T H E MIRROR

April/May 1998-Issue No. 44

Newspaper of the International Dzogchen Community

A.S.I.A. Projects in Tibet

by Giorgio Minuzzo

Reclining Buddha at Wat Po

Thailand Teachings of
Chgyal Namkhai Norbu
by Martin Perenchio

Tibetan children

T
A he A.S.I.A. project called 'Program for the Develop
ment of the Health and Educational Conditions of the
Village of Dzam Thog' is a project jointly financed with
the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( M A E ) which
started in the spring of 1996. The program, which con
sists of assistance in many fields, from education to
health, as well as the promotion of activities in the eco
nomic, social and cultural fields, was prepared by
A.S.I.A. and presented to the M A E in 1983 and
financed by them three years later.
This is the second largest A.S.I.A. project in Tibet
after the project for constructing a school in the village
of Damche in the region of Qingai. The school was
inaugurated last summer in the presence of Namkhai
Norbu Rinpoche and his wife Rosa who together with
numerous members of the Dzogchen Community came
from different parts of the world for the occasion.
Since then the school has started to function full
time. The project was favorably received not only by the
local population and authorities but also by other orga
nizations which work in the sector of development in
third-world countries and in Tibet in particular. They
stated that they were in favor of further financial assis
tance in the field of education in this part of Tibet.
On the basis of these initiatives, the project coordina
tor and staff will soon be leaving for a new A.S.I.A. mis
sion on site for a few months. The duty will be to orga
nize a new project for creating schools for Tibetans and
activate programs for training the local teaching staff.

The village of Dzam Thog situated in East Tibet, is

more than a thousand kilometers south of Damche
(three or four days of travel). Dzam Thog village, which
lends its name to the project, is situated on the right bank
of the Yantze River (Blue River) which is called Dri Chu
in Tibetan. It is the largest river in Asia and comes down
from the upland plains of Central Tibet, crosses the
whole of East Tibet and continues on to the Pacific
Ocean. In summer, which is the rainy season in Tibet,
the river becomes yellow ochre because of the earth and
mud in its waters. In winter, the dry season, the river
makes its claim for the name which it is generally called
in the West and becomes a marvelous blue turquoise
color. In summer the local children and the 'big' West
erners can spend some of their time bathing in the river
and lying in the sun along the river banks. The Dri Chu
also marks the border between the Tibetan Autonomous
Region where the village of Dzam Thog is located and
the Region of Sichuan which together with Qingai and
Yunnan are regions populated predominately by other
Tibetans and they were established as Chinese
Provinces in 1959.
The project at Dzam Thog provides for the creation
of a hospital with 24 beds, a school for 500 children and
the setting up and creation of activities (micro-projects)
together with the local people, aimed at developing the
social-economic and cultural conditions of the village
and the Tibetan population in general.
At the moment the hospital has been completed and
continued on page 16

NAMKHAI

NORBU

RINPOCHE'S

SCHEDULE

RUSSIA
April 20-22

Santi Maha Sangha Base Level Exam.

Moscow

April 23-27
May 1-5
May 8-10
May 11-15

SMS 1st Level training

Moscow retreat
SMS 1st Level Exam
SMS II Level Training

P O L A N D
May 22-24
May 26-29

Polish Retreat
Visii Paldanling land

1998-1999
M E R I G A R . I T A L Y (continued)
Chgyal Namkhai Norbu. General Retreat
July 24-28
August 14-24

Chgyal Namkhai Norbu. General Retreat

August 28-30
September 31 -4

SMS 111 Level Exam

SMS IV Level Training

F R A N C E
November 20-22
Novmber 27-29

Paris Teaching*
Karmaline Teaching

P O R T U G A L
December 4-6
Portugal Retreal "
:

G E R M A N Y
June 5-7

German Retreat *

AUSTRIA
June 10

Lucid Dream Conference*

June 12-14

Austrian Retreat

M E R 1G A R. t T A L Y
His Holiness Sakya Trizin
June 25
Zhenpa Zhidral Teaching
His Holiness Sakya Trizin
June 26-28
Vajra Kilaya leaching

B R A Z I L
December 12
December 18-20

Public Talk. San Paolo

SITIO Retreat *

A R G E N T I N A
Dec. 28-Jan. 4. 1999

Tashigar Retreat

* Venues to be announced.
Use International Contacts List for details
** To be confirmed

.A-t
5:30 A M on February 3rd,
three of Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche's
students met him and his wife Rosa
at the Bangkok airport after the two
had just flown in from Australia.
Two days later, Rinpoche and Rosa
were relaxing in a beachside resort
on Koh Samet, an island off the
southeast coast of Thailand. There
they were joined by a small circle of
followers and well-wishers for days
of swimming, sunbathing, and
relaxed conversation. Those of us
who live here in Thailand are grate
ful for the natural amenities this
country offers as they provide the
inducement and the opportunity for
our teacher and his wife to relax free
of the well-intended but neverthe
less demanding importunities of the
members of the ever-growing
worldwide Dzogchen Community.
The party returned to Bangkok
on February 12th, in time to prepare
for one public talk and two days of
teachings. On the 13th at the Siam
Society, Rinpoche delivered a talk
on the origins of the Tibetan reli
gious traditions to a general audience
of over one hundred people, includ
ing the Israeli and Romanian ambas
sadors. Normally talks at the Society
draw forty to fifty people, but this
time, Society officials were pleasant
ly surprised by what became a stand
ing-room only crowd. Rinpoche's
discourse covered the history of
Shang Shung and the various
streams of Bn practice, intriguing
parallels with North American
Pueblo Indian cultures, particularly
in the concerns with purification, the
history of the central Tibetan kings,
and finally the establishment of Bud
dhism in the time of the Three Reli
gious Kings, (see Teaching page 2)
On the following morning, Fabio
Andrico, who had arrived the previ
ous day. led a small group of seminar
participants in a three hour introduc
tory session of Yantra "ioga. That
afternoon. Rinpoche gave the first of
three talks of a short but intense
introduction to the Dzogchen teach
ings and practice. The teachings are
pared down to essential elements
which for new people require a bit of
time to absorb and amplify, and for
older students serve as potent
reminders of what they may have
learned but have not vet fullv

embodied in their years of practice.

About forty people attended the
three sessions, and as usual, they
were an internationally diverse lot.
The following day, February
15th, Rinpoche, Rosa, Fabio, and
three local students flew to Burma
for a brief tour of the Burmese mon
uments in Rangoon, Mandalay. and
the multifaceted architectural jew
els of Pagan. The following week,
Rinpoche and his party flew to Sin
gapore and points beyond to con
tinue offering the teachings to all
who are willing to come and hear.
In late March, we can again look
forward to Rinpoche's presence, as
he plans to spend a few more days
resting in a beachside bungalow
before he returns to Italy to take up
once again the rigorous teaching
schedule in Europe.

SPECIAL

PRACTICES

& ASTROLOGY

ISSUE

C O N T E N T S
2

ANCIENT WISDOM
Choegyal Namkliai Norbu

SACRED MUSIC FESTIVAL

STORY OF VIMALAMITRA
Jim Valby

BOOK REVIEWS

A COURSE M TIBETAN MEDIONE

Marina Siicelli

INTRODUCTOS TO
TIBETAN ASTROLOGY
DrJhubten Phuntsos

10

SPECIAL PRACTICES CALENDAR

12

A PRELIMINARY
ARCH.AELOGIC.AL SURVEY'

John Belles
13

INTERN ATONAL
COMMUNITY CONTACTS

14

COMMUNITY NEWS

18

LNTERVIEW WITH
LOUISE LANDES L E M

19

How I MET THE TEACHINGS

20

SMALL DETALS OF
EVERYDAY THINGS

John Shome

Chgyal Namkhai Norbu

February 1998
T would like to try to explain a little about the origin of the
JL Dzogchen teachings. In general, I teach Dzogchen teach
ings and the meaning of Dzogchen. Particularly I would like
to talk about how the teachings developed and have been
diffused in Tibet.
You already know that Tibet is a very isolated country.
Twenty or thirty years ago almost everyone thought Tibet was
like another planet. It is a country that has been very difficult to
reach and therefore it has not been easy to have contact with
the Tibetan people geographically it is very difficult. Even
in this modem world of communication if we go to Tibet we
can still have many problems. For that reason, since the begin
ning, Tibet developed spiritual knowledge and teachings.
There was not very much possibility to develop more on a
material level. That is the truth, something concrete, and
because of that everyone in Tibet
is interested in the teachings.
Since ancient times there have
been many teachings called Bn,
even before Buddhism.
Today we consider Bon a kind

ffa History ofBn, Buddhism and Dzogchen in Tibet

of school, only one tradition, but

it was not that way in ancient
times. Before Buddhism grew in
Tibet, all kinds of spiritual teach
ings and systems were called
Bn. Bn really means chanting,
in the ancient language of Tibet, as in the chanting of mantras.
Some people consider that chanting mantras means to do some
thing spiritual, and that is why they called it Bn. In the real
sense, there are so many different styles of teaching, ways of
performing spiritual knowledge, and particularly the ways in
which people believe. It is all different.
We already know that in most countries in the world there
were many primitive people who had primitive spiritual knowl
edge, most of which we call Shamanism. What is Shamanism?
Shamanism is a common name but doesn't mean one school or
one tradition. Within Shamanism, even in small countries here
and there, there are completely different belief systems. The
only characteristic common to all Shamanism is that it deals
with nature. When we speak of Buddhism, for example, the
main point is the mind and the nature of mind. In Buddhism we
are going deeply into this field of the mind. With Shamanism
and ancient Bn the knowledge is related to circumstance;
where people live influences how they believe. If the people
live on a mountain, and that mountain has owners or what we
call the local guardians, or protectors of the tribes; if there are
two tribes or ten tribes then they have two or ten guardians.
There is no universal view.
In Buddhism we say Buddha is the teacher and he mani
fested in different ways. For example, in the Tantric style we
have the Kalachakra and we believe that the Kalachakra is a
manifestation of Buddha Sakaymuni. That is universal for
people who believe in Tantric Buddhism. Some kind of deity
or god or something universal doesn't exist in Shamanism.
The people believe in different kinds of spirits or tribes. Most
of these people who believe this way have lost their countries;
big countries like Australia, the United States, South America.
In ancient times they were all Indian-like people, but there
was no contact between tribes and they were always fighting.
They believed only in the spiritual dimension of their individ
ual tribes. Bn was the same way in Tibet. There were many
kinds of Bn. There were many powerful spirits governing
not only the mountains, but huge areas, so when they were
dividing the regions, the classes of beings and spirits became
bigger as the tribes became bigger; this is all related to local
guardians and nature.
So in Tibet, in ancient times, there were many kinds of
Bnpos; some did sacrifice, killed animals, made offerings,
made their spirits happy and felt if their spirits were happy they
could have benefits. Their knowledge and understanding is a
kind of relationship between the people and the local
guardians; the spirits and people living in that country. The
spirits are the owners of the trees, rocks, and mountains. Peo
ple create problems with the spirits by cutting trees, destroying
rocks and creating problems in the waters; then the spirits get
upset and create provocations and problems for the people
who then have bad fortune and problems. If they succeed to
deal with the spirits in a perfect way, they become rich and
have no problems because the local guardians and spirits are
pacified. The Bnpo believed in this way and the priests per
formed many rites for wealth, good crops, etc.
Some of the Bn knowledge became deeper and deeper
because they had contact with India and Oddiyana and some
of the Bn priests received deeper teachings. The priests
changed and integrated aspects of their way of doing practice
and particularly their way of believing. In ancient Bn there
was a medical system and there were Bn physicians. They
cured people mainly with rites but also discovered herbal
medicines, minerals and natural things of the countryside.
They knew how to use these things; some of the Bn physi-

Ancient Wisdom

father, mother and family were all in Tibet and I didn't know if
they were still alive or dead; I didn't know anything. So in 1982
I went back.
At that time I met an old practitioner of Bn who came from
South Tibet. In South Tibet there is a region called Konpo,
where there is a big mountain called the Mountain of Bn. It is
called the Mountain of Bn because the founder of Bn, Tonpa
Shenrab, came to Tibet and spent a lot of time at this mountain.
The Bnpo consider this a very sacred mountain. This old Bn
po lived at the mountain, and when he came to Lhasa he came
to visit me. The Bnpo people like me very much because they
think I am protecting them because I do a lot of research and
speak a lot about Bn. So they think I am a very good person for
them. Many Tibetan Buddhist Lamas and monasteries think
that Namkhai Norbu is Bnpo. Many people feel I am Bnpo. I
am not Bnpo, but I am doing research, and when you do
research you can't have "your" position otherwise you can't do
any research. I don't have a position of Buddhism or Bnpo and
I do this research because I think it is very important for under
standing Tibetan history and the
source of Tibetan culture. Bnpo
is very important because it is the
origin and for that reason for
many years I did research about
Bn and Shang Shung.

.
Excerpted from a Public Talk in Thailand

cians developed clarity and had such knowledge and under

standing through their practice.
For example, there is one tradition of Bn called phywa
gshen. Phywa means glory, wealth, and sometimes means for
tune. In any case, they believe in the deity of this phywa called
Phuwer. a young boy eight years old who holds a lamp. The
lamp represents light and the light represents clarity. They
believed with Phuwer they could get this kind of wisdom and
increase their clarity. So they did this! practice of Phuwer and in
the beginning maybe one or two tribes were integrating that
practice, then many followed and the practitioners developed
because there was something very real. Then they began calcu
lating astrology and astrology of the elements. They became
very expert in these fields and in that period there was no astrol
ogy like today, but they knew constellations and positions very
well. In that way they developed this kind of clarity.
It was very strange when I arrived in Italy at the University to
study and do research, because I discovered that phuwer is a
word in the Latin language that means boy. I thought this was
very funny. The Greco-Roman society had very ancient knowl
edge and understanding that was very similar to the ancient Bn.
We don't know what kind of relationship they had in ancient
times, but that is an example; somehow it developed that way.
In the beginning of Tibet there were many of these kinds of
Bn traditions. Tibet has an almost 4000 year history, in a real
sense, because there is this kind of Bn tradition. In Bn there
was a very famous teacher called Tonpa Shenrab and today
almost all of Bn is now integrated into the Bn lineage coming
from this teacher. Tonpa Shenrab created the first writing of
Western Tibet, near Kailash, which in ancient times was called
Shang Shung. In the time of Shang Shung Tibet did not exist as
it is today, and within all of Shang Shung there were many dif
ferent tribes. The tribes of Shang Shung were unified under this
teaching and with this teacher, and also there had been a king of
Shang Shung and many tribes unified under the first king. This
king became the protector of the tradition of Shang Shung and
Bnpo. Then Bn and the Shang Shung king collaborated and
became more and more powerful. There were then eighteen
very famous Shang Shung kings in different parts of Western
Tibet. Later the Tibetan kingdom started and the first Tibetan
king was called Nyatri Tsenpo. It is thought that Nyatri Tsenpo
lived at the time of Buddha Sakaymuni.
At the beginning of the Tibetan kingdom Shang Shung
was separated from the Tibetan kingdom because in that peri
od most of Tibet had been governed by Shang Shung. Follow
ing that, almost thirty generations of Tibetan kings governed
Tibet but there was no Buddhism, only Bn, which came from
Western Tibet or Shang Shung. The Tibetan kings were not
very satisfied following this Bn tradition, because in doing
so they continued a relationship with the king of Shang
Shung, and Tibet was trying to become independent of Shang
Shung. The shadow of Shang Shung remained and Tibet
could never become totally independent and strong, so after
seven generations the first king of Tibet started to eliminate
the Bn priests because he said there was no space for both the
king and Bnpo. He told the Bnpo to go away. He eliminated
the Bnpo monasteries; there were kinds of monasteries
called Icog mkhar, not really monasteries, but kinds of tem
ples for performing rites. Some Icog mkhar were for the prac
tice of magic and for someone having this special power these
special places were needed for practice.
I left in Tibet in 1958 and returned for the first time in 1982.
Tibet was closed until 1978 when the Chinese opened il a little,
and there was communication from Tibet. For example, my

So, that old Bnpo man said

"I heard you are a very good per
son, you are doing research and
protecting Bnpo. I am very hap
py to meet you." Then we
became friends. He said he had
three old books of Bnpo that he had put in a rock during the
cultural revolution and then later had taken out. He still had the
books. "If you would like to see, I will bring them to show you,"
and I said yes. One day he brought them to me. There are three
books. One is a big volume all handwritten, another is about
thirty pages which is a kind of guidebook of the Bn mountain,
and the big book in Bn is called Ju Mg, which is another kind
of Bn, related very much with divination and astrology. The
small book explained how to build an ancient temple of Bnpo
called a chog. These are really very ancient books and there
were many mistakes with language. In the beginning I couldn't
understand them, but in re-reading them I could.
The small book is very interesting because it is related to a
visit I had made to the Indian tribes in North America, the
Navajo and Hopi, where I had seen many ancient Indian
places and dwellings. Very interesting places. In the South
west there is something called a kiva. A kiva is round and
under the earth. The Indians said it is a place for their ancient
practices. It is entered at the Southern point; the medicine man
Uves on the North side and faces the South. The Indian people
explain it that way. Later in Santa Fe, New Mexico, I saw that
there was another tribe who built the kiva this way, but they
didn't have a lot of knowledge of the kiva. They make a hole
under the earth, cover it with earth, there is a small door, they
go under through this door and they make a kind of smoke
inside and with this smoke they purify. I asked them what they
did inside and they said they do purification with the smoke.
Then I asked them if they have a rite to say or do, and they
said they had but it is secret and wouldn't explain it. I asked at
what times they go inside and they said when they go hunting,
for example, if they kill a deer.
When I read this book of Bnpo and how they built this
chog it is precisely like the kiva, so this is very interesting.
There is very much a connection between the Bnpo, Tibetan
and American Indian traditions; a very strong connection but
we don't know how. In this Bnpo book they explain how to
build this chog. There is one stove under the earth and two
stoves above. These upper stoves do not exist now in the Amer
ican Indian tradition, and since everything was destroyed in
ancient times we don't know precisely what was up there. In the
chog above there is this shape of a half moon, and on the top
there is a triangle which is open and you can see the sky. Inside
there are two entrances; the person enters on the left side and
leaves on the right when they are finished. Inside the Bnpo
priests do the rites sitting on the North side facing South, and in
the center are five places. On these five places there is a very big
pot that has shapes of eagles' faces and inside the pot there is
water and maybe twelve or thirteen different ingredients. They
cook all this and it's called cibai chu, and it is very famous in
ancient Bn. Dhal means fire and chu means water. So they are
boiling and doing practice and mantra and visualization and the
water becomes sacred and very powerful. Only people who
have negative provocations or very dangerous illnesses use this
water to overcome it. That is the Bn idea. When the sick peo
ple go inside the chog the priest makes the fire and smoke called
sang; the sick person drinks this water, the priests throw this
water on the sick person, and believe that at least for one year
this person will not have problems. Afterwards everyone is sat
isfied and goes out. This is what was explained in this small
book and I found this very interesting.
There is a lot of this kind of knowledge in the Bnpo tradi
tion. In the period of the first Tibetan king twelve different kinds
of Bn developed. They are not the same, and each is very dif- ferent and even more developed
continued on page 3

understand if we observe ourselves just for a few seconds. We

observe ourselves; what is my condition now in this moment,
what I am thinking, etc., we discover immediately "I am think
ing something" and then we observe that thought and it disap
continuedfrompage 2
pears. It is empty, nothing. And even if we can't find anything,
immediately another thought arises. If we observe that second
later. The Bn priests were becoming very powerful and people
thought, it disappears, empty. So then, emptiness and move
were afraid of them. They were afraid because the priests were
ment, emptiness and movement, emptiness and movement,
powerful and everyone depended on them, including the king.
alternating, that is our real nature.
Supporting the Bnpo was the king of Shang Shung and this
In the Sutra teaching, when we speak of our nature, we say
made problems for the Tibetan kings. After seven generations of
emptiness - shunyata - in the Mahayana style. Shunyata is our
Tibetan kings there was a king called Trigum Tsenpo who
real nature. But in Tantrism, our real nature is not only shunyata
destroyed all the Bnpo temples and expelled many Bnpos
but also movement, also that potentiality. Shunyata without
from Tibet. For that reason, still today, when we do research we
potentiality has no value. There is the saying of Saraha, a
find a little pure original Bnpo at the borders at Gyalrong,
famous Mahasiddha, "Without compassion shunyata has no
between China and Tibet, or Dolpo in Nepal, or some other bor
value." What, does compassion mean? It means movement.
ders, because when the Bnpos were expelled that's where they
There exists not only emptiness, but movement. So, this is our
continued their traditions. This Tibetan king succeeded only for
real nature, that continuation is the path. The teaching of Tantra
thirteen years because he was murdered, so his ministers contin
ued to govern for thirteen years. This king didn't like Bnpo and
destroyed it, but he had no culture for governing to replace it
with. Bn was the only knowledge in Tibet, so he couldn't gov
ern. Later Bn began again with the famous King Songtsen
Ganpo who introduced Buddhism to Tibet.

