Following in Your Footsteps, Volume II: The Lotus-Born Guru in India

By Guru Rinpoche, Padmasambhava

Following in Your Footsteps: The Lotus-Born Guru in India presents the incredible feats of Guru Padmasambhava in the Indian subcontinent. This tantric embodiment of awakening spent hundreds of years training with the greatest masters of India, practicing in charnel grounds, protecting the Dharma, and spreading these marvelous teachings far and wide.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rangjung Yeshe Publications
• Release date: Jul 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9781732871748

Guru Rinpoche, Padmasambhava

GURU PADMASAMBHAVA was miraculously born within a blossoming lotus flower on the shore of Lake Dhanakosha in the northwest of Uddiyana. Known as Padmasambhava, the Lotus-Born, he grew to adulthood in the kingdom of Uddiyana and travelled extensively thereafter through ancient India, in search of realized masters of sutra and tantra with whom to study the Dharma. The Lotus-Born Guru then travelled to Nepal, where he engaged in rigorous practices and extraordinary displays of compassion. Finally, he reached Tibet at the invitation of the renowned Dharma King Trisong Detsen, taking teachings with him that would inspire and transform, and that continue to do so to this day.

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FOLLOWING IN YOUR FOOTSTEPS

The Lotus-Born Guru in India

VOLUME II

LHASEY LOTSAWA

An imprint of Rangjung Yeshe Publications

Boudha, Kathmandu, Nepal

lhaseylotsawa.org

© 2021 Lhasey Lotsawa Translations and Publications

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

First Edition

Printed in the United States of America

Distributed to the book trade by: Ingram Book Distributors

Title: Following in Your Footsteps: The Lotus-Born Guru in India.

Foreword by Neten Chokling Rinpoché.

Description: First edition. | Kathmandu: 2021

ISBN: 978-1-7328717-4-8 (eBook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019913567

BISAC: RELIGION / Buddhism / Sacred Writings. |

RELIGION / Buddhism / History. | RELIGION / Buddhism / Tibetan.

FOLLOWING IN YOUR FOOTSTEPS

The Lotus-Born Guru in India

VOLUME II

The Spoken Words of

Guru Padmasambhava and Khandro Yeshé Tsogyal

As Revealed by

Nyangral Nyima Özer, Orgyen Lingpa, Taksham Nüden Dorjé, Tulku Zangpo Drakpa, Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa, Dudjom Lingpa, and Trinlé Drodül Lerap Dewa Tsal

Supported by the Writings and Teachings of

Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo, Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thayé, Jamyang Khyentsé Chökyi Lodrö, Kyapjé Dudjom Rinpoché, Kyapjé Chatral Rinpoché, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoché, and Lopön Sempa Dorjé

