A GARLAND OF FLOWERS, THE STORY OF THE LIBERATION OF THE SUPREME VAJRA HOLDER, THE VENERABLE MASTER SHAKYA SHRI JNANA

Homage

TOWERING OVER myriad holders of the knowledge of reality,
Skillful in revealing the excellent path, the Vajrayana, [49]
Supreme Vajra Master, bestow on us goodness and excellence!

You are truly Vajradhara in human form, radiant realization ofthe Immutable.
With skillful means and compassion, with hundreds ofmanifestations,
You enter the illusory dimension and save beings extremely difficult to tame.
Teacher Vajradhara who encompasses all space,
At your feet, Lion of the Shakyas, [50] I bow my head in homage.

Powerful speech of the immaculate Victorious Ones,
Pinnacle of all realized dakas, the holders of knowledge,
True manifestation of the glorious heruka, [51]
At your feet, Lotus King, [52] I respectfully pay homage.
To Saraha, [53] Lord of the Realized Ones in Jambudvipa, [54]
And to all masters of Mahamudra and Dzogchen,
The final path of the Secret Mantra, summit of all profound paths, I respectfully bow.

I call to mind the kindness of Kunga Tendzin, [55] and the succession
of masters, sources of the teachings, who have illumined and blessed
the vast Land of Snow with the drumbeat of the glorious teaching of
the Tagpo lineage. [56]

I call to mind the supreme scholar, the accomplished Jamyang
Khyentse Wangpo, [57] mighty voice of infinite buddhas, Manjughosha
(Jamyang) [58] renowned in all the buddhafields, magic manifestation of
unsurpassable wisdom, union of knowledge and compassion (Khyentse)
and lord (Wangpo) of all holders of the teachings.

I call to mind the bodhisattva Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, who through
what is comparable to a fourth compilation of the ocean-like Word
of the Buddha, [59] enacted the enlightened activity of all Tibetan mas-
ters, thus bestowing good fortune on beings that live in this decadent
time. [60]

I bow respectfully to the powerful and accomplished Master
Shakya Shri, who has realized the innate and primordial reality just
as it is, the very nature of all phenomena, the complete sameness of
samsara and nirvana, extracted from the center of the excellent vase
filled with the mind-blessing of sublime lineage masters.

He is the one who, at the sunset of the doctrine of the sage of
the Shakya clan, perfectly revealed in a direct way (mngon sum ston pa)
the innate reality, the excellent path that brings benefit to all:
the glorious (dpal pa'i) lord (dbang phyug) of realization, the king
of dharma of the definitive meaning (nges don chos kyi rgyal po). [61]

The scriptures say:

| Those who wish to emulate the master, inspired by their faith
| In his liberation throughout the three times, and in
| His qualities of body, voice and mind,
| Enjoy his wondrous deeds like draughts of ambrosia.

Concerning how to begin a text in the right way,
Dandin in his Mirror of Poetics states: [62]

| Auspicious words of homage
| Are the gateway to any teaching.

Accordingly, having first paid homage to illustrious masters at the
beginning, we now offer the exemplary life of Shakya Shri as the heart
of the book.

In this age of disputes, Shakya Shri stands out, the apex of a
victory banner rippling over an ocean of realized beings, the crown
ornament of millions of masters of the doctrine of the essential
definitive meaning. [63] In his lifetime he appeared as a powerful yogin
who, following the exalted path, had gained the direct realization
ofreality. [64]

In truth, he had already awakened in the primordial ultimate realm
countless aeons ago. However, moved by unlimited compassion, he
continued to care for infinite beings afflicted by suffering whose minds,
unhinged by the demons of both intellective and innate clinging to a sel£ [65]
remained in the prison of samsara, tightly bound by the ropes of
negative karma and the obscuring states of mind. In this age,
worse than the age of degeneration, Shakya Shri unreservedly displayed a
magical charisma through the three secrets (body, voice and mind)
of his embodiment. With his deeds, like a white parasol towering over the
three worlds, [66] he planted the seed of the liberating path in everyone
he met, in accordance with his or her capabilities.

From an early age Shakya Shri Jnana was infUsed with a deep
interest in dharma and manifested a marked disengagement with the
worldly. His outer behavior was that of a king of wandering yogins
who sees all marvels of the world like bubbles of water, devoid
of intrinsic value. Inwardly, he lived in a state of undivided
contemplation by the grace of which, in this lifetime, he ascended
to the highest throne of realization.

Here we shall briefly recount the story of his liberation, embodied
in the three cycles of the life [67] of this great sovereign of
ascetics, indivisible from the primordial buddha.

HIS PREVIOUS LIVES

SHAKYA SHRI LIVED an extraordinary life, and the recounting of it
not only has great meaning, but brings significant benefits as well.
Reading his life story will inspire faith in those who have not had the
fortune to meet him directly, and will increase the devotion of those
who have actually been his disciples, so that their faith will not fade
but remain unswerving.

Accordingly, Chandragomin [68] said:

| These good deeds, the signs of great renown,
| Unveil the path of those gone to bliss, [69] and
| Those lacking in conviction will develop faith;
| Thus, virtuous stories are a source of joy.

The names of the previous incarnations of the Lord of the Mandala [70]
Shakya Shri, whose embodiments as scholar and saint greatly benefited
beings, are as follows:

At one time in this age of wrangling, he was born as the arrowsmith
Brahmin Saraha, [71] who was the forefather of an ocean of realized
beings, an accomplished yogin whose fame still today is widespread in Tibet.

Another time, he was born in India as Mitrayogin, [72] inseparable
in his nature from Garland of Skulls, [73] and a magical emanation of
Avalokiteshvara, [74] the supremely exalted embodiment of the love and
compassion of countless buddhas.

Again he was born in India, this time as the scholar Naropa, [75] protector
of the northern gate of the Vikramashila monastic univer-sity. [76]
Later in Tibet he was born as Rigdzin [77] Dorje Dudjom [78] of
the Nanam family, one of the nine heart-sons or predestined favored
disciples of the second buddha, Padmasambhava.

He was also born as Ngamdzong Bodhiraja [79] the mind-son of
Milarepa who was like the source of a river for the lineage of
attainments, and to whom Milarepa entrusted the lineage of the Oral
Transmission of the Dakinis. [80]

Once he was born as Lingchen Repa, called 'the Saraha of Tibet', for his fame
as a highly realized being reached the plains of the Ganges. [81]

He was the disciple of Drogon Phagmo Trupa, also known as Desheg Khampa Dorgyal. [82]

He was born as Nyagre Sewo, crown of all realized Kagyii masters,
whose real name was Rinchen Gyaltsen. [83]

He was then born as Kunpang Avadhutipa Sherab Gyatso, [84] the master
of Perna Karpo, illuminator of the doctrine of the definitive meaning and holder
of the secret treasury of profound instructions of the attainment lineage
of the glorious Drugpa Kagyii. He was the yogin Amkar Lhenkye Dorje who,
in a single lifetime of practice on the secret path of the dakinis,
the swift and blissful ultimate path, flew to celestial realms in his rainbow body without
leaving physical remains.

He also took birth as the minister Denma Changtra or Denma
Yulgyal Thogo who, armed with bows and arrows, enacted the will
of King Lingje Gesar, 85 subduing the enemies of the doctrine and dark,
demonic forces. According to the needs of his disciples and beings to
be trained, Shakya Shri, like a single moon reflecting in many ponds,
manifested inconceivably infinite emanations both in sequence and
simultaneously.

Shakya Shri's previous incarnations were revealed by indestructible
prophecies of the great master of Oddiyana, Padmasambhava. They
were partly remembered by Shakya Shri himself, and partly indicated
by the two 'gentle saviors', Khyentse Wangpo and Kongtrul Lodro
Thaye, 86 by Drugpa Yongdzin, 87 omniscient in the age of decadence,
and by other authentic masters, as stated in the long life prayers that
they composed for him. To recount the lives of all his previous incar-
nations would take too long; those who wish to learn about them can
read the individual biographies.

| Just as the expanse of reality pervades all space,
| The infinite sunlight of your wisdom
| Illuminates whole continents of countless disciples.
| Your compassion, devoid of the slightest conceptual characteristics,
| Like the eternal full moon, does not abandon the sphere of reality,
| But shines propitiously upon qualified disciples, the ponds which reflect you.
| Nature of all Victorious Ones that fills space with a display of emanations,
| From time without beginning, you have led innumerable beings to the natural state.
| Until there is no samsara, the magical display of your emanations will know no end.

THE EIGHT AUSPICIOUS SYMBOLS OF HIS LIFE

THE LIFE STORY of Shakya Shri is told in eight chapters that correspond to the number
of the eight auspicious symbols:

| His birth, the germination of his aspirations in past lives;
| The blossoming at an early age of his enlightened nature;
| His reliance on accomplished masters for instructions that mature and free the mind;
| His life as a yogin, practicing contemplation in secluded places and realizing innate wisdom;
| His life dedicated to practice, his attainment of blessings and siddhis, such as visions of masters and deities and the discovery of profound termas;
| His altruistic accomplishments and charismatic guidance, benefiting others immensely and illuminating the doctrine, inspiring great masters to shower him with flowers of praise;
| His commitment to the restoration of extraordinary sacred symbols, fallen into ruin, of the Buddha's Body, Speech and
| Mind, and the creation of sacred images through the power of his unbounded, selfless intention;
| His disappearance into the great expanse of reality, having completed his work for the beings of this realm.

CHAPTER I. His Birth: the Germination of His Noble Aspirations in Past Lives

SHAKYA SHRI, THE LORD of yogins, was born in 1853 into the Naru family, in a place of
natural beauty near the sacred site of Lhadrag Perna Yangdzong on the northern border
of Drugu, in the highland pasture called Beru. This locality belonged to the Champa
Lingpa prefecture in the province of Chamdo, the center of the various regions of eastern Tibet.

His father's name was Naru Tonden; his mother, Nyatso Dronma, was a spiritual practitioner
of great purity, blessed with a gentle character. At conception and when the time of
birth was approaching, both parents had auspicious dreams. His mother maintained a pleasing aspect
throughout the pregnancy and gave birth to the child without pain.

Like Ratna Lingpa, Perna Osal Do Ngag Lingpa [88] and other major
tertons, [89] Shakya Shri was born with a long tuft of hair; [90] and his
body was adorned with amazing signs indicating the birth of a special
being. Born in the female Water Ox year, he burgeoned like a bud,
manifesting virtue in both samsara and nirvana, much as is described
in the Life Story of Ratnacbuda:

| As the time of birth approached
| Like rays of nectar in the sky,
| The child who clears away the obscurations of beings
| Was born from his divine mother.

| Among clouds of limitless compassion
| Adorned with hundreds of spokes of the light of virtue,
| His magnificent lithe youthful moon body
| Waxed in the sky of meritorious disciples.

CHAPTER II. The Early Blossoming of His Enlightened Nature

EVERYTHING IN SHAKYA SHRI's childhood, even the games
he enjoyed playing, indicated his potential for blossoming into a
great being replete with astonishing qualities. His games were unlike
those of ordinary children. Playing with pebbles, he would pile them up
like tormas [91] or other ritual objects, and would accompany this activity
with his own versions of ritual chanting and songs.
The rope from a water-bucket became his meditation belt. Wearing
it, he would sit content, cross-legged in a state of contemplation with
the appropriate gaze and a radiant halo around him. At times he would
make a throne out of stones; he would then sit on it at length, as though
he were teaching the dharma to his fellow playmates.
When he was four years old, a girl seemingly endowed with the
spontaneous dakini eye of wisdom [92] suddenly appeared from nowhere
and asked him why he was wearing white cloth with red stripes (usually worn by yogins).
The boy replied, "I have just been attending the ganacbakra [93] of the dakinis:

He possessed an elevated perception in telling right from wrong,
and in foreseeing what would bring pain or profit in situations hard to
evaluate. For instance, one day his father and a shepherd's son joined
other men in a fight that broke out between the Chagra and Bajon
branches of a monastery. His mother and the wife of the shepherd's
son were at home, combing each other's hair. Out of the blue, the
child said to them, "You're spending your time so leisurely while at
this moment your husbands are killing their enemies: The two women
scolded the boy, "Don't say things that might bring bad luck!" and
sent him out of the house.

Later, when the women asked what had happened at the fight,
they were told that on that same day, their husbands' faction had been
victorious over the other camp. From that point on, people around
the boy began to take seriously whatever he said.

He was genuinely disengaged and disillusioned with samsara
and its sufferings. As a result, he neither desired nor pursued worldly
matters. He never fought out of hatred towards his enemies or love
for his friends. It was not his way to complain about his situation,
like saying, "I am a beggar, I have nothing to eat or wear!" and so on.
Upon meeting the destitute or weak, he would weep with boundless
pity and do everything he could to help them. He showed no eagerness
to accumulate things for himself nor would he ask others to make
acquisitions for him. He was not cunning, nor did he engage in gossip
and other meaningless chatter. He preferred to speak of the fleeting
nature of everything. Each day of his youth was spent in that way.

The Tenth Stage Scripture states:

| Just as fire is known by smoke and water by herons,
| The nature of a wise Bodhisattva is known by signs.

As a divine inheritance from previous lives, from an early age Shakya
Shri had an undivided, constant faith in the precious Guru Padmasambhava.
Thus, whenever he heard someone belittling the Guru, he would not
hesitate to challenge that person. As a boy, he served as the attendant
of a monk of a monastic college in Chamdo. The monk had a small statue
of Padmasambhava that Shakya Shri liked very much. He persistently asked
the monk for the statue, but the monk would answer, "I'll give it to you
only if you promise to serve me for the rest of my life".

Then Shakya Shri found a small, carved snuff box on the road
with money in it, probably lost by a traveller who had stayed at the
monk's house. He did not consider using the money for himself, even
to have clothes made, but offered it all to the monk in exchange for
the small statue of Padmasambhava. The monk accepted, and the boy was
overjoyed as he took the statue in his hands. He always kept it with
him as his special sacred object.

The state of contemplation arose in him spontaneously and
continuously, familiar to him from experience gained in previous
lifetimes, and he maintained a firm determination never to disrupt his
contemplation no matter what the circumstance.

This happened before he received any formal tantric empower-
ments, explanations or instructions from teachers. From the age
ofsixteen or seventeen he manifested many splendid inner qualities, each
more noteworthy than the last. At times, he would experience the true
face of naked empty presence and openness, the authentic condition.
Despite these remarkable qualities, he was never tainted by the slightest
pride at being an exceptional person. He was more humble than
an ordinary dharma practitioner. Living the life of a supreme hidden
yogin, Shakya Shri never used his clairvoyance to make predictions
for people about gods and demons, and neither praised the pious nor
despised the wicked. He never altered his appearance or behavior in
order to impress the rich or to gain their favor. In this way, he was
unlike many of those recognized as saintly incarnations.

He came from an exemplary family. As Sakya Pandita [94] states, "In
most cases, children model their behavior on that of their parents:'
Due to the formidable strength of his training in past lives, his exalted
nature was complete in every respect. This majestic being was like the
divine wish-fulfilling tree of the gods [95] as described in The Descent
into Lanka scripture:

| He sees birth as entering a beautiful park.
| He goes through times of prosperity and decline,
| But remains untainted by passion and pain.

Shakya Shri took birth consciously because of the overwhelming
compassion he felt for those who suffer. He entered the world just as
the king of kings would playfully enter the garden of his palace. Most
certainly this is the sign that he realized the equality of the cycle
of life and liberation, which is the realization of the sameness
of all things. His fame spread like the unfolding petals of
a white lotus, untainted and unaffected by the suffering of
any form of existence, and so the fragrant scent of his
spontaneously accomplished deeds spread everywhere, for all to enjoy.

| Though his body was still immature, like a tender bud,
| Through the power of his awakened nature from his past expenence,
| The hundred-petalled flower possessed of a thousand sublime qualities
| Unfurled to spread its fragrance everywhere.

CHAPTER III. His Reliance on Accomplished Masters for Instructions that Mature and Free the Mind

As SHAKYA SHRI GREW UP, his uncle Perna, an attendant of
Lama Drugon Chogyal Tendzin Gyatso, [96] made arrangements
for him to enter the monastery of Drugu. [97] There Shakya Shri offered
a tuft of his hair and took the vows of a celibate lay practitioner [98]
from Chogtrul Chogyal, who was a supreme incarnation and a king
of the teaching.

As his first responsibility, Shakya Shri was assigned the task of
preparing and serving tea to the monks. From time to time he was
able to leave his duties and pay a visit to Tenpe Nyima, the sixth
Khamtrul Rinpoche, who was staying in secluded retreat at Lhadrag
Yangdzong. [99] Once when Shakya Shri was discussing his understanding
of spiritual matters with Khamtrul Rinpoche, the latter cut through
his disciple's uncertainties regarding the state of realization and in a
joyful mood gave him a skull cup filled with curd. Thereafter, he gave
Shakya Shri the Introduction known as The Mahamudra of the Innate Yoga [100]
with the following words of advice, "0 excellent son! You belong to
he enlightened lineage. Remain in the undistracted state! That alone
is sufficient practice:'

From then on, whenever he could find time, Shakya Shri would
apply himself in formal sessions, sitting cross-legged with the proper
gaze in a state of contemplation. Baro Chokyong and other young
monks of the monastery teased him, mocking him with nicknames
such as 'Perna's nephew with the big nose:They would say, "Hey, what
are you doing?" and poke his body with needles and burning incense,
causing blisters to appear. Nevertheless, he never said anything, and
faithful to the four ascetic disciplines, never became angry. [101]
During the day, he did not have time for formal practice, but at
night he would sit upright against the central pillar of the monastery
kitchen on a seat made of stones, and remain there until dawn. Apart
from a short interval of sleep in the middle of the night, the rest of the
time he would spend in a state of contemplation. He was an example
of perfect asceticism.

In that period, he had visions of deities from whom he received
prophecies. Tragtsen, Chagme, Tseringma [102] and other guardians of the
teachings manifested to him in their actual form and gathered around
him like attendants, constantly helping and protecting him.
When Chogtrul Chogyal and the other lamas and monks of
Drugu monastery travelled to nomadic areas to collect offerings,
Shakya Shri followed them barefoot, a humble servant. He set his
mind unwaveringly on the destination and diligently followed the
caravan, and while travelling he constantly dedicated himself to his
contemplative practice.

Sometime after this journey, Tsognyi Rinpoche (1849-1904) of
Nangchen paid a visit to Khampagar monastery, the residence of his
root master Khamtrul Tenpe Nyima, and requested teachings from
him. Shak.ya Shri and some monks from Drugu Monastery accompa-
nied Drugan Chagyal to Khampagar to attend Khamtrul Rinpoche's
teachings. At Khampagar, Drugan Chagyal told the monks who had
accompanied him that they could also attend the teachings.

The monks mockingly called to Shak.ya Shri by his nickname,
and said, "Nephew of Perna, go put our horses out to graze. This
task will be your teaching and initiation!" Drugan Chagyal overheard
the monks, and he, a sensitive being, became angry and rebuked them,
saying, "You don't realize what kind of a person he is! Make sure that he
comes for the initiation and hears the teachings with us!" Thus Shakya Shri
was able to receive the initiation and teaching with all the
other monks. Every evening the monks would discuss the teaching
they had heard that day from the master, but they were unable to say
much since they had understood so little of it. However, Shak.ya Shri,
gifted with exceptional memory, and introspective since early childhood,
had understood perfectly what the master had taught. Then, for
the first time, the monks noticed Shakya Shri's qualities and began to
appreciate and respect him.

On one occasion, while Shakya Shri was reporting to Tsognyi
Rinpoche on his progress in his practice, one monk shouted up from
below, "Nephew of Perna! Come down and start the fire in the kitchen!"
Hearing the monk, Tsognyi Rinpoche called down, "Well! It seems
that without the nephew of Perna nobody in Drugu monastery can
keep the fire going in the kitchen". Laughing loudly, he added, "One
day you will beg to drink his piss!".

Palchog, Pekar, and Norbu of Drugu monastery and other lamas
and monks from the area were training together in the yantra exercises
associated with the six yogas of Naropa. [103] Amongst them, Shak.ya
Shri demonstrated an understanding of the nature of the channels,
energies, and vital essences [104] of the vajra body, and a grace in the yogic
movements far superior to the other practitioners. Upon executing the
exercise known as the vajra leap, [105] Shakya Shri lightly touched the ceiling beam
of the hall with his head. All the tantric practitioners present
could see that he remained suspended cross-legged for a while in the air.
At the end of this group training, Tsognyi Rinpoche called on Shakya
Shri, and handed him a bowl of rice, saying that this would create an
auspicious connection. He encouraged him to develop his exceptional
practice further. Feeling boundless devotion for this teacher, Shakya
Shri composed a prayer of supplication to him. Tsognyi Rinpoche
often gave him special instructions, introducing the nature of mind.
However, with respect to the true nature of the mind that he had
already experienced, nothing was added or changed.

Then he chose the secret path, 106 entering the lineage of the oral transmission
of the dakinis. He had been urged by his masters and by a dakini's prediction to do so.
He took Chozang Drolma of the Thotsawa family, who bore the signs of a dakini, 107
as his secret partner for training in the so-called 'other-body method', a conduct chosen
to advance progress toward realization. Such a method, applied when the right level
of preparation has been reached, can lead swiftly to an experience of
the highest bliss. Monks and lay people developed wrong
views about this practice, and began to belabor Shakya Shri with criti-
cism and abuse. Viewing all praise and blame as an echo, he remained
in the state of contemplation, greatly enhancing his realization. Many
auspicious signs appeared, indicating the lengthening of his life span
and the blossoming of his dharma activities; his good qualities waxed
like the full moon.

His first place of practice was the Great Cave of Evam in Drugu,
otherwise known as the Great Dwelling of Drugu. When he undertook
strict retreat there, he had with him only a cracked day pot to boil water,
with a flat stone for a lid. He wore simple cotton clothing and went
barefoot. He practiced day and night. At night he knotted his hair on
the top of his head. During his long meditation retreat, his hair and
clothes became white with lice and lice eggs, like white grains strewn
everywhere on the ground. When he had no roasted barley flour 108 to
cat, he would beg for food, walking about in the vicinity of Drugu
monastery. He lived on whatever he was given and dedicated him;;elf
solely to his practice.

He was not inclined to comply with the wishes of worldly people,
criss-crossing villages, living off the offerings of devotees, monasteries,
and so on, in exchange for performing ceremonies. Rather he would
be content with whatever small amount of food or clothing he was
given freely. If he happened to be offered only half a bag of grain, he
would live on that.

Not much later, many people began making offerings to him,
becoming his benefactors, so that he never again had to make do with
so little. Starting with Chogtrul Chogyal Rinpoche, several lamas and
incarnate teachers of Drugu monastery became increasingly fond of
him, especially Vajradhara 109 Khamtrul Rinpoche Tenpe Nyima. It was
this master who transmitted to him the profound Mahamudra teach-
ing and instructions of the peerless Drugpa Kagyii tradition of the
final meaning (which was Shakya Shri's main practice). Giving inner
and material benefit, Khamtrul Rinpoche bestowed his incomparable
kindness on Shakya Shri.

At a certain point in his life, Khamtrul Rinpoche took a secret
consort as an auspicious condition for prolonging his life and thereby
ensuring his enlightened activities. The rules of the Khampagar mon-
astery were strict and some arrogant young monks lost faith in him
because of that. Filled with contempt, they said, "He deserves to be killed!"

Khamtrul Rinpoche charged Shakya Shri with the delivery of
a sealed letter to Drugpa Yongdzin Rinpoche. Shakya Shri walked
barefoot day and night to fulfill his master's instruction. Some
of his benefactors who lived by the side of the road he was taking, seeing his
feet lacerated by thorns and thinking he must be suffering greatly from
walking in the snow and the cold wind, offered him a pair of shoes
and asked him to wear them. He replied, "I can endure any difficulty
to fulfill the command of my root master even at the cost of my life!"
and continued on his way without stopping.

Riding the horse of inner fire, he returned after more than two
months, bringing sealed letters from Drugpa Yongdzin which he de-
livered to the labrang or residence of the lama (Khamtrul) and to the
monastery. The letter dispelled all outer and inner misconceptions that
had arisen in the community regarding Khamtrul Rinpoche's conduct.
Khamtrul Rinpoche was very pleased with the result of Shakya Shri's
mission and out of gratitude invited him to take his meals at his
residence.

While Shakya Shri was staying in retreat at Lhadrag Yangdzong,
Khamtrul Rinpoche paid him a visit with the purpose of giving him,
in its complete form, the common and special maturing and liberating
instructions of The Mind Essence of Samantabhadra, a terma rediscovered by
Chogyur Dechen Lingpa. On another occasion, Shakya Shri received
from him the Cycle of Blue Guru Tragpo, [110] a profound terma of Rigdzin
Chogyal Dorje, [111] that of White Jambhala, and so on, and in particular
the cycle of teaching The Heart Essence of Longchenpa (a terma of Jigme
Lingpa which had been transmitted by Khyentse Wangpo).

Shakya Shri met Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo three or four times. On
these occasions he received from him the initiation, the liberating
instructions and additional teachings on Guru Dewa Chenpo ('Master
Great Bliss', a terma of Khyentse himself). He also received the earth
tcrma of The Great Compassionate One as the Mind at Rest; [112] The
Pure Vision of Chandali, the Mother of Life; [113] The Quintessence
of the Dakini; [114] as well as the initiation, transmission and teaching
of the terma The Great Compassionate One, the Lotus King;
and the initiation, transmission and the yellow scrolls [115] of
the terma of The Union of the Three Roots. [116]

Khyentse Wangpo empowered him with these transmissions and
then requested Shakya Shri to be their holder. He then asked Chozang
Drolma, Shakya Shri's consort, to recite one billion Guru Rinpoche
mantras. Khyentse Wangpo gave Shakya Shri advice in the form of an
uncommon and indestructible vajra-like prophecy, crowning him with
this white flower of praise:

| The teachings I have bestowed upon you comprise specific advice
| on how to work for the welfare of others. In particular, I have
| carefUlly given you many instructions, introductions, and expe-
| riential guidance on the total relaxation of primordial purity or
| tregcho, and on the direct leap related to spontaneous perfection
| or thogal.

| I gave these in a precise and orderly way: experiential teaching
| on the Mother and Son Heart Essence,m beginning from the relative
| common preliminary practices, then the special preliminary
| Dzogchen practice on the separation of samsara and nirvana, [118]
| and so forth. In particular, I gave you the initiations and
| instructions of the Heart Essence of Chetsun, [119] which is
| the quintessence of the secret instruction series (man ngag sde)
| of the Dzogchen teaching.

| You have humility, and are the ideal person for this teaching. I
| am not flattering you. You will accomplish the innermost, secret
| and supreme Dzogchen view and meditation. It is best that you
| eschew spiritual activity that involves mental elaboration, like
| giving initiations and verbal transmissions. You have created a
| connection and aspire to benefit countless beings through practi-
| cal teachings on the view and meditation. Keep this in mind.

Khyentse Wangpo also gave Shakya Shri an extraordinary teaching that
explained the identical profound meaning of Mahamudra, Dzogchen
and Madhyamika. 120 As Shakya Shri was leaving, he advised him
toseek the initiations and teachings of The Four-Part Heart Essence
from Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche.

Shakya Shri followed his advice and went to Kongtrul Rinpoche.
One day in the period when the initiations were being given, he was with
a monk from Ling Dzachukha monastery 121 when the monk fell into
a river and was swept far downstream, in danger of drowning. Shakya
Shri was able to rescue him, but thus missed part of the initiations
of The Heart Essence of the Dakini that Kongtrul had been bestowing. When
he finally arrived, Jamgon Rinpoche gladly repeated the initiations for
his sake.

At other times, Kongtrul conferred on him the initiations,
transmission and teachings of The Single Cut of Dzogchen that Liberates All,
a terma by Rinchen Lingpa; the initiation and the teachings of The
Essential Vajrakila, a Profound Dharma of the Oral Lineage; The Commitments
of the Altruistic Mind of Awakening in Accordance with the
Madbyamika Tradition; [122] The Amitabba Rite belonging to the Sky
Teachings; and others. [123]

Having given him these transmissions, Kongtrul prophetically ex-
horted Shakya Shri, "Now is the time for you to nurture your disciples!
You have created the karma and made the aspiration to increase the
welfare of all beings everywhere:' In that way Shakya Shri also received
the kindness of Kongtrul's blessing.

Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo called upon Adzom Drugpa and, refer-
ring to Shakya Shri, told him, "This togden 124 of Drugu monastery
needs to receive the initiation and teaching of The Translucent Knowledge. 125
I will give him the initiation and then you can give him the teachings
and instructions in detail:' Thus, Shakya Shri received the benevolent
teaching of Adzom Drugpa. From Adzom Drugpa he also received
the initiation and teachings of The Union of the Secrets of the Dakinis, a
profound treasure by Choma Menmo; 126 The Pur!fication of the Buddhtifield
of Great Joy of Vajrasattva; The Q!tintessence of the Master; and others.

From Dza Paltrul Rinpoche 127 he received the profound teaching
on The Guide to the Bodhisattva's lazy of Life of Shantideva. [128]

When Shakya Shri visited the monastery of Kathog, Lama Trime
Shingkyong Jigme Yonten Gonpo 129 was staying in strict retreat. Shakya
Shri was told that it was difficult for anyone, important or not, to meet
the master. Nevertheless, that same night Shakya Shri was received by
Yonten Gonpo and was given the complete Detailed Teaching on the Mind
Cycle of Dzogchen. 130

In the presence of Dzogchen Khenpo Perna Dorje 131 he heard the explanation
of The Prayer for Rebirth in the Pure Land of Sukhavati (belonging
to the series of Namcho or 'sky teachings'), committed to writing by
Karma Chagme. 132

From Khrom Gyalwa Changchub of the same monastery he received
teachings that established a spiritual connection with him.

Shakya Shri met Lama Mipham Rinpoche on two occasions while
Mipham was staying at the hermitage of Gatragu. Shakya Shri had
been in retreat for a long time on the Dru mountains, and during a
period of relaxation from his retreat, was giving teachings to about five
hundred disciples. One morning at dawn, he beheld for a long time
in the space before him a spontaneous vision of an orange-colored
Manjushri with one face, hair knotted on the crown of his head, and
four arms holding a bow and arrow. He saw that the Manjushri
of his vision had the same nature as Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche and said
that this was a sign that he should meet him.

Shakya Shri sent a disciple with the auspicious name of Jamyang
Losal, 133 an acquaintance of Mipham Rinpoche, with the message
that he wanted to meet him. On the way the messenger faced perilous
situations, like encountering yellow bears and floods, but fortunately
he came to no harm. He finally reached the residence of Mipham
Rinpoche and delivered the message, and after Mipham Rinpochegave
his consent to meet with Shakya Shri, he returned. Arriving in the
presence of Shakya Shri, Jamyang Losal handed him a letter and other
things sent by Mipham Rinpoche. The master smilingly asked him,
"Did you run into any danger along the way such as floods or yellow
bears?" and by saying that gently demonstrated his clairvoyance.

Losal told the master that he had delivered the message, and
recounted how on the way there he had experienced some difficulty
due to the floods, but had not suffered any injury. "Well then, there's
no problem;' said Shakya Shri and immediately asked preparations be
made for the journey to Mipham's place. He set off at once with his
son, Tsewang Jigme, Tunge (a nickname of Jamyang Losal) and others
who knew the road well.

On the evening when Shakya Shri was nearing the hermitage of
Gatragu, Mipham Rinpoche called upon Osal, one of the people living
close by, and said to him, "Keep a measure of milk on hand today, cut
some wood and leave it in the meadow over there:

As soon as Shakya Shri arrived at the hermitage, Mipham Rinpoche
sent a monk called Karu to offer him the milk, the wood
and a tent where the guests could stay, and Karu explained that the
master had instructed him to do so, saying "The master wants you and
your son Tsewang to come see him immediately:' Mipham Rinpoche
was extremely pleased to meet Shakya Shri, and they spent a long time
together discussing in great detail the ultimate view.

Mipham Rinpoche told him many times, "O sovereign among yogins, the vastness
of your realization has no equal all the way to the Ganges. You have realized the state
of Vajradhara." He then gave Shakya Shri the transmission and the explanation
of the Aspiration of Samantabhadra and also added 'Jnana' (primordial wisdom) to Shakya
Shri's name. Togden Rinpoche (Shakya Shri) told Mipham Rinpoche,
"You are the actual presence of Manjushri, an adept who has attained
realization, a great scholar in the five fields of knowledge:' 134 Feeling
undivided faith and devotion toward this master, Shakya Shri stayed
at his hermitage for fifteen days.

Every day he would meet with Mipham Rinpoche, and together with
his son received the transmission of The jewelled Necklace of
the Hundred Thousand Names of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas;
The Means of Accomplishment of the Peaciful Manjushri belonging
to the tradition of the tantras together with its specific set
of associated activities; the collections of Songs and
Advice; the transmission and an extensive explanation
of The Kamashastra, the Treasure of Joy of the Universe; 135 and
The Explanation of Jiarious Difficult Points of Sutras and Tantras:
all teachings that figure among the collection
of writings by Mipham himsel£ Thus the mind-streams of these two
learned and accomplished masters merged into a single Row.

During these days, Mipham Rinpoche also gave audiences to the
people who had accompanied Shakya Shri and would always praise him,
telling them, "You are fortunate to live with such a master. Practice
in the appropriate way. That will be sufficient. I am an old man. It is
meaningless that you come to me:'

At the end of the fifteen days, the two teachers, with heavy hearts,
reluctantly parted company, and Shakya Shri returned to his own
place. Upon reaching the Dru mountains, Shakya Shri continued as
usual, alternating his practice in strict retreat with giving teachings to
his disciples. The next year he, Togden Rinpoche, left for the sacred
place of Tsari. 136 On the way he stopped at the hermitage of Dzongo
in Chamdo where once again he met with Mipham Rinpoche and they
spent the next three days together. They discussed the journey Shakya
Shri was undertaking.

One day when they were performing a ganachakra in connection
with the Seven Mrses of Praise to Guru Rinpoche,137 Shakya Shri offered
Mipham a gold ring adorned with an exceptional diamond and asked
Mipham to write a commentary on Chanting the Names of Manjushri, the
King of Tantras. 138 Then for three consecutive mornings Mipham, as if
entrusting Shakya Shri with the responsibility for the teaching, gave him
the transmission of The Prayer that Pac!fies the Times of Decline, The Guru Yoga
of the Seven Mrses and its commentary entitled White Lotus. When Shakya
Shri was about to leave, together the two masters, outside the gate of
the hermitage, performed the ritual of burning juniper139 composed
by Ling Gesar. With great affection Mipham circumambulated three
times around Shakya Shri's felt tent and then bade him farewell.

Briefly, this is the way in which Shakya Shri perfected his learn-
ing, reflection and meditation. Whenever he offered the mandala of
his realization of the nature of the mind 140 to his root masters, they
would shower him with great praise. All these masters who had realized
His Reliance on Accomplished Masters 63 the state of Vajradhara considered Shakya Shri
as their mind-son, and certainly he became equal in realization to his teachers.
In the eyes of the common people he was a buddha in the form of a human master.
In the dimension of luminous darity 141 his profound and ultimate mode
of being was spiritually nurtured by the infinite wisdom of
the Three Roots (guru, deva, dakini).

| Though you had already achieved the highest freedom,
| Knowing that total trust in the spiritual teacher
| Is, in every respect, the essential, authentic and best path,
| You, a human manifestation of the supreme buddha,
| Trained at the feet of many guides and heroic bodhisattvas,
| Masters who revealed the good path of the Victorious One,
| Respecting them as saviors of the world.

| Your awareness, far superior to the ordinary,
| The magnificence of your jewel-like qualities, your clairvoyance about past lives,
| Your spontaneous faith and perseverance, and so forth
| Have spread the word of your fame.
| Hundreds of rivers have poured manifold profound teachings
| Into the unfathomable depths of the great ocean of your supreme mind.
| Faithful to the hundreds of commitments of a sage,
| You, a magnificent sun, shine unceasingly and eternally.

CHAPTER IV. The Yogin Contemplates in Secluded Places and Realizes Innate wisdom

SHAKYA SHRI SPENT many years of intensive practice at Lhadrag
Perna Yangdzong, in the Long Vajra Cave, and in other places.
When he was practicing meditation above Chogarteng monastery at
his retreat place called Solder, a group of simple-minded, arrogant
young monks staying at the old Drugon monastery, having convinced
themselves that in the Chugoshog caves an unwholesome mix of pure
and impure had developed, said disparagingly, "A bunch of families and
women live in that place:' With such critical and negative talk, these
monks caused harm in the same way that Hindu fanatics disturbed
the Buddha.

As this occurred the omniscient Drugpa Yongdzin was travelling in the district
of Chamdo, for the sake of the doctrine and beings.
Shakya Shri went to meet him and Drugpa Yongdzin viewed him as
ifhe were Lingchen Repa in person. 142 The two teachers discussed their
experiences and realization. Drugpa Rinpoche was extremely pleased
and said, "Oh, it is marvelous that in this place there is such a great
hidden yogin!" and joined his palms at his heart as a sign of respect.
He praised the Master endlessly and gave him the name Shakya Shri.
From that time on he became known as Togden (meaning 'realized
one') Shakya Shri.

Thereafter he was held in great esteem, and thus new doors for
the expression of his charismatic capacity and altruistic work opened.
Those who had harbored wrong views about him and who had belittled
him felt great regret and sincerely admitted their mistakes. Afterwards,
they established an auspicious connection with the Master, and then
with faith and respect became his disciples. Shakya Shri took them
under his spiritual care, giving them teachings and encouragement to
practice. In the course of time Shakya Shri became the trail-blazer
who opened a mine of great meditators throughout the central and
border regions of Tibet.

Khamtrul Tenpe Nyima (Dance of the Victorious Lotus-Born),
Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (Sovereign of All Teaching), and other
sublime masters gave Shakya Shri the introduction to the state of pure
awareness. This, together with his perseverance in practice, was like wa-
ter and fertilizer nurturing the field of his faith. In this way, Shakya Shri
applied the instructions of his masters. For him, the magical display of
all aspects of samsara and nirvana, both created by dualistic perception
involving the observed and the observer, spontaneously ceased in its
own totally insubstantial condition, like a dream or illusion.

Everything self-liberated in its own nature. At all times he was
unperturbed, in the state of naked awareness of primordial purity
endowed with the three wisdoms. 143 Though he experienced countless
pure visions, he did not have the slightest impulse to cling to them. He
allowed whatever he experienced to vanish spontaneously, like birds
that fly through the sky leaving no trace. He remained in the infinite
great yoga of space, without clinging to anything. Nonetheless, without
closing the door of wisdom that knows diverse appearances, he paid
close and cautious attention to the relative truth of actions and their
consequences.

Shakya Shri became concerned that his disciples might be given
too many offerings while seeking alms, a circumstance that could create
resentment among other practitioner communities nearby who receivedless.
He also believed that possessions might become a source of worldly
involvement for his disciples, and therefore he allowed them
to accept only minimal offerings. With the exception of elderly
disciples needing to undertake a journey, he did not permit others
to travel by horse or other means of transport. He forbade his
disciples to hoard, or to engage in commercial activities,
allowing them, however, to beg twice a year for basic necessities:
in summer for a month (for butter, cheese, and so forth); and for
a month in autumn (for grain and roasted barley flour). He
preferred they wear monks' robes and only in certain cases
permitted some tantric practitioners to dress differently. Moreover,
he advised his students to conduct themselves in accordance with the
rules of monastic discipline.

Every day, a gong sounded to mark both the morning and after-
noon practice sessions, and his hermitage was kept in strict isolation.
No person or animal was allowed to wander around within its precincts,
and conversation was not permitted. Such an atmosphere inspired those
addicted to laziness, and other ordinary people who stayed in Shakya
Shri's hermitage even for only a day or two, to feel a sense of surfeit
with samsara and 'so disengage themselves from worldly involvement
and dedicate themselves to practice. From the tenth month to the first
day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar (November to June), most
of his disciples would observe silence. During this time reading and
studying books, writing, or distracting talk about places, clothing or
food was strictly prohibited, and he forbade the chanting of rituals to
please benefactors, whether relatives or not.

Most people around him were persevering in the practice of the
ultimate meaning, 144 arising early in the morning and going
to bed late at night. When Shakya Shri took breaks from his retreat practice,
he would receive the numerous people who came to see him. Either once
a month or once a year, he would send any offerings the visitors
gave him (either for the sake of the deceased or the living) to his masters
and to various monasteries in the area for the support of monks.

During his life he never harmed a sentient being. Concerned that
the meat he was offered might be from an animal intentionally killed
for him, he consumed meat only from an animal who had died a natural
death. He would do the practice of confession and purification when
he ate meat and frequently he would request lamas and monasteries to
perform these practices for his sake.

We can know this also from the letter that Adzom Drugpa
Rinpoche once wrote to him. That letter said: "Great being, who regards
even cow dung as gold (that is, who regards even such an ordinary
person like me as worthy of great respect), you have offered me gold
earrings set with fine coral with the request to perform confession and
purification for you, since you have to eat the many varieties
of meat that your disciples offer you. Accordingly, with a good intention I car-
ried out the practice in connection with the Aspiration
of Good Conduct. The assembly of practitioners has also performed the hundred part
Peaciful and Wratlful Deities that Spontaneously Liberate into the State
of Realization, and long life and dedication prayers, for which you offered eight
silver coins to each member, and other gifts:"

He advised his non-residential disciples like Jamyang Tulku from
Trayab monastery, 145 as well as disciples in residence, not to eat meat
during the summertime. In case meat was bought he strictly forbade
purchasing meat of an animal specifically killed for them, unless they
were persons endowed with superior qualities, free of defiling faults. He
would advise them not to misuse offerings given for either the deceased
or the living, and to refrain from eating meat and abusing alcohol. He
adhered to the principle that actions bring consequences.

Shakya Shri's mind was reserved and inscrutable; he did not dwell
on his spiritual development, indicating only that his progression on
the path was manifesting. Below are recounted a few of his experiences
and realizations that he described to some of his older disciples and
others which are found here and there in his writings, that I have neither
exaggerated nor understated.

Shakya Shri manifested clear signs of having developed the prac-
tice of tummo. 146 For example, his clothing and belt would sometimes
catch fire, but then the fire would extinguish itsel£ Moreover, when
he was performing the vajra leap exercise, 147 others would see him,
still seated cross-legged in the lotus position, pause in mid-air before
descending to the ground.

During a second three-year retreat, on the fifteenth day of the third
lunar month of the Metal Snake year (I 88 I), he had the following
expenence.

The white and red vital essences of his body entered the space of
the central channel through the lunar and solar channels. As a result
of that, rabu, the element of bliss above, and ketu, the fire element of
wisdom below, met. Shakya Shri experienced an extraordinary state of
contemplation of the unborn nature of the mind. 148

Following this experience, Shakya Shri was able to foretell the
precise date of the lunar and solar eclipses without resorting to
conventional astronomy. "Such a power:" he said, "is the blessing of my
Master and my wisdom consort"

Once in a vision of clear light he saw a woman with orange eyebrows.
The woman gave him a plate of food resembling rice with vegetables,
saying, "This substance is the offering of the ganachakra of the
dakinis:' Shakya Shri ate the food, leaving no leftovers, and thereby
experienced an uninterrupted realization of the union of emptiness
and bliss which pervaded his body and mind. "This experience;' he
said, "was the result of the kindness of my Master who is inseparable
from Milarepa:'

As an external sign that he had realized the mind's luminous clar-
ity, he saw the sun shining inside his retreat house. During his waking
state he witnessed indescribable magical displays of gods and demons.
However, he exhibited the definitive understanding that demons and
gods in the state of pure awareness are unreal, nothing but the playful
energy of emptiness.

Not long after those experiences, one morning at dawn while
staying in the Long Vajra Cave, also called Secret Treasury of the Da-
kinis, in a manifestation of luminous clarity, he dreamed of meeting
the accomplished master, Lingchen Repa. From him, he received in a
symbolic language numerous introductions to secret teachings. At the
end Lingchen Repa dissolved into Shakya Shri, becoming inseparable
from his pure presence. As this occurred, the knowledge of the state
of reality, beyond any possible definition, dawned in his mind.

Half-way through his three-year retreat, one day at dawn in a
state of luminous clarity, the venerable king of yogins, Milarepa Vajra
Laughter 149 appeared to him three times. Through symbols and sym-
bolic language, Milarepa gave him secret termas containing instruc-
tions of the oral lineage. Upon receiving these teachings, the might of
Shakya Shri's experience and realization expanded beyond any limit.
He himself said, "Through the realization that mind is without root
or source, I attained stability in the nonconceptual realization
of the union of appearance and emptiness:'

It was around this time that, during the day, his state of contemplation
during formal meditation sessions merged as one with his post-meditation
life. At first, he experienced a sense of fear in the dream state, then
he remained without wavering, constantly and exclusively within the sphere
of reality, and suddenly the sense of apprehension disappeared. "This,"
he remarked, "is the result of the kindness of my Master who is of the same nature
as Milarepa:'

One night, he dreamed of meeting Pha Tampa Rinpoche, 150 who
emanated four female knowledge holders 151 from his body, who then
united inseparably with Shakya Shri. While in this union, Pha Tampa
told him:

| By practicing this highest secret path,You will discover total primordial purity
| In the experience of the four joys.
| Emaho!

After this, Shakya Shri, Pha Tampa and the four female knowledge holders dissolved into the inner expanse
of reality within the infinite dimension of luminous clarity. In various dreams he met Labkyi
Dronma (Machig Labdron). 152 In one of those dreams she told him:

| Mind's nature is empty. defying the intellect.
| Any discursive thought which arises in it
| Proceeds to the expanse of luminous clarity and,
| At the end, reaches the inaccessible realm, the unborn.

After saying these words Labkyi Dronma sounded a loud Phat 1s3 and
with that he became inseparable from her in a state of pervasive total
sameness. "Surely this experience comes from the kindness of Khamtrul
Tenpe Nyima:' he said.

Sometimes he heard a distant pleasant music difficult to describe,
which he had never heard before. Of this experience he said, "It
is akin to a sign that indicates the culmination of the training in sound
taught in Dzogchen:'

At times, awake, he had a vision of the two secret cords of Vajrasattva,
extending from his eyes to the center of the sky, like braids of
five-colored light. ''This sign" he said, "resembles those signs revealed
in the Dzogchen tantras:' As a manifestation of wisdom, he had the vision
of a white light, streaming like a white river from his eyes
to the sky, marked by countless thigles of different sizes,
big and small, and so forth. Describing this experience he said,
"This indicates the perfect realization of the power that enables
one to become an awareness holder of spontaneous perfection 154 in the bardo. 155
One night, having gone to urinate, he stayed outside for a long
time. An anxious attendant called out to him, "Please come back in, it's
night-time and pitch dark out there:' He called back, "What is it like,
what you people call darkness?" This is a sign that he was continuously
in an infinite primordial condition, perceiving no difference between
day and night, a state described by Naropa, a previous incarnation
of Shakya Shri, as follows:

| There is no more sun rising nor setting,
| There is no more day and no night.
| Through the words of the Master,
| The dark cloud of concepts has gone.

| I do not conceive of a place to go nor of a place to stay, as
| The citadel of the senses has been conquered by great bliss.
| The inconceivable yoga comes from that.
| Why should I have an object of meditation?

While Shakya Shri was travelling in the regions of southern Tibet, he
arrived in an area in Kongpo, 156 and noticed that people on the bank
of the river Gyamda were about to cross on foot, carrying loads on their
shoulders. Just by wishing to cross to the opposite bank, Shakya Shri
immediately reached the other side. In the same astonishing way he
could instantly reach a mountain facing him. Describing these powers
he remarked, 'These are the signs of realization of the equal taste
of appearance and emptiness:'

In his youth, Shakya Shri learned and practiced the teachings
of the Drugpa Kagyii tradition, and so the main focus of his practicewas
Mahamudra. Later when he met Perna Osal Do Ngag Lingpa (another name
of Jamyang Khyentse Wan gpo), he received teachings
on Dzogchen and from then on he followed a practice that combined
Mahamudra and Dzogchen.

Once in a vision of luminous clarity, he flew into the sky where
he sat cross-legged and naked, and performed other miraculous feats.
Then his body merged inseparably with the sky and he experienced
a boundless, all-pervasive state of contemplation. Through this con-
templation, he attained the highest realization of the great sameness
of samsara and nirvana.

Around that time, as a sign that he had realized the practice of
Vajravarahi, 157 he experienced in an authentic way the three signs of
gathering and the three signs of blazing. 158

On the first day of the lunar month of the Earth Hare year (I 879)
he had a most significant experience. Sleeping lightly, at first he saw a
white light that dissolved into a red light; then the red light dissolved
into a black light; and then the black light dissolved into the black
light of near-culmination. 159 In the ensuing luminous clarity he had a
vision of meeting Khyentse Wangpo who was sitting in a meditation-
box at Dzongsar monastery. Khyentse Wangpo arose and then sat to
the left of the box upon a tiger skin laid on a white mat. As soon as
he sat down, a maiden with large round eyes, her head adorned with
a chunk of amber, appeared in front of him. She was dressed like the
women of Derge. 160 Khyents Rinpoche seemed very pleased to see
the girl and they enjoyed themselves in amorous play.

Shakya Shri thought, "Oh, the spiritual master is doing such
things with that girl!" As soon as he had that thought, the venerable
master Khyentse realized what was transpiring in Shakya Shri's mind
and suddenly said, "What is there to fear or to be attached to in the
application of the skillful means of the mantric path? I will confer the
empowerment on you. Make sure you keep its samayas:' Shakya Shri
made a fervent request with the utmost respect of body, speech and
mind and waited. Khyentse extended his right foot a little and placed
it on the head of Shakya Shri and said, "Now you have received the
initiation of the vase with its corollaries:'161

Then Khyentse took the girl in his lap and in the midst of the
sound of great bliss and light of different colors he entered in union
with her. When skillful means and wisdom parted, 162 Khyentse said,
"Now receive the secret initiation:' As soon as Khyentse spoke, from the
lotus of the young woman descended a stream of the nectar bodhicitta
(or vital essence). Shakya Shri deferentially took the bodhicitta with
his tongue and tasted the pure nectar. His body and mind expanded
with the experience of the supreme great bliss.

The moment Khyentse told him, "Now receive the initiation of
wisdom through knowledge;' Shakya Shri embraced the girl and
entered in union with her. He remained in the state of pure awareness
of immutable bliss and emptiness.

Suddenly Khyentse said:

"All conceptual creations of action, actor and object of action dissolve in the expanse
of the primordial purity beyond concepts. A, Ah!"

Shakya Shri's mind moved beyond thoughts of the experience, he who experiences and that which
is experienced and beyond ordinary meditation which is a result of
mental training. His mind became infinite within the ultimate nature of
supreme primordial pure awareness and emptiness. In this way he received the fourth initiation
of the word. 163

Through an unbroken lineage of pure vision, originating with Vajradhara
and handed down through Indrabhuti 164 and Saraha, until the
omniscient Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Shakya Shri received the short
transmission of the three higher initiations which are the quintessence
of the great secret. When Shakya Shri attained supreme realization
through understanding the sense of these initiations, Khyentse Wangpo
spontaneously chanted these vajra words of truth:

| Though I have no power to bless,
| With good intention I bestowed upon you
| The wish to empower your mind.

| Like the relic born from a dog's tooth, 165
| Blessing can be received through faith.
| Other than that, why should you be struck
| Beholding the face of a grubby old man about to die?

| Through the symbol of compassion I have connected you
| To the direct transmission of natural pure awareness.
| May there be auspicious experiences
| And the fUlfillment of the scope of the oral lineage.

Just as Khyentse Wangpo's words indicated, Shakya Shri's realization
of the understanding and experiences resulting from training in the
calm state and in intuitive clarity 166 became like a cloudless sky. This
occurred through his devoted faith, pure mind and the e~powering
energy received from the master. Thus he attained the great certainty
of the immutable realization of the original purity, the unsurpassable
and innermost essence of the teaching of Dzogchen.

For Shakya Shri, most of his objective vision, that energy which
manifests externally, vanished into the expanse of reality. Describing
such realization, Shakya Shri said, "This perfect mastery of the great
expanse, ineffable and transcending all conceptual creations of sam-
sara and nirvana, animate and inanimate exemplified by the idea of
self and other, is the result of the kindness of the all-seeing Master
Khyentse Wangpo:' This statement leaves no doubt that Shakya Shri
actually received the blessing of the state of realization of the mind
of the master.

| In the joyful parks of the seers where immortality is attained,
| Removed from the hustle of many worldly distractions,
| You have practiced alone, like a powerful one-horned rhinoceros
| Traversing an infinite array of valleys where medicinal herbs grow.
| You have transcended the style of worldly teachers
| With their high-sounding names devoid of meaning,

| Who, unconscientious and distracted by laziness,
| Confuse others and busy themselves with projects.
| Wearing the challenging armor of unbreakable courage
| Which cannot be pierced by the weapon of sudden obstacles,
| And with the hook of sharp faculties and steady perseverance,
| You have secured goodness, qualities and glory.
| Having seen directly the form of the indestructible and indivisible
| Natural state, innate, unfettered by thoughts,
| The pure awareness of luminous clarity,
| You have mastered the great siddhi of supreme boundless realization.
| Flying with the fully spread wings of method and wisdom,
| You are the bird of total presence soaring over the precipice of the eight paths; 167
| Moving effortlessly in the sky of absolute sameness,
| You spontaneously self-liberate from the vicious trap of effort.
| With the conduct that, among all tantric methods of enhancement,
| Is the nearest cause for awakening,
| You joyously play with incantation-born and field-born dakinis 168
| Who have entered the gateway, symbol of the unborn.
| In particular, from the precious wish-fulfilling vase from the treasury of Khyentse,
| Source of the dance of transformations, unobstructed magical display of forms

| Of the Teacher Samantabhadra, the primordial savior,
| You drank the nectar of the teaching of the direct transmission,
| The highest wisdom, the realization of the essential nature of the ineffable mind.
| You have directly realized the limitless vast expanse,
| The sphere which is free from the sharp edge of concepts,
| The tenet beyond the eight vehicles, the excellent path travelled by all buddhas.
| You have reached the sublime level of the throne of victorious Siddhartha, 169
| The (bodhisattva in his) last existence, and received the supreme prophecy, 170
| The encouragement of the deities of the mandala of the victorious ones
| That are the energy of pure awareness.
| You have gained magical powers, much desired by others,
| And irresistibly captivate the minds of all beings and deities.
| You whose acts eclipse the deluded of our times who pretend to be realized beings,
| You are a wondrous vision, shining in the realms of samsara and nirvana.

On one occasion, when Shakya Shri was living in a tent made of black
yak hair, he had a vision of the enlightened Longchenpa, 171 the supreme
deity. Then, in a manifestation of the mind's luminous clarity, he met
the wisdom body of the great omniscient Longchenpa, from whom he
received the blessing of the three secrets (body, speech and mind). With
such blessing came the certainty of having untied the knot of many
essential points of the profound instructions. Thereafter, knowledge
of the scriptures' entire meaning, born from meditation, burst forth
from the depth of his being. The scriptures are those exemplified in
The Seven Precious Treasuries by Longchenpa, who was like the Buddha
himself illuminating the sense of the profound treasury of the entire
canon of the Realized One. This knowiedge arose in Shakya Shri
without study or reflection.

One time, when his disciple Tashi Lhadar was explaining the results
of his practice to Shakya Shri, the Master was greatly pleased
and said, "You are returning a gift to me!". That night, the light of
the butter-lamp facing Shakya Shri illuminated clearly the wall behind
his shoulders as if he were transparent. Although they sat for a long
time talking, whenever the flame of the butter-lamp was about to die
out, it would start to blaze again brightly.

In the sunlight, if one would look for the shadow cast by his
hands or arms, one could see it only pale and shimmering. He did not
have the typical darkish shadow of an ordinary person. On the palm
of his left hand was a peculiar growth of flesh that clearly resembled
the letter A. In his later years, he developed an atypical small tooth
with the clear mark of the letter A. This tooth is preserved among his
relics. 172 He would exhibit physical transformations that no one could
really understand. At times his body appeared to be very old, at other
times quite the contrary with his body so young and radiant that one
could not help staring at him.

