He was the root Lama of both Kyabje Ling Rinpoche and Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, the two tutors of the present Dalai Lama, and the teacher of most of the other Gelug Lamas who have been bringing the Dharma to the West since they fled Tibet in 1959.^[1] Pabongka was offered the regency of the present Dalai Lama but declined the request because “he strongly disliked political affairs.”^[2]

Content:

1. Early Life and Education
2. His Spiritual Guide and Practice of Buddhism
3. Achievements
   1. As a Buddhist Teacher
   2. As a Buddhist Author
   3. Other Spiritual Activities
      • Holder of the Ganden Oral Lineage
      • Holder of the Heruka Body Mandala Lineage
      • His Work and Retreat Schedule
4. Views
   1. Position on Politics and Religion
   2. Position on Other Tibetan Buddhist Schools
   3. Position on Bon Religion
5. Death
6. Notes
7. Bibliography
8. External Links

Early Life and Education

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 in Tibet.

According to Ribur Rinpoche, one of Je Pabongkapa’s main disciples: “Lord Pabongka Vajradhara Dechen Nyingpo Pal Zangpo was born north of Lhasa in 1878. His father was a minor official but the family was not wealthy. Although the night was dark, a light shone in the room, and people outside the house had a vision of a protector on the roof.”^[3]

As a child he was alleged to exhibit unusual qualities and in his seventh year was taken before Sharpa Chuje Lobsang Dargye, one of the leading religious figures of the day, who “felt sure that the boy must be a reincarnated saint” and foretold that if the child were placed in the Gyalrong House of Sera Mey Monastery, something “wonderful would happen with him in the future.”

Later on, he was found to be a reincarnation of the Changkya line, which included the well-known scholar Changkya Rolpay Dorje (1717-1786 AD). The Lamas of this line had done much teaching in the regions of Mongolia and China, including in the court of the Chinese emperor himself, and so the name “Changkya” had strong Chinese connotations. As the Tibetan government and people were already sensitive to the pressures put on them from China, the name “Changkya” was ruled out and the boy declared to be “Pabongka” instead.^[4]
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His Spiritual Guide and Practice of Buddhism

Pabongka received his formal spiritual education at Sera Mey Monastery. At first he was very poor and not famous. He studied hard to be a Geshe, meditated and gave empowerments. Pabongka studied with Jaba Sonpo Rinpoche; however his root Guru or Spiritual Guide was Dagpo Lama Rinpoche (sometimes spelt Tagpo or Thagpo).

Ribur Rinpoche described how Je Pabongkapa met his root Guru: “His root guru was Dagpo Lama Rinpoche Jampael Lhuendrub Gyatso, from Lhoka. He was definitely a bodhisattva, and Pabongka Rinpoche was his foremost disciple. He lived in a cave in Pasang and his main practice was bodhichitta; his main deity was Avalokiteshvara and he would recite 50,000 manis [the mantra, om mani padme hum] every night. When Kyabje Pabongka first met Dagpo Rinpoche at a tsog offering ceremony in Lhasa, he cried out of reverence from beginning to end.”^[3]

Je Phabongkhapa was a keen meditator and emphasized Lamrim, Lojong and Mahamudra. When he had finished his studies at Sera Monastery, he visited Dagpo Lama Rinpoche in his cave and was sent into a Lamrim retreat nearby. According to Ribur Rinpoche: “Dagpo Lama Rinpoche would teach him a Lam-rim topic and then Pabongka Rinpoche would go away and meditate on it. Later he would return to explain what he’d understood: if he had gained some realization, Dagpo Lama Rinpoche would teach him some more and Pabongka Rinpoche would go back and meditate on that. It went on like this for ten years.”^[3]

Pabongka Rinpoche was a renunciate and eschewed worldly attainments and politics. His faithful attendant once demolished the small old building inhabited by Pabongka Rinpoche while he was a way on a long tour, and constructed in its place a large ornate residence rivaling the private quarters of the Dalai Lama. When Pabongka Rinpoche returned he was not pleased and said, “I am only a minor hermit Lama and you should not have built something like this for me. I am not famous and the essence of what I teach is renunciation of the worldly life. Therefore I am embarrassed by rooms like these.”^[5]

According to Rilbur Rinpoche, Je Phabongkhapa was always gentle and never got angry: “Any anger had been completely pacified by his bodhichitta.” Even when long lines of people were waiting for blessings, he would ask each one individually how they were and tap them on the head. Sometimes he dispensed medicine.^[5]

His two main spiritual qualities according to his disciples were, from the Tantric point of view, his realization and ability to present Heruka, and from the Sutra point of view, his ability to teach Lamrim. He attributed all his qualities to his own Spiritual Guide, showing him deference throughout his life. Whenever he visited his Spiritual Guide’s monastery, he would dismount as soon as it appeared in view and prostrate all the way to the door and when he left he would walk backwards until it was out of sight.^[5]

Pabongka Rinpoche’s full name 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.^[6]
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Achievements

As a Buddhist Teacher

After his graduation from Sera Mey with the attainment of a Geshe degree, Pabongka Rinpoche had great success in his teaching tours through the countryside outside the capital Lhasa, and his fame started to spread. With his great skill as a public teacher, he gradually began to build up a large following, his teachings bringing as many as 10,000 students. These included lay people from all over Tibet, which broke with the long-held tradition of only teaching to those ordained as monks.^[4]

According to one reincarnate Lama who attended his teachings: “He was an exceptionally learned and gifted scholar, and his interpretation of the Doctrine adhered to the meaning of the Lord Buddha’s words exactly. He was short, broad-faced, and of rather heavy build, but when he opened his mouth to speak his words had such clarity and sweetness that no one could help being moved.” .^[7]

Pabongka Rinpoche was the first Gelug teacher who taught lay persons outside the monasteries and became very influential. In his memoir of his root Guru, Rilbur Rinpoche said:

When he taught he would sit for up to eight hours without moving. About two thousand people would come to his general discourses and initiations and fewer to special teachings, but when he gave Bodhisattva vows, up to ten thousand people would show up.^[8]

Kyongla Rinpoche described his teachings:

The Rinpoche was accustomed to illustrate his teaching by means of concrete examples and personal stories, with abundant references to the teaching of the Lord Buddha and to the commentaries of ancient scholars and saints. Whenever he noticed that his audience was becoming tired or restless, he would tell a comical story to rouse them and get a laugh.

The Lharampa Geshe Khen Rinpoche described attending Pabongka Rinpoche’s teachings thus:

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)… 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.”^[9]

In Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, Trijang Rinpoche says he attempted to convey the “extraordinary” qualities of Je Phabongkhapa’s teachings, which he described:

Each part of the teaching was enriched by instructions taken from the confidential oral lineages. Each section was illustrated by analogies, conclusive formal logic, amazing stories, and trustworthy quotations. The teaching could easily be understood by beginners, and yet was tailored for all levels of intelligence. It was beneficial for the mind because it was so inspiring.

