Final views of Namtso

Gyalwang Rinchen Püntsok

Here's an excerpt from the book Masters of the Golden Rosary Lineage: Life and Liberation of Drigung Kagyü Throne-holders:

17th Drigungpa, Gyalwang Rinchen Püntsok
(1509-1557, r. 1528-1534)

THE 17th Drigungpa was the nephew of Gyalwang Künga Rinchen. Even before the boy was born, Künga Rinchen had announced that he is a reincarnation of the Indian mahāsiddha Hūṃkaravajra. Unfortunately, when he was only five years old, the lay leaders of Drigung made the accusation that the child might not be of the Kyura clan. Eventually, Gyalwang Rinchen Püntsok left with some attendants to the Yarlung region where the King of Neudong welcomed them. He was exceptionally intelligent and a fast-learner. Even while just a child he was able to memorize texts like the Cakrasamvara Sādhana, Chenrezig Sādhana, Guru Yoga and Five-fold Path of Mahāmudrā. During this time, Gyalwang Rinchen Püntsok also traveled to Tashi Dowoka and received all the lineage teachings of Drigung-til and Densa-til from Khenchen Sonam Tashi and the complete texts of Cakrasamvara from the tradition of Ghantapada, Four-Armed Mahākāla, "Songs of Milarepa" and complete collected-works of Gampopa, Pakmo Drupa, Jikten Sumgön and other Drigung masters. He also received teachings on The Single Intention, Amitayus (Siddharajni tradition) and Gyalwang Yangonpa’s (1213-1258) Mountain Dharma (a definitive manual for retreats). Furthermore, at Densa-til, the Fourth Red Hat (Zhamar) Karmapa, Chökyi Drakpa (1453-1526), gave him the vows and the name Rinchen Püntsok. The Zhamarpa also gave Rinchen Püntsok transmission and oral instructions of "The Three Cycles of Jewels of the Hearing Lineage" as well as transmission of the 100,000 New Tantras (Sarma Gyübum). During this time he also memorized Hevajra root-texts and familiarized himself with Hevajra commentaries.

At the Zhamarpa’s Yangpachen Monastery, Rinchen Püntsok further received from him the Kalacakra teachings and completion-stage teachings of Cakrasamvara, Guhyasamaja and Hevajra. The Zhamarpa also imparted to Rinchen Püntsok teachings unique to the Drigung lineage. Furthermore, Rinchen Püntsok also received transmissions on the texts of the different Karmapas and Zhamarpas. While at Yangpachen, Rinchen Püntsok especially familiarized himself with The Five Dharmas of Maitreya. While in retreat at the Gura Cave, Rinchen Püntsok realized the oneness of the outer and inner states.

In 1525, Rinchen Püntsok finally returned to Drigung-til. His uncle, Gyalwang Künga Rinchen, gave him many Drigung transmissions. When he received instructions on Mogu Sogkor there were clear signs of success and when he received Five-fold Path of Mahāmudrā teachings he attained actualization. In accordance with the established tradition at Drigung, Rinchen Püntsok practiced Six Dharmas of Nāropa clad only in a white cotton shawl.

In 1527 Gyalwang Künga Rinchen departed for the pure Buddha-realms. During the ten days of funeral rites led by Rinchen Püntsok, rainbows emanated from Künga Rinchen’s heart and dissolved into the heart of Rinchen Püntsok. Thereafter, Rinchen Püntsok received full-ordination as a monk from Khenchen Drakpa Gyeltsen, went into a retreat to focus on Achi practice and subsequently received the signs of protection from her. In 1528, Rinchen Püntsok emerged from retreat and became the 17th throne-holder of Drigung.

