BYA ROG PROG ZHU, THE RAVEN CREST
࿇
THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF
BDE CHEN ’OD GSAL RDO RJE,
TREASURE REVEALER OF CONTEMPORARY TIBET
Proefschrift
ter verkrijging van
de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden,
op gezag van Rector Magnificus prof. mr. P.F. van der Heijden,
volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties
te verdedigen op dinsdag 2 februari 2010
klokke 11.15 uur
door
Antonio Terrone
geboren in Verona, Italie
in 1966
Promotiecommissie:
Promotor: Prof. dr. Barend J. ter Haar
Copromotor: Dr. Peter C. Verhagen
Overige Leden: Prof. dr. Heleen L. Murre-van den Berg
Prof. dr. B.C.A. Walraven
Dr. Andrew M. Fischer (Institute of Social Studies,
The Hague, NL)
Dr. Robert Mayer (Oxford University, UK)
Followers and disciples [of Padmasambhava],
These are beings of extraordinary conduct.
Sons of the mountains, they chose mist as their clothes
and contemplation as their food,
To mentally transcend the eight worldly concerns.
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, The Clear Mirror of Profound Meaning and Perfect Essence
(1990: f. 11a).
Ad memoriam
Tulku Tsezang Samling Rinpoche (1972-2009)
dear friend, invaluable teacher
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments............................................................................................................................ i
Map of Tibet ................................................................................................................................... v
INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 1
The Study and its Methodology ................................................................................................... 2
Sources ........................................................................................................................................ 4
Bibliographical Considerations: Western Works of Modern Scholarship ............................... 10
Scope of the Project and Outline of the Chapters..................................................................... 26
CHAPTER ONE: TREASURES AND THEIR REVEALERS: DISCOVERING
BUDDHISM IN TIBET ......................................................................................................... 33
Introduction............................................................................................................................... 33
Locating gter ma in the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition ................................................................ 35
Padmasambhava and the Sources of the Treasure Narrative .................................................. 40
The Narrative in Today’s Revelations ...................................................................................... 43
Treasure Politics: Need for Concealment or Need for Revelation? ......................................... 49
Eschatology and Liberation: Treasure Revelation in the Shaping of rNying ma Identity........ 52
Authentic Revealers or Authentic Revelations? ........................................................................ 58
gTer ma and rDzogs chen ......................................................................................................... 63
Concluding Remarks ................................................................................................................. 64
CHAPTER TWO: RELIGION AND POLITICS IN TIBET: THE CONTEMPORARY
CONTEXT .............................................................................................................................. 67
The Political Context: Post-Mao, Post-Deng, and the Development of the Western Regions . 71
The Religious Context: Religious Revivalism and Cultural Reassertions ................................ 80
Resurgence of Traditional Icons: Ge sar and the Treasures .................................................... 90
Treasure Revealers, Religious Encampments, and Mountain Hermitages............................... 96
New Trends in Tibetan Buddhism: A New Chinese Journey to the West?.............................. 110
Concluding Remarks ............................................................................................................... 112
CHAPTER THREE: TREASURE REVEALERS IN CONTEMPORARY EASTERN
TIBET .................................................................................................................................... 114
Who are Today’s Tibetan Treasure Revealers?...................................................................... 116
The Dagger of Sublime Wisdom: On Revelation and Consorts.............................................. 123
Consorts, Noncelibacy, and the Debate about Authentic Treasure Revealers ....................... 132
The Mobility of Religion: Treasure Revealers and Communication Technology................... 140
Ma67ala Spheres, Rainbow Lights, and Internet: A Case Study ............................................ 146
Concluding Remarks ............................................................................................................... 152
CHAPTER FOUR: BYA ROG PROG ZHU: THE RAVEN CREST ................................. 155
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje and his Tradition........................................................................... 155
The Autobiography: rnam thar or rang rnam?....................................................................... 157
The Scribe: bKra shis mtsho mo ............................................................................................. 163
Early Visions: the Announcement of a Treasure Revealer’s Career ...................................... 164
Early Training, Eclecticism, and Self-Teaching ..................................................................... 171
Travels, Pilgrimages, and the Force of Experience ............................................................... 173
Teachers, Teachings, and Religious Formation ..................................................................... 178
Practice and Spiritual Achievements ...................................................................................... 181
Himalayan Pilgrimage and Gro mo dge bshes rin po che...................................................... 182
Return to Central Tibet ........................................................................................................... 184
The First Root-Teacher: Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje.......................................................... 189
First Community: The Me ’bar monastery ............................................................................. 191
The Years at Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje’s chos sgar .......................................................... 193
Visions, Treasures, and Other Arcane Claims ....................................................................... 197
More Visions in a Rural Brigade during the Cultural Revolution.......................................... 206
Renaissance: Tradition and Change....................................................................................... 212
gNas chen padma shel ri: Reconnecting the Land with its People ......................................... 213
Revelations, Patronage, and Religious Instructions ............................................................... 217
Concluding Remarks ............................................................................................................... 219
CHAPTER FIVE: TREASURE CYCLES, HEROIC ORNAMENTS, YOGA OF FOOD,
AND MU TIG AMULETS................................................................................................... 221
Revelations: The Yang gsang rta mgrin rdo rje me char Collection ...................................... 222
rTsol med: A Tantric Initiation Ritual for the White-robed Group ........................................ 224
Top-knot, White Robes, and the Raven Crest: The Fifteen Heroic Ornaments ...................... 233
Hayagrīva Pills and the Yoga of Food ................................................................................... 238
Mu tig tsa tsa: bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s Protective Amulets ............................................. 246
Concluding Remarks ............................................................................................................... 248
CONCLUSIONS: BDE CHEN ’OD GSAL RDO RJE’S LEGACY .................................... 251
APPENDIX ONE: The Dance of the Immaculate Vajra ........................................................... 256
APPENDIX TWO: Texts in Transliteration ............................................................................. 275
Text 1: bde chen rdo rje’i rnam thar phran bu....................................................................... 275
Text 2: rig ’dzin nus ldan rdo rje’i rnam thar bsdus pa dri med rdo rje’i zlos gar ............... 277
Text 3: don zab gnad smin shel dkar me long ........................................................................ 285
Text 4: rta mgrin yang gsang rdo rje me char gyi rtsol med gsang sngags myur lam ........... 298
APPENDIX THREE ................................................................................................................. 307
A Preliminary List of gTer chen bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s Revealed Cycles ..................... 307
APPENDIX FOUR.................................................................................................................... 317
A General Bibliography on the Treasure Tradition in non-Tibetan Languages .................... 317
BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 325
Tibetan Sources ....................................................................................................................... 325
Secondary Sources and Critical Editions in Other Languages .............................................. 329
Interviews ................................................................................................................................ 349
Online Sources ........................................................................................................................ 350
Summary .................................................................................................................................... 352
Introduction............................................................................................................................. 352
Research Questions ................................................................................................................. 352
Outline of the Chapters ........................................................................................................... 353
Samenvatting ............................................................................................................................. 356
Inleiding .................................................................................................................................. 356
Onderzoeksvragen................................................................................................................... 356
Samenvatting van de hoofdstukken ......................................................................................... 357
CURRICULUM VITAE..............................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
Acknowledgments
This dissertation is the result of a whole decade of research, travels, and work that began in
September 1999. It would not have been possible without the 1999-2003 Doctoral Dissertation
Grant generously offered by what was then called the Research Institute for African, Asian, and
Amerindian Studies (CNWS) of the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. I am profoundly
grateful to all those members of the CNWS and its administration staff who made those years of
support and attention crucial for the completion of this work. In particular I would like to thank
Professor Tillman E. Vetter, at that time Chair of Buddhology for his support and for accepting
me as a Doctoral candidate. My deepest gratitude goes also to Dr. Peter C. Verhagen for his
years of patience, support, encouragement and attention to this project. My thanks go also to Dr.
Henk Blezer for his support and advice in numerous occasions during my years at the CNWS. I
would like to express my sincere and deepest gratitude also to Professor dr. Barend J. ter Haar
for having taken over the role of main dissertation advisor to this dissertation in the latest phase
of its writing and for having always showed encouragement and support for my research. I want
to express special thanks to Dr. Robert Mayer, Oriental Studies Faculty Member at the
University of Oxford, U.K., for his helpful insights and comments on my manuscript. I am very
grateful to Dr. Andrew M. Fisher fomr the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, and to Prof.
dr. Heleen L. Murre-van den Berg and Prof. dr. B.C.A. Walraven for their comments and useful
remarks on my final version of this manuscript. I am also grateful for the years of consultation
and reading at the Library of the Kern Institute of Leiden University where I have been able to
take advantage of its rich collection of texts and books on Tibet and Himalayas.
Being a study of Tibetan religious figures in Tibet, this work acknowledges the assistance
of and numerous interviews and conversations with a significant number of people. Therefore, I
have accumulated a large quantity of debts to many individuals who graciously accepted and
agreed to help me in this project. First of all, I want to express my greatest gratitude to gTer chen
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje for having accepted me into his community, allowed me to observe and
study his life, and assisted me in my studies. He has treated me with great kindness and
understanding and has always encouraged me in this research since July 1998, the first time we
met at his hermitage on the Mount gNas chen padma. In addition to him I also want to express
i
my most profound thanks to gTer chen bKra shis rgyal mtshan, my teacher and friend, for his
patience in helping me understand numerous texts, teachings, and practices that represent bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje and his Buddhist tradition. mKha’ ’gro dPal chen lha mo, his wife and
herself a fascinating religious figure deserving attention and study, has always been welcoming
over the years when I appeared at her house. Her great kindness, patience, and hospitality made
my years of fieldwork unforgettable moments of personal growth, experience, and learning. A
teacher and a friend, sPrul sku Tshe bzang bsam gling rin po che, student of both bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje and bKra shis rgyal mtshan, has constantly showed me his perseverance in helping
me study and understand the material during many years and to understand difficult passages of
many texts. His premature departure has left a deep vacuum in my life and has surely deprived
the world of a great teacher. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje and bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s monks and
nuns also proved to be great friends and were always ready to provide assistance and help in
numerous circumstances during my travels accompanying bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje or by
myself. And last but not least I am deeply indebted to the nun bKra shis mtsho mo, assistant and
scribe of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje. Her sincere, selfless, and patient assistance in reading bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s writings (which she handwrote under bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
dictation) have been invaluable and instrumental to the success of this study. Her irresistible
joviality and sense of humor that always accompanied our meals together are fond memories that
I will cherish forever. A special thanks also goes to the mGo rjo villagers, farmers, and
herdsmen, fervent devotees of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, who graciously and spontaneously
provided delicious dairy products during my long summer and fall stays at bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje’s gNas chen pad ma mthong grol and Ri phug kha mountain hermitages from 1998 to 2001.
The nuns of rDza mer chen nunnery in Shar mda’ always welcomed me to their convent over the
years showing me friendship and support during my visits.
I am deeply indebted to other individuals who over the years made my sojourns in
various areas of Eastern Tibet possible and pleasant. These are A ma Tshe chung from sKye rgu
mdo town (Yushu), the Third dGe bsnyen rin po che sprul sku dge legs padma rnam rgyal, gTer
ston lHa rgyal rin po che, and gTer ston lHa mtsho rin po che from Padma town, gTer chen
Sangs shis rin po che and his consort, and Rig ‘dzin nyi ma rin po che from Tsung shar
hermitage in sNyan lung. I also want to thank Nam sprul ‘Jigs med phun tshogs and his late
consort Tāre lha mo (1938-2003) for their hospitality and support when I first met them in 2000
ii
and stayed at their mountain hermitage. The late mKhan po ‘Jigs med phun tshog and his closest
assistants, bsTan ‘dzin rgya mtsho, bSod dar rgyas, mKhan po Tshul khrims from bLa rung sgar
in gSer rta, and mKhan po a chos rub dbang lung rtogs rgyal mtshan from Ya chen sgar in dKar
mdzes, provided instrumental assistance during my frequent sojourns at their encampments.
I would like to express my special thanks to Dr. Ramon Prats d’Alos-Moner, my friend,
teacher, and mentor, for his continuous support, patience, and attention over the past two
decades. During that time, he attentively oversaw my studies as his undergraduate student in
Italy and assisted me as a graduate student in Leiden. I am grateful to his availability for
conversations and reflections on Tibetan Buddhism. Special thanks go also to Gene Smith for
sharing his encyclopedic knowledge with me and for his generous patience in discussing several
aspects of the Treasure tradition with me. I also want to thank him for having offered me the
possibility to work for one year as “scholar in residence” at the Tibetan Buddhist Resource
Center in New York, a year that proved formative and instrumental for my advancement. Among
the friends who helped me in completing this project two deserve special thanks. I want to single
out Matthew Pistono to whom I express my most sincere gratitude for the years traveling
together across the Himalayas and for the countless conversations that have enriched my insights
into Tibetan Buddhism and the Treasure tradition, and for having proofread early versions of this
dissertation. However, it is my wife Sarah Jacoby who really helped this manuscript to see the
light by proofreading it several times in its final phase and providing invaluable comments and
insights. I cannot thank her enough for her vast patience and selfless concern that are second
only to her continual encouragement, insightful thoughts, and groundbreaking ideas about this
project.
To A lags gzan dkar rin po che thub bstan nyi ma goes my heartfelt gratitude for having
patiently read my translation of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s autobiography with me and for
having clarified some difficult passages from the original manuscript in 2003. I want to heartily
thank Tulku Thondup for various helpful conversations and for having shared with me his
insights on the Treasure tradition, and Tashi Tsering of the Amye Machen Institute of Tibetan
Studies for his help in identifying various personalities mentioned in bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
autobiography and for sharing his insight into the Tibetan Treasure tradition during our meetings
in Europe and India.
iii
I want to acknowledge the support and encouragement of Professor David Germano and
Professor Janet Gyatso whose words in the beginning and works on the subject fueled my
enthusiasm for this project on the Treasure tradition since the first time I met them in Lhasa in
the summer of 1998. I also want to thank Professor Geoffrey Samuel, Professor Leonard van der
Kuijp, Alexander Gardner, Yang Enhong, Professor Norbu Wangdan, Matthew Akester, the
Lhatse Library, the Alderman Library of the University of Virginia, the libraries of Columbia
University, and Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Gangchen Kyishong, Dharamsala. A
special thanks goes to Sangs rgyas and his wife Phu mo for their continual hospitality in Shar
mda’, Nang chen, and rDzogs tshang Tshe ring rdo rje and his family for their heart-felt
hospitality in Gangchen Kyishong, Dharamsala.
Lastly, without my mother Maria’s support, patience, and sacrifice, not only this project,
but my studies and my travels in their entirety would have never been possible. This dissertation
is dedicated to her and to the memory of my father Catello Terrone (1930-1990). To them goes
my never-ending gratitude and love.
iv
Map of Tibet
A map of larger Tibet showing Jyekundo (sKye rgu mdo) and Nangchen (Nang chen), two of the main places where this study took place. Map by
Quentin Devers for Tibetan and Himalayan Library.
v
Figure 1: Antonio Terrone with bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje in the latter’s residence at rDza mer chen
nunnery, Shar mda’ town. Photo: Antonio Terrone 2007.
Figure 2: bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje offering a blessing with one of his Treasure items, a Hayagrīva ritual
dagger (rta mgrin phur pa) in his residence at rDza mer chen nunnery. Photo: Antonio Terrone 2005.
vi
Figure 3: bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje reciting a Hayagrīva text at Ru dren nunnery. Photo: Antonio Terrone
2000.
vii
Figure 4: bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje and the nun bKra shis mtsho mo, his assistant and scribe, in Shar mda’
town. Photo: Antonio Terrone 2004.
viii
Figure 5: bKra shis rgyal mtshan with dPal chen lha mo and their four children at their residence in Shar
mda’ town. Photo: Antonio Terrone 2005.
Figure 6: bKra shis rgyal mtshan shows one of his personal material Treasures at his residence in Shar
mda’ town. Photo: Antonio Terrone 2006.
ix
Introduction
My first contact with Tibetan Treasure revealers (gter ston) took place in Lhasa in the Tibetan
Autonomous Region (TAR) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) when I was studying at
Tibet University (Tib. Bod ljongs slob grwa chen mo; Ch. Xizang daxue). On a sunny day in July
1997 while cruising on my White Pigeon bicycle exploring the old town and passing by the
square in front of the Jokhang temple, my attention was caught by two unusual individuals
shopping for meat on the southern section of the square. They were clad in white and red robes,
carried massive dreadlocks wrapped around the tops of their heads, and had long raksha rosary
beads laced across their upper bodies. I felt immediately drawn to the two lamas and after
introducing myself I asked them who they were. Despite a few seconds of hesitation due to the
fact that, as they later told me, they had never met a foreigner who could speak Tibetan, they
were very friendly and soon introduced themselves to me.
bKra shis rgyal mtshan and his brother Tshe bzang bsam gling rin po che were two non-
celibate Tantric professionals from Khams who arrived on pilgrimage in Lhasa with a small
entourage of relatives and devotees. They were disciples of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, whom
they said was a great Treasure revealer (gter ston chen po) who lived in the highlands of eastern
Tibet in a mountain retreat on the slope of Mount gNas chen padma. Freshly graduated from a
Tibetan studies program in Italy, my mind was filled with notions of Buddhist philosophy,
rNying ma literature, meditative systems, and an eagerness to discover Tibetan religious
practices. This fortuitous encounter, which bKra shis rgyal mtshan later described as an
auspicious meeting, gave me the opportunity to enter into contact with Tibetan religious
professionals in their land.
The following day I was invited to bKra shis rgyal mtshan and his family’s residence in
gShol gsar pa, an urban area behind the Potala Palace where bKra shis rgyal mtshan explained to
me the characteristics of their religious lifestyle. He told me they were non-celibate Tantric
practitioners (sngags pa) of the meditative system known as rdzogs chen, the Great Perfection.
They had arrived in Lhasa, regarded as the holiest place in Tibet, a few weeks earlier after an
eleven month-long pilgrimage on foot performing full-body length prostrations every three steps
along the path. Although a common popular practice of merit acquisition, bKra shis rgyal mtshan
1
A. Terrone - The Raven Crest
explained that he specifically performed this pilgrimage to purify himself in preparation for the
retrieval of a series of religious objects from a sacred place not far from the city. Being able to do
this meant that bKra shis rgyal mtshan was a Treasure revealer. Treasure revealers are adepts
predominantly associated with the rNying ma school of Tibetan Buddhism and the Bon tradition
who can physically retrieve and mentally reveal objects or texts called Treasures (gter ma) in
accordance with prophecies and visions.
Despite the fact that bKra shis rgyal mtshan and his travel partners predominanantly
spoke Khams dialect and at that time I could only communicate in Lhasa dialect, we managed to
converse quite well. In the very beginning he also showed some understandable reluctance to
open up to me―a newly encountered stranger. However, shortly this barrier collapsed, leaving
room for trust and reciprocal curiosity. Thanks to this extraordinary opportunity for me to learn
about their religious tradition, I continued asking questions and feeling fascinated by their
stories, reports, and anecdotes. I took many notes and photographs, and spent as much time with
them as possible. In the following week I met with them regularly, winning their trust and
establishing a mutual respect based on sincere interest. The two brothers soon set out to continue
their sacred journey to Mount Kailash (Gangs rin po che), and I left for a brief trip to Kathmandu
before the university semester began. Before parting, however, they invited me to go and meet
them and their teacher at their mountain hermitage in Khams the following year. This meeting
marked the beginning of my study of the life and activities of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, the
Treasure revelation tradition in present-day eastern Tibet, and the onset of a ten-year-long
encounter with Buddhist visionaries.
The Study and its Methodology
I have introduced my dissertation via recounting a personal experience because a significant
portion of the information I employ in this work draws on ethnographic materials gathered in the
field. At the heart of this dissertation is a study of the life and activities of a Treasure revealer,
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje. Framed in the larger context of contemporary visionaries and mystics
and their role in a Tibetan society strongly influenced by Sino-Tibetan politics, this study
addresses the following basic questions: How did Treasure revelation begin and how is it
currently maintained? Who are today’s Treasure revealers and why have they enjoyed a
2
A. Terrone - The Raven Crest
resurgence under Chinese rule? What does the Treasure tradition offer contemporary Tibetans in
Tibet? What relationship does Treasure revelation have to politics, both historically and in
contemporary Tibet?
In my opinion, two factors have contributed to the flowering of religion outside the
monastery in contemporary Tibet. One is the leveling of the general cultural predominance that
was once undisputedly held by large monasteries and monastic institutions.1 I argue that decades
of harmful policies applied to Tibet by the Chinese government have undermined the politico-
economic and cultural supremacy once held by monasteries. At the same time, some charismatic
rNying ma movements have gained in strength by employing multiple elements of Tibetan
mythohistorical narratives, local cults and customs, a pervasive and undisputable association
with sacred geography, and an opening to diverse and often ecumenical pedagogical approaches.
As a result of these phenomena, subaltern forms of revelation and charismatic leadership
predominantly claimed by rNying ma adherents have thrived and continue to attract large
sections of both monastic and non-celibate members of the population including indigenous
Chinese Buddhist devotees.
This research starts from the historical assertion that notwithstanding their claim of
increased religious tolerance, the dramatic post-Mao political campaigns have continued to
weaken the pervasive force of religious faith, traditional monastery-centered religious power,
religious leadership, and education, motivated by the perceived threat of potential subversive
anti-government activities. This research maintains that within such a socio-political landscape
and the revivalist wave in the cultural and religious sphere, a number of Tibetan rNying ma
leaders are advancing charisma-based authority to promote the growth of alternative rNying ma
centers of ritual and meditative instruction. In revitalizing this and other forms of traditional
religious practices, they are galvanizing some of the most significant forces of today’s Buddhist
practice in selected areas of Khams and mGo log of eastern Tibet.
In this dissertation I examine the Treasure revelation movement as it is active in present-
day cultural and ethnic regions of Tibet in the PRC. More specifically, I will explore the role of
Treasure revealers in the religious world of today’s Tibet. One way this research will accomplish
this is by introducing a case study, the life and activities of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje (b. 1921), a
well-known Buddhist master and Treasure revealer who currently lives in Shar mda’ in Nang
1 Goldstein (1998: 23-31).
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A. Terrone - The Raven Crest
chen county in the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (TAP). A corpus of Tantric scriptures
(probably composed under visionary inspiration by Tibetan Buddhist masters) including texts on
rDzogs chen, meditation manuals, prayers, and various rituals already existed in tenth-century
Tibet. 2 The first Treasure revealer, however, whose works we have access to is the famed
twelfth-century mNga’ bdag nyang ral nyi ma ’od zer (1136-1204). Since he and other Treasure
revealers appeared in Tibet, the larger phenomenon of Treasure revelations has apparently
continued to flourish. In modern Tibet Treasure revealers still possess indisputable reputation
and social status in the religious sphere.
As in the past, one of the major strengths behind the Treasure tradition is that its
representatives claim to draw on prophecies in Buddhist scriptures which indicate a need to keep
their Tantric teachings fresh and powerful but does so by linking them to the eight-century early
translation period of Buddhist material from India (snga ’gyur) and the activities of the Indian
master Padmasambhava. As we shall see in the chapters ahead, within the predominant narrative
of the Treasures, Padmasambhava’s apocalyptic prophecy of a degenerate age (snyigs dus)
threatening the very existence of Buddhism in Tibet motivates not only the concealment of
Treasures, but also and more importantly their revelation at the appropriate time. Prophecies,
astrological practices, divination, and visionary activities allow revealers to attract large
followings that defy Chinese authorities’ campaigns to degrade and dismiss them as
“superstitious” beliefs, but do not make them immune to its crackdown on mass religious
movements. The Treasure tradition also depends heavily on meditation for the production of
scriptures, the establishment of lineages, and the contribution to a religious-political power and
authority. Their meditation technologies relate to various sets of contemplative practices and
techniques which will be described in detail below.
Sources
Since 1998 I have spent several months almost yearly in the presence of the Treasure revealers
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, his pupil bKra shis rgyal mtshan, and their entourages in eastern Tibet.
Since my early interest in bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s life and religious activities, I was given
2Cf. van Schaik “Early Dzogchen I: The Cuckoo and the Hidden Grain” at http://earlytibet.com/2008/01/08/early-
dzogchen-i/
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A. Terrone - The Raven Crest
access to the old Buddhist master’s personal collection of religious scriptures and Treasure texts.
He authorized me not only to write about his life and activities, but also to freely consult and
employ his own revelations for the purpose of this academic study. The main textual sources I
have used are contained in the Yang gsang rta mgrin rdo rje me char, a collection of hundreds of
Tantric and ritual texts that represent the bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s career as a mystic.
Beyond his revelations, this research also includes other writings from bDe chen ’od gsal
rdo rje’s collected works. For my analysis of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s life included in Chapter
Four of the present study I have used the autobiography that he authored in 1998, the Rig ’dzin
nus ldan rdo rje’i rnam thar bsdus pa dri med rdo rje’i zlos gar (The Dance of the Pure Vajra: A
Brief Biography of the Awareness-holder Nus ldan rdo rje). In combination with this I have used
two minor autobiographical writings, the bDe chen rdo rje’i rnam thar phran bu (A Short
Biography of bDe chen rdo rje) and the Pra bha swa badzra’i skyes rabs gsol ’debs bsdus pa
tshigs su bcad pa (A Short Supplication Prayer in Verse to Prabhāsva vajra’s Previous
Existences). Chapter Five in contrast offers a study of a Tantric initiatory ritual and the
production of medicinal pills based on two of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s most representative
Treasure texts, the rTa mgrin yang gsang rdo rje me char gyi rtsol med gsang sngags myur lam
(The Effortless Quick Path of the Mantra according to rta mgrin rdo rje mer char) and the Zab
gsang yang tig nyi zla kha sbyor las gab gsal lag len shel dkar me long (A Crystal Mirror of The
Practice of Unveiling the Secret of the Sun and Moon’s Profoundly Secret and Quintessential
Union).
Other essential sources that I have employed in this study belong to the ethnographic side
of the research accomplished during several years of fieldwork in eastern Tibet in present-day
PRC regions of Qinghai and Sichuan. These include interviews, conversations, and participant
observation with not only bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, bKra shis rgyal mtshan, and members of
their communities, but also with many other active Treasure revealers. My encounters with
mystics, visionaries, and leaders at their mountain hermitages, residences, and religious
encampments have given me the opportunity to contextualize bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s life and
works in the wider spectrum of visionary activities and Treasure revelation in contemporary
Tibet.
My attempt to understand the role of Treasure revealers in twenty-first-century Tibet not
only relies on interviews with several Tibetan religious personalities, laypeople, and scholars
outside and in various areas of Tibet, but also draws on social theory from the fields of
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anthropology, political history, and literary studies in order to provide an examination that is as
broad as possible of the phenomenon and the people involved in revelation.
1998 is not only the year I started on the present investigation, but it is also the year that
two important works on Treasure revealers appeared, David Germano’s article on mKhan po
’Jigs med phun tshogs and Janet Gyatso’s monographic study of ’Jigs med gling pa’s
autobiographical writings. Germano’s analysis of contemporary Treasure revelation movements
was a fundamental departure point for my own investigation and for further expansion of this
topic. In his article, Germano elaborates on the role, value, and limits of mKhan po ’Jigs med
phun tshogs’s Treasure revelation activities, seeing them as germane to the revival of the
traditional Tibetan sense of identity and as a response to the forces of modernity.3 Drawing on
these and other insights my own study looks at a wider spectrum of Treasure revelation
proponents in present-day Tibet who provide a variety of sources, activities, and legitimizing
strategies. Despite the uncontestable charismatic presence of mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs
and his popularity as a knowledgeable teacher, prolific writer, outstanding Treasure revealer,
champion of monastic values, and advocate of lay moral principles, my experience in Tibet in a
number of religious encampments and with several other Treasure revealers strongly suggests
that many facets of his charismatic personality are more of an exception rather than the rule for
contemporary Treasure revealers.
Janet Gyatso’s study of ’Jigs med gling pa’s autobiographies has shed light on important
unstudied dimensions of a Treasure revealer’s perception and representation of his “self”. She
has analyzed in great detail the narrative techniques a Treasure revealer employs to represent
himself, the world he belongs to, and the activities he performs. Following Gyatso’s approach I
have sought to read and analyze bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s autobiographical writings as a
source of information about the way he perceives himself, the way he represents his function as a
Treasure revealer, and the way in which he became such. Of particular interest in reading these
autobiographical writings are the modalities through which he was recognized as a Treasure
revealer by others, the role of prophecies and visions in the early phase of his self-perception,
and the way he depicts the religious path that culminated in his revelation of Treasures.
As David Germano pointed out in his study on mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs, despite
the general revival of most spheres of the Tibetan religious world, the rNying ma School in
3 Germano (1998: 88-94).
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particular has scored an especially significant success in the past few decades.4 Although the
socio-political situation in Tibet does not encourage a completely free traditional practice of
religion, small mountain hermitages, monasteries, and nunneries have largely fallen under the
radar and are still active and populated. This has led to an increased visibility of charismatic
personalities, predominantly non-celibate Tantric professionals, who are engaging in doctrinal
transmission and visionary technologies such as the revelation and dissemination of Treasures
(gter ma).
The following anecdotes may illustrate the often surprising ways Treasure revelations are
performed in present-day eastern Tibet. On a cool autumn day in the 1980s, mKhan po ’Jigs med
phun tshogs (1933-2003) helped by two assistants entered the waters of a mountain lake in
Khams up to his waist. After having briefly recited a prayer, he submerged himself completely.
After a few seconds, he re-emerged with an object enclosed in his right hand. Immediately
covered with a blanket, he handed the object to one of his assistant monks who carefully
wrapped the precious item in a white silk scarf.5 On another occasion, in February 1981, mKhan
po ‘Jigs med pun tshogs gave a public Mañjuśrī empowerment to a vast audience of Tibetan
devotees gathered before him for the occasion. During the ceremony many people noticed the
teacher looking up in the sky. After a few minutes an object “resembling a dark green bird egg”
fell down from the sky, landing on the hands of mKhan po ’Jigs med pun tshogs.6
In September 1986 a small group of Western travelers joined a party of Tibetans
accompanying a woman called Khandro Khachi Wangmo, a Treasure revealer of the Bon
tradition, who was to make a circumambulation around Mount Bon (Bon ri) in Khams. During
the circumambulation of the sacred mountain the Tibetan Treasure finder apparently stopped
beside a boulder and struck the rock with a phur ba ritual dagger until a cavity was formed. A
number of foreigners and other onlookers witnessed the woman retrieve two objects from the
cavity in the rocky wall, including a small figurine representing Amitāyus, the Buddha of Long
Life, and a nine-pointed vajra (rdo rje). One of the people present at this event, Mangyal Lhasey
Tulku (a reincarnated master), Khandro Khachi Wangmo’s brother and apparently he himself a
4 Germano (1998: 56).
5 This event has been copied on a VCD (no reference available). I have a copy of the VCD myself, but I don’t think
the VCD has ever been distributed publicly in Tibetan areas and China. The VCD is shown often in Video
restaurants in sKye rgu mdo and some other villages of Khams.
6 See Germano for a brief description of this account (1998: 81).
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Treasure revealer, told the foreigners that the purpose of the revelation of Treasures was to
encourage faith in the Dharma.7
On November 17, 1998, the Treasure revealer bKra shis rgyal tshan accompanied by his
wife dPal chen lha mo and a small entourage of devotees was performing ritual
circumambulations around a hill in Khams called gNas chen mkha’ ’gro ’bum rdzong, not far
from sKye rgu mdo (Yushu TAP). As they reached a rock that he had previously seen in a
visionary experience, bKra shis rgyal tshan had another vision in which a group of “sky-goers”
(Skr. 7ākinīs; mkha’ ’gro ma) appeared in front of him and guided him to a huge boulder that
was part of a larger rock formation. The 7ākinīs apparently instructed him to get closer to the
rock and allerted him to be ready to grab a Treasure object that would soon fall from an opening
in the rock. A cavity spontaneously opened in the rock emitting a Treasure casket (gter sgrom)
that dropped in his hands. At the same time, divine nectar (bdud rtsi) is also said to have poured
down from the same rock opening which bKra shis rgyal mtshan promptly collected in his lower
garment, assisted by his wife.
A few days after the retrieval of the Treasure relic, while taking care of the precious
nectar collected during the revelation event, bKra shis rgyal mtshan took the casket and as soon
as his hands touched the rock chest, it slowly cracked and opened. From the inside of the
Treasure chest, bKra shis rgyal mtshan and the others present in the room saw a blazing small
luminous sphere followed by a ray of light that was projected towards the middle of the room
and then dissolved in the crown of bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s head. According to the teacher bKra
shis rgyal mtshan, he suddenly received a spiritual text or mind Treasure (dgongs gter) in the
form of a short string of syllables that in due time he would translate into textual form. More
nectar was then collected from the Treasure chest which was later to be employed for medicinal
purposes.8
On another occasion in 1999, while in solitary meditation retreat in a sacred cave on the
mountain cliff just above the Rin mda’ rnam par snang mdzad monastery in sKye rgu mdo, bKra
shis rgyal mtshan had a vision that showed him a group of 7ākinīs pointing to a place below the
spot he was sitting. They told him that there was an object buried just under the place where he
was sitting. In front of his wife dPal chen lha mo who was next to him, bKra shis rgyal mtshan
followed the 7ākinīs’ instructions and immediately began to dig in the ground with the help of a
7 Hanna (1990: 10).
8 gTer chen bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s personal communication. gNas chen Padma, August 2000.
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piece of rock and a stick. In a few minutes he dug a hole and there he found a long object
wrapped in a very old white cloth. As he unwrapped the precious object he saw an old dagger
that he believed once belonged to the eighth-century female teacher Ye shes mtsho rgyal.9
In 2001, on a warm and sunny August afternoon, the Treasure revealer bDe chen ’od gsal
rdo rje asked me to help him get up from his bed and accompany him outside. We stepped
outdoors where he sat down under the cobalt blue sky. He sat in silence surrounded by a group of
nomads who had come to visit him and his disciples. His eyes gazed into the sky in rapture. A
small crowd of people sat with him in the sun enjoying the weather. Suddendly, bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje addressed one of his pupils ordering him to get pen and paper to write down what he
was going to say. In the following hour bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje calmly and rigorously revealed
the full text of a mental Treasure that he had just seen transferred to him in a vision.10
These are but a small number of anecdotes and stories reporting various types of
visionary and mystic experiences associated with the revelations of Treasure items and
teachings. Such anecdotes are an inalienable aspect of any Treasure revealer’s career and abound
in Treasure revealers’ biographies, autobiographies, and Treasure cycles. Nowadays, in addition
to manuscripts, Treasure revelations have found new channels to reach devotees such as VCDs,
DVDs, and pamphlets with photos of Treasure items and even websites on the Internet.
Another predominant dimension of Treasure revelation that this study addresses is the
role of non-celibate visionaries within the tradition. Despite the particular precepts of their
ascetic lifestyle, the male Treasure revealers often support households and families and enjoy a
well-defined social role in their communities. However, their religious identity does not derive
from their social function only. Rather, it is supported by a complex and strict discipline of
asceticism, religious practice, and by the Buddhist values they uphold. A Treasure revealer’s
identity is likely not to be restricted to the context of a Treasure site and to the entourage
supporting his/her activities. As I argue in this study, a Treasure revealer’s identity is shaped by a
multitude of factors including early visionary experiences, support and recognition by influential
masters, and the revelations the Treasure revealer discovers.
9 gTer chen bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s personal communication. gNas chen Padma, August 2000.
10 The author witnessed the event, and recorded it on digital tape.
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Bibliographical Considerations: Western Works of Modern Scholarship
Visionary revelation in Tibet is an ancient phenomenon which has always been very powerful
both culturally and politically. The importance of its products within doctrinal and philosophical
traditions such as Bon and rNying ma can be appreciated by the vast collections of revealed
scriptures that fill their respective canons. As I maintain in this dissertation, such a phenomenon
is still valued in present-day Tibet.11
Treasure revelation is a cultural form that clearly builds on previous traditions. Not only
does it show influences from such Tibetan traditions as dream interpretation, divination,
prophecy, the cult of relics, and visionary practice, but it also capitalizes on Tibetan popular
practices such as the cult of sacred geography, pilgrimage, opening of “hidden lands” (sbas yul),
and the memory of Tibet’s glorious imperial past. Additionally, the surrounding cultures of India
and China had very similar Treasure revelation traditions.12 Most of the Treasure revealers are
non-celibate Tantric professionals who are, therefore, much more in contact with the ordinary
people than their maroon-robed colleagues. Precisely because of their popular reach, they affect
a wider variety of audiences in more ways than the less accessible type of “higher” religious
institutions have been able to do. One example of this phenomenon that I will introduce in more
detail in the chapters ahead is the recent trend of Chinese Buddhist devotees who flock by the
hundreds to Tibet to receive teachings, to practice, and often to live at the religious communities
of Treasure revealers. Because of its increasing social importance, Treasure revelation is a
religious and cultural phenomenon worthy of being studied from sociological, religious, and
anthropological points of view.
According to tradition, the origins of the diffusion of Buddhism in Tibet are intimately
associated with a series of events which are believed to be related to Padmasambhava and his
close disciples. Padmasambhava, an Indian saint who reached Tibet in the eighth century CE on
invitation by emperor Khri srong lde’u btsan (740-c.798?), established the first roots of Tantric
Buddhism in the land. Among the many deeds attributed to him is the creation of an intricate
method of teaching transmission called gter ma or Treasures. The term gter ma refers to
concealment and revelation of spiritual scriptures and sacred artifacts. Among the most
11Germano (1998), Terrone (2002).
12See for instance the revelation of sacred texts and ritual caskets in latter Han imperial China discussed in Tsai
(2006) and the cult of nidhi in Hindu tradition addressed in Goudriaan (1978).
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fascinating systems of practice in Tibet, the Treasure tradition is also one of the most
controversial.13
The school of Tibetan Buddhism that appropriated and developed the Treasure
transmission is the rNying ma, traditionally called snga ’gyur rnying ma, or “the ancient school
of the early translations.” According to rNying ma authors, an enormous number of Tantric
teachings have been revealed and composed via the Treasure revelation system, and a number of
these collections of Treasure cycles, such as those attributed to Nyang ral nyi ma ’od zer for
instance, have been included within the large rNying ma canon, the rNying ma rgyud ’bum.14
This particular form of revelation, although popular in Tibet since the eleventh century, has
nevertheless met with difficulties when trying to justify its origins and prove its legitimacy.
Much has been written by many scholars on the origins of the Treasure tradition, its history, and
the biographies of its major representatives. Of all these topics, it is the question of authorship of
the teachings transmitted through Treasure revelation that has been the greatest concern for both
Tibetologists and Tibetan Buddhists alike.15
Although scriptural revelation in the forms of Treasures (gter ma) is a major and lively
force within Tibetan Buddhism, scholarly attention to it is a recent phenomenon. Looking back
to early discussions in Western scholarship on Treasure revelations and related literature offers
an interesting glimpse into the way Treasures and their revealers (gter ston) were understood by
non-Tibetans. One of the earliest comments on Treasures is to be found in the writings of L.
Austine Waddell (1854-1938), a Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army. Waddell was stationed
in Darjeeling for many years where he studied Tibetan language and learned about Tibetan
Buddhist customs and religious practices. His interests in Tibetan culture led him to write a few
books that are inevitably pregnant with Protestant bias and picturesque observations of Tibetans
and their religion, which at that time was mostly known as “Lamaism.” In his book The
Buddhism of Tibet, or Lamaism, with its mystic cults, symbolism and mythology, and in its
relation to Indian Buddhism published in 1895, Waddell gives the earliest derogatory opinion of
13 See, for instance, Andreas Doctor’s recent study of ’Ju mi pham’s comments on the Treasure revealers advancing
a way to differentiate authentic revealers from charlatans. See Doctor (2005: 31-51).
14 The Bhutanese edition of the rNying ma rgyud ‘bum is believed to include more gter ma texts than any other
version. I am grateful to Robert Mayer for this information.
15 See Appendix Four in this volume for my general bibliography of publications on the Tibetan Treasure revelation
tradition in non-Tibetan languages. Apart from a few exceptions, the bibliographical information of the works
discussed and quoted in this section can be found in the the bibliographical list in Appendix Four. For those
refernces not quoted in the topical bibliography please see selected bibliography (Secondary Sources and Critical
Editions in Other Languages).
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the Treasures or “hidden revelations.” About the rNying ma adherents and the Treasures he
writes:
The residue who remained wholly unreformed and weakened by the loss of their best members, were
now called ÑiA-ma-pa or “the old ones,” as they adhered to the old practices. And now, to legitimize
many of their unorthodox practices which had crept into use, and to admit of further laxity, the ÑiR-
ma-pa resorted to the fiction of Ter-ma or hidden revelations.
Just as the Indian monk Nāgārjuna in order to secure an orthodox reception for his new creed had
alleged that the Mahāyāna doctrine was entirely the composition of Ṣākya Muni, who had written it
during his lifetime and entrusted the volumes to the Nāga demigods for preservation until men were
sufficiently enlightened to comprehend so abstruse a system, so in the same way several NiR-ma (sic)
Lāmas now began to discover new gospels, in caves and elsewhere, which they alleged were hidden
gospels of the Guru Saint Padma. And these so-called ‘revealers,’ but really the composers of these
Ter-ma treatises, also alleged as a reason for their ability to discover these hidden gospels, that each
of them had been, in a former birth, one or other of the twenty-five disciples of St. Padma.16
Waddell’s mind was imbued with the typical view of his time that Tibetan Buddhism was not an
authentic offspring of Indian Buddhism, but was rather a local creation, a form of shamanism
and demonic practices. Waddell’s criticism of the rNying ma school was not addressed uniquely
to the Treasure scriptures; he also condemned Padmasambhava for “his grotesque charlatanism
and uncelibate life.”17 Waddell’s comments on the rNying ma and Treasure traditions reflect the
contemporary opinion of his time when Tibetan Buddhism was considered by most European
scholars to be merely a corrupted form of the true Buddhism, which was Indian Buddhism.18
In their attempts to understand the Treasure revelation tradition, early Western scholars
of Tibetan religions focused their philological preoccupations on the bka’ thang literature in
hopes of throwing more light on the history of ancient Tibet. The bka’ thang or “chronicles” are
a series of scriptures that narrate the life and deeds of Padmasambhava in Tibet and are believed
to have been concealed as Treasures and eventually revealed in various versions by different past
Treasure revealers. Although not an academic but rather a magistrate and poet with a passion for
the East, Gustave-Charles Toussaint (1869-1938) came in contact with the 1839 Peking Edition
of the Padma bka’ thang, the text that narrates the life and deeds of Padmasambhava that had
been discovered as a Treasure by O rgyan gling pa (1323-?) in the fourteenth century. After a
period spent in different regions of China, Vietnam, and India and fifteen years of largely
autodidactic work, Toussaint published Le Dict de Padma, which was a French translation of the
16 This quotation is from a later edition. Waddell (1971: 56-57).
17 Waddell (1971: 33).
18 Lopez (1998: 162).
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Padma bka’ thang. 19 This was the first time non-Tibetan readers had access to the life of
Padmasambhava and his mysterious tradition of the “hidden Treasures” (les trésors secrets) of
Tibet. For many years this would be the only translation of the manuscript until 1978 when
Thartang Tulku published an English edition based on the French original, The Life and
Liberation of Padmasambhava.20
Among those who were first “scientifically” interested in the study of indigenous Tibetan
literary material including the Treasure texts was Andrei Ivanovich Vostrikov (1904-1937).
Originally written in the late 1930s, his work on Tibetan historical literature was first published
in Russia posthumously in 1962. Only in 1970, thanks to the English translation of Harish
Chandra Gupta, was Vostrikov’s book known to a wider audience by the title Tibetan Historical
Literature. Along the same vein as his predecessors including Waddell, Francke, Lokesh
Chandra, and Csoma de Koros, Vostrikov’s work elaborates on the bibliographical features of
the gter ma scriptures but does not hide his skepticism of them as valid historical sources.21 He
analyzes and classifies the main genres of Tibetan historical works and includes the gter ma texts
in the section “Books from Buried Treasures” in which he describes a number of scriptures
including the bKa’ chems ka khol ma, Padma bka’ thang, bKa’ thang sde lnga, Ma6i bka’ ’bum
and the bKa’ thang zangs gling ma.22
The same historiographical approach is found in Giuseppe Tucci’s (1894-1984) work. In
his monumental Tibetan Painted Scrolls, he often quotes and elaborates on gter ma texts by
emphasizing above all the content of two of the major “historical” Treasure texts, the Padma
bka’ thang and the bKa’ thang sde lnga. Moved like most of his contemporary colleagues more
by bibliographical and historiographical interests than religious concerns, Tucci recognizes the
values of the two Treasure scriptures for the glimpses they offer into the spirit of the time and
their reflections on historical events. He suggests that under the political stress of the thirteenth-
century Mongol invasion and rule the emergence of Treasure revelation can be seen as “a sign of
the yearning for the restoration of ancient times, a proof of national revival.” 23 Tucci was
probably the first scholar to capture and elaborate on the spirit of the gter ma revelation
phenomenon in fourteenth-century Tibet. He saw how the Treasures provided spiritual continuity
19 Tarthang (1978: xix-xxi). See also Toussaint (1933), and http://members.aol.com/Lemouellic/touss.htm
20 Tarthang (1978).
21 Vostrikov (1970: 28).
22 Vostrikov (1970: 27-57).
23 Tucci (1949: 112).
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for the rNying ma school after the abrupt downfall of the royal dynasty of Imperial Tibet (sixth
to ninth century) during the turbulent decades of this dark era, and he demonstrated how the
Treasure revelation tradition provided a means for the rNying ma school to validate their
doctrines. However, Tucci too maintained a sober skepticism about the authenticity of the gter
ma texts, which he believed were not discoveries in the real meaning of the word, but rather
“compilations, although often done on ancient documents by persons well versed in the sacred
scriptures and in the traditions of the schools.”24 He was convinced that “these gTer ston must be
considered, rather than discoverers, the compilers, sometimes actually the authors of the works
discussed; thus we see that, once we have established the exact date of the discovery of one of
these texts, we have in fact determined the date of their composition.”25
All these early trends were largely motivated by the historians’ impulse to classify and
scrutinize Tibetan history and culture through bibliographical investigation and philology in an
attempt to prove their particular theories. Much to these scholars’ disappointment, the Tibetan
textual tradition does not offer the opportunity to understand history in a linear way, let alone the
gter ma scriptures. This is evident in another early historical work on Tibetan religions that
includes descriptions of Treasure texts, Helmut Hofmann’s Die Religionen Tibets; Bon und
Lamaismus in ihrer geschichtlichen Entwicklung (1956). Hoffmann studied Tibetan in Sikkim
and Nepal in the early 1950s, but his text is replete with words and terms of Christian derivation
and romantic renderings of the life and magical activities of Padmasambhava, whose doctrines
and “syncretic religion” he calls “Padmaism.”26 Drawing on works by Tucci, Evans-Wentz, and
Toussaint, Hoffmann takes pains to describe the deeds of Padmasambhava in Tibet and Treasure
texts such as the Bar do thos sgrol known in the West as the “Tibetan Book of the Dead,”
discovered in the fourteenth century by Karma gling pa. Hoffmann’s work became a reference
also for Buddhologists interested in Treasure literature as in the case of Edward Conze. Conze’s
essay on “Buddhism and Gnosis” briefly introduces the notion of gter ma in a wider context of
revelation and gnosis when he investigates analogies between Mahāyāna and Gnosticism in
terms of scriptural authentication.27
The Tibetan Diaspora in the early 1960s also marked a new era for Tibetan studies. As
hundreds of bla mas, monks, and Tibetan scholars left Tibet, a large community of Tibetan
24 Tucci (1949: 111).
25 Tucci (1949: 112).
26 This refers to the English edition. Hoffmann (1961: 50).
27 Conze (1967: 658-59).
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refugees descended into India and later Switzerland carrying with them not only personal items,
but also works of art and numerous rare texts and manuscripts. Thanks to the vision,
commitment, and efforts of E. Gene Smith, the preservation and diffusion of Tibetan manuscripts
gained new momentum. After he joined the Library of Congress New Delhi Field Office, Smith
reproduced and published thousands of Tibetan texts and manuscripts from the Tibetan-speaking
communities of India, Sikkim, Bhutan, and Nepal between 1968 and 1985, often with scholarly
introductions written by him. It was in two of these famed “introductions,” specifically the “The
Autobiography of a Rnying ma pa Visionary Mkhan po Ngag dbang dpal bzang in the Ngagyur
Nyingmay Sungrab and his Spiritual Heritage” and “’Jam mgon Kong sprul and the Nonsectarian
Movement” in Kongtrul’s Encyclopedia of Indo-Tibetan Culture (1970) that Smith provided an
erudite history of the rNying ma school. In the latter, he also commented on the gter ma tradition
and reminded us that “the false prophet is a possibility that plagues any tradition that accepts the
principle of continuing revelation with doubt.”28 In his introductions portraying the rNying ma
school, Smith explained the historical and doctrinal context that frames the gter ma texts and the
revealers who produce them. Commenting on the presence of criticisms among rNying ma
scholars, Smith wrote:
Many gter ma texts are superb examples of Tibetan literature. It is important to remember, however,
that Tibetan Buddhism, especially the form followed by the rNying ma pa, is intended first and
foremost to be pragmatic–a putting into practice of the insight realized by all the buddha and
bodhisattvas of the past. The explanation for the multiplicity of metaphors and tutelary deities lies in
the fact that there must be a practice suited to every sentient being somewhere. Forms or metaphors
that were relevant yesterday may lose their efficacy in the changed situation of today. Achieving
realization through the practice of a teaching is the ultimate test. Certain discoveries or revelations
may have a greater relevance in a given situation and produce especially remarkable results.29
Among those Tibetans who moved to India were also a number of scholars who brought
with them their life experience and knowledge of the Tibetan world of gter ma revelation. Such
is the case of Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche whom the Italian Professor Luciano Petech, then
working for the IsMEO and Professor Tucci, met in India and invited to Rome. Born in sDe dge
in 1938, Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche arrived in Italy in 1960 and worked first at the Istituto per il
Medio ed Estremo Oriente (IsMEO) in Rome and then in 1962 became the first Professor of
Mongolian and later of Tibetan Language and Literature at the Oriental Institute of Napoli
28 Smith (2001: 240). Gene Smith’s “introductions” has been republished in 2001. See Smith (2001).
29 Smith (2001: 240-41).
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University. At that time the Oriental Institute of Napoli University had the largest number of
departments of Asian and African studies in Italy and one of the largest in Europe. An expert of
the rNying ma school of Tibetan Buddhism, Namkhai Norbu was also a teacher of rDzogs chen
or the Great Perfection and the gter ma tradition to which he had been exposed since his
childhood in Khams. He expounded his views on the rDzogs chen tradition, his Tibetan teachers
(among whom the Treasure revealer Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje), and the gter ma tradition in
his autobiographical classic The Crystal and the Way of Light: Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen,
published in 1986.30 After Namkhai Norbu’s arrival in the southern Italian city of Napoli, many
students gathered around him since rumors soon spread among the students in the corridors of
the “l’Orientale” (as the institute was commonly called) that since Namkhai Norbu was a
Buddhist bla ma, his compassion forbade him to fail students. His classes were thus packed with
students. His early follower and university student was an enthusiastic Spaniard named Ramon
Prats. Prats committed to following his “teacher” everywhere listening to his teachings, talks,
lectures, and classes. Soon the two established a close teacher-disciple relationship, and Prats
absorbed everything he could from Namkhai Norbu, becoming particularly fascinated with
rDzogs chen and the lives and deeds of Treasure revealers. After a few years working as lecturer,
in 1988, Prats obtained a post as associate professor at the Oriental Institute. For the first few
years, his classes were given in tandem with those of Namkhai Norbu until the latter retired in
1991. In 1982, Prats published his dissertation Contributo allo Studio Biografico dei Primi Gter-
ston in which he transcribed, edited, translated, and analyzed a selection of biographical writings
(rnam thar) of early Treasure revealers based on the list in the famed gTer ston rgya rtsa’i rnam
thar authored by Kong sprul blo gros mtha’ yas.31 Soon Prats also produced a series of articles
and publications on various aspects of rDzogs chen and gter ma studies that became the focus of
his research career. His book on the lives of the early Treasure revealers was particularly
important because together with Eva M. Dargyay’s previously published work The Rise of
Esoteric Buddhism in Tibet (1979), Prats provided the first Western-language translations of the
lives of a number of early revealers and marked the beginning of biographical studies in Tibetan
Buddhism.
Anne-Marie Blondeau’s studies in the ritual and textual traditions of the rNying ma
school including the Treasure tradition have become a landmark in the discipline. As director of
30 Norbu and Shane (1986).
31 Prats (1982).
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studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études (religions tibétaines) in Paris, she often led her
“conferences” by reading and translating long passages from various kinds of ritual texts such as
cosmological treatises, apotropaic rituals, and Treasure texts while providing her comments and
interpretations. Scrutiny of the Padma bka’ thang and the bKa’ thang sde lnga has been the
focus of her attention until recently and is the topic of some of her widely read publications
including “Le Lha-‘dre bka’-thang,” “Analysis of the Biographies of Padmasambhava according
to Tibetan Tradition: Classification of Sources,” and “Les bKa’ thang et la question du
nationalisme tibétain.”32
The 1980s and 1990s saw developments shaped by the methods of history of religion in
which the gter ma texts and the auto/biography of Treasure revealers were not only considered
for their historical validity, but also, and I believe most importantly, for what they represented in
their cultural and religious milieu. Benefiting from the large collection of material compiled by
the Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project33 of which he was the director from 1988 to
1993, Franz-Karl Ehrhard studied a number of Treasure revealers’ manuscripts and analyzed the
notion of hidden valleys (sbas yul) discussed in them. Noteworthy essays of his include “The
Role of ‘Treasure Discoverers’ and their Writings in the Search for Himalayan Sacred Lands”
and “Religious Geography and Literary Traditions: The Foundation of the Monastery Brag-dkar
bsam-gling.”34
Interestingly, few Tibetan scholars seem to have been seriously interested in studying and
publishing on the Treasure tradition. This makes us wonder if this is simply a coincidence or if
does the lacuna of Tibetan-authored research on the Treasure tradition hide a deeper discomfort?
A number of Tibetan scholars of the past such as ’Jig rten mgon po (1143-1217) and Sa skya
paṇḍita (1182-1251) have been skeptical of Treasure and their revealers. One recent exception is
Tulku Thondup, a rNying ma lama who has published prolifically on the subject of Treasure
revelation, in particular his 1986 translation and study of a text explaining the Treasure tradition
written by the erudite rNying ma scholar the third rDo Grub chen ’Jigs med bstan pa’i nyi ma
(1865-1926). In this book titled Hidden Teachings of Tibet: An Explanation of the Terma
Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, Tulku Thondup provides the first English-language panorama of
32 Blondeau (1971,1980, 2001).
33 The Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project (NGMPP) based in Kathmandu (1970-1999) has preserved
and reproduced in microfilm form thousands of Tibetan ancient manuscripts (but also Sanskrit, Nepali, and Newari)
including auto/biographical writings and Treasure teachings (gter chos) of major revealers. These manuscripts are
stored at the National Archives in Kathmandu where are currently available to scholars for consultation.
34 Ehrhard (1999; 2001).
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the Treasures in all their forms. Tulku Thondup’s book is interesting not only for his effort to
make such an important text available to non-Tibetan readers, but also because it offers a bird’s
eye view of the gter ma tradition including the thorny issues of fake revealers and false
Treasures.
Since the appearance of essays touching upon the Treasure tradition and its literature
beginning as early as the nineteenth century, one of the main themes has been that of
authenticity. In 1989, Michael Aris (1946-1999), who was then a lecturer in Asian History at St.
John’s College in Oxford, published a book titled Hidden Treasures and Secret Lives concerning
two eminent and rather controversial figures of the Tibetan Buddhist world: Padma gling pa
(1450-1521) and Tshang dbyangs rgya mtsho, the Sixth Dalai Lama (1683-1706). Despite its
erudition and importance in terms of Tibetan auto/biographical studies, the book generated
discomfort among many scholars for the message his analysis conveyed to his readers. After
having read and studied the autobiographical writing of the famed Treasure revealer and
Bhutanese national icon Padma gling pa, this leading academic expert of the then relatively
young discipline of Tibetan Studies concluded that Padma gling pa was an impostor. Aris wrote:
There is a peculiar reluctance on the part of many modern scholars to recognize the entirely
fabricated nature of the Tibetan “treasure-texts”. It is as if their enthusiasm for things Tibetan and
Himalayan has blinded them to an obvious truth. There is no evidence whatsoever to support the
claim that any of the “rediscovered” texts of the cult actually date from the period claimed for them.
[…] Yet some modern scholars go so far as vehemently to insist on the cult’s entire dependence on
the physical discovery of the texts originally composed in the eighth century, with only the minor
proviso that there were a few imposters who jumped on the band wagon. Some writers avoid the issue
altogether, presumably for fear of bringing Tibetan Buddhism into disrepute. Others hold that the
self-proclaimed discoverers obtained genuine texts in the way they described, but then subjected
these to a process of heavy editing. Even two of the foremost and most respected authorities maintain
that: ‘No imaginative and roguish group of Tibetans sat down to invent all the stuff out of their
heads.’ But a reading of Pemalingpa’s autobiography suggests that this is precisely what did
happen.35
Despite the undoubtedly rational reasoning that brought Aris to his conclusions about Padma
gling pa’s life as a Treasure revealer, his comments left a bitter taste in many scholars’ mouths. It
was not only the conclusion per se was disturbing, but also the tone and the nuances of his
partisan statements. A few years later, a group of four scholars agitated by Aris’s comments led
by sLob dpon Padma Tshe dbang, the monk-scholar and former director of the prestigious
National Library of Bhutan, published a book in response to Aris’s work titled The Treasure
35 Aris (1989: 96-97).
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Revealer of Bhutan: Pemalingpa, the Terma Tradition and its Critics. The team decided to write
their version of Padma gling pa’s life and legacy in order “to highlight some contemporary
questions about our understanding and interpretation of Himalayan Buddhist cultures.”36 Their
critique of Aris’s work and scholastic stance takes a sharp tone when they write:
Causing offence, however, may plausibly be justified. But a closer look at the book shows that it fails
to fulfill the requirements of adequate understanding and insight. There might be a case to make
against Pemalingpa, who knows. But this book certainly has not made it. No serious proof against
Pemalingpa is given by Aris.37
Other Tibet specialists took the painful task to express concern about Michael Aris’s statements,
but the fundamental questions remain unsolved: is Treasure revelation a truthful means of
Buddhist transmission? Are Treasure revealers authentic or are they charlatans? We know that
these are questions that have always existed among scholars both Tibetan and non-Tibetan. In
Tibet, criticism of the Treasure system dates back to the very beginning of the tradition itself in
the eleventh century. Outside Tibet, scholars began to inquire about the Treasure tradition only
recently.38
The newly revived debate about the origins of the gter ma tradition gained momentum
with the publication of an important article by Matthew Kapstein in 1989. “The Purificatory
Gem and Its Cleansing: A Late Tibetan Polemical Discussion of Apocryphal Texts” was to leave
a mark and become a reference for the insights it provided into understanding the debates on the
authenticity and validity of Treasure revealers in Tibet.39 One of Kapstein’s points in the article
was to explore the notion of canonicity by analyzing the positions of two major Tibetan dGe lugs
pa scholars Sum pa mkhan po ye shes dpal ’byor (1904-1987) and Thu’u kwan chos kyi nyi ma
(1737-1802). Kapstein concluded that there is not enough evidence to indicate the existence of a
distinct genre of “Buddhist apocrypha” as classified for instance in the Judeo-Christian tradition.
He admits, however, that Treasure scriptures are a very close approximation in that are
considered authentic by the rNying ma adherents but “pseudepigraphical and anathematic” by
their opponents.40 Kapstein demonstrates that Tibetan scholars attempted to provide criteria with
36 Tshewang (1995: vii).
37 Tshewang (1995: 126).
38 For another comment on Aris’s’ statements on Padma gling pa see Martin (2001: 16-29).
39 Kapstein (1989).
40 Kapstein (1989: 220).
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which to classify and validate revealed material in a context in which two factions emerged: one
inclined to attack and one proposing to canonize apocryphal scriptures.41
Some scholars have approached the study of revelation in Buddhism from a comparative
point of view, seeing liturgical analogies in neighboring cultures. Robert Mayer has studied gter
ma revelation in the rNying ma rgyud ’bum and published his reflections in a number of articles
and a book titled A Scripture of The Ancient Tantra Collection: The Phur-pa bcu-gnyis.42 His
work epitomizes one of the major concerns that haunted many Tibetologists: the origins of the
gter ma tradition. Largely moved by the urge to contextualize Treasure revelation within Tibetan
Buddhism and wider Asian religious traditions, Mayer has not only attempted to follow up on
Samuel’s clerical/shamanic dichotomy, but he also suggested a solution to the tensions between
closed canon/bKa’ ’gyur and open canon/rNying ma rgyud ’bum. Whereas the former represents
the purity and globalism of the Sanskritic letter and therefore clerical orthodoxy according to
Mayer, the latter reflects the need for continuity and localization in which the innovative spirit
behind the movement is fueled by fresh revelations (gter ma) and visionary productions (dag
snang). For Mayer, both currents are equally justified and are not necessarily mutually
excluding.43 Mayer suggests Indian antecedents for the Tibetan Treasure tradition, arguing that
“the Tibetan gter-ma tradition is primarily a Tibetan elaboration of Buddhist systems already
well attested in Indian and Chinese literature many centuries before the introduction of
Buddhism to Tibet.” 44 For instance, he discusses the practice of nidhidarśana, “finding
treasures,” a cult belonging to the Hindu tradition of Viṣṇu Māyā previously studied by the
Dutch Indologist Teun Goudriaan.45
Ronald Davidson agrees that the parallels between the Indic notion of nidhi and Tibetan
Treasure are intriguing.46 In his impressive historical overview of the ninth- to early thirteenth-
century Tibetan Renaissance, Davidson dedicates an entire chapter to revelation titled “Treasure
Texts, the Imperial Legacy, and the Great Perfection.” Expanding on the notion of the imperial
ideology behind Treasure revelation, Davidson shows how the birth of this tradition had more to
41 Kapstein (1989: 243-44).
42 Mayer (1994, 1996, 1997).
43 Mayer (1996: 149-53).
44 Mayer (1996: 70).
45 Goudriaan (1978).
46 Davidson (2005).
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do with the material remains of the Tibetan empire than with the myth of Padmasambhava’s
prophetic vision, which developed at a later stage.
An important aspect of Treasure revelation studies is an interest in the voices of Treasure
revealers as conveyed in their autobiographical writings. This influential medium emphatically
unveils the world of gter ma revelation through the eyes and words of its agents. The pioneer of
studies in Tibetan autobiography as well as the author of the burgeoning topic’s most successful
study is Janet Gyatso. Gyatso’s first attraction to the Treasure tradition in Tibetan Buddhism was
sparked by the life and revelations of the great fourteenth- fifteenth-century Treasure revealer
Thang stong rgyal po. Since completing her doctoral degree in 1981 with a dissertation on this
famed gter ston and his tradition titled The Literary Transmission of the Traditions of Thang-
stong rGyal-po: A Study of Visionary Buddhism in Tibet, Gyatso authored numerous publications
about Treasures and their revealers. Using a methodology based on literary theories analyzing
autobiography and supported by extensive research in Tibetan Buddhism, Gyatso’s study of one
of the most prominent Treasure revealers of Tibet, ’Jigs med gling pa (1730-1798), titled
Apparitions of the Self: The Secret Autobiographies of a Tibetan Visionary, is considered one of
the most important Tibetan studies publications in recent decades.47 Gyatso’s works are seminal
for various reasons. First of all she belongs to the first generation of scholars who, like Jeffrey
Hopkins, Robert Thurman, and Gene Smith, benefited from contact with Tibetans in exile,
especially in India and Nepal, and thus were exposed to a new research method borrowed from
anthropology, namely that of ethnographic fieldwork. Second, she introduced new
methodologies in her studies such as those of comparative literature, specifically
autobiographical studies, and gender studies. Thirdly, Gyatso framed her writings within the
field of the history of religions, a discipline particularly important in American higher education.
All this is evident in Gyatso’s collections of essays such as “Signs, Memory, and History: A
Tantric Buddhist Theory of Scriptural Transmission,” “Genre, Authorship, and Transmission in
Visionary Buddhism: The Literary Tradition of Thang-stong rGyal-po,” and “The Logic of
Legitimation in the Tibetan Treasure Tradition,” to mention only a few.48 In these works Gyatso
opened the field of Tibetan Studies to new facets of the Treasure tradition. In particular, she
highlighted the legitimation strategies Treasure revealers and their adherents utilized in order to
present themselves and their Treasures as authentic. Although Gyatso suggests possible Indian
47 Gyatso (1998).
48 Gyatso (1986, 1992, 1993).
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and Chinese antecedents to the Treasure tradition, she emphasizes its indigenous Tibetan
factors.49 She wrote:
Thus do they who can proclaim that they have discovered Buddhist scriptures in the Tibetan earth (or
mind) distinguish themselves. In the course of so doing, the discoverer’s appropriation of Indian or of
indigenous powers is not merely a reversion to the past or a reinscription of embeddedness. Rather,
the thrust of the Treasure discoverer’s rhetoric is to make themselves into autonomous individuals,
who cultivate spiritual powers without a human teacher.50
Of particular interest for the development of the field of rNying ma studies, especially
scriptural traditions with an emphasis on gter ma material, is the work of David Germano.
Germano’s exploration of the world of Tibetan Buddhism and especially Tantric lore continues
the focus on the history of religions point of view. His works are primarily based on the study of
rDzogs chen (the Great Perfection) with particular attention to the snying thig (Seminal Heart)
system according to the doctrinal codification of the great rNying ma polymath and Treasure
revealer kLong chen rab ’byams pa (1308-1364). One of Germano’s strongest assertions is the
indigenous origins of the gter ma system. Germano graduated in 1982 from the University of
Wisconsin where he studied under Geshe Sopa and was immediately hired at the University of
Virginia to teach alongside the famous specialist in dGe lugs pa philosophy Jeffrey Hopkins,
who founded the University of Virginia’s Tibetan Buddhist Studies program in the 1970s. The
once dGe lugs pa-oriented program of study has gradually become a rNying ma stronghold.51
Germano’s main interests are tenth- to fourteenth-century Tibetan religious history, Treasure
revelation, rDzogs chen thought, and the revival of Buddhism in contemporary Tibet. He wrote
a seminal essay on the history of rDzogs chen titled “Architecture and Absence in the Secret
Tantric History of the Great Perfection (rdzogs chen)” and a series of articles published in books
and on-line.52 Additionally and more relevant for the present survey, Germano also produced an
influential work on the phenomenon of gter ma revelation in contemporary Tibet. In his “Re-
membering the Dismembered Body of Tibet: Contemporary Tibetan Visionary Movements in
People’s Republic of China,” Germano introduced readers to the world of Tibetan Treasure
49 Gyatso (1998: 151).
50 Gyatso (1998: 152-53).
51 For a description of Jeffrey Hopkins’s career see Lopez (1998: 163-75).
52 Germano has published a number of articles and essays on the Tantric Canon of the rNying ma (rNying ma rgyud
‘bum) and on Tibetal religious literature on the Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library portal. Please see
www.thdl.org.
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revealers in present-day Tibet, a topic rather neglected by modern scholarship. 53 Combining
ethnographic research with historical background, Germano narrates the rise of one of the most
famous Treasure revealers of twentieth-century Tibet, mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs (1933-
2003), outlining his career as a revealer and the fortunes of his religious encampment called bLa
rung sgar in mGo log. His research has showed how this ancient, although controversial, form of
scriptural and spiritual legitimation, is still an innovative force against the backdrop of the
“transformed landscape” of twentieth-century Tibet.54
With Gyatso and Germano, studies on the Tibetan Treasure tradition have entered a new
phase. Their ground-breaking works and multidisciplinary approaches have given new
momentum to the field. No longer are Treasure texts and their revealers investigated for their
“historicity” and “validity,” but rather they are explored as a means to understand a tradition and
its adherents, to better imagine their socio-historical context, and to interpret the complexities
they voice. Therefore, attention has shifted from a purely philological to a more socio-historical
inquiry in which scholars consider the Treasure authors for what they have produced within their
tradition, the social role they play in their communities, and for whom they claim to be.
Another important recent addition to studies in Treasure revelation is the work currently
being done on revalation in the Bon tradition. No other work on Treasure revealers with the
exception of Gyatso’s has gone so far as the monographic study of Dan Martin. His book
Unearthing Bon Treasures: Life and Contested Legacy of a Tibetan Scripture Revealer finally
opens a window on the little known world of Bon po Treasure revealers. Martin shows great
concern for studies on the Treasure tradition in other publications as well such as his informative
essay on Treasure revelation within the context of the cult of relics called “Pearls from Bones:
Relics, Chortens, Tertons and the Signs of Saintly Death in Tibet.”55 Another scholar and prolific
author of studies in the rNying ma and Bon traditions is the Frenchman Jean-Luc Achard. With
particular attention to the role of Treasure revelation in the production and development of the
rDzogs chen doctrine, Achard has devoted much of his time to the study of material from various
Treasure revealers and their literary productions. Among his most representative works are
“bsTan gnyis gling pa (1480-1535) et la Révélation du Yang tig ye shes mthong grol,” L’Essence
Perlée du Secret — Recherches philologiques et historiques et historiques sur l’origine de la
53 Goldstein and Kapstein (1998: 53-94).
54 Germano (1998: 76).
55 Martin (2001, 1994).
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Grande Perfection dans la tradition rNying ma pa, and Bon Po Hidden Treasures: A catalogue
of bDe chen gling pa’s Collected Revelations, which are significant readings for anyone
seriously interested in the field.56
Despite the plurality of topics and the multifaceted aspects of the Treasure revelation
phenomenon, that of authenticity is probably the one that has spurred more attention among
scholars over the years. Another example of this is Andreas Doctor’s work Tibetan Treasure
Literature, published in 2005. An interesting feature of his book is his translation and study of
’Ju mi pham rgya mtsho (1846-1912)’s complex text gTer ston rtag pa chu dwangs nor bu in
which he warns about the dangers of false Treasure revealers and how to validate them.57
Current scholarship is becoming more nuanced by expanding on earlier research
methodologies but also building new trends. As in other disciplines like the study of Christianity,
gender is becoming an increasingly active analytical category in Treasure studies. More and
more students combine innovative methodological attitudes drawn from literary theory,
anthropology, and gender studies with language skills and fieldwork research among
“contemporary” Tibetans in their land. For example, Sarah Jacoby applies literary theory
focusing on autobiography and gender studies to analyze the auto/biographical writings and life
of the famed female gter ston mKha’ ’gro bde ba’i rdo rje (a.k.a Se ra mkha’ ’gro) (1892-1940)
and the social context in which she lived.58 Her study investigates the ways in which a female
religious leader arose in a largely male dominated religious culture in addition to analyzing the
issue of consort practices in the context of revelation from a female perspective. She discloses a
world of revelation and devotion for us, but also a world of power, conflicting tensions between
monastic and non-celibate lifestyles, and religious community tensions. Such a study offers us an
interesting platform from which to understand the same issues as they appear in the
contemporary perspective.
Finally, turning our gaze to contemporary Tibet, the present-day context is rich in
opportunities to study the Treasure tradition and the Treasure revealers. Alongside explorations
of other previously understudied groups such as sngags pas, and rnal ’byor pas, Treasure
revealers’ contemporary activities and cultural influence are claiming more attention and interest
from current historians of Tibetan religions. The investigation of lived religion, in this case the
56 Achard (1999, 2004, 2005).
57 Doctor (2005: 31-51).
58 Jacoby (2007).
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practice of Treasure revelation, offers a window into the ongoing life and significance of
Treasure revealers. In a conservative culture like that of Tibet, the study of living Treasure
revealers has the potential to help understand the phenomena in the past. The variety of sources
employed in the study of lived religion show the complexities of the phenomenon and the
creativity of expression reached by the religious community in general and the Treasure
revealers in particular. Today’s Treasure revealers’ productions include not only catalogues of
their Treasures (gter rdzas), Treasure teachings (gter chos), and opera omnia (gsung ’bum), but
also pamphlets, pins, talismans, photos and posters, audio-tapes, VCDs, and DVDs, and more
recently Websites. Although all these products are not necessarily of great artistic or literary
value, they are nevertheless valuable glimpses into the phenomenon of revalation in the present-
day context.
More needs to be done to understand the role and the meaning of Treasure revelation in
Tibet today. Revelation in all its aspects such as Treasure items (gter rdzas), mind Treasures
(dgongs gter), and pure visions (dag snang) is still a vibrant force behind the technologies of
Tantric literature and ritual in today’s Tibet. The figure of the gter ston is as active as the
criticism he or she sometimes attracts relating to his/her lifestyle and moral behavior within the
religious community. Is it possible that present-day Treasure revealers are moved by the same
urge and the same necessity to reveal and disseminate their Treasures as their predecessors?
What does it mean to be a Treasure revealer, and are the criteria for evaluation the same as in the
past? And especially, are the Treasure cycles (gter skor) and teachings (gter chos) valued the
same as they were in the past? These are only a few of the working questions that I have
attempted to address in my writings including “Visions, Arcane Claims, and Hidden Treasures:
Charisma and Authority in a Present-Day Gter ston” published in 2002 and “Tibetan Buddhism
Beyond the Monastery: Revelation and Identity in rNying ma Communities of Present-day
Kham” in 2008. A study of Tibetan ideas of authentic Treasure revealers titled “‘Anything is an
Appropriate Treasure Teaching!’ Authentic Treasure Revealers and the Moral Implications of
Non-celibate Tantric Activities” is in press.59 I believe that the study of present-day Treasure
revealers and their works can benefit the study of the Treasure tradition in general and can help
us understand more about this tradition as a distinctive facet of Tibetan religion.
59 Terrone (2002).
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Scope of the Project and Outline of the Chapters
Despite the fact that there have been a number of studies devoted to Buddhism in contemporary
Tibet, no book-length investigation of Treasure revelation in present-day Tibetan regions of the
PRC has been published to date. This dissertation fills this lacuna in research on modern Tibet.
Within that, the present study has two main aims. The first is to explore how currently active
Treasure revealers have revived and reinvented their Treasure revelation practices in the face of
major social and political changes that have taken place in the PRC. Through an analysis of
contemporary Sino-Tibetan politics and the role of religion therein, this study answers the
following questions: why and how have religion, and the Treasure revelation tradition in
particular, enjoyed a resurgence under Chinese rule? What does the Treasure tradition offer
today to Tibetans and an impressive number of ethnic Chinese as well? The second aim of this
work is to investigate why and how people become Treasure revealers in Tibet by focusing on
the life and religious activities of one such contemporary Treasure revealer, gTer chen bDe chen
’od gsal rdo rje. Years of fieldwork using participant observation methods living with bDe chen
’od gsal rdo rje and members of his community provide important data that help us understand
the dynamics of these religious congregations and the roles they play in their teachers’
revelations and doctrinal compositions.
In Chapter One, I open this study with an introduction to the major features of the
Treasure tradition as it is represented in some popular Tibetan religious literary works on the
subject. Far from being an exhaustive history, it nevertheless provides background on how the
narrative strategies on the origins of Treasure revelations emerged as a revitalization effort with
multiple objectives: 1) to assert rNying ma/Ancient identity within the gSar ma/New emerging
Buddhist schools in the Tibetan religious renaissance; 2) to revive the supremacy of the early
translation movement, the Tibetan imperial ideology, and the royal patronage of Buddhism
during the eighth-century dissemination of Buddhism in Tibet; 3) to maintain an open rNying ma
canon vis-à-vis the larger Tibetan Buddhist canon, thus legitimating newly composed doctrinal
material; and 4) to affirm the important role that the non-celibate religious elite had in the
dissemination of Buddhist doctrine in Tibet. This background in the Treasure tradition will create
the matrix on which we can further develop our understanding of the phenomenon as it exists
today. My interest in such a task is to demonstrate one central thesis of this study: just as
Treasure ideologies originally came into being as a response to the religious and political
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pressures in tenth-century Tibet when “modern” traditions challenged the old/ancient
communities, likewise in the present context some Tibetan religious leaders employ Treasure
revelation as a successful means to respond to the political pressures of twentieth- and twenty-
first-century Tibet under Chinese rule.
Chapter Two offers an overview of the socio-political impact of decades of Chinese
government religious policies in Tibet. My extensive fieldwork experience indicates that as in
the past, the phenomena of the decline of Buddhism, the arrival of external colonizing forces, the
re-creation of a link to the imperial and glorious age of dynastic Tibet, and the therapeutic power
of freshly revealed Buddhist materials are still acting as major channels of collective memory.
Additionally, the economic and political scenarios and the forces of change that appeared in
post-Mao China allowed Tibetan areas to engage again in more overt expressions of religious
belief and practice. In the past three decades Tibetans in the eastern areas of Khams and A mdo
have gradually regained access to many popular practices forbidden in the Maoist past such as
pilgrimages, offering to monasteries, the erection of private shrines at home, and local
ceremonies and festivals.
In such a context, I argue that the Chinese government’s political strategies applied to
Tibetan areas relating to the large-scale economic development of the country have caused a
weakening of crucial religious authority for many monastic institutions by debilitating their
economic power, incapacitating their political influence, limiting their education authority, and
diminishing one of their crucial instruments, their large monastic population. After years of
persecution and political control, the historical role of monasteries as exclusive guarantors of
religious authority and scholastic legitimacy and as institutional centers of traditional instruction
has drastically decreased. Nevertheless, the Tibetans’ spirit of adaptation and their struggle for
the preservation of their religious and cultural identity has resulted in a reastablishment of many
monastic activities including the publication of religious material, some collective religious
festivals and rituals, and in some cases a revitalized education and instructional system for
monastics. Concomitantly, however, a number of alternative forms of religious authority have
emerged in eastern Tibet that emphasize the often eclectic nature of the rNying ma community
such as visionary activities, Treasure revelation, and the formation of large and innovative
religious communities as centers of practice and cultural production.
Within this socio-religious background, Chapter Three claims that visionary revelations
seem to be particularly fit to reestablish a religious discourse with regard to ritual authority, the
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codification of new identities, and the promotion of ancient religious narratives. Tibetan religious
professionals such as Treasure revealers and non-celibate Tantric adepts (sngags pa) have
become increasingly visible in the religious and social landscape of Tibet. Treasure revelations,
often in the form of publicly witnessed events (khrom gter) play an important role in fostering
faith in the devotees, nurturing hope in the followers, and in contributing to the preservation and
continuation of the traditional transmission of the Buddhist teachings and meditation practices.
In Chapter Three, I also discuss in detail some of the features that characterize Treasure
activities in modern Tibet through introducing a number of contemporary visionaries who mostly
live and operate in northern and central areas of Khams. I explore the charismatic aspect of their
leadership, the different aspects of their revelations, and the communities that surround them.
Large religious encampments (chos sgar) and smaller Tantric mountain hermitages (ri khrod) led
by Treasure revealers (gter ston), non-celibate Tantric adepts (sngags pa), and ascetic yogis (rnal
’byor pa) have emerged in recent decades. Their leaders have succesfully reestablished local
control over religious identity and their system of education, which has been threatened so often
under the current regime. Far from being either large administrative monastic institutions or
small mountain retreats, these religious gatherings or religious encampments are characterized by
a new emphasis on traditional education and instruction. The ambivalent nature of these hybrid
encampments―both monastery and mountain hermitage, both monastic and lay residents, both
monks and nuns―which often host thousands of Buddhist practitioners and enthusiastic
devotees, has recently translated into a threat felt by Chinese government authorities and
officials. Behind the controversial control of the Chinese government over Tibetan religious
encampments is its sensitivity to issues related to links between the religious centers and the
Tibetan government in exile, support for the Dalai Lama, and the presence of anti-Chinese
sentiments and activities easily perceived by the central government as “splittist.” (Ch. fenlie).
Nevertheless, present-day Treasure revealershave been largely succesful in developing their
religious communities despite the costraints of the current political climate.
Chapter Three will therefore analyze the revitalization of the Treasure tradition and the
cult of the Treasure revealers as evidence of Tibetans’ ongoing attempts to regain access to
previous forms of Tibetan Buddhist authority and traditional religious transmission, and to
portray their role in the formation of some of the most active rNying ma communities in
twentieth-century Khams. As we shall see in more detail below, gter revelation, the cult of
Treasure revealers, the constitution of religious communities around them, and the phenomenon
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of the non-monastic, or better quasi-monastic religious encampments (chos sgar) have given a
vibrant impulse to the practice of Buddhism in recent decades, but especially after the early
1980s.
gTer chen bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje
Chapter Four will introduce us to the life and religious experience of one such present-day
Treasure revealer, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje. Born in 1921 to a nomadic family in sKye rgu mdo
county (Yushu TAP), bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s life was fueled with the freedom of movement
and straightforwardness of life as a nomad. Due to a difficult childhood, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje showed a predilection for a solitary lifestyle. This soon led him towards contemplative
isolation in the wilderness. At the age of six he left his native land and parted from his family,
living for a few years the life of a vagabond. In tune with the lifestyle of influential Tibetan
yogis, who have become milestone models in Tibet’s religious history, such as rJe btsun Mi la
ras pa and Zhabs dkar, the young would-be gter ston also chose the path of hardship and solitary
confinement as the way to personal liberation. 60 His early visions and ecstatic experiences
associated with Padmasambhava were later interpreted as signs of a specific auspicious
connection (rten ’brel) with a distant past of Tibetan history. More exclusively, this association
was soon to determine the young bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s future as one of Padmasambhava’s
main emissaries (pho nya) and then to his being proclaimed a Treasure revealer.
By looking at bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s life we have the opportunity to explore the
paradigms that are enacted in the process of recognition of a Treasure revealer. Additionally, we
will examine to the dynamics and circumstances that were conducive to the formation of bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje as a Treasure revealer. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje began to experience
visions and prophetic dreams very early in his life, visions that announced his potential career as
a revealer. He met his first teacher, bKra shis chos ’phel, with whom he studied Tibetan language
and entered the path of Buddhist practice. After having received teachings and complete
60 rJe bstun Mi la ras pa bzhad pa’i rdo rje (1040-1123) is the most famous and beloved among Tibet’s greatest
yogis. His biography, rJe btsun mi la ras pa’i rnam thar rgyas par phye ba mgur 'bum by gTsang smyon He ru ka
(1452-1507), is among the most popular and influential life accounts in Tibet. Disciple of another great religious
figure of twelfth century Tibet, Mar pa lo tsa ba chos kyi blo gros (1012-97), founder of the bKa' brgyud tradition of
Tibetan Buddhism, Mi la ras pa is the model of all Tibetan Buddhist ascetics. Another great example of Tibetan yogi
and hermit is Zhabs dkar tshogs drug rang grol (1781-1851), one of the most well-known rNying ma ascetics of the
eighteenth century.
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instructions on the naro mkha’ spyod and Vajrayoginī (rdo rje rnal ’byor ma) from bKra shis
chos ’phel, bDe chen ’od sgal rdo rje set off on a long pilgrimage in search of sacred sites and
holy places where he could practice in solitude. His quest brought him not only to the major
sacred places (gnas chen) of central Tibet, but also as far as Bhutan, Nepal, and India, which he
reached in the mid 1940s, just a few years before the British Raj left India.
Despite the fact that he spent most of his formative years traveling across central Tibet
studying with some of the most renowned teachers of twentieth-century Tibet, it was back in his
native land of Khams in the late 1940s that bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje met those who were to
become his most influential teachers, Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje and especially Nyag bla
byang chub rdo rje. Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje (also known as dPal me mkhyen brtse kun
bzang ’gro ’dul, 1897-1946) was a monastic and among the most outstanding practitioners and
teachers of the bKa’ brgyud school of Tibetan Buddhism. He was the founder of the dPla me
mdo sngags bshad grub sgling monastery in Shar mda’, Nang chen, in Qinghai. Nyag bla byang
chub rdo rje (1926-c.1978) was one of the most active Buddhist practitioners and teachers of
rDzogs chen, the Great Perfection system of meditation. Originally from Nyag rong (hence his
name Nyag rong bla ma), he was a non-celibate mantrin (sngags pa) who lived most of his life in
the religious encampment (chos sgar) Nyag bla sgar (or Nyag bla dgon) that he established in the
Go ’jo area of Chab mdo. He received teachings from both rNying ma and Bon po teachers. The
distinctive characteristics of these religious figures were to leave a profound impact on bDe chen
’od gsal rdo rje, for whom they were major sources of inspiration. They recognized the young
practitioner's potential for Treasure (gter ma) revelation and encouraging his visionary activities.
Since the early 1940s bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje has revealed more than four-hundred Treasure
texts collected in twelve volumes.
Soon after the end of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje
established a series of small mountain hermitages (ri khrod) on the well-known Great Sacred Site
Lotus Crystal Mountain (gNas chen padma shel ri) in the Small Zur mang (Ch. Xiao Sumang)
area near sKye rgu mdo and rDza mer chen, in Shar ’da’, Nang chen. He was able to accomplish
this because of the support of some monastic communities of the area, especially Zur mang and
dPal me monasteries with which he maintained strong contacts. In 1979 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje aligned himself with the main liturgical practices of dPal me monastery on account of a series
of re-discoveries (yang gter) associated with his previous teacher and mentor, Grub dbang bde
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chen rdo rje, who had been the founder of the monastery. This shows us the often interrelated
nature of Treasure revealers and monastic institutions.
From 2001 to 2007 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje lived at the rDza mer chen lhun grub gling
nunnery at the invitation of the spiritual leaders of the convent. There he provided spiritual
assistance, guidance, and ritual instructions for the monastic retreatants, mainly nuns who live in
retreat at the meditation centre (sgrub khang) of the nunnery at the foot of Mount rDza mer chen.
With a small but thriving community of monastics, lay followers, and non-celibate practitioners,
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s activities are gaining momentum and his collection of revealed
teachings fills more than ten volumes, making him one of the most prolific and active Treasure
revealers in present-day Khams. In 2008 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje accompanied by bKra shis
mtsho mo and a handful of largely female monastics moved to his newly built nunnery, ’Od gsal
chos gling a few miles west of Shar mda’ town.
Chapter Five opens with a description and analysis of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
collection of Treasure cycles and offers brief outlines and a study of his production. Aside from
the collection of revelations, among bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s manuscripts are some texts that
he composed that can provide insight into his identity as a Treasure revealer and the importance
he attached to his discoveries. In Chapter Five I elaborate on some of the features of bDe chen
’od gsal rdo rje’s Treasures and teachings, which follow the classical and conventional triad sets
of bla rdzogs thugs. By looking at his Treasure cycles and especially the Yang gsang rdo rje me
char, I argue that one of the central themes of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s revelation production
is to provide legitimacy and status to the class of non-celibate Tantric professionals called the
white-robed and matted-haired group (gos dkar lcang lo’i sde). Particularly important in this
regard is the rTsol med, a Treasure teaching attributed to Padmasambhava that represents an
initiation ritual for Tantric adepts. Interestingly, this text lists a number of regalia (rgyan) that
supposedly provide the adept with the appropriate signs of his rank. My argument is that such a
ritual scripture is not only intended to provide legitimacy to the class of non-celibate adepts, but
also provides a distinctive identity to the lineage initiated by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje.
As a Treasure revealer, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje instructs his disciples predominantly by
employing doctrinal teachings and instructional material drawn from his cycles of revelations.
Largely modeling his religious person on that of many Treasure revealers of the past, namely his
two major teachers Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje and Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje, bDe chen ’od
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gsal rdo rje represents the non-celibate Tantric practitioner. Many Tibetan Buddhists believe that
a gter ston is a source of gter ma items and teachings but also of wisdom and divine power. The
Treasure revealer is thus revered as a highly energizing and centripetal force in the maintenance
of religious beliefs and practices and in the establishment and development of religious revival
and cultural identity. In the final part of this last chapter I will, therefore, also provide some
analysis of the social role that bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje plays in his community by describing
the way he represents himself not only as a Treasure revealer but also as a prognosticator and
healer.
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Chapter One: Treasures and Their Revealers: Discovering
Buddhism in Tibet
Introduction
Many religious systems in the world believe that mystical revelations of divine words appeared
on earth through the intercession of inspired human beings. According to the Mahāyāna tradition
of Buddhism in the third century BCE Nāgārjuna propagated the Perfection of Wisdom (Skt.
Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra) after he had received the scriptures from the Nāga deities. 61 Some
Tibetan Buddhists practice a system of contemplation techniques known as the Great Perfection
(rDzogs chen) that was first transmitted by a primordial Buddha, Samantabhadra (Kun tu bzang
po) to semi-historical human beings including dGa’ rab rdo rje, who then disseminated it to his
disciples.
Tibetans believe that in the eighth century the Indian master Padmasambhava (Tib.
Padma ’byung gnas) concealed entire collections of Tantric scriptures and physical religious
artifacts in the geographical landscape of Tibet. This was apparently done with the intent or
“aspiration” that these cycles of doctrines would be retrieved in the future by reincarnations of
his close disciples for the welfare of the Buddhist doctrine and the spiritual development of the
faithful.62 Although in Tibet there are a few religious figures, both Buddhist and Bon, associated
with the concealement of artifacts and scriptural cycles, today’s Buddhist Treasure revelation
movements emphasize the dominant role of Padmasambhava as the originator of the tradition of
hiding sacred items and spiritual teachings. These religious scriptures and artifacts are known as
gter ma (Treasures) and their revelation has been carried on for the past thousand years.
In order to better understand the role and the activities of Treasure revealers in Tibet
today, it will be necessary to first examine how the tradition of concealing Treasures developed
and when the revelation began. This is justified by the fact that Treasure revealers consider
61Lamotte (1958), Thurman (1984: 22-24).
62Thondup (1986: 60-66). On the historicity or non-historicity of Padmasambhava see Guenther (1996), Bischoff
(1978), and Dargyay (1977). Snellgrove and Richardson observed that Padmasambhava can be seen as the
embodiment of the idealized model of a yogi-saint. Whether Padmasambhava was an actual historical person is
secondary to the fact that Tibetans from the twelfth century onwards saw him as a representation of the perfect sage
and master. See Snellgrove and Richardson (1968: 171).
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themselves the successors of those early figures and recipients of those doctrines. This chapter
examines some of the central features of the Treasure (gter ma) tradition as described within
Tibetan Buddhism.63 A significant amount of information on the topic can be found in various
Tibetan literary works such as religious histories (chos ’byung), biographies (rnam thar),
doxographies (grub mtha’), polemical writings (dgag lan), and of course, revealed Treasures
(gter chos) themselves. However, despite the richness of material, a comprehensive study of the
gter ma tradition has still to be attempted by Western scholarship and would require a complete
study of its own. 64 This chapter does not attempt to write such a history of the Treasure
revelation tradition. Rather, the scope of this chapter is to provide a general overview of the
phenomenon of the Treasure tradition in Tibet as addressed in a diverse selection of ancient
Tibetan literary works as well as recent ones. In doing so, particular emphasis will be put on
understanding the Treasure ideology and how this ideology was legitimized by projecting its
origins around the eighth-century figure of Padmasambhava/Padma ’byung gnas in the frame of
the so-called early translation period (snga ’gyur) of Buddhist Tantric material from India. For a
window on the contemporary twentieth- and twenty-first-century narrative of the Treasure
tradition and the role of Padmasambhava there in, we will examine above all the writings of bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje, the central subject of this dissertation. What is the Treasure tradition? Who
was Padmasambhava and is he the only concealer of Treasures? Who are the Treasure revealers?
What are the Treasures they reveal? These are the major questions we will address in this
chapter.
63 “rNying ma” is a Tibetan term referring to anything “old” and “ancient”, and in a Tibetan religious context
denotes the community of early religious groups that adhered to the snga ’gyur tradition of early translations of the
first Tibetan Buddhist communities. The term is in opposition to gsar ma “new”, but often translated “modernist” in
this study, that in Tibetan refers to the general wave of reformation trends that began to appear in Tibet since the late
tenth century proposing new translations (gsar ’gyur). See Davidson (2005: 84-85).
The rNying ma tradition has a long history of Buddhist transmission in Tibet. It is represented by a large corpus of
doctrinal and ritual material mainly orginated in the early phase of Buddhist introduction (snga dar) in Tibet
(seventh to tenth century). Predominantly esoterical in its doctrinal aspects, the rNying ma tradition boasts unique
traditions such as the Mahāyoga, Anuyoga and Atiyoga/rDzogs pa chen po. Historically, the origins of the school
stem back from the eighth century during the presence and deeds of Padmasambhava. He supposedly was an Indian
sage and Tantric master from Od_d_iyāna (or Ud_d_iyāna) and is considered to be among the first promulgators of
Buddhist teachings in the land of snows. As we shall see in detail below, the rNying ma school recognizes two main
transmissions of Tantric teachings: the long transmission of the oral teachings (ring brgyud bka' ma), and the short
transmission of the Treasures (nye brgyud gter ma).
64 See for instance, Dargyay (1997), Prats (1982), Gyatso (1998), Germano (1998), Achard (2004), and recently
Doctor (2005). In this volume I have included a bibliography of Western literature about the Treasure tradition and
its revealers. See “A General Bibliography of the Tibetan Treasure Tradition”.
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Locating gter ma in the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition
The central and literal meaning of the Tibetan word gter is “treasure.” However, in Tibetan,
forms of the noun gter have at least two connotations. First, the secular meaning of gter is
generally rendered in compounds such as gter rdzas or gter rigs “minerals,” gter mdzod
“treasury,” and gter kha, “mineral deposit” or “mine” (literary “Treasure door”).65 In religious
discourse of Tibetan Buddhism the word gter is also assigned a more specific meaning that goes
beyond conventional language. In the rNying ma tradition the noun gter is commonly used in the
basic compound gter ma “Treasure” with ma being a nominalizing suffix, to identify hidden
Tantric scriptures and sacred objects concealed in secret places to preserve them and keep them
inaccessible by ordinary means. One of the definitions of the word gter ma is “religious
teachings and precious objects retrieved from a mine” (gter nas blangs pa’i chos dang nor).66
However, the word gter is also often identified as an “abbreviated word for Treasure teaching”
(gter chos kyi bsdus ming).67 The Great Tibetan-Chinese Dictionary (Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen
mo) provides the following definition:
The Buddhist teachings taken from a deposit (gter) are profound Tantric instructions, inappropriate to
be taught when the time is inopportune for the welfare of human beings. The master Padma ‘byung
gnas entrusted the teachings to the 7ākinī,68 and temporarily sealed them (the teachings) in rocky
mountains, rivers, and trees for the welfare of the future fortunate human beings. Later, realized
beings have retrieved them from the deposits and written them down in the form of utterly profound
and unequalled cycles of teachings.69
For the Tibetan Buddhist devotees, especially those affiliated with the rNying ma order, a single
gter item, whether as a sacred artifact or as a religious scripture, is believed to contain the
quintessence of the Buddha’s teachings. When talking of Treasures to Tibetans, in most cases the
first association they make is with a material object, such as vajra, ritual bells, or kīla daggers
65 Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo (1993: 1047), Goldstein (2001: 452, 453). dGe bshes chos kyi grags pa’s brDa dag
ming tshig gsal ba (1995: 339) identifies the term gter as “items for important functions and Treasures under the
soil” (mkho bar bya ba’i rdzas dang sa’i ’og gter zer ba lta bu). It is worth noting that in many areas of Khams,
religious perosonalities employ the term gter and/or gter kha when referring to Treasure teachings. gTer chen bKra
shis rgyal mtshan’s personal communication. rDza mer chen dgon, Shar mda’ (Yushu TAP) 2001.
66 rGya ye bKra shis phun tshogs (1997: 45).
67 Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo (1993: 1047).
68 The 7ākinī (Tib. mkha’ ’gro ma or “sky-goer”) are celestial beings with feminine attributes allegedly selected by
Padmasambhava as dispensers of special teachings, messages, and announcers of Treasure revelations to Treasure
revealers.
69 Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo (1993: 1047-1048).
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excavated or retrieved from a geographical setting. However, most of the Tibetan devotees I
have met in Tibet are familiar with the word gter ma only in the context of oral tradition and
have learned to consider these objects as relics associated with the figure of Padmasambhava
either during public empowerments, teachings, or talks by local religious figures. The items
retrieved in such a religious ritual context are considered spiritually empowered with the
energetic presence (byin rlabs) and aspiration (smon lam) of Padmasambhava and his disciples.
What ordinary people seek from exposure to gter items is the blessed power believed to be
retained by these objects. Theologically, Treasure relics, just like Buddhist relics in general,
retain linkage to the past and the ability to “retell” a story in the present. As we will see in the
pages ahead, despite the existence of multiple types of Treasures, all supposedly come from the
past, the mythologized past of Tibet. As John Strong rightly observes when he explains the
meaning of Buddhist relics, relics retell a story, a biographical narrative, the life of the Buddha,
and “they reiterate both his [the Buddha’s] provenance and his impermanence.”70
Typologically, however, Treasures do not comprise exclusively physical religious
objects. On a higher level gter ma, especially the act of “revealing” them, refers also to a method
of transmitting teachings. The “Ancient” or rNying ma School emphasizes a long transmission of
the canonical Tantric teachings (ring brgyud bka’ ma), which represents the uninterrupted long
conduction of symbolic transmission (brda brgyud), mental transmission (dgongs brgyud), and
oral transmission (snyan brgyud). While the first two categories are believed to take place only
among Buddhas and their celestial emanations, the oral transmission is the one passed directly
from human masters to their disciples.71 It also recognizes a short transmission of the Treasure
teachings (nye brgyud gter ma), which is a direct way of transmitting esoteric knowledge. The
word nye, short or shortened, refers to the idea that between Padmasambhava and the revealer of
his teachings the message has not been altered by intermediaries and therefore the revealer
transmits the knowledge directly as he received it in the past from Padmasambhava. Hence, the
bka’ ma tradition represents the Buddha’s teachings in their continuous transmission from
teacher to disciple in an unbroken succession since the origin of the teachings themselves. The
gter ma teachings, also called the lineage of the re-discovered Treasures (yang gter gyi brgyud
pa), have skipped centuries, putatively passing from the eighth century directly to whichever
century the teachings were to be revealed and diffused. Allegedly sealed up and concealed in a
70 Strong (2004: 7).
71 Thondup (1987: 39).
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benighted era, the Treasure teachings were supposed to be recovered and revealed when
intellectual and social life was appropriate. Moving beyond the limitations of linear transmission
from lineage holders to their selected disciples, gter ma teachings are believed to be revealed to
the fortunate recipients directly by Padmasambhava and his closest disciples, nullifying any
obstacle posed by space and time. Being largely practice and contemplation oriented, the
Treasure literature is preserved as a collection of rituals and practical instructions for meditation
and spiritual development in the tradition of meditative realization (sgrub sde) and is meant to
appear only when the time is proper.
A third system of transmitting Buddhist knowledge and teachings according to the
rNying ma tradition is that of the so-called “profound pure visions” (zab mo dag snang). The
border line between dag snang and gter ma is so blurred that some Tibetan scholars consider
pure visions to be Treasures, while others do not. Pure visions constitute the profound
transmission of special teachings given by Buddhas, bodhisattvas, sages, and 7ākinī (mkha’ ’gro
ma) not only to Treasure revealers but also to highly experienced Tantric adepts. Tulku Thondup
warns that despite the apparent similarities they share with mind Treasures (dgongs gter) pure
visions are not to be confused with Treasures themselves.72 The point is that whereas Treasure
teachings have been concealed with the specific technique of the “mind mandate transmission”
(gtad rgya), pure visions are transmitted as special teachings by non-human beings such as
Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and deities in a non-Treasure transmission context.73
Generally speaking, the rNying ma tradition classifies Treasures into two broad classes
identified in accordance with the place where they were presumably hidden.74 These two places
can either be geographical places or subtle and ethereal settings. Therefore, according to this
classification, Treasures can be either earth Treasures or mind Treasures. Earth Treasures (sa
gter) are generally considered those physical items and objects, in most cases ritual implements
or religious statues, or small yellow scroll manuscripts (shog gser) discovered and retrieved from
specific places such as earth, rocks, or lakes. Mind Treasures (dgongs gter) instead define
Tantric teachings believed to be revealed to an accomplished adept (sgrub pa’i skyes bu) and
written down in the form of a scripture. Theologically speaking, in order for a Treasure revealer
to complete the cycles of revelations he should reveal three classes of teachings as bla rdzogs
72 Thondup (1986: 90-91).
73 Thondup (1986: 90-91).
74 For an overview of the system of classification of Tantric teachings according to the rNying ma school of Tibetan
Buddhism see Dargyay (1977), and Thondub (1987: 31-47; 1989), and Dorje and Kapstein (1991: 691).
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thugs associated with Padmasambhava, the teacher (bla [ma]), the Great Perfection (rdzogs
[chen]), and Avalokiteśvara (thugs [rje chen po]).
Historically, the Treasures were an attempt to combine a rich network of mythic
narratives with ritual practices in Tibetan Buddhist religion.75 The appropriation of an idealized
historical past was fundamental for the construction and shaping of a distinctive rNying ma
identity. rNying ma adherents chose to continue the legacy of the Buddhist scriptures written
during the early translation period with the revelation-based composition of innovative and often
influential collections of Tantric teachings.76 Within such a shaping of identity, an important role
is taken by memory and the persistence of the idealized image of the empire which once
characterized the Tibetan civilization and that established the basis for its subsequent Buddhist
conversion. Indeed, essential to the rNying ma genesis is the reconnection to the imperial age of
Tibet, the cradle of Tibetan Buddhist civilization, together with the renewed awareness of the
putative creator of the rNying ma tradition, Padmasambhava. Within the ideological framework
of Treasure revelations, the dominance of empire-related imagery and the recollection of the
deeds of the great religious kings (chos rgyal) of the past, such as Srong btsan sgam po and Khri
srong lde’u btsan, strengthen a sense of collective identity, often pervaded with nationalistic
undertones.77
Before crystallizing around the mytho-historical figure of Padmasambhava, according to
rNying ma scholars there were other past Tibetan and Indian figures of the past who were
responsible for concealing various Tantric scriptures now central to the rNying ma tradition.
Among many other achievements, Srong btsan sgam po, the seventh-century emperor of Tibet, is
considered responsible for the patronage of the first mass translation of Indic Tantric material
into Tibetan that was later to be remembered as the beginning of the early translation period
(snga ‘gyur). Additionally, he is credited with the compilation and concealment of a number of
scriptures of both religious and historiographical nature, in particular the Ma6i bka’ ’bum, a
liturgical scripture concerned with the cult of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, the majority of
which was revealed and written down in the twelfth century by the Treasure revealers dNgos
grub and Nyang ral nyi ma ’od zer.(1124-1192?).78 Furthermore, the emperor is credited with the
75 Dreyfus (1998: 30-34); Tucci (1949: 112).
76 Samuel (1993: 533-34).
77 Dreyfus (1998: 28-40) is particularly keen on associating Treasure scriptures with Tibetans’ collective memory
and national identity. However, Anne-Marie Blondeau (2001: 116-19) does not agree with such an interpretation.
78 Blondeau (1984: 77-123); Kapstein (1992: 83).
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composition and concealment of other scriptures, the bKa’ chems ka khol ma, the bKa’ rtsis chen
mo, the Dar dkar gsal ba’i me long, and the Zla ba’i ’dod ’jo.79 These scriptures are believed to
have been excavated by the eleventh-century Bengali Buddhist teacher Atiśa (Dīpaṃkara
Srījñāna, 982-1054) from one of the central pillars inside the Jo khang temple in Lhasa in 1048.80
Two major Indian Tantric masters are also alleged to have concealed Buddhist teachings.
