Pabongka Rinpoche - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Pabongka Rinpoche Jampa Tenzin Trinlay Gyatso, (1878–1941) was one of the great Gelug

Gelug

The Gelug or Gelug-pa , also known as the Yellow Hat sect, is a school of Buddhism founded by Je Tsongkhapa , a philosopher and Tibetan religious leader...

lamas of the modern era of Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...

. He attained his Geshe

Geshe

Geshe is a Tibetan Buddhist academic degree for monks...

degree at Sera Monastic University, Lhasa, and became a highly influential teacher in Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

, unusual for teaching a great number of lay people. He was the root Lama of both Kyabje Ling Rinpoche

Ling Rinpoche

Kyabje Ling Rinpoche was a Tibetan buddhist scholar and teacher.Born in Tibet, northwest of Lhasa, he also was the 97th Ganden Tripa and senior tutor to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. The Ganden Tripa is the spiritual head of the Gelugpa Sect, the largest sect in Tibetan Buddhism. Kyabje Ling...

and Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche

Trijang Rinpoche

Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche was a Gelug Lama and a direct disciple of Je Pabongka. He was the junior tutor and spiritual guide of the 14th Dalai Lama for forty years. He is also the root lama of many Gelug Lamas who teach in the West including Zong Rinpoche, Geshe Rabten, Lama Yeshe, Lama Gangchen...

, the two tutors of the present Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...

, and the teacher of most of the other Gelug

Gelug

The Gelug or Gelug-pa , also known as the Yellow Hat sect, is a school of Buddhism founded by Je Tsongkhapa , a philosopher and Tibetan religious leader...

Lamas who have been bringing the Dharma

Dharma (Buddhism)

Dhamma or Dharma in Buddhism can have the following meanings:* The state of Nature as it is * The Laws of Nature considered collectively....

to the West since they fled Tibet in 1959. Pabongka was offered the regency of the present Dalai Lama but declined the request because "he strongly disliked political affairs."

Early life and education

Pabongka Rinpoche was born in 1878, at a town called Tsawa Li in the Yeru Shang district of the state of Tsang, north of Lhasa

Lhasa

Lhasa is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China and the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau, after Xining. At an altitude of , Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world...

in Tibet

Tibet

.

According to Ribur Rinpoche, one of Je Phabongkhapa's main disciples: “Lord Pabongka Vajradhara Dechen Nyingpo Pal Zangpo was born north of Lhasa in 1878. His father was a minor official but the family was not wealthy. Although the night was dark, a light shone in the room, and people outside the house had a vision of a protector on the roof.”

As a child he was alleged to exhibit unusual qualities and in his seventh year was taken before Sharpa Chuje Lobsang Dargye, one of the leading religious figures of the day, who "felt sure that the boy must be a reincarnated saint" and foretold that if the child were placed in the Gyalrong House of Sera

Sera

Sera may refer to:- Music :* Sera, a Symphonic rock/electronica singer/composer/producer* Sera, the well known bass player in Greece- Places :* Sera, Hiroshima, a town in Japan* Sera District, Hiroshima, a district located in Hiroshima, Japan...

Mey Monastery, something "wonderful would happen with him in the future." Later on, he was found to be a reincarnation of the Changkya line, which included the well-known scholar Changkya Rolpay Dorje (1717-1786 AD). The Lamas of this line had done much teaching in the regions of Mongolia

Mongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...

and China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, including in the court of the Chinese emperor himself, and so the name "Changkya" had strong Chinese connotations. As the Tibetan government and people were already sensitive to the pressures put on them from China, the name "Changkya" was ruled out and the boy declared to be "Pabongka" instead.

His Spiritual Guide and practice of Buddhism

Pabongka received his formal spiritual education at Sera Mey Monastery. At first he was very poor and not famous. He studied hard to be a Geshe, meditated and gave empowerments. Pabongka studied with Jaba Sonpo Rinpoche; however his root Guru or Spiritual Guide was Dagpo Lama Rinpoche (sometimes spelt Tagpo or Thagpo).

Ribur Rinpoche described how Je Phabongkhapa met his root Guru: "His root guru was Dagpo Lama Rinpoche Jampael Lhuendrub Gyatso, from Lhoka. He was definitely a bodhisattva

Bodhisattva

In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is either an enlightened existence or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." The Pali term has sometimes been translated as "wisdom-being," although in modern publications, and...

, and Pabongka Rinpoche was his foremost disciple. He lived in a cave in Pasang and his main practice was bodhichitta; his main deity was Avalokiteshvara and he would recite 50,000 manis [the mantra, om mani padme hum] every night. When Kyabje Pabongka first met Dagpo Rinpoche at a tsog offering ceremony in Lhasa

Lhasa

, he cried out of reverence from beginning to end."

Je Phabongkhapa was a keen meditator and emphasized Lamrim

Lamrim

Lamrim is a Tibetan Buddhist textual form for presenting the stages in the complete path to enlightenment as taught by Buddha. In Tibetan Buddhist history there have been many different versions of lamrim, presented by different teachers of the Nyingma, Kagyu and Gelug schools...

