards the view of eternalism. By re-emerging in the visible yet insubstantial form of the deity we also destroy the basis for nihilism, the view that nothing whatsoever exists. Thus, by training in eliminating the tendencies for both wrong views, this practice truly is the path that clarifies confusion.
In short, this was about how to let the path clarify confusion. At present we are under the power of confusion. Through these practices we will be able to eradicate this confusion and realize the vajra body, speech, and mind of all the buddhas. A good metaphor for this confusion is the hallucinations caused by the psychedelic drug datura. Normally we see ourselves and other people as having one face, two arms and two legs. But when intoxicated by datura, all of a sudden we see people not as they are but with ten heads, twenty arms, fifty legs, or the like. Currently we are under the influence of the drug of ignorance and continue deluded within the six realms of samsara. When the effect of datura wears off, we again perceive people as they are in their natural state. But right now the effect of the drug of ignorance has not yet worn off; we are still under the power of confusion. In order to clarify confusion on the path we need to practice the stages of development, recitation, and completion.
The fourth teaching of Gampopa, "Let confusion dawn as wisdom!" refers to the completion stage. The earlier mention of the completion stage is defined by and dependent upon a visualization that is either dissolved into emptiness or re-appears from emptiness; thus it is called 'completion stage with attributes.' The true completion stage, the topic of the Fourth Dharma of Gampopa, involves recognizing our buddha nature. When pure gold is covered by dirt it is not obvious that it is gold, even though this dirt is temporary. But once it is removed we realize that the gold is gold. In the same way, when our confusion is purified, the wisdom which is our basic wakefulness is made manifest.
At present the state of ordinary people is like pure gold covered with dirt. Our buddha nature is covered by temporary obscurations. One of the main obscurations that needs to be purified is our fixation on duality, on solid reality. Once it is purified then gold is just pure gold. As long as our mind is confused, bewildered, deluded, and mistaken, our buddha nature continues to be dragged through the realms of samsara. But when the mind is unconfused, unmistaken, and undeluded, it is the buddha nature itself. It is not that the buddha nature is one thing and our mind is another separate thing. They are not two different entities. The undeluded mind itself is the pure gold, the buddha nature. Sentient beings do not have two minds. When the mind is deluded it is given the name 'sentient being.' When the mind is undeluded, unmistaken, is called 'buddha.'
It is said 'there is no buddha apart from your own mind.' We do not have two minds. There is just one mind which is either deluded or undeluded. The buddha nature is exactly the originally unmistaken quality of our mind, also called the dharmakaya buddha Samantabhadra.
According to one system, the dharmakaya aspect of this primordially unmistaken quality is Samantabhadra. Its sambhogakaya aspect is Vajradhara and its nirmanakaya aspect is Vajrasattva. For example, space, sunlight, and the appearance of a rainbow are impossible to separate. Sunshine does not manifest anywhere else than within space, and a rainbow does not occur in any way other than as a combination of space and sunlight. Dharmakaya is likened to space, sambhogakaya to sun, and nirmanakaya to the rainbow. In the same way, the three buddhas, Samantabhadra, Vajradhara, and Vajrasattva, are not three different enlightened beings. They are indivisible, of the same nature, just as the three kayas are inherently present, indivisibly, in our buddha nature.
There is a difference between being deluded and undeluded, between recognizing and not recognizing our nature. The primordially unmistaken quality is called enlightenment, buddhahood, or the awakened state of dharmakaya. The primordially deluded aspect is called ignorance, or the deluded experience of sentient beings. Although we have the essence of buddhahood within us, it is temporarily obscured.
The essence of the Buddha's teachings is the method on how to let confusion dawn as wisdom. The most vital point here is the introduction to and recognition of the buddha nature, the innate wisdom of dharmakaya that is already present within oneself. The Fourth Dharma of Gampopa is a teaching on how to recognize, train in, and stabilize this recognition of the buddha nature. Understanding it is called the view, practicing it is called samadhi, and stabilizing it is called buddhahood. Buddhahood is not outside. It is not something else that all of a sudden is absorbed into ourselves and magically transforms us into a buddha.
We have one mind but we need to distinguish between its two aspects: essence and expression. Understand this example for the relationship between the two. The essence is like the sun shining in the sky. The expression is like its reflection upon the surface of water. The sun in the sky is the real sun. The reflection of the sun appearing on the surface of water looks like the sun but is not the real sun. Let's call the sun in the sky the buddha nature, the unmistaken, undeluded quality, the essence itself. The reflection of the sun upon the surface of water is an example for our normal deluded thinking, the expression. Without the sun in the sky it is impossible for a reflection of the sun to appear. Although there is actually only one sun, it looks like there are two. That is what is called one identity with two aspects. The essence, the buddha nature, is like the sun shining in the sky. The expression is our thinking, compared to the sun's reflection.
The state of being a buddha is unconfused and undeluded, just like the sun shining in the sky. The state of mind of sentient beings is like the reflection of the sun on water. Just as the reflection is dependent upon water, our thoughts are dependent upon objects. The object is what is thought of, the subject is the perceiving mind. Subject-object fixation is the cause for continuing in deluded samsaric existence, day and night, life after life. The fixation upon subject and object, the perceiving subject and the perceived object, is solidified again and again each moment and thus re-creates samsaric existence. Right now we have the five sense objects of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures. In between, as the gates, we have the five senses, and there are also the various consciousnesses which continuously apprehend these different sense objects.
Can the reflection of the sun on the water illuminate the whole world? Can it even shine over the whole lake? Can it make things grow? No, because it does not have the qualities of the real sun. In the same way, the aspect of mind known as expression, our thinking, lacks the qualities of the real state of buddhahood. But the sun in the sky by itself is able to shine and spread its warmth throughout the whole world, illuminating all darkness. To put it simply, the mind of the buddhas is unobscured, while the mind of sentient beings is obscured. What is the obscuration? It is our own reoccurring fixation on subject and object.
Buddha nature is continuously present in ourselves as well as in everyone else, without any exception whatsoever. It is in essence forever unobscured. It doesn't increase or decrease. It is not sometimes covered or uncovered. It is totally beyond mental constructs. It does not change in size. It is not that someone has a big buddha nature and somebody else a small one. There is no difference in quality either. It is continuously present to the same extent in everyone.
To recognize the buddha nature present in oneself is called the view. To sustain the continuity of that correctly is called meditation or training. To mingle that with daily activities and act in accordance with the Dharma is called action or conduct. And to realize it as totally unobscured, like the sun shining with unchanging brilliance in the sky, is called fruition. We need to recognize the view; we need to recognize our buddha nature. Although it is something we already have, we need to acknowledge what we possess. The preliminary practices, the development stage, and so forth are all meant to enable us to recognize the buddha nature. They are like helpers, assistants.
To say "recognize your own nature, the buddha nature!" does not mean that we have to produce something which does not exist, like trying to squeeze gold out of a piece of wood, which is impossible. We must simply recognize what we already possess. But humans, who are the most clever and capable of all the different types of sentient beings, seem to be bent on totally throwing away this most precious wish-fulfilling jewel. The normal state of a human being is like someone who has found a precious wish-fulfilling jewel but ignores it, thinking that a fake piece of jewelry is more valuable. There is nothing sadder or of greater waste than this.
Think very well about this. Try to understand that the situation we are in now is like holding a wish-fulfilling jewel right in our hand. It is not easy to take rebirth as a human being, and it is definitely not easy to gain a precious human body with its opportunity to practice the Dharma. It is an extremely rare occasion that occurs so infrequently that it's like enjoying a good meal once in a hundred years. If we had a good meal only once every century, wouldn't we truly appreciate it and be overjoyed, saying "Finally I got a delicious meal!" We would be so happy. But this opportunity is even more precious. No amount of good meals is going to help us, ultimately. The body is still a corpse when it dies, whether or not it ate well. The precious human body is something extremely rare. If we do not use the opportunity we have right now, there is no guarantee whatsoever that we will be human in our next life. In fact, it is almost certain that we will not, because the habitual negative karmic patterns are so strong. This short opening right now will soon be covered up again for aeons and aeons before we have another chance to be a human. Please think sincerely about this: is there any greater waste than throwing away a wish-fulfilling jewel when you finally find one?
If we didn't already have this wish-fulfilling jewel it would be difficult to find. But, as a matter of fact, through all our beginningless lifetimes we have never been without it. If we were told, "You must possess a wish-fulfilling jewel!", then we would be in trouble because we would suddenly have to come up with something we don't possess. But the wish-fulfilling jewel of buddha nature is already present in ourselves. It is because of our ignorance and delusion that we do not recognize it, and continue life after life among the six classes of sentient beings. How sad that people throw away what is really valuable and instead chase after food, wealth, good reputation, and praise. But if we do not take hold of what is truly valuable in this lifetime we will just continue endlessly in samsaric existence. I'm not asking you to understand this, because of course you already do; I'm simply reminding you.
