sKyo brag before and during the “peaceful liberation”

Since the time of gTer chen ’Bar ba’i rdo rje, the secret teachings of the Six Yogas are said to have been practiced by many meditators in the sKyo brag retreat facilities and also by those who followed the lifestyle of Mi la ras pa and lived in the mountains.⁴⁸⁸ The hermitic practices flourished and new training sites were being established. In 1911, in accordance with the wishes of the 15^th Karma pa, the ras pa bKa’ brgyud bKra shis founded a nunnery along with its retreat complex.⁴⁸⁹ When he died, his remains were placed in a gold and silver-plated stūpa.⁴⁹⁰

One of the disciples of bKa’ brgyud bKra shis was the great meditator dGe ’dun rin po che (1918-1997). Starting from the mid 1970s, he became widely known in the West, when he founded three-year retreat enclosures in France at the request of the 16^th Karma pa Rang

485 Yeshe Gyamtso 2005: 172-173, 178. Also see “Biography of the 4^th Venerable Sonam Tenzin Rinpoche and Chodrak Dechen Choling,” internet PDF-resource, p.5 (accessed 24.10.2010).

486 Yeshe Gyamtso 2005: 179 and sGa Karma don grub, et al. 1999: 104-105.

487 Also compare Tulku Urgyen, et al. 2005: 247-8, 389 n.196.

488 Bardor Tulku 2010 a.

489 “Chodrak Methu Geygun Kacho Dechen Choling: A description and short history of the Nunnery.”

http://www.chodraknunnery.org/ (accessed 17.12.2010).

490 sGa Karma don grub, et al. 1999: 304.

byung rig pa’i rdo rje (1924–1981).⁴⁹¹ dGe ’dun rin po che was educated in the Pad sdong sgrub khang and after completing his education, in its mgon khang, belonging to the sKyo brag complex.⁴⁹² Already during his first three-year retreat period he became known for his achievement in gtum mo; he began wearing a single cotton cloth and was reported to have melted snow and ice.⁴⁹³ As a graduate of the sKyo brag sgrub khang, he was entitled to wearing the five-peaked hat, much like the protagonists of the current revival.⁴⁹⁴ Lama dGe

’dun’s oral accounts as well as his photographs from this period show a blossoming retreat activity in sKyo brag.⁴⁹⁵ He reports that the area was famous for many gtum mo accomplishers, who inhabited the caves and cabins in the mountains, characteristic for their single white cotton robes.⁴⁹⁶

According to Gruschke, before the People’s Liberation Army arrived at Nang chen, the monastic-hermitic center of sKyo brag included four reincarnates and over 500 monks, who occupied extensive dwellings and congregated at a sixty-seven-pillar ’du khang. There were also three other temples, nine sgrub khangs as well as more individual retreat sites. sKyo brag was in possession of many precious relics and practice supports.⁴⁹⁷

With the arrival of the PLA, dramatic changes occurred at sKyo brag. During the 1950 Chab mdo campaign, the troops passed through Nang chen and most probably through sKyo brag, which is implied by independent sources. The invasion was marked by violence, and fighting is reported to have broken out in all parts of Nang chen after the capture of sKye dgu mdo. ⁴⁹⁸ It appears that several sKyo brag reincarnates were killed in the fighting:

[…] After that, the reincarnates successively died. When the Kuomintang rule lost power, the new People’s Republic of China was established. At that time, in spite

491 Interestingly enough, he had been sent to the West specifically as a Karma bKa’ brgyud representative and lineage-holder (brgyud ’dzin).

492 The classical bKa’ brgyud three-year retreat, also in the ’Ba’ rom school, can be enhanced with protector practice of three years at a mgon khang (protector temple).

493 Gendün Rinpoche 2011: 26-7.

494 Gendün Rinpoche 2011: 24.

495 Gendun Rinpoche von Tschodrak, upublished manuscript obtained at the courtesy of Lama Lhundrup.

496 Gendün Rinpoche 2011: 23.

497 Gruschke 2004: 134; Pu Wencheng 1991: 67, also see sGa Karma don grub, et al. 1999: 303-304.

498 sGa Karma don grub, et al. 1999: 303. As for the Chab mdo campaign (October 5^th- 19^th 1950): both Gruschke (2004: 21, fig. 12) and Goldstein (2007: 690) report that the PLA came from the north via sKye dgu mdo and through other areas in Nang chen. It is likely that they marched through sKyo brag, even though it lies off the sKye dgu mdo-Ri bo che tract where the army was heading; still, the monastic center of sKyo brag is located in the north and at that time was an important power hub. When the 154^th Regiment of the PLA “went through Nangchen” Goldstein (2007: 690), the region had been under Chinese control already. Therefore, one can speculate if there was fighting at sKyo brag before the capture of sKye dgu mdo in July that year or thereafter, during the Chab mdo campaign in October, when the PLA soldiers were marching onto Ri bo che. See Karma phrin las 1965: 49-50, Marshall & Cooke 1997: 2375, and Gruschke 2004: 33.