, Lojong

Lojong

Lojong is a mind training practice in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition based on a set of aphorisms formulated in Tibet in the 12th century by Geshe Chekhawa...

and Mahamudra

Mahamudra

Mahāmudrā literally means "great seal" or "great symbol." It "is a multivalent term of great importance in later Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism" which "also occurs occasionally in Hindu and East Asian Buddhist esotericism."The name refers to the way one who...

. When he had finished his studies at Sera Monastery

Sera Monastery

Sera Monastery is one of the 'great three' Gelukpa university monasteries of Tibet, located north of Lhasa. The other two are Ganden Monastery and Drepung Monastery. The origin of the name 'Sera' is attributed to a fact that the site where the monastery was built was surrounded by wild roses in...

, he visited Dagpo Lama Rinpoche in his cave and was sent into a Lamrim retreat nearby. According to Ribur Rinpoche: "Dagpo Lama Rinpoche would teach him a Lam-rim topic and then Pabongka Rinpoche would go away and meditate on it. Later he would return to explain what he’d understood: if he had gained some realization, Dagpo Lama Rinpoche would teach him some more and Pabongka Rinpoche would go back and meditate on that. It went on like this for ten years."

Pabongka Rinpoche was a renunciate and eschewed worldly attainments and politics. His faithful attendant once demolished the small old building inhabited by Pabongka Rinpoche while he was a way on a long tour, and constructed in its place a large ornate residence rivaling the private quarters of the Dalai Lama. When Pabongka Rinpoche returned he was not pleased and said, “I am only a minor hermit Lama and you should not have built something like this for me. I am not famous and the essence of what I teach is renunciation of the worldly life. Therefore I am embarrassed by rooms like these.”

According to Rilbur Rinpoche, Je Phabongkhapa was always gentle and never got angry: "Any anger had been completely pacified by his bodhichitta." Even when long lines of people were waiting for blessings, he would ask each one individually how they were and tap them on the head. Sometimes he dispensed medicine.

His two main spiritual qualities according to his disciples were, from the Tantric point of view, his realization and ability to present Heruka

Heruka

Heruka is also a name for the Tantric deity Chakrasamvara, for which see.Heruka , is the name of a category of wrathful deities, enlightened beings in Vajrayana Buddhism that adopt a fierce countenance to benefit sentient beings. In China and Japan, it was named as Wisdom King. Herukas represent...

, and from the Sutra

Sutra

Sūtra is an aphorism or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. Literally it means a thread or line that holds things together and is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew , as does the medical term...

point of view, his ability to teach Lamrim

Lamrim

. He attributed all his qualities to his own Spiritual Guide, showing him deference throughout his life. Whenever he visited his Spiritual Guide's monastery, he would dismount as soon as it appeared in view and prostrate all the way to the door and when he left he would walk backwards until it was out of sight.

Pabongka Rinpoche’s full name was Kyabje Pabongkapa Jetsun Jampa Tenzin Trinley Gyatso Pel Sangpo, which translates as the “Lord Protector, the one from Pabongka, the venerable and glorious Master whose name is the Loving One, Keeper of the Buddha’s Teachings, Ocean of the Mighty Deeds of the Buddha.” He is also popularly known as “Dechen Nyingpo,” which means “Essence of Great Bliss” and refers to his mastery of the secret teachings of Buddhism.

As a Buddhist Teacher

After his graduation from Sera Mey with the attainment of a Geshe degree, Pabongka Rinpoche had great success in his teaching tours through the countryside outside the capital Lhasa, and his fame started to spread. With his great skill as a public teacher, he gradually began to build up a large following, his teachings bringing as many as 10,000 students. These included lay people from all over Tibet

Tibet

, which broke with the long-held tradition of only teaching to those ordained as monks. According to one reincarnate Lama who attended his teachings: "He was an exceptionally learned and gifted scholar, and his interpretation of the Doctrine adhered to the meaning of the Lord Buddha's words exactly. He was short, broad-faced, and of rather heavy build, but when he opened his mouth to speak his words had such clarity and sweetness that no one could help being moved." .

Pabongka Rinpoche was the first Gelug

Gelug

The Gelug or Gelug-pa , also known as the Yellow Hat sect, is a school of Buddhism founded by Je Tsongkhapa , a philosopher and Tibetan religious leader...

teacher who taught lay persons outside the monasteries and became very influential. In his memoir of his root Guru

Guru

A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...

, Rilbur Rinpoche said:

When he taught he would sit for up to eight hours without moving. About two thousand people would come to his general discourses and initiations and fewer to special teachings, but when he gave Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is either an enlightened existence or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." The Pali term has sometimes been translated as "wisdom-being," although in modern publications, and...

vows, up to ten thousand people would show up.

Kyongla Rinpoche described his teachings:

The Rinpoche was accustomed to illustrate his teaching by means of concrete examples and personal stories, with abundant references to the teaching of the Lord Buddha
Buddha
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...

and to the commentaries of ancient scholars and saints. Whenever he noticed that his audience was becoming tired or restless, he would tell a comical story to rouse them and get a laugh.

