The Great Gate

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PADMASAMBHAVA Dakini Teachings Advice from the Lotus-Born Treasures from Juniper Ridge

PADMASAMBHAVA AND JAMGÖN KONGTRÜ The Light of Wisdom, Vol. 1 The Light of Wisdom, Vol. 2

YESHE TSOGYAL The Lotus-Born

GAMPOPA The Precious Garland of the Sublime Path

DAKPO TASHI NAMGYAL Clarifying the Natural State

TSELE NATSOK RANGDRÖL The Heart of the Matter Mirror of Mindfulness Empowerment Lamp of Mahamudra

CHOKGYUR LINGPA Ocean of Amrita The Great Gate

JAMGÖN MIPHAM RINPOCHE Gateway to Knowledge, Vol. 1 Gateway to Knowledge, Vol. 2 Gateway to Knowledge, Vol. 3

TULKU URGYEN RINPOCHE Blazing Splendor Rainbow Painting As It Is, Vol. 1 As It Is, Vol. 2 Vajra Speech Repeating the Words of the Buddha

TRULSHIK ADEU RINPOCHE & TULKU URGYEN RINPOCHE Skillful Grace

KHENCHEN THRANGU RINPOCHE Crystal Clear Songs of Naropa King of Samadhi Buddha Nature

CHÖKYI NYIMA RINPOCHE Present Fresh Wakefulness Indisputable Truth Union of Mahamudra & Dzogchen Bardo Guidebook Song of Karmapa

TSIKEY CHOKLING RINPOCHE Lotus Ocean

TULKU THONDUP Enlightened Living

ORGYEN TOBGYAL RINPOCHE Life & Teachings of Chokgyur Lingpa

TSOKNYI RINPOCHE Fearless Simplicity Carefree Dignity

DZOGCHEN TRILOGY COMPILED BY MARCIA BINDER SCHMIDT Dzogchen Primer Dzogchen Essentials Quintessential Dzogchen

ERIK PEMA KUNSANG Wellsprings of the Great Perfection A Tibetan Buddhist Companion The Rangjung Yeshe Tibetan-English Dictionary of Buddhist Culture

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eISBN: 978-962-7341-76-5

AUTHORS: CHOKLING DEWEY DORJE, DUDJOM RINPOCHE,

TULKU URGYEN RINPOCHE.

TITLE: THE GREAT GATE: A GUIDEBOOK TO THE GURU’S HEART

PRACTICE: TRANSLATED FROM THE TIBETAN BY ERIK PEMA

KUNSANG (ERIK HEIN SCHMIDT).

1. VAJRAYANA LITURGY (RITE)—BUDDHISM. 2. BUDDHISM— CHINA—TIBET. I. TITLE.

COVER PHOTO GRAHAM SUNSTEIN

v3.1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cover

Rangjung Yeshe Books

Title Page

Copyright

Translator’s Preface

Erik Pema Kunsang

Four Mind-Changings

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche

Teachings on the Preliminaries

Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche

The Great Gate

Chokling Dewey Dorje

The Mind Ornament of Padma

Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche

Notes

PREFACE

The four texts presented in this book are pertinent to every Vajrayana practitioner. Especially, they form a selection of liturgies and explanations connected with a cycle of teachings revealed in the last century by the great tertön Chokgyur Lingpa (1829–70).¹ These teachings, which fill more than ten volumes of books, are known as Barchey Künsel (The Dispeller of All Obstacles). The texts in The Great Gate form a basis for the preliminary practices a practitioner can undertake when feeling especially devoted to Guru Rinpoche, the Lotus-Born Master.

THE BARCHEY KÜNSEL TEACHINGS

The 1st Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820–92) described the Barchey Künsel cycle of teachings as follows:

This present teaching belongs to the short lineage of terma. A countless number of different terma traditions, both the Early and the Later, have appeared, but I will now describe the present one.

Manjushri in person, King Trisong Deutsen, had three sons. The middle prince was Murub Tseypo Yeshe Rölpa Tsal, a master on the tenth bhumi.² His reincarnation, authenticated by the triple means of valid knowledge and extolled by all sublime beings, was the indisputably great treasure revealer and king of the Dharma, Orgyen Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa, who discovered an ocean like number of profound termas. These termas were linked with the tantric scriptures, established by the logic of fact, adorned with the experience of oral instructions, and endowed with the warmth of wondrous blessings.

Chokgyur Lingpa revealed this terma of Barchey Künsel from beneath the vajra feet of the Great Glorious One³ at Danyin Khala Rong-go, the sacred place of the qualities of enlightened body. This was on the tenth day of the waxing moon of the ninth month in the Year of the Male Earth Monkey, when he was twenty years of age.

Keeping it secret for eight years, he applied it in his own practice. Later on, in connection with a perfect coincidence of time and place, he was accepted by the wisdom body of the glorious Dharma king of Uddiyana and consort, who bestowed upon him the empowerments and oral instructions, as well as special predictions and confirmations. From that time forward, Chokgyur Lingpa gradually let the terma of Lamey Tukdrub Barchey Künsel flourish.

This terma cycle is the essence of the heart of Padmakara, the knower of the three times, and is the most unique treasure concealed under the earth in Tibet. It is like the great treasury of the universal monarch, completely and unmistakenly filled with all the means for accomplishing the supreme and common siddhis.

In terms of the sections of tantra, this profound path is based on the great king of tantras, the Peaceful and Wrathful Manifestations of the Magical Net of the Vidyadhara Gurus,⁴ which is the root of blessings belonging to the category of the Eight Sections of the Magical Net.⁵ Due to the certainty of oral instructions, there is no conflict in the fact that it also belongs to the category of Lotus Speech among the eight teachings of sadhana sections.⁶

In short, it is like the extracted essence of the meaning of all development and completion stages, as well as the activity applications of the tantra and sadhana sections.