Teaching continued

Songtsen Ganpo is considered an emanation of Avalokiteshvara; people believed that was why he introduced Buddhism
and that could be the case, but more likely historically it seems
other kings tried to eliminate Bnpo but couldn't succeed.
Songtsen Ganpo was very clever and developed a relationship
with Nepal, India and China. Then he invited Buddhism to
Tibet. Then Tibet became a strongly established Buddhist cul
ture and Songsten Ganpo started to destroy Bnpo and substi
tute Buddhism. Not only did he succeed, but he murdered the
king of Shang Shung, took Shang Shung and unified all of
Tibet. He then became a famous Tibetan king and since that
time Buddhism increased in Tibet.
In the beginning Buddhism began with more general Bud
dhist teachings like Sutra. Buddhism was introduced and devel
oped in the way that Buddha Sakyamuni taught in Bodhgaya.
Later, after five generations from Songtsen Ganpo, there was a
famous king called Tritson Detsen who invited Shantarakshita
from India. Shantarakshita taught Sutra and tried to teach more
in the Mahayana style, but had no success. He had many prob
lems because Tibet was a totally Bnpo society and Sutra does
not correspond with Bnpo tradition. He stopped teaching Bud
dhism and gave advice to the Tibetan king and told him to invite
Guru Padmasmabhava. Guru Padmasambhava came and gave
mainly Tannic teachings which are related more to the principle
of energy. So when Padmasambhava explained with energy and
practices, etc., the Bnpo people easily integrated with that.
Padmasambhava never destroyed the Bnpo tradition, but
transformed it a little in the Tannic Buddhist style. That is how
Buddhism developed a little differently in Tibet from in other
countries, and the characteristic Tannic system of Tibet devel
oped. For this reason many people refer to Tibetan Buddhism as
Lamaism because it has a certain characteristic. The knowledge
and teaching of Buddha is not a culture; it is knowledge and
understanding. Understanding must communicate with culture,
but culture depends on the country and the country has its own
culture, knowledge and attitudes. So Buddha and Padmasamb
hava introduced the teachings in that way, without trying to
change the Bnpo tradition and attitudes. They introduced all
knowledge and understanding through the Bnpo traditions
and attitudes. In that way they introduced knowledge and
understanding and developed what is now characteristic of
Tibetan Buddhism.
Through this teaching Guru Padmasambhava introduced
global teachings. Firstly with the lower Tantra: in Tantrism
there are the higher and lower Tantras. Sutra means the teach
ings of the Buddha the event of one day or time, how and
what the Buddha taught that is one Sutra. The meaning of
Sutra means the conclusion of one event. That is not the prin
ciple of Tantra. Tantra is not taught principally by Buddha
Sakyamuni physically. Buddha taught Tantra through mani
festations. Manifestations meaning something more related to
the energy level, not the physical level. There are only some
lower Tantras that Buddha taught in the dimension of deva,
but not dimensions here.
We say Buddha taught the Kalachakra somewhere in India
but that doesn't mean the Buddha taught it physically. If we
say that the Buddha taught the Kalachakra physically, that
makes for a very strong contradiction because that means that
the Kalachakra must be Buddha. The manifestation of the
Kalachakra, the joyful form, is male and female union, yab
and yum. That is the path, and the manifestation of the
Kalachakra is a the symbol of that path. So how can Buddha
Sakyamuni be yab and yum? That's impossible. So we can
understand that Buddha taught not on the physical level, but
through manifestations.
When a teaching comes through manifestations it means
that no one can receive it, it cannot be received on the physical
level. If there is some manifestation of Sambogakaya then ordi
nary people can't receive it; they have no capacity for that. To
have contact with Sambogakaya we must develop somehow
and have a certain kind of realization. Then we can receive that
kind of teaching and it is called Tantra. The meaning of Tantra is
not the conclusion of one event like Sutra. Tantra means contin
uation without interruption, continuing always. So what does
that mean? It means that is our real nature, our real potentiality.
And what does it mean, continuing in our real nature? We etui

P. BARRY

means a teaching for discovering that, through transmission,

through empowerment, etc. Then we can enter and discover
that. In which way can we get in that state, through which
method? The method of Tantra is called transformation. Trans
forming. Why? Because in Tantrism we transform; our real
nature is always that Tantra. Tantra is our real nature, but that
Tantra can manifest in different ways, like the pure dimension
and the impure dimension the impure dimension is like sam
sara, the pure dimension is like nirvana. Even manifesting pure
or impure, it doesn't change anything; our real nature is just
that. Not changed. For that reason when we have emotion, we
consider that emotion is something bad, particularly in the
Sutra teaching. In the Sutra teaching emotion is considered
something like poison and that's why we renounce and reject it.
But in Tantrism we know if we are distracted or conditioned by
emotions, of course that is negative, but the nature of emotions
is wisdom. It is the same, there is no difference.
So, in this case then, through method there is knowledge.
Instead of renouncing or throwing emotions away, we can
transform them. We say the five emotions can manifest as five
wisdoms and the five aggregations can manifest in transforma
tion like the five Dhyani Buddhas. This is characteristic of
Tannic methods. In Tantrism there are also higher and lower
Tantra and the gradual and non-gradual methods. A l l these
transmissions were given by Padmasambhava. O f course he
transmitted the essence of these teachings; it doesn't mean he
transmitted all these Tannic books, the original books and
instructions, etc. He couldn't do that in a short time, so he gave
advice to his students. Researching in India you can find these
kinds of original books for higher and lower Tantra, for gradual
and non-gradual Tannic transformational methods that were
then introduced in Tibet. Padmasambhava gave that advice and
later, many translators went to India and brought back these
original teachings to Tibet. In that way they translated and
developed the teachings.
With Dzogchen particularly, Padmasambhava transmitted
the essence of this essential teaching. Dzogchen teaching is dif
ferent from Tantra. The Tannic method is transformation and
the Sufra method is called the path of renunciation. When you
follow Sutra you renounce many things; you renounce the ordi
nary world and life and become a monk or nun. You live in a
different way and that is called renunciation. Tantrism is not
renunciation, but transformation. Dzogchen is different again;
it is called the path of self-liberation, not transformation or
renunciation. What does that mean? Dzog means perfected and
chen means total. Totally perfected means our real nature. Our
real nature is the total perfection of all of our potentialities, for
example, like Buddha. Buddha has many qualifications. We
already have all these potentialities of all these qualifications.
Everybody. A l l sentient beings, just like Buddha. It doesn't
mean we have everything physically like Buddha. It means
potentiality; the potentiality of all manifestations. The root of
potentiality is light or color; five colors. When we develop
lights in five colors those five colors represent the essence of
the five elements. When elements develop more on the material
level then we have the five elements like fire and water, some
thing concrete; but their nature is light.
So, that means when we say perfected potentiality, it means
that we have potentiality from the beginning, everything is per
fected. Then why doesn't it manifest? It depends on the circum
stance. First of all, for ordinary people, we are ignorant of our

real nature. We don't know how our real nature is. Even if we
have the knowledge of our potentiality, we are still living in a
material body, a material world which has been produced by
our potentiality of karma for many lives. If we are not diminish
ing or purifying that karmic aspect of our material level then it
is not possible that it manifests.
Self-liberation can be explained a little by the example of
the mirror. In the mirror all can manifest. Good or bad; every
thing. In front of the mirror are objects, so for example if we are
looking in the mirror we understand there is a reflection. Why
are there reflections? Because in front of the mirror there are
some objects that are reflecting. So that reflection and object
are interdependent and for that reason they are reflected in the
mirror. We examine the mirror; we judge and look and that way
we know the reflections are unreal and not really concrete. But
that understanding of the unreal nature is only an intellectual
knowledge. We feel that the object that is reflected is not unreal;
it is something concrete and therefore we have attachment to it.
That means we have an intellectual understanding. A non-intel
lectual understanding means we are not looking in the mirror
and seeing subject and object. We are just being the mirror; we
are not looking in the mirror. If we are really being the mirror
then what are the reflections for us? So now we are the mirror.
We have that potentiality of manifesting reflections and to
reflect. So in this case the reflections for us are only a qualifica
tion. A manifestation of qualifications. Why? Because we have
that potentiality of manifesting everything without making any
program. In general we need a program.When we use a com
puter there are so many programs. It seems the programs are
infinite, but in the real sense all the programs are very limited.
We can't go anywhere outside the programs. It is the same with
a television, we can change many channels and see many
things, but everything is programmed. For having reflections in
the mirror we don't need any program. It is sufficient only if
there are some objects in front of it. If we are walking around
with a mirror and looking in it, we can see all the countryside. If
it's big or small, how it looks, color, shape, and everything. That
means the mirror has the potentiality of manifesting everything
infinitely, without depending on any kind of program.
So similarly we have our potentiality. We have infinite
potentialities. This is the meaning of Dzogchen. So, self-liberation means that having realization in a Dzogchen way is not to
depend on something like an antidote for overcoming problems
or transforming. It means just having knowledge and under
standing; that is our real nature and that is being in the state.
When we are being in that state then we are being like a mirror
and if we are really being in that state of the mirror then we have
self-liberation. If there are reflections, bad or good reflections,
for the mirror it doesn't matter. The mirror is not happy or sad, it
is only a manifestation. In that way we have self-liberation.
How can we get in that state? For that there is the Dzogchen
teaching. You can follow and learn the transmission and teach
ings, then you can become aware of that situation and you can
get in that state in the end. In Dzogchen, realization means that.
Dzogchen is the path of self-liberation and therefore is different
from Sutra and Tantra teaching.
Dzogchen teachings were developed in Tibet and are some
thing like the essence of all traditions and schools. In all tradi
tions and schools there are many, many Dzogchen practitioners
but Dzogchen has not been developed like the monastic struc
tures. In Tibet there are many powerful and gigantic monaster
ies, but monasteries are not very much a part of the Dzogchen
tradition. In the monasteries, though, there are many Dzogchen
practitioners. Sometimes good practitioners, monks who are
practicing Dzogchen, escape from the monasteries and go to
live in the mountains or some other places. Therefore it's very
difficult to find good practitioners of Dzogchen; they are not
presenting themselves very often like high lamas, or high teach
ers, or making wonderful presentations. Some Dzogchen prac
titioners are living like farmers in the countryside and some are
living like ordinary people. There are some very elegant practi
tioners in monasteries, for example the famous 5th Dalai Lama
was a great Dzogchen practitioner and even though he was a
great Dzogchen practitioner he integrated into his position as
the Dalai Lama. He became the king of Tibet and head of all the
Gelugpa traditions of that period. There are so many aspects to
Dzogchen practitioners. For example, one of my root teachers
is called Changchub Dorje and he is a very important Dzogchen
master, but in his life he was not considered a very important
Dzogchen master because he lived very simply. He lived in a
small village; he was not a monk; he dressed like the country
people in a very normal way, and he was a doctor. Most people
went to him to get medicine and because they thought he was a
good doctor, not a teacher of Dzogchen. Only a few people
knew he was a great teacher of Dzogchen and they followed
him. That is an example. There are many Dzogchen practition
ers everywhere.
If you are a practitioner there is no need to show anything.
There is a Dzogchen Tanna that says the Dzogchen teaching
will live and develop for a future time when people live in a
more hurried way, and there is no time and place to do practice
or study. In this case, for example, the Sutra teaching, etc., will
slowly, slowly disappear. Even though these other forms disap
pear, Dzogchen will remain until the end of the world. We have
this explanation in the Dzogchen texts and this is because we do
not have that much to do outside. Knowledge and understand
ingthat is what is communicated. This is the difference
between Dzogchen and other traditions.
Transcribed and edited by Naomi Zeit:

THE

MIRROR

APR

IL/M

AY

199

His Holiness Sakya Trizin

will give teachings on the Zhenpa Zhidral
(Beyond the Four Attachments)
and the Initiation of Vajra Kilaya
June 25-28,1998 at Merigar

H i s
THE

D A L A I

L A M A

IN

M A S S A C H U S E T S
A

tion of Tantras), and the

H. Sakya Trizin was
'Lamdre'. As well as
bom
in Tsedong.
holding the three main
Southern Tibet in 1945. He
Sakya lineages of Sakya,
is descended from the
Tsar and Ngor. H . H .
Khon royal family, one of
Sakya Trizin holds the
the most ancient Tibetan
complete teachings of
spiritual families, and is the
both the Iron Bridge and
forty-first in an unbroken
Great Perfection lineages
lineage of lamas that
of Nyingma, given by
stretches back to 1073 A D .
Drupchen Rinpoche and
He is the head of the Sakya
Jamyang Khyentse Rin
tradition, and the title
VIKRAMAS1LA FOUNDATION poche respectively. He is
'Sakya
Trizin'
means
also holder of the Lamdre
"Holder of the Throne of
teachings, which cover the Hinayana,
Sakya'. He became the head of the Sakya at
Mahayana and Mantrayana paths. He has
the age of seven upon the death of his father,
founded numerous monasteries throughout
and has received an intensive training in the
India and East Asia, and established his seat in
study and practices of the Sakya tradition.
exile at Rajpur, U . P. India, near to which he
While still a child, he completed a sevenfounded Sakya College, the school of higher
month retreat.
philosophical studies where training is given in
Amongst his main teachers were: Jamyang
logic, philosophy and psychology. He is fluent
Khyentse Chokyi Lodro, Ngawang Lodro
in English, and since 1974 he has made several
Shenpen Nyingpo. Chogye Trichen Rinpoche,
world tours teaching in Europe, the U S A and
and Khenpo Appey Rinpoche.
Southeast Asia.
In 1959, at the age of fourteen, he left Tibet
The retreat will start on June 25th at 10 am.
during the Chinese military takeover and went
The cost is Lit. 200.000 with discounts for
to India. He then studied with H . E . Chogye
members. A child-minding service is available
Trichen Rinpoche. who instructed him on the
on request.
Rime collections, the 'Gyude Kundu' (Collec-

The World Festival of Sacred Music was

designed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
with the intention to create a meaningful way
to welcome the new millennium. Clearly our
20th century society is laden with disharmony
and strife. Even though science and technolo
gy have impacted society with great benefit.
His Holiness feels that by drawing on the pro
found self expression of music, we can find a
way to help encourage unity and harmony on
our planet. Therefore His Holiness has creat
ed the idea of the Sacred Music Festival as a
tool to help alter our limited world view to
one of universal responsibility.

H O L I N E S S

W o r l d
of

PUBLIC TALK,

M A Y 9TH

BRANDIS UNIVERSITY - GOSMAN CENTER

SOUTH STREET
W A L T H A M , MASSACHUSETTS, U S A
FOR INFORMATION C A L L :

(617)423-6398
(617)423-6000

HIS

H O L I N E S S

IN

M A D I S O N ,

W I S C O N S I N

M A Y 13TH
F R E E PUBLIC T A L K

6:30 PM
K O H L AUDITORIUM

CONTACT: (608)262-1440

M A Y 13TH, 14TH AND 15TH

L A M R I M TEACHINGS AND AVALOKITESHVARA EMPOWERMENT
D A N E COUNTY EXPOSITION CENTER

CONTACT: (608)262-1440

Festival

Sacred

M u s i c

have been entrusted with the task of trying to

make the concept into a workable reality. It is
an ambitious and exciting project. It has cap
tured the imagination of many who would be
willing to give their time and talents to make
this a truly global event.

The initial planning of the global Festival

of Sacred Music envisages five major festi
vals on five continents in October and

November 1999. Europe, America, Africa

Sponsored by Tibet House. The Cultural Center of
and Australia will host 30 to 40 groups who
His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Trie Foundation for Universal Responsibility
will participate both from the host continent
of His Holiness the Dalai Lama
and outside, each festival opening with the
chanting of a special group of 100 Tibetan
(The following is an edited version of a
monks. The Grande Finale, the Asian Festi
tinents of the world drawing energy from the
indigenous and tribal traditions. His Holiness
publication of Tibet House. New Delhi. India)
val, will be held in India with the participation
songs of the shamans of the northern region to
felt music would articulate most eloquently
of some 50 to 60 groups. His Holiness the
the earth worshipping sounds of the Australian
the messages of peace and harmony towards
e are on the threshold of a new millen
Dalai Lama will inaugurate all the festivals,
aborigines to Christian hymns of praise to the
humanity, the earth, and underline the univer
nium. In three brief years, this century
blessing each continent with his presence.
Gospel music of the African Americans.
sal responsibility we all carry.
will end and a new century will dawn.
A Core Secretariat has already set up at
Tibet House, the Cultural Center of His
The original concept of the Festival of
Humanity will enter the new millennium
Tibet
House and the Continental Commit
Holiness the Dalai Lama, and His Holiness'
sacred Music has now crystallized into a glob
with hopes and aspirations: for the welltees are in the process of being constituted.
Foundation for Universal Responsibility,
al festival that will be held in all the major con
being of future generations, for
The Global Organizing Com
an end to conflicts, and for the
mittees are scheduled to meet
OBJECTIVE: WHY THIS FESTIVAL?
There will be a Global Committee headed by the Direc
dawning of universal peace and
this year to plan each festival in
To usher in the new millennium and foster understand
tor of the Tibet House (The Cultural Center of His Holi
understanding.
greater detail.
ing, universal responsibility and universal harmony that is
ness the Dalai Lama) and His Holiness's Foundation for
A tentative budget has been
Yet there is a widespread
so sadly lacking at the end of the millennium.
Universal Responsibility to lay down the guidelines, and
worked out to indicate the costs
feeling of concern about the
that will be involved in putting
consequences of many actions
together this global quest for
taken during the 20th century
WORLD
FESTIVAL
OF SACRED
MUSIC
FACT
SHEET
unison. A total of 10 million US
that have created serious threats
dollars will be required, broken
to our common human heritage
oversee the whole festival. The organization of the Conti
CONCEPT/CONTENT: WHAT IS THE FESTIVAL? WHO WILL TAKE PART?
up under the four major heads:
and to the eco-system that sus
nental Committees, the chairman of which will be appoint
The festival will consist of a series of performances of
Core Secretariat: .2 Million
tains all life on our planet. What
ed by the Chairman of the Global Committee and will be a
music which will represent the world's heritage of sacred
Continental Committee: .6 M i l
is needed, above all, is the uni
member of the Global Committee.
music. This will include not only the world's major reli
lion
versal acceptance of a new
RESPONSIBILITIES: WHAT WILL THE CONTINENTAL COMMITTEES
gious traditions but that of the indigenous people's of the
vision of the ancient concept of
Continental Festivals: 6 Million
DO?
different continents as well. Appropriate contemporary
the interdependency of life, of
(4x 1.5 million)
The Continental Committees will be responsible for
expressions of sacred music will also find a place in the
the need to move from dishar
Global Festival: 2.5 Million
identifying and organizing participants both in their own
festival. The opening of each festival (see Venue below)
mony to harmony, from compe
This is a vast project that
continent as well as in the other continental Festivals.
will be blessed by the presence of His Holiness the Dalai
tition to cooperation, and from
needs the participation of many
They will be responsible for the entire organizations of
Lama and auspicious chanting by a special choir of 100
inequality to a universal access
people of goodwill from every
their continental festival including setting up of a special
Tibetan monks.
to the needs of all life for a life of
comer of the globe to share in
non-profit body (in due accordance with the laws of the
fulfillment.
CHARACTER: WHAT WILL BE THE NATURE OF THE FESTIVAL?
the effort to usher in a new mil
country where the committee is headquartered) which
The festival will not be political in nature, nor will it be
lennium. If you are interested in
It was in this context that His
will be the legal entity responsible for the festival, selec
commercial nor in fact even religious. It will be a celebra
particpating please contact:
Holiness the Dalai Lama felt
tion of venue(s), government and other sanctions, site
tion of the deepest reflections of mankind down the ages
Tibet House
that a World Festival of Sacred
arrangements, hospitality, etc. Each Committee will also
with a view to inspiring us to create a saner and better
Music would be an appropriate
1 Institutional Area, Lodhi Rd.,
be responsible for fund - raising, not only for the Conti
world in the millennium.
and meaningful way of ushering
New Delhi, 110 003, India
nental Festival of their particular Continent but also for
in the new millennium.
T c l : 9 l 11461-1515
VENUE(S): WHERE WILL THE FESTIVAL TAKE PUCE?
the Global Festival( it is expected that 67% fund raised
There has been a yearning
Fax: 91 11462-5536 or
The festival will take place in the continents of Europe,
will be used for the Continental Festival and 33% for the
for self-realization, for harmony
The Shang Shung Institute of
America, Africa. Australia and Asia. The first four will be
Global Festival).
and unison that has found
America
the Continental Festivals, satellite events, leading up to the
PROGRAMS: WHEN WILL THE FESTIVAL TAKE PUCE?
expression in art, literature and,
PO Box 277, Conway, M A
fifth which will be the main or Global Festival. While each
The Festival is scheduled to take place over the
most profoundly, music. Draw
01341
Continental Festival will have predominantly the music of
months of October and November 1999. The festivals arc
ing on this expression of man's
Tel: 413.369-4928
that continent, there will also be a representation from the
scheduled in the following order: Europe (7 days), Africa
most innermost reflections from
Fax; 413 369 4165
other continents as well.
(3 days), The Americas (5 days), Australia (3 days),
different parts of the world,
Email;
ORGANIZATION: WHO WILL ORGANIZE THE FESTIVAL?
Global (7 days).
major religious as well as
SSIUSA@cotnpuNcrvc.com

A Global Quest for Unison

Lives

of the Great

Masters

under control. Practicing in this

way he made a living experience of
the Nyingthig Teachings for seven
years, bringing instant presence to
its full measure. Meditating on the
Body of Phowa Chenmo, he
brought three thousand persons to
the apex of the gradual Buddhist
method. To teach the Dharma to the
king, he transformed himself into a
being with nine heads and twelve
hands holding canopies and rode a
lion around the cemetery. For thir
teen years he even practiced riding a
Garuda with himself transformed
into a lionLater Vimalamitra copied the
most secret books three times in the
Rabtu Nangjed Cemetery. He gave
one copy to the King of the Nagas
who inhabits the extensive goldensand lake in the western region of
Orgyan. Offering a prayer for the
benefit of fortunate humans who
would come in the future, he hid it
so that it was invisible.
Another copy of the books he
left with the Dakinis at the over
hanging rock called Sergiling on the
outskirts of the town Regden in the
rough terrain of Kashmir. Leaving
the books with them for the benefit
of subsequent fortunate humans, he
sealed them with the stamp and
mark of the Dharma Master and
made them disappear.

The Story ofVimalamitra

by Jim Valby

This hagiography of Vimalami

tra is adapted from Longchenpa's
account in his "rdzogs chen snying
thig gi lo rgyus chen mo rin po
che". The story of Vimalamitra s
birth, education, and meetings with
his Dzogchen Masters Shrisingha
and Jnanasutra was presented in
Mirror issues #42 & #43.
Then the learned Vimalamitra
lived for twenty years in the East
Indian town Kamaru in a temple of
King Senge Zangpo. He resided in
a bamboo summerhouse without
food or clothes in order to accumu
late the prerequisites for the king.
And the king, with the sustaining
power of his learned teacher, natu
rally practiced meditation and
obtained the most excellent ser
vants, enjoyments, and so on. Even
his kingdom enjoyed a bounty of
good fortune.
Then King Dharmapala of the
West Indian town Bigyal requested
Vimalamitra to teach Dharma.
Vimalamitra taught some Dharma
to this Western Buddhist king so
that he could acquire the prerequi
sites.
Five hundred miles due north of
Bigyal was the Rabtu Nangjed
Cemetery. Vimalamitra lived in an
iron stupa called Nampar Gyalwar
Khorwa Jig in the middle of a milelong meadow amidst a very dense
forest. The tiers were built from
copper, precious stones, and gold,
and the anthers of the jeweled lotus
were made from bamboo. The bot
tle-shaped section was made from
sky-blue jewels and the upper part
of the pillar was made by sorcery.
The circular section was made from
thirteen different kinds of jewels
and the parasol was formed by the
unified intertwining of various jew
els. The sun, moon, and flame
shone in great natural purity.
Near the side of the Stupa was a
water course in which young Nagas
washed themselves. To the south
were figures of worldly gods com
pletely encircled with bamboo

stalks and railings.Within the

fenced area was a small mandalalike turquoise-blue lake with a yel
low film of gold dust. Here the yel
low king of the Nagas, Sasrung,
lived inside his straw tent with a
mountain-blue awning. The pre
cious wish-fulfilling gem was cen
tered amidst seven menacing
snake-heads upon his head. He held
a bottle and a snake in his two
hands, rode a green sea demon, and
was attended by eight families of
Nagas whose duty it was to contin
ually harass sentient beings.
Some Dakinis in the cemetery
shook their blood-red hair and wore
animal horns. Others, wearing a full
complement of headdress jewels
and carrying human corpses in their
hands, rode bronze beasts. Others,
wearing Garuda feathers on their
white faces, held jeweled flasks
filled with gems in their hands, and
rode tigers. Others, with the filthy
hair of demonesses, rode on infants
and young men. Innumerable oth
ers held pale-white animal canopies
and made all kinds of noises. By
their own power, uncountable oth
ers congregated there amidst the
corpses eating human flesh, drink
ing blood, gnawing on bones, and
eating lungs, hearts, intestines, and
other organs, there were also innu
merable beasts of prey like tigers
and lions. Even the plentiful
winged creatures, such as herons
and falcons, were only desirous of
flesh and blood.
Day and night, Vimalamitra
engaged in one-pointed practice on
his path of yogic discipline. He
would practice riding a lion while
holding a trident, riding a buffalo
while holding a human corpse aloft
as a banner, and riding an elephant
carrying a red dagger. He also rode
a jackal holding swords in his two
hands and rode different birds, such
as falcons and owls, while holding
two canopies in his hands.
Once he changed his body color
and clothes and brought the Dakinis

The third copy of the books

remained in the bamboo summerhouse in the cemetery. These funda
mental explanations were present to
help the Dakinis who lived there to
clear their obscurations. Because
these books remained there, time
and again the children of the gods
offered clouds of praise. Cymbals
resounded, different kinds of flow
ers rained down, and many different
stanzas of "good luck" resounded in
the brilliant sky. As well, the king of
the Nagas and the demons soared
through the sky, trees were decorat
ed with flowers, fruits, and leaves,
and it rained various jewels. So with
the natural blessings of these infalli
ble ultimate instructions, in this
region and its surroundings, the
continuity of disagreeable things
like disease and desire was inter
rupted in all directions. Greed and
craving left the cemetery.
The unfailing Dakinis emanated
from the radiant clouds and demi
gods became learned in the meth
ods of behavior. A l l the Dakinis
became educated in purifying those
who need training and all bowed
before this Sacred Practitioner who
was engaged in the glorious prac
tice.
At this time in the Indian town
Kapilavastu, the Dharma Protector,
King Indrabhuti the Younger, an
embodiment of Lord Maitreya,
lived in a temple with five hundred
pandits. The most learned and
accomplished from among these,
Vimalamitra - a special kind of
transformative being - had lived and
taught in the temple for sixty years.
At the same time in Tibet, King
Trisrong Detsen, an embodiment of
the Bodhisattva Manjusri, had built
the massive and glorious Samye
Temple and was propagating the
Holy Dharma.
Tingzin Zangpo remained in
contemplation for seven years and
seven months in the temple. Having
completely purified his fleshy eye,
he could see all four continents
simultaneously. This great priest of
the Myang family advised the king
with these words:
"Your Majesty! In the Indian
town Kapilavastu. King Indrabhuti
has five hundred pandits residing in
his temple. If you invite the one
learned in the goal-oriented Guhya-

BOOK REVIEWS
T H E TIBETAN ART OF
PARENTING
Anne Hubbett Maiden and
Edie Farwell
Wisdom Publications 1997
185 pp.

