༢༠༡༦/༩/༣༠
Accordingly, the great Je Tsong Khapa (1357-1419) at the age of 53 revealed (took out) the white conch offered to Buddha Shakyamuni by Naga king Modro as well as the mask of the Dharmaraja. And established the monastery with the assistance of his two close disciples – Gyaltsab Je (1364-1432) and Khedup Je (1385-1438). Subsequently, instituted the Gaden Namper Gyalwe Ling (the Gaden Monastic University) of Gelukpa Order in the year 1409.
One of the colleges of Gaden, the glorious Shartse Thosam Norling Monastery was then established by Shatchen Rinchen Gyaltsen (1366 - 1427). The great Je Tsong Khapa’s disciple, the omniscient Khedup Je became the first abbot of Shartse Monastery in the year 1419, and since then till date more than 108 abbots have ascended to the throne of abbot ship of the monastery. Moreover, like the galaxies of stars or the fauna and flora on this earth, numerous highly realized beings have intentionally taken birth. Amongst them few became Gaden Tripas (Head of Gelukpa Order), Sharpa Choejes, tutors of the Dalai Lamas. The monastery has thus produced many illustrious beings in the service of the Buddha Dharma and sentient beings.
Shartse Monastery, which is a hub of scholars and practitioners of Buddha Dharma has eleven Khangtsen (Houses).
Lhopa Khangtsen is one amongst these and has four wings: Lin Gang, Nagsho Gang, Lhopa Gang and Gomte Gang. The origins of the monks of these four wings were from two sources - the upper and the lower. There were more than 400 monks. Amongst these monks, numerous supreme beings such as, Lhopa Gyalse Rinpoche the emanation of the great Je Tsun Milarepa (1040 - 1123), Geshe Dhakpa Donyoe the emanation of Je Tsun Rechungpa (1083 - 1161) have descended. The 15th Gaden Tripa Panchen Sonam Dhakpa ( 1478 - 1554 ) in the year 1529 has been the Chant Master of Lhopa Khangtsen. Furthermore, a great abbot such as Gyatso Wangchuk and others have been the abbots of the Shartse Monastery.
Likewise, a number of highly realized lamas and learned geshes had been the product of this Khangtsen and had played significant role in the dissemination and preservation of the Buddha Dharma. However, as misfortune it would have been, Tibet was captured by the ill willed battalions of barbaric armies who inflicted immeasurable suffering and loss to the people in general and to the Buddha Dharma. Such came time when people could hardly enjoy the freedom to utter even a stanza of religious sermons. Nevertheless, His Holiness the Dalai Lama the champion of World Peace, because of his bindings of pledge made in the presence of numerous Buddhas in past live could come into exile and contributed towards achievements in the field of temporal and spiritual activities due to the force of his meaningful prayers. In particular, he re-established the monastic universities and laid the foundation to preserve the great tradition of study, contemplation and meditation of the five major texts of Buddhist Philosophy.
Furthermore, the Buddha Dharma has also gained its popularity and momentum in the Western World where the name of Buddha Dharma was unknown in the past. These are solely due to the kindness of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
མུ་མཐུད་ནས་གཟིགས་རོགས།
MARPA THE
TRANSLATOR AND JETSUN MILAREPA
Just as the greatly
accomplished Virupa was the major Indian patriarch of the Sakya
tradition, the mahasiddhas Tilopa and Naropa are the forefathers
of the Kagyu. Tilopa (988-1069) received the teachings of
mahamudra directly from Buddha Vajradhara, and from Vajrayogini
he received the special dakini hearing-lineage. Both of these he
transmitted to Naropa (1016-1100) who inturn passed them on to
his Tibetan disciple Marpa Chokyi Lodro (1012-1096), popularly
known as Marpa the translator. Marpa's principal heart-son and
dharma heir was the beloved Jetsun Milarepa (1052-1135) and it
was through these illustrating founding fathers that the Kagyu,
or Ear-Whispered, tradition came from into existence. Thanks to
an unbroken succession of great practitioners such as Gampopa,
Pagmo Drupa and the Gyalwa Karmapas, this tradition has remained
alive and undegenerated right up to the present day.
