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About Dorje Shugden => General Discussion => Topic started by: Namdrol on April 08, 2012, 12:11:44 PM
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These are past incarnations of Trijang Rinpoche from the official source, and among them are greats like Dignaga, Candrakirti, Atisha...These great masters' works are being studied by the monks for generations and generations to become Geshes and Enlightened masters, not to mention that Atisha's "Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment" is the main source of Lama Tsongkhapa's Lam Rim, which is the main source of Pabongkha Rinpoche's "Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand" which is edited by Trijang Rinpoche himself whose previous life is Atisha! In other words, the whole basis of Gelug is Atisha's teachings.
So it cannot be that the incarnation of Atisha suddenly degenerated and made such big blunder as promoting a demon practise Dorje Shugden, if he is really that unenlightened, then forget about Dignaga, Candrakirti, Atisha...who were of the same mindstream as Trijang Rinpoche, then we might as well forget about the whole Buddhism thing and convert to other religion.
If Trijang Rinpoche really made a mistake, then the whole Gelug system should be closed down, Dharma texts burnt, monks and nuns disrobed...because the whole system is based on Dignaga, Candrakirti, Atisha's teachings, so if these masters were teaching the right thing back then, but suddenly when they reincarnated as Trijang Rinpoche he made a mistake, then it is a very scary thought because then we don't know what teachings taught by Dignaga, Candrakirti, Atisha could also be wrong.
If Dignaga, Candrakirti, Atisha's teachings have brought many practitioners to enlightenment, then the teachings are flawless, which means Dignaga, Candrakirti, Atisha are flawless, which means Trijang Rinpoche who is their incarnation is flawless, which again means Trijang Rinpoche's teaching including Dorje Shugden is flawless.
Even a 5th grader can understand such simply logic, ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER?
source: http://www.tbiusa.org/trijangdorjechang/biography/incarnations (http://www.tbiusa.org/trijangdorjechang/biography/incarnations)
Former incarnations of Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang
Indian Masters:
Buddhapalita (470–550 ce) was one of the masters who clarified the Madhyamika Prasangika (the Middle Way) philosophical system. Among his best-known works are his commentaries to the Mulamadhyamaka of the great Nagarjuna, who explained the meaning of more than a hundred reasonings that Chandrakirti and then Je Tsongkhapa would take up at a later date.
Dignaga (sixth century ce) was a disciple of Vasubandhu. Using reasonings as the base, he founded the branch of the Cittamatra or Mind Only school.
Candrakirti (c. 600-650 ce) was, after Nagarjuna, the greatest Madhyamaka philosopher; he was a monk at the renowned Nalanda Monastic University in India and developed the Madhyamaka Prasangika system of philosophy.
Santaraksita (eighth century) was a Bengali of princely origin. He founded the Yogacara Svatantrika-Madhyamaka system. He was invited to Tibet by King Trisong Detsen and there played a decisive role. He founded Samye Monastery, modeled after the Monastic University of Odantapuri in India. It was he who ordained the first Tibetan monks and organized the Tibetan monastic system following the Vinaya (monastic discipine).
Atisa Dipamkara Srijnana (980–1054) was a Bengali of princely origin. He was Abbot of the Monastic University of Vikramasila. Almost a century after Santaraksita, he too was invited to Tibet, where he played a key role, sparking the renewal of Buddhism’s second dissemination there. In Tibet he corrected many erroneous practices such as separating the practices of Sutra and Tantra. He also wrote a large number of works, the best known of which is the Bodhipathapradipam or Light on the Path to Enlightenment (Tib: byang chub lam gyi sgron ma). He was famous for his extraordinary spiritual accomplishments, including the precious mind of bodhicitta, which he achieved under the guidance of his master Suvarnadvipa Guru or in Tibetan Lama Serlingpa. This master’s kindness and teachings shine even today. The spiritual practices at the heart of the four Tibetan Buddhist schools—Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, and Gelug—continue to be based on his precious teachings.
Tibetan Masters
Ra Lotsawa Dorje Drag (twelfth century), one of the greatest Tibetan translators of Buddhist works written from Sanskrit.
Geshe Lang-ri Thangpa Dorje Senge (1054–1123) was a Kadampa master who spread the teaching and practice known as “lojong,” which in Tibetan means “mind training.” Among others works, he wrote Mind Training in Eight Verses (Tib: blo sbyong tshig brgyad ma)
Eighth Karmapa Mikyö Dorje (1507–1554) was head of the Karma Kagyu school. He was a very great master, famous as much for his erudition as for his practice.
Zurchen Chöying Rangdröl (1604–1669) was a Nyingmapa master, and one of the Fifth Dalai Lama Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso’s masters.
