After the death of
Sron Tsan Gampo, one of the most famous kings of Tibet,
around 650 AD, Buddhism suffered greatly in Tibet and
made little headway against the prevailing shamanist
superstitions. Then about a century later, his powerful
descendant Thi-Sron Detsan succeeded to the throne. A
few years later the young king sent his messengers to
India to look for a celebrated Buddhist priest who can
establish an order in Tibet. The King was advised by his
family priest, the Indian monk Santarakshita, to secure,
if possible, the services of his brother-in-law, Guru
Padmasambhava who was then a resident of the Nalanda
University in India and an outstanding member of the
then popular Tantrik Yogacharya school.
Guru Padmasambhava
promptly responded to the invitation of the Tibetan King
and accompanied the messengers back to Tibet
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Malignant devils, warmly
welcomed the Guru as he brought them deliverance Later the
Tantric Master founded Lamaism based on Buddhism. Under the
zealous patronage of king Thi-Sron Detsan he built at Samye in
749 A.D., the first Tibetan monastery. The school that is
traditionally considered the oldest is the Nyingmapa which can
be directly traced to Guru Padmasambhava and to texts from the
time of the first diffusion of Buddhism in Tibet. The
Nyingmapa only formed a real order in the 11th and 12th
centuries as a reaction to, and buffer against, the promoters
of the second wave of Buddhism and a large part of their holy
texts is made up of those believed to have been hidden by Guru
Padmasambhava, his mystical consort and contemporary grand
masters. The hidden texts were found and later revealed at
certain times by the tertonpa “discoverers of spiritual
treasurers” – and passed on to Nyingmapa followers. Today
initiation to the order must still be centered on a master
disciple basis. The Nyingmapa practitioners are either monks
and live in the monastery or are Tantric masters, who might
marry and lead a normal family life. The Nyingamapa tradition
is especially wide spread in the mountains, where monastic
institution and long curriculum of studies are not easy to
organize. Simplified forms of transmission of teachings from
the master to his disciples allow priests to practice
religious functions while also leading a normal family life. –
(Maria A.S. Diemberger).
The founder of Nyingpapa Sect of Buddhism, Guru Rinpoche, has
eight worshipful forms (Guru Tsen-gyay) which are:-
(i) Guru Padma Jhung-ney, “Born of a lotus for the happiness
of the three worlds".
(ii) Guru Padma-Sambhava, “Born of a lotus-Saviour by the
religious doctrine”.
(iii) Guru Padma Gyalpo, “Born of a lotus – the king of the
three collections of scriptures” (Sanskrit : Tripitaka)
(iv) Guru Dorje Do-lo, “The Dorjee comforter of all.”
(v) Guru Nima Yo-zer, “The enlightening sun of darkness.”
(vi) Guru Sakya Sengey, “The second Sakya – the lion”, who
does the work of eight sages.
(vii) Guru Sengey da dok, the propagator of religion in the
six worlds – with “the roaring lion’s voice.”
(viii) Guru Lo-ten Chog-Se, “The conveyer of knowledge to all
worlds”
However, Guru Rinpoche is most commonly worshipped in the form
where he sits dressed as a native of Udyana, holding a
Thunderbolt in his right hand and a skull of blood in hid
left, and carrying in his left armpit the trident of the king
of death. The top of this trident transfixed a freshly
decapitated human head, a wizened head, and a skull. The
Guru’s most powerful weapons in warring with the demons were
the thunderbolt (Sanskrit: Vajra, Bhutia: Dorje), symbolic of
the thunderbolt of Indra and spells extracted from the
Mahayana gospels, by which he shattered his supernatural
adversaries (Austin Waddell).
According to Tertons or hidden spiritual treasures and
chronicles as recorded in the works of Lha-tsun Namkha Jigme
Chenmo, Guru Padmasambhava visited Sikkim on his way to Tibet
in the eighth century. Although Guru left no converts and
erected no buildings, he is said to have hid away in Sikkim’s
caves many holy books for the use of posterity. Sikkim is
therefore also known as ‘Bayul Demo-shong’ (the land of Hidden
Valley). It is also strongly believed that Guru Rinpoche has
personally consecrated every sacred spot in Sikkim including
the majestic Mt. Khang-Chen-Dzo-nga (The great snowy range of
five precious treasures) which is the guardian deity of Sikkim.
Incidentally, the birthday of Guru Rinpoche, which falls every
year on the 10th day of the sixth month according to the Lunar
Calender, is a gazetted holiday in Sikkim.
There are numerous accounts substantiating Guru Rinpoche’s
visit to Sikkim. The footprint of Guru Rinpoche on a sacred
boulder at Chugthang where he is believed to have spent an
over night en route to Tibet. The sacred cave above Tholung
Gompa in Dzongu area in North Sikkim where Guru Rinpche is
believed to have spend many days bears strong testimony to the
saint’s visit to Sikkim. The impression of volumes of holy
scriptures on the nearby rocks which Guru could not take to
Tibet is not only an awe-inspiring sight but strongest
evidence of Furu’s stay in this land made holy by His
presence. There are a number of other marks and symbols
throughout Sikkim which corroborates Guru Padmasambhava’s
visit to Sikkim.
Today Guru Padmasambhava or “the Lotus born one” is deified
and worshipped as the “second Buddha” and is usually called by
the Bhutias Guru Rinpoche or “the precious Guru”; or simply
Lo-pon, the Bhutia equivalent of the Sanskrit “Guru” or
“Teacher”. He is also called “Ugyan” or “Urgyan”, as he was a
native of Udyana or Urgyan, the then the most northerly
Province of India. |