As the throne-holder, Rinchen Püntsok’s public teachings followed the old tradition: Five-fold Path of Mahāmudrā in the summer and Six Dharmas of Nāropa in the winter. He also sent disciples to the traditional retreat places of Lapchi, Kailash and Tsari. According to certain prophecies, Rinchen Püntsok’s life could only be stable if he did not cut his hair. But under the pressure of the monastic community, Rinchen Püntsok cut his hair despite the prophecies. Not long after, he received a vision of Guru Rinpoché who advised him to have the entire Kangyur recited, to hold a hundred feast-offerings of Vajravarahi and to make prayers to the Dharma-protectors. Guru Rinpoché repeated the advice that he kept his hair long. Immediately after this vision, Rinchen Püntsok withdrew himself to Terdrom to do as Guru Rinpoch instructed. While at Terdrom, Rinchen Püntsok reopened the sacred cave of Kiri Yangdzong - a cave first discovered by the Tenth Drigungpa, Dorjé Gyelpo.

In 1534, Rinchen Püntsok stepped down from the throne and transferred it to his cousin's son Rinchen Namgyel (1519-1576). From that point on he was free to allow his hair grow long and remain in retreat.

Later, recognizing the importance of the monastic Sangha, Rinchen Püntsok established Yangri Gar Monastery nearby Yamari Monastery. He gave many teachings at different monasteries in order to fundraise for this project. He also consecrated the soil of many future monasteries with ritual dances he had perceived in a vision of Guru Rinpoché’s pure land. In the ninth month of 1538 Rinchen Püntsok went to Terdrom and at Yangdzong Namkhé Phuk discovered the terma known as the Gongpa Yangzab on the 25th day of the lunar calendar (ḍākinī day). After retrieving the terma, Rinchen Püntsok went to Katsel Monastery and while there focused on editing and arranging the texts as well as renovating Katsel. He completed editing the Yangzab texts in 1542. In 1546, he married Rigdzin Butri and a son was born to them (Chögyal Püntsok, eventually the 21st Drigungpa) .

Although already an accomplished master, Rinchen Püntsok continued to visit with and receive teachings from other teachers (especially Nyingma masters). At Samyé Monastery he met the famous Nyingma master Ngari Panchen Pema Wangyel (1487-1542) and received from him many teachings of the Nyingma lineage. Gyama Migyur Künga imparted the Mahāyoga Kagyed (Eight Pronouncements) and the Ātiyoga Nyingthik Yabzhi to him while Rigdzin Düdjom Dorjé gave him the Kagyed teachings from the Nyang tradition as well as Lama Gongdü teachings (revealed by Sangyé Lingpa [1340-1396]). Rinchen Püntsok was also responsible for starting the maṇḍala-rituals of Cakrasamvara, Hevajra, Guhyasamaja, Kalacakra and Kunzang Gongdü (terma discovered by Pema Lingpa [1450-1521]) at Drigung-til.

In 1557 Rinchen Püntsok unexpectedly left the Drigung area and went to Gyama, the birthplace of King Songtsen Gampo (605?-650?). There, he wrote his spiritual testament and dissolved his body maṇḍala in the fifth month. It was his wish that his death be kept secret for three years and so peace prevailed in the area since many of those who would otherwise cause troubles were kept in line by the threat of his great powers. Three years later his mummified body was brought back to Drigung-til and placed in a stupa with elaborate ceremonies. Later, the stupa was moved to Khangsar Yangon where he once had been in retreat. Some of his relics were also brought to Katsel Monastery where a stupa was built to enshrine them.

As a terton the great 17th Drigungpa was known under the name of Sengé Namchak Mebar. Gyalwang Rinchen Püntsok had many disciples. Among the most important were Drungpa Rinchen Pel, Lhochen Püntsok Namgyel, Lama Chökyong Rinchen, Tokden Dorjé Pelbar, Tokden Künga Sherap and Tokden Khetsun Drakpa Tsültrim.

A few more wanderings and wonderings from Drigung

This is a new large (12-15 feet?) image of Jikten Sumgon in the Dukhang (the Great Assembly Hall), specially built in memory of the 36th Thripon of Drigung-til, Drubwang Tenzin Nyima Rinpoche (see article on Drigung Kagyu Resource Website) who passed away in the summer of 2006.

A stupa where some of the ringsel (white, grainy, round relics) of Drubwang Tenzin Nyima are interned.