Masters of the Gelugpa School
Tri Mönlam Pelwa (1414–1491) was the eighth Ganden Tripa, that is, Je Tsongkhapa’s successor and supreme head of the Gelugpa school.
Tri Jangchub Chöpel (1756–1838), was the sixty-ninth Ganden Tripa and the first master who went by the name of “Trijang”, combining the syllables “Tri” and “Jang” from Jangchub.
Tri Lobsang Tsultrim Palden (1838–1900), eighty-fifth Ganden Tripa, second Trijang Rinpoche.
Sources: Memoirs of H. H. Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, Gashar, 2000.
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Lineages and the history of Trijang Rinpoche, are a great way to prove the truth behind Dorje Shugden's practice. I admire your train of though in saying that:
If Trijang Rinpoche really made a mistake, then the whole Gelug system should be closed down, Dharma texts burnt, monks and nuns disrobed...because the whole system is based on Dignaga, Candrakirti, Atisha's teachings, so if these masters were teaching the right thing back then, but suddenly when they reincarnated as Trijang Rinpoche he made a mistake, then it is a very scary thought because then we don't know what teachings taught by Dignaga, Candrakirti, Atisha could also be wrong.
So yes, i fully believe that lineages hold the key, and we should spread these lineages to let the truth prevail
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So it cannot be that the incarnation of Atisha suddenly degenerated and made such big blunder as promoting a demon practise Dorje Shugden, if he is really that unenlightened, then forget about Dignaga, Candrakirti, Atisha...who were of the same mindstream as Trijang Rinpoche, then we might as well forget about the whole Buddhism thing and convert to other religion.
If Trijang Rinpoche really made a mistake, then the whole Gelug system should be closed down, Dharma texts burnt, monks and nuns disrobed...because the whole system is based on Dignaga, Candrakirti, Atisha's teachings, so if these masters were teaching the right thing back then, but suddenly when they reincarnated as Trijang Rinpoche he made a mistake, then it is a very scary thought because then we don't know what teachings taught by Dignaga, Candrakirti, Atisha could also be wrong.
If Dignaga, Candrakirti, Atisha's teachings have brought many practitioners to enlightenment, then the teachings are flawless, which means Dignaga, Candrakirti, Atisha are flawless, which means Trijang Rinpoche who is their incarnation is flawless, which again means Trijang Rinpoche's teaching including Dorje Shugden is flawless.
Even a 5th grader can understand such simply logic, ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER?
Namdrol, Thank you very much for this post. I am a great fan of Trijang Rinpoche and I have always had him close to my heart. I am not his student but I do know he is not ordinary as there are TOO much evidence that shows he is very special and attained.
What you mentioned above is so true. Now, all incarnations must follow logic e.g. the same mind-stream must be maintained and cannot detour into something totally different in its essence. Therefore if Trijang Rinpoche's incarnation is not right then this "error" can also apply to all incarnations including that of HH. Thus, all Tibetan High Lama are wrong. Why must we be selective?
Just before this, I was reading a forum post on The Vajrayoigini Transmission Lineage Originating from Naropa and Unbroken (http://www.dorjeshugden.com/forum/index.php?topic=1658.0 (http://www.dorjeshugden.com/forum/index.php?topic=1658.0)). If Trijang Rinpoche incarnation is wrong because he prays to "the demon" Shugden, then this is wrong also. How can that be?
This is what I like about this forum and the information available, it makes you thinks and you just do not developed blind faith towards Shugden but faith which are based on facts and logic, which at the end of the day is unwavered.
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Lineages and the history of Trijang Rinpoche, are a great way to prove the truth behind Dorje Shugden's practice. I admire your train of though in saying that:
If Trijang Rinpoche really made a mistake, then the whole Gelug system should be closed down, Dharma texts burnt, monks and nuns disrobed...because the whole system is based on Dignaga, Candrakirti, Atisha's teachings, so if these masters were teaching the right thing back then, but suddenly when they reincarnated as Trijang Rinpoche he made a mistake, then it is a very scary thought because then we don't know what teachings taught by Dignaga, Candrakirti, Atisha could also be wrong.
So yes, i fully believe that lineages hold the key, and we should spread these lineages to let the truth prevail
I love love love the above quote. People from the 'other side' always denounce that the previous lives of Dorje Shugden's incarnations are not the Great Panchen Sonam Drakpa, an illustrious master of Gaden, Drepung and Sera. But if you read this biography of HH Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, you will be enthralled and ask, how could all these high incarnations be wrong?
