A Brief Pilgrimage to the Hidden Land of Pemakö

by Dylan Esler

Homage to the guru who reveals the secret pathways To the hidden land at the centre of my heart Where resides the eternal teacher Beyond all birth and death – Ever serene and radiant To you I pray: In all my lives may we come face to face, May my mind be always merged with yours! May my prayers turn

towards you In times happy and sad! May your blessings pour upon me And your teachings be my only light! In April and May 2006, I had the good fortune to accompany Lopon P. Ogyan Tanzin Rinpoche and Khandro Chöku Wangmo on a trip to their school in Payingdem village, Pemakö.1 For the benefit of Rinpoche’s

Western students, who through him are connected to this hidden land, and to give a picture of Rinpoche’s remarkable activity there, I would like to share with you the following account of our journey; I have sought to weave into my depiction of our adventures some of the local lore I picked up along the way.

We departed from Varanasi on the evening of April 24th, and travelled by train to Guwahati, the capital of Assam, where we arrived the following evening. Guwahati is a bustling city; while there we took the opportunity to visit by boat the shrine of Umnanda, located on the banks of the Brahmaputra river. This is where nanda, the Buddha’s lifelong attendant, attained arhatship after having been expelled from the community for his lack of realization by .2 It has nowadays become a place of worship for Lord iva. We then visited the tantric site of Kmakhy, among the twenty-four sacred places,as well as (Skt. pha)

The name Padma-bkod literally means ‘Lotus Array’. Pemakö is the name given to a particular region in the North-Eastern Province of Upper Siang of Arunachal Pradesh, India. It is one of the hidden lands (sbas-yul) referred to in the prophecies of Guru Rinpoche. 2 Although this may seem like a rather

harsh treatment, the episode is traditionally interpreted to exemplify the skilful means of the arhat . Perceiving that due to his lifelong attendance of the Buddha, nanda had had but little opportunity to practise and gain realization, chastised him for his lack of spiritual accomplishment. The following

reproaches were advanced against nanda: he neglected to question the Buddha about the minor precepts which the latter had authorized his monks to abolish; he put his foot on the Buddha’s raincoat; he allowed his body to be defiled by a woman’s tears; he neglected to request the Buddha to defer his passing

into transcendence (Skt. nirva); and he pleaded for women’s entry into the community. Sometimes, ten reproaches are counted. nanda thereupon went into exile in the place nowadays called Umnanda, where he entered retreat and attained arhatship. Having spent so much time in the Buddha’s company and being

gifted with a prodigious memory, nanda thereafter became instrumental in codifying the Buddha’s discourses (Skt. stra) during the first great council of Rjag’ha in 486 or 368 BCE. See Lamotte, Etienne, History of Indian Buddhism: From the Origins to the aka Era, Louvain-La-Neuve: Institut Orientaliste,

1988, pp.124-6. 3 The four main tantric sites are: U(( iyna, Kmarpa, Jlandhara and Pr)agiri. Their locations, particularly that of the former, will be discussed in a forthcoming paper.

On the other side of the Brahmaputra in Mayam, in the Naugaon district of Assam, is found another tantric site inhabited by powerful yogins; these reportedly transform all the men who visit them into goats during the day, while at night they use them for erotic play. This place is located in Hojay,

which some hold to be Uddiyna, though the latter is most likely to be found in Orissa. Despite the almost irresistible temptation to go there, this was

unfortunately impossible. Having visited the above temples and done a few errands in the city, it was time for us to leave Guwahati for Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh. We travelled by night bus and reached Itanagar the next morning. At dawn the following day we took a bus to Pasig , arriving there in the afternoon. Here it may be useful to bear in mind that Pemakö being a configuration (Skt. ma ala) of the sky-farer (Skt.

