Dorje Shugden and Dalai Lama - Spreading Dharma Together » Historical Masters

Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen

admin — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 19:57:24 +0000

TULKU DRAKPA GYELTSEN
(1619 – 1656)

They had banned the search for his reincarnation to this day.

They had dismantled and destroyed his ladrang until not a trace of him remained.

They had even tried to “kill him off” many times over.

This most uncommon lama is none other than Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen.

Now, let us take a good look at the illustrious lineage that this Lama stemmed from, as sourced from – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulku_Drakpa_Gyaltsen

His short “incarnation lineage” includes:

Buton Rinchen Drub (1291-1364)
Panchen Sonam Drakpa (1478-1554)
Sonam Yeshe Wangpo (1556-92)
Sonam Gelek Palzang (1594-1615)
Tulku Dragka Gyaltsen (1619-56)

Here, it is important to highlight that Panchen Sonam Dragpa had been, among other things, a tutor to the 3rd Dalai Lama. Hence, Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen’s incarnation lineage is anything but ordinary. The above lineage tree represents a line of highly attained Lamas or Enlightened Minds.

It was said that after Sonam Gelek Palzang passed away, a very unusual child of about 2 or 3 years of age started speaking and playing ritual instruments. It was also said that rainbows, lights and auspicious signs appeared around the house where this child lived.

At a very tender age, this child could remember his previous lives, recite prayers from memory, and remembered his gurus. It was said that whatever texts you gave this child, he would memorise them instantly. This amazing child was Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen.

By 9 years of age, Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen was writing commentaries and giving teachings.

By 18, he had already meditated in hundreds of caves, and his students said that he could see the yidams directly.

Whenever Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen went to meditate in a cave, people would often gather at the said cave in order to make offerings and receive blessings. The crowds became so overwhelming that Tulku Drakpa could not perform his meditations and had to move from one cave to another. Hence, he moved to hundreds of caves, because he was so sought after even though he was still very young.

It was a well-known fact that Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen was not interested in fame, or to be revered by people or have many students. In fact, he did not want to be worshipped or to become famous, or meet with sponsors etc. However it is due to his extraordinary scholarly knowledge and spiritual practice that people came from far and wide to meet him. Even, the Chinese emperor would send offerings to him and meet with him.

Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen was born during the time when the Tibetan Government was looking for the incarnation of the 4th Dalai Lama. As he showed signs of a most high incarnate Lama when he was put under various tests, he was considered as possible candidate for the 5th Dalai Lama. However, there was another candidate, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, who was also identified as a possible incarnation of the 4th Dalai Lama. Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso eventually was chosen to become the 5th Dalai Lama. The Tibetan Government then recognised Tulku Drakpa as one of the Drakpa lineage and enthroned him as such.

Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen was a contemporary of the 5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso. They were both of the same age and were students of the 4th Panchen Lama, Losang Chokyi Gyeltsen. They studied together, debated with one another and spent quite a lot of time together. They both resided in Drepung monastery. Tulku Drakpa lived in the “Upper House” and the 5th Dalai Lama lived in the “Lower House”. Their ladrangs were named as such due to the actual locations of their household.

At this time, the Potala Palace was not yet built and Tibet was going through a period of unrest. Hence, something was needed desperately to unite the country, the people and strengthen the power of a central government. He was the first Dalai Lama to wield effective political power over central Tibet, and is frequently referred to as the “Great Fifth Dalai Lama”.

This installation of power took place at a politically vulnerable time in Tibet. As such, all perceived threats were considered serious potential threats to the Dalai Lama and they had to be removed immediately.

As Tulku Drakpa’s fame grew, it eclipsed the Dalai Lama’s. Tulku Drakpa was often considered to be more popular because he received more sponsorships and had more students than the 5th Dalai Lama. Many people and royalty from all over Tibet, Mongolia and China would come to pay their respects to Tulku Drakpa, and request teachings from him.

As both Tulku Drakpa and the 5th Dalai Lama both resided in Drepung, the attention Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen was receiving was very obvious to the Dalai Lama’s household. It began to cause a lot of jealousy and tension among the attendants of the 5th Dalai Lama. One in particular was Sonam Rabten / Sonam Chopel. He was the regent during the 5th Dalai Lama’s time and became very concerned about his master’s position in Tibet as he was very devoted to the 5th Dalai Lama. Hence, he believed that something had to be done. This led him to plot the murder of Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen without the Dalai Lama’s knowledge.

