Explorer in Front of Blood and Sword

Chapter 2       Wisdom Firing Set Prairie Ablaze

2.2. Explorer in Front of Blood and Sword

Because the Bon religion had no reliable lineage and it was not from holy India, a feeling of abhorrence arose in the heart of Khyungpo Naljor.

A thousand years later, a famous scholar, Marx Musi gave the following exclamation:

If someone asked me “under what skies have human souls…thought most deeply about the most important questions and found answers to some of these questions, which are worthy of attention even from people who have studied Plato and Kant?” I will point to India. If I ask myself again “for those of us who are almost entirely cultivated by Greek, Roman and Jewish philosophies, which documents have the most corrective effect and are most required to make our inside life more perfect, more complete and more universal? In fact, it is a life that is more humane…” I will point to India again. (HUMAN RELIGION).

After reading the above text, you may understand why Khyungpo Naljor made such a big decision.

One day, Khyungpo Naljor passed over the teaching of Bon to a pupil, and departed from Bon. In 1018 C.E., he followed the great lama Longlusangge of Ningmapa to learn THE Mind Dharma Scripture of Mahasanti. The next year, he followed Xiaomaai of the Kagyu lineage to learn Mahamudra. But Khyungpo Naljor was not satisfied. Later on, he sold all his possessions, went to India, and began the long trip of searching for dharma.

For many years, there was always a lone explorer in my heart. I always wanted to express this image through literature. He is all great saints who have searched for dharma in the past and in the future, and also my guru Khyungpo Naljor. In my novel The STONE　CAVERN OF WESTERN XIA, I created a lone seeker of the spirit. In his creation, the shadow of Khyungpo Naljor was shining in front of my eyes.

The first transition point in the life of young Khyungpo Naljor was sacrifice. It must be known that when he made the decision to seek dharma, he was already a master of Bon, mastering its scripture and dharma techniques, with wide renown, continuous sources of funding and the respect of thousands. His path to success was already paved and he needed only to enjoy. His sacrifice at that time meant giving up the fame of his family, the support from his family lineage, the power of instant gratification and mountains of money. It meant becoming penniless from a lifetime of glory and prominence. In this world, hundreds and thousands of people compete for a tiny position, like the head of a branch; the most insignificant profit is fought over and the false glow of fame as faint a s firefly is pursued, not to mention the “dharma king” of Bon.

But Khyungpo Naljor renounced these. He gave up the glory of this world, but achieved everlasting merit. If not for this sacrifice, Buddhism would have lost a master unrivalled for thousands of years, and Bon would at best have had one more insignificant name. More probably, he would have been buried without a trace by history.

His great sacrifice provided his later great reward. Small temporary benefit was sacrificed for great merits lasting thousands of years.

I was once invited as a guest for Shanghai Eastern Network’s “Literature Union”. Mr.Xiu Dalong from Shanghai Literature asked me “what is the most important thing an author should do?” I told him “giving up”. Giving up fame and benefit, desire, greed and property, giving up all unreal things and superficial outlook of spirit. Only when outside temptation has completely disappeared from the spirit can the divine light of wisdom appear. People’s lives are like a rope. Each outside pursuit will shorten the rope. If you want to reach the peak of any career, you must put in the maximal length of life. You must finish everything you have to do before you die. Only giving up allows you to have maximum formative space in your life.

Khyungpo Naljor taught me giving up. Giving up is fundamental condition of breaking the small bottle of ego and merging into more spacious space; it is the key to throwing away small ego and achieving big ego; it is the root of eliminating the two attachments of ego and dharma and enlightening to Buddhahood. On account of giving up, there are countless stories taught by the words and actions of generation after generation of great saints. The spirit of Buddhism is carried by stories, passed from ancient history to today, and flowing to the faraway future. Opening Buddhism sutra, there are infinite stories of this kind, such as giving one’s body to feed the tiger, cutting one’s flesh to feed the hawk, giving up the throne, giving up power, viewing wealth as dirt and ultimately achieving everlasting merits.