4 rNying-ma-pa: ‘the ancient ones’, the oldest of the Tibetan Buddhist schools. 5 Kl" is identical to the Tibetan Buddhist goddess Khros-ma nag-mo. 6 See, for instance, Daa-Mahvidy Tantra-Mahstra, Delhi: Manoj Panket Books. 7 Nonetheless, I do not wish hereby to suggest that the Buddhist tantric

tradition is but an offshoot of the Hindu one. If anything can be said with some degree of probability on this matter, it would seem that the reverse is true. However, this is a complex question which I do not wish to enter into any detail here. 8 Though locally pronounced Yingkong, the name is actually Zhing-skyong.

of Lang Palgyi Senge.12 In a previous life he had been a monk in Khams (East Tibet). Although he was an excellent monk, he received little respect, as no one recognized his inner spiritual qualities. He therefore promised that he would be born as a wrathful emanation in his next life. It is as such that he

took birth in Pemakö, where he had two wives. Later in his life, a tragic incident struck him. His son had crossed over to Tibet just as the Tensung Danglang13 had cut all the bridges leading from Tibet into Pemakö. In order to send a message to his father, he attached it to an arrow which he shot

towards his father’s house. Unfortunately, the members of the Tensung Danglang immediately suspected his father of being a Chinese spy. They thereupon beat him up with their guns so badly that he was to die shortly thereafter. All those who engaged in the beating later suffered various problems in their limbs.

Shortly before dying, he foretold that he would be reborn as someone called ‘dog’ in a place whose name would start with the Tibetan letter ‘nya’. One of his wives asked him how he, a great lama, could possibly take such a low birth. He angrily replied that she knew nothing at all. After a prolonged sojourn

on the Copper-Coloured Mountain (Zangs-mdog dpal-ri), he took birth again in Pemakö in Nyering as the boy we presently visited; his father’s name is Khyitruk14 and his mother is the late lama’s granddaughter. Due to an accident in which his mother, who was carrying him, fell down on him, this boy is

now slightly physically impaired; we were told that at times he behaves harshly towards his mother, as if he knew that she was the facilitating condition for this accident. Once as he was lying in his room looking at the ceiling, he asked his father: “Do you see Guru Rinpoche?” The latter could not see him,

and the vision faded away. There are said to be no less than seven hundred and twenty-five deities residing around DevakoIa, a place graced with four caves located to its four directions as well as eight cemeteries. Our guide to get there was Rinpoche’s nephew, Rapgye. That particular climb into the jungle has

left an indelible impression in my memory: surely, it was not an easy affair, but as we made our way along windy, steep, slippery paths, the luxuriant vegetation, the beauty of the surroundings and the breathtaking views which at times

9 Brewed non-distilled liquor made from barley or rice. 10 Nye-ring derives its name from the fact that on the one hand it is near (nye) to Dev11 Mar-phung sprul-sku 12 rLangs dPal-gyi seng-ge: one of Padmasambhava’s twenty-five disciples, he was among the hundred and eight translators (Skt. lotswa) to

travel to India to study Sanskrit. He is moreover considered to be a heart-son (thugssras) of Guru Rinpoche. Lang Palgyi Senge’s spiritual practice centred on the ’Jigs-rten mchod-bstod. He had three sons from two wives, passing on his teachings through his family line. See Tarthang Tulku, ‘The Twentyfive

Disciples of Padmasambhava’, in Crystal Mirror, vol. IV, 1975, pp.35-74, esp. pp.52f. 13 bsTan-srung dang-blangs: ‘Voluntary Guardians of the Teachings’, a group of armed Tibetans which comprised a voluntary army. 14 Khyi-phrug: ‘pup’. 15 Although locally called DevakoIa, the name actually is Dev"koIa.

