The Jebumgang Temple

Matthew Akester THE JÉBUMGANG TEMPLE Ritual Architecture and the Defence of the Modern Tibetan State The Jébumgang Temple The Jébumgang Temple Ritual Architecture and the Defence of the Modern Tibetan State Matthew Akester © by Matthew Akester First Edition 2018 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher. Cover Image by Pimpim de Azevedo Garuda Verlag 6288 Schongau/Switzerland www.garudabooks.ch info@garudabooks.ch ISBN 978 3 906139 35 7 Table of Contents Preface 7 The rJe ’bum sgang Temple Ritual Architecture and the Defence of the Modern Tibetan State 9 The Missing History of the rJe ‘bum sgang temple 11 Shakya yar ’phel and the Ascendancy of gNas chung 23 gTer ston bSod rgyal and the Nyag rong Connection 37 The Resignation of gTer ston bSod rgyal 49 The Decline of rNying ma pa Influence on the post-1913 State 55 Appendices Bibliography 67 80 Index 86 Preface I first came to the question of the Jébum Lhakhang’s origins through involvement in the Tibet Heritage Fund’s architectural survey of the remaining old buildings in Lhasa in the late 1990s. The THF documentation of the temple appeared as chapter 12 of Temples of Lhasa (Serindia Publications 2005). Searching for the history of the temple, I gathered that it had been built during the Demo regency (1886–95) on the ruins of a controversial Stūpa, on a site considered geomantically powerful. I was intrigued to find that this was the same site on which the mid-16th century Nyingmapa master Nangtsé Tértön Shikpo Lingpa had built a temple for repelling the floodwaters that threatened the city in summer. My curiosity grew on realising that the sole literary account of the temple’s foundation, a passage in the 13th Dalai Lama’s official biography, had concealed key information about the event. Some of this information turned up in the life stories of certain Nyingmapa lamas from Amdo Rebkong who had participated, and suggested, among other things, that the temple was in fact designed to repel military invasion (the ritual art known as dMag bzlog), specifically the British advance from Sikkim in the late 1880s. Further research confirmed that the Jébum Lhakhang was not the only instance of heads of state collaborating with Nyingmapa masters on temple building and other ritual projects in the national interest in this period. In this essay, relying mainly on the biographies of some of the chief protagonists, I consider the role of Nyingmapa ritual and revelation in the late 19th century resurgence of the Tibetan state, and go on to look briefly at 20th century developments. My thanks go to Tashi Tsering of the Amnye Machen Institute (Dharmshala) and the late E. Gene Smith of the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Centre (New York) for providing some of the rare literary sources cited; to learned informants such as Tulku Pema Wangyal, Zabtrul Pema Gyatso, the late Jetsun Ngawang Gyeltsen, the late Chemo Penpa Dorje, and Jarikpa Lobsang Namgyal for answering my questions; to Matteo Pistono, for sharing his recorded interviews and other research materials on Lerab Lingpa; and to Peter Eisenegger of Garuda Verlag for undertaking the work of publication. 7 The rJe ’bum sgang temple c. 1900. © Photo by Ekai Kawaguchi The rJe ’bum sgang Temple ritual architecture and the defence of the modern Tibetan state The ‘temple of one hundred thousand (images of) rJe (Tsong kha pa)’ was one of 20th century lHa sa’s more enigmatic monuments. Situated just south-east of the ‘stone bridge’ (rDo zam) on the road to Ra mo che, its gilt canopy roof was a landmark on the city’s northern skyline, but at least within living memory, access was blocked by surrounding buildings and it was little-visited by worshippers. In photographs from the 1940s and ‘50s it has the air of an elaborate folly, sequestered and half-forgotten. By that time, the rJe ’bum sgang temple had become a rather unique architectural witness to an intriguing episode in modern history, the reassertion of administrative independence by the dGa’ ldan pho brang state culminating in the effective assumption of power by the 13th Ta la’i bla ma (1895–1904). I begin with the attempt to salvage some of its testimony from the few laconic and abstruse sources available. 9 The rGya ’bum sgang mchod rten, from a pictorial map of lHa sa. © British Library Board. All rights reserved 1 2 According to Dung dkar Blo bzang phrin las (Dung dkar tshig mdzod p. 904) and Bya rigs pa Blo bzang rnam rgyal (Grong khyer lHa sa‘i lo rgyus rig gnas p. 70–71), it was ‘a Byang chub mchod rten five storeys high...under the pinnacle were iron chains in the four directions with bells attached to them, so that when the wind blew, the tinkling of the bells could be heard throughout the area. Inside the Stūpa, passing through a chapel, there was a staircase inside the (spire of) thirteen discs with an opening at the top under the pinnacle, which inspired a popular song: ‚On the high ridge (sGang) of rGya ’bum, a staircase tall and high has been built/ From whichever of the four directions one looks, there is the sweet sound of bells‘. According to Sarat Chandra Das, who saw the Stūpa in 1882 (Journey to Lhasa and central Tibet, Cosmo publications (reprint) Delhi 1988 p. 155), it was known as “dBang ’dus mchod rten”, ‘which was built to bring under the power...of Tibet all the neighbouring nations’. Two officers, 49 soldiers and 77 Chinese commoners were slaughtered by the mob according to imperial documents cited by Petech (China and Tibet in the early 18th century, Brill 1972 p. 274), while most of the Chinese population took refuge in the Potala palace that night. Their number is given as 247 in the rNam thar nyi ma’i ’od zer biography of Paṇ chen dPal ldan ye shes (cf. Bod kyi srid don rgyal rabs by Zhva sgab pa dBang phyug bde ldan, vol. 1 p. 570). This passage has notably been expunged 3 4 10 from the recent Beijing edition of the biography (Krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang 2002). The dPag bsam rin po che’i snye ma biography (Mi rigs dpe skrun khang 1990 p. 762) notes that ‘...many offerings and prayers were made before special shrines for the many Chinese and Tibetans who lost their lives in the fighting, chiefly the two Amban-s, and public services were held at the three great monasteries and the two Tantric colleges’. Blo bzang bkra shis and other alleged ringleaders were executed soon after in the most gruesome Manchu style, much to public revulsion. Could it have been this horror (rather than the massacre) that was associated with rGya ’bum sgang and that the Stūpa was designed to purify? The toponym “rGya ’bum sgang” apparently pre-dates these events, but I have found no occurrences in earlier literature, nor any indication that it was the scene of corporal punishments. The symbolic importance of the event is that in its aftermath, combined religious and secular government under Manchu imperial tutelage was formally established in central Tibet, the arrangement that prevailed until the start of the 20th century. The earliest depiction found of the Stūpa so far is in the pictorial map of lHa sa in the British Library’s “Wise collection” (Add.or 3013), drawn by a Tibetan Lama visiting India in the late 1850s. This shows a smaller Stūpa next to it. The missing history of the rJe ‘bum sgang temple The ‘mound’ or ‘rise’ (sGang) on which the temple stood has long been known as “rGya ’bum sgang”. In lHa sa folklore, the name became associated with the idea that ‘one hundred thousand Chinese’ (rGya ’bum) were massacred here by a mob led by mGron gnyer Blo bzang bkra shis, in reprisal for the murder (in December 1750) of his master, the wayward ruler Wang ’Gyur med rnam rgyal, by the Manchu Amban-s. It is said that the seventh Ta la’i bla ma subsequently commissioned a great Stūpa on the site to purify the sins committed there, and as the Stūpa was filled with one hundred thousand (claymould) images of rJe Tsong kha pa, the name “rGya ’bum sgang” was officially sanctified as “rJe ’bum sgang”.1 There was indeed a massacre on that occasion, though not on the scale purported in folklore,2 which centred on the Khrom gzigs khang residence of the Manchu imperial envoys, a stone’s throw south of rGya ’bum sgang. Whether the Stūpa was built in connection with these events is open to question, since it is not mentioned in the seventh Ta la’i bla ma’s biographies or in other literary accounts of the period.3 All we know is that there was a tall Stūpa on this spot by the mid-19th century, which came to be regarded as an inauspicious feature, apparently associated with Manchu dominance of Tibet.4 For a variety of alleged reasons, the Stūpa collapsed, or was dismantled, in the late 1880s, and a splendid new temple with a Maṇḍala ground plan (Zhal yas khang) was built on the ruins soon after, evidently with the approval of the then regent, De mo Phrin las rab rgyas. Many of the claymould images from the former Stūpa were plastered on its inside walls, and the remainder were enshrined in a new ‘Maṇi wall’ (Man dong) at the entrance to the Ra mo che street. On the north side of the temple was a residential compound (mKhan po tshang) occupied by government-deputed caretaker monks from the rNam rgyal grva tshang college. Among the subsequently erected neighbouring buildings were the Zhi khro lha khang temple maintained by private rNying ma pa practitioners 11 The rJe ’bum sgang temple in the 1940s, from the south-east. © Photo by Hugh Richardson 5 half in the meantime (p. 733). For practical reasons, page references to the biography (hereafter 13DL Namtar) are from the Dharmshala edition (Shes rig par khang 1984), but the following discussion is based on the less edited version of the passage in question in the original lHa sa blockprint (f.186v–192v. English translation appended). The Ngo mtshar rin po che’i phreng ba biography was compiled as usual from official documents, diaries and so forth, a task assigned to Phur bu lcog yongs ’dzin Byams pa tshul khrims, who completed it in 1940, six and a half years after the master’s death. He pleaded that involvement in the search for the 14th incarnation had obliged him to postpone the work for more than a year and a 12 (c. 1913–17, west), a new chapel next to the Byang rigs gsum lha khang (c. 1934– 9, north), and a relay station for lHa sa’s first hydro-electric generator (1935, south). To the east was a park and debating ground for monks of the neighbouring rGyud smad college. The rJe ’bum sgang temple was damaged in the 1959 uprising, closed to the public in 1964, ransacked and desecrated in 1966. The upper storey shrines and turrets were removed, and the main hall on the ground floor has been used as a godown by the foodgrains department of the city government ever since. Witnesses report that piles of the claymould images disinterred by the demolition of the Maṇi wall and nearby Stūpa-s were revealed during resurfacing of the Ra mo che street in the 1970s. Such is the story in outline, as gathered from popular history and oral tradition. There would be little more to say, were it not for a remarkably detailed account of the foundation included in the 13th Ta la’i bla ma’s official biography – but in a curiously truncated manner.5 The passage occurs at the start of the 12th chapter, sub-titled ‘How, considering the benefit and well-being of the teachings and living beings to depend upon the (maintenance of) sacred images, temples and monasteries, he restored the ’Phrul snang gi gtsug lag khang, the shrine rooms in the Potala palace and so on, reformed standards of instruction in the monasteries, commissioned new printing blocks for the entire precious bKa’ ’gyur canon and so on, expressions of both religious and secular authority causing a thousand suns to fill this land of Tibet with the light of new happiness’. The rJe ’bum lha khang appears first in this chapter because it was the most significant temple-building project of his early reign, but is introduced rather awkwardly, making no mention of when the event took place, confusingly so, since the passage is inserted between chronological narratives for the years 1920 and ’21: Construction of sacred receptacles of body, speech and mind, such as the eight Tathāgata Stūpa-s, elegant temples and so on being not only prescribed in the Sūtra-s and Tantra-s as the seeds of great benefit to oneself and others, but the capital means of overcoming obstacles in the four directions, promoting His Holiness’s longevity and the religious polity of hundred-fold joy and all manner of excellence, the regent and cabinet ministers held a discussion concerning how, in accordance with prophecies by Ma gcig lab sgron and in the (gSang ba) rgya can of the Great Fifth (Ta la’i bla ma) that the construction of a Stūpa for the subjugation of Māra on the ‘powerful’ (north) side of the lHa sa gtsug lag 13 6 7 hi 1996 p. 402. Waddell speculated that the name “rJe ’bum” came from a workshop next to the temple where rMe ru monks printed the ’Bum (Prajñāpāramitā) scriptures. The date raises the possibility that it was designed to repulse the 1841 Dogra invasion of western Tibet, but I have not been able to confirm this. Lhasa and its mysteries, Cosmo publications (reprint) Del- 14 khang, filled with the four kinds of Śarīra relics, would bring enormous benefits, a Stūpa of that kind 80 cubits tall, of excellent manufacture, filled with 100,000 images of rJe (Tsong kha pa) and the four kinds of relics had been built (in fulfillment of the prophecies) in the Iron Rat year, and after that, a Mahābodhi Stūpa had also been built (there) in concealed form (?). Since it was tall and situated east of the Potala palace, and there is a prophecy in the standard summary of the Kālacakra-tantra that ‘A Stūpa in the east will empty the town in the west’, it was said to be an ill omen (Sa dgra), although in religious terms it is also true that sacred symbols bring their makers and the places they adorn 18 benefits... At that time, because of general obstacles to Dharma and the elemental spirits raising their heads, there was a lot of private talk among ordinary people that it was an evil omen, and without anyone noticing exactly when, the Stūpa itself suddenly cracked on all four sides, and since the timbers were rotten and it had deteriorated beyond repair, the religious and secular authorities decided to dismantle it altogether and build a new receptacle for the 100,000 images it contained. This unique account of the Stūpa makes no reference to the seventh Ta la’i bla ma or the events of 1750. The date given (Iron Rat i.e., 1840) cannot be corroborated,6 but the narrative is consistent with the sense that it was commissioned by the government in the not too distant past. Still, the reader can sense that the whole story is not being told: the idea that by the 13th Ta la’i bla ma’s time it had become regarded both by learned commentators and the lay public as an evil omen goes unexplained, as the text digresses into the theoretical question of whether any sacred symbol can rightly be regarded as inauspicious, and concludes with the evasive euphemism that the Stūpa ‘suddenly cracked... without anyone noticing…’ There are enough external clues to confirm that the Stūpa came down and was replaced by a temple during the regency of De mo Phrin las rab rgyas (r.1886–95), the ‘regent’ mentioned incidentally in the passage. The only reported date to be found is in Lieutenant-colonel Waddell’s account, who was told that the temple had been built 13 years before the British reached lHa sa (i.e., in 1891).7 The description in the official biography emphasises the role of the gNas chung oracle (it quotes three of his detailed pronouncements on the construction and lay-out of the temple), but does not even mention his counterpart in the enterprise, the acting head of state, having been adapted, rather heavy-handedly, to give the impression that the Ta la’i bla ma himself was responsible, although he was only a teenager at the time. The inescapeable con- 15 8 9 e.g., Bya rigs pa Blo bzang rnam rgyal, Grong khyer lHa sa‘i lo rgyus rig gnas (p. 70), and personal communication, October 2002. Reb kong sngags mang gi lo rgyus phyogs bsgrigs, lCe nag tshang Hum chen, Ye shes ’od zer sgrol ma (ed.s), Mi rigs dpe skrun khang 2004 p. 185–6. There is a parallel account in the biography of the Zhabs dkar sprul sku Rig ’dzin rgya mtsho, included in this collection, which describes how he, his young disciple, the third dGu rong tshang incarnation U rgyan ’jigs bral chos dbyings rdo rje, and other members of a group from Reb kong then touring central Tibet, were engaged by the De mo regent to perform “dMag bzlog” rituals against the advancing British forces: ‘Then, when our group of seven, the two incarnates, A lags dBon po and so on performed the suppression of the dGra sri at rDo ring gling ka, using sTag tshang’s Vajrakīlaya rite, the government had ordered the spirit to be suppressed beneath the rGyal (sic for rGya) ’bum mchod rten, and when we performed the suppression, it was as if the earth shook, and everyone saw the mChod rten shudder and sway. After that, our reputation spread...’ (op. cit. p. 977 – see ‘The Great Phi ling dmag zlog of 1888’ by Heather Stoddard, Proceedings of the IATS Bonn seminar 2006). This account makes no mention of A lags Mag gsar, while 13DL Namtar acknowledges the presence of Zhabs dkar sprul sku. 16 clusion is that the passage is an instance of the De mo regent being written out of history, for well-known reasons: he was implicated in a plot on the Ta la’i bla ma’s life in 1899 (four years after retiring from office), stripped of his title and assets, and died (of uncertain cause) soon after, in ignominy. In the course of his subsequent vilification, it was even said that he had the Stūpa demolished because he (selfishly) interpreted the Kālacakra prophecy as a threat to his own monastery, bsTan rgyas gling, which also stood (roughly) to the west of it.8 Some of the missing information on this episode in De mo rin po che’s career has now been supplied with the publication of a brief biography of Rig ’dzin bdud ’dul rdo rje (1840–1907).9 The third Mag gsar incarnation from A mdo Reb kong, who spent years in central Tibet, was a leading ritual participant in the founding of the temple (on the admission of the official biography, which calls him “A lags Mag gsar”, the ‘crown jewel of Mantradhara-s’). It says that after reaching lHa sa (where his incarnation lineage was granted official recognition), he determined that the three great monasteries, ’Bras spungs, Se ra and dGa’ ldan, were in the thrall of a malicious spirit (Grva sri). Having performed the necessary coercive ritual at rGya ’bum sgang, he trapped the spirit beneath the Stūpa, whereupon ...the centre of the Stūpa cracked from the sun and moon pinnacle down to the lotus flower base, like a mouth opening, as a sign of his power. The rGya ’bum sgang Stūpa was thus demolished in the course of rNying ma pa rituals sponsored by the regent, which the official biography was for some reason keen to ignore. This narrative rather graphically links the demolition of the Stūpa with the elimination of demons, and suggests its symbolic association with Manchu hegemony in Tibet, the ‘three great seats’ of the ecclesiastical establishment being the conservative bulwark of that hegemony and principal target of the 13th Ta la’i bla ma’s reforms. The official biography then goes on to describe the imposition of a square, symmetrical hall on the foundations of the demolished Stūpa, and the ritual preparation, construction and furnishing of the building, following detailed instructions from the state protector rDo rje grags ldan, speaking through the gNas chung oracle: The temple building was square with four doors and three concentric series of walls, occupying a total area of 100 pillars. Inside, the central chapel faced east and was ar- 17 Line drawing reconstruction of rJe ’bum lha khang by Pimpim de Azevedo (Temples of Lhasa 2005) 18 ranged like the ‘auspicious chapels’ of olden days, with four pillars and eight beams. The surrounding hall (Bar ’khor) was 48 pillars (in extent), and on the outside was a roofed gallery half a pillar space (lCam gang) in extent on each of the four sides. There were four turrets (lCog), one on each side of the first floor. The east-facing chapel in the centre was adorned by two staircases leading up to the canopy roof and spire of the five qualities (of the Dharmadhātu-maṇḍala) united in one. At the four corners were canopies of white lead with gilt copper spires. Even the outside of the ground floor was decorated with exquisite ornaments like jewelled lotuses and so on, as befits a chamber of the gods. It was a perfect marvel, like the palace of Indra fallen to earth, a place revered by the wise. The Maitreya statue inside, manufactured from the first offering of blessed clay, was 23 hand-spans and eight finger-widths in height, of excellent manufacture and packed with the four kinds of Śarīra and so on. To Maitreya’s right were (statues of) the Buddha Dīpaṃkara, the Dharmarāja Srong btsan sgam po and the great fifth Dalai Lama. To his left were the Buddha Śākyamuni, Sitātapatrā and rJe Tsong kha pa. Above the door were statues of the three Buddhist (sPu rgyal) emperors an arrow’s length tall and blazing with blessings. The main figures in the wall paintings were Guhyasamāja, Cakrasaṃvara and Yamāntaka, flanked by Hevajra, Kālacakra and red Yama and Kurukullā. On the inner facing (east) wall was a complete set of the bKa’ ’gyur on shelves. Behind that were statues of (the protectors) Dharmarāj and Remati on either side, the railings in front of the statues, and a Stūpa on a stepped base in the middle. On the door lintel was a set of five lions. To the right of the eastern door, facing the main statue, was (a statue of) Hayagrīva, and to the left, Bhūrkuṃkūṭa. By the south door, the main (statue) was Vajravidāraṇa, by the west door Mahottara-heruka, and by the north door Amṛtakundali. The walls in between were completely filled with the clay figures of rJe Tsong kha pa. Behind the main statue were mural paintings of the Three Longevity deities and the Three Bodhisattva-s. There were large (...) Stūpa-s for the subjugation of Māra on each of the inside walls and corners and, as specified in the instruction, there were images of Vajrapāṇi, mostly over a hand-span tall, in the domes, making 1200 in all. The outside walls were entirely decorated with mural paintings, starting to the right of the east door with depictions of various Buddha-s, Bodhisattva-s, deities and protectors, numerous paradises like Sukhāvati, Potala and Śambhala, and all manner of propitiatory symbols. 