In the eyes of wisdom, the instant benefit of this world is like a snails’ shell, inhibiting their body and spirit, preventing them from seeing the wide world, limiting their vision to the minute grains of profit. Their lives are like snails burdened with shells; their death like flies dispersing; their happiness like a dog biting its own tongue; their sadness like losing things in dreams. So many people come for fame and live for profit, clamouring in the superficial dust and unreal world, forgetting that life will come to an end, not knowing that death is close. They do not know how hard the human body is to come by, and do not know the rarity of enlightening dharma. They are human in name, but are actually rats in the rat race.

There are many stories in Tibetan Buddhism about giving up. One day, Bachu Rinpoche was teaching dharma to pupils. One believer came. He had great faith towards Bachu Rinpoche and wanted make an offering to Bachu, but he knew that Bachu did not accept offering from believers. Thus, he had an idea. He brought a piece of silver and rode his horse to the grass where the teacher and students were, put the silver in front of Bachu and said “Guru, this silver is offered to you. Please bless that I will not fall into the three evil paths.” That said, he rode away. When the teaching ended, Bachu and his students left without looking at the sliver. In another time, when Bachu Rinpoche taught believers Discussion of Entering Bodhisattva Behavior, an old man offered him a horseshoe shaped piece of silver, which was seen by a thief. A week later, guru finished teaching and left. The thief thought about the silver and followed him. At night, he found Bachu Rinpoche sound asleep, so he went near Bachu and checked his baggage, but could not find the silver. Bachu Rinpoche was awoken, and asked “what are you doing?” The thief was scared and ran away. Bachu laughed and said “Why do you run? Poor soul, how can you let outside things make you like this? Are you looking for the silver? If so, go back to the place where I boiled tea during the day. I used it to support my kettle. Look carefully, it may still be there. The thief half trusted and half doubted. But he had checked the bags of Bachu and found nothing. So he went back and arrived at the place Bachu had said at daylight. Sure enough, he found the silver among several stones smoked black by fire and smoke. The thief was very surprised and exclaimed “Such people actually exist in this world! This is a true great adept. If I steal from him, I will fall into hell.” He then had great faith in Bachu Rinpoche. Chasing with all his might, his caught up with Bachu. Bachu laughed “I didn’t lie to you, did I. You have got what you wanted, so why do you pursue me?” The thief got down on his knees and repented “You are a true lama and I should not steal your things.” Bachu said “You do not have to repent to me. I don’t need that silver, take it as a gift. From now on, do not steal other people’s things. Worship the three Jewels frequently.” Later on, people found the thief and beat him and rebuked him. Bachu said “Do not beat him. That is my student. Beating him is beating me. Please release him.”

There were many masters in Tibetan Buddhism who renounced fame and profit and gave up the benefits of this world. Because of their great sacrifice, they gained great achievement, and finally attained the highest Buddhahood.

In this hazy world, competitors in the rat race are like the clouds of mosquitoes gathered over a summer lake, disappearing with the autumn wind. Thus Chen Ziang sighed “no predecessors seen in antiquity, no inheritors imminent in posterity, for all the wideness of the world, to be standing yet alone I cry”. This person is famed for a thousand years because of one poem. However real enlighteners are not alone — there are saints who came before and students who follow behind, transcending time and space, rejoicing with the millenniums, sharing one life with the sky and earth and once essence with all existence. Those who leave self behind obtain unison with the dharma world and with all living beings, and as a result have no-caused mercy and benevolence.

I do not envy the wealth of kings, the might of generals, the prosperity of businessmen and officials or the luxury of Shichong, but I admire Khyungpo Naljor who gave up all substantial benefit and walked into the unknown with a pure body. I also respect Milaripa, unfettered in body and heart. When Milaripa went to nirvana, he left only a knife, a piece of cloth and a piece of sugar, and asked his students to share these amongst themselves. He left a note, “the cloth and sugar cut with this knife will never run out…if anyone says that Milaripa has gold, they should eat shit.” Gandhi, the heroic saint of India, weighed less than 50 kg and had less than 2 dollars when he died. Sacrifice became the representation of his life.

