Fearless in Tibet: The Life of the Mystic Terton Sogyal (17 page)

Tertön Sogyal stayed in Lhasa more than a year and continued to perform rituals to protect Tibet. His connection to the young Dalai Lama deepened, while his position in the inner court was firmly established, even though some resentment of his influence on the Dalai Lama still remained within orthodox elements in the Tibetan government. Tertön Sogyal was exposed to the opulent lifestyle in Lhasa, with the lavish dress, rigid seating arrangements, honorifics of speech, and use of aristocratic ranks and titles for the enrichment of a select few. Tertön Sogyal observed Lhasa residents spending the lion’s share of their time immersed in worry about relative prestige and status, and thought them to be like children building sand castles.

When Tertön Sogyal was not bound to duties in Lhasa for the Dalai Lama, he went on pilgrimage to sites where Guru Padmasambhava had lived and taught. Coming to central Tibet for the first time was of great consequence for Tertön Sogyal, as he could make a physical connection to the sacred topography, remembering his time as Dorje Dudjom in the 8th century. Visiting the tombs of Tibet’s imperial kings, as well as many sacred stupas, pilgrimage places, and other monuments, and walking on the hallowed ground of Padmasambhava were catalysts in his mind. He remembered having been there in his past lives. After he discovered treasure scrolls that were written in the hand of Yeshe Tsogyal in a place to the south of Lhasa near the Crystal Cave of Yarlung Valley, he returned to Lhasa and offered these scrolls to the Dalai Lama at the Summer Palace. The Dalai Lama deciphered the teaching. Inspired by the connection to Tertön Sogyal, the young Tibetan leader instructed the Dagchen throne holder of Sakya Monastery, who was present at the time, to decode the meaning of another treasure scroll Tertön Sogyal presented. The scroll contained only one line of script, though the meaning of the syllables when decoded filled 50 pages of meditation instructions associated with Vajrakilaya. After both the Dalai Lama and Sakya Dagchen decoded the dakini script and put the instruction in writing, Tertön Sogyal gave them the empowerments for the meditation practices. Soon the Dalai Lama began to have pure visions that resulted in his own treasure revelations, which later he wrote under the secret name of Dratang Lingpa. Undoubtedly, the Dalai Lama looked to the tertön for guidance on treasure revelation and the esoteric process of decoding dakini script, just as Tertön Sogyal had been guided by the great Khyentse Wangpo.

Nearing the end of Tertön Sogyal’s first sojourn in Lhasa, Padmasambhava and the One-Eyed Protectress appeared to the tertön in visions and dreams, telling him of additional treasures he needed to reveal in eastern Tibet. Before his departure audience with the Dalai Lama to request leave, Tertön Sogyal met with Regent Demo to tell him about one special treasure, a powerful statue of Padmasambhava still hidden in eastern Tibet. Tertön Sogyal first became aware of this statue in an associated prophecy in his own Vajrakilaya revelation. If this
Wish-Fulfilling Jewel Guru Statue That Liberates Upon Seeing
could be revealed and strategically placed in Lhasa’s Jokhang Temple, Tertön Sogyal said, it would serve as an exceptional means to prevent invaders from entering the Land of Snows.

Before Padmasambhava left Tibet, he hid a number of statues to serve as his representatives. In the future when afflictive emotions will be strong, Tertön Sogyal told Demo, and when respect for the Dharma and lineage holders is waning, at that time, this very statue should be revealed to counteract the corrupted views.

“This statue is inseparable from me,” Padmasambhava said to Tertön Sogyal in a vision identifying the exact location. “It must be placed at the right side of Jowo Shakyamuni Buddha statue in the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa.”

Regent Demo presented Tertön Sogyal with beads of turquoise and coral, and a bag of silver coins, and said, “Endeavor with all your efforts to find this statue!”

