Lama Padma Karma

Patrul Jigme Dorje Rinpoche

Kyabje Chatral Rinpoche

Khenpo Chowang Rinpoche

Dorlop Kunzang Rinpoche

Lama Gyaltsen Rinpoche

Apprentices

Kyabje Chatral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche, born 1913, is one of the last
liviing great Dzogchen masters trained in Tibet.

Dharma texts by His Holiness Kyabje Chatral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche:

Dharma Text 1: Thangtong Gyalpo's Aspirational Prayer for the Liberation of Fish
Dharma Text 2: The Benefits of Building a Stupa, Offering Prostrations, Circumambulating, and Making Aspirations
Dharma Text 3: The Melodious Tambura of Joy: Guide to the Supreme Holy Place of Immortal Life, the Rocky Cave of Maratika

Biography

Primordial protector, who realized the natural manifestation of original purity,
Vajrasattva, the magical net endowed with seven aspects of spontaneous presence,
Their nondual unity, the play of the Lake-Born Vajra,
In a single embodiment, Buddha Vajra, I respectfully honor you.

The tradition of early translations, like a treasure churning from the ocean of milk,
And Kahma and Terma, like the sun and moon, unimpaired in his late age,
As a birth that springs from space, when undertaking this endeavor,
Divine three roots, may you pay heed to bestow your blessings and permission. Like a king among the victorious ones, Padmakara is a great universal monarch of all siddhas and knowledge-holders of India and Tibet, the keepers of the lineage of the luminous Great Perfection. My Lord of the Circle whose name is difficult to utter, performs the magical dance of his three mysteries. He is the all-pervasive sovereign of all Buddha families and mandalas. Now, for a specific purpose, I shall here mention the renown of his name, Lord of refuge Chatral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche, who pervades the three levels of existence like a white umbrella unfurled. Since, he personally has awakened, since primordial time within the expanse of Samantabhadra, the awareness that is liberated within the ground, it is exclusively the domain of buddhas to describe thoroughly the superior qualities of this great master, which are like the rivers streaming from Lake Manasarovar, which appear in the shared experience of other beings to be influenced. Let me mention a quote to illustrate this:

When even the Vajra tongue is mute for exactly describing
A great bodhisattva who dwells on the higher levels
And whose magical display of the three mysteries is a never-ending wheel of adornment,
They are beyond the reach of someone who is utterly entangled like me.

The childish mind of an ignorant person like myself lacks, just as the quote above, the courage to describe his qualities in full, but nevertheless, I will adhere to authentic predictions from vajra termas and to the reliable words of truth. In doing so, I will cast far away attempts to exaggerate or underplay, to be deceitful or partisan, to excessively flatter, and other such flaws of unwholesome bonds. Instead, I see it as being exceedingly meaningful to put down in writing some brief words of straightforward narration to function as seeds of trust and faith,taking into
account the way we ordinary disciples perceive things at present. At tantra mentions this point:

Compared to meditating for hundred thousands of eons
Upon the deity endowed with the major and minor marks,
It is better to think of your guru for a single moment.
Compared to reciting the mantras for approach and accomplishment
It is better to make a single subjugation to the guru.

The master Jigmey Rigpey Lodro said:

Compared to honoring the countless conquerors of the three times
With music and songs of praise magically emanated from your tongue,
Inspire yourself with the fact that the merit is greater
From praising a single pore of your guru’s body.

Moreover, the Chronicles of Padma mention:

Because he teaches you do many methods and key points of utmost profundity,
For anyone who practices the Unexcelled Secret Mantra
The guru’s life story is therefore taught to be the most supreme.

In accordance with these statements, thisis why the innumerable sutras and tantras, treatises and pith instructions, mention that the mass ofmerit from making supplicating and honoring him with words of praise by means of bringing to mind the qualities of the glorious guru, plants roots of goodness superior to everything else.

