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This excerpt is taken from Natural
Great Perfection: Spontaneous Songs and Dzogchen Teachings by Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche and
Surya Das (copyright 1995, Snow
Lion Publications).
by Surya Das
The teachings and practice of Ati Dzogpa Chenpo, the Great Perfection, descend from two peerless eighth-century Indian Tantric masters, Guru Rinpoche and Vimalamitra, down through a distinguished lineage of learned and accomplished Tibetan masters as well as through visionary revelations. In the fourteenth century, the teachings merge in the omniscient Longchen Rabjam, the pre-eminent mind of the Ancient School (the Nyingmapas). This Dzogchen tradition is known as the Earlier Dzogchen Nyingthig (Heart-Essence).
Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa was the spiritual heir of Longchen Rabjam (Gyalwa Longchenpa). In the eighteenth century he received the complete teachings and transmissions of Dzogchen Nyingthig in visions from Manjusrimitra (Jampel Shenyen), Guru Rinpoche, Vimalamitra, and Gyalwa Longchenpa. In three clear visions of Longchenpa, Jigme Lingpa received the blessings of his incomparable guru inseparable from the primordial Buddha Kuntuzangpo (in Sanskrit, Samantabhadra) and attained enlightenment.
Gyalwa Longchenpa composed over two hundred works, some of which are still extant. Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa's illumined writings, such as Yonten Rinpoche Dzeu, contain the condensed essence of all of Gyalwa Longchenpa's inexhaustible instructions and commentaries, including Longchenpa's renowned Seven Treasures. In essence, these writings include all the innumerable Buddhadharmas. The termas (rediscovered Dharma treasures) Jigme Lingpa received on five (or seven) yellow scrolls as well as mystically, mind-to-mind, form the basis for the tradition known as Longchen Nyingthig, the Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse. This is also known as the Later Dzogchen Nyingthig tradition.
Details concerning Gyalwa Longchenpa, Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa, and the other forefathers of the Dzogchen lineage stemming from Samantabhadra and Garab Dorje are described in many other books and teachings. This chapter briefly describes the Longchen Nyingthig lineage as received and taught by Nyoshul Khenpo, Jamyang Dorje, descending from Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa in a continuous stream of blessings. This is the heart-essence of Omniscient Longchenpa and Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa, the extremely short and direct particular lineage of Longchen Nyingthig, the terma of Jigme Lingpa, the fresh breath of the dakinis, Dorje Sempa's vajra-shortcut.
First, a brief description of the general Dzogchen lineage (the long lineage or ringyu). This lineage descends from the primordial Buddha Kuntuzangpo, Dorje Sempa, Garab Dorje, Jampel Shenyen, Sri Simha, Jnanasutra, Vimalamitra, and Padma Sambhava, and includes numerous enlightened lamas who followed in their footsteps. All this is chronicled in the long lineage of kahma. For the names of these root lineage lamas, see the lineage prayer by Nyoshul Khenpo entitled Osel Sangwa Nyingthig-gi Gyupai Soldeb Mutig Trengwa (The Luminous Secret Heart-Essence Pearl Rosary Lineage Prayer).
According to the general lineage of Dzogchen Nyingthig, between the eighth century Indian pandita Vimalamitra and Longchenpa there were one dozen exalted root lineage holders, and between Longchenpa and Jigme Lingpa there were fourteen. This considers only the main lineage holders, not the other accomplished ones who accompanied them. This long lineage of Dzogpa Chenpo thus descends from the primordial Buddha Kuntuzangpo, from teacher to student, in an unbroken stream through today.
The teachings of the Nyingma (Old Translation) School are transmitted through two main systems, the kahma and terma lineages. Kahma refers to all the teachings and transmissions passed down through the centuries by the long lineage of teachers and disciples. Terma refers to the previously hidden, rediscovered teachings of the short and direct lineage (nyegyu) from Guru Rinpoche and other enlightened ones. These masters transmit teachings directly through their deathless wisdom-body in visionary experience to the terton who discovers and reveals these teachings. Such a short, fresh, direct, extremely powerful, and profound transmission is the terma of Jigme Lingpa's Longchen Nyingthig. Of the nine volumes of Jigme Lingpa's writings, two are gong-ter (wisdom-mind treasures).
Jigme Lingpa said that there are four purposes for the discovery of terma: so the Dharma won't disappear; so that the essential instructions don't become adulterated over long periods of time when mistakes and breaches of commitments and misunderstanding might take place; so that the blessings do not fade; and so that the direct lineage of transmission is maintained. The terma provide teachings by Guru Rinpoche Padma Sambhava that are appropriate to the various needs and natures of different people in different places and times.
One can obtain the ultimate fruit of the path by practicing one particular terma alone, for each is complete in itself; yet in order to preserve and uphold all the teachings of the Buddhadharma in its totality, one must also to receive the kahma lineage transmission. Therefore, the kahma and terma are generally practiced and passed on inseparably.
Dzogchen teachings are generally classified into three main categories: Sem De (Mind Class), Long De (Expanse Class), and Mengak-ki De (Pith-Instructions Class). This threefold classification was made by Jampel Shenyen, Garab Dorje's disciple.
Twenty-one major tantras form the basis of Sem De. Nine tantras (divided into groups of three: white, black, and multicolored) form the basis of Long De. The Mengak-ki De category is subdivided into four subsections. The fourth of these, Gyu Rangshung, is the text of root tantras and explanatory tantras in the most complete essentialized form. These are the pith-instructions proper.
The subsection of Gyu Rangshung in Mengak-ki De is itself divided into four groups known as Thigle Korshi. These four are Chikor (Outer Cycle), Nangkor (Inner Cycle), Sangkor (Secret Cycle), and Yangsang Lame (Supersecret and Highest). This fourfold classification was made by Sri Simha, Jampel Shenyen's disciple.
Nyingthig is short for Nying-ki Thigle, meaning Heart-Essence or Innermost Essence. It refers to the most quintessential pith-instructions (mengak) of Ati Dzogpa Chenpo. The term Nyingthig pertains solely to the Mengak-ki De (pith instructions) group of Dzogchen teachings. Moreover, it often refers in particular to the innermost or most profound and secret core of those pith-instructions, known as Yangsang Lame. Therefore, these teachings are also known as Sangwa Nyingthig (Secret Heart-Essence), Osel Nyingthig (Luminous Innermost Essence), or Mengak Nyingthig (Heart-Essence of the Pith-Instructions). Each of these terms refer to the unique Nyingthig teachings found primarily in the Yangsang Lame section of the Mengak-ki De.
The seventeen main tantras of Mengak-ki De form the basis for the Yangsang Lame. (According to the tradition of Vimalamitra, there are eighteen tantras; according to Guru Rinpoche's tradition, there are nineteen. These are mostly the same tantras, with very slight variations; both masters received this transmission from Sri Simha.) These tantras are found in the thirty-six-volume collection of Nyingma tantras called Nyingma Gyubum that were compiled by Terchen Ratna Lingpa, the greatest of the thirteen supreme Lingpas (tertons or treasure-masters).
It is difficult for ordinary beings to understand the tantras without the explanations of a qualified teacher. Gyalwa Longchenpa's Seven Treasures (Dzodun) was written in order to elucidate the extraordinarily profound meaning of the seventeen main tantras of Dzogpa Chenpo, as well as the teachings of all nine yanas (vehicles). For the purpose of the actual practice of Dzogchen according to these tantras, Longchenpa gathered his own termas as well as those of Chetsun Senge Wangchuk (who was later reborn as Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo) and Pema Ladrey Tsel (Longchenpa's previous incarnation) in the form of the thirteen volume collection known as the Nyingthig Yabshi. This Yabshi is the practice aspect of Longchenpa's writings and the basis of the Old Nyingthig. In it he synthesized the Bima Nyingthig of Vimalamitra and the Khandro Nyingthig of Guru Rinpoche and explained all the practical details in the light of his own realization.
