I have consolidated and closed the separate Dharma Pilgrimages/Retreats topics created by Nahahwu into a single one for better referencing.
Guru Rimpoche, who entered the mandala by way of the southern
door, over the Jowo Them La pass from Jar,
meditated here for seven
years, seven months and seven days in the
Zilchan Sangphuk, the
Brilliant Secret Cave, where he hid many
treasure texts. A little
later the Dzogchen teacher Vimalamitra came here
by magical means
and taught the gods and demons.
The Immaculate Crystal Mountain of Tsari
provides the definitive
Tibetan pilgrimage. It is the palace of the
buddha-deity Demchok,
Supreme Bliss, and his mandala of deities. And
it is also a
principal abode of the sky dancers, amongst whom
Khandroma Dorje
Phakmo is supreme. More than Kang Rimpoche and
Labchi, it is the
tantric power place par excellence, a testing
place for yogis where
the sky dancers dwell. It is a place of
breath-taking beauty, the
snow mountain rising out of verdant pastures and
forests, while in
the valleys below is thick jungle.
The Tsari mountain lies at the south-eastern end
of the Great
Himalayan range. It is one of the last peaks
(5,735 m) before the
Yarlung Tsangpo river (Brahmaputra) cuts through
the range in the
world's deepest gorge. The mountain is
surrounded by the
tributaries of the Subansiri River which drain
into the Brahmaputra
in Arunachal Pradesh to the south of the
mountain. It is located in
the old Tibetan region of Loyul
Paramount, Dakpa Shelri, the Immaculate Crystal
Mountain, is a
great chorten made of crystal. It is a
self-manifest, spontaneously
arisen, chorten that is the buddha-mind.
Specifically, this chorten
is perceived as an Auspicious Chorten of Many
Doors (Tashi gomang
chorten) and the dome of the chorten contains
the divine mandala,
the wheel of sublime bliss and perfect cognition
that is Demchok's
mind.
he topographical features that are the keys to
this mandala are the
four summit peaks in the four directions which
are the palaces of
the four male and female buddha-deities in
union. The four doors
into the mandala are marked by four passes, four
ravines, four
rivers with water of four different colours,
four stone thrones,
four caves and four lakes. The entire mandala is
surrounded by a
wall of dorjes. The four doors are at Chikchar
in the north, the
Parpa Rong ravine in the east, the Jowo Them La
pass in the south,
and Domtsang Rong ravine in the west.
Tsari is circumambulated on three levels. Yogis
traverse the peak
path (tsekor), which encircles the four sacred
peaks and touches
the caves sanctified by tantric meditation, and
takes two to four
days. Laymen and monks traverse the central,
middle, path,
(shungkor), which crosses seven passes over the
ridges that radiate
from the peaks, and yet it is the easiest route,
taking up to week.
The ravine circuit (rongkor), the long arduous
passage through the
deep valleys that flank the massif on three
sides, takes two weeks
and is the course of the great pilgrimage every
twelve years. Which
ever circuit the pilgrim takes here is fraught
with difficulty, and
the Kagyu pilgrim recites this prayer:
Glorious Tsaritra, Pure Power Place of the Sky
Dancers,
Masters of the Kagyu lineage, Buddha-deities
Sky Dancers, Dharma Protectors: we pray to you.
