Dampa Sangye
Encyclopedia
Dampa Sangye
Dampa Sangye (Wylie
: Dam pa sangs rgyas, (d.1117 (tib.: pha dam pa sangs rgyas)) often known as Pha Dhampa Sangye. or 'Father Dampa Sangye', was a Buddhist Mahasiddha
of the Indian Tantric Movement who transmitted many teachings based on both Sutrayana
and Tantrayana to Buddhist practitioners in Tibet in the late 11th Century. He travelled to Tibet more than five times. It was on his third trip from India to Tibet that he met Machig Labdron
. Dampa Sangye appears in many of the lineage
s of Chöd
and so in Tibet he is known as the Father of Chod, however perhaps his best known teaching is the 'Pacifying Suffering' teaching known variously as: Shee Ché, Shijed, Zibyed and Zhi-je . This teaching became an element of the Mahamudra
Chöd lineages founded by Machig Labdron.
His Tibetan name Pha dam pa Sangs rgyas, translates into Sanskrit as Buddha Paramapitri, literally "Buddha Excellent Father". He often was identified by the descriptive name Nagpopa, meaning "Black One" .
According to a prediction of Padmasambhava
he himself would be reborn in the life of Machig Lapdron as Phadampa Sangye . His outer skincolour was black then.
Another text says: "Padampa Sangye (known in India as Paramabuddha) was from southern India, and traveled widely in India, Tibet and China, until his death around 1117 AD. It is widely believed that Padampa Sangye was a mindstream
'emanation' (tulku
) of the 8th century monk Kamalashîla, one of the early teachers of the Dharma
in Tibet. He spent much time teaching in the Tingri valley, located between Tibet and Nepal
, where he founded a monastery.,.
Drum khar Nagpopa: Khampa yogi who meditated in dark retreat
for 18 years was -according to Keith Dowman- considered to have been the twelfth of Dudjom Rinpoche
s/Jiktrel Yeshe Dorje seventeen previous incarnations..
According to Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910–1991), considered an emanation of Padampa Sangye, the story goes that the great pandit Shantarakshita
, who was instrumental in transplanting Buddhism from India to Tibet, promised that one of his students would come one day to complete his work. Kamalasila (Tib., Padampa Sangye) fulfilled this prophecy.
Khyentse Rinpoche in a 1987 gathering of students at Shechen Monastery
, his seat in Nepal, offered a commentary on the Hundred Verses of Padampa Sangye .
In the esoteric oral tradition of Tibetan Buddhism
a version of Dampa Sangye's life-story has him travelling to China and teaching there for 12 years, where he was known as Bodhidharma
the founder of Zen
. Dampa Sangye is associated with the Tingri area of Tibet
, where he lived for many years.
Bardok Chusang Rinpoche is recognized as the incarnation Dampa Sangye. He is a married yogi
, living in Kathmandu.
There is a morality tale, allegory
and teaching story inherent within the transmission of Chöd to Tibet that has been culturally remembered as a Cham Dance
. In this sacred dance, Moheyan is generally depicted as of ample girth goaded by children. Chöd is a product of both the Indian and Chinese transmissions of Buddhism into the Himalaya. For a discussion of the Dunhuang
fulcrum of the entwined relationship of Chinese and Indian Buddhism refer van Schaik and Dalton (2004).
For simplicity, the Indian tantric transmission may be characterized as "gradual" (Tibetan: rim gyis ‘jug pa; Chinese: tun-wu) and the Chinese Ch'an transmission may be characterized as "direct" (Tibetan: cig car gyi ‘jug pa; Chinese: chien-wu). It needs to be emphasized that this neat dichotomy
in characterization of these two approaches to the Dharma, is only valid for the historical context of the great debate between Kamalashila and Moheyan, arranged by Trisong Detsen
and even then it is still open to dialectic. This debate has been named the "Council of Samye" by Giuseppe Tucci
but is generally known as the "Council of Lhasa
". According to the general Tibetan tradition, the two years of the debate transpired at Samye
, a significant distance from Lhasa
. According to the lore of the orthodox, prevailing Tibetan cultural tradition, Kamalashila, a mahapandita and scholar educated at Nalanda
, advocated the "gradual" process to enlightenment; whereas, Moheyan, as a trance
and meditation
master advocated the "direct" awakening of original mind through the nirodha (Sanskrit) of discursive thought, the cessation of the mind of ideation
. The historicity of this debate has been drawn into question by Gomez (1983) and Ruegg (1992) though this does not lessen its importance in defining the religious and cultural traditions of Tibet. Kamalashila was very handsome and a great orator and historically "won" the debate: Though there are conflicting primary sources and secondary accounts.
