Fearless in Tibet: The Life of the Mystic Terton Sogyal (32 page)

Then Shinya, his companion from Xining, stepped forward with two Chinese friends on either side. “I was quite difficult for the tertön to meet,” she told the other dakinis. “But I have extraordinary qualities.”

“If you are all manifesting like this together,” Tertön Sogyal asked, “tell me, what can help the difficult relationship that Tibet has with China? Please tell me!”

Shinya and her two friends discussed it between themselves. Tertön Sogyal could not understand Mandarin, so Shinya translated.

“What they are saying is that all the monks in the monasteries should have the resolute intention only to follow the Dharma, and to keep it all on track they should recite the mantras of Shakyamuni Buddha and the
Essence of Dependent Origination
, and make offerings to those guardians who really protect the Dharma.” Then they started singing the mantras,
Om Mune Mune Mahamunaye Svaha
and
Om Ye Dharma Hetu Prabhava Hetun Tesam Tathagato Hayavadat Tesam Ca Yo Nirodha Evam Vadi Mahasramanah Svaha.

Some of the other dakinis discussed the importance of promoting peace between Tibet and China, and how disparaging thoughts between the monks and lamas of the various traditions are what actually blocks them on their own spiritual path. Tertön Sogyal heard them say it was important to strengthen the root of the Dharma and to spend less time on the minor rituals. Then the dakinis spoke in poetic verse about the happiness of beings and the stability of the Dharma, some of them gesturing to Tertön Sogyal for his attention.

Tertön Sogyal was engrossed in the vision when a dakini named Tsukye stepped forward and said, “Of all the holy places, the location where one’s spiritual master is staying is the most holy!” Then she whispered in Tertön Sogyal’s ear a riddle in dakini verse that only he could understand. Another moved to the foreground and said, “All of us have the power to enhance friendship between China and Tibet because we are blessed by our previous prayers and karma. But we all know that there are obstacles to this friendship. So listen now to what we have to say!”

The dakini named Tsephel said, “If China and Tibet fight in the future, everyone will lose, but in the end Tibet will succumb! But I will be sure to protect you and your son when you go into retreat in the mountains!” Before she returned to dancing, she told Tertön Sogyal that she had continually appeared to Atrin over the years and guided him.

The dakini Gomchik, who said that she was charged to protect the borderlands of Tibet, sang in a verse, “Wisdom dakinis are born due to the sacred tantra, so do not hesitate to accept what we say. If Tibet and China go to war, your side will be defeated. Have no doubt about that. Thubten Gyatso [the Dalai Lama] should command the monks from the Gelug, Sakya, Kagyu, and Nyingma monasteries, big and small, to be unified in their aspirations. This is the solution! If the great beings and lamas are not harmonious among each other, and if the public and monasteries do not listen to the Dalai Lama, at least the Nyingma should be of one mind. At least you and Jikdrel [Alak Gurong] are doing patch-up work now for the Nyingma; this is good, and it is enhancing each other’s longevity.”

As the dakinis swirled and danced among clouds of offerings and orbs of lights, the dakini Nemkye told Tertön Sogyal, “Dealing with China or Tibet is one matter. But it is important that you fearlessly stay true to your mission. Practice the phurba dagger and the Lion-Faced Dakini; there is nothing more superior at this time. Do these practices in the region of the Amnye Machen Mountains, not moving here and there.” She indicated that he should not go to the hidden valleys of Pemakö at this time.

Then all the other dakinis came forth, one after another, to offer more prophecies, advice, prescriptions for practice, and inspiration for Tertön Sogyal; finally, they began to dissolve into one another, like light merging into light. Shinya dissolved into the last remaining dakini, named Samdrun, who offered Tertön Sogyal counsel for his personal practice:

“Go and establish a sacred place to live and meditate, and conduct rituals for peace and harmony—the sooner the better. But, before that, strive to reveal yet another life-force stone, a wrathful life-force stone. If you work to create peace between China and Tibet before you find that second life-force stone, it could be dangerous for your own life. Do not tell anyone else about the life-force stones except Thubten Gyatso [the Dalai Lama]. Keep this advice close to your heart.”

