This auspicious, wish-granting stupa is a tamer of maras, meaningful to behold. May it be virtuous!

The Dharmakāya, the ultimate body, constitutes the basis of all the qualities of the Buddha, and of their capacity to function. The nature of the Dharmakāya is pure from its primordial state and pure from any adventitious defilements. Transcending thought and verbal expression, it dwells in freedom from characteristics, like space. Never moving from the state of Dharmakāya, it fulfills the needs of all living beings through the spontaneous presence of two form bodies. In Nyingma icons, Dharmakāya is symbolized by a naked, skycolored (light blue) male and female Buddha in union, called Samantabhadra. Samantabhadra signifies the aspect of realizing the Dharmakāya, the ultimate nature of all the good and bad qualities of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. He realizes the primordial wisdom of the ultimate sphere, free from conceptualization, from the beginning. Because of this realization he remains neither in the extremes of saṃsāra nor in the peace ofnirvāṇa. He is empowered with the knowledge of the ultimate truth, and this knowledge is the all-equalizing primordial wisdom. It is not a mere emptiness brought about by cessation. Instead, the object of the discriminating primordial wisdom of all the Buddhas, which is the essence of subtle primordial wisdom, dwells as the pure land of inner clarity, the “body of the youth within a vase.” The inner clarity of the relationship between primordial wisdom and its object may be likened to the way a crystal projects a spectrum of colors, yet the rays are actually inherent in the crystal itself. Because of that sacred power, the inner clarity, the five teachers of the five classes of the Sambhogakāya maṇḍala dwell, through manifestative inherence, in the great display of indivisible forms and wisdom. The Dharmakāya dwells without change, discrimination, distinction, in a fivefold manner: PLACE: The ultimate sphere, the pure land of the “body of theyouth within a vase” TEACHER: Samantabhadra, great self-awareness, the primordial wisdom of evenness-suchness DISCIPLES: The oceanlike assembly of primordial wisdoms TIME: Changeless time, suchness TEACHING: The absolute Dzogpa Chenpo, the doctrine of the uncreated body, speech, and mind Dharmakāya, pure from the beginning, has one taste, like space. It dwells with threefold primordial wisdom, transcending the conceptualization of the extremes, substantialism, and nihilism. The three primordial wisdoms are as follows: 1. The primordial wisdom of the intrinsic essence, pure from the beginning, transcending the extremes of conceptualization and verbal expression, like a transparent crystal. 2. The primordial wisdom of the spontaneously accomplished nature; it is a subtle, deep clarity, which serves as the ground forthe arising of the attributes of the manifestative aspect, and it does not exist as a mode of phenomenal particularity. 3. The primordial wisdom of all-pervading compassion (power); it dwells just as the nonobstructiveness of the ground for the arising which occurs through the manifestative power of the intrinsic essence; but this awareness does not analyze its object. If there were any grossness, then the Dharmakāya would be phenomenal and it would have characteristics, in which case it would not be qualifiable as that which has peace and freedom from conceptualization as its very significance. If there were not the subtle aspect of deep clarity as the ground of arising, then the Dharmakāya would be a mere absence, like a blank. So it is a primordial wisdom of subtle, open clarity, which dwells as the ground of arising, transcending the two extremes of substantialism and nihilism. The Dharmakāya possesses three great qualities: 1. Great purity (sPang Pa Ch’en Po): The two sudden and illusory obscurations with their habituations, which do not exist in actuality, are fully purified. 2. Great realization (rTogs Pa Ch’en Po): By the great primordial wisdom of the nonduality, the Dharmakāya sees all saṃsāra and nirvāṇa without falling into partiality. 3. Great mind (Sems Ch’en Po): Because of those two previous qualities, the manifestations of the Dharmakāya for the benefit of all beings are spontaneously and naturally accomplished without any conception. *Above contents from Masters of Meditation and Miracles: Lives of the Great Buddhist Masters of India and Tibet by Tulku Thondup (1999).

The Dharmakāya dwells in the state of inner clarity and the absolute nature of phenomena. Without any modification of its own nature by the Dharmakāya, the self-appearing Sambhogakāya, the enjoyment body, manifests spontaneously. From the essence of the Dharmakāya, the manifestative aspect of primordial wisdom, the myriad Buddha bodies and pure lands, arises as self-perception, just as the rays of five colors appear from a crystal because of the rays of the sun. In the Sambhogakāya the teacher and disciples are united in the sphere of the same realization. The teacher does not give teachings; rather, they are self-arisen in the sameness state. They arise spontaneously as self-perception in a fivefold manner: PLACE: The self-perceptive “unexcelled pure land of beautifularray” TEACHER: The Buddhas of the five classes, such as Vajrasattva(Akṣhobhya), adorned with the thirty-two marks and eighty signs of excellence DISCIPLES: The Buddhas, infinite as the ocean, who appear as the self-manifestation of the primordial wisdom, which is not other than the teacher himself TEACHING: Great luminescent vision, ineffable and free from the conceptualizations of indications and words TIME: Changeless; the ever-continuing cycle of time There are two types of transmission within the Sambhogakāya: 1. In the unexcelled pure land, teachings of tantra are given by Samantabhadra to the self-perceptive Sambhogakāya Buddhas, who are none other than Samantabhadra himself, while the teacher and disciple dwell in the state of undifferentiated realization. This is called the transmission of the same mind of teacher and disciple. 2. The disciples whose minds differ from the mind of the teacher become, by the teacher’s blessing, of one mind with the teacher. This is called the transmission of the becoming inseparable of the mind of teacher and disciple. The five primordial wisdoms of the Sambhogakāya are as follows: 1. Primordial wisdom of ultimate-sphere (dharmadhātujñāna): It is the inseparable union of three aspects: the great emptiness (openness), which is the basis of liberation, pure from the beginning; the basis of self-clarity, natural light of primordial wisdom; and the ultimate sphere of awareness wisdom. 2. Mirrorlike primordial wisdom (ādarshajñāna): The appearances appear in the empty-clarity awareness in the mode of unobstructedness, like the arising of reflections in a mirror. This primordial wisdom is the aspect of the basis for the arising of the two form bodies, Sambhogakāya and Nirmāṇakāya. In response to disciples capable of seeing and training, the two form bodies of the Buddha and the three following primordial wisdoms naturally arise as a reflection. 3. Primordial wisdom of evenness (samantājñāna): It is the primordially liberated great evenness wisdom, in which all the appearances of the form bodies of the Buddha arise according to the perceptions of disciples, without falling or remaining in any of the extremes. 4. Discriminating primordial wisdom (pratyavekṣhaṇajñāna): it is the primordial wisdom that clearly sees all knowable phenomena simultaneously without any confusion. 5. Primordial wisdom of accomplishment (kṛityānuṣhṭhānajñāna): It is the primordial wisdom that accomplishes one’s own goals in the state of intrinsic awareness, and spontaneously serves all the needs of others, without any effort, like a wish-fulfilling jewel. Dharmadhātu primordial wisdom sees what is, the absolute truth; and the four other primordial wisdoms see how things appear, the relative truth. *Above Contents from Masters of Meditation and Miracles: Lives of the Great Buddhist Masters of India and Tibet by Tulku Thondup (1999).

PRAHEVAJRA (dGa’ Rab rDo rJe) is a Nirmāṇakāya, manifested body of the Buddha appearing as the first human master of Dzogpa Chenpo. According to Dzogpa Chenpo sources, Prahevajra was born to a daughter of the king of Oḍḍiyāṇa, which was located, according to some scholars, somewhere around the Swat Valley in present-day Pakistan. Oḍḍiyāṇa was the most important source of esoteric Buddhist teachings, or tantras. It was a place of power and a land of ḍākinīs, rich in natural treasures, forests, and wild animals. In Oḍḍiyāṇa there was also a magnificent temple called Deche Tsekpa (Heap of Joy) surrounded by 6,108 small temples. All were endowed with great prosperity. Not far off, on an island covered by golden sand, a nun named Sudharmā, the daughter of King Uparāja and Queen Ālokabhāsvati (One with Lights) of Oḍḍiyāṇa was in absorption in a simple grass hut with an attendant named Sukhasāravati (Joyous Heart). Onenight, the nun had a dream in which an immaculate man with a white complexion came and placed three times on her head a crystal vase adorned with five syllables symbolizing the five Buddhas. The vase emanated beams of light, and she was able to see the three worlds clearly. In the tenth month after the dream, a son adorned with many auspicious signs was born to the nun. This child was the rebirth of Adhichitta, a manifestation of Vajrasattva who appeared in the god’s realm to propagate Dzogpa Chenpo there. The nun was frightened and ashamed. “This fatherless son will be none other than an evil spirit!” she exclaimed, and she threw him into a pit of ashes, although the attendant, who was herself adorned with auspicious qualities, warned the nun that the child was an enlightened manifestation. At that moment wondrous sounds were heard and rays appeared. Three nights later the nun recovered the infant, who was unharmed. She realized that he was an enlightened manifestation, and she brought him home, wrapped him in a white silk cloth, and gave him a bath. At that moment, the ḍākinīs and sages showered praise and offerings on the infant, and from the sky the gods proclaimed: O Protector, Teacher, Blessed One, The lord of the world, who reveals the true nature, Be our powerful protector. Vajra of the Sky, we pray to you. When the child was seven years old, bursting with the energies of wisdom, he insisted that his mother allow him to go see the scholars so that he could debate them about religious doctrine. When he had permission, he rushed to his father, King Uparāja, and requested to meet the scholars. He debated with five hundred scholars, none of whom could defeat him. Unanimously they accepted him as an enlightened incarnation and took his feet upon their heads in the gesture of highest reverence. They gave the boy the name Prajñābhava (Wisdom Nature). The king was very happy and gave the child the name Prahevajra (Vajra of Supreme Joy). He was also called Vetālasukha and Rolang Thaldok (Blissful Zombie and Ashcolored Zombie), as he had been recovered from the ashes where he had been buried. Then in the north, on the precipice of Mount Sūryaprakāsha (Very Sunny Mountain), in a grass hut, he remained in contemplation until he reached the age of thirty-two. He received the empowerments, instructions, and entrustment of the tantras of Dzogpa Chenpo in an instant from Vajrasattva and attained the stage of “no more training,” Buddha-hood. The earth shook seven times, various sounds were heard from the sky, and a rain of flowers fell. When those victorious sounds were heard, a heretical king sent assassins to murder Prahevajra, but they could not harm him, for his body was immaterial like the rays of the sun. Thereupon Prahevajra rose up into the sky, and the king and his subjects developed faith in him and became Buddhists. At thirty-two, he went to Mount Malaya. He stayed at the submit of the mountain for three years and transcribed the teachings of the Buddhas of the past and especially the 6,400,000 verses of Dzogpa Chenpo, which were present in Prahevajra’s memory, with the help of Ḍākinīs Vajradhātu and Aṇantaguṇā. Then he placed the teachings in the care of Khandro Ngönpar Jungwa and charged Ḍākinī Semden to make offerings to the sacred scriptures. With miraculous display, Prahevajra went to the great stupa situated in the Shītavana, the mysterious charnel ground. There he gave teachings to numerous disciples including the Ḍākinī Sūryakiraṇā. During that time, in accordance with Mañjushrī’s prophetic advice, master Mañjushrīmitra came to the Shītavana charnel ground and received the Nyingthig teachings from Prahevajra for seventy-five years. According to Khandro Nyingthig and other sources, Shrīsiṃha also came to Shītavana charnel ground and received Khandro Nyingthig and other teachings from Prahevajra, and later he transmitted them to Guru Padamasambhava and Vairochana. At the end, at the source of the river Danatika, the mortal body of Prahevajra dissolved into immaculate space, amid wondrous signs of earth tremors, a great mass of rainbow light, and various sounds. When Mañjushrīmitra offered the prayers of elegy, from the midst of a mass of light in the sky, Prahevajra appeared, and a golden casket the size of a fingernail descended into Mañjushrīmitra’s hand. That casket contained the testament of Prahevajra, known as Three Words That Penetrate the Essence. It includes the following lines: Homage to the realization of confidence in the self-awareness! The [nature of] awareness is free from existence, And various arisings of self-appearances are ceaseless. So all the phenomenal existents are arising as the pure land of Dharmakāya, And all the arisings are liberated in the nature [of awareness] itself. [View:] Introduction to the nature [one’s own awareness] itself. [Path:] Becoming certain of the single point [of maintaining the nature itself]. [Result:] Having confidence in the liberation [of all into the primordial nature]. Just by reading the testament, Mañjushrīmitra attained a realization equal to that of Prahevajra. *Above Contents from Masters of Meditation and Miracles: Lives of the Great Buddhist Masters of India and Tibet by Tulku Thondup (1999).