Khyungpo Naljor’s search for dharma is instructive. At the time, he was one of the elites of Bon. He had plentiful offerings, a comfortable life and widespread fame, and was well established according to current philosophies of life. If he chose this life path, a splendid lineage in Buddhist history would never have been, and Buddhism itself would have suffered great lost. Because the guillotine of outside religions was coming.

Sometimes, a choice that appears accidental will affect one’s life, or even the whole of history. The choice of Khyungpo Naljor was one such case. Bon at the time had influential power and numerous students. According to Bon, Khyungpo Naljor had achieved the Bon Dharma. If Khyungpo Naljor had relaxed only slightly, not only would his life have been insignificant, numerous living beings of the future will not have been able to be showered by the glory of gold-like teaching of the Shangpa Kagyu lineage. Therefore, the most important thing in life is choice. Right choices benefit the whole life. Wrong choices will hinder the whole life.

The historical documentaries about the detailed process of Khyungpo Naljor’s search for dharma are overly brief, and there are few detailed materials in Han areas. There was no dramatic life and death like that of Naropa, no hardship of experience like that of Marpa and no hardship body and soul like that of Milaripa in the process of his dharma searching. But I believe that every search of his was a great journey that shook heaven and earth. There are many opinions about the number of times Khyungpo Naljor went to India or Nepal for Dharma: some say three times, some say ten. He received the teaching of lineages from over 150 great saints, not for his own benefit but purely for others. His heart and conduct are, in the words of Qu Yuan “the road is long, but I will search from end to end”.

Readers may not know that not long after Khyungpo Naljor entreated dharma, the great troop of non-Buddhists invaded India and other areas, and Buddhism disappeared beneath a pool of blood. It was those great saints like lama Khyungpo Naljor and Marpa that struggled for their whole lives to create the later eminence of Tibetan Buddhism.

Not long ago, India sent people to China to translate some Buddhist sutra from Chinese and Tibetan, because many scriptures have been lost in India. Luckily, the heavens sent lama Khyungpo Naljor and others to relay the precious torch of wisdom to Tibetan areas in a special period. The star-like fire finally blazes the field. The dharma entreated by Khyungpo Naljor has become the shared lineage and nutrition for many branches of Tibetan Buddhism. Currently, scholars often make classifications according to Ningmapa, Kagyupa, Sakya and Gelugpa, however, many teachings have actually merged: you are in me and I am in you, although the names are different. For example, Master Tsongkapa Master learnt the teaching of Shangpa Kagyu. Thus, students should not discriminate against and abuse each other, do not be like blind men sizing up the elephant.

In 1020 C.E., Khyungpo Naljor sold all of his possessions and went to Nepal, taking with him the gold. He first learned Sanskirt from Banzhida Sumadi, and received over 50 empowerments, then became a monk in the place of Duojiedengpa Guru, and received the sramanera discipline. It is said that every hair of his turned into Avalokitesvara when was shaved. Then guru gave him 113 empowerments of teaching, including the five models of Chakrasamvara. On the tenth day of a certain month, during the offering to Master Padmasambhawa, exotic flowers fell, and sixteen heavenly ladies made offering to him, and all people exclaimed at it as miraculous. Right before parting, Duojiedengpa predicted “You can live for 150 years. After returning to Tibet, you will widely benefit living beings in the six realms and redeem numerous living beings. After you go to nirvana, you will become the higher Bodhisattva before Amita Buddha.”