As Samdrun radiated light into Tertön Sogyal, she advised him to send people in all directions to monasteries and towns with the instructions that the dakinis had told him. They were to look for the right people, those who were unafraid and could skillfully assist him. In particular, she reminded Tertön Sogyal, “The religious and political policies of the supreme one, Thubten Gyatso, must firmly take root. Encourage all to be nonsectarian, to have resolute intention, and to emulate the lives of the great saints of the past.”

Glowing with tremendous light, she merged into Tertön Sogyal’s heart. An intense wave of happiness and bliss pervaded his being. He arose from the vision and immediately wrote down what each of the dakinis had told him. He knew that he needed to make plans to return to Lhasa to see the Dalai Lama. But first he would have to find the second, wrathful life-force stone.

Tertön Sogyal returned to Dodrupchen to inform him about the visions, and they discussed the meaning of some of the riddles and difficult points. Tertön Sogyal told Dodrupchen that in the near future, he might have to leave his hermitage for a visit to Lhasa to meet the Dalai Lama.

“Why is that? I am unable to walk.”

“If I can teach the
Secret Essence Tantra
to His Holiness, to you, and to Atrin and Tsullo, together as a group in the Potala Palace, then this will provide additional protection to central Tibet from being attacked in the future.” Tertön Sogyal said he would tell them when the time was auspicious to travel to central Tibet. Dodrupchen agreed, although he would have to travel for months in a palanquin and on horseback.

Undoubtedly the number of prophecies that Tertön Sogyal was being told to carry out from many different sources was close to overwhelming. He received encouragement and inspiration and even teasing from the dakinis and protectors; still, Tertön Sogyal was a stern man who wanted to leave nothing incomplete. At one point, he questioned Padmasambhava in a visionary conversation: “There are so many terma prophecies and special experiences and advice I have had that I have not been able to enact or fulfill them all. The ones that come later make me forget the earlier ones. It is difficult enough to differentiate them all—the time, place, and liturgies—let alone actually have the time to practice them all. I certainly have confidence in them all, but each newer one seems better than the one before. I sometimes don’t know what is most critical to practice.”

“With devotion, there is no difference between me and the prophecies, remember this,” Padmasambhava replied. “Continually maintaining the view of Dzogchen automatically creates the auspicious circumstances. Just to follow the words of prophecies sometimes can miss the point!”

“Even to maintain my home, with family tasks and yaks, much time can be squandered in worldly affairs,” Tertön Sogyal admitted. “Is it true that I should go to the Amnye Machen Mountains to practice? If so, tell me directly what I should practice.”

The answer came: “If you focus merging your mind with the wisdom mind of the guru, all will be accomplished.”

For the next three years, Tertön Sogyal moved constantly around the region, completing many projects and responding to the requests of his disciples. When Dodrupchen’s health waned, Tertön Sogyal returned to Puchung House to perform longevity rituals for his Dharma brother. Other times, Tertön Sogyal traveled with Tsullo to Sertar to oversee the carving and printing of his collected terma revelations, which would eventually fill 20 volumes, the most of any tertön of his day. He was also discovering new termas and completing the deciphering of others, some of which he had in dakini script for over two decades.

At the end of the Iron Monkey year (1920), when Tertön Sogyal was 65 years old, he received indications of the location of the second life-force stone; he needed to return to the caves in Marong. Tertön Sogyal and his son traveled on horseback through northern Trehor for two weeks to find the dakini cave, a place where many previous treasures had been revealed. En route, Tertön Sogyal was given a prophecy that told him of his immediate duties upon his arrival.

A dakini who spoke the prophecy said, “The removal of obstacles for everyone is the practice of
Dispelling Flaws in Interdependence
. Now is the time to complete the revelation of its elaborate, medium-length, and short liturgies. Cherish it thereafter.”

A few nights after the prophecy, Tertön Sogyal dreamed of the Dalai Lama’s chief household officer, who told him to conduct a number of meditation retreats in central Tibet and said, “You and Lama Trime should eliminate the obstacles to Dodrupchen’s life by performing the
Wisdom Flame
rituals. Write down the additional
Dispelling Flaws in Interdependence
practices near Dzogchen Monastery and practice them in Marong, in Derge, and en route to Lhasa. Take the road through Chamdo to Lhasa.”

