Visit of Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok to Lerab Ling, 1993

Khenpo Jikme Phuntsok was one of the most important masters living in Tibet in the second half of the 20th century. He was born in in 1933, the third day of the first month of the year of the Water Bird, in the Golok Sertar region of Kham, and is regarded as a reincarnation of the great 19th century mystic Tertön Sogyal, Lerab Lingpa. His family was related to Dudjom Lingpa, and the 3rd Dodrupchen Jikmé Tenpé Nyima was his father’s uncle.

On 24 August 1993, Khenpo Jigphun arrived together with Tulku Kalzang, Khenpo Namdrol, Khenpo Sodargye, and his niece Jetsün Mingyur Drolma in Lerab Ling. Lerab Ling was founded by Sogyal Rinpoche in 1991, and hosted its first event only in the summer of 1992 when Rinpoche gathered his students for a traditional 108-day retreat. Now, in summer 1993, Sogyal Rinpoche held a second three-months retreat, while still continuing to establish Lerab Ling and its facilities. A new teaching tent that could hold up to 700 people had just been erected. It would take 12 more years until the construction of the famous Lerab Ling temple. More than five hundred of Sogyal Rinpoche’s students from Europe, the United States and Australia attended the retreat, which was to become an important landmark in the development of the Rigpa Sangha as a whole.

Khenpo Jigphun was welcomed by Sogyal Rinpoche, Dzogchen Rinpoche, and Ringu Tulku Rinpoche. Khenpo Jigphun’s meeting with Sogyal Rinpoche was an event of enormous significance, as this was the first time that the two reincarnations of Tertön Sogyal, Lerab Lingpa, the nineteenth century visionary and teacher to the 13th Dalai Lama, had met. Rinpoche conveyed the tremendous feeling of excitement and gratitude of everybody who was present when he welcomed Khenpo Jigphun.

Sogyal Rinpoche's Speech to Welcome Khenpo Jigphun

I wish to begin by offering you the very warmest possible welcome. All of us here know what an extraordinary blessing it is that, in your great compassion and kindness, you are visiting us here at Lerab Ling. There are no words to express our gratitude. You presence here amongst us has a very special meaning. Not only are you an incarnation of Tertön Sogyal. You are a great teacher, one who has given teachings to H.H. the Dalai Lama. You are a great upholder of the teachings of Dzogchen, a representative for Padmasambhava for this time, and a peerless master of the terma teachings.

Everyone here has heard of your amazing work of spreading the Dharma in Tibet. You fame has spread far and wide. Surely no-one has done so much to restore the teaching of Buddha in Tibet, and to hand back to the Tibetan people their priceless spiritual heritage.

Western students of Tibetan Buddhism everywhere are moved to hear of how you have helped beings and the Dharma in Tibet. We all feel that your wonderful work in Tibet, is in its way the partner of my own work here in the West. And so we all feel a great closeness to you, a oneness with you, an awe and admiration for your work, and a deep gratitude for the teachings and empowerments you have kindly accepted to grant us on this occasion.

Khenpo Jigphun's Reply

Khenpo Jigphun responded to this warm welcome of Sogyal Rinpoche.

At a time as perfect as this, I am so happy to be here with you all at the seat of Lerab Lingpa; and, what is more, to have met the true, the supreme, incarnation of the great Tertön Lerab Lingpa. Not only have I had the joy of meeting Sogyal Rinpoche, but I have also been able to exchange teachings from the Mahayana with him, for which I am extremely happy and grateful.

Let me first express my gratitude for the inner meaning of everything that Sogyal Rinpoche has just said. I am sure that he must have his own reasons for saying all this, because I do not have a single one of the qualities he attributed to me. He must indeed have some purpose for calling a dog a lion, since I possess every possible fault, and not even the tiniest trace of any good quality. Anyway, whatever he may say, you only have to look at me to see that when it comes to being a practitioner of Dharma, all I have is the name and outward appearance.

During this final era of the teachings of the lion of the Shakyas, even a person like me, someone without the slightest capacity, can sit on a throne and expound the teachings, and this is something which can not be gone back on. Long ago in the past, during the time of the teachings of the buddha Kashyapa, the king Tritri had a series of eighteen different premonitions in his dreams. In one dream, he saw a monkey sitting on a lion's throne, and teaching the dharma to a large gathering of lions. Asking what this meant, he was told that it was a sign that in the future, during the final period of Shakyamuni's teachings, even a monkey without the slightest capacity would sit on a throne, and gather students who were like lions, with every perfect quality. Well, in my case this seems to be particularly apt, and time can not be turned back.