MAÑJUSHRĪMITRA (’Jam dPal bShes gNyen) was born in a brahman family in the city of Dvikrama to the west of Bodhgayā in India. His father was Sādhushāstrī, and his mother was Pradīpālokā. He became a scholar of all the five scholarly fields. In a pure vision, Mañjushrī gave him this prophetic advice: “O son of good family, if you want to attain the result of Buddhahood in this very life, go to the Shītavana charnel ground.” Mañjushrīmitra went there and received teachings from Prahevajra for seventy-five years. Prahevajra told him: The nature of the mind is Buddha from the beginning. Mind, like space, has no birth or cessation. Having perfectly realized the meaning of the oneness of all phenomena, to remain in it, without seeking, is the meditation. Mañjushrīmitra realized the meaning of Prahevajra’s teaching and expressed his realization to him: I am Mañjushrīmitra. I have attained the accomplishment of Yamāntaka. I have realized the great equalness of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. All-knowing primordial wisdom is arisen in me. When Prahevajra attained nirvāṇa in the midst of wondrous signs, Mañjushrīmitra beheld Prahevajra in the sky in the midst of a mass of light, and he uttered this lament: Alas, alack, alas! O Vast Expanse! If the light of the teacher’s lamp is obscured, Who will dispel the darkness of the world? From the mass of light with the sound of a thunderclap came a golden casket the size of a thumbnail. In the air the casket circumambulated Mañjushrīmitra thrice. Then it descended into the palm of his right hand. Upon opening it, he found the testament of Prahevajra, Three Words That Penetrate the Essence, written in blue malachite liquid on a leaf made of five precious substances. Just by seeing it he attained a realization equal to that of Prahevajra. Then Mañjushrīmitra classified the 6,400,000 verses of Dzogpa Chenpo into three categories (sDe): 1. The teachings that emphasize the way the mind “dwells” he categorized as Semde 2. The teachings that emphasize freedom from efforts he categorized as Longde 3. The teachings that emphasize the essential points he categorized as Me-ngagde Mañjushrīmitra divided Nyingthig, the most extraordinary teachings of Me-ngagde into two groups: 1. The teachings of the oral transmission (sNyan rGyud) 2. The expository tantras (bShad rGyud) He noted down in writing the teachings of the oral transmission. But for the expository tantras, he found no worthy disciple to whom he could pass them on, so he concealed them in a boulder marked with a crossed dorje (vajra) to the northeast of Bodhgayā. He spent one hundred and nine years at the Sosadvīpa charnel ground west of Bodhgayā, remaining in contemplation, practicing esoteric disciplines with countless ḍākinīs, and giving them teachings. There he transmitted Dzogpa Chenpo teachings to Shrīsiṃha. At the end of his life, amid wondrous signs, sounds, rays, and lights, he dissolved into the radiant body. Because of the devotional prayers of Shrīsiṃha, the testament of Mañjushrīmitra, Gom-nyam Trukpa (The Six Experiences of Meditation) descended into the hands of Shrīsiṃha. It includes these lines: O son of good family! If you wish to see the continuity of the naked absolute awareness, [a] seek the object of awareness [clear sky] [b] press the points of the body [by posture], [c] close the way of going and coming [breathing], [d] focus on the target [ultimate sphere], [e] rely on the unmoving [of body, eyes, and awareness], and [f] hold the vast space [the nature of awareness itself]. Masters Shrīsiṃha and Buddhajñāna are the disciples of Mañjushrīmitra and some even think that they may be the same person. Later on, Mañjushrīmitra was reborn by lotus birth at a place called Serkyi Metok Ki Gyenpe Ling (Island Arrayed with Golden Flowers) in western India and became known as “the later Mañjushrīmitra.” He gave the teachings of Dzogpa Chenpo to Guru Padmasambhava and master Āryadeva. *Above Contents from Masters of Meditation and Miracles: Lives of the Great Buddhist Masters of India and Tibet by Tulku Thondup (1999).

Master Shrīsiṃha (dPal Gyi Seng Ge) was born in a city called Shokyam on Sosha Island in China. His father was Gewe Denpa (Virtuous One) and his mother was Nangwa Salwa Raptu Khyenma (Clear and Wise One). At the age of fifteen, he went to the Bodhi Tree of China and studied with master Haribhala for three years, and he became well versed in the five subjects. Then, while he was traveling westward by camel toward the city called Suvarṇadvīpa (Golden Island), in the sky he beheld the pure vision of Avalokiteshvara, who said, “O fortunate son of good family, if you really wish to attain the result, there is a city in India named Sosadvīpa: go there.” Shrīsiṃha was pleased with the prophecy, but he thought to himself, “Still, I ought to learn the complete outer and inner tantras first, so that it will be easier for me to understand the extraordinary teachings.” So he went to the Five Peaks (Wu t’ai shan) sacred to Mañjushrī, and there he studied the complete outerand inner tantras with master Bhelakīrtifor seven years. He took ordination as a monk (bhikṣhu) and maintained the discipline for thirtyyears. Again Avalokiteshvara repeated his earlier prophetic advice. Thereupon Shrīsiṃha thought, “It will be better to travel to Sosadvīpa miraculously so that there won’t be any obstructions along the way.” So he practiced a sādhana for three years and attained power. Then he went like the wind, about two feet above the ground. He reached Sosadvīpa and met Mañjushrīmitra. There he received teachings for twenty-five years and practiced them. According to Khandro Nyingthig and other sources, Shrīsiṃha also went to Shītavana and received Nyingthig teachings from Prahevajra directly, and later he transmitted them to Guru Padamasambhava and Vairochana. Then master Mañjushrīmitra attained nirvāṇa and his mortal body disappeared at the top of the stūpa in a charnel ground in the center of Sosadvīpa. The atmosphere was full of music and the sky was radiant with lights. Shrīsiṃha uttered a prayer of lamentation, saying, Alas, alack, alas! O Vast Expanse! If the light of the Vajra Master is obscured, Who will dispel the darkness of the world? Suddenly Mañjushrīmitra appeared in the sky and, stretching out his right hand, placed in Shrīsiṃha’s palm a jeweled casket the size of a fingernail. In it Shrīsiṃha found the testament of Mañjushrīmitra, Gomnyam Trukpa (The Six Experiences of Meditation), written on a leaf of five precious metals with the ink of a hundred precious substances. Shrīsiṃha gained total confidence in his realization and understood the extraordinary tantras, both words and meaning, without any errors. He withdrew the texts that had been concealed at Bodhgayā by Mañjushrīmitra and returned to China. In China he arranged the Me-ngagde teachings into four cycles (sKor): Outer, Inner, Esoteric, and Innermost Esoteric. He designated the first three cycles as the “elaborate teachings” and concealed them in the balcony of the temple near the Bodhi Tree in China. TheInnermost Esoteric teachings, the Nyingthig, he kept with him without separation, but then, as instructed by a ḍākinī, he concealed them in a pillar of Tashi Trigo (Auspicious Myriad Gate) temple and entrusted them to Ekajaṭī. Then, enjoying esoteric exercises, he stayed at Siljin (Provider of Coolness) charnel ground in China as the master of the hosts of ḍākas and ḍākinīs. He conferred the oral transmissions of the Outer, Inner, and Esoteric cycles of Me-ngagde on Vimalamitra. He conferred the oral transmission of the four cycles of Me-ngagde with their texts on Jñānasūtra. He also conferred on him the teachings and empowerments of Me-ngagde known as elaborate empowerment, simple empowerment, very simple empowerment, and utmost simple empowerment. Then Shrīsimha dissolved in radiant body, and his testament, Zerwu Dünpa (The Seven Nails), descended into the hands of Jñānasūtra. It includes these lines: Homage to the perfection of primordial wisdom, [the union of] clarity and emptiness. The awareness wisdom, which pervades all and appears in all, Is open and impartial. For nailing [the awareness] on the changeless ground, By putting the seven great nails on the narrow paths of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, Changeless great bliss arises in my mind. . . . [a] Strike the nail of unhindered wisdom of clarity at the juncture of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa [in order to unite them as oneness]. [b] Strike the nail of self-appearing light at the juncture of mind and objects. [c] Strike the nail of natural-pure essence at the juncture of mind and matter. [d] Strike the nail of freedom from views at the juncture of nil and eternity. [e] Strike the nail of awareness, which is beyond phenomena, at the juncture of phenomena and the nature of phenomena. [f] Strike the nail of totally liberated five-doors [sense faculties]at the juncture of excitement and torpor. [g] Strike the nail of primordially perfect Dharmakāya at the juncture of appearances and emptiness. *Above Contents from Masters of Meditation and Miracles: Lives of the Great Buddhist Masters of India and Tibet by Tulku Thondup (1999).

