Dispeller of Obstacles. Padmasambhava Guru Rinpoche
of the Second Buddha of Uddiyana, as the self-existing, natural vajra sounds in perfect, melodious tones.
Its expressions, which are unmodified by the intellect of ordinary people; its words, which are without delusion; and its meaning, which is unmistaken, are exclusively due to the kindness of the three powerful knowledge holders, Khyentse, Kongtrül, and Chokling, the great beings of the three families, who incarnated as masters to compile and propagate an ocean of secret teachings. It is exclusively through their kindness that this teaching was established in writing, as the splendor of unending welfare and happiness for the disciples in the Land of Snow, and propagated to flourish everywhere.
This pure and perfect teaching, which effortlessly bestows, in accordance with one’s wishes, the all-encompassing supreme and common siddhis, temporarily and ultimately, was an unprecedented diffusion of the gemstones of the profound meaning, opening up the treasury of the universal monarch.
Padmasambhava
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
In our own present world age, one thousand Buddhas will appear. Each one will be accompanied by an emanation of Guru Rinpoche to carry out the Buddha’s activities. In the present age of Buddha Shakyamuni, all the Buddha’s activity appeared in one emanation in the form of Padmasambhava, the Lotus-Born One. He was born from a lotus flower in the middle of a lake. In his life story, he recounts, “I appeared from a lotus flower, without a father, without a mother.” In this way, he was spontaneously born, but there was another reason for this as well. As a miraculously born human being, he was endowed with great miraculous powers to subdue not only human beings but also spirits and other classes of non-humans.
Padmasambhava lived for a very long time. After his birth, he continued living in India for about one thousand years. Afterward, he arrived in Tibet and remained there for fifty-five years. At the end of his stay in Tibet, he departed for a place called Gungtang on the border of Nepal, accompanied by his twenty-five chief disciples as well as the king of Tibet. At that site, mounted upon a fabulous horse called Mahabhala, he flew off into the sky escorted by dakinis of the four classes. His companions, who were left behind, watched his image grow smaller and smaller as he slowly disappeared.
According to the story, he made his first descent in Bodhgaya, where he remained for some time. Later, he went on to his own pure land called Sangdok Palri, the Glorious Copper-Colored Mountain. Geographically, this place is situated somewhere out in the ocean, southwest of Bodhgaya. It is a type of subcontinent, which is inhabited by rakshasas, “cannibal spirits,” on the lower levels. According to a prediction given by Buddha Shakyamuni, at a certain period in history, when the average life span of human beings will be twenty years, these cannibal spirits will invade the known world, subjugating and destroying all human beings. In this way, mankind would be in great danger. However, the Buddha also predicted that Guru Rinpoche would go to this land and conquer all these rakshasas. He did just this to fulfill the prediction.
The main mountain in the center of the island is copper colored and descends deep below the ocean into the realm of the nagas. Its summit pierces the skies, even to the heights of the brahma-loka in the realm of form. On the very peak of this mountain, a miraculously manifested buddhafield exists, created by Guru Rinpoche. There are three levels: Above is the dharmakaya level, where the main aspect of Guru Rinpoche appears as Amitayus; on the middle level dwells Avalokiteshvara; and at the ground level dwells Guru Rinpoche himself in the familiar form. He is surrounded by the eight manifestations.
Appearing in this world, Guru Rinpoche is the body emanation of Buddha Amitabha, the speech emanation of Avalokiteshvara, and the mind emanation of Buddha Shakyamuni. Before manifesting in our world, he first appeared in the sambhogakaya realm as the five families of Tötreng Tsal, then as the eight and twelve emanations, and so forth, until fifty manifestations had appeared. Finally, countless different manifestations of Guru Rinpoche appeared.
Before Padmasambhava left Tibet, he made many predictions, hid many teachings to be revealed in the future, and blessed his close disciples to be inseparable from him. In this way, they would reincarnate in the future, reveal the hidden teachings, and be as powerful as Guru Rinpoche himself, endowed with great miraculous powers, such as flying through the sky, freely traversing solid matter, and unimpededly expounding all the sutras and treatises as well as the meaning of the tantras.
In particular, he prophesied the coming of 108 great tertöns, “hidden treasure revealers.” World history fluctuates, causing particular difficulties to arise at different times. Having foreknowledge of these historic intervals, Guru Rinpoche designed special practices that specific tertöns would reveal at the appropriate times, in order to aid human beings. The tertöns discovering these termas, “hidden treasures,” would then give a totally fresh, up-to-date teaching meant for that specific time and situation.
Just as we prefer to have fresh food prepared in a way that will not make us sick because it’s rotten, in the same way, the terma teachings revealed with the “short lineage” are endowed with a very special quality. By virtue of having a short lineage, the teachings have not been interrupted by any damage or samaya breakage. They have not been interpolated by anyone else, but have come directly from Guru Rinpoche by means of the revelation of one of his disciples appearing as a present-day incarnation, who then spreads the teachings to people for their immediate practice.
The Lamey Tukdrub Barchey Künsel belongs to this class of teachings. This cycle of teachings is based on guru sadhana. When I received the lineage of the Rinchen Terdzö from the previous incarnation of Jamgön Kongtrül, the one immediately following Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thaye, one day he told me,
“During my lifetime, I have performed the drubchen (the “one-week sadhana” on Barchey Künsel) three times. Every single time there was some very special miraculous sign.
“The first time we performed the drubchen, the main torma on the shrine started to leak nectar, not just a little bit, but enough that it overflowed the shrine and drenched the floor all the way out to the main entryway. People were tasting it and saying it had a very special flavor that was sweet yet strong and potent, incomparable with anything else in this world. The second time I performed the drubchen, the kapala, the “skull cup” containing amrita, started to boil, and it continued to boil throughout the rest of the drubchen. The third time I performed the drubchen, we were preparing mendrub, “sacred medicine,” at the same time. The fragrance issuing from the fermentation of the mendrub was very remarkable, unlike anything people had ever smelled in this world. The scent of it spread as far as Thrangu Rinpoche’s monastery, a distance of four day’s walk. People from that monastery asked where the fragrance came from. In my whole life, I have never witnessed signs as amazing as the ones during those three times.” This could also be due to the combination of the profound terma teaching and such an extremely great master.
When great masters are practicing a fresh terma, in the beginning there are always great blessings, because the “vapor from the dakinis’ breath” has not yet had time to evaporate from the terma. In this way, terma teachings with a short lineage have a particularly great blessing and effect for those who practice them.
There are four versions of the primary guru sadhana of the Barchey Künsel: the extensive version, the Trinley Gyepa; the medium-sized edition, the Trinley Dringpo; the condensed medium-length version, which is like its essence, the Trinley Nyingpo; and the extremely short Concise Daily Practice. That doesn’t mean something is lacking or lost when being condensed—it becomes even more precious, just as butter is the essential extract of milk.
In the mandala circle of this practice, Guru Rinpoche is surrounded by twelve emanations of himself that are inseparable from twelve different yidams. The inseparability of the yidam