Sonam Rabten/Sonam Chopel and his protégé, Norbu, tried to kill Tulku Drakpa many times without any success. They tried to poison him and stab him but all attempts were unsuccessful. Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen simply did not have the karma to be killed.
When they tried to poision Tulku Drakpa, the poison would be dispelled from his body because his attainments would not allow the poison to affect his body. When they tried to stab him, eyes appeared in the places where they have stabbed him and these eyes would stare back at them.

Finally, it was Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen who told his assailants how he could be killed. He revealed to them that he could only be killed by stuffing a khatak down his throat. In this manner, Tulku Drakpa was murdered.

Tulku Drakpa revealed the method to his death because he wanted to fulfil his earlier promise to Nechung to arise as an “Uncommon Protector”.

After his death, Sonam Rabten/Sonam Chopel and Norbu made sure that every trace of this esteemed Lama was removed and future traces of him would never be found. They eradicated Tulku Drakpa’s achievements, “doctored” official documents containing his past incarnations and removed them from his lineage prayer.

Sonam Rabten/Sonam Chopel and Norbu further ordered the assassination of Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen’s family members and seized their properties and lands. To ensure that there would not be a future search for his reincarnation, they banned the search and dismantled his ladrang at Drepung. Even his holy relics were thrown into the river. Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen’s existence has been largely ignored in Tibetan history until today.

After his death, the Lama, Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen arose as Dorje Shugden, The Protector. It was a choice he made. It was a sacrifice he was willing to fulfil and uphold in order to become the Protector of Our Time.

This Enlightened Mind cannot be silenced.

Sources:

An Introduction to Dorje Shugden

Duldzin Drakpa Gyeltsen (1374 – 1434)

admin — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 11:13:49 +0000

What immediately comes to mind when we hear or see the name, Duldzin Drakpa Gyeltsen, are two things – he built Ganden Monastery, which stands to this day, and he offered it to his Guru, Lama Tsongkhapa.

These two great deeds alone would be enough to illustrate what kind of Lama and disciple this extraordinary individual was.

Duldzin Drakpa Gyeltsen was well known for being a great holder of the vinaya (the monks’ vows), or pure morality. It is said that he held his vows so purely and his monkhood that his body smelled of clean, fragrant flowers. This is why they called him “Duldzin” – “dul” means vinaya; and “zin” means hold. Thus, a direct translation of his name means “Holder of the vinaya”.

He was considered as an emanation of Lama Tsongkhapa himself, as his attainments were said to be of Tsongkhapa’s equal. In this case, Duldzin emanated as a direct disciple of Lama Tsongkhapa in order to play the role of “Teacher and Student”. This arrangement enabled Dharma to be brought to many others.

It was Duldzin who raised the funds needed to construct Ganden, the first and greatest Gelugpa monastery in Tibet. He also personally oversaw the construction of Ganden until its completion. Upon its completion, Duldzin offered the monastery to his Guru, Lama Tsongkhapa.

Duldzin was so highly respected among the Sangha that he was offered the position of the first Ganden Tripa (Tsongkhapa’s successor or throne holder) after Tsongkhapa’s passing. However, he turned down the offer. He chose instead to dedicate the rest of his life to upholding these precious teachings. It was with this incredible devotion and commitment that he made a promise to arise as an “Uncommon Protector” to preserve and guard the lineage of his teacher, Tsongkhapa.

This promise was made to Nechung, a worldly spirit subdued by the 8th Century Indian Master Guru Rinpoche to be the general Dharma Protector of the Buddhadharma, who appeared in one of Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings as a white dove.

It was said that one day while Lord Tsongkhapa was giving teachings in the Ganden prayer hall among a vast assembly of Sangha, a white dove appeared and flew about the prayer hall, creating a disturbance. It even hovered above Tsongkhapa’s head.

After the teachings, Tsongkhapa descended from the throne and retired to his quarters. Duldzin recognised that the dove was not a mere dove, and remained behind to investigate.

Then the dove, who was actually Nechung, transformed into a young boy dressed in white and spoke to Duldzin. He requested Duldzin to become an “Uncommon Protector” of Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings on Nagarjuna’s precious philosophy of the Middle Way.

