At a young age, he was enrolled into the monastery and was ordained by one of the most influential Gelug masters of his time, Yongzin Yeshe Gyaltsen. It was then that he was given the name, Yeshe Zangpo. Therefore, he studied devotedly under Yongzin Yeshe Gyaltsen and his student Lama Yeshe Tenzin, accomplishing a sound understanding of the Sutras and Tantra, including the three highly revered practices of Guhyasamaja, Heruka and Yamantaka Tantras.

After his studies, Yeshe Zangpo went into a cave and entered into intense meditational retreats and austerities in the same manner as the great yogis and Mahasiddhas of old. However, he was called back to the monastery at the request of his Lama to serve as the Abbot of the monastery. During his tenure, he became famous for giving extensive annual teachings on the Lamrim.

Yeshe Zanpo also left a wealth of written works based upon his wisdom and practice. His collected works is divided into two volumes and is based upon traditional subjects like the Lamrim, Mind-Training and Mahamudra. He became one of the main lineage masters that upheld the torch of the Gelug tradition when many luminaries like Yongzin Yeshe Gyaltsen, Purchog Ngawang Jampa and Longdol Lama were passing away.

Of his many contributions to the cannon of texts in the Tibetan Buddhist traditions, one of his most important writings was a long ritual text written to the Protector Dorje Shugden. In this text, Yeshe Zangpo describes the mandala of Dorje Shugden and its inhabitants in graphic detail.

Then, he gives further clear and vivid descriptions of the environment from which the mandala arises. This is very important for the purposes of visualization for practitioners engaged in the practices. This text is especially significant for it offers evidence that significant texts to the Protector were being composed quite some time before Pabongka Rinpoche. It is evidence too that Pabongka’s writings drew from previous existing texts such as this one.

In the invocation portion of the fulfillment ritual text, Yeshe Zangpo mentions the various holy places from which Dorje Shugden is invoked. These places include Gandhav-yuha paradise, the pond from which the earthly remains of Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen is believed to have gathered, a Sakya Temple at Mug Chung, Ngor Monastery that has a Dorje Shugden shrine, the Gelug Riwo Choling Monastery in Yarlung that manages Trode Khangsar in Lhasa, ‘On Valley in Yarlung valley, a monastery near Gaden, the famous Trode Khangsar, which was founded by the Great Fifth Dalai Lama and the ruins of the hermitage of a Sakya Lama at Khau Drakdzong. This list reflects the holy pilgrimage sites that were popular in the 19^th century, many of which had shrines to Dorje Shugden.

In the colophon of this fulfillment text, Yeshe Zangpo wrote that he was requested to compose this text by the Abbot of Tashi Choling monastery in Lhodrag along with the monks of the monastery and various other practitioners of the protector. This means that Dorje Shugden practice had already become deeply entrenched in Southern Tibet and its peripheral regions. This text became widely distributed and found its way to Mongolia where it eventually entered into Lobsang Tamdin’s Bepum collection of Dorje Shugden texts. This is significant because that means that the text was already in wide circulation at that time.

When this text is examined, a new terminology, description of the mandala, epithets and longer Dorje Shugden mantra seemed to have been developed by Yeshe Zangpo. These elements seemed to have been incorporated into later fulfillment texts by Serkong Dorje Chang and Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche.

It seemed from the newer terminology and epithets used, Dorje Shugden had moved up in prominence within the lineage and practices. Serkong Dorje Chang and Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche would later use the titles and epithets developed by Yeshe Zangpo as they wrote about and promote the practice of Shugden. Examples include “Dharma Protector of the Conqueror Tsongkhapa”, “Lord of All Kings of the Powerful War Gods”, “Life Force Owner of All Beings of the Three Worlds” and “The Emanated Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden”.  

An important title, “Five Families of Dorje Shugden” – which is now very much used to describe the arrangement of the four emanations surrounding the principal – is also found throughout Yeshe Zangpo’s text. Later, highly attained Lamas like Rongchen Kirti Lobsang Trinley and Serkong Dorje Chang further endorsed these titles and references to Dorje Shugden when they used it in their own writings.