We did the lingkor at Drigung-til. On that morning, sky-burials were still going on and so we had to walk real quick pass the actual site. Some of us actually got yelled at by the corpse-breakers! But once we passed around the front of the site and got above it, it was okay to linger. That was where I decided to sit down and offer sang while our Tibetan guide, Bhuchung-la hung the prayer-flags we bought and tended the fire.

Someone decided they needed to take a picture of me after the sang was over. It was drizzling most of the time but cleared up after the sang was offered.

Our group with Balok Rinpoche and Ven. Samten Puntsok (Director of Drigung-til)

Terdrom, also known as Shoto Tidro. Many great masters have meditated here and various cycles of termas were discovered here including the Yangzab of Gyalwang Rinchen Puntsok (the 17th Throne-holder of Drigung). Today, many practitioners (especially nuns) are in retreat in this area. The current Drigung Khandro resides in a cave way over on the other side of this valley.

Self-arisen Guru Rinpoche housed in the nunnery at Terdrom.

Gyalwang Rinchen Puntsok's footprint housed in the nunnery.

Masters of Golden Rosary Lineage

OK. This will seem very random. But there are some people who know what this is about.... As for those of you who are here mainly to read the blog, you can ignore this post!

The Protector Sokra

Sokra (Sok-ra) is one of the oath-bound protectors especially associated with Drigung Kagyu and in particular to Drigung-til. As such, it is extremely unlikely to find much or any information on him in anything written in English. In fact, I doubt there is much on him even in Tibetan. My first encounter with this deity was during my first trip to Drigung-til. While visiting the Achi Protector Shrine I noticed this extremely wrathful red-colored protector riding on a horse. When I asked the caretaker monk who that was, he replied “Sokra” and gave me a look that seemed to say “surely any Drigung Kagyupa of any worth would have known that!”

This time around, when Sokra’s name came up, I knew I had to ask. So Balok Rinpoche kindly shared a bit of what he knew about this deity. Sokra is said to have originated from China and he is colloquially called “The Chinese Protector” or something to that effect. When Jikten Sumgon was teaching at Drigung-til, many disciples came from far and wide. These disciples came from all different parts of Tibet, from China and Central Asia. Not only did human disciples come but also non-human disciples and among these was Sokra. Sokra came to Jikten Sumgon and soon became his disciple and took the upasaka (Tib. genyen) vows. He was given the name Genyen Dorje Jangchup and pledged to protect Drigung-til. Instead of returning to his original dwelling place in China, Sokra remained in the vicinity of Drigung-til since then. In fact, his spirit palace moved to Tsa-ug – an area in Drigung where Jikten Sumgon spent a good part of his life in retreat.

Sokra figures quite prominently in the ritual-life of Drigung-til Monastery. Apart from the daily-offerings and prayers dedicated to him at the Achi Protector Shrine, he is also an important character in the annual cham festival. At the very end of the cham in the evening, the Sokra dance takes place.

These days, Sokra is danced by Balok Rinpoche (seen above) and the Sokra mask currently used was made by Angon Rinpoche – Balok Rinpoche’s father. Rinpoche invited me to come to the Sokra dance but unfortunately I wasn’t able to. In any case, most Tibetans who come to attend the annual cham make it a point to wait till the Sokra dance is completed before they leave. The main reason is because at a certain point in that dance, Sokra scatters special barley-seeds that serve as powerful protective amulets. The Drigung laity place great confidence in these blessed barley-seeds and thus will wait at all cost for this grand finale just to obtain a few grains of precious barley.

P.S. This blog was inspired by a question about Sokra that Rick F. recently asked me over email. Thanks Rick! And if anyone reading out there has more info on Sokra, please add comments!

