Mipham Jamyang Gyatso

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Mipham Jamyang Gyatso
Tibetan name
Tibetan: འཇུ་མི་ཕམ་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་རྒྱ་མཚོ་
Wylie transliteration: 'ju mi pham rnam rgyal rgya mtsho
pronunciation in IPA: [tɕu mipʰam namcɛ cɛ̃tsʰɔ]
official transcription (PRC): Ju Mipam Namgyai Gyainco
THDL: Ju Mipam Namgyel Gyamtso
other transcriptions: Ju Mipham Namgyal Gyamtso
Chinese name
traditional: 米龐仁波切
simplified: 米庞仁波切
Pinyin: Mǐpáng Rénbōqiē

Jamgön Ju Mipham, Mipham Jamyang Namgyal Gyamtso ("Mipham the Great", 1846-1912) was a prominent Tibetan Buddhist monk and teacher.

Contents

[edit] Derivation of name

"Ju" ("holding") is appended to Mipham's name because his clan is said to have originated as clear light deities who came to the human world holding a rope. "Jamgön" indicates that he is an emanation of the bodhisattva Manjushri. His uncle, Pon Lama Drupchok Pema Tarjay, gave him the name Mipham Gyamtso ("Invincible Ocean" or "Unconquerable Ocean").

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Mipham the Great was born to an aristocratic family in 1846 in Kham, a province of eastern Tibet, in a region called Four Rivers and Six Hills (Chu Zhi Gang Druk). He was recognized as an exceptional child from a young age, memorizing texts as early as age six. By the age of ten he had already composed many texts. At twelve, he entered the monastery as an ordinary monk of the Ogmin Urgyen Mindroling lineage at a branch monastery of the great Nyingma seat Shechen.

When he was fifteen or sixteen, after studying the very difficult Mindroling system of chanting for only a few days and praying to Manjushri, he is said to have completely mastered it. In an 18-month retreat he accomplished the form of Manjushri known as 'Lion of Philosophers' (Tibetan: smra ba'i seng ge), using a liturgy composed by the fifteenth Karmapa, Khakhyab Dorje. He made many medicinal pills blessed with Manjushri's mantra, and many miraculous signs were said to have been manifest. After this, it was said that he could accomplish any sutra or tantra without any effort, and no text was unknown to him. He went to many lamas to obtain the necessary lungs (oral transmissions), but he needed no study or teachings for any texts.

[edit] Teachers

Mipham was one of the great figures of the 19th century Rime (non-sectarian) movement, and as such he received teachings from masters of all lineages, Sarma and Nyingma alike. His root guru was the great Rime master Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, from whom he received almost all the Nyingma teachings of Kama and Terma, as well as many other teachings, the meanings of which were said to have spontaneously arisen in his mind. He also studied under the great Patrul Rinpoche, another Rime master, from whom he received the Wisdom Chapter of Shantideva's Bodhicharyavatara. He also studied under Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, another figure of importance to the Rime movement.

[edit] Astrologer, diviner, ritualist, mystic, poet, tantrika and Dzogchen master

Mipham also wrote extensively about astrology which was, in his words, a "delightful game" that he mastered in his teens but later applied to more serious topics such as medicine; these two topics, with various texts on more or less related topics of divination, occupy perhaps 2,000 pages of his writing. An entire volume of Mipham's is devoted to Ju-thig or divination using knots, a method that might be termed "Bon" in origin, for want of a more accurate term; this may have been the legacy of his family, who were doctors for several generations. Throughout his writings there are many resources for divination, in addition to astrology, including several rituals for looking in mirrors (pra-mo), one using dice, pulling different-length arrows out of a quiver and so on, compelling a non-human "bird" to whisper future news in one's ear, and so on. In one short text he prescribes various methods of divination (all drawn, Mipham emphasizes, from Tantric scriptures and commentaries) that make use of unusual sources of augury such as: the vicariously overheard chatter of women; sudden appearance of various animals, especially birds; weather phenomena; the shape, size and color of flames in the agnihotra or fire puja; the quality of burning butter lamps, especially the size of the flame, the amount and shape of smoke that arises; and the size and shape of the carbon deposit on the wick.