The title of the book is The

Tibetan Art of Parenting. It is not
called a way, a method, or a skill.
Parenting is described as an art
form. Art is something that
emerges from a creative core. How
does that concept arise within the
Tibetan culture and how does it
make the Tibetan way of life so
special, so different?
The two authors Anne Hubbett
Maiden and Edie Farwell have trav
eled to live in Tibetan communities
in India to observe the spiritual, cul
tural, and folkloric aspects of
Tibetan parenting. They have taken
great care to gather information that
gives true insight and is rich in
inspiration to the art of parenting
wherever children, newborn babies
and parents may be.
Both authors help preserve and
document a body of knowledge
that might be in danger of getting
lost as Tibetan people have reset
tled far from their homeland. Cus
tom and habits that stem from the
highlands fit differently in the
strong heat of southern India or
in the city of Seattle.
What the authors have discov
ered though, is that much of what
makes Tibetan parenting so unique
is still preserved. The respect and
reverence for the Buddha nature in
each child is at the core of Tibetan
family life. The Tibetan Art of Par
enting describes the process of
maintaining that awareness of the
spiritual presence within the child
and within the parent in everyday
moments The art is to remain con
nected. Consciousness permeates
all the different chapters of the
book: Preconception, Conception,
Gestation,
Birthing,
Bonding,
Infancy and Early Childhood.
In the beautifully illustrated
book, with endearing photographs
of parents, grandparents and chil
dren, one finds quotes from ancient
texts like the Ambrosia Heart
Tantra, references to the work of a
number of well known Tibetan doc
tors like Dr. Lobsang Dolma, with
quotes from her work Lectures on
Tibetan Medicine and her daugh
ter's (Rinchen Dolma Tsering) book
Daughters of Tibet.
They make reference to the
work of Dr.Yeshi Donden on obstet
rics and offer quotes from the work
of Prof. Namkhai Norbu from his
Introduction to Tibetan Medicine
called On Birth and Life surround
ing the description of the three
phases of human growth in the
womb: the fish phase, the turtle
phase and the pig phase.
As H . H . the Dalai Lama states in
his foreword:
"It is in our own interest to cre
ate a world of love, justice and
equality, for without a sense of uni
versal responsibility our existence

and survival are at a perilous

precipice. The qualities to create
such a world must be inculcated
right from the beginning when a
child is young. We cannot expect
our generation or the new genera
tion to make the change without
basic foundation. If there is any
hope it is in the future."
Just reading the stories told
about the families chosen to
describe the Tibetan way of parent
ing holds a hope and a good feeling
about the future of the people living
their life with that inner sense of
karma, past and future lives.
The spiritual aspect of life gives
the book its depth and is its true
richness. The Tibetan Art of Parent
ing describes fundamental Tibetan
medical concepts and numerous
techniques and treatments for spe
cific conditions for both the mother
and child. There is a fascinating
description of the development of
the fetus according to a classic
Tibetan text. It is interesting to note
the treasure spirituality brings to
medicine and vice versa; how medi
cine and science have in some cases
modified
an
ancient
belief.
Colostrum, the initial lactating fluid
from the mother's breast after child
birth was considered to be toxic
(impure) by belief, yet, according to
science we now know that it holds
precious antibodies from the moth
er for the newborn. According to the
book it appears that these changes
are readily accepted by Tibetans.
A story is being told about a
young Tibetan mother. Palmo, who
had lost a child under tragic circum
stances. A stillbirth. The mother
used all the coping tools to find
peace after her loss she remem
bered the law of karma and re
incarnation; she found solace in
mantra and meditation. Our culture
needs these reminders of choices
other than guilt and despair when
there is loss especially of a little
one.
There is a beautiful description
of Palmo, a year later, giving birth
to a baby boy. We are invited to part
take in the whole sense of spiritual
dimension throughout the arrival of
the new family member.
The description of how the newbom babies are being shielded from
too many external influences
how rituals and practice keeps them
sheltered speaks well to the intu
ition encountered in mothers with
their two week old babies in the
supermarket and feel that intuitive
protective sense for the baby. The
description of the bonding time
with all the family members is ten
der, as well as the description of the
Grandmother teaching the toddler
the first gestures of spiritual respect
in a temple. The setting resonates
with the Dalai Lama's statement
that if there is any hope it is in the
children and the future.
Tibetan tradition fully express
es the reverence for the sacred
nature of newborns and rooted in
the understanding that many diffi
cult moments in life turn to be
teachers in the human evolution
towards all encompassing wisdom.
This is a good book for many peo
ple: mothers, nurses, midwifes,
young people thinking of having a
family and health care providers.
Anyone, really anyone, involved in
birth or being bom.
by Verena Smith

Book Reviews continued on next page

ctmtiMted on page 14
THE

MIRROR

APRIL

MAY

199S

BOOK REVIEWS
SWEET ON M Y LIPS
THE LOVE POEMS OF
MIRABAI
Louise
Landes-Levi
Cool Grove Press, NY
1997. 91 pp

Among poets universally there

prevails a passionate tradition of
the poet as the 'outsider.' Defying
cultural particulars, this tradition
boldly asserts even beyond the cat
aclysmic "rise and fall of civiliza
tions" to coin Herodotus' famous
epithet. While entire civilizations
may come and go, with the names
of its despots, warlords, local
heroes and heroines lost for naught,
mere fragments of verse have sur
vived centuries as fresh utterance.
Such was the case for Mirabai,
the 16th century Ragistani princess
who's songs are still sung today in
an unbroken lineage of bhakti yoga
or devotional love throughout the
sub-continent of India, strangely
immune to ancient rivalries of
caste, religion and tribe.
Much has been made of
Mirabai's 'outsider' qualities by
contemporary Western translators
of her work, drawn, no doubt, from
the biographical details of her life
her abandonment of court
intrigues in favor of the life of a
wandering sadhu, the subsequent
perils and attempts on her life by
her politically motivated in-laws,
and her uncompromising determi
nation as a devotee of Krishna. "If
I cannot write a letter/How shall I
touch his lotus feet?"
For those of us long familiar
with the work of Louise LandesLevi, a translator and scholar of
Mira's devotional work, it might
seem that she herself embraces the
'outsider' principle with great vig
or assuming the persona of what
Zen poet, Jane Hirschfield likens
as a "person of no rank" in her
recent article on poetics in the
American Poetry Review ( A P R
Vol. 25 #3). In a poem dedicated to
the obscure German poet Else
Lasker-Schuler (1869-1945) in
Louise's most recent collection,
The House Lamps Have been Lit,
ui....she writes "Siamo Uguali"
(we are the same), of the poet who
died homeless and abandoned,
most of her work destroyed by the
Nazis. However, in my estimate,
what makes these translations of
Mirabai so remarkable is not so
much this simpatico recognition
among poets across time and
space, but that for the first time
these poems are rendered in the
context of their original transmis
sion by one who is herself an initi
ate, tantric practitioner, and acarya
of poetics. In her preface to Sweet
on My Lips, she writes, "The aes
thetic formulae are manifestations
of enlightened mind and methods
of realization. The subtle body on
mantra empowers the verse
raising the poet and the poetry to
its own level, in much the same
way that Krishna draws Radha (or

L A H A U L - L A D A K H

(continued from page 5)

WITH S E Y RINPOCHE

(NGAWANG G E L E K NAMGYAL)
21 days - July 1 - 2 1 , 1 9 9 8
Pilgrimage & Teaching Retreat
in the "Land of the Dakini"

prakrit, the relative state where we

live) with a knowledge of the nondual state or absolute."
Whenever possible Louise uses
the original Sanskrit word instead
of the currently fashionable prefer
ence for English vernacular. This is
in keeping with her affiliation with
the
methods
of
translation
espoused by Rene Daumal. Twenty
years ago she wrote in her intro
duction
to
Daumel's
Rasa
(NDP350, P.2), "In Sanskrit the
word is not only a tool of poetic
expression, but it is in its esoteric
usage, the poet's mirror and the
mirror of the gods. The Sanskrit
alphabet is a sacred formula whose
function is, in addition to the com
plexity of its own compositional
forms, the direct reflection of the
sacred world and its powers."
While these translations of Mira's
poems may at times express more
formality in comparison to the
more upbeat popular translations
by
Robert B l y or Andrew
Schelling, the use of the original
Sanskrit infuses the poems with
possibility to connect with the
bhakti experience itself.

Sey Rinpoche, the reincarnation of Pema Chgyal, is the son of

Apho Rinpoche and the great-grandson of Togden Shakya Shri,
one of the greatest yogis of this century.
Together with Sey Rinpoche during the pilgrimage we will visit
sacred places empowered by the presence of great yogis such as
the mahasiddhas Padmasambhava and Ghandapa.
Some of the places we will visit include Tso Pema (Himachal
Pradesh), and Keylong (Lahaul) close to Mount Drilburi. Then Great Grandfather Shakya Shh
we will continue on to Ladakh where we will visit Alchi, famous
for its temple frescoes, the marvelous monastery of Hemis and
Gotsang hermitage which has a particular connection with Gyalwa Gotsangpa.
The heart of the pilgrimage will be a five day retreat with Sey Rinpoche in the "Land of the Dakini" at the
foot of Mount Drilburi which is sacred to the mahasiddha Ghandapa. Sey Rinpoche will give teachings on
Mahamudra and instructions on the practice of Phowa.
During the pilgrimage Sey Rinpoche will lead daily sessions of meditation.
Further information is available from:
Giorgio Dallorto

Rita Renzi

c/o Merigar, 58031 Arcidosso GR,

Via S. Filippo 12/b, 58031 Arcidosso GR.

Italy

Italy

Tel. 0039 564967390

Tel. 0039 564967705

Fax 0039 564 966608

email:artha@dueffe.it

Advertisement
the Art of Translation. ' The transla
tor also provides an exhaustive
bibliography, commentaries, pho
tos, musical notations, and not the
least, many relevant references to
her own relationship with her mas
ter Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche.

Included in this publication are

a number of erudite and exquisite
ly written essays on the music,
tantric origins, and methods of
translation. Among the most fasci
nating is a first hand account of the
translator's journey to India and
her initial introduction to the very
lineage of the original poems in
'On the Sacred Word, Poetry, and

is a treasure well known to all of

us in the Dzogchen Community.
She is as at home in a number of
European cities as the streets of
New
York's lower East Side
where we've shared many a meal.
The strains of her Seranghi hint at
familiarity with other dimensions
as well. Her humor is legendary
as are her intricate survival strate
gies and amazing trans-continen
tal correspondence. A n d always
her words are sweet on our lips.

I'm
very happy that Cool
Grove Press has at long last
brought this important work to
fruition by publishing it. A s a
poet, scholar, translator, musi
cian/performer, and practitioner
in our midst, Louise Landes-Levi

Jacqueline Gens

ASTROLOGY

Jhampa was one of the fust western

monks in the Tibetan tradition. Since
1970 he lived in India learning the
Tibetan language and in 1980 entered
the traditional 3 yearretreat.Your astrol
ogy chart is interpreted from a Buddhist
perspective. It will draw on the wisdom
of the East to help you gain insights into
yourself and your life's direction.
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THE SHANG SHUNG INSTITUTE OF AMERICA IS PLEASED TO PRESENT:

F O U N D A T I O N
T I B E T A N

C O U R S E I N

M E D I C I N E
Taught

Part one of a three

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by

Dr.

T h b t e n

Phuntsog
from Tibet

The Foundation
will address the
prevention and
ment of disease
ing to Tibetan rri
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urriculum will include:

ntroduction to the
lements (space,
fire and water)
2ntroduction to the
firreEspects
(channels,
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The three year _

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ethods and rules for

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THE DATES OF THE FOUNDATION

COURSE FOR THIS FIRST YEAR ARE:
WEEK I

Monday MAY 18 to
Saturday MAY 23,1998
OR
Monday JUNE 16 to
Saturday JUNE 20, 1998

WEEK II

THE

Monday JUNE 22 to
Saturday JUNE 27,1998

FEE:

WEEK I $425.00
WEEK I & II $850.00
$100 deposit required to reserve your place.

EARLY REGISTRATION: $400 per week

Postmarked by:
April 26 (for the May 18 course): $400
OR
May 18 (for the June 15 course): $400
May 18 (for week I & II): $800

18 Schoolhouse Road, Conway, MA

PO Box 277, Conway, MA 01341 USA

SHANG SHUNG INSTITUTE,

Mail to:

Tel: 413 369-4928 Fax: 413 369-4165 e-mail:103026.2364@compuserve.com

CEU's and CME's: The Shang Shung Institute is applying for continuing educatoli cretfts for professionals and students.

Course o f Tibetan M e d i c i n e
in

M e r i g a r
by Marina Micelli

n February 2nd the three year course on Tibetan Medicine organized by the Istituto
Shang Shung began. The principal lecturer for the course was Dr. Thubten Phuntsog, who comes
from East Tibet and is a professor at the Department of Tibetan Studies at the Central University
of Nationalities in Beijing, China. Dr. Phuntsog was invited by Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche to
hold this course and, for this year, he will remain at Merigar until the beginning of April. Besides
his lectures, the doctor is preparing a text on Tibetan medicine to be used during the course and
which will be used, along with the lessons, to prepare for the exams.
Dr. Phuntsog condensed the first year of studies into fifteen days and taught at a very brisk
rate. The lessons were translated from Tibetan into Italian by Elio Guarisco, who also left little
breathing space to those following the course with his fast and immediate translations taking
meticulous care that the meaning of the terms was not changed in translation. The lectures were
recorded both on audio and video cassette, in Italian and English, thanks to the simultaneous
translation of Elisa Copello. They are available from the Istituto Shang Shung for those who are
unable to follow the first y ear of lectures.
This first year course, attended by twenty-seven students from Italy and other European
countries, regarded the Physical Condition and its Pathological Changes and covered the follow
ing subjects: the History of Tibetan Medicine, the Principle of the Four Elements and the Three
Humours, the Symbolic Trees of the Root Tantra, General Physiology, the Blood Vessels and the
Connecting Channels, the Vital Breath and the Generative Essences, the Metaphors and the Pro
portions of the Human Body, Human Categories, Physical Decline and Pathology.
During the lectures, Dr. Phuntsog was always very clear even though the topics were, at
times, very complex and from the beginning of the course demonstrated his expertise not only as
a doctor but also as a scholar. In fact, he explained the causes and the reasons that led to different
interpretations of the Tantras of Tibetan medicine in the existing commentaries, some of which
are very well-known such as the "Blue Beryl", and step by step he underlined various points of
the history of medicine, therapeutic methods, embryology, etc., in which erroneous interpreta
tions and/or translations are found, as well as in the Western texts on Tibetan medicine.
Speaking about the history of medicine he emphasized the importance that the uninterrupted
transmission from master to disciple has had and continues to have in keeping the medical teach
ing alive. He said that the origins of Tibetan medicine go back to the Bn period preceding the
arrival of Buddhism in Tibet and only many centuries later, came together with the systems of
medical knowledge coming from China, India, Nepal and Persia. Even the theory of the four ele
ments derives from the ancient concepts of the Bn.
Knowledge of Tibetan medicine, he stated, derives from empirical knowledge accumulat
ed during the course of centuries and from deductive logic. The experiences and clarity linked
to the development of spiritual practice have helped to identify curative properties which were
not recognized by logical procedures. Some medicines have certainly been identified in this
way although it is not a general rule. In this way the doctor attributed a scientific nature to a
form of medicine which risks being too mixed with mysticism when it is identified with the
Buddhist teaching.
Dr. Phuntsog outlined all the subjects that would be dealt with in the three year course of
Tibetan medicine by means of the classical method of the symbolic trees with their two trunks of
health and illness, the two hundred and twenty-four leaves, two flowers and three fruit. It is much
easier and more interesting to make a journey when one has a map even if, at a certain point, all
of us hoped that the autumn would make the last leaves fall.
He told us that in order to recognize and cure illness first of all it is necessary to know the
body well, otherwise one is like a blind person and gets lost in the dark. Hence the importance of

Merigar's very own Alix ( 'green thumb') De Fermor visited Tibet last
summer to attend the inauguration of the Tibetan School in Dangche and
to visit the construction site of the hospital in East Tibet. On her way she
stoppedfor two weeks in Chengdu waiting for the permit to proceed. One
morning she and her traveling companion Martha Heinen had a strange
encounter.
V.-'hengdu ... early morning fresh and slightly rainy ... A t our break
fast comer in front of the Lhasa Hotel we are greatly enjoying our usual
boiled rice water and onion momos - the best thing to start a new day! This
morning I even permitted myself the luxury of a 'made in England' straw
berry jam. Everything is going smoothly when suddenly a mag
nificent mustached trout unexpectedly jumps out of his pre-culinary aquarium behind us and majestically lands on Martha's
foot, creating total confusion! "Help me, Martha!" the fish
seems to implore. "I wasn't bom to finish up in a frying pan!"
Obviously the fish is playing his last card.

The
W a l k

embryology, of physiology etc., of the subjects dealt with

in this first year.
But why is it useful to study Tibetan medicine? Dr.
Phuntsog told us that if one has a real understanding of
what is taught in the first year of the course, even if we
do not use Tibetan medicine to cure others, it will be use
ful for us as individuals because it will permit us to be
aware of our bodies and to keep them in good health.
Only in a healthy body can the two flowers of absence of
illness and long life blossom and then only from these
can the three fruits of the principles of life, riches and
Dr. Phuntsog at Merigar
happiness spring forth.
The doctor explained that illnesses such as AIDS and
other bacterial or viral illnesses should be considered not only as a consequence of external
aggression but also as a consequence of its interaction with the body constituents. So it is funda
mental that they are kept in a balanced condition by taking care of diet and behavior.
Most of the lectures were held in the Merigar Gonpa under the gaze and protection of the
Masters of all the Buddhist traditions, the Protectors of the Teaching and the mantras of libera
tion written on the roof. This fact definitely contributed to keeping the students attentive and
concentrated in spite of the many hours of lessons each day which tested the resistance of those
who were no longer used to sitting on a school bench for hours.
Besides those who were doing this course for the first time there was a small group of 'repeat
ing' students, of which the author of this article is one, who had followed the previous three year
course of medicine held at Merigar by Dr. Pasang Yonten Arya. Why did we wish to do the
course again? The answer is not easy. Tibetan medicine is not something that can be learned in
three years and so we wanted to deepen this knowledge also with lecturers who come from Tibet
rather than India and who thus represent different traditions. But this is not the final answer. A l l
the students who were repeating the course follow the teachings of Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche
and know, study and genuinely feel that Tibetan medicine can contribute to the journey that has
begun with the Teaching. It is as if, in helping to keep the body more in contact with the earth,
that Tibetan medicine allows the mind to meet less obstacles; everything finds its place and aim
and many questions find their answers.
As Tsok Nyi Rinpoche said during the Christmas; the breadth of centuries-old Tibetan medi
cine has acquired wisdom and balance. This wisdom and balance are perceived and acquired in
greater or lesser quantity according to the capacity of the individual, of he or she who has the
luck to come into contact with it. I think that this is the ultimate reason which has made Tibetan
medicine so fascinating.
For those who came to Merigar for the first time for this course, I hope that Merigar may con
tinue to see them for many many years.
Dr. Thubten Phuntsog was born in 1955 in the area ofPelpung (Dege County) in East Tibet,
in afamily linked to the second Kongtrul, Pelden Khyentze Ozer.
From the age of six until he was twenty he privately studied various subjects such as medicine,
poetry, astrology, history and Buddhist logic and philosophy with some of the masters affiliated to
Pelpung Monastery. In particular he studied traditional Tibetan medicine with Yonten Phuntsog
who was the personal doctor to the second Kongtrul.
From 1975 to 1982 he practiced Tibetan medicine in the hospitals ofPelpung. From 1982
to 1986 he deepened his knowledge at the Dege Institute of Tibe tan Studies (currently situat
ed in Darzendo).
From 1986 until the present he has held two posts: the first that of doctor and professor of
Tibetan Studies at the Tibetan Department of the Central University of Nationalities where,
amongst various subjects, he teaches literature, philosophy, medicine, poetry and astrology:
the second that of professor at the medical department at the Institute of Tibetan Studies in
Sichuan province.
Dr. Thubten is the author of various publications in Tibetan including: The Gram
mar of Tibetan Language, Calculations for the System of the Tibetan Lunar Calendar,
History of Tibet, The Six Yogas of Naropa, and numerous articles on Tibetan history,
medicine and literature.

L o n g
o f the

Chinese

Fish

by Alix De Fermor

With a lot of trouble because the fish is as slippery as a bar of

soap we finally manage to grab it and put it back in the aquari
um. But... the karmic link has been established: Martha, deeply
moved by the desperate attempt of the fish decides then and
there to save it from its tragic gastronomic destiny. She resolute
ly steps out of the restaurant to buy a plastic bucket with a lid
and then buys the fish who is unwillingly housed in his new pro
visory residence. He strikes his head and tail to and fro while the
lid tempestuously rises up and down.
Martha telephones Phuntsog to find out how to say "river" in Alix in Tibet
Chinese while I try my best to contain the suicidal ardor of the
fish to the great joy of the hotel doorkeeper and the passers-by.
Martha arrives and we start the long walk towards the river through the crowds of Chinese with
our bucket and the jumping fish.
Sometimes Martha pronounces the famous key-word in her fluent Chinese though it seems
that it is not always understood. Sometimes they do indicate a direction but nonetheless we keep
on going because nothing will prevent Martha from accomplishing her mission. Her absolute
faith in the strong wind of karma will inexorably push us in the right direction. After all if faith is
enough to move mountains, surely it can lead us to some water!
The weather gets hot and humid and I suggest taking a taxi. Finally we stop a motor-rickshaw

and Martha, in her splendid Chinese gives the address once again. Our
young driver seems to be quite bright and a sporty type, racing his rick
shaw like a formula one, swerving between the taxis, cars and whatever
can be found in a Chinese street and proving that, in China, the priority
belongs to the boldest and believe it or not that it seems to work out.
The trip is a crazy experience I hang on to the bucket, teeth
clenched, trying to keep the lid on while our fish gets wilder and wilder
and water splashes all over. Martha grabs hold of me every time we
swerve in order not to lose my company. I'm afraid the fish will soon be
dry when we finally reach a bridge where a big official demonstration is
taking place. We stop the rickshaw for the procession and the band - trum
pets, drums and lots of red flags. The loudspeaker vomits a highpitched speech -1 feel I'm in the middle of a Kafka-like scene.
"Look, Martha. We can't go there in all decency with our bucket
and just drop the fish from the bridge, can we? They'll arrest us
and besides, it's too high for the fish. He will never survive the
drop!' She agrees.

The only thing left for us to do is to expose the situation to

our driver who by now, seeing us laughing to the point of tears
must be really worried about our mental health. A gentle tap on
his shoulder and a lift of the lid for a second. At the sight of the
big, by now immobile fish, the driver opens "des yeux de pois
son frit" (his fish-like eyes) and stares at Martha who. with a
wiggling gesture of her arm, explains that we want to bring it to
its natural environment. A broad smile of total understanding
illuminates his face and he nods, starts up and takes a smaller
G1ACOMELLA OROF1NO side street which ends up along the river bank. Triumphantly 1 get
up - too fast - for with a sinister crack the precious strawberry jam
crashes down. Who cares! We are near our goal now and ready to
pay any price!
I climb over the gate which separates our fish from his aquatic freedom. The bank is green
with slime and slippery. I carefully step forward as if walking on eggs. "Don't fall in the water,
my friend," chuckles Martha. That I won't do, it would be the last drop.
I gently tip the bucket and the fish swiftly and instantaneously disappears into the depths of
the yellow river. A little applause from some passers-by who have been watching the scene and
listening to the comments of our driver and it's all over!
007 and 008 return to their hotel in triumph.