Sometimes we were moved to laughter, becoming wide awake and alive. Sometimes we were reduced to tears and cried helplessly. At other times we became afraid or were moved to feel, ‘I would gladly give up this life and devote myself solely to my practice.’ This feeling of renunciation was overwhelming. These are some of the ways in which all of his discourses were so extraordinary.^[10]

Je Pabongka apparently had an ability to reach even those of the higher echelons of society who were not much interested in Dharma. For example, Dapon Tsago, a member of the nobility who held a powerful position equivalent to Minister of Defense, once attended a public teaching “not to hear the Dharma but rather to put in an appearance” as Jetsun Khen Rinpoche describes it:

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.^[11]

According to the Western monk Helmut Gassner, the Dalai Lama’s translator for 17 years:

It is said that when Pabongka Rinpoche gave Dharma discourses many in the audience gained profound insights into the failings of our worldly concerns to develop the lasting determination to exchange the constant quest for honor, praise, well-being and gain with sincere aspiration, kindness and concern for others.

This unusual ability to teach is not an integral part of Tibetan culture. It is rather at the heart of the living transmission of the teachings of the historical Buddha from one great master to the next. It is, first and foremost, an oral transmission: the master teaches his gifted disciple continuously until the transmitted knowledge becomes the student’s second nature.^[12]

Due to his skill as a Buddhist master, the thirteenth Dalai Lama requested Kyabje Pabongka to give the yearly Lamrim teachings in 1925, instead of asking the Ganden throneholder (Ganden Tripa) as was customary. Usually these teachings lasted seven days, but these lasted for eleven days.^[13]

Je Pabongka had a profound and far-reaching influence on the Gelug tradition:

Pabongka Rinpoche was probably the most influential Gelug lama of this century, holding all the important lineages of sutra and tantra and passing them on to most of the important Gelug lamas of the next two generations; the list of his oral discourses is vast in depth and breadth.

He was also the root guru of the Kyabje Ling Rinpoche (1903-83), Senior Tutor of the Dalai Lama, Trijang Rinpoche, and many other highly respected teachers. His collected works occupy fifteen large volumes and over every aspect of Buddhism. If you have ever received a teaching from a Gelug lama, you have been influenced by Pabongka Rinpoche.^[14]

His foremost disciple, Trijang Rinpoche, praises his teacher highly in Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, including:

Our childish minds were unfit vessels for so vast an ocean of teachings, so precious a source of qualities. How sad if these teachings were forgotten!^[15]

In Geshe Ngawang Dhargeyey’s commentary to the Wheel of Sharp Weapons, he says^[16]:

Likewise, Lama Trijang Dorje Chang, Junior Tutor to His Holiness the present Dalai Lama, folds his hands upon the crown of his head whenever he mentions Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche. He was such a great lama, unsurpassed by any, that hardly any lamas or geshes of the Three Pillars (the monasteries of Ganden, Sera and Drepung) had not been his disciples.

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As a Buddhist Author

In 1921 at Chuzang Hermitage near Lhasa, Pabongka Rinpoche gave a historic 24-day exposition on the Lam Rim, or “stages of the path,” that was attended by some seven hundred people. Many monks came from the three major monasteries in Lhasa, and many more travelled weeks from the Central Province, from Tsang, and from as far away as Amdo and Kham. This included about 30 lamas and reincarnations of lamas. There were also many lay people present.

According to Rato Khyongla Rinpoche, who was present: “During that summer session several traders and at least two high government officials found their lives transformed by his eloquence: they forsook their jobs to study religion and to give themselves to meditation.” ^[17]

The teachings covered every topic in the progressive stages to attain enlightenment. These teachings were transcribed and edited by one of his main students, Trijang Rinpoche, who later became the Junior Tutor of the 14th Dalai Lama. Trijang Rinpoche explains the good qualities of the Lamrim teachings given by his root Guru and then explains how the idea of the book came to him:

How could I possibly convey all this on paper! Yet what a pity if all the key points contained in these inspiring instructions were lost. This thought gave me the courage to write this book. As my precious guru later advised me, ‘Some of the people present could not follow the teaching. I’m afraid I do not trust all the notes people took during the classes. I therefore ask you to publish a book. Put in it anything you feel sure of.’ In this book I have accurately recorded my lama’s teachings in the hope that this substitute for his speech will be beneficial to my friends who wish to succeed in their practice.^[10]

Published in Tibetan in 1958, these teachings were eventually translated into English and published as Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand (Tib. rNam grol lag bcangs) in 1991. This book forms the basis of most Gelug teachers’ Lam Rim presentations, including those of the FPMT^[18] and of Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s acclaimed Lam Rim text Joyful Path of Good Fortune.^[19]

Kyabje Pabongka also wrote many other books. His collected works occupy fifteen large volumes and cover every aspect of Buddhism.^[20] These texts provide explanations on sadhanas, chanting, how to make tormas and myriad other subjects. Among these texts, is a Dorje Shugden practice which includes the empowerment^[21] and the sadhana of the female Buddha Vajrayogini, based on the Heruka Root Tantra. Both of these texts are widely used in the Gelugpa tradition today.^[22]
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Other Spiritual Activities

Also known as Trinlay Gyatso, Je Pabongka held the lineage of the Tantric Deity Heruka. According to Geshe Kelsang Gyatso: “This great Lama was like the sun of Dharma, illuminating the hidden meaning of both Sutra and Secret Mantra (Tantra). He passed the Mahamudra lineage to his heart Son, Yongdzin Trijang Dorjechang.”^[23]

Lama Zopa of the FPMT praised the enlightened qualities of Je Pabongka (Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo):

My root guru, His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche; Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s guru’s root guru; His Holiness Zong Rinpoche, from whom many of the older students received the initiation of Shugden; and the previous incarnation of Gomo Rinpoche, who has a strong connection with Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, here in Italy, all promoted the practice of Shugden. They were all aspects of the Dharmakaya.^[24]

Je Pabongka had many disciples, including the most famous Gelugpa Lamas of the twentieth century, who consider him to be a source of uncommon inspiration. Rilbur Rinpoche, for example, was held and tortured by the Chinese for two decades and famously said “If I told you what happened on a regular basis, you would find it hard to believe.” By all accounts he emerged from his trials with a heart full of love and forgiveness and, when asked how, he replied that it was due to the blessings and teachings of his root Lama Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche.

According to Kyabje Zong Rinpoche, a highly regarded Lharampa Geshe, Je Pabongka was considered an emanation of the Highest Yoga Tantra Deity, Buddha Heruka. He explains how 32 reincarnate Lamas, including his own teacher Tapu Dorjechang, attended his Lamrim teachings in Lhasa:

Tapu Dorje Chang could hear statues of Avalokiteshvara and Tara speak, and saw visions of multi-armed Yidams (Deities). Once Kyabje Phabongka invoked the wisdom beings of Heruka’s mandala to enter into a statue of Heruka Chakrasambara. Heruka then offered nectar to Kyabje Phabongka, and prophesied that seven generations of his disciples would be protected by the body mandala of Heruka. Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang is cared for by Heruka Chakrasambara, as are his disciples.^[25]

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso also describes Je Pabongka as an emanation of Buddha Heruka.^[26] Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey gives an account of his mastery of the practice in his commentary to Wheel of Sharp Weapons^[27]:

Once, in the cave-under-water, he experienced a manifestation of Yamantaka for nine days, while he himself was essentially Heruka Chakrasambhava. Further, he experienced a manifestation of Vajra Yogini who told him of the benefits to be derived from merging the Vajra Yogini teachings of the Sakya and Gelug traditions into one meditational practice. When he once made a great (tsog) offering beside a Heruka statue in Lhasa, the wisdom body actually entered into the statue. The statue danced and told him that whoever received Heruka initiation from him up to the seventh generator would be taken to the dakini realms.

