803rd Commemoration

14th June 2020. At the humble request of the International Drikung Kagyu Council Taiwan, the Commemoration of Lord Jigten Sumgon’s 803rd Maha Parinirvana Anniversary led by His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang, all the Drikung Kagyu Rinpoches, Khanpos, Drupons, Monks, Nuns, ley devotees and the stuff members of IDKC Taiwan were also present,

at the began of the Puja His Holiness delivered a blessing teaching and advice and which he emphasised and said. Tashi delek to all the dearest lamas, Tulkus, Drupon, Khanpo and all the dearest monks of Drikung Kagyu and the dearest devotees who have gathered here.

I am very happy that today we are here to celebrate 803rd Mahaparinirvana of the Lord Jigten Sumgon. Not long ago, our human brothers and sisters may have faced tremendous problems due to speading this Virus, specially, those people king in the city. In other hands, monks living in the monastery, Lama, Tulku, and Khenpo have sorely used this difficult time to develope one’s spiritual practice. This Virus has tremendously helped to purify polluted environment, our mother.

I also got a plenty of leisure time in which I tried my best to compile many of my writings. At the same time, I have completed to write an elaborated biography of the Lord Jigten Sumgon based on the biography of Jigten Sumgon called “Vajra Blazing” by Chenga Shesrab, which will soon be published and available before everyone.

 

Today, we are going to perform the Guru Puja. So, the most important thing is to have an unflinching trust and devotion for the guru about which Jigten Sumgon himself stated in his biography. firstly, around at the age of twenty, he lived in Kham Namgchen.DSC00022 Thereafter, he paid a noble visit to Phagdu. On this subject, I want to explain a bit more. When we engage in Guru Puja, the most important thing is to have an unflinching trust and devotion for one’s Lama. Therefore, I want to explain about it a bit more as I have written down here a few portions. Firstly, in the collected works of Lord Jigten Sumgon, volume 519, it is said that upon hearing the name of Phagdu, the srtong trust and devotion arose in him which made him to leave Tsip Lungmo Che at that very night. This incident is as same as the biography of a Bodhisattva called Taktunu. Upon hearing the supreme name of the Lord Phagmo Drupa, his mind had been moved by the strong trust and devotion which caused his mind to move as the petals of the beautiful flower, colour of the parrot. As it is written in his biography, “ through hearing the name of a gracious guru from a spiritual master, my mind is moved as the petals of a beautiful flower, colour of the parrot. A stream of tears trickle down through my cheeks, causing me to utter many different words like a mad man”. So, like a mad man, many verbal words naturally arise when hearing the name of a lama. Mind longs to see a lama, which makes him to cry loudly. Hence, this is a very short biography showing the incident that took place at that very night, when Lord Jigten Sumgon was moving towards Phagdu from Kham.

It goes:” at night time, my mind is tormented by remembering the name of a lama, which forces me to move towards the west. While moving towards west, the moon is beautifully shining in the sky. the bright moon perhaps can see my guru, but I could not see my guru. So, it naturally makes me to cry loudly.”. And this incident reminds of the story of a Norsang and his sweetheart. I want to explain a bit more about it. A long ago, there was a king, who had a son named Norsang. There were two beautiful young woman whom he truly loved, but his parents were not ready to accept that young women. So, a king said,“ don’t come with that young woman”. In response, a Beautiful young woman said, “ I can’t leave him in any cases. Though a horse and a colt is separated, the stable is just next to one another. And there are standing many mountain passes and valleys between you and me. There is no way to see though we want to see, there is no way to hear though we shout. the shouting voice that I make from here is just to reflect from this side to that side. There are an unflinching bond of love between Norsang and me. So, there is no way to leave him and we can’t separate each other and so forth.” On moving on, he sang a poetic song: “a lamenting cry that comes by looking at the moon again and again. hey dear moon! Have you seen my supreme guru?.” With a heavy heart, He asked this same question for many times. On moving forwards, DSC09891he happened to meet with a deer. Upon seeing him, the deer got frightened. So, immediately he said that do not worry I am not a hunter. At the same time, he asked the deer, “have you seen my loving supreme guru?” He moved on by asking the same questions as he was completely intoxicated by the strong trust and devotion for his guru. On moving forwards a bit, he reached a beautiful garden where bees were enjoying whom he asked,” have you seen my loving supreme guru whom I have a strong attachment as you have towards the flower.” Thereafter, on moving forwards, he happened to see a cuckoo chirpping beautifully whom he asked, “hey a beautiful cuckoo! Have you seen my loving guru?”

Furthermore, on moving forwards, he reached an endless forest where he asked the same question to one of the beautiful tree. Thereafter, on moving along the forest, he happened to see a sage wearing a leaves and expert in practicing patience whom he asked, “have you seen my loving supreme guru?” If you see, please tell me quickly. So, Lord Jigten Sumgon sang such a spiritual song in a poetic way in order to express his inner unflinching trust and devotion. So, from this spiritual song, what we need to learn is that we must have an unflinching trust and devotion towards our guru.

In Hevajra, in order to nakedly realize Mahamudra, you need to rely on a spiritual master until completing the last moment of the time. In many cases, it is written as དུས་ཐབས “method” but in our Hevajra root Tantra, it is written as དུས་མཐའ་། “ the last moment of the time”. The verse “relying on a spiritual master until completing the last moment of the time” does not mean to offer a material offering to the guru or engaging in an extensive service rather it means to realize your guru as Dharmakaya. On this subject in the collected works of Jigten Sumgon, it says: “ the last moment of the time of a guru is completed, the moment you see your Guru as Dharmakaya.”

In short, when we perform Guru Puja sadhana, the most important thing is to have an unflinching trust and devotion. If we do have then a stream of blessings will shower upon us as mentioned above. Moreover, Vajrayana, Secret mantra is about taking blessings through having a strong trust and devotion. If you need to have a blessing, you must keep a pure samaya, which is the primary factor in order to have a blessing. Generally, Vajrayana, Secret mantra depends on the lineage. Lineage depends on samaya. So, if we break a samaya, it will definitely cause harm to our lineage, which gradually causes harm to our teachings.

You all are diligently doing a great work for the Drikung Kagyu Order.

The most important thing is to keep a proper order of which the teaching of the Lord Buddha comes first, then comes one’s religion, and only after then comes the self-benefit.

If you cause harm to the teachings of the Lord Buddha by carrying the self-benefit and then one’s religion at first level, then it is absolutely wrong. So, I humbly advice everyone to please keep the teachings of the Lord Buddha at first level, then keep one’s religion at second level, and only after then keep the self-benefit at third level. Please keep in mind this proper order. If you do so, you can keep the samaya properly, you will receive a stream of blessing from the lineage masters, and you will be definitely able to accomplish a merit for this life and hereafter.

Translated by Konchok Tsetan Jora