Purify sins and obscurations through your
blessings;
Pacify adversaries and dispel dangers;
Bestow upon us supreme realisation and magical
powers
http://www.kreisels.com/tibet2004/tsari-2.htm
"When we were thirty-two, in 1870, we went to see Nala Perna
Dundrub in Nyarong; we went with some disciples
of Dzongsar Khentse
who were from Nyarong. Traveling slowly; we
eventually arrived in
the region of Narlong in a town called Karko,
where Nala Perna
Dundrub was giving the Longsal Dorje Nyingpo
initiation. We
received the rest of this teaching and the
Yang-ti Nagpo. We were
there more than three months."After this we went
with Nala Perna
Dundrub to Nying Lung to the area of Tsela
Wongdo, where he gave
the Kha Khyab Rangdrol. When this teaching had
come to an end, he
called for Perna Yangkyi and me. He had named my
friend Osel
Palkyi, 'Glorious Clear Light' and me, Dorje
Paldron, 'Glorious
Indestructible Vajra' during this teaching, and
addressing us with
these names, he said: 'Go to practice in
cemeteries and sacred
places. Follow the method of Machig Lapdron and
overcome hope and
fear. If you do this you will attain stable
realization. During
your travel you will encounter two yogis who
will be important for
you. One will be met in the country of Tsawa and
the other in Loka,
Southern Tibet. If you meet them, it will
definitely help your
development. So go now and practice as I have
instructed.'
"He presented us each with a Chod drum, and
after further advice
and encouragement, we saw no reason to delay and
set off like two
beggar girls. Our only possessions were our drum
and a stick.'We
visited Kathog and Peyul monasteries and many
sacred places,
encountering many teachers. Eventually we
arrived at the caves of
Togden Rangrig, where I had lived as a girl. I
had been gone three
years, and it certainly gave us a desolate
feeling. We found only
an old disciple, Togden Pagpa, an old nun, and
Chang Chub, a
younger nun that I'd known, and Kunzang
Longyang. It made me very
sad to be there. When we said we were going to
Central Tibet,
Kunzang Longyang said that he would like to come
with us. So we
stayed for two weeks. As he made his
preparations, we practiced
Guru Yoga, made feast offerings, did practice of
the guardians, and
so on with the old disciples of Togden.
"We were thirty-three in 1871, and it was the
third month on the
tenth day of the Year of the Iron Sheep that we
made a fire puja
and set off for Central Tibet. We traveled with
about twenty other
people who were on their way to Central Tibet.
We followed them for
about a month until we arrived in the region of
Tsawa."When we
reached Tsawa, we slowed down and began our
pilgrimage, begging
here and there. One day we arrived at a big
plateau called Curchen
Thang. We approached a large encampment of
nomads to ask them for
food. We stood at the edge of the camp and began
to sing Chod. A
young robust woman came toward us and as she
approached we could
see she was crying."She rushed to us and said:
'Thank goodness you
Chodpas have come! Please help me! The day
before yesterday my
husband was killed for revenge in a feud. He is
still lying in the
tent. It is not easy to find a Chodpa in this
part of the country.
Please help me take care of his body.'
"We were rather at a loss as none of us were
really experts at
funerals, but she was so desperate, we agreed to
do our best."We
asked her: 'Is there a good cemetery around
here?'"She replied:
'Toward the south, about half a day's journey
from here, there is
an important cemetery. If that is too far, there
are other, smaller
ones closer.'
"We decided to go to the larger one, and the
next day in the
morning we set off with someone carrying the
corpse.As we were
approaching the cemetery, we heard the sound of a
drum and bell. As
we got closer, we heard the sound of a beautiful
voice singing the
Chod. As we entered, we saw a Chodpa at the
center of the cemetery.
He was quite young with a dark complexion and a
big turban of
matted hair, wrapped around his head. He wore a
dark-red robe and
was singing the feast offering of the Chod.
"At that moment we were reminded of Nala Perna
Dundrub's prophecy
that we would meet a Chodpa who would help us in
Tsawa. When we
arrived at the center of the cemetery with the
corpse, he stopped
singing."He asked: 'Who among you is Dorje
Paldron? Where have you
come from? What are you doing here?'"I said: 'I
am called Dorje
Paldron. These are my friends, Osel Wongmo
(previously called Pema
Yangkyi) and Kunzang Longyang. We are disciples
of Nala Pema
Dundrub. We are going to Central Tibet
practicing the Chod in
various charnel grounds on the way. We happened
upon this situation
and the family requested that we take care of
this murdered man, so
we brought him here. Who are you?'