How could Trijang Rinpoche possibly identified that Dorje Shugden as a Buddha but the rest of the HHDL world claims for him to be a spirit?
I think it is high time these people were taught the basics of analytical meditation and focus out not on the beautiful facets of the enlightened mind.
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If Trijang Rinpoche really made a mistake, then the whole Gelug system should be closed down, Dharma texts burnt, monks and nuns disrobed...because the whole system is based on Dignaga, Candrakirti, Atisha's teachings, so if these masters were teaching the right thing back then, but suddenly when they reincarnated as Trijang Rinpoche he made a mistake, then it is a very scary thought because then we don't know what teachings taught by Dignaga, Candrakirti, Atisha could also be wrong.
The best statement on this issue. I love the way this issue being forwarded by Namdrol.
It is not complicated at all. For sure we cannot disregard all the illustrious high lamas who were the previous incarnations of Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang. Unless of course if we don't believe in the theory of incarnations.
If the previous incarnations were recognised as highly attained then the current incarnation will have exactly the same attainment. As such, if they cannot be making silly mistake like worshiping unenlightened spirit, so does the current incarnation Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang.
Rightly said by Namdrol, it is very scary thought if we do not believe in this incarnation then there is no basis for us to believe in the authenticity of the pure lineage of all Tibetan Buddhism traditions.
Personally, I believe there should be a purpose for this issue and it should be for the benefits of spreading dharma to all.
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No wonder he was so intelligent and Dharma came naturally to him. Sometimes when reading stories of his previous lives, I wonder how did he has so much faith in Dharma, while for me I have to struggle so hard to build my conviction - so much doubt and skepticism. It's only by miracle that I am still in Dharma.
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I was lucky to come across Kyabjye Trijang Rinpoche's namtar. He was always pleased to share the spread the dharma and he disliked visiting all the places of interest that the Chinese tried to brainwash him on. And he taught continuously non stop all the time. I doubt any robot these days could carry on the way Trijang Dorje Chang, this is a mark of a compassionate being always giving support to others and also teachings. If Trijang Rinpoche can be wrong then I dont want to be a Buddhist anymore, then the entire lineage, teachings of the Buddha can be questioned and doubted as there is an unbroken lineage of dharma from Shakyamuni to the great Gelug lamas of these days.
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Lineages and the history of Trijang Rinpoche, are a great way to prove the truth behind Dorje Shugden's practice. I admire your train of though in saying that:
If Trijang Rinpoche really made a mistake, then the whole Gelug system should be closed down, Dharma texts burnt, monks and nuns disrobed...because the whole system is based on Dignaga, Candrakirti, Atisha's teachings, so if these masters were teaching the right thing back then, but suddenly when they reincarnated as Trijang Rinpoche he made a mistake, then it is a very scary thought because then we don't know what teachings taught by Dignaga, Candrakirti, Atisha could also be wrong.
So yes, i fully believe that lineages hold the key, and we should spread these lineages to let the truth prevail
I love love love the above quote. People from the 'other side' always denounce that the previous lives of Dorje Shugden's incarnations are not the Great Panchen Sonam Drakpa, an illustrious master of Gaden, Drepung and Sera. But if you read this biography of HH Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, you will be enthralled and ask, how could all these high incarnations be wrong?
How could Trijang Rinpoche possibly identified that Dorje Shugden as a Buddha but the rest of the HHDL world claims for him to be a spirit?
I think it is high time these people were taught the basics of analytical meditation and focus out not on the beautiful facets of the enlightened mind.
I absolutely agree with this 200%! As we all know, the transmission of budda's teachings dated all the way back from Buddha Shakyamuni time, from one master to another and to another, which we refer to as "lineage". As practitioners, we should hold sacred everything passed down to us as this forms the basis of all buddha teachings.
To revoke something that has been passed down, as in the case of Dorje Shugden's protector practice by HH Dalai Lama, is like saying any lama in the future can also do the same. Dalai Lama might have done this for a specific reason beyond our normal comprehension now, but as buddhist practitioners, we should exercise our analytical thinking and contemplate deeper on this issue like what Harrynephew has brought up.
If Dorje Shugden is such an evil as portrayed by the pro-Dalai Lama camp, then Trijang Rinpoche wouldn't even re-incarnate back now, anyone who practices Dorje Shugden should go to hell, no??
Look at this video of the current Trijang Chocktrul Rinpoche in his center in Vermont....may he soon show the world his true potential.
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The incomparable and highly revered guru of all gurus, Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche’s teachings comes from a pure, authentic and proven lineage that can be traced back to Buddha Shakyamuni himself.
Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche cannot be wrong about Dorje Shugden! Simply illogical! If Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche is wrong, then Buddha Shakyamuni is also wrong. If the anti-Shugden camp is saying Buddha Shakyamuni is wrong, then why are they still on the path?
Stop being a Gelugpa if you do not believe in Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche. There is no basis to practise the teachings anymore! Like Namdrol had said, the whole Gelug system has to be abandoned because its teachings is tainted and will not work anymore.
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The incomparable and highly revered guru of all gurus, Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche’s teachings comes from a pure, authentic and proven lineage that can be traced back to Buddha Shakyamuni himself.
Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche cannot be wrong about Dorje Shugden! Simply illogical! If Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche is wrong, then Buddha Shakyamuni is also wrong. If the anti-Shugden camp is saying Buddha Shakyamuni is wrong, then why are they still on the path?
Stop being a Gelugpa if you do not believe in Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche. There is no basis to practise the teachings anymore! Like Namdrol had said, the whole Gelug system has to be abandoned because its teachings is tainted and will not work anymore.
I agree with you 100%. Look at Trijang Rinpoche's line of incarnations? He was Atisha!!! So if Trijang Rinpoche is banned, then you might as well ban the entire Gelug lineage! The Lam Rim is based on Atisha's Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment. The teachings MUST be evil! Otherwise, why would Trijang Rinpoche advocate Dorje Shugden's practice? Trijang Rinpoche must have evil intentions!
There are so much evidence that show the contradiction created for banning Dorje Shugden. Nothing makes sense from this ban!!!
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The incomparable and highly revered guru of all gurus, Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche’s teachings comes from a pure, authentic and proven lineage that can be traced back to Buddha Shakyamuni himself.
Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche cannot be wrong about Dorje Shugden! Simply illogical! If Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche is wrong, then Buddha Shakyamuni is also wrong. If the anti-Shugden camp is saying Buddha Shakyamuni is wrong, then why are they still on the path?
Stop being a Gelugpa if you do not believe in Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche. There is no basis to practise the teachings anymore! Like Namdrol had said, the whole Gelug system has to be abandoned because its teachings is tainted and will not work anymore.
I agree with you 100%. Look at Trijang Rinpoche's line of incarnations? He was Atisha!!! So if Trijang Rinpoche is banned, then you might as well ban the entire Gelug lineage! The Lam Rim is based on Atisha's Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment. The teachings MUST be evil! Otherwise, why would Trijang Rinpoche advocate Dorje Shugden's practice? Trijang Rinpoche must have evil intentions!
There are so much evidence that show the contradiction created for banning Dorje Shugden. Nothing makes sense from this ban!!!
That is so TRUE! And if Atisha is wrong... Buddhism in Tibet would be wrong! Then everything we are learning today is wrong anyway. He was responsible for reintroducing pure Buddhism into Tibet.
Although Buddhism had been introduced into Tibet some two hundred years earlier by Padmasambhava and Shantarakshita, Buddhist practice in the country had largely been destroyed during the anti-Buddhist purges of the Tibetan king, Lang Darma (circa 836 AD), a follower of Bön, the pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet.
Invited by Jangchub Ö, a ruler of Ngari in western Tibet, Atisha was asked to present a Dharma that everybody could follow and that would show how all the paths of Sutra and Tantra could be practiced together.
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(http://shargadenpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Trijang-Choktrul-Rinpoche.jpg)
Trijang Choktrul Rinpoche
Trijang Choktrul Rinpoche - A Continuation
Trijang Chocktrul Rinpoche (born October 15, 1981) is the current reincarnation of the late Kyabje Yongdzin Trijang Dorjechang, who was the junior tutor and spiritual guide of the 14th Dalai Lama.
Trijang Chocktrul spent much of his early life at Rabten Choeling in Switzerland, and has spent most of his adult life in Northfield, Vermont, where he founded the Trijang Buddhist Institute to promote the spread of Tibetan Buddhism. Kyabje Trijang Chocktrul Rinpoche’s “foremost desire is to continue the legacy of his revered predecessor, Kyabje Trijang Dorjechang”
(http://shargadenpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/kyabje_trijang.jpg)
Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang
Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang - A Legacy
Trijang Rinpoche’s father, Tserin Dondrub, was descended from the uncle of the 7th Dalai Lama, Losang Kelsang Gyatso, and was knowledgeable in religion. His mother, Tsering Drolma, came from the village of Gungtang Nanggong. Trijang Rinpoche was born in Gungtang in the winter of 1901, the “Year of Increase” or the “Iron Bull year”. Allegedly, an apricot tree flowered and had 30 apricots at his birth even though it was deep winter. Before he could walk, he showed great interest in religious paintings, statues, and Tantric ritual implements; and would make as if he was reciting prayers.