An ‘Uncommon Protector’ is not a general protector but one who arises specifically to protect something. In this case, Nagarjuna’s Madyamika view, as taught by Lama Tsongkhapa.

Duldzin promised Nechung that he would do so. Nechung then said, “Don’t forget your promise, I will come back to remind you.” Then the boy left.

Later, after he had completed building Ganden Monastery, Duldzin went into retreat in a cave and passed away.

Duldzin Drakpa Gyeltsen is the Drakpa incarnation that began the lineage of the uncommon and most powerful Protector, Dorje Shudgen.

Tsako Ngawang Drakpa

admin — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:14:59 +0000

Lama Tsongkhapa

Ngawang Drakpa was one of the closest disciples of the incomparable Je Tsongkhapa. He met and learnt from the master just after the master’s Gelong ordination and well before the first contact of Je Tsongkhapa with his 3 more famous disciples: Gyaltsab Je, Kedrup Je and the 1st Dalai Lama. Ngawang Drakpa, although less famous, was no doubt one of the closest heart disciples of Tsongkhapa.

Some of the most important texts composed by Je Tsongkhapa were originally written for Ngawang Drakpa or were composed on the personal requests of this disciple. Among them are the 3 Principal Aspects of the Path, the account of the famous Bodhisattva Ever-Weeping and the Sadhana of the 13-deity Yamantaka. In the 3 Principal Aspects of the Path, Je Tsongkhapa calls Ngawang Drakpa ‘my son’, showing an unusual personal affection for his disciple. In a letter that Je Tsongkhapa sent to his disciple, the master implores Ngawang Drakpa to follow his private instructions. He urges him to act and pray, in all his lives, as his teacher does. And he invites Ngawang Drakpa to meet him again, at the end, in enlightenment – where he promises to offer his favored disciple the first sip of their cup of immortality.

Ngawang Drakpa was born in 1365 in the region of eastern Tibet known as Gyalrong (or as Gralmorong). His father was a local king and the family was Bönpo (practitioners of a form of Shamanistic religion). Ngawang Drakpa became famous for his knowledge in the Bön religion and was known as Wangpo Ngawang Drakpa, the title ‘Wangpo’ being a respected title given only to masters of royal descent.

In 1381, at the age of 16, Ngawang Drakpa went to central Tibet with 4 other monks. In 1385, he met and became a disciple of Je Tsongkhapa. He was later given the title of ‘Khenchen’ (master abbot), by Je Tsongkhapa. Thus in the biography of Je Tsongkhapa, Ngawang Drakpa is addressed as Tsako Wangpo Khenchen Ngawang Drakpa (the word ‘Tsako’ denotes the place of his birth, a region of Gyalrong in Eastern Tibet). He is also known as one of the ’4 Original disciples’ of Tsongkhapa. In 1409, when Tsongkhapa initiated the Monlam Chenmo, (the annual grand prayer festival which continued up to 1959), Ngawang Drakpa was one of his major assistants.

Chakor Monastery

On the 4th lunar month of 1409, Ngawang Drakpa and Tsongkhapa performed a Nyungney fasting retreat together at Jokhang (the grand cathedral of Lhasa). Ngawang Drakpa was asked to observe his dreams. He dreamt of two white conch shells descending from the sky, merging into one and it fell into his lap. In his dream, he blew the conch shell towards the east and it made a loud sound. The next day, Tsongkhapa explained that the conch shell meant that Ngawang Drakpa would spread the pure teachings of the Buddha and blowing it while facing the east in the dream meant that Ngawang Drakpa was destined to teach in his birthplace, eastern Tibet, and the loud sound meant that his activities would be successful.

In 1409, Ngawang Drakpa decided to return to eastern Tibet. According to legend, Je Tsongkhapa presented the disciple with a crystal rosary just before Ngawang Drakpa’s departure. Upon receiving it, Ngawang Drakpa immediately made a vow to establish as many monasteries as the number of beads on the rosary (there were 108 crystal beads) as a way to repay his Guru’s kindness. On his way back to eastern Tibet, Ngawang Drakpa paid homage at Je Tsongkhapa’s birthplace, where the famous monastery of Kumbum would later be built. Ngawang Drakpa traveled extensively throughout the Gyalrong region and founded 107 monasteries before he built the grand Dhe-Tsang Monastery, which was to become the spiritual headquarters of all Gelugpa monasteries in the Gyalrong region. Dhe-Tsang Monastery was the 108th and the last of the series of monasteries that he promised to build.

