This article continues our series by Lama Padma Drimed Norbu on the lineage holders of the profound path of the Great Perfection, particularly the Longchen Nyingtik lineage revealed by the great rigdzin Jigme Lingpa.
It is said that of all Patrul Rinpoche’s students, Nyoshul Lungtok Tenpai Nyima had the greatest realization of the true essence that is spoken of in the Great Perfection teachings. At an early age, he was recognized as a reincarnation of Shantarakshita, the great abbot of Tibet at the time of King Trisong Detsun’s reign. Lungtok was ordained as a monk at an early age and had the good fortune to spend more than twenty years with his root teacher, Patrul Rinpoche, who bestowed on him the complete Longchen Nyingtik empowerments and teachings.
While Patrul Rinpoche was living as an ascetic in the Ari forest, several young practitioners were inspired to join him, and Lungtok was among them. Each day Patrul Rinpoche would teach from Shantideva’s Bodhisattvacaryavatara. Teacher and students spent many months meditating in the solitude of the forest, living off of local roots and plants and food left behind by nomads.
One day Patrul asked Lungtok if he thought much about his mother. When Lungtok said he didn’t, Patrul suggested he meditate for seven days solely on “remembering a mother’s kindness.” With that meditation, Lungtok’s compassion and bodhichitta increased naturally. Inspired by Patrul Rinpoche, he studied and meditated deeply on the Bodhisattvacaryavatara for many years. He also did a three-year retreat in the region of Golok near Dzog-
chen Monastery, meditating on Longchenpa’s writings.
There is a famous story of how Patrul once showed Lungtok the nature of mind. Patrul had been meditating in a grassy field near Dzogchen Monastery. It was dusk and he said to Lungtok, “You say you don’t know your mind’s nature. Come here and lie down.” Lungtok lay down near his guru and Patrul asked, “Do you feel the grass and the earth?” “Yes.” “Do you see the stars in the sky?” “Yes.” “Do you hear the dogs barking at the monastery?” “Yes.” “This is natural meditation, without effort or contrivance.” The fixations of Lungtok’s ordinary mind dissolved and he recognized awareness inseparable from all experience— the true nature of mind. Patrul Rinpoche told him to continue to meditate and study, but not to teach the Great Perfection until he was fifty years old.
Lungtok would often say, “If students understand the teachings on meditation correctly and possess skill in meditation, those of the highest acumen will progress daily, those of lesser acumen will progress monthly, and those of the least acumen will prog-
ress yearly. If there is no progress, it is a sign that the key points have not been understood.”
Lungtok wrote on the practice of trekchö, distilling the essence of all the advice and instructions he had received from Patrul Rinpoche. Later, Lungtok’s foremost disciple, Khenpo Ngaga, wrote extensively on the Great Perfection path, thus preserving all of Lungtok’s meditation instructions.
Lungtok Tenpai Nyima passed away in the summer of 1925, amid arching rainbows and a rain of flowers. When he was cremated, many relics (ring-sel) were found in the ashes, showing signs of his attainment.
Lungtok’s lineage holder, Khenpo Ngawang Palzang, also known as Khenpo Ngaga, was born in 1879. He was a reincarnation of the great Vimalamitra, who attained rainbow body and prophesied that he would reincarnate every hundred years to ensure the purity of the Dzogchen lineage. Khenpo Ngaga was also known as the “Second Longchenpa.”
As a baby, he sat in meditation posture and recited the mantra of Vajrakilaya. During his first winter, which was extremely cold, Khenpo Ngaga generated the inner heat of tummo while sleeping with his mother to keep her warm. She was shocked, fearing that her child was a demon, but he eased her mind by singing a song of his realization.
When he was a young boy, the local river flooded, causing his family great hardship. He formed a branch into the shape of a purba and said, “When I was Vimalamitra I changed the course of the Ganges in India. There is no difficulty with this creek. Look at this miracle, Mother.” As he pointed the purba at the river and chanted the mantra of Vajrakilaya, the river changed course.
When he was seven, his uncle began to teach him to read. At first, he would jump ahead, but because this upset his uncle, he would read slowly when they were together. Left alone, though, he would swiftly finish the entire text. Much to his uncle’s surprise, he was able to read texts without ever really having learned how to read.
