The Mar Ngok Summer Teachings 2024
19 August 2024
Today is the anniversary of the founder of the peerless Kagyu teachings, the king of dharma, lord of dharma, and protector of beings Gampopa Sönam Rinchen. Today is not only the anniversary of Gampopa’s parinirvana, it is also the anniversary of the day on which the third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje’s face was seen in the moon, and it is also the day of the cremation of the remains of Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche. From my own side, my very kind father was also cremated today. And so for these reasons, in terms of the worldly and in terms of the dharma, in terms of the common and in terms of the personal, it’s a very special day. It’s a day when four events have coincided. In particular today, as we are reciting the Gampopa guru yoga, I thought I’d speak a little bit about Gampopa. Many of you already know about Gampopa. However, I will give a brief introduction.
Gampopa was born in one of the southern nine valleys in Yorpa, in central Tibet, in a place called Nyal. In the present-day it is called Nyal Tö, located in Lhuntse Dzong. Gampopa was from the Nyiwa clan. His father was Nyiwa Lhaje Gyang Bar and his mother Shomo Zatse. Gampopa was born to them in 1079, which in Tibetan astrology was the earth sheep year. He passed in the water bird year of 1153 at the age of 74 counting full years. Today I don’t have the time to speak of his life in detail, but I would like to speak about his life in terms of four main topics:
- How Gampopa founded the Dakpo Kagyu
- How he spread the teachings of the sutras
- How he benefitted people through mahamudra
- The important texts that Gampopa wrote
The foundation of the Dakpo Kagyu, and some comments on Kagyu in general
We always say that we are ‘Kagyupas’ and that we are in the Dakpo Kagyu lineage. However, many people don’t really understand what it means to say that we are ‘Kagyupa’. Typically, most people say that they are Kagyupa because their parents had faith in the Kagyus, or because they became a monk or nun in Kagyu monastery or nunnery. You might think to yourself, “Oh, I’m a Kagyupa.” Based on such reasons, it’s doubtful whether we actually have a deep understanding of what it means to be Kagyupa. First, we need to think about what the word Kagyupa actually means.
If we consider the broad definition of the word ‘Kagyu’, ‘Ka’ means the words of the Buddha, as opposed to the treatises. Thus, it is understood to mean the words or speech of the Buddha. ‘Gyu’ means holding a lineage that is passed down from one person to the next. Therefore, when you combine the two, it should be understood as someone who holds the lineage of the gurus who have transmitted the words of the Buddha.
If you think about it in that way, then everyone who upholds a Buddhist lineage could be called a Kagyupa, and it would be quite reasonable to apply this term to them. For this very reason, there have been many different Kagyu lineages in Tibet—the Kadam lineage is called the Atisha Kagyu, the Geluk lineage is called the Hearing Lineage of the Geden Kagyu, and the lineage passed down from Bodong Penchen is the Bodong Kagyu. The lineage passed down from Khyungpo Naljor is called the Shangpa Kagyu.
However, these days when we use the word Kagyu, people generally understand it to mean the name of a particular lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. For example, when you ask any monk from the Sakya, Geluk, or Nyingma lineages what lineage they are from, if they’re Nyingma, they’ll say that they’re ‘Nyingma’. If Sakya, they’ll say ‘Sakya’. They’ll tell you their particular lineage, but they won’t say, “I’m a Kagyu.” When they do not say that they are ‘Kagyu’, they are not saying that they do not uphold the lineage of the Buddha’s words. They mean that they aren’t a member of the specific Kagyu lineage. The way the name ‘Kagyu’ is used has changed from anyone who upholds a lineage of the Buddha’s teachings to a specific Tibetan lineage.
According to how it is generally understood nowadays, ‘Kagyu’ refers to the lineage of instructions of the four oral transmissions that the Indian mahasiddha Telopa had received. The Indian pandita Naropa received these transmissions, and then passed them on to the Tibetan guru Marpa the Translator. Marpa brought them to Tibet, translated them into Tibetan, and established them by teaching and meditating on them. His many disciples who upheld these lineages, including Lord Milarepa, Metön [Tsonpo Sonam Gyeltsen], Ngok Chöku Dorje, and Tsurtön Wanggi Dorje, and so forth. The lineages that have continued to this day are called ‘Kagyu.’ There are different ways that the four oral transmissions can be explained, but I will not go into that today. These days the Drukpa Kagyus write the word ‘Kargyu’ with an R. But the word ‘Kagyu’ is more common inside and outside the Kagyu lineages.
