The Gyalwang Drukpa

On the night of cremation, Ontrul Rinpoche dreamt of his guru riding confidently on a white horse in the direction of a high and gigantic spiraling mountain, telling him, "I am leaving for the Copper-Colored mountain to be reunited with Guru Padmasambhava. And you will follow my footsteps, but not now."

In early 1960's, Ontrul Rinpoche fled to India with many other masters and his own subjects, and he told me that he could manage to practice on his way to India, even though it was a very dangerous period, amidst gun shots and military activities. He had no fear because he was confident of his guru's guidance, but he felt sorry that lives were sacrificed easily, for example wild animals were killed to feed the hungry people, and people were killed by the harsh weather and the aggressive military activities. At the same time, Ontrul Rinpoche was able to differentiate among his group of escapers, practitioners who were calm and compassionate in such a tragic situation and non-practitioners who simply panicked and distressed over the pain and loss of their possessions and loved ones, among these people, many were great masters in his time. Therefore, through this experience, Ontrul Rinpoche was given a great opportunity to learn from genuine masters whose attitude was a exemplified model for him to follow for the rest of his life and to abstain from following those who were putting up a shallow front which simply broke down in time of tests.

Later on, in Kalimpong, India, Ontrul Rinpoche took the initiation of Dzogchen lineage from the late Dudjom Rinpoche and many exchanges took place during this time with many other genuine Dzogchen masters. He later told me that he wanted to stay in a monastic environment of Nyingmapa school. But that time he could not find any. So he thought about follow a great abbot and Dzogchen master, Polokhen Rinpoche, but he found out that Polokhen Rinpoche had no permanent retreat place that he could reside and practice. And then he decided to stay at the Drepung Gomang because he said to me, "By staying in that kind of monastic community, I would have no obstacles in spiritual practice, such as mundane attractions."

Ontrul Rinpoche stayed at the Drepung Gomang until the late 1980's, when my father and I requested him to be my guru, and for that purpose, he moved to my monastery. Years later, he went to Tibet to fulfill his final responsibilities, and he benefited many people there. Unfortunately, after a short stay in Tibet, he passed away. All of us who had followed him did not have enough positive accumulations to have him with us any longer.

I think Ontrul Rinpoche must be in the Amitabha's pureland right now because he was constantly making preparations to go to Amitabha's pureland after he expired from this world. When he was with me, he sometimes jokingly said, "I don't think I will be welcome by those dakinis in Copper-Colored mountain because I am not a yogi, therefore I cannot fulfill their wishes. So I think the Amitabha's pureland would provide me with a more welcoming reception, because there may be more vinaya Gelongs, where I may fit in comfortably." And he also said, "There should not be any problem for me to visit Copper-Colored mountain once I am in Amitabha's pureland." Ontrul Rinpoche would never say such things to the public, except to me and his closest attendant. When he was about to pass away, he told this attendant, "You don't have to worry for me, I will be going to Amitabha's pureland directly." This was followed by some personal advice to the attendant.