The Collected Works of Chogyam Trungpa: Volume One (21 page)

The following day we reached the monastery of Dzongsar which belonged to the Sakya school. The present Khyentse Rinpoche had been brought up there; his guru had been Situ of Kathok Monastery, the disciple of the renowned teacher the great Khyentse Rinpoche whose path the present Khyentse had followed.

On our arrival we found there were more visitors than residents; they had come from all the different Buddhist schools of Tibet, for the seminary specialized in a great variety of teachings. We were given accommodation in the monastery and made an appointment to be received by Khyentse Rinpoche on the following day. Our party went together for a formal introduction, exchanging the traditional scarves, etc., after which, the lama talked to me alone. His room had been left exactly as it was in the time of the great Khyentse and seemed still to exude the power of his spirituality. Khyentse came down from his throne and sat on a cushion in front of me with a welcoming smile. There was a sense of peace, happiness, and warmth all around him, but there was also a sense of awe, his words were so profound. He said that he was always glad to meet a disciple of Jamgön Kongtrül and particularly one who is the incarnation of the tenth Trungpa Tulku who had also been one of his own teachers; he added, “You and I are the sons of the same spiritual father.” He felt that he had no further teaching to give me since I had studied under so great a master already, but at my request he agreed to perform the empowerment rite of kalachakra (the wheel of time) for our party and would also instruct me privately. Although I was only there for a month, I learned a great deal and a deep understanding grew between us. Khyentse Rinpoche said to me, “You must look after and guide yourself, as in the future there will be no further teachers. A new era has begun in which the pure doctrine of the Lord Buddha lies in the hands of individuals; each one is separately responsible, for I do not think that we can carry on in the way we have done up till now. We can no longer rely on groups and communities. The situation is very serious, many of us are old, and perhaps it is young people like you, the new generation, who shall bear the burden.”

While we were at Dzongsar, we had a strange experience. Knowing that the monastery was the center for a great many visitors, lamas, scholars, and devotees, the Communists came with a propaganda film complete with its own batteries to give us a show. It covered their activities in Tibet from 1949 to 1953, and showed how much they had accomplished there with their so-called improvements, such as roads, schools, and hospitals, and how the Red Army had been warmly welcomed by the Tibetans. Since there was no public hall in which they could show the film, they made use of one of the sacred temples. Khyentse Rinpoche was forced to be present, for if he were there everyone else would have to attend: This was the first time I had seen a film.

The morning of our departure was a sad one, especially with those last words from Khyentse Rinpoche uppermost in my mind. I asked him to promise that we would meet again and that I would be given more time to study under him. His presence seemed to be with me for many miles of the journey.

During the interval, before the start of the new term at Sechen, I decided to spend all my time in meditation under my guru. Tulku Aten who was still with me as my advisor, now told me that before we left Surmang the authorities had said that I must not remain away for too long as I was needed in the monasteries, so I should finish my studies as quickly as possible. I consulted my guru who advised me to stay at Sechen for a little longer as I needed further instruction in meditation and Tulku Aten went back to Surmang to tell them how matters stood. I was now left with Lama Pega as my attendant and one Tsering, who like myself was anxious to have further instruction in meditation.

This was the time of year when young monks, particularly those from distant monasteries, went out with their begging bowls to collect food for the winter; those who belonged to Sechen were usually supported by local people. Since, however, many of the monks at Sechen were disciples of my previous incarnation, they looked after me and I accepted their help as it was important for me to study.

When the new term began we had to go on with our work from where we had left off; we started with the
abhidharma
, the metaphysical portion of the old Buddhist canon, and continued with
pratimoksha
which deals with monastic rules; we had also to study rhetoric and logic, though not so extensively as in some other schools. All the teaching was given orally, and we only made a few notes at the time for our own use.

The master encouraged me to make a comparative study of the different schools, and would explain their meeting points. He listened to my criticisms, but would say, “It is no use just having theories, you must reflect about the meaning: You must not accept anything just because it is given as the teaching of Buddha, but always examine it for yourself. You must follow the middle way; if a statement is found in the scriptures, it rests with you to find out what it really means in order to have true faith. Knowledge must be tested in the same way as gold; first refined, then beaten and made smooth till it becomes the right color and shows that it is pure gold.”

I was delighted when Akong Tulku arrived at Sechen for the New Year celebrations; we had become fast friends when I visited Drölma Lhakhang and gave the rite of the
Treasury of the Mine of Precious Teaching
: I had then done all I could to persuade him to come to Sechen to receive instruction from Jamgön Kongtrül, and I wanted him to experience the wonderful atmosphere there. His party had had an extremely difficult journey, for the whole country was under ice and snow. Five Drölma Lhakhang monks had accompanied him, but soon returned to their monastery and only his tutor remained with him.

The vase of the elixir of immortality
.

The Dalai Lama’s Visit

O
N HIS RETURN JOURNEY
in 1955, after a year’s visit to China, the Dalai Lama wanted to travel by way of East Tibet in order to be able to meet his people there; but unfortunately he was delayed by earthquakes that had caused damage to some of the northern roads, and he was forced to change his plans for it was only possible to visit those places that could be reached by car, so he delegated three high-ranking lamas to represent him elsewhere. These were his junior tutor Trijang Rinpoche, Chung Rinpoche, and Gyalwa Karmapa; the latter was to take his place at Palpung Monastery. I received a letter from Gyalwa Karmapa just before the end of the Sechen term, informing me of these plans and telling me to come to Palpung where a council was to be held to decide on the arrangements to be made to receive the Dalai Lama’s message: All the abbots of the Kagyü school were expected to attend it. After notifying Surmang I started off with Akong Tulku, my two Surmang monks, and a monk from Sechen who fortunately had a mule. Both Akong and I had already sent our horses back to our monasteries and though the abbots at Sechen offered to lend us theirs as well as some tents, I thought that we should do the journey on foot, while our baggage could be carried on the mule. Traveling proved difficult, for the spring snow was very soft and heavy; there was no wind and we suffered a good deal from snow blindness.