After leaving Duojiedengpa, Khyungpo Naljor continued to travel and learn, visiting many holy places and receiving many secret dharma from many big saints such as Gengxiangduojie, the disciple of Matripa, Gongpawa in Keshenmier, Xibazansalianna, and then began his return to Tibet. On his way, he met robbers. Khyungpo Naljor glared and pointed his finger, and the robber died vomiting blood. After going back to Tibet, Khyungpo Naljor started to preach dharma and accepted students. His fame spread far, disciples gathered like clouds and there were generous offerings, however, he always thought of Amojia’s prophesy. Though he received over a hundred dharma when he went to Nepal, the Five Golden Dharma of Niguma was not among them. Certainly, for himself, he need only choose one dharma to meditate and liberation would have been easily in reach. However for the benefit of all living beings, he should go to India again, thus he exchanged all of his offerings for gold, amounting to thousands of liang, and took them on his journey to India.

After reaching India, he used the gold as offering for each and every of his guru and received many teachings. He gave the great enlightener Matripa two Manzha of seven and thirteen liang of gold. Matripa was very happy and asked “What empowerments do you want?” Khyungpo Naljor said “That which gives blessing and wide source of money to benefit living beings during life and grants entry to the kingdom of Buddha after death. This kind of Yidam Dhama is all I entreat.” Matripa then bestowed on him the thirteen models of Mahakala empowerment, and then he did retreat with Matripa for thirteen days and attained achievement, and saw Mahakala appear. From then on, Mahakala did not leave Khyungpo Naljor. Because of this cause, Khyungpo Naljor had great sources of money in future preaching and no material concerns. Using this fortune, he built 108 temples, and from then on the teaching of Shangpa Kagyu became prosperous.

In the Chanxiang wood, Khyungpo Naljor met one of the four most important guru in his life, Sukhasiddhi. I will talk about her story in the later text of this book. Sukhasiddhi is highly honoured in Shangpa Kagyu, and there is also the transmission of the Six Dharma of Sukha. People of upper root can achieve Buddhahood in this life by eight months of retreat specifically meditating on this dharma. In the Offering of the Five Golden Dharma there is also offering to Sukhasiddhi.

Khyungpo Naljor offered five hundred liang of gold in total to Sukhasiddhi, and Sukhasiddhi transmitted the Six Dharma of Sukha to him. After Khyungpo Naljor achieved this dharma, Sukhasiddhi never left Khyungpo Naljor. To help him enlighten as soon as possible, for a long time afterwards, Sukhasiddhi acted as his spiritual consort.

In India, Khyungpo Naljor also met many great enlighteners. From Baibilangjue he received teachings including the dharma of the Five Models of Chakrasamvara and the Dharma Collection of Red and White Dakini. From Banzhida Deweiduoji he received the dharma of the Yanmodi collection, such as Yanmandejia. From Luobeiduojie he received the blessed heavenly ladies dharma.

Khyungpo Naljor still did not receive the teaching of the Five Golden Dharma of Niguma during his two searches for dharma, thus he had to go back to Tibet after using up all his gold. After returning to Tibet, many people came to him to entreat dharma. One day, under the direction of dakini, he found a hidden goldmine and dug out lots of gold.

To receive the Five Golden Dharma of Niguma, and to thank the gurus who transmitted dharma to him, Khyungpo Naljor went once more to India, bringing with him large amounts of gold. At the time, conditions for commuting were very bad. There were steep mountains, foul climate and robbers showing up frequently. Every journey to west took months or even years, and each time was at the risk of one’s life. Khyungpo Naljor had already achieved many secret methods, and enlightenment would have been as easy as taking something out of his own pocket. He had countless disciples and widespread renown, but the life of great saints, like the life of Shakyamuni Buddha, grace this world for the cause of a great deed rather than for their own benefit. The prophesy of great saint Amaga’s given in his childhood often appeared in the heart of Khyungpo Naljor. Therefore, when he went to India for his third time, besides making offerings to former gurus and asking for teaching, he went to all places to seek the guru of the Five Golden Dharma of Niguma. After years of searching, he remained empty handed.