When news of his precocious actions reached Ngarampa Losang Tendar and Geshe Gendun Dragpa Chen, who were responsible for finding the reincarnation of Losang Tsultrim Palden, who was the Ganden Tripa and former Trijang Rinpoche, they travelled to his birth place of Gungtang. When the child saw them, he yelled out: “Gendun Dragpa!” and later asked him to wash his feet. Gendun Dragpa used to wash the feet of Losang Tsultrim Palden when he had rheumatism. The child also correctly identified the former Trijang Rinpoche’s private Buddha statue, rosary and bowl from among a selection. This and other signs led the search party to conclude that they had probably found the correct incarnation. Upon being given a list of names of several boys who had shown encouraging signs, the 13th Dalai Lama said:
“It would be best to recognize the boy born to the Gungtang girl Tsering Drolma in the Iron Bull year as the reincarnation of the former occupant of the Ganden throne.”
He was invited by the 13th Dalai Lama to the Lhasa Trijang residence in 1904, at the age of 3. He quickly and easily learnt to read, study and comprehend what he was taught, from the alphabet onward.
In 1906, aged 5, he moved to the Trijang Residence at Chusang Ritroe, where he met Pabongka Rinpoche. From him he received his first teaching, Set of Initiations into Manjushri from the Secret Lineage of Tsongkhapa. Pabongka Rinpoche took great delight in caring for the young child. Their strong connection was to last a lifetime and he became Pabongka Rinpoche’s closest disciple.
In 1907, aged 6, he went to Gepel Ling Monastery at Reteng, the birthplace of the Kadampa teachings. There he took the five lay Pratimoksha vows and the ten novice vows of a monk, receiving the name Losang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso Pelsangpo. He then memorized many Buddhist texts, including over half of Madhyamakavatara by Chandrakirti, and analyzed their meaning. Later that year he visited Ganden monastery, and was received by the Shartse and Jangste abbots, whom he apparently recognized, along with the main temple, without introduction.
He spent the next 12 years studying the classical texts for the Geshe degree — Pramanavartika, Madhyamaka, Prajnaparamita, Vinaya and Abhidharmakosha — principally according to the textbooks by Panchen Sonam Dragpa. He also studied the collected works of Je Tsongkhapa, the 1st Dalai Lama, and the Panchen Lama Chokyi Gyaltsen. At Ganden, he would debate all night outdoors in the bitter cold, even though it meant his hands would chap so badly that they would crack and bleed. He was the top student in his class. In 1908, he received Kalachakra initiation from Serkong Rinpoche, as well as empowerments into Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani. Later he received empowerments of Guhyasamaja, Yamantaka, Heruka and Vajrayogini. He also continued to receive instructions and initiations from Pabongkha Rinpoche, including the Collected Works of Gyalwa Ensapa, the Collected Works of Panchen Chokyi Gyaltsen, and a Guru yoga of Je Tsongkhapa called Ganden Lha Gya Ma (“Hundreds of Deities of the Joyful Land”). He received the “Empowerment into the Six Ways to Revolve the Chakras of Heruka” (including the full initiation costume of bone ornaments) as well as all the Action Tantra empowerments from Khyenrab Yonten Gyatso, the 88th Ganden Tripa, in 1915, aged 14. In 1916, aged 15, he studied the complete Tibetan grammar and from then on composed thousands of acrostic verses, such as:
“Ah Friends! While the spittle drools from the Death Lord’s smile.
Bleaching your head as white as falling snow.
Could this tedious life yield aught but chaff?
Dharma from my Guru is what I’ll practice!”
He also composed chants for spiritual practices and ceremonies and scores for their music for use by Ganden Shartse monastery.
When he was 9 he contracted smallpox and did long-life retreat. The illness did not become serious.
He was a learned scholar and master debator. In 1919, when he was only 18, he debated before the Geshes of the three major Gelugpa monasteries for his final examination. They had wondered if he would be intellectually up to the task because he was so young and had not studied for very long, but they ended up "praising him to the skies" for the answers he gave. The 13th Dalai Lama awarded him third place, and he received the highest Geshe degree, the Lharampa.
Shortly afterward he received the 253 ordination vows of a fully-ordained monk from the 13th Dalai Lama. He was admitted to the Upper Tantric College, Gyuto, in 1919, where he studied the Root Tantra of Heruka and its commentary by Je Tsongkhapa, Illuminating all Hidden Meanings (Tib. Be dön kun säl).