The Lharampa Geshe

Geshe

Geshe is a Tibetan Buddhist academic degree for monks...

Khen Rinpoche described attending Pabongka Rinpoche's teachings thus:

His voice was incredibly powerful. On many occasions he would address gatherings of many thousands of people, yet everyone could hear him clearly (in those days in Tibet we had never heard of microphones or loudspeakers)... Pabongka Rinpoche had an uncanny ability to relate to his audience, and for this reason he became a teacher for the common man as well as for us monks. The Rinpoche’s great accomplishment was that he found a way to attract and lead listeners of every level. His most famous weapon was his humor. Public discourses in Tibet could sometimes go on for ten hours or more without a break, and only a great saint could keep his attention up so long. Inevitably part of the audience would start to nod, or fall into some reverie. Then Pabongka Rinpoche would suddenly relate an amusing story or joke with a useful moral, and send his listeners into peals of laughter. This would startle the day-dreamers, who were always looking around and asking their neighbors to repeat the joke to them.”

In Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, Trijang Rinpoche says he attempted to convey the "extraordinary" qualities of Je Phabongkhapa's teachings, which he described:

Each part of the teaching was enriched by instructions taken from the confidential oral lineages. Each section was illustrated by analogies, conclusive formal logic, amazing stories, and trustworthy quotations. The teaching could easily be understood by beginners, and yet was tailored for all levels of intelligence. It was beneficial for the mind because it was so inspiring. Sometimes we were moved to laughter, becoming wide awake and alive. Sometimes we were reduced to tears and cried helplessly. At other times we became afraid or were moved to feel, ‘I would gladly give up this life and devote myself solely to my practice.’ This feeling of renunciation was overwhelming. These are some of the ways in which all of his discourses were so extraordinary.

Je Phabongkhapa apparently had an ability to reach even those of the higher echelons of society who were not much interested in Dharma. For example, Dapon Tsago, a member of the nobility who held a powerful position equivalent to Minister of Defense, once attended a public teaching "not to hear the Dharma

Dharma

Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...

but rather to put in an appearance" as Jetsun Khen Rinpoche describes it:

So one day this great general marches in to the hall, decked out in silk, his long hair flowing in carefully tailored locks (this was considered manly and high fashion in old Tibet)... A great ceremonial sword hung from his belt, clanging importantly as he swaggered in. By the end of the first section of the teaching he was seen leaving the hall quietly, deep in thought—he had wrapped his weapon of war in a cloth to hide it, and was taking it home. Later on we could see he had actually trimmed off his warrior’s locks, and finally one day he threw himself before the Rinpoche and asked to be granted the special lifetime religious vows for laymen. Thereafter he always followed Pabongka Rinpoche around, to every public teaching he gave.

According to the Western monk Helmut Gassner, the Dalai Lama's translator for 17 years:

It is said that when Pabongka Rinpoche gave Dharma
Dharma
Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...

discourses many in the audience gained profound insights into the failings of our worldly concerns to develop the lasting determination to exchange the constant quest for honor, praise, well-being and gain with sincere aspiration, kindness and concern for others. This unusual ability to teach is not an integral part of Tibetan culture. It is rather at the heart of the living transmission of the teachings of the historical Buddha
Buddha
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...

from one great master to the next. It is, first and foremost, an oral transmission: the master teaches his gifted disciple continuously until the transmitted knowledge becomes the student's second nature.

Due to his skill as a Buddhist master, the thirteenth Dalai Lama requested Kyabje Phabongka to give the yearly Lamrim

Lamrim

teachings in 1925, instead of asking the Ganden throneholder (Ganden Tripa

Ganden Tripa

The Ganden Tripa or Gaden Tripa is the title of the spiritual leader of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, the school which controlled central Tibet from the mid-17th century until 1950s. He is identical with the respective abbot of Ganden Monastery...

) as was customary. Usually these teachings lasted seven days, but these lasted for eleven days.

Je Phabongkhapa had a profound and far-reaching influence on the Gelug

Gelug

The Gelug or Gelug-pa , also known as the Yellow Hat sect, is a school of Buddhism founded by Je Tsongkhapa , a philosopher and Tibetan religious leader...

tradition:

Pabongka Rinpoche was probably the most influential Gelug lama of this century, holding all the important lineages of sutra
Sutra
Sūtra is an aphorism or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. Literally it means a thread or line that holds things together and is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew , as does the medical term...

and tantra
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....

and passing them on to most of the important Gelug lamas of the next two generations; the list of his oral discourses is vast in depth and breadth. He was also the root guru of the Kyabje Ling Rinpoche (1903-83), Senior Tutor of the Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...

, Trijang Rinpoche
Trijang Rinpoche
Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche was a Gelug Lama and a direct disciple of Je Pabongka. He was the junior tutor and spiritual guide of the 14th Dalai Lama for forty years. He is also the root lama of many Gelug Lamas who teach in the West including Zong Rinpoche, Geshe Rabten, Lama Yeshe, Lama Gangchen...