While this should not suggest that such seemingly trivial subjects were more important to Mipham than the abstruse topics of his great philosophical and religious commentaries, it does help underscore the fact that Mipham was, in an addition to being a scholar, mystic, sorcerer and poet, a man of keen scientific bent. This is further evidenced in his astrological treatises, where he attempts to synthesize that subject coherently. Tibetan astrology draws Chinese, Indian Hindu, Buddhist Tantric (e.g, Kalachakra), Pre-Buddhist Tibetan shamanistic, and Indian Shaivaite (e.g., Svarodaya-tantra) sources, which makes for a maddeningly complex system. It remains to be seen whether Mipham Rinpoche attempted to redress the fact that Tibetan ephemeridae are miscalculated due to the fact that Tibetan astrologers had neglected even the most basic astronomical techniques -- for instance, of measuring the shortest day of the year by the length of shadows, in order to determine the correct dates of the tropical zodiac (which is the system of the Kalachakra Tantra).

In any case, since some of his scholarly competitors thought it inappropriate for a monk to devote so much time to matters of future events, Mipham wrote a short essay explaining the purpose of divination, citing sources in the Sutras and Tantras where the utility and value of divination are explained.

While it appears that Mipham did not write extensively on Dzogchen (The Great Perfection) during his life, there are many references to it throughout his original compositions. Approximately one volume of his original writings completed during his life comprises short, pithy instructions on the view, meditation and practice of Great Perfection. Additionally, most of another volume contains a three-part original exposition of Great Perfection, the Trilogy of Fundamental Mind. Only the first section shows any sign of Mipham Rinpoche's own hand. Most or all of that section, as well as second and third are based on notes and recollections of Mipham's closest disciple, Shechen Gyaltsab, one of the principle teachers of the late Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Mipham Rinpoche regretted the incompleteness of the Trilogy but nevertheless it is a mine of profound commentary on Great Perfection, especially in defending those teachings against its critics, and clearing up misconceptions and misinterpretations of Dzogchen, such as confusing it with certain aspects of teachings of the New Tantras as was common in Mipham's day.

One of Mipham's own disciples, the Third Dodrupchen Rinpoche, was one such person, e.g., in his commentary on the Guhyagarbhatantra which is still widely studied today, even though it might be somewhat syncretic. After realizing the futility of his intellectualized approach, the Third Dodrupchen became Mipham's disciple; in a short private note, now preserved in Mipham's collected works, he chides Dodrupchen for wasting so much time comparing and contrasting different systems of thought and practice and suggests that was the cause of his “weltschmertz”, or anxious-depressive thought-disturbance concerning philosophical views, their rightness and wrongness, sameness and difference etc. Mipham further specifies that Dodrupchen should put aside all study of other traditions besides the Nyingma for several years, abstain from teaching for that time and take a vow of silence, finally adding, "keep the existence of this note and its content to yourself". The Third Dodrupchen later wrote an extensive commentary on Zung or Dhaarani, the power of "perfect recall" as it applies to Buddhist teachings, apparently based on the inspiration of some short commentaries on that subject which Mipham wrote specifically for his disciple Dodrupchen. In any case, it is said that later on Mipham Rinpoche was heard to remark that Dodrupchen was one of the two or three most learned scholars alive in his own day.

In the Trilogy as in many other works that were published from notes taken by Mipham's disciples, his sense of humor is frequently recorded by guffaws of "HA HA HA!" or chuckles of "HE HE" and so on. Mipham also included such humorous asides in his informal compositions; in one such collection of short essays devoted to scholastic debate, he writes, "Since my nerves are shattered and I have a headache, so I have drunk all kinds of medicines (sman sna tshogs btungs nas) which means now I'm going to relax for a while." Unlike most famous authors in Tibetan literature, Mipham's writings are brightened frequently by humor (though not in every text, for instance, his major commentaries have little or no obvious humor in them, strictly maintaining instead the tone of rhetorical and philosophical tours de force that befits classics of scholastic literature.

Like his principal literary inspiration, Longchenpa, Mipham was a master of pun, of the deliberate misspelling used to suggest another meaning, of odd turns of phrase designed to pique the interest of discerning readers while passing unnoticed by the casual reader, of ambiguous syntax making it possible to infer several different interpretations of a stanza, line, word or syllable, etc. It is in these respects, at the very least, that Mipham's writings are justly claimed by his followers as “Gongter” or Mind-Treasure, as is also claimed for the writings of Longchenpa; there is something utterly uncanny about the depth, subtlety, beauty and provocative ambiguity (or triplicity, etc.) of meaning in many of his versified works. One doubts that most Tibetan scholars have noticed the extent to which Mipham Rinpoche was a "guerrilla elocutionist".

The degree to which the different styles and interests represented by those aforementioned can be seen in some Mipham's more esoteric verses like some of the Five Swords and Lotuses, the Words of Advice and so on. There are numerous prophetic verses throughout Mipham's works but these are normally invisible, it is said, except to karmically suitable readers.