The origin of the Kagyu lineage is India. In India, there were many mahasiddhas who upheld this lineage, including Telopa and Naropa. Marpa the Translator became Naropa’s disciple and brought this Kagyu lineage to Tibet. Following Marpa, Jetsun Milarepa, Rechungpa and Gampopa appeared in succession, and they spread the teachings of the Kagyu. Thereafter Marpa, Milarepa and Gampopa were called the ‘Kagyu forefathers.’ Among these three, Gampopa is not only a forefather of the Kagyus, he is also the founder of the Dakpo Kagyu lineage. If Gampopa had not appeared, then there could not have been what we now call the Dakpo Kagyu.
Gampopa has been called by many different names and the most well-known ones are Dakpo Rinpoche, Lord Gampopa, Youthful Moonlight (Chandraprabha), and Sonam Rinchen. ‘Dakpo’ is the name of a place, and ‘Gampo’ is the name of a mountain, so the lama was given the name of the place and the mountain.
Though the Kagyu lineage existed before Gampopa, the Kagyu were later mainly called the ‘Dakpo Kagyu,’ not the Marpa Kagyu or the Mila Kagyu. So why is that you might ask? Of course, before Gampopa, there was a Kagyu lineage but it had not developed into a full-fledged monastic system or religious organization. For example, Lord Marpa, in informal language, lived like a father in a village, only giving the ripening and lineage of the secret mantra to a few qualified students. Marpa did not nurture a large community of students, and his residence Drowolung was not yet called a seat at that time. Milarepa was even more of a renunciate and more of a yogi than Marpa and lived in mountain retreats with no fixed address. He taught whatever students he could, but never settled and founded a monastery. He did not gather a large group of students, and he did not enjoy doing so. When he left, he left nothing behind but an empty cave, empty mountain, or empty valley, so how could there have been a ‘seat’? So this is what is meant when we say that the seats of the Kagyu forefathers are solitary mountain retreats.
Gampopa was unlike either Marpa or Milarepa. Mainly because he was a monastic, he had resided in a monastic system in monasteries from a young age. When he was in his twenties, he went to the Kadampa monasteries in the area of Penpo in Ü, Central Tibet, where the vinaya discipline was very strict. He received many teachings of the Kadampa dharma there before he met Milarepa. So Gampopa’s external appearance is that of the Kadampa vinaya teachings or a Kadampa monk, later going, as Milarepa had prophesied, to found his monastery at Daklha Gampo.
Among his many students that gathered there from Ü, Tsang, and Kham, he had 500 arhat-like disciples, and 51,600 disciples engaged internally in yogic practice who had the external vinaya discipline. So it was a huge monastic community who gathered at Daklha Gampo. Among this community, one could mention some of his foremost disciples: his familial nephew [Gampopa’s elder brother Gyawa Sere’s oldest son], his greatest discipline and regent, Gyaltsap Gompa Tsultrim Nyingpo, who had the appearance of being inseparable from Gampopa; the master of realization and activity Pakdru Dorje Gyalpo; the holder of the lineage of compassion and emanations Dusum Khyenpa Chokyi Drakpa; and the yoga of power and austerity Barom Darma Wangchuk. These were Gampopa’s four main disciples. He also had four siddhas, four heart sons, four close sons, four attendants, four yogis who achieved rainbow bodies in Khechari [a pure realm], and so forth.
There was also the lineage of the Pakdru Kagyu that was transmitted directly from Gampopa and his disciplines, the Kamtsang Kagyu, Barom Kagyu, and Tsalpa Kagyu. From the Pakdru Kagyu, there came the Drikung, Taklung, Drukpa, Tropu, Martsang, Yelpa, Yasang, and Shuksep, which are known as the four pairs and eight lineages. The source for all of these was Gampopa himself. It was as Milarepa had prophesied, “In the future, people won’t say ‘The Milarepa practice lineage’, but will refer to it after you, ‘The Dakpo Kagyu.’”
