Open-Minded Paronomasia

One of the most common stylistic devices in Tibetan Buddhist literature—and one which poses a particular challenge for the translator—is the embedding of a lama’s name in a verse (or verses) within a text, often as part of an opening homage. As Leonard van der Kuijp has pointed out, this has Indian antecedents and could be regarded as an example of paronomasia (Tib. sbyar ba’i dpe; Skt. ślesopamā),1 or, more simply, punning or wordplay.

Embedded words are sometimes highlighted in the original text with sublinear marks known as nges bzung nyi zla’i rtags—emphatic sun and moon signs. The use of such marks is especially common in long-life prayers or texts of name bestowal, such as this. At times, however, the name is not highlighted, and it is up to the reader to identify it. This can be challenging, especially since Tibetan lamas often have multiple names, and it might not always be the most common one that is used. The ideal reader (and translator) must therefore be familiar not only with the author’s life and works but also with the life(/lives) and works of that author’s teacher(s).

Open Mind: View and Meditation in the Lineage of Lerab Lingpa (hereafter Open Mind), translated by B. Alan Wallace, was published by Wisdom Publications in 2017. It contains writings by three masters: Tertön Sogyal Lerab Lingpa (1856–1926), and two figures described on the cover as his “close disciples”: Tsultrim Zangpo (alias Tulku Tsullo, 1884–c.1957) and Lobzang Do-Ngak Chökyi Gyatso (alias Tulku Sungrab or Kunzang Zhepé Dorje, 1903–1957). The latter figure is of particular interest here. He is someone I have written about several times in the past.2 His attempt to synthesise Geluk and Nyingma philosophy represents an unusual and intriguing form of non-sectarianism, one that has sparked the interest of the current Dalai Lama.

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Coincidental Proximity and Autobiographical Kindness

Not so long ago, while busily researching and translating texts about destroying the ‘house’ of the ordinary reactive mind—sem in Tibetan—I lived in a building whose main entrance was emblazoned with the letters S.E.M., as part of the logo of Sterling Estates Management. On several occasions I even travelled from this building labelled S.E.M. to one labelled Rigpa, just a few miles away in another part of north London. Was this an extraordinary coincidence? Or does everybody enact such symbolic representations of the Dzogchen path, proceeding from reactivity to awareness?

After several years living in S.E.M, so to speak, I moved to a small terraced cottage in East Sussex. Now, one of the challenges of being a neo-lotsawa is deciding how best to respond to the question of what I do for a living. I can’t recall how I phrased my answer when introduced to our new neighbour Jo, but, rather than provoking the usual combination of puzzlement and concern, whatever I said led her to reveal that her late husband David had been a close friend of the Dalai Lama. For it turned out that I was now living next door to the widow of David Howarth, editor of the Dalai Lama’s first autobiography, My Land and My People.

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Ringu Tulku Rinpoche on Khenpo Lodrö Zangpo (1924–1986)

Khenpo Lodrö Zangpo was a disciple of Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö and a teacher to several prominent lamas of recent times, including Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Sogyal Rinpoche, Ringu Tulku Rinpoche and Khenpo Ngawang Jorden.

The following is extracted from an interview with Ringu Tulku Rinpoche that took place in Boudha, Nepal, 10 Sep 2019.

Khenpo Lodrö Zangpo

“He and Khenpo Rinchen were like brothers. I don’t know if they had the same father or mother, but they were from the same monastery—Tritso (khri tsho)—and they studied together. They were like brothers.

“At the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology in Sikkim they appointed four lamas as experts. For the Nyingma it was Dodrupchen Rinpoche; for Kagyü it was Gyaltön Rinpoche (1908–1970); and for Sakya it was Khenpo Lodrö Zangpo.1 For the Geluk it was Punkhang Rechung Rinpoche (1927–2001).

“Gyaltön Rinpoche used to be at the institute sometimes. Dodrupchen Rinpoche began by coming every day when we were studying there. But Khenpo Lodrö Zangpo came there every day and stayed the whole day. He lived for a few years in the Nyingma Shedra. Then he lived mostly in the Institute of Tibetology’s guest house. In fact, he lived there until he died.

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The Hidden Treasures of Dzamnang

As a follow-up to the previous post, here are some thoughts about another (relatively) recently discovered text by Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö.

Dzamnang Pema Shelpuk
Photo: Stefan J. Gueffroy

A Guide to the Vairotsana Practice Place in Dzamnang (ཛཾ་ནང་བཻ་རོའི་སྒྲུབ་གནས་ཀྱི་དཀར་ཆག) concerns the sacred place of Pema Shelpuk (པདྨ་ཤེལ་ཕུག), or Lotus Crystal Cave, near Dzongsar Monastery.1 This is counted as one of the twenty-five great sites of Kham—indeed, it is described as the most exalted of them all. The site was first opened by Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa (1829–1870) and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820–1892) at the end of 1856 at the time when the pair also revealed the Three Sections of the Great Perfection (rdzogs chen sde gsum) terma cycle there.2 That cycle includes a guide or catalogue/inventory (dkar chag) that describes the qualities of the place and the benefits of practising and circumambulating there.3

Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö’s own short guide focuses on the Vairotsana cave at the site. The text tells us that this is where Vairotsana practised, that the Three Root deities are actually present there, and that further treasures lie hidden, waiting to be revealed.

