Mipham Jamyang Gyatso

Jamgön Ju Mipham, or Mipham Jamyang Namgyal Gyamtso (also known as "Mipham the Great") [1846-1912] was a great master of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism and one of the leading figures in the Ri-me (non-sectarian) movement in Tibet.

Derivation of name

"Ju" ("holding") was Mipham's family name as his paternal clan is said to have originated as clear light deities who came to the human world holding a rope. "Jamgön" or "Jamyang" indicates that he was considered to be an emanation of the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī. His maternal uncle, Minister-Lama Drupchok Pema Tarjay, named him Mipham Gyamtso ("Invincible Ocean" or "Unconquerable Ocean"). [Pettit 1999 p.24]

Biography

Early life

Mipham the Great was born to an aristocratic family in 1846 in the Derge Principality of Kham or Eastern Tibet. He was recognized as an exceptional child from a young age, memorizing texts as early as age six. By the age of ten he had already composed many texts. At twelve, he entered the monastery as an ordinary monk of the Ogmin Urgyen Mindroling lineage at a branch monastery of the great Nyingma seat Shechen.

When he was fifteen or sixteen, after studying the very difficult Mindroling system of chanting for only a few days and praying to Manjushri, he is said to have completely mastered it. In an 18-month retreat he accomplished the form of Manjushri known as 'Lion of Philosophers' (Tibetan: smra ba'i seng ge), using a liturgy composed by the fifteenth Karmapa, Khakhyab Dorje. He made many medicinal pills blessed with Manjushri's mantra, and many miraculous signs were said to have been manifest. After this, it was said that he could accomplish any sutra or tantra without any effort, and no text was unknown to him. He went to many lamas to obtain the necessary lungs (oral transmissions), but he needed no study or teachings for any texts.

Teachers

Mipham was "a luminary of the nineteenth century Nyingma renaissance and "ris med" ecumenical movement, which started in the Kham region of eastern Tibet" [Phuntsho (2005) p.13] . As such he received teachings from masters of all lineages Nyingma and Sarma alike. His root gurus were Dza Patrul Rinpoche, from whom he received instruction on Shantideva's "Bodhicharyavatara" and Dzogchen and the renowned master Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, from whom he received transmission of the orally transmitted or Kama and revealed or Terma lineages, and many other teachings. His other teachers included Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye; Dzogchen Khenpo Padma Vajra; Lab Kyabgon Wangchen Gyerab Dorje; Jubon Jigme Dorje; Bumsar Geshe Ngawang Jungne and Ngor Ponlop Jamyang Loter Wangpo. [Smith (2001) p.230]

Work and Legacy

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In the Introduction to his critical study of the ontological debates between Mipham and his Gelugpa opponents ("Mipham's Dialectics and the Debates on Emptiness") Lopon Karma Phuntsho defines Mipham as a polymath and gives this assessment of the scope of Mipham's work:

Mipham's works on both the exoteric or Sutrayana teachings and the esoteric or Vajrayāna teachings have became core texts within the Nyingma tradition. These works now hold a central position in the curriculum of all Nyingma monasteries and monastic colleges — occupying a place of esteem similar the works of Sakya Pandita and Gorampa in the Sakya tradition; those of Tsongkhapa in the Gelug tradition and of Kunkhyen Padma Karpo in the Drukpa Kagyu. Together with Rongzompa and Longchenpa, Mipham is considered to be one the three "omnscient" writers of the Nyingma tradition.

Commentaries on Buddhist Śāstra

Althogh Mipham wrote on a wide range of subjects, Prof. David Germano points to perhaps the most influental aspect of Mipham's work when he writes that Mipham "was the single most important author in the efflorescence of Nyingma exoteric literature in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Grounding himself theoretically in the writings of Longchenpa and other great Nyingma authors, Mipham produced brilliant exegetical commentaries on the great Indian philosophical systems and texts with a Nyingma orientation." [Germano (2002)] .