JÑĀNASŪTRA (Ye Shes mDo) was born in the eastern city of Kamalashīla in eastern India. His father was Shāntihasta (Hand of Peace), and his mother was Kalyāṇachitta (Virtuous Minded), in a shūdra (lowest-caste) family. He became learned and went to Bodhgayā, where he lived with five hundred scholars. Among them was Vimalamitra, with whom his relations were very close because of their previous lives. One day Jñānasūtra and Vimalamitra walked about two miles to the west of Bodhgayā. At that time, from the sky Vajrasattva Buddha appeared and proclaimed, “O sons of good family, you have each taken birth five hundred times as scholars, yet you have not attained Buddha-hood. If you would like to attain the enlightenment of the dissolving of the defiled body in this very lifetime, go to the temple near the Bodhi Tree in China.” Vimalamitra went to China, received the oral transmissions of theOuter, Inner, and Esoteric cycles, and returned to India. He and Jñānasūtra met again on the outskirts of the city of Gache Kyi Tsal (Joyful Garden). Vimalamitra told Jñānasūtra about his meeting with the master Shrīsiṃha in China. Then Jñānasūtra in turn went to China, reaching nine months’ distance in a single day through his miraculous power. When he reached the temple near the Bodhi Tree in China, he met a beautiful girl who was carrying a vase filled with water. She instructed him to go to Tashi Trigo. When he arrived at the giant, magnificent temple, a ḍākinī instructed him to go to Siljin charnel ground. He went there and met the master Shrīsiṃha in person in a temple of skulls. To please the master, he served him for three years. Then with offerings he beseeched him for teachings. Shrīsiṃha taught him the teachings of the oral transmission for nine years. Shrīsiṃha withdrew the hidden texts of these teachings from the temple near the Bodhi Tree and entrusted them to Jñānasūtra. Then Jñānasūtra was satisfied and prepared to depart. Shrīsiṃha asked him, “Are you satisfied?” Jñānasūtra answered, “Yes, I am satisfied.” “The teachings have not yet been entrusted to you,” said Shrīsiṃha. Jñānasūtra thought, “There may be still more profound teachings,” and he requested Shrīsiṃha to confer them. Shrīsiṃha answered, “It is necessary to have empowerments.” In the temple of Tashi Trigo he gave Jñānasūtra the complete elaborate empowerment, followed by the teachings on Innermost Esoteric cycle for three years. But he did not give him the texts, saying, “The texts will appear for you when the time comes.” Then, in a deserted town, Shrīsiṃha also conferred on him the simple empowerment. When Jñānasūtra finished one year’s training on preparatory exercises on the experiences of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa on the peak of Mount Kosala, Shrīsiṃha conferred on him the very simple empowerment teachings, and an extraordinary confidence was developed in Jñānasūtra. Then, after training for a month, Jñānasūtra was given the utmost simple empowerment, and he realized full control over his mind. Jñānasutra stayed with Shrīsiṃha for sixteen more years, training in meditation and observing the esoteric disciplines of the master. The master kept behaving in mysterious ways, wandering in charnel grounds,transforming himself into various forms, and mingling with ḍākinīs and fearful beings without the slightest timidity. Then the master was invited by King Paljin (Provider of Glory) of the country of Li and he went there, through the sky, riding a white lion, sitting in a silk tent under three layers of parasols, held up by six powerful young yakṣhas. The morning of the seventh day after his departure, a loud noise was heard in the sky. Jñānasūtra looked in the sky and saw the master seated in the midst of a mass of light. Jñānasūtra realized that the mortal body of the master had dissolved. Jñānasūtra offered prayers, and into his hand fell the testament, Zerbu Dünma (The Seven Nails). Shrīsiṃha also gave him this prophetic instruction: “The texts of the Inner Esoteric teachings, the Nyingthig, are concealed in a pillar of Tashi Trigo. Take them and go to Bhasing charnel ground.” Then Jñānasūtra withdrew the texts and went to the most beautiful, fearful, and powerful Bhasing charnel ground, which is situated far to the east of Bodhgayā. While Jñānasūtra was staying there performing esoteric exercises and giving teachings to ḍākinīs, Vimalamitra, who was also doing esoteric practices, received a prophecy from a ḍākinī and came to see Jñānasūtra. Jñānasūtra gave him the elaborate, simple, very simple, and utmost simple empowerments and teachings, and he also entrusted him with the texts. At the end of his life Jñānasūtra attained the dissolution of the mortal body, and when Vimalamitra uttered the prayer of lamentation, Jñānasūtra appeared and conferred on him his testament, Zhakthap Zhipa (The Four Methods of Contemplation). It includes these lines: Homage to the primordially pure emptiness. . . . Wonderful! If you train in these, joy will arise naturally. If you wish to attain the state of great equalness, gain experience [in the following contemplations] all the time. [a] If you wish to be trained in all the esoteric “activities,” maintain all the appearances in the directness (Cher) of natural contemplation. [b] If you wish to gain strength in your “meditation,” remain in the union of mind and matter through the view of oceanlike natural contemplation. [c] If you wish to attain self-liberation from all the “views” [concepts], bring all the existents to their cessation through the mountainlike natural contemplation. [d] If you wish to attain all the “results,” as they are, liberate all the errors in the training through the mountainlike view. *Above Contents from Masters of Meditation and Miracles: Lives of the Great Buddhist Masters of India and Tibet by Tulku Thondup (1999).

VIMALAMITRA (Dri Med bShes gNyen) was born at the Forest of Elephants (Glang Po’i Tshal) in western India. His father was Deden Khorlo, and his mother was Dak-nyid Salma. He became a scholar of both Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna. He was one of the five hundred scholars who were residing at Bodhgayā. One day, to ease the heat, Vimalamitra and Jñānasūtra walked about two miles to the west of Bodhgayā to a marsh where many sweet-scented flowers were blooming. From the sky Vajrasattva appeared and said to them, “O sons of good family, you have each taken birth five hundred times as scholars, yet till now you have never achieved the supreme result, nor will you do so in the future. If you would like to attain the enlightenment of the disappearance of the defiled body in this very life, go to the temple near the Bodhi Tree in China.” Vimalamitra was full of diligence. Immediately he took up his begging bowl, which was the only possession he had, and set out forChina. He met Shrīsiṃha at the temple near the Bodhi Tree and received the oral transmission of Nyingthig of Me-gagde and the teachings of Outer, Inner, and Esoteric cycles for twenty years. But Shrīsiṃha did not give him their texts. Fully satisfied, Vimalamitra returned to India and recounted his achievements to Jñānasūtra. Jñānasūtra went to China and received the teaching of all the four cycles of Nyingthig from Shrīsiṃha. In addition he was given the texts themselves. Shrīsiṃha also left him his testament when he attained the rainbow body. Then Jñānasūtra returned to India and lived at Bhasing charnel ground, giving discourses to ḍākinīs. Vimalamitra was practicing esoteric exercises in the charnel ground of Thachung. One day he was wandering through the charnel ground riding on a blue elephant, with his upper robe over his right shoulder and holding a parasol over his head, and the Ḍākinī Palkyi Lodrö appeared in the sky and gave this prophecy: “O fortunate one, if you would like to receive deeper instructions of Nyingthig than before, go to the forest of Bhasing charnel ground.” He went at once, and there he met Jñānasūtra, whom he beseeched to give him the deep teachings. In order to show his power of realization, Jñānasūtra emitted a beam of light from his urna (a circle of hair on the forehead) and by a mere glance filled the sky with the display of the Samghogakāya pure land. Vimalamitra developed unshakable faith in him. Immediately Jñānasūtra conferred on him the elaborate empowerment, and the urna of Vimalamitra was opened. He also entrusted Vimalamitra with the texts and instructions of the first three cycles of Nyingthig. One year later at a temple, Jñānasūtra conferred the simple empowerment, and steam emerged from every pore of Vimalamitra’s body. He was given the text of the Innermost Esoteric cycle of Nyingthig. After practicing the preparatory exercises on the experiences of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa for six months at the peak of Mount Söche, Vimalamitra received the very simple empowerment, followed by instructions. He achieved uncommon experiences and realizations, and on the tip of his nose there appeared a white letter ĀḤ, which seemed on the verge of falling. Six months later Vimalamitra was given the complete utmost simple empowerment,and he realized the naked nature of the mind. He was also given the complete instructions on the essential points of Nyingthig. Then Vimalamitra stayed with his teacher for fourteen years, perfecting his realization of Nyingthig. Then Jñānasūtra entered nirvāṇa without bodily remainder. When Vimalamitra prayed with devotion the forearm of the master from the midst of a mass of radiant light in the sky emerged and placed in Vimalamitra’s palm a casket studded with five kinds of precious jewels. From it he discovered the testament The Four Methods of Contemplation, and instantly he achieved a realization equal to that of his master. Then, living in a bamboo hut, Vimalamitra spent twenty years as the preceptor of King Haribhadra (Excellent Lion) in the city of Kāmarūpa in eastern India. Then he went to the city of Bhirya in western India and accepted the devotion and services of King Dharmapāla. Then for seven years, with numerous hosts of ḍākinīs, he practiced Nyingthig in Prabhāskara, a great mysterious charnel ground not very far from Bhirya city. Pursuing esoteric exercises through various forms and methods, he gave teachings to an inconceivable number of disciples. He attained the vision of the perfection of intrinsic awareness (Rig Pa Tshad Phebs), the third of the four stages of high Dzogpa Chenpo, and then achieved the light body of great transformation (’Pho Ba Ch’en Po) and led three thousand people into enlightenment. Then, for thirteen years, he stayed in the same charnel ground in various manifestations. In this charnel ground he made three copies of the sacred texts of Nyingthig. He concealed one copy in the island covered by golden sand in the ocean of Oḍḍiyāṇa in western India. He concealed another copy in a cave in Suvarṇadvīpa in Kashmir, and the final copy he preserved in Prabhāskara charnel ground as the object of devotion for the ḍākinīs. Vimalamitra also saw Prahevajra seven times in pure visions and received instructions directly. At that time, King Trisong Detsen of Tibet had just established the Buddha Dharma in Tibet. A great Tibetan master named TingdzinZangpo of the Nyang family gave the king the prophetic advice that he should invite the great esoteric master Vimalamitra from India. Tingdzin Zangpo was able to sustain a period of contemplation for seven years and could see the four continents by the power of his flesh eye, the power of supernormal vision that perceives physical phenomena. Accordingly, King Trisong Detsen sent the translators Kawa Paltsek and Chok-ro Lü’i Gyaltsen to India with presents of gold and a message to the young King Indrabhūti of Serkya city, saying, “Please send a great tantric master from among your five hundred scholar preceptors.” Vimalamitra had then attained the body of great transformation (’Pho Ba Ch’en Po) and was staying as one of the five hundred preceptors of the king. King Indrabhūti and his scholars agreed on the choice of Vimalamitra as the one to be sent to Tibet. Realizing that it was the appropriate time to go to Tibet, Vimalamitra accepted the invitation. Vimalamitra went to Tibet with master Kṣhitigarbha as his attendant, taking along one copy of the sacred texts of Nyingthig. At the time of his departure many people in India had bad dreams, sinister astrological omens occurred, flower and fruit-bearing trees bent to face in the direction of Tibet, and signs appeared indicating the jealousy of the ḍākinīs of the charnel ground. Because of the omens, the Indians realized that the secret teachings had slipped through their fingers, and they sent swift-footed messengers to create doubts in the minds of the Tibetans. The messengers placed posters at the junctures of valleys and the crossroads of cities saying, “Two Tibetan monks have carried off an Indian black magician who is going to destroy Tibet.” So when Vimalamitra reached Samye, the Tibetans were in a state of doubt about him. When he paid homage to an image of the Buddha Vairochana, it disintegrated to dust before him. When he blessed the heap of dust, the image restored itself, more magnificent than before. Faith in Vimalamitra slowly developed in the Tibetans, and he was able to give them teachings. One day, while he was giving sūtric teachings to an assembly of disciples, he returned to the hall after a recess period and found a note on his seat. It said: Buddhahood cannot be attained by the babyish Dharma of the shrāvakas; the distance cannot be covered by the raven’s vajra steps. Inquiries were made, and the author of the note was discovered. Asked who he was, he replied, “I am Yudra Nyingpo, a disciple of Pakor Vairochana,” the great translator. At that time Vairochana was in exile in Gyalmo Rong, in Eastern Tibet. Vimalamitra and Yudra Nyingpo compared their teachings and realizations and found them to be equal. Thereafter for ten years, Vimalamitra worked together with a team of translators. With Yudra Nyingpo, he translated the thirteen “later translated texts” of Semde, as Vairochana had already translated the five “earlier translated texts” of the eighteen Semde texts. With Nyak Jñānakumāra, he translated the Guhyagarbha-māyājāla-tantm, among other texts of Mahāyoga, and some instructional texts of Semde and Longde. He translated the root texts and instructional texts of the Outer, Inner, and Esoteric cycles of Me-ngagde with Nyak Jñānakumāra. The teachings of the Innermost Esoteric cycle, the Nyingthig of Me-ngagde, were kept confidential among the master, the king, and Nyang and were translated in strictest secrecy. The Nyingthig teachings that were brought to Tibet by Vimalamitra are known as Vima Nyingthig. Vimalamitra could find no other disciple to whom it would be appropriate to entrust the texts of the Innermost Esoteric cycle (the four volumes, etc., on Nyingthig). He concealed the Tibetan translations at Trakmar Gekong in Chimphu near Samye Monastery. After staying in Tibet for thirteen years, Vimalamitra departed for the Five Peaks in China. Because he has attained the rainbow body of great transformation, in fulfillment of his aspiration he shall remain there as long as the Buddha Dharma exists. He has promised to send an incarnation of himself to Tibet every century, to carry out the work of maintaining and disseminating the Nyingthig teachings for as long as the Buddha Dharma exists. When Buddhism ceases to exist, Vimalamitra will dissolve into the ultimate sphere at Bodhgayā. Believers think that if your spiritual eyes are clear, you can see himin person at the Five Peaks. There are many incidents of seeing and receiving teachings from Vimalamitra at the Five Peaks. I heard many stories from my teacher Kyala Khenpo Rinpoche when I was young. Here is one that I can recall: An important Lama (whose name I have forgotten) went to the Five Peaks on pilgrimage with his disciples. One day when they were going in circumbulation, they saw a Chinese shoemaker sitting under a rock by a footpath. The Lama with respect sat before the shoemaker. The shoemaker without any hesitation put the shoes he was making on the head of the Lama and had him drink the filthy water he kept by his side. All the Lama’s disciples were shocked and ashamed, for many pilgrims were watching and laughing at the Lama. Later, the disciples learned from the Lama that the shoemaker was in fact Vimalamitra, and he had been receiving empowerments. The disciples rushed back to the rock but could find no trace that anybody had ever stayed there. Unless you are an accomplished person, the best you can see of Vimalamitra is as a bird, a rainbow light, or an ordinary person and the like. Fifty-five years after Vimalamitra’s departure for the Five Peaks, Nyang built the Zha Temple in Drikung Valley of Uru Province. In that temple he concealed the texts of the expository tantras of the first three cycles as well as the texts that belong to the oral transmission and some Innermost texts. The words of the oral transmission were transmitted to Dro Rinchen Bar. Finally, Nyak dissolved his mortal body into the rainbow body. Dro Rinchen Bar transmitted the oral transmissions to Be Lodrö Wangchuk, who in turn transmitted them to Neten Dangma Lhüngyal (11th century). Neten also discovered the texts concealed by Nyang and entrusted the transmission to Chetsün Senge Wangchuk (11th– 12th centuries). Chetsün also discovered the Nyingthig texts along with Vimalamitra’s testament, concealed at Gekong at Chimphu by Vimalamitra and transmitted to Zhangtön Tashi Doge (1097–1167). The name of the lineage teachers of Vima Nyingthig from the Dharmakāya down to the present masters are as given earlier. *Above Contents from Masters of Meditation and Miracles: Lives of the Great Buddhist Masters of India and Tibet by Tulku Thondup (1999).

