The Life and Teachings of Tsongkhapa by Robert A.F. Thurman

Author:Robert A.F. Thurman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wisdom Publications

PART 4

PRAISES, PRAYERS, AND A MYSTIC CONVERSATION

It is well known that Tsongkhapa had a special connection with Mañjuśhrī, in fact can be thought of as an emanation of that great bodhisattva. At least he always salutes Mañjuśhrī as his archetype deity and savior guru, as above in the Destiny Fulfilled poem, and his main instructions on the profound emptiness came directly from Mañjuśhrī. The present hymn was composed probably in 1394 during his long retreat at Oede Gungyal hermitage in Olkha, sometime after he was granted the marvelous vision of Mañjuśhrī sitting before him — his sword of wisdom connecting them, the handle in Mañjuśhrī’s heart and the tip in Tsongkhapa’s, the stream of rainbow nectar of the five wisdoms flowing down the blade. Or it is possible that it was written in 1398 when he again returned to this favorite hermitage, the time he wrote the Praise to Dependent Origination. It is a valuable work, as inspired by his constant direct visions of the bodhisattva.

The second chapter is a praise of Maitreya, known as Brahmā’s Diadem, which was written at the behest of both Vajrapāṇī and Mañjuśhrī, with the great presence of Maitreya at Dzingji in mind. After Tsongkhapa came out of his long retreat with his eight companions in 1396, their first act was to start a movement to refurbish the great statue of Maitreya in that temple. This was one of Tsongkhapa’s four major deeds, and the consecration was accompanied by numerous miraculous signs witnessed by the multitudes that attended. Tsongkhapa himself was sometimes considered an emanation of Maitreya as well as Mañjuśhrī, as by the Nyingma master Lhodrak Namkha Gyaltsen, who wrote, “Savior Maitreya, the future captain of living beings, considered the beings of this decadent age with his great compassion and visited us as Tsongkhapa, the glory of the Land of Snows — I invoke the feet of the glorious guru.” But in this poem Tsongkhapa writes under the inspiration of Mañjuśhrī to Maitreya as the future light of the world, presently watching over us from his heavenly Dharma palace up in Tushita.

The third chapter is a Prayer for Rebirth in Sukhāvati, the western pure land of the Buddha Amitābha, so famous especially in Chinese and Japanese Buddhism. It was also written in 1395 and 1396, during the work on the Dzingji temple, also under the inspiration of Mañjuśhrī.

After the great dedication at Dzingji, Jé Tsongkhapa set out with his close followers to the south, thinking strongly of making a pilgrimage to visit the holy land of India. On the way, he was invited for a visit by the above-mentioned Lhodrak Khenchen Namkha Gyaltsen, also known as Chakdorpa, owing to his special affinity for and mystic communion with the bodhisattva Vajrapāṇī. Chakdorpa was perceived as Vajrapāṇī himself by Tsongkhapa when he was teaching Tsongkhapa a number of important teachings on the tantras as well as transmitting some important Stages of the Path to Enlightenment lineages that had descended through the Kadampas. And Chakdorpa saw Tsongkhapa as Mañjuśhrī himself when he received some teachings from the younger saint.

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