Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo Series

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Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo

Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo

Courtesy of Himalayan Art Resources

Name variants:
  • Dorje Ziji Tsal
  • Mañjughoṣa
  • Ösal Trulpé Dorje
  • Pema Ösal Dongak Lingpa
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You who have awakened your enlightened nature, purified through past aspirations,

Cared for by your lamas and special deities,

Your activity is like a medicine for the entire teaching of Buddha,

Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo, to you I pray!

Texts by and about the great Rimé (“nonsectarian”) master Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo ('jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse'i dbang po, 1820–1892), one of the most influential figures of recent times:

Advice

Khyentse Wangpo composed this commentary to The Essence of Nectar: Graduated Stages of the Path (lam rim bdud rtsi'i snying po) at the request of Chöying Palden, who had also requested the original root verses. The text covers every stage of the paths according to the vehicles of the transcendent perfections (pāramitā) and secret mantra.

These verses of advice for renunciant meditators (spong ba bsam gtan pa) cover the entire Buddhist path, from instructions on following a spiritual friend through to the most advanced generation and perfection phase practices.

Aspiration Prayers

This famous four-line aspiration for the propagation of the nonsectarian lineage of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo was composed by the master himself.

This poetic prayer relates the Lotus Light (padma 'od) pure realm of Guru Padmasambhava to the four visions of Dzogchen practice and contains the aspiration that we may all be reborn there, to advance through the four stages of a vidyādhara and swiftly reach the level of the Lake-born Guru himself.

Biography

Alak Zenkar summarizes the remarkable life and liberation of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820–1892), showing how he mastered the so-called 'eight great chariots of the practice lineage' (sgrub brgyud shing rta chen po brgyad) and received the seven special transmissions or 'descents' (bka' babs bdun). Zenkar Rinpoche also briefly summarizes Khyentse Wangpo's collected writings, which are divided into nine main categories.

Translated from audio recordings of talks given in Lerab Ling, France on August 18 & 23, 1996.

Buddhist Philosophy

A brief text summarizing the five great logical arguments of the Madhyamaka, or Middle Way: 1) the investigation of the cause: the Diamond Splinters; 2) the investigation of the result: refuting existent or non-existent effects; 3) the investigation of both: refuting the four permutations of arising; 4) the investigation of essential identity: ‘neither one nor many’; and 5) the logical argument of Great Interdependence.

Calling the Guru from Afar

A devotional song for invoking the inspiration and blessings of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thayé and Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö himself.

Commentaries

A clear and concise commentary on the words of the most famous of praises to Mañjuśrī, Glorious Wisdom's Excellent Qualities (dPal ye shes yon tan bzang po), attributed to the Indian master Ācārya Vajrāyudha/Vajraśastra.

These instructions on how to practise the Dukngal Rangdrol recitation in retreat are taken from a collection of the author's notes on various practices and topics related to the Longchen Nyingtik cycle. Though very concise, they accord with Khenpo Pema Vajra's (1807–1884) longer commentary, An Ornament to the Vidyādharas’ Wisdom.

Confession

A simple guide to the practice known as Narak Kong Shak, or The Confession and Fulfilment that Empties the Hells from their Very Depths.

Consecration

This popular rite of consecration (rab gnas) includes the standard elements of bathing, drying, and dressing (for which it draws upon the Bodhicaryāvatāra), before inviting the wisdom deities, sealing them within the image, empowerment, opening of the eyes, transformation, offering and praise, and prayers to remain until the very ends of the aeon.

Fulfilment

A brief fulfilment (skong ba) practice to be recited as part of the gaṇacakra offering for the Longchen Nyingtik guru practice of Rigdzin Düpa (Vidyādhara Assembly).

Guru Yoga

This guru yoga of the three deities of longevity—White Tārā 'Wish-fulfilling Wheel', Amitāyus and Uṣṇīṣavijayā—is considered an auxiliary to the Chimé Pakmé Nyingtik practice.

A simple practice of guru yoga, which features Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö indivisible from Guru Padmasambhava in the form of Orgyen Dorje Chang, the Vajradhara of Oḍḍiyāna, and which includes an aspiration for the stages of the path according to the Great Perfection, or Dzogchen.

History

A brief history of the sacred image of Tārā, the Wish-Fulfilling Wheel (yid bzhin 'khor lo), in Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo’s residence, known as ‘The Garden of Immortality’ ('chi med grub pa'i dga' tshal), in Dzongsar Monastery, Derge, East Tibet.

Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo explains the history and benefits of some sacred substances and two statues of Guru Padmasambhava—the 'representative' images (kutsab) known as Tukjé Ötro and Ngödrup Palbar—that were revealed by Chokgyur Lingpa.

Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo recounts the origin of the teachings of Siṃhamukhā and how they have been subsequently passed down to him. He closely follows the story associated with the lineage of Bari Lotsawa (ba ri lugs).

Lineage Prayers

A lineage supplication for the Vajrasattva guru yoga known as Dorsem Ngön-ga (Abhirati Vajrasattva), which is part of the Longchen Nyingtik revelation.

Lineage prayer for the Mañjuśrī sādhana based on the Gang gi Lodröma praise attributed to Vajrāyudha, which is included in Compendium of Sādhanas.

A compilation of several well-known prayers, including the Seven-Line Prayer, verses from the Le'u Dünma, and four-line invocations of the masters Nyangral Nyima Özer (1124–1192) and Guru Chökyi Wangchuk (1212–1270), which is included in the Compendium of Sādhanas (sgrub thabs kun btus).

A prayer to the holders of the lineage of Dukngal Rangdrol ('Natural Liberation of Suffering') from Amitāyus and Avalokiteśvara down to Jamyang Khyentse's own root teacher.

Supplementary verses to be added to the prayer to the lineage of Parting from the Four Attachments composed by Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo (1382–1456).

A non-sectarian (ris med) prayer to 25 of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism, five for each of the five major traditions: Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyü, Kadam and Geluk.

A brief prayer to the lineage of Zabtik Drolchok, the practice of Green Tārā which was revealed as a mind terma by Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa.

This brief prayer to the lineage of The Vital Essence of the Activity Kīla of Aural Transmission (snyan brgyud phrin las phur pa’i gnad tig) was composed by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and supplemented by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

This brief prayer to the buddhas and bodhisattvas, learned and accomplished masters of India, and figures from all Tibetan traditions, reflects the author's famously nonsectarian approach.

A supplication to the lineage of the Longchen Nyingtik's innermost secret guru practice, the Sealed Quintessence or Tikle Gyachen (thig le'i rgya can).

A prayer to the lineage of Yumka Dechen Gyalmo (yum ka bde chen rgyal mo), or The Queen of Great Bliss, the peaceful ḍākinī sādhana from the Longchen Nyingtik cycle.

Lojong

Jamyang Khyentse composed this prayer for perfecting the Seven Points of Mind Training (blo sbyong don bdun ma) when he was in the presence of the famous Atiśa statue at the Tārā Temple in Nyethang (snye thang). The section headings were added by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

This experiential song (nyams dbyangs) based on 'Parting from the Four Attachments' (zhen pa bzhi bral) was composed in the cave of Rangjung Dorje, where Mañjuśrī is said to have delivered the original teaching to the Sakya patriarch Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092–1158).

Long Life Prayers

Khyentse Wangpo composed this three-verse longevity prayer for the Third Dodrupchen Rinpoche (1865–1926) at the same time as he bestowed upon him the name Kunzang Jigme Tenpai Nyima Trinlé Kunkhyab Palzangpo.

Longevity

This verse and mantra for longevity, intended to supplement the Droltik Gongpa Rangdrol (grol tig dgongs pa rang grol) practice of the peaceful and wrathful deities, are attributed to Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo but preserved within the writings of his successor, Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö.

This practice for invoking longevity is extracted from The Heart-Essence of Perfect Immortality (yongs rdzogs 'chi med snying thig), which belongs to the Chokling Tersar.

This concise instruction for accomplishing longevity (tshe sgrub) is said to be an abridgement of Thangtong Gyalpo's (1361–1485?) original sādhana. According to the colophon, Khyentse Wangpo composed the practice in a meditation cave used by Thangtong Gyalpo himself.

Mañjuśrī

For this 'means of recitation' (bklag thabs), which provides additional prayers and practices to be said before and after the root text of Chanting the Names of Mañjuśrī (Mañjuśrī-nāmasaṅgīti; 'jam dpal mtshan brjod), Khyentse Wangpo relied upon and adapted the writings of the great Sakya patriarchs Jetsün Drakpa Gyaltsen and Sakya Paṇḍita.

Ngöndro

This guide to the stages of visualization for the Longchen Nyingtik preliminary practices (sngon 'gro) is, as Khyentse Wangpo himself puts it, "brief, clear and essential." Some of its instructions differ slightly from those given by Patrul Rinpoche, so that it represents a distinct commentarial tradition.

This is a version of A Profound Concentration of Nectar, into which the root text of the Longchen Nyingtik preliminaries has been inserted. The text also includes several prayers that were not included in Jikmé Trinlé Özer’s original version.

Sometimes referred to as the “short Longchen Nyingtik Ngöndro", this popular preliminary (sngon 'gro) liturgy by Jamyang Khyentse is remarkably concise.

