Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 80-minute session, Khensur Rinpoche joins his assistants in compiling a biographical record of the empowerments and oral transmissions he has received across his lifetime. Rather than a formal teaching, it is an archival working meeting: the group cross-checks a handwritten list, noting empowerments of Kālacakra, Guhyasamāja, Heruka (Demchok), and Green Tārā received at Shide monastery and Norbulingka in Lhasa, Sera Tantric College, and Ganden in South India. Along the way Rinpoche speaks about Tibetan poetic composition, the rules of syllabic meter, and the 101-volume Kangyur oral transmission he later gave in Dharamsala. The session ends with Rinpoche still trying to recall further empowerments he has received — visibly reluctant to stop.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 56 RS 1991 07 12.mp3
UUID: 400f7d93-0346-4b45-b779-e10c9d3a6dc3
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Rinpoche's Story (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1991-07-12
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 80.0 minutes
Words: ~3,730
Friday, the nineteenth of July nineteen ninety one. First two chapters of the root text coming to the magazine. The complete text of Maitreya’s. So the first that’s right. First two chapters of the root.
Those two chapters of the root The Dharmakīrti. Dharmakīrti. I’ve got an r in it, have I? It’s not D h, is it? A r kriti, k r I t I.
K I r t a. Dharma, d h a r m a. Yeah, k I r t I. T a. T I t I.
I. That’s okay. Can you just put a little tick beside them as we go? Yeah. No.
I haven’t actually got the Tibetan terms. So even if you could put them down roughly, I can look them up in in Hopkins then. Don’t worry about the spelling. As long as you just give me a clue, and then I’ll get them from him. What about the earlier ones that oh, I’ve got that.
What about this one? Oh, you could Yeah. I could find that one. This is prominent vertigo. I mean That’s right.
Yeah. Yeah. No. That’s fine. Yeah.
That’s fine. Isn’t that correct? Yeah. I have so I haven’t checked any of those spellings. Oh, Jason Jason Chu Chigigalcindenduma?
Why do you have that under there? Why do I? This is Complete text of. This is Dundum and Tavantapu. These are two different texts.
Oh. Because that that would actually Didn’t do it. Question I’ve got. No. That’s not.
That’s right. That’s right. That’s right. It is. No.
That’s right. Now, I know I’m jumping around a bit, but I was having a great trouble with the names. Is it actually So many times. Dun Dunjumma or Dun Dun? I had another ending to that.
This is not it. It’s Thanks. Can you change that ma? What is it to c h o? Cho.
Maybe j u. Maybe j u. Cho. And then j u. Why would I have got the mark on it?
Because it There’s another text for doing the Is there? Yeah. That doesn’t have anything to do with it. Well, that’s probably where I’m getting confused because well, I’ll find it down here, and I’ll just try and clear that at the same time. Okay.
Nice. So what’s Rinpoche survey? That’s fine. That’s alright. Just I don’t get anything on tape if you don’t as long as you mark it.
That’s Can I take the? No. Let’s hit. Can you just put it the the beginning of its Tibetan name there so I can look it up? What’s it?
Trunk. Trunk. Trunk. Don’t worry. Okay.
Also, alright. Milan Milan. Is that how he wants it listed, or does he want it listed in some other form? Milan. So another text is Kunshi.
Kunshi. Mhmm. So the root text of the mind basis of all. Is that a separate text or a separate one? This is a grammar text.
Alright. Listen. I’ve got a few things down And I might refer to that. Time to hear that. So what would Oh, this is this is is sumjukha, the thirty.
Ross, can you just put a little line leading from the one to the other so I know? Oh, great. That’s wonderful. The signs entrance. The signs entrance.
The signs entrance. Make any sense to me. So Oh, This is this is this. The Grand Tree of Perfection Explanation. The Grand Tree A perfect explanation.
Yes. See, I can’t perhaps we could get that in Tibetan too because I couldn’t read Daoist writing. Which one are you doing? Two or three? Three.
Three. The great tree. Explain to me what exactly these are? Is it grammar? Grammar.