Introduced by

Neten Chokling Rinpoché and Phakchok Rinpoché

Compiled and Narrated by

Lhasey Lotsawa

LHASEY LOTSAWA TRANSLATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS KATHMANDU, NEPAL 2021

CONTENTS

Foreword

Aspiration

Introduction

Our Mission

How to Use This Book

Our Approach and Sources

Acknowledgements

PART ONE: ENTERING THE SACRED LANDSCAPE

A Beautiful and Wondrous Udumbara Garland

Greater India and the Blessings of Sacred Places

The Mahaguru in India

PART TWO: THE LOTUS-BORN GURU IN INDIA

Prologue

His Birth and Youth

Dhanakosha

Uddiyana

Entrance into the Dharma

Varanasi

Kukkutapada

Gaining Accomplishment in the Charnel Grounds

Mount Malaya

Sitavana

Kula Dzokpa

Dechen Dalwa

Lhundrup Tsek

Lanka Tsek

Pema Tsek

Jikten Tsek

Sangchen Rolpa

Deepening His Spiritual Practice

Zahor

Haha Göpa

Establishing the Dharma in India

Kusumapura

Vedali

Nalanda

Guarding the Dharma in India

Tamradvipa

Vajra Seat

The Lotus-Born Guru’s Journey in India

PART THREE: INVOKING THE LOTUS-BORN GURU

The Path of an Authentic Pilgrim

The Seven-Line Prayer

A Concise Guru Yoga

Sampa Nyur Drupma

Brief Sampa Lhundrupma

Brief Barché Lamsel

The Prayer That is the Source of All True Realization

The Prayer in Six Vajra-Lines

The Prayer to Guru Rinpoché for Attainments

The Aspiration of the Vajradhatu Mandala

The Mahaguru Aspiration

Light Offering Prayer

Zangdok Palri Mönlam

Endnotes

Bibliography

FOREWORD

By Neten Chokling Rinpoché

I have travelled to many different places in the last many years, but whenever I return to India, I feel different. I feel happier, but happier is not the exact description. I feel special. Happier, yes of course, but this happiness is accompanied by a stirring feeling that comes from a deep place. It is a sensation which is not just an emotion—this one has a different quality.

This special feeling that comes from a deep place always manifests when I come back to India, Nepal, or Bhutan. I have reflected on why it happens, for it occurs to me that I am not alone, and in fact some of my friends have had similar experiences. I have wondered why it should be like this, because there are many other places in the world that have more breathtaking landscapes and higher standards of living and infrastructure. Their transportation systems, public services, and public facilities are far more efficient than in India. The wealth of these other countries is outwardly visible, whereas places like India, Nepal, and even Bhutan are by contrast just tiny specks in a wide-open starry night, easy to lose in the vastness of the night sky.

In comparison with these worldly, sophisticated places, India is a difficult place to be. Litter can be seen almost everywhere, over-crowdedness is a common sight, and blaring sounds can go off in any direction at any time of day. Yet still, there is the feeling of calm and freedom within this chaos. Why do our normal, worldly common sense and judgment not make sense here? Why do we love to come back to this chaos?

Worldly common sense does not work here because this feeling is beyond the earthly domain. This feeling arises because of the spiritual nature of the country. India does not just possess a spiritual nature; she is also the land where our precious teacher Buddha Shakyamuni lived. The Buddha blessed all the places he visited during his lifetime, including Bodh Gaya, Varanasi, and so forth. He also taught many fortunate disciples in these places, and these were not just ordinary disciples—these were great mahasiddhas, great practitioners, great scholars, and a great many noble beings who infused the land with their presence. Their energy, their aspirations, their teachings, and their blessings are still very much alive in these places, which in fact still pulsate with great splendor. This is the sole reason that we feel happy coming back to India. This is the reason that worldly common sense does not apply, because energized blessings left by the great noble beings of the past will always surpass anything worldly.

The appearance of the Buddha and his direct disciples Ananda, Shariputra, Maudgalyayana, and others, and the later appearance of great masters and noble beings like Nagarjuna, Chandrakirti, and many other brilliant panditas and mahasiddhas, all of whom are followers of our precious Buddha and his spiritual heirs, has meant that the land itself has become naturally soaked with their special qualities. This is how the land of India has become blessed.

Among these supreme noble beings and spiritual heirs of the Buddha is Padmasambhava—or Guru Rinpoché, the Precious Guru, as he is lovingly called by Tibetans—the most special among them all. He was prophesied by the Buddha himself, who told his disciples that they should not worry about the future because someone far better than himself was going to come. So not only did the Buddha predict Guru Rinpoché, but Guru Rinpoché actually came and lived his life in the land of India. His appearance in the world and especially in India and the surrounding lands was an amazing event, beyond words to express. And even more wondrously amazing is the fact that we now have the opportunity to become enlightened in a single lifetime, all because of Guru Rinpoché. Without Guru Rinpoché, all the precious Vajrayana teachings—especially the Dzogchen teachings—might not exist in this world right now. He lived and traveled widely in India and the surrounding lands for more than a thousand years before moving on to Tibet. His blessings diffused into the lands that he travelled through, pervading them to this day, making them special lands for Vajrayana Buddhists.