The buddha nature, the sugatagarbha, is already present as the nature of our own mind, just like the unchanging brilliance of the sun shining in the sky. But due to our ordinary dualistic thinking, this sun of the buddha nature is not evident; we don't see it. Not even a fraction of the innate qualities of buddhahood are manifest in the state of mind of a normal person. The conceptual thoughts we have day and night obscure our buddha nature, just like the sun in the sky is momentarily covered by clouds and seems to be obscured. Due to the passing clouds of ignorance we do not recognize the buddha nature.
The ever-present buddha nature is like the unhindered sun shining in the sky, but sunshine never reaches inside a cave facing north. This cave is an example for misunderstanding, wrong view, or partial understanding.
Buddha nature is primordially all-pervasive, present in everyone from Buddha Samantabhadra down to the tiniest insect. This enlightened essence can be given different names: dharmakaya, Samantabhadra, self-existing wakefulness, or supreme enlightenment. The ignorant state of sentient beings has also many names - it is called thinking, conceptual mind, dualistic consciousness or intellect.
Before this life we were born in another place and before that life somewhere else, and so on. We have had countless previous lifetimes. Our mind did not spontaneously appear out of nothing. It is beginningless. Our mind has taken birth again and again since beginningless time. We have had countless lifetimes - and now we have reached this life. It is like a dividing point in the road where we can take a path that leads either up or down.
Our mind creates virtue and evil, and our voice and body act as the mind's servants or employees. What is meant here by evil? It is basically attachment, anger and dullness. I have explained enlightened mind; now I will point out dualistic mind.
Take for example visual objects. When we see a beautiful piece of brocade, at first glance we think "How nice!" That is called attachment. If we see a used handkerchief we don't like it. That is called aversion or anger. If we see a clean plain handkerchief we don't care much either way. That is called indifference or dullness. We are all alike in this respect: when we see something beautiful, we like it, something ugly we dislike it, and something neutral we don't care about it. We like melodious sounds, not harsh, unpleasant ones. Our liking is attachment, our dislike is aversion, anger, and our indifference is dullness. Our reactions are the same with regard to what we eat, smell, or touch. Those three basic negative emotions manifest in relation to our five senses and the outer sense objects. The subject, our mind within, likes pleasure, dislikes pain, and can also remain indifferent. These six types of experience - visual form, sound, smell, taste, texture and mental objects - are called the six collections of consciousness.
From primordial time until this very moment, the main actions we have performed have been the activities of the three poisons - attachment, anger, and dullness. We have continuously engaged in liking, disliking and remaining indifferent, not just in one or two lives, but throughout countless lifetimes. This was the instruction pointing out dualistic mind.
'Mind beyond concepts' refers to the situation of being free of the three poisons. A normal person is totally engrossed in the three poisons through his whole lifetime. To attain liberation from samsara we need to leave behind the three poisons. How can we be free from them? We cannot bury them underground, flush them away, burn them, blow them up or even throw a nuclear bomb at them and expect the three poisons to disappear. Our continuous involvement with them is like an evil machine. The perfect Buddha described samsaric existence as an ocean of endless suffering, or like the continuous revolving of an evil machine, like a vicious circle. Buddha told us we need to apply a method in order to liberate ourselves and all other sentient beings from the ocean of samsara.
The primary cause of samsaric existence is our own dualistic mind, as I just pointed out. Some people might claim "I don't commit any evil! I don't kill, I don't steal and I don't lie. I don't do any negative actions!" While we might not perform such coarse negative actions, subtle negative actions are continuously created in our mind. As long as our liking, disliking and indifference are not purified, they block the path to liberation and complete enlightenment. So what can clear away and eradicate the three poisons in our own mind? The recognition of buddha nature, self-existing awareness.
This self-existing awareness is itself the path followed by all the buddhas of the three times. The buddhas of the past followed the path of self-existing wisdom, rangjung yeshe, and attained enlightenment. The buddhas of the present follow the path of self-existing wisdom, and in the future anyone who attains enlightenment will do so only by recognizing self-existing wisdom. There is not even an atom of any other path that leads to true enlightenment.
Let's take another example: imagine a room that had been completely sealed off and has remained in complete darkness for ten thousand years. The ignorant state of mind of a normal person who does not recognize the nature of mind, the buddha nature, is like the dense darkness inside that room. The moment of recognizing self-aware wisdom is like pressing the switch to turn on the light in the room that has been dark for ten thousand years. In that instant all the darkness is gone, right? Ten thousand years of darkness are dispelled in one moment. In the same way, the wisdom of recognizing one's nature dispels aeons of ignorance and negative actions. When you press the switch to turn on the light in a room that has been dark for ten thousand years, doesn't the darkness disappear at once? Understand that example.
If all the windows and the doors in the room were closed we would be unable to see anything, but when the light comes on we can see everything perfectly clearly. It is possible to purify countless aeons of negative karma and attain the state of complete enlightenment in this very lifetime because self-existing wisdom is so potent, so effective.
Now I will give a name to our buddha nature. It is called empty and cognizant self-existing wakefulness. The empty aspect, the essence, is like space that pervades everywhere. But inseparable from this empty quality is a natural capacity to cognize and perceive, which is basic wakefulness. Buddha nature is called self-existing because it is not made out of anything or created by anyone. Self-existing means not created by causes in the beginning and not destroyed by circumstances in the end. This self-existing wakefulness is present in all beings without a single exception. Our thinking and self-existing wakefulness are never apart. The thinking mind is called expression, while the basic wakefulness is called essence. Thus there are actually two names for the mind. In the case of an ignorant sentient being the mind is called empty cognizance suffused with ignorance (marigpa). The mind of all the buddhas is called empty cognizance suffused with awareness (rigpa).
In order to enable us to recognize or know our own essence, the teacher, the vajra master, gives what is called the pointing-out instruction. It is for that single purpose. And yet, what he points out is not something we don't already have. We already possess the buddha nature.
First, we must recognize our own nature, our essence. Next we must endeavor with great diligence to continuously sustain that recognition, which is called training. Finally, to reach the state where not even an iota of conceptual thinking remains, when conceptual thinking is totally purified, is called the attainment of stability. This stability is also known as the complete enlightenment of buddhahood.
The teachings of both Mahamudra and Dzogchen give a traditional example for this sequence. On the first day of the lunar calendar when we look in the sky we don't see anything; the moon is invisible. But on the evening of the third day we see a sliver of the moon. At that time it is possible for someone to point at the moon and say, "There is the moon!" We look and we see that the moon is the moon. That is called recognizing. Each following day the moon grows larger and larger, until on the night of the fifteenth day it is totally full and brilliant, shining in the sky. That is the example for the dharmakaya of self-existing awareness free from constructs. Again, pointing out the moon is called recognizing. That it grows further and further is training. When it is finally a full, complete moon, that is the attainment of stability, complete enlightenment.
Another example is the seed of a flower. Knowing it's a seed is the example for recognizing our buddha nature. After it has been planted and watered and starts to sprout leaves, stamen, and petals, that is called training. When the flower is finally fully grown, with beautiful, multicolored blossoms, that is the example for the attainment of stability. The seed of a flower does not look like a flower in full bloom. But a seed which is unmistaken the seed of a beautiful flower can be planted and it will grow into one.
Although when we see a flower it is amazingly beautiful, we wouldn't find the seed of that flower spectacular at all. In the same way, do not expect the recognition of mind essence to be something spectacular. But when the recognition has been stabilized, as in the case of a buddha, the state of complete enlightenment contains many great qualities like the fourfold fearlessness, the ten powers, the eighteen unique qualities, and so forth. The state of buddhahood also contains the capacity to transform an instant into an aeon and an aeon into an instant. The qualities of buddhahood are inconceivable, and all these qualities are inherently present in the buddha nature. They are not some new qualities that are achieved later on. There are not two different types of buddha nature - it is not that the buddhas have one type of buddha nature and we sentient beings have another type.
Humans are as numerous as stars at nighttime, but
those with precious human bodies are like stars in the morning. All of you
are like morning stars. Although I needn't ask you to treasure this
teaching, to regard it as really important, still it is necessary to
repeat that the practice of recognizing buddha nature should continue
throughout our lives. We must equalize life and practice. In other words,
we should not only practice for a short time and then abandon the Dharma.
We should train for as long as we live.
Extracted from Repeating the Words of the Buddha, Rangjung Yeshe Publications.
2
Prayers for the Swift Rebirth
of Kyabje Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
Om soti
Gyalkün yabchig karmey tugkyi sey
Orgyen ngöjön terchen chokling gi
Kabab dün-gyi ringlug sogdzin
dsey
Chog gi dorje lobpön nyurjön sol
Om Svasti
Only father
of all the jinas, heart son of Karmapa,
Holder of the life force of
the system of the seven transmissions
Of the one who was Orgyen in
person, the great tertön Chokgyur Lingpa.