According to the history of the transmission of the snying thig or “Seminal Heart” system of
rDzogs chen, after having received the teachings directly from his teacher dGa’ rab rdo rje in a
vision, Mañjuśrīmitra (Tib. ’Jam dpal bshes gnyen, c. seventh/eighth century) organized them
into two classes of Tantras, the snyan rgyud (oral Tantras) and bshad rgyud (explanatory
Tantras), and concealed the latter not far from Bodh Gaya in India. 81 Vimalamitra (Dri med
bshes gnyen, c. eighth century), an Indian Tantric master, received cycles of teachings belonging
to the snying thig system from Jñānasūtra (Ye shes mdo) in India. He apparently composed three
copies of these Tantric teachings and concealed them in three different places in Oḍḍiyāna
(Swat) entrusting them to the king of Nāgas, in the Suvarṇadvīpa cave in Kashmir, and in
Prabhāskara, a charnel ground in India. Vimalamitra is also credited with disseminating the
teachings of the sNying thig system in Tibet while visiting upon the invitation of emperor Khri
srong lde’u bstan. After transmitting his Tantric teachings, which came to be known in Tibet as
the Bi ma’i snying thig (Vimalamitra’s Seminal Heart), he hid them in a cave at mChims phu not
far from the bSam yas monastery in southern Tibet.82
Despite the rNying ma records claim that these personalities were responsible for the
concealment of Buddhist teachings that were later extracted or revealed as Treasures beginning
in the tenth and eleventh centuries, the narrative of the origins of the Treasure revelation tradition
did not develop around them. On the contrary, it predominantly focused on the Indian Tantric
master Padmasambhava who supposedly arrived in Tibet in the eighth century. Also by
invitation of emperor Khri srong lde’u btsan. Therefore, I argue that while the first two events
are examples of the phenomenon of Treasure Buddhist texts in Tibet, the narrative of
Padmasambava is the core of the Treasure revelation tradition that developed between the
twelfth and the fourteenth century.
79 Vostrikov (1970: 27-57); Dudjom (1991: 511).
80 Martin (1997: 24-25); van der Kuijp (1996; 47-49); Eimer (1983).
81 Thondup (1984: 50).
82 Thondup (1984: 54-59); Dudjom (1991: 501).
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Padmasambhava and the Sources of the Treasure Narrative
Although the presence of Padmasambhava in eighth-century Tibet has been documented through
the analysis of a small number of liturgical scriptures attributed to him, there is no historical
evidence dating back to that time proving that Padmasambhava actually concealed teachings as
Treasures.83 On the other hand, some histories of Padmasambhava that began to appear a few
centuries later do focus on him as the creator of the Treasure concealment tradition. These
histories are valued as the sources of the tradition as it is represented today.
The figure of Padmasambhava as the main originator of the Treasure tradition seems to
emerge in the twelfth century when the first Treasure revealers claimed to have revealed
biographical accounts of Padmasambhava. For instance, the Zangs gling ma, or bKa’ thang
zangs gling ma, was the first such biographical account of Padmasambhava that Mnga’ bdag
nyang ral nyi ma ’od zer revealed in the twelfth century.84 Here Padmasambhava’s major deeds
including the subjugation of deities, dissemination of Buddhist teachings, and the magico-ritual
concealment of Treasures in the then benighted age in anticipation of future worries are depicted
in the scenario of eighth-century imperial Tibet.85
However, to fully understand the notion of “Treasures” and appreciate their purport in
contemporary Tibetan Buddhism, I will provide a brief survey of their mythical history as it is
predominantly represented in Tibetan traditional literature. According to the dominant tradition,
Padmasambhava is portrayed as the founder of the Treasure tradition.86 According to rNying ma
traditional sources such as the Padma bka’ thang (henceforth PKT) and the bKa’ thang sde lnga,
the presence of Padmasambhava in Tibet is associated with both the subduing of anti-Buddhist
demons responsible for obstacles to the diffusion of Buddhism and the establishment of the
83 van Sheik (2007), Dalton (2004), Eastman (1983).
84 Blondeau (1980: 49); Martin (1997: 32). For a translation of the Zangs gling ma in English see Pema Kunsang
(1993).
85 Pema Kunsang (1993: 136-47).
86 There are a number of Tibetan treatises that have dealt with the history of the Treasure tradition. See for instance
Gu ru bkra shis’s Gu bkra’i chos ’byung, dPa’ bo gtsug lag ’phreng ba’s Chos ’byung mkhas pa’i dga’ ston, bDud
’joms Rin po che’s Gangs ljongs rgyal bstan yongs rdzogs kyi phyi mo snga ’gyur rdo rje theg pa’i bstan pa rin po
che ji ltar ’byung ba’i tshul dag cing gsal bar brjod pa lha dbang g.yul las rgyal ba’i rnga bo che’i sgra dbyangs for
a general overview and list of major gter ston. For specific monographic studies on gter ma see rDo grub chen ’Jigs
med bstan pai nyi ma’s gTer kyi rnam bshad (translated by Tulku Thondup in Hidden Teachings of Tibet); ’Jam
mngon kong sprul’s Zab mo’i gter dang gter ston grub thob ji ltar byon pa’i lo rgyus mdor bsdus bkod pa rin chen
baidurya’i phreng ba, which provides biographies of the major gter ston; and ’Ju mi pham’s gTer ston brtag pa chu
dwangs nor bu. Among the current Tibetan scholars in China, rGya ye bKra shis phun tshogs (1997) is worth
mentioning for his analysis of the gter ma literature.
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bSam yas monastery.87 These two events marked not only the beginning of the development of
the first communities of Buddhist practitioners, but also the mapping of a sacred geographic
landscape connected with Padmasambhava’s numerous journeys across the land. The appearance
of Treasures is linked to the teachings and instructions allegedly delivered by Padmasambhava to
his closest disciples in Tibet. The twenty-five main disciples of Padmasambhava, or “the Lord
(Padmasambhava) and his twenty-five subjects” (rje ’bangs nyer lnga) as they are commonly
referred to in Tibetan rNying ma literature, were those devotees who received teachings directly
from him and participated in the early transmission of the Treasure teachings in Tibet.88
How were these teachings transmitted and concealed? Tulku Thondup and Janet Gyatso
remind us that the way Padmasambhava transmitted his Treasure teachings included three
phases. 89 First, Padmasambhava apparently imparted teachings on various aspects of Tantric
practices. During this transmission, Padmasambhava uttered specific aspirations concerning the
future appearance of the teachings. This transmission is known as the “aspiration initiation”
(smon lam dbang bskur) and is connected with a Treasure revealer’s own commitment to reveal
the received teachings in his future rebirth. Therefore, the teachings are transmitted and
maintained in the awakened minds (rig pa) of Padmasambhava’s appointed disciples. Then,
using his psychic powers in a special transmission method called the “mind-mandate
transmission” or “transmission seal” (gtad rgya), Padmasambhava entrusted or sealed (rgya
btab) the teachings so that they would remain unchanged until revealed.
Second, during the transmission, Padmasambhava strengthened the teachings with an
appropriate “prophecy of the revelation” (bka’ bab lung bstan). In such prophetic statements, the
name of the Treasure revealer, place of birth and sometimes the name of his/her parents and
other conditions for revelation were predicted, often in detail. Within such a procedure, the text
87 sLob dpon padma’i rnam thar zangs gling also known as the bKa’ thang zangs gling ma, a text revealed by Nyag
ral nyi ma ’od zer is another account of the life of Padmasambhava. For an analysis of various biographies of
Padmasambhava see Vostrikov (1970), and Blondeau (1980: 45-52). The complete title of this work is O rgyan gu
ru’i padma ’byung gnas kyi skyes rabs rnam par thar pa rgyas par bkod pa padma bka’i thang yig and various
editions still exist in Tibet. For the existing editions of the Padma bka’ thang see for instance Toussaint (1933: 497-
498), Tucci (1949: 110-111, 114-115, 528, n. 196), Vostrikov (1970: 35-38), and Bischoff (1975; 1979). See also
Martin (1997: 56). The bKa’ thang sde lnga has also been produced in various editions and some studies of this
work have appeared in Western scholarship. For studies of this text see among others Blondeau (1971, 1980, and
1987) and Sørensen (1991). On gTer ston O rgyan gling pa see Dargyay (1997: 123-128) and Dudjom Rinpoche
(1991: 775-779).
88 For a list of the rje ’bangs nyer lnga see Thondup (1986: 231, n.14) and Dudjom (1991: 535-36).
89 rDo grub chen ’Jigs med bstan pa’i nyi ma provides a description of this method of concealement in his gTer kyi
rnam bshad. Thondup (1986: 67-68). See also Gyatso (1998: 154-61) for a detailed description of Padmasambhava’s
method of hiding Treasures.
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containing information concerning its revealer becomes itself the legitimating device of its
revealer.90
The third phase concerns Padmasambhava’s entrustment of the teachings to the
protection of deities and 7ākinī, an action that often involves encryption in symbolic script. The
“entrustment of the 7ākinī” (mkha’ ’gro gtad rgya) marks the final stage in the concealment of
the teachings and is key to the claim of the mandate for its future revelation. Interestingly, these
strategic techniques of imparting teachings and sealing them in material locales or human minds
remind us not only of the “sealing” of important imperial edits and also Buddhist teachings in
imperial Tibet, but also of the practice of concealing and revealing “ritual caskets” in medieval
China.91
The actual transmission of the corpus of Treasures teachings (gter chos) rests upon the
possibility of the Treasure revealer remembering the teachings and writing them down at the
appropriate time. Those who reveal the teachings claim to be (re)incarnations of the eighth-
century disciples of Padmasambhava’s who were in his presence when he bestowed the
teachings upon them with the aspiration (smon lam) that they would re-appear to benefit future
beings (ma ‘ongs pa’i ’gro don du). Therefore, Padmasambhava is believed to be the source of
the Treasure teachings’ transmission, and the actual bearers of his teachings, his emissaries (pho
nya) are in charge of retrieving his hidden Treasures. Whereas the method of mind-mandate
transmission lies at the heart of the tradition itself, the aspiration (smon lam) made by the master
and sealed in the minds of his disciples is the fuse igniting the memory of the Treasure revealer.
Treasure revealers are not only believed to be the reincarnations of Padmasambhava’s disciples,
but also the bearers of the original mind-mandate transmission for these particular teachings,
which had been received in their previous life in the presence of Padmasambhava. Therefore,
according to such a tradition, Treasure revealers remember the teachings received in the past and
the places where these teachings were hidden (in the case of earth Treasures). Revealing the
teachings from the pure state of their enlightened mind (byang chub sems), they thus understand
the teachings’ profound meaning and provide a literary form for their diffusion.
Although the act of concealing texts as elaborated by the rNying ma Treasure tradition
happened largely according to organized strategies of transmission, the actual concealment of
sacred artifacts and texts is a tactic employed by other religious believers as well. It is worth
90 Gyatso (1998: 160).
91 van Schaik (2007); Davidson (2005: 215). For the Chinese “ritual caskets” see Tsai (2006).
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mentioning here that within the Bon tradition, for instance, some apologists claim that during the
gradual assimilation of Buddhism in Tibet, Bon adherents were forced to hide a large amount of
texts and other sacred items to protect them from sure destruction.92 The Treasure tradition is
therefore rooted in both rNying ma and Bon practices. Although Treasures are usually
immediately associated with the rNying ma activities of revelation, the Bon pos also have a
significant amount of teachings and practices revealed by Bon Treasure revealers.93
The Narrative in Today’s Revelations
Narratives about Padmasambhava and the way he concealed his teachings in Tibet continue to be
produced today. Pivotal episodes related to the transmission of Buddhist teachings are revealed
in current Treasure literature. An instance of this can be found in bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
scriptural revelation, the Rig pa gnad sprod byang chub sems gdams (henceforth RPNP)94 a text
focused on the Great Perfection (rdzogs chen) teachings. It is interesting to note that the
inclusion of episodes putatively attibuted to Padmasambhava emphasizes the notion of
Padmasambhava as the source of the Treasure tradition, and helps to keep the rNying ma
teachings fresh and powerful across the ages.
The RPNP narrates a number of the most popularly known episodes from Padmasambhava’s
life. These mainly focus on his arrival in Tibet as depicted in his early years after his miraculous
birth in Oḍḍiyāna (or Uḍḍyāna), his practices and the receptions of Buddhist teachings, and his
life in India. Major attention is obviously devoted to Padmasambhava’s arrival in Tibet on the
invitation of the emperor Khri srong lde’u btsan, Padmasambhava’s deeds in taming and
92 sLob dpon bsTan ’dzin rnam dag (1983: 145-146).
93 For a study of Bon Treasure revealers and their Treasures teachings see Martin (1996, 2001) and Achard (2004).
94 This text, Instructions on the Enlightened Mind: An Explanation of the Essential Points of Awareness from Hūm
chen kā ra’s Mind Drops (Hūm chen kā ra’i thugs tig las rig pa gnad sprod byang chub sems gdams) is a double, or
re-rediscovered, Treasure (yang gter). In the colophon at the end of the manuscript (f. 11b), bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje declares that this text was first received and revealed by another gter ston, Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje (bDe
chen ‘gro ’dul nus ldan rtsal in the text), bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s root teacher (rtsa ba'i bla ma), also known as
Kun bzang ’grol ’dul. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje himself has revealed again the text following a series of symbols
(brda), pure visions (dag snang), and potential propensities (bag chags) left by his contact with his former teacher.
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje compares these revealed teachings to the “wrathful indestructible laugh [caused by] the
vision of the deity (rTa mgrin), which tames all the unrealized illusions.” This teaching is associated with the
practice of rDo rje’i me char (a manifestation of rTa mgrin, Skt. Hayagrīva). The RPNP is further interspersed with
a series of prophetical statements attributed to Padmasambhava in the peculiar style of gter ma scriptures. These
prophetic lines from the eighth century provide legitimacy to the re-discover the text, in this case bDe chen ’od gsal
rdo rje in the twenty-first century.
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subjugating the opposing evil demons and Bon deities, activities related to the construction and
consecration of the bSam yas monastery, and those apotropaic activities generally associated
with Padmasambhava’s conversion of the land to Buddhism such as consecration rituals and
subjugation of demons. Generally, the RPNP conforms to older narratives of the early
dissemination of the teachings (bstan pa snga dar) such as the PKT and meditation texts such as
the popular Rig pa ngo sprod gcer mthong rang grol by the fourteenth-century visionary Karma
gling pa. In its report of Padmasambhava’s deeds connected with one of his major contributions
to the early diffusion of Buddhism in Tibet, that of the establishment and construction of the
bSam yas monastery, the RPNP emphasizes the role that mKhar chen Lady Ye shes mtsho rgyal
is believed to have had in the process of hiding the teachings.95
95 rGyal rabs lnga pa ’jam dbyangs rnam sprul mnga’ bdag khri srong sde’u btsan dgung lo bcum [= bcu gsum]
par rgyal srid bzung/ nyi shu par dam pa’i chos dar bar mdzad pa’i thugs bsam bskyed bas za hor gyi mkhan po
shanta rakshi ta spyan drangs/ dge ba bcu dang khams bcu brgyad dang mthun pa chos chos gsungs/ bod kyi lha
srin khros sdig blon rnams kyi [= kyis] ’di chos byas pas lan/ bod kyi mi ma yin rnams ma dga’ ba yin zer/ bon sras
rgyal po’i rigs la dam pa’i chos ’byung zhes pa’i lung brdzun ma bu yis bris nas rje’i phyag tu bab pa ma lags zhes
gsol bas bho dhi satwa kho bo re zhig bas yul du ’gro/ bod kyi ‘dre srin gdug pa can rnams ’dul ba la da lta sa’i
steng tsam na mthu che ba sngags kyi mkhan po padma sam bha wa zhes bya ba yod/ de ngas spyan ’dren du ’ong
btsan po rang yang re zhig ‘tshal [f. 6a] gsungs pas/ pho nya myur pos mngag pa slob dpon gyi mkhyen te mang yul
gung thang du yud tsam phebs nas mjal/ phyag rten gser rnams phul bas nga’i snang ba gser du yod gsungs nas
phyogs su gtor te bod du gser ’byung ba’i rten ’brel mdzad pa dang lha ‘dre rnams brngan par mdzad/ bod yul gyi
lha srin sde brgyad thamd [= thams cad] btul/ brag dmar ‘om bu’i[= bus][ gtibs pa’i] tshal du mnga’ bdag dang
mjal ’dzoms mdzad/ brag dmar mgrin bzang gi lha khang la rab gnas zhal gsol mdzad par lha sku rnams spyan
drangs mchod pa’i yo byad thamd [= thams cad] rang sgra grags shing ’phel bar ’gyur/ sngar mkhan po byang
chub sems dpa’i chos bshad pa la ’khu ba bon gyi lha klu mi srin thamd [= thams cad] kyi ming dang spyod tshul
gnas la sogs par smras pa de rnams brdeg cing gzir bas dam ’og du bcug cing [f. 6b] chos la bkod/ des kyang ma
thul ba rnams tshar bcad/ mal gro la sogs pa’i klu rnams ’dul zhing rgyal po dang grogs po byas lha khang bzhengs
pa’i gser gye dre’u khal bcu’i phul/ mkhan pos kyang sa bcad [= dpyad] mdzad/ slob dpon chen po has po rir byon
nas lha srin thamd [= thams cad] bka’ ’og bsdus/ dpal gyi mgul las rta mgrin dregs pa zil gnon gyi tha tshig dang
namkha’ [= nam mkha’] la rdoe [= rdo rje]’i gar ’gros kyi sa gzhi byin gyis brlabs/ thig skud ’then par lcog ro bu
chung lha bu sman gnyis ting nge ’dzin gyis bkug ste thig sna ba bya/ mkhan pos gsungs bzhin o danta pu ri’i gtsug
lag khang la dpe byas te rmang gcig zhing lha ’dre mi yi rtsig pa mtho bar ri rab gling gzhi gling phran nyi zla
lcags ri dang bcas pa mi ‘gyur lhun gyis grub pa’i gtsug lag khang gling gsum [f. 7a] bcas rgya khyon ’di tsam lo
lnga la grub/ slob dpon nyid kyis rab tu gnas pa mdzad pa’i tshe dbu rtse’i lha rnams dang phyi rol byon pa sogs
cho ’phrul dang ngo mtshar bsam gyi mi khyab pa byung/ de yi tshe dpal bsam yas lhun gyis grub pa’i gtsug lag
khang gi byang ngos bsam yas g.ya’ ma ri’i rta mgrin phug nas yang gsang khro bo lha dgu dang khyad par dregs
gshed rdoe [= rdo rje]’i me char gyi lha mi ’gro ba kun gyi mthong ba’i ngo mtshar dang bcas te rta mgrin gling gi
lha khang du byon/ rgyal po chen po khri srong sde’u btsan gyi lha skal du babs/ khyad par du dhāki ye shes mtsho
rgyal la ma ’ong [= ’ongs] pa’i lung dang dkar chags ’byung tshul sogs kyi zhal gdams zhus pa bzhin gnang ste lo
rgyus gyi [= kyi] phreng mdzes mang po yod kyang dus khams dang brtun [= bstun] nas ‘dir gab /sa ma ya. RPNP,
f. 5b-7a.
During the fifth dynasty, the sovereign Khri srong lde’u btsan, emanation of [the Bodhisattva] Mañjuśri, took
[the rule of] the empire (rgyal srid) when he was thirteen years old. Until he was twenty years old he generated
a profound faith in the dissemination of the holy teachings [in Tibet], and therefore he invited the abbot
Śantarakśita from Zahor, who taught the Dharma in accordance with the ten virtues and the eighteen realms. In
response to this religious practitioner the gods, spirits, wrathful deities, wicked ministers of Tibet responded by
declaring that the non-human beings (mi ma yin rnams) of Tibet were not pleased.
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The RPNP ccontains some of the central narrative features that traditionally constitute the
architecture of the Treasure tradition as it was disseminated through the PKT. These features are
the construction of the bSam yas temple and the seminal role of emperor Khri srong lde’u btsan,
Padmasambhava and Ye shes mtsho rgyal who are instrumental in the concealment (gab) of the
teachings. The scenario is framed within the “dispositions of the time and place” (dus khams
dang bstun) according to which the immediate future was seen as pernicious to the correct and
safe diffusion of the teachings. Ye shes mtsho rgyal, therefore, is given a prominent role in the
transmission of the Treasures.96
Ye shes mtsho rgyal was a Tibetan woman, apparently of noble lineage, whose
relationship with Padmasambhava was to play a pivotal role in his life in the Treasure tradition
Bon sras proclaimed that a person had written false scriptures about the history of the holy Dharma for the royal
family and they had not fallen in the hands of the lord. [Disturbed by these claims, the abbot] Bodhisattva [alias
Śantarakśita] announced [to the emperor Khri srong lde’u btsan]: “I am off to Nepal for a while. To convert the
malicious demons of Tibet, there is nowadays a master of powerful spells on the earth. His name is
Padmasambhava and I request you invite him to come temporarily.”
Envoys were immediately dispatched, but knowing about this plan, the master [Padmasambhava] arrived
promptly at Mang yul Gung thang and met [the enoys there]. As soon as these offered him presents in gold, he
proclaimed: “My appearance is gold!” And throwing [the gold] everywhere he generated auspicious
circumstances for the origin of gold in Tibet and gave it to the gods and demons.
He tamed the eight classes of the deities and demons, and met the sovereign [Khri srong lde’u btsan] at Red
Rock Dense Tamarisk Forest. At the temple in Brag dmar mgrin bzang [residence of the emperor] he performed
a consecration ritual and thus invoking the deities all the offering substances resonated greatly.
[Padmasambhava] called out the names, the behavior, and the residences of all the Bon deities, nāga, humans,
and demons that insulted the teachings previously taught by the abbot Bodhisattva, beat them up, tormented
them, and put them under oath, establishing them in the Dharma. Even those [deities that remained] untamed
were subjugated. Having tamed the nāgas, such as Mal gro [the king of nāgas], [Padmsambhava] befriended
the emperor and offered ten mule loads of gold for the erection of the temple and the abbot [Bodhisattva]
performed geomantic [rituals] too.
Once arrived on Mount Has po, the great master gathered all the deities and demons under [his] command. On
the slope [in front of the] glorious [temple] he blessed the oath [taken] by rTa mgrin dregs pa sil gnon and
performed a Vajra dance in the sky. Then pulling out a thread, lCog ro bu chung summoned two young deities
and by [power of] contemplation, he made them work as construction workers.
According to the instructions of the abbot, the foundations of the [temple] were laid down using the Ōtantapuri
temple as a model. An imperishable and spontaneous temple was completed in five years that was the size of three
locations [representing] the building of gods, demons, and human beings. The upper part represented Mt. Meru
[surrounded by] the four continents and the [eight] small continents, with the sun and the moon on the top and iron
mountains all around.
When the master [Padmasambhava] was performing the consecration ritual, the gods of the central temple went
outside and extraordinary and inconceivable miracles manifested. At that moment [coming] from the rTa mgrin cave
on Mount g.Ya’ ma in bSam yas on the northern side of the spontaneously self perfected temple of the glorious
bSam yas, the utmost secret nine wrathful deities [related to rTa mgrin] made themselves visible to the human
beings, in particular the haughty deity [rTa mgrin] rDo rje me char and reached the temple rTa mgrin gling thus
becoming destined deities to the great emperor Khri srong lde’u btsan.
In particular [Padmasambhava] gave the 7ākinī Ye shes mtsho rgyal oral instructions concerning future scriptures
(lung) and catalogues (dkar chags), and so forth. And even though there are many exquisite garlands of this history,
the ones concealed here in are in accordance with time and space/ Sa ma ya /
96 Dowman (1996 :138-140).
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and in the history of the early translation period as claimed by the rNying ma school.97 Jacoby
has recently observed that the paradigmatic figure of Ye shes mtsho rgyal as represented in her
biographies is often a model for auto/biographical voices of female Tantric practitioners, in this
case of the Treasure revealer Sera mkha’ ’gro (1892-1940).98 She also points out that Ye shes
mtsho rgyal is a role model not only in the biographical writings of pre-modern Tibetan female
religious figures, but also in the inspired lifestyles of female Treasure revealers in present-day
Tibet, such as the late Tāre lha mo (1938-2002) and her consort Nam sprul ’jigs med phun
tshogs.99 In addition to Ye shes mtsho rgyal, some other well-known religious figures took major
roles in concealing Treasures such as the eighth-century emperor Khri srong lde’u btsan and his
son Mu khri btsan po as well as early prominent scholars and practitioners such as gNubs Nam
mkha’i snying po, Vairocana (Bai ro tsa na), sNa nam rDo rje bdud ’joms, and gNubs sangs
rgyas ye shes.
Although the details of Padmasambhava’s life are shrouded in mystery, the mytho-
historical events of his life are continually maintained and re-introduced through the work of
revelation. Thus, the Treasure revelation tradition fulfils two ambitious aims: it regenerates faith
and devotion in Treasure revealers and the entire rNying ma tradition, and it fosters devotion to
the soteriological power of the teachings described in the Treasure scriptures, thus rejuvinating
the tradition.
In addition to the episodes appearing in revealed texts such as the RPNP, bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje has composed a history of the early translation period (snga ’gyur) focusing on the
97 The rNying ma tradition holds that Guru Padmasambhava had five principal consorts. The Tibetan Ye shes mtsho
rgyal, princess Mandāravā from Za hor, the Nepalese princess Śākyadevī, KalaSiddhi from Nepal, and bKra shis
spyi ’dren from Mon. See Thondup (1984: 145-149). However the three most generally recognized consorts of
Padmasambhava are princess Mandāravā, princess Śākyadevī, and princess mKhar chen bza’ Ye shes mtsho rgyal.
Mention of these consorts can be found in the short biography of Padmasambhava by ’Jam mgon kong sprul blo
gros mtha’ yas contained in his TTGT (f. 6b-14b), and respectively at f. 9a, 10b, and 13a.
The figure of Ye shes mtsho rgyal is found in particular in the rNying ma and bKa’ brgyud Tantric practices where
she is closely associated with the deity Vajrayoginī/Vajravārāhī. See English (2002: xxv-xxvi). Ye shes mtsho rgyal
has also provided an idealized feminine model in Tantric Buddhism. The feminine role in Tantric practices of
(intimate) union is crucial to advanced yoga practices in many schools of Tibetan Buddhism such as inner heat yoga
(gtum mo) and inner fire offerings (sbyin sregs). Considered to be the union of female/wisdom and
male/compassion, the Buddhist Tantric imagery promotes idealized forms of the sexual union between male and
female religious partners that symbolizes completion via an intimate Tantric relationship where one partner
complements the other in the quest for enlightenment. For a study of consort practices in Buddhism see, for instance,
Jacoby (2007), Dalton (2004), and Shaw (1994: 140-78).
98 There are many biographies of Ye shes mtsho rgyal circulating in Tibet today. A very popular one is the Bod kyi
rgyal mo ye shes mtsho rgyal gyi mdzad tshul rnam par thar pa gab pa mngon byung rgyud mangs dri za’i glu
’phreng discovered by the Treasure revealer sTag sham nus ldan rdo rje (1655-?). This has been translated in various
editions. See Tarthang Tulku (1983), Dowman (1984), and Padmakara (2002).
99 Jacoby (2007: 357-61).
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activities of Padmasambhava and the concealment of his teachings. This text is the A Crystal
Mirror of Profound Meaning and Perfect Essence (Don zab gnad smin shel dkar me long
(henceforth DGSM).100 In the short colophon to the text (f. 14a) the author bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje, under his Sanskrit name Prabhāsvara vajra, writes that many of the sources employed for his
work have been:
drawn on writings (gsung dpe) of the ancestral saints of the rNying ma tradition of the Secret Mantra of
the Close Transmission, and from the lives (rnam thar) of most of the superior human beings (skyes
mchog gang zag) of Tibet, Treasure revealers, saints, and Awareness-Holders who have realized the
yoga of the Vajrayāna of the Secret Mantra and who continue the tradition of the teachings of the
Earlier Translations of many great saints of India of the time, and from the origins and history of the
Profound Treasures of the great saint Padmasambhava.”101
The latter most probably refers to Dudjom Rinpoche’s (bDud ’joms ’jigs bral ye shes rdo rje)
section on the “history of the profound Treasures of the very secret close transmission” (shin tu
zab pa nye brgyud gter ma’i lo rgyus), which is in his monumental work The Nyingma School of
Tibetan Buddhism.102 In his DGSM, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje has included a significant amount
of quotes from this work, which is one of the most well-known recently written versions of the
history of the Treasure tradition in Tibet, attesting, therefore, for the respect it attracts.103 Other
rNying ma histories likely used for the production of the DGSM are the Gu bkra’i chos ’byung
and the gTer bton brgya tsa, both widely employed by various Tibetan doxographers in the
compilations of their works. The fact that a contemporary Treasure revealer and Buddhist teacher
such as bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje refers so heavily to, and draws consistently on, existing written
sources in the compilation of his own work is emblematic of the high consideration that the
works mentioned above still receive today as sources of information, knowedge, and legitimacy.
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje claims that the DGSM:
100 The title on the margin of the DGSM reads snga ’gyur, and this is also the name by which this text is better
known among the members of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s community. According to the colophon, it has been
composed in 1990 while the gter ston was residing at one of his hermitages in northeastern Kham. Though bDe chen
’od gsal rdo rje himself considers this text as a composition, his followers like to consider it a revealed mind
Treasure.
101 DGSM, f. 14a
102 For an English translation see Dudjom (1991).
103 The Tibetan edition I used for my analysis is the History of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism Gangs
ljongs ryal bstan yongs rdzogs kyi phyi mo snga ’gyur rdo rje theg pa’i bstan pa rin po che ji ltar byung ba’i tshul
dag cing gsal bar brjod pa lha dbang g.yul las rgyal ba’i rnga bo che’i sgra dbyangs (1993), also known as bDud
’joms chos ’byung.
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is a burning lamp clearing up the darkness, presented for the benefit of the fortunate human beings, and
a method to remove the obscuration [caused by] the disputes of future generations.104
These lines announce the scope of the work and immediately set us in the specific sphere of the
Tibetan Treasure tradition. Although the DGSM is not a Treasure, the purpose of its production
seems to be an overt attempt to reaffirm the validity of the Treasure revelation as a system of
authentic transmission of Buddhist teachings.
In terms of content, the work is first of all a glorification of the figure of Padmasambhava
and of his direct incarnate disciples, the Treasure revealers (gter ston). In the DGSM these are
often referred to as the fortunate individuals (skal ldan skyes bu), who had the good fortune to be
close to him and receive and practice the Buddhist teachings.105 Because of this circumstance
these incarnate people are authorized to reveal teachings they claim to have received from their
teacher in the past and to teach these revealed doctrines in the present. The pivotal role of
Padmasambhava is therefore fundamental to the understanding of the tradition of the Treasure
transmission and the mechanisms that raise issues of identity and self-representation in Tibet.
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje has felt the need to write this work at a crucial point of his
career. As we will see in more detail in the following chapters, in the past twenty years Treasure
revelation has been visible and successful particularly in eastern Tibet where many Treasure
revealers like bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje are currently active and a few also lead religious
communities, thus being among the most active leaders of the current religious revitalization. As
we will see in the following chapter, the early 1980s saw a consistent shift in the PRC’s attitude
towards religious and ethnic issues. After a more liberal policy began to be applied in China,
including the TAR and other regions of Tibetan culture, religious practices were no longer
continually repressed, allowing local people to re-embrace more or less openly their own social
customs and manifest expressions of religious belief. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje wrote his history
of Padmasambhava and his Treasures to accentuate his connection with the imperial golden age
of Buddhism in Tibet and to re-enact this legacy in post-Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) Tibet.
By this enterprise he has re-established a devotion-based relationship with his devotees who had
been morally and spiritually tormented during the chaotic years of the past included those of the
Cultural Revolution.
104 DGSM, f. 1a.
105 DGSM, f. 1a, 3a, 4b.
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A number of accounts, chronicles, and histories on both Padmasambhava and Treasure
revealers have appeared in Tibet over the centuries. 106 Why did bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje
compose a new one? I think that a plausible answer to such a question is that in the typical
fashion of many revealers of the past this “new” history is a conscious effort to foster devotees’
faith in him as Treasure revealer and therefore as a realized practitioner worth worshiping and
following.107 These goals are achieved to the degree that past connections, karmic relationships,
and incarnation of one of Padmasambhava’s direct disciples together with the revealing of
Treasures have already been firmly established as normative components of legitimate Treasure
revelation. In other words, when the reader learns about these “fortunate beings,” about their
important value and role in the revival and renewal of Padmasambhava’s teachings, and knowing
about bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s personal achievements in the retrieving of material and mental
Treasures, s/he will glorify the character of the history as the direct recipient of that tradition.
Pragmatically speaking, being a tribute to the Treasure revealers, the DGSM is therefore a
glorification of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje himself.
Treasure Politics: Need for Concealment or Need for Revelation?
It is written in the bDud-rtsi’i ‘byung-ba rtsa-ba’i rgyud:
‘When my Doctrine has waned,
the Dharma will be like the milk of the marketplace:
mixed with the bad, it is not good when drunk.’
Thus, in each valley a discoverer of treasure will be seen,
in each province a magician eager for glory,
an assassin of the Dharma, hands reddened with blood,
a squanderer of Scriptures of clear revelation, as if they were false
treasures.108
Some traditional Tibetan doxographies and hagiographies such at the one above stress the
necessity for “hiding” (sbas) the teachings and religious artifacts. O rgyan gling pa in the PKT
reports that there will be more individuals voicing Treasure revelation at a time when the
Buddhist teachings will be diluted and threatened of corruption. The maintainance of pure and
106 Please see the Selected Bibliography at the end of the volume.
107 As Janet Gyatso suggests (1986:13) the historical section of Treasures is a means to present evidence and proof
that the Treasures are authentic Buddhist scriptures. Their main purpose is thus to engender confidence (nges shes
bskyes pa) in the readers and devotees. These texts provide a selection of events and stories from the Treasures’
lives but also a series of signs (rtags), and exemplary forms (dpe byad) in order for followers to become confident in
the treasures themselves.
108 PKT, pp. 586-87. This translation is from Yeshes Tsogyal (1978: 642).
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uncorrupted teachings is clearly a pivotal element in the narrative of Padmasambhava’s Buddhist
teaching-concealing activities in Tibet. Tulku Thondup gives four reasons why Treasures
appeared to protect the teachings, to maintain the purity of the instructions, to preserve their
blessing power, and to keep the lineage closely linked with Padmasambhava.109 It is especially
the latter reason that is often cited in colophons of Treasures scriptures as to why they have been
hidden. This is true also for contemporary Treasures revealers. In the colophon of bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje’s Don zab gnad smin shel dkar me long (The Crystal Mirror of Profound and
Effective Meaning), an account of the Treasure tradition, we read:
The religious scriptures of my teachings you shall hide
From [my] mind to Treasures!
Or else, put them in the heart of the earth.
This way, those who are not Buddhist will surely be confused,
And the meaning will be confounded.
Therefore, the flow [of the teachings] will not be interrupted.110
In these words we read one major reason behind the revelation of scriptures: the preoccupation to
maintain the original Tantric Buddhist teachings originating from the early translation period
pure and uninterrupted.
Davidson has recently provided valuable insights into the nebulous decades between the
collapse of the royal era and the beginning of the “Tibetan renaissance.”111 In the tenth century,
the period that generally marks the beginning of the second major diffusion of Buddhism in
Tibet (phyi dar), religious communities were reconstituted through the efforts of a few monks
who fled to the Western regions of Tibet first and then later moved to Eastern Tibet. These
communities and individuals, mostly loyal to the empire and interested in regaining religious
authority and control, had to gradually reorganize both their religious world as well as their
relationship with the laity and the local aristocratic clans (sger pa). The idea was to establish a
common ground from which to regenerate Buddhist vitality and restore monastic activities.
Buddhist teachings were probably given to quite limited groups of practitioners scattered over
109 Thondup (1986: 62).
110 nga yi bstan pa’i chos kyi gzhung /
thugs nas thugs kyi gter du sbos /
yang na sa yi snying por bya /
ci phyir mu stegs can mgo rgod /
des don dkrug par ‘gyur ta re /
de phyir chu klung rgyun mi gcod / DGSM (f. 2b).
111 Davidson (2005).
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the territory, especially in small kingdoms in the eastern and western parts of the land.112 This
state of affairs lasted until the beginning of the eleventh century when the social and cultural
atmosphere began a slow but intense revival.
Following the disintegration of the royal dynastic empire in the mid-ninth century, Tibet
experienced dramatic socio-political instability and decentralization. Political ferment brought
inner conflicts between clans and rebellions and struggles for power were found throughout
Tibet.113 This atmosphere in Tibet at the turn of the millennium was detrimental to the well-being
of Buddhism, which had previously relied on state support. 114 Despite the significant
impoverishment in religious infrastructure, a number of Buddhist practices, rituals, and
meditation were nevertheless kept alive eventually allowing some degree of revival and
maintenance. Some religious practice and monastic lineages survived especially thanks to the
works of translators and aristocratic patrons who vowed to reproduce in Tibetan the manumental
Indian Buddhist literature. Religious personalities of the time such as bLa chen dgongs pa rab
gsal, kLu med tshul ’khrims shes rab, and the well-known Rin chen bzang po revitalized
Buddhism in the tenth century.115
At the dawn of the tenth- to eleventh-century Tibetan Buddhist renaissance the translation
and dissemination of Indic literary material became the legitimate standard for the new Buddhist
movement, whereas those who followed earlier translations (snga ’gyur) of Buddhist teachings
faced considerable challenges to the legitimacy of their liturgies and practices. Davidson has
observed that a renaissance of Buddhism took place in the first two centuries of the new
millennium that updated the socio-religious order in a way that incorporated new styles of
112 The kingdoms in western Tibet that arose in the aftermath of the decline of the dynastic empire in central Tibet
grew especially in the territories around Mount Kailāsh and in those bordering India and Nepal. Small political
entities such as mNga’ ris, Gu ge, and sPu rangs emerged under the rule of local chieftains. It was under the
patronage of these aristocratic elites and their scholarly support that religious renaissance slowly developed.
113 Davidson (2005) has recently discussed this period in detail.
114 Karmay (1988: 9-10).
115 According to the Thu’u bkwan grub mtha’ (1984: 51-52), in the period after the decline of Buddhism due to
gLang dar ma (gLang dar mas bstan pa bsnubs pa’i dus), monastic lineages and the diffusion of Buddhism,
especially the Vinaya vows (sdom pa) were preserved by three scholars (mkhas pa mi gsum) who lived at the
meditation centre (sgrom grwa) of Chu bo ri in dBu. Two of these were bLa chen po dGongs pa rab gsal (892-975)
and kLu mes tshul khrims shes rab. These monks gave the vows to ten people who then re-established religious
centers in central areas of dBu btsang and they themselves spread the Vinaya vows (sdom pa spel), reviving the
Buddhist doctrine (gsang rgyas kyi bstan pa gsos pa). The third person in question is Rin chen bzang po, the
translator from sTod nga’ ri in western Tibet, who after having set out for India in search for Indian scholars,
translated many Buddhist texts into Tibetan. See mKhas btsun bzang po (1973: vol.3, 128-33). See also Tucci (1998:
259), and Samuel (1993: 457-58) for discussions on dGongs pa rab gsal.
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leadership, order, and religious status largely structured on aristocratic families and clans.116 The
rNying ma adherents strongly believed they represented the true spirit of early Buddhism in
Tibet, and the closest connection to the glorious imperial age of Tibet (up to the ninth century)
and the repositories of those Tantric traditions developed at that time.117 However, the newly
formed schools critiqued the ancient forms of Buddhist practices on the grounds that their
scriptures were original compositions instead of Indic translations of Tantric material and
because they often included dubious practices such as union (sbyor ba) and liberation (sgrol
ba).118
It is in such a socio-political and religious scenario, characterized by the emergence of
newly organized forms of religious groups, Buddhist education and monasticism, that the Tantric
communities adhering to the snga ’gyur, or “early translation” practices and scriptures began to
revitalize their own sense of identity and develop forms of textual legitimacy and authenticity. I
argue that in the contemporary context, the same strategy of legitimacy has been applied by the
“new” revelations. I interpret this style of revelations as attempts to reappropriate power and
authority that had been denied to the Tibetan believers during the decades of assimilation and
destruction from the 1950s to the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976. It is my sense that just
like in the past when the Treasure revelation tradition was born, it is the competing and
compelling forces at work during a particularly critical time that inspire some rNying ma figures
to draw inspiration from visions and revelations to re-authenticate, preserve, and disseminate
their practices in order to ensure their ongoing power and attractiveness to the faithful.
Eschatology and Liberation: Treasure Revelation in the Shaping of rNying ma
Identity
The dramatic shift of interests in the eleventh century Tibetan renaissance from a heterodox
ancient practice advanced by adherents to the early translations (snga ’gyur) to a more orthodox
116 Davidson (2006) discusses his theories in various parts of his book. See for instance Chapter VII (244-75).
Davidson’s (2006: 267-74) comments are interesting in that he observes that influences in the eleventh century
where not unilateral. While on the one hand early monastic institutions and religious communities tried to use
aristocratic clan structure as a model for their patterns of inheritance and transmission of authority, on the other hand
aristocratic families began to employ religious discourses in the attempt to develop their own clan mythology thus
combining both Tibetan knowledge and Buddhist tradition.
117 Germano (1994).
118 Germano (1994: 230-232).
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Indic-based liturgy endorsed by the later, or new, translation (phyi ’gyur, gsar ’gyur) schools
triggered an immediate response by some contemporary exponents of the rNying ma school.
Since the beginning of rNying ma movements between the ninth and eleventh centuries, two
phenomena had begun to emerge: religious charisma and canonical authority.
The concept of “charisma” has been studied, analyzed, and discussed by many eminent
scholars in the twentieth century such as Max Weber and Bryan R. Wilson among others.119 In
their view, charisma, seen in a sociological context, is often supernatural in quality and is
appreciated by a portion of a society. 120 For Weber, charisma was a gift of grace, and he
identified it with a supernatural and superhuman quality which includes exceptional powers
which set the individual apart from ordinary people of a given society.121 He also suggested that
charisma is not a personality attribute, nor a psychological characteristic. Rather, it is a social
recognition of a claim to supernatural power.122 In his analysis of charisma as existing in pre-
modern societies, Wilson goes even further in identifying “the charismatic claimant is, of
necessity, a claimant to essentially supernatural power, for within these cultures everything is
conceived in at least magico-religious terms: thus, even leaders who do not themselves assume a
religious role claim supernatural power, whether magical or mystical.”123 Therefore for Wilson,
charisma, the attraction of faith in man, has much to do with myth and occurs only where a
supernatural source has been imputed.124
The pressure of external political events such as the menace of foreign (Mongol) rule,
social instability, the necessity of a unified land under a common leadership, the growth of
anxieties about the future of Buddhism, and the threat of lineage extinction posed by the
emergence of new lineages during the phyi ’gyur motivated snga ’gyur communities to look for
alternative devices to provide authenticity to their doctrines.125 Davidson has observed that in the
119 Weber (1947, 1964, 1968); Wilson (1975).
120 Wilson (1975: 7-9).
121 Weber (1947: 329).
122 Weber (1964: 2).
123 Wilson (1975: vii).
124 Wilson (1975: ix-x).
125 In his analysis of the two gter ma scriptures, Padma bka’ thang and bKa’ thang sde lnga, Tucci (1949: 112)
explained that under the Mongol invasions and rule in the thirteenth century the emergence of gter ma revelation can
be seen as “a sign of the yearning for a restoration of ancient times, a proof of national revival.” This point was later
developed by Dreyfus (1998), but heavily criticized by Blondeau (2001). As for the issue on charisma I follow
primarily the theories of charisma as advanced by Wilson in his study (1975). Wilson remarks that one of the
primary conditions for the emergence of charisma and charismatic leadership is a state of social malaise. Wilson
(1975: 94-100). See also Davidson’s argument for the explanation of the use of gter ma revelation as a form of
authentication of Tantric scriptures (2005: 228).
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twelfth century Tibetans were still struggling with their literary material, and a significant
amount of indigenous compositions produced during the previous two centuries failed to be
considered authentic and equivalent to those of Indian origin.126
Probably from the eleventh century, Treasure revealers began to be recognized for their
charismatic qualities. They were known to have magical powers and clairvoyance, but also
authority, presence, and knowledge. These are based on the Treasure revealer’s ability to
produce textual, ritual, and visual/iconographic material in a form that could consolidate the
identity of his religious group. Treasure revealers’ charisma was a stabilizing factor for the
group’s identity and one that served as their theological, ritual, and moral modus operandi.
One of the most intriguing issues concerning the Tibetan Treasure tradition is the leading
role that laymen and often householders occupy in the phenomenon. The close relationship
between sexuality and contemplative Tantric yogic exercises and their importance for
discovering and revealing gter teachings appear to privilege non-celibate Tantric virtuosi rather
than monks bound by monastic vows.127 Indeed most Treasure revealers are non-celibate Tantric
practitioners (sngags pa) whose pedigree is predominantly nonmonastic and who use a mode of
contemplation based less on scholastic and philosophical expertise.
As von Stietencron observes in a recent work, charisma and canon are closely
interconnected factors in creating and perpetuating religious communities. He posits that a
religious community’s collective identity is linked to its charismatic leader who is often the
origin of the community’s existence. Change and legitimacy are often prerequisites for a
community’s survival. It is through change that a community updates its religion and it is
through “fresh charisma” that it generates renewed enthusiasm. 128 If we set the rNying ma
tradition within von Stietencron’s paradigm, the Treasure revealers fit very well into the pattern
of charismatic persons in their quest for canonicity and legitimization. From the outset of the
ancient (rnying ma) tradition’s assertions of its identity against the backdrop of the modernist
(gsar ma) trends of the new schools in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, charisma and
charismatic authority were indeed successful means to rejuvenate religious practices and refresh
rituals. Our understanding of the social structure of religious groupings that proliferated during
the early stages of Buddhist development in Tibet in the tenth and eleventh centuries is only
126 Davidson (2005: 324).
127 Thondup (1990:154).
128 von Stietencron (2001: 31-32).
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beginning. However, we can surmise that small groups and confined communities formed the
base of this religious world. These groupings were likely led by non-celibate Tantric leaders or
monks. Since the sectarian diversification of Buddhist schools and their literature developed in
Tibet only after the eleventh century, I believe that to understand the dynamics of these early
communities and their charismatic leaders in Tibetan religious history, we should focus our
attention especially on literary material produced between the eleventh and the fourteenth
century.
The manner of transmission of Buddhist teachings is one of the fundamental sources of
religious authority. For the rNying ma adherents, after the oral transmission (bka’ ma) of the
words of the Buddha, gter ma teachings and the Treasure revealers as transmitters of the
teachings are respectively the source and the bearers of authority. After the consolidation of
regional centers of religious and political power that followed the Buddhist movements of the
early eleventh century, the necessity for stability and political power forced the rNying ma
communities to claim legitimacy for their practices. The rNying ma needed to prove the spiritual
legitimacy of their literary corpus in order to maintain their religious authority. Early Buddhist
practitioners most likely gathered around non-celibate Tantric, in most cases married, teachers
(mantrin, sngags pa), instead of forming large monastic organizations. 129 This further
development of Tibetan Buddhism is associated with the gradual formation of religious entities
and sectarian identities backed by clan-based power that resulted in a stronger emphasis on
monastic and ethical codes, as seen in the emergence of the bKa’ gdams, Sa skya, and bKa’
brgyud communities in the late eleventh and twenfth century. 130 Next to ritual functions,
scholasticism and discipline soon became the focus of monastic institutions.131
Therefore, according to the tradition, concealment and revelation are needed to protect
Padmasambhava’s teachings from being adulterated and misunderstood. Another central feature
contained in Treasure scriptures is the eschatological message they evocate. Most Treasure
literature is based on the concept of a degenerate age (snyigs dus) and the assumption that the
Treasures will be revealed in times of need when they can help liberate people. One of the
eschatological notions that pervade Treasure scriptures is the immanent presence of negative
forces that undermine and threaten the very existence of Buddhism. The work of the Treasure
129 Tucci (1949: 88).
130 Davidson (2005: 244-322).
131 Davidson (2005: 10-11).
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revealer is to reveal the proper liberating resource, in the form of material objects empowered
with the potency of Padmasambhava’s personal touch or the series of liturgies and practices
attributed to him for the welfare of both Buddhism and its followers.
Emaho, You who were born from a Lotus, supreme among the Nirmā6akāya, protector of the living
beings,
Here in this Tibet of mine, wild and snow-capped,
[Where] valleys and ravines seem vessels of weapons,
Ministers are evil [and belong to] the red-faced race of the ogress.
They don’t have a pure heart and perform numerous negative deeds.
Moved by compassion you [Padmasambhava] have bestowed teachings and instructions,
And concealed many precious Treasures for the benefit of future generations,
And in the future Treasure revealers will appear.132
This short passage from the PKT illustrates one of the major purposes of the concealment of
Treasures, that of benefiting future generations who will live in times of turmoil and spiritual
aridity while being persecuted by malignant agencies and unfortunate circumstances.
The term snyigs dus populates many of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s writings, both his
personal compositions and his revealed scriptures. This comes as no surprise because the rhetoric
of a degenerate age pervading this lifetime underlines the basic notion of Treasures, which are
believed to expound those ritual practices, yogic techniques, and meditation systems that are
suitable to the spiritual needs of our contemporary age. In his autobiography, bDe chen ’od gsal
rdo rje writes:
Then, holy beings and wise men
Of the great lands of Nepal, Tibet, and Khams,
Paid respectful homage to me and praised me as Padma[sambava]’s messenger.
[Henceforth] I retrieved various Treasures as sacred objects, precious stones, and artifacts.
I am confident that some of the ordinary common people will benefit from such a connection,
And virtuous people might cleanse their defilements for the next life.
I thus sufficiently removed the decrepitude of the degenerated age from this intermediate era.133
132 e ma ho /
sprul sku’i mchog gyur ’gro mgon padma ’byung /
bdag gi bod yul mtha’ ’khob kha ba can /
gtsong rong grog po mtshon cha gzigs pa ’dra /
ma rungs blon po gdong dmar srin po’i rigs /
dkar po’i sems med sdig spyod sems can mang /
phyi rabs don du rin chen gter mang sbas /
ma ‘ongs don du gter ston mang ’byung na /
(PKT, 1987: 582-583). This translation is mine. Please see also Toussaint (1933), and Dharma Publishing (1978) for
English translations of the text.
133 dam pa’i skyes bu rnams dang mig ldan bus /
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In the passage above it is important to notice that being a Treasure revealer, or to use the author’s
words “Padmasambhava’s messenger,” empowers the individual with the potency of removing
obstacles in order to alleviate the spiritual decay brought about by the current times. Such a
conviction is also clearly expressed in other writings. In his Don zab gnad smin shel dkar me
long (A Crystal Mirror of Profound Meaning and Perfect Essence), for instance, a mytho-
historical narrative of the early translation period specifically focusing on Padmasambhava and
his Treasure hiding activities, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje again employs the rhetoric of the
degenerate age to provide a basis for the existence of Treasures and their revealers. Paraphrasing
a verse from Ratna gling pa’s Tshe bcu bskul thabs, he writes:
However, in the degenerated age, Treasures will guide most practitioners.
And being profound, complete, unobscured, and vast
Each instruction will certainly liberate some human beings.
Thus, oh fortunate ascetic trainees, whose karma has awakened,
If you remember death, [then] practice the Treasure teachings,
Oh [my] followers, you will attain enlightenment in one lifetime
And in the degenerated age, all the fortunate ones who are devoted to the Treasures
Are those who currently envision the Guru’s image and express their aspiration.
Since you are all karmically fortunate, cultivate happiness!
These words of mine are more rare than gold or jewels.134
In this passage, the Treasures doctrines are portrayed as guidance for the devoted practitioners
who live in the degenerate age, and their instructions are believed to provide liberation to those
who experience them. In another of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s writings, Hūm chen kā ra’i thugs
tig las rig pa gnad sprod byang chub sems gdams (Instructions on the Enlightened Mind: An
Explanation of the Essential Points of Awareness from Hūm chen kā ra’s Mind Drops), the
imminence of the degenerate age is seen as analogous to “the eclipse of light over the entire
territory of the Tibetan empire below the sun.”135
padma’i pho nya bsnags brjod spyi bor bskul /
chos nor rdzas kyi gter kha sna tshogs drangs /
skal dman phal pa’i ‘gro rnams re ‘ga’ las /
‘brel tshad don ldan ‘di bde’i nges shes thob /
rnam dkar can rnams phyi ma’i sgrib byang brnyed /
dus snyigs rgud pa’i bar bskal ldang ba sel /
DDZG, f. fb-8b.
134 DGSM, f. 3a. Quoted in bDud ’joms ’jigs bral ye shes rdo rje’s Chos ’byung (1996: 413). For the English
translation of this passage see also Dujoms (1991: 744-45).
135 RPNP, f. 10b.
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The emphasis on a degenerate age and the response of Treasure revelations to the
pressure of modernity bears a strong similarity to the rhetoric of the period of darkness and
decline that characterized early Treasures revelation in the eleventh and thirteenth centuries.136
Whereas the ninth-century collapse of the Tibetan empire and the central authority were caused
by domestic factors, in the twentieth century Tibetans faced new challenges due to external
forces and colonial domination by the PRC. In both cases, the religious congregation has been
deeply affected, abandoned religious structures rapidly went into decay, and formal religious
education and instruction languished. Thus it is not difficult to understand how the ideology of
degenerate age reverberates today in the writings of contemporary Treasure revealers such as
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje. The rhetoric of a degenerate age (snyigs dus) caused by a phase of
decline of the Buddhist doctrine under internal and/or external forces is emphasized in most
Treasure narratives. I argue that Treasure revealers draw on this rhetoric in order to reinforce
their authority in the present day as revitalizers of the Buddhist doctrine who have the power to
counter its decline.137
The first Treasure revealers contributed to the creation of a climate of sectarian identity
via the dissemination of doctrines “revealed” from hidden places. Additionally, in some cases, as
Giuseppe Tucci suggests, Treasures also gave voice to Tibetans’ new nationalistic pride by
establishing a sense of political and religious self-awareness. 138 Similarly, twentieth-century
Treasures re-evaluate and re-propose such a discourse integrating it into the new socio-historical
circumstances.
Authentic Revealers or Authentic Revelations?
Despite their strong ideological power and long cultural legacy, the Treasure tradition has not
been immune to strong criticism and blatant infamy. In Chapter Three we will examine the
current situation, but first we will examine the fact that the practice of Treasure revelation was
often criticized in a more distant past. Criticism of the Treasure tradition has been voiced since
the appearance of the earlier Treasure cycles. Already in the twelfth century a number of scholars
like Chag lo tsā ba rdo rje dpal (1197-1265), ’Jig rten mgon po (1143-1217), and Sa skya paṇḍita
136 Germano (1998: 91).
137 Germano (1998) addresses and analyzes this isssue in his study of mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs.
138 Tucci (1949:112).
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(1182-1251) aired their disapproval of Treasure revelation practices. 139 Although the PKT as
well other early biographies of Padmasambhava do not provide any radical reasoning to support
the authenticity of Treasure revealers and their revelation activities, the argument is that only
Treasure revealers have the power (dpang po) to judge (tshad gzung) what a scripture is and
discriminate between true and false Buddhist teachings.
The co-existence of authentic Treasure revealers and charlatans who pretend to be
revealers is of concern to many scholars even today, as we shall see below. Although in the
distant past a number of Tibetans addressed the issue including the Treasure revealer Ratna gling
pa (1403-1478), in the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries a number of authors took the
opportunity to express their opinion within a debate about autenthicity in the Treasure tradition.
This is especially true for the eighteenth-century rNying ma reinassance and later in its
ecumenical (ris med) developments. Thu’u bkwan blo bzang chos kyi nyi ma, for instance, the
eighteenth-century dGe lugs pa scholar, provides a brief but incisive discussion on Treasure
scriptures suggesting that they are not to be considered a unique Tibetan creation but an Indian
one.140 In addition, he also observes that the Treasure teachings are not only a prerogative of the
rNying ma school but also of other Tibetan Buddhist traditions. However, Thu’u bkwan blo
bzang chos kyi nyi ma seems to accept the list of Treasure revealers as provided by the PKT
since in his treatise he mentions some of the Treasure revealers as prophesied in that text.
Apparently, due to him, Treasure revealers such as Sangs rgyas bla ma (considered by the
rNying ma tradition as the first known Treasure revealer),141 and Nyang ral nyi ma ’od zer up to
bDe chen gling pa have gained a certain recognition even among other traditions. 142 Thu’u
bkwan blo bzang chos kyi nyi ma provides a comprehensive overview of the general opinion in
his lifetime on Treasure revealers and Treasure teachings (gter chos), as well as of pure visions
139 Doctor (2005: 32-33).
140 Thu’u bkwan blo bzang chos kyi nyi ma (1737-1802). Kapstein (1989) has recently called attention to Thu’u
bkwan’s Dogs dpyod snyan sgron du gsol ba nor bu’i ke ta ka’i byi dor a refutation to Sum pa mkhan po Ye shes
dpal ’byor’s gSung rab rnam dag chu’i dri ma sel byed nor bu ke ta ka. In his work Thu’u bkwan points out some
prominent polemics of the time (eighteenth century) concerning the authenticity of some Tibetan works, including
the gter ma. For an overview and study of the polemical literature (dgag lan) as a genre within Tibetan literary
traditions see Lopez (1996: 217-228).
141 gTer ston Sang rgyas bla ma (1000-80) is generally believed to be the first Treasure revealer to have appeared
according to the prophesies of Padmasambhava. Dudjom (1991: 751-2).
142 Thu’u bkwan in his TKGT provides details on Sangs rgyas bla ma (c. 990-1070), (Rong ston padma) bDe chen
gling pa (1627/1663-1713) and mNga bdag nyang ral nyi ma ‘od zer (1135-1204) to name a few among the most
popular gter ston recognized by other schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
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(dag snang). His remarks are therefore particularly interesting when framed within the general
atmosphere of his time, which was a period of intense and dynamic intellectual debate.
To say that all Treasure teachings are a religious practice of the rNying ma only is just to protect a
short-sighted view, since generally Treasure teachings originated in India and exist also in other
Tibetan traditions. However, although many false Treasures have been discovered after having been
fabricated and concealed by some known as Treasure revealers, it would be improper to always refute
also those [Treasure teachings] that are certainly authentic. Many authentic Treasure revealers such
as those from Sangs rgyas bla ma up to bDe chen gling pa who have been prophesized in the Thang
yig, and also quite a few other undisputed Treasure revealers who were not fixed by prophesies were
successfully arranged by Chos rgyal dbang po’i sde when he composed the reverential petition to the
gTer ston brgya rtsa. These Treasure revealers have purified both the Dharma and the living beings,
and therefore are called the Great Ones.143
Some of these same ideas claiming the existence of Treasures in other Tibetan Buddhist
traditions were already expounded earlier in the sixteenth century by the outstanding Tibetan
historian dPa’ bo gtsug lag ’phreng ba (1504-1566) in his well-known historical work, the Chos
’byung mkhas pa’i dga’ ston.144 In an extensive section specifically dedicated to the history of
the rNying ma tradition in Tibet, 145 dPa’ bo gtsug lag ’phreng ba discusses the category of
Treasures (gter ma’i phyogs slar bshad par bya)146 where he refutes the idea that gter ma are a
privilege of the rNying ma school since they occur instead in all ancient and new schools of
Buddhism.147 Later he explains that “the fact that countless precious Treasures are among the
Treasures of the rNying ma school is because Treasure inventories (kha byang) were inserted in
the king’s Treasuries (dkor mdzod) hidden with the condition to benefit the future royal dynasties
and restore temples.”148 Such a statement by a non-rNying ma scholar could be emblematic of a
recurrent idea behind the phenomenon of Treasure revelation, that of a glorified Buddhist empire
to be supported by such wonderful religious Treasures.
143 spyir gter chos rgya gar du’ang byung zhing/ bod kyi grub mtha’ gzhan la’ang yod pas gter chos thams cad
rnying ma’i chos su byed pa ni thos rgya chung ba’i skyong no/ gter ston du grags pa ’ga’ zhig gis rang gis bcos nas
sbas te bton pa’i brdzus ma’ang yod mod kyang/ rnam dag yin nges kyang ches mang bas mtha’ gcig tu smod mi
rung ngo/ gter ston tshad ldan gtso cher thang yig nas lung bstan pa’i sangs rgyas bla ma nas bzung bde chen gling
ba’i bar dang/ lung gis dngos su mi zin pa’i rtsod bral gyi gter ston kyang mang tsam zhig byung ba rnams phyis su
chos rgyal dbang po’i sdes phyogs gcig tu bsgrigs nas gter ston brgya rtsa’i gsol ’debs brtsams pa ltar la/ de dag ni
chaos dang gang zag gnyis ka rnam par dag pa’o zhes chen po rnams gsungs so TKGT (1984: 68-69).
144 dPa’ bo gtsug lag phreng ba composed the Chos ‘byung mkhas pai dga’ ston in 1544.
145 Chos ’byung mkhas pa’i dga’ston gyi yan lag gsum pa bod yul gyi skabs la le’u bcu las skabs lnga ba gsang
sngags rnying ma’i chos byung. KPGT (1959: 177-276).
146 KPGT (1959: 254-276).
147 des na gter ni gsar rnying thams cad la yod pas rnying ma kho nar yang ma nges la.. KPGT (1959: 255).
148 rnying ma’i gter la’ang nor gter dpag med yod pa ni phyi rabs rgyal rgyud kyi don du dang lha khang rnams gso
ba’i rkyen du sbas nas kha byang rnams rgyal po’i dkor mdzod du ’jog la. KPGT (1959: 255).
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Another influential Tibetan Buddhist scholar and prolific rNying ma pa author, Sog bzlog
pa blo gros rgyal mtshan (1552-1624) 149 provides insights into the debate concerning the
authenticity of some rNying ma doctrines and especially the Treasure teachings. In his refutation
(dgag pa) of polemical issues concerning the rNying ma doctrines raised by bKra shis stobs
rgyal, Sog bzlog pa elaborates on the Treasures and explains how the narrative and especially the
legitimacy of the gter ma teachings are associated with Padmasambhava and his activities in
Tibet. However, even in his terse statement aimed at briefly explicating the essence of Treasures,
Sog bzlog pa does not lean towards an open apology of the tradition. Instead, he admits to certain
incoherence in the claims of authenticity ascribed to Treasure revelations.150 He writes:
The Great Master, the Buddha in person [Padmasambhava], with great faith was called the
Adamantine Master (rdo rje slob dpon) and fearing that many lines of transmission would be
adulterated, he concealed them as treasures. Since in the past the time was not appropriate for the
teachings, they have been hidden for those fortunate beings of the future. Authentic treasure teachings
are indistinguishable from flawed ones. In the Thang yig it is written “except for dogs’ corpses
anything is revealed as Treasure!”151
But who are the authentic Treasure revealers then? If we turn again to the Padma bka’ thang
(PKT) we find a passage where something is said about the qualities of the revealers.
Sealed treasures! Their revealers are perfect;
nine endowed with many great gifts.
They are high by caste, born lords of royal family;
high by body, well-provided with beauties and signs;
high by their faculties, having learned all they need to know;
high through hearing, possessing Texts and Formulas in entirety;
high through intuition, indicating through meaning in the words
which are going to follow;
high through meditation, lofty contemplators of View;
high in valor, eclipsing and mastering others;
high in controversy, triumphant with words which conquer;
high through comprehension, distinguishing between what
149 For some remarks on Sog bzlog pa see Kapstein (1989).
150 The work by Sog bzlog pa is the bDag po rin po che’i chos byung zhal snag nas blo bzang pa dgag pa mdzad pa
(BZGD in the bibliography) was written in reply to the rNying ma scholar bKra shis stobs rgyal’s (a.k.a. dBang po’i
sde) sNga ’gyur bstan pa’i rnam gzhag mkhas pa’i snyan shal mdzes pa’i rgyan. See BZGD p. 293. The work
belongs to the Tibetan literary genre known as dgag lan, meaning “answers to refutations.” For a discussion on this
genre see Lopez (1996: 218).
151 slob dpon chen po sangs rgyas dngos de la rdo rje slob dpon zhes ’bod dad pa che/ brgyud rim mang na ’chal
dogs pas gter sbas zhes pa/ sngon bstan pa’i dus la ma bab pas/ phyis kyi las can rnams kyi ched du sbas pa yin gyi/
gter chos yin tshad ma ’chal bar ma nges te/ thang yig tu/ gter nas khyi ro ma gtogs gang yang yong/ zhes sogs
dang/ BZGD pp. 300-1. The last sentence is a quotation from the Padma bka’ thang a passage often cited in a
number other works. See PKT, p. 576 and Doctor (2005: 46).
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accords to the Dharma and what does not;
patient and of gentle character, high and perfect.152
To counteract the heavy skepticism and criticism expressed against Treasure revealers over the
centuries prior to the production of the PKT, the lines above attempt to support the image of the
revealers as beings of superior qualities such as learning, meditation, and debating skills.
However, little is said about what separates them from Buddhist adepts and there is a sense that
Treasure revealers are authentic simply because they are Treasure revealers!
Two of the most significant discussions on the authenticity and legitimacy of Treasure
teachings and their revealers appeared in Tibet in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The
first is by the nineteenth-century rNying ma polymath ’Ju mi pham, the gTer ston brtag pa chu
dwangs nor bu. 153 Recently translated and studied, the text offers an analysis of the false
Treasure revealers and the damage their misleading activities inflict on the Treasure tradition.154
Only spiritually powerful individuals and authoritative leaders can, in ’Ju mi pham’s conclusion,
acknowledge the validity of the Treasure revealers.155
rDo grub chen ’jigs med bstan pa’i nyi ma (1865-1926) arrives at the same conclusion
when in his gTer gyi rnam bshad, he dedicates some remarks to the question of how to identify
Treasure revealers (gter ston brtags thabs). According to rDo grub chen bstan pa’i nyi ma,
spiritual leaders can examine and validate Treasure revealers in two basic ways. One approach is
to receive confirmation of the validity of the Treasure revealer through a vision from one of the
three sources (rtsa gsum), namely the Guru (Padmasambhava), the tutelary deities (yi dam), or
the 7ākinīs (mkha’ ’gro ma). The other method, probably more practical, is for an expereinced
master to analyze the Treasure revealer’s collection of Treasure scriptures to ascertain their
content and announce their validity. rDo grub chen ’jigs med bstan pa’i nyi ma, however, warns
that observations based on a Treasure revealer’s behavior are not enough to judge a gter ston’s
authenticity, because some have an “imperfect and mercurial character.” 156 rDo grub chen
dismisses the first option, the use of visions, as a rare undertaking and a less plausible method.
152 PKT, pp. 648-49. This translation is from Yeshe tsogyal (1978: 610-11).
153 TTTP 1975.
154 Doctor (2005).
155 Doctor (2005: 48).
156 Thondup (1986: 157).
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The second instead seems to be the most appropriate way to examine the authenticity of a
Treasure revealer, a view that a number of Treasure revealers still support today.157
gTer ma and rDzogs chen
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, like many other Treasure revealers, is a practitioner of the Great
Perfection (rdzogs chen) and many of his revealed texts contain instructions about the practice of
this system of meditation. Therefore, before concluding this first chapter I think it will be helpful
to provide a few remarks and observations about the role of Treasure revelation in the production
and organization of this doctrinal and meditative system so representative of the rNying ma
school. A significant portion of the practices and teachings revealed through the predominantly
mental form of Treasures (dgongs gter) fall within the system of contemplation practices called
rdzogs chen, or “Great Perfection.” A Tantric-based tradition of both practice and theory of
meditation, rdzogs chen consists of a distinctive body of teachings based on an original matrix of
late Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism that is supposed to lead the adept to gain enlightenment.
Traditional Tibetan scholars maintain that the early rDzogs chen teachings were
introduced into Tibet during the eighth century directly from India by the Indian masters
Padmasambhava and Vimalamitra.158 Evidence from the Dunghuang manuscripts dated around
the eighth-century confirms the existence of a body of Buddhist Tantric teachings that combines
two traditions: Mahāyoga (rnal ’byor pa chen po) and Great Perfection (rdzogs chen). Recent
study of the Dunghuang texts has shown that in the eighth century the Great Perfection was a
distinct spiritual system departing from the Buddhist tradition. 159 Considered superior to the
other Buddhist vehicles, the Great Perfection was labelled supreme (a ti) and therefore used as a
platform for the interpretation and practice of earlier esoteric materials.160 Most of the Tantras
and their exegetical materials included under the rubric of rdzogs chen are believed to have been
introduced as revealed Treasures (gter ma) and are contained in the Collection of Tantras of the
rNying ma school (rnying ma rgyud ’bum). Up to the eleventh century, the Great Perfection was
not organized into a well-structured system. Rather, it was diffused through Tantric teachings
157 For my discussion on authenticity among Treasure revealers in present-day Tibet see Chapter Three in this
volume.
158 Thondup (1989), Dudjom (1991).
159 Karmay (1988), van Shaik (2004: 5).
160 Germano (1994), van Shaik (2004).
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practiced within small-scale Buddhist communities. This was characterized by highly esoteric
teachings with strict transmissions from an authentic teacher to a very limited number of close
and selected disciples. This is also why many Treasure text titles begin with the term yang gsang
on the title page. Early representative works of this period are for instance the bSam gtan mig
sgron by gNubs Sang rgyas ye shes, and the Kun byed rgyal po.161
It was between the eleventh and the fourteenth century that the Great Perfection
developed into a more structured body of literary texts and ritual practices.162 Earlier teachings of
rdzogs chen were soon influenced by other sources such as Chinese Chan Buddhism and
indigenous ideas mixed with Indian Buddhist Tantras.163 The teachings that started to develop in
Tibet in the eleventh century were categorized in three classes or series of “mind,” “space,” and
“instruction.” Due to the very nature of these Buddhist materials, these were continually
subjected to invention and reinvention until they became an orginal and distinctive product of
Tibetan Buddhist thought.164 The teachings were disseminated and practiced for a few centuries
but it was especially in the fourteenth century that the Great Perfection became preeminent in
rNying ma circles via Treasure revelation (gter ma) thanks to the revelations and collections of
Padma las ’brel tsal (1291-1315?) and of the polymath kLong chen rab ’byams pa dri med ’od
zer (1308-1363). They developed and systematized the teachings of rdzogs chen according to the
system of the Seminal Heart (snying thig) and revitalized the entire tradition by compiling the
Treasure cycle, or series of texts, of the snying thig yab bzhi.165
Concluding Remarks
At the outset of the eleventh-century revival of Buddhism in Tibet, adherents to the early
translation of Buddhist manuscripts (snga ’gyur) began to discover and reveal ancient
manuscripts, religious items, and sacred scrolls that they claimed unveiled the precious teachings
and instructions of Padmasambhava and his closest religious associates. These materials revealed
161 The Byang chub kyi sems kun byed rgyal po together with other two texts, namely the mDo dgongs ’dus and the
sGyu ’phrul gsang ba snying po, are among the principal, although controversial, sources of rdzogs chen and
constitute the triad mdo rgyud sems gsum. Karmay (1988: 139). See also Germano (1994: 219).
162 Germano (1994), van Shaik (2004: 8-10).
163 Germano (1994: 205).
164 Germano (1994: 205).
165 Karmay (1975, 1988), Germano (1982, 1994, 1998a), van Schaik (2004), Dalton (2004a). For a classification of
the Tantras in the rNying ma school, see Thondup (1984).
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procedures of human and divinely authored scriptural authentication based on a mytho-historical
past supportive of the imperial age with emperor Khri srong lde’u btsan, Padmasambhava, and
Ye shes mtsho rgyal as major protagonists. Despite the connections to the royal dynasties with
the figure of the pious emperor Srong btsan sgam po and the Ma6i bka’ ’bum and the strong
nationalistic sense contained in the Treasures, the Treasure revealers predominantly designated
Padmasambhava, a non-Tibetan, as the creator of such a tradition. By the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries the paradigmatic figures of Padmasambhava, his consort Ye shes mtsho
rgyal, and his twenty-five disciples took root in the mythical narrative of the origins of the
Treasures in Tibet.
The Treasure literature is as rich as it is complex. Treasure revelation conveys a strong
sense of a common imperial ideal, and emphasizes Tibet as a sacred land punctuated by highly
powerful valleys, caves, and lakes where the divine manifests itself and the human gains
liberation. All these qualities have made the tradition of revealing Treasures prominents in
Tibetan cultural and religious lore.
With the ability to produce historiographical manuscripts, sophisticated philosophical
treatises, contemplative manuals, and esoteric instructions, the Treasure tradition became one of
the most powerful means to preserve the old Tantric teachings and to disseminate a tradition
under constant threat of being overshadowed by the modernist (gsar ma) traditions. Despite the
criticism advanced by many modernist authors, the rNying ma scholars succeeded in creating
their own canon, the rNying ma rgyud ’bum, which includes both bka’ ma and gter ma
scriptures.
The traditional rNying ma representation of the Treasure system conveys the idea of a
multi-level performance by the Treasure revealers. The primary focus is the articulation and re-
proposition of a well-defined and homogeneous corpus of narratives related to
Padmasambhava’s presence in Tibet. This essential task is present in most Treasure teachings
(gter chos) that can be identified as such. It is defined by the ongoing reference to the imperial
mythology, the religious kings, and the missionary activities of the Buddhist master
Padmasambhava in Tibet under emperor Khri srong lde’u btsan. It is further defined by the
revelation and diffusion of Padmasambhava’s teachings many centuries after his time in Tibet by
prophesized revealers.
Another significant aspect of the gter ma tradition is the strategy the system produced to
legitimize their new scriptural revelations as authoritative Buddhist texts. Because they were the
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Padmasambhava’s direct teachings, they were able to compete with the new translations of
Buddhist text coming from India from the eleventh through the fourteenth centuries. This
ligitimizing strategy has been crucial to the survival of the tradition and has been continually
renewed, re-energized, and updated by the works of the many apologists, scholars, and savants of
the rNying ma school. Additionally, an essential element in the accomplishments of such a
method of revelation is its relation to the fortunes of the teachings of rDzogs chen. These
meditative teachings are intimately connected with Treasure revelation.
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Chapter Two: Religion and Politics in Tibet: The Contemporary
Context
In the previous chapter we have seen how historically the ideology of the Treasure revelation
system found legitimacy and developed primarily around the figure of Padmasambhava. This
chapter will focus on the socio-political circumstances that have affected such development in
present-day Tibet. We will follow the development of the Treasure tradition in the context of
Chinese economic reforms and religious policies in the post-Mao era.
Since the end of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), Tibetans have undergone three
decades of governmental policies that have had significant repercussions on every aspect of their
lives. Largely focused on creation of a market economy in the country, these reforms have also
changed the Chinese leaders’ attitude towards culture and religion. A more liberal and more
tolerant approach to religion and ethnic forms of cultural expression has allowed for some degree
of revitalization of religious practice and the resurgence of religious institutions. Religion is the
core of Tibetans’ sense of identity. Monasteries have been allowed to reopen, renovation and
reconstruction of religious complexes is in progress, and a monastic community has gradually
returned to life. However, despite the central government’s cautious openess towards religion,
the monastery as locus of power, authority, and religious identity has suffered significant blows.
Despite decades of hostile religious policies, repression, and political control, religious
communities, including monasteries and other forms of communal religious gathering, have not
only survived, but they have found a renewed sense of scope and presence. Many monasteries
have repopulated themselves, re-established their ritual activities, and re-organized their religious
education. In eastern Tibet, in parallel with a gradual growth of traditional monastic institutions,
the last two decades have also seen the emergence of a number of religious communities
especially in the form of unconventional religious encampments (chos sgar) and mountain
retreats (ri khrod). We will soon see below that “unconventional” refers to the fact that most of
these Buddhist communities differ from traditional monasteries in terms of organization,
administration, and above all population. In many instances these communities have been
founded and are currently lead by Treasure revealers (gter ston) basing their leadership on a
strong charismatic personality.
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In the summer and fall of 2001 work teams (Ch. gongzuodui; las don ru khag) led by the
Chinese authorities raided bLa rung sgar in gSer rta and then Ya chen sgar in Khrom thar a few
months later, two of the most populated and well-known Buddhist institutes in Khams.166 Exact
figures are difficult to obtain, but by the year 2001 bLa rung sgar alone had a population of
nearly 10,000 people including monks, nuns, and lay practitioners.167 The teams executed orders
concerning the re-establishment of control over religious activities in the area. This was done by
reducing the number of residents at the religious centers to a much smaller population of both
monastics (monks and nuns) and lay practitioners.168 The dramatic results were that about one
thousand monastic dwellings were forcefully demolished at bLa rung sgar and nearly eight
hundred at Ya chen sgar. Additionally, according to reports obtained by monitoring agencies and
human rights groups, thousands of monks and nuns were ordered to leave from both religious
encampments and forced to return to their home monasteries and nunneries. This episode is
emblematic of the Chinese central government’s increased attention towards religious control
and national minorities-related issues in the country. Since 1995 the Chinese government has
adopted harsh measures of destruction of religious dwellings, control over religious practices,
and persecution of religious leaders, procedures which they justify as facilitating economic
development and social welfare. As I hope to convey in this chapter, the link between the re-
emergence of alternative forms of religious gathering such as the large rNying ma religious
encampments (chos sgar), mountain hermitages (ri khrod), and the Treasure revealers who are
their leaders is of central importance for an understanding of Tibetans’ attempts to maintain
traditional forms of religious practice and education in their land in the face of the central
government’s arbitrary regulations and repressive religious policy. This chapter explores the
166 bLa rung sgar is located on a site that in 1880 served as mountain retreat center (ri khrod) inhabited by the
Treasure revealer Khrag ’thun bDud ’joms gling pa (1835-1904). In 1980 the place, also called in gSer rta “religious
city” (chos kyi grong khyer) of bLa rung, was enlarged by mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs (1933-2004), and
during an official ceremony in 1987 the tenth Panchen lama named it gSer rta bLa rung lnga rig nang bstan slob
gling. Tshul khrims (2005).
167 bsTan ’dzin rgya mtsho’s personal communication. bLa rung sgar, gSer rta October 2001.
168 There is little information available concerning the current religious situation in eastern areas of both Khams and
A mdo. However, in the past few years numerous attempts have been made by a number of international human
rights monitoring agencies and Tibet support groups to access and diffuse information about the conditions of
religious revival and Chinese party’s control over Tibetan people in various Tibetan areas of the PRC. The
crackdown on bLa rung sgar and ya chen sgar have been reported and analyzed extensively in the Western media
and in reports by Tibet monitoring organizations such as ICT (International Campaign for Tibet), and TIN (Tibet
Information Network). As for the destruction of monasteries, the persecutions of religious leaders, and the
crackdown on religion in Tibet, see the latest report by ICT (2004), When the Sky Fell to Earth. For an overview of
the events see also Destruction of Serthar Institute: A Special Report (TCHRD 2001), published by the Tibetan
Center for Human Rights and Democracy.
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state of religious practice, especially Buddhism, in contemporary Tibet and the socio-political
dynamics brought about by Chinese state policy on religions over the past three decades.169 In
particular this chapter provides the political background and social landscape into which the
development of new forms of religious gatherings led by gter stons such as gTer chen bDe chen
’od gsal rdo rje have become popular in the Tibetan regions of Khams today. In doing so, this
chapter will first examine some key historical circumstances that have characterized China’s
religious policy in Tibetan areas of the PRC since its annexation in the early 1950s focusing on
the post-Mao and above all on the post-Deng era. The latter marks the outset of cutting edge
economic reforms and political change that paved the way not only to a developmental strategy
for a modern China, but also to a rethinking of socialism as the political ideology of the country.
While sharing fundamental characteristics of methods and modalities found in Treasure
revelation as practiced in pre-modern Tibet, the activities associated with gter ma discovery,
visionary revelation, and their influence in today’s eastern Tibet have been significantly affected
by modernity, historical events, and the dramatic social changes brought about by post-Mao and
post-Deng Chinese policies. This analysis shows that the PRC’s policy towards forms of
religious expression indeed allows for a relaxed attitude of local authorities and tolerance
towards traditional manifestations of religious belief, fervor, and practice. On the other hand,
however, the central government’s tight surveillance of, and political and administrative
influence on, religious activities (both popular and institutional) and monastic establishments in
Tibet has inevitably caused changes in the ways local Tibetans manifest their religiosity and in
the consistency and significance of traditional religious education for monastics. I maintain that
these two interdependent factors are offsprings of the secularization and modernization processes
sweeping through China today and therefore through Tibet, and that as a result a competitive
environment has been created for alternative forms of religious gathering to reappropriate
religious power and authority that once was the monopoly of the monasteries. This is true
especially for a number of charismatic Tibetan figures and for the spectacular development of a
specific type of quasi-monastic religious center. The latter are peculiar religious establishements
in which predominantly rNying ma leaders’ efforts are focused on the practice of contemplative
disciplines and provide access to traditional education. These religious encampments, generally
169In this study my analysis will focus primarily, if not uniquely, on Tibetan Buddhism. Although a small portion of
the Tibetan population performs other forms of religious practice and represents other religious faiths, such as Bon,
Islam, and Christianity, this chapter will touch upon these religions only tangentially.
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called chos sgar, in Tibetan, or simply sgar, have grown around monastic and/or non-celibate
Buddhist leaders, whose identities are shaped by charismatic powers, broad religious education
and experience, and above all gter ma revelations. For such an analysis I shall contextualize the
historical scenario within a specific time frame in the twentieth century, a time of intense and
highly dramatic political, social, and religious changes on the Tibetan plateau.
This chapter attempts to show how these policies have affected Tibetans’ adaptation and
resistance to the new socio-political circumstances in order to maintain their distinctive heritage
and to practice their culture and religions. Then, drawing on personal ethnographic data and a
large body of literature on contemporary Tibet, this chapter discusses key arguments on how
Tibetans have adapted in their practice and diffusion of Buddhism. Special attention will be
placed on the case study of my research, which is concerned with a number of present-day
Treasure revealers and their activities in areas of Khams in eastern Tibet. In addition, the
relationship between religious encampments, mountain hermitage, and Treasure revelation will
also be analyzed. Methodologically this will deal with the emergence of Buddhist encampments
and mountain hermitages, which with their strong focus on meditation have given renewed
meaning to traditional religious lore in the face of strong control imposed by the Chinese
government on religious practice and traditional religious education. It is my belief that in so far
as no political activity disloyal to the government is perceived or suspected within the religious
community these quasi-monastic centers complement the activities offered in monasteries and
are not only tolerated but in some instances even supported by local Tibetan authorities. The
increased popularity of rNying ma religious encampments (chos sgar or chos sgar chen mo), and
mountain hermitages (ri khrod) in areas of eastern Tibet, namely Khams and mGo log, is the
result of the dramatic conditions that have shaped the practice of religion in Tibet today. It is my
sense that the pressure put on monastic institutions as centers of the Tibetan Buddhist world has
caused a decentralization, to some extent, of religious authority and traditional education and
instruction that was once mostly, if not uniquely, the privilege of the monastic institutions. One
of the most striking phenomena is the emergence of Treasure revealers and their professional
religious activities as a guiding force behind the charismatic leadership taking place in many
Buddhist encampments and mountain hermitages in eastern Tibet. Finally, this chapter will
conclude with an analysis of how globalization, new communication technologies, and the
Internet are shaping the world of Buddhism in Tibet even among Treasure revealers and their
disciples.
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Following the political opening and the economic reforms propagated by Deng Xiaoping
in the late 1970s, cultural and above all religious issues in China have received varying degrees
of attention by Chinese leaders. Although issues of religious belief and practice are dealt with by
the central government with attention and concern, religion has been one of the most difficult
issues in the eyes of Chinese leaders. In the name of national unity, stability, and economic
development, Chinese leaders aim at complete control over all religious activities and religious
institutions in the country. The problem is even more complex in regard to minority nationalities,
whose religion and traditional forms of religious education and belief are crucial to the ethnic
group’s identity. A number of Tibet analysts, scholars, and human rights organizations, for
instance, see the patriotic education campaign in monasteries, the implementation of new laws
on religious organization, restraints on religious forms of writing and publishing, and the control
over religious education in Tibet as serious human rights violations. These policies hamper
Tibetans’ assertion of their cultural identity in their land and their ability to safeguard their
cultural and religious heritage.170
The Political Context: Post-Mao, Post-Deng, and the Development of the
Western Regions
During the first phase of Sino-Tibetan relations in the 1950s, in the attempt to integrate all
Tibetan areas into the Chinese nation-state, China’s policy, especially towards central Tibet,
focused on gradually winning over the majority of the Tibetan elite rather than the immediate
implementation of socialist reforms.171 Despite the arrival of Chinese Communist teams and the
pouring of military troops into Tibetan regions, social and religious ways of life did not greatly
change. This means that religious life was not affected by the arrival of Mao’s army. Until the
departure of its political and religious leader, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, in 1959, the religious
structure of Tibet, was left virtually intact.172 Soon, however, the disastrous famine caused by
Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward (Ch. dayuejin,1958-1960) and the effects of the orgy of
violence and radical rhetoric during the Cultural Revolution (Ch. wenhua dagemin,1966-1976)
cast a shadow over the cultural and social life in the land of snows. The years following the
170 ICT (2004); HRW (1997, 2001, 2004); Schwartz (1994a, 1994b, 1999a, 1999b); Smith (1998); Havnevik (1994).
171 Shakya (1999: 92-95).
172 Shakya (1999: 92-95).
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Chinese takeover of Tibet were characterized by a struggle for survival. In the attempt to keep
their cultural traditions alive, Tibetans have adapted to the new situation and indeed have proved
to be resilient in coping with Chinese control and flexible in modeling their lifestyle to the new
order.
Supported by the Marxist theory of historical materialism where religion is seen as
detrimental to the development of a society and popular religious beliefs qualify as superstition,
during the Cultural Revolution Chinese leaders accused monasteries in Tibet of being the heart
of a feudal system (Ch. fengjian zhidu) and cultural backwardness (Ch. luohou wenhua).
Monastic economy was also fiercely attacked and religious estate properties confiscated.173 Until
the end of the Mao era, popular religious practices, such as spirit possession, divinations, deity
cults, and pilgrimages to sacred places were labelled “superstitious” (Ch. mixin; rmongs dad) and
therefore prohibited. Under such accusations, all major and minor religious centers were targeted
by local Communist authorities. Most monasteries and their repositories of century-old texts
were simply destroyed, and the few that were spared complete destruction were mostly severely
damaged and their religious leaders persecuted. Monks and nuns were forced to abandon their
residences and compelled to live a householder life. Those who were allowed to continue to live
a monastic life had to undergo intensive political indoctrination meetings and struggle sessions
(Ch. douzheng; ’thab ’dzing).174 The dismembering of the monasteries, the application of strict
policies aimed at the overall socialist transformation of the country (and therefore of Tibet as
well), and the displacement of people caused traumatic psychological damage and a deep sense
of loss especially during the last violent decade of the Cultural Revolution.175
173 See Welch (1972).
174 The overall process of change and socialist transformation of Tibet and Tibetans began with the democratic
reforms in 1956. Much of the application of such reforms was accompanied by intense struggles against those that
Chinese propaganda defined as upper class “exploiters” and uncooperative traditional leaders, namely aristocratic
personalities and religious figures such as lamas, abbots, and influential monks. Smith (1997: 387-440).
175 I borrow here the term “dismembering” as used by Germano (1998). See for instance the extension of the “great
leap forward” policy to Tibet, which not only aimed at a transformation of the political and economic situation of
the whole country, but also involved a gradual but necessary transformation, in the Chinese eyes, of local cultures,
considered “anti-socialist”. Smith (1997: 426-40). Goldstein (1998), among others, has recently pointed out how in
the past decades under Chinese rule and CCP supervision, monasteries have ceased to be the great institutional,
cultural, and economic centers they once were in pre-modern Tibet when religious study, scholasticism, and
liturgical activities were the main occupations of monastic life. The dramatic attacks on monasticism, one of the
pillars of Tibetan Buddhism, and the systematic destruction of thousands of monasteries inevitably contributed to
the dismantling of the privileges, power, and authority exercised for centuries by the monastic institutions. See
Shakya (1999: 288), and also TIN (1997: 40-59).
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During the Cultural Revolution any form of Tibetan nationalism was suppressed and
most forms of cultural expression were thoroughly eradicated. As Smith has observed in his
study on Tibetan nationalism,
Assuming that the demise of Tibetan nationalism had been substantially achieved, post-Maoist
liberalization aimed at improving Tibetan economic conditions and allowing some of the more
innocuous expressions of Tibetan culture, including some Tibetan religious practices. This economic
and cultural liberalization, it was anticipated, would defuse the remnants of Tibetan discontent with
Chinese rule. Undoubtedly, few Chinese would have predicted that an improvement in Tibetan
economic and political conditions would lead to a dramatic revival in Tibetan nationalism. For
Tibetans, however, economic liberalization, accompanied by a slight political liberalization, allowed for
the expression of shared identity and culture, including the common experience of oppression, for the
first time since 1959.176
Although in the post-Mao reform era in the 1980s government leaders shifted away from radical
anti-traditionalism and embraced a more regulatory “tolerant” attitude, the bulk of surveillance
and regulations applied by the PRC government on every kind of religious activity over the past
decades has nevertheless brought inevitable detrimental consequences to the intellectual and
cultural output in the religious field. Historically, the Chinese government openly advanced its
conviction that religion in all its manifestations in Tibet, as well as in other parts of the country,
was a hindrance to Chinese economic development. Religion as a form of cultural identity
especially posed a problem in the attempt to gain political loyalties within non-Han ethnic groups
and to disseminate Communist ideology. Religion was seen as a force slowing down the
application of economic and political reform plans that were essential to optimize national
development as designed by the government. Recently China observers have come to understand
that only the central leadership has the legality to promote cultural development among the
people, especially those in ethnic minorities. To put it in Dreyer’s words, “In actual practice,
cultural development carried on by party and government on behalf of minorities seems to be
acceptable, whereas cultural development carried out by minorities on their own behalf is
not.”177
However, Deng Xiaoping’s government soon realized that a more relaxed attitude
towards people’s social life and cultural and religious habits would do no harm. In fact, as some
scholars have observed, in many areas across China the attitude of the local government has
176 Smith (1997: 563).
177 Dreyer (2006: 298).
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changed, and forms of heavy control and crackdown over superstition and popular religion have
become only occasional or even abandoned.178 One reason, however, is that more and more local
government official have been less reticent in expressing and manifesting their sympaties
towards and at times even in support of influential religious figures and monasteries. Despite
such a change in strategy and the leadership’s shift from political priorities to economic interests,
institutional religion is still under constant pressure and unvarying surveillance in some areas.
The Chinese considered monasteries to be centers of intellectual, cultural, and literary production
and therefore marks of national and religious identity, which were regarded as potential
hindrances to the Chinese conquest of the territory. However, even without their landed power
and wealth already removed in the 1950s, most monasteries were capable of regaining access to
power. As a way to counter this reaction, one of the major objectives of the Chinese
transformation of Tibet has been to further control key forces in monasteries, namely their
traditional education system and their large population. By reducing their population,
monasteries lost a major portion of their social and political influence.
The years that followed the Cultural Revolution affected Tibet in both religious
geography and human resources. Tibetan landscapes were stripped of their sacred sites and
religious buildings, and Tibetans were deprived of their cultural habits and identity. Following
the ravages performed by the Red Guards across Tibet, much of the Tibetan architectural
heritage and cultural legacy was eradicated from the geography of the land and the psychological
structures of its people. As Germano puts it, “the bodies of religious Tibet were sacrificed and
resacrificed on multiple fronts for a three-decade period which resulted in the literal
deconstruction of an entire civilization.”179
On various occasions from 1966 to 1977, most of Tibet’s religious compounds, temples,
and monasteries were increasingly under attack. The chaotic and devastating iconoclastic agenda
of the Cultural Revolution aimed not only to destroy the core of traditional religious life, but also
to strip the monasteries of any sacred image, such as statues, murals, and paintings. Moreover,
the devastation of the immense religious corpus of textual material, which filled century-old
monastic libraries, deprived Tibet of much of its unique cultural legacy.180
178 Chau (2006: 215).
179 Germano (1998: 53).
180 Germano (1998: 53).
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Deng Xiaoping’s halt to such a state of affairs allowed for a more tolerant, although
intermittent, attitude within state-led policies about Tibet. His political rise and the economic
reform program he conducted in 1978 emphasized economic development and an open-door
policy. Chinese government leaders paid attention to non-Han Chinese groups in their attempt to
provide equal economic development and social progress all over the PRC. It was especially
towards the Tibetan plateau that Chinese authorities saught fast and substantial results. 181
Following Deng Xiaoping’s “Reforms through Opening” (Ch. gaige kaifang), a major political
side effect was also achieved which enhanced a more relaxed administration concerning
population movement and residency in the country. The intransigent hukou system, for instance,
was temporarily ignored to benefit a faster economic development especially in the western
regions. 182 In order to encourage the physical mobility and internal migrations to benefit the
urban economy and to develop the many remote areas of the country, such as border minority
areas, the hukou system, also called huji zhidu, or system of household/residence registration,
was progressively relaxed. As Becker observes, urban population swelled within a few years and
following Marxist ideas of providing a more equitable distribution of the population over the
country, regions such as Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet became destinations for thousands
of workers backed by a widespread colonization policy. 183 To Tibetans, the relaxation on
religious policy by the central authority in the 1970s meant a return to public expressions of
religious belief and practice.
181 Goldstein (1997: 65-66) argues that after the failure of the “hard-line assimilation” period and development
policies applied in Tibet by the Chinese government as recognised by Hu Yaobang, the new strategic plans were
focused on an ethnic and an economic dimension. The former was to revitalize Tibetan culture, language, and
religion and to give more voice to ethnic Tibetans in the management of their region. The latter was instead to draw
attention to the economic development of Tibet.
182 The Chinese term hukou can be literary rendered as “households and population” and refers to a registered
permanent residence or “household registration system” established in the mid-1950s to which all Chinese had to
subscribe in the PRC. According to such a system the population was divided into two major categories, urban and
rural, and further classified according to race, class, and political loyalty. Although such a policy provide certain
benefits to the population such as access to a state welfare system and the supply of food, clothing and pensions,
freedom of movement was virtually denied and people could not leave or enter cities without written permission.
For a description of the hukou system see Becker (2003: 90-93). See also Lieberthal (2004: 123-24; 307-308), Kam
(2004), and Wang (2005a, 2005b).
183 Becker (2003: 95-96). For a study of migrations in minority areas of the PRC see Hansen (2005). Academic
studies of migration trends towards Tibetan areas are still a lacuna. Additionally, to my knowlwedge documentation
and statistical figures concerning Han Chinese migrants movements and population in Tibetan areas are non
accesisble. However, a persistent movement of migrants of Han and other Chinese ethnic origins towards Tibetan
regions incresed at various degrees from the 1980s to the 1990s.
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Following such policies, since the early 1980s and even more during the 1990s, increasing
numbers of Han Chinese and other ethnic groups such as Hui and Salar184 have poured into the
Tibetan plateau to participate in the economic development plans of the Chinese government in
minorites areas. 185 With the hope of gaining prompt economic results, the central authorities
reluctantly compromised on cultural concessions such as the forms of religious expression
allowed by the Chinese central authority. Temples were allowed to be reconstructed and
repaired, and religious scriptures to be printed.186 Interestingly, however, the genuine reversal of
Maoist policies and the profound decentralisation and de-collectivisation that Deng supported,
the increased Tibetan presence among local party cadres starting with the early 1980s, and even
the apologies by senior leaders such as Hu Yaobang who encouraged a closer look at the needs
of Tibetans in their own land suggest that the government itself was not monolithic but featured
different factions, some of whom were against what was going on in Tibet and saw it as a
legitimate place for more cultural tolerance.
China and Tibet analysts and scholars have recently contributed to an understanding of
the state of religion, state-religion relations, and religious policy in contemporary China as well
as the revitalization of many religious practice and festivals, especially at a local level in various
areas of Tibet.187 By the end of Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution in 1976, a significant portion
of Tibetan monasteries, nunneries, temples, and other religious and sacred sites laid destroyed,
violently ravaged, or severely looted. During the years of the Cultural Revolution many
monasteries and temples had been occupied and used for secular purposes by the Red Guards.
Some were employed as primary and secondary schools, storerooms, weapon storehouses,
factories, and warehouses. Others were turned into living quarters, business offices, and workers’
apartments. Thousands of religious personalities, monks, and nuns were forced to disrobe and
embrace worldly lifestyles. Since the founding of the PRC in 1949 and the rise to power of the
184 According to Chinese sources on the history of the Yushu TAP next to Tibetans and Han Chinese, some eleven
different Chinese ethnic groups inhabit the regions in different measures. See Gao (1985: 3).
185 In her study of Han Chinese settlers in minority areas of China, Hansen notes that there is no homogeneous sense
of agreement with the government’s scheme of “development of the West” among Chinese settlers and that “the
CCP’s civilizing mission in minority areas is contested, non-monolithic and viewed differently by different people
belonging to the vast group of Han settlers.” Hansen (2005: 7).
186 Germano (1998: 53-54).
187 For general studies on contemporary religion in the PRC, see for instance Chau (2006); Hornemann (2005);
Overmyer (2003); Potter (2003); Dean (1998); Leung (2005; 1995). For a recent contribution in the study of
religions in traditional and contemporary China see also the website created by Barend Ter Haar, “Chinese Religious
Culture: a research guide” at http://website.leidenuniv.nl/~haarbjter/chinrelbibl.htm. For the specific case of Tibet
see, for instance, Goldstein and Kapstein (1998).
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Chinese Communist Party led by Mao Zedong, Marxist-Leninism was the leading ideology
permeating every aspect of the country's social, cultural, and political life. Religious activities
and beliefs and any form of local cult were forbidden altogether and branded as feudal,
backward, and superstitious. In 1976, in the immediate aftermath of the Cultural Revolution, the
Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB), originally founded in the mid 1950s, established that property
of religious organizations must be returned to the original owners, that compensation refunds
would be provided for damage and reparations, and that government loans would be provided to
local administrations in order to help reconstruct basic religious and secular buildings.188 By the
year 1990, a limited number of monasteries and nunneries had been reopened in China and to
some degree traditional education and religious practice was re-established.189
With the new leadership under Deng Xiaoping, the errors of the past were admitted and a
change of attitude was perceived as necessary to move on into the phase of economic reforms.
Such an attitude was also to influence ways of approaching cultural issues and religious matters.
A passage from the window “Chinese Religions” (Zhongguo Zongjiao) at the State
Administration of the Religious Affairs of PRC (Guojia zongjiao shiwuju) will help explain the
government’s position in this regard:
The ‘cultural revolution’ (1966 to 1976) had a disastrous effect on all aspects of the society in China,
including religion. But in the course of correcting the errors of the ‘cultural revolution’ governments at
all levels made great efforts to revive and implement the policy of freedom of religious belief, redressed
the unjust, false or wrong cases imposed on religious personages, and reopened sites for religious
activities.190
Although economically PRC state plans provided relative priviledged attention to the
Western regions up to the 1970s, it was only in the 1990s, with the ninth five-year plan (1996-
2000) that it launched economic reforms and development strategies that emphasized raising the
standards of living. 191 The government expectation was that with the improvement of the
188 The Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB, Ch. zongjiao shiwuju, chos don cus) is an institution established in the
1950s to implement government decisions at the State Council rather than formulate specific policy for the actual
administration of religion. Hunter and Chan (1996: 54-55) observe that the RAB had the major task “to identify and
manipulate religious personnel who would fully support Party policy, and to expel or arrest leaders who opposed it.”
In Tibet it was established in 1956. Goldstein (1998: 7-8) and Stockwell (1996: 34).
189 Stockwell (1996: 35), reports that by the end of 1990, the total number of temples, monasteries, and churches that
were renovated or rebuilt was 30,000. He also writes that 20,000 is instead the total amount of other "meeting
places" open to worship. What these meeting places actually are he does not explain.
190 http://www.sara.gov.cn/GB/zgzj/
191 Dreyer (2006: 283); Rossabi (2004: 8); Hunter (1996: 28).
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economy in these areas the results would on the one hand engender loyalty to the government
and on the other determine a progressive weakening of separatist and nationalistic activities,
which posed a continuous threat to national unity and stability. With this intent the government
launched a new law specifically aimed at minorities and their lands. The “Law of the People’s
Republic of China on the Autonomy of Minority Nationality Regions” was promulgated in the
fall of 1984. It assured degrees of autonomy over the development of the society, economy, and
culture in some areas of Tibet, including the Tibetan Autonomous Region, dKar mdzes (Ganzi
TAP), and a few other prefectures.192 In the same year regional governments launched a series of
new regulations following the passage of the new law on national regional autonomy.193 The
organization of these regulations aimed to specifically develop Tibet through economic and
industrial projects. These regulations also involved a controversial “open door” policy to foreign
trade. Regulations covered economic, social, and cultural policies of Tibetan areas and minority
groups. While we have noted that popular Buddhist practice was allowed for and indeed was
being revitalized by the populace, it was at this time that the authorities began to impose
restrictions and controls on organized Buddhism of the monasteries, religious colleges and
temples. Monasteries and nunneries were particularly controlled. Local authorities’ attention,
pushed by their new regional directives, began to limit the increasing number of both monks and
nuns enrolling in religious institutions, as well as to discourage young novices below eighteen
years of age from entering monasticism.
With the political changes and Deng’s leadership’s reformist strategy, Tibetans seized the
opportunity to find ways to preserve their national, cultural, and ethnic identity, as well as their
practice of religion. However, as Schwartz observes, after the post-reform religious toleration
era, which lasted until the late 1980s and early 1990s, the political leaders emphasized policies
on “tailoring religious belief to suit the requirements of a modernizing society.”194 In doing so,
religious tolerance was thus circumscribed in favor of modernization.
The harshness of the Chinese government’s policies applied towards ethnic groups of the
PRC epitomizes the extent to which the Chinese leaders have tried to solve these ever-present
issues. Indeed, the PRC strives to control the ethnic areas so as to enhance economic
192 The October 1, 1984 “Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Autonomy of Minority Nationality Regions”
was further revised on February 28, 2001 to support the new initiatives related to the development of the Western
Regions. See Human Rights Watch (2004: 11).
193 Smith (1997: 584-86). For a detailed analysis of the 1984 “Law on Regional Autonomy in Tibet” see also ICT
and IHRLG (1994).
194 Schwartz (1999b).
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development and modernization throughout the country. However, it has also aimed at modeling
the religion issue according to a more “modern” and “human development”-oriented political
vision. One of the most dramatic results of the Chinese takeover of the Tibetan plateau has been
the ongoing flight of Tibetans abroad.195 The harshness of political campaigns, the inexorable
transformation of the society, the ongoing influx of Han Chinese into Tibet, the complete control
of the administration of policy, economy, and education, the CCP’s involvement in the religious
affairs and the management of cultural activities, and the devaluation of traditional culture and
replacement with a Chinese national identity through coercive Communist indoctrination all
contributed to the departure of many Tibetans from their land. In 1959 many representatives of
the aristocratic and religious elite and ordinary Tibetans alike followed the fourteenth Dalai
Lama’s flight into exile to southern neighboring lands of Nepal and India. Among them most of
the prominent scholars and teachers and nearly all of the leading religious figures left their home
monasteries to live a life abroad and to promote their culture and safeguard their religious legacy
in self-imposed exile. The Tibetan religious world, once unchallenged and dominated by brilliant
scholasticism, erudition, and unique ritual praxis, was irrevocably damaged during the years
1956-1976, the effects of which are still very evident today.