Where Mipham compares most favorably to Shakespeare -- or perhaps, vice-versa -- is in his verses of praise to feminine beauty from a Tantric perspective. In a few of them, poetic metaphor aside, one suspects a hint of an autobiographical voice; the metaphors themselves, while not necessarily outlandish by the standards of Indian poetics, have a rare beauty and richness that always strives for transcendent sublimity, and an ethereal yet colorful palette of subliminal nuance. By comparison, Shakespeare's sonnets -- astonishing as they are at times --seem rather mundane and belabored by comparison, that is, if one judges them by their imagery or dramatic setting alone. But where Shakespeare might seem mundane, his choice of words, use of meter, alliteration and so forth, make the sound as well as content of his sonnets flow together in a whole that transcends the imperfect parts. So too with Mipham's poetry in general, and in his praises of his chosen Goddess-deities in particular. Similar comparisons might be drawn with Aristotle, in the matter of Mipham's original and trenchant philosophical essays; with Blake, in reference to certain writings that are self-evidently visionary in nature (but which are written to appear more like poetic conceit); with Donne, in the case of his early versified works which are poetically brilliant but dry and didactic by comparison with later works; Nostradamus, if one considers Mipham's prophetic verses, always written in coded verse that is innocuous if read aloud but hauntingly prescient if one plumbs the semantic possibilities; and Eliot if one tries to square Mipham's intense awareness and devotion to tradition (in other words, his classicism) with Mipham's (by Tibetan 19th-century standards, at least) unusually modern, even apocalyptic voice.

Mipham was -- unlike the vast majority of Tibetan scholars, all of whom write verses if they write at all, and most of them modestly well at best -- keenly aware of how his verses would actually sound to the human ear, how well they would roll (or, for ill, come crashing off of) of the tongue of the reader. In this respect his poetry resonates most strongly with Longchenpa, a master of poetic device and also -- with what makes him virtually unique -- a keen observer of alliteration, assonance, internal rhyme and so forth, poetic devices that Tibetans have tended to ignore in favor of using (or overusing, as the case may be) the usual stock of standard poetic conceits (alamkara) drawn from the poetics of Dandin's Kavyadarsha. While competent Tibetan poets are content to observe the rules of grammar and of metaphorical construction and deployment within context, Mipham and Longchenpa in particular make their application of those rules sound beautiful to the ear and easy on the tongue (except, of course, when they wish to deliver a stern tongue lashing!). That is really no small feat if one considers the artificial (e.g. Indic) origin of stock Tibetan poesy, which tends to force words and expressions together based on the requirements of the composition as a whole -- be those philosophical, polemical, homiletic, etc -- without regard to the aesthetic limitations that rigid goal-orientations place upon literary endeavors.

While the fact that Mipham was a monk -- indeed, he wrote extensively on Vinaya -- would incline one to read his praises of divine femininity as strictly symbolic, the fact of the matter is, not all of the relevant verse compositions suggest themselves as obviously or exclusively symbolic in poetic intention, or to the same extent as do similar verses written during Mipham's teens or twenties. Amongst the mature compositions, e.g., those made after the age of thirty-five or so, one finds several where -- notwithstanding the mostly non-sensual metaphors for sensual imagery -- there is a sense that women were not strictly symbolic representatives of the Goddess, that indeed, Mipham Rinpoche was (discreetly, and occasionally at the most) a lover of women, as most Tantric yogis are in fact. One admits this is speculative, and since Mipham was (at least most of his life) an excellent monk in practice, it should remain so; but before closing the book on this topic, one should also note that Mipham Rinpoche demonstrates in a number of his original writings an outstanding practical knowledge --not to mention, poetic inspiration -- when it comes to the extensive methods, signs and personal requirements of sexual tantra (as it were).

It is of course possible that Mipham could have just culled his content from existing texts, but knowing what we do of Mipham Rinpoche's intense drive to unify learning with experiential knowledge, and taking into consideration the accepted fact that Mipham was a Tantric adept of the highest order irrespective of his use or disuse of sexual Tantric methods, it seems doubtful that Mipham would write so convincingly on that subject, especially when excellent manuals for those practices penned by openly practicing adepts of the science of erotic enlightenment were already in existence (for instance, those of the Longchen Nyingtig cycle of Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa) -- that is, unless the depth of Mipham's own experience of such practices made it impossible for him not to share that wealth with those who would be benefited by it. In the long run, like most great monk scholars in Tibetan history, Mipham Rinpoche was more concerned with what would actually benefit the world -- the most appropriate and powerful methods to reach Enlightenment in a single lifetime -- than with maintaining an absolutely unambiguous, dogmatic public image as the perfect monk for posterity. That, in any case, has always been the specialty of the Gelug order, with the Nyingma and Kagyu traditions in particular showing lenience towards monks of high yogic attainment if and when the use of sexual tantra would be timely and effective for sealing their yogic attainments with consummation.

