Dakini Teachings. Padmasambhava Guru Rinpoche
countless terma teachings headed by the eight personal treasures of the king, the five great mind treasures, and the twenty-five profound treasures. The reasons for hiding these termas were to prevent the destruction of the teachings of Secret Mantra, to avoid the corruption of the Vajrayana or its modification by intellectuals, to preserve the blessings, and to benefit future disciples. For each of these hidden treasures Padmakara predicted the time of the disclosure, the person who would reveal it, and the destined recipients who would hold the teachings. He manifested in the terrifying wrathful form of crazy wisdom in the thirteen places named Tiger’s Nest, binding all the mundane spirits under oath to serve the Dharma, and entrusted them to guard the terma treasures. At that time he was named Dorje Drollo.
To inspire faith in future generations, he left an imprint of his body at Bumthang, handprints at Namtso Chugmo, and footprints at Paro Drakar as well as in innumerable other places of practice.
After the death of King Trisong Deutsen, Padmakara placed Mutig Tsenpo on the throne. He performed a drubchen at Tramdruk, where he entrusted the profound teachings to Gyalsey Lhaje, the second prince, and gave him the prophecy that he would benefit beings by becoming a revealer of the hidden treasures in thirteen future lives.3
It is impossible to count exactly how many students in Tibet received empowerment from Padmakara in person, but the most renowned are the original twenty-five disciples, the intermediate twenty-five disciples, and the later seventeen and twenty-one disciples. There were eighty of his students who attended the rainbow body at Yerpa and also the one hundred and eight meditators at Chuwori, the thirty tantrikas at Yangdzong, and the fifty-five realized ones at Sheldrag. Of female disciples there were the twenty-five dakini students and seven yoginis. Many of these close disciples had blood lines that have continued until the present day.
When he was about to leave for the land of rakshas to the southwest, the king, the ministers, and all the disciples tried to dissuade Padmakara from parting, but to no avail. He gave each of them extensive advice and teachings, and departed from the pass of Gungthang, riding on a horse or a lion, accompanied by numerous divine beings making offerings. At the summit of the Glorious Copper-Colored Mountain on the Chamara continent he liberated Raksha Thotreng, the king of the rakshas, and assumed his form. After that, he miraculously created the palace of Lotus Light endowed with inconceivable decorations and also emanated a replica of himself on each of the surrounding eight islands, where they reside as kings teaching the eight heruka sadhanas.
At present he dwells on the vidyadhara level of spontaneous presence in the form of the regent of Vajradhara, unshakable for as long as samsara remains. Full of compassion he sends out emanations to benefit beings. Even after the teachings of the vinaya have perished, he will appear among the tantric practitioners. There will be many destined disciples who attain the rainbow body. In the future, when Buddha Maitreya appears in this world, Padmakara will emanate as the one known as Drowa Kundul and spread the teachings of Secret Mantra to all worthy people.
This short biography is just a partial narration that conforms to what was perceived by some ordinary students.4
1. A “nirmanakaya who tames beings” appears in the six realms of samsara, as opposed to an emanation in a natural nirmanakaya realm such as Buddha Amitabha’s pure land Sukhavati.
2. Khenpo Bodhisattva is usually known by the name Shantarakshita, the Indian master who ordained the first monks in Tibet.
3. The thirteenth of these incarnations was the great treasure revealer Chokgyur Lingpa.
4. Jamgon Kontrul was himself a reincarnation of the translator Vairocana. He had many visions of Guru Rinpoche and was also a revealer of terma teachings.
In the world period that we are now in, one thousand buddhas will appear. In the same way, for each of these buddhas there will be one thousand Guru Rinpoches to carry out their activities. In the present age of Buddha Shakyamuni one such emanation appeared in the person of Padmasambhava, the Lotus-Born One. It is said in Padmasambhava’s life story that he was spontaneously born without a father or mother from a lotus flower in a lake. As a miraculously born human being, he was endowed with great powers capable of subduing not only human beings but also spirits and other different types of nonhumans. He lived for quite a long time. He stayed in India for roughly a thousand years and then spent fifty-five years in Tibet. When about to leave Tibet, he was accompanied by his twenty-five chief disciples and the king. At the border of Nepal he was escorted by dakinis of the four classes on a horse called Mahabala. This fabulous horse flew into the skies, leaving the disciples to watch Guru Rinpoche’s image slowly disappear, becoming smaller and smaller.
According to the story, Padmasambhava descended to Bodhgaya and stayed there for some time. He then went on to his pure land, which is known as Sangdok Palri, the Glorious Copper-Colored Mountain. Physically it is a large island, a kind of subcontinent, situated in the ocean to the southwest of Bodhgaya. The island has several levels. The lower levels are inhabited by rakshas. According to the predictions of Buddha Shakyamuni, these cannibal spirits would invade the known world in a later historical period when the average life span of human beings would approach twenty years. Posing a great danger, the rakshas would subdue and destroy all human beings. The Buddha also predicted that Guru Rinpoche should go to their continent and conquer these rakshas. Guru Rinpoche fulfilled that prediction.
The main mountain on this copper-colored island descends deep below the ocean into the naga realm. At the peak the summit pierces the skies even to the level of the Brahma world in the realm of form. On the very tip of this mountain there is a miraculously manifested buddha realm with three levels. Uppermost is the dharmakaya emanation of Guru Rinpoche, as Buddha Amitayus; in the middle level is Guru Rinpoche’s sambhogakaya form, Avalokiteshvara, and on the ground level is the nirmanakaya form, Guru Rinpoche himself, surrounded by the eight manifestations. Guru Rinpoche is the mind emanation of Amitabha, the speech emanation of Avalokiteshvara, and the body emanation of the Buddha Shakyamuni. Before manifesting in this world, he appeared first in the sambhogakaya realm as the five families of Thotreng Tsal, then as the eight and twelve manifestations, and finally in countless emanations.
Before leaving Tibet, Guru Rinpoche made many predictions and hid many teachings that were to be revealed in the future. He blessed his close disciples so that they would be inseparable from himself. In future reincarnations they would reveal the hidden teachings. Endowed with great miraculous powers like Guru Rinpoche himself, they were able to fly through the sky, traverse freely through solid matter, and also be unimpeded in expounding the sutras and the treatises, as well as the meaning of the tantras. In particular Guru Rinpoche prophesied the coming of 108 great tertons, revealers of hidden treasures. Because of changes and fluctuations in world history, each terton would appear in designated times to benefit beings facing difficulties. Being aware of future problems, Guru Rinpoche concealed specific practices especially suited to the time in which they were to be revealed. The tertons discovering them would then have a teaching that was totally fresh, up to date, and meant for that specific time and situation. For example, just as we prefer to have fresh food prepared in a way that will not make us sick, in the same way the terma teachings are endowed with very special qualities. One quality is that termas have a short lineage that has not been interrupted by any breaking or damage of samaya; also, the termas have not been interpolated by others. Hidden teachings come directly from Guru Rinpoche and are revealed by his disciples in future incarnations; then they are spread among people for immediate practice.
To reiterate and expand in short, the special quality of the terma teachings concealed by Guru Rinpoche is that they provide a method for accomplishment appropriate for each generation, period of time, and individual person who meets them. Every terton reveals fresh teachings that are to be practiced by destined people. Older termas may have been flawed by broken samayas, delaying the signs of attainment. Therefore, for quick accomplishment, the new termas have greater blessings. Furthermore, most people, including Tibetans, have some fondness for novelty. New termas seem more interesting! Tibetans have slightly