The decline of the monastic hegemony, which in pre-1959 Tibet was mainly held by dGe
lugs leaders, and the reduction of the social and political influence of monasteries resulted in a
decline of the spiritual authority of institutional Buddhism and of organized religion in general.
This was precisely one of the major aims of Chinese Communist-powered policies. Today, as in
pre-modern Tibet, some of the major monasteries are allowed to host a few selected traditional
public ritual events, festivals, and celebrations thus maintaining some of the old socio-cultural
significance of the monastic centers. However, today’s monasteries are not the large scholastic
and ritual landmark of pre-modern Tibet. Most of the state-sponsored reconstructions of
monasteries and the rehabilitation of traditional religious festivals are those monastic compounds
utilized by the tourist industry such as Se ra, Bras spungs, and dGa’ ldan monasteries, bKra shis
lhun po in central Tibet, sKu ’bum (Ch. Ta’ersi) and Bla brang in A mdo (Qinghai), and to some
extent the sKye rgu don grub gling and sDe gde dgon chen in Khams (Sichuan).196
195 According to the Central Tibetan Administration in Exile, the current refugee population of Tibetans living
outside the People’s Republic of China is of approximately 145,150 individuals against the approximate 6 million
living in the Tibetan regions of the People’s Republic of China. http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php
196 It is worth noting here that although such a statement can be true in general, in Tibet the situation differs from
one region to another. While central Tibet and especially Lhasa retains an unmatched popularity as tourist attraction,
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The Religious Context: Religious Revivalism and Cultural Reassertions
Marxist ideology-backed Chinese policy makers attempted a systematic decimation of
monasteries in Tibet considered to be centers of “feudalism” (Ch. fengjian zhuyi) and “class-
based exploitation” of serfs and slaves. This resulted in an irrevocable reduction of resident
monastic populations and the launching of a large-scale campaign aimed at weakening their
socio-religious influence over the population undermining and diminishing the scope of any
further religious, cultural, and socio-political development in Tibet for two decades.197 Here my
argument emphasizes that the traditional monastic institutions have been weakened
institutionally, financially, and psychologically by decades of atheist repression. Much of the
Chinese propaganda towards Tibet is aimed at justifying the PRC claims of territorial unity. One
of the most popular narrative tropes used by Chinese Communist apologists and party leaders to
portray Tibet before the introduction of democratic reforms was that of a land devastated by
feudalism. They deploy Marxist idiom of feudal estate-holders, serfdom, slavery, and
superstitions, and highlight their success with the “emancipated serfs and slaves” who nowadays
enjoy freedom, benefits, and human rights. 198
the same can not be stated with regard to other major Tibetan regions and towns. Apart from Lhasa and other major
urban areas of central Tibet, such as gZhis ka rtse and rGyal rtse, actually only Xining in Qinghai province, the
home of sKu ’bum monastery, and Lan zhou in Gansu province, home of the Bla brang monastery, are destinations
of both domestic and international mass tourism. Although the Chinese government and local administrations are
developing the tourist industries at the local level, most of Khams and A mdo are still much less visited by tourists
than central Tibet and bordering cities.
197 Such an official stance towards the status of Tibet and its historical past has been diffused by the Chinese
government in many ways. A renowned booklet was distributed among Chinese embassies in the 1970s which
promoted the official Chinese stance on Tibet and its view on the historical, social, cultural, religious, and
demographical status of the land. Known in English by the title 100 Questions and Answers about Tibet, the booklet
became popular among Tibet experts and analysts. A recent publication, Le Tibet est-il Chinois? Réponses à cent
questions chinoises (edited by Anne-Marie Blondeau and Katia Buffetrille, 2002) provides a refutations to Chinese
historical prerogatives. An overview in English of the Chinese position on the status of Tibet and the “100 Questions
and Answers” can be accessed on the Internet at several websites. For instance, see the official Chinese website on
Tibet at http://www.tibetinfor.com.cn for general information. For a complete updated version of 100 Questions and
Answers about Tibet see also http://www.tibetinfor.com.cn/tibetzt-en/question_e/index.htm.
198 Due to the absence of reliable figures it is still difficult to know how many monks and nuns there were in Tibet
before the Chinese takeover. Estimates limited to the areas of central Tibet report a monastic population existed
there of at least 25,000 monks among the main three monastic centers of Se ra, Bras spungs, and dGa’ ldan in Lhasa.
Rf. Shakya (1999: 252). According to Chinese figures, the monastic population in central Tibet in the late 1950s was
estimated between 110,000 and 115,000, which constituted more than 9% of the population of central Tibet. See
Shakya (1999: 253) and Smith (1997: 474). In 1960 the population of monks and nuns was estimated at little more
than 18,000 and in the period 1958-1960 the number of monasteries and temples was estimated to have dropped
from 2,711 to 370 in the TAR alone. See also Smith (1997: 474). However, the figures concerning the number of
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One consequence of these dramatic facts was, therefore, a progressive decline of the
monastic-led authority in the religious sphere, which contributed to a decentralization of
legitimacy and religious authority from monastic-centered institutions to alternative forms of
religious community. In the long run this alteration has triggered a Tibetan response in their
newly “colonized” world. The weakening of the once dominant power of monastic estates and
the shift of century-long centralized authority over religious affairs from religious leaders to the
new ruling secular (Communist) elite has created “openings” for other, alternative forms of
religious gatherings. Large monasteries in Tibet have been consistently deprived of their
traditional key role in the political, economic, and educational spheres. Although many
monasteries in various regions of central and eastern Tibet still offer scholastic curricula, the
standards of monastic education have decreased considerably.199 Such a gap has been, however,
progressively filled by a resurgence and popularization of other forms of religious gatherings
such as quasi-monastic religious encampments and mountain hermitages and activities of
spiritual guidance such as charismatic leadership by both celibate and non-celibate personalities.
Contemporary examples of these religious communities are quasi-monastic
encampments, known in Tibetan as sgar or chos sgar, and mountain hermitages (ri khrod).
Although the monastic populations of these religious communities are less than those of the large
monastic estates of the past, a few among them have witnessed peaks of resident population
unthinkable in the PRC until a few years ago. The religious-philosophical curricula offered in
these encampments are also more appropriate to the new socio-political circumstances. Whereas
scholasticism continued to characterize traditional monastic education, in many religious
encampments, Tantric ritualism, various systems of contemplation, and a wide range of esoteric
practices are the focus of instruction. 200 These religious communities in contemporary Tibet
populated not only by Tibetan as well as Han Chinese female and male monastics, but also by
lay devotees, have generally grown around highly charismatic religious figures whose scriptural
knowledge and contemplative virtuosity are in unison with claims of Treasure revelation and
monastics in Tibet until 1955 differ considerably when we consider the recent TIN publication of The Secret Report
of the 10th Panchen Lama (1997: 52) where a total population of 110,000 monks and nuns is reported to exist in all
of Tibet. This leads us to surmise that the inclusion of monastics from Khams and A mdo would considerably
increase the figure. Furthermore, the same report also provides a figure of 7,000 monastics living in monasteries at
the end of 1958, implying that the decrease of monastic population from 1955 to 1958 amounted to 93%.
199 Goldstein (1998).
200 For a detailed view of Tibetan classic education, especially within dGe lugs pa schools, please refer to Dreyfus
(2003).
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visionary endowments. Despite the nearly three decades of stick-and-carrot religious control,
religion is not eclipsed in Tibet. The fact that Tibetans embrace alternative ways of religious
gathering and dissemination of traditional education is a sign of the necessity to resist the new
socio-political circumstances in order to support their cultural legacy.
In recent years the increased visibility of non-celibate Tantric teachers and the flowering
of their quasi-monastic religious communities have been the main contributors to the
revitalization of religious discourses, ritual praxis, publication of religious material, and
scriptural authority in contemporary Tibet. In the reconstitution of Tibetan sacred geography and
landscape and in the attempt to re-appropriate specific ritual agendas within the Buddhist sphere
of modern Tibet, these non-celibate Tantric teachers have been the central figures. Since the
conventional production of Buddhist textual material and its formal study had been under
restrictive control by Chinese authorities and biased by contemporary policies of the PRC,
visionary and Treasure revelation methods of Buddhist transmission have found a fertile terrain
for their diffusion. As shown in the previous chapter, these forms of scriptural legitimacy,
charismatic virtuosity, and religious transmission have been developed within both monastic and
non-celibate religious communities especially in many areas of eastern Tibet. In the 1990s in
regions such as Khams, a certain relaxation towards the application of religious policy has been
more evident than elsewhere. 201 In particular, some forms of religious practice such as the
visionary, revelatory, and literary activities of rNying ma Treasure revealers have acquired
significant visibility in the religious landscape. This is one of the major factors that has
contributed to the re-invigoration of religious practice and maintenance of Buddhist identity in
today’s Tibet. The increasing magnitude of the phenomenon of religious encampments has
provoked great concern for Chinese Communist authorities as these large rNying ma religious
encampments are hosting enormous resident populations gathered around religious personalities
who are not only renowned Buddhist teachers but are also known for being gter ston, Treasure
revealers.
The many issues regarding Tibet’s ancient and recent past raised by both Tibetan and
Western analysts have highlighted the legal status of Tibet and its political annexation to
China.202 However, in recent years an increasing numbers of works have appeared in the fields of
201
Germano (1998: 56).
202
A general overview of the legal status of Tibet according to Western international law can be provided by van
Walt van Praag (1987), and by visiting the website of the Tibet Justice Center at www.tibetjustice.org
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religious and social studies that contribute to the understanding of Tibetan religious practices and
social life in the face of modernity in the new Sinicized cultural environment. When it comes to
the state of religious practice and cultural identity in present-day Tibet some scholars of religions
have spoken recently of “cultural revival” and “religious renaissance.”203
An important observation with regard to religious revivalism in Tibet is that this
phenomenon reflects the complexities of Tibetans’ attempts to adapt to the new circumstances
and their efforts in maintaining and transmitting their cultural heritage. As Goldstein observes:
[…] the matrix of beliefs and practices that comprise Tibetan Buddhism have not been restored to their
original state like frozen vegetables defrosted in a microwave oven. Some individual cultural traits have
reemerged identical with the past, but others have reappeared somewhat changed, and still others have
not reemerged at all. In still other cases, views held by a minority in the old society have now gained
prominence. And this process has not been homogeneous throughout the areas where Tibetan
Buddhism was practiced. Not only were there historical differences between political and ethnographic
Tibet […], but differing local socio-political conditions have also fostered variant adaptations and new
complexes of beliefs and practices. Tibetan religion, therefore, has not simply reappeared. Rather, a
dynamic process of adaptation has occurred, and is still occurring.204
More importantly, as I argue below, the new dynamics of religious practice and community
organization, as in the case of Treasure revealers and their hermitages and encampments, are
clearly operating under a new system of political control, social surveillance, and ideological
pressure. Most current Tibetan religious leaders’ attempts to pursue the ideal dynamics of overt
religious practices and informal gatherings will inevitably jeopardize Chinese efforts to maintain
control over the organization of Buddhist practice in Tibet. When it comes to the connection
between religious revival in Tibet and nationalism, such a relationship is not a straightforward
one. Difficulties in the analysis of such topics arise when confronted with the complexity of
issues of identity and national aspirations in Tibet. Studies on contemporary Tibet, Tibetan
nationalism, and manifestations of ethnic identity are increasing and they are mostly concerned
with post-Cultural Revolution in Tibet and Tibetan responses to Chinese policies in China.
In the case of Tibetan nationalism, religion and national identity are intimately connected.
Being sentiments shared and generated by communities experiencing loss and oppression,
nationalism and national identity are political principles usually advocated in response to
203 In this regard see, for instance, the influential essays contained in Goldstein and Kapstein (1998). See also Smith
(1997: 577-83), where he speaks of “revival of religion, culture and nationalism,” which for Tibetans was a
“communal experience with inevitable political significance, given the traditional relationship between religion and
politics.”
204 Goldstein (1998: 11).
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attempts at violation against a state or nation and thus aim at unity of ethic boundaries, culture,
religion, and language. 205 However, in this regard Kapstein maintains that the nationalistic
aspiration of Tibetans is not to be understood as emerging from religion only. He claims that
Tibetan nationalism is the result of Tibetans’ aversion to Chinese domination. In his words:
Despite the struggles and hardships of recent decades, Tibetan national identity remains a potent
cultural force in the Tibetan regions of China, and its vitality is powerfully supported by the ongoing
revival of traditional Tibetan religious activity. The factors that have encouraged the emergence of
genuine nationalism, however, have not grown out of the traditional religion per se; rather, antipathy to
Chinese domination as it has developed so far combined with the positive ideal of Tibetan autonomy
and freedom, embodied for many in the figure of the Dalai Lama, are probably the key factors here. But
the national religion, by offering innumerable reminders of harm done to Tibet under Chinese rule and
by accentuating distinctively Tibetan beliefs and values, does underscore both.206
According to some scholars, although the Chinese state has embarked on more open thinking
about religious affairs, with such regulations of religious activities it nevertheless continues to
maintain strong control on the legality and legitimacy of religious organizations. 207 Self-
determination activities and separatist activities are often seen as associated with religious
activities in ethnic minorities’ areas (not only Tibet, but also Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia) and
are considered to be a threat to the economic development and internal stability of the country.208
Therefore, in order to maintain complete control over the country, the Chinese government’s
political agenda opposes any anti-establishment movement, unregistered religious group, and
private religious meeting. 209 The Chinese state guarantees freedom of religious belief and
205 In the definition of Gellner (2003: 1), “Nationalism is primarily a political principle, which holds that the political
and the national unit should be congruent. Nationalism as a sentiment, or as a movement, can be best defined in
terms of this principle. Nationalist sentiment is the feeling of anger aroused by the violation of this principle, or the
feeling of satisfaction aroused by its fulfillment. A nationalist movement is one actuated by a sentiment of this
kind.”
206 Kapstein (1998: 148-49).
207 Hornemann (2005: 40).
208 In a recent work Minzu wenti yu zhongguo fazhan (The Problem of Ethnic Minorities and the Development of
China), Chinese political scientist Wu Shimin (2000) provides an insightful view of the situation of ethnic
minorities-related problems in the PRC. He writes that one of the main issues concerning the problem of ethnic
minorities in today’s China is that the situation substantially differs from the problems at the time of the
establishment of China in 1910. Furthermore, he provides two specific features related to the problems of ethnic
minorities. First, being ethnic minorities that are part of China, whatever problem arises within their communities is
an issue of internal affairs and unity is an essential aspect related to ethnic minorities for the Chinese authorities.
Second, in contemporary China, the core of ethnic minorities’ issues is the problem of development. Wu (2000: 2-
5). See also Dreyer (2006: 279-203) and Rossabi (2004).
209 In 2004, more than one hundred private meeting locations were closed because they were considered offensive to
the public opinion, and the religious leaders had to cancel all the religious activities and promise obedience to the
“Regulations.” Li and Zhang (2005: 67, n. 5).
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practice but only accepts “normal clerical activities” and “normal religious activities,” concepts
that due to their ambiguity can cause several consequences:
Religious organizations in China run their own affairs independently and set up religious schools,
publish religious classics and periodicals, and run social services according to their own needs. As in
many other countries, China practices the principle of separating religion from education; religion is not
a subject taught in schools of the popular education in China, although some institutions of higher
learning and research institutes do teach or conduct research into religion. The various religious schools
and institutes set up by the different religious organizations teach religious knowledge in line with their
own needs. All normal clerical activities conducted by the clergy and all normal religious activities held
either at sites for religious activities or in believers’ own homes in accordance with usual religious
practices, such as worshipping Buddha, reciting scriptures, going to church, praying, preaching,
observing Mass, baptising, monkhood initiation, fasting, celebrating religious festivals, observing
extreme unction, and holding memorial ceremonies, are protected by law as the affairs of religious
bodies and believers themselves and may not be interfered with.210
Despite the more flexible policy changes towards religion and religious practice that the central
government has embraced in recent years, the suspicion of the subversive nature of religion has
not been washed away. In the attempt to keep internal stability and unity, the central government
regularly promulgates rules and regulations to strengthen surveillance over religious
organizations, contacts with or influence from Western institutions, and the promotion of
Marxist atheist retorics of religious superstition and popular beliefs.211
In 2004 a new set of regulations and requirements for religious institutions was
promulgated in the PRC in Chinese and other nationalities’ languages. Officially released on
November 2004, the “Regulations of Religious Affairs” (Ch. Zongjiao shiwu tiaoli; Tib. Chos
lugs las don skor gyi srol yig, henceforth Regulations) re-emphasizes the rules concerning the
administration of religious bodies and institutions, religious clergy, and religious activities in the
PRC.212 Although the action reflects the Chinese State Council’s attempt to regulate religious
activities in the country, China analysts from within and outside China have observed that the
210 http://www.sara.gov.cn/GB/zgzj/
211 Hornemann (2005: 40).
212 The copy in my possession is in Tibetan and was published by the Religious Affairs Bureau of dKar mdzes
Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (dKar mrdzes rang skyong khul chos lugs las don cus). It was diffused in eastern
Tibet by the end of November 2004 and announced the set of laws published therein was to become effective March
1, 2005. I have seen copies of the Regulations in almost every monastery visited in areas of dKar mrdzes and mGo
log in eastern Tibet. I have found copies of the Regulations in some monasteries and nunneries I visited in the TAR
as well in the winter and summer of 2005. Although copies of the Regulations have been distributed by local
governments in all regions of Tibetan ethinic areas in Tibetan, some regions, such as the TAR, have copies in both
Chinese and Tibetan. For an English translation of the Regulations see “Newly Promulgated Religious Affairs
Provisions” in Chinese Law and Religion Monitor Journal, 2005, 2 (April-June), pp. 52-66 and online at
http://www.monitorchina.org/images/journals/journal2_e.pdf.
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promulgation of the Regulations does not provide any improvement on previous laws on the
matter. 213 As a matter of fact, with the PRC State Council’s new legal emphasis on the
registration (Ch. dengji) of all religious institutions and activities, more pressure has been put on
those “un-registered” religious institutions, which are, therefore, considered illegal in the
country.” 214 Chinese policy makers perceive anti-establishment groups such as non-state
approved religious communities, millenarian sects, and underground movements as acting
against the country’s interests and therefore as threats to social order that need to be under strict
control.215 Other groups of political dissent in PRC include some ethnic minority communities
and disadvantaged socio-economic groups. 216 Today, China’s ethnic minorities’ (Ch. shaoshu
minzu) issues are of high priority in the PRC’s political agenda. The relationship between
religion and ethnic minorities is clear if we consider that the promulgation of the Regulations and
the general administration of religion in minority ethnic areas is in the hands of the Ethnic and
Religious Bureau (Ch. minzongju).217
213 Hornemann (2005), Jiang (2005), Wang (2005), Li and Zhang (2005).
214 Chinese Law and Religion Monitor, 2005, 2 (April-June), pp. 2-3.
215 In this regard see MacInnis (1972, 1989), Pas (1989), and Luo (1991). For a survey of Chinese state policy on
religion see Potter (2003), Leung (1995; 2005), and Spiegel (1997; 2004).
216 It is worth remembering in this context that one of the highest profile anti-CCP forms of dissent over the decade
has been the Falun gong cult. The movement has attracted adherents inside and outside China. Chinese authorities
have responded with severe measures, arresting and imprisoning thousands of citizens in the country. Western
human rights groups attack China on the basis of religious intolerance and human rights abuses. Despite the
magnitude of the movement, some analysts claim that the Falun gong lacks a solid and well-organized structure
inside PRC and that its religious and spiritual claims are considered controversial since its founder Li Hongzhi has
no real mass support among the population (Schechter 2000: 3-5). Therefore, this might mean that the Falun gong
movement fails to pose a serious challenge to the government. Nevertheless in 1999 the PRC proclaimed Falun
gong an illegal religious cult and banned its practice. See Chang (2001: 17-25) and Schechter (2000). A useful help
in the study of the Falun Gong phenomenon in China is Berend ter Haar’s website Falung Gong at
http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/bth/falun.htm. Also, for economic reasons, another wave of dissent is challenging the
Chinese government. The rapid economic transformations produced in the PRC during the last decade have opened
vast opportunities but at the same time they have greatly increased uncertainty and insecurity. Unemployment,
industrial workers’ and farmers’ discontent all pose serious problems to the Chinese leadership. Industrial as well as
rural areas have witnessed a growth in social unrest due to the hardships in struggling to cope with the changes in
the Chinese economy.
217 Today a large amount of information related to PRC state policy and internal affairs can be accessed via the
Internet by visiting, for instance, the official website of the PRC in English: http://www.china.org.cn/english. For
specific issues related to ethnic minorities (Ch. shaoshu minzu) of the PRC see also www.china.org.cn/e-
groups/shaoshu/index.htm. As for Tibet, a significant amount of information on Tibetans and Tibet is available on
Chinese websites run by PRC government authorities and other associated entities. Most of them are directed to
Chinese readers within the PRC, although a number among them also provide English language pages. See, for
instance, http://www.tibetinfor.com.cn/english and China’s Tibet Facts and Figures 2002 at
http://www.china.org.cn/english/tibet-english.htm. The Tibet Information Network (TIN) has recently produced a
detail special report on the portrayal of Tibetans and Tibet on Chinese state sponsored websites in the PRC, “China’s
Tibet Online: Tibet and Tibetans in PRC Government Websites”, available at http://www.tibetinfo.net/news-
update/2003/websr/0309.htm
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Tight control by the PRC government over religious expression, in particular any
organized form of religious practice, is present at all levels of local authority in Tibet today. In
asserting their control, central and local government authorities use a variety of measures such as
limiting population in monasteries and nunneries, securing political allegiance of monastic
candidates, restricting enrollment to people who are 18 years old or older, truncating monastic
education, dictating selection of monastic leaders, outlawing of traditional religious rituals,
prohibiting Tibetan Party members and government workers to practice any form of religion, and
requiring political indoctrination in monasteries and nunneries.218 The PRC’s control on religion
and religious activities in China, as well as in Tibet, has been focused on various issues that
reflect the overall concern of the central government’s ideological rationale: a Marxism-based
atheist viewpoint. Additionally, major emphasis was put on the necessity to update the education
system, which in Tibet was predominantly religious and therefore seen as backward and not in
harmony with social progress and human development. As a consequence, monasteries,
nunneries, and other religious educational institutions, where monks and nuns are educated and
trained, have been the object of surveillance and revision because of their role as traditional
education organizations. As a number of scholars have pointed out, the sense is that the rules and
regulations concerning religious affairs in the PRC have been promulgated to support the central
government’s political plans rather than to protect human rights.219
One of the major forms of control is the onerous requirement that all religious
organizations, and especially education institutions, need to be state-approved in order to
operate.220 This control continues to this day. In their quest to reorganize religious activities and
especially to revitalize traditional religious education, Tibetans have been forced to look
elsewhere for religious authority and culture in their land. This ongoing process is particularly
evident in peripheral areas of Tibet, namely Khams, where charismatic forms of spiritual
leadership and the role of religious encampments and non-monastic communities as centers of
religious education and learning are demonstrations of resistance against the state’s repression of
religious activities and adaptation to the new political order. Due to their loose organizational
structure and lack of systematic forms of administration, financial accounting, resident
218 Academic research on this topic is scarce. In contrast, they are priority concern for human rights organizations.
For a detailed report on Chinese control in Tibet was published by the Tibet Information Network and Human
Rights Watch/Asia, Cutting Off the Serpent’s Head: Tightening Control on Tibet 1994-1995, (1996).
219 Jiang Shihua (2005); Joshua Wang (2005); Hornemann (2005).
220 See Article 15 of the “Newly Promulgated Religious Affairs Provisions,” Chinese Law & Religious Monitor
(2005: 57). Hornemann (2005: 43).
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population, or enrollment system, these usually succeed in avoiding any formal registration with
the local registration authority (Ch. dengji guangli), thus largely precluding any major involvent
of the government in the internal affairs of the community. Furthermore, religious monastic
institutions in the PRC report directly to the government’s Religious Affairs Bureau (Ch.
zongjiaoju) while non-monastic communities report to local authorities, who, in the case of
Tibetan areas, are usually low-level Tibetan cadres and Public Security Bureau (Ch. gonganju)
officials. These are often either devotees to the local Tibetan lama or are at least ready to apply
some toleration to the religious practices in the area.
In the general climate of the revision of policies towards religion, in 1982, a new state
Constitution was issued and a specific article, Article 36, was established to accommodate the
practice of religion and religious belief.221 With the adoption of a new State constitution in 1982,
religious practice received renewed attention and specific definitions were provided to clarify the
State position concerning the practice of religion. It was also at this time that religion became
more accepted in terms of a state policy and the specific policies set down by the Constitution
had a major affect on all religious movements in China.222 As for Tibetan religions, the impact of
this new law resulted in the central and local state concession to restore monasteries and
religious sites, as well as the re-appropriation of popular religious practices. At the time, this
shift in state-led religious policy was perceived by the populace with due hesitation and
scepticism. With the burgeoning domestic and international tourist industry, monasteries,
temples, and also colorful regional folk and religious festivals have been turned into lucrative
tourist attractions.223
The PRC’s relaxation of its grip on religious institutions and practitioners which began in
the 1980s set the stage for Tibetans’ steady reconnection with their past, their cultural lore, and
traditional forms of religious education. Sacred religious sites began to be visited again and
monasteries allowed restoration, repair, and in many cases reconstruction. Pilgrimage,
221 The law concerning freedom of religion was included in all Constitutions of the PRC since its foundation in
1949. A law concerning freedom of religious belief and protection of legitimate religious practice was specifically
included in the Article 36 of the state Constitution established in 1982. See MacInnis (1989). See also Potter (2003)
and Leung (1995, 2006). For a general overview of the religious policy of the PRC and the 1982 State Constitution
see also Stockwell (1993) and TIN (1999). A series of articles and reports on the religious policy of the PRC and its
repercussions for Tibet are accessible on the Internet. See for instance the Tibet Information Network website:
www.tibetinfo.org and the International Campaign for Tibet: www.savetibet.org.
222 See MacInnis (1989), Luo (1991), and Spiegel (1997; 2004) for an overview of the Chinese religious policy and
state of religion in the PRC.
223 A case study about the results of these policies in Tibetan regions of the PRC is the TIN’s Relative Freedom?
(1999). See. also Marshall (1997).
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circumambulation, and popular religious practices were restored. Abandoned rituals such as
visiting and making offerings at monasteries and temples, prostrations, worships of deities, and
local cults were reintroduced. It should be noted that while these popular forms of religious
practice were allowed, the same degree of concession in terms of practice and ritual performance
was not always given to institutionalized forms of Buddhism such as monasticism.224 Certainly
this resurgence of popular religious activity also extended to the re-appropriation of other
religious traditions such as the sprul sku tradition, Treasure revelation, and charismatic healing
practices.225 Many Tibet scholars agree that while Buddhism is one of the fundamental elements
of Tibetans’ sense of cultural identity, only recently Tibetans have begun to experience a
nationalistic spirit only recently as a consequence of the dramatic events associated with the
annexation to thr PRC, the flight of the Dalai Lama into exile in 1959, and the politics of exile.226
The Dharamsala-based Tibetan government in exile points out that the union of religion and
politics (chos srid zung ’brel) was the right way to rule their own country.227 The government of
the PRC is aware of this aspect of the Tibetan culture and sees it as a real threat to its authority.
Smith has pointed out how a resurgence of religious fervor in Tibet is indeed perceived by the
CCP as a political threat.228 Mass religious activities and the presence of leading and influential
religious personalities are still frowned upon and strictly controlled by Chinese authorities. In
particular CCP party leaders see mass gatherings and charismatic religious leaders as potential
224 Smith (1997: 578).
225 In 2000-2001, during one of my fieldwork trips in sKye rgu mdo (Yushu TAP) I was often told stories about a
Tibetan religious figure known by the name of mTshams pa sGrub thob. People told me he used to live around gSer
thal in Khams and that he was known for his healing skills and his therapeutic assistance to people. He was
particularly known for his ability to remove tumors and to heal internal infections by placing his hands on the patient
without any use of surgical tools. He used to see his patients at his home, but he would also travel around in Khams
when people needed his help. His fame was widespread in sKye rgu mdo, where pictures of him were available in
the market stands. Pictures could be found portraying him alone and also together with other major religious
personalities such as mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs and Grub dbang lung rtogs rgyal mtshan. I was told that he
passed away in the fall of 2001 while traveling in sKye rgu mdo. Regarding healing powers, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje and bKra shis rgyal mtshan are also known for the power of their breath and saliva, which is blown on wounds
and affected areas of ill people, such as skin infections and muscle pains. At the patients request, bDe chen ’od gsal
rdo rje or bKra shis rgyal mtshan would blow or in some cases spit water from his mouth on the infected, wounded,
or painful area of the body.
226 See for instance Blondeau (2001), Smith (1997: 579), and Dreyfus (1994, 1995, 1998, 1999).
227 “Buddhism flourished in Tibet in the seventh century. Receiving royal patronage, it spread throughout Tibet.
With the assumption of power by the Dalai Lamas from 1642 onwards, with the rule of the fifth Dalai lama Nga
dbang blo bzang rgya mtsho, the era of ‘the harmonious blend of religion and politics’ (chos srid zung ’brel) was
established in Tibet. Since then, for three-and-a-half centuries, ten successive Dalai Lamas have been the spiritual
and temporary rulers of Tibet.” See “Religion and National Identity” at
http://www.tibet.com/WhitePaper/index.html.
228 Smith (1997: 578).
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triggers for “counterrevolutionary” and separatist activities, destruction of Communism, and
claims to self-determination.
The reassertion of religious practice and activities in Khams in the mid-1980s and the
number of monasteries, nunneries, and temples that were restored and opened at the same time
produced an unexpected growth in numbers of monks and nuns. This revival of religious practice
in eastern Tibet combined with the undeterred resistance to eliminate the religious and political
image of the Dalai Lama worry the Chinese authorities, who consider this part of Tibetan
nationalist claims and a threat to Chinese internal unity.229
Resurgence of Traditional Icons: Ge sar and the Treasures
The charismatic leadership and the popularization of the chos sgar in eastern Tibet today are
associated with religious personalities’ prophetic visionary activities and Treasure revelation. As
we have already briefly seen above, most of the chos sgar leaders claim to be Treasure revealers
(gter ston): most of them are known for having retrieved several gter ma items and multiple
volumes of Tantric teachings. Revelations, especially when public, have generated widespread
popularity for such leaders across the Tibetan plateau and China alike.
Every Treasure revealer claims that their revelation is a memory. As a memory, it is
therefore a reconnection to the past Tibet, which renews an ideal link to the “golden age” of
Imperial Tibet (sixth to ninth century), the origins of the diffusion of Buddhist teachings in the
country. Given the overarching concern by gter ston with psycho-mnemonic investments, which
underlie political confrontations, it is quite significant that the narrative of the Treasure tradition
in Tibet grants so privileged a place to such revelations and discoveries. Although there seems to
be no apparently systematic association in Treasure literature between gter ma revelation (gter
’don/gter bzhes) and memory (dran pa), the regular presence of Tibet’s imperial past to valorize
the gter discourse provides nevertheless evidence of the use of a historical memory in the
construction of legitimacy and authority.230
229Smith (1997: 577).
230Gyatso (1986) and Kapstein (1992) have discussed the notion of dran pa in Tibetan Tantric literature. Terms
such as dran pa, “memory”, and dran related words, for instance, are abundantly attested in the literature of the
rdzogs chen (Great Perfection), which is itself closely related to the gter ma tradition. Dreyfus (1998: 29-30) also
emphasizes the mnemonic nature of Treasure texts observing that the rNying ma tradition assigns a privileged status
to Treasure texts as reminiscences of historical events.
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Treasures in their forms both as sacred objects and doctrinal scriptures are first of all a
source of religious identity for present eastern Tibetans. 231 As we have already seen in the
previous chapter, the narrative concerning the origin of the gter ma concealment and the
emergence of the early gter ston is associated with a specific historical period and the
recognition of specific individuals as founders and promulgators of Buddhism on the Tibetan
plateau. More importantly the whole tradition reconnects to an ideal era of Tibetan political and
cultural dominance, which is the source of pride and historical significance to the Tibetan
community. Therefore, the implied association of an idealized glorious past involved in the gter
ma revelation tradition becomes a legitimacy device used to underscore the subjective claim to
religious authority and power. Indeed the gter ston, as an incarnate person, is believed to be able
to perform mnemonic feats that enable him to recollect pivotal historical events from his
previous lives and places where these events and specific actions, such as the concealment of
Treasure caskets or the delivery of Treasure teachings took place. From the Tibetan point of
view, the Treasure revealer, therefore, has the power to reconnect himself to the glorious past
and the saintly people who contributed to the dissemination of Buddhism in the land, thus
making the gter ston a de facto messenger (pho nya) and representative (sku tshab) of those
religious personages who taught in the eighth century.
Some scholars have pointed out aspects of Treasure literature, such as the association
between Buddhist teachings and Tibetan religious and political figures of the past developed in
Treasure narratives, emperor Srong btsan sgam po with the Ma6i bka’ ’bum and emperor Khri
srong lde’u btsan in the Padma bka’ thang, as particularly relevant for their nationalist
underpinnings. 232 This link between roysl figures and Treasures provides ground to the
legitimacy claims advanced by the rNying ma tradition for its doctrinal corpus. Much of the
cultural identity expressed with the revelations of Treasures is nostalgically linked to the
memory of those times when Tibet was powerful and independent, when religious kings (chos
rgyal) ruled the country, and when the Buddhist teachings contributed to the civilization of
Tibet.233
The peculiarity of today’s Tibetan nationalism is its religious nature. As Dreyfus
explains, what is relevant to the identification of Tibetan nationalism, or “proto nationalism,” to
231 Dreyfus (1998: 32).
232 Dreyfus (1998); Tucci (1949: 112).
233 Dreyfus (1998: 36).
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the opposition to Chinese dominance and to the defense of its collective identity is the traditional
sense of identity in the formation of a modern nationalism. He argues that:
The particularity of the nationalism that emerged in Tibet in the 1950s is that it deploys traditional
religious themes to define the nation. Instead of adopting the secular lingua usually associated with
modern nationalism, this nationalism defines the Tibetan nation using traditional Buddhist values such
as compassion, karma, and the bond between Tibetans and Avalokiteshvara. The nation thus defined is
not, however, traditional Tibet with its diversity of local cultural, social and political communities, but a
modern country united by its opposition to Chinese oppression.234
Indeed following the resurgence of some Tibetan religious practices, other expressions of
traditional culture have received renewed attention and consideration in the PRC. One of the
Tibetan cultural phenomena associated with the partial resurgence of Tibetan culture is, for
instance, the massive interest in the Tibetan epic of Ge sar of gLing, the heroic tale so popular
among many Tibetans, especially in the eastern regions of Khams and A mdo. Among the oldest
and longest epic poems in the world, the epic of Ge sar, usually referred to in Tibetan simply as
“the epic” (sgrung), tells the stories and adventures of the great hero Ge sar, who ruled the
legendary land of gLing.235 The epic is rich in historical and religious elements linked to Imperial
Tibet, early kings, Padmasambhava, and the diffusion of Buddhism in the land of snows.
Nationalistic, if not patriotic, overtones also abound in the epic since King Ge sar’s main
preoccupation and the core of the epic is fighting enemies often represented by Hor tribes of
Mongolian descent and thus seen as foreign aggressors. The epic of Ge sar belongs to the oral
tradition and as such has many similarities with Treasure revelation. The Ge sar story-tellers
(sgrung babs, sgrung mkhan) are inspired singers believed to gain access to the epic by visionary
means.236
Although the epic has always played an essential role in the cultural life especially for
eastern Tibetans in the last decade, Chinese Tibetological circles have showed great interest in
Ge sar literature.237 The PRC government treats the diffusion of Ge sar literature ambiguously.
Many Chinese scholars of Tibetan culture focus on the study and publication of episodes of the
epic, developing study groups and study centers, such as the King Ge sar Study Center of the
234 Dreyfus (2002: 42).
235 Stoddard (1996: 144).
236 See Samuel (1992).
237 Stoddard (1996: 143-44).
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Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Chinese scholars have made significant efforts to promote
the diffusion of the epic in Tibet, China, and abroad in the last decades.238
Despite the literary value of the epic, the figure of Ge sar is also an object of devotion
among Tibetans and is associated with a specific set of rituals and practices. The specific rituals
associated with Ge sar and other mountain cults are secular and religious like most Tibetan
cultural manifestations.239 The debate on Ge sar of gLing in Tibetan literature is pertinent to this
study for two main reasons. First, as just mentioned, the mythic figure of Ge sar is intimately
connected with Tibet’s imperial past and is considered to be a major catalyst of collective
identity. 240 Secondly, the relevance of the phenomenon “Ge sar” in Tibetan culture today is
visible not only on a regional level with events such as festivals, dances, itinerant story-tellers,
and the publication of episodes from the epic, but also in the presence, for instance, of forms of
liturgies and offering and invocation rituals (gsol mchod) dedicated to Ge sar as a deity and
largely produced through Treasure revelation. Although the composition and visionary revelation
of liturgical material dedicated to Ge sar is attested among various scholars of the past, recently
such an activity has been reasserted by many Treasure revealers in different parts of eastern
Tibet. 241 Historically, Ge sar has been also closely associated with religious movements. In
nineteenth-century Tibet, for instance, the ris med movement turned to Ge sar when the
movement’s main supporters, ’Jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha’ yas (1813-1899), ’Jam
238 See Stoddard (1996: 143-44, 147). For an idea of the magnitude of Chinese interests in Ge sar epic see also
“Research into Literature and Art” in Development in Tibetan Studies at the official website, www.tibet.cn/tibetzt-
en/zxyj/01/01_03.htm and the official Chinese web-site on “King Gesar” at
http://www.tibetinfor.com.cn/tibetzt/gesaer_en/doc/1000.htm. An International Academic Seminar on The Life of
King Gesar is held regularly in the PRC, which started in 1989, and an academic journal Zhongguo Ge sa’er
(China’s Gesar) is published in Chinese.
239 Karmay observes that the Ge sar epic literature and the mountain cult are two forms of secular and not religious
traditions. According to Karmay’s own investigations, both the Ge sar epic and the mountain cult play a central role
in the maintenance of collective identity in Khams and A mdo areas of Tibet, where, however, they are often kept
distinct from Buddhist involvements (1996: 114-15).
240 See Karmay (1994), and Dreyfus (1998).
241 ’Ju mi pham rgya mtsho (1846-1912) for instance produced a collection of liturgical compositions dedicated to
Ge sar in his gLing ge sar rgyal po’i gsol mchod skor phyogs bsgrigs and likewise did ’Jam mgon kong sprul blo
gros mtha’ yas (1813-1899) with a offering ritual (gsol mchod) to the deity Ge sar with his sKu rje ge sar bsangs
mchod dgos ’dod char ’bebs. Treasure revealers too have been quite productive in the revelations of Ge sar related
scriptures. One example is that of Nam mkha’ dri med rab ‘byams rin po che (b. 1939) who revealed and entire
cycle of Treasure scriptured about Ge sar titled Nam mkha’ dri med rab ’byams rin po chei dgongs gter gling rje ge
sar gyi sgrub skor. In the contemporary sphere a number of Treasure revealers have produced various materials
related to Ge sar both in liturgical and earth Treasure forms. Among the gter ston are bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje and
sKu gsum gling pa.
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dbyangs mkhyen brtse dbang po (1820-1892), and ’Ju mi pham rgya mtsho (1846-1912), chose
this heroic figure as one of the main symbols of their cultural campaign.242
The popularity of the epic of Ge sar is evident in almost all regions of Tibet where
pictorial reproductions of King Ge sar on thang ka painting scrolls and books and audiobooks of
episodes from the epic, in both Tibetan and/or Chinese, can be found on shelves of bookstores, in
village market stalls, and in shops. However, it is particularly in the societies of eastern Tibet
that Ge sar’s legendary deeds have found fertile soil for the development of a significant oral and
written tradition. As Samuel observes, the Ge sar epic has strong connections with many aspects
of society in Khams and A mdo, where episodes have been produced in great number in more
manuscripts than in any other area of Tibet.243
The iconic presence of Ge sar in the imagery of Tibetan Treasure revealers is visible in
the frequent associations claimed by contemporary gter stons with the hero of the epic, such as in
the case of mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs.244 mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs claimed to
remember a previous incarnation as the son of a general associated with Ge sar of gLing. On
many occasions, especially during public teaching sessions, he also performed offering rituals,
prayers, and blessings from liturgical material related to Ge sar.245 The incorporation of Ge sar
within Tibetan Buddhist Tantric rituals and devotional procedures of Tibetan Buddhism is a
fascinating topic of investigation, and Ge sar in his deistic form continues to be associated with
religion even in present-day Tibet in such works as offering rituals (gsol mchod). This is the case
for another Treasure revealer who lived in mGo log, the late O rgyan sku gsum gling pa (1933-
2009) whose most representative Treasure was apparently the “Gesar of Ling Empowerment.”246
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, as we shall see in detail in the Chapter Four, not only claims to
have been recognized as the reincarnation of the personal assistant and physician (lha rje) of Ge
sar of gLing, Kun dga’ nyi ma, who accompanied the hero into many battles, but also has
revealed scriptures, liturgies, and offering rituals of Ge sar. Interestingly, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje claims to have had access to many episodes and stories of Ge sar through visionary means
242 Dreyfus (1998: 43).
243 Samuel (1992: 711-12, 718). See also Stein (1959: 5).
244 Germano (1998) has commented on such claims by mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs, one of the major gter stons
today active in Tibet.
245 Germano (1998: 58-59). It is important to note here that religious figures are not the only individuals to claim
descent from Ge sar or from personalities of his entourage. As Samuel observes (1992: 716), many important Khams
families, such as that of gLing tshang, the most dominant state in Khams in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
before sDe dge state took power, have claimed direct descent from Ge sar or other characters in the epic.
246 http://www.omura.com/k_lingpa/Klingpa2.htm
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that he considers elements connecting him to his past life close to Ge sar. However, despite the
value that for many Tibetans such an undertaking would mean, he rje has never been interested
in recording his recollections as he does not consider himself a Ge sar storyteller.247
Treasure revelation and the epic of Ge sar are potent signs of cultural identity in that they
both pertain to the sphere of memory. Dreyfus has observed that in Tibet issues of religious
nationalism, such as identity and memory, are strictly associated with the symbolic power of gter
ma revelation, a conviction already expressed by Tucci, and Ge sar’s epic. Dreyfus maintains
that prior to 1959, the Tibetans’ sense of belonging to a distinct country was epitomized by the
shared memories associated with the discoveries of Treasure texts such as the Ma6i bka’ ’bum.248
He additionally remarks that Ge sar of gLing can be considered a powerful symbol of collective
identity and Tibetan nationalism since Ge sar not only belongs to a cluster of heroic figures from
a mythic golden age Tibet, but he also represents a model defining a sense of community among
Tibetans. 249 Such views, though, do not convince Blondeau whose response to Dreyfus’s
observations is quite pungent, especially with regard to the Treasure tradition. Not only does she
claim that Tibetans developed a sense of nationalism only after the dramatic events related to the
Chinese occupation of Tibet, the flight of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, and the development of the
Tibetan community in exile, but she also believes that there is no ground for such affirmations as
the glorification of a sense of nationalism contained in Treasure texts. She affirms that a detailed
analysis of early texts, such as the Zangs gling ma and the Ma6i bka’ ’bum would be enough to
prove that their version of the legendary history of the imperial era is not meant to glorify the
conquests and the political successes of the early emperors and kings, but rather their actions
towards the diffusion of Buddhism in the land and the conversions of their subjects.250
Although general remarks about issues of cultural identity and religious practice can be
made concerning Tibet as an overall entity, we should keep in mind that much of the situation
varies from region to region. According to my experience, there are areas of Khams and A mdo
247 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s personal communication. gNas chen Padma shel ri Hermitage, August 1998. bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje, has discovered two important texts related to Ge sar. One is the Ge sar sgo nas sba lcag
bsgrub pa’i gter mdzod, a ritual dedicated to Ge sar for the request to improve and prolong life. Another text is the
Ge sar gsol mchod, a ritual of offerings and invocations to Gesar. It is worth noting here that among bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje’s claims, there is also the ability to reveal entire episodes of Ge sar’s epic. However the revelation of Ge
sar’s epic is not the major focus of his activity, which is rather the transmission of Buddhism. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje’s oral communication. gNas chen Padma shel ri ri khrod, sKye rgu mdo, Qinghai, 1998.
248 Dreyfus (2002: 39).
249 Dreyfus (1998: 40-47).
250 Blondeau (2001: 116-119).
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where direct contact between Tibetan herdsmen, Han settlers, and government officials can still
be rather infrequent since local secular and religious life is predominantly located relatively far
from the modern Sinicized urban settlements. For instance, despite the increasing presence in
areas of Khams of Chinese cultural elements, architectural influences, political and
administrative control, and military settlements, expressions of local Tibetan culture and customs
can be easily observed. Tibetan culture seems to be “less under threat” in marginal areas of
Tibet, especially compared to the TAR.251 We should remember also that Khams and A mdo
identities, although marked by a shared sentiment of belonging to an idealized Tibet, have
nevertheless attempted on many occasions to distance themselves from a hierarchical and
centralized political and religious power that once dominated central Tibet and some peripheral
areas of eastern Tibet (such as Chab mdo). It is in such a context that the popularization of
religious cults such as Ge sar and Treasures can be seen as reassertions of identity and
continuation of cultural legacy.
Treasure Revealers, Religious Encampments, and Mountain Hermitages
As briefly noted above, one of the major religious phenomena contributing to the current
resurgence of Buddhism in Tibetan areas of Khams and in parts of A mdo, is the popularization
of religious centers called chos sgar, or religious encampments, hosting both monastic and non-
celibate residents. 252 As we shall see in this section, these large religious encampments, like
mountain retreats and hermitages, feature vibrant religious practices and increasing population
and are intimately associated with contemporary Treasure revealers.
Although religious encampments (chos sgar) already existed in pre-modern Tibet, they
have acquired renewed value in the present context. Non-monastic religious gatherings existed in
concert with monasteries and nunneries in the past. One of the most organized forms of such
religious encampments was the chos tshogs sgar chen, organized by the Karma bKa’ brgyud
between the late-fourteenth and early-seventeenth centuries. These large encampments
developed around some bKa’ brgyud leaders from the large crowds of pilgrims including clergy
251 Marshall describes the situation of sKye rgu mdo (Ch. Yu shu) as place where “Tibetan culture is less under
threat than in other places” despite the presence of the Chinese government and non-Tibetan settlers (1997: 2379-
2380).
252 Dreyfus (2003: 83).
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and lay people, coming from afar to enjoy the spiritual presence of the masters and to receive
teachings and empowerments. According to Thub bstan phun tshogs, the tradition of the Karma
pa’i chos tshogs sgar chen originated in the period of the Fourth Karma pa Rol pa’i rdo rje
(1340-1383). These earlier encampments were known by the name of Karma pa’i chos tshogs
sgar chen ’dzam gling rgyan (The Jewel of the World or the Great Buddhist Encampments of the
Karma pa), or simply chos sgar (religious encampment).253 Rol pa’i rdo rje’s role in these large
Buddhist congregations was as seminal as it was unexpected. Apparently, the first large chos
sgar developed around him in the late 1360s in the immediate aftermath of his return to mTshur
phu after years spent at the court of the last emperor of Yuan China, the Mongol Toghon Temur
(1333-1387). Thousands of pilgrims, devotees both non-celibate and monastic from Khams, A
mdo, and Mongolia, joined the Karma pa’s entourage on his way to mTshur phu and settled
down around him, many eager to work and attende to his needs, all striving for religious practice,
advice, and teachings.254
The tradition of the sgar chen continued with, and was further developed by, Rol pa’i rdo
rje’s successors. It was especially De bzhin gshegs pa (1384-1415) who engaged more actively
in the organization of the sgar chen community. After having spent a few years in China at the
court of the Ming emperor Yong Le (1402-1424), in 1407 he returned to Tibet. Just like his
predecessor, his fame spread enormously and devotees arrived from all over Tibet to meet him in
mTshur phu and stay close to him. The privilege of residing at the sgar chen grew considerably
and in order to solve disciplinary issues that could cause chaos at the encampment, the De bzhin
gshegs pa was forced to elaborate monastic regulations (bca’ khrims) for the resident
community.255 The sixth Karma pa mThong ba don ldan (1416-1453) put more emphasis on the
education system at the sgar chen, which was greatly expanded and included diverse disciplines,
such as mechanical and medical arts and grammatical treatises (bzo gso sgra tshad), textual
commentaries, and the study of the bKa’ ’gyur. Attention was also devoted to the exposition and
study of the Tantric texts. At the sgar chen mThong ba don ldan would bestow empowerments
of, and personally compose rituals and textual commentaries on, various deities such as
Vajradhātu, Chakrasaṃvara, and Vajrayoginī.
253 Thub bstan phun tshogs (1993).
254 Thub bstan phun tshogs (1993: 55-56).
255 Thub bstan phun tshogs (1993: 57).
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It was, however, with the seventh Karma pa Chos grags rgya mtsho (1454-1506) that
attempts were made to better regulate the life, administration, and religious practices at the
Karma pa’i chos tshogs sgar chen. A system of regulations (sgrig srol) for both resident
monastics and laypeople was finally produced. Under the support and patronage of the Ming
emperor Chen Hua (1464-1487), who was a devotee and patron of the sixth Karma pa, the
privileges and living conditions at the sgar chen developed to such a great extent that regulations
(srung bya) and discipline (sgrig khrims) were fixed and a new structure was elaborated for the
religious encampment. For instance, monk officials (las sne) wore a work hat (las zhwa) and
work robes (las gos) to be distinguished according to their rank. Similarly, the non-celibate
resident population who was asked to wear an encampment robe with a matching encampment
hat (zhwa gos).256
Although today’s religious encampments generally seem to bear similarities with the
chos tshogs sgar chen of the Karma pas in terms of structure and internal life, it is especially the
idea of gathering around an extraordinary Buddhist teacher and benefiting from a communal
lifestyle centered in the charismatic presence of a master that make these institutions comparable
to the original chos tshogs sgar chen. Today’s chos sgar, however, are also manifestations of the
devotees’ need for religious institutions that reproduce traditional styles of formal instruction and
religious practice. The social impact that chos sgar have on the local populace is particularly
evident in some areas of Khams and A mdo, such as sKye rgu mdo, dKar mdzes, and mGo
log. 257 Although the chos sgar are not well-defined entities and structural and organizational
features can vary from encampment to encampment, they are particularly interesting for a
number of reasons.
First, the majority of the currently active sgar in Khams are institutions that largely
represent rNying ma lineages with an educational approach that tends to be as inclusive of major
scholastic trends and contemplation systems as possible. Therefore, most chos sgar today strive
to offer a heterogeneous curriculum and an ecumenical style of instruction drawing on teachings
from the all major schools of Tibetan Buddhism.258 This tendency reflects, as we have seen in the
256 Thub bstan phun tshogs (1993: 57-58).
257 Much of the information below has been gathered during fieldwork sojourns carried out in various parts of the
Yushu TAP between 1998 and 2001. See Introduction in this volume for further details.
258 I am not aware of religious encampments in today’s Tibet other than rNying ma in their scholastic affiliation that
are official called sgar. It is difficult to provide exact figures about sgar settlements in today's Tibet. The term sgar
is often used in the common parlance to address relatively large communities of monks and nuns living in monastic-
like encampments developed around a charismatic religious leader. In Tibet I was told that there are a few more
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previous chapter, the continuation of the eighteenth-century predominantly rNying ma school’s
interests in a non-sectarian (ris med) approach encouraging the study and the diffusion of
Buddhist teachings in a largely ecumenical landscape. A number of these religious centers have
become key religious and social institutions that are nowadays pivotal in producing religion.
Second, as mentioned above, the founders of the chos sgar and the heads of many ri
khrod are influential religious leaders and Treasure revealers. The leaders of the chos sgar and of
many ri khrod currently active in Tibet claim for themselves the endowment of charismatic
powers, which become manifest predominantly as visionary revelations and discovery of
Treasure objects. Although Treasure revelations and visionary activities act as additional
qualities to some Buddhist masters principally known for their erudition and spiritual stature,
revelation is the paramount activity of others.
Third, the religious communities such as chos sgar and ri khrod alike provide the loci for
expressing enduring moral and ethical values and desires such as hosting diverse communities
and mutual support. This is especially true if we consider that these centers host a diversified
resident population of both monastic and non-celibate practitioners and devotees. Due to the
more flexible organization structure that these centers embrace, most chos sgar distinguish
themselves from monasteries by being a place where self-supporting lay practitioners engage
with monastics.
Fourth, moved by shifting priorities largely based on economic factors, the local state is
compelled to regulate and sometime to profit from the chos sgar and ri khrod rather than
suppress their religious activities. This gives the religious centers the opportunity to thrive and to
become valuable economic and symbolic resources for the local intelligentsia and political
activists. Despite the obvious growth that these religious encampments and mountain hermitages
are experiencing in Tibet today, these centers are nevertheless vulnerable to the changing
attitudes of the central but above all the local political leaders. Often the same authorities who
support or tolerate the very existence of the religious institutions are the ones who carry out
crackdown campaigns on them.
In the last two decades the revelation of gter ma items, especially in their most
spectacular and dramatic form, the discovery and extraction of religious objects from locales in
centers mainly belonging to the bKa’ brgyud and bKa’ rNying traditions in Khams that correspond to such a
description. But I am unable to provide detailed information about these Buddhist centers here. However, as also
reported in a few essays on the subject (Germano 1998, TCHRD 2001), most sgars also provide general curricula,
which enhance both rNying ma and non-rNying ma studies.
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public events, has been a powerful catalyst of devotion and admiration for enormous sections of
the populace. This phenomenon, as we shall see below, is not contained within Tibet only, but
has gained the attention of Chinese practitioners outside Tibet as well such as Han Buddhist
devotees who arrive in Tibetan areas to study with Tibetan masters at their communities.259 The
renewed popularity of charismatic forms of spiritual guidance inspired by Treasure revealers’
activities over the last two decades includes public revelations (’khrom gter) as well as the
opening of new “hidden valleys” (sbas yul), pilgrimage sites (gnas), and the establishment of
large religious encampments (sgar chen) and mountain hermitages (ri khrod) have acquired
renewed meaning. These are among the most striking indications of the attempt by some active
and influential Tibetan Buddhist leaders to reaffirm their sense of cultural identity and loyalty to
their religious community.
Within such a socio-political context, in certain regions of today’s Tibet such as Khams
and parts of A mdo, charismatic religious figures functioning independently and outside
traditional formal religious institutions of monasteries have gained strong support from the
people. Although often this has happened where historically religious authority rested with a
central monastic authority, today the majority of non-celibate Buddhist leaders perform their
religious activities in mountain hermitages (ri khrod) and religious encampments (chos sgar)
such as the rNying ma establishments of sNyan lung sgar, the Buddhist community established
by Nam sprul ’Jigs med phun tshogs and the Tsung sgar hermitage, led by Rig ’dzin nyi ma both
located in sNyan lung near gSer rta in mGo log. Religious encampments often interact and
overlap with formal monasteries, thus encouraging mobility and exchange in term of resident
population, instruction programs, and teachers. Most hermitages and mountain retreats house a
relatively small number of residents, but the same can not be said of some of the religious
encampments currently active in eastern Tibet, the largest of which can easily house thousands
of individuals such as bLa rung sgar, Ya chen sgar, and Lung sngon sgar.260
The state of religious practice and the survival of these encampments, however, are
complex because the application of religious policies changes from place to place in Tibet. The
popularity gained by the religious encampments that are active in northeastern Tibet today and
the fame achieved by their influential religious leaders preoccupies the central and local
259Birnbaum (2003), Terrone (Forthcoming).
260mKhan po ‘Jigs med phun tshogs’ bLa rung sgar is known by a various other names. The hermitage is known as
gSang chen ’od skur grol ba’i dben khrod. In 1985 the school was known by the name of bLa rung chos slob sa. The
official name is gSer rta bla rung lnga rig nang bstan slob gling after the formal founding of the institution in 1987
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authorities. As we have seen at the beginning of this chapter, the 2001 dramatic crackdowns on
the most populated and renowned chos sgar in Khams are reflections of the central government’s
concerns about mass religious gatherings and their related large-scale activities as they might be
potential threats to the internal stability in China. The vulnerability of religious institutions, as
well as the practice of religion in Tibet in general, lies in the fact that their very existence is
subject to the political whims of the local political authorities.261
Fifth, there is practically no formal admission to or enrolment in the encampment for
monks and nuns. In recent years local authorities have been particularly sensitive to the resident
population of sgar. However, despite the absence of clear regulations regarding the number of
monastics who can live at non-monastic centers, housing and the building of monastic quarters is
severily prohibited in many encampments such as bLa rung sgar and Ya chen sgar. Usually
monastics join an existing group of monks or nuns led by a mkhan po, or seminary teacher, in
charge of a specific group of students of a specific discipline. In the case of bLa rung sgar, for
instance, the monastic population is distributed between two separate religious complexes: one
for monks and one for nuns. The first is located in upper gSer rta bLa rung and consists of five
colleges: Nyes tshogs rang grol gling, ’Dod dgu kun ’byung gling, sNang sems dbang sdud gling,
Phyogs las rnam rgyal gling, and Don gnyis lhun grub gling. The lower bLa rung is occupied by
the sKu gsum mkha’ ’gro ’du gling nunnery with three branch nunneries: Lhan skyes chos sku’i
gling, sNgags skyes long sku’i gling, and the Zhing skyes sprul sku’i gling. Most of the
encampments welcome a religious population representing all traditions of Tibetan Buddhism
from all regions of Tibet. Many monastics reside only for relatively short periods of time
depending on their interest in obtaining a degree as mkhan po for monks, and mkhan mo, for
nuns. It is common for monastics to return to their home institutions after having completed their
studies successfully.
Sixth, lay Buddhist devotees and non-celibate Tantric practitioners live at the religious
encampments and engage with the monastics. It is quite common for chos sgar and ri khrod to
have quarters for lay people in some cases with their own congregation halls (tshogs khang)
where they can gather to attend the teachings and receive empowerments from the mkhan po.
This is one of the main features of religious communities of both chos sgars and ri khrod, which
261 Spiegel (2004: 41). For my discussion on Ya chen sgar and bLa rung sgar see below. Much has been reported on
the facts related to events mentioned above, especially by media. For an overview of Chinese policy towards Tibet
and religious issues in the land see in particular the Human Rights Watch Reports (1997; 2004).
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in most cases house resident populations of both monastics and non-celibate followers who live
together at the encampments, although usually in clearly demarcated areas based on gender.262 A
few large sgars, such as bLa rung sgar for instance, have appointed areas for assembly halls
specifically meant for laypeople (dge bsnyen). 263 Large gatherings in the main assembly hall
(tshogs khang) usually take place once a day when teachings and empowerments are formally
given by the main teacher specifically appointed to instruct lay devotees. Lay people thus live in
the peripheral quarters of religious complexes and often visit the main teachers (mkhan po) to
practice under their supervision.264
Seventh, due to the loose character of their organization, the chos sgars and ri khrod are
usually not formally institutionalized communities adhering to a fixed set of state regulations.
The existence of such quasi-monastic religious centers is rather vulnerable as it is affected by
precarious and ambiguous relationships with local authorities who are in charge of the
application of the central government’s policies. This being said, most of the religious
encampments, and especially those which have chosen to shape their identity through an
emphasis on education, have managed to enjoy some degree of autonomy usually under the
tolerant supervision of local authorities. The actual internal supervisory and decisional duties of
these places are carried out by high religious personalities or by prominent teachers who hold
such roles in tandem with their teaching positions. The monastic population being practically
autonomous and free to come and go without any formal obligation, registration, or binding
enrollment procedures, most of the practical aspects of administration are thus assumed by
seminary teachers (mkhan po) responsible for their own groups of students. Although
transparent, these procedures thus usually tend to remain contained within a minimum
administrative process that is common for mountain retreat centers in order to avoid any direct
262 While at bLa rung sgar lay devotees have their own temple/assembly hall, other chos sgars have different
solutions for different needs. Lung sngon sgar, for instance, offers a Tantric institute (sNgags pa grwa tshang) for the
formation of non-celibate religious specialists.
263 In October 2000, I had the chance to visit the lay practitioners’ area of bLa rung sgar in gSer rta. Although many
monks and nuns host relatives at their own residences, lay Buddhist devotees established a major compound of
modest dwellings in the southern peripheral area of the encampment complex. The temple Legs tshogs char ’bebs
gling was specifically built for them where regular daily meetings were held and teachings bestowed by seminary
teachers (mkhan po) appointed by mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs.
264 In the specific case of bLa rung sgar, a large compound was built to host foreign students in 2004. The
International Foreign Students’ Study Hall (rgyal phyi’i chos slob khang) is located at the center of the encampment
complex. Although, since the 2001 crackdown Westerners are not permitted to actually sojourn at bLa rung sgar, the
local Public Security Bureau allows short visits on request. The International Foreign Center usually hosts visiting
Chinese monastics and devotees.
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involvement with the official regulations for administration and registration of religious activities
which are compulsory for monasteries.
Eighth, usually the monastic and non-celibate practitioners who reside at the
encampments are not financially nor logistically supported by the sgar. They are expected to
have their own financial support (usually provided by their families), and provide for their own
accomodation, provisions, and daily necessities. The same is valid for study material such as
textbooks. Monks and nuns take care of their huts, each of them built according to his/her own
financial capacity with the construction material they are able to find and purchase, often helped
by other members of the community. Most of the resident population live modestly and are often
supported only by their relatives and occasional donations of alms. The situation of Chinese
monastics is often more dramatic. Recently, during my visits to various encampments, especially
between 2004 and 2007, I have met many Chinese monastics, primarily nuns, who live for
extended periods of time in Tibet studying and residing at religious encampments, especially at
Ya chen sgar and bLa rung sgar. In conversations with them I have found out that a large number
of Chinese nuns receive little or no financial support from their families, who in most cases do
not agree with their religious choices. I have also been told that if a nun or monk does not receive
any family support, their mkhan mo or mkhan po offers her or him a minimum wage of
approximately 100 RMB (8 USD) per month.
From a Chinese political point of view concerned with issues of internal stability and
ethnic unity, the activities of religious leaders who are in charge of religious communities both
inside and outside monastic institutions, the power they have to mobilize masses of devotees and
supporters, the force and impact of their religious claims and visions on the devotees, and the
significant size of many of the religious encampments are all perceived as threats to government
authority. This is especially true when local Chinese authorities suspect that a leading teacher is a
supporter of the Dalai Lama, has a nationalistic agenda potentially opposing the Chinese
government, or has contacts with the Tibetan community in exile. That this situation is perceived
as a threat by the local political authorities and government cadres often results in alternating
periods of toleration and suppression of religious activities at the religious encampments,
threatening their very continuation. The central government’s overt concern with the expansion
of such religious centers and the popularity they are gaining not only among Tibetan devotees
but also and more interestingly among Chinese Buddhist devotees as well was clearly
demonstrated with the 2001 suppression campaigns at the Buddhist encampments of bLa rung
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sgar and Ya chen sgar. These episodes resulted in the dismantling of many monastic quarters of
the institutes, expulsion of thousands of both Tibetan and Chinese monks and nuns, and
placements of limitations in terms of resident practitioners.265
One of the principal features of the rNying ma quasi-monastic communities, both
religious encampments and mountain hermitages, is their leaders’ employment of charismatic
activities to claim authority and spiritual virtuosity. In the religious revival operating in eastern
Tibet, next to the devotion, scholarship, and knowledge traditionally claimed by monastic elites,
other important sources of religious authority are healing, divination, Treasure revelation,
asceticism, and visionary and dream experiences, predominantly the field of non-celibate Tantric
professionals. Labeled “feudal superstition” (Ch. fengjian mixin) by Communist leaders in their
polical and ideological campaigns against religion during the Cultural Revolution, forms of
“irrational” behavior and practices such as belief in spirits and supernatural feats and blind-faith
in religious specialists such as diviners, healers, and weather-makers were vehemently
discouraged and labelled “exploitative of the masses.” In the post-Mao era however, religion and
irrational religious behaviors ceased to be stigmatized but have been nevertheless objectified as
hindrance to the country’s human development and modern progress. One of the Chinese
government’s major hopes is that religion will lessen its influence on people’s sense of ethnic
identity especially in ethnic minority groups by inproving the quality of their socio-economic
life. Nowadays, to the typical Marxist-Lenininst rhetoric of “feudalism” or “class struggle,” has
been added the new concerns of the government leaders about “national harmony” and “unity of
the country.” In a 2005 issue of Tibet United Front a government sponsored semestral
publication we read that in the process of adapting ethnic minority religion to the new society
[...] it is necessary to fight large scale nationalisms and small scale nationalisms, encourage all public
figures to embrace mutual understanding and fair competition, upholding and strengthening great
harmony among ethnic groups and safeguarding the unity of the country.266
Despite the historical marginality that these Tibetan contemplation-oriented forms of
religious centers acquired in the face of scholasticism-oriented and institutionalized religious
authority represented by monastic institutions, charismatic leadership is among the most
265 For a report of the demolition campaign against gSer rta bLa rung sgar see TCHRD (2001).
266 The article titled “Xinshehui jiceng yu minzu zongjiao gongzuo” (New social stratum and the work of ethnic
religions) was authored by the United Front Committe of Ruthog County in Nga’ ris (Ali rishi weitongxianbu) on
Xizang tongyi zhanxian (Tibet United Front), 2005, 2, n. 42, pp. 26-27.
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successful religious cohesive forces active within Buddhism in Tibet today.267 Tibetan experts
and scholars of the past, often biased by sectarian affiliation, have tended to negate the role of
arcane systems of religious transmission such as the one advanced by exponents of the treasure
tradition with a certain dose of polemical skepticism.268 Today Chinese government authorities
deal harshly with religious leaders who are objects of veneration in Tibet, as well as in other
regions of the country. Such an attitude is backed by China in order to illustrate China’s overall
dominance on all forms of religious expression and practice.269
In pre-modern Tibet, as well as nowadays, both monastic and non-monastic forms of
religious institutions coexisted harmoniously. Although the monastic community was by and
large considered to be the formal religious authority, on a more local level, commoners often
requested the services of non-celibate Tantric specialists (sngags pa). They were highly
appreciated by villagers for their divinatory and geomantic skills and their expertise in weather-
making. In his study of Tibetan religious world, Samuel contrasted the monastic world with that
of the non-monastic forms of Buddhist practice.270 Dreyfus, instead, has recently argued that the
relationship between monasticism and lay practice was one of reciprocal influence. 271 In the
border areas of Khams and A mdo where historically the traditional religious and political
presence and influence of the dGe lugs pa-led central government of Tibet often had little power,
the dichotomy between rational, institutional authority on the one hand and charismatically-
achieved leadership, on the other, seemed vague if not absent altogether.
This chapter illustrates the formation of sgar-like compounds, or religious encampments,
and attempts to show the current shift of traditional prestige-making factors in religious
leadership in present-day Khams from the formal religious monastic institutions to non-monastic
ones. The concept of chos sgar in Tibet conveys the idea of a specific non-conventional and
above all flexible and dynamic camp-like entity. This mobility results from the absence of
267 The attention on meditation and scholasticism in Tibetan religious traditions varies significantly according to
different Buddhist schools. As Dreyfus comments, in Tibet “meditation has never been the concern of more than a
minority. Some may believe that this lack of interest reflects degeneration from some purer form of the tradition, but
they are wrong. There is in fact no obligation for a Buddhist monk to practice meditation.” Dreyfus (2003: 169). The
role of meditation is more emphasized in small hermitages, mountain retreat centers, and religious encampments
where contemplative experience is a major focus of the Buddhist practice as opposed to scriptural erudition as a
principal achievement in the monastic environment.
268 As for one of these polemical debates concerning scriptural authority, apocryphal texts, and Buddhist canonicity
in Tibet see Kapstein (1989: 217-244).
269 PRC government applies control over all forms of religious practice. See the section “Freedom of Belief in
China” in Dangerous Meditation: China's Campaign Against Falungong at http:// www.hrw.org/reports/2002/china.
270 Samuel (1993).
271 Dreyfus (2003).
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specific systems of enrollment and the continuous inflow and outflow of religious community
members who are not bound to the institution but who are only temporarily residing in it in order
to complete specific religious training, receive particular instructions, and study under a local
teacher. The role of sgar in pre-modern Tibet is still quite unexplored. Only recently scholars
have attempted to describe the interface between sgar residents and monastic populations and the
dynamics between spiritual leaders and their followers at the chos sgars.272
The late mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs (1934-2003) and Grub dbang lung rtogs rgyal
mtshan (more popularly known as mKhan po A chos), are known for their revelations and are the
leaders of two of the most popular and largest religious encampments in Sichuan.273 Other well-
known current Buddhist teachers and Treasure revealers are Padma gtum po (also known as O
rgyan sku gsum gling pa), bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, gTer ston lHa rgyal, Sangs shis rin po che
(gTer chen O rgyan kun skyong gling pa), Khang sar bstan pa’i dbang phyug, mThu ldan rdo rje,
Rig ’dzin nyi ma, rNam sprul ’Jigs med phung tshogs, and the mKha’ ’gro late Tāre lha mo.274
One of the reasons for the great popularity of these Buddhist teachers among eastern Tibetans
can be partially explained by the quality of their ability to combine traditional, rational
institutional authority, some of them being monks living a monastic lifestyle and maintenaning
vinaya vows, with spontaneous manifestations of charismatic powers such as visionary activities
and gter ma revelation.275 Although few, there are cases of Treasure revealers who are monks, as
in the case of mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs and Grub dbang lung rtogs rgyal mtshan.
However, most of today’s Treasure revealers are non-celibate (and in the case of Nam sprul ’Jigs
272 Sarah Jacoby, for instance, in her study of Se ra mkha’ ’gro’s auto/biographical writings has pointed out
interesting dynamics between sgar and monasteries within two such communities in early twentieth century mGo
log (2007).
273 Significant news coverage has appeared since the crackdowns of religious establishments of bLa rung sgar
encampment in gSer rta and Ya chen sgar near dKar mdzes by Chinese authorities. The severe actions by Chinese
government at these religious encampments, expulsion of nuns and monks, destruction of residential homes, and
restrictions on administration, is paramount to the understanding of the CCP’s position on religious activities and the
difficulty in clarifying the boundaries of what the CCP regards as acceptable in their practice. For a general
overview of mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs’ religious activity see Germano (1998). For more on the events briefly
mentioned above see the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy, TCHRD (2001). More information is
available at the websites of International Campaign for Tibet at http://www.savetibet.org, and Tibet Information
Network at http://www.tibetinfo.net. See below for my own discussion on this topic.
274 mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs passed away on January 4th, 2003. mKha’ ’gro rin po che Tāre bde chen rgyal
mo, also simply known as Tāre lha mo (1938-2002), was the daughter of a well-known Treasure discoverer from
Khams, gTer chen O rgyan ’phrin las gling pa and herself a Treasure revealer as she is believed to have discovered a
number of material and mind Treasures. Padma ’od gsal mtha’ yas (1997: 132-133).
275 mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs, for instance, was devoted to the emphasis of the Vinaya discipline and the
system of vows for monastics and was rather critical of Tantric non-monastic adepts. Germano (1998: 70) and
Terrone (2006).
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med phun tshogs and mKha’ ’gro Tāre lha mo they were partners) who live a householder life in
which they perform religious and ritual duties in a non-monastic environment. The nature of
Treasure revealers, the modalities through which their revelation skills manifest, and the loyalties
they receive are usually modeled on forms of expression of renunciation and yoga-based esoteric
discipline predominantly practiced within a non-celibate milieu. Whatever their ordination
commitments, both monastic and non-monastic groups of religious specialists are dedicated to
the diffusion of Buddhism according to their own predominant style and perform a specific
social role (some are also traditional physicians as in the case of mThu ldan rdo rje from ’Jig
’dril). However, despite the fact that the fame of some contemporary Treasure revealers has been
internationalized (if not globalized), largely to an academic and/or Buddhist community abroad,
my study of the popularity of gter ston in today’s Tibet reveals that it is largely at the local
and/or regional level that most Treasure revealers seem to best express their charismatic
personalities.
All the Treasure revealers I have met and interviewed in Tibet claim to have discovered
sacred objects or earth Treasures (sa gter), but many have also revealed scriptures in the form of
mind Treasures (dgongs gter), which often form entire cycles of teachings. Their fame, their
traditional way of teaching, their revelatory skills, and the peculiarity of their institutions have
thus attracted a significant number of monastics who are inspired by their visions, the prophetic
nature of their messages, and the soteriological content of their Treasure revelations. Drawn by a
desire to learn from experienced and authentic masters, many monks and nuns, both Tibetan and
Chinese, leave their home monasteries and move to these large religious encampments, which
have thus grown remarkably in population size and the quality of the teachings.276 In religious
encampments, monastics as well as lay practitioners receive empowerments, teachings, and
instructions on various aspects of Buddhist exoteric and esoteric practices.
As already briefly mentioned above, the phenomenon of sgar is not new to the Tibetan
religious world as religious encampments have been active since the fourteenth century in Tibet.
276Official figures regarding the resident or visiting population of the major sgar actually active in Khams are
difficult to obtain since no official and formal census has been carried out in these religious encampments to my
knowledge. At the time of my fieldwork during my first visit of bLa rung sgar in October 2000, I was told by a
monk accompanying me that the number of residents was around 10,000 individuals including both nuns and
monks, and also lay practitioners. On the contrary Ya chen sgar (alzo called A chos sgar or A khyug sgar), the
encampment led by Grub dbang lung rtogs rgyal mtshan, was less populated than bLa rung sgar. In conversations
with resident monastics during my visit to both Yachen sgar and bLa rung sgar in September and October 2000, I
was told that the population of the two settlements was estimated at around 3,000 individuals with peaks of 5,000 to
8,000 individuals during public empowerments and teachings.
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However, what has enabled the re-creation of today’s religious encampments is the ability to
adapt to the contemporary social context and the policy applied by the central government
concerning religious activities. Today’s religious encampments are indeed large settlements
grown around religious leaders and host large populations of devotees coming from Tibetan
areas, as well as from many other regions of China. 277 What religious encampments and
mountain hermitages seem to offer to monastics today is a modern approach to traditional
religious education focused on both textual and meditative competence. As we will see in more
detail below, in most chos sgars the emphasis is on classic scholastic practices that rely on
philosophico-religious curricula and specific meditative systems such as the Great Perfection. In
addition, the presence of charismatic leaders known for meditative expertise, scholastic
knowledge, and visionary expertise functions as a pole of attraction for the devotees who look at
these figures as source of inspiration, exemplary lifestyle, and knowledge holders. Tibetan
Buddhist monasteries traditionally intended to provide an ideal environment for monastics to
practice a renunciant way of life following the precepts of vinaya monastic discipline (’dul ba).
The life in monasteries was generally communal, with its daily religious services such as
assembly gatherings for recitations and rituals, classes, memorization of texts, and practice of
debate. Income-producing activities were also an important aspect within monasteries especially
for common monks not predominantly involved in higher studies. 278 Traditional Buddhist
instruction and education according to orthodox and institutionalized curricula provided scholar
monks a variety of teachings aimed at the development of high degree of religious expertise. My
own perception of the contemporary situation of monastic education in Tibet is that the courses
offered in monasteries have been heavily degraded and substantially diluted. Since monasteries,
as formal religious institutions are under the strict control and supervision of local authorities of
the Religious Affairs Bureau, the quality and prestige of today’s curricula differ enormously
from that of the traditional religious monastic education once accessible in pre-modern Tibet.
On the contrary, administration and economic well-being are not dealt with at religious
encampments and mountain hermitages due not only to the decentralized structure and often
loose organization of these centers, but also to the lifestyle that the monastics embrace. The
277 Chinese students, mainly nuns and monks come from various regions. A flier distributed at bLa rung sgar
mentions various regions of the PRC such as Sichuan, Gansu, Qinghai, Xizang, Yunnan, Nei menggu (Inner
Mongolia), Heilongjiang, Henang, Hebei, Shanxi, Jiangxi, Fujian, Jieling, and even Xinjiang as major places of
origin of most of the Chinese students.
278 This aspect of monastic life indeed generated major issues of morality and virtue-related responsibilities. See
Dreyfus (2003) and Goldstein (1998: 22).
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absence of an official administrative system which regulates the management of the social space,
an education usually based on short-term curricula, and unsubsidized housing system for
monastics and lay people, all created complications for the local branches of CCP, such as
Democratic Management Committees and political education teams. Uninvolved in income-
producing services for the visiting devotees and administrative matters, the monastics living at
the chos sgar and ri khrod adhere to an eremitic lifestyle focused on study, practice, and
contemplation.
The leaders of the chos sgar are often charismatic figures, Tantric practitioners interested
in individual practice mainly belonging to the rNying ma school and with a rDzogs chen
contemplation background. Although religious encampments such as Ya chen sgar, bLa rung
sgar, and Lung sngon sgar, like many other hermitages, offer education and instruction for
predominantly contemplation-based practices focusing on rDzogs chen, the curriculum for
monks and nuns includes a variety of courses offered in both classical Buddhist and, in some
cases, even modern studies. At bLa rung sgar teachers emphasize some of the classical monastic
exoteric (mtshan nyid) i.e. non-Tantric, studies that are offered following the general scholastic
approach typical of hermeneutical curriculum in dbu ma (mādhyamaka, middle way philosophy),
tshad ma (pramā6a, logic, epistemology, and philosophy of language), pha rol tu phyin pa
literature (prajñāpāramitā, the Perfection of Wisdom), chos mngon pa (Abhidharma, Buddhist
metaphysics), and ’dul ba (vinaya, Monastic discipline). The pedagogical exercise of debating
(rtsod pa) is also actively encouraged. In addition to these disciplines, courses of esoteric
education (sngags) are presented including the classic Tantric outer triad (spyi rgyud) of
kriyāyoga, caryāyoga, yogatantra, and the specific rNying ma tantric inner division (nang
rgyud) of mahāyoga, anuyoga, and atiyoga, with major emphasis on rdzogs chen. Moreover,
general courses are offered in composition (rtsom pa) and in some of the five minor and major
branches of Buddhist sciences (rig gnas chung ba lnga dang rig gnas che ba lnga) including
sgra rig pa (grammar), snyan ngag (poetry), bzo rig pa (arts and crafts), gtan tshigs rig pa (logic
and epistemology), nang don rig pa (philosophy), and fundamentals of gso ba rig pa
(medicine).279
However, unlike bLa rung sgar where scholastic and meditation education tend to be
equally emphasized, other major rNying ma encampments have their own curricula more
279
In discussing the curriculum of classical Buddhist education and knowledge I follow Dreyfus (2003: 98-106) and
Dudjom Rinpoche (1991: 97-109).
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focused on Tantric studies and meditation practice rather than on Buddhist scholasticism. These
include sNyan lung sgar in the sNyan lung region of gSer rta in dKar mdzes led by sNam sprul
’Jigs med phun tshogs, Grub dbang lung rtogs rgyal mtshan’s Ya chen sgar (also called A chos
sgar) in dPal yul county (Ch. Baiyu), and the late O rgyan sKu gsum gling pa’s Lung sngon sgar
(also known as Thub bstan chos skor gling) in dGa’ bde, A mdo mGo log.280 At Lung sngon
sgar, O rgyan sku gsum gling pa also created a college for Tantric studies (sNgags pa grwa
tshang) for non-celibate practitioners including children. In most of the current rNying ma
encampments instruction mainly follows the traditional transmission from teacher to disciple,
and most of the didactic material related to meditation practice is drawn from the snying thig
(Seminal Heart) cycle of practices. Although material from Treasure teachings (gter chos)
revealed by leaders is also offered in the curriculum for monastics in their entourage, the snying
thig tradition has been particularly re-emphasized by gter movements in Tibet in the past
decades, and new publications of those scriptures are now available.281
New Trends in Tibetan Buddhism: A New Chinese Journey to the West?
A relatively recent phenomenon that reflects the extension of Buddhist activities and the
popularity that Tibetan Buddhism is enjoying outside Tibet is the increasing presence of Chinese
devotees in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and religious encampments. Both monastic and lay
Chinese Buddhist devotees are more and more visible in Tibetan religious centers where they
spend long periods of time studying and practicing Vajrayāna Buddhism. Often defying local
authorities’ restrictions and discontent at large groups of Chinese staying at sgars, hermitages,
and monasteries, Chinese disciples and even representative delegations from all regions of China
regulalry visit Buddhist centers in Tibet. As is the case for the Tibetan monastic population in
religious encampments and hermitages, figures are not available at the time of this writing, but
according to my observations some encampments such bLa rung sgar, sNyan lung sgar, Lung
sngon sgar, Ya chen sgar were home to a few hundred Chinese students between 1999 and 2005.
However, in 2001 bLa rung sgar alone sheltered a population of nearly 1,000 non-Tibetan
280 Not all Treasure revealers have developed their hermitages to the extent of those described herein. However, all
the encampments mentioned in this volume are lead by Treasure revealers. My comments refer only to those
encampments visited during my fieldwork visits between 1999 and 2006.
281 Germano (1998) has provided some valuable insights on the revival of snying thig among contemplation
movements of today’s Tibet. See previous chapter for my discussion on snying thig and rdzogs chen.
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Chinese speaking students coming not only from China itself, but also from other southeast
Asian countries such as Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia.
Until 2001, bLa rung sgar and to different degrees other religious encampments provided
facilities for Chinese devotees with no Tibetan language knowledge such as translated texts and
simultaneous oral translation in Chinese of the teachings provided. Today a number of religious
encampments have their own printing house, and they provide Chinese language publications of
selected instruction and practice material, text books, and biographies. 282 Many sgars offer
classes of colloquial and literary Tibetan for Chinese visitors, and are equipped with rooms or
areas designated for hosting Chinese monastics and lay practitioners at times when Chinese
simultaneous translation is needed during public teachings.283
The current phenomenon of Chinese practitioners moving to Tibetan ethnic areas to study
and practice Tibetan Buddhism can be viewed within a general revival of religious and spiritual
quest among the Chinese in the PRC, which in the words of journalist Gordon Chang is “at
present the world’s biggest growth area for religion.”284 Beginning in the early 1980s, such a
phenomenon is a result of the changes within the society in the reform era. In the PRC where the
growing pace of the new market economy, the higher level of individual autonomy, physical
mobility, and personal goals are now in the hands of the individual, the central government’s
atheistic ideological hegemony fails to provide its people with a compansatory surge in life
aspiration and personal spiritual growth. In the year 2000, there were more than 200 million
Chinese religious believers in China and of those more than a half were Buddhists. In China
there are 85,000 authorized places of religious practice including 16,000 Buddhist temples and
monasteries.285
282 The increasing demand for Chinese language material from Chinese disciples in gSer rta bla rung sgar resulted
in the creation of a printing house for Chinese language textbooks, speeches by mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs,
his biography, and Tibetan textbooks. In the year 2000, a short biography in Chinese of mKhan po ’Jigs med phun
tshogs was published and distributed at bLa rung sgar among Chinese-reading disciples called Shengzhe fawang
Jinmei pengcuo zunzhezhuan (A Biography of the Holy Dharma king ’Jigs med phun tshogs). In addition, two
among the most common textbooks for Tibetan language classes offered at bLa rung sgar were the Dag yig slob deb
(Ganzi: Ganzizhou minzu ganbu xuexiao, 1989) and the Shumian zangyu changyong guanglian ciyu yongfa juyao
(Kunming: Yunnan minzu chubanshi, 1993).
283 This information reflects the state of bLa rung sgar prior to 2001as personally witnessed during a visit of the site
and to mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs at his residence. During the summer of 2001, as also reported by many
Western monitoring agencies and media, Chinese authorities entered the encampment and destroyed thousands of
the residences of the monastic population and expelled thousands of students, including all the Chinese population.
Despite restrictions Han Chinese devotees are living again at bLa rung sgar. See Terrone (2008).
284 Chang (2002: 23).
285 Kindopp (2004: 1). In addition to the phenomenon of Chinese Buddhist devotees joining religious encampments,
I have also witnessed the presence of individual and small groups of Chinese devotees from Taiwan and Hong Kong
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The success and the increasing popularity of religious centers such as the chos sgar
among Tibetan and Chinese Buddhist practitioners and devotees in eastern regions of Tibet is
largely the result of the quality of the curricula they offer in terms of education on the one hand,
and the revival of a variety of religious rituals and contemplation practices they provide on the
other. An additional factor which contributes to the increasing popularity of the non-monastic
centers is the outreach of the communication network that many teachers have developed in the
last few years. Teachers such as mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs and Grub dbang lung rtogs
rgyal mtshan, but also Padma gtum po, and Nam sprul ’Jigs med phun tshogs have often traveled
to Chinese regions of the PRC predominantly for pilgrimage purposes, performing public rituals,
fund raising, wintering in warmer places, and giving teachings and blessing thus gathering
during these occasions large followings of admirers and devotees. mKhan po ’Jigs me phun
tshogs’ pilgrimage at Wutai Shan in 1987 was apparently performed with the clear evangelical
idea of disseminating the Buddhist teachings in China. mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs was
there for one hundred days accompanied by an entourage from bLa rung sgar of nearly one
thousand people. At Mount Wutai (Ch. Wutai Shan), he gave teachings and revealed Treasures
attracting crowds of Chinese visitors.286
Concluding Remarks
Is the emergence of encampments and hermitages associated with gter stons a successful means
for preserving of Buddhist culture in contemporary Tibet under Chinese rule? Are religious
encampments and mountain hermitages, as foci of traditional education and religious training, a
possible answer to the weakening of monastic centers caused by the Chinese government’s
pressure on traditional religious practice? And can the increased visibility of Treasure revealers
visiting their teacher’s place on a short term basis as donors and financial supporters of construction or re-
construction projects. As a proof of the increasing popularity that these centers are gaining also outside the PRC it
maybe worth noting here that on July 2001 even the popular blockbuster Chinese Hollywood actor Li Liangjie, alias
Jet Li visited bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje at his residence after having heard of him at the Mer chen monastery in Shar
mda’, Nang chen, while traveling in the area. Li Lianjie recently embraced Tibetan Buddhism and is a disciple of
lHo Kun bzang chos mchog rdo rje rin po che (b. 1942), head of the dPal me monastery in Shar mda’. He has also
launched the Palme Gonpa Monastery Reconstruction Project for the restoration and reconstruction of religious
buildings and statues distroyed during the Cultural Revolution.
286 See Germano (1998) for an account of mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs’ pilgrimage journey to Wutai shan in
Shanxi, PRC in 1987. See also an account of this visit by mKhan po bSod dar rgyas in Sodarjey (1990: 106-108).
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in present-day regions of Khams be considered a sign of their growing authority as leading
institutions in the reappropriation of religious practices?
This chapter addressed these questions, which are ultimately linked to issues of cultural,
political and social changes taking place in today’s Tibetan regions of the PRC. I have argued
that the current intensification of the role of religious encampments in Tibet, as the most
important centers of traditional education, religious rituals, and collective identity, can be
understood as a means of adapting to the new socio-political order deployed by Tibetans
religious leaders and religious practitioners in the face of Chinese pressure and continued control
over religious activities in monasteries. It is my sense that policies of religious control, patriotic
education campaigns, and the coercive diffusion of socialist culture over the past decades have
been particularly intense in the monasteries, which has caused caused an inevitable weakening of
their traditional power and authority. These events have also caused the flight abroad of many
high religious personalities and the migration of thousands of both lay people and monastics to
pursue a secular and religious education elsewhere.
In such a context we may consider the current popularization of religious encampments
and hermitages and the key role played by their charismatic leaders to be an alternative means to
regain a degree of control over religious practice and religious authority. The renewed role of the
Treasure revealers’ religious encampments and their on-going visionary activities enrich the
holiness of their sites and the legitimacy of their leadership. This phenomenon can be seen as an
attempt to re-define the role of the religious elites and the masses in their attempts to regain
control over Tibetan cultural and religious life. Charismatic leaders claiming the visionary gift of
Treasure revelation are one of the major forces behind such a phenomenon. Their strength
originates from both the Treasures they reveal and the new wave of Chinese Buddhist devotees
who go to Tibet to study and practice with them.
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Chapter Three: Treasure Revealers in Contemporary Eastern Tibet
In the previous chapters we explored how Tibetans and Tibetan literature portray the Treasure
tradition and examined the socio-political background of religion in today’s eastern Tibet. This
chapter explores the lives and activities of some Treasure revealers who are active in Tibet now
and looks at the central aspects of their Treasure revelations, their communities, and their
responses to the impact of modernization. Perhaps one of the most characteristic and, at times,
controversial aspects of Treasure revealers is their lifestyle. Occasionally, non-celibate Treasure
revealers can be susceptible to criticism by other religious leaders for their apparently licentious
behavior. The question of authenticity and the role of consorts in the practices associated with
Treasure revelation is still debated today. Another intriguing aspect is the way Treasure revealers
are becoming more present in their devotees’ lives promoting themselves as models for their
followers.
Who are today’s Treasure revealers in Tibet? Where and how do they live? What kind of
communities do they generate around them? These are some of the general questions we will
examine while exploring the lives of Treasure revealers. In studying the phenomenon of Treasure
revelation in eastern Tibet with a number of active visionaries, I have been exposed to many
individual activities, practices, and daily routines. Such an opportunity has inspired insights into
the following questions: How do a Treasure revealer and his consort act together to reveal
Treasures? How do Treasure revealers support themselves? Who can actually be considered an
authentic Treasure revealer? What are the criteria to determine the validity of Treasure
revelations? How do Treasure revealers offer themselves as models to their community? How
are today’s Treasure revealers responding to the flourishing communication and information
technology?
To answer these questions this chapter will first provide an overview of the phenomenon
of Treasure revelation by examining various Treasure revealers currently active in eastern Tibet
and their communities. The main body of the chapter draws predominantly on the life and
activities of bKra shis rgyal mtshan (b. 1957) one of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s closest disciples
and a Treasure revealer. bKra shis rgyal mtshan currently lives in Shar mda’ in Nang chen
(Qinghai Province) with his partner mKha’ ’gro dPal chen lha mo, herself a Tantric practitioner,
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their children, and a small group of relatives and monastics. The life of bKra shis rgyal mtshan, a
non-celibate Tantric professional, offers a valuable glimpse into the world of Treasure revelation
from the point of view of a couple, highlighting the role of consorts in the process of revelation.
In the section “The Dagger of Sublime Wisdom” I illustrate how a Treasure revealer and his
consort act together to reveal Treasures and what kind of services they offer to their followers. In
doing so I demonstrate that as a religious couple they also combine a varying series of mystical
skills to provide spiritual assistance to and receive material support from the community.
We will then discuss the ongoing debate concerning consorts, noncelibacy, and the
authenticity of Treasure revealers. In the context of Treasure revelation, consort practices are
conducive to realization and, therefore, intrinsic to the visionary activity itself. To investigate
such a sensitive issue, I consider both the opinion of bKra shis rgyal mtshan and that of an
influential monastic leader, the late mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs. While the former believes
that one or multiple prophesied consorts can enhance the Treasure revealer’s success in visionary
revelation, the latter questioned such a tradition and introduced ethical issues in the recognition
of authentic Treasure revealers.
However, Treasure revealers do not influence their devotees and foster faith in their
disciplines by traditional means only. Thanks to modernization and the introduction of new
technologies, the economy of Treasure revelation and the traditional exchange visionaries
establish with the people who support them are offering innovative methods such as the Internet
to promote and gain support for their activities, publicize predicaments and pilgrimage journeys,
disseminate Buddhist doctrines and instructions, and above all create virtual communities. The
last two sections of this chapter analyze the impact of modernization and information technology
on the practice of Tibetan Buddhism and examine the ways in which some Treasure revealers
have responded to such new expertise. In eastern Tibet, an increasing number of Buddhist
teachers are employing the Internet. Several web sites devoted to the dissemination of Treasure
revealers’ biographies, activities, and teachings have been started in recent years. This modern
tool offers a new opportunity to communicate directly with their devotees, disseminate their
religious ideas, and gain support for their projects. Since their websites are predominantly in
Chinese some Treasure revealers seem to use this opportunity especially to project themselves as
models to their Chinese Buddhist followers. The case study of O rgyan sKu gsum gling pa will
give us the opportunity to explore this phenomenon in greater detail.
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Who are Today’s Tibetan Treasure Revealers?
As we have seen in the previous chapter, theologically Treasure revelation is explained in
traditional literature as an inherited skill, something attained as a part of the reincarnation status
of the Treasure revealer. Pragmatically speaking though, Treasure revelation involves a high
level of experiential background gained through a commitment to austerity and discipline in the
performance of yogic exercises. Most of the Treasure revealers in today’s eastern Tibet fall
under the category of sngags pa, or non-celibate Tantric specialists, whose lives are devoted to
the practice and performance of rituals and contemplation techniques. In Tibet, as in most of the
Tibetan cultures along the Himalayas, this class of religious professionals predominantly
represents the rNying ma order. While many people in Tibet are sngags pa by claiming birth
from hereditary lineages (gdung brgyud), others become non-celibate Tantric professionals after
studying under a specialized teacher.287 In either case a sngags pa is both a Tantric adept aiming
at enlightenment through the performance of esoteric rituals and contemplative and yogic
techniques and also the catalyst for a series of major public rituals meant to benefit the
community and lay population.
But why and how do people become Treasure revealers today? There are a whole set of
circumstances and a certain predisposition that lead the individual to reveal Treasures. In Tibet
this is explained according to Buddhist ideology and principally interpreted as the ripening of
“interdependent circumstances” (rten ’brel). Some contemporary Treasure revealers claim birth
from other Treasure revealers. One example is Tāre lha mo (1938-2002) who was the daughter of
the famous A pang gter chen dPa’ bo chos dbyings rdo rje, also known as ’Phrin las gling pa
(1895-1945). 288 However, most Treasure revealers do not inherit their title but rather are
recognized and declared as such by other influential religious personalities. In other words, one
of the criteria for the recognition of a Treasure revealer is the authority of another leading
Buddhist personality. In most cases, however, the recognition of a Treasure revealer is a
combination of factors and prerequisites often including the presence of a high degree of
visionary activity and prophetic dreams in combination with the support of authoritative religious
personalities. This is particularly evident in the case of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje who, when
asked about the way he realized he was a Treasure revealer, said:
287 Samuel (1993: 278-81); Childs (2004: 29-33).
288 Padma ’od gsal mtha’ yas (1997: 133).
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When I was about six or seven years old, in my mind I knew that I was to perform Treasure activities
(gter gyi bya ba). Later, when I was older, as I was doing prostrations while on route to Lhasa, the
7akī6i with whom I had a karmic connection (las bskos kyi mkha ’gro) told me that we two had
Treasure deeds to perform. Kun bzang ’gro ’dul empowered me as a Treasure revealer. In accordance
with his teaching that in the future many Treasures would necessarily descend [upon me], he also
knew that there would be a total of eight volumes [of Treasure scriptures], [of which at that time]
approximately one volume of mind Treasures, and also earth Treasures. After that, I revealed a
Treasure right in the presence of the King of Rwa sgreng, Bu bla mTshan nyid bsod bstan Rinpoche.
The master told me “You are a Treasure revealer!” and empowered me as such. Then, even the well-
known great Treasure revealer Nyag bla Byang chub rdo rje said to me that I was a Treasure revealer.
He entrusted me with the retrieval of a Turquoise Treasure (g.yu gter) and I went to retrieve it. This is
common knowledge also thanks to many masters’ prophecies, including that of the sixteenth
Karmapa. Other current well-known masters told me that I was a Treasure revealer and wrote
certificates for me. I have perfect letters [declaring] that I am a Treasure revealer by the Sa skya
[master] Klu lding mkhan chen, mKhan po A chos, and mChog [gyur] gling [pa].289
As the passage above illustrates, for Treasure revealers, the practice of Treasure revelations and
their transmission are parts of an ideology, a holistic ordering of a world formed of
interconnected events. At the center of this ideology is the self-asserting identity of the Treasure
revealer (visions, dreams, revelations) who claims to be, among other things, a blessed being
endowed with charisma and a bearer of special authority, a fortunate human being (skal ldan bu).
Immediately corroborating this is the supporting view of the religious world represented by the
Buddhist community (i.e., a high Buddhist personality’s visions, dreams, and recognition of the
would-be Treasure revealer). In a sociological and socio-religious discourse, the role of these
two figures―the Treasure revealer and the Buddhist authority recognizing him/her―is relevant
in order to understand how persons manipulate and produce meaning in their cultural
environment. It is through interaction with others, for instance, that people construct their
biographies, and it is by observing what they are and what they are not that they shape their own
identity in a contextualized social setting. As we shall explore in detail in the next chapter, a
central aspect of culture is the collective memory activated and nourished in biographies that
simultaneously emerge from and create a shared sense of history.290 Tibetan Treasure revealers
act according to a specific set of religiously recognized and socially accepted patterns of actions.
Their revelation and visionary activities reflect a centuries-old scheme of cultural production that
289 bDe chen’od gsal rdo rje’s oral and written communication. rDza mer chen nunnery. Shar mda’, Nang chen,
Qinghai. August 21, 2001.
290 For a discussion of collective and personal histories in Khams see McGranahan (2001).
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finds cyclic momentum in times of spiritual need and contributes to manifestations of religious
identity.
The occurrence of the recent religious revival in Tibetan areas of the PRC is not
contained within communities of national minorities only, but it is occurring among various
other ethnic and Han Chinese people as well.291 The resurgence of religious practices has favored
some religions more than others, and has involved people giving new meaning to religions and
their practices. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and new religious movements, such as Falun gong
and local folk and popular religious cults all experienced new developments in popularity in the
aftermath of the economic and social modernization campaign launched by Deng Xiaoping in
1979. Despite the Chinese government’s control over the development of religious practices,
religious revival in the PRC is a growing reality.292
Local religious movements within ethnic nationalities in the PRC have had a dramatic
political impact, for the renewal of culture and religion often takes the form of the re-affirmation
of local values. With the religious control prior to and in many cases after the 1980s in the PRC
and the consequent patriotic education campaigns aimed at winning loyalties, enhancing Chinese
cultural values, destabilizing the power of religious institutions, and diluting some elements of
Tibetan traditional culture, much of the long-standing sources of identity and systems of
authority were disrupted. Within the new processes of cultural, economic, and political
modernization in the PRC in the last two decades, Tibetans’ need for expression and affirmation
of their cultural and religious identity has inspired the religious resurgence in eastern areas of
Tibet.
While China’s government presence in ethnic minorities’ areas attempts to create a
national unifying culture enforcing control over and supervising the lawful performance of
cultural and religious activities, ethnic minorities constantly struggle to give voice to their own
self-expression and sense of identity as a way of safeguarding their cultures. 293 This often
encourages the recognition of the need for a renewed authority to support a rejuvenated sense of
meaning and purpose in the religious community. In such a socio-historical landscape religious
291 Several studies have appeared in the last decade focused on the the resurgence of spiritual interests and religious
traditions in the PRC including local cults, daoist practices, Buddhism, and qi gong exercises. See for instance the
studies by Chau (2006), Davis (2005), Kindopp and Hamrin (2004), Chen (2003), Overmyer (2003), Hunter and
Chan (1996), and Dean (1993), among others.
292 See, for instance, Makley (2007), Davis (2005), and Barend J. ter Haar’s “Religious culture in 20th century
China” at http://website.leidenuniv.nl/~haarbjter/chinPRCbib.html.
293 Davis (2005: 6-7).
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traditions such as Treasure revealers bridge the gap between the legacy of the Tibetan past and
the need for religious authority within a framework of social and cultural changes. Therefore,
inspired visionaries use Treasure revelation as a means to foster faith in the continuation of
Buddhism and to restore a sentiment of collective identity. As a response to experiences of chaos
and loss of identity generated by new dramatic historical and political circumstances, Treasure
revealers reconnect the land of Tibet and its people to the legacy of their past. It is my sense that
the rejuvenation of Treasure revelation, the restoration of the role of Treasure revealers, and the
emergence of Buddhist gatherings associated with them respond to Tibetans’ desire for identity
and reconnection with the values and social order of the past. Religious revival in Tibetan ethnic
and cultural areas of the PRC today is not a rejection of modernity, as forms of fundamentalist
resurgence may suggest in other parts of Asia. It may be seen, instead, as an attempt to reaffirm a
Tibetan cultural and religious identity often in conflict with a nation-state ideology and loyal to a
sense of ethnic order.
One of the many phenomena that has transformed and increased the dissemination of
religious symbols is the use of new technology. Nowadays a large number of portraits, photos,
and posters of Buddhist teachers, of the material Treasures they retrieve, and pictures of their
religious encampments can be seen on display in numerous restaurants and private houses and
can be easily purchased in many places.294 Pictures of Buddhist teachers and Treasure revealers
can be found inserted into framed photo-collages hanging on the wall of many private
households. This is especially the case for three of the most popular Treasure revealers in eastern
Tibet, the late mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs, Grub dbang lung rtogs rgyal mtshan, and O
rgyan sKu gsum gling pa. These Buddhist teachers have gained the devotion of many clerical
and lay practitioners. Devoted pilgrims converge in their encampments when public teachings
are offered and return home with bagfuls of pictures, amulets, blessing cords of talismanic value,
and audio-cassettes, CDs, and DVDs of the teachings they have received. Many attendees are
older lay Buddhist devotees who choose to embrace an ascetic lifestyle and stay at the religious
site for long periods of time to practice, attend religious activities, and live as lay renouncers.
What do Treasure revealers mean to Tibetan people? According to my personal
experience, for the common uneducated person the distinction between a monastery abbot, a
294 It is not uncommon to see pilgrims selling pictures or copies of pictures of Buddhist teachers at outdoor stands in
Lhasa Bar ’khor area or to individual passersby. Concerning the recent employment of visual and audio items in the
diffusion of information about contemporary charismatic teachers, see my discussion below.
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village bla ma, a Tantric sngags pa, or a Treasure revealer is hardly an important matter.295 A
common perception is that all these are religious professionals, in their eyes highly educated,
learned, and wise religious figures whom they can ask for advice, teachings, blessings, the
performance of household and divination rites, talismans and blessed pills, protective cords,
names for newborn children, the performance of astrological and geomantic calculations, and
spiritual protection. Within the monastic community, however, opinions about Treasure revealers
represent two different fronts. While for many members of the monastic community Treasure
revealers are individuals with a very specific role in the Buddhist world often with complex
personalities but with respectable spiritual experience, for others, as we will see specifically in
the pages below, the authenticity of many non-celibate Treasure revealers is often questionable.
Generally speaking, Treasure revealers and non-celibate Tantric professionals alike draw
their charismatic power from years of religious practice and zealous contemplative retreat
(mtshams) spent living in seclusion in mountain hermitages (ri khrod). Additionally, because of
their incarnated lama status (sprul sku), Treasure revealers are also believed to be recipients of
good values, sound judgment, and high spiritual qualities. Theologically, since they are supposed
to be special messengers (pho nya) of Padmasambhava, Treasure revealers claim to draw
spiritual and virtuous qualities from the blessings received during the dynastic and imperial past
of Tibet from Padmasambhava.296 The Treasure revealer’s persona is thus imbued with a divine,
supernatural air.