19 Three-dimensional model of the rJe ’bum lha khang by Ken Okuma (Temples of Lhasa 2005) sho’i rnam thar (vol.2 p. 277 of the manuscript edition) is a contemporary witness to this. The Klu khang was restored by the government in 1920 (13DL Namtar p. 596). 10 See the illustrated description in Temples of Lhasa, Serindia 2005 (p. 264–9). 11 Sle lung bzhad pa’i rdo rje’s Dam can bstan srung rgya mt- 20 At rooftop level was a central chapel (dBu rtse rtsa gsum) bearing a gilt cupola and spire, with statues of the ‘three roots’ (Guru, Deva, Ḍākinī), at the four corners were turret chapels with statues of the four guardian kings, and in between were four smaller turrets, also with gilt spires. Originally there was also a perimeter wall with gates facing the cardinal directions, aligned with the four doorways in the main hall. As can be seen from the surviving structure, it was built with fine materials to a high standard of craftsmanship, following exact proportional measurements.10 As such it clearly emulated, but did not exactly reproduce the classical three-storey concentric design of geomantic temples in rNying ma pa tradition, of which bSam yas dbu rtse is the archetype. The only other example of such a structure in modern lHa sa was the rDzong rgyab klu khang, an ornamental Nāga temple in an artificial lake in the grounds of the Potala palace, the only monument directly attributed to the sixth Ta la’i bla ma Tshangs dbyangs rgya mtsho (whose rNying ma pa preferences are legendary).11 Despite the geomantic conception and exotic profile of the new temple, however, the statues in the main chapel were no different from those found in all the shrines of dGe lugs pa lHa sa, and its ostensible purpose was simply to house the thousands of claymould tablets from the former Stūpa. 21 The gNas chung oracle in trance at a public ceremony in lHa sa, 1950s (after China Tibetology Publishing House 2005) in gratitude with something more magnificent. It is said that all the religious objects seized by government forces following the defeat of mGon po rnam rgyal were offered to gNas chung, and eventually reached there in 1878 according to dBang drag rol pa’i dga’ tshal gNas chung rdo rje sgra dbyangs gling gi dkar chag bskyar sgrig by Gling dbon Padma skal bzang (Bod ljongs nang bstan 1988 No. 1 p. 42). The state presented gNas chung with the annual income from its subjects in the vicinity of Bang rim dgon in Dvags po, the lHa ri gzim sbug hermitage near Phung po ri bo che in gTsang, and two nunneries in the Glo pa stod area of ’Phan yul. 12 This is confirmed by the Dvangs shel me long biography of the 12th Ta la’i bla ma (in ’Khrungs rabs deb ther nor bu’i phreng ba, Shes rig par khang 1984 vol. 4 p. 535). The event is described in gNas chung sku bsten Shakya yar ’phel gyi lo rgyus by Shan kha ba ’Gyur med bsod nams stobs rgyal, gTam tshogs no.1 (Dharmshala) 1985. 13 According to gNas chung sgra dbyangs gling gi ’byung khungs dang mdzad rim ji byung skor (manuscript in the LTWA collection p. 26–30), the oracle conveyed to Phun rab pa before his departure that installing a sNang srid zil gnon statue in the temple would guarantee success, and a small clay statue was made at the time, which he later replaced 22 Shakya yar ’phel and the ascendancy of gNas chung Further enquiry into the origins leads first of all to the role of the gNas chung oracle, and his expanding influence on state affairs in this period. The eighth state oracle lHa lung pa Shakya yar ’phel was an extraordinary figure, one of the most influential and longest-serving oracles ever known, but as rank did not warrant it, his career was not documented as such, and can be reconstructed only in vague terms. He was appointed as a youth by sDe srid bShad sgra in 1862,12 and remained in office until his death, which must have been around 1902. His appointment happened to coincide with a watershed in political events, bShad sgra’s coup d’état, the prevalence of a new (dGa’ ’bras) faction in government, and the successful military expedition to Nyag rong (1863–5): it is particularly curious that the rise of gNas chung’s prestige was linked with this campaign, which represented the start of the lHa sa government’s renewed determination to maintain control of Khams, the frontline of its political resurgence in response to the decline and eventual fall of the Manchu empire. The link was simply that dGra lha rDo rje grags ldan was credited with assuring victory by the military commander and first Nyag rong spyi khyab, Grva phyi Phun rab pa Tshe ring dpal ldan, who offered his estates in lHo kha to gNas chung, in addition to those granted by the government, assets which provided for the development of a substantial monastic community. Phun rab pa also made splendid offerings to the temple, notably the gilt canopy roof and a lifesize silver statue of Guru snang srid zil gnon.13 Of course the gNas chung oracles had been consulted on matters of state since the inception of dGa’ ldan pho brang, and rDo rje grags ldan’s relation with the Ta la’i bla ma-s’ lineage goes back much further, but their role is less evident during the era of Manchu dominance (since 1720), and their emergence as the premier advisor of heads of state in Shakya yar ’phel’s time was unprecedented. He was awarded the rank of “Ta bla ma”, whereas his predecessors had been 23 seems improbable that he was appointed regent at the age of 22. rTa tshag rje drung rin po che’i ’khrungs rabs gser ri’i phreng ba by bSod nams dbang grags and bKra thang (Bod ljongs nang bstan 1995 no.1), Dom pa Thub bstan rgyal mtshan’s gSung ’bum dkar chag (Po ta la rig dngos srung skyob do dam so’o 1990 p. 843) and Dung dkar tshig mdzod (p. 980–81) date his birth to Iron Dog 1850, presumably because it was well-known that he died at the age of 37, and the fact that his predecessor died in 1848. 18 “On the 9th, the ’Gong po ar gtad Sādhana based on the ritual composed by Sle lung bZhad pa rdo rje commenced at Ārya pa lo gling with sKyabs rje rin po che acting as Vajrācārya, Gling mchog sprul and the Kun (bde) gling monks. Each day without fail, as the sun set, he performed gSer skyems for the eight classes of spirits (sDe brgyad) in the four directions on the top floor of the gTsug lag khang, and Gling sprul sku performed the sDe brgyad gser skyems for the three groups of those to be suppressed. In the late evening, the hour of the Pig, as he induced the (Dam sri?) to enter into the Linga, in the dPe har lcog gNod sbyin chen po (Tsi’u dmar po) took possession of the Chos rje (oracle) unsummoned and suddenly appeared in the (master’s) practice chamber. Rattling Guru (Padma)’s Damaru he took sKyabs rje mchog by the hand and together they went to the top floor, and holding the meteorite Vajra and (beckoning with the) fly whisk, drew them in from all directions. Every day the oracle (Chos skyong) scattered (blessed) grain over the participant monks and gave orders to prevent the arisal of obstacles by whatever means was most effective. At that time, some (people) who were next to the ritual fire pit during the inducement (heard) many sounds of fire crackle and groaning, and sometimes many beings rushing into the fire pit from all directions trampled over their laps and so on as if they were actually there (in the flesh), and such terrifying things occurred continuously. Although the oracle’s residence (lCog) and his own were far from each other, and no-one was keeping watch, at the moment he began the inducement the Chos skyong always came straight there, throughout the course of the ritual. At the end of the evening session sKyabs rje rin po che mostly had to retire to his chamber in pain, so that rather than having an end to their tasks, his attendants said they did not have even a moment’s ease. On the 17th day, after dressing in Tantric attire in the Jo khang (chapel) he went to the two places where suppression (mNan pa) was performed, in the inner courtyard (Bar skor) of the temple and to the north-east. When the suppression was performed all the doors were closed tight so that there was no way to come, but it was said that when the recitation began, a red dog came out of nowhere, yelping and running, and jumped from the edge of the (ritual) suppression pit, but when they sought it out, it vanished. Near the cobblestone marked with a lotus design [in the main doorway], he began the ritual with an inconceivable wisdom-play of deity Mantra-s, and in the outer 14 Shakya yar ’phel also founded the lHa lung hermitage on the hillside above his native village in Brag ri khug, on the outskirts of lHa sa, the site of a cave associated in local tradition with lHa lung dPal gyi rdo rje. As a rNying ma pa institution staffed by ’Bras spungs monks, it exemplified his eclectic contribution. 15 e.g., Shan kha ba (op. cit.) p. 18, p. 27–8. In historical terms, of course, it is clear that this deeply resented institution was ignored because by that time (1879) the Qing court was in no position to enforce its writ in Tibet. Nonetheless, Shakya yar ’phel became identified, at least retrospectively, with the single most symbolic reassertion of Tibetan autonomy in this period, and with the resuscitation of the ruling lineage following the premature deaths of four incarnations in a row: the same author (p. 13–15) recalls how, following the sudden demise of the 12th, the enraged oracle beat the cabinet ministers with a sword for their negligence (or perhaps complicity?), a scene witnessed by his grandfather, who added that although their clothes were cut to pieces, they were miraculously unharmed... 16 e.g., 13DL Namtar p. 201. According to Shan kha ba (p. 22), it was after the vindication of his advice in this affair that consultation of the oracle on all major political decisions became routine. In this context, it should be clarified that the lHa sa government’s reassertion of initiative in the last years of the empire was represented (euphemistically, but not without sincerity) as loyalty to the emperor, over the heads of his corrupt and opportunist subordinates in the far-flung western provinces. As Sir Charles Bell observed, ‘It was a common occurrence for the Amban to send false reports to the emperor; so much so that at this time (the 1890s) the emperor became known to the people of Lhasa as “The bag of lies”’ (Portrait of a Dalai Lama, Wisdom publications reprint 1987 p. 68). On this occasion, Shakya yar ’phel was even granted imperial recognition for exposing the adventurism of the Sichuan governor, although the lHa sa government’s actions had exposed the weakness of central authority just as clearly. There is a lesser example of this in the official biography’s account of the rJe ’bum sgang temple, which states ‘In order that the glorious reign of the Manchu emperor in alliance with the Ta la’i bla ma not be diminished over time, (the oracle) gave the clear instruction that the doors of the temple itself and the main images inside should face the ‘powerful’ quarter (east i.e., towards China)’: in fact, the rationale for the orientation of the temple must have been based on ritual and geomantic considerations, for that is the meaning of the term ‘powerful’ here, but where there was scope for a diplomatic interpretation, the opportunity was often taken. 17 According to the Srid zhi’i mdzes rgyan biography by sPrul sku Blo bzang ye shes bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan, he was born in Wood Hare 1855. This is the most authoritative source available, but lacks chronological detail, and it 24 ordinary rTse drung-s. He was responsible for establishing gNas chung’s permanent monastic seat in lHa sa, the rMe ru rnying pa gtsug lag khang (1886), the most ambitious religious edifice to be constructed in the capital during this entire period (but for the rJe ’bum sgang temple, in which, as we have seen, he was also intimately involved).14 There may once have been many popular stories about Shakya yar ’phel’s mediumship, but he is probably best known for his guiding role in the discovery of the 13th Ta la’i bla ma incarnation, when he is said to have delivered prophecies so flawless that government officials were able to dispense with the ‘golden urn’ or lottery system introduced in the 18th century.15 Similarly, when trouble returned to Nyag rong with the lCags la invasion of 1896–7, the oracle urged the government to deal with the matter independently, without consulting the Amban-s, and drafted a petition to the emperor explaining the decision, which was accepted.16 The rising political influence of gNas chung in the last quarter of the 19th century is associated with another extraordinary figure, the 10th rTa tshag incarnation Ngag dbang dpal ldan chos kyi rgyal mtshan (1850–86),17 often described as the most popular, and perhaps the most saintly of all the dGa’ ldan pho brang regents. He was a master of wrathful ritual, to such manifest effect that he became acclaimed as an emanation of Guru Padmasambhava. To judge from the biography, he spent his latter years in office tirelessly absorbed in elaborate and specialised ceremonies and exorcisms for the elimination of demons (Dam sri) threatening the life of the young Ta la’i bla ma and the endurance of the Buddhist polity. In particular, he averted a deadly outbreak of smallpox (lHa ’brum dkar po) in the early 1880s through an extensive propitiation of the protectress dPal ldan lha mo, as prescribed in a detailed prophecy delivered by the gNas chung oracle. In 1885, he undertook the performance of the ’Gong po ar gtad ritual (‘suppressing the ’Gong po’, a class of spirits inimical to the Ta la’i bla ma-s) at bSam yas, as directed in a prophecy of the dGa’ gdong oracle, with open disregard for clear warnings that he would endanger his own life by doing so.18 He died suddenly the following year, aged thirty seven.19 25 po che also (actually) appeared over the pit. Not only that, but during the ritual, a long pole extended in the sky with effigies of the heads of the various Dam sri strung along it showed repeatedly. Starting from the first day of the 12th month 10,000 fire Pūjā-s of the peaceful, expansive, dominant and wrathful classes were performed in the four directions around lHa sa, then on the 7th, he performed a supplementary gZab gsol in the dPal lha lcog... On the 25th, having summoned the presence of dGra lha’i rgyal po ’Od ldan dkar po (i. e., rDo rje grags ldan), he offered Gaṇacakra in the style of dPal rta mchog rol pa, and at the moment of the final ‘liberation’ (of evil spirits) the (gNas chung) chos skyong called for a dog-headed Linga (effigy) to be made instantly, and that having been done, he performed the ‘liberation’ rite. From that time he became somewhat unwell, but without much outward sign, and on the 8th day of the following month, having composed an extensive Guru Pūjā for white Tārā he thought about making it into a rite (to be included in?) the normal (Kun bde gling) monastery liturgy, but because of the duties of office he did not get around to it. He told Yongs ’dzin Phur lcog rin po che ‘You should compose it’. His health having gradually worsened, on the afternoon of that day he suddenly passed away into the clear light of the Dharmakāya in the regents’ chamber in the great palace on dMar po ri...” (rNam thar Srid zhi’i mdzes rgyan f.53v–55r). 20 This is a generalisation, but the details are complex, and beyond the scope of this essay. According to the Mi dbang rtogs brjod (Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang 1981 p. 291), the young seventh Ta la’i bla ma sKal bzang rgya mtsho himself opposed state funding to rebuild monasteries pillaged by the Dzungar. The present Ta la’i bla ma has stated that the seventh had no involvement with rNying ma pa masters or practices (e.g., Chos skyong bsten phyogs skor bka’ slob snga rjes, Shes rig par khang 1997 p. 6, p. 189). He also noted that the Dol rgyal cult (of later significance in this regard) had become established in the great lHa sa monasteries during the seventh’s reign (p. 192–3). courtyard (dKar zhal mthil) gNod sbyin Tsi’u dmar po, leader of all the Dregs pa (spirits) in existence, took possession of his oracle, and in order to pacify the obstructive force of the sDe brgyad, a vast and imposing array of suitable substances was arranged, including the three whites, three sweets, five kinds of precious things, various kinds of meat, blood and hearts, first-part offerings of beer, milk and tea, various kinds of medicine and silks, and various offering cakes. After having the meats barbecued in the four directions and incense offered as if to fill the path of the gods, he took up the meteorite Vajra adorned with five (-coloured) silks and acacia-wood Damaru, and offered the substances in each direction and so on in an awesome feast for all of the sDe brgyad equally. As sKyabs mgon mchog was about to cast the Linga-s into the ritual pit, the Chos skyong took a first offering of Prasād from the (ceremony in the) dKar zhal mthil and presented it with a scarf to sKyabs rje mchog. After that they performed the stages of the suppression ritual with the Chos skyong acting as servant, and on completion he placed a scarf around the Chos skyong’s neck in congratulation. He thrice invoked the victory of the gods and offered incense. Then, as soon as he ascended to the first floor of the temple he was smitten with debilitating pain, and there being nothing his attendants could do, he rested in his chamber while (the others led) by Gling mchog sprul made fervent prayers, and gradually he recovered” (rNam thar Srid zhi’i mdzes rgyan f.51r– 52v). 19 “(In lHa sa) he began the ritual suppression of the Sri in the style of the secret rTa mgrin Sādhana, in the gYu lo bkod (chapel). On the 29th, suppression rituals (mNan pa) were held in the four quarters and the centre of lHa sa. That evening, he saw a dog-headed Dam sri sitting on the flat stone of the ritual suppression pit in the ’Khyams ra (courtyard of the gTsug lag khang) looking up at the window of the Lama’s chamber, and said ‘Of the (nine) Dam sri spun dgu, the dog-headed one got away, but I suppressed all the others.’ Later a disorderly Chinese soldier uttering various slanderous insults at rGyal tshab rin 26 All this is in rather startling contrast to the conduct of previous regents, who had by most accounts accomodated themselves with, if not presided over, the entrenchment of corruption, ecclesiastic privilege, factional intrigue, and the premature deaths of four Ta la’i bla ma-s. Such rituals had scarcely been associated with the duties of high office since the inaugural period of dGa’ ldan pho brang rule (1642–1705), much less performed by actual heads of state. Institutional support for rNying ma pa monasteries, the commissioning of rituals and so on, had never fully recovered since being discontinued by the first bKa’ shag government in the aftermath of the Dzungar invasion (1717–18),20 and rNying ma pa influence in general remained somewhat controversial at the higher levels of the state and dGe lugs pa clergy. In a political climate usually described as ultra-conservative, rTa tshag rin po che managed to serve in the highest office as an activist exponent of rNying ma pa syncretism. His performance of the Kṣetrapāla’i gtor rgyag, with the assistance of the Tse’u dmar oracle, at bSam yas in late 1883 is a good example. The ritual repulsion of invasion (dMag bzlog) was not an exclusively rNying ma pa practice, and this particular ritual was occasionally performed by lHa sa’s Tantric colleges under state auspices, but for a reigning regent to conduct wrathful rituals of national defence to such manifest effect was extraordinary. On the 13th (of the 9th month) the gNod sbyin chen po Kṣetrapāla’i gtor bzlog ceremony was begun. On 18th when the Zor ’phen was performed, gNod sbyin chen po (the oracle) said “Four black and white youths throw dice.The white youths carry a full measure of white barley, the black youths carry oil and a full measure of peas. The white run clockwise and the black anti-clockwise, and Chos skyong will invoke the gods to ensure that the white ones reach you first. Later, when the black ones arrive take the oil and peas and throw them in the fire-pit”. Generating firm Samādhi of ’Jam dpal gshin rje’i gshed, sKyabs rje mchog (the regent) cast the gTor ma like an arrow with the impact of a thunderclap and annihilated the enemies of the teaching. gNod sbyin chen po (also told him) to cast three arrows in the south-west direction after the gTor ma. That day in Nepal, an army was assembled for the invasion of Tibet, but as preparations were underway, a fierce wind got up like a battle between earth and sky, and in all directions frightening noises like approaching cavalry were heard. Out of nowhere, three dead pigs fell in the midst of the assembled soldiers, at which the Gorkhāli-s grew exceedingly apprehensive and called off the military preparations. It was because of that that the negotiated settlement came about. During the performance of that gTor zor it is said that the Chos skyong 27 The gNas chung temple at rMe ru rnying pa 1999. Photo by Andre Alexander 21 There is a rhetorical account of the incident in rNam thar srid zhi’i mdzes rgyan (f.41rv). This is of course the ‘secret’ explanation, and the settlement referred to in the passage is otherwise said to have been reached after a visiting Mongolian dignitary, the Cha har Hutuktu, paid the outstanding sum of compensation from his own pocket (e.g., Zhva sgab pa op. cit. vol. 2 p. 66), or according to official Chinese sources (e.g., repeated in Grong khyer lHa sa‘i lo rgyus rig gnas p. 205) the Sichuan treasury bridged the shortfall, on imperial orders. 