Khen Rinpoche, Geshe Lharampa, ex-Abbot Sera Monastery

Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche Dechen Nyingpo and his classmate, Gyelrong Sharpa Choje—known as Jangsem Choje Lobsang Nyima—went together very often to debate when they were at their monastery. Indeed, both of them became Geshes.

Later Jangsem Choje Lobsang Nyima entered Gyu Me Tantric College and became a great scholar. He proceeded to become gi-go, an administrator, as I did, then Lama Umdze, then Abbot, and finally almost reached the position of Ganden Tripa.

Pabongka Rinpoche Kyabje Dechen Nyingpo’s life proceeded in another direction such that he was later to become a very famous teacher of Sutra and Tantra, especially of the Lam Rim (Stages of the Path to Enlightenment) tradition. Whenever he taught, many people came from miles and miles around to attend his teachings. Everybody said he was an unbelievable expert on all subjects.

Later, when Lobsang Nyima had learned that Kyabje Dechen Nyingpo was going to be in nearby Chusang Ritro, his curiousity piqued from having heard so much relating to Kyabje Pabongka’s fame coming from all quarters, he decided to visit him and so he brought along a pot of excellent yogurt as a gift for Rinpoche.

During that visit they met for a long time discussing many points on numerous topics. Since Kyabje Pabongka had answered every one of his questions so thoroughly, Lobsang Nyima couldn’t argue with him at all on any of the points.

Upon his return, when others asked about the visit he remarked:

“When we were on the debate ground at Sera Mey, Kyabje Dechen Nyingpo wasn’t an expert at debate by any means. At the time I didn’t think he had learned very much. But now I understand that his way of studying and mine went in different directions.

For instance, when we debated, I for my part, would apply reasons and quotations to back up my arguments, all the time focusing on the other debater. But Kyabje Pabongka, for his part, when studying, asking questions, giving answers, reciting quotations, giving reasons, everything, would focus all of these on himself, applying them to his own mind.

Therefore, by using such a method, there is no way to argue with him on any of the points since he has mastered them all.”

January 9, 2010 by truthaboutshugden (extracted from http://truthaboutshugden.wordpress.com)

Meeting Je Pabongka…

Je Pabongka Rinpoche

It was in his private quarters at the Tashi Chuling hermitage that I first met Pabongka. He had been away on an extended teaching tour in eastern Tibet, and just returned. I was still the wild teenager and had been stuck with the distasteful job of nyerpa for Gyalrong House — this means I was a kind of quartermaster and had to make sure there was enough firewood and food to keep the house kitchen going for several hundred monks.Since the Rinpoche was a member of Gyalrong, we were supposed to send a committee over to the hermitage to welcome him back and present him gifts. As nyerpa I was expected to arrange some supplies and help carry them along.

In private conversation Pabongka Rinpoche was in the habit of constantly attaching “Quite right! Quite right!” to everything he said. So I distinctly remember when I came into his presence, and he put his hand on my head, and he said “Quite right! Quite right! Now this one looks like a bright boy!”

From that day on I felt as though I had received his blessing, and some special power to pursue my studies.

On the Power of Je Pabongkha’s speech…

…The effects on his audience were striking and immediate. I remember particularly the case of Dapon Tsago, a member of the nobility who held a powerful position equivalent to Minister of Defense. Public teachings in Tibet were as much social as religious affairs, and aristocrats would show up in their best finery, often it seemed not to hear the dharma but rather to put in an appearance.

So one day this great general marches in to the hall, decked out in silk, his long hair flowing in carefully tailored locks (this was considered manly and high fashion in old Tibet). A great ceremonial sword hung from his belt, clanging importantly as he swaggered in.

By the end of the first section of the teaching he was seen leaving the hall quietly, deep in thought—he had wrapped his weapon of war in a cloth to hide it, and was taking it home.

Later on we could see he had actually trimmed off his warrior’s locks, and finally one day he threw himself before the Rinpoche and asked to be granted the special lifetime religious vows for laymen. Thereafter he always followed Pabongka Rinpoche around, to every public teaching he gave.