E. Gene Smith also judged that Mipham's greatest contribution was "in his brilliant and strikingly original commentaries on the Indian treatises." [Smith (2001) p. 231] Prior to Mipham, Nyingmapa scholars "had seldom written detailed pedagogical commentaries on the "śāstras" of exoteric Buddhism." [Smith (2001) p. 231] Until his time the colleges or shedra associated with the great Nyingma monasteries of Kham, such as Dzogchen, Shechen, Kathog, Palyul and Tarthang lacked their own exegetical commentaries on these exoteric Mahayana "śāstras", and students commonly studied Gelug commentaries on these fundamental texts. Grounding himself in the writings of Śāntarakṣita, Rongzom Chokyi Zangpo, and Longchenpa, Mipham produced a whole array of brilliant exegetical commentaries on the great Indian philosophical systems and texts that clearly articulated a Nyingma orientation or view.

The texts include his commentaries on the "Mulamadhyamakakarika" or "Fundamental Stanzas on Wisdom" by Nagarjuna; the "Introduction to the Middle Way" of Chandrakirti; the "Quintessence of all Courses of Ultimate Wisdom" (Jnanasarasamuccaya) of Aryadeva; commentaries on the major works of the Indian Buddhist logicians Dharmakirti and Dignaga; commentaries on the "Five Treatises of Maitreya" most notably, the "Abhisamayalamkara"; commentaries on several works of Vasubandhu including the "Abhidharmakosha". Miphams commentary on the ninth chapter of the Bodhicaryavatara "threw Tibetan scholarly circles into several decades of heated controversy," but "it was not the only tempest Mipham's new expositions raised." His commentary on the "Madhyamakalamkara" of Śāntarakṣita was also considered highly controversial.

Vajrayana Works

Manjusri

As a scholar and meditator Mipham was so accomplished that he was enthroned as an emanation of Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom.Most of the Fith volume of his collected works consists of works related to Manjusri.

Guhyagarbha Tantra

Mipham's commentary on the Guhyagarbha Tantra is entitled "The Essence of Clear Light" or "Nucleus of Inner Radiance" (bo|t=|w=od gsal snying po)— it is based on Longchenpa's commentary," Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions" bo|t=|w=gsang snying 'grel pa phyogs bcu mun sel which explains the Guhyagarbha from the Dzogchen point of view.

Kagye & Gongdu

Kalacakra

Mipham showed particular interest in the Kalachakra and the kingdom of Shambhala, and one of his last and most extensive of his esoteric works are his two volumes of commentary, initiation and sadhana related to the Kalachakra Tantra, the esoteric teaching from Shambhala. Before he died in 1912, he said to his students that now he was going to Shambhala.

Dzogchen

It may appear that Mipham did not write extensively on Dzogchen (The Great Perfection) however there are many references to it throughout his original compositions. One volume of his writings comprises short, pithy instructions on the view, meditation and practice of Great Perfection. Volume 24 contains his commentary on Jigme Lingpa's Yonten Dzöd [the ཡོན་ཏན་རིན་ཆེན་སྡུད་པའི་འགྲེལ་པ་རྒྱལ་བའི་ཡུམ་གྱི་དགོངས་དོན་ལ་ཕྱིན་ཅི་མ་ལོག་པར་འཇུག་པའི་ལེགས་བཤད་] and a three-part original exposition of Great Perfection, the Trilogy of Fundamental Mind. Only some parts of the first section of this may be by Mipham Rinpoche's own hand. Much or all of that section, as well as second and third are based on notes and recollections of Mipham's closest disciple, Shechen Gyaltsab, who in turn was one of the principle teachers of the late Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Mipham Rinpoche regretted the incompleteness of the Trilogy but nevertheless it is a mine of profound commentary on Great Perfection, especially in defending those teachings against its critics, and clearing up misconceptions and misinterpretations of Dzogchen, such as confusing it with certain aspects of teachings of the New Tantras as was common in Mipham's day.