As for the second point in Sogyal Rinpoche’s speech, when he said that I too am an incarnation of Tertön Lerab Lingpa, even assigning his own name to me, in one way I must thank him. But actually it is he who is the true incarnation of Tertön Lerab Lingpa; I do not have even a fraction of the qualities of Tertön Lerab Lingpa, and I really do not feel I am his incarnation. From an early age, I studied the sacred texts, and was ordained as a monk, and I was given the title of Lerab Lingpa when I was very small. But I never accepted it. For Lerab Lingpa was an enlightened being, as the prayer says:

Body incarnation of Nanam Dorje Dudjom,

Blessed by the speech of Vajravarahi,

Manifestation of Padmasambhava's mind,

Lerab Lingpa, at your feet I pray.

Now, would an enlightened being have fallen back into samsara? If so, if he could have become an ordinary sentient being, then could I be him? Otherwise it would be impossible for me to be his incarnation, and in fact from the time when I was very young, I never used to accept this. Yet now that I am older, I feel like the monk in Patrul Rinpoche’s saying: “It is better to die than to be a monk who is strict at the beginning and relaxed at the end.” My monk’s vows, which used to be very strict at the beginning, have become a little more relaxed. The reason for this is that I have done a lot of thinking. Most of Lerab Lingpa's students, who were the holders of his teachings, gave me the name of his incarnation. Of course, their giving me this name did not in any way make me become Lerab Lingpa; but because I have reflected on how there might have been some purpose behind it, it is something that I do not completely reject. I have come to the conclusion that the reason they gave me this name must be because, on the one hand, I might thereby be of some small benefit to the teaching and to sentient beings, and on the other hand, since it looked as though Lerab Lingpa's teachings were on the verge of disappearing, it might have been necessary for someone to bear his title in order to revive them. So I did my best to spread Lerab Lingpa's teachings as much as I possibly could; I restored all the wood blocks of his teachings which had been lost, and I took charge of his residence, where I have stayed up until now.

In one of the treasures of Lerab Lingpa which is called The Complete Gathering Of Teachings—the Ka Yongdzok Düpa—there are two appendices: the Dojang Chima and the Dojang Chimé Chima. In the latter, the Later Later Discourses, it is clearly predicted that Lerab Lingpa would have two reincarnations, and that both of them would be of enormous benefit to the teaching and to sentient beings. Everything about them is explained, including their activities. One of these incarnations is undoubtedly Sogyal Rinpoche. If you actually read these writings, it is very clear. To call me the second incarnation is all right; although I still do not accept that I am Lerab Lingpa, nevertheless I think they must have given me the title for some particular purpose.

Tertön Sogyal's own root master was Nyagla Thayé, and his reincarnation was recognised by Tertön Sogyal himself in a son of Dudjom Lingpa, called Tertön Kunzang Nyima. In Kunzang Nyima's predictions it says:

Nanam Dorje Dudjom

Will certainly ripen into two fruits:

One, a turquoise dragon holding up a jewel for all to see,

The other, his voice resounding everywhere like a lion’s roar.

So, it was said, Dorje Dudjom was to have two incarnations. One of them was to be a monk, who would benefit beings through the Vinaya, and the other was to be one who would spread the secret mantra vajrayana far and wide. When I saw this, I thought that Sogyal Rinpoche must be the one to spread the secret mantra vajrayana, and I might be the monk. In Tertön Sogyal’s own predictions, it is stated clearly that there would be two main incarnations and one hundred emanations. There is a reason for this. From the first tertön Sangye Lama onwards until now there has never been a tertön who has been so realized and learned as Tertön Sogyal, and whose activities have been so limitless. That is because he was the teacher of Thubten Gyatso the XIIIth Dalai Lama of Tibet, Khakhyab Dorje the XVth Karmapa , Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Jamgön Kongtrul Yönten Gyatso, the great khenpo Mipham Gyatso and many of the other great Nyingmapa, Sakyapa, Kagyupa and Gelugpa masters in Tibet at the time.

There was a prediction that Tibet was to suffer twelve invasions, and that the ninth would take place during the lifetime of Tertön Sogyal. The XIIIth Dalai Lama entrusted him with the task of averting this ninth invasion, and of dispelling the perils that faced Tibet. In fact, Tertön Sogyal went through unthinkable hardships for the sake of the teachings and to help sentient beings in Tibet, and, as a result, there were no plagues or wars in Tibet while he was alive.