GURU RINPOCHE, one of the greatest adepts of Buddhist India, is the founder of Buddhism in Tibet. He is known as Padmasambhava (Padma ’Byung gNas), the Lotus-Born, and Guru of Oḍḍiyāṇa. In Tibet he is popularly known as Guru Rinpoche, the Precious Master. The Nyingmapas respect him as the second Buddha. Among numerous different versions of the biography of Guru Rinpoche written by great scholars and/or discovered by great tertöns who are his spiritual heirs, there are many that are comprehensible to common people like myself. Relying on those sources, the following is a brief account of Guru Rinpoche’s life. Eight (or, according to some, twelve) years after the passing away of the Buddha, a manifestation of Amitābha Buddha adorned with auspicious physical marks was born not by the womb of a woman, but by immaculate birth in a lotus in the Milk Ocean in the northwestern part of the country of Oḍḍiyāna amid wondrous signs. At that time, there was a great generous king called Indrabhūti in Oḍḍiyāṇa. He had provided for all the material requests of poor people for many years until all his treasure was emptied. Now he had nothing to give, and he also lost his eyesight. He had no child who would succeed him to the throne to take care of his subjects. Still, with his usual courage and enthusiasm in providing for the needs of his people, despite the objections of the ministers, he himself with his loyal minister Kṛiṣhṇadhara and a large crew sailed across the ocean to find the wish-fulfilling gems. On the way back, having obtained the gems and also having restored his eyesight through the power of the gems, the king and his minister saw an amazingly beautiful child of about eight years old sitting in a blossoming lotus in the middle of the Milk Ocean. Astonished, the king asked the child: “Who are your parents? What is your lineage? What is your name? What do you eat? What are you doing here?” In reply the child sang the following verses in an enchanting voice. My father is the intrinsic awareness, Samantabhadra. My mother is the ultimate sphere, Samantabhadrī. My lineage is the union of intrinsic awareness and ultimate sphere. My name is the glorious Lotus-Born [Padmasambhava]. My country is the unborn ultimate sphere. I consume dualistic thoughts as food. My role is to accomplish the actions of the Buddhas. When they heard this, faith and joy blossomed in the heart of everyone. The child accepted the king’s invitation to join them. The king adopted the child and took him to his palace, where he made him the crown prince. At that time Guru Rinpoche was known as Padmasambhava (or Padmākara), the Lotus-Born. Once again, the king and his subjects enjoyed great prosperity. The king showered with generous gifts all the needy people of his country. Happiness and peace prevailed in the country. The young prince was schooled in many disciplines and excelled in studies and athletic games. Then he married the Ḍākinī Prabhāvatī (One with Lights) and served the kingdom according to the law of Dharma. At that time he was known as King Shikhin (One with a Turban). Guru Rinpoche knew that by serving in the role of a king he would not be able to serve the true needs, the spiritual benefits of others. He requested the king to permit him to renounce the kingdom but was refused. Then he saw a skillful means for his escape. By the power ofhis foreknowledge he saw that the time of death was at hand for the son of the wicked minister Kamata because of the boy’s previous karma. So while they were dancing together, Guru Rinpoche let his trident fall from his hand, and it killed the boy. Sorrowfully the king complied with the stern law of the kingdom and banished him to roam in charnel grounds. Taking leave, Guru Padmasambhava sang to his royal parents: Although it is rare to find parental [kindness], You cared for me as parents and enthroned me. Because of his karmic debt, the minister’s son was killed by me. Even if I am banished, there is no fear, for I have attachment to no one. Even if I am executed, there is no fear, for death and birth are the same for me. It is excellent that I am being banished, because for the state the law is sacred. Father and mother, please stay well. Because of our karmic links, we will meet again. Guru Rinpoche was banished to Shītavana charnel ground. There he practiced esoteric exercises and beheld the peaceful deities. Then he went to the Joyous Grove (Nandanavana; dGa’ Ba’i Tshal) charnel ground and received esoteric empowerments from the Ḍākinī Mārajitā (Subduer of Negative Forces). He went to Sosadvīpa charnel ground and was blessed by Ḍākinī Shāntarakṣhitā (Preserver of Peace). Commanding hosts of ḍākinīs, he enjoyed esoteric disciplines in different charnel grounds. He was known then as Shāntarakṣhita (Preserver of Peace). He went to the island of Dhanakosha, where he spoke to the ḍākinīs in their symbolic language and brought them under his command. At Paruṣhakavana charnel ground, while practicing esoteric exercises, he beheld the pure vision of Vajravārāhī and received her blessings. With his enlightened power, he subdued the nāgas of an ocean and the zas of the sky. Wisdom ḍākas and wisdom ḍākinīs bestowed accomplishments upon him. He was known then asDorje Trakpo Tsal (the Mighty Vajra-Wrath). He went to the Vajrāsana, Bodhgayā, and displayed various miracles, acknowledging that he was a self-realized Buddha. With various purposes in mind he went to the country of Sahor and took the ordination of renunciation from master Prabhāhasti. He was known then as Shākyasiṃha (the Lion of the Shākyas). He received the teachings of Yogatantra eighteen times and beheld the pure vision of the Yogatantra deities. He received empowerment from Ānandā, a wisdom ḍākinī in the form of a nun. She transformed Guru Rinpoche into a letter HŪṂ, which she swallowed. In her body Guru Rinpoche was given the entire Outer, Inner, and Esoteric empowerments, and she passed him out of her body through her padma. At Deche Tsekpa stūpa, he received the empowerments and instructions of eight maṇḍalas from eight vidyādharas, namely Mañjushrīmitra, Nāgārjuna, Hūṃkara, Vimalamitra, Prabhāhasti, Dhanasaṃskṛita, Rombuguhya, and Shantigarbha. He received the Guhyagarbha-tantra from Buddhaguhya, and Dzogpa Chenpo, particularly Nyingthig, from Mañjushrīmitra. In Tsubgyur Tsal charnel ground, he met Shrīsiṃha and studied Me-ngagde tantras and Khandro Nyingthig teachings for twenty-five years. He beheld the pure visions of many divinities even without doing any particular practice or meditation on them. He attained the state of Knowledge-holder with karmic residues (rNam sMin Rig ’Dzin). He was known then as Loden Chokse (Wise Supreme Passion). In the sūtric tradition of Buddhism, the stages of attainments are classified as ten stages and five paths, and they are the steps for reaching Buddhahood. In tantric traditions, the stages are divided or classified in different ways. Most of the Nyingma tantric scriptures have four attainments, called knowledge-holders (vidyādhara). The knowledge-holder with residues is the first of the four knowledge-holders. He has three characteristics. His mind has been perfected or matured as the deity, but the residues of karmic effect on the gross physical body have not yet been renounced, and immediately after release from the mortal body (death), he will attainthe knowledge-holder of great sign (Phyag rGya’i Rig ’Dzin), the third attainment, which I shall discuss later. He went to the country of Sahor, where he met Princess Mandāravā, the daughter of the king, who was practicing Dharma in solitude as a nun. Because the esoteric meaning of his relationship with the princess was misunderstood, he was burned alive on a huge pyre at the order of the king. Instead of being burned, he transformed the fire into a body of water and the fuel into a lotus. The next day, Guru Rinpoche was seen sitting on the lotus in the middle of the lake. The lake is believed to be the Rewalsar Lake of Mandi District in Himachal Pradesh in northern India. In expiation the king of Sahor offered him his royal crown, robe, and shoes with is whole kingdom, and Princess Mandāravā as his spiritual consort. Guru Rinpoche gave teachings to the king and his subjects, and many attained realization. (In most representations of Guru Rinpoche, he is shown wearing the lotus hat, the brocade cloak, and the shoes offered by the king of Sahor to signify his enlightened power.) Then he and Mandāravā went to Māratika Cave in Nepal, and for three months they performed the sādhana of long life. Buddha Amitāyus appeared before them and conferred the empowerment of longevity, by which they became inseparable from him. They achieved the state of the knowledge-holder, which has control over life. By this second attainment, not only was his mind perfected as the deity, but even his gross body was perfected. This attainment has the qualities of freedom from four contaminations (Zag Pa). The four contaminations are the afflicted emotions of wrong views, loss of the body (death) without control or choice, no control over the harmony of the elements of the body (health), and taking rebirth according to karma, without control or choice. The first and second knowledge-holders are equivalent to the path of insight, the third path, and the first stage of the ten stage system of sūtric tradition. In this you abandon the obscurations of emotional afflictions (Nyon sGrib), the first of the obscurations, the other being the intellectual obscurations. Then, with Mandāravā, he returned to the country of Oḍḍiyāna. While they were making the rounds in quest of alms, he was recognized as the one who had killed the minister’s son. Because he had defied the sentence of banishment, they burned him with his consort in a huge conflagration. But again, the following day they found them both sitting on a lotus in a lake, wearing skull garlands around their necks. He was known then as Pema Thötreng Tsal (the Lotus-Born, Mighty Skull-Garlanded). With his consort, Guru Rinpoche remained in Oḍḍiyāṇa for thirteen years as the presiding guru of the kingdom, and there he gave the empowerments and instructions of Kadü Chökyi Gyatso. The king and many fortunate subjects attained supreme realization and attained the light body. He was then known as Padmarāja (the Lotus-Born King). Guru Rinpoche manifested himself as Indrasena, an accomplished monk who, with a novice of his, converted Emperor Ashoka (3rd century BCE) to Buddhism. Ashoka, the greatest ruler of Indian history, propagated Buddha’s teachings beyond the Indian borders. Some anti-Buddhists offered poison to Guru Rinpoche, but he remained unharmed. Some threw him into the Ganges, but he was carried upstream rather than down. He was then known as Khyeu Khadeng Tsal (Young Mighty Garuḍa). At various charnel grounds, including Kula Dzok, he gave the teachings of tantra to ḍākinīs, and he extracted the life essence from powerful spirits, whom he appointed as Dharma protectors. He was known as Sūryarashmi (Rays of the Sun). At Bodhgayā he defeated five hundred upholders of wrong views in a debate. When they tried to overcome him by magic, he turned it back upon them by the power of the mantras of Ḍākinī Mārajitā, the lion-faced female deity. As the teachers had been silenced, he pacified the villages and converted them to Buddhism. He became known then as Siṃhanāda (Lion’s Roar). Then at Yangle Shö, now known as Pharping in Nepal, with the consort Shākyadevi, the daughter of King Puṇyadhara (Preserver of Virtues) of Nepal, he practiced the sādhana of the Yangdak (Shrīheruka) maṇḍala. At that time there had been no rain for three years because of the obstructions raised by powerful spirits. Diseaseand famine were widespread. He asked for Vajrakīla texts to be brought to him from India. When just two loads had arrived, the disasters afflicting the country were pacified. Hence there is the saying “Yangdak is rich in attainments, like a merchant. But Vajrakīla is necessary for protection, like a guard.” They both achieved the state of the knowledge-holder of great seal (Phyag rGya’i Rig ’Dzin; mahāmudrā Vidyādhara). In this attainment one’s base body (or actual body) is in the form of the deity. For the benefit of beings, it appears in various emanated forms. The power of one’s foreknowledge and other powers is clearer, purer, and stabler than that of the knowledge-holder with control over life and similar (but not equal) to the qualities of the enjoyment body. This is theequivalent of the realizations up to the ninth stage, and the path of meditation, the