of the great turmoil of the transformation, regardless of the various outer and inner adverse conditions, memorial service for the [dead] reincarnates [was performed], offerings [were made] in their name and funeral stūpas (gdung rten) erected.⁴⁹⁹

Subsequently, a search for new incarnations was conducted; they were enthroned and assumed their responsibilities. In the rapidly changing reality of Khams, these responsibilities included attending political campaigns orchestrated by the Chinese communist authorities, who installed the three chief sKyo brag lamas as government cadres.⁵⁰⁰

This state of affairs was continued until 1958, the turning point for most of Nang chen’s monasteries. As a result of the abolishment of the be hu position and the collectivization of the area, a violent revolt broke out and in consequence, the monastic center became subject to the “democratic reform of monasteries.”⁵⁰¹ In practice, this meant a brutal crackdown that resulted in the killing of the 8^th bsTan snying and the flight of the 6^th Dung dkar sprul sku.⁵⁰² The oldest of the three main lamas, who traditionally ruled over sKyo brag estate as be hu, was arrested and imprisoned together with his father. One of his brothers took over the responsibility for the monastery for the short time it still remained open.⁵⁰³

It was only a few months after these events that the monastery was destroyed. Finally, for over two decades to come, the monastery was closed along with other religious institutions in Yu shu TAP.

In 1959 the turbulences continued, as the sKyo brag nunnery was destroyed; the PLA troops even concentrated in the area in order to repress the Khams pa insurgency.⁵⁰⁴ Now that monasticism was illegal, hermitism, even if less communal, was also being targeted. The aforementioned sKyo brag meditator, dGe ’dun rin po che declares that he himself, as well as

499 de nas bla sprul rnams rim bzhin gshegs/ krung hwa min go’i srid dbang shor nas krung hwa mi mangs spyi mthun rgyal khab gsar du btsugs pa’i dus ’gyur gyi zing cha che ba’i skabs kyang phyi nang gi ’gal rkyen sna tshogs la ma ltos par bla sprul rnams kyi dgongs rdzogs dang mchod ’bul gdung rten bzhengs pa/ (sGa Karma don grub, et al. 1999: 303). Judging from the fragmentary data given in this source, I suppose that one of the victims was the 8^th gSal byed, who is reported to have died at the age of twenty-five.

500 sGa Karma don grub, et al. 1999: 303. Compare Marshall & Cooke 1997: 2404.

501 W. W. Smith 1994: 67, Yan Chia-Ming 2006: 9-12.

502 According to sGa Karma don grub, et al. (1999:303), the 6^th Dung dkar escaped into the mountains as a nine-year old. He came back when he was in his late twenties, but his family, relatives and possessions had disappeared and no one knew where. As for gSal byed, sGa Karma don grub, et al. (1999: 301) reports that the young reincarnate remained utterly unaffected by both the turmoil of 1958 and the famine of 1960. Also see Yan Chia-Ming 2006: 9. Compare also Gruschke 2004: 33-4, Marshall & Cooke 1997: 2400, 2404 and ’Jam dbyangs, et al. 1995-1997: 213.

503 sGa Karma don grub, et al. 1999: 303.

504 See Tsonyi & Draszczyk (n.d.) and Gendün Rinpoche 2011: 31-36. Compare sGa Karma don grub, et al.

(1999: 299) who gives an even earlier date of 1958 when local yogins were forced to flee.

other hermits from the area were forced to flee the approaching Chinese army and were forced to avoid local rebels who were acutely aware of communist spies.⁵⁰⁵

1960 brought a great famine that followed the collectivization, the constant unrest as well as Mao’s Great Leap.⁵⁰⁶ In 1962, a special local commission of Party delegates was called into being. They attempted to restore some of the monastery buildings, but did not succeed, since the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution that began four years later, utterly and finally completed the devastation.⁵⁰⁷

bsTan snying 9^th (b.1979) became the only reincarnate of the sKyo brag trinity to have fled his country into exile. He established a monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal. ⁵⁰⁸

VI.2.1.2.1. Chab sti – the local hub of meditation and miracles

In a mountain range towering above sKyo brag, around two hours on foot up the hills surrounding the monastery grounds or forty-five minutes with a jeep up a rocky road, lies Chab sti brag dkar (abbreviated as Chab sti or Chab brag),⁵⁰⁹ a sacred area said to be an extension or branch (yan lag) of the sPyi byams gnas, subordinated to the main power place of Seng ge rdzong.⁵¹⁰ The inclusivist logic of gnas-networking I described in the chapter on the Ris med movement is therefore also used in this area.