When he was only five, he met his teacher, Lungtok Ten- pai Nyima. At the age of twelve, Khenpo Ngaga began to take formal teachings and empowerments from Lungtok, beginning with the ngondro of the Longchen Nyingtik cycle, and was ordained as a novice monk at the age of fifteen. While doing his ngondro he had a vision of Longchenpa, who blessed him by touching a crystal to his head and singing to him about the inseparability of awareness and emptiness. Small relics emerged from a statue of Longchenpa on Khenpo Ngaga’s shrine. During his ngondro he recited the Vajra Guru mantra thirteen million times.
Khenpo became a fully ordained monk at the age of twenty-five, and observed all of the 253 vows. He accomplished the practice of longevity and the anuyoga practices of harnessing the subtle energies within the channels and chakras, which leads to the experience of inner heat and bliss-emptiness.
When Khenpo Ngaga had accomplished the development and completion stage practices, Lungtok began to give him the profound instructions of the Great Perfection. He meditated on each point for many days, clarifying his understanding through practice and discussions with his guru. After Khenpo’s realization of trekchö was stable, Lungtok gave him the awareness display empowerment and taught him the key points of the path of tögal.
Having bestowed on him all the empowerments and teachings of the Longchen Nyingtik, Lungtok told Khenpo Ngaga he should study with the great Mipam Rinpoche at Dzogchen Monastery. There he studied all the major texts of the Nyingma school.
When he received word that his dear teacher Lungtok had passed away, Khenpo Ngaga went into a three-month Vajrakilaya retreat and, following that, a retreat on the hundred peaceful and wrathful deities, and then a tögal retreat. He experienced the sambhogakaya visions of buddhas, tiglés, and rainbow light filling space all around him. The experience increased, dissolving all grasping at subject and object, and he remained in a state of luminous clarity. As a sign of his great realization, his bell fell onto a rock and left an impression there and the rock left an impression on the bell.
Although Khenpo Ngaga was asked to be a khenpo at Dzog- chen Monastery, Lungtok had advised him not to teach there, but rather to wait and go to Katok Monastery when the time for that ripened. When he was thirty, he was invited to Katok, where he gradually assumed more and more responsibilities, ordaining thousands of monks and giving teachings and empowerments extensively.
In his late forties, having had many visions and signs of accomplishment as a result of completing some of the central Nyingma practices, he had another vision of Longchenpa and was inspired to write on the key points of trekchö and tögal. Khenpo Ngaga passed away in 1941 at the age of sixty-two. At his passing, the earth quaked and the air was filled with melodious sounds and rainbow light.
This article continues our series by Lama Padma Drimed Norbu on the lineage holders of the profound path of the Great Perfection, particularly the Longchen Nyingtik lineage revealed by the great rigdzin Jigme Lingpa.
It is said that of all Patrul Rinpoche’s students, Nyoshul Lungtok Tenpai Nyima had the greatest realization of the true essence that is spoken of in the Great Perfection teachings. At an early age, he was recognized as a reincarnation of Shantarakshita, the great abbot of Tibet at the time of King Trisong Detsun’s reign. Lungtok was ordained as a monk at an early age and had the good fortune to spend more than twenty years with his root teacher, Patrul Rinpoche, who bestowed on him the complete Longchen Nyingtik empowerments and teachings.
While Patrul Rinpoche was living as an ascetic in the Ari forest, several young practitioners were inspired to join him, and Lungtok was among them. Each day Patrul Rinpoche would teach from Shantideva’s Bodhisattvacaryavatara. Teacher and students spent many months meditating in the solitude of the forest, living off of local roots and plants and food left behind by nomads.
One day Patrul asked Lungtok if he thought much about his mother. When Lungtok said he didn’t, Patrul suggested he meditate for seven days solely on “remembering a mother’s kindness.” With that meditation, Lungtok’s compassion and bodhichitta increased naturally. Inspired by Patrul Rinpoche, he studied and meditated deeply on the Bodhisattvacaryavatara for many years. He also did a three-year retreat in the region of Golok near Dzog-
chen Monastery, meditating on Longchenpa’s writings.