Four Masters of the Indian Centrist Way

As I mentioned in my second posting on this summer blog, the Indian Buddhist master Chandrakirti’s Entry to the Centrist Way (or Introduction to the Middle Way) is one of a few books I’ve brought along to Asia for this summer. Ironically, I barely read any of it while in Tibet. Instead, the little reading I did while in Tibet was from Gary Snyder’s The Practice of the Wild and Aelred’s Spiritual Friendship. But now that I’m back in Malaysia, it’s time to return to Chandrakirti. As a way of establishing “auspicious interdependence,” I thought I’d blog a bit on Chandrakirti and the Centrist Way (Madhyamaka).

Of the great masters of the Indian Centrist Way, four figures stand out – Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, Shantideva and Chandrakirti. Nagarjuna is of course the purported founder of the Centrist Way system who definitively expressed the heart of the Buddha’s teachings in his important text, Root Verses on the Centrist Way (Mulamadhyamaka-karika). Tibetans thus regard Nagarjuna’s Root Verses as the most incisive presentation of the View of the Centrist Way. Nagarjuna is so revered in Mahayana tradition that he is often referred to as the “Second Buddha.” Following Nagarjuna was Aryadeva. Aryadeva was Nagarjuna’s disciple and foremost successor. Aryadeva was the one who successfully clarified, defended and propagated Nagarjuna’s teachings in the face of challenges from adherents of Buddhist and non-Buddhist philosophical systems. In particular, Aryadeva’s Four Hundred Verse Treatise (Catuhsataka) most clearly presents the Meditation approach of the Centrist School. The third major figure in the Indian Centrist Way is Shantideva who composed Entry into Bodhisattva’s Way (Bodhicharyavatara). In particular, his Entry into Bodhisattva’s Wayis well-known for clearly delineating the Conduct aspect of the Centrist School. Finally, Chandrakirti who lived more than half a millennium after Nagarjuna composed Entry to the Centrist Way (Madhyamakavatara) – a Centrist text that succinctly presents the complete View, Meditation and Conduct of the Centrist Way. Most traditional curriculum for mastering the Centrist Way begins with the study of Chandrakirti’s Entry to the Centrist Way. Entry to the Centrist Way is a good introduction to the Centrist Way since it covers all the important points taught by masters of the Centrist Way, equally treating all three aspects of View, Meditation and Conduct. In this sense, it provides a grand overview of the Centrist Way. Furthermore, rather than presenting the Centrist Way’s understanding of “emptiness” in an extensive manner, it takes a more manageable (especially for beginners) analysis of the subject. Instead of employing a plethora of examples (like Nagarjuna), Chandrakirti takes the approach of a more focused or centered analysis. For these two main reasons, Entry to the Centrist Way is especially suitable for those desiring to study the Centrist Way approach via listening, contemplating and practicing.

Katsel Monastery

Katsel Monastery is one of the most ancient sites - being one of the temples built by the order of King Songtsen Gampo, serving as a "stake" to hold down the srinmo that is Central Tibet. Sometime in its history, Katsel came under the influence and control of Drigung Kagyu. Today, Nyidak Rinpoche is the head-lama there and has tirelessly worked on reconstruction. Katsel currently has 36 monks in residence.
After the passing of Drubwang Tenzin Nyima Rinpoche (the Thripon of Drigung-til) last year, Nyidak Rinpoche is the most senior lama in the area. As you can see in the pics below, Rinpoche is highly revered and an endless flow of pilgrims come to seek his blessings. He does not assume the air of an important lama but definitely carries the burden of one. "May the Lama have good health and long-live, And that his enlightened-activities spread far and wide."





Our driver Lobsang had an interesting experience while at Katsel. We had all gone down to look around Katsel and there were no signs that Rinpoche was in but Rinpoche returned about 20 minutes later from Meldro Gongkar town nearby. We were all ushered into the guest room. Very soon lots of Tibetan pilgrims were gathered outside the room seeking blessings from Rinpoche. We didn't want to take up more of Rinpoche's time. After Rinpoche gave each of us a katag and blessing we left. Our cook, his assistants also got Rinpoche's blessings. As we were walking down to the bus, Lobsang came running towards the guest room with katag and offering in hand, having realized that Rinpoche had come back. He handed the keys to the bus to Bill G. and told us to go ahead first.