Grammar text. Yeah. Well, how do you study grammar text? It’s got nothing to do with religion, subject matters, what’s just on Tibetan? Grammar.
It was like English grammar. They studied Tibetan grammar. Alright. It’s just thAt this stage we would hardly ever study just grammar straight. Like that.
Okay. Grammar. Is this was this was the term anymore. It’s poetry. Poetry.
Ah, good. Did they have to write their own poetry? Yes. Yes. They did.
Was that was that later beneficial beneficial in writing homages? Yeah. Composing, it was useful. If you want to write text it’s quite useful. Has Wu Boucher written a text?
Yes. What sort of text is he written? So he’s written the pray appraise the value of Yogini? Mhmm. So So we should somewhere.
Okay. You read the long life prayer for long life a long life prayer for cancer thirteen, long life prayer for. Reincarnation of the the lama who gave Rinpoche his his name. Uh-huh. The lay lama who came here.
He wrote a long life prayer for him. Oh. So and advices to to his students. Does he write that in in a poetic form, It’s a type of poetry. Is it?
Is this a see, I’m quite ignorant. Is this quite an accepted form to write it in that style, is it? To write advice in that poetic way. Is it rhyming? Oh, no.
They don’t. Yeah. They don’t rhyme. They never rhyme. They would It’s the sound.
It’s the meter, is it? They have so many syllables per line. Yeah. That’s what they call poetry in general. Oh, they have many rules of poetry.
I didn’t know all the rules. Yeah. But they do have many rules of poetry. So as well as studying grammar, would that be also rules of poetic composition then? Yeah.
That’s right. Because he received teachings on poetry from and when when Rinpoche was at State at Mysore. At Mysore. Mysore. When was that when he first left it back?
When was he in Mysore? In Mysore, Mysore? Took. Nineteen six. True.
True. True. True. The after he had finished his in nineteen sixty six, he stayed stayed six months at Mysore. Oh, and had teachings on.
Great compassion, really. This this is so I mean you have teachings, these are empowerments. Teaching. Right. Yeah?
So these are empowerments rather rather than teaching. Yes. Well, what’s what’s a suitable heading then? Empower empowerments. Yeah.
Empowerments and teachings. Yeah. Can you just write there? If it’s any any Tibetan words, you can give me a clue, then I can cut better. This is.
Maybe Kala chakra. Is is do core Kala chakra? Kala. Kala chakra. Yeah.
Now where abouts do you receive both of those? So one was it? Norbulingka? Mhmm. First tongue?
Tumble tongue one. Oh, My first place is called place called Shide. Where’s Shide? It’s Lhasa. Lhasa.
Lhasa. Lhasa. Lhasa. Lhasa. Lhasa.
Lhasa. Lhasa. Was it? Or What? Lhasa.
Center of Lhasa. Place in the center of Lhasa. That’s the first one. Okay. So this is this was Just one time at Norbulingka.
And this was So this is also an. Okay. Okay. And then then Did he have a second time in Tibet in Lhasa? And then he was That’s probably over the page.
Do you have it over? Yeah. Yeah. Just try to Okay. It didn’t work.
Official. Let me see. Oops. Just put tell me where they were. You know drama?
Sorry. I just saw it. I don’t think it’s the name of the text. It’s it’s too, but I can make all forms. Alright.
You know the place, Yeah. Yeah. Now where where was this chin raising? Is that a place or is that a That’s that’s same place. Same place.
Same place. I see. Okay. Fine. Same place for one and two.
And that’s the name of it, is it? Oh, fine. The same one is okay. Okay. And that’s drama.
What’s what’s a Tārā called drama? Just Drama. Just drama. Dorje. Dorje.
Dorje. No. Drama. No drama. One day, I’ll get them straight.
How’s your game? My day. Mhmm. Alright. Now what about the tara?
Is that enough for tara? Is it white or green? Or Mhmm. Green. Jungle.
Jungle? Noble. So just various types. Oh. Just petrol.
Okay. Now what what happened here? There was only he only did one He only received it once. Once. Oh, that’s okay.