Tertön Sogyal’s two principal disciples were the 13th Dalai Lama Thubten Gyatso, and the 3rd Dodrupchen Tenpé Nyima. Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo had said that Dodrupchen Tenpé Nyima would not live to be older than fifty, but Tertön Sogyal promised that neither of his two chödaks would pass away until after he himself had died. Tertön Sogyal made a prediction that if during his lifetime there was an occasion when he could explain his special transmission of the sadhana of the Gyutrul Sangnying, along with the commentary on the tantra and the instructions, to his four main students: Nyerba Atrin, Shugchung Tulku, Dodrupchen Tenpé Nyima and His Holiness Thubten Gyatso, in the great Potala palace, then even during the lifetime of his two next reincarnations there would be no decline in the fortunes of Tibet. What in fact happened was due to the lack of good karma and merit among sentient beings. His Holiness Thubten Gyatso sent messengers to invite them all to Lhasa, and Shugchung Tulku, who was not a very well-known lama, arrived first and said he would wait there for the others to arrive. Dodrupchen Rinpoche, however, was a great lama, and, when he set off for Central Tibet and Lhasa, many monks came with him. As they crossed over the first river, they flung stones at their pack animals and beat them with iron chains. Dodrupchen Rinpoche, who had an extremely noble character, was dismayed. He thought that if in such a short distance they had already accrued so much negative karma, then by going all the way to Lhasa they would undoubtedly accumulate much more negativity than virtue, and so he decided not to go. No sooner had this happened than Nyerba Atrin died.

Then, on the first day of the the first month of the following year, Tertön Sogyal went to see Dodrupchen Tenpé Nyima, and when he was leaving, though it was not his custom to give scarves, he offered him one, and told him that in that lifetime they would not meet again. He promised though that in all of their future lives, they would always be inseparable.

Tertön Sogyal revealed a terma from the Nyenpo Yutsé mountain in the east, known as ‘the Lake of the Ten Directions’: this was the sacred stone of Hayagriva and Vajravarahi. He said that if this sacred stone were to reach the hands of the 13th Dalai Lama without being seen by any other person, and if he kept it with him all the time, throughout all his future incarnations, no harm would ever come to his life. Not only did this precious stone reach the 13th Dalai Lama, but the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, showed it to me when I visited him in 1990. When he was escaping from the Norbulingka palace, and wondered what he could take to protect his life, he also decided to take the second of the twenty-five ‘kutsab’ termas revealed by Tertön Sogyal, which is made of a special kind of sand. The sacred stone of Hayagriva and Vajravarahi has a self-arisen Hayagriva image above, and the mantra Bam Ha Ri Ni Sa of Vajravarahi below. His Holiness still has this stone, and I think that the fourteenth Dalai Lama will not have any obstacles for his life.

Tertön Sogyal wrote down most of his terma treasures of Gyutrul Sangnying and Ka Yongdzok Düpa, yet as the Dojang Chimé Chima says:

During Lerab Lingpa's life, they will not spread,... but in order to spread them in the future, the dakinis will take them.

At that time, all these writings were taken to the land of the dakinis and do not exist here any longer. Now, even though I have had the title of Lerab Lingpa ever since I was young, I have not had the status of being Lerab Lingpa's reincarnation. It was only when I was fifty four years old that I was able to travel to his seat, and there I tried, in every way I could, to find his various writings. However, the conjunction of circumstances was not right, and I was unable to find any of them. So now, with my hands together in prayer, and from the depths of my heart, I request Sogyal Rinpoche to reveal all the writings of Lerab Lingpa, since he is the indisputable reincarnation of Lerab Lingpa according to Orgyen Rinpoche, whose words cannot be changed. The reason why I have such hope in Rinpoche is simply this: I believe, without any doubt, that he is the authentic reincarnation of Tertön Sogyal, and so I pray to him with complete confidence. And I say this without any ulterior motive or trace of flattery.

