Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Khensur Rinpoche works through page-by-page corrections to a written account of his own life in this unusual 36-minute session — editorial dictation rather than a dharma teaching. He resumes from a previous sitting with details on traditional Tibetan opera (Lhamo): three dramas centered on three kings, with performances ranging from one day to fifteen depending on elaboration. He then traces the summer rains retreat (Yarney) to Śākyamūni Buddha’s sixteen monk-companions, explaining how Dargye Gompa preserved the tradition by keeping at least sixteen monks in retreat. Running through all of this are biographical details from Rinpoche’s journey to Lhasa — the Tsongkhapa festival of Ganden Ngamchoe, villages on the road from Chamdo, and a factual correction: there were three Jowo Rinpoche statues in Lhasa, not one, housed at the Jokhang, the Dalai Lama’s palace, and Ramoche Cathedral. Most valuable for those editing or researching Tibetan biographical texts.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 28 RS 1988 06 15.mp3
UUID: d34605b7-d380-4a81-9e78-0637dd4bfeca
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Rinpoche's Story (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1988-06-15
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 36.0 minutes
Words: ~3,152
Thursday, the fifteenth of June nineteen eighty nine. Last time, we were were discussing the three operas. That’s where we left off. And Rinpoche was gonna try to remember exactly the names, etcetera. He says he’s not wasn’t ever particularly interested in in operas, though he’s not very familiar with them.
But there there were the three operas were concerned with three different kings. The first king, his name was Galpo, which means king. Galpo, except for his king. Galawangpo. Galawangpo.
Galawangpo. Can spell this. Galpo k a hyphen l a hyphen w a n g hyphen p o Galawangpo. That’s the name of the king. Through this play, one this one drama, the name of the the name of the the actual opera itself is called Sugchinyima.
Sugchinyima, s u hyphen c h h I. K u n, hyphen, a n. And his the opera, which is about him, is called Nangsa. N a n g I s a r. There could be like, is not sure, but there’s a relationship between Ramayana and any of these these the one about Galawangpo.
Galawangpo was born his birthplace was in a place called Mön, which is in Northern India. So there could he could have learned that this could there could be some relationship. The the length of the of the operas, if they could if it was extremely abbreviated performance, they could present one opera each day. And then if it was a middling length performance, it could last six, seven days. If it was extensive performance, it could last up to fifteen days.
So the the spelling of the word salt, which occurs on page nine, second paragraph, should be t h h s o g. T h h s o g. Depending you’re gonna have to come up with some kind of standard standardized system. That’s The word talk, literally means to gather together, to bring together. Kinda con condensation, bringing together, gathering together, collecting together.
Concerning the the rainy rainy season retreat, this was a tradition which began with Śākyamūni Buddha, and there was a group of sixteen monks who always did retreat with Śākyamūni Buddha. They were they called Naten Chutrug. Spelling would be n a with umlaut over the a. Ne. N a, umlaut over the a.
Dan, t a n. Not Dan. Chu Trug, c h h u. C h h u. Chu Trug.
Number six. So these were the these were the sixteen monks that always that always did the rainy season retreat with the Buddha. And so at, for example, at Dargai Gompa, when all the monks would take what they call yarney vowels, they had that word before. This sentient beings, yarney means summer summer rains retreat. Yarney.
Spell it y a r. Yarney. Yarney, y a r, hype hyphen, n a, n a, n a. During this period, sixteen months, we would do rainy season with remainder rain rainy season retreat with Śākyamūni Buddha, so this tradition carried over. And but at the for example, at Dargay Gompa, everyone would take Yarney vows, but they everyone would not only the older senior monks would actually do a retreat.
The rest of them would do their usual work, but but they tried to have at least sixteen monks sitting remaining retreat during that period to keep up the tradition which came from. So it wasn’t remember, Jay said in his class, there weren’t a hundred monks. There were eight monks. So that should make correct it. The eight monks went to Vassa, and most of them went to Sarah.
Some went to. One or two went to. Most went to Sarah, but one the fewest went to. Spelling of the word, which is a Tibetan ceremonial ceremonial scarf, is k h h a t a g. No.