THE

MIRROR

APRIL/

M AY

1998

Introduction to Tibetan Astrology

THE ORIGINS OF TIBETAN ASTROLOGY

From a lecture by Professor Thubten Phuntsog

Elemental Astrology or Jungtsi is the oldest field

of knowledge originating in Tibet. It mainly uses
three kinds of symbols: the 8 parka or trigrams, the 9
mewa or numbers and the 12 animal signs. The vari
ous combinations of these three symbols with the five
elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water, is the frame
work for astrological calculations. The parka are the oldest
astrological symbols, while the mewa, the numbers and the
animal signs are based on the trigrams.
The parka or trigrams symbolize the cycle of increase and
diminution that mies life both in the external world and within
the body once a particular realm and its inhabitants has come
into being. This cycle is determined and moves on the basis of
the combination of the elements so that when the elements are
harmonious there is increase, when they are not in harmony
diminution, culminating in disintegration, begins.
The origin of the trigrams or parka is linked to the ancient
culture of the Bn, the pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet. Nowa
days, astrological calculations based on the parka are common
practice in all the new schools of Tibetan Buddhism, such as
the Gelug, the Sakya and the Kagyu as well as in the ancient
Nyingma school. Modifying their terminology to suit the Bud
dhist frame of thought and language, these schools also adopt
ed many rituals of the pre-Buddhist Bn culture - for example
the rituals of the gtos, the mdos, the yas and the glud as well as
the ritual of the sang (during which juniper and other fragrant
herbs are burned for different purposes, including the propitia
tion of local deities).

First part of a weekend seminar at Merigar, 21-22 February, 1998

most parts of the world, people refer to the days of the week,
Sunday, Monday etc., with the names of the planets. Of course
different languages uses different words for the planets, but
they clearly refer to the same thing; for example, in English we
say "Sunday", in Tibetan, Za nyi ma, or 'the sun day or planet'.
In elemental astrology the days are also associated with the
elemental properties, for example Sunday with Fire, Monday
with Water, Tuesday with Fire, Wednesday with Water, Thurs
day with Wood, Friday with Metal and Saturday with Earth.
Before the people of Tibet had a written language they indicat
ed the days of the week with symbols. For example in Tibet
Sunday was symbolized by a drawing of a sun, Monday by the
moon, Tuesday by an eye, Wednesday by a hand, Thursday by a
wooden purba or three bladed wooden dagger, Friday by a
sword or trident and Saturday by a penis.
Now let us see how the Bn texts explain the origin of the
parka by means of a mythological tale which represents the
process of the formation of the world in eight stages: 1. the
stage in which the pure part of the elements manifested as
space; 2. the stage in which the impure part of the elements
manifested as earth; 3. the stage in which the mountain arose to
connect space and earth; 4 . the stage in which the wind through
the stony valleys of the mountain arose; 5. the stage in which
fire was produced by the movement of the wind; 6. the stage in
which the meeting of wind and fire brought about the rain; 7.
the stage in which wood or the tree arose, based on the interac
tion of wind, fire, water and earth.

But despite such wide and conscious appropriation from

the Bn culture, there was a time in Tibetan history when the
culture and the followers of Bn were widely persecuted by the
Buddhists mainly for political reasons.
Since most of the Tibetans were fond of Bn rituals and
often took recourse to them, the newly introduced Buddhist
culture had no choice but to assimilate them in some way. In
this process of assimilation, unwilling to acknowledge the Bn
origin of elemental astrology and other rites, they considered
the elements of astrology and rites resembling those found in
the Indian culture to have been imported from India, while
those resembling the Chinese culture to have been imported
from China.

long hair, dressed in black, holding a leather ball full

of water in his hand and riding a black pig.
7. Then from the interaction of the fire and wind
arose the rain which fell thus originating the trigram
Zi/i symbolized by the tree. The trigram Zin is repre
sented by the grand-daughter who is greenish in col
or, dressed in green silk, riding a green donkey, with her hands
crossed on her chest and holding a plant.
8. Through the function of the element fire which melted the
earth, its pure essence, metal (gold, silver, copper, etc.), mani
fests, associated with the trigram Da. The trigram Da is the
youngest son of the old father and the old mother and he is rep
resented by a young warrior wearing a helmet and armor, hold
ing a sword and a lance in his hands and riding a goat.
Therefore making a brief summary - the first trigram,
Khen, is the father, Khon is the mother, Ghin is the elder son,
Zon is the elder daughter, Li is the younger daughter, Da is
the younger son, Kham is the grand-son and Zin is the grand
daughter.
According to the tale, the trigrams Kham and Zin came
about in this way. The elder son, Ghin wishing to find a bride,
circled Mount M e n i , the 'axis mundis' three times in a clock
wise direction; Zon, with the same wish circled the ocean
three times in a counter clockwise direction. The two of them
met in the midst of a vortex of wind in the country called srin
po gdudg pa can gyiyul, which means 'the country inhabited
by wild cannibals', in a place called ye le dgung sngon or
'primordial sky'. In the midst of the vortex they did not rec
ognize each other and engaged in an incestuous relationship.
From their union was bom a son, the trigram Kham, and a
daughter, the trigram Zin.

This process as well as the outer world is symbolized by the

drawing of a golden turtle, whose head represents the direction
south.
1. The pure essence of the elements emerged from the
mouth of the turtle as vapor and transformed into the 'old father
of existence' (Sipa yab rgen), the first and most ancient trigram,
Khen, symbol of the sky. He is described as a old man with
white hair, dressed in yellow silk, riding a dog and holding a
crystal wand in his hand.
2. The impure aspects of the elements emerged as the dung
of the turtle and fell and became 'old mother of existence',
(Sipe yum rge ma) Khon, the second trigram that symbolizes the
earth. She is represented as a old lady with white hair the color
of a conch-shell, with a hundred wrinkles on her face, dressed
in white silk, holding a hoe in her right hand and a wooden stick
in her left and riding a sheep.
3. The old father and mother of existence married and from
their union came the eldest son, the third trigram, Ghin, who
symbolizes the mountain connecting sky and earth. The eldest
son is represented by a figure resembling a monk, holding a
sacred book in his hands and riding a rose-colored ox.
4. Then the wind blowing through the stony mountain val
leys gave rise to the fourth trigram called Zon. This trigram is
symbolized by the eldest daughter represented as a young
woman dressed in yellow silk, riding a dzo, and holding in her
hands a balloon-like round bag made of skin.
5. The action of the wind produced the fire element symbol
ized by the trigram Li which is represented by the youngest
daughter of the old father and mother of existence. She is rosy
in color, with a horse's head, dressed in red silk, holding a ladle
full of blood in her right hand and a torch in her left.
6. From the encounter of air and fire arose the sixth trigram
called Kham which is symbolized by the grandson of the old
father and mother and represented as a black-colored man, with

However, many astrological and ritual features were

unique to Tibet and were not found in either China or India. For
this reason they acknowledged them to have originated from or
been systematized by a historical figure called Kong tse phrul
gyi rgyal po whom the Buddhists, later on, considered to be a
manifestation of Manjusri, the bodhisattva who represents wis
dom. Since Kong tse phrul gyi rgyal po was bom 600 years
before the Buddha, it was difficult for them to call him a Bud
dhist, so they did not say that he was a Buddhist nor admitted
he was a Bnpo.
During the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries some Tibetan
scholars began to claim that the parka came from China. In the
18th century Icang skya rol pa'i rdo rje, and the Mongolian
scholar Thun bkvan cho kyi nyi ma and other scholars, mistak
enly identified Kong tse phrul gyi rgyal po with Confucius,
saying that they were one and the same person. However,
many reasons prove beyond any shade of doubt that Kong tse
phrul gyi rgyal po and Confucius were two different people.
(This topic was more fully discussed during Prof. Thubten
Phuntsog's conference at Merigar on January 17th 1998.)
In my opinion when we research the ancient origins of a
particular type of knowledge, it is hard to speak of it exclusive
ly in terms of knowledge belonging only to a particular group
of people. Astrology in particular is a very ancient discipline
which is common to many groups of peoples. For example in

This incestuous relationship was a tragedy that caused a

disturbance among various classes of non-humans, in partic
ular between the Devas and the Nagas, who became drunk
with mental confusion (because existence had been defiled
by the incestuous relationship) and coupled between them
selves thus giving birth to the Eight Classes of demons and
gods. Following this the beings of the six classes of existence
were bom, the hell beings etc., and illnesses and suffering
arose among these classes.
This suffering which struck the inhabitants of the world
came to the attention of the old father, the trigram Khen, who
called out asking what was happening. A reply came from the
sky saying that what was happening was the result of an inces
tuous rapport of the elder son with his sister and that it would be
beneficial if the family did not remain together but split up to
reside in the eight directions. L i , the younger daughter, with the
wish to re conciliate the family, approached the old father,
Khen, apologizing for the misunderstanding between the two
trigrams, Ghin and Zon which had caused the suffering trou
bling the world. The old father, however, misunderstood her
words, got angry and the problems within the family did not
come to an end so the members of the family took up residence
in the eight directions. Each one took his or her property to their
direction and these belongings (including rocks, pieces of wood
and so forth) were the very substances that, later on, became
used in the rites to pacify the damage caused by an unfavorable
combination of the elements or of the trigrams.
Finally the old mother, who was bom in the earth sheep
year, died at the age of 226 in the wood dragon year. She was
buried in the earth the following year, that of the wood
snake. A t that time there was no funerary ritual to appease
the Eight Classes and to balance the elements of the family,
and, as a consequence, the old father who was born in the
earth dog year and lived for 253 years, died the following
year, the metal pig year. In a similar fashion, as the result of
the lack of proper funerary rites, Zin, Zon and Kham suddencontinued on page 12

I N D I V I D U A L

A S T R O L O G I C A L

A S P E C T S

1998

1997

1996

1995

1994

1993

1992

1991

1990

1989

1988

1987

1986

1985

1984

1983

1982

1981

1980

EARTH
TIGER

FIRE
OX

FIRE
MOUSE

WOOD
BOAR

WOOD
DOG

WATER
BIRD

WATER
MONKEY

METAL
SHEEP

METAL
HORSE

EARTH
SNAKE

EARTH
DRAGON

FIRE
HARE

FIRE
TIGER

WOOD
Ox

WOOD
MOUSE

WATER
BOAR

WATER
DOG

METAL
BIRD

METAL
MONKEY

o o

>

o o o

o o o

> >

mm

o >

P P P

P O O

O P

P P

o >

O t

O O O

O O O

> >

P P

P O

O O

O P P

SROG

t i

LUS

P _

Q >

Q >

DBANG THANG

Q t

Q t

P P

O O

> >

LUNGRTA

O O O

O O

O O O

LH

o m

mm

o o

1959

1958

1957

1956

1955

1954

1953

1952

1951

1950

1949

1948

1947

1946

1945

1944

1943

1942

1941

EARTH
BOAR

EARTH
DOG

FIRE
BIRD

FIRE
MONKEY

WOOD
SHEP

WOOD
HORSE

WATER
SNAKE

WATER
DRAGON

METAL
HARE

METAL
TIGER

EARTH
OX

EARTH
MOUSE

FIRE
BOAR

FIRE
DOG

WOOD
BIRD

WOOD
MONKEY

WATER
SHEEP

WATER
HORSE

METAL
SNAKE

o o o

o o o

mm

o o

o o

o o o

o o o

mm

mm

SROG

om

mm

o o

o o

ms

o o

o o

om

o p -

L U N G RTA

p p

P O O

t t

O O

LH

o m

mm

o o

o o

DBANG THANG

O O O

o o

i i

O O O

O O

O O

O O O

o o o
o

o o o

mm

om

om

mm

o o

o o

o >

o t

o"

om

P P

o m

O P

P Q

P P

P P

>

O O O

O O O

mm

O O O

o o

o o o

o o o

o o

o o

o o o

o o o

o o o

o o o

o t

om

OO

O O

t t

O O

O O O

t t

O O

O O O

t t

O O

o o o

o m

mm

o o

o o

>

o o o

o o o

The Chinese Ox Prognostic for the

Earth Tiger Year 1998
27th of February 1998-16th of February 1999
by Dr. Thubten Phuntsog, Professor at the Department of Tibetan Studies at
the Central University of Nationalities in Beijing

I
he method of divination called the 'Chinese Ox Prognostic', connected to elemental
Because the color of the head of the ox is yellow, the earth element will bring damage
to the site of governments, and of those of high social status. This damage will manifest in
the first month of each season.
Because the color of the horns, the ears, the mouth and the tail of the ox are black, the
general well-being of the country will suffer.
Because the belly of the ox is yellow, the harvest will be abundant in high places and in
the valleys.
Because the legs of the of the ox are red, in the last month of each season, fire will cause
damage in the valleys and red-colored cities.
Because the mouth of the ox is open, people and cattle will reproduce in great number.
Because the tail swings to the left, the cattle of the nomads will be favored by fortune, while
humans will be rejected by it.
Because the shepherd follows after the ox, the summer will come late.
Because the shepherd, this year, is an old man, old people will be prosperous and lucky but
the young will experience problems and difficulties. In particular it will be a negative year for
children.
Because the shepherd's left and right plaits are tied at the back of his head, auspicious signs
will manifest throughout the country.
Because the dress of the shepherd is blue and his belt yellow, it indicates that this year will
yield good profits for the business man and for anyone who engages in trading; there will be no
rivals or enemies.
Because the shepherd's whip is made of wool, governments will exercise minimal decisional power and people will have the decisive say.
Because the shepherd wears his right shoe but keeps the left one attached to his belt, on the
right hip, this indicates that male energy will be more active and female energy latent and men
will thus be favored.
Because the first day of the lunar month is that of the wood boar and the oxen are three, summer will be late and as a consequence cereals will have more nutritional power.
The ox is accompanied by six dragons, an even number, therefore the amount of rain will be
suited to a good harvest.
Translation by Elio Guarisco

astrology, is a way to determine yearly events using the metaphor of an ox, a shepherd, and

dragons. In Tibet it is widely used by local farmers and nomads, however it is well known that
this prognostic gives useful advice on the nature of a particular year that is relevant to everybody on our planet. It is clear, makes use of simple words and is easy to understand.
The Ox Prognostic was introduced from China to Tibet by Situ Dharmakara (1700-1774),
the eighth in the line of incarnations of Situ Rinpoche. He first came into contact with this
method when traveling in the 'Jang region of eastern Tibet close to the Chinese border. There he
met a renowned Chinese astrologer under whom he deepened his knowledge of Astrology. At a
later date he translated two volumes of material related to astrology from the Chinese into the
Tibetan language.
It appears that in China the Ox divination was mainly used to determine government stability and instability and the situation of the family. However, in Tibet, undergoing some modification, it became interpreted mainly as an environmental prognostic to aid land cultivation and
cattle breeding in nomadic regions. In the nineteenth century Jangchen Drubpe Dorje, changed
Situ Dharmakara's system of determining the age of the shepherd accompanying the ox, from
one based on the sign of the year to one based on that of the first day of spring, thus the discrepancy between the Ox prognostic as it is presented in the calendar of Pelpung and that of Lhasa.
In ancient China the prognostic was represented in bas-relief made of clay or paper-mache;
in remote villages more simply as a drawing on paper. In Tibet it used to be affixed to the gates
of monasteries and government castles along with an explanation of it on the fifteenth day of the
first lunar month. In Tibet it soon became a widespread prognostic for the new year probably
because it could be easily understood just by looking at the drawing even if one was illiterate.
It furnishes indications concerning the quality of the harvest and of cattle breeding, business' opportunities, possible conflicts, danger of epidemics and weather conditions.

his year the prognostic, done in accordance with Kongtrul Lodro Taye' s "Compendium of
Good Explanation on White Astrology", indicates the following:
In the year 1998 because the color of the ox is green, strong winds will blow and the vegetation will flourish. Harm will not injure and diseases will not effect people or cattle although
wind-related ('lung') disorders may effect humans.

INTERPRETING

THE

ASPECTS

Srog, the life force, is the wind that maintains life. The
life force element is analyzed to determine whether there is
danger to one's life or not.
Lus, body, comprises the elements that makes up the body.
The body element is analyzed to determine whether one will
be effected by disease or not.
Dbang thang, or capacity, represents one's power to
accomplish tasks and one's potential strength. The capacity
element is analyzed to determine the fluctuations in one's
financial situation.
kLung ita, or fortune, the elemental potency that assists
the life force, the body and in particular the capacity. Fortune
is analyzed to determine the presence of enemies, conflicts,
court cases etc..
Lha is the potential of the elemental properties (air, fire
earth, water) of the body of the person.

F O R

T H E

E A R T H

1979

1978

1977

1976

1975

1974

1973

1972

EARTH
SHEEP

EARTH
HORSE

FIRE
SNAKE

FIRE
DRAGON

WOOD
HARE

WOOD
TIGER

WATER
Ox

WATER
MOUSE

O O P

O O P

O l

I I

P I

P I

P P P "

I I

p p p

i l

O l
P
P P

I
p p p

I I

P P

P P

I I

I I

P P P

P P P

P I

P P

1936

1935

1934

FIRE
OX

FIRE
MOUSE

WOOD
BOAR

WOOD
DOG

O O P '
I I

I I
I I

P I

O l

P I

O O

O O P

I I

I I

O l

P I

I I

P I

P I

" P O
"

O O

I I

O P

P I

P I

1933

1932

! WATER ! WATER
| BIRD | M O N K E Y
P P
" P P P
I I

O O

O O P

O l

I I

O O

P P
P O O
I I

I I

I
i l "

1931
METAL
SHEEP
I I
P

Q O

O O

O O

I I

' P P P

I I

P P

"" o o

p p

l i

1930

1929

METAL
HORSE

P P P
[

P O
O
O O P

O O O O O O

I I
O O
O

I I

"

1964

1963

1962

WOOD
DRAGON

WATER
HARE

WATER
TIGER

1 1

P I

C C O

P P

I I

P P P

I I

P O

P P " P |

I I

O l

P I

P P

I
P O P

1928

I I

1965
WOOD
SNAKE

I I

1927

EARTH
E A R T H ! FIRE
SNAKE DRAGN
HARE

O P O

O P O O O O

I I

FIRE
HORSE

P P P

1937

O l

1966

FIRE
SHEEP

P P P

i l

1967

P O

1938

1968

EARTH
TIGER

P O

1939

1969

I I

EARTH
HARE

1970

METAL
METAL
EARTH | EARTH
B O A R D O G | BIRD
[MONKEY

O I

1940

1 1

1971

Y E A R

METAL
DRAGON

' P P P

T I G E R

t i

O O P

Ii the lha (bla) is marked by black dots, one should

practice the rite of bringing back the lha; recite the Sutra
of the Deity with the White Parasol.
When all the dots are black or white it is beneficial to
do some purification such as prostrations, going on p i l grimage, making offerings in sacred places, carry out
beneficial actions for the community of practitioners and
give to the needy.
Those born in the Tiger year will experience a critical
year; they should avoid negative situations and do long-life
practice as much as possible. The year will also not be very
favorable for those born in the year of the monkey, the
horse, the dog, the pig and the snake: those born in the year
of the ox and the sheep will experience interferences.

T h e fortune is the main element analyzed for learned

persons.
The capacity is the main element analyzed for women.
The body is the main element analyzed for children.
The life force is the main element analyzed for men.
If the life force is marked by black dots, one should
engage in long life practice and liberate animals that are on
the verge of being slaughtered.
If the body element is marked by black dots, one should
keep moral precepts and construct votive images (tsatsa).
If the capacity is marked by black dots, one should
practice generosity and make offerings to a community of
practitioners.
If the fortune is marked by black dots, one should invoke
the warrior deities (dgra lha), and put up prayer flags.

1926

1925

FIRE
TIGER

WOOD
I
Ox

O l

P I

" O l

I I

1960

: METAL
j MOUSE

t t
O

O
;

P P O j O P P
P P P j
I I

I I
O I

O l

O O

O O
O O P

I
O

1924 I

P P O

I
J

1961
METAL
Ox

; WOOD
MOUSE i

I I

O l

I
P P P
I I

P P O

O O

THE

I I
i

MIRROR

O l

APRIL/MAY

1998

2 1 2
LOSAR
TIBETAN NEW Y E A R
2125 E A R T H TIGER Y E A R

"...IT

IS

BEST

TO DO

THESE

practices collectively with

your Vajra Brothers and Sisters (at the recommended

times), but if this is not possible you can do them per
sonally whenever you have free time. The important
thing is to try to communicate with all practitioners
linked with the same transmission. In this way you
develop the potentiality of your transmission and your
understanding and capacity to integrate your daily life
into practice ..."
Chgyal Namkhai Norbu

H P h e most important thing we can

A do to help maintain the good
health of our precious master, Ch
gyal Namkhai Norbu, is to keep our
samaya as pure as possible and to
correct all errors by performing
Ganapuja with our Vajra Brothers
and Sisters.
ORLD T I M E T A B L E V2.0

1. O D D I Y A N A time set to equal

Islamabad standard time (+5 U T C
offset)
2. A l l times are calculated according
to U T C offsets. Daylight savings
times (DLS) are considered in the
calculation. For example: Sydney
Australia has an offset of+10 in the
summer (March 13) and an offset of
+9 in the winter (July 4). The sum
mer offset of+10 represents D L S .
Locations that implement D L S have
+1 hour added to their U T C offsets
during the summer months.
ANNIVERSARY OF
PADMASAMBHAVA
Fri. 3rd July 1998
16:00(-11)
17:00 (-10) Hawaii
18:00 (-9)

03:00(0) G M T , Reykjavic,
04:00 (+1 ) London, Dublin, Lisbon
05:00 (+2) Johannesburg, Rome,
Berlin, Oslo, Paris, Madrid, Ams
terdam, Copenhagen, Brussels,
Geneva, Prague, Salzburg, Stock
holm, Budapest, Vienna, Warsaw
06:00 (+3) Kuwait City, Riyadh,
Tashkent, Helsinki, Athens, Ankara,
Beirut, Jerusalem, Tallinn, Vilnius,
Istanbul
06:30 (+3.5) Tehran
07:00 (+4) Moscow, Murmansk,
Baghdad
07:30 (+4.5) Kabul
08:00 (+5) O D D I Y A N A , Islam
abad
08:30 (+5.5) New Delhi, Bombay
08:45 (+5.45) Kathmandu
09:00 (+6) Dhaka
09:30 (+6.5) Rangoon
10:00 (+7) Bangkok, Jakarta.
Saigon
11:00 (+8) Singapore, Beijing,
Lhasa, Manila, Hong Kong, Kuala
Lumpur, Taipei, Perth
12:00 (+9) Tokyo, Soul,
12:30(+9.5) Darwin, Adelaide

19:00 (-8) Fairbanks

13:00 (+10) Brisbane, Melbourne,

Sydney

20:00 (-7) San Francisco, Los

Angeles. Vancouver

14:00(+ll)Valdivostok

21:00 (-6) Denver, Salt Lake City,

Pagosa Springs, Edmonton
22:00 (-5) Lima, Quito, Chicago,
Mexico City
23:00 (-4) Caracas, San Juan, Santi
ago, New York, Conway, Montreal,
Atlanta, Detroit, Havana, Kingston,
Indianapolis, Ottawa
00:00 (-3) Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo,
Rio de Janeiro, Bermuda
Sat. 4th July 1998
00:30 (-2.5) Newfoundland
01:00 (-2)
02:00 (-1)

15:00 (+12) Fiji, Wellington, Auck

land, Kamchatka
*The time in Vilnius, Lithuania is
considered to be the same as
Tallinn, Estonia
*It is considered that Kathmandu
does not use DLS.
*Ifa location implements DLS but it
does notfall on either of the
anniversary days, the DLS designa
tion will not show on the time table.
*This chart was composed with the
help of various members of the
world wide Dzogchen Community
and with information from the web
site <http:ll www. stud. unit.noi
VSERBINI steffentlverdensur.pl>
*Please send any comments or cor
rections to ritenow@aloha.net

1st Month, 1st day Fri. 27th Feb.

