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Foreword

by Sogyal Rinpoche

Here in this book, you will read about extraordinary practitioners of meditation and exponents of the teachings of Buddha, about great masters whose compassion, understanding and capacity defy ordinary criteria, and about a world in which a very particular definition prevails, quite different to the one promoted all around us today, of what is possible to be achieved by a human being. However, you will not learn so much in these pages about the author of these memoirs, the Tibetan master Kyabje Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. This is inevitable, because of his humility and his discretion. And yet he is the heart of this book, not only because it is his eyes witnessing these amazing events, his voice recounting them and his mind making sense of them for us, but also because he was of the very same caliber as the exceptional individuals he is describing. He inherited their wisdom completely, and he embodied their incredible qualities. Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was, in fact, one of the greatest masters of meditation of the twentieth century, and one of the most outstanding and prolific teachers of the Dzogchen and Mahamudra teachings that lie at the heart of the Buddhist tradition of Tibet.

I first met Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche when I was very young, because, as he explains in this book, he came many times to receive teachings from my master Dzongsar Khyentse, Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö. When, years later, I requested Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche for teachings, he recalled how he had always seen me at the side of Jamyang Khyentse, and our mutual bond through our proximity to this great teacher gave us both a deep feeling of closeness. In the Nyingma and Kagyü schools of Tibetan Buddhism, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was an immensely important lineage master, and was the teacher and representative of the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa. He also passed on transmissions to the greatest lamas of the Nyingma tradition, Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche and Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Both of them, along with Nyoshul Khenpo Jamyang Dorje and so many other great holders of the teachings, held Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche in the highest regard, as someone who had fully realized the view and practice of Dzogpachenpo, the Great Perfection.

As a teacher, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was unique, in a class of his own. One fact that struck you straight away was that whatever he taught was saturated with the flavor of Dzogchen. Of course, he possessed a complete mastery of all aspects of the Buddhadharma; he specialized, for example, in carrying out Vajrayana practices with extreme precision and authenticity; he had meditated since the age of four and spent over twenty years of his life in retreat; and he was renowned as someone to whom many great masters would go for his priceless clarification on difficult points in the teachings. But when it came to introducing the essential, innermost nature of mind, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was unparalleled. I remember how, at Nagi Gompa in Nepal, he would always give the pointing out mind instructions, introducing people to the essence of mind whenever they requested teachings—whether they were students of Dharma or just trekkers visiting the Himalayas. When people asked for the pointing out mind instructions, in one session, he would somehow just give them everything, the whole teaching, even if it was a large group of people. It was uncanny: he would keep on and on introducing the nature of mind, until they got it. Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche must have introduced thousands of people to the Buddhadharma and allowed them to experience, if only fleetingly, the innermost nature of their mind. They would come away from their meeting with him with a fervent inspiration to practice, and to pursue this new and nascent understanding of their minds by taking up the path of Dharma.

On his world tour in 1980-1, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche gave precious instructions to my students in London, and in 1988, he gave the pointing out instructions to a much larger group who had traveled to Nepal to see him and Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. After that, I endeavored to return every winter to Nagi Gompa to receive teachings from him. I count myself extraordinarily fortunate to have been able to do so. His teachings, which were simply amazing, went straight to my heart, and had a deep and powerful effect on the manner in which I taught. I remember well the encouragement he gave me too; it was he, in fact, who showed me in many ways the importance of what I was seeking to do in teaching the Dharma in the West. Everybody, from the highest lama to the most ordinary person who knew him in Nepal, remarked on Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche’s kindness, and in his character and his dealings with people, it is true that he enacted to the letter the spirit of ‘The Way of the Bodhisattvas’—the Bodhicaryavatara. He possessed all the naturalness, simplicity and ease of a great Dzogchen yogi, and I believe it is no way an exaggeration to call him a mahasiddha, a contemporary saint. At his cremation, the sky was clear, and the air above the land completely still, which the Dzogchen tantras denote marks the passing of someone with the greatest realization, whose practice was ‘without attributes’. As they say, the sign is that “there are no clouds in the sky above; no dust upon the earth below”.