These use of such epithets revealed the great change that was happening at the time, where Dorje Shugden was beginning to figure more prominently as the main Dharma Protector of the Gelug sect. The very existence of this text shows that this change was taking effect during Yeshe Zangpo’s time – quite some time before Pabongka Rinpoche who people commonly (perhaps mistakenly) believe to be the starting point of the practice.

Certain scholars believed that Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche made up the titles and epithets used on Dorje Shugden. However, in studying the texts composed by Yeshe Zanpo, it becomes clearer that it was actually Yeshe Zangpo’s writings that ushered in a new era of Dorje Shugden as being the Protector of the Gaden tradition.

Later, through the guidance of his guru Tagphu Pemevajra, Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche further emphasized the importance of this newly elevated status of Dorje Shugden, giving it further prominence by writing a most central text, Melodious Drum Victorious in All Directions. The practice then spread like wildfire throughout Central Tibet, Amdo, Kham and Mongolia.

In his writings, Yeshe Zangpo also makes reference to a time when he was said to have witnessed Dorje Shugden taking possession of the oracle at Trode Khangsar. During the trance, he was told by Dorje Shugden to compile a torma offering ritual text in the same style as the wrathful enlightened Dharma Protector Kalarupa and a fulfillment text on the five emanations. It seemed that for Dorje Shugden to be elevated as the main Protector of Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings, such a system of practice was essential.

However, this in no way means that the protectors of old – such as Kalarupa – were being replaced by Shugden. In fact, even Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche maintained Kalarupa propitiation even within the Vajrabhairava cycle of practice and Kalarupa remains a very important and central practice in Gelug institutions around the world.

Yeshe Zangpo’s writing and contributions towards elevating the role of Shugden in the Gelugpa school must be remembered for marking a turning point and important changes in the history of the lineage. They had set the groundwork, so to speak, setting forth practice texts and establishing powerful epithets that would begin to ground the people’s faith in this “newer” Protector. It was by these initial efforts of Lamas like Yeshe Zangpo that Pabongka was later able to easily introduce the practices and popularize it for modern day practitioners.

Particularly in the early days of exile, a number of claims were made about the centrality of the practice of Dorje Shugden in Geluk practice, in particular, that the deity was the main protector of the Geluk.

This claim seems to be strongly linked to a doctrine connected with the 19th and 20th century charismatic Geluk teacher Phabongkha Rinpoche Dechen Nyingpo, and quite possibly his main teacher Tagphu Dorje Chang who emphasised “one lama, one personal meditation deity, and one protector” as being the essence of Geluk practice. It will therefore be looked at in that context.

One Protector

Quite clearly, as the Geluk tradition was founded by Je Tsongkhapa in the early 15th century and the non-canonical protector deity Dorje Shugden did not manifest until 1657, that deity’s practice could not have been the main protector practice of the Geluk for the first 250 years of the tradition.

The main protectors of the tradition until then, and the plural is important here, seem to have been the following:

• The canonical supramundane protector Karmaraja, locatable in the Yamantaka tantra cycle of the ‘father’ subdivision of the peerless yoga tantras and within that in the practices of Vajrabhairava;
• The canonical supramundane protector Six-Armed Mahakala, locatable in the ‘Vajra Tent’ tantra text in the Heruka cycle of the ‘mother’ subdivision of the peerless yoga tantra division;
• The canonical supramundane deity Vaishravana in the aspect of riding a lion and holding an umbrella in his right hand and a jewel spitting mongoose in his left.
• Later, but still before the appearance of the deity Dorje Shugden, the canonical supramundane deity Palden Lhamo Magzor Gyalmo became a protector of the Geluk. A clear date for this has not yet been established but may well turn out to be after the vision of the 2nd Dalai Lama, where Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava instructed him to take Palden Lhamo as a personal protector. Certainly by the late 17th and early 18th century, her practice was well established across the Geluk. What is important to note here is that all these are supramundane and that they are shared in common with the other Sarma traditions of Sakya and Kagyu.

None is exclusive to the Geluk. From the surviving collected writings of great teachers in the Geluk tradition, there is documentary evidence of continued interest in the practice of all these deities as dharma protectors right up until the present day.