Offering

Verses for consecrating 'medicine' (sman), or amṛta, as part of the Rigdzin Düpa (Vidyādhara Assembly) practice from the Longchen Nyingtik.

This short maṇḍala liturgy is included within the Compendium of Sādhanas (sgrub thabs kun btus). It features seven heaps representing: 1) Mount Meru; 2-5) the four continents; 6) the sun and 7) the moon.

This brief liturgy for offering the eight auspicious substances (bkra shis rdzas brgyad) and seven emblems of royalty (rgyal srid sna bdun) is often recited as part of consecration and longevity rites.

This four-line prayer is sometimes used for the accumulation of maṇḍala offerings in the Longchen Nyingtik tradition. Khenpo Ngawang Palzang, for example, recommends accumulating this prayer seventy thousand times (following thirty thousand recitations of the three-kāya maṇḍala from the Longchen Nyingtik).

This concise offering practice in just four verses is a supplementary text for the guru practice of the Longchen Nyingtik.

Praise

A four-line prayer to Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo composed by the master himself at the behest of Wangchuk Sengé of Nangso.

Verses in praise of the eighth-century princess and ḍākinī Mandāravā, one of the principal consorts of Guru Padmasambhava.

Prayers

This short biographical prayer (rnam thar gsol 'debs) to Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820–1892) is drawn from the collection of texts known as The Whispered Transmission of Thangtong Gyalpo (thang stong snyan brgyud).

Jamyang Khyentse wrote this twelve-line prayer to Patrul Rinpoche during the festival of Chökhor Düchen in 1860. The text identifies Patrul as an emanation of Śāntideva and the early Dzogchen adept Aro Yeshe Jungne, and praises his qualities of renunciation, bodhicitta and wisdom.

This four-line prayer is commonly recited as part of longer invocations of the lineage.

A simple two-verse supplication prayer composed by the master himself, with the first verse elaborating on the literal meaning of his name.

This three-verse invocation of both Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and his reincarnation Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö was composed by the latter at the request of a woman called Rigdzin Lhamo.

This prayer to Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Jamgön Kongtrul and Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö was written for Jamyang Sonam, prince of Yönru in Lithang.

A four-line prayer to invoke the blessings of the three great masters Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye and Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa.

A two-verse prayer to all the gurus and deities of the Sakya tradition, invoking their inspiration and blessings to follow the path in the present and future lives.

Khyentse Wangpo composed this five-verse supplication prayer to Thangtong Gyalpo at the request of the Eighth Sangye Nyentrul Rinpoche by combining and supplementing previous prayers.

A short, four-line prayer to invoke the blessings of the great adept Virūpa.

A simple four-line prayer to Buddha Śākyamuni and a retinue of the sixteen elders.

Jamgön Kongtrul composed this biographical prayer (rnam thar gsol 'debs) to Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo by extracting verses from a longer prayer to the masters of the Shangpa Kagyü lineage. For this edition, which is found in the Rinchen Terdzö, Jamyang Khyense Chökyi Lodrö composed three additional verses that refer to Khyentse Wangpo's parinirvāṇa and rebirth.

Jamyang Khyentse says that he wrote this four-verse prayer to the founders of the practice lineage, i.e., Marpa Lotsāwa, Milarepa and Gampopa, in the first month of the Wood Ox year (1865) following a dream.

This brief supplication to the saviouress Tārā incorporates and expands upon the literal meaning of the syllables of her root mantra (oṃ tāre tuttāre ture svāhā).

This four-line supplication to the root and lineage gurus is included among the writings of Jokyab Pema Trinlé Nyingpo but attributed to Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820–1892).

Prayers to Guru Rinpoche

This prayer beautifully summarizes the Padma Kathang (The Chronicles of Padma), one of the most famous and influential of Guru Padmasambhava's many biographies. It reveals how Guru Rinpoche manifests in an infinite variety of forms in order to protect and spread the Buddhadharma.

This brief prayer to Guru Padmākara, which Khyentse Wangpo says came to him spontaneously, includes requests to dispel all obstacles and fulfil all wishes.

These verses to be recited before and after prayers to Guru Padmasambhava, especially the famous Prayer in Seven Chapters (le'u bdun ma), include the practices of taking refuge and arousing bodhicitta, a seven-branch offering, the generation and dissolution of a visualisation, and the dedication of merit.

This is a complete set of practices, including taking refuge, generating bodhicitta, visualization, invocation, seven-branch offering, heartfelt prayer—addressed to Guru Padmasambhava, his various manifestations and twenty-five disciples—mantra recitation, and dissolution.

A prayer to the Precious Guru of Oḍḍiyāna as the embodiment of all sources of refuge (skyabs gnas kun 'dus) in order to avert all forms of obstacle and hindrance, on the outer, inner and innermost (or 'secret') levels.

