Drukpa Kagyu School
First Drukpa Kagyu Dialectical Instiute(Sheda) Kunkhyen Pema Karpo In the 15th century came the 4th Gyalwang Drukpa, Kunkhyen Pema Karpo [Omniscient White Lotus] who was a famous scholar and practitioner.He authored a number of textual commentaries and set up a dialectical Institute [Sheda] known as Pekar Datsang which was the first dialectical institute [Sheda] of Drukpa Lineage. Among many great diciples, Khewang[Scholar]Sangey Dorji, Boi Khepa [Tibetan Scholar]Gelek Namgyal , Dui Zhapa Pal Gyalwe Wongpo were the best of them..
The lineage was founded in the 12th century when, assuming human form, Avalokiteshwara, manifested in Tibet as the disciple of the Maha siddha Lingchen Repa. That disciple was Drogon Tsangpa Gyare (1161-1211) whose name means ‘Protecor of Beings’. When he was searching for a site to build a monastery, nine dragons reared up from the earth and soared into the sky with thunderous roars. This is how the lineage gets it’s name Drukpa. The monastery was named Namdruk – Sky Dragons. All successive reincarnations of Tsangpa Gyare have been given the title Gwalwang Drukpa and are the spiritual head of the Drukpa lineage. There was a saying in Tibet – “Half the people of the world are Drukpas. Half of the Drukpas are begging mendicants. Half of those begging mendicanta are Siddhas.”
The Lineage of the Khamtrul Rinpoches (Dokhampa Chenpos)
In the 15th century came the 4th Gyalwang Drukpa, Kunkhyen Pema Karpo (Omniscient White Lotus) who was a famous scholar and practioner. One of his main disciples was Yongzin Ngawang Zangpo who had 45 main students. Among these 3 supreme disciples were Taktsang Repa (who founded Hemis Gonpa in Ladakh), Konnchog Gyalpo (the first Dorzong Rinpoche) and Khampa Karma Tenphel (the first Khamtrul Rinpoche)
Karma Tenphel established retreat centres in Kham and had many disciples. He founded the Khampagar Monastery which throughout his later incarnations increased to over 200 monasteries, nunneries and retreat and study centres spread throughout East Tibet.
Nowadays His Eminence the 9th Khamtrul Rinpoche, Shedup Nyima presides over the Khampagar Monastery established in Tashi Jong.
We are including here teachings by Tsangpa Gyare, Gwalwa Gotsangpa, who was a disciple of Tsangpa Gyare and Pema Karpo, the 4th Gwalwang Drukpa.
Heart Advice from A Yogi by Tsangpa GyareHomage to the Guru !
Seeking to find if “I” existed,
The yogi Gyare roamed the kingdomin all directions,
Seeing the faults oif other,
I realized my own faults.
Why not root out these faults ?
Though it is full of worldly pleasures,
One’s native land is the prison of five poisons,
Living there gives rise to attachment and envy,
So why not renounce the native land ?
If a Rishi, who, though as fluent as Vagisvara
In explaining the Sutras and Tantras, and commentaries of the Aryas
Teaches attachment to worldly possessions,
And not development of Bodhicitta lives.
Saying that owning worldly wealth
Is the fulfillment of this life’s goal,
Then such advice may drown one’s merit
In the river of the eight worldly dharmas
So why not adopt the lowly place of a beggar ?