From the ages of 20 to 22, Trijang Rinpoche received many teachings and empowerments from his root Guru Je Phabongkhapa, including the initiation into the sindhura mandala of Vajrayogini according to Naropa, the Heruka body mandala empowerment according to Ghantapa, teachings on Lama Chopa (Offering to the Spiritual Guide), Gelugpa Mahamudra, the Lamrim Chenmo (great stages of the path) by Je Tsongkhapa and Seven Points of Training the Mind by Geshe Chekhawa.
After being at the Tantric College for one year, he went to Chatreng in Kham province where he listened to more teachings and in all his spare time engaged in meditative retreat on these Deities, including Yamantaka, Heruka Five Deities, Vajrayogini, Hayagriva and Avalokiteshvara. He also did his preliminary practices (Tib. ngon dro) of purifying the mind and accumulating merit in conjunction with Lama Chopa; and he meditated on Lamrim and Lojong (training the mind).
In 1924, when he was 23, Geshe Yonten of Ganden Shartse College requested him to teach. He gave the oral transmission of the Collected Works of Je Tsongkhapa and His Main Disciples to about 200 monks, followed later by granting the empowerment of Vajrayogini according to Naropa to about 60 Lamas, incarnate Lamas and monks. He was then invited by Artog Tulku of Sera Je Monastery to give empowerments of Heruka Five Deities and Hayagriva to about 200 people. In Chatreng, aged 24, he taught Lamrim to 2,000 monks and lay people and gave Avalokiteshvara empowerment. He also taught extensively on the practice of Guru Puja (Lama Chopa). He then received an invitiation to give empowerments of Guhyasamaja, Avalokiteshvara and Vajrayogini at Gangkar Monastery.
From the ages of 24 to 27, he travelled and taught extensively at many Gelugpa places of learning all over Tibet, becoming increasingly well known and teaching many thousands of monastics and lay people. He also taught at Sakyapa and Nyingmapa Centers at their request.[6] He travelled west and gave Avalokiteshvara empowerment and teachings on Lamrim to about 3,000 monks at Jampa Ling monastery in Litang, as well as most of the local people. In the foothills of Kambo, a place sacred to Chakrasamvara, he granted initiation and led a long retreat.
In 1928, aged 27, he returned to Chatreng, and was invited by the Tantrists of Chagra Gang to give initiations into the Peaceful Form of Padmasambhava and the Six Forms of Padmasambhava According to the Old Concealed Texts. He also encouraged and helped them to repair the Chagra temple.
On his return to Lhasa later that year, he continued to visit monasteries to grant initiations and teachings, including the valleys and plains of Gyaltang. According to the author of Gangkar Rinpoche’s secret biography, Gangkar Rinpoche at this time had a vision of Trijang Rinpoche as being the reincarnation of Padmasambhava; and he performed ceremonies in his honor and presented a large number of offerings, including a sacred Heruka statue.
When he reached Lhasa he had audiences with the 13th Dalai Lama and Pabongkha Rinpoche and made offerings of silver coins, grain and tea to all the monks of Ganden. He also set up a fund for the monks. The following year, aged 28, he also donated gifts to all those attending Monlam, the Great Prayer Festival; and made many offerings to the Tantric colleges.
During the next few years, until 1932, he received profound teachings from Pabongkha Rinpoche, including the oral instructions of many secret Gelugpa lineages; and he also engaged in Tantric retreats. In 1932 he gave more extensive teachings at Ganden Shartse and Jangste monasteries.
In 1933, the 13th Dalai Lama died, and Trijang Rinpoche helped Ling Rinpoche and other great Lamas from Sera monastery and Namgyal monastery consecrate the body and the reliquary. In 1936, aged 35, he granted Heruka empowerment to the monks of Ganden monastery and then made a tour of the southern district of Tibet to make offerings and give teachings. He also continued to receive instructions from Pabongka Rinpoche and made extensive offerings to Shartse and Jangtse colleges at Ganden.
After attending Je Phabongkhapa’s teachings on Lamrim Chenmo at Ganden monastery, in 1939 Trijang Rinpoche toured pilgrimage sites in India and Nepal, making extensive offerings at each place. He then went to give teachings and empowerments on Heruka, Guhyasamaja, Yamantaka, Vajrayogini and Guru Puja at Dungkar Monastery in Dromo, and on his return he visited important sites in Tsang, including Tashi Lhunpo Monastery. In 1940 he taught the Guru Puja and Gelugpa Mahamudra to senior monks of Ganden Jangtse. In 1941 he continued to receive teachings from Je Phabongkhapa.
He also taught the 14th Dalai Lama extensively as his Junior Tutor.