Je Phabongkhapa’s most famous disciples were Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche and Kyabje Ling Rinpoche because they were the main teachers of the 14th Dalai Lama, who considered Trijang Rinpoche to be his root Guru.^[28] Kyabje Zong Rinpoche explains:

Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche and Kyabje Ling Rinpoche were tutors to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. They taught His Holiness everything from basic teachings to advanced levels. Kyabje Pabongka passed all of his lineages to Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang. He often said this in discourses. The purpose of this detailed exposition is to affirm the power of the lineage. If we lose faith in the lineage, we are lost.^[29]

In addition to Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche and Kyabje Ling Rinpoche, Je Pabongka had two other main disciples. They were Khangsar Rinpoche and Tathag Rinpoche. Tathag Rinpoche was the main teacher of the 14th Dalai Lama when he was a child and gave him his novice ordination. Khangsar Rinpoche’s Chinese disciple, Master Nan Hai, started a Buddhist movement in China that survived till the present day despite political changes in Communist China, with tens of thousands of spiritual descendants and over a hundred monasteries and nunneries throughout China.^[30]
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Holder of the Ganden Oral Lineage

Pabongka Rinpoche was the holder of the Geden, or Ganden, Oral Lineage. As Geshe Helmut Gassner explains:

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.^[12]

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Holder of the Heruka Body Mandala Lineage

According to Kyabje Zong Rinpoche:

Once Kyabje Pabongka invoked the wisdom beings of Heruka’s mandala to enter into a statue of Heruka Chakrasamvara. Heruka then offered nectar to Kyabje Pabongka, and prophesied that seven generations of his disciples would be protected by the body mandala of Heruka. Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche is cared for by Heruka Chakrasamvara, as are his disciples.^[31]

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His work and retreat schedule

Je Pabongka’s primary residence was first the small monastery atop the Pabongka rock (see picture), called Dakpo Gompa, where he allegedly attained enlightenment. When his fame grew, Ngakpa College of Sera Monastery offered him a large retreat complex on the hillside above Pabongka, called Tashi Chuling, or “Auspicious Spiritual Isle.” There were about sixty Buddhist monks in residence there, and about sixteen personal attendants who helped him with his busy schedule. Je Phabongkhapa divided his time between Tashi Chuling and a small meditation cell built around the mouth of a cave, further up the side of the mountain, known as Takden. Pabongka Rinpoche would go to Takden for long periods to do private meditations.^[32]
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Views

Position on Politics and Religion

When the regency of the 14th Dalai Lama was offered to Pabongka Rinpoche, he declined become the regent saying, “If one cannot give up the worldly dharma, then you are not a true religious person.”^[33] According to Goldstein, Pabongka was quite well known for saying that “lamas should not become involved in politics.”^[34]
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Position on other Tibetan Buddhist schools

Although he was a Gelugpa Lama, Je Pabongka respected the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism and discouraged sectarianism. In Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, he said:

Abandoning Dharma is, in the final analysis, disparaging the Hinayana because of the Mahayana; favoring the Hinayana on account of the Mahayana; playing off sutra against tantra; playing off the four classes of the tantras against each other; favoring one of the Tibetan schools—the Sakya, Gelug, Kagyu, or Nyingma—and disparaging the rest; and so on. In other words, we abandon Dharma any time we favor our own tenets and disparage the rest.^[35]

Je Pabongka also said that Padmasambhava (the founder of the Nyingma school), Je Tsongkhapa, Atisha, and Buddha Shakyamuni were all one holy being, not four separate mental continuum.^[36]

Pabongka Rinpoche was at times at odds with the 13th Dalai Lama over Pabongka’s supposed antagonism toward the Nyingma lineage. His advocacy of the Dorje Shugden Protector practice is also now criticized by some in the Tibetan Buddhist world. Von Bruck, however, says that Pabongka’s Shugden text “does not say that only Gelugpa teaching leads to liberation, but calls Tsongkhapa’s teaching the highest and the essence of all teachings. But this is traditional parlance and not an exaggerated exclusivity.”^[37]

According to academic David Kay, in an account that has been much disputed by Gelugpa scholars: “As the Gelug agent of the Tibetan government in Kham (Khams) (Eastern Tibet), and in response to the Rimed movement that had originated and was flowering in that region, Pabongka Rinpoche and his disciples employed repressive measures against non-Gelug sects.

Religious artifacts associated with Padmasambhava – who is revered as a “second Buddha” by Nyingma practitioners – were destroyed, and non-Gelug, and particularly Nyingma, monasteries were forcibly converted to the Gelug position. A key element of Pabongka Rinpoche’s outlook was the cult of the protective deity Dorje Shugden, which he married to the idea of Gelug exclusivism and employed against other traditions as well as against those within the Gelug who had eclectic tendencies.”^[38]

According to Kay, “His teaching tour of Kham in 1938 was a seminal phase, leading to a hardening of his exclusivism and the adoption of a militantly sectarian stance. In reaction to the flourishing Rimed movement and the perceived decline of Gelug monasteries in that region, Phabongkha and his disciples spearheaded a revival movement, promoting the supremacy of the Gelug as the only pure tradition.”^[39]

Buddhist scholar Matthew Kapstein echoes these remarks, writing, “There has been a great deal of sectarian dispute among Tibetan refugees in India. Much of this has its roots in the works of Pha-bong-kha-pa Bde-chen snying-po (1878-1937), whose visions of the Dge-lugs-pa protective deity Rdo-rje shugs-ldan seem to have entailed a commitment to oppose actively the other schools of Tibetan Buddhism and the Bon-po.”^[40]

However, most Gelug Lamas strongly dispute allegations against Pabongka’s supposed wrongdoing. Some say that Je Pabongka’s popularity made others jealous, serving as the basis of many rumors of sectarianism on his part against other Tibetan Buddhist schools. Responding to this allegation, Lama Zopa of the FPMT has said that criticism of Pabongka “because he practiced Shugden, making him out to be some kind of demon” is misplaced because he:

“wrote incredible teachings on sutra and tantra; on Heruka, Tara Cittamani and many other topics. All these amazing teachings were written purely from his experience. So it’s impossible that he can really be some kind of evil being, as those extremists accuse him of being. There’s no way he could have done the negative things they say he did.”^[41]

Regarding Kopan Monastery giving up Dorje Shugden practice, Lama Zopa also pointed out:

This was done for His Holiness (The Dalai Lama). This does not mean that Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo, His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche, and His Holiness Song Rinpoche have made mistakes. It does not mean they are wrong. Nor does one have to look at the protector as evil. For us ordinary people it is difficult to judge, because we cannot see these lamas ’ minds. Another side of the teaching is that it is mentioned that the protector (Dorje Shugden) is an Arya Bodhisattva, a manifestation of Manjushri. So, then, there is also the risk of our creating very heavy karma in that context (by criticizing or abandoning this practice).^[42]

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso also rejected the rumors that Je Pabongka was averse to the Nyingma tradition, saying:

“Je Phabongkhapa had great devotion for Je Tsongkhapa. Je Tsongkhapa praised Padmasambhava, so it is impossible for Je Phabongkhapa to show disrespect for Padmasambhava, impossible.”