Eminent vajra master, may
you swiftly return.
Ngedön chönyi gonglong tseyla pheb
Sabdön
drubpey dön nyi lhün-gyi drub
Mindröl dütsi kalsang kyong shin du
Tsewang chogdrub palbar nyurjön sol
You have reached the
fullness of the expanse of realization, the reality of the true meaning,
And spontaneously perfected the two aims through practicing the deep
meaning.
While nurturing the excellent fortune of the nectar of
ripening and freeing,
Tsewang Chokdrub Palbar, may you swiftly
return.
Tsokye lama yabsey tugkye dang
Dagchag deymö tenjung
denpa yi
Chogi trülku nyurdu jönpa dang
Kater tenpey trinley
gyegyur chig
By the aspirations of Guru Padma, father and sons
And by the truth of the auspicious coincidence of our faith and
devotion,
May a supreme incarnation swiftly appear
And may the
activity of the teachings of Kama and Terma flourish.
From the writings of Kyabje Khyentse
Rinpoche.
Lumey peyjung yabyum tujin gyi
Rigdzin orgyen
tsewang chogdrub kyi
Trülpey dashel nyurdu charwa dang
Tendrö
dönchen taru chinpar shog
By the unfailing power and blessings of
Padmakara and consort,
May the full moon of an emanation
Of the
vidyadhara Urgyen Tsewang Chokdrub quickly appear,
And may his immense
benefit for the teachings and beings be perfected.
From the writings of Kyabje Dudjom
Rinpoche.
These modified blessed vajra words of longevity
supplication by the two great vidyadharas and lords of refuge were
respectfully written down - due to numerous reasons and needs - as
supplications for the swift return by Tulku Chökyi Nyima, the lowest
disciple of our sublime father, on the tenth day of the one
hundred-thousand-multiplication month of the year of the Fire Mouse, at
the occasion of the sacred day of the Second Buddha of Uddiyana. May this
be a contributing cause for soon meeting a precious reincarnation of our
guru, the glorious protector. May it be virtuous. May it be virtuous. May
it be virtuous.
Om soti
Rabjam tsasum gyamtsö tujin gyi
Chokgi trülku orgyen rinpoche
Nang-ying tingsal zhönnu bumkü long
Dagpey zhinchog gangdu zhukgyur kyang
Dengdir dagsok dungwey soldeb na
Tukje tsewey
yalwar midor war
Yangsi tsenpey dazhel nyurjön ney
Dagchak pönlob
samdön drubpa dang
Gyalten chidang nga-gyur nyingma wey
Trinley
dzamling küntu kyabgyur chig
Om svasti.
By the power and
blessings of the infinite ocean of the Three Roots,
Supreme
nirmanakaya Urgyen Rinpoche,
In whichever pure realm you reside,
As the expanse of the youthful vase body, the brilliant depth of inner
space,
We beseech you with yearning devotion,
Please don't
exclude us from your loving-compassion.
Let a reincarnation soon
appear, like a perfect full moon,
To fulfill the wishes of us all,
both master and disciples.
For the Buddhadharma and the Nyingma school
of the Early Translations,
Spread your activity to the ends of the
world.
When encouraged by our protector's own Malaysian disciple, the female practitioner Bin Eng, and through the force of my own deep-felt longing, may this prayer from his lowest disciple, the Ever-Sick Khenpo Jamyang Dorje, be meaningful.
Though there is not much I can say, I would like to say these few words. Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and I come from the same area in Eastern Tibet, but we still seemed to live quite far from each other. In those days we had no access to modern technology. Since there were no airplanes, no trains, and no cars everyone traveling had to either go by foot or on horseback, so a distance which today we consider easy to cover by modern transportation in those days seemed like a long, long distance. Although we had, of course, heard about each other, it was not until I first arrived in the Kathmandu Valley that we began to have a connection.
When I came to Nepal, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was already here. Knowing about him, I kept bothering him until he kindly accepted to give me the transmission for the One Hundred Empowerments of Chö. Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was living in Kathmandu at the time and in those days I was quite poor and unable to make any significant offering for this transmission. Since he was extremely kind-hearted and we came from the same homeland, I was fortunate to receive all the empowerments. From then on we have maintained a very pure samaya connection, without any damage or breach, like the analogy of an unbroken egg-shell. Because Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was someone with great kindness and a strong sense of loyalty, he never changed his feelings for someone once he had gotten to know them well.
In terms of practice, among Sutra and Tantra, he was more learned in the tantric teachings, and among the Sarma and Nyingma traditions, he was more accomplished in the Nyingma practices. He was not someone you could freely ask about his personal realization. Nor have I ever heard him mention that he had either any special experiences or high levels of realization. But, without a doubt I feel that he was definitely an extraordinary practitioner. Anyone who met him could that he had no conceit, no ambitions of grandeur or fame, nor did he hold any resentment. He treated everyone kindly and cordially and never turned his back on a friend.
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was also free of deceit and duplicity. If he said something you could always trust that his words and his heart were in harmony. It was quite unlike him to act in a hypocritical way, saying one thing and doing another. In his relations with people he was never dishonest or unreliable.
In terms of spiritual relationships, he was connected to the Karmapa, one of the most important lamas in the great practice lineages. The Karmapa is on the same level as the Dalai Lama, Panchen Rinpoche and Sakya Trichen. As one of the Karmapa's gurus, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche offered him many empowerments and teachings from the Chokling Tersar.
Even though he had the status of someone whom the Karmapa venerated at the crown of his own head, he didn't become full of self-importance or take advantage of this fame. When in a group of lamas or sitting in a large religious gathering he always refused to preside as the head, always insisting on taking a lower position. Taking the lower seat is a sign of having tamed one's own mind, and this is how he always acted. Otherwise, since he was the Karmapa's guru, it would have been perfectly fine to maintain some dignified presence, but because of being a ngakpa he would regard himself as lower than any other lama or even an ordinary, fully ordained monk.
True humility is the sign of having experience and realization. Without experience and realization we become involved in mundane attitudes - conceit toward people below, jealousy towards people above and competitiveness towards our equals. This is unavoidable because the five poisonous emotions of attachment, anger, dullness, pride and envy still remain alive within our stream of being. Even though someone may dress up as a renunciate or a yogi, these negative emotions still become evident from time to time. Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, however, was not at all like that.
Our relationship was one of brothers; he treated me as an equal, just as if we had the same father and mother. When he shared his thoughts with me there was never any discrepancy between his words and what he really felt. This doesn't mean that other lamas are unreliable, but for me it was as if Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was the only one I really felt I could confide and place my trust in. This may be because I am old-fashioned, or that times have changed, but for me he was the main person I would rely on.
This person, outwardly humble while inwardly totally reliable, has now passed away. On the one hand you can say that he left after having completed all his tasks but, on the other hand, maybe it was because of our general lack of merit.
As for the future, all his lineage-holders and disciples, please remember this: when it comes to Vajrayana practice samaya is extremely important. Samaya is formed by receiving empowerment. There is much to say about this, but, in short, there are the samayas of Body, Speech, and Mind, which are included in the threefold practice of regarding sights, sounds, and awareness as enlightened Body, Speech and Mind. All samayas are included within this, even the 100,000 samayas and the 25 major samayas. So, please observe these very carefully while maintaining unwavering trust in your guru.
In all the Buddhist vehicles it is taught that you should not regard your spiritual guide as an ordinary person. In Vajrayana practice, especially, everything depends on your guru; he is the basis for all accomplishment. So supplicate him sincerely, visualize him in the sky before you, mingle your mind with his mind indivisibly, and receive the four empowerments. By doing so you will soon have experience in realization and it will become possible for you to glimpse innate suchness - the Buddha within - in a single instant. This still holds true even when the guru is no longer within his body; if you supplicate him you can still realize his nature. So all of you disciples, please be very careful about keeping your samaya link with the guru.
In addition, remind yourself again and again of the words you personally heard him say and apply your minds fully to realizing their meaning. In short, in terms of learning, reflection and meditation, you should combine the words you have heard, reflect upon their meaning and then put them into practice - doing so will fulfill your guru's wishes. This is called the offering of practice, which is never matched by lavish or vast offerings of material things, which, of course, is also good. Instead, you should apply yourself in both word and deed, with unwavering trust and supplicate him one-pointedly. There is nothing superior to this 'offering of practice.' Please remember that this is what we all need.