CHAPTER 9

DISCOVERING
the
WISH-FULFILLING JEWEL GURU STATUE

D
RIKOK
E
NCAMPMENT
, E
ASTERN
T
IBET

Year of the Earth Ox to the Iron Hare, 1889–1891

Tertön Sogyal and his cohorts returned to eastern Tibet by the southern tea-trade route in the first month of the Earth Ox year (1889). The terma protectors accompanied him along the mountain trails eastward. They passed caravans of mules carrying puer tea toward Lhasa, while Tibetan traders brought salt and medicinal herbs off the Tibetan Plateau to China. When they camped at the Secret Cave of the Living Dakinis near Barkham’s most sacred mountain, the protectors delivered to Tertön Sogyal a golden parchment in which he was given further clues to finding the
Wish-Fulfilling Jewel Guru Statue That Liberates Upon Seeing.

After six weeks of travel, Tertön Sogyal arrived at Drikok at Nyoshul Lungtok’s encampment. There he was reunited with his teacher Nyoshul Lungtok, Khandro Pumo, and disciples. The snowy peak of Mount Lotus Hermitage towered in the northeast with the expansive Trom plains to the south. In front of the encampment ran the Yile River, and a few miles below, the water flowed so gently that it made no sound. Locals said that even the water that came from Nyoshul Lungtok’s encampment flowed with a meditative silence.

Tertön Sogyal presented Nyoshul Lungtok with all the jewels, silver, and gold that he had been offered to him in central Tibet. It was clear that Tertön Sogyal was perfecting the three gatherings: people during the day, dakinis during the night, and material offerings throughout. The teacher accepted Tertön Sogyal’s gifts and the next day sent them all away to various monasteries, not keeping a single coin for himself.

Tertön Sogyal stayed for some months with Nyoshul Lungtok and received teachings and empowerments that the master rarely bestowed. During this time, Tertön Sogyal told his teacher about the
Wish-Fulfilling Jewel Guru Statue
. When Tertön Sogyal went to visit his other teachers, including Jamgön Kongtrul, Lama Sonam Thaye, and Dza Choktrul, they were unanimous in their encouragement not to delay in the treasure revelation. “Do whatever is necessary in order to reveal the
Wish-Fulfilling Jewel Guru Statue
!”

In Tertön Sogyal’s 35th year, he revealed a guidebook to the
Wish-Fulfilling Jewel Guru Statue,
which stated, “Just as the veins of the body converge at the heart, go to the auspicious cave in the remote area of Derge where there are seven stone steps. You will see unmistakably, on the rock wall, an eight-spoked wheel. In the middle of the wheel there will be dakini script. There, behind, look for the extraordinarily blessed statue that liberates any individual who is fortunate to lay eyes upon it.”

The guide also instructed Tertön Sogyal about the astrologically appropriate date for revelation, the number of disciples who should accompany him, and the purification rituals to conduct, all of which needed to come together perfectly for the treasure revelation. The guidebook concluded, “When Guru Padmasambhava hid this statue, he entrusted it to Rahula and the naga treasure guardian named Jeweled Goddess. These two guardians will watch over the
Wish-Fulfilling Jewel Guru Statue
for many centuries. The person who will reveal this terma is an emanation of me, is empowered by me, and remains inseparable from me. His character may be unconventional and unpredictable as he subdues unruly disciples. He, who is an emanation of Nanam [Dorje Dudjom], is known as the great treasure revealer Sogyal.”

Rahula, the nine-headed Dharma protector, led Tertön Sogyal to the sacred mountain in the Derge region. Tertön Sogyal took with him 25 yogis and yoginis with whom he had a pure heart connection. As they walked through the rocky terrain and deep ravines, the entire group began having visions of Padmasambhava, who to some appeared in various forms such as a pandita and an ascetic yogi, and to others the guru rode a fearsome tigress. Clouds formed in the azure sky into mantra syllables—
Om Ah Hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hum
—while others saw
Hum,
the seed syllable of the enlightened mind of all the buddhas, reflected off mountain lakes and in the rivers.

When they arrived at a campsite at the base of a snow-covered mountain, Tertön Sogyal immediately took his seat and recited the syllable
Ah
in a yogic manner 100 times. He remained seated in meditation as others pounded the pegs to erect yak-hair tents while a few monks collected firewood, hauled water, and established a kitchen area. Nobody except the tertön knew how long they might stay.