I’m sorry. Don’t move it. It’s k h a Don’t leave the double h. It’s k h a hyphen t h e. In the second paragraph on page ten, the people would bring a cup of milk to Rinpoche, and then he would dip his finger in and flick it to make an offering to the to the three to the Three Jewels.
Sanko, which is in different context, would have different meanings. Page ten, paragraph four. So he made they made offerings while with his uncle while they were in Chamdo because it was it was the tenth month, the twenty fifth day, which is the festival of Tsongkhapa called Ganden Ngamchoe. Ganden Ngamchoe is a very special festival. So the the name of this festival, which is centered around Tsongkhapa, is called Ganden Ngamchoe.
Okay. So the the the spelling of Ganden would be g g a n d a n g a n, hyphen, d a n. Got it. And then not n g a. And c h h o with.
So means five, and means offering. And then is abbreviation for twenty five, meaning the twenty fifth. So let’s the it’s the offering made on the twenty fifth. So it’s the twenty fifth of the tenth month. And this is was very very special occasion.
So he made offerings with his uncle while they were in in Chamdo, and then he went on alone. His uncle didn’t accompany him into Lhasa. The spelling of Chou, it should be pronounced Jowo Rinpoche. Jowo Rinpoche. Jowo Rinpoche.
So the Jowo is c h o. Now this can I mean, this to be technical, it would have a it would be many of these words have high tone and low tone, but we haven’t been making that differentiation? I guess this particular c h has a low tone. C h and then c h o. It’d have a low tone and then would have two dots after it showing that it’s elongated, but the word just c h o would probably be sufficient.
So it’s c h o hyphen w o, Jowo. Jowo. Jowo. So the word Jowo Jowo has many different meanings.
We can say from the point of view of, for example, sentient beings, it means it refers to the kindness. You know, it means something that’s very special, something very important, such as the kindness of sentient beings. This would be referred to a jewel. And and and when it refers to, for example, Śākyamūni Buddha, it means it’s excellent qualities, such as it is benefiting sentient beings. So it’s something very valuable, something very important.
The second paragraph from the bottom on page ten. The statue of Chenrezig, it’s it’s not thirteen. It’s eleven, they call it eleven-faced Chenrezig, not thirteen. And it’s called Jowo Thugjé Chenpo. This text is called Jowo Thugjé Chenpo. So Jowo, we’ve had that one before.
Same paragraph. Then Tuche, where it’s spelled, t h u g hyphen j e duche. It means great hearted or literally, it means great hearted, but here it means here no. Not great hearted. This simply means compassion.
And then Chempel, c h e n. That should be c h h e n c h h e n hyphen p o. This means great. Chempel. It means great great compassion and joy.
So that the the Chinese destroyed the this statue, temple, Last paragraph on page ten, first line, rather than thirteen, it should be eleven pages. Page consistent throughout. The Tibetan word for is trio, t r I l. The fifth paragraph, top of page eleven, the two villages that passed through on the way to Lhasa from Chamdo. One one of them is called Gyamomuchu.
Gyamomuchu. It’s spelled g y a hyphen m o, Gyamomuchu. And second word is Mu, g u. N g u. It’s hyphen c h h u.
That was one village. And the other village was Gyada. Gyanta. Gyada. G y a?
No. No. No. Yeah. No.
It’s called Kongpo Gyada. Kongpo Gyada. It’s spelled k o n hyphen p o, Kongpo. The second word is Gya, g y a, hyphen d a. Gyada.
Good. It’s the two villages in the past. There were two so there were two there were two so technically, there were there were there were two statues of Jowo Rinpoche. One was so these were these were housed in two different so there were three there were three statues referred to as Jowo Rinpochak. Jowo Rinpochak.
One of them was held in the main cathedral, which is which is called the Jokhang. Jokhang. This is the actual cathedral in in Lhasa where where the Jowo Rinpoche statue was kept. Then there is one of the statues was kept in the in the palace of the Dalai Lama, and then the other was kept in a place maybe a quarter of a kilometer away in another building at a site. The place of the site was called Ramoche.