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A Recently Discovered Text by Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö

In July a post appeared on WeChat entitled “A Manuscript in Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö’s Own Handwriting” (རྫོང་སར་མཁྱེན་བརྩེ་ཆོས་ཀྱི་བློ་གྲོས་ཀྱི་ཕྱག་བྲིས་ཕྱག་བསྟར་མ།).1 The text in question is an aspiration, composed in the vicinity of the Jokhang in Lhasa for a Sakya monk named Jamyang Tsultrim from Tsedong (rtse gdong) Monastery, possibly in 1955. It consists of six verses and is general in theme but clearly written from a Sakya perspective—in which the view is the recognition of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa’s inseparability (‘khor ‘das dbyer med).

To my knowledge, the text has not appeared in any edition of Jamyang Khyentse’s writings published to date.

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Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö’s Birth Year

Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö

Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö writes in his own autobiography that he was born in the female Water Snake year. He is unsure of the precise date, but says that it was during the autumn. This means it was certainly 1893. The Water Snake began in February 1893 and continued until the following February, but the reference to autumn precludes 1894.

I was born […] in the female Water Snake year—
during the autumn months, I heard it said.
My parents had little concern for such things,
so they left no written record
of the planets and stars, or dreams and signs.

from The Play of Illusion: An Autobiography

This date is reiterated in another autobiography and in the biography written by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (translated into English in 2017), as well as in the same master’s catalogue to Jamyang Khyentse’s writings.

So far so clear. Yet, many sources, including recent ones, state that Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö was born in 1896. One such is E. Gene Smith’s Among Tibetan Texts (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2001), and Smith’s unimpeachable authority may account for some of the other instances. Another is Chögyal Namkhai Norbu’s The Lamp That Enlightens Narrow Minds (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2012), although the book does note (p. 141, n. 28) that Tulku Thondup’s Masters of Meditation and Miracles (Boston: Shambhala, 1996) and other texts give the birth year as 1893.

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On the Dates of Rogza Sönam Palge

lineage_prayersThis post is no more than a quick note to provide the dates of Rogza Sönam Palge (rog bza’ bsod nams dpal dge), who is known primarily as a teacher of yogic practices (tsa-lung) to Patrul Rinpoche (1808–1887) and also as one of the gurus of Orgyen Tendzin Norbu (1841–1900). As far as I’m aware, his dates have never appeared in any English-language publication. Indeed, he doesn’t even have an entry on tbrc.org

Matthieu Ricard’s Enlightened Vagabond includes a brief summary (pp. 219–220) of the major facts concerning Sönam Palge’s life, such as how he studied with the First Dodrupchen Jigme Trinle Özer (1745–1821) and later followed Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje (1800–1866) as a Dharma companion.

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Some Clarifications on The Clarifying Light

Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö and an Enigmatic Text of Prophecy

Several times in recent years, I have received queries about a text attributed to Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö (1893–1959) that has circulated in various forms[1] (and forums) online. The text in question, Ma ‘ongs lung bstan gsal byed sgron me, was translated into English by the late Stephen Brinson Aldridge (Ka-rma gSung-rab rgya-mtsho, 1948–2018) under the title The Light That Makes Things Clear: A Prophecy of Things to Come. It has garnered considerable attention, not least because the translator ascribes the foretold events to the not-too-distant future, specifically the period from 2026 to 2032. In recent weeks, a connection has also been made between this text and coronavirus, as if the current pandemic might presage the more severe misfortune that is to come.

Now, partly in response to a request and partly to satisfy my own curiosity, I have produced a translation of the text as part of the ongoing Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö sungbum translation project. It might therefore be appropriate to say a few things—well, five to be precise—about the text. Of course, all this is provisional. As more editions emerge they may help to resolve some of the issues raised below.

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On the Dates of Katok Situ Chökyi Gyatso

Or: The Radiant Sun that Banishes the Darkness of Uncertainty Concerning the Dates of the Great Master Katok Situ Chökyi Gyatso

This is merely a brief note, a sort of expanded footnote, on the dates of Katok Situ Chökyi Gyatso, who is best known for his guide to the pilgrimage places of Central Tibet.

Several publications in recent years have treated his dates, and that of his death in particular, as uncertain, or else they have diverged from what was once the standard chronology. This is curious, because earlier publications were unambiguous in stating that he was born in 1880 and died in 1925.

These 1880–1925 dates accord with the main biography of Katok Situ, written by Jamyang Lodrö Gyatso.[1] They appeared in E. Gene Smith’s 1969 preface (p. 17 n. 65) to the autobiography of Khenpo Ngawang Palzang (1879–1941); and they are also given in the Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo, published in 1985.

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Who Gets To Be Omniscient?

Who gets to be omniscient in Tibetan Buddhism? More to the point, who gets to be called omniscient or all-knowing (kun mkhyen), an epithet more readily associated with the Buddha himself?[1] This question surfaced while reading Achim Bayer’s carefully researched, recently published monograph on Khenpo Shenpen Nangwa, alias Khenpo Shenga—The Life and Works of mKhan-po gZhan-dga’ (1871–1927).

Bayer introduces a citation (p.108) that appears in Shenga’s treatise The Mirror that Clearly Reveals the Knowable (Shes bya gsal ba’i me long) where it is credited to the ‘later omniscient one’ (kun mkhyen phyi ma). Bayer was unable to identify the passage and speculates as to the identity of this later omniscient one. Could it be Longchen Rabjam (1308–1364), he wonders, or possibly Gorampa Sonam Sengge (1429–1489). The fact that there are multiple contenders owes something to Khenpo Shenga’s own intellectual development (as described in wonderful detail in Bayer’s book), which began with a thorough Nyingma education and evolved over time so that in his Divine Music he expressed a newfound appreciation for, and confidence in, Sakya views.

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