From 1960 onward, while in exile in India, he continued to teach and initiate the Dalai Lama and many other disciples, including granting Vajrayogini empowerment in Dharamsala, and many teachings and empowerments at the newly located monasteries in Buxa, the Tantric colleges in Dalhousie, and a Tibetan monastery in Varanasi. In 1967 he taught Hundreds of Deities of the Joyful Land (the Guru yoga of Je Tsongkhapa according to the Segyu lineage) to hundreds of students in Dharamsala, and in 1970 he gave similar teachings in Bodh Gaya. In 1969, he gave the major empowerment of Heruka according to Luipa to around 1,000 people at the request of the Tantric colleges. In the Fall of 1971, he visited Mysore in the south of India at the request of the monks of the three major monasteries who had settled in the Tibetan camp at Mundgod, and gave extensive teachings and initiations to the monks and to lay people, and ordained hundreds of young monks. At that time he also made offerings to the Sangha and donated statues of Je Tsongkhapa and his Two Sons to the main temple of Ganden, along with tangkhas. In 1972 he gave Vajrayogini empowerment and teachings in Dharamsala to 800 monastics and lay people and in Bodhgaya. Later that year he taught at the Tibetan Studies Institute in Varanasi, and the following year he gave empowerments into Heruka and Vajrayogini to 700 people at the Tibetan monastery there.
He and the senior tutor Ling Rinpoche would also exchange teachings and initiations. In 1969 he taught Ling Rinpoche the Lamrim Chenmo, and in 1970 he granted him Yamantaka empowerment. In return, in 1970 he received from Ling Rinpoche the Action Tantra empowerment of Vairochana and also teachings on Lamrim Chenmo. In 1972 he gave Ling Rinpoche teachings on the Guru Puja and Yamantaka, and in return received a teaching on tormas (ritual offerings) to Yamantaka.
Although respected by Lamas in all Tibetan Buddhist schools, and even invited by them to give teachings and initiations, Trijang Rinpoche taught primarily from the Gelugpa tradition of Je Tsongkhapa. He was also the holder of the Ganden, or Geden, Oral Tradition that was passed to him in its entirety by his root Guru Pabongka Rinpoche. According to Geshe Helmut Gassner, the Dalai Lama’s translator for 17 years and one of only two ordained Western Geshes:
“The great master Pabongka was in the first half of the twentieth century the pivotal or key lineage holder of the Oral Geden Tradition. Many other teachers before him mastered certain aspects of the tradition’s teachings, but it was Pabongka Rinpoche’s particular merit to locate and find all these partial transmissions, to learn and realize them, and bring them together once again to pass them on through a single person. In his lifetime there was hardly a significant figure of the Geden tradition who had not been Pabongka Rinpoche’s disciple. Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche was the one capable of receiving and passing on the entirety of the Oral Geden Tradition once again. The Dorje Shugden practice is an integral part of that tradition.”
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Here's the biography of Ra Lotsawa. He apparently killed Marpa's son and 13 other Tantric masters with his tantric power. The transmission of Yamantaka that we have today comes from Ra Lotsawa.
Ra Lots?wa Dorje Drakpa b.1016 - d.1198?
Name Variants: Dorje Drak; Ralo Dorje Drakpa
Ra Lots?wa Dorje Drak (rwa lo tsA ba rdo rje grags) was born in 1016, in Nyenam, in a place called Nangyul (snye nam / gnya' nang snang yul), on one of the most important Nepali-Tibetan trade routes. His father was Raton Konchok Dorje (rwa ston dkon mchog rdo rje) and his mother was Dorje Peldzom (rdo rje dpal 'dzom). His father was a lineage holder of the Nyingma tradition Yangdak Heruka and Vajrak?la, and he passed these on to his son. According to tradition, soon after birth the goddess Remati took him into her robe and traveled across Tibet for two months.
At the age of fourteen Ralo made his first trip to Kathmandu, arriving in Patan during a period of some political social instability, but great cultural fluorescence. Despite the considerable details of his sojourn there given in the (probably) thirteenth-century hagiography, recent scholarship has shown that little of the information given can be trusted, from the name of the monastery in which he resided to the circumstances of his ordination, where he was given the name Dorje Drak.
Ralo is said to have trained under a master named Bharo, a title given to newly influential members of the merchant class. The Blue Annals gives the teachers name as Bharo Chakdum (bha ro phyag rdum). Bharo was a specialist in the Vajrav?rah? and Vajrabhairava ritual systems, the transmission of which Ralo received during this first visit. According to the hagiography, during this first trip he already displayed his penchant for magical combat, engaging with a Shaivite teacher whose doctrine he insulted, driving the Shaivite to suicide. In addition he trained with a Mahakaruna, a master in Naropa's lineage of disciples. From him he received a number of tantric initiations, including the Cakrasa?vara and the Namasamgiti.