, and many other highly respected teachers. His collected works occupy fifteen large volumes and over every aspect of Buddhism. If you have ever received a teaching from a Gelug lama, you have been influenced by Pabongka Rinpoche.

His foremost disciple, Trijang Rinpoche

Trijang Rinpoche

, praises his teacher highly in Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, including:

Our childish minds were unfit vessels for so vast an ocean of teachings, so precious a source of qualities. How sad if these teachings were forgotten!

In Geshe Ngawang Dhargeyey's commentary to the Wheel of Sharp Weapons, he says:

Likewise, Lama Trijang Dorje Chang, Junior Tutor to His Holiness the present Dalai Lama, folds his hands upon the crown of his head whenever he mentions Kyabje Pa-bongkha Rinpoche. He was such a great lama, unsurpassed by any, that hardly any lamas or geshes of the Three Pillars (the monasteries of Ganden, Sera and Drepung) had not been his disciples.

As a Buddhist author

In 1921 at Chuzang Hermitage near Lhasa, Pabongka Rinpoche gave a historic 24-day exposition on the Lam Rim, or "stages of the path," that was attended by some seven hundred people. Many monks came from the three major monasteries in Lhasa, and many more travelled weeks from the Central Province, from Tsang, and from as far away as Amdo and Kham. This included about 30 lamas and reincarnations of lamas. There were also many lay people present. According to Rato Khyongla Rinpoche, who was present: "During that summer session several traders and at least two high government officials found their lives transformed by his eloquence: they forsook their jobs to study religion and to give themselves to meditation."

The teachings covered every topic in the progressive stages to attain enlightenment. These teachings were transcribed and edited by one of his main students, Trijang Rinpoche

Trijang Rinpoche

, who later became the Junior Tutor of the 14th Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama

. Trijang Rinpoche explains the good qualities of the Lamrim teachings given by his root Guru and then explains how the idea of the book came to him:

How could I possibly convey all this on paper! Yet what a pity if all the key points contained in these inspiring instructions were lost. This thought gave me the courage to write this book. As my precious guru later advised me, ‘Some of the people present could not follow the teaching. I’m afraid I do not trust all the notes people took during the classes. I therefore ask you to publish a book. Put in it anything you feel sure of.’ In this book I have accurately recorded my lama’s teachings in the hope that this substitute for his speech will be beneficial to my friends who wish to succeed in their practice.

Published in Tibetan in 1958, these teachings were eventually translated into English and published as Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand (Tib. rNam grol lag bcangs) in 1991. This book forms the basis of most Gelug teachers’ Lam Rim presentations, including those of the FPMT and of Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

Kelsang Gyatso

Kelsang Gyatso is a Buddhist monk, "meditation master, scholar, and author" of 22 books based on the teachings of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism...

’s acclaimed Lam Rim text Joyful Path of Good Fortune.

Kyabje Pabongka also wrote many other books. His collected works occupy fifteen large volumes and cover every aspect of Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

. These texts provide explanations on sadhanas, chanting, how to make tormas and myriad other subjects. Among these texts, is a Dorje Shugden practice which includes the empowerment and the sadhana of the female Buddha Vajrayogini, based on the Heruka

Heruka

Root Tantra

Tantra

Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....

. Both of these texts are widely used in the Gelugpa tradition today.

Other spiritual activities

Also known as Trinlay Gyatso, Je Pabongka held the lineage of the Tantric Deity Heruka

Heruka

. According to Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

Kelsang Gyatso

Kelsang Gyatso is a Buddhist monk, "meditation master, scholar, and author" of 22 books based on the teachings of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism...

: "This great Lama was like the sun of Dharma

Dharma

, illuminating the hidden meaning of both Sutra

Sutra

and Secret Mantra (Tantra

Tantra

Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....

). He passed the Mahamudra

Mahamudra

lineage to his heart Son, Yongdzin Trijang Dorjechang."

Lama Zopa of the FPMT praised the enlightened qualities of Je Phabongkhapa (Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo):

My root guru, His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche
Trijang Rinpoche
Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche was a Gelug Lama and a direct disciple of Je Pabongka. He was the junior tutor and spiritual guide of the 14th Dalai Lama for forty years. He is also the root lama of many Gelug Lamas who teach in the West including Zong Rinpoche, Geshe Rabten, Lama Yeshe, Lama Gangchen...

; Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo, His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...

’s guru’s root guru; His Holiness Zong Rinpoche, from whom many of the older students received the initiation of Shugden; and the previous incarnation of Gomo Rinpoche, who has a strong connection with Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, here in Italy, all promoted the practice of Shugden. They were all aspects of the Dharmakaya.

Je Phabongkhapa had many disciples, including the most famous Gelugpa Lamas of the twentieth century, who consider him to be a source of uncommon inspiration. Rilbur Rinpoche, for example, was held and tortured by the Chinese for two decades and famously said “If I told you what happened on a regular basis, you would find it hard to believe.” By all accounts he emerged from his trials with a heart full of love and forgiveness and, when asked how, he replied that it was due to the blessings and teachings of his root Lama Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche.