Relic Stupa of Ngawang Drakpa

The monastery construction was completed in 1414, just 5 years after the founding of Ganden Monastery, the first monastery of the Gelugpa lineage founded by Je Tsongkhapa. The name ‘Dhe-Tsang’ means ‘Fulfillment’ or ‘Completion’ and was given to this monastery as the founding of it marks the fulfillment of Ngawang Drakpa’s promise to build 108 monasteries.

Ngawang Drakpa served the Dhe-Tsang Monastery as the founding abbot and passed away in Chakor Monastery (about 100 kilometers from Dhe-Tsang) in 1431, at the age of 65 and after several months of intensive meditation retreats. Ngawang Drakpa’s holy body was preserved in a stupa at this monastery. At Dhe-Tsang Monastery, statues and stupas in memory of this great master were also built. Sadly, these were destroyed in the 1950′s.

In 1983, His Holiness the 10th Panchen Rinpoche made a pilgrimage to Chakor Monastery and donated generously towards the restoration of Ngawang Drakpa’s stupa. Some of Ngawang Drakpa’s remain, said to be part of his skull, was given by a monk who hid the piece from desecration for the new stupa. Dhe-Tsang Monastery also built new statues in memory of its founder in 1983. In 1993, Khejok Rinpoche returned to the Gyalrong district for a brief visit and paid homage to the new Stupa at Chakor.

In 1999, the monastery acquired another piece of Ngawang Drakpa’s skull from the same monk who donated the first piece for the Chakor Stupa and is now planning to build another Stupa to house this precious relic.

Ngawang Drakpa’s disciple Choje Drakpa (some hold the view that he was also the younger brother of Ngawang Drakpa) succeeded as the monastery’s 2nd abbot. There is a restored Stupa at Chakor Monastery right next to the restored Ngawang Drakpa Stupa in memory of Choje Drakpa, probably housing some of Choje Drakpa’s relics.

Bone relic from the skull of Ngawang Drakpa

Unlike the Dalai Lamas and other eminent Lamas of similar stature, there has been no official recognition for the incarnations of Ngawang Drakpa. However, it is commonly accepted that the great Pabongkha Rinpoche Dechen Nyingpo was one of his incarnations. Even Pabongkha Rinpoche himself said, during a conversation with his own mother at Sera Monastery, “On some occasion, the thought comes to my mind that I have been other people as well and in other times when our great and gentle protector Tsongkhapa lived on this earth I was, I sometimes think, that friar from Tsako – Ngawang Drakpa”.

In fact, this great Lama identified himself more with Ngawang Drakpa than with the Changkya Tulku he was more officially regarded as, although the latter was much more influential and famous (some of the Changkya Tulkus have been the teachers of Chinese emperors and enjoyed political status more or less equivalent to the emperors themselves) than Ngawang Drakpa. Pabongka Rinpoche belonged to the Gyalrong House of Sera-Mey College, which has close connection with Ngawang Drakpa. He was considered ‘part of the family’ amongst the Dhe-Tsang monks studying at Gyalrong House of Sera-Mey.

Source: http://www.b-i-a.net/Ngawang%20Drakpa.htm

Kangxi Emperor

admin — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 21:33:33 +0000

The Kangxi Emperor was the third emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from 1661 to 1722. His reign of 61 years makes him the longest-reigning Chinese emperor in history (although his grandson Qianlong had the longest period of de facto power) and one of the longest-reigning rulers in the world. However, having ascended the throne aged seven, he was not the effective ruler until later, that role being fulfilled by his four guardians and his grandmother, the Grand Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang.

The Kangxi Emperor is considered one of China’s greatest emperors. He defeated the revolt of the Three Feudatories, forced the Zheng Jing government in Taiwan to submit to Qing rule, blocked Tzarist Russia on the Amur River and expanded the empire in the northwest. He also accomplished such literary feats as the compilation of the Kangxi Dictionary.