That such masters and sublime beings, whom we disciples in common perceive to appear in this world and display activities to influence others, manifest in numbers that equal motes of dust on a vast plain or rays from the sun and the moon, and accomplish the immense benefit for the teachings and beings — this unceasing manifestation is the play of activity of the conquerors and the bodhisattvas. The Tantra of Vajrasattva’s Great Magical Net mentions:

Because of being linked with great compassion
They manifest to the six classes of beings, in all time and places.

Moreover, it says:

In the ten directions and four times, in unimaginable numbers,
They appear in various ways to benefit each being to be tamed.
With all the higher or lower vehicles,
To untold numbers of beings with distortions,
And to all the great assemblies of peaceful and wrathful ones,
They always manifest in ways that correspond to each individual.

The Uttarashastra mentions:

Without departing from the dharmakaya,
They manifest a variety of magical rupakayas.

It also says:

Just like the reflection of the deva king’s body
Appears on the clean surface of the vaidurya gem,
The reflection of the Mighty Sage’s body
Likewise appears on the clean surface of a being’s mind.

Another quote mentions:

On the mirror of pure and impure realms
Appear billions of magical reflections.
These expressions of the bodhisattvas —
Though the long ago definitely renounced this world —
They stir up the ocean of compassion
And intentionally accept the play of existence.
Just like the youthful image of the moon
Can appear inseparate vessels of water,
Their activities, spontaneously accomplished,
Appear in myriad types of magical display.

 

Accordingly, here is the way in which he appeared as the splendor of the teachings and beings, manifest in the magical form of a rupakaya in this age of strife that lies at the very end of the Dark Age. Within the Gongpa Yongdu, the sublime teachings revealed by the great treasure master Dudul Dorje, we find the following predictions:

A supreme emanation of the great scholar Vimalamitra
Well appear in the area of Katok with the name Buddha.

Another prediction mentions:

This present Gyalwa Lodro will
In future times, to the south of Katok,
Have the name Buddha, endowed with wisdom.
It is to that person you must give this teaching.

Moreover, we find the following passage among the predictions for
the future revealed by Yonru Chimey Dorje, a close disciple of
Chagdud Pema Dudul:

A supreme mind-emanation of Padma,
A boy who is blessed by Vimalamitra,
With the name Vajra, from the year the Ox,
Will promote the teachings of the practice lineage.

Jigdral Yeshe Dorje, the great treasure master, has written:

In particular, may you, the magical display of Kharchu Sa,
Be victorious in the battle with the incorrigible, wrong views of the Dark Age
And increase even further the Dharma’s reaches to fulfill our aims.
May your life last for one hundred years,
Blazing with the virtuous marks that spontaneously perfect the two benefits,
So that the sound of the secret teachings pervades through the threefold world.

Numerous sublime masters who appeared in the past were eulogized with unmistaken vajra
predictions relating all the details of their location, time, teacher and retinue, year sign and activities.
Accordingly, we find in the terma predictions of Nyagla Pema Dudul:

 

On the wondrous Southern Continent, to the east of the Land of Snow,
The middle of the Four Valleys, famed as the great Adzi Valley.

This describes his birthplace as being in the northern direction of Vajra Asana in Magadha that lies in the center of the Southern Jambu Continent — the realm of inference for the noble and sublime Avalokiteshvara as well as the incarnated Dharma Kings and the accomplished translators and panditas. In that land, in the area of Zalmo Ridge, lies, in the middle of the Four Valleys, the Nyag Adzi Valley that is suffused with the blessings of the three Family Lords (Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani). Here, in the vicinity of Red Copper Cliff of Takhog Yak-Tamer, surrounded by an enclosure of gently flowing streams, fruit trees and vines, where turquoise foliage and myriad types of flowers abound — in other words, a place that in fact possesses the qualities of a hidden valley — lies a place of fertile grass lands.