After Gampopa had left Milarepa, Milarepa mad a prophesy to his students, “The physician from Dakpo will benefit may sentient beings. Last night I dreamt that a yellow bird flew from me to Central Tibet and landed on the peak of a large mountain, where yellow geese from all directions gathered. After a short while, they all flew off separately, with 500 geese following each one of them. Then the basins and valleys were filled with yellow geese. I am a yogi, however my followers will be monastics. And so, I have also done something for the teachings of all the Buddhas.” Milarepa’s prophecy actually occurred. Also, in a ganachakra, Milarepa sang a song of questions and answers with sponsor Chamme. In this song, he praised Gampopa: “The nirmanakaya prophesied by the dakinis / Shines on beings as the sun in Dakpo.” It occurred as Milarepa predicted.
To summarize, only during the time of Gampopa did the monastic system of the Karma Kagyu appear and develop, becoming one of the largest traditions in Tibet. This is why we call our tradition ‘The Dakpo Kagyu’.
Gampopa spread the view and conduct of the sutras
After his life as a householder ended with the death of his son, daughter, and wife, Gampopa went forth as a monk in the Kadampa tradition and studied with many Kadampa gurus including Nyukrumpa, Gya Yöndak, Gya Chakriwa, and Ja Yulwa. Drikung Kyoppa Jikten Sumgön writes that in the Dakpo Kagyu, there are three transmissions: transmission of the view, transmission of conduct, and transmission of pith instructions. Among these, the transmissions of view and conduct are from the Kadampa tradition, with the transmission of view coming from Geshe Gya Yöndak and the transmission of conduct coming from Geshe Nyukrumpa. Gampopa had followed both of these masters before he met Milarepa.
From Geshe Nyukrumpa Tsondru Gyaltsen, he received the Kadampa instructions and in particular bodhicitta and the bodhisattva vows. Gampopa said, “That guru aroused genuine relative bodhichitta in his being. Because of his compassion and blessings, I also developed that. From then onward, I have never been apart from precious bodhichitta.” In his Dharma Talks Plentiful Qualities, Gampopa said, “Thus this relative bodhichitta is important. It is necessary at the outset. Without it, you cannot go down the Mahayana path. It is necessary in the middle; without it, you will fall into samsara. It is necessary at the end; without it, you will not have the two form kayas.” Here Gampopa is referring to the great samsara of the two extremes of both existence and peace as described in the Jewel Ornament of Liberation, and is describing how essential bodhichitta is, in terms of his own experience.
Gampopa only spent eight or nine months studying with Geshe Nyukrumpa. During that period, he had to stay among many people and his previous meditational experience of shamatha deteriorated. He heard of Geshe Gya Yöndak who lived in a remote place without an entourage of students, so he went to see him. As there were few people around Gya Yöndak, Gampopa’s shamatha improved concordantly. Gya Yöndak said, “I will teach you Atisha’s oral instructions, from a lineage not interrupted even by Geshe Tönpa, as if they were given to you directly by the Buddha.” Gampopa was taught authentic pith instructions and was able to develop insight in addition to the shamatha he already had.
Previously, when Gampopa had first gone forth, he had asked for meditation instructions from Geshe Bodhisattva, who had received superior instructions on meditation from Milarepa. Therefore Gampopa had received instructions from both Geshe Bodhisattva which gave rise to meditation experience as well as Geshe Gya Yondak. The essence of the insight Gampopa had was exactly the same. And when he practiced these instructions from Geshe Gya Yondak they fit exactly with the instructions that he had received from Geshe Bodhisattva. This is a critical point that we can speak about at a later time.