Milarepa's apprenticeship to Marpa
is often held up as the epitome of the guru-disciple
relationship. These two differed from each other in almost every
respect except their intense dedication t o the dharma. Marpa
was a solidly built, gruff householder with a large family while
Milarepa is often pictured as an emaciated ascetic, living alone
in caves high up in the Himalayas, his skin having turned the
green color of the nettles that made up his meager diet. Yet, as
the translators of Marpa's biography have written:
Each
of them forged his own path based on who he was
and
what his resources were. Their life stories are examples
how
one's life -anyone's life-could be devoted wholeheartedly
to
the practice and realization of the buddhadharma.
It would be
impossible to do justice here to the eventful life stories of
these two spiritual geniuses, but a few significant features can
be mentioned briefly. Marpa made his first journey to India
because he was frustrated in not being able to receive the
dharma instructions he desired in Tibet. It was his intention to
study the Vajrayana at the monastic centers of northern India,
but he had to pause in Nepal for three years to acclimatize him
self to heat of the lower elevation. It was here he met
disciples of Naropa and immediately knew that was the guru with
whom he must train. in all Marpa made three trips to India and
spent twenty one years there, sixteen of which were in the
service of Naropa. He also studied with Maitripa and from this
Mahasidhha he received an additional Mahamudra lineage.
As for Mahamudra itself, this term
encompasses a wide range of interrelated practices all leading
to a direct, intuitive realization of the mind's ultimate
nature. Through following these practices assiduously it is
possible to come face to face with "suchness," the actual way
things exist, devoid of preconceptions and elaboration, beyond
the reach of words and intellect. We can glimpse the freedom
attainable though mahamudra meditation from one of the songs
Marpa sang to express his realizations, one stanza of which
reads:
The
essence of realization is nowness,
Occurring
all at once, with nothing to add or subtract.
Self-liberation, innate great bliss,
Free from hope or fear is the fruition.
During Marpa's last stay in India
Naropa decided to test the Tibetan's ability to hold the lineage
of his teachings He therefore manifested the entire mandala of
Hevajra, Marpa's main meditating deity, and said to him:
Your personal yidam Hevajra with the nine emanation goddess has arisen in the sky before you. Will you prostrate to me or to the yidam?
Thinking that it was usual for him
to see his guru while this was the first time he had ever
directly beheld his meditating deity, Marpa prostrated to the
bright and vivid mandala appearing before him. Naropa then
dissolved the entire mandala back into his own heart and
admonished Marpa that if it were not for the guru even the names
of the enlightened beings would not exist. He then predicted
that even though Marpa had eight sons, his dharma lineage would
not be passed on by the descendants of his own family. But he
also predicted:
Although in his life your family lineage will be interrupted, your dharma lineage will flow on like a wide river as long as the teachings of the Buddha remain... All the future disciples of the lineage will be like the children of lions and garudas [birds of extraordinary power], and each generation will be better than the last.
In particular Naropa prophesied that
it would be Marpa's disciple Milarepa, whom Naropa had never
met, who would be of special renown. When Marpa had first
mentioned Milarepa to his guru Naropa placed his joined hands on
top of his head said:
In the
pitch black land of the north
Is one
like the sun rising over snow.
To this
being known as Thopaga [i.e. Milarepa]
I
prostrate.
When Milarepa first
came to Marpa he certainly did not appear to be a fearless lion
or Garuda, or radiant sun of the dharma. On the contrary he was
in a state of abject terror. Milarepa's father had been a
prosperous landowner. After he died, Milarepa's mother, sister
and himself had their inheritance stolen by a wicked uncle and
aunt and were thereby reduced to bitter poverty. To gain revenge
on these people, Milarepa's mother urged him to learn the art of
black magic, which he did. Using these powers he brought about
the destruction of his mother's enemies, killing many people and
animals in process. Then, overcome by horror of what he had
done, and fearful of the fate that lay in store for him as a
murderer, he desperately sought the refuge of a dharma master
who could save him from the result of his misdeeds. It was in
this state of mind that he entrusted himself to Marpa.
