Foreword

Gampopa, the peerless physician from Dakpo, who was repeatedly predicted and praised by the Buddha, caused the teachings of the lineage of accomplishment to become widespread in the Himalayan land of Tibet. All his disciples gave rise to the sudden realization of Mahamudra. Among them were five hundred great meditators, of whom the greatest and most famous were the three Khampas.

One of these three was the Khampa Saltong Shogom, who achieved the greatest mastery of the channels and winds through the practice of chandali. His rebirth was Nyima Tashi the Birth-Recollector, who devoted his life to silent practice in sealed retreat. He saw the faces of yidams, realized Mahamudra, and thereafter recounted his previous births and prophesied his future ones. He sang vajra songs that are still warm with his blessing.

This brief account of his recollections, prophecies of future births, and songs has now been translated into English and published. It is certain that disciples who study it will plant the seed of liberation in their continuums. I therefore rejoice in and am grateful for its publication.

Written by one called Traleg Tulku on the fifteenth of August, 2005

Translator's Introduction

This book is a translation of a short collection of the songs and teachings of the First Traleg Kyabgön Rinpoche, Nyima Tashi. It is not a biography in the usual sense of the word, and in fact little is known about Nyima Tashi's life. He is said to have lived at the time of Chödrak Gyamtso, the Seventh Gyalwang Karmapa (1454-1505), who is said to have been his guru.

The Traleg Kyabgöns have been principal lineage holders of Thrangu Monastery, a major monastery of the Karma Kagyu tradition in Eastern Tibet, since the sixteenth century. Before then, in fact before the name Traleg Kyabgön was given to this succession of incarnations, this holy being served the Buddha's teachings and demonstrated the achievement of awakening time after time under many names. This book tells us about several of these prior incarnations. In essence, the Traleg Kyabgön is the bodhi-sattva Vajrapani, the personification of the power of all buddhas. The title Kyabgön,“Refuge and Protector,” is no exaggeration.

Gratitude is due to Traleg Kyabgön Rinpoche for his foreword and for his permission to translate this short book, and to Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, the abbot of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra Monastery, without whose help and guidance this project, like so many others, would have been impossible.

Yeshe Gyamtso

Review

This book is a translation of a short collection of the songs and teachings of the First Traleg Kyabgön Rinpoche, Nyima Tashi. Principal lineage holders of Thrangu Monastery in Eastern Tibet since the sixteenth century, the Traleg Kyabgön Rinpoches, of whom Nyima Tashi was the first, are the recognized rebirths of Saltong Shogom, one of the three most renowned disciples of Lord Gampopa. This book tells us about several of these prior incarnations. In essence, the Traleg Kyabgön is the bodhisattva Vajrapani, the personification of the power of all buddhas. The title Kyabgön, “Refuge and Protector,” is no exaggeration.

The book first introduces us to the peerless holy guru Nyima Tashi late in life, finding that he himself had already filled many volumes with the inconceivable recounts of his previous lifetimes, only to then suddenly cast them all into a blazing fire when an attendant makes a rude remark. When he then declares that he is soon to depart to Sukhavati, a gathering of his disciples and nephews beseech him to stay and give final instructions.

In Nyima Tashi’s vajra songs of realization, or dohas, he sings in a spontaneous and distinctive self-duplicating style, warning of death’s inevitability and the dangers of attachment to samsara and the illusory appearances of this life. With a bold voice as succinctly eloquent as it is disarming, he elucidates the authentic view of Mahamudra and the Great Perfection in profound contrast to direct practical instructions and advice on how to live meaningfully, exhorting all to practice virtue and abandon wrongdoing, and delivering stern criticism to those who fall prey to common pretensions and hypocrisy. The lyrical repetition that echoes throughout his verses is beautifully reflected in the text layout and design itself. Contrasting typefaces serve to underscore how the particular timelessness of these pure and ancient teachings, as they were traditionally presented in Tibet, now speak with exceptionally pointed candor to the needs of contemporary Western Buddhist practitioners.

Nyima Tashi then relates an account of his visionary encounter with Padmasambhava, who bestows a prophecy of the Traleg Kyabgön’s former lives and future destiny as a treasure-revealer of great importance. In stark and foreboding detail, Guru Rinpoche prophesies the coming of demonic emanations and evil spirits who will bring about the future degeneration of the buddhadharma in Tibet and the dawning of sickness, famine, corruption, and war, as well as the means by which to avert such disasters.

In a former incarnation as Saltong Shogom, one of the three most accomplished disciples of Lord Gampopa, miraculous powers, or siddhi are demonstrated in a vivid recollection. Nyima Tashi reveals another prophecy—foretold by Guru Rinpoche—of his own future emanations and forthcoming relics in astonishing detail, with a final warning to his audience against the pitfalls of sycophancy and sectarianism.

Finally, a prayer to the successive incarnations of the Birth-Recollector Nyima Tashi closes the book, which includes both English and Tibetan versions of the text in its entirety.