Part 16 Giving the escorts a handful of mustard seeds, the Master instructed, “Throw these at yesterday’s assassins. I am going to tame the demons on the southwest border.” Everyone witnessed the Master departs—flying into the sky on his horse, with his Dharma robes flapping and staff clattering. The Tibetans assert the Gungthang Pass to be the site of the Master’s departure. However, since it is described as being on the other side of that precipitous path at Dongbab, it is more likely to have been a mountain on the border of India and Tibet. The Master’s escorts left and headed back. When they reached the would-be assassins, they threw the mustard seeds on them, at which they were once again able to move and talk. The two escorts offered the Master’s words to the king’s ear and his heart filled with deep remorse. It is said that then, in order to receive the remaining teachings of the Master, the king invited the paṇḍitas Vimalamitra and Śāntigarbha. If we follow its words literally, it is after this that the events in The Supplement to the Testimony of Ba, such as the king building the temple, occurred. But the ancient documents are known as the Nyingma tantras unanimously agree that the Master consecrated the Ārya Palo Ling Temple and performed the ground-blessing ritual at Samyé Monastery, and I also agree with that. It is also clear that the stories above, such as the drawing out of the thread when building the temple, refer to the Ārya Palo Ling Temple. The Testimony of Ba states that the Master remained in central Tibet for eighteen months. The Supplement to the Testimony of Ba agrees that he stayed in Tibet for eighteen months, but in The Testimony of the Lama the number of months is not specified. In the ancient documents said to be written based on an understanding of The Testimony of the King, it says the Master remained in Drakmar in central Tibet for eighteen months. Therefore, apart from small details, there is general agreement. Many of the great

Part 15  The Master did not complete the pith instructions. The intended fire offering to secure the king’s lineage and increase his power was left unfinished. Nor did the Master complete the necessary third binding under of oath of the gods and nāgas. The Master could foresee the future, however, and therefore he taught his students many wrathful mantras and likewise hid them, and many profound teachings, in clay pots. His miraculously emanated forms concealed one hundred and eight great treasures of wealth and Dharma. Finally, he said: In this and all the lives to comeMay I and my ever-generous benefactors,Enjoy the fruits of Mahāyoga practiceIn Akaniṣṭha, the sublime and perfect realm. The Master gave advice to each and every student and then suddenly departed, taking the Rulak road. Leading a horse, he was escorted by two loyal ministers, Loté Gunagong and Shang Nyangtang, as far as Mangyul. Even then, however, a few ministers conspired, “That tantrika has great power. If we do not kill him now, he will surely cast a curse on Tibet.” Secretly, they sent eighteen fierce assassins on horseback in pursuit of the Master. As the Master arrived in Mangyul-Gungthang, he warned his escorts, “In the morning, we will encounter harm-doers.” The following day, when they reached the precipitous path at Dongbab, the eighteen assassins, weapons in hand, were about to strike when the Master suddenly made a mudrā and they froze—motionless as clay statues and unable to utter a single word. The Master went only that far with his escort. When the escort was about to return from that mountain pass, the Master said: Tibet’s evil hordes of demons, rākṣasas, gods, and nāgas needed to be tamed three times, but one round remains undone. Had I completed the task, the king would have a long life, the kingdom would become great, the king’s lineage would become ever more powerful and the Dharma would remain for a long time. I will remember what has been left undone. One cycle of teaching will be completed and then

Part 14  They said to the king, “You are our only Lord! This man of the borderlands is very powerful. King, your mind is fixated on the Dharma. This Indian is going to steal your kingdom!” They said many other malicious things, and for each thing the Master had said earlier they gave many poor reasons why it should not be done. They kept repeating the same demand, “You must offer great gifts to the Ācārya and tantric Master and ask them to return to India right away!” The ministers then implored the Master directly. At that, the king was saddened and offered the Master a measure of gold dust, prostrated to him, circumambulated around him and explained his position. “Had I wanted gold, I would not have come,” the Master replied, “I came in order to tame the vicious demons of this primitive land of Tibet, to spread the Dharma, and, having transformed the country into an excellent land, to bring happiness to its people. If I want gold, it is enough simply to do this!” and merely by touching the rocks around him, he turned them into gold. Out of respect for the king, though, the Master accepted a handful of the gold, saying “I will make an offering of this at the Vajra Seat in Bodhgayā.” Having given the remainder back to the king, the Master said: Your good heart guides you to misfortune,Your vast compassion causes anger,The king’s ministers set his course,The ministers of Tibet are evil demons!Sentient beings’ unwholesome actions,Can undo even the power of buddhas. The Master then agreed to what the ministers had requested. The king’s principal meditation deities were the five deities of Avalokiteśvara. Later, the king accomplished Hayagrīva, their inner form. We are told that, as a sign of accomplishment, the image of Hayagrīva at the temple of Ārya Palo Ling emitted a horse’s neigh that could be heard across two-thirds of the world. That image of Hayagrīva in Ārya Palo Ling is the one described in the Māyājālatantra, The Net of Magical