The condensed essence of all the tantric teachings elucidated in the Seven Treasures of Longchenpa is contained in Jigme Lingpa's poetic Yonten Dzo, The Treasury of Enlightened Qualities. The practices included in the Nyingthig Yabshi are condensed in a form that is easy to apply in Jigme Lingpa's four-volume Nyingthig Tsapod, which includes the renowned Triyig Yeshe Lama. This core teaching of the Tsapod is the basis of the extraordinary Dzogchen togal practice of the Longchen Nyingthig.
These rare and extraordinarily profound teachings precisely explain various essential methods for directly actualizing the innermost teachings of Ati Dzogpa Chenpo, the Great Perfection, the Peak Vehicle, which is the direct method for swiftly realizing the ultimate nature of the mind and attaining Buddhahood in the Rainbow Light Body. In modern times the Longchen Nyingthig is the main practice at the center of all these Dzogchen teachings and pith-instructions.
Known as an omniscient vidyadhara (Awareness Holder), Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa (1729-1798) spent two years doing recitations and then received Dzogchen teachings from Lama Thugchog Tsel on Drolthig Gongpa Rangdrol. Then Jigme Lingpa went to a cave near Samye Chimpu for many years, where he prayed constantly to Gyalwa Longchenpa.
During his second three-year retreat, Jigme Lingpa experienced three radiant visions of Longchenpa. In the first he was blessed by Longchenpa's Wisdom Body, in the second by his Wisdom Speech, and in the third by his Wisdom Mind. His mind and Longchenpa's mixed inseparably, and in one instant he understood all of the Sutras and Tantras completely and infallibly. The details of this have been well-described elsewhere, so we won't say more about Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa here. There is a whole volume written about him. His practice and teachings remain our principle inspiration in the Nyingthig tradition today.
In order to swiftly attain realization, one needs the blessing of the guru. This is called Chinlab Kyi Gyud, the Lineage of Blessings. Jigme Lingpa's mystical mind-transmission from the Buddha Longchenpa, who had lived three centuries before, is an example of such waves of inspiration. After these experiences, Jigme Lingpa's writings were on a par with Longchenpa's, although Jigme Lingpa himself had hardly studied texts and commentaries.
We can also look to the story of Rabjam Orgyen Chodrak, who was the guru of Jigme Lingpa's Nyingthig guru, Sri Natha (Rabjam Orgyen Palgon or Lama Palgon). Unfortunately there is no extant namthar of either of these two lineage masters.
Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa had four main enlightened disciples, as prophesied -- the so-called Four Jigmes (fearless ones). They were Jigme Gyalwai Nyugu, Jigme Thrinley Odzer (the first Dodrup Chen), Jigme Ngotsel Tenzin, and Jigme Kundrol Namgyal. The lineages of the latter pair did not flourish widely; they are now indistinguishable from the two main streams of Longchen Nyingthig, as represented today by the direct lineal descendants of Gyalwai Nyugu and Dodrup Chen I.
Gyalwai Nyugu's renowned disciple Dza Patrul Rinpoche (1808-1887) had four main disciples, each of whom became Chodak (Dharma-heir) of one of his specialties -- Prajna Paramita, Vinaya and Abhidharma, Logic and Debate, and Dzogpa Chenpo. The outstanding disciple of Patrul Rinpoche named Nyoshul Lungtok Lama, Tenpai Nyima, was the Dzogchen Chödak. It is his lineage teachings that became the tradition of Nyingthig practice at Kathok Monastery. It is the Kathok tradition that Nyoshul Khenpo follows. It is said that one hundred thousand Kathok yogis have attained the Rainbow Light Body of perfect enlightenment through practicing this particular path.
Nyoshul Monastery in Derge, Eastern Tibet, was built by Nyoshul Lungtok's Kathok followers. Khenpo Ngawang Palzang, Nyoshul Lungtok's Dharma-successor, became the first abbot there. This highly realized Khenpo, Ngawang Palzang, raised and educated Nyoshul Lungtok's tulku, Shedrup Tenpai Nyima, who later succeeded him as head of Nyoshul Gompa. Although Nyoshul Khenpo Jamyang Dorje studied with Khenpo Ngawang Palzang, Shedrup Tenpai Nyima was Nyoshul Khenpo's root guru.
Nyoshul Lungtok, Patrul Rinpoche's disciple, had five outstanding disciples -- two were Lingpas (tertons), and three were accomplished Dzogchen Khenpos. Supreme among them was the aforementioned Khenpo Ngawang Palzang, also known as Khenpo Ngakga. He was an emanation of both Longchenpa and Vimalamitra. His collected works are in ten volumes, and his tulku is presently alive in Tibet.
Khenpo Ngakga was the root guru of Jatral Rinpoche, Sangyay Dorje. Ngakga was an illustrious disciple of Azom Drukpa, one of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo's realized disciples, as well as the Dharma successor of Nyoshul Lungtok Tenpai Nyima. Khyentse Wangpo himself had received Longchen Nyingthig transmission from Jigme Gyalwai Nyugu as well as from disciples of the Dodrup Chen line, so in these outstanding masters both lines merged.
Lerab Lingpa was the first of the five great disciples to come to Nyoshul Lungtok; he attended him for years. One of the leading Kathok Khenpos of the time was so impressed by Lerab Lingpa's great certainty concerning the view, meditation, and action of Dzogpa Chenpo, which he had achieved without exhaustive intellectual studies, that he too became a devoted disciple of Nyoshul Lungtok Lama after Lerab Lingpa told him that he had attained his realization through the unique Mengak Nyengyud Chenmo (Extraordinary Oral Pith-Instructions) of Nyoshul Lungtok and Patrul Rinpoche. When Lerab Lingpa became the Dzogchen teacher of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, and Jatral Rinpoche taught the Reting Regent who succeeded him, this particular lineage became further renowned.
This particular lineage of Longchen Nyingthig is as follows:
Nyoshul Lungtok Tenpai Nyima considered the nyongtri (experiential instructions) teachings of Nyingthig so precious that he made erudite lamas of great stature -- including Jamyang Loter Wangpo, Khenpo Tenphel, and other great khenpos -- wait a long time and promise to truly practice step-by-step before he imparted to them the Triyig Yeshe Lama of Jigme Lingpa according to the nyongtri way, offering personal instructions and guidance based on the spiritual experience of each individual practitioner. Later Loter Wangpo -- one of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche's main gurus, who transmitted those teachings to Khyentse Chokyi Lodro and Dilgo Khyentse -- noted in the margins of a Triyig Yeshe Lama text (which Khenpo Rinpoche has seen) his experiences progressing through Rigpa'i Tsebeb, the third togal vision.
Jigme Gyalwai Nyugu was the illustrious disciple of Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa. He became the root guru of Dza Patrul Rinpoche. He used to receive teachings from Jigme Lingpa, go into retreat and practice for months in solitary places, then return to his enlightened teacher for further instructions.
Once Jigme Gyalwai Nyugu was practicing Dzogchen meditation in a cave in Tsenrong for two or three years. Despite severe physical hardships, he practiced continuously with joyous diligence. One day, after his afternoon meditation session, he left his cave and gazed at the sky, which was brilliant blue with one immense white cloud. He had the feeling that his lama, Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa, and all the gurus of the lineage were in that cloud. Praying to them with fervent devotion, he lost consciousness.