Now the time has come to cremate his precious body. The body could have also been kept as a mardung, an enshrined body, or in other ways which are also good. Such ways are important for preventing the general merit from decreasing. However, we are in times when changes come swiftly. Look at what happened to the many mardungs in Tibet which got thrown in the gutter during the Cultural Revolution. Tibetans, like myself, are both shifty and deceitful, and we aren't that clever. Tibetans helped to throw stones at the different mardungs, dragging them through the streets, and feeding them to the dogs. In these ways they have created immense negative karma. When I think of this I wonder what would be best for the future, since nothing lasts and times here may change as well. As you know, all things - from the aggregate of forms up to and including conditioned enlightenment, all composite things without a single exception - have the nature of emptiness. I feel that nothing in this world, nor a single sentient being, is beyond the grasp of impermanence. Every sentient being goes through birth, old age, sickness, and death; no one is exempt. In the end, even the world as a totality will be destroyed by fire and water. Therefore, I feel that it is better not to give anyone the extra chance to create negative karma when times change here as well. I also said this to Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche's sons, Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche and Chokling Rinpoche.
It has been decided that the remains will be cremated in a fire puja and after that I expect that a thorough ceremony for the relics will be performed, tsa-tsa images will be made, and, in various places stupas will be built in whichever way is appropriate.
Maybe I don't need to mention this, but still I feel that Tulku Urgyen's sons are remarkable people. They belong to the unique family line of Tsangsar, which is said to originate from divine beings. In this family line there have been a great number of accomplished masters, extraordinary, respectable and noble minded. I expect that Rinpoche's sons will live up to their heritage.
All of you, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche disciples, if you continue to keep your samaya connection with him throughout this life, the bardo and your next life, you will surely benefit. Follow the advice he gave you, serve him in any way you can. There is nothing greater than that. By pleasing the guru you can remove obstacles. Displeasing and upsetting him is equal to committing the five most severe misdeeds. In this lies the foundation for attaining accomplishment. The guru is considered more important than both the yidam deity and the Dharma protectors. Devotion to the guru is the universal panacea.
Many of you disciples have heard Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche's words with your own ears. Please continue to follow his advice and keep your samaya connection. There is nothing better than this for both this life, the bardo and the future. Dedicate the merit you create and make pure aspirations that his wishes be fulfilled.
In order to show that everything is impermanent, even a noble sublime being like Buddha Shakyamuni, who was beyond birth and death, still acted as if he passed away in Kushinagar. But this was only on the level of superficial reality. Similarly, Tulku Urgyen remains in dharmadhatu and is all set to come back. But a return is totally dependent upon the interest and inclinations of sentient beings. So, don't think that a master who has left remains impassive, there are many other realms besides this one where beings can be benefited. To create a link for the future necessitates a vast amount of merit. So, do your best to create merit and fulfill his wishes. This is all I can say. Please, everyone, keep this in mind.
One of the greatest masters of recent times was Terchen Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa (1829-1870), considered an incarnation of the son of King Trisong Deutsen. The eminent lamas Jamgön Kongtrül and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo greatly respected his wisdom and attainments, and, through them, his teachings had a wide impact. He revealed more than 250 texts contained in the Rinchen Terdzö, and he is honored not only in the Nyingma tradition, but also in the Karma Kagyü Drukpa, Drigungpa, Taklung, and Sakya schools. Truly, in the times since Rigdzin Jigmey Lingpa, he is the greatest of Terma masters.
The lineage of Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa was passed on through his daughter, Semo Könchok Paldrön, and she in turn transmitted it to her four sons. One of her sons, Tsangsar Chimey Dorje, was the father of our beloved Tulku Urgyen, one of the outstanding lineage holders of our time
I
Fully learned in the special traditions of Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa, Tulku Urgyen was also a great master of the Nyingma Kama and Terma one of the most comprehensive lineage holders of our time. Like his student, teacher, and Dharma brother, the Sixteenth Karmapa he received teachings from Karsey Kongtrül, the son of the Fifteenth Karmapa and an incarnation of Jamgön Kongtrül.
Tulku Urgyen demonstrated a devotion to Longchenpa, Chokgyur Lingpa, Jamyang Khyentse, and Jamgön Kongtrül that inspired all who knew him. In the 1950s he received teachings from my own root guru, the Second Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö, journeying to Lhasa and Gangtok for this purpose. In addition to receiving initiations he had many close personal discussions with this great master. Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö, Dudjom Rinpoche, and Dilgo Khyentse all counted Urgyen Tulku among their advisers and spiritual friends.
Not only was Tulku Urgyen kind, wise, and compassionate, but he was humble and gentle as well. He was renowned as a yogin, and though he did not live the life of a mountain recluse such as Milarepa, his mind exhibited all the qualities of such accomplished masters. With great modesty, Tulku Urgyen served the Sixteenth Karmapa as his assistant and counselor in both spiritual and practical affairs, and also gave him teachings on Atiyoga. A trusted confidante, he rendered indispensable assistance in such matters as the lengthy dispute over Swayambhu Temple. In fulfilling these responsibilities, he never once failed to follow through on a commitment.
Tulku Urgyen was not well known as a scholar, yet the depth of his understanding was unsurpassed, and many Nyingma and Kagyü masters stood in awe of his comprehensive knowledge. He had thoroughly studied and practiced the Atiyoga, and his teachings on Dzogchen transformed the lives of those he touched with gentle, penetrating clarity.
As a meditation teacher and a master of initiations, he was without peer. We are especially blessed in having received from him the profound teachings of the Chokling lineage, through which Avalokiteshvara and Guru Padmasambhava manifest in our lives. Direct and clear, these sadhanas make the complex teachings of the Vajrayana freshly available.
Besides his stature as a lineage holder and his prowess as a teacher, Tulku Urgyen was skilled in all the arts and crafts. He excelled in calligraphy, painting, sculpture, the making of torma, and he had encyclopedic knowledge in many fields of human inquiry. He had a remarkable grasp of history, including Tibet's relations with China and Mongolia, the history of Kham, Nangchen, and Derge, and the biographies of great lineage holders.
Tulku Urgyen was very kind to me and my children. He and I traveled together extensively more than thirty years ago, and in later years I received from him several important teachings, including the hearing lineage of the Gyü Chubdün and the teachings of Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa. To have met and studied with this great lama, enjoyed his presence and received his compassionate guidance, is truly a great blessing. His loving gestures and marvelous heart brought us all boundless joy. Although others were much closer to him, I can say that his gentle nature, which became immediately apparent to all who met him, was truly unique.
II
Tulku Urgyen wore his knowledge and attainments lightly. Unlike some learned masters, who seem to lecture whenever they open their mouths, he spoke with such kindness and profound sensitivity that no one hesitated to question him. He used his knowledge to touch the heart of everyone he met, making conversation with him a delight. He had the gift of making each person feel that he alone was the lama's favorite - so well did he manifest the beauty of compassion. His students responded with deep personal devotion and an eagerness to learn more. They were serious in their studies, and they often sought out the opportunity for long retreats.
In these times of the kaliyuga, when great troubles have befallen Tibet, Tulku Urgyen rose to the challenge. Journeying to a new country, he established a foundation for the Dharma and made the special treasures of Dzogchen and the Chokling lineage widely available. He benefited the Sangha greatly, establishing centers, extending the teachings, and passing on his knowledge. Today there are more than thirty different monasteries in the Kathmandu valley, and I personally trace much of this activity to the light that radiated from Nagi Gompa, where the presence of Tulku Urgyen, the teachings of Chokling, and the blessings of' Guru Padmasambhava came together. Truly, whatever any lama could accomplish, Tulku Urgyen has brought to fruition.
Once while having the good fortune to stay at Nagi Gompa, I saw in a vision that through the blessings of Padmasambhava, the Dharma could one day spread out from this tiny valley, revitalized and newly powerful. Now that our beloved teacher is gone, I pray that his lasting influence will help this vision come to fruition.
III
We can best honor the memory of Tulku Urgyen by accepting him as our guru. His teachings are his heart manifestation, and his image in our minds conveys his blessings. Rinpoche is a great lion among Buddha masters, one of the circle of enlightened gurus, and we, as his spiritual sons and daughters should strive to follow in his footsteps. While he was alive, we did not know fully how to benefit from his presence. Now, through his passing, he reminds us that we have no time to lose. Let us abandon the eight worldly dharmas and devote ourselves to practice and study, for our time is short!
The Vajrayana emphasizes the importance of receiving teachings and initiations from qualified masters of the Vidyadhara lineage. Yet we cannot be content with the thought that we have received wondrous teachings from our beloved Tulku Urgyen. Only if we keep the samaya vows will our initiations have value. If we wish to meet our responsibilities to Rinpoche as our Vajra Guru, we must keep this understanding firmly in mind.
