The Path of Compassion: A Biography of Hor shul Khenpo Gelek Palsang Rinpoche — Teachings — Chapter One: Hor shul Khenpo Gelek Palsang Rinpoche Recounts Stories of the Elder Practitioners of Hor shul

Many terma scriptures state that Hor shul is a sacred place of Manjushri Bodhisattva. For this reason, Hor shul Monastery has produced many monastics who practiced very well and possessed great wisdom. Opposite Hor shul Monastery is a mountain shaped like Shakyamuni Buddha’s alms bowl. Because of this auspicious connection, Hor shul Monastery has always had many bhikshus. It now has more than one hundred, whereas it is rare for other monasteries to have even more than ten, and some have only seven or eight.

Hor shul Monastery once had a Khenpo who was one of the gurus of Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche and also one of the gurus of Qiaq Rinpoche. He is recorded in the biography of Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche, and his name also appears in the biography of Qiaq Rinpoche. His name was Khenpo Dawo. He could recite the entire Tibetan Buddhist canon from memory and remembered it with complete clarity. For example, he could clearly recall the contents of both the front and back of page three hundred in volume seventy-three. Elderly lamas who had studied with him for many years said that they never saw him use a scripture while teaching from the Dharma seat. He taught seven or eight sessions a day: in the morning, he taught Madhyamaka and the Ornament of Clear Realization from among the Five Great Treatises; in the afternoon, he taught Vinaya and other subjects. His disciples never saw him hold a scripture while teaching. Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche often said that Khenpo Dawo had directly received the blessing of his yidam, Manjushri Bodhisattva. His memory was so clear that he could cite precisely what was taught in any given volume and on any given page of a scripture.

Khenpo Dawo was a disciple of Tulku Oba. At that time, he was very poor. While receiving teachings from Tulku Oba, he very much wanted to read scriptures at night, but he had neither electricity nor butter. During the day, therefore, he went to laypeople’s homes to recite scriptures. He used the butter they offered him to make butter lamps at night so that he could read. While reciting for others, he contemplated many questions concerning the Five Great Treatises. It was as if he were two people: his mouth recited the scriptures others needed, while his mind studied and reflected upon the Dharma meaning and the Five Great Treatises. In this way, when he returned after spending half a month or a month reciting outside, his practice had also improved greatly. Tulku Oba asked, “Why has your practice advanced so much when you have spent such a long time reciting in laypeople’s homes?” He replied, “While reciting for others, I study and practice the essential Dharma in my mind.” His guru praised him, saying that he had truly gained mastery in practice, that speech and mind could function entirely separately, and that this was a sign of the natural expression of Dzogchen.

I think this Khenpo Dawo was extraordinary. If he were alive today, he would be famous throughout the world. Wisdom like his is unheard of now. There was also Khenpo Lüden, a great Khenpo of Hor shul Monastery. He composed a commentary on the Beacon of Certainty. Within the Nyingmapa are Mahāyoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga—that is, the generation stage, completion stage, and Dzogchen—which form the heart of Nyingmapa. Of the entire Nyingmapa, only this Khenpo of Hor shul Monastery composed a commentary on Anuyoga. It was an extensive commentary totaling ten volumes. There was no other work on this subject in all of Nyingmapa. Mipham Rinpoche had long intended to write about this Dharma, but because he lacked time and was in poor health, he never did. Khenpo Lüden was a lineage master of all the Nyingmapa traditions, including those of Dzogchen Monastery, Kathok, and Pelyul. He often traveled to the great monasteries, including Kathok and Dzogchen, to teach.

Khenpo Lüden had a very bad temper and scolded his disciples every day, so they were all afraid of him. Sometimes his attendant could not enter his room for seven or eight days because the door was locked and entering meant being scolded. He lived alone in a very small room at Hor shul Monastery. If one quietly approached at night, one could hear the sounds of many ḍākinīs and hand drums, as though hundreds of people were present. Many vidyādharas and ḍākinīs from other buddhafields came together to perform feast offerings with him. Although they could not be seen, all their sounds could be heard. He directly beheld Vimalamitra every day. Sometimes he slept day after day, sleeping throughout the entire day without eating, yet he remained extremely wise. He said that when he had been studying with his guru and encountered teachings he could not understand—whether the Five Great Treatises or logic—he would immediately go to sleep and pray to his guru. After a few days, he would understand them. He was a bhikshu and my mother’s paternal uncle.

Khenpo Bamenjian was the chant master of Hor shul Monastery and the elder brother of Donggen Se. He was Penor Rinpoche’s root guru, and Penor Rinpoche received his bhikshu vows from him. His name appears in the biography of Qiaq Rinpoche. Penor Rinpoche received all his Nyingmapa empowerments and lineages from him. He remained in retreat on Manjushri Mountain for many years and later traveled to various places to teach.