We sat in the bus for a few minutes before seeing Lobsang running back to the bus, huffing and puffing. When he got to the bus he related to us that he had gone to see Rinpoche with a specific problem/question that he needed advice on. But when he finally found Rinpoche, Rinpoche was already surrounded by many pilgrims and thus he thought he had lost the chance. But he pushed his way through the crowd (it's acceptable here) to offer Rinpoche the katag and offering. When he finally got close to Rinpoche, Rinpoche turned around, looked at him and gave him the answer to his question! Lobsang was so shocked and awed that he just put the katag and offering on a table and ran off! As the prayer says, "Lama Khyenno" ("The Lama Knows!")

The Black Hat Dance

Here are some pictures I took of Balok Rinpoche leading the Black Hat Dance - one of the high-points of most cham festivals - at Drigung-til on June 14th. This dance is said to have been first performed by Lhalung Palgyi Dorje, the disciple of Guru Rinpoche who liberated the evil-king Langdarma (r. 838-841) who was persecuting Buddhism in Tibet. This legend has been interpreted in this dance as the dance for powerfully overcoming especially pernicious obstacles and negativities - all of which are understood by Buddhists to have originated from ego-clinging or self-grasping.

"These blue mountains are constantly walking."

Walking around blue mountains in Drigung...

In a scene from the movie Himalaya (a beautiful movie about salt-traders in Tibet trekking over the Himalayas to sell their salt in exchange for much needed grain to last the winter - watch it if you have not yet) Pasang was told by his grandfather that the definition of 'pilgrims' is 'religious people who walk.' Everywhere in Tibet, everyone is, by that definition, a pilgrim. Lhasa has three main circuits (Tib. kor) walked daily, hourly by countless residents, out-of-towners, Pomeranians, tourists, school-kids, mothers, Chihuahuas, little lambs, grandfathers and grand-lamas. These three concentric circles have the Jowo Shakyamuni image in the Jokhang Chapel as the center. Thus, the nangkor or inner-circuit around the main shrine of the Jokhang Chapel, the barkor, the intermediate-circuit around and outside the Jokhang Chapel filled with shops and stalls, galleries and restaurants making available all kinds of all things to all walkers and prostraters ('religious people who walk-n-prostrate) and finally the lingkor which goes around the entire older part of Lhasa - circumambulating important sites such as the Jokhang Chapel and Potala Palace, and the holy-hills of Chakpori, Barmari and Marpori. And of course, around every chapel, shrine, monastery, tree, mountain and river is a circuit to walk around.

Of course, we could say that we are all pilgrims - just 'religious' (ok, read: 'spiritual' if you like that word more or have an aversion for that 'r' word) in a different way, and perhaps walking in a different way. But this literal act of walking is more obvious here in Tibet than say in NATO-, G8-member, "most-powerful-nation," "bastion-of-freedom" (especially suburbia) America or for that matter in "developing-nation," ASEAN-member, non-aligned nation of Malaysia. Pilgrims walk from Eastern Tibet to Central Tibet - several months if just walking, several years if walking and prostrating (literally, measuring/covering the entire distance with one's body). From Central Tibet, these pilgrims often go on to Mt. Kailash (Tib. Gang Rinpoche) in Western Tibet - another 2000 kilometers or so. Measuring with one's entire body can easily take seven years, one-way. Monks and nuns measure this way. Mothers and fathers measure this way too while toddlers not too infrequently measure with their tiny paces.

"We learn a place and how to visualize spatial relationships, as children, on foot and with imagination. Place and the scale of space must be measured against our bodies and their capabilities. A 'mile' was originally a Roman measure of a thousand paces. Automobile and airplane travel teaches us little that we can easily translate into a perception of space. To know that it takes six months to walk across Turtle Island/North America walking steadily but comfortably all day every day is to get some grasp of the distance." Gary Synder in The Practice of the Wild.