Shakya Shri had gone totally beyond any idea of rejecting or ac-
cepting. Yet, the power of his knowledge of the relative things of the
world blossomed without limitation. Due to such a power, all places
and regions in the world would appear to him, dear and unobstructed,
in the expanse of his mind.

He had continuous and wondrous prescience. For instance, he
would see the hidden lands of Pemako, 173 the Khenpa valley, 174 and
Sikkim, 175 among other areas, with their precise geographic character-
istics. Sometimes, &om wherever he was standing, he was able to see in
dear detail the figures of travellers walking on the facing mountain.
Although he had all the outer, inner and secret signs of having
travelled the inner path, he kept his good qualities to himself, like a
gem hidden on the ocean floor. Such is the supreme behavior of a
realized being. His attainment of perfect confidence in the state of
self-liberation (after he gained realization itself) is not something that
ordinary people could understand. It is even difficult for sbravakas and
pratyekabuddbas176 to comprehend.

In between meditation sessions, he would peruse scriptures whose
subject dealt with the ultimate meaning. At the same time, he would
remain in a state of pure awareness utterly free &om concepts and activi-
ties. The actions of his three secrets, body, speech and mind, remained
uniquely within the single state of contemplation. Even the way he sat
was unlike other people, and if viewed by anyone with discrimination,
that alone was sufficient to cause pure faith to arise. He was free of
the flaw of self-deception.

Though he lived as an ordinary human, his mind encompassed
in perfect sameness Samantabhadra, the primordial savior. Because of
the powerful flow of his compassion which dominated samsara and
nirvana, he could gather around himself people &om any region or
village and all kinds of disciples, with advanced, average and lower
capacities. As he could dominate appearances, he was overwhelming,
and whatever he said was held valid. He had the power to turn different kinds
of disciples toward the teaching. In those who established a
connection with him, and whomever else he met, he planted the seed
of liberation.

| First you mastered learning, reflection and meditation,
| Midway you raised the victory banner of the highest practice,
| In the end you attained the state of immutable realization.
| You have gained the heights,
| The two accomplishments of the Diamond Way, m
| The highest indestructible Way, superior to all paths;
| Your noble mind, beyond the reach of ordinary people,
| Is the supreme mind of the teacher Samantabhadra.
| The power of excellent experiences having been perfected,
| You ascended the throne of highest realization.
| The magnetizing light of your positive deeds radiates to deeply devoted and gifted disciples.
| You are replete with countless splendid qualities and
| A halo of bountiful auspiciousness surrounds you.
| Causing joy and well-being to manifest, you created supreme fortune in the three worlds.
| You are a sacred being praised by the buddhas and bodhi- sattvas.
| The liberation story of such a glorious Master, like the immensity of a great ocean,
| Is beyond the comprehension of ordinary beings, who are like frogs in a well.
| You have attained the jewel-pinnacle of the glorious mansion of knowledge,
| The white flag of unequalled charismatic deeds that have accomplished the two objectives, 178
| And the brilliant victory banner of courage, impervious to powerful enemies and demons.
| Without summoning, all the goodness of this world and beyond come to you as guests.
| Here from the lotus flower of the three types of faith,179
| Like the pollen enjoyed by bees,
| I have revealed for disciples just a fragment
| Of the master's life-story of liberation.

CHAPTER V. His Life Dedicated to Practice, He Receives Blessings and Siddhis, Such as Visions of Masters and Deities and the Discovery of Profound Termas

SOME OF SHAKY A SHRI's visions of deities and masters, and vari-
ous other experiences have already been recounted. At times these
signs, indicating that he had reached an optimal level in a particular
practice, heralded peculiar challenging experiences. For example, when
in retreat in one of the Chugoshog caves of Drugu, he experienced
the cave turning upside down, with the floor on top and the ceiling at
the bottom and all the grit and rubble falling down on him. Another
time, the mouth of the cave dosed and for a long time he stayed in
total darkness. Nonetheless, Shakya Shri remained absorbed in a state
of contemplation beyond hope and fear, further enhancing his state
of realization; after a few days the dimensions and shape of the cave
returned to normal.

When Shakya Shri spent three years in retreat at the hermitage of
Lhadrag Perna Yangdzong practicing The Mind Essence of Samantabhadra,
as an outer sign of his accomplishments the offering of medicine and
blood 180 began to boil, and as an inner sign, an extraordinary knowledge
was born in his mind.

Around that time, when an official called Wangden went to pay
him a visit, Shakya Shri emanated in the form of a tiger at the entrance
of the cave. Seeing the tiger, the man was terrified. He dropped the
curd, grains and other food he was carrying as offerings for the Master
and fled to a safe distance. He looked back, but he could no longer see the tiger.
With some trepidation he returned to the cave and saw Shakya Shri at rest there, smiling,
"Why are you afraid of such a small
thing? I came to greet you. But make sure not to tell anyone else what
happened:' When Shakya Shri was practicing alone in the wilderness, a
snow leopard visited him several times. Like a pet dog, it would wander
around nearby and then lie down next to him. Then in the morning it
would return to the mountains.

Going from his hermitage of Solder on pilgrimage to the mountain of
Khawa Karpo, 181 he saw appear a beautiful white vulture that was the manifestation
of a dakini. The vulture walked alongside Shakya
Shri through three mountain passes. Then at Doke pass the people
accompanying him felt the earth tremble, and saw rainbows forming
and snow falling profUsely in the shape of beautiful four-petalled flow-
ers of different colors: white, yellow, red and blue. Those with pure
karma saw the Master appear in the sky in the midst of the rainbows.
After crossing the pass, while travelling along the road on the same
pilgrimage, all those present could see a circular rainbow light with
three rings directly above Shakya Shri's head.

Over the entire time they were travelling, at each place they wit-
nessed amazing signs such as these rainbow formations and a circular
rainbow resembling a canopy or parasol above Shakya Shri. As they
were coming up from Tagra in the region of Trayab, a voice resounded
in the sky, "The reincarnation ofTrayab Kyabgon Rinpoche has been
born near this river:' Shakya Shri remarked to Gyurme and some other
disciples, "It seems that the reincarnation of this master has taken
birth:' The prophetic words turned out to be true and the reincarna-
tion of the lama was found in that area.

On another occasion, Shakya Shri went to pay a visit to Phagchen
Rinpoche of Chamdo 182 who was returning from Lhasa. On the way
back to his hermitage Shakya Shri and his attendants had to spend the
night at Dibon monastery. That night he suddenly fell ill with symp-
toms of high blood pressure. 183 Caught by surprise, his attendants were
at a loss as to what to do. However, by 'the next day, the symptoms had
disappeared and he was feeling normal again. He told his attendant
Tsondrii Gyurme, "Last night five types of gyalpo 184 present here were
derisive, and caused me some problems. Nonetheless, because
of my understanding of emptiness, they could not really create any obstacles.
I overpowered them with my contemplation and bound them under
oath:' 185

Sometime before, when Phagpa Rinpoche of Chamdo, Dahen
Kalzang 186 and others were building a splendid new temple for the
purpose of housing a Maitreya 187 statue, the building collapsed three
or four times. Gyatrul Rinpoche 188 had a vision in which he saw a
length of coarse felt of black yak hair blowing in the wind on top
ofDilsum mountain while the temple collapsed.

Gyatrul Rinpoche said, "It is the magical display of some perverse demon.
The situation can only be solved by inviting a realized and powerful master:"
The important Dahen sent a monk to invite Shakya Shri.
That monk thought, "If Phagchen Rinpoche and his spiritual heirs
aren't able to subjugate the interfering demon, then how can that lazy
old fellow do it?" When he arrived in the presence of Shakya Shri, the
Master, having read the monk's mind said, "Oh, if the Protector (that
is, Phagchen Rinpoche) and his heirs can't do anything in this situation,
what can a lazy old fellow like me do?" His hidden thought exposed,
the monk realized Shakya Shri's power, and developed boundless faith
in him. He then invited the Master properly, and Shakya Shri came
to Chamdo. Merely by performing the fierce concentration of issuing
commands and expelling interferences, he overcame the obstacles that
had prevented the temple construction, and the signs of disturbance
immediately subsided.

The following year, when the huge statue of Maitreya was being
built, parts of the statue completed during the day would collapse at
night. Some of the sculptors also died. When the construction of the
statue had almost been renounced, Shakya Shri was invited, as before,
to resolve the impasse. For seven days the Master practiced the rite
of hurling the tormas, united with the practice of dark blue Guru
Tragpo. Then he performed the ritual of consecrating the statue in
connection with various deities. All obstacles ceased and the erecting
of the statue could be completed, to the satisfaction and delight of
the lamas and overseers.

In the same miraculous way, a source of water sprang up at the
hermitage of Solder. No matter how much they drew, the water was
sufficient for all the local people. At times its color became as white
as milk. This marvelous spring is still there today.

Later on Shakya Shri stayed in retreat, engaging in the practice of
Kilaya Yangsang Putri. 189 He had a vision of the glorious Vajrakilaya
who conferred upon him the ability to perform magical feats of power
and strength. Thus he was victorious over all demonic forces and in-
terferences. Shakya Shri exhibited such powers when the forest at the
base of the mountain facing his retreat place caught fire. He extended
his hand in the threatening mudra 190 and instantly the fire went out.
On another occasion a magical display of demonic forces provoked a
violent storm that was extremely unusual for the season, causing a huge
landslide. He took the phurba191 attached to the belt around his waist
and gestured with it, causing the storm to subside and the landslide
to reverse its course.

Shakya Shri convinced many hunters such as Khang Mardopa of
Trayab and others to vow to abstain from killing. Each hunter gave
his knife to Shakya Shri and begged him to knot the weapon thus
transforming it into an object that inspires faith. Shakya Shri blew on
the weapons and enjoined some of his disciples, "Knot them!" In ac-
cordance with the hunters' wishes, the knives became knotted. Later in
the day a hunter came with his knife wishing to ask Shakya Shri to knot
it. The Master had already entered his daily session of formal practice,
and thus one of his disciples called Shingkyong, who did not want to
interrupt him, knotted the knife himself This actually happened.

At a certain point, Shakya Shri wrote several letters to Tondrub,
the overseer of Aghe monastery in Trayab, warning him that he would
be facing serious trouble. Soon after, Tondrub was cast into a Chinese-
Tibetan prison, in danger of execution. An unshakable faith in Shakya
Shri arose in him and he made an earnest plea for help to Shakya Shri.
Following that, he was released from prison. Tondrub became a dis-
ciple of the Master and his mind attained full liberation through his
practice of the teachings. At his death, many bone relics were found
after his cremation. The Gelug master Changmon and others greatly
praised Tondrub for his outstanding realization.

At the age of thirty-seven Shakya Shri travelled to Lhasa. There
he camped on the shore of Artsa lake. 192 One day as he sat in contem-
plation he said, "A perverse and malevolent local guardian is
planning to strike us from above with lightning:' The Master performed the
serkyem 193 and when he rotated between his palms the phurba which
he carried on his belt, pointing it toward the sky, the signs indicating
imminent danger subsided. Then the Master bound the local guardian
under oath. When Shakya Shri visited Ganden monastery, 194 he prayed in
front of the statue of Lobzang Tragpa (blo bzanggrags pa, Je Tsongkhapa),
the monastery's founder. Signs of his realization were exhibited to
those present when the white scar£ signifying respect, thrown by him
towards the statue remained suspended in space for some time before
reaching it.

Shakya Shri then travelled to Samyeling. 195 The guardian Gyalpo
Pehar 196 was there with his entourage. Wishing to assess the level
of Shakya Shri's realization, the guardian repeatedly opened the bolt that
closed the door to the room where the Master was staying, and at-
tempted to compete with him by manifesting various magical displays.
Shakya Shri remained unperturbed and brought Pehar and his entourage
under control through the force of his contemplation.

On another occasion Shakya Shri was circumambulating the
mountain of Tsari, taking the intermediate route. At the boulder
known as Basin of Offerings for the Ganachakra of the Dakinis, 197
he performed a ganachakra during which time many remarkable signs
manifested: rainbows appeared in the sky shaped like the eight aus-
picious symbols; a fine drizzle gave the ground a shiny glaze; 198 and
music resembling the sound of conch shells and ritual trumpets was
heard at length.

When he arrived in Pempa in the region of Lhodrag, he was
holding in his hands a black stone that was an inner symbol of the
stupa199 dedicated to Vajrapani 200 found in that place. This black stone
had a self-arisen white A emerging from it. Shakya Shri looked at it
carefully and then he placed it over his head as a sign of respect. As
he did so, nectar flowed from the stone. Those present could see and
taste the nectar and believed the stone to be highly sacred.

Together with a few disciples, the Master in the guise of a beg-
gar or wandering yogin 201 went on pilgrimage to Lapchi, 202 and to
central and western Tibet. While staying at the fort of Gyantse, he
had a vision of the local guardian Tashi Tseringma203 with a host of
dakinis coming to welcome him. Another time his travel companions
saw Shakya Shri's body enveloped in rainbows, which some thought
might be an indication that the Master would die soon. When a dose
attendant heard this, he asked the Master the meaning of the appear-
ance of these rainbows. Shakya Shri explained that while other peoE.k
were seeing rainbows, he dearly saw the face of Guru Rinpoche, the
king and his subjects. 204

Then the Master travelled to Sakya. 205 Near the town, the magic
of a 'blazing female spirit' 206 created a tempest that caused a violent
rain of small pebbles to fall everywhere. Shakya Shri overpowered the
spirit with diamond-like contemplation so that no one present, Master
or disciple, was injured and the disturbance subsided.
When they were dose to the Lapchi mountain, another fierce
storm arose, and from its midst seven wild asses circled the Master
clockwise three times. Later, when they had passed by, the Master told
his disciples that again he had had the vision of Tseringma and her
four sisters welcoming him.

Arriving at Lapchi, they visited the monastery of Nyama Dzong.
This monastery marks the spot where Milarepa, having sent Rechungpa
(one of his heart-disciples) to fetch water, set fire to all the scriptures
containing black magic incantations that Rechungpa had brought back
from India. To distract Rechungpa while he was burning the books, he
created a magical display of wild asses and wolves cavorting together.
When all the scriptures were burned, Milarepa dissolved the display
into a black stone and on it a white 'X of calcite appeared spontaneously.

This stone was among the sacred objects of the monastery. As
soon as Shakya Shri took that stone into his hands, shining dewdrops
formed on it. The people who were with him tasted the nectar of
these drops. The monastery's monks and teachers remarked that they had
heard of the stone producing nectar, but until that day they themselves
had never witnessed this miracle. "Milarepa in flesh and blood has
arrived here;' they said of Shakya Shri, and they were filled with great
faith and devotion toward the Master.

Then Shakya Shri asked the monks of the monastery, "Do you see the form of
Amitayus207 on the rocks over there?" They replied, "We can't
see anything like that:' The Master pointed his finger towards a
specific spot on the rocks, revealing to them the spontaneously arisen
form of Amitayus. In this way they were all able to discern the form
of Amitayus from whose heart long-life water trickled. The Master
told Sotse, a dose attendant, to scrape away a little earth from that
spot. Without hesitating, the man scratched the earth away, and the
wondrous nectar flowed copiously. Shakya Shri gave some of this nectar
to Jamyang Tulku ofTrayab monastery, and it is still there among the
sacred objects belonging to the incarnate lama.

For one and a half months the Togden remained in retreat in the
Crystal Cave of Reed Fortress. 208 While he was empowering the me-
dicinal elixir, 209 nectar poured like melted butter from the front of the
torma dedicated to the deity, filling the plate on which the torma had
been placed. The nectar, overflowing the plate, spilled on the wooden
plank where the offerings were arranged, staining some scriptures.
The scriptures were placed in the sun and next to the fire so that they
could dry, and the oily stains faded away completely, without leaving
any trace. Moreover, everyone saw nectar brimming over the skull-cup
containing the medicinal substances the master was empowering. Many
wondrous signs like these occurred.

In this magical atmosphere Shakya Shri proceeded on his pilgrim-
age through Nyalam, 210 eventually arriving in Lhasa unobtrusively, so
that nobody would notice his presence. However, on the road, without
attendants being aware of her, a hideous old woman came up to the
Master and offered him two self-arisen gold nuggets the size of two
thumbs, saying, "With these, paint the whole body of the statue of
Jowo Buddha in the temple of Lhasa:' 2ll

When Shakya Shri asked permission from government officials
in Lhasa to apply gold paint to the Jowo Buddha, he showed them
the spontaneously arisen nuggets. The officials exclaimed, "These are
superb! Where do they come from?" Then they granted permission,
saying, "You may apply this powdered gold" giving him an equal
amount of gold powder, and keeping the nuggets.

The gold was applied over the entire buddha statue and at the
same time the one thousand offering rite212 was performed. The re-
maining gold was used to paint the faces of all the statues in the upper
chambers of the temple; there was enough paint to do them all, bar
none. The liquid gold seemed to be inexhaustible. When Tashi Lha-
dar, a disciple of Shakya Shri, touched the feet of the Jowo Buddha
as a sign of respect in order to receive its blessing, wet gold stuck to
his forehead. Seeing this, an old custodian of the temple said, "This
time everything is covered in gold, people as well as statues:' All were
astounded and felt deep reverence for the Master.

Shakya Shri himself sat in front of Jowo Buddha offering the rite
of bathing2 13 and of consecration for the sake of the doctrine and all
sentient beings. He invoked the power of truth, and prayed for the
welfare of the teachings and of sentient beings.

While in Lhasa, he fulfilled the wishes of all, including those
who beseeched him for long life initiations. At that time he also gave
the initiation, transmission and detailed teachings on Vajravarahi to
Dharma Sahu (the Newari Sahu Dharmamanasim Tuladhar), a Nepal-
ese disciple, and told him to do the practice in solitary retreat. While in
retreat, Dharma Sahu had a vision of that deity several times during his
practice. Sakya Shri thus freed the minds of many disciples by giving
them the ripening initiation and profound liberating instructions.

Later, the Master stayed at Denbag below Drepung monastery. 214
Two geshel- 15 from Hardong, 216 the location of Gomang college at
Drepung monastery, announced that they wished to challenge Shakya
Shri to a philosophical debate. With that intention in mind, they ar-
rived where the Master was staying. Shakya Shri's attendants were a bit
apprehensive, but the Master reassured them, saying, "You don't have
anything to fear:' He told the two geshes to rely on the meaning rather
than on words and conferred at length with them. The two monks felt
humble, and great confidence and faith in the Master arose in them.
Their eyes filling with tears, they prostrated respectfully to Shakya Shri.
The Master then gave them the profound teachings. Afterwards they
searched for a suitable place and stayed in solitary retreat. By applying
themselves one-pointedly to their practice, the two became famous as
practitioners who were able to benefit others.

Another time, at his retreat place of Solder in the Dru mountains,
Shakya Shri performed the empowerment of the medicinal elixir through a
Rite of Chakrasamvara Indivisible from the Master. During
the practice, everyone around could hear a melodious 'ting ting' sound
coming from above the mandala; 217 it had never been heard before and
lasted a long time. The fragrance of the medicinal ingredients
was also exquisite, and permeated the atmosphere. The butter-lamp in front
of the mandala lit itself spontaneously and blazed with radiance. At one
point in the empowerment of the medicinal elixir, Shakya Shri had the repeated vision
of the Great Compassionate Kasarpani, 218 twice the height of
a normal human being, standing on the spot of the socalled palace (container)
of the medicinal elixir. On the lower half of his body he was wearing the skin
of a snake with its head turned to his
right side and the tail to his left. His right hand was in the mudra of
the supreme gift, 219 and the left was holding a vase at the heart. Drops
of nectar continuously flowed along the incantation cord (going from
the heart of the Master to the medicinal ingredients). 220

At the age of forty-six Shakya Shri began a three-year retreat in
a small house that had been newly built for him. Quite suddenly he
became sick with what seemed to be a fever. Gyalpo Pehar (manifest-
ing sometimes as the gyalpo of the body, other times as the gyalpo of
the mind) displayed magical events for about a month, searching
for the Master's weak point. Shakya Shri remained in an unperturbed
state and spontaneously recovered from his illness. Another time, the
Master was harassed by a spirit living in the region ofTrayab, who also
tested his vulnerability. When the first signs of this obstacle manifested,
Shakya Shri stayed in retreat, flawlessly practicing Guru Tragpo. From
that time on, his power became so strong that no kind of interference
could approach him

When Shakya Shri was about forty-seven, Adzom Drugpa
Rinpoche said, "This will be a difficult year for Togden Rinpoche:'
He told Ogyen Tendzin, one of his disciples, to travel day and night
without stopping and deliver a letter to Shakya Shri. Ogyen Tendzin
arrived in nine days and handed the communication to Shakya Shri.
When the messenger arrived, the precious king of the yogins did not
have any physical sign of illness, although he had been having trouble-
some visions. He saw a disembodied hand seizing and dismembering
him. Sometimes he felt hurled into the mouth of a being with a huge
head, feeling its hot breath.

Shakya Shri said, "Though I did not ask Adzom Drugpa for this
letter, its contents are to the point. We must immediately perform
the necessary rituals;' and he arranged for them to be done. All the
troubling signs were transformed, and for several days Shakya Shri
experienced his environment as the buddhafield of Akanishtha. 221 He
had visions of Samantabhadra, of the buddhas of the five families, 222
of Tara, and so on, as well as signs indicating that he had become free
&om interfering forces. Adzom Drugpa also performed the fire rite 223
for the sake of gaining a long life for Shakya Shri. At that time, in the
sky above the platform of fire, a rainbow appeared, and in its midst
Adzom Drugpa saw Shakya Shri with a radiant white body. He said
with full conviction, "This practice has been effective. For the time
being he will have no problems for his health and life:' In fact, the
Master had no further problems.

Shakya Shri on one occasion visited Jamgon Kongtrul, whose
presence was exactly like that ofVairochana. 224 Kongtrul gave him relics
saying, "These are mother relics, but so far they have not multiplied.225
I'll leave them with you. Keep them next to your body and perform
the bathing purification ritual accompanied by prayers and so forth:'

Shakya Shri kept the relics next to his body as he was told, and one day
the mother relics produced many small ones. When he offered them
back, he told Kongtrul, "These relics have multiplied, not because I
have a great power of compassion, but as an interdependent connection
between my having many children and the power of your intention:'
One day Kongtrul showed Shakya Shri the terma objects he had
discovered. Among them was a treasure box containing a highly sacred
statue of Shri Simha. 226 As Shakya Shri neared the statue an incredible
thing occurred: wherever Shakya Shri moved, the statue would turn
to face him.

When Adzom Drugpa fell ill and his body felt extremely heavy,
Shakya Shri was sent for. On his way, he had to pass a place called
Tagchen Sumra, where he recited auspicious verses and prayers of as-
piration for the long life of the three secrets (body, speech and mind)
of Adzom Drugpa. Then Shakya Shri said, "Now there will be no
problem for the precious Master's life and health. He will definitely
recover from his illness soon:' In fact, by the time he arrived at the
residence of Adzom Drugpa, the lama was already feeling better and
no longer needed rites performed. Extremely pleased to see Shakya
Shri, Adzom Drugpa said, "Oh, Vajradhara in person has come. No
one can match him!"

Another time when Adzom Drugpa was not feeling well, he said,
"This year I've often been ill:' And he wrote to Shakya Shri, asking
that he perform a divination, since "no one is better than the Togden
of Drugu monastery for performing accurate divinations:' The Master
Shakya Shri did this, and sent his disciple Tseten Dorje to deliver the
results. Tseten took five days to reach Adzom Drugpa's residence. While
the disciple was on his way, Shakya Shri prayed for. the long life of
Adzom Drugpa, and by the time the messenger arrived Adzom Drugpa
had already recovered from his illness and needed no further rituals.

When Shakya Shri went to meet Mipham Rinpoche at Ngag
Lhong Nang, 227 it began to rain heavily. Neither Shakya Shri nor his
clothes became wet, and the people there were astonished.
The Master said, "Don't mind the rain. It is like an offering of tea: this
is how the deities favor those who keep the five precepts:' 228

On the way back, when he and his companions arrived at
Yulkhar, 229 the whole valley was covered with white clouds. The sun
had just risen, shining through the clouds warmly. Just above Shakya
Shri's head a circular rainbow appeared, and his body was enveloped
in rainbow light. No matter what he did, walking or sitting, wondrous
events like this happened, and lasted a long time. Dechen Chogdrub,
one of his close attendants whose job was looking after the horses,
asked the Master what that meant; Shakya Shri replied, "The same
things happened at Doke pass, while we were on our way to the sacred
place of Khawa Karpo mountain:' He would not say whether these
were good or bad signs.

When an old lama of Kutse monastery died, Shakya Shri's son
Rinchen Kunden kept asking the Master where his reincarnation would
appear, but he did not answer and just kept silent. Shakya Shri later said
to Acho, his secret consort, "The old lama is now in your womb:'
Many incarnations such as Ngagdra Tulku of Char, 230 Sonying Tulku of
Drugu monastery, the tulku of the old lama of Kutse and
others, appeared clearly in the mirror of the Master's wisdom. Shakya
Shri's indications regarding their incarnations agreed with those made
by Drugpa Yongdzin and other masters; and the tulkus were enthroned
accordingly. His ability to recognize reincarnations further increased
his disciples' confidence and faith in him, as well as that of the local pwple.

Shakya Shri always gave out Kashmiri saffron as a cure 231 for the sick, regardless
of their specific ailment. After people had taken it a few times,
it functioned as 'the single medicine that cures a hundred
diseases: His remedies were effective and capable of curing even those
amicted by serious diseases. When, through his pure perception, Shakya
Shri could see that a sick person was destined to die, he would give him
or her sacred substances or a relic of an enlightened being, treating all
l'l)ually without regard to social status.

In the Earth Bird year (1909), the Master made a pilgrimage to the
power place ofTsari. In the first lunar month of that year, his journeyin
the region ofTagpo 232 was interrupted for more than two days by a
heavy snowfall on Sholar Gang mountain. He performed the serkyem
rite addressed to the guardians, and then easily proceeded on his way
without encountering any further difficulties, contrary to everyone's
expectations. The local people of that region as well as the travellers
present could hardly believe the event they had witnessed.

In Tsari Chigchar 33 he gave instructions on Mahamudra and
Dzogchen, the Six Yogas of Naropa, and so forth, to more than a
thousand people who had requested his teaching. The Master visited
the monastery of Perna Karpo 234 in Char and there paid homage to a
statue of Kunpang Gyumai Karkhen, 235 renowned for bestowing bless-
ings. This statue, made by Perna Karpo's own hands, just before Shakya
Shri's arrival, grew a head of hair and a mustache. This was taken as a
certain sign that Shakya Shri was an emanation of the great Kunpang,
and as a sign that his spreading of the dharma would flourish.

When he performed the empowerment of medicinal elixir in
Tsari, the fragrance of the medicinal herbs permeated the air; beautiful
white clouds appeared in the sky along with myriad rainbows. These
auspicious signs were seeds which blossomed into faith, the hundred-
petalled flower, in his disciples' minds.

On the way back from Tsari, the Master was nearing the crest of
Sharkong mountain when he had a vision of the Chamdo guardian
Shang Pedab with his retinue, and of the local spirit Lhadrag Karpo
coming to welcome him. No one else could see them, but people did
hear the sounds of big and small bells ringing all around them, and
they noticed two ravens cawing in diverse manners while circling in
the air above the mountain peak. The ravens then made a clockwise
circumambulation three times above Shakya Shri, and flew away to-
wards the east.

There is clear evidence that the Master in one of his former lives
took birth as Denma, the cherished minister of King Lingje Gesar, 236
but here this is of little relevance, and I will not dwell on that.

When Shakya Shri read the biography of Nyagre Sewo, 237 the
Master stated that he was an incarnation of that great adept.

Once he said, "When I visited the Densathil monasterf 38 of
Phagmo Trupa ,239 I clearly remembered my previous life as Lingrepa, 240
and that I had attained realization after drinking a skull-cup filled with
alcohol given by Master Phagmo Trupa himself'

Fighting between China and Tibet broke out in the Year of
the Iron Dog (I9IO) and the Master and his sons went to Lhadrag
Yangdzong. Near the caves where the monks lived, people heard a
horse neighini 41 again and again. Everyone began to shake with fear,
their hair bristling in terror. Shakya Shri said, "The guardians of the
teachings are welcoming me back to Lhadrag:'

The Master had received a prediction that in that place there was
a hidden treasure to be found, a statue of Guru Padmasambhava as
well as two phurbas with three-sided blades. He attempted to find it,
but the right time to unearth the terma had not yet arrived. It would
not have been beneficial for beings, and so the Master could not do
so. One day Shakya Shri told a dose disciple that in one of his visions
he had seen the head lama of Trayab monastery with his entourage
travelling far away, and said, "I wonder what that means?" Later, the
Chinese army inflicted harm in the region ofTrayab, causing the lama
and his disciples to flee to the Kailash242 region and to Nepal.