Written in 1850, this is a prayer to the guru, who is understood to be inseparable from Guru Padmasambhava and the true nature of mind, and an aspiration to be reborn in the Lotus Light pure realm, if not already liberated during this life or when clear light dawns at the moment of death.

Sādhanas

The longer of two ritual texts by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo featuring the sixteen arhats, both of which appear in recent editions of the extensive Nyingma Kama (bka' ma shin tu rgyas pa).

The longer sādhana of The Heart-Essence of the Sublime Lady of Immortality, or Chimé Pakmé Nyingtik ('chi med 'phags ma'i snying thig), the popular long-life practice of Tāra in union with the Lord of the Dance, which Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo discovered as a mind treasure in 1855.

A simple practice of visualization and mantra recitation for Bhaiṣajya Guru, the Buddha of Medicine, which appears in the Kriyā tantra section of the extended Nyingma Kama collection.

A practice of Damdrip Nyepa Kunsel (dam grib nyes pa kun sel)—which derives from the revelations of Trengpo Sherab Özer (1518–1584)—based on the deity Ucchuṣma (sme brtsegs), with added preliminary and concluding sections and further instructions on purifying samaya defilements.

In 1848, at the age of twenty-eight, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo had a vision in which he was blessed by Guru Rinpoche, who then dissolved into his heart. As a result, the root practice of Guru Tsokyé Nyingtik, the Heart-Essence of the Lake-Born Guru, arose in Khyentse Wangpo’s mind, and he immediately wrote down its activity manual.

This version of the Palchen Düpa sādhana was arranged by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo from the original revelation for daily use or for when the practice has to be done repeatedly in a single day, such as during a drupchen (sgrub chen). It is of a medium size, shorter than the full revelation but longer than the daily practice which Khyentse Wangpo also compiled.

The shorter of two ritual texts by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo featuring the sixteen arhats included in the extensive Nyingma Kama and elaborating on the famous text attributed to Śākyaśrībhadra.

An abbreviated, daily practice of Palchen Düpa, the Awesome Ones' Assembly, which is the wrathful yidam practice of the Longchen Nyingtik cycle.

Jamyang Khyentse composed this simple daily practice of Chimé Pakmé Nyingtik (The Heart-Essence of the Sublime Lady of Immortality) at the request of Jamgön Kongtrul.

A description of the goddesses in the retinue of the Great Compassion One (Mahākaruṇika) according to the practice of Dukngal Rangdrol.

Saving Lives

This popular liturgy for saving the lives of animals includes practices of taking refuge and generating bodhicitta, as well as the recitation of mantras and dhārāṇīs, visualization, and prayers of auspiciousness, dedication and aspiration.

Swift Rebirth Prayers

Following the master’s passing in 1892, Kongtrul composed four lines of prayer for his swift rebirth as an addendum to a four-line supplication that Khyentse Wangpo himself had written.

Tantra

The Vajrakīla Root Tantra Section (or Fragment) (Tōh. 439), the remains of a much larger Vajrakīla tantra, was discovered and translated into Tibetan by Sakya Paṇḍita (1182–1251). According to the text's colophon, it was Guru Padmasambhava who brought the original to Tibet. The tantra contains several famous verses that appear in most Vajrakīla sādhanas and is the only Vajrakīla text included within the Kangyur. The edition translated here includes a colophon by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and benedictory verse by Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö.

These commonly cited verses of commitment (dam bca' ba) occur several times in the Precious Treasury of Revelations (rin chen gter mdzod) and are also to be found in the collected writings of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Chokgyur Lingpa and Tertön Sogyal. The translation here is based on the commentary by Ju Mipham (1846–1912).

Tsok

A concise gaṇacakra, or feast-offering, liturgy for the practice of Yumka Dechen Gyalmo, the Queen of Great Bliss, from the Longchen Nyingtik.

This short Tārā feast-offering was composed for practitioners who wish to offer a simple gaṇacakra feast within a Tārā sādhana, such as the Zabtik Drolchok.

This song for the gaṇacakra feast (tshogs glu) invoking Vajrayoginī and calling upon her to grant the experience of great bliss was composed at the request of Jamgön Jampa Phuntsok.

A simple feast-offering text for use in conjunction with sādhanas related to the magnetizing deity of the lotus family, Kurukullā.

Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo composed this short aspiration prayer to be recited during the gaṇacakra. The prayer invokes the goal of the gaṇacakra, a sixfold satisfaction (tshim pa drug) of those assembled, i.e., the deities, teacher and vajra-brothers and sisters. Khyentse Wangpo dedicates one verse to each of these six satisfactions and concludes the prayer with an additional seventh verse of dedication.