Khyentse Yeshe Dorje, who was journeying along wearing a sheepskin with a
sword hitched around his waist. Although Patrul Rinpoche didn’t lack faith in Do
Rinpoche, he thought, ‘What’s wrong with wearing clothes that are in accordance
with the dharma?’ Do Khyentse knew what he was thinking and all of a sudden
grabbed him by the throat and shook him back and forth, shouting, ‘Old dog! Old
dog!’ At that very moment, Patrul Rinpoche recognized rigpa, the nature of mind.
“Likewise, even when the famous Khenpo Tubten was made a Khenchen
(teaching abbot) and was teaching sutra and mantra to a huge gathering of
students, he had not recognized the nature of mind. One day when he was going to
perform a ritual in a village, he slipped while walking over a small bridge and fell
into the river below: at that very moment, he arrived at rigpa and came to know
the nature of mind.”
By telling me many such stories, he made my perception change so that I often
thought, “That will happen to me one day.” A few days later, in a dream I arrived
in a transparent empty cave, like the small tunnels that they build on mountain
roads these days. In the middle of the cave was a stone trough filled with fresh and
old blood. I thought it must be a place where Hindus make sacrifices, like they do
for the black goddess Kali in Nepal. I was terrified and revolted and thought, “I
absolutely must drive these terrible spirits away!” With the divine dignity of
Vajrakilaya, I uttered HUNG four times in order to expel the spirits, and I scattered
oil-grain around. At the same time, sounds of horns, drums, trumpets, and so on,
naturally resounded, and with my mind mixing with space, I remained in rigpa.
After that my fear and revulsion completely vanished. The next morning, I told
Khen Rinpoche, and he said, “What was the state of rigpa like?” I was left without
anything whatsoever to say. Then Khen Rinpoche said, “Ah! That’s it!” and he was
extremely pleased. That recognition was attained through the blessing of the lama.
DUNGSE THINLEY NORBU RINPOCHE
Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche is the lord of those skilled in the meaning of
samsara and nirvana’s being of equal taste as the dharmakaya and apparent
existence appearing as instruction. He keeps the form of a great hidden yogin and
bestows Dzogchen pith instructions on his fortunate disciples. He possesses some
extraordinary qualities.
In 1997, one day Rinpoche came on pilgrimage to the Swayambhu and
Boudhanath stupas with a large group of students. In the evening, after returning
to his residence, he gave some advice and dharma talk. He acted slightly drunk
from drinking wine and gave naked pointing-out instructions. The way he taught
then was quite different from the way lamas normally teach. He taught how to
sustain rigpa with great naturalness at the very moment attachment and aversion
arise. Upon receiving Rinpoche’s instructions, I thought, “Today all of these people
recognized rigpa. How fortunate they are!” and I became inexpressibly happy and
joyful.
Another time, when I met Rinpoche in California, in the evening, when we were
making a feast offering and Rinpoche was teaching, he scolded me, saying, “It’s