The Life of Shabkar: The Autobiography of a Tibetan Yogin

712 Pages·2001·3.26 MB·English

by  Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol

THE LIFE OF SHABKAR
The Autobiography qf a Tibetan Yogin
The Kurg of Wash-granting Jewels 17wt Fu!fiils the Hopes
of All Fortunate Disciples 'Who Seek Liberation
The detailed narration of the life and liberation
of the great vajra-holder Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol,
refuge and protector for all sentient beings of this dark age
with a Foreword by
His Holiness the X!Vth Dalai Lama
Translated from the Tibetan
by Matthieu Ricard,
Jakob Leschly, Erik Schmidt,
Marilyn Silverstone, and Lodro Palmo
Edited by
Constance Wilkinson
with Michal Abrams, and other members of the
PADMAKARA TRANSlATION GROUP
Snow Lion Publications
Ithaca, NY USA
Snow Lion Publications
605 West State Street
P. 0. Box 6483
Ithaca, NY 14851
[phone]
www.snowlionpub.com
Copyright© 2001 Matthieu Ricard
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced by any means without prior
written permission from the publisher.
Printed in Canada on acid-free, recycled paper.
Cover photo: J. Biancamaria
The cover illustration is a watercolor on silk painted by the eighth Dugu Choeyal Gyantso
Rinpoche for this publication. The artist is a renowned Tibetan lama and yogin whose work
combines traditional style with a free, expressive manner.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol, 1781-1851
The life ofShabkar: the autobiography of a Tibetan yogin I translated from Tibetan by Matthieu Ricard [et
al.] edited by Constance Wilkinson (poetry), with Michal Abrams [et al.]
p. em.
ISBN 1-55939-154-5
1. Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol, 1781-1851. 2. Lamas-China-Tibet-Biography. 3. Yogins-China-Tibet
Biography. I. Ricard, Matthieu. II. Wilkinson, Constance. III. Abrams, Michal.
Contents
Foreword, His Holiness the XIV Dalai lAma vii
Preface, Matthew Kapstein ix
Acknowledgments xi
Translator's Introduction, Mattkieu Ricard xiii
A Celebration ofShabkar, H. H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche xxxi
The Life Story
Introduction 3
1
Early Tears 15
2
Renouncing the World 2 7
3
Meeting kfy Teacher 39
4
Retreat at the Hermit's Cave 49
5
Meditation at T zgress Fort 65
6
At The Heart of the Lalce 95
7
'Meditation at Mount Machen 155
The life ofS lw.hkar
VI
8
At White Rock Mo~ Fortress 179
9
Pilgrimage to Central Tzbet 205
10
The Ravines ofTsari 243
11
At Mount Kailash 275
12
Pilgrimage to Nepal 349
13
Meditation at IApchi 395
14
Return to Central Tibet 447
15
Return to Dorney 485
Conclusion 541
~
Appendices
1 Introduction to the teachings dealt with in the biography 547
2 Shabkar's spiritual teachers 557
3 Chogyal Ngakyi Wangpo's ancestry 565
4 Kunzang Dechen Gyalpo and the Wish-fo!filling Gem, Ho;yagriva and Varahi 569
5 Shabkar's writings 577
6 Shabkar's disciples 589
List of Abbreviations 593
Glossary of Enumerations 595
Bibliography 607
Maps 617
Table of Songs, Letters, Teachings, and Major Events 625
Indexes
General index 633
2 Index of persons, deities, and sacred images 655
3 Index of places 679
4 Index of Tibetan works 693
Foreword
By His Holiness
the X!Vth Dalai Lama
The vast religious literature of Tibet can be Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol, is also to be pub
divided into two kinds of books: those dealing lished in English. Regarded by many as the
with Buddhist teaching in a technical, analytical greatest yogi after Milarepa to gain enlighten
way, intended for those who have trained in logic ment in one lifetime, he also lived the life of a
and philosophy, and those which contain advice. wandering mendicant teaching by means ofs piri
The latter category consists ofw orks which present tual songs. Shabkar is particularly celebrated for
the Dharma in a way that is accessible to people the absolute purity of his approach to his lama
without special training. It includes, on the one and his personal practice, which freed him from
hand, books which deal with the Stages of the the snare of sectarianism. He is also affection
Path, Mind Training, and so forth, and, on the ately remembered for the kindness of his gently
other, books of an inspirational nature contain teasing humor.
ing the lives ofg reat practitioners, spiritual songs, This work will undoubtedly make a great
and so forth. The special quality of these books contribution to the growing store of Tibetan
lies in their universal appeal. The life ofM ilarepa literature translated into English, providing a
and his Hwulred Tlwusand Songs, for example, are source of inspiration to Buddhist practitioners
treasured in almost every Tibetan household and and general readers alike. I am glad of this
also would often be the only additional book that opportunity to express my gratitude and admira
meditators took into retreat with them. tion to Matthieu Ricard and other friends who
I am, therefore, delighted to know that the have labored long under expert guidance to pro
life-story of another more recent great practitioner, duce it.
Vll
Preface
The autobiography of Shabkar Tsogdruk in exposing all hypocrisy-these are the qualities
Rangdrol is one of the classics of Tibetan Bud that suffuse his work, overriding the niceties of
dhist literature and may be counted among the literary style alone.
spiritual classics ofhumankind. Like St. Francis, The gentle and kind personality illuminat
Jalal-ud-din Rumi, Sri Ramakrishna, or the ing these pages should not, however, be regarded
Hasidim, Shabkar exemplifies through his life as an airy proponent of love and light, a New