According to Kyabje Zong Rinpoche

Kyabje Zong Rinpoche

H.H. Kyabje Zong Rinpoche was a Gelug Lama and disciple of Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, the junior tutor of H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama. He was famous as a sharp analyst and master of philosophical debate, as well as a powerful Tantric practitioner...

, a highly regarded Lharampa Geshe

Geshe

Geshe is a Tibetan Buddhist academic degree for monks...

, Je Phabongkhapa was considered an emanation of the Highest Yoga Tantra

Tantra

Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....

Deity, Buddha Heruka. He explains how 32 reincarnate Lamas, including his own teacher Tapu Dorjechang, attended his Lamrim

Lamrim

teachings in Lhasa:

Tapu Dorje Chang could hear statues of Avalokiteshvara and Tara speak, and saw visions of multi-armed Yidams (Deities). Once Kyabje Phabongka invoked the wisdom beings of Heruka’s mandala to enter into a statue of Heruka Chakrasambara. Heruka then offered nectar to Kyabje Phabongka, and prophesied that seven generations of his disciples would be protected by the body mandala of Heruka. Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang is cared for by Heruka Chakrasambara, as are his disciples.

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

Kelsang Gyatso

Kelsang Gyatso is a Buddhist monk, "meditation master, scholar, and author" of 22 books based on the teachings of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism...

also describes Je Phabongkhapa as an emanation of Buddha Heruka. Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey gives an account of his mastery of the practice in his commentary to Wheel of Sharp Weapons:

Once, in the cave-under-water, he experienced a manifestation of Yamantaka for nine days, while he himself was essentially Heruka Chakrasambhava. Further, he experienced a manifestation of Vajra Yogini who told him of the benefits to be derived from merging the Vajra Yogini teachings of the Sakya and Gelug traditions into one meditational practice. When he once made a great (tsog) offering beside a Heruka statue in Lhasa, the wisdom body actually entered into the statue. The statue danced and told him that whoever received Heruka initiation from him up to the seventh generator would be taken to the dakini realms.

Je Phabongkhapa's most famous disciples were Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche

Trijang Rinpoche

and Kyabje Ling Rinpoche because they were the main teachers of the 14th Dalai Lama, who considered Trijang Rinpoche to be his root Guru. Kyabje Zong Rinpoche explains:

Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche and Kyabje Ling Rinpoche were tutors to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. They taught His Holiness everything from basic teachings to advanced levels. Kyabje Phabongka passed all of his lineages to Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang. He often said this in discourses. The purpose of this detailed exposition is to affirm the power of the lineage. If we lose faith in the lineage, we are lost.

In addition to Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche

Trijang Rinpoche

and Kyabje Ling Rinpoche, Je Pabongka had two other main disciples. They were Khangsar Rinpoche and Tathag Rinpoche. Tathag Rinpoche was the main teacher of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama when he was a child and gave him his novice ordination. Khangsar Rinpoche's Chinese disciple, Master Nan Hai, started a Buddhist movement in China that survived till the present day despite political changes in Communist China, with tens of thousands of spiritual descendants and over a hundred monasteries and nunneries throughout China.

Holder of the Ganden Oral Lineage

Pabongka Rinpoche was the holder of the Geden, or Ganden, Oral Lineage. As Geshe Helmut Gassner explains:

The great master Pabongka was in the first half of the twentieth century the pivotal or key lineage holder of the Oral Geden Tradition. Many other teachers before him mastered certain aspects of the tradition's teachings, but it was Pabongka Rinpoche's particular merit to locate and find all these partial transmissions, to learn and realize them, and bring them together once again to pass them on through a single person. In his lifetime there was hardly a significant figure of the Geden tradition who had not been Pabongka Rinpoche's disciple. Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche
Trijang Rinpoche
Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche was a Gelug Lama and a direct disciple of Je Pabongka. He was the junior tutor and spiritual guide of the 14th Dalai Lama for forty years. He is also the root lama of many Gelug Lamas who teach in the West including Zong Rinpoche, Geshe Rabten, Lama Yeshe, Lama Gangchen...

was the one capable of receiving and passing on the entirety of the Oral Geden Tradition once again. The Dorje Shugden
Dorje Shugden
Dorje Shugden , "Vajra Possessing Strength", or Dolgyal Shugden , "Shugden, King of Dhol" is a deity in Tibetan Buddhism, especially its Gelug school, who is regarded as a Dharma Protector or "guardian angel." The practice of Dharma Protectors is central to most religious Tibetans and...

practice is an integral part of that tradition.

Holder of the Heruka Body Mandala Lineage

According to Kyabje Zong Rinpoche

Kyabje Zong Rinpoche

Once Kyabje Phabongka invoked the wisdom beings of Heruka’s mandala to enter into a statue of Heruka Chakrasamvara. Heruka then offered nectar to Kyabje Phabongka, and prophesied that seven generations of his disciples would be protected by the body mandala of Heruka. Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche
Trijang Rinpoche
Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche was a Gelug Lama and a direct disciple of Je Pabongka. He was the junior tutor and spiritual guide of the 14th Dalai Lama for forty years. He is also the root lama of many Gelug Lamas who teach in the West including Zong Rinpoche, Geshe Rabten, Lama Yeshe, Lama Gangchen...

is cared for by Heruka Chakrasamvara, as are his disciples.