Part 13  After the empowerments, Ma Jojo, an attendant of the king, gave the evil ministers an account of what had happened. They did not believe it, though, and thought, “How could he possibly have such power?” Also around this time, the Master wished to perform the site-pacifying ritual for the temple site. For this, the two most beautiful and pure women in all the dominions of Tibet were needed to draw out threads for creating the maṇḍala. Tibet itself was already a vast country, and it was not known who were the most beautiful. “It is said that the tantrika has power to find them,” the ministers declared. “If it is true, then please summon them!” The Master rested in meditation, and, within a few moments, the ladies Chokro Zabu Chungmen and Chokro Zalha Bumen appeared—from where, no one knew. The wisdom deity entered into them and they arranged the cords perfectly. It is said that later, when all the Tibetans had gathered, not a woman among them was more beautiful than these two. The ministers began to conspire, saying “Won’t this tantric practitioner hand over all the wonderful things of Tibet, and all our prosperity, to India?” The minister Kyungpo Taktsha had no faith at all in the Dharma and thought, “I should burn Drakmar Drenzang to the ground, and this tantrika along with it!” Later when he came before the Master, right in the middle of the entire assembly, the Master said, “Is this really what you have been thinking?” Completely embarrassed, the minister left muttering, “This man from the southern borderlands knows everything!” There was another minister, Bé Dongzik, who likewise hated the Dharma. Speaking of him, the Master said, “It will not be long before he rises to great power and uses that power to prevent the spread of Dharma. The time has come for me to vanquish him.” The Master meditated for a mere moment and at that very instant blood began to flow from the minister’s body and he died. Having repeatedly witnessed his

Part 12 One time, the Master said, “For the benefit of the kingdom and the Tibetan people, I will perform a great fire offering ritual.” The king replied that he would wash his hair for the great festival that lay ahead. Ācārya Bodhisattva told the king, “On the north side of Mount Meru, there is a spring called Taktu Nang. If water is drawn from there to wash the king’s hair, he will have a long life, his lineage will spread, and this great kingdom will definitely remain.” When asked, “Who is able to carry its water?” the Ācārya replied, “Only the Tantric master has the power.” When this request was put to the Master, he stuffed some white silk into the mouth of a golden vase and placed it in the centre of a maṇḍala. Reciting mantras, the Master threw the vase into the air and it rose higher and higher until it finally disappeared. In only the time it takes to eat a meal, the vase reappeared all of a sudden in front of the Master, just as it was before. “Wash the king’s hair in that,” Master Padma said, and he handed it to the ministers. But inside the vase was a white, cloudy liquid and when it was taken to the grand assembly of ministers, they said, “This must surely be the intoxicating liquor of Mön that brings madness. Throw it away!” And so it was thrown out—lost and completely wasted. Then the Master gave the king and his fortunate subjects the empowerments into the kriyā tantra and the Inner Tantras of Secret Mantra. He gave the king and many of his fortunate subjects the pith instruction A Garland of Views. He taught the texts Vajravidāraṇā and The Hundred Thousand Verses of the Kīla, pith instructions and practice texts—whatever was appropriate. He prophesied, “If I stay here for a long while, I shall make the whole region of Tibet peaceful and happy.” However, due to causes—the shared karma of sentient beings—and conditions—the dark forces of malevolent gods and demons that