Marpa treated this
would-be disciple very roughly. He mockingly called him
"Sorcerer"- a name which stuck with him for a long time
thereafter- and refused to give him any dharma instruction
whatsoever. In fact, if Milarepa dared enter the room in which
an empowerment or teachings were to take place, Marpa would
descend from his throne in rage, thrash Milarepa soundly and
throw him out! Instead of teachings, Marpa gave Milarepa
back-breaking tasks to perform. The most famous of these was the
single-handed construction of a rock tower, which Milarepa was
forced to tear down and rebuild three times.
Despite intense
hardships Milarepa persevered in serving Marpa devotedly. After
years of treating Milarepa so harshly, Marpa discerned that his
methods had finally produced their desired effect. These tasks
had acted as purification practices, cleansing Milarepa and
preparing him to receive Marpa's most profound legacy.
Marpa then bestowed
upon Milarepa the pith instructions of the teachings he himself
had received from Naropa, particularly those related to the
practices of Chakrasamvara, and sent him off to the mountains to
do strict retreat. Through untiring effort and intense guru
devotion, Milarepa accomplished the supreme task of complete
self-transformation, achieving the full enlightenment of
buddhahood within a few short years. He then spent the remainder
of his life wandering from place to place, revealing the dharma
through spontaneous songs that touched the heart of simple and
learned alike. These songs are still sung by the Tibetan people,
who, whatever their affliction, regard Milarepa with abiding
affection as one of their own.
To specially ripe
disciples, Jetsun Milarepa -Mila, the Revered Cloth-Clad
One-passed on the profound instructions handed down from
Vajradhara, Tilopa, Naropa and Marpa. To Gampopa (1079-1153), a
master of the Kadam tradition, he transmitted certain special
teachings that Tilopa commanded be kept extremely hidden, to be
passed from guru to only one disciple for thirteen successive
generations. Yet one of the most powerful teachings that
Milarepa ever gave Gampopa was complete non-verbal. Milarepa had
sent Gampopa away to do retreat when suddenly he called his
disciple back to him, explaining that he had one further set of
instructions to pass on. He then lifted up his cloth garment and
showed Gampopa his own scarred and calloused backside, testimony
of the years on unstinting meditation he had engaged in to win
the goal of full awakening. Deeply impressed by what he had
seen, Gampopa departed, to practice just as intensely.
Over the centuries the Kagyu
tradition has continued to produce a succession of realized
masters who have engaged in the same practices perfected by
Marpa and Milarepa. Among them are the late heads of the Kagyu
tradition, His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe
Dorje (1923-1981), and His Eminence the late Kalu Rinpoche
(1904-1989), both recognized by members of all Tibetan
traditions as yogis of exceptional attainment. In his last
public discourse, Kalu Rinpoche described the attitude to be
cultivated by the disciple toward his or her spiritual master as
follows:
…what we call the Buddha, or the lama, is not material in the same way as iron, crystal, gold or silver are. You should never think of them with this sort of materialistic attitude. The essence of the Lama or Buddha is emptiness; their nature, clarity; their appearance, the play of unimpeded awareness. Apart from that, they have no real, material form, shape or color whatsoever-like the empty luminosity of space. When we know them to be like that, we can develop faith, merge our minds with theirs, and let our minds rest peacefully. This attitude and practice are most important.
དགེ་བཤེས་ཐུབ་བསྟན་ཚེ་རིང་མཆོག་གི་ལོ་རྒྱུས།
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY
OF
GESHE THUBTEN
TSERING PALSANGPO
In the year1934 to the East of Lhasa
about three days of journey in the Gungkar district, on the back
of Machu River, in the family of new Zimba Trilzin Sarpa, the
mother of the family had a dream that Nagini Maltro Sichien
gifting her a son. Thus, a son was born to Mrs. and Mr. Sonam
Dorjee after this auspicious dream. The mother named her son
"the Gifted Son".