Kyabje Zong Rinpoche, a high ranking Lharampa Geshe and Abbot of Ganden Shartse,^[43] said in his teachings:

Kyabje Pabongka was also an emanation of Heruka Chakrasamvara, but degeneration of the times and jealousy of ordinary beings have made it difficult to become aware of his tremendous qualities. There are many biographies of Kyabje Pabongka that make his realized qualities very clear.^[44]

Kyabje Zong Rinpoche also explained the importance for Gelugpas of developing faith in the Gelugpa lineage passed down through Je Pabongka and his principal disciple Trijang Rinpoche:

Kyabje Pabongka passed all of his lineages to Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang. He often said this in discourses. The purpose of this detailed exposition is to affirm the power of the lineage. If we lose faith in the lineage, we are lost. We should remember the biographies of past and present teachers. We should never develop negative thoughts towards our root and lineage gurus. If we do not keep the commitments after having received teachings, this is a great downfall.”^[45]

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Position on Bon religion

Regarding Pabongka Rinpoche’s attitude toward the non-Buddhist Bön religion, he said that “The Dharmas of Boenpos, tirthikas, and so forth are non-Buddhist and should not be taken as our refuge.”^[46] In his famous work Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, he calls it an “evil system”, “false dharma”, “not worthy of being a refuge”, “plagiarized”, and “invented”.^[47]

Although the Bon religion was originally highly hostile to Buddhists,^[48] Je Pabongka never advocated intolerance towards them: “Boen is not a refuge for Buddhists; it is not worthy of being a refuge. All the same, Buddhists and Boenpos say things to each other out of attachment or hostility, and this hardly makes for honest debate. It is vital that you should know the sources of the Boen religion.”^[49]

To support his claim that Bon is not a fitting refuge for Buddhists, Je Pabongka quoted several Buddhist scholars, including Milarepa who said, “The source of Boen is perverted Dharma. A creation of nagas and powerful elementals, it does not take one to the ultimate path.”^[50]
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Death

When Je Pabongka died, an elaborate reliquary was constructed but the Chinese demolished it. Rilbur Rinpoche managed to retrieve some of his cremation relics (“ring sel”) from it, which are usually kept at Sera Me Monastery. They are presently on the relics tour of saints and enlightened masters organized by Lama Zopa.^[51]
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Notes

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Bibliography

Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, Wisdom Publications.
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External links

1. Lama Zasep Tulku Rinpoche discusses Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand
2. Photographs of the three incarnations of Kyabje Pabongka Dorje Chang taken from DorjeShugden.com
3. Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand (at Google Books)
4. Heart Spoon a teaching on impermanence by Kyabje Pabongka Dorje Chang
5. Pabongkha Rinpoche by Buddhist International Alliance.

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Dorje Shugden’s practice remained relatively obscure until the time of Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche. This Lama was an heir to the Changkya line of incarnations but was banned due to political affiliations that the previous incarnations had with the Chinese court.

In this incarnation, the high Lamas decided to enthrone him as a Tulku of an obscure little monastery on a small hill named Pabong. He then enrolled into Sera Monastery.

In the monastery, Pabongka Rinpoche appeared to be a very average student but things changed when he graduated. He left the monastery to study under a famous Lamrim master, Dagpo Rinpoche, who rigorously trained him in the contemplation of the Lamrim and the generation of Bodhichitta. He meditated deeply and often, based on the instructions of his Lama and thus, gained full awakening.

When he started teaching, he quickly gained a large following of Sangha from various monasteries and many lay people. Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche was renowned throughout the land as being an emanation of Heruka and won the hearts of many disciples with his masterful way of teaching which combined practicality, wisdom and humor.

This incarnation lineage is a mystical and very old one which can be traced back to the time of Buddha Shakyamuni, as the disciple Dharmati. From that time, he has emanated into various lineages, each time emerging as a deeply respected and remembered practitioner. Within his illustrious incarnation lineage, are the incarnations of Sherab Dorje of the Kadampas, Milarepa’s student Sewan Repa, Ra Lotsawa’s disciple Trehor Lobsang and the Sakya Lama Shakya Chogden, to name only a few.

This proves the purity and efficacy of every lineage, that they are equally powerful for bringing attainments and that ultimately, they lead us to the same destination of enlightenment. Incarnation lineages like Tagphu Pemavajra proves to us that the labels and distinctions we make are only temporary and even false, for the real nature of every sect has equal power to bring us attainments.

For the most part, many of his incarnations were known mostly for their mystical practices and experiences, experienced either in retreat or through astral body travels to other realms. One of his earlier incarnations in the 18th century, Garwang Choekyi Wangchug, was famous for his written works which included writings that began to reveal the more secret and mystical lineages.

The most “current” incarnation as Tagphu Pemavajra was also particularly famous for his astral travels, and for travelling to Tushita Heaven where he received Dorje Shugden’s practice directly from Shugden himself (as his previous incarnation Duldzin Dragpa Gyeltsen).

Of special importance is the close connection that Tagphu Pemavajra’s incarnation lineage has had for centuries with Pabongka Rinpoche’s incarnations and with the practice of Vajrayogini. It is difficult to talk about Tagphu Pemevajra without consideration of these two most important aspects of his life.

For example, one of his previous incarnations, Lobzang Tenpay Gyaltsen, wrote a commentary on Vajrayogini at the request of Changkya Rolpai Dorje. Both these Lamas are known to have passed many teachings and practices to each other, which have since been preserved and passed on to many more practitioners.

At a later time, Lobzang Tenpay Gyaltsen incarnated as Tagphu Pemavajra; Changkya Rolpai Dorje’s incarnation at that same was time Pabongka Rinpoche who was a disciple of and recognized by Tagphu Pemavajra. The lineage of Vajrayogini’s practice held by almost all Gelug masters and practitioners in the world today stem from Pabongka Rinpoche – evidence again of how interconnected these two Lamas and Vajrayogini are.

Today, much of what is known about Tagphu Pemavajra is through the writings of Pabongka Rinpoche, one of his closest disciples with whom he would eventually come to share a mutually beneficial relationship – both would request and share teachings with each other.

