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Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen

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

TULKU DRAKPA GYELTSEN
(1619 – 1656)

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

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

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

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

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

His short “incarnation lineage” includes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This Enlightened Mind cannot be silenced.

Sources:

An Introduction to Dorje Shugden

FAQs about Dorje Shugden and the Dalai Lama (Part 1 of 3)

admin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 04:16:01 +0000

(Read Part 2 and Part 3)

Someone wrote in with some searching questions and has already received some good replies in the comments section from Tibetans and Westerners (see article below, Dalai Lama Demonstration Down Under). I thought I would include some longer replies here, courtesy of Lineageholder, in the hope that these will clarify things for other readers who are interested in this important issue of religious freedom.

Q: What exactly is the Dorje Shugden practice and what does it involve?

A: Dorje Shugden is an emanation of the wisdom of all Buddhas appearing as a Dharma Protector to protect and increase the Dharma realizations within our minds.

The practice of relying on Dharma Protectors was taught by Buddha Shakyamuni and practised by Indian and Tibetan Buddhists. There are many Dharma protectors such as Mahakala, Kalarupa, Palden Lhamo and Dorje Shugden. In order to protect the Dharma realizations in one’s mind, Dharma Protectors must necessarily be emanations of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and are therefore part of the Three Jewels of Buddhist refuge, specifically the Sangha Jewel.

Although Dorje Shugden helps everyone because he is a Buddha, his main job is to protect the Gelug tradition of Je Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), and especially the Ganden oral lineage instructions. The practice of Dorje Shugden involves making offerings and requests with faith to Dorje Shugden — who is seen as one with Je Tsongkhapa and the Wisdom Buddha Manjushri — to protect the teachings of Je Tsongkhapa’s tradition, to pacify all obstacles to its growth throughout the world and to bestow favourable conditions for the Buddhadharma to flourish both in our minds and in the world in general.

You can read more about this subject here. If you would like to read the prayers to Dorje Shugden that are recited every day by faithful practitioners, you can read them here.

Q: What benefits do practitioners derive from practising it?

A: In the introduction to the practice of relying upon the Dharma protector in the Heart Jewel sadhana published by Tharpa Publications it says:

“This sadhana includes two practices revealed by the Wisdom Buddha Manjushri. The first is a special Guru yoga in which we visualize our Spiritual Guide as Je Tsongkhapa, who himself is a manifestation of Manjushri. By relying upon this practice, we can purify negativity, accumulate merit, and receive blessings. In this way, we will naturally accomplish all the realizations of the stages of the path of Sutra and Tantra, and in particular we will attain a very special Dharma wisdom.

The second practice is a method for relying upon the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden. Through this, we can overcome obstacles to our practice and create favourable conditions so that we can nurture and increase our Dharma realizations. If we rely upon the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden sincerely, our faith in Je Tsongkhapa will naturally increase and we will easily gain experience of the pure Buddhadharma transmitted directly to Je Tsongkhapa by the Wisdom Buddha Manjushri.

If we practise these regularly and sincerely, we will reap a rich harvest of pure Dharma realizations, and eventually come to experience the supreme joy of full enlightenment.”

You can read more about the benefits of relying upon Dorje Shugden here. Here are a couple of extracts:

“Dorje Shugden always helps, guides, and protects pure and faithful practitioners by granting blessings, increasing their wisdom, fulfilling their wishes, and bestowing success on all their virtuous activities.”

“If we rely sincerely upon Dorje Shugden, he will arrange the conditions that are most conducive for our Dharma practice but these will not necessarily be the ones that we ourself would have chosen! Dorje Shugden will bless our minds to help us transform difficult situations into the spiritual path, and he will open the wisdom eyes of his faithful followers, enabling them always to make the right decisions.”

Q: Where did it originate, and what is its significance today for practitioners?