One hagiography asserts that directly after this debate with Moheyan, as Kamalashila was making his way down from the Himalaya to the Indian lowlands, he was incited to enact phowa
through compassionate duress, transferring his mindstream
to animate a corpse polluted with contagion
; and thereby, safely moving the hazard it presented. As the mindstream of Kamalashila was otherwise engaged, a Mahasidda by the name of Padampa Sangye came across the vacant kuten or "physical basis" of Kamalashila. Padampa Sangye, was not karmically blessed with an aesthetic corporeal form, and upon finding the very handsome and healthy empty body of Kamalashila, which he perceived as a newly dead fresh corpse, transferred his mindstream into Kamalashila's body. Padampa Sangye's mindstream in Kamalashila's body continued the ascent to the Himalaya and thereby transmitted the Chöd. The mindstream of Kamalashila upon endeavouring to return to his kuten was unable to do so and resorted by necessity to the vacant body of Padampa Sangye. The mindstream of Padampa Sangye continued in this body, and it is in this body that the transmission of Chod was made to Machig Labdrön
.
Dampa Sangye (Wylie
Wylie
Wylie may refer to:* Wylie * Wylie , mononymous Aboriginal companion of Edward John Eyre during his crossing of the Nullarbor Plain in Australia* Wylie, Wylie Qua, Access Diving, Gabriola Island, B.C...
: Dam pa sangs rgyas, (d.1117 (tib.: pha dam pa sangs rgyas)) often known as Pha Dhampa Sangye. or 'Father Dampa Sangye', was a Buddhist Mahasiddha
Mahasiddha
Mahasiddha is a term for one who cultivates those teachings that lead to becoming perfect. They are a type of eccentric yogini/yogi in both Sanatan Dharma and Vajrayana Dharma, given by Siddhartha. Mahasiddhi are those practitioners, or tantrikas who have gained sufficient understanding and are so...
of the Indian Tantric Movement who transmitted many teachings based on both Sutrayana
Sutrayana
Sūtrayāna, in the Indo-Tibetan three-fold classification of yanas, is the yana that leads to the realization of emptiness. It consists of Hinayana and Mahayana. The other two yanas, according to this classification, are Tantrayana and Dzogchen, which together constitute Vajrayana....
and Tantrayana to Buddhist practitioners in Tibet in the late 11th Century. He travelled to Tibet more than five times. It was on his third trip from India to Tibet that he met Machig Labdron
Machig Labdrön
Machig Labdrön was a renowned 11th century Tibetan Tantric Buddhist practitioner and teacher....
. Dampa Sangye appears in many of the lineage
Lineage (Buddhism)
An authentic lineage in Buddhism is the uninterrupted transmission of the Buddha's Dharma from teacher to disciple.The transmission itself can be for example oral, scriptural, through signs, or directly from one mind to another....
s of Chöd
Chöd
Chöd , is a spiritual practice found primarily in Tibetan Buddhism. Also known as "Cutting Through the Ego," the practice is based on the Prajñāpāramitā sutra...
and so in Tibet he is known as the Father of Chod, however perhaps his best known teaching is the 'Pacifying Suffering' teaching known variously as: Shee Ché, Shijed, Zibyed and Zhi-je . This teaching became an element of the Mahamudra
Mahamudra
Mahāmudrā literally means "great seal" or "great symbol." It "is a multivalent term of great importance in later Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism" which "also occurs occasionally in Hindu and East Asian Buddhist esotericism."The name refers to the way one who...
Chöd lineages founded by Machig Labdron.
His Tibetan name Pha dam pa Sangs rgyas, translates into Sanskrit as Buddha Paramapitri, literally "Buddha Excellent Father". He often was identified by the descriptive name Nagpopa, meaning "Black One" .
According to a prediction of Padmasambhava
Padmasambhava
Padmasambhava ; Mongolian ловон Бадмажунай, lovon Badmajunai, , Means The Lotus-Born, was a sage guru from Oddiyāna who is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighbouring countries in the 8th century...
he himself would be reborn in the life of Machig Lapdron as Phadampa Sangye . His outer skincolour was black then.
Another text says: "Padampa Sangye (known in India as Paramabuddha) was from southern India, and traveled widely in India, Tibet and China, until his death around 1117 AD. It is widely believed that Padampa Sangye was a mindstream
Mindstream
Mindstream in Buddhist philosophy is the moment-to-moment "continuum" of awareness. There are a number of terms in the Buddhist literature that may well be rendered "mindstream"...
'emanation' (tulku
Tulku
In Tibetan Buddhism, a tulku is a particular high-ranking lama, of whom the Dalai Lama is one, who can choose the manner of his rebirth. Normally the lama would be reincarnated as a human, and of the same sex as his predecessor. In contrast to a tulku, all other sentient beings including other...
) of the 8th century monk Kamalashîla, one of the early teachers of the Dharma
Dharma
Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
in Tibet. He spent much time teaching in the Tingri valley, located between Tibet and Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, where he founded a monastery.,.