On Je Pabongka’s meditation hermitage…..

Jetsun Khen Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Tharchin

The Rinpoche had never spent much time at the small monastery atop the Pabongka rock, and his fame soon reached such proportions that the Ngakpa College of Sera Monastery offered him a large retreat complex on the hillside above Pabongka.

The name of this hermitage was Tashi Chuling, or “Auspicious Spiritual Isle.” There were some sixty Buddhist monks in residence there, and as I remember about sixteen personal attendants who helped the Lama with his pressing schedule: two monk-secretaries, a manager for finances, and so on.

The Rinpoche would divide his time between his quarters here and a small meditation cell built around the mouth of a cave, further up the side of the mountain. The cave was known as Takden, and it was here that Pabongka Rinpoche would escape for long periods to do his private practice and meditations.

The central chamber had a high vaulted ceiling, so high that the light of a regular fire-torch could not even reach it, and the darkness seemed to go up forever. In the center of the ceiling there was an odd natural triangle in the rock, which looked exactly like the outer shape of one of the mystic worlds described in our secret teachings.

In the corner of this wonderful cave, an underground spring flowed froma rock—and above it was another natural drawing, this one just like the third eye that we see painted on the forehead of one of our female Buddhas.

Buddhist “Angel”

By the way, this “third eye” you hear about is  largely metaphorical, and stands for the spiritual understanding in one’s heart. We believed the cave was home for a dakini—sort of a Buddhist angel—because people often said they saw a wondrous lady come from the cave, but no one had ever seen her enter.

March 12, 2009 by truthaboutshugden (extracted from http://truthaboutshugden.wordpress.com)

Khen Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Tharchin

Khen Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Tharchin was born in Lhasa, Tibet in 1921 and entered Sera Monastery there at an early age. He proceeded through the rigorous 25-year programme of monastic studies under the guidance of Pabongka Rinpoche and Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche.

Upon successful completion of public examination by the best scholars of the day, Rinpoche was awarded the highest degree of Lharampa Geshe (Doctor of Theology) with honours, and is one of the last living Lharampa Geshes educated in Tibet. He proved to be the best debater of his graduation year in all of Tibet, making him the “First among the First.”

Khen Rinpoche then entered Gyu Mey Tantric College, where he completed its course of advanced tantric studies and attained a high-ranking administrative position. In 1959 Rinpoche escaped from Tibet into India along with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He became actively involved in resettlement, and compiled a series of textbooks used in the Tibetan refugee schools.

Khen Rinpoche came to the United States in 1972 and became Abbot of Rashi Gempil Ling Temple in New Jersey. After going to South India in 1991 and serving as Abbot of Sera Mey monastery for some time, he returned to the United States. Khen Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Tharchin was a lifetime director and an abbot emeritus of Sera Mey monastery. Khen Rinpoche passed on from this life on Je Tsongkapa Day, Dec. 7, 2004.

Like Ribur Rinpoche, Khen Rinpoche was an actual disciple of Je Pabongka, so his words are very precious, giving us a direct impression of this extraordinary master…
(From the Forward to The Principal Teachings of Buddhism by Tsongkhapa, with a commentary by Pabongka Rinpoche, translated by Geshe Lobsang Tharchin, Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Press, 1998, all emphasis and formatting mine…)

…the sage foretold that if the child were placed in Gyalrong House, something wonderful would happen with him in the future.

It was at this time that the glorious Pabongka Rinpoche, the author of the commentary you are about to read, came into my life. Like me, he had as a young man taken his course of studies at the Sera Mey College of Sera Monastery; in fact, he was from the same house, Gyalrong. Pabongka Rinpoche was born in 1878, at a town called Tsawa Li in the Yeru Shang district of the state of Tsang, north of Lhasa.

Later on, the youngster was found to be a reincarnation of the Changkya line, which included the illustrious scholar Changkya Rolpay Dorje (1717-1786). The lamas of this line had done much teaching in the regions of Mongolia and China – even in the court of the Chinese emperor himself – and the name “Changkya” had very strong Chinese connotations.