1998 It is good to do a Long-life
practice as early as possible in the
morning and a Ganapuja during the
day. Prayer flags can be authenticat
ed during the Ganapuja. On the
morning of the third day of the new
year you can do the rite of the Sang
and hang up the prayer flags.
1st Month, 4th day Mon. 2nd
March 1998 This is a special day
for doing the Long-life practice of
the Dakini Mandarava. It is also a
very special day for doing the prac
tice of Ekajati. Therefore try to do
the Long-life practice "Cycle of
Life's Vajra" in the morning and the
Long Tun in the evening. If you
don't have this possibility, you can
try to do the Long-life practice
included in the Medium or Long
Tun, with the rite of Ekajati, reciting
the heart mantra of Ekajati as much
as possible.
1st Month, 8th day Thu. 5th
March 1998 This is an important
day for doing the practice of Eka
jati, so try to do the Long Tun either
collectively or personally. If you
don't have that possibility then try
to do the Medium Tun and in either
case recite the heart mantra of Eka
jati as many times as possible.
1st Month, 10th day Sat. 7th
March 1998 This is the day of Padmasambhava so you can do a Gana
puja with an intensive practice of
the Long-life mantra connected
with the Guruyoga of Gum Padmasambhava. Usually it is best to
do this together with your Vajra
brothers and sisters. If it is not pos
sible, you can do a Medium or Short
Tun, reciting the Long-life mantra
as much as possible.
1st Month, 15th day Fri. 13th
March 1998 F U L L M O O N . The
first full moon of the Tibetan New
Year is the very important anniver
sary of the Great Dzogchen Master
Garab Dorje. It is also a special day
of Buddha Shakyamuni, the day he
performed many miracles, and it is
the anniversary of the Master
Marpa as well as that of Shenrab
Miwoche, the founder of Bon.
Therefore, on this day when it is 8
o'clock in Oddiyana, it is good for
all Dzogchen practitioners to prac
tice at the same time, practicing the
AgarLama 'iNaljyor, Guruyoga
with the White A . You can do this
practice collectively or alone.
SEE T H E UNIVERSAL TIMETABLE

1st Month, 25th day Mon. 23rd

March 1998 This is the anniver
sary of the lady Master Ay u Kadro,
so it is good to do the Agar Lama'i
Naljyor and since this is a Dakini
day in general it is a good day to
reinforce our energy. Try to do a
Ganapuja with the transformation
into the Dakini Simhamuka.
1st Month, 30th day Sat. 28th
March 1998 DARK M O O N . This
is a good day to do Namchos Shitroi
Naljyor, the practice of the Peaceful
and Wrathful Manifestations, either
collectively or personally.
2nd Month, 6th day Thr. 2nd
April 1998 This is an important day
for the practice of Ekajati, so try to
do a Long or Medium Tun in the
usual way, reciting the heart mantra
of Ekajati as many times as possible.

10

E A R T H

2nd Month, 10th day Mon. 6th

April 1998 This is a special day of
Gum Padmasambhava, so try to
perform a Ganapuja collectively,
but if that is not possible do the
Long-life practice Universal Wis
dom Union.
2nd Month, 12th day Wed. 8th
April 1998 This is the anniversary
of Jetsun Dragpa Gyaltsen ( 11471216), one of the first great Masters
of the Sakyapa tradition, so try to do
the Guruyoga Agar Lama'i
Naljyor, the Guruyoga of the White
A.
2nd Month, 15th day Sat. 11th
April 1998 F U L L M O O N . This is
one of the best days for Long-life
practices and in particular the prac
tice of Union of Primordial
Essences. The best time for this
practice is from 7 to 8 o'clock in the
morning.

a particularly good day for practic

ing the Purification of the Six
Lokas. As it is also the anniversary
of the great Terton and Dzogchen
Master Sangyas Lingpa, try to do
the Agar Lama'i Naljyor.
4th Month, 6th & 8th days Sun.
31st May & Tue. 2nd June 1998
These are important days for the
practice of Ekajati, so try to do a
Long or Medium Tun in the usual
way, reciting the heart mantra of
Ekajati as many times as possible.
4th month, 7th day Mon. 1st June
1998 This is the anniversary of the
birth of Buddha Shakyamuni, an
important day for all Buddhists, so
try to a Ganapuja with your Vajra
brothers and sisters.
4th Month, 10th day Thu. 4th
June 1998 This is a special day of
Guru Padmasambhava. If you can,
try to do a-Ganapuja, otherwise you

2nd Month, 20th day Fri 17th

April 1998 This is the anniversary
of the great Dzogchen Master Do
Gyaltsen Yeshes Dorje (bom 1800),
a disciple of the first Do Drub Chen
Rinpoche and a master of Ny agla
Padma Duddul. It is therefore a
good day to do Agar Lama'i Naljy
or, the Guruyoga with the White A .
2nd Month, 25th day Tues. 21st
April 1998 This is a Dakini day so
try to do a Ganapuja with your Vajra
Brothers and Sisters.
2nd Month, 30th day Sun 26th
April 1998 DARK M O O N . On
this day, which is the birthday of the
great Terton Loter Wangpo, try to
do the Agar Lama'i Naljyor,
Guruyoga of the White A .
3rd Month 3rd day Wed 29th
April 1998 On this anniversary of
Karma Pakshi, a great Master of
the Karma Kagyud and a
Dzogchen practitioner, it is benefi
cial to practice the Agar Lama'i
Naljyor collectively if possible but
otherwise alone.
3rd Month, 4th day Thu. 30th
April 1998 This is an important day
for the practice of Ekajati, so try to
do a Long or Medium Tun in the
usual way, reciting the heart mantra
of Ekajati as many times as possible.
3rd Month, 10th day Wed. 6th
May 1998 This is a special day of
Gum Padmasambhava so try to do
the Long-life practice "Universal
Wisdom Union" early in the morn
ing or at sunset. If you have the pos
sibility it is beneficial to combine
this with a practice of Ganapuja col
lectively.
3rd month, 15th day Mon. 11th
May 1998 F U L L M O O N . This is
one of the best days for Long-life
practices, and in particular for the
practice of the "Union of Primordial
Essences". It is best to do it early in
the morning if you can. This is also
the anniversary of the day when
Buddha Shakyamuni first gave the
teaching of Kalachakra so it is good
to do a Ganapuja or Long Tun in the
evening.
3rd Month, 25th day Thu. 21st
May 1998 This is a Dakini day as
well as the anniversary of the fifth
Dalai Lama, a great Terton and
practitioner of Dzogchen, so it is a
good day to practice Agar Lama'i
Naljyor, Guru Yoga with White A
in the morning and Ganapuja with
an intensive practice of Ekajati in
the evening.
3rd Month, 30th day Mon. 25th
May 1998 D A R K M O O N . This is

can do the
Long-life
practice "Universal
Wisdom Union".
4th Month, 15th day Wed.
10th June 1998 F U L L
M O O N . This is the anniver
sary of the Paranirvana of Buddha
Shakyamuni, as well as an impor
tant day for the Long-life practice
"Cycle of Life's Vajra". Therefore
try to do this practice early in the
morning, and in the afternoon or
evening do a Ganapuja.
4th Month, 25th day Fri 19th
June 1998 Dakini day. This is the
anniversary of Ngor Chen (a great
Master of the Sakyapa tradition
and initiator of the Ngor lineage),
therefore it is a good day to do the
Guruyoga Agar Lama ' i Naljyor,
collectively if possible or other
wise alone.
4th Month, 30th day Wed. 24th
June 1998 D A R K M O O N . This
day is the anniversary of Nyag-la
Pema Dud-'dul (1816-1872). He
was one of the Masters of Changchub Dorje, the main Master of
Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche. He dis
covered the Terma "Tsedrub Gongdus" which two of his disciples,
Ayu Khadro and Changchub Dorje,
transmitted to Namkhai Norbu Rin
poche. Therefore you should try to
do this Long-life practice, Tsedrub
Gongdus ", Union of Primordial
Essences". The time to do it is the
early morning. Later in the day or
in the evening you can do the
Guruyoga of the White A , Agar
Lama'i Naljyor.
5th Month, 1st day Thu. 25th
June 1998 This is the anniversary
of mChog-gyur gLing-pa ( 18291870) a Nyingmapa Master of
Dzogchen, one of the most impor
tant Rimed masters of the X l X C e n tury. Try to do a practice of Agar
Lama' i Naljyor.
5th Month, 10th day Sat. 4th July
1998 Though many masters affirm
that the date of the anniversary of

the 'birth' of Padmasambhava is the

tenth day of the sixth month of the
Tibetan calendar, the great master
Jig-med Ling-pa confirms that the
tenth day of the fifth month accord
ing to the Tibetan calendar is the
anniversary of the birth of Pad
masambhava.
This year, when it is 8.00 am in
Oddiyana, on Sat. 4th July, we
Dzogchen practitioners all over the
world will perform the practice of
Guruyoga with Tundrin orTungyas,
according to our opportunities, and
those who have the possibility can
also add Ganapuja.
SEE T H E UNIVERSAL TIMETABLE

of the Dharmachakra (the first turn

ing of the Wheel of the Dharma):
the first time that Buddha Shakyamuni gave the teaching of the Four
Noble Truths to his disciples at Sarnath, after his illumination. To hon
or the Lord Buddha on this special
day you can do a Ganapuja with
your Vajra brothers and sisters.
6th Month, 10th day Sun. 2nd
Aug. 1998 This is a special day of
Padmasambhava and also the
anniversary of Yeshe Tsogyal the
main consort and disciple of Pad
masambhava so if you have the pos
sibility, it is beneficial to do a Gana
puja together with your Vajra Broth
ers and Sisters, if not you can prac
tice Guruyoga with Padmasambha
va and the Long-life practice "Uni
versal Wisdom Union".
6th M o n t h , 14th day F r i . 7th Aug.
1998 This is the anniversary of the
third Karmapa. Rangjung Dorje
( 1284-1339), a famous master of
Dzogchen Upadesa. On this day it is
good to do Agar Lama i Naljyor,
Guruyoga with the White A .
6th Month, 15th day Sat. 8th Aug.
1998 F U L L M O O N . This is the
anniversary of Gampopa, the main
disciple of Milarepa. Therefore it is
an excellent day to do Agar Lama' i
Naljyor, Guruyoga with the White
A . It is also a good day to do the
Long-life practice of Amitayus,
"Union of Primordial Essences".

Month, 14th
day Wed 8th
Julyl998 This
is an important day
for the practice of Ekajati, so try to do a Long or
Medium Tun in the usual way, recit
ing the heart mantra of Ekajati as
many times as possible.
5th Month, 15th day Thu. 9th
July 1998 F U L L M O O N . This is a
special day for the Long-life prac
tice of Amitayus, so you can do the
Long-life practice "Union of Pri
mordial Essences" early in the
morning. If you cannot do it at that
time, it is still good to do it later in
the day. It is also the 'Dzam-gling
spyi-bsang (Lit. smoke puja of the
world in general) so if you know
how to do it, you can do the Sanqod
(bsang-mchod) in the morning.
5th M o n t h , 24th day Sat. 18th
July 1998 There is no 25th day
this month so we celebrate Dakini
day on the 24th. This is an impor
tant day for the practice of Eka
jati, so try to do a Long or Medi
um Tun in the usual way, reciting
the heart mantra of Ekajati as
many times as possible. If you
have the possibility it is beneficial
to add the Ganapuja.
5th Month, 30th day Thu. 23rd
July 1998 D A R K M O O N . This is a
day for purification practices. It is
best to do the Purification of the Six
Lokas either collectively or alone,
preferably in the early morning.
Otherwise you can do a Medium or
Short Tun.
6th Month, 4th day M o n . 27th
July 1998 This is the anniversary

6th Month, 25th day M o n . 17th

Aug. 1998 This is a Dakini day, so
it is a positive day for reinforcing
the function of our energy and cre
ating a vital contact with the energy
of the universe by doing a Ganapuja
with our Vajra sisters and brothers.
If there are no other practitioners
nearby you can do a Medium Tun
on your own. In either case, when
you transform into the Dakini
Simhamuka, recite her heart mantra
as many times as possible.
6th M o n t h , 30th day Sat. 22nd
A u g . 1998 D A R K M O O N . This
is a very important day to do
purification practices, especially
the "Purification of the Six
Lokas". If you have the chance,
you can also do a Short, Medium
or Long Tun.
7th M o n t h , 9th day M o n . 31st
A u g . 1998 This is an important
day for the practice of Ekajati. so
try to do a Long or Medium Tun in
the usual way. reciting the heart
mantra of Ekajati as many times as
possible.
7th Month, 10th day Tue. 1st
Sept. 1998 This is the anniversary
of Jomo Menmo ( 1248-1283), a
very famous woman Terton, rein
carnation of Yeshes Tsogyal. She
was the consort of the great Terton
Guru Chowang.
It is also a very special day of Guru
Padmasambhava. Therefore it is an
ideal day to do Agar Lama' i Naljy
or in the morning and a Ganapuja
and Long-life practice associated
with Padmasambhava, "Universal
Wisdom Union" later in the day.
7th M o n t h , 15th day Sun. 6th
Sept. 1998 F U L L M O O N . This is
the anniversary of Tsarchen Losal
Gyatso and Padma Karpo, a
famous 17th century Drugpa Kargyupa Master. Therefore it is an
excellent day to practice Agar
Lama' i Naljyor, the Guruyoga with
the White A early in the morning if
possible, or later in the evening
when you are free. It is also an

excellent day for the Long-life

practice of the Dakini Mandarava, with a Ganapuja if you have
the possibility.
7th M o n t h 19th day T h u .
10th Sept. 1998 This is an
important day for the practice
of Ekajati, so try to do a Long
or Medium Tun in the usual way,
reciting the heart mantra of Eka
jati as many times as possible.
7th Month, 25th day Tue. 15th
Sept 1998 This is a Dakini day and
also the anniversary of Pagmo
Drugpa ( 1110-1170), the chief dis
ciple of Gampopa. Try to do a
Ganapuja together with your Vajra
sisters and brothers. If there are no
other practitioners nearby, you can
do a Medium Tun on your own.
In either case, when you transform
yourself into the Dakini Simhamu
ka, recite her heart mantra as much
as possible and then do an intensive
practice of Ekajati.
7th Month, 30th day Sun 20th
Sept. 1998 D A R K M O O N . This
day is ideal for purification prac
tices. Try to do either the "Purifica
tion of the Six Lokas" or the Namchos Shitroi Naljyor, the Yoga of
the Peaceful and Wrathful Manifes
tations, either collectively or on
your own.
8th Month, 10th day Thu. 1st Oct.
1998 This is a very special day of
Guru Padmasambhava, therefore
do a Ganapuja with the Guruyoga
and the Long-life practice of Guru
Padmasambhava "Universal Wis
dom Union" collectively. Other
wise you can do a Medium Tun on
your own.
8th M o n t h , 15th day M o n . 5th
Oct. 1998 F U L L M O O N . This
is an important day to do the
Long-life practice of Amitayus,
"Union of Primordial Essences".
It is best to do it early in the
morning, but if you cannot it is
still good if you can do it later in
the day or evening.
8th M o n t h , 19th day F r i . 9th
Oct. 1998 This is an important
day for the practice of Ekajati, so
try to do a Long or Medium Tun in
the usual way, reciting the heart
mantra of Ekajati as many times
as possible.
8th Month, 25th day Thu. 15th
Oct. 1998 This is a Dakini day, and
also the anniversary of two great
Dzogchen masters, Rigzin Kumaraja, who transmitted the Dzogchen
teachings to Longchenpa and to the
third Karmapa, and of Rigzin Tsewang Norbu ( 1698-1755), a great
Dzogchen master of the Nyingmapa school. It is therefore an excel
lent day to do Agar Lama i Naljyor,
the Guruyoga with the White A .
If you can do it in the morning, that
is best. Then, if you have the time,
you can do a Medium or Long Tun
later in the day, with an intense
practice of Simhamuka, or a Gana
puja, if you have the possibility.

the Medium or Long Tun.

9th Month, 3rd day F r i 23rd Oct.
1998 This is the anniversary of
Rigzin Jigmed Lingpa ( 17291798), a great Dzogchen master
who was the author of many books,
among which is the Longchen
Nyingthig, which he wrote after
having contact with Longchenpa
through visions. Therefore, on this
important day, you should try to do
Agar Lama'i Naljyor, the Guruyoga
with the White A .
9th M o n t h , 10th day F r i . 30th
Oct. 1998 This is a special day of
Guru Padmasambhava. It is also
the anniversary of the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa and of Terton, a
previous reincarnation of Sgyal
Rinpoche and discoverer of many
Termas. It is therefore a good day
to do the Long-life practice of
Guru Padmasambhava "Universal
Wisdom Union", which is includ
ed in the Medium or Long Tun.
You can do this in the usual way
or, if you have the possibility, you
can do a Ganapuja.
9th Month, 15th day Wed. 4th
Nov. 1998 F U L L M O O N . This is
a good day to do the Long-life prac
tice of Amitayus, "Union of Primor
dial Essences", either collectively
or personally according to your pos
sibilities, early in the morning and
in the evening a Ganapuja.
9th M o n t h , 22nd day Tue. 10th
Nov. 1998 This day is the impor
tant celebration of Buddha
Shakyamuni's descent to earth
from the realms of the Divinities.
It is called Lha bab dus chen, the
Great Time of the Descent of the
Divinities. It is an ideal day to do a
Ganapuja with your Vajra brothers
and sisters. If there are none near
by, you can do a Short or Medium
Tun on your own.
9th M o n t h , 25th day F r i . 13th
Nov. 1998 This is a Dakini day
and the anniversary of the very
important Dzogchen master
Adzam Drugpa ( 1842-1924). He
was a disciple of Jamyang
Kyentse Wangpo and a master of
some of Namkhai Norbu Rin
poche's masters, including
Changchub Dorje and Ay u Kadro.
He was also a previous incarna
tion of Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche.
It is therefore a very important day
to practice Agar Lama'i Naljyor,
the Guruyoga with the White A ,
according to your possibilities.
9th Month, 30th day Wed. 18th
Nov. 1998 D A R K M O O N . This is
a good day to do Namchos Shitroi
Naljyor the Yoga of the Peaceful and
Wrathful Manifestations, in the

morning. It is also an important day

for the practice of Ekajati, so try to
do a Long or Medium Tun in the
usual way, reciting the heart mantra
of Ekajati as many times as possible.
The best time for this practice is
around eight o'clock in the evening.
10th Month, 10th day Sun. 29th
Nov. 1998 This is a special day of
Guru Padmasambhava, therefore
do a Ganapuja with the Guruyoga
and the Long-life practice of Guru
Padmasambhava "Universal Wis
dom Union" collectively. Other
wise you can do a Medium Tun on
your own.
The 11 th day of this month is an
important day for the practice of
Ekajati but since there is no 11th
day, on the preceding day. the
10th. try to do a Long or Medium
Tun in the usual way. reciting the
heart mantra of Ekajati as many
times as possible.
10th Month, 15th day Thu. 3rd
Dec. 1998 F U L L M O O N . This
day is considered to be the day to
honor the Lord Buddha in general,
and it is one of the best days to do
the Long-life Practice with the
Dakini Mandarava particularly.
Therefore try to do the Long-life
Practice, "Cycle of Life's Vajra".
Generally the best moment to do
this kind of practice is at 7-8 o'clock
in the morning. But if you don't
have this possibility, then do it in
the afternoon or later in the evening
when you are free.
10th Month, 25th day Sun. 13th
Dec. 1998 This is a Dakini day.
and the anniversary of Tsongkhapa
( 1357-1491 ), who made a synthe
sis of the previous schools and
founded the Gelugpa school. Try to
perform a Ganapuja with your
Vajra brothers and sisters or the
Medium Tun personally. In either
case recite the heart mantra of the
Dakini Simhamuka as many times
as possible.
10th Month, 30th day F r i 18th
Dec. 1998 D A R K M O O N . This is
an excellent day to practice Purifi
cation of the Six Lokas.
11th Month, 8th day Sat. 26th
Dec. 1998 Tins is a particular day
for the practice of Ekajati so try to
do a Long or Medium Tun with
intensive practice of the mantra of
Ekajati.

The Special Practices Calendar

will be continued in the next issue.

8th Month, 27th day Sat. 17th

Oct. 1998 This is an important
day for the practice of Ekajati,
so try to do a Long or Medium
Tun in the usual way, reciting
the heart mantra of Ekajati as
many times as possible.
8th Month, 30th day Tue. 20th
Oct. 1998 D A R K M O O N .
This day is excellent for practic
ing the "Purification of the Six
Lokas". Otherwise you can do

THE

MIRROR

APRIL/MAY

1998

11

his paper reviews archeological discover

ies made a gNam mtsho and Dang ra g.yu
mtsho in the last few years. During the course
of seven expeditions to gNam mtsho and
Dang rag.yu mtsho the author has document
ed a variety of archaeological sites which
with few exceptions are attributed to the pre Buddhist period in Tibet. These attributions
are primarily derivedfrom oral histories.

DANG RA KHYUNG RDZONG

On the east side of Dang ra g.yu mtsho,
between Gangs lung and g.Yu bun dgon pas,
is Dang ra khyung rdzong, surmounting a
group of castellated formations overlooking
the lake. This is one of the most famous
Zhang Zhung monuments in the Bn tradi
tion. According to Bn history this fort was
the residence of the Lig mig rgya king who
was assassinated, paving the way for the Yar
lung kingdom to annex the Zhang Zhung
kingdom (Norbu 1995: 27).
Even at a much earlier stage in the histo
ry of the Zhang Zhung, Dang ra khyung
rdzong is supposed to be where the adept
Thad mi thad ke practiced rDzogs chen with
his consort sMan gcig g.yu lo ma (Karmay:
47). Thad mi thad ke is among the 13 lineage
transmitters beginning with the rgyal gshen
(royal priest) Mu kri btsan po (Karmay: 74)
which could date his life back as much as
2,000 years.
Dang ra khyung rdzong is also where
sacred treasures were discovered by the gTer
tons gyer mi nyi'od and jrMa ston srol 'dzin
(Ramble: 95,96); Karmay: 168). If the scanty
historical record surrounding the fort is accu
rate, it establishes that it was a leading cultur
al nexus in the region for many centuries.
Today, however, little of its putative for
mer glory is detected. The highest rock for
mation at Khyung rdzong is a dome-shaped
pinnacle called Khyung ri, which local tradi
tion attributes as the place where the Lig mig
rgya kings built their palace. The summit of
Khyung ri is very narrow and couldn't possi
ble have supported a gigantic palace. A n
examination of Khyung ri revealed only the
-

A preliminary Archaelological Survey of

gNam mtsho and Dang ra g.yu mtsho
by John Bellezza

Part V of a series about the lost city of Zhang Zhung

here some of which have

most minimal of ruins.
recently been reactivated
This paucity of rains
as retreat venues. Small
might be explained by
structural remains are
the fort having under
located at the uppermost
gone complete annihila
part of the site.
tion in war, by virtue of
its fame. Who might
'OM BU ZHANG ZHUNG
have destroyed it and
MONASTERY
when it might have been
No fewer than three
destroyed are questions
monasteries are known
that only add to the
in 'Om bu, the largest
enigmatic history of the
village of Dang ra g.yu
region. Next to Khyung
mtsho, which has 100
ri is a tall, reddish out
homes and is endowed
cropping called Brag
with fairly broad agri
Bong ya, the dwelling
cultural lands. The only
place of local protector
monastery still active is
deities, which has no
one built around 1890 in
architectural remains;
the Iron Tiger Year (Bod
but around other crags
Ijongs hag chu sa khul
are several seemingly
gyi lo rgyus: 586), in the
insignificant
rains.
upper part of the village.
Foundation wall 1.85 meters thick at
There are a number of
Until
the
Cultural
Gangs.lung.lha.rise (Dang.ra.g.yu.mtsho)
caves at Dang ra
PHOTO BY J. BELLEZZA
Revolution,
another
khyung rdzong, includ
dgon pa built centuries
ing one where the lama
ago existed in the middle of town. The site of
bLa chen dran pa nam mkha' is said to have
this larger and older monastery has been com
meditated.
pletely effaced by the construction of new
homes. Apart from these two monasteries
G.YUNG DRUNG LHA RTSE
built in the Tibetan period there is the site of a
Under the lamas gShen rgyal lha rise, Lha
third one, which is understood to have been
sgom dkar po and Ol sgom gun 'dui a retreat
founded in the Zhang Zhung period. It is
center was founded at g.Yung drung lha rtse,
located at the edge of the escarpment beltind
located just south of 'Om bu. It was founded
the village. Traces of it are barely detectable.
during the renaissance of Bn in the 11th to
Barring a thorough archaeological investiga
13th centuries and became a thriving center of
tion, little of substance can be said about this
the Zhang Zhung snyan rgyud tradition of
long-neglected site.
rDzogs chen?A A number of caves are found

ly died. After that Da, Li and Ghin

Introduction to Tibetan Astrology
discussed the matter and created
continuedfrompage 8 the rite to appease the Eight Class

es of demons and gods and to bal

ance the elements within the fami
ly. A s a result of this the world enjoyed peace and prosperity
for many eons.
Following this period of prosperity, the world began to
decline and all its inhabitants experienced an augmentation of
mental affliction. A t that time the Sage Yod po appeared who
recounted the legend of the origin of the parka and became the
first Tibetan to explain astrological calculations. After many
centuries in a period in which no form of writing existed, the
teacher of astrology named Sa bdag nag po started to indicate
the parka, the mewa, and the animals with white and black
pebbles.
After many centuries, the Prince Shi kha then tse bom
(2551 B C . ) in the year of the metal rabbit, established the
rules of governing using astrological calculations. In 1957
B C in the wood monkey year, the astrology Master Sa bdag
rlung rgyal was bom, who taught the sage nGnon po. On the
basis of the instruction of his teacher, the latter elaborated a
way of astrological calculation using the combination of the
twelve animal signs with the five elements. He associated
colors with the five elements: green for wood, red for fire,
yellow for earth, white for metal and black for water and then associated these elements to
the parka and animal signs by way of different dots of colorIn 1557 B C . in the year of wood mouse, another master of astrology, Ze'ukong 'phrul chung
was bom. He applied the mother-son-friend-enemy relationship to the field of medicine for the