were revealed from behind the trees all combined to give that unmistaken sense that we indeed found ourselves in a pure field, a place where the boundaries between different orders of reality have become quite transparent. Along the way we found wild berries growing on the trees and bushes, as well as springs whose pristine nectar-like waters became ever more delicious as we proceeded onwards; these gifts of nature were just what we needed to give us the energy

to continue. We reached MaoKkoIa,16 a village located about one-and-a-half hours’ walk from DevakoIa, in the early afternoon and stayed in the family of Meme Lodrö, whose daughter attends Rinpoche’s school. Before dawn the next day we set off for DevakoIa, arriving there about seven o’clock in the morning. On the way to DevakoIa, there are a number of holy springs located in caves. The main cave however, where Guru Rinpoche engaged in long-life practices with

his consort Mandarav, can only be visited in winter, as during the summer the river rises and so renders access to the cave perilous. Nevertheless, the upper cave, connected to the lower one, is accessible, and a constant stream of life-water (tshe-chu) and life-beer (tshe-chang) steadily drips from the rock.17 We gathered some of the holy waters from these springs, as well as from the Yangsang river, which is one of the Brahmaputra’s tributaries.18 After practising in DevakoIa temple, we were taken for a tour of the grounds by Lama Yeshe Dorje, the local lama and caretaker of the hermitage. Just outside the temple is a treasure (gter-ma) which was originally revealed by Dudjom Drakngak Lingpa.19 Later Dudjom Rinpoche20 confirmed that it would benefit many

beings in the future. Moreover, the prophecies of Guru Rinpoche foretell that when humanity is extinguished, it is from this place that the human race will regenerate itself. The treasure consists, in part at least, of Guru Rinpoche’s seat. Unfortunately however, it was damaged by a young lama, who touched it

prematurely. At the time of making this prediction concerning Drakngak Lingpa’s treasures, Dudjom Rinpoche was twenty-five. However, his relation with Dudjom Drakngak Lingpa goes back many years. Hailing from Khams, it was Dudjom Drakngak Lingpa who invited Dudjom Rinpoche to DevakoIa for the first time

when the latter was eighteen years old. On this occasion Dudjom Rinpoche travelled to Chimé Yangsang21 in Upper Siang and in DevakoIa bestowed the empowerments (dbang) and scriptural authorizations (lung) of the Rinchen Terdzö22 for the first time. It was during this visit that Dudjom Namkhai Dorje,23

another local treasure revealer (gter-ston), bestowed on him the name Dechen Dorje.24 Dudjom Drakngak Lingpa promised Dudjom Rinpoche his daughter in marriage, and the latter agreed that he would return to fetch her. Fulfilling his promise, he returned to Tuting when he was twenty-five, travelling from

Kongpo (South Tibet). However, Drakngak Lingpa’s secretary, who also coveted his daughter, took her away. Drakngak Lingpa thereupon declared this to be a terrible sin, foretelling that many calamities would befall them.

16 MaoK I I 17 This stream of life-water and life-beer is constant and neither decreases in the dry season nor increases in the rainy season. 18 The Yangsang (yang-gsang) river pours into the Brahmaputra near Tuting. 19 bDud-’joms drag-ngags gling-pa, also known as mNga’-dbang dge-legs. 20 bDud-’joms Rin-po-che, ’Jigs-bral ye-shes rdo-rje (1904-87) 21 ’Chi-med yang-gsang: ‘The Ultra-Secret Place of Immortality’. 22 Rin-chen gter-mdzod, a massive collection of treasure teachings compiled by ’Jam-mgon kong-sprul Rin-poche. 23 bDud-’joms nam-mkha’i rdo-rje; among his treasures is found a guide to

Pemakö’s sacred places. See Padbkod yang-gsang gnas-yig: Supreme Sacred Realm of Upper Siang (Pemako), translated by Lopon P. Ogyan Tanzin and Tenzin Chozom from the original Tibetan Terma text revealed by Dudjom Namkhai Dorje, unpublished. 24 bDe-chen rdo-rje: ‘Diamond of Great Bliss’, Dudjom Rinpoche’s sabhogakya name.

Indeed, his own daughter, being Dudjom Rinpoche’s predicted consort,25 passed away a month later. Drakngak Lingpa himself, however, being a great treasure revealer, died a natural death. Dudjom Rinpoche’s last visit to Pemakö occurred in 1968, when he came to Tuting from Kalimpong.

