“It is probably fine to say the teachings of Palden Lhamo are both the ancestral heritage as well as the paternal family lineage of the Karma Kamtsang.” –17th Karmapa (December 2023)
“Those who uphold the precious Dagpo Kagyu lineage supplicate you the venerable one. Master of the Daglho Gampo monastery,` return to your home.” –Jigten Sumgon’s request to the `1st Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa
“At 8 you summoned a Yaksha.
At 11 you turned back a great battle.
At 15 you liberated an enemy of the teachings.
I bow to you who tamed the hordes of maras
At 16 you went forth and showed the example of a great monastic.
You sustained a temple of the Buddha’s teachings;
I bow to you who guarded the great wheel of Dharma.” —8th Karmapa in his Supplication to 1st Karmapa
Introduction
At the beginning of the annual Karma Guncho in Bodh Gaya, where all the main Karma Kagyu monasteries from India, Nepal, Bhutan all come together to debate and receive teachings, the 17th Karmapa yet again showed us why and how he is the only one worthy of the title Gyalwang Karmapa (and head of a major lineage) giving another remarkable teaching (and new piece of original research and scholarship) on the life-story of the great 12th Century Tibetan master, 1st Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa (karma pa 01 dus gsum mkhyen pa chos kyi grags pa, 1100-1193). As a person who had spent the most time with Milarepa’s direct disciples, Dusum Khyenpa is not only one of the most important historical figures in the Dagpo kagyu traditions, but also in Tibetan Buddhism as a whole.
As the 17th Karmapa went into detail about the 1st Karmapa’s birthplace, date, parents and childhood and other interesting stories about his teachers, such as the ‘mercurial’ Vaircchanavajra (Berotsana), the direct disciple of Atisha, Yol Chowang. The only other independent accounts in the English language of 1st Karmapa’s life-story is the current Treasury of Lives biography composed by Dr. Alex Gardner and the PhD of Peter Kersten. Biographies of the First Karma-pa Dus-gsum-mkhyen-pa, Critical Text Edition and Translation of two biographical works; and an Overview of the Dus-gsum-mkhyen-pa Collection. Re- ligions. Université Paris sciences et lettres, 2018. However the original Tibetan sources referred to by the 17th Karmapa in his teaching are not mentioned by Gardner or Kersten, yet they are clearly important original Tibetan sources on the 1st Karmapa’s life-story, in particular his childhood up to the age of 16. There is no reference to this time period at all by Kersten or Gardner. Thus, I have typed the whole teaching up as a record of preservation and scholarship. See video link and transcript below.
The 17th Karmapa first began with a summary with the 1st Karmapa’s great qualities, life and teachers and that the Drigung Kagyu founder, Jigten Sumgon (1143-1217) invited him to be the abbot of the Daglha Gampo Monastery[1], which can be seen in a letter written by Sumgon in his Collected Works.
He then discusses the specific birthplace and dates of Dusum Khyenpa, revealing interesting original sources such as the 8th Karmapa’s Laughing Mind-Ocean Chakra Treatise on Kalacakra, which the Karmapa says seems to be the only text which refers to a specific birthdate of Dusum Khyenpa. Neither Kersten (2018) or Gardner refer to this text. For more on the 8th Karmapa’s texts on Kalacakra, see my previous article here[2].
In terms of his discussion of the 1st Karmapa’s birthplace, some of the information is similar to that given in a previous teaching in February 2021 (which I typed up here with the images), so I am also re-publishing the photos of the birthplace and sacred places associated with the 1st Karmapa provided by the 17th Karmapa in that teaching. However, in this new teaching the 17th Karmapa refers to a source text by the 8th Karmapa’s attendant, personal physician and attendant, Gelong Shangkara Jigme Nanggi Gyalso. called Vajra Splinter travelogue (Lam Yig Dorje Zegpa). I was unable to find a copy of this online. The 17th Karmapa concludes that the birthplace of the 4th Zhamarpa and the 1st Karmapa may have become mixed up and that it is Ra-tag not Bomchog, as many people claim these days in Tibet.
Other fascinating aspects of the 17th Karmapa’s account include how, according to one Tibetan historical account, one of the important teachers of 1st Karmapa, was the 12 century Lama Vairochanavajra (in Tibetan, Berotsana) see his Treasury of Lives biography by Dan Martin, here. Not to be mixed up with the famous Tibetan translator, Berotsana, the 17th Karmapa refers to his common name Ngulchu (Mercury) Berotsana (due to having survived drinking mercury, which is poisonous)[3]. The 17th Karmapa then shares a fascinating story of how he saw a statue built during the times of the Tibetan King, Songsten Gampo, beaming light from afar and founded a Kagyu monastery around it. After this Kagyu monastery was destroyed/fell into ruin in the 17th Century, the statue pieces were then used to build the famous Jowo statue in Lhasa and also the 108 tsatsa stupas next to it are filled with one bead from that Lama’s mala. So one could even say that the Jowo’s roots are Karma Kagyu!
This was then followed with how another teacher of Dusum Khyenpa, Yol Chowang, a direct disciple of Atisha gave Dusum Khyenpa (probably via Geshe Trawara, not directly) important lineage transmissions such as the five-deity Tara practice, unique to the Karma Kagyu tradition.
The 17th Karmapa concluded by saying how rare it was to find people in the Karma Kamtsang who knew about the precious Karma Kagyu heritage and was interested in studying them. He says: “if those who know there is a Karma Kamtsang practice of four-mandala Tara are rarer than stars in the daytime, the people who actually recite it are like turtle fur or a rabbit with horns. Thus is was important to preserve one’s own precious heritage as being the way of the wise. For more on the origin of Green Tara and the five-deity Tara practice by 1st Karmapa, see here.