The texts on initiation set forth eight obstacles to receiving transmission from the Vajra Guru. Because this topic is so important, I list them here:
1. Resenting or actually breaking the directives of your teacher.
2. Being unsympathetic and divisive toward your Dharma friends.
3. Giving up on the mind of enlightenment and the tutelary deities.
4. Cutting the cord of compassion that connects you to beings who are suffering.
5. Giving teachings and initiations to those who are not suitable vessels for the teachings.
6. Being greedy and stingy in serving the Lama.
7. Using the teachings for your own purposes out of presumptuousness and arrogance.
8. Forsaking Dharma commitments due to desire for profit or overwhelming attachment.
Having had the great good fortune to receive initiations from a perfectly qualified master, we should remind ourselves repeatedly of these dangers. Though we may be sure in our own hearts that we are faultless, we can still reflect on our responsibility. In the end, whether we receive the most excellent results of Tantric initiation depends entirely on us.
IV
The Vajra Guru lineage of accomplished masters strides unhindered through the reach of time, roaring like a mighty lion. To deepen our karmic connection to this lineage, let us practice Guru Yoga with devotion! Although the Sutras, Tantras, and Shastras are vast beyond comprehension, to practice Guru Yoga activates the essence of all the teachings. The Vajrayana reminds us again and again that the Guru is central to all our practice. It is the Guru who comes to us in our time of need, who transmits the inner meaning of the Buddha's realization. Without the Guru, how could the Dharma manifest in our lives? How could we ever find the way to escape our hopeless situation? Knowing that the Guru is the source of all hope, how can we best prepare ourselves to receive his empowerment? How can we embrace the teacher and embody his blessings, so that the teachings come alive in our own being? These are questions we need to ask with all our heart, for the clarity they bring will show us what to do.
Whenever we recall the features of our beloved Guru, we see the Dharmakaya taking shape and form. Following his instructions with faith, we too can pass into the Dharmakaya realm, for through him the lineage of perfect realization becomes available. Of this there can be no doubt.
Padmasambhava himself taught that sound is the echo of the Guru's teaching and thoughts are the blessings of the Guru's heart. Through the kindness of the Guru, the Paramita manifests: a silent realm beyond specifics, the accommodating space into which the senses can project meaning and significance.
In the fullness of the Guru's presence, appearance manifests as images of the Guru, and all forms are part of the enlightened mandala. Like the rainbow, whatever appears lacks all solidity. Thoughts are simply the habitually accepted-heart impressions of the essential. The senses and the kleshas themselves are transformed into the light of liberation. As Om and Ah and Hum, form and sound and thoughts express the three mandalas of kaya, vaka, and citta. In the comprehensive mandala that emerges as the unity of this threefold presence, we discover the truth of self-liberation
Having entered this magical mandala realm through the Guru's grace, we transcend karma and klesha. Free from grasping, we can live beautifully, practicing awakened awareness within our daily activities. Self-liberation becomes selfless liberation, and we realize the great wonder: Life and death are both bardos, and we are always in transition.
The more we practice Guru Yoga, the more readily we experience the perfect openness that lets us accept the Guru's blessings. In the light of the Guru's radiance, we see that we do not know from somewhere else, but from within the mind. We require no vehicle beyond the light of liberation, for there is nothing to recognize, misinterpret, or confuse-no ignorance and no not-understanding. This is the Paramita, the Dharmakaya, the source for the enlightenment of all Buddhas. It is the blessing of naked mind.
Before meeting the Guru we were lost in the desert, blinded by incessant sand-storms, living without meaning. Now we have found the way! Learning to operate the mind, we understand more; dwelling near the source, we encounter fewer obstacles. Free from conceptualization, we glimpse the real sky, the real space. Samsara becomes the friend of nirvana, and the teachings on ultimate reality, as expressed in the four shlokas of homage that open the Sutra of the Meeting of Father and Son, become our own reality. Ordinary, grasping mind, bound up with identity and ego, becomes inseparable from the mind of perfect omniscience. The treasures of the Buddha fields stand open.
With rare compassion, the Guru initiates us into the five mandalas of his body, speech, mind, action, and qualities. How many have had the opportunity to meet such a perfect embodiment? How many have received the teachings that lead to liberation from samsara? How many have access to the extraordinary treasures of Dzogchen, whose quality and character go beyond all ordinary teachings? Nothing could be more precious.
Knowing this to be so, the greatest Nyingma and Kagyü teachers have cherished above all else the opportunity to meet with the Guru and express their devotion. When we read the biographies of great masters such as Milarepa, Yeshe Tsogyal, or Jigmey Lingpa, this quality of devotion stands out above all else. Let us join them on this path, making Guru Yoga our food, our shelter, our home.
Fully accomplished yogins tell us that one who has reached the land of gold sees only gold. In the same way, one who practices Guru Yoga discovers this present realm to be another realm, this present world-another world, this present mind-another mind. And how does this come about? Through the grace of the Father Lama, who gives us the teachings and makes available the blessings. This we must never forget.
The gift that the Precious Guru bestows can never be lost, dismissed, or broken. Yet the seed has only been placed in our hand. We must choose to plant and nourish it, confident that if we do so, the fruit will come. Therefore, let us practice the five mandalas of Guru Yoga. In sleeping, in walking, in eating, in thinking, let us invite his presence. To practice in this way is the joy of joy, the bliss of bliss, the love of love. It is the laughter that comes from love; the seal that protects against all disruption. It is the greatest of blessings.
V
Now that our beloved teacher has gone from this relative plane of reality, the next generation must step in to fill the void. How fortunate we are that great lamas are ready to accept this responsibility: Chokling Rinpoche, Tulku Chökyi Nyima, Tsok-Nyi Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche, Pakchok Rinpoche, and the son of Chokling Rinpoche the reincarnation of the great Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. We look also for guidance to Tulku Urgyen's close assistants, to the consorts of the masters who must now guide us, and to the many disciples of our beloved teachers, whether Tibetans, Nepalese, Asians, Europeans, Australians or Americans. May all who have experienced the inner glow of his beautiful heart grow in compassion and understanding from day to day. In this difficult time of the kaliyuga, may the golden ring of the Enlightened Lineage never tarnish.
How I wish that all of us, as Tulku Urgyen's students, could continue to live in the direct presence of his blessings! Yet now that he has left us, we have a way to preserve and strengthen what he gave us. The path is clear: Since his teachings are like a thread binding us together, we must be one Sangha of Dharma brothers and sisters, with no separation. May we open our hearts to one another, treating each other with kindness. May our devotion always deepen!
We can implement what our Vajra Guru has given us
by keeping our samaya vows, praying for his blessings, and practicing
daily. If we make it our aim to be selfless and compassionate and to
develop wisdom for the sake of others, we will quickly make progress.
Someone holding a single lighted candle in a dark cavern will give it up
reluctantly , but one who sees light everywhere will gladly share that
light with others. Once this is our situation, we can say what the Dharma
is, for we know beyond a doubt what counts as practice and
initiation.
Tibetan spelling of names used:
Terchen Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa - gTer-chen mChog-gyur bDe-chen
Gling-pa
Trisong Deutsen - Khri-srong lDe'u-btsan
Jamgön Kongtrül - 'Jam mgon Kong-sprul
Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo -
'Jams-dbyangs mKhyen-brtse'i dBang-po
Rinchen Terdzö - Rin-chen
gTer-mdzod
Kagyü - bKa'-brgyud
Drukpa, Drigungpa, Taklung, and
Sakya - 'Brug-pa, 'Bri-gung-pa, Stag-lung, and Sa-skya
Rigdzin Jigmey
Lingpa - Rig-'dzin 'Jigs-med Gling-pa
Terma - gTer-ma
Semo Könchok
Paldrön - Sras-mo dKon-mchog dPal-sgron
Tsangsar Chimey Dorje -
Tshangs-gsar 'Chi-med rDo-rje
Nyingma Kama and Terma - rNying-ma
bKa'-ma and gTer-ma
Karsey Kongtrül - Kar-sras Kong-sprul
Longchenpa - Klong-chen-pa
Chokgyur Lingpa - mChog-gyur Gling-pa
Jamyang Khyentse - 'Jam-dbyangs mKhyen-brtse
Jamyang Khyentse
Chökyi Lodrö - 'Jam-dbyangs mKhyen-brtse Chos-kyi Blo-gros
Lhasa -
lHa-sa
Chokling - mChog gling
torma - gtor-ma
Kham, Nangchen,
and Derge - Khams, Nang-chen, and sDe-dge
Gyü Chubdün - rGyud bcu-bdun
Yeshe Tsogyal - Ye-shes mTsho-rgyal
I would like to briefly tell you about the fine qualities of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. In the past a great master, who was the emanation of Prince Murub Tsenpo, incarnated as a great tertön. His name was Orgyen Chokgyur Lingpa and he was accepted by everyone, without dispute. It is in the family line of this treasure revealer that Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche consciously accepted to incarnate.