There is a famous story of how Patrul once showed Lungtok the nature of mind. Patrul had been meditating in a grassy field near Dzogchen Monastery. It was dusk and he said to Lungtok, “You say you don’t know your mind’s nature. Come here and lie down.” Lungtok lay down near his guru and Patrul asked, “Do you feel the grass and the earth?” “Yes.” “Do you see the stars in the sky?” “Yes.” “Do you hear the dogs barking at the monastery?” “Yes.” “This is natural meditation, without effort or contrivance.” The fixations of Lungtok’s ordinary mind dissolved and he recognized awareness inseparable from all experience— the true nature of mind. Patrul Rinpoche told him to continue to meditate and study, but not to teach the Great Perfection until he was fifty years old.
Lungtok would often say, “If students understand the teachings on meditation correctly and possess skill in meditation, those of the highest acumen will progress daily, those of lesser acumen will progress monthly, and those of the least acumen will prog-
ress yearly. If there is no progress, it is a sign that the key points have not been understood.”
Lungtok wrote on the practice of trekchö, distilling the essence of all the advice and instructions he had received from Patrul Rinpoche. Later, Lungtok’s foremost disciple, Khenpo Ngaga, wrote extensively on the Great Perfection path, thus preserving all of Lungtok’s meditation instructions.
Lungtok Tenpai Nyima passed away in the summer of 1925, amid arching rainbows and a rain of flowers. When he was cremated, many relics (ring-sel) were found in the ashes, showing signs of his attainment.
Lungtok’s lineage holder, Khenpo Ngawang Palzang, also known as Khenpo Ngaga, was born in 1879. He was a reincarnation of the great Vimalamitra, who attained rainbow body and prophesied that he would reincarnate every hundred years to ensure the purity of the Dzogchen lineage. Khenpo Ngaga was also known as the “Second Longchenpa.”
As a baby, he sat in meditation posture and recited the mantra of Vajrakilaya. During his first winter, which was extremely cold, Khenpo Ngaga generated the inner heat of tummo while sleeping with his mother to keep her warm. She was shocked, fearing that her child was a demon, but he eased her mind by singing a song of his realization.
When he was a young boy, the local river flooded, causing his family great hardship. He formed a branch into the shape of a purba and said, “When I was Vimalamitra I changed the course of the Ganges in India. There is no difficulty with this creek. Look at this miracle, Mother.” As he pointed the purba at the river and chanted the mantra of Vajrakilaya, the river changed course.
When he was seven, his uncle began to teach him to read. At first, he would jump ahead, but because this upset his uncle, he would read slowly when they were together. Left alone, though, he would swiftly finish the entire text. Much to his uncle’s surprise, he was able to read texts without ever really having learned how to read.
When he was only five, he met his teacher, Lungtok Ten- pai Nyima. At the age of twelve, Khenpo Ngaga began to take formal teachings and empowerments from Lungtok, beginning with the ngondro of the Longchen Nyingtik cycle, and was ordained as a novice monk at the age of fifteen. While doing his ngondro he had a vision of Longchenpa, who blessed him by touching a crystal to his head and singing to him about the inseparability of awareness and emptiness. Small relics emerged from a statue of Longchenpa on Khenpo Ngaga’s shrine. During his ngondro he recited the Vajra Guru mantra thirteen million times.
Khenpo became a fully ordained monk at the age of twenty-five, and observed all of the 253 vows. He accomplished the practice of longevity and the anuyoga practices of harnessing the subtle energies within the channels and chakras, which leads to the experience of inner heat and bliss-emptiness.
When Khenpo Ngaga had accomplished the development and completion stage practices, Lungtok began to give him the profound instructions of the Great Perfection. He meditated on each point for many days, clarifying his understanding through practice and discussions with his guru. After Khenpo’s realization of trekchö was stable, Lungtok gave him the awareness display empowerment and taught him the key points of the path of tögal.
Having bestowed on him all the empowerments and teachings of the Longchen Nyingtik, Lungtok told Khenpo Ngaga he should study with the great Mipam Rinpoche at Dzogchen Monastery. There he studied all the major texts of the Nyingma school.
When he received word that his dear teacher Lungtok had passed away, Khenpo Ngaga went into a three-month Vajrakilaya retreat and, following that, a retreat on the hundred peaceful and wrathful deities, and then a tögal retreat. He experienced the sambhogakaya visions of buddhas, tiglés, and rainbow light filling space all around him. The experience increased, dissolving all grasping at subject and object, and he remained in a state of luminous clarity. As a sign of his great realization, his bell fell onto a rock and left an impression there and the rock left an impression on the bell.
