Timeless Rapture: Inspired Verse of the Shangpa Masters by Jamgon Kongtrul & Ngawang Zangpo

Author:Jamgon Kongtrul & Ngawang Zangpo
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2010-03-10T10:02:00+00:00

The Melody of Faith: A Supplication to the Great Onton Kyergang-pa byJamgon Kongtrul

(A Garland of Udumvara Flowers, pp. iib-izb)

HIS LINEAGE HOLDER also sports an impressive portfolio of names. He is usually called Sangye Nyenton (Buddha Teacher of the Nyen Clan), although this amounts to a family name and profession. He is sometimes referred to as Rigong-pa, the place of his main residence, much in the same way that Kyergang-pa and Mokchok-pa are commonly known by their meditation sites. Finally, this teacher had a nickname that alluded to his lifestyle, Bepe Naljor (hidden adept), and a purely Buddhist name, Chokyi Sherab, the name he used the least. It would seem from the evidence of the Shangpa masters that some Tibetans were slow to use their religious names (which most Buddhist Tibetans do now), preferring their family names or residence names.

Sangye Nyenton received a Shangpa-style confirmation from his master: his practice surpassed that of his teacher. It is clear from his and other biographies that such comments reflect an appreciation for each young student's quality of meditation and its reflection in lucid dreams and visions. The masters never based their evaluation on outer calculations, such as the quantity of prayers or mantras recited.

Another theme of the Shangpa lineage continues in the life of Sangye Nyenton-lack of concern for the lineage's institutions. Kyungpo Naljor had been a founder, an initiator on many levels; Rinchen Tsondru was a meditator and a lay person. Chokyi Senge was a more social individual who integrated his monastic responsibilities with his meditation. Nevertheless, he guided his sole spiritual heir to a lifestyle much different from his own. Before Sangye Nyenton met his teacher, he had taken full monastic ordination and had done what neither Rinchen Tsondru or Chokyi Senge had ever managed-he completed a traditional Buddhist education. That could have marked a turning point in the lineage, from meditation cushions only to a full-service Buddhist monastery, such as so many other schools were busily establishing. To this point, the Shangpa lamas were obstinate meditators whose only concept of graduation was the moment when their naked, radiant awareness broke through the confines of meditation to reach liberation. To have a well-trained monk and welleducated scholar as the designated lineage holder was perhaps the sign of a new direction.

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