His work and retreat schedule

Je Phabongkhapa's primary residence was first the small monastery atop the Pabongka rock (see picture), called Dakpo Gompa, where he allegedly attained enlightenment. When his fame grew, Ngakpa College of Sera Monastery offered him a large retreat complex on the hillside above Pabongka, called Tashi Chuling, or “Auspicious Spiritual Isle.” There were about sixty Buddhist monks in residence there, and about sixteen personal attendants who helped him with his busy schedule. Je Phabongkhapa divided his time between Tashi Chuling and a small meditation cell built around the mouth of a cave, further up the side of the mountain, known as Takden. Pabongka Rinpoche would go to Takden for long periods to do private meditations.

Position on politics and religion

When the regency of the 14th Dalai Lama was offered to Pabongka Rinpoche, he declined become the regent saying, "If one cannot give up the worldly dharma, then you are not a true religious person." According to Goldstein, Pabongka was quite well known for saying that "lamas should not become involved in politics."

Position on other Tibetan Buddhist schools

Although he was a Gelugpa Lama, Je Phabongkhapa respected the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism and discouraged sectarianism. In Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, he said:

Abandoning Dharma is, in the final analysis, disparaging the Hinayana because of the Mahayana; favoring the Hinayana on account of the Mahayana; playing off sutra against tantra; playing off the four classes of the tantras against each other; favoring one of the Tibetan schools—the Sakya, Gelug, Kagyu, or Nyingma—and disparaging the rest; and so on. In other words, we abandon Dharma any time we favor our own tenets and disparage the rest.

Je Phabongkhapa also said that Padmasambhava

Padmasambhava

Padmasambhava ; Mongolian ловон Бадмажунай, lovon Badmajunai, , Means The Lotus-Born, was a sage guru from Oddiyāna who is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighbouring countries in the 8th century...

(the founder of the Nyingma

Nyingma

The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as Nga'gyur or the "old school" because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, in the eighth century...

school), Je Tsongkhapa

Je Tsongkhapa

Tsongkhapa , whose name means “The Man from Onion Valley”, was a famous teacher of Tibetan Buddhism whose activities led to the formation of the Geluk school...

, Atisha

Atisha

Atiśa Dipankara Shrijnana was a Buddhist teacher from the Pala Empire who, along with Konchog Gyalpo and Marpa, was one of the major figures in the establishment of the Sarma lineages in Tibet after the repression of Buddhism by King Langdarma .- Birth :Atisha is most commonly said to have been...

, and Buddha

Buddha

In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...

Shakyamuni were all one holy being, not four separate mental continuums.

Pabongka Rinpoche was at times at odds with the 13th Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama

over Pabongka's supposed antagonism toward the Nyingma

Nyingma

lineage. His advocacy of the Dorje Shugden

Dorje Shugden

Dorje Shugden , "Vajra Possessing Strength", or Dolgyal Shugden , "Shugden, King of Dhol" is a deity in Tibetan Buddhism, especially its Gelug school, who is regarded as a Dharma Protector or "guardian angel." The practice of Dharma Protectors is central to most religious Tibetans and...

Protector practice is also now criticized by some in the Tibetan Buddhist world. Von Bruck, however, says that Pabongka's Shugden text "does not say that only Gelukpa teaching leads to liberation, but calls Tsongkhapa's teaching the highest and the essence of all teachings. But this is traditional parlance and not an exaggerated exclusivity."

According to academic David Kay, in an account that has been much disputed by Gelugpa scholars: "As the Gelug agent of the Tibetan government in Kham (Khams) (Eastern Tibet), and in response to the Rimed movement that had originated and was flowering in that region, Phabongkha Rinpoche and his disciples employed repressive measures against non-Gelug sects. Religious artifacts associated with Padmasambhava – who is revered as a "second Buddha" by Nyingma practitioners – were destroyed, and non-Gelug, and particularly Nyingma, monasteries were forcibly converted to the Gelug position. A key element of Phabongkha Rinpoche’s outlook was the cult of the protective deity Dorje Shugden, which he married to the idea of Gelug exclusivism and employed against other traditions as well as against those within the Gelug who had eclectic tendencies."

According to Kay, "His teaching tour of Kham in 1938 was a seminal phase, leading to a hardening of his exclusivism and the adoption of a militantly sectarian stance. In reaction to the flourishing Rimed movement and the perceived decline of Gelug monasteries in that region, Phabongkha and his disciples spearheaded a revival movement, promoting the supremacy of the Gelug as the only pure tradition." Buddhist scholar Matthew Kapstein

Matthew Kapstein

Matthew Kapstein is a scholar of Tibetan religions and Buddhism at the University of Chicago Divinity School. One of his study areas has concentrated on Tibetan culture and the influence of China's invasion.- Works :...

echoes these remarks, writing, "There has been a great deal of sectarian dispute among Tibetan refugees in India. Much of this has its roots in the works of Pha-bong-kha-pa Bde-chen snying-po (1878-1937), whose visions of the Dge-lugs-pa protective deity Rdo-rje shugs-ldan seem to have entailed a commitment to oppose actively the other schools of Tibetan Buddhism and the Bon-po."