We had a very full day on Thursday - the main cham day at Drigung-til. Full of faces, full of colors, filling our imaginations, feeding our stomachs. That afternoon, we rode over to Terdrom. Since all the nuns I knew were out (some were in Lhasa while most were actually at the cham over at Drigung-til), we did not stay long at Terdrom. I gave the nuns the offerings brought from Drigung-followers in the US and the used eyeglasses I had collected from many kind souls. Both offerings were much appreciated.

I was intent on receiving Guru Rinpoche's blessings at the famed hot-spring at Terdrom although some were not too sure since we were warned that some very well-trained and highly-qualified Western expert sometime ago determined that the hot-spring was "actually" unsanitary - might even carry horrifying diseases!

"In general, then, the way of seeing mountains and waters differs according to the type of being [that sees them]. In seeing water, there are beings who see it as a jeweled necklace. This does not mean, however, that they see a jeweled necklace as water. How, then, do we see what they consider water? Their jeweled necklace is what we see as water. Some see water as miraculous flowers, though it does not follow that they use flowers as water. Hungry ghosts see water as raging flames or as pus and blood. Dragons and fish see it as a palace or a tower, or as the seven treasures or the mani gem. [Others] see it as woods and walls, or as the dharma nature of immaculate liberation, or as the true human body, or as the physical form and mental nature. Humans see these as water. And these [different ways of seeing] are the conditions under which [water] is killed or given life." Dogen in Mountains and Waters Sutra.

Of course it is unsanitary. Of course it is Guru Rinpoche's blessings. I dipped myself in the warmth of the spring as I muttered under my breath the Dusum Sangye prayer: "Guru Rinpoche, Buddha of the three times, Lord of All Accomplishments who is the one of Great Bliss, Dispeller of All Obstacles, Wrathful Tamer of Demons. I supplicate you; please grant your blessings. Grant your blessings that outer, inner and secret obstacles be pacified, that my intentions be spontaneously accomplished."

We were exhausted (and refreshed) for sure when we got back to the campsite but I needed to walk the mountain-ridge I walked last year with April, Rachel, and Joe (Ryan - were you there?). And surprisingly a few others felt the urge and answered the call. So after an earlier dinner, Bill B., Eliza, Heila, Alyk and I left camp and walked towards the self-arisen (Tib. rangjung), sand-sculpture of Shakyamuni. Our walking of this particular 'blue mountain' started there. It was an easy but exhilarating hike, a 40-minute walk, an ascent of perhaps a thousand feet. We reached the top before dark. Hermitages, chapels and assembly-halls of Drigung-til can be seen to the left and our blue tents down in the valley dotted the earth next to the river. I was told later that this mountain-top was another of many in the area blessed by Kyobpa Rinpoche (founder of Drigung-til in 1179). The dwarfed rhododendron bushes growing here were especially blessed. When we finally got back to camp, dusk was in the air.

We rode the bus whenever we needed to get from place to place. But I did try to have us walk as much as we could handle, and sometimes more. The morning before we left Drigung, we walked the lingkor of Drigung-til, the circumambulation route that started in front of the main assembly-hall, circling up to the sky-burial charnel ground above the main monastery complex and finally coming back to the front of the assembly-hall. Took us maybe more than an hour. Along the lingkor some of us even ran! This is a short but uphill stretch after passing the sky-burial site. According to traditions, if one could run that distance with one-breath, then one would be able to repay the kindness of one's parents. We later walked the circumambulation path around Tashi Dor at Namtso. And daily in Lhasa, we walked the Barkor. We walked the several fleet of stairs in the Kyichu Hotel - a task that most of us noticed to be more difficult than the other walks - be it Drigung lingkor, the Barkor, or the lingkor around Tashi Dor. Maybe the stairs at Kyichu felt mundane, insignificant. Maybe not sacred enough or romantic enough...