To make a long story short, Guru Rinpoché came to India and lived in and around India for more than a thousand years. He gave teachings, blessed and energized the lands that he visited, and helped sentient beings in various ways. There are stories of him bringing water to areas of drought and famine. Likewise, in areas of excess water, where floods were causing immense suffering for the inhabitants, he would control the situation by burying the swollen, turbulent rivers underground. We have seen and witnessed how the elements, if uncontrolled, can lead to raging wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and violent earthquakes. Guru Rinpoché performed many miracles to stop these untamed elements from manifesting, which would otherwise have brought great misery onto the people. He is the most powerful, the most glorious, and the most compassionate because he chose to manifest during the present degenerate time, where the sufferings of the five poisons are being displayed at their strongest among us sentient beings.

Degenerate times occur naturally due to sentient beings’ karma, but Guru Rinpoché said that he could hold back the degenerate times if people would place their trust in him and follow in his footsteps. But unfortunately, far from the idea of all sentient beings following in his footsteps, even Buddhists are following him in smaller numbers nowadays, even within the Vajrayana tradition. Simply put, there are people who do not appreciate Guru Rinpoché’s work and his kindness.

Those who are following the spiritual path of our precious teacher the Buddha, especially those on the Vajrayana path, should go and practice in the sacred places mentioned here. These are places consecrated by the presence, aspirations, and blessings of the noble beings of the past, especially Guru Rinpoché, who transformed ordinary lands into potent and powerful places of blessing through which the practitioner’s own spiritual path can progress swiftly.

Sacred places do not matter when you have already achieved an absolute understanding of emptiness. At that point, wherever you are, places appear as pure lands and pure places. For beginners like us, we need to go to these consecrated places so that the land gives us its blessing and our spiritual path can progress without obstacles. If you have some time, please make efforts to stay and practice in these blessed lands. You will definitely receive the blessings, but blessings and experiences may vary from one person to another, according to individual karma and connections from the past.

Some people experience the blessings more strongly and much faster, and others need more time to feel the potency, while yet others due to their karma and lack of merit are not fortunate enough to see these sacred lands as powerful and beneficial to their practice. One might feel and see these consecrated places as neither pleasant nor appealing and simply depart, looking for a more enchanting place.

There are many accounts of devout people and great masters who, after visiting these sacred places, are left with a totally different experience. There are stories of how, on visits to such places, certain precious masters see and experience them in direct contrast with others in their entourage. There are incidences where fortunate pilgrims have seen mahasiddas of the past in the very spot they have come to for pilgrimage. Some have even seen Guru Rinpoché face-to-face or among the crowds at these pilgrimage sites. These are all individual experiences, your own; and how much you can see and feel is due to the merit you have accumulated in the past and in this current life. Even if you do not feel connected to a place right away, do not feel discouraged and do not give up. You need to spend some time there, do more practice, and you will slowly feel the connection. This is what many of my friends have experienced, as well as myself.

As mentioned earlier, many of these sacred sites are located in not-so-pleasant areas, where circumstances are difficult. As a beginner on the path, when you first arrive there, you might feel disappointed and discouraged. But if you persist and endure the disagreeable environment and carry on with your practice and prayers, then it will pay off. Due to the blessings of the sacred land and your own diligence and trust in the Three Jewels and Guru Rinpoché, you will come to a point where you do not want to leave; in fact you will find yourself making fervent prayers to be able to stay longer! These words here are not just made-up stories to trick you falsely but are based on my own experiences.

There are many holy places connected to Guru Rinpoché—through his travels, where he practiced, where he taught—but unfortunately, we know of only a few such places in India. This is for many different reasons. India was occupied as a colony for many years, and prior to that the land was ruled by different religious faiths. As a result, the Buddhist spiritual history of the land, especially the tradition of Guru Rinpoché, became shrouded in the haze of these changes. As Buddhists, we are grateful to Xuanzang, who through his seventh century travel journals and notes gave us a glimpse into the past glory of India’s rich Buddhist history. Thanks to the work of this Chinese Buddhist scholar-monk, we have been able to locate many of the places connected to the Buddha.