Music? Joyful Aspiration (2002) by 17th Karmapa.
Transcribed and compiled by Adele Tomlin, 3rd January 2023.
Transcript of 17th Karmapa’s teaching on 1st Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa
(December 2023)
Today, is the anniversary of Dusum Khyenpa, arising as the Sambhogakaya, or you could say passing into Parinirvana, now I need not say much, as you all know he was the founder of the Karma Kagyu tradition of teachings, he was the first Gyalwang Karmapa and the first bearer of the black crown. I don’t think there is much need to say much about that, so I will not.
The greatness of Dusum Khyenpa’s Qualities and Life
Generally, if we speak about his life or greatness in brief. When he was 20, he went to central Tibet. The reason why he went there, was described by 8th Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje in a song.
Unable to withstand Lord Chagpa’s fame
He left Kham and Amdo and came to U.
At that time in central Tibet, there was a famous philosophy teacher named Chagpa Chokyi Senge and Dusum Khyenpa was captivated by his fame and so he went to central Tibet. Not only did he study with him, he also studied with the famous Kadamapa master, Zhang Shariwa and with Palchen Galo who was well-known in both India and Tibet along with other well-known and authoritative lamas.
He also studied the Kadampa, Dzogchen, Lam-dre, the six yogas of Kalachakra, Mahamudra and many other instructions from all Dharma lineages. Dusum Khyenpa travelled to Central Tibet twice, on the first time he went there alone he spent more than a decade contemplating and listening and more than 12 years practising meditation and in this way through his life he gave an example as to how to practice these things. As described in the lines from the Treasury of Abhidharma:
“With conduct, listening, contemplation, completely train in meditation.”
And so, I think this is one particular quality of his example for us. In particular, he also met seven of Milarepa’s disciples including Lord Gampopa, Rechungpa, Lingkawa Drigung Repa, Cham Lingkye Khyepa Dorje, Semo Ngago Seldon, Gentsul Phunyi and ge received the instructions from them completely and without mistake. It would be fair to say aside from Dusum Khyenpa, no other lama from the Dagpo Kagyu met so many of Milarepa’s direct disciples. In particular, he spent six years studying with Je Gampopa and became one of Je Gampopa’s four great sons who upheld his lineage. Likewise, Gampopa also made a prophecy to him, if you practice in Dagpo and Kham, your benefit to beings will spread throughout Utsang and Kham.
So, as Gampopa prophesised, Dusum Khyenpa went from Central Tibet went to Kampo Nenang in Kham, to practice and later there where he was still in Kham, he founded Kampo Nenang, Kham Odeling, Drapon, Tre, becoming the first to spread the Dagpo lineage in Kham.
Jigten Sumgon’s invite to become the head of Daglha Gampo
Later, he returned to central Tibet for a second time and when he arrived there Jigten Sumgon invited him to be the head of Daglha Gampo monastery. Jigten Sumgon’s letter making this request is found in his Collected Works. It is written in verse and has many stanzas. To give you an example from it:
“Those who uphold the precious Dagpo Kagyu lineage supplicate you the venerable one. Master of the Daglha Gampo monastery,` return to your home.”
Here he is saying that all the masters of the Dagpo Kagyu lineage supplicate him and for him to come would be the same as all the master of the Daglho Gonpa to return to his home. In this way, he was praising Dusum Khyenpa highly or showing great respect to him. In brief, there is a lot to say about the greatness activity and liberation of Dusum Khyenpa but due to time I cannot speak about all of them today.
Birthplace of Dusum Khyenpa – Ratag not Bomchog
So, I will speak about a few of the deeds from his childhood. The reason is that we do not normally hear much about his childhood. Now in order to speak about his deeds as child, I think we should speak about the time and place of his birth.
In terms of his birth, the old histories of Dusum Khyenpa’s lineage called his birthplace Tre Ra-tag. When we say Tre, means Tre-o and that can be spelt in two different ways. Later, it can be called Trehor. These days it is understood mainly to be the district of Kardze. There are also different spellings and pronunciations of the name Ratag, Randzag but the majority of the Kagyu histories say Ra-stag. These days the people of Kardze say that his birthplace was in the town of Bumchog, or Bangchog. There are people in that town who say they are descendants of Dusum Khyenpa’s family. They also have stories to tell about him and have artifacts to show. Thus, many historians these days take it as given that Dusum Khyenpa was born in Tre Bumchog. So, the old histories say that Dusum Khyenpa was born in Ratag, but these days most Tibetans say he was born in Bumchog.
The Vajra Sliver Travelogue by doctor/attendant of 8th Karmapa
In order to decide which one it was, I think the Vajra Splinter Travelogue (Lam Yig Dorje Zegpa) by Bikshu Shankawa/ Ngagi Gyaltso who was a doctor and attendant to the 8th Karmapa, Mikyo Dorej is a very good source. The main topic of this text is how at the time of Mikyo Dorje’s incarnation, 9th Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje was born in lower Tre near Kala Langri at Tagtsang, what is called nowadays the Tagtsang Nang.