When young he studied both the general and esoteric topics of knowledge to perfection. As he grew up, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche sat at the feet of his sublime father as well as Rigpey Dorje, the 16th Karmapa, and received all the genuine instructions. Later at the retreat center of Tsurphu, known as Pema Khyung Dzong or Dechen Chöling, he practiced extensively, and through this practice he realized, in terms of the four visions of the Dzogchen teachings, the view known as 'exhaustion in dharmata.' Based on this realization, Rigpey Dorje, the 16th Karmapa who could see the three times of past, present and future in actuality, as well as directly seeing the death and rebirth of all beings, and who is acclaimed by everyone in the snowy land of Tibet as the authentic and perfect being, then requested Orgyen Chokgyur Lingpa's terma teachings from Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and so accepted him as his root guru, the lord of the mandala.
Having accepted Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche as his root guru, the Karmapa received the ripening empowerments, the liberating instructions, and the supportive reading transmissions for the profound Dzogchen teachings and the terma teachings of Orgyen Chokgyur Lingpa, in their entirety, correctly and perfectly. It is for this reason that I feel that Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche definitely was both an authentic Dzogchen yogi, who had reached the stage of exhaustion in dharmata, and an extraordinary and great master, fully qualified and perfect.
Moreover in recent years all the lineage-holders of the Karma Kamtsang - Shamar Rinpoche, Situ Rinpoche, Jamgön Rinpoche, Gyaltsab Rinpoche, as well as Dabzang Rinpoche and many others - accepted Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche as their root guru, supplicated him as the lord of the mandala, and received from him the complete terma teachings of Chokgyur Lingpa. From this perspective as well, I feel that he was without a doubt an accomplished Dzogchen master, at the stage of exhaustion in dharmata.
He spent his life in practice and retreat, the later years at the Nagi Gompa hermitage. Here, having reached the end of his practice, accomplished all his activities, and completed his life-span, he displayed the temporary dissolving of his physical presence in order to inspire to practice those of us disciples who cling to permanence and hold on with attachment. Just like other noble beings and bodhisattvas, who never forsake the Buddhadharma and sentient beings, I believe that before long we will again undoubtedly have the excellent fortune to behold the golden countenance of a sublime new tulku who will be enthroned, to enact his eminent deeds of boundlessly turning the profound and vast wheels of the Dharma, his health and life-span as indestructible as a diamond.
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche bestowed immense kindness upon me, graciously extending his compassion by conferring the empowerments, instructions, and reading transmissions of the Dzogchen Desum, the Three Sections of the Great Perfection. Therefore, I consider him one of my special root gurus, one whose kindness is incomparable.
Due to my poor health these days, I am unable to attend the weekly ceremonies in the presence of the kudung, but still, through guru yoga, supplications, devotion, and the prayer for his swift return, I exert myself in supplicating him during the six periods of day and night.
All of you, his disciples, even though the guru has passed away and you obviously feel saddened by his passing, you shouldn't think that he has totally disappeared. Even though the guru resides in a pure buddhafield, he still continues to see our actions - what we do, say or think - correctly and unmistakenly, both day and night. Moreover, when a new sublime nirmanakaya appears, we will be able to meet with him again, hear his words, and receive teachings. This is our great good fortune. Therefore, all of you, disciples and followers, it is extremely important to practice his guru yoga, supplicate him and chant the prayer for his swift return to the utmost of your ability, while creating as much merit as you can through your thoughts, words, and deeds. Please keep this in your hearts!
Q: What does it mean when some lamas remain in tukdam?
R: Generally speaking, tukdam comes about when someone has rested evenly in luminous wakefulness during his life, usually called samadhi, and occurs to the same degree as his experience. When he then passes away, there is what we call 'the mingling of the mother and child luminosities,' which means that the ground luminosity and the luminosity of that person's practice mingle indivisibly.
At that moment, the experience of luminous wakefulness is very strong and one simply remains in its composure naturally, meaning that high lamas or someone with deep experience and realization will naturally dissolve into or expand into this state of samadhi. When the ground luminosity dawns by itself, they recognize it, and then remain in equanimity - that is what is called 'remaining in tukdam.'
No doubt an ordinary person also experiences the ground luminosity, but because of not having trained in it during their life, they don't recognize this ground luminosity, and failing to recognize, they are therefore unable to remain in tukdam. On the other hand, great masters naturally mingle the mother and child luminosities, - in the very moment the ground luminosity unfolds within their direct experience, they acknowledge this basic state and remain in samadhi this is called 'remaining in tukdam.'
It is due to the strength of the samadhi that the body heat doesn't disappear completely, that the skin color doesn't fade, and that the body is able to remain in an upright sitting posture. Due to such visible signs, we are able to conclude that the person is in tukdam.
Q: What do such signs as a 'clear sky and dust-free earth,' represent?
R: Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was someone who kept a concealed profile, meaning that he didn't make a great display of himself. He concealed his qualities and hid what he was, often saying, "I'm nothing special, I'm not learned." Since he kept such a low profile, it could mean that, when he passed away, then naturally, due to the power and strength of his extraordinary samadhi, the sign of a clear sky and dust-free earth manifested. He probably concealed any other sign such as rainbows, rays of light, and so forth.
Q: What are the reasons for making prayers and ceremonies during the first 49 days?
R: The duration of 49 days is the average length of time an ordinary person spends in the bardo, the intermediate state between dying and taking rebirth. It is taught that for some people it lasts longer, for some less, but for the most part it takes 49 days before the next rebirth. When speaking of a sublime being, we reckon approximately the same number of days.
When a master's body has died, we consider that his mind is still present, and so when we disciples make offerings, create merit in various ways, and try to train in samadhi, then since his compassionate wisdom mind is seeing us, we receive blessings. By receiving blessings, we generate a tremendous accumulation of merit during these 49 days.
If it happens that after the 49 days he again accepts to reincarnate, then our object of supplication becomes somewhat removed. On the other hand, right now, while in an intermediate state, he sees us directly, and does so with immense compassion and kindness. This is the reason why any sadhana, meditation practice, or any other spiritual actions to create merit, bring tremendous blessings.
Q: What is the purpose of having five groups of lamas unfolding five simultaneous mandalas during the cremation ceremony?
R: The five mandalas symbolize the five buddha-families. These five families are in fact the forms of the five wisdoms. In the context of 'kayas and wisdoms,' until the cremation the wisdoms are present together with body, the kaya. During the cremation ceremony, a separation takes place after which the wisdom quality is all by itself.
Since wisdom, the quality of original wakefulness, is by itself, while with its five aspects it is the identity of the five male buddhas, therefore mandalas are unfolded for each of these five buddha families, and offerings are made by means of fire-puja, the 'giving-and-burning' ritual. This is a way to generate enormous merit. These five wisdoms - dharmadhatu wisdom, mirror-like wisdom, wisdom of equality, discriminating wisdom, and all-accomplishing wisdom - which are the very identities of the five buddha families, are being emphasized by making five separate fire-pujas.
Q: What is the purpose of the cremation ceremony as a fire-puja?
R: Rather than simply cremating someone's body, to perform the cremation as a fire-puja is an act of offering as well. While making offerings we don't regard the body as an ordinary corpse, but instead it is visualized in the form of a wisdom deity which is invited to dissolve into the body. When offerings are made, the creation of merit is much greater and more far-reaching.
Generally speaking, when placing food, drink, and so forth in front of a statue or a tanka we don't have the feeling that the buddhas actually accept the offerings. But by placing the various offerings into the fire, we have the impression that not only have we offered something, but also that the offering is received by the buddhas. For instance, unlike when we make a feast offering, where we first offer the articles and then we later eat them ourselves, in the case of a fire-puja, we offer the things in actuality, having given up attachment to them. That is why it is taught that fire-puja offerings are unlike other ways of making offering and bring greater benefit.
Considering the cremation ceremony as a fire-puja is even more extraordinary since we imagine that the fire's identity is flames of original wakefulness that represent the Body, Speech and Mind of the glorious root guru. Keeping this attitude ensures a vast accumulation of merit.
Q: Would you please say something about Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche?
R: Generally speaking, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was someone with extraordinary experience and realization, a fact known throughout the world. This is not something I need to say. It is evident to everyone that he was unlike anyone else when it came to pointing out the nature of mind, and making sure that people both recognized it and had some actual experience. In this way he was extraordinary, and I feel it is all right if I don't talk too much about it. In a more general way, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was born into the family of Chokgyur Lingpa, a unique family line. In addition, he is the father of the present tulku of Chokgyur Lingpa which is also something quite extraordinary.
I would also like to add that a lot of people believe that if someone is a tertön then he must belong to the Nyingma school. It doesn't necessarily follow that every tertön has to be a Nyingmapa. There are tertöns among the Gelukpas, and Kagyüs, as well as Sakya and Nyingma tertöns. As for Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa, he is extremely influential within the Kagyü school.