Treasure revealers including bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, Grub dbang lung rtogs rgyal
mtshan, bKra shis rgyal mtshan, Nam sprul ’Jigs med phun tshogs, and others continue to
retrieve and collect multiple material and spiritual Treasure items, and they have inspired
communities of practitioners and devotees who support their activities. But what do Tibetan
devotees believe when confronted with the quantity or even the quality of a Treasure revealer’s
retrieved Treasures? My sense is that one of the goals of Treasure revelation is that of fostering
faith in the Buddhist religion in general and in the ideology of the rNying ma tradition in
particular. Treasure revealers and their devotees seem to view the revelation of Treasure objects
and scriptures as blessings (byin rlabs) that provide encouragement from the past, inspire a
positive attitude and optimism in the face of socio-historical changes, and support expectations
295 Here I strictly refer to the people, mainly Tibetans, with whom I have worked, lived, and interacted during my
fieldwork trips in Khams.
296 Gyatso (1998: 152).
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of salvation from dramatic events. The opportunity to receive the blessing directly from the
presence of a religious sacred object is appealing to many Tibetans. This is especially true for the
material retrieval of religious artifacts extracted from the soil (sa gter) or any other physical
location, and the subsequent “cult of relics” that such a phenomenon has produced.297 Therefore,
Treasure items can be considered messianic in the sense that they are believed to be sacred
objects retrieved by chosen individuals meant to promote the diffusion of Padmasambhava’s
teachings and to foster faith in the preservation of the Budhdist doctrine in the land. These
apparently miraculous discoveries are not to be understood as being for the benefit of the person
who performs or possesses them but rather, if considered genuine, are always believed
universally beneficial.
Mind Treasures (dgongs gter) present a more complex nature. They are in most cases
specific cycles of practices, which tend to be primarily future-oriented, since they are explicit
sets and cycles of liturgical and ritual practices, means of achievements (sādhanā) meant to be
transmitted for present and future practice. In most cases mind Treasures revealed and
transmitted by gifted contemplatives eventually become core practices at the heart of specific
lineages of teaching transmission. The complexity of the issue therefore lies not just in the nature
of the mind Treasure itself, which is a variously long scripture, but in the quality of its content.
As we will soon see below this is one of the main criteria adopted in the case of validating the
authenticity of a Treasure revealer and his Treasures. From an anthropological perspective
Tibetan Treasures can therefore be considered powerful symbolic means to enrich the Buddhist
person with charisma and credibility. Additionally, they contribute to the creation of a religious
personality as a unique being, a mediator between present life and the idealized golden era of
Tibetan history.
In the last decade a few Buddhist figures such as mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs,
mKhan po A chos, and O rgyan sku gsum gling pa have captured the public imagination among
Tibetan and Chinese Buddhist devotees. However, at the time of writing there seem to be more
than a dozen religious figures considered Treasure revealers predominantly living in eastern
297
I have taken the liberty here to paraphrase a statement by Dan Martin who writes: “The gter-ma phenomenon is
most generally a cult of relics combined with the romance of discovery.” Martin (2001: 19).
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Tibet.298 According to my survey among the most we-known Treasure revealers since the early
1980s are:
1. mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs (1933-2003)
2. Grub dbang lung rtogs rgyal mtshan (also known as mKhan po A khyug/A chos, b.
1934)
3. O rgyan sKu gsum gling pa (also known as Padma gtum po (1933-2009)
4. gTer chen bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje (b. 1921)
5. Nam sprul ’Jigs med phun tshogs (b. 1944)
6. mKha’ ’gro rin po che Tāre bde chen rgyal mo (also known as Tāre lha mo, 1938-2002)
7. gTer ston lHa rgyal dbang drags rol pa’i rdo rje (also known as lHa rgyal rin po che, b.
n.a.)
8. gTer ston lHa mtsho rin po che ’Jigs med rdo rje (also known as lHa mtsho rin po che, b.
1956)
9. gTer ston mThu ldan rdo rje (b. 1941)
10. gTer ston bKra shis rgyal mtshan (b. 1957)
11 Khang sar bsTan pa’i dbang phyug (b. 1938)
12. gSang sprul dKon mchog bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan (b. 1949)
13. Bla ma Kun bzang grags pa (b. 1962)
14. A ’dzoms rgyal sras padma dbang rgyal (also known as Pad lo rin po che, b. 1971)
15. gTer chen Rig ‘dzin nyi ma (b. 1931)
16. A lag a yig ’Jigs med skyid grub (N.A.)
17. gTer ston pad ma dbang rgyal (N.A.)
Although the fame of a few of them goes beyond the borders of their areas, most these religious
personalities are active and popular primarily at a local level. This is because the retrieval of
Treasure artifacts and cycles of doctrines tends to be contained, at least in the beginning, within a
local religious community and is not often publicized outside of it. Although regular contacts are
not formalized, some Treasure revealers are in contact with each other, sending representative
monks to each other’s encampments, encouraging students to learn from and practice each
298The data refer to the period 1997-2006. See bibliography for further details. This study does not cover Treasure
revealers in A mdo.
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other’s traditions, and often supporting each other’s teachings and activities. The late mKhan po
’Jigs med phun tshogs and Grub dbang lung rtogs rgyal mtshan have often paid each other visits
at their respective residences, bestowed public empowerments, and delivered teachings together.
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje and bKra shis rgyal mtshan also often cooperate and their respective
networks of hermitages and retreat centers are attended by disciples of their respective
communities. In 1999 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje encouraged a small group of his closest nuns to
go to study at Grub dbang lung rtogs rgyal mtshan’s Ya chen sgar for some time. bKra shis
mtsho mo, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s personal assistant who is a nun, accompanied the group
and brought along, at her teacher’s request, a number of her teacher’s representative texts,
including some Treasure revelations and his autobiography. On that occasion, bKra shis mtsho
mo on her teacher’s behalf offered bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s writings to Grub dbang lung rtogs
rgyal mtshan. In appreciation of the gesture Grub dbang lung rtogs rgyal mtshan wrote a formal
letter (phyag bris) to bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje praising his work and revelations.299
The Dagger of Sublime Wisdom: On Revelation and Consorts
The actual revelation of both material and mental Treasures, although more in the case of mental
Treasures, implies long experience with specific sets of Tantric yogic exercises, visualized or
actualized, a number of which are associated with sexual practices. For this reason, Treasure
revelation has historically been the domain of largely non-celibate religious figures in the past as
it is today.300 The role of consorts (thabs grogs) in Tibetan Buddhism is a relatively recent object
of academic interest. In Tibetan literature, however, within the Treasure tradition, such a topic
has been covered both in doxographical literature and auto/biographical writings.301
In pre-modern Tibet, as today, Treasure revealers have nearly always been non-celibate
practitioners and householders who, being Tantric adepts, were not bound to formal monastic
vows and thus were free to choose a lifestyle with one or multiple qualified Tantric consorts (rig
ma; thabs grogs; rdo rje pho nya; Skt. vajradūta). Although not unheard of, monks involved in
299 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s oral and written communication. rDza mer chen monastery. Shar mda’, Nang chen,
Qinghai. August 21, 2001.
300 See Kapstein (1992). See Thondup (1986: 82-84) and Jacoby (2007) for the role of consorts in gter ma discovery.
Germano (1998: 68-72) and Gyatso (1998: 255-56) have also briefly discussed the Treasure revealer’s need to be
supported by a Tantric consort.
301 On this topic see especially Jacoby (2007).
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revelation have been relatively uncommon in Tibetan society.302 Tulku Thondup observes that
most gter stons were Tantric adepts, living a householder’s life with family and children, and
that their lifestyle was actually considered a way to transform all experiences into a means to
achieve enlightenment.303 In discussing the role of consorts for Treasure revealers in his gTer gyi
rnam bshad, rDo grub chen ’Jigs med bstan pa’i nyi ma (1865-1926) remarks that relying on the
miraculous skills of a consort and in accordance with her rebirth as a Treasure revealer’s “secret
partner” (gsang grogs), the Treasure revealer can realize the Treasures teachings (chos gter)
from the sphere of primordial wisdom.304
In his essay on mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs, Germano points out that the role of
Tantric consorts in Tibetan Buddhism can be very important in Tantric practices and in the
revelation of Treasure items. He observes that:
In Tibetan tantric lineages, women are often said to be of crucial importance as consorts for male
visionaries, since it is believed that it is possible to traverse the transcendent path swiftly in reliance on
the tantric techniques of sexual yoga; in addition, it is believed that sexual yoga contributes in some
essential way to a Terton’s ability to reveal treasures.305
Germano also remarks that the strict monastic orientation chosen by mKhan po ’Jigs med phun
tshogs, for instance, has influenced his decision not to accept a destined consort. Such an event
apparently resulted in mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs’s ability to reveal Treasures, especially
earth Treasures, only later in his life. This again is explained by the belief that without relying on
a consort the visionary’s revelation activities are somehow difficult and often result in
incomplete revelations.306
bKra shis rgyal mtshan, a present-day Treasure revealer and non-celibate Tantric
specialist, explains why a destined or “prophesied consort” (lung zin mkha’ ’gro) is crucial in a
Treasure revealer’s career:
There are many prophesied consorts (lung zin mkha’ ’gro). Depending on the number of Treasures (gter
kha), these will be assigned to different mkha’ ’gro mas. This is due to prophecies (lung bstan), and to
the karmic consequences (las). Without all this a single mkha’ ’gro ma could not get all the karmic
302 Although among early Treasure revealers, such as tenth century Sangs rgyal bla ma, there are monastics, there
are very few cases of monks who engaged in Treasure revelation. Tulku Thondup (1986: 82) mentions two such
cases, Padma dbang gi rgyal po (1487-1542) and ’Ja’ tshon snying po (1585-1656).
303 Thondup (1986: 82-83).
304 Here I paraphrase a paragraph taken from the gTer gyi rnam bshad (TNS), f. 16b. See also Thondup (1986: 83).
305 Germano (1998: 68-69).
306 Germano (1998: 168, n. 37).
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connections for herself. However, if a person unites with many consorts [whom are not prophesied],
this [behavior] will give rise to love and hatred (chags sdang).307
One of the best known Treasure revealing couples in recent times was Nam sprul ’Jigs med phun
tshogs (b. 1944) and the late female Treasure revealer mKha’ ’gro Tāre lha mo (mKha’ ’gro rin
po che Tāre bde chen rgyal mo, 1938-2002). The couple lived together and led a large
community in their encampment sNyan lung sgar in gSer rta county comprised of both monastic
and lay Tibetan and Chinese practitioners. 308 The role of female practitioners in Tibetan
Buddhism and their function in Treasure revelation and visionary activities has been the object of
academic investigation only recently. 309 I will simply note here that like Tāre lha mo, other
female Buddhist practitioners today are active as religious personalities who are often Tantric
specialists and consorts to Treasure revealers. Other examples include mKha’ ’gro dPal chen lha
mo, who is the consort of bKra shis rgyal mtshan in Shar mda’, Nang chen, who is known for her
divinatory skills; bDe chen rdo rje sgrol ma rin po che, who currently lives with her partner the
Treasure revealer Sangs sprul padma chos dbyings rdo rje at his seat the War sha (Wa rtsa)
monastery in Padma county; mKha’ ’gro Tāre (despite the similarity of the name, not to be
confused with mKha’ ’gro rin po che Tāre lha mo), present consort of gTer ston lHa mtsho rin po
che in Padma county; and mKha’ ’gro rin po che, believed to be a reincarnation of Se ra mkha’
’gro and currently living with her consort sPrul sku Rang rig rdo rje at Siddhi bde chen gling
monastery in rGya rong (Sichuan).310
An interesting example of a Treasure revealing couple is gTer chen bKra shis rgyal
mtshan and his wife mKha’ ’gro dPal chen lha mo.311 A Treasure revealer and sngags pa, bKra
shis rgyal mtshan was authorized by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje to have his own disciples and
students and therefore to give teachings and empowerments. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje also
recognized bKra shis rgyal mtshan as a Treasure revealer and incarnation of the ninth-century
monk lHa lung dpal gyi rdo rje in 1988 following his own visions and prophetic dreams. Since
307 bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s oral communication. sKye rgu mdo (Yushu TAP, Qinghai), July 2006.
308 For a biography of the couple, see Padma ’od gsal mtha’ yas (1997) and for its French translation see Buliard
(2005). See also Jacoby (2007: 357-361) for her discussion of Nam sprul ’Jigs med phun tshogs and Tāre lha mo as
a divinely inspired Treasure revelation couple.
309 Jacoby (2007); Havnevik (1999, 2005); Gyatso (2005); Schaeffer (2004), Hanna (1994).
310 Sarah Jacoby is currently working on the biography of mKha’ ’gro rin po che and recently gave a paper about her
at the AAR 2007 entitled “Becoming a Ḍākinī in Contemporary Eastern Tibet,” San Diego, CA, 17-20, 2008,
311 All the information concerning gTer chen bKra shis rgyal mtshan appearing in this study is based exclusively on
personal interviews obtained in various occasions during my fieldwork sojourns in Khams in 1997, 1998, 1999, and
2000.
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1990, bKra shis rgyal msthan has established a number of mountain retreats, mainly nunneries,
in Zur mang (Nang chen, Yushu TAP) and Go ’jo, Chab mdo county. His followers includes
both lay people and monastics mostly belonging to the rNying ma and bKa’ brgyud traditions.
He is predominantly based now in Nang chen where he lives at his residence in Shar mda’.
bKra shis rgyal mtshan realized he was a Treasure revealer when he received a series of
visions while studying in retreat as a student of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje when he was thirty-two
years old in 1989. bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s potentials for Treasure revelation activities were then
announced by a series of visions and prophecies experienced by his root teacher (rtsa ba’i bla
ma) bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje.312 Soon after, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje recognized him as a
reincarnation he prophesied that in order to fulfill his karmic fate and optimize his career as
Treasure revealer, he had to meet his prophesied Tantric consort. In order to honor his teacher
prophetic advice, bKra shis rgyal mtshan set off on a long journey to meet his predestined
consort following the precise instructions of his teacher. According to his account, bKra shis
rgyal mtshan found his prophesied consort dPal chen lha mo exactly where he was told, living in
a cave and practicing the Tantric ’pho ba technique of transmigration of consciousness. Since
1991, bKra shis rgyal mtshan and dPal chen lha mo have lived together in Shar mda’ and sKye
rgu mdo area with their five children. They perform a variety of rituals, liturgies, Treasure
revelations, and religious activities such as offering mirror divinations for the laity and monastic
community alike.
As mKha’ ’gro dpal chen lha mo’s divinatory skills have gained in popularity, her
services have made up for the majority of the household income. A few months after bDe chen
’od gsal rdo rje identified dPal chen lha mo as bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s prophesied
7ākinī/consort (lung zin mkha’ ’gro) bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje recognized her as an emanation of
the 7ākinī Kalasiddhi. An acknowledged and experienced Tantric practitioner, dPal chen lha mo
is also renown for her skills as a diviner (phywa babs mkhan), returnee from death-like
experiences or “revenants” (’das log ma), and a performer of what is called “heroic vulture
[flight]” (dpa’ bo’i rgod). Her expertise in divination is requested in every town or village the
couple crosses on its sacred journeys.
dPal chen lha mo claims to be able to see and engage in a dialogical interaction with the
deity bKra shis tshe ring ma, the principal goddess of the Five Long Life Sisters (Tshe ring
312bKra shis rgyal mtshan is in the process of writing his autobiography. It is my intention to study it as soon as it is
ready.
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mched lnga). To perform this ritual, dPal chen lha mo arranges an altar dedicated to the goddess
by placing an effigy of bKra shis tshe ring ma in the center of a large bowl of rice grains and a
large round metal plate (me long) in front of it also in the rice grains. The two items are then
surrounded by multiple crystal stones and incense sticks. After an introductory recitation of
prayers dedicated to the goddess combined with supplications (gsol ’debs) to Padmasambhava,
dPal che lha mo reads the questions one by one aloud in front of the altar and waits until the
responses “appear” on the surface of the me long. Once there, dPal chen lha mo reads the phrases
to her husband, and bKra shis rgyal mtshan carefully writes them down on a piece of paper.
Since bKra shis rgyal mtshan and dPal chen lha mo settled down in Shar mda’ township
in 2004, their fame has increased and requests for spiritual advice have multiplied. People from
all walks of life reach their residence in the northern outskirts of town at every hour of the day
asking for advice. Although requests cover various issues, they predominantly concern health,
business, and financial matters, and most of the attendees including both monastics and
laypeople leave donations as soon as they give their names and reasons of their requests. bKra
shi rgyal msthan and dPal che lha mo perform sometimes up to four sessions of divinations a day
during which they satisfy multiple requests.313
According to what I have been told during several of my interviews and conversations
with bKra shis rgyal mtshan, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje instructed him to help dPal chen lha mo
perform divinations in order to prepare himself for the reception of Treasures. Being recognized
as a reincarnation of one of Padmasambhava’s disciples is apparently not enough; training is
needed to understand and be able to decode the Treasure teachings that a Treasure revealer
receives. 314 More specifically bKra shis rgyal mtshan needed to perform meditation retreats
(mtshams) and pilgrimages on foot to Lhasa performing full-body prostrations along the way.
The latter was a method to accrue merits (bsod nams), purify himself, and eliminate potential
defilements (sgrib pa dag). Following his teacher’s advice, since 1993 bKra shis rgyal mtshan
has performed multiple pilgrimage journeys including three to Lhasa doing body-length
prostrations. On many occasions he has traveled accompanied by his wife dPal chen lha mo,
some of his five children, and a few monks and nuns who assisted him and his family during the
journey. During his pilgrimages he also visited sacred places (gnas chen) and stayed in caves in
313 I am currently working on a study of dPal chen lha mo’s religious activities and the performance of her
divinations.
314 bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s oral communication. Ri phug kha mountain hermitage. Yushu TAP, Qinghai, July 2000.
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retreat where he practiced meditation. In those caves he found most of his early earth Treasures
(sa gter). A great number of these are considered Treasure stones (gter rdo), which are semi-
precious stones believed to bear the blessing of Padmasambhava for the benefit of future sentient
beings. On the surface of many of the gter rdo, bKra shis rgyal mtshan has identified sacred
inscriptions attributed to Padmasambhava. On each Treasure stone bKra shis rgyal mtshan has
identified a mark left by Padmasambhava, such as fingerprints, handprints (phyag rjes), or
scripts. Always aware of his material, spiritual, and geographical surroundings, bKra shis rgyal
mtshan embodies the paradigmatic Treasure revealer and ascetic wanderer of contemporary
Tibet. When he visits nunneries and monasteries, bKra shis rgyal mtshan is occasionally invited
to give teachings, instructions, and personal advice to monks and nuns, and especially to
practitioners in retreat in practice buildings (sgrub khang). During these visits dPal chen lha mo
is often asked to perform divinations for the monks and nuns in retreat.
bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s formal career as Treasure revealer took an important turn in the
late-1990s thanks to two major revelations that were welcomed with particular enthusiasm within
his community. The first event took place in 1998 in a cave he himself opened (kha phye), which
is annexed to the well-known Bi rnam par snang mdzad temple a few miles east of sKye rgu mdo
(Ch. Yushu).315 While sitting in meditation in the cave, a 7ākinī, whom he recognized as Ye shes
mtsho rgyal, appeared to him in a vision. She told him to look for a Treasure (gter kha) in the
soil of the cave just beneath his seat. Following his vision he dug into the soil and found a
dagger, which he immediately identified as the bDud ’dul ba’i shes rab ral gri (Demon-Taming
Dagger of Sublime Wisdom). bKra shis rgyal mtshan believes the dagger belonged to Ye she
mtsho rgyal who then hid it there as a Treasure. Quite surprisingly, however, the blade of the
dagger has two Chinese characters carved at the base. The engraving represents the word hù
sā.316 Here hù means “door,” “household,” “family,” and sā stands for “let go,” “cast,” “spread,”
315 In a vision experienced a few months before reaching the monastery, bKra shis rgyal mtshan saw this small cave
just on the cliff above the monastery. Once he arrived at the monastery, bKra shis rgyal mtshan and his wife set out
to search for the cave, and they found it not far from the monastic buildings. bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s personal
information. (Ri phug kha hermitage, 2000).
Nowadays, the Bi rnam par snang mdzad lha khang or Vairocana Temple is being advertised as Gongzhu si or
Princess Temple, in a propagandistic attempt to publicize the influence of Sino-Tibetan relations in the foundation of
Buddhism in Tibet. Local authorities emphasize the role of princess Wencheng and the history of the introduction of
the Jo bo statue to Tibet. According to the legend the princess and her party stopped there on their way to Lhasa in
the eighth century to meet the then emperor Srong btsan sgam po.
316 This reading follows the pin yin transcription and phonetic system.
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“scatter.”317 Although, gTer chen bKra shis rgyal mtshan admits to having no insight into the
reasons why there are Chinese and not Tibetan words engraved on the blade, he nevertheless
commented on this finding by saying the following:
In 1998 I received the Dagger of Sublime Wisdom (Shes rab ral gri) that once belonged to the mKha’
’gro ma Ye shes mtsho rgyal. She used it to tame and subdue the demons and then hid it as a Treasure
in the Brag yab cave. This is a sacred place I newly discovered on the right wing of the Rin mda’ [Bi]
rnam par snang mdzad [monastery].318
Another important retrieval occurred later the same year when gTer chen bKra shis rgyal mtshan
was on pilgrimage to several sacred places in the area of sKye rgu mdo. 319 While he was
performing the circumambulation of a hill called gNas chen mkha’ ’gro ’bum rdzong on the
morning of November 17, 1998, he heard voices coming from the sky. None of his fellow
pilgrims and travel companions, including dPal chen lha mo and a number of monastics and
disciples, could hear the voices. Following the voices, bKra shis rgyal mtshan soon had a
visionary experience (snang nyams). A group of dancing 7ākinīs appeared in the space before
him and told him to stop where he was. They pointed to the side of the mountain next to which
he was standing and told him he should go to invite a Treasure (gter kha) from that site. At that
moment, bKra shis rgyal mtshan was standing next to a large boulder. As he approached the
large rocky wall, bKra shis rgyal msthan recited prayers such as the Seven-line Prayer to Guru
Rinpoche (tshig bdun gsol ’debs). He noticed that small stones, gravel, and debris were falling to
his feet from a little opening in the rock a few feet above him. Suddenly, a casket (sgrom bu) in
the form of a round stone the size of a fist spontaneously appeared from within the crack and fell
along with debris in front of bKra shis rgyal mtshan. He promptly put the stone chest in his
shawl and carefully collected all the medicinal powder that poured out from the opening in the
form of bdud rtsi, or divine nectar.
Once he and his party had returned to the Ri phug kha mountain hermitage on the slopes
of Mount gNas chen padma, bKra shis rgyal mtshan did not touch the Treasure chest (gter
317 For the Chinese characters see 户 (hù) n. 2141 (p. 408), and 撒 (sā) n. 4186 (p.786) of the Dictionnaire Français
de la Langue Chinoise (1990). I have personally seen the dagger mentioned above and copied the two Chinese
characters.
318 “Brag yab rin mda’ rnam par snang mdzad kyi g.yas phyogs gnas chen gnas gsar phug pa de yi nang nas mkha’
’gro ye shes mtsho rgyal gyi bdud ’dul ba’i shes rab ral gri gter la sbas pa dus la babs tshe 1998 lo nas spyan
’drang ba’o.” gTer chen bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s oral and written communication. Ri phug kha Mountain
Hermitage, sKye rgu mdo, August 8th, 1999.
319 bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s oral communication. Ri phug kha mountain hermitage. Yushu TAP, Qinghai, July 2000.
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sgrom) until the appropriate time and auspicious circumstances were manifest. The opportunity
occurred a week later when bKra shis rgyal mtshan had visions announcing that the appropriate
time had come for the opening of the Treasure chest. bKra shis rgyal msthan summoned his wife,
some monks and nuns, and a few devotees who were visiting. His monks and nuns cleaned and
put the room in order and paid their respects with homage to the sacred casket by performing full
body prostrations. They all sat down in the room close to bKra shis rgyal mtshan and his wife
and chanted recitations. According to bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s own account, he then removed
the silk scarves from around the casket. As he was holding it in his hands and gazing upon it, the
chest suddenly opened and a small sphere of blazing light flew in the air and dissolved into bKra
shis rgyal mtshan’s mind, infusing him with knowledge of a spiritual teaching.
bKra shis rgyal mtshan explained that in the following days he transcribed the teachings
he realized into a scripture and gave it the collective title of Bram ze skyes reg ril bu’i sbyor ba
(The Preparation of the Brahmin Touching Pills). One of the main aspects of such a collection of
teachings is the production and use of the bram ze’i ril bu, or Brahmin’s Pills. These medicinal
pellets contain several medicinal plants and sacred substances including the nectar gathered from
the Treasure door (gter sgo) during the retrieval and are highly valued for their ability to heal the
body and their capacity to inspire spiritual liberation. According to bKra shis rgyal mtshan, if the
devotee ingests the pill with a pure and faithful mind, the power of the substance will
immediately help him to attain inner realization.320 In addition, he believes that the bram ze’i ril
bu can be helpful against contaminations (sgrib) of various origins induced by malevolent spirits
such as evilness (gnyan sgrib), “rahu” spirits (gza’ sgrib), and arrogance (dregs sgrib). They are
believed to cure three hundred and thirty-six diseases.321
One of the religious roles Treasure revealers play in their communities is that of
manipulating and controlling the environment and sacred space. bKra shis rgyal mtshan has
excavated hundreds of material Treasures and, as we have just seen, he has recently started
revealing mental Treasures (dgongs gter) as well, often aided by the presence of his consort.
Whenever bKra shis rgyal mtshan has a premonition about a forthcoming Treasure, he consults
with his wife in order to prepare himself. One particular skill that occasionally bKra shis rgyal
mtshan asks of his wife is her assistance in identifying and locating Treasure places (gter gnas)
320 gTer chen bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s oral communication. Ri phug kha Mountain Hermitage, sKye rgu mdo,
August 8th, 1999. Cf. Thondup (1986: 152).
321 gTer chen bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s oral communication. Ri phug kha Mountain Hermitage, sKye rgu mdo,
August 8th, 1999.
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that have been announced to bKra shis rgyal mtshan in visionary experience. In this case, dPal
chen lha mo arranges a special mirror divination session in which she asks her tutelary deity
bKra shis tshe ring ma, the goddess of long life, to provide more details and assist her in the
place localization process. Once the response has been granted, if the way to find the Treasure
place is still obscure, sometimes dPal chen lha mo performs an additional ritual that she calls the
“heroic vulture [flight]” (dpa’ bo’i rgod).
bKra shis rgyal mtshan and dPal chen lha mo explained that the performance of the
heroic vulture flight is similar to that of the ’das log in that she is apparently capable of
abandoning her body in a trance-like state for an undetermined length of time to enter the body
of a vulture. Vultures, bya rgod in Tibetan, and often called rgod in sKye rgu mdo and Nang
chen, are powerful animals for Tibetans who often associate them with charnel grounds (dur
khrod) and funerary rites.322 During her “flights” dPal che lha mo believes that she has visited
remote areas in eastern Tibet in search for the places his Treasures (gter gnas) are located. She
recounts that on a number of occasions she has even experienced eating human flesh at charnel
grounds! She performs the extraordinary feat of flying over the presumed destination of the
Treasure revealer and searching the area for the forthcoming Treasure excavation site to facilitate
its identification. Therefore, dPal chen lha mo’s “mastery over the vulture [flight]” (rgod kyi
grub pa) as it is also called is often of crucial help to bKra shis rgyal mtshan, and her skills have
been essential in many of his revelations.323
Beyond the supernatural elements of such enterprises, the relationship between bKra shis
rgyal mtshan and his wife dPal chen lha mo is important in that it shows how a couple interacts
and participates in the performance of religious activities in the service of their community.
Despite the pertinence of consort practices to revelation, such an aspect of Tantric practice has
been often criticized by some Tibetan Buddhist leaders of the recent past, such as the late mKhan
po ’Jigs med phun tshogs, thus reviving the centuries-old debate on the validity of Treasure
revealers and the authenticity of their revelations.
322 gTer chen bKra shis rgyal mtshan and dPal chen lha mo’s oral communication (August 2001). Vultures (bya
rgod) seem to be given high status as heavenly creatures and their role in helping human beings is widely recognized
in Tibetan societies (Samuel 1993: 211; 218). Trance-like flights such as those reported by dPal chen lha mo are
occasionally experienced by gTer chen bKra shi rgyal mtshan himself who has told me he can displace at will his
consciousness into a raven (bya rog) and, therefore, can fly as one.
323 bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s oral communication. sKye rgu mdo (Yushu TAP, Qinghai), July 2006.
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Consorts, Noncelibacy, and the Debate about Authentic Treasure Revealers
In Chapter One we saw how in pre-modern Tibet some of these issues were addressed in the
writings of certain Tibetan Buddhist scholars. The tone of such a debate today has taken a
slightly different angle if we examine the arguments current writers employ to validate Treasure
revealers in contemporary Tibet. mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs (1934-2003), one of the most
revered Buddhist leaders of mGo log, was a fully-ordained monk and was well-known for his
Treasure revelations. He was also renowned for his strict position concerning ethical behavior
among both monastic and non-celibate Buddhist practitioners. In a collection of advice published
posthumously under with the title Chos rje dam pa ’jigs med phun tshogs ’byung gnas dpal
bzang po mchog gi mjug mtha’i zhal gdams rang tshugs ma shor/ gzhan sems ma dkrugs zhes
pa’i ’grel ba lugs gnyis blang dor gsal ba’i sgron me (The radiant lamp that discriminates
between the two systems: A comment on the undisturbed minds of others, or the sublime and
excellent lord of the Dharma ’Jigs med phun tshogs ’byung gnas dpal bzang po’s ultimate stable
and unerring advice” henceforth Zhal gdams), mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs elaborated on
both the importance of maintaining pure vows and commitments and the problematic aspect of
immoral behavior among non-celibate Tantric professionals (sngags pa khyim pa) including
Treasure revealers.324 Because of his full ordination, mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs tended to
promote a Vinaya-influenced approach to morality and ethical decorum, which is evident in
many of his statements.
mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs directs his criticism to the class of householder Tantric
professionals (sngags pa) and Treasure revealers (gter ston) who, according to him, indulge in
immoral and unethical behavior while lacking real knowledge of esoteric practice. In the specific
case of Treasure revealers, he expresses concern for the use and misuse of “real” Treasure
teachings by charlatans (zog po) who commit plagiarism by appropriating revelations performed
by authentic Treasure revealers from the past and diffusing them as their own productions. He
also claims that many Tantric professionals pretend to be Treasure revealers and compose
practice texts full of mistakes and disorganized teachings, which they then disseminate as
Treasure teachings (gter chos) and 7ākinī codes (mkha’ ’gro’i brda).325
324 bsTan ’dzin rgya mtsho (2005).
325 bsTan ’dzin rgya mtsho (2005: 38-39).
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mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs epitomizes a view of the Buddhist monastic
community’s perception of Treasure revealers and more generally Tantric professionals. One
criterion of validity is the Treasure revealer’s attitude and behavior, such as the way he interacts
with the people around him, the community he leads and represents, and the way he conducts his
religious activities. These aspects relate primarily to the moral and ethical behavior of the
individual. Another criterion is the quality and validity of his revealed teachings (gter chos).
Usually both these criteria are considered when it comes to the analysis and recognition of a
genuine Treasure revealer, with one aspect, the former, often overshadowing the latter. However,
as the Third rDo grub chen ’Jigs med bstan pa’i nyi ma also observes, behavior (spyod pa) per se
should not necessarily constitute a reliable means of authenticating Treasure revealers since
authentic non-celibate Tantric professionals have often been known for their bizarre,
unconventional, and often “apparently” immoral manner.326
Some contemporary Treasure revealers believe that criteria for the evaluation of a
Treasure revealer’s authenticity should focus on the quality of his revelations, not on the
revealer’s behavior. In other words, a non-celibate Treasure revealer’s lifestyle and attitude
should not affect the legitimacy of his services. bKra shis rgyal mtshan strongly supports this
view and, according to him, it is only through an accurate examination of a Treasure revealer’s
collected revelation material that an educated and authoritative religious personality can
recognize the reliability of a Treasure revealer’s claims and the validity of his teachings. During
an interview I conducted with him, bKra shis rgyal mtshan proclaimed:
The way to understand the validity of a Treasure revealer is to analyze his Treasure teachings since
just looking at a person is not enough to understand if he is a Treasure revealer or not. If we look at
his Treasure teachings, then we can understand [if he’s an authentic Treasure revealer]. It is important
to see if there is the guru sādhanā and what the quality of it is, and then if his collection include yi
dam sādhanā and mkha’ ’gro sādhanā. Additionally, we must see if among all his [Treasure]
teachings there is also the triad of the mnan bsregs ’phangs gsum. 327 Without this material an
individual cannot be considered an authentic Treasure revealer. But if someone wants to be sure if a
Treasure revealer is authentic, he should ask to look at his collected Treasures so he can analyze
them.328
326 Thondup (1996: 157).
327 Sri mnan pa gdon bgegs bsregs pa gtor zor ’phangs pa ste gsum, or the sri/demon suppression, burning
obstructing spirits, throwing gtor ma.
328 bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s personal oral communication. sKye rgu mdo (Yushu, Qinghai), July 2006.
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One point that bKra shis rgyal mtshan clearly emphasizes in the statement above is that their
validity is not dependent on what sort of people Treasure revealers are or what behavior they
manifest. An evaluation of the validity of their revelations based exclusively on their apparent
attitude and behavior is not sufficient.
Interestingly, in the Zhal gdams, mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs’s observations about
authentic Treasure revealers take a sudden and unexpected turn when he discusses issues of
ethical behavior. A major criticism that he specifically directs against non-celibate Treasure
revealers concerns their sexual misconduct (spyod ngan). mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs
criticizes several Treasure revealers’ custom of having multiple consorts.329 Additionally, he is
also very critical of their laxity and immoral behavior by indulging in drinking and sensory
pleasures under the pretext of acting in accordance with their Tantric training. Again, in his Zhal
gdams mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs elaborates on non-celibate Tantric professionals and
Treasure revealers proclaiming:
Without any knowledge of winds, channels, and seminal nuclei but motivated by desire deceived as
necessity, they (the non-celibate Treasure revealers) engage with many women. Despite being
absolutely devoid of any of the fundamentals of the generation and perfection phases, they engage [in
the practice of liberating/killing enemies by the wrathful application] of the karma of destruction
motivated by hatred. Also, motivated by desire, they make unrestrained use of servants.330
The reservations against non-celibate Treasure revealers’ Tantric practices that mKhan po ’Jigs
med phun tshogs unveils in the passage above are quite emblematic of his concern to purify
Buddhist lineages from immoral behavior and ethical transgressions. mKhan po ’Jigs med phun
tshogs’s firm convictions about maintaining the purity of vows and supporting ethical and
institutional conservatism even prevented him from pursuing his prophesied career as a great
Treasure revealer. According to his biography, he once received a prophetic catalogue (lung
byang) indicating that a “consort” would offer herself to him to fulfill their common past karmic
aspirations. Had he accepted her, he would have gained access to the gates of five profound
Treasures that would have corrected the decay due to the times of turmoil and “make the sun of
happiness shine over the land of snows.”331 Apparently, things did not go exactly as the prophecy
announced; mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs did once meet a woman who offered herself to him
329 For the role of consorts in Tantric Buddhism see Jacoby (2007), Young (2004), Simmer-Brown (2001), and Shaw
(1994).
330 Zhal gdams (2003: 38).
331 bSod dar rgyas (1990: 37). Sodarjey (2001: 52).
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as a spiritual consort, but he didn’t comply with her intentions. When he was at gNubs lung
trying to open a large Treasure door, the auspicious signs did not become manifest. While
staying at the cave apparently something fantastic happened:
A young woman showing all kinds of signs of realization appeared in front of him and said “We have
the mind mandate transmission from previous aspirations. I am your karmic consort.”
But the Master thought to himself “Generally, I don’t feel like being judgmental. However, the
knowledge-holders who inquire beyond worldly existence in accordance with the instructions of the
profound path say: ‘Of all the illusions, the female illusion is the most extraordinary.’ This is highly
admirable. Nowadays, the mentality of ordinary people is disgraceful. Moved by personal
motivations, they engage in perverse acts of pleasure in the guise of [acting with] disciplined
behavior. At this point, I won’t do it [i.e., engage with a consort]. Instead, I will follow the exemplary
model of the teachings.”332
Thus mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs favored monasticism and the purity of Vinaya precepts
and refused to engage with consorts, aware of the fact that neglecting his prophesied consort
would have an affect on his revelations. According to him, only those who truly persevere
towards the path of realization by exerting themselves in accomplishment practice (bsnyen
sgrub) can be real Treasure revealers.333
But why are women involved in such a debate? How can the number of consorts a
Treasure revealer engages with have an effect on a Treasure revealer’s authority? In other words,
do morality issues fit as criteria to validate the authenticity of Treasure revealers? My sense is
that mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs attempted to add a moral tone to the discourse by
associating moral and ethical behavior with the authenticity of a Treasure revealer. However, his
comments seem to underestimate a crucial point: historically, most Treasure revealers were non-
celibate and many had multiple female consorts. Tibetan scholars have often directly or
indirectly pointed out the key role of consorts for Treasure revealers. In the passage above, does
mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs criticize promiscuous behavior? Or rather is he critical of the
performance of consort practice? My impression is that mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs
privileges monastic ethics over consort practice, despite its importance for the revelation of
Treasures.
Consort practices are a type of skillful means (thabs lam; Skt. upāya) that have a central
role in the Treasure revelation system. As rDo grub chen ’Jigs med bstan pa’i nyi ma clarifies,
332 bSod dar rgyas (1990: 36). Sodarjey (2001: 50–51). This translation is mine.
333 For a study of the concept of “sex” in Buddhism monasticism see Gyatso (2005).
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there are two reasons for a Treasure revealer to have a consort for his practice. The first is that
the union of the Treasure revealer with a consort represents and intensifies the ultimate state of
bliss (bde) and emptiness (stong), a state that optimizes the reception of mind Treasures. In this
case, the support of a consort in the revelation process enhances the revealer’s power to decode
or decipher the symbolic scripts in which the Treasure often first appears.334 The second purpose
is the fulfillment of a consort’s karmic connection with the Treasure revealer and the
commitment to complete the mission to reveal the Treasure for the benefit of sentient beings.335
Recently, in her study of the great female Treasure revealer Se ra mKha’ ’gro (1892-
1940), Sarah Jacoby has pointed out how consorts play an important role in revelation. In her
words:
Treasure revelation is founded upon a Tantric understanding of the body in which mental realizations
are generated from manipulating the channels, winds, and seminal nuclei of the subtle body (rtsa,
rlung, thig le). Unique to the Treasure tradition is the link between the generation of textual and
material Treasures and the biologically generative act of sexuality. Specifically, the role of the female
consort is linked to Yeshé Tsogyal’s mnemonic and encoding powers; female consorts aid Treasure
revealers in their process of decoding the Treasure’s symbolic scripts.”336
Such a view is also confirmed by some current Treasure revealers. According to bKra shis rgyal
mtshan, a consort (thabs grogs) is an important companion for a Treasure revealer’s practice,
although it is not the conditio sine qua non of Treasure revelation. A Treasure revealer can still
reveal Treasures, especially material objects such as earth Treasures (sa gter) without a consort,
and a few can even become great Treasure revealers, as in the case of mKhan po ’Jigs med phun
tshogs and Grub dbang lung rtogs rgyal mtshan (also known as mKhan po A chos). However, as
bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s comments clearly illustrate in the following passage, in the process of
Tantric practice the cooperation of a consort can increase the Treasure revealer’s powers to
reveal more Treasures, especially mind Treasures:
If a high being who is a 7ākinī unites with a great Treasure revealer of superior birth they will obtain
great achievements and then they will be able to retrieve many Treasures. This is known as
‘interconnection of method and wisdom’ (thabs shes kyi rten ’brel) and it is also called the ‘true
nature of the auspicious connections’ (rten ’brel gyi chos nyid). Then, for instance, if there is a
teacher who is a Treasure revealer without a consort, he will be like a single person having only the
334 Thondup (1986: 130).
335 Thondup (1986: 82–83).
336 Jacoby (2007: 102; and 233–239).
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power (shugs) of one person being without a partner, since the double power coming from a couple
will not be possible.337
It is my sense that the custom among many non-celibate Tantric specialists and Treasure
revealers of having more than one consort and the ambiguity of such a situation disturbs
religious figures committed to a monastic lifestyle and who support celibate monastic institutions
such as mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs. Nevertheless, bKra shis rgyal mtshan justifies having
more than one consort through linking this behavior to prophecy. He remarks:
The fact that some Treasure revealers have more than a single consort depends on both [personal]
necessity and required conditions. Some [Treasure revealers] have more than one prophesied mkha’
’gro ma; others have just one. It’s up to them to comply with the prophecies or not and to decide to
have only one consort or many.338
On the topic of prophesied consorts for a Treasure revealer, bKra shis rgyal mtshan observes:
There are many prophesied/predestined consorts (lung zin mkha’ ’gro), but if one is not an authentic
mkha’ ’gro ma then we talk about karmic tendencies. [In that case] It will be only a question of
desiring a woman who gives pleasure. But since it is not a necessity [for the practice], she won’t be
beneficial. It will not be of any benefit to the retrieval of Treasures, but only to personal pleasure.
Without a consort being prophesied it will be harmful and detrimental not only to one’s own
experience and realization, but also to all the Treasures. For instance, there are some people who say
they are Treasure revealers whose prophesied consorts have been announced in the statements and
prophecies of their teachers but they never actually engaged with them [the consorts]. However, since
they do not engage with their consorts, they don’t have many Treasure teachings. Thus, it will be said
that they are not good Treasure revealers and that their consorts are not good mkha’ ’gro ma.339
bKra shis rgyal mtshan goes a step further in his discussion of consort practice when he frames
the practice in the larger context of skilful means (thabs lam):
What is called method and wisdom [practice] is generally considered to be an interconnection of
events (rten ’brel). Relying on such an auspicious conjunction of events will result in the production
of many more virtues. If [a Treasure revealer] needs to retrieve a material Treasure from the ground,
for instance, or if there is a Treasure teaching to be received, he should engage in the performance of
method activities (thabs bya) for a period of time, meaning performing the method and wisdom
practice with a mkha’ ’gro ma. This would be the result of the auspicious conjunction of events. We
337 bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s personal oral communication. Interview. sKye rgu mdo, Yushu TAP, Qinghai,
December 2005.
338 bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s personal oral communication. Interview. sKye rgu mdo, Yushu TAP, Qinghai,
December 2005.
339 bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s personal oral communication. Interview. sKye rgu mdo, Yushu TAP, Qinghai, July
2006.
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call these main practices the path of skilful means (thabs lam), and they consist of what in Tibetan is
also called ‘having intercourse.’ Therefore, in this case, thabs lam, as reported in many Tibetan
writings, consists of a series of activities including mental thoughts, upward and downward
movements of the seminal nuclei (thig le), and the four levels of joy such as the dga’ ba, mchog dga’,
dga’ bral, lhan skyes dga’, which are experienced during a union between a man and a woman and
therefore also between a mkha’ ’gro ma and a Treasure revealer.”340
In this passage, bKra shis rgyal mtshan emphasizes the soteriological aspect of thabs lam
practice, according to which the union of “method and wisdom” (thabs dang shes rab) has the
potential to create favorable circumstances and liberate the mind. In short, non-celibate Tantric
figures perceive sexual union in yogic practice as an implement to intensify a state of
psychological receptivity that is pivotal to their spiritual advancement and the revelation of
Treasures. In Tibet, consort practices are supported by a corpus of ritual systems, namely
Yogatantra and Mahāyoga, stemming back to as early as the eighth century.341
Therefore, although he admits that the use of consorts is optional, bKra shis rgyal mtshan
believes that a consort can assist along the path to enlightenment. Thus a Treasure revealer’s
visionary activity can be optimized through the combination of the practice of channels, winds,
and seminal nuclei along with consort practice, where union with a consort creates an additional
support (lag rten). In this regard bKra shis rgyal mtshan observes that:
For those who do not know how to practice the channels, winds, and seminal nuclei, if they are
Treasure revealers, they can reveal Treasure teachings anyway, but it won’t be the same. All the paths
of practice reach Buddhahood. Just like reaching the Pure Land, the purpose is the same. Meditations
through the generation phase (bskyed rim), the perfection phase (rdzogs rim), and channels, winds,
and seminal nuclei (rtsa rlung thig le) all have the same purpose, removing obscuration (sgrib pa
dag). However, if there are interconnections of events conducive to practicing with a consort, then
this is particularly good. But one is also allowed to practice by himself [i.e. without a consort]. A
Treasure revealer with a consort can practice with her since the consort is his support (lag rten) and
she is therefore called female support (mi mo lag rten). This is just like Mi la ras pa whose female
support was [the deity] Tshe ring ma. Relying on her as his support he practiced his channels, winds,
and seminal nuclei and attained Buddhahood.342
In the example above, however, Mi la ras pa’s consort was not a human being but a deity, Tshe
ring ma. The Tantric union, therefore, is not reduced to mere physical actions between two
340 bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s personal oral communication. Interview. sKye rgu mdo, Yushu TAP, Qinghai,
December 2005.
341 Dalton (2004: 4).
342 bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s personal oral communication. sKye rgu mdo, Yushu TAP, Qinghai, July 2006.
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partners.343 Rather it seems to represent a Tantric understanding of the body that once applied is
supposed to favor the ritual attunement between the two practitioners whether physical or
visualized. The blissful state that such a union generates in the Treasure revealer is supposedly
employed in the ritual environment to facilitate the process of revelation and especially the
decoding of visionary messages.344
If we consider the data information explored so far, we realize that one criterion that can
be employed in the identification of an authentic Treasure revealer is the behavior and the
conduct of the Treasure revealer and more generally of the entire non-celibate Tantric
community. Another criterion is the quality and the consistency of their revelations. Although
the latter is more likely to constitute a standard procedure for determining the authenticity of
Treasure revealers’ literary production, ’Jigs med phun tshogs adds a moral tone to the debate
over authenticity as if to defend the tradition from outside critics who misunderstand Treasure
revealers’ non-celibate lifestyles to be expressions of moral laxity. A reading of mKhan po ’Jigs
med phun tshogs’s advice in the Zhal gdams shows that the unconventional extravagant or
“crazy” (smyon pa) and often questionable behavior of non-celibate Tantric practitioners and
Treasure revealers still seems, as in the past, still to foster criticism by religious elites belonging
to the monastic tradition. Most non-celibate religious specialists, however, agree on the idea that
Treasure revealers cannot be judged or validated by analyzing their behavior and that only an
analysis of their collection of Treasures can ultimately provide legitimacy to their visionary
claims.
I conclude therefore that, in terms of taxonomical formulations, Treasure revealers’
authenticity springs mainly from three sources. First of all, a Treasure revealer’s claimed and/or
recognized link with his past as one of the principle disciples of Padmasambhava; second, his
realization as a Tantric practitioner; and third, the quality and comprehensive nature of his
revealed Treasures. The latter, as we have seen above, entails an accurate investigation of the
Treasure revealer’s gter chos, or Treasure scriptures, which should ideally be a broad collection
of the three major bla rdzogs thugs (lama [Padmasambhava], [Great] Perfection, and
Compassion [Avalokiteśvara]) cycles of practice. The one who investigates and validates a
Treasure revealer’s authenticity must be an exceptional Buddhist master. This, however, seems
to be appropriate as a posteriori type of investigation, whereas the a priori investigation of a
343 Shaw (1994: 141-142).
344 Gyatso (1998: 257-259).
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Treasure revealer is instead based on his force of prophecy and vision. These are manifest
predominantly before the would-be Treasure revealer has begun his career and produced entire
cycles of practice according to his mandate.
The debate seems to be open regarding the proper behavior and conduct that a Treasure
revealer should display in order to be credible and to provide a good image and model to the
Buddhist community. But are Treasure revealers supposed to be models for the communities
they live in? In general, I would say that from a reading of the pertinent literature and the data
provided by informed individuals I have interviewed that this is not always the case. However,
leaders such as the late mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs argued that they must be models given
that he emphasized moral conduct in addition to the traditional criteria for determining the
validity of a Treasure revealer. mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs’s remarks clearly indicate that
in the changed circumstances of present-day Tibet, in which Buddhism is open to not only
sectarian criticism, but also state censure, the Treasure tradition can hardly afford to be perceived
as morally corrupt.
The Mobility of Religion: Treasure Revealers and Communication Technology
On a warm summer day in August 2000, I was sitting in a crowded Tibetan restaurant in the
market place of sKye rgu mdo (Ch. Yushu) writing notes in my journal while sipping a cup of
Tibetan butter tea. Around me small clusters of Tibetan monks and ordinary people were busy
chatting, eating, or simply drinking tea while other diners were attentively watching a Kung Fu
movie on a video compact disc (VCD) player on the big screen of a television set. At the end of
the hit Chinese movie the owner of the restaurant put on another VCD. As the VCD player
started, the images appearing on the screen immediately drew my attention. A Tibetan teacher
appeared who was leading a public teachings session for a large mass of people gathered in front
of him in what looked like a monastery courtyard. As soon as the image zoomed in on the
religious figure’s face I immediately recognized mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs. An older man
standing on the threshold of the restaurant took his hat off, mumbled prayers, and united his
palms in front of his chest. I inquired about the video we were watching from the owner of the
restaurant who told me that he got the VCD from his daughter, a nun at the religious
encampment of bLa rung sgar. What I was watching was a promotional video of mKhan po ’Jigs
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med phun tshogs publicizing his travels, his community, and the religious activities including a
few spectacular Treasure retrievals.
In a modern world expanding its communication and cultural boundaries at an impressive
speed and reaching even the remote areas of Tibet, tourism, new information technologies,
media, and new forms of communication are rapidly modifying Tibetan lives and cultural
landscapes. With China’s encouraging attitude towards spatial mobility, social interaction, and
the increasing presence of modern technologies across the country, Tibetans have started to
promote and project religious symbols via modern forms of mass communication. In a culture
such as Tibet where devotees regularly carry religious symbols such as reliquaries, amulets, and
blessed items of talismanic value on their bodies, new technologies including pictures, posters,
pins, pamphlets, and autobiographies of teachers, and also VCDs, DVDs, audio cassettes, and
digital cameras are nowadays common means of promotion and can be readily found almost
everywhere in Tibet. Moreover, as a consequence of the increased presence in Tibet of
international aid and development agencies, NGOs, international medical organizations, charity
organizations, cultural, spiritual, and adventure tourism, human rights monitors, and
Tibetologists, knowledge of the Tibetan religious world is being increasingly inserted into the
global network of information communication that characterizes today’s cultural discourses.
Most Tibet-related issues and news are now readily accessible on the Internet. The fame of some
of the present Treasure revealers has transcended the boundaries of Tibet and reached an
international audience.345
Thanks especially to communication media, such as audio cassettes, CDs, and VCDs, the
impact of technology on the practice of religion in Tibet has been extraordinary. A consequence
of the new means of mass communication is that they are promoting a growth in the mobility of
religious symbols across Tibet. As studies by Babb and Wadley have demonstrated, this wave of
change in Asia has altered the way in which religious culture can be transmitted. 346 The
revolutionary effect of audio cassettes and CDs in Tibet can be appreciated if we consider that
the popularity of religious personalities and their religious communities outside eastern Tibet can
345 mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs, Padma gtum po sKu gsum gling pa, and A ’dzoms rgyal sras Padma dbang
rgyal (b. 1972) are among those Treasure revealers who have traveled to southeast Asia and to the West.
346 Babb and Wadley (1995). In 2004 while staying at bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s resident at rDza mer chen
monastery I showed a CD to a Tibetan yak herder visiting the old teacher. The CD contained images and footage of
mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs’s activities but no photo or words were printed on the surface of the disk. When I
told the herder what the content of the CD was he respectfully grabbed my hand and put it on the top of his head as a
sign of reverence and respect.
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be attributed largely to the circulation of this technology. Cassettes, CDs, and especially VCDs
of teachers such as mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs, Grub dbang lung rtogs rgyal mtshan, O
rgyan sKu gsum gling pa, and A ’dzoms rgyal sras padma dbang rgyal can be found not only
within Tibetan regions of Sichuan, Qinghai, and TAR, but also in urban areas of mainland China
such as Chengdu and Xining.
The distribution of home-made, bootlegged, and privately sponsored audio, visual, and
printed religious and biographical material in Tibet is a particularly interesting phenomon.
Through their ubiquitous and intrusive character audio and video materials have changed the
structure of religious practice and attendance at religious functions in Tibet. Many devotees
return home from such events with recorded material making the private experience available to
a larger audience such as friends, relatives, acquaintances, and diners at a restaurant. CDs can be
listened to multiple times and DVDs watched over again aiding in the memorization of
teachings. In this new environment the participation in religious events becomes collectible
material and cultural encounters can be commercialized. Music, devotional songs accompanied
by folk and pop Tibetan tunes, and videos of Buddhist teacher and Treasure revealers are now
common entertainment in many restaurants in eastern Tibet and are available in market places in
urban areas thus popularizing devotionalism and letting Tibetans participate in the China-
inspired marketization of Tibetan culture.347
Additionally, the marketing of public religious figures including Treasure revealers has
increased due to the increased amount of religious literature published domestically and abroad.
The availability of such literature, including autobiographies, scriptures, prayer manuals, and
spiritual instructions has simplified the propagation of information about religion, contemporary
teachers, and their communities. These technologies have projected many contemporary
Treasure revealers and Tantric professionals as trans-local entities and “being there” is not
anymore the conditio sine qua non for receiving the teachings and performing practices. VCDs
of major Buddhist scholars and of all the aforementioned Treasure revealers in this thesis can be
found in Tibetan, Chinese and sometimes with English translation often accompanied by karaoke
style music. As the case of mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs’s religious encampment illustrates,
there is a significant amount of privately sponsored and published literary material coming not
only from bLa rung sgar’s printing house, but also from abroad, particularly from Taiwan and
347 Davis (2005).
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Hong Kong, home of many Buddhist centers opened by his disciples and followers. The video
footages, like the various pamphlets, cover some aspects of the late Buddhist teacher’s activities,
including teachings, public speeches, advice, and biographical anecdotes. They often include
descriptions of his Treasure revelations with photos of items, footprints, and miraculous
apparitions.348
Modernization in Tibet, as sponsored by the PRC government, involves different means
of urbanization, education, technology, and social mobility with varying degrees of success.349
Along with consumer articles such as motorbikes, televisions, VCRs, and VCDs that Tibetans
have enjoyed in the last decade, the Internet is a new arrival. Internet in Asian countries in
general and China specifically is developing quicker than in any other region of the world. It
must be noted that new information and communication technologies such as the Internet in the
PRC in particular are heavily affected by government monitoring policies.350 New technologies
such as computer facilities and the Internet are booming in most provinces of the PRC including
small villages of Khams and A mdo. Although most of the customers are young people playing
videogames on the computer, many among them are familiar with browsing the Internet for
research, chatting on-line, and e-mailing.
At bLa rung sgar, for instance, thanks to the donations and financial support of hundreds
of Chinese Buddhist devotees who flock to the religious center every year, a computer room was
organized in 2000 with several desktop computers having Internet connections. A printing house
had been established in the late 1990s where mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs’s teachings,
Buddhist didactic material, and reprints of Buddhist classics were printed for both Tibetan and
348 See for instance the publications by Thub bstan nor bu, who leads the La Rong Buddhist Institute in Taipei,
Taiwan (Ningmaba larong sancheng falin foxuehui), a representative office of mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs’
bLa rung theg gsum chos gling (bLa rung sgar). In the early 2000s Thub bstan nor bu published a series of books
including a biography of mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs in Chinese (Jinmei pengcuo fawang zhuang. His
Holiness Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche: A Biography) and a collection of songs by Mu med ye shes mtsho, mKhan po
’Jigs med phun tshogs’ niece (rJe btsun mu med ye shes mtsho mo’i bstod pa phyogs bsgrigs tshang sras dgyes pa’i
rol mtsho). In 1996 he also published a series of instructions by mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs, Dus rabs nyer
gcig pa’i gangs can pa rnams la phul ba’i snying gtam sprin gyi rol mo. Other examples of biographies of present
Tibetan Treasure revealers published abroad are those of sKu gsum gling pa and A ’dzoms rgyal sras padma dbang
rgyal. See A bu dkar lo (2003) and ’Gyur med tshe ring (2006) respectively.
349 For a recent discussion on various topics related to China’s modernization and developmental policies in Tibet
see Blondeau and Buffetrille (2002), and Norbu (2002). For a survey of China’s economic policy in the Western
region of the PRC see also TIN (2000).
350 See Ho, Kluven, and Yang (2003) for a significant contribution to the study of the development of Internet in
Asian countries. It is worth noting here, though, that PRC’s policy concerning diffusion of the information in China
is still at the center of recent debates on freedom of expression and censorship in the PRC. See for instance the
recent report produced by The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, available on-line at
http://www.cyber.law.harvard.edu/filtering/china.
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Chinese students. Most of the printed matter including textbooks and reading material is now
assigned to the publishing house where young monks familiar with both written Tibetan and
word processing read, correct, and edit old texts and then republish them.
In the last five years the PRC government has become more aware of the possibilities of
the Internet and of its potentials. Although on the one hand the PRC has focused on restrictions
and limits to Internet access, on the other it has increased its information network on various
topics including ethnic minority policies. Local authorities have also launched their provincial-
level websites largely focused on tourism and propaganda-style information about local
activities, business, and commercial advertising.351 The improvement in information technology
has focused on the dissemination of information about Tibet and ethnic Tibetan areas of the PRC
in which a stereotyped image of ethnic communities and minority culture is marketed to attract
domestic tourists. The attempts and successes in reviving and maintaining traditional forms of
Buddhist practice and activities in Tibet is a phenomenon that is not confined to one Treasure
revealer only. Buddhism in its various traditions and specifically Tibetan Buddhism has been
spreading world-wide in recent decades. Addressing global Buddhism, Baumann has observed
that Buddhism has been established in several countries. In many cases single countries,
including Asian countries, now host a number of different Buddhist traditions, which is
historically unprecedented.352
Globalizing forces are shaping and re-shaping much of the cultural geography worldwide
and Tibetan Buddhism is no exception to this trend. More specifically, the success of Buddhism
in its Tibetan variations seems to be attributed to its flexibility to adapt to various circumstances
especially in the new global context. Samuel has pointed out how compatibility with modern
science, and ecology, and a message of non-violence are among the outstanding reasons for
Tibetan Buddhism’s success as a world religion in our time.353 Information about Buddhism in
all its traditions, including teachings, teachers, and international Buddhist centers, can be
accessed now in an unprecedented way. Internet technology allows culture to be promulgated at
a very high rate. We can access more and more information about almost anything via the
Internet, even about Treasure revelation! A simple Google search online by typing “Treasure
351 See TIN’s China’s Tibet Online: Tibet and Tibetans in PRC Government Websites at
http://www.tibetinfo.net/news-update/2003/websr/0309.htm.
352 Baumann (2001: 2), and (2002). See also Prebish (2002).
353 Samuel (1995). I am grateful to Geoffrey Samuel for having granted me permission to cite his opinion from his
unpublished work. See also Samuel (2005: 288-344).
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revelation,” “Terma tradition,” or “Terton” will bring up a long list of websites and Buddhist
portals with all sorts of information about Tibetan Treasures and their revealers, including an
essay on “Terma (Buddhism)” in the booming Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia.354 Encouraged and
helped by their Chinese Buddhist devotees several Chinese language websites dedicated to
Treasure revealers in Tibet have also appeared on the Internet. At the time of writing this
dissertation, a number of Tibetan Treasure revealers have their own Internet websites in Chinese:
Nam sprul ’Jigs med phun tshogs, Grub dbang lung rtogs rgyal mtshan, O rgyan sKu gsum gling
pa, and Bla ma rol ba’i rdo rje.355
Religion and spirituality on the Web is a new phenomenon that is emerging in multiple
ways. As recent research in the field of Internet and spirituality has demonstrated, the
combination of technology and religiosity, especially archaic forms of mystic teachings based on
visionary experiences, is considerably transforming the world of religions contributing
significantly to an unprecedented mobility of religion. 356 The apparent dichotomy between
religious spirituality and the commercialization and international distribution offered by the
Internet is starting to fade. Some forms of religious expression find in the modern technology
new channels of information and communication. Spectacular graphic devices, digital
photography, cyber-decorations, and immediate links to other Buddhism-related websites have
created a large network of possibilities for those shopping for Buddhist centers and religious
teachers. In this sense the Internet provides immediate application of its services by the user in
his/her quest for data about Tibetan teachers, their visits, and even the most esoteric of Tantric
354 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terma_(Buddhism).
355 Nam sprul ’Jigs med phun tshogs’s website Zangchuang fojiao dayuanman-nianlongsi dedicated to his activities
and his community can be found on-line at http://nianlongsi.net/. The Yarchen uddiyana meditation monastery at
www.ycwjcl.com/index.asp is the Website dedicated to Grub dbang lung rtogs rgyal mtshan and his activities at Ya
chen sgar his religious encampment. O rgyan sKu gsum gling pa has multiple websites in various languages and for
different audiences. The three richest and most elaborate websites dedicated to him and his communities are the
English language The Vajrakilaya Centers at http://www.omura.com/k_lingpa/kilaya1.htm; the Chinese language
website Longensi-Wujin jingtu www.longensi.com/index.hmtl; and the Portuguese at the Brazilian (Rio de Janeiro)
website Düdül Purpa Ling at http://kilaya.dharmanet.com.br/brindex.htm. Bla ma rol ba’i rdo rje, a Treasure
revealer living in Dar lag (Qinghai) also has a website at http://www.redj.com.cn/index_c.htm.
356 See for instance the work of Apolito (2005) for a socio-anthropological study of Marian visionary movements on
Internet. For some works on Internet and religion see “Internet and Religion” at the Hartford Institute for Religious
Studies at http://hirr.hartsem.edu/research/religion_web.html, and “Religion and the Internet” at the MIT
Communications Forum at http://web.mit.edu/comm-forum/forums/religion.html. See also Terrone (2009), for my
own discussion on this topic from a paper on Treasure revealers on the Internet titled “Cyberspace Revelations:
Tibetan Treasures, Information Technologies and the Transnational Imagined Reader” presented at the conference
Publishing and editing: the evolution and future of writing in Tibet organized by the CNRS (National Centre for
Scientific Research) - UMR 8155 “Centre de recherche sur les civilisations chinoise, japonaise et tibétaine”, Paris
May 29-31 2008.
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Buddhist practices. The need for short readable news, which characterizes information offered on
the Internet, has contributed to the formation of a variety of narrative strategies. Most websites of
Tibetan Buddhist teachers are introduced by flashy descriptions of their spiritual qualities, high
education, teaching skills, and also the major teachings they can offer to the devotees. The
websites provide brief information about the Buddhist teacher’s education and training. In many
cases, however, the broad introduction tends to emphasize personal achievements, prodigious
feats, and charismatic deeds, whereas they only occasionally emphasize the substance of his
teachings.
In the following section we will look at how the Internet has been received and how it is
used within the community of Treasure revealers focusing especially on O rgyan sKu gsum gling
pa’s websites, interpreting the use of the Internet in the larger theme of religion and technology.
Ma23ala Spheres, Rainbow Lights, and Internet: A Case Study
gTer chen O rgyan sKu gsum gling pa (henceforth sKu gsum gling pa, [1933-2009]) was a
Buddhist teacher and a renowned Treasure revealer who has traveled extensively through China
and America to give teachings at various Buddhist centers. Also known as Padma gtum po, sKu
gsum gling pa was one of the most well-known Buddhist leaders and Treasure revealers in
today’s mGo log with many followers among Tibetans and Chinese. He is the founder of Thub
bstan chos ’khor gling popularly known as Lung sngon sgar, one of the largest religious
encampments (chos sgar) in eastern Tibet. Supported with the help of his American disciples and
the assistance of his son Hung dkar rdo rje Rinpoche since 1995, 357 sKu gsum gling pa has
established a network of eighteen Buddhist centers called the Vajrakilaya Centers, located
predominantly in the San Francisco Bay area but also in Colorado, Oregon, and New York.
Today sKu gsum gling pa’s activities, travel schedules, and biographical stories together with
some excerpts from his visionary teachings are accessible online at multiple websites that are
mostly designed and maintained by his disciples.
sKu gsum gling pa was born in the male wood-dog year of 1933.358 According to his
biography, he began to reveal Treasure teachings at the age of sixteen and was recognized as the
357 http://www.omura.com/k_lingpa/kilaya1.htm
358 A bu dkar lo (2003: 63).
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reincarnation of many outstanding teachers of the past.359 His autobiographical writings report
that he has been recognized as the reincarnation of eleven different figures including lHa lung
dpal gyi rdo rje, the Indian mahāsiddha Dril bu ba, Rig ’dzin Nyi ma grags pa, sLob dpon dpa’
bo, Yig mkhan ldan ma rtse mangs, and gTer ston du ma rgya zhang khrom rdo rje ’od ’bar.360
Until recently, sKu gsum gling pa was one of the most popular, albeit controversial Buddhist
teachers in eastern Tibet and is well-known for being a Treasure revealer. In his region he is
appreciated as a contributor to the religious revitalization in eastern Tibet especially after the
creation of his encampment Lung sngon sgar that began in 1986.361 The encampment has grown
exponentially since its early years and now comprises several religious buildings including two
colleges (grwa tshang) dedicated to monastic and Tantric curricula.
Among the largest religious encampments in today’s Tibet, sKu gsum gling pa’s Lung
sngon sgar hosts a resident monastic population of about thousand monastics, both monks and
nuns, and a few hundreds lay residents from the surrounding areas.362 Monks from neighboring
monasteries including nearby Jo nang pa monastics frequently reside at Lung sngon sgar to
359 Most of the information concerning sKu gsum gling pa was gathered during three visits to Lung sngon sgar
(Thub bstan chos ’khor gling) in dGa’ bde county (Qinghai). The first took place in October 2000 and I was then
accompanied by gTer chen bKra shis rgyal mtshan. My main informants at that time, and mostly later as well, were
the monks ’Jigs med rdo rje, Chos bzang, and sKu gsum gling pa’s son Hung dkar rdo rje all personal scribes of sKu
gsum gling pa, whom I interviewed on various occasions. Further sources of information have been found on the
Internet, at a number of websites, such as www.kilaya.org; www.omura/k_lingpa/kilaya1.html;
http://geocities.yahoo.com.br/phurpal.ng/, and in Chinese at http://www.hungkar.com (now removed from the web)
and www.longensi.org. Recently a biography in Tibetan language has been published in Hong Kong, O rgyan sku
gsum gling pa'i rnam thar, 2003. Short and medium length biographical outlines in Portuguese have been uploaded
on-line at the Düdül Purpa Ling website at http://www.kilaya.dharmanet.com.br/Biografias.htm.
360 A bu dkar lo (2003: 45-59). Lha lung dpal gyi rdo rje is the monk who, according to the tradition, assassinated
king gLang Dar ma in 842. See for instance bDud ’joms (DJCB: f. 104b, p. 168). Dril bu pa (Skt. Ghan_t_āpa) is
recorded as one of the eighty-four Indian Buddhist realized beings (mahāsiddhās). See Dowman (1986: 267-75). Rig
’dzin Nyi ma grags pa probably refers to Chags ri Nyi ma grags pa (1647-1710) born in the Nang chen gru ya phyag
sbal kho rigs at Byams me. Among his many works, gTer ston Nyi ma grags pa is known for the revelations of
Treasures such as the Thugs rje chen po ma rig mun sel in 1676, the rTa mgrin dregs pa zil gnon in 1682, and the
Phag mo skor bzhi in 1686 among others. See also TBRC.
361 A bu dkar lo (2003: 116-17).
362 Lung sngon sgar is the name by which sKu gsum gling pa’s retreat center, or mountain hermitage (ri khrod) is
most popularly called. However, the formal name is Thub bstan chos skor gling, and other names include Thub
bstan chos ’khor gling dgon pa and Lung sngon dgon. At first the compound consisted of a main temple, the
Akanistha Temple gTsug lag khang sTug po bkod pa; the Meditation Hall, sKu gsum pho brang; the Assembly Hall,
bDe chen pho brang, also known as rMa yul rig gnas pho brang; the Blab rang sham bha la; and the Assembly Hall
of the Tantric college bDud ’dul gling. The encampment has now multiple large stupas but the largest and oldest one
is the Bya rung kha shor gnyis pa (the “Second” Bya rung kha shor) a replica of the Boudhanath stūpa in
Kathmandu. The construction of the large stūpa apparently began in 1996 and was completed in 1999. A short
description of the Bya rung kha shor gnyis pa stūpa can be read online at
http://www.omura.com/k_lingpa/stupa.html
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pursue advanced Buddhist studies and to attend the colleges. During sKu gsum gling pa’s public
teachings and empowerment ceremonies the population reached thousands of participants.363
Despite sKu gsum gling pa’s popularity as a Buddhist teacher, his claims to unique
Treasure revelations did not make him immune to criticism from other Tibetan Buddhist teachers
who question the authenticity of his revelations and the morality of his behavior. While traveling
in areas of mGo log including ’Jig ’dril and Padma, I have occasionally encountered individuals
whose comments about him were not supportive especially concerning the size of Lung sngon
sgar. Many view sKu gsum gling pa’s interest in finding resources to invest in his religious
encampment detrimental to his activities as a religious teacher and especially as a spiritual guide
for the local populace. In the past sKu gsum gling pa was criticized for his doubtful moral
behavior, and the authenticity of his Treasures has been questioned.364 These criticisms, as we
have seen above, are not uncommon in Tibet, and sKu gsum gling pa, aware of such accusations,
has discussed and refuted these charges in his autobiography.365
Since the growth of sKu gsum gling pa’s popularity among Chinese and Western
disciples alike, his activities and schedules, with all sorts of information related to his Treasure
revelations and teachings, are publicized and disseminated on a number of websites dedicated to
him.366 Although both American and Chinese websites focus on the same teacher, sKu gsum
gling pa, they have been structured and organized differently from each other. The American
Kilaya website focuses more on commercial features with an emphasis on religious items and
products on sale for devotees such as thang ka scrolls and Treasure vases to “to help support His
Holiness Orgyen Kusum Lingpa’s efforts here in the United States.”367 The Kilaya website also
attempts to represent the message of the teacher by emphasizing his Treasure revelations as a
product of his wisdom as “a pre-eminent Dzogchen teacher and Nyingma lineage holder” thus
focusing on his teachings, their content, and the importance of receiving them.368 The Kilaya
website’s presentation thus underlines qualifications of sKu gsum gling pa such as being the
363 Chos bzang’s oral communication. dGa’ bde (Qinghai, PRC) October 2000.
364 Germano (1998: 72).
365 See Germano (1998: 70-71). The issue is discussed extensively in different sections of his autobiography written
by A bu dkar lo (2003) in collaboration with Hung dkar rdo rje, but especially in Chapter Six (74-101), where sKu
gsum gling pa and his son Hung dkar refute the accusations about sKu gsum gling pa’s teachings being false
Treasures (gter rdzun). For my discussion of this see above in this Chapter.
366 At the time of writing this dissertation the Kilaya.org website provided a list of 18 actual states in North America
where Vajrakilaya Centers associated with sKu gsum gling pa have been established. For a list of the centers see the
website of the Vajrakilaya Centers at www.omura.com/k_lingpa/Dir2.htm.
367 http://www.omura.com/k_lingpa/artshrine.html.
368 http://www.omura.com/k_lingpa/Klingpa2.html.
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lineage holder of the rdzogs chen snying thig system, although nothing is said about the
teachings he received and the influential teachers with whom he studied during his career.
Nevertheless, the website calls attention to sKu gsum gling pa’s direct claim to be a Treasure
revealer:
His Holiness Orgyen Kusum Lingpa is a pre-eminent Dzogs chen teacher and Nyingma lineage
holder. He is known as one of the greatest living tertons (treasure revealers) in the world today,
having revealed the 3 classes of terma; those received directly from the mind, “crazy” termas can
manifest in the yogi as unconventional behavior, and secret termas which can only be revealed by one
who is the owner of all 18 families of terma. His Holiness has been recognized as the incarnation of
the Mahasiddha Drilbupa and of Lha-lun Pelgyi Dorje. His title, Kusum Lingpa means “Treasure
Revealer of the Three Kayas.369
sKu gsum gling pa’s Chinese websites, in contrast, provide signs of the teacher’s
miraculous powers, thus emphasizing the magical or supernatural features of the teacher’s
persona. At hungkar.com the use of modern technology, such as digital photography, combines
the religious substance of the Buddhist message of the master’s teachings with the supposedly
supernatural phenomena that are believed to often take place during major events, such as
empowerments and teachings in the encampment where he lives. 370 The Chinese website
hungkar.com was the first official website of Lung sngon sgar (Ch. longensi) and beside the
possibility of downloading pictures of sKu gsum gling pa and of his son Hung dkar rdo rje, brief
biographical information about the teachers, and the latest news about empowerments and major
events at the encampment, the Chinese Internet reader can also purchase several religious items
online including thang ka scroll paintings, prayer wheels, and books.
Interestingly, the short biographical outline also states that sKu gsum gling pa has
revealed two Treasure texts while in the US:
In Tibetan His Holiness is called a terton or treasure finder. Padmasambhava, the 9th century adept who
helped found Buddhism in Tibet, hid sacred texts and other objects in the earth, water and sky in order
that future generations might have teachings and practices appropriate to their era and circumstances.
At the appropriate time, these ‘treasures’ would be revealed by treasure finders who were emanations of
369 http://www.omura.com/k_lingpa/Klingpa2.html.
370 This website is not currently open and accessible on-line anymore. The material discussed in this section refers to
what I had access to until March 2007. Some of the information I quote in this sections were nevertheless obtained
later in their “cached” form from Google.com. The current website in Chinese that has replaced hungkar.com is
www.longensi.org.
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his closest disciples. In this way the scriptural tradition is refreshed and updated across history. His
Holiness has revealed over fifty volumes of such texts. At least two texts were discovered in the U.S.371
The biographical text places particular emphasis not only on sKu gsum gling pa’s visionary
virtuosity, but also on his charismatic healing powers:
From an early age His Holiness showed remarkable understanding of complex rituals and sacred texts.
He has had many visions -- face to face encounters -- with such enlightened beings as Padmasambhava
and the bodhisattva Vajrapani. Over his lifetime he has studied with over 150 great masters of the
tradition without sectarian bias and has received instruction from all the major schools of Tibetan
Buddhist meditation. […] His Holiness is also widely known as a healer whose activity has brought
physical and spiritual restoration to tens of thousands.372
The omura.org website dedicated to sKu gsum gling pa provides also a short description of a
number of his teachings and empowerments that practitioners can receive during the retreats
offered at the Kilaya meetings. Most of them are described as Treasure teachings by other
previous Treasure revealers and include the Kar Ling Shi Tro (Kar gling zhi khro) and
Vajrakilaya Empowerment. Other teachings are sKu gsum gling pa’s own revealed Treasure such
as the Gesar of Ling Empowerment, the Shambala Terma, the Pema Nying-Thig (Padma snying
thig), the Acharya Pema, and the Shib-chay Chöd (Zhib cha’i gcod).373
The study of the Chinese hongkar.org website offers a more phenomenological approach
to religion as, in addition to various prayers, compositions, and short teachings by sKu gsum
gling pa, it also offers photos of magical events during the performance of religious activities at
Lung sngon sgar. Such a series of features enhance the sacrality of the religious site and the
magical phenomena that take place there in connection with the presence of sKu gsum gling pa
and his spiritual activities. This is particularly remarkable, in my opinion, considering on the one
hand the Chinese government’s refusal to permit a free flow of information on the Internet, and
on the other that the belief in and dissemination of supernatural phenomena associated with
religion and religious personalities enjoy little sympathy among Chinese leaders.374 When active,
the website displayed an entire array of photos of auspicious divine halos (Ch. lingguang),
rainbows (Ch. caihong), and of particular arrangements of banks of clouds above the Lung sngon
371 http://www.newagemusiconline.com/bio.html.
372 http://www.newagemusiconline.com/bio.html.
373 For a list of teachings given by sKu gsum gling pa during his American tours, please see
http://www.omura.com/k_lingpa/Klingpa2.htm.
374 See Franda (2002: 191-203).
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sgar encampment, and showed photos of “maṇḍala snow flakes” (Ch. mantuoluo xue) or
“maṇḍala spheres” (Ch. mantuoluo bao) occupying the inner space of the assembly hall during
the prayer sessions at the second Shambala Great World Peace Aspiration Prayer Festival.375 A
link at the bottom of the portal opened a window where guest browsers could post questions at
Lung sngon Monastery Website – Shambala Area – Comments and Suggestions. In a window
titled “A Conversation on the Mandala snow flakes” the meaning of the phenomenon was
explained as if taking place between a young girl Xiao Xia and a cartoon Japanese manga
character called Yanzi:
Xiao Xia: What are the mandala snow flakes?
Yanzi: The mandala is a cosmic world. During this Dharma assembly in the space around us
innumerable cosmic worlds have appeared and manifested just like snow. That’s why we call
them ‘mandala snow flakes.’
Xiao Xia: Do you know what a cosmic world is?
Yanzi: Of course it is a Buddhist world formed by a hosting Buddha and an entourage of
Bodhisattvas. Please enjoy the shambala mandala thang ka pictures at
http://www.hungkar.com/2005_xiangbala/mandala/index.htm. […]376
Through the use of Internet technology such as the above examples, the dissemination of
Buddhism has reached a new phase. sKu gsum gling pa and his webmasters have created a
platform on which the performance of new activities can take place for devotees and occasional
curious browsers alike. The immense infrastructure provided by the Internet encourages such
experiments in faith and the communication of cultural phenomena, like visionary experiences
and supernatural apparitions, to users more inclined to appreciate digitally produced images and
quick verbal or written references. This creates and reaffirms sacrality, or the sphere of profound
respect and veneration for the divine or spiritual wisdom, through the awe-inspiring images of
supernatural phenomena, the display of prayers, religious items, and the communication of
personal experiences, so important for the practitioner’s devotion and sense of belonging to a
religious community. All these are in various degrees were crucial for the sKu gsum gling pa
and others as it enhanced the supernatural quality of their activities so much appreciated,
apparently, by online Chinese communities today.
More needs to be done to appreciate in greater depth the impact of Internet technology on
the dissemination of religious practice and the production of religious culture in Tibet and China.
375 www.hungkar.com/2005_xiangbala/ruixiang/index1.htm.
www.hungkar.com/2005_xiangbala/yanjiu/index2.htm. www.hungkar.com/2005_xiangbala/caihong/index3.htm.
376 http://www.hungkar.com/gbook/index.asp?user=mandala. The translation is mine.
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However, my preliminary study of the phenomenon specifically concerned with Treasure
revealers’ presence on the Web encourages a few observations. It is my sense that while the
larger underlying message conveyed by the websites, both American and Chinese, focuses on
the figure of sKu gsum gling pa as a Treasure revealer, the two narratives of his life story and his
religious education capitalize on different discourses. The American audience seems to be more
sensitive to an historical and religious content. In this regard, the biographical outlines online put
greater emphasis on history, content of the teachings received and revealed, and their
significance in the large scheme of Buddhism soteriological practices. Looking at the Chinese
website instead, it emphasizes more the supernatural elements of the master’s mystical
realization. This can be demonstrated especially by the high number of references to sKu gsum
gling pa’s miraculous deeds in Tibet that are mentioned in the biographical writings on the
website. In addition, the use of digital photography seems particularly useful if we consider that
the website is generous with photos of halos, rainbows, “maṇḍala spheres,” and Treasure caskets
revealed by sKu gsum gling pa that serve to foster the believer’s faith in the supermundane
nature of his religious charisma.
Concluding Remarks
With few exceptions, the religious professionals who perform Treasure revelations in eastern
Tibet today represent the class of non-celibate Tantric figures (sngags pa). As shown through the
example of bKra shis rgyal mtshan, while the prestige of being a Treasure revealer is primarily
achieved via recognition of spiritual attributes by a high Buddhist specialist, it is also acquired
with training and experience. Only education and instruction under an experienced legitimate
teacher, the identification and interpretation of auspicious events, and the fulfillment of visions
and aspirations together with legitimate Treasure scriptures can validate a Treasure revealer.
Although dedicated to the pursuit of spiritual liberation and the performance of merit
making activities, Treasure revealers as Tantric professionals also fill other more pragmatic roles
for the communities with which they interact. Just as in other religious traditions, religion and
economics are mutually supporting. bKra shis rgyal mtshan and dPal chen lha mo combine their
religious skills and specialties in the service of the community in two ways. On the one hand
bKra shis rgyal mtshan aided by dpal chen lha mo fulfill the allegedly century-old prophecy of
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gter ma revelations by excavating hidden sacred objects and doctrinal scriptures that provide
them with prestige and sacrality. On the other hand, dPal chen lha mo aided by bKra shis rgyal
mtshan specialize in divination and clairvoyance thus providing pragmatic services for the
community concerning health and prosperity. In this way, the religious couple provides spiritual
support to the laity while the community offers financial sustainment and supplies to their
religious specialists.
With modernization, increased mobility, larger groups of followers including Chinese
devotees, and the introduction of new communication technologies, the practice and teaching of
religion, and popularity of Buddhist teachers and Treasure revealers has reached a new level.
Treasure revealers are becoming more prominent in their devotees’ lives, promoting their image
and themselves as models to their followers. In such a new scenario, the question of moral
behavior and correct conduct for non-celibate religious leaders has attracted the interest of some
religious leaders who believe that more attention must be paid to proper behavior to maintain
pure Buddhist ethics. On the one hand mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs is especially concerned
about the improper use of consorts for spiritual practices and realization. He considered sexual
practices as one of the many adulterations of esoteric practices that threaten the purity of
Buddhism in Tibet when performed by unqualified visionaries. At the other extreme, non-
celibate Treasure revealers do not agree with such reprimand and support the Tibetan traditional
groups of Tantric professionals and their unconventional behavior. bKra shis rgyal mtshan
explicitly emphasizes that the use of one or multiple prophesied consorts not only is appropriate
for Tantric practices, but performed appropriately can increase a visionary’s revelation activities.
The significant number of active Treasure revealers in present-day eastern Tibet shows
that some Tibetan Buddhist leaders are aware of the power that Treasure doctrines have in
recreating a mytho-historical connection with a glorious past and with powerful religious
symbols. With its emphasis on the supernatural elements of Buddhist achievements and a strong
tendency to employ elements of traditional and popular culture, Treasure revelation targets those
devotees who are sensitive to the charm of charisma and the power of devotion.
One example is sKu gsum gling pa and his endeavors to reach out to not only Tibetan
devotees but also and more specifically to Western and Chinese Buddhist followers. With the use
of two different communication channels, one in English for his American devotees and one in
Chinese for his Chinese Buddhist followers in the PRC, he emphasizes different aspects of his
personality and his powers to appeal to devotees. Such an approach seems to be particularly
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successful thanks to the use of the Internet that allows the use of text, photos, and videos on one
single communicative platform accessible by anyone, anywhere, and at any time.
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Chapter Four: Bya rog prog zhu: The Raven Crest
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje and his Tradition
The previous three chapters have offered an overview of the historical, social, and religious
realms of present-day’s Treasure revealers. This chapter offers an inquiry into the life and
activities of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, who at eighty-seven is now, probably, one of the oldest
Treasure revealers in present-day Tibet. The study of his life offers the opportunity to appreciate
key issues in a person’s role as visionary and Treasure revealer in his community.
An examination of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s lifestyle and religious activities can offer a
way to understand the role Buddhism plays in twenty-first-century Tibet and the place that non-
celibate Tantric professionals have within the religious community. The study of bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje’s life offers a glimpse into how ritual acts, contemplations, imagery, and the
interactions with religious leaders contribute to the formation of a religious figure’s personality
and identity in the world of Tibetan Buddhism and Treasure revelation.
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje is not a monk, but rather a non-celibate Tantric specialist
(sngags pa) and visionary virtuoso, a role that in traditional Tibet formed a breed of rather
unconventional religious personalities. Symbolically identified by the predominant white color
of their robes (gos dkar) and the long braided locks of hair (dbu skra ral pa) that represent
noncelibacy, such a group of Tantric practitioners is often referred to in the literature as the
white-clad and long-haired order (gos dkar lcang lo’i sde).377 They tendend to pursue a path
characterized by independent thinking, an often unconventional non-celibate lifestyle, and a
commitment to meditation retreats (mtshams) and Tantric practices as opposed to the scholastic
study and philosophical debate typical of the monastic path. Rather than being affiliated with
monasteries, these Buddhist practitioners tend primarily to live the life of the householder with
families and children, and often gather a following of devotees and practitioners around them.
377 TM (f. 5b).
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This study is the result of a ten-year project begun in the summer of 1998 when I first met
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje at his residence the gNas chen padma mthong grol mountain hermitage
on Mount gNas chen pad ma near Nang chen in Yushu TAP. As explained in the introduction, I
first arrived at the mountain hermitage accompanied by Tshe bzang bsam gling rin po che, a
young incarnated master (sprul sku) and one of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s disciples, whom I
met the year before in Lhasa. Since then I have visited bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje and his
community regularly almost every year, and often multiple times a year studying his material
and his life through conversations and interviews with him and members of his community, and
through the study of his literary production and autobiographical writings. In the past decade I
have met bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje at various locations in Khams as he would journey through
the region on invitation to give teachings and instructions to nuns and monks from several
religious centers. Therefore, I have had the opportunity to observe the “elder master” (bla rgan),
as most of his followers refer to him, engage with different monastic communities under various
circumstances. A number of people have been particularly helpful in my study and understanding
of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s life and activities including bKra shis rgyal mtshan and his consort
mKha’ ’gro dPal chen lha mo, Tshe bzang bsam gling rin po che, and the nun bKra shis mtsho
mo, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s assistant and scribe. The life depicted in this chapter is thus the
result of ethnographic and textual research.
According to his autobiographical writings, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje (b. 1921) was very
young when he decided to renounce worldly life and embrace the life of a wandering Tantric
practitioner. Such a course of life was not unusual although not the most common in a country
like Tibet where monasticism was the most favored religious path and many young people would
become monks (or nuns) as children either spontaneously or more frequently following their
parents’ will.378 His travels brought him in contact with local lamas and were interspersed by
solitary peregrinations where he developed a predisposition for contemplation and meditation
rather than the doctrinal studies found within scholastic monasticism. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje
chose a solitary life making frequent pilgrimages. Unconcerned with monasticism and doctrinal
systematization, he chose a largely autodidactic education characterized by an eclectic religious
approach, including intense discipline and a rejection of main-stream social conventions. bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje is a yogi par excellence animated by a rich religious experiential
378 Kapstein (2006: 220).
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background and mystic fervor, which he generously illustrates in his writings. Taking his lead
from iconic Buddhist meditators such as the eleventh-century saint Mi la ras pa and the
eighteenth-century yogi Zhabs dkar tshogs drug rang grol, both influential models that occur in
his writings, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s Buddhism is characterized by intense dedication and
practice and a sincere commitment to his root teachers’ (rtsa ba'i bla ma) instructions. 379
However, behind such a discourse, which brings literary underpinnings to light, the study of bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s life demonstrates those elements that are key to the formation of a
visionary’s identity and his social function.
Despite his conscious adherence to the rNying ma tradition, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
personal curriculum is rather ecumenical and multi-disciplinary, but nevertheless strictly focused
on experience and practice. He received transmissions, empowerments, and instructions from
some of the major religious personalities of his time. However, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
education was shaped by following primarily rNying ma and bKa’ brgyud doctrinal material. If
there was any lack of traditional scriptural learning in his education, it was counterbalanced by
personal experience and insights gained through liturgical and contemplation-oriented practices.
Additionally, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s Treasure scriptural production (gter chos) covers a vast
range of ritual and instruction material. Specifically, some of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s textual
revelations, such as the rTsol med, are addressed to the specific non-celibate community of
Tantric practitioners, the gos dkar lcang lo’i sde.380
The Autobiography: rnam thar or rang rnam?
Although bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje is one of a number of active and elderly non-celibate
Buddhist teachers and Treasure revealers (gter ston) in Tibet today, it should come as no surprise
that only in the very last part of his life has he committed to writing an autobiographical account
of his life.381In order to make sense, an autobiography needs to be written when the author has
the perception that he not only has something to say, but also that he is at a certain point in his
life when he knows this can be useful to the community he lives in.
379 DGSM (f. 13a).
380 See Chapter Five for my discussion on bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s Treasure cycles and the rTsol med.
381 For general studies in religious biographies in Asia and Tibet see Granoff and Shinohara (1988) and Penny
(2002), among others. For a specific study of early Tibetan gter ston see Prats (1982), Gyatso (1998), and Martin
(2002).
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If we consider that bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje has written an autobiography in his late
seventies at the climax of his popularity we can appreciate why, despite his impressive literary
production covering hundreds of revealed teachings and ritual works, he did not show interest in
writing his autobiography earlier in his life. It was only in the summer of 1998 that bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje wrote a series of short autobiographical writings, while residing at his gNas chen
padma mthong grol, one of his mountain hermitages (ri khrod) located on Mount gNas chen
padma.
In August 1997, he wrote The Dance of the Pure Vajra: A Brief Biography of the
Awareness-holder Nus ldan rdo rje (Rig ’dzin nus ldan rdo rje’i rnam thar bsdus pa dri med rdo
rje’i zlos gar, henceforth DDZG).382 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje dictated the story of his life to his
consort bKra shis mtsho mo, who also plays the important role of scribe (yi ge pa) for his written
teachings. 383 The title of the DDZG designates it as a biography (rnam thar), but strictly
speaking it is an autobiography (rang rnam). Following recent theorists of autobiographical
writing, such as Philippe Lejeune, for instance, proof that the DDZG is indeed an autobiography
is shown by the fact that is written entirely in the firstperson, and that the trio author, narrator
and protagonist of the manuscript are the same person. 384 Lejeune’s statement and similar
contemporary discourses on the nature of the autobiographical self are beyond the scope of the
present study. 385 It is worth noting, however, that Tibetan autobiography, just as Western
autobiography, highlights particular aspects of the author’s personality, i.e., his individuality and
the representation of his “self.” The dynamics of self-representation and self-figuration in a
Tibetan autobiographical text can display an array of conflicting ideologies such as the attempt to
internalize theories of impermanence and selflessness, or the nonexistence of the individual at
382 Nus ldan rdo rje is one of many epithets of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje. The DDZG was handwritten in Tibetan dbu
med script. The dimensions of each page measure 5.0 cm x 44.0 cm and the total number of folia is eleven. The
format of this unpublished manuscript follows the traditional Tibetan loose-sheet unbound books (dpe cha). Two
original handwritten copies of the manuscript are in existence. One is in my possession; the other is with bDe chen
’od gsal rdo rje.
383 The role of yi ge pa, as we shall see below, has been performed by various trusted disciples close to bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje in the past. Even nowadays, although bKra shis mtsho mo is the current and most regular scribe, other
people occasionally write down bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s teachings, such as rDo rje bkra shis and bKra shis rgyal
mtshan.
384 Although rare, there are cases of autobiographical accounts in Western literature written in the second or third
person, but I am not familiar with any of them within the Tibetan literary world. However, autobiographies are still
assumed to be marked by the use of the first person. See Lejeune (1989: 5).
385 Gyatso provides an insightful analysis of the “I” and the involvement of the “self” in Tibetan religious
autobiography. See Gyatso (1998: 101-16).
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the absolute level, on the one hand, and the impulse to provide a self-aggrandizing and positive
portrait of the protagonist/author of the story on the other.386
Aside from the DDZG, an additional source of biographical information for the study of
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s life is a minor and short autobiographical sketch, which he produced
in 1999. The bDe chen rdo rje’i rnam thar phran bu (Short Biography of bDe chen rdo rje,
henceforth NTPB) has been dictated by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje and was written down by bKra
shis mtsho mo directly on my fieldwork notebook during one of my interviews with the old
master. As in the case of the previous biography, here too bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje quotes my
name and refers to my request in order to explain the reason for the composition of the
autobiographical outline.387
The two life stories narrate the events chronologically. However, specific historical dates
are rare. The two texts are simple and condensed in their description of the events narrated. The
historical significance of a text such as the DDZG is limited to the names of bDe chen ’od gsal
rdo rje’s main tutors and those religious personalities and teachers whom he met during his
travels and pilgrimages. The autobiographical text represents the core of Tibetan hagiographic
literature and covers the major phases of a religious figure’s life, in this case a Treasure
revealer’s life: a spectacular birth, an early encounter with the sacred, pilgrimage, meeting with
masters, teachings received (thob yig, gsan yig), meditation and practice, prophecies, and
revelation. The autobiographical text as a life story of a saint is replete with supernatural
elements recurring in most hagiographies. However, it is also rich in the author’s personal
observations and thoughts about how Tantric professionals and visionaries are perceived in their
society. Additionally, Treasure revealers’ autobiographies are also characterized by more visions
and dreams than other biographies and, therefore, are particularly important for the student of
386 Studies of Tibetan autobiographies and biographies from a literary-theoretical point of view are still rare in the
academic world. However, Gyatso (1998, 1992a) has already provided an interesting framework for such an
approach. See also Jacoby (2007); Schaeffer (2004); and Havnevik (1999).
387 “The Teacher Śākya[muni] said: ‘All flesh and bones together equal the size of mount Meru. Matter and blood
could be as large as the ocean. But the accumulation of meritorious deeds is inconceivable and inexpressible.’ This
brief comment explains that actions associated with past and later actions do exist and are inexpressible in quantity
and human beings go beyond their own sphere of activity. Actually, since a foreigner, Antonio, has traveled
thousands of kilometers, encountering many hardships and fatigue, I will not oppose to [his] assiduous requests and
concede a brief outline of my story.” Text 1, NTPB (1999, line 9). The first few lines above are inspired by a
famous verse from Zhabs dkar’s autobiography: “If one were to pile up all the flesh and bone of all the bodies
you’ve once had and left, they would make a heap higher than Mount Meru; there would be as many as all the
particles of dust on the entire earth.” See Ricard (1994: 194).
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hagiographies. In this sense, the reading of such a text provides valuable additional means for an
ethnography of Tibetan visionaries and Treasure revealers.
An important point to keep in mind while reading a Buddhist autobiography such as
DDZG, is that sacred lifestories in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition are expected to describe the life
of a person who has achieved liberation. 388 The term, as we have briefly seen, contains this
essential point since rnam [par] thar [pa], one of the most common Tibetan terms for
“biography,” literally translates “[story of] complete liberation.”389 Keeping this in mind could
facilitate the understanding of how this peculiar form of biography can easily bear clear elements
that are modeled after previous forms of religious and sacred biographies.
In this regard Giuseppe Tucci observes that,
In a literature founded on imitation, like that of Tibet, it is not surprising that these compositions should
have taken shape with the conscious purpose of continuing in the Country of Snows a literary genre
largely cultivated by Buddhists and known as Avadāna or Jātaka. [...] Hence these biographies are
called not only rnam t’ar but also mAon rtogs, which is the regular translation for Avadāna; sometimes
they are also called skyes rabs, Jātaka, because the saint’s life is followed in his past incarnations. The
difference between Indian Avadāna and these rnam t’ar is immediately recognizable: the former relate
a particular fact; the latter follow a person’s life from birth to death. But in their composition these
rnam t'ar imitate above all the Buddha's most celebrated lives.390
Despite the dynamism that Tibetan autobiographies convey in these life-stories, ultimately most,
if not all Buddhist biographies are modeled after the traditional biographical accounts of
Gautama Buddha.391 Historical facts are interspersed with supernatural elements in such a way
that the borders between the one and the other are often blurred. Due to the frequent Tibetan
inattention to historical evidence and details, the paradigms of the religious architecture of
Buddhist life stories are immediately evident in Tibetan biographies and autobiographies.
Miraculous birth, auspicious signs at the time of conception, early generation of a sense of
renunciation, dramatic departure from family and community, asceticism and a series of
388 Gyatso (1998: 103); Havnevik (1999: 36); Schaeffer (2004: 5-6). Tucci (1949: 150) writes: “rNam t'ar much
resemble the lives of saints widely circulated during our Middle Ages; they must be considered neither histories nor
chronicles. The events they relate with particular satisfaction are spiritual conquests, visions and ecstasies; they
follow the long apprenticeship through which man becomes divine, they give lists of the texts upon which trained
and disciplined their minds, for each lama they record the masters who opened up his spirit to serene visions, or
caused ambrosia of supreme revelations to rain down upon him.”
389 Another specific term - although wider in meaning - often used in Tibetan treatises associated with hagiographies
is rtogs brjod (Skt. avadāna) or “expression of realization”. See Gyatso (1998: 6). Tucci includes in the list of
possible terms for biography also mngon rtogs (realization; Skt. abhisamaya), which also suggests the protagonist’s
liberated state, and skyes rabs (history of previous lives; Skt. jātaka). See Tucci (1949: 151).
390 Tucci (1949: 151).
391 Gyatso (1998: 111).
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encounters with teachers and realized beings, and the acquisition of a series of supernatural
powers, are among the most common elements paradigmatically provided in major Buddhist life
stories.392
Also, in the DDZG where the life story has been dictated by the protagonist himself, these
normative features are evidently cooperating in the construction of a structure of the sacred
emphasized by the accumulation of Buddhist virtues and merits. As in most Tibetan Buddhist
autobiographies,393 the DDZG is generous in descriptions of pilgrimages, sacred sites, visits to
masters, teachings received, meditations, visions, and signs of realizations. Through this, it offers
an image of the protagonist as an exceptional and virtuous human being. It is especially the
sacred space (gnas) and the rituals associated with it such as pilgrimage (gnas skor) that take on
a major role as the locus of important practice and personal edification in autobiographies of this
kind. As Tucci has pointed out, gnas and gnas skor occur regularly in Tibetan rnam thar, and
their role in a pious person’s life story is one of the normative traits of every religious specialist
either monastic or non-celibate.394
Autobiographies in Tibet are often written on request of personal students or disciples of
the authors. The religious person would likely accept the task aware of the benefits that his
written account of life and experiences would generate to his pupils’ lives as practitioners and to
his own reputation. The audience is wide and varied. The monastic or religious community is not
necessarily the only audience for which a sacred autobiography or biography is written. The life
story may be filled with detailed descriptions of sacred landscapes and sophisticated teachings,
but ultimately, in its general design the autobiography is accessible and meant to be read by
392 Lamotte (1958); Templeman (2002: 132-147); Silk (2003: 863-881).
393 Havnevik (1999: 36).
394 “Further, Tibet has in common with India the urge to accomplish pilgrimages to sacred spots; the Tirthayātrā,
which is in India a duty for pious persons, has its Tibetan counterpart, the gnas skor. From lamas to merchants, from
noblemen to leaders of caravans, there is nobody but has visited the famous places of religious tradition; neither, do
they think there is a corner of the earth unhallowed by the divine presence, in its three aspects: physical, verbal and
spiritual (sku, gsuAs, t’ugs). Tibetan soil is like a material container into which the vicissitudes of the Law unfold; it
receives the masters’ relics, it harbours on the inviolate peaks of its mountains mysterious powers; it feeds, in
temples built by man, the lamp of doctrine; it conceals in its inmost recesses the books hidden by ancient seers, that
they might enlighten future generations. Buddhism has imagined the revelation of truth as a thunderbolt, flashing
from one point to another amid the darkness of māyā; those who have had the good fortune to be born as men,
should not loose any occasion of purifying their spirit, they should not neglect any contact capable of making them
sensitive to the voice of truth and thus more consciously preparing them for supreme renouncement. Hence visits to
sacred places are a necessary discipline, an edification of the spirit which cuts men off from life’s allurements.
Precisely for this reason the rnam t’ar dwell on pilgrimages performed by saints in their earthly life, and often
contain real itineraries, which are very important for the reconstruction of Tibet’s historical geography, and to
ascertain which places were most popular in different epochs, thus gaining an idea of the sects' insecure fortunes.”
Tucci (1949: 152-53).
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everyone interested in a religious practitioner’s life and attainments. However, it is true that a
distinction in Tibetan autobiographical literature must be made between a “general biography” or
“external biography” (spyi’i rnam thar) and more specific and often intimate forms of life
stories. The latter is a class of writings intimately associated with personal development and
realization through practice and can be divided into two different, although related, categories:
the nang ba’i rnam thar, “personal biography,” literally “inner biography” (or nang ba’i rang
rnam in the case of an autobiography), which usually provides a description or list of the
teachings received (thob yig or gsan yig) and the masters visited by the protagonist during his life
time; and a gsang ba’i rnam thar, a “secret biography” (or gsang ba’i rang rnam). This last form
of writing is a complex account containing personal considerations, inner contemplations,
perceptions of signs of realizations, list and descriptions of visions and dreams, and often songs
of experience (nyams mgur) that can be found also in the form of a diary or journal (nyin
theb). 395 These last two genres are more esoteric forms of writings which therefore used to
require a disciple to be an advanced personal student in order to receive them.396 Despite the
highly condensed form of his autobiography (rnam thar bsdus pa), what bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje has produced is actually a sort of tripartite autobiography where elements of all three levels of
autobiographical discourse typical of Tibetan Buddhist life-writing (outer, inner, and secret) are
present and recognizable. In his autobiography the author presents a selection of his innermost
thoughts regarding his experiences while considering the crucial events that characterized his life
and spiritual development. These thoughts and considerations reflect on situations that
correspond to the outer level (spyi) of life experience (childhood and separation from his family
household); inner (nang) process of religious training (renunciation, pilgrimage, religious study,
and teachings from masters); and secret (gsang) discourses emerging from his gradual spiritual
development (contemplations, meditations, visions, and revelations).
The secret biography is, therefore, a unique form of life story that contains the personal
and inner experiences of a practitioner’s religious activity. It is often in the secret biography that
the saint or religious personality’s innermost reflections on practice are reported. Secret
biographies, often autobiographies, are forms of recording personal experiences and insights into
meditation practices, achievements, observations and doubts, records of significant visions and
dreams, and comments on religious matters. In bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s DDGZ many of these
395 Gyatso (1998: 103).
396 Tucci (1949: 150-53); Gyatso (1998: 101-24); Havnevik (1999: 27-54).
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discursive elements are represented with vivid description and emphasis. The DDZG is thus at
the same time a general, an inner, and a secret autobiography meant to produce in the reader’s
mind an essential image of the author as close to him as possible beginning from the construction
of a personality (a young renunciant) and ending (although not dying) with the establishment of
an identity (that of a Treasure revealer).
Although personal students and devotees are the predominant audience for whom Tibetan
sacred autobiographies are written, religious personalities’ life-stories are widely read all over
Tibet. In the case of the DDZG, despite the fact that the autobiography was specifically
composed on a foreigner’s request for the purpose of studying bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s life
and having a written account of his life experiences, the manuscript has been circulating among a
number of Buddhist communities in Nang chen and sKye rgu mdo area. Indeed, in addition to
these motives, behind the composition of an autobiography there are also more mundane and
material reasons, as Hanna Havnevik has highlighted, such as “sectarian competition, the
ambition for secular and religious power, and control over land and material resources.”397
The Scribe: bKra shis mtsho mo
A few words need to be said about the actual scribe of the text. bKra shis mtsho mo is the writer
of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s autobiographies and most of his Treasure scriptures, as well as of
many other recent works. bKra shis mtsho mo is a young nun who serves as his assistant and
scribe, and lives with bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje in Nang chen. bKra shis mtsho mo was born in
1970 to a nomad family in the Zur mang area of Nang chen (Yushu TAP). She has been at bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s side for almost half of her life and has worked as his private scribe for the
last ten years. She studied in a Chinese school up to her secondary school in sKye rgu mdo,
receiving a good scholastic education. She has a mastery of Tibetan scripts.
