Understanding the Case Against Shukden: The History of a Contested Tibetan Practice by Gavin Kilty

Author:Gavin Kilty [Kilty, Gavin]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Wisdom Publications
Published: 2019-03-11T16:00:00+00:00

The Response from the Takphu Labrang

In the above there is one thing in particular that researchers should take an interest in. In the letter of request submitted by the master Phabongkha to Takphu Rinpoché, he mentions the “profound words on the short-lineage life-entrustment of the fierce protector.” He is saying that if Takphu Vajradhara were to give pure-vision163 teachings on Dölgyal life-entrustment and so forth, later these teachings could become those “profound words.”

Alternatively, it can be understood that “profound words” refers to venerable Phabongkha requesting Takphu Vajradhara for profound advice and guidance on the life-entrustment he himself had composed earlier. Nowhere, initially, in the letters of request was there mention of “profound initiation of the Dölgyal life-entrustment.”

In truth, he could say nothing else because Takphu Vajradhara was not someone who practiced Dölgyal. In particular, he possessed no lineage of Dölgyal whatsoever, either short or long. Therefore saying that he must have something that is nonexistent, like the hair on a tortoise, and that it must be given to him would have been an inappropriate request.

Furthermore, in the biography of Kyabjé Phabongkha, it says (500):

Therefore, to my sole refuge, the great Takphu, who in reality is the all-pervading Vajradhara, I offered the basic text, together with detailed reasons, and made my request.

This great Vajradhara follows a code of conduct that is not at all evident to the perception of ordinary disciples but is in reality a life of inconceivable mysteries, sporting constantly with mandalas of countless conquering buddhas, all of which transcend the boundaries of the ordinary mind. A fraction of this can be gleaned from his secret biography. There he relates how he received this profound life-entrustment initiation of Gyalchen:

Constant deception that has been mixed

with the innermost deception of imprints;

by prayers made at the behest of the lama,

I arrived at the Dharma Land of Joy,164

where in the presence of the fragrant lotus

I offered my request and he smiled with delight.

Entrusting a heroic one born from his speech,165

the rāja was brought from amid the five-faced throne.

Entrusted to a servant, it was in accord with the words of the lama,

and supplemented with a few points that are unique,

the one called Padma166 wrote it down in a grove of joy.

By its virtue, may the deeds and life of the lama be great,

may his disciples, in harmonious mind, be made joyous

with the wealth of Dharma, and in particular,

may the tradition of Mañjunātha flourish.

The rite comprising the arrangement of the basic text that I had offered, and the profound pure-vision short lineage as given by Lama Vajradhara, together with supplementary material, presented in an accessible manner, begins:

In a clean and quiet place….

When the master Phabongkha says, “I offered the basic text, together with detailed reasons, and made my request” he means that he offered Takphu Rinpoché the Dölgyal life-entrustment text he had composed about fourteen years earlier and explained that Dölgyal’s insistence was the fundamental reason a new life-entrustment needed to be composed. Moreover, looking at the last three lines of the verses above, I

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