At the moment when he regained his senses, his mind and the guru's mingled and he recognized the rigpai nelug, the natural original state of primordial awareness. This was due to his unhesitating devoted prayer, the blessings of the lineage, and the intensive practice he had been engaged in. Thus he realized the absolute nature of mind and all things. Those three spiritual factors are needed to gain realization: devotion, blessings, and awareness practice. One will not achieve it by mere study and analysis.
At that very moment Gyalwai Nyugu's mind was mixed with the Mind of the guru, the Dharmakaya, and he realized the Chonyi Kyi Gong, the absolute Dharmadhatu realization or Buddha-mind. That was the nyamshak, the meditation. As the je thob (post-meditation), the power of his wisdom developed immensely, and he spontaneously understood all the teachings of the Buddhadharma without being taught.
When Gyalwai Nyugu reached realization, he decided to descend from the mountain cave where he had been meditating in order to visit his lama. He had been staying there in the most austere fashion, as an unknown yogi with no patron or assistants, with no supplies or contact with anyone, as just an ordinary mountain hermit unknown to anyone. Later, Jigme Lingpa named him Jigme Gyalwai Nyugu, the Fearless Son of the Jinas (Conquerors, meaning Buddhas), in recognition of his accomplishment; but at this time, he was completely unknown and alone. He had decided to stay in retreat, meditating on that mountain, until he either reached awakening or died in the attempt. He attained realization, thus fulfilling his vow.
When he decided to descend from the mountain he was in terrible physical condition. Half-way down, he collapsed. He thought, "I'm accomplished, but now I can't benefit beings. I'm just going to die here alone in this wilderness, but that's all right." Then he prayed wholeheartedly to Jigme Lingpa to be able to fulfill the aims and aspirations of others and oneself.
Eventually two fierce savages with feathers in their hair appeared carrying some maize and meat. They gave him food, and after a few days he regained his strength. Then he continued on until reaching some villages where he could find shelter. When he finally reached Jigme Lingpa, the lama told him that it had been the two Dharma-protectors of that place (Tsari) who were emanations of Shingkyong and his consort, part of the retinue of the Gonpo Mahakala, who had appeared in the guise of two wild men to protect him and give him food. Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa told Gyalwai Nyugu he had reached the Chonyi Zaysar level of trekchod (not the same as Chonyi Zaysar of togal), the ultimate level of trekchod, realizing the actual nature of primordial awareness. After that Jigme Lingpa bestowed upon him the name of Jigme Gyalwai Nyugu, in accordance with the prediction Jigme Lingpa had received that he would have four great disciples named Jigme.
Jigme Gyalwai Nyugu was originally from Kham. He had left his native place years before and spent many years practicing and receiving teachings in the region around Lhasa and Tsari. After Gyalwai Nyugu's great awakening, Jigme Lingpa directed him to go back to Kham and meditate on a mountain called Tramolung, a mountain in the shape of the Copper Colored Mountain of Zangdok Palri, adding that he would benefit multitudes. In accordance with his master's instructions, Gyalwai Nyugu went to Tramolung.
He had left Kham so long ago that no one recognized him or knew of him. He was alone, just carrying his bag on his shoulder, when he arrived at that mountain in the north of Derge. It was totally uninhabited, with neither people nor animals, with sparse vegetation. The nomads took herds there in the summer, but they lived further north at lower altitudes the rest of the year.
The nomads were leaving when he arrived. He had no supplies or shelter, but he followed his guru's order and stayed in a cave he happened to discover. Living conditions were extremely harsh, but he decided he would rather die there than fail to fulfill his omniscient guru's wishes. And so he subsisted, meditating most of the time and foraging for whatever grass and shrubs might be found palatable.
After several months, a group of travelers on horseback passed by. One of them, a man dressed in white and riding a white horse, called to Gyalwai Nyugu and said, "What are you doing there? You are supposed to follow your guru's prophecy by dwelling up there!" And he pointed to a cold, desolate place even higher up the windswept mountainside, where there was no shelter or wildlife.
Gyalwai Nyugu knew it was a Guardian admonishing him, and he immediately moved to that spot. There he remained for twenty one years, while his fame spread and disciples gathered. Later Patrul Rinpoche scolded disciples, saying that Jigme Gyalwai Nyugu had stayed for twenty one years while they could not even meditate there for a few years. Khenpo Rinpoche says he himself never visited that holy place, since it was far from where he was, but that Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche has visited it; it was totally uninhabited. Khenpo Rinpoche remarks that neither Gyalwai Nyugu, Patrul Rinpoche, nor Nyoshul Lungtok ever built monasteries or accumulated anything, but simply let things come and go in the most carefree way, relying on nothing other than the inmost spirit of Dharma.
In the beginning of Gyalwai Nyugu's stay there, before he became known, he almost died from the severe hardships he endured. When he thought he was about to die, he recalled that once before the Protectors had appeared to save him, so again he prayed fervently to his guru Jigme Lingpa.
Suddenly a young girl appeared in that completely barren land, carrying a pot of homemade yogurt. She asked him what he was doing there. He said he was meditating. She said, "How can you meditate, you have no food?"
Gyalwai Nyugu had doubts about this occurrence and did not want to accept the food-offering. He thought it might be a trick by demons trying to deceive and obstruct him. Again he prayed intensely to Jigme Lingpa. The sky was completely clear and blue, but in a white cloud Jigme Lingpa suddenly appeared and said, "If the roots of the samaya (tantric commitments) of the yogi are not degenerated, the gods and spirits will always provide sustenance." Then he disappeared.
Thus Gyalwai Nyugu's doubts were cleared. He recognized the girl as the Protector Dorje Yudronma. Accepting the curd, he regained his strength and could meditate for many more months.
Eventually, the nomads returned with their herd. One of them saw Jigme Gyalwai Nyugu's head from behind in that empty, barren landscape. He wondered if it was a man or a demon and was afraid to approach. The nomad went to the nearest village and related what he had seen. He was asked if that head had remained or disappeared.
When he said it had remained, his friends told him that it must be a man there. The nomad returned, and shouted from a distance, "Who are you? What are you doing?" Gyalwai Nyugu replied, "Meditating a little." Thus he became known as a solitary yogi living in that remote place.
When the nomads returned from the village they offered food to Gyalwai Nyugu, along with a thick blanket woven of yak's wool with which he made a crude shelter. He had been living in a depression or hole in the ground, but now he had erected a small shelter, with some sticks holding up the blanket. When they asked him why he was there, he said that his lama told him that he should meditate there and would thus benefit many beings -- so that's what he was doing. Gradually his renown spread, as he remained in prayer and meditation for decades. Hundreds of yogis in tents and lean-tos gathered around him on that mountain during his lifetime.
Gyalwai Nyugu became known as a lama with marvelous inner realization and spiritual qualities. Of his thousands of disciples, the main ones were Dza Patrul Rinpoche and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, the famed First Khyentse. His lineage -- the practicing lineage of the pith-instructions of Dzogpa Chenpo -- spread widely. Through those two great disciples and their followers, it is still alive today. In that way he benefited innumerable beings in this world. It is impossible to assess his inconceivable Buddha Activity in other realms of existence.