When his parents took the little boy
on a pilgrimage to Lhasa, even though he was only one and half
year, he was able to recite Tibetan letter "Ka". At the age of
nine his own father started teaching him how to read and
Tibetan. He was proving to be a very clever, intelligent boy.
So, his parents decided to put him into a Monastery.
In 1943, he was initiated into
monkhood and enrolled himself as one of the new entrant at Gaden
Shartse Thosam Norling Monastery's Lhopa Khangtsen under the
care of Geshe Gyan Choe Dhar Lak. Then he was initiated into
doctrines of Rabjung.
At about 12 years of age with
Phukhang Geshe Lobsang Choephel and Ngari Geshe Lobsang Tenzin
as his two main tutors. He mastered the logical debating
techniques from the basic color definitions.
At the age of 18 years he gave his
debating examination in " Pharchin" in the main hall. His
understanding of the Buddhist Scripture was such good that even
at this time he was learned enough to teach others. He wasn't
only a learned monk but always a concerned compassionate
companion, a very sincere teacher. During the class of " Central
Path " (Uma)" he was so good in memorizing that in
addition to whatever the general requirement to memorize, he had
memorized thousands of additional scriptures by heart and used
to stand first among his classmates for many years. When the
14th Dalai Lama was giving his debate exam at Gaden, he was one
of the questioners.
In the 1959, when H.H. the Dalai
Lama fled Tibet, he was one of 1500 monks who gathered at
Bhaksa's Thosam Thardot Ling to put an initiative in preserving
and reviving the Tibetan Buddhism. With blessings from H H the
Dalai Lama and the most reverent Szong Rinpoche, Khenpos of the
Monastery, he devoted himself in learning Buddhisms and also
imparting his knowledge and wisdom to all the younger monks. He
has received many doctrines and initiations from H H the Dalai
Lama, Yongzin Ling Rinpoche, Yongzin Trichang Rinpoche, Kyabje
Szong Rinpoche, Kyabje Dorjee Chang Rinpoche, Phara Dorjee
Chang, Rev Zemet Rinpoche, Drelo Geshe Loden Rinpoche, Gashar
Khen Rinpoche Lobsang Choephel, Loselling Khenpo Padma Gyaltsen,
Sharhor Khen Rinpoche Neema Gyaltsen. He received his
endoctrines at most of the holy places, thus he has tried to put
this in writing mainly to keep the old tradition of recording
the lectures he received but also to pay his respect and
gratitude to his masters.
In the year 1964, as
per the directives from H H the Dalai Lama he was one of the
Resource Person in the Dharma Teachers, Teachers' Training
conducted at Musssorie, UP, India.
After this he joined
and received the Acharya degree in Buddhist Philosophy from
Banaras Hindu University, Sarnath. After this he appeared for
his Geshe Lharam test at Dharamsala in the presence of monks
from all 3 major Monastery. After this, at a Chotrul Monlam at
Gaden, he stood first among those appearing for Geshe Lharam at
Gaden Monastery.
He joined the Gyuto
Monastery to master in Tantric Studies. After this he joined the
Banaras University, Sarnath section as lecturer till his last
days.
His spare times were spend in
reading the other Buddhist sects' text and teaching the students
who come to him for his guidance and help. His style of teaching
was very simple, clear and precise to the point.
Unfortunately in 1986, he fell ill
and since both Tibetan and Allopathic medicines could not give
out any marked result he was shifted to Mundgod Gaden Monasery
for further treatment and care. But again here also his health
did not improve much, thus he was taken to a good Hospital in
Delhi where he breathed his last on 17th April 1988.
Thus after his demise, the followers
and the disciples prayed and wished for his reincarnation for
the benefit of the all human beings and also for the spread of
the Dharma. Thus prayers were offered, oracles were consulted as
per the prevalent old tradition looked for his Reincarnation.