That’s the kind of shackle from his holiness. He received it now. So it’s all What did he could I remember years for either of those? The the he was in. The Doesn’t have to be today.
I’ll bring your sheet, and we can do it another day. So it’s it’s in Binaiya? Binaiya Fora. For this one? Yeah.
What’s Binaiya’s other name? Dora. Dora. Dora. And and zu for the great Zu.
For the great empowerment. Kālacakra. Right. Zu. Right.
Right. Dora. Okay. That’ll just give me how can I just get? Tell me the body.
Mhmm. Yeah. Doji jukje? Wonton tea. So this is Doji jukje.
Doji. What’s the other word then? This is a generic name. Actually, this is the correct name. Yeah.
Now whereabouts were these? The. One from. Red. So is it so and the the so it’s at Bari?
Oh, this Bari here. Bari Monastery? Yeah. Mhmm. And at at place is at Reti.
R a t a. R a t a. Okay. Good. What’s that?
Do you have any the the One. So this is the What’s that? Empowerment. Oh, wow. This nice cover.
Mhmm. J. I don’t know what it revival. I don’t know where my hand revival. This These These things are these things that sometimes dial us off the wall with this.
Well, do you wanna just get from Rinpoche a better name again? I can thick section surgeon. What? Thick chin, thick chin, Tick chin. So I’m sorry.
John. Yeah. Detection surgeon. Because it’s so flowery in English. It’s just Explanation.
Okay. Just uncover the essence of the perfect explanation that you’ve been in. Just put the. Okay. And this is what we just wrote before.
This is. Oh, right. We’ll just put. Whole transmission of the five root text. It’s long just transmission.
Oral transmission. So we’ve talked about that before, but we said a hundred and eight, and it and it does keep coming up as a hundred and one. So in general they say a hundred and eight, but in this particular edition it’s a hundred and one. The editions, the types are divided up differently into smaller and larger texts. So if there’s smaller texts then there’s more volumes.
If there’s smaller, then there’s many more volumes. So in this one there’s a hundred and one. So when Rinpoche actually taught the Kangyur in He gave the he gave the lung. Yeah. So when he gave the lung on on the Kangyur in Dharmasala, the cathedral Mhmm.
Did he use that same text? Yeah. So this is the same transmission. This was extension of the transmission he received here. So he he gave the edition.
Exactly the same. And when they say that, that actually refers to it’s like a folio. It’s like the books, the actual number of books. Yeah. One hundred and one books.
And is that is that the main edition of of the Kangyur that there is? Edition. There’s different editions, but this is the best one. The best edition. Was it the best?
The the the Yascha Kissinger. It’s the best it’s considered the best translation. These are all different various translations, these editions. This was the clear How Sanskrit. The clearest translation and the subject matter is set out most conveniently.
So this is from different points of view of translation. This is considered the best edition. So I don’t know. So What’s that? I I asked him a thing from the two three three three three four four four four Bruhla.
Bruhla. And do Alright. So we have we’ve got to add some So maybe maybe it’s Yes. See, it gets a little confusing. I’ll maybe break down those divisions really.
Oh, here. Because we’ve got Where? It says where? Where? Yeah.
Yeah. So I don’t know how you want Well, I don’t know. If you wanna go on to those, it’s alright. I don’t mind. The one.
The way you didn’t go through these, Chuck. I think I think I missed these. Oh, no no shot. It’s just that somehow we jumped because of what we were talking. We’re back on page one.
Oh, yeah. So this is this is. This is number one. Yeah. Do you have just write.
Oh, doji. What is it? Doji? Doji. Doji.
Doji. These will be all written somewhere, though, won’t they? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. As long as I just get them. The. Oh, This is they they may draw a needle. Why?
Yeah. This is two different teaching. Yeah. That’s what I thought. Great.
So is that? Yeah. That’s right. What’s his other name? Do you wanna just write that?
So should I list them as separate, or did he receive them together? No. It’s completely separate. Right. Okay.