Although Khenpo Ngaga was asked to be a khenpo at Dzog- chen Monastery, Lungtok had advised him not to teach there, but rather to wait and go to Katok Monastery when the time for that ripened. When he was thirty, he was invited to Katok, where he gradually assumed more and more responsibilities, ordaining thousands of monks and giving teachings and empowerments extensively.
In his late forties, having had many visions and signs of accomplishment as a result of completing some of the central Nyingma practices, he had another vision of Longchenpa and was inspired to write on the key points of trekchö and tögal. Khenpo Ngaga passed away in 1941 at the age of sixty-two. At his passing, the earth quaked and the air was filled with melodious sounds and rainbow light.
This article continues our series by Lama Padma Drimed Norbu on the lineage holders of the profound path of the Great Perfection, particularly the Longchen Nyingtik lineage revealed by the great rigdzin Jigme Lingpa.
It is said that of all Patrul Rinpoche’s students, Nyoshul Lungtok Tenpai Nyima had the greatest realization of the true essence that is spoken of in the Great Perfection teachings. At an early age, he was recognized as a reincarnation of Shantarakshita, the great abbot of Tibet at the time of King Trisong Detsun’s reign. Lungtok was ordained as a monk at an early age and had the good fortune to spend more than twenty years with his root teacher, Patrul Rinpoche, who bestowed on him the complete Longchen Nyingtik empowerments and teachings.
While Patrul Rinpoche was living as an ascetic in the Ari forest, several young practitioners were inspired to join him, and Lungtok was among them. Each day Patrul Rinpoche would teach from Shantideva’s Bodhisattvacaryavatara. Teacher and students spent many months meditating in the solitude of the forest, living off of local roots and plants and food left behind by nomads.
One day Patrul asked Lungtok if he thought much about his mother. When Lungtok said he didn’t, Patrul suggested he meditate for seven days solely on “remembering a mother’s kindness.” With that meditation, Lungtok’s compassion and bodhichitta increased naturally. Inspired by Patrul Rinpoche, he studied and meditated deeply on the Bodhisattvacaryavatara for many years. He also did a three-year retreat in the region of Golok near Dzog-
chen Monastery, meditating on Longchenpa’s writings.
There is a famous story of how Patrul once showed Lungtok the nature of mind. Patrul had been meditating in a grassy field near Dzogchen Monastery. It was dusk and he said to Lungtok, “You say you don’t know your mind’s nature. Come here and lie down.” Lungtok lay down near his guru and Patrul asked, “Do you feel the grass and the earth?” “Yes.” “Do you see the stars in the sky?” “Yes.” “Do you hear the dogs barking at the monastery?” “Yes.” “This is natural meditation, without effort or contrivance.” The fixations of Lungtok’s ordinary mind dissolved and he recognized awareness inseparable from all experience— the true nature of mind. Patrul Rinpoche told him to continue to meditate and study, but not to teach the Great Perfection until he was fifty years old.
Lungtok would often say, “If students understand the teachings on meditation correctly and possess skill in meditation, those of the highest acumen will progress daily, those of lesser acumen will progress monthly, and those of the least acumen will prog-
ress yearly. If there is no progress, it is a sign that the key points have not been understood.”
Lungtok wrote on the practice of trekchö, distilling the essence of all the advice and instructions he had received from Patrul Rinpoche. Later, Lungtok’s foremost disciple, Khenpo Ngaga, wrote extensively on the Great Perfection path, thus preserving all of Lungtok’s meditation instructions.
Lungtok Tenpai Nyima passed away in the summer of 1925, amid arching rainbows and a rain of flowers. When he was cremated, many relics (ring-sel) were found in the ashes, showing signs of his attainment.
Lungtok’s lineage holder, Khenpo Ngawang Palzang, also known as Khenpo Ngaga, was born in 1879. He was a reincarnation of the great Vimalamitra, who attained rainbow body and prophesied that he would reincarnate every hundred years to ensure the purity of the Dzogchen lineage. Khenpo Ngaga was also known as the “Second Longchenpa.”
