Shechen Gyaltsap was also an accomplished practitioner. He spent much of his life in retreat above Shechen Monastery in eastern Tibet, and achieved many signs of accomplishment. Once he started a three-year retreat based on the Vajrakilaya practice, but to everyone's surprise after only three months he emerged saying that he had completed his intended program. The next morning, his attendant noticed an imprint of his footprint on the stone threshold of the hermitage. Shechen Gyaltsap's disciples later removed the stone and hid it during the Cultural Revolution. Today, it is possible to see it at Shechen Monastery in Tibet. The imprint was an outer sign of his inner realization of the Vajrakilaya practice. (Source: The Great Medicine, introduction, 21)
Library Items
So begins THE GREAT MEDICINE: A Remedy that Conquers Clinging to Reality, a moving text written in verse by Shechen Gyaltsap Gyurme Pema Namgyal. Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche's commentary explores the foundation of awakened mind, the inner workings of loving kindness and compassion, the view of emptiness, and the practical applications of this understanding on the path. Rinpoche's teaching style is refreshing and direct, using examples from his own experience and anecdotes about his teachers and the lineage to illustrate the importance of mingling the Buddhist teachings into ones own life.
"We need to gain real experience with these valuable instructions and integrate them into our lives. Doing so is the only reason to study them. The result of spiritual practice should be our inner transformation into a better human being. After years of practice we should gain a sense of inner peace and become less vulnerable to outer circumstances. Inner freedom, relaxed and open happiness, as well as joy will arise when negative emotions and mental confusions disappear. In contrast, we will have missed the point of the practice if our mental poisons remain all-powerful, torment us constantly, and cause us to remain preoccupied with ourselves."
Shechen Gyaltsap Gyurme Pema Namgyal, (1871-1926) was one of the most learned and accomplished practitioners of his time. His 13 volumes of writings contain many lucid and profound commentaries. He was the root teacher of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.
The 7th Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, born in 1966, is the grandson and spiritual heir of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. He is the abbot of Shechen Monasteries and Nunnery in Nepal, India, and Bhutan and the founder of a number of on-going humanitarian projects. (Source: Back Cover)Other names
- ཨོ་རྒྱན་མི་འགྱུར་ཀུན་བཟང་བསྟན་པའི་རྒྱལ་མཚན་ · other names (Tibetan)
- o rgyan mi 'gyur kun bzang bstan pa'i rgyal mtshan · other names (Wylie)
Affiliations & relations
- Nyingma · religious affiliation
- Zhechen Gyaltsab, 3rd · emanation of
- Mi pham rgya mtsho · teacher
- 'jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse'i dbang po · teacher
- 'jam mgon kong sprul · teacher
- Kun bzang dpal ldan · teacher
- Mkhan chen bkra shis 'od zer · teacher
- dge mang mkhan chen yon tan rgya mtsho · teacher
- pad+ma badz+ra · teacher
- Dpal sprul rin po che · teacher
- pad+ma theg mchog bstan pa'i rgyal mtshan · teacher
- Jamgön Kongtrül, 2nd · student
- 'jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse chos kyi blo gros · student
- Khyentse, Dilgo · student