When those practitioners meditated on Dzogchen, their only aim and interest was to realize the absolute nature of the mind and reach perfect enlightenment. They had no other aims, no other work to do. They did not have many thoughts, ideas, and projects. Jigme Gyalwai Nyugu thought to himself, "I shall realize the nature of the mind. Even if I die, I shall do this and nothing else." He was not like worldly people who have many things to do. For practitioners like Gyalwai Nyugu it is very simple. They just think, "I shall stay here and practice until realization."
From a worldly point of view, it seems strange and difficult to understand -- someone just sitting and meditating alone on a windswept mountain, with no food, just eating grass. It seems very strange. Milarepa, for instance, meditated for eight years in a cave. His body became ravaged, blue-green, and emaciated, though he had come from a good family. So Tibetans used to say, "Work well or you will end up like Milarepa." But for Milarepa it was the only thing he found meaningful and was interested in. Once Milarepa met some attractive young girls on the road who were frightened by his terrible appearance. They made a wish never to be reborn in such a state. Milarepa said, "Even if you want to, you cannot be reborn like this."
So this is the story of Jigme Gyalwai Nyugu and how he attained realization. Of course there are many other stories. Patrul Rinpoche praised his master in the opening verse of his famous collection of his teacher's oral Dzogchen pith-instructions, Tsiksum Nedek (Three Incisive Pointers):
View is like the Infinite Vast Expanse, Longchen Rabjam;
Meditation is like Lightrays of Wisdom and Love, Khyentse Ozer (Jigme Lingpa);
Buddha Activity is like the Bodhisattvas;
Jigme Gyalwai Nyugu, to you I pray.
Dza Patrul was the main disciple of Jigme Gyalwai Nyugu. He was the third incarnation of a Chenrezig siddha named Palgyi Samten Rinpoche. The second incarnation had died in his twenties. The story is that during a wang (empowerment) he had touched with his rosary a girl who was receiving the wangs, an act which -- for a Tibetan monk -- was considered as bad as touching a corpse. His teacher scolded him, saying that everyone saw it happen and now his reputation was ruined. The tulku answered that it was karma and that he could not help but do it.
Soon after the incident, he died. That girl later had a baby boy, who was that tulku's incarnation -- Dza Patrul Rinpoche. He was compassionate Chenrezig in human form. Moreover, it is said that he had been the eighth century Indian pandita Shantideva, author of the Bodhicharyavatara, in a former life.
Patrul received his name from the first Dodrup Chen Rinpoche, Jigme Trinley Odzer (Jigme Lingpa's disciple), who recognized him as Palgyi Trulku (abbreviated as Pal-trul). He studied at Dzogchen Monastery and became very learned.
Patrul Rinpoche's root guru for Dzogpa Chenpo teachings and transmission was Jigme Gyalwai Nyugu. From him he received all the Nyingthig teachings, transmissions, and whispered pith-instructions. He also received innumerable Dzogchen teachings from many lamas, including the First Dodrup Chen Rinpoche, Shenphen Thaye, and others. He received the nyongtri (experiential guidance) of Dzogchen Longchen Nyingthig from Jigme Gyalwai Nyugu. (This is similar to Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, who received countless Dzogchen teachings and others from many lamas and received the main Dzogchen transmission from Shechen Gyaltsab Rinpoche. Khyentse Rinpoche received this particular Longchen Nyingthig nyongtri from Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro, as did the present Dodrup Chen IV.)
After receiving his teacher's personal guidance, Patrul Rinpoche went to the mountains to meditate, then returned now and again for further instructions. Sometimes he'd do Rushen (a unique foundational practice in Dzogchen) for months; sometimes he would simply watch the nature of the mind. There are many stories about Patrul Rinpoche, who became extremely famous during his own lifetime yet remained the most humble of masters.
Patrul Rinpoche had several kings as his disciples, although he himself accumulated nothing, always lived in solitary places, and traveled anonymously. Even in places where he was expected to teach, where people would come from all over to hear him, he would often travel to those places among ordinary people on foot, unnoticed by anyone. On such an occasion, he met a woman while traveling. She asked him to carry her small son, and after some weeks together she said to him, "You are a nice man. We get along well. I feel good with you. A widow like me needs a husband; shouldn't we be married?" He declined graciously. She did not even know he was a learned and perfectly accomplished lama. Later, much to her amazement, she found him sitting on the grand lama's teaching throne in a nearby monastery, surrounded by a great multitude.
Patrul Rinpoche once was unceremoniously sent away by the kitchen attendants when he came to meet his colleague, the famous Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. When Khyentse Wangpo heard what had happened, he sent his attendants to search for Patrul, to no avail. Khyentse Wangpo himself also had such experiences when he had traveled alone on foot everywhere to study with the great teachers of his time. Once he slept outside, near the courtyard gate of a monastery he was visiting on pilgrimage; the abbot of that monastery later came with tears streaming to Khyentse Wangpo, begging his forgiveness.
Once Dza Patrul was in Laotang, in a big charnel ground inhabited by many spirits and gods. The spirits tried to trick him. There was incredible thunder and lightning, voices in the air, and magical illusions. Patrul Rinpoche overcame all that by praying to his root guru and realizing the ultimate nature of things as they are. Through that realization vast knowledge of all the scriptures naturally unfolded in his heart. Although he had studied widely before, his knowledge and understanding became infinitely greater. Prayer and devotion are very important. The mahasiddha Do Khyentse Rinpoche Yeshe Dorje told Patrul Rinpoche that just as Sakyamuni Buddha had subdued the Four Demons in one instant under the Bodhi Tree, so had he, Patrul.
Patrul Rinpoche's Collected Works number many volumes, although many of his writings were never included. Occasional poems he spontaneously wrote or sang were often given to friends and followers, then disappeared like leaves in the wind. He is the author of the popular Kunzang Lama Shelung as well as many other profound writings.
Nyoshul Lungtok Tenpai Nyima was the foremost disciple of Patrul Rinpoche. For twenty five years he received nyongtri from his guru, often going to the mountains and forests to meditate after receiving personal instructions. Patrul Rinpoche always dwelt in the wilderness, with only a few close disciples; Nyoshul Lungtok was with him most of the time.
Once they were meditating together in the mountains. Patrul Rinpoche asked his disciple if he had realized the nature of mind. Nyoshul Lungtok said that he had not perceived it clearly. They continued practicing. One evening they made a fire and cooked some food. Again the master asked the disciple if he had realized the nature of his mind, and again the disciple said no.
Nyoshul Lungtok had been having a recurring dream in which he had seen a mountainous ball of black thread that Patrul Rinpoche would unravel by pulling on the end, revealing in the middle a golden statue of Dorje Sempa. Patrul Rinpoche said, referring to that dream, "Let's do that now."
It was evening. They were practicing namkhai naljyor -- sky-space yoga -- lying on their backs, gazing up into the dark, starry firmament. From way down in the valley they could hear the distant dogs barking at Dzogchen Monastery. Patrul Rinpoche asked him, "Do you hear the barking of the dogs?" The disciple said yes. Patrul Rinpoche asked, "Do you see the stars in the sky?" Nyoshul Lungtok said yes, he could.
Nyoshul Lungtok reflected to himself, "Yes, I can hear the dogs; it is ear-consciousness. Yes, I can see the stars; it is eye consciousness. It is all Awareness!" In that very moment he realized that all is contained within, not outside. Rigpa, primordial Buddha Mind, is within. Everything is the display of Rigpa, intrinsic enlightened awareness.
In that instant the knot of dualistic clinging fell apart, completely destroyed, and he realized the nature of his mind. All doubts were cut from within, and he perceived naked awareness, emptiness as-it-is. This is due to the power of the meditation practice he did -- for he had practiced very hard -- combined with the blessing of guru, in whom he had total faith and confidence.