Kangxi’s reign brought about long-term stability and relative wealth after years of war and chaos. He initiated the period known as the “Prosperous Era of Kangxi and Qianlong” which lasted for generations after his own lifetime. By the end of his reign, the Qing empire controlled all of China proper, Manchuria (including Outer Manchuria), part of the Russian Far East, both Inner and Outer Mongolia, and Korea as a protectorate.

Early reign

Born on 4 May 1654 to Shunzhi Emperor and Empress Xiao Kang, a Han Chinese, Kangxi was originally given the personal name Xuanye. He succeeded the imperial throne at the age of seven, on 7 February 1661, twelve days after his father’s death, although the Kangxi reign formally began on 18 February 1662, the first day of the following lunar year.

According to some accounts, his father, Emperor Shunzi, gave up the throne to Kangxi and became a monk. Several alternative explanations are given for this: one is that it was due to the death of his favourite consort; another is that he was under the influence of a Buddhist monk. The story goes that the empress dowager ordered a cover-up in which the fact of Shunzi becoming a monk was deleted from the official history and replaced with the claim that he died from smallpox, and indeed this is what many historians still believe. Certainly the court archive has been discovered to show that during the reign of Shunzi, smallpox was the biggest killer in China.

Kangxi was not able to rule in his minority; the Shunzhi Emperor had appointed Sonin, Suksaha, Ebilun, and Oboi as the regents. Sonin died soon after his granddaughter became Empress Heseri, leaving Suksaha at odds with Oboi politically. In a fierce power struggle, Oboi had Suksaha put to death and seized absolute power as sole regent. Kangxi and the court acquiesced in this arrangement.

In 1669 the emperor arrested Oboi with the help of Grand Dowager Empress Xiaozhuang and began to take control of the country himself. He listed three issues of concern: flood control of the Yellow River, repairing the Grand Canal and the Revolt of the Three Feudatories in South China.

Personality and achievements

Kangxi was the great consolidator of the Qing dynasty. The transition from the Ming dynasty to the Qing was a cataclysm whose central event was the capture of the capital Beijing by the invading Manchus in 1644, and the installation of their five-year-old ruler as the Shunzhi Emperor. By 1661, when Shunzhi died and was succeeded by Kangxi, the Manchu conquest was almost complete and the leading Manchus were already adopting Chinese ways including Confucian ideology. Kangxi completed the conquest, suppressed all significant military threats and revived the ancient central government system with important modifications.

He was an inveterate workaholic, rising early and retiring late, reading and responding to numerous memorials every day, conferring with his councillors and giving audiences – and this was in normal times; in wartime, he might be reading memorials from the war-front until after midnight or even, as with the Dzungar conflict, away on campaign in person.

He devised a system of communication that circumvented the mandarinate, who had always had a tendency to usurp the power of the emperor, called the Palace Memorial System, involving secret dispatches to and from trusted officials in the provinces, in locked boxes for which only he and the sender had keys. This started as a system for receiving uncensored extreme-weather reports, which the emperor regarded as divine comments on his rule. But it soon evolved into a general-purpose secret ‘news channel’. Out of this emerged a committee to deal with out-of-the-ordinary, especially military, events called (in English) the Grand Council, or in Chinese chün-chi chu which was chaired by the emperor and manned by his more elevated pao-i Han-Chinese household staff. From this council, the mandarin civil servants were excluded – they were left only with routine administration.

He managed to seduce the Confucian intelligentsia into co-operating with the Qing government, despite their deep reservations about Manchu rule, by encouraging them to sit the traditional civil service examinations, become mandarins and subsequently to compose lavishly-conceived works of literature such as a history of the Ming dynasty, a dictionary, a phrase-dictionary, a vast encyclopedia and an even vaster compilation of Chinese literature. He was himself a cultivated man, steeped in Confucian learning.

In the one military campaign in which he actively participated, that against the Dzungar Mongols, Kangxi showed himself an effective commander. According to Finer, Kangxi’s own written reflections allow one to experience “how intimate and caring was his communion with the rank-and-file, how discriminating and yet masterful his relationship with his generals”.

As a result of the scaling down of hostilities as peace returned to China after the Manchu conquest, and also as a result of the ensuing rapid increase of population, land cultivation and therefore tax revenues based on agriculture, the Kangxi Emperor was able first to make tax remissions, then (in 1712) to freeze the land tax and corvée altogether, without embarrassing the state treasury.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangxi_Emperor