As a baby, he sat in meditation posture and recited the mantra of Vajrakilaya. During his first winter, which was extremely cold, Khenpo Ngaga generated the inner heat of tummo while sleeping with his mother to keep her warm. She was shocked, fearing that her child was a demon, but he eased her mind by singing a song of his realization.
When he was a young boy, the local river flooded, causing his family great hardship. He formed a branch into the shape of a purba and said, “When I was Vimalamitra I changed the course of the Ganges in India. There is no difficulty with this creek. Look at this miracle, Mother.” As he pointed the purba at the river and chanted the mantra of Vajrakilaya, the river changed course.
When he was seven, his uncle began to teach him to read. At first, he would jump ahead, but because this upset his uncle, he would read slowly when they were together. Left alone, though, he would swiftly finish the entire text. Much to his uncle’s surprise, he was able to read texts without ever really having learned how to read.
When he was only five, he met his teacher, Lungtok Ten- pai Nyima. At the age of twelve, Khenpo Ngaga began to take formal teachings and empowerments from Lungtok, beginning with the ngondro of the Longchen Nyingtik cycle, and was ordained as a novice monk at the age of fifteen. While doing his ngondro he had a vision of Longchenpa, who blessed him by touching a crystal to his head and singing to him about the inseparability of awareness and emptiness. Small relics emerged from a statue of Longchenpa on Khenpo Ngaga’s shrine. During his ngondro he recited the Vajra Guru mantra thirteen million times.
Khenpo became a fully ordained monk at the age of twenty-five, and observed all of the 253 vows. He accomplished the practice of longevity and the anuyoga practices of harnessing the subtle energies within the channels and chakras, which leads to the experience of inner heat and bliss-emptiness.
When Khenpo Ngaga had accomplished the development and completion stage practices, Lungtok began to give him the profound instructions of the Great Perfection. He meditated on each point for many days, clarifying his understanding through practice and discussions with his guru. After Khenpo’s realization of trekchö was stable, Lungtok gave him the awareness display empowerment and taught him the key points of the path of tögal.
Having bestowed on him all the empowerments and teachings of the Longchen Nyingtik, Lungtok told Khenpo Ngaga he should study with the great Mipam Rinpoche at Dzogchen Monastery. There he studied all the major texts of the Nyingma school.
When he received word that his dear teacher Lungtok had passed away, Khenpo Ngaga went into a three-month Vajrakilaya retreat and, following that, a retreat on the hundred peaceful and wrathful deities, and then a tögal retreat. He experienced the sambhogakaya visions of buddhas, tiglés, and rainbow light filling space all around him. The experience increased, dissolving all grasping at subject and object, and he remained in a state of luminous clarity. As a sign of his great realization, his bell fell onto a rock and left an impression there and the rock left an impression on the bell.
Although Khenpo Ngaga was asked to be a khenpo at Dzog- chen Monastery, Lungtok had advised him not to teach there, but rather to wait and go to Katok Monastery when the time for that ripened. When he was thirty, he was invited to Katok, where he gradually assumed more and more responsibilities, ordaining thousands of monks and giving teachings and empowerments extensively.
In his late forties, having had many visions and signs of accomplishment as a result of completing some of the central Nyingma practices, he had another vision of Longchenpa and was inspired to write on the key points of trekchö and tögal. Khenpo Ngaga passed away in 1941 at the age of sixty-two. At his passing, the earth quaked and the air was filled with melodious sounds and rainbow light.
This article continues our series by Lama Padma Drimed Norbu on the lineage holders of the profound path of the Great Perfection, particularly the Longchen Nyingtik lineage revealed by the great rigdzin Jigme Lingpa.
It is said that of all Patrul Rinpoche’s students, Nyoshul Lungtok Tenpai Nyima had the greatest realization of the true essence that is spoken of in the Great Perfection teachings. At an early age, he was recognized as a reincarnation of Shantarakshita, the great abbot of Tibet at the time of King Trisong Detsun’s reign. Lungtok was ordained as a monk at an early age and had the good fortune to spend more than twenty years with his root teacher, Patrul Rinpoche, who bestowed on him the complete Longchen Nyingtik empowerments and teachings.