The questions Patrul Rinpoche asked at that time were merely the support for his transmission of spiritual blessings. To ask if the disciple saw and heard was not an intellectual examination, an explanation of Dharma, or anything like that. It was an intimate, inconceivably immediate way to pour blessings from the teacher into the disciple. In this way, Nyoshul Lungtok attained great realization.
Patrul Rinpoche told Nyoshul Lungtok not to teach Dzogchen until he was in his fifties. Then he was to teach it to whomever he wished. Dza Patrul Rinpoche also predicted that Nyoshul Lungtok would later meet an incarnation of Vimalamitra, who would become the holder of the lineage. Nyoshul Lungtok therefore meditated until he was in his fifties, then began teaching.
Patrul Rinpoche said that Vimalamitra would emanate once every hundred years, and that he, Patrul, would not be meeting him, but that Nyoshul Lungtok would. This was in reference to Ngawang Palzang, (Khenpo Ngakga). Patrul Rinpoche instructed Nyoshul Lungtok to give the complete Nyongtri Lineage to him. Eventually Nyoshul Lungtok had five great disciples, two Lingpas (tertons) and three great Khenpos, among whom Khenpo Ngawang Palzang was supreme.
Thus Patrul Rinpoche transmitted the Nyongtri (experience-teaching) Lineage of Dzogchen Nyingthig to Lungtok Tenpai Nyima. Patrul Rinpoche transmitted his particular Shetri (theoretical-teaching) Lineage to Orgyen Tenzin Norbu. Actually Dza Patrul had four great disciples and Dharma-heirs (chodak), each of whom upheld one of his specialties, as described before. Nyoshul Lungtok held the lineage of Dzogchen Mengak Nyongtri, the lineage received by Nyoshul Khenpo. When Patrul Rinpoche made Nyoshul Lungtok his Dzogchen Chodak, he presented his disciple with his own copy of Longchenpa's Dzodun (The Seven Treasures). This collection, once used by Patrul Rinpoche and Nyoshul Lungtok Lama, remained as an object of reverence at Nyoshul Monastery until recently, where Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche himself had a chance to see and venerate it.
Patrul Rinpoche passed the Shetri (Explanatory Teaching) Lineage to Orgyen Tenzin Norbu, who was also known as Khenpo Tenga. This teacher then transmitted it to Khenpo Shenga and Khenpo Yonten Gyamtso (Yon-ga), two great Khenpos of Kathok Monastery who were disciples of Orgyen Tenzin Norbu and met Patrul Rinpoche himself. Khenpo Yonga is the author of the excellent commentary on Jigme Lingpa's Yonten Dzod. Khenpo Shenga also wrote an authoritative commentary on it. In the house of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche's family was a statue of the protector Tseringma, which was filled and consecrated by Orgyen Tenzin Norbu. Khenpo Yonga was the younger cousin of Orgyen Tenzin Norbu (Khenpo Tenga), and wrote a renowned commentary on Shantideva's Bodhicharyavatara. All these learned Khenpos were great practitioners as well as scholars and active teachers.
Khenchen Ngawang Palzang was the greatest disciple and chodak of Nyoshul Lungtok Tenpai Nyima. Ngawang Palzang was also called Ngala or Ngakga; he had a childhood nickname, Ngalu. When he was a small boy, he wore skins and yak-skin boots. One day his mother took him to Nyoshul Lungtok, who was in retreat at the time, to receive blessings. That very day, Nyoshul Lungtok told his servant that if someone came to see him they should be shown in, although it was customary to turn visitors away during that time. When mother and son came to see the lama and receive blessings, Nyoshul Lungtok received them. He named the boy Ngawang Palzang and gave him a cup of consecrated raisins and a red protection cord for long-life. He also told the mother to take very good care of the child, protect him from unclean places, and bring him back later for teachings.
When Ngawang Palzang was eight, his mother brought him again to meet Nyoshul Lungtok and receive blessings. When he was ten he became the servant and disciple of that great lama, accompanying him everywhere, following behind him on circumambulations, listening to whatever teachings he gave wherever he went, sitting with him in private, serving him tea and food, and practicing ngondro (preliminary practices) and recitations in his spare time.
One day when he was about thirteen, he was doing mandala practice as part of the ngondro. Nyoshul Lungtok gave him a thangka (a traditional Tibetan painting) of Longchenpa and some rilbu pills (relics that are in small statues), along with a hair of Jigme Lingpa. He was instructed to pray to Longchenpa with all these supports; he would certainly get great blessings.
One day during his mandala practice he had a vision: There was a white mountain in the shape of a conch, on top of which was a flat, beautiful meadow full of flowers. And he had a vision of Gyalwa Longchenpa holding a crystal in the shape of a heart radiating five-colored light. Then Longchenpa gave him the rigpai-tsel wang, the Fourth Initiation, the introduction to the absolute nature of the innate wisdom-mind, Rigpa.
At that moment he understood the nature of mind; yet he still considered that Longchenpa was different from him, that they were two. He told his lama, Lungtok Tenpai Nyima, about this vision, and told him what inner state of awakened awareness he had discovered. The lama said, "That could either be Dharmakaya or Alaya (Kun-shi, the ground of all consciousness); we can check that subtle distinction later."
Lungtok told Ngawang Palzang to meditate on Bodhicitta, which he did for a long time. Subsequently his teacher trained him through all the sections of Dzogchen, from the preliminary practices of ngondro through trekchod and togal.
In that first vision, he recognized the fundamental nature of his mind. Then, while practicing Bodhicitta, he experienced the absolute nature of reality. Later he continued through all the practices, step by step, up through togal. His initial realization was somewhat incomplete. He still had doubts and needed clarification, so he went through all those sections of practice. That is how nyongtri works, in which the deep meaning is increasingly plumbed and clarified according to the individual experience of each practitioner.
Only in the rarest cases do realization and perfect enlightenment occur simultaneously. Such practitioners, like Garab Dorje, are called chik-charpa in Tibetan, meaning all-at-once or sudden awakeners. Generally, one has an experience of awakening, spiritual realization, and then develops towards complete Buddhahood.
The main disciple of Khenpo Ngawang Palzang was Khenpo Rinpoche's root guru, Shedrup Tenpai Nyima. He was the tulku of Nyoshul Lungtok and took birth as the son of Terton Yeshe Tenzin, one of Nyoshul Lungtok's disciples. Once Nyoshul Lungtok had given Yeshe Tenzin a prophecy, saying that everything was always changing and that one day he, Nyoshul Lungtok, would get blessings from him, his disciple.
At the time, Yeshe Tenzin had not realized what his teacher meant. But when he had a son some time after his teacher's passing away and also experienced a lucid dream about Nyoshul Lungtok, he remembered his guru's prophecy and concluded that his son might be his emanation. Therefore, he brought the child to Khenpo Ngawang Palzang and related to him the prophecy as well as his dream. Khenpo Ngakga confirmed it, saying that previously he'd had a dream of four-armed Chenrezig and that Nyoshul Lungtok was an emanation of Chenrezig. Thus the tulku was recognized.
Shedrup Tenpai Nyima grew up with his father and received teachings from him. When he was nine, his venerable father, Terton Yeshe Tenzin, passed away. On the third day following the death the boy had a vision that his father, dressed in white (like a yogi) with his hair tied up, introduced him to the nature of his mind. At that moment he awoke, recognizing the true nature of the mind.