During my years at bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s residence, bKra shis mtsho mo told me that
her mother was one of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s most fervent devotees.398 Apparently she was
killed by the Red Guards some time during the last years of the Cultural Revolution. After the
death of her mother, bKra shis mtsho mo’s father sent her to school in sKye rgu mdo town where
397Havnevik (1999: 37).
398Her name was Chos dbyings sgrol ma; however I was unable to confirm this information and gather more data
about her life.
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she studied for a few years at a local middle school. When she was nineteen years old, however,
she decided to follow her religious vocation and left to become a novice nun under bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje in the mid-1980s. bKra shis mtsho mo’s role as personal attendant and scribe of bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje makes her the closest person in constant contact with the old teacher and his
activities. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje has never personally written his texts but he has always used
a scribe. On many occasions he has derided his own handwriting.
Several people have served as personal scribes for his manuscripts. The first to attend bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje as a scribe to his revealed texts was ’Jigs med seng ge (d. 2004), monk and
physician at the dGa’ ldan monastery in the Zur mang area (rTsi zur mang dga’ ldan thub bstan
nges legs gling). ’O spug tshe ring, a lay person from mGo rjo in sKye rgu mdo county, served
the longest period of time as a scribe, working in bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s service for more
than fifteen years until the late 1980s. Occasionally rDo rje bkra shis, a monk who is now
leading the mountain retreat rDzings rgyal on Mount gNas chen padma served bDe chen ’od gsal
rdo rje as a scribe. gTer chen bKra shis rgyal mtshan, a close disciple of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje, has also written a few of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s revealed scriptures.
Despite bKra shis mtsho mo’s writing skills and elegant calligraphy, the DDZG, as in the
case of other texts she has transcribed, is frequently marked with inaccuracies and orthographic
errors. 399 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s vernacular style characterizes most of his literary
production and reflects his personal formulaic claims of modesty and ignorance. Nevertheless,
his autobiography, as in the case of other writings, is often interspersed with poetic locutions,
which echo his knowledge of classical Tibetan literature.
Early Visions: the Announcement of a Treasure Revealer’s Career
It is clear that bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s writing style reflects an overtly self-conscious
understanding of his precise role in the contemporary Tibetan Buddhist world. As in the case of
most Tibetan autobiographies, his writings are carefully structured to provide a concise yet
explicit elevation of himself and of his personal mission promoting those elements that relate to
his announced career as a visionary and Treasure revealer. In line with an established Buddhist
399Typical mistakes are, for instance, pa’i for pas, rgyud for brgyud, bka’ for dka’, sgra for gra or dra, and gdengs-
’dzub for sdigs-mdzub. Like many Tibetan manuscripts this text too is interspersed with orthographic contractions
(bsdus yig). The most common contractions in the text are rdoe for rdo-rje, gsngags for gsang-sngags, mkhro for
mkha’-’gro, and also yumb for yab-yum, yees for ye-shes, thamd for thams-cad, and rbyams for rab-’byams.
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tradition of lifestory writing in Tibet, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje places the early part of his
autobiography far from the settings of his family and, as we shall see below, he immediately
emphasizes aspects of his renunciation, visionary signs, prophetic dreams, and meetings with
religious teachers. The story of his life is told simply, yet it stresses the dramatic events he
experienced in his youth. In this sense, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s autobiographical writings
convey the idea that the role he plays is in agreement with the karmic order according to which
the arcane prophecy that he is the reincarnation of dPal kyi seng ge, one of Padmasambhava’s
twenty-five disciples (rje ’bangs nyer lnga), is finally fulfilled.
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje was born in 1921, or the Iron-Bird year, according to the
Tibetan lunar calendar. At birth he was given the name ’Jigs med tshe ring. He was the son of a
modest nomad family living in the highlands of Chos gling lha ru, a small semi-nomadic
community in a vast pasture land southwest of sKye rgu mdo town in present-day Yushu county
(Yushu TAP). As is typical of hagiographies and autobiographies of Buddhist teachers and other
religious figures of Tibet, the DDZG reports that ’Jigs med tshe ring’s birth was accompanied by
propitious manifestations (bzang po’i rtags mtshan) and marvelous signs (ngo mtshar ltas).400
Two particularly auspicious signs accompanying his birth are recorded by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje in his DDZG. The first auspicious indication was that his birth coincided with a major
Buddhist anniversary. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje was born on the fifteenth day of sa ga zla ba, a
date that is highly auspicious for Buddhists because it is considered the anniversary of the birth
of the historical Buddha, Śākyamuni.401 The second auspicious sign was that at the time of ’Jigs
med tshe ring’s birth, many ordinary people experienced visions of deities and “many holy
beings” (dam pa du ma). The term dam pa usually refers to excellent religious beings and
figures. Their appearance welcomed the birth as a good and auspicious event. It is worth noting
here that in the DDZG both expressions, sa ga zla’i bco lnga and dam pa du ma, and many other
locutions including key names and personal names, are written in red ink as opposed to the rest
of the writing that is written in black so as to emphasize their importance.
The oldest of seven siblings, ’Jigs med tshe ring was sent to tend the family’s yak herd on
the pasture when he was still a child.402 We do not know much about his parents apart from their
names; Tshe ring lha mo was his mother’s name and Mi ’gyur was his father’s name. According
400 DDZG, f. 5b, 7.
401 DDZG, f. 5b, 5. Sa ga zla ba, the month of Vaiśākha, is the sixth of the twelve months (nyi skar gyi dbang du
byas pa'i zla ba bcu gnyis), according to the Indian Buddhist lunar calendar.
402 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s personal communication. August 2000.
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to various and vague oral communications received in Tibet, predominantly within bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje’s community, Mi ’gyur was once a chieftain (dpon po) of a small community of
clans that dominated the whole area of Chos gling lha ru.403 Some other people who claim to
know about bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s life declare that Mi ’gyur was a cruel and ruthless bandit
who indulged in robberies.404
Whatever Mi ’gyur’s image and attitude may have been among locals and fellow
countrymen, from my experience with bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje it is clear that his father had a
profound effect on him as a child. Already at a very young age ’Jigs med tshe ring experienced a
deep sense of discomfort with the mundane world and felt he had nothing in common with
fellow villagers. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje remembers that in 1933, as a young twelve-year old
boy, he already showed an inclination to communicate with the deities and demons of the
world. 405 Apparently, the young ’Jigs med tshe ring’s spiritual attitude did not impress the
community as not only fellow villagers but also his own parents frowned upon his behavior.
From what I can gather, it seems that the villagers were annoyed by the young ’Jigs med tshe
ring’s behavior and even beat him and treated him as insane despite his young age. ’Jigs med
tshe ring’s parents were eventually forced to send their son away from the village, and they
suggested that he started his life away from home. ’Jigs med tshe ring thus left home when he
was twelve years old and began his wandering life begging for food and looking for shelters in
solitary locales (dben gnas), charnel grounds (dur khrod), forests (nag tshal), and on the banks of
lakes (mtsho gling).406
403 bKra shis mtsho mo’s oral communication. gNas chen padma mountain hermitage, sKye rgu mdo (Yushu TAP).
July 1998. Apart from a few individuals among bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s disciples such as gTer chen bKra shis
rgyal mtshan, there might still be some older people who have memories of meeting bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje
during his early life. However, the disciples of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje were unable to tell me more about Mi
’gyur, his father or direct me to people who might remember some details. See below for more details about bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s father.
404 Tshe bzang bsam gling rin po che’s oral communication. Taoyuan, Taiwan, Nov. 2002. During my fieldwork I
have often attempted to gain access to some information about Mi ’gyur, but I always sensed a feeling of discomfort
in bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje whenever I tried to do so. This suggests a certain dramatic role that the man had played
in bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s early years as a young boy.
405 DDZG, f. 6a.
406 bKra shis mtsho mo’s oral communication. gNas chen padma hermitage, sKye rgu mdo, (Yushu TAP),
September 1998. bSam gling tshe bzang rin po che also confirmed this version of the facts although he admitted that
he heard the events by word of mouth, not from bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje. Tshe bzang bsam gling rin po che’s oral
communication. Taoyuan, Taiwan, Nov. 2002. Both bKra shis mtsho mo and Tshe bzang bsam gling rin po che also
added that they do not believe in this story and they think it is not true because bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje has always
referred to his father as a very devoted person. Although in English mtsho gling is usually rendered as “islands,” I
translated it “banks of lakes” following bKra shis mtsho mo’s suggestion.
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According to a second oral version narrating bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s early years,
some people believe that Mi ’gyur, ’Jigs med tshe ring’s father, was a vagabond who spent most
of his days far from home together with a small group of associates cruelly assaulting and
robbing travelers. Because of his father’s villainous life, the young ’Jigs med tshe ring was
continually the object of defamatory assaults and often physical abuse from the villagers. He was
forced to spend increasing amounts of time away from his home until he decided to leave his
village and family for good. During these years he survived by begging for food and sleeping
outside villages often in solitude in charnel grounds and forests.407
We do not have evidence for either version of the story.408 Whatever the truth is, in the
DDZG, there are a couple of lines where bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje hints to a troubled childhood.
Under heavy pressure from an unnamed person, he was compelled to wander aimlessly like a
crazy person until he was twelve years old.409 His early life as a child was affected by conflicts
within his village community. It was this heavy pressure on ’Jigs med tshe ring that forced him
into a solitary and wandering life. It is worth noting that instead of being explicit about the
reasons why these troubles began, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje highlights the spiritual aspects of
those early events, which were characterized by intense personal visionary activities. Although it
may strike one as unusual for a child or young boy in his early teens to experience such visionary
states without proper acquaintance with religious practice and instruction, this is not an
uncommon narrative strategy in Tibetan hagiographies. However, the sad aspects of bDe chen
’od gsal rdo rje’s childhood and the psychological burden that eventually forced him to a solitary
life already at a young age were counterbalanced by a longing for isolation and a life in remote
mountains and ravines.
It was in the isolation of these remote environments that he experienced his first visionary
encounters. Padmasambhava, emperor Khri srong lde’u btsan, his son the prince Mu khri btsan
po, and Khri srong lde’u btsan’s assistants (rje ’bangs grogs lnga) including Ye shes mtsho
rgyal, Śāntarakṣita, Vairocana, and rGyal ba mchog dbyangs all appeared to the young ’Jigs med
tshe ring inspiring a deep sense of self-confidence to embark on his future career. 410 In the
Tibetan religious world where mystic experience and asceticism are held in the highest regard,
407 Tshe bzang bsam gling rin po che’s oral communication. Taoyuan, Taiwan, 2002.
408 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, himself, has never showed particular interest in providing detailed information about
his family.
409 DDZG, f. 6a.
410 DDZG, f. 5b.
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visions and dreams play a fundamental role in a religious adept’s spiritual life and are often
considered gateways to direct perception and authentic methods of spiritual instruction. 411
Therefore, they are believed to be critical for the acknowledgment of a yogi’s experiential
achievements.
Whatever dramatic and troublesome events took place that led ’Jigs med tshe ring to
isolation during his childhood, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje today portrays it as a phase of his
spiritual path by highlighting his visions as an initiatory introduction to his life as a Tantric
practitioner and Treasure revealer.
It was therefore at a time of discouraging personal circumstances and hardship that the
young ’Jigs med tshe ring began to experience his first intense visionary encounters with
religious personages of the past and to have “conversations” with deities and demons of the
phenomenal world (snang srid lha ’dre rnams dang ’gro gleng byas).412 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje understands his early social isolation as motivated by his higher call towards spiritual needs
rather than mundane and societal matters, explaining it by the fact that he felt he did not want to
follow the lifestyle of ordinary human beings (’gro ba mi yi spyod lam ma bsten pa).413 bDe chen
’od gsal rdo rje’s later acknowledgement of his difficult childhood and the way he dealt with it
introduces us to some of the psychological strategies that often underlie the development of inner
mystical experience and the renunciation of the mundane world. These include events such as
social pressure, detachment and abandonment, partition and solitude, and social conflicts.
The expulsion or marginalization from the group either provoked or simply chosen,
followed by the subject’s “rebirth” as a different person acutely aware of his own spiritual
potentialities is reminiscent of patterns found in many shamanic societies.414 In such societies the
shaman-to-be usually experiences a personal crisis and ritual death, in order to be re-born to the
society he parted from as a special being, endowed with extraordinary faculties and skills. Upon
411 Sumegi (2008: 67-68).
412 DDZG, f. 6a. sNang ba dang srid pa’i lha. In Buddhist terms generally, snang srid, literally the “appearance-
existence,” is the phenomenon produced by the illusionary dynamics of cyclic existence, i.e., the saṃsāric side of
our lives. Thus it refers to all the appearances conditioned by karmic actions manifesting in the outer world of
sentient beings (sems can) themselves. By extension the expression also refers to all the phenomena existing in
sa\sāra (non-enlightened) and nirvān]a (enlightened) worlds.
413 DDZG, f. 6a.
414 My analogy with shamanism does not necessarily imply that I view Tibetan Vajrayāna Buddhism as a form of
shamanism or ecstatic doctrine. However, although this is not the place for such an endeavor, I think that some
parallels or analogies do seem to exist. I am particularly referring to the initiatory dreams, ecstasies, visions, psychic
isolation, sickness, death, and mystical resurrection that populate the sacred world of many shamanic societies
described, for instance, by Eliade (1964), Lewis (1971, 1986), Samuel (1993), and Sumegi (2008).
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his return, he participates in the community life as a shaman, a man of power and a “technician
of the sacred.”415 In Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhist societies, death and rebirth experiences are
valued for the religious meaning. Vajrayāna Buddhism both in India and Tibet favored personal
experience often through unconventional means, and was thus different from mainstream
Mahāyāna Buddhism. Furthermore, rebirth experiences give legitimacy to religious status and
powers. Yogis and highly revered lamas gain their public recognition and legitimacy not only
because of the inner spiritual development they acquire, but also by virtue of adventure and an
altruistic acceptance of risk. These elements were clearly influential within medieval societies,
such as eighth-century India and Tibet, where society assigned function, purpose, and dignity to
non-monastic Tantric practitioners as well as monastics.416
This takes us back to the young ’Jigs med tshe ring’s own experience. Beyond the
historical facts, in anthropological terms the narrative device of detachment from a community
and the enterprise of solitary travel and meditation experiences can be interpreted as a typical rite
of passage. ’Jigs med tshe ring’s early experience of unhappiness and suffering, from being an
outcast from his own society to finally gaining mystical inspiration and leading a solitary life as a
wanderer, provided the ground for his subsequent spiritual development. We will see below that
these two discursive elements, the marginalization from his community and the embracing of a
solitary lifestyle of a wanderer, play a fundamental role in the DDZG characterizing bDe chen
’od gsal rdo rje’s oral representation of his spiritual development.
The early childhood episodes in bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s life shed some light on what
led to his first experiences as a visionary. From a socio-psychological point of view, the social
pressure from his community forcing the young ’Jigs med tshe ring to leave his home
contributed to an early existential “crisis,” which led to his experiences of visions. The choice of
the ghastly places he used to inhabit as a young boy are also representative of bDe chen ’od gsal
rdo rje’s conception of religious experience, which later significantly influenced his modes of
Buddhist practice: solitary pilgrimage, rigorous meditation practice, eclectic and at times self-
415Eliade (1972 [1964]: 33).
416Examples of such recognized patterns of apologetic narratives of saints’ lives within the Vajrayāna system are for
instance those of Nāropa, the renowned tenth century saint from India, and Mi la ras pa, the eleventh-century
Tibetan yogi. They both provide pertinent instances of how personal sufferings and the transformation from one
status to another may indeed result in personal success. In the specific case of these two famous saints their hardship
resulted in their final acceptance by their respective teachers (namely Tīlopa in the case of Nāropa, and Mar pa, in
the case of Mi la ras pa), as privileged disciples. See Guenther (1986), Wilhelm (1965), Samuel (1993), Davidson
(2002: 169-177; 293-303; 2005: 141-148).
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taught education, and non-celibacy. Cemeteries, forests, ravines, isolated places, and caves are
all sites commonly considered favorable for specific sets of yogic practices.417 As mountains,
lakes, and rivers are considered the abode of gods (yul lha, sa bdag) and burial and charnel
grounds (dur khrod) are held as sacred because they host the ritual of dismemberment and
disposal of the corpse and attendance of the deities of death, simply by visiting these places one
accumulates vast spiritual merits (bsod nams kyi tshogs). As a young boy bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje would have already been familiar with Tibetan Buddhist sacred geography, and the positive
karma one accumulates by visiting or living at such places belongs to a basic corpus of Tibetan
popular religious culture.
In his writings bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s emphasis on his early engagements with forms
of ritual practice and contemplation that anticipate a career as a Tantric practitioner and Treasure
revealer emerges especially in the notion of brtul bzhugs spyod pa or “intentional behavior.”
This term appears in many of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s writings including personal
compositions and Treasure scriptures.418 In his autobiography, for instance, he recalls that when
he was a young boy he engaged in smyos pa’i brtul zhugs spyad [pa] referring to an “intentional
behavior of a mad person.”419 Such a notion is characteristic of advanced Tantric practitioners
who have attained superior control of meditative techniques. In Tibet the persona of a “holy
madman” or “crazy yogi” (smyon pa) is a distinctive normative feature of Tantric adepts and
ascetic yogis especially belonging to the rNying ma and bKa’ brgyud traditions. Many Treasure
revealers tended to manifest such behavior, among these Nyang ral nyi ma ’od zer (1136-1204),
O rgyan gling pa (1323-1360?), Thang ston rgyal po (1361?-1485), and Kun skyong gling pa
(1396-1477).420
Visiting and dwelling in solitary and forbidding places such as charnel grounds, forests,
and mountain ravines is a common style of practice among Tantric adepts especially followers of
gcod (the discipline of “severance”) and Treasure revealers.421 Such a practice is developed to
417 Dowman (1997: 235).
418 The term often appears as brtul zhugs spyod pa in DGSM, f. 11b and in RPNP, f. 9b, as brtul zhugs spyad in
DDZG, f. 6a, and simply as brtul zhugs in TM, f. 5b.
419 DDZG, f. 6a.
420 See Cyrus Stearn’s study of Thang ston rgyal po for an overview of this characteristic of Tibetan Buddhism in
Stearn (2007: 58-80). See also Samuel (1993: 290-308). The lateTreasure revealer O rgyan sku gsum gling pa, for
instance, was known for his claims to be a gter smyon or “crazy Treasure revealer.” He discussed this in many
sections of his autobiography. See A bu dkar lo (2003: 89-97).
421 The discipline of gcod, meaning “severance” or “cutting off” refers to the system of contemplation techniques
traditionally attributed in Tibet to the eleventh-century Indian master Pha dam pa sangs rgyas and further elaborated
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enhance particular aspects of the Tantric path associated with the elimination of attachment to
mundane life and the cultivation of control over emotions. In the DDZG, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje describes himself as already tending towards these forms of yogic conduct and eccentric
behavior since he was a child.
The belief that disciplined asceticism, the rigors of isolation, retreat for meditation in
caves, and pilgrimage are conducive to the abandonment of mundane life and departure from the
conventionality of ordinary existence is often emphasized by the performance of austerities. In
his writings bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje frequently describes this aspect of his lifestyle as the ideal
of the yogi when he mentions the practice of austerities (dka’ spyad, Skt. tapas).422 Austerities
and exertion or perseverance (’bad rtsol) are among the central components of the yogi’s
lifestyle who aims at achieving experience (nyams) and ultimate spiritual realization (rtogs).
Early Training, Eclecticism, and Self-Teaching
As we have seen, drawing upon a well-established model of Buddhist biographies, bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje’s autobiography in general follows hagiographies and life stories of Buddhist figures
and saints of the past. What it is worth noting, however, is that never in the DDZG is there any
specific mention of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s family, his life as a householder, or his Tantric
consorts (gzungs ma).
As Janet Gyatso has observed in her study of the great gter ston ’Jigs med gling pa
(1730-1798):423
The struggle to establish the legitimacy of the Nyingmapa lineages, in tandem with a proclivity towards
Buddhist iconoclasm, could produce a notable incongruity in the self-conception of leaders such as
Jigme Lingpa. Both his outer and secret autobiographies display his conformity with exemplary
by his most eminent Tibetan female disciple Ma gcig lab sgron (1055-1143). The practice of gcod is centered on the
idea that it is possible to eliminate attachment to worldly life and ego-clinging emotions through a series of
visualizations and meditative practices aimed at uprooting the belief in an inherently existent “self.”
422 DGSM, f. 11b.
423 ’Jigs med gling pa mkhyen brtse ‘od zer also known as ’Jigs med gling pa rang ’byung rdo rje (1730-1798) was a
renown gter ston and respected rNying ma teacher whose revelations have left a mark in the literary legacy of the
school. Among his most well-known productions contained in his impressive gsung ’bum is the kLong chen snying
tig, a series of teachings on the rdzogs chen system of meditation. In 1762 ’Jigs med gling pa founded a retreat
center in ’Phyong rgyas in the Yar lung valley of Lho kha, south of Lhasa, the Tshe ring ljongs padma ’od gsal theg
mchog gling. Gyatso (1998).
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patterns, while also exhibiting markedly individualistic sentiments―sometimes even in the same
passage.424
In bDe chen ’od gal rdo rje’s case too, just like ’Jigs med gling pa, his loyalty to tradition and the
need to conform with patterns of model attitude and behavior are identifiable in his
autobiography. His description of personal achievements, his understanding of experiences
through visionary activities, and the reception of prophecies in concert with the citation of many
religious personalities’ laudatory comments lead the reader to the conclusion that he is
Padmasambhava’s disciple and a legitimate Treasure revealer, and, paraphrasing a classic
Buddhist metaphor, the cure for the teachings and living beings (bstan ’gro gso sman).425
Despite the solitary lifestyle after his departure from his family village, bDe chen ’od gsal
rdo rje began his religious training relatively early when he was about twelve years old and met
the Sa skya lama ’Jam mgon bkra shis chos ’phel at the dPal kha’i bla chen monastery of Nang
chen in 1932.426 Although bKra shis chos ’phel was bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s first teacher, the
one who taught him the fundamentals of reading and writing and introduced him to Buddhist
practice, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje does not elaborate on this religious figure in his biographical
writings. bKra shis chos ’phel gave the young ’Jigs med tshe ring his first Tantric name, Nus
ldan rdo rje, and instructed him on elementary sets of practices. These teachings established the
orientation of his future Tantric practices that would include the nā ro mkha’ spyod, “Nāropa’s
khecharī/sky-goer” or the Vajrayoginī practices of realization according to the tradition of the
great Indian saint Nāropa (1016-1100).427 bKra shis chos ’phel also praised and welcomed ’Jigs
med tshe ring’s early visions, considering them auspicious and announcing a promising future.428
424 Gyatso (1998: 128).
425 NNPB (1999: line 29).
426 In bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s biographical writings bKra shis chos ’phel is referred to under a few different
names: Gung pa bkra shis chos ’phel, ’Jam mgon bkra shis chos ’phel, and simply bKra shis chos ’phel. My
conversations with bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje and bKra shis rgyal mtshan were not very fruitful in determining the
biographical information of this twentieth-century religious person. Apparently, he was associated with the dPal
be’u ru’i bla chen dgon or dPal be’u ru rnam rgyal bde chen gling ngam be’u ru’i bla chen dgon (also called dPal
kha’i bla chen) a Sa skya monastery in Nang chen rdzong. I have found two Sa skya religious figures who could
lead us to a closer identification with bKra shis chos ’phel: Byams pa bkra shis chos ’phel and mKhan chen bkra shis
chos ’phel. They both apparently lived in the nineteenth century.
427 Abbot of the Buddhist monastery of Nālandā in the eleventh century, Nāropa set off in search of a well-known
Tantric practitioner of his time, with whom lived and practiced for several years. This teacher was the mahāsiddha
Tīlopa (988-1069), who put his disciple through a series of twelve trials and then gave him a specific set of Tantric
teachings, which become known in Tibetan as the nāro chos drug, or the “six yogas of Nāropa.” Nāropa has been
highly glorified in Tibet not only for his lineage, but also for being the main teacher of another of Tibet’s most
famous yogis, the claimed founder of the bKa’ brgyud order, Mar pa Chos kyi blo gros (1012-1097/99).
428 DDZG, f. 6a.
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As we have already seen in the first part of his narration in the DDZG and elsewhere,
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s religious world and his visionary and dream experiences had a
significant impact on his mystic development. In his narrative of the events of his life and
especially of his religious formation, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje constantly highlights his
achievements gained during long training and the encouragement teachers and other religious
personalities gave him during his formative years. Visions and dreams are a fundamental vehicle
of a Treasure revealer’s process of self-identification. When teachers and religious mentors
recognize the validity and sincerity of their disciple’s visionary and dream experiences, the
aspiring Treasure revealer’s career begins to acquire legitimacy and credibility. In this case,
visions are doubly important since they play a pivotal role of the beginning of the visionary’s
career as they announce signs of his potentials and during the course his career as they become
one of the visionary’s most common channels for Treasure revelation.
Travels, Pilgrimages, and the Force of Experience
The early life of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje was interspersed with significant emotional anxiety.
This forced him as a young boy to leave his village and set off on a solitary journey in search of
a new life. From study of the written material and personal conversations it is my sense that bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s early life and his solitary adventures and pilgrimages clearly reflect
predominant features of both bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s religious practice as well as his
idealized religious world.
The DDZG reports that because he was concerned about the young ’Jigs med tshe ring’s
turbulent and difficult years, bKra shis chos ’phel suggested that in order to remove obscurations
(sgrib sbyong) accumulated in the past, ’Jigs med tshe ring undertake a long pilgrimage to Lhasa
to perform prostrations to the Jo bo statue of Śākyamuni Buddha in the gTsug lag khang main
temple (jo bo mjal phyag mtshal).429 Pilgrimage and visits to sacred places are central in bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s formation as a Tantric adept and religious personality. How are we to
understand pilgrimage in this context?
A defining characteristic of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s early cultural milieu that has
shaped his identity today is nomadism. Nomadic existence is characterized by a life on the
429 DDZG, f. 6a.
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margins, both socially and economically.430 This is still observable in many pastoral areas of
Khams and A mdo today. Nomadism and its limited financial reward stands in clear contrast
with a sedentary lifestyle that focuses on material gain, accumulations of resources, and in some
cases luxury. However, elements in the nomadic lifestyle, such as the scarcity of food, the barter
system, the absence of accommodations, and the simplicity of material circumstances constitute
the real “freedom” of nomadism, a freedom that equals movement and the absence of attachment
to any fixed place.431 Furthermore, as mobility is the essential condition of nomadic societies,
adaptability and receptivity to innovation is also required and nowadays this can be particularly
observed in the widespread use of cell phones and motorcycles, two items that do not require
infrastructure and aid mobility.432
Another recurrent theme that stands out in the main body of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
autobiographical writing is that of travel, journey, and pilgrimage. Travel, pilgrimage, and visits
to monasteries and teachers, are all events that are frequently reported in Tibetan biographies and
autobiographies of saints and religious figures. This theme emphasizes the change and
transformation of the individual through a ritual voyage that reflects an inner spiritual
transformation into a new being, which is often spiritually richer, wiser, and commanding in
authority. In this sense, travel is meant as transformation primarily of social status, which leads
to acquisition of fame, fortune, and honor. The transformation of the person’s social status
happens with the simultaneous territorial passage. As Eric Leed elaborates, “the social
transformations of travel are closely connected to the origins of identity, the ways by which a
person’s “self” is defined and made visible.”433
Through travel, the social being shapes and re-shapes his “self” when encountering others
and facing new circumstances and living in new environments. Travel allows for such
transformations while the traveler’s mind acquires a new experiential background. Identity, by
definition, is created by similitude and comparison with others and indeed “the transformations
of the social being in travel suggest that there is no self without an other.”434 It is therefore
through recognition, observation, and identification by others that the categories of a persona
come to constitute the essence and the reality of a social being.
430 Leed (1991: 236).
431 Leed (1991: 237-239).
432 Leed (1991: 237-239).
433 Leed (1991: 263).
434 Leed (1991: 264).
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If we read bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s life with these notions in mind, his departure as a
young boy was a separation from his social community, and also a departure from alienation, and
therefore a beginning of selfhood. He separated himself from his social and cultural matrix to set
off on what became a heroic journey in search of fame and a more significant life. We might not
know exactly if the young ’Jigs med tshe ring’s departure was voluntary or if it was forced on
him. However, with this departure and the dramatic circumstances that led him into solitary life
in sacred places, using Leed’s words, his travels became “a demonstration of freedom from
necessity, the mark of a status above the ‘commons’.”435 The pilgrimage and the travels thus
become also a sort of voyage of discovery where the traveler/pilgrim witnesses the transmutation
of the heroic journey into a consciously chosen opportunity to demonstrate an identity as
freedom, self-display, and self-discovery.
The literary device of departure in bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s written accounts of solitary
wanderings around sacred and remote places represents the abandonment of his social matrix and
his ordinary life (although only that of a young boy), to enter the path of sainthood. This rupture
separates the individual, ’Jigs med tshe ring/bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, from a fixed social
matrix—in our specific case ’Jigs med tshe ring’s home and community, and from that group of
relations that define identity. This detachment is an event that constructs one as an autonomous
and self-contained social entity. A departure from home evokes with great intensity those
emotions characteristic of all partings: protest, grief, mourning, and detachment.436
The self-conscious employment of expressions such as “until I was twelve I intentionally
behaved like a mad person” as bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje writes in his autobiography, identifies
an early stage of his spiritual journey to mark a specific and meaningful event; that of
detachment and rootlessness on the one hand, and the beginning of the constitution of holiness
on the other.437 The death of the social self suffered by the young boy expelled by his community
provided the opportunity to create a new identity. Within the spiritual quest of the young ’Jigs
med tshe ring, we should not underestimate the value that separation, pilgrimage, and travel had
for his personal development. The centrality of these elements is particularly pertinent if we
recall that both the detached individual and the sanctification of separations incurred in
435 Leed (1991: 12).
436 Cf. Coleman and Elsner (1995: 192-195).
437 bcu gnyis lo bar smyos pa’i brtul zhugs spyad. DDZG, f. 6a.
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departures create the meaning for the experience of travel. After all, each departure is meaningful
as a recapitulation of a personal and cultural history.
In the DDZG, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje does not fail to remind the reader that it was
while wandering across mountains and ravines that he had his first intense visions. Later, during
his pilgrimage to Lhasa, he again experienced intense mystical states in which he encountered
deities.438 It was also during these formative experiences, he recalls, that he generated aversion
towards material wealth and an urge to disengage himself from mundane matters.439
As already seen above, pilgrimage has played a major role in the early life of ’Jigs med
tshe ring. Pilgrimage is one of the major forms of religious practice throughout the history of
Buddhism. Across the Buddhist world, the most popular sacred place that attracts Buddhist
pilgrims from all over Asia is Bodhgaya (or Bodh Gaya, a city in today’s Indian state of Bihar)
where prince Gautama Siddhārtha is believed to have achieved enlightenment sitting under a
pipal tree. According to tradition, it was the Buddha himself who, just before dying, gave final
instructions to his closest disciples concerning the establishment of sacred sites that would honor
his remains.440 Each region and area of the Buddhist world has its own pilgrimage sites and holy
places, whether they be temples, shrines, statues, stūpas, monasteries, nunneries, sacred
mountains and lakes, or the dwellings of ascetics, mystics, and saints. The social and religious
role of pilgrimage can be appreciated when we consider that within the cultural matrix of Tibet,
the transformation of holy places in the land was a powerful stratagem for the process of
subjugation of the geographical landscape under the domain of Buddhism. Land deities (sa
bdag), such as mountain and lake gods, already central in pre-Buddhist folk cults, were gradually
incorporated within Buddhist rites.441 Accordingly, sacred sites for pilgrimage were assimilated
and transformed into Buddhist grounds, their chthonic significance retained, and their geomantic
position secured with the construction of temples, shrines, monasteries, and hermitages.
438 DDZG, f. 5b.
439 DDZG, f. 7a.
440 Strong (2004: 98-123); Lopez (2002: 207), and Schopen (1997: 99-113).
441 The sa bdag, or sa’i bdag po, are the lords of the land, the masters of the place, often rendered in English as
earth-owning deities as the Tibetan term seems to ontologically imply a certain “ownership” of the land. Cf. Karmay
(1996: 59-75). In Tibetan texts the term sa bdag refers to non-human spirits and deities who inhabit and control
local areas, and together with their fellow divinities, the yul lha, or mountian-deities, the sa bdag are
iconographically classified as ’jig rten pa’i srung ma, or mundane protectors, a class of gods and deities supposed to
reside in different geographical places of Tibet. See Nebesky-Wojkowitz (1956: 203-204), Blondeau and
Steinkellner (1996), and Blondeau (1998).
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In Tibet, ritual pilgrimage (gnas skor) is extremely popular and it is performed at various
geographic levels.442 On a regional level, for instance, the most popular form of pilgrimage for
villagers is to make circumambulations around sacred mountains believed to be abodes of local
gods (yul lha) and land deities (sa bdag). On a national level, the most ambitious form of
religious pilgrimage takes one towards central Tibet and especially to Lhasa, the capital, and to
major sacred mountains and lakes such as Mount Kailash (Gangs rin po che) and Lake gNam
mtsho. Since the sixteenth century, Lhasa has been the religious and political center of Tibet with
thousands of monks convening from various parts of the country in order to study at one of the
major dGe lugs pa Buddhist institutes including dGa’ ldan, Se ra, and ’Bras spungs. The oldest
Buddhist monuments and temples directly associated with the early introduction and diffusion of
Buddhism in Tibet in the eighth century are also located in Lhasa, such as the Ra mo che temple
and the gTsug lag khang, or in the south not far from Lhasa, the monastery of bSam yas,
established during the eight-century reign of emperor Khri srong lde’u btsan and associated with
the Indian saint Padmasambhava.
The story of Padmasambhava, as we have seen in Chapter One, is central to the issue of
the introduction and diffusion of Buddhism of Tibet and the subjugation of chthonic deities and
demons that control geomantic energies. In the specific case of sacred places, Padmasambhava’s
role was pivotal in taming local deities and transforming them into guardians in the service of
Buddhism and thus sanctifying the geographical landscape. In Tibet, especially in central Tibet
around the bSam yas area, there are a variety of cave-hermitages considered to be places of
extraordinary geomantic significance and are venerated as Treasure places linked to
Padmasambhava. Associated with these specific events, these places are magnets for hermits and
pilgrims alike. The place where a Treasure (gter ma) is discovered and the location from which it
is materially retrieved, or the “hidden” area (sbas yul) that is opened by a gter ston, becomes
imbued with sacredness and is transformed into a destination of pilgrimage not only for the local
populace, but also for devotees journeying from neighboring areas.
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje thus embraced a centuries-old practice in Tibet, a practice
performed by nuns, monks, and laypeople alike. The latter are especially involved in the practice
of pilgrimage, which is an optimal occasion for the accumulation of both merit and blessings,
thus improving not only chances for a fortunate rebirth in the future, but also a healthier and
442
Huber (1994).
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more prosperous life in the present. In Tibetan societies a pilgrim who has visited many sites and
practiced meditation sessions in sacred caves and monasteries is held in high regard by other
members of his community.
The social role of pilgrimage, being an activity of traveling societies, is to unify. 443
However, one of the most striking characteristics of pilgrimage in its ritual meaning is the often
powerful renunciatory aspect of its performance. 444 Many Asian societies seem to share this
feature associated with pilgrimage. Asceticism and renunciation do appear in many of the
religious performances of pilgrimage across Asia.445 The fatigue of travel and the difficulties of
long journeys contribute to the transformation of the traveler and of the pilgrim enriching them
with spiritual experience that leads to wisdom. Pilgrimage, according to Leed, is therefore “the
institutionalization of this transformation of travel.” 446 Pilgrimage purifies and cleanses the
traveler from his/her violations. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s was advised to perform a long
pilgrimage to central Tibet, the most sacred and most popular of all Tibetan sacred places to
remove the obstacles created by unfortunate circumstances and negative karmic traces stemming
from a previous existence.447
Having traveled extensively in many areas of Tibet, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
experience of pilgrimage includes long journeys outside of Tibet as well. In the DDZG bDe chen
’od gsal rdo rje writes that he continued his pilgrimage to great sacred places (gnas chen) of the
Himalayan range such as Mon (a name usually referring to southern regions of Tibet on the
border with Bhutan), Bhutan, Sikkim, and Eastern India. While traveling outside Tibet in the first
half of the twentieth century was not unusual, it was nevertheless a perilous activity for solitary
travelers.
Teachers, Teachings, and Religious Formation
443 Leed (1991: 244).
444 Although merit accumulation and ritual performance are indeed the major normative facets of pilgrimage as a
religious practice, some scholars have highlighted the economic and the social implications involved in pilgrimage.
See Huber (1994).
445 Within the Hindu context, for instance, pilgrimage is seen as an opportunity to experience a form of temporary
renunciation of the world. See Coleman and Elsner (1995: 150).
446 Leed (1991: 11).
447 sgrib sbyong. This refers to the practice, still very popular in Tibet today, of cleansing one’s obscurations or
hindrances (sgrib).
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In the Tibetan hagiographic traditions, one of the central features is the discussion concerning
one’s root teachers (rtsa ba’i bla ma). The bla ma contributes significantly to the education of
the subject of the biography as he is considered particularly valuable for the development of the
character of his disciples and the authority of his lineage. Additionally, the inclusion of a
description of the teachings received and the practices performed increases the religious value of
the biography and provides credibility to the Buddhist scholar. These two elements, i.e., the
teachers followed and the teachings received, are essential elements in the biography of a
religious personality as they support his/her legitimacy, authority, and credibility as a qualified
teacher.
Records of main teachers and a register of the teachings received are also contained in
other genres of Tibetan religious literature often complementary to a saint’s auto/biography.
These can be skyes rabs gsol ’debs (reverantial prayers to successive incarnations), bla brgyud
gsol ’debs (reverential prayers to the teachers of the lineage), gser ’phreng (“golden rosaries,” or
biographical accounts according to the succession of eminent masters of a lineage), bla ma’i rnal
’byor (Skt. guruyoga), and thob yig, or gsan yig, a specific register of teachings received.448
However, it would not be unusual for Tibetan biographers to include these important elements of
a saint’s religious curriculum within the auto/biographical account. The bla ma’i rnal ’byor, for
instance, is not simply a record of teachers. Rather, it has the specific purpose for the disciple of
supplicating (gsol ’debs) one’s root teacher and the entire lineage from which he received the
teachings.449
As for bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, a list of teachers in the form of lineage records (brgyud
pa) is the skyes rabs, the record of past lives. However, despite the ritual value of the scripture,
there is little significant historical information in this kind of text. In fact, the skyes rabs often
provides insights into a bla ma’s self-representation and identity in terms of the high
personalities allegedly encountered and teachings received in previous lives.450 bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje has composed both a bla ma’i rnal ’byor and a skyes rabs gsol ’debs. The former is
the bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje yi zab lam bla ma’i rnal ’byor (henceforth LMNB), written at the
448 See Smith (2001: 39).
449 It is worth noting here that the practice of guru yoga is still much alive in today’s Tibet and considered by many
as an oral device for the memorization of a lineage. An anecdote concerning the uses of guru yoga is that when I met
the Treasure revealer bDud ’dul mgon po (?-2003) in September 2000 and asked him to tell me about his teachers,
he recited to me his guru yoga instead of giving me a text or writing down the names of his teachers.
450 Tucci (1949: 151) seems to consider the skyes rabs (Skt. jātaka) similar to the rnam thar for their capacity in
providing information about the protagonist in the form of his religious identity and his past lives.
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request of one of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s closest disciples, Tshe bzang bsam gling rin po che
(bla ma tshe bzang).451 The latter is the Pra bha swa badzra’i skyes rabs gsol ’debs bsdus pa
tshigs su bcad pa (A Short Reverential Prayer in Verse to Prabhāsva vajra’s Previous
Existences). This is a versified composition in which bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje has recorded his
major previous lives beginning with the Indian ’Phags pa ’od zer,452 Klu byang dpal,453 bLo gros
dga’ bo,454 and Klu yi byang chub,455 as well as two early students of Padmasambhava in Tibet,
(Ngan lam) rGyal ba mchog dbyangs and Shud bu dpal gyi seng ge.456 In his present existence
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje was recognized as a reincarnation of Shud bu dpal gyi seng ge, one of
the supposed principal disciples of Padmasambhava. 457 In the Tibetan Treasure tradition a
Treasure revealer’s ability to recall his previous lives and claim connection to Padmasambhava is
fundamental to his legitimacy as qualified assistant and messenger (pho nya) of
Padmasambhava.
According to his autobiography and his recollections bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje spent
most of his life as a teenager from 1934 to 1942 in Central Tibet and traveling across the
Himalayas and India. During his long journeys across central Tibet, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje
visited some of the most renowned Buddhist places and institutions of the country. On many
occasions he visited and received teachings from Buddhist teachers of various affiliations. bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje embraced an open-minded doctrinal approach that was oriented more to
practice and experience rather than to an intense and profound scholastic study of Buddhist
scriptures.
Among his encounters in Lhasa, the most influential seems to have been with dge bshes
Phug cog byams mgon. This was probably one of the eminent reincarnations of the Phur bu lcog
lineage based in Lhasa and represented in the nineteenth century by the well-known Blo bzang
451 LMNB, f. 4b.
452 This name is unidentified.
453 Klu byang dpal = Klu ’jams dpal. Unidentified name.
454 According to bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, bLo gros dga’ bo was one of the disciples of the Buddha. He probably
refers to Kun dga’ bo (Skt. Ānanda). bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s personal communication. Ri phug kha ri khrod,
2000.
455 According to bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, kLu yi byang chub is an epithet of Nāgārjuna, the founder of the
Mādhyamika school of Indian Buddhism. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s personal communication. Ri phug kha ri
khrod, 2000.
456 For biographical information about these two figures see Thondup (1984: 150-164). For Shud bu dpal gyi seng
ge, see also Dudjom (1991: 535).
457 Thondup (1984: 162).
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tshul khrims byams pa rgya mtsho (1825-1901).458 Considering that this Phur lcog byams pa
rgya mtsho passed away twenty years before bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje was born, it is more likely
that in Lhasa he met his successor, Thub bstan byams pa tshul khrims bstan ’dzin (b. 1902?).459 It
seems that bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje was impressed by the Phur lcog dge bshes’s personality and
erudition. He spent enough time with him to receive various teachings, including the dga’ ldan
lha brgya. Composed by the great Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngag dbang blo bzang rgya mtsho (1617-
1682), the dga’ ldan lha brgya is a guru yoga practice was dedicated to Tsong kha pa blo bzang
grags pa (1357-1419).
Practice and Spiritual Achievements
Despite his young age (at that time he must have been around fourteen or fifteen years old), the
period bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje spent in Lhasa and central Tibet was productive in terms of
spiritual achievements and personal goals. In the DDZG he proudly racalls that the people
around him were impressed by the yogic achievements gained by his training at this time. He
writes that he also achieved the skill of flying or levitating in air.460 Indeed, he explains, that he
achieved what he calls the realization and unification of the “three secrets of the teacher” (bla
ma’i gsang gsum):461
I achieved the realization of the unification of the Three Secrets of the Guru.
Therefore the supreme accomplishments of contemplative experience and realization increased
rapidly,
And I cut the attachment to the eight worldly concerns.462
In the DDZG, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje emphasizes his experiential achievements (nyams) that
led to his realization (rtogs pa) of the futility of attachment to ordinary matters. bDe chen ’od
458 I am particularly grateful to Tashi Tsering of the Amnye Machen Institute for his help in identify this religious
figure. This reincarnation lineage was apparently based at the Phur bu lcog ri khrod (Phur bu lcog ri khrod byang
chub gling) a small retreat hermitage belonging to the Se ra byes college of Se ra monastery just outside Lhasa. Cf.
TBRC, Place RID: G156.
459 Cf. TBRC, Person RID: P00EGS109637.
460 DDZG, f. 6b.
461 The bla ma'i gsang ba gsum, or the Three Secrets of the Teacher, are a central point in the teaching of Vajrayāna
Buddhism. Such a triad refers to the indestructible realities of a Buddha and is comprised as follows: sku'i gsang ba
(the secret of the Body), gsung gi gsang ba (the secret of the Speech), and thugs kyi gsang ba (the secret of the
Mind).
462 DDZG, f. 6b.
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gsal rdo rje points out that he managed to eliminate ignorance and thus achieved awareness,
something fundamental and pivotal to a Buddhist practitioner’s quest for enlightenment. In
Tibetan Buddhism, nyams and rtogs pa are key terms that distinguish specific achievements in
the path to spiritual liberation, especially in the practice of rdzogs chen. The concept of nyams
concerns experiential practice free from conceptual intellectualization where meditation allows
for a natural and spontaneous understanding. Therefore, this meditatively cultivated experience
is germane to the practitioner’s inner transformation. As a consequential process in which a
constant and unchanging awareness (rig pa) emerges within the practitioner, rtogs pa is an
understanding, or realization, of the nature of the practitioner’s experiences and of all
phenomena.
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje describes that he experienced a detachment (snang zhen chod)
from the material world traditionally represented by the example of four pairs of diametrically
opposite anxieties know in Tibetan as the “eight worldly concerns” (’jig rten chos brgyad).463
Technically, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje claims he is a realized being, he has attained knowledge
over the phenomena that most affect our human mind. Most importantly he has completely
detached himself from these discursive phenomena, achieving a pure mind and an overall
realization of the interdependence (rten ’brel) of all phenomena. This event will be fundamental
in bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s life for, as he writes, at that time “everybody admired me and
spoke words of praise to me.”464
Himalayan Pilgrimage and Gro mo dge bshes rin po che
Among the most influential teachers bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje recalls from those he encountered
in his journeys across the Himalayan regions is Gro mo dge bshes rin po che. We do not have
much information about this teacher of the dge lugs tradition. Much of what we can learn of Gro
mo dge bshes rin po che has been passed on by a German traveler and Buddhist practitioner,
463 The Tibetan term ’jig rten chos brgyad is a translation of the Sanskrit as^t^a loka dharma, and it refers to those
worldly concerns pursuit of which, according to the Buddha, would only lead to further worldly engagement and
therefore were to be avoided. These are listed in pairs of opposites: rnyed pa (gain) and ma rnyed pa (no gain), bde
ba (pleasure) and sdug bsngal (suffering), bstod pa (praise) and smad pa (blame), snyan pa (fame) and mi snyan pa
(infamy). Cf. Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo, p. 895.
464 DDZG, f. 6b.
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Ernst Lothar Hoffmann.465 Better known in the West by his pseudonym, Anagarika Govinda,
Hoffmann met Gro mo dge bshes rin po che and studied with him in Darjeeling in the 1930s.
Born in 1898, this philosopher, scholar, and prolific writer traveled extensively across Southeast
Asia, namely Burma and Ceylon, in the 1930s. He reached the town of Darjeeling in West
Bengal and even traveled to Western Tibet when little scientific knowledge was available in the
field of Asian studies. 466 In India Anagarika Govinda embraced the practice of Tibetan
Buddhism after having met Gro mo dge bshes at Yid dga’ chos gling monastery, also popularly
known as Ghoom monastery, located in the small village of Ghoom along the road leading to
Darjeeling.
Gro mo dge bshes rin po che, also known as dGe bshes ngag dbang skal bzang (1866-
1934/1936), was born in Gangtok, Sikkim. Having been recognized as the reincarnation of Gro
mo rin po che, former abbot of Dung dkar monastery in the Gro mo valley of southern Tibet, he
was sent to Dung dkar monastery at a very young age in order to be properly educated as a
monk. 467 At the age of seven, showing great intelligence in understanding the Buddhist
teachings, he was then sent to Se ra monastery in Lhasa where he lived for many years until he
received his degree of dge bshes. 468 In his writings, Anagarika Govinda provides many
reflections on the personality of his teacher and the spiritual value for which he was renowned.469
There is also a chapter in The Way of the White Clouds concerned with Gro mo dge bshes rin po
che’s most well-known charismatic gifts, namely his healing powers and the production of ril bu
pills.470
Gro mo dge bshes rin po che’s knowledge of the Buddhist doctrine and his healing
powers must have deeply impressed bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje. He was especially fascinated by
the bla ma’s famous ril bu pills, which immediately captured his enthusiasm. One day, after
having been accepted as one of the bla ma’s students, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje received both
465 See also Samuel (1993: 343-344).
466 Some of Lama Anagarika Govinda’s works are Abhidhammattha Sangaha – Ein Compendium buddhistischer
Philosophie und Psychologie (München 1931); Der Stupa – Psychokosmisches Lebens- und Todessymbol (1976);
and the autobiographical work Der Weg der weiβen Wolken (1966, The Way of the White Clouds). For a (critical)
view of Lama Anagarika Govinda and his role in the diffusion of Tibetan Buddhism in the West, see Lopez (1998:
46-85).
467 Govinda (1974: 121).
468 Govinda (1974: 122).
469 Most of the information about Gro mo dge bshes rin po che can be accessed in Anagarika Govinda’s book The
Way of the White Clouds: A Buddhist Pilgrim in Tibet. For a biography of Anagarika Govinda see Winkler (1990).
470 Govinda (1974: 93-98).
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empowerments and some of the ril bu pills.471 Anagarika Govinda, who might have been at Yid
dga’ chos gling monastery when bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje arrived, recalls that after his initiation
under Gro mo dge bshes rin po che he himself received three ril bu pills. A Tibetan monk
assisting him at the time explained to him how these medicine pills were considered effective
even in case of serious illness.472 Gro mo dge bshes rin po che, as bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje
writes, was favorably impressed by the young Khams pa practitioner, for he expressed words of
praise for bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje and further predicted a brilliant future for him in the service
of all human beings.473
Among the various teachings that Gro mo dge bshes rin po che gave to bDe chen ’od gsal
rdo rje, the DDZG refers to the important teachings of blo sbyong or “mind training.”474 These
particular sets of teachings belong to the study of the nature of mind (blo rigs) constituting the
essential curriculum in many Buddhist scholastic traditions. In Tibet, the exploration of the
nature of the mind has characterized much of the dge lugs school’s curriculum, especially for
those monks who embrace the long path to the degree of dge bshes. One of the basic features of
blo sbyong practice is to assist the students in focusing their attention on the true characteristics
of the mind and the real origin of one’s feelings and emotions in order to recognize them and
eliminate their psychological influences. With the realization of one’s own mind, one will be
able to develop the proper attitude that will enable one to return to the primordial state of the
mind free from all defilements.475
Return to Central Tibet
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s explorations of the nature of the mind and its potentialities continued
when he returned to Tibet and stopped again in the central regions of the plateau where he
sojourned at Sa skya monastery.476 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s spiritual exercises at Sa skya were
particularly intense since he engaged in various challenging meditation sessions. bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje’s yogic exertion focused on the performance of gcod practice, aimed at “cutting off”
471 DDZG, f. 6b.
472 Govinda (1974: 94).
473 DDZG, f. 6b.
474 DDZG, f. 6b.
475 Powers (1995: 419-420); Dreyfus (2003: 112).
476 DDZG, f. 7a.
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personal ego-fixating attachments to material matters. At Sa skya, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje
developed his spiritual achievements, and rapidly realized that “all phenomena are delusions.”477
He thus recalls that he succeeded in taming the apparitions of various deities of the srung ma
(guardians) class whose attacks created miraculous phenomena or magical illusions (cho ’phrul)
in an attempt to disturb him and test his resolve.
The practice of gcod is a meditative technique elaborated in India and further developed
in Tibet in the eleventh century, where it was codified and diffused among practitioners by the
efforts and charismatic skills of the great female Tantric practitioner Ma gcig lab sgron (1055-
1153). 478 The value of this practice has been particularly appreciated in various Buddhist
schools. Some schools were more focused on practice and contemplative experience-based
traditions rather than developing advanced scholastic curricula. The major benefits sought in and
expected by persevering in the practice of gcod are the elimination of one’s own afflictions and
ego-clinging mental tribulations that affect the human mind to such a great degree. Probably
more than any other meditative technique the clear-cut characteristic of gcod practice is the
dramatic performance of its ritual aimed at eliminating, just like a “cut” or “severance” (gcod),
all forms of one’s mental clinging and hindrances produced by worldly matters and especially
those related to the physical and mental sense of “I.” The result of this practice is a natural state
devoid of fear.479
The dramatization of the practice of gcod is best expressed by the practitioner’s
unconventional behavior that in the Tibetan religious tradition is often accompanied by elements
of madness (smyos spyod), and in the performance of the ritual. The gcod practitioners (gcod pa)
tend to express their identity through a lifestyle that encourages practice sessions in charnel
grounds, burial sites, forests, banks of lakes, and rivers, all of which in Tibetan religious imagery
are popularly considered dwelling places of deities and demons, or “god-demons” (lha ’dre).480
The predilection for such ghastly places in the fulfillment of such practices during the gcod ritual
477 DDZG, f. 7a.
478 According to the study of Edou (1996:79-84), Ma gcig lab sgron received the teachings on the gcod practice from
three different, although interlocked, sources of lineage transmission. The more historical transmission is from the
Indian saint Pha dam pa sangs rgyas (d. 1117) who transmitted to her the tradition of gcod according to the
Prajñāpāramitā. The second lineage transmission is the Vajrayāna gcod that Ma gcig lab sgron received in a vision
from the goddess Tāra (sgrol ma). The third lineage was created and developed directly by Ma gcig lab sgron by
systematizing the previous two teachings into a unique corpus of practices combined with her own meditative
experiences. As for the dates of birth and death of Ma gcig lab sgron, see also Powers (1995: 371) who suggests
1055-1143. See also Drolma (2005), Harding (2003a), and Norbu (1986).
479 Powers (1995: 371).
480 Edou (1996: 63).
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is motivated by the necessity of enhancing the practitioner’s detachment from his body and
attachment-related emotions. According to the practice of gcod, this detachment can be achieved
by a practitioner visualizing his/her own body dissected into pieces and offered as food to
demons and other non-human entities appearing (cho ’phrul) or visualized in front of the Tantric
adept. 481 These forms of religious practice have been associated with a specific group of
practitioners including itinerant renunciants (bya bral ba) and non-celibate Tantric practitioners
(sngags pa). The seemingly horrific nature of gcod practice is germane to the gcod adepts’ sense
of identity and spiritual achievements.482
In his DDZG, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje writes that the various apparitions of Dharma
protectors (bka’ srung) and their disturbances disguised as magical apparitions (cho ’phrul)
helped him to realize the deceptive nature of phenomena. He conveys the idea that he mastered
the gcod practice perfectly, since his realization of the ephemeral nature of the phenomenal
world was his major achievement. 483 His spiritual attempts were focused on liberation from
worldly matters and the detachment from the limitations of the self. Tantric practices such as
gcod and rtsa lung thig le promise the adept the possibility of acquiring power over appearances,
mastering natural phenomena, and becoming freed from attachment.
While at Sa skya monastery, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje met the eminent throne holder of
the Sa skya. Representative of the Phun tshogs pho brang, one of the two pho brangs or
“mansions” that constitute the dynastic lineages of the Sa skya monastery (the other being the
sGrol ma pho brang), Ngag dbang mthu stobs dbang phyug (1900-1950) served as the abbot and
thirty-third Sa skya khri chen of the Sa skya monastery from 1937 until his death in 1950.484
According to the DDZG, Ngag dbang mthu stobs dbang phyug accepted the young bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje under his protection and provided him with material and spiritual support. He let him
481 For a description of cho ’phrul within the gcod practice see Edou (1996: 72-76).
482 In Tibet the practice of gcod is predominantly sanctioned within lay and non-monastic communities. Although
the practice of gcod is not uncommon and is even encouraged within some monastic communities, monks and nuns
who practice gcod represent mainly rNying ma and bKa’ brgyud traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.
483 DDZG, f. 7a.
484 His full name was Ngag dbang mthu stobs dbang phyug drag shul yon tan rgya mtsho bkra shis grags pa rgyal
mtshan dpal bzang po, as reported in the title of his biography written by Kun dga’ bstan pa’i nyi ma, Shri sa skya
pa sngags ’chang bla ma khri chen rdo rje ’chang ngag dbang mthu stobs dbang phyug drag shul yon tan rgya
mtsho bkra shis grags pa rgyal mtshan dpal bzang po’i rnam par thar pa mdor bsdus bkra shis skye ba lnga pa’i
sgra dbyangs (Delhi: T.G. Dhongthog Rinpoche, 1980). I express my gratitude to Tashi Tsering of the Amnye
Machen Institute in Dharamsala (India), and to Prof. Leonard van der Kuijp for their help in providing me these
details.
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stay at Sa skya monastery, gave him offerings, and also agreed to give him teachings.485 Ngag
dbang mthu stobs dbang phyug uttered prophesies about bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje predicting his
beneficial role for the welfare of future generations.
After his experience at Sa skya, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje continued his pilgrimage to the
sacred places of the gTsang area (gtsang gnas chos ’khor yongs rdzogs mjal). Although not
specifically mentioned in his biography, he also visited various sites such as the Zhwa lu
monastery, bKra shis lhun po monastery in gZhis ka rtse, and the great sKu ’bum stūpa of rGyal
rtse.486 However, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s journey to the best known sacred places of the
Tibetan Buddhist tradition could not be completed without a sojourn at the major center of the
Karma pa. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s visit to mTshur pu monastery took place during his travels
in central Tibet (circa 1940-1942). There he had the opportunity to meet the sixteenth Karma pa
rang ’byung rig pa’i rdo rje (1924-1981), who in his early twenties was just a few years younger
than bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje. This meeting must have been particularly significant for bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje, for he would keep a strong connection with the bKa’ brgyud teachings for
the rest of his life.
For bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje the meeting with the Karma pa was significant for two
reasons. First, the Karma pa rang ’byung rig pa’i rdo rje was impressed by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje given that he praised him for his achievements and made prophetic statements about the
importance of his role for the welfare of the future beings, a proclamation typically interpreted as
announcing a career as a Treasure revealer. The authorization and approval by a Karma pa is
particularly sought after by aspiring Treasure revealers because the Karma pa is believed to
represent the activity of enlightenment, and thus he has the power to increase their beneficial
actions.487 Second, as a sign of approval of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s association with the
Transmission of the Profound Treasures (zab gter bka’ bab), the young Karma pa rang ’byung
rig pa’i rdo rje conferred upon him the names bDe chen rdo rje and ’Od gsal rdo rje and honored
the young Tantric expert by conferring upon him a solemn proclamation (’ja’ tham chen mo)
about his future. Significantly, his commonly used names were given to him by a Karma pa
hierarch, whereas his primary affiliation will be rNying ma. The Karma pa declared that he had
485 DDZG, f. 7a.
486 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s personal communication. gNas chen padma hermitage, mount gNas chen padma,
sKye rgu mdo (Yushu TAP), Qinghai, September 1998.
487 See Schmidt and Schmidt (2005: 248; 389, n. 197).
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peculiar qualities that would be beneficial for the Buddhist doctrine and sentient beings.488 bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje writes:
As unhindered foreknowledge manifested, I received his prophecies.
He conferred upon me an edict announcing that I would be beneficial in the future,
Declaring that I had peculiar qualities beneficial to the Buddhist Teachings and the living beings.
He [thus] authorized me [to disseminate] the teachings of the practice lineage in the regions of
Khams.489
In these lines we can observe the importance that bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje attached to his
identity as a Khams pa and, therefore, his intentions to return to his homeland to pursue a career
as a Treasure revealer and a Buddhist teacher. This is significant in our analysis of bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje’s life because his life and activities were always centered in Khams, thereby showing
a conscious sense of belonging to the place and the social role he gained there. It could also be
noted here that bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s relationship with the bKa’ brgyud tradition, which
began with the encounter with the Sixteenth Karma pa was restrengthened once he returned to
Khams. There he met another bKa’ brgyud master, Kun bzang ’gro ’dul, who would become one
of his most influential teachers.
It is clear at this point how bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s early life and spiritual formation
were perceived as a stage in a gradual progress setting the groundwork for his transformation
into a prominent figure within the Tibetan religious world. A reading of the DDZG helps us
understand the aim of autobiography itself, which is to contribute to a saint’s (self-)affirmation
as a publicly recognized and qualified religious leader. In addition, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
travel, as already discussed above, is a fundamental manifestation of spiritual pilgrimage, and in
the DDZG its primary role is to emphasize development and transformation. The passages that
show bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s transition from childhood to adulthood and the attainment of a
religious education under the care of several Buddhist masters aim at setting the ground for the
author’s eventual role as a Treasure revealer in the larger Buddhist community of Nang chen.
In his late forties, on the eve of the Chinese invasion of eastern Tibet, bDe chen ’od gsal
rdo rje was traveling across Khams staying predominantly in the sKye rgu mdo and Nang chen
areas where his fame as an expert Tantric professional was growing among the local populace.
488 NTPB, Text 1, (1999: lines 22-25). These two names were also later confirmed by Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje.
NTPB, Text 1 (1999: line 24-25).
489 DDZG, f. 7b.
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Despite the tensions created by the worsening political situation, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje does
not offer comments on those years in his autobiography, conveying the idea that the politically
tensed atmosphere did not effect his life and religious activities. These were formative years for
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje when he established a network with other emerging religious
personalities of the area such as mKhan po ’Chi med dbang chen rdo rje from Zur mang rnam
rgyal brtse monastery, Chos gling shākya grags pa and mKhan po ’Jam dbyangs mkhyen rab
from rDo rdo monastery,490 ’Phrin las kun khyab from dGa’ ldan monastery (rTsi zur mang dga’
ldan thub bstan nge legs gling), mTshan nyid ’jam dpal nor bu from mTshan nyid monastery
(mTshan nyid grwa tshang rnam rgyal chos ’khor gling),491 the fourth mChog ’gyur gling pa of
rTsi ke in Khams, and dKon mchog rgyal mtshan and sTong dga’ rin po che from Ge lcags
monastery. 492 It was at this time that he also had the opportunity to meet one of his most
influential teachers Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje (also known as dPal me mkhyen brtse Kun
bzang ’gro ’dul rdo rje, 1897-1946).493
The First Root-Teacher: Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje
Among the most influential bKa’ brgyud masters in Nang chen, Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje
was born in the first month of the Fire-Bird year of the fifteenth cycle (1897). A fully ordained
monk, Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje is remembered for being a Treasure revealer who excavated
numerous earth Treasures (sa gter) in many areas of Nang chen and who left a collection of
religious writings and teachings including mind Treasures and pure visions.494 Recognized as
490 These are all twentieth-century teachers and information about them is scare and fragmentary. The full name of
rDo rdo dgon, also known as Chos gling rdo rdo dgon is dPal chos gling rdo rje bsam ’grub bde chen dar rgyas
gling. A brief history of the monastery is reported in Yul shul rdzong: dgon sde’i lo rgyus mdor bsdus (1998, pp.
147-154). TBRC W00EGS1016676.
491 ’Jam dpal nor bu padma dbang rgyal also known as rDza stod mtshan nyid sprul sku ’jam dpal nor bu (1892-
1960).
492 I do not have information about the lives of the former two religious figures. sTong dga’ rin po che was the
spiritual leader of Ru ’dren dge dgon, a small branch nunnery of Ge lcags, founded by the nineteenth century Ge
lcags rtog ldan Tshang dbyangs rgya mtsho (nineteenth century). Currently, sTong dga’ rin po che in his 90s lives in
sKye rgu mdo township.
493 I use Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje as his primary name because this is the name by which he is most commonly
known and referred to within bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s community.
494 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s personal communication. gNas chen padma hermitage, mount gNas chen padma,
sKye rgu mdo (Yushu TAP), Qinghai. August 1998. bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s oral communication, Ri phug kha
hermitage, mount gNas chen padma, sKye rgu mdo (Yushu TAP), Qinghai. July 1999. Recently Kun bzang ’gro
’dul bde chen rod rje’s collected writings were published in Nang chen in eight volumes, the mKhyen sprul kun
bzang ’gro ’dul bde chen rdo rje’i gsung ‘bum.
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one of the reincarnations of ’Jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse dbang po (1820-1892), he is the founder
of the dPal me mdo sngags bshad sgrub gling monastery located in Shar mda’ (Nang chen) and
its associated mountain hermitage, the rDo rje mer chen dge dgon bkra shis chos gling on Mount
rDza mer chen to the west of Shar mda’.495 Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje particularly valued
austere asceticism along with the practice of meditation, and he spent most of his time in retreat
on the mountains in the southern areas of Nang chen where he performed most of his visionary
revelations. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje met this teacher on various occasions over a few years
until 1946, the year of his death. Spending various periods of time with him bDe chen ’od gsal
rdo rje received teachings and performed retreats under his supervision.
Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje included bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje in one of his prophecies.
There we find lines that bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje interprets as a declaration of his recognition as
a Treasure revealer:
The highest of O rgyan Padma’s spiritual sons
Will appear like the sun cleansing the darkness of ignorance.
Conqueror of all illusive visions by the power of the mind,
By the mighty power of miracles,
He will resist the border armies
The one whose name is Badzra,
Will pacify the evil era and whatever is related to it.
Then, he will go among sentient beings and increase [their] happiness.
Vanquishing the evil side,
[He will thus wear] the Supreme Helmet of Sutras and Mantras.496
These prophetic lines obliquely refer to the full name of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje. bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje interprets the word nyi ma (sun) in the second line and dorje (Badzra=Vajra) in the
sixth line as referring to himself through the analogy of the sun (nyi ma)/radiant light (’od gsal)
495 For a full account and detailed story of this ’Bri gung bKa’ brgyud monastery see “rDza mer chen dge dgon gyi
gnas kyi che ba dang dgon sde phyag btab tshul sogs kyi byung ba brjod pa” in sGa karma (ed.), Khams sgom sde
nang chen pa’i dgon khag rnams kyi byung ba phyogs bsgrigs rin chen sgrom brgya ’byed ba’i deb ther gser gyi lde
mig, 1999, pp. 427-432. For a biography of Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje, see Tshogs gnyis rgya mtsho (1974).
496 o rgyan pad ma’i thugs kyi sras mchog ni/
ma rig mun sel nyi ma lta bur ’byung/
dgongs pa’i rtsal rdzogs gzhan snang zil gyi gnon/
rdzu ’phrul stobs mnga’ mtha’ yi dmag dpung zlog/
skyes bu badzra ming can ’byung ba des/
’brel tshad don ldan bskal ngan zhi bar ’gyur/
de tshe sems can bde skyid yar ’phel ’gro/
nag phyogs gzhom nas mdo sngags dbu ‘phangs mtho/
From Gu ru’i lung bstan shel dkar me long (The Crystal Mirror: The Prophecies of the Guru), f.7a. In the short
colophon to the brief text, a dgongs gter text, we read that it was written by Kun bzang pad ma ’gro ’dul rdo rje, one
of Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje’s names, when he was twenty-one years old (1918?).
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and Badzra (vajra)/Dorje. For bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje this also confirms the name that the
fourth Karma pa Rol pa’i rdo rje gave him at mTshur phu a few years earlier. The phrase
“conqueror of all illusive visions by the power of the mind” in the third line refers directly to
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s ability as a gter ston and more specifically to his future as a revealer
of mind Treasures. Finally, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje interprets the sentence “he will resist the
border armies” in the fifth line as referring to one of his past lives, that of Lha rje kun dga’ nyi
ma. Kun dga’ nyi ma was the personal physician and assistant to King Ge sar of gLing who
accompanied him to many battles especially launched to drive back the hordes of enemies
coming from the border areas outside Tibet. These mystical skills will turn out to be particularly
useful later on during the tumultuous years of the Cultural Revolution.
Although bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje spent with Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje only the last
few years of his life, the two forged a strong bond. The teacher appreciated his disciple and gave
him teachings introducing him to the fundamentals of the Great Perfection (rDzogs chen). He
predominantly focused his instructions on the snying thig tradition. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje
also received the complete empowerment of the whole Gu ru gsang ba zil mnon, Grub dbang bde
chen rdo rje’s cycle of revealed esoteric teachings based on rdzogs chen and collected in three
volumes. Additionally, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje studied other material authored by Grub dbang
bde chen rdo rje such as the rdzogs chen gser gyi zhun thig las snying po ye shes rab gsal. In the
following years bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje spent most of his time practicing these teachings in the
retreats where he practiced meditation intensively. His dedication, talent, and spiritual
achievements soon brought him fame in the areas of sKye rgu mdo and Nang chen. Villagers and
herdsmen of the area paid him regular visits bringing offerings, asking for advice, and requesting
the performance of divinations, ceremonies, and rites.
First Community: The Me ’bar monastery
By the early 1950s, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s fame grew. His wisdom, spiritual achievements,
and visionary activities attracted religious personalities, monks, and devotees from the areas of
Nang chen and sKye rgu mdo and soon disciples began to gather around the Treasure revealer.
The monasteries of Zur mang and dPal me, and other monastic communities of the area
frequently asked him to assist their monastics in their spiritual pursuits with specific teachings
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and instructions for aspirant retreatants. However, religious professionals were not the only ones
interested in bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s qualities.
Urban people and herdsmen paid regular visits to bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje for religious
needs, and local leaders and religious personalities used to ask for bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
spiritual advice and divinatory expertise. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje soon gained the sympathy
and the patronage of a local chieftain (dpon po), rDzi la dpon,497 who was a minor but influential
leader in Nang chen. He became one of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s most assiduous devotees and
soon offered him patronage and a parcel of land in ’Do yus mda’ some fifty kilometers west of
sKye rgu mdo. There, on the slopes of the Me ’bar mountain offering a spectacular view of the
Tshi chu (one of the Mekong feeder rivers), bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje chose to build his first
hermitage, Me ’bar dgon, with the help of local villagers. Soon a small group of devotees and
disciples began to gather around him and the first huts were built around the main assembly hall
and residence of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje.498
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s community began rather informally. The charismatic figure
first built a small home and thereafter a small circle of close pupils took up residence nearby. As
the religious community grew primarily by word of mouth, disciples built modest one-room,
stone, adobe, stacked earth, or wood residences in a haphazard manner in the area. Most of the
hermitage buildings were supported by private funding and donated labor and materials. People
from nearby peasant villages (wherever bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje stayed) helped build his retreat
compounds by providing donations of food and financial support and by donating materials for
the facilities and furniture in the cells and huts. Individuals were free to come and go as they
pleased since the community prescribed no formal registration or affiliation process and students
were not asked to follow any long-term curriculum beyond the practice and meditation inspired
by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s teachings. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s religious practice and
instruction were strict and intense and, combined with his predilection for isolation and retreat,
such a environment was not conducive to the creation of a large resident community.
Practitioners at his hermitages were predominantly monastics both monks and nuns coming from
nearby monasteries. A prominent group of lay devotees and non-celibate practitioners has also
been following him and visiting his retreat to ask for teachings and blessings. Every summer
497I have not been able to gather any information about rDzi la dpon.
498I visited the Me ’bar dgon site just above ’Do yus mda’ village in sKye rgu mdo (Yushu TAP) on two occasions,
in 1999 and 2000. Only a few remains are nowadays left of the original small compound residence of bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje.
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throughout the 1950s at bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s Me ’bar hermitage hundreds of devotees,
including nomads and villagers from the surrounding areas, gathered and spent days there to
receive empowerment rituals, which included, among others, the “Removing all impediments for
the Realization of Mind” (thugs sgrub bar chad kun sel). Encouraged and sponsored by a number
of local aristocratic families, donors, and devotees, during these events bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje
and his community received all sorts of offerings and donations.499
In the mid 1950s, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje entered an isolated retreat in a cave on mount
Chu lung mgon po near Zur mang area in Nang chen county in order to focus on the practice of
rta mgrin (Hayagrīva). Although the scarcity of water made the area unsuitable for extended
meditation retreats, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje had the sense that he should stay there to do his
practices. While in meditation that bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje had a vision of a 7ākinī speaking to
him and giving him instructions. Following the 7ākinī’s order he dug a hole just at the base of
the place he was sitting and water sprang out (chu sgo). Another oral account of bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje’s deeds suggests that once while traveling through the Ge rong area near sKye rgu
mdo in Khams, he left hand prints (phyag rjes) and foot prints (zhabs rjes) impressed on a
rock.500
The Years at Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje’s chos sgar
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s life in Nang chen area was characterized by frequent mobility. He
regularly traveled to Shar mda’ to pay visits to his teacher Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje. Grub
dbang bde chen rdo rje passed away in 1946 but not before instructing his student to further his
Tantric studies with another prestigious master of rdzogs chen. Following his teacher’s advice, a
few years later in the mid 1950s, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje set out on a journey that took him to
Go ’jo in Nyag rong south of sDe dge, where he met the charismatic master Nyag bla rig ’dzin
byang chub rdo rje (henceforth Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje) who would have a deep influence
on his religious career.
Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje suggested that bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje study with this
teacher for two reasons. Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje at that time was well known for his
499
bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s personal communication. Shar mda’, Nang chen (Yushu TAP), August 2005.
500
bKra shis mtsho mo’s and bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s personal communications. rDza mer chen monastery, Shar
mda’ Nang chen (Yushu TAP), July 2000.
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achievements in rdzogs chen and for his sincerity and strictness in the transmission of the
teachings. Moreover, his lifestyle was that of a householder, without any commitment to
monastic life or formalized scholarship. Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje saw the opportunity for his
disciple, also a nonmonastic, to enrich his experience by coming into contact with such a
charismatic figure.
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje arrived at Nyag bla sgar, Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje’s retreat
center, in 1955, when he was thirty-five years old.501 At the time he arrived at Nyag bla sgar,
another religious practitioner was living at the religious complex who was later to become a well
known Buddhist teacher, Chos rgyal Nam mkha’i nor bu (b.1938).502 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje
does not provide information about this Buddhist teacher and no information concerning a
meeting between them or the period he spent at Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje’s community is
included in the DDZG. In fact, despite being there at the same time, the two disciples apparently
never met.503
Originally from Nyag rong, Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje (?-c.1978),504 the revealer of the
rGyal mo rong gi gnas chen dmu rdo, lived most of his life in retreat in the remote area of Ra
chu rka mdo near Go ’jo in Khams in present-day Chab mdo county.505 There he established a
self-supporting community and a religious encampment (chos sgar), or a “commune” using Nam
501 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s oral communication. Ri phug kha hermitage, Mount gNas chen padma (Yushu TAP),
Qinghai, August 2000.
502 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s personal communication. Both Chos rgyal Nam mkha’ nor bu Rinpoche and bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje have lived and studied at Nyag bla sgar, Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje’s community during the
same period in the mid-1950s. According to bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, his time at Nyag bla sgar overlapped with the
presence of Nam mkha’i nor bu, although the two never seem to have met. In the summer of 1997 while I was in
Lhasa, I had the chance to meet Nam mkha’i nor bu Rinpoche at his relatives’ house in Zhol gsar pa, a neighborhood
in the northern part of the city. gTer chen bKra shis rgyal mtshan and his wife mKha’ ’gro dPal chen lha mo
accompanied me to visit him. On that occasion bKra shis rgyal mtshan told Nam mkha’i nor bu about his teacher
and presented him with one of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s revealed texts. When I asked nam mkha’i nor bu if he
remembered to have met bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje while in Nyag bla sgar, Nam mkha’ nor bu confirmed that he had
heard of him while at Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje’s chos sgar in 1955 when he was young. (Nam mkha’i nor bu’s
personal communication, Lhasa, July 1997).
503 I have collected most of the information on this period of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s life during interviews with
him and a few people from his community.
504 There is paucity of evidence concerning Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje’s dates of birth and death. I have had no
access to an original biographical source. For his date of birth TBRC offers c. 20th century. Nam mkha’i nor bu is
the only scholar who has offered a specific date of birth and death in his The Crystal and the Way of Light (2000:
183): 1826 and 1978 respectively. These dates, however, are confusing because, if we rely on these dates, Nyag bla
byang chub rdo rje would have lived one hundred and fifty years, and he would have also been much older than
some of his teachers.
505 rGyal mo rong gi gnas chen dmu rdo (sBas yul rong bzhi’i nang tshan shar phyogs rgyal mo rong gi gnas chen
dmu rdo g.yung drung spungs rtse la sogs ri bo drug cu’i dkar chag legs byung, Chengdu, 1992). This is an
important text describing the pilgrimage sites in rGyal mo rong especially around the sacred place of dMu rdo
g.yung drung spungs rtse, Mount rGyal mo dmur rdo, in today’s Rong brag county (Ch. Danba xian).
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mkha’i nor bu’s words, that later became known as Nyag bla sgar.506 The resident population of
Nyag bla sgar was a combination of monastics, non-celibate practitioners, and lay devotees.507
Raised in a nonmonastic environment, Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje’s approach to Buddhism was
rather experiential and pragmatic, favoring an ecumenical position. His main teachers were Nyag
bla rang rig rdo rje (1847-1903) and A ’dzoms ’brug pa ’gro ’dul dpa’ bo (1842-1924), but he
also studied with Nyag bla padma bdud ’dul (1816-1872)508 and the well-known Bon po scholar
Shar dza bkra shis rgyal mtshan (1859-1935). There is very limited literature in Tibetan or in
Western languages on Nyag la byang chub rdo rje, who left a mark in the Buddhist history of Go
’jo. Nam mkha’i nor bu’s anecdotal stories are the only available biographical information about
this intriguing master.
When Nam mkha’i nor bu first met Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje in 1955, he was
impressed by the frankness of the teacher’s attitude. In his early autobiographical writing titled
The Crystal and the Way of the Light he recalls:
[…] I had no doubt that this old man was to be my master, and right away on my first visit to his
village, I became determined to remain there to receive teachings from him. His name was Changchub
Dorje, and in terms of outward appearance he seemed like a normal country person of Tibet. His style
of dress and his way of life were just completely normal on the surface. But […] his state of being was
far from ordinary.
The disciples who lived with him also lived their lives in a very ordinary way. Most of them were very
simple people, not at all well-to-do, and they grew and tended crops, working the land and practicing
together.
Changchub Dorje was a rdzogs chen master, and rdzogs chen does not depend on externals; rather it is
a teaching about the essentials of the human condition.509
Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje, whose name as a Treasure revealer was Khrag ’thung bdud ’dul
hūm nag gling pa, was well known in Khams not only for his expertise in rdzogs chen teachings,
506 Nam mkha’i nor bu (1993: 157).
507 See TBRC, TBRC Resource Code G596. bKra bshis rgyal mtshan’s oral communication. Ri phug kha hermitage.
Mount gNas chen padma (Yushu TAP), Qinghai. August 2000.
508 Nyag bla pad ma bdud ’dul (’Khrul zhig byang chub gling pa or Grub chen nyi zla kun mdzes 1816-1872) is one
of the most famous practitioners and masters rdzogs chen of nineteenth-century Tibet. He has revealed the Treasure
cycle (gter skor) mKha’ khyab rang grol (The Universal self-Liberation). He was also master of a few other
outstanding practitioners such as A ’dzoms ’brug pa ’gro ’dul dpa’ bo rdo rje (1842-1924), who became a renowned
rdzogs chen practitioner and teacher and an exponent of the non-sectarian (ris med) approach, and gTer ston bsod
rgyal (Nyag bla gter ston bSod rgyal or gTer chen Las rab gling pa phrin las mtha’ yas rtsal, 1856-1926). Nyag bla
pad ma bdud ’dul is believed to have attained “rainbow body” (’ja’ lus) in 1872. Regarding this, see Kapstein
(2006). For a reference to the lamas of Nyag rong (Nyag[rong] bla[ma]), please refer to Aten Dogyaltshang’s Nyag
rong gtam rgan ma, A Historical Oration from Khams: The Ancient Recitations of Nyag rong, edited by Tashi
Tsering. Dharamsala: Amnye Machen Institute, 1993.
509 Norbu and Shane (2000: 28).
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but also for his skills as a clairvoyant and traditional Tibetan physician.510 At the time when bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje and Nam mkha’i nor bu were living in the community in 1955 or 1956,
Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje was still very active in the revelation of his mind Treasures. Nam
mkha’i nor bu recalls:
After I had been only a few days with Changchub Dorje, he asked me to take dictation from him. I
knew that he could not read and write, and as I can write well enough, I naturally agreed to be of what
service I could, without thinking too much of it. I would sit inside the house at a table, and through the
one pane of a window made of four panes of horn I could both see and hear the master outside in the
courtyard, where he was usually busy with his patients and disciples. In the middle of all the bustle of
activity that surrounded him he would begin to dictate to me, without even a moment’s hesitation about
what he was going to say. Then he would stop dictating, all the while carrying on with his work, while I
finished writing down what he had said. When I was done, I would call out that I’d finished. […] this is
in fact exactly the way in which ‘Gongter’ [mind terma] always manifests. Over the next weeks we
completed a big volume working in this way, and I later saw some of the other twenty such volumes
that that had been similarly dictated to his other disciples.511
At Nyag bla sgar, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje received empowerments and instructions for many
practices from Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje’s Treasure teachings and practiced them in strict
retreat in the caves around the religious encampment. During this time, following his teacher’s
advice and prophecy, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje retrieved a number of earth Treasures (sa gter)
while meditating in retreat not far from Nyag bla sgar.
For bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje was more than a teacher; he
was a model to whom he looked for inspiration. The organization and structure that bDe chen
’od gsal rdo rje adopted later on for his own community was most likely inspired by the
community of Nyag bla sgar. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s activities as physician, Tantric expert,
and Treasure revealer share a lot with Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje’s style. They were both well-
versed in the performances of rituals and ceremonies and emphasized contemplation, oral
transmission, and pith instructions rather than intellectual scholasticism.
Nam mkha’i nor bu offers more insights about his teacher Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje:
When I went to my master Changchub Dorje, I was educated up to the hilt in the intellectual sense. My
mind was filled with everything I’d learned in the monastic colleges. I thought that to receive
510 An interesting collection of ancient medical material (sman yig) has been recently published in Chengdu. This is
the mKhyen brtse’i dbang po’i sman yig dang bla ma zab don snying thig las ’gro ba’i srog ’dzin bud rtsi’i char
rgyun originally composed by ’Jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse’i dbang po (1828-1892) and rearranged by Nyag bla
byang chub rdo rje (Chengdu, 2003). See TBRC, Work RID: W27498.
511 Norbu and Shane (2000: 140-141).
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transmission of the teachings, elaborate ritual initiations were essential and I asked Changchub Dorje to
give me a certain initiation. I asked every day for days and days, but he always refused.
‘What’s the use?’ he’d say. ‘You’ve already received so many of those initiations from your other
masters; initiations are not the principle of Dzogchen teachings. Transmission isn’t only received in
formal initiations’.
But no matter what he said, I remained fixed on the kind of perfectly performed ritual initiations other
masters had always given me. I wasn’t satisfied with his replies, and I wanted him to put on a special
hat, prepare a mandala, and pour a little water on my head, or something like that. That was what I
really, sincerely wanted; but he always continued to refuse. […]
Then, without interruption, for about three or four hours, Changchub Dorje gave me a real explanation
of Dzogchen, not teaching me in an intellectual style, but talking to me in a very straightforward and
relaxed, friendly, conversational way. Despite all my education, this was the first time a master had
made such a direct attempt to get me to understand something. What he said, and the way that he said
it, was exactly like a tantra of Dzogchen, spoken spontaneously, continuously aloud, and I knew that
even a very learned scholar would not be able to speak like that. Changchub Dorje was speaking from
clarity and not from an intellectual understanding.
From that day I understood that intellectual study, which had always previously been so important to
me, is only of secondary value. And I understood that the principle of transmission is not just the
performance of rituals or initiations, or the giving of intellectual explanations. That day my mental
constructions completely collapsed. Up until then I was completely boxed in with all the ideas I had
received in my college education.512
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje records that due to his assiduous practice of the cycles of “wrathful
mantras” (drag sngags skor), he became famed by the name of Nus ldan rdo rje (Powerful Vajra)
that was given to him by his first teacher bKra shis chos ’phel. However, just like the Sixteenth
Karma pa Rang ’byung rig pa’i rdo rje did a few years earlier, Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje too
gave him a religious name (chos ming): ’Od gsal rdo rje. His religious names were given to him
as they were prophesied in connection with his future development as a Treasure revealer by
both teachers.513
Visions, Treasures, and Other Arcane Claims
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s career as a Treasure revealer had been announced by a number of
prophetic Treasure scriptures (gter lung) and other religious personalities. He recalls:
512Norbu and Shane (2000: 35-38).
513“Because I practiced the cycles of wrathful mantras that were transmitted to me, everybody called me by the
name of Nus ldan rdo rje (Powerful Vajra). As for [the origin of] the names bDe chen rdo rje (Blissful Vajra) and
’Od gsal rdo rje (Luminous Vajra), these are related to the transmission of the profound Treasures (zab gter bka’
bab). The Sixteenth Karma pa [Rang ’byung] Rig pa’i rdo rje and my teacher gTer chen Byang chub rdo rje from
Nyag rong gave these names to me [as a result of] their predictions. It is as a consequence of these predictions that
everyone would know me [by these names]. NTPB (1999: lines 29-33).
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First of all, as for the teachers who have uttered prophetic gter ma scriptures (gter lung), at first there
are the second reincarnation of ’Jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse, dBang phyug Kun bzang ’gro ’dul bde
chen rdo rje,514 and Nyag bla gter chen hūm nag gling pa, also known as Byang chub rdo rje. [Then
there are also] mTshan nyid ’jam dpal nor bu, alias mTshan nyid bsod nams bstan ’dzin and a monk
from Khams whose name is Don rgyud nyi ma. Relying on the many prophecies expressed by these
teachers, from the age of twenty-four [1945?] I have [revealed] a great number of earth Treasures (sa
gter), mind Treasures (dgongs gter), and pure visions (dag snang). Since some basic ones among them
deal with the general tradition of the Teachings, with the passage of time they will be beneficial to a
great number of beings. However, due to past aspirations and the energy of Gu ru [rin po che], [many
Treasures] still reside in the hands of the Treasure masters. Moreover, although I received many
[written] prophecies by the Karma pa Rig pa’i rdo rje, the dGe lugs lama Phu cog byams pa, the Sa
skya lama ’Khri chen rin po che, and Gung pa bKra shis chos ’phel, these have been taken away by the
Chinese.515
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s teachers’ prophecies regarding his meditative achievements, religious
career, and their comments about his visions announcing his role as Treasure revealer were
pivotal in his notion of self. These prophecies include statements such as “Then, he shall go to
spread happiness among the sentient beings” (de tshe sems can bde skyid yar ’phel ’gro),516 and
“I received prophecies according to which I would become the curative medicine to both
Teachings and living beings in the future” (ma ’ongs bstan ’gro gso sman ’byung ’gyur gyi lung
yang mang du thob). 517 They substantiate bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s understanding of his
connection with other human beings who would benefit from his deeds as well as sanction a link
between bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje and his teachers. In his NTPB, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje
writes:
514 Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje.
515 dang po gter lung gnang mkhan bla ma mang lags kyang/ thog mar ’jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse’i sku ’phreng
gnyis pa grub pa’i dbang phyug kun bzang ’gro ’dul bde chen rdo rje dang nyag bla gter chen hūm nag gling pa’am
byang chub rdoe [= rdo rje] gnyis/ mtshan nyid ’jam dpal nor bu’am mtshan nyid bsod nams bstan ’dzin khams pa
sku gshog[s] mtshan don rgyud nyi ma zhes pa’i bla ma gong de rnams kyis rang lo nyer bzhi’i dus nas gter lung zin
pa’i gnang zhus rgya chen yod pa la brten nas sa gter dgongs gter dag snang sogs rgya cher yod kyang/ rtsa ba
tsam gyi gter kha ’ga’ re bstan pa’i srol phyir bzhugs pa las/ dus dbang gyi rgya chen ’gro don zhud [=zhus] kyang
sngon smon dang gu ru’i byin rlabs gter bdag bskul ma bcas ma ldog rtsam du bzhugs pa lags so/ gzhan yang
karma pa rig pa’i rdoe [= rdo rje] dge lugs bla ma phu cog byams pa sa skya’i bla ma ‘khri chen rin po che gung
pa bkra shis chos ’phel sogs kyis lung rten[= bstan] mang po’i yi ge yod kyang rgya yis ’phrog song//
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s oral communication, 05/08/1999. For the complete text, see Text 4 in Appendix.
516 From Gu ru’i lung bstan shel dkar me long (The Crystal Mirror: The Guru’s Prophecies, f.7a), a gter ma revealed
by Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje.
517 See Text 1 NTPB (1999: lines 32-33).
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Sa skya gong ma Khri chen and other hierarchs of the Phun tshogs pho brang, and also Kar sras kong sprul,
blowing the magic wind of the Vajra word into my mind, predicted that I would become the curative medicine for
both Teachings and living beings.518
More than foretelling bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s future, these prophecies authorized him to act
according to the way his predecessors did. It was, in short, an official recognition of these
qualities that authorized him to engage as a teacher and a Treasure revealer.
During his early career as Treasure revealer bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje retrieved many
Treasure objects that apparently included “yellow scrolls” (shog gser).519 Only a few, however,
survived the Cultural Revolution. In a short passage he describes some of the Treasures he
discovered and also religious personalities who were influential in his career as a Treasure
revealer and whom he met during his life and studied with during his pilgrimages across Eastern
and Central Tibet in the late 1930s and 1940s. He writes:
I received incomparable Treasures and precious stones such as earth Treasures colored with the Five
Precious Things, a turquoise stone with [the effigy of] rGyal mo (dPal ldan lha mo). Nowadays a small
portion of those can still be seen. There were also more Treasures items such as a Heruka phurba that
appeared from the ’Od ’bar rock. From mKha’ ’gro ’bum rDzong (Fortress of One Hundred Thousand
D^ākinīs), [I retrieved] the Rig ’dzin ’dus pa’i zab gter.520 From a rock at rDzing rgyal [I retrieved] a
Treasure vase of immortality. At mount gNas chen Padma shel [I retrieved] a Treasure chest [full] of
religious medicines of Nectar for the Liberation through Taste and many other fabulous Treasure items,
which, being a great number, I will not enumerate herein.
During the troubles in the three regions of Tibet, I saved Treasures and [other] items that had been
spared destruction.521 [...]
518 NTPB (1999: lines 21-26). Kar sras kong sprul, ’Jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse ’od zer or ’Jam mgon dpal ldan
mkhyen brtse ’od zer (1904-1953), the reincarnation of ’Jam mgon kong sprul the First, who was born as the son of
mKha’ kyab rdo rje, the fifteenth Karma pa.
519 While staying at gNas chen padma mthong grol mountain hermitage many of my informants, including bKra shis
mtsho mo, bKra shis rgyal mtshan, and Tshe bzang bsam gtan gling rin po che, told me that most material Treasures
that bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje retrieved in his early years were stored at the dGa’ ldan monastery and with his friend
and patron Phrin las kun khyab, but they were all destroyed or lost during the Cultural Revolution.
520 One of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s cycles of revealed Treasure teachings (gter skor).
521 According to bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s explanation, here the term rgud pa, “trouble” refers to the Cultural
Revolution which devastated all Tibetan regions. Bod yul sde gsum refers to the three main regions in which the
entire Tibetan geographical and ethnic area was traditionally divided before 1959, mDo khams, dBus gtsang, and
mNga’ ris skor gsum. During the massive violence and destruction that characterized the Cultural Revolution,
temples were destroyed and teachers were objects of verbal and physical abuse. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje also fell
victim to many such abuses. Most of the earth Treasure items that were held at his residence and retreat centers were
inevitably destroyed or taken by the Red Guards. Only a few of them have been saved and exist today. The
collection of items bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje retrieved in his life are classical religious artefacts largely used in
tantric rites and ceremonies such as vajras, dril bu bells, phur pas, statues of various sizes, precious and semi-
precious stones characterized by spontaneously or self-produced images on their surfaces, a few yellow scroll texts
(shog gser), and unopened gter “caskets.” The actual number of remaining items is limited to a half-dozen articles,
which are in his possession.
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The productions of such virtuous deeds (rnam dkar bya ba) with the profound power of previous
aspirations are the result of the efforts in a complete practice. sMin pa mKhyen sprul bde chen gling pa
said:522
‘Padmasambhava, the Second Buddha, at the time when he propagated, like a vision, the Teachings
in Tibet, summoned the great saint dPal gyi Seng ge as the first [disciple] in his community. Born
in the Ngan pa family, he expressed the aspiration of being of great benefit to the Teachings and
human being of the future.’
Many high personalities such as the great scholar and realized being ’Jam dpal nor bu and the Khams
pa monk Don gyud nyi ma, among many others, have pronounced prophecies about me such as that I
am the reincarnation523 of the one called Kun dga’ nyi ma who at the time of [Ge sar of] gLing was the
assistant to the Great Lion. Later I was reborn as Bya med lha chog, a disciple of ’Gro mgon ye pa chen
po.524
Details such as those above drawn from prophecies and visions are essential for a Tibetan
Buddhist professional like bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje as they contribute to his curriculum and
reinforce the sense of his religious identity. The arcane world of prophecies, revelations, and
visions unfolded before the young bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje since the early encounters with his
two prominent teachers: Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje and Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje.
When bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje writes that “Nowadays a small portion of those can be
still seen,” in the passage above, he refers to the fact that he offered some of his revealed
Treasure to devotees and donors of the area.525 A Treasure revealer’s donation of his material
Treasures to his devotees illustrates the interchange between the Treasure revealer and the
individuals who support him. It also epitomizes the Treasure revealer’s need for witnesses of his
achievements and powers. In the specific case of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje as for other Treasure
revealers, the donation of his precious Treasures represent an expression of appreciation for his
followers’ loyalty and support as well as a gesture cementing the connections (rten ’brel) that
favored the revelation.526
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s earth Treasure retrievals and visionary revelations began to
take place soon after he met these two influential figures. Some of his earth Treasures revelations
were apparently witnessed publicly (khrom gter) while others took place privately while he was
522 dPal me mkhyen brtse Kun bzang ’gro ’dul also know as Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje (1897-1946), is often
referred to in bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s writings by his short name bDe chen rdo rje.
523 Tib. lus rten, literally “bodily support.”
524 NTPB, Text 1 (1999: 39-79).
525 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s oral communication. gNas chen padma mthong grol hermitage, Mount gNas chen
padma, sKye rgu mdo (Yushu TAP), Qinghai. August 1999.
526 For another Treasure revealer’s donation of Treasure items to followers and disciples see Jacoby (2007: 51).
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in meditation retreat.527 Some of his revelations of sacred objects are said to have been observed
publicly by crowds of devotees gathered for the occasion. While bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje has
guarded a number of his material Treasures, he often donated some of his sacred Treasures to the
temples and monasteries of the areas where he performed the discovery. 528 A number of
revelations were accompanied by the performance of other supernatural skills such as leaving
hand prints (phyag rjes) and foot prints (zhabs rjes) on rocks. These, like other miraculous deeds
are often considered central to a Treasure revealer’s career since they help to promote the
Treasure revealer’s credibility and contribute to the assertion of his power over natural
phenomena.529
The opening of a Treasure place (gter gnas, gter kha) is often followed by other equally
important actions meant to maintain the sacrality of the event and the power of the sacred place.
Having vowed to preserve the significance of a religious site, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje would
often leave a “replacement Treasure” or “substitute Treasure” (gter tshab) in the crack from
where the original gter ma was extracted. These actions are central to a Treasure revealer’s
ability to maintain a connection with the land of Tibet and his ability to personally create a
religious landscape with spiritual control over geographical areas, to mediate between ethereal
forces (the local deities and protective gods of the land) and the recipients of the spiritual
transmission, and to establish new religious sites. I call such a phenomenon “the ecology of
revelation,” and argue that this is a fundamental socio-religious ethic among most Treasure
revealers that represents respect for the environment and awareness of humans’ connection to the
Tibetan land, which in turn fuels a sense of nationalism among devotees.
But how did bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje realize he was a Treasure revealer? In bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje’s world his religious path that includes retreats, meditations, contemplations but also
pilgrimage, meeting other teachers and receiving several teachings, and his visionary activities
seem to run on parallel trajectories. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje expresses the sentiment of
renouncing worldly existence many times in his writings. Despite the successful results that he
achieved, during the strict schedules of meditative retreats he had to strive to abandon delusions
and again liberations. The overriding theme here is, as Gyatso has aptly described, that “the
527 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s oral communication. Ri phug kha hermitage, Mount gNas chen padma. sKye rgu mdo
(Yushu TAP), Qinghai, August 2000.
528 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s oral communictaion. gNas chen padma mthong grol hermitage, Mount gNas chen
padma. sKye rgu mdo (Yushu TAP), Qinghai, August 1999.
529 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje has left a number of hand-prints (phyag rjes) in the Ge rong area of Qinghai Province
of the PRC.
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performance of the right kinds of meditations, ritual, and philosophical contemplation can effect
radical personal change.”530
According to the Tibetan tradition, the mind Treasures that bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje has
revealed in the form of rituals, contemplative practices, esoteric instructions, and liturgical
manuals are reaffirmations and revalidations of ancient material which has been, until now,
stored for the benefit of human beings of the present. A Treasure revealer’s (and therefore bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s) mission is to act as a mediator, a receiver, and an interpreter of his
visionary material and offer it to his devotees and the community of practitioners. Throughout
his life bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje experienced intense personal change and development. He has
constantly adhered to contemplative practices and meditation retreats which form the core
practice for the realization of selflessness. As Gyatso observes, “the very disciplines that induce
a realization of the emptiness of the self, simultaneously produce an interiorized subjectivity.”531
In the traditions that have most influenced bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, Vajrayāna Buddhism and
Great Perfection (rdzogs chen), the realizations of both emptiness and subjectivity instigate self-
transformation and empowerment. In the DDZG bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje writes:
Then exemplary persons (dam pa’i skyes rnams) and scholars (mig ldan bus) from the great lands of
Nepal, Tibet, and Khams, praised me and proclaimed me as Padma[sambhava]’s messenger (padma’i
pho nya). [After that] I retrieved many treasures (gter kha) in the form of religious items and
substances (chos nor rdzas).532
According to the DDZG, the beginning of these visionary revelations and Treasure retrievals
coincided with the acclamation of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje as a “assistant” or “messenger” (pho
nya) of Padmasambhava by many of the teachers he met in his journeys. The term pho nya is
central to the tradition of Treasure revelation for it expresses the significant role that these
figures are believed to play in the tradition as direct messengers of Padmasambhava’s teachings
diffused during his stay in Tibet.
Such statements are pivotal in confirming the Treasure revealer’s credibility and his
claims of miraculous powers. In the Treasure tradition it is particularly important to receive
530 Gyatso (1998:184).
531 Gyatso (1998:184).
532 de nas bal bod khams phyogs yul ljongs che’i/
dam pa’i skyes rnams dang mig ldan bus/
pad ma’i pho nya bsngags brjod spyi bor bskul/
chos nor rdzas kyi gter kha sna tshogs drangs/ DDZG, f.7b.
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authentication and recognition of one’s achievements by other teachers and publicly renowned
Buddhist leaders. This recognition is an important component of the DDZG as it foretells and
makes possible of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s career as a Treasure revealer.
As we have seen already, in his youth bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje experienced intense
visions of Padmasambhava, which announced a special connection with the renowned Indian
master and a potential career as a visionary. Soon after he set off on his journey and began
exerting in Buddhist practice, he had more visionary experiences that confirmed such a
development in his life. It was, therefore, when bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje was still a young child
that he first made acquaintance with his future role as a Treasure revealer. In 1927, when he was
six or seven years old, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje (at that time ’Jigs med tshe ring) began to have
visionary experiences of Padmasambhava and other central figures associated with dynastic
Tibet and the early dissemination of Buddhism in the land.
A few years later, in approximately 1934, when he was a teenager, he left his teacher
bKra shis chos ’phel’s house. On his way to Lhasa to make prostrations and offerings to the
statue of Jo bo Śākyamuni, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje had other visionary experiences that
confirmed his early knowledge of the gter byang, the list of Treasures he was meant to reveal in
his life. He recalls:
It was when I was a young boy, about six or seven years-old that I understood that there were Treasure-
related matters for me. Shortly later, when I was a little bit older on my way to Lhasa on pilgrimage
doing prostrations, I met the Karma-Finding ḍākinī (Las brnyes kyi mkha’ ’gro ma) and she explained
to me ‘There is some Treasure work (gter gyi bya ba) for the two of us!’533
Beside these early visionary encounters that introduced him to the world of revelation, bDe chen
’od gsal rdo rje’s appointment as gter ston was first announced by the master mTshan nyid bsod
bstan rin po che.534 An episode took place in central Tibet at Rwa sgreng in the late 1940s on
another long pilgrimage to central Tibet when he was around twenty-eight years old that marks
one of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s early public endorsements as a gter ston. During a visit to
Rwa sgreng monastery,535 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje met Bla ma mTshan nyid bsod bstan rin po
533 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s oral communication. rDza mer chen monastery, Shar mda’, Nang chen (Yushu TAP),
Qinghai, August 2001.
534 mTshan nyid ’jam dpal nor bu or ’Jam dpal nor bu pad ma dbang rgyal also known as rDza stod mtshan nyid
sprul sku ’jam dpal nor bu (1892-1960).
535 Rwa sgreng monastery was originally established as a bKa’ gdams pa hermitage in the eleventh century by
’Brom ston pa rgyal ba’i ’byung gnas (1005-1064), one of the great Indian master Atiśa’s first disciples. After the
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che, whom he claims was Rwa sgreng rin po che’s son.536 It was on that occasion that, in front of
a high reincarnate bla ma, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje publicly revealed a Treasure teaching.
Impressed by such an event, mTshan nyid bsod bstan rin po che declared “You are a gter ston
indeed!” and thus conferred on him the authority of a Treasure revealer.537
Three religious figures primarily provided bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje with prophetic
statements, laudatory remarks, and encouragement to reveal gter ma: the Sixteenth Karma pa
Rang ’byung rig pa’i rdo rje, Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje, and Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje.
Through the power of their clairvoyance these three masters decreed that he would reveal
Treasures in great number in the future including earth and mind Treasures. bDe chen ’od gsal
rdo rje recalls that some masters recognized his position as a gter ston in written format such as
letters (phyag bris). Among these were the Sixteenth Karma pa Rang ’byung rig pa’i rdo rje, Zlu
lding mkhan chen, a renowned Sa skya master, and more recently Grub dbang lung rtogs rgyal
mtshan, whom bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje refers to as A chos mkhan po, and the fourth mChog
gling rin po che of rTsi ke near Nang chen.538
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s revelations, like most Treasure revealers’ gter ma, revolve
around a twofold classification of minor Treasures (gter phran) and major Treasures (gter chen).
Although the blessing power of all material Treasures is usually considered of the same quality,
it seems to me that for bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje and bKra shis rgyal mtshan the retrieval of
seventh Dalai Lama, bsKal bzang rgya mtsho (1708-57) enthroned his own teacher Ngag dbang mchog ldan as the
dGa’ ldan khri pa in 1738, Rwa sgreng later on developed into a formal monastery belonging to the dGe lugs pa
tradition. In addition to that, Rwa sgreng monastery became also the seat of a lineage of incarnate bla mas appointed
as regents of Tibet.
536 According to bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s account, mTshad nyid bsod nams bstan ‘dzin was also known by the
name of mTshan nyid ‘jam dpal nor bu and he was the son of the Fifth Rwa sgreng Rin po che (Rwa sgreng rgyal
po, or “King of Rwa sgreng”, as bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje puts it) named Thub bstan ’jam dpal ye shes bstan pa’i
rgyal mtshan (1912-1947). bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje most probably met mTshad nyid bsod nams bstan ’dzin at Rwa
sgreng in the late 1930s or early 1940s when rNying ma bla mas were often invited by Rwa sgreng Rin po che to the
court to perform rituals and ceremonies. Among these, for instance, was Bya bral sangs rgyas rdo rje rin po che (b.