My confidence that he is Lerab Lingpa has been confirmed by the fact that he was recognized as such by so may Lamas, and I have seen all the records and heard all the stories about it. In fact, Lerab Lingpa’s own great heart-son, to whom he transmitted the blessing of the entire realization of his wisdom mind, was Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö. He raised Sogyal Rinpoche, cared for him as if he were his own son, and actually gave him the name ‘Sogyal’. One of the reasons he gave him this name was so that no-one could make any mistake about who he really was. Besides, Sogyal Rinpoche’s vast activities alone are proof that he is Tertön Sogyal, if proof were needed. A master like Sogyal Rinpoche, whose work spreads so far and wide, is extremely rare. This too is because of interdependent causes from the past. It was Ngakpa Dorje Dudjom who captured the hearts of Orgyen Rinpoche and the king Trisong Detsen unlike any other disciple, and who served them in such a special way. This became an interdependent cause for his future activities, and the benefit he was to bring to beings, to become very vast. When he served Trisong Detsen, he was the most trusted minister of all; he was a translator; he was the one who invited the second buddha, Orgyen Rinpoche, to Tibet; and during Trisong Detsen’s reign, it was he who carried out all of the king's work. During the reign of the princes Mutik Tsenpo and Mutri Tsenpo as well he was the prime minister, responsible for all the kings’ work. There was no-one who won the hearts of the ‘Dharma kings’ as did Ngakpa Dorje Dudjom.

Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche were also extremely fond of Sogyal Rinpoche, and looked after him as their own son, and I believe the reason they did so was because they were both incarnations of Trisong Detsen, and Sogyal Rinpoche is the incarnation of Dorje Dudjom; so from many lifetimes back they had that relationship of king and minister. Dorje Dudjom was also Guru Rinpoche’s greatest attendant, travelling first to Nepal to invite him to Tibet, and then following him all the way from Yangleshö back up, carrying his luggage on his back. In the history of Kilaya it states that when Dorje Dudjom received teachings on Vajrakilaya, he offered an inconceivable quantity of articles such as gold, silver, turquoise, coral and so forth, and for the ganachakra meat alone he offered about one hundred yaks, yet without killing a single animal. Orgyen Rinpoche said that Dorje Dudjom was unobstructed like the wind, and he praised him as ‘the best at beating the drum and holding the phurba’. Likewise we two ought to have some power: why not give him a drum and me a phurba, and let’s see how much power we have in this world of ours!

Because Dorje Dudjom pleased Guru Rinpoche in such an exceptional way with his practice and offerings, in all his lives his material treasures have been exceptionally valuable, and they are no different in fact from those revealed by Rigzin Godemchen. I have a number of the more well-known ones in my possession. Tertön Sogyal's material treasures were distributed to the main holders of his teachings. They are spread all over the world and can be identified by their unique quality and valuable material. As I suspected that merely through the name of Tertön Sogyal and Dorje Dudjom I might be able to benefit the teaching and sentient beings, I have never said that I was not Tertön Sogyal. Some time ago, when I was in Hawaii, a hurricane was forecast, and I proclaimed that it would not happen while I was there. If it had happened beforehand, there would have been nothing I could have done about it, but in the name of Dorje Dudjom I stated that from now on there would not be any harm from the gods and demons of phenomenal existence. Imagine, for example, that a person who had no capacity whatsoever were given the title of President of the United States. Simply because of that title he would be able to rule the entire United States of America even if it were just by stamping his seal on a piece of paper! In the same way, although I am not Dorje Dudjom, yet to hold his name and then to give orders to the gods and demons of phenomenal existence is of great benefit. I can accomplish my wishes, and benefit the teaching and sentient beings as well. This is the reason why I refrain from saying that I am not Dorje Dudjom.

In the predictions of Tertön Sogyal's Drolö Deshek Düpa it says that during his own lifetime, his teachings would not spread very far, only to a small extent in central Tibet around the 13th Dalai Lama and himself. During his second incarnation, however, his teachings would flourish and become known all over the world. Now, when I see the work of Sogyal Rinpoche, I am convinced that he is the reincarnation of Tertön Sogyal, and I am filled with faith and confidence in him.

Usually it is the case with other tertöns that they know the span of time during which their teachings are to endure, such as ‘the period of fruition,’ ‘the period of accomplishment,’ ‘the period of transmission’ and ‘the period of merely maintaining the outward signs.’ During the tertön’s lifetime, the blessings of his teachings are much greater, and then gradually they diminish, as they are passed down through his disciples. Tertön Sogyal promised however that though his teachings might not spread so much during his own lifetime, during the life of his next reincarnation they would spread throughout the entire world. Not only that, but their impact, power and blessing would multiply a hundredfold, and they would remain, without ever declining, for five hundred years.

When a lama has more than one reincarnation, it can sometimes happen that they do not get on with each other very well. This was the case with Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje, who did not see eye to eye at all. Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo used to say that since the time of the great Dharma kings there had been a sangha of saffron-robed monks and a sangha of white-robed long-haired ngakpas, but one thing he had never heard of was a sangha of hunters! He was very critical of Do Khyentse, and even his students used to think that Do Khyentse was not a great lama. Then Do Khyentse died, and for some unknown reason Jamyang Khyentse suddenly appeared unusually radiant and in splendid health. He explained why: ‘That ‘long-haired Khyentse’ and I, though we were never separate, appeared to be two individuals. Now we have become one. That’s why I looked so healthy and so radiant!”