Later Shedrup Tenpai Nyima studied with Khenpo Ngawang Palzang and received all the teachings, from ngondro through trekchod and togal, according to the nyongtri tradition, and developed all the spiritual experiences, visions, and so on. When he clearly realized the nature of the mind, Shedrup Tenpai Nyima told Khenpo Ngawang Palzang about the experience he had had shortly after his father's passing, and discussed the state of mind he had experienced. Khenpo Ngawang Palzang said that this had indeed been the authentic absolute nature, but that he still had to go through all the practices to stabilize his realization and make it unshakable.
Shedrup Tenpai Nyima saw his guru, Khenchen Ngawang Palzang, and Kunkhyen Longchenpa as completely inseparable; three times he experienced visions of their inseparability. He also had visions of Jigme Gyalwai Nyugu, Patrul Rinpoche, Terdak Lingpa, and others. These events are not recounted in his namthar (biography), but were told by him to Khenpo Rinpoche personally.
Therefore, this Nyongtri Lineage descending directly from Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa is as follows:
Shedrup Tenpai Nyima transmitted this lineage to Nyoshul Khenpo, Jamyang Dorje. Nyoshul Khenpo was born in Derge, East Tibet. He tended animals as a youngster, entered a Sakyapa monastery at an early age (his mother's family was Sakyapa), and later became a disciple of Shedrup Tenpai Nyima at Nyoshul Monastery (part of the Kathok monastery system), a gompa in Derge with a few hundred monks and a monastic college.
It is known that he served as his guru's shabshu (personal attendant) for three years when still a boy, undergoing many hardships. A poor novice, he repeatedly had to drive off packs of large Tibetan mastiffs on his alms-collecting rounds. He still has scars on his legs to prove it. He was so poor that he lacked even a grain of rice to offer during all of his mandala offerings, while doing ngondro at the age of twelve. Ultimately, through sheer determination, he excelled in his studies and became exceedingly erudite, completing the Khenpo training at the monastic college at Nyoshul Monastery under the guidance of Shedrup Tenpai Nyima while also undergoing extensive Dzogchen training and numerous retreats, including one year alone practicing tsalung yoga in a cave.
Khen Rinpoche was a long-time disciple of H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, and Kangyur Rinpoche, and a close vajra brother of Jatral Rinpoche Sangye Dorje. He was also a Rimé (nonsectarian) teacher. Nyoshul Khenpo had twenty-five spiritual masters. He received the Vinaya vows from the Nyingma abbot Thubten Gomchok Lekden, who had received them from the great Khenpo of Nyoshul, Ngawang Palzang. Khenpo Rinpoche wrote a book chronicling the lives of the main lineage holders in this line, from Lord Buddha and his disciples until present times.
Khenpo Rinpoche told a story about his Mahamudra guru, Rigdzin Jampel Dorje, who did a seven-year Tara retreat, during which he completed one hundred thousand recitations of the Twenty One Praises of Tara for each shloka of that long and beautiful hymn -- twenty one hundred thousand recitations in all. That great lama saw all of Tara's Buddha-fields and mandalas displayed. When he passed away he gave one great exhalation, saying he was going to Tara's Buddha-field, then he was gone, sitting upright in thugdam (clear light meditation) for one week after his last breath.
Another one of Khenpo's Mahamudra teachers, Lama Tashi Tsering, was originally in a Sakya Gompa. Later he left everything behind to live like Gyalwai Nyugu. He practice Dzogchen Nyingthig on a remote mountain in Eastern Derge and became a great master of the four visions of togal. When his body was cremated, many bone relics remained in the ashes in forms of Dorje Sempa, Hevajra, Tara, and other deities, as well as being inscribed with mantric seed syllables.
Khenpo Rinpoche's Sakyapa teacher was Khenchen Kunga Gyaltsen. Khenpo received the Lam Dray (Path and Fruit) teachings and related transmissions from that lama, who was also a Dzogchenpa. The story goes that Kunga Gyaltsen received the rigpaitsel wang (empowerment) from a crazy character who spent all his days carrying building stones from a distant river to a wall around a prayerwheel house and whom everyone considered mad. Later it became apparent that rushen was his main practice, and he'd been doing it constantly for twenty years. This explained his uninhibited, unconventional behavior.
Kunga Gyaltsen saw this seeming lunatic and instinctively felt that he was someone special, so he asked that crazy yogi to check his meditation. When the lama Kunga Gyaltsen sat in meditation, the mad yogi hit him on the back with one of the building stones, directly introducing him to the nature of intrinsic awareness. Then the eccentric rushenpa ran away. Kunga Gyaltsen, a great khenpo with many teachers and many disciples, regarded him as one of his principle root lamas due to this single encounter, a great awakening, after which he never saw him again.
Several of Khenpo Rinpoche's root lamas may still be alive in Tibet. One of them is a great khenpo from Golok named Khenpo Munsel, who is now almost one hundred years old. He spent twenty years in a Chinese prison, where he secretly taught Dzogchen to hundreds of inmates who practiced and accomplished it without taking support of studies and outer rituals during a period when the penalty for religious observance was death. In that prison, Khenpo Munsel taught Longchenpa's Choying Dzo and Jigme Lingpa's Yeshe Lama from memory.
Nyoshul Khenpo was renowned for his mastery of Longchenpa's writings and for his teachings regarding them. On many occasions he was requested to take a position as khenpo at the monasteries and colleges of H.H. Gyalwa Karmapa, H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche, Situ Rinpoche, Palyul Rinpoche, Pema Norbu and others. He was the author of The History of the Dzogchen Nyingthig, Life Stories of the Vidyadhara Lineage as well as other works and songs. He has many disciples in Bhutan, Nepal, India, and Europe.
Both Khenpo Ngawang Palzang and Shedrup Tenpai Nyima understood the nature of their mind during their practice of ngondro, but still they went through all the practices up through trekchod and togal. In this particular lineage all those masters obtained realization suddenly, at once. This type of person is called chik-charpa. Jigme Gyalwai Nyugu also transmitted this Nyongtri to Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, the first Khyentse, who realized the intrinsic nature while practicing ngondro. It is said that his great disciple Azom Drukpa did likewise, as did Azom Drukpa's disciple Jatral Choying Rangdrol, who gave this lineage to the present Dodrup Rinpoche, the fourth Dodrup Chen. H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche received the Dzogchen Nyongtri lineage from Phokang Tulku Gyurmed Ngedon Wangpo, his guru, who had been the foremost disciple of Dudjom Lingpa, His Holiness' previous incarnation. Phokang Tulku received it from Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo; he also knew Patrul Rinpoche and Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye.
H.H. Dilgo Khyentse received this Nyongtri lineage from Shechen Gyaltsab, his root guru. The latter had many disciples. Khyentse Rinpoche met him when he (Khyentse Rinpoche) was very young. Shechen Gyaltsab had received this particular lineage from Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. In this lineage they were all chik-charpa. In Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo's namthar it says that he attained realization while doing ngondro.
Kangyur Rinpoche's root guru, Jedrung Rinpoche, Thrinley Jampa Jungnay, received the sem-tri (nature-of-mind teachings) of Dzogchen from both Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Jamgon Lodro Thaye. Jedrung Rinpoche was the head lama of Riwoche, a Rimé monastery in Kham where both Kagyu and Nyingma traditions were practiced. He was mainly Taklung Kagyu himself, though he was a great terton and Dzogchen practitioner. Jedrung Rinpoche gave the complete transmission to Kangyur Rinpoche (Longchen Yeshe Dorje), Tulku Pema Wangyal's late father.