Some of them also have functions as institutional protectors. For example, Palden Lhamo is the chief protector deity for Ganden Jangtse college and the practice of Palden Lhamo is a chief practice of the protector chapel for Drepung Lhachi, i.e. the totality of that monastery.

Apart from a few, often oblique references criticising the practice by certain lamas, the first surviving documentary evidence we have of the widespread worship of Dorje Shugden in the Geluk comes from the first half of the 20th century and seems due to the activities of Phabongkha Rinpoche Dechen Nyingpo.

The 3rd Trijang Rinpoche was collating material in his Labrang before exile, and managed to reconstitute some of his collection in exile, where he wrote quite extensively on the practice of Dorje Shugden. It may be that in the library of his Labrang in Ganden there are original dateable documents from before Phabongkhapa.

Much of the 3rd Trijang’s interesting work on Dorje Shugden is the collation of oral tradition around the practice of the deity. The weight of evidence so far available suggests that the practice of Dorje Shugden as either a worldly oath-bound protector or as an emanation of a fully enlightened being was mainly a private protector practice, with few institutions in the Geluk monasteries doing this as a regular practice.

One obvious example until very recently was the Bomra regional house of Sera Mey college. There were Dorje Shugden shrines in both Sera and Ganden monasteries in old Tibet and in exile, it seems that a three dimensional model of his mandala house had been built at Ganden.

But such is the loss of documentation due to the ravages of the cultural revolution that it is not at all clear how long Dorje Shugden shrines had been established in those monasteries in old Tibet or how well patronised they were in terms of numbers. Both clearly had wealthy sponsors but that does not necessarily equate to numbers.

The evidence that the practice of Dorje Shugden was the main protector of the Geluk simply does not stack up. It seems that for the Geluk as a whole and as an institution, the three then four canonical supramundane deities from the early days have remained the main dharma protectors of the tradition.

One Personal Deity

The one personal deity claimed as central for the Geluk is the practice of the aspect of Vajrayogini that comes through Naropa, known as ‘Naro Khacho’. The practice of Vajrayogini cannot be accessed except through an initiation into a Heruka deity.

Nowadays in Tibetan Buddhism, this seems mainly to be through the system of the five deity Heruka mandala in the tradition of Tilbupa. Looking at the tantra masters in the prayers to the lineage masters of this Vajrayogini lineage produced in the 19th and 20th centuries before coming into exile, Je Tsongkhapa is noticeable by his absence and it would seem that the practice came into the Geluk from the Sakya not through Tsongkhapa.

The issue of who does and who does not get included in lineage prayers is in itself a topic of great interest as until recently it was extremely unlikely that any given tantra practitioner of note really only had one master in the practice. 

More likely he would have studied different aspects of the practice and received different transmissions and oral instructions connected with the practice from a number of tantra masters. This scattering of transmission lineages between teachers is often deliberate, being one way to ensure that transmissions are not severed by untimely death of the only holder.

If we look at the surviving documentary evidence of Tsonghapa’s collected works, it would seem that Je Tsongkhapa had a deep interest in the 32 deity Akshobhyavajra Guhyasamaja tantra system, the 13 deity Vajrabhairava system and the 62 deity Heruka Cakrasamvara system and made these three practices the core of Geluk tantra practice.

Again the plural is significant. It was of these three mandalas that Tsongkhapa had three dimensional models made in a special temple in Ganden, the seat of his tradition. It is these three practices that constitute the core of the ritual training in the two surviving tantra colleges of Gyu Toh and Gyu Med and constituted the core of the tradition at Sey Gyu dratsang at Sey in the Tsang province of old Tibet.

The transmission lineage of this last practice has been badly damaged and it is not clear whether it can be reestablished fully either in exile or in Tibet. But the other two tantric colleges have been successfully reestablished and continue to ensure the survival of these key tantra practices within the Geluk.

In the Geluk it is the recitation of these practices by the tantric monks from these two colleges that is considered the best way to consecrate a temple. Of the three tantras traditionally Guhyasamaja is held as the main practice, Vajrabhairava as a preliminary and obstacle removing practice and the 62 deity Chakrasamvara as an enhancing practice.