1913), who was invited by the Rwa sgreng regent to Lhasa to give transmissions and instructions on rDzogs chen. It
is difficult, however, to assess some of the details received from oral traditions about Rwa sgreng rin po che’s life
since his presence and role in Tibetan politics is one of the darkest aspects of Tibet’s modern history. Accompanied
by the necessary visions and auspicious signs crucial for the discovery of the new Dalai Lama, Rwa sgren Rin po
che, as regent of Tibet (rgyal tshab), supervised the discovery and the reception of the newly appointed Dalai Lama
in Lhasa in 1939 and acted as ruler of the country until his resignment in 1941, when his successor sTag brag rin po
che took the office. Accused later on of organizing a coup d’état in 1947, the ex-regent Rwa sgreng rin po che was
jailed in Lhasa and his properties confiscated. Many believe he was murdered in prison that same year. Dhondup
(1986: 92-122). I express my gratitude to Matthew Akester for having shared with me his knowledge on this topic
and pointing me towards pertinent literature.
537 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s oral communication. rDza mer chen monastery, Shar mda’ Nang chen (Yushu TAP),
August 2001.
538 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s oral communication. rDza mer chen monastery, Shar mda’ Nang chen (Yushu TAP),
August 2001.
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material Treasure artifacts and the visionary revelation of Treasures scriptures determine
different phases in a Treasure revealer’s career where mind Treasures abound with the
practitioner’s advancement along the Buddhist practice.539 In one of his retreat sojourns at Nyag
bla sgar in the early 1960s, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje retrieved a number of material objects that
gave him fame as a Treasure revealer. In the meditation cave where he was living in the vicinity
of Nyag bla sgar, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje once discovered a large turquoise Treasure (g.yu
gter) with prints on it attributed to Padmasambhava. Apparently, in the same occasion, he also
revealed the first set of Tantric practices (grub thabs; Skt. sādhana) that would later constitute
his principal cycles of revelations. This is the Treasure cycle associated with rta mgrin rdo rje
me char, a manifestation of the deity Hayagrīva. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje documents Nyag bla
byang chub rdo rje’s assessment of this initial period of his revelation in the DDZG:
When the time was proper, I performed every action and [the treasure teachings] were diffused.
In particular, prince Mu rub btsan po’s
Emanation, the great Treasure revealer Nyag bla Byang chub rdo rje,
Gave me initiation into the dynamic energy of awareness.
Illuminating, like the sun and the moon,
The symbolic transmission has been given to many lineage holders
For the immense benefit of the living beings.
This originates from the transmissions of Padmasambhava from O rgyan.
Encouraging me with [actions] mentioned above, he [then] conferred great authority on me.
This was the prophecy praising the request for Teachings.
Afterwards I sought many Treasure items from Treasure openings,
Such as big Treasures and small Treasures.”540
Although bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje began revealing his cycles of Treasures in the 1960s, he
completed his revelations only recently. He apparently succeeded in revealing all the earth
Treasures included in his Treasure registry (gter byang) as announced in his early visions.
Most of the earth Treasures (sa gter) were in the ground, [just as announced] in the Teacher’s divine
prophecy. This was the case also for the way I would retrieve them. All the mind Treasures (dgongs
gter) sprang out without any effort (rtsol med) from the space of the mind. When the mind Treasures
would spring out I would recognize everything such as color of the deity, its hand mudra, and the
ornaments (rgyan cha) so that I could write down all this. The earth Treasures were realized just
according to the prophecies.”541
539 gTer chen bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s oral communication. August 2000.
540 DDZG (1998: 8b-9a).
541 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s oral communication. rDza mer chen monastery, Shar mda’, Nang chen (Yushu TAP),
August 2001.
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However, occasionally unfavorable circumstances occurred that caused bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje not to be able to reveal Treasures. For instance, a few revelations did not take place correctly
due to obstacles attributed to demons (’dre) or were delayed because the proper time elapsed
(gter len pa’i dus tshod yol). This occurred especially during the tumultuous years of the
Cultural Revolution.542
More Visions in a Rural Brigade during the Cultural Revolution
When Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution in China in 1966, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje
lived in meditation retreat in the vicinity of Nyag bla sgar, a place he would visit occasionally.
The movement of revolutionary ideology and criticism spread quickly to the furthest reaches of
Tibet. Trapped within the chaotic web of the Cultural Revolution, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje too
was doomed to spend the following several years in the hands of revolutionary cadres, who were
often his own fellow villagers.
At the time when the policy against Buddhism and religious practice intensified in Tibet,
the whole religious texture in China was already changing due to the widespread socialist
education campaigns launched in the years between 1963 and 1965. Chinese leaders made efforts
to discourage superstition (Ch. mixin), and they targeted not only religious professionals but also
the religious practices themselves and the lay devotees who followed them. By 1966 at the
beginning of the Cultural Revolution (Ch. wenhua dagemin) launched by Mao Zedong, the
leaders’ dismay at their failure to use their patronage of Buddhism to control Tibet resulted in
two major “falls from grace” for Tibetan religious leaders. In 1962, the Tenth Paṇ chen bla ma
blo bzang phrin las lhun grub chos kyi rgyal mtshan (1938-1989) was criticized and attacked for
a petition he wrote and presented on the situation in Tibet and in 1967 he was arrested and
persecuted. In 1966 another religious leader dGe bshes Shes rab rgya mtsho (1884-1968), an
influential Tibetan scholar who acted as the vice-governor of the Qinghai Province from 1949 to
sa gter phal cher la bla ma lha yi lung bstan te/ sa de lta bu ru gter de yod/ len pa’i thabs de lta bu gyi zhes gsung
song/ dgongs gter thams cad dgongs pa’i klong pas rtsol med du bstol song/ dgongs gter bstol ba’i skabs lha yi sku
mdog / phyag mtshan/ rgyan cha lugs thams cad shes la/ shes pa de yig thog ru bris shes pa byung song/ sa gter yin
na lung bstan pa ltar byas pas ’grub song//
542 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s oral communication. rDza mer chen monastery, Shar mda’, Nang chen (Yushu TAP),
August 2001.
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1964, was dismissed from his position as Chairman of the Chinese Buddhist Association (1955-
1964).543 As Welch notes in his study of the practice of Buddhism in Mao’s China,
Yet the more important reason for a change in the policy toward Buddhism was domestic. It was part of
a change in the policy towards religion in general which in turn, was part of the socialist education
campaign. This campaign resulted mainly from Mao Tse-tung’s increasing discontent with the
embourgeoisement of the bureaucracy and the lack of revolutionary fervor among the youth, but he
must also have been discontented with the persistence of superstitious beliefs and activities. That would
explain the efforts that began in 1963 to suppress “religious superstition.”544
As a follow up to the campaign to suppress superstition and superstitious activities, the early
phase of the Cultural Revolution was meant to annihilate the “four olds” (Ch. si jiu), old ideas,
old culture, old customs, and old habits, which according to the Chinese communist ideologists
were at the origin of the country’s backwardness. 545 Buddhism was an obvious target and
virtually all influential Buddhist monastics were forced to express “self-criticism” and denounce
their feudal and superstitious behavior, disrobe, let their hair grow, eat meat, get married, and
become productive members of society.546
The story of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s vicissitudes during the Cultural Revolution is
reminiscent of that of many Tibetan personalities of that time. Reached by teams of Red Guards
(Ch. hong weibing) who were patrolling the area, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje was forced to leave
the cave where he was living in retreat and was taken to a prison in Chab mdo. There he was
publicly accused of being a counter-revolutionary, an exploiter of people’s minds, and a trickster
disseminating superstitions and false claims. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje was dragged into violent
“struggle sessions” (’thab ’dzing; Ch. zhengtou) where he was physically and verbally abused by
many of his fellow countrymen intoxicated by Maoist ideology.547 Religious figures and other
individuals who were leaders within the traditional society were condemned for their support of a
feudalist society and, therefore, typically criticized for being “class enemies.”
In about 1967, when bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje was about forty-six years old, he was
transferred to the town of Chab mdo where he spent a few months in the local prison before
543 For a short biographical outline of dGe bshes shes rab rgya mtsho (also known as rDo sbis/dbyi Shes rab rgya
mtsho ’jam dpal dgyes pa’i blo gros), see Stoddard (1985b), and Gray (2005: 200-212).
544 Welch (1972: 356).
545 Welch (1972: 341).
546 Welch (1972: 346).
547 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s oral communication. gNas chen padma hermitage, Mount gNas chen padma (Yushu
TAP), Qinghai, August 1998. For an account of the suppression of Chinese Buddhist leaders and figures under
Mao’s regime, see Welch (1972: 231-66).
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being moved further to another prison in Xining (Qinghai) where he served a few months
sentence until the following year. After the jail experience in Xining, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje
was taken by the Red Guards to the countryside to carry out hard labor. There he was assigned to
reeducation through forced labor in a People’s commune (Ch. renmin gongshe) located at dGa’
ldan monastery (not far from Zur mang and Rag smad monasteries) in kLung shis county of the
sKye rgu mdo prefecture. As part of his reeducation, study of Marxist and Maoist ideology was
made extremely difficult for everyone, including bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje. He suffered insults
and long interrogation sessions where his religious faith was questioned and his beliefs
ridiculed. 548 Additionally, like other fellow prisoners, he was forced to do hard labor. Some
specific tasks included manual work such as logging and collecting manure around the village.
He worked for nearly two years at this commune before being transferred to work at a small
production brigade (las don ru khag; Ch. gongzuodui) in ’Be nang, a remote rural area Southwest
of sKye rgu mdo.
The diet was poor and because of malnutrition many elderly people had serious health
problems, and a number died in ’Be nang while bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje was there. For a short
time bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje was chosen to cook and although he secretly attempted to
improve the meager daily rations, there was not much he could do. The daily fare consisted of
rice and bread and only occasionally tsam pa, the Tibetan staple food. Vegetables were rare and
meat was scarce.549
Despite the harsh conditions, while engaging in hard manual work and forced to cook at
the production brigade, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje never betrayed his devotion and commitments
towards the practice and diffusion of the Buddhist doctrine. On various occasions bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje experienced powerful visions that reconnected him with his past life as sMan pa Kun
dga’ nyi ma, the assistant and personal physician in the service of King Ge sar of gling.550 As we
548 Labor reform (Ch. laogai) and labor reeducation (Ch. laojiao) camps have been one of the most frequent forms
of political reeducation in the PRC (see Seymour and Anderson 1998: viii; 18-20). The laogai system was also
particularly intense during the years of the Cultural Revolution when religious personalities of various ranks and all
religious believers inevitably suffered severe persecution. Struggle sessions, beatings, torture, solitary confinement,
and forced labor were widely practiced in all regions of the PRC. For a general overview of laogai conditions, see
Seymour and Anderson (1998: 87-92).
549 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s oral communication. gNas chen padma hermitage, Mount gNas chen padma (Yushu
TAP), Qinghai, August 1998.
550 Well-known feats are attributed to Kun dga’ nyi ma by popular and legendary folktales. Tradition has it that his
devotion to Ge sar of gLing inspired him to join many battles to defend the soil of Tibet. Kun dga’ nyi ma, the
physician, appears in many popular songs dedicated to King Ge sar. Activities associated with Lha rje Kun dga’ nyi
ma are to be found in various popular epic songs (sgrung) dedicated to gLing Ge sar, such as, for instance, the rTa
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read earlier in this chapter, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s connection with Ge sar was announced by
several Buddhist masters. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje recalls:
Many great masters, among whom mKhas mchog grub brnyes ’Jam dpal nor bu and the Khampa monk
Don rgyud nyi ma, prophesied that I am the reincarnation of many past lives such as the one called Kun
dga’ nyi ma, who was an attendant of the Great Lion [Ge sar], at the time of gLing, and later on I was
also a reincarnation of Bya me lha mchog, disciple of ‘Gro mgon ye pa chen po.551
The connection between bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje and King Ge sar of gLing has played a
major in shaping his sense of religious identity. As we have seen in the previous chapter, the
figure of Ge sar of gLing has a role within Treasure revelation activities. In this regard, Germano
has recently touched upon the issue when specifically dealing with the revitalization of the
Tibetan past in the movements related to Treasure discovery in China. According to him:
King Gesar is famed for his prowess as a warrior and reputed to be an incarnation of Tibet’s patron
bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. Because a vast cycle of epic poetry and mythology has been woven around
King Gesar over the intervening centuries, he has assumed a mythic status perhaps analogous to that of
England’s King Arthur, and in eastern Tibet he has also assumed an importance in the normative
religious traditions as prominent lamas have composed rituals and meditations centering on him. Such
rgyug skyid kyi nyi ma (Nyi ma and the Happy Horse Race Festival), and gDug pa spun bdun (The Seven Bad
Brothers), which are among the most popular in Eastern Tibet. The following passage taken from the gDug pa spun
bdun is dedicated to introducing Kun dga’ nyi ma:
dmar gsal rgyan gos kha dog legs/
skra lcang lo’i zar bu dar snas brgyan/
shin tu bag ldan bshes bnyen tshul/
phyi nang bzang ’dzoms bshes gnyen can/
sman pa kun dga’ nyi ma red/
dus min ’chi skyon zlog mi red/
lha rta ngang pa ’dzum can red/
The one who wears red shiny garments and ornaments beautifully colored
And a tuft of hair held by colored ribbons,
A pious man very modest,
A pious man, attractive and virtuous.
This is the physician Kun dga’ nyi ma.
The man who will counteract death and illness if premature,
And his divine horse has a smile [as broad as that] of a goose.
This is an excerpt taken from gDug pa spun bdun, Xizang shehui kexueyuan, Xizang Renmin Chubanshe, Lhasa
1993, pp. 34-35.
551 mkhas mchog grub brnyes ‘jam dpal nor bu dang/
khams pa sku gzhog [= zhabs] don rgyud nyi ma sogs skyes mchog du mas bdag la lung bstan ni/
gling gi dus nas seng chen zhabs drung du/
kun dga’ nyi ma zhes bya’i rlung rten dang/
’gro mgon ye pa chen po’i nye gnas ba/
bya me lha mchog zhe bya’i skye ba blang/
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s oral communication. gNas chen padma hermitage, Mount gNas chen padma (Yushu
TAP), Qinghai, August 1999. See bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s NTPB (1999: line 73).
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rituals drawn on King Ge sar’s warrior status for the invocation of fierce energy that may be needed to
subdue internal or external obstacles, and thus he became a ‘warrior deity’ frequently invoked in times
of turmoil.552
But the link between bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje and sMan pa Kun dga’ nyi ma transcends that of
the normative spiritual lineage that confers authority and legitimacy to a religious personality.
With the awakening of his spiritual connection with Kun dga’ nyi ma, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje
claims he also received the knowledge to prepare sacred medicine pills. Although bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje never received any formal education in traditional Tibetan medicine and
pharmacology, he claims that through his visionary experiences he was introduced to the
preparation of sacred medicinal pills made in a ritual environment (sman sgrub). Different from
the practice and notion of formal medical science, the activities associated with sacred medicinal
substances and pills are nevertheless popular and highly valued throughout the entire Tibetan
Buddhist world. The sacred medicine pills (ril bu, ma 6i ril bu) are manufactured by bDe chen
’od gsal rdo rje using a variety of herbs, minerals, and flour and then blessed and sanctified
within a specific ritual context. The ritual culminates with the invocation of the deity rTa mgrin
nag po, a form of Hayagrīva, the horse-headed protector deity (chos skyong), wrathful emanation
of Buddha Amitābha.
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje soon put this newly acquired knowledge in the service of his
fellow Tibetans.553 When he had the opportunity bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje would collect herbs
and medicinal plants on the slopes of nearby mountains to prepare medicinal pills. At this time,
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje continued secretly to bestow empowerments and give advice and
simple teachings to a small circle of prudent devotees.
As a consequence of his visions of a past association with the legendary Tibetan hero Ge
sar, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje also revealed a series of teachings associated with the cult of king
Ge sar in the form of mind Treasures (dgongs gter) including the Ge sar sgo nas sba lcag bsgrub
pa’i gter mdzod, the Ge sar tshe sgrub, a life-accomplishment ritual (cho ga) dedicated to Ge sar,
and the Ge sar gsol mchod, a ritual offering to Ge sar. A further element that corroborates bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s special link to Ge sar’s world is the special recollection of epic stories
(sgrung ’babs) he has occasionally experienced during his life. Although Tibetans, especially
eastern Tibetans, attach great importance to Ge sar’s epic, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s reaction to
552
Germano (1998: 59).
553
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s oral communication. gNas chen padma hermitage, Mount gNas chen padma (Yushu
TAP), Qinghai, August 1999.
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his ability to remember episodes from Ge sar’s adventures is one of non-involvement. bDe chen
’od gsal rdo rje believes that he has remembered several episodes of Ge sar’s epic in past
decades, but he has desisted from documenting them since he is convinced that the
communication and circulation of these stories do not relate to his religious duties and do not
pertain to his revelations. Although he was not meant to be a Ge sar story teller, bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje believes that these recollections are nevertheless evidence of his special connection
(rten ’brel) with Ge sar as a powerful deity and hence the authorization to receive and decipher
special rituals and liturgies under visionary inspiration.554
The epic of Ge sar has a particularly significant influence on today’s Tibetan religion and
especially Buddhism as it connects mytho-historical and legendary elements reminiscent of the
Tibetan empire era and the diffusion of Buddhism in Tibet. Since the end of the Cultural
Revolution the cult of Ge sar and his mythic power as a warrior king has been particularly re-
emphasized within certain religious circles of the rNying ma school reaching a mythic status as
the composition of many religious rituals and prayers in modern Tibet testifies.555
Just like bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje there are other Treasure revealers in Tibet today who
claim spiritual lineage to him or his entourage and claim to reveal Treasures associated with the
Ge sar cult, such as ritual paraphernalia and Tantric practices. Although religious scholars’
attention to religious practices associated with Ge sar and different editions of the stories
themselves increased in the nineteenth century, the emergence of Ge sar visions and revelations
since the Cultural Revolution offers an interesting insight into the role of Ge sar as a national
hero. The figure of Ge sar is that of a courageous and proud warrior and king who as an
emanation of Padmasambhava is determined to defend his kingdom and fight the negative forces
threatening the welfare of his land.556 The emphasis on Ge sar in the contemporary setting is a
way to create continuity in Tibetan tradition and to bridge the divide between the old Tibet and
the new post-Cultural Revolution Tibet through the extemporaneous forms of Treasure
revelation.
554 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s oral communication. gNas chen padma hermitage, Mount gNas chen padma (Yushu
TAP), Qinghai, July 1998.
555 Germano (1998: 58-61).
556 Samuel (1994b: 63).
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Renaissance: Tradition and Change
With the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976, the Chinese government instituted a major
policy shift and adopted a new attitude towards Tibet and its people. They began to embrace a
more open approach to handling internal affairs. Economic change and population control
became the first priorities of the government, which was aiming at a set of economic reforms and
social modernizations that were seen as necessary to develop the economy of the country and
increase the well-being of its people.557 However, in tandem with such a policy, Tibetans were
also exposed to intense propaganda campaigns supporting strict political stability and national
unity that undermined ethnic minorities’ sense of cultural and religious identity.
Looking at the phenomenon as it was perceived in Tibet during the 1980s, much of the
modernization announced by the government did not bring the Chinese government’s expected
positive results. After the disastrous “rural collectivization” policies of the 1960s and 1970s only
poverty and discontent were to be found among most of the farmers and herdsmen in many areas
of Tibet. However, from a cultural point of view, the new open policy introduced by Deng
Xiaoping’s political leadership tolerated a gradual, but nevertheless cautious, revival of once
forbidden religious activities and cultural traditions. This meant that Tibetan religious leaders
were allowed to rebuild or repair monasteries, monuments, and temples, and to reintroduce
religious education training programs in line with the government’s political ideology. Local
authorities began to tolerate householder as well as some monastic religious practices.558
Many monastic and lay independent professionals took advantage of the generally
tolerant atmosphere of such a cultural revival and an overall renaissance of religious practices
ensued on both a formal and popular level. Local communities, villages, urban people, and
devotees supported the restoration and in many cases the reconstruction of a significant number
of religious sites and sacred places that were destinations for pilgrimage. Religious leaders
collected donations to commission statues and have texts printed. Manuscripts previously saved
from destruction found their place again on shelves in temples and assembly halls.
557 In the early 1980s, the PRC state allowed criticism of previous mistakes and the harsh ideological measures
applied by Mao Zedong’s hard-line policy and they embraced a more open attitude in the light of modernization and
progress. However, it is worth remembering that the actual situation was more complicated. Although the PRC
promoted social development and economic reforms, it also instituted harsh measures in opposition to the young
democratic movement, which emerged already in 1979, soon after the end of the Cultural Revolution. For a further
analysis see Spence (1990: 659-666).
558 For my discussion on post-Cultural Revolution religious policy and its impact on Tibet, see Chapter Two.
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gNas chen padma shel ri: Reconnecting the Land with its People
Although the death of Mao Zedong in September 1976 marked the end of the Cultural
Revolution, the political turmoil lasted longer and class struggles, political sessions, and forced
confessions continued in many areas of the country. Many rural brigades were abandoned in the
countryside, and life took on a different pace in urban areas. However, the idolatry generated
during the previous decade, the ideological atmosphere, and the political rhetoric retarded the
recovery. Slowly the life of the Tibetans in sKye rgu mdo and Nang chen adapted itself to the
dramatic changes.
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje left the production brigade in ’Be nang and went to live for a
few years with some relatives in a small nomad community in mChe sgo phug near rTa nyub
mdo village.559 In the summer of 1979 he returned to Nang chen area following personal visions
and the invitation of his old friend ’Phrin las kun khyab who was once head of the dGa’ ldan
monastery in mGo rjo. With the intention of reopening the monastery to religious activities,
’Phrin las kun khyab renovated the monastery and asked bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje to help in the
process. At that time bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje participated in the revival of other monastic
communities in the area including Zur mang monastery, rDo rdo monastery, dPal med
monastery, and Ge bcags thig chen byang chub gling nunnery.
Splitting his time between instructing monastics and pursuing his own personal
meditation practice, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje traveled constantly staying at various monasteries
and spending long periods of time in meditation retreat in multiple sites on Mount gNas chen
padma shel. In the DDZG he recalls:
Time was changing and this allowed for a recovery from decline. Moon beams fell upon the sentient
beings, and I [again] stayed in a place of solitude for the welfare of the living beings. I practiced the
profound teachings and trained in the intrinsic reality [of rdzogs chen]. At the timely actualization of
[my] aspirations, the display-energy of awareness was greatly perfected.560
His meditation retreats were often interrupted by visitors asking for blessings and instruction.
Monks and nuns, however, were not the only devotees and visitors who reached the Tantric
559 The correct spelling of these two toponyms is not known to me. Here I am reporting the spelling as suggested to
me by Tshe bzang bsam gling rin po che.
560 DDZG (1998: 9b).
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master. Local villagers and nomads soon heard of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje and started to pay
regular visits wherever he was staying. They offered him donations and food and asked for
religious service such as divinations (phyag mo), funerary rites of transference of consciousness
(’pho ba), and prayer rituals (zhabs brtan) of various types. In particular, the members of the
small community of mGo rjo who lived on the slopes of Mount gNas chen padma soon became
his most assiduous visitors.
Mount gNas chen padma towers over a vast forest area of conifers, junipers, spruces, and
pine trees and has an economy largely based on logging and barley cultivation. A few years after
the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1978, the central government’s plans for socio-economic
reform and new economic initiatives reached the western regions of China, including the areas of
sKye rgu mdo and Nang chen. The specific economic plan for that area translated into logging,
which, despite strict regulations, became the most important source of income for the local
Tibetan farmers.
Among the oldest religious traditions of Tibet, the cult of mountain deities (yul lha),
territorial lords (gnas bdag), and owners of the ground (gzhi bdag) are among the most ancient
practices that are still performed.561 Linked to the notion of family lineage, the cult of mountain
deities was one of the first socio-religious activities that Tibetans revived in the 1980s.562 At the
root of this practice is the belief that local deities dominate and control the social life, livelihood,
and health of the people who inhabit their lands. From agricultural practices and forestry to
hunting and nomadic activities, Tibetans used to worship and propitiate local deities in order to
achieve success in any of these activities. 563 Controlling and propitiating, the local divinities
reflect and reiterate the ritual representation of various religious mytho-historical figures from
King Srong btsan sgam po to Padmasambhava in their act of subduing and taming the apparently
irate chthonic entities that were opposed to the establishment of Buddhism in Tibet.
Local oral tradition claims that Mount gNas chen padma was the residence of many a
saintly person in the past, from Padmasambhava to rJe btsun Mi la ras pa and the seventeenth-
century Treasure revealer ’Ja’ tshon snying po (1585-1656), who apparently discovered it as a
561 I translate gzhi bdag here as “owners of the ground” inspired by a translation given by Karmay (1996: 59) who
rendered it as “owners of the base”. These are local territorial guardians and protective deities.
562 There is abundant literature on the topic of mountain deity cults in Tibet and Tibetan cultural areas along the
Himalayas. See among others the works of Karmay (1994; 1995; 1996), Blondeau (1995; 1996), and Ramble
(2007).
563 Karmay (1996: 59).
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hidden valley (sbas yul).564 Within the complex geomantic map of Mount gNas chen padma, the
mountain is the abode of the dominant mountain deity (yul lha) of the dge bsnyen family dGe
bsnyen rdo rje ‘bar ba and is itself the center of a mandala-like site surrounded by a retinue of
thirteen assistant mountain deities.565 The term dge bsnyen (Skt. upāsaka) means “lay person” or
“lay Buddhist devotee” and the PKT refers to them as a class of pre-Buddhist deities that
Padmasambhava supposedly tamed and converted into Buddhist protectors. 566 Predominantly
belonging to an unwritten tradition, the mountain deity cult is traditionally practiced by the laity
but not necessarily in opposition to the Buddhist monastic establishment. 567 Mountain cults
support the belief that certain mountains are abodes of distinct gods and protective deities that
must be propitiated in order for the local population to satisfy their worldly affairs and
purposes.568 In such a spirit, the inhabitants of mGo rjo and the neighboring areas perceived their
propitiations to mountain deities as mitigating the effects of their exploitation of local natural
resources such as logging and mining. This return to propitiating local deities in an exchange for
worldly boons affirmed earlier notions of environmental relations and national and cultural
identity.
In his capacity as Tantric professional (sngags pa) working for the welfare of a specific
community (Shar mda’ in Nang chen), bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje was called on to take care of
local affairs relating to the agro-pastoralist activities of the villagers and to reestablish the
network of sacredness damaged by the mass violence and ideological prohibitions of the
previous decade. In the ensuing twenty years until the early 2000s, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje
repopulated the religious landscape of Mount gNas chen padma with mountain hermitages (ri
khrod), Treasure places (gter gnas), and reliquary stūpas (mchod rten) centered on the cult of the
local mountain deity dGe bsnyen rdo rje ’bar ba that was both the owner of the ground (gzhi
bdag) and a Treasure guardian (gter bdag).569 Thus, in the early 1990s bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje
composed the mDo stod gnas chen padma shel ri’i gnas bdag dge bsnyen rdo rje ’bar ba’i gsol
564 bKra shis rgyal mtshan and Tshe bzang bsam gling rin po che’s oral communication. gNas chen padma mountain
hermitage, August 1998.
565 These include gNyan btsan ri bkra gser mog, Klu yi dge gsnyen a mye thog phreng, g.Yu lha yi dge bsnyen thang
lha rdo rje ’bar, Rag gad rag spom, g.Yo ram rag spom, ’O lung, Klu mon, mTsho sman, Klung btsan, sTag rtse, lHa
brag dkar, mGon gnas stag rtse, lCi le stag rtse, and bKra shis g.yu rtse. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s oral
communication. gNas chen padma hermitage, sKye rgu mdo (Yushu TAP), August 1999.
566 Nebesky-Wojkowitz (1956: 304).
567 Karmay (1996: 59).
568 Karmay (1996: 60).
569 For definitions associated with the cult of mountain deities in the Tibetan tradition see Karmay (1996).
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mchod don kun ’grub pa’i dpal ster (Glorious Gift of Universal Benefit: Offerings and
Invocation to dge bsnyen rdo rje ‘bar ba territorial lord of the Crystal Mountain gNas chen
padma in Khams), a text of propitiations and invocations (gsol mchod) as part of the cult of the
deity dGe bsnyen rdo rje ’bar ba. In this way bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje reinserted dGe bsnyen
rdo rje ‘bar ba and his retinue in the local religio-environmental practices thus reestablishing the
ancestral link between nature and men and the villagers’ control (at least ideological!) of the
territory laying at the base of the Tibetan sense of national and cultural identity.
The reestablishment of the cult of dGe bsnyen rdo rje ’bar ba, however, was not only
meant to consolidate the villagers’ reconnection with the land and thus sanctify their
environmental management. For bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje dGe bsnyen rdo rje ‘bar ba was also a
Treasure guardian (gter bdag), the guardian of cycles of Treasures that he was meant to reveal.
Theologically, in order for a Treasure revealer to gain access to the Treasure cycles that he is
meant to retrieve, he must first gain the trust of the guardian (gter srung, gter bdag) to whom
their protection is entrusted.
From the early 1980s, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje lived in several sites on Mount gNas
chen padma shel and founded a number of mountain hermitages (ri khrod) including the Phrag
dkar ri khrod (founded in 1985), the rDzing rgyal ri khrod (founded in 1988), the Lha ru dkar yol
ri khrod (founded in 1990), and the Thab ma kha dir ri khrod (founded in 1991). Although these
hermitages were meant only to be temporary dwellings for his meditation retreats, bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje organized a few of them as small residences for groups of retreatants. Such is the
case for the rDzing rgyal ri khrod, which is led today by rDo rje bkra shis, one of bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje’s oldest disciples, a non-celibate Tantric professional who is head of a modest
community of monastics. In 1993 after months of persistent attempts, the community of mGo rjo
invited bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje to move to their village and supervise the religious economy of
the community. On the south face of Mount gNas chen padma, mGo rjo villagers prepared a
hermitage completely furnished with a view over the Khri chu river for bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje. Here he founded the gNas chen padma shel ri mountain hermitage, which was the ideal place
for him to practice in privacy while responding to the requests of the devotees and the place
where he has lived until recently.
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Revelations, Patronage, and Religious Instructions
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje links his revelation activities directly to Padmasambhava. As he puts it:
Thanks to [my] resolve in the Victorious One, who is particularly excellent, I aspired to earnestly
engage in the innermost secret cycle of practices. I [thus] received the prophesied transmission and the
Treasure-seal of the dākinī. This is the Great Perfection, the supreme vehicle, uttermost secret and
highly glorified, which discloses the intention seal to the supreme Ati lineage. Like many lineage-
holders fortunate because of their previous actions and aspirations, I properly obtained emancipation,
which is complete renunciation.570
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s realization of his personal connection with Padmasambhava is
germane to his own perception as revealer of Buddhist teachings. The disclosure of the intention
seals (dgongs rgya) and the revelation of the gter ma teachings are therefore believed to directly
result from aspirations and prophesies expressed in the past. From the early 1990s until now bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje has revealed a total of twelve volumes of Treasure cycles and established
his own community in the Nang chen area.
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s fame grew rapidly over the years and the leaders of local
monastic institutions regularly sent their monastics to study under him for periods of time. This
gained the support of other major religious figures who took the role of Treasure patrons (chos
bdag), a role involving recognizing and authenticating a gter ston’s Treasure cycles,
incorporating them into their own practices, and circulating them within their community. Next
to patrons and benefactors (sbyin bdag), the chos bdag are essential figures for a Treasure
revealer’s social function and religious success because they are key to circulating in written
form and propagating the Treasure revelation.571 Over the years bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje has
established and developed relationships with some of the most influential and popular teachers in
contemporary Khams including the Fourth Chos ’gyur gling pa rin po che of rTsi ke, Grub dbang
lung rtogs rgyal mtshan (also known as mKhan po A chos/mKhan po A khyug), the Second dPal
me ’phrin brtse, Chos gling rgyal sras bstan pa’i nyi ma, Chos gling shāskya grags pa, mKhan po
’Jam dbyangs ’phrin rab, mKhan ‘chi med dbang chen rdo rje, mTshan nyid ’jam dpal nor bu,
the Second Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje, bSod nam chos ’phel rin po che, mKhan po Padma,
570
DDZG (1998: 9b).
571
bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s oral communication. Ri phug kha mountain hermitage, Mount gNas chen padma, Yushu
TAP, July 2000.
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Dlon mchog rgyal mtshan, and the Second sTong dga’ rin po che.572 Until recently, most of them
regularly sent a number of their monks and nuns to stay at bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s residence
in order to receive religious instructions and to further their Tantric studies.
Despite the fact that the vast majority of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s disciples and
mountain hermitage residents are monastics (both nuns and monks), bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
mountain hermitages (ri khrod) are not monastery-styled institutions. Only a few nuns and
monks are permanent residents at the hermitages. Most of the monastics stay at his hermitages
for a limited period of time to receive teachings, empowerments, and instructions before
returning to their home monasteries. Generally, those who follow bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
teachings belong to all the major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, though the majority of them are
affiliated with the rNying ma and bKa’ brgyud traditions.573
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje focuses predominantly on meditation and practice rather than
scholastic learning. Most of the contemplation material he distributes among his followers is
drawn from gter revelations, both his and his masters’ and it is principally related to the Great
Perfection and his own practices associated with Hayagrīva (rta mgrin). bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje’s actual educational program includes a vast range of ritualistic and propitiatory material
(sgrub thabs; Skt. sādhanā) and classic Tantric literature of the rNying ma tradition, namely the
cycle of practice literature concerning the Great Perfection system (rdzogs chen) including works
by kLong chen rab ’byam pa such as the kLong chen mdzod bdun and ’Jigs med gling pa’s
snying thig tradition.574 These are combined with instructional manuals (khrid yig), ritualistic and
propitiatory texts from bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s revealed Treasure teachings (gter chos).
572 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s oral communication. Ri phug kha hermitage, Mount gNas chen padma (Yushu TAP),
Qinghai, July 2000. It is especially with sTong dga’ rin po che that a close and lasting relationship has consolidated
over the years. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje visits Ru ’dren nunnery, a local branch of the original Ge bcags dgon pa
founded by Ge bcags tshang dbyangs rgya mtsho, on an annual or biannual basis in order to give teachings and
bestow empowerment to the nuns living in the center and the nomad populace of the area on request of the abbot of
the nunnery sTong dga’ rin po che.
573 Nang chen and in general sKye rgu mdo areas have not been particularly fertile areas for the formation of rNying
ma monastic compounds and communities. Most of the existing religious institutions represent the Sa skya and bKa’
brgyud orders. The majority of monastics seeking bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s instructions come from rDza Mer chen
and dPal me monasteries in Nang chen, which are among the most important bKa’ brgyud centers in the area. Other
monks who ask bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje for instructions are affiliated with a number of monasteries of the area
including the rDo rdo monastery of the Sa skya tradition, the dGa’ ldan monastery, and the Zur mang monastery.
574 kLong chen mdzod bdun is a major work on rdzogs chen tradition composed by the fourteenth century kLong
chen rab ’byams pa (1308-1363).
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Concluding Remarks
In the Tibetan literary tradition autobiographical and biographical writings of religious
personalities play an important role in fostering faith and reverence for the master in the reader’s
mind and in the devotee’s pursuit of enlightenment and self-liberation. In Tibetan studies this
literary genre deserves special attention for it is in autobiography that we can find valuable
information about the dynamics at work in a saint’s self-conception and self-representation as a
religious master. Reading autobiographies and biographies can also provide significant support
for understanding the role that religious personalities play in the wider panorama of Buddhist
institutions where monastic authority traditionally predominates over non-celibate forms of
leadership. Additionally, autobiographies and biographies of charismatic religious figures such
as bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s help inform us about the role of their hermitages and religious
encampments and of the nature of communities formed around them.
The study of the DDZG and of the life of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje contributes to such an
exploration in various ways. First of all, texts such as the DDZG say much about the
circumstances and the elements believed to shape the life and career of a Buddhist authority and
the modalities by which the narrative is shaped in a literary genre. In the DDZG, bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje writes about important influences on his development as a Treasure revealer such as
personal visions and experience as well as public forms of legitimacy, other teachers and
religious figures.
Secondly the DDZG offers a platform from which to begin exploring a Tibetan Buddhist
Treasure revealer’s perception of his role in society and the necessary stages of his personal
identification, namely, announcing visions, prophecies, recognition, and Treasure revelations.
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s departure from his social matrix, the abandonment of his seemingly
unfortunate past, and the beginning of a new life in a world of visions, appearances, and solitary
places provides us with valuable material for insights into the modalities pertaining to a religious
career. Additionally a study of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s life has provided an introduction to
the large spectrum of activities performed by Tibetan Buddhist masters and we have seen how
they are to be understood in the context of religious activities and practice in present-day Tibet.
The idea behind the study presented in this chapter was to provide information about
what narrative strategies can make religious autobiographical texts, such as the DDZG, effective
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as a self-glorification of the author and a fostering of the Buddhist path. In the specific case of
the DDZG we have seen what kind of narrative strategies are at work and the effects they may
have on the reader’s mind. Birth, miraculous signs, community tensions, forced departure
followed by the beginning of a long journey, conscious preference for solitary and macabre sites
as residences, inner exploration and early visions, first self-identification and the discovery of
personal connection with the imperial past of Tibet and Padmasambhava, teachers and teachings,
pilgrimage and travel, religious experiences and its signs, pilgrimage abroad to Bhutan, Nepal,
and Sikkim, more teachers and more signs, beginning of revelations, dramatic episodes due to
the invasion of Tibet by the Chinese Red Guards and Cultural Revolution, the end of the obscure
years and the new beginning of revealing Treasures, all mark key points central to bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje’s own career as Buddhist teacher and Treasure revealer.
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Chapter Five: Treasure Cycles, Heroic Ornaments, Yoga of Food,
and the Mu tig Amulets
In the previous chapter we have analyzed the life and career of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje and
contextualized it within his historical framework. The study of his autobiography has allowed us
to understand how this type of religious life story in Tibet can serve as a didactic tool for an
audience largely formed by both monastic and lay devotees. However, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje
is not only a Buddhist master. He is also a Treasure revealer, a Tantric practitioner, a yogi, a
charismatic personality. This means that he is expected not only to transmit and teach esoteric
practices to his pupils, but also to perform supernatural feats and miraculous deeds, such as
healing the sick, distributing blessed herbal pellets, and offering protection using amulets and
blessed items to a large community of followers.
The first section of the present chapter is devoted to the writings and activities of bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje. It will focus on the material that he produces through his religious
activities. I will provide a brief introduction to and analysis of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
compilation of Treasure scriptures (gter chos), collectively known as the Yang gsang rta mgrin
rdo rje me char (The Utterly Secret Hayagrīva’s Thundering Vajra). At present, despite the fact
that bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje announced that his revelations would fill twelve volumes, only
nine volumes have been systematically organized and among these only a small number include
a “table of contents” (dkar chag). Most of the more recent texts have not yet been organized into
volumes. A plan had been announced by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s closest disciples, namely
bKra shis rgyal mtshan and the late Tshe bzang bsam gling rin po che, to edit the volumes, have
them typeset via computer, and printed.
The second segment of this chapter will specifically focus on one of the revealed texts
within the Yang gsang rta mgrin rdo rje me char collection, namely the rTa mgrin yang gsang
rdo rje me char gyi rtsol med gsang sngags myur lam. This important text is an initiation manual
for those who want to embrace the Tantric vows of a non-celibate practitioner. Beside the
liturgical aspect of the text itself, I am particularly interested in exploring one element contained
in the text related to the display of ornaments associated with the initiation ritual. Within the
community of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje these ornaments (rgyan) are known as the dpa’ chas bco
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lnga or the “fifteen heroic emblems.” They have come to represent the regalia of the non-celibate
Tantric practitioner. We will also address two of these emblems, the top-knot and the white
robes, as specific elements of the non-celibate Tantric practitioner’s identity.
The third section of this chapter is devoted to bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s role as religious
healer and producer of medicinal and yogic pellets within a ritual context (sman sgrub). As a
Treasure revealer and Tantric professional, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje performs a social function
beyond that of a religious leader and revealer of scriptures. One such role within his community
is that of charismatic healer, a feature not uncommon within Treasure communities across Tibet.
Also, among bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s revelations are several ritual texts related to the
production of bcud len, an alchemy-related extraction of essences utilized in a specific ritualized
environment that combines the production and ritual consumption of herbal and mineral
substances with highly advanced yogic techniques such as the manipulation of bodily energies.
The fourth and final section is a study of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s manufacture and
distribution of his well-known mu tig tsa tsa, special clay amulets that are particularly sought by
his devotees and followers for their protective value. In Tibet the cult of amulets has always been
a central feature of popular religion. With the recent introduction of new technologies, the
devotionalism represented by Buddhist images and amulets including photo portraits of Buddhist
masters, sacred places, sanctified items, and charm boxes has been passionately revived. Some of
the questions I will address in this section will be: What do the mu tig tsa tsa represent? Why are
they so popular among bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s devotees?
Revelations: The Yang gsang rta mgrin rdo rje me char Collection
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s revelations are diverse. They include two types of Treasures. One
part of the collection includes several retrieved-again Treasures (yang gter). bDe chen ’od gsal
rdo rje claims that it was his root teacher dPal me mkhyen brtse kung bzang ’gro ’dul who
originally revealed these teachings. Only later did bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje rediscover them in
the form of mind Treasures (dgongs gter) or pure visions (dag snang).575 This material includes
texts concerning Tantric liturgies (sgrub thabs; Skt. sādhanā) mainly centered on the deity rta
mgrin (Hayagrīva), one of the representative deities of the eight transmitted precepts (grub pa
575
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s personal communication. rDza mer chen monastery, Shar mda’, Nang chen (Yushu
TAP), Qinghai, August 2001.
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bka’ brgyad). These Hayagrīva teachings are contained in the third volume of the collection
entitled Hūm chen kā ra’i thugs tig las rta mgrin rdo rje me char.576 The remainder include bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s personal revelations. These focus on a variety of practices centered on
principal bodhisattvas such as ’Jam dpal dbyangs (Mañjuśrī), sGrol ma (Tāra), ’Phags pa spyan
ras gzigs (Avalokiteśvara), and major deities such as Gu ru rin po che, bDud gshed (a
manifestation of Gu ru rin po che), rDo rje phag mo (Vajravārāhī), and gShin rje (Yamarāj).
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s collection of Treasures includes Tantric liturgies, offering
practices, and a series of instructional texts of more ritualistic nature. These consist of smoke
offerings (lha bsangs), consecration rituals (rab gnas), rituals of offering and invocation (gsol
mchod), feast offerings (tshogs mchod), longevity practices (tshe sgrub), and collections of
mantras (sngags ’bum). Among the principal Tantric texts he revealed are the Yang gsang rta
mgrin rdo rje me char gyi rgyud, one of the central texts of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
revelations, the Drag sngags yongs ’dus drang srong dmod pa’i rgyud, and the Ma rgyud.
Generally speaking the basic concern of the revealed Treasure texts lies in the
propagation of rituals. As already stated above, although the majority of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje’s revealed texts are concerned with rituals, the collection also contains a substantial set of
instructions, such as empowerment and instruction manuals traditionally associated with
Mahāyoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga. Some of the more interesting texts are in the Yang gsang rta
mgrin rdo rje me char, the core volume of the collection of revealed texts dedicated to
Hayagrīva. Many represent the rdzogs chen, the central practice of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje.
The Atiyoga/rdzogs chen cycle includes texts such as the Hūm chen kā ra’i thugs tig las rig pa
gnad sprod byang chub sems gdams, the rTa mgrin gsang ba’i yang tig las snying thig padma’i
zhal lung, and the Zab chos gnyen ’dul rta mchog nag po’i chos bka’ zab mo. Next to these
practice texts are some of a more mundane nature that address various religious needs for the
community of both monastic and lay disciples following bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s lineage.
These ritual scriptures include texts necessary for the initiation of those entering the Tantric
tradition, mainly non-celibate practitioners, such as the rTa mgrin yang gsang rdo rje me char
gyi rtsol med gsang sngags myur lam, and a number of rituals with a more pragmatic application
in daily rites. For example, the cycle includes texts consisting of a collection of mantras (sngags
576 The title as reported here does not really appear on the title page of the volume, but rather on the title page of a
table of contents (dkar chag), which opens the volume itself. This reads: Hūm chen kā ra’i thugs tig las rta mgrin
rdo rje me char dkar chag. For a tentative list of the titles contained in his revelations see Appendix Three in this
volume.
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’bum) to improve such yogic skills such as swift walking (rkang mgyogs), longevity practices
(tshe sgrub), extraction of elements (bcud len), ransom rites (glud gdos), life summoning (bla
’gugs), feast offerings (tshogs mchod), and practice session offering cakes (thun gtor).
In the collection of revealed texts produced by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, the instructional
materials (khrid yig) deal primarily with practices that belong to the Great Perfection (rdzogs
chen) system. These are accommodated in separate cycles. Chief Tantric practices of generation
stage (bskyed rim) and completion stage (rdzogs rim) with more advanced practices of both
“cutting through” (khregs chod) and “direct transcendence” (thod rgal) are provided in a number
of texts of the collection. These are predominantly included in the Hūm chen kā ra’i thugs tig las
rta mgrin rdo rje me char. The Hūm chen kā ra’i thugs tig las rig pa gnad sprod byang chub
sems gdams, for instance, is focused on the direct introduction to the intrinsic awareness (rig pa’i
ngo sprod) that is the fundamental rdzogs chen explanation of the nature of the mind. A second
text, the rTa mgrin gsang ba’i yang tig las snying thig padma’i zhal lung, expands on a
discussion of appearances (snang ba), which are not only phenomena perceived by the sight but
by all the senses. Texts such as these serve as the primary basis for the disciples’ meditation
regime and provide the ground for further developments in the practice of rdzogs chen.
rTsol med: A Tantric Initiation Ritual for the White-robed Group
As we have seen in Chapter Three, in present-day Tibet the class of non-celibate Tantric
specialists (sngags pa) and Treasure revealers (gter ston) still by and large operates according to
the same values and patterns it did in pre-modern Tibet. This is particularly interesting if
considered in the context of the contemporary social and political transformation of Tibet in the
PRC, where the assertion of Tibetan identity and the maintenance of traditional religious
practices are undergoing continuous challenges. 577 Additionally, while Buddhist monastics
practice mainstream Tantric material and respect strict sets of prescribed rules and vows
belonging to the ethical and moral order, non-celibate religious communities, independent
religious personalities, and Tantric practitioners opt for alternative ways of practice including
577It is worth noting here that much concern for the preservation of traditional culture and other forms of ethnic
identity, such as language, religion, and local customs in Tibet, is continually emphasized also by the Tibetan
authorities representing the Tibetan government in exile, based in Dharamsala (HP) in India and headed by the Dalai
Lama.
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often unconventional modes of self-assessment and religious gathering. Non-celibate Tantric
movements are a vital dimension of Tibetan Buddhist culture especially in the contemporary
setting. The role of nonmonastic Buddhist intellectuals and the lay religious contemplative rituals
they disseminate are as much part of the Tibetan cultural identity as institutional monasticism.
The study of non-monastic religious communities may give us a glimpse into the nature, role,
aspirations, and lifestyles that support their existence.
An important text that provides bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje with the necessary authority to
establish his role as leader of his community is the rTsol med or the rTa mgrin yang gsang rdo
rje me char gyi rtsol med gsang sngags myur lam (The Effortless Quick Path of the Secret
Mantra according to rTa mgrin yang gsang rdo rje me char henceforth TsM). This is an
instructional Tantric manual (khrid yig) for an empowerment ritual that belongs to the collection
of the rTa mgrin yang gsang rdo rje me char Tantra for the meditative realization of Hayagrīva.
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje revealed and composed the TsM in the form of a mind Treasure
(dgongs gter) in 1989. In the typical fashion of a mind Treasure, in the concluding lines of the
colophon in the TsM we read:
Now I shall hide these instructions in you, oh Dharmarāja, in the space of the mind. Because they will
be beneficial as a remedy in the future, in times of degeneration and suffering, they protect both the
teachings and the living beings. It’s a treasury of good Dharma for the one named rDo rje of the bird
year.
i thi
Sa ma ya
Sealed Sealed Sealed.578
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje considers the TsM being in line with other Tantric manuals and
instructional materials practiced by saints and masters of the past in the form of both oral
instructions and Treasure revelations. In particular, the TsM addresses the class of non-celibate
Tantric adepts known in Tibetan as gos dkar lcang lo can because of the white dress (gos dkar)
578 da lta chos rgyal khyod la gdams/
ma ongs snyigs ma sdug bsngal dus/
bstan ’gro skyobs pa’i gnyen po tu [= du]/
phan phyir thugs klong du sbos/
’dab chung lo rdoe [= rdo rje] ’i ming yi chos skal nyid du mdzod/
i thi/ sa ma ya rgya rgya rgya/
TsM, f. 8b-9a.
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and long hair (lcang lo) that characterize their ritual attire. Explaining the meaning of the TsM,
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje comments:
The superior doctrine of the most profound Vajrayāna of the early translations is contained in this
teaching of highest power, the refined seminal essence of the effortless Ati rDzogs pa chen po. This is
the ultimately profound quick path to seek realization [in the form of] instructions on becoming
enlightened in the primordial space of Samanthabhadra. Those who exert in this superior and unique
doctrine [maintain] the three precepts perfect.
Specifically, this is the indispensable and amazing unique doctrine for the group of those who
wear white robes and have long hair and who hold the samaya of the Vajrayāna of the Secret Mantra.
The system of the excellent beings who achieve the realization through the practice of the Eight
Heruka Sādhanās (sgrub pa bka’ brgyad), the profound path of the Vajrayāna of the Early
Translations, is unmistakably associated with the practice of the presentation of the ornaments that
seal the emblems of such a distinctive doctrine. This originates from the extraordinary spiritual songs
of the scholars of the past and will be suitable for future followers. Therefore, we should understand
the inner meanings as well as the outer signs, so that we don’t pick up those mental artificialities that
nowadays so randomly gather around us.579
Therefore, despite being addressed to all those who commit to the three precepts of prātimoks^a,
bodhisattva, and vajrayāna, the ideal initiands referred to in the TsM are those who represent the
“group of [those who wear] white robes and top-knot” (gos dkar lcang lo’i sde). This is a literary
appellation or an epithet for the community of non-celibate Tantric professionals more popularly
referred to as sngags pa in Tibetan. Distinguished the monks (so thar rab byung) who live in
monasteries, the Tantric adepts of the gos dkar lcang lo group are often called village lamas
(grong sngags) and they typically live as householders (khyim pa) in villages (grong tsho) and in
families (khyim tshang).580 As we shall see below, the language of the initiation ritual is as rich
as it is complex. At the heart of the TsM is the emphasis on “effortlessness” or non-action (rtsol
med) a common notion present in rdzogs chen discourse.581 The term “effortlessness” (rtsol med)
recurs often in rdzogs chen scriptures and refers to the unique aspect of this system, the potential
for devoted practitioners to reach enlightenment by practicing one fundamental teaching, the
579 yang zab snga ’gyur rdo rje theg pa’i khyad chos ni/ rtsol med a ti rdzogs pa chen po’i yang zhun snying gi thig
le dbang rab bstan ’dir grub pa brnyes pa’i myur lam zab mo mthar thug kun bzang gdod ma’i dbyings su ’tshang
rgya ba’i gdams ngag gzhan la med pa’i khyad chos ’di la brtson pa’i gang zag sdom pa gsum la sel med pa/
khyad par gsang sngags rdo rje theg pa’i dam ldan gos dkar lcang lo’i sde la med du mi rung ba’i khyad chos ngo
tshar can ’di/ snga ’gyur rdo rje theg pa’i zab lam sgrub pa bka’ brgyad nyams len sgrub pa thob pa’i dam pa
rnams kyi lugs srol ma ’ongs rjes ’jug rnams la ’os pa’i khyad chos brda dang phyag rgya’i rgyan gyi rnam bzhag
nyams len dang ’brel ba ma nor ba rig ’dzin gong ma rnams kyi gsung mgur khyad par can las ’byung ba las/ deng
rabs kyi blo bcos rang snang gang shar su btus pa ma yin pas ’di don khog tu chud cing phyi rtags nang du
mtshungs dgos pa yin no//
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s personal written communication. rDza mer chen monastery, August 2001.
580 Nyi zla he ru ka (2003).
581 Karmay (1988: 18).
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attainment of intrinsic awareness (rig pa).582 Among the three highest yogas of the nine vehicles
to enlightenment elaborated by rNying ma tradition, Mahāyoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga/rdzogs
chen, the rdzogs chen system is believed to be the pinnacle. According to this view, the practice
of rdzogs chen alone is a guarantee of personal liberation (rang grol). Regarding the TsM, Tshe
bzang bsam gling rin po che believes that:
The rtsol med is an important text because first of all it is addressed to the yogis of the effortless
mantras of the utterly secret Ati. These will achieve bodily perfection having the ten powers, the three
awarenesses, and having disciplined the space of their mind stream. They will attain mastery in the
yoga of channels and energies, and the phenomenal world will rise as a divine body.583
What is particularly interesting in the context of this study, however, is not only the
philosophical content of the scripture that certainly deserves further investigation, but the
reference to a certain set of items that are used by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje and his community
as part of their Tantric regalia. In the typical fashion of Tantric initiation texts, the TsM
expounds on a peculiar set of implements and decorations (rgyan) that glorify the figure of the
Tantric adept. The newly initiated adept, as we shall see in further detail, is supposed to carry the
implements and wear the ornaments. The instructions (gdams ngag) about these ornaments,
however, come in the form of a list of specific items that are material markers of the yogi’s
spiritual advancement and mastering of contemplative practices. This esoteric apparatus
symbolizes the practitioner’s expertise in the various aspects of the “quick path” (myur lam) to
liberation of Vajrayāna. I argue that these ornaments and bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje and his
followers’ appearance belong to the sphere of self-representation and contribute to a sense of
identity in the same way a shaved head, maroon-saffron robes, and other Vinaya-prescribed
features are valued in the context of formal monasticism. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s disciples
support the fashion of permanently wearing white robes (or partially white robes) and long
matted hair gathered in a top-knot and carrying and/or displaying other implements as publicly
and liturgically recognized marks of their non-celibate Tantric status.
582
Dalai Lama (2000: 48). For my discussion on bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s rDzogs chen, see Chapter Four.
583
Tshe bzang bsam gling rin po che’s oral communication. gNas chen padma mountain hermitage. Yushu TAP,
Qinghai, July 1998.
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The TsM, therefore, provides the basis in this revelation tradition for a series of ritual
attributes and the clothing of the Tantric practitioner.584 These are long hair, white robe, conch-
shell earrings, bone ornaments, gold cross vajra, mirror, rākaa prayer beads, meditation ribbon, a
nine-pronged vajra, a ritual dagger, the raven crest, a black silken cloak, a sling, a bow and
arrows, and a pair of felt boots. Each of these emblems (rgyan) is in fact symbolically (brda)
associated with a specific field of spiritual realization attained by the Tantric adept. The aim of
the text is to initiate the practitioner to his/her new status of Tantric adept. Additionally, through
the acceptance of the Tantric ornaments and implements, the practitioner of the specific
teachings provided by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s revelations embraces a new lifestyle
exemplified by his Tantric practices and represented in his codified attire. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje seems to be particularly keen on the transmission of this text to his closest disciples according
to their commitment and advancement in the practice. Although not necessarily a rule, the
initiation is usually offered to those students who have at least completed the preliminary
practices (sngon ’gro), as described, for instance, in the Kun bzang bla ma’i zhal lung. Within
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s community, such a practice is usually combined with the Zab lam
rdzogs pa chen po’i sngon ’gro’i ngag ’don padma dga’ tshal, a shorter manual revealed by bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje.585 It is my sense that the idea behind this might be bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje’s intention to promote the tradition of the non-celibate Tantric yogi and disseminate his own
distinctive revealed lineage.
The initiation ritual and the display of the emblems (rgyan) in the TsM are strictly
associated with the practice of the Tantras of the Early Translations (snga ’gyur). In the TsM it is
written:
The Effortlessness of the uttermost secret Hayagrīva, the very secret Vajra thunder, spreads the view
of all the yogis of the Secret Mantra instructed according to their minds. These practitioners are in
584 The colophon of the TsM provides no information about the date or the circumstances of revelation. 1989 is the
date of revelation as reported by bKra shis rgyal mtshan, and later confirmed by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje. Ri phug
kha hermitage, Mount gNas chen padma (Yushu TAP), Qinghai, July 2000.
585 The rDzogs pa chen po klong chen snying tig gi sngon ’gro’i khrid yig kun bzang bla ma’i zhal lung better known
by its abbreviated title, Kun bzang bla ma’i zhal lung (The Words of the Perfect Teacher) is a well-known
introductory manual to the practice of the kLong chen snying thig composed by rDza dpal sprul O rgyan ’jigs med
chos kyi dbang po (1808-1887). This text has gained wide popularity among practitioners following the rNying ma
tradition. In the curriculum provided by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje this text constitutes the main basis for the
preliminary practices but it is nevertheless accompanied by a few specific texts and teachings from the gter ston’s
own revealed tradition. The sKu gsum bla ma’i sgrub skor las zab lam rdzogs pa chen po’i sngon ’gro’i ngag ’don
padma dga’ tshal is associated with the bDud gzhed manifestation of Gu ru rin po che. It is a dgongs gter bDe chen
’od gsal rdo rje revealed recently in 2003, while residing at his new seat at Mer chen dge dgon bkra shis chos gling.
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harmony with the experience of the lineage of the three adoptions (khyer so gsum). They are the
followers of the Early Translations and, therefore, they gladly bear on their bodies the virtues of the
ten powers as signs of perfection.586
Those who receive the Tantric initiation gather in front of their vajra-master (rdo rje slob dpon;
Skt. vajrācārya). According to the TsM they must be practitioners who commit to the three
precepts of external prātimoks^a, internal bodhisattva, and secret Vajrayāna. Technically, the
initiation is open to both monastics and non-celibate practitioners, but only non-celibate
practitioners wear the full white-robed attire of the Tantric adept. Monks, instead, maintain the
attire of the fully-ordained monastic. Nuns who receive the initiation and adhere to its precepts,
while not wearing the white robes, symbols of non-celibacy, let their hair grow and keep it in
long dreadlocks gathered in a topknot. However, the initiation seems to be directed more to the
non-celibate class of Tantric adepts since through this ritual the initiands become members of the
gos dkar lcang lo can community. Also, the TsM specifies that the initiands to the ritual should
have attained the four confidences (gdeng bzhi),587 which are part of the Four Consolidations
(mtha’ rten bzhi) of Direct Transcendence (thod rgal). These are the confidence of having no
fear of hell, having no expectations of karmic results as samsāra is non-existent, having no hope
of attainments, and having no joy. 588 Additionally, their chosen guru must be one who
recognizes the four characteristics (birth, old age, sickness, and death).589
The initiands offer the ma67ala of the three doors (body, speech, and mind) to their
vajra-master and make a formal request to receive the initiation. They repeat their request three
times and once they have received the Tantric vows (sdom) they visualize the vajra-master in the
form of rTa mgrin (Hayagrīva). From his heart they should see a Ya syllable transforming into a
black scorpion emanating fire in all directions. The vajra-master thus touches their bodies with
the intent of burning away all the sins that produce obscuration and recites the mantra ōm badzra
586 TsM, f. 1a. The term che rtags, the signs of perfection, or “marks of greatness,” refers to the inner or external
signs, or symbols, that testify for the Tantric practitioner’s achievements in the practice of the Secret Mantra (gsang
sngags) and rdzogs chen systems. gTer chen bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s oral communication. Ri phug kha hermitage,
Mount gNas chen padma (Yushu TAP), Qinghai, July 2000. The khyer so gsum, here rendered with “three
adoptions” refers to the three different sets of vows; these are the so thar gyi sdom pa, byang sems kyi sdom pa, and
gsang sngags kyi sdom pa, that is the “three precepts” (pratimokaa vows, bodhisattva training, and vajrayāna
samaya) mentioned above.
587 TsM, f. 2b.
588 Thondup (1989: 86-87), Kapstein and Gyurme Dorje (1991, II: 124).
589 Kapstein and Gyurme dorje (1991, II: 135), provide a different list: old age, sickness, death, and a wandering
ascetic.
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yaksha kre dhā sarba sā sam dzwa la rōm (sic).590 He then requests the initiands to sit in the
“Seal of Vairocana” position and asks them to recite the mantra ōm shu nya ta dznyā na badzra
swa bha wā arma konya hōm (sic).591 Then the vajra-master instructs the initiands to visualize
Vajrasattva in the enjoyment body of sambhogakāya with a white body, one face, and two hands,
holding a vajra in one hand and a bell in the other. He sits in the full lotus position of the
Bodhisattva (sems pa’i skyil grung gyi bzhugs pa) like a moon on a lotus flower seat. He has a
white Ōm syllable on the crown of the head, a red Ā syllable at the throat, and a blue Hūm
syllable at the heart representing the body, speech, and mind of the Buddha. The vajra-master
anoints these very same spots on the bodies of the initiands with drops of amrita nectar (bdud
rtsi thig le). He visualizes that after having received the three adamantine syllables (rdo rje’i yig
’bru) corresponding to the body, speech, and mind of all the Tathāgatas of the ten directions, the
syllables will merge.592 Then using the gesture (mūdra) of the single pronged vajra the vajra-
master touches the initiands at the three spots (head, throat, and chest).593
Next, the vajra-master gives the initiands an introduction to the procedure explaining the
precepts (samaya) associated with the practice and asks the disciples to maintain them with
purity. He warns them that failure to maintain pure vows will cause the Vajrarāksa (Vajrasattva)
to burn their hearts and interrupt their path to enlightenment. If instead they maintain their vows
purely, they will achieve accomplishments. He therefore invites them to repeat after him the
mantra sa ma ya i dam na ra kan (sic),594 which calls the demon Yakṣa me dbal as witness. This
section of the ritual ends with a recitation of the mantra sa ma ya ha na ha na meant to verbally
bind the disciples to their vows, while the vajra-master touches the disciples on their heads with
a vajra, thus sealing their commitments to the vows of practice.595
590 TsM, f. 3a.
591 TsM, f. 3b. The Seal of Vairocana (rnam snang gi phyag rgya) refers to the yogic position more known under the
common name of “seven point posture of Vairocana” (rnam snang gi chos bdun): 1. rkang pa skyil mo krung (sitting
crossed legs or full lotus position); 2. lag pa mnyam bzhag (hands composed in the same way. Usually both of the
backs of the hands lie on the thighs, palms upwards and with the thumbs slightly touching the base of the ring finger.
The arms are perfectly stretched); 3. sgal tshigs drang bor bsrang ba (the back spine straight); 4. mgring pa cung
zad gug pa (the neck slightly bent downward); 5. dpung ba rgod gshog ltar brkyangs pa (the shoulders extended
upwards like the wings of a vulture); 6. mig sna rtser phabs pa (eyes falling on the tip of the nose); 7. lce ya rkan la
sbyar ba rnams (the tongue is stuck to the palate). bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s oral communication (2000).
592 TsM, f. 3b.
593 gnas gsum, the “three places” or “three spots”: sku (body), corresponding to the head; gsung (speech),
corresponding to the throat; and thugs (mind), corresponding to the heart. The rdo rje rtse gcig pa one pronged
vajra, is a mudra gesture in which the two middle fingers point towards the top while the other fingers are crossed to
each other.
594 TsM, f. 4b.
595 TsM, f. 4b.
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After that, the vajra-master offers the implements (rgyan rnams) and describes the attire
of the disciples as they become new members of the group of non-celibate Tantric practitioners
who wear the white robes and the topknot (gos dkar lcang lo can). The main body of the text
lists a series of fifteen implements (rgyan) that are commonly referred to as “heroic emblems”
(dpa’ chas) in the daily parlance of members of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s community. These
are the attire (white robes and topknot), regalia of (human bone articles), and ritual paraphernalia
allegedly prescribed by Padmasambhava as symbols (brda) of certain specific stages of the
yogi’s achievements in the Tantric practice. In the TsM the ornaments are listed in the following
passage:
Great Fortune! Oh, [you] great beings Awareness-Holders who have confidence in the four systems
of deliverance, [you] are the great supreme ones who have the great majesty of the nine expression
modes, and the style of contemplative experience to realize ascetic achievements. [Listen] yogi who
has mastered the subtle energies and mind (rlung sems) [and belongs to] the genuine and natural
group [of those who wear] the white robes and matted hair.
The long hair (dbu skra ral pa) matted on the top of the head is a symbol of the mastery of the Secret
Mantras, being Awareness-Holders with highest realization. The white cotton cloth (ras dkar)
covering the glorious body is the symbol of the ignition of the blissful heat (bde drod) through
channels, winds, and seminal nuclei. The ornamental earrings (snyan cha) [made] of precious conch-
shell (dung) are the symbol of turning the wheel of the Dharma of method and wisdom. You wear a
net of six ornaments [made] of bone (rus pa’i rgyan drug drwa ba) as symbol of the leader of a crowd
of a hundred thousand dākinīs.596 Around the neck is a golden cross-vajra (gser gi rdo rje rgya gram)
which is a symbol of the accomplishment of the four kinds of religious service.597 The clear mirror
(gsal ba’i me long) on the chest is a symbol of clear knowledge of both sam^sāra and nirvā6a. You
hold a rosary [made] of black rākaa beads (raksha nag po’i rdo shal) as symbol of the burning of the
powerful tongue of fire598 of the power of the wrathful mantra. The meditation ribbon (sgom ’ching)
in the five colors of the rainbow is the symbol of the cross-legged sitting posture [representing] firm
meditation in the sky. A nine-pronged vajra (rdo rje rtse dgu) [to hold up] in space is the symbol of
the appearance of the realization of the nine vehicles of contemplative experience. An iron or
powerful kīla (phur ba) rolling in [one’s] hand is the symbol of the triumph over the dam sri-demons
that are enemies of the Teachings. The raven crest ([bya rog] prog zhu)599 worn as a hat is the symbol
of the conquest of the phenomenal world. Your will wear a large cloak of black silk (mthig nag dar
gyi ber chen) that is the symbol of the submission of the major deities to [one’s own] service. A
multi-colored stone-throwing sling (’ur thig khra bo) is the symbol of crushing the evil and negative
creatures into dust. In the right and the left [hands] are bow and arrow (mda’ gzhu) [representing]
method and wisdom. These are the symbol of the support from the allied troops of defenders [against]
596 These are the six ornaments used by the Tantric yogi, which are made out of human bone (rus pa’i rgyan drug): a
head gear, earrings, necklace, armlets, bracelets, and anklets (Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo p. 2713).
597 The Four Kinds of Religious Service (zhi rgyas dbang drag gi ’phrin las): milder worship, abundant service,
religious service to obtain power, and terrifying methods in coercing a deity by charms (Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen
mo, p. 2383).
598 Here the “tongue of fire” stands for “ability or fluency in recitations”.
599 krog zhu in the text. This is a spelling error for prog zhu, helmet, hat or crest, nence “the raven crest.”
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the enemies of virtues. [A pair of] fish-headed felt boots (srin lham nya mgo) at the feet are the
symbol of the offerings from both worldly gods and demons on the crown of one’s head.600
In the TsM then the initiands are instructed to visualize themselves as fortunate beings who have
taken the pledge of the implements and are now emissaries/messengers connected to each other
as vajra brothers and sisters. Empowered as divine beings with vajra-armor (rdo rje’i go cha)
they shall dwell in the wheel (’khor lo) of the channels, winds, and seminal nuclei; as blessings
of the root-teacher, they are like banks of clouds resting in the wheel of the immutable vajra
body; as six/sixty branches they descend melodiously in the wheel of speech as an unobstructed
divine voice. They enter the sphere of the ground of unobscured and clear primordial purity in
the wheel of the mind as unified clarity and emptiness (gsal stong zung ’jug).601 At this point the
vajra-master invites the initiands to express their aspiration with the following supplication:
Having received the empowerment to the fearless and pure Dharmakāya,
may we realize the two excellent rūpakāya (Sambhogakāya and Nirmāṇakāya)!602
Afterward, the initiands recites the aspiration prayer to receive the royal consecration (rgyal srid
dbang thob). Displaying the eight auspicious symbols (rtags brgyad), which are the umbrella
(gdung), the royal banner (rgyal mtshan), golden fish (gser nya), the lotus flower (pad ma), the
white conch-shell (dung dkar), the vase (bum pa), the endless knot (dpal be’u), and the golden
wheel (gser ’khor lo), the vajra-master performs the consecration declaring the symbols supreme
representatives of the Buddhist Doctrine and guardians of all teachings and human beings. The
vajra-master eventually concludes the ritual pronouncing a few words of advice and encouraging
the initiands to practice with diligence and perseverance with the aspiration to attain
enlightenment.
The TsM plays a central role in bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s personal theological
reflections and sense of religious identity. It also finds a special place in general issues
concerning the institution of lineages of visionary movements and especially the class of non-
celibate Tantric professionals in Tibetan religions. The TsM sanctifies the initiation of
individuals to the practice of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s lineage, provides legitimacy to the
600 TsM, f. 5b-6b. Brackets are mine.
601 TsM, f. 7a.
602 TsM, f. 7a.
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transmission strategy of the ritual, and at the same time enriches the sense of identity for the
religious members of the community.
Top-knot, White Robes, and the Raven Crest: The Fifteen Heroic Ornaments
As the heroic ornaments are associated with and represent specific elements of the Tantric
adept’s practice, the display of the dpa’ chas lco lnga is central to bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
sense of religious identity. Not only does bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje wear most of the articles, but
also his closest disciples such as gTer chen bKra shis rgyal mtshan, dPal chen lha mo, and bKra
shis mtsho mo wear these articles.
Although the total number of articles described in the TsM is fifteen, adherents do not
always wear them simultaneously. A few elements of the attire as prescribed in the TsM are
always and openly carried on the body, as in the case of the top-knot (lcang lo), the rākaa bead
rosary (do shal), a white cotton shawl (ras dkar), the ritual kīla dagger (phur pa), a mirror (me
long), and a crossed-vajra pendant (rdo rje rgya gram). However, most practitioners wear the
other items primarily during rituals and ceremonies and during solemn religious events, as in the
case of the conch-shell earrings (dun gi snyan cha), the six bone articles (rus pa’i rgyan drug),
the meditation ribbon (sgom mching), and the raven crest (bya rog prog zhu). The Tantric adept
can thus be identified by these emblems and his peculiar attire. The observance of the “fifteen
heroic emblems” is thus compulsory for the adept, who will carry them for the rest of his life. In
the typical fashion of the Treasure tradition, the teaching is believed to be beneficial to future
generations in periods of particular hardship. The closing statement in the TsM confirms the
hiding of the teachings in the Treasure revealer’s mind. Once these are revealed, they will
function as a remedy, or an antidote (gnyen po) to the suffering of future generations.603
Those who practice the way of asceticism and hardships (dka’ spyod) should always be
aware and conscious of the symbolic meaning and associations related to these articles and carry
them as symbols of their status.604 Since not all of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s followers, either
monastic or non-celibate practitioners, progress in their Tantric studies, only the more advanced
603TsM, f. 9a.
604TsM, f. 8b. The concept of asceticism is expressed many times in the text by the word dka’ byed and dka’ thub
spyod pa a term more likely to be translated into English as “hardships” or “austerities”. In the text the word also
appears in an erroneous spelling, bka’ spyad [= dka’ spyad].
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are introduced to this system of contemplation. Each of these ornaments retains a symbolic
meaning related to a specific skill in the Tantric practice. Together they constitute a tradition
(lugs gsol) of asceticism that bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje maintained and passed down to the next
generation of practitioners.605 Although asceticism in the Tibetan world has not been codified or
systematically ascribed to specific sets of rules and regulations, nevertheless it has a significant
role in the religious milieu where ascetics and hermits enjoy respect from the local population. It
is interesting to note that while renunciation is fundamentally understood as a path of
abandonment, and this is a state regulated by rejections and prohibitions, the same path
prescribes a set of articles that the renunciant is supposed to carry during his life of practice and
austerity.606
Although, monastic regulations in the form of the Vinaya code stipulate proper conduct,
appropriate attire, and various items for the monks, Tibetan ascetics and Tantric adepts exhibit
ornaments, ritual paraphernalia, and unconventional attire. This is true particularly of the ascetics
and non-celibate Tantric practitioners belonging to the rNying ma, bKa’ brgyud, and Sa skya
schools alike. It is my sense that in the specific environment of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
community, the need to exhibit such external appearance is a way to contrast themselves against
the strictures of monasticism. The lifestyle of the non-celibate householder Tantric professional
(sngags pa kyim pa) is usually in marked contrast with that of the fully ordained monk in a series
of contrasting patterns such as celibacy/non-celibacy, shaved head/long matted hair,
institutionalized authority/personal charisma. The important point is that the adoption of a certain
way of life and the proposal of a well-marked and personalized self-representation reflects the
tendency to acquire and confirm a well-established sense of identity.
In general, Treasure revealers and Tantric professionals alike seek to identify themselves
in ways that are clearly recognizable by their community. Monks are identified as such by the
normative institution of monasticism they come to represent and from which they develop their
sense of identity and community. On the contrary, most non-celibate Tantric professionals are
605 Generally speaking similar traditions are typical and characteristic of many Tantric adepts who belong, although
not exclusively, to the non-monastic milieu of the rNying ma order of Tibetan Buddhism.
606 In this regard I specifically have in mind the studies of Indian asceticism and renunciation, for instance, by
Heesterman (1985), and Olivelle (1992). In my analysis of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s life-style I have noticed
similarities that inevitably remind me of Indian ascetics and renouncers. Although rubrics such as asceticism and
renunciation in Tibetan religions are topics worthy of extensive research and study, they will not receive their
deserved attention here. However, it is my intention to contribute some preliminary remarks on Tibetan asceticism
that are topics for further investigation.
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religious personalities who live the life of the householder and thus have to rely first and
foremost on the charismatic guidance and protection that they provide for people and the
miraculous powers they are believed to exert on natural phenomena for their recognition by the
community as religious authorities. In this regard, Gyatso suggests that “to be perceived and
recognized by others is an assurance that one exists; by being another to someone else, one is a
self to oneself, whatever the precise nature of that self.”607
As we have explored in the study of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s autobiography, the
recognition of a Treasure revealer is a rather complex matter. While for a fully ordained monk
his authority lies in his belonging to formal institutional monasticism, for a Treasure revealer this
authority is instead acquired in other ways. In accordance with the tradition, some teachers have
recognized bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje as one of Padmasambhava’s closest disciples, Shud bu dpal
gyi seng ge. Pilgrims and villagers recognize his wisdom and control over the elements and
nature by considering his advice, divinations, and spiritual guidance. Monastics and disciples
recognize his knowledge and spiritual achievements and see him as teacher and preceptor.
Many of these symbolic and ritual items are associated with a yogi’s state of asceticism.
The emblems of asceticism are to be understood as emblems of the adept’s skills in the
advancement of his religious practice. They represent individual prowess and ritual specialty.
The dpa’ chas bco lnga described in the TsM are therefore considered emblems that represent
achievements gained along the quick path (myur lam) to enlightenment (’tshang rgya ba). The
“presentation of ornaments” (rgyan gyi rnam bzhag) is an important practice for devoted adepts
who are recognized as advanced practitioners of rdzogs chen.
Within the discourse of the dpa’ chas bco lnga described in the TsM and understood by
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje and bKra shis rgyal mtshan only one of the fifteen ornaments belongs,
strictly speaking, to the sphere of the physical body itself: the hair. Long matted locks are in fact
the only part of the body to be symbolically associated with a specific spiritual and esoteric
achievement, namely, mastery of the Secret Mantras. All the other parts of the Tantric adept’s
attire are ritual implements or religious emblems.
Some scholars have discussed the function of hair and its symbolism in a religious
context. 608 The hair is apparently a powerful “psychological statement” often advanced by
607 Gyatso (1998: 220).
608 See for instance Bogin (2008), Lang (1995), and Obeyesekere (1981).
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marginal personalities of the religious group.609 Powerful symbolic statements, such as bodily
marks and ornaments, convey the presence of small marginalized groups within a society, in this
case non-celibate religious personalities, who seek to negotiate their position, recognition, and
identity within a given society significantly dominated by the institution of monasticism. In his
study of the sociocultural meaning of matted hair in Sri Lanka, Obeyesekere has pointed out how
the personal psychological dimension of the symbol (in this case hair) and its publicly sanctioned
role interact. Considering the shaved hair of the Buddhist monks and the long matted hair of
Hindu-Buddhist non-celibate religious ecstatics, for instance, Obeyesekere observes that in its
anthropological dimension the symbolism of the hair addresses the core of the celibacy/non-
celibacy dichotomy: sex. Whereas shaved heads represent the monk’s renunciation of sex in all
its forms, therefore a symbolic “castration” and chastity, the non-celibate renouncer denies such
an act letting his/her hair grow long and matted and producing the unconscious opposite result,
“eroticism.”610 The shaved head of the monastic, therefore, is mostly considered as the symbol of
a separation from sexual desire and engagement with the lifestyle of the renunciant. The long
loose hair of the Tantric adept, instead, symbolizes the acceptance of sexuality and the
channeling of sexual power in the advancement of spiritual practice.611
The long hair matted in locks or braided (skra’i lan bu) gathered on one’s head (dbu skra
thod du bcing ba) is probably the most widely known and publicly recognized symbol
representing sngags pas in Tibet.612 In fact, according to the TsM, the top-knot symbolizes the
mastery of the secret mantra, which is the main function and specialty of Tantric professionals.
Here too, an immediate difference is clear. A fully ordained Buddhist monk (Skt. bhikau; dge
slong) is committed to shaving his head regularly as a sign of his renunciation (rab byung) of a
world ruled by hedonistic senses. In contrast, the non-celibate Tantric professional does not
renounce the senses, but controls them. This is symbolized by his locks of braided or matted hair.
bKra shis rgyal mtshan explains:
Long hair (skra ral pa) is a mark of power (byin rlabs) for Tantric professionals and Treasure
revealers. It’s their mark of noncelibacy. Monks (grwa ba rab byung) have their hair cut as a mark of
renunciation of mundane life (’jig rten ’tsho ba). On the contrary, Tantric professionals (sngags pa)
609 Obeyesekere (1981).
610 Lang (1995: 32), Obeyesekere (1981: 38-50), Leach (1958: 148-55).
611 Lang (1995: 33).
612 Obeyesekere (1981: 45).
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let their hair grow and never cut it to preserve the power hair represents. Additionally, long hair on
Tantric practitioners is also an emblem (rtags) of their practice of the skillful means (thabs lam).613
Therefore, long hair preserves the hedonistic quality of a Tantric figure’s masculinity and never
having it cut preserves the power hair represents, which is the practice of the thabs lam, the path
of skillful means. The thabs lam and its immediately related practice, the grol lam (path of
liberation), are both meditative techniques essential to the perfection phase (rdzogs rim) system
of Mahāyoga.614 According to Nyi zla he ruka, the hair of the sngags pa is neglected and left
unwashed, uncombed, uncut, and unshaved primarily because the Tantric yogis tend to spend
long periods of time in meditation and their hair forms interlocked coils that are not cut and are
called meditation hair (mtshams skra). 615 In this case, therefore, the hair comes to assume a
symbolic meaning deriving from a practical reason, that of being unable to take care of personal
hygiene while sitting in meditation for extended periods of time.
Next to the matted hair another article immediately associated with such a religious
status, as suggested by the name of the religious class, is the white dress (gos dkar, Skt.
avadātavasana).616 This is the typical outfit of the non-celibate Tantric community, and it stands
in opposition to the traditional saffron or maroon (ngur smrig) robe of the monastic community.
Although many non-celibate Tantric professionals (sngags pa) do wear maroon or red colored
robes, the most typical Tantric attire in Tibet, or even in Nepal, is a white lower garment
combined with a white and red shawl (gzan). In the TsM the white garment (ras dkar) is
associated with another central discipline practiced by the Tantric adept, the rtsa rlung exercises,
and therefore the generation of inner blissful heat (bde drod) or fierce blissful heat (gtum mo’i
bde drod). 617 This is a yogic process performed through the manipulation of channels (rtsa),
winds (rlung), and seminal nuclei (thig le), which are linked to the notion of the subtle or illusory
613 bKra shis rgyal msthan’s oral communication. rDza mer chen monastery, Shar mda’, Nang chen (Yushu TAP),
August 2004.
614 See Gyurme Dorje’s interesting study on the Guhyagarbha Tantra (gsang ba’i snying po) recently published on
the Website of Wisdom Books at http://www.wisdom-books.com/ReadingRoom.asp. On the notion of thabs lam
Gyurme Dorje writes: “The meditative stability of the perfection stage includes the path of skilful means (thabs lam)
by which the energy channels, currents of vital energy and points of seminal energy (rtsa rlung thig le) in the subtle
body are controlled and the coalescent path of liberation (grol lam), which concerns non-conceptualizing yoga and is
effected in three steps: willfully applied meditation, otherwise known as the yoga of blessings, effective meditation,
also known as the yoga of the imaginary, and instantaneous meditation, also known as the yoga of perfection.”
615 Nyi zla he ru ka (2003: 88).
616 According to Lamotte (1958: 72), the Sanskrit term avadātavasana refers to the white robe or white garment
worn by householder (grhin or grhapati) lay Buddhist practitioners (Skt. upāsaka).
617 In the Bod brda’i tshig mdzod the Tibetan expression gos dkar or gos dkar can is immediately associated with the
non-celibate practitioner and therefore with khyim pa, mi skya or even mi nag, i.e. lay man. Brag g.yab (1989).
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body (sgyu lus). According to Nyi zla he ru ka, the white robe of the Tantric yogis can be noticed
above all in the shawl (gzan), which tends to be white in the middle and red at the sides to
represent the inseparability of method and wisdom (thabs shes dbyer med).618 The choice of a
white shawl (gzan dkar) is particularly favored by those Tantric adepts who practice the
instructions of the rsta rlung since the shawl represents the blazing of the inner heat (gtum mo),
the essence of the generation phase (rdzogs rim).619
I believe the TsM can be read as an attempt to promote the figure of the non-celibate
Tantric adepts by providing a structural framework to attain and to display the marks of the class
of gos dkar lcang lo with the dpa’ chas bco lnga ornaments. Each of the fifteen ornaments
(rgyan) is associated with a specific mastery or achievement of the Tantric repertoire of the gos
dkar lcang lo’i sde.
Hayagrīva Pills and the Yoga of Food
In addition to his role as Treasure revealer at the center of a large variety of religious activities,
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje is also a non-celibate Tantric professional (sngags pa) who performs
various apotropaic activities and rituals for the protection, welfare, and health of his community
including divination, weather control, healing, recitations of prayers, and the circulation of
amulets. Villagers, nomads, and pilgrims in addition to monks and spiritual leaders of the area
regularly ask for the old teacher’s advice, spiritual support, and instructions concerning a variety
of issues.
One of the most frequent requests for bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s advice concerns health
matters. Among bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s claimed charismatic skills are healing and the
manufacture of medicinal pills, or blessed ma6i pills. In Tibetan culture, a charismatic healer, or
lha rje, is not a formal physician in the Western sense of the word, nor an individual necessarily
familiar with the complex theories of Tibetan traditional medicinal science (gso rig pa). Rather,
some Treasure revealers and Tantrikas claim to have developed specialized healing powers and
skills that they can offer to their community. In Tibetan tradition and popular belief, realized
beings and incarnate lamas such as bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje are believed to have intrinsic power
618 Nyi zla he ru ka (2003: 87).
619 Nyi zla he ru ka (2003: 87).
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over the mundane world, which includes thaumaturgic control over human sickness. Their power
over the human karmic condition can fundamentally nullify attacks of sickness and common
pains. This thaumaturgic power is sought through the physical application of bDe chen ’od gsal
rdo rje’s touch, saliva, and breath on the person’s wounded and sick body. However, bDe chen
’od gsal rdo rje also produces a series of consecrated pills that devotees value both for their
spiritual energy and their medicinal properties in the treatment of various ailments.
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje is not, and does not claim to be a doctor or a physician (sman
pa), as this appellation would usually define someone with a formal and comprehensive medical
education. Rather, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s healing powers have spiritual rather than medical
roots. Although many devotees who visit bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje hope to receive some
guidance and assistance in solving health related problems, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje only gives
blessings, blows on the devotee, and offers a small handful of his consecrated pills. In addition, if
the person is in need of medical care he would encourage him/her to go to a doctor or to the
hospital.
When not in rigorous retreat, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje spends most of his time reciting
mantras, practicing short meditation sessions, and performing rituals for his monastic and lay
community. Devotees and pilgrims request his services every day. Generally, people seek bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s spiritual advice and thaumaturgic and prognostication skills. Devotees
enter bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s room, prostrate at his feet, and reverentially sit on the floor
waiting for him to speak. The palms of their hands united in prayer and often with tears in their
eyes, the pilgrim is in front of the sacred incarnate, a human manifestation of the power of
wisdom and devotion. At bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s request, the devotee tells him the reasons
why s/he is visiting. Most of the time, pilgrims request divinations or prognostications of some
sort. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje then asks their name (rang ming), family lineage (rus pa), and
astrological sign (lo rtags) before he begins the divinatory reading of his prayer beads. His
response to a specific question or to the solution of a problem usually comes in the form of
pragmatic advice and it is usually accompanied by one or a series of recommendations, advice,
or recitations for the devotee to perform. If the person suffers from illness or confusion, bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje will intuit from the divination the degree of psycho-physical defilement
(sgrib) afflicting the individual. It is common for bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje to recommend a
series of liturgical rituals such as ablutions and recitations to remove the obscurations that need
to be cleansed and purified by both physical and mental/spiritual means. He often blows air or
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water/saliva (lce bul) on the wounded or affected area and bestows a short blessing ritual to the
person by touching the person’s body and head with his own ritual dagger or with sacred water.
In some cases, when the illness or the physical problem is a serious one, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje suggests to devotees that in addition to his blessing they should seek treatment in a hospital or
see a doctor. However, many people seek his blessing and curative attentions, including people
with back or chest pain, rheumatic problems, men with abrasions on their limbs or cuts on their
hands, and girls with rashes on their shoulders or burns on their arms. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
curing power is not spectacular; apart from blowing on the patient’s suffering body part, reciting
a mantra, and dispersing a little bag with his consecrated pills, he does not offer any other
solution to a devotee’s problem. His divinatory skills and healing power are nevertheless the
main reasons why common people group often with their children in front of his door, patiently
waiting and hoping for an audience.
Tibetans bring their children to the lama for various reasons. In a land still affected by a
high mortality rate among young children and where many women die in childbirth, the
blessings and auspicious protection of a lama are important. Tibetan parents feel a special sense
of responsibility regarding the social and spiritual welfare of their children. To ensure such
benefits and guarantee their children’s wellbeing it is necessary for them to establish a
relationship with a Buddhist master when the child is young. They bring their newborn infants to
ask bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje for a name. The name so acquired is considered particularly
auspicious for the child. It establishes a relationship with the old master, and it will protect them
as if guarded by the lama’s power.
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s spiritual healing powers come from two sources. Because he
was recognized as a manifestation of the healer sMan pa Kun dga’ nyi ma, the legendary
companion of King Ge sar of gLing in many adventures, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje is believed to
have retained some elements of Kun dga’ nyi ma’s thaumaturgic knowledge.620 bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje regularly accepts devotees and provides aid for the solution of health-related matters
and considers his spiritual link with sMan pa Kun dga’ nyi ma fundamental to his role as a
healer. In addition to his charismatic healing powers, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje claims also to
have acquired the knowledge to produce a type of medicine pill (sman ril), which is considered
by many as a cure-all. In the literature such as bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s Gab gsal lag len, these
620 sMan pa Kun dga’ nyi ma appears in various stories about gLing Ge sar’s adventures. See my discussion in the
first section of Chapter 4.
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pellets are often referred to as a panacea or as a “single medicine for a hundred diseases” (nad
brgya sman gcig) and are manufactured in a ritual environment following specific medicine
sādhanās (sman sgrub) that have been revealed as Treasure texts inspired by the deity
Hayagrīva.621 In these rituals, the substances are consacrated and thus acquire the capacity to
infuse their spiritual energy into the faithful and even to spur liberation after having been
ingested (myong grol).
The association between Treasure revelation and healing/medicine is not unusual but
rather common in the history of Tibetan Buddhism.622 Among the active Treasure revealers in
Tibet today are a number of renowned healers such as mThu ldan rdo rje (b. 1941) in ’Jig ’dril
(rNga ba) and gTer ston lHa rgyal dBang drags rol pa’i rdo rje (also known as lHa rgyal rin po
che, b. n.a.) in Padma (mGo log). The healing quality of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s religiosity
has developed from his spiritual achievements in combination with his Treasure revelations. One
of the many activities bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje is known for is the ability to perform special
contemplation practices concerned with the production and consumption of alchemical pills or
the extraction of essences (bcud len). These capsules are known by the name of rTa mgrin ril bu
(Hayagrīva pills) from the name of the deity, rTa mgrin (Hayagrīva) with whose revealed
teachings their production and ritual consumption are associated.
There are a number of Treasure scriptures explaining and describing the production and
use of bcud len within bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s collected Treasures. The third volume of his
collected dgongs gter teachings contains a cycle centered on rTa mgrin, the Hūm chen kā ra’i
thugs tig las rta mgrin rdo rje me char.623 Another set of ritual texts focusing on the production
of bcud len are included in a cycle of Treasure teachings (gter chos skor) highlighting rites of
propitiations (sgrub skor) devoted to the deity Loktṛpāla, one of the main deities belonging to the
practices of dMod pa drag sngags from the group of the Grub pa bka’ brgyad.624
621 Cf. Stearns (2007: 23).
622 See, for instance, Janet Gyatso’s “Thinking about Buddhism and Medicine: Reflections from some Tibetan
Cases.” Paper given in occasion of the XVth Congress of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Emory
University, Atlanta, GA, June 23-28, 2008.
623 For a list of dgongs gter texts revealed by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje see Appendix Three at the end of this
volume. For an overview of the practices of bcud len within the rNying ma school see Germano (1997a).
624 The list of the Grub pa bka’ brgyad as provided to me by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje corresponds to the one in the
Blue Annals in Roerich (1988: 106). These are: ’Jam dpal sku, Padma gsung, Yang dag thugs, bDud rtsi yon tan,
Phur pa ’phrin las, ’Jig rten mchod bstod, Ma mo rbod gtong, and dMod pa drag sngags. From the doctrinal point of
view the Grub pa bka’ brgyad class of deities is fundamental in the discourse of gter revelation. The majority of the
gter-transmitted teachings are in fact propitiatory rites (sādhanā) concerned with the deities of these classes.
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The rubric bcud len (extraction of vital essences) defines a set of ritual practices
concerned with the use, ingestion, and transformation of specific nutritional substances including
herbs and minerals during ritualized contemplative sessions in order to sustain the practitioner’s
life in circumstances of prolonged sessions of intense yogic practices. 625 The performance of
such a ritual ingestion of energetic substances seems to be more than just a yogic practice per se.
In fact, the practice of bcud len is believed to be also effective in extending life (’chi med tshe’i
bcud len), and is considered to be specifically efficient in healing. The Gab gsal lag len (The
Practice of Unveiling the Secret), one of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje Treasure texts on the subject,
reports that as a universal panacea or “single medicine for a hundred diseases” (nad brgya sman
gcig) the bcud len is a remedy to many ills including cancer (skran rigs).626 The consumption of
bcud len pills produced within a ritual environment can be performed in various circumstances
associated with contemplative practices, such as in meditation retreat, long meditative sessions,
and specific fasting practices (myung gnas).627
Ritual activities and yogic techniques such as the bcud len or the generation of dietary
supplements in the context of Tibetan Tantric practices and esoteric textual traditions have been
an object of study only recently. 628 Germano has provided some introductory remarks about
these “alchemical practices,” especially contextualized in the system of the Seminal Heart
(snying thig) organized by kLong chen rab ’byams pa (1308-1363). In his article, Germano
focuses primarily on one aspect of the bcud len practice, which is the consumption of one’s own
energies, or “eating winds.”629 Here we will analyze another aspect of the practice that is more
“substantial,” namely the consumption of pills made of various ingredients whose purpose is also
to support the practitioner’s biological needs in times of intense contemplation. In Tibet today as
in the past such food-related yogic practices constitute an important aspect of religion, and at
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s community the practice is popular.
As for bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s revealed texts concerned with the bcud len belonging to the propitiatory rites
(sgrub thabs) to Loktṛpāla, the principal one is to be found as number 25 in Volume VII of his collected revealed
texts under the title Drang srong loktri’i sgrib skor man ngag khol byung las tshe bcud ril bu’i dmigs rim ’od zer
drwa ba.
625 Germano (1997a).
626 GSLL, f. 1a.
627 bKra shis rgyal mtshan’s oral communication. Ri phu kha mountain hermitage, sKye rgu mdo, Yushu TAP,
August 2001.
628 Germano (1997a).
629 Germano (1997a: 296).
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Among bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s revealed Treasures are the bCud len dmigs rim ’od
zer drwa ba ’chi med srog sgrub (“The Matrix of Rays of Light that Ever Remains: Series of
Concentrations for the Extraction of Vital Essences”), Nyi zla kha sbyor gyi cha lag rlung khrid
tshe bcud kun ’dus (“The Gathering of the Nectar of Long Life: A Manual about Winds that is
Auxiliary to the Union of Sun and Moon”), and the Zab gsang yang tig nyi zla kha sbyor las gab
gsal lag len shel dkar me long (“A Crystal Mirror of The Practice of Unveiling the Secret of the
Sun and Moon’s Profoundly Secret and Quintessential Union”). These three complex texts
describe and give instruction on how to produce and consume bcud len pills.630 The Zab gsang
yang tig nyi zla kha sbyor las gab gsal lag len shel dkar me long (also called Gab gsal lag len,
henceforth GSLL), both for its length, four folios, and clearness of exposition is particularly apt
for a brief introduction of this activity as proposed by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje. In the colophon
the author informs the reader that the GSLL, an instruction manual for the production of bcud len
pills, was originally received in the form of a series of pure visions (dag snang). It was then
written down and composed as a sort of memorandum (brjed tho) by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje
on the specific request of rDo rje bkra shis, one of his closest disciples.631
Although beginning with a quotation from a Treasure text referring to Padmasambhava,
in the colophon of the GSLL the text itself does not reproduce any final assertion about its pure
vision nature and the way it was revealed.632 The only visual element that identifies the scripture
as a pure vision (dag snang) teaching is the presence of the characteristic orthographical device
and interval mark, similar to a double-comma, at the end of each verse.633 In the GSLL, the
practice of producing these essences is directly associated with the practice of rdzogs chen
contemplation. In particular, bcud len seem to fit in the eclectic series of exercises and yogic
performances meant to heighten the practitioner’s perception. It also provides the practitioner
with the necessary experiential background during the practices of the essential path of
generation and completion (bskyed rdzogs lam gyi snying po). The GSLL compares the
630 Respectively numbers 34, 35, and 36 of Volume III according to the list of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s revealed
teachings at the end of this volume.
631 […] rdo rje bkris [= bkra shis] don gnyer phyir/ mi smyon pra bhas brjed tho tsam te bris// GSLL, f. 4a.
632 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s personal communication. August 2000.
633 The status given to pure visions (dag snang) as a transmission methods within the rNying ma tradition is quite
complex. Technically speaking pure visions are usually very similar to mind Treasures (dgongs gter) in the way they
manifest. See Thondup (1986: 61-62). The distinction between dag snang and dgongs gter is indeed subtle. It is not
uncommon to find teachers according the same value and characteristics to these two kinds of transmission. It is
worth noting that bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s perception of the issue is in many ways quite clear since he revealed
his spiritual texts as both mind Treasures (dgongs gter) and pure visions (dag snang). He refers to both of them as
Treasures (gter kha). See previous chapter for my discussion of dag snang and dgongs gter.
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innermost nature of rdzogs chen teachings and the supporting power of the extraction of essences
to signify a unity of purpose and to highlight the bcud len’s aid in the achievement of liberation.
According to the GSLL:
The very secret and supreme system of the oral teachings of Padma[sambhava], the A ti snying thig or
Great Perfection of the resplendent seminal heart, is the perfect essence of knowledge just in one
single drop, so that the profound practice can ripen and liberate in this very same life. Practice the
essence of the path of generation and completion in union with this recipient of innermost essence. sa
ma ya.634
The bcud len pills described in the GSLL are complex calcium-containing compounds. The
GSLL specifies that this universal panacea (nad brgya sman gcig), which is the extract of
essences of the ambrosia (bdud rtsi’i bcud len), is made of precious stones such as diamond (rin
chen pha lam), gold (gser), silver (dngul), iron (lcags), copper (zangs), and mercury (dngul chu)
in various quantities. 635 The text warns that particular attention should be devoted to the
purification of such ingredients before employing them. The mixture also requires other
ingredients, such as the traditional “three whites and the three sweets” and a series of other
components including various roots, plants, and herbs.636
The GSLL emphasizes that among the various benefits produced by the practice of bcud
len are long life (tshe ring), curing sickness (nad sel), enhancing physical strength (lus stobs),
and improving the symptoms of old age (sgar sra). 637 It also establishes nutritional essences
(dwangs ma) and provides a fine complexion (sha bkra). Providing strength, the bcud len is
believed to increase the level of bodily activity and cures the unbalance between air, bile, and
phlegm, the three main constituents of the human body according to traditional Indian and
Tibetan medicine. The five powders (gold, silver, copper, iron, and mercury) are believed to
provide protection from planetary gods (gza’), nāga (klu), and evil spirits (’byung po) by
634 padma’i zhal lung yang gsang bla med lugs/
’od gsal snying thig a ti rdzogs pa che/
kun bzang dgongs bcud thig la nyag gcig pu/
zab mo nyams len tshe ’dir grol smin phyir/
yang gsang snying po gwa’u [= ga’u] kha sbyor ’dis/
bskyed rdzogs lam gyi snying po ’di ’bad/
sa ma ya /
GSLL, f. 1b.
635 GSLL, f. 1a.
636 GSLL, f. 2a. dkar gsum (the three whites): zho (curd), ’o ma (milk), and mar (butter). While mngar gsum (the
three sweets) are: ka ra (sugar), bu ram (molasses), and sbrang rtsi (honey).
637 GSLL, f. 3a
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removing various poisons that cause obscuration and illness. Another benefit achieved with the
ingestion of bcud len pills is the elimination of dizziness (rmug ’thib) and tumors (skran). The
GSLL claims that on a physical level the bcud len not only slows the degeneration of the body by
providing strength (lus dbang nyams pa gso) and generating long life (tshe ring stobs skyed), but
it also increases the diffusion of bliss heat (bde drod) when combined with the practice of
channel and winds (rtsa rlung). 638 Thus the practice of bcud len aids also in the practice of
another form of yoga, that of the gtum mo or the generation of inner heat.
The religious discourse to which the bcud len belong is rdzogs chen. These substances
are to be produced in the specific ritual and contemplative environment of rdzogs chen in order
to produce the expected results. Again in the GSLL we read:
The medicinal extraction of essences is like the single knowledge that liberates all. They are essences
that enhance all the senses suppressing the illnesses of the six hollow organs. Once dissolved, they
remove disorder in a sick body.639
The religious implications of the practice of bcud len and the ritual manufacture and distribution
of blessed ma 6i pills represent a complex aspect of Tibetan Buddhist contemplation techniques
and require more study. Among the many yogic practices associated with rdzogs chen, those
involving bcud len and other food-related ingestions are considered aids to removal of food-
fixation blockages and achievement of spiritual liberation.640 Additionally, requesting, receiving,
and ingesting pills from a revered religious master provides the follower with the opportunity to
reaffirm his/her membership in the sphere of the master and thus reinforces a sense of identity,
638 lag len don khel nus pa’i yon tan ni/
tshe ring nad sel rgas sra lus stobs ’phel/
dwang [= dwangs] ma gnas ’jog sha bskrag [= skra] chags pa dang/
stobs bskyed rtsal kyang mi nyams gong ’phel nas/
rlung mkhris bad kan ’du ba mi nyoms gso/
thal ba lnga yis gza’klu ’byung po’i gdon/
grib dang rtsa nad gyur dug sna tshogs sel/
dus nad rtsar rgyug rmug ’thib ’dras skran zhi/
tshe ring stobs bskyed lus dbang nyams pa gso/
bcud len mchog gyur rtsa rlung bde drod ’phel/
GSLL, f. 3a.
639 snod drug nad ’joms dbang po kun gsal rdzas/
bsdu bsgrubs nad ldan kyi ’du ’khrugs sel/
gcig shes kun grol sman gyi bcud len no/
GSLL, f. 4a. I decided to translate the expression bsdu bsgrubs with “dissolve” in accordance to bKra shis mtsho
mo’s explanation and advice. Ri phug kha hermitage, Mount gNas chen padma (Yushu TAP), Qinghai, August
2000. The six hollow organs (snod drug) are the stomach (pho ba), intestines (rgya ma), abdomen (long ga), bile
bag (mkhris thum), bladder (lgang pa), and vesicle of regeneration (bsam se’u).
640 Germano (1997).
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community, and loyalty to the teacher. In such a process, the altruistic, benevolent, and
protective power of the Buddhist master transcends the symbolic action of spiritual support and
becomes the quintessential agent in the devotees’ desired soteriological transformation.
In the last section we will continue to explore the role of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje in his
community and especially his strong presence among his devotees through the distribution of
other materials linked to soteriological and protective powers.
Mu tig tsa tsa: bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s Protective Amulets
In Asia, the cult of Buddhist amulets, blessed articles, and sanctified images is very old.641 In
Tibet, the request, reception, and display of blessed amulets including effigies of the Buddha,
images and relics of influential teachers and masters, protective cords and necklaces, and charm
boxes is an ancient tradition that is still popular today. With the influence of new technologies,
pictorial images of Buddhas and bodhisattvas, computerized portraits and collages of
contemporary Buddhist masters, and digitalized photos have added new materials to a world
already populated with sacred items and artifacts.
The devotee visiting bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje would like to receive some of the Buddhist
master’s blessed items known for their protective and auspicious power such as small paper bags
containing his “Hayagrīva pills.” As we have seen above, these consecrated herbal and mineral
pellets are believed to act as remedies for many diseases and also to provide assistance in gaining
spiritual realization for the serious and faithful practitioner. If the situation requires more
attention, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje includes blessed cords and protective wheel talismans meant
to be added to the devotee’s personal reliquary purse (ga’u), which Tibetans wear as a necklace
or around their bodies.
However, every Tibetan who visits the old teacher would like to possess one of his mu tig
tsa tsa, or devotional “clay pearls.” These are small clay forms made from a brass mould in the
shape of two circular cones united at the base. The mu tig tsa tsa are said to represent Zangs
mdog dpal ri, the Glorious Copper Colored Mountain and pure land abode of Padmasambhava.
The mu tig tsa tsa are prepared in accordance with bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s visionary
experiences. The clay employed to manufacture the talismans is mixed with the earth of various
641 See for instance Stanley Tambiah’s classic work on the cult of amulets in Thailand (1984).
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Treasure places he has visited including the area around Nyag bla sgar.642 For the manufacture of
the mu tig tsa tsa, the clay is kneaded by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s closest monastic disciples.