22 For example: ‘On the 2nd day of the 8th month (1880) (lCags ra sprul sku of Chab mdo with a retinue of officiants) made a special thanks offering to the gNas chung chos skyong for dissipating the attempts of hostile barbarians to make incursions into Tibet, the realm of religion. Speaking in acceptance before the palace officials, (the Chos skyong in trance) made a detailed prescription on correct conduct, such as the need to cherish the integrity of dGa’ ldan pho brang without being swayed by the temptations of greed or fame, the need for both monks and laypeople in general to correctly uphold the ten virtues, and especially the need to prosecute fully those few conceited persons seeking their own ends in defiance of the laws of Karma, by suppressing bad elements in the realm and those who threaten the monasteries and offices of state...’ (rNam thar srid zhi’i mdzes rgyan f.34v–35r). And it records that the bSam yas oracle ‘...issued a dire prophecy that unless the dGa’ ldan pho brang functionaries, especially the government offi- cials, took the pronouncements of sKyabs mgon mchog (the regent) to heart and acted accordingly, their lives would be cut off like a horse’s tail’ (f.44v). Such attitudes have been characteristic of gNas chung’s role at least since Shakya yar ’phel’s time: the present Ta la’i bla ma reflected on his premature assumption of power in 1950 ‘For several years now, the oracle had shown undisguised contempt for the government while treating me with great politeness’ (Freedom in exile, Abacus 1992 p. 58). 23 Unfortunately the Srid zhi’i mdzes rgyan biography says almost nothing about them, and their names are known only from the account of the Ta la’i bla ma’s 1900 visit to bSam yas in 13DL Namtar (p. 263). The identification of this gSang sngags gling pa (referred to as “gSang bdag gling pa” in the Srid zhi’i mdzes rgyan biography) is uncertain; according to 13DL Namtar (p. 690), he came from rGyal mo rong and made his major revelation ‘during the early life’ of the 13th Ta la’i bla ma (b. 1876). This would seem to exclude the well-known Bon po gter ston of that name (a.k.a dBal khyung gter ston), who was born in Nyag rong in 1864. rTa tshag rin po che also instituted the performance of rituals from gSang sngags gling pa’s Thugs kyi gsang mdzod revelation at bSam yas on the 10th and 25th days of each month. Interestingly, the Rab gsal utpa la’i phreng ba biography of Nyag bla Rang rig rdo rje (LTWA edition p. 66) credits him with the consecration of the temples, although his participation is not acknowledged in the former sources. 28 served him like a follower, carrying the chair for him to rest in and so on, in a manner not seen before (rNam thar srid zhi’i mdzes rgyan f. 44v–45r). Earlier that year, a minor quarrel in the Bar skor market street had sparked an anti-Nepal riot and looting of all the Newar-owned shops. The main cause was public resentment of the privileges awarded Nepali nationals by the 1856 peace treaty, which Tibetans regarded as unfair, and this was fuelled by the Gorkha embassy’s exaggerated demands for compensation, on threat of further military aggression.21 The rTa tshag regent was thus credited with safeguarding the national interest where his recent predecessors had failed, by recourse to spiritual powers associated with a bygone age, at a time when Tibet could no longer rely on imperial protection against foreign invasion. In all these instances, the regent acted in dynamic cooperation with the state oracles, and it was his relationship with gNas chung above all that held off myriad threats of invasion during his tenure, ‘numerous as the strands of a horse’s tail’ according to the biography, which likens it to the ideal relationship between Guru Padma and Pe har. This work also emphasises his determined opposition to corruption and indifference among government officials, in the defence of the national interest and the well-being of the Ta la’i bla ma, a theme familiar from the stories of Shakya yar ’phel’s life.22 Of particular interest here is the fact that rTa tshag rin po che also undertook the construction of geomantic temples, with the assistance of the gNas chung and bSam yas oracles, in the national interest. The focus of this project was the supremely symbolic bSam yas temple complex, which has been restored as a matter of priority by successive Tibetan rulers throughout the last millenium, including most of the dGa’ ldan pho brang regents, but again, never quite like this. The prophecies involved the addition of a series of four Stūpa-s in the cardinal directions and four temples in the intermediate directions, outside the great circular boundary wall (Ngo mtshar bdud rtsi gling in the south-east, ’Dod dgu bsam mdzod gling in the south-west, Phun tshogs ’od ’bar gling in the northwest, and Zil gnon gling in the north-east), founded and completed within a few months in late 1885. The need for a new group of temples surrounding the bSam yas chos skor, presumably for the defense of the Buddhist polity, had been prophesied by gTer ston gSang sngags gling pa and advocated by the gNas chung oracle, while the regent mandated state funds for the construction, oversaw the elaborate ritual preparations and performed the consecration.23 This was the 29 rje’i rnam thar mKha’ ’gro’i zhal lung (Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang 1997 p. 89), The Life of Shabkar (trans. M.Ricard, SUNY 1994 p. 230). 28 The account in bDud ’joms ’Jigs bral ye shes rdo rje’s Chos ’byung (Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang 1996 p. 448–9) attributes the transfer to De mo Phrin las rab rgyas, but this is disproved by the relevant passage from Gu ru bkra shis chos ’byung (bDud ’joms rin po che’s main source): an interlinear note (p. 410) informs the reader that ‘This sKu gdung was later sealed by the government at Yar lung Ban tshang dgon and placed in a Stūpa, whereafter some of (the relics spontaneously) multiplied. I have seen this Stūpa myself ’. The colophon to Gu ru bkra shis’s monumental work states (p. 1055) ‘The composition began in the Fire Hare year (1807), first of the 14th Rab byung, although circumstances distracted me from it meanwhile, causing a little delay, and it was basically completed by Iron Snake (1821). However, as I still had not got hold of some documents, a few more years passed by until I was able to write the sixth chapter and material on the new translation Tantra-s, and make up for the missing sections, in Water Monkey (sic for Wood Monkey 1824), and then in Water Bird (sic for Wood Bird 1825), I did all the editing and proofing...’ These dates are confirmed by a direct comment (p. 937) that the work was written during the second De mo regency (1811–19). Nonetheless, bDud ’joms rin po che’s account supplies little known details of the 13th Ta la’i bla ma’s aborted attempt to bring the relics to lHa sa, quite possibly in consultation with De mo Phrin las rab rgyas, and his re-sealing of the remains in a new Stūpa at Ban tshang (c. 1900). 29 This view is made explicit in Khri byang rin po che’s polemical treatise rDo rje shugs ldan rtsal gyi gsang gsum rmad du byung ba’i rtogs pa brjod pa’i gtam du bya ba Dam can rgya mtsho dgyes pa’i rol mo (gSung ’bum vol. 3 p. 136), which claims that De mo rin po che invited the wrath of this protector by ‘keeping rNying ma Lamas like Nyag sprul and various Mantradhara-s in the bsTan rgyas gling bla brang and engaging in various rNying ma practices...’ The story about the Se ra protector Tha ’og chos rgyal ordering the death of De mo rin po che (presumably the seventh or eighth incarnation e.g., Oracles and Demons of Tibet, R. de Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Graz 1975 p. 131–2) also seems to express tensions between the De mo lineage and dGe lugs pa orthodoxy. After this incident, the protector was supposedly brought to heel by ’Phags pa lha. To give another example, the later De mo incarnations saw fit to keep female consorts, as did a few other senior dGe lugs pa Lamas engaged in rNying ma practices, despite the opprobrium this must have attracted within the church. “gSang yum ’Od zer sgrol ma”, the name of Phrin las rab rgyas’s consort, was immortalised in the words of a street song coined at the time of his disgrace (De mo sprul sku sku gong ma’i skor de snga’i spyi tshogs thog gi shod srol gang thos thor bu by Blo bzang rgya mtsho, Bod kyi rig gnas lo rgyus dpyad gzhi’i rgyu cha dam bsgrigs vol. 19 p. 253–9). 24 Lung thur is at the foot of the rDza leb la pass on the Sikkim side, where Tibetan soldiers built defensive walls across the trade route in 1886–7. The post is described as a “dGra rdzong” or fortification in 13DL Namtar (p. 117), and as a “rTen khang”, or shrine of the protector, in Bod kyi lo rgyus rags rim g.yu’i phreng ba (Bod ljongs spyi tshogs tshan rig khang 1991 vol. 3 p. 565. See also Bod mi dmangs kyi dbyin ’gog ’thab rtsod kyi lo rgyus rgyu cha ched sgrigs, in vol. 7 of the TAR CPPCC Rig gnas lo rgyus dpyad gzhi’i rgyu cha series, lHa sa 1985 p. 20–21). The fire in the ’Bras spungs sngags pa grva tshang that year, which destroyed a powerful and especially sacred statue of Vajrabhairava, was seen as another sign of the strengthening of demonic forces in rTa tshag rin po che’s absence. 25 The first De mo bla ma dKon mchog ’byung gnas was a disciple of the first ’Phags pa lha (1439–87), who founded the De mo monastery in Kong po, and supposedly the immediate reincarnation of Zhva lu Legs pa rgyal mtshan (d.1450). There are sketches of the early lineage holders in Zhal snga bka’ brgyud kyi thun mong ma yin pa’i chos ’byung (Bod ljongs dpe rnying dpe skrun khang 2001 p. 36–43), dGa’ ldan chos ‘byung f.78v–79v and Baidurya ser po (Krung go’i bod kyi shes rig dpe skrun khang 1989 p. 291–2). They were regarded as emanations of Blon po mGar ba stong btsan in later tradition (e.g., sKyes bu dam pa rnams kyi mtshan tho in Klong rdol gsung ’bum, Bod ljongs dpe rnying dpe skrun khang 1991 vol. 2 p. 395), and thus eminently qualified for state office, but this idea seems to go back no further than the sixth incarnation, and they are described as emanations of Śāntarakṣita in some other sources (e.g., Gu ru bkra shis chos ’byung, Krung go’i bod kyi shes rig dpe skrun khang 1990 p. 937). Most of his predecessors were from Kong po, but Phrin las rab rgyas himself was born into the gZim khang lha gdong family at bSam yas. 26 A Thang ka painting of the fourth incarnation lHa dbang bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan (a.k.a Ngag dbang dge legs rgyal mtshan) in the Rubin Museum collection, apparently commissioned in 1668, the year of his death (reproduced in Rhie and Thurman 1999, Temples of Lhasa 2005) emphasises his rNying ma pa credentials and mastery of the Dharmapāla-s, especially Tse’u dmar. According to Gu ru bkra shis chos ’byung (p. 982) ‘The De mo regent also appointed rDo rje brag mchog sprul (Rig ’dzin sKal bzang padma dbang phyug), ’Brug thang gter ston (Kun bzang bde chen rgyal po) and so on as official preceptors (Ti shri) and received empowerments and teachings from them...and his reincarnation also secretly received rNying ma teachings’. The lHa sa seat of the De mo lineage established by bDe legs rgya mtsho was initially known as “gSang sngags dga’ tshal”, a name which perhaps betrayed his rNying ma pa leanings, for it was replaced by the more orthodox “dGa’ ldan bstan rgyas gling”, the name inscribed on the entrance placard formally presented in due course by the Qianlong emperor. 27 Rig ‘dzin ’Jigs med gling pa’i yang srid sngags ’chang ’ja’ lus rdo 30 first of several such state-sponsored construction projects during the 13th Ta la’i bla ma’s early reign, the outcome of an entente between eastern rNying ma pa masters and heads of state actively concerned with ritual means for the repulsion of invaders and promotion of national integrity. The rTa tshag regent’s untimely death in the spring of 1886 was popularly regarded as a disastrous weakening of Tibet’s ritual and supernatural defences, leading to the escalation of British aggression on the Sikkim border later that year. The gNas chung oracle responded by calling for the erection of a defensive post on the Lung thur ridge, just inside Sikkim, the subject of immediate contention when fighting eventually broke out in 1888.24 Ngag dbang blo bzang phrin las rab rgyas (1855–99), the ninth De mo incarnation, was duly appointed regent in his stead. Unfortunately, due to the subsequent defamation, virtually no biographical information about him, or even his great predecessors, has survived, and the history of this venerable lineage is now obscure.25 It is nonetheless apparent that this was one of the several high-ranking dGe lugs pa lineages historically disposed to rNying ma pa influence, especially through a close relationship with Tse’u dmar, the resident protector of bSam yas. The origins of this relationship are unclear, but it clearly pre-dates the sixth incarnation ’Jam dpal bde legs rgya mtsho, who undertook a famous restoration of bSam yas in his capacity as Tibet’s first official regent (1757–77), and was known as a patron and disciple of rNying ma pa teachers.26 His successor Blo bzang thub bstan ’jigs med also served as regent (1811–19) and conducted further restoration at bSam yas. That he was in the habit of entertaining visiting rNying ma pa masters from east Tibet can be seen from the memoirs of, for example, Zhabs dkar sNa tshogs rang grol and mDo mkhyen brtse Ye shes rdo rje.27 He also seems to have been behind the state appropriation of the blessed remains of O rgyan gling pa from Dvags po (where that master died in exile) and their removal to the Ban tshang temple in Yar lung (one of bsTan rgyas gling’s principal estates). As the seventh prophesied incarnation of rGyal sras lha rje, the gTer ston’s remains were highly prized in the manufacture of sacramental substances and even regarded as vital to national prosperity.28 Phrin las rab rgyas’s patronage of rNying ma pa Dharma was therefore consistent with the activity of his lineal predecessors, as well as that of the previous regent. The association of Nyag rong Sha yul sprul sku and ’Phyong rgyas dPal ri sprul sku with his Bla brang became notorious due to their involvement in the 31 Dorje, New Delhi 1974, hereafter Lerab Namtar) records that ‘The existence of a concealed treasure image (sKu tshab) was indicated in the sealed prophecies from his own Vajrakīlaya revelation, and as it makes it very clear that this was an exceptional means for the repulsion of invaders, while attending the great capital (lHa sa) in the service of the national government (i.e., in 1888–9), he addressed the matter to the golden ears of the great precious regent, mainstay of the wellbeing of the teachings and living beings in the land of snows. At that time, he said that (the regent) bade him “Strive to accomplish this (revelation)” and despatched him with a necklace of one hundred turquoises and corals, affixing the gold crown of his command...’ (p. 150). 33 The area of the temple at the entrance to the Jo khang chapel was considered strategically vital to national peace and prosperity in rNying ma tradition. This was at least the second Guru Padma statue placed there, joining an earlier one commissioned following a prophecy by the fifth sGam po sprul sku O rgyan ’gro ’dul gling pa, which sat opposite the entrance, as a means to delay the Jo bo’s eventual return to the Nāga realm. sGam po sprul sku was a guru of the previous rTa tshag regent bsTan pa’i mgon po (e.g., Gu ru bkra shis chos ’byung p. 741). 30 gTer ston bSod rgyal first visited lHa sa in the autumn of 1888 in response to an official summons, inspired by a prophecy from the gNas chung oracle. The regent’s role in receiving him is duly ignored by most sources, but they certainly met, and it is likely that De mo rin po che requested the gTer ston to perform rituals for the success of Tibetan forces then attempting to repulse the British in Gro mo, as had been requested of Mag gsar rin po che, supposedly to great effect (Reb kong sngags mang gi lo rgyus phyogs bsgrigs loc. cit.). The young Sha bo sprul sku came to lHa sa under gTer ston bSod rgyal’s wing on his third visit in 1896. 31 E.g., lCags ri dge rgan Thub bstan tshe ring’s history of the medical college in Bod kyi sman rtsis ched rtsom phyogs bsdus, Bod ljongs mi dmangs dpe skrun khang 1986 (p. 173). Unfortunately no biography of sKyabs rje “Khams smyon” Dharma (Chos kyi) seng ge has come to light. The date of death cited in the biography of his disciple Shug gseb rje btsun ma (1890) is too early, possibly by one duodenary cycle (i.e., 1902) (Mi dmangs dpe skrun khang 1997 p. 102–3). 32 The rMad byung ngo mtshar padma dkar po’i phreng ba dad pa’i khri shing byin rlabs sprin dpung sdud pa’i ma dros dga’ ba’i glu dbyangs biography of gTer ston bSod rgyal (Sanje 32 attempt on the 13th Ta la’i bla ma’s life,29 but these were minor figures compared with the entirely creditable rNying ma masters courted by the De mo regent while in office, such as gTer ston Rang rig rdo rje, Mag gsar rin po che and gTer ston bSod rgyal.30 He might even have to be conceded credit for some of the reforms attributed to the 13th Ta la’i bla ma, at least in the case of sMan rtsis khang, which he initiated as early as 1887,31 with the guidance of another eastern rNying ma pa master, sKyabs rje Dharma seng ge. Apart from the rJe ’bum temple, the other known instance of his involvement in rNying ma pa ritual as head of state and in collaboration with the gNas chung oracle was the 1891 installation of gTer ston bSod rgyal’s “sKu tshab mthong grol yid bzhin nor bu” revealed statue of Guru Padma in the lHa sa gtsug lag khang.32 Soon after the revelation at Ru dam gangs in sDe dge in late 1890, the gNas chung oracle delivered a prophecy that the statue’s appearance was an exceptional auspice for the promotion of national security and wellbeing, and His Holiness’ longevity, and should be brought to lHa sa immediately. The government sent a high-level summons through the office of the Nyag rong governor, and the following summer a mission led by O rgyan phrin las chos ’phel (originator of the gNas chung incarnation lineage) travelled to Khams to collect it. The statue entered lHa sa in grand procession on the auspicious 22nd of the 9th month and was enthroned (‘on the Jo bo’s right-hand side’)33 in lHa sa’s great temple in a ceremony presided over by the regent and state oracle, accompanied by gTer ston Rang rig and the young rDzogs chen sprul sku. Subsequently it became the centrepiece of gNas chung’s twelve-yearly festival to mark the birth of Guru Padma in the Monkey year, when it was brought from lHa sa in procession (started in 1896). With the accession to power of the 13th Ta la’i bla ma Thub bstan rgya mtsho (1876–1933) in 1895, patronage relations flourished between the head of state and his rNying ma pa preceptors, through the mediumship of gNas chung. It is hard to avoid the notion of a link between the growing influence of this institution, and of rNying ma pa vogue in general, and the reassertion of state prerogative in response to the political challenges of the times. Foremost among these was of course the looming threat posed to national security by the collapse of Manchu imperial hegemony and the bulwark it had once provided against the inroads of British and other European colonial powers. As is well known, this ruler devoted his career to the reform of vested interests, particularly the ecclesiastical establishment, and innovation of institutions conducive to a modern 33 The De mo chab dkar monastery in Kong po before 1959. Photo by De mo bsTan 'dzin rgya mtsho (after China Tibetology Publishing House 2005) 34 centralised state. Moreover, as the first holder of his lineage to effectively wield power since the 17th century, his successful accession clearly represented the reassertion of the Ta la’i bla ma institution itself, and thus the rNying ma cult of Buddhist royalty in which it was steeped. The preamble to the account of his temple-building activities in the official biography (cited above) states: In particular, just as the Upādhyāya (Śāntarakṣita), Ācārya (Padmasambhava) and Dharmarāja (Khri srong lde’u btsan) had once joined forces to found the great temple at bSam yas and perform works of inconceivable benefit to the advancement of Buddhadharma, so now this great ruler endowed with skillful means and great compassion together with gTer ston Padma gling pa Hutuktu and gTer ston bSod nams rgyal po and other noble masters of the old and new schools joined together following prophecies that the time had come to greatly expand altruistic activity for the benefit of the teachings and sentient beings (13DL Namtar p. 582–3). The patronage of gTer ston-s in particular, an established (if controversial) feature of Tibetan regal tradition, had been in abeyance in the later Qing period, at a time when the field of activity of the rNying ma school had long since shifted to Khams. It was most evidently revived in this period by gNas chung (more specifically his prodigious oracle Shakya yar ’phel), whose prophecies concerning the repossession of eastern territories and protection of the young Ta la’i bla ma notably engendered an exchange between lHa sa and Nyag rong. 35 that the Nyag rong spyi khyab Phun rab pa sponsored a long-life ceremony for mKhyen brtse rin po che at rDzong sar and commissioned annual rituals at dPal spungs for the maintenance of peace in Khams in 1871 (Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang 1997 p. 247), enlisted Kong sprul’s skills in the manufacture of precious pills, and conveyed a summons from the 12th Ta la’i bla ma to perform similar duties at lHa sa in 1875 (p. 266–7). 