Vajrayogini in the form of Naro Khacho is a branch practice off the Cakrasamvara cycle of practices. The tradition holds that if the number of core tantric practices of Je Tsongkhapa is taken as four then the practice of Kalacakra should be taken as the fourth. If it expanded to five then the practice of Mahacakra Guhya(ka)adipati should be added as the fifth.

Again the weight of the evidence seems to show that Naro Khacho Vajrayogini never was the core or sole tantric practice of the Geluk, though much admired and taken up by some individuals as their main personal meditational deity. It seems that from very early on, the main or core personal meditation deity practices of the Geluk were 32 deity Akshobhyavajra Guhyasamaja, 13 deity Vajrabhairava and 62 deity Heruka Cakrasamvara.

Beyond the 32 deities are the two great ministers of Dorje Shugden, Kache Marpo and Namka Bardzin. These are two oath-bound Protectors who have entrusted their very life essence to the King Protector and perform duties similar to that of a minister assisting their monarch in governing his kingdom. They are not emanations of Dorje Shugden but are Dharma Protectors in their own right.

Kache Marpo

Kache Marpo is believed to be an emanation of Hayagriva in the form of a tsen spirit. Assuming a worldly form, this enlightened Being bound himself willingly to the will of Dorje Shugden and became his main minister. Kache Marpo is described by the Fifth Dalai Lama as the doctrine’s watchman.

He rides a saddled horse with the force of the wind and the speed of traversing the universe in a single instant. As a tsen spirit similar to Setrab, he gnaws upon his lower lip in perpetual fury and haste, like an expression of his impatience to help destroy the obstacles and causes to our suffering.

Also like Setrab, he possesses three eyes that perceive the past, present and future simultaneously. He wears leather armor, with five banners fluttering above his leather helmet. He holds a noose that is tied to the ‘enemy’ – symbolic of ignorance – while simultaneously piercing the ‘enemy’ with a big powerful lance.

Very little is known of Kache Marpo except the fact that he is closely related to Tsiu Marpo, another worldly Protector who is the head of the Seven Blazing Brothers. Kache Marpo could perhaps have once been a part of the seven brothers.

In the story which tells the origin of The Seven Blazing Brothers, Tsui Marpo is said to have first manifested as Lise Chorpa from the land of Li. He was a virtuous man who lived in the forest but was mistakenly believed to be a dangerous man.

Blinded by fear, people hunted him down and the king, in a fit of fear, decapitated him with his royal sword. However, due to the power of his attainments, the various parts of his body – flesh, bones, heart, fluids and so forth – arose as the Seven Blazing Brothers, of which Tsui Marpo is the chief.

Namka Bardzin

This Protector is of fairly recent origin and is an unenlightened, oath-bound minister of Dorje Shugden. Namka Bardzin is a tsen spirit with three eyes. He is shown with his teeth gnawing his lower lip, brandishing a sword in his right hand and holding a skull cup filled with the enemies’ blood in his left. He wears the robes of an ordained monk and rides a mythical unicorn-like creature called a gyaling.

He came into being during the 1920′s when he was still alive as a Mongolian Geshe. This Geshe had just returned from a pilgrimage through India and stopped by Dungkar Monastery on his way back. During his stay, he developed a high fever but insisted on leaving because he wanted to return to Lhasa for the Monlam festivities.

At that time, the legendary Domo Geshe Rinpoche was away from the monastery. In his place, the lead chanter, Umze Sherab, requested the Geshe to stay so he could recover from his illness first. However, he politely refused and left the monastery in haste. During the arduous journey, his health degenerated further and his life finally came to an end along a steep road to Phari. While he lay down dying, he engaged in meditative death practices.

Several Bönpos (practitioners of the indigenous Tibetan faith) came across his body and found that he had passed away. With good intention, they performed funerary rites that were similar to the Buddhist transference of consciousness. However, their ritual and handling of his remains had an adverse effect on the dying Geshe’s subtle meditations. As a result, he became a fearsome, raging spirit and when his dead corpse was made fun of by the local herders, strange things began to happen to them.

The herders and livestock slowly died, one by one, of a terrible disease. Their expressions at death looked like they had been disturbed by the unseen. The Bönpos too succumbed and died under similar circumstances. One of them even fell into a trance and uttered strange noises while holding out his hand with four outstretched fingers. It seemed the unseen had revealed the number of victims he wished to attack.