He was born in this place as the son of Pema Dondrub belonging to the family line of Mukpo Dong and Sonam Tso, a lady of the Wakyung family. His parents had the deepest devotion and appreciation for the buddhas and spiritual teachers, cared for the lowly with loving kindness and were endowed with numerous qualities of wisdom. It was to this couple that our master took birth. It happened in Western year of 1913. According to the Tibetan calendar, it is the 46th in the 15th year cycle, known as Careful. I have heard from the master personally that he “was unsheathed from the clouds of the womb” in the year of the Female Water Ox, on the morning of the auspicious 10th day of the fifth month — the day Guru Rinpoche manifested in the powerful form of Dorje Drollo and concealed myriad terma treasures with teachings and samaya substance in the various districts of the snowy land of Tibet.

 

The great treasure revealer Jigdral Yeshe Dorje, moreover, wrote:

Lineage holder of Padma, regent of the guru who tames beings,
Sublime master and lord of Dharma,
Renunciant sky yogi, protector of the mandala,
Powerful Vajra King of the Wrathful Ones, I supplicate you.

Accordingly, I shall now describe a vision of Nyima Gyaltsen, the Asey Bigo Tulku who was an incarnation of the Indian master Chandragomi and whose clairvoyance and miraculous powers completely surpassed the domain of ordinary people. For instance, he had visions of sublime deities including Padmasambhava of Uddiyana, the noble Avalokiteshvara, Vajrapani the lord of secrets, and Arya Tara, the mother of all conquerors. Within an experience of pure luminosity, he even journeyed to the northern land of the yakshas and remained for three days. In a lucid vision this master saw a white mule loaded with scriptures that got unloaded at the house of the Tsekho Shasey family. The next day, he went joyfully to their home and, after relating the story of his vision, crowned the child with the name Trogyal Dorje [Vajra King of the Wrathful Ones].

There is a saying:

Like knowing water from water fowl
And knowing fire from smoke,
It is from his qualities that the wise
Can recognize someone of the bodhisattva type.

Like this example, our teacher was from an early age naturally endowed with the capacity of the Mahayana type such as loving kindness and compassion, perseverance and intelligence. From that time onwards, here is a brief mention of some of the masters — sublime spiritual guidance from every school — which he followed and studied with:

Nyima Gyaltsen, the Asey Bigo Tulku;
Chokyi Lodro, the incarnation of Jamyang Khyentse;
Pema Drimey, the Kongtrul incarnation of Zhechen;
Gyurmey Tenpa Namgyal, the supreme incarnation of Getsey;
Jigdral Chogkyi Langpo, the Mogtsa Tulku;
Jigmey Dechen Dorje, the sixth incarnation in the Drimey Shingkyong tulku line;
Pema Trinley Gyatso, the incarnation of Chaktsa Tulku;
Chokyi Gyatso, the Situ Panchen;
The great treasure revealer Jigdral Yeshe Dorje;
Tubten Chokyi Dorje, the fifth Dzogchen Tulku;
Gyurmey Dorje, the son of the Dharma King Adzom Drukpa;
Melong Dorje, the incarnation of Tokgo Tulku;
Pema Tendzin, the incarnation of the Dzamira Tulku;
Jowo Tashi Rabten, the great treasure master of Tsophu;
Orgyen Trinley Lingpa, the Apang Terton;
The great treasure revealer Dungsey Dorje Dradul;
Ngawang Chokyi Drakpa, the regent of Mindroling;
The sublime incarnation Jampal Dewey Nyima;
Tubten Chogkyi Langpo, the sublime Drubwang incarnation;
Sangsang Ngedon Gyatso, the incarnation of Dungkar Tulku;
Pema Namgyal, the Dungsey Gar Long-Yang;
The sublime incarnation Chokyi Dorje;
The sublime incarnation of Gongri Rinpoche;
Incarnation of Mugsang Tulku;
Orgyen Tenpel, the great scholar of Gotsa;
The master khenpo Lekshey Jorden Dulwey De;
The great scholar Nuden Khyentse Lodro;
The great khenpo Norbu Wangyal;
The master scholar Ngawang Norbu;
Khenpo Lodro of Palyul;
Drimey Özer, the great khenpo of Rishur;
The teacher Gelek Gyatso of Garwa;
The Nyungney teacher Rinchen Dargye;
Lama Pema Silo from Abey;
Lama Karma Dondrub from Akyab;
Lama Chodrak from Hashur;
Lama Palden of Trakya;
The incarnation of Deshur Lama;
The life-long retreat lama at Dungkar;
Dewey Dorje, the Sera Jetsun;
Chonyi Zangmo, the Shukseb Jetsun.

