Atisha Meets His Heart Son
Atisha’s main yidam was Tara and he often had visions of her.
The following account of Atisha and Dromtoenpa was taken from Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche’s Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand.
Green Tara, Atisha Dipamkara Srijnana and Dorje Shugden. Click for high-resolution image
Atiśha furthered the doctrine in the Upper Ngari area, but when the three years were nearly over, and because of his promise to the elder, Nagtso the translator said, “We must now return to India.”
Atiśha appeared to consent, and so they went to Puhreng. But previously Tārā had told Atiśha repeatedly, “It would be most beneficial for the teachings if you took on a great upāsaka* in Tibet.” Now she was repeatedly telling him, “The upāsaka will soon be here,” so Atiśha was constantly on the lookout for him.
“My upāsaka hasn’t come,” he said. “How could Tārā lie!”
This seminal text by Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche, Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand is meant for all spiritual seekers who would like to engage in meditational retreats, teachings and practices.
One day Dromtoenpa turned up while Atiśha was visiting a benefactor. Drom went to Atiśha’s room and was told that Atiśha had gone to see his sponsor but would now be on his way back. “I can’t wait another moment,” said Drom Rinpoche, the sooner I meet my Mahāyāna spiritual guide the better. I’m going to where he is.” He left and met Atiśha in an alley. Drom Rinpoche made full-length prostrations and went up to Atiśha, who put his hand on Drom’s head while saying many auspicious things in Sanskrit.
Atiśha, while with his sponsor, had said, “I need a portion of food for my upāsaka,” so he was carrying food with him. Atiśha was a strict vegetarian, and the meal he had been given that day consisted of barley dough steeped in ghee. Drom ate the barley dough but saved the clarified butter, making a large butterlamp big enough to burn all night. He placed it by Atiśha’s pillow, and he is said to have placed similar butterlamps by his teacher’s pillow every day without fail for the rest of Atiśha’s life. That night, Atiśha gave Drom Rinpoche a major initiation and adopted him as his spiritual son.
* Upasaka reefers to a lay vow-holder practitioner.
Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche (1878 – 1941) was one of the most important Gelug lamas of the 20th Century and was known to have received teachings on the Lamrim from Dagpo Lama Jamphel Lhundrub. His lama taught him a topic at a time and sent him to meditate on each topic until he gained realisation of the subject before he progressed on to the next topic. Thus, Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche was very famous for his lively and concise teachings on the lamrim. Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand was compiled from notes and anecdotes that were written down by Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche during a historic 21- day Lamrim teaching that Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche gave in 1921 at Chuzang hermitage.
For more interesting information:
- Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana: The Master Who Revived Buddhism in India and Tibet
- The Collected Works of H.H. Pabongka Rinpoche
- Pabongka Rinpoche and His Yogini Student, the Lady Lhalu
- Lam Rim Lineage Surprise
- Heruka’s Eye
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Dromtoenpa was Atisha’s heart son. Tara had foretold his coming to Atisha. Dromtoenpa’s devotion to his Guru Atisha was most exemplary. He was so eager to meet Atisha for the first time that he went halfway(as Atisha was returning home) to meet him. “The sooner I meet my Mahayana spiritual guide the better”, said Drom. When he met Atisha , Drom made full length prostrations to Atisha.Later, he took the clarified butter from the meal that Atisha had given him and made a large butter lamp big enough to burn all night. He placed it by his teacher’s pillow and continued to place a lamp there every night without fail for the rest of his life. On that first night, Atisha gave Drom Rinpoche a major initiation and adopted him as his spiritual son.
Atisha trusted DromRinpoche so much that he entrusted the Lamrim to him. As a result of his serving his Guru Atisha so devotedly, the latter told him.”You travelled the path merely by serving your guru, a grey-haired monk”. It is said in the Lamrim that “the good works , as vast as space itself, of great Atisha in both India and Tibet came about solely through the power of Drom’s proper guru devotion”.
I have always found this first meeting between Drom Rinpoche( as told in the Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand)and his beloved Guru Atisha most poignant.
We are very fortunate to have this account on Atisha and how he met his spiritual son. Reading the Lamrim is a precious treasure for our spiritual growth and recommended to read by H.E. Tsem Rinpoche.
Did you know that there was a Lam Rim Retreat in Kechara House?
Read here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/kechara-13-depts/lam-rim-retreat-to-be-in-book-of-records.html
Atiśa Dīpaṃkara Śrījñān is one of the major figures in the spread of 11th-century Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism in Asia and inspired Buddhist thought from Tibet to Sumatra. He has many books written by him that he is famous for but the most common one is the Lamrim. From his original work, we have many lamrims coming from all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Gampopa wrote one, so did Lama Tsangkhapa, and eventually down to Pabongkha’s discourse where he combined several lamrim lineages together clearly, precisely with no contradictions.
Atisha listened to the Buddha Tara and was very close to her, by her advice he continues to inspire many people around the world through his works today. His chief disciple was Dromtoenpa who later became the founder of Kadam school. Thank you, your Eminence Tsem Rinpoche and blog team for this short write up on how Atisha met his chief disciple Dromtonenpa.
Interesting account of how Atisha meets his heart son, Dromtoenpa. The story of Atisha’s life story continues to inspire many Buddhists to persevere in their spiritual journeys.
Thank you for this interesting sharing.