While Gyatrul Rinpoche was staying at Siwalung in Drugu on the
way back from teaching his disciples in Beru, he told Shakya Shri's son
TseW:mg of a vision he had had. He had seen the religious and social
life of the Chamdo region reduced to a heap of dust. "Therefore;' he
advised, "the head lama of Chamdo and his heir should keep this in
mind, and perform without fail the appropriate rites for the situation:'
Some of the monk attendants did not believe the lama's warning, and
laughed. This was well before any evidence of troubles with the Chinese.
Later Gyatrul Rinpoche's predictions came true, and also Champaling
monasterf43 in Chamdo went through bad times.

Phin Thang Ling, the Chinese governor of Chamdo, among other
officials of the Chinese army, often came to Drugu monastery. The
disciples of the Master were frightened and hid what they could in
the mountains nearby.

"No matter what we do to save ourselves;' they said to Shakya
Shri, "here, too, the Chinese will certainly burn everything down, as
they did in Chamdo:' Togden Rinpoche, who was well aware of the
situation, sent a modest disciple with a religiously-oriented letter ex-
plaining to the Chinese officials that it was not appropriate to harm
the hermitage for it was very poor and simple, nor would it be right to
harm the fauna, the birds, the deer and other animals on the mountain
where the hermitage was situated. The letter also explained the great
benefits of not doing such harm.

On various occasions, important as well as lesser Chinese officials
noted that the practitioners at Shakya Shri's hermitage seemed authentic
and ingenuous. In China, too, on the Mountain of the Five Peaks,244
they had similar hermitages. There, they had promised not to harm
the monastery and hermitage of the teacher Dza Ogyen.245

Later, the Chinese army camped for a long time near Drugu mon-
astery, and in Ngadrug Satsugkha officials and soldiers occasionally
went to Shakya Shri's hermitage. They would carefully and repeatedly
search everywhere, all over the big and small buildings. Apart from that
scrutiny, they did not inspect the temple housing the three representa-
tions (of the enlightened Body, Voice and Mind), and its surrounding
area. They did not even ask questions. It seemed as if they had been
blindfolded and could not see the temple. When Chinese soldiers
ventured near the hermitage of the monastery to hunt deer, they were
immediately pelted by a violent hailstorm which scared the men off,
and they quickly headed back to camp. From that day on, the deer on
the Drugu mountains lived in peace and without fear.

Shakya Shri knew that the regions of eastern Tibet would encoun-
ter difficult times, and so for days, he, his sons and his main disciples
did rites several times in each twenty-four hour period, to avert danger.
They also performed ganachakras, and so on. All this they did with the
pure intention of preserving the general and specific Buddhist teach-
ings in Trayab and Chamdo, and of helping the central government's
religious and secular activities. Wondrous signs and omens appeared
indicating the resolution of problems and also the increase of prosper-
ity. In the latter part of his life Shakya Shri went to the region ofTsari
and stayed near Happy Cave. 246 The protector Chokyi Wangpo (the
tenth Drugchen Rinpoche) completed the construction of a house for
the lama, a new temple, and statues of the eighty-four mahasiddhas 247
and so on, in the upper part of the Drugpa Kagyii monastery of Sang
Ngag Choling; he then invited Shakya Shri, a son and his entourage
for the consecration ceremony.

For one week the rite of consecration of the temple was performed with the monks of
the monastery and others. During the rituals the earth trembled, odd sounds were heard, and there
was a rain of Bowers. On that occasion, Shakya Shri had an experience
of pure perception and told his dose disciples, "A sign has occurred that the statue
of one of the siddhas in front of you has received a special blessing:' People
looked at the statues and saw that one statue had become radiant and
had moved its leg slightly, as if preparing to stand up. All those present
witnessed this and other extraordinary clear signs.
The statue of the 'mahasiddha with a bent leg' still exists in that temple. 248

Another extraordinary event also happened at that time: a fire
broke out at the base of the mountain near the Happy Cave hermit-
age, and people worried that the fire could be devastating. Shakya Shri
came to the door of his room. He took out the three-sided dagger
he kept at his neck, focused his concentration and gestured with the
dagger. Suddenly a violent storm arose, which buffeted the fire until
it was extinguished. During the waxing phase of the first lunar month
of the Earth Horse year (I9I8), while the restoration project at
Swayambhu stupa in Nepal249 was in progress, one night Shakya Shri
had a vision of a beautiful girl dressed in special garb and adorned
with gold ornaments. She said to the Master, "The restoration of
the stupa is nearly completed. I have supported the works as much as
I could, creating favorable conditions:' Then she vanished. Another
night, the great guardian Rahula250 manifested to the Master as an old
monk with a coral-red face. He appeared in front of the Master and
said, "I have fUlfilled the promise to work for the restoration of the
stupa;' and then disappeared in the ultimate nature of pure awareness.
When the restoration of Swayambhu stupa, one of the most sacred
representations on this earth, was completed, the day of preparation
for the consecration rite arrived.

As the Master from his retreat place in Tibet focused his mind in
order to dispel any obstacles, a violent storm was sweeping through the
Kathmandu valley and throughout all of Nepal. However, on the day
of the actual consecration, the weather became very mild. When the
ceremonies ended on the fifteenth day of the lunar month, the same
husked barley, rice and saffron-scented water that Shakya Shri had
scattered in the air at Happy Cave in Tsari, fell upon the Swayambhu
stupa in Nepal.

I have recorded here only a few of the wondrous signs indicating
that Shakya Shri possessed great powers and clairvoyance. I have not
described the signs that were always present (a few of which I men-
tioned, however), the very hidden ones and those that I have recorded
in my notes. Since I see no point in speaking indiscriminately, I have
omitted the stories told by distant disciples and elderly lay people of
the area, who had many special experiences of the Master's powers due
to their faith. These I do not consider reliable, since, as is said:

| Most of the stories of liberation written by disciples
| Exaggerate praise, making the master a charlatan.

Here I have mentioned briefly those happenings related by the Master
himself, those sworn to by close, older disciples, as well as those signs
witnessed publicly by many people.

| Great being,
| Your virtue uproots habitual existence
| And through the absolute, the essential nature of all,
| You have dissolved the very idea of concrete reality
| Into the self-liberated unique state of pure awareness.
| When dualistic thoughts arise like demonic enemy hordes,
| Waging war and trying to obstruct you,
| You expose their true nature-unreal magical constructs.
| All thoughts of arising and ceasing, concepts of past, present, and future, have reached
| The shore of complete equanimity, wisdom beyond time.
| Instantly revealing hidden realities, you follow in the footsteps of the omniscient ones.
| In this life, you easily achieved the excellent signs of attainment
| And the magical gifts so hard to perfect in this world.
| Peerless leader of the teachings and sentient beings,
| How can the imprints of your supreme accomplishments
| Be understood by the limited minds of ordinary people?

Now we will recount how Shakya Shri gained mastery over profound
termas, the gift of discovering extraordinary treasure teachings. The
terma states:

| E ma! I am the Lotus Guru. 251
| I have impressed the profound seal, entrusting
| The deepest quintessence of the master's mind
| Complete with all the instructions that mature and free,
| On the king, his subjects, and vajra kin
| And in particular on Dorje Oiidjom. 252

In accordance with this prophecy, one night when Shakya Shri ar-
rived in the area of the Lapchi mountain, he became absorbed in the
practice of the ultimate meaning. It was then that he first discovered
the terma called The Means to Realize Guru Dewa Chenpo together with its
rite of ripening initiation and liberating instructions. He himself
putthat teaching into practice, obtaining the ordinary and extraordinary
siddhis. Ogyen Rinpoche had prophesized about Shakya Shri:

| In the future, when the most degenerate times have come,
| Dudjom, magical emanation of my mind, will appear,
| He, the great daka, who practices deliberate conduct, 253
| Who is compassionate and realized in the meaning of Dzogchen.
| In the vast expanse of the mind of this daka who bears special signs
| The treasure-teachings will manifest effortlessly;
| When the propitious time has come, he will transcribe them,
| Sealed with a three-year signet of secrecy;
| Gradually disclosing the instructions that ripen and free
| To disciples who have made the right aspirations,
| He will accomplish great benefit for the teachings and for beings.

As in the prophecy, Shakya Shri kept secret the terma he had dis-
covered for three years. Then, for the first time, he gave the initiation
and teaching to a few fortunate disciples. In the course of time, this
method spread and became well-known throughout all regions
of Nepal, China and Tibet.

Besides The Means to Realize Guru Dewa Chenpo, Shakya Shri discov-
ered many other terma teachings rich in profound essential points.
These include, for example, The Three Dimensions if Enlightenment: Reality,
Enjoyment and Emanation; 254 The Peaciful and Wratlful Master; The
Glorious Kilaya; and The Peaciful and Wratlful Manjushri. These extraordinary mind
treasures discovered by Shakya Shri are like massive doud banks of
blessings, profound teachings which effortlessly grant the two accom-
plishments, common and uncommon, to fortunate disciples.

As has been said, Shakya Shri entered Drugu monastery in his
youth. While there he had many visions of Tara, Mahakala and other
deities who performed enlightened actions for his sake and granted
him miraculous powers. Once, when the Master was staying in retreat,
he awoke at dawn, seeing in space before him the face of Guru Tragpo,
union of all Sugathas. Slowly the vision dissolved into the natural state
of his mind. After this experience, he had the pure vision known as
The Mind Accomplishment and transcribed the root text in its entirety.

Thereafter he remained in retreat doing that practice in the
Great Cave of Ewam in Drugu. His perseverance in practice was like
the continuous flow of a river. Day and night he had many visions
of Khamtrul Rinpoche, which increased his faith boundlessly, and inspired
him to compose a prayer of supplication to him.

Shakya Shri remained for another three years in retreat. During
that time he had a dear vision of Mahakala Legden, extremely bril-
liant, vast as the universe. When Shakya Shri experienced a slight fear,
the vision vanished into primordial purity. Later on, he had a vision
of Mahakala Tragshe. Around that time, everything he laid his eyes
on appeared dearly as the color, the ornaments and so forth,
of the radiant body of the wrathful Palbar Maning. 255 Afterwards, he com-
posed a propitiatory rite for that guardian entitled
The Natural Energy of Pure Awareness.

Shakya Shri then lived for a few years at Lhadrag Perna Yang-
dzong. When he stayed at the Long Vajra Cave, Secret Treasury of the
Dakinis, during the day he remained absorbed in contemplation, and
at night he trained in the mind's luminous clarity. Often, at dawn, in
the state of luminous clarity, he would meet lord Milarepa. In those
visions, through signs and in symbolic ways, he received numerous
teachings of the oral lineage. It was on one of these occasions that he
composed a Guru Yoga in the Form of an Invocation to Milarepa, a result of
his pure vision.

In another vision of luminous clarity Shakya Shri met the great
adept Lingchen Repa who conferred on him secret teachings through
symbolic language. At the end of the vision Lingrepa dissolved and
became indivisible &om Shakya Shri's state of pure awareness.
In the second year of his three-year retreat, he composed lfzjra
Laughter as Milarepa with unceasing kindness frequently appeared to
the Master, revealing many teachings during his dreams and experi-
ences of luminous clarity. Responding to a Supplication to the Masters of
the Oral Lineage, Milarepa appeared again to Shakya Shri who, in the
supreme state of luminous clarity, received further teachings in the
form of pure visions &om him. At the end of these visions an old
woman with an orange heard said, "I will request instructions on the
transference of consciousness &om my relative;' 256 and then she van-
ished like a rainbow.

Around that time, at the request of Changtrul of Jori monas-
tery the Master composed parts of The Instruction on the Secret Path of the
Traniference of Consciousness and taught it to the tulku. In each session
of the teaching that Shakya Shri was giving Changtrul, there occurred
many significant signs and omens, such as he pierced an opening in
the tulku's fontanel with a blade of grass.

When the Master was making a pilgrimage to the sacred place
of Khawa Karpo, he spent a day near Kyetrang pass. One night while
sleeping, all the deceptive appearances of thoughts still present during
sleep dissolved into the expanse of reality. In a state of luminous clar-
ity, in that most sacred place, a thigle of rainbow light formed, in the
center of which the Master beheld the single form of Chakrasamvara
surrounded by countless dakas and dakinis. On the basis of this vision
he composed A Supplication to the Single Form of that deity. When
Shakya Shri was staying in the area of Doke pass in Beru, he had a long-lasting
vision of the Medicine Buddha .as one of the' eight brothers' 257 on the rooftop
of a multi-storied house with a checkered design.

Later, as he and his companions were crossing through the pass,
they all saw a spherical rainbow with three rings. At the same time
Shakya Shri saw within that canopy-like rainbow a white daka whose
body was made of light. Above his head was a white standard, and he
wore a lower garment made of five-colored light. His two hands were
holding a drum and a drumstick. He was smiling and joyful:Finally,
the vision dissolved into the expanse of space. Later the Master had
a vision of Black Manjushri, 258 receiving a mind terma, the brief and
profound text, The Means to Accomplish Black Manjushri.

Once when he was on pilgrimage in the region of Tsari at the base of
Chag mountain pass, 259 he stayed atTragkyib cave. 260 One day the
Master took a nap, and in a state of luminous clarity he clearly saw a
sort of monastery with many dark brown windows. In the center
ofthe monastery was the lord of beings, Tsangpa Gyare. His body was
dark brown and he was wearing the three monastic robes, with a medi-
tation hat on his head. His right hand at his heart was in the mudra
of teaching and the left rested on his lap holding a text, in the mudra
of contemplation. He was seated in the lotus posture and was giving
a teaching on the completion phase according to the Chakrasamvara
tantra. He also was making various predictions about the future.

As the Master was circumambulating the power-place ofTsari on
the middlet circuit, he spent a night at Mipag plateau.261 That night the
local guardian ofTsari, Pal Shingkyong Wangpo,262 appeared to him
in union with his consort and, flanked by his cohorts and messengers
of the eight cHsses,263 promised to serve Shakya Shri. Accordingly,
as soon as Shakya Shri arrived at Chigchar, he composed the Rite of
Propitiation of Shingkyong Wangpo.

Crossing over the Shakam pass 64 the Master briefly saw the
form of Dugon Tragshe (or Mahakala Tragshe 265 before it vanished.
When he reached Chumig,266 suddenly the deity reappeared to him
and remained for a long time.

When he arrived at Phodrang Yutso or the Turquoise lake,267
impure vision dissolved in the expanse of reality and Shakya Shri saw
all appearances as the sixty-two deities of the Chakrasamvara mandala,
and as the venerable Tara with her retinue. The same night, in the state
of luminous clarity, the Master saw Saraha, the forefather of all siddhas,
from whom he received innumerable teachings.
Not long afterwards, from the life-supporting lake of Varahi called
Phodrang Kyogmo,268 in the midst of a canopy of rainbows that covered
the sky, the Master saw the form of Vajravarahi. His disciples saw only
the rainbow canopy and many other rainbows, which appeared to be
rising from the ground, like trees.

When the Master arrived at Chozam Dong, he received as a mind
terma a profound practice called The Elixir of Long Life and "Wisdom. 269
The Master stayed in retreat for six weeks in the cave of Chishel at
Crystal Reed Fortress. One day, during the offering rite of the tenth
day of the lunar month, Guru Dewa Chenpo 270 appeared with his
entire mandala in front of the Master and conferred on him an extraordinary blessing.

In that instant, suddenly the means of accomplishment, together
with the teaching of Guru Dewa Chenpo manifested in his mind.
At once, Shakya Shri dictated the entire teaching to his son Tullm
Rinchen Kunden, Perna Chogdrub and other attendants. They wrote
on paper, on wooden slates coated with oil and then ashes, and on
wooden planks dusted with powder or flour. Thus, in an instant,
the mind-teaching that emerged from the casket of the all-pervasive
simultaneous expanse of reality and pure awareness was immediately
disclosed and made manifest.

Tseringma and her four sisters 271 appeared to Shakya Shri on
different occasions, both in the early and later periods
of his life. At the time they made the promise to render
service to Shakya Shri, he composed a one page Rite of Request for Action.

Shakya Shri gave initiations and liberation instructions to Kangri
Tulku, Senge Tragpa, Beltrog Tulku and others, accomplishing immense
benefit for beings, and placing them on the path to liberation. Once,
when the Master was in retreat at Solder hermitage, all darkness became
the infinite horizon of luminous clarity, and in the sky, in the midst of
a lovely white cloud formation, Shakya Shri beheld Yutog Yon ten Gonpo.
He was wearing the white garment of a tantric practitioner, with his
hair loose and his hands in the gesture of contemplation. At his right
was Yuthog Yonten Gonpo's son, an extremely handsome youth, with
his hair coiled on top of his head. An inner certainty arose in Shakya
Shri, and as the vision faded, the son dissolved into the Master and
they merged indivisibly.

Another time, Shakya Shri had a vision of the great sage Naropa.
His body was dark maroon, naked and adorned with bone ornaments.
He gave Shakya Shri the complete transmission of a teaching called
Chakrasamvara with Thirteen Deities, which came from the oral transmis-
sian that Rechungpa272 brought back to Tibet. By the end of the vision
Naropa had given Shakya Shri all the texts of the oral lineage, and
Shakya Shri promised to uphold their transmission.

Then, within the expanse of a triple rainbow the Master had a vision
of a daka said to be Denma Samdrub, the cherished minister of King Gesar
of Ling; he had a dark complexion and long face, and his body was
twice normal height. Over his shoulder were slung a bow
and a quiver with metal-tipped arrows.

One night, while Shakya Shri was sleeping, all dream images dis-
solved into the expanse of reality, and in the state of luminous clarity
he saw the empty though perceptible rainbow body of Avalokiteshvara
with eleven faces. There were two Guru Rinpoches, one to his left and
one to his right. The three secrets (Body, Speech and Mind) of the
Master dissolved into Avalokiteshvara and the two Guru Rinpoches,
and the three deities as well as Shakya Shri merged into a single entity.
As a result, he experienced an unprecedented and uninterrupted state
of luminous clarity of great openness. It was at this time that from the
expanse of the mindof Shakya Shri sprang forth The Means of Realizing the
Master-the Sambhogakaya.

One night, he suddenly awoke to find his retreat place transformed
into an inconceivably divine palace. Within this palace Shakya Shri
beheld the eighty-four great tantric adepts of India.

Around the same time, he dreamed of rainbow clouds filling the
sky, and in their midst for a long while he saw Amitabha in his dhar-
makaya form, and Guru Rinpoche. At the end, the vision dissolved
into the expanse of the ultimate nature of emptiness. Instantaneously
streaming forth, the profound terma The Means of Realizing the Master-the
Reality Dimension of Awakening dawned in his mind from the self-arisen
radiance of pure awareness, the nature of all things.

As mentioned earlier, when Shakya Shri reached the age of forty-
six, he fell ill with fever for a long time. Finally recovered, one day at
dawn in a state of luminous clarity he saw the magnificent Naropa
seated at his right side on a white mat. His body was dark brown, and
he was adorned with bone ornaments and a crown of dried skulls. With
eyes bulging from their sockets, Naropa looked at a text of the oral
tradition that was placed on the white felt. 273 He began to speak andgave
the Master the verbal transmission of the teachings contained in
that text, from beginning to end. Naropa then said, "I have given you
the entire teaching without omitting or adding anything:' His body
dissolved into rainbow light, and Shakya Shri remained spontaneously
in a state of contemplation within the luminous clarity of the mind
until sunrise and arose still in that state. After this vision, Shakya Shri
discovered The Cycle of Instructions on Luminous Clarity, but impressed the
seal of secrecy on it, teaching it only to a few disciples.

Shakya Shri also revealed the mind termas of profound secret
instructions on the preliminaries and main practice of the spoon tech-
nique adjunct to the 'upper door' part of the central channel practices,
as well as the profound instructions concerning vajra retraction. 274
He taught these techniques to fortunate disciples who put them into
practice, and developed authentic meditation experiences.

Sometime later, during the night, while he was dreaming, all ap-
pearances in his mind dissolved into rainbows and into a volcanic-like
blaze. Within this expanse, Shakya Shri had a vision of the King
ofWrathful Deities, 275 with three faces and six arms, wearing charnel
ground ornaments and blazing with light.

Thereafter Shakya Shri eased his strict retreat practices and began
to give initiations and liberating teachings to many disciples. Once,
while he was giving the Empowerment of the Relics of the RigdzinsJ belonging
to the Northern Treasures, 276 blessings descended on fortunate disciples.
As a sign of this, they began to shake and then, seated cross-legged,
rose into the air the height of fully-stretched arms. They began to speak
in Sanskrit and other languages, and snow fell in the form of three
to ten-petalled flowers. Some disciples saw in the sky formations of
spiritually significant emblems, such as the eight auspicious symbols
and the eight auspicious substances. 277

The guardian Rahula repeatedly appeared to Shakya Shri.
When extraordinary omens indicated that he was performing services for
the Master, Shakya Shri composed a serkyem rite entitled The Pagoda
of Pleasures and a rite of propitiation of Rahula entitled The Lightning
Noose that Summons Swiftly.

Once again, Shakya Shri awoke suddenly one night to see a mass of
five-colored rainbow light illuminating the inside of his retreat
house. In its midst, the Medicine Buddha was standing with his right
hand extended in the gesture of giving. Above his head appeared Sa-
mantabhadra in union with his consort. This vision lasted long, and
ultimately, the vision itself became one taste within the vast expanse
of Shakya Shri's pure awareness.

Around this time, Shakya Shri revealed the brief but profound
mind termas called The Means to Accomplish the Peaciful and
Wratlful Samant-abhadra and The Pith of the Heart Essence
of Dzogchen, Shakya Shri's own realization. These termas are
profound instructions, incredibly rare tofind in this world.
They emerged in the expanse of his wisdom mind through the
blessings and care of Guru Rinpoche and Longchenpa in their
dharmakaya aspect.

Then he gave initiations of The Heart Essence of Chetsun to about
ten people, including a few lamas, tulkus, and the old retreat master
of his hermitage. While he was conjuring blessings upon his disciples,
many signs occurred indicating the actual descent of blessings upon
them: their physical appearances changed, their bodies began to shake
and rise in the air, and so forth.

On the tenth day of the Monkey month278 in the Earth Monkey
year (1908), the Master, his sons, his disciples both young and old,
monks and lay practitioners performed a ganachakra for three con-
secutive days. At the point in the ceremony when the descent of the
blessing is invoked, Shakya Shri had a vision of the Lotus-Born Vajra
Guru 279 who appeared in the offering-place in the mandala. The blessing
of Guru Rinpoche's presence augmented the power of the experience
and realization of the participants in the feast: some began trembling,
shaking and rising in the air; others felt faint, their eyes welling with
tears. Most of those present felt intense faith and a strong sense of
revulsion for worldly affairs.

In the Iron Dog year (1910), armies from the bordering country
of China invaded. 280 Always bearing in mind the welfare of both the
teachings and of sentient beings, Shakya Shri revealed a mind terma:
it was a rite of propitiation of Ekajati called The Most Profound Heart
Secret, a Request that Ekajati the Mamo 281 Guardian of Mantra Take Action. In
the latter part of his life, when he was staying in the Happy Cave in
the sacred place of Tsari, Shakya Shri composed The Noose of Lightning,
a Request that the Faitl?ful Blacksmith Take Quick Action. 282

The venerable Milarepa, Lingchen Repa, the lord of beings
Tsangpa Gyare, the great sage Naropa and others actually appeared
to Shakya Shri. From them, he received in a symbolic language the
instructions of the Oral Transmission of the Dakinf 83 and fully understood
it; for a period of time he imposed a seal of secrecy on these instruc-
tions. Afterward, Shakya Shri became alight with overwhelming faith
in the early masters of the Kagyu tradition, and also recognized that
it was a favorable time to reveal the teachings for training disciples. In
response to these conditions, one day, as dawn was approaching, the terma called
The Preliminaries, Practice, and Conclusion cf the Spoon Practice, as
well as The Cycle cf Teaching on Vajra Retraction, manifested clearly in his
mind and he immediately transcribed them. Then he taught the pre-
liminaries and the main practice of these mind-treasures to fortunate
disciples of Kasha (Lahoul) and Bhutan. They put the instructions into
practice, and consequently gained extraordinary signs and remarkable
superior qualities.

On the third day of the lunar month at dawn, the mind terma called
The Essential Points cf the Meditation on Tummo cf the Oral Transmission
vividly appeared in his mind; on the seventh day of the same month
he transcribed it. Around the same time he disclosed that he was the
incarnation of Naropa, Ngamdzong Tonpa, Kunpang, and Amkar.
Healso said that he had reached complete certainty that the teachings
of realized beings were flawless.

| Giving up interest in this life, you raise the victory banner of practice.
| Comprehending the meaning of reality, you gain mastery over mind and prana.
| Perfecting the strength of realization, you shine with power and knowledge.
| King of siddhas, gifted with the conduct of the glorious heruka,
| You are the crown of millions of accomplished rigdzins.
| With the assurance of a sovereign yogin,
| You are a great treasury of extraordinary secret wealth
| Beyond the sphere of experience of the immature.

| The fortunate coincidence of your past trainings caused your activities to blossom like
| An enchanting blue lotus enjoying the feast of youth.
| You fling open the door to the treasury of diamond jewels,
| Always speaking with masters and deities of the three roots,
| Always encountering the smiling faces of mamos and dakinis,
| Oceans of oath-bound guardians who accomplish the four actions 284 for you.
| Who is there other than you, O glorious Master?

CHAPTER VI. His Altruistic Accomplishments and Charismatic Guidance Beniftt Others Immensely and Illuminate the Doctrine, Inspiring Great Masters to Shower Him with Flowers of Praise

HE PEERLESS MASTER Shakya Shri perfected the creative
power of his realization of pure awareness and ascended to the
pinnacle of accomplishments, yet he kept well-hidden within his vast
and deep ocean-like mind the boundless wealth of the qualities of his
three secrets (body, voice, mind). Nevertheless, many great masters,
with their knowledge of hidden truths, showered flowers of praise
on Shakya Shri, recognizing that the true nature of the supreme is
unchanging like the radiance of pure gold.

Khamtrul Tenpe Nyima, the omniscient Drugpa Yongdzin, Tsog-
nyi, the sovereign of realized yogins and others had told Shakya Shri
that he would benefit by taking a qualified consort as an aid for tantric
conduct (the swift cause for indivisible great bliss). Shakya Shri was
not merely a yogin who had attained the warmth-experience, 285
but one who had understood the true nature of reality just as it is.

Therefore, he obeyed the command of his masters, while adhering to the crucial point
of non-attachment (that is, not being bound by the experience of
bliss with a consort). Relying exclusively on the swift path of
the third initiation, 286 he made use of the auspicious coincidences
to reach the highest attainments, the common feat of long-life, as well
as the accomplishment of many good works and deeds. From the age
of eighteen until the age of sixty-seven he wandered in sacred places,
practicing only the ultimate meaning and giving rise to great waves
of exemplary deeds to benefit sentient beings and the teachings.
At one point, he wrote a letter to Khamtrul Tenpe Nyima de-
scribing his realization of the nature of the mind. Khamtrul Rinpoche
replied, "Your realization is matchless! In many respects it
is higher than my own. Give my son the detailed teachings and your
experiential guidance on Mahamudra and the Six Yogas of Naropa:' With much
praise and encouragement, he also offered Shakya Shri several volumes
of teachings, such as the All-Pervasive Knowledge. 287 Later, Chokyi Senge,
the son of Khamtrul Rinpoche, entrusted to Shakya Shri for his educa-
tion, stayed for a long time at the hermitage of Solder, and received the
experiential teaching on The Mahamudra of the Innate Yoga 288 from Shakya
Shri. He died at Lapchi struck down by an illness while on pilgrimage.
Jamgon Kongtrul, the omniscient buddha in person, praised Shakya
Shri saying, "It is rare to meet someone like you, accomplished in the
meaning of Dzogchen:'

To the great scholar Lama Tashi Chophel, Kongtrul said:

| I thought that no one could match the realization of Chogtrul
| Rigdzin Kunzang Namgyal of Dzaka, but in fact the Togden of
| Drugu is more realized. Although one in whom realization
| is manifest is not affected positively or adversely by what he does,
| nonetheless the fact that Dzatrul Rinpoche has a monastery in
| his care, and so forth, I believe impedes him a little, while the
| Togden is without impediments as he spends his life in hermit ages.