So these are all in Tibet, but perhaps whereabouts if we could just get The The place where the deities abide. The Lama Chuba? Also in Garavinka. Was that at the same time perhaps? It was different times.
Fifth path and then judiciary oral transmission. So this same place up. So we see which one? Where do we say? We see the one on which there it is.
This place here. It’s a monastery. Oh, right. The Shidi monastery. Oh.
Okay. Gimi. Gimi. Lower tantric. Oh, sorry.
Alright. Also at Sera Tantric College. So twice he had received that, did he? Is that right? What is that?
He received it many times. Oh, I see. What about this one, Jampa? If we got a Tibetan term for it so I can look up another translation. This is one, two.
So this is delam delam, nir Nam. Jampala. Jampala. Jampala. Jampala.
Commentary. Know? I’m sorry. That’s that’s my mistake. I think.
Isn’t it? This is kinda kinda like a like Shide. Not that at Sera tantric. And that’s it’s called kuri. Kuri.
Kuri. I don’t know who that is. But that’s the puja they do all the time. Is that the same puja they do all the time at Sera? The Kuri’s you don’t remember?
No. It’s it’s one of the meditational deities. I don’t know. But isn’t it also the name of the puja which they often have they often he often seems to refer to it, but I I don’t know. I think you’re right.
And then you don’t have any? Any others? What do we go through? What we went through all the time? Oh, See, that’s all that’s that’s no more in So you had more impairments.
From from from. Do you wanna go down to that page five again and see if it’s covered or not? Just to be decent, we’ll just put it in. I can change the order or anything, so it doesn’t matter. Just check.
You just give a tick to all that if it’s correct. The. Put down any Tibetan. South India. There’s two different ones.
Mhmm. Environment. Then the the younger one chick, the I agree. I’ll try in three realms. The three realms.
Kamsung. Kamsung. Kamsung. So then the high the one. So I don’t think you need this.
I mean, this is already covered in this this this one here. Is it? Oh, we’ll just put it up with the other one, then I’ll bring them together. This one, is it under two? Yeah.
Alright. I’ll put a three color tracker. You see? Color the buccal one. Cheek dojidana cheek balacope.
Cheek. Mhmm. That’s number seven. Ocean of I think that is. Got that written somewhere else, so that’ll be helpful.
Where was that one? Master of the universe. The Jake Dan. Jake Dan. Jake Dan.
Dan. Okay. Now Darwin’s typed these out again, so we better go to his typing because I have them all down here. When Rinpoche says, does he mean an old one. No.
No. No. Banaras and Banarasi. Banarasi and Banarasi are the same city. Oh, no.
Banaras. But I I mean, I just Oh, I see. Okay. He means. Okay.
Thank you. Commentary, Jay Sankang is praised to the beautiful heaven. Then then then then they’ll dopa. Can you just write it down for me? Take an answer.
Okay. Is it, Dendro? Before. Commentary. Mhmm.
It’s tree commentary, is that? Tree commentary. Oh. This means. So if you say that means commentary something or other.
No. No. No. No. No.
No. No. This is what he’s reading now. Oh, yeah. Oh.
I think I need nag, rim, chin, So what’s that one say? The great. Is that the right translation? Great exposition, metric stages of the path in the right. Yeah.
That’s okay. Yeah. Okay. Good. And then we share all the hidden meanings on Heruka, lower Tantric monastery.
I’ve all the meanings on I don’t know if that’s expressed properly. The the Demchok. Demchok. You’ll be able to find it. Yeah.
Yeah. That’s all I’m aiming to do because I’m sure they’ll be there. Jeffrey Hopkins. I found that. Give me.
That’s right. That I don’t know what that refers to. So we just go on. We’ll miss this because I wrote them separately, and then I found what the Dao had done. So I think I hope that they’re all covered.
Does Rinpoche think see, I put them in the areas that they were covered, but I think he’s done them differently. I don’t know, though, because we didn’t mention kala chakra, did we? Yeah. Yeah. We did.
We did? Yeah. Here. Oh, that’s alright. I’ve got it.