After that, the 5th Zhamarpa, Konchog Yanlag sent a party of 10 bhikkhus all with important positions including Bikshu Shankawa and Konchog Kunga from the Garchen to offer him robes and supplies. So, the text gives the texts, places and monasteries along with the related histories that they saw on their travels beginning in central Tibet until they met the Karmapa’s reincarnation in Trewo. In particular, this text gives very clear descriptions of the places in Upper and Lower Tre, the monasteries of that time and in particular, facts related to Dusum Khyenpa’s birthplace. So, what he says is that the birthplace of the 4th Zhamar was Bumchog and that birthplace of Dusum Khyenpa was Trewo Ra-tag. When we look at this, it is possible that the birthplaces of Dusum Khyenpa and the 4th Zhamarpa may have mistaken for each other, confused for each other.
For example, these days near Ratag there is a stupa called the Ratag stupa which is an important stupa associated with Dusum Khyenpa. In Bikshu Shankarwa’s travelogue, it is described how this stupa contains Dusum Khyenpa’s goatskin, his sling, flint, claypot and so on. It is not just a stupa, there is also a small shrine or a monastery around it, and a walk way around that shrine and in that walkway, there is a footprint of Dusum Khyenpa’s, as well as a print from his secret vajra.
Miraculous deeds of Dusum Khyenpa as a child – writing letters onto rocks
Moreover, when Dusum Khyenpa was learning how to write when he was small, he was playing around on the south side of the river and he wrote with light, clear letters on a rock face on the north side of the river. So, he was on the south side and wrote letters on the north side. So, there is a very clear letter he wrote there. Also, below that letter, there is also a rock that can be seen by the roadside that can be seen from a footprint from a boot that Dusum Khyenpa was wearing.
In any case, the 1st Karmapa, and the 9th Karmapa were both born in Treho as was the 4th Zhamar, Chenga Chodrag. There were several Zhamarpas and Karmapas who were born there. Not only that, through the time of the 10th Karmapa, Choying Dorje there were many Kagyu lamas and monasteries in Treho. Moreover, a student of the 7th Karmapa , named Jarma Kushri and others spread the Karma Kagyu widely there, both in terms of Dharma and politics.
After, the monasteries were destroyed later by the armies of the Mongolian Gushri Khan and from then on other than the Bengen Monastery, Ridag monastery and Gosa monastery and so on only the ruins are left of the other Kamtsang monasteries. Because of this there are fewer people who took any interest in the events related to the Karma Kamtsang history. Thus, after many centuries, people began to confuse the earlier and later Karmapas and they were unable to distinguish the Karmapas from the Zhamarpas and so I think it is possible they may have mixed all the stories into one as they told them.
It is also possible that the descendants of Dusum Khyenpa’s family might have moved from Ragtag to another place, Bochog. This is possible. But even if they had moved, it is still the same family line, they could still say the Karmapa had been born in their family. So, for this reason, these are points we should continue researching.
The Birthdate of Dusum Khyenpa and 8th Karmapa’s Laughter of the Mind-Ocean Chakra: Treatise on Kalacakra
There seems to be no dispute that Dusum Khyenpa`was born in the Iron-Tiger year of the second cycle of 1110. He was born in the same year as Tashi Pagmo Drugpa, they were the same age. If you wonder what day of the month was, he born on, the other biographies are not clear about that but there is a treatise on astrology related to the Kalachakra by the 8th Karmapa called The Bhagavan Adibuddha: Laughing Smile of the Mind-ocean chakra that transports to the four times, worldly wanderers and non-wanderers (བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས་དང་པོའི་སངས་རྒྱས་འགྲོ་བ་དང་མི་འགྲོ་བའི་འཇིགས་རྟེན་ལ་དུས་བཞི་བགྲོད་ཚུལ་གྱི་འཁོར་ལོ་ཡིད་མཚོར་བཞད་གད་ཀྱི་འགྲེལ་ཆེན།)[4]
So, what this Kalacakra astrology text says is that Dusum Khyenpa was born on the 8th Day of the Asvhan month of the Iron-Tiger year, he passed away at the age of 84 on the 8th Day of the Pushi month of the water-ox year. So, if we take this as a basis it seems that Dusum Khyenpa’s birthday was the 8th day of the 9th Tibetan month of the Iron-Tiger year. So, it was only Mikyo Dorje’ s treatise on Kalachakra astrology that mentions Dusum Khyenpa’s birth and date. It is not found in any other biography of Dusum Khyenpa[5].
Dusum Khyenpa’s name, parents and the paternal and ancestral lineage holder of the Palden Lhamo practice
As for Dusum Khyenpa’s father and mother, his father was called Gonpo Dorje Gon (སྒོམ་པ་རྡོ་རྗེ་མགོན་པོ།) and his mother called Lhacham (Princess) Mingdren (ལྷ་ལྕམ་མིང་འདྲེན།). When he was a child, he was called Gephel (དགེ་འཕེལ།) until he was ordained.
One difference here is found in the Q &A of Tenpa Rabgye the Vajra master of the 13th Karmapa, Dudul Dorje. He gives the name differently saying if you don’t recognise Dongpo Sherab Gonpo he is Dusum Khyenpa’s father, but this is an exception. The stories by Dusum Khyenpa’s direct disciples and other authoritative biographies all say that Gonpo Dorje Gon was Dusum Khyenpa’s father, not Dongpo Sherab Gonpo, who was his paternal grandfather. Dusum Khyenpa’s grandfather and father were both practitioners of the Nyingma Secret Mantra. In particular, they both practised Palden Lhamo Rangjung Gyalmo. So, when he was young, he said he studied the teachings on Palden Lhamo from both his father and grandfather.