fourth path of the common Buddhist tradition. In Sosadvīpa charnel ground, Guru Rinpoche, who already was a highly accomplished tantric master, received the transmission with the teachings of the three cycles of Dzogpa Chenpo with the tantras and Khandro Nyingthig from Shrīsiṃha. He trained in it for three years and attained the light body of great transformation (’Pho Ba Ch’enPo). Guru Rinpoche visited places all over India and many other countries and islands, serving beings by means of his miraculous power and enlightening teachings. He even visited Zhangzhung, manifesting as the Tavihṛicha (’Od Kyi Khyeu), and taught Dzogchen Nyen-gyü, now known as one of the main teachings of Dzogpa Chenpo in the Bön religion, to lead many into the attainment of enlightened mind and light bodies. GURU RINPOCHE’S VISIT TO TIBET In the ninth century, King Trisong Detsen, the thirty-seventh ruler of the Chögyal dynasty of Tibet, invited Shāntarakṣhita from India with the intention of establishing Buddhism. Shāntarakṣhita, ordained in the Sarvāstivādin monastic lineage, was one of the celebrated scholars and proponents of the Svātantrika philosophy of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Among his famous writings were Madhya-makālamkāra on the middle-way philosophy and Tattvasaṃgraha on logic. After his arrival in Tibet, for six months he gave discourses on the ten virtuous deeds and interdependent causation, and laid the foundations of Samye Monastery. This agitated the local spirits of Tibet, who were protectors of Bön, the shamanistic native religion that worshiped them with sacrifices. As a result, Phangthang Palace was washed away by flood, and Red Hill Palace, the original structure of the present Potala Palace, was destroyed by lightning. Disease, famine, drought, and hailstorms afflicted the country. Whatever construction of the monastery was done at Samye during the day was dismantled the same night by hostile forces. Anti-Buddhist ministers, who began to oppose the king, demanded that he send Shāntarakṣhita away. Thereupon Shāntarakṣhita said to the king, “You must invite Guru Padmasambhava. He is the most powerful adept living on the earth. There will be no difficulty in getting him to come here, because of the aspirations we made in common during our previous lives.” Then he left the country for a while and went to Nepal. The king dispatched seven emissaries under the leadership of Nanam Dorje Düdjom to invite Guru Rinpoche. Guru Rinpoche knew of their mission by his foreknowledge. He came as far as Mang-yül Kungthang and met them there. He accepted their invitation but advised them to return home, as he would come afterward by himself. He scattered the gold pieces sent to him as presents by the king, saying: “If I need gold, all phenomenal existents are gold for me.” He gave a handful of sand to the emissaries, and it all turned into gold. In the Iron Tiger year (810 CE) Guru Rinpoche came to Tibet. He was then over a thousand years old. With his enlightened power, he traveled all over the three provinces of Tibet: Ngari, the upper or western province; Ü and Tsang, the center province; and Dokham, the lower or eastern province. Displaying his enlightened miracles at many places in Tibet, he bound the powerful nonhuman spirits of Tibet by vow to protect the Dharma and its followers. These included the twelve tenmas, the thirteen gur-lhas, and the twenty-one genyens. The king received Guru Rinpoche in the garden of Tragmar Ombu. When Guru Rinpoche consecrated the Tragmar Drinzang Temple, the images moved out and in and ate food offerings as if they were people. Then he went to the top of Hepori Hill and brought all the spirits of Tibet under his command by dancing through the sky in fierce vajra steps and proclaiming the song of “overwhelming all the arrogant beings”: O gods and demons, build the temple! With humility and observance, all gather here to do the work! Fulfill the wishes of Trisong Detsen! Thereafter, with the assistance of the spirits, Samye, the Inconceivable One, was built without any hindrances. On the model of Odantapurī Monastery of India, Samye Monastery was built in the design of the traditional Indian cosmos. The main temple in the center had three stories symbolizing Mount Sumeru. The lower story, which represented the Nirmāṇakāya pure land, was built in the style of Indian architecture; the middle story, representing the Sambhogakāya, in the style of Chinese architecture; and the top story, representing the Dharmakāya, in the style of Tibetan architecture. Four large temples were built in the four directions from the main temple representing the four continents; the eight minor temples in between them represented the eight subcontinents. Two temples were built in the east and west representing the sun and moon. At the four corners were built four large stūpas. Bathing, dressing, and residential places were also arranged. All these structures were surrounded by a high wall surmounted by one hundred and eight small stūpas. Outside the wall were three big temples built by the three queens. Within five years the whole structure of the monastery was completed. Guru Rinpoche and Shāntarakṣhita performed the consecration ceremony, which was accompanied by auspicious and miraculous signs. Images of deities in the temples came out and went in, as if they were alive. A rain of flowers showered from the clear sky. Sweet music was heard and continued to be heard now and then. Rainbow beams and tents arched in all directions. The astonished people celebrated in wonder and devotion. Food and entertainments were offered to be enjoyed by all. Guru Rinpoche and Shāntarakṣhita, true Buddhas in human form, were present before the naked eyes of people of every walk of life. The light of Dharma was being established in Tibet for centuries to come. There was nothing but joy and peace. Samye became the most important place of meditation, worship, teaching, research, and writing. Samye was a great library, museum, and treasury of Buddhist scriptures, religious objects, and invaluable treasures of Tibet along with those brought from India, China, Nepal, and Central Asia. This was the seat where great masters gave discourses, fortunate students became accomplished scholars and adepts, and Indian and Tibetan scholars translated Buddhist scriptures into Tibetan. Under the patronage of King Trisong Detsen, abbot Shāntarakṣhita, Guru Rinpoche, master Vimalamitra, and other Indian and Tibetan scholars, Buddhism was firmly established in Tibet. The scholars gave teachings of both sūtra and tantra, and many Tibetans emerged as great scholars and adepts. Many great Tibetan translators, such as Vairochana, Kawa Paltsek, Chok-ro Lü’I Gyaltsen, and Zhang Yeshe De, translated many sūtras and tantras into Tibetan with the supervision of great Indian scholars such as Vimalamitra, Shāntarakṣhita, Guru Rinpoche, and Kamalashīla. Shāntarakṣhita, ordained seven young Tibetans as fully ordained Buddhist monks in the Sarvāstivādin lineage to determine whether or not it was possible for Tibetans to lead the monastic life. They were known as the seven testers. After their success in monastic disciplines, hundreds of others followed them, leading to the formation of one of the greatest monastic communities in the world. In addition to Nyingmapas, many Gelukpa monks are also ordained in the Sarvāstivādin lineage, which was brought to Tibet by master Shāntaraḳshita. Guru Rinpoche gave the king and his subjects various teachings, empowerments, and entrustments of tantra, especially of the great sādhana of eight maṇḍalas (sGrub Pa bKa’ brGyad), which he had received from the eight great masters in India. Among many recipients of this empowerment, eight became the famous accomplished authorities of these eight sādhanas. During this period two clerical systems were established. The saffron-robed monks, who are celibate, dwell in the monasteries, and the white-robed long-haired ones, who are lay tantric priests, live in temples and villages. The introduction of the system of white-robed clergy brought the benefit of the teachings to the homes of men and women, so that the Dharma reached and was preserved at the grassroots level. In contrast, during the later period of the Dharma in Tibet, other schools concentrated the learning and practice of Buddhism more among the monks in the monasteries in order to preserve the purity of the discipline. Guru Rinpoche and his consort Yeshe Tsogyal traveled all over Tibet by miraculous power and worked ceaselessly for the happiness, security, and wisdom of future Tibetans and others. They performed sādhanas, gave blessings, and left imprints of their bodies, hands, and feet. They concealed many ters. Some of the most important sacred places that they visited and blessed are twenty mountains of snow and rock (Gangs Brag) in Ngari, twenty-one sādhana places (sGrub gNas) in Ü and Tsang, twenty-five great pilgrimage places (gNas Ch’en) in Dokham; three (or four) main hidden lands (sBas Yul rGyal Mo), five ravines (Lung INga), and three valleys (lJongs gSum). At thirteen different places with the name of Taktsang (Tiger’s Lair), such as Mönkha Nering and Senge Dzong (now in Bhutan), Guru Rinpoche manifested in a wrathful form and bound all the high and low nonhuman beings by his command. Then he was known as Dorje Trolö (Wild Wrathful Vajra). During Guru Rinpoche’s visit to Tibet, he fulfilled three major goals. First, as we discussed before, through the display of spiritual power, he pacified the human and nonhuman forces who were obstructing the founding of Dharma in Tibet. Second, he brought Buddhism in general and especially the transmission of the teachings and blessing powers of tantra for his many Tibetan disciples and their followers. Third, in order to prevent the deep teachings and sacred objects from becoming mixed, diluted, or lost in the distant future, and in order to maintain their blessing powers afresh for future followers, Guru Rinpoche and Yeshe Tsogyal concealed them as ter. Because of the ter tradition of Guru Rinpoche, his followers, even today, are receiving his timely teachings and prophesies with fresh blessing powers. In this world there are many systems of mystical discoveries, because of psychic power, spirit power, pure visions, and even minor spiritual power, but the discovery of Guru Rinpoche’s ter tradition is totally unique in its process and substance. Drawing on the third Dodrupchen’s interpretations, I would like to write a few paragraphs about it. Guru Rinpoche concealed many teachings as ter, while transmitting esoteric teachings to his realized disciples. It is a concealment of teachings and the esoteric attainments as ter in the pure nature, the intrinsic awareness of the minds of his realized disciples through Guru Rinpoche’s enlightened power with aspirations that the ter may be discovered for the sake of beings when the appropriate time comes. By the power of this method, which is called the mind-mandate transmission (gTad rGya), the actual discoveries of the teachings were made possible. Then, when the time for benefiting beings with a particular teaching arrived, the reincarnations of the realized disciples of Guru Rinpoche discovered the ter, which had been transmitted and concealed in them by the master in one of their past lives. As instructed by Guru Rinpoche, Yeshe Tsogyal concealed the tantras and instructions of Me-ngagde at Senge Trak of Bumthang in Bhutan and the teachings for mendicants (Khandro Nyingthig) in Tramo Trak of Takpo Tanglung. Centuries later, Pema Ledreltsal (1291–1319?), who was the rebirth of Princess Pemasal, withdrew the ter of Khandro Nyingthig concealed at Tramo Trak. Her next tülku, Longchen Rabjam (1308–1363), was responsible for the wide dissemination of Nyingthig teachings by teaching and writing on them. On the second floor of the central chapel of Samye Monastery, Guru Rinpoche conferred teachings and mind-mandate transmission of Longchen Nyingthig to King Trisong Detsen, Khandro Yeshe Tsogyal, and Vairochana. He gave the prophetic empowerments, saying that these teachings will be discovered by Jigme Lingpa, a tülku of King Trisong Detsen and Vimalamitra. King Trisong Detsen died at the age of sixty-nine. He was succeeded by prince Mu-ne Tsepo, but he died after only one year and seven (or six) months’ reign and was succeeded by his younger brother Prince Mutik Tsepo. After staying fifty-five years and six months in Tibet, in the Wood Monkey year (864 CE), without heeding the requests of King Mutri Tsepo and his subjects, Guru Rinpoche went