Pabongka Rinpoche

Already in those days the Tibetan government and people were sensitive to the pressures put on us by our powerful neighbour to the east, so the name “Changkya” was ruled out, and the boy declared to be “Pabongka” instead. Pabongka, also known as Parongka, is a large and famous rock-formation about three miles’ walk from our Sera Monastery. The very word “pabong” means in our language a large boulder, or mass of rock.

His family were of the nobility and owned a modest estate called Chappel Gershi. As a child he exhibited unusual qualities and in his seventh year was taken before Sharpa Chuje Lobsang Dargye, one of the leading religious figures of the day. The lama felt sure that the boy must be a reincarnated saint, and even went so far as to examine him to see if he were the rebirth of his own late teacher. He was not, but the sage foretold that if the child were placed in the Gyalrong House of Sera Mey College, something wonderful would happen with him in the future.

Source: 9 March 2009, truthaboutshugden (http://truthaboutshugden.wordpress.com)

Dakpo Gompa- Where Je Pabongka is said to have attained enlightentment

(From the Forward to The Principal Teachings of Buddhism by Tsongkhapa, with a commentary by Pabongka Rinpoche, translated by Geshe Lobsang Tharchin, Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Press, 1998, all emphasis and formatting mine…)

Pabongka Rinpoche was actually the second Pabongka, for it was finally agreed to announce that he had been recognized  as the reincarnation of the Kenpo (or abbot) of the small monastery atop the rock.

For this reason he was sometimes referred to as “Pabongka Kentrul,” or the “reincarnation of the abbot of Pabongka.” Pabongka Rinpoche’s full name, by the way, was Kyabje Pabongkapa Jetsun Jampa Tenzin Trinley Gyatso Pel Sangpo, which translates as the “lord protector, the one from Pabongka, the venerable and glorious master whose name is the Loving One, Keeper of the Buddha’s Teachings, Ocean of the Mighty Deeds of the Buddha.”

He is also popularly known as “Dechen Nyingpo,” which means “Essence of Great Bliss” and refers to his mastery of the secret teachings of Buddhism. We Tibetans feel that it is disrespectful to refer to a great religious leader with what we call his “bare” name—such as “Tsongkapa” or “Pabongka”—but we have tried here to simplify the Tibetan names to help our Western readers.

Pabongka Rinpoche’s career at Sera Mey College was not outstanding; he did finish his geshe degree, but reached only the “lingse” rank, which means that he was examined just at his own monastery and did not go on for one of the higher ranks such as “hlarampa.”

It was only after his graduation fromSera Mey, and the success of his teaching tours through the countryside outside the capital, that Pabongka Rinpoche’s fame started to spread. Gradually he began to build up a huge following and displayed tremendous abilities as a public teacher.

He was not tall (as I remember about my height, and I am only 5′6″), but he was broadchested and seemed to fill the entire teaching throne when he climbed up on it to begin his discourse. His voice was incredibly powerful. On many occasions he would address gatherings of many thousands of people, yet everyone could hear him clearly (in those days in Tibet we had never heard of microphones or loudspeakers).

Part of the trick of course was to pack the audience in Tibetan-style, crosslegged on the floor, with the lama on an elevated platform. Still the audience would flow out onto the porch of the hall, and sit perched above on the roof, watching through the steeple windows.

Khen Rinpoche Lobsang Tharchin

Pabongka Rinpoche had an uncanny ability to relate to his audience, and for this reason he became a teacher for the common man as well as for us monks.

The Rinpoche’s great accomplishment was that he found a way to attract and lead listeners of every level. His most famous weapon was his humor. Public discourses in Tibet could sometimes go on for ten hours or more without a break, and only a great saint could keep his attention up so long. Inevitably part of the audience would start to nod, or fall into some reverie.

Then Pabongka Rinpoche would suddenly relate an amusing story or joke with a useful moral, and send his listeners into peals of laughter. This would startle the day-dreamers, who were always looking around and asking their neighbors to repeat the joke to them.

March 11, 2009 by truthaboutshugden (http://truthaboutshugden.wordpress.com)