GANGS LUNG LHA RTSE

On the south side of Dang ra g.yu mtsho at
a place called 'Bum nang chu, located near the
foot of Gangs lung lha btsan ri, are the
region's most enormous ruins. So monumen
tal are these remains that rather than an isolat
ed fort, Gangs lung lha rtse might represent
the vestiges of an ancient township which
might well have been several times the size of
present day 'Om bu. According to local
savants a Zhang Zhung citadel of premier
importance existed here.
25

The citadel centers around two benches

which rise above a walled vale that incontrovertibly was farmed in the past. The lower of
the two benches contains a number of foun
dations just sticking out of the hardened
ground. These massive walls are made of
granite and are 1.85 meters in thickness.
Approximately 90 meters in length are
exposed, marking the layout of what in the
past were buildings of monumental propor
tions. In the middle of this bench are the only
standing walls on the site, measuring 18
meters square, with walls 1.75 meters thick
built of granite blocks. On the upper shelf are
ruins level with the ground in a dense aggre
gation covering approximately 600 square
meters. There are also signs of other structures
at Gangs lung but evidently these weren't as
large as the ones found on the two benches.
Other than its name and ambiguous period of
construction nothing else could be learned
about Gangs lung lhartsehistorically. Its great
age is indicated by the manner in which the
ruins have been engulfed by the obdurate
ground. Its size alone makes it a very worthy
candidate for exploration.
Notes:
2 4

This is a summary of an account of

g.Yung drung lha rtse kindly supplied by
sLob dpon btsan 'dzin mam dag.
Gangs lung lha btsan ri is one of the eight
peaks in the rTa sgo rin po che group called
rTa sgo mched bdun rol brgyad ( cf. Zhang
Zhung Hri pa gyer med).
2 5

To be continued in the next issue, m

first time. In the wood mouse year in 1197 B C , a famous astrologer, Kongtse sphrul gyi rgyal po,
was bom. On the basis of his astrological knowledge and on the request of four of his most intel
ligent students he composed 357 treatises on the rituals of the gto, mdos, yas and the gljud, which
have the function of balancing the elements and pacifying the disturbances caused by the Eight
Classes of spirits and gods.
In 417 B C . in the wood mouse year, Nyatri Tsenpo, the
first Tibetan king, was bom. When he became king of Tibet,
the so-called 'community of astrological practitioners' devel
oped and propagated astrology widely. A t that time, on the
basis of the observations of the southerly and northerly move
ment of the sun, the observation of the stars and the migration
of birds, the rain, clouds, wind and snow, the community pre
pared the solar calendar of 360 days mainly for the sake of the
farmers and nomads.
There are many details regarding the development of the ele
ments, how disturbances manifested and how substances were
used to pacify the imbalance of the elements but we would need
a week simply to explain them. This is a mythological story not
a real one, nonetheless its symbols could be considered to be an
invaluable field of research.
This information concerning the mythological origin of
the trigrams as well as the mewa or numbers can only be
found in the Bn texts; one does not find similar explanation
in the astrological treatises of China or other countries. In
fact, when Chinese astrological experts are asked about the
origin of the parka or trigrams they do not have a very clear explanation and sometimes
refer to a particular race of people called Yi who lived on the border between China and
who were originally Tibetans with customs and beliefs closely linked to the Bn culture.
Translated by Elio Guarisco

Pasang Wangdu
Proprietor

Super Indo-Tibetan
Handicrafts Exports
A-93, Krishna Nagar, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi-110029
Tel.: Res: (91-11) 6167845 Store: 2921476
Fax: (91-11) 6193570

12

INTERNATIONAL
ARGENTINA
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http://scil.npi.msu.su/pub/rel
igion/dzogchen <Moscow
Dharma Pages> (dzogchen)
site.
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CONTACTS

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Coast
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The Mirror

R U S S I A N FEDERATION
Dzogchen Community of
Moscow
Anna Artemyeva
123448
Karamyshevskaya nab.,
48-4,
Moscow
Lyuda Kislichenko: home
phone/fax: 095-3251378
(Secretary)
Gregory Mokhin: office
phone/fax: 095-2673484.
(SMS contact)
Email:
INTERNET:mokhin@niir.m
sk.ru
Buryatian Community
"Kundrolling"
c/o Maria Fedetova 50 years
of October prs. 44-26
Ulan-Ude 670034

THE

MIRROR

APRIL/M

AY

199

13

Tibetan king has sent some very

beautiful gifts, and as a return pre
sent, he wants us to let him have
from among us he who is most
continued from page 5 learned in the teachings of the goaloriented Guhyamantra."
mantra, he will spread and propa
The teacher Buddhaguhya said:
gate the teachings of the Guhya"Please bring the envoys here
mantra in Tibetan regions."
who made this request."
Truly delighted upon hearing
The king returned escorting the
this, the king said " I ' l l do so" and
translators who were both filled
gathered together the most intelli
with devoted respect upon seeing
gent men from the Tibetan regions:
the qualities of Vimala's person.
Kawa Paltseg from the Phanyul
Simultaneously the eyes of those
region of the Central District who
above gazed down upon Vimalamiwas the son of Kawa Loten and
tra and the eyes of those below
Broza Dorje Cham, and Cogro Lui
looked upward. Understanding
Gyaltsen from Dargong of the
their
unanimous
decision,
Rulashab district who was the son
Vimalamitra stood up and uttered
of Cogro Gyaljung and Broza Dzethe sounds: "Gha Gha Pa R i " .
ma.
The two translators interpreted
Inviting them to drink and
the words in two ways. Cogro said:
dance, he placed jeweled caps on
" A n arrow resting on the bow
their heads saying:
string hits the target if the archer is
"Oh sons of good lineage! You
able to pull with his thumb."
can speak well, so I entrust you with
Kawa said:
two commands. So that the teach
"People dependent upon ferry
ings of the very profound goal-ori
boats are transported to the far side
ented Guhyamantra may be spread
of the lake if the ferryman is able to
in Tibetan regions, go to the Indian
convey them."
town Kapilavastu where there are
Thus they gave the same inter
five hundred pandits in the temple
pretation to Vimala in different
of King Indrabhuti. Offer him these
words.
seven golden letters of introduction
Vimala said:
and these nine measures of gold
"King, if you agree to the unani
dust, indicating that they come from
mous decision and allow me to go, I
the king of Tibet. As a return gift,
will go to bring benefit to Tibet."
please request that he send the most
Carrying the most profound
learned pandit - the one who knows
secret Nyingthig Texts, Vimalami
the teachings of the goal-oriented
tra set out accompanied by atten
Guhyamantra. Now go!"
dants including the venerable Sai
Following the king's com
Nyingpo.
mands, two translators journeyed to
That night many Indians had
India. Bowing to King Indrabhuti,
disturbing dreams: Indian flowers,
they offered the Tibetan king's
fruits, trees, and crops were going to
golden letters of introduction with
Tibet; the sun and moon moved to
the gold dust and made his aboveTibet.
mentioned request. Very pleased,
The Dakinis who lived in the
King Indrabhuti said:
Silwa Cemetery wept. A l l the king's
"You two Tibetan Bodhisattvas
clocks and astrological castings
may stay in my guesthouse."
were confused.
At reception time, King Indrab
In the morning a large crowd of
huti visited his pandits and said:
Indian people gathered in front of
"Oh you very learned men! The
the royal palace, and comparing

Lives of the Great

Masters

dreams said:
"They're all similar."
Some shouted one thing and
others shouted other things. One
woman said:
"Let's go to the king! Have the
king's pandits all gone to Tibet?"
Because of the omens and the
fact that the learned pandit would
soon begin teaching the goal-orient
ed Guhyamantra in Tibet and India
was now without the secret books,
the king replied:
"Vimala left for Tibet yesterday
before noon."
Some Indian people dispatched
swift runners to post rumors at all
the Tibetan highways and cross
roads to the effect that the two
Tibetan priests were carrying evil
sorcery books from the border
tribes, and that if they arrived, the
Tibetan kingdom would disinte
grate.
At that time, after guiding
Vimalamitra, the two translators
arrived at glorious Samye and, full
of joy, said to the king:
"This pandit is an accomplished
transformative being who has taken
form to benefit sentient beings. He
knows the entire Tripitaka, and in
particular has internalized the expe
rience of the goal-oriented Guhya
mantra. Without leaving a single
book behind in India, he has arrived
in Tibet."
The king said to Vimalamitra:
"This evening you may stay in
Butsal Serkang. In the morning
we'll pay respects."
So Vimalamitra stayed in But
sal.
About that time some mischie
vous Tibetan ministers read the
posted rumors. Hearing that the
pandit had already arrived in
Samye, they came before the king
saying:
"We hear that there are mounds
of various sorcery books from the
border tribes in here. The king must
not allow him to stay here."
In the morning the two transla

Tashigar's

tors came before the kings saying:

"We wish to see you."
The
king
disapprovingly
replied:
"Hey you two! This pandit is not
suitable. Because he has come with
various evil sorcery indoctrination,
I must examine the matter for a few
days."
The two translators became
quite depressed.
On the third day, Vimala arose
from his place in Butsal. Bowing he
said:
"Vairocana, embodiment of
form! To your divine form the God
of Wisdom bows down."
When he bowed, the clay image
became a pile of dust. Quite
amazed, the two translators report
ed the incident to the king. The king
said:
"Well, all this is just the evil
doings of sorcery."
So the translators were very
unhappy, and thought to them
selves:
"We both worked so hard to
invite this remarkable teacher from
India. How can the king do this?"
After
three
more
days,
Vimalamitra again arose saying:
"Vairocana, embodiment of
form! To your divine form the God
of Wisdom gives consecration."
When he placed his cap upon the
heap of dust, the statue appeared in
Indian form even more beautiful
than before. When the statue emit
ted light, the two translators report
ed the incident to the king. He was
quite impressed, and sent swift
messengers throughout the Tibetan
kingdom to announce a meeting for
the third day of the first month.
During this month, in the Utse
Rigsum courtyard, a high turquoise
throne was constructed on the right
for the king and an even higher
gold-studded throne was construct
ed on the left for Vimalamitra.
When all the Tibetans had assem
bled, the king prostrated before the
pandit, and everyone could see the

colorful lords of the three families

sitting in a circle on the white silk
on the king's breast. The instant
Vimalamitra snapped his fingers
and said: " O M A H U M " everyone
could see the colorful Buddhas of
the five families in the king's jew
eled crown. Even the common
Tibetan folk were full of praise.
At that time Vimala was three
hundred years old. None of this was
intended for the king and his minis
ters, but for those who required edu
cation. When Vimala met with the
embodied king and his ministers,
one thousand and eighty years had
elapsed since the Buddha's Parinirvana.
At that time Vimalamitra did not
remain in the holy sanctuary, but he
sat teaching Prajnaparamita and
Madhyamika. While Vimala was
absent during the hot part of the day,
a beggar came to the base of the
throne for public speaking. Unseen
by others he wrote down some enig
matic
words. When
Vimala
returned to the throne and was rear
ranging the cushions, he saw the
words and asked: "Who has been
here?"
The monks who were listening
to the teachings said:
"No one has been here."
A small boy said:
"Recently an old beggar has
been wandering around here."
After Vimalamitra said "Fetch
the beggar", his attendants found
him sitting in the home of the
regional liquor merchant, and
returned with him as instructed. A t
Vimala's request he said:
"I am Gyudra Nyingpo, a disci
ple of Vairocana of Pagor."
He was an expert in the five
Vinaya traditions.
At that time Vimala taught him
the thirteen Semde instructions on
presence, and with Gyudra, just like
mother and son, developed identi
cal vision, meditation, and behav
ior, and studied those works which
continued on page 19

Origins

The Fruit of Good Intentions

by Alicia Caballero

On a sunny Sunday morning a beautiful young

woman called Betty Touceda came to Tashigar. "I
had been the owner of this land once. M a y I walk
around for a while?" she asked. I went walking
with her all around the Gar and she looked very
touched. "This was my beloved place, my par
adise", she said and with tears in her eyes started
telling me the story about the origins of the land.
" A t the beginning of the century Ramon
Touceda, my grand uncle, came to Argentina from
Galicia, Spain, as many immigrants did looking
to make a fortune. After many years of hard work
he became rich, married and started to enjoy the
prosperity he had achieved through his great
effort. This was the moment when he could mate
rialize his dream to build the 'New Galicia' in the
American land. He traveled all around the coun
try and finally found a place in the Cordoba hills.
He bought a big piece of land in the place called
El Durazno, near Tanti. (This is the land that was
to become Tashigar).

the noise of children every summer.

Since Senor Touceda loved all his grandnieces and nephews he made everything for them
to enjoy. Early in the morning there was horse
back riding across the mountains, then there
would be lunch outside on the big patio. In the
afternoon at sunset was the time the children
liked the most; Senor Touceda would go to the lit
tle room - where the dark retreat cabin is today close his eyes and start counting while the chil
dren hid all around the place in the dark. Then the
adults went looking for them while their little fig
ures ran away trying not to be caught, like a noisy
night flock.

Touceda Family

It was a bare mountain but Senor Touceda didn't care,

he was completely determined to transform it to fulfill his
dream; T w i l l transform this land into a wonderful place',
he announced and the work began. He brought engineers in
to forest the land with exotic trees and flowers never seen
in that region. They dedicated many years to help the plants
adapt and grow. Then, Senor Touceda brought animals
from a zoo in Buenos Aires; fifty species of wild and
domestic animals were brought there to live together in

14

freedom. It was an amazing experience and they survived!

Senor Touceda loved children but didn't have any of his
own, so he built a house for his brother who had five chil
dren." (This is the main house that became Rinpoche's
house. )
Time passed, the Touceda children grew and grandchil
dren came. One of them is Betty Touceda who came that
Sunday and told this story. Her parents didn't like the
secluded nature of the mountains and preferred to remain
in Buenos Aires, but they would send the children alone to
the land for summer vacations. The house was filled with

For New Year's celebrations Senor Touceda

used to prepare a big party for his family, neigh
bors and friends. There was a big barbecue with
music and dance for the 'gauchos' from the
region.
"I want my friends to come here and enjoy", he
said. He never suspected his words would invoke friends from
all over the world to come in the future. When he died his
nephews sold the land to a Senor Loureiro. " We, the children,
were still too young to resist their will and we lost our par
adise", said Betty with sadness. Mr. Loureiro and his wife
lived for ten years on the land but didn't change anything.
They sold it to the Dzogchen Community in February of 1990.
Mr. Touceda's spirit remains in Tashigar every sum
mer making reality the things he dreamed with his good
intention.

C O M M U N I T Y
D Z O G C H E N

C O M M U N I T Y

OF

I T A L Y

1998

M E R I G A R

N E W S
TARA

P R O G R A M

M A N D A L A

S U M M E R
RETREATS

WITH NAMKHAI

JULY 24-28

NORBU

RINPOCHE

FIRST SUMMER RETREAT

The retreat begins Friday July 24th at 5 pm. The costs are 200.000 lire (or 50.000
lire per day) with the usual reductions for members.
AUGUST 14-21

SECOND SUMMER RETREAT

The retreat begins Friday, August 14th at 5 pm. The costs are 350.000 lire (or
50.000 lire per day) with the usual reductions for members.

AUGUST 28-30

SANTI M A H A SANGHA THRID LEVEL EXAM

AUGUST 31-SEPT 4

COURSE OF THE FOURTH LEVEL

The costs are 200.000 lire without discounts.

Please note the following:
In the gar where a fourth level course takes place, Rinpoche will no longer give
courses of the precedent levels. Practitioners who are interested in courses of
the first three levels, need to direct themselves to another gar. For instance, the
Base and First Level exams and the related courses of the First and Second
Level will take place in Russia, April 1998, and in Tashigar in February 1999.
Furthermore, the exams of the Base, First and Second Level and the related
courses of the First, Second and Third Level will take place at Tsegyalgar in the
summer of 1999.

1 9 9 8

P R O G R A M

JUNE 18TH -20TH

Summer Solstice Gathering and Stone
People's Lodges

with Grandmother Bertha Grove

JUNE 2 1ST
Spring Edible & Medicinal Plant
Gathering Walk
with Dixie Neumann
JUNE 30TH - JULY 7TH
Dzogchen Retreat and the Sky-like

PRACTICE

AND

JULY 31-AUGUST 6

TRAINING

M A Y 1-3

PRACTICE RETREAT OF THE COMPLETE DANCE OF THE VAJRA

M A Y 15-17

INTENSIVE PRACTICE RETREAT ON THE FOUR IMMEASURABLES

The retreat will start on Friday May 15th at 9 am and will consist of four ses
sions a day.
M A Y 24

PRACTICE RETREAT OF THE DANCE OF THE THREE VAJRAS

JUNE 5-7

PRACTICE RETREAT OF THE COMPLETE DANCE OF THE VAJRA

JULY 5

PRACTICE RETREAT OF THE DANCE OF THE THREE VAJRAS

JULY 15-21

TRAINING COURSE FOR TEACHERS OF THE FIRST LEVEL

OF VAJRA DANCE

Held by Prima Mai and Adriana Dal Borgo

The courses will start on Wednesday July 15th at 10 am. The cost is Lit. 420.000
without discounts. Participants should know both the female and the male part
of the Dance of the Six Lokas as well as those of the Dance of the Three Vajras.
To register for the course participants should be up to date with their member
ship fees and send a written application letter to the secretary of Merigar before
May 30th. Candidates will be notified. According to the instructions of the
Master it is advisable that those who wish to qualify to become Dance of the
Vajra teachers participate in more than one course of first level training.

R E T R E A T

IN

TRAINING COURSE FOR YANTRA YOGA TEACHERS OF THE FIRST

LEVEL (PLEASE NOTE THESE DATES HAVE BEEN CHANGED)

Held by Fabio Andrico and Laura Evangelisti

The course starts at 10am on July 31st. The cost is Lit. 420.000 without dis
counts. The course is reserved for advanced practitioners who already teach or
intend to teach Yantra Yoga. To register for the course participants should be up
to date with their membership fees and send a written application letter to the
secretary of Merigar before June 30th. Candidates will be notified.
AUGUST 7 - 1 3

Nature of Mind
with Tsok Nyi Rinpoche
JULY 18TH -26TH
Family Retreat & Vision Quest for
Teenagers
with Sparky Shooting Star, Tsultrim Allione
and Horse Hubbell
AUGUST 4TH - 9TH

DANCE OF THE VAJRA COURSE - FIRST PART

Held by Prima Mai

The course will start on August 7th at 10 am. The cost is Lit. 280.000 with 30%
discount for members. Please book before June 30th with a deposit of Lit. 50.000.
If there are not a minimum of 15 participants the course will be canceled.

Chd Retreat The Laughter of the Dakinis

SEPTEMBER 7-13

with Aiom Rinpoche

DANCE OF THE VAJRA COURSE - SECOND PART

Held by Adriana Dal Borgo

The course will start on September 7th at 10 am. The cost is Lit. 280.000 with
30% discount for members. Please book before July 30th with a deposit of Lit.
50.000. If there are not a minimum of 15 participants the course will be can
celed.
SEPTEMBER 2 0

PRACTICE RETREAT OF THE DANCE OF THE THREE VAJRAS

Merigar, 58031 Arcidosso GR, Italy

Tel. 0564 966837, fax 0564 968110, email merigar@dueffe.it

with Tulku Sang-Ngag

AUGUST 14TH - 23RD
Dzogchen Retreat

Contact:
Tara Mandala
PO Box 3040
Pagosa Springs, CO 81147
Tel: 970 246 6177
Fax: 970 264 6169
email:75402.1127@compuserve.com

B R A Z I L
THE PUBLIC TALK ON 12TH OF DECEMBER is still in the process of being
organized. The information will be distributed as soon as possible.

with CHGYAL NAMKHAI NORBU

DECEMBER 18 - 2 0

The retreat will be held at a "sitio", which means a small farm in Portuguese. The
name of this particular sitio is "Jardim do Dharma" where the first Big Stupa of
Latin America is located near a small city called Cotia, 35 Km from Sao Paulo,
with a minimum of 40 comfortable accommodations for sleeping and 20 more
places for small tents for camping around the Stupa.

For any information please contact us at: Tel: 0055-11-69523919

e-mail: INTERNET:wmalaga@uol.com.br
our postal address is :
Washington and Marietta Malaga
Rue Rail Vaccinate 19 funds
02370-010 Sao Paulo, Brazil

Many Thanks!!

Making a Dream
Come True
Tashigar
To all International.
Dzogchen
Community Members:
This history began
a few years ago when
some of us were shar
ing our dreams and dis
covered almost all of
us shared one impor
tant one. To live in a
place suited to practice
- just like Tashigar!
Then we began to ask
ourselves, why not
Tashigar? We studied a lot of alternatives, made a lot
of projects, discussed a lot, but were not yet clear
enough so nothing concrete happened.
Last year when I heard Rinpoche's words during
the final day of the Santi Maha Sangha 1st Level
Training saying, " M a n y people are thinking they
would like to build a small house on the land here
in Tashigar. I think it's a very good idea and I like it
very much. Not only for Tashigar, but for all Gars."
I then heard a voice inside of me saying, " O K girl,
you have no more excuses", and a lot of feelings
came together; happiness, fear, wonder, panic,
were all dancing wildly into my heart. N o w we
should do it!!!
Rinpoche, as always, made the first step, and
chose the place for his own house and walked with us
all around the land indicating places for future houses,

The Mirror would like to extend many thanks to Ann and Windy
Dankoff of Santa Fe, New Mexico, John Walker of Albuquerque, New
Mexico and Richard Kneeland of Little Canada. Minnesota, for their
generous donations.
for personal retreat cab
ins, and made propitiato
ry rites at the various
sites.
At
that
very
moment, some people
chose their own sites with
Rinpoche's guidance.

P A S S A G E S

Since then, we have

been studying the legal
ity for these kinds of
land matters, and now
have all the formal legal
aspects prepared and
ready.
Ricky Sued, one of
the Tashigar members, is already living in Tashigar
in his new house built on a big rock where we once
sang the Song of the Vajra and two rainbows
appeared around the sun.
Rinpoche's house is almost ready and w i l l be
completed before his arrival in December 1998.
Now you can come and begin to make your own
dream come true. A n d in case you still have any
doubts, here are the final words of Rinpoche: " We
want to enjoy the end of our life, then the rest of life
we can enjoy together, doing practice and having a
nice life, instead of a sad one. If I have a chance I
will enjoy with you. This is my aim."
We will really try to make this happen. Come and
let's do it together! For more specific information
please contact the people on the International
Dzogchen Contact List from Argentina.
Marisa Alonso - Director, Tashigar

Bom: On January 3rd, 1998, in

New York City, a son, Liam, was
bom to Miranda Simmons and John
Shannon. Liam is welcomed by his
three sisters, Tatiana 8, Olympia 6
and Urna 2.
Bom: We welcome to this human
dimension Vaiva (Rainbow in the
Sky in Lithuanian) the Daughter of
Salvatore Azzolini and Rasa L i k taite, who arrived in Poggibonsi,
Italy at 19:35 on March 23.