Jatral Rinpoche Sangye Dorje is a direct disciple of Khenpo Ngawang Palzang and guru-brother of Shedrup Tenpai Nyima, Khenpo Rinpoche's guru. Khen Rinpoche also met Khenpo Ngawang Palzang when he was very young, though he studied primarily with Shedrup Tenpai Nyima.
The late Neten Chokling Rinpoche, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche's venerable father, third incarnation of Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa, was a disciple of Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro, the second Khyentse, who was mainly a disciple of Azom Drukpa. Thus the intact lineage came down to him, like one candle being lit from another.
These are the Dzogchen lineages we have here today, mainly the Kahma (Oral Transmission) Lineage.
We have described the Kahma Lineage. There are also terma lineages. Here we will just briefly introduce termas.
Termas are rediscovered Dharma treasures. There are many stories about Kangyur Rinpoche receiving transmission directly from Guru Rinpoche, whereupon their minds were mixed. There are also accounts of his visions of Vimalamitra, Longchenpa, Jigme Lingpa, and others. Dudjom Rinpoche received numerous direct transmissions likewise. The terma lineages are infinite, direct transmissions from Guru Rinpoche to the terton (treasure master).
Thus, between Guru Rinpoche and oneself in this terma lineage there is only one person, the great terton who is our teacher. This accounts for the tremendous power and efficacy of such transmissions, even today. The terma teachings of the short and direct lineage are like the warm, fresh breath of the dakinis, from which the moisture of blessings have not yet evaporated. There are, generally speaking, three terma lineages. By adding these three to the three kahma lineages, all the six lineages of Dzogpa Chenpo are included. All kahma and terma are included in that. (All this is lucidity explained in Khenpo Yonga's commentary to the tenth chapter of the Yonten Dzo.)
Termas are generally of two kinds, Gong Ter (Mind Treasures) and Dze Ter (Material Treasures). Gong Ter are extracted from the inconceivable expanse of enlightened awareness, wisdom-mind, by the terton for whom they are intended. They are then taught and written down in a way intelligible to those connected to such a teacher and teachings. Dze Ter are discovered as objects such as yellow parchments or scrolls inscribed with dakini-script, ritual objects, reliquaries, jewels, and so on. They may take any form in order to benefit beings.
In all cases, all the various kinds of terma were hidden by Guru Rinpoche -- or intimate associates such as Yeshe Tsogyal, Vimalamitra, or Vairotsana -- so that the reincarnations of his disciples would later continue to discover them for the benefit of the generations of the future. Tulku Thondup has written in English an excellent book on this subject, Hidden Teachings of Tibet.
As Guru Rinpoche himself said, "Except for a dog's corpse, anything can be taken out as ter." This means that terma treasures are inexhaustible mines of teaching, which can appear in any form whatsoever in order to suit the needs of beings. The subject of the termas is truly vast, profound and inconceivable.
Sometimes the terma treasures are delivered to tertons by Dharma Protectors or revealed in dreams and visions. Sometimes the tertons must search for the termas they are karmically destined to find. Sometimes lists of termas and maps are discovered or delivered to tertons, concerning the teachings intended for them to reveal. Sometimes termas are read like books by their discoverers. Often they must be deciphered from the dayig (secret symbolic dakini-script) in which they appear, or from a single mystic cipher or seed-syllable. Sometimes only the terton himself can read, or even see, the terma. At other times everyone can. Occasionally great efforts are required before the treasure is discovered. One terton wore out several chisels while attempting to extract a terma from a rocky ledge high up on a precipitous cliff. Others had to offer great numbers of tsok (Vajra feast offerings) or search for and find the proper consort before fulfilling all the auspicious circumstances needed to discover Dharma treasures.
In the seventeenth century Terdak Lingpa tried to collect and compile all the termas extant at that time. Yet until the time of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro in the nineteenth century, no complete compilation had been made. For that reason, these two great Rimé masters, tertons themselves, put together the great treasury of terma known as the Rinchen Terdzo, including all of the essential root termas of most of the tertons. Thus they prevented many Dharma-treasures from being lost. There are now over sixty three volumes, including seventeen thousand empowerments.
Each terma is considered to be a complete cycle in itself, including all the essential teaching necessary to reach enlightenment. Each terma contains sections including preliminary practices, the Three Roots, Dzogchen and so on, although all the various sections are not always revealed, taught, or written down by the discoverer himself. Depending on various factors, including time and circumstances, and whether such teachings are requested or not by disciples, some termas may be completed later by following incarnations.
A supreme kingly terton like Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820-1892) unfolded the most comprehensive form of rediscovered Dharma-treasures, the renowned Kabab Dun (Seven Transmissions). His contemporary Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa (the first Choling Rinpoche) also had the Kabab Dun, in a far less extensive form. The first Khyentse's revelations and writings, as well as his life, are completely astounding.
The Nyingma Kahma -- including all the sadhanas, practiced at the time of Guru Rinpoche and transmitted from guru to disciple through the long unbroken lineage -- was first gathered together, edited, and published in the seventeenth century by the two great brothers of Mindroling, Terdak Lingpa Gyurme Dorje and Lochen Dharma Sri. One was a very great terton, and the other a great translator. To the oral traditions they added their own termas and commentaries, making forty two volumes in all. For an introduction to Dudjom Rinpoche's dozens of volumes of writings, see The Nyingma Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.
Other outstanding tertons include Guru Chowang, Rigdzen Godem, Pema Lingpa, Ratna Lingpa, Sangyay Lingpa, Dorje Lingpa, Nyangral Nyima Ozer, Jatshon Nyingpo, Terdak Lingpa, and Longsel Nyingpo. There are said to be five great kingly tertons, one hundred major tertons, and one thousand minor tertons, though one should understand that the actual number of tertons is countless and the number of termas, like the tantras, is inconceivable. One can read about many of the tertons in Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye's Lives of the One Hundred and Eight Tertons in the Rinchen Terdzo.
His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche's previous incarnation, Trakthung Dudjom Lingpa, was a great terton of the last century who displayed remarkable powers as well as a very wrathful temperament. A great Phurba (Vajra Kilaya) siddha, he was said to be nearly illiterate, employing thirteen full-time scribes to commit his revelations (termas) to writing.
Once Khenpo Ngawang Palzang, disciple of Nyoshul Lungtok Tenpai Nyima, had a dream in which he saw a big stupa in India. It was the largest one erected by King Ashoka, filled with Buddha's relics. It was being destroyed from top to bottom. A big river was coming to wash everything to the ocean in the western direction, where the entire ocean became red as this stupa fell into it as if crumbling from a big rock into the waters. At that moment, a voice from the sky said that millions of beings living in the ocean would be benefited by this stupa.
Ngawang Palzang reported this dream to his lama, Nyoshul Lungtok, who said nothing. Later Nyoshul Lungtok said in this regard that the teachings of the Buddha, then being practiced in the East, would be destroyed there, but that they would go to the West and benefit many beings. The voice in the dream had said that the beings will be benefited and will "see the truth." That is explained as meaning they will see or understand absolute truth. It doesn't necessarily mean they will all realize absolute truth, but they will be benefited greatly by receiving the teachings and understanding their truth.
Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche commented that this stupa represented the basis of the teachings of Buddhism, which are being destroyed in the East but will spread more and more in the West. When the voice in the sky said beings will be benefited greatly and see the truth, it means one million beings will realize absolute truth and that beings all over the West will be greatly benefited by these teachings, which will spread widely.