After weeks of prepatory rituals, Tertön Sogyal and the monk assistant Dorje ascended the mountain one morning to search for the door to the treasure. When they found the seven steps that led to the eight-spoked wheel, Tertön Sogyal withdrew his phurba dagger and struck the rock in four places. He told Dorje to bore out holes, and therein Tertön Sogyal placed ten precious stones of coral, turquoise, amber, and crystal beads to symbolize seizing the power to accomplish the four kinds of tantric activity—magnetizing, enriching, subjugating, and pacifying. Tertön Sogyal carved a larger hole in the rock and placed ten dzi onyx beads and a conch shell to represent the all-encompassing accomplishment of enlightenment itself. Before returning to camp, Tertön Sogyal concealed the holes, and he told Dorje to maintain great secrecy about what he had hidden.

The disciples continued to conduct extensive ceremonies during the waxing August moon. On the 14th day of the lunar month, Tertön Sogyal told them to prepare a ritual feast in anticipation of the pending revelation. Ritual feasts not only accumulate positive karma, but they also serve to purify the disciples’ hearts and minds. By subsuming all objects of the senses—from the aroma of incense and food, to the taste of spiritual medicine and beer, to the sounds of ritual music and the mountain wind, to the very movements of thought and emotions in the mind—in the nondual state of unbound awareness, vast merit is accumulated and any corruptions in the yogis’ samaya are purified.

The next morning, Tertön Sogyal and Dorje walked up the mountain with a few others, including Atrin. When Tertön Sogyal climbed the rock staircase, the treasure door to a vault opened by itself, and Dorje helped Tertön Sogyal remove a large treasure casket two arm-lengths long. Tertön Sogyal put a treasure replacement of ten golden coins in the crypt and closed the stone door. The ease with which the treasure discovery happened, Tertön Sogyal knew, was a sign that all the necessary interdependent circumstances had coalesced precisely at the right time, in the right location, with pure devotees around him.

The casket was extremely heavy and the other yogis approached to help take it down from the rock perch. Dorje and Atrin put the treasure casket on the backs of two helpers, but they could barely take a step without losing their balance because of the sheer weight.

“If you can’t manage, then set it down,” Tertön Sogyal said.

Tertön Sogyal hoisted the load onto his own back and hiked down the mountain with granite scree rolling off cliffs on either side of him. One of the yoginis met Tertön Sogyal on the trail and ceremonially led him back to camp, holding incense and singing melodic mantras. Tertön Sogyal saw clouds of incense rising from the campsite where fresh juniper branches smoldered atop hot coals for a smoke offering. The other yogis and yoginis had cleaned the campsite and prepared another ritual feast of barley cakes, yogurt, sweet potatoes, and barley wine. They had dusted off their red and white shawls and washed themselves as if the Great Guru Padmasambhava himself were soon arriving at their camp.

Atrin and Dorje assisted Tertön Sogyal to set the heavy stone casket next to the mandala and feast offerings. They immediately offered devotional prayers to Padmasambhava, and made offerings to Rahula and the treasure guardians living in the underworld, including pouring pails of blessed milk into the nearby stream for the naga Jeweled Goddess. As the offerings were being made, Tertön Sogyal mixed a sacramental brew and had the congregation drink it while he distributed palm-size ritual mirrors that the yogis and yoginis affixed to their belts as a protection against any deleterious fumes or sorcery with which they may have recently come into contact.

As the disciples continued to chant and abide in the sublime Dzogchen view, Tertön Sogyal approached the stone casket. He washed it with saffron-infused water and purified it with incense. Birds gathered in the trees and sang soft melodies as deer walked by the encampment unafraid. With the help of the treasure guardian invisible to all except him, Tertön Sogyal lifted the lid to the casket, wherein sat the
Wish-Fulfilling Jewel Guru Statue
. The congregation prostrated with tears of devotion, offered sacred substances, and made aspirational prayers.