Fortunately, after verifying and confirming with our own terma texts and oral teachings, we know that the places sacred to the Buddha are also the same sacred lands that Guru Rinpoché visited. It is tragic that we do not know of all the sacred lands of Guru Rinpoché, but we are fortunate that at least the sacred lands that we do have are completely authentic. They are, without a shadow of doubt, the very same lands where he appeared and made his presence known through his practice, accomplishments, teachings, and attention to the welfare of beings.

We are very fortunate that Phakchok Rinpoché is compiling this book on Guru Rinpoché’s holy lands, so that we as pilgrims and Dharma practitioners can travel to these places. This book will be a guide to those who have the wish to follow in the footsteps of Guru Rinpoché.

Neten Chokling Rinpoché

Chötrül Düchen 2021

When you recount my life story,

you will be filled with inspiration.༔

When you see my qualities and understanding,

deep faith will be born within you.༔

When that faith becomes unshakeable conviction,

then my blessing will enter and transform you.༔

When your mind is free of all doubts,

whatever you wish for can be achieved.༔

Guru Padmasambhava’s advice to Khandro Yeshé Tsogyal

upon leaving Tibet, from the Le’u Dünma,

The Prayer in Seven Chapters,

revealed by Tulku Zangpo Drakpa.

THE LOOKS LIKE ME IMAGE OF GURU PADMASAMBHAVA

During Guru Rinpoché’s stay at Samyé monastery, skilled artisans sculpted a beautiful statue of his likeness. When the statue was formally presented, he responded, It looks like me, and then blessed it, saying, Now it is the same as me! Thus it was named Guru Ngadrama, the ‘Looks Like Me Guru.’ The statue itself was destroyed in the twentieth century. The famous black and white photograph still captures its presence.

ASPIRATION

From the great Samantabhadra Vajradhara

Down until our kind root guru,

May the aspirations made for the benefit of beings,

Be fulfilled this very day.

In memory of my father, Pema Lodrö Gyaltsen,

Khenchen Jampal Dewé Nyima,

who first introduced me to Guru Rinpoché.

INTRODUCTION

Beyond his identity as a historical figure, Padmasambhava is treasured as the very personification and embodiment of the Vajrayana, the vehicle of tantric Buddhism. To this day, Guru Rinpoché is invoked as the single, unique embodiment of the compassion and blessings of all buddhas of the past, present, and future. Our teachers tell us that, as practitioners of Vajrayana, we need look nowhere else than to Guru Padmasambhava; in coming to know the Mah-aguru, we come to know our precious nature.¹ One essential way to know the Mahaguru is to become acquainted with his life story, and so we are honored to present Following in Your Footsteps: The Lotus-Born Guru in India, the second of three books celebrating the sacred sites of Padmasambhava in our world. The Following in Your Footseps series traces the full arc of the Lotus-Born Guru’s journey across India, Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet. It remains our sincere aspiration that this presentation of the places where his activity unfolded will be at once a guide and a narrative that follows in his footsteps.

In our world, on the shore of Lake Dhanakosha in the northwest of Uddiyana, the Mahaguru miraculously took birth within a blossoming lotus flower. Known as Padmasambhava, the Lotus-Born, he grew to adulthood and travelled throughout ancient India to meet and study the Dharma with realized masters of sutra and tantra. From there, Guru Rinpoché travelled to Nepal, where he engaged in rigorous practices and extraordinary displays of compassion. Finally, the Mahaguru made his way to Tibet at the invitation of the renowned Dharma King, Trisong Detsen, taking teachings with him that would inspire and transform practitioners of the Dharma. These profound teachings from India are still upheld to this day, due entirely to the kindness of Guru Padmasambhava, who traveled the length and breadth of the world, teaching and practicing, suffusing every land he touched with his blessings, and taming forces hostile to the Buddhadharma wherever he went.

