Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Podrang Zhiwa Ö & the Non-Indic Origins of Dzogchen (1090 AD)

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Dzogchen Explorations

Okar Research

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Podrang Zhiwa Ö, 1016-1111 AD

"Since the second propagation on the Buddist doctrine in Tibet, in which teachings of non-Indian origin were dismissed..."... (Kongtrul:1995..pg 28......Myriad Worlds: Buddhist Cosmology in Abhidharma, Kalachakra & Dzog-chen..... Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye )

"....translator and royal monk,. lHa bla ma Zhi ba 'od (1016 – 1111) .....Lobsang Nyima Laurent, “Lha bla ma Zhi ba ‘od’s Eight Century Bronze from Gilgit”, Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, no. 26, Avril 2013, pp. 195-214.......This paper is dedicated to the monks of Dangkhar, Heirs of the great translator and royal monk, lHa bla ma Zhi ba ’od (1016 – 1111)."....http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ret/pdf/ret_26_06.pdf

"... the early history of Dzogchen (rdzogs chen: “the great perfection”) remains unclear and the subject of controversy.......The Indic origin of the early Dzogchen texts was disputed by Podrang Zhiwa Ö, a Western Tibetan monk and ruler of the 11th century, and a proponent of the “new transmissions”. From that time on, the question of Dzogchen’s authenticity has been raised, usually by critics of the Nyingma tradition, the home of this and many other transmissions from the early period.".....http://earlytibet.com/2008/01/08/early-dzogchen-i/

"Buton's History of Buddhism in India and Its Spread to Tibet: A Treasury of ... By Butön Rinchen Drup; translated by Lisa Steinand, Ngawang Zangpo

"...The reading of the Tibetan inscription does not pose any problem. The name of Zhi ba ’od, and the title (Tib. lHa bla ma) associated with it, refers to a member of the royal family of the Guge-Purang Kingdom (Tib. Gu ge Pu hrang) in West Tibet. Although most of the biographical details of his life remain unknown, the main information regarding this charismatic figure of the later dissemination of Buddhism (Tib. bstan pa phyi dar) can be summed up as follows.....Born Yongs srong lde in the dragon year 1016, the third son of King lHa lde (r. 996 – 1023/4), and younger brother of Byang chub ’od (984 – 1078), he came to be known as Pho brang Zhi ba ’od when he received his full ordina- tion at the age of forty, in 1056. lHa bla ma Zhi ba ’od was a disciple of the notorious lo tsā ba Rin chen bzang po (958 – 1055) and eventually became the first translator of royal descent. He translated six major works, commis- sioned the translation of at least three other texts, and most certainly took part in the religious council held in Tholing (Tib. mTho lding) where he must have spent most of his life. As the religious centre of the kingdom, Tholing was the recipient of a variety of pious benefactions and constructions. Zhi ba ’od and his nephew King rTse lde, for instance, were responsible for the edification of the three-storey gSer khang which involved the commitment of more than two hundred master-artists and artisans. The temple was com- pleted within five years in 1071. Zhi ba ’od also bestowed the main temple of Tholing (Tib. dBu rtse) with clay statues representing the complete cycle of Sarvavid Vairocana (Tib. Kun rigs).29 Finally, lHa bla ma Zhi ba ’od is re- membered for his religious ordinance (Tib. bka’ shog) issued in 1092 in which he severely condemned apocryphal works, perverted tantras (Tib. sngags log), and called for the upholding of the bka’ gdams pa tradition.30 The demise of the royal monk and translator in the iron hare year 1111 marks the end of the later diffusion of Buddhism in West Tibet.....Page 204....Lha bla ma Zhi ba ‘od’s Bronze from Gilgit....http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ret/pdf/ret_26_06.pdf

Unearthing Bon Treasures: Life and Contested Legacy of a Tibetan Scripture ... By Dan Martin

The Mirror Illuminating the Royal Genealogies: Tibetan Buddhist ... By Bsod-Nams-Rgyal, Per K. Sørensen

