THE SACRED SITES OF THE DALAI LAMAS [SAMPLE]

8/7/2019 THE SACRED SITES OF THE DALAI LAMAS [SAMPLE]

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D I V I N E A R T S


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AmillionsunbeAmsdAnce frombehindgoldenmountAins ;

theypervAdeAnd illuminAteourworld.

yetmorebrilliAntArethedAzzling formsof enlightenment,

rAdiAntwiththemArksAndsignsofperfection.

fromCrushing All Negative Forces to Dust

the f irst dAlAi lAmA, gyAlwA gendun druppA

1391-1475


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T H E S A C R E D S I T E S O F T H E D A L A I L A M A S 5


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6 T H E S A C R E D S I T E S O F T H E D A L A I L A M A S


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1 0 T H E S A C R E D S I T E S O F T H E D A L A I L A M A S


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T H E S A C R E D S I T E S O F T H E D A L A I L A M A S 1 1


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EXCERPT FROM THE TEXT:

T

he third incArnAtion , gyAlwA sonAm gyAtso, was in fact the first to be known by the

name Dalai Lama. He was born in the Tolung Valley to the north of Lhasa, and as a

young child was ordained by Panchen Sonam Drakpa, who had been the main disciple

of the Second Dalai Lama, and placed in the Ganden Podrang of Drepung Monastery fortraining. Like his two predecessors, he combined intense study with periodic meditation retreats,

and eventually manifested his enlightenment.

The Third spent his early life in Central Tibet, rst studying and meditating, and then teaching. Hebecame head lama rst of Drepung and then of Sera, and also made numerous retreats at Ganden,Drak Yerpa and Chimpu. In addition, he frequently visited Gyal Monastery to teach and make medita-tion retreat.

Our pilgrimage to the Oracle Lake took us through many of these sacred places.Later in his life, in the mid 1570s, he was invited to travel and teach throughout the Mongol regions,and also the various kingdoms of Eastern Tibet, in Kham and Amdo provinces. In 1578 he arrived

in Hohot, the southern capital of Mongolia (presently the capital of Inner Mongolia, i.e., one of theparts of traditional Mongolia that have been under Chinese rule since 1921), where he met with AltanKhan and became the head of Mongolian Buddhism. He travelled and taught in the Mongol regionsuntil his death in 1588.

In fact the Third Dalai Lama was the rst to be known as Dalai. Sometimes it is said that this is a

title that was bestowed upon him by Altan Khan, but in reality no such title exists in Mongolian royalculture. The story is a simpler one.

At his childhood ordination into monastic life the Third was given the name Sonam Gyatso, or

Ocean of Creative Energy. Many years later, when he travelled and taught in Mongolia, the Mongo-lian king Altan Khan issued a proclamation declaring him to be the spiritual head of all Mongols. Inthis proclamation he translated the Gyatso part of the lamas name into Mongolian; Gyatso meansOcean or Sea, and becomes Dalai in Mongolian.

The proclamation referred to him as Dalai Lama Dorjechang, or Master who is an Ocean (of wisdomequal to) the Buddha Vajradhara Himself.

The Dalai Lamas have remained the head of Mongolian Buddhism from that time until the presentday. Mongols today still refer to him as the Dalai Baksha, or Oceanic Master.

A half century later the Manchu Mongols conquered and colonized China. They too regarded the

Dalai Lama as the head of their various schools of Buddhism, and continued the use of the nameDalai Baksha.


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Westerners picked up the name Dalai Lama from them.

The Tibetans themselves did not use the name until recent decades. They prefer to use Gyalwa

Rinpoche, The Precious One from Gyal Monastery. Gyalwa is also a translation of the Sanskrit wordjina, a synonym for buddha. Thus Gyalwa Rinpoche can also be translated as Precious Buddha.It works nicely for their favorite lama.

Some Tibetans also refer to the line of incarnations as Kundun, meaning something like He Repre-senting All Enlightenment Forces.

Like his predecessors, the Third was a prolic writer. When the time of his death drew near he calledhis disciples to meditate with him in the temple. He then gave them a last spiritual poem, with

instructions for what they should do after his death.

One of the verses in this small text is especially touching. In it he wrote,

Kyeh! For the benet of others

I have pretended to travel and teach.Although I moved daily from one place to another,I have never grown weary;For during the long interval of my lifeI have rested in the place of universal mindAnd bathed in the radiance of reality itself,Like the sun in a cloudless sky.And reality is indeed the most wondrous radiance!

For in the mandala-like mirror of joyous mind,The reected objects of blissful awarenessAppear like a full moon in a clear autumn skyShining within a clear pool of water.O friends on the way, take this, my nal teaching.Write it on a smooth white clothAnd hang it somewhere for all to see.This would give me deep pleasure,And perhaps inspire some of my friends

To turn their minds to the enlightenment path.


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THE SACRED SITES OF THE DALAI LAMAS [SAMPLE]