Many tried various means to appease this ferocious spirit but to no avail. Finally, these tragedies came to the attention of Domo Geshe Rinpoche as many people were very afraid of who would be attacked next by this spirit. Domo Geshe Rinpoche was told of the deaths so he quickly quelled the spirit in a powerful ritual and placed him under the care of Dorje Shugden. Then, he installed him also as the Protector of Tromo Monastery and Dungkar Monastery. A shrine to this Protector was built and soon, the monastery oracle could take trance of him and offer advice concerning the monastery. He is thus also a Dharma Protector in his own right.

Attending to Dorje Shugden five families are the nine mothers, eight guiding monks and ten youthful and wrathful deities. Appearing in various guises, these attendants emanate to perform specific functions in relations to the propitiation of Dorje Shugden.

Eight Fully Ordained Monks

First are the eight fully ordained monks, emanated from the ‘sources’ of the principle deity. These eight monks are dressed in saffron-coloured robes and wear various monastic hats like the domed hat, pandit’s hat, yellow hat, split meditation hat and so forth.

They each also carry various items of monastic practice such as a monk’s staff, a begging bowl, a Dharma text and the ritual implements of vajra and bell. All of these are attributes of the eight monks that empower practitioners to hold their commitments, vows and words of honour, particularly the Vinaya.

The purified nature of the sources, nerves, veins, ligaments, and joints are the eight monks who guide in virtuous activity who, with an emanated drama of whatever tames each being, protect those bound by samaya like a son, to you I praise.

Nine Mothers

The nine mothers are the next in the sequence of attendants. These are nine beautiful maidens which are emanated from the ‘elements’ of the principle deity. All of them are dressed in celestial silks garments, wear eight jewellery pieces and carry the five desirable objects.

The nine mothers hold great power to control the four elements. These are all attributes that signify their ability to assist tantric practitioners with their higher meditations.

The purified nature of the four elements and five sense objects such as form are the nine beautiful great consorts of each family who, exquisite in their youth, with the arts of love, liberate from the bindings of existence, to you I praise.

Ten Youthful and Wrathful Deities

Then, there are the ten youthful and wrathful deities that are emanated from the ‘limbs’ of the principle deity. These ten deities carry various facial expressions with some appearing to be cheerful while others look wrathful.

They wear varied costumes of Chinese, Mongolian, Nepalese, Tibetan, Kashmiri and Bengali origin while carrying various sharp weapons in their hands. These deities help practitioners to avert inner and outer obstacles, particularly the grave danger of breaking samaya with our spiritual master.

The purified limbs of the body, in a powerful, wrathful dance, in the manner of torturers ruling over the lives of those with degenerated samaya, wandering in all directions, wearing outfits of China, Mongolia, Nepal, Tibet and Kashmir, to the ten wrathful young guardians, I offer praise.

The mandala of Dorje Shugden consists of a three-storey celestial mansion emanated through the force of his mind. Residing at the heart of the mandala is Dorje Shugden in his principal emanation on the snow lion, wearing a golden domed hat.

Dorje Shugden manifests as four other recognized emanations, each with their specific functions and purposes. These five forms are also known as the five families of Dorje Shugden.

The ‘five families’ of Dorje Shugden reside in the heart of the first floor. Altogether, the five families are manifestation of his five aggregates, which also correspond to the five Dhyani Buddhas. The five aggregates of form, feeling, discrimination, compositional factors and consciousness correspond to his body and various aspects of his mind.

Attending to Dorje Shugden five families are the nine mothers, eight guiding monks and ten youthful and wrathful deities. Appearing in various guises, these attendants emanate to perform specific functions in relations to the propitiation of Dorje Shugden.

Beyond the thirty-two deities are the two great ministers of Dorje Shugden, Kache Marpo and Namka Bardzin. These are two oath-bound Protectors who have entrusted their very life essence to the King Protector and perform duties similar to that of a minister assisting their monarch in governing their kingdom. They are not emanations of Dorje Shugden but are Dharma Protectors in their own right.

Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche said that Dorje Shugden’s principle and entourage are actually the 32 deities of Guhyasamaja’s body mandala. Although they appear in the guise of worldly aspects, the emanations and entourage are all purely manifestations of Dorje Shugden’s enlightened mind.

On the level above Dorje Shugden within the mandala is the very swift, strong Protector Setrab, also known as the Powerful Pure One, with his entourage. Setrab’s true nature is the same as Buddha Amitabha but he emanates in the form of a tsen spirit.

Setrab is especially close and very connected to Dorje Shugden because Dorje Shugden’s previous incarnation, Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen, relied on and practiced Setrap strongly as his main Dharma protector throughout his life. Even when Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen arose as Dorje Shugden, he immediately sought the assistance of Setrab at Sang Pung.

Later, the many subsequent attempts by high Lamas to destroy Dorje Shugden with deadly rituals all failed, due partly to Setrab’s assistance. Setrab manifested many visions to distract the Lamas away from the rituals, which then allowed Dorje Shugden to “flee” from the rites unharmed.

Finally, on the top most level of this celestial mansion, resides Buddha Amitabha, the original nature of Setrab.

Lord Setrab is actually an ancient protector who can be traced back to the days of Shakyamuni Buddha, from Bodhgaya where Shakyamuni was enlightened. Lord Setrab is an emanation of Buddha Amitabha who had sworn to Buddha Shakyamuni to protect the teachings of Buddhism in general. Hence, Lord Setrab is definitely an Enlightened Protector.

The practice of Lord Setrab was brought to Tibet by Loden Sherab who also painstakingly brought many of Buddha’s teachings from India to Tibet. Since then, this Dharma Protector has been practiced by many people and benefited countless sentient beings.

Lord Setrab has also been the Dharma Protector of Ganden Shartse Monastery for over 600 years. There are also Khamtsens in Drepung Loseling that take Setrab as their main protector up till today such as Nyagre Khamtsen. Many of the great Dharma teachers today take Lord Setrab as their Dharma Protector as it has been proven over the years that the practice of Lord Setrab is authentic and effective.

How is Lord Setrab connected to Dorje Shugden?

Although Dorje Shugden and Lord Setrab are Dharma Protectors in their own right, both are closely connected through the past life of Dorje Shugden who is Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen.

As Lord Setrab was one of Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen’s main Protectors, they must have had a very close bond that even until today, both are still very much connected. Even in the celestial Mandala of Dorje Shugden resides Lord Setrab on the second level. This shows that they have a very special relationship with one another. They abide in the same divine mandala palace.

Many years back when Dorje Shugden was said to be a spirit, many rituals and fire pujas was performed to destroy the Great King. But because Dorje Shugden is an Enlightened Protector, he could not be destroyed in any way. During those times, only Lord Setrab manifested assistance towards his close friend, Dorje Shugden.

There is a story that says when Mingling Terchen performed a wrathful fire puja on Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen, Lord Setrab emanated a celestial mansion in the sky as Mingling was about to start the puja. This act distracted Mingling Terchen’s mind for a moment while giving enough time for Gyalchen Dorje Shugden to escape.

With Lord Setrab, an Enlightened Protector, manifesting assistance towards Dorje Shugden over and over again, it must be true that Dorje Shugden is not an evil spirit but instead an enlightened Being who has taken an oath to protect Lama Tsongkapa’s teachings.

Iconography

Lord Setrab has one face and three eyes. His one face signifies the non-dual nature of an awakened mind. His three eyes, like many other Buddhas, symbolises his ability to see the past, present and future simultaneously.

His body is blazing red in colour just like Amitabha Buddha. His wrathful form indicates compassion and love, battling our obstacles towards the spiritual path. Similarly, his external armor shows that he is always ready for war against our worldly obstacles to make it conducive for us to practice the Dharma with faith.

Lord Setrab’s right hand holds a cudgel with a symbolic wrathful mudra representing his power over spirits and the crushing of ignorance. His left hand holds a noose which symbolizes Lord Setrab being able to subdue malevolent spirits and also to overpower our ego. Lord Setrab also holds a spear to pierce through the hearts of enemies.

Lord Setrab rides on a horse that is able to ride through the three realms in a single instant. This reveals the speed that Lord Setrab moves throughout existence to benefit countless beings.