."He replied: '1 am a disciple of Khentse Yeshe
Dorje, my name is
Semnyi Dorje and I was born in Kungpo. I have no
fixed abode. I
have been practicing here for the last few days.
Several days ago
when I was between sleeping and waking, I
received a communication
that someone called Dorje Paldron was coming.
Since then I have
been waiting for you, and that's why I asked
which one of you is
Dorje Paldron. Welcome! But a murdered corpse is
not a simple
matter to offer to the vultures. If you are not
sure how to do it,
maybe we can do it together.'
"We were very happy and set to work immediately
on the funeral. We
practiced together for seven days, and the
relatives of the dead
man brought us food. Togden Semnyi gave us
teachings on the Zinba
Rangdrol Chod, and we became a party of four."We
traveled at a
relaxed pace begging on the way, stopping a few
days here and there
to practice at special cemeteries, sometimes
stopping at length.
After a few months we arrived at Ozayul, near
Assam, and went to
Tsari, where there was a temple called Phagmo
Lhakang in the area
of Chicha. We traveled up and down in that area
for a year and
three months. We went to many important places
to practice.
"Then in the sixth month of the Monkey Year,
1872, Kunzang Longyang
fell ill with a terrible fever. We called
doctors and did many
practices, but he did not get better and towards
the end of the
sixth month he left his body. He was fifty-six
years old. When we
performed the funeral, there were many
interesting signs, like a
huge rainbow so large everyone for miles around
saw it, and it
remained for the whole funeral. The local people
were convinced a
Mahasiddha33 had died. They honored us very much
and we stayed
there more than three months doing practice for
Kunzang
Longyang.
"After this we went to jar and then on to Lodrag
and visited all
the sacred places there. This is the country of
Marpa the
Translator, where Milarepa's trials took
place.""On the tenth day
of the tenth month, we reached Pema Ling and did
a feast offering.
There is a huge lake at Pema Ling, and many
saints and yogis have
lived around it, including Guru Chowang. That
night we decided each
to practice separately in different places
around the lake."Pema
Yangkyi went to a place called Rona, and when
she arrived she saw a
yogi practicing there."He said to her: 'Three
months ago I was
practicing in Ralung, the original seat of the
Drukpa Kagyu
lineage, and I had a vision of Dorje Yudronma.
She gave me a little
roll of paper about as long as my finger. I
quickly unrolled it and
it said 'In the tenth month on the tenth day go
in practice at a
place called Rona.''
"She realized this was the yogi Nala Pema
Dundrub had predicted we
would meet in Southern Tibet. After the evening
practice, he came
back to the main temple with her and thus we
became four
again."This yogis name was Gargyi Wanchug, but
he was called
Trulzhi Carwang Rinpoche, and he was a disciple
of the famous woman
Mindroling Jetsun Rinpoche who taught on the
Dzog Chen Terma of
Mindroling. He had a large following around Pema
Ling. His
disciples requested Chod teachings, and so we
also became his
disciples and stayed to hear his teachings."We
stayed there until
the tenth of the third month practicing
intensively. We did 100,000
feast offerings from the Chod practice, and
there were many patrons
to help us.
"Although we had previously planned to go to
Samye, we decided to
go with Trulzhi Garwang to Western Tibet to see
Gang Rinpoche. So
we traveled at a leisurely pace toward Yardro,
where there is a
huge lake, and then on to Ralung. We stayed
there more than a month
while he gave some of his disciples teaching in
the Ati Zadon in
the tradition of Mindroling. We were happy to
receive such a
precise explanation and were treated very
well."Then we set out for
Gyaltse, Shigatse, Sralu, and Sakya, and all the
principal places
in Tsang. We did purification and Chod practice
in all these places
and then in the summer arrived in Tingri where
Phadampa Sangye had
lived. After staying there for a while, we went
to a place called
Nyalam and then with great difficulty, we went
into Nepal.