While many know of Pabongka Rinpoche’s close relationship with Dagpo Rinpoche – from whom he learnt the Lamrim – it is a lesser known fact that it was in fact Tagphu Pemavajra who would advise him, through highly blessed visions, of the proper time to seek the teachings of Dagpo Rinpoche. Many of the highest and most secret teachings, as well as the Lamrim, were passed directly from Tagphu Pemavajra to Pabongka Rinpoche.

Among certain biographical accounts of Tagphu Pemavajra are mystical experiences, where he recounts his direct interactions with the deities, such as receiving the four initiations of Heruka Yabyum and seeing directly the deities of Heruka’s mandala. These extraordinary visions occur throughout his life, particularly of Heruka, as well as particularly sharp and accurate clairvoyance

There is a particular example of a time when Tagphu Pemavajra received many prophecies for searching a holy Heruka hermitage. As Tagphu Pemavajra and Pabongka Rinpoche traveled together in search of this place, many clear signs appeared to lead them there.

Most notable was a crow who appeared, sang, flew back and forth between them, and kept going towards a cave at a neighbouring mountain. They believed the crow to be a protector of Heruka who had come to show them Heruka’s special place. Upon arriving at the place indicated by the crow, they identified it immediately as a holy place, resonating with the energies and blessings of spiritual practice. Tagphu Pemavajra received many, many auspicious visions there.

Trijang Rinpoche, the heart disciple of Pabongka Rinpoche, writes in his autobiography that Tagphu Pemavajra was also known to have many frequent visions of Tara, who he would converse with directly and from whom he received many secret teachings, enough to fill volumes. It is further documented that the annuttarayogini form of Tara appeared first as a pure vision to Tagphu Pemavajra. Trijang Rinpoche himself requested Tagphu Pemavajra for prophecies regarding his spiritual practice.

As Trijang Rinpoche received countless teachings from Pabongka Rinpoche and became one of the most important figures of Tibetan Buddhism when it came out of Tibet (almost every prominent Gelugpa teacher in the world now would trace their lineage back to him and received teachings from him), this meeting and relationship with Tagphu Pemavajra is a particularly significant and auspicious one. He went on to write many detailed texts about this practice of this form of Green Tara, which had been received by Tagphu Pemevajra through visions.

The special relationship between Tagphu Pemavajra and Pabongka Rinpoche extended further into an unusually strong connection with the protector Dorje Shugden. It is known that Pabongka Rinpoche had been requested by Dorje Shugden himself, through an oracle to compose a new text. Though he complied and wrote the text, he felt it required further validation and thus offered it to Tagphu Pemavajra with further requests. Tagphu Pemavajra, by now very famous for his ability to travel to other realms, went to Tushita Heaven, where he made requests to Dorje Shugden.

Shugden emanated out of under Tsongkhapa’s throne and, in the form of Duldzin Drakpa Gyeltsen, passed him the practice and initiation. This was then passed down to Pabongka Rinpoche; from this, he later composed Melodious Drum Victorious in all Directions which has come to be the central text used today for propitiations and prayers to Dorje Shugden.

In his lifetime, Tagphu Pemavajra made various pilgrimages and engage in retreats at holy sites throughout Tibet. Often, he would receive immaculate visions and lineages at these places. In between these travels, Pabongka Rinpoche would invite him for teachings, which Tagphu Pemavajra would happily offer. Over the years, he would give many teachings including those at the heart of the Gelugpa lineage – Gaden Lhagyama and Lamrim – as well as initiations of some of the highest practices. In turn, Pabongka Rinpoche too would offer him teachings or he would give extensive teachings and initiations at the request of Tagphu Pemavajra.

Tagphu Pemavajra and Pabongka Rinpoche’s relationship exemplified the powerful results that can arise out of such a pure and committed guru-disciple relationship. They were known to often visit each other, share teachings and perform pujas and offerings together. So closely connected were they that Tagphu Pemavajra even wrote prayers as requests to Pabongka’s previous lives which revealed details of these incarnations.

For many years of their lives, particularly towards the second half, both would also offer long life rituals to each other, wherein Tagphu Pemavajra would even receive visions indicating that the Buddhas themselves came to bless Pabongka Rinpoche.

This special relationship between the two was always marked by the very powerful teachings they shared with each other and bestowed onto others; it was marked entirely by their devotion to Dharma. Even their very last meeting in 1935 was charaterised by the wealth of teachings that arose out of their meeting – teachings of the Lamrim, commentaries and oral transmission of Je Tsongkhapa’s writings, and initiations and teachings of Dorje Shugden.

While many attribute Pabongka Rinpoche’s eloquence and realization of the Lamrim teachings to his tutelage under Dagpo Rinpoche, we must not overlook the vast influence that Tagphu Pemavajra also had in passing many, many teachings to him, of both Lamrim as well as various secret teachings. Often considered as one of the founding fathers of the Gelugpa lineage as we know it today, Pabongka spent all his life promoting the teachings of Lamrim and the practices of Je Tsongkhapa, Vajrayogini and Dorje Shugden, many – if not all – of which would have stemmed from Tagphu Pemavajra.

In many instances, these teachings would be passed down directly from the deities themselves to Tagphu Pemavajra, creating a connection far closer and more auspicious to current day practitioners than we could imagine.

H.E. Dagpo Rinpoche

Below is an excerpt taken from a speech delivered by His Eminence Dagpo Rinpoche in November 1996, when he welcomed to Paris the fourteen-year-old reincarnation, Kyabje Chocktrul Rinpoche Tenzin Lobsang Yeshe Gyatso:

For the benefit of the new people who have joined us today, I will mention all too briefly the activities that have been accomplished by your predecessors, Rinpoche. The beneficial deeds of a supreme guide such as yourself are truly countless. In fact, only a Buddha endowed with the ten powers can comprehend them.

If I limit myself only to what you have dedicated yourself to doing in the Land of Snows, there would still be countless deeds to relate. There are so many wonderful and complex tales, melodies that can enthrall those with the gift of understanding, melodies that can fill them with faith. The whole topic is inexhaustible; I have given up trying to cover it.

Today I will limit myself to just a few words about how, from the distant past, at all times and in all places, you have continued to work together with the Lord of the world Avalokiteśvara to achieve the good of beings and to give them access to the Teachings.

To accomplish this, both of you have shown yourselves capable of every conceivable kind of relationship. You have alternated the role of Master with that of disciple, the role of donor with that of chaplain, parent, friend, or servant.

H.H. Trijang Rinpoche

From the immense ocean of deeds that you have thus carried out together, I will take a very small drop, a drop no bigger than the pearl that sparkles at the tip of a human hair, but quite enough to inspire faith. Everyone knows that our Tibet has long benefitted from the Lord of the World Avalokiteśvara’s caring protection.

He appeared at different times as king or as minister, as learned pandit or as a complete siddha. Each time, he made the light of religion and culture shine brightly so as to dispel the darkness that enveloped Tibet, and each time you were at his side.