Continuing our journey through the jungle, we arrived in Payingdem29 village at dusk. Rinpoche had sent a party of children out to greet us, and they served us tea as we contemplated the surrounding panorama. A vast green plateau lay before us, quite different from any of the hilly landscapes we had

passed through so far. The setting sun lent an air of magic drama to the scene, as only the outlines of things were visible against the red and purple sky. As we walked towards the entrance of Lhundrup Topgye Ling,30 we could just make out the silhouettes of wild horses freely roaming in the pastures. I was

deeply moved: after so many preparations and more than a week on the road, I had finally arrived in what seemed to be a paradise within a paradise. As soon as we were welcomed by Rinpoche, it began to pour with rain, as if to signify an auspicious omen on our arrival. Although we had just been apart for two

days, we had so much to talk about as we enjoyed a warm meal accompanied by generous quantities of chang. The next morning Rinpoche took us for a tour of the grounds. He showed us the classrooms where the children were engaged in recitation practice, each one seated facing a wall and reciting a scripture as

fast as possible at the top of his or her voice. It was actually a very moving sight: these children and teenagers who only a few years ago had had no opportunity of education whatsoever were now able to read their prayers at such a tremendous speed. Moreover, it was clear that they did not only do this

as a duty, but engaged in the exercise with their full heart, being completely lost in their devotions; I observed this on a number of occasions while there. I was also shown the water-purification system (which functions through solar panels) and medical centre set up through the kindness of Traktung Rinpoche.

25 All in all, Dudjom Rinpoche had five predicted sky-faring consorts (Skt. dkin). 26 sPrul-sku O-rgyan phun-tshogs 27 rTogs-ldan srid-mthar Rin-po-che 28 dKon-rab 29 Although most likely a name deriving from the local language of the indigenous Nga people, there is an ahistorical Tibetan interpretation of

the name which should be recorded simply because of its charm: dPaldbyings ldem: ‘The Glorious Plateau of the Open Dimension’. 30 Lhun-drup stobs-rgyas gling: ‘The Site where Strength Spontaneously Unfolds’. It was sMin-gling khri-chen Rin-po-che who bestowed this name on Rinpoche’s school.

Rinpoche explained to us the curriculum of his school. The aim of Lhundrup Topgye Ling foundation being to transmit the doctrinal, meditative, yogic, ritual and artistic heritage of the Tibetan ngakpa tradition,31 most of the curriculum is organized in such a way that these subjects take predominance. Hence, at first the children are taught Tibetan language and are trained in the recitation of liturgies and prayers. They also have classes in Buddhist

philosophy, studying the classical texts; whereas in many religious colleges and training centres across the Tibetan diaspora it has become customary for a great number of scriptures to be covered during the curriculum, yet without the students having an opportunity to read the texts in their entirety,

Rinpoche insists that his students limit their study to a few of the most fundamental texts, such as ntideva’s Bodhicryvatra, Thokmé Zangpo’s Gyalsé Laklen32 and Ngrjuna’s Su llekha, and that they study these thoroughly. Also included in the syllabus are such texts as Longchenpa’s Ngalso Korsum,33 as

well as the Guhyagarbhatantra and the Kunjé Gyalpö Do.34 Generally speaking, the emphasis is not on endless scholastic study for its own sake, but on an integration of study and practice. The students are therefore taught the spiritual practices (Skt. sdhana) and tantric rituals a ngakpa must observe, in particular those of the Dudjom Tersar35 tradition, and are engaged in completing their preliminaries (sngon-’gro). As the school follows the Dudjom Tersar lineage, a number of Dudjom Rinpoche’s own works are also incorporated in the curriculum: these include both doctrinal works, such as his Tenpé Namzhag and

his commentary on Ngari Panchen’s Domsum Namngé, and historical writings, such as his Chöjung and his Gyalrap. The students also receive instruction in modern disciplines such as English, Hindi and mathematics, so as to offer them a basic preparation for the contemporary world. Other traditional subjects taught at the school include astrology, which encompasses both astrological calculations relating to matters of life