"We stayed at Maratika doing White Tara practice
for long life and
Pema NyingThig of Jamyang Khentse Wongpo. Togden
Trulzhi asked Pema
Yangkyi and me to give him the transmission of
this, and since we
had it we did our best to give it to him."Then
we went on to
Kathmandu and toured the Great Stupa and other
pilgrimage places in
the Kathmandu valley for a month or so,
practicing and making
offerings. Then we did another month of Chod,
which fascinated the
people, and we began to receive many invitations
and became a bit
better off."Trulzhi Garwang Rinpoche said that
this fame was an
obstacle to the practice, a demonic
interruption. So we left for
Yanglesho and visited a VajraYogini temple in
nearby Parping. Next
to this is the temple of Dakshinkali. down by
the river. Here there
is an important Hindu temple, and we went to the
nearby cemetery,
which was an excellent one for Chod. But after a
few days and
nights we were disturbed by people, not spirits.
"So we went back to Yanglesho and stayed there
near the cave and
Todgen Semnyi gave Togden Trulzhi the
transmission of a particular
Vajra Kilaya practice he had. We practiced it
for several days and
then decided to leave Nepal."We headed for
Dolpo, and through
Purang we arrived at Kyung Lung, where there was
a cave in which
Togden Trulzhi had stayed before. We stayed
there and in the first
month of the first year, we received the Kadro
Nying Thig from
Trulzhi Rinpoche. We received a very elaborate
complete version and
stayed there for more than three months. It was a
beautiful
retreat. At Trulzhi Rinpoche's request we did
our best to give the
transmission of the Khadro Sangdu we had
received from Jamyang
Khentse Wongpo."At the beginning of the fifth
month, places around
and on the mountain for over three years, always
practicing
everywhere."Then Trulzhi Pinpoche and Pema
Yangkyi decided to stay
on there, and I decided to return to Central
Tibet with Togden
Semnyi.
"In the second month of the Year of the Fire
Bull, we said goodbye
and we left, making our way slowly to Maryul
doing Chod at all the
interesting places along the way. We stopped at
Jomo Nagpa, the
former residence of Taranatha, and many other
places beneficial for
practice."In the fourth month, we stopped at
Tanag and Ngang Cho,
where there lived a great Dzog Chen master,
Gyurme Perna Tenzin46
who was giving teaching on Dzog Chen Semde his
speciality. We
stayed there more than nine months and received
complete teachings
in the eighteen series of Dzog Chen, including
initiations and
explanations."Then we met some pilgrims who had
come from Kham, and
they told us that, several years before, Nala
Perna Dundrub had
taken the Body of Light, and this had made him
very famous. We were
both joyful and sad on receiving this news. When
I was forty, in
1878, Togden Semnyi and I left for Central
Tibet. We went through
Ushang, where there is a famous shrine of the
Blue Vajra Sadhu,
protector of Dzog Chen. We traveled all over
that area on
pilgrimage practicing a bit everywhere. During
the fourth month, we
sighted Lhasa. We visited all the holy places of
Lhasa and met many
famous people. Then we visited the nearby
monasteries of Sera,
Drepung, and Trayepa, Gaden, Katsai, Zvalakang.
Then we went on to
Yangri, Drigung, and Tigrom. We always did a bit
of practice
everywhere we went.
"Then we returned to Lhasa, where I became
seriously ill. For
nearly two months I was severely sick with a
very high fever which
led to paralysis. The doctors succeeded in
lowering the fever but
the paralysis continued to worsen. Togden Semnyi
did special Chod
practices to clear up the paralysis, and finally
after two months I
started to get better. It took another month to
start moving and
recuperate. In the eleventh month, we decided to
go to Samye for
the New Year celebration. We did many days of
feast offering of the
Ringdzin Drupa.'In the first month, we left for
Zurang and visited
Gamalung, a Padma Sambhava spot, and Wongyul,
and then we sighted
the Red we were guided to Mount Kailash by
Trulzhi Rinpoche. We
stayed in many caves and sacred House at the
Copper Mountain, and
stayed in the cemetery there. This was the
former residence of
Machig Lapdron. We stayed there for three months
practicing the
Chod.