Yet, when we list the lineage of the Palden Lhamo practice, only his grandfather is listed not his father. So, when we recite the lineage of Palden Lhamo, we say Achayra Padmasambhava, Phuhaba Dharma Rinchen, Khenpo of Lhato, Tsang, Khyurang Gyalwa Yeshe, and Chang Lachen Gongpo and Dongpo Sherab Gonpo. The last being his grandfather. So, it is probably fine to say the teachings of Palden Lhamo are both the ancestral heritage as well as the paternal family lineage of the Karma Kamtsang.
The childhood of Dusum Khyenpa according to the account in 8th Karmapa’s Supplication to 1st Karmapa (Sang Drubma0
As for the deeds of Dusum Khyenpa from his childhood. most life-stories do not say much about his childhood. The best summary of what little there is said about it is I think the Supplication to Dusum Khyenpa by the 8th Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje `which we normally call colloquially, Sang Drubma.[6] The summary he gives there reads:
“At 8 you summoned a Yaksha.
At 11 you turned back a huge battle.
At 15 you liberated an enemy of the teachings.
I bow to you who tamed the hordes of maras
At 16 you went forth and showed the example of a great monastic.
You sustained a temple of the Buddha’s teachings;
I bow to you who guarded the great wheel of Dharma.”
Palden Lhamo’s prophecy to 1st Karmapa’s father
There is a commentary on the 8th Karmapa’s Supplication to Dusum Khyenpa, written by Karma Khenchen Rinchen Dhargye but this commentary says is that when Dusum Khyenpa was born there are many miraculous signs. It quickly spread among the local people that the son of the tantric master Dorje Gonpo’s nirmanakaya became very well-known. So many people came to him and ask for blessings. At that time, Palden Lhamo made a prophecy to Dusum Khyenpa’s father and said:
“If you are unable to keep people from seeing your son and cannot hide him, then there will be obstacles.”
Because of that, his father told everyone else “my son died, he got sick and died.” and then kept him well-concealed. So, everyone thought it was certain that his son had passed away. They were all convinced that he had died. In any case, Dusum Khyenpa grew very quickly as a child. He was very strong and he was also said to be very tall.
In a liberation story of Dusum Khyenpa composed by his direct disciple, Khenrab Gyatso it says at the age of 6, Dusum Khyenpa was taken on a trading trip to the Northern regions of Kham so he was stayed in Linthau, which is in the present-day Ganze province, which is quite far away. Then at age 8 he was taken to a trading trip to the South and they reached the market at Byang. In any case, as this explains, between the ages of 6 and 8 he travelled on trading expeditions to the north and south. Likewise, there is the supplication by the 8th Karmapa to Dusum Khyenpa , and he wrote an added commentary to that which says:
“At the age of 8, they travelled to Tre and northern regions and became rich.”
Northern regions are probably the present-day areas of Gansu province. So, they did business there and with the trade their family became rich.
So, I wonder whether the reason Dusum Khyenpa was taken on such long trips and such a young age, might be related to the prophecy of Palden Lhamo and his father was hiding him. So, if one took him a long way away, due to previous eras, it was not like these days. There were no telephones or way to communicate over long distances as there was today. So, there would be no way to tell if it was his son or not.
At age 8 summoning a yaksha
Then, the 8th Karmapa said ‘At 8, you tamed a yaksha’, and in his commentary Karma Khenchen Rinchen Dargye wrote that when Dusum Khyenpa was 8 years old there was a local monster yaksha that Dusum Khyenpa actually liberated and then transformed its corpse into a boulder. He said that the boulder that the yaksha had been transformed into could still be seen near Dusum Khyenpa’s birthplace. Likewise, in the area sometimes rain did not fall. In order to summon the rain, they overturned the boulder and pressed it into the earth, he said this was told to him by an old lama, Pema Hani from Trewo. This is an old oral history.
At age 11, turned back a huge battle
The next line of the supplication says, “At 11, you prevented a great battle’. The annotated commentary in Mikyo Dorje’s Collected Works says of this line that he defeated an army that hungered for wealth and meat. So, it seems at the time, an army from another region came to Treho to seize their wealth and meat. And that Dusum Khyenpa stopped it. It is not explained clearly but according to Karma Rinchen Dargye’s commentary, when Dusum Khyenpa was 11 there was a large war in his homeland and the local people asked his father, the tantric master Gonpo Dorje Gon to stop the war. At that time his father said: ‘I am too old and I cannot do wrathful activity. I now have several hundred million recitations and while I am doing that, I cannot do any wrathful activity. So, son, you are skilled in the activity of rituals of the Mamos and Yamas and so you should do the ritual the victory over Yama in battle.”
So, as he was instructed, Dusum Khyenpa did the ritual and pushed back the army and the conflict in the valley naturally subsided. When that happened, the local people said, the tantric master Gonpo’s son must not have died after all because the tantric master would not do the rituals himself, and he must have some great magic powers.
The Mercurial Alchemist – Teacher Lama Vairochanavajra (Berotsana) and Lama Zhang’s life-story
After that, Dusum Khyenpa’s direct disciple Gang Lo Kherab Gyatso’s biography entitled the Hundred Lives of Dusum Khyenpa and one written by his attendant, Bikshu Kumarabodhi, or Gelong Zhulung Changchub in Dusum Khyenpa’s Life-story in 8 Vignettes. Both of these authors are Dusum Khyenpa’s direct disciples. What both these authors say is that at a young age, before he took the Rabjung ordination and received spiritual instructions from Lama Vairochana (Tibetans say: Berotsana) and Indian masters. So here you might wonder who is Lama Berotsana? The great Tibetan historian, Dungkar Rinpoche wrote in a note is his Red Annals that this is not the translator Berotsana who was a contemporary of the Tibetan king Drisong Detsen but instead a lama with a similar name from the Kagyu. I have not yet seen his biography.