37 mKhyen brtse rin po che is indicated as the prophesied Chos bdag of several revelations from the period 1881–6 in Lerab Namtar (p. 42, p. 66). This work emphasises their profound connections from past lives and joint revelations as master and disciple (e.g., p. 44, p. 83–4). Curiously, however, it contradicts the story passed down at gNas chung (gNas chung sgra dbyangs gling op. cit. p. 53–4, sPrel lo sprel zla tshes bcu’i dus chen ngo sprod, Nechung monastery 2004 p. 23), that the mThong grol yid bzhin nor bu statue had been entrusted to mKhyen brtse after its revelation, and that the gNas chung party travelled to rDzong sar to collect it (six months or so before the great master’s death): Lerab Namtar (p. 165) says that the gTer ston fortuitously met them on the road (before reaching the appointed rendezvous) and handed them the statue together with the Sādhana-s and instructions for its worship there and then. 38 Lerab Namtar p. 131–8. He made a further revelation, the rTa mgrin rdo rje khro ba bde chen ’bar ba’i rgyud, inside the Jo khang chapel on his second visit in 1896 (p. 223). 34 According to his biography, Nyag bla Rang rig rdo rje was foremost among the numerous eastern Lamas commissioned to perform rituals of national security in this period. In particular, it states (p. 65) ‘Following this master’s own prophetic indications, the lHa sa government had three Stūpa-s of certain dimensions built at the northern and southern borders of Tibet to secure the frontiers from all sides...’ The appointment to the sMin grol gling throne came in 1887–8, when the gTer ston left Nyag rong on his third visit to dBus, accompanied by gTer ston bSod rgyal on his first. 35 Nyag bla Padma bdud ’dul himself was awarded official recognition and offerings by the lHa sa government in the late 1860s after brokering a peace settlement between local chieftains (e.g., Khams phyogs dKar mdzes khul gyi dgon sde so so’i lo rgyus gsal bar bshad pa Nang bstan gsal ba’i me long, Krung go’i bod kyi shes rig zhib ’jug lte gnas, Beijing 1995 vol. 1 p. 325, Shar rgyal ba bskal bzang dgon gyi byung ba rags bsdus rtsam brjod pa lHa’i rnga sgra by Shes rab ’od zer and Byang chub rgya mtsho, Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang 1996 p. 15), constituting a precedent for the role taken up by his protégé. 36 The lHa sa government had made attempts to cultivate mChod yon relations with the pre-eminent sDe dge Lamas, ’Jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse and ’Jam mgon kong sprul, in the course of reestablishing its presence in the region in the aftermath of the Nyag rong campaign. Kong sprul’s Nor bu sna tshogs mdog can autobiography records 36 gTer ston bSod rgyal and the Nyag rong Connection This connection seems to have begun with gTer ston Rang rig rdo rje (a.k.a sKu gsum gling pa 1847–1903), senior disciple of the great Nyag bla Padma bdud ’dul (1816–72) and reincarnation of gTer chen ’Gyur med rdo rje, who was appointed by the lHa sa government to renew succession to the sMin grol gling throne following the demise of the family line.34 It was his younger contemporary and fellow countryman gTer ston bSod nams rgyal po (a.k.a Las rab gling pa 1856–1926), among the most prolific and flamboyant of his day, who became the foremost rNying ma guru of the new ruler.35 As such, gTer ston bSod rgyal forged links between the ascendant 13th Ta la’i bla ma and the reflorescence of rNying ma Dharma which had been taking place through the later 19th century in Khams, and especially the sDe dge kingdom.36 This movement unfolded through the simultaneous appearance there of the three supreme masters (’Jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse, ’Jam mgon kong sprul and mChog gyur gling pa) and other incarnations of all of Guru Padma’s twenty five disciples (rJe ’bangs nyer lnga), considered the last great prophesied gTer ston-s in the dark age of this world. gTer ston bSod rgyal himself was counted as the incarnation of sNa nam rDo rje bdud ’joms, and initially a protégé of mKhyen brtse’i dbang po (incarnation of Chos rgyal Khri srong lde’u btsan and ‘king’ of gTer ston-s), who became the “Chos bdag” or custodian of his revelations.37 The ostensible purpose of the gTer ston’s first visit to lHa sa in 1888 was to put a newly revealed cycle of teachings on Lokeśvara into writing, which he did in the hallowed precincts of the gTsug lag khang temple, and present them to the young Ta la’i bla ma. While he was there, he revealed another gTer ma (Thugs sgrub phrin las yang snying) inside the temple, making him possibly the first gTer ston to do so in the dGa’ ldan pho brang era.38 This relation with the Tibetan ruler, and the nation’s great temple, was formalised by the enthronement of his revealed Guru sku tshab statue three years later. 37 gTer ston bSod rgyal in Xining, 1913 (courtesy of Rigpa Foundation) 39 cf. Lerab Namtar (p. 188–215). 38 Then, in 1894, gTer ston bSod rgyal made one of his major revelations, the Phur pa yang snying spu gri, at rDzong shod in sDe dge. A key (Kha byang) to this treasure had been revealed some fifteen years earlier by gTer ston gSang sngags gling pa (incarnation of mKhar chen dPal gyi dbang phyug), which stated that if the initial auspices did not come together, there would be another chance for one of five more incarnations of the twenty five disciples. gSang sngags gling pa passed away without revealing the treasure, and by that time mKhyen brtse’i dbang po (the first indicated Chos bdag) had also passed away (1892), but with the guidance of ’Jam mgon kong sprul (incarnation of Vairocana), the five prophesied gTer ston-s assembled to perform propitiatory rituals, and the work of revelation eventually fell to the incarnation of the Phur pa master rDo rje bdud ’joms. The Kha byang specified: The principal custodian will be (one of) two Mahāpuruṣa-s/ Who will appear (one) in Khams and (one) in (central) Tibet/ The first is ’Jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse/ Born in an Iron male Dragon year/ The second is the sovereign master named Thub bstan/ Born in a Fire male Rat year/ Whichever it is, there is no difference between them...The (revealed) Phur pa, manifest symbol of the teaching/ Should be placed before the Jo bo Śākyamuni (statue in lHa sa)/ The representative statue of the Guru will consequently/ Also certainly come into the Jo bo’s presence/ The Yellow Hat teachings will remain firm and not decline/ In particular, the successive sovereign masters (Ta la’i bla ma-s)/ Will henceforth be assured uninterrupted lifespans/ This sovereign master named Thub bstan/ Will surely live to his sixtieth year/ The vicious elemental spirits promoting internal conflict at Se(ra) and ’Bras (spungs)/ And promoting the inroads of foreign armies will be subdued/ The ruler will not face opposition from his subjects/ Tibet will be at peace and the ruler’s command be strengthened/ Of this there is not the slightest doubt...(13DL Namtar p. 691).39 Following a prophecy from gNas chung that the treasure scrolls must be delivered to their ‘owner’, and consequent official summons from the Potala, gTer ston bSod rgyal returned to lHa sa in the summer of 1896. On the oracle’s command, he offered extensive Kīlaya Pūjā-s before the Guru statue in the gTsug lag khang before undertaking the redaction of the scrolls, this time in the grounds of the summer palace. Before long, gNas chung was urging the new head of state to practise these teachings to eliminate obstacles to his health and rule. Sādhana-s and rituals from this cycle were incorporated into the liturgical armoury of the gNas chung and rNam rgyal assemblies. His Holiness performed the wrath- 39 40 Lerab Namtar p. 220–2, 13DL Namtar p. 194–8, p. 283. 41 According to Bod kyi lo rgyus rig gnas dpyad gzhi’i rgyu cha bdams bsgrigs vol. 9 (Mi rigs dpe skrun khang 1995 p. 50– 51) the ninth incarnation was awarded the imperial title ‘Hutuktu’ in 1867, in acknowledgement of services rendered during the Nyag rong campaign. 42 Padma gling pa is merely indicated as the emanation of Guru Padma and strategic collaborator of the Ta la’i bla ma in the Nyi ma’i ’od phreng prophecy (cited below). There is one other reference (13DL Namtar p. 236) to a teaching received from ’Phags pa lha (gShin rje dregs ’joms), which a disembodied voice in a dream recommended as a means to neutralise the effects of malign Mantra. For the rNying ma credentials of the earlier lineage holders, see Bya bral Sangs rgyas rdo rje’s Rain of adamant fire (Sherab Gyeltsen, Gangtok 1979 p. 72–3). 43 ‘In the Water Snake year (1893), in the Zhal snga sgrub phug in the newly opened mKha’ ’gro gsang phug in the exceptional holy place of Cakrasaṃvara rDza rgyal go bo khyung phug, Rig ’dzin Padma gling pa had revealed the treasure scrolls of the Yang byang mdzod kyi lde’u mig, and the redaction jointly put into writing by the Lama and the Dharmapāla stipulated that the ’Dzam gling tha grur khyab pa’i mdzes rgyan treasure key had to be revealed from Bai ro tsa na’s cave at (bSam yas) mChims phu, the holy place of Slob dpon rin po che’s speech, and the (corresponding) symbols of body, speech and mind from a rock shaped like an offering cake in front of (that place). Accordingly, they were revealed on the 18th day of the first month of Wood Horse (1894) by the Chab mdo Dharmapāla Zhang pan taking possession (of a suitable agent), and brought to Chab mdo. Then, starting in the sixth month, having offered a splendid and extensive Rig ’dzin thugs sgrub Gaṇapūjā, the treasure scroll of the ’Dzam gling lung bstan mun sel sgron me (‘Universal prophecy called lamp to dispel the darkness’), the immaculate words of Mahācārya Padmasambhava recorded by the chief Ḍākinī Ye shes mtsho rgyal in secret Ḍākinī script, included in the aforementioned revealed text, was jointly put into writing by Rig ’dzin Padma gling pa and Zhang pan in a total of eight scrolls, which were now offered (to His Holiness), who gave his hand blessing, and joyfully took possession of the revealed materials, making prayers and partaking of their blessing. He seated ’Phags pa lha and served him tea, rice and pastries, conversing at leisure about the origin of the gTer ma. When (’Phags pa lha) took his leave, he presented him a scarf and other gifts in recognition, and to his attendants’ (13DL Namtar p. 192–3). 44 13DL Namtar p. 284, p. 469, p. 581–2. 40 ful rite of repulsion from the Phur pa yang snying spu gri shortly before fleeing the advance of British troops on lHa sa in July 1904.40 “Padma gling pa”, the other gTer ston lauded as a guru of the young 13th Ta la’i bla ma in the official biography, was evidently an alias (gTer ming) for one of the highest dignitaries in the dGe lugs pa order, the ninth ’Phags pa lha incarnation mKhas grub ngag dbang blo bzang ’jigs med bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan (1849–1900).41 Several holders of this lineage are known to have been discreet rNying ma practitioners (there are historic links with the De mo incarnations), but the relationship announced here with such fanfare is barely elaborated.42 In fact, the official biography mentions only one interaction, also in the summer of 1896, when ’Phags pa lha and retinue called on His Holiness to present him with an exceptional Phur pa and an elaborate prophecy entitled Mun sel sgron me, revealed by Padma gling pa in Chab mdo simultaneously with the Yang snying spu gri.43 This document included several indications of personal significance, such as foreseeing both of his flights into exile (to Mongolia in 1904 and to India in 1909). In particular, it identified the Ta la’i bla ma as a gTer ston in his own right, under the alias “Grags ldan gling pa”, and foresaw the circumstances of his future revelations.44 But to continue with the deeds of gTer ston bSod rgyal: he swiftly returned to Nyag rong in January 1897 (which had been invaded by lCags la troops in his absence, prompting a political crisis) spurred on by a prophetic declaration from the gNas chung oracle (who, as we saw, was instrumental in resolving the crisis) that he was to reveal there a gTer ma capable of clearing obstacles to His Holiness’ life and pacifying conflict. This was the ‘talismanic Kīla of the Dharmarāja’ (Chos rgyal bla phur, revealed in the early summer of 1897) which, according to his own prophecies, had to be delivered to its ‘owner’ by the autumn of that year in order to be effective. On the way back to lHa sa, again following the prescriptions of gNas chung, he made a detour to the Brag gsum mtsho lake in Kong po. After performing offering rites to the guardians, they surrendered to him the treasures in their custody, particularly another prophecy entitled Nyi ma’i ’od phreng. Originally delivered to King Khri srong lde’u btsan at bSam yas by Guru Padma in person, it concerned the means to be employed by their respective future incarnations to revitalise the rule of Dharma in the face of attack by rGya ’dre and Dam sri 41 The 13th Dalai Lama in Darjiling, 1910. Photo by Thomas Parr, Suydam Cutting collection, with permission from the Newark Museum 45 The U dum bha ra’i dga’ tshal biography of mKhyen brtse’i dbang po (f.16v) records that a prophecy he received as a youth called for the establishment of a monastery on the boundary between dBus and gTsang, for the promotion of the Vajrayāna teachings and repulsion of barbarian invaders, which could be taken as a reference to Sil ma thang. The biographer (’Jam mgon kong sprul) relates that failure to fulfill these stipulations was the main cause of serious life-obstacles which this master experienced in adolescence. 42 demons, and other negative forces. It had previously been revealed by gTer ston ’Ja’ tshon snying po during the fifth Ta la’i bla ma’s reign, but he apparently reconcealed it, unable to accomplish its provisions. The prophecy had even foreseen this eventuality: As for the damage incurred by non-accomplishment: if (these provisions) are not accomplished, then immediately afterward/ The Tibetan ruler and Bodhisattva incarnation will be killed by the Chinese/ The lifespans of kings and ministers both Chinese and Tibetan will become short...Once again, when the auspices for those to be benefitted reappear/ My emanation, with the name Padma, will appear in Khams/ The five temples will be built at Sha thang/ Later, when the demons (rGya ’dre) and vandals gain ground/ (An emanation of) the ruler with the name Thub pa will appear in (central) Tibet/ The five temples will be built at Sil thang, and so on/ Sacred symbols will be constructed, law will be established and invaders repulsed/ The sun of happiness will shine in Tibet for a long time to come... (Lerab Namtar p. 233, 13DL Namtar p. 225–6) The Nyi ma’i ’od phreng prophecy called for the construction of a series of geomantic temples, one devoted to Guru Padma in each of the three “Chos skor” or royal temples of the imperial Dharmarāja-s (lHa sa, bSam yas and Khra ’brug, to suppress the rGya ’dre), and two groups of five temples each, one above gTsang gi Sil ma thang, at the western foot of Jo mo kha rag (the holy mountain on the border between dBus and gTsang, to suppress the Dam sri), and one above Khams kyi Sha ba thang (at lHang brag in Nyag rong, to suppress the ’Phung ’dre). On arrival in lHa sa, gTer ston bSod rgyal duly presented his revelations to His Holiness, who took a great interest in the prophecy, writing it out in his own hand from the gTer ston’s reading and (supported by gNas chung and his official tutor Gling rin po che) authorised the necessary construction, which began the following year. The chapels added to the Pradākṣiṇā precincts (Bar skor) of the three great Chos skor temples each had central images of Guru Padma, Guru drag po and Seng gdong ma, surrounded by 100,000 clay-mould figures of Guru Padma. The five chapels at Sil ma thang contained Buddha statues and five thousand volumes of scripture.45 The patronage relations (mChod yon) between the young 13th Ta la’i bla ma and his rNying ma pa gurus were undoubtedly mysterious and unfathomable by ordinary perception. Even so, there are some themes in the accompanying literature that we can observe: one, as already suggested, was the implication of the 43 46 An apparently autobiographical passage in 13DL Namtar (p. 155), for example, relates that gTer ston bSod rgyal’s sKu tshab mthong grol yid bzhin nor bu was ceremonially ushered to the dGa’ ldan yang rtse chamber in the Potala palace one week after its formal enthronement in the gTsug lag khang in late 1891, and there placed before the likeness statue of the fifth Ta la’i bla ma, stating that this provided a spontaneous conjunction of auspices for His Holiness to be initiated in the esoteric teachings of his predecessor. He received the empowerments and transmissions of the gSang ba rgya can from his tutors, Gling rin po che (Blo bzang lung rtogs bstan ’dzin ’phrin las 1850–1902) and Phur bu lcog rin po che (Byams pa rgya mtsho 1825–1901), over the following years, and was urgently enjoined to practise them by gNas chung (e.g., p. 197–9). gTer ston bSod rgyal counted the Byang gter master Legs ldan rje among his previous incarnations, who had been the guru of Byang bdag bKra shis stobs rgyal, a previous incarnation of the Great Fifth and principal inspiration of his rNying ma pa activity. 47 Had the chapels been rebuilt as such during the 1650– 1700 renovation of lHa sa, one would expect to find some trace of it in the writings of those responsible. The only literary reference I am aware of before the 13th Ta la’i bla ma’s time is in mKhyen brtse’i dbang po’s dBus gtsang gnas yig (who visited lHa sa in the 1840s), which describes them as “rDo lha”, giving the impression of stone engravings in open shrines. A pukka chapel was built adjoining the Shar rigs gsum lha khang in 1753 (Yun ring lha khang, dPag bsam rin po che’i snye ma p. 865), however, and this became a pattern in later times. After ’Jam mgon kong sprul appeared to gTer ston bSod rgyal in a 1905 dream vision and mentioned the need for a ’Jigs byed lha khang containing 100,000 claymould images on the south side of the gTsug lag khang to promote national well-being (Lerab Namtar p. 294), it was built adjoining the lHo rigs gsum lha khang. Similarly, as noted above, the Zhi khro lha khang of lHa sa’s Tshes bcu tshogs pa was built next to the Byang rigs gsum lha khang, and a new Rigs gsum lha khang was built adjoining the latter during the Rva sgreng regency. 44 Tibetan ruler in the contemporary ecumenical renaissance in the east of the country, and even anticipation of his succeeding the late figurehead of that movement, ’Jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse’i dbang po. Another was reconnection with the rNying ma teachings of his significant predecessor, the fifth Ta la’i bla ma Ngag dbang blo bzang rgya mtsho, of which the Nyi ma’i ’od phreng prophecy was a notable instance.46 More generally, the prophecies revealed by the gTer ston-s and delivered by the oracle were concerned with strengthening national institutions and security, starting with His Holiness’ personal health and longevity, and did so in the time-honoured manner of elaborating links between the ruler’s activity and the imperial heritage, or at least the mythology surrounding it. The monuments they produced, the rJe ’bum lha khang and the groups of temples prophesied by gSang sngags gling pa (1885) and gTer ston bSod rgyal (1898–1900) were ritual means of reviving the geomantic potency of the Chos skor-s and other strategic locations (Me btsa’), and they were the kind of symbolic accoutrements of historic sovereignty with which gTer ston-s have traditionally rewarded their royal patrons. Another example is the “Rigs gsum mgon po” chapels surrounding the gTsug lag khang built in the 1890s following a prophecy from the gNas chung oracle. The original chapels of the ‘lords of the three families’ are supposed to have been part of the quadripartite plan of imperial lHa sa, protecting the main temple in each of the cardinal directions. Even as late as the dGa’ ldan pho brang era, they seem to have been simple, open shrines containing engraved images of the three Bodhisattva-s, and it is unclear when they were rebuilt as the chapels housing statues which stood in their place before 1959,47 but presumably no later than this period, when another group of four was built in the intermediate directions, a measure which the oracle declared would allay the threat of invasion (13DL Namtar p. 596). The work was delegated to one “Bya btang rnal ’byor pa” Yon tan nor bu, a ritual master who is otherwise unknown. The four chapels were located in Thal spungs sgang (south-east), Klu sbug (south-west), Phying gur (north-west) and sMon grong (north-east). The rJe ’bum sgang temple can thus be placed in the context of a revival of ritual temple construction as an expression of the political resurgence of those years, through the collaboration of heads of state with gTer ston-s and sNgags pa-s. The prophecies and auspices which must have presaged its construction have been lost along with other records of the discredited founder, and perhaps 45 Dam sri on all four sides of the ’Phrul snang temple in early 1888, including “rGya ’bum sgang in the north”. Similarly, the autobiography of Sa skya bdag chen Drag shul Phrin las rin chen (1871–1935) (Dehra Dun 1974 vol. 1) records that when he performed the suppression of three kinds of Sri demons at lHa sa twenty years later, the main part of the ritual was conducted at rGya ’bum sgang. Sarat Chandra Das’ account of a “dBang ’dus mchod rten”, ‘which was built to bring under the power... of Tibet all the neighbouring nations’ suggests, most interestingly, that this was the popular understanding of the Stūpa’s function, and possibly that “dBang ’dus” was an alternative and perhaps older toponym, related to the types of ritual performed there. 