Masters of Meditation and Miracles: Lives of the Great Buddhist Masters of India and Tibet

by Tulku Thondup

Overview

Masters of Meditation and Miracles presents colorful biographies of thirty-five realized teachers whose lives were full of peace, enlightenment, and amazing miracles. They flourished in Tibet, the Roof of the World, in its golden days. These teachers belong to the Longchen Nyingthig lineage of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, a cycle of mystical teachings revealed by the great scholar and adept Jigme Lingpa.

From the first master, Garap Dorje, to the present, each spiritual personality has his or her own distinctive role to play in this great lineage. In retelling their stories in his own words, the author has sought to bring out their inner feelings as well as their external activities: how they faced and healed physical pain, how they dealt with emotional turmoil, how they overcame spiritual or meditative illusions, and most important, what experiences they had when they awakened their own inner Buddha Mind and Buddha qualities. These biographies not only provide great sources of teachings on meditation, but will also kindle a spiritual flame in the hearts of readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780834824829
Publisher:	Shambhala
Publication date:	11/16/1999
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
File size:	17 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Tulku Thondup Rinpoche was born in East Tibet and was recognized to be a tulku at age five. He studied at Tibet’s famed Dodrupchen Monastery, settling in India in 1958 and teaching for many years in its universities. He came to the United States in 1980 as a visiting scholar at Harvard University. For the past three decades he has lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he writes, translates, and teaches under the auspices of the Buddhayana Foundation. His numerous books include The Healing Power of Mind, which has now been published in eighteen languages, and Boundless Healing, which has been published in eleven languages.

Read an Excerpt

                                                           Preface
 
Masters of Meditation and Miracles is a collection of biographies of realized teachers whose lives were full of peace, enlightenment, and amazing miracles. They flourished in Tibet, the Roof of the World, in its golden days. These teachers belong to the Longchen Nyingthig lineage of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Longchen Nyingthig (the heart-essence of infinite expanse, or the ultimate truth of the universal openness) is a cycle of mystical teachings that represent the innermost meditation of Dzogpa Chenpo, revealed by the great scholar and adept Jigme Lingpa (1730–1798). Jigme Lingpa discovered them as a “mind ter” (or “mind treasure”), teachings that were discovered from the enlightened nature of the mind. To Jigme Lingpa and then from him to the present, the transmission of Longchen Nyingthig was passed through the lineage of many enlightened masters, the most outstanding being the ones whose lives are presented in this book.
In the past, when I read the biographies that I have epitomized here, I saw them as most inspiring and amazing lives. But this time, as I was retelling them in my own words with my own feelings, I myself frequently underwent the experiences of pain, hardship, or excitement as well as peace, joy, light, or openness that the masters were going through. So the lives were no longer just stories to read or objects “out there” to think about. They were glimpses of the inner light of the masters, which is the “true nature” of the enlightened lives. In that “true nature,” all the different phases and expressions of lives are in communion, like rivers flowing into the ocean, a single body of water. If these biographies are read as stories with intellectual and emotional perceptions, the best possible benefit that could come is inspiration. If the lives are read in order to feel and unite with the experiences of the masters, the stories will certainly arouse spiritual realization, love, peace, openness, light, and healing in the reader’s heart.
It was improper and indeed impossible for me to try to avoid the typical characteristic of Tibetan biographies, namely the inclusion of endless lists of teachers, teachings, and disciples of the masters, even though those lists might be boring for readers who are not Tibetan. But I tried not to let these details diminish the vividness of the narrative. Wherever possible, I attempted to bring out the inner feelings of the spiritual lives, and at the same time the external daily lives, of the masters: how they faced and healed their physical pain, how they dealt with their emotional turmoil, how they overcame their spiritual or meditative illusions, and, more important, what kind of experiences they had when they awakened their own inner Buddha Mind and Buddha qualities.
This book has two parts. The first is an introduction providing a short life of the Buddha and a list of major lineages of Buddhism in Tibet. While basing the Buddha’s life on traditional scriptures, I have tried to present it in terms of its meaning and his teachings rather than as a historical narrative. For the list of lineages of Buddhism in Tibet, I have given a structural outline of some of the major ones, but few details of them or their teachings.
The second part is the main body of the book. It presents the principle of the three Buddha bodies and the biographies of thirty-five masters of the Longchen Nyingthig lineage.
The three Buddha bodies are Dharmakāya, the ultimate body, which is the total openness, the absolute nature of the Buddha; Sambhogakāya, the enjoyment body, which designates all the true Buddha forms that appear without subject-object duality; and Nirmāṇakāya, the manifested body, which is the forms of the Buddha perceived by ordinary beings. The three Buddha bodies are the sources of the ultimate teachings, such as Longchen Nyingthig.
The first master of the Longchen Nyingthig lineage in human form is Prahevajra (also known as Garab Dorje). The lives of the early human masters from Prahevajra down to Guru Rinpoche (9th century CE) have a unique quality. They were manifested as a higher power of discipline and attainments, possessing superhuman endowments and power. From Longchen Rabjam on, although the lives of these later masters reflect a path, dedication, and power different from our own, still they had many experiences that are similar to our own hardships, pain, and emotions, and we can imagine ourselves reaching the point when we would possess their capacity for dedication, healing, and realizations. Thus, the lives of the early masters are the most important ones, but for many readers the lives of the later masters might be easier to understand and empathize with.
It seems that there are two reasons for having these two types of biographies. Changes in the art of writing account for some of the differences between the accounts of early and later masters. But the main reason is the change of circumstances and gifts of the audience and their level of openness and appreciation.
Among the lives of the later masters, too, there are many, such as Do Khyentse, who were born with amazing wisdom and power, while others, such as the First Dodrupchen and Jigme Gyalwe Nyuku, accomplished the highest spiritual attainments through disciplines of austerity and dedication. Many masters often faced harsh obstructions in their spiritual journey, but the power of their understanding, commitment, and inspiration not only kept them on the path, but led them to their goals.
The Longchen Nyingthig transmission flowed through many masters of various lineages. In this book I was able to include only the main masters of the Longchen Nyingthig lineage itself and those masters who were directly involved in bringing the Longchen Nyingthig transmission to my teachers and then on to me.
Concerning the lives of many masters there is a vast literature, but for some important masters, Dola Jigme Kalzang, Gyalse Zhenphen Thaye, Khenpo Pema Dorje, the Second Dodrupchen, and Önpo Tendzin Norbu, I could find very little material. Also, I focused more on those masters about whom there is little material in English rather than on masters whose lives are already available in English.
The masters whose lives are chronicled in this book are some of the many rare individuals whom we had in Tibet during its more than ten-century-long history of Buddhism. One should not, however, get the impression that most of the Tibetans were great meditators and accomplished adepts displaying miraculous powers, as the novel Lost Horizon might portray! Such accomplished masters were very rare in Tibet in comparison with the population as a whole. At the same time, there is no reason to doubt that they were people of great spiritual power and realization. Where the circumstances were right and there was total dedication to the advancement of the spiritual quality of the mind rather than to material progress, such spiritual attainments were witnessed not just in Tibetan civilization, but in many cultures throughout the history of the world during the golden times of their spiritual wealth.
For me the material in this book was the most inspiring that I have ever worked on. Each master is totally different, yet they are very similar. Each great master has his or her own unique character to manifest, role to play, and place to fill in this golden lineage of Longchen Nyingthig. Most of these great masters have gone, disappeared into the distant past. But their presence in the golden lineage, their words of enlightening teachings, and their power of liberating blessings are still with us.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix
Author's
Note
xi
Preface xiii

