In Praise of Longchenpa

The Greatness of the Omniscient Longchen Rabjam
by Khenpo Shenga
Due to the kindness of Guru Padmasambhava, there have been many great holders
of the teachings here in Tibet, the Land of Snows. There have appeared highly
accomplished saints who were no different from the vidydharas of India, the Land
of the ryas. Yet although there have been countless eminent scholars, none of them
might be compared with the Six Ornaments and Two Supreme Ones of India in
terms of wisdom and enlightened activity.
In later times there was the Omniscient One from Samy, Longchenpa, who was the
equal of the Jowo Kadampa geshes in terms of his ethical discipline and practice of
training the mind (lojong), and who was like Jetsn Milarepa in how he first served
his teacher and then spent his life meditating in solitude on the gurus instructions.
On account of his total mastery of study and contemplation, his fearless eloquence
and his achievements in explanation, debate and composition we might compare
him to the likes of Sakya Paita, the Lord of Dharma, or the precious Je
Tsongkhapa. How he reached the final accomplishment and arrived at the
exhaustion of reality within the primordial state was just like the great Chetsn
Senge Wangchuk, Melong Dorje and others. In terms of his ability to manipulate
phenomenal existence and call upon the assistance of the oath-bound guardians he
was comparable to the great awareness-holders of Nub. In keeping to the tenets of
the pinnacle of all ynas and surpassing all the views and philosophies fabricated by
the ordinary mind, he was like the great Rongzom. If we consider the vast array of
instructions he passed on in an aural lineage and the way he cared for the disciples
who maintained his tradition, we might compare him to Sachen Kunga Nyingpo or
Marpa Lotsawa. His mastery over the conventional sciences and the way in which
Sarasvat, the goddess of learning, lent power to his speech,1 made him the equal of
the lotsawas of the past. The way great clouds of blessings are amassed within his
written instructions makes them identical to the profound dharma treasures of the
great tertns. His perfect training in bodhichitta and his ability to benefit all those
with whom he came into contact was reminiscent of Dromtnpa or the peerless
Dakpo Lharje [Gampopa].
Other Tibetan scholars took as their basis the excellent Indian treatises but then
added explanations based on their own clever ideas, with the result that on occasion
their statements no longer accord with scripture or valid reasoning. In particular, the
works of Ngrjuna and his successors have been fervently debated among Tibetans,
with the assertions of earlier Tibetan scholars subjected to a great deal of
presumptuous refutation and affirmation by later scholars. Yet the explanations of
the Omniscient One remain true to the tradition of the Six Ornaments and Two
Supreme Ones in their beginning, middle and end.
1
Other Tibetan siddhas possessed only a few instructions from the aural lineage and
then taught the holders of their tradition to meditate on selected instructions.
Gyalwa Longchenpa, by contrast, was the master of countless teachings from
profound transmissions. He possessed all manner of instructions, which had been
passed down from vidydharas and accomplished siddhas, from kas and kins,
or received directly from Guru Padmasambhava and so on. This meant he could lead
the holders of his tradition to attainment by encouraging them to practise diligently
those instructions for which they felt the greatest affinity.
Other learned and accomplished masters may have given complete teachings on
particular instructions, but they did not have practices for all the teachings in their
entirety. The Omniscient Guru explained all the teachings completely. He revealed
the instructions for gaining supreme and common accomplishments in general, from
the kriy and cary tantras onwards, and all the tantras and pith instructions of
Dzogpachenpo in particular, and so he is the true charioteer of the essence of clear
light teachings.
In addition, his wisdom body has appeared in visions before those with great good
fortune, granting them realization and so on.2
In short, I believe Gyalwa Longchenpa to be the unique embodiment of the
enlightened qualities of all the learned and accomplished masters of the Land of
Snows. If you consider this honestly, you will find this to be just how it is, neither an
exaggeration nor an understatement.
Gaining experience and realization through meditation
That is common to all forms of pith instruction.
But gaining experience and realization through non-meditation
How could anyone fail to seize upon something so amazing?
Ha! Ha!
| Translated by Adam Pearcey, Rigpa Translations, 2006. Revised 2012.
A version of this translation was published in Stewart Jampa Mackenzie (ed.). The Life of Longchenpa:
The Omniscient Dharma King of the Vast Expanse. Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 2014, pp. 133135.
1. Literally: frolicked in his throat.

2. Khenpo Shenga himself was blessed with such a vision.
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The Greatness of the Omniscient Longchen Rabjam

1. Literally: frolicked in his throat.

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