It is as Dungar Rinpoche says, Lama Bero mentioned here was not that lama since the spread of the ancient teachings. Nor was he a Tibetan Kagyu lama. He was probably an Indian pandita who travelled around the 11th century to Tibet. His name was Vairocana Vajra or Vairocana Rakshita.
The biographies by Dusum Khyenpa’s direct disciples refer to him as Lama Bero or Lama Berotsana. In Tibet, he was known by another name Ngulchu Bero, or Mercury Bero. the reason he was called that was that when he had travelled to China, the emperor gave him a cup of mercury and that is poisonous, if I explain that it is complicated but it is poisonous. Since he was offered it, he drank it all. He drank the entire cup but it did not harm his life and that is why he is called Mercury Bero. He is very important because the five deity Tara that is one of Dusum Khyenpa’s five sets of five deity practices was transmitted through this Lama Berotsana. So, it is important for us to know something about this Lama Berotsana.
Aside from Dusum Khyenpa, Ngulchu Bero had many well-known disciples including Rinpoche Gyatsa, founder of the Drugpa Kagyu, Lama Zhang the founder of the Tsalpa lineage and the Tibetan yogini Machig Zhama. In particular, there is a biography of Lama Bero written by Lama Zhang which it the most important source for his life-story. When Go Lotsawa Zhonu Pel discusses the life of Lama Bero in the Blue Annals, his primary source is the liberation story by Lama Zhang.
How the statue found by 1st Karmapa’s teacher, Berotsana came to be used in the Jowo statue and 108 tsata stupas in Lhasa
There is a lot to say about Lama Bero’s life-story and when Dusum Khyenpa met Lama Bero but I will not speak about that today. In any case, even these days, near Kadrag and Tresho there is the retreat cabin of Lama Bero. There is an autobiography of the 5th Donkar Drodul Rinpoche in which he writes that near Kadrag and Tresho there is a cave where the great Lochen Berostana stayed in the past when he came to Tresho. When Berotsana was staying in the cave he saw a light shining from the plain in Kadrag. He went to see the place where the light was shining from. When he got there he saw the light was emanating from an old statue of the Buddha Shakyamuni that had been made at the time of the Tibetan King Songsten Gampo’s passing away.
Lochen Berotsana took the statue and built a temple for it there showing a great respect. Later after a fair period of time had passed, a large and early Kagyu monastery called Kadrag Dorje Den was built there. Later, that monastery declined into ruin. Then, after another considerable length of time, pieces of the ‘Kadrag Jowo’ statue that had been found by Lochen Berotsana was offered to make statue of Jowo Shakyamuni and a thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara and images of the protectors and so on with it. So, they built a shrine for the Jowo statue and next to the shrine there were 108 tsatsas, small stupas, each of which had a bead from Berotsana’s mala. This is the oral history as it is presented by Dongkar Rinpoche.
These days it is commonly said that the beads from the mala in the 108 tsatsas next to the Jowo statue are from the Tibetan translator Berotsana. However, it is difficult to find reliable accounts of the Translator Berotsana travelling to Treho. Moreover, the great Tibetan translator Lotsawa Berostsana and 1st Karmapa’s teacher, Lochen Berotsana have exactly the same name. So, I think those two may have been confused for each other. In Tibetan, everyone assumes it means the translator Berotsana and because of this I think people got confused. But I don’t need to say much about that.
At 15, liberated an enemy of the teachings and Palden Lhamo showing him her form
Then in the 8th Karmapa’s supplication he says, at 15 he liberated an enemy of the teachings. The biography by Dusum Khyenpa’s direct disciple Lodro Gyatso describes how at age 13 he accomplished sorcery and defeated some enemies. After he had defeated them, he was so pleased that he hoisted a flag and blew a conch and made a grand offering and offered a thanksgiving to his protectors and he became well-known in Treho for his powers of sorcery. Not only that, the surviving family of the enemies he had killed through magic were terrified and they came to make offerings to the monastics, and they gave a large share and confession to Dusum Khyenpa’s family. And Dusum Khyenpa accepted their confession.
What Karmay Khenpo writes is that when Dusum Khyenpa turned 15, he did the practice in the Lhamo cave in Tresho, and after accomplishing Palden Lhamo, she showed him her face. At that time, there was an enemy rivalling Dusum Khyenpa and his tantric master father.So Dusum Khyenpa cast a spell and then Rangjung Gyalmo went and liberated the enemy and then came back with the enemy’s lungs and heart, which shows that he has great powers of sorcery but other than that it does not say much.
Where is the Lhamo cave in Tre that is mentioned here? It is further up in the valley from his birthplace in Ratag. Gelong Shankara writes of this in the Vajra Splinter travelogue that
“In a mountain father up the valley from Ratag, Dusum Khyenpa practised Palden Lhamo and saw her face, and after he saw her, she disappeared into the rock face leaving a self-arisen image of Palden Lhamo. Including her mule. As it was of her with her mule, when Palden Lhamo was dissolving into the rock with her mule, then Dusum Khyenpa grabbed the tale of the mule and pulled it back. When he did this, the mule’s hind legs remained outside, so there remained a stone relief of the goddesses’ mule. So there a self-arisen image of Palden Lhamo with her mule.”