Notwithstanding the colorful stories of Indian Mahasiddhas like Virupa and Drilbupa -- monks who became Siddhas and then broke their monks' vows in a scandalous way, never to return to monastic life -- the legitimate (i.e., warranted) use of sexual Tantra by Tibetan monks of high yogic attainment did not always involve such a 'paradigm shift' in the individual's life. The fact of the matter is, Tibetan Buddhism never knew a strict separation of Tantra from Buddhism's monastic forms (except perhaps for a brief time in the early period) so Tibetans themselves were, by and large, undisturbed by the prospect of a monk practicing Tantra with a physical partner for a specific period of time and for a specific yogic purpose. In any case, sexual Tantra per se is normally practiced for a limited time and for a specific purpose -- e.g., mastery of the yogic subtle body, or for extension of life span -- with a specific individual partner designated for that purpose and given to the yogi with the Teacher's specific instruction as to how the sexual practice ought to proceed.

While certain earlier authors could never be excelled in their specialty -- for instance, Sakya Pandita in Sanskrit and logic, Tsonkhapa in Madhyamaka, Longchenpa on Dzogchen and so on -- Mipham was the equal of them all in certain other, perhaps more limited respects. He was undoubtedly as good a poet as Lonchenpa (if not as prolific), which means Mipham the poet is second to none. (One of his last works, a commentary on the Kavyadarsha ("Mirror of Poetics") of India's Dandin, Mipham boldly states to the effect that "since I've condensed all what is best in my many predecessors' commentaries on this text, and avoided all errors that those great scholars have already dispelled, in addition to making this a succinct and easy-to-understand work on this most essential topic, with the added bonus of my own insights herein, it is quite possible this commentary surpasses them all.") As a commentator on Buddhist Logic, no other Tibetan author could claim to have completed commentaries on the most important Indian texts of Dharmakirti and Dignaga, as well as Sakya Pandita's original Treasure of Logic, as well as making significant original contributions of his own on the subject (in for instance, the Sword of Prajna, which is practically unique among Tibetan treatises on logic insofar as it links the principles of logic to those of Tantra and Dzogchen).

Besides the aforementioned texts that are explicitly concerned with Dzogchen, many of Mipham Rinpoche's other works are written with Dzogchen in mind -- if not as the subject, then as an overriding theme. Among those are the "Five Lotuses" and "Five Swords", short and intermediate-length commentaries on the essence of wisdom and language; the Beacon of Certainty which is perhaps the most essential of Mipham's original writings; and in many of Mipham's liturgies (such as those of Gesar), his essays of practical advice (gtams-tshogs), his verses of praise to Manjushri, Sarasvati and other persons, historical or otherwise (bstod-tshogs), and in one of his most famous compositions which is an 'aspiration' (smon-lam), Mipham makes clear -- either explicitly or using coded language -- the centrality of Dzogchen/Great Perfection to his view, meditation, practice and experiential realization.

Adding to this Mipham's extensive commentaries on the other major fields of Mahayana Buddhist Philosophy, and his significant contributions to other fields of learning in his writings on astrology, medicine, grammar, artisanry, divination, and so forth -- not to mention that Mipham was a literary stylist of the highest order whereas most of the "great" scholars of Tibet were not -- it seems fair to say Mipham exceeds both Sakya Pandita and Tsongkhapa in his scholarly achievement. Again, this should be understood with the proviso that it would probably be impossible for anyone to exceed those and other scholars' achievements in all of their areas of excellence. (For example, if Shaquille O'Neal and Michael Jordan's talents were combined with those of, say, Gary Kasparov, Jimmy the Greek, and Howard Cosell, you would have the ultimate all-around sportsman -- a star talent in multiple sports and media, an unsurpassable strategist, the best statistician-analyst and successful handicapper, a sports-history-scholar and psychological commentator, and winning team-owner-coach -- all rolled into one; but chances are, they still couldn't beat Tiger Woods on the back nine.)