As we did in our first volume, we remember Khandro Yeshé Tsogyal’s cry of grief as her precious teacher, Guru Padmasambhava, was on the point of leaving Tibet. With these jewel-like words, Guru Rinpoché consoled his closest disciple:

When you recount my life-story,

you will be filled with inspiration.༔

When you see my qualities and understanding,

deep faith will be born within you.༔

When that faith becomes unshakeable conviction,

then my blessing will enter and transform you.༔

When your mind is free of all doubts,

whatever you wish for can be achieved.༔²

— Revealed by Tulku Zangpo Drakpa

The editors of this, the second volume of the series, continue to take Kyapjé Domang Yangthang Rinpoché’s (1930–2016) words of advice to heart: "Primarily follow the Pema Kathang, The Chronicles of Padma, and use it as your guiding reference." We have followed the incredible tales of Guru Padmasambhava’s life and liberation in ancient India, through to the principal places where his activity unfolded, and we have learned that his influence was vaster than we could ever have imagined. Our deep wish is that through this journey we may all have the good fortune of experiencing Guru Rinpoché’s blessings. May they saturate our body, our speech, and our mind—and so, may we never be apart from the Mahaguru!³

Lhasey Lotsawa

Chötrül Düchen 2021

OUR MISSION

We started our research with a simple purpose in mind: to connect today’s practitioners with the extraordinary life and accomplishments of Guru Padmasambhava. From this, there grew an interest in the actual places where the Mahaguru practiced and a wish to make them more widely known, not only to newcomers but also to long-term practitioners. With this series of books, we begin to fulfill this goal. In recognizing and bringing to life the great holy places of Guru Padmasambhava, we can offer all practitioners the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of past masters and bring their blessings onto the path.

In this, the second book of the series, we present Guru Rinpoché’s life and deeds as they occurred across the vast subcontinent of ancient India. Greater India marks the sacred birthplace of the Mahaguru, and is where Padmasamb-hava spent hundreds of years training with the greatest masters of the day, practicing in charnel grounds, protecting the Dharma, and spreading these marvelous teachings far and wide. Having thus fully immersed himself in Buddhism’s ancient wisdom tradition, Guru Padmasambhava became the very embodiment of the Dharma. In his immeasurable kindness—his own relentless training and his efforts in India, and his subsequent establishment of the Dharma in Tibet—Guru Padmasambhava gave us the many priceless teachings that are still practiced today and are readily available to us all. It is our aspiration that this guide will connect you with Guru Padmasambhava and serve as a catalyst for your own spiritual journey.

As a companion to this book series, you are welcome to visit our website, www.nekhor.org. At Nekhor, which means pilgrimage in Tibetan (literally circling the sacred), we continue to expand our selection of resources to aid your exploration of the Mahaguru’s sacred sites. As part of the larger effort of Lhasey Lotsawa to present authentic, practice-related literature from the Tibetan tradition, we have also translated a variety of traditional prayers and compositions that honor Guru Padmasambhava and his activities, and have made these freely available online. Furthermore, our Nekhor mobile app is available in both the Apple and Google app stores. This app is intended to offer quick, convenient access to our online resources, provide you with practical travel information, and much more. If you are interested in on-the-ground guidance to these sites, our team welcomes the opportunity to connect with you as you consider embarking on your own pilgrimage.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

While our Nepal volume provided an extensive introduction to Guru Padmasambhava’s life, and to pilgrimage in the Buddhist tradition in general, here we aim to extend the reader’s appreciation of the Mahaguru’s influence. Thus, the first part of this book, Entering the Sacred Landscape, begins with A Beautiful and Wondrous Udumbara Garland, a concise biography of the Mahaguru by one of the greatest masters of the nineteenth century, Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo. This is followed by a teaching on the significance of India and its sacred sites by Phakchok Rinpoché. We then provide a general introduction to India. Whether you are at home or on pilgrimage, we hope that these will provide you with inspiration as you embark on this journey. If you would like to explore Guru Rinpoché’s life more deeply, we encourage you to read the translations mentioned in our cited sources.