 

Khenchen Ngawang Palzang 
"Khenpo Ngakchung"

 

In all, he studied and reflected upon the sutras, tantras and all the other topics of knowledge at the feet of more than one hundred learned and accomplished holders of the Early Translation School (Nyingma). In this way, he gained the renown of being a true mahapandita.

But especially, he was accepted as disciple by Khenchen Ngawang Palzang, the emanation of Mahapandita Vimalamitra also known as Pema Leydrel Tsal, and for six years and five months he served this master perfectly by the three ways of pleasing the teacher.

Beginning with the preliminary practices and continuing through the progressive stages of the path up to and including Trekcho and Togal belonging to the Innermost Luminosity, he was bestowed an oceanlike amount of Dharma teachings from the sutras, tantras and oral instructions, like a vase filled to the brim. Bringing them into the sphere of practice, the realization of Dzogchen’s great equanimity dawned in his mind. He realized the four levels of vision and reached a high stage among the learned and accomplished beings in this world. In this way, he is significantly replete with the qualities of experience and realization.
Nevertheless, he has throughout his entire life been quite unattached to material things, content with his own possessions and free from craving the property of others. In short, He has been concerned with the welfare of sentient beings with contentment and detachment, while keeping the conduct of a yogi who hides his own qualities like keeping a lamp within a vase.

At a certain point of time, the mahapandita Ngagah Rinpoche bestowed his blessings upon our teacher, considering him his most unique disciple and successor with true realization. This was when he was crowned with the name Chatral Sangye Dorje and entrusted with the teachings and his spiritual aspirations.

Accordingly, the incarnated great treasure revealer, Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje wrote:

King of renunciants, in the definitive meaning,
Regent of the vidyadhara, incarnated to tame beings,
Lord of activity, benefiting whomever you encounter,
All-encompassing vajra master, think of me!

He also empowered our teacher to be his own regent, as the following text from his declaration shows:

“Let it be known to every sentient being, high or low, who lives in this world that I have now personally conferred the instructions of the Hearing Lineage containing the most profound teachings, the heart blood of the dakinis, upon the vidyadhara Trogyal Dorje. I have entrusted him with the realization of the true lineage, empowered him to be my regent to tame beings, and accordingly, assigned him with the task of guiding disciples of every kind to the path of liberation.

As every one of you — whether you be gods, demons or human beings — extend him your due assistance, it is a natural law that benefit and well-being will ensue both in this life and in those to follow.

 
In case someone possibly gives rise to malicious plans and deeds against him, even the tiniest, the guardians of the Dharma with their powerful strength and their eyes of wisdom, will immediately join forces to cut short those who are physically embodied and diminish the faculties of the formless so that not even their names remain. About this there is not the slightest doubt, so be extremely conscientious as to these benefits and dangers.

This unambiguous letter was written at the slope of Duri, the Mountain of Blazing Meteoric Iron in Kongpo, by the crazy yogi and wrathful heruka Jigdral Yeshe Drakpo Tsal.

Inthe same manner, we find in the terma predictions of Wangchen Gyepa Dorje, a descendant of Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje the following mention (Tsarong refers to Trehor Rongpa Tsa that is situated no longer than a morning’s walk from our master’s place of birth):

In the direction of Tsarong, Sangye Dorje will appear.
With a youthful manner, he will fulfill the wishes of the Dharma King.