However, most Gelug Lamas strongly dispute allegations against Pabongka's supposed wrong-doing. Some say that Je Phabongkhapa’s popularity made others jealous, serving as the basis of many rumors of sectarianism on his part against other Tibetan Buddhist schools. Responding to this allegation, Lama Zopa of the FPMT has said that criticism of Pabongka "because he practiced Shugden, making him out to be some kind of demon" is misplaced because he:

"wrote incredible teachings on sutra
Sutra
Sūtra is an aphorism or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. Literally it means a thread or line that holds things together and is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew , as does the medical term...

and tantra
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....

; on Heruka, Tara Cittamani and many other topics. All these amazing teachings were written purely from his experience. So it’s impossible that he can really be some kind of evil being, as those extremists accuse him of being. There’s no way he could have done the negative things they say he did."

Regarding Kopan Monastery

Kopan Monastery

Kopan Monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery near Boudhanath, on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal. It belongs to the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition , an international network of Gelugpa dharma centers, and once served as its headquarters.The monastery was established...

giving up Dorje Shugden

Dorje Shugden

practice, Lama Zopa also pointed out:

This was done for His Holiness (The Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...

). This does not mean that Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo, His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche
Trijang Rinpoche
Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche was a Gelug Lama and a direct disciple of Je Pabongka. He was the junior tutor and spiritual guide of the 14th Dalai Lama for forty years. He is also the root lama of many Gelug Lamas who teach in the West including Zong Rinpoche, Geshe Rabten, Lama Yeshe, Lama Gangchen...

, and His Holiness Song Rinpoche have made mistakes. It does not mean they are wrong. Nor does one have to look at the protector as evil. For us ordinary people it is difficult to judge, because we cannot see these lamas ’ minds. Another side of the teaching is that it is mentioned that the protector (Dorje Shugden
Dorje Shugden
Dorje Shugden , "Vajra Possessing Strength", or Dolgyal Shugden , "Shugden, King of Dhol" is a deity in Tibetan Buddhism, especially its Gelug school, who is regarded as a Dharma Protector or "guardian angel." The practice of Dharma Protectors is central to most religious Tibetans and...

) is an Arya Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is either an enlightened existence or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." The Pali term has sometimes been translated as "wisdom-being," although in modern publications, and...

, a manifestation of Manjushri. So, then, there is also the risk of our creating very heavy karma in that context (by criticizing or abandoning this practice).

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

Kelsang Gyatso

Kelsang Gyatso is a Buddhist monk, "meditation master, scholar, and author" of 22 books based on the teachings of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism...

also rejected the rumors that Je Phabongkhapa was averse to the Nyingma

Nyingma

tradition, saying:

“Je Phabongkhapa had great devotion for Je Tsongkhapa
Je Tsongkhapa
Tsongkhapa , whose name means “The Man from Onion Valley”, was a famous teacher of Tibetan Buddhism whose activities led to the formation of the Geluk school...

. Je Tsongkhapa praised Padmasambhava
Padmasambhava
Padmasambhava ; Mongolian ловон Бадмажунай, lovon Badmajunai, , Means The Lotus-Born, was a sage guru from Oddiyāna who is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighbouring countries in the 8th century...

, so it is impossible for Je Phabongkhapa to show disrespect for Padmasambhava, impossible.”

Kyabje Zong Rinpoche

, a high ranking Lharampa Geshe

Geshe

Geshe is a Tibetan Buddhist academic degree for monks...

and Abbot of Ganden Shartse, said in his teachings:

Kyabje Phabongka was also an emanation of Heruka Chakrasamvara, but degeneration of the times and jealousy of ordinary beings have made it difficult to become aware of his tremendous qualities. There are many biographies of Kyabje Phabongka that make his realized qualities very clear.

Kyabje Zong Rinpoche

also explained the importance for Gelugpas of developing faith in the Gelugpa lineage passed down through Je Phabongkhapa and his principal disciple Trijang Rinpoche

Trijang Rinpoche

Kyabje Phabongka passed all of his lineages to Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang. He often said this in discourses. The purpose of this detailed exposition is to affirm the power of the lineage. If we lose faith in the lineage, we are lost. We should remember the biographies of past and present teachers. We should never develop negative thoughts towards our root and lineage gurus. If we do not keep the commitments after having received teachings, this is a great downfall.”

Position on Bon religion

Regarding Pabongka Rinpoche's attitude toward the non-Buddhist Bön religion, he said that "The dharmas of Boenpos, tirthika

Tirthika

Tirthika is a general term referring to adherents Jainism...

s, and so forth are non-Buddhist and should not be taken as our refuge

Refuge (Buddhism)

Buddhists "take refuge" in, or to "go for refuge" to, the Three Jewels . This can be done formally in lay and monastic ordination ceremonies.The Three Jewels general signification is:　* the Buddha;* the Dharma, the teachings;...