In the main part of the book, The Lotus-Born Guru in India, you will find the stories behind each of the sacred sites connected with the Mahaguru in India. By telling Guru Padmasambhava’s life story through the places he visited, still vibrant with his blessings till this very day, we hope to provide a tangible link to his life and deeds. The descriptions of the sacred sites are divided according to the main overarching themes of Guru Padmasabhava’s time in Greater India. These themes follow the Pema Kathang’s chapters chronologically, with a few minor changes for further clarity. Guru Rinpoché journeyed back and forth between India, Nepal, and other countries, some of which are unidentifiable on the maps we have today. This means that many significant events took place before and after each of his visits within India. While we do not discuss these other events in full, we nonetheless give brief accounts of what happened before and after the Mahaguru’s visits to each of the Indian sites highlighted in this book. The tales of the sacred sites of Nepal were presented in our first volume, while the sites of Tibet, Bhutan and elsewhere will be presented in our forthcoming third volume.

The Pema Kathang describes a wealth of sacred sites touched by Guru Padmasambhava’s awakened activities during his roughly thousand-year stay on the Indian subcontinent. While we have attempted to provide the reader with an insight into the vastness of the Mahaguru’s enlightened deeds in Greater India, to provide a detailed description of each and every sacred site mentioned in the Pema Kathang would go far beyond the scope of the present book. Therefore, we have focused our attention on what are commonly considered the main events and sacred sites associated with Guru Padmasambhava in Greater India. A further challenge to identifying the Mahaguru’s sacred sites is the fact that the exact location of many of these sites has been lost over time. Guided by Guru Padmasambhava, Tibetan Buddhist masters have rediscovered some of his places of activity, but by no means all. With these challenges in mind, we request the reader to see our book as part of an ongoing discovery of the Mahaguru’s sacred sites within the Indian subcontinent.

In order to give you a peek into the past and provide you with an insight into how the sacred sites might have been when Guru Padmasambhava was there, we will be looking at the pilgrimage accounts of the Mahayana monk and Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang (c. 602–664 CE). Xuanzang is famous for travelling the length and breadth of the Indian subcontinent over the course of twelve years (629–641), exploring its sacred lands in his search for the Dharma. In his pilgrimage diary, The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions, Xuanzang records in great depth the landscape and history of all the major Buddhist sites of Greater India.⁴ The subsequent rediscovery of many of the ancient sacred sites thus owes much to Xuanzang’s detailed accounts. While they depict each sacred site from a sutric rather than a tantric perspective, they nevertheless provide a unique insight into the sacred Buddhist landscape of ancient India.

We have concluded several of the chapters with stories from Tibetan masters such as Orgyen Topgyal Rinpoché (b. 1951). These inspiring tales introduce us to some of the great mahasiddhas and pilgrims who have visited and blessed the sacred sites since the time of the Mahaguru. In many ways they are a continuation of the Mahaguru’s legacy. Rather than offering exhaustive accounts, these stories afford a mere glimpse of the generations of masters who have joined Guru Rinpoché by practicing in these holy places.

Finally, we include paintings of the sites—each depicted individually, to evoke a sacred landscape of the past. These are visions of the sites as they may have looked when Guru Padmasabhava himself was there. The images have been carefully drawn with close consideration of the sacred months and dates of the Tibetan Buddhist calendar. In particular, the four paintings of Sitavana, Kukkutapada, Dhanakosha, and Uddiyana were completed on the Guru Rinpoche day of the first, second, sixth and twelfth months respectively, corresponding with the exact day on which Guru Padmasambhava was historically active at the site.⁵ The work of the remaining paintings also began and concluded on especially sacred days. As you will notice, each painting features all the major sacred landmarks described in the Mahaguru’s biography and witnessed by the pilgrims who followed later.