To Terton Trime, the lama of Nyagrong, Kongtrul, said,

| The Togden of Drugu monastery is a personal disciple of
| Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and is a practitioner of the Heart Essence of Dzogchen.
| He has entered the expanse of the practice of total relaxation (tregcho)
| and has brought to fulfillment the creative energy of the practice
| of the direct leap (thogal), passing the limit of the visionary appearance
| of pure awareness. 289 It is a miracle to find such a being in these times.
| You yourself should go and study with this Master.

Jamgon Kongtrul, replying to a letter from Shakya Shri which asked
for help in dispelling obstacles, wrote:

| With respect to the Sovereign of Yogins, endowed with knowledge and realization,
| It is with great joy I received your letter, accompanied by of ferings,
| and learned that the mandala of the signs is illuminated (that is,
| that you are well) and that your meditation on the two stages (creation
| and completion 290 increases like a waxing moon.

| As for mysel£ I am now an old man with many years on my
| shoulders. Apart from that, I have not been sick recently and
| I am doing things as before. Concerning your request, I have
| performed at length whatever rites I could to dispel the obstacles
| that beset your life and that of your retinue.

| I pray that your vajra feet will remain firmly in this world forever.
| With this letter, I am sending you a few special long-life pills
| made of divine substances, a terma discovery.

From the hermitage, the Old Kongtrul

In addition to this praise, Shakya Shri received a letter from
Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo saying:

| I am glad to receive your letter and offerings saying that Shakya
| Shri, supremely qualified by virtue of the state of integration
| attained through training and liberation, is happy and in good
| health and dedicates himself to the essential practice.

| I, the old monk, am confined to bed with ill health over
| which I have no power, though I still try to do what I can. I
| rejoice from the depths of my heart, learning that you have dedi-
| cated yourself intensively for three years to the practice
| of the two tantric stages. I sincerely pray, with whatever words I know,
| for the fulfillment of your life and practice and the accomplish-
| ment of your and others' objectives.

| I have gone past youth and am experiencing the suffering
| ofillness. Moreover there is no certainty as to the time when death
| will come. I pray, before I die, we shall meet again.

| May the perfect essence of immortality
| Become your adamantine life energy,
| And may the white lotus of the two objectives
| Eternally blossom everywhere.

| I have sent with this letter some gifts-a silk scar£ consecrated pills,
| a protection cord and a small statue of the second buddha (Padmasambhava) which confers blessings.

Khyentse, the old monk

Khyentse Wangpo often praised Shakya Shri in this way. In another let-
ter to Shakya Shri, he made the following prediction: ''Tsewang Jigme,
your middle son, is the reincarnation of my teacher Adro Drarampa.
He should not be obliged to study; it will suffice that he remain
as he is. Apart from reading and writing, he should not involve himself
much in studying other subjects:'

In reply to a letter from Shakya Shri describing his experiences
and realizations, Adzom Drugpa Rinpoche wrote:

| With respect,

| To the Sovereign ofYogins with Golden Wheels 291
| Adorning the Soles of His Feet, the Wish-Fulfilling Jewelled Victory Banner
| of the Lineage of Attainment:

| Among the knowledge holders of our oral instruction lin-
| eage, you are the one who trained in the path of Mahamudra.
| However your potential awakened as pure awareness when the in-
| troduction that presents the nature of total relaxation (tregcho)
| struck you directly. If only for that instantaneous realization, you
| are a Master in whom we have confidence. We have gained faith
| beyond comparison and rejoice that, because the propitious cir-
| cumstances of your past training fell spontaneously into place,
| your hidden mind has manifested in the form of written letters. 292

| You have lived your life like early masters of the attainment
| lineage, and have become one with highly realized beings through
| the glory of your manifold qualities.

| In all seasons of your life you disliked distractions and
| worldly entertainments, and developed knowledge unaffected by
| circumstances (which can cause various states of mind, such as
| clarity or obscuration) or by distracting and frenetic situations.
| Having taken experiential appearances of the three dimen-
| sions of awakening as the path that unifies the expanse of reality
| and pure awareness, you now have confidence in the authentic
| view of the nature of reality. I think you have achieved the vast
| and precise profound practice of a knowledge-holder in his last
| incarnation before becoming a buddha that is, the most secret
| and unsurpassed yoga of the all-encompassing unique thigle, lu-
| minous clarity.

| Though I had in the past some doubt, by analyzing again
| and again the signs of experiential warmth resulting from your
| perseverance in training, as described in your letters, I am sure
| you have nearly perfected the experience of total relaxation
| (tregcho) in pure awareness. It is also certain that your mind
| is close to completing the stage of the appearance of visions called
| 'increased contemplative experience' (in the practice of thogal,
| related to spontaneous accomplishment). This is the precursor
| of the highest level in the buddhafield of the sambhogakaya
| dimension, known as the semi-apparent manifest body
| ofenlightenment. 293 Because of this, I composed the following
| song with delighted words about you:

| A Ho!
| Heart-essence of the knowledge holders of the tradition of the Early Translations,
| Unique thigle that is complete luminous clarity,
| You lead the minds of beings,
| Fortunate disciples who possess the tantric transmissions and oral instructions, 294
| Especially through the outer, inner, secret and most secret instructions, 295
| To the expanse of the primordial ground.
| Such is the instantaneous swift path concordant with, but superior to all,
| The most secret, unsurpassed path of the awareness-holding dakinis,
| That by taking the experiential appearances of the three kayas onto the path
| The immutable wisdom, the supreme state f the wisdom master is fully actualized.

| When through this powerful ultimate yoga, the sole path
| Easily travelled by the victorious ones of the three times,
| The tightly binding ropes of dualistic appearances are cut,
| There are certainly no stages, or paths to travel, nor goals to attain.
| This absence of stages, and so on, is a view that no one can deny:
| There is no yoga other than the supreme expanse (of this view).
| It is wisdom that manifests as the illusory appearance of the sphere of purification,

| The purifying agency and the result of purification, 296 and
| The lights that occur in forward and reverse order. 297
| Through the primordial radiance of the essential reality and
| Original pure awareness actually manifesting aspotentiality,
| You have gained the power of pure presence,
| The union of pure awareness and essential reality
| Beyond limiting viewpoints such as eternalism and nihilism, and so forth.
| You have instantaneous and gradual perfection of the single ground of the
| Manifestation not definable in any aspect of pure and impure components
| Of channels, prana, and vital essence of the person and of thogal.
| When I look directly at how The ground of manifestation arises in your case,
| It is clear that you are a practitioner in your last existence,
| You who have perfected all the stages.
| Thus, even with your eyes shut, at black midnight,
| Without sun or moon or butter-lamps, and so on,
| You perceive, in the vast expanse of bliss,
| All appearances, subtle and unsubtle, recognizing them
| As magical sambhogakaya creations.
| Apart from a slight unfolding ofappearances,
| The distinction between night and day has faded,
| Apparent reality and pure awareness simultaneously arising.
| At that point, the secret instructions on luminous clarity,
| The truth of the unique thigle, became your tradition's emblem:
| Surely you herald the victorious kingdom of the two purities. 298

| Know these words! They have already been heard and are here spoken unreservedly.
| May all fortunate female and male practitioners,
| You foremost amongst them,
| Who are on the path of luminous clarity,
| The highest, profound and secret path, swift and effortless,
| Easily reach the supreme state of the wisdom master.
| May music celebrating a golden age 299 of benefit for the teachings and living beings
| Fill the entire universe with auspiciousness.

| I, a tantric madman who acts like an outcast,
| an old man who has reached the immaculate vast expanse
| of pristine luminous clarity, have written a reply in
| condensed form to a query as to the level of practice
| of this genuine and supreme heart awareness holder.
| May this yield goodness.

Adzom Drugpa

When Shakya Shri paid a visit to Adzom Drugpa Rinpoche, the latter
said, "Today, many wear their hair long, and so forth; those who do
should conduct themselves as you do. I am only entertaining myself
with termas, and so on, but you, Rinpoche Shakya Shri, shall accom-
plish the most profound practices of the ultimate meaning:' And he
repeatedly raised his thumb as a sign of request and encouragement.

Once, when the two masters were relaxing on a walk in the area
below Tung Ral Tragkar with their attendants and others, all the dis-
ciples present witnessed the formation of rainbow douds in the sky
and saw rainbow light vividly spring forth from the grass and woods
wherever Shakya Shri walked. Adzom Drugpa bowed his head and
praised Shak.ya Shri, proclaiming, "The deceased whose names have
been heard by the venerable Master will be freed &om the suffering
of the lower realms:'300

After the visit to Adzom Drugpa, the Master returned to his
hermitage on the mountains of Drugu. As soon as he arrived there,
he entered as usual into strict retreat. During his lengthy seclusion he
developed a rheumatic problem. His legs swelled and took on a blu-
ish color,301 making it difficult for him to walk or sit. At that time
Drodul Pawo Dorje ( Adzom Drugpa) sent a letter with the following
advice:

| O Rinpoche,

| On both the night of the seventh day and the dawn of the eighth
| day of this month, I, in a natural state of mind, dearly heard the
| following words. Place them in the eternal knot of your mind
| and examine their significance.

| Skillful daka, being a bee
| Is your remedy.
| If you freely enjoy the nectar
| Of a padmini whose name is Perna,
| The sweet music of
| Your unsullied three doors will fill the universe
| For years equal in number to the minor signs 302
| And the riches of the exalted ones. 303

| This prophecy, which is meant neither to encourage self-compla-
| cency nor to deceive, is extremely useful. To overcome your prob-
| lem the best method would be to encounter effortlessly a virgin
| of an age between sixteen and twenty-one, who has the auspi-
| cious concurrence of a lotus-form channel,304 is named Perna,
| and who has not broken the samayas. 305 If you find such a young
| woman, train her in the outer, inner and secret levels
| of the tan-tra as explained in the scripture of the path
| of skillful means, 306 and make her proficient in the arts
| of love. 307 By practicing with her, restoring your health,
| absorbing the essence from medicinal ingredients, and doing
| the appropriate meditations, you will become free of
| obstacles. As the prophetic words indicate, you
| will certainly live until the age of eighty-seven, spontaneously
| accomplishing benefit for yourself and others.
| Keep this in mind, and do not let anyone know
| of it; the method has the seal of secrecy of hidden conduct.

| May allbe auspicious!
| May this paired offering of a white scarf and of
| The support of the method, the lady with a body of great bliss,
| Beautiful in form, of a magnetizing color 308
| And with exquisite features,
| Be the auspicious coincidence that frees your actions from obstacles
| And makes them virtuous at the beginning, in the middle and at the end,
| The skillful means of the great secret which is
| The swifr path travelled by an ocean of heroic awareness holders,
| And bring forth long-life and wisdom equal to
| That of Vajrasattva, the great bliss.

| May the chanting of this auspicious profound advice
| resounding in my abode, the garden of the white round conch shell
| of good augury, become a source of joy for the hearts of fortunate
| males and females. Through that practice, may the great display
| of goodness of the awareness holder be victorious everywhere!

Adzom Drugpa

Following the advice of the letter, Shakya Shri sent a disciple named
Gecho to search for such a dakini (as prophesized by Adzom Drugpa).
Gecho heard that in a family of northern Lhathog309 there was
a pleasing young woman named Perna Tso. He went to her house and
arrived just as her family members were setting up a white banner on
the roof of the house.

Gecho thought this an auspicious coincidence. He carefully ob-
served the girl and found that she had many of the signs of a dakinias
described in the tantras, and was convinced that she must be the
girl predicted by Adzom Drugpa. Adroitly, he brought the girl to meet
the Master. By engaging with her in secret practices, Shakya Shri
was able to overcome his obstacles, recover from his illness, and enhance
his realization.

The first time Shakya Shri met Dza Paltrul Rinpoche, 310 he
described his experiences and realizations to him. While they were
discussing this subject, Paltrul Rinpoche placed his right hand to his
forehead as a sign of respect and often exclaimed, "O amazing, most
amazing Master:' He spread out a felt mat and invited Shakya Shri to
sit on it. Then Paltrul Rinpoche, very pleased to have met the Master,gave
him some curd, saying, "I don't have anything else to offer you.
Accept this cup of curd as an auspicious connection:'

Mipham Rinpoche, the embodiment of Manjushri, praised Shakya
Shri when the Master went to pay his respects to him, as mentioned
earlier. Moreover, Mipham told some lamas and tulkus, "Practitioners
like the precious Togden of Drugu monastery are rare. His realization
knows not even a hair's tip of distinction between day and night. His
attainment of the all-inclusive luminous clarity is equal to that of the
omniscient Jigme Lingpa. It is important that you receive the instruc-
tions that introduce the nature of the mind from such a Master:

When Mipham Rinpoche was staying in retreat in the Garuda cave
in Gowo, in upper Dza in Chamdo, 311 Shakya Shri offered him most
of his texts, including the mind treasures 312 he had revealed,
as well as oral advice on the profound essential points of the secret instructions
of Dzogchen. Reading the works of Shak.ya Shri, Mipham composed
the following extraordinary praise

| His writings are like the finest butter, the very quintessence of
| the profound secret. Since qualified recipients for such mantric
| instructions are rare these days, it is advisable to impress upon
| them the seal of secrecy and reveal them only to suitable disciples.

He added the following verses of truth and prayer:

| Yogin of the ultimate truth,
| May your adamantine treasure teachings,
| The expression of pure awareness,
| Bring glory to all fortunate ones;
| May their awakening influence
| Pervade the entire earth.

Then Mipham Rinpoche immediately called for his secretary, Lobzang
Tondrub, to send the words he had written to Shak.ya Shri. Lobzang
Tondrub had served him for years and had written down The Evocation
Rite of Kalachakra, 313 and other works of Mipham.

One day, the secretary said to Mipham, "Recently, I've had a strong
wish to receive Dzogchen teachings. I have never received teachings
from the Togden. Is it better for me to request instruction from him,
or whom should I ask?"

"Oh, fortunate one to have such a wish," replied Mipham
Rinpoche. Raising his index finger, he said, "These days, you will find
no one who has realized the Dzogchen teaching as Togden Rinpoche
has:' Lobzang Tondrub also asked Mipham if he would compose a
prayer of supplication for Shakya Shri. Mipham consented and wrote
a twelve-verse prayer known as Great llizves of Previous Deeds.

Ngorpa Ponlop Rinpoche and Ngawang Tenpe Gyaltsen (a per-
sonal disciple of Mipham Rinpoche, and master of Diphu monastery
in Amdo) went to meet the king of siddhas, Shakya Shri. They gave
him a letter which recounted a conversation they had had with the kind
Jamgon Lama Mipham Vajradhara when he was staying in Chamdo. He
had said, "You have a very good karmic connection to the Vajrayana.
Should you meet someone like the glorious Togden Shakya Shri, you
could easily learn tummo and achieve the signs of realization. I merely
dance on books,314 and can not be of much help to you. Moreover,
your personal karmic connection with a particular master is of dear
importance:'

Then the two lamas explained to Shakya Shri that when the time
came for Lama Mipham to leave his body, as a testament he told them,
"The most advisable and expedient thing for you to do is to go to
Togden Shakya Shri, and learn from him:' They added, "It is on his
advice that we have come here to meet you:'

Another time, Mipham Rinpoche was staying at the hermitage of
Dundil Go, and in reply to one of Shakya Shri's letters, he wrote,

| To the great yogin who has realized the state of unimpeded pure
| awareness equal to the great wisdom of all the buddhas:
| I hope that these days you, precious Master, and your followers,
| who are a support for the welfare of the teaching and of beings
| are all in good health. Along with this letter, I have sent you the
| volumes called The Means of Accomplishing Manjushri;
| the first perfect print of The Hundred Thousand Names of the
| Buddhas; and a best quality crystallens 315 which I offer
| to you with pleasure and respect.

| I have finished a minor revision of the Kalachakra tantra
| commentary that I began writing while I was staying in Cham-
| do, in accordance with the notes of Buton and Dolpopa Sherab
| Gyaltsen 316 and with other works.

| In this inauspicious year of the Iron Dog, 317 I gave the
| reading transmission interspersed with brief explanations of my
| commentary on the Kalachakra in order to ensure the continu-
| ity at least of its transmission. As my health was not good, only
| on the fifteenth day of the third month of the Iron Dog year
| (I910), I began conferring that initiation on about twenty-one
| lamas and monks.On the twentieth day of the same month I
| started the explanation of the text, but had to stop for two days
| due to extremely bad health. My health improved, and I was able
| to complete the teachings over thirty-six days. Having done this,
| even if I die, I have no regrets.

| I had hoped to finish writing the commentary on the Man-jushrinamasangiti
| which you asked me to do, but the death of Lama Tashi made it impossible. Even
| if he had not died, I probably could not have completed it, but because it
| is your wish, I still have every intention to do so. Please give me your
| blessing that I may succeed.

| As is the nature of things, I have now grown old and ill, so I
| have stopped writing and all other such activities. I do what I can,
| sitting quietly. 0 Master, you who regard everyone with equal
| compassion, not holding some persons dear and others not, there
| is no need for me to mention that I myself have said and will say
| aspiration prayers for your long life.

| I also offer you a version of The Teaching on the Seven ~rses
| slightly modified in its outline; I have added four or five citations
| from the Kalachakra tantra, and so on. Now it is complete. I have
| nothing more to modifY and no citations to add.

| Now, as to the core of your letter, you, who have certainty as
| regards primordial wisdom, have thus brought under your control
| all appearances and the mind. Therefore, since your compas-
| sion knows neither highs nor lows, please do not abandon me, or
| those like me, who are disciples of degenerate times. I sincerely
| pray, precious Master, that having gained this control, you al-
| ready have power over the youthful vajra of long-life, and that
| you may live for an oceanof aeons.

| If I die soon, then that is it. Should I live a little longer
| and am not seriously ill, I will definitely stay in strict retreat for
| the next two or three years, until I die. To speak frankly, these
| days, because of ill health, I am no longer able to comply with
| requests, write letters, and so forth.

| As an offering for your protection, I have sent you pills
| made with the five substances of
| a red cow 318 and three round Zi
| gems. 319 With best wishes for your good health and the hope to
| meet you in the future,

Lama Mipham

Shakya Shri often received letters such as these, full of
high praise; here I have recorded some of them to content those who have faith
in Shakya Shri.

Jamyang Loter Wangpo 320 of the Ngorpa Thartse monastery, the foremost
of all Sakyapa masters of that time, never met Shakya Shri.
However, in his writings, he says that on meeting some of the Master's
disciples, he told them, "The precious Togden of Drugu monastery
is certainly a Master whose practice of the inner sense of the teaching
is unmatched by those that these days call themselves togden.
He is a Master far superior to others:'

This, and other similar words of praise, a few of which I have recounted
here, were said by a number of authentic masters, or heard
by their disciples. However, since both first-hand and second-hand
accounts are many and extraordinary, I have mentioned only those true
beyond doubt, without any trace of fabrication.

The way in which Shakya Shri, the object of high praise from most
excellent and superior teachers, accomplished benefit for all beings and
for the teachings, with endless virtuous deeds, fUlfilling the wishes
of each of his disciples, has been mentioned. Now how he nurtured his
countless disciples will be described.

HIS OUTSTANDING DISCIPLES

THE VISIBLE AND SECRET retinue of his pure and impure disciples
were as numerous as the particles of matter in our world. Shakya Shri
bestowed on them boundless kindness, teaching the vast and profound
dharma, thus bringing the immature to spiritual maturity, and the
mature disciples to the wealth of the infinite liberating qualities
of the path. Here we name a few principal disciples among the untold number
of his Tibetan followers, who, having turned their backs on worldly
ambitions, reached the haven of the primordial state, to the glory
ofbeings and of the teachings. Of the disciples of highest capability,
those to whom he had taught principally the path of luminous clarity
or Dzogchen, the foremost, among all his family members, was his
learned and realized son, the great rigdzin Tsewang Jigme.

Tullm Rinchen Kunden was the first of his divine sons. Another
son was Choying Tullm Kunlha Tendzin, who was an awareness holder
of the Mantrayana and a wandering yogin. In his son Karse Tsewang
Rinchen, the supreme lotus of knowledge had blossomed fully; another
son Ngawang Choying, the reincarnation of Drugpa Yongzin, was the
embodiment of knowledge, ethics and benevolent intention. Phagchog
Dorje was a divine son who spontaneously rose to the position of
regent while erecting the victory banner of realizing the inconceivable
wisdom of knowledge and compassion.

These sons exhibited different kinds of buddha activity for the
teachings and for sentient beings; nonetheless, as sons of the same
Master, their minds became one taste with that of their Master (that
is, they attained the same realization). Among his female disciples
were his daughters, Niguma-like 321 practitioners who were field-born
yoginis. 322 Foremost among other disciples were:

The great Nyidrag Terton Ogyen Gyaltshab; Trulshig Rinchen
of Chade monastery in Yardrog; Gyalwang Tulku of Sephu; Gyalse
Tulku; CholingTerseTulku (son of Choling Rinpoche); 323 Namchag
Tulku of Doshul; Bhuli Tulku of Bhutan; the Tulku of Sang Sang
monastery in Lhadrag; Yonge Mingyur Dorje, Kunzang Sherab, the
Tulku of Tragmar; Chogyal Tulku of Nubgon monastery in Nyal;
Tulku Sherab; Drodren MingyurTulku; Changchub Tulku of Jophu;
the Tulku of Ngoshul Warn monastery; Tenphel Gonpa of the Ling
region; Karma Tsondriib, the siddha of Mar Ril; Ngawang Thubten, the
lama ofTrayab; Lama Trinle Dargye; Lama Drubgyii Gyatso; Chodze
Kunzang Dechen; the wandering lama without attachments, Yonten
Gyatso; Lama Alug of Jepha; Perna Wangyal of Longrong; Tashi
Phuntsog, the Lama of Ching Sakyapa monastery; Lama Tsultrim;
Ngagwang; Tashi Lhadar, the Ziwa Togden; Sonam Tsering, the Lama
of Rida monastery; the chant master Chophel, the lama of Tsugyen
monastery; Champa Khedrub, the tantric master of Magon; Rinchen
Chopel, the lama of Lhasung monastery; Rigdzin Changchub Dorje;
the teacher Tendzin Khedrub; Togden Sherab Tragpa of Tsugyen
monastery; Lama 0 Ge of the Tenma hermitage; Lama Yonten of
Olbol; Champa Tsering of Chamdiin; Lama Gyaltsen, the doctor of
Doru; Lobzang Tondrub, the secretary to Mipham Rinpoche; the
monk official of Khora; the geshe of Moda; Lama Chogon of Dramt-
hog; Lama Tashi of Meto; Lama Lanya of Khejong and the Lama of
Trag Yangkhul; Lama Namgyal Palden of Artsa; Jamyang Monlam;
Wangdrag of Diben in Derge; Lama Nyigen of Diphu; the teacher
Kunzang Dorje; Kunzang, the Tullm ofYagze monastery; Lagen Tullm,
the elder Kalzang Chopel; Sherab Dorje ofTrangru; Si Lama Karwang
Dechen Wangchug of Chamdo; Rusho Chopa of Kumbum monastery;
Tashi Tondrub; the Lama of Dzomyang; Tashi Tonden of Upper
Dza; Nortra Lama; Khonchog Lodro of Sib Dzogchen monastery;
Naru Trime of Beru; the master of chant Tsondrii Gyurme; the elder
Sonam Chopel; Dorje Tragpa, the terton of Tholhatsa; Agyal Lama
of Gyara monastery in Konjo; the elder Perna Sherab of Kyipo mon-
astery, Lama Ade of Tragnag monastery; Lama Dradorje of Golog
Serthar; 324 Thubten Dargye, the monk from Surmang monastery; 325
Rinchen Chogdrub from Nangchen; the monk Lobzang Chogyal from
Amdo; the teacher Ara Karpo from the mountain of the Five Peaks in
China; the Dzogchen Lama from Mongolia; Chagphul Tamcho from
the city of Tarsendo 326 (on the Chinese border); Lobzang Tenpa, a
geshe from Sera monastery originally from Bawa; Choying Sherab,
the terton of Markham; Tsultrim Tharchin from Khyung in eastern
Tibet; the elder Shingkyong or Lama Trinlepa of Beru; Diidul and
Choying Yeshe, the tantric practitioners from Kayog monastery in
Nyidrag; Jamyang Gyaltsen, Thegchog Kunzang, and Tendzin Gyalpo
from the northern region of Nagchu; the elder Chojor Wangchug
and Tendzin Tsultrim from Triru monastery; the chant master Shecha
Togden of the northern monastery of Bongdu;327 Dungre Lama of
Tayul; the elder Tsepag and Tenphel from the Kongdrula monastery
in Konjo; Togden Changchub and Lachung Tulku from Trag Sumpa in
Konjo; Pushong Siddha from Chagra; Lama Thubten Gyaltsen from
Zangkar in the district of Ngari in western Tibet; the elder Thubten
Rinchen from Yardrog; Lobzang Phuntsog from Trabshul; the elder
Sonam Phuntsog and Tashi Rinchen from Lhathog; Togden Shang
Shang from Artsa; Champa Rinchen from Mani; Geshe Sherab Dorje
from Bumthant28 in Bhutan; Chowang Tendzin from the monastery
of Sang Ngag Choling; Lama Wangyal from Nubri329 in Nepal; the
siddha Dzara Trinle Wangchug from Oyug valley in Tsang; Thubten
Namgyal from Bumthang in Bhutan; Tashi Wangdii from Tharpaling
monastery; 33°Kunzang Namgyal, the master ofTagchu monastery in
Bhutan; Chodrag Lama from Tharpa Ling monastery in Bhutan; Ogyen
Tendzin from Shar Khumbu331 in Nepal; Ogyen Dorje from Tingri
in southern Tibet; Togden Dawa from Tsibri; Dora Lama Kalzang
Gyaltsen and his brother from Nyenam; the teacher Sangye Dorje
from Gong Adrag Dza; Ngawang Chozang from Ladakh; the venerable
Rigdzin Dorje from Lahoul, the land of the dakinis; Sonam. Gyaltsen
from Kinnaur in northern India; the retired administrator Khyenrab
Trime from Trayab; Kunga Rabten, the governor of Rangdrub; the old
ruler of Dzechu; and the administrator Namgyal Tsewang.

The mind-streams of these practitioners ripened and self-liberated
through tregcho related to primordial purity, and thogal, related to
self-perfection.Those disciples who had acquired the power to benefit
themselves and others through practicing Mahamudra, the view
of the mind of Vajradhara, included:

Chokyi Wangpo, the supreme refuge of Drugpa Kagyii monas-
tery of Sang Ngag Choling; the tulku ofTaglha Gampo; 332 Yongdzin
Ngaggi Wangpo, the tulku of Dechen Chokhor Drugpa Kagyii
monastery; 333 Shabdrung Chokyi Gonpo; 334 Tagre Tulku
of Ladakh; Chung and Chogtra Tulku of Dingche monastery inTra; Chokyi
Senge, the son of KhamtrulTenpe Nyima; his reincarnation, Ngawang
Dechen of Segyu monastery; the Tulku of Khamdrag monastery in
Tsang; Chogyal Gyatso, the tulku of Kham monastery in Drugu;
Lochen Sonam Nyingpo, tulku of Drugu; Lagen Geleg Tulku; Tulku
Ngawang Gyatso, the tulku of Yagtsa monastery; Drubtrul Trinle
Gyatso, the tulku of Tsogya monastery; 335 Sonam Tendzin or Tsenyi
Tulku; Nyirab Tulku of Jophu monastery in eastern Tibet; Drubchog,
a tulku of Digu monastery; Lagen Tulku; Lama Rigden; Lagen Tulku
of Kutse monastery; Lama Lugyal of Lachen monastery; Chowang
and Chogyal, the old lamas of Guphu monastery; JamyangTulku
of Lhasung monastery in Trayab; Rilha, the attendant of
the master of Karmo monastery; Tseten Gyurme of Khora; Ke
Lama Norzang, tulku of Tsawa Gang monastery; Yudrug Tulku of
Lhathog; Tsabshi Tulku of Khampagar monastery; Lama Yerab of
Khampagar monastery; Tratsang Tulku of Riwoche monastery;
Gyaltsen Yongdii, the chant master of Tashi Thongmon monastery in the region
of Char; 336 the doctor Zangpo; Lama Tondrub Yongdii; Tsondrii Gyatso, the chant
master and head lama of the Drugpa Kagyii monastery of Gyatso
Tratsang; 337 the retired chant master Legshe Dawa; Lama Geleg Ton-
zang; Khedrub Gyatso; Karma Yonten Gyatso; Ogyen Dorje, the chant
master of Chigchar in Tsari.