"After this, we went to Tsethang and Tradru, and
from there we went
to Yarlung Shedra, another place that Padma
Sambhava empowered.
Then we went on to Tsering Jung, where Jigme
Lingpa had had his
residence. We went on up and down for more than
eight months."When
I was forty-two, in 1880, in the second month,
we arrived at
Mindroling. We visited Zurkar and Drayang Dzong,
and the Nyingma
monastery Dorje Deal as well as Ushang Do and
Nyethang and Talung,
and also Tsurpu, where the Karmapas resided. We
met many teachers
and received many teachings during our
travels."In the fourth month
of 1880, we arrived at Payul and Nalandara and
LangThang, one of
the residences of the Khadampa school. Then we
arrived at Na Chu Ka
and headed towards Eastem Tibet.
"In the seventh month, we arrived at Kungpo,
where Togden Semnyi
had been in retreat in the region of Kari at
Deyang. In those caves
there was another yogi, a monk and some nuns.
When they saw Togden
Semnyi, they were very happy. I stayed there for
more than a year
practicing and deepened my understanding of the
Zinba Rangdrol
Chod. Togden Semnyi gave me teachings in the
Yang Sang Tug Thig,
the most secret Dzog Chen gongter.
"In the Year of the Iron Serpent, 1881, I
decided to travel on to
my home country. I met some traders on their way
to China who were
to pass through my country, so I decided to
travel with them."When
we got to the place I had lived when I was
married, I said my
farewells to the traders and did some
invocations to protect them
on their ventures and set out in the direction
of Togden Rangrig's
retreat center. When I approached the spot, I
made some inquiries
as to what had happened there, but most people
had never heard of
the place. A few remembered that a yogi had
lived there years
before, but, they said, he had died and the few
who remained had
either left or died."I decided to go there
anyway. The place was in
ruins. The wooden doors and window sills had
been pulled out by the
local people to be used elsewhere and I could
not even recognize
the caves of my aunt and Togden Rangrig.
"I stayed the night there. I felt very sad and
did some practice.
The next day I went down the mountain a bit to
the cemetery to stay
and do Chod. The following .morning, 1 had a
vision when I was
between sleeping and waking of an egg-shaped
rock in Dzongtsa,
which I could enter through a cave. When I got
inside, there was a
very intense darkness which suddenly was
illuminated by
multi-colored light streaming out of it. This
illuminated the cave
and pierced the walls so that I could see
through to the
outside."Then I awoke, and seeing this as a good
indication and
(since I'd heard there was in fact such a
place), I left for
Dzongtsa. When I arrived I found the place. It
was near Dzongtsa,
but was on the opposite side of the river from
where I was. I
decided to camp on a nearby hill and wait for
some help or for the
river to go down so I could cross. But it was
autumn and the river
was very high.
"I practiced day and night, and during the third
night, after
midnight, something inexplicable happened to me.
I had fallen
asleep and a long bridge appeared. It was white
and reached the
other shore near the rock I had dreamed of. I
thought, 'Good,
finally I can cross the river: So I crossed, and
when I awoke I was
actually on the other side of the river."I had
arrived but I did
not know how."I put my tent on the spot where I
had landed and
stayed there practicing Chod for more than a
month. I was assisted
by a nomad, Palden, who lived nearby. He
supplied me with cheese
and yogurt, etc., and from time to time people
came by. But even if
they had known me before, they did not recognize
me."In late
autumn, an epidemic broke out among the nomad's
animals. I was
asked to intervene, which I did with the Chod
and fire practice.
The epidemic stopped and everyone began to say I
was a great
practitioner. As they began to honor me, I was
worried remembering
that Trulzhi Rinpoche had said this was a
demonic interruption. So
I entered a stricter retreat. After a month or
so, my former
husband arrived with his second wife and
daughter. He had heard of
my arrival and brought me many supplies. We had a
very good
rapport; I gave him teachings, and he asked if
he might build me a
house.