The mu tig tsa tsa are then shaped with the mold and baked in the wood stove in bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje’s private room in his presence. During the cooking period bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje
and a few of his monastics recite prayers. When the mu tig tsa tsa are ready, a consecration ritual
is performed (rab gnas) and their potency enriched by sprinkling them with blessed water and
touching them with bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s ritual dagger that he retrieved as a Treasure.
The mu tig tsa tsa are considered particularly powerful talismans, hence their wearers
carry them on their persons attached to blessed cords that they tie around their necks or string
onto a necklace. They are thought to bring protection and good fortune and are believed to be
imbued with the blessing power of the old master who has consecrated them. Before offering the
amulets to his devotees, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje grabs the mu tig tsa tsa, holds and rolls them
in his hands, recites prayers, and blows his breath on them thus transmitting more of his virtues
and power to the amulets and increasing their potency. Practically every Tibetan including
children in the Nang chen and sKye rgu mdo areas who has met bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje and is
one of his followers can be recognized by the mu tig tsa tsa amulets tied around their necks.
The subject of mu tig tsa tsa amulets represents an important aspect of Tibetan popular
religion and the enthusiasm of those wearing them is proof of the interest in such a custom and
respect for the mystic who offered them. It also embodies a specific religious identity and
imagined community that bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s clientele construct. They are external signs
of belonging to this community, “reminders” of the master’s presence, activities, and guidance,
and at the same time they are agents of active social practices, much in the same fashion as the
veneration of Buddhist relics.643 As tsa tsa (sometimes spelled tsha tsha644) or a small votive clay
icons, the mu tig tsa tsa belong to the Tibetan category of Buddhist effigies and relics. They are
figures (gzugs brnyan) traditionally manufactured with clay and sometimes grain coming in
different forms and sizes and usually serving as a form of offering to sacred places and religious
sites including mountain passes, lakes, stūpas, and temples. However, blessed tsa tsa are also
carried on the person, or stored in charm boxes (ga’u), and sometimes are displayed on home
altars as an act of respect for the religious figure, deity, bodhisattva or Buddha they represent and
642 Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje manufactured similar talismans for his community.
643 Germano (2004a: 52).
644 The Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen po reports the spelling tsha tsha.
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embody. Tsa tsa can thus represent anything from images of the Buddha or masters to deities and
bodhisattvas, stūpas, and so forth. The tsa tsa are consecrated items that are believed to store the
power and especially the blessing presence of the Buddhist master who has manufactured them.
In this they are similar to Buddhist relics, which symbolize the Buddha’s life, attainments, and
powers. The mu tig tsa tsa are, using Tambiah’s words, “fields of merit,” embedded with bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s Buddhist attributes and spiritual achievements.645 The mu tig tsa tsa thus
represent the unique relationship between the soil hosting the Treasure and the religious person
who “opened” its hidden door, the Treasure revealer. They are reminders of bDe chen ’od gsal
rdo rje’s advice, instructions, and spiritual support for the devotees who wear them. They inspire
their possessor to recall his/her religious commitments, ethical behavior, and devotion towards
their master. They are also a means to affirm cultural identity, a sense of religious community,
and loyalty to their spiritual leader.
There is no devotee of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje who does not carry a mu tig tsa tsa
around his/her neck. Additionally, those closest to bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje proudly guard
filings from his nails, strands of his white hair, and pieces of his clothes in their reliquary purses.
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s items and mu tig tsa tsa are considered with utmost respect among
his followers. They represent the teacher’s presence, the transmission of his virtuous potency
(byin rlabs) and also the devotee’s sincere expression of devotion towards his master. The mu tig
tsa tsa, and likewise any other “relics” produced by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje are said to create
“great benefits” since the sick person believes they will help to heal him or her, the devout to
accumulate merits, the traveler to be protected along the way of his pilgrimage, and the parent to
guard his or her offspring.
Concluding Remarks
One of the main issues of this chapter has been the exploration of the rTa ’grin rdo rje me char,
the cycle of Treasures that characterizes bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s primary role as revealer. The
collection epitomizes his connection with Tibet’s past and also his expertise and role as a
messenger of Padmasambhava. His collection of Treasure includes the typical triadic structure of
bla rdzogs thugs as prescribed by tradition where the revelations are organized according to
645 Tambiah (1984: 200-201).
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cycles associated with the lama or Padmasambhava, rdzogs chen, and the bodhisattva
Avalokiteśvara, i.e. Thugs rje chen po (Skt. Mahākāruṇika). bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
revelations also include many other kinds of rituals that address more pragmatic applications.
These collections of mantras (sngags ’bum) are meant to improve a number of yogic skills such
as swift walking (rkang mgyogs), longevity practices (tshe sgrub), and the extraction of elements
(bcud len), but they also included ransom rites (glud gdos), life summoning rituals (bla ’gugs),
and feast offerings (tshogs mchod).
The ‘Path of effortlessness,’ or rtsol med, contained in the TsM offers an important
introduction to the initiation of the non-celibate Tantric practitioner. The TsM initiand’s newly
acquired status as a non-celibate Tāntrika is portrayed as a path to enlightenment where not only
does the adept vow to practice and accomplish specific doctrines, namely rdzogs chen, but also
to display a series of emblems or regalia (rgyan) that represent each skill and achievement
(fulfilled or to be fulfilled) of the practitioner. I was immediately drawn to this text in 1997 when
I met bKra shis rgyal mtshan and Tshe bzang bsam gling rin po che in Lhasa. When I asked what
kind of texts bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje had revealed so far, their immediate answer was “there
are many, but one is the rTsol med.”646 The reason of my fascination for this text is that it
concerns the heart of the notion of religious identity. The fifteen emblems the text describes are
to be carried always on the body of the non-celibate Tantric adept and to be displayed as marks
of greatness (che rtags). Additionally, being associated with the glorious past of imperial Tibet
and the period of the Early Translations of Buddhist scriptures, they constitute one of the major
attempts of the Treasure tradition to preserve a link between Tibet’s religious past and future.
Among the many facets of Treasure revelation is the introduction of fresh material for the
devotee’s spiritual advancement and also material support. Materiality is an important element in
revelation. As we have seen, one of the recurrent characteristics of Treasure revealers is their
involvement in religious or charismatic healing practices, therapeutic thaumaturgy, and the
production of charms of talismanic power. Just as in the past, today’s Treasure revealers are
often skilled in traditional medicine and pharmacology, and many of their revelations produce
medical texts and manuals for the preparation of medicinal remedies. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
rta mgrin ril bu or Hayagrīva pills and his alchemical pills or essence extract (bcud len) inspired
by deities such as Hayagrīva are examples of such an aspect of Treasure revelation. Produced
646 bKra shis rgyal mtshan, oral communication. Lhasa, Shol gsar pa, June 1997.
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according to the instructions contained in a series of text revealed in the form of mind Treasure
(dgongs gter), the extractions of elements are meant to support a practitioner’s nourishment
during times of intense contemplation. Additionally, the concept of ingesting essential energies,
either in the material form of pills and juices or in the more intangible aspect of winds (rlung),
elaborates on the idea of detachment from the mundane world, in this case from food, and
enhances yogic advancement.
The production of apotropaic articles such as the rta mgrin ril bu is much appreciated by
devotees and disciples alike who regularly visit bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje with the hope of
increasing their merit and curing ills. In return for their sincere devotion and veneration, the
master offers a token of his appreciation in the form of a blessing (byin rlabs) demonstrating his
gratefulness and spiritual assistance. In this sense the rta mgrin ril bu and the mu tig tsa tsa
belong to the broad category of saintly relics or ring srel, which, as Dan Martin has
demonstrated, do not necessarily refer only to bodily remains in the traditional sense of the
word.647 Receiving these precious blessed pills and protective talismans is associated with the
guarantee of a degree of spiritual protection and physical well-being for the devotee and a step
further towards liberation. They are also markers of a well-defined sense of cultural and religious
identity and membership in a distinctive social community.
647 Martin (1996: 278-79).
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Conclusions: bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s Legacy
The life of Tibetan Treasure revealers in contemporary Tibet deserves scholarly attention
because their activities represent a vibrant facet of religious revival. In order to explore this
phenomenon, this study has integrated an historical perspective on Treasure revelation with an
overview of the challenges brought about by the current political environment in Tibet. I have
grounded this study by focusing on the life and activities of one Treasure revealer in
contemporary Tibet, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje. Not only did I give an overview of his
revelations, but I also explored how Treasure revelation and the worship of gter ma items and
teachings claim meaning in modern Tibet.
By exploring the world, the life, and the activities of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje we have
realized that there is a great continuity between present-day Treasure revealers and those of the
eleventh century. The essential ideals underlying the tradition are the same, namely, the retrieval
of supposedly ancient manuscripts in a ritual context that can authenticate and at the same time
legitimate contemporary religious practices and spiritual traditions. Additionally, Buddhist
masters such as bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje are particularly interesting because they have
witnessed the transition from a traditional Tibetan society to becoming a part of the rapidly
modernizing PRC. They therefore are well situated to offer us a glimpse of the social, religious,
and political transformations of this tubolent period of human history. Throughout the flux of the
twenty-first century it is remarkable to see how charismatic leaders such as bDe chen ’od gsal
rdo rje continue to administer to their religious communities via traditional religious practices
despite these times of rapid change and modernization.
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje has spent a life on pilgrimage in continual interaction with the
soil of Tibet, material or ethereal, extracting religious items and revealing sacred scriptures. The
network of residences and mountain hermitages he established testify to a life devoted to an
incessant dialogue with village communities and Buddhist monasteries investing in “geological
loyalties,” that is, the personal commitment to renew and solidify the relationship between the
land of Tibet and its inhabitants. In doing so, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje developed a diverse
network of sacred places and hidden valleys by excavating sacred items, revealing mental
Treasures, and marking rocks associated with his revelations with his foot prints (zhabs rjes),
thus sanctifying the environment, renewing local cults, and enjoying local economic patronage.
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I would call this attitude the “ecology of revelation” as I think it represents the interaction
between man and nature; a typical and central element of Tibetan religious sensibility. Tibetan
Buddhism has thus created a distinctive culture where selected people become recipients of
transmitted knowledge by becoming one with their environment. The soil and the sky of Tibet
thus offer and produce sacred objects of inestimable spiritual value. The lives of bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje and of his disciples bKra shis rgyal mtshan and his wife dPal chen lha mo are
dedicated to the communication and interaction with the ethereal world of local deities, 7ākinīs,
and sacred vultures who become the mediators between the land and the Tibetan people. In these
interactions, the Treasure revealer becomes the intermediary between the past, the golden era of
Tibetan civilization, and the present. Tibetans expect Treasure revealers to extract Treasures
from the soil of Tibet as an act of confirming the existence of a past that is still present, a
continuity of an imagined and idealized dimension where Tibetan civilization is not threatened
but still flourishes, giving hope for a good present and an even better future.
Although more needs to be done to fully understand the mechanisms behind the
identification of an actual Treasure revealer, the study of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s life has
nevertheless helped us frame a possible scenario. First of all prophetic dreams and visions have a
pivotal function in an individual’s understanding of his or her role in the religious world. Dreams
and visions are very much a cultural element endemic to Tibetan indigenous beliefs. bDe chen
’od gsal rdo rje narrates the vicissitudes of his life in the style of other Treasure revealers, by
emphasizing prophetic visions and pivotal meetings with prominent masters who recognized his
talents and announced his mission. Despite the radical changes and the continual transformations
of his land under Chinese control, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s reconnection with the mythic and
glorious past of imperial Tibet never ceases to emerge in his revelations and writings.
In this sense, in his autobiographical writings bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje appears as the
archetype of Padmasambhava’s messenger, the Treasure revealer par excellence for whom
visions, prophetic dreams, encounters with 7ākinīs, and studies with prominent teachers
announced his mystic and visionary career. His narrative is as normatively linear as it is replete
with the soteriological stages of his religious path. It also conveys the dramatized scenario of his
self-quest and the need for legitimacy that Treasure revealers must obtain in order to “reveal”
their teachings. Never rejecting the value of his heritage, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje resolutely
reaffirms his belief in the past, his attachment to tradition, and the importance of his mission.
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The second factor enhancing bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s status as a Treasure revealer is
his recognition as a charismatic visionary and a virtuoso in Tantric practice by influential
religious leaders. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s studies with several prominent Buddhist teachers
across the Tibetan plateau are reported in his autobiography, which not only reproduces the
sources of his education and knowledge, but also serves as a foundation for his authority. In a
society where lineage transmission is the major channel to traditional education, a Treasure
revealer’s legitimacy is validated by being confirmed and approved by other affirmed authorities.
A third factor that has a particular influence on the recognition of a Treasure revealer is
the moral and material support of a group of followers who reflect the impact of the Treasure
revealer’s spiritual production and charismatic power. In this study I have shown how bDe chen
’od gsal rdo rje’s sphere of action does not address monastics only but involves a larger lay
religious community whose interests are often less abstract and more empirical. Religious
materiality in the form of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s amulets, charms, and consecrated pills and
the deployment of his personal charisma expressed via prognostications, blessings, and spiritual
advice reaffirm the role of a Treasure revealer in the contemporary Tibetan culture as much as it
helps to fill the historical gap created by the long and aggressive colonial rule.
This study has investigated some of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s major gter ma texts. In
particular, we have examined two key gter ma manuscripts that are among the most
representative of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s lineage: the rTa mgrin yang gsang rdo rje me char
gyi rtsol med gsang sngags myur lam (The Effortless Quick Path of the Mantra according to rTa
mgrin yang gsang rdo rje me char) and a group of texts devoted to the practice of the bcud len or
“extraction of vital essences” represented by the Gab gsal lag len (The Practice of Unveiling the
Secret). Through the study of these texts, two important features of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
lineage have emerged: one is the display of the so-called dpa’ chas bco lnga, or the “fifteen
heroic emblems.” My conclusion is that these are central symbols that reflect bDe chen ’od gsal
rdo rje’s identity and sense of lineage continuity. By dressing in a certain way and wearing these
ornaments through a ritualized initiation, the followers of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s practices
emphasize their association with the path of the non-celibate Tantric professional. Especially
important are two elements, long hair and white robes. While the first conveys the primary
message of non-celibacy and, therefore, the transformation of sexually triggered energies into
spiritually charged activities, the white robe is the symbol of the Tantric adept’s gtum mo or
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inner heat, one of the most advanced yogic techniques conducive to the meditative states of
enlightenment.
Additionally, through the study of ritual texts such as the Gab gsal lag len, we have been
exposed to a major feature in the realm of material practice, namely, the production and ritual
consumption of various consecrated pills, the rta mgrin ril bu. Here too I believe that such a
ritual performance has been constructed for both religious professionals and lay believers. These
pills can be ingested in a ritual context during the performance of specific fasting practices
(myung gnas) associated with long meditation sessions and also by lay devotees who simply
desire to receive some of the spiritual energy believed to imbue the pellets, to extend their lives,
and to cure every kind of ill.
The study of the life of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje and the Treasure tradition in present-
day Tibet has exposed us also to the notion of a continuing presence of Buddhism through the
revelation of fresh material items and spiritual scriptures. Although much has changed in Tibet’s
socio-political circumstances, there seems to be nothing particularly new in the idea of Treasure
revelations today that did not exist in the past. The Treasure revealers’ romantic notion of a
continual presence of the Buddha or his manifestation as Padmasambhava provides the
metaphysical ground for the belief in a constant renewal of spiritual support and of the temporal
moral order through the service of their messengers, the Treasure revealers. Particularly in times
of cultural alienation and political threat, the prophecy-based millenarian presence of Treasure
revelations is well-suited for recreating religious identity and fostering faith in Buddhism and its
leaders.648 This is evident in the content of practices and instructions contained in large gter ma
cycles such as the Yang gsang rta mgrin rdo rje me char, the corpus of bDe chen ’od gsal rod
rje’s rdzogs chen-based revelations. To begin with, the variety of deities, bodhisattvas, and gods
that inspired most of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s revelations and visions reflects the need to
nourish faith in Tibet’s essential nature as a land of gods, spirits, and divine energies that are
believed to deliberately determine its people’s present and future. Furthermore, the complexity
and assortment of practices such as the collection of mantras (sngags ’bum) that improve a
number of yogic skills such as swift walking (rkang mgyogs), longevity practices (tshe sgrub),
extraction of elements (bcud len), ransom rites (glud gdos), life summoning (bla ’gugs), and
648 Brawen-Dolma (1985).
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feast offerings (tshogs mchod) reflect confidence in the power of religion and the importance of
faith in a country where Tibetans are not given the right to control their future.649
The interaction between politics and religion in China is a sensitive issue that is being
constantly monitored by scholars and specialists. Much of the Buddhist activities of today’s
religious charismatic leaders are deeply influenced by the post-Mao political authorities’
attitudes towards ethnic minorities and religion. Recent policies applied by Chinese leaders and
local authorities to religious institutions and monasteries have set a certain trend among
monasteries and monastic communities. Encouraged to act self-sufficiently and having lost the
prominent institutional position in Tibetan society they enjoyed in the past, monasteries have
suffered major adversities while their monastic population has been dramatically reduced.
However, political control over monasteries has not seemed to curb the religious fervor and
determination of the Tibetan populace. Less institutionally controlled and more loosely
organized mountain hermitages (ri khrod) and semi-monastic religious encampments (chos sgar)
have flourished in the last decades, creating new spaces for traditional forms of education and
study of religious practices. One of the most revealing phenomena linked to this trend is the
development of chos sgar into large quasi-monastic entities that have grown out of the
charismatic leadership of Treasure revealers such as the late mKhan po ’Jigs med phun tshogs,
Grub dang lung rtogs rgyal mtshan, and O rgyan sku gsum gling pa.
The tension between political control and religious freedom underlies the current socio-
cultural dynamics in Tibet. The same tension, I believe, is also behind the renewed importance of
the Treasure revelation movement as an attempt to reaffirm historical loyalties and to contradict
social and ethnic alienation in the PRC. The Treasure revealer mediates between two separate
but closely interconnected spheres, that of spiritual charisma and religious authority. Through the
potency of his Treasure revelations and the authority conferred on him by various religious
leaders, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje reconnects his disciples with their historical past, thus
consolidating their religious identity and cultural legacy. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje offers himself
not only as the traditional link between Tibet’s past and the current need to safeguard Tibetan
sense of religious identity, but also as an ideological force behind the contemporary renaissance
of Buddhism in his land.
649 Germano (1998: 90).
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Appendix One: The Dance of the Immaculate Vajra
Rig ’dzin nus ldan rdo rje’i rnam thar bsdus pa dri med rdo rje’i zlos gar 650
The Dance of the Immaculate Vajra: A Brief Biography of Rig ’dzin nus ldan rdo rje.651
[f. 1b] I praise and prostrate in reverence to Amitābha,652 the absolute body653
Avalokiteśvara, the complete enjoyment body,
Padmasambhava, the emanation body,
The Awareness-Holder654 dGa’ rab rdo rje,655
’Jam dpal bshes gnyen,656 Nāgārjuna,657 and Hūṃ chen kā ra,658
650 Please see Text 2 in Appendix for the original text in transliteration.
651 Nus ldan rdo rje, is an epithet of gTer chen bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje (b.1921).
652 sNang mtha’ (sNang ba mtha’ yas, Skt. Amitābha). Amitābha is one of the five Buddha families (rgyal ba rigs
lnga), together with Akṣobhya, Vairocana, Ratnasaṃbhava, and Amoghasiddhi). He is the Buddha whose
manifestation (sprul sku, nirmā6akāya) is Padmasambhava himself.
653 chos sku (Skt. dharmakāya). “Reality body” or “Absolute body” is the first of threefold mode of existence (sku
gsum) related to a Buddha that include also the “Enjoyment body” (longs sku; Skt. sambhogakāya), and the
“Emanation body” (sprul sku; Skt. nirmā6akāya). Thus chos sku refers to the primordial state of Buddha, the energy
in its purest and imperceptible form. This compassionate energy, in order to be perceived and appreciated has
developed in two further states or bodies (Skt. rūpakāya), the longs sku, which represents the enjoyment of Buddha
nature, and its manifestation as luminosity and psychic energy. This state of existence often refers to the
Bodhisattvas. The sprul sku instead is the actual emanation sphere of Buddha’s physical forms where the psychic
continuity of the primordial energy indicates their unobstructed and all-pervading power. It is in this state that the
spiritual leaders are believed to actually perform compassionate deeds for the welfare of ordinary human beings.
654 In Tibetan Buddhism rig ’dzin, abbreviation for rig pa ’dzin pa, is a title applied to those practitioners who have
attained realization in the tantric system. Translation of the Sanskrit term vidyādhara, in English this term is usually
rendered as “awareness-holder” or “knowledge-holder”, and indicates a person's attainment (’dzin pa) of awareness
or knowledge (rig pa). In the rNying ma tradition there are four different kind of awareness-holders, according to
the different levels of attainement, rnam par smin pa’i rig ’dzin (Completely-Mature Vidyādhara); tshe la dbang
pa’i rig ’dzin (a Vidyādhara with Control over Life); phyag rgya chen po’i rig ’dzin (Mahāmudra Vidyādhara); and
the lhun gyis grub pa’i rig ’dzin (Spontaneously Manifested Vidyādhara).
655 dGa’ rab rdo rje (Skt. *Pramodavajra) is a semi-legendary figure credited with the earliest diffusion of the Great
Perfection teachings in the human world. Tradition has it that he is the first human being to have actually been
exposed to the teachings of rdzogs chen as taught directly by Vajrasattva (rDo rje sems dpa’) who himself received
them from the primordial Buddha (Skt. Adibuddha), Samantabhadra (Kun tu bzang po). dGa’ rab rdo rje transmitted
the entire set of teachings received to his pre-eminent disciple Mañjūśrimitra (Jam dpal bshe gnyen).
656 Mañjuśrimitra (‘Jam dpal bshes gnyen), is traditionally believed to be the principal disciple of dGa’ rab rdo rje.
He received by his master the whole set of teachings of the Great Perfection rDzogs pa chen po while staying at the
cremation ground of bsil ba’i tshal (Śīvatana). dGa’ rab rdo rje, Mañjuśrimitra, Śrīsiṃha (Shri sing ha) and
Jñānasūtra (Ye shes mdo) are traditionally called by the collective name of Four Viḍyādhara (Rig ’dzin bzhi). For an
account of these figures of rDzogs chen see Thondup (1984), Dudjom (1991), and Reynolds (1996).
657 Nāgadzu = Nāgārjuna. The well-known Indian philosopher of the second century C.E. who is associated with the
doctrine of emptiness (Skt. śūnyatā) central view of the Mādhyamaka School (Tib. dbu ma). Nāgārjuna is also at the
center of the myth where he himself retrieved the Buddhist scriptures the Prajñāpāramitā sūtra (Shes rab kyi pha
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The mind, symbolic, and oral trasmissions [of the Buddhist teachings],659
The scriptural transmission of the yellow scrolls,660 the mind-mandate transmission of
aspirations,661
And the transmission of those fortunate prophesied individuals,662
rol tu phyin pa), which had been entrusted by the Buddha to the nāgas. On this myth see, among others, Dowman
(1988), Gyatso (1998: 147).
658 Hūng chen kā ra, probably Hūṃkara, also known as Hūṃ mdzad, is one of the early siddha at the center of the
transmission of Anuyoga and one of the lineage holders of the rdzogs chen tradition stemming back from dGa’ rab
rdo rje. See Dargyay (1979: 40-41). See also Powers (1995:325), who mentions Hūṃ ka ra as one of the teachers of
gNubs chen Sangs rgyas ye shes. Most probably here it refers to Hūṃ ka ra, the Nepalese master responsible for the
diffusion of the transmitted precepts (bka’ ma) within the Mahāyoga lineage and author of the Yang dag ru lug ser
phreng, the Yangdak Rulu Golden Rosary, a treatise of the two stages of generation and completion. Dudjom (1991:
475-477).
659 dgongs brda snyan brgyud: rgyal ba’i dgongs pa’i brgyud pa (the Victorious Ones’ transmission of intentions),
rig ’dzin brda’i brgyud pa (the Vidyādharas’ transmission in symbols), and gang zag snyan khung du brgyud pa (the
oral transmission of the human beings’). These three methods of transmission belong to what the rNying ma school
of Tibetan Buddhism considers the ring brgyud bka’ ma, the long transmission of the Buddhist teaching according
to an uninterrupted lineage of teachers and disciples, one of the two major systems of doctrinal transmission
according to this school, the other being the nye brgyud gter ma, the direct or short transmission through the
treasures in both material (sa gter) and spiritual or mental (dgongs gter) form. The nye brgyud gtre ma class
traditionally includes three further methods of transmission, namely the smon lam dbang bskur (empowerment by
aspiration), the bka’ babs lung bstan (prophecy of the statement), and the mkha’ ’gro’i gtad rgya (7ākinī’s
entrustement). As we shall see immediately below the triad of such methods of the nye brgyud gter ma as provided
by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje in this text is articulated slightly differently from the traditional one.
A third category is also often included within the traditional rNying ma transmission methods, the zab mo dag
snang, or the transmission of teachings through profound or pure visions. See Dargyay (1979: 12-73), Prats (1982:
38, n. 19), Tulku Thondup (1987: 37-40).
660 shog gser tshig brgyud. The shog ser (yellow paper), or shog dril ser po (yellow rolled paper) are yellow paper
scrolls traditionally believed to be ancient textual teachings written by Padmasambhava or even by some of his
closest disciples. A few languages seem to have been employed to write the teachings, the most common one being
what has come to be known as the 7ākinīs’ symbolic script (mkha’’gro brda yig). Usually the texts written on these
scrolls are extremely brief and often contain only a few lines or even syllables that the treasure discoverer alone can
decipher and understand. According to the tradition, after having been composed the yellow scroll teachings were
concealed in material sites and locations such as boulders, rocks, rivers, tree trunks, and other locales such as pillars
of monasteries with the specific purpose to be re-discovered by chosen figures to benefit future generations. Most of
the shog gser discovered are considered to be sa gter (material or earth treasures). See Thondup (1981), Dargyay
(1980), and Prats (1982: 83) for further discussions on this topic. Here the “transmission of the statement as yellow
scrolls” should be understood as the appointment of the actual teaching to the 7ākinīs (mkha’ ’gro gtad rgya) when,
as a final step to complete the procedure of transmission of treasure teachings, Padmasambhava designated specific
7ākinīs to “encode” the teaching into symbolic letters decipherable only by the appointed treasure discoverer. They
thus committed it to a written sequence on small yellow scrolls, and concealed them in material locations, in the case
of earth treasures (sa gter), or impressed in the disciples mind, in the case of mental treasures (dgongs gter).
661 smon lam gtad rgya brgyud. Padmasambhava after having transmitted Tantric teachings with the specific purpose
of making them treasures meant to be beneficial not only to the actual receivers but also to the generations of the
future, he performed a special ceremony where the aspiration initiation (smon lam dbang bskur) was carried out in
order to expose his intention and express the wish that the teachings would be rediscovered in the future at the
proper time. During this ceremony Padmasambhava designated one of his closest disciples as the treasure discoverer
of that specific teaching in one of his future lives and conveyed an “appointment” or “entrustment” (gtad rgya) into
the person’s mind. In this momentous event lies the basis of the whole treasure transmission. Gyatso (1998:159).
662 gang zag las can lung zin brgyud pa. The “transmission of the fortunate individuals who hold the prophecy (lung
bstan)”. This method refers to a further step in Padmasambhava transmission process ment to enforce and strengthen
the appointement previously conveyed to his close disciples. Gyatso (1998:161). The communication of a prophecy
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And the Ocean of Magical Illusions,663
Which teach according to many different circumstances,
[f. 2a] And the activities of the Victorious Ones of all the three times,664
So that this action for the welfare and happiness of living beings will be uninterrupted.
The time has arrived to present the realized Awareness-Holder mKhyen sprul bde chen gling
pa’s665 teachings, which are like the sun and moon, a dance of emanations. In this regard it has
been written:
[f. 2b] “Oh, great and skillful hero,666
[You bring the sentient beings to complete spiritual maturity]667
Victorious One of one hundred million deeds,
Instruct us on enlightenment!
Nowadays, you, oh Lord,668
Teach us extensively on enlightenment!”
And also:
“Teach us constantly about Nirvā6a,
foretelling the revelation (bka’ bab lung bstan) is fundamental for the announcement of the time and circumstances
related to the discovery of the teachings in the future.
663 sgyu ’phrul rgya mtsho. This term refers to a broad classification of Tantric literature. This classification of
Tantras belongs to a wider collection known as sgyu ’phrul drwa ba (the Magical Net, or Net of Magical Display),
which specifically identifies the collection of Tantras mostly associated with the Mahāyoga system and contained in
the rNying ma rgyud ’bum (Vols. 14-16, and 19. Kapstein & Gyurme Dorje 1991, II: 248; 254). The root text of this
cycle of teachings is the rDo rje sems dpa’ sgyu ’phrul drwa ba (Gyurme and kapstein 1991: 248). For a history of
these Mahāyoga Tantras see Dudjom (1991: 462-470).
664 dus gsum. Present, past, and future.
665 bDe chen gling pa incarnation of ’Jam dbyang mKhyen brtse dbang po (1820-1892), alias Kun bzang ’gro ’dul
(1897-1946), the bKa’ brgyud master founder of the Dza mer chen monastery in Shar mda’, Nang chen. For more
about Kun bzang ’gro ’dul’s life and relationship to bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje see Chapter Three.
666 dpa’ bo. “Hero” is a general epithet for the Bodhisattva (byang chub sems dpa’ [bo]), the “hero of the enlightened
mind”. In this verse the byang chub sems dpa’ is praised as a “master of methods” (thabs mkhas), that is the way
that leads to enlightenment. These verses are believed to be part of a prophetic statement produced by Kun bzang
’gro ’dul, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s root teacher. All the eight verses reproduced in the passage are addressed to
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s personal communication.
667 sems can yongs su smin par mdzad. Missing line in the original. These verses are probably taken from the Yab
sras mjal ba’i mdo (Skt. Pitāputrasamāgamanasūtra), the Sūtra of the Meeting of the Father and Son. I am grateful
to A lags gzan dkar rin po che (London, October 2003), for this information and addition of the missing verse from
the quotation. I have not consulted the original Sanskrit.
668 ’dren pa (Skt. nāyaka), f. 2b.
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Created emanations, emanations by birth, and supreme emanations.669
[However,] the Buddha emanation
Is the great method to complete freedom!”670
The supreme Awareness-Holder Kun bzang bde chen,671 [is] himself and emanation, a beacon at
these times like a lamp that shines over the mundane world!672
Furthermore, [he is also] the power of interdependent connections between the devotion and the
aspirations of his disciples.
In the bLa ma dgongs ’dus kyi lung bstan bka’ rgya ma673 is written:
“Vimalamitra674, the supreme scholar,
Was not born out of actions related to the elimination of delusions
669 bzo [’i sprul sku] dang skye [ba’i sprul sku] dang byang chung che [mchog gi sprul sku]. This triad corresponds
partially to the general Vajrayāna classification of “emanations” (sprul sku, Skt. nirmā6akāya) in four categories
bzo’i sprul sku (created emanations) represented by murals, thang kha paintings, and sculptures; skye ba’i sprul sku
(birth or incarnated emanations) represented by both human and animal beings; sna tshogs kyi sprul sku (diversified
emanations) represented by those emanations of superior beings in various material forms such as images,
mountains, rocks, but also objects, jewels, and clothes; and the mchog gi sprul sku (supreme emanations)
represented by those beings who fulfil the twelve deeds which all Buddhas, such as Buddha Śākyamuni, perform.
For such a classification see for instance Norbu (1993: 89).
670 The source of this quotation is unknown to me. According to the rNying ma tradition there are six emanations of
the Buddha who are the six lords of the six realms. Within this view the nirmā6akāya deities are those who help and
guide the human beings along the path of liberation removing obstacles and hindrances to the ultimate attainment of
nirvā6a.
671 Kun bzang ’gro ’dul. See note 28.
672 ’jig rten gyi sgron me ’char. As Germano has already insightfully suggested (1992:101), the term “lamp” (sgron
me) is often found in Buddhist scriptures and is meant to refer to both the primordial gnosis (ye shes, Skt. prajñā),
and the Buddhas themselves, who are the “light of the world” whose teachings and charismatic deeds constitute the
radiancy that shines upon the darkness of cyclic existence.
673 The One Hundred Teachings and Precepts according to the Guru's Gathering of Wisdom Mind. According to bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s personal communication the bLa ma dgongs ’dus kyi lung bstan bka’ rgya ma is a text of
predictions authored by mChog gyur gling pa, also known as O rgyan mchog gyur bde chen zhig po gling pa (1829-
1870). It seems that bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje was in possession of a copy of this text in the past, but it was lost or
destroyed during the agitated years of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) like many other texts, personal
belongings, and even a few gter ma items. I am personally not aware of such a text among Zhig po gling pa’s gter
chos. However, the text above could more probably refer to the bLa ma dgongs pa ’dus pa las ma ’ongs lung bstan
bka’ rgya ma’i skor, a collection of prophesies from the bLa ma dgongs ’dus, which is a text revealed by gTer chen
Sangs rgyas gling pa (1340-1396).
674 Vimalamitra (Dri med bshes gnyen, or Dri med bshad snyan, according to Tulku Thondup), was a renowned
eighth-century Indian monk and scholar who traveled to China and Tibet. Within the rNying ma school he is
responsible for the diffusion of a series of rdzogs chen teachings associated to the sNying thig tradition collected in
the Bi ma snying thig. For more information on this topic see, for instance, Thondup (1984:54). This verse referring
to Vimalamitra is inserted in this biography because he one of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s former incarnations.
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As his supreme emanation [Kun bzang ’gro ’dul] was perfect (kun bzang) without any reminder
of aggregates.675
[f. 3a] And, needless to say, also [his] hundred thousands of emanations
Will act infinitely for the benefit of sentient beings”.
In the rTsa gzhung gnad byang676 is written:
“At present in the form of the incarnation of Khri srong [lde’u btsan], Nam mkha’i snying po677,
and Vimalamitra,
The one named rDo rje678 will appear in the year of the earth bird.679
At the proper time of his display of the treasures,
And with the aspirations [of the past] and uncorrupted actions,
He will come to benefit the teachings and the people of Tibet and Khams”.
In the mChog gling gnas chen nyer lnga680 is written:
“At that time,681 the one whose name is Padma Samantabhadra, or
Padma’i snying po rgyal po682
675 According to the Buddhist view there are five aggregates (Tib. phung po, Skt. skandha), that constitute a sentient
being, gzugs kyi phung po (the aggregate of forms), tshor ba’i phung po (the aggregate of sensations), ’du shes kyi
phung po (the aggregate of perceptions), ’du byed kyi phung po (the aggregate of formations), and rnam par shes
pa’i phung po (the aggregate of consciousness).
676 rTsa gzhung gnad byang is the general name given by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje to the treasure teachings
dedicated to rTa mgrin rdo rje me char. Tshe bzang bsam gling Rinpoche’s personal communication. (Taoyuan
2002).
677 According to the tradition Grub chen nam mkha’i snying po (ninth century) was one of the twenty-five disciples
of Padmasambhava’s in Tibet.
678 rdo rje’i ming can. “The one named rdo rje” has been interpreted as referring to bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje. As we
have already seen in previous chapters following the tradition of the Treasure revealer’s appropriation of religious
figures of the past, personalities such as emperor Khri srong lde’u btsan and Tibetan Tantric practitioners from
Padmasambhava’s entourage are essential elements in the architecture of authority and legitimization in a gter ston’s
credentials.
679 The year 1921 according to the Gregorian calendar.
680 mchog gling gnas chen nyer lnga’i mdo byang. This text is likely to be a Treasure text on pilgrimage (gnas yig)
revealed by mChog gyur gling pa, but I have not succeeded in identifying the text personally.
681 Here de dus (that time) is to be understood in its projection in the future since the verses are a prophesy and are
therefore usually uttered before the event actually took place. In this specific case the arrival of bDe chen ’od gsal
rdo rje as a treasure discoverer is compared to lightening (thog) falling down (bab) from the phenomenal reality
(chos nyid) of the sky (nam mkha’).
682 Both “Padma Samantabhadra” and “Padma’i snying po rgyal po” are names referring to bDe chen ’od gsal rdo
rje. As a reincarnation of one of the close disciples of Padmasambhava, he is considered the “Universally Perfect
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Will appear just like lightening falling from the sky,
Manifesting the accomplishments of Padma[sambhava].
Padmasambhava myself in actuality and vision,
[f. 3b] with the lord Khri srong lde btsan,
Will be summoned up into one and will perform the display of illusions.
Whatever situation is encountered, it will be beneficial to the supreme omniscient bDe chen
gling,683
And the perfect teachings will thus be propagated”.684
In the sKu gsum rang grol685 is written:
“A highly defiled age686 is closing by,
And sometime within twenty years or longer,687
A disciple of bDe chen gling ,688 reincarnation of
The Dharmarāj,689 Nam mkha’i snying po, and Vimalamitra,
Lord of fortunate future, will [thus] arrive.690
One” (kun tu bzang po, Skt. Samantabhadra) with Padma(sambhava), and the “king” (rgyal po) and “heart” (snying
po) of Padma(sambhava), that is his spiritual son or disciple.
683 bDe chen gling is one of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s gter ston names after Kun bzang ’gro ’dul, who was also
known as Kun bzang bde chen gling.
684 The teachings of the rDzogs chen system are called here “perfect” (kun bzang) also meaning that the teachings
were uttered and spread in their pure from by Kun tu bzang po (Samantabhadra), the one who as Primordial Buddha
(Adibuddha) is believed to have first first bestowed the rDzogs chen teachings to his own sa\bhogakāya form,
Vajrasattva (rDo rje sems dpa’).
685 sKu gsum rang grol (Self-liberation through the Three Bodies), refers to one of the the treasures revealed by bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje, the sKu gsum sgrub skor gu ru drag mo phreng can gyi mdun skyed dang sbrel ba’i bzlog pa
gnam lcags ’khor lo khro chu thog ’bebs. I could not find the exact quotation as cited in this passage from the sKu
gsum rang grol. However a similar statement referring to bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’a appearance as treasure
discoverer can be found in the “appendix” (zur rgyan) to the text mentioned above, that is the sKu gsum rang grol
sgrub skor gu ru drag mobreng can gyi zur rgyan rdo rje’i bzhad sgra ye shes klong ’khyil.
686 “Defiled” (snyigs) refers to the age of corruption and degeneration (snyigs dus), characterized by a degeneration
in life span (tshe), the general karma (las), the view (lta ba), and the faculties of beings (sems can), as well as an
increase of the obscuring emotions (nyon mongs). This era is usually associated with a period of particularly intense
persecution or eclipse of the Buddhist teachings diffusion and practice. The 9th century decline of royal patronage
for Buddhist monasteries that emperor gLang dar ma enforced is one example of the “dark ages” that are due to
appear at times when circumstances for a proper dissemination of Buddhism are not favorable. For a detailed study
of the discourse of decline and eclipse in Buddist literature see Nattier (1991).
687 The “splitting apart” here probably refers to the beginning of political conflicts in Tibet due to Chinese external
menace.
688 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje disciple of Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje.
689 The Buddhist emperor Khri srong lde’u btsan.
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A man of the magic yoga,
His name is rDo rje, and he will appear in the earth bird year.691
Since his youth he will generate renunciation692 of cyclic existence,
[And] the present karmic connections he shall indeed not forget.
Without any training he will activate the awareness,
Without any teaching he will clarify all points of knowledge.
Having particularly developed both realization and analytical insight,
He will lead to rNga yab693 those who have visual and auditory connections [with him],
[f. 4a] And he will establish [himself] at the ultimate unsurpassed level.”
It is [also] written:
“The unfailing and indestructible oral transmission is praised,694
Beyond the realm of the Victorious Ones,
This is the omniscent primordial wisdom that
Completely liberates [everything] from the sphere of obstructions.”
Praising our Teacher, Lord of Acomplishment, Samantabhadra’s words695, he [Grub dbang bde
chen rdo rje] raised on [my] head the crown of authority.696 As if [the content was] poured from
a full vase, he also empowered me in a great quantity of the refined essence of the profoundly
secret vajrayāna,697 general esoteric [rdzogs chen] instructions (spyi ti), and several destructive
690 rtor ba = rtol ba.
691 Here ’dab chags lo means the “year of the bird” and it clearly refers to the sa bya lo, the “earth-bird year”, year
of birth of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje. The “earth-bird year” corresponds to the year 1921.
692 nges ’byung (Skt. niesara6a). Renunciation, or repentance caused by a feeeling of disgust at worldly matters.
693 rNga yab ling or Sang mdog dpal ri are names of celestial residences of Padmasambhava.
694 rdo rje’i lung
695 dBang phyug sa manta bha dra. Kun tu bzang po, the Primordial Buddha the original source of the rDzogs chen
teachings and the incarnation of the pure enlightened state. Germano (1992:170-174).
696 bka’ yi cod pa6 spyi bor bskur A figurative and poetic expression meaning the reception of (treasure) teachings
and the authorization to teach the teachings received by a teacher. The tiara (cod pa6) representing the teaching
transmission and authorization (bka’) is bestowed (bskur) on the top of someone’s head (spyi bo). Here it refers to
bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s reception of teachings, empowerments, and instructions of treasure cycles he himself
retrieved from Padmasambhava.
697 “The pure essence of the profoundly secret Vajrayāna” (zab gsang rdo rje theg pa’i yang zhun), and “Positive
actions of the spyi ti yoga, instructions on the extremely secret seal” (yang sang gab rgya man ngag spyi ti’i las
mtha’) are also rDzogs chen teachings revealed by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje.
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rituals (las mtha’), among the most profoundly secret;698 and sections of the bKa’ zab yid bzhin
nor bu 699 composed after the instructions of the precepts on the unsurpassable commitments
related to the thirteen high rebirths, 700 [in order for the teachings] to reside gloriously in the
beings and the teachings of the future.
[f. 4b] Under the power of the special occasions determined by [previous] aspirations,
[there are] people who have requested a narration of [my] life story.
This is a concise narration of this very life [of mine] replacing a much longer narration of
previous and later rebirths of the eighty years old Prabhāsvara [written] for those many
intelligent disciples 701 and especially for the purpose [of satisfying] the earnest request of the
foreign scholar Antonio702.
In the eastern part of Tibet, the Land of Snows, in the area called ’Bri zla sgang,
Great glory of the mDo khams region,
[there is a place called] rDo ti gangs dkar, [one of] the six main places.
On its right side [is] the lake g.Yu mtsho sngon mo,
Just in front of the great sacred site mount Rag rdzong ri bo dpal
[f. 5a] There is a land where crowds of 7ākinīs meet,
Known as ’Dzam mo dkar mo,703 a garden of lotus flowers,
At its right side rises mount Ha ri dge bsnyen, glowing like a gem.
Behind it [rises] the high mountain g.Yu rtse ri bo.
On the left side there is the dPa’ bo’i zlo gar ’khrab.
Cheerfulness arises at its sight for its charming beauty,
As if it is permanently at a center of a gleaming pavillion,
698 sPyi ti, one of the three subdivisions of the Esoteric Instructional Classes of Atiyoga (atiyoga man ngag snying
thig) as revealed by the gter ston O rgyan gling pa (1323-?). These are A ti, the innermost spirituality, sPyi ti, the
general revelation of the profound tantras, and Yang ti, which reveals the most secret lineage of teachings. Gyurme
and Kapstein (1991: 73, n.1029).
699 Name of the treasure cycle (gter skor) revealed by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje.
700 sKye ba bcu gsum bar du ’brel ba’i dam tshig las mi ’da’ bar lung. The thirteen reincarnations/manifestations of
King Khri srong lde’u btsan.
701 blo gsal mig ldan ’khor slob du ma. Lit. for those many disciples who have the eye of wisdom.
702 My name is mentioned here for having been the one who has eventually asked for a written record of bDe chen
’od gsal rdo rje’s life account.
703 ’Dzam mo dkar mo is the birth place of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje. It is a vast pasture land more than 50 km
south-west of sKye rgu mdo town (Ch. Yushu). The area is inhabitated by nomadic and semi-nomadic groups of
herdsmen and a few peasant families.
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And pleasant tunes and sounds of instruments such as drums and trumpets
Resound melodiously every day.
Rol pa[’i] rdo rje,704 incarnation of Hūm mDzad705 said that:
“Pad[ma] ’byung[gnas] has promised that
[For] whoever reaches this sacred place,706 the great power of receiving prophecies will be
perfected,
And in the future he will have a vision of being in front of Gu ru [Rin po che].
The enlightened mind of those with good karmic propensities due to past aspirations
Will develop and their defilements will be permanently purified,
Achieving the power to become disciples of the Knowledge-Holder Victorious One.”707
[f. 5b] When the time was ripe, I was born in the iron-bird year of the Fifteenth year708
In this very holy place, as a result of [my] past aspirations.
On a fifteenth day of summer, at Vaiśākha.709
Hundreds of people had visions of
Wonderful appearances and good signs,
And all expressed many words of praise [for me].
I received many laudatory words by many holy beings,
[This was a] lucky omen and fortune for the country for a long time!
Then before I was seven years old I roamed along mountain ridges.710
704 The fouth Karma pa Rol pa’i rdo rje (1340-1383), received formal transmission of both bKa’ brgyud and rNying
ma lineages. Among his teachers were Sang rgyas gling pa and especially g.Yung ston rdo rje dpal ba (1284-1365).
The latter was a major disciple of the third Karmapa Rang byung rdo rje (1284-1339).
705 Ācarya Hūṃ mdzad, also known as Hūṃ ka ra, was a well-known Indian mahāsiddha teacher of the past. See
note above for more details. See also Dargyay (1979: 40-42) and Thondup (1984: 23). However, here the name may
refer to a deity, the wrathful Hūṃ ka ra, or Khro bo hūm mdzad. Cf. Gyurme and Kapstein (1991: 408).
706 gnas. I have opted to translate gnas as “sacred place” following a widely attested habit in recent studies of
pilgrimage and sacred lanscape in Tibet culture. See for instance Huber (1990).
707 Source unidentified.
708 This date corresponds to 1921.
709 Tib. Sa ga zla ba (Skt. vaiśākha) is the day when most Asian Buddhist societies celebrate the Buddha Purmina a
cumulative event dedicated to the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and passing into Parinirvāṇa.
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Thoughts, dreams, and visions appeared in great number,711
And, as a consequence of my former lives, I met [in visions]
Guru [Rinpoche], the Dharma King and his son712as well as the emperor and his assistants.713
Until the age of twelve [f. 6a] I embraced the deliberately crazy behavior,714
And I indulged in conversations with deities and demons of the external world.
I did not interact with human beings,
And I appreciated [instead] solitary places, cemeteries, forests, and lake banks.715
In my homeland, when I was thirteen I became object of mean people’s hostility.716
Those circumstances changed [my] Karma, and due to the power of my previous aspirations,
I met the great teacher bLa ma bKra shis chos ‘phel.717
[From him] I received the entire instructions of the Nā ro mkha’ spyod.718
710 As for the choice of sacred or powerful places such as mountains (ri) for residence and place of practice see my
brief discussion in footnote below.
711 This period of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s life is marked by a series of continuous oniric and visionary activity
which is interpreted by his teachers and by he himself as the beginning of his career as a spiritually endowed
religious personality. Dreams (rmi lam) and visions or apparitions (snang ba) are considered highly valuable signs in
Tibetan culture and deserve a respected position and role in the determination of one’s own past life, foreknowledge,
and prophetic views.
712 Emperor Khri srong lde’u btsan and his son Mu tri btsan po
713 rje ’bangs grogs lnga. Khri srong lde’u btsan, Bodhisattva/Śantarakśita, Ye shes mtsho rgyal, rGyal ba mchog
dbyangs, Vairocana.
714 smyos pa’i brtul zhugs spyad. Yogis are traditionally seen as religious figures characterized by deliberate
bahavior (brtul zhugs) often bordering madness (smyos).
715 Isolated sites (dben sa), cemeteries or charnel grounds (dur khrod), mountains (ri bo), forests (nag tshal) and lake
islands (mtsho gling) are among the most powerful places where hermits and Tantric practitioners reside in order to
carry out rituals and meditation retreats. As we shall see again below, the sacred place scenario is widely employed
by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje in his autobiographical narrative to convey the reader the sense of sanctity and spiritual
attainment necessary to legitimize the author’s life path and corroborate his self-representation as a religious figure.
This matrix of asceticism and isolation in remote places and cemeteries as abodes to Tantric practitioners and
realized beings are already attested in early biographical narratives of religious personalities. The presence of these
powerful places can be read back into the life of Padmasambhava who is believed to have stayed and practiced in
charnel grounds where he received teachings from various 7ākinīs (Dudjom 1991: 469). Stories and narratives about
Padmasambhava’s meditation retreats in caves and hermitages around Tibet to which Tibetans are usually exposed
have contributed to a particular understanding of the natural world so powerfully represented in Tibetan culture.
716 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje had a difficult life as a young boy. Because of the loss of his mother and the bad
reputation of his father as a cruel robber and mercyless bandit, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s life was heavily burdened
by social emargination and poverty.
717 mKhan chen bKra shis chos ’phel, a renown teacher of the bKa’ brgyud school of Tibetan Buddhism whose
eclectic tendencies made him well-known in the rDza chu kha region of Khams where he established his own
monastery. I have not data about bKra shis chos ’phel and his monastery.
718 Nā ro mkha’ spyod ma, the Vajrayoginī sādhana according to the Indian mystic Nāropa (1016-1100). rDo rje
phag mo/rDo rje rnal ’byor ma (Vajravārāhī/Vajrayoginī) is a deity of major significance in the Tantric Buddhism
practiced by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje. The rNying ma school already has a well-established connection with the
cult of Vajrayoginī, which stems back from Padmasambhava himself who is said to have received teachings from
her while he was practicing at the Paruṣakavana charnel ground (Dudjom 1991: 469). However, in Tibet a stronger
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He [also] praised me for the auspicious signs of [my] meditative experiences and dream
cultivation.
In order to remove obscuration, I prostrated all the way to go see the Jo bo,719
and by never being attracted to illusive wealth and preventing adversities,
I concluded the entire pilgrimage and prostrations to the sacred places of Lhasa and cental
Tibet.720
In particular, when I met Phug cog byams dgon,721
He praised me for being a good Khampa lad, and [from him]
[f. 6b] I received empowerments, instructions, and the vows of the dga’ ldan lha brgya.722
Having then conquered the mind and the apparent phenomena, I soared in the sky.723
At that time everybody admired [me] and spoke words of praise.
Having perfected the unification of the Three Secrets of the Lama,724
emphasis on the sādhan practice can be seen in the bka’ brgyud school of Buddhism, which is specifically
represented by the Nāropa’s tradition of the 7ākinī (nā ro mkha’ spyod). Extensive discussions of the Vajrayoginī’s
cult both in India and Tibet may be found in Simmer-Brown (2001) and English (2002).
719 jo bo mjal phyag mtshal. Jo bo, is the popular Tibetan term, mening “Lord”, “Master”, but also “elder brother”,
by which is known a particular Śākyamuni Buddha statue housed in the Jo khang temple or gTsug lag khang in
Lhasa. Tradition has it that this statue was brought directly from China by the Tang princess Wen Cheng in the
seventh century as part of her dowry to the marriage with the Dharma-King Srong btsan sgam po. The Jo khang, or
Tsug lag khang, and the Jo bo statue, are the considered highly sacred places by Tibetans and therefore ambitious
destinations of pilgrimages.
The practice of pilgrimage (gnas skor) is one of the most common and widely spread activities of Buddhist popular
religious practice. Tibetans, even nowadays, perform this ritual very intensely. Both Buddhists and Bon adherents
consider pilgrimage to, and circumambulation of, religion sites and monasteries as a major means of accumulating
merits and personal spiritual achievement. Lhasa as center of both political and religious power and abode of the
Dalai Lama has covered a relevant position as a major destination of pilgrimage and popular religious rituals of
circumambulation and prayer since the presence of the fifth Dalai Lama Ngag dbang blo bzang rgya mtsho (1617-
1682).
720 lha ldan dbus. dBus region of central Tibet and Lhasa, the capital. In Central Tibet Lhasa has been historically
seen as the center not only of the political governement of Tibet but also as the site of the spiritual and secular leader
of Tibetans people, the Dalai Lama. gZhis ka rtse, the second greatest urban centre of Tibet, was the residence of the
second higher spiritual leader of the country, the Panchen Lama. Therefore Central Tibet has also benefited from
this general religious atmosphere enjoying the birth, growth, and development of Tibetan major urban centers such
as Lhasa, gZhis ka rtse, rGyal rtse, and other minor towns, all connected with important monastic institutions and
religious figures.
721 dGe bshes Phug cog byams mngon, also know as Phur bu cog byams pa, a dge lugs bla ma from Lhasa was
probably a respected and renown teacher from ’Bras spungs monastery in Lhasa. He was respected for his high
education and apparently known also for his personal interest in the practice of rdzogs chen. sPrul sku Tshe bzang
bSam gling’s personal communication (Taipei 2002). I have not been able to gather any further information so far
on this religious figure.
722 dga’ ldan lha brgya. “A Hundred Deities of Tushita” is a guruyoga (bla ma’i rnal ’byor) of Tsong kha pa (Tsong
kha pa bLo bzang rgya mtsho, 1357-1419), founder of the dGe lugs pa School of Tibetan Buddhism. This guruyoga
seems to have been composed by the Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngag dbang blo bzang rgya mtsho (1617-1682).
723 mkha’ la gdengs. The actual power of flying is usually seen as a skill achieved by intense physical and meditative
exertion. Far from being considered a goal in its own right, on the contrary flying as well as other supernatural
powers is usually considered a sign accompanying one’s progress on the path of personal spiritual achievements.
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The supreme accomplishments of contemplative experience and realization increased rapidly,
And I cut the attachment to the eight worldly concerns.725
Then I went on pilgrimage to sacred places
In Mon, Bhutan, Sikkim, and Eastern India.726
Since at that time I befriended both human and non-human beings,727
I was not scared by anything and I was happy by myself.
I went to meet the great saint Gro mo dGe bshes.728
When I paid my respects to him729 he gave me his precious pills730 and
Bestowed extraordinary teachings on mind training upon me.731
724 bla ma’i gsang gsum, the bLa ma’s Three Secrets, also known as the Three Imperishable Indestructible Realities
(rdo rje mi shigs pa gsum), refer to the indestructible reality of sku (body), gsung (speech), and thugs (mind).
According to Kapstein and Gyurme Dorje (1991: 114-115) these are also called the Three Essential Points Leading
to the Exapanse (’khrid pa dbyings kyi gnad gsum), which are one category of the Eight (Great) Conveyances or
Lineages of Attainment (sgrub brgyud shin rta chen po brgyad): the rNying ma school or Ancient Translation
Tradition (snga ‘gyur rnying ma ba); the bKa’ gdams school; the instructions of the path and fruit (gdams ngag lam
’bras); the four great and eight minor schools of the bKa’ brgyud pa (bka’ bryud che bzhi chung brgyad); the Shangs
pa bKa’ brgyud pa; the Kālacakra (dus kyi ’khor lo); the True Doctrine of the Pacification of Suffering and its
branch, the Object of Cutting (dam chos sdug bsngal zhi byed yan lag gcod yul); and the above mentioned Service
and Attainment of the Three Indestructible Realities (rdo rje gsum gyi bsnyen sgrub). For further reference see
Dudjom (1991: 852-853). In the system of O rgyan pa (reported in Kapstein & Gyurme Dorje, 1991: 114-115) the
rdo rje gsum gyi bsnyen sgrub are: the training of the body-indistructible reality (sku rdo rje), which develops
composure (or withdrawal) (sor bsud), the training of the speech-indistructible reality (gsungs rdo rje), which
develops breath control (or life up-holding) (srog ’dzin), and the training of the mind-indistructible reality (thugs rdo
rje), which develops recollection/mindfulness and contemplation (dran ting).
725 The eight worldly objects of attachment, ’jig rten chos brgyad: rnyed pa, gain; ma rnyed pa, loss; snyan pa,
fame; mi snyan pa, infamy; smad pa, slander; bstod pa, praise; bde ba, happiness; sdug bsngal, misery.
726 Pilgrimages and religious visits to lands and countries outside Tibet were common practices in Tibet. India was a
destination for most Tibetan religious pilgrims in the quest for a personal contact with the places where Buddhism
originated. For sacred journeys and bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s own pilgrimage to India see my discussion above.
727 mi dang mi ma yin kun gyis mthun sbyor. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje probably refers here to people who met and
helped him in all places he stopped. As for non-humans (mi ma yin), he means the Tantric deities that accompany
intense visualization practices (sādhanā) that he probably carried out in various places along his path while on
pilgrimage to India.
728 Gro mo dGe bshes rin po che, also known as dGe bshes sNgags dbang skal bzang (b. 1936) dGe lugs Teacher of
Yid dga’ chos gling monastery in Sikkim. He obtained his title of dGe bshes at Se ra monastery, Lhasa in 1959.
Lama Anagarika Govinda is the only Westerner who has written some accounts about Gro mo dge bshes in his book
The Way of the White Clouds.
729 zhabs tu btud. Lit. “I bowed to his feet.”
730 Apparently Gro mo dGe bshes rin po che was well-known for his ril bu pills whose miraculous powers were
famous in Tibet. For more accounts on Gro mo dGe bshes and his ril bu pills see Govinda’s The Way of the White
Clouds.
731 blo sbyongs, the (Mahāyāna) Mind Training is a literary genre similar to the Stages of the Path (lam rim)
literature as composed by the dge lugs pa founder Tsong kha pa bLo bzang grags pa (1357-1419), although more
succint, practice oriented and focused on the generation of altruistic compassion. The blo sbyongs teachings, like
those on the Stages of the Path, are usually part of the ambitious curriculum of dge lugs pa monks preparing for the
dge bshes degree (dge ba’i bshes gnyen. Skt. kalyā6amitra. “Spiritual friend”). The latter is a common way of
explaining what it means to be a bla ma (Skt. guru), or teacher.
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He said to me that in the future I would benefit living beings, and he also offered me some
textual transmissions.
[f. 7a] After that I arrived at the seat of Sa skya732 in the center of gTsang.
I became more and more acquainted with the guardians of the teachings rising around me,733
And while some simply appeared, others performed magic miracles.
However, [no matter what they did,] I realized that all external phenomena are illusions.
Khri chen skyabs mgon of the Phun tshogs pho brang734
Gave me unequalled and unique teachings,
And generously offered me gifts including goods and religious instructions.
I also received guidance concerning how I will benefit the beings in the future.
After that I went on pilgrimage and completed my visit of all the sacred places of gTsang,735
I circumambulated around many extraordinary sacred places.
Without any effort I spontaneously developed a sense for renunciation and weariness,736
Thus purifying myself from the evil attachments to ego-fixating appearances.
Later on I reached the glorious mTshur phu monastery,737
732 Sa skya monastery is the first establishment of the Sa skya school in Tibet. It was founded in 1073 by ‘Khon
dKon mchog rgyal po (1034-1102) from the local influential ’Khon family. Sa skya monastery is located in the
gTsang region of central Tibet.
733 bka’ srung rnams kyis bslangs(/lhong) tshad che cher bsten. Here bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje refers to intense
visionary experiences that he underwent while at Sa skya monastery.
734 Ngag dbang mthu stobs dbang phyug drag shul yon tan rgya mtsho dpal bzang po (1900-1950) of the Sa skya
bdag khri Phun tshogs pho brang, one of the two palaces of the Sa skya monastery, the other being the sgron ma pho
brang. Ngag dbang mthu stobs dbang phyug was at the head of the monastery as abbot from 1937 until his death in
1950. I express my gratitude to Tashi Tshering of the Amnye Machen Institute and prof. Leonard van der Kuijp for
this information.
735 According to bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s personal account, beside Sa skya monastery he also visited other
important Buddhist centers of Tsang such as Zhwa lu sger khang monastery (11th century) which lies some 20 km
south-east of gZhis ka rtse, bKra shis lhun po monastery (founded in 1447 by dGe ’dun grub, a disciple of Tsong
kha pa), in gZhis ka rtse, and the great stūpa of rGyal rtse, the bKra shis sgo mang mchod rten or sKu ’bum
(founded around 1440).
736 nges ’byung skyo shas rtsol med lhun gyis grub. The process of merit accumulation and personal achievements is
clear in this passage. Pilgrimage and circumambulation of sacred places and powerful spaces in Tibet is usually
associated with a deep sense of personal spiritual growth. Renunciation (nges ’byung) and weariness (skyo shas) are
both symptoms of one’s own commitment to follow the path of Buddhist practice in the way of the Bodhisattva.
737 dpal gyi mtshur phu gdan sa. mTshur phu monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery that served as the
traditional seat of the rGyal ba karma pa of the bka’ brgyu school. Founded in the early 1180s by Dus gsum mkhyen
pa (1110-1193), the first to be recognized in the lineage of the Karma pa, it is located in the village of rGu rum in
the sTod lung bde chen county, aprroximately 70 km north-west of Lhasa.
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[f. 7b] Where I met Rig pa’i rdo rje, Lord of the Victorious Ones.738
He transferred the transmission of intentions to me and our minds mingled inseparably.
I generated a strong dynamic energy of awareness739 out of contemplative experience and
realization.
As unobstructed foreknowledge manifested, I received some prophecies.
For the sake of future benefit, he conferred [upon me] a solemn proclamation,740
Announcing that I was to be particularly beneficial to the Buddhist Teachings and living beings.
He [thus] empowered [me] with the teachings on sādhanas and tantras for the regions of Khams.
Exemplary individuals and holy masters,
Of the great lands of Nepal, Tibet, and Khams,
Praised me and proclaimed me messenger of Padmasambhava.741
[Henceforth] I retrieved various treasures [in the form of] spiritual and precious artifacts.742
People would certainly achieve happiness
Benefiting from encountering me, from being ordinary and less fortunate.743
[Because of this] those virtuous people will purify their obscurations in the future,
[f. 8a] As I dispelled the decay of the degenerate age from this intermediate era.
Then in accordance with the power of the aspirations of the past,
mKhyen sprul bDe chen gling pa,744
Who is the great accomplished one, inseparable from the great teacher [Padmasambhava],745
738 Rang ’byung (khyab bdag) rig pa’i rdo rje, the sixteenth Karmapa (1924-1981). Born in ’Dan khog in Khams,
Rang ’byung was enthroned when still eight years old in his own village and reached mTshur phu monastery the
same year and stayed there until 1959 when he decide to escape into exile to India.
739 rig pa’i rtsal shugs, f. 7b
740 ’ja’ tham chen mo. ’ja’ tham, refers to a sort of edict or proclamation (’ja’ sa) often the same as credentials (tham
ga) offered to outstanding practitioners. It seems that in Tibet the ’ja’ tham credentials were specifically bestowed
by the Karma bKa’ brgyud leaders. A lags gzan dkar rin po che’s personal communication (London 2003).
741 The word pho nya, “messenger” or “assistant,” refers to the disciples of Padmasambhava, i.e. gter stons, Treasure
revealers. These are believed to be the first close disciples of Padmasambhava who received his teachings and were
appointed as receptacles to preserve these teachings and act as messengers of his teachings for future generations.
742 gter kha sna tshogs drangs. It is at this time that bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje begins to discover his first series of
material earth treasure (sa gter) that will significantly spur his role in the tradition of Treasure revelation.
743 According to bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje there were people around him benefitted from his auspicious connections
with Padmasambhava.
744 An epithet of Kun bzang ’gro ’dul.
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Told me:
“Following the entrustment of the transmission of Guru’s prophetical statements,746
The exeptional aspirations of Drag sngags gling pa,747
And also the textual transmission of the bka’ ma and gter ma teachings of the great five
Awareness-Holders’ descendents of the Buddhist emperor748
And of the followers of the three holy masters,749
You will spread excellent esoteric teachings, 750
Especially on the utterly secret Seminal Heart, 751
As a means of pacifying the evil era,
Which is obscuring this defiled age and the general teachings.
[f. 8b] As I became conscious of my unity with Padmasambhava,752
I also received spiritual commands.753
745 Here, mahāguru refers to guru Padmasambhava.
746 gu ru’i lung bstan bka’ bab brgyud pa gtad. The prohetic statements of Padmasambhava according to which once
concealed in its treasury house (gter gnas), the Treasure will be protected by an appointed Treasure guardian (gter
srung), and then properly re-discovered at the right time by one of the appropriateTreasure revealer (gter ston).
747 drag sngags gling. Translation uncertain.
748The five Awareness-Holders and Treasure revealers (gter ston rgyal po lnga) among the emanations of emperor
Khri srong lde’u btsan are Nyang ral nyi ma ’od zer, Gu ru chos dbang, rDo rje gling pa, O rgyan padma gling pa,
and ’Jam dbyang mkhyen brtse dbang po. Gyurme and Kapstein (1991: 145).
749 According to bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, here “the three holy beings” refer to Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje;
mTshad nyid bsod bstan, gter ston who lived under the reign of king bDe ba bzhung, revealed the Khro bcu thugs
gdang treasure cycle, and whose monastery, the mTshad nyid dgon, is located in bKa’ ma village of Cin thang area
in Chab mdo county (Khams/TAR, PRC); and mKhan po ’Jigs med dbang chen (d. 1991), one of the late abbots of
the Zur mang monastery in sKye rgu mdo (Yushu) county (Khams/Qinghai, PRC). bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
personal communication, gNas chen padma mountain hermitage, 2000.
750 bka’ rgya. The “word-seal” refers to esoteric teachings.
751 yang gsang snying thig. The esoteric teachings of the snying thig together with the Great Perfection (rdzogs chen)
teachings are at the heart of the contemplation practices of the rNying ma school of Tibetan Buddhism. The tradition
of the snying thig diffusion in Tibet provides two lineages. One is that originated by Padmasambhava who first
secretly taught them to his consort Ye shes mtsho rgyal, and then also to princess Lha lcam Padma gsal at mChims
spu as the man ngag mkha’ ’gro’i snying thig. These teachings were discovered as the mKha’ ’gro snying thig by the
13th century gter ston, and princess reincarnation, Padma las ’brel rtsal (Dudjom 1991, II: 554-555). According to
another tradition, the sNying thig teachings are associated with the Indian rdzogs chen master Vimalamitra, who
introduced them in Tibet in the 8th century C.E. These snying thig materials were hidden as Treasures by
Vimalamitra’s close disciple Nyang ban ting ’dzin bzang po and later on discovered by the 11th century gter ston,
and himself emanation of Vimalamitra, gNas brtan ldang ma lhun rgyal. He then proceeded to their transmission in
Tibet (Dudjom 1991, I: 555-557; Germano 1994; Gyatso 1998: 153-154). The great master ’Jigs med gling pa
(1730-1798) also discovered his own set of sNying thig teachings of the rdzogs chen system which he himself
labeled kLong chen snying thig (Gyatso 1998).
752 o rygan dbyer med pas nges shes thob. Lit. “I attained knowledge of my inseparability from O rgyan (i.e.
Padmasambhava).”
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Although I was worthy of striving for the accomplishment of something meaningful,
[Despite] my sincere attitude considering the shared public situation,754
Human beings who could be trusted as qualified disciples to whom I could truly transmit the
teachings were very few.
Therefore, I could not realize my purpose and I had to postpone [my activities] for a while.
At the proper time, I performed every action and [teachings] were propagated.
In particular, the great gter [ston] [Nyag bla] Byang chub rdo rje,755
Emanation of prince Mu rub btsan po,
Bestowed upon me the empowerment of the dynamic energy of awareness.756
Many hundreds of lineage holders who received the symbolic transmission,
And the immense benefit to the living beings manifested as clearly as the sun and the moon.
Given that all this originated from the transmissions of Padmasambhava,
Encouraged by my previous [deeds], [f. 9a] he (Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje) invested me with
great authority.
This was the praising prophecy regarding the Teachings.757
Afterwards, I sought many Treasure items from Treasure places,
Including major Treasures and minor Treasures.758
Conditioned by time and by the force of shared circumstances,759
753 bdag la bka’ yang dbab. Lit. “Spiritual commands also fell upon me ( i.e. Treasure teachings).”
754 spyi mthun las la. Lit “while sharing common destiny/fate/karma.” This refers to the changed situation in Tibet
under Chinse control and more specifically the Cultural Revolution. Bde chen ’od gsal rdo rje and bKra shis rgyal
mtshan. Ri phug kha Hermitage, July 1999.
755 Nyag bla rig ’dzin yang chub rdo rje, also known as Krag ’thung bdud ’dul hūm nag gling pa was a renown gter
ston and master of the Great Perfection who exerted great influence on bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje. Nyag bla byang
chub rdo rje, was not the only one recognized as the reincarnation (yang srid) of emperor Khri srong lde’u btsan’s
son, Mu rub btsan po. According to O rgyan thob rgyal rin po che’s biography of mChog ’gyur gling pa, the
renowned gter ston from Nang chen, he was also a reincarnation of Mu rub btsan po. See O rgyan thob rgyal (1988:
7).
756 rig pa’i rtsal. The dynamic energy of awareness One of the locutions within the rdzogs chen system associated
with one’s own potentiality of inner awareness. This term refers to the specifically rdzogs chen ability to see things
as they really are, a projection of the mind.
757 It refers to a prophecy uttered by Nyag bla byang chub rdo rje concerning bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s future as a
gter ston.
758 gter chen dang gter phran. Treasures are apparently also classified by the consistency of their appearance. Thus
material earth treasures can be major Treasures (gter chen) such as statues, religious paraphernalia, and written
scrolls. Or they can be minor Treasures (gter phran) such as precious and semi-precious stones, minor objects, and
conch shells.
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The fruition of the glorious Teachings and living beings was extremely scarce.760
Under such circumstances, due to the complexity of the time and the effects of karma,
[The land of] Tibet, the Buddhist teachings, and the living beings, were influenced by previous
general and specific karmic actions, and
Became overwhelmed by the rising darkness and decline.
At the time when everybody’s true fruits ripened,
By Padmasambhava’s special blessing,761
The guardian deities protected me like a mother to her child,
And by performing many good deeds,
I overcame all the evil attacks [coming] from others.
[f. 9b] Having recovered from the bad degeneration of [this] transitional period,762
Moon rays were shone [again] on the glory of all beings.
In order to act for the benefit of living beings, I settled down in solitary places,763
[Where] I practiced the profound teachings and trained in the true meaning.764
Thanks to my [past] aspirations, the proper time arrived to improve my dynamic energy of
awareness,
And thanks to the particularly marvellous kindness of a Buddha,
While earnestly aspiring to the production of the extremely secret cycle of sādhanas,765
759 dus dbang gyur dang spyi mthun las bsags mthu’i. Lit. “the force of the common destiny/karma.” As explained
by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, this locution refers to the general difficulties brought about by the new political
circumstances in Tibet.
760 This metaphor refers to the difficulties encountered by the practice of Buddhism in Tibet during the years when
the Chinese Red Guards arrived and the devastating effects of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1977). Information by
Tshe bzang bSam gling rin po che. Taipei, Nov. 2002.
761 padma’i byin rlabs. bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje regards material Treasures as blessings (byin rlabs), which spring
directly from Padmasambhava compassion. Their retrieval is of particular importance as they represent the presence
of Padmasambhava himself and the rejuvenation of the tradition.
762 dus kyi ’pho ’gyur rgud pa bcung sos pas. In the years immediately following the end of the Cultural Revolution
(1966-1976), the PRC embraced a general shift in the political domain which was also to reflect a change of attitude
towards issues concerning religious and ethnic policy. Those years (from 1978 onward) saw a general relaxation on
specific issues of religious expression and practice in Tibet.
763 This happened in the early 1980s when bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje began to establish various mountain retreat
centers in the larger Zur mang area near Nang chen.
764 bka’ zab nyams blangs yang dag don la sbyor. The practice of rdzogs chen meditation.
765 Yang gsang sgrub skor (the utterly secret cycles of sādhana) is a formula which appears in many titles of the
treasure cycles revealed by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje. Among those sādhana cycles revealed by bDe chen ’od gsal
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I received the Treasure seal of the 7ākinī in agreement with the prophesised transmission.766
The mental seal opened to the supreme Tantras of the Ati,767
The deeply secret and highly enjoyable Great Perfection,.
And many fortunate lineage holders with [good] karma and aspirations,
Achieved liberation and perfect renunciation.768
The perilous path of internal and external shortcomings that caused hindrance,
[f. 10a] And the malignant attacks of powerful wrathful mantras were defeated.
However, since the defiled age was spontaneously manifesting as a glow,
the glorious wave of the ordinary Teachings,
and the ocean of activities of those sublime beings who uphold the teachings, conquered
The power of perverted views [appearing] among those intellectuals of unfortunate doctrines,
The hostile breeze [blowing against] the bright lamp of truth,
[Caused] an overflowing wave of misery all over the country of Tibet.
Similarly, as this intermediate time unfolded,
I received a great number of teachings
That realize the single essence of the teacher,
Such as the Kun bzang thugs tig yang gsang snying po,
A very essential and excellent profound teaching,
The bLa ma dpal chen ’jam dpal gshin rje’i gshed,
The Yi dam kun ’dus yang gsang rta mgrin,
The Ma rgyud mkha’ ’gro’i chos sde [f. 10b] gsang chen lam,
The Phrin las zab mo dregs ’joms rdo rje phur,
The Drag sngags yongs ’dus drang srong med pa’i rgyud.
rdo rje most of them are dedicated to Buddha Amitābha, Avalokiteśvara, and Guru Rinpoche as they appear in the
first volume of his collected works; and to Hayagrīva/rTa mgrin and the Vajrakīlaya as collected in the third volume.
766 mkha’ ’gro gter rgya, “the Treasure seal of the 7ākinī,” refers to the full opening of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
mind to the reception of Treasures.
767 dgongs rgya grol. Lit. “The seal of my mind was undone”. Here bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje refers to the re-
opening of his memory to the Ati-yoga rDzogs pa chen po’s teachings that he already received in the past.
768 nge ’byung (Skt. niesara6a), renunciation, one of three principal aspects of the way leading to nirvā6a (lam gyi
gtso bo rnam gsum). The other two are byang sems (Skt. bodhicitta), mind of enlightenment, and yang dag pa’i lta
ba (Skt. samyag dgshhi), right view.
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This is the end of the sketchy and brief history of an octogenarian,
Composed for the sake of one single knowledge that liberates all!769
This has been composed to benefit all those who considered it necessary. bDud ’dul nus ldan rdo
rje770 communicated this at bSam bstan phug at the feet of O rgyan [rin po che]771 in the very
solitude of gNas chen padma shel ri on a pleasant summer day of the earth-male tiger year of
1998.772 It has been written by Nye gnas ye shes dpal773.
Aspiciousness to all!
769 gcig shes kun grol. The rdzogs chen teachings as a whole are also known as the “single knowledge that liberates
all” meaning that already the intense practice of this system of contemplation will enable the practitioner to liberate
himself.
770 bDud ’dul nus ldan rdo rje is the Tantric name of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje.
771 bSam gtan phug is a cave located on the south face of Mount gNas chen padma. Acording to bDe chen ’od gsal
rdo rje and local villagers, Padmasambhava is believed to have been meditating in that cave.
772 sa mo stag. This text has been written between the 20th and 27th of August, 1998.
773 The ordination name of the nun bKra shis mtsho mo, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s personal attendant and scribe.
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Appendix Two: Texts in Transliteration
Text 1: bde chen rdo rje’i rnam thar phran bu
bde chen rdo rje’i rnam thar phran bu ni/
bston pa mnyam med sha kya thub zhal snga nas/
sha rus bsags na ri rab gtos dang mnyam/
rnag khrag bsags na rgya mtsho chen po rtsam/
las ’phro bsags na bsam ’das brjod mi langs/
ces gsung pa ltar las snga phyi’i bya ba yod tshad na rnam grangs brjod las ’das pas/
gang zag so so’i spyod yul las ’das pa yin te mdor tsam brjod pa gzhir bstan pa ni/
gnas skabs pyi rgyal ba ang tong nis yos/
dka’ ba dang dus lang ngal ba ched du bsad nas/
sa le ba ’khri phrag mang por brdud te don bnyer phyir du byon pa la ma ldog tsam du bdag gi lo
rgyus mdor bsdus brjod pa las/
o rgyan chen po’i zhal snga nas/
dus ngan me ltar ’bar ba la/
gsang sngags nus pa me ltar ’bar/
de bzhin gsang sngags nyam len gyis/
bstan dang ’gro la phen par ’ong/
zhes lung gis gdams pa yin te/
rang la drag sngags skor bka’ bab te nyams su blangs nas ming la nus ldan rdo rje zhes kun gyi
’bod pa de las byung ba’o/
zab gter bka’ bab bde chen rdo rje’am ’od gsal rdo rje zhes ’bod pa ni/
rgyal dbang bcu drug pa rig pa’i rdoe rdo rje dang nyag bla byang chub rdo rje nas lung gis thebs
pas kun gyis yid ches par byung ba’i don no/
de ’ang bod yul dbus gtsang khams gsum gyi skyes mchog dam pa mang po dang/
khyad par du bdag gi rtsa ba’i bla ma ’jam mgon bkra shis chos ’phel dang/
bka’ dam rnying ma’i bla ma phu cog ngag dbang byams pa/
gru [= gro] mo dge bshes mchog dam pa rnams kyis ma ’ongs bstan la smin pa’i dgos gnad mang
po gsung kyang tshig nyob don gi ’dir bsdus/
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phun tshogs pho brang nas sa skya gong ma ’khri chen yab sras dang ka sras kong sprul bcas
kyis bdag la dgos pa rdo rje’i tshig gis dbugs dbyung cing ma ’ongs bstan ’gro gso sman ’byung
’gyur gyi lung yang mang du thob/
de’ang sngon gyi smon lam mthu btsan pas/
dus dbang dang ’phral rkyen gang gis ma gos par sa gter dang dgongs gter gyi chos sde grangs
mang bzhugs pa las/
’dir brjod bya’i rtsa ba mdo tsam zhus nas/
chos gter la bla ma [= bla med] sku gsum sgrub skor yang gsang chos sde la po ti bcu te thugs
gter dang dag snang bka’ bab las bzhugs pa’o/
sngon sprul pa’i rig ’dzin chen po bdud ’dul hūm nag gling pa’i bka’ babs/
bka’ ’dus chos kyi rgya mtsho’i gtsug lag khang mthong ba don ldan bzhengs pa’i dus su/
sa gter rin chen sna lnga’i tshon dang rang byung rgyal mo’i bla g.yu nor mchog gzhan dang
’gran zla bral ba spyan drangs ba’i gter kha da lta yang phran bu re mthong rgyu yod/
gzhan yang rdzas gter ’od ’bar brag nas phur pa khrag ’thung ’bar ba/
mkha’ ’gro ’bum rdzong nas rig ’dzin ’dus pa’i zab gter/
rdzing rgyal brag nas ’chi med tshe’i bum gter/
gnas chen padma shel ri nas myong grol bdud rtsi chos sman sgrom bu sogs dang/
gzhan yang ngo mtshar ba’i rdzas gter mang lang kyang ’dir ma smon so/
bod yul sde gsum rgud pa’i skabs la’ang gter kha dang bya ba kun nas nub med sor chud rje
btsun bla ma’i rjes su bzung ba’i rnam thar du ma nyid las kyang/
da thengs skal ldan dam pa rnams kyi spyod yul ngo mtshar dus kyi gso sman la thugs tshims par
mdzad phyir phran bu bzhugs pa rnams la/
ma ’ongs du kyi ’khor lo’i dkyil ’khor rabs ’byams las kyang bsam gtan lha yi go cha rnams
dang/
g.yul zlog ’phrug gyi ’khor lo sogs ’byung ’gyur gyi lung bstan sogs smon lam dgos so/
de’ang sngon gyi smon lam zab mo’i mthu’i/
’di ltar gyis pa’i rnam dkar bya ba rnams/
lhag med sgrub la brtson pa’i don ’di ni/
bston [= ston] pa gnyis pa padma sam bha was/
bod yul zhal gzigs bstan pa spel ba’i tshe/
’khor gyi thog ma ngan lam rigs ’khrungs dang/
dpal gyi seng ge grub pa mchog thob nas/
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ma ’ongs bstan ’gro’i don du smon lam mthu/
smin pa mkhyen sprul bde chen gling pas gsung/
mkhas mchog grub brnyes ’jam dpal nor bu dang/
khams pa sku zhabs don gyud nyi ma sogs/
skyes mchog du mas bdag la lung bstan ni/
gling gi dus nas seng chen zhabs drung du/
kun dga’ nyi [ma] zhes bya’i lus rten dang/
’gro mgron [= mgon] ye pa chen po’i nye gnas ba/
bya me lha mchog zhes bya’i skye ba blang/
de nas ’dus byas lhag ma mi rtag yang/
nges med rigs su skye ba mang po byung/
de la sogs te rnam thar mtha’ yas kyang/
mkhas mchog rnams kyi gnyigs lam phran [bu] ’o/
Text 2: rig ’dzin nus ldan rdo rje’i rnam thar bsdus pa dri med rdo rje’i zlos gar
[f. 1a] rig ’dzin nus ldan rdo rje’i rnam thar bsdus pa dri med rdo rje’i zlos gar /
[f. 1b] chos sku snang mtha’ longs sku spyan ras gzigs/
sprul sku pad ’byung rig ’dzin dga’ rab [rdo] rje/
’jam dpal bshes gnyen dang ni nā’ ga dzu/
hūm chen kā ra dgongs brda snyan brgyud dang/
shog gser tshig brgyud smon lam gtad rgya brgyud/
gang zag las can lung zin brgyud pa bcas/
’gro la phan bde’i mdzad pa rgyun mi chad/
[f. 2a] dus gsum rtag tu rgyal ba’i phrin las la/
gang la gang ’dul de la der sten pa/
sgyu ’phrul rgya mtsho’i zhabs la phyag ’tshal bstod/
de’ang grub pa’i rig ’dzin mkhyen sprul bde chen gling pa’i
sprul pa’i zlos gar nyi zla’i dpal ltar bstan par mdzad pa’i dus lang pas/
ji skad du/
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dpa’ bo chen po thabs mkhas te/
[f. 2b] bye ba phrag brgyar rgyal ba nyid/
sangs rgyas nyid du bstan gyur cing/
da dang du ni ’dren pa khyod/
sangs rgyas mang por bstan par mdzad zhes dang/
gzhan yang/
bzo dang skye dang byang chub che/
mya ngan ’das pa rtag ston pa/
sangs rgyas sprul pa’i sku de ni/
rnam par grol ba’i thabs che’o/
zhes gsungs pa ltar/
mchog gi rig ’dzin kun bzang bde chen sprul pa’i sku ’jig rten gyi sgron me ’char ba’i dus
’dir nges pa de ltar dang/
’on kyang phyogs ’di’i gdul bya rnams kyi dad ’dun dang smon lam sogs kyi rten ’brel
gyi stobs kyis te/
bla ma dgongs ’dus kyi lung bstan bka’ rgya ma las/
mkhas pa’i yang rab bī ma mi tra yang/
’khrul zhig las kyi skye ba ma yin te/
phung po lhag med kun bzang che ba’i mchog/
[f. 3a] nyid kyi sprul pa yang sprul ’bum phrag gis/
’gro don dpag med mdzad pa smon [= smos] ci dgos/
zhes dang rtsa gzhung gnad byang las/
da lta’i chos rgyal khri srong nam mkha’i snying/
bī ma mi tra [g]sum sprul sku’i tshul du ni/
’dab chags lo pa rdo rje’i ming can ’byung/
de yis dus bab gter nas rtsal ba’i tshe/
smon lam las mtha’ ma log ’ga’ zhig gis/
bod khams bstan dang ’gro la phan par ’ong/
zhes dang mchog gling gnas chen nyer lnga’i mdo byang las/
de dus nam mkha’i chos las thog bab bzhin/
padma’i grub pa de yi yang sprul du/
padma sa manta bha dra zhes sam/
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padma’i snying po rgyal po zhes bya byung/
padma bdag dang dngos mnyam[s] [f. 3b] khri srong rje/
gcig tu ’dus pa’i sgyu ma’i rol gar ba/
’brel tshad don ldan mkhyen mchog bde chen gling/
der ’phrad kun bzang bstan pa dar bar ’gyur/
zhes dang sku gsum rang grol las/
snyigs ma yang snyigs nye ba ru/
tshe lo nye [= nyi] shu kha ral dus/
chos rgyal nam snying bī ma la/
[g]sum sprul bde chen gling pa’i sras/
ma ’ongs las can rjes rdor ba/
rnal ’byor sgyu ma’i skyes bu zhig/
rdo rje’i ming can ’dab chags lo/
chung nas ’khor ba nges ’byung skye/
da lta’i bag chags ma brjed mod/
ma sbyong rig pa ngang gis sad/
ma bslab shes bya’i gnas kun gsal/
khyad par grub pa’i nyams rtog[s] can/
mthong thos ’brel tshad rnga yab ’dren/
[f. 4a] mthar thug bla med go ’phang ’god/
zhes sogs rgyal ba rnams kyi yul las gzhan min na/
bslu med rdo rje’i lung gi bsngags pas phul/
chags thogs sgrib pa’i sbub las yongs grol ba/
de ni thams cad mkhyen pa’i ye shes te/
zhes pa ltar/
bdag cag gi ston pa grub pa’i dbang phyug sa manta bha dra’i lung gis bsngag shing bka’
yi cod pan spyi bor bskul nas/
zab gsang rdo rje theg pa’i yang zhun/
yang gsang gab rgya man ngag spyi ti’i las mtha’ ma lus pa bum pa gang byo’i tshul du
bskur nas skye ba bcu gsum bar du ’brel ba’i dam tshig las mi ’da’ bar lung gis gdams te gnang
ba’i bka’ zab yid bzhin nor bu’i sde tshan/
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ma ’ongs bstan ’gro’i [f. 4b] dpal du bzhugs pa lags na/
da ris [= res] dus bab kyi sgo ’phar gang nas kyang yong ba’i skabs ’dir/
smon lam gyi chad par dus la bab pa’i dbang du ’byor bas/
brjod gzhi tsam gyi rnam thar bskul ba po blo gsal mig ldan ’khor slob du ma dang/
khyad par don gnyer mkhan phyi rgyal ba ang tang ni yos nan bskul ched du brgyad bcu
pa pra bha swa ra’i skyes rabs snga phyi mang po brjod pa sor bzhag/
mdor tsam gleng ba skye ba ’di nyid ni/
bod yul gangs can ljongs dbus shar gyi phyogs/
mdo khams sa yi dpal mchog ’bri zla sgang/
gnas drug gtso bo rdo ti gangs dkar gyi/
mdun ngos g.yas phyogs g.yu mtsho sngon mo dang/
rag rdzong ri bo dpal ri’i gnas mchog che’i/
[f. 5a] mdun du ma tshogs mkha ’gro ’du ba’i sa/
’dzam mo dkar mo zhes grags padma’i tshal/
g.yas phyogs ha ri dge bsnyen nor dbyig ’bar/
rgyab tu g.yu rtse ri bo spung la mtho/
g.yon gyi phyogs na dpa’ bo’i zlos gar ’khrab/
mthong na yid ’phrog ’gro bas dang ba ’dren/
rtag tu ’ja’ tshon sna lnga’i gur khang ’khyil/
rnga gling rol mo’i sgra dang snyan pa’i glu/
ngo mtshar bcas te rgyun par rang sgra ’ur/
gnas der phyin tshad ma ’ongs gu ru’i drung/
zhal mjal dbugs dbyung lung thob rtsal chen rdzogs/
bsngo smon las ’phro ldan rnams byang chub sems/
mi nyams gong ’phel sgrib pa gtan der byang/
rig ’dzin rgyal ba’i sras su dbang bsgyur ro/
[f. 5b] zhes pa padma ’byung nas zhul gyis bzhes/
hūm mdzad sprul pa rol pa rdo rjes gsung/
bdag kyang sngon smon dus bab gnas mchog der/
rab lo bco lnga’i nang gses lcags bya lo’i/
dbyar ra sa ga zla ba’i bco lnga nyin/
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’gro ba brgya phrag sogs kyi mthong lam du/
ngo mtshar ltas bcas bzang po’i rtags mtshan rnams/
kun gyis brjod bya sna tshogs bcas te bltams/
dam pa du mas bsngags brjod legs par thob/
yul du dge mtshan yun gnas bkra shis so/
de nas lo bdun gong nas ri sul ’grim/
nyams dang rmi lam sgang ba che cher ’bar/
skye sngon las kyi rjes mthu’i gu ru dang/
chos rgyal yab sras rje ’bangs grogs lnga mjal/
bcu gnyis lo bar smyos [f. 6a] pa’i brtul zhugs spyad/
snang srid lha ’dre rnams dang ’gro gleng byas/
’gro ba mi yi spyod lam ma bsten pa/
dben dang dur khrod tshal mtsho gling bsten/
bcu gsum nar son yul gyi gshed mas sdang/
rkyen des las gyur sngon gyi smon lam mthu’i/
mkhan chen bla ma bkra shis chos ’phel mjal/
nā ro mkha’ spyod gdams pa yongs rdzogs thob/
nyams dang rmi lam dge mtshan ldan gsung bsngags/
sgrib sbyong phyir du jo bo mjal phyag ’tshal/
sgyu ma’i nor la ma ’khor rkyen ngan ldog/
lha ldan dbus gnas yongs rdzogs phyag bskor thob/
khyad par phu cog byams mgon zhal mjal tshe/
khams pa’i spu gu shin tu legs ces bstod/
dga’ ldan lha brgya’i [f. 6b] khrid lung sdom pa thob/
bdag kyang snang sems dbang bsgyur mkha’ la gdengs [= lding]/
de tshe kun gyis bstod cing bsngags pa brjod/
bla ma’i gsang gsum dbyer med ro [= ngo] gcig rdzogs/
nyams dang rtogs pa’i rtsal mchog che cher ’bar/
’jig rten chos brgyad snang ba’i zhan pa [= zhen pa] chod/
de nas mon ’brug ’bras ljongs rgya gar shar/
gnas chen rnams la song te bskor ba’i tshe/
mi dang mi min kun gyis mthun sbyor nas/
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’jigs pa gang gis ma gos bde blag du/
grub pa’i dbang phyug gru [= gro] mo dge bshes mjal/
zhabs tu btud tshe rin chen ril bu dang/
thun mong ma yin blo sbyong khyad ’phags gnang/
ma ’ongs ’gro phan ’byung zhes lung yang ’byin/
de nas [f. 7a] gtsang dbus sa skya’i gdan par slebs/
bka’ srung rnams kyis bslang [= lhong] tshad che cher bsten/
’ga’ res zhal byon ’ga’ res cho ’phrul ’gyed/
bdag la snang srid sgyu ma sems su chud/
khri chen skyabs mgon phun tshogs pho brang nas/
gzhan med mtshungs bral bka’ yi bsngags brjod mdzad/
zang zing nor dang chos sbyin lta ba sprad/
ma ’ongs don du gsung gleng sna tshogs thob/
de nas gtsang gnas chos ’khor yongs rdzogs mjal/
khyad par can gyi gnas mchog mang po bskor/
nges ’byung skyo shas rtsol med lhun gyis grub/
bdag ’dzin snang ba’i zhan [= zhen] chags dri ma dag/
de nas dpal gyi mtshur phu’i gdan sar phyin/
rgyal ba’i dbang po rig pa’i [f. 7b] rdo rje mjal/
dgongs brgyud bdag ’phos thugs yid dbyer med ’dres/
nyams dang rtog[s] pa’i rig pa’i rtsal shugs skyes/
mngon shes thogs med ’char te lung bstan thob/
ma ’ongs don phyir ’ja’ tham chen mo gnang/
bstan ’gror phan phyir khyad par don yod gsung/
khams phyogs sgrub rgyud bstan pa’i mnga’ gsol mdzad/
de nas bal bod khams phyogs yul ljongs che’i/
dam pa’i skyes bu rnams dang mig ldan bus/
padma’i pho nya bsngags brjod spyi bor bskul/
chos nor rdzas kyi gter kha sna tshogs drangs/
skal dman phal pa’i ’gro rnams re ’ga’ las/
’brel tshad don ldan ’di bde’i nges shes thob/
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rnam dkar can rnams phyi ma’i sgrib [f. 8a] byang brnyed/
dus snyigs rgud pa’i bar bskal ldang ba sel/
de nas sngon gyi smon lam mthu btsan pas/
ma hā gu ru dbyer med grub pa’i mchog/
mkhyen sprul bde chen gling pa’i zhal snga na/s
gu ru’i lung bstan bka’ bab brgyud pa gtad/
drag sngags gling sogs smon lam khyad ’phags ba/
chos rgyal gdung [b]rgyud sprul pa’i rig ’dzin lnga/
mchog gi bka’ gter dam pa rnam pa gsum/
dam ldan [b]rgyud ’dzin bcas te lung yang bsten/
bstan pa spyi dang dus kyi rgud pa ru/
mun pa’i bskal pa ngan pa zhi ba’i thabs/
khyad par can du yang gsang snying thig bskor/
bka’ rgya bcas te legs par dkrol te spel/
ji skad gsung rnams o rgyan dbyer [f. 8b] med pas/
nges shes thob te bdag la bka’ yang dbab/
de phyir don chen sgrub la gnyer ’os kyang/
spyi mthun las la g.yo bzur [= zol] med pa’i stabs/
bka’ rnams ji bzhin bkrol ba’i snod ldan dang/
yid ches thob pa’i ’gro ba myung [= nyung] lags pas/
re zhig ’gyang sogs don khel ma gyur yang/
dus bab tshe na gang gar spyad te spel/
khyad par rgyal sras mu rub btsan po yi/
nam phrul gter chen byang chub rdo rje yis/
rig pa’i rtsal dbang bskur te brda lung gis/
zin pa’i brgyud ’dzin brgya phrag mang po dang/
’gro don mtha’ rgyas nyi zla ltar gsal ba/
o rgyan lung las ’byung ba yod do bcas/
gong der bskul zhing mnga’ gsol [f. 9a] rgya chen gnang/
bstan pa’i gsol la bsngags pa’i lung bstan no/
de nas brtsams te gter chen phran bcas/
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gter kha mang po gter nas stsal [= btsal] ba la/
dus dbang gyur dang spyi mthun las bsags mthu’i/
bstan ’gro dpal la smin pa rgya cher dben/
de ’og dus sbyor rtsub dang las dbang gis/
bstan ’gro spyi dang khyad par sngon las can/
bod yul smag rum ’char dang rgud pa’i dbang/
rang rang bden ’bras rgyud la smin pa’i skabs/
bdag la padma’i byin rlabs khyad par gyis/
bka’ srung rnams kyis ma la bu gcig ltar/
skyabs srung grogs dang phrin las rmad byung bas/
gzhan gyi rgol ba ngan pa kun las rgyal/
[f. 9b] dus kyi ’pho ’gyur rgud pa cung sos nas/
skye ’gro’i dpal la zla zer phog pa nas/
’gro ba’i don phyir dben pa’i gnas la bsten/
bka’ zab nyams blangs yang dag don la sbyong/
smon lam dus bab rig pa’i rtsal chen rdzogs/
rgyal ba’i thugs bskyed rmad byung khyad par bas/
yang gsang sgrub skor don gnyer smon pa bzhin/
bka’ bab lung bstan mkha’ ’gro’i gter rgya thob/
zab gsang yang bsngags theg mchog rdzogs pa che/
a ti bla med rgyud rnams dgongs rgya grol/
las smon skal ldan brgyud ’dzin brgya phrag ’ga’/
smin grol mthar phyin nges ’byung legs par thob/
phyi nang nyes tshogs gegs can [f. 10a] ’phrang mtha’ dag/
drag sngags nus pa’i dbal ’byin rgol ba ’joms/
’on kyang snyigs ma’i rang mdangs cher ’bar bas/
skal dman rtog ge’i nang sel [= gsal] log lta’i mthu’i [= mthus]/
bstan pa spyi dang bstan ’dzin dam pa yi/
phrin las rgya mtsho’i dpal la rlabs kyis bcom/
nges don sgron me’i mdangs la ser bus sdang/
mtha’ dbus kun tu nyon mongs rba rlabs phyur/
de ltar bar gyi tshigs [= tshig] pas ldang pa la/
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zab chos yang snying ’dus pa khyad ’phags ba/
kun bzang thugs tig yang gsang snying po’i skor/
bla ma dpal chen ’jam dpal gshin rje’i gshed/
yi dam kun ’dus yang gsang rta mgrin skor/
ma rgyud mkha’ ’gro’i chos sde [f. 10b] gsang chen lam/
phrin las zab mo dregs ’joms rdo rje phur/
drag sngags yongs ’dus drang srong dmod pa’i rgyud/
rtsa ba gcig ’dus gu ru sgrub pa’i chos/
rgya chen drangs ba’i brgyad bcu rgan po yi/
lo rgyus mdor bsten tshig nyung don bsdus pa/
gcig shes kun grol phyir du sbyar ba’o/
ces pa ’di bzhin dgos gal che ba kun gyis bskul ba’i don du rig ’dzin ming khur bdud ’dul nus ldan rdo
rjes/ rab lo bcu bdun pa’i sa pho stag lo’i dbyar ra ba’i dus tshes bzang po’i nyin ’dir
gnas chen padma shel ri’i yang dben o rgyan zhabs ’og/ bsam gtan phug tu smras rim/ nye gnas ye shes
dpal nas bris pa/ sarba mang ga lam//
Text 3: don zab gnad smin shel dkar me long
[f. 1a] yang gsang rdo rje me char gyi rgyud las/
snga ’gyur rdo rje theg pa’i rtsa ba kun/
rgyal ba gnyis pa padma sam bha was/
snying thig gser zhun dam pa’i bka’ rgya las/
rig ’dzin mang po don du ’gyur dgos ched/
gsungs phyir tshig nas ’bru re btus nas kyang/
don zab gnad smin shel dkar me long ’di/
spyi rabs rtog ge’i rnyogs pa sel ba’i thabs/
mun sel sgron me skal ldan don du sbyin/
sa ma ya/
[f. 1b] snga ’gyur mdo sngags lung byang phal po che/
gsol bstod ’dod pa’i grub pa’i rtogs ldan ’ga’ shas/
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rgyal ba’i bstan pa mi nyams sor chud phyir/
zab don dgongs pa lta ba’i rgyun bzhag zhig/
zhus pas mtsho rgyal [gyi] ma ’ongs don gyi slad/
gser phreng rin po che’i sgrom bu las/
btus te tha snyad rnyog [= rnyogs] pa gsal ba’i thabs/
gcig shes kun grol padma’i gsang mdzod ltar/
zab gsang rdzogs pa chen po’i nyams len bu’i/
u rgyan gsungs la gtan bkal [= gtan ’khel] yid ches bsgoms/
ces gsungs pa ltar /
’dir snga ’gyur bstan pa’i srol ’dzin rig ’dzin gong ma rnams kyi [= kyis] thun mong ma
yin pa’i nye rgyud zab gsang rdo rje theg pa’i sgor zhugs na dgos pa khyad par dgongs nas/
spyi rabs don gnyer mkhan la khyad du med na mi rung bas dgongs pa’i mthil gtad te
gnang ba las/
(in the pages below the text continues together with a correspondance outline between the
actual section from bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s snga ’gyur [f. 2a - f. 8a] and the sixth chapter
from bDud ’joms Rinpoche’s rNying ma’i chos ’byung [pp. 411-419]
Shin tu zab pa nye brgyud gter ma’i lo rgyus
mdo tsam brjod pa from bdud ’joms chos
’byung, Chengdu: Sichuan Nationalities
Publishing House, 1996, pp. 411-419.