Eight Flashing Lances by Gwalwa Gotsangpa
Namo Ratna Guru
To that paragon, the dharmakaya, treasure isle
And the treasure too, sambhogakaya’s range of forms
Who as nirmanakaya fills the needs of beings
To the precious lord I bow respectfully
Decisive understanding of your basic being No bias toward samsara or nirvana Conviction reached, you change your mind no more These are three which render view unhindered Like a lance that flashes free in the open sky
The Flashing Lance of MeditationCutting through the root, it holds its own ground Sixfold consciousness unspoiled by artifice Free of effort aimed at recollection These are three which make meditation fully free Like a lance that flashes free in the open sky
The Flashing Lance of ConductExperiences just naturally unhindered Free of fear, depression, and anxiety The triumph over all perceived/perceiver split These are three which render conduct fully free Like a lance that flashes free in the open sky
The Flashing Lance of FruitionThe kayas, five, pristinely self-occurring Directly manifest in your experience Ambition for achieving buddhahood consumed These are three which make fruition fully free Like a lance that flashes free in the open sky
Dispelling the Darkness of the Heart – A Prayer Calling the Guru from Afar by Pema KarpoHeart Advice from A Yogi by Tsangpa Gyare
Homage to the Guru ! In the vast expanse of primordial purity – Dharmakaya,
you are the great Vajradhara, the sixth Buddha.
In the pure fields of the ten diraections,
you are the display of the Buddhas of the three times.
One after the other, successive Mahasiddhas
established the White Lineage of the peerless Gampopa,
ripening and liberating the fortunate ones –
all the Fathers and Sons of the Glorious Drukpa
are embodied by you, sublime Lord,
Omniscient Nawang Norbu.
I pray to you from the depths of my heartm
please look upon me from afar with compassion !
All your activities, pacifying, enriching, magnetising or wrathful.
however they manifest – are all the display of primordial awareness.
Merely surrendering to you through devotion bestows blessings spontaneously.
Free of the disturbance of the two veils,
I understand superficially that death strikes without warning.
yet I busy myself with distractions –
please look upon me from afar with compassion !
Whatever my spiritual or worldly actions,
they amount to nothing –
please look upon me from afar with compassion !
My attitude has not yet changed,
I am still attached to my present life –
please look upon me from afar with compassion !
With worldly ties uncut,
I follow any thoughts that arise –
please look upon me from afar with compassion !
I have received the holy Dharma teachings,
but lack confidence in the possibility of accomplishment –
please look upon me from afar with compassion !
Incapable of enduring hardships,
I am attached and cling to sensory pleasures –
please look upon me from afar with compassion !
Unable to remain alone in the mountains,
I roam like a stray dog in the town –
please look upon me from afar with compassion !
I have listened to the Teachings of the Victorious Ones,
yet have not rejected the eight mundane concerns –
please look upon me from afar with compassion !
Renunciation has not developed within me,
and I excel in hankering after food and clothes –
please look upon me from afar with compassion !
When the messenger of death arrives,
I will lack confidence to face death with joy –
please look upon me from afar with compassion !
Driven by strong negative karma and propensities,
Grant your blessing that I realize the truth of all your Words !
Grant your blessing that my mind merges with yours !
Grant your blessing so that I renounce mental fabrication!
Grant your blessing that non-fabrication arises from within !
Grant your blessing that I recognize appearances as my mind !
Grant your blessing that I realize the rootlessness of mind itself !
Grant your blessing that I recognize the nature od my own mind !
Grant your blessing that illusion is purified in the ultimate sphere !
Grant your blessing that I realize the View free of extremes !
Grant your blessing that I persevere in one-pointed meditation !
Grant your blessing that I maintain spontaneous conduct !
Grant your blessing that I perceive Dharmakaya as the fruit !
Oh Glorious Guru, embodiment of the Three Jewels – Ngawang Norbu,
look upon me with compassion ! Grant your blessing !
Supreme Guide, may I be like you !
Great Scholar, may I be like you !
Realised Saint, may I be like you !
Great Accomplished One, may I be like you !
Nimanakaya, may I be like you !
Protector of Beings, may I be like you !
Enlightened Buddha, may I be like you !
Oh Guru, think of me ! Oh Guru, think of me !
In the City of the Five Senses
Is faulty, like a childish stirring of dirt.
Why not renounce attachment from within ?
A person bad by nature
May cause obstacles in this life.
Why should a Yogi living according to the Dharma
Not practice tolerance towards everyone ?