Ramoche, r a hyphen m o hyphen c h h e, Ramoche. And so that was called the Ramoche Cathedral, and one Jowo Rinpoche statue was kept there. So there was only one Jokhang. There’s only one Jokhang. That was but there were there were three Jowo Rinpoche statues.
But there was only one the only one was actually called Jokhang was the where the main one main cathedral in Lhasa where the main Jowo Rinpoche statue was kept. So that would have to be slightly altered. That’s where we left off. And remember, Rinpoche is gonna try to remember exactly the names, etcetera. He says he’s not wasn’t ever particularly interested in in operas, so though he’s not very familiar with them.
But there there were the three operas were concerned with three different kings. The first king, his name was Galpo, which means king. Galpo. So that means king. Galawangpo.
Galawangpo. Hyphen p o Galawangpo. That’s the name of the king. Through this play one this one drama or opera is about the name of the the name of the the actual opera itself is called Then the third king, his name, again, Kunpang. Kun.
Kun, k u n hyphen, a a n. Kunpang. And his the opera, which is about him, is called Nangsa. N a n g I s a r. There could be like, Rinpoche is not sure, but there’s a relationship between Ramayana and any of these plays, the one about Galawangpo.
Galawangpo was born his birthplace was in a place called Mön, which is in Northern India. So there could he could have learned that this could there could be some relationship. It doesn’t matter. The the length of the of the operas, if they could if it was extremely abbreviated performance, they could present one opera each day. And then if it was a middling length performance, it could last six, seven days.
If it was extensive performance, it could last up to fifteen days. So the the spelling of the word salt, which occurs on page nine, second paragraph, should be t h h s o g. T h h s o g. Depending you’re gonna have to come up with some kind of standard standardized system. How you’re going to not decide.
That’s the way I would find this. The word talk literally means to gather together, to bring together. Con con condensation, bringing together, gathering together, collecting together. Concerning the the rainy rainy season retreat, this was a tradition which began with Śākyamūni Buddha, and there was a group of sixteen monks who always did retreat with Śākyamūni Buddha. They were they called Naten Chutrug.
Spelling would be n a with umlaut over the a. Ne. N a, umlaut over the a. Dan, t a n. Not Dan.
Chutrug, c h h u c h h u. Two two what’s number six? I can’t remember. I’m supposed to work for six. Number six.
I to look at it. Two two sixteen. So I have look up the word for that. So these were the these were the sixteen monks that always did that always did the rainy season retreat with the Buddha. And so at, for example, at Dargye Gompa, when all the monks would take what they call vowels, they could have that word before.
This sentient beings, yarney means summer summer rains retreat. Y a r, yarney yarney, y a r, hype hyphen, n a. So during this period, sixteen monks would would do rainy season retreat with Śākyamūni Buddha, so this tradition carried over. And but at the for example, at Dargye Gompa, everyone would take Yarney vowels, but they everyone would not only the older senior monks would actually do a retreat. The rest of them would do their usual work, but they tried to have at least sixteen monks sitting remaining retreat during that period to keep up the tradition which came from Śākyamūni Buddha.
So it wasn’t remember, Jay said in his class, there weren’t a hundred monks. There were eight monks. So that should be corrected. The eight monks went to Vassa. And most of them went to Sera, Some went to Drepung, and one or two went to Ganden.
Most went to Sera, but one the fewest went to Ganden. Spelling of the word katha, which is a Tibetan ceremonial ceremonial scarf, is k h h a t a g. No. I’m sorry. Don’t leave it double h.
It’s k h a hyphen t h e. In the second paragraph on page ten, the people would bring a cup of milk to Rinpoche, and then he would just dip his finger in and flick it to make an offering to the to the three to the Three Jewels. So I’m cool with this. In different context, it would have different meanings. So it just in general, this means something which is excellent, very good, auspicious.