Among the Jadrin Ngon Dawa writings of Lozang Donyo Dorje, the vajra-holder of Takpu,is found:

In the Tibet, the one known as Buddha Vajra,
Will, by the kindness of the flawless master,
Enjoy a deep ocean of nectar.
Whoever links with him will be benefited.
Moreover, Jangchub Dorje, the master of Nyag, wrote:
Sangye Dorje, vidyadhara yogi,
With the sacred word, sign and statements and the power of your experience, realization and awareness,
The time is right for the altruistic resolve to nurture disciples,
So hoist the victory banner of practice for the doctrine of the Early Translations.
The vajra command that you will surely guide myriad beings
Is stamped with the seal that signifies the doctrine of unchanging secrets.
In accordance with this statement, our master became the personal guru of Tibet’s regent king, the honorable Jampal Yeshe Tenpey Gyaltsen of Reting, an accomplished and great knowledge-holder, who also held the rank of Hutuktu Nomenhan. Acknowledge this to be a fact, which no intelligent person can possibly refute.

Furthermore, numerous people from all the districts of Tibet and Kham — high and low lama tulkus, appearing at the end of their succession of wonderful inclinations; sublime masters, rich in the qualities of scripture and realization; eminent dignitaries, lofty in their ranks and official positions; chieftains and aristocrats, elevated by their bloodlines, power and might; male and female benefactors, decorated in their noble riches of faith, resources and generosity — bowed at the auspicious golden wheels of his lotus feet and honored him as their personal guru.

From that time onwards, throughout his entire life he has remained untainted by even the tiniest shred of the attachment and dishonesty, hope and fear, spawned by the eight mundane concerns, towards every disciple, be they high or low, in his various travels in the countries of India and Tibet, Sikkim, Bhutan and Nepal.
He has continued the activity of overturning samsara from its depth to benefit beings — never excluding any one of the untold number of people from different backgrounds, countries and languages who every single day came to him — by giving them a spiritual connection in the form of personal advice, instructions, protection, empowerment, and blessings.
Never has he wasted even the smallest amount of the material goods that effortlessly flowed before him due to people’s generous faith. On the contrary, he used them constructing practice centers in various sacred locations and as contributions towards the sustenance of people in retreat, for the Nyungney group practice, and the like.
In particular, as evidence that his stream-of-being is utterly replete with the awakened frame of mind, he has annually undertaken the generous activity of bestowing protection against fear to millions of helpless, doomed creatures such as fish and tadpoles, frogs, snakes, and birds, large and small. Simply in this regard his life example is unrivaled by anyone.
Chimey Dorje, the treasure revealer of Yonru, in the following words, prophesied our master’s main seat:
In the sadhana place of Yanglesho
The incarnation of Kharchu will establish a practice center.
Dujompa declared:
Deathless lord Padma Totreng Tsal,
Pay heed, please gaze, since your disciple Kharchupa
With good intentions will found the noble stream of practice,
A retreat center in your sacred sadhana place,
Grant your blessings to pacify any adversity there may be
And to fulfill his every wish.
In accord with this prediction, our master went to the land personally visited and blessed by Buddha Shakyamuni, included in his prophecies, where you find the Langru Mountain and self-appeared stupa Gomasala Gandha, the great stupa Jarung Khashor and the stupa of Prince Fortitude where he sacrificed his body to the starving tigress, and where is situated the major channel ground Mound of Spontaneous Perfection and many other sacred places. Here, is the power spot of both spiritual and mundane nature, known as Upachandho, a place of accomplished masters, the fame of which is renowned throughout all the books of Dharma history and secular travel books of this world as the kingdom of Nepal. It is here, no more than 13 kilometers to the south of the capital, that he founded the Glorious Grove of Vidyadhara Siddhas, the practice center at Yanglesho, which is the marvelous site where the precious master of Uddiyana performed the sadhana of the great glorious Vajra Kumara and attained the supreme accomplishment of Mahamudra.
At Godavari that is counted among the 24 major places, he also established the practice center known as the Sanctuary for Accomplishing the Supreme Samadhi of Unexcelled Luminosity. At Yolmo, a major sacred place encircled by snowy ranges, which has been foretold in the Avatamsaka Sutra and in the Chronicles of Padma found in the Seven Profound Cycles, he established the practice center and temple known as Kunsang Choling.
In Sikkim that lies to the south of Tibet, which was presently visited by Padmasambhava and is regarded as the king among hidden lands, he built Pakyong Katok Monastery. And at the opening to this sacred valley, near Darjeeling, at the distance a traditional hermitage is situated from a city, he built the practice center Kundrol Osel Tse that is connected to his monastery Puntsok Ngayab Choling.

