“THE EYES OF TĀRĀ” BY JONANG AND RIMEY MASTER, NGAWANG LODRO DRAGPA: Dedicated to Karma Dendup and those with deteriorating sight

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.”–Helen Keller

“Good looks outshine good figures, Beautiful eyes outshine good looks, The beauty of soul outshines beautiful eyes.” —Naxi people proverb

I am on the road solo travelling again to sacred, inspiring sites (more on that soon!), but wanted to re-publish and offer this short practice text, The Eyes of Tārā (སྒྲོལ་མའི་མིག་གི་འཁོར་ལོའི་ཐབས།)from the Jonang tradition, composed by a twentieth-century Jonang and Rimey master, Khenpo Ngawang Lodro Dragpa, (Ngag-dbang-blo-gros-grags-pa) (1920-1975).  

I have been following with sadness the public struggle of Karma Dendup, a Bhutanese TV producer and founder of Jangsem Monday (encoouraging vegetarianism in Bhutan), whom I interviewed last year, see here.  Dendup has been sharing on his social media his struggle with going blind, and it has been a moving one, so this post was inspired by his situation and an offering for anyone facing a similar situation.

The Tārā sadhana is called The Eyes of Tārā (Drol mai mig gi khor lo’i thab (sgrol ma’i mig gi ‘khor lo’i thabs) a concise yet powerful homage to the ultimate primordial awareness eyes of Tārā. Also recommended by the author to be of benefit for the conventionally existent physical eyes too.  The diagram of her eyes and visualisation are taken from the text itself. I first translated it in 2018, and this second edition is now available here below, or as a pdf file: Eyes of Tara.

Below is a little information about the author and the text itself. Dedicated to all those losing their sight and vision (and wisdom!). Sadly millions of people are unable to see properly (and going blind) due being unable to afford medical treatment and care.  However, as Helen Keller (who was famously deaf, and blind said in the quote above:  “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.”

Music? Green Tārā mantra (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB19Fwijoj8) and “Bright Eyes” by Art and Garfunkel.

Ngawang Lodro Dragpa (1920-1975): working night and day for the Dharma and beings

In terms of the author, Ngawang Lodro Dragpa, he spent a significant part of his life at one of the main monasteries in Dzamthang, Tsangwa monastery. For more information on Lodro Dragpa’s life, see the Treasury of Lives, which says:

”When he was thirteen years old, Lodro Drakpa took the monastic vows and precepts from Ngawang Monlam Zangpo (ngag dbang smon lam bzang po) and was given the name Ngawang Lodro Drakpa. He was then instructed in the three practices of isolation according to the Kālacakra system by Dzamno Dorje before progressing onto the profound path of the completion stage practices. As is typical at this point, he was guided through Tāranātha’s instruction manual on the completion stage six-fold vajra-yoga (rdo rje rnal ‘byor yan lag drug) titled, Meaningful to Behold along with its supplemental volume, which he practiced in retreat for three years.It is said that his yogic experiences deeply enriched his interior life and at the age of fifteen, after receiving a host of tantric empowerments (dbang skur) on various meditation deities, he began to have visions where he would actually encounter these deities, and then spontaneously compose songs of realization to them. At this stage of his life, he was described as being like a vase that was seeking to be filled to the brim with the practical instructions of the magnificent secret Vajrayāna, and who was continually requesting esoteric transmissions, empowerments, and instructions.”Then, during the latter part of his life:

”In fact, Khenpo Lodrak wrote on a wide variety of subjects during the latter period of his life. Many of these works were composed in his room at Tsangwa Monastery where he would often dictate his thoughts to his close disciple Yonten Zangpo (yon tan bzang po, 1928-2002) who would then transcribe his words verbatim on to a long black sketch slate. Once the slate was full with words, Yonten Zangpo would write them in cursive script on leaves of paper. Worksworth mentioning here include his Great Exposition on Zhentong, History of the Jonang Tradition, Presentation of Inner and Outer Philosophical Systems, Condensation of Topics on Epistemology, Guidance Manual on Practicing the Connate Kālacakra Deity, Biographies of the Successive Lives of Dolpopa, A Biography of Padmasambhava, and several works on tantric zhentong.

It is repeated by many who were around him during this period of his life that Khenpo Lodrak would meditate and write throughout the day and night with an incomparable tenacity. Then, during the Cultural Revolution, he was imprisoned for two years. After being released under the condition that he would not stay at the monastery in Dzamtang or wear monk’s robes, Khenpo Lodrak took up residence in a small house about twenty minutes away from Tsangwa Monastery, below the Darnga Hermitage where he was introduced to the Kālacakra as a boy.”Interestingly, one of his teachers was a woman, Kunzang Chokyi Dolma, known also as Shukchung Khandroma (shug chung mkha’ ‘gro ma), indicating a connection to Shukchung Monastery (shug chung dgon pa). What little is known about her life comes from the History of the Jonang Tradition (jo nang chos ‘byung zla ba’i sgron me) by Lodro Dragpa.

The Eyes of Tāra text

In the first English translation of his text, the Tibetan script and phonetics are also included. It is a short Tārā sadhana called The Eyes of Tārā (Drol mai mig gi khor lo’i thab (sgrol ma’i mig gi ‘khor lo’i thabs) a concise yet powerful homage to the ultimate primordial awareness eyes of Tārā. Also recommended by the author to be of benefit for the conventionally existent physical eyes too.  The practice involves visualising Green Tārā and a green TAM syllable, and Tārā’s eyes of awareness in front of you and repearing a special mantra while the light from her ‘third eye’ of awareness enters into one’s own eyes.

This short sadhana was written down by Jonang lama, Khenpo Ngawang Yonten Zangpo (1928-2002). There are three extant editions of it available. First,  an edition published by the Jonang Well-Being Association (2010) (Zhel don chog drig (gnas mchog rdo rje gdan jo nang smon lam chen mo’i skabs kyi zhal ‘don phyogs bsgrigs rdzogs ldan chos kyi sgra dbyangs).  I also checked this against two other editions, and the more accurate edition is from the Dzamthang block print edition. The edition I have used for this translation is from the Dzamthang Samdrub Norbu Ling block print of Lodro Dragpa’s Collected Works (‘Dzam thang ba blo gros grags pa’i gsung ‘bum).