and legacy the excellence ofa particular religious Age prophet before his time. Shabkar's lightness
tradition, while transcending particularity and disguises, to some extent, the intense moral rigor
touching the divine in all. of the ascetical ethos he propounded: Shabkar
In Shabkar's life and songs, we receive a was an effective apostle of vegetarianism among
privileged and intimate view of the world of the carnivores, of teetotalism among the lush, of
Buddhist adept, a world ofi ntense self-discipline, renunciation among the worldly. He wins our
but also of humor, vision and joy. It is owing to respect and sympathy not because we always
these qualities, and the simple yet elegant form concur with, much less adhere to, the standard
in which they are here expressed, that Shabkar's upon which he insists, but because his insistence
work has come to be especially beloved among takes the form not of the moralist's harangue but
the people of his native province of Amdo, in of the songster's jest, and of teaching through his
northeastern Tibet, who fmd in these pages a own good example. For above all, Shabkar prac
companion offering continual wisdom, solace, ticed what he preached.
and the courage needed to face the trials of life. In addition to its religious and literary value,
The mixed prose and verse in which the autobiography ofShabkar presents an excep
Shabkar's autobiography is written is in some tional record of many dimensions of Tibetan life
respects reminiscent oft he campu style ofc lassical during the early part of the nineteenth century.
Sanskrit poetry, which influenced Tibetan litera The author's remarks on pilgrimages, on the
ture primarily through the]atokamala ofA ryasura, donation and redistribution ofw ealth in connec
a work with which Shabkar was certainly famil tion with religious affairs, on brigands and thieves,
iar. Shabkar, however, is no mere imitator of and occasionally on politics, all contribute to our
Sanskrit ~a; it is his eschewal, in fact, ofliterary understanding of and receptiveness to a now
artifice, in favor of the clear and rich idiom of vanished world.
colloquial speech, folk song and traditional folk In offering to us the present translation, the
oratory, that lends his writing much ofi ts distinc Padmakara Translation Group, inspired by H.H.
tive flavor. Shabkar's wit and playfulness, his the late Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, and headed
magnificent flights ofi magination, his persistence for this work by Gelong Konchog Tendzin
IX
X ~Life ofS hah/car
(Matthieu Ricard), has magnificently contrib of specialization: religion, history, anthropology,
uted to our knowledge of Tibetan Buddhism. literature, etc. . ·
Their achievement is a highly accurate, but at The SUNY Series in Buddhist Studies is
the same time pleasant and readable, rendering pleased to present this unparalleled addition to
of a work the many difficulties of which might the body of Buddhist literature now available in
well have frustrated the effort. The background English translation.
material they have assembled here, represented
in the notes and appendices, by itself represents a MAITHEW KAPsTEIN
major contribution to Tibetan Studies that will Series Editor
be welcomed by scholars in many differing areas
Acknowledgments
This work was translated and edited by the We would like to thank all those who made
Padmakara Translation Group under the guid valuable contributions during the various stages
ance of: H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Tulku of the translation, editing, and proofreading of
Urgyen Rinpoche, Dza Trulshik Rinpoche, this work: Anijinba Palmo (E. Dejong), Ani Samten
Taklung Tsetrul Perna Wangyal Rinpoche, (Casandra Calo), Ronald Bamstone, Shelagh Byron,
Dagpo Tulku, Dugu Tulku Choegyal Rinpoche, David Christensen, the late Terry Clifford, Wulstan
Alak Zenkar Rinpoche (Thubden Nyima), Tulku Fletcher, Michael Friedman, Shirin Gale, Gelong
Thondup Rinpoche, Senge Trakpa Rinpoche, Tsultrim Gyatso, Janis Joculvar, Dolores Katz,
Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche, Shangpa Tulku, and S. Lhamo, Hetty MacLise, Tim Olmsted, Nur
Tulku Sangnak Tendzin. Richard, and Pam Ross.
Special thanks are due to Professor Matthew
Kapstein (Columbia University, USA) for his
invaluable help, and to Dr. Franz-Karl Ehrhard
Translators (Kathmandu, Nepal) and Toni Huber (Univer
Matthieu Ricard (Konchog Tendzin),Jakob sity of Canterbury, New Zealand), whose sug
Leschly (Tashi Chapel), Erik Schmidt gestions brought about significant improvements
(Perna Kunzang), Marilyn Silverstone during the final stages of preparation; to Chris
(Bhikshuni Ngawang Chadron), and Gianniotis for his long-term technical guidance;
Linda Talbot (Lodro Palma) and to Vivian Kurz and Bernadine Dawes for
Editor their dedicated and careful attention to all the
Constance Wilkinson matters related to the publication of this work.
Assistant editors We also thank all those who were kind
Michal Abrams (Perna Yeshe),Jeffrey Miller enough to make maps and other useful informa
(Surya Das), Daniel Staffier,John Canti, tion available to us: Katia Buffetrille (Paris,
Dana Chubb, Wyatt Benner,Jody Vernon, France), Keith Dowman (Chabahil, Kathman
and Maggie Westhaver du), Mike Farmer, Peter Kessler (Rikon, Swit
Illustrations: ze~land), Bradley Rowe (Exeter, U.K.), Cyrus
The eighth Dugu Choegyal Steams (Bodhnath, Kathmandu), and Tashi
Gyamtso Rinpoche Tshering (Library of Tibetan Works and Ar
Raphaele Demandre chives, Dharamsala, India).
Xl