Moreover, in the hidden valley of Langdrak in Bhutan, the terma place that has been visited by numerous great beings including the great terton Dorje Lingpa, Pema Lingpa and Sherab Mebar, you find Shar Kunsang Ling, a place that is counted among the omniscient Longchen Rabjam’s eight Sanctuary Seats. Not far from there was the residence of Longchenpa’s son, the prince and tulku Drakpa Özer, which our master subsequently restored by building the practice center Ngesang Tagten Ling.
In this way, he has constructed places for spiritual practitioners to congregate, consisting of temples and shrines, in sacred places and remote mountainsides belonging to various countries and hereby revived the Buddhadharma in the Dark Age. Never involved in deceptive schemes in the pursuit of material gain by catering to the living and the dead, he has lived in harmony with the conduct of the sublime forefathers and spent his life exclusively of keeping the lifestyle of the true renunciant.
In the Tokjo of Jadrin Ngon Dawa you find these lines:
Sangye Dorje, meaningful to encounter,
A lord of yogis who engages in Secret Mantra,
Will impart the instructions on the profound path to all the fortunate.

For quite a few fortunate men and women, whose former merit and aspirations have opportunely ripened, and for the many retreatants completing the set three years and three fortnights, our master has vastly unfurled white canopies of the excellent activity of bestowing the profound instructions of personal guidance in the luminous Great Perfection, the swift path for awakening to enlightenment in a single lifetime. And such activity is an act of indescribable kindness, which sustains the life-force of the Buddhadharma, both in general and in particular.
In this way he lives, and while doing so, may his life remain firm like the vajra throne and brilliant like full moon among the stars.

---

A Biographical Summary
This is an autobiography that hits the vital point of pith instruction, of me, a present-day crafty charlatan. May the masters and the Three Jewels gaze upon us!
At this junction, when I, the old father, am near the end of my 87th year and about to be 88, many people, known and unknown, who have encouraged me to write an autobiography for the sake of followers and disciples. But, seeing it as an obstacle and barrier for liberation, I don’t feel the need for a heap of luring words. Taking as witness the fact that no one knows a person better than himself, I leave this Testament in Three Syllables in the manner of an advice.
The three qualities of ethics, samadhi and insight,
Untainted and proven through direct perception,
Like dry moss, free from the dampness of pretentious falsehood,
I consumed in the space of blazing fire jvala ram.
A religious façade, the jumble of materialism and Dharma,
I surely knew was not the friend of effective practice.
So I tossed the dry ashes of deceit and insensitivity
To the wind from the mountaintop, as the letter yam.
Funds given for the living and the dead, a hindrance to freedom,
And the schemes to collect, hoard and invest them to build sacred objects,
I resolved to cleanse away with the clear stream
Of renunciation, detachment and revulsion, as the element kham.
I would like to make it explicitly clear that these verses were only uttered in reply to a questioning introspection of myself and definitely not as a message to the sublime and authentic beings who perceive the truth of dharmata and spontaneously fulfill the aims of others and themselves. Rather than misunderstanding my intent and reacting with envious annoyance, please keep your hearts at ease in blissful equanimity.

Even though I and people like me are not above ordinary beings, may this cause instigators disunity and distorters of the Buddhadharma, whose conceit inflate them to the sky, to understand the truth in my words and actively seek to be mindful, careful and conscientious.

---

So he spoke.