50 rJe btsun Rin chen phun tshogs kyi rnam thar smad cha Dad pa’i gdung ba bsal byed by Rin chen dpal f.60r; sPrul sku mChog ldan mgon po’i rnam thar mgur ’bum Dad ldan spro ba skyed byed Paro 1979 p. 31–2, p. 404–5; Ra sa ’phrul snang gi ’jig skyob lung bstan rdo rje‘i lha khang zhes bya ba‘i dkar chag dang ldan dGa‘ ba skyed byed f.11v; see The ‘Vajra temple’ of gTer ston Zhig po gling pa and the politics of flood control in 16th century lHa sa, Tibet Journal 2001 no.1. 51 Vajra temple p. 8-9. 48 One possible comparison is the Rigs gsum sprul pa’i lha khang built below rDzong sar monastery in sDe dge presumably in the 1880s. According to the Ngo mtshar yongs ’dus dga’ tshal biography of his successor (f.113r), it resulted from ’Jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse’i dbang po’s intention to found a temple ‘modelled on the bSam yas gtsug lag khang, to promote the well-being of the teachings and living beings in Khams and (central) Tibet’ (cf. rDzong sar bKra shis lha rtse’i sngon gyi lo rgyus by mKhan Blo gros phun tshogs 1991 f.89r–90v). Apart from the apparent conceptual similarity, it was a much less ambitious structure then the rJe ’bum lha khang, with a ground floor area of only nine pillars (see the description in Ngo mtshar u dum bha ra’i dga’ tshal f.70r). The famous Kham bye bshad grva was later built around this temple (1918). Another Rigs gsum lha khang was commissioned by the lHa sa government in 1890 in the lHun grub dga’ tshal protector chapel compound at Chos ’khor rgyal (13DL Namtar p. 151). 49 e.g., the Dad pa’i padmo bzhad pa’i nyin byed bye ba’i snang ba biography of Ma sprul rin po che Theg mchog ’jigs med dpa’ bo (1856–1915) by Ri bo che rje drung Byams pa ’byung gnas (Khetsun Sangpo, Dharmshala 1974 vol. 1 p. 486) records a ritual suppression of the ’Gong po and 46 architect.48 Nonetheless one can surmise from the exploits of A lags Mag gsar that it had to do with the reclamation of a significant site, following the demolition of a controversial Stūpa. The significance of the site is corroborated by incidental references from the life-stories of other contemporary masters, where it is indicated as a crucial locus for the performance of wrathful ritual (Drag po’i las), one of the four classes, corresponding with the northern direction.49 Its significance can be somewhat elaborated from events in the more distant past: in rNying ma pa lore and popular tradition, lHa sa was destined to be inundated by floodwaters and the precious Jo bo statue reclaimed by the Nāga-s, and the postponement of this eventuality by various means, ritual and practical, had been a focus of devotional activity for centuries. Prophecies revealed by great gTer ston-s as long ago as Sangs rgyas gling pa (1340–96) called for the construction of a geomantic temple near the gTsug lag khang to allay the threat of flood and prolong the duration of the Dharmarāja’s monument, and thus the Buddhist religion in the land of snows. Two attempts to construct such a temple are known to have taken place in the mid-16th century, when the gTer ston-s concerned identified the location with ‘a frog-shaped mound between lHa sa (gtsug lag khang) and Ra sa (Ra mo che)’ exactly corresponding with rGya ’bum sgang.50 This is enough to demonstrate, in the absence of direct witnesses, that the rJe ’bum lha khang represented the revival, if not appropriation of a long current of rNying ma pa prophecy and ritual tradition, and there can be little doubt that it was intended toward the same ends as its predecessors, the postponement of apocalyptic threats to the symbolic centre of the Buddhist polity. Given the significance of the site, and the timing of its construction, soon after the first armed confrontation with British forces on the Sikkim border, it is almost certain that it was intended to deflect the threat of invasion (dMag bzlog). As an immaculately constructed architectural Maṇḍala of historic portent, ostensibly built to perform the function of that lowliest of structures, a Tsha khang (receptacle for votive tablets), it embodied the daring, somewhat eccentric syncretism of the founders. They may even have been aware that the last such temple on the site, built in the polarised climate of the dBus gtsang civil war (1558), had been demolished soon after by militant ’Bras spungs monks.51 47 52 There are useful accounts of the “bsTan rgyas gling affair” by Hor khang bSod nams dpal ’bar, Ram pa rNam rgyal dbang phyug and bShad sgrva dGa’ ldan dpal ‘byor in Bod kyi lo rgyus rig gnas dpyad gzhi’i rgyu cha bdams bsgrigs vol. 8, and by Blo bzang rgya mtsho in vol. 19. See also 13DL Namtar p. 239–42, Lerab Namtar p. 243–5, Zhva sgab pa vol. 2 p. 75–8, Three years in Tibet by E. Kawaguchi (Ratna Pustak Bhandar 1979 p. 374–82). 53 These relations must have been affected by the final demise of gNas chung Shakya yar ’phel two or three years later (whose exposure of the plot, incidentally, had furthered gNas chung’s prestige, and was commonly cited as another example of domestic crises being settled without involving the resident Amban). In particular, gTer ston Rang rig’s relations with the palace are said to have been soured by his reluctance to perform the required exorcism of Sha yul sprul sku (or Nyag sprul as he became known, who had committed suicide in detention in the Potala), a factor precipitating his own death soon after (1903). Some say that Gling rin po che (d.1902) perished in the attempt to perform this ritual, which was eventually accomplished by the Sa skya khri chen. ’Dzam gling che rgu dbang sdud (1863–1916) of Phun tshogs pho brang arrived in lHa sa in early 1904 to receive the government’s customary approval of his recent enthronement and, according to the gDung rabs Ngo mtshar rin chen kun ’phel by his immediate successor (Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang 1992 p. 646), performed a Vajrakīlaya rite of suppression at bsTan rgyas gling by official request. Off the record, however, Nyag sprul is said to have continued to haunt the Tibetan ruler: the misleading prophecies delivered by Shakya yar ’phel’s successor which contributed to the government’s mishandling of negotiations with the British in 1903–4 are popularly attributed to Nyag sprul’s mischief (e.g., Blo bzang rgya mtsho p. 259), and even the oracle’s intervention in the Dalai Lama’s medical treatment shortly before his death thirty years later was so interpreted (e.g., Bell p. 436). 48 The Resignation of gTer ston bSod rgyal The next twist in this tale is that, in the event, the feared attempt on the young Ta la’i bla ma’s life involved the same circle of rNying ma Māntrika-s enlisted, among other things, to prevent one. As is well known, in 1899 a heinous plot was exposed, leading to the arrest of De mo rin po che’s nephew Nor bu tshe ring and his accomplices, chiefly the young Sha yul sprul sku, the expropriation of De mo bla brang and premature death of Phrin las rab rgyas. There is no need to go into the details, and their various interpretations,52 except to note the impact on relations between lHa sa and Nyag rong.53 Despite his indirect responsibility for these events, gTer ston bSod rgyal retained the ruler’s confidence, and even profited from the fall-out. He returned to Nyag rong later that year accompanied by government officials and orders for the local commissioner to assist in the construction of the prophesied group of five temples at Sha thang. The ‘deer plateau’ is just below sKal bzang dgon pa, at the foot of the lHang brag peak in central Nyag rong, seat of his great predecessor Padma bdud ’dul, who had issued the original prophecy of a geomantic (“Gong non”) temple on the site. These temples are said to have been largely furnished with gTer ston bSod rgyal’s considerable share of the statues, books and ornaments confiscated from De mo bla brang. The main temple, known as dGa’ ldan dpal brtsegs rnam rgyal gzi ’bar, was capped with a gilt Ganjira. At its head was a large Buddha statue, surrounded by dozens of precious bronzes, including Hayagrīva, Acala, Amṛtakundali, Vajrapāṇi, Maṇicūḍa, models of the Saṃvara and Hevajra Maṇḍala-s, and a series of one hundred smaller statues of rJe Tsong kha pa. There were also a series of five thousand clay Buddha-s each containing a smaller figure blessed by His Holiness, and five thousand volumes of scripture, including bKa’ ’gyur, bsTan ’gyur and Prajñāpāramitā. It was surrounded by four smaller temples in the intermediate directions with gilt spires (rNam snang ’khor lo’i bsgyur ba’i dpal ldan lha khang in the south-east, gSer gyi drva ba rin chen gdugs ’phags lha khang in the south-west, Yang dag rab gnas mngon ’phags byang sems lha khang in the north- 49 54 Khams phyogs dKar mdzes khul gyi dgon sde so so’i lo rgyus gsal bar bshad pa Nang bstan gsal ba’i me long vol. 1 p. 328, Shes rab ’od zer and Byang chub rgya mtsho p. 30–31. 55 Whatever lines of communication remained open between gTer ston bSod rgyal and the Ta la’i bla ma 1904– 26, they are not mentioned in the biographies. The main point of contact concerned one of the three “Bla rdo” or talismanic stones of various deities revealed by the gTer ston in later life: a prophecy revealed in 1921 (Lerab Namtar p. 567–9) declared it vital that the rTa phag bla rdo (revealed in 1913, with images of rTa mgrin in red and rDo rje phag mo in green on either side, and their respective Mantra-s, e.g., p. 469–72) be presented to the Dalai Lama, although this was not done until Ke’u tshang sprul sku Ye shes smon lam travelled to ’Go log at the latter’s behest soon after the gTer ston’s death in 1926, to collect it (13DL Namtar p. 647–9. It is said that the 14th Ta la’i bla ma was wearing the rTa phag bla rdo on his escape into exile in March 1959). A new statue of Gu ru snang srid zil gnon was commissioned for the Sha thang gong non temple by the lHa sa government in the 1940s, presumably following a prophecy from the gNas chung oracle. 50 west and bDud bcom yid gnyis kun ’joms lha khang in the north-east), and enclosed by a double boundary wall, with two protector chapels at the inner entrance devoted to the five forms of Pe har (right) and six-armed Mahākāla (left). In addition, a large Stūpa (bDud ’dul dregs pa zil gnon) ‘for the suppression of the Dam sri’ was built at the confluence of streams lower down the mountain.54 The gTer ston returned to lHa sa in 1901, resumed his position at court, bestowed further teachings and empowerments on the Ta la’i bla ma, and spent almost three years in central Tibet, touring holy places and making further revelations. His departure in spring 1904 however, shortly before the British advance on rGyal rtse, was for the last time, for as far as can be seen from the biography, he took the events of that year as a disastrous setback and negation of the auspices he had worked to promote. Thenceforth, none of his visions or revelations concerned central Tibet, and apart from occasional indications concerning His Holiness’ longevity, he had no further dealings with the lHa sa government.55 The prophecies he received in a visionary interview with the Ḍākinī dPal ’dod khams bdag mo in late 1909, as the Lu’u cun army was forging through southern Khams towards lHa sa, give some insight into his state of mind: Again, when he requested her to unreservedly expound the prospects for His Holiness’ longevity and activity, for better or worse, and for the teachings and living beings in the land of Tibet, and what might be done to promote these, she replied thus: ‘When efforts were made in accord with the Guru’s prophecy, some perverse individuals/ Turned favourable auspices into the opposite, and thus/ A firm foundation for the destruction of Tibet’s well-being was laid/ Even now, reliance on the deceptive allure of temporarily apparent endowments/ Like a dream, a shooting star, a flash of lightning, is misplaced/ The strength of demonic forces of the dark side being ever greater/ I see no chance for the well-being of the teachings and living beings in Tibet/ The earlier affirmation of your own longevity, through association with the ‘life-giver’ (Ḍākinī-s?) and the (rTen ’brel) nyes sel (revelation)/ Was the grace of O rgyan (rin po che)/ Now, given the conjunction of Karmic outcome, immediate circumstances and unfortunate times/ If you cannot succeed through the religious polity, there are no other means/ Once the medicinal tree of physical health is spoiled at the root/ The foliage of beneficial activity will automatically dry up/ Even if you meet success through the religious polity, the auspices must be well examined/ If it is the final and unalterable conclusion, remain in equanimity/ If not absolutely final, the means of improvement are those which have been prophesied/ There is nothing more than those, and success will be beset by obstacles/ If you do not succeed, and fall between the jaws of 51 The Zangs mdog dpal ri temple at Bla ma gling in Kong po, a recent example of a geomantic temple in the rNying ma tradition. Photo by Matthew Akester. 56 e.g., Lerab Namtar p. 509–18, p. 567–80, Shes rab ’od zer and Byang chub rgya mtsho p. 32. 52 two quarrelling demons/ The prevalence of the teachings in Tibet will be rudely extinguished/ All the masters of the teachings will fade away like rainbows in the sky/ Nominal representatives will remain, but they will not serve the teachings/ With the extinguishing of the teachings, living beings will not know happiness/ The lifespans of masters who do manage to serve the teachings will dwindle in equal measure (to their effort)/ Some prominent individuals will attack the teachings/ The milk lake of the monastic assembly will be laced with black poison/ Some malign ones within your own ranks will go the way of the demons/ And as a result your worldly estate will be lost to demonic forces... (Lerab Namtar p. 392–3) In 1911–12, gTer ston bSod rgyal quite abruptly shifted the focus of his activity to the ’Go log region of north-east Tibet, where he spent the remainder of his career. There he continued to reveal copious hidden treasures, and even courted the patronage of the Muslim warlords of Zi ling, and attempted to mediate the impact of their campaigns in the region (1915–22).56 The implication is that he felt unwilling or helpless to intervene in the renewed fighting in his native land, as would have been consistent with his former role as a Lama (mChod gnas) in the service of the Tibetan state. 53 mo do by Si tu Chos kyi rgya mtsho (who visited in 1918), ‘it resulted from the activity of (Khams smyon) bla ma Dharma seng ge’ (Palampur 1972 p. 135). 58 On the recasting and promotion of Dol rgyal as “rDo rje shugs ldan rtsal” by Pha bong kha bDe chen snying po (1878–1941), see The Shugden Affair: Origins of a controversy by G. Dreyfus, Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 21 (2) 1998. 59 Chos skyong bsten phyogs skor bka’ slob snga rjes p. 7–8, Dol rgyal skor gsal bshad (Dharmshala 1996 p. 13). During his later reign, the Ta la’i bla ma prevailed on Pha bong kha rin po che to refrain from invoking the spirit, and his agreement to do so is recorded in the biography by Blo bzang rdo rje (f.471rv, cited in Dreyfus 1998). 57 Of course the state continued to sponsor various rNying ma pa rituals and undertook an extensive programme of restoration of national monuments in the 1920s, particularly the imperial “mTha’ ’dul” temples, in emulation of the fifth Ta la’i bla ma, and indeed subsequent dGa’ ldan pho brang governments (13DL Namtar p. 616–19, p. 657–7, p. 667–8), but the principal construction projects of this period, the sPyan gsal pho brang (1922 p. 622) and Zhol par khang (1924 p. 627–33) apparently did not involve oracular prophecies or elaborate rituals. The Zhi khro lha khang, lHa sa’s only nominally rNying ma chapel, was built at rGya ’bum sgang without state support sometime between 1913–17 (e.g., Drag shul phrin las rin chen gyi rtogs brjod op. cit.). According to the Lam yig nor bu zla shel gyi se 54 The Decline of rNying ma pa Influence on the post-1913 State There was no further state-sponsored construction of geomantic temples in the later reign of the 13th Ta la’i bla ma or his successors.57 What had happened to the momentous convergence of the head of state, the oracle and the gTer ston-s? Tibet had suffered an invasion from British India, Kham had been devastated by the armies of “Butcher” Chao, the Manchu dynasty had collapsed, China had been declared a republic, the Tibetan government had reestablished its independence, and relations with British India. From the writings of gTer ston bSod rgyal and other contemporaries, we learn that in their view, Tibet had not only succumbed to foreign invasion in the dying days of the Manchu empire, but malign influence (typically characterised as the “Dam sri” demons) had strengthened its hold internally, curtailing the auspices and strategic prospects for collaboration with the reestablished Tibetan state. No doubt these were mystical observations beyond the ken of ordinary minds, but one apparent manifestation of this degeneration was the reemergence of a troublesome spirit (hitherto known as “Dol rgyal”) as a successful rival and antagonist of rDo rje grags ldan and gNas chung.58 The Ta la’i bla ma had sought to expunge the cult of minor protectors, and Dol rgyal in particular, in the course of reforming discipline at the three gDan sa or state monasteries, although his oracles and following in society at large were not affected.59 It is notable, then, that the only prophetically induced construction work recorded by the biography during his later reign was ordained by this spirit. In 1922, the revered dGe bshes Ngag dbang skal bzang of Dung dkar monastery in Gro mo, residence of the spirit’s foremost oracle (which the biographer describes in no uncertain terms as “rGyal chen shugs ldan, who has pledged most steadfastly to protect the lord (Tsong kha pa)’s teachings”) notified the government of an urgent prophecy: 55 60 Bell, Portrait of a Dalai Lama p. 393. 61 See the Ngo mtshar yongs ‘dus dga’ tshal biography by Dil mgo mkhyen brtse bKra shis dpal ’byor f.80v–81r. As noted in The ‘Bhutan abbot’ of Ngor: a stubborn idealist with a grudge against Shugs-ldan by D. Jackson (Lungta 14, Dharmshala 2001 cf. Notes on the history of the cult of Rdorje-shugs-ldan by E.G. Smith, University of Washington (unpublished) 1963), an earlier form of the cult had taken root at some Ngor pa monasteries in Khams since the late 19th century, and the establishment of the rDzong sar bshad grva (1918) and its sister institution at Ngor, for example, was marred by the interference of Shugs ldan. According to Dol rgyal las ’phro pa’i ’bel gtam rmongs mun sel ba’i nyi ma by Thang nag A bo (2001), the dKor bdag dam sri’i glud bsngo in volume 5 of rDzong sar mkhyen brtse’s collected works originated as a letter to gTer ston bSod rgyal (thus before 1926). The present Ta la’i bla ma has remarked (1996) ‘Later on, many noble Sa skya pa masters refrained from propitiating (the spirit), and rDzong sar mkhyen brtse rin po che, for example, was an absolute scourge of Dol rgyal’ (Chos skyong bsten phyogs skor bka’ slob snga rjes p. 209). 62 This is not directly acknowledged in Tshe tan zhabs drung’s gDung sel sman gyi ljon pa biography of ’Jigs med dam chos rgya mtsho (mTsho sngon mi rigs dpe skrun khang 1987 p. 394): ‘Some of sKu zhabs Pha bong kha’s followers started a great dispute between the old and new schools, and committed many wrongs such as destroying statues of Padma ’byung gnas and the Zhi khro deities, denying the benefits of reciting the Vajra Guru mantra, and burning books like the Padma bka’ thang, or throwing them in rivers. They affirmed rGyal po shugs ldan to be the unity of the three jewels and supreme refuge. At some smaller monasteries in the south (of Khams) many monks claiming to be possessed by Shugs ldan went on the rampage and committed many sins, such as destroying sacred objects and the like, and as this was a grave offence to the teachings of the second Buddha Tsong kha pa, he kindly issued an epistle for the benefit of all which was published for distribution in the three provinces of dBus, gTsang and Khams, to calm the religious dispute.’ Two such incidents are reported in the memoirs of rTsis dpon Shu khud pa ’Jam dbyangs mkhas grub, who served in Chab mdo as deputy to Blon chen Nang byung ba, mDo smad spyi khyab 1940–43 (In the presence of my enemies, S. Carnahan with Lama Kunga Rinpoche, Santa Fe 1995 p. 88–93). 