Gampopa said, “Geshe Yöndak had genuine realization of impermanence and genuine insight, and I was also able to develop the same.” Geshe Gya Yöndak was well-known as having the highest realization of all the Kadampa masters in Central Tibetan at the time, and Lord Gampopa developed realization equal to or similar to his, it is said. According to Drikung Kyoppa Jikten Sumgön, Gya Yöndak had received a transmission of the view passed from Atisha to Gönpawa and that is what he gave to Gampopa. Atisha was known to be very fond of the Consequentialist Middle Way view, and this is probably the reason why the Dakpo Kagyu tenets accord with the Consequentialist Middle Way, as we can read in the teachings of the eighth Karmapa Mikyo Dorje. In the Dakpo Kagyu, the stages of progressing down the path are described as four yogas, and this same terminology is also clearly described in the mahamudra instructions that Atisha gave to Gönpawa. I think that this is further evidence of the link to Atisha’s tradition of Mahamudra.
In addition to that view from Gya Yöndak, later when Gampopa met Jetsun Milarepa, Mila said to him, “Be certain of the view; look at your own mind.” Mila taught Gampopa about the four pitfalls of emptiness. In particular, when he was going to Central Tibet, Milarepa sang, “Son, when the unelaborate arises in your mind do not follow conventional words…” This song included many points about the view that Gampopa emphasized when he taught mahamudra.
Mikyö Dorje also wrote in his Complete Discussion of Mahamudra, “The manner of teaching shamatha and insight that is common with the causal vehicle of the transcendences is the pith instructions of The Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment passed down from Atisha to the great spiritual friend Tönpa and Gönpawa, known as ‘coemergent yoga’. It is this that Lord Gampopa and the protector Pakmodrupa, for the sake of students in a degenerate time who like lofty vehicles, called ‘the coemergent yoga of mahamudra’.” In other words, Mikyo Dorje says that Gampopa’s tradition of mahamudra comes from the Kadampa, as the instructions of the ‘coemergent yoga’ that came from Atisha and were later given the name of ‘mahamudra.’
According to Maitripa’s student Sahaja Vajra’s Commentary on the Ten Suchnesses, “Atisha’s transcendences, which go well with tantra, are called by the name mahamudra.” Lord Gampopa, Pakmodrupa, and Drikung Jikten Sumgön said, “Our mahamudra text is the commentary the Sublime Continuum by Maitreya.”
Basically, Gampopa’s meditation instructions included teachings from the experience he gained from the Kadampa instructions on shamatha and insight, referring to Gampopa’s practice and the conduct of the Sutra tradition of Gampopa.
Gampopa benefited beings through mahamudra
Gampopa studied with many famous Tibetan lamas of the time. Not only did he ask for many pith instructions, he also went to many places such as Nya Sewa Lung and Olkha where he spent many years primarily practicing tummo. He was very diligent about this practice and in the end, he realized his mind essence was dharmakaya. He taught his students directly how to practice this according to The King of Samadhi Sutra, and this became known as the coemergent yoga of mahamudra. The pith instructions of the Kadampa and the instructions from Milarepa combined into one through his own experience to become the Dakpo tradition of the coemergent yoga of mahamudra.
Gampopa was skilled at nurturing students and in giving instructions, so he ripened and liberated innumerable beings. Most of the ‘mind instructions’ known in Tibet take Dakpo Rinpoche’s instructions as an example, according to Jonang Jetsun Taranatha.
To give some examples of the skillful way that Gampopa pointed out the nature of mind to his students, there was a person named Ramdun Tönpa who had been born in Dotö Dramkhar. He was a student of Gampopa’s and naturally could remember thirteen past lives and was very bright. When he got to the age of 13, his 70-year-old mother went blind. His maternal uncle (mother’s younger brother) stole all of her things so that he could get married. Ramdun Tönpa had a brother who was a monk and student of a Geshe from Sangpu named Dar Tön, but he had contracted leprosy and died on his way back home. His eighteen-year-old sister, who had been sent off as a bride to another family, couldn’t complete the marriage and was unable to return to her mother, so she became a beggar. And so only two members of his family remained.
Left alone with his mother with nothing to do, Ramdun Tönpa went begging to a Nyingma lama. The Nyingma lama gave his mother a six-syllable prayer wheel and told the boy to go to a Kagyu siddha named Tsang Nag Shakya Dar, who was a student of Je Drophugpa in Upper Tsang. He gave them a letter and offerings. However, due to many stories about the authenticity of the Nyingma tradition, Ramdun Tönpa didn’t trust this advice and went to Dam Nye instead. There, he asked some traders from Central Tibet about the most renowned Sarma New Tantra practitioners. They told him that in Upper Tsang, the Sakya master Khu Pön was famous, and in Central Tibet, Kharag pa and Neu Zurpa were famous, but they had already passed away. They also mentioned that a yogi named Milarepa had a student called Dagpo Nyi Gompa who was said to be in the south, and that everyone considered him an undisputed siddha.