"Dogen is not concerned with 'sacred mountains' - or pilgrimages, or spirit allies, or wilderness of some special quality. His mountains and streams are the processes of this earth, all of existence, process, essence, action, absence.... They are what we are, we are what they are. For those who see directly into essential nature, the idea of the sacred is a delusion and an obstruction: it diverts us from seeing what is before our eyes: plain thusness.... This, thusness, is the nature of the nature of the nature.... So the blue mountains walk to the kitchen and back to the shop, to the desk and to the stove. We sit on the park bench and let the rain drench us. The blue mountains walk out to put another coin in the parking meter,and go on down to the 7-Eleven. The blue mountains march out to the sea, shoulder the sky for a while, and slip back into the waters." - Gary Snyder.

I learned sometime back that Tibet, the "Roof of the World" was once an ocean. It must have walked a long, long way up. Perhaps the stairs in the Kyichu is a lingkor. I'll work on seeing that thusness.

Another post from Drigung Valley

NOTE: Continuing from "Our Second Day at Drigung-til."

Thursday, June 14, 2007
Drigung Valley

More importantly, this time I finally felt like I was no longer just a tourist who happened to come annually but that I finally know the place and people there better. In particular, I think a deeper understanding and appreciation has come to fruition between the director of the monastery – Ven. Samten Puntsok – and me. In the past years, I’ve been only polite and friendly. This year, I was still polite and all (of course!) but felt comfortable being open and direct. And it was clear that he appreciated that. Samten Puntsok is the most humble director I have ever met –secular or religious. Technically, he is in charged at the monastery. The buck stops at his table. But all the times I have visited with him, he conducts himself as the gracious and humble host. Of course this only speaks to his inner development. Amidst the difficulties and challenges of heading a monastery in Tibet today, most people think he has done very well. And from the little I am able to see, I have to agree. [Balok Rinpoche is in the center and next to him is Samten Puntsok.]

Arriving here in time for their annual cham was just an amazing experience. But I think the highlight of the day for our group was meeting with Balok Rinpoche in the Great Assembly Hall (which turned into the dress-room for the dancers) and having a Q&A session with him.
Tulku-la is a very impressive young man (in his 20’s). I first met him on my first trip to Tibet and was instantly impressed. Other than Tibetan, he is fluent in Chinese Mandarin. He is also very good in English – complete American accent and very well versed in Western culture. But at the same time, he is very traditional – like refusing to wear street-clothes no matter the circumstance and maintaining a strict vegetarian diet (actually quite uncommon for Tibetans but a legacy of the Drigung Kagyu). He has been spending his time translating Buddhist writings from Tibetan to Chinese (and to Tibetan) and is hoping to start translating from Tibetan to English. He is also a good thangka painter and as you can see in the pictures below, a superb cham dancer. When I invited Tulku-la to come visit the US and Southeast Asia, he humbly said, “I would like to do that, but first I need to improve in my learning and practice. Otherwise, it will just be a waste of time and resources.” His conversation with the group really blew away many stereotypes about monks and Buddhism.

After spending about an hour with Tulku-la, we decided to take leave as it was clear that he needed to eat his lunch since he will be performing the Black Hat after lunch. He probably needed to digest some of the food before going out to perform what is admittedly the most physically rigorous and spiritually intense dance. We went back out to watch the cham. At this point, all the deities of the “8 Pronouncements” (an important Ancient Translation [Nyingma] tantric-cycle) were dancing in the courtyard. Around 1pm, I figured that we should probably take leave – the sun in the sky was quite punishing and we needed to get down to the campsite for lunch.
But as it turned out, we were invited to stay for lunch. This was absolutely “crazy” – the last thing I imagined the monastery should have to worry about is to cook for a bunch of foreigners who came uninvited on probably the busiest day on their ritual-calendar. But Drigung-til treats its guests well – invited or otherwise. But of course, I also knew that they went all out of their way because of the respect and reverence they have for Khenchen Rinpoche. Even though I was the only person connected to Rinpoche, it was enough for the monastery. Secondly, they treated us as also guests of Balok Rinpoche. So there you have it! And where did we dine? In the famous Golden Chapel (Serkhang)! This is where the most holy image of Kyobpa Jikten Sumgon is enshrined and this is where most of the throne-holders of Drigung-til received their vows (lay, novice and full vows). We were all seated in a row in front of the Dharma Lord of the Golden Chapel (the name of the image) flanked by images of Jikten Sumgon’s two heart-disciples (Sherab Jungne and Drakpa Jungne). I tried to eat very mindfully….