shin tu [f. 2a] zab gsang nye rgyud gter gyi lo
rgyus mdo tsam brjod par bya na / de la ’ang [p. 411] da ni shin tu zab pa nye brgyud gter
klu’i rgyal po’i zhus pa’i mdo las / dkon ma’i lo rgyus mdo tsam brjod par bya ste /
mchog gsum gyi gdung mi chad pa’i gter de’ang klu’i rgyal pos zhus pa’i mdo las /
chen po mi zad pa dang / chos rtogs pa chen dkon mchog gsum gyi gdun mi chad pa’i gter
po mi zad pa tshad med pa’i gter chen po chen po mi zad pa dang / chos rtogs pa chen
dang / sems can ’gu [= mgu] bar bya ba’i mi po tshad med pa gter chen po mi zad pa dang
zad pa gter chen po dang / nam mkha’ dang / sems can mgu bar bya ba’i gter chen po mi
mnyams [= mnyam] pa’i mi zad pa’i gter zad pa dang / nam mkha’ dang mnyams pa’i
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chen po ste / bzhi po de dag ni gter chen po gter chen po mi zad pa ste / bzhi po de dag ni
mi zad pa yin no / zhes pa dang / gter gyi ngo gter chen po mi zad pa yin no / zhes pas gter
bo’am rang bzhin bstan zhing de bzhing du gyi ngo bo’am rang bzhin bstan cing / de
’phags pa bsod nams thams cad sdud pa’i bzhin du ’phags pa bsod nams thams cad
ting nge ’dzin gyi mdo las / dri ma med pa’i sdud pa’i ting nge ’dzin mdo las / dri ma med
gzi brjid chos ’dod pa’i byang chub sems pa’i gzi brjid chos ’dod pa’i byang chub sems
dpa’ sems dpa’ chen po rnams kyi[s] / chos dpa’ sems dpa’ chen po rnams kyis chos kyi
kyi gter ri dang ri sul dang shing dag gi nang gter ri dang / ri sul dang / shing dag gyi nang
du bcug pa yang yod de / gzungs dang chos du bcug pa dag yod de / [p. 412] gzungs dang
kyi sgo mtha’ yas pa gleg bam [= glegs bam] chos kyi sgo mtha’ yas pa glegs bam du byas
du byas pa [f. 2b] dag kyang lag tu ’ong[s] pa dag kyang lag tu ’ongs par ’gyur ro / zhes
bar ’gyur ro / zhes pas kyang gter chos dang / pas kyang gter chos / gter gnas / ’don pa po’i
gter gnas dang ’don pa po’i gang zag bcas gang zag bcas legs par bstan / bsam pa phun
legs par bstan / bsam pa phun gsum tshogs pa sum tshogs pa la ni gal te sangs rgyas mi
ni / gal te sangs rgyas mi bzhugs kyang nam zhugs kyang nam mkha’i dkyil dang rtsigs pa
mkha’i dkyil dang / rtsig[s] pa dang shing dang shing rnams las chos ’byung ngo / zhes
rnams las ’byung ngo / zhes pa gnam chos pas gnam chos sogs kyang bstan pa dang /
phyogs kyang bstan pa dang / gzhan yang gzhan yang yongs su grags pa’i mdo rgyud ci
yongs su grags pa’i mdo rgyud ci rigs pa las / rig pa las gter gyi ngo bo / nges tshig / rnam
gter gyi ngo bo nges tshig rnam grangs dgos grangs / dgos pa sogs yang nas yang du bstan
pa sogs yang nas yang du bstan pa ni / ’phags pa ni ‘phags bod gnyis su grags pa las / bod
bod gnyis du grags pa las bod yul lta bu’i yul lta bu’i gang zag re res gsar du bcos pa
gang zag re re’i [= re res] gsar du bcos pa ma ming cing / gter du sbed pa’i dgos pa’ang /
yin zhing / gter du sbas pa’i dgos pa’ang / chu klung rol pa’i mdo las / nga yi bstan pa’i
chu klung rol pa’i mdo las / nga yi bstan pa’i chos kyi gzhung / thugs nas thugs kyi gter du
chos kyi gzhung / thugs nas thugs kyi gter du sbos / yang na sa yi snying por bya / ci phyir
sbos / yang na sa yi snying por bya / ci phyir mu stegs can mgo rgod / des don dkrug par
mu stegs can mgo rgod / de don dkrugs par ‘gyur ta re / de phyir chu klung rgyun mi
’gyur ta re [= sta re] / de phyir chu klung gcod / ces dang / chos rgyal ratna gling pa’i
rgyun mi bcod [f. 3a] ces dang / chos rgyal gter lung las / shin tu zab pa’i mthar thug
ratna gling pa’i gter lung las / shin tu zab pa’i snying po rnams / spyir yang bod rnams gsar
mthar thug snying po rnams / snyigs ma’i ngas che ba dang / snyigs ma’i ‘gro la lhag
par snying brtse bas / mtha’ dbus thams cad
’gro la lhag par snying brtse bas / mtha’ dbus
gter gyis bkang nas bzhag / las can bu dang
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thams cad gter gyi bkang nas bzhag / las can ’phrad pa’i smon lam btab / ma ’ongs dus su
bu dang ’phrad pa’i smon lam btab / ma rtog ge tha snyad mkhan / sgom chen la sogs
’ongs dus su rtog ge tha snyed [= tha snyad] phyogs dang ris dregs can / rang che ’byin
mkhan / sgom chen la sogs phyogs dang ris cing gter la rtsod na yang / snyigs [p. 413]
dregs can / rang che ’byin zhing gter la brtsod ma’i chos byed phal cher gter gyi ’dren / zab
pa na / snyigs ma’i chos byed phal cher gter la kha tshang ma bsgribs mtha’ rgyas shing /
gyi ’dren / zab la kha tshang ma ’grib mtha’ gdams pa sna res gang zag grol par nges / de
rgyas shing / gdam pa sna res gang zag grol bas las sad skal ldan sbyangs pa can / ’chi ba
bar nges / de bas las sad skal ldan sbyang pa dran na gter chos nyams su longs / tshe gcig
can / ’chi ba dran na gter chos nyams su long thar lam thob bo rjes ’jug rnams / snyigs dus
/ tshe gcig sangs rgyas thob bo rjes ’jug gter la mos pa’i skal ldan kun / deng sang gu
rnams / snyigs dus gter la mos pa’i skal ldan ru’i shal mthong smon lam btab / thams cad
kun / dengs sang gu ru’i zhal mthong smon las can yin pas dga’ ba sgoms / kho mo’i
lam thob / thams cad las can yin pas dga’ ba tshig ’di rin chen gser bas dkon / ces sogs
bsgoms / kho mo’i tshig ’di rin chen gser las gter kha gzhan las kyang mtha’ yas pa
dkon [f. 3b] ces sogs / gter kha gzhan las ’byung ba ltar / snyigs ma’i dus su bka’ ma
kyang mtha’ yas pa ’byung ba ltar dang / rnams tshong dus kyi ’o ma bzhin dbang
snyigs ma’i dus su bka’ ma rnams tsheng [= gdams ngag gi bka’ ’chal zhing / brgyud pa
tshong] dus kyi ’o ma bzhing dbang dang mang po bar du chod pas dam tshig gi sel
gdam ngag gi bka’ chad [= bka’ ’chal] cing dang ’dres ’khyer gyi bslad zhugs pa mang
rgyud [= brgyud] pa mang pos bar du chad pa bas byin rlabs kyi babs so nyams par ’gyur ba
dam tshig gi sel dang ’dres khyer gyi slad [= yin la / gter du bzhugs pa rnams ni gter ston
bslad] zhugs pa mang bas byin rlabs kyi bab sprul sku de nyid o rgyan chen po dngos kyis
so nyams pa yin la / gter du bzhugs pa rnams rjes su bzung ste smin grol dbang dang
ni gter ston sprul sku de nyid u rgyan chen po gdams pa ma lus pa’i bka’ gtad thob cing zab
dngos kyi rjes su bzungs te sming grol dbang chos mkha’ ’gro’i kha rlangs ma yal bar
dang gdam pa ma lus pa’i bka’ gtad thob cing spyan drangs pas na nye brgyud byin rlabs
/ zab chos mkha’ ’gro’i kha rlangs ma yal ba kyi gzi byin ’gran zla dang brel ba’o / de’ang
spyan drang pas na / nye rgyud [= nye gter gyi phyogs ’dir dgongs brda’ snyan
brgyud] byin rlabs kyi gzi byin ’gran zla brgyud pa steng du khyad par gyi brgyud pa
dang bral ba’o / de ’ang gter gyi phyogs ’di gsum dang ldan pa’i phyir brgyud pa drug
dgongs brda snyan brgyud kyi sdeng du ldan du grags pa ste / dgomgd brda snyan
khyad par gyi brgyud pa gsum dang ldan pa’i brgyud gsum gong du smos pa ltar la / smon
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phyir / brgyud pa drug ldan du grags pa ste / lam dbang bskur ni gter [p. 414] kha de nyid
dgongs brda snyan brgyud gsum gong du la dbang pa’i gang zag des thon par shog ces
smos pa ltar la / smon lam dbang bskur [f. bden tshig smon lam gyi rgyas btab par
4a] ni / gter kha de nyid la dbang pa’i gang mdzadpa dang / bka’ babs lung bstan ni gter
zag des thob par shog ces sogs bden tshig byin skyes bu de la mtshon bya don gyi ye
mon lam gyi rgyas btab par mdzad pa dang shes’dgongs pa’i mthil gtad nas ’byung ’gyur
bka’ bab lung bstan ni / gter ’byin skyes bu gyi lung bstan dang bcas dbugs dbyung ba la
de la mtshan bya don gyi yes shes dgongs bya / mkha’ ’gro gtad rgya ni mtshon byed
pa’i mthil gtad nas / ’byung ’gyur gyi lung brda’i yi ge tshig brgyud du bkod nas rdo
bstan dang bcas dbugs dbyung ba la bya / rje’i brag / g.yang zhag gi mtsho / mi ’gyur
mkha’ ’gro gter rgya [= gtad rgya] ni mtshon ba’i sgrom la sogs par gter bdag so so la
byed brda’i yi ge tshig rgyud [= tshig brgyud] gnyer byang gtad nas mi snang bar rgyas btab
du bkod nas / rdo rje’i brag g.yang zhags kyi pa nyid slar lung bstan dus la babs / smon
mtsho mi ’gyur pa’i sgrom la sogs pa gter lam gyi mthu smin / las kyi ’phro sad / gter
bdag so so la gnyer byang gtad nas mi snang bdag gi bskul ma byas / kha byang yod pa
bar rgyas gdab pa nyid slar lung bstan dus la dang med pa ji snyed pa’i zab gter gyi sgrom
bab / smon lam gyi mthu smin / las kyi ’phro bu ji bzhin pa yin no //
sad / gter bdag gi bskul ma byas / kha byang
yod pa dang med pa ji snyed pa’i zab gter gyi
sgrom bu ji bzhin
gter ston nyid kyi phyag tu son pa rnams so /
khyad par gter du bzhugs [f. 4.b] ya [= pa]’i
zab chos phal mo che mkha’ ’gro brda’i yi
ges bcings pa ste / skal mnyams kyi gang zag
las gzhan gyi[s] khrol mi srid pas na / u
rgyan chen po’i bka’ rtags phyag rgya’i ri
mo dngos la thug pas / gang zag phal pa’i
brgyud pas bar du mi chod cing khung btsun
pa dang brda ma bcos / tshig ma ’khrul don
ma nor ba mkha’ ‘gro’i gsang ba’i brda
brgyur bas gzhung zab cing byin rlabs che ba
dang / skal ba dang mi ldan pa’i gang zag
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blo ji ltar bsgrim kyang dmus long gis glang
chen bskyed pa ltar phyogs tsam yang brtag
mi bzod pas / gter ’byin skyes bu nyid phal
pa’i spyod yul las ’das pa yid ches pa yin no /
de yang bod kyi yul ’dir bstan pa’i snying po de’ang bod kyi yul ’dir bstan pa’i snying po
gsang sngags rdo rje theg pa spyi dang khyad gsang sngags rdo rje theg pa spyi dang khyad
par zab mo gter gyi ’phrin las ’dul bya mtha’ par zab mo gter gyi phrin las kyis ’dul bya
yas pa ’dul bar mdzad pa po ni / sangs rgyas mtha’ yas pa gdul bar mdzad pa po ni sangs
gnyis pa padma ’byung gnas te / [f. 5a] rgyas gnyis pa padma ’byung gnas te / myang
myang ’das kyi mdo las / nga ni mya ngan ’das kyi mdo las / nga ni mya ngan ’das ’og
’das ’og tu / lo ni bcu dang gnyis tsam nas / tu / lo ni bcu dang gnyis tsam nas / dha na ko
dha na ko sha’i mtsho gling du nga bas lhag sha’i mtsho gling du / nga bas lhag pa’i skyes
pa’i skyes bu ’byung / zhes lung bstan ltar / bu ’byung / zhes lung bstan pa ltar / slob
slob dpon chen po ’di nyid lam rim bgrod kyi dpon chen po ’di nyid lam rim bgrod kyi
gang zag ’am sa la gnas pa’i ’phags pa tsam gang zag gam sa la gnas pa’i ’phags pa tsam
ma yin par / mi dang mi ma yin gdul dka’ ba
ma yin pa / mi dang mi ma yin pa ’dul dka’
rnams thabs sna tshogs pas ’dul ba’i slad du /
ba rnams thabs sna tshogs pas ’dul ba’i slad
sangs rgyas ’od dpag med dang mnyam med
du / sangs rgyas ’od dpag med dang mnyam
shākya’i rgyal po sogs sprul pa’i skur bstan
med shakya’i rgyal po’i sprul pa’i sku bstan
pa yin pas de’i rnam par thar pa ’phags chen
pa yin la / de’i rnam par thar pa ’phags chen
rnams kyi kyang cha tsam brjod pa mi nus
rnams kyi cha tsam brjod pa mi nus mod /
mod / mdo tsam gong du smos pa ltar la /
mdo tsam gong du smon pa ltar la / khyad par
khyad par phrin las kyi che ba ma ’ongs pa’i
phrin las kyi che ba ma ’ongs pa’i ’dul bya
gdul bya dang bstan pa’i btsas su dgongs nas
dang bstan pa’i btsas su dgongs nas rgya bal
rgya bal bod yul rnams su chos nor sman rtsis
bod yul rnams su chos nor dang sman rtsis
rten dang dam rdzas la sogs pa gter kha
dam rdzas la sogs pa gter kha bgrangs gi mi
bgrang gis mi lang ba zhig sbas par mdzad pa
long ba zhig [f. 5b] sbas mdzad pa las /
las /
[…]
gtso bo gangs can yul ’dir ’dul bya gang la
gang ’dul gyi thabs la mkhas pas / chos sgo
spyi dang khyad par yo ga rnam pa gsum
dang ’brel ba’i rgyud lung man ngag las
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tshogs mtha’ yas par gsungs / de thams cad
gsang ba’i bdag mo dbyings phyug ye shes
mtsho rgyal gyi mi brjod pa’i gzungs kyis
bzung nas bka’ yi bsdu bar mdzad /
shog ser rigs lngar mkha’ ’gro’i brda yi yi
ger bkod / gter snod sna tshogs pa ’byung bas
mi ’jigs pas [= mi ’jigs pa’i] rgyal gdams /
gter gnas so so ru gu ru yab yum dang rjes [p. 416] shog ser rigs lngar mkha’ ‘gro’i brda
yi yi ger bkod / gter snod sna tshogs par
’bangs lhan cig bcas kyis sbas te gter srung la
‘byung bas mi ‘jigs pa’i rgyas gdams / gter
gnyer du gtad / khyad par gu ru rnga yab
gnas so sor gu ru yab yum kho na dang rjes
gling du gshegs pa’i rjes su mtsho rgyal nyid
‘bangs lhan cig pa bcas kyis sbas te gter
lo brgya lhag tsam bzhugs nas bod yul stod
srung la gnyer du gtad / khyad par gu ru rnga
smad bar gsum la gter kha bsam gyis mi
yab gling du gshegs pa’i rjes su mtsho rgyal
khyab pa sbas nas gter zhabs gdams / gzhan
nyid mi lo brgya lhag tsam bzhugs nas bod
yang [f. 6a] lo paṇ grub thob rjes ’bangs du
yul stod smad bar gsum la gter kha bsam gyis
mas gter kha grangs med du sbas pa rnams
mi khyab pa sbas nas gter zhabs bsdams /
phyis ’dul ba’i dus su phyin pa’i tshe ma
gzhan yang paṇ chen bi ma la mi tra / chos
’ongs pa gter la longs spyod cing ’gro don
rgyal yab sras / lo chen bai ro tsa na / gnubs
’byung bar byin gyi brlabs te lung bstan sangs rgyas ye shes dang nam mkha’i snying
smon lam thebs pa’i rjes ’bangs skal ldan po / gnyags dzanyā na ku mā ra dang sna nam
rnams kyi skye ba dang sprul pa’i sgyu ’phrul rdo rje bdud ‘joms / nyang ban ting ‘dzin
rigs dang spyod pa la nges pa rim par byon bzang po sogs kyis kyang zab gter mang du
nas / bstan ’gro’i don mdzad pa rnams ni gtso sbas pa rnams / phyis ‘dul ba’i dus su son
bo sa gter gyi byon tshul dang zab mo dag pa’i tshe ma ‘ongs par gter la spyod cing ‘gro
snang dang dgongs pa’i gter gyi ’byung tshul don ‘byung bar byin gyis brlabs te lung bstan
ni / de’ang byan chub sems dpa’ rnams kyi smon lam thebs pa’i rjes ‘bangs skal ldan
smon lam gyi khyad par lus can rnams kyi rnams kyi skye ba dang sprul pa’i sgyu ‘phrul
bya dang ni / shing dang ’od zer thams cad rigs dang spyod pa ma nges pa rim par byon
dang / nam mkha’ las kyang chos kyi sgra / nas bstan ‘gro’i don mdzad pa rnams ni gtso
rgyun mi ’chad par thob par shog / ces pa ltar bor sa gter gyi byon tshul la / yang zab mo
/ smon lam gyi mthu btsan pa dang de dag la dag snang dang dgongs pa’i gter gyi ‘byung
tshul ni / de’ang byan chub sems dpa’rnams
chos kyi ’phongs pa’i rgyu med pa’i phyir
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’byung ba’i sgra dang ri dwags lta bu las kyi smon lam gyi khyad par / lus can rnams
kyang [f. 6b] chos kyi sgra rgyun mi ’chad pa kyis bya dang ni / shing dang ‘od zer thams
gsan cing sangs rgyas dang byang chub sems cad dang / nam mkha’ las kyang chos kyi
dpa’ rnams kyis kyang zhal bstan zhing chos sgra/ rgyun mi ’chad par thos par shog / ces
gsungs bar bshad do / bsod nams thams cad pa lta bu’i smon lam gyi mthu btsan pa dang /
bsdud pa ting nge ’dzin gyi mdo las / dri ma de dag la chos kyis ’phongs pa’i rgyu med
med pa’i gzi brjid chos ’dod pa’i byang chub pa’i phyir ’byung ba’i sgra dang ri dwags lta
sems dpa’ sems dpa’ chen po bsam gyi [= bu las kyang chos kyi sgra rgyun mi ’chad
gyis] mi khyab pa phun sum tshogs pa gus pa par gsan cing / sangs rgyas dang byang chub
dang bcas pa rnams ni ’jig rten gyi khams sems dpa’ rnams kyis kyang zhal bstan cing
gzhan dag du ’dug kyang sangs rgyas bcom chos gsungs bar bshad de / bsod nams thams
ldan ’das kyi zhal ston par mdzad cing chos cad sdud pa ting nge ’dzin gyi mdo las / dri
kyang thos par mdzad do / zhes gsungs shing ma med pa’i gzi brjid / chos ’dod pa’i byang
khyad par du ’phags chen rnams kyi gzigs chub sems dpa’ chen po bsam pa phun sum
ngor dag pa’i snang ba ’ba’ zhig las ma dag tshogs pa gus pa dang bcas pa rnams ni / ’jig
pa’i snang ba ma ’chis pas dus gsum rtag pa rten gyi khams gzhan du ’dug kyang sangs
rgyun gyi ’khor lo rtsa gsum lhag pa’i lha rab rgyas bcom ldan ’das kyis zhal ston par
’byams dag dang / chos kyi sgro ba rmad du mdzad cing chos kyang thos par mdzad do /
byung ba du ma rgyun chags su mdzad pa las zhes gsungs shing / khyad par du ’phags chen
/ zab mo gdams pa mtha’ yas ’byung ba dag rnams kyi gzigs ngor dag pa’i snang ba ’ba’
skal ba dang ldan pa [f. 7a] rnams la spel bar zhig las ma dag pa’i snang ba ma ’chis pas /
’os pa’i gang zag so so’i mos blo ’tsham pa’i dus gsum rtag pa rgyun gyi ’khor lor rtsa
dag snang gi chos sde ji snyed pa kun gyi gsum lhag pa’i lha rab ’byams dag dang chos
spyod yul du snang bar mdzad pa ’phags yul kyi sgro ba rmad du byung ba du ma rgyun
gyi paṇ grub du ma dang / bod yul gyi gsar chags su mdzad pa las zab mo’i gdams pa
snying ris med dge ba’i bshes gnyen dang mtha’ yas pa byung ba dag / skal ba dang
gter ston grub thob rnams kyi rnam thar las ldan pa rnams la spel bar ’os pa rnams gang
byung ba ltar dang / de ltar dgongs gter du zag so so’i mos blor ’tshams pa’i dag snang
grags pa rnams kyang / mdo las ’jam dpal gi chos sde ji snyed pa kun gyi spyod yul du
’byung ba bzhi nas nam mkha’i gter nas snang bar mdzad pa ’phags yul gyi paṇ grub
’byung gi / de bzhin du chos thams cad rgyal du ma dang / bod yul gyi gsar snying ris med
ba’i thugs gter las ’byung bas gter gyi don la dge ba’i bshes gnyen dang gter ston grub
longs spyod par shes par byos shig / ces thob rnams kyi rnam thar las byung ba ltar
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gsungs pa dang / rjes su mthun pa ’phags pa’i dang / de bzhin du dgongs gter du grags pa
gang zag rnams la dgongs pa’i klong nas chos rnams kyang mdo las / ’jam dpal ’byung ba
kyi gter kha brdol du yong ba gsungs sde / bzhi ni nam mkha’i gter nas ’byung gi / de
chos yang dag pa bsdud pa’i mdo las / byang bzhin du chos thams cad rgyal pa’i thugs gter
chub sems dpa’ [f. 7b] sems dpa’ dag pa nas las ’byung bas gter gyi don la longs spyod pa
rang gi yid kyi ’dod pa nyid las gdam ngag shes par byos shig / ces gsungs pa dang rjes
rjes su ston pa thams cad ’byung ngo / zhes su mthun par ’phags pa’i gang zag rnams la
dang / gzhan yang mdo las / don la nges pa’i dgongs pa’i klong nas chos kyi gter kha brdol
gdengs [= gding] rnyed na / sems las chos du yod par gsungs te / chos yang dag par
gter ’bum phrag brdol / zhes sogs gsungs pa sdud pa’i mdo las / byang chub sems dpa’
bzhin / ’phags bal bod ljongs kun tu mkhas bsam pa dag pa ni rang gi yid kyi ’dod pa
grub chen po rnams kyi zab mo dgongs pa’i nyid las gdams ngag rjes su bstan pa thams
gdam zab mtha’ yas pa zhig da lta’i bar du cad ’byung ngo / zhes dang / gzhan yang
’byung bzhin pa dang / mdor na chos nor mdo las / don la nges pa’i gting rnyed na /
dam rdzas la sogs pa’i sgo ’phar ci dgar sems las chos gter ’bum phrag brdol / zhes
’gyed [=’byed] cing grol ba bzhi ldan gyi sogs gsungs pa bzhin ’phags bal bod ljongs
’phrin las rmad du byung bas dus ngan gyi kun tu mkhas grub chen po rnams kyi zab mo
mtha’ la dam pa’i chos ’dzin zhing ’dul dgongs pa’i gdams zab mtha’ yas pa zhig da
mdo’i bstan pa mi bzhugs pa’i gnas su gsang lta’i bar du ’byung bzhin pa dang / mdor na
sngags rdo rje theg pa’i bstan pa khol bur chos nor dam rdzas la sogs pa’i sgo ’phar ci
khol bur mi nub dar zhing rgyas sde ’gro ba dgar ’byed cing grol ba bzhi ldan gyi phrin
’dul dka’ ba mtha’ dag sgrol ba’i ’phrin las las rmad du byung bas dus ngan gyi tha mar
rgya che zhing rgyun chags pa nyid de gu ru’i dam pa’i chos ’dzin cing ’dul mdo’i bstan pa
gsungs las / snyigs [f. 8a] ma’i dus su bstan mi bzhugs pa’i gnas su gsang sngags rdo rje
mtha’ gter gyis skyongs / zhes ji srid rnam theg pa’i bstan pa khol bu khol bur mi nub
’dren lnga pa’i bstan pa ma shar gyi bar du dar zhing rgyas te ’gro ba gdul dka’ ba mtha’
zab mo gter gyi phrin las nam yang mi nub dag sgrol ba’i phrin las rgya che zhing rgyun
par gsungs so / chags pa nyid de/ gu ru’i gsungs las/ snyigs
ma’i dus su bstan mtha’ gter gyis skyongs %
zhes ji srid rnam ’dren lnga pa’i bstan pa ma
shar gyi bar du zab mo gter gyi phrin las nam
yang mi [p. 419] nub par gsungs so/
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de’ang sems can spyi mthun gyi las dang sngon smon gyi khyad par che ba’i sngon rgya
gar ’phags pa’i yul na mkhas grub bgrangs las ’das pa ’tsho zhing bzhugs pa’i skabs der smon
lam gyi khyad par dang sems can gyi bsod nams la rag las pas/
rig ’dzin grub mchog mang pos mu stegs pa la brtsod par ’byung bar gyur te mu stegs
pa’i rgol ba ’joms pa ma gyur pham la nye bas sngon smon gyi khyad par ltag par dus la bab
tshe/
slob dpon chen po thogs med kyis thogs pa med pa’i ting nge ’dzin kyi rtsal bstan te mu
stegs kyi slob dpon bzhi ’khor lnga brgya dang bcas pa tshar bcad nas mdzad chos [f. 8b] bsam
gyi [= gyis] mi khyab pa bsdu bar mdzad do/
de nas phyis rgya gar gyi yul phyogs kun dang rdo rje gdan du mu stegs kyi sprul pa sgyu ma
mkhan tshad bzung bral ba’i rje blon ’ga’ ’byung ba’i skabs der/
gsang sngags kyi rnal ’byor brnyes pa kun gyi dam par ’dzin pa’i rgyal po nyi ma seng ge
la mu stegs dang ha shwang gi lta ba brtsod pa’i skabs der/
rgyal po pham du nye ba la gsang sngags kyi grub mchog rdzu sphrul ya ma zung gi rig
’dzin chen po padma sam bha [wa] la gsol ba btab pas/
nyid kyi sku pa’i sprul bsgyur du ma dang khyad par nam mkha’i snying po la bzhengs
ste rdzu ’phrul gyi slob dpon du mas rdo rje gdan gyi mu stegs pa’i rgol ba tshar bcad par mdzad
de chos rgyal de nyid gyi thugs dgongs yongs su rdzogs par ’grub par mdzad pa’i rnam thar
mang du yod kyang ’dir bsdus/
bstan pa gnyis pa dbus ’gyur lung bstan mdo las ’byung ba ltar/
[f. 9a] bod yul kyi dbus su rgyal rabs lnga nas gsang sngags kyi bstan pa ’byung ba mkha’ ’gro’i
lung bstan bzhing du byang chub sems dpa’ ’phags pa spyan ras gzigs kyi sprul pa du ma las
’phags pa’i chos rgyal chen po srong btsan sgam pos dam pa chos kyi dbu brnyes pa’i ’phrin las
la thabs sna tshogs kyi bzhengs te ma rung ba rnams ’dul bar byed pa’i skabs de yang/
lhan cig skyes pa’i bon gyi slon po rta ra glu dbang khra gdong song gyi gyung drung
ston pa’i bka’ bzhin rjes su ’dzin pa’i bka’ ’bangs du mas bod kyi rgyal blon phyi nang gi ’thab
gzhi dang khyad par du nang pa’i bstan pa la rgol ba ’byin nas bsnubs la nye ba’i skabs der ’jam
dpal khri srong sde’u btsan gyi gong ma’i rnam thar yig tshang la gzigs te/
sngon smon lam dus la bab bsod nams kyi mthu smin pa’i skabs der rgya gar gyi slob
dpon chen po grub pa’i rig ’dzin [f. 9b] padma sam bha wa bod yul du ’dren pa’i [= pas] gser
dang bang chen thengs gsum btang ste spyan ’dren tshul gyi bang mi rnams slebs ma sleb sngon
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smon lam gyi mthus sprul pa’i rig ’dzin chen po padma sam bha wa de nyid dgongs pa’i ye shes
kyi mkhyen te bal bod kyi mtshams su mjal ba dang gser dang rgyal po’i dgongs tshul snyan du
phul bas sprul pa’i sku yis/
nga yi snang ba thams cad gser la grub pas ger gyi rang la mkho gal mi ’dug gsungs te
phyogs bcur gtor nas bal bod kyi lha srin sa bdag thams cad brngan par mdzad te tsa’a mi rnams
sngon du btang zhing bod yul du spyan drangs/
rgyal pos gzhong pa’i lha chu nas mjal ste rgyal po la nga che gsungs pa’i mgur mang po
gsungs pas rgyal po shin tu thugs sangs dgyes te pho brang du spyan drangs nas mchod pas
snyan bskul/
bod yul bon gyi gsol ba’i lha srins sde brgyad thams chad bran du bkol zhing [f. 10a] ma
rung ba thams cad dam la btags/
de nas bod yul lha mi ’gro ba yongs la grol ba bzhi ldan gyi gdam pa mang po spel gsang
sngags rdo rje theg pa’i khyad chos lam zab sngon srid na med pa’i rgyab chos dangbcas pas
yongs su smin par mdzad de rten dang brten par bcas pa mtha’ rgyas pa’i phrin las rab ’byams
kyi sgo phyogs mthar rgyas pa dang/
rgyal po’i thugs dgongs yongs su bzhed pa bskang nas/
lung las/
da ni bod kyi sku dngos ’dul bya rdzogs/
lho nub srin po thams cad kha lud nas/
’dzam bu gling ’di za bar byed pa la/
srin po ’dul phyir lho nub gshegs pa yin ces dang/
khyad par bod yul mtha’ dbus ma lus pa/
smin zhing grol dang bstan pa rgyas na yang/
sngon gyi smon lam dbang dang mthu che bas/
rje yi gdung rabs gsum nas rgyal po zhig/
dar ma’i ming can dang ni klu dpal sogs/
[f. 10b] smon lam log pa’i rje blon ’ga’ ’byung nas/
bod kyi bstan pa brlag cing bshigs par ’gyur/
de la da lta rje ’bangs mthu ldan pa/
gnub ban [= chen] dpal rdor gnyis kyi ’dul bya zhing/
smon lam che ’grub dar cig bstan pa ’phel/
zhes dang/
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mdor na bod kha ba can du chos rgyal mes dbon rnams kyi bzhed pa rnam thar mtha’ yas
pa brjod pa bgrangs kyi mi long ba dang/
sprul pa’i rig ’dzin chen po padma sam bha was mdzad pa’i ’phrin las dang ngo mtshar
rmad du byung ba’i rnam thar las thol bur btus te snga ’gyur bal bod rgya hor ’jang mon sog li la
sogs pa ’dzam gling yul chen kun tu dam pa chos kyi bstan pa btsugs/
mdo sngags kyi chos kun dar zhing rgyas par mdzad de rjes su ’dzin pa’i rig ’dzin grub
thob ya ma zung gi rnal ’byor la brnyes pa’i rgyud pa bsam gyi [= gyis] mi khyab pa dang/
khyad par can gyi rnam thar la yid rang te rjes su ’dzin pa’i gsar rnying bka’ gter [f. 11a]
kun gyi rnal ’byor ba dbang rab dam pa rnams ni rdo rje theg pa [= pa’i] gsang sngags zab mo
nyams su blang ba’i drod rtags mngon sum mthong ba khyad par can dang/
gzhan yang rjes ’jug gi slob ma yang rab kyi spyod pa la brten nas/
ri yi bu byas na bun gyi gos skyon bsam gtan gyi zas la spyod cing chos brgyad las blo
’das pa sha stag byung na’ang/
phyin bod yul mtha’ dbus kun tu chos tshul gyi ming rag pa bka’ zab dang gtam ngag gyi
rgyud pa chal ’chol du song nas nang bstan gyi dam pa rnams kyang rang che’i phyogs su gol
zhing rgyal bstan khyad par gud pa’i skabs ’di lta bu lags na/
phyi rabs kyi bstan pa dang gang zag rang rang sems can thams cad mgu par byed pa’i
spyod pa la ’jug nas sdom pa gsum la rkyon kyis ma gos pa byang chub sems dpa’i spyod pa la
’jug nas myur lam rdzogs pa chen [f. 11b] po’i brtul zhugs spyod pa dgongs pa rnams kyi sngon
byon grub rje gong ma’i rnam thar la yid rang theg pa gsum gyi lam la bskyod te bstan pa dang
sems can gyi don du zhum pa med pa’i bka’ spyad [= dka’ spyad] dang ’bad rtsol gyi bya ba
kyad par can la brtson pa gal che ba dang gsang sngags kyi sgor zhugs/
nus mthu gyi rtsal sten rig pa rang sor chud tshe gcig lus gcig la zung ’jug rdo rje ’chang
gi go ’phang la re ba rnams kyis blo bla ma la dri grogs yi dam la brten gros mkha’ ’gro chos
skyong rnams la gtad nas blo bkal gcig chog gi sgo nas sngar gyi rig ’dzin chen po don gnyis
mthar phyin gyi bdag po ye shes mtsho rgyal sangs rgyas ye shes dpal gyi rdo rje sogs lta bu’i
rlung sems la dbang thob snang srid sems su chud pa’i grub pa brnyes pa ni rang rgyud la rtsal
thon pa cig byas la byung ba yin la/
de yang sngon glang dar gyi [= gyis] gnubs kyi rig ’dzin chen [f. 12a] po la rtsal ’gran
zhing khyod la nus pa lhag par ci yod zhes zhus pas/
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gnubs kyi[s] ngas sngags bzlas pa tsam kyis nus pa ’di la gzigs shig ces gdengs ’dzub [=
sdigs mdzub] gnam la phyar pas/
gdengs mdzub [= sdigs mdzub] kyi steng du lcags kyi sdig pa nag po g.yag tsam dgu
brtsegs pa mthong bas/
rgyal po skrag nas dkon mchog sngags pa’i sku la ngas mi bdo’o chos mdzod cig ces zer/
yang nus pa ’di la gzigs shig gsungs nas gdengs mdzub [= sdigs mdzub] kyi steng dang
pha bong ri rab tsam btegs te pha ris brag la bsnun pas tshal par gtor ba mthong rgyal po shin tu
’jigs shing khyed ’khor dang bcas pa la ngas gnod mi byed chos mdzod cig zer ba ltar phyi rabs
gsang sngags kyi sgor zhugs nas sgrub pa byed pa’i gang zag phal mo che su dang sus kyang de
lta bu’i lung rtogs dang nus mthu la brtson pa las/
[f. 12b] gang byung tho co su smra ba la spyad na dbyings ye shes kyi [mkha’ ’gro’i] bka’ chad
dang ’jig rten gyi rnyog sgra [= gra/dra] sgrogs pas shin tu zab cing gsang ba’i lam la zhugs pa
gal che’o/
khyad par u rgyan chen pos/
nyon mongs bod yul dbus su long/
’tsho ba’i zas rnams ’bangs kyi khral zhes dang/
’on kyang mkhas pa mi bzhi gtug slob dpon dpal gyi seng ge dang/
rgya gar khrag ’thung nag po dang/
phung byed shin tam garbha dang/
bal po bha su rta ra [= bha su dha ra] bzhi/
mkhas pa bzhi yi thugs gtor te/
zab pa’i man ngag thugs la btags/
zhes pa ni/
ma ’ongs pa’i ’jig rten snod bcud rnams spyi dang skye ’gro yongs kyi bya spyod log ste rnal
’byor pa gsang sngags sgrub pa po rnams la dgra thal long du ’byung ba’i dus zhig la gal po che
sgrub pa’i brda rtags yin la/
kun kyi rang nyams chud pa gal che’o/
de yang bod yul gyi rnal ’byor pa chen po grub mchog [f. 13a] mi la ras pa’i nus mthu tar na
dka’ spyad dang brtson ’khrus kyi mchog gi bla ma la blo bkal/
sgrub pa’i yi dam la mthil bzung/
bstan pa’i srung ma la rgyab sngas nas tshe gcig lus gcig la phyir mi ldog pa thar pa dang thams
cad mkhyen pa’i go ’phang la brnyes pa ni khams gsum gyi ’jig rten la gnas pa dang/
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’gro ba kun gyi don sgrub pa mthar phyin pa lta bu’i nus mthu la brtson pa ni ya rab kyi spyod pa
dang mdzad pa’i phrin las rnams mthar phyin pa ltar dang/
khyad par rā lo tsā ba chen pos/
sras dar ma mdo sde gtsos sa thob kyi sems dpa’ bcu gsum bsgrung shi dmyal bar mi ’gro gdeng
zhig yod gsung bzhin/
sngags gos dkar can gyi rjes ’jug phyi rabs sgrub pa byed pa’i gang zag su dang su yin kyang/
grub rje gong ma rnams [f. 13b] kyi rnam thar la bstun nas rang rgyud ngang gi dul zhing/
nang rtags phyi ru mngon pa’i drod rtags dang spyod pa de bzhin mthun par gang gi kyang ma
gos pa’i rang nas khyer so gsum gyi gdeng dang ldan pa/
dus rtags du ma nyams pa rang rgyud nyams su len cing ’jig rten kyi chos brgyad blos ldog nas
nges ’byung dang skyo shas tshad med pa dang du len nas tshe gcig lus gcig la blo yid theng [=
thengs] mang btang nas grub pa’i nyams rtogs dang rtsa rlung gi bde drod la brten zhing ras dkar
lcang lo can gyi sde la zhugs pa las/
phyi tshul nang stong bya spyod log ste gang byung ji mos kyi tho yol [= co] du song na ’di phyi
kun tu lhag pa’i yon tan thams cad nyams ste mthar ’dre can dang nye tshe ru ltung ba gdon mi
za ba mdo rgyud thun mong gi brgyud lung kun nas ’byung ba gong ma rnams kyi gsung dang
dgongs pa la kun gyi bstun nas [f. 14a] rab tu gces par ’dzin na mthar thug zung ’jug rdo rje
’chang gi sa lam la nye bar rdzogs pa’i don rlabs po che la ’bad dgos pa yin no/
ces pa’ang nye rgyud gsang sngags rnying ma ba’i grub rje gong ma rnams kyi gsung dpe dang
’phags yul gyi deng rabs can grub mchog du mas [= du ma’i] snga ’gyur bstan pa’i srol ’dzin
gsang sngags rdo rje theg pa’i rnal ’byor la brnyes pa’i rig ’dzin grub thob gter ston bod yul gyi
skyes mchog gang zag bal po che rnams kyi rnam thar dang/
grub mchog padma sam bha wa’i zab mo gter gyi lo rgyus lung las ’byung tshul sogs nas btus te
phyogs med kyi ral thog brlom (?) pa pra bha swa ra badzras lcags rta lo rgyal zla’i yar tshe
bzang por sgrub gnas ’od gsal mkha’ spyod gling du yi ge pa chos dpal skyes rabs u rgyan ming
a smras rim bzhin bris pa mang ga lam//
Text 4: rta mgrin yang gsang rdo rje me char gyi rtsol med gsang sngags myur
lam
[f 1a] rta mgrin yang gsang rdo rje me char gyi rtsol med gsang sngags myur lam /
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[f. 1b] rta mgrin gsang ba’i yang tig yang gsang rdo rje’i me char rtsol med gsang ba sngags kyi
rnal ’byor pa rang rgyud ngang gi dul ba kun gyi lta gdengs khyer so gsum gyi brgyud pa la
nyams tshul bzhin spyod pa rnams kyis snga ’gyur bstan pa’i srol ’dzin dbang bcu’i yon tan sku
la rdzogs pa’i che rtags dgyes par bzhe srol ltar na
de la ’di’ang dgos don bsam gyis mi khyab pa gsungs phyir/
[f. 2a] mdor na o rgyan chen po’i zhal snga nas/
bod yul mun pa’i smag rum du/
mi las lhag gyur ya mtshan che/
spyod pa rmad byung ngo mtshar che/
mthu dang rdzu ’phrul stobs po che/
zhes gsung pa ltar/
rnal ’byor yang rab dbang bcu’i che rtags sku la rdzogs/
rlung sems rang dbang thob/
snang srid lha skur ’char/
rags pa’i skhrul pa ldog/
ka dag gzhi’i thog la phebs pa zhig la’o/
[f. 2b] de ltar ma yin gang shar rang mos blo yis bcos mas ’dzin zhing sgrub pa rnams la rgyal
thob/
zhes gsungs pa ltar/
phyi so thar nang byang sems gsang ba rdo rje theg pa’i gdeng bzhi rdzogs pa’i rnal ’byor dbang
rab dam pa rnams kyi che rtags sku la rdzogs pa’i mnga’ gsol rgyan gyi lta gon la/
thog mar rdo rje slob dpon mthar nyid bzhi dang ldan pa’i drung du/
slob bu rnams kyi kun spyod sgo gsum rnam par dag pa’i maņdala phul la/
gsol ba gdab pa ni/
kye kye ho/
rdo rje slob dpon sangs rgyas dpal/
’gro ba’i mgon khyed che ba’i mchog/
bdag la gsan cing dgongs su gsol/
bde gshegs kun gyi gsungs pa bzhin/
so thar byang sems gsang sngags kyi/
bka’ bzhin bdag gis yongs su bzungs/
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dam tshig ma lus [rtag] du srung/
lus dang srog la ltos med bgyis/
[f. 3a] gnang pa chen pos bdag nyid la/
dngos grub skal pa rtsal du gsol/
zhes lan gsum gyi srung sdom khas blangs shing rgyud pa’o/
slob dpon khro bo’i rgyal po mthing nag rdo rje’i rta skad ’tsher ba gcig gsal ba’i thugs ka nas
ya/
las lcags kyi sdig pa nag po mgo dgu pa ye shes kyi me ’bar ba zhig ’phros/
slob bu rnams kyi lus la phog pas sdig sgrib thams cad lhag med ru bsregs shing song bar mos la/
slob dpon gyi me sdong sbar la/
ōm badzra yaksha kre dhā sarba sā sam dzwa la rōm/
zhes brjod la me thun brab/
de nas slob dpon gyis/
rdo rje ’dzin pa khyed rang rnams kyi lus rnam snang gi phyag gyur bzhugs/
sems [kyi] rig rtsal gzhan du ma yengs bar gzhi thog la skyong/
[f. 3b] ōm shu nya ta dznyā na badzra swa bha wā arma konya hōm/
stong pa nyid du gyur/
stong pa’i ngang las slob bu rnams skad cig gis bcom ldan ’das dpal rdo rje sems dpa’ sku mdog
dkar po zhal gcig phyag gnyis rdo rje dang dril bu ’dzin pa’i longs spyod rdzogs sku padma dang
zla ba’i gdan la sems dpa’i skyil krung gi bzhugs pa’i spyod bor ōm dkar po mgrin par ā: dmar
po thugs kar hūm sngon pos mtshan par gyur/
gnas gsum la bdudis bdud rtsi thig le byug/
phyogs bcu’i bde bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi sku gsung thugs kyi rdo rje yig ’bru gsum spyan
drangs te thim par gyur/
ōm ā: hūm/
zhes gsal btab/
hūm/
byin rlabs ye shes rdo rje’i sku/
nam mkha’ lta bu’i rgya che ba/
mi ’gyur sku gsum thugs rdo rje’i/
sems dpa’ gsum du byin gyis rlabs/
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[f. 4a] slob dpon gyis rdo rje rtse gcig pas gnas gsum la reg cing/
hūm/
snang srid ye nas ka dag la ’od gsal bde gshegs snying po’i gzhi/
ma bcos lhun grub phyag rgya che/
sku gsung thugs kyi rol pa las/
bsam gyis mi khyab pa’i rgyu ’phrul ’gyed/
dngos grub rgya mtsho’i phrin las kun/
lhun grub ye shes dpal ’bar ba/
skal ldan bu la dengs ’dir rtsal/
sa ma ya dhi hūm/
de nas slob dpon gyis sgrub pa’i dam tshig dang ’brel te bshad pa sngon du song nas dngos gzhi
srung bya khyad par dang du len pa la/
skal ldan khyed rnams tshul bzhin du/
gsang sngags gsang ba’i dam tshig dang/
sgrub pa’i lung la gzhi brten nas/
sku gsung thugs kyi dam tshig rnams/
[f. 4b] srog gi phyir yang la btang zhig/
gal te rgyud ’gyur ’das gyur na/
rdo rje srin po [= pos] snying bsregs shing/
thar pa’i srog rtsa chad par ’gyur/
de phyir sgrub pa’i dam tshig kun/
yang dag don du srung bar gyis/
dngos grub thams cad thob par ’gyur/
sa ma ya i dam na ra kan/
zhes khro bo yaksha me dbal rten gyi dpang por bskyed/
sa ma ya ’bum gyi rtsa ba sku gsung thugs kyi dam tshig la brten te bsdus pa’i bdud tsis/
sa ma ya ha na ha nas gdams/
rdo rje spyi bor bzhag dam tsig brten par bya/
de nas rgyan gyi mnga’ gsol dang dbang bskur ba ni/
thabs kyi spyod pa’i ’gro don du/
byams dang snying rje’i gang ’dul ba/
sangs rgyas phris las sgrub mdzad cing/
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’gro rnams ma lus sgrol bar bya/
zhes gsungs pa ltar/
[f. 5a] sngon ’byung grub pa’i rig ’dzin rnams kyi rjes su snyegs par ’dod pa’i rnal ’byor gang
zhig gsang ba bsngags kyi lam du zhugs pa ji ltar ’dzin pa kun spyod dang mthun zhing/
smon ’jug byang chub sems mchog gzhi skyong/
bde sdug bdang len byams snying rje’i thabs shesya ma bral ba brta po’i ngang nas
gsang ba bsngags kyi rjes su bzung ba ma rtogs [= gtogs] ji byung ga shar ’os [=’ol] tshod byed
pa mi rung ngo/
dang po zhu ba/
kye [kye] ho/
bla ma kun bzang rdo rje ’chang/
rigs kun ’dus pa rgyal ba’i sras/
bdag la gsan cing brtse bas dgongs rdo rje theg pa’i sgor zhugs nas/
bka’ la me ’da’ dam bca’ bzung/
sgo gsum smin par mdzad du gsol/
zhu lan/
snying rje’i dbang phyug sems dpa’ che/
rdo rje ’dzin mchog bla ma rje/
[f. 5b] thabs dang shes rab tshul brtan pos/
mched dang lcam dral pho nya bcas/
theg chen chos ni rnams dag cing/
ye nas dag cing rnyog pa med/
drag shul thabs kyi ’gro ’dul phyir/
sras kyi dam pa dgongs par gyur/
zhes dbugs dbyung pa’o/
de nas rgyan rnams rim gyi btegs la/
kye kye/
rig pa ’dzin pa’i skyes bu chen po yis/
grol lugs chen po bzhi yi gdengs ldan gyis/
brtul zhugs grub pa’i nyams kyi stang stabs dang/
gar dgu’i brjed nyams [= brjid nyams] ldan pa che ba’i mchog/
ma bcos gnyug ma’i gos dkar lcang lo’i sde’i/
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rlung sems rang dbang thob pa’i rnal ’byor pas/
dbu skra ral pa thod du bcing pa ni/
rig ’dzin grub mchog gsang sngags brnyes pa’i brda/
[f. 6a] sku yi brjid du ras dkar gsol ba ni/
rtsa rlung thig le’i bde drod ’bar ba’i brda/
rin chen dung gi snyan cha brgyan pa ni/
thabs shes gnyis kyi chos ’khor bskor ba’i brda/
rus pa’i rgyan drug drwa bas spras pa ni/
mkha’ ’gro ’bum gyi tshong dpon chas pa’i brda/
’gul [= mgul] pa gser gyi rdo rje rgya gram ni/
phrin las rnam bzhi’i che chos ’chad pa’i brda/
thugs kar gsal ba’i me long gdan pa ni/
’khor ’da’ thams cad sa ler mkhyen pa’i brda/
raksha nag pos do shal ’chang ba ni/
drag sngags nus pa’i me lce ’bar ba’i brda/
’ja’ thig sna lnga’i sgol che gsol ba ni/
mkha’ la g.yo med bsam gtan bskyil ba’i brda/
rdo rje rtse dgu nam mkhar gdengs pa ni/
[f. 6b] theg dge’i rnal ’byor pa nyams la ’char ba’i brda/
lcags sam drag po’i phur pa’i bsgril ba ni/
bstan dgra dam sri’i snying bsregs gzhoms pa’i brda/
dbu yi rgyan du krog [= brog] zhu sgron pa ni/
snang srid thams cad dbang du ’du ba’i brda/
mthing nag dar gyi ber chen lhub pa ni/
che ba’i lha rnams bran du bskol ba’i brda/
’ur thig khra bos sgyogs rdo ’byin pa ni/
nag phyogs ’byung po rdul du brlag pa’i brda/
thabs shes mda’ gzhu g.yas g.yon bskor ba ni/
dkar phyogs dgra lha’i dpung grogs ’tsho ba’i brda/
zhabs kyi srin lham [= lhams] nya mgo gsol ba ni/
srid pa’i lha ’dres spyi bor mchod pa’i brda/
ces brjod/
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rgyan rnams bskor [= bskon] la/
[f. 7a] dam lhan skal ldan skyes bu rdo rje ’dzin/
mched dang lcam dral dam ldan pho nya bcas/
rtsa rlung thig le dag pa’i ’khor lo ru/
rdo rje’i go cha’i lha rnams mnga’ gsol bstod/
’gyur med rdo rje’i sku yi ’khor lo ru/
rtsa brgyud bla ma’i byin rlabs sprin phung ’khrigs/
’gags med tshang dbyangs gsung gi ’khor lo ru/
yan lag drug bcu gsung dbyangs char ltar ’bebs/
gsal stong zung ’jug thugs kyi ’khor lo ru/
’od gsal sgrib med ka dag gzhi thog chud/
’jigs med rdul bras chos sku’i dbang thob cing/
gzugs sku dam pa rnam gnyis mngon ’gyur shog/
zhes smon lam btab/
grub pa’i rig ’dzin dbang chen thugs kyi sras/
[f. 7b] dri med chos kun ’od gsal ’dus ma byas/
gzhan don lhun grub rgyal ba’i rgyal sar phyin/
stobs bcu’i dbang thob rgyal ’bang mda’ ’og bsgyur/
rgyal srid dpal thob don gnyis lhun ’grub cing/
phyogs las rnam rgyal phrin las mthar phyin gyur/
zhes rgyal srid dbang thob/
smon lam gdab pa ni/
thabs mchog bde ba chen po’i dkyil ’khor du/
shes rab stong nyid gar gyi ’khor ’das khyab/
zung ’jug rdo rje ’chang gi go ’phang mchog/
tshe ’di nyid la ’grub par byin gyis rlabs/
de nas rtags brgyad thogs la/
bde chen rdo rje nam mkha’i rnal ’byor brnyes/
chos dbyings ’gyur med ’od gsal mtha’ dbus bral/
rgyal tshab dbang thob bkra shis dpal gyi phyug/
bde legs kun ’byung phun tshogs bkra shis rdzas/
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[f. 8a] rnam ’dren bzhi pa lha klu yis mchod bzhin/
gdung dang rgyal mtshan gser nya padma dang/
dung dkar bum pa dpal be’u gser ’khor lo/
bstan pa’i rgyal tshab mchog la mnga’ gsol ’bul/
bstan dang ’gro ba yongs kyi dpal mgon du/
sa gsum bkra shis snang bas khyab gyur cig/
ces brjod la bkra shis pa’i rdzas rnams bskor smon lam gdab pa ni/
hūm/
rang byung ye shes ’od lnga yi/
srid pa’i snang ba yongs grol nas/
bde chen zhi ba dbyings kyi ngang/
rdo rje sems ’grub bkra shis shog/
ces brjod la bkra shis dang smon lam rgyas par bya’o/
sa ma ya /
[...]774
spros med rnal ’byor yang rab gyis/
shin tu dben pa’i nags khrod du/
rgyu shan dbye ’gyed bsam gtan bsgom/
[f. 8b] khyer so gsum gyi drod rtags gyis/
gdengs bzhi ldan pa’i rgyal sa zungs/
rtsal bcu’i dbang thob che rtags mngon/
zhum pa med pa’i bka’ spyad [= dka’ spyad] ’bad/
bde zhing yangs pa’i mkha’ la spyod/
gzhan don grol bar gzugs sku brnyes/
mthar thug don gnyis lhun ’grub nas/
sa bcu lam lnga rim bgrod de/
’og min gnas nas phyir mi ldog/
’di ltar bu yis nyams len bgyis/
snying gtam yin no bod ’bangs rje/
the tshom ma byed phyi rabs rnams/
774 7ākniī script.
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nyams su blangs bas dngos ’grub thob/
i thi/
gu hya rgya/
zab gsang rgya/
kha tham rgya/
’di ltar gsang ba’i yang tig ’di/
skal ldan ma gtog ’phrad mi srid/
’phrad kyang blo yis chud par dka’/
gnad rnams shin tu zab gsang ’di/
gang ’phrad dngos grub sna re thob/
tshig zung don bsdus man ngag ’di/
bden ’byung yang gsang srog khrid yin/
[f. 9a] da lta chos rgyal khyod la gdams/
ma ’ongs snyigs ma sdug bsngal dus/
bstan ’gro skyobs pa’i gnyen po ru/
phan phyir thugs kyi klong du sbos/
’dab chags lo pa rdo rje’i ming/
de yis chos skal nyid du mdzod/
i thi/
sa ma ya rgya rgya rgya/
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Appendix Three
A Preliminary List of gTer chen bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s Revealed Cycles
The following is a tentative list of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje revealed texts collected in nine
volumes. The titles reported here refer to the ones appearing on the recto of the first page of the
texts. Some of them are provided with a title page title. Others do not have a title page title. In
that case, I have reported portion of the first line of the text or the subject title appearing in the
margin. The numbers between brackets after each title refer to the total number of pages of each
text. The texts included in this list are updated until summer 1999, other treasures as revealed
until today are not included in the present list simply because not collected in volumes yet.
VOLUME I:
The First group of texts in this volume is called chos and is centred on ’Od dpag med
(Amitābha Buddha) and contains a total of four texts:
1. Yang gsang sgrub skor snang ba mtha’ yas kyi mngon rtog padma’ i snying po byang
chub lam bzang/ (15)
2. rNam dag bde ba can gyi gsol ’debs thugs rje’i lcags kyu/ (4)
3. Yang gsang sgrub skor snang ba mtha’ yas kyi tshogs mchod padma’i rol mtsho/ (7)
4. Yang gsang sgrub skor snang ba mtha’ yas kyi sgo nas byang bsreg bde chen lam
bzang/ (10)
The Second group of texts is called longs and is centred on ’Phags pa sbyan ras gzigs
(Avalokiteśvara), and contains a total of nine texts:
5. Yang gsang sgrub skor phags pa spyan ras gzigs kyi sgrub thabs ’gro drug mun sel
thar pa’i shin rta/ (20)
6. Sems dpa’ brgyad kyi snying po/ (1)
7. Yang gsang sgrub skor ’gro ’dul ’khor dong sprugs kyi rgyud ’debs byin rlabs sprin
phung/ (3)
8. sByan ras gzigs ’gro ’dul ’khor ba dong sprugs kyi sgo nas nyams chags bskang ba’i
tshogs mchod padma’i rol mtsho/ (12)
9. Yang gsang sgrub skor ’phags pa thugs rje chen po spyan ras gzigs ’da’ ka bde chen
myur lam/ (4)
10. Yang gsang sgrub skor spyan ras gzigs ’khor ba dong sprugs kyi byang bsregs ’krul
snang rang grol/ (12)
11. ’Phags pa sbyan ras gzigs kyi mon lam bden ’grub ’og min them skal/ (10)
12. Yang gsang sgrub skor spyan ras gzigs ’grol ’dul ’khor ba dong sprugs kyi spyi skrus
nyams chags kun sbyong zla ba’i bdud rtsi bzhugs (18)
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13. Yang gsang sgrub skor ’gro ’dul thugs rje chen po ’khor ba dong sprugs kyi dbang
chog ye shes byin char grol ba drug ldan thar ba’i shing rta bzhugs (12)
The Third set of texts from the first volume, sprul, is mainly centred upon Guru
Rinpoche, and contains a total of twenty texts:
14. bLa sgrub gsang ba kun ’das las/ gu ru bde ba chen po yi/ gsang sgrub nor bu’i rgya
can gyi/ nye lam zab mo’i rnal ’byor/ (10)
15. sKu gsung nying thig gsol ’debs byin rlabs gzi ’bar/ (4)
16. Gu ru bde ba chen po’i nye lam dbang gzhi’i dong bsdus nor bu’i rgya can/ (12)
17. sKu gsum bla ma’i sgrub skor las/ bla ma bde ba chen po yi/ nye lam gsang ba zab
mo’i chos/ dbang mchog yid bzhin nor bu/ (10)
18. Gu ru bde ba chen po las/ tshogs mchod padma’i drab a/ (5)
19. bLa ma kun ’dus yang snying/ (2)
20. sLob dpon dga’ rab rdo rje yi/ bla sgrub ye shes dngos ster/ (2)
21. Gu ru zhal gdams rtsa gsum kun ’dus las/ bla sgrub kun ’dus rdo rje’i rgya mdud/
(38)
22. bLa ma’i thugs sgrub ’chi med lcags kyi bum bzang las/ bsnyen bsgrub migs rim gu
ru’i zhal lung ’od ze drwa ba/ (22)
23. Gu ru’i zhal gdams rtsa gsum kun lus las/ tshe sgrub ’chi med lcags kyi bum bzang/
(47)
24. Tshe sgrub lcags kyi bum bzang las/ sngon gtor dang gser skyems/ (1)
25. Tshe sgrub lcags kyi bum bzang las/ tshe ’gu/ (5)
26. Tshe sgrub ’chi med lcags kyi ri bo las/ bskang ba rin chen nor bu’i phreng ba/ (5)
27. sKu gsum rang grol sgrub skor las/ bskang ba ’khor ’das rang grol/ (2)
28. Tshe lā’i bum sgrub/ (2)
29. rGyal sras zhal gdams rtsa gsum kun ’das las/ tshe ’gugs lcags ri rdo rje lcags kyu/
(6)
30. Yang gsang sgrub skor rgyal ba rgya mtsho’i mdon rtogs ’og min them skas gsang
chen ’dus pa’i thugs thig/ (17)
31. Yang gsang sgrub skor rgyal ba rgya mtsho’i dbang mchog dri ma med pa ’og min
them skas/ (9)
32. Dag snang gsang mdzod gnyen po las/ nam snying gsang ba’i yang tig skor/ (1)
33. gTer chen po’i zhabs brten mi shig rdo rje’i krhi chen/ (2)
VOLUME II:
The Volume II contains two separated groups of texts. They are both centred on Mañjuśrī
(’Jam dpal dbyangs), and have two separate tables of contents.
The first reads: ’Jam dpal zhi drag gi chos tshan ji yod kyi dkar chag bzhugs so (A List of
Number of Classes of Teachings on the Peaceful and Wrathful [Manifestations] of Mañjuśrī).
1. bLa ma’i thugs sgrub sku gsum rang grol las/ ’jam dpal zhi sgrub shes rab blo ’phel/
(6)
2. ’Jam dpal shes rab blo ’phel gyi brgyud pa’i gsol ba ’debs gzugs spob gter ’byen/ (1)
3. ’Jam dpal shes sgrub dbang bzhi ye shes rab ’bar/ (8)
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4. bLa ma’i thugs sgrub sku gsum rang grol las/ ’jam dpal drag sgrub rdo rje’i phub
rdzong/ (25)
The second table of contents reads: ’Jam dpal zhi drag gyi dkar chag grin chen
gyi phreng ba (A Precious Rosary: A List of Peaceful and Wrathful [Manifestations] of
Mañjuśrī).
KA gSol ’deb sbyin rlabs thugs rje’i sprin phung/ (1)
KHA ’Jam dpal brgyud ’debs ’od sku bsgyur sgrub/ (1)
GA Cho ga’i sngon ’gro rdo rje’i sgra dbyangs/ (4)
NGA Byin ’bebs ye shes zla ba’i bdud rtsi/ (3)
CA Yang gsang ’jam dpal zhi drag rgyun gyi nyams len khyer bde rang rig gsal ston/ (4)
CHA ’Jam dpal dbyangs rtsa sgrub ye shes thig le/ (10)
JA ’Jam dpal gzhon nu ye shes dpal ’bar/ (8)
NYA ’Jam dpal sgrub thabs thugs kyi thig le/ (15)
TA Padma’i rigs mchog thugs kyi thig le/ (13)
THA ’Jam dpal rnon po’i sgrub thabs ye shes thig le/ (8)
DA ’Jam dpal rigs lnga’i zur rgyan rin chen drwa ba/ (18)
NA Yang gsang rigs lnga’i bum dbang chig sbrel (13)
PA Yang gsang ’jam dpal zhi drag chig sbrel tshe ’gugs ’od zer drwa bar do rje’i lcags
skyu/ (3)
PHA Yang gsang ’jam dpal ye shes sems dpa’ gshin rje ratna rtsal rdzogs kyi lus dkyil ye
shes thig le/ (17)
BA ’Jam dpal drag sgrub rdo rje’i me char/ (76)
MA Yang gsang ’jam dpal ye shes sems dpa’ gshin rje’i gshed kyi tha ram ’dul sbyong
drag po’i bzhed sgra/ (19)
TSA ’Jam dpal drag po ratna rtsal rdzogs kyi cha lags bsdu khang gshin rje dug phur nag
po’i tsa kra/ (16)
TSHA Yang gsang hūm gi thugs tig ’jam dpal zhi drag khog phub lag len gsal ba’i me long/
(18
DZA Yang gsang hūm gi thugs tig ’jam dpal ye shes sems dpa’ khog phub ’od zer drwa bad
pal chen zhal lung/ (31)
WA Yang gsang gshin rje’i khyung bzlog gnam lcags zhun thig/ (7)
ZHA Yang gsang sgrub skor gtsang gi phris [= phrin las]/ (7)
ZA rTsa gsum yongs kyi las sbrel ba’i drag sngags bla ’gugs dang rbad mnan la brten
pa’i nyes byin rdo rje’i spu kri/ (1)
’A ’Jam dpal drag po’i ’od zer sgrub skabs thugs sgrub drag po’i gzir mda’/ (1)
YA Thun gtor drag po’i thun gtor ye shes skar mda’/ (2)
RA Yang gsang ’jam dpal khro bo’i dbang mchog gnam lcags zhun thig/ (27)
LA Yang gsang ’jam dpal gshin rje’i bka’ srung sgrub pa’i phrin bcol spu gri nag po
’phrul gyi glog zhabs/ (12)
VOLUME III:
Volume III contains a group of texts centred on rTa mgrin (Hayagrīva). The Volume also
contains a list of the texts that reads: Hūm chen kā ra’i thugs tig las/ rta mgrin rdo rje me char
dkar chag.
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1. rTa nag lha lnga’i brgyud ’debs rdo rje’i bzhed sgra dang padma’i bzhed sgra gnyis/
(3)
2. brGyud ’debs bsdus pa/ (1)
3. brGyud ’debs rdo rje’i tshangs dbyangs/ (2)
4. rDo rje’i me char brgyud ’debs zur ’debs/ (3)
5. gSang chu byin rlabs/ (2)
6. Zur ’debs sngon ’gro dkar bgegs bcas/ (17)
7. rTa mgrin rdo rje’i me char gyi las byang ye shes drwa ba/ (33)
8. Tshe ’gugs dka’ gter gnyis/ (8)
9. Byin ’bebs rdo rje me char/ (9)
10. sMan mchod/ (2)
11. mDun bskyed srid gsum gting bzlog/ (79)
12. sNgags dmigs/ (2)
13. gDab phur/ (5)
14. mDun bskyed khro bcu’i bzlog pa byang ma reg gcod/ (8)
15. Khyung btsong/ (9)
16. bZlog pa’i yams bsgyur/ (5)
17. rTa mgrin gsang sgrub rdo rje’i gur chen/ (15)
18. Tshogs mchod/ (12)
19. bsKang ba rin chen phreng ba/ (15)
20. gSang bdag/ (13)
21. Phyag rdor bum sgrub/ (17)
22. Khyung gi mngon rtogs/ (9)
23. Khyung sgrub rdo rje’i bskyed zin/ (13)
24. Khyung gi rjes gnang/ (13)
25. Seng ha nā da’i sgrub thabs padma’i phreng ba/ (45)
26. Seng ha nā da’i rgyun gyi rnal ’byor/ (5)
27. Seng ha nā da’i tshogs mchod dngos bgrub rgya mtsho/ (9)
28. bKra shis gter bum/ (11)
29. Seng ha nā da’i sgrub thabs las tshogs lag len/ (9)
30. kLu’i bum sgrub/ (11)
31. Tshe sgrub nyi zla kha sbyor gyi bla brgyud/ (2)
32. Tshe sgrub nyi zla kha sbyor/ (17)
33. Tshe sgrub nyi zla kha sbyor dbang chog/ (17)
34. bCud len migs rim ’od zer drwa ba ’chi med srog sgrub/ (9)
35. Nyi zla kha sbyor gyi cha lag rlung khrid tshe bcud kun ’dus/ (10)
36. Zab gsang yang tig nyi zla kha sbyor las/ gab gsal lag len shel dkar me long / (gab
gsal lag len)/ (4)
37. Tshe sgrub nyi zla kha sbyor gyi sgo nas tshe bla bslu ba’i cho ka mchi bdag gtor
bsgyur/ (30)
38. Bla ’gugs/ (3)
39. rTa mgrin mdun bskyed rim zhal shes/ (8)
40. gSang sgrub bskyed rim gsang ba’i me long/ (10)
41. ’Go ba’i lha lnga’i bso mchod/ (9)
42. Rig pa gnad sprod/ (11)
43. sNying thig padma’i zhal lung rdzogs rim/ (7)
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44. rTa mgrin sngags ’bum/ (16)
45. rDzas rgod zhal shes/ (9)
46. rDzas rgod byin ’bebs/ (2)
47. rTa mgrin rtags gdab/ (7)
48. rTa mgrin yang gsang rdo rje’i me char gyi rtsol med gsang sngags myur lam (9)
49. Nyes ’byin/ (11)
50. Don zab gnad smin shel dkar me long (sNga ’gyur)/ (14)
51. ’Gong par gtar/ (5)
52. Dam sri glud gdos/ (17)
53. rTa mgrin thugs tig/ (13)
54. rTa nag gi dbang chog rdo rje’i go khrab/ (9)
55. dBang chog dug lnga rang grol/ (22)
56. rTa nag drag po’i me yi tha ram/ (6)
VOLUME IV:
Volume Four is entitled sKu gsum sgrub skor gsang bdag bdud bshed drag po and
contains a table of contents, sKu gsum sgrub skor gsang bsag bdud gshed kyi chos tshan ji yod
kyi dkar chag bzhugs so.
KA Dus gsum sangs rgyas thams cad ’dus pa’i sku rig ’dzin yongs ’dus bdud kyi gshed
chen gyi dkar chag gsar sgrigs rin chen phreng mdzas las sbyod bde kun gsal padma’i
phreng ba bri pa la sku gsum sgrub skor o rgyan rnam thar las gsol ’debs bsdus pa rin
chen phreng mdzas/ (6)
KHA brGyud ’debs thog ma’i mgon po/ (2)
GA bDud gshed drag po’i zur rgyan/ (32)
NGA bDud gshes phrin las padma’i rol mtsho/ (50)
CA Na sgrub rdo rje’i brag rdzogs/ (14)
CHA gSang sgrub khro chu’i zhun thig/ (13)
JA Rig ’dzin ’dus pa’i sgrub thabs/ (9)
NYA ’Dul sbyong drag po/ (1)
TA Drag sngags rtsa kra me yi ’khor lo/ (2)
THA Thun gtor/ (2)
DA mDun bskyed phur brtebs/ (2)
NA Lo tri’i dmod pa sde brgyad las gtad/ (2)
PA gShin rje dmod zlog byang ma rig gcod/ (2)
PHA Thun sgrub drag po’i thog zor/ (1)
BA mDun bskyed rdo rje’i thog mda’/ (124)
MA rDo rje tshe rgyal sgrub thabs/ (15)
TSA Ge sar sgo nas sba lcag bsgrub pa’i gter mdzod/ (8)
TSHA gTer srung spong ra’i sgrub thabs dngos grub rgya mtsho/ (9)
DZA bSang mchod ’dzam gling bde ston/ (42)
WA Khu ye/ (4)
ZHA bSang gi zhi ba bdud rtsi char ’bebs/ (7)
ZA sKu gsum rig ’dzin ’dus pa las/ gzhig rten bkod pa bdag bcos thabs/ (17)
‘A Zhi nyung (1)
YA ’Go ba’i lha lnga sol thabs/ (6)
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RA bDud gshed drag po’i tha ram/ (31)
LA Nyes ’byin spu gri’i mnan chog/ (7)
SHA bLa ma dpal chen he ru ka’i sgrub thabs gzi ’bar/ (24)
VOLUME V:
Volume Five, Yang gsang snying thig rta phur chos skor, contains a group of twenty-five
texts centred on the Vajrakilāya (rDo rje phur bu).
1. Yang gsang chig sbrel rdo rje’i me char las/ dpal chen rtsa sgrub ye shes thig le/ (39)
2. dPal chen phur pa’i zur rgyan rab gsal/ (45)
3. Yang gsang chig sbrel rdo rje phur pa las/ rgyan gyi rnal ’byor ye shes thig le/ (?)
Volume Five also contains a table of contents, Yang gsang rta phur kā’i la ya’i chos
tshan dkar chag shel dkar me long.
KA Yang gsang snying thig rta phur kā’i la ya’i/ rgyun gsang tig ’dzin pa’i gsol ’debs/ (7)
KHA Yang gsang snying thig rta phur kā’i la ya’i/ rgyun gsang bla med lugs kyi gsol ’debs/
(1)
GA Yang gsang snying thig rta phur kā’i la ya’i/ byin rlabs bcu gcig ye shes dpal ’bar/
(6)
NGA Yang gsang snying thig rta phur kā’i la ya’i/ mngon rtogs khro chu’i zhun thig/ (30)
CA Yang gsang snying thig rta phur kā’i la ya’i/ mngon rtogs bskyed rim rdo rje’i phur
rdzong/ (54)
CHA Yang gsang snying thig rta phur kā’i la ya’i/ nang sgrub in dra nī la’i do shal mi shig
rdo rje’i go rdzong/ (17)
JA Yang gsang snying thig [rta phur] kā’i la ya’i gsang sgrub rdo rje’i me char/ (15)
NYA Yang gsang snying thig rta phur kā’i la ya’i rgyan gyi rnal ’byor byang chub sems
gdams/ (12)
TA Yang gsang rta phur kā’i la ya’i dzab bsnyen sbas don rab gsal rdo rje’i thog mda’/
(5)
THA Yang gsang hūm gi sgrub skor las/ bsnyen sgrub las sbyor ’bad thabs/ (7)
DA Yang gsang hūm gi thugs tig kā’i la ya’i dzab mchod byin rlabs sprin phung/ (1)
NA Yang gsang rta phur kā’i la ya’i gter srung mchod thabs phrin las gleg zhabs/ (5)
PA Yang gsang snying thig rta phur kā’i la ya’i tshogs mchod myong ba rang grol rdo
rje’i zhun thig/ (15)
PHA Yang gsang snying thig rta phur kā’i la ya’i bsakng bad pal chen dgyes pa’i bzhad
sgra/ (6)
BA Yang gsang snying thig rta phur kā’i la ya’i gter bzlog rdo rje’i bzhad sgra/ (59)
MA Yang gsang sgrub skor rta phur kā’i la ya’i mdos bzlog lag len shel dkar me long/
(40)
TSA Yang gsang sgrub skor rta phur kā’i la ya’i mdos bzlog dmag g.yul ’gyed srid gsum
gting bzlog/ (32)
TSHA Yang gsang rta phur nag po’i las tshogs dam glud gshed ma phyir bzlog/ (13)
DZA Yang gsang snying thig rta phur kā’i la ya’i sku gsung thugs kyi bzlog ’khor byad ma
cham ’bebs/ (4)
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WA Yang gsang snying thig rta phur kā’i la ya’i them med gnad kyi gdams zab bstan dgra
ham ’bebs/ (22)
ZHA Yang gsang sgrub skor kā’i la ya’i drag po me yi sbyor ba drag bgegs dpung ’joms/
(21)
ZA Yang gsang sgrub skor rta phur kā’i la ya’i gshed ’dul ’khrul snang rang grol/ (51)
’A Yang gsang sgrub skor haya gri wa kā’i la ya’i dbang chog in dra nī la’i cod pan/
(14)
YA Yang gsang sgrub skor kā’i la ya’i lha dbang ye shes gzi ’bar rdo rje’i go khrag/ (31)
RA Yang gsang snying thig kā’i la ya’i khog phub bdud las rnam rgyal dpal chen zhal
lung/ (35)
VOLUME VI:
Ma rgyud skor las / phag mo khros ma seng gdong lha mo bde chen rgyal mo sog gyi las
mtha’ yongs rdzogs bzhugs /
1. Ma rgyud brgyud ’debs / (3)
2. Dakki snying thig sbas rgya / (33)
3. bDe chen rgyal mo’i sun bzlog lag len / (12)
4. Sun bzlog tshogs mchod padma’i drwa ba / (11)
5. sNying thig dakki’i rgyun gsol sun bzlog / (4)
6. Phag mo’i phyi sgrub / (11)
7. Nang sgrub / (7)
8. Phag mo’i gsang sgrub / (13)
9. Tshogs mchod dngos sgrub rgya mtsho / (7)
10. ‘Da’ ka ye shes myur lam / (7)
11. Phag mo’i rdzogs rim / (30)
12. Phag mo’i rlung khrid / (18)
13. Sems don nyams len / (5)
14. Seng gdong mngon rtog zur rgyan / (8)
15. Seng gdong dakki’i sgrub thabs / (23)
16. Seng gdong gtor zlog / (32)
17. Seng gdong bca’ thabs / (2)
18. Byang khrol / (8)
19. bDud ’dul khros ma’i sngon ching / (17)
20. bDud ’dul khros ma’i sgrub thabs / (20)
21. Khros ma’i gsang sgrub / (15)
22. Yang gsang khros ma’i bka’ srung gsol bsdus / (9)
23. Khros ma’i tshe ’gugs / (7)
24. mKha’ ’gro’i spyi bshags / (5)
25. Khros ma’i gtor zlog gnam lcags ’khor lo / (52)
26. Khros ma’i rjes gnang / (15)
27. Khros ma’i lag len / (10)
28. Khros ma’i zur ’debs / (9)
29. Khros ma’i lam zab lta ba khrig chod / (6)
30. Tshogs mchod lag len shel dkar me long / (9)
31. mKha’ ’gro’i tshogs mchod / (48)
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32. Khros ma’i sbas rgya / (4)
33. Me mchod / (7)
34. Khros ma’i zur ’debs / (9)
35. Gri ’dul / (57)
36. Shing byang sogs kyi dpe’u ris / (1)
37. lHa mo’i sgrub thabs / (11)
38. lHa mo’i bstod bskul bka’ yi rjes gnang / (13)
39. Ma mo’i yongs bsgyur gyi lag len / (6)
40. Ma mo’i yongs bsgyur / (34)
41. Khag ’dos / (18)
VOLUME VII:
sGrol ma gu drag sme brtsegs dzam dkar bka’ srung bcas chos skor contains a total of
twenty-four texts.
1. Yang gsang zab tig ’phags ma yid bzhin ’khor lam nyams len ’chi med bum bzang/ (9)
2. Zab tig ’phags me’i rjes gnang/ (17)
3. Pra sgrub gsang rgya’i zhal shes/ (10)
4. rTa mgrin gsang ba’i yang tig las/ rnam mthong ’khrul kyi brta rgya/ (14)
5. sNang srid yi lag len/ (5)
6. sKu gsum rang grol sgrub skor gu drag ye shes rab ’bar las/ rdo rje’i me phreng can
gyi sgrub thabs mdon bgegs tshad gcod/ (11)
7. sKu gsum rang grol sgrub skor gu drag me phreng can gyi zur rgyan rdo rje’i bzhad
sgra ye shes klogs ’khyil/ (7)
8. Gu drag tshe ’gugs rdo rje’i lcags kyu/ (16)
9. sKu gsum sgrub skor gu drag me phreng can gyi mdun bskyed dang sbrel ba’i bzlog
pa gnam lcags ’khor lo khro chu thog ’bebs/ (32)
10. Gu drag dbang chog/ (13)
11. Chos dbyings nam mkha’i klong mdzod las/ sme brtsegs dpa’ bo gcig pa’i rtsa sgrub/
(29)
12. Khro rgyal sme ba brtsegs pa’i sbyong khrus/ (17)
13. Chos dbyings nam mkha’i klong mdzod las/ sme brtsegs dpa’ bo gcig pa’i sregs blug/
(8)
14. Dzam dkar brgyud ’debs nor bu’i phreng ba/ (1)
15. Dzam lha dkar po’i sgrub thabs/ (44)
16. Dzam dkar bum sgrub/ (14)
17. rGyud gsang gsol ’debs ka dag don rtogs/ (2)
18. Drang srog loktri’i sgrub skor man ngag khol byung las/ sngon ’jug sbyi ching zur
gsal shel dkar me long/ (8)
19. Drang srong loktri’i sgrub skor man ngag khol byung las/ zhi drag chig sbrel gnam
lcags thog mda’/ (13)
20. Drang srong loktri’i sgrub thabs skor/ man ngag gsum brgya’i nang tshan las/ khol
byung sbu gri reg bcod kyi/ byad zlog dus me’i ’khor lo/ (41)
21. Drang srong loktri’i sgrub thabs skor/ man ngag gsum brgya’i nang tshan las/ las
sbyor bram ze’i dmod zlog drag sngags ’khor lo/ (7)
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22. Drang srong loktri’i sgrub thabs skor/ man ngag gsum brgya’i nang tshan las/ gtad
zlog lag len ’phrul gyi ’khor lo/ (7)
23. Drang srong loktri’i sgrub thabs skor/ man ngag gsum brgya’i nang tshan las/ them
med rno so man ngag thun sgrub drag po’i thog mda’/ (3)
24. Drang srong loktri’i sgrub skor man ngag khol byung bka’ rgya las/ gter srung gsol
mchod phrin las myur ’grub bdud rtsi’i spyin phung/ (8)
25. Drang srong loktri’i sgrub skor man ngag khol byung bka’ rgya las tshe bcud ril bu’i
dmigs rim ’od zer drwa ba/ (9)
26. Drang srong loktri’i sgrub skor man ngag khol byung bka’ rgya las/ byang chub sems
kyi gdams pa kun bzang thugs thig/ (9)
27. rTa mgrin gsang ba’i yang tig las/ seng ha na dā’i las tshogs skor/ mgon dkar yid
bzhin nor bu yi/ sgrub pa zab mo’i lag len/ (9)
28. sNgags kyi srung ma’i sgrub thabs/ (29)
29. gZa’ bdud dug gi spu gri/ (22)
30. Dam can sgrub thabs nzhugs/ (14)
31. Chos srung ma gzang dam gsum gyi bla rdo sgrub thabs rdo rje’i brtan phur/ (14)
32. gTer srung gab rgya bkrol ba’i yi ge ithi/ (22)
33. Ma hā kā la’i gsang sgrub snying thig/ (13)
34. Ma hā kā la’i rgyan gsol/ (3)
VOLUME VIII:
1. Ma hā kā la’i mchod phreng/ (26)
2. Yang gsang sgrub skor rigs bdag snang ba mtha’ yas kyi bka’ srung gnod sbyin dzī
na mi dra’i sgrubs [= sgrub] thabs/ (19)
3. Chos skyong rnams kyi dbyangs bskul/ (3)
4. Gu ru gsang ba’i bka’ srung mchod thabs/ (4)
5. Ma bza’ dam gsum gyi mdun gzhi bskyed chog/ (3)
6. Phrin las srid sgrol chen mo/ (4)
7. bLa’ srung ma bza’ dam gsum/ (21)
8. bKa’ srung phrin bcol/ (10)
9. bsTan srung rol pa mched bdun/ (9)
10. Yang gsang sgrub skor bka’ srung rnams kyi bskang bshags/ (7)
11. gTer srung phrin bcol/ (7)
12. Dug Phag nag po’i ’gyed/ (11)
13. bsKul byang dug sbram thog ’beb/ (7)
14. bZa’ bskul dug mda’ nag po/ (7)
15. mGon po’i rgyun gsol phrin las glog zhang/ (1)
16. lHa mo’i gsol mchod phrin las glog zhags/ (3)
17. lHa mo’i phrin bcol rdo rje’i thog mda’/ (8)
18. sNgags srung gsol mchod phrin las myur ’grub/ (1)
19. bsTan srung ’gyel gdong nag po’i gsol mchod/ (3)
20. gZa’ gsol phrin las glog zhang/ (1)
21. Dam can gsol mchod/ (2)
22. Dam can gsol mchod/ (1)
23. gNam sman ne ne’i gsol mchod/ (2)
24. Kun mkhyil mchod gsum gsol mchod/ (1)
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25. Ma mgon gsol bsdus/ (1)
26. lHa chen gsol mchod bsdus pa/ (3)
27. Tshogs bdag gsol bsdus/ (2)
28. lHa chen ma hā de wa’i gsol mchod/ (2)
29. bDud rgyal gsol mchod/ (2)
30. bKa’ srung chos skyong rnams kyi gsol bsdus/ (3)
31. Ge sar gsol mchod/ (2)
32. rGyal po pe har gsol mchod rin chen nor phreng/ (2)
33. rGyal po pe har gsol mchod/ (3)
34. gNod sbyin tsi’u dmar po’i gsol mchod/ (1)
35. rDo rje ngas nus ma’i gsol mchod/ (3)
36. Dur khrod bdag po’i gsol mchod/ (5)
37. Yang gsang dpal chen phur pa’i gsol mchod/ (6)
38. rTa lha’i gsol mchod/ (2)
39. gNyan thang lha’i gsol mchod mdor bsdus/ (5)
40. gTer srung spom ri’i sgrub thabs/ (9)
41. rDo rje rgyal mtshan gsol mchod/ (2)
42. Brag dkar lha btsan/ (2)
43. rDzin rgyal gsol mchod/ (2)
44. bKa’ srung dregs pa’i za ngu/ (4)
45. Za ngu phrin bcol/ (2)
46. sNgags srung ma’i nang bzlog/ (2)
47. Thal brdeb/ (2)
48. bZhes ’bed/ (3)
49. rTa mgrin gsang ba’i yang tig las gter srung nā ga raksha gi gab rgya grol ba’i bka’
gtad dug mda’ nag po/ (8)
VOLUME IX:
1. rGyud gsang gcug tor drag mo’i dgongs rgyan ’phyangs gi lag len rin chen drwa ba/
(18)
2. rGyud gsang mchog du grub ma gtsug tor drag mo’i byad zlog me yi spu gri pha rol
rgol ’joms/ (1)
3. gTsug tor gdugs dkar sngon ’gro’i gtor ma ’bul ba/ (63)
4. rGyud gsang gtsug tor drag mo’i sngon tor bde legs sphrin phung/ (2)
5. rGyud gsang gtsug tor drag mo’i sngags drug phyag rgya’i byin rlabs/ (?)
6. rGyud gsang mchog grab gtsug tor drag mo’i tsogs mchod mkha’ ’gro dgyes pa’i
dga’ ston/ (13)
7. Yang gsang sgrub skor jo mo bkra shis tshe ring ma’i rgyun gsol ’dod don kun ’grub
bzhugs/(2)775
775 bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje revealed and composed this text at the rDza mer chen nunnery in August 2001.
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Appendix Four
A General Bibliography on the Treasure Tradition in non-Tibetan Languages
Achard, Jean-Luc. Les Testaments de Vajradhara et des Porteurs-de-Science. Paris: Les Deux
Océans, 1995.
——. “Bon zhig khyung nag and the Rig pa gcer mthong Tradition of rDzogs chen”, Tibet
Journal, vol. XXIII, no. 4, Winter 1998, pp. 28-57.
——. L’Essence Perlée du Secret—Recherches philologiques et historiques et historiques sur
l’origine de la Grande Perfection dans la tradition rNying ma pa, Bibliothèque de l’École
Pratique des Hautes Études, vol. 107. Brepols: Turnhout 1999.
——. “Kundröl Drakpa et la tradition du Bönsar.” Dzogchen Bulletin, no. 19, Khyung-mkhar,
2003, pp. 4-8.
——. “La Voie de la Grande Perfection selon la Transmission Orale de Rigdzin Tsewang
Norbu sur le Yangtik Yeshe Thongdröl”, Dzogchen Yangti no. 3, Khyung-mkhar, 2003, pp. 4-
18.
——. Bon Po Hidden Treasures: A catalogue of bDe chen gling pa’s Collected Revelations.
Leiden: Brill, 2004.
——. “bsTan gnyis gling pa (1480-1535) et la Révélation du Yang tig ye shes mthong grol”,
Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, no. 5, CNRS, Paris, Avril 2004, pp. 57-96.
——. “Kun grol grags pa and the revelation of the Secret Treasury of the Sky Dancers on
Channels and Winds — an inquiry into the development of the New Bon tradition in
Eighteenth century Tibet.” The Tibet Journal, vol. XXXI, no. 3, Autumn 2005, pp. 3-32.
——. “Le Tantra des Vingt-Deux Perles de l’Esprit de Parfaite Pureté—un exemple
d’intertextualité entre les traditions Bon po et rNying ma pa.” Cahiers d’Extrême-Asie,
numéro de l’Hiver 2006, pp. 57-104.
——. L’Or Raffiné de la Grande Perfection—Volume I—La pratique des Préliminaires.
Sumène: Editions Khyung-Lung, 2006
——. “The Tibetan Tradition of the Great Perfection.” In Dr. Shanker Tapa (ed.). History of
Buddhim in Asia. (Forthcoming).
Aguillar, Oriol. “Los Linajes de Transmisión de Nyag bla padma bdud ‘dul.” In Revue d'Etude
Tibétaines, n. 8, 2005, pp. 65-83.
Akester, Matthew. “The ‘Vajra Temple’ of gTer ston Zhig po gling pa and the Politics of Flood
Control in 16th Century lHa sa.” In The Tibet Journal, Vol XXVI no. 1, Spring 2001, pp. 3-
24.
——. “Khyung tshang brag: the ‘Black Demon Peering’ at 1Ha sa.” The Tibet Journal, Vol.
XXVI, No. 1, Spring 2001, pp. 25-34.
Aris, Michael. Hidden Treasures and Secret Lives: A Study of Pemalingpa (1450-1521) and the
Sixth Dalai Lama (1683-1706). London: Keagan Paul International, 1989.
bKra shis phun tshogs, rGya ye. “Bod kyi gter chos skor che long tsam bshad pa.” Khrung go’i
bod kyi shes rig (China Tibetology), 1997, vol. 1, pp. 45-57.
Blezer, Henk. “Karma Gling Pa: Treasure Finder or Creative Editor ?” In Reading Asia: New
Research in Asian Studies. Frans Hüsken and Dick van der Meij. Richmond (eds): Curzon
Press, 2001, pp. 292-334.
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Blondeau, Anne-Marie. “Le Lha-‘dre bka’-thang.” In Études tibétains dédiées à la mémoire de
Marcelle Lalou. Paris: Adrien Maisonneuve, 1971.
——. “Analysis of the Biographies of Padmasambhava according to Tibetan Tradition:
Classification of Sources.” In Michael Aris and Aung San Suu Kyi (eds), Tibetan Studies in
Honour of Hugh Richardson: Proceedings of the International Seminar of Tibetan Studies,
Oxford 1979. Warmonster, UK: Aris & Phillips, LTD, 1980, pp. 45-52.
——. “mKhyen-brtse’i dbang-po: La biographie de Padmasambhava selon la tradition du
bsGrags-pa Bon, et ses sources.” In Gnoli, G. and L. Lanciotti (eds), Orientalia Iosephi
Tucci memoriae dicata, Serie Orientale Roma LVI, 1, Roma: IsMEO, 1985, pp. 111-58.
——. “Une polémique sur l’autenticité du bKa’-thang au 17e siècle.” In Christopher, I.
Beckwith (ed.), Silver on lapis: Tibetan literary culture and history. Bloomington: The Tibet
Society, 1987, pp. 125-61.
——. “La controverse soulevée par l’inclusion de rituels bon-po dans le Rin-čhen gter-mjod.
Note préliminaire.” In Tibetan studies: Proceedings of the 4th Seminar of the International
Association for Tibetan Studies. Edited by Helga Uebach and Jampa L.Panglung. München:
Kommission für Zentralasiatische Studien, Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1988,
pp. 55-67.
——. “Formation de la biographie légendaire de Padmasambhava: le sBa bzhed.” In Résumés
des cours et travaux à l'EPHE, in Annuaire de l'École pratique des Hautes Études, Section
des Sciences religieuses, tome 99 (1990-1991), 1991, pp. 69-74.
——. “Nyang ral nyi ma ‘od zer et le Zangs gling ma” In Résumés des cours et travaux à
l'EPHE, in Annuaire de l'École pratique des Hautes Études, Section des Sciences religieuses,
tome 101 (1992-1993) 1993, pp. 67-72.
——. “‘Autobiographie et vies antérieures’ de Nyang ral nyi ma ‘od zer” In Résumés des cours
et travaux à l'EPHE, in Annuaire de l'École pratique des Hautes Études, Section des
Sciences religieuses, tome 102 (1993-1994) 1994, pp. 69-72.
——. “Les ‘textes-trésors’ (terma).” Action poétique n° 157, 1999, pp. 40-42.
——. “2. Les bKa’ thang et la question du nationalisme tibétain.” In Résumés des cours et
travaux à l'EPHE, in Annuaire de l'École pratique des Hautes Études, Section des Sciences
religieuses, tome 109 (2000-2001), 2001, pp. 116-19.
——. “La tradition des ‘textes-trésors’ (gter ma) dans le bouddhisme tibétain: apocryphes ou
révélation?” In A. Cadonna and E. Bianchi (eds), Facets of Tibetan Religious Tradition and
Contact with Neighbouring Cultural Areas, Firenze: Leo S. Olschki, 2002a, pp. 3-16.
——. “2. Étude comparative des biographies de Padmasambhava.” In Résumés des cours et
travaux à l'EPHE, in Annuaire de l'École pratique des Hautes Études, Section des Sciences
religieuses, tome 110 (2001-2002), 2002b, pp. 105-107).
——. “1. Recherche sur la formation et la transmission des tantra des ‘Anciens’; 2. Étude
comparative des biographies de Padmasambhava [suite],” tome 111 (2002-2003), 2003, pp.
97-101.
Boord, Martin, J. The Cult of the Deity Vajrakila According to the Texts of the Northern
Treasures Tradition of Tibet (Byang-gter phur-pa). Tring, U.K.: The Institute of Buddhist
Studies, 1993.
Cousens, Diana. “Becoming a Treasure Finder”. In Helmut Krasser et al. (eds), Tibetan Studies:
Proceedings of the 7th Seminar of the International Association of Tibetan Studies. Wien:
Verlag Der Österrichischen Akademie Der Wissenschaften, 1997, vol. 1, pp. 179-87.
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——. “The Visionary Lineages of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo”. In Blezer H. (ed), Religion and
Secular Culture in Tibet. Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the 9th Seminar of the International
Association of Tibetan Studies, Leiden: Brill, 2002, pp. 129-42.
Cuevas, Bryan J. The Hidden History of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Oxford and New York:
Oxford University Press, 2003.
Dargyay, Eva K. ?. “Einige Aspekte der gter-ma Literatur der rNying-ma-pa Schule”. In
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http://www.savetibet.org
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Summary
Introduction
This research suggests that in present-day eastern Tibetan regions of the People’s
Republic of China a number of Tibetan rNying ma leaders are employing charisma-based
authority to promote the growth of rNying ma Buddhist centers of ritual and meditative
instruction. In revitalizing traditional religious practices such as visionary and Treasure
revelation activities, they are galvanizing some of the most significant religious movements in
selected areas of Khams and mGo log in eastern Tibet.
In this dissertation I examine the Treasure revelation movement and, more specifically, I
explore the role of some Treasure revealers in the religious world of today’s Tibet. I focus on a
case study of the life and activities of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje (b. 1921), who is a well-known
Buddhist master, visionary, and Treasure revealer currently living in Shar mda’ in Nang chen
county in the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (TAP).
Research Questions
Despite the fact that there have been a number of studies devoted to Buddhism in contemporary
Tibet, no book-length investigation of the phenomenon of Treasure revelation in present-day
Tibetan regions of the PRC has been published to date. This dissertation fills this lacuna in
research on modern Tibet. Within that, the present study has two main aims. The first is to
explore how currently active Treasure revealers have revived and reinvented their Treasure
revelation practices in the face of major social and political changes that have taken place in the
PRC. Through an analysis of contemporary Sino-Tibetan politics and the role of religion therein,
this study answers the following questions: why and how have religion, and the Treasure
revelation tradition in particular, enjoyed a resurgence under Chinese rule? What does the
Treasure tradition offer today to Tibetans and an impressive number of ethnic Chinese as well?
The second aim of this work is to investigate the question of why and how do people
become Treasure revealers in Tibet today? I will do this by focusing on the life and religious
activities of one such contemporary Treasure revealer, gTer chen bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje.
Years of fieldwork using participant observation methods living with bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje
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and members of his community provide important data that help us understand the dynamics of
these religious congregations and the roles they play in their teachers’ revelations and doctrinal
compositions.
Outline of the Chapters
In Chapter One, I open this study with an introduction to the major features of the Treasure
tradition as it is represented in some popular Tibetan religious literary works on the subject. The
chapter demonstrates a central thesis of this study: just as Treasure ideologies originally came
into being as a response to religious and political pressures in eleventh-century Tibet, likewise in
the present context some Tibetan religious leaders employ Treasure revelation as a successful
means to respond to the political pressures of twentieth- and twenty-first-century Tibet under
Chinese rule.
Chapter Two offers an overview of the social and political impact of decades of the
Chinese government’s religious policies in eastern Tibet. I argue that the Chinese government’s
political strategies relating to the large-scale economic development of the country as applied to
Tibetan areas have caused a weakening of the religious authority of many monastic institutions
by debilitating their economic power, incapacitating their political influence, limiting their
educational authority, and perhaps most crucially diminishing their once large monastic
population. After years of administrative control, the historical role of monasteries as exclusive
guarantors of religious authority and scholastic legitimacy and as institutional centers of
traditional instruction has drastically decreased. Nevertheless, a number of alternative forms of
religious authority have emerged in eastern Tibet that reflect the often eclectic nature of the
rNying ma community such as visionary activities, Treasure revelation, and the formation of
large and innovative religious communities as centers of practice and cultural production.
Within this socio-religious background, Chapter Three claims that visionary revelations
seem to be particularly effective means of reestablishing ritual authority, codifying new
identities, and promoting ancient religious narratives. In this chapter, I discuss some of the
features that characterize Treasure activities in modern Tibet through introducing a number of
contemporary visionaries who mostly live and operate in northern and central areas of Khams. I
explore the charismatic aspect of their leadership, the different facets of their revelations, the
communities that surround them, and the appearance of several Websites dedicated to Buddhist
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visionaries and Treasure revealers as a response to the increasing demand to propagate Buddhist
teachings among the Han Chinese.
Chapter Four introduces the life of one such present-day Treasure revealer, bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje through a study of his autobiography as well as years of interviews I conducted with
him. Born in 1921 to a nomadic family in sKye rgu mdo county (Yushu TAP), bDe chen ’od gsal
rdo rje is a non-celibate Tantric practitioner who largely modeled himself on many Treasure
revealers of the past, in particular his two major teachers Grub dbang bde chen rdo rje and Nyag
bla byang chub rdo rje. By looking at bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s life we have the opportunity to
explore in detail the paradigms that are enacted in the process of the recognition of a Treasure
revealer.
Chapter Five opens with a description and analysis of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s
collection of Treasure cycles and offers brief outlines and explanations of his writings. In this
chapter I elaborate on some of the features of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s teachings by looking at
his Treasure cycles. I argue that one of the central themes of his revelations is to provide
legitimacy and status to the class of non-celibate Tantric professionals called the white-robed and
matted-haired group (gos dkar lcang lo’i sde). Particularly important for this is the rTsol med, a
Treasure teaching attributed to Padmasambhava that is an initiation ritual for Tantric adepts.
Interestingly, this text lists a number of regalia (rgyan) that provide the adept with the
appropriate signs of his rank. I argue that that this a ritual scripture is not only intended to
provide legitimacy to the class of non-celibate adepts, but also attempts to provide a distinctive
identity to the lineage initiated by bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje.
In conclusion, by exploring the life and activities of bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje we can see
that there is a great continuity between present-day Treasure revealers and those of the eleventh
century. The essential ideals underlying the tradition are the same, namely, the retrieval of
supposedly ancient manuscripts in a ritual context that can authenticate and at the same time
legitimate contemporary religious practices and spiritual traditions. In the case of bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje, his involvement in the Treasure revelation tradition has enabled him to gain
recognition and authority in the religious world and, therefore, to establish himself as a Buddhist
teacher and to open hermitages and communities of monastics and non-celibates following his
lineage. From his religious position, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje has been able to revive many
previously forbidden practices belonging to Tibetan culture such as worshipping local deities,
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performing ritual pilgrimage, constructing reliquary stūpas, practicing apotropaic rituals, and
transmitting gter ma liturgical materials. Additionally, he acts as a spiritual guide for the laity
thus reconnecting the people with aspects of their cultural patrimony. Therefore, bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje acts as a link between Tibet’s past and the current need to safeguard a Tibetan sense
of religious identity. As such, he is an ideological force behind the contemporary renaissance of
Buddhism in his land.
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Samenvatting
Inleiding
Dit onderzoek stelt dat in het oostelijk deel van Tibet in de Volksrepubliek China op dit moment
verschillende Tibetaanse rNying ma leiders gebruik maken van charismatisch gezag om de groei
te bevorderen van rNying ma boeddhistische instellingen voor het onderwijs in ritueel en
meditatie. Door deze en andere traditionele religieuze praktijken, zoals visioenen of de
openbaring van Schatten, nieuw leven in te blazen, leveren zij een belangrijke bijdrage tot de
versterking van de hedendaagse boeddhistische geloofspraktijk in delen van Khams en mGo log
in oostelijk Tibet. De openbaring van Schatten is een soort continue boeddhistische openbaring
die zichzelf altijd presenteert als het gevolg van de religieuze activiteiten van de achtste eeuwse
Indiase tantrische meester Padmasambhava, van wie wordt gezegd dat hij het Boeddhisme in
Tibet heeft verspreid. Padmasambhava gaf een deel van de leer dat pas in de toekomst zou
moeten worden openbaard mee aan de incarnaties van zijn 25 leerlingen. Pas wanneer de juiste
voorspoedige omstandigheden aanwezig zijn, kunnen deze Schatten in de vorm van voorwerpen
of teksten worden ontdekt of in visioenen worden geopenbaard.
In dit proefschrift onderzoek ik de tradities rond de openbaring van Schatten en meer in
het bijzonder de rol van enkele openbaarders van Schatten in de religieuze wereld van het
hedendaagse Tibet. Dit onderzoeksproject doet dat onder meer door een case study van het leven
en werk van bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje (1921- ). Dit is een bekende boeddhistische meester die
talloze visioenen heeft gehad en Schatten heeft geopenbaard, en tegenwoordig leeft in Shar mda’
in het Nang chen district in dh Yushu Tibetaanse Autonome Prefectuur (TAP).
Onderzoeksvragen
Ondanks het feit dat er allerlei studies zijn gewijd aan het boeddhisme in het hedendaagse Tibet
en enkele daarvan zich specifiek richten op het openbaren van Schatten, bestaat er nog geen
monografie die volledig is gewijd aan dit fenomeen in de Tibetaanse gebieden van de
Volksrepubliek China heden ten dage. Deze dissertatie heeft daarom twee doelstellingen.
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Enerzijds beschrijf ik de traditie zelf en laat ik zien hoe openbaarders van Schatten die nu
actief zijn hun praktijk van het openbaren van Schatten opnieuw uitvinden, tegen de achtergrond
van de grote sociale en politieke veranderingen die in de Volksrepubliek China en Tibet zelf
plaatsvinden. Een cruciaal aspect van dit onderzoek bestaat uit de hedendaagse Sino-Tibetaanse
politiek en de rol van religie daarin. Hoe en waarom heeft religie, en in het bijzonder de traditie
van de openbaring van Schatten, tijdens het Chinese bewind een herleving heeft kunnen
doormaken? Wat voor religieuze mogelijkheden biedt de traditie van de openbaring van Schatten
aan de hedendaagse Tibetanen, maar ook aan een groeiend aantal etnische Chinezen?
Anderzijds onderzoek ik het leven van gTer chen bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s door middel
van zijn autobiografie en zijn religieuze activiteiten. De hoofdvraag die ik tracht te beantwoorden
hoe en waarom mensen in Tibet openbaarders van Schatten worden.
Samenvatting van de hoofdstukken
Hoofdstuk Een geeft een inleiding in de belangrijkste kenmerken van de traditie van Schatten
zoals wij die terugvinden in enkele populaire Tibetaanse religieus-literaire werken over dit
onderwerp. Mijn doel is hier om een belangrijke these van deze studie te illustreren, namelijk
hoe net zoals de ideologie van de Schatten ooit ontstond als antwoord op religieuze en politieke
druk in het tiende eeuwse Tibet, enkele Tibetaanse religieuze leiders tegenwoordig de
openbaring van Schatten (gter ma) opnieuw gebruiken als een effectieve methode om te reageren
op de politieke druk in Tibet onder Chinees bestuur in de late 20e en 21e eeuw.
Hoofdstuk Twee biedt een overzicht van de sociale en politieke impact van decennia van
religieus beleid door de Chinese overheid in oostelijk Tibet. Ik betoog dat het beleid van de
Chinese overheid in de diverse Tibetaanse gebieden als gevolg van de grootschalige
economische ontsluiting die op dit moment plaatsvindt heeft geleid tot een cruciale verzwakking
van het religieuze gezag van talloze kloosters door het afbreken van hun economische macht, het
verminderen van hun politieke invloed, het inperken van hun gezag op het gebied van onderwijs,
en het verminderen van het grote aantal monniken in kloosters, die ooit een van de belangrijkste
instrumenten van de macht van de kloosters waren. Tegelijkertijd is een aantal alternatieve
vormen van religieus gezag opnieuw opgekomen in oostelijk Tibet, die vaak het eclectische
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karakter van de rNying ma traditie benadrukken, zoals visionaire activiteiten, de openbaring van
Schatten, en het vormen van grote innovatieve religieuze gemeenschappen als centra van
religieuze beoefening en culturele reproductie.
Hoofdstuk Drie stelt dat openbaringen die gebruik maken van visioenen buitengewoon
geschikt zijn om opnieuw een religieus discours op te bouwen met betrekking tot ritueel gezag,
de codificatie van nieuwe identiteiten, en het promoten van oude religieuze vormen en verhalen.
Tibetaanse religieuze professionals zoals openbaarders van Schatten (gter ston) en niet-
celibataire tantrische beoefenaren (sngags pa) worden steeds zichtbaarder in het religieuze en
sociale landschap van Tibet. De openbaringen, vaak zeer publieke gebeurtenissen, spelen een
belangrijke rol in het stimuleren van geloof en het voeden van hoop bij de aanhangers, en dragen
bij tot het behoud en de voortzetting van de traditionele overdracht van de boeddhistische leer en
meditatie praktijken. In dit hoofdstuk bespreek ik in detail enkele van de kenmerken van
activiteiten rond de openbaring van Schatten in het hedendaagse Tibet door het bespreken van
hedendaagse visionairen die voornamelijk leven en werken in de noordelijke en centrale
gebieden van Khams. Ik onderzoek de charismatische dimensie van hun leiderschap, de
verschillende aspecten van hun openbaringen, de gemeenschappen om hen heen, en het
verschijnen van enkele websites gewijd aan boeddhistische visionairen en openbaarders van
Schatten in antwoord op de toenemende vraag naar de boeddhistische leer onder Han-Chinezen.
Hoofdstuk Vier introduceert het leven en de religieuze ervaringen van zo’n nog levende
openbaarder van Schatten, bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje, geboren in 1921 in een nomadische familie
in het sKye rgu mdo district (Yushu TAP). Zijn vroege leven en zijn ecstatische ervaringen
geassocieerd met Padmasambhava zijn later geïnterpreteerd als tekenen van een specifiek
voorspoedige associatie met een ver Tibetaans verleden. Zijn autobiografische geschriften staan
vol met de exemplarische daden van een toegewijde beoefenaar en leggen getuigenis af van de
betrokkenheid van een boeddhistische meester. Door te kijken naar het leven van bDe chen ’od
gsal rdo rje kunnen wij een beter inzicht verwerven in de paradigma’s die tot leven komen in het
proces van erkenning van een openbaarder van Schatten.
Hoofdstuk Vijf opent met een beschrijving en analyse van de diverse cyclussen van de
verzameling van Schatten door bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s en biedt korte samenvattingen en
verklaringen van zijn geschriften. Behalve een verzameling openbaringen zijn er onder de
manuscripten van bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje ook andere teksten die inzicht verschaffen in zijn
identiteit als openbaarder van Schatten en het belang dat hij aan zijn ontdekkingen hechtte. In dit
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hoofdstuk ga ik nader in op enkele aspecten van bDe chen ’od gsal rdo rje’s Schatten en leringen
door nader te kijken naar zijn cyclussen van Schatten. Ik betoog dat één van de centrale thema’s
van zijn openbaringen is om legitimiteit en aanzien te verschaffen aan een specifieke groep niet-
celibataire tantrische professionals. In dat opzicht is de rTsol med bij uitstek interessant, een
openbaring in de vorm van een Schat toegeschreven aan Padmasambhava die een initiatie ritueel
geeft voor tantrische beoefenaren. Ik betoog dat deze rituele tekst niet alleen bedoeld is om
legitimiteit te verschaffen aan deze groep niet-celibataire beoefenaren, maar ook een duidelijkere
identiteit moet geven aan de religieuze afstammingslijn die is begonnen door bDe chen ’od gsal
rdo rje. In het laatste deel van dit hoofdstuk analyseer ik ook de maatschappelijke rol van bDe
chen ’od gsal rdo rje binnen zijn gemeenschap, door een beschrijving van de manier waarop hij
zichzelf niet alleen als een openbaarder van Schatten presenteert, maar ook als een voorspeller
van de toekomst en een genezer.
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