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche’s style of teaching was so fresh, so unpretentious and yet so effective. People were utterly disarmed by his warmth, his directness and his sincerity, the atmosphere that he seemed to conjure around him, and the way he would coax you, and guide you, step by step, into an experience of the nature of mind. He would unveil the mind essence from every possible angle; it was almost as if he were drilling it into you, until you had glimpsed it. And because his words came directly from his experience and his wisdom mind, whenever he gave the pointing out instructions, it was never the same. I used to reflect on how, when a master like Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, with his incredibly human kindness and grace, gives you the pointing out instructions, what he is introducing you to is nothing less than the wisdom mind of the buddhas. He is personally connecting you with the wisdom of all the masters. This is exactly what we mean when we speak of the extraordinary ‘blessing’ of the master, and his ‘incomparable compassion’. When all is said and done, what greater kindness could there be? The master turns towards you the human face of the truth, as the personification of your innermost nature, and in the case of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche it was so easy to see how his very being communicated everything about the essence of the teachings. I feel that just having met a master like him means that your precious human life is not wasted, and has achieved its meaning and true purpose.

Compassion, wisdom, devotion and the innermost nature of the mind—all of these you will read about in this book. After all, they comprise the Buddhadharma, and they are what we all aspire to understand, master and realize. But the place in which they are all drawn together, and all exhibited most perfectly, most personally, most directly in front of us, is in the master, in a master such as Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. When I think of him, it brings home what Jamyang Khyentse said in his striking account of who the master really is:

It is not only at this present moment, now, that the tsawé lama, the root master, is with us. In all his kindness, he has never been apart from us in any single one of our lives throughout beginningless time, because he is the manifestation of our mind’s true nature, appearing externally in all kinds of guises, pure and impure, in order to help us, either directly or indirectly. Right now, on account of all the merit we have accumulated in the past, he has taken on the form of our spiritual friend, and because of this powerful karmic connection, we have been able to meet him, he has given us the nectar of the profound and vast instructions, and he has enveloped us in his tremendous kindness. From now on too until enlightenment, he will never be separate from us for even a single instant.

We could be immeasurably sad now that this great master Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche is lost to the world, and yet, more and more, we can feel joyful, not only because he lives on, in our minds and deep within our hearts, ‘never separate from us, for even a single instant’, but also because he succeeded in ensuring the continuity of his heritage, the teachings that he embodied so completely. His sons, Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche, Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche, Drubwang Tsoknyi Rinpoche and Yongey Mingyur Dorje Rinpoche are all fully qualified holders of his lineage and his vision, each one displaying their own individual qualities, different and yet extraordinary, and yet each one also bearing the stamp of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. Just like him, their familiarity with mind-essence bubbles contagiously just beneath the surface, ready to spring out at any moment. Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche had many wonderful western students, among them scientists and Buddhist teachers who are intimately involved in presenting the Dharma to the modern world. His beloved students, Erik and Marcia, have been a source of constant delight to so many people with the books, such as this, which they have created over the years, and I pray that they may continue, without any obstacles.

Finally, what do they all imply, the stories and memories that you will find in this book? Two things. First, that spiritual realization or enlightenment is actually really possible, if only we dedicate ourselves to it, with consistency and with ardor. Second, this is not simply ancient history, a phenomenon that happened in the past in India or in Tibet. Thanks to masters like Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and his disciples, this living tradition of wisdom and spiritual awakening continues right now in the present, and thanks to them, these teachings of Buddha, with their precious pith instructions, are readily available to people everywhere.

I pray for the fulfillment of all of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche’s aspirations; may his emanation appear, just as wonderful and powerful as he was, if not more so, to rise to the challenges of this time. May his sons and his disciples continue his work, without the slightest obstacle, and may his magnificent vision come to pass, of awakening countless beings, and pointing them towards their true nature, the essential innermost nature of their minds!