A: Dorje Shugden is an emanation of the Wisdom Buddha Manjushri who arose as a Dharma Protector to fulfil a promise he had made in a previous life when as Duldzin Dragpa Gyaltsän, one of the principal disciples of Je Tsongkhapa, he promised to become a protector of Je Tsongkhapa’s tradition. This is explained by the Dalai Lama’s teacher and Gelugpa lineage holder, Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, in his text called “Music Delighting the Ocean of Protectors” which can be downloaded here.

Ngatrul Dragpa Gyaltsen (1619-54), a revered teacher who lived at the same time as the fifth Dalai Lama, predicted that he would arise as Dorje Shugden. He was the last incarnation in a long line of enlightened Indian and Tibetan Buddhist Masters which includes Manjushri, Mahasiddha Biwawa, Sakya Pandita, Butön Rinchen Drub, Duldzin Dragpa Gyaltsän, Panchen Sönam Dragpa, and many others. See biographies of these previous incarnations of Dorje Shugden.

For its significance for today’s practitioners, see the answer to the next question.

Q: How does it fit in with Buddhist teachings and practices and implementing those into daily life?

A: The practice of Dorje Shugden supports and enhances our practice of Sutra and Tantra in daily life. By making requests to Dorje Shugden and relying upon him sincerely — just as the great enlightened Masters of the Gelugpa tradition have done for centuries — we will be cared for so that we can accomplish our final goal of full enlightenment as swiftly as possible.

Buddhas can and will appear as anything that will benefit living beings, including as Spiritual Guides and in a protecting aspect as a Dharma Protector. In this spiritually degenerate time it is very difficult for spiritual practitioners to make progress on the paths to liberation and enlightenment on their own; there are many obstacles and we have little merit or good karma. We need help to remove obstacles and to manifest good conditions for our practice and this is the unique function of a Dharma Protector. The Dharma Protector is seen as an aspect of our Spiritual Guide to help us to accomplish pacifying, increasing, controlling and wrathful actions that are necessary for making spiritual progress.

There are many different Dharma Protectors that we can rely upon, but it is said that at this time Dorje Shugden is the protector who is most able to help us. We have a special karmic connection with this Deity, which means that we can receive swift and powerful help by relying upon him as opposed to other protectors. Check here for more information about Dorje Shugden.

I would just like to give some relevant quotes to help at this point:

There is no difference in the compassion, wisdom, or power of the various Dharma Protectors, but because of the karma of sentient beings, one particular Dharma Protector will have a greater opportunity to help Dharma practitioners at any one particular time.

Among all the Dharma Protectors, four-faced Mahakala, Kalarupa, and Dorje Shugden in particular have the same nature because they are all emanations of Manjushri.

However, the beings of this present time have a stronger karmic link with Dorje Shugden than with the other Dharma Protectors. It was for this reason that Morchen Dorjechang Kunga Lhundrup, a very highly realized Master of the Sakya tradition, told his disciples, “Now is the time to rely upon Dorje Shugden.” He said this on many occasions to encourage his disciples to develop faith in the practice of Dorje Shugden.

Posted courtesy of Lineageholder.

(Read Part 2 and Part 3)

(Source: http://wisdombuddhadorjeshugden.blogspot.com/2008/06/frequently-asked-questions-about-dorje.html)

Kyabje Dagpo Dorje Chang’s Praise to Dorje Shugden

admin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:43:39 +0000

A Praise to the Indestructible Protector

Though gone to the state of the Sugatas countless eons ago,
To benefit the teachings and migrators in whatever form subdues them,
Your hundreds of emanations have twenty-seven enlightened activities;
All praise to the pervasive lord, mighty Dorje Shugden!

Manjushri, Virupa, Sakya Pandita, Lord Buton,
Omniscient Duldzin Dragpa Gyaltsen, Panchen Sonam Dragpa, and so forth,
Emanating in an endless succession of scholar-siddhas of India and Tibet,
Displaying all sorts of excellent deeds, eulogies to you.

Divine one, when you were the Lord Tulku Dragpa,
At the age of thirteen you had already listened
To teachings such as Path of Bliss from Panchen Lozang Chogyen
And become a great treasury of instructions, eulogies to you!