So I think I think I’ll just double check on it. I think that’s enough to leave those. And then we The. Yes. There’s a few missing, is So last year in India.
Oh. Oh, that’s a new one. Yeah. So you have to add Hang on. On to this page, you could perhaps add So let’s I’ll call it Guh.
Nineteen. Guhyasamāja? Do you have it spelled? I don’t know. It’s fine.
I’ll just write it anyhow because I’ll look it up. Don’t worry. Okay. Don’t worry about spelling. Compassionate.
Compassion. Due cheek. Shell the shell due cheek. Okay. I know so much about time I get all this stuff in my Okay.
Champa. Gimetrasana. And these are both at lower tantric lines. Mhmm. I might as well put the year for those, nineteen ninety.
I might come back and get the years for the others later, but I’ll sort them out first. Can I just clarify just a couple here before you go on? This one, I got really confused. Here. Can you just Lam Rim by the Pänchen Lama.
Well, have we have we mentioned all these things? Yeah. Because Dara wrote them out in a different way to what I had them. Are these by the Dalai Lama? Yes.
They are. That’s I’ve just got you to read this page thinking they’re all covered, but it’s just this little lot. Particularly those, I wasn’t at all sure. I can do oh, we didn’t mention this. Gawa Gatza.
Oh, you better go. Gawa Gatza. Oh, seriously. Look. I’ll just maybe we can go through this page.
It’s he’s already We’ve got it there, have we? Yep. I thought we had covered them. That’s why I didn’t I thought Dawa had rewritten them, you see. Yeah.
Here it is. Dawa Yat sen. So we’ll cross that off then. What is eight? Eight?
Yes. Mhmm. But this this one, can you just check? They they mentioned that one already. I think which one is that one?
Oh, if they’re all mentioned, that’s okay. We’ll forget it. I’m not all day here. But see that they’re mentioned in abbreviated ways, and I can’t tell not knowing. Yeah.
I didn’t tell them. I see. So that’s the one. So just put sixteen beside that, so I know I’ve checked it. Thank you.
Alright. Obviously, they’re all mentioned then, so I won’t worry. So we can go on to that page. Okay. This is somewhere in India, I’m not sure.
So this is one. Oh, it’s all the same thing. Oh. So this is one. Oh.
This this is one. It’s called Empowerment of Guhyasamāja. It’s one name. I see. And he received that at Ganden.
Okay. See, it isn’t. It’s. It’s a form of. Oh, wow.
Yeah. Okay. So That’s its name in Tibetan. Mhmm. And where would he receive?
Ganden monastery. All the same. I forgot. Ganden. Okay.
Oh, yeah. I’ve got some. Now anything else that the family members who wants to put in? That’s not right? No.
It’s much of it. What did you say? What? What does that mean? Long life the using the deity of white Tārā.
Oh. So is is it? Is Yeah. I’m liable to miss the obvious because I’m not familiar with it. On the view of New Delhi.
New Delhi. Oh, is it okay. What’s the title of in English that that that’s what it is? The view of the the formal word. For my brother, The the view.
Yeah. The view. The view. Oh, the poor mindfulness. Alright.
Okay. What’s your? I’m gonna eat some white. Yeah. I’m gonna The the the Kibde?
Oh, I gotta go. Is it a? I’m sorry. Yeah. I have to meet somebody at five o’clock.
It’s okay. So Oh, yeah. Got Got it. Just abbreviate if you want. Teaching.
Teaching. Three principal axes. Three. Three. Three principal aspects of the path.
What’s he thinking, is it? There’s there’s some more that he’s trying to remember. Oh, to claim if he thinks. Garlic. We can do I’ll type this up better.
We can do it next week. Gemma Gemma, can dig at it? What did he say? He said he he wants to remember them now. Uh-huh.
Yeah. Okay. I’ll think about it. We’ll we’ll stop there. When when have you got some more time?
It’s very interesting because Rinpoche is very interested in this today and much more stimulated than a lot of the material that I’ve been going through and checking. He didn’t want to stop and Jampa had to leave, and he was trying to remember the other empowerments he’d received.