Historical Dictionary of Tibet By John Powers, David Templeman

Click on the map to enlarge

"Purang-Guge kingdom was a small Western Himalayan kingdom which was founded and flourished in the 10th century. It covered parts of remote western Tibet and northern Ladakh....The original capital was at Burang (Wylie: spu hreng) but was moved to Tholing in the Sutlej canyon southwest of Mount Kailash. It was divided into smaller kingdoms around the year 1100 CE..... Tholing, at 12,400 feet (3,800 m), the last town before Tsaparang in the kingdom of Guge was then its capital, (163 miles from Darchen). It was founded by the great-grandson of Langdarma, who was assassinated, leading to the collapse of the Tibetan Empire....Buddhist monuments at both Tsaparang and Tholing are now mostly in ruins except for a few statues and scores of murals in good condition, painted in the western Tibetan style.....While Langdarma persecuted Buddhism in Tibet, his grandson, King Yeshe-Ö, who ruled the Guge Kingdom in the 10th century with Tholing as its capital, was responsible for the second revival or "second diffusion" of Buddhism in Tibet; the reign of the Guge Kingdom was known more for the revival of Buddhism than for its conquests. He built Tholing Monastery in his capital city in the 997 AD along with two other temples built around the same time, Tabo Monastery in the Spiti Valley of Northeast India and Khochar Monastery (south of Purang); both these monasteries are functional.".....Swenson, Karen (19 March 2000). "Echoes of a Fallen Kingdom".

Chorten of King Yeshe Ö (Tholing (Zhada)......in Tholing (Zanda), Zanda County, near the Indian border of Ladakh. It was built in 997 AD by Yeshe-Ö, the second King of the Guge Kingdom....The temple is reported to have been reconstructed after it had been demolished by the Chinese.

"Yeshe-Ö (c. 959 - 1040) (birth name, Khor-re; spiritual names: Jangchub Yeshe-Ö, Byang Chub Ye shes' Od, Lha Bla Ma, Hla Lama Yeshe O, Lalama Yixiwo, bKra shis mgon; also Dharmaraja, meaning Noble King) was the first notable lama-king in Tibet. Yeshe-Ö was a monk-king in western Tibet. Born Khor-re, he is better known as Lhachen Yeshe-Ö, his spiritual name. He was the second king in the succession of the kingdom of Guge in the southwestern Tibetan Plateau. The extent of the kingdom was roughly equivalent to the area of the kingdom Zhangzhung that had existed until the 7th century. Yeshe-Ö abdicated the throne c. 975 to become a lama. In classical Tibetan historiography, the restoration of an organized and monastic tradition of Tibetan Buddhism is attributed to Yeshe-Ö. He built Tholing Monastery in 997 when Tholing (Chinese: Zanda) was the capital of Guge. Yeshe-Ö' sponsored noviciates, including the great translator Rinchen Zangpo."......Powers, John; Templeman, David (18 May 2012). Historical Dictionary of Tibet. Scarecrow Press.

"Revival of Tibetan Buddhism.......The second dissemination of Tibetan Buddhism was brought about by Yeshe O, who was the king in the western part of Tibet. The lineage of lay Vajrayana practitioners still survived after the dark age of Tibetan Buddhism, though the monastic and scholarly forms were severely destroyed. Many influential rulers in western Tibet desired to re-establish the entire Tibetan Buddhism. They sponsored translators to India as well. Thus, the second period of transmission of Buddhism in Tibet is often called " the period of the new translations ".......In 1042, the king invited the renowned scholar, Atisha Dipankara Shrijnana (AD 979-1053). He set out a graduated path to enlightenment, known as Lam-rim, stipulated in his book " The Lamp of the Path to Enlightenment ". He also reformed the monastic disciplines, particularly the mentor-student relationship of Lamas and disciples. Being the master of the second transmission of Buddhism in Tibet, his works had a great impact on Tibetan Buddhism, not just in the royal family but also the society. He turned the warrior-like Tibetans to the Buddhists seeking for peace. With his effort, Buddhism was firmly established in Tibet......This period marked the development of major schools in Tibetan Buddhism, and distinguished between the old and the new transmission periods. More sutras were translated, more monasteries were built and more Buddhists entered Tibet on pilgrimages."......http://www.thranguhk.org/buddhism/en_buddhism.html

"Dzogchen and Advaita Vedanta.....David Paul Boaz.....http://davidpaulboaz.org/wordpress/unbounded-wholeness-dzogchen-and-advaita-vedanta-in-a-postmodern-world/

"Some leading Tibetan Lama scholars have accused Dzogchen of being a Chinese Dharma (rgya-nag gi chos), or assert that it is connected with Bon or Advaita Vedanta." ....http://vajranatha.com/teaching/DzogchenChinese.htm

The Golden Letters....Page 274.....By John Myrdhin Reynold

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….January 2015

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