31 The term ngakpa (sngags-pa; Skt. mantrin) refers to a non-celibate tantric priest, specialized in the practice of the secret mantra vehicle (gsang-sngags-kyi theg-pa; Skt. guhyamantrayna). It should be noted that the feminine equivalent of this term is ngakma (sngags-ma), which refers to a female

practitioner of the secret mantra vehicle. This should be distinguished from ngakmo (sngags-mo), which simply signifies the wife of a ngakpa, who may or may not be a practitioner in her own right. 32 rGyal-sras lag-len so-bdun-ma by Thogs-med bzang-po (1295-1369). 33 Ngal-gso skor-gsum by Klong-chen-pa

(1308-63). 34 Kun-byed rgyal-po’i mdo 35 The bDud-’joms gter-gsar comprises both the revelations of bDud-’joms gling-pa and those of bDud-’joms ’Jigs-bral ye-shes rdo-rje. 36 This practice is called ‘cutting’ (gcod) because it involves the cutting of conceptual self-grasping, in particular as such self-grasping tends to identify the mistaken sense of self with the body.

Pemakö is known as a hidden land (sbas-yul) and its opening has occurred only recently.38 It is held to have been visited by Guru Rinpoche and Khandro Yeshe Tsogyal during the eighth century CE. At that time Guru Rinpoche is said to have tamed the local spirits of the place, to have concealed treasures

there for future generations and in particular to have predicted that the land of Pemakö would be opened up by future treasure revealers – the emanations of his twenty-five disciples – so that those of good karma would be able to settle there and engage in their spiritual practice undisturbed. <= % %a

hidden land, there is one site in particular which Guru Rinpoche predicted as being a place where eternal youthfulness and success in religious practice could be attained, especially when Tibet would be befallen by calamities due to the negative karma of her people. The gateway to this place is none other than DevakoIa, and Lopon P. Ogyan Tanzin Rinpoche’s work in Payingdem can be seen as a preparation to enter that most secret of secret lands.

37 It should be noted that Rinpoche has devised a system of degrees integrated to the curriculum, which starts at the nursery level and leads up to the traditional lopon (slob-dpon; Skt.crya) degree, roughly equivalent to an MA. Furthermore, those of the students wishing to stay at Lhundrup Topgye Ling

after their studies in order to do retreat and to pass on their knowledge in their turn will be encouraged to do so. 38 Treasure revealers associated with the opening of Pemakö are bDud-’dul rdo-rje and sTag-sham nus-ldan rdorje. There is also a triad known as ‘the three awareness-holders’ (rig-’dzin rnam-

gsum), comprised of ’Gro-’dul gling-pa, rGyal-sras bde-chen gling-pa and Chos-rje gling-pa. None of these luminaries lived earlier than the 17th century CE. Dudjom Rinpoche should also be counted among the important figures in the opening of Pemakö. 39 dByin-ji is the Tibetan word for Englishman, and, by extension, any foreigner.

40 Such religious dances are called ’cham in Tibetan; there are different dances representing a great number of religious themes and stories.

Note: To find out more about the Pemakö Project and to make a donation to support the work at Lhundrup Togye Ling School, please visit: http://www.pemakoproject.org

An appeal for funds has been launched to purchase a jeep, which will be of tremendous use in reducing the costs for the transport of basic goods to the school. The money thus saved will be able to be spent far more usefully on the development of the school (e.g. on the teachers’ quarters which have yet to

be built, etc.). While a good amount has already been collected, any further donations are still gratefully accepted; the purchase of the jeep is scheduled for spring 2008. To make a donation specifically towards the jeep, please contact Miss Lindsay Young: lindsayjyoung28@yahoo.co.uk

Lopon P. Ogyan Tanyin Rinpoche and the children at Lhundrup Topgye Ling are most grateful for your generosity.