Among his root gurus he followed Khyentse Rinpoche and Kongtrül Rinpoche, and together - now famous as Khyen, Kong and Chok - they revealed the termas. One of the principal termas they brought forth was revealed at Tsandra Rinchen Drak. Among the termas revealed by Chokgyur Lingpa are the Sabdün Phurba, and the two main Tukdrub styles of guru sadhana. If the question is raised about who is primarily doing these practices, then the drubchen of Sabdün Phurba and the others are not being performed in the main seats of the Nyingma school - Mindröl Ling or Dorje Drak. These monasteries have their own set of practices and do not use the termas of Chokgyur Lingpa for their drubchen ceremonies. In Eastern Tibet are two other chief Nyingma monasteries, Shechen and Dzogchen, and there they also utilize specific individual traditions of practices, and so they, too, do not use the termas of Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa, such as the Sabdün Phurba, for their ceremonies.
So, exactly who is performing the drubchens of Sabdün Phurba and the two types of guru sadhana of Tukdrub? They were mainly done at Chokgyur Lingpa's own seats, and, since one of his chief disciples was Karmey Khenpo Rinchen Dargye, it was he who began and maintained the tradition of holding the Sabdün Phurba at the monasteries Karmey Gön and Tsurphu Gön. Later, as we all know, the 16th incarnation in the line of the Gyalwang Karmapa also had this grand ceremony performed at his seat in Rumtek. Therefore, since the two Tukdrub ceremonies are also mainly held at Kagyü monasteries, not at the Nyingma ones, we Kagyüs also consider Chokgyur Lingpa to be a tertön for the Kagyü school.
All four schools of Tibetan Buddhism regard Guru Rinpoche as the second Buddha, and all four schools practice his concealed terma treasures. But, it is mainly the Kagyü followers who practice the profound teachings of Chokgyur Lingpa. I therefore feel that he chiefly belongs to us Kagyüs. [Rinpoche chuckles.]
Q: What was the relationship between the 16th Karmapa and Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche?
R: The 16th incarnation in the line of the Gyalwang Karmapa regarded Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche's family line as very special and therefore received many of the empowerments for Chokgyur Lingpa's termas from Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. Moreover, they were very close since His Holiness trusted Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche as his personal advisor in both spiritual and secular affairs. As we know, many times the Karmapa showed how he held Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche in extremely high esteem.
Q: What is the purpose of erecting a stupa at the same site as that of the cremation?
R: The place where the kudung is cremated in the 'burning-and-purification' ceremony is often the same place where the stupa is built. The reason for this is that for some lamas, through the power of their blessings, we can see that many ringsel-relics appear at the cremation site. The appearance of these ringsel is not confined to the body of the lama, but also from the smoke, the ashes, and even any place around or near the funeral pyre; sometimes ringsel appear naturally. But whether there are visible ringsel or not, the ashes and the smoke pervade the environment. Therefore the site becomes the support for extraordinary blessings and is kept so that it can be regarded as such by people in future generations.
If the cremation site is simply abandoned, people will walk carelessly over it, since there is nothing to remind them. In the spiritual sense, there would be no lasting receptacle for the extraordinary blessings, no continued support for people's veneration and for receiving these blessings. Isn't this the reason for building a stupa? Another reason why a stupa is regarded as special and full of blessings is that it is said to be the primary 'activity of the awakened mind' of all buddhas. I therefore feel that in such a stupa, the blessings of the guru's mind will naturally enter and be present.
As the numerous stupas throughout the country of Nepal attest, in the past many great masters have come here over the millennia. Although in the last couple of centuries not very many masters have lived here, and so, the 'string of the Dharma' has become very thin, still, Buddhism in Nepal has remained without vanishing. I feel one of the reasons for the unbroken continuity of Buddhism is that, thanks to the three main stupas - those in Boudhanath, Swayambhu and Namo Buddha, people regard the teachings of the Buddha as something special: they have continued to circumambulate these stupas respectfully, and maintain the notion that the Three Jewels are special objects of veneration which you can supplicate.
Even though no living master may be present to teach the Dharma in actuality, generation after generation, people continue to see the stupa with their eyes, receive blessings, understand that there are the Three Jewels in which you can place your trust, and in this way, naturally, the Dharma continues. In the same way, when building a stupa for the remains of a great master, his power and blessings will remain. That is the reason to build a stupa.
7
Spoken by
Khenpo Tsültrim Rinpoche
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was a Dzogchen yogi. Now, in the perception of others, he has simply displayed the manner of leaving a body behind. But in his own experience I believe that he is beyond staying or leaving.
Speaking personally, from Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche I received the teachings on Dzogchen which you can call 'instructions through experience,' pithy and concise. These I found very helpful. This type of instruction, through personal experience, is short but all-inclusive and very amazing.
Now he appears to have passed away. So I feel that the most important thing for all of you, his sons and close disciples, is to focus on practice, to realize the level of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and, having gained this realization, to then benefit sentient beings in a vast and immense way. This is something you must do. In order to do this, you must practice thoroughly and by doing so you will definitely realize the level of your father Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, and will then be able to carry out numerous activities to support the Dharma and benefit sentient beings. Therefore I feel that you, his sons and close disciples, should focus chiefly on practice.
Previously, when I went up to Nagi Gompa to pay respects to the kudung, I met with Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche and Tsok-Nyi Rinpoche and I told them, "Your father has simply displayed the manner of passing away. Since superficial reality is such that everything conditioned is impermanent, this cannot be avoided. So, it doesn't help to be sad about it. But it is very important to practice." This is what I told them and I am saying it again here. Besides this there is not much else I have to say. It is not for me to tell his biography, so I only have these few words to say.
I am happy to hear that the kudung is being cremated, because then Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche's disciples can enshrine a portion of the relics in stupas all over the world. I believe this will be of great benefit to both the Buddhadharma and all beings. Therefore, I will add my prayers and good wishes that such stupas will be built to bring vast benefit to everyone.
8
Spoken by
Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche
It is impossible for one person to judge another,
so we can never really know how great a master Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was.
Only a buddha like Shakyamuni can fully know another being. However,
during the twentieth century there have been a few masters who have been
unanimously accepted as being as if the Buddha had appeared in person.
Along with the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpey Dorje, and Kyabje
Dudjom Rinpoche, who was the emissary of Guru Padmasambhava, there has
also been Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Within the contemporary Kagyü
and Nyingma schools there has been no one more extraordinary and with so
immense an impact on the Buddhadharma than them. Yet, these three all
accepted Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche among their root gurus. If they respected
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche as their crown ornament, I, too, feel we should
regard him as someone special.
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche upheld both the teaching and family lineages of Chokgyur Lingpa. He kept this lineage of empowerment, instructions, and reading transmission alive, not only by practicing it himself, but also insuring it will continue by passing it on to the Karmapa and Dudjom Rinpoche but also to countless others. His activity on behalf of this Dharma lineage is an immense kindness which I regard as very special.
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche's family lineage comes through the daughter of Chokgyur Lingpa, whose name was Könchok Palden, and her son, Chimey Dorje, who was Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche's father. Thus, he was directly descended from the great tertön.
I would like to add that due to some dependent circumstance Könchok Palden decided to reincarnate as a female. Otherwise she, herself, would have been recognized as an unmistaken reincarnation of Longchen Rabjam and Vimalamitra and been able to act in immense ways to support the Buddhadharma. Later in her life she asked for advice from both Jamyang Khyentse and Jamgön Kongtrül as to whether it would be better to become a nun or get married. Both masters replied, "You should take a husband; in the future it is through your bloodline that someone will appear to benefit beings. This is very important."
Accordingly, she married a son of the Tsangsar family. The couple had many children, including Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche's uncle, the great master Samten Gyatso, who brought great benefit to the continuation of the Tersar teachings and was able to carry out great deeds. This lineage continues through Tulku Urgyen's many sons, who are all still alive and well. Although, they have their individual titles and bear the responsibility to uphold these other lineages I hope that they will also personally practice and transmit the terma teachings of Chokgyur Lingpa, their father's own lineage.
A lot of people these days hold the opinion that Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was just a Dzogchen yogi who only stayed up in his mountain hermitage Nagi Gompa and practiced one-pointedly - concluding that he was a good lama with high realization. Since he downplayed his talents, not many people seem to know the details of his qualities beyond these simple facts. But now, when I reflect on what I personally know, I feel that he was also a great scholar.
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche is not someone who is famed for being learned. But if we begin to investigate in detail, then, starting from reading skills, we see he was a scholar, able to read many kinds of scripts, including even the rare lantsa and wardu variety. He was proficient in grammar, poetry, and the general sciences, so it is difficult to find anything about which he was ignorant. Concerning the inner knowledge of Buddhism, he had met many very educated and learned masters, and was especially well-versed in the Ngakso, the Lamrim Yeshe Nyingpo, and the Guhyagarbha Tantra. He was a great calligrapher, very knowledgeable about many scripts which have been practically forgotten today. Not only was he proficient in lantsa and wardu, but in uchen and umey as well. Taking all this into consideration, I personally consider him very learned.