Shakya Shri brought these disciples to liberation by teaching them
the path of the three, four and twelve yogas of Mahamudra. 338
The disciples who dedicated themselves to the practice of
the Six Yogas of Naropa were:

Manlam Rabzang of Mangdi in Bhutan; Lama Perna Chogdrub, the
best of the disciples of Khora in Trayab; Togden Mindrol Yarphel
of the retreat center of Khampagar monastery; Togden Ngedan Gyatso;
Perna Chagyal from Ladakh; 339 Palden, the chant master
of Tagtse monastery in Shag in the area of Sang Ngag Chaling; Togden Yeshe
Nyingpo and his brother from the Pelung hermitage affiliated with
Khampagar monastery; my own teacher Perna Chagyal and his brother,
Lama Chapel Gyatso of Guphu; Tagri Kunga of Dzigar monastery;
the monk Namdrol Yeshe from Bumthang in Bhutan; the elder Tendzin
Gyatso; Togden Gyaltsen; Lama Rabgye from Shung Gar. in Bhutan;
the teacher Nyima Ozer and his brother from Dongzamkha in Bhutan,
close to the Indian border; Rigdzin Dorje from Kuta in Bhutan; the
revered SanamZangpo (I892-I983), 340 the master of rituals of Chakar
monastery in Bumthang (Bhutan); Kunga Tenpe Gyaltsen of Lahoul in India;
Nampar Gyalwa of Bhutan; Sherab Chazang; Ngawang Chapel;
the venerable Norbu Ngedan Nyingpo; Bhi Tsering, the Lama
ofDokar monastery; Togden Ngagchang Lobzang Namgyal from Pada
in Lahoul; the Nepalese Dharma Sahu; Ratna from Chakar monastery;
Ogyen Rangdrol from Zangkar; Thegchen Gyatso from Kinnaur in
India; Ngawang Tanya; Sanam Gyaltsen; Lodra Tobden from Sikkim;
Chakyong Targye from Nangchen in eastern Tibet; 341 Tenpa Drugye;
Rabga from Tsogya monastery in Trayab; Phagchog from Rigya mon-
astery; Tracha, a monk from Sephu monastery in Lhodzong; Gyelu and
Nyima, monks from Sang Ngag Chaling monastery; Tanya andTogden
Namdrol Zangpo from Tashi Thongman monastery in Char.

After receiving teachings from Shakya Shri, these disciples com-
pleted the preliminary practices 342 of Mahamudra first. Then
they were led from the practice of calm state meditation with an object
of focus, to the non-meditation phase of Mahamudra. 343 They gradually trained
in the Six Yogas of Naropa, the Six Cycles of Equal Taste, 344 and the
Profound Instructions of the Oral Transmission 345 and so on, and realized excellent
qualities and powers of body, speech and mind. They were like white
lotuses, just as the early Kagyii masters had been.

Among the common signs of their success in practicing tummo (inner heat) was
their ability to dry sixteen wet cotton sheets on their bodies, in the span
of time from the first lightening of the night sky
until sunrise. They wore only a cotton cloth, making no distinction
between summer and winter weather. By simply practicing taking the
essence 346 for three or seven days, they were able to manifest signs
of the realization of that practice.

They were able to blow a conch shell with the vajra (the penis),
absorb more than a glass of water in one meditation session and take
in milk through the urethra, and then expel it from the mouth or nose.
Many other common signs of success demonstrated that they had
trained successfully in the yoga of the subtle energies. Among these
disciples, some also gained stability in the non-conceptual wisdom
ofbliss and emptiness through the secret practice with a consort.

The aforenamed were the principal disciples of Shakya Shri, but
there were countless students from other regions and countries includ-
ing: India, Nepal, Sikkim, Ngari, Lato, central and western Tibet, Bhu-
tan and the Bhutanese-Assam border area, Tagpo and Kongpo, Purong
(between Kongpo and Riwoche), 347 the regions of eastern Tibet bor-
dered by four rivers and six mountain ranges, 348 including Minyang and
Jang 349 in China. Among these were many high masters and incarnate
lamas of all traditions (Nyingma, Sakya, Gelug, Karma Kagyii, Drugpa
Kagyii, Drigung Kagyii, and Taglung Kagyii); 350 geshes and scholars
and holders of the monastic discipline; yogins and yoginis and adepts,
holders of the tantric teachings; the pious kings of Nepal and Bhutan;
the finance secretary of the noble family of Kada of central Tibet; and
kings and vassals of the regions of eastern Tibet. Moreover, among his
disciples there were many male and female householders and merchants.
Hundreds of them attained the highest realization; many thousands
attained some realization of the path and persevered to further their
attainments, gaining experiential proficiency in contemplation. Those
who heard his teachings and thus established a connection with Shakya
Shri were more than several hundred thousand. It was evident to all
that no one, having heard his teachings and having remained with him
a little, at the time of death did not experience some special sign, such
as the persistence of bodily heat after death, and so on. 351

Compared to the disciples of other teachers, those who had had
contact with Shakya Shri became exceptionally qualified by purifying
their negative actions and developing their positive potential through
the preliminary practices, and, step by step, attaining meditation experi-
ences and realization in accordance with the main practices.

He continuously cared for poor disciples by feeding them and
giving them clothing as well as spiritual teaching. He cared for everyone,
common and high-ranking laymen, lamas and incarnate masters, by
bestowing teachings that conferred realization of the ultimate reality.
Shakya Shri's far-reaching enlightened activity related to this precious
doctrine was felt and will be felt throughout all regions ofTibet.

Shakya Shri also predicted that his enlightened activity would
be perceived in India, Nepal, Lahoul, Lapchi, Bhutan,Tsari and other
places. For the welfare of others, he sent some of his disciples to
spread the teachings of the Six Yogas of Naropa, of Mahamudra and
of Dzogchen, the essence of the ultimate meaning. The monk Perna
Chogdrub of Trayab monastery was sent far away once; Namgyal Palden, the Lama
of Artsa, and the elder Karsam of Lingkhog, whowere among his oldest disciples,
were sent to different places on three
occasions. Before sending them on their journeys, Shakya Shri would
predict what special places of practice, and which representations
of the Buddha's Body, Voice and Mind they would find in a certain
country.

The Master informed them of the customs and particular religious
practices they would find people following. He advised them how to
help others with the most appropriate teaching, which he specified for
each different place. Having reached their destinations, the disciples
would find that all was just as their Master had predicted. They devel-
oped a faith in him as for the Buddha himself and without exception
declared, "He truly is the Omniscient One." Their minds became
more resolutely set on benefiting people by giving them the most suit-
able teachings and instructions. With deep, enlightened activity they
taught the kings, ministers and subjects in barbarian borderlands how
to take up the broad path of shunning evil and to begin doing good
and whatever was appropriate to circumstances.

Artsa Lama Namgyal Palden352 was sent by Shakya Shri to Bodh-
gaya in India. 353 There, Hindu fanatics had disfigured (transforming
them into Hindu gods) over a thousand reliefs of the Buddha engraved
on flat stones that had been placed along the circumambulatory path
around the main temple marking the place where the Buddha had
attained enlightenment. Unable to bear such damage, Artsa Lama
rescued as many of the intact reliefs as he could by paying off the
fundamentalists with generous amounts of money and giving them
new stones on which to carve their deities. Similarly, other reliefs were
salvaged by Panchen Rinpoche ofTsang. 354 The reliefs were placed as
objects of worship in a newly constructed temple to the left of the
main shrine. Interceding with local Indian kings, Penchen Rinpoche
was able to persuade them to decree that from that time on, the reliefs
would not be destroyed. Artsa Lama also placed new stones along the
circumambulatory path around the main shrine and did other work
to restore the Bodhgaya temple.

Having left Bodhgaya, Artsa Lama went to Sahor in India. 355 There
had been little rain that summer, and the people had performed many
Hindu rituals to bring rain, but to no avail. Artsa Lama believed that if
the people would take refuge in the Buddha, his teachings, and his com-
munity and recite the mantras of Avalokiteshvara and Padmasambhava,
rain would certainly come. With the aid of a translator, he explained
this to the local people and was able to convince them. Everyone,
both the mighty and the humble, began murmuring the refuge prayer
and the other mantras, as they had been taught by Artsa Lama, and
not long after, to the satisfaction of all, it rained. Thus, Artsa Lama
gathered many disciples who took up the practice of shunning evil
and performing good actions.

In Bhutan, Artsa Lama opened a vast gate for the sky-treasury of
generosity. He turned the mind of the king toward the dharma. Thus,
all of his subjects came to share with him, who later became renowned
as 'the king of Bhutan who governs the country in accordance with
Buddhist principles; the good path and customs that make well-being
and happiness flourish. He made everyone, important or not, vow to
shun unwholesome acts, such as destroying beehives to collect the
honey, fishing, setting forests afire to hunt deer, and so forth; and he
helped people to overcome poverty.

In brie£ by relying on the compassionate activity of the Lord
of yogins, and in what seemed an inconceivable state of sameness of
mind between teacher and retinue, his fortunate disciples accomplished in
various degrees and time periods the welfare of others with whatever
skillful means worked best in a specific country according to the vary-
ing needs of different types of beings.

When these disciples returned from their mission, they told
Shakya Shri that they had spontaneously accomplished benefit for
others just as he had foretold. Their Master was very pleased and theyall
felt most fortunate to receive high praise from him.

| Shining like a sun, your spontaneous activity manifests
| In the sky of dharmakaya the sameness of reality
| Unbound to any particular place.By illuminating with the light of the Teaching
| And opening the eye of liberation
| In countless beings, superior and lesser students,
| Each according to capacity, intent, and character,
| You create on earth manifold
| Pleasure-gardens of amazing happiness and virtue for all.
| You have taught the highest path
| That ripens and frees disciples;
| With your skillful means and eloquence,
| You speak to superior, lesser and average students
| Appropriately, filling all corners of the earth
| With impartial doctrine-holders.
| Rare are the beings who perform such wondrous deeds.
| Like the guileless deer dwelling in the forest,
| You do not care for earthly possessions and refused a flood of them;

| All things come to you in abundance, as numerous as the particles of a buddhafield,
| Just as summer douds spontaneously pour down a treasury of ram.
| With your compassionate smile, your benevolent hand fully extended,
| With your melodious speech, whose sound gives relief to all,
| With your irresistible form, like Sarasvati, daughter of Brahma,
| You bestow all kinds of joys that gladden the heart.
| Unlike masters who sit proudly among wealthy but ignorant people,
| Deceived by the distraction of creating meaningless fame,
| You who have no sheen of material wealth manifest the
| Simple white radiance of your face to fortunate disciples.
| With the hook of the four means 356 you attract the poor and the simple
| And bestow on them what is desired, the good fortune of the profound and vast doctrine
| According to their various necessities;
| Is this not the heaven known as Enjoyment of Pleasures Created by Others? 357
| With skillful speech which frees from illusion, you attract
| Those in samsara who are deceived by the demon's mistress of noxious deeds; 358
| Riding the Bhalata horse 359 of the supreme way,
| You carry them to the prized jewel, the island of liberation.
| Adorned with the crown of compassion,
| With marvelous and skillful actions,
| You uplift the beings of this degenerate era to the pinnacle of heights,
| Causing a reflection of the golden age to appear in this world.

CHAPTER VII. His Commitment to the Restoration of Extraordinary Sacred Symbols, Fallen into Ruin, of the Buddha's Body, Voice and Mind, and the Creation of Sacred Images through the Power of His Unbounded) Selfless Intention

THE GREAT SIDDHA Nyagre Sewo made this prediction:

| In eastern Tibet, a Master called Shakya will appear
| To elevate the quality of the teachings,
| And increase the happiness of beings.

By accumulating the many offerings people had made to him, Nyagre
Sewo founded the Lagon monastery in the area of Trayab. There he
built a stupa dedicated to seven generations of Kagyiipa masters. Using
his magical powers, he amassed all the necessary relics. By making the
stupa an object of veneration, he caused the teaching to flourish, and
increased the prosperity of the people.

The Precious Siddha Shakya Shri, remembering the deeds he
had performed in his previous life as Nyagre Sewo, sent his disciple, a
retired administrator called Khyenrab ofTrayab, to Lagon monastery
with one hundred silver coins 360 as an offering for beginning a regular
practice of the ritual known as Empowering the Relics of the Rigdzins. How-
ever, due to those troubled times, it is uncertain whether the offering
was delivered or not.

Whenever Shakya Shri had representations of the Buddha's
Body, Voice and Mind made or restored in various monasteries and
hermitages, he insisted that these be done with freely given offerings,
regardless of whether they were large or small.

Every year, from the time he began to receive offerings from devo-
tees, Shakya Shri would commission the casting of about ten statues
of various sizes made in gold and copper. He donated most of these
to various monasteries and hermitages as sacred objects of worship.
He also commissioned that statues be cast and paintings made, and
so on, for his own residence.

As symbols of the Buddha's Body, he ordered to be cast: a one
storey-high statue of Amitayus, one of Avalokiteshvara, and one of
Padmasambhava in gilded copper adorned with precious gems; two
sets of statues of Padmasambhava flanked by Mandarava and Yeshe
Tsogyal361 arrow-height; 362 three or four sets of statues of the eight
manifestations of Padmasambhava; 363 three sets of statues of Guru
Padmasambhava and his retinue on a hundred-petalled lotus seat, with
a back support decoration and the representation of a lake as the base;
three sets of statues of the masters of the Dzogchen lineage taller than
originally planned; two or three sets of statues of the deities of long
life (White Tara, Amitayus and Usnishavijaya); two or three statues of
Vajrasattva; many statues of White Tara, Amitayus and others, all of
arrow-height; a cubit-high 364 statue of Vajrasattva cast in silver. Each
of these statues was remarkably well cast, shining with a bright golden
hue. They were all statues that bestow blessings, filled with suitable
relics and rolls of mantras, and consecrated by the appropriate rituals
for invoking the deities.

Shakya Shri had numerous rare statues of different sizes, repre-
senting Guru Rinpoche, cast using a lima alloy. 365

He commissioned the painting of three sets of thangka 366 with gold
or variegated bases of the twelve Dzogchen Masters; 367 two thangkas
of the peaceful and wrathful deities; 368 a storey-high appliqued brocade
thangka of Amitabha in his pure buddhafield; eight thangkas
of the eight main bodhisattvas; 369 one thangka of Padmasambhava with his
two consorts; one thangka that bestowed the blessing of Longchenpa;
a one-storey-high thangka of Guru Dewa Chenpo; and five thangkas of
the deities of the Spontaneous Fu!fillment of the Intention: all were painted
using precise measurements according to traditional canons, and framed
in the finest brocade.

As symbols of Buddha's Voice, he commissioned the copying
of The Seventeen Dzogchen Tantras; 370 The Fortunate Aeon Sutra; The Biography
ofPadmasambhava; The Tantra of Immaculate Corifession; and other texts. All
were finely written in gold.

He also commissioned to be copied, and then reproduced by
means of wood-blocks, many printings of The Four Part Heart-Essence and
The Seven Treasuries of Longchenpa, 371 The All-pervasive Knowledge 372
and countless other texts.

He had printed more than one thousand copies of The Biography
of Padmasambhava; the longer and shorter versions of The Tantra of Im-
maculate Corifession; the complete Liberation Through Hearing in the Intermediate
State, a mind terma of Karma Lingpa; The Beniftts of the Jewel Necklace of the
Hundred Thousand Names of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, a compilation of
the words of Mipham Rinpoche; and his own Collected Works.

As symbols of Buddha's Mind, Shakya Shri built a one-storey-high
gold and copper blessing-bestowing stupa, decorated with gemstones
and filled with consecrated substances and mantras. Aware of the events
that would beset the country in the future, he constructed the stupa at
his own residence. On the anniversary ?f the great Chetsiin master, he
performed a ganachakra in front of this stupa, with plentiful offerings;
he lit a huge butter-lamp that burned day and night for a week. Every
tenth day after the waxing and waning of the moon, he performed
this ritual with its offering rite repeated one hundred times, and lit
hundreds of butter-lamps.

Some of his main restoration work on the three representations
of the Buddha's Body, Voice and Mind, were in Tawang (Arunachal
Pradesh, India) and in Bhutan. Three times Shakya Shri offered more
than eighty ounces of gold to paint special statues of Guru Pad-
masambhava. When the application of gold was completed, he and
about thirty people (including his sons, tulkus and other disciples)
performed tantric feasts in front of these statues and made one hundred
thousand of the five kinds of offerings (which included butter-lamps,
food, and so on).

Shakya Shri would regard the actual offerings (made for the sake
of the deceased or by his devotees) as a leopard would regard a heaping
meal of grass placed in front of it. He had not the slightest wish for
the offerings, and dispensed with them, accumulating merit in various
ways such as by giving them to the needy.

In Lhasa, five or six times he made offerings to gild the whole
Jowo statue,373 performing five times the long, medium and short
rituals of the hundred-thousand offerings. He also often offered gold
paint for gilding the statues of the upper chambers of the Jokhang
temple, the statues of the temple of Ramoche, 374 those of the temple
of Samyeling, and the statues of the Thrandrug temple, 375
together with infinite types of offerings.

Shakya Shri offered many valuable objects, as appropriate, to
various masters without bias as to their schools. He made offerings
of money destined for investments to monasteries, hermitages, and
retreat places; the interest earned would go toward performing prayers
and rites.

He made donations wherever temples or sacred representations
were being restored, and funded regular prayers and rituals to be done
there as well. All this he did ceaselessly, never using even the smallest
offering improperly or wastefully, thereby maturing the root
of his virtue.

From time to time, Shakya Shri would stop accepting offerings or
gifts from those who had faith in him or from people making offer-
ings on behalf of the dead. When he was on his way to Lapchi, even
though he travelled through Lhasa and other places as a simple person,
he was given many offerings: for instance, though he received hundreds
of white scarves, he never kept even one, always offering them back.
He preferred to live as a simple, wandering yogin, always giving away
everything he was handed.

When Shakya Shri decided to go on pilgrimage to the holy places of
India and Nepal, the omniscient Drugpa Yongdzin predicted, "The
place where you are destined to create benefit for others is Chigchar, in
the great power place called Tsari!" In accordance with this prediction,
Shakya Shri went on pilgrimage to that region several times, taking
one of three routes: the upper, the lower or the intermediate road. On
these occasions he dedicated himself constantly to teaching gatherings
of fortunate disciples the instructions that ripen and liberate.

In the Earth Bird year (1909), Shakya Shri went to Chigchar; on
the way he paid a courtesy visit to Phagchen Rinpoche of Chamdo,
and at a number of religious ceremonies, offered fifty silver coins.

Arriving in Tsari, with great joy he taught the profound and
detailed instructions on Mahamudra and Dzogchen to more than a
thousand students. He gave about 2500 silver coins, received as of-
ferings from devotees and for deceased family members, to various
monasteries there, asking that prayers and rituals be performed.

Again at his hermitage on his return to eastern Tibet, he donated
the offerings he had received (as a parting gift from the king of Bhu-
tan) to several masters, tulkus and local monasteries for their support.
These included a load376 of English pound notes, eighteen rolls of
raw silk,377 and so forth.

Thereafter, Shakya Shri remained in strict retreat. After four or
five years, he relaxed his practice somewhat and dedicated himself
ceaselessly to giving profound instructions, causing, spontaneously
and effortlessly, great waves of virtuous deeds to benefit others and
help the teachings flourish.

Thieves, robbers, hunters and other people, who had dung stub-
bornly to their unvirtuous behavior, changed as soon as they saw the
face of the Master. Shakya Shri gave liberal offerings of teachings,
food, clothes and whatever was necessary to redeem people; in this
way, douds of disciples amassed around him. With skillful means he
led them toward enlightenment, so that they could accomplish some
aspect of the path; in this way, his was an exemplar of the peerless life
of a Bodhisattva.

Once he said, "There is a vast amount of work for the welfare of
disciples awaiting me already for quite a long time in southern Tibet:'
Then, just as he had said, emissaries of the omniscient master of Sang
Ngag Choling (the tenth Drugchen Rinpoche, Mipham Chowang),
of the king of Bhutan and of the king of Lahoul, arrived and presented
him with offerings and invitations to visit their regions. At that time,
the monasteries and the doctrine in Chamdo and Trayab
as well as other regions of eastern Tibet were declining due to political turmoil.
The head lamas of these monasteries had fled to southern Tibet. Moved by
sadness, Shakya Shri, without making any major preparations for the
journey, decided to depart from his hermitage quickly. He did not have
the slightest desire to ride a horse, nor was he used to doing things in
a hurry. In fact, he never kept horses, mules, dzo 378 or other animals
for riding, so it was difficult to make a sudden departure.

However, as it is said:

| Kings accomplish by decree,
| Yogins through their intention.

Without his having asked for their help, the faithful offered Shakya
Shri about eighty horses and mules for the journey. On the way he
made a detour, stopping at Khampagar monastery to perform the
enthronement ceremony for the son of Khamtrul Tenpe Nyima as an
incarnate lama. When he took his place in the middle of the assembly of
the monks, he sponsored tea for all participants and gave money
that was then distributed among them.

At a settlement in Lhathog, he gave teachings on how to attain
the relative and ultimate goals, instructions the king and his people
had requested. He went on his way, gradually reaching Shodo, where
he gave initiations and liberating instructions to Lama Champa Tendar
and the governor of lower eastern Tibet. On behalf of Lama Champa
he performed, for a few days, rituals for that lama's long-life and to
support his buddha activities, and as well as rituals to reverse declin-
ing times. After considerable reflection, he counselled them on how to
preserve the teachings and benefit all beings, in that situation and in
the future. Because of this, Lama Champa was very pleased, and the
two masters became good friends.

Continuing on his journey, Shakya Shri stayed at Sephu monas-
tery in Lhodzong. There, to the reincarnation of Gyalwang Drugpa
and to an assembly of lamas and tulkus, he gave the empowerment,
transmission and teaching on The All-Pervasive Knowledge in an extensive
and precise way. The offerings that he had been given by disciples and
devotees along his journey, he then bestowed on various monasteries
of the region for the recitation of prayers, and so forth.

After arriving at the retreat place in Char known as Happy Cave,
he offered to various lamas, tulkus and monasteries most of his horses,
mules, and so on. Keeping only a few clothes and some necessary provi-
sions, he entered into strict retreat.

Gradually, like bees around honey, lamas and tulkus, monks and
lay people, important people, humble people, people from India, cen-
tral Tibet and eastern Tibet, gathered around the Master. He worked
for their benefit by giving them the instructions, teaching and precise
practices they needed, such as the preliminaries of the main practices of
Mahamudra and Dzogchen.

In particular, to his older students, practitioners of the Six Yogas of Naropa,
he gave explanations that cut through their uncertainties
about the outer, inner and secret aspects of the practice of tummo.
Later, Shakya Shri was extremely pleased when these students, having
put into practice their Master's advice, reported to him the signs of
their progress.

When Shakya Shri's wife, Chozang Drolma, died, he made vast
offerings to benefit her future lives to the monasteries, lamas, and
tulkus from central and eastern Tibet. His wife had been a woman
with the signs of a powerful dakini, and had been of an extremely
steady character. She had bestowed her affection and caring impartially
on all the Master's disciples, making no distinction between those
of high or low social status. Chozang Drolma had been highly devoted
to and respectful of her husband, the precious Master, and had kept
her samayas well. While her body was being carried for cremation to
Sheldrag, 379 the holy place of Yarlung, 380 along the way many won-
derfully auspicious omens occurred, such as a rainbow touching her
remains. The people of the valley of Yarlung were astonished by these
signs, and bowed respectfully toward her body as it passed by.

Great changes began to happen in eastern Tibet. The dense dark-
ness of the five degenerations 381 descended, spreading throughout Tibet
and greater Tibet, 382 which were invaded by hordes of a barbarian
army. 383 The invasion, threatening the welfare and happiness
of the people, nearly annihilated the faint rays of light shining through the clouds of
religious and social life. With his dear wisdom-eye, Shakya
Shri foresaw that restoring and reconsecrating the three stupas at
Swayambhu, Boudhanath and Namobuddha384 would be beneficial
for the buddhadharma, and the only way to counteract this declining
time and ensure the people's prosperity.

The Swayambhu or Self-Arisen stupa, also called Gomasvalagan-
doha stupa, 385 is a sacred shrine of universal value for the people of the
Indian subcontinent, unsurpassable for accumulating merit and good
fortune. Inside the stupa are relics of the seven previous buddhas. It is
a geomantic point of critical importance to that continent; specifically,
it was dearly stated in authentic sacred prophecies that this stupa
is relevant for the development of the Buddhist teachings in Tibet, the
Land of Snow, as well as being, like Mount Meru, 386 the supreme
support for the happiness of its inhabitants.

The Boudhanath stupa was built by prior incarnations of the
abbot Shantarakshita, Guru Padmasambhava and the dharma king
Trisong Detsen 387 as a sacred representation for inspiring prayers and
for developing altruistic faith. This stupa, known as the Magical Stupa,
contains the relics of a prior buddha, Kashyapa. 388

When one Samvari, the daughter of a woman called Sale, a poultry raiser,
gave birth to a son, she asked the king if a stupa might be built.
'Charung', that is, 'let it be built', is what the king of Nepal said in re-
sponse, which combined with the word khashor or 'slip of the tongue'
became the name by which the stupa is known locally. 389

The third stupa, known as the Bones Stupa, was built on the spot
where the Buddha, (in a previous incarnation) the king of the Shakya
dan, as a bodhisattva on the path of training, gave his body to save a
starving tigress. Adhering to his vision, Shakya Shri decided to restore
all three stupas. The disks, or dharma-wheels, atop Swayambhu stupa
had been badly damaged; the conical pinnacle they formed slanted
towards the north. The upper level rings of Boudhanath stupa were
overgrown with trees, causing half of its conical spire to crack, endan-
gering it. The Namobuddha stupa was in the worst condition of all,
nearly in ruins. It was dear to everyone that these precious shrines and
the images within them needed to be restored and protected.

For some time Shakya Shri had been concerned about the con-
dition of these holy sites; he had already thrice sent Mingyur Tulku
and others to Nepal to assess the situation. Dharma Sahu, a Nepalese
disciple of Shakya Shri, rich in both wealth and devotion, had sent a
detailed report to him on the condition of these shrines. An emissary
also arrived at the residence of Shakya Shri informing him about the stupas.

These sublime stupas serve as precious supports for the safeguard-
ing of the buddhadharma and at the same time they guarantee the
eternal welfare of all sentient beings on our planet. Whenever interest
is taken and efforts made for their preservation, negative forces will
always gather to prevent this happening. Shakya Shri knew precisely and
clearly that some problems were bound to happen. However, thinking
that such an undertaking would greatly benefit the teachings and beings,
he decided to assume the heavy burden of this project, with no regard
for the difficulties, or the criticism from those who opposed it.

First Shakya Shri asked the government of central Tibet for per-
mission to restore the Swayambhu stupa. At the same time, he started
to raise the necessary funds by designating for this goal donations he
had received from his devotees and those given by families on behalf
of their dead. He exchanged most of his everyday personal belong-
ings for cash. Ogyen Wangchug (1862-1926), king of Bhutan, in the
glory of his matchless merit and power, opened wide the door
of a sky treasure by sending Geshe Sherab Dorje to Shakya Shri with an
offering of forty thousand English pounds.

