Jikten Sumgön's Time with Phakmo Drupa

 
"The Serkhang Chojé," a most blessed statue of Kyobpa Rinpoché enshrined in the Golden Temple at Drikung Thil Monastery.

Jikten Sumgön remained with Phamodrupa and put into practice all the instructions he received. When he stayed in his room to practice the teachings he had received from his Lama and stopped going to the public teachings, he was admonished by the other disciples of Phakmo Drupa. Rather than stubbornly adhering to his position, he quickly realized the error of his way and from that day on never missed a single session of Phakmo Drupa’s teachings. Jikten Sumgön had great respect towards all of Phamodrupa’s disciples and did not fail to hold his hands in reverence whenever he met any of them. This earned him the nickname “Pious Upāsaka.” However, when he witnessed a certain geshé in that community cheating some of the monks, Jikten Sumgön became slightly disappointed and critical. But rather than dwelling on the faults he witnessed, he recovered his devotion by meditating on all of Phamodrupa’s monks as his teachers.

As a simple lay-practitioner living in Phakmo Drupa’s monastic community, Jikten Sumgön always remained humble and would always sit at the very end of the entire assembly. He happily served all others while paying very little attention to his own appearance and food. Instead of spending time cooking, he often ate whatever leftover food he could find. While others rested in between sessions, he would diligently apply himself.  Over time, his realizations increased and eventually he was recognized to have reached the “Yoga of Non-Meditation.” Since he began to experience all appearances actualizing into the state of Mahāmūdra, he felt that there was no other practice necessary beyond that. When he expressed this opinion to Phakmo Drupa, he was instantly corrected: “Until Buddhahood is attained, do not ever separate yourself from the practices of the Five-fold Path of Mahāmūdra.”

Among the famous disciples of Phakmo Drupa who were also there with Phakmo Drupa during Jikten Sumgön’s two and a half years with Phakmo Drupa were Taklung Thangpa and Lingjé Repa (1128-1188, teacher of the founder of Drukpa Kagyü). At one time, Phakmo Drupa advised Taklung Thangpa to stay with a woman whom Phakmo Drupa knew to be an emanation of Vajrayoginī. As Taklung Thangpa was a very strict monk who had no intentions of giving up his vows, he could not do as his Lama suggested. Shortly after, the emanation passed away (since she manifested only to assist Taklung Thangpa's practice). Since the woman was a blessed emanation, Lingjé Repa decided to make a ritual cup out of her severed skull. This fashioning of the skull-cup caused him to arrive late at a ritual feast and all the offerings had already been distributed. Lingjé Repa began to walk around the entire assembly with the skull-cup receiving a small portion of offerings from each of the monks assembled. Finally Phakmo Drupa gave a large portion, filling the skull-cup completely. Instead of sitting down to enjoy the offerings, Lingjé Repa started to sing a song in twenty-verses in praise of a great being while continuing to walk among the assembly. When he reached Jikten Sumgön who was seated at the end of the assembly (since he was the only layperson among all the monks), he stopped and to everyone's utter amazement offered both the song and skull-cup to Jikten Sumgön. From this point onwards, Jikten Sumgön was recognized as Phakmo Drupa’s foremost disciple, despite his status as a "lowly layperson."

There were many other occasions during Jikten Sumgön's two and a half year's stay with Phakmo Drupa where the future greatness of Jikten Sumgön's future achievements were revealed. On one occasion, Phakmo Drupa gave each of his three closest disciples a foot of red fabric, instructing them to each make a meditation hat with the cloth. It is said that Taklung Tangpa used the foot-long cloth to make the hat, while  Lingjé Repa added another foot and Jikten Sumgön added a whole two feet to the original cloth to make his meditation hat (thus the size of the Drigung meditation-hat!). As it turned out, this foretold Jikten Sumgön’s future success in gathering disciples. Yet on another occasion, Phakmo Drupa called both Taklung Thangpa and Jikten Sumgön and said to them, “I think the Tsangpo River is overflowing today, please go take a look and come back with a report for me.” Both of them saw the river flowing in its normal course. But Jikten Sumgön sensed that his Lama must have a hidden reason behind his words. So instead of reporting to Phakmo Drupa that the river was flowing in its usual course, he told his Lama that “The Tsangpo has overflowed and all of Central Tibet and Kham is submerged in its waters.” Once again, Phakmo Drupa recognized this to be a sign foretelling the flourishing of Jikten Sumgön’s activities and lineage in the future. Due to these and other reasons, Jikten Sumgön became known as “Master of Interdependence” (i.e. a great being who sees the subtle workings of cause and effect often hidden from ordinary view and thus knows the right course of action in seemingly mundane or insignificant matters to affect a positive result).

Return to Timeline