Due to some karmic connection, upon hearing about Dagpo Rinpoche, Ramdun Tönpa felt an intense feeling, as if his body and mind were breaking apart. That night, he had a dream of a woman wearing a white silk headdress who said, “If you’re going to Dagpo, follow me.” Without realizing how, he found himself at the foot of Gampo mountain, where the first light of dawn was shining brightly on all the peaks. He didn’t know how he had immediately arrived there, as he didn’t have his shoes, belt or anything, as if he had been carried off in his dream by the dakinis. He thought “This must be where Gampopa is,” and hoping that Gampopa would look upon him with compassion, he started climbing the mountain toward the summit.
At the summit, he went to the door of Gampopa’s straw hut and heard the clear sound of people reciting a text, so directly he went in without knocking. Inside, Gampopa’s head was sparkling with dew, and he was seated wearing a meditation belt with four bhikshus in front of him reading the Prajnaparamita in 8000 lines. At the side, there was a set of five offerings in front of a stupa of great enlightenment. To the left was a red silk curtain, inside of which a soft voice could be heard. At that point, the attendant Lekdze came. He had entered without being asked, so Lekdze said, “Go out the door” and kicked him out. He forgot everything, all appearances of objects ceased, and he had nothing to think about. He just sat there. At sunset, he had an experience as if a young monk was pulling him by the top of his head. He woke up briefly and someone brought some soup. Then he seemed to fall asleep again.
The next morning, when the sun warmed up inside, he seemed to wake up and thought he would go to see Gampopa. But although he tried to go, he couldn’t move his body or speak at all. He remained in that strange state for seven days. All appearances had stopped and his perception had ceased
After seven days, early in the morning, a dream of something like a poisonous snake that he had never seen before appeared in front of him. Between its fangs and horns, it seemed to be devouring all sentient beings voraciously. As it sat directly in front of him about to eat, he could no longer bear it, and instantaneously he found himself in front of Gampopa.
Dakpo Rinpoche appeared as he had before, surrounded by the four bhikshus. Khyungtsangpa (a student of Gampopa’s) came and lifted the red silk curtain. On top of a small seat made of human legs, there was a naked red woman with disheveled hair sat amidst flames, playing a lute made of human bones. Upon seeing this, the wisdom of mahamudra arose in his mind, realizing the dharma nature as it is.
Then the jewel on the stupa in front of Gampopa blazed with light rays, filling the entire universe. On the tips of the light rays were Gampopa’s bodies, beyond number, large and small. Some danced, some sang, some played instruments. Some played dice, and some argued. There was nothing they were not doing, as he described what he saw.
Later Ramdun Tönpa was summoned by the king of Menyak. The king said, “I have been very wicked, so please give me a way to develop wisdom.” Ramdun Tönpa did exactly what Gampopa had done for him, pointing out the mind, and the king developed the experience of shamatha, in which he remained for five months. He remained in that state so that notable people such as the queen and ministers had to go and exhort him to wake up. Later, when Rinchen Tsangpo and Tishi Repa came to Menyak, they had a custom of giving empowerments on holy days and on Lord Gampopa’s anniversary. It was said that Ramdu Tönpa’s pointing out of mahamudra practice remained undiminished.
As a second example: There was a monk from Dagpo Wangyal’s monastery, a nephew of Yarphu, who became discouraged and bored with his studies. He meditated for fourteen years in front of the great Kadampa master Neu Surpa but never got a feel for it. Later, when the great Gampopa came to visit, he said to the precious lord, “Rinpoche, I studied many philosophical explanations for twelve years without developing realization of death and impermanence. Later, when I couldn’t bear the thought of death, I practiced what I knew for twelve years, but couldn’t even achieve basic concentration. Now I’m seventy-three years old. My only hope is in you, Rinpoche.” And he prayed fervently to Gampopa.