[edit] Dharma activity and legacy

As a scholar and meditator Mipham was so accomplished that he was enthroned as an emanation of Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom. As such, he was asked to compose a definitive articulation of the philosophical outlook of the Nyingma (Ancient) lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, which had never been systematized in the manner of the other three lineages and as a result was vulnerable to attack by hostile scholars.

As requested, Mipham composed authoritative works on both the sutric and vajrayana teachings as they should be understood within the Nyingma tradition, especially in the context of the writings of Longchen Rabjam (1308-1363). Mipham Rinpoche's longest compositions are commentaries on Indian Buddhist scriptures and treatises, including two volumes of commentary on the Kalachakra Tantra; commentaries on the Mulamadhyamakakarika or Fundamental Stanzas on Wisdom by Nargarjuna, and Introduction to the Middle Way of Chandrakirty; the Quintessence of all Courses of Ultimate Wisdom (Jnanasarasamuccaya) of Aryadeva; commentaries on the major works of Dharmakirti and Dignaga, the Indian Buddhist logicians; commentaries on the Five Treatises of Maitreya most notably, the Abhisamayalamkara; commentaries on several works of Vasubandhu including the Abhidharmakosha; and one of his better-known and controversial works, a commentary on the Madhyamakalamkara of Shantirakshita. Mipham is said to have composed these vast works effortlessly; in many cases, the fine print at the end of the commentary specifies where, when, at whose request and with whose sponsorship the commentaries were composed. They reinvigorated and revitalized the Nyingma lineage enormously inestimably, and he soon became one of the most renowned lamas in Tibet, attracting disciples from all traditions, many of whom became lineage holders. Mipham's works have become the foundation of study for not only the Nyingma lineage, but the [[Kagy�]] lineage as well. They hold a central position in all Nyingma monasteries and monastic colleges. Along with Longchenpa, he is considered one of the key secondary sources of the Nyingma doctrine.

Throughout his life, Mipham showed a particular interest in the legend of the warrior king Gesar of Ling, a 12th century figure whose epic is well-known and widely celebrated in eastern Tibet, and about whom Mipham wrote extensively. He also showed particular interest in the Kalachakra and the kingdom of Shambhala, and wrote many texts about this subject as well.

Mipham’s most important students were Dodrub Rinpoche, Terton Sogyal, the Fifth Dzogchen Rinpoche, Gemang Kyab Gon, Khenpo Padmavajra, Katog Situ Rinpoche, Sechen Rabjam, Gyaltsab Tulku, Palyul Gyaltrul, Karma Yangtrul, Palpung Situ Rinpoche, Ling Jetrung, Adzom Drukpa, Tokden Shakya Shri, Ngor Ponlob, and others. The great tulkus of Sechen, Dzogchen, Katog, Palyul, Palpung, Dege Gonchen, Repkong and others of all lineages, Sakya, Gelug, Kagyu, and Nyingma, all became his disciples.

One of Mipham's last works was an extensive explanatory transmission of the Kalachakra Tantra, the secret teaching from Shambhala. Before he died in 1912, he said to his students that now he was going to Shambhala. In 1995, Ösel Rangdröl Mukpo, the eldest son of renowned dharma master Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, was recognized as the reincarnation of Mipham Rinpoche[1] by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, at the time the head of the Nyingma lineage. He is now known as Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, and is the spiritual head of Shambhala International.

An earlier line of Mipham's incarnations was established with the birth of a son to the king of Derge in 1916 who was recognised by Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö as the second incarnation of Ju Mipham Rinpoche. Due to chronic health problems he died at the age of 27. The third Ju Mipham Rinpoche in this line was born in Tibet in 1949. In 1959 he was recognised by Tengye Rinpoche of Lab. At that time he was enthroned and given responsibility for all monasteries previously held by the first and second incarnations. The third incarnation was also confirmed by Patrul Rinpoche who gave him relics of the previous incarnations and by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, who he had recognised in a previous incarnation. He is father of Thaye Dorje, one of two rival candidates to be recognized as the 17th Karmapa, and the 14th Sonam Tsemo Rinpoche, an important Gelugpa and Sakya tulku.

George Dawson, a Canadian also known as Anandabodhi and Namgyal Rinpoche, was recognised as the tulku or rebirth of Ju Mipham Rinpoche by the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje. This was apparently confirmed by Dudjom Rinpoche, the nominal head of the Nyingma lineage, and by the Dalai Lama. It is unclear whether or not any of these lines of Mipham tulkus recognize the claims of each other as no public statements on the matter have been issued by any of the claimants.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ http://www.mipham.com/biography.html]

[edit] External links