with the king and a huge number of followers to the Kungthang Pass in Mang-yül Province in order to leave Tibet for Zangdok Palri (Copper-Colored Mountain), his manifested pure land. On the Kungthang Pass, the king lamented in the following words: Trisong Detsen has gone to heaven. Guru of Oḍḍiyāṇa goes to his pure land. Mutri is left behind in Tibet. Father’s life was too short. Guru’s kindness is too limited. My merits are too meager. Now the law of Dharma institutions has diminished. The joys of Tibetan subjects are exhausted. While the guru and father were present, Why didn’t I die! Consoling the king and his subjects, Guru Rinpoche said: While you are young, exert yourself in Dharma practice, For it is hard to comprehend Dharma in old age. O lord and subjects, life is momentary. When you have a gross thought, looking in at the subject [mind], Relax naturally without discriminations. O lord and subjects, it is crucial to ascertain the view. . . . If there is no compassion, the root of your Dharma training is rotten. Think about the suffering character of saṃsāra again and again. O lord and subject, do not delay [your dedication in] Dharma. Devout people accomplish their goal by themselves. There is no justification in leaving Dharma for others to practice. . . . Gain the experience of Dharma before you die. It is too late when you rely on ceremonies after death. . . . For devout people, Padmasambhava hasn’t gone anywhere. For those who pray to me, I am [always] at their door. . . . Now Padmasambhava will not stay in Tibet but will go to the land of rākṣhasas, As birds fly away from the tops of trees. From the sky in the midst of colorful clouds a divine horse with ornaments appeared, and riding on the horse, Guru Rinpoche rose up and up into the sky and flew toward the west with Yeshe Tsogyal and an ocean of divine beings amid the sweet sound of music and songs of praise. The image of Guru Rinpoche and his party became smaller and smaller as they flew away, and the sound of music slowly faded. Then there was nothing but the quiet, clear, and empty sky of Tibet over the heads of the lord and his assembled subjects. However, different people had different perceptions of his departure. Some saw him leaving by riding a lion and others saw him riding sunbeams. Then Guru Rinpoche and Yeshe Tsogyal descended to the sacred cave of Tsawa Rong. After giving more teachings and prophecies, he rose to the sky with lights. Taking leave of his consort, with love and kindness Guru Rinpoche said the following to her, and flew away: Kyema, Yeshe Tsogyal, please listen! Padmasambhava goes to the land of great bliss. I remain in the Dharmakāya, the deathless divinity. It has nothing in common with the separation of body and mind [at death] of ordinary people. . . . Meditate on Guru Yoga, which is the quintessence [of the trainings]. Two feet above the crown of your head, on lotus and moon, in the midst of lights, Visualize Padmasambhava, the Lama of the beings. . . . When the visualization becomes clear, receive the empowerments and contemplate on it. . . . Recite Guru siddhi [mantra], the heart-quintessence [of prayers]. Finally, unify your three doors with [mine], inseparably. Dedicate and make aspiration for the [realization of the mind of the] Guru. Contemplate in the essence of Dzogchen, effortlessly. There are no teachings superior to this. The love of Padmasambhava has no rising or setting [but will always be there]. The link of lights of my compassion for Tibet will never be severed [even after I have departed]. For my children who pray to me, I am always in front of them. For people who have faith, there is no separation from me. It is believed that Guru Rinpoche is still present as knowledgeholder of spontaneous accomplishment (Lhun Grub Rig ’Dzin) in Zangdok Palri, a manifested pure land (sPrul Ba’i Zhing), invisible to ordinary beings. The knowledge-holder of spontaneous accomplishment is the fourth and final stage of attainment, before instantly becoming a fully enlightened Buddha. Its realizations and activities are similar to those of the Buddha, and its forms are similar to those of the enjoyment body. This attainment is equal to the tenth stage and the path of meditation, the fourth path of common Buddhism. Also in the third and fourth attainments, one abandons the intellectual obscurations with their traces. So Guru Rinpoche is a Buddha in mind but appears as an adept, who is in the final stages of attainment, without dissolving into Dharmakāya, by taking the form of the light body of great transformation. Guru Rinpoche will remain in his manifested pure land as long as itis beneficial for many beings, for he has manifested as an adept, who has achieved the attainment of deathless vajra-body and great transformation. *Above Contents from Masters of Meditation and Miracles: Lives of the Great Buddhist Masters of India and Tibet by Tulku Thondup (1999).

King Trisong Detsen (790–858 CE) was the thirty-seventh ruler of Tibet in the Chögyal (Dharma King) dynasty, which originated with King Nyatri Tsenpo. Nyatri was believed to be a prince from India, who became the first king of Tibet in 127 BCE. King Trisong was the son of King Me Aktsomchen and Princess Chin Ch’eng Kun Chu, a daughter of King Li Lung Chi of China. At the age of thirteen he was enthroned as the thirty-seventh king of Tibet. He was a wise and powerful ruler who extended his kingdom far beyond the previous borders of Tibet. He invited Shāntarakṣhita, the celebrated Mahāyāna scholar from India, to establish the Buddha Dharma in Tibet and to build Samye Monastery. But obstructions arose in the form of negative spirits and anti-Buddhist ministers in Tibet, and they were unable to carry out their plans. Shāntarakṣhita then made a prophecy, in accordance with which the king invited to Tibet Guru Padmasambhava, the greatest of the Indian Buddhist tāntrikas of that time. The guru came to Tibet, subdued all the human and nonhuman obstructions by his enlightened power, and bound all the spirits in Tibet to the service of the Dharma. Since then Guru Padmasambhava has been known in Tibet by the name of Guru Rinpoche, the Precious Master. Thereafter the great Samye Monastery was completed in five years. One hundred and eight Indian scholars, including Guru Rinpoche, Shāntarakṣhita, and Vimalamitra, and Tibetan scholar-translators including Vairochana, Kawa Paltsek, Chok-ro Lü’i Gyaltsen, and Zhang Yeshe De, translated numerous scriptures of Hīnayāna, Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna into Tibetan from Indian languages, mainly from Sanskrit. In many places institutions were built for study and training in the sūtric and tantric teachings. At Samye Chimphu Guru Rinpoche conferred the empowerment of the great sādhanas of the eight maṇḍalas (sGrub Pa Ch’en Po bKa’ brGyad) of Mahāyoga to his chief disciples, the king and twenty-five subjects. By practicing the sādhanas of the various tutelary deities, they all achieved various siddhis. During the empowerment, the offering flower of the king landed upon the maṇḍala of Chechok Deshek Düpa, one of the eight maṇḍalas. The throwing of a flower on a group of maṇḍalas determines the tutelary deity through whom it will be appropriate for the disciple to practice. By practicing the sādhana of Chechok (Mahottaraheruka/Vajramahāheruka), the king achieved the attainment of unwavering contemplation. His literary works include Ka Yangtakpe Tsema and Bumtik. He brought by force the relics of the Buddha from Magadha in central India and built many temples and stūpas to enshrine them. The king died at the age of fifty-five (or fifty-nine). After his death he took rebirth as many great scholars, saints, and tertöns, in order to preserve and propagate the Dharma for future followers. Among his rebirths were Sangye Lama (1000–1080?), Nyang Nyima Özer (1124–1192), Guru Chöwang (1212–1270), Ogyen Lingpa (1329–1360/7), Pema Wangyal (1487–1542), Tashi Tobgyal (1550–1602), and the fifth Dalai Lama (1617–1682). Jigme Lingpa (1730–1798) and Khyentse Wangpo (1820–1892) were incarnations of both the king and Vimalamitra. The king had three sons and two daughters. They all became great disciples of Guru Rinpoche and important figures in Dharma lineage. However, in the histories there are differences in the number, names, and seniority of the sons. Some scholars agree that he had three sons and that the eldest was Mu-ne Tsepo, the middle one was Murup(or Murum) Tsepo, and the youngest was Mutik (or Mutri) Tsepo. When King Trisong Detsen was twenty-one, prince Mu-ne Tsepo was born to Queen Tsepongza. Mu-ne received teachings and empowerments from Guru Rinpoche and practiced them. At the age of forty-seven, he became the thirty-eighth ruler of Tibet, but he died after reigning for less than two years. In addition to the establishment of many Buddhist institutions, he is especially known for his attempts to distribute wealth equally among rich and poor, three times in his short reign. It is interesting to note that Rahula Sankritayana (1893– 1963), a great Indian scholar of Buddhism, even dedicated one of his books to Prince Mu-ne Tsepo, saying that he was the first socialist, a socialist king, in the world. Among Mu-ne Tsepo’s incarnations were Tülku Zangpo Trakpa (14th century), Drikung Rinchen Phüntsok (1509–1557), and Yonge Mingyur Dorje (1628–?). When the king was twenty-two, Prince Murup (or Murum) Tsepo, alias Lha-se Tamdzin Yeshe Rölpatsal, was born to Queen Tsepongza. He received the teachings and empowerments from Guru Rinpoche and other teachers. He became a great scholar of the tantras, and by practicing the Vajrakīla sādhana he became a great adept. Also he was entrusted with the Lama Gongdü cycle of teachings by Guru Rinpoche. By accident he killed a son of a minister and was banished to the northern Tibetan border with China as military commander for nine years. Later he lived in Kongpo. Under his command the Tibetans defeated the forces of the Chinese and the Turks. At the end of his life, he dissolved into the light body. Among his incarnations were Sangye Lingpa (1340–1396), who discovered Lama Gongdü, Zhikpo Lingpa (1464–1523), Pema Norbu (1679– 1757), Dodrupchen Jigme Thrinle Özer (1745–1821), and Chogyur Dechen Lingpa (1829–1870). Princess Nujin Sa-le was born to Queen Tsepongza. I could not find any account of her life. Princess Pemasal was born to Queen Dromza Changchup. However, she died at the age of eight. Guru Rinpoche wrote a letter NṚI in red at the heart of her dead body, and by his enlightened power he recalled her consciousness to her body. When she had revived and was able to speak, Guru Rinpoche conferred on her the empowerment of Khandro Nyingthig and gave her the secret name of Pema Ledreltsal. He placed the casket containing the Khandro Nyingthig teachings on her head and spoke the following aspiration: “In future may you find this teaching, and may it be beneficial formany living beings.” Then he recorded these events and asked Khandro Yeshe Tsogyal to conceal the Khandro Nyingthig teachings for future followers. Then the texts were concealed in two different places. The elaborate teachings were hidden at the lionlike rock in lower Bumthang and the profound condensed teachings of the Nyingthig tantras for mendicants were hidden at Tanglung Tramo Trak in Takpo Valley. Then they were entrusted to the treasure-masterḍākinīs and the protectors Za and Mamo, who were instructed by Guru Rinpoche to hand the teachings over to the appropriate tertön in the future. Among her incarnations were Pema Ledreltsal (1291–1319?), who discovered the Khandro Nyingthig teachings from Tanglung Tramo Trak; Longchen Rabjam (1308–1368), who propagated the teachings by writing and teaching; Pema Lingpa (1450–1521); and Lhatsün Namkha Jigme (1597–?). When the king was fifty-nine, Prince Mutik (or Mutri) Tsepo, alias Senalek Jing-yön, was born to Queen Droza Changchup. He became the thirty-ninth king of Tibet. He received teachings and transmissions from Guru Rinpoche and achieved high attainments. He was the father of five sons: Tsangma, Gyalse Lhaje (aka Choktrup Gyalpo), Lhündrup, Tri Ralpachen, the fortieth ruler, and Lang Darma, the forty-first and last ruler of the Chögyal dynasty. As mentioned earlier, when Guru Rinpoche took leave of Tibet, Mutri was king. Among his incarnations were Guru Jotse, Karma Chagme (1613– 1678), Zhechen Rabjam Tenpe Gyaltsen (1650–1704), and Apang Tertön (?–1945). *Above Contents from Masters of Meditation and Miracles: Lives of the Great Buddhist Masters of India and Tibet by Tulku Thondup (1999).

