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Precious Teacher

Part 4:  Ogresses and Vampires

Once, while the Guru was sitting in meditation in the cave called Sengbragphug, a pretty little old lady wearing a charming turquoise cap came to visit. She sidled up to the Lotus-born Teacher. Then she sat down next to him. After a little while, she stretched out beside him laying her head in his lap.

Slowly and subtly she stretched out until her feet reached as far as Gyemothan! Her hands reached the foot of the snowy peak called Tisi.

While Padmasambhava was transfixed by this nightmarish sight, thousands of Mimayin crept in and surrounded him in a menacing manner. The Guru evoked the Five Fierce Ones, and with their aid, he subdued them all.

He subjugated the Mamo ogresses and the bSemo of Chubori and Kharak. In Silma in the province of Tsang he vanquished the sManmo.

In Hori, he beat the Damsri. And in Ronlung Nagpo, he dominated the Srinpo.

In U, central Tibet, he vanquished all the nagas that inhabited Lake Manasowar (Maldro). They made him an offering of seven thousand gold coins!

And so it went. Wherever there were ancient spirits of a malevolent, or even just an unpredictable nature, the Guru pacified them and subjugated them to the Dharma. He transformed those places so that they could receive peace-loving people.

~

  to be continued  ...

• In an appendix: problems transliterating from Tibetan, the 8 Forms of Guru Rinpoche,  8 Places of the Guru, and 2 versions of his life as told throughout the year. Also, where is Urgyen or Udyana?

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References

Chang, Victor. Tibet Handbook: A Pilgrimage Guide.  ----- : Moon Travel Handbooks, 1994.

The Lotus-Born: The Life Story of Padmasambhava by Yeshe Tsogyal as Revealed by Nyang Ral Nyima Oser.  Boston: Shambhala, 1993. Translated by Eric Pema Kunsang, edited by Marcia Binder Schmidt, with clarifications by Tsele Natsok Rangdrol and a foreward by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

Waddell, L. A. Buddhism of Tibet (previous title: Lamaism). NY: Dover Publishing (1895) 1972.

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