Chagdud Tulku - Lord of the Dance: The Autobiography of a Tibetan Lama

HIS EMINENCE CHAGDUD TULKU RINPOCHE

Published by Padma Publishing

P.O. Box 279

Junction City, CA 96048-0279

www.tibetantreasures.com

Padma Publishing 1992

Revised Edition 2014

eBook 2015

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Chagdud Tulku, 19302002

Lord of the dance : the autobiography of a Tibetan lama

1. Chagdud Tulku, Rinpoche, 19302002 2. LamasChinaTibetBiography. 3. LamasUnited StatesBiography. I. Title.

BQ946.A345A3 1992 294.3923092dc20 [B] CIP 92-23341

ISBN 978-1-881847-25-0 Paperback

ISBN 978-1-881847-46-5 eBook

I have no wings, but still I fly in the sky;

I have no magical power, yet like magic

I journey throughout realms of illusory display,

here and there, in nine directions,

exploring the connections of my karma.

Written in Mrren, Switzerland by Gargyi Wangkhyug (Chagdud Tulku),

whose given name means Powerful Lord of the Dance

Contents

Tromthar The threshold of death Journey to unseen realms Drilo Revelation of a treasure My father My conception

Childhood battles A delegation from Chagdud Gonpa A fiery argument The move to Tenphel Gonpa A nun from Lhasa My tutor Visions Manjushri practice False accusations The terrifying Lama Wanga

The vision of Phadampa Sangye Chod, phowa and an unusual transmission of Hayagriva A target missed The birth of my sister

An inauspicious beginning to my three-year retreat Daily schedule My mothers death My first major decision A terrible death Dreams and visions A test of inner heat Pride and its downfall First encounters with the great Jamyang Khyentse Chhkyi Lodr and Dilgo Khyentse Debate

History of Chagdud Gonpa and its former tulkus Procession to the monastery My divination A shower of burning coals Resumption of formal training Sechhen Kongtruls blessing and a wrong turn in meditation Difficult vows Retreat with my stepfather

Theft of my most precious dharma items Robes abandoned and exit from Tenphel Gonpa Gunfights in Tromthar My second three-year retreat A visit from Tromge Trungpa Trungpas death The Chinese A request

Pilgrimage with the monks of Chagdud Gonpa Ekadzatis prophecy A massacre The tightening Chinese vise Chamdo Monks or highway rogues? A vivid vision and mysterious warning A thwarted trip to Padma Kod More roguery A momentous meeting with an ancient nun Mindroling Monastery An unhappy parting from my monks

Journey from Mindroling to Samye Meeting with His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche Mind nourished, body famished Lhasa My root lama Khanpo Dorje Forebodings about the Chinese Resettlement in the Kongpo region Two drubchen ceremonies Padma Kod at last Marriage negotiations Khanpo Dorjes visit to Kongpo Chinese summons The walk toward prison Escape into hiding An interlude with my new bride Chinese attack

Divination ignored Nagaland Confrontation at the border Protection by the Indian army Chinese attack on the camp Twelve days in the jungle A near drowning Safe refuge at the Indian military post Dream of America

The camp at Missamari At deaths door Liaison to Dudjom Rinpoche An Indian train trip A miscarriage of justice Retreat at Tso Pema Red Tara On the road in India The Orissa camp Birth of my son Divisiveness

Splendid isolation in the high Himalayas A strange cure by an oracle Song and sacred substance Decision to leave Chamba Chhling Rinpoche Dissolution of my marriage Delhi and the poorest refugees Western connections Malaria

Empowerments from Dudjom Rinpoche and Khyentse Rinpoche An important prophecy Jane A conversation with Dudjom Rinpoche Khyentse Rinpoche California time change

Letter from my sister Chinese policy transitions Tibetan Reception Committee Reunion with my monks Tenphel Gonpa and reunion with my sister Attempted execution Forbidden teachings Tromthar and Tulku Jigmed Namgyal Tulku Arig Chagdud Gonpa Protectors Enthronement ceremony The oldest monks words Pilgrimage Wu Tai Shan

Foreword

CHAGDUD TULKU RINPOCHE CAME TO AMERICA in 1979 and has resided here ever since. But from the time of his birth in Eastern Tibet, in 1930, to his arrival in the States, a story has unfolded as remarkable as any I have ever heard. This book is that story.

First, I want to set Rinpoches story in some sort of context, for there are many things he simply will not tell you, even though this is his autobiography. He will not speak of his seemingly boundless compassion, a compassion that to us, his students, defines his very being. He will not talk of his profound awareness of the absolute nature of mind, an awareness he seems to be living and transmitting twenty-four hours a day. He will not tell you of the thousands and thousands of people whom he has served as teacher, spiritual master, physician and friend. He will give little hint that he is renowned as a scholar, artist and poet. Few of his remarkable accomplishments over the past decadesespecially those in the Westwill you find in this autobiography, and you cannot know from his narrative that this man has enhanced the lives of an incredible number of people through his profound transmission of the spiritual path.

When Rinpoche arrived in Los Angeles on October 24, 1979, he and his wife-to-be, Jane, first went to San Francisco. In mid-1980 he was asked to visit Eugene, Oregon, in order to teach an overview of Tibetan medicine to a group of American doctors. At the request of His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche he remained in the Eugene area as a resident lama of Yeshe Nyingpo, the name given to Dudjom centers in the United States. Several years later, responding to students who wanted to ensure that there would be a seat in the West for future Chagdud incarnations, Rinpoche established the Chagdud Gonpa Foundation.

The original Chagdud Gonpa, founded in 1131, is one of the few monasteries in Eastern Tibet to have survived the Communist Chinese invasion. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, as the sixteenth incarnation of the original founder of that monastery, set up the first seat of Chagdud Gonpa in the West at River House (later renamed Dechhen Ling) in Cottage Grove, Oregon. There, as in all Chagdud Gonpa centers, instruction was offered in the methods and wisdom of Tibetan Buddhism, including the arts, philosophy and meditation practices of the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition.

In the fall of 1988 Rinpoche and his students acquired 286 acres in northern Californias Trinity Mountains, and Rigdzin Ling, Chagdud Gonpas main center, was born. The heart of the development at Rigdzin Ling will be a traditional Tibetan Buddhist temple, or lha khang (literally, abode of deities), which will include an extensive display of Vajrayana sculpture and decorative arts.

Presently, the Chagdud Gonpa Foundation has seven centers on the West Coast as well as centers in Brazil and Switzerland. Rinpoches other projects include the Mahakaruna Foundation, which provides support for poor and infirm Tibetans in the refugee communities of India and Nepal; the Tibetan Library, which purchases and preserves rare and irreplaceable Tibetan texts; and Padma Publishing, dedicated to making the works of the Nyingma tradition available in English, as well as translating and editing Rinpoches own teachings. He has also created major Buddhist statues in the United States and has trained several Westerners in Tibetan art.