So it is possible that two incarnations of the same tertön can seem not to be on good terms with one another. Tertön Sogyal predicted that if his two main reincarnations were harmonious and helped each other, then their benefit for the Dharma and for sentient beings would be as vast as space, but if there were any disagreement or conflict between them, this would be a disaster for the Dharma and for beings.

As regards the two main incarnations of Tertön Sogyal, first of all, there is no mistake about Sogyal Rinpoche. Then, in Tibet I did not hear of anyone being recognized as Tertön Sogyal apart from myself. Abroad, in Bhutan the Je Khenpo is said to be one of the reincarnations of Tertön Sogyal, the reason being that in one of Tertön Sogyal's predictions he said that he would be reborn near Taktsang. So they must be the two incarnations, as I certainly am not one of them, and I hope that the Je Khenpo and Sogyal Rinpoche get along harmoniously. Yet suppose we were to consider that Rinpoche and I were the reincarnations of Lerab Lingpa, then I declare that our minds are inseparable, and that all our spiritual and material things are one. Considering that we are as one, I will do anything within my power to help Sogyal Rinpoche. He is very respectful to elders, very friendly to equals, and very loving to his students, and I am confident he will give me the same treatment! In front of you all here now I am making this important statement, and you, Rinpoche’s students, should also be very careful, because if there were to be any disharmony between us, not only would it affect us, but also our benefit for the teachings and sentient beings throughout the world would decline severely. You should all bear this in mind and remember it. Although I have never rejected the fact that I was Tertön Sogyal, I have never accepted it either. However, there is one thing that I do believe, and that is that I have some special blessing of Tertön Sogyal.

So far it has not been easy to travel and communicate in Tibet, so Sogyal Rinpoche has not been able to visit Tibet, but his activities in the west are great. In Tibet, though I am not Tertön Sogyal, merely through having his name I have been trying to benefit the teaching as much as I can. I hope that in the future Sogyal Rinpoche will represent us both, and, in Tibet and throughout the west, make the activity of Tertön Sogyal expand to become as vast as space. To honour this great connection between us, I am going to offer Rinpoche the three representations of the body, speech and mind of the buddhas. I do not have the means to make the offerings of valuable material, but it is said that an image of the sugatas, even if only made of wood, should be respected as if priceless. The correct way to present him with this offering is to stand in front of him, make prostrations and then give the offerings. However, though I have never intended to act like a ‘big shot,’ because of the state of my health I was unable to do prostrations even when I went to meet Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and Drubwang Pema Norbu Rinpoche. So I have to request Sogyal Rinpoche to stand up in order to receive the offerings.

Hrih!

In this mandala of deities, where all appearance and existence is utterly pure,

You mature and liberate body, speech and mind into the three vajras,

Lord of a hundred buddha families, master of the tantric teachings,

Vajra Sovereign, may your life last forevermore!

You who have conquered that mandala of great bliss

Of the invincible bodhicitta of your vajra-body,

Holder of the vajra-prediction, lord of supreme bliss,

Vajra master, may you remain for one hundred kalpas!

Through the path which is effortless, you introduce directly

The space of Great Bliss as the unchanging awareness of Rigpa:

You who hold the profound complete instructions of Dzogchen, Glorious master, long may you live, resplendent upon your throne!

O precious embodiment of all the masters of the three lineages,

Continuously you possess the vajra body throughout the three times:

Raise the great victory banner of the teachings of the three lineages

And make them always pervade the three worlds!

Arriving at the seat of Lerab Lingpa today, my mind was so full of joy that this is what I had to say.

The Events of the Visit

Khenpo Jigphun then proceeded bestowing the empowerment of Tertön Sogyal’s terma of Tendrel Nyesel which is one of the main sadhanas practiced by the Rigpa sangha.

Khenpo Namdrol who studied with Khenpo Jigphun before he left Tibet for India, accompanied Khenpo Jigphun on his travels in the West. Towards the end of Sogyal Rinpoche’s life, Khenpo Namdrol would become one of the most important Dzogchen teachers of the Rigpa sangha. In particular, he taught on Longchenpa’s Precious Treasury of Dharma over a period of four years based on the teachings that he had received from Khenpo Jigphun in Tibet. During the visit of Khenpo Jigphun to Lerab Ling, Khenpo Namdrol gave a more general dharma teaching to the Rigpa assembly on 25 August.