In the eighth century when Avalokiteśvara manifested as the great king Trisong Detsen, you, Rinpoche, were the pandit Śāntarakṣita, the Indian monk who brought and established in Tibet the tradition of vows and religious commitment which form the basis of Buddha’s Teachings. It was you who brought to light the vast and profound systems, while assuming the shape of the victorious Padmasambhava, first among the Tantrikas.

As such, you overcame the obstacles that stood in the way of spreading the Dharma on earth. It was you also who passed the profound and secret teachings to the King and his ministers (how lucky they were!) and thus justified their waiting.

When the good qualities of human beings and the doctrine declined, you were the second Buddha, well known by the name of Atiśa Dīpaṃkāra Śrījñāna. During the middle of the eleventh century you founded the Kadampa tradition with the help of his spiritual son Dromtönpa Gyalwé Jungne, who was none other than Avalokiteśvara.

In order to consolidate and spread that tradition, you soon reappeared under the name of Lang-ri Thangpa Dorje Senge, well known as the eminent guardian of bodhicitta, in other words, a bodhisattva.

H.H. Trijang Rinpoche

Some time afterwards, the good qualities of human beings diminished yet again, and the doctrine underwent another decline. You immediately assumed the shape of the second Buddha Je Tsongkhapa. That time your disciple was Avalokiteśvara, later considered the First Dalai Lama. Together you took it upon yourselves to spread and expand the Teachings of the Buddha throughout the entire country.

Shortly afterwards, you were Mönlam Pelwa, one of the First Dalai Lama’s main disciples. You succeeded yourself, becoming the eighth Ganden Tripa, that is, the eighth head of the Gelugpa school.

Later on, as the head of the Kagyupa order, you were the eighth Karmapa, Mikyö Dorje, close friend of the Second Dalai Lama Gendun Gyatso.

When you returned to the school of the Nyingmapas in the seventeenth century, you were the dazzlingly brilliant light with the name of Zurchen Chöying Rangdröl, one of the Fifth Dalai Lama Ngawang Gyatso’s principal Masters.

Next, during two consecutive lives, you again took charge of the Gelug school: you were the sixty-ninth Ganden Tripa, Trichen Jangchub Chöpel, who was also the tutor of the Ninth Dalai Lama Lungtog Gyatso, and later the eighty-fifth Ganden Tripa, Trichen Lobsang Tsultrim.

And now we come to your immediate predecessor Kyabje Yongdzin Trijang Dorje Chang Chenpo, who for forty years was assistant and then tutor of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama.

Here you have a brief reminder of how and for how long you and the Buddha Avalokiteśvara have been doing significant and enduring work for the benefit of sentient beings.

Source : http://www.tbiusa.org/trijangdorjechang/biography/dagpospeech

The Kadam Tashi Choe Ling dharma centre was founded in 1995 under the spiritual guidance of Kyabje Dagpo Rinpoche. The centre was officially registered as a society on 17th August 2007 under the name of Persatuan Kadam Tashi Choe Ling Malaysia and inaugurated by Dagpo Rinpoche through prayers and an auspicious 4 days of teachings on The Heart Sutra.

The event was honoured by Rinpoche himself and included many venerated members of the Sangha community, Dr Thupten Jinpa, translator of His Holiness XIV Dalai Lama, and together with numerous other students from as far as France, Holland, and Indonesia. The mood was one of great joy.

Dagpo Rinpoche’s previous incarnation was recognized as Dagpo Lama Jamphel Lhundrup, one of the main lamas of Pabongka Rinpoche Dechen Nyingpo. It was this lama who was instrumental in bringing out the best in Pabongka Rinpoche. Pabongka Rinpoche became an erudite master of the Lamrim under his lama.

This is a 15-minute documentary on Kadam Choeling, and the celebration of its 20th anniversary.

Kadam Choeling is a Dharma center of the Gelug tradition established 20 years ago in the area of Bordeaux, France, by the disciples of Dagpo Rinpoche. Dagpo Rinpoche was one of the important lamas who taught Pabongka Rinpoche the Lam Rim.

Dagpo Rinpoche explains that he did not want to teach, but he eventually did at the request of a few disciples who created the center.

In the video, several practitioners talk about their practice and they also talk briefly about:

• the unbroken lineage
• an analysis of our speech-actions-thoughts as a practice
• the danger of only engaging with Dharma at an intellectual level
• the meditation on death

Translation of the transcript from French to English

Aurélie Godefroy:

Good morning everyone. Thank you for tuning in. It is my great pleasure to have you this Sunday morning on the set of Sagesses Bouddhistes. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the Tibetan centre of Kadam Choeling, near Bordeaux, has opened its doors to us. This is an opportunity for us not only to discover this Gelugpa centre but also to meet someone who had played an essential role in the transmission and diffusion of Gelug teachings,Venerable Dagpo Rinpoche. This is a documentary directed by Bénédicte Niogret.

Kadam Choeling

(a Buddhist centre in town)

Voice over:

We are in Bordeaux, on 5th June 2010, to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the opening of the Dharma centre Kadam Choeling in the middle of the city. This centre comes under the auspices of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism. Venerable Dagpo Rinpoche plays a crucial role in the diffusion of the teachings because he has lived in France for last fifty years. Through his efforts, the transmission of the teachings continues.

Venerable Dagpo Rinpoche:

Transmission occurs, when someone who has received the teaching practices it and as a result of his practice, he acquires the qualities and shares this knowledge with others. Thus he not only gives (others) the knowledge, there is also a certain force or energy or positive energy.

Alix Bommelaer, practitioner:

The transmission is oral because the tradition in Tibet is an oral tradition. It is the transmission of a text, the direct teachings of the Buddha which were transmitted from Buddha down to us through guru to disciple without interruption. This is the richness of the wisdom. And today, Dagpo Rinpoche is transmitting to us a Tibetan text which he will read first, offering to us the text in its original language and after that, he will develop it with commentaries and explanations. So, it is a complete teaching.

Voice over:

For the occasion, Venerable Dagpo Rinpoche has decided to give a teaching entitled “Néo Lama” or “Fast Path to Enlightenment”. It is a commentary on the Buddha’s teaching compiled in Tibetan in the 18th century. The text explains the stages of the path to enlightenment. It has been twenty years since the opening of the Bordeaux centre. Now we have a regular gathering of more than one hundred practitioners. In the beginning, we were just a small group of about ten people who were very motivated under the leadership of Françoise Cartau, the President.

Françoise Cartau, President of Kadam Choeling:

We had three fundamental ingredients – we had a teacher, we had a group and we had a desire to find a spiritual path. In fact, the teacher was the trigger and he was also the spiritual path as well as the one who enabled us to understand Buddhism. Thus, there was this coming together of people who wanted to change their lives, to find a path and to find a certain degree of stability. It started like this.

(chanting)

Venerable Dagpo Rinpoche:

You know, at the outset, I didn’t want to teach. I was working at the university and I didn’t want to give teachings. I told myself that there were already many lamas who were giving teachings. So it was not necessary for me to give teachings. I was going to stay in my little corner and after my retirement I would go to a quiet corner and stay there all alone. I really didn’t want to teach at all. But due to circumstances, finally I was, as one might say, “cornered” (laughter)… cornered…. No, I had to start (teaching) and I told myself that I would give it a try, for one year. If it is beneficial, I will continue.