Drum khar Nagpopa: Khampa yogi who meditated in dark retreat
Dark retreat
Dark retreat refers to advanced practices in the Dzogchen lineages of the Nyingmapa, Bönpo and other schools of Tibetan Buddhism.The time period dedicated to dark retreat varies from a few hours to decades. Dark Retreat in the Himalayan tradition is a restricted practice only to be engaged by the...
for 18 years was -according to Keith Dowman- considered to have been the twelfth of Dudjom Rinpoche
Dudjom Rinpoche
Dudjom Rinpoche is the title of a prominent line of tulkus of the Nyingmapa order of Tibetan Buddhism. Dudjom Rinpoche was born in 1904 on the tenth day of the sixth month in the year of the wood dragon in Southern Tibet in a region called the "hidden land" of Pema Ko. He died on January 17, 1987...
s/Jiktrel Yeshe Dorje seventeen previous incarnations..
According to Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910–1991), considered an emanation of Padampa Sangye, the story goes that the great pandit Shantarakshita
Shantarakshita
' was a renowned 8th century Indian Buddhist Brahmin and abbot of Nalanda University. Śāntarakṣita founded the philosophical school known as Yogacara-Svatantrika-Madhyamaka, which united the Madhyamaka tradition of Nagarjuna, the Yogacara tradition of Asanga and the logical and epistemological...
, who was instrumental in transplanting Buddhism from India to Tibet, promised that one of his students would come one day to complete his work. Kamalasila (Tib., Padampa Sangye) fulfilled this prophecy.
Khyentse Rinpoche in a 1987 gathering of students at Shechen Monastery
Shechen Monastery
The Shechen Monastery is one of the primary monasteries of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, in Tibet. It is located in Derge between Nangdo and Dzogchen Monastery...
, his seat in Nepal, offered a commentary on the Hundred Verses of Padampa Sangye .
In the esoteric oral tradition of Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
a version of Dampa Sangye's life-story has him travelling to China and teaching there for 12 years, where he was known as Bodhidharma
Bodhidharma
Bodhidharma was a Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th/6th century AD. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Ch'an to China, and regarded as the first Chinese patriarch...
the founder of Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
. Dampa Sangye is associated with the Tingri area of Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
, where he lived for many years.
Bardok Chusang Rinpoche is recognized as the incarnation Dampa Sangye. He is a married yogi
Yogi
A Yogi is a practitioner of Yoga. The word is also used to refer to ascetic practitioners of meditation in a number of South Asian Religions including Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.-Etymology:...
, living in Kathmandu.
There is a morality tale, allegory
Allegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
and teaching story inherent within the transmission of Chöd to Tibet that has been culturally remembered as a Cham Dance
Cham Dance
The cham dance , also spelled tscham or chaam, is a lively masked and costumed dance associated with some sects of Buddhism, and is part of Buddhist festivals. The dance is accompanied by music played by monks using traditional Tibetan instruments...
. In this sacred dance, Moheyan is generally depicted as of ample girth goaded by children. Chöd is a product of both the Indian and Chinese transmissions of Buddhism into the Himalaya. For a discussion of the Dunhuang
Dunhuang
Dunhuang is a city in northwestern Gansu province, Western China. It was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road. It was also known at times as Shāzhōu , or 'City of Sands', a name still used today...
fulcrum of the entwined relationship of Chinese and Indian Buddhism refer van Schaik and Dalton (2004).
For simplicity, the Indian tantric transmission may be characterized as "gradual" (Tibetan: rim gyis ‘jug pa; Chinese: tun-wu) and the Chinese Ch'an transmission may be characterized as "direct" (Tibetan: cig car gyi ‘jug pa; Chinese: chien-wu). It needs to be emphasized that this neat dichotomy
Dichotomy
A dichotomy is any splitting of a whole into exactly two non-overlapping parts, meaning it is a procedure in which a whole is divided into two parts...
in characterization of these two approaches to the Dharma, is only valid for the historical context of the great debate between Kamalashila and Moheyan, arranged by Trisong Detsen
Trisong Detsen
Trisong Detsän or Trisong Detsen ཁྲི་སྲོང་ལྡེ་བཙན , was the son of Me Agtsom and one of the emperors of Tibet and ruled...
and even then it is still open to dialectic. This debate has been named the "Council of Samye" by Giuseppe Tucci
Giuseppe Tucci
Giuseppe Tucci was an Italian scholar of oriental cultures, specialising in Tibet and history of Buddhism. During its zenith, Tucci was a supporter of Italian Fascism, and he used idealized portrayals of Asian traditions to support Italian ideological campaigns...
but is generally known as the "Council of Lhasa
Council of Lhasa
The Council of Lhasa, also called the Council of Samye or the Great Debate, was a debate from 792 to 794 at the Samye Monastery in Tibet....