When we reached Palpung we found that my bursar and Apho Karma, whom I had not seen for some time, together with many other senior lamas had already arrived. They were surprised that our party had traveled on foot.

Gyalwa Karmapa, as the representative of the Dalai Lama, was accompanied by Chinese and Tibetan officials besides having a Chinese bodyguard; we had little time to change from our travel-stained clothes into our brocade robes to be ready to pay our respects to him. He was very friendly and told me that he had been waiting for me. We had tea together, when he told me how relieved he was to be back in Tibet; he said that the Chinese had appeared friendly, but that life in China seemed to be rather superficial. He was interested to hear about my studies.

The following day Gyalwa Karmapa gave the Dalai Lama’s message to the assembly, saying:

His Holiness deeply regrets that he has not been able to accept the invitation from the Kagyüpas himself. He asks people to understand the present situation in Tibet and how important it is for everyone to keep to their religious institutions. A great responsibility rests upon the leaders who must help both the monastic and the lay population. Everyone should be cooperative and remember that all are brothers.

Then Gyalwa Karmapa went on to tell us about the visit to China. They had been treated very hospitably: The orderliness and the material advances in the country had been brought to their notice, but he said nothing about the religious and personal freedom of the people.

We could understand that the Dalai Lama and his party were not free to voice their own opinions. Between the lines, one could realize what conditions were really like in China, and what might happen in Tibet. The whole program, as well as the Dalai Lama’s itinerary, was obviously being controlled by the Communists.

The abbot of Palpung Monastery, Tai Situ Rinpoche, who was second in importance in the Karma Kagyü school, had died some years before and no reincarnation had been found. Up till then Gyalwa Karmapa had been unable to give any indication where to look. The monastic committee now renewed the hope that the time had come for a vision and that Gyalwa Karmapa might perform the enthronement ceremony while he was still at Palpung. But the latter felt very uncertain about it; he had been much disturbed since his visit to China. He meditated for three days and on the fourth he had a vision. He called the regent abbot and the secretary and asked them to arrange for the enthronement at once, for he could now tell them where the incarnation had taken place. Everyone rejoiced and started immediately to make the preparations.

That same afternoon they went back to him for his final directions. He told them to go the following morning to a place where they would find the incarnation and gave them the full names of the parents, for he was in no doubt; all three must immediately be brought to Palpung. The monastery sent out invitations to attend the ceremony to the king of Derge, to lamas of neighboring monasteries, and to important laymen in the district.

The king arrived in great state with thirty-five counselors and three hundred other people in his suite. His procession was led by a row of monk musicians, with other monks who were waving censers. The king wore a shirt of lemon-colored brocade under a gold brocade coat, with pantaloons of white silk tucked into long boots; his jeweled sword in a carved gold scabbard hung from his belt. He had a gold amulet box slung across his chest; his hat was of gold brocade with red tassels round the crown and a large diamond on the top. His four senior ministers wore the same sort of costume, but of deep yellow brocade; the other ministers were in crimson brocade; all wore rubies on their hats. The rest of the suite followed in ordinary festival clothes. All the party rode on horses bedecked with gay trappings.

The enthronement ceremony was held in the large assembly hall; the whole place, including the pillars, was decorated with gold brocade hangings as well as beautiful thangkas depicting the life of the Buddha and the line of the Kagyü school. The senior lamas were in their gold brocade
töngas
(waistcoats) under maroon robes and cloaks with golden stoles at the back. Gyalwa Karmapa’s throne at the right and the abbot’s throne on the left, each with five cushions, were at the end of the hall, while the tulkus sat in rows leading up to them. Each throne had a number of cushions on it which varied according to the standing of the particular tulku, either four, three, two, or a single one on the floor; all were covered in gold brocade: I was given four cushions. The king sat behind us on five cushions nearest to Gyalwa Karmapa’s throne, with his ministers and the neighboring laity below him. The rest of the monks were on low benches covered with rugs. Against the wall on the opposite side of the king an elaborate altar had been erected.

Gyalwa Karmapa conducted the ceremony of enthronement; scarves and gifts were piled on the table, and a khenpo gave a two-hour talk on the history of Buddhism, also on the history of the monastery, and expressed everyone’s gratitude that the incarnation had been found. The following day a party was arranged for the king, and invitations were sent to particular lamas. For several weeks afterward offerings were placed before the altar, including thousands of butter lamps, sacrificial cakes (tormas), flowers, and incense. In return the king gave a dinner to the regent abbot and senior monks who, when he left, accompanied him some distance on his journey. In Tibet this is always a mark of respect.

After the enthronement, a message was received from the Dalai Lama to say when he would be arriving in Derge; he would be staying at the king’s palace. Gyalwa Karmapa made this announcement to all the lamas present; there was a discussion about how to approach His Holiness and what other arrangements should be made. Particular forms, ceremonies, and rules of costume had to be observed and many gifts, of which there was a prescribed list, had to be offered: A monk had to read from an illuminated script, couched in poetic form, with many flourishes begging the acceptance of the gifts by His Holiness. The first gift had to be a white scarf, followed by a gold image of the Buddha, a scripture, and a model of a stupa, or a bell and dorje, as symbols of long life of the body, speech, and mind; also five rolls of colored cloth and the skins of a tiger, a leopard, a fox, and an otter. The Dalai Lama would also be offered the traditional gifts of a set of robes, gold and silver coins, rolls of brocade, food, horses and cattle, etc., finally another white scarf, for this is auspicious, being the symbol of purity.