When we finished lunch and was heading towards the bus, we realized that Tulku-la was dancing. So we stopped and watched and took pictures. It was quite a sight – Tulku-la leading a group of dancers. This dance can be considered the height of the cham as it is the chief Black Hat dancer liberates the obstructive forces by ritually stabbing the dough effigy (Tib. lingka) that had been lying covered on the ground from the beginning of the cham until this point. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Our second day at Drigung

NOTE: Sorry, the next few posts are not chronological.

Thursday, June 14, 2007
Drigung Valley

The weather here is quite unpredictable. When we arrived at Drigung, the sky was as clear as it can be, piercingly turquoise-blue. The night sky was filled with bright stars glowing and twinkling. Sometime during the night, the clouds came rushing in. Before long, it started to hail – albeit and thankfully, only small pea-sized hail. But it was loud enough in the tent and I was woken up. I guessed it must have been around 4 am. I dozed off to the sound of hail but was woken up again when it started to rain. We later learnt that because the area had been unseasonably dry, the locals had requested the monastery to pray for rain and so they did… despite the fact that they needed a precipitation-free day to perform the cham-dances! It was coming down quite strong. I noticed that the edges of the tent were starting to form tiny pools of water. I love ziplock bags – my iBook fitted nicely into a 2-gallon bag, protected from any potential threats from the rainwater. But luckily, the downpour did not last for long. I finally stuck my head out of the tent around 6:30 when the rain stopped. There were still signs of hail on the ground. Photo op….

I got out of the tent around 7 and after the usual morning routine (well… as usual and routine as camping in Tibet allows), decided to do a sang-offering. The two nomad families across the river have already started their sang. We had purchased 3 large bags of sang at the Lhasa Bridge, on our way here to Drigung. The cook – Dawa – got me a cup and a saucer with some tea for tea-offering. Several other group-members were already up and Bill (Bauman) noticed that I was preparing to start the sang and so he joined me. Dan and Sarah were already up and around too. After some effort lighting the sang, I started: “Kye sang so! Lama yi-dam khan-dro sang….” My mind turned to all the friends who have joined me in this simple ritual-offering – in Tibet, in the US, in Malaysia. As the citrus-scent of the palu (Tibetan dwarfed rhododendron) rose in the air, I imagined all the local deities rejoicing in our offering. I imagined them gathering, knowing, hopefully, that this particular group of inji (foreigners) come with goodwill and a recognition that we are guests of the valley, beneficiaries of the kindness and indulgence of the community – the nomads tending their flock, the kids who visited us and told me their names were Konchok Benzar and Konchok Namdrol, the sadak (“earth-lords”) whose earth we have temporarily set-up camp on, the dogs who were barking in a distance last night, the naga-spirits of “The River that Never Freezes,” the wildflowers, the yak-dung, the dung-beetles and all native beings whose imprints and footprints are forever part of the mountains and rivers.

Following breakfast we headed up to the monastery. The bus took us all the way up to the monastery – something that private vehicles were not able to do that day since the monastery did not want too many vehicles up there as there was very little space at the top for parking vehicles. But because the guard below had been notified that we were guests of the monastery, our bus was able to ascend. It would have taken us about 90 minutes or longer if we had to walk/hike up. Already throngs of people were gathered at the monastery. The cham dances had already gone on for a couple of hours when we arrived close to 10 am. When we finally got through to the crowds, Samten Puntsok (director of the monastery) appeared and invited us to some prime-seats along the retaining wall. They rolled out beautiful rugs for us to sit on and later came with bottles of mineral water and tea. It was a bit embarrassing – a group of foreigners treated like royalty. But I have to confess that we enjoyed every second of it. And we were probably too weak to tough it out like the locals.

Here are some of the highlights of the cham dances that morning.