When the 7th Karmapa, Chodrag Gyatso visited Treho he went to Lhamo cave. One account that is different from any other is in Mikyo Dorje’s annotated commentary and supplication to Dusum Khyenpa . He writes of this line, at 15 he liberated an enemy of the teachings that his wife had been taken by someone else, so he took the victory and the jewels. So what this is saying is that someone else took his betrothed bride, then Dusum Khyenpa cast a spell and was victorious. Not only that, in the 8th Karmapa’s collected songs it says:
“Dusum Khyenpa emanation of the lion’s roar left his wife and resented his father’s family, now I must go forth and remember the faults of my home from the heart.”
So this is saying that Dusum Khyenpa abandoned this wife and home and also that he had a disagreement with his father’s siblings, brothers and sisters. Because of that Dusum Khyenpa felt revulsion for samsara and thought that he must go forth and be ordained.
Another explanation: 1st Karmapa’s betrothal to a wife as a child and his ‘monkey-like’ face
Likewise, Gotson Repa writes that Dusum Khyenpa took a wife at the age of 9, if we look at these then Dusum Khyenpa must have been married off as a child as was the custom in Tibet. When people were married off as children, they were not actually married but were betrothed but were told when the child grows up then you will get married. I think this is what is meant here.
In any case, what this means is he `had a bride of some kind. As it is often said in the oral histories, Dusum Khyenpa had a monkey face, it was not so nice-looking. We know it was like a monkey-face because as Tsurphu Monastery there was a statue of Dusum Khyenpa that was made after his Parinirvana and the sculptor of this statue was one of his direct disciples and this sculpture also has a very monkey-like face.
So, Dusum Khyenpa was probably not very good looking and had an ugly face like a monkey. So, he was probably left by his bride or perhaps she was convinced by someone else to elope with them. In any case, his bride left him and went off with someone else. When she left, he was very depressed and he practised wrathful mantras inciting the Dharma protectors. So that when the enemy went out to do something he fell off from his horse on the road and was dragged off and killed. When Dusum Khyenpa heard this, he was overjoyed and raised a flag and blew a conch and raced on a horse and he said I have been victorious and he made it well known all over Treho.
At 16 becoming a monastic. getting the name Chokyi Dragpa, and staying at Chokhor Kadrag, Buddhist monastery
The 8th Karmapa supplication to Dusum Khyenpa continues:
“At 16, he went forth and showed the example of a great monastic, he sustained a temple of the Buddha’s teachings , I bow to you who guarded the great wheel of Dharma.”
So, Dusum Khyenpa had perfected the power of wrathful mantra at a young age and had killed someone. So, he had great sorcery and powers but he also realised the karmic ripening would be heavy so he also felt great disgust and revulsion for samsara. He asked his father’s permission to leave home.
So at the age of 16 he went to Kadrag Konchog Jungney Monastery in Treho, which was a seat of the Kadam lineage at the time. It was an excellent monastery and there was a lama there named Chokyi Lama of Treho, who had taken ordination, Legpey Sherab a student of Atisha and the founder of the Sangpu Monastery, he was also a student of the Tibetan translator, Ngog Loden Sherab. This lama was the Khenpo and the ritual master and he was ordained by him. The name he was given was the monastic name of Chokyi Dragpa. Thus, from Dusum Khyenpa onwards, there has been a custom of giving the Karmapas the monastic name of Chokyi Dragpa. And I think there must be a particular reason for this because otherwise there would be no need to name them all that.
In the Vajra Splinter Dialogue by Mikyo Dorje’s student Bikshu Shankara, he writes a history of Kadag in verse. It is in verse but I will read it in prose to make it easier to understand. He says that the Kadag monastery was built when the Tibetan emperor had gathered all the monastics in the realm of Tibet at the time to extend from the stupa of the Kachey pillar in China to Mount Shingka in Kashmir and he summoned them all there and built the Dharma Wheel monastery.
Then the Emperor himself cut off the locks of hair and spread them on the ground and had the sangha walk over them showing the sangha such great respect and service. Later because the jewel of the sangha had walked on the locks of his hair, these locks were also considered sacred and placed inside a stupa, which the Chinese emperor was also said to have circumambulated.
So, the Kadrag stupa contained the hair of Tri Ralpa Tsen This is the stupa that was and next to it was a large monastery with a three-storey temple and turquoise roof that had been built by a student of one of Lumey’s disciples. So at the time there was a large sangha and it was there that Dusum Khyenpa took the lay precepts from Choekyi Chogye Lama.
When Gelong Shankara went to Treho, the Kadag monastery was in decline and the statues and scriptures had become old and were scattered about. The monks were also the same as lay householders and did not inspire any faith. The lineage at that time was a Sakya one, so even though Bikshu Shankara only writes a few stanzas on this topic I think it is an important historical source.
In any case the travelogue by Gelong Shankara says that he only takes lay precepts but Dusum Khyenpa’s direct disciple Ganglo, wrote in his biography the Golden Hour the Precious Lives of the Lord of Dharma that at the age of 16 he took the novice vows with Chokyi Chodrag Lama whom he served for two years. At that time, he received the empowerment of Chakrasamvara from Geshe Sharawa and he heard teachings on Acala and the Kadampa tradition. Likewise, in his attendant’s Bikshu Kamarabodhi’s life-story it also describes how he went forth at Chokhor Kadrag and stayed at a place there for 2 years.