Part
One:
Introduction
SHAKYAMUNI
BUDDHA
4
After
the Buddha
11
BUDDHISM
IN TIBET
73
THREE
MODES OF LINEAL TRANSMISSION OF THE GENERAL NYINGMA INNER TANTRAS
18
Mind
Transmission of the Buddhas
18
Symbolic
Transmission of the Knowledge-holders
19
Oral
Transmission of the Ascetics
22
LINEAGES
OF THREE MAJOR NYINGMA INNER TANTRAS
23
Mahayoga 23
Anuyoga 28
Atiyoga
(Dzogpa Chenpo)
29
Semde 30
Longde 31
Me-ngagde 32

Part
Two:
The
Lineage of Longchen Nyingthig

LONGCHEN
NYINGTHIG TEACHINGS
43
THE
LINEAGE MASTERS OF LONGCHEN NYINGTHIG
46
1.
Dharmakaya
48
2.
Sambhogakaya 51

3. Nirmanakaya 53
4. Prahevajra
(Garab Dorje)
55
5. Manjushrimitra 59
6. Shrisimha 62
7. Jnanasutra 65
8. Vimalamitra 68
9. Guru
Rinpoche, Padmasambhava
74
Guru
Rinpoche's Visit to Tibet
83
The
Five Principal Consorts of Guru Rinpoche
92
The
Chief Disciples of Guru Rinpoche in Tibet
96
10. Künkhyen
Longchen Rabjam (1308–1363)
109
11. Rigdzin
Jigme Lingpa (1730–1798)
118
12. First
Dodrupchen Jigme Thrinle Özer (1745–1821)
136
13. Jigme
Gyalwe Nyuku (1765–1843)
163
14. Dola
Jigme Kalzang (nineteenth century)
173
15. Fourth
Dzogchen Mingyur Namkhe Dorje (1793–?)
175
16. Do
Khyentse Yeshe Dorje (1800–1866)
179
17. Gyalse
Zhenphen Thaye (1800–?)
198
18. Dzogchen
Khenpo Pema Dorje (nineteenth century)
200
19. Paltrül
Jigme Chökyi Wangpo (1808–1887)
201
20. Second
Dodrupchen Jigme Phüntsok Jungne (1824–1863)
211
21. Jamyang
Khyentse Wangpo (1820–1892)
215
22. Nyoshül
Lungtok Tenpe Nyima (1829–1901/2)
222
23. Önpo
Tendzin Norbu (nineteenth century)
226
24. Adzom
Drukpa Drodül Pawo Dorje (1842–1924)
228
25. Lushül
Khenpo Könchok Drönme (1859–1936)
230
26. Third
Dodrupchen Jigme Tenpe Nyima (1865–1926)
237
27. Shuksep
Lochen Chönyi Zangmo (1865–1953)
251
28. Fifth
Dzogchen Thupten Chökyi Dorje (1872–1935)
256
29. Gekong
Khenpo Künzang Palden (1872–1943)
258
30. Yukhok
Chatralwa Chaying Rangtröl (1872–1952)
260
31. Kathok
Khenpo Ngawang Paizang (1879–1941)
266
32. Alak
Zenkar Pema Ngödrup Rölwe Dorje (1881–1943)
275
33. Dzongsar
Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö (1893–1959)
278
34. Kyala
Khenpo Chechok Thöndrup (1893–1957)
283
35. Dilgo
Khyentse Tashi Paljor (1910–1991)
292
36. Chatral
Sangye Dorje (b. 1913)
296
37. Fourth
Dodrupchen Rigdzin Tenpe Gyaltsen (1927–1961)
298
38. Fourth
Dodrupchen Thupten Thrinle Paizang (b. 1927)
314

Lineage
Tree
333
Works
Cited
351
Notes 359
Index 379
Credits 384