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was also a skilled craftsman. Because he could make original statues - unlike professional sculptors who usually just repeat themselves - his sculptures of deities often had much finer proportions. Some of these can be seen in the shrine rooms for the Dharma protectors at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling. In the Nyingma gönkhang, protectors' shrine, there is an extraordinary mask for Mahakala; in the Kagyü temple a mask of Bernakchen, the Black-Cloaked One. When beholding these masks I feel that no ordinary artist could have created such works.
If anyone wants to see what an expert tailor he was I will be happy to show them the crown he made for the Chokling tulku. He re-created Chokgyur Lingpa's crown from memory, which was no small feat.
There is one strange thing which I would like to mention. The expressions of realization don't always appear so clearly. I often noticed that during Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche talks, or when he was writing, that everything he said would come out eloquently and unimpeded. But other times the words seem hindered. It was the same with Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. At times Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche had a very hard time reading and his eyesight turned so bad that he had to have an operation on his eyes.
When it came to mundane discussions he was extremely skillful. Even if people put their heads together they are often still unable to decide what to do. But Rinpoche was always able to make a decision which was in harmony with both Dharma and social conventions; he always seemed to know what the best course of action would be, giving advice without hesitation. Often people would find that his solution was something they hadn't even thought of, and upon hearing it they felt, "well of course!". His decision would put their minds at ease and they would feel confident that this was the best solution. This is another way example of the power of his intelligence.
There is a famous Kagyü saying, "Devotion is the head of meditation." Devotion is based upon one's guru, so to have the trust and devotion that one's guru is the Buddha in actuality is a most eminent method. In addition to this, being able to fulfill one's guru's wish to the letter and serving him however possible is the proper way to apply the oral instructions. In this regard, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche's sense of trust, loyalty and samaya with other masters was constant. He regarded his own teachers as the Buddha in person. Once he had connected with a teacher through receiving empowerment or oral instructions his trust was unwavering. If the opportunity came to carry out his guru's wish he was willing to give unstintingly of whatever wealth was in his possession, without any concern for personal hardship. If it came to it, I feel that he would even have been ready to sacrifice his own life without any hesitation or regret.
Once Rinpoche took responsibility for a legal dispute on behalf of the Gyalwang Karmapa and it dragged on for so many years that it felt like half a lifetime. Though Rinpoche was successful in the end, it was only to his teacher's benefit and not to Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche's.
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was someone who could put action behind his words. In both spiritual or secular affairs he wouldn't just say what needed to be done - he would go ahead and do it. Nor did he get involved in a lot of doubt and hesitation about the tasks at hand, worrying about whether something would be successful or not. He wouldn't get caught up in a web of concepts; instead he would make a decision free of doubt and never waver. That's the kind of man he was.
When speaking of the Buddhist scriptures, the Middle Way, Prajnaparamita and so forth, we have the 'exposition lineage' which focuses on explaining the syntax. But you often hear that being learned is not just a matter of knowing the words and their meaning; there is also the transmission of the real meaning. Tulku Urgyen was a pandita in the real sense of the word.
At one time I went to see Tulku Urgyen to ask him
to clarify a verse from the ninth chapter of Shantideva's Bodhicharya
Avatara :
When concreteness or inconcreteness
Does not remain before the intellect,
At that moment there is no other mental form,
And so there is utter peace without
conceptions.
I had studied it many times and asked many khenpos about it but still felt that none of them had given me an adequate explanation. I also asked Tulku Urgyen about certain points in the Prajnaparamita teachings in which the fact of emptiness is established, such as the statement that emptiness has no form, no sound and so forth. Only Tulku Urgyen was able to prove the reality of these statements in a reasonable way. His logic established emptiness in actuality, while the other scholars merely established emptiness in words.
At some point the reincarnation of Neten Chokling, Tulku Pema Wangyal, and a few of us went up to Nagi Gompa and spent a few days asking questions. During this time Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche clearly laid out the logic of establishing emptiness. Everyone was amazed at his clarity. Explaining how all sentient beings have buddha nature includes the attempt to prove that buddha nature is an intrinsic quality. This is especially done in the higher Middle Way school known as Shentong. In the biographies of many great lamas you find that they would bow down and circumambulate even old dogs to show their respect for buddha nature, while saying, "I take refuge in the buddha nature."
Tulku Urgyen had confidence and totally pure trust based on personal, direct understanding that buddha nature really is present in every sentient being, just like oil is present in each and every sesame seed, that any sentient being can realize the awakened state and has the basis for enlightenment. Therefore, Tulku Urgyen showed respect for every sentient being and didn't turn against anyone. He felt it not as mere platitude, but from the core of his heart.
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche also showed vast insight about the meaning of the Uttaratantra, Hevajra Tantra and the Profound Inner Meaning, which are favored in the Kagyü lineage. Within the Nyingma school he was incredibly well-versed in both the root text of the Lamrim Yeshe Nyingpo, as well as Jamgön Kongtrül's commentary on it. He knew most of the root text by heart, and in addition he had studied the commentary by Rinchen Namgyal and Khenpo Jokyab repeatedly. He was very knowledgeable in Vajrayana as well, having studied the Guhyagarbha Tantra, the Secret Essence of the Magical Net. Once in a discussion with Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche it became apparent that Tulku Urgyen also had a complete grasp of the Guhyagarbha Tantra.
During first Ngakso drubchen held at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling I had the chance to ask Tulku Urgyen questions about the tenfold meaning of mantra. He gave very clear explanations that made me appreciate his learnedness in Guhyagarbha Tantra. He also had an in-depth knowledge of many other tantras. He was especially insightful when defining the kayas and wisdoms, 'the chakras of syllable clouds,' the sounds and meaning of mantra. In short, he fit exactly the title 'pandita of definitive meaning'.
Concerning tantric rituals Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was extremely competent in the mandalas for vast activities, knowing their proportions and the accompanying rituals of sacred dance and exorcism. He was a skilled torma maker as well as an expert umdzey, chant master. He had a remarkable grasp of architecture and all other necessary fields of knowledge connected to Tibetan Buddhist practice. While some umdzeys merely sing ceremonies from beginning to end, Tulku Urgyen's singing carried a certain blessing that could move the listener to devotion. When he gave empowerment, even though the ritual may not have involved more than placing a vase on somebody's head, people would feel it was something really special. Even the way he looked at people would give people some understanding which was totally unlike an ordinary person.
When giving empowerment to a gathering of thousands of people, sitting on a throne made of brocade cushions, he never looked out of place. His air and bearing, impressive and dignified, never looked contrived. He was definitely extraordinary.
Rinpoche would always touch heads with whoever came into his presence, even the poorest Nepali worker, and ask, "How are you?" And you could see a happiness on that person's face which far surpasses that from receiving thousands of rupees. There is no real reason why someone should become so happy just by being asked how they are and touching foreheads, but people were so delighted. Many foreigners changed their whole perspective on life from just one meeting and felt extraordinarily blessed. Practitioners felt that they received blessings and even ordinary people still felt that something unusual had happened. Whoever came into his presence never felt tired, even after several hours had passed; unlike being in the presence of some politicians, where you can't wait to get away. Speaking for myself I never tired of being with Tulku Urgyen - I only felt happy.
In all his conversations there was never any mention of bias or prejudice. Whether you talked about religious or secular affairs he always spoke honestly and clearly, never acting hollow or pretentious or ever lying. He also had an acute memory, and spoke of events long past as if they just happened yesterday. Nobody wanted to leave his presence; people always wanted to sit longer and longer - they just wouldn't get out. I've heard that he scolded a few people, but never met anyone who actually got scolded. I never heard him say a harsh word. At the same time, anyone who lived near him or knew him for a long time felt timid and a sense of awe.
Unlike passing just any ordinary person on the street, his very presence was very powerful. For instance, if you had to return to his room after having just left it, he would still pay you the same respect and you would still feel awestruck. Nor was he someone you felt you could talk nonsense in front of - you had to choose your words with sincerity.
The qualities of someone who has completely severed the ties of selfishness and pursues only the welfare of others may not necessarily be visible. But it is hard to find a more unselfish person than Tulku Urgyen. When focusing on benefiting others, our own aims automatically become fulfilled without having to try deliberately. Building a monastery is very difficult, and sometimes seems an insurmountable task. But most people are not aware how many temples Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche actually built. Nor does anybody know exactly how many years he stayed in retreat, which practices he did, nor the number of recitations he completed. People can vaguely say that he did it once or twice in Tibet and once in India but other than that no one knows. I figure he spent approximately half of his entire life doing intensive practice in retreat.
There are no accurate records of which empowerments, transmissions, and teachings he received. But he probably received most of the Nyingma Kama and terma, all the Kagyü teachings, and the Lamdrey from the Sakya school as well as many other lineages. Every time you brought up a certain teaching and asked him about it, it seemed he held the transmission for it. He received an ocean