Returning to Tibet, Ralo quickly became enmeshed in clan feuds over property and marriage arrangements, and he used his new magical abilities to do battle with his enemies. Many of his enemies were translators and lamas propagating in competing tantric systems, and Ralo infamously engaged them in combat. Khon Skyakya Lodro ('khon shakya blo gros), a member of the Khon family that would later initiate the Sakya tradition and a holder of the same Yangdak Heruka and Vajrakila lineages, saw in Ralo a serious rival to his influence and survival as a sought-after teacher. He accused Ralo of propagating a non-Buddhist teaching, one that would lead all Tibetans to Hell. According to the hagiography Ralo slew Shakya Lodro with the killing rite of Vajrabhairava, and witnesses saw Vajrabharava in the sky carrying the 58-deity ma??ala of Yandak Heruka as a sign of the Vajrabhairava's superiority. Shakya Lodro's disciples and feudal subjects then became disciples of Ralo.
Later a similar contest arose between him and Langlap Jangchub Dorje (lang lab byang chub rdo rje), another important Vajrakila master. Ralo had gone to pay his respects to the venerable teacher, but Langlap, like Shakya Lodro, dismissed Ralo as a purveyor of non-Buddhist magic. In the ensuing contest, however, Ralo was defeated, his disciples slain by Langlap's superior magic. According to the hagiography Ralo then experienced a vision of Tara, who sent him to Nepal for further instructions from Bharo and other Nepali masters. Upon his return to Tibet he once again engaged Langlap, this time emerging victorious and slaying the Nyingma lama.
It was during the second trip south than Ralo is said to have gone to India and ordained at Nalanda.
Ralo claimed to have murdered thirteen lamas. Among them were translator Gyu Monlam Drakpa (rgyus smon lam grags pa), the translator of the Cakrasa?vara Samvarodaya Tantra, which he had studied in India with Pa??ita Zhenpen (paN Di ta gzhan phan), Go Lots?wa Kukpa Letse ('gos lo tsA ba khug pa lhas brtses), the translator of the Guhyasam?ja, and Marpa Chokyi Lodro's (mar pa chos kyi blo 'gros) son Dharma Dode (dar ma mdo sde).
In addition to challenging rivals to competing tantric systems, Ralo spent his wealth renovating temples in southern Tsang and Lhato, including Samye, Tibet's first monastery, which had been damaged by fire in 986. He also sponsored translations, the copying and recitations of scripture, and the installation of statues.
Ralo is known to have attended the famous religious council of 1076, convened by the Purang King Tside (rtse lde), for translators working on new texts and new versions of scripture from India. There Ralo met Nyen Lots?wa Darma Drak (gnyan lo tsA ba dar ma grags), who accompanied Ralo to India. The two later fell out, and slayed each other in magical combat.
His biography...is pretty dramatic. Sounds like an action movie, but it is very interesting as it provides with many lingering questions: why did he kill those people? Is it due to them making incorrect translations?
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Trijang Rinpoche is a legacy especially to all Shugden worshippers. A heart student of the great Pabongka Rinpoche who noted His Guru's Lamrin teachings and wrote the book which is now a must study in the Gelug tradition.
A lot of research and written in this article, must read to know our lineage masters in detail and their greatness .
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Dondrup Shugden, I agree with you that it is very important for us to learn of our lineage masters in detail. By doing this, we are able to have a clear understanding of our practice and would not be swayed by baseless allegations.
Now that His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche is back here amongst us is proof of his attainments thereby rubbishing the allegations from the CTA that Shugden is a spirit.
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I agreed on the important of lineage. Lineage is the guarantee authenticity of teachings. Lineage is a sacred trust through which the integrity of Buddha's teachings is preserved intact as it is transmitted from one generation to the next. The important link through which the spiritual tradition is maintained is the profound connection between an enlightened master and perfectly devoted disciple.
Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche is the junior tutor of the 14th Dalai Lama. If Trijang Rinpoche can be wrong on the practice of Dorje Shugden, then other teachings from Trijang Rinpoche can be wrong too. Dalai Lama might have received wrong teachings from Trijang Rinpoche. This is very scary. If these wrong teachings continue to spread and all of us will not be able to attain enlightenment. We will stuck in samsara forever.
If Dorje Shugden is a spirit, whoever that practice Dorje Shugden should end up in the lower realms. But Trijang Rinpoche and many highly attained that practice Dorje Shugden has reincarnated back to benefit others. Can Dorje Sugden be a spirit? It does not make sense right?