The
victorious dharma
load of Nyingmapa-
Kathok Monastary,
the second secret
abode:of the Kathok
Vajra Seat (Dorje
Den)
Tibet’s Kathok
Monastery- School
of
Eternal Life
Introduction:
【西藏噶陀寺 - 永恆生命的學校】
Buddha
Guru Rinpoche
Dharma KingKadampa
Deshe
Nyingmapa- Kathok
Monastary in Tibet
Nyingmapa- Kathok
Monastary in Tibet
Two
years after building
Kathok Monastery,
Dharma King Kadampa
Deshe ,constructed
Yum Mountain
lecturing hall, and
Yab Mountain retreat
center. In there He
gave full monastic
ordanation to
thousands of monks.
In the summertime,
he gave teachings on
sutra and tantra in
the lecturing hall,
and he bestowed
empowerments,
instructions, and
advices in the
retreat center in
the winter. He
turned the wheel of
dharma according to
individual capacity.
There were times
where he needed to
give thirteen
sessions of teaching
in one day.
During the time,
there were eighty
thousand
practitioners coming
from different
places to the
monastery to learn
Dharma, especially
the old translation
tradition. Later,
during the time of
Kejyu-Yeshe Bonpa,
there were as many
as one hundred
eighty thousand
monks and
practitioners. Up in
mountain four
thousand eight
hundred above the
sea level, there
were many
spectacular events
happened around
Kathok Monastery.
Monks from different
regions flew to
Kathok using their
miraculous power in
the morning, and
flew back to
different caves at
night. Due to the
number of flying
monks in the sky,
farmers said: “we
can not dry our
grains because you
all have blocked the
ray of the sun!”
Areas around Kathok
Monastery was so
full of
practitioners with
red robes that the
blue sky became ruby
red.
In the two thousand
year history of
Buddhism, there has
not been an
occurrence where
there is as much as
one hundred eighty
thousand monks
gathering at the
same time. In this
millennium, due to
cause of
interdependence, the
activity of Kathok
has its ups and
downs. But numerous
practitioners still
wish to travel to
Kathok to learn and
practice. There were
three practitioners
like such. They were
Master Shere Jiansen
from Mar Kham Sate
in the Aba province,
Master Songkan
Lhabasan, and Master
Sila Dorje from
DrosvJya. With their
cranes, they
traveled long
distance to Kathok.
When they arrived to
Kathok, just by
hearing Lord
Kadanpa’s voice from
a distance, they
were spontaneous
liberated and
achieved Dzogchen
Realization. These
three practitioners
were extremely happy
they threw their
canes up in the air.
The canes fell and
instantly became
three pine trees.
These tresses were
still in the
monastery, proof of
what had happened in
the past. In recent
years, there was a
practitioner in the
meditation hall that
walked from Chendu
which was twelve
hundred kilometers
away. The way he
traveled was he did
a long prostration
for every step he
took. It took him
three years to reach
Kathok, and finally
he was able to
fulfill his wish. He
still resides in the
monastery practicing
Vajrayana teaching
of the Old
Translation School.
All the lineage
master and Khenpos
in Kathok Monastery
put all their energy
into propagating
Buddha Dharma to
practitioners
everywhere. There
were two different
types of Khenpos in
Kathok: Khenpos that
held the lineage,
and Khenpos that
protected the
lineage. They
instructed many
disciples on the
path of meditation
and teaching. All
the Khenpos that
holds the lineage
propagated the
teaching, and taught
the practitioners to
understand the
meaning of Dzogchen
and the Old
Translation Sutras.
The practitioners
were instructed
according to the
Kathok traditions.
Because of their
activity, all the
lineage holders of
the Ancient
Translation School
of Nyingma were
trained under the
Kathok Tradition.
The Khenpos that
protected the
lineage’s activity
of spreading the
teaching and
benefiting sentient
beings was vast.
They transmitted the
teachings from the
lineage masters: the
teaching of
Mahamudra and
Dzogchen, and the
ripening secret pith
instruction to the
disciples. They
wrote numerous
volumes of
commentaries on the
Kathok teachings.
They also turned the
wheel of liberation
and precepts to many
fortunate students.
The activities the
khenpos displayed to
preserve the Kathok
lineage was
incomparable. They
gave numerous
fortunate ones a
final place for
refuge in the school
of everlasting life.
The Institute of Ten
Science in Tibet’s
Kathok Monastery
In the end of
Ching Dynasty in
China, Master Kathok
Mahapanjida Situ
Urgen Choki Gyatso (Kathok
Tai Situ Rinpoche)
in the state of
meditation saw a
gigantic lotus in
the middle of the
lake. The lotus had
sutra texts and
swords as its
ornament. There were
four pillars of
lotus with sutra and
sword in the four
cardinal directions.
Lights shined out
from them. There
were numerous lotus
and texts at the tip
of the light. The
attendant of the
master said “the
lotus, sword and the
dharma text is the
causal
interdependence of
building of the
lecture hall. The
lotus, sword, and
the text in the four
cardinal directions
are the lecture hall
of your four main
disciples. The light
that shined from the
lotus, sword, and
the text is a sign
that the students
from the lecture
hall will pervade
every region in the
land of the snow”.
In the Fire horse
year in the
Fifteenth cycle (
1906), the
All-knowing Mipham
Rinpoche instructed
Kathok Monastery to
build “ The
Institute of Jewel
Sumeru Mountain”.