Besides his texts explicitly concerned with Dzogchen, many of Mipham Rinpoche's other works are written with Dzogchen in mind -- if not as the subject, then as an overriding theme. Among those are the "Five Lotuses" and "Five Swords", short and intermediate-length commentaries on the essence of wisdom and language; the Beacon of Certainty which is perhaps the most essential of Mipham's original writings; and in many of Mipham's liturgies (such as those of Gesar), his essays of practical advice (gtams-tshogs), his verses of praise to Manjushri, Sarasvati and other persons, historical or otherwise (bstod-tshogs), and in one of his most famous compositions which is an 'aspiration' (smon-lam), Mipham makes clear -- either explicitly or using coded language -- the centrality of Dzogchen/Great Perfection to his view, meditation, practice and experiential realization.

Mipham and Gesar

Throughout his life, Mipham showed a particular interest in the legend of the warrior king Gesar of Ling, a 12th century figure whose epic is well-known and widely celebrated in eastern Tibet, and about whom Mipham wrote extensively.

The Gesar practice, known as the "The Swift Accomplishment of Enlightened Activity Through Invocation and Offering" (bo|w=gsol mchod phrin las myur 'grub) arose in the mind of Mipham as a gong-ter and was written down over the course of 3 years from the age of 31 to 34. This practice invokes Gesar and his retinue and requests him to assist practitioners. [ [http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=S%C3%B6llo_Chenmo Söllo Chenmo] ]

Medicine

Mipham's medical works continue to be highly regarded to this day. [Smith (2001) p.231.]

Astrology and Divination

Mipham also wrote extensively about astrology which was, in his words, a "delightful game" that he mastered in his teens but later applied to more serious topics such as medicine; these two topics, with various texts on more or less related topics of divination, occupy perhaps 2,000 pages of his writing. An entire volume of Mipham's is devoted to Ju-thig or divination using knots, a method that might be termed "Bon" in origin, for want of a more accurate term; this may have been the legacy of his family, who were doctors for several generations. Throughout his writings there are many resources for divination, in addition to astrology, including several rituals for looking in mirrors (pra-mo), one using dice, pulling different-length 'arrows' (Wylie: da dar) out of a quiver and so on, compelling a non-human "bird" to whisper future news in one's ear, and so on. In one short text he prescribes various methods of divination (all drawn, Mipham emphasizes, from Tantric scriptures and commentaries) that make use of unusual sources of augury such as: the vicariously overheard chatter of women; sudden appearance of various animals, especially birds; weather phenomena; the shape, size and color of flames in the agnihotra or fire puja; the quality of burning butter lamps, especially the size of the flame, the amount and shape of smoke that arises; and the size and shape of the carbon deposit on the wick.

When some of his scholarly rivals thought it inappropriate for a monk to devote so much time to matters of future events, Mipham wrote a short essay explaining the purpose of divination, citing sources in the Sutras and Tantras where the utility and value of divination are explained.

Works on Grammar and Poetry

Other Topics

tudents

Mipham’s most important students were Dodrub Rinpoche, Terton Sogyal, the Fifth Dzogchen Rinpoche, Gemang Kyab Gon, Khenpo Padmavajra, Katog Situ Rinpoche, Sechen Rabjam, Gyaltsab Tulku, Palyul Gyaltrul, Karma Yangtrul, Palpung Situ Rinpoche, Ling Jetrung, Adzom Drukpa, Tokden Shakya Shri, Ngor Ponlob, and others. The great tulkus of Sechen, Dzogchen, Katog, Palyul, Palpung, Dege Gonchen, Repkong and others of all lineages, Sakya, Gelug, Kagyu, and Nyingma, all became his disciples.

Emanations of Ju Mipham

According to one account shortly before he passed away, Mipham told his attendant:

This may be interpreted as a statement that his mindstream would have no further 'emanations' (Wylie: "sprul pa" (tulpa); "sprul sku" (tulku)). Conversely, according to another account in which he mentions the mindstream in passing and prophesies the annexation of Tibet wrought by the China post 1951, shortly before he passed away he told his student Khenpo Kunphel:

Subsequntly a number of emanations have been recognized.