Part 11 The following morning, the Master took the servant Lhalung Tshosher Nyenlek as a support and summoned an oracle, the goddess Mārīcī. The Master made the goddess speak through the servant. The goddess listed the names of all the evil gods and nāgas of Tibet. Amongst many things, she revealed, “Shampo washed away the Phang Thang temple in a flood, Tanglha struck Marpo Ri with lightning, the twelve tenma sisters spread diseases amongst humans and animals, and the nine nyen sent frost and hail to Tibet.” From that very morning, many children of good families became the oracles of the Four Great Kings, and the fire deities revealed themselves and described the names, places and activities of all the vicious gods and nāgas. To inspire faith among the king, ministers and many more, the Master then made some of the terrible gods and demons actually appear in front of everyone, for all to see. He frightened and suppressed them, then taught the Dharma and made them swear allegiance. The gods and demons offered their life-force mantras and petitionary rituals to the Master. To those who were still not tamed even by this, the Master applied various methods, such as the fire offering, and in this way he successfully subdued them. The Master performed this the rituals twice and said to the King, “From now on practise the Dharma as much as you can! Build the temple as you planned! For my part, although I have already bound the gods and nāgas under oath twice, I must do so one more time.” The Master went to stay at the palace of Zurphü Kyangbu Tsal. While there, he tamed all the nāgas, including Maldro Zichen. Maldro Zichen announced, “Above ground, King Trisong Detsen is the greatest. Below ground, I am the greatest. We two should become allies. I shall offer fourteen mule-loads of gold dust to the king for the building of the temple and have ordered that it be sent from the gold mine of Lanpo Na.” It appeared exactly as he said. The Master also

Part 10 Thereafter, the Master went to the Palace Drakmarat the Tamarisk Grove. An envoy carried a message saying that in order to meet the king, the Master would need to first bow in front of him. The Master responded, saying, “The king could not withstand my homage,” and when he bowed towards a large boulder, it shattered to pieces. When he bowed towards some clothes that the king had taken off, they immediately caught fire. Seeing all this, the king then prostrated at the Master’s feet. Earlier, a temple had been built by Sangshiat Drakmar Drenzang, modelled on a Chinese temple at Wutai Shan. The temple had not been inaugurated, however, and the great Master was asked to visit. Although he took up the invitation, the king and the great ministers did not come for the blessing and consecration rituals. All the court officials and household staff did come to watch, though. The Master led all the great images of the deities, as if they were human, to the banquet place. That watching could not believe what they were seeing, and at midnight, carrying butter lamps, they went back to examine the temple. Inside there was not a single clay statue—the temple was completely empty! Even when they used a staff to examine the places where the statues had been placed, there was not a thing solid to touch. Only then they did, they believe. In the morning, they peeped through a hole in the temple door and saw that all the statues were now arranged exactly as before. Master Padma was making offerings, the deities were eating the food, and they were all having a conversation. During the whole of that day, the incense and butter lamps all lit themselves, the instruments played themselves, the bells sounded by themselves, the five ornamental banners multiplied to five hundred, and, although there was only one cupped handful of grapes on a plate, the number of grapes never diminished, no matter how many were eaten by the people assembled there. Everyone was

Part 9  When they reached the border of central Tibet, the local spirit Gangkar fled in terror. Arriving in Nam, the Master said, “Now I need to sort out Thanglha,” and set off in his direction. Taking a copper pot, he cooked up a brew of dead sheep and donkeys. A man from Lutsa asked, “What is this?” Upon hearing the Master’s explanation, he said, “Ha! Ha! Look at how you subdue a yakṣa!” “Great yakṣa,” said the Master, “Please accept this foul-smelling meat!” And he kicked the pot, tipping it over. At that, the yakṣa Thanglha erupted in fury, sending thunder roaring across the glacier. Black clouds loomed and thunder, hail, and lightning crashed, crackled and stormed with a fury almost unbearable to the humans there. At this, the Master pointed at the mountain with the threatening mudrā and most of the glacier melted. From then on, the mountain was known as Thanglha Yarshu, ‘Thanglha Melted Above’. At Nying Drung, he said, “Here lives a vicious nāga who does not allow the practice of Dharma.” The moment he thought about taming the nāga, it fled to the furthest ocean. The Master then went into a cave, constructed five maṇḍalas, and spent three days and nights in meditation. As he did this, the thunder on the mountain subsided and the land became peaceful once again. The nāga and Thanglha were bound under oath and converted to the Dharma. He subdued countless gods and demons at this time, including those that lived in Lake Manasarovar and those whose abodes were on Mount Everest. Arriving at Leshö, the Master said, “Penyü is a bad place; its red valley looks like an opened-up a horse’s corpse”. Without actually going there, he bound under oath its gods and demons. Then he went down through Yale Ralmo in Thölung. He made the threatening mudrā toward a collapsed mountain and straight away it was restored as before. “If we do not remove the top of the cave Tsünmo Drang, shaped like a dancing dreadlocked Sadhu,” he warned, “Tibet will