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Precious Teacher
Chapter 8 The two yogis, man and woman, were invited back to the palace. Crowds lined the way as they were carried along in litters under the brilliant parasols reserved for royalty. There the king and his courtiers requested Padmasambhava teach them the meaning and the method of his profound instruction. At the moment of completion of this first teaching, the initial occasion of the Guru=s ATurning of the Wheel of Dharma@ in its Vajrayana form, every single being within hearing was immediately liberated. The area was entirely empted of living creatures. They had all left this world of craving and attachment, and been transported to a Pure Land, except for the Guru and his consort, of course. They alone remained to fulfill the vow of the bodhisattva which is to help all beings, without exception. Others say that after demonstrating his ability to overcome death and receiving the acknowledgement of the King, Padmasambhava became known as "Powerful Skull-garlanded Lotus" or Pema Tsotreng Tsal. He is said to have inherited that throne and continued on there as the ruler of Urgyen known as Guru Pema Gyalpo. Chapter 9 Padmasambhava now set off on a long journey to bring the Buddha=s dharma to many wild and untouched places. Some of these borderlands were populated by fierce and uncivilized people who had never known the dharma. Other areas had once known the teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni but had lapsed into ignorant and bloody ways of living. Still others were inhabited by yakshas or demons, or rakshasas - guardian spirits that troubled the people there, demanding continual sacrifice. For example, when the Guru had passed through Nepal he came to an area known as Manyul. There Dsamun, the malevolent mountain yaksha of Zanzun, tried to squeeze him between her two neighbouring peaks. He demonstrated to her that he could escape her great force by taking to the air like a garuda. In amazement at his powers, she took refuge in Buddhism and became known as the protector called Dorje Gyubunma. In gNamtan mKarnagm, the white demoness showered him with thunderbolts. The Guru melted her icy abode into a lake which he then caused to boil like a kettle. Her flesh was melted off her bones, but still she would not emerge to submit to him. He launched a bolt which pierced her right eye, and then she gave up her life to him. She became known as Snow-white Fleshless One-eyed Ogress of the Vajra, Ekajati. In another mountain fastness he met with twelve furies at once who combined the methods of the two previous elemental powers. Using his famous pointing spell of the horned fist, he turned their weapons back on themselves which caused them to submit.
Chapter 10 At the fort of Uyugbye tshanrdson, the Guru became known as Damchan Dorlegs when he overcame the fury of dGebsnyen rDorje legspa, with his 360 minions. This entity, too, was transformed into a guardian of the Teaching.
Making the gesture of the iron hook, the Guru caught its nose. He bound its neck with the rope gesture and its hooves with the gesture of fetters. Further maddened by the Guru=s bell mudra, the gigantic yak submitted and turned into an obedient boy dressed in white silk. At Pyatanla Pass, the Guru encountered the naga Thanla. The great serpent had his head in Guge and his tail in Yermothan, the area of Mongolia drained by the Sokchu river. To ordinary people, he may have seemed like a chain of mountains barring the Guru=s path, but when the Guru threw his lingyi [noose?] over the snake, Tanlha in his fury caused thunderbolts to rain down. The Guru transformed them into frogs, fishes and snakes which then fled to a nearby lake. When Padmasambhava melted the lair of the serpent he too, was transformed -- he became a docile boy all in white with a turquoise diadem in his hair. At Phanyul thang, the Three Injurers sent hurricanes to bar the Guru=s way. The mudra called the wheel of fire caused the winds to abate. The snows melted like butter before it, and the gNodshin were subjugated. It required the potency of the opening of the mandala of the Five Buddha Families for a full seven days time in order to subdue the Black Devils of gNamgyi sugmthanglang sgrom. Then, in gLawa rkanchigma, the demons of Theuran required subjugation. |
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At Shampolun, a
rakshasa called Yarlha Shampo confronted the guru in the form of a mountainous
white yak breathing great clouds of vapour with belches of thunder. As moisture
collected on his heated muzzle, it caused it to rain and to hail.