Tertön Sogyal sent a message to Lama Trime that he would be arriving soon at his hermitage. Meanwhile, Tertön Sogyal and his son stayed in Marong and revealed additional termas, including
Names of the Thousand and Two Buddhas of This Fortunate Age.
After a few weeks, the protectors led Tertön Sogyal to Black Lake.Tertön Sogyal sat by the shore, and the terma guardian delivered the wrathful life-force stone into his hands. Tertön Sogyal’s preparatory rituals and prayers had removed obstacles to the treasure’s retrieval, and he sensed that he was strengthening a protective sphere around the Dalai Lama. Tertön Sogyal placed the wrathful life-force stone in the box with the other mother-father stone so that nobody else would lay eyes on it. He gathered some of the water from the Black Lake to use for ablution rites, washed his phurba dagger in the lake, and then departed to Lama Trime’s hermitage, known as the Turquoise Fortress of the Mighty Lion, to perform the requisite rituals to ignite the energy in the newly discovered stone.

As soon as he arrived at the hermitage, Tertön Sogyal told Lama Trime to write a message to Dodrupchen, Tsullo, and Atrin. They should prepare to leave for Lhasa so as to fulfill Tertön Sogyal’s own prediction that he teach the group the
Secret Essence Tantra
in the Potala. And he would be able to personally deliver the life-force stones to the Dalai Lama. They sent the message by horseman to Golok. When Tsullo received the message, he departed for Lhasa straightaway to make preparations for the others. The Dalai Lama had already received a message from Tertön Sogyal and responded that the group should come to Lhasa as soon as possible.

After Tertön Sogyal completed the rituals at the Mighty Lion Hermitage, he traveled to Dzogchen to await Dodrupchen’s arrival. Khandro Pumo and Atrin soon arrived at Dzogchen. While staying at the monastic college, Tertön Sogyal had a vision of a child wearing white garments, who said, “Hold this secret sealed guidance for the government. It is their main path.” Just before disappearing, the child gave him a scroll with three syllables written on it. Tertön Sogyal knew the scroll was meant for the Dalai Lama, with advice on how to skillfully merge politics and Dharma. Then Tertön Sogyal heard a voice: “From the top of the Potala, he who is the all-powerful, may the gods be victorious!
Lha Gyalo!
” Tertön Sogyal immediately redacted the meaning from the three syllables in the form of a guru yoga practice to Padmasambhava—yet another means to strengthen the Tibetan government that Tertön Sogyal knew he would be passing to the Dalai Lama within weeks.

While Tertön Sogyal was staying in the area, one of the reincarnations of Khyentse Wangpo arrived—his name was Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö. Even before Chökyi Lodrö met Tertön Sogyal, merely hearing the tertön’s name caused the incarnate lama to feel deep and uncontrived devotion. Marking yet another chapter in the continuity of their student-teacher relationship, which had begun many lifetimes before, Tertön Sogyal bestowed empowerments and transmissions upon Chökyi Lodrö, including
The Razor of the Innermost Essence
. After he received the transmission for
Dispelling Flaws in Interdependence
, Chökyi Lodrö felt such an intense devotion for Tertön Sogyal that he requested Tertön Sogyal to decipher the very brief liturgy of the practice, which begins:

Like many treasure teaching cycles that include a variety of liturgies and ritual practices,
Dispelling Flaws in Interdependence
was set into writing over the course of decades. Tertön Sogyal had already fully revealed the elaborate and medium-length
Dispelling Flaws
liturgies. With Chökyi Lodrö’s encouragement, Tertön Sogyal wrote the last, very concise liturgy, concluding the
Dispelling Flaws
revelation cycle. Before they departed, he granted permission to Chökyi Lodrö to transmit the entire collection of his treasure revelations.

Meanwhile, Dodrupchen had left his hermitage in Golok for Lhasa. The monks from Dodrupchen Monastery and many of the villagers were extremely concerned about their teacher departing the area. Many people followed the caravan as it made its way westward. At one point, the group came to a difficult river crossing. The horses and yaks were losing their footing and falling into the current. Leather saddlebags were swept away. Dodrupchen watched from the banks as the handlers whipped the horses and beat the yaks to rush through the raging waters.