The writings of our master, which he gave in response to requests from devoted disciples have statements that connect them with the sutras, tantras and shastras; they have correct logical structures that are in harmony with the rules for grammar, reasoning and what is based on fact; and they are intelligible in that they are combined with clarifying instruction. In short, they possess the characteristics of genuine treatises in that they have clear wording with profound meaning.
His writings on refutation of criticism, monastic history, collection of praises, pithy advice, and the cycle on the Hearing Lineage of the Great Perfection — including records of teachings, lineage history, liturgical arrangements, and practice manuals for approach, accomplishment and enactment, together with manuals sacred dances, mandala proportions, and chants, as well as for the use of ritual implements and musical instruments — there are on the whole a number of volumes equal to the five buddha families.
It is due to my own and other disciple’s negligence and lack of concern, and due to the unfortunate circumstances of turbulent times in various countries here and there, that we have not yet found the time to effectively compile and publish them. Nevertheless, I humbly beg you well-meaning, intelligent people to extend your participation in bringing forth whatever is in your custody so that we soon can include here a list of all his writings.

Let me conclude with the prayer, repeated a hundredfold times, that our master may compassionately consider us miserable beings, so wrought up within the dense darkness of the five degenerations, and let his remarkable physical presence remain as steadfast as the vajra endowed with its seven qualities, turning unceasingly the wheel of the Dharma in harmony with the aspirations and potentials of those to be tamed.

---

Concluding verses. Though my intellect and voice are too feeble to adequately express
The Ganga-like deeds of past conquerors and bodhisattvas,
How wonderful it is, to raise up with my finger a single drop of what I have heard and seen,

As an offering to delight devoted followers!

By the goodness of this writing may the essential teachings never wane,
May the sublime holder of the doctrine to live long,
And may I and every other sentient being
Cross samsara’s ocean to reach omniscient enlightenment!

Thoughin dearth of eloquent and refined expression, its meaning may possibly yield an excellent crop.
Without the conceit pretentious scholarship, its authentic words have a potent taste.
Free from the eight concerns and ambitious craving, its contents bear the liberating story of our master.
Though lacking sweet words to fool people, may this writing be auspicious with virtuous goodness!

This was written in order to ensure that insistent requests from many vajra brothers and sisters who since a long time told me to please write a concise biography of our lord of refuge, and based on receiving his permission. In the Long-Nying Kadu Gyamtso you find these lines:
My body and possessions I offer you.
I shall do whatever you command.
If I succeed in fulfilling it, even at the cost of my life,
Please grant me accomplishment in this life! To quote the Kabgye Yongdu: Cast away the thought “I cannot fulfill
The wish he explicitly stated.”
When you carry it out without timidity,
You achieve, unhindered, your every aim.
Accordingly, this was written by the wandering simpleton who goes by the name Tendzin Özer, someone who sits at the lowest end of the line from the Omniscient One, the khenzur from Tralek Sang-Ngak Podrang, which is one of the largest branch monasteries of Katok. It happened in the Western year of 1999, which corresponds to the seventeenth year-cycle, Pramati in Sanskrit that is Nyoden in Tibetan, Cha Mau in Chinese, and using our country’s system of the four elements, it is the year of the Female Earth Hare. It was begun in the waxing part of the cloud-filled Purvasadha month (July/August), on the sacred day the incomparable King of Sages put in motion the Dharma Wheel the first set of teachings on the Four Truths for his human retinue of the five eminent ones and a celestial gathering of 84,000 devas.
In accordance with statements in the tantras, Padmasambhava pledged to kindly accept and bestow his compassionate blessings on all devoted followers of the Old School in this world on the tenth day of every waxing moon, in general, and all trustful Tibetan disciples, in particular. In the extraordinary astrological system included in Lama Gongdu, the tenth day of the sixth month is the blessed day Guru Rinpoche miraculously took birth in a physical form endowed with the major and minor marks upon the anthers of a lotus flower in a Sindhu island. On this auspicious day, accompanied by the radiant constellation Goddess Jungdenma, this writing was completed at the first rays of the sun.
By this merit, may we in all lifetimes be protected by our glorious lord guru’s compassion! Sarva dakaleyanam bhavantu! May it be virtuous! May it be virtuous! May it be virtuous!

According to the Khenpo Tendzin Özer’s wish and with his explanations, Erik Pema Kunsang translated this.