56 It clearly indicated that as the power of the ‘lower (eastern) Hor’ was rising at that time, the means to reverse this was for Stūpa-s to the east and west of the central territory, the ‘navel’ of Tibet, to be restored immediately. This Vajra prophecy was presented to His Holiness through the offices of the Gro mo commissioner, and since there was also talk at that time of Japan preparing to attack some other countries, he considered with great interest the positive and negative prospects in the short and long term, and nominal amounts of taxation money representative of every settlement of subjects of the land of snows were amassed for the purpose. The ‘western Stūpa’ having been recognised as this very Potala palace, a team of skilled and willing masons, carpenters and painters was assembled and a workshop established forthwith for the repair of whatever was deemed to be in need of it...As for the ‘eastern Stūpa’, this was said to have been the restoration of the gSer sdong chen mo (great reliquary of rJe Tsong kha pa) at dGa’ ldan, which is described further on (13DL Namtar p. 620–21). The ambiguity of the situation is highlighted by Sir Charles Bell’s account, who discussed world affairs at length with His Holiness during his 1920–21 sojourn in lHa sa, and reported that the Tibetan leader looked favourably on Japanese militarism as a force to keep Republican China in check, and a potential ally.60 And as compliance with the prophecy could be interpreted as the kind of sundry repair work that needed doing anyway, it seems to have been something of a hedged bet. In any case, the ‘rGyal chen shugs ldan’ cult, especially the form popularised by the hugely influential Pha bong kha rin po che, became more widespread in the turbulent years after the death of the Great Thirteenth, and the perceived conflict between Shugs ldan and gNas chung was an implicit force in the political struggles that marked the final years of dGa’ ldan pho brang rule. When the proselytism of Pha bong kha’s disciples in Khams (particularly Chab mdo, lHo rong, Brag g.yab and Li thang) provoked a wave of public unrest, sectarian violence and acts of desecration in the late 1930s, religious figures of all denominations expressed outrage and called for restraint, of whom rDzong sar mkhyen brtse Chos kyi blo gros (1893–1959) was perhaps the most outspoken. His confrontations with Shugs ldan (or ‘the Dam sri’, as it was known) pre-dated these events, for he is said to have performed exorcisms (’Gegs skrod) at Sa skya pa temples in sDe dge on several occasions,61 and as the most eminent living master of the non-sectarian tradition, his appeal to the A mdo bla ma ’Jigs med dam chos rgya mtsho (b.1898) concerning the cult inspired by Pha 57 sending messages by arrow over long distances with perfect accuracy, pulling statues out of the sky, descending into a lake with a burning butter lamp and returning with “grapes from the Nāga realm”, inducing springs on a dry mountainside, killing animals and bringing them back to life, flying and leaving his footprint in rock. He began there by restoring, when others did not dare, an old Thang ka depicting the deity Khyab ’jug, designed to protect against Grib (“sky disease”), to which the gNas chung Lamas had become prone. He was very fond of shooting, and could cure the chronically ill and insane by firing bullets at them, but when the lHa sa nobles invited him to a contest, he hit the bulls-eye without using a gun. Some members of the ’Bras spungs community regarded him as anathema, so when he visited his disciple at gNas chung he used to fly in through the skylight rather than using the door and enduring the surly looks of the monk-attendants. The gNas chung elders say that all his attempts to meet His Holiness were obstructed by palace officials. Sitting on the mountainside at lHa lung ri khrod overlooking the PLA camp at Nor stod gling ka, he used to say “With His Holiness’ permission, I could get rid of all these Chinese in no time”. When he found out that his messages to His Holiness advising the performance of various rituals were not being delivered, he departed for gTsang in disgust, saying “Now Tibet is finished”. (The perception of Chos nyid gling pa as a charlatan by some of lHa sa’s monk officials is illustrated in the memoirs of rGan Byams pa phun tshogs, Zhum pa med pa’i mi rtse, published by the Guchusum ex-political prisoners association, Dharmshala 2009). He spent the last three or four years of his life in the Shangs valley, where he is remembered by locals for performing further miracles and revelations at Phung po ri bo che and several places in Shangs (including exorcism of Dol rgyal). Chos nyid gling pa passed away at the Srin ’dul brag phug cave near sTag sna, probably in 1955, when he was apparently no more than fifty years old (many thanks to Zab sprul Padma rgya mtsho, Che mo sPen pa rdo rje, the present oracle and Phrin las, former attendant of Blo bzang ’jigs med). 65 Ra sa ’phrul snang dkyil ‘khor mthil du gsar bzhengs bgyis pa’i gu ru snang srid zil gnon gyi snang brnyen dkar chag mThong ba don ldan (p. 83). mKhyen brtse rin po che was accompanied on that occasion by two child protégés, the nephew of his consort Tshe ring chos sgron from the Lab kha tshang family, whom he had recognised as an incarnation of gTer ston bSod rgyal, and the author of this work, Khams sprul bSod nams don grub. 66 According to the Mthong ba don ldan dkar chag, the proposed statue emerged from one of mKhyen brtse rin po che’s “mental revelations” (dGongs gter). There is no explicit mention of such a prophecy in his writings, however the statue seems related to the ‘bDe ba chen po’ form of the Guru from the bSam pa lhun grub cycle of revelations, which has to do with the ritual repulsion of military aggression (dMag bzlog). For example, the description of mKhyen brtse rin po che’s reconsecration of the 63 mKhyen brtse rin po che is widely believed to have foreseen the Communist invasion and its consequences, as seems clear from a prophecy he received in a vision in early 1950, included in the ‘secret’ autobiography (gSung ’bum vol. 8 p. 330–32): ‘A bird coming from the east/ Drops filth in the gold basin of the west/ The (illomened) owl makes a hawking noise/ In tune with the Rākṣasa-s/ The divine birds flee to the hills/ The redfaced one sneaks a covert glance/ Fangs bared little by little/ The red river of the north overflows/ Water fills the forested valleys of the four communities/ Monkeys carried away by the flood/ Most will lose their lives/ Some will hide out in the hills/ The ’Gar lineage, like the sky-flower/ Will wreak the havoc of war in the southern valleys/ That too will grow in the north/ Great havoc of war in the upper north/ Having progressively devastated gTsang/ lHa sa and the rest(?) will roil like salt water/ Se ra and ’Bras spungs will vanish into nothingness/ Fierce barbarians will gather there/ Even great and glorious monasteries/ Will remain only in ever reduced form/ To reverse these (developments)/ Build great Stūpa-s at (each of) the four entrances/ At lHa sa, bSam yas and Khra ’brug/ Perform reconsecration and ritual medicine empowerment/ Repulsion rituals of the eight precepts, Yama and Kīlaya/ Repeatedly perform the Mātṛkā’s offering...’ Another of his prophecies shortly preceding the events of 1950 passed into popular currency. It went something like this: ‘The white clouds of this world will be capped with yellow/ They will also be as if tinged with red/ A new river will flow from the Ti se mountain/ Blue snow will appear on the Thang lha mountain...’, of which the latter phrase was thought to have been vindicated by the 1950 earthquake. The blending of this prophecy with popular perception at the time is illustrated, for example, in Chopé Paljor Tsering’s The Nature of all Things (Lothian Books 2004 p. 67–8): ‘Rumour soon started that the earthquake (in the gNam ru area of Byang thang in 1953) was a bad omen. Parts of the revered Nyenchen Tanglha mountain had cracked and many took it as a sign that our local protective deity had lost a battle against a dark power. The rumour also said “The dark power will run over Tibet and no wealth will be of any worth. Those who have stocks of clothing and food should make good use of them now, or a time will come when the right to use them is denied. The nation will be turned into a state of hungry ghosts”.’ 64 The most direct successor to gTer ston bSod rgyal was an extraordinary master known as Chos nyid gling pa (a.k.a Gar dbang mdo sngags zhig po gling pa), a gTer ston from ’Go log who stayed at gNas chung in the early 1950s as teacher of the then oracle Blo bzang ’jigs med. He was the son of gTsang pa grub chen O rgyan rig ’dzin and grandson of another ’Go log Siddha, Byams pa chos ’dzin, and his surviving writings show that he considered himself a spiritual descendant of mChog gyur gling pa. According to the stories told at gNas chung, he was constantly revealing gTer and displaying miraculous powers, such as 58 bong kha’s teachings, which was printed for general circulation,62 became the authoritative statement on the matter. mKhyen brtse rin po che came to lHa sa in the spring of 1955, shortly before the intensification of Communist ‘Democratic Reform’ in Khams sparked off armed resistance to the occupation, resulting in brutal counter-insurgency operations by the ‘Liberation army’, and a large influx of refugees reaching the Tibetan capital from the east.63 Unlike gTer ston bSod rgyal, he had not been invited, and had to request an audience at the Potala, but he succeeded in initiating a similar relationship on his first meeting with the 20 year-old 14th Ta la’i bla ma, apparently the only rNying ma pa master to do so in that period.64 On that occasion he named the Ta la’i bla ma as custodian of one of his revelations (Thugs rje chen po mi tra dgongs gter), and by offering him the empowerment, removed obstacles to his longevity.65 He then appealed to the young ruler, apparently on the strength of a revealed prophecy, to authorise the immediate construction of a large statue of Guru Padma to be placed in the lHa sa gtsug lag khang, ‘to ward off the threat of war, famine and pestilence in Tibet’, and four Stūpa-s in the four directions around the temple.66 The statue was to be in standing pose with eight arms each holding a sword, and positioned, facing east, in the dKyil ’khor mthil or inner court of the temple, next to the large Maitreya statue (Bar zhi byams pa), which it should exceed in height. 59 rDzong sar mkhyen brtse Chos kyi blo gros (courtesy of Tibetan Nyingma Meditation Centre) gTer ston Chos nyid gling pa (photographer unknown, author’s collection) 60 The Guru bDe ba chen po of the bSam pa lhun ’grub cycle, associated with ritual repulsion of military aggression (Tibetan Medical and Astro Institute, Dharmshala) Thang ka painting of the Guru according to mKhyen brtse rin po che’s 1955 specifications, commissioned by Khams sprul bSod nams don grub and rDzogs chen sprul sku ’Gyur med rnam rgyal c. 1982. Photo by Matteo Pistono 61 ’Dzin rNam rgyal mgon khang in sDe dge from the Ngo mtshar yongs ’dus dga’ tshal biography (f.79v–80r): ‘On that day, when he performed the military repulsion ritual of the wrathful rNam sras rta sngon can (‘Vaiśrāvana, rider of the blue horse’), the protector of the Thugs sgrub bSam pa lhun grub, just as a great army of demons was on the march, approaching from the south-east, they were all drowned and eliminated without trace, as a manifest sign of its success. Although he had the necessary power and conviction to perform such wrathful rituals, he deplored their customary use and never engaged in them himself, except in a very few cases specifically indicated by prophecy, with the sharp efficacy of a thunderclap.’ 67 His Holiness recently recalled the episode as follows: “When mKhyen brtse rin po che came to lHa sa from Khams in I think 1954 (sic), we had a meeting and he requested the empowerment for dGa’ ldan lha brgya ma. At that time, he told me that it would be beneficial for the Dharma and political situation of the country to make a Guru snang srid zil gnon (sic) statue in dKyil ’khor thil and four Stūpa-s around the gTsug lag khang. He was a Lama from Khams but no one really bothered asking him about the situation in Khams, and some people felt unsure about what kind of a Lama he was, since he was married, and it was decided to forget about the four Stūpa-s. But the Guru statue was felt to be worthwhile, although it was unsure whether sNang srid zil gnon is really a genuine teaching. So there was talking back and forth...” (Address to recipients of the Rig ’dzin gdung sgrub empowerment during the new year teachings at Dharmshala, March 2004). A more detailed account has since appeared in the Bya ba las kyi ’khor lo’i rnam gzhag memoir of bKa’ zur lCog steng Thub bstan nor bzang (privately published in 2007, p. 161–5): “Although the proper channel for commissioning sacred images and so forth was the palace secretariat (rTse yig tshang), which was responsible for religious matters, in His eagerness to expedite the matter efficiently, His Holiness sent a special directive to the cabinet (bKa’ shag). The cabinet too would have had to go through the secretariat to make things happen, but no such instructions were sent. The cabinet delayed the matter. Everyone suspected the two cabinet ministers Nga phod and bSam pho (of responsibility for this), but even they were most concerned that the Guru statue be produced within the time specified (before the eleventh lunar month) by the prophecy, as (His Holiness had) ordered. It was the deputy minister Shan kha ba ’Gyur med (bsod nams) stobs rgyal who claimed that “If the Guru statue goes ahead there will be objections from the three great seats”, shifting responsibility onto the three great monasteries, and simply through persisting with unjustified doubts, the time passed. rDzong sar mkhyen brtse was waiting expectantly for the statue to be made, but once the time had passed and his hopes gone unfulfilled, he left on pil- 68 69 70 71 62 grimage and settled in Sikkim. In the summer of the following year (1956), after the inauguration of the socalled ‘Preparatory committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region’, the cabinet submitted a proposal for a Guru statue, and His Holiness personally visited the dKyil ’khor mthil hall in the gTsug lag khang and gave instructions for the statue to be installed there. Once the location had been defined, the construction of a Guru statue, albeit not in conformity with the original specifications, could not but go ahead. Even then, it was said that sNang srid zil gnon was not an authentic form of the Guru, and the statue was made in the mTsho skyes rdo rje (Saroruhavajra) form. Had the Guru statue been commissioned immediately, in keeping with the time frame specified, the Lama’s prophecy suggested that the Chinese would not have been able to establish their TAR preparatory committee in Tibet, they would have been crushed, and the enlightened activity of the ‘wish-fulfilling jewel’ (the Dalai Lama) would have outshone the triple world. How tragic that this was obstructed by the insufficient collective merit of the Tibetan people!” Starting with the celebration of the following new year (1952), His Holiness was induced to include propitiation of Shugs ldan in his annual programme of rites, a practice he continued up to 1976. All this was confessed in a frank and contrite address to a select audience in June 1978 (Chos skyong bsten phyogs skor bka’ slob snga rjes p. 1–59). His Holiness further stated that although he had continued to observe the ‘Srog gtad’ rite, he made no further consultations of Shugs ldan’s oracles, and it was gNas chung who guided his successful escape into exile in March 1959 (p. 15). It was so regarded by Shan kha ba ’Gyur med bsod nams stobs rgyal, for instance (Rang gi lo rgyus lhad med rang byung zangs, Dharmshala 1990 p. 281–2), although his colleague rTsis dpon Zhva sgab pa dBang phyug bde ldan acknowledged (lHa ldan rva sa ’phrul snang gtsug lag khang gi dkar chag, Shakabpa House, Kalimpong 1982 p. 59) that ‘The account of mKhyen brtse rin po che‘s disappointment that the conditions for fulfilling the prophecy could not be met is included in his collected writings’ (I have not found it). On learning of the construction of the rGya gar ma statue, mKhyen brtse rin po che is said to have remarked that it was an auspice (rTen ’brel) determining the safe arrival of the Ta la’i bla ma and retinue in India as exiles. Apparently he had not given up hope altogether, for as late as 1958 he told the former Ngor abbot Ngag dbang yon tan rgya mtsho, who had recently arrived from Tibet “You should not go to Bhutan! Only three lamas in Khams have the power to stop the Chinese – one is rDzogs chen Padma rig ’dzin, and one is you. All three of you must go back to Khams. You must hold a major religious convocation (Chos ’khor) and perform a great gTor ma exorcism ritual to repel the Chinese!” (Jackson (2001) p. 100). The attitude to such things is quaintly expressed His Holiness agreed at the time, but seems to have been deflected by his advisors and officials.67 It was not the only such appeal to have been received by his government in this period: in late 1950, at the critical moment of the Communist invasion, the 16 year-old Ta la’i bla ma and entourage withdrew to Gro mo on the Sikkim border to await further developments, apparently without involving the state oracle very much in the decision. Before undertaking the return journey to PLA-occupied lHa sa in July 1951, His Holiness became the first Ta la’i bla ma to seek the prophetic guidance of Shugs ldan, through the Dung dkar oracle, apparently with the approval of his advisors and mentors. Among them was a dGe bshes Tshe dbang bsam ’grub who had performed certain wrathful rituals for the defeat of enemies during the period of exile at the government’s request, and soon after the return to lHa sa, he conveyed a prophecy from another Shugs ldan oracle, at the Chos ’khor yang rtse monastery (near Chu shul rdzong), concerning means to repulse invaders. This prophecy, which the government took seriously enough to check and re-check through messengers travelling back and forth, called for the erection of three giant statues, Bhairava, Kālacakra and Kurukullā, in the temple of the new printery (Par khang) in Zhol, below the Potala palace.68 It was these statues that the government commissioned in 1955, after a delay partially explained by the need to raise the Par khang’s ceiling. At the same time, in what it regarded as an acceptable compromise with mKhyen brtse rin po che’s prophecy,69 a gilt copper statue of Guru Padmasambhava (the peaceful form known as “rGya gar ma”, in Paṇḍita’s attire, left hand in lap, right hand on knee), considerably smaller than the Maitreya, was placed on the north side of the dKyil ’khor mthil, facing west.70 By the time these latest mystically ordained additions to the holy city were completed in 1956, mKhyen brtse rin po che had departed in despair for exile in India.71 63 in the ‘Memoirs of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoché’ (Blazing Splendour, E.P.Kunsang and M.B. Schmidt, Rangjung Yeshe publications 2005 p. 223), who described how one mKhan po Jo skyabs went to live with the 83 year-old ‘eccentric’ master ’Jam (dbyangs) grags (pa) to request his teaching: ‘Every day at dusk, without fail, Jamdrak would perform a short subjugation ritual and throw a Torma – an offering cake, which symbolised a weapon – toward the east. “Rinpoché, why do you do this every day?” Jokyab asked him.”Oh dear!” the master explained. “From a country in the east, an evil force will rise up. It will completely destroy the Buddha’s teachings in this snowy land of Tibet and leave the country in pitch-black darkness. This force cannot be stopped, but merely trying to stop it brings more benefit than if I were to chant the ritual for the peaceful and wrathful deities one hundred times and light ten thousand butter lamps. When I throw this Torma, I imagine hitting the demon square on the head. It won’t help though; no one can repel this demon. Nevertheless, simply by trying, I will accumulate great merit and purify obstacles on the path to enlightenment.’ 72 His Holiness has recounted (Dharmshala 2004) that gTer ston bSod rgyal’s precious mThong grol yid bzhin nor bu was spirited out of Tibet at that time, and eventually (through the offices of Dil mgo mkhyen brtse rin po che) reached Dharmshala, where it was incorporated in the statue of sNang srid zil gnon he commissioned for the new gTsug lag khang. Back then, he wrote of this statue ‘In order to exhort the compassion and efficacy (of Guru Padma) in automatically reversing, like the sand in an hour glass, the evil intent of the human and non-human barbarians who even now control Tibet, a gilt copper statue of Guru sNang srid zil gnon over twelve feet tall including the lotus throne, blazing with blessing power, which contains fully one hundred thousand (miniature) Guru images, in the usual way, was installed on the west side of the chapel, facing east towards Tibet’ (rGya gar hi ma cal mnga’ sde dha ram sa la theg chen chos gling gtsug lag khang rten dang brten par bcas pa’i lo rgyus dkar chag Dad gsum ’dren pa’i shing rta, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s private office 1970). The presence of the statue at the symbolic centre of the exile capital provoked protests from the faction of dGe lugs pa clergy vehemently opposed to rNying ma influence (e.g., gDong thog bsTan pa’i rgyal mtshan’s Gangs can bod kyi rgyal rabs lo tshigs dang dus ’gyur yo lang la dpyad pa sNgon med deb ther gzur gnas dpyod ldan dgyes pa’i dbyangs snyan, Sapan Institute 2002 p. 320), and precipitated the Shugs ldan controversy in exile, which came into the open with the 1970 publication of Dze smad sprul sku’s Pha rgod bla ma’i zhal gyi bdud rtsi polemic. 73 The project was not only regarded with suspicion by Party and government authorities, but actively opposed by anti-rNying ma pa members of the TAR Buddhist Association (notably Tshe smon gling bsTan ’dzin phrin las and dGe bshes lHun grub thabs mkhas) and ultimately approved only through intensive efforts, and a negotiated settlement which involved lowering considerably the proposed height of the throne. Due to official nervousness, Dil mgo mkhyen brtse rin po che and entourage were required to perform the consecration ceremony upstairs, out of public view (interview with the late Shug gseb Ngag dbang rgyal mtshan, October 1996). 