Shakya Shri sent his disciple, Sida Lama, to the region of Lhasa
and other areas on a fund-raising mission that yielded more than five
thousand Tibetan silver coins. Once the fund-raising was over, he sent
a group of people to Nepal. This group was headed by Tsewang Jigme,
and included two of his other sons, Sida Lama, and a few teachers and
disciples. When they arrived in Gyantse in Tsang, 390 the governmen
delayed giving them the necessary permission, causing their stay to
be prolonged.

While they were waiting there, owls were seen to land on the
roof of the Jokhang temple in Lhasa in daytime; water poured down
from the mouth of the crocodile adorning the northeast corner of the
Jokhang roof; and the howling of wolves was heard. Many such bad
omens happened, one after another.

When these portents occurred, Thubten Gyatso, the omniscient
thirteenth Dalai Lama (1876-1933), emanation of Avalokiteshvara
and universal leader, saw in the mirror of his wisdom mind that the
work to restore Swayambhu had to begin at once. Accordingly, with
great loving kindness, he gave written permission that allowed the group
of Shakya Shri's disciples to leave immediately on their mission, and
offered ten thousand silver coins as his personal contribution toward
the restoration work.

All necessary conditions fell into place when the Dalai Lama
decided to send with them Choje Rinpoche, a master unmatched in
the attainment of qualities and wisdoms and in the overcoming of
impediments as well as a great scholar of sutra and tantra, from the
Changtse college of Ganden monastery.391 He was accompanied by
some monks from the tantric college who were assigned to perform the
ceremony for the temporary shifting of the blessing of the shrine 392
and the rite of re-consecration once the work was finished. For the
necessary political backing, he also sent an experienced tax collection
officer with his attendants.

They set out and eventually arrived in Nepal. There, the various
members of the party met to discuss the project. They asked for an
audience with the Gorkhali king and his ministers who held jurisdiction
over the land, and were cordially granted the necessary permission.

The devoted patron Dharma Sahu personally offered five thou-
sand English pounds. The Gorashag Nepalese family (who lived on
one side of the intermediate circumabulation path around the main
temple in Lhasa) promised to provide one-third of the fUnds necessary
to complete the restoration of the stupa. Many people offered to help,
and the farmers worked as laborers.

The great works began on the thirteenth day of the twelfth
month of the female Fire Snake year in the fifteenth sixty-year cycle (1917).
393 Choje Rinpoche of Changste college and his attendants
continuously performed the ritual for the temporary shifting
of the sacred representations of the shrine, as well as other rites, in order
to create favorable conditions and overcome all obstacles. Shakya Shri's
sons and the lamas and monks who accompanied them performed
similar rites.

A great quantity of wood to build scaffolding for the repairs
was loaned by the Gorkhali government. Around forty people were
employed for that work. Everything proceeded in the utmost spirit
of collaboration. In accordance with the plans of the chief joiner,
an expert carpenter called Jogavira, and others, the restoration
of the conical spire and the base of the stupa were completed in such a way
that the great stupa looked more majestic than ever, and its works
ofart more refined. The repairs were done using the best stones, clay,
iron, gold, copper and other materials.

Statues of Vairochana and the other buddhas of the five fami-lies 394
with their consorts placed at the gates in the various directions
of the base of the spherical dome were remade in gilded copper, finer
and larger than before, and set into niches made of the same metals.
Decorations of gemmed pendants on the canopy over the throne of the
stupa and on the parasol towering above the stupa were rebuilt, finer
than the previous ones. The hanging on the outer rim of the parasol
of the stupa, formerly made of silk, was remade in gold and copper
more than a cubit high with small ornamental bells attached to it.

The two Chakrasamvara chapels next to the stupa were renovated
and much improved. Their roofs were furnished with new copper
and gold jewelled finials, 395 and so forth. They were so beautiful that
people could not stop gazing at them, so resplendent with light that
they were like nectar for gods as well as humans. Completion of all
these works took three months and a few days. The materials for the
proposed wall for the stupa's enclosure, gate finials and so on, were
placed in the care of Dharma Sahu. Thus everything donated went
into the constructions and nothing was wasted.

The consecration of the renovated stupa took place on the fif-
teenth day of the month of the Nagpai constellation396 of the male
Earth Horse year (1918), on the occasion of the festival marking the
Buddha's promulgation of the non-dual Kalachakra tantra. 397 Lobzang
Thubten Gyatso Palzangpo, the thirteenth Dalai Lama, was requested
to add his mind blessings for the consecration of the stupa, the pres-
ervation of the teachings, and the prosperity of beings. At the same
time, Shakya Shri, the lord of yogins, who was then at Happy Cave
in the region of Cha, performed the rite of consecration by means of
his profound wisdom mind.

The precious abbot Choje Rinpoche presided over the assembly,
performing the consecration rite in front of the stupa with the monks
of the tantric college, the sons of Shakya Shri, and other lamas and
monks. At the beginning of the ritual to dispel possible obstacles, a
violent storm arose. During the section of the rite in which rice is
scattered to signify that the deities are pleased, a rain of flowers fell,
an event never before heard of, let alone seen. After the ritual was fin-
ished, many rainbows appeared, touching the stupa's pinnacle, along
with many radiant thigles. These events were witnessed by everyone
present.

Then, a special spring of water on the Swayambhu hillside that
had dried up suddenly began to gush water again. Thus the consecration
ritual concluded, accompanied by wonderful auspicious signs.

That very day in the Chamdo region, the leaders of demonic
forces lowered their battle flags, and surrendered their weapons, piling
them up as a mandala offering to Shakya Shri, the chief of gods. They
sought protection and refuge, while others of them were completely
annihilated. Thus did the light of excellence and virtue that ensures
the endurance of the precious teachings, the glorious protector
of the people, spread throughout all parts of Tibet.
Thinking that it might lead to the fault of their satisfaction with
good deeds done in the past, I will not specify the names of those
people who contributed donations to the stupa renovations. To give
a general idea, the Tibetan government helped as mentioned above,
and the king of Bhutan on various occasions contributed more than
seventy thousand English pounds. A total of about 157,800 silver
coins were spent. These donations contributed to the growth
of the wish-fulfilling tree of inexhaustible merit for the donors themselves
and for all other beings as well.

| The great self-arisen stupa known as Swayambhu,
| The casket which holds the relics of seven buddhas, ornaments of the continent of Jambu, 398
| Is the shrine worshipped by humans and gods;
| Its fame pervades the three dimensions of existence.
| Nagarjuna, supreme among the jewels of our earth,
| Vasubhandu, the second omniscient one, and others,
| All have held Swayambhu in special veneration;
| Their exemplary lives still have an undiminished influence.
| There is no doubt that lndra, &om the heaven of the thirty- three gods, 399
| Keeps watch upon this stupa with his thousand eyes,
| And that Brahma assiduously protects it,
| His four faces heedful in the four directions.
| Although the supreme saints and scholars of India and Tibet
| And many faithful kings have worshipped at Swayambhu,
| The paltry merit of beings in this age,
| When the five degenerations are increasing, 400
| Plus the heavy burden of impurities accumulated over years
| Utterly eclipsed its form, leaving it in ruins.
| Thus its benefit for the teachings and for beings
| Was like the meager flow of a rivulet in winter.
| Now like a youthful, supremely radiant smile,
| The moon-like intention of the highest siddha called Shakya
| Rises in space over the eastern range of the mountains of Tibet,
| Spreading the white rays of the golden age,
| And the glory of light descends upon this sublime shrine.
| Envious and perverse owls who swoop down in the night,
| Shrieking wrong views far and wide,
| Are now hiding deep in remote forests

CHAPTER VIII. His Work for the Beings of this Realm Completed, Shakya Shri Disappears into the Great Expanse of Reality

ONCE THE RENOVATION of the Swayambhu stupa was finished,
Shakya Shri's sons left Nepal and returned to Tibet where the
precious Lord ofYogins was staying at Happy Cave. They told him
of the successful restoration of the Swayambhu stupa. Shakya Shri, highly
pleased to hear this, praised their achievement, and once more resolved
to sustain the restoring of the Boudhanath stupa and the Namobuddha
stupa, which are sources of refuge for all beings, living or dead.

Without cease, Shakya Shri transmitted ever more and more the
teachings that ripen and liberate to the countless disciples who streamed
to him from all directions. To each student, he would point out the
fleeting nature of life. Looking directly at them, his eyes opened wide,
his finger raised to his heart, he would say: "If you have devotion and
faith toward the master, there is not even a hair tip's difference if the
master is alive or not. Understand that whenever you make a request
to a master, you will always spontaneously receive his blessing. I, an
old man, am not nobler than others. However, from the age of eight, I
completely renounced worldly involvement and developed a profound
belief in all my root masters as buddhas. Having focused my efforts day
and night exclusively on practicing the teachings and having withstood
much hardship with courage, I have become free from conditioned ways
of being and have ascended to perfect liberation. Once I had entered
the eternal kingdom of changeless pure awareness, concepts like birth
and death became mere words for me. The same applies to you: practice
the profound instructions one-pointedly with no distraction during
the day and without sleep at night!"

One day he said to a dose disciple by the name ofTseten Dorje,
"Cast a thumb-size statue of Guru Rinpoche in gold for me:' The
disciple replied, "I cannot:' "Why not?" asked Shakya Shri, "Even if
you do not know how to do it, if you try now you will be successful.
And if you cannot cast it in gold, then do so in copper or brass. Any of
those metals will do; it makes no difference:' At that time, the Master
also said, "Signs indicate that I will not restore Boudhanath stupa:'
Tseten cast the statue as the Master had indicated, and it turned out
well. Shakya Shri was pleased and applied about eight grams of gold
paint to it. Then he took a few relics of the Buddha that he kept tied
in his topknot, and holding the statue in his hands, with great care
and attention he placed the relics inside it. After Shakya Shri passed
away, this tiny image was sealed inside the newly constructed statue of
the Master as the real wisdom-being [401] deity. The casting of the tiny
statue was certainly most significant.

Shakya Shri was usually not at all pleased if someone wanted to
cast a statue of him or make other such tributes. Even so, one day he
told a disciple: "Cast a statue that resembles me:' The disciple asked,
"How shall I make it look?" First Shakya Shri placed his hands in the
mudra gesture of meditation for a while, and then he made the mudra
of touching the earth. [402] Then after a while he said, "No, no! Not
like that. The right hand should be in the mudra of teaching and the
left in the mudra of meditation holding a volume of scripture.
Thehair should be arranged in a central knot with three levels, one above
the other. One lock of hair should come down to the left and one to
the right, with the rest of the hair hanging loose in back, and make
the hair black"

The request for this statue, of which a photograph still exists,
was another indication that he would soon leave his body to depart for
another buddhafield. Linked with this, he told a few close and distant
disciples that he would die in southern Tibet.

When, during the last part of his life, he was staying at Happy
Cave hermitage, a continuous stream of people arrived from eastern
Tibet requesting him to go to their home regions. On those occasions
he would say to Si Lama and others, "The descendants of my sons
will go to eastern Tibet, but we will not make it there:' He encouraged
his sons, speaking as if instructing them for the first time, "Keep your
faith and your commitments pure. Persevere in one-pointed practice of
the teachings, since that is the fortunate coincidence which brings the
simultaneous enlightenment of students and teacher. Amkar Dechen
Dorje403 exhorted his disciples in that very way, and all attained the
rainbow body and departed together for the celestial realm.4

Some faithful disciples who kept pure samaya, reviewing the visions they
had had during that period, recalled having seen fall a great
victory banner. Shakya Shri himself said, "It seems I may not live much
longer; the time has come for me to move on to the buddhafield of
the Copper Mountain [405]

Not long after, he felt slightly unwell. His sons and disciples
offered prayers and rituals for his well-being and insisted he take
medicine. Shakya Shri told them, "For myself, I have no need of rituals
or medical treatment. However, it will be auspicious for you to assist
me, as your attempts will fulfill your accumulation of merit. So your
efforts are not pointless:'

The night before he died, Shakya Shri had a vision of many monks
inviting him to come with them. "It seems they are inviting me to the
buddhafield of Sukhavati; [406] he said.

He then made this promise: "Buddhafields know no limits or
boundaries, such as size or direction. However, when you prostrate, do
it towards the west; make a prayer and it will be fulfilled. Do not forget
me when you make supplications, and your prayers will be answered;
you will not be threatened now nor in the future by any of the eight
fears: [407] Thus, in the future, fortunate disciples should make ardent
prayers and supplications to Shakya Shri and they will be fulfilled.

Judging from authentic predictions made by true masters, Shakya
Shri should have spent the end of his life in Tsari, where he would
have realized the body of rainbow light. Shakya Shri himself had said
he had long before attained the complete certainty of liberation into
the rainbow body; this was clear from his having perfected the great
power of experiential visions and realization. But before that could
manifest, the throngs of disciples around him grew and grew, as his
work for others expanded greatly. Because of this, he predicted, "I will
not attain the rainbow body:' This was reported by fortunate, close
disciples of Shakya Shri who are worthy of trust.

Having accomplished his service to the teachings and to sentient
beings in a truly extraordinary way, the Master appeared to withdraw
his mind into the ultimate realm of clear light. However, this appearance
was just a wondrous display. In truth, Shakya Shri was beyond
birth and death, an exalted being, a sovereign in the majestic kingdom of
deathlessness. Sublime beings on the path called 'no training [408]
(that is, buddhas) are of course free from birth and death determined
by karma, but even those at the first level of realization are free of
that bondage.

As Maitreya said:

| Sublime beings have left behind
| The pain of sickness, old age, and death;
| Free of passions, free of unvirtuous deeds,
| They are deathless, they are birthless.

Having realized the essencelessness of birth and death, and hav-
ing gained control over his own life span, Shakya Shri might have
lived until he was one hundred years old or more, even in this
era when the qualities of both sentient beings and the teachings
are diminished. However, not even the radiance of the awaken-
ing activities of a thousand buddhas could illumine ages satu-
rated with the pervasive darkness of the five degenerations. In
such times, not even the notion exists that the presence
of an enlightened being is rare. When, in these times of wrong views,
an enlightened being temporarily withdraws his emanation from
the world, beings bound by the eternalist views are encouraged
to take an interest in the doctrine. Through a master's fervent
yearning, all characteristic signs of a degenerate age, such as ill-
ness, famine, conflict and war, are lessened. This also temporar-
ily deters the rise of barbarians hostile to the teachings, and so
forth. Therefore, in order to benefit both the preservation of the
teachings and the prosperity of beings, Shakya Shri manifested
the magical display of withdrawing his emanation.

Accordingly, The Pure Golden Light Sutra states:

| The Enlightened One does not slip away into nirvana
| Nor does his teaching vanish.
| It is for the sake ofmaturing beings that
| He magically displays passing beyond this realm of suffering.

The Sutra ofthe White Lotus of the Sacred Doctrine states:

| Even after displaying the level that has transcended suffering,
| Known as 'level' because it is for the sake of training beings,
| I have not passed into nirvana;
| Even then I continue to teach the doctrine.

As stated in the promise of Shakya Shri above, disciples with faith
will always be able to encounter the Master and receive his teachings.
This is because the Master is gifted with the skill to uplift disciples
with his unconditional love, unobstructed magical powers, pristine
clairvoyance, victory over obstacles, and timely knowledge. Accord-
ingly the Sutras state:

| Waves can impede the dolphins in the sea,
| But a buddha cannot be kept
| From rescuing his children, beings to be uplifted.

Jigme Lingpa says:

| When the time to uplift beings is not at hand,
| The Master disappears into the ultimate realm;
| When there is no water, the moon's reflection
| Disappears into the moon from whence it came.

So it is that the Master's manifestation, like a reflection
of the moon in water, ceases when the lake of disciples becomes parched.
Spontaneously at the right time, the enlightened activity of a buddha manifests
in concert with the merits of the disciples (like a sun, a moon, a
wish-fulfilling jewel, a wish-granting tree, or the sound of a heavenly
drum).409 For whom has reached the objective, the realization of the dharmakaya
as buddha-mind, displays of emanations arise naturally to accomplish benefit for others.

Correspondingly, Chandrakirti 410 said:

| [Mind] freed in its own condition,
| Like the wish-bestowing tree or a wish-fUlfilling gem,
| Has no wishes of its own,
| But yields the wealth that is complete liberation until it frees all beings.

This is illustrated by the example of a stupa magically created by the
Garuda mantra. [411] The sambhogakaya of the master is the inherent radiance of
the profound clarity of the dharmakaya manifesting externally.
Even when the sambhogakaya withdraws within the youthful vase body, [412] that clarity,
which is the clarity of wisdom of the reality dimension, totally calm in the thigle
of the inconceivable inner expanse, remams.

The Clarification of the Lamp states:

| The wisdom of reality, present as the ground,
| Illuminates the aspect of knowing,
| But is devoid of coarse fixed concepts;
| It is self-arisen compassion.

Thus, disciples who have sufficient merit may be blessed and cared for
by the dharmakaya. As The Supreme Continuum states: 413

| Just as a flawless sapphire's surface
| Reflects Indra's body,
| The image of the Buddha's dimension
| Appears on the mind, the pure base of sentient beings.

By supplicating the supreme savior whose blessing is impartial, not
favoring some over others, we remain always within his care.

On the eighteenth day of the month of the Nagpai constellation
in the female Sheep year (1919), at the age of seventy-seven, this
adamantine Master blessed with wonderful qualities appeared to be
slightly unwell.

A rainbow of white light appeared in the southern and northern
skies, like a line pitched with a string, straight from the peak of a moun-
tain to the eastern horizon. In the sky to the north appeared a white
cloud resembling a square ornamental canopy, and there were other
constantly transforming signs witnessed by many ordinary persons.

On the morning of the nineteenth day, Shakya Shri placed his
hands in the position called ~valokitesvara resting in the nature of
the mind; 414 a balanced physical posture, neither tense nor loose; while
thus remaining completely at ease, as if falling asleep, he withdrew his
mind into the ultimate realm.

| Rare is a buddha's coming; rare to have the merit to see his radiant face.
| The supreme Master, a real buddha, has fallen asleep in the ultimate realm.

| Now the path to liberation has been hidden in the pitch darkness of our bad karma.Alas!
| Now we wander in the depths of the ocean of suffering,having lost our protector.
| The sun that distinguished true from false has set behind the western mountain,
| The moon that cooled samsara's painful heat has vanished.
| The mother who protected us with loving kindness has gone away.
| Having lost the trustworthy friend, our minds are dulled.
| The treasure-house of sublime Dzogchen and Mahamudra teachings is no more.
| Our bodies endowed with good qualities, deprived of the nourishment
| Of instructions on the excellent path, are weakening.
| Wandering in the ravine of false visions, we feel the vital breath of liberation ceasing.
| What can we do, helpless in a vast desert of misery?
| Alas! You have left us, and
| Hounded by the hordes that announce the Lord of death,
| We have stumbled onto this dreadful path unwillingly.
| What karma has afflicted us with this dreadful burden ofsuffering?

The Master passed into perfect peace, as if falling asleep. Just then, in
space, the great natural elements thundered long and loud, and were
heard by all. The scriptures say that miraculous signs, such as a six-fold
earthquake, hearing a sound like 'hur; and so forth, occur when the
buddhas become enlightened, when buddhas subdue demonic forces,
when buddhas promulgate the teachings, and when they pass beyond
this world of suffering.

From the moment these signs occurred marking the death of the
Master, until the twenty-first day of the month, that is, for three days,
the body of Shakya Shri was not touched or moved.

On the day of his passing away, the autumn sky appeared pristine and pure, with
not a cloud, nor a trace of mist. People were apprehensive that such weather
could augur the onset of a frost damaging to the crops. However, at dusk and
at other times too, the entire regionwas covered by a mist that was unmoving
and dense which prevented frost from forming.

The tantras state that this is an outward sign that the Master has
attained radiant awareness of the inner expanse, completely free from
any grasping or concept, something which manifests from an auspicious
conjunction of events whose crucial point lay in the parallel working
of outer, inner and alternative levels of existence. [415] On the twenty-second day
of the month, a ritual, as in the teachings of

The Indestructible Tent o/ the Dakini [416] and other tantras, to
awaken the Master from the expanse of reality and urging him to enter
the sambhogakaya dimension of Vajrasattva, was performed.
This practice, beneficial for the swift rebirth of Shakya Shri, as a
youthful moon-like incarnation, involved washing the Master's body
with saffron water blessed by Vidarani and Bhurkumkuta rites,417
placing written mantra syllables on different parts of the body, and
dressing the body in sambhogakaya attire with the crown of the five
Dhyani-buddhas, and so forth.

As soon as this rite had finished, circular rainbows filled the whole
sky, emanating white light, like sun rays, in all directions. Numerous
white douds in various shapes and patterns appeared, such as one
resembling a silk scarf that came from the west and formed a vault in
the center of the sky, like a rainbow.

Some sun rays resembling silk scarves entwined in a single strand.
Then the single strand divided into two, three, five and so on, and then
they aligned like spokes, forming unbelievable patterns in the sky. Such
signs appeared until midday and were witnessed by all.

On the twenty-third day of the month, everyone heard sounds of
drums and other wonderfully pleasing, melodious music. The sky was
filled with circular rainbows; white clouds formed never before seen
patterns and many rainbows appeared as before.

On the twenty-fifth day of the month, from the western sky two
separate violent sounds were heard that lasted quite a while. Immediately
afterwards a rainbow appeared from the same direction and aligned
itself vertically in the center of the sky. Other rainbows formed curious
shapes. By changing position, assembling and transforming from one
moment to another, they assumed different shapes such as intersecting
lines, checkered designs, ornamental whorls and pendants, spokes of
lights and so forth. This display continued until the afternoon.

On the twenty-sixth, twenty-seventh, and the following days, these
signs were less evident, but still the sky was filled with white clouds
in unusual, curious shapes. White rainbow segments and fragments
appeared every day. Even at night during that time, everybody could
see a woolly blanket-like white rainbow with spokes radiating to the
east.

On the twenty-ninth day of the month, as before, many white
clouds and rainbows were seen to take on amazing shapes never seen
before. Those who examined them closely, identified forms typical
of the eight auspicious symbols, the eight auspicious substances and
other offering objects. Also these symbols kept transforming from one
moment to the next. Such wondrous displays which appeared from
morning until evening of that day were like nectar, satisfYing the
eyes of all present.

On the fifth day of the month of the Chuto constellation, 418
white douds appeared in the sky, looking like many fine-edged water
ripples as if painted by an artist's brush. In the swirling eddies
of the ripples could be seen shining rings resembling the concentric circles
caused by a stone dropped in water. Also to be seen dearly were garuda-
like forms, with detailed large and small variegated feathers.

At the end of these displays, all the cloud formations became
like a crystal arisen in the sky. There were many rainbows: emerald
green, lacquer-red, emitting five-colored lights. Within the rainbows
that filled the sky were a mass of thigles, garlands, ornamental whorls
and pendants. The earth, the sky and the space in-between were a
resplendent five-colored hue that everyone saw. Each day from that
moment on, everyone saw the sun, the moon and the constellations
all at the same time. That day, most people present had some kind of
experience or vision, too many to recount them all.

On the sixth day of the month, rainbows adorned with garlands of five colors
formed into the shape of a bow. Starting from the eastern portion of
the sky and reaching its center, douds took charming
frog-like forms. At dawn on the eighth day of the month, a loud
boom sounded twice, causing those hearing it to tremble in fear. That
same day a garland of red-hued rainbows gathered to form a bow or
half-moon.

On the ninth day of the month, rainbow douds appeared, resem-
bling rows of threads like those that had manifested earlier. Later in
the evening, though the time is not certain, there was a loud 'hur, hur'
sound that awoke everyone.

On the tenth day of the month in the southern sky above the residence of
the Master a rainbow appeared, mainly bright red, emit-
ting vertical five-colored lights that resembled pillars. This phenom-
enon faded, reappeared and then faded over and over again for quite
a while. As the warmth of the sun began to be felt, rainbow spokes of five
colors, straight above the Master's residence, appeared, faded
and then reappeared many times. At night the loud sound 'hur, hur'
was heard again.

On the eleventh day of the month, a white rainbow arising in the
west came directly into the center of the sky, manifesting as before. It
appeared to circumambulate clockwise before disappearing to the east,
and soon another rainbow appeared from the west. At the same time
in each of the four directions five-colored rainbows alternately faded
and reappeared. In the late afternoon a circular rainbow also appeared,
and a luminous white cloud dearly resembling a lion appeared from the
east. The cloud transformed into a victory banner, then into a conch
shell, and then into an endless knot. 419 That evening in the eastern sky
a white rainbow appeared, forming a straight line.

On the fourteenth day of the month, a cloud formation, like a
vertical crystal pierced by sunlight, became a mass of rainbow light. In
the southern sky there appeared a clear rainbow of five colors, whose
long rays remained for some time. Within these rainbows were many
douds taking the form of offerings and offering goddesses. In the
west, a cloud shaped like a jewel with circular patterns 420 and a cloud
resembling a ladder with sixteen steps appeared. Most of
the clouds that gathered and remained in the center of the sky for a long time
were adorned with five-colored rainbow light.

At midday on the twenty-eighth day of the month, many people
saw in the eastern sky a mostly white rainbow whose tip touched the
roof of the Master's home. After that rainbow light disappeared, a
brilliant five-colored rainbow stayed in the western sky until sunset.
On the thirtieth day of the month just before noon, a lovely white
cloud shaped like a sash formed by ripples in water appeared in the
center of an otherwise crystal-dear sky. The cloud moved, shifting
continuously into attractive shapes that people said they had never
seen before. Then the cloud turned into a radiant mass of rainbow
light, after that transforming into a ring of the same colors. Within
the ring, various designs appeared, dearer than those painted with a
brush. Finally, the formation vanished into the western sky.
Once again, on the surface of a shining mass of rainbow light,
appeared two, then three, then five dazzling crystalline thigles that
joined together and remained suspended in the sky. The douds in that
direction became infused with rainbow light. Beyond them were many
white douds in which could be seen vajra fences with a center which
appeared and then vanished. That night, again, many people heard the
thundering sound of 'hur, hur:

Later, on the first day of the month of the Droshin constellation, 421
a long rainbow appeared toward the center of the sky, and a bright
lacquer-red light glowed in the pristine southern sky. A blue light unlike
the azure color of the sky also became visible. These two lights shone
for a long time. In the southwestern sky, the tip of a cloud blazed with
a fiery red light, and two luminous green and orange lights shone like
suns for a while and then disappeared.

On the second day of the same month, in the center of the sky
appeared a long five-colored rainbow. The sky in the southwest was
utterly limpid. In the midst of this dear, azure-blue sky, a lacquer-red
light with a green aureole shone for a long time. On the fifth, the eighth
and other days of the month, douds and rainbows filled the sky for
most of the day. On the ninth day of the month, in the southern sky
appeared enchanting cloud formations edged by a bright red rainbow
light that was almost blinding.

On the tenth day, as soon as the preparations for the Master's
cremation began, Shakya Shri's sons and most disciples went to pay
their respects to the Master's body, and to make prayers and supplica-
tions to be protected and cared for by him throughout all their fUture
lives. Everyone saw that the precious body of the Master had shrunk
to the size of an eight-year old boy. A long, loud sound was heard at
that moment while a delicate rain of flowers fell. Many such wonderfUl
signs were heard and seen by everyone.
Concerning these signs, The Mirror of the Heart of Vajrasattva
states: 422

| There are two ways of passing into perfect peace:
| One is perfect complete enlightenment
| And one is perfect manifest enlightenment.

Perfect complete enlightenment refers to enlightenment that leaves
no physical remains. This is how those who achieve the rainbow body
pass into perfect peace. 'Perfect manifest enlightenment' refers to a
passing away into perfect peace, leaving behind the body and relics,
accompanied by light, sounds, and trembling of the earth.

Longchenpa Trime Ozer , the Lord of the Victorious Ones, dis-
played perfect manifest enlightenment when he died. He was cremated
in the great graveyard of Chimphu 423 in the presence of two shining
lights and two roaring sounds; two kinds of relics manifested from his
unburned bones. His death was accompanied by six signs: the whole
earth sounded 'hur' loudly and in a crescendo tremored, trembled,
shuddered, shook and quaked. Then the earth resounded seven times,
indicating that the signs of Longchenpa's perfect manifest enlight-
enment were complete, and that he had passed into the primordial
ground of being.