In the third and final part of the book, Invoking the Lotus-Born Guru, you will find further advice from Phakchok Rinpoché on how to authentically go on pilgrimage, together with a collection of some of the most famous prayers invoking Guru Rinpoché. Thus, wherever you are, you may find inspiration, strength, and blessings by using the sacred words intoned by masters past and present. In order for this to be a lightweight travel companion, we have included only a droplet from the ocean of prayers to the Mahaguru. For those who wish for more, we have translated further prayers as supplements to this book, all of which are readily accessible through our website.

We have provided extensive endnotes, a list of our sources, and a bibliography as well. The endnotes provide suggestions for further reading, enabling an in-depth exploration of the topics mentioned. To make the guide more accessible and readable, we have removed all diacritics from the Sanskrit words. For Tibetan words, we are following the Lhasey Lotsawa phonetic system.

The vision of the Following in Your Footsteps series is to allow readers to follow Guru Rinpoché’s journey through the landscape of our world. While we strive to tell the stories in full, we have decided not to include practical travel information, since such details are liable to change. Instead, we have made them available on our Nekhor website and via the Nekhor app. Please also note that we have focused our research on the sacred sites mentioned in the few selected biographies listed in our sources. Thus, this series does not present India’s hidden lands (beyuls), as recognized in several existing pilgrimage guides and the rich oral traditions of regions such as Sikkim, Ladakh, Zanskar, and Pema Kö. Rather than discussing them in our book, we will feature these sacred sites on our Nekhor website and app.

Finally, we ask the reader to bear in mind that the India of Guru Rinpoche’s life and times was quite different from our notion of India today. Historically, India was an entire subcontinent, a collection of different kingdoms and sovereign lands, often overspilling modern geopolitical boundaries and encompassing neighboring countries known by other names today. Nevertheless, in the interest of simplicity, we mostly refer to the whole of this ancient land as simply India, throughout this book.

OUR APPROACH AND SOURCES

This series follows the kind advice of our teachers in its portrayal of Guru Padma sambhava as a fully enlightened being, whose life transcends the confines of space and time while still appearing within it. While we follow a tra-ditional approach to the Mahaguru’s life, we also acknowledge the diversity of views that our traditional and academic research has brought forth. We have refrained from lengthy discussion of these issues in the main text of the book, in the interest of simplicity and accessibility. However, for the interested reader, there are endnotes where we keep careful track of our sources. This is where we provide further clarification where possible and make suggestions for deeper reading on these topics.

The spirit in which this pilgrimage guide is offered is perhaps captured in Guru Rinpoché’s own reply to Tibet’s Dharma King Trisong Detsen, when requested by the latter to relate his life story:

I myself have not really come into the world,༔

as I am the unelaborate dharmakaya,༔

like the mandala of the sun.༔

Yet from the perspectives of my disciples༔

my life story appears in myriad ways༔

according to every limited viewpoint,༔

like wavering moons in bodies of water.༔⁶

This statement reveals how, according to the Buddhist view, inconsistencies and contradictions occur naturally because of the dualistic world we inhabit. While it is indeed important to acknowledge these often alluring differences, they may not actually be relevant for penetrating the heart of the spiritual path. Alternatively, perhaps it is the way we deal with them that helps the spiritual path to unfold.

Kyapjé Yangthang Rinpoché’s direction to follow the Pema Kathang in presenting these sacred sites has been a guiding light throughout our project. The Pema Kathang was discovered in the fourteenth century by the great treasure revealer Orgyen Lingpa (b. 1323), and it represents the very speech of Guru Padmasambhava, as flawlessly remembered and set down in writing by his chief consort and devoted disciple Khandro Yeshé Tsogyal. In the wake of its discovery, the Pema Kathang quickly rose to become one of the most celebrated biographies of the Mahaguru. Its language is highly poetic, set in verse, and divided into 108 chapters reaching approximately five hundred pages in