Married: On February 18th, 1998,

Nicholas Simmons and Anna
Gogosi were married in Rome. A
few days after the wedding they
moved to Argentina where they are
currently living, not far from
Tashigar.
Married: Congratulations to Loek
Jehee and Roland Witte who were
married at the city hall in Amsterday Holland on April 6.

Died: 45-Year-old-David Ryder,

composer and musician, long-time
companion of Laura Sidoli of
Milano, passed away in London on
April 6. He had not been well for
some time.

THE

MIRROR

APRIL/MAY

1998

15

i i i i r i n i
C O M M U N I T Y

N E W S

Tantra Club
by Jonathan Swinchatt

e all have different styles of learning.

Some of us learn more readily
through reading, others through hearing,
while still others understand better by seeing
and doing. Most of us use some combination
of these, with emphasis on one or another.
These learning styles are carried over into
the study, understanding and practice of
Dzogchenwe each find a unique way of
touching the energy through some combination of studying texts, listening to talks and
tapes, engaging in ritual practice, sitting in
contemplation, joining in the Vajra Dance,
and undertaking Yantra Yoga. Each of these
modes affects each of us in different ways,
and we discover an ever-evolving balance of
these activities and their place in the other
aspects of our lives.
For me, the written wordparticular
books, particular writershas special power, at times an ability to transmit directly the
nature of experience or understanding. I first
experienced this reading Franklin MerrellWolff, an American seeker of the first half of
this century who, apparently without a
teacher, using the few written sources that
were then available, came in touch with the
primordial state. While reading his words, I
would slip into deep contemplative states
that seemed permeated by a kind of understanding that transcended the intellectual
style which had always been such an important part of my life. Over time, I learned that
to receive in this way, I needed to avoid reading in my habitual analytical mode, I had to
give up attempting to understand in the ordinary way what the words meant; rather, I
needed to open to the words, to somehow let
them enter and allow them, allow the language, to make its own connections. When I
am able to do this, it is truly illuminatingI
feel understanding, it seems to permeate my
whole being, every cell seems to relax and
expand, I feel free and open.
This has happened over the years with
only a few sources, but when I began reading
Norbu Rinpoche's works, they penetrated in
this way that seems to be a kind of direct
transmissionI understood, it was as if I
was being taught from the inside, being presented with information I somehow already
knew. What it was that I knew was quite
unclearbut it is that ignorance which
brought me to the Dzogchen Community,
and it is Norbu Rinpoche's teachings that are
illuminating that ignorance, providing a context within which to see and, in a subtle nondirective way, organize, past experiences
and learnings while moving progressively
deeper into the ever more elusive subtleties
of the primordial state. The richness of this
experience, and the obvious effect of the
teachings on my life, is what keeps me going
when I look at the amount of work that needs
to be done, and the teachings that have to be
assimilated, for Santi Maha Sangha.
And this brings us finally to Tantra Club,
an apparently simple and ordinary process
that contains within it extraordinarily profound potentials. Every Monday night, with
very few exceptions, at 7:30, a group usually
comprised of about twelve to sixteen people
meets around a long table in the library at
Tsegyalgar. Jim Valby is coordinating the
translation of the fundamental Dzogchen
texts - the basic sources for the Semde,
Longde, and Upadesa teachings. Several
years ago, he decided that one way to test the
clarity of his translations would be to share
them with members of the Community, and
get feedback. And so began Tantra Club.
The process is highly informal, but
almost ritualistic in its process. The evening
opens with a brief, simple, but powerful
Guruyoga, Transformation, and Guardian
practice, for which Jim each week designates a leader. Then Jim provides a brief

16

overview of the material that has been covered so far, which includes a number of the
Semde lungs and the beginning of the fundamental Longde text.
After handing out copies of the chapter to
be covered that week, Jim picks someone
randomly to begin reading, with each subsequent page being read by the next person
down the table. Then we repeat, continuing
around the table, but during this second reading Jim provides a commentary on each
verse in the chapter, and sometimes people
ask questions or make comments of clarification. One way to use these texts is to read
and contemplate them, then observe ourselves in practice, and then to go back to the
texts to see how our experience connects
with the view presented in the verses.
Unfortunately for me, I have been attending Tantra Club only for about three months.
For some time, I thought that a nearly four
hour round-trip drive from my home in Connecticut to Tsegyalgar in Conway, Massachusetts was somehow unwarranted for a
meeting that lasts, at best, an hour and a half.
But then one Monday I found myself nearby,
and went, and have been back almost every
week since. It has been quite an extraordinary experience. The Tantras themselves are
amply amazingthey are the most profound writings that I have been exposed to.
One and a half hours of this material is usually more than enoughit is impossible to
even begin to assimilate the impact of these
words, and their power quickly begins to
overwhelm my ability to appreciate their
depth, the mind goes somewhat numb. Usually, during the first reading I feel hints of
internal connections, subtle internal movements that indicate to me that something
important is being triggered by the words.
The second time through, the analytical
mind gets into the act, connecting Jim's
commentaries to the words of the verses,
making sure that I understand at least the
most obvious, superficial, meaning. During
this reading, I make a few notes on the pages,
reminders of connections that seem to get

made while Jim talks, cryptic comments that

I hope I can decode when I read them later.
And then, when we have finished reading
the chapter this second time, we dedicate the
merits, have a little conversation, and go on
our way. One of my slight regrets is that I
can't join Jim and a few others who follow
up Tantra Club with a visit to the Conway
Inn for pool and beerbut I have miles to
drive, and work to do the following day, so
home I head.

BOOKS

&

But Tantra Club does not end for me at the

close of our meeting. During the next days
or weeks, I will "read" the chapter again,
letting it flow through this neuro-physiological system that is "me", making what
connections it w1 make, bringing together that which is indicated by th words
with my experiences in practice. This
continual back and forth processreading, experiencing, checking experience
against my understanding of the words,
checking my understanding of the words
against an expanding experience--has
been of inestimable value. It seems to
have no endbut then again, this should
not surprise because it also has had no
beginning.

DZOGCHEN: T H E SELF PERFECTED STATE

AVAILABLE

FROM

PRACTICES
TSEGYALGAR

B O O K S
T H E B L U E BOOK OF TRANSCRIPTS
(TALKS IN O Z , CALIFORNIA, 1982)
BY CHGYAL NAMKHAI NORBU
$30.00US
DREAM YOGA AND THE PRACTICE OF NATURAL LIGHT
BY CHGYAL NAMKHAI NORBU
$13.00US

BY CHGYAL NAMKHAI NORBU

S13.00US
RIGBAI KUJYUG/THE SIX VAIRA VERSES
BY CHGYAL NAMKHAI NORBU
S15.00US
T H E CRYSTAL AND THE WAY OF LIGHT
T H E TEACHINGS OF NAMKHAI NORBU RINPOCHE
S15.00US
CYCLE OF D A Y AND NIGHT.
A N ESSENTIAL TIBETAN TEXT ON THE PRACTICE OF
DZOGCHEN
BY CHGYAL NAMKHAI NORBU
S13.00US
T H E GOLDEN LETTERS.
T H E THREE STATEMENTS OF GARAB DORJE,
THE 1ST TEACHER OF DZOGCHEN
TRANSLATION, INTRODUCTION AND COMMENTARIES
BY JOHN MYRDHIN REYNOLDS .
S19.00US

I would only add that this process does not

rest exclusively with Tantra Club. I periodically re-read the materials that Norbu Rinpoche has so generously provided for the
Community, and for the broader public in the
books that are available for all. It seems to me
that much of what is in the texts that Jim is
translating is already available in one form or
another, perhaps not in as concentrated a
way, but available nevertheless. Already Rinpoche has given us gifts of unfathomable
richnesswhile I forget this too frequently,
Tantra Club is now providing me with an
almost weekly reminder, as well as a way of
further exploring their depth. For anyone
close enough to Tsegyalgar to attend on
Monday nights, or for those who are temporarily in the area, TantraClub provides a
unique and powerful addition to the rest of
our Dzogchen experience.

T H E SONG OF THE VAJRA

BY CHGYAL NAMKHAI NORBU .
$15.00US
T H E STAIRWAY TO LIBERATION. INSTRUCTIONS ON
NGONDRO.
BY CHGYAL NAMKHAI NORBU
$15.00US
T H E 21 SEMZIN OF DZOGCHEN UPADESA
BY CHGYAL NAMKHAI NORBU
S15.00US
P R A C T I C E S
CHOD PRACTICE
S3.00US
GARUDA PRACTICE
S5.00US
HODSER JANMA
(EXPLANATION OF THE PRACTICE BY CHGYAL NAMKHAI
NORBU)
$3.00US
P R A C T I C E
T A P E S
A U D I O / V I D E O
AWARENESS IN DAILY LIFE
BY CHGYAL NAMKHAI NORBU (2 TAPES)

ASIA continued from page I1

A.S.I.A. is choosing the two Italian doctors to
assist Dr. Phuntsog Wangmo, who will be in
charge of the project, in starting up the hospital, in the organization and the training of the
local medical staff assigned to the medical
project.
The school will be finished by the summer
and ready for the beginning of the next
scholastic year after it has been fitted out with
school equipment.
We have begun renovating some government buildings which are no longer in use to
be used as lodgings for the staff of the school
and the hospital as well as the students who
will be attending the schoolAs regards to the micro-projects, by means
of a loan from the project, a society of three
people has set up a saw-mill for working with
timber, one of the principal economic
resources of Tibet.
A second micro-project for buying a truck
also supported by a loan has been concluded
with a young man from the village.
As far as cultural projects are concerned,
A.S.I.A. has helped to organize a course on
medicine, astrology and religion at Simda
Gonpa college, a Nyingmapa monastery in
Jomda County and is in the process of publishing an epic poem of Gesar Ling, the mythical king of Tibet and protector of Buddhism.
The publication will be ready before the end
of 1998.
These, briefly, are the principal activities
of A.S.I.A. in the Dzam Thog project.
Much has been done and remains to be
done in order to guarantee the conditions to
carry out the projects and to leave something
really useful and long-lasting. They are realized with a lot of effort but carrying them out
gives faith and incentive for the work still to
be done.

SIO.OOUS

To the same goal also goes the support of

the entire Community as well as the dedication of people such as Tseringthar and
Phuntsog Wangmo who devote themselves so
much for Tibet, its culture and its people.
Giorgio Minuzzo is about to return to East
Tibet for the third consecutive year as the onsite coordinator of the AS J A. project called
'Program for the Development of the Health
and Educational Conditions of the Village of
Dzam Thog'. u

SHORT AND MEDIUM T U N TAPES

$6.00US
GANAPUJA TAPE
S6.00US
MANTRA MELODIES
BY ADRIANO CLEMENTE.
$6.00US
PRONUNCIATION COURSE
BY ADRIANO CLEMENTE.
S6.00US
MANDARAVA
(VIDEO TAPE OF CHGYAL NAMKHAI NORBU)
$50.00US
GURU Y O G A OF THE WHITE A
(PRACTICE PACKET: TEXT, EXPLANATON, PICTURE, TAPE)
$20.00US

PURIFlCAnON OF THE SIX LOKAS

(PRACTICE PACKET: TEXT, FJCPLANATON, PICTURE, TAPE)
$18.00US

DREAM
BOOK

SHITRO: Y O G A OF THE PEACEFUL AND WRATHFUL

DEITIES
(PRACTICE PACKET: TEXT, EXPLANATION, PICTURE, TAPE)
$18.00US
To ORDER:

Checks or money orders payable to:

DZOGCHEN COMMUNITY

PLEASE
SEND IN YOUR DREAMS OF
CHGYAL

NAMKHAI

NORBU

TO INCLUDE IN A BOOK TO
BENEFIT THE

MIRROR.

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Please include expiration date.
Out of country orders must be paidfor by
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For overseas surface mail delivery, please
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For overseas air service, multiply by three.

The dreams will be printed

anonymously. Please send
them
by email:
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for Macintosh or Dos saved in
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or as a last resort,
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Conway, M A , 01341 U S A .

SHIPPING AND H A N D L I N G
ORDERS UNDER:

$20
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M A I L ORDERS TO:
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i ut fi n AT i on li t
C O M M U N I T Y

N E W S
NEW GAKYILS 1998
UKRAINE: K A R M A L I N , K H A R K O V

BLUE: Pozolotina Tatiana

310082 Ukraine, Kharkov, Mezlauka
ll/7,kv58

Shang Shung Edizioni

RED: Sukostavskiy Roman

310023 Ukraine, Kharkov,
Mironositskaya st. 82/10
CALENDAR - AGENDA FOR THE EARTH TIGER YEAR ( 1 9 9 8 - 1 9 9 9 )

LIT. 15.000 US $10

Pocket agenda containing concise indications of the practices recommended by Chgyal Namkhai Norbu for special days, positive and negative days for the Naga Practice, astrological data of the Tibetan Calendar and the individual aspects for those
bom between 1 9 1 2 and 1999. Indispensable for finding out favorable and unfavorable days for daily activities and to remember special practice days.
':
K E Y FOR CONSULTING THE TIBETAN CALENDAR

'

BY CHGYAL NAMKHAI NORBU, EDITED BY M . R . LETI LIT. 15.000 US $ 10

Much information on Tibetan astrology and on its application to daily life. A practical and complete manual, indispensable for the consultation of the annual astrological calendar.

VENEZUELA: MERIDA
DZOGCHEN COMMUNITY

Director: Elias Capriles

Substitute/ Assistant: Sonia Kramer
BLUE:: Edgar Vasquez
Substitute/Assistant: Oscar Gutierrez

YELLOW: Kiryanov Sergey

312156 Ukraine, Kharkov,
Pesochin Gagarina st. 5/30
email address:karling@ alan.kharkov.ua
USA: SANTA F E , N E W M E X I C O

RED: Michel Dubourdieu

Substitute/Assistant: Roman Romero
YELLOW: Carmen Rivas-Davila
Substitute/Assistant: Maria Dolores
Gonzalez
GERMANY

BLUE: Jim Casilio, president

Lidian King, secretary

Director: Birgit Gewehr

YELLOW: Rolf Portack, Tassilo Eisgruber, Gerd Bramkamp-Manthey

RED: Anne Dankoff

John Walker, vice-president
Shanti Maffey

RED: Hans Vogel, Roland Seeser,

SaabedArslen

YELLOW: Susie Marlow,

treasurer: Judy Herzl

BLUE: Birgit Gewehr, Mathias Winter,

Jakob Winkler

COMMENTARY ON NONDRO
BY CHGYAL NAMKHAI NORBU
LIT. 1 5 . 0 0 0 US $ 1 0

This is a transcription of the teachings given by Chgyal Namkhai Norbu in September 1 9 9 0 , on a text
written by himself in 1 9 7 6 and translated into English, "The Stairway to Liberation".
This commentary consists of a very detailed explanation of the Dzogchen Nondro, based on the
instruction given by the great master Adzam Drugpa. In particular the Seven M i n d Trainings (Lojong),
the Guruyoga and the complete Korde Rushen - which are fundamental practices of the base level of
the Santi Maha Sangha - are explained in this text.

A l l prices are in Italian Lire and US dollars

Postage and packaging:
In Europe add Lit. 4.000 per order
Outside Europe (air mail) $ 5 US
To order please send the list of books you require
by letter, fax or e-mail
From Europe: send an International Postal Money
Order or Eurocheque in Italian Lire
From outside Europe: send a check in US $ to:
Shang Shung Edizioni,
58031 Arcidosso GR, Italy
Tel. & fax 0564966039
email ssed@ats.it

Out of country orders must be paid for by international money orders, Visa/ Mastercard or postal
money orders in US dollars. For overseas surface
mail delivery, please double the Shipping & Handling charges.

To order from Tsegyalgar:

Checks or money orders payable to Dzogchen
Community.
Visa and Mastercard welcome. Please include
expiration date.

For overseas air service, multiply by three.

Shipping and Handling
Orders under S20

$5.00

S20-S40

$6.00
Mail orders to:

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: POBox82
Conway, M A 01341 U S A
Tel:4133694153 Fax:4133694165
email :74404.1141 @ Compuserve .com

TIBETAN BUDDHIST
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Bn Dzogchen Teacliings

R e t a i l

Continuing the tradition of quality items at low prices

(Business and inventory formerly Charles O'Hara of
Susquehanna, PA)

Visit our Showroom Gallery by appointment!

Conveniently located close to 1-95,1-81,1-70,
1-270, andMD-15
K-F
P.O. Box
1971
Frederick, MD
21702
(301)

631-5663

H.H. Lopn Tenzin

Namdak Rinpoche

It is a great honor to announce that Lopn Tenzin Namdak

Rinpoche will hold public lectures in Germany and
conduct a week-long residential retreat in a beautiful
mountain resort in the Austrian Alps at the invitation of
the Rang Rig Sangha.
Lopn Rinpoche, who speaks excellent Biglish, will gjve
teachings and empowerments from the Shang-Shung
Nyengyiid, the equivalent of the Mennagde or I'padesha
teachings of the Nyingma School including instructions
on Thdgal and the dark retreaL
Lopn Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche is one of the foremost
Dzogchen masters of our time and living heir of the long
Bn tradition. Their most profound teachings are the
"Oral Lineage of Shang Shung" which dates back to prehistoric times and the ancient kingdom of Olmolungring,
otherwise known as Shambala, and contains the earliest
stream of transmission of the Great Perfection.
Lopn Rinpoche, who is considered the greatest living
proponent of the Bn lineage has almost stagle-handedly
kept this tradition alive in exile. He founded monastic
colleges in India and Nepal, which trained a new generation of Geshes and Lopns. He has taught at Cambridge,
London, and Munich linhersities and has given Dzogchen
teachings in the West at the invitation of H.H. the Dalai
Lama and Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche.

Mountain Retreat:'
April 27th to May 3rd
in Austria at Scheffau / Tyrolia

Information and booking:

Rang Rig-Sangha. Konradstr. 31.
D - 79100 Freiburg, Germanophone: + 49 - (0)761 - 7 33 83
fax: + 49 - (0) 761 - 79 60 90

Public workshops and lectures:

April 23rd in Munich / Germany
Mav 5th and 6th in Freiburg / Germany

THE

MIRROR

APRIL/

M AY

199

17

A n Interview with Louise Landes Levi

directly. Later, in India,
I learned the Devanagari (or Sanskrit) alphabet through non dual or
direct
process
and
translation from texts in
this alphabet, or related
to it, became a vehicle
of that exploration.

ool Grove Press: What made

you want to translate Mirabai?
Louise Landes Levi: I went to
the University of California, Berkeley in the 1960's. There was a Poetic renaissance in San Francisco and
a social and political climate which
encouraged innovation, especially
of the mind and spirit. I was drawn
to India, and involved in Indian
music, through a geographical coincidence A l i Akbhar Khan's school
opened in Berkeley at the same time
that my interests in music shifted to
improvisation and performance.
Intuitively I knew that Kabir and
Mirabai were the poets I wanted to
study. I was interested in 'spiritual'
practice and the poetry that accompanied it. I felt that in order to 'find
my own voice' I first had to understand the 'voice' of a great devotional poet like Mirabai. In other
words, to avoid imitation I wanted
and needed to understand. Besides,
due to a certain frailty, a latent or
concealed mental illness perhaps, I
could not use drugs, the gateway of
the times to consciousness expansion. So I turned to a still inarticulate idea of 'practice' and I knew
that in India certain states were celebrated in some traditions directly
through poetic practice. The Great
Berkeley Poetry readings and Allen
Ginsberg's chanting during one of
these alerted me to an ecstatic tradition which I wanted to explore

CGP: You imply

that Mira was liberated.
What is the diffemce in
the understanding of a
liberated person in the
East and West?
L L L : I can only
answer
subjectively,
from my own studies
and experience. In general, in the West, we
think of 'liberation' in
terms of social, economic, or even
personal factors, all which relate to
the T , to the nature of our egobound fields of interest and perception. In the East, at least in Buddhist
schools and their indigenous predecessors in Tibet, India, Nepal et al.,
to be liberated implies a liberation
from the concept of T or 'self or an
ego-bound perception of reality. One
is liberated form the appearance of
'reality' and released into a world in
which the ego is no longer the center
of one's reference point. Of course,
one cannot know these states
through the mind, so I offer only my
provisional 'understanding' of them.

and the physical polarities between

male and female disciples were
used in the pursuit of 'liberation'.
Moksha in Sanskrit, as do most
words in that language, has a complex variety of meanings. It is both
'liberation' in a directly sexual
sense, and liberation as explained
above, in the mind. Vaisnavism, in
Northwest India, of which Mira is a
supreme exponent, did not refer
directly to these practices. Instead,
the polarity was from what we
understand, internalized and the
great meetings reserved for the
inner chakras and channels, which
in the Tantric tradition are male and
female, by nature, and whose unification internally, leads to this same
non-dual liberation.
CGP: Does Mirabai's life have
any relevance to people today?
L L L : The Industrial-Military
complex, capitalism itself, with its
underlying message that it is morally acceptable to use others for one's
own profit, offers the same challenge that the caste-oriented, racially hierarchical and spiritually
exclusive society of the sixteenth
century India did to its citizens.
Mirabai and her contemporaries
defied this order. Mirabai was from
the warrior caste; her father and
grandfather practiced a non-violent
revolution of caste and consciousness. They brought to the streets a
teaching that had for centuries been
reserved for the fair skinned priests
and their constituents. I think in
some ways the social revolution
that occurred in the 60's, however
ineffective it may have been to deter
certain aspects of the later half of
the century, did suggest and invoke
an individual freedom and a right to
freedom which is the property of
the human heart and not of any
institution. Mira's realization cannot be qualified by time and space.
This realization resides innately in
the human mind and can manifest
today as it did in the centuries
which have passed.

in general, faced by women today

who wish to free themselves from
conventional cultural patterns and
the expectations in those patterns.
CGP: Is there a difference
between translating this kind of
poetry and the other authors such as
Rene Daumal and Henri Michaux
whom you have translated?
L L L : If you are talking about
CGP: What does Tantrism have
'traditional' and 'non-traditional'
to do with Mira's life and work?
forms of poetic activity, of course
L L L : In general, in India, at
there is a difference. Mirabai's
least, the Tantric schools refer to
poetic is part of a tradition which
practices which are not included in
exists in the sub-continent and
the Vedic precepts and commenwhich is devoted to maintaining
taries. The school of Bhakti or
an energetic potential which, in
devotional love which flourished in
that tradition, is called 'transmisIndia in the poets (Mirabai was not
sion'. It is believed that such literthe only one) resulted from factors
ature has the power of 'sacred'
which clearly separate it from the
value. There is even a name
prevailing orthodoxy. Considerareserved, in the tradition, for the
tions of caste, conventional attilanguage in which such texts are
tudes towards love and seduction,
written, i.e. Sandhya Bhasa or twithe nature of emotion itself were
light speech. The poetry of Saraha,
revolutionized during this period. In
the sixth Dalai Lama, and Mirabai
the Northeast of India, in communiare but a few historical examples.
Mirabai of course was a woman.
ties which survive today, for examWe have this tradition in the West
She was the only great female voice
ple in the Baul community, pracas well, but it is less understood as
of the Vaishnavite tradition and she
tices directly related to sexuality
such. This material requires an
faced the same difficulties which are,
extremely responsible commitment from the translator, at least I
see it this way. Although it may be
impossible to translate this kind of
activity, in which recognition of
the material, is of utmost importance. One is entering a 'lineage'
led by Tulku Vungdrung Gyaltsen mid Karl Scberer
or enlightened tradition in which
the word has served as a principal
June 1st - 26th
conduit. One has the same responAccompanying Bn Healers on a Shamanic Journey to the Center of the Earth sibility to a so called human mind
stream like salt in water, then that
There we travel by jeep to lake Manasarovar where we meditate
consciousness permeates all forms
in monasteries on his banks before we begin a four day
of activity, naturally. But, in the
drcambulation of Mt.KaJlash coinciding with the fidi moon of
Buddhas Enlightenment day, visiting sacred caves and
case of realized beings like
monasteries. On the third day we cross the 5,700 m Dobnala
Milarepa and Saraha, or Surdas
pass which represents a symbolic rebirth and the dispelling of
and Tulsidas, this relation is even
a lifetime's sins.
more clear, yet at the same time
With Tulku Yungdrung Gyaltsen we will explore the hidden ruins
more subtle, and demands a
and caves of ancient Shang-Shung, visit the Gurudem Bon
monastery near Tsaparang and Tirtapuri hot springs, said to
tremendous effort, that at the same
be e female counterpart to Mt. Kailash.
time must be effortless in order to
We will return to Kathmandu along the northern boundary of
reflect the attainment of the soHimalaya by way of the forested valleys of Kyirong, extolled by
called 'author' in question.
Heinrich Harrer as Tibets' most beautiful, driving through

Issue 8 includes:
The Path is
under your Feel
David Schneider,
Director of Shambhala
Europe

Emotional Intelligence
Daniel Goleman
Tea-time reflections
Dzongsar Khyentse
Rinpoche
Special Feature on
the 'Death, Dying
and Living'
Conference
Subscription for 4 issues
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EDITORS
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Liz Granger, Merigar

Kailash and Shang-Shung Pilgrimage

Mount Kailash, e holiest place of pilgrimage for Buddhists,

Bon and Hindus, is also central to the shamanic tradition that
priorates all formal religions. On this journey we will trek to Mt
Kailash's luminous ice peakfromNorthwest Nepal together with
Bonpo shamans who will immerse themselves in e icy
waters of Lake Manasarovar to renew and strengen eir
powers of prophecy and healing.
Traveling W em through a landscape of my, imagination
and extraordinary spiritual potency, e pilgrim enters a sacred
realm where consciousness becomes permeable to divine
forces and energies often resulting in states of ecstasy,
inspiration and a sense of renewal.
Foowing e ancient pilgrims'route from Simikot along e
Karnah Gorge rough pristine villages and remote monasteries
we cross e 4.480 m N'arala pass into Tibet.