Then, on 27 August, Khenpo Jigphun bestowed the empowerment of Vajrakilaya. On the next day, 28 August, Khenpo Jigphun expounded on the specialness of the Dzogchen teachings.

In the evening, Khenpo Sodargye taught on the life of Khenpo Jigphun. In the morning of 29 August Khenpo Jigphun's niece, Jetsun Muntso, incarnation of Jetsun Mingyur Paldrön and president of Larung Gar today, gave a Dorje Dröllo empowerment. Right afterwards Sogyal Rinpoche took Khenpo Jigphun around some of Lerab Ling’s remarkable places. A sang offering was made on Lerab Ling’s main hilltop which has a commanding view of the surrounding valleys and one can even glimpse the far-away Pyrenees on the horizon which mark the border of France with Spain. Sitting there on a small wooden platform, the gathered lamas and Khenpos practised together.

Lerab Ling overlooks a vast valley where many small streams meet together to form the river Orb, one of the main waterways that empties into the Golf of Lyon. In fact, the land of Lerab Ling is called “L’Engayresque” in the local language of Occitan meaning land of streams. The stream that flows from the source below the Lerab Ling retreat centre has been named Ratna kanga by Dodrupchen Rinpoche, and it is close to a series of cascades of this stream that Rinpoche had constructed a small wooden hut, which he affectionately called the teahouse. Rinpoche took Khenpo Jigphun to visit this magical place in the afternoon of 29 August. The final few meters of the path to the teahouse can only be done on foot, but with the help of a few strong attendants Khenpo Jigphun managed to get there.

In the afternoon of the same day, the programme continued with a teaching of Khenpo Jigphun on trekchö.

On the final day of Khenpo’s visit, Khenpo gave an empowerment of Manjushri and taught on tögal. The entire visit concluded with many expressions of gratitude and appreciation for everything that had happened in such short time period.

Sogyal Rinpoche's Farewell Speech

Sogyal Rinpoche thanked Khenpo Jigphun and made the following declaration at the conclusion of the visit.

Your Holiness Khenpo Jigme Phuntsog Jungnay, your presence here among us during this great gathering brings me the greatest possible happiness and joy. Truly it has brought about the fulfilment of auspiciousness. It is an occasion of very great significance, and not simply for the establishing of a deep connection between the two of us alone. For I am confident—as much as I have ever been of anything—that this will have momentous effects for the spread and the preservation of the Buddhadharma in general, and in particular the Nyingma tradition.

Your Holiness has declared that in his prophecies Tertön Sogyal foretold how in the future his teachings would spread wider and wider, and that these prophecies clearly mention me as a reincarnation of Tertön Sogyal. Your Holiness also stated that it is my destiny and my responsibility to rediscover many of the treasures of Tertön Sogyal, which were lost, as they were retrieved by the Dakinis. You have stated emphatically that it is my task to preserve and spread the teachings of Tertön Sogyal, representing both you and myself in doing so. Thinking of the future of the teachings, you have also graciously given me the honour of enthronement as Dorje Gyalpo, and granted me the representations of body, speech and mind. Though I am not worthy of these honours, yet I am aware there must be a greater purpose behind them, and so, to create the most auspicious conditions, I have accepted them.

I have complete and utter conviction that, through our establishing a special connection and relation between us, there will be great, and limitless, benefit for beings all over the world, and for the teachings of Buddha.

Because I am younger in age than Your Holiness, I have made this decision, here , today in your presence: I am accepting the responsibility that you have bestowed on me.

I pray to the Lamas and the deities, that all these activities may be successfully accomplished, and I implore the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to grant their blessings, so that all of this may come true, so that the auspicious conditions may indeed be completely fulfilled for the teachings of Tertön Sogyal to live and spread further over the next five hundred years. And this I do with tremendous joy.

This concluded Khenpo Jigphun’s sole visit to Lerab Ling in France. On 7 January 1994, Khenpo Jigphun passed away. Sogyal Rinpoche was teaching in Australia at this time, and many of his students noticed a remarkable change in him at that time. He seemed to become even more radiant and powerful, just as though some of Khenpo Jigphun’s radiance and power had been transferred to him. This echoes the story that Khenpo Jigphun himself told at the beginning of his visit to Lerab Ling about two incarnations of Jikme Lingpa, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Do Khyentse.