So, when we look at these two biographies by his two direct disciples, they both agree that Dusum Khyenpa went forth at Kadrag, so that we can know that. Not only that, he served this monastery of Chokhor Kadrag very well and he established a monastic sangha. It also says in the annotated commentary on his supplication that he established a monastic sangha at Chodrag. So, this is very similar to what is said by his attendants. So not only did Dusum Khyenpa go forth at Kadrag but he also established a large monastic sangha there, he was from an important family, and had engaged in commerce while young and had become rich. Because of that and in that way offered service to Kadrag monastery he had a great influence in increasing the size of the sangha.
Being Crowned with the Black Hat by Chakrasamvara and wisdom beings
In any case, when he was being ordained at Kadrag according to some biographies, such as the Feast for Scholars, when his head was shaved during the ordination it is said that Chakrasamvara and the wisdom deities came from the sky and placed a black hat on his head and prophesised he would be the embodiment of all the activities of all the Buddhas and gave him the name of Karmapa. This was a pure vision and it is reported that both of the masters there saw it. This is why he would later wear a black hat. This is what is said in the Feast for Scholars and some other biographies. But I do not think it is said so clearly like that in the biographies by Dusum Khyenpa’s direct disciples.
1st Karmapa’s teacher, Yol Chowang, a direct disciple of Jowo Atisha
In any case, Dusum Khyenpa spent two years at Kadrag, and during that time he spent it serving Khenpo Chokyi Lama and also studied the Kadampa teachings of Atisha’s tradition. Not only that, as I mentioned before, in central Tibet there were the three direct disciples of Atisha named Rango Gyage, Go Lotsawa and Yul Chowang. Among them Yol Chowang’s direct disciple was Geshe Trarawa and he also had an elder brother called Dorje, so it was from Dorje that Dusum Khyenpa studied the Kadampa teachings.
In Pawo Tsulgag Trengwa’s Feast For Scholars and in Kunkhyen Khenpo Kampa’s biographies they say that Dusum Khyenpa studied Dharma directly from Yol Chowang, but the biographies from Dusum Khyenpa’s direct disciples only mention him studying with studying at Treho, they do not mention him studying with Yol Chowang himself.
Likewise, Dusum Khyenpa spoke a bit with his students about the past and future lives of his lamas. When he spoke about these, he only spoke about Geshe Trawara’s past and future lives but not about Yol Chowang’s. It is also generally accepted that Yol Chowang was around 50 years old when Atisha came to central Tibet. This is generally accepted. So, if Dusum Khyenpa had met him during his lifetime, then Yol Chowang would have to be at least 95 years old at the time. So, I think it would have been difficult to meet him.
Atisha’s transmission of Avalokiteshvara to Yol Chowang
In any case, he did receive from Geshe Trawara many Dharma teachings that would have been transmitted by Yol Chowang. This topic is described most clearly in the history of the Kadampas by Gyalwa Gendun Drubpa’s student, Serten Lekjey Kunga Gyeltsan. What it says is that: “the practice of Hayagriva and the four Shramenas was requested by Nagcho Lotsawa and the monk King Yeshe O, but Atisha would not give it to them. But he did say to Yol Chowang: “The deity Avalokiteshvara is the deity of great compassion and you have compassion, so I will give it to you.” And so he gave that practice to Yol.
So it was because of Yol that the many instructions of Atisha’s tradition of Avalokiteshvara were spread widely and passed down to the glorious Tsurpupa, Dusum Khyenpa, who received them from Geshe Trawara and from his brother. It was not just Hayagriva and the four Shramas it was also the Chakrasamvara empowerment of Atisha’s tradition, many secret mantra sadhanas and instructions on Acala. Likewise, there is also the four-mandala from Yol’s tradition that was also given to Dusum Khyenpa .
The transmission of five-deity Tara from Yol Chowang to 1st Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa and the unique four-mandala offering to Tara
Among Dusum Khyenpa’s five sets of five deities is the Hayagriva and Four Shranas. Many of Atisha’s instructions came from Yol’s transmission into Karmapa’s lineage, as Lechen Kunga Gyaltsen says. Accordingly the Hayagriva and four Shramas teachings included five sets of five deities came from Yol Chowang. In particular, the four mandala Tara was passed down from him. This practice probably does not exist in any other tradition other than the Karma Kamtsang.
The reason is that Khatog Rigdzin Tsewang Norbu writes of this in his Wish-fulfilling Tree: Ritual for Supplicating and offering the four-mandalas to Noble Tara: “Generally, some say there are rituals for requesting one’s desires to Tara, in the lineages of Padmasambhava, Dampa Kargyawa and but I have not clearly seen one and independent four mandala ritual of their lineages.” The one that we know now was transmitted from Atisha. There are three different transmissions of this ritual from Atisha. One is in the Sakya Sri tradition, one is in the Narthang tradition, and one in the Kamtsang tradition, which was written by Je Khacho Wangpo. This was passed down from Atisha’s lineage but it is radically different from the other rituals. Basically, Khatog Rigdzin is saying that it is completely different than the others and not similar to them at all.
So it seems that when Khatog Rigdzin says that some say there are rituals in the lineages of Padmasambhava, Dampa Kargyawa and Shakya Sri, that word some refers to the 2nd Sharmapa, Kache Wangpo. The reason is because Khacho Wangpo’s Giver of All Desires of the mandala of Bhagavati clearly says this. However, Khatog Rigdzin says that he has not seen an independent form of the ritual in other lineages. However, in Drolpu Sangye’s instructions, I’ve seen instructions on praising and accomplishing Tara by Sakya Sri. So I think this must be the ritual and supplication of Tara in Sakya Sri’s tradition.