While Patrul Rinpoche was living as an ascetic in the Ari forest, several young practitioners were inspired to join him, and Lungtok was among them. Each day Patrul Rinpoche would teach from Shantideva’s Bodhisattvacaryavatara. Teacher and students spent many months meditating in the solitude of the forest, living off of local roots and plants and food left behind by nomads.
One day Patrul asked Lungtok if he thought much about his mother. When Lungtok said he didn’t, Patrul suggested he meditate for seven days solely on “remembering a mother’s kindness.” With that meditation, Lungtok’s compassion and bodhichitta increased naturally. Inspired by Patrul Rinpoche, he studied and meditated deeply on the Bodhisattvacaryavatara for many years. He also did a three-year retreat in the region of Golok near Dzog-
chen Monastery, meditating on Longchenpa’s writings.
There is a famous story of how Patrul once showed Lungtok the nature of mind. Patrul had been meditating in a grassy field near Dzogchen Monastery. It was dusk and he said to Lungtok, “You say you don’t know your mind’s nature. Come here and lie down.” Lungtok lay down near his guru and Patrul asked, “Do you feel the grass and the earth?” “Yes.” “Do you see the stars in the sky?” “Yes.” “Do you hear the dogs barking at the monastery?” “Yes.” “This is natural meditation, without effort or contrivance.” The fixations of Lungtok’s ordinary mind dissolved and he recognized awareness inseparable from all experience— the true nature of mind. Patrul Rinpoche told him to continue to meditate and study, but not to teach the Great Perfection until he was fifty years old.
Lungtok would often say, “If students understand the teachings on meditation correctly and possess skill in meditation, those of the highest acumen will progress daily, those of lesser acumen will progress monthly, and those of the least acumen will prog-
ress yearly. If there is no progress, it is a sign that the key points have not been understood.”
Lungtok wrote on the practice of trekchö, distilling the essence of all the advice and instructions he had received from Patrul Rinpoche. Later, Lungtok’s foremost disciple, Khenpo Ngaga, wrote extensively on the Great Perfection path, thus preserving all of Lungtok’s meditation instructions.
Lungtok Tenpai Nyima passed away in the summer of 1925, amid arching rainbows and a rain of flowers. When he was cremated, many relics (ring-sel) were found in the ashes, showing signs of his attainment.
Lungtok’s lineage holder, Khenpo Ngawang Palzang, also known as Khenpo Ngaga, was born in 1879. He was a reincarnation of the great Vimalamitra, who attained rainbow body and prophesied that he would reincarnate every hundred years to ensure the purity of the Dzogchen lineage. Khenpo Ngaga was also known as the “Second Longchenpa.”
As a baby, he sat in meditation posture and recited the mantra of Vajrakilaya. During his first winter, which was extremely cold, Khenpo Ngaga generated the inner heat of tummo while sleeping with his mother to keep her warm. She was shocked, fearing that her child was a demon, but he eased her mind by singing a song of his realization.
When he was a young boy, the local river flooded, causing his family great hardship. He formed a branch into the shape of a purba and said, “When I was Vimalamitra I changed the course of the Ganges in India. There is no difficulty with this creek. Look at this miracle, Mother.” As he pointed the purba at the river and chanted the mantra of Vajrakilaya, the river changed course.
When he was seven, his uncle began to teach him to read. At first, he would jump ahead, but because this upset his uncle, he would read slowly when they were together. Left alone, though, he would swiftly finish the entire text. Much to his uncle’s surprise, he was able to read texts without ever really having learned how to read.
When he was only five, he met his teacher, Lungtok Ten- pai Nyima. At the age of twelve, Khenpo Ngaga began to take formal teachings and empowerments from Lungtok, beginning with the ngondro of the Longchen Nyingtik cycle, and was ordained as a novice monk at the age of fifteen. While doing his ngondro he had a vision of Longchenpa, who blessed him by touching a crystal to his head and singing to him about the inseparability of awareness and emptiness. Small relics emerged from a statue of Longchenpa on Khenpo Ngaga’s shrine. During his ngondro he recited the Vajra Guru mantra thirteen million times.
Khenpo became a fully ordained monk at the age of twenty-five, and observed all of the 253 vows. He accomplished the practice of longevity and the anuyoga practices of harnessing the subtle energies within the channels and chakras, which leads to the experience of inner heat and bliss-emptiness.