According to E. Gene Smith "At least three rebirths were recognized in the decade following his death: 1) Zhe chen Mi pham (a grandnephew of Mi pham rgya mtsho); 2) Tshe dbang bdud 'dul (1915/16-42) the last prince of Sde dge; 3. Khyung po Mi pham, an incarnation recognized by Rdzong gsar Mkhyen brtse 'Jam dbyangs chos kyi blo gros." [Smith 2001 p.272]

The next (third) Mipham in the line of the Dege Prince who died in 1942 was apparently born in Tibet in 1949 and recognised by Tengye Rinpoche of Lab i 1959 Fact|date=July 2008 At that time he was enthroned and given responsibility for all monasteries previously held by the first and second incarnations. This third incarnation was also confirmed by Patrul Rinpoche who gave him relics of the previous incarnations and by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, who he had recognized in a previous incarnation. This Mipham incarnate is the father of Thaye Dorje, one of two candidates to be recognized as the 17th Karmapa, and of 14th Sonam Tsemo Rinpoche, an important Sakya tulku Fact|date=July 2008. In 1995, Ösel Rangdröl Mukpo (b. 1962), the eldest son of renowned dharma master Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Ani Könchok Palden, was recognized as a reincarnation of Mipham Rinpoche [http://www.mipham.com/biography.html] ] by HH Drubwang Padma Norbu Rinpoche, at the time the head of the Nyingma lineage. He is now known as Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, and is the spiritual head of Shambhala International.Fact|date=July 2008

Works of Ju Mipham in English

*Kunsang, Erik Pema ("trans.") "Gateway to Knowledge". Rangjung Yeshe Publications.
** Vol 1 (1997) ISBN 9627341290
** Vol 2 (2002) ISBN 9627341428
** Vol 3 (2002) ISBN 9627341460
** Vol 4 (Forthcoming)
*Doctor, Thomas H. ("trans.") " Speech of Delight: Mipham's Commentary of Shantarakshita's Ornament of the Middle Way". Ithaca: Snow Lion Publicaions (2004). ISBN 1559392177
* Padmakara Translation Group ("trans.") Shantarakshita & Jamgon Mipham "The Adornment Of The Middle Way". Shambhala Publications (June 2005) ISBN 1-59030-241-9
* Padmakara Translation Group ("trans.") Introduction to the Middle Way: Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara with Commentary by Jamgön Mipham. Shambhala Publications 2002. ISBN 1570629420
* Padmakara Translation Group ("trans.") "White Lotus: An Explanation of the Seven-line Prayer to Guru Padmasambhava" by Jamgön Mipham. Shambhala Publications (2008)
* Petit, John Whitney. "Mipham's Beacon of Certainty: Illuminating the View of Dzochen, the Great Perfection". Boston: Wisdom Publications (1999). ISBN 0861711572
* Tulku, Tarthang (trans) "Calm and Clear" by Lama Mipham. Emoryville: Dharma Publishing (1973) ISBN 091354602X
*Hopkins, Jeffery ("trans. & ed.") "Fundamental Mind: The Nyingma View of the Great Completeness" by Mi-pam-gya-tso, comm. by Khetsun Sangpo Rinbochay. Snow Lion Publications (2006) ISBN 1559392509
*Rinpoche, Thrangu. "Middle-way Meditation Instructions of Mipham Rinpoche". Namo Buddha Publications (2001). ISBN 0962802662
* Scott, J. "Maitreya's Distinguishing Phenomena and Pure Being with Commentary by Mipham". Snow Lion Publications

tudies of Mipham's Thought

* Phuntsho, Karma. "Mipham's Dialectics and Debates on Emptiness: To Be, Not to Be or Neither". (Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism series).London: RoutledgeCurzon (2005) ISBN 0415352525
* Duckworth, Douglas S. "Mipam on Buddha-Nature: The Ground of the Nyingma Tradition." SUNY Press (2008) ISBN 9780791475218

Notes

ources

*Citation
last =Dudjom
first = Jikdrel Yeshe Dorje
author-link =Dudjom Rinpoche
last2 = Dorje
first2 = Gyurme
author2-link = Gyurme Dorje
title = The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, Its Fundamentals and History
place = Boston
publisher = Wisdom Publications
year = 2005
volume =
edition = 2
url =
doi =
id =
isbn =0861711998

