Tertön Sogyal spent a few years in retreat under the great Dzogchen adept, Nyoshul Lungtok Tenpai Nyima. Nyoshul Lungtok spent nearly thirty years studying under Patrul Rinpoche. At the end of Nyoshul Lungtok’s decades of experiential-oriented training with his teacher, Patrul Rinpoche announced publicly, “With respect to the view, Nyoshul Lungtok surpasses me.”
When Tertön Sogyal learned of the great Patrul Rinpoche’s declaration of Nyoshul Lungtok’s realization of wisdom, he knew he needed to study with him. Donning his tattered robes and white shawl, and carrying a few texts, his prayer beads, and a wooden bowl, Tertön Sogyal walked alone for well over a week to Dzongkar Nenang on the Tromthar Plateau, not far from where he had spent his days as a bandit. Tertön Sogyal’s poverty protected him from harm as he begged among the very outlaws with whom he used to run. Tertön Sogyal walked with resolute intention, praying:
From now until I realize unsurpassed enlightenment,
May I be blessed and cared for by the gurus and dakinis.
And relying on the profound path of the great Mantrayana,
May I and all sentient beings achieve all favorable and auspicious circumstances.
After Tertön Sogyal completed the foundational practices under Nyoshul Lungtok, he began his uncommon yogic training. Nyoshul Lungtok imparted instructions, section by section, sending Tertön Sogyal away to meditate after each teaching. Nyoshul Lungtok looked for signs when his student returned to report his meditative experiences and dreams, and then he gave the next section attuned to Tertön Sogyal’s experience and deepening realization. This experiential-oriented instruction responds to the predisposition of the student in an immediate and character-altering way, just as a wish-fulfilling jewel grants whatever is desired. Nyoshul Lungtok’s teaching was not in written form, but rather transmitted by whispering the pith instructions into the student’s ear so that it remained uniquely private and profound. Like many of the doctrines taught in Tibet, the transmission that Tertön Sogyal received from Nyoshul Lungtok, who had received it from Patrul Rinpoche, can be traced in an unbroken verbal conveyance of enlightened beings such as Padmasambhava, the saints of India and Tibet, and indeed back to the time of the Buddha.
Nyoshul Lungtok sent Tertön Sogyal into uninhabited forests where the calls of wild animals echoed throughout the night, and to charnel grounds to meditate where the stench of death was palpable. Sometimes Tertön Sogyal dug a shallow pit into the hillside, creating a low-angle lean-to where he stayed for months, his gaze fixed in the vast sky, merging his awareness with space. With unshakable confidence in the master’s instructions, Tertön Sogyal meditated and engaged in yogic practices until exhaustion overwhelmed both body and mind and he collapsed. Then, lying like a corpse, Tertön Sogyal rested in thought-free wakefulness, allowing the clarity of his lucid awareness to meet face-to-face what is present
when thinking is not.
When Tertön Sogyal learned of the great Patrul Rinpoche’s declaration of Nyoshul Lungtok’s realization of wisdom, he knew he needed to study with him. Donning his tattered robes and white shawl, and carrying a few texts, his prayer beads, and a wooden bowl, Tertön Sogyal walked alone for well over a week to Dzongkar Nenang on the Tromthar Plateau, not far from where he had spent his days as a bandit. Tertön Sogyal’s poverty protected him from harm as he begged among the very outlaws with whom he used to run. Tertön Sogyal walked with resolute intention, praying:
From now until I realize unsurpassed enlightenment,
May I be blessed and cared for by the gurus and dakinis.
And relying on the profound path of the great Mantrayana,
May I and all sentient beings achieve all favorable and auspicious circumstances.
After Tertön Sogyal completed the foundational practices under Nyoshul Lungtok, he began his uncommon yogic training. Nyoshul Lungtok imparted instructions, section by section, sending Tertön Sogyal away to meditate after each teaching. Nyoshul Lungtok looked for signs when his student returned to report his meditative experiences and dreams, and then he gave the next section attuned to Tertön Sogyal’s experience and deepening realization. This experiential-oriented instruction responds to the predisposition of the student in an immediate and character-altering way, just as a wish-fulfilling jewel grants whatever is desired. Nyoshul Lungtok’s teaching was not in written form, but rather transmitted by whispering the pith instructions into the student’s ear so that it remained uniquely private and profound. Like many of the doctrines taught in Tibet, the transmission that Tertön Sogyal received from Nyoshul Lungtok, who had received it from Patrul Rinpoche, can be traced in an unbroken verbal conveyance of enlightened beings such as Padmasambhava, the saints of India and Tibet, and indeed back to the time of the Buddha.
Nyoshul Lungtok sent Tertön Sogyal into uninhabited forests where the calls of wild animals echoed throughout the night, and to charnel grounds to meditate where the stench of death was palpable. Sometimes Tertön Sogyal dug a shallow pit into the hillside, creating a low-angle lean-to where he stayed for months, his gaze fixed in the vast sky, merging his awareness with space. With unshakable confidence in the master’s instructions, Tertön Sogyal meditated and engaged in yogic practices until exhaustion overwhelmed both body and mind and he collapsed. Then, lying like a corpse, Tertön Sogyal rested in thought-free wakefulness, allowing the clarity of his lucid awareness to meet face-to-face what is present
when thinking is not.