Gampopa replied, “What use is a settled mind? What harm is an unsettled one? Is there a mind that creates happiness and suffering? If clouds gather in the sky, what benefit is there? If they don’t gather, what harm is there?” It’s said that this struck a chord with him and he developed understanding.
Then one day, he was summoned to see Gampopa. Darton and Gungton (Gampopa’s attendants) didn’t let him enter, saying, “Meditate here. Visualize the precious lama at your crown and pray.” Suddenly, Gungton created a great dust storm, and Darton threw a large amount of water in his face. As he jumped up startled, and simultaneously the precious Gampopa appeared.
He saw Gampopa as huge as Mount Meru, and feeling unable to remain standing, he was struck so hard on the crown with a staff that it was as if his head was split open. His body, mind, and perceptions were cut off then and there. An indescribable reality dawned, and it’s been said that he saw nothing except the precious lama dissolving into a mass of light.
From then on, he developed experience in his practice.
There are many such stories.
Because Gampopa understood the level of other people’s mind streams, he was able to point out the mind to many new, young monastics, by way of taking perception as the path. He said, “Some geshes who teach philosophy say that I, Gampopa, ruined many young students, and philosophers criticize me. Yet I have great hopes that these young students will benefit many beings.”
However, Gampopa taught most students the stages of the paths of the three types of individuals from the Kadampa tradition, and only when their mind streams were sufficiently purified did he give them instructions in mahamudra. He said, “Once I dreamt I found an amulet. Gompa Treyung said, ‘Show it to me. There are many of Atisha’s relics here and Kadampa pith instructions.’ He was so insistent that I opened it. The little bit of help I have done for sentient beings is because of the Kadampa tradition. There are many teachings on Naropa’s instructions, but if not connected with the Kadampa, the benefit is slight.” Accordingly, Gampopa would teach the common instructions to train students’ mind stream and only then give the instructions of the Six Yogas.
To summarize, at that time in Tibet, there were the Kagyu lamas such as Marpa, Ngokpa, and Milarepa, great Sakya lamas such as Bari Lotsawa and Sachen Kunga Nyingpo, and Nyingma lamas such as Sur Che and Sur Chung, who mainly taught tantra. Many of them were laypeople. Also, at that time in Tibet, the Kadampa lineage had spread widely. They focused on the vinaya and the practice of the vehicle of the transcendences, strictly prohibiting open practice of the vajrayana. Lord Gampopa could be said to teach sutra and tantra in union, or to practice the Kadamapa meditations he learned earlier and the paths of means and liberation he received from Milarepa in union, without discarding either. Later, as Milarepa prophesied, he went to Daklha Gampo and many students from from Ü, Tsang, and Kham gathered. He taught them the common Kadampa stages of the path and the special instructions on mahamudra and the six yogas. He thus propagated the teachings of the union of sutra and tantra, which became what is called the ‘confluence of the rivers of the Kadampa and mahamudra.’
Read the texts of Gampopa to develop practice and gain accomplishment
Gampopa was such a great being. Although he is no longer with us, texts that he wrote remain. These texts are like the representatives of Gampopa’s body, speech and mind. Gampopa had said that people of the future, who had faith in him and who were unable to meet him in person, should not feel unfortunate. Instead, they should read his texts, The Precious Garland of the Supreme Path and The Jewel Ornament of Liberation. “Reading them is no different from meeting me”, said Gampopa.
We often read the texts of Gampopa, and particularly on the anniversary of Gampopa’s parinirvana we should think of The Jewel Ornament of Liberation and open the texts and study and discuss them. We often talk about speaking statues of Tara and so forth and consider such objects to be very sacred, but when we have the actual words of the guru himself right there in the texts, we leave them to gather dust or sequester them away in a shrine room. It is not right to throw texts in the garbage and yet we are basically doing the same thing. As Shapkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol said, “All Kagyus must read the two volumes of Gampopa’s collected works. Read the profound instructions of Gampopas’s coemergent yoga. Read and practice the collected works of the Kagyu masters. Develop your practice and gain accomplishment.”
His Holiness’ talk was followed by the recitation and practice of Gampopa Guru Yoga.