64 The rGya gar ma statue was destroyed, along with almost all other contents of the gTsug lag khang, during the 1966 looting and desecration of the temple.72 But mKhyen brtse rin po che’s prophecy had not been forgotten during the long nightmare of Maoist rule, and soon after restoration began in the early 1980s, a group of rNying ma pa devotees led by one Lung rtogs rgyal mtshan began raising contributions and seeking official permission for a new statue of Guru snang srid zil gnon to take its place, evidently to make amends for past omissions.73 Similarly, the construction of a giant sNang srid zil gnon statue was at the centre of restoration efforts at gNas chung monastery in 1983–4, and the surviving building modified to accomodate it. Another three-storey statue was built at lHo sTag lung a few years later (where mKhyen brtse rin po che had spent time on his way to India in 1955–6). The lHa sa statue was completed in the early summer of 1985, coinciding with the visit of Dil mgo mkhyen brtse rin po che, who led the consecration ceremony. The Guru chapel commissioned by gTer ston bSod rgyal nearly a century earlier on the east wall of the Pradākṣiṇā passage was reestablished through the voluntary efforts of devotees in 1994. The construction of a peculiar statue might seem an arcane preoccupation at a moment of national crisis, but condemnation of the government’s failure to observe the prophecy has persisted to this day, and the episode has become a potent allegory for the spiritual malaise of the latter-day dGa’ ldan pho brang state. I hope at least to have shown that rDzong sar mkhyen brtse’s 1955 meeting with the 14th Ta la’i bla ma had ample precedent in Tibetan tradition. 65 The sNang srid zil gnon statue installed in the lHa sa gtsug lag khang in 1985. Photo by Matthew Akester The sNang srid zil gnon statue installed in the Dharmshala gTsug lag khang in 1970 Photo by Ravinder Kalra 66 Appendix 1: The Foundation of the rJe ’bum lha khang, excerpted from the official Biography of the 13th Dalai Lama Lhasa Edition f. 186v–192v In particular, just as the abbot (Śāntarakṣita), Ācārya (Padmasambhava) and Dharmarāja (Khri srong lde btsan) had once joined forces to found the great temple at bSam yas and perform works of inconceivable benefit to the advancement of Buddhadharma, so now this great ruler endowed with skillful means and great compassion together with gTer ston Padma gling pa Hutuktu and gTer ston bSod nams rgyal po and other noble masters of the old and new schools joined together following prophecies that the time had come to greatly expand altruistic activity for the benefit of the teachings and sentient beings. On the strength of their exceptional resolve to benefit others, and without hesitating or holding back for an instant, they engaged in major and minor deeds of immediate and long-term benefit to the worldly and spiritual endurance of the Dharma with fervent dedication, without being called on to do so or being discouraged by the difficulties... Construction of sacred receptacles of body, speech and mind, such as the eight Tathāgata Stūpa-s, elegant temples and so on being not only prescribed in the Sūtra-s and Tantra-s as the seeds of great benefit to oneself and others, but the capital means of overcoming obstacles in the four directions, promoting His Holiness’ longevity and the religious polity of hundred-fold joy and all manner of excellence, the regent and cabinet ministers held a discussion concerning how, in accordance with prophecies by Ma gcig lab sgron and in the (gSang ba) rgya can of the Great Fifth (Ta la’i bla ma) that the construction of a Stūpa for the subjugation of Māra on the ‘powerful’ (east) side of the lHa sa gtsug lag khang, filled with the four kinds of Śarīra relics, would bring enormous benefits, a Stūpa of that kind 80 cubits tall, of excellent manufacture, filled with 100,000 images of rJe (Tsong kha pa) and the four kinds of relics had been built (in fulfillment of the prophecies) in the Iron Rat year (1840?), and after that, a Mahābodhi Stūpa had also been built (there) in concealed form (?). Since it was tall and situated east of the Potala palace, and there is a prophecy in the standard summary of the Kālacakra-tantra that ‘A Stūpa in the east will empty the 67 town in the west’, it was said to be an ill omen (Sa dgra), although in religious terms it is also true that sacred symbols bring their makers and the places they adorn 18 benefits. Only through the synthesis of provisional and definitive aspects do we get the real meaning... At that time, because of general obstacles to Dharma and the elemental spirits raising their heads, there was a lot of private talk among ordinary people that it was an evil omen, and without anyone noticing exactly when, the Stūpa itself suddenly cracked on all four sides, and since the timbers were rotten and it had deteriorated beyond repair, the religious and secular authorities decided to dismantle it altogether and build a new receptacle for the 100,000 images it contained. sKu bcar mkhan chen ’Jam dbyangs sbyin pa, mKhan drung Chang khyim pa mKhyen rab byang chub and Bla phyag mkhan chung gYu thog pa ’Jam dbyangs bstan ’dzin took charge of the construction work, and recruited rTse drung Byams pa thub dbang, Blo bzang skal ldan, Byams pa chos rgyan, rGyal mtshan phun tshogs, Blo bzang mkhas mchog, Byams pa bstan ’dzin and dKon mchog bstan ’dzin. Once the demolition was completed, the gNas chung oracle gave these instructions concerning the necessary rituals to avert obstacles and the design and orientation of the (proposed) temple: Hri! The preliminary rituals for accomplishing the noble aims of the Dharma and sentient beings should be accomplished without hesitation. Given the aims and concerns at hand, they will all be met if the (temple) takes the form of the Dharmadhātu. To do that, a qualified person should accomplish deity Mantra-s and Samādhi Mantra-s on each side of the foundations as a means to repel and overcome the Dam sri (demons). Making the east and south corners even, lay a square, four-doored structure on the same foundations (as the demolished Stūpa). The ground floor should be like that, but the middle and upper floors do not need the (four) entrance porches. At the centre and cardinal directions of the upper floor should be (images of) the Three Roots, the Bodhisattva-s and four Lokapāla-s, and the previously indicated protectors in the intermediate directions. Once they have been well consecrated, the other sacred images can follow. A lags dmag sar of A mdo Reb kong, the crown jewel of Mantradhara-s, together with Zhabs dkar sprul sku, Shar chos rdo rje ’chang bsTan pa skal bzang and bShes gnyen chen po A skya Blo bzang mgon po coordinated the Sitātapatrā rite of preliminary consecration of the contents of the new statues, the treasure vases, and rituals of pacification and suppression of hostile spirits. During the 68 whole year, mTshams pa Kun bzang rgya mtsho of Yar klungs Tsha sting and some (Chog grva) monks successfully performed the extensive rituals of pacification of the ground, peaceful and wrathful, leaving the former (ritual) wealth deposits as they were, and completely filling the centre and the boundaries with the large amount of precious materials they had effortlessly amassed. Then an official statement was drawn up in accord with the pronouncements of His Holiness and the (gNas chung) Dharmapāla, and orders were given (to prepare) Maṇḍala-s for all the images which must be of real benefit to the noble teachings both in general and in particular, and ’Jog po sprul sku was requested to oversee the specifications of the contents of the new images. In response to further enquiry about the statues, mural paintings and so on inside the temple, dGra lha ’Od ldan dkar po replied thus: Hri! For you who are oath-bound, to bring about a feast of benefit and joy for the Dharma and beings, once the images have been established, strive to suppress the Dam sri, ’Phung sri and dGra sri in the centre and on either side. Above, in the centre of the temple (a statue of) Maitreya, and the Buddha-s of the past and present to its right and left. Either side of the doorway behind and to either side, statues of Mahottara-heruka, Vajravidāraṇa and Amṛtakundali, the wrathful ones Hayagrīva and Bhūrkuṃkūṭa. All (should be) crammed full of fragments of the Tsong kha pa figures. On the walls, paint Stūpa-s for the subjugation of Māra with 1008 Vajrapāṇi-s in the domes. Above, in the gilded spire, place a figure of Samantabhadra and consort filled with five kinds of Śarīra relics and any other precious deposits. If you make the effort to hold an extensive consecration ceremony, it will be a hundred-fold joy for the Dharma and sentient beings. In accordance with this, the Mahāvidhyādhara A skya Blo bzang mgon po performed the ritual suppression of demons, principally the Dam sri, ’Jog po bla ma rNam grol can performed the preliminary, invocation and propitiation of the deity of construction (bZo bo lha), and ’Bri gung Ka tshal bla ma drew the prognostic diagram (lTo ’phye) on the site. ...That same day, the ritual aversion of obstacles (gTo bcos) was performed, the area of ‘special earth’ (dNgos grub kyi sa) was located using the diagram, and so on, auspices as fine as can be. ’Jog po bla ma performed the ritual of invoking (the bZo bo lha) for all the workers, the senior and the rest, and blessed their tools. The clay for the statues was mixed with rare and precious substances such as Śarīra relics of the Tathāgata-s, the hair, bones and robes of all manner of Indian 69 and Tibetan Paṇḍita-s and Siddha-s, earth, water and medicinal substances collected from various places, crushed jewels, and so on. His Holiness personally blessed an offering of the first part of the mixed clay by pronouncing at length the “Drang srong bden tshig” of the noble saints of the central land. And the Dharmakāya Śarīra, chief among the four kinds of Śarīra put inside (the statues), were not uniform but differed according to the older and newer bone relics (they came from). Also the ‘life-force stones’(Bla rdo) and ‘vital wheels’ (Srog ’khor) of the protector (statues), and so on, as well as the occasional necessities, had to be arranged in advance, so the process took a long time. Then, beginning in the first half of the year, the foundations were laid following the same measurements used for Tantric Maṇḍala-s, with a measure of 50 hand-spans on either side, and a measure of 15 hand-spans for the height of the structure, the pillars, beams, rafters and so on. Since many auspices came together at that time and everything was sorted out by itself, His Holiness and all those involved in the construction were delighted. In order that the glorious reign of the Manchu emperor in alliance with the Dalai Lama not be diminished over time, He gave the clear instruction that the doors of the temple itself and the main images inside should face the ‘powerful’ quarter (east). Medicinal and fragrant substances, various kinds of grain, foods and fabrics, and deterrents to the associated threats were put inside the walls in the four directions and four interstices, and in accord with the previous instruction, treasure vases dedicated to the territorial spirits of the centre and four directions were buried in their appropriate spots inside the walls of the inner processional passage (Nang ’khor). The temple building was square with four doors and three concentric series of walls, occupying a total area of 100 pillars. Inside, the central chapel faced east and was arranged like the ‘auspicious chapels’ of olden days, with four pillars and eight beams. The surrounding hall (Bar ’khor) was 48 pillars (in extent), and on the outside was a roofed gallery half a pillar space (lCam gang) in extent on each of the four sides. There were four turrets (lCog), one on each side of the first floor. The east-facing chapel in the centre was adorned by two staircases leading up to the canopy roof and spire of the five qualities (of the Dharmadhātu-maṇḍala) united in one. At the four corners were canopies of white lead with gilt copper spires. Even the outside of the ground floor was decorated with exquisite ornaments like jewelled lotuses and so on, as befits a chamber of the gods. It was a perfect marvel, like the palace of Indra fallen to earth, a place revered by the wise. 70 The Maitreya statue inside, manufactured from the first offering of blessed clay, was 23 hand-spans and eight finger-widths in height, of excellent manufacture and packed with the four kinds of Śarīra and so on. To Maitreya’s right were (statues of) the Buddha Dīpaṃkara, the Dharmarāja Srong btsan sgam po and the ‘great’ fifth Dalai Lama. To his left were the Buddha Śākyamuni, Sitātapatrā and rJe Tsong kha pa. Above the door were statues of the three Buddhist (sPu rgyal) emperors an arrow’s length tall and blazing with blessings. The main figures in the wall paintings were Guhyasamāja, Cakrasaṃvara and Yamāntaka, flanked by Hevajra, Kālacakra and red Yama and Kurukullā. On the inner facing (east) wall was a complete set of the bKa’ ’gyur on shelves. Behind that were statues of (the protectors) Dharmarāj and Remati on either side, the railings in front of the statues, and a Stūpa on a stepped base in the middle. On the door lintel was a set of five lions. To the right of the eastern door, facing the main statue, was (a statue of) Hayagrīva, and to the left, Bhūrkuṃkūṭa. By the south door the main (statue) was Vajravidāraṇa, by the west door Mahottara-heruka, and by the north door Amṛtakundali. The walls in between were totally filled with the clay figures of rJe Tsong kha pa. Behind the main statue were mural paintings of the Three Longevity deities and the Three Bodhisattva-s. There were large (...) Stūpa-s for the subjugation of Māra on each of the inside walls and corners and, as specified in the instruction, there were images of Vajrapāṇi, mostly over a hand-span tall, in the domes, making 1200 in all. The outside walls were entirely decorated with mural paintings, starting to the right of the east door with depictions of various Buddha-s, Bodhisattva-s, deities and protectors, numerous paradises like Sukhāvati, Potala and Śambhala, and all manner of propitiatory symbols. In a further clarification, the gNas chung protector said: Hri! For the primary manifestation, images of the Three Roots, Dharmakāya and Saṃbhogakāya are the Five Buddha-s, Nirmāṇakāya is Guru Padmasambhava, statues of correct proportions. For the images of the third manifestation, the deities and protectors, the two powerful spirits and the two Kṣetrapāla-s, the twelve Mātṛkā-s, the eight categories and their thirty leaders, make their ‘vital Mantra wheels’ and ‘life-power stones’ well. The images of the fourth manifestation should be done the same. If made well, their power will be actualised. Accordingly, correctly proportioned statues of the Three Roots (Guru, Deva, Ḍākinī), the four guardian kings and so on, with a profusion of Mantra wheels 71 and ‘life power stones’, were made for each of the upper storey turret chapels. Since it was done thoroughly and the roof ornaments (Thug chog) were prepared by Gong dkar rdo rje gdan pa with sacred substances according to his own tradition, there were many wonderful signs of the powerful spirits gathering. The statues were painted and eyes gilded as vividly as the colours of the rainbow, and they were dressed with robes, collars and aprons of excellent cloth in accordance with their size. Pillar hangings, decorative flour bags (Phye phur) and so on were made from silk brocade with gold piping for all the pillars and beams on both floors, and red felt coverings for the pillars. In the central chapel was a large, fine butter lamp made of 103 Chinese silver coins, a pair of large butter lamps in red copper, two sets of seven large water bowls in bronze, silver and so on, and a large, fine Maṇḍala in bronze. There were eight stone butter lamps (Nor gzugs) in front of the rJe Tsong kha pa images on the surrounding walls, three round ones before the main statues, and 67 bronze water bowls altogether. In the dBu rtse rTsa gsum lha khang (on the upper floor) was a red copper butter lamp and a set of seven water bowls. Also in front of the four guardian kings were a pair of tables for offering vessels... With ’Jog po bla ma acting as Vajrācārya, assisted by 100 Vidhyādhara-s from the lower Tantric college, the consecration ceremony was performed in the dGe legs rgya mtsho’i char ’bebs style during three days. Meanwhile, many accomplished ones from all schools performed additional consecration services according to their respective traditions... His Holiness also came there repeatedly out of kind concern, cast grain in consecration and uttered impeccable words of dedication. 72 Appendix 2: ‘Meaningful to behold’, an inventory of the statue of Guru Padmasambhava ‘outshining conventional appearance’ recently installed in the main hall of the great temple in Lhasa by Khams sprul bSod nams don grub (from a collection of the author’s writings published privately in Lhasa in 2006, entitled Legs par bshad pa gtam gyi tshogs Utpal sngon po’i do shal shes ldan dgyes pa’i mgul rgyan p. 75–91) 1) (Life story of Guru Padmasambhava) 2) How rDzong sar mKhyen brtse Chos kyi blo gros initiated the construction of this image In the spring of the Earth Sheep year (1955) His Holiness the incomparable and omniscient 14th Dalai Lama bsTan ’dzin rgya mtsho conferred the initiations of Kharsapāṇi, Tārā and Ekajaṭī in the ‘sunlight chamber’ of the Potala palace with this noble Lama’s sponsorship. Afterwards, mKhyen brtse Chos kyi blo gros, bSod rgyal sprul sku and myself were granted a private audience wherein, after introductory discussion, mKhyen brtse rin po che requested that a statue of the Guru be erected in the main hall of the gTsug lag khang temple in lHa sa, in order to allay the threat of military conflict, epidemics, famine and so on in Tibet. It should exceed the present statue of Maitreya in height, in a form with eight arms holding swords and in standing pose. His Holiness agreed to do so immediately. This is the episode referred to in the ‘Garden of all wonders’ biography of mKhyen brtse Chos kyi blo gros by Dil mgo mKhyen brtse rin po che, where it says that in later life, he appointed the holder of the white lotus bsTan ’dzin rgya mtsho as a guardian of the Thugs rje chen po mi tra dgongs gter, the fundamental teaching of the longevity goddess, and by granting him the empowerment, His Holiness was released from obstacles to his own longevity, and a host of other auspicious conjunctions came about, promoting their faith and confidence in each other to its fullest extent. 73 Accordingly, the government committed the expenditure for a gilt-copper statue of the Guru, however, due to contrary opinion and other adverse factors, it was decided by degrees to change the form of the statue to ‘outshining conventional appearance’ (Gu ru snang srid zil gnon), and eventually, because some felt that it was improper to have the figure of a Māntrika presiding over an assembly of ordained monks, it was decided to make a statue of the (peaceful) form known as ‘Guru Padmasambhava’ in monastic robes, and the size was also reduced to less than one storey in height. It is said that the remaining expenditure was used to make statues of the three longevity deities in the printing house at Zhol (below the Potala palace). In the summer of the Fire Horse year (1966) during the life-extinguishing campaign called the ‘Great Cultural Revolution’, when cultural heritage suffered huge losses, this new statue of Guru Padmasambhava disappeared when all the contents of the great temple of lHa sa, except the Jo bo Śākyamuni and chapel of King Srong btsan, were destroyed. 3) How a scroll painting of the eight-armed sword-holding Guru was made according to the Mula-guru’s mind-treasure revelation Considering that there was no one else still living in Tibet who had received (transmission of) the sNying thig ya bzhi teachings, on both earlier and later (occasions), from our kind Mūlaguru, the embodiment of the supreme gnosis of ’Jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse’i dbang po, the glorious Chos kyi blo gros, whose very name is difficult to utter, and in particular no one who had witnessed his petition to His Holiness to make an image of the demon-subduing Guru according to his own Mind Treasure revelation, I felt that the responsibility for the pending task of making such an image was my own. Thus I had a scroll painting made according to the noble Lama’s Mind Treasure in consultation with the holder of the early translation tradition rDzog chen sprul sku ’Gyur med rnam rgyal, with donations from the faithful. The Mantra-s of body, speech and mind were set down on the reverse side, and beneath that, an inscription composed by Ka thog Mahāpaṇḍita Tshe rnam was written by A rgyud sprul sku Nges don bstan ’dzin, as follows: ‘Lord Saroruhavajra, might of all the Jina-s combined/ Manifest in the eight forms, the five skull-garlanded ones and so on/ Through the great magical dance of your apparition in the Dharmadhātu/ May you protect the three universal realms and establish them in virtue!/ By faithfully creating this image which 74 liberates on sight/ May the supreme guide accept us and/ May the Mahābhūmi of the teaching and accomplishment of Secret Mantrayāna/ Be filled with adepts!/ (signed) by the devoted A mdo ba Gyur med don grub’ – “Gyur med” being part of the name ’Gyur med rnam rgyal and “Don grub” being part of my own name. The scroll painting is presently in the main hall of the temple. Just like the invocation ‘May all the potential auspicious conjunctions in this world be spontaneously fulfilled!’, it is really amazing that the auspicious conjunction of the present statue of the Guru (‘outshining conventional appearance’) being accomplished by an A mdo ba was thus ordained. 