VAIROCHANA was the foremost translator of Buddhist scriptures in Tibetan history. He was responsible for bringing to Tibet and translating many sūtras and tantras, especially two of the three categories of Dzogpa Chenpo teachings, namely Semde and Longde. He was born at Nyemo Chekhar in Tsang Province as the son of Dorje Gyalpo of the Pakor clan. In his childhood he displayed many miraculous powers such as flying in the sky, making imprints on rocks, and foretelling future events. He was extraordinarily intelligent. In accordance with the prophetic advice of Guru Rinpoche, King Trisong Detsen brought him to Samye and trained him as a translator. He became one of the first seven Tibetans to take monastic vows from Shāntarakṣhita and was given the name Vairochanarakṣhita. In the empowerment of the great sādhana of eight maṇḍalas, his flower landed on the maṇḍala of Möpa Tra-ngak (Vajramentrabhīru). At the command of the king, Vairochana and the monk Lektrup of Tsang Province went to India in search of Dharma teachings, as two of thefirst missionaries. On the way they encountered fifty-seven nearly fatal difficulties, but they ignored the obstacles and reached India. They met Shrīsiṃha in secret at the forest of Tsenden Silche in Dhanakosha. One night they received the teachings of Semde in utmost secret. Vairochana wrote down the eighteen tantras of Semde on white cotton with the milk of a white cow in order that people should not see the texts. When he wanted the manuscript to be read, he held it over smoke and the text became visible. The monk Lektrup was satisfied with what they had accomplished and departed for Tibet. On the way back he was killed by road guards. Vairochana requested more teachings from Shrīsiṃha, and he received the teachings and instructions of all the sixty tantras of Semde. He was also taught the three categories of Longde. Vairochana also received the teachings of the six million four hundred thousand tantras (or verses) of Dzogpa Chenpo from Prahevajra in pure vision and blessings from master Mañjushrīmitra in his illusorywisdom-body. Vairochana reached Tibet by swift-footed power, and there he gave the king common teachings in the daytime and Dzogpa Chenpo at night. Among other works, he translated the first five of the eighteen tantras of Semde. This collection is known as The Five Early Translations of Semde. At that time some jealous Indians sent messengers to spread slander, saying that the teachings brought from India by Vairochana were not Buddhism. Because of the wrong aspirations and influence of Queen Tsepongza and certain wicked ministers, the king was forced regretfully to banish Vairochana to the Gyalmo Tsawe Rong (aka Gyarong), a region on the border of Tibet and China. In exile Vairochana converted the king, his ministers and the population of Gyarong to Buddhism. Prince Yudra Nyingpo, who was the rebirth of the monk Lekrup of Tsang, became one of his principal disciples and a well-known scholar and lineage-holder. Yudra Nyingpo came to Samye and met Vimalamitra. At Vimalamitra’s request the king invited Vairochana to return to Tibet. On the way to Tibet, Vairochana met an eighty-five-year-old man named Mipham Gönpo, and he gave him Dzogpa Chenpo teachings. Mipham Gönpo could not sit inmeditation postures because of his advanced age, so he had recourse to a meditation cord and support stick in order to sit up straight and remain motionless. The old man attained the rainbow body. In addition to Yudra Nyingpo and Mipham Gönpo, the principal disciples of Vairochana were Nyak Jñānakumāra and Sherap Dölma from Li. Later on Sherap Dölma invited his master to the country of Li. From there Vairochana went to the Bhashing forest of Nepal, where he vanished into the rainbow body. Vairochana is the sublime translator of Tibetan Buddhism. He translated many texts of sūtra and tantra, and his scholarship and skill as a translator are far more exalted than those of all the other translators in the history of Tibetan Buddhism. Ngok Loden Sherap (1059–1109), who was one of the greatest translators of the new translation period, said: Vairochana is like the clear sky. Ka[wa Paltsek] and Chok[ro Lü’i Gyaltsen] are like the sun and moon. Rinchen Zangpo [958–1051, the greatest translator of the new period] is like the dawn star. And we are merely fireflies. Among his numerous incarnations were Trapa Ngönshechen (1012–1090?), Dorje Lingpa (1346–1405), Künkyong Lingpa (1396–1477?), Chöden Do-ngak Lingpa (15th century), Trengpo Sherap Özer (1518–1572), Minling Terchen (1646–1714), Rongtön Dechen Lingpa (1663–?), Gyalse Zhenphen Thaye (1800–?) and Kongtrül Yönten Gyatso (1813–1899). *Above Contents from Masters of Meditation and Miracles: Lives of the Great Buddhist Masters of India and Tibet by Tulku Thondup (1999).

Yeshe Tsogyal was Vajravārāhī Buddha in human form and also an incarnation of Tārā and Buddhalochanā. She was born amid wondrous signs at Dragda, in the clan of Kharchen. Her father was Namkha Yeshe, the king of Kharchen, an important principality in central Tibet, and her mother was Gewa Bum. At the time of her birth a lake suddenly formed next to the house. It is called the TsogyalLatso, or Tsogyal’s spirit-lake. Even today there is a pond, which is what remains of the lake. When she was a child she stamped the imprint of her foot on a rock near the house, and it was visible till recently. First she became one of the consorts of Trisong Detsen, the king of Tibet. Later the king offered her to Guru Rinpoche as the maṇḍala-offering before receiving empowerment, and she became Guru Rinpoche’s consort. When she was receiving empowerment from Guru Rinpoche, her flower landed on the maṇḍala of Vajrakīla. By practicing the sādhana of Vajrakīla, she beheld the pure vision of Vajrakīla and achieved attainments. She brought back to life many people who had been killed in fighting. In Nepal she restored a dead boy to life, and then with the gold she was offered in gratitude, she paid the ransom of Āchāraya Sa-le, who was prophesied to be the support of her esoteric training. She received almost all the teachings that Guru Rinpoche gave in Tibet, and by practicing them she attained the highest realization. With Guru Rinpoche she traveled all over Tibet by their miraculous power, meditated at hundreds of places, and blessed them as power places. As she had achieved the accomplishment of unforgetting memory (Mi brJed Pa’i gZungs), through the power of her memory she collected the inconceivably vast teachings given by Guru Rinpoche in Tibet. And at the command of Guru Rinpoche she concealed the teachings in various places as ter, hidden treasures for the benefit of future followers. Especially, in Tidro of Zhotö in Drikung Valley, she received the Khandro Nyingthig, the innermost esoteric teachings of Dzogpa Chenpo, and later concealed them as ter. Yeshe Tsogyal stayed in Tibet for many years after Guru Rinpoche left Tibet, reconcealing the ters at different places. At the end, from Shang Zabulung she and Kālasiddhi and Tashi Chidren, instead of leaving any mortal bodies behind, flew through the sky to Zangdok Palri, the manifest pure land of Guru Rinpoche. Yeshe Tsogyal is viewed by the followers of Guru Rinpoche as having the peerless grace and kindness of a mother for them and for the Tibetans. *Above Contents from Masters of Meditation and Miracles: Lives of the Great Buddhist Masters of India and Tibet by Tulku Thondup (1999).

KÜNKHYEN Longchen Rabjam was born at Tötrong in Tra Valley south of the center of Tibet, on the tenth day of the second month of the Earth Monkey year of the fifth Rabjung (1308). His father was Tenpa Sung, a tantric yogī of the Rok clan. His mother was Sönam Gyen of the Drom clan. At his conception his mother dreamed of a sun placed on the head of a lion illuminating the whole world. At his birth the Dharma protectress Namdru Remati appeared in the form of a black woman. Holding the baby in her arms, she said, “I will protect him,” and she handed him back to his mother and disappeared. Longchen Rabjam was an incarnation, or tülku, of Princess Pemasal, a daughter of King Trisong Detsen, to whom Guru Rinpoche had entrusted the transmission of the Khandro Nyingthig. In her series of lives, the incarnation directly preceding Longchen Rabjam was Pema Ledreltsal, who rediscovered the Khandro Nyingthig teachings as a ter. From childhood Longchen Rabjam was endowed with faith, compassion, and wisdom, the noble qualities of a bodhisattva. When he was five he learned to read and write with no difficulty. At seven, his father conferred on him the empowerments, instructions, and training in the practice of The Peaceful and Wrathful Aspects of the Guru and Kagye Deshek Düpa. His father also trained him in medicine and astrology. At twelve, Longchen Rabjam took the ordination of a novice from Khenpo Samdrup Rinchen at Samye Monastery and was given the name Tsültrim Lodrö. He gained mastery of the Vinaya, the texts on the monastic law of moral conduct, and was able to teach them from the age of fourteen. At sixteen, with the master Tashi Rinchen and others, he started studying many tantras belonging to the New Tantric lineage, such as the two traditions of the fruit and path (Lam ’Bras), two traditions of the six yogas (Ch’os Drug), the Wheel of Time (Kālachakra), cutting off [the ego] (gChod), and the three pacifications (Zhi Byed) traditions. At nineteen, he went to the famous Sangphu Neuthang Monastery, and studied Buddhist scriptures on philosophy, logic, and meditation for six years. From the masters Lopön Tsen-gönpa and Chöpal Gyaltsen he studied the five mahāyāna texts by Maitreya, the treatises on logic by Dignāga and Dhamakīrti, and many texts on the Middle Way (Madhyamaka) and Transcendental Wisdom (Prajñāpāramitā) philosophies. Also, with the translator Lodrö Tenpa of Pang he studied Sanskrit, poetry, composition, drama, and many sūtras and Prajñāpāramitā texts. Then from the master Zhönu Töndrup, he received the initiations and instructions on the important Nyingma tantras, Do (sūtras) of Anuyoga, Māyājāla-tantra of Mahāyoga, and Semde of Atiyoga. With about twenty teachers, including Master Zhönu Gyalpo, Zhönu Dorje, Lama Tampa Sönam Gyaltsen (1312–1375) of Sakya, and Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339) of the Kagyü, he studied teachings and received the transmissions of sūtras and tantras. While studying, he was also always engaged in meditative trainingin retreats, and he saw the pure visions of Mañjushrī, Sarasvatī, Achala, Vajravārāhī, and Tārā, and realized various spiritual attainments. His training in studies and meditation opened the door of his speech treasure. By those who knew him he became recognized by the name Master of Infinite Realization (Longchen Rabjam) and Master of Scriptures from Samye (bSam Yas Lung Mang Ba). At twenty-seven, as prophesied by Tārā, the Buddha in female form, he went to meet master Rigdzin Kumārādza (1266–1343), the holder of the Vima Nyingthig teachings, in a retreat camp where about seventy disciples were living in temporary shelters in the highlands of Yartö Kyam Valley. The master received Longchen Rabjam with great joy and gave the prophecy that he would be the transmission-holder of the Vima Nyingthig teachings. He studied with Rigdzin Kumārādza for two years, receiving instructions on all three categories of Dzogpa Chenpo: Semde, the cycle on mind; Longde, the cycle on the ultimate sphere; and Mengagde, the cycle on the ultimate instructions. But the main emphasis of his studies was on the texts of the four divisions of Me-ngagde, namely Outer, Inner, Esoteric, and Innermost Esoteric teachings. These texts are the seventeen tantras and the branch or instruction teachings, namely: the four volumes with the one hundred and nineteen treatises of extensive instructions. Rigdzin Kumārādza conferred all his Nyingthig teachings on Longchen Rabjam and proclaimed him his lineage successor. While he was studying with Rigdzin Kumārādza, Longchen Rabjam lived under circumstances of severe deprivation. In order to combat his attachment to material things, it was Rigdzin Kumārādza’s practice to keep moving from place to place instead of settling at one location and getting attached to it. In nine months he and his disciples moved their camp nine times, causing great hardship to Longchen Rabjam and everyone else. Just as soon as he got his simple life settled in a temporary shelter, usually a cave, which would protect him from rain and cold, the time would come to move again. He had very little food and only one ragged bag to use as both mattress and blanket to protect himself from the extremely cold winter. It was under these circumstances that Longchen Rabjam obtained the most rare andprecious teachings of the tantras and instructions of the three cycles of Dzogpa Chenpo. Finally the master empowered him as the lineage holder of the Nyingthig transmission. Then for seven (or six) years he observed meditation retreat, mainly at Chimphu. In addition to Dzogpa Chenpo meditation, he also practiced the forms and rites of various divinities, and he beheld pure visions of the peaceful and wrathful forms of Guru Rinpoche, Vajrasattva, and the peaceful and wrathful deities. At