དགེ་བཤེས་ཐུབ་བསྟན་ཚེ་རིང་མཆོག་གི་ཡང་སྲིད་སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་བསྟན་འཛིན་
ཚེ་རིང་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་མཆོག་གི་ལོ་རྒྱུས།
ཚེ་རིང་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་མཆོག་གི་ལོ་རྒྱུས།
Geshe Thubten
Tsering Palsangpo's reincarnate
Tulku Tenzin
Tsering's
brief biography
In 1993, when Geshe Tsultrim Tengey
lakand Ven. Tsedup Dorjee of Gaden Lhopa Khangtsen requested His
Holiness the Dalai Lama whether H. H. the Dalai Lama sees a sign
for a possible reincarnation. H. H. the Dalai Lama has advised
them to wait, as there is no clear sign showing that the
reincarnation would be in India. Yet these two made an effort to
look out for possible clues among the people in Dharamsala,
Delhi and other Tibetan settlements. Since they did not see any
positive indications they were a little disheartened. But then
in 1995when Drupchen Gowo Geshe Neema was consulted, he
prophesized that the reincarnation was born in Tibet at Yuthog
Zampa (turquoise-roofed bridge) so either one of them
tried to go to Tibet but the permits were restricted. They tried
to contact some people in Tibet to look for this new incarnation
but they were not successful.
In 1996 December, when HH the Dalai
Lama gave the Kalachakra at Salugara ( India), Geshe Tsultrim
Tengay and Gelong Jampa Wangchuk and their Geshe Chophel of
Gaden Hardong Khangtsen and Trulku Tenzin Namdol all went to
receive this Kalachakra sermon. They all stayed lodged together
in one tent during the Kalachakra sermon. Ven. Tenzin Namdol
Rinpoche had some guest from Tibet Mrs. Dicky Dolkar and her son
Tenzin Namkha, when this mother and child came to the tent
deliver some parcel, the boy immediately without any hesitation
asked Geshe Tsultrim Tengay lak with so much of familiarity and
without any inhibition. " Oh! Give me an apple" and he looked
very happy to have meet Geshe TsultrimTengay. Geshe Tsultrim
Tengay was absent-minded and thought it was just a child's
boldness nothing else. Then the boy came repeatedly into the
tent and was showing his happiness to have met Geshe Tsultrim
Tengay. After the Kalachakra, the mother and the son wanted to
come down to Mundgod to meet their relative Ven. Lobsang
Thabkhey of Drepung Phukhang Khangtsen, but she could not find
anyone to visit Drepung from her co-travelers. So the mother was
quite unsure whether she will make it or not to Mundgod without
a good travelling companion. So, finally she decided to come
down with Geshe Chophel and Geshe TsultrimTengay, they reached
Mundgod. As they got down at Gaden Monastery when Geshe Chophel
went to his residence and Geshe Tsultrim Tengay too started
towards his residence the boy insist that he will accompany
Geshe Tsultrim Tengay to his residence. It was good time that
Gaden Lhopa Khangtsen was all cleaned and white washed. On 4th
of January 1997, (24/11/2123 of Tibetan Calendar) as they
arrived to their residence, we offered the food. The boy after
his food went and sat on the cot belonging to late Geshe Thubten
Tsering and said this is my cot. He insisted on getting the
white glass rosary of the late Geshe lak, which was kept on the
altar and after getting it on his hand, he put the rosary round
his neck. While he went to toilet he gave us the rosary (mala)
to be kept with care, when asked, "whose is it?" The boy
replied, "it is his". Not only this he also said that there is a
spectacle of his in the drawer of the table which too was there.
All these things were very surprising incidence to all the Geshe
and their students of this house. Then the Mother and child went
back to Drepung Monastery to stay with their relative. The next
morning at the child's persistent demand that they go to Gaden,
the mother and the child had to come Gaden before they could
have their breakfast. The mother left the child at Gaden and she
went back to Drepung Monastery. Her brother instructed her to
get her son back so again in the afternoon she went to Gaden to
collect her son, but they both stayed that evening there. That
evening they had their dinner at Geshe Tsultrim Tengye's
residence of Lhopa Khangtsen. After the dinner the boy got up
and suddenly went into the inner room and called his mother and
asked his mother " Mother, how is my place?" Mother replied
casually " yes, it is good, but now we must go back to Drepung
". The boy said that mother can go alone, he wants to stay here,
but some how the mother coaxed him to go back to Drepung
Monastery. Then again at Drepung the next two days, the boy had
wanted to go to Gaden, somehow the Mother and the Uncle managed
to hold him back at Drepung.