This is an important and significant prophecy, particularly in connection with Nyoshul Khenpo's own particular Dzogchen lineage and teachings. It comes from two of the main figures in this Nyingthig lineage, Patrul Rinpoche's eminent Dharma-heir Nyoshul Lungtok and the latter's foremost disciple, Khenpo Ngawang Palzang. If one really meditates on the true meaning of Dzogpa Chenpo, one will undoubtedly have true realization.
For ordinary individuals, Buddhahood seems very far away indeed. However, for Dzogchen practitioners it is not so very difficult. All other paths, both within and outside of Buddhism, are like the preliminaries for Dzogpa Chenpo, the Peak Vehicle. Dzogpa Chenpo includes all the other ways and teachings and is complete in itself. All other Dharmas find completion in it and lead to it like rivers emptying into the great sea. Other Dharmas have conflicting viewpoints; Dzogchen resolves them all.
Dzogpa Chenpo is the extremely short, swift, direct path to total enlightenment in this lifetime. It is without great hardships. Other paths are like roads leading to a distant house; Dzogchen is like being in that house. This amrita-like Dzogchen Mengak Nyengyud of the Vidyadhara (Rigpa-Holding) Lineage is the most precious and refined essential quintessence of all possible teachings. It allows us to perceive the most subtle levels of how things are and how everything actually manifests and makes it possible for us to swiftly become totally realized, fully awakened, free. If we practice it now, there will certainly be immense benefits for Westerners everywhere in the future.
There are infinite subtle and profound detailed explanations about all the Buddhist teachings and about Dzogchen too, but it all depends on meditation practice. That is the most essential thing. One must experience the teachings for oneself and present one's own experience, understanding, or realization to a realized master, one's own kind teacher, in order to receive the master's assessment and advice. The teacher cannot simply present realization to you. But an authentic, qualified Dzogchen master can easily guide a suitable disciple in the nyongtri manner to the attainment of supreme accomplishment without many hardships or detailed teachings and intellectual explanations and study. All the teachings will be included in those indispensable personal pith-instructions. Therefore, one should rely totally on that.
Gyalwa Longchenpa says about Dzogpa Chenpo: "It is in perfect accord with all teachings, and is supreme."
It is the purpose of this Dzogchen practice to clearly establish a View that leads directly to realizing that the very nature of one's own mind is the absolute nature. We must not be satisfied with mere intellectual understanding or knowledge about it. That will not free or liberate us. We must develop great, unshakable, inner certainty concerning that fundamental intrinsic nature. All the various practices are the means to developing, progressing, and stabilizing that certainty. This simple yet profound practice, connected with trekchod (cutting through) meditation, is explained in Patrul Rinpoche's Tsiksum Nedek (Three Vital Points Which Strike the Essence).
Even if Gyalwa Longchenpa or the primordial Buddha Kuntuzangpo were to appear suddenly before us in a marvelous vision of rainbow light, that would be nothing compared to having before us Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and Chatral Rinpoche, living Buddhas like Padma Sambhava himself, who can speak Dzogpa Chenpo directly into our ears. These great teachers are the peerless living lineage-holders embodying all the deities, teachers, and teachings.
Sometimes a lama can have many teachers and receive countless transmissions, without any conflict. It is not necessary to have only one root lama. One can perceive all teachers as manifestations or emanations of one's own principle root lama, who is Vajradhara incarnate. And sometimes a single teacher will suffice. A guru is like a mirror; one needs to see one's own face, one's true nature. All mirrors reflect only what appears in front of them.
Therefore, it is virtually impossible to completely describe and accurately enumerate all the individual lineages. Many lamas hold many lineages, major and minor. The First Khyentse, for example, who traveled all over Tibet anonymously on foot for thirteen years to gather together all the teachings, had one hundred and twenty five root lamas. Thus he was able to preserve and transmit all the lineages in a totally nonsectarian manner, sparking -- along with Jamgon Kongteul and Chogyur Lingpa -- the Rimé renaissance in East Tibet during the last century. Without mixing things up, Jamyang Khyentse taught each of the many traditions according to its own particular tradition. Having practiced and realized everything he received, he could unerringly teach and transmit all the myriad Buddhadharmas, according to the aspirations and capacities of different disciples.
Our teacher, the late His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, who died in 1991 in Bhutan, received his main Dzogchen teachings and transmission from Shechen Gyaltsab, a magnificent master at Shechen Monastery in Kham. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche also received in detail numerous major transmissions from Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro, Khenpo Pema Losel Tenkyong, and Shechen Rabjam (currently incarnate as his grandson, Rabjam Tulku), among others. Khyentse Rinpoche was a very great Rimé master. Of course he was also a terton, as well as Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo's incarnation, Manjushri in person. He became the Dzogchen teacher of H.H. the Dalai Lama.
Someone asked Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche himself about his own lineage. He said that he has no special lineage, just the general Dzogchen lineage, the Vidyadhara Lineage outlined above. Whoever endeavors in Dharma practice will, like the great Khyentses and Kongtruls, likewise attain the great peace of Nirvana and become a lineage holder.
Khenpo Rinpoche said that there are extant biographies of almost all the lineage masters, written either by the masters themselves or close disciples, with the notable exception of three: Orgyan Rabjam Chodrak, Orgyan Rabjam Palgon (Sri Natha, Jigme Lingpa's Nyingthig guru and a disciple of Orgyan Rabjam Chodrak), and Nyoshul Lungtok Tenpai Nyima. However, those sources are diverse and scattered. They have never been compiled in a single comprehensive chronicle. From Jigme Lingpa down through today, it is clear, though mostly unrecorded. Before that the details are difficult to bring to light. Khenpo's own History of the Vidyadhara Lineage is a small effort in that direction, although more research needs to be done. H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche's famous Chosjyung is mainly a chronicle about the major figures in Nyingma history. It will appear soon in English, a massive and authoritative tome. Terdak Lingpa compiled and wrote down the biographies of the eleven lamas in the lineage from Longchenpa down to him, so we can read something about them in his writings.
Khenpo Rinpoche repeated again and again that the Dharma does not belong to anyone, since whoever practices with zeal attains realization and becomes heir to Sakyamuni's kingdom, ascends Kuntuzangpo's throne. That does not mean one inherits a worldly position or material object, but that whoever really takes the teachings to heart and practices them as they are meant to be practiced becomes a holder of the lineage, thus benefiting all beings as well as himself. That is what Khenpo Rinpoche wanted to encourage and exhort us to do. The only purpose of all these teachings, explanations, and stories is to facilitate spiritual practice, not merely to feed the intellect.
These profound Longchen Nyingthig teachings are not the teachings of one person. They are all the teachings of Dorje Chang (Vajradhara). Particularly regarding the Nyongtri lineage, it is not merely the teachings of Jigme Lingpa, Gyalwa Longchenpa, or Guru Rinpoche -- it is the teaching of Dorje Chang, the vajra-shortcut of Dorje Sempa, the wisdom-mind of Kuntuzangpo expressed in the light of each enlightened lineage master's own experience and realization, tailored to suit his disciples and future generations. We should understand that. In the nyongtri tradition, where guidance grows out of the personal interaction between a practitioner and his teacher according to the meditative experience gained along the path, each individual has direct access to the authentic teachings of Dorje Chang. This is its precious, powerful, blessed immediate quality, which brings extraordinary results. Let us make the best possible use of it, for the benefit of one and all.
This excerpt is taken from Natural
Great Perfection: Spontaneous Songs and Dzogchen Teachings by Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche and
Surya Das (copyright 1995, Snow
Lion Publications).
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