The Gyalwang Drukpa

My first guru, Thuksey Rinpoche (1916-1983), Ngawang Gyurmed Pelsang, was born in 1916, as the son of the 10th Gyalwang Drukpa and the grandson of Mahasiddha Shakya Shri. Thuksey Rinpoche in Tibetan language actually means 'The Precious Heart Son,' in that 'Son' not only postulates the biological essence of great enlightenment but also the wisdom of its own nature. Many of the holy masters, and especially the 13th Dalai Lama, declared that this small child was indeed the Speech Incarnation of Taklung Ma Rinpoche, the Head of the Taklung Kagyud School. However, his father, the 10th Gyalwang Drukpa, refused to give his son away to the Taklung order because he intuitively knew that his son would become a guardian and benefactor of the teachings of Buddha for the whole world, and particularly the teachings of the Drukpa Lineage when it would suffer under the revolution that would take place in the future. Instead, he was given to Ngawang Tenzin Pelzang, the 7th Zigar Choktrul Rinpoche, to become adopted when he was little more than an infant. He resided for most of his younger days at Zigar Gonpa in eastern Tibet.

Having trained and studied under the guidance of his own father and many other high lamas, such as Zigar Choktrul Rinpoche, who was what he called 'the main refuge', he also included among his teachers his Mahamaudra guru, Tripon Pema Chogyal, Drukpa Yongdzin Rinpoche, Togden Pagsam Gyatso, Thuchen Choegon Rinpoche and Lobpon Sonam Zangpo. My guru, the 1st Thuksey Rinpoche, was very serious and disciplined with his practice throughout his younger years. He said that during his time at Zigar Gonpa, after receiving all the yogic transmissions of blessings and teachings from his main spiritual master, the great living Buddha Tripon Pema Chogyal in central Tibet, he never passed even a day without accomplishing four sets of yoga practice even when he was very occupied with activities such as the setting up of the Educational Institute for Higher Studies or the disciplining of the monastic community. Also, he pointed out to me how important it was for him to remain in the meditative state of consciousness in the stream of his Guru's precious instructions throughout the day and night. Placed on top of the great view of Mahamudra, I think his main practice was the Six Yogas of Naropa, though you can never be sure what these holy masters' practices are, because the genuine practices are actually meant to be humbly and secretly practiced. It is not like many of us who are always busy talking about our practices, what we did in the past and what we are planning for the future. I was told by many old monks of Zigar Gonpa that most of his life was spent in continuous retreat doing practices with not much sleep and the other things that we normally may do to kill our precious time. I heard him saying once that he could see clearly the white bone of his leg where both legs had touched in the continuous assumption of the vajra sitting posture. However, he elaborated no further, therefore I presumed that he must have spent his entire time in meditation, not only in his state of mind, but physically as well. He wore a thin cotton shawl all year long, even in the winter when the temperature dropped to around minus 10 degrees celcius, or even lower. He never considered to make his hermitage warmer or wear more clothes. Everybody witnessed that within an approximate two-metre radius around the hermitage where he stayed, no snow or water could be turned into ice at all. Some even saw flowers and green plants growing naturally there instead. This actually was a spontaneous sign of a certain type of great Tantric achievement. Although he would have liked to continue living the remainder of his life in solitary retreat, he was persuaded by his students to leave his external retreat and come out into the world to teach and benefit beings who were desperately in need. Moreover, there was political instability and danger of attack upon those masters and monasteries in Tibet during the late 50's. Consequently, he was forced to leave his retreat and go down eventually to India with the 11th Gyalwang Drukpa, Gelek Palsangpo, with several other holy masters and attendants.

Lama Wangdor, who is now a genuine master of meditation and active in benefiting beings through his skills of direct instruction, was one of those who served my guru immensely on their difficult journey. Lama Wangdor is a great example of a genuine practitioner with devotion and realisation. Ordinary people, even youngsters with nothing on their back, did have great hardship to cross certain bridges made out of a single tree log, tens of metres high. If one falls off, there is not much hope to survive. Many died on their way with all sorts of hardship but Lama carried my guru on his back all the way to India with a pure heart. My guru's relative body is not at all a small size, much bigger than Lama himself, about 5 feet 8 inches tall.