Tag Archives: Tertön Sogyal

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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Whose Text Is It Anyway? (And Does It Really Matter?)

Dola Jigme Kalzang blog

Dola Jigme Kalzang

Several years ago I added a note to the Rigpa Wiki entry on Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje (1800–1866) pointing out that a text commonly attributed to Do Khyentse is in fact by Dola Jigme Kalzang (b. 1789). The text in question is Foolish Babble Clarifying Reality: Notes on the Generation and Perfection Stages (bskyed rdzogs kyi zin bris blun gtam de nyid gsal ba). In English it appears interwoven with Ringu Tulku’s commentary in Daring Steps Toward Fearlessness (Snow Lion, 2005). Any confusion surrounding the text’s attribution seemingly stems from the fact that Dola Jigme Kalzang is also known as Zhönnu Yeshe Dorje,[1] the name that appears in Foolish Babble‘s colophon, but which is unattested in any other work by Do Khyentse. The case for the revised attribution was made even clearer in 2010 when the text was included among the collected writings of Jigme Kalzang (there referred to as Derge Jigme Kalzang) published by the Ngakmang Institute.[2]

You might well ask whether it really matters who wrote this (or any other) work. After all, it has little bearing on the actual content. It certainly matters more to the biographer or historian than it does to the average student. But association with a highly revered — and, in the case of Do Khyentse, highly unconventional — character inevitably influences how a work is perceived. And while much is known about events in the life of Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje, biographies of Jigme Kalzang offer no more than scanty bits of information. Until recently, for example, the year of his birth was unknown, while the year of his death still remains unclear.[3]  (Incidentally, Tulku Thondup Rinpoche’s brief account of the circumstances of his death by torture in place of a condemned thief in China surely ranks among the most moving passages in Masters of Meditation and Miracles.)

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