4) How the present noble and supreme statue of the Guru ‘outshining conventional appearance’, the ornament of the world, was established in the main hall of lHa sa’s great temple This consists of four parts, the initiation of the work, the preparation of the contents, the consecration and enumeration of the contents. a) The principal sponsor was Lung rtogs rgyal mtshan, born in Wa shur gser thar in the province of A mdo and a monk at Rog khrom dgon in his youth (he also offered 300 prayer wheels in 1988, 7 out of every 10 for the processional corridor around the temple, and 3 each to bSam yas and sMin grol gling, Sa skya and Na lendra, mTshur phu, lHa rtse, Se ra, ’Bras spungs and dGa’ ldan, bKra shis lhun po and the Potala, as well as the Guru statue for the 1984 consecration ceremony), and the religious public in their hundreds and thousands made virtuous offerings, voluntarily and unsolicited, according to their means, from precious things like gold and silver, gZi, turquoise, pearl and coral down to the smallest denominations of cash. There were three sculptors led by sKal bzang stobs rgyal lags and his apprentice Tshe ring dbang ’dus. (Among the helpers and sponsors were Lung rtogs’ wife lHa mo rgyal and all their other family members, Thub bstan dge grags lags, Bag ’gro lags’ household, the old Shug gseb nun Ngag dbang rgyal mtshan lags, Tshul khrims ye shes lags of Tsha rong khang gsar, Pha Tshe ring rdo rje lags of Ri bo che, O rgyan lags from Dvags po, Tshe mtsho lags of Bar tshogs, Tshe ring sgrol ma lags of Klu sbug, A ni Padma sgrol dkar lags from Go ’jo, Hang khang rgyal from mTsho sngon, Phur bu rdo rje lags of Khroms gzigs sgang, Glang gdong Ye shes sgrol dkar lags, dPal sgron lags of Bar tshogs, sKyabs bde dPal ldan lags from A mdo, A ni sByin pa lags, the carpenter Tshul khrims lags and artist Byams pa dge legs lags, 75 all of whom were present, and there were about fifty others who helped out intermittently for shorter periods. The donors included dGe bshes Seng ge lags of Se ra byes, rDo rje rgyal mtshan lags of sBra nag zhol, rTa mgrin mtsho, A lce sPen pa of Tshe smon gling, sPar khang Em chi lags, rGan grags lags, Tshe dbang dpal sgron from Zam gdong, rGan Blo bzang ’jam dpal of rMe ru rnying pa, rGan Blo bzang, bSod nams chos ldan of sBra nag zhol, the ’Brong monastery in Nags shod, Tshe ring pad sgron, the silversmith Padma and so on, and as already noted, more than ten thousand people made donations of some kind. The gTsug lag khang temple official Byams pa mkhas grub lags, rGan Blo bzang bstan ’dzin lags, rGan bsTan pa sgron gsal lags, bDag gnyer rgan lHun grub lags and rGan Don grub lags, rGan Chos bzang lags and rGan Blo bzang rdo rje lags did their utmost to help out. In short, the work was accomplished through the cooperative efforts of many monastics and laypeople with straightforward dedication and genuine faith.) The medicinal substances mixed in with the clay included bDud rtsi chos sman and Maṇi ril bu pills blessed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Khri dar lung ma (blessed pills) of the Sa skya tradition, and so on. The construction of this statue, about one and a half storeys in height, upon which the faithful never tire of gazing, commenced on the 10th day of the 11th month of the Wood Rat year (or the first day of 1985). b) The ritual preparation (gZungs sgrub) of the statue’s contents was performed according to the sMin grol gling tradition starting on the 10th day of the 2nd month of the Wood Ox year (1985). There were more than 30 participants, including rDo rje brag Rig ’dzin chen mo, the Dar (rtse) mdo rGyal sras sKal bzang rnam rgyal, rDzogs chen sprul sku Padma rgyal mtshan and bDud ’joms rin po che’s daughter (Sras mo bDe chen) and son-in-law (Chos nyid rin po che). I too had the fortune to be present. The ritual went on for seven days in all, and rGan Zla ba, bDud ’joms rin po che’s daughter and son-in-law, rDzogs chen Padma rgyal mtshan and so on took care of the offerings. The written materials were presented to Dar mdo rgyal sras, who gave them full approval. The 14th being an astrologically favourable date, the consecrational pole was wrapped in prayers to the main deity (Guru Padma), His Holiness the Dalai Lama and so on, and erected in the main temple hall. The statue was well and truly completed, fitted with its robes and hat, by 4.40 pm on the 9th day of the auspicious 4th lunar month. 76 c) The recitations for the consecration ceremony began at 9 am on the 10th day of the month. The main participants in this occasion were the axis of the Mantrayāna Dharma, Dil mgo mKhyen brtse rin po che ’Gyur med theg mchog bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan rang byung mkhyen brtse’i ’od zer, rDo rje brag Rig ’dzin chen mo ’Jam dpal blo bzang, Zhe chen Rab ’byams sprul sku, Dar mdo rGyal sras sKal bzang rnam rgyal, rDzog chen sprul sku ’Jigs med rdo rje, Yar ’brog sTag lung sprul sku Padma dbang rgyal, Byang sTag lung rTse sprul, sDing po che’i sprul sku Ngag dbang bstan ’dzin, and Ka thog mkhan Tshe rnam. dGe bshes Seng ge of Se ra byes and mKhan po lHun grub thabs mkhas were also invited, and with ’Phags pa lha’s tutor Thub bstan dam pa, dBu mdzad Zla ba and so on leading a congregation of more than 100, separate assemblies in the courtyard and on the first floor of the temple recited the consecration prayers, and performed Gaṇacakra-s and offerings equal to those amassed by the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra. The present writer, in his ignorant devotion, also had the fortune to attend, through the force of previous Karma. Then, from 8–11pm the same evening, 36 of the gTsug lag khang monks performed consecration. The fact that this consecration ceremony coincided exactly with Dil mgo mKhyen brtse rin po che’s visit to lHa sa by auspicious conjunction and without having been arranged very much vindicated the saying in the transmitted teachings of the Jina-s that all phenomena are the product of dependent arising. d) In enumeration of the contents of this excellent statue: 1. Inside the head, bean-sized Śarīra relics of Buddha Kāśyapa procured from Phur bu lcog Byams mgon’s collection 2. A thumb-sized bronze figure of Amitābha 3. A gilt-bronze Vajradhara one hand-span in size 4 In the throat, a thumb-sized bronze figure of Lokeśvara-kharsapāṇi 5. A thumb-sized copper four-armed Lokeśvara 6. A right-spiral conch shell four finger-widths long 7. In the chest, a genuine “sKu tshab gter lnga” representative statue of Guru Padma which sMin grol gling gCung rin po che gave Lung rtogs rgyal mtshan shortly before his death, saying that it would be of great benefit later on 8. Four kinds of Śarīra offered by bDud ’joms rin po che ’Jigs bral ye shes rdo rje, blessed pills of body, speech and mind generating, splendour, melody and bliss, five medicines as the support of the body, five fragrances as the 77 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. support of speech, five essences as the support of mind, five precious things as the support of qualities and five grains as the support of activity. Also, some of the small figures of the Guru made during the ritual preparation of the clay, blessed pills and so on. A blessed Guru-mahāsukha figure 5 finger-widths tall brought from Nepal by Dil mgo mKhyen brtse and 10 blessed Guru figures with printing-mould defects 2 finger-widths tall from Khams sprul rin po che and another Lama A genuine representative image of the Guru offered by the gTsug lag khang A blessed clay statue of the Guru more than 4 finger-widths tall offered by bDud ’joms rin po che’s daughter Sras mo bDe chen A thumb-sized figure of Saroruhavajra in Chinese silver A bronze lotus stem with a figure of Guru Padmasambhava in the centre, Amitābha and Avalokiteśvara above and the union of Hayagrīva and Vajravārāhī below, a blessed treasure thought to have belonged to the ’Brug gSang sngags chos gling monastery A thumb-sized copper-alloy figure of Buddha Śākyamuni A thumb-sized Saroruhavajra A 4 finger-width bronze Maitreya Two 3 finger-width copper-alloy Buddha-s with new fillings A clay Guru statue one hand-span tall A 3 finger-width copper-alloy Saroruhavajra A bronze Śākyamuni in Vajrāsana style 5 finger-widths tall One of the 25 representative images of the Guru A bronze statue of the Arhat Vanavāsin one hand-span tall holding a flywhisk in its fingers A bronze Bharadvāja one hand-span tall holding a bound volume A representative image of the Guru from the west apartment in the Potala palace, which had belonged to the 13th Ta la’i bla ma More than 20 commemorative clay tablets of the Guru from Khams sprul Don brgyud nyi ma A white sandalwood statue of the Guru interred in the previous (rGya gar ma) statue in this hall A gilt-bronze statue of the 5th Dalai Lama 4 finger-widths tall Three bronze bKa’ gdams Stūpa-s one hand-span tall A re-filled copper Vijāya Stūpa one hand-span tall A Kīla made of meteoric rock more than one hand-span in length 78 31. A thumb-sized bronze Vajra with 5 prongs 32. A wrathful Kīla one hand-span long 33. A Kīla offered by the Ta la’i bla ma, a painting (Tsakli) of Vajrakīlaya, six clay tablets collected at various times, sand from a Kālacakra-maṇḍala, a thick pile red cotton cloth with the Dhāraṇī-s of Prajñāpāramitā written in Tibetan and Lantsa script, on which we were instructed to write ‘Siddhi’, above and below the text 34. 2,000,000,000 printed images of the Guru 35. 1,000+ printed images of the Guru and Odiyana-ḍākinī wealth deity 36. 1,000+ printed images of the eight classes of gods and spirits 37. 1,000+ printed images of the fierce Kṣetrapāla of Odiyana with retinue 38. 1,000+ printed images of the demon-destroying Yakṣa Aparcita 39. 1,000+ printed images of Vajrakīlaya 40. 1,000+ printed images of the 3 longevity deities 41. Genuine bone relic of Guru Chos dbang 42. Genuine brain relic of Klong chen pa 43. Genuine flesh relic of U rgyan gling pa 44. Genuine hair of mKhyen brtse’i dbang po 45. Mar pa lo tsa ba’s meditation belt, from the sMin grol gling collection 46. Death shroud of Thang stong rgyal po, from bDud ’joms rin po che 47. bDud rtsi chos sman pills blessed and preserved by the 5th Ta la’i bla ma 48. 10,000,000+ Vajra Guru Mantra-s, according to the bKa’ rgya ma tradition of sMin grol gling. Also (among the written contents), 500 sets of bKa’ rgya ma, 50 sets each of bKa’ thang sde lnga and bKa’ thang shel brag ma, 100 or so Dri med bshags rgyud, 30+ gSang rnying spyi don, 500+ of bSam pa lhun grub and Bar chad lam sel, and a large number of Gangs ri ma and ’Gro ’dul ’phags mchog long-life prayers. On the instructions of His Holiness, (there were also) 100,000 Dhāraṇī-s of Prajñāpāramitā, 50 Chos dbyings mdzod and 30 Le’u bdun ma prayers. Inside the hat, a Paṇḍita hat worn by His Holiness the Ta la’i bla ma, a piece of white silk bearing his handprints, and a Śarīra relic of the Buddha Kāśyapa offered by Dil mgo mKhyen brtse rin po che. Inside the Khatanga (trident) are Dhāraṇī-s of the Trikāya. Inside the Amṛtakalaśa (vase) are Dhāraṇī-s of longevity and the Odiyana-ḍākinī wealth deity. Inside the throne are 5 wealth vases of the Odiyana-ḍākinī, 1,000+ printed images of the Yakṣa Aparcita, 3 wealth vases 79 of the Bhūdeva, 5 Nāga vases and so on, as specified, empowered in a 3 day ritual (according to the mKha’ ‘gro thugs thig of the bDud ’joms tradition). The separate list of the ingredients of the consecrational pole and the other written contents as follows: In the head, sections 1–4 of the Dhāraṇī-s, and in the throat, 1000 voice-enhancing Mantra-s (dByangs gsal), pills made with the relics of 100 seven times born Brahmins, consecrated pills, the name Mantra-s of rDo rje gro lod, chiefly the ‘Vajra Guru’, and 100 or so printed images of rDo rje gro lod were carefully packed around the consecrational pole. 3000 were offered from section 11 (offering) and 2000 from section 12 (Dharmapāla-s). In the lotus throne, 100 (Dhāraṇī-s) of the eight wealth deities, 100 copies of Dag pa gser mdo, 100 bKra shis brtsegs pa, Sangs rgyas mtshan ’bum, 5 gSer ’od bam bcu, 11 brGyad stong, 5 statues of (dPal) lHa mo, a great many of the Mantra-s of the ‘red and black duo’ protectors, 11 gZungs ’dus, 8 volumes of ’Jigs med gling pa’s writings, 20 Thar mdo, 100 bZang spyod prayers, 100 Zangs mdog dpal ri prayers, 200 each of the specific supplications by bDud ’joms rin po che, 200 prayers for the spread of the rNying ma teachings, 100 Rab bzang prayers, 100 sPyod ’jug prayers, 100 lTung bshags, 100 bDen tshigs grub pa prayers, and so on, as specified. 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Lawrence Waddell, Lhasa and its mysteries (1905), Cosmo publications (reprint) Delhi 1996. 85 bSam yas 21, 25, 27-31, 35, 40-41, 43, 46, 58, 67, 75 bShes gnyen chen po A skya Blo bzang mgon po 68 bsTan ’dzin rgya mtsho 73, 81 bsTan rgyas gling 17, 30-31, 48 Byams pa bstan ’dzin 68 Byams pa chos rgyan 68 Byang rigs gsum lha khang 13, 44 Byang sTag lung rTse sprul 77 Index A Acala 49 A lags dmag sar 68 A lags Mag gsar 16-17, 47 Alexander, Andre 28, 85 A mdo Reb kong 17, 68 Amṛtakundali 19, 49, 69, 71 A skya Blo bzang mgon po 68-69 Azevedo, Pimpim de 4, 18 C Cakrasaṃvara 19, 40, 71 Chab mdo 28, 40-41, 56-57 Cha har Hutuktu 28 Chao 55 Chemo Penpa Dorje 7 Chos ’khor yang rtse monastery 63 Chos nyid rin po che 76 Chu shul rdzong 63 B Ban tshang temple 31 Bar ’khor 19, 70 Bar zhi byams pa 59 bDud bcom yid gnyis kun ’joms lha khang 51 bDud ’joms rin po che ’Jigs bral ye shes rdo rje 77 Bell, Charles 24, 57, 85 Bhūrkuṃkūṭa 19, 69, 71 bKa’ ’gyur 13, 19, 49, 71 bKa’ shag 27, 62 bkra shis 10-11, 30, 32, 44, 46, 56, 75, 80-81 Bla phyag mkhan chung gYu thog pa ’Jam dbyangs bstan ’dzin 68 Blo bzang mkhas mchog 68 Blo bzang skal ldan 68 Blo bzang thub bstan ’jigs med 31 Brag gsum mtsho 41 Brag g.yab 57 ’Bras spungs 17, 24, 30, 47, 58, 75 ’Bri gung Ka tshal bla ma 69 D Dalai Lama, 13th 7, 42, 67 Dam sri 24-26, 41, 43, 46, 51, 55-57, 68-69 Dar mdo rGyal sras sKal bzang rnam rgyal 77 Dar (rtse) mdo rGyal sras sKal bzang rnam rgyal 76 Das, Sarat Chandra 10, 46, 85 dBu mdzad Zla ba 77 dBu rtse rTsa gsum 21, 72 De mo bsTan 'dzin rgya mtsho 34 De mo Phrin las rab rgyas 11, 15, 30 Demo regency 7 De mo rin po che 17, 30, 32, 49 dGa’ ’bras 23 86 dGa’ ldan 9, 17, 23, 25, 27-30, 37, 44-45, 48-49, 54, 57, 62, 65, 75, 81, 83 dGa’ ldan dpal brtsegs rnam rgyal gzi ’bar 49 dGa’ ldan pho brang 9, 23, 25, 27-29, 37, 45, 54, 57, 65 dGe 21, 27, 30-33, 36-37, 39, 41, 46, 55, 57, 62-64, 72, 75-77, 81-82 dGe bshes Ngag dbang skal bzang 55 dGe bshes Seng ge of Se ra byes 77 dGe lugs pa 21, 27, 30-31, 41, 64 dGra lha ’Od ldan dkar po 69 dgu bsam mdzod gling 29 Dharmadhātu-maṇḍala 19, 70 Dharmarāj 19, 71 Dil mgo mkhyen brtse rin po che 64-65, 73, 77, 79, 82 Dil mgo mKhyen brtse rin po che ’Gyur med theg mchog bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan rang byung mkhyen brtse’i ’od zer 77 Dīpaṃkara 19, 71 dKon mchog bstan ’dzin 68 dMag bzlog 7, 16, 27, 47, 58 ’dod 29, 51 Dol rgyal 26, 54-56, 58, 82 dPal ldan lha mo 25 Drang srong bden tshig 70 ’dul rdo rje 17 Dung dkar 10, 24, 55, 63, 82 Dvags po 22, 31, 75 Dzungar invasion 27 G ’Gegs skrod 57 Gling rin po che 43-44, 48 gNas chung 5, 15, 17, 22-23, 25-26, 28-29, 31-33, 35-36, 39, 41, 43-45, 48, 50, 55, 5758, 62, 65, 68-69, 71, 81, 83-84 gNas chung oracle 15, 17, 22-23, 25, 29, 31-33, 41, 45, 50, 68 gNod sbyin 24, 26-27 golden urn 25 ’Go log 50, 53, 58 ’Gong 24-25, 46 Gong dkar rdo rje gdan pa 72 Gorkha 29 Grags ldan gling pa 41 Grva phyi Phun rab pa Tshe ring dpal 23 Grva sri 17 gSang 13, 28-30, 39-40, 44-45, 67, 78-79, 81, 84 gSer gyi drva ba rin chen gdugs ’phags lha khang 49 gTer chen ’Gyur med rdo rje 37 gTer ston bSod nams rgyal po 35, 37, 67 gTer ston bSod rgyal 5, 32-33, 36-39, 41, 43-45, 49-50, 53, 55-56, 58-59, 64-65 gTer ston gSang sngags gling pa 29, 39 gTer ston ’Ja’ tshon snying po 43 gTer ston Padma gling pa Hutuktu 35, 67 gTer ston Rang rig 33, 37, 48 gTer ston Rang rig rdo rje 33, 37 gTor zor 27 Guhyasamāja 19, 71 E Ekajaṭī 73 H Hayagrīva 19, 49, 69, 71, 78 Hevajra 19, 49, 71 87 ldan 9-10, 17, 23, 25-30, 37, 41, 44-46, 48-49, 54-58, 62-65, 68-69, 73, 75-76, 81, 83-84 legs rgya mtsho’i char ’bebs style 72 Lerab Lingpa 7 lHa ’brum dkar po 25 lHa lung pa Shakya yar ’phel 23 lHang brag peak 49 lHa sa gtsug lag khang 13, 33, 59, 66-67 lHo kha 23 lHo rong 57 lHo sTag lung 65 lhun po 75 Li thang 57 Lokeśvara 37, 77 Lung rtogs rgyal mtshan 65, 75, 77 Lung thur ridge 31 J ’Jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse 36-37, 39, 45-46, 74 ’Jam dpal bde legs rgya mtsho 31 ’Jam dpal gshin rje’i gshed 27 ’Jam mgon kong sprul 36-37, 39, 42, 44 Jarikpa Lobsang Namgyal 7 Jetsun Ngawang Gyeltsen 7 ’Jigs med dam chos rgya mtsho 56-57, 84 Jo bo 32-33, 39, 47, 74 ’Jog po bla ma rNam grol 69 ’Jog po sprul sku 69 Jo mo kha rag 43 K Kālacakra 17, 19, 63, 71 Kālacakra prophecy 17 Kālacakra-tantra 15, 67 Ka thog mkhan Tshe rnam 77 Kawaguchi, Ekai 8, 85 Khams kyi Sha ba thang 43 Khams sprul bSod nams don grub 58, 61, 73, 81 Kharsapāṇi 73 Khra ’brug 43, 58 Khri srong lde’u btsan 35, 37, 41 klu khang 20-21 Kong po 30, 34, 41, 52 Kṣetrapāla’i gtor rgyag 27 Kurukullā 19, 63, 71 M Ma gcig lab sgron 13, 67 Mag gsar 16-17, 32-33, 47 Mag gsar rin po che 32-33 Mahābodhi Stūpa 15, 67 Mahottara-heruka 19, 69, 71 Maitreya 19, 59, 63, 69, 71, 73, 78 Manchu 10-11, 17, 23-24, 33, 55, 70 Manchu hegemony 17 Maṇicūḍa 49 Māra 13, 19, 67, 69, 71 mChog gyur gling pa 37, 58 mDo mkhyen brtse Ye shes rdo rje 31 mGron gnyer Blo bzang bkra shis 11 mKhan drung Chang khyim pa mKhyen rab byang chub 68 mKhan po lHun grub thabs mkhas 77 mKhan po tshang 11 L las rab gling pa 37, 83 lCags la invasion 25 lCam gang 19, 70 lcog 12, 19, 24, 26, 44, 62, 70, 77, 82-83 88 mKhar chen dPal gyi dbang phyug 39 mKhas grub ngag dbang blo bzang ’jigs med bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan 41 mKhyen brtse Chos kyi blo gros 57, 60, 73 mKhyen brtse’i dbang po 37, 39, 42, 44-46, 74, 79, 81 Mongolia 41 Pha bong kha rin po che 54, 57 Phrin las rab rgyas 11, 15, 30-31, 49 ’Phrul snang gi gtsug lag khang 13 phun tshogs 29, 46, 48, 58, 68, 82-83 Phun tshogs ’od ’bar gling 29 Phur bu lcog Byams mgon 77 ’Phyong rgyas dPal ri sprul sku 31 Pistono , Matteo 7, 61 po ar gtad ritual 25 po che 10, 12, 17, 24, 26-30, 32-33, 36, 40, 43-44, 46, 48-49, 51, 54, 56-59, 61-65, 73, 76-80, 82-84 Potala 10, 13, 15, 19, 21, 39, 44, 48, 57, 59, 63, 67, 71, 73-75, 78, 82 Pradākṣiṇā precincts 43 N mTshams pa Kun bzang rgya mtsho 69 Nangtsé Tértön Shikpo Lingpa 7 Nebesky-Wojkowitz, R. de 30 Ngag dbang blo bzang rgya mtsho 45 Ngag dbang dpal ldan chos kyi rgyal mtshan 25, 83 Ngo mtshar bdud rtsi gling 29 Nor bu tshe ring 49 Nyag bla Padma bdud ’dul 36-37 Nyag rong 5, 23, 25, 28, 31, 33, 35-37, 40-41, 43, 49 Nyag rong Sha yul sprul sku 31 Nyag rong spyi khyab 23, 36 R Ra mo che 9, 11, 13, 47 Ra sa 46-47, 58, 81 rDo rje brag Rig ’dzin chen mo 76-77 rDo rje brag Rig ’dzin chen mo ’Jam dpal blo bzang, 77 rDo rje grags ldan 17, 23, 26, 55 rDzog chen sprul sku ’Gyur med rnam rgyal 74 rDzog chen sprul sku ’Jigs med rdo rje 77 rDzogs chen sprul sku 33, 61, 76 rDzogs chen sprul sku Padma rgyal mtshan 76 rDzong rgyab klu khang 21 rDzong sar mkhyen brtse Chos kyi blo gros 57, 60, 73 rDzong shod 39 red Yama 19, 71 Remati 19, 71 rGya gar ma 62-63, 65, 78 O Okuma, Ken 20 O rgyan gling pa 31 P Padma bdud ’dul 36-37, 49 Padma gling pa 35, 40-41, 67 Padmasambhava 25, 35, 40, 63, 67, 71, 73-74, 78 Paṇ chen dPal ldan ye shes 10 par khang 12, 22, 26, 54, 63 Parr, Thomas 42 Pe har 29, 51 89 rGyal chen shugs ldan 55, 57 rgyal mtshan 24-25, 30, 41, 64-65, 68, 7577, 81-83 rGyal sras lha rje 31 rGyud smad college 13 Richardson, Hugh 12 Rig ’dzin bdud 17 Rigs gsum mgon po 45 rJe ’bangs nyer lnga 37 rMe ru rnying pa gtsug lag khang 25 Rog khrom dgon 75 rTa tshag 24-25, 27-32, 83-84 rTa tshag rin 27-30 rTse drung 68 rTse drung Byams pa thub dbang 68 Ru dam gangs 33 Sha yul sprul sku 31, 48-49 Sil ma thang 42-43 Sitātapatrā 19, 68, 71 sKal bzang dgon pa 49 sKu bcar mkhan chen ’Jam dbyangs sbyin pa 68 sKu gsum gling pa 37, 82 sKu tshab mthong grol yid bzhin nor bu 33, 44, 83 sKyabs rje Dharma seng ge 33 sKyabs rje mchog 24, 26-27 sMan rtsis khang 33, 82 sMin grol gling 36-37, 75-77, 79 Smith, E. Gene 7 sNa nam rDo rje bdud ’joms 37 snang srid zil gnon 22-23, 50, 58, 62, 64-66, 74, 81 sngags gling pa 28-29, 39, 45 sNying thig ya bzhi 74 sprul 16, 24, 26, 28, 30-33, 36-37, 39, 42, 44, 46, 48-50, 58, 61, 64, 68-69, 73-74, 76-78, 81, 83-84 sPrul sku Blo bzang ye shes bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan 24, 83 sprul sku Padma dbang rgyal 77 sPu rgyal 19, 71 Sras mo bDe chen 76, 78 Srong btsan sgam po 19, 71 Stoddard, Heather 16, 85 Sukhāvati 19, 71 S Śākyamuni 19, 39, 71, 74, 78 Śambhala 19, 71 Saṃvara 49 Sangs rgyas gling pa 47 Śāntarakṣita 30, 35, 67 Śarīra 15, 19, 67, 69-71, 77, 79 Śarīra relics 15, 67, 69, 77 sDe dge 33, 36-37, 39, 46, 57, 62 sDe srid bShad sgra 23 sDing po che’i sprul sku Ngag dbang bstan ’dzin 77 Seng gdong ma 43 Se ra 17, 30, 58, 75-77 Serindia 7, 20, 85 Shakya yar ’phel 5, 22-25, 28-29, 35, 48, 84 Shar chos rdo rje ’chang bsTan pa skal bzang 68 Sha thang 43, 49-50 T Tārā 26, 73 three great seats 17, 62 Thub bstan dam pa 77 Thub bstan rgya mtsho 33 90 Thugs rje chen po mi tra dgongs gter 59, 73 Tibet Heritage Fund 7 Tse’u dmar 27, 30-31 Tshangs dbyangs rgya mtsho 21 Tsong kha pa 9, 11, 15, 19, 49, 55-57, 67, 69, 71-72 Tulku Pema Wangyal 7 twelve Mātṛkā-s 71 Zil gnon gling 29 Zi ling 53 Zor ’phen 27 U Upādhyāya 35 V Vajrapāṇi 19, 49, 71 Vajravidāraṇa 19, 69, 71 W Waddell, Austin 14-15, 85 Wang ’Gyur med rnam rgyal 11 Wa shur gser thar 75 Y Yamāntaka 19, 71 Yang dag rab gnas mngon ’phags byang sems lha khang 49 Yar ’brog sTag lung 77 Yon tan nor bu 45 Z Zabtrul Pema Gyatso 7 Zhabs dkar sNa tshogs rang grol 31 Zhabs dkar sprul sku 16, 68 Zhal yas khang 11 Zhe chen Rab ’byams sprul sku 77 Zhi khro lha khang 11, 44, 54 91