Your analysis of scriptures of the ‘six ornaments’ was unimpeded,
You meditated and practiced in hundreds of isolated places,
You saw all yidams and were worshipped by hosts of dakinis,
Praise to the holy crown of scholar siddhas!

Teaching fortunate ones, you were a real Arya Nagarjuna and Haribhadra!
Defeating opponents, you were skilled in debate like Dignaga himself!
In composition of poetic verse you were without peer,
Famed as a second Aryashura, to you I offer praise!

When Dorje Dragden, overlord of the haughty ones
Repeatedly urged you fulfill your vow to arise
As a Dharma protector uncommon to the Geden,
You generated that mind of wrathful courage, praise to you!

Born from cells of the father, King of Obstructors,
And the supreme mother, Queen of Existence,
One whose body mandala of Shugden’s five families, chief and entourage,
In their great wrathful palace, was instantly complete, praise to you!

Then, although four undisputed powerful Tantrikas,
With samadhi, began wrathful rituals to strike you down,
Through power of having completed Guyasamaja’s two stages,
You would not be silenced, and showed signs of heroism, praise to you!

Through the sport of your mind’s five wisdom energies,
Like a great encampment of the Dalai Lama on journey,
You showed a wondrous spectacle of miraculous manifestations
Of the eight spirit forces to your physician, in reality, praise to you!

Then, having gone toward Tashi Lhunpo in Tsang,
Because of a slight inauspicious occurrence,
You immediately went to Sakya in a wrathful manner,
And were enthroned as a senior Dharma protector, praise to you!

Those who were polluting the Yellow Hat Teachings,
Leading improper recipients, who lacked training in the common path,
To a perverted behavior, with initiations and instructions,
Both gurus and disciples, were punished, praise to you!

When, because of the times, study of lamrim had greatly declined,
So that the lay and ordained were practically deprived of a pure refuge,
For the many beings wandering on mistaken paths,
You acted as a guru revealing the supreme path, praise to you!

When a powerful siddha generated a profound meditation,
Wishing to overpower you with a Karma Guru fire puja, at that time
A beautiful maiden distracted his mind and his samadhi was destroyed;
Praise to you, the slaughterer of those who misuse Tantric activity!

When a greedy governor, without reason, badly harmed
The community endowed with morality, with your power, O Deity,
You struck him with a terrible fatal disease and, when he promised
To act in accordance with the Teachings, you healed him, praise to you!

To the abbot of Ganden Rabten you said, ‘If you build,
A protector palace, I’ll provide the conditions immediately!’
And you gave a rain of desirable objects in actuality,
From an empty sky like a sky treasure, praise to you!

Pretending to be Dragshul Wangpo, you tormented the oracle
By swallowing a vajra in his throat,
And repeatedly split his temple abode, and so on,
Praise to the terrifier of even the great gods!

When all the deity’s people took refuge in you and made requests,
Saying, ‘Build a statue of Tsongkhapa and I will grant activity!’
You gave them relief
And justified belief, praise to you!

When a high Chinese minister summoned lay and ordained Tibetans
For execution, you said, ‘In seven days I will help!’
And as you said, you destroyed
The Chinese minister, praise to you!

Those who mix or pollute the Ganden teachings,
Whether great beings, ordinary beings, or powerful lords,
You grind into particles of dust, O Deity,
Protector of the Yellow Hat Teachings, praise to you!

In border regions where Shenrab’s bad system was practiced,
With many clear, decisive signs of the four activities,
You became precious guides who acted to spread
The excellent, fully unmistaken path, praise to you!

Enthroned as guardian of the Yellow Hat Teachings,
By the Chinese emperor, the Dalai Lama, and his regent,
You generated the intent to protect the Teachings
From now until the Buddha, Aspiring One, praise to you!

In short, the illusory multitudes of emanations
Of your body and activities, to which no end is seen,
Fulfills hopes like a treasure vase, a wish-granting jewel or tree,
To that infinite display, prostration and praise!