It could be used as many different types of have ten, paragraph four. So he made they made offerings while with his uncle while they were in Chamdo because it was it was the tenth month, the twenty fifth day, which is the festival of Tsongkhapa called Ganden Ngamchoe. Ganden Ngamchoe is a very special festival. So the the name of this festival, which is centered around is called Ganden Ngamchoe Ganden. So the the the spelling of Ganden would be g g a n d a n g a n, hyphen, d a n.
Got it. And then not n g a. And h h o with. So nah mean nah means five, and means offering. And then the is abbreviation for twenty five, meaning the twenty fifth.
So it’s the it’s the offering made on the twenty fifth. So it’s the twenty fifth of the tenth month. And this is with very, very special occasion. So he made offerings with his uncle while they were in in Chamdo, and then he went on alone. His uncle didn’t accompany him into Lhasa.
The spelling of Chou, it should be pronounced, Jowo Rinpoche. Jowo Rinpoche. Jowo Rinpoche. So the Jowo is c h o. Now these can I mean, to be technical, it would have a it would be many of these words have high tone and low tone?
We haven’t been making that differentiation. This this particular c h has a low tone. C h and then c h o. It’d have a low tone and then would have two dots after it showing that it’s elongated. But the word to c h o would probably be sufficient.
So it’s c h o hyphen w o, Jowo. Jowo. Jowo. So the word Jowo Jowo has many different meanings. Here, can say from the point of view of, for example, sentient beings, it means it refers to the kindness.
You know, it means something that’s very special, something very important, such as the kindness of sentient beings. This would be referred to a jewel. And and and when it refers to, for example, Śākyamūni Buddha, it means its excellent qualities, such as it is benefiting sentient beings. So it’s something very valuable, something very important. The second paragraph from the bottom on page ten.
The statue of Chenrezig, it’s it’s not thirteen. It’s eleven, they call it eleven-faced Chenrezig, not thirteen. And it’s called Jowo Thugjé Chenpo. Thugjé Chenpo. This text is called Jowo Thugjé Chenpo.
Thugjé Chenpo. So Jowo, we’ve had that one before. Same paragraph. Then Thugjé, where it’s T h u g hyphen j e, Thugjé. It means great hearted or usually literally means great hearted, but here it means here no.
Not great hearted. It simply means compassionate. And then Chenpo, c h e n. That should be c h e n c h h e n hyphen p o. This means great.
It means great, great, compassion, and so on. So that the the Chinese destroyed on page ten, first line. Rather than thirteen, should be eleven days consistent throughout. The Tibetan word for is trio, t r I l. The fifth paragraph on top of page eleven, the two villages had passed passed through on the way to Lhasa from Chamdo.
One one of them is called Gyamomuchu. Gyamomuchu. It’s spelled g y a hyphen m o, Gyamomuchu. And second word is Ngu, n g u, Ngu, n g u, hyphen, c h h u, Nguchhu. That was one village.
And the other village was Gyada. Gyanta. Gyada. G y a? No.
No. No. Yeah. No. It’s called Kongpo Gyada.
Kongpo Gyada. It’s spelled k o n hyphen p o, Kongpo. The second word is Gya, g y a, hyphen, d a, Gyada. Gyada. That’s the two villages that he passed.
There were two so there were two there were two so, technically, there were there were there were two statues of Jowo Rinpoche. One was so these were these were housed in two different so there were three there were three statues referred to as Jowo Rinpochak Jowo Rinpochak. One of them was held in the main cathedral, which is which is called the Jokhang Jokhang. This is the actual cathedral in in Lhasa that where where the main Jowo Rinpoche statue was kept. Then there is one of the statues was kept in the in the palace of the Dalai Lama.
And then the other was kept in a place maybe a quarter of a kilometer away in another building at a site. The place of the site was called Ramoche. Ramoche, r a hyphen m o hyphen c h h e, Ramoche. And so that was called the Ramoche Cathedral, and one Jowo Rinpoche statue was kept there. So there was only one Jokhang.
There’s only one Jokhang. That was but there were there were three Jowo Rinpoche statues. But there was only one the only one was actually called Jokhang was the where the main one main cathedral in Lhasa where the main Jowo Rinpoche statue was kept. So that would have to be slightly altered.