". According to the general Tibetan tradition, the two years of the debate transpired at Samye
Samye
The Samye Monastery or Samye Gompa is the first Buddhist monastery built in Tibet, was most probably first constructed between 775 and 779 CE under the patronage of King Trisong Detsen of Tibet who sought to revitalize Buddhism, which had declined since its introduction by King Songtsen Gampo in...
, a significant distance from Lhasa
Lhasa
Lhasa is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China and the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau, after Xining. At an altitude of , Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world...
. According to the lore of the orthodox, prevailing Tibetan cultural tradition, Kamalashila, a mahapandita and scholar educated at Nalanda
Nalanda
Nālandā is the name of an ancient center of higher learning in Bihar, India.The site of Nalanda is located in the Indian state of Bihar, about 55 miles south east of Patna, and was a Buddhist center of learning from the fifth or sixth century CE to 1197 CE. It has been called "one of the...
, advocated the "gradual" process to enlightenment; whereas, Moheyan, as a trance
Trance
Trance denotes a variety of processes, ecstasy, techniques, modalities and states of mind, awareness and consciousness. Trance states may occur involuntarily and unbidden.The term trance may be associated with meditation, magic, flow, and prayer...
and meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
master advocated the "direct" awakening of original mind through the nirodha (Sanskrit) of discursive thought, the cessation of the mind of ideation
Ideation
Ideation is the creative process of generating, developing, and communicating new ideas, where an idea is understood as a basic element of thought that can be either visual, concrete, or abstract. Ideation is all stages of a thought cycle, from innovation, to development, to actualization...
. The historicity of this debate has been drawn into question by Gomez (1983) and Ruegg (1992) though this does not lessen its importance in defining the religious and cultural traditions of Tibet. Kamalashila was very handsome and a great orator and historically "won" the debate: Though there are conflicting primary sources and secondary accounts.
One hagiography asserts that directly after this debate with Moheyan, as Kamalashila was making his way down from the Himalaya to the Indian lowlands, he was incited to enact phowa
Phowa
Phowa is a Vajrayāna Buddhist meditation practice...
through compassionate duress, transferring his mindstream
Mindstream
Mindstream in Buddhist philosophy is the moment-to-moment "continuum" of awareness. There are a number of terms in the Buddhist literature that may well be rendered "mindstream"...
to animate a corpse polluted with contagion
Contagion
Contagion may refer to:In medicine:* Infectious disease, also known as contagious disease, with infection, or the infectious agent, also known as contagionIn media* Batman: Contagion, a story arc in the Batman comic book series...
; and thereby, safely moving the hazard it presented. As the mindstream of Kamalashila was otherwise engaged, a Mahasidda by the name of Padampa Sangye came across the vacant kuten or "physical basis" of Kamalashila. Padampa Sangye, was not karmically blessed with an aesthetic corporeal form, and upon finding the very handsome and healthy empty body of Kamalashila, which he perceived as a newly dead fresh corpse, transferred his mindstream into Kamalashila's body. Padampa Sangye's mindstream in Kamalashila's body continued the ascent to the Himalaya and thereby transmitted the Chöd. The mindstream of Kamalashila upon endeavouring to return to his kuten was unable to do so and resorted by necessity to the vacant body of Padampa Sangye. The mindstream of Padampa Sangye continued in this body, and it is in this body that the transmission of Chod was made to Machig Labdrön
Machig Labdrön
Machig Labdrön was a renowned 11th century Tibetan Tantric Buddhist practitioner and teacher....
.
Tingri Hundred (Wylie: ding ri brgya rtsa)
Padampa Sangye's last testament to the people of Tingri is known by various names in English 'The Tingri Hundred' or the 'Hundred Verses'. The Wylie of the Tibetan is available on the Internet.Further reading
- Dilgo Khyentse: The Hundred Verses of Advice of Padampa Sangye. Translated by Padmakara Translation Group. Published by Shechen Publications, New Delhi, 2002. ISBN 81-7472-088-1
- Padampa Sangye and Chökyi Senge: Lion of Siddhas: The Life and Teachings of Padampa Sangye translated by David Molk with Lama Tsering Wangdu Rinpoche, Snow Lion Pubn (July 30, 2008), ISBN 1559392991 (10), ISBN 978-1559392990 (13)
External links
- The Twelve Emanations of Pa Dampa Sangye and the Life of Bardok Chusang Rinpoche
- Milarepa meets Padampa Sangye
- Staue of The Mahasiddha (Great Adept) Dampa Sangye (Nagpopa) (d. 1117)
- http://collectionsonline.lacma.org/mwebcgi/mweb.exe?request=link;dtype=i;page=703900101;id=2659;type=703
- The Hundred Verses of Advice of Padampa Sangye