When Khenpo Ngaga had accomplished the development and completion stage practices, Lungtok began to give him the profound instructions of the Great Perfection. He meditated on each point for many days, clarifying his understanding through practice and discussions with his guru. After Khenpo’s realization of trekchö was stable, Lungtok gave him the awareness display empowerment and taught him the key points of the path of tögal.
Having bestowed on him all the empowerments and teachings of the Longchen Nyingtik, Lungtok told Khenpo Ngaga he should study with the great Mipam Rinpoche at Dzogchen Monastery. There he studied all the major texts of the Nyingma school.
When he received word that his dear teacher Lungtok had passed away, Khenpo Ngaga went into a three-month Vajrakilaya retreat and, following that, a retreat on the hundred peaceful and wrathful deities, and then a tögal retreat. He experienced the sambhogakaya visions of buddhas, tiglés, and rainbow light filling space all around him. The experience increased, dissolving all grasping at subject and object, and he remained in a state of luminous clarity. As a sign of his great realization, his bell fell onto a rock and left an impression there and the rock left an impression on the bell.
Although Khenpo Ngaga was asked to be a khenpo at Dzog- chen Monastery, Lungtok had advised him not to teach there, but rather to wait and go to Katok Monastery when the time for that ripened. When he was thirty, he was invited to Katok, where he gradually assumed more and more responsibilities, ordaining thousands of monks and giving teachings and empowerments extensively.
In his late forties, having had many visions and signs of accomplishment as a result of completing some of the central Nyingma practices, he had another vision of Longchenpa and was inspired to write on the key points of trekchö and tögal. Khenpo Ngaga passed away in 1941 at the age of sixty-two. At his passing, the earth quaked and the air was filled with melodious sounds and rainbow light.
This article continues our series by Lama Padma Drimed Norbu on the lineage holders of the profound path of the Great Perfection, particularly the Longchen Nyingtik lineage revealed by the great rigdzin Jigme Lingpa.
It is said that of all Patrul Rinpoche’s students, Nyoshul Lungtok Tenpai Nyima had the greatest realization of the true essence that is spoken of in the Great Perfection teachings. At an early age, he was recognized as a reincarnation of Shantarakshita, the great abbot of Tibet at the time of King Trisong Detsun’s reign. Lungtok was ordained as a monk at an early age and had the good fortune to spend more than twenty years with his root teacher, Patrul Rinpoche, who bestowed on him the complete Longchen Nyingtik empowerments and teachings.
While Patrul Rinpoche was living as an ascetic in the Ari forest, several young practitioners were inspired to join him, and Lungtok was among them. Each day Patrul Rinpoche would teach from Shantideva’s Bodhisattvacaryavatara. Teacher and students spent many months meditating in the solitude of the forest, living off of local roots and plants and food left behind by nomads.
One day Patrul asked Lungtok if he thought much about his mother. When Lungtok said he didn’t, Patrul suggested he meditate for seven days solely on “remembering a mother’s kindness.” With that meditation, Lungtok’s compassion and bodhichitta increased naturally. Inspired by Patrul Rinpoche, he studied and meditated deeply on the Bodhisattvacaryavatara for many years. He also did a three-year retreat in the region of Golok near Dzog-
chen Monastery, meditating on Longchenpa’s writings.
There is a famous story of how Patrul once showed Lungtok the nature of mind. Patrul had been meditating in a grassy field near Dzogchen Monastery. It was dusk and he said to Lungtok, “You say you don’t know your mind’s nature. Come here and lie down.” Lungtok lay down near his guru and Patrul asked, “Do you feel the grass and the earth?” “Yes.” “Do you see the stars in the sky?” “Yes.” “Do you hear the dogs barking at the monastery?” “Yes.” “This is natural meditation, without effort or contrivance.” The fixations of Lungtok’s ordinary mind dissolved and he recognized awareness inseparable from all experience— the true nature of mind. Patrul Rinpoche told him to continue to meditate and study, but not to teach the Great Perfection until he was fifty years old.
Lungtok would often say, “If students understand the teachings on meditation correctly and possess skill in meditation, those of the highest acumen will progress daily, those of lesser acumen will progress monthly, and those of the least acumen will prog-
ress yearly. If there is no progress, it is a sign that the key points have not been understood.”