In his book, The Life and Teachings of Chokgyur Lingpa, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche narrates:

Chokgyur Lingpa showed Jamyang Khyentse the yellow parchment scroll of Tukdrub Barchey Künsel, Sheldam Nyingjang and his other terma teachings. Concerning these, Khyentse said, "I too have a terma teaching called Tukdrub Deshek Düpa with the same meaning as yours; even the words are identical. We should therefore make them into one. Mine is a mind treasure and yours an earth treasure, which is more auspicious." Thus, Jamyang Khyentse’s terma was combined with Chokling’s, and Tukdrub Barchey Künsel was a treasure common to them both.

Jamyang Khyentse then told Chokling to commit to writing all the termas not yet written down. Khyentse became the secretary, transcribing a great part of Chokling’s terma teachings. This is why Jamyang Khyentse has written so many of Chokgyur Lingpa’s termas.

They once performed a terma practice together and both had the vision of meeting Guru Rinpoche and Yeshe Tsogyal in person. Jamyang Khyentse and Chokgyur Lingpa had not the slightest doubt about each other. Khyentse Rinpoche received all the empowerments and reading transmissions of Chokling’s terma teachings, and he considered Chokling no different from Guru Rinpoche. Both became renowned as tertöns beyond any dispute, like the sun and moon.

The entire cycle of the Barchey Künsel termas take up the first ten volumes of the Collected Treasures of Chokgyur Lingpa (Chokling Tersar). These volumes contain a treasury of teachings, sadhanas, and supplementary rituals that are sufficient for attaining complete enlightenment.

The first volume of Chokling Tersar contains the root tantra Sheldam Nyingjang. The first chapter of this tantra is the historical narration telling how Guru Rinpoche transmitted the Barchey Künsel teachings to his close disciples at Samye 1,100 years ago. The 2nd Chokling’s commentary on the preliminaries (in this book) includes a translation of this chapter.

The next volume of Chokling Tersar contains sadhanas and teachings connected to dharmakaya Amitayus on life-extension, and sambhogakaya Lokeshvara on various means of benefiting beings. The third volume contains the three versions of the guru sadhana connected to nirmanakaya Padmakara, the fire-puja rituals of the four classes of dakas and dakinis, liberation through hearing and reading,⁷ and commentaries by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Jamgön Kongtrül (1813–99), and Chokgyur Lingpa.

The rest of the Chokling Tersar volumes cover the specific teachings connected to each of the twelve manifestations of Guru Rinpoche, as well as the sadhanas for the four divinities who dispel obstacles—Tara, Achala, Dorje Bechön, and Mewa Tsekpa.

Guru Rinpoche practiced twelve different yidams. Having accomplished them, he manifested in twelve different forms. Included among the oral instructions particular for each of these twelve manifestations are teachings on fulfilling the four activities, the general stages of development and completion, chö, the six doctrines, and Dzogchen.

The preliminary practices explained in The Great Gate were arranged by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo in order to prepare the practitioner for entering the higher stages of Vajrayana practice. For beginners, Guru Rinpoche also kindly taught a sadhana that condenses the entire Barchey Künsel into one single short practice—The Concise Manual for Daily Practice—which combines the gurus of the three kayas and the twelve manifestations in one mandala.

LINEAGE

The Barchey Künsel teachings were propagated by Chokgyur Lingpa himself and the chief recipients of his termas: Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo; the 14th Karmapa, Tekchok Dorje (1798–1868); Situ Padma Nyinche (1774–1853); Situ Padma Kunsang; Jamgön Kongtrül; Jedrung Rinpoche; Dabzang Rinpoche; Pawo Rinpoche; Palyul Gyatrül; Chokgyur Lingpa’s two sons, Wangchuk Dorje and Tsewang Norbu; Karmey Khenpo; Pema Chogyal of Menyag, as well as many others. Among the second generation of lineage holders were the root gurus of most of the present great masters of the Kagyu, Sakya, and Nyingma schools, including the 16th Karmapa, Dudjom Rinpoche, Tulku Samten Gyatso, and Dzongsar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro.

When the 1st Jamgön Kongtrül compiled the Rinchen Terdzö—his outstanding work known as the Treasury of Precious Terma Teachings—he included the major part of the Barchey Künsel termas. Since the preliminary practices in The Great Gate are included within the Rinchen Terdzö, every master who has received that transmission is therefore automatically a holder of its lineage. In recent years the entire teachings of the terma known as Barchey Künsel have been transmitted by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche to more than sixty living tulkus and lamas.

The empowerment for the chief guru sadhana of Barchey Künsel⁸ was among the primary transmissions given by the 16th Karmapa, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, and Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche on their first visits to the Western world and to Southeast Asia. Moreover, the 16th Karmapa practiced the concise form⁹ of this sadhana daily throughout his life. It is also one of the first sadhanas that Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche would transmit to his students for their individual practice.

In The Great Gate, the preliminaries entitled The Seed of Supreme Enlightenment are emphasized. Initially written by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, they were later expanded by Tsewang Norbu (the son of Chokgyur Lingpa) and by Karmey Khenpo Rinchen Dargye. The commentary by Chokgyur Lingpa’s reincarnation explains how to put these preliminaries into practice. Recently, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche condensed them into an even shorter version.¹⁰

In addition, there is an explanation, composed by Dudjom Rinpoche, of the outer, inner, and secret meaning of the supplication to Guru Rinpoche known as Düsum Sangye. The supplication itself is a terma and is included in the liturgy for the preliminaries under the guru yoga section. Also included in this book are