thirty-two, while still in retreat, Longchen Rabjam for the first time conferred the empowerment and instructions of Vima Nyingthig upon his disciples at Nyiphu Shuksep, near Kang-ri Thökar. For a while all the surroundings turned into pure lights, mystical sounds, and divine visions. Soon his yogī disciple Özer Kocha found the text of Khandro Nyingthig, discovered as a ter by Longchen Rabjam’s previous incarnation, Pema Ledreltsal (1291–?), and he offered it to Longchen Rabjam. The Dharma protectress Shenpa Sogdrubma also presented him with a copy of the same text. Although he was the reincarnation of the discoverer of the teachings, in order to show the importance of preserving the transmission for future followers, he went to Shö Gyalse, a disciple of Pema Ledreltsal, and received the transmission of Khandro Nyingthig. At thiry-three, he gave the Khandro Nyingthig teachings to eight male and female disciples including yogī Özer Kocha at Samye Chimphu. During the empowerments, the Protectress of Tantra (sNgags Srung Ma) entered into one of the yoginīs and gave prophecies and instructions. Some of the disciples beheld Longchen Rabjam transforming into the Sambhogakāya form. A rain of flowers showered down, and arches, beams, and circles of lights of different colors were witnessed all over the mountain. All the assembled people were singing and dancing with overwhelming wisdom energy. Longchen Rabjam saw the vision of Guru Rinpoche and his consort bestowing empowerments and entrusting the transmission of Khandro Nyingthig to him. They gave him the names Ogyen Tri-me Özer and Dorje Ziji. Dharma protectors appeared in physical form and accepted the offerings. For a long time, perhaps a month, theminds of the yogī disciples merged into a deep luminous clarity, which transcends designations of sleeping or waking. Longchen Rabjam sang his yogic energies in verses: O yogīs, I am very happy and joyous. Tonight we are in the Unexcelled Pure Land. In our body, the palace of Peaceful and Wrathful Deities, Flourishes the assembly of Buddhas, [the union of] clarity and emptiness. Buddhahood is not somewhere else, but in us. O meditators, you who hold your minds one-pointedly, Do not hold your mind at one place, but let it go at ease. Mind is emptiness [or openness], whether it goes or it stays. Whatever arises [in mind] is the [mere] play of the wisdom. At the request of the Dharma protectress Yudrönma he moved his residence to Ogyen Dzong Özer Trinkyi Kyemö Tsal (the Fortress of Oḍḍiyāṇa in the Joyful Garden of Clouds of Lights) at Kang-ri Thökar, where he composed several famous works and spent a great part of his life. At this place his meditative realization reached the state of perfection of awareness (Rig Pa Tshad Phebs) through the training of the direct approach (Thod rGal) of Nyingthig. In a pure vision Vimalamitra taught him and entrusted him with the Vima Nyingthig teachings. Inspired by Vimalamitra, he wrote the Yangtig Yizhin Norbu (aka Lama Yangtig), a collection of thirty-five treatises on Vima Nyingthig. Longchen Rabjam withdrew the gold concealed in a ter and with it financed the repair of the Uru Zha temple in Drikung, built by Nyang Tingdzin Zangpo, one of the great disciples of both Guru Rinpoche and Vimalamitra. While the repairs were going on, workers inadvertently dug up many objects that had been buried under the temple in order to subdue the power of negative forces, and they flew around in the sky. Longchen Rabjam transformed himself into the wrathful form of Guru Rinpoche and reburied them again with the mystical gesture of power. At a time when there was great danger of a civil war in central Tibet because of the plot of Kün-rik, the proud leader of Drikung, Longchen Rabjam fulfilled a prophecy concerning an incarnation of Mañjushrī by diverting Kün-rik from his wrongful path of warfare to the path of Dharma and bringing about peace. At first Tai Situ Phagmo Trupa (1302–1364), then the king of Tibet, was suspicious of Longchen Rabjam and sent forces to kill him, because he was the teacher of the Drikung, his sworn enemy. By his mystical power, Longchen Rabjam became invisible when the forces arrived. But the situation forced Longchen Rabjam to move to Bhutan. There he gave teachings and sometimes assembled about one hundred thousand disciples. In Bumthang he established Tharpa Ling Monastery. In Bhutan he had a son named Tülku Trakpa Özer (1356–1409?) by his consort Kyipa of Bhutan, and his son became a lineage holder. Later, Tai Situ understood the impartial position of Longchen Rabjam and became a disciple, and Longchen Rabjam returned to Tibet. Longchen Rabjam was one of the greatest scholars and realized sages of Tibet, but he devoted his whole life to extremely subtle and strict spiritual discipline of learning, teaching, writing, and meditation to fulfill the purpose of his enlightened manifestation, which was to be an example of a trainee and a teacher of the Dharma. His mind and life were simple and open, natural, spontaneous, pure, and profound. Wherever he lived and whatever he was doing, it was natural for him always to be in the meditative state. He visited his master Rigdzin Kumārādza again and again to perfect his understanding and realization. Five times he offered all of whatever little he possessed to his master to cleanse his clinging to any material objects. Owing to the fame of his scholarship and realization, he could easily have built huge monasteries or household structures, but he avoided such works because he had no interest in establishing any institutions. Anything offered him with faith he spent strictly for the service of the Dharma and never for other purposes, nor did he ever use it for himself. He never showed reverence to a layperson, however high-ranking in society, saying, “Homage should be paid to the Three Jewels but not to mundane beings. It is not right to reverse the roles of lama and patron.” However great the offerings made to him, he never expressed gratitude, saying, “Let the patrons have the chance to accumulate merits instead of repaying it by expressions of gratitude.” He was immensely kind to poor and suffering people, and he enjoyed with great pleasure the simple food offered by poor people, and then would say many prayers of aspiration for them. For most of his life, Longchen Rabjam lived in solitude, in caves in the mountains, first in Chimphu near Samye and then mostly at Kangri Thökar. The peaceful and clear environment of nature inspires peace and clarity in the observers; then the whole merges into one, the union of peace and clarity. Longchen Rabjam summarizes the merits of solitude. Far from the towns full of entertainments, Being in the forests naturally increases the peaceful absorptions, Harmonizes life in Dharma, tames the mind, And makes one attain ultimate joy. He gave teachings in all fields of Buddhism, but his main emphasis was on Dzogpa Chenpo. Summarizing the meditation of Dzogpa Chenpo, he advised in simple words: It is important to look straight at [the nature of] the thoughts when they arise. It is important to remain [in the nature] when you are certain [about the realization of it]. It is important to have the meditationless meditation as your meditation. With no waverings, maintain it. This is my advice. And: The present mind, which is unhindered— No grasping at “this” [or “that”], free from any modifications or dilutions, and Unstained by [the duality of] grasped and grasper— Is the nature of ultimate truth. Maintain this state. At Lhasa, Longchen Rabjam was received with great fanfare, and he spent about two weeks there. Between the Jokhang and Ramoche of Lhasa, sitting on a throne, he gave the vow of bodhichitta and many teachings to a huge gathering from all walks of life. Through his scholarship and realization, Longchen Rabjam tamed the arrogant minds of many scholars and inspired them to attain the pure mind of Dharma. He sowed the seed of inspiration to pure Dharma in the hearts of many people. He became known as Künkhyen Chöje, the Omniscient Lord of Dharma. Then he went to Nyiphu Shuksep and gave Dzogchen teachings to about a thousand disciples. Then at rocky hills near Trok Ogyen, he gave empowerments and teachings of Dzogpa Chenpo to about three thousand people, including forty known as the masters of Dharma. At the age of fifty-six, in the Water Hare year (1363) of the sixth Rabjung, he suddenly started dictating his spiritual testament, entitled Trima Mepe Ö (Immaculate Radiance), which includes the following lines: As I have long ago realized the nature of saṃsāra, There is no essence in the worldly existents. Now, as I am departing from my impermanent illusory body, I shall tell you what are the beneficial things for you; please listen to me. You are taking your life as real, but it will cheat you. Its nature is changing and it has no reality. By understanding its untrustworthy character, Please practice Dharma from this very day. Changing is the nature of friends, like [a gathering of] guests. They get together for a while but soon separate forever. By freeing yourself from attachments to friends, Please practice Dharma that benefits you forever. Honeylike wealth drips away even as you collect it. Although you earned it, others will enjoy it. Now, while you have the power, invest it for the sustenance of your future lives, By earning merits by giving in charity. . . . People are impermanent like [groups of] earlier and later visitors. Elder people have gone early. Younger people will go later. People of the present, none will live for a hundred years. Please realize it [the nature of impermanence] at this very moment. Appearances of this life take place like the events of today. Apearances of bardo will take place like dreams in the night. Appearances of the next life will come as fast as tomorrow. Please practice Dharma at this very moment. . . . Among all the dharmas, the ultimate pith of luminous clarity Is the Nyingthig, the sacred meaning. This is the supreme path that leads you to Buddhahood in a single life span. Please [through this path] accomplish the great blissful universal sublime. . . . The nature of the mind is the ultimate sphere, like space. The nature of space is the nature of the mind, the innate nature. In meaning they are not separate. They are evenness, Great Perfection. Please realize the nature at this very moment. Various phenomena are like reflections in a mirror. They are emptiness while they are appearing, and emptiness is not other than the appearances themselves. They are joyful [phenomena], free from designations as one or many. Please realize the nature at this very moment. . . . My delight at death is much greater than The joy of traders who have made their fortune at sea, The lords of the gods who have proclaimed their victory in war, Or those sages who are abiding in absorption. Now Pema Ledreltsal [Longchen Rabjam] will not remain here much longer. I go to secure the blissful and deathless nature. Then, when he reached Chimphu and was traveling through Samye, he said that he was going to die there, and he started to show the sickness of his body. But he kept teaching a huge gathering of people who were following him or who had assembled to receive teachings from him. On the sixteenth of the twelfth month, with others he performed an elaborate offering ceremony. Then he gave his disciples his last teaching on impermanence and inspired them to practice Trekchö and Thögal with the advice: If you have any difficulty understanding my teachings, read the Yangtig Yizhin Norbu [aka Lama Yangtig]; it will be like a wish-fulfilling jewel. You will realize the state of dissolution of all phenomena into dharmatā, the ultimate nature. On the eighteenth, sitting in the posture of the Dharmakāya, his mind dissolved into absolute Dharma space. Those present experienced the trembling of the earth and heard roaring sounds. While his body was being preserved for twenty-five days, a tent of rainbows arched constantly across the sky. Even in the coldest months in Tibet, the earth became warm, the ice melted, and roses bloomed. At the time of cremation, the earth trembled three times and a loud sound was heard seven times. Many ringsel (relics) and five kinds of dungchens (large ringsels) emerged from the bones as an indication of his attainment of the five bodies and five wisdoms of Buddhahood. Longchen Rabjam received teachings and transmissions of all the lineages of Buddhist teachings that were present in Tibet. Especially all the streams of Dzogpa Chenpo transmissions converged in him. Among the Nyingthig teachings of Dzogpa Chenpo that came to him were the Vima Nyingthig and Khandro Nyingthig. Longchen Rabjam wrote more than two hundred and fifty treatises on history, ethical instructions, sūtric and tantric teachings, and especially on Dzogpa Chenpo in general and Nyingthig in particular. He presented all of his teaching in the form of composed literature. But many scholars affirm that most of his works on the tantras and on Dzogpa Chenpo are actually gongter, mind treasures, discovered through his enlightened power。 *Above Contents from Masters of Meditation and Miracles: Lives of the Great Buddhist Masters of India and Tibet by Tulku Thondup (1999).