(chanting in Tibetan)

Marie-Emmanuelle Gatineau, practitioner:

This teaching enables us to question ourselves constantly on what we are saying, thinking and doing. We have the choice not to question ourselves, not to focus on what we are thinking, saying or doing. But we are given the possibility to focus, to look at things from a fresh perspective. In any case, we have an analytical tool.

Voice over:

(Teaching translated by Marie-Stella Boussemart)
As far as we are concerned, we wanted to engage in this type of meditation on death and impermanence. We took the time to understand this first cycle on the disadvantages of not thinking about death and not being sufficiently aware of the ineluctable nature of death.

Voice over:

It is the presence of death and its ineluctable nature that makes human existence particularly precious.

Venerable Dagpo Rinpoche:

With our human body and the human mind, we can achieve a lot of things, in the intellectual domain. Not only in the intellectual domain. There are so many achievements in the mundane world at the moment, for example, in the field of science and all that, they are doing incredible things, isn’t it? We have achieved this as a result of the power, the strength of the human mind. Therefore, it is the same thing if we apply ourselves to the development of kindness, compassion and wisdom. We will succeed. It is the same thing. We have the means (to do so).

Voice over:

If we listen to a Dharma teaching without the necessary motivation, it is not very beneficial. It will not be very fruitful. So the first thing to do now is to revive or restore our needs, which is to have a good motivation.

Alix Bommelaer:

As a Westerner, I fall into the trap of intellectual attraction. One can become fanatical about things. I already had a liking for dissecting things, to analyze, to cut things up and to reflect on questions in depth. But it was meaningless without conscience as they say. It is good for science but not for a sacred ritual that comes from an official transmission by someone and that is so rich and so rare. Of course it’s very moving.

Voice over:

Which is why a teacher is so important.

Alix Bommelaer:

Of course. The link is inseparable. The disciple cannot live without a teacher and the teacher will continue to teach as long as there are disciples.

Pierre Caumel, practitioner:

The genuine teacher is one who has received the teaching that is transmitted directly from teacher to disciple. Therefore, the genuine teacher is the real Buddha since he is attained. For this reason, the teacher is always more important than even Buddha Shakyamuni himself.

Venerable Dagpo Rinpoche:

I think that as long as there are people who are really interested in the teachings of the Buddha, the transmission will remain. On the other hand, if there are only people who are interested intellectually, then there will be no transmission. Many people are really coming here for something they believe is real, because they have started to receive teachings. Then they have practiced and applied the teachings to themselves. They have personally obtained some results.

Françoise Cartau:

It may appear paradoxical but it is because we are involved in daily existence that we can live our Buddhism in a genuine way. We are not nuns, we are not monks; we are lay people. In fact it is in the way we conduct our lives that we are Buddhists.

(chanting in Tibetan)

Voice over:

What are the other advantages of thinking about death? It is said that on the one hand it is of great significance, of great value. Secondly, it is one of two great forces. Thirdly, fourthly, fifthly, it is extremely useful and important in the beginning, in the middle and in the end. Sixthly, at the time of death, we will be able to die peacefully and happy.

Venerable Dagpo Rinpoche:

It is said that one must receive a lot of teachings on the Lamrim, the stages of the path to enlightenment, all the time, all the time. If one receives and understands well a lamrim text and if one receives the same teachings again, there will be another understanding. It is the same words but the words speak differently. It is said that each time one receives teachings, one will understand more. For that reason, we must try to receive a lot of teachings.

Voice over:

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Bordeaux centre, personalities from the world of politics and religion in the city were invited to the festive reception.

Françoise Cartau:

Thanks to those who have stayed for so many years. We have journeyed together. We don’t have any realizations but we have traveled the path together. (laughter) I thank those who have joined us here. Thanks to those who have helped us, meticulously, for a long time, or from time to time. In short, I thank all those who have helped to build Kadam Choeling. Let’s hope that it continues. (applause)

Voice over:

A tiered cake in the form of a Dharma wheel, a Buddhist symbol, was made for the occasion. The teachings ended with the morning’s rituals. Some people entered the Buddhist path on this day with the taking of refuge.

Pierre Caumel:

The rituals are often those that will deepen one’s knowledge, that’s for sure, but also develop one’s devotion or faith. If we develop faith, we will “develop the potential” to put into practice what we have studied. Then we will gradually transform our mind.

Venerable Dagpo Rinpoche:

We always do it in Tibetan. For me it’s easier obviously. It’s my mother tongue, you see. It is a language that we have been using, for years and years for the teachings of the Buddha. There is something there. If we recite in Tibetan, we feel something. When one translates into another language, one can recite in that language but it is something new. There may be something later perhaps. For now, there is nothing. One does not feel anything.

Alix Bommelaer:

I think that the next generation of Buddhists will be very Western, that the transmissions will be done by people who have been trained in Dharamsala. There are monks who are being trained in Dharamsala. There is no (training) in France or in Tibet. They have left since the Chinese invasion and we are witnessing now a kind of Western revival of Buddhism.

Venerable Dagpo Rinpoche:

Well, in Tibet, there were no Tibetans who gave teachings. It was the Indians who gave us the Buddhist teachings. After that, the Tibetans practiced and had attainments. Then they transmitted the teachings to the next generations. Now the Westerners are doing the same thing. There is no problem, I think. That’s for sure. We are sewing (seeds) you see. One day, they will grow. One day they will become real.

Aurélie Godefroy:

If you are interested in knowing more about this subject, here are a few works we would like to recommend to you. First, Le Lama venu du Tibet, the autobiography of Dagpo Rinpoche, published by Grasset in collaboration with Jean-Philippe Caudron. You will discover the journey of this Tibetan teacher, from the 1930s until the Paris of today, through his training in the monasteries of Asia, his flight from Tibet in 1959 and his arrival in France.

Also published by Grasset, J’ai connu le Tibet libre by Thoupten Phuntshog, the author who tells his story but who is also the faithful companion of Dagpo Rinpoche and who lives with him today.

And the last work is by Pema Chodron which has just been published by Les Courriers du Livre, (entitled) Vivez sans Entrave (which is about) removing your fears and conditioning.

You can find this programme on the site of France 2 by clicking on the rubrique “Tous les programmes”. Thank you for tuning in and I wish you a very good day. See you next Sunday.

END

In this video Venerable Dagpo Rinpoche was asked how should one help a person who has a terminal illness. Dagpo Rinpoche replied that it should depend on the particular faith of the person. During a person last moments we must not create conflicts in their mind.

Pabongka Rinpoche: Excerpts from A Memoir by Ribur Rinpoche

The Venerable Rilbur Rinpoche was born in Eastern Tibet in 1923. At the age of five he was recognised by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama as the sixth incarnation of Sera-mae Rilbur Rinpoche. He entered Sera Monastic University in Lhasa at fourteen and became a Geshe at twenty-four.

