Chapter 23 - Mind instruction lineage (iii): sna’u bya bral pa

[Full title: Mind instruction lineage (iii): rin chen gzhon nu (sna’u bya bral pa’s disciple)]

Birth and Childhood

He was born in the year Water Female Hen (chu mo bya 1333 A.D.), in the first year of tshe bzhi rnying ma ba, in the nomad country of 'phyos kha sging. He became a disciple of tshe bzhi rnying ma ba and received ordination at the age of nine. He heard assiduously the exposition of the Doctrine.

Meditation

At the age of twenty-two, he proceeded towards ti se (Kailāsa). He spent twenty-two years (plunged) in constant meditation (rtse gcig), first for four years at ti se, and then eighteen years At chu bar, and attained a yogic insight into the system of the "Great Seal" (Mahāmudra). He possessed the faculty of prescience. He realized the Ultimate Reality (de kho na nyid, Tathatā). He possessed a sharp intellect, and because of it he was able to defeat the boastful pride of others.

Defeat of the Karmapa and General Remarks

When kar ma pa dkon gzhon came to Chubar, they held a discussion on the Doctrine, and he defeated kar ma pa, He placed on the latter’s head his flat bla ma hat (thang zhu) and said: "You are not a scholar. I am the scholar!" He was not afraid to meet scholars whom he happened to come across. His entire life was spent in ascetic practices. Though he had been the teacher of many people, including the great official (gong ma chen po mi dbang) grags pa rgyal mtshan, he used to reside in solitude whenever he (1404) visited a monastery, and even built his own, fire place. Inside his cell he used to dress in all sorts of garments

It is said that his diligence in mediation was so great, that his buttocks became similar to those of the Venerable mid la^[1] .

Though he had many disciples, the chief one was spyan snga rin po che bsod nams rgyal mtshan bzang po. He heard the exposition of the sems khrid (Introduction to one’s own Mind) from the bla chen pa (rin gzhon pa), and wrote also a guide book on it. He also preached the Doctrine to numerous disciples.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

In the chapter on sgam po pa in the Mid la'i mgur 'bum Mid la'i mgur 'bum rgyas pa, fol. 219 a/, the following story is told: When sgam po pa was leaving Midla’s hermitage, Mid la saw him off as far as a stream, and said to him: "I still have a very hidden secret. Should I tell it to you, or not?" After repeating these words several times, the Venerable One said: "You are my only son! Why should not I tell it to you?", and saying so, he showed sgam po pa his buttocks which had become completely mortified from his constant sitting in meditation. The Venerable One added: "All the secret of meditation is based on diligence!" sgam po pa used to say that "these words were like a nail which pierced his heart" (R).