* cite web
last = Germano
first = David
authorlink = David Germano
coauthors =
title = A Brief History of Nyingma Literature
work =
publisher = THDL
date = 2002
url = http://www.thdl.org/collections/literature/nyingma.html
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-08-27

*cite journal
last = Goodman
first = Steven
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Mi-pham rgya mtsho: An Account of His life, the Printing of His Works, and the Structure of His Treatise entitled mKhas pa'i tshul la 'jug pa'i sgo
journal = Windhorse
volume =
issue = I
pages =
publisher =
location =
date = 1981
url =
doi =
id =
accessdate =

*cite book
last = Pettit
first = John Whitney
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Mipham's Beacon of Certainty: Illuminating the View of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection
publisher = Wisdom Publications
date = 1999
location = Boston
pages =
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = ISBN 0861711572

*cite book
last = Phuntsho
first = Karma
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Mipham's Dialectics and Debates on Emptiness: To Be, Not to Be or Neither.
series = Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism
publisher = RoutledgeCurzon
date = 2005
location = London
pages =
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = 0415352525

*Citation
last = Phuntsho
first = Karma
author-link =
editor-last = Prats
editor-first = Ramon N.
contribution = Ju Mi pham rNam rgyal rGya mtsho: His Position in the Tibetan Religious Hierarchy and a Synpotic Survey of His Contributions
contribution-url =
title = The Pandita and the Siddha: Tibetan Studies in Honour of E. Gene Smith
year = 2007
pages =
place = New Delhi
publisher = Amnye Machen Institute
url =
doi =
id =
isbn= 8186227377

*cite book
last = Smith
first = E. Gene
authorlink = E. Gene Smith
coauthors =
title = Among Tibetan Texts: History & Literature of the Himalayan Plateau
publisher = Wisdom Publications
date = 2001
location = Somerville MA
pages =
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = 0861711793

* cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors = Dharma Fellowship of HH the Gyalwa Karmapa
title = The Life of Mipham Jamyang Namgyal (1846–1912)
work =
publisher = Dharma Fellowship of HH the Gyalwa Karmapa
date =
url = http://www.dharmafellowship.org/biographies/historicalsaints/mipham-namgyal.htm
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-08-27

External links

* [http://www.rangjung.com/authors/jamgon_mipham.htm Jamgon Ju Mipham Rinpoche]
* [http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Mipham_Rinpoche Mipham Rinpoche] - Rigpa Wiki
* [http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Mipham_Rinpoche_Timeline Mipham Rinpoche Timeline]
* [http://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/Mipham Mipham Rinpoche] - Rangjung Yeshe Wiki
* [http://www.tbrc.org/kb/tbrc-detail.xq?RID=P252 TBRC P252] mi pham rgya mtsho at TBRC
* [http://www.google.com/books?id=-IfPeuDr8gwC&pg=PA19&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=0_0&sig=ACfU3U0rpeDDpLoiWUgezWbaEPBoBHSPgg#PPA19,M1 The Life and Works of Mipham Rinpoche] - from Petit, John Whitney. "Mipham's Beacon of Certainty: Illuminating the View of Dzochen, the Great Perfection". Boston: Wisdom Publications (1999). ISBN 0861711572 p. 19-39
* [http://lotsawahouse.org/mipham.html Lotsawa House] - Translations of several texts by Mipham Rinpoche.
* [http://www.dharmafellowship.org/biographies/historicalsaints/mipham-namgyal.htm The Life of Mipham Jamyang Namgyal (1846–1912)]
* [http://www.library.gov.bt/outlines/JuMipham.html Table of Contents for the 27 volumes of the Collected Works of Mipham] - in Tibetan
* [http://www.mipham.com H.E. 2nd Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche]
* [http://www.mipham-rinpoche.org H.E. 3rd Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche]
* [http://www.amnyitrulchung.org/monastery/ Ju Mohar Monastery] - Mipham Rinpoche's monastery, where he accomplished Manjushri whilst on retreat

ee also

*Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
*Rime movement