The project expanded
in the later years.
The Institute of
Jewel Sumeru
Mountain has a five
year study program.
The texts studied in
the five year are:
one hundred texts
that set aside
habitual tendencies,
twenty-five texts on
removing difficult
points through
contemplation, and
the five texts on
realizing Dharma
through practice.
During past 45
years, many great
scholars that were
versed in the tantra,
sutra, and the five
sciences all
originated from the
institute. The
scholars have
revived the method
of both teaching and
realization. During
the summer teaching,
the institute
propagated
expansively the
teaching on Vinayas,
Madhamika, logics,
Prajna, and both
inner and outer
science. Later,
because there were
too many monks, the
sections on the five
science and methods
on sutra and tantra
were taught by the
khenpos in the
teaching hall, and
the khenpos in the
meditation hall
taught the tantra
and sutras. This
became the rules in
the monastery, and
many “professional”
masters gathered
there.
Bhaban Situ Choki
Shone taught on the
three canons, new
and old medical
treaties, didactics,
Tibetan grammar,
vocabulary, poetry,
astrological
calculations, and
chanting.
Great master Kathok
Jigme Shonjong
taught phonetics,
and examples and
stanzas from grammar
and poetry.
Kathok Gezheji
Benchin taught
explanations on
didactics and
Kalachakra.
Khenpo Richen Gyatso
and Lama Danzhen
Jiansen from Kuonu
taught the great and
small five sciences
on the sutra on
Manjushri dietetics.
The lord of
teachings and
realization Kelsang
Wanshok taught
calculations of
astrological and
Kalacakra calendar.
Master Jiaba taught
texts on crafts.
Jiwen Rinpoche Padma
Jiansen taught
Tibetan Calligraphy.
There were also
Master Kathok Gezhe
Jugme Danpe Jiansen
and many other great
masters and khenpos
that were very
knowledgeable and
accomplished.
After Tathagatha
Master Rinchen
Kathokpa Deshe
entered Nirvana, The
texts that were
practiced in Kathok
monasteries were the
teaching from the
one hundred thousand
venerable masters
that attained
rainbow bodies, and
the thirteen Terma
collections, or the
Thirteen Fold of
Teachings. They
were:
1. Churji
Zandungpa’s [Explaination
and Teaching Of The
Oral Transmission].
2. Keji Namkai
Dorje’s [Teaching On
The Semde Light Of
Perfection]
3. Meshe Senge
Dorje’s [Teaching On
The Profound Dharma
Of Lama]
4. Keju Yeshe
Jiansen’s [the Sea
of Mahamudra Oral
Doctrine]
5. Great
Accomplisher Konga
Bonpa’s [Teaching On
The Great Chod]
6. Bar Chuwen Tashi
Rinchen’s [The Clear
Mirror Of The
Teaching And The
Clear Path Of Great
Perfection]
7. Chajawa Sonam
Dunju’s [The
Profound Essence Of
The Great Perfection
Teaching]
8. Hepo Sakya
Jiansen’s [Teaching
On The Kindness
Debate]
9. Keju Zhima Madi’s
[Teaching On The
Wrathful
Manifestation Of The
Six Bardo]
10. Rinchen Chawang
Norbu’s [The Jewel
Ornament Of The
Collection Of The
Teaching Of Mind Of
Guru]
11. Padma Madi’s
[The Teaching Of The
Clear Meaning Of The
Profound Path Of The
Black Profound Gold
Nugget]
12. Rigzin Duldul
Dorje’s [Great
Perfection Teaching
On The Rainbow Body
Of The Guru Gonsang]
13. Rigzin Longsal
Nyinpo’s [Teaching
On Rainbow
Projection Of
Consciousness]
The teaching that
incorporated all of
the teachings above
was written by
Kathok Gezhe Jigme
Danpa Namje called
[The Precious Mirror
Of Teaching]. This
cannon that was
composed in the time
of degeneration is
still been
persevered.
After the extensive
propagation of
Kathok tradition,
many Kathok Lineage
monasteries in many
places were built.
In the middle there
were ten or more
monasteries such as
Jiaga, Anjian.
In the East, there
were thirty or more
monasteries such as
the Dagai Jyude
Monastery in Narong.
In the South there
were close to fourty
monasteries include
Jiashe.
In the West there
were ten monasteries
such as the three
Kathok Monasteries
in Nepal.
In the North there
were twenty or more
monasteries such as
Geje Jiale.
There were close to
thirty monasteries
scattered around
Wu-Tai Mountain such
as Litai Monastery.
There are two
hundred Kathok
Monasteries that are
in Kampa, Tibet,
China, Mongol, Menpa,
Dali, and Bhutan,
France, Germany, Sri
Jien, Nepal, India,
America, Singapore,
Taiwan, Australia,
and many other
places. Kathok
Monastery, a school
that is 4800 feet
above sea level, a
school that once had
had one hundred
eighty thousand
teachers and
disciples, a school
that is taught by
manifestations of
Buddha and
Bodhisattva, a
school that one will
receive attainment
of everlasting life
after graduation, is
a school that
everyone dream of
going. How can a
school like this not
make us rethink
about the rules of
regulation in the
modern educational
system impose on us,
and not make us
ponder on the
question of what the
real essence of life
is?
Homage to the
everlasting Kathok
Monastery
Homage to the school
of everlasting life.
The Institute of Ten
Science in Tibet’s
Kathok Monastery
