Tibetan Buddhist Community in the Nyingma Tradition
The Unsurpassed Dzogchen Master Garab Dorje
Garab Dorje
In the Root Tantra of Connected Sound (Dra Thalgyur Tsawai Gyu), the Buddha stated:
Once I have gone beyond suffering,
To the west, in the land of Oddiyana,
To the princess of Danakosha
A fatherless son named Vajrahe,
Holder of the supreme teachings,
will be born.
To the north-west of the seat of the origin of the Dharma, the Vajrasana or Bodhgaya in India, lies the land of Orgyen or the land of those with tufted plaits of hair. There on the isle of Danakosha King Uparaja and Queen Alokabhasvati resided with their daughter, princess Sudharma, who was a nun. One night the princess dreamt that a crystalline, white man placed a crystal vase full of nectar on her head, and receiving an empowerment, she, in one instant, saw three thousand illuminated worlds. Telling her maid of this dream, she said, a son of the buddhas has been born. Then nine or almost ten months later, a son bearing the major and minor marks of Buddhahood was born from her right rib. The mother said:
This fatherless son, is he other than a demon?
Gods and demi-gods may take various forms
But never one such as this was seen.
And saying this, she threw the child into a pit of ashes. In the skies above, the gods sprinkling water blessed him and pronounced many auspicious words, such as:
Great lord-protector, Transcendent Conqueror,
Lord of the world manifesting the true nature.
Dakas and dakinis made offerings and gods, nagas, demons, wordly protector deities and the king of sages were seen to rain down a great shower of sandalwood and saffron, beat great drums, blow conches and raise victory banners. The mother then lifted up her son and begging forgiveness, washed him with perfumed water and milk, protecting him like a great lotus growing in the midst of a lake.
At the age of seven, without studying, all the words and meanings of the Dharma were born in his mind. When he expounded all inner and outer dharmas, the panditas of the land paid homage to him and bestowed the name of Great Master Prajnabhava (Source of Wisdom) upon him. The King rejoiced and named him Great Master Garab Dorje (Vajra of Supreme Happiness).
He then spent thirty-two years of his life at Nyima Raptu Nangche or Suryaprakasa, to the north of Danakosha, demonstrating the manner of resting in samadhi. From the pure realm of Ogmin (the Unexcelled) or Akanishta, Vajrasattva bestowed the empowerment of Dzogpachenpo upon him and he fully realized the most secret or innermost supreme pith instructions.
Then the Vajradhatu khandromas or dakinis Dewe Rodenma, Deche Sermo and so on requested him to teach the basket of the teachings of the former Buddha and in particular the six million four hundred thousand Dzogchen tantras (or the tantras of Atiyoga). Following this, he spent three years on the peak of the Malaya mountain writing down these teachings which the khandromas later assembled and hid in a cave nearby.
Then, having gone to the north-east of the Vajrasana, to the charnel ground called Sitavana or Cool Grove, he taught the Dharma to the khandroma Nyimai Ozer and others and consequently hundreds of thousands of khandromas attained rainbow body.
On the banks of the Danatika river, the master himself dissolved into a mass of light.