Similarly, the supreme Master Shakya Shri, the glorious primordial
buddha, having completed all stages of realization on the path, and
having perfected the two objectives, left signs typical of perfect manifest
enlightenment at the level known as 'no more training:

The Root Tantra of the Mirror of the Heart of Vajrasattva states:

| As visions increase through experience,
| Wisdom's innate radiance appears externally
| As light which ascends and expands,
| And as manifold radiant thigles
| Visible in an unconceivable display.

When all the signs indicate that the last stage in the development of
vision is complete, 424 these signs manifest in external space.
The Root Tantra also states:

| Through the internal experience of emptiness
| Wisdom manifests externally as radiance.

As an imprint left by the realization of the nature of
Dzogchen beyond concepts just as it is, unchanging wisdom
manifests as radiance, the nature of primordial energy.

All the appearances mentioned above, rainbows manifesting as
spokes and spheres of light, lotuses, stupas, mansions, arrows, spear
heads, ornamental whorls and pendants, as well as checkered patterns,
accord with descriptions found in the secret tantras. Moreover, during
the stage called 'pure awareness reaching its peak', 425 the purification
of the buddhafields 426 of the nirmanakaya and sambhogakaya is
fully accomplished, and these realms actually appear as infinite pure Visions.

The Blazing Relics of the Buddha-Body states:

| Those who know about innate radiance,
| As the appearance of the four elements earth, water, fire and wind,
| Which are the objects oftheir perception, naturally ebbs,
| Will gradually experience the light of five-colors,
| The sign that they and innate luminosity are inseparable.

Shakya Shri perfected his training in the buddhafield, that is, in remaining
in the natural state and having reached the final stage, manifested the characteristic qualities
of pure awareness. As a result, all appearances manifested as light, not only in the vision
of Shakya Shri, but also in the perceptions of others.

When Shakya Shri was cremated, his body blazed by itsel£ seem-
ingly without the need for wood or melted butter (usually poured
on the pyre to help kindle the fire). While the cremation was taking
place, in the northwestern sky a white rainbow appeared that looked
like a white blanket. The cremation flames appeared like multi-colored
lotuses; a lingering fragrance, unlike that of the burning incense, per-
vaded the entire area.

That afternoon, just before the cremation ended, some saw a
five-colored rainbow revolving like a parasol in the sky above the
Master's residence and the cremation stupa. 427 From the southern sky,
a white cloud containing a dear letter A appeared and then abruptly
disappeared.

The morning of the eleventh day of the month, the day after the
cremation, the region was enveloped in a dense mist, within which a
milk-white rainbow formed a canopy over the cremation stupa.
After three days, the cremation stupa was split open. Though the
body of the Master had burned in a fierce fire, his eyes, tongue and
heart, symbolizing the enlightened Body, Speech and Mind, remained
untouched. The precious Vajra body of the Master had changed into
an astonishing shape: a thumb-size egg, white and radiant with light,
had emerged from the core of his being.

There were also many big and small relics of the five types,
symbolizing the attainment of the five wisdoms of the five families. 428
The bone-relics were shaped like deities, letters, emblems, and various
other things. Gold and silver ornaments such as rings, earrings and so
on that had been placed on the body of the Master were found not to
have burned: this was a wondrous sign.

In the sky above, in mid-air, and on earth were rainbow thigles
of five colors, resplendent like the hues of a peacock's feathers, which
appeared in the morning and remained till sunset. Other amazing
and magical occurrences caused much faith, devotion, and a sense of
renunciation in those present, as well as increasing the quality of their
meditation experience and realization. 429

| When the miraculous nirmanakaya display
| Is reabsorbed into the luminous vast expanse
| Which is pure from the very beginning,
| All the atoms of its four elements vanish into a sky
| Illuminated by an all-pervasive blue radiance.

| Unable to bear the great weight of this being's qualities,
| Our vast earth loses its stability, and
| Symbolizing the victory drumbeat over demonic forces,
| The depth of the sky reverberates with the sound of 'hur:

| Beautifully ornamented with white, blue and red lights,
| Rainbows 611 the entire expanse of the sky
| Forming amazing dense patterns
| Like shapes newly created by a skillful artist.

| You have disappeared behind the crest
| Of this country's western mountains
| So that the light of your compassion,
| The sun, escorted by the strength of seven horses,
| May illuminate the teachings of the supreme path,
| The ultimate secret, in other realms.

| However, your pure, clear, loving, wise emanations always
| Reflect in the clear lake of destined and qualified disciples.
| By virtue of its interdependent nature, your manifest presence
| Will never cease its magical display to benefit countless sentient beings.

When the supreme Master withdrew his mind into the expanse of
reality, his sons and most of his closest disciples performed uninter-
ruptedly the funerary rites of the oceanic clouds of offering. 430
They first invited the omniscient tenth Drugpa Rinpoche and
then mysel£ Kathog Situ, while I was on pilgrimage in the region of
Lokha. In accordance with the link we had to the spiritual lineage of
the supreme Master, we went to Happy Cave. Along with hundreds
of masters, tulkus, monks and other practitioners assembled there,
we made prayers of supplication. In front of the precious body of the Master, we
ourselves received and then conferred initiations on the others present, as
in the practice of the lineage of the awareness holders, to the satisfaction of all.

In this connection, we also performed the rite of purification destined for the benefit
of the dead. Then, together with important masters, tulk.us, and spiritual friends, we
offered an infinite ocean of clouds of offerings for seven weeks. During the tantric
feast rites, ten thousand offerings including butter-lamps, food, and so forth, were
made in front of many indivisible mandalas of the early and later canonical and terma
teachings. 431

For the sake of renewing our pledges and vows we performed the
rite that mends breaches in samaya taking the four related initiations of
the path.432 We made prayers for the swift return of the Master's
emanation, so that his disciples and all practitioners might purify
and ripen their mind-streams through taking initiations and through
perfecting the two phases of the tantric path.

During the cremation of the Master's body, five rites connectedwith the mandalas of
different deities were performed precisely and elaborately.
Drugchen Rinpoche performed the rite of Chakrasamvara;
myself, that of Vajrasattva; the sons of Shakya Shri performed the
Vajra Kilaya rite; 433 Si Lama that of The Secret Union of the Dakinis.
The tulk.u son of Chogyur Lingpa, together with other disciples of
the Master, performed the rite of The Peaciful and Wratlful Deities
from the Mind- Essenceof Samantabhadra. 434

OFFERINGS MADE FOR THE PERFORMANCE OF RITUALS ON THE OCCASION OF THE MASTER's DEATH
THE SEVENTH WEEK AFTER

the death of the Master, in gratitude for his participation in the rites, Drugchen Rinpoche
was offered I08 gifts, including eleven sets of fine garments and I50 silver coins.

They offered to me a set of the symbols of the Body, Speech and Mind of
the buddhas,435 ISO silver coins, clothing, articles of offering,
various medicines, and exquisite gifts from India. Generous offerings of money were
also given to all who participated in the rites.

Offerings for the performance of prayers were sent to the Dalai Lama, the omniscient king
of the victorious ones, the Panchen Rinpoche in Tsang, Sakya Trichen,436 Gyalwang Karmapa. 437
Drug Ngawang Namgyal,438 Minling Trichen,439 two ex-holders of the Ganden throne or heads
of the Gelug school, Tagre Tulku of Ladakh, Drugpa Yongdzin, Shabdrung Chogon, Gogtra Tulku
and Chung Tulku, Choje Rinpoche and others of Changtse and Shartse colleges of
Ganden monastery, and other important lamas. Generous offerings of
gifts and money were made to different monasteries, communities of
practitioners and retreat places. Copious offerings were made in the region of eastern Tibet.

For example, a precious buddha statue made of a metallic
compound weighted with gold and silver was offered to Phagchen
Rinpoche. For the restoration of monasteries and for educational
activities, 250 Tibetan silvecoins and thirteen sets of articles were
offered. His Eminence, the Lama ofTrayab monastery, was given three
blessing-bestowing symbols of the three dimensions, along with 15O
Tibetan silver coins and eight sets of articles of offering. To Shizang
Chogtrul, the symbols of the Body, Speech and Mind of the buddhas
were offered, as well as 150 silver coins and other gifts. To the precious
protector, Khamtrul Rinpoche, the symbols of the Body, Speech and Mind of
the buddhas were offered, and many other excellent gifts.
Money and tea were offered to the monasteries, retreat places and
their teachers. Three highly esteemed symbols of the Buddha's Body, Voice and
Mind were offered to the new incarnation of the precious protector Khyentse Wan gpo of
Dzongsar monastery along with clothes and other gifts.

To Adzom Drugpa, the precious protector, were presented a set of blessing-bestowing symbols
of the Buddha's Body, Voice and Mind and also various kinds of clothing. Offerings
of gifts and money were given to the sons and to the consort of Shakya Shri
as well as to the lamas and tulkus and all other disciples of the Master.

Generous offerings for the performance of prayers and rites
were given to Dzogchen Rinpoche, to many venerable monks and
great scholars, to Yagze Tulku, to the monks of Palpung Monastery,
to the residences of Khyentse and Kongtrul, to Shingkyong Gemog
and other lamas of Kathog monastery, 440 to Nyagla Terton Sogyal, 441
to Terton Trime, and to various monasteries regardless of their size or importance.

In front of the wish-fulfilling gem of the Buddha statue in the
main temple in Lhasa, the Jokhang, the medium-length rite of one
thousand offerings was performed as well as the offering of gilding the face of
the statue. The extensive thousand offering ritual was performed in front of
the statue of the Buddha in the Lhasa Ramoche temple,
and gilding was offered for the statue's face. The extensive thousand
offering ritual was also performed in the different temples of Samyel-
ing monastery along with the devotional act of painting the faces of
the statues with gold.

Large sums of money and gifts were offered to the abbots of
Changtse and Shartse colleges of Ganden monastery and to many
geshes of the upper and lower tantric colleges. 442

In brie£ in eastern, central and western Tibet, India, Nepal and
Bhutan, donations of money, tea, food, and so forth, were made to
lamas, tulkus, geshes, monasteries, large and small colleges, retreat
places, and so forth, without bias and excluding none, toward the
performance of customary rites.

Another important aspect regarding the fulfilment of Shakya
Shri's intentions was to realize his wish to restore the great stupa of
Boudhanath and the Namobuddha stupa. Both stupas are located in
Nepal and are among the most sacred ancient places of the earth.

When the Swayambhu stupa was being restored in accordance
with the wishes of Shakya Shri, government officials who co-operated
with the project had also noted the conditions of
the other two stupas. They had informed the Dalai Lama that repairs were definitely needed,
and as soon as possible. Moreover they had asked Shakya Shri's sons
to report to the Lord of siddhas the ruinous condition of the stupas,
and the need to restore them.

As soon as Shakya Shri heard the detailed report from his sons, he
said, "These three precious stupas absolutely need to be restored. Many
earlier prophecies, at various times and places, have clearly indicated
that these three stupas are the most important supports for the bud-
dhadharma and for the benefit of beings. I, an old man, have also had
some minor prophecies which have convinced me that this is true:'

He also said, "We must take good care of these stupas, as they
are a source of benefit for both the living and the dead. Even though
others may not assist you, I ask that you undertake their restoration,
without fail. When this has been done, my work for the teachings and
for beings will have been completed and all my wishes fulfilled:'
These vajra words as to how his goals might be met, words which
the Master repeated again and again, both publicly and privately, rang
dearly in the ears of his disciples, as if they were his last will before
his departure to another buddhafield. From the day the Master's mind
absorbed into the expanse of reality, Shakya Shri's sons, in particular,
and his older disciples, as well, did everything to fulfill the remaining
wish of their Master, that is, his wish to benefit beings and the teach-
ings by restoring these stupas. They discussed it among themselves
and decided to go ahead.

When disciples went to make offerings in the holy places near
Lhasa after the Master's death, they took that opportunity to ask the
Tibetan government for permission to restore the other two stupas.
Before long they received word that they might indeed restore them.
In addition, the Tibetan government gave them a donation of 5,250
Tibetan silver coins, without having been asked, as well as an official
letter to present to people whenever fund-raising for the project. As
soon as permission was granted, disciples departed to raise funds,
motivated and inspired.

In the region of Lhasa, they collected about 1500Tibetan silver
coins, and four hundred grams of gold dust from wealthy Lhasa aris-
tocrats, merchants, disciples, and patrons. The great king of Bhutan
and his court donated£ 13,700; and he wrote a fund-raising appeal
to be shown to his subjects. Bhutanese disciples visited their respective
native regions and raised a total of£ 1,174. In addition, the family
of a deceased Bhutanese government official named Kachi donated
£ 2,000 on his behalf, to accumulate merit.

From Sikkim, Kalingpong, Darjeeling, and nearby places, about
£ 1,140 were raised. From Kyirong443 and other places, 1,250
Ti-betan silver coins were collected; from Shar Khumbu in Nepal, 1,151
Gorkhali silver coins; 1,666 Tibetan silver coins from Kyirong, Nyalam,
Orang, Lapchi444 and other regions; and a similar amount from Tsibri,
Changdza Dong, Nubri, Chasumdo, and so forth. 445
In Trumo (bordering Sikkim) and nearby regions, 2,623 Tibetan
silver coins were raised, and 4,601 Tibetan silver coins atTashilhiinpo
monastery446 in the region of Lhatse, 447 and so on. In the Khunu val-
ley in lndia, 448 £ 666 were raised, as well as 432 silver coins and forty
grams of liquid gold in Serdum, Nyal and upper and lower Char (south of Tagpo).

In the western regions of Oyug, Rang, Shang, and so on, 520
Tibetan silver coins were raised. 449 In the region of Kongpo (at the
Assam border) I ,450 Tibetan silver coins and a few gold coins were
gathered.

In eastern Tibet, donations were also received from those who par-
ticipated in the funeral rites of the Master. Adzom Drugpa Rinpoche
and other lamas donated 350 Chinese silver coins. In western Tibet, in
the Gyantse region, 235 Tibetan silver coins were donated. More than
one hundred silver coins were donated from the region of Lokha.

The clothes and various possessions of Shakya Shri, the Lord
ofsiddhas, were sold to buy Tibetan gold and silver worth ten thousand
English pounds. The sons and grandsons of Shakya Shri donated 450
silver coins.

The three younger sons of Shakya Shri, Chogtrul, and other
masters and disciples, went to Bodhgaya and other holy sites in India
in order to make offerings on the occasion of the Master's death. By
the time they had returned to Kathmandu in Nepal, all the necessary
funds had been raised, and preparations for the restoration of the two
stupas had been completed.

Even after work started, pilgrims and rich merchants came &om
different places and donated more than £ 60,000 of which £ 23,040
were used to buy gold. The rest was used to buy mercury, 450 copper,
wood, stones, iron, ropes, whitewash, hemp, sugar cane molasses,
beans, bricks, roasted barley flour, pots, cleaning items, oil to mix
paint, paper, brass and iron nails, lead, chisels, salt, mustard oil and
additional gold.

Seven men were employed to erect scaffolding and forty men
worked as laborers. There were fourteen goldsmiths, five artists, four
ironsmiths, four or five joiners, and thirteen stonemasons. Five to ten
men broke a cement-like material into pebbles, and other laborers and
pilgrims carried stones, earth and so forth. In all, there were more than
one hundred workers.

Thirty men were employed to polish copper foil, five men to
carry the copper foil, two men to build the prayer-wheels, three to
work on the smaller stupas, and three men to carry the wood. In all,
there were 354laborers. The workers were treated well; every day they
were generously provided with money, food, clothing and all that they
required.

The major work of restoring Boudhanath Stupa began in the Iron
Monkey year of the fifteenth cycle of sixty years (1920). The Tibetan
government once again sent Choje Rinpoche of the Changtse college
of Ganden monastery with eighteen monks of the Upper Tantric
college, and a monk-official to supervise the work. Choje Rinpoche
and his entourage performed the ceremony required when shifting the
blessing of the shrine and every day did other rites to create favorable
circumstances and dispel obstacles.

The badly-damaged circumambulation path around the stupa was
completely replaced with one of cobblestone. The broken and faded
bricks making up the inner circumambulation path between the wall
and the terraces were replaced. New gutters were laid around the outer
path, and a new container to collect litter was installed.

Along the stupa's outside wall were about 449 prayer-wheels, many of
which had fallen into disrepair over time. These were rebuilt,
and covered in copper foil with Om Mani Padme Hum mantras chiselled
in relief in ornamental Lendza Sanskrit script. The prayer-wheels
were re-installed with internal iron supports, and given solid bases on
which they turned.

Half of the 135 stupas, one cubit or higher, that adorned the top
of the enclosing wall were replaced, and the rest were restored.
Thefour wooden panels on the door of the (entrance) temple, where two
guardian statues made of marble and gold were housed, had rottedaway.
These were redone with wood of the sal tree. The top of the
door was ornamented and framed with carvings of dried skulls, and
adorned with a small Chinese-style roof made of copper and gold,
with an ornamented top.

The three vertical plinths of the terraces, overgrown with grass and
caked in soil deposited by rain, were cleaned and replastered. The ISO
stone bas-reliefs and the niches housing them between the two terraces
at the stupa's spherical dome had been so covered in whitewash that
their figures had become invisible. These were cleaned and repainted.
The worn steps leading up to the terraces were also restored.

The surface of the stupa's dome was replastered, along with
that of the square steeple below the wheels,451 in a way that rainwater
would run off and not collect. The nine-foot all-seeing eyes on each
of the four sides of the square steeple below the wheels, were freshly
painted. This steeple, which previously had been unembellished, was
ornamented with a frame of pendants and jewels made of copper and gold in relie£

From the top of the dome to the highest pinnacle of the stupa
there are twenty-eight levels. 452 Starting from the wheels at the ninth
level and descending, the bricks and the joining clay of the lower disks
had been eroded by rain, and the humidity had covered them in lime.
Each of these was cleaned, repaired, and carefUlly reinforced within a
six feet radius.

The four wheels above these were totally re-made with bricks using
plaster to join them and fix them firmly. The outer wooden frames
of the wheels which had been covered by copper and gold foil had
completely rotted away. Long stones cemented to good quality plaster
were used to replace the frames. To support the outer copper and gold
frames of the wheels, the stones were pierced with nail holes into which
screws were tightly fitted and then sealed with lead. The old, broken
and badly dented copper-gold surface was replaced with new foil.

Rainwater filtering down from above had encouraged the growth
of saplings that threatened to split and destroy half of the wheels. To
prevent this from recurring, the upper exposed sides of the topmost
wheels were replastered and covered with wood and a layer of copper
foil.

The canopy was attached to the topmost wheel with a newly-made
solid, stable support of eight iron and eight wooden posts nailed to the
disk. The canopy was covered with a shield of copper and gold, both to
make it waterproof and as embellishment. Two iron and wooden posts
were fastened above and below with an iron rod encircling them.
The five inner petals of the lotus below the canopy above the
wheels were engraved with the five seed-syllables of the five dhyani
buddhas 453 written in the ornamental Lendza script.

The eight outer petals were adorned with the eight auspicious symbols.
The edge of the canopy was adorned with a three-foot high hanging in the shape
of whorls and jewelled pendants, made with copper and gold. To prevent
damage caused by water leaking through the joints of the canopy, a layer
of wood and iron was placed over it and covered with copper foil.

The one and a half cubit-high jewel finial above the canopy and
its four ornamental flower garlands were all made of gold and copper.
Above the juncture point of the four garlands, there was another jewel
finial in silver. Below that, and above the whorls and jewelled pendants
of the square steeple, all the copper foil that was broken, torn or
damaged was replaced. The parts of the stupa exposed to the elements
where gold was needed were painted with a thick layer of gold.

The Tibetan government had donated about four loads of statues
and mantras which bestow blessings to be placed within the top jewel
finial. Shakya Shri's seven sons donated more than a load of mantras,
and other donors gave especially blessed representations of the Buddha's
Body, Voice and Mind for the same purpose. These completely filled the
inside of the ornamental jewel finial, leaving not even a tiny space.

The remaining donations were used to make fences around the
wells to the south, north and east of the stupa where pilgrims would go
to fetch water. Since the wells sometimes ran dry, or the water became
murky due to stones and rain, the springs were enlarged. These wells
had been hidden from view by houses built on the southern side
ofthe stupa. Therefore, some houses were moved to other locations so
that newly arrived pilgrims might more easily find the water sources.
Also, beautiful gates were erected around the springs.

The stones left over from the restoration were not wasted, but
were used to build new medium-sized blessed stupas filled with
mantras, relics and so on. 454 In summary, the work of restoration of
the Boudhanath stupa was done in an exquisite way that reinforced the
stupa as well as made it more beautifUl than ever.

On the auspicious occasion of the first day of the month, the Dalai
Lama was supplicated to consecrate the stupa. For several days, Choje
Rinpoche, a knowledgeable and benevolent master, along with monks
&om the tantric college, performed long rituals entreating the deities
to grant their blessings and to make those blessings stable. Shakya
Shri's sons and other lamas and tulkus prayed that the restoration be
a cause for the preservation of the teaching and for the happiness of
all. They scattered flowers at the consecration and for some days they
made many worthy aspirations. Then they dedicated the merit &om the
fUlfillment of the Master's wish for the relative and absolute benefit for
themselves and others, especially those karmically linked with them.
In addition, they held numerous tantric feasts, performed with many
offerings, filling the entire world with goodwill and merit.

On the tenth day of the twelfth month of that same year, during
the stupa festivities, many fortunate pilgrims visiting Boudhanath saw
and heard relics fall like a clattering rain from the stupa. Again, on the
fifteenth day of that month, disciples of the Master from Lahoul who
were experts in the Six Yogas of Naropa performed a tantric feast of
offering connected with Guru Dewa Chenpo, a terma of Shakya Shri.
When they invoked the deities and their blessing, countless relics fell
noisily from the eastern side of the stupa, an event that was witnessed
by pilgrims coming &om many places.

The Namobuddha stupa (where the Buddha as a bodhisattva
gave his body to feed a starving tigress) was restored with the help
of the local landowner, a Nepalese man called Dzagadhara. With the
offerings they had received, Shakya Shri's sons donated
not less than seven sheets of gold.

The stupa at this site had long since fallen into ruin. Its central
wooden axis, which supported the entire structure, had rotted at its
base, and was replaced with a new one. The stupa's terraces as wellas
its dome had been badly damaged over time; its external coat
of whitewash was so thick that the actual shape of the stupa was hardly
discernible. Five layers of thick whitewash were removed, the many
cracks were repaired, and a fresh coat was applied. The pedestal for
the rings or disks and the disks themselves were entirely rebuilt solidly,
with bricks and plaster. The disks were covered with heavy gold and
copper foil that made them shine splendidly. The canopy, support
bars, nails, and so forth, were all replaced in the same way as
for the other two stupas.

When the work was completed, Choje Rinpoche of Changtse col-
lege and his entourage of monks performed the rite of consecration, the
offerings and so on, for goodness and virtue to spread everywhere.
To avoid damage to this stupa in the fUture, a high outer fence was
built around it. Large gates were installed at its eastern and southern
sides. To ensure the upkeep of the site and the housing for pilgrims,
and so forth, seven hundred English pounds were given to the custo-
dians Dzoghadhara and Dharma Sahu with directions for the use ofthe fUnds.
As for the other work needed to fUlfil the Master's wish to restore
the stupas, new wood-blocks of the entire precious canon of the words
of the Buddha, the omniscient protector, were made and fUrnished with
fifty-six frames with a motif in gold. Including the newly decorated
walls of the three stupas, all the donations were used without leaving
any unspent. In this way, without regard for the difficulties or the risk
to their lives, with enormous effort the disciples fulfilled all the wishes
of their root Master, the great Vajradhara, Lord of siddhas, indivisible
from the primordial buddha. They did not waste any of the materials
donated for this purpose, either those belonging to them or
given by others, but used them -exclusively to create great waves of
merit and wisdom.

A statue of Shakya Shri was cast in copper and gold and then
6.lled with sacred mantras and relics especially consecrated in the Happy
Cave of Tsari. To enshrine the remains of the Master, a stupa of the
enlightenment type, 455 one and a half stories high with thirteen disks
and a stone base, was built in front ofthe house where the Master had
passed away; and money and offerings were given for the support
of practitioners entering the retreat center. At the Master's residence on Dru
mountain, a new two-storey temple was built.It housed a statue of the Master of
exquisite artistry, which had been appropriately filled with mantras and relics and
consecrated as recorded in the documents. Another stupa was built
there, in copper and gold, adorned with many jewels. Thus various
representations of the symbols of the Buddha's Body, Voice and Mind
were made, and many activities were undertaken for the purpose
ofpreserving and developing a retreat place for the practice
of the essence ofthe ultimate secret teaching.

THE FUTURE MANIFESTATIONS OF SHAKYA SHRI

THE MIND-STREAM OF the Master has absorbed into inner clarity
within the enclosure of the youthful vase body or inner expanse of the
dharmakaya, remaining unobscured, a changeless, effortless wisdom
mind. Since the ground for the eight gates of spontaneous manifesta-
tion 456 (the display of creativity's outer clarity) is unceasingly present,
the Master governs the unending appearances of the buddhafields of
the sambhogakaya of limitless wisdom and its dimensions, which arise
spontaneously through his own pure wisdom.

These buddhafields appear as illusory gates, and hence, through
compassion skilled in uplifting disciples, the Master's nirmanakaya
emanations who train beings, arise in and purify many realms.
Inparticular, the Master will manifest, as if reborn, in countless emana-
tions in unsurpassed pure realms such as the Copper Mountain. These
emanations will then become enlightened within the inner expanse of
the youthful vase body.

This inconceivably great magical display of wisdom and its
dimensions will last until conditioned existence is totally uprooted.
Until that time, with the power of the creative energy of body,
 voice and mind that is beyond rational thought, without delaying even for
an instant, the Master will care for his disciples with great compassion.
According to their merit, he will reveal the countless ways to realiza-
tion best suited to their nature, capacity and inclination. This should
be seen as an exceptional power that is a rare and precious skill in the
conduct of uplifting sentient beings.

As prophesied by those with wisdom eyes, for the sake of disciples of
this land, the supreme emanation of the Master will soon arrive
to sit on the dharma throne and accomplish magnificent deeds for
the teachings and for beings. He will manifest as a glorious supreme
savior who will spread the ultimate secret essence of the teaching in a
hundred directions. [457]

AFTERWORD

IN A SINGLE LIFETIME, the venerable Master blessed with bound-
less compassion raised the victory banner of practice of the ulti-
mate teaching and led a myriad disciples to maturity and liberation.
Embodying the light of the sun, he illuminated the precious lineage
of attainment, the teaching's innermost secret essence, obscured in
this era of decadence.

I have portrayed here the true face of Shakya Shri, whose life was
exceptional by virtue of unmatched deeds and wondrous events. His
life is recounted here in an informal style, of middling length, and not
difficult to follow.

| As the Master's life-story descends
| Into the lake of the minds of readers,
| Like the supreme ketaka gem, 458 it will purify the mire of disbelief,
| Allowing beings to behold his beautiful image.

| This garland suffused with the ultimate essence
| Of the jewel-like realizations of the saint,
| Its flowers gracing a strand of well-considered words,
| I offer as a sublime ornament to the faithful.
| May this merit, like the radiance of the autumn moon,
| Quell the tormenting heat of passions and karma
| And illuminate the true path,
| Revealing the jasmine garden of liberation.
| In the center of the immense sky of the Buddha's doctrine,
| You are the sun, resplendent with a million dazzling rays of teaching and practice,
| That has brought daylight, the tradition of the essential luminous clarity.
| May the sunshine of your virtue and merit illumine the umverse.
| By the force of this light, may the dark gloom of the unawareness
| Of all beings in the universe naturally recede, and
| May the beacon of the awakening of wisdom's
|  Natural, pure, and total presence blaze forth.

Kunzang Phagchog Choying Dorje, the son blessed by the third buddha and Lord of
siddhas, Shakya Shri, and all of the Master's disciples
have insistently asked me to write the Master's life-story. Subject to
the wishes of Khyentse Wangpo and other masters who are the real
presence of the buddha, and unable to refuse such a significant request,
I, Situ Chokyi Gyatso, who bear only the outer signs of a spiritual
teacher, and at a time when those learned in the teachings of the four
schools of Tibetan Buddhism (Sakya, Gelug, Kagyii and Nyingma)
are vanishing, have written this biography.

May it be a source of goodness and virtue in the world and may
itbe the cause for an ocean of sentient beings
to encounter the Master's blessing.
May all be auspicious.