18

gorges laced with waterfalls into the green hills of NepaL

Tulku Vungdrung Gyaltsen is one of the few recognized
Tulkus in the Bon Dzogchen tradition and a renowned Chod
master. One of the highest Lamas in Mustang he is also greatly
revered in Western Tibet.
Karl Scherer conducts meditation-retreats in Europe, Asia
and America. On this journey he brings both his experience as
a Kalyanamitra in the Nyingma tradition and his background as
a healer in the Native American tradition.

information and booking:

Rang Rig-Sangha, Konradstr. 31,
D - 79100 Freiburg, Germany
phone: + 49 - (0)761 - 7 33 83
fax: + 49 - (0) 761 - 79 60 90

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REFLECTIONS
Mirror: Eliane, where were you
bom?
Eliane Diali.>: I was bom in
Laos in a small town in the South
near the Thai border; Laos was a
colony of France at the time. M y
father was in the military and was
stationed there. That's where he met
my mother. M y mother is Viet
namese. I lived in Indo China until I
was three. Then my sister and I
came to France for our education.
We stayed with the family of the
governor of Indo China. The wife of
the governor wanted to help us to
get an education; her own children
had been killed in an accident so she
felt that she wanted to do something
for other children. She was tradi
tional French upper class, so my sis
ter and I went to a boarding school
with nuns. It was in the mountains
near Lyons, in the pre-Alps.
Mirror: Were you religious as a
child?
Elaine: I was a good little
Catholic girl. I never questioned it
because that was what I was taught:
Hell and Paradise. Some of my
friends were really into it, learning
catechism and so on. Everything
was so strict with a real sense of
good and evil.
Mirror: How did you begin to
be interested in Eastern religions?
Elaine: It was maybe only about
five years ago but Eastern religion
was always around me. I was bom
in Laos and my sister went every
day to a small Buddhist temple. She
was well known to the custodians of
the temple. She had bad memories
of these people. They didn't treat
her well. I saw no difference
between the Catholic nuns and this.
I didn't want to hear about it. But
my sister always kept a little altar to
the Buddha. She never prayed but
she always offered incense and
fruit. I thought it was pretty stupid.
Buddhism was always important to
her in some way.
At one time she went to India
and brought a friend a beautiful stat
ue of a female deity who held an
egg in one hand. I thought it was
really beautiful. When she went to
India for the second time, I asked
her to bring me a statue just like that
one. When she came back, she had
brought me a statue of Amitayus. I
was so upset because it was not the
female divinity with the egg. M y
sister was very upset with me. She
said that I was so ungrateful and
that the statue was an antique and
cost more than the other statue. But

Lives of the Great

Masters
continuedfrompage 14

became the so-called earlier and lat

er translations.
Then the king and his ministers
requested:
"If I offer you a sorcery bowl for
Ligarti's thirst, a golden saddle, bri
dle, and silk saddlecloth on a black
horse, a turquoise spoon, and a
golden cup inlaid with turquoise,
would you please translate some
Dhanna books?"
Vimalamitra replied:
"The horse and gold are not nec
essary. If I translate Dharma books
for the benefit of sentient beings,
I'll do it as well as I can."
Southwest of Utse Rigsum,
Vimalamitra translated some com-

How

M E T T H E

T E A C H I N G S

An Interview with Eliane Diallo

I didn't care. She told me that the
Amitayus statue was charged; full
of power. It had a crossed vajra on
the bottom. I rattled it and there was
something inside. I was afraid to get
rid of the statue because I thought it
might bring bad luck if I did.
Because I was upset, my sister also
gave me a thangka of Avalokiteshvara. But as far as the religion was
concerned, I wasn't interested at all,
I thought it was all nonsense at the
time.
Mirror: Your sister seems to
have been a big influence on you.
Elaine: She told me all these
stories about India and I really liked
them. She gave me a book on
Benares. Then, I read about Hindu
cosmology in my twenties. I wanted
to learn Sanskrit at College but I
studied French Literature and Eng
lish and the course load was too
heavy to permit learning Sanskrit.
After college I went to Paris. I
still had nothing to do with the
teaching but there were always peo
ple around me who were. M y exboyfriend took me to see a Lama
but I didn't like it and I don't even
remember the Lama's name. I was
very cynical. M y sister still had this
little altar and I was stuck with A m i
tayus and Avalokitesvara that I
couldn't give away for fear of hav
ing bad luck. So I lent the statue, to a
friend. Soon after, a friend gave me
a poster of Vajrapani as a gift. It's as
if I couldn't escape it.
M i r r o r : So what made, you
finally become interested in the
teaching?
Elaine: I was in a relationship
with someone that didn't work out.
It was really painful, very crazy.
Because of my Catholic upbring
ing, I felt that I wanted to save this
person and you can't always do
that. I realized that we were always
repeating the same actions. It was
overwhelming. I came to the States
in 1992 for a three month vacation;
I just wanted a break. I stayed with a
friend in New York. Soon after I
met the man who was to become
my husband. It was while I was at
my friend's house that I read Cut
ting through Spiritual Materialism
(by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.) I
read it like a book of psychology. It
was a clear view of karma. In a way
it explained the nature of samsara. I

mon works which had come from

India, like the Prajnaparamita, rdo
rje sems dpa' sgyu 'phrul dra ha,
dpai yang dag, phurpa, ma mo, and
gshin rje with Nyag Jnanakumara.
They also translated teachings of
the Semde and Longde. He translat
ed the five root tantras of the three
cycles with Nyag jnanakumara.
At twilight and dawn, in the cen
tral hall of Rigsum. he translated the
unsurpassably secret tantra and
lung texts for the spiritual enrich
ment of the king and two of his min
isters and for no one else. So for ten
years he stayed translating many
tantras of the goal-oriented Guhyamantra.
When the king and his ministers
asked:

. "Because this profound teaching

has not appeared before in Tibet,
and no practices like this will

liked to read philosophy and psy

chology books like Nietsche and
Jung. I didn't find Jung very clear.
Trungpa's books were really down
to earth. I wanted to leam about
meditation and relaxation. I read
Meditation in Action (by Trungpa
Rinpoche) and I could relate to it on
a psychological level. It was a spe
cial time in my life.
Mirror: How did you come to
Norbu Rinpoche's teaching in par
ticular?
Elaine: I never met any teacher
before Norbu Rinpoche. I didn't
even know what Buddhism was
about. I went to the Open Center
and I saw in their catalogue that
Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche was giv
ing a talk on Bodhicitta at the Blood
Center. In the brief biography it said
that he came from Italy. I wanted
someone who was from the Tibetan
mountains but I went anyway.
A few months previously I had
had a dream of an Oriental man
walking down the street with other
people, Western people. This dream
puzzled me. I knew that the Oriental
man was a master but he was in
Western clothes.
Now. going to this talk just
before we crossed the street to get to
the Blood Center, I turned my head
and this Oriental man turned up
exactly as he was in my dream. I
had a deja vu experience and I said
to my husband, "That's the man
who will give the talk." The Orien
tal man walked by and smiled and I
knew that I had met a true master.
During the talk I started to cry. I
turned to my husband but he had
fallen asleep. I felt in a weird state; I
was crying despite myself. At the
end, someone went on stage and
said that on the next day there

appear later in Tibet, please conceal

it for the benefit of later genera
tions."
In the Dragmar Cave of Chimpu, Vimala translated the unsur
passably secret Nyingthig Texts
from an Indian language into
Tibetan, and after deciding to go to
China, he concealed them as a
teaching provision for later genera
tions, without giving them even to
the king and his ministers. After
thinking that these books and teach
ings might disappear because some
person at a later time might water
down the words of this teaching
cycle like a milkman waters down
his milk, Vimala concealed the Indi
an language texts without adding or
subtracting anything from the
Tantric instructions of the three
Thigle Cycles.

would be a Buddhist meal. A Bud

dhist meal! It turned out to be a
Ganapuja. I wanted to go out of
curiosity. So I went, and Rinpoche
read out some things. I felt weird
and very self conscious. I thought,
"This is like a cult or a sect." And I
thought, "What will my friends
think?" At the entrance to the puja
they gave out a short thun book and
I thought that I wouldn't use it. But I
kept the book and that night I put it
under my pillow and I thought,
"Maybe next life, I will know some
thing." Like when you are in school
and you think that if you sleep with
a book under your pillow, somehow
the knowledge will seep into you.
That night I had a very strange
dream that was a little scary. I was
walking in a forest and I found this
altar. It was a little altar. A yellow
brocade drape hung on it and there
was incense burning. I went behind
the altar and a young man was sit
ting there on the ground. He was
scary. Half-naked. Long hair and
bright blue eyes. He looked really
crazy. He had a little mustache and a
goatee. He made a motion with his
hand to get me to come closer I
thought, "No way!" He was smil
ing. I had a stone in my hand and I
dropped it. It cracked open in two
halves and there were six letters
etched in the stone. It looked like
they were Chinese or Tibetan char
acters. There was a pit inside like an
avocado. This pit was a little slimy.
I got scared and woke up. I thought
this dream was kind of spooky. It
stayed with me. I told a friend about
the dream and he thought it was
beautiful.
I really resisted getting involved
with the teaching for two years. I
took a class in Yantra Yoga with
Michael Katz because I heard that
he was a student of Namkhai Norbu
Rinpoche. Then I did yoga at a
Sivananda Center. The people there
were very devoted to their master
and I thought that I would like to
feel that way about a teacher. Then I
thought, "I already met a master."
I found out that there was a
beginner's weekend in Conway.
Then finally. I went to the first
retreat that was held at the school. I
didn't really like the retreat. It was
too crowded. But something hap
pened at the retreat that was strange.

When I was seventeen, I had had a

dream of a kind of sound. In the
dream, I didn't have a body and I
was myself this music. It was very
beautiful, very blissful and relaxed.
When I told my friends the dream
they asked, "What kind of music
was it?" But I didn't know even
what instrument it was. Then, at the
retreat, when I heard the music of
the Dance of the Vajra. I felt that
this was the music from that dream
although this time I felt very sad
and emotional and scared. I still
didn't enjoy the retreat situation. I
was doing work study and living in
the dorm. There were people every
where and I like to be alone. Being
in the room with Rinpoche, all that
discomfort fell away, but as soon as
the teaching was over I didn't like it
any more. I wanted the teaching
without what was around it. I didn't
want the sangha.
Mirror: How do you feel about
the sangha now?
Elaine: Now it's better but I still
don't like being around too many
people. When I came back to New
York from the retreat I still felt that
this was it. That this was my life and
there was no way back. None of my
friends wanted to come with me. I
was with these people who didn't
know me. M y friends were worried
at first and now that I am more
relaxed they accept it. In New York,
I went to Ganapuja practices, but
not very often, but I still wanted to
see Rinpoche.
It is like a stream that carries you
off and you can't stop it. It can seem
fanatic, but if you have this experi
ence it becomes your life. So the
next time I saw Rinpoche was when
I went to India to Tso Pema and
Dharamsala. There was a short
retreat in New Delhi; I felt that from
being in India with Rinpoche in
these sacred places that I formed an
indestructible bond with him. For
me the teaching is Rinpoche. You
can read books but Rinpoche is
what is alive. You can fall into spiri
tualism and fantasy about the teach
ing if you go after it without Rin
poche, but he is like a light that dis
pels that fantasy. I am very cynical.
When my friends ask me, "What is
it that you actually get from this
teaching?" I can't tell them exactly.
What is difficult is that it can't be
explained. When I try to explain it. I
feel like I have a wooden tongue.

understanding in the king and his

ministers for three more years,
Vimala journeyed to China to the
Chiwa Thubpa Mountain. It is said
that Vimala was then three hundred
and thirteen years old.
It is also said that as long as the
Buddhist Teaching lasts, that
Learned One remains embodied as
a human being. Every one hundred
years an embodied Vimala-Buddha
appears in Tibet. That Learned One
met with the embodied Buddha
Garab Dorje seven times to request
secret oral instructions. He met him
five times in India on Jakang Moun
tain southwest of Varanasi and
twice in Budhgaya. reaching cer
tainty in Gyud. Lung, and Mennag
of the Sublime Thigle.

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So after encouraging a heartfelt

THE

MIRROR

AP

RIL

IM

AY

199

19

ut over the vast expanse of

blue-green ocean, the wind is
fighting with the tide.
Rain showers down onto the
garden of the house wc have been
renting for the past four years on a
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bay fight their way out to gain
access to the seait's Saturday, and
there's no school, but it's too wet to
play outside, so the children are rest
less. Bermuda is semi-tropical, and
at this time of year the rain can be so
intense that it will completely soak
you in seconds.
We have recently bought two
guinea pigs as pets. They live in a
cage in the kitchen. At the pet shop,
the owner told us they were both
females, and Susannah and Jessie
named them Sugar and Spice. But
when, after a few weeks in a cage
together at our house. Sugar began
to grow very big and very round it
became apparent that Spice was a
boy and Sugar was a girl, and,
well... boys will be boys and girls
will be girls, and when boys and
girls get together...
Finally, with Susannah and her
friend Erica watching. Sugar gave
birth to four babies, who were bom
completely covered in fur. able to
see and to walk, and ready to take
their mother's milk.
Susannah, at six years old, is
now an expert on all things connect
ed with guinea pig birthing and
guinea pig baby-raising. On this
rainy Saturday morning she is play
ing with the babies, letting them run
up and down her arms inside the
sleeves of her cardigan. But she has
a project on her mind: she wants to
go on an expedition. Her idea is to
take a picnic lunch in backpacks and
go to the nature reserve at Spittal
Pond, about fifteen minutes drive up
the south shore of the island.
"If only it would stop raining!"
she repeats to herself over and over
again, as the guinea pigs tunnel
inside her sweater.
Jessie doesn't want to go hiking
around Spittal Pond. She wants to
go to town. It's not that a nature
reserve would be boring for her at
twelve years old, but she has recent
ly had an operation on her toe which
caused her a lot of pain, and though
it's much better now, her foot is still
too sensitive for her to want to go
for a long walk.
As is often the case in Bermuda,
where it is said that you can live
through three seasons in one day
(there's no real winter here), when
the rain finally does stop, the
weather changes dramatically as
the sun comes out, drying every
thing off very quickly. So now it
suddenly seems like summer,
although it's only February and wc
know from the T V that in New
York only two hours away by
plane it's still winter.
Susannah changes her anti-rain
chanl to a continuous mantra of
"Hooray! Hooray! Now we can go
to Spittal Pond!" and she does a lit
tle (lance round the kitchen with
three guinea pigs in her arms. Jo
and 1 make sandwiches and pack
drinks into two backpacks
Susannah's small one. and my larg
er one that my brother bought me
for my fiftieth birthday.
It's been decided, in the way

20

S M A L L

D E T A I L S

oF
E V E R Y D A Y

T H I N G S

by John Shane

that families spontaneously decide

things, apparent order emerging out
of apparent chaos without too
much debate, that I will take Susan
nah to Spittal Pond, while Jo takes
Jessie to town. This should keep
everybody happy.
But since in order to keep the
traffic on the island manageable
each family can only have one car
in Bermuda, it is necessary for me
to drive Jo and Jessie into town
before Susannah and I can go on our
expedition.
While I'm in town I manage to
persuade Susannah who is now
humming 'Spittal Pond, Spittal
Pond' to herselfto let me stop at
the copy shop to get some photo
copying done for the Tibet Group
we have started that meets once a
month on a Sunday. It's surprising
that even on an island as small as
this, there are several people apart
from Jo. Jessie and myself who
have traveled to Tibet and who are
interested in talking together about
their travels.
The group has now expanded to
include people who haven't actually
been to Tibet but who have an inter
est in the Himalayas, and last week
end we held a buffet dinner party for
twenty people at our house to raise
money for ASIA's Tibetan school
project. Amazingly enough, there
are two Nepali families living here,
who work as cooks in a local French
restaurant, and they offered to pre
pare a traditional Nepali meal for the
Tibet Group and its guests. We all
had a wonderful evening.
On a now sunny Saturday morn
ing, after the Tibet Group photo
copying is done, Susannah and I are
finally ready to head on out of town
on our way to the Spitall Pond.
Hamilton, the capital city of
Bermuda, is the only real town on
the island, and even though it's offi
cially called a 'city', it's really not
much more than a small, though
pleasant, town. On our way out of it
we must pass the roundabout or
traffic circle as the Americans would
call it where Johnny Barnes
stands every weekday morning.
Johnny is a tall, dignified elderly
black gentleman, who a few years
ago suffered a major life-threatening
illness. A l l his working life he was a
bus driver, and talking to his passen
gers he learned a lot about people's
problems and difficulties. Faced
with the possibility of his imminent
death, he decided that he would
make a bargain with God: if he
should survive his illness, he
promised, he would do something
every working day for the rest of his
life to make others happy.
He did survive, and to fulfill his
promise he decided that every work
day morning he would stand on the
edge of the traffic circle at the
entrance lo town the only place
on the island where there is a traffic
jam to greet people passing by as
they come to work on foot, by
motorcycle, or by car.
And so, from 6 am to If) am
every weekday, rain or shirjc, John
ny is there, his gray-bcarded face
beaming out from underneath his
wide-brimmed straw hat, as he
waves exuberantly to everyone,

calling out:
"I love you! I love you! You
know I love you! You know I really
love you!"
At first, when he did this, the
authorities thought he must be crazy,
and a puzzled contingent of wellmuscled police officers was dis
patched to persuade the old fellow to

leJMSilPtlfttsio

remind everyone in the

stress oj the morning rush
hourthat somebody loves
than, no matter what.

go home. But Johnny persisted. And

after he was half-heartedly arrested
a couple times, everybody read his
explanation of his behavior in the
local paper, and public opinion put
pressure on the powers-that-be to
allow him to continue with his
morning activity.
Now, several years later, Johnny
Barnes is a local hero and a local
landmark, so much so, in fact, that
the very same authorities that at
first called him crazy have now
awarded him a lifetime state pen
sion. You can see his photograph in
all the guide books.
He's a very nice man, and very
sincere. A devout Christian, as are
most of the population there are
hundreds of churches on this tiny
island he doesn't discriminate at
all between young and old, black
and white, rich or poor, or between
the adherents of one faith and anoth
er. He just wants to remind everyone
in the stress of the morning rush
hour that somebody loves them,
no matter what.
And our kids love him, too. He's
been there, on his traffic circle, near
ly every weekday morning (except
for days on which he was ill) ever
since we came here. A l l the kids
who car pool with us actually argue
over whose turn it is to sit on the side
of the car where the window opens
towards Johnny on his roundabout:
they all want to be the one to slap
hands in a 'high-five' with him as
the car moves slowly through the
rush hour traffic.
Today is a Saturday, not a week
day, so Johnny Barnes is not there in
his usual spot, but as we go by,
Susannah hangs her hand out the
window just the same and waves to
him in her imagination, shouting:
"Hi Johnny! You know I love you!
You know I really love you!"
When we get to the Nature
Reserve, I park the car and Susan
nah and I walk down the steep trail
past the salt marsh to the pond sur
rounded by trees where the night
herons nest.

Then we climb the winding

sandy path through the volcanic
boulders, up to Spanish Rock, the
high outlook point where we have
our picnic overlooking the Atlantic.
The ocean stretches to the horizon
without a break. There is a carving
here that was cut into the rock in
1543 by some Portuguese sailors
who remained for 60 days on
Bermuda at that time uninhabit
ed when their ship ran aground
on the island.
There is a cave close by that
always fascinates Susannah. In it,
two centuries ago, Jeffrey, a young
black runaway slave, hid in a hole
deep inside the rocky cliff against
which the wild Atlantic breakers
smash and chum. Jeffrey succeeded
in remaining at liberty there for two
weeks before the slave owners
tracked him down by following the
girlfriend who was bringing him
food. When he was found he was
taken away and hanged, as was the
dreadful custom of the day.
Susannah, who loves stories,
wants to hear this story each time we
come here. She has an inquisitive
mind and today she wants to know
why Jeffrey ran away. It's hard to
explain what it means not to have
freedom to someone who has
known it all her young life. It's hard,
too, to take responsibility for begin
ning the task of bringing into her
young and 'innocent' life an under
standing of the injustice, the intoler
ance and the social inequity that
exist on this beautiful island and in
our beautiful world.
It's hard, but she needs to know.
Sixty percent of Bermuda's popu
lation of 60,000 is now made up of
black people, for the most part
descendants of the slaves brought
here by the first white settlers, and
even a century after emancipation,
even now that there is a big and

F R E E
a n d

well-off black middle class on

this 'paradise' island with its
pink sand beaches and palm
trees, there is still a strong under
current of racial tension.
Susannah has always gone to
integrated schools and has always
had black friends, but she doesn't
know anything about racial preju
dice. She only knows that in her
first term there were some (white)
kids who said they didn't want to
play with her because she has red
hair. She knows how much that hurt,
and we've tried to explain the pain
of racial prejudice to her as best we
could, beginning with that incident
as an example.
"Was Johnny Barnes a slave,
Daddy?" she wants to know now, as
we sit on the rock above Jeffrey's
cave, imagining the runaway slave
hiding down in there. I tell her no,
but that Johnny's father may have
been at some time, and his grandfa
ther almost certainly was.
She smiles her special secret
smile and then calls out the greet
ing she has heard Johnny Barnes, a
black man who has forgiven
everybody everything, call out
every morning, her voice rever
berating around the damp cave
down below us:
"I love you, Jeffrey! Jeffrey, you
know I really love you! You know I
love you!" she yells into the wind.
But there's no answer from the
runaway slave's ghost to tell us if he
has forgiven all the pain he suffered
unless there's some whispered
message from him wrapped up
somehow inside the roar and crash
of the waves that Jeffrey, too, must
have heard during the anguish of the
long days and nights that he hid here
from his pursuers.
And sitting hunched against the
sea wind, with my back against the
rock wall and Susannah's hand in
mine, I know that, although there are
many great causes to which I can,
and do, subscribe to try to make the
world a better place, it is in just pay
ing attention really paying atten
tion to the small, seemingly
insignificant, details of the everyday
things in my life that I will find the
best way to re-discover my own
freedom, and to avoid the hypocrisy
of high, but unlived ideals.

N e w s l e t t e r
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