Nero Stallion

Who is He?

Kache Marpo is the main attendant to Dorje Shugden alongside Namkar Barzin. He is said to be the direct emanation of Hayagriva. Although Kache Marpo takes the appearance of a wordly form, he is fully enlightened.

Hayagriva is the wrathful form of Avalokiteshvara. His compassion transforms itself as a fierce and strong energy. He manifests his compassion through wrath to force us to overcome both our inner and outer worldly obstacles, in order for us to practice Dharma smoothly.

Therefore, Kache Marpo being an emanation of a Buddha is an Enlightened Protector. He has his own Pujas, Offerings and Rituals separate from Dorje Shugden’s prayers, because he can be practiced as a Dharma Protector on his own.

It is said that Kache Marpo waits on his horse outside of the mansion in Dorje Shugden’s mandala to carry messages and lead a wrathful army to conquer our obstacles.

Kache Marpo usually takes trance peacefully through an oracle to give instructions and advice. He will check all advice with Dorje Shugden before giving it out to practitioners. Having great respect for Dorje Shugden, Kache Marpo always refers to him as the ‘Great King’.

Kache Marpo takes trance of the current Panglung Kuten (Kuten is oracle in Tibetan) who resides in Taiwan. He also takes trance of the Gameng Kuten in the USA. In Tibet, the previous Panglung Kuten was very famous and many people including the 14th Dalai Lama, Trijang Rinpoche, dignitaries and high officials would always consult him. The Panglung Kuten lived in Panglung Retreat near Sera Monastery in Lhasa.

When Kache Marpo takes trance of the qualified oracles he may give prophecies, advice, blessings and healing of diseases depending what is necessary. He is very patient and very helpful to those who practice Dharma sincerely.

When Kache Marpo takes trance, he may appear wrathful or peaceful depending on the location he is in. If the people in a certain area are aggressive, full of anger and stubborn, Kache Marpo would take on a wrathful form. On the contrary, if the people are compassionate, loving and patient, Kache Marpo would take on a calm and peaceful form.

At times when Dorje Shugden and Kache Marpo knows that the people in a certain area will not adhere to their instructions, they will not stay for long during trance nor accept the offerings from the people. This is so that the people will not accumulate more negative karma by disobeying the instructions given.

Iconography

Kache Marpo’s residence is described to be: A brilliant, splendid brown palace made of leather which is surrounded by a red ocean formed by the blood of horses and men.

The colour of his body is similar to that produced when the sun shines on a huge mountain of coral. He has the shape of a “son of devas”, with one face and two hands. In his right hand he brandishes a red, sharp lance, with which he pierces the heart of an oath-breaker. His left hand, holding a snare of the spirit which is wound around the neck of an obstacle-creating demon, rests in front of his breast.

He wears a leathern cuirass and a leathern helmet adorned with a “banner of victory” with pendants of silk in nine colours. His facial expression is very fierce and he gnaws his lower lip.

His eyes have red-gleaming veins, and they stare full of hatred at the evil vighnas. He sits on a very fierce horse, which has spots white like felt and possesses magic qualities – it is mounted with a priceless saddle and carries a front – belt and other horse trimmings.

My root guru, His Eminence Tulku Khejok Rinpoche demonstrates how to offer a Mandala. Although I am not able to include Rinpoche’s detailed explanation (it is entirely my inability), I still want to share this very precious recording.

I am lucky to receive this practice first hand from Rinpoche. By actually seeing him offer the Mandala, he has cleared my misunderstanding and wrong views. It benefits me a lot, I hope it will benefit others too.

Many thanks to my guru!!!!

Do read about His Eminence Khejok Rinpoche’s biography here
dorjeshugden.com/?p=1732

(3:25) Shar Gaden monks dissolving a sand mandala in Füssen, Germany. A mandala is a deeply profound, universal symbol that translates literally to mean the “center and its surroundings” and is a physical representation of the universe and the interdependence within the universe, which means that everything and everyone is interlinked in one way or another.

Mandalas may be found in many forms, but always include a circle, a central point, and symmetry. These sand mandalas take days for monks to create yet are dissolved in minutes and this dissolution epitomizes impermanence.

Please click to enlarge