Lungtok wrote on the practice of trekchö, distilling the essence of all the advice and instructions he had received from Patrul Rinpoche. Later, Lungtok’s foremost disciple, Khenpo Ngaga, wrote extensively on the Great Perfection path, thus preserving all of Lungtok’s meditation instructions.
Lungtok Tenpai Nyima passed away in the summer of 1925, amid arching rainbows and a rain of flowers. When he was cremated, many relics (ring-sel) were found in the ashes, showing signs of his attainment.
Lungtok’s lineage holder, Khenpo Ngawang Palzang, also known as Khenpo Ngaga, was born in 1879. He was a reincarnation of the great Vimalamitra, who attained rainbow body and prophesied that he would reincarnate every hundred years to ensure the purity of the Dzogchen lineage. Khenpo Ngaga was also known as the “Second Longchenpa.”
As a baby, he sat in meditation posture and recited the mantra of Vajrakilaya. During his first winter, which was extremely cold, Khenpo Ngaga generated the inner heat of tummo while sleeping with his mother to keep her warm. She was shocked, fearing that her child was a demon, but he eased her mind by singing a song of his realization.
When he was a young boy, the local river flooded, causing his family great hardship. He formed a branch into the shape of a purba and said, “When I was Vimalamitra I changed the course of the Ganges in India. There is no difficulty with this creek. Look at this miracle, Mother.” As he pointed the purba at the river and chanted the mantra of Vajrakilaya, the river changed course.
When he was seven, his uncle began to teach him to read. At first, he would jump ahead, but because this upset his uncle, he would read slowly when they were together. Left alone, though, he would swiftly finish the entire text. Much to his uncle’s surprise, he was able to read texts without ever really having learned how to read.
When he was only five, he met his teacher, Lungtok Ten- pai Nyima. At the age of twelve, Khenpo Ngaga began to take formal teachings and empowerments from Lungtok, beginning with the ngondro of the Longchen Nyingtik cycle, and was ordained as a novice monk at the age of fifteen. While doing his ngondro he had a vision of Longchenpa, who blessed him by touching a crystal to his head and singing to him about the inseparability of awareness and emptiness. Small relics emerged from a statue of Longchenpa on Khenpo Ngaga’s shrine. During his ngondro he recited the Vajra Guru mantra thirteen million times.
Khenpo became a fully ordained monk at the age of twenty-five, and observed all of the 253 vows. He accomplished the practice of longevity and the anuyoga practices of harnessing the subtle energies within the channels and chakras, which leads to the experience of inner heat and bliss-emptiness.
When Khenpo Ngaga had accomplished the development and completion stage practices, Lungtok began to give him the profound instructions of the Great Perfection. He meditated on each point for many days, clarifying his understanding through practice and discussions with his guru. After Khenpo’s realization of trekchö was stable, Lungtok gave him the awareness display empowerment and taught him the key points of the path of tögal.
Having bestowed on him all the empowerments and teachings of the Longchen Nyingtik, Lungtok told Khenpo Ngaga he should study with the great Mipam Rinpoche at Dzogchen Monastery. There he studied all the major texts of the Nyingma school.
When he received word that his dear teacher Lungtok had passed away, Khenpo Ngaga went into a three-month Vajrakilaya retreat and, following that, a retreat on the hundred peaceful and wrathful deities, and then a tögal retreat. He experienced the sambhogakaya visions of buddhas, tiglés, and rainbow light filling space all around him. The experience increased, dissolving all grasping at subject and object, and he remained in a state of luminous clarity. As a sign of his great realization, his bell fell onto a rock and left an impression there and the rock left an impression on the bell.
Although Khenpo Ngaga was asked to be a khenpo at Dzog- chen Monastery, Lungtok had advised him not to teach there, but rather to wait and go to Katok Monastery when the time for that ripened. When he was thirty, he was invited to Katok, where he gradually assumed more and more responsibilities, ordaining thousands of monks and giving teachings and empowerments extensively.
In his late forties, having had many visions and signs of accomplishment as a result of completing some of the central Nyingma practices, he had another vision of Longchenpa and was inspired to write on the key points of trekchö and tögal. Khenpo Ngaga passed away in 1941 at the age of sixty-two. At his passing, the earth quaked and the air was filled with melodious sounds and rainbow light.