." In his famous work Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, he calls it an "evil system", "false dharma", "not worthy of being a refuge", "plagiarized", and "invented". Although the Bon religion was originally highly hostile to Buddhists, Je Phabongkhapa never advocated intolerance towards them: "Boen is not a refuge for Buddhists; it is not worthy of being a refuge. All the same, Buddhists and Boenpos say things to each other out of attachment or hostility, and this hardly makes for honest debate. It is vital that you should know the sources of the Boen religion." To support his claim that Bon is not a fitting refuge for Buddhists, Je Phabongkhapa quoted several Buddhist scholars, including Milarepa

Milarepa

Jetsun Milarepa , is generally considered one of Tibet's most famous yogis and poets. He was a student of Marpa Lotsawa, and a major figure in the history of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.- Life :...

who said, "The source of Boen is perverted Dharma. A creation of nagas

Naga

Naga or NAGA may refer to:* Nāga, a group of serpent deities in Hindu and Buddhist mythology.-People:* Nayan / Nayar/Nair people of Kerala Society* Naga people, a diverse ethnic identity in Northeast India...

and powerful elementals, it does not take one to the ultimate path."

Death

When Je Phabongkhapa died, an elaborate reliquary was constructed but the Chinese demolished it. Rilbur Rinpoche managed to retrieve some of his cremation relics ("ring sel") from it, which are usually kept at Sera Me Monastery. They are presently on the relics tour of saints and enlightened masters organized by Lama Zopa.

Defamation

Sadly, this great master has been defamed in modern times by Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

14th Dalai Lama

The 14th Dalai Lama is the 14th and current Dalai Lama. Dalai Lamas are the most influential figures in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, although the 14th has consolidated control over the other lineages in recent years...

. The Dalai Lama, whose main teachers, Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche

Trijang Rinpoche

and Kyabje Ling Rinpoche

Ling Rinpoche

, were both disciples of Je Phabongkhapa, implied in a teaching in 2006 that Je Phabongkhapa developed a sectarian bias due to his association with Dorje Shugden

Dorje Shugden

"In the case of Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche, he was, in the earlier part of his life, a practitioner of ecumenical faith. Gradually, he developed a relationship with Dholgyal. Need I say more?"

On another occasion the Dalai Lama said that:

"Kyabje Phabongkha Rinpoche was really an incredibly great master. … virtually the supreme holder of the Stages of the Path (Lam rim) and Mind Training (Lo jong) traditions" and "was a highly realized being", that nevertheless '"with regard to Dholgyal [Dorje Shugden] he seems to have made mistakes."

But no evidence was ever given by the Dalai Lama to back up his claim.

As a result of this defamation, Je Phabongkhapa is held in low esteem within certain sections of the Gelugpa Tradition. One example of this happened at Sera Monastery in August 2009, when a Rigchung degree ceremony (for those who have successfully completed their study of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra) was being held. During the ceremony for a monk from the Gungru Khamtsen section of the monastery, the disciplinarian of the monastery Geshe Ngawang Yonten publicly read out the 'refuge letter' (in which a patron writes the names of his family and spiritual masters for blessing by the assembled monks). The refuge letter included the names of Kyabje Phabongkha Rinpoche and Drana Rinpoche (another prominent Dorje Shugden practitioner).
The disciplinarian received phone calls after the ceremony from monks complaining about his reading out the names of these two Lamas. The disciplinarian apologised in the assembly hall the next day: 'I didn't get any prior notice before reading the letter. The person who wrote the names has accumulated negativity, as I did for reading it [the letter]. Therefore we should purify our sin by offering katag [traditional Tibetan offering scarf] to the Protector Thawo. These Lamas did not sign and pledge that they will never worship Shugden, and we will never share material and religious ties with Shugden followers.'

Je Phabongkhapa was the most influential and famous Lama during the time of the 13th Dalai Lama. He was greatly influential in reviving the Gelug Tradition, engaged practically in spreading Je Tsongkhapa's doctrine throughout Tibet and was the lama most involved in promoting the practice of Dorje Shugden. For these reasons, the current Dalai Lama and other detractors of this practice have tried to maintain that toward the end of his life Je Phabongkhapa rejected the practice of Dorje Shugden, or accuse him of being sectarian and of promoting Dorje Shugden practice as a way of damaging other Buddhist traditions.

Another reason for the Dalai Lama's defamation of Je Phabongkhapa, as stated by Goldstein, "Phabongka was famous for his view that lamas should not become involved in politics,..."

As a Gelugpa lama Je Phabongkhapa was responsible for promoting the pure teachings of Je Tsongkhapa, but there is no evidence of him acting out of sectarianism, or in any way that was damaging to other traditions. The claims made by the present Dalai Lama are completely false.

External links

Lama Zasep Tulku Rinpoche discusses Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand
Photographs of the three incarnations of Kyabje Pabongka Dorje Chang taken from DorjeShugden.com
Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand (at Google Books)
Heart Spoon a teaching on impermanence by Kyabje Pabongka Dorje Chang
Pabongkha Rinpoche by Buddhist International Alliance.

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