The role of chant master at Hor shul Monastery differs from that at every other monastery in Tibet. Here the position is strictly overseen by the Dharma protectors, and one can serve only after receiving permission. There is a dedicated ceremonial seat. When a chant master is selected, the Dharma protectors are invoked and several candidates draw lots. The role is generally held by an elderly bhikshu lama over the age of forty. It receives the special blessing of the Dharma protectors, as many great accomplished masters throughout history have explained.

There were many, many other accomplished masters unlike those in other places. Hor shul even had Khenpos who could recite the entire Tibetan Buddhist canon from memory.

Many accomplished masters lived on Manjushri Mountain at Hor shul. Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche lived there, and Venerable Qiaq also spent many years there. The place has great power of blessing.

Historically, several people at Hor shul Monastery attained the rainbow body. A tulku of Hor shul Monastery named Tulku Rinzin Norwo remained in retreat on the mountain throughout his life. When he passed away, his body disappeared, leaving only a tiny fingernail; the rest transformed into rainbow light. Tulku Rinzin Norwo had a house beside Manjushri Cave on the mountain and passed away there. Many great accomplished masters once lived in the several houses beside Manjushri Cave.

One of Penor Rinpoche’s gurus, Donggen Se Rinpoche, transmitted the Tibetan Buddhist canon here, together with many treatises, on numerous occasions. The power of blessing was great. Donggen Se was the foremost disciple of Lama Yikö. He spent more than fifty years of his life in retreat and passed away on the mountain. Lama Yikö told him, “That Manjushri Mountain of yours truly is a sacred place of Manjushri Bodhisattva. Its power of blessing is extraordinary. You must go to Manjushri Mountain to practice; it will help you greatly.” When his guru passed away, he told Donggen Se to go up the mountain and begin retreat immediately.

Before Qiaq Rinpoche passed away, Donggen Se saw seed syllables of mantras everywhere around him. He wondered why everything appeared as “oṃ,” “āḥ,” and other syllables. Later he learned that Qiaq Rinpoche had passed away. When Donggen Se passed away, rainbows appeared and there were many, many relics.

There was also Lama Bendza, whose name appears in the Collected Works of Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche. He was one of my gurus. I learned many rituals, mudrās, melodies, and the Eight Great Sādhana Teachings from him. He passed away in his nineties and was highly learned. Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche said that his life story resembled that of Saraha. Saraha was the first of India’s eighty-four great accomplished masters and the root guru of Nāgārjuna. Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche said this himself, and I heard him speak of it many times. He often mentioned Lama Bendza by name, and the Larung Gar Five Sciences Buddhist Institute specially invited him to serve as vajra master at many Dharma assemblies. Such a great accomplished master, with such a lofty view, practiced Dzogchen throughout his life. He had a very small house on Manjushri Mountain, which has since been demolished, and he passed away there. He had originally been very tall, more than 1.9 meters, but when he died, his body transformed into rainbow light and shrank to the size of a palm. His name appears many times in the Collected Works of Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche and is also mentioned in a biography of Mipham Rinpoche. I learned the rituals of Mahāyoga, mudrās, and other practices from him.

There was also a brother of Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche who came from Hor shul Monastery. He was a Khenpo and extremely learned. We studied together. He was a disciple of Qiaq Rinpoche and passed his Khenpo examination under him. He was relatively old, more than thirty years my senior. He could memorize one hundred folios of scripture after reading them three times. Of all Qiaq Rinpoche’s disciples whom I met, he was the most formidable. Whatever he did, he did very well. He also knew English. At that time, a great tulku from Hor shul Monastery was in India. He went there, studied with the tulku for three months, and returned fluent in English, able both to read and write without difficulty. He also spoke Mandarin. He composed several treatises but later said they were no longer needed and burned them all. I do not know how many volumes there were, but I truly saw this happen. What he wrote differed from the works of others and contained many profound intentions; his handwriting was also beautiful. He carved wooden objects and could engrave miniature letters that others could not make. He carved tiny forms of “oṃ ara pa ca na dhīḥ” and “oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ” that were clear but visible only through a magnifying glass. During the Cultural Revolution, he carved exceedingly small letters into wood. People could not see them and asked what the object was. He was Khenpo Serong of Hor shul Monastery. The house on the mountain that later belonged to Lama Luli had originally been his. His miniature carving was unique in Tibet. There is a Derge edition of a commentary by Mipham Rinpoche on logic consisting of 450 folios; he memorized it in a little over a month. He could also memorize a volume thicker than this in just over a month. Later, when he entered retreat on the mountain, he did not bring many scriptures, because he could recite them all from memory. He said it was enough simply to practice Dzogchen. The Prajñāpāramitā section of the Kangyur and Tengyur consists of twelve volumes. Even if pages were missing, he could supply them.