Instead of being afraid of dying of starvation or falling ill,
For not possessing any means of livlihood,
Why not renounce worldly life
And move from one solitary retreat to another ?
Hindsight knowledge and manifestations are illusory.
Afflictive emotions are born due to propensities of past lives.
Realizing misfortunes as a friend,
Why not abandon flattery and meditate ?
If by the power of Guru, Yidam and Dakini,
The time to tame beings ripens,
Why not do whatever one can for the benefit of beings
Without any selfishness ?
The Flashing Lance of Samaya
Transgressions, downfalls pure from the beginning Experience: stainless clarity and emptiness When you have made your peace with self-importance These are three which make samaya fully free Like a lance that flashes free in the open sky
The Flashing Lance of CompassionSelf-concern’s ambitions are exhausted Uplifting waves of love without contention Tireless, relentless, not self-seeking These are three which make compassion fully free Like a lance that flashes free in the open sky
The Flashing Lance of Dependent ArisingThe murkiness of clinging clarified Causes and conditions, like reflections Knowing what to do and not, that subtle art These are three which make relations fully free Like a lance that flashes free in the open sky
The Flashing Lance of Enlightened ActivityPrayers of aspiration long sent, wakening Whatever’s done contributing to benefit Effortless spontaneous performance These three make activity unhindered Like a lance that flashes free in the open sky
Concluding VerseThis tune upon this well-known site in Chungkar That tells of eight whole lances flashing freely Borne on the blessing waves of able gurus Appeared in mind and now has been put to song.
you are the matchless emanation Body – Nirmanakaya how supreme !I pray to you from the depths of my heart,
please look upon me from afar with compassion !
Lord of the Four Kayas and the Five Wisdoms,
You embody all enlightened qualities.
Merely hearing your sublime name
skillfully transforms ordinary perceptions.
In this life and the next, as well as in the intermediate state,
I make you my haven of hope -
I pray to you from the depths of my heart,
please look upon me from afar with compassion !
By listening to your Speech, instantly,
deluded projections disappear by themselves.
and Buddhahood is delivered in the palm of my hand:
you are a treasury of profound essential instructions.
Riddled with negativities, when I plunge into hell,
if you look upon me with compassion, it will be too late !
Now, while I am living in the human world,
is the right time to grant your blessing !
Though in essence whatever this beggar perceives
is definitely inseparable from you, sublime Lord,
being able to perceive it swiftly, without delay,
directly as your Face
depends only on your compassion !
All beings of the three samsaric worlds,
you will establish on the path of liberation –
have you forgotten this eternal promise ?
Since we are sliding down towards evil destinies,
it is time to look upon us with compassion !
I readily succumb to negative emotions –
please look upon me from afar with compassion !
Unable to face whatever happens with equal taste,
I like the good and reject the bad –
please look upon me from afar with compassion !
Sublime Holy Lord of Blessing of the Four Empowerments,
great scholar of the five fields of knowledge,
oh Mahasiddha, Dharma Lord who knows the heart of others !
Grant your blessing so that my mind may turn towards the Dharma,
and that I may realize the difficulty of finding freedoms and advantages!
Grant your blessing that I keep in mind impermanence and death,
and that I understand the infallibility of karma – actions and effects !
Grant your blessing that I realize the harmful consequences of cyclic existence !
Grant your blessing that I perceive the benefits of liberation !
Grant your blessing that I may not desire material objects!
Grant your blessing that I cease to hoard wealth !
Grant your blessing that I be free from preferring joy to pain !
Grant your blessing that I be free from attachment to close ones !
Grant your blessing that I have no anger towards enemies !
Grant your blessing that I always remain in solitary retreat!
Grant your blessing that I be free from partiality !
Grant your blessing that I perceive the Guru as the Buddha !
Grant your blessing that my confidence and devotion never cease !
Grant your blessing that I see all your activities as perfect!