'I told him I would like it to be right on the
same spot and
explained to him how I wanted it built. They
invited me to their
house for the winter. As it was very cold that
year and his parents
had died, I went to their house and meditated
for the benefit of
the deceased for about three months. My father
and siblings with
many nieces and nephews came to see me and I
helped them as much as
possible by teaching them."When I was
forty-four, in the Year of
the Water Horse, 1882, in the third month, my
husband and others
began my hut. I decided to go to see my master
Khentse Rinpoche. I
arrived on the tenth day of the fourth month and
received many
teachings and he clarified all my doubts."Then I
left for Adzom Gar
and met Adzom Drukpa and Drodul Pawn Dorje. I
received his gongter,
and all the NyingThig transmissions. Adzom
Drukpa asked me to stay
and do a retreat at Puntsom Gatsal near Adzom
Gar where he had been
in retreat, which I did.
"In the second month of the Year of the Wood
Monkey, 1884, Adzom
Drukpa and his disciples went to see Jamyang
Khentse Wongpo at
Dzongsar and I went with them. Because Adzom
Drukpa had requested
it, he gave us the Gongpa Zangthal. Both Adzom
Drukpa and Khentse
Wongpo told me to return to Tagzi, where I had
landed after
crossing the river in my dream."So 1 left
immediately, stopping
only to see Kongtrul Rinpoche and receive
teachings on the Six
Yogas of Naropa and to learn from the others who
were there taking
teachings. On the eighth, I returned to Tagzi,
and my former
husband and other faithful people had built me a
hut precisely
according to my instructions."At this point I
lacked nothing and
decided to go into retreat. My eldest sister's
daughter had become
a nun a few years before and she wished to act
as my assistant. As
she was also very committed to practice, I
accepted her
offer.
"So in the Year of the Wood Bird, 1885, in the
first month on the
day of the dakini I began a seven-year retreat.
From the beginning
I spent most of my time doing the practice in
the dark. At first
this was sometimes difficult so I alternated the
dark and light,*
but the majority of the time was spent in
complete darkness."When I
was fifty-three, in the Year of the Iron Rabbit,
1891, in the fifth
month on the day of Padma Sambhava, when I was
doing practice in
the dark, I had a vision. I saw a very clear
sphere; inside it were
many dakinis carrying another sphere with the
form of Jamyang
Khentse Wongpo inside. I was sure this meant
that he had been
invited by the dakinis to leave this world of
suffering."Although I
still had seven months before the end of the
seven years I had
promised myself to complete, I decided it was
more important to see
him before he left his body. So I left my hut
and a few days later
went directly to him in Dzongsar, accompanied by
my niece.
"We reached him without obstacles, and he was
very kind and taught
me a lot; most importantly, he clarified my
practice by answering
all of my questions. When I told him the vision I
had had of him
being carried away, I requested that he remain
longer. He said that
all that is born must die and that his death
could not be delayed.
He told me it would be best for me to return to
my retreat but and
continue my practice in the dark.
"With great sadness I left him and returned to
my hut. When I was
fifty-four, in the Year of the Water Serpent,
1892, I received the
news of his death. At that moment I decided to
stay in retreat for
the rest of my life. So I alternated the
practice in the dark with
the practice in the light. When I was fifty-six,
in the Year of the
Wood Horse, 1894, both my mother and the wife of
the nomad Palden
who had been serving me died. I did the practice
of the Korwa
Dongtru for them for several months. Then Palden
came to serve me
here."When I was sixty in the Year of the Earth
Dog, 1897, my
husband Apho Wangdo died, so I did purification
for him and his
family for an extended period of time.
"At the end of autumn in the Year of the Iron
Mouse, 1900, my old
friend Pema Yangkyi appeared unexpectedly. She
brought the news
that in the third month of the previous year,
1899, Trulzhi
Rinpoche, at the age of eighty-three, had passed
away taking the
body of light and leaving no corpse. She told me
the whole story of
how this had happened in his cave on Mount
Kailash."She stayed in
my tiny hut with me for a year and we did
retreat together. This
was a big boon for me; it really helped the
development of my
practices.