So you might wonder what makes the four-mandala Tara of the Kamtsang tradition special? There are two different reasons: the first is the structure of the ritual is different. The second is the lineage of the ritual is different. The self-visualisation in the Kamtsang tradition is of red Avalokiteshvara, the front visualisation you first visualise White Tara, then red Tara, then Green Tara in succession and you offer the mandala and so on to each of them. In the end, you visualise all the Taras together and make offerings and so on.
There are also short, medium and long prostrations, mandalas and recitations of the essence mantra. There are also different numbers of repetitions of the 21 homages. It is not necessarily as the 2, 3 and 7 times as in the Narthang tradition where you take the line that says repeat it twice, thrice and 7 times. Instead, in the Kamtsang tradition it is not necessary that you recite it in those numbers. The reason why the lineage is different is that the colophon from Kache Wangpo’s ritual says:
‘This ritual of offering to and supplicating the Bhagavati was passed down from Tara herself to Atisha and then Yol Chowang, who then passed it to Dusum Khyenpa, to Gyal Powa Lungpa to Gyana Siddha, Siddha Kirti and Lodro Topa.” So if we take this as the basis then it would seem that Dusum Khyenpa received it directly from Yol Chowang. In any case the Kamtsang tradition of the five-deity Tara was passed down from Atisha to Yol Chowang and then eventually to Dusum Khyenpa.
The bext known Tara ritual is the one from the Nartang tradition, which is found in the Hundred Narthang rituals. Now when we look at the lineage of the Hundred Narthang rituals it was passed down from Atisha to Gonpowa to Kamawa. Kamawa here means Geshe Kamawa, not the Karmapa. Some people might think that Karmawa was the Karmapa, but they are not. Ao in that way there is a difference between the Narthang and the Kamtsang tradition.
Conclusion – preserving our own unique spiritual heritage
However, in the Karma Kagyu these days, it is rare to find people who know that we have our own special four mandala practice of Tara and that we have our own tradition of pith instructions that has its own distinct wonderful features. People generally only know the profound essence of Tara or the subject Tara and if those who know there is a Karma Kamtsang practice of four-mandala Tara are rarer than stars in the daytime the people who actually recite it are like turtle fur or a rabbit horns. That is what it is like. In any case, we have our own special instructions of our own particular lineage. We have a treasure that we need to cherish and preserve. If we can do so, then only then can we dare show our faces to the lineage masters of the past and dare say that we are upholding the lineage. If instead we ignore our own particular transmissions, and we do not care of our own treasure and instead only practice other traditions then of course that is fine. But first we must take care of our own inheritance to preserve your own inheritance first before you go looking elsewhere for jewels is the way of the wise.
So in that way, it is important for us all to know how important it was for Tibetan Buddhism and within the Dagpo Kagyu, especially for the Karma Kamtsang lineage. Once we understand this the most important thing to know, if we take their examples of the past, is how to take their examples and spiritual instructions really knowing their life-story does not help. We need to take their life stories as spiritual instructions to follow ourselves. And we need to so as much as we can to become like them ourselves. If we can apply some diligence to this then only then will knowing the lama’s life story be meaningful. Otherwise there will not be much difference between knowing the lama’s life stories and stories about ordinary worldly people.
Endnotes
[1] The D(w)ags-lha-sgam-po seat, also known as ’Dzam-gling grags-pa, was established in 1121 C.E. by Sgam-po-pa. The control of the Sgam-po seat was in the hands of the founding patriarch’s paternal clan, the Rnyi-ba, a rule and management characterized by a traditional “uncle-nephew” (khu dbon) arrangement. The place is located in the D(w)ags-po region, southeast of Lha-sa.
From here, bla ma Lha-rje sends him off to practice at several “power places” in Tibet. Later on, Düsum Khyenpa contributed to the seat by sending considerable gifts, such as copies of the Prajñāpāramitā in One Hundred Thousand Verses, and more. The place was destroyed during the Dzungarian invasian of 1717.192 It was restored later on, but again destroyed in the 1960s. A new structure was built in the late 1980s. (Kersten, 2018: 59).
[2] For more on 8th Karmapa and Kālacākra, see: https://dakinitranslations.com/kalacakra-as-the-ultimate-pinnacle-of-all-the-tantras-jetsun-taranatha-and-8th-karmapa-mikyo-dorje/
[3] In his Treasury of Lives biography, it says: “In China, reached via Tibet, Vairocanavajra drank a full cup of mercury in the presence of the royal court. South Indian alchemists had long been famous in China for their mercurial long-life elixirs. This made them especially popular with the emperors, who wished above everything else to lengthen their reigns. Mercury is of course a poison, certainly in such a large dose, but alchemists had methods of ‘fixing’ mercury and in any case Vairocanavajra lived on. His skill in alchemy proved a mixed blessing, since one Chinese king kept him imprisoned in his court. Sometimes Tibetan sources call him ‘Quicksilver Vairocana’ in memory of his alchemical abilities. Among Tibetans it was rumored that he was six hundred years old.”
[4] In Collected Works of the Eighth Karmapa, vol. 16, pp. 366–806, 220 fols.
[5] Kersten (2018) does not give any reference to this source text on the 1st Karmapa’s birthdate and states that there is no source that provides a date.
[6] 8th Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje (Karma pa 08 mi bskyod rdo rje). Je Dusum Khyenpa la Solwa Tabpa (rJe dus gsum mkhyen pa la gsol ba btab pa). Collected Works (gSung ʼbum mi bskyod rdo rje) vol. 3, 2004, pp. 191–96. Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC).
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