Chapter 23 - Mind instruction lineage (v): chos dbyings pa

Childhood and Youth

One known as chos dbyings pa attended on six direct disciples of dung mtsho ras pa, such as sna'u pa and others, and heard precepts on the sems khrid. His native place was Lower stod lungs gram. His family name was myang. He was born in the year Wood Male Mouse (shing pho byi ba 1324 A.D.) as son of father phur pa skyabs and mother rdo rje rgyan. In his childhood he was taken by his parents into the presence of the Dharmasvāmin rang byung rdo rje, and asked for his blessing. He was given the name of rdo rje bkza^[1] shis.

At the age of seven or nine, he mastered the alphabet, and studied some of the rites with the bla ma dpal bzang pa. At the age of twelve, he fled to become a monk, and received ordination at mtshal, the mahāupādhyāya dbang phyug shes rab acting as upādhyāya, and rin po che byang chub dpal bzang acting as ācārya. He received the name of dbang phyug rdo rje. He studied under the bla ma paṇḍita kun dga' rgyal mtshan and others. At the age of fourteen, he preached the Hevajra Tantra (brtag gnyis) and the be dmar (be 'bum dmar po, name of a Tantric book). At the age of twenty-one, he became a disciple of bsam gtan dpal ba, and received ordination in his presence, assisted by the upadhyāya seng ge dpal ba and others, and received the name of chos dbyings dbang phyug. Further, he obtained many doctrines from gyag sde paṇ chen and others. Following a pressing request from the abbot of mtshal, he acted as abbot of mkhar mgon.

A Prophetic Dream and a Teaching Exchange

One night in his dream he saw five very beautiful women who told him to come along, and led him towards a large vihara. On opening the gate, he found inside a large room containing numerous piles of books. There were also several other new doors without paint. On opening them one by one, he saw rooms filled with books. They (the women) then handed him a big bundle of keys, and said: "Take charge of these! It will be of great service to the Doctrine."

Next morning bla ma sna'u pa, who had spent in seclusion nine years at 'brong phu without coming down from the mountain, arrived there and met him. They held a debate on the Doctrine, and faith was born in him. He then bestowed on the bla ma the phyag rgya chenpo ga’u ma^[2] , and other texts. In return, the bla ma bestowed on him the Cycle of sems khrid, and said that he also had been summoned (to come here) by a woman in his dream, and thus came here. He added: "Now, I have entrusted the Doctrine to its owner! My life has become fruitful!"and felt pleased.

Accomplishments

The Precious chos dbyins pa used to say: "Through (meditation) on the inseparable nature of the Void and Mind, which represents the Absolute (chos nyid), which pervades the entire World and the living beings (snang srid), like dye covers the entire edge of a book, I have opened the eyes on the Cause and Effect of the Phenomenal Existence and Nirvana, removed the doubts, reached the depth, dug the foundation, and removed the floor. This all is due to his grace!"

He composed many books following the instructions of 'khrul zhig pa. In all, he attened on 108 teachers. He also obtained instruction in religion from rgyal sras dri med pa (klong chen rab 'byams pa). Later his labours became great. While he was residing in the north of gtsang rong, the Dharmasvāmin blo gros bzang po heard from him the sems khrid. His life story has been told before.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

mispelling for bkra? (baker)

[2]:

Another name of lhan gcig skyes sbyor, a fundamental text of the ‘bri khung pa sect, which follows the Doctrine of Mahāmudra.