"After a year she left for Kawa Karpo, a
mountain in Southern Tibet
which had been indicated by Trulzhi Rinpoche as
the place she
should go to. I later heard that she lived there
for many years and
had many students. Then in the Year of the Iron
Boar, 1911, she
took the body of light at the age of
seventy-four."After her
departure her students came to me for teachings
and told me stories
from her life and about her death. Then in the
Year of the Wood
Tiger at the end of summer, some disciples of
Togden Semnyi came
and told me he had sent them to me specifically.
They told me that
he had not remained in Chumbo but had traveled
toward Amdo on
pilgrimage, practicing everywhere.
"At the end of his life they went towards china
to Ribotse Na. He
stayed there teaching for three years and had
many disciples, both
chinese and Tibetan. At the age of eighty-five
he passed away and
there were many auspicious signs and many
ringsel in his
ashes."Realizing that all of my friends had left
the world made me
very conscious of impermanence, and I was
inspired to practice as
much as possible with the time I had left. I
taught Togden Semnyi's
disciples for several months and then sent them
off to various
places to practice meditation."
In the Year of the Water Dragon, 1952, in the
eighth month, I went
to Sengchen Namdrag, where my uncle had been in
retreat. I did a
Simhamukha retreat and various other practices
there.I had a dream
while I was there of a brilliant crystal stupa
which appeared to be
being pushed toward the West. Slowly it
disappeared in space and at
that moment I heard a voice saying: "This is the
tomb of Dorje
Paldron."The voice woke me up and I felt really
very empty inside,
and even doing some breathing practices did not
make me feel
better. I felt I had lost something very
important inside
myself.
A few days later the son of Adzom Drukpa came by
on his way back
from Central Tibet. I told him about this dream,
and he said that,
in fact, he had stopped to see her on his way
and she had indicated
by the way she spoke of time and so on that she
would not live much
longer. He thought probably my dream indicated
that she would die
soon. So we did some Khadro Sangdu practice for
three days to try
to extend her life.In the Year of the Water
Serpent, 1953, I was
with my uncle on the mountain and taking
NyingThig teachings when I
received word she had left her body. I said a
few prayers, as I did
not know what else to do.In the sixth month, I
went to Dzongtsa,
where she had died in her hut, and discovered
that the servant
Palden had died the same year. They said there
were many auspicious
signs at the time of his death.
I met the Khenpo and the nun Zangmo who had
served her, and Zangmo
told me this story of her death:'In the Year of
the Water Serpent,
Khadro said to us: 'Now I feel really old. I
think in a little
while I shall go!' She was 115 at the time."We
begged her not to
go, but she said: 'Now bad times are coming and
everything is going
to change. There will be terrible problems and
it's better I go
now. In about three weeks I won't be here
anymore. Start preparing
for the funeral.
"She instructed us precisely on how to conduct
ourselves during the
funeral and in preparation for it. She had an
important statue of
Padma Sambhava which she sent to Gyur Rinpoche,
son of Adzom
Drukpa. She left a little statue of Jamyang
Khentse for Namkhai
Norbu and various other things for Khenpo and
her other
disciples."At the end, she opened herself
completely to everyone
who wanted to see her. During the last twenty
days she stopped
doing regular meditation periods and just saw
people, giving advice
and counsel to anyone who wanted it."Near the
twenty-fifth, without
any sign of illness, we found that she had left
her body at the
time she would normally be finishing her
meditation session. She
remained in meditation posture for two weeks and
when she had
finished her tugdam, her body had become very
small. We put some
ornaments on it and many many people came to
witness it.
"In the second month on the tenth day, we
cremated her. There were
many interesting signs at the time of her death.
There was a sudden
thaw and everything burst into bloom. It was the
middle of winter.
There were many ringsel and, as she had
instructed, all this and
her clothes were put into the stupa that she had
prepared at the
Sakya monastery."