He meditated and taught Dharma until 1959, after which he suffered under intense Chinese oppression for twenty-one years. Ribur Rinpoche, himself a lifelong practitioner of Dorje Shugden, was held and tortured by the Chinese for two decades. He famously said “If I told you what happened on a regular basis, you would find it hard to believe.”

And yet, by all accounts, he emerged from his trials with a heart full of love and forgiveness. How? Well, according to him, it was due to the blessings and teachings of his root Lama Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche. Below are some excerpts of a memoir of their time together…

My guru, kind in three ways, who met face-to-face with Heruka, whose name I find difficult to utter, Lord Pabongka Vajradhara Dechen Nyingpo Pal Zangpo, was born north of Lhasa in 1878. His father was a minor official but the family was not wealthy. Although the night was dark, a light shone in the room, and people outside the house had a vision of a protector on the roof.
– from Ribur Rinpoche’s “memoir”

Meeting his Root Guru…

Je Pabongka’s Root Guru, Dakpo Bamcho

His root guru was Dagpo Lama Rinpoche Jampael Lhuendrub Gyatso, from Lhoka. He was definitely a bodhisattva, and Pabongka Rinpoche was his foremost disciple. He lived in a cave in Pasang and his main practice was bodhichitta; his main deity was Avalokiteshvara and he would recite 50,000 manis [the mantra, om mani padme hum] every night. When Kyabje Pabongka first met Dagpo Rinpoche at a tsog offering ceremony in Lhasa, he cried out of reverence from beginning to end.

On his practical style of study (a recurring theme from Je Pabongka’s life)…

When Pabongka Rinpoche had finished his studies he visited Dagpo Lama Rinpoche in his cave and was sent into a Lam-rim retreat nearby. Dagpo Lama Rinpoche would teach him a Lam-rim topic and then Pabongka Rinpoche would go away and meditate on it. Later he would return to explain what he’d understood: if he had gained some realization, Dagpo Lama Rinpoche would teach him some more and Pabongka Rinpoche would go back and meditate on that. It went on like this for ten years (and if that’s not amazing, what is!).

Faithful minds see the miraculous….

One of (my) teachers had a picture of Pabongka Rinpoche that exuded small drops of nectar from between the eyebrows. I saw this with my own eyes, so you can imagine how much faith I had in Rinpoche when I finally came into his presence.

Ribur Rinpoche meets the great lama….

At the time of my arrival in Lhasa, Pabongka Rinpoche was living at Tashi Choeling, a cave above Sera Monastery. We made an appointment and a few days later my mother, my chang-dzoe (the man in charge of my personal affairs), and I rode up on horseback.

Although Rinpoche was expecting us that day, we had not arranged a time- Nevertheless, he had just had his own chang-dzoe prepare tea and sweet rice, which freshly awaited our arrival. This convinced me that Rinpoche was clairvoyant, a manifestation of the all-seeing Vajradhara himself.

After we had eaten it was time to visit Rinpoche. I remember this as if it were today. A narrow staircase led up to Pabongka Rinpoche’s tiny room, where he was sitting on his bed. He looked just like his pictures — short and fat! He said, “I knew you were coming — now we have met,” and stroked the sides of my face.

While I was sitting there a new geshe from Sera came in to offer Rinpoche a special tsampa dish that is made only at the time of receiving the geshe degree. Rinpoche remarked how auspicious it was that this new geshe had come while I was there and had him fill my bowl just like his own. You can imagine what that did to my mind!

More Wonderful Quotations about Je Pabongka from Ribur Rinpoche

From Pabongka Rinpoche: A Memoir
(Published in Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand By Pabongka Rinpoche, Wisdom Publications 1991)

Venerable Ribur Rinpoche

Kyabje Pabongka reacts to having a beautiful residence built for him…

Rinpoche’s chang-dzoe (attendant) was a very fierce looking man said to be the emanation of a protector. Once, when Rinpoche was away on a long tour, out of devotion the chang-dzoe demolished the old small building in which Rinpoche lived and constructed a large ornate residence rivaling the private quarters of the Dalai Lama.

When Rinpoche returned he was not at all pleased and said, “I am only a minor hermit lama and you should not have built something like this for me. I am not famous and the essence of what I teach is renunciation of the worldly life. Therefore I am embarrassed by rooms like these.”

Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche

Something very special inside….

I took Lam-rim teachings from Pabongka Rinpoche many times. The Chinese confiscated all my notes, but as a result of his teachings I still carry something very special inside.

Whenever he taught I would feel inspired to become a real yogi by retreating to a cave, covering myself with ashes and meditating. As I got older I would feel this less and less, and now I don’t think of it at all. But I really wanted to be a true yogi, just like him.

On Visiting Pabongka Rinpoche…

Visiting Pabongka Rinpoche was what it must have been like to visit Lama Tsongkapa when he was alive. When he taught he would sit for up to eight hours without moving. About two thousand people would come to his general discourses and initiations and fewer to special teachings, but when he gave bodhisattva vows up to ten thousand people would show up.

Kyabje Pabongka gives the initiation of Heruka…

Heruka

When he gave the Heruka initiation he would take on a special appearance. His eyes became very wide and piercing and I could almost see him as Heruka, with one leg outstretched, the other bent. It would get so intense that I would start crying, as if the deity Heruka himself was right there. It was very powerful, very special.

The Most Important Tibetan Lama of All…..

To my mind he was the most important Tibetan lama of all. Everybody knows how great his four main disciples were (these include Trijang Dorjechang and ling Rinpoche, the two tutors of the Dalai Lama)— well, he was their teacher.

He spent a great deal of time thinking about the practical meaning of the teachings and coming to an inner realization of them, and he had practised and accomplished everything he had learned, right up to the completion stage. He didn’t just spout words, he tried things out for himself. Also, he never got angry; any anger had been completely pacified by his bodhichitta.

Ribur Rinpoche

Gentle Protector…

Many times there would be long lines of people waiting for blessings, but rinpoche would ask each one individually how they were and tap them on the head. Sometimes he dispensed medicine. He was always gentle. All this made him very special.

Main Qualities….

I would say he had two main qualities: from the tantric point of view, his realization and ability to present Heruka, and from the sutra point of view, his ability to teach Lam-rim.

On Humility…

Whenever he visited his lama’s monastery, Rinpoche would dismount as soon as it appeared in view and prostrate all the way to the door — which was not easy because of his build; when he left he would walk backwards until it was out of sight.

Relics (not found in the cremation fires of ordinary beings)….

Je Pabongka’s ringsel (cremation fire relics)

(After rinpoche passed away,) an incredible reliquary was constructed but the Chinese demolished it. Nevertheless, I was able to retrieve some of Rinpoche’s relics from it and I gave them to Sera-mae Monastery. You can see them there now.

The Only Thing that Matters…

I have had some success as a scholar, and as a lama I am somebody, but these things are not important. The only thing that matters to me is that I was a disciple of Pabongka Rinpoche.

February 14, 2009 by truthaboutshugden (extracted from http://truthaboutshugden.wordpress.com)