Jamgon Ju Mipham Gyatso

Jamgon Ju Mipham Gyatso
Tibetan name
Tibetan	བྱམས་མགོན་འཇུ་མི་ཕམ་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་རྒྱ་མཚོ་
Transcriptions Wylie 'jam mgon 'ju mi pham rnam rgyal rgya mtsho THDL Ju Mipam Namgyel Gyamtso Lhasa IPA [d̠ʑàmɡøn tɕù mìpʰam námcɛː(l) càmtsʰo]
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	米龐仁波切
Simplified Chinese	米庞仁波切
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Mǐpáng Rénbōqiē

Jamgön Ju Mipham, or Mipham Jamyang Namgyal Gyamtso (1846–1912) (also known as "Mipham the Great") was a 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" (Skt. Maitreya) indicate that he was considered to be an emanation of the bodhisattva Maitreya. his maternal uncle, Minister-Lama Drupchok Pema Tarjay, named him Mipham Gyamtso ("Invincible Ocean" or "Unconquerable Ocean"). In Tibetan literature, the word "mi-pham" is the standard translation of the Sanskrit "ajita", meaning "unconquered", which is a common epithet of the celestial bodhisattva Maitreya.

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 Mindrolling lineage at a branch monastery of the great Nyingma seat Shechen.

When he was fifteen or sixteen, after studying the very difficult Mindrolling 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 Rime movement ecumenical movement, which started in the Kham region of eastern Tibet". 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.

Work and legacy

Jamgon Ju Mipham Gyatso.

As scholar Robet Mayer remarks, Mipham "completely revolutionised rNying ma pa scholasticism in the late 19th century, raising its status after many centuries as a comparative intellectual backwater, to arguably the most dynamic and expansive of philosophical traditions in all of Tibetan Buddhism, with an influence and impact far beyond the rNying ma pa themselves."

Scope

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 is perhaps the greatest polymath Tibet ever produced. His writings comprise works on a wide range of subjects, covering almost every science known to his milieu. In traditional terms he is a Mahāpaṇḍita who has mastered the ten sciences of arts and crafts (bzo), health science (gso ba), language (sgra), logico-epistemology (tshad-ma), soteriology (nang don), poetry (snyan ngag), lexicology (mngon brjod), prosody (sdeb sbyor), dramaturgy (zlos gar), and astrology (dkar rtsis). It is due to the polymathic nature of his learning and his exceptional ingenuity that Mipham today ranks amongst the leading religious and spiritual celebrities of Tibet

Mipham's works on both the exoteric or Sutrayana teachings and the esoteric or Vajrayāna teachings have become 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 to 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 of the three "omnscient" writers of the Nyingma tradition.

Commentaries on Buddhist Śāstra

Although Mipham wrote on a wide range of subjects, Prof. David Germano identifies the most influential aspect of Mipham's career in that he "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.".

E. Gene Smith also judged that Mipham's greatest contribution was "in his brilliant and strikingly original commentaries on the Indian treatises." Prior to Mipham, Nyingmapa scholars "had seldom written detailed pedagogical commentaries on the śāstras of exoteric Buddhism." 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 (Sanskrit: Madhyamakāvatāra) 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 Shantideva's Bodhicaryavatara, the Shertik Norbu Ketaka (Tibetan: ཤེར་ཊཱིཀ་ནོར་བུ་ཀེ་ཏ་ཀ་, Wylie: sher ṭīk nor bu ke ta ka), "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.

Guhyagarbha Tantra

Mipham's commentary on the Guhyagarbha Tantra is entitled The Essence of Clear Light or Nucleus of Inner Radiance (Wylie: od gsal snying po)— it is based on Longchenpa's commentary, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions Wylie: gsang snying 'grel pa phyogs bcu mun sel which explains the Guhyagarbha from the Dzogchen point of view.

Kalacakra Tantra

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

Mimicking the Sarma schools, Mipham attempted to reconcile the view of tantra, including Dzogchen, with sutric Madhyamaka.

This was in departure with the Nyingma school which generally positioned the view of tantra as superior to the view of Madhyamaka.

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 Swift Accomplishment of Enlightened Activity Through Invocation and Offering" (Wylie: 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.

Medicine

Mipham's medical works continue to be highly regarded to this day.

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 (mo), 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.

Students

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 (1842-1924), Togdan 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 died, Mipham told his attendant:

Nowadays, if you speak the truth, there is nobody to listen; if you speak lies everyone thinks it is true. I have never said this before: I am not an ordinary person; I am a bodhisattva who has taken rebirth through aspiration. The suffering experienced in this body is just the residue of karma; but from now on I will never again have to experience karmic obscuration. … Now, in this final age, the barbarians beyond the frontier are close to undermining the teaching. [So] there is no point whatsoever in my taking rebirth here…I have no reason to take birth in impure realms ever again.

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 shortly before his death to his student Khenpo Kunphel:

Now I shall not remain long in this body. After my death, in a couple of years hence, war and darkness shall cover the earth, which will have its effect even on this isolated snow land of Tibet. In thirty years time, a mad (smyo) storm of hatred will grow like a fierce black thundercloud in the land of China, and in a further decade this evil shall spill over into Tibet itself, so that Lamas, scholars, disciples and yogis will come under terrible persecution. Due to the demon-king Pehar taking power in China, darkness and terror ('bog) will come to our sacred land, with the result that violent death shall spread like a plague through every village. Then the three lords of materialism (gsum-gyi-kla-klos) and their cousins will seize power in Tibet, spreading war, famine and oppression. No one will be safe. Now, very soon, my mind-stream will be gathered up in the pure-land of Tusita, from whence many emanations [of myself] shall then come forth in future years. I shall not take rebirth in Tibet. In twenty years, seek me in the northern lands of distant Uttarakuru, and elsewhere, east, west, north and south. Fear not, we shall be re-united again, as father and son. Now go!

In the above account, shortly after the departure of Khenpo Kunphel he stated publicly, "Now, soon I shall depart. I shall not be reborn again in Tibet, therefore do not search for me. I have reason to go to Shambhala in the north."

Subsequently 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."

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 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 Gelug/Sakya tulku.

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 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.^[3]

Alternate names

• Jamgon Ju Mipham Gyatso (ʼJam-mgon ʼJu Mi-pham rgya-mtsho)
• Jamgön Mipham (ʼJam-mgon Mi-pham)
• Ju Mipham (ʼJu Mi-pham)
• Mipham Gyatso (mi pham rgya mtsho)
• Ju Mipham Namgyal Gyatso (ʼju mi pham rnam rgyal rgya mtsho)
• Mipham Namgyal Gyatso (mi pham rnam rgyal rgya mtsho)
• Jamgon Mipham Gyatso (ʼjam mgon mi pham rgya mtsho)
• Mipham the Great (mi-pham chen-po)
• Lama Mipham (bla-ma mi-pham)
• Mipham Rinpoche (mi-pham rin-po-che)

It should be noted that in contemporary scholarship, the nomenclature "Mi-pam" and "Mipam" has become an accepted alternative. Writers such as Hopkins and Duckworth have adopted this convention (see below).

Selected English Translations

For an excellent guide to his works in English, see the Great Masters Series article from Shambhala Publications

• Buddhist Philosophy in Theory and Practice: Summary of the Philosophical Systems as Detailed in the Yid-bzhin-mdzod (excerpts). Trans. Herbert V. Guenther. Shambala Publications, Inc/Penguin, 1971/72
• Calm and Clear by Lama Mipham. Trans. Tarthang Tulku. Dharma 1973
• Golden Zephyr: Instructions from a Spiritual Friend. Nagarjuna and Lama Mipham. Trans. Leslie Kawamura. Dharma 1975
• Lama Mipham's commentary to Nagarjuna's Stanza's for a Novice Monk. Trans. Glenn H. Mullin and Lopsang Rabgay. LTWA 1978
• The Fish King's Power of Truth: A Jataka Tale Retold by Lama Mipham. Arranged by Tarthang Tulku. Dharma 1990
• Ways of Enlightenment: Buddhist Studies at Nyingma Institute, based on Mipham's mkhas 'jug. Compiled and edited by Dharma Publishing staff. Dharma 1993
• Gateway to Knowledge. Trans. Erik Pema Kunsang. Rangjung Yeshe 1997-2012
  • Vol 1 (1997)
  • Vol 2 (2002)
  • Vol 3 (2002)
  • Vol 4 (2012)
• Mipham's Beacon of Certainty: Illuminating the View of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection. Trans. John Whitney Petit. Wisdom 1999
• Middle-way Meditation Instructions of Mipham Rinpoche. Trans. Thrangu Rinpoche. Namo Buddha 2001
• Introduction to the Middle Way: Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara with Commentary by Jamgön Mipham. Trans. Padmakara Translation Group. Shambhala 2002
• Speech of Delight: Mipham's Commentary of Shantarakshita's Ornament of the Middle Way. Trans. Thomas H. Doctor. Snow Lion 2004
• Maitreya's Distinguishing Phenomena and Pure Being with Commentary by Mipham. Trans. Jim Scott. Snow Lion 2004
• The Adornment Of The Middle Way. Trans. Padmakara Translation Group. Shantarakshita & Jamgon Mipham. Shambhala 2005
• Fundamental Mind: The Nyingma View of the Great Completeness by Mi-pam-gya-tso, comm. by Khetsun Sangpo Rinbochay. Trans. Jefffrey Hopkins. Snow Lion 2006
• Middle Beyond Extremes: Maitreya's Madhyantavibhaga with Commentaries by Khenpo Shenga and Ju Mipham. Trans. Dharmachakra Translation Committee. Snow Lion 2007
• Mipam on Buddha-Nature: The Ground of the Nyingma Tradition. Selected translations by Douglas S. Duckworth. SUNY 2