The Chab sti gnas itself is a vast area of hills covered with short highland grass and crowned by the characteristic white, rocky mountain chain. There are many natural caves in the rock wall, some of them opening many meters above the ground. The heart of the gnas is one of such caverns named the Golden Cave (gser phug) and the source of many legends. It is precisely here that the meditation school of La phyi was established in 2005, which is why I shall now briefly analyze the modest amount of historical information available on this venue.

It seems that in the vicinity of this holy site existed a village and clan by that same name.⁵¹¹ Gendun Rinpoche describes The Golden Cave area as the site of the miraculous birth of Sangs

505 Lama Gendun along with two colleagues reached safety in exile. One of them was Lama Gawang (=dGa’

dbang) based in the Netherlands today. For his activity in the West today see “About our Rinpoche: Chödje Lama Gawang Rinpoche,” http://englishversion.karmakagyu.nl/gawang.html, accessed 12.12.2010.

506 sGa Karma don grub, et al. 1999: 301, W.W. Smith 1994: 68.

507 sGa Karma don grub, et al. 1999: 304, Gruschke 2004: 134.

508 “Biography of the 4^th Venerable Sonam Tenzin Rinpoche and Chodrak Dechen Choling,” internet PDF-resource, p.8 (accessed 24.10.2010); oral interview with Lama Lhundrup of France, 19.01.2010 and sGa Karma don grub, et al. 1999: 299-300. Compare Gendün Rinpoche 2011: 64-65 and sGa Karma don grub, et al. 1999:

299-300.

509 Alternative orthography: “Chab ti,” see sGa Karma don grub, et al. 1999.

510 dPa’ brtan mkhan po 2003: 111, sKyo brag bshad grwa (n.d.): 6.

511 sGa Karma don grub, et al. 1999: 315. Gendun Rinpoche von Tschodrak reveals that Gendun Rinpoche’s mother’s clan name was Chab sti.

rgyas yel pa ye shes brtsegs pa (1134-1194), founder of the Yel pa bKa’ brgyud school and of the important rTa rna dgon in lower Nang chen.⁵¹² Local tradition claims that in the 14^th/15^th centuries, sKyo brag chos rje along with his consort, the ḍākinī A khro ma, were seen flying up to meditate at this power place dedicated to the semi-wrathful deity Seng gdong ma (Skt.

Simhamukha).The boulders are inscribed with mantric script written by A khro ma, as well as her and Chos rje’s foot prints and body prints.⁵¹³ Local legends emphasize that it was at Chab sti that they performed a seven-year retreat on Hevajra, and their thirteen disciples took to the air to practice with them. ⁵¹⁴ Until today, the number thirteen is applied by the lamas of sKyo brag in the context of local tradition of yogic training to commemorate the “the thirteen’Ba’

rom [master-disciples] who could fly” (’Ba’ rom ’phur shes bcu gsum).” ⁵¹⁵

Merely two gnas yig scriptures for Chab sti have survived until today, both of them exceptionally brief. One of these texts, entitled Chab sti brag dkar gyi gnas yig, stems from the pre-Ris med time and was composed by the guru of mChog gling, Kong sprul and ’Bar ba’i rdo rje, namely the 8^th dPa’ bo gTsug lag chos kyi rgyal po (19^th century).⁵¹⁶ Since there are many indications that this Karma bKa’ brgyud pa lama was also unquestionably linked to the rNying ma pa school, it is only logical that he viewed Chab sti as a power place dedicated to Padmasambhava. He also mentions the number thirteen, symbolic for this site:

Especially at this place, naturally arisen images of Padmasambhava and others, of buddhas, bodhisattvas and so on, as well as footprints of O rgyan and the like - a number of pure appearances became visible. It is said about these appearances that in the expanse of devoted minds of individuals with pure karma, magical display of the compassion of buddhas [can] manifest in any form. Therefore, if faithful ones perform thirteen prostrations and circumambulations, wishing prayers and consecration rituals for the manifestations as inseparable from the Lotus Light [palace] of Great Bliss (=Padma ’od), their current hindrances will be pacified, whatever wishes [they might have] will be fulfilled; later rebirth in a happy place, etc. and countless benefits will be attained – that is certain.⁵¹⁷

512 Tsonyi & Draszczyk (n.d.), Gendun Rinpoche von Tschodrak. The miraculous circumstances are described in detail in sGa Karma don grub, et al. 1999: 520.

513 Bardor Tulku 2010 a and 2010 b; Gendun Rinpoche von Tschodrak.

514 sGa Karma don grub, et al. 1999: 295, sKyo brag bshad grwa (n.d.): 35-40, ’Jam dbyangs, et al. 1995-1997, 1: 94; Gendün Rinpoche 2011: 22-3.

515 See below for the ’Ba’ rom revival at sKyo brag. Also see Gendun Rinpoche von Tschodrak and Bardor Tulku 2010 a and 2010 b.

516 dPa’ bo gTsug lag chos rgyal 2003. This author was also the younger brother of the 9^th Si tu pa.

517 khyad par gnas der padma sambha wa la sogs pa sangs rgyas byang sems sogs kyi sku rang byon dang/o rgyan gyi zhabs rjes la sogs pa dag pa’i snang ba ’ga’ zhig gsal ’dug pa’i de dag ni so so las dag pa rnams kyis mos pa’i yid mkhar sangs rgyas rnams kyi thugs rje’i sgyu ’phrul cir yang ’char bar gsungs pas/ des na dad ldan rnams nas bde chen padma ’od dang dbyer med du gsal ba’i phyag bskor ba bcu gsum smon lam rabs gnas sogs bgyis na/ gnas skabs tshe yi bar chad zhi zhing/ ci bsam ’grub pa dang/ phyi ma bde ldan zhing du skye ba sogs

The other gnas yig most probably predates the one quote above. It was written by the sKyo brag reincarnate Dung dkar, who especially recounts the miraculous events surrounding its opening by himself or his earlier incarnation.⁵¹⁸ In accordance with the genre, auspicious signs are described, as the reader is informed about rainbows, a downpour of flowers, etc.

Dung dkar also emphasizes the benefit of thirteen circumambulations and compares the benefit of pilgrimage here to travelling to Gangs Ti se (Kailāśā).

Since there is so little textual data on the area of Chab sti, and even less on human activity in this area, one can only suppose that its surroundings were still used as pilgrimage destinations after the 15^th century and that its caves served the local yogins as places of retreat, in keeping with the local tradition of Chos rje and his disciples.

’Bar ba’i rdo rje revived the hermitic practices of sKyo brag at the turn of the 19^th and 20^th centuries. He appreciated the area of Chab sti brag dkar greatly and popularized the mythos of the great hermit Chos rje, which had waned in the meantime. In his autobiography, ’Bar ba’i rdo rje emphasized that it was at gSer phug where the sKyo brag patriarch attained the various siddhi. He also envisioned Chab sti as a crystal stūpa containing the pure realm (zhing khams) of Vajrasattva, which may have contributed to the fact that the site is primarily known in this way also today.⁵¹⁹

When discussing the naming of the case study hermitage, I shall additionally devote more attention to ’Bar ba’i rdo rje’s comparison of Chab sti with the legendary site of La phyi, which he explained by the interdependence of Chos rje having been Mi la ras pa in a previous lifetime.⁵²⁰

It seems like ’Bar ba’i rdo rje revived Chab sti to the position of an active meditation venue, since his main sKyo brag disciple, Karma bKa’ brgyud bkra shis, used the Golden Cave for personal retreats and for completing the rnam thar composition of his master.⁵²¹

Neither in 1958 nor during the Cultural Revolution did the site undergo devastation, because no infrastructure existed that could have been destroyed. Local tradition has it however, that when religious persecution reached its peak, the yogins who had been practicing in the Chab sti caves ran away into the more remote mountain areas, where they could not be seen. After 1980, the venue could again be opened for religious purposes. Ever

phan yon dpag med thob pa yin pas de ltar nges ’tshal/ (dPa’ bo gTsug lag chos rgyal 2003: 112-113, emphasis mine).

518 sKyo brag Dung dkar 2003:114-116. The opening of Chab brag by Dung dkar is cited by gTsug lag chos rgyal (2003), however, the text gives no indication as to the time of its composition.

519 Yeshe Gyamtso 2005: 25, 180-181.

520 Yeshe Gyamtso 2005: 180-181.

521 Yeshe Gyamtso 2005: 237-238.

since, it has been used again by meditators of the ’Ba’ rom pa school and as Vajrasattva and Padmasambhava gnas. It is visited for skor ba rounds by local people; some major lamas from beyond the locality perform pilgrimage here as well. However, it is mostly famous through the actions of Tshul khrims mthar phyin.

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