When Dharma assemblies were held, he led the saṅgha in recitation without using any scriptures and could chant everything in full. He had also memorized the entire Extensive Biography of Guru Padmasambhava. His food was very simple; he ate tsampa every day and said that it was enough not to die, because the body was illusory and practitioners must eliminate self-clinging. He could eat foul-smelling or spoiled food without any problem. He said that if he read a scripture three times in succession, he could memorize it and would not forget it for twenty years. If he were still alive now, he would certainly be very famous. Lama Yikö also had foremost disciples. His biography says that he had eight disciples whose realization was inseparable from his own; two were at Hor shul Monastery. One was Lama Gongtsé, and the other was Khenpo Qiusè. Khenpo Qiusè was also extraordinary and practiced extremely well. When he passed away, his body shrank to a very small size. All those I have just described lived in the same era. In earlier times, there were even more excellent practitioners.

There was also Lama Wutsé, whose view was inseparable from that of Lama Yikö, as Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche personally stated. He passed away on Manjushri Mountain after living there for many years. He was an emanation of Saraha, one of India’s eighty-four great accomplished masters. When Qiaq Rinpoche’s mother died, Qiaq Rinpoche specially invited Lama Wutsé to guide her, as Qiaq Rinpoche himself recounted.

Corroborating Materials:

While relying on the great accomplished master Shechen Kongtrul Rinpoche, the Venerable One received every lineage of the Collected Works of Mipham Rinpoche. He also received the empowerment and pith instructions for the compendium of the intent of the Sūtra Section, transmitted to Nubchenpo by the four Indian and Nepalese ācāryas Dukhen Dharma Bodhi Devasudana, Zhuxi Qiezanji, and others; The Practice Section of the Explanatory Tantra of the Great Net of Magical Illusion and the Essential Secrets of the Eighteen Root Tantras of Denda; and the pith-instruction lineage translated into Tibetan by Vimalamitra, Ma Rinchen Chok, and Lang Gyana Kumara and transmitted by the great scholar Zhugi and others. —Biography of Venerable Qiaq

To dispel the suffering brought by warfare, the Venerable One went to Guru Pema Side, an emanation of Avalokiteshvara, and together they recited ten billion six-syllable mantras. He then went to Guru Asar Tsultrim Dorje and received teachings on Mipham Rinpoche’s two-volume work on Dzogchen. Following Guru Bozhi’s prophecy, he went to the reclusive great yogi Khenpo Yaxu Lodrö and received every lineage of the terma scriptures that Venerable Longchenpa drew from the treasury of his mind, including the Seven Treasuries. From the great accomplished master Zhiguo Gongzé Rinpoche, he received the teaching lineage of the Guide to the Dzogchen Longchen Nyingtik Preliminary Practices: Notes on the Words of My Perfect Teacher and the Collected Preliminary Practices. Under the learned and eloquent master of doctrine, Khenpo Dawo, he systematically studied the grammar texts Thirteen Verses and Treatise on Grammatical Forms, as well as poetics, calendrical calculation, and other subjects. —Biography of Venerable Qiaq

In the past, before Khenpo Lüden, a disciple of Mipham Rinpoche, taught scripture and Dharma to his disciples, he always opened with the words, “First examine your own mind; then act steadily and in accord with Dharma.” If we can conscientiously put the meaning of these two lines into practice, they will have a profound influence on our entire lives. I received these two lines when I was seven or eight years old. Although I was mischievous as a child, my conduct still differed greatly from that of my companions. I think this was because I often received the blessing of this Dharma treasure. If you too understand this pith instruction from childhood, its profound influence will ensure that your actions throughout life accord with Dharma, and you will seldom violate either worldly or spiritual norms. —Khenpo Sodargye, Extensive Commentary on the Bodhicaryāvatāra

Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche once said that Mipham Rinpoche had a great disciple, Khenpo Lüden, whose practice was excellent throughout his life. Whenever he taught the Dharma, he began with the line, “First examine your own mind; then act steadily and in accord with Dharma.” After reciting it, he had his disciples arouse bodhicitta. Khenpo Lüden was not alone: many eminent masters in Tibetan Buddhism used this verse as their opening verse and recited it once at the beginning of a Dharma teaching. —Ocean of Excellent Explanation: A Commentary on the Bodhicaryāvatāra

The great accomplished master Donggen Se and other masters also saw the Ali-Kali mantra and various other heart mantras appear. The signs of inner realization and luminosity did not decline; their Dharma bodies retained their radiance and emitted the fragrances of borneol and sandalwood. —Biography of Venerable Qiaq