Life and Teachings Of Guru Padmasambhava

This is a continuation from previous Bodhis of Rinpoche's teaching on the life and teaching of Padmasambhava. In Part IV of this extended series, we meet Dorje Trolö and Senge Dradrok, the remaining two manifestations of Guru Padmasambhava of the eight that appeared in India. At this point in our story, we have traveled far from the shores of Dhanakosa Lake in the kingdom of Uddiyana, where King Indrabodhi discovered the first manifestation, the radiant eight-year old boy seated on a rather large lotus in the middle of the lake. This "lotus-born" child seemed destined for a life of royalty and ease; however, eschewing the conventional path, trouble not only followed Padmasambhava, it often came out to meet him. The erstwhile crown prince moved from palace to cemetery to palace—subduing negative energies and transforming the most exaggerated neuroses into wisdom. He turned the wheel of dharma for kings and dakinis alike and altered the course of spiritual life for countless beings, as he does to this very day.

During the time that Padmasambhava studied with the nirmanakaya master of Dzogchen, Garab Dorje, the great master and scholar Manjushrimitra heard about Garab Dorje, whose fame was spreading. Manjushrimitra was from Sri Lanka. He was a prince, the son of the King of Sri Lanka. Hearing of the unconventional activities of such a young master, Manjushrimitra decided to go and debate Garab Dorje, thinking that whatever was happening there could not be right. In fact, he thought the actions of Garab Dorje seemed quite negative. With the great motivation to be of benefit through conquering Garab Dorje in debate and establishing the correct view, Manjushrimitra met with the youthful master. The two debated and Garab Dorje defeated the mahapandita Manjushrimitra, who then fully accepted the extraordinary nature of Garab Dorje's birth and the extraordinary nature of his knowledge, wisdom and compassion, which manifested in a very "ati" way. Ati yoga and Mahasandhi are the Sanskrit terms for the Tibetan word "Dzogchen," which is often translated as the "Great Perfection" or "Great Completion."

The Dzogchen Lineage

After their debate, Manjushrimitra sat down to sharpen his knife, and he took out his tongue, intending to cut it out. Garab Dorje came by and seeing this, said, "What are you doing?" Manjushrimitra replied, "In the past I have disparaged you. I had so much doubt, and I said many bad things about you. Therefore, I am thinking of cutting out my tongue, which has created so much negative karma for myself." However, Garab Dorje said, "Wait a minute. This is not a dharmic way. You don't have to do anything so drastic to purify your actions." Then, Garab Dorje gave him a wonderful sermon on dzogchen, an ati yoga sermon. At that point, Manjushrimitra became the direct disciple—the first and most wonderful disciple—of Garab Dorje.

In this story, we can see the transmission of the Dzogchen lineage from the nirmanakaya master Garab Dorje to Manjushrimitra; then, from Manjushrimitra it was transmitted to the mahasiddha Shri Simha, the third. These three are the principle teachers of this lineage.

View, Meditation and Action

Padmasambhava went to Garab Dorje directly and received the ati teachings, in which Garab Dorje taught the view, meditation, action and the result of dzogchen or ati yoga.

Actually, all the teachings of Buddha, whether they are hinayana, mahayana or vajrayana, mahamudra or dzogchen, are all taught through these four key points. The first and most important point to be developed is right view, which is typically said to be like one's eyes. Without eyes, one finds it very difficult to function effectively. Right view is developed through the process of listening and through studying. Therefore, intellectual studies have an important role in the path of enlightenment here.

The second key point is meditation. If we simply get lost in the view, in our emphasis on the intellectual process, then there is no way we can truly experience what we see. For example, when we have the very best eyesight—what we call "twenty-twenty" eyesight in medical terms—then we can see everything very clearly. For instance, we can see the mango fruit, the beautiful ocean, and everything around us. However, if we just sit here with this kind of "view quality" alone, then there is no way we can truly experience the taste of mango, the benefits of mango. The fruit will just rot in front of our eyes. Without meditation, there is not much really happening with the view. Therefore, view is important, but meditation becomes the most important factor for actualizing what we see, actualizing what enlightenment is.

Subsequently, meditation is enhanced through action. Action is a practice that enhances the stages of our meditation. In a way, action is like a test, through which we can see how effective our meditation is and what we have achieved in our understanding of the view. Thus, action becomes a testing ground that will definitely help us to enhance our practice. Therefore, the practice of action is usually very provocative. For example, in hinayana practice, action involves a great deal of discipline. The thought of giving up this and that, of complying with so many restrictions, is a very provocative and challenging practice. In addition, in the mahayana, the practice of compassionate action is very difficult. Furthermore, in the vajrayana, there are the actions of dzogchen, such as the unconventional conduct of Padmasambhava. Thus, action is actually a method to enhance our practice; like being in the actual world, it is very provocative. There are many people out there who help us enhance our practice. They provide us with a variety of provocative situations for relating to our anger, jealousy, passion, ignorance—the full range of emotions—and they are very kind for helping us.

This excerpt is part of the contents published in Bodhi Issue 8 (Spring 2001). You can purchase this issue or subscribe to Bodhi at the Bodhi Dharma Store .