Chapter 15a - Gling ras pa (disciple of Pag mo gru pa)

Birth

The Venerable gling, a disciple of dpal phag mo gru pa: at glang po sna of gzhengs in Upper myang, "The Source of Knowledge", there were two clans—Upper and Lower gling. He belonged to the Lower gling. His father, named rgyal po skyab po was learned in Tantric propitiations, and gained his livelihood by practising medicine and astrology. His mother was gzus mo dar chung. He was born in the year Earth Male Ape (sa pho spre'u 1128 A.D.) and was named pad ma rdo rje.

Childhood and Youth

In his childhood he mastered reading and writing. At the age of eight, he presented a field to lharje ra sman, and studied medicine with him. He became expert in medicine. At the age of thirteen, his father died. At the age of seventeen, he took up the noviciate in the presence of the ācārya gling.

Education and Ordination

He heard numerous precepts, such as the "sgron ma rnam drug" by the ācārya dpal dbyangs, and others. After an official (rje dpon) had become impoverished, following a disagreement with him, he became known as a great magician. Then he took up ordination in the presence of the kalyāṇa mitra 'om thang pa.

He practised penance (according to the system) of jo stan. He also obtained the system of the Lady (jo mo, i.e. Vajravārahī) from a native of dbus named zhang, a disciple of both rwa (lo tsā ba) and dpyal. At sreg pa lung of bsnubs he heard from the rwa lo tsā ba the Kālacakra, the Yamāntaka, the Saṃvara, and the Vajravārahi Cycles.

Seduction by sman mo

He then proceeded on a begging round. He broke his vows, having been seduced by a woman called sman mo. He used to say that this was due to the fact that during the period of the Doctrine of the Buddha Krakucchanda (log pa dang sel), when two Bodhisattva monks were preaching the Doctrine to an assembly of women, a group of sixty monks spoke evil of these two Bodhisattvas. Because of this men lost faith in these two, And because of this evil deed, the sixty monks were thrown into Hell, and had to remain there for a long time.

Then when Śākyamuni came into the World, the sixty monks having obtained a human form, appeared before the Teacher, and the Blessed One thereupon explained to them the nature of their deeds, and the sixty confessed (their sins). The Blessed One then uttered a prophecy that due to the residue of their former karmic deeds, the sixty (monks) would be reborn in the families of destitute people in poverty-stricken countries. After reading the Ratnakūṭa sūtra the Venerable gling understood himself to have been the Bodhisattva Vīryaprabha (brtson 'grus 'od), one of the sixty monks. Due to a karmic sin, he had a karmic link with sman mo.

Married Life

As his ordination vows were broken, sman mo said to him:

"My parents are wealthy and they have no son. If we ask them, they shall give us money. Khyung tshang ba possesses a precept which can remove the effects of the misdeed done by us. We shall ask him for it. I heard him saying that his doctrine was a 'golden doctrine'^[1] . We could take some gold from my parents."

They visited khyung tshang ba, and heard from him the precepts of ras chung pa.

After this they both, husband and wife, put on cotton garments. Khyung tshang ba having stated on many occasions that he had met ras chung pa in person, a slight doubt was born in them.

Later, he (gling ras) used to say that

"though he had obtained a lofty understanding, his 'Inner Heat' (drod) grew less."

After this, both husband and wife wore the white cotton garments. Khyung tshang ba said:

"You should go to the monastery of ras chung pa:"

Meeting with sum pa ras pa

Having taken with them some valuables, they proceeded to lo ro. He (gling ras) was 35 when they reached lo ro in the year Water Male horse (chu pho rta 1162 A.D.). They did not meet ras chung pa, who had passed away in the previous Iron Female Serpent (Icags mo sbrul 1161 A.D.) year.

After this, he met sum pa, a disciple of ras chung pa. One evening, when the latter was entering his retirement, he asked him

"We came from afar to ask you for (instruction) in the Doctrine. Please help us!"

(Sum pa) said:

"You should get precepts! Go to the ācārya lo, obtain initiation, and then come (here)."

They went to lo, and offered tea and suitable presents to all the inmates, headed by lo. Then they obtained initiation. After which gling ras obtained precepts from sum pa.

He used to say:

"I used to offer tea each time I listened to the exposition of the Doctrine. Therefore later, I did not experience any want in tea."

Sum pa bestowed on him the complete precepts. Each word (of them) made him understand many other subjects, and the benefit was great. After he had obtained all the precepts, a thought came to him that "now there was no one greater (than me) in the possession of precepts in the whole of Jambudvīpa."

One night after he had begun the study of precepts with sum pa, he saw in a dream a white man who told him:

"From this year onwards, after five years, you will achieve success!"

He also obtained some precepts from the other chief disciples, such as bur sgom and byar po ba.

Meeting with phag mo gru

When gling ras reached the age of 38, in the year Wood Female Hen (shing mo bya 1165 A.D.), dam pa sum pa said to him:

"Now go! Our country of gnyal is a (poor) place, where even ogres die from hunger!"

In the same year he went to phag mo gru, and met him when the latter was mounting the preacher’s seat on the eighteenth day after the winter solstice, and an immeasurable faith was born in him. A thought came to him that all trees and birds were probably manifestations (of the Teacher).

This Lord 'gro ba'i mgon po as a rule disliked married yogins, but he was greatly pleased with gling ras, and bestowed on him instructions. Gling ras dwelt in seclusion having given a vow, and practised meditation. After three days a matchless understanding was produced in him.

In spite of his resolve to spend seven years seven months and seven days in seclusion, he broke his retirement and proceeded into the presence of 'gro mgon, and sang before him the following song:

"You Lord, had told me to meditate on the meaning of the Innate (gnyug ma'i don). I have meditated, but now I have lost the object and subject of meditation^[2] . I was unable to observe intervals in my meditation (thun mtshams)."

'Gro ba'i mgon po was very pleased^[3] .

Separation from sman mo

He spent three summer months of the year Fire Male Dog (me pho khyi 1166 A.D.) at phag mo gru. After that he stayed with his wife at 'on rmi sdings. When he again came into the presence of ‘gro mgon, the latter ordered him: "Now let this wife go!"

He replied:

"Even before this, on several occasions I tried to send her away, but she won't go!"

“This time she will go, so send her away! I shall perform a rite!" said ‘gro mgon.

gling pa conveyed sman mo to yar khugs of the Northern Upland, saying: "I didn't squander much the property of your parents. Now go to your native place, and enjoy the wealth (of your) parents", and saying so, he let her go. He returned (to the monastery).

Relationship with the Mudra from zangs ri

On another occasion he again took as his mudrā a woman from zangs ri. "That was improper", thought he, and then told the woman: "Don't follow me!" but she followed him, and so he fled to khams. Travelling via sgam po, he met the ācārya sgom pa. From myang po he proceeded to nags shod.

He was presented with many offerings, but did not accept them, saying:

"I am not a seller of the thigh-bone^[4] of a bka' brgyud pa"^[5] .

Later, the mudrā from zangs ri came to khams in search of the Venerable One, but died on the way. In the vicinity of zla dgon there was a forest which (when seen from afar) had the form of a woman, and she became the fairy of this forest.

Making Offerings

wa ston said: "Though you have no desire for wealth, ride this horse and boil this tea!" and offered them to him.

The Venerable One offered the horse to phag mo gru pa who said:

"I don't need the horse! Present it to rgyal ba lo!"

Having gone to lo ro, he offered the horse to lo, and a turquoise to sum pa. He also made some offerings to other teachers and spent some time at mog sa.

Death of phag mo gru pa

When he returned to phag mo gru, he found that ‘gro mgon had passed away, and that his remains had been cremated.

Before an assembly of about a thousand men, who had gathered for the tea ceremony, he sang a song beginning with the words:

"In the grove of śrī phag mo gru similar to that of the town of kuśīnagara."

Travels

After that he visited numerous localities in dbus and gtsang. Having been invited to 'phrang po by the local king (btsad po), he spent some time there. Then bla ma zhang told him: "Help in the feud!" and he stopped the troops of chu gle'u chung ba near the Palace. His fortune having increased, he amassed a large property and spent his money towards half of the cost of erecting of a large image, built by bla ma zhang. All books received by him were sent to phag mo gru.

On his way to phag mo gru at bsam yas he had a vision of a blue woman who placed inside his mouth a volume. Then he understood the meaning of all the books seen by him, and having obtained the ḍākinī’s permission, he wrote several expositions of the Tantra. Some people ridiculed them, saying that he had written them of his own design (rang bzor byed pa).

Compositions and Abbotship

In general, he composed: "An analysis of the Tantra" (rgyud kyi rnam bzhag), the sgron me rnam drug, the sems kyi rdo rje'i bstod pa, the rnal 'byor 'jug pa, the bde mchog gi dkyil 'khor gyi cho ga, and other texts. The bla ma sgrub pa'i phyag bzhes ("The method of propitiating one’s own Teacher") was also introduced by the Venerable gling. He laboured for the welfare of living beings in all quarters. He visited skyo ro ro. Later, he took over the monastery of sna phur dgon, and looked after the interest of others.

Death

While he was preaching the 'guides', lecturing on the Doctrine, and preaching on the five samayas or Tantric vows (dam tshig lnga ba), two men who had broken their Tantric vows came to him, and this caused his teeth to contract, and he passed away on the 28th day of the first summer month in the year Earth Male Ape (sa pho spre'u, 1188 A.D.), aged 61^[6] .

His Last Will was discovered in a book (which said):

"My body, speech and mind do not differ from the Body, Speech and Mind of all the Tathāgatas. They will enter into the bodies, speech and minds of all living beings. Whoever will pray to me with devotion, will realize all his wishes."

According to some accounts, this Venerable One had studied the Dohā under spar phu ba, but the commentary on the Dohā composed by him, differs slightly from that of spar phu ba in the treatment of the subject.

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

gser chos, meaning that one had to pay in gold for an initiation.

[2]:

bsgom bya—object of meditation, sgom byed—subject of meditation, the Mind (R).

[3]:

gling pa or gling ras pa was called Saraha of Tibet.

[4]:

The text has bla mi tshong, but it should read brla mi tshong, meaning that one was not to dispose of the thigh-bone of one’s father after his death. According to an ancient bon po belief the thigh-bone was considered to be seat of the vital principle or bla (R).

[5]:

Meaning that he could not damage the good reputation of the bka' brgyud pas (R).

[6]:

The breaking of a Tantric vow is considered to be an unforgivable sin (R).