On 8th of January 1997 (29/11/2123
of Tibetan Calendar), when the mother and the child came to
Gaden, Gaden Lhopa Geshe Tsultrim Tengay, Ven. Tsedup Dorjee,
Hardong Geshe Chophel and Ven. Tennzin Namdol told the Mother of
the child that there are many incidence and happening occurred
with her son when the mother and the child came to Gaden. Some
of which are as prophesied by H. H. the Dalai Lama and Gyen
Neema and the numerous positive sign and indication towards the
positive sign that the child probably could be the reincarnation
of their former Teacher. So they all again went to Gowo Geshe
Neema lak to seek his insight views. Geshe Neema lak sat three
times in Trans meditation and confirmed that his boy in the name
of Tenzin Namkhan, born in Yuthog bridge province is the
reincarnation of former Geshe Thubten Tsering. Geshe Neema said
do not just believe me alone, let the young boy have the dice
cast three and all the three times it was similar prediction as
that of Gyen Neema lak. The child's tongue bears the imprints of
letter 'Aa'. His mother related that when the child was taken to
Drepung Monastery in Tibet, there the Rev. Lamrim Rinpoche
advised the mother to keep the child with all proper sanitation,
as this is an incarnate. Therefore all these has convinced us to
believe that this child is the reincarnate of former Geshe
Thubten Tsering. Another convincing sign is the boy has a
birthmark on the right waist where the former Geshe has been
operated at Delhi.
On 10th of February 1997 (2/12/2123
Tibetan Calendar) on this auspicious day, the first formal
simple ceremony of offering of holy dress was conducted at his
previous birth's residence along with Mandels. When scarves were
being offered with the articles belonging to the previous birth,
the boy showed definite differences and specific sign. About
people whom he had known in his previous life to all those who
had been very friendly in his previous life he not only returned
their scarves but also presented them with fruits. This act of
the young boy has not only surprised all those gathered but also
made our belief stronger that there is no mistake in looking up
to this young boy as the reincarnate of our beloved great
teacher Geshe Thubten Tenzin.
A formal request was forwarded to
the private office of H. H. the Dalai Lama through Kongo Tenpa
Sopa to forward the news, that at Lhubug, near Lhasa to Mr.
Doten and Mrs. Dicky Dolkar a child name Tenzin Namkha was born
at 10 a.m. on 8th of 7th month of Tibetan year 2120 (i.e.
in 1992). Who is recognized as the reincarnate of late Geshe
Thubten Tsering of Gaden Lhopa Khangtsen seek H. H. the Dalai
Lama's blessings and offer the first offering of hair to be
initiated into the monk hood, this request was accepted. His
Holiness granted the occasion on 1st of January 1998 at Sera
Monastery when H.H. the Dalai Lama asked jovially to the young
boy, " your previous life or you, who has the bigger head?" The
boy replied, " I have smaller head now". Again H. H. the Dalai
Lama has asked, " you or your previous birth, who do you have a
shorter small finger?" In his reply, he said, " I have a longer
small finger now". As H. H. the Dalai Lama is familiar that the
late Geshe had a very big head and very short small finger.
After these replies being a positive and correct answer H. H.
the Dalai Lama was all smiles and accepted the child's hair
offered in prayer and named the new reincarnate as Tenzin
Tsering and formally declared and accepted as the reincarnate of
late Geshe Thubten Tsering.
On 18th of January 1998 a special
naming ceremony was conducted at Gaden Norling Shartse
Monastery and ceremoniously conducted into the religious fold of
lama hood.
This short write up is compiled by
Gashar Lhopa Khangtsen's Geshe Tsedup Dorjee and Geshe Jampa
Wangchuk on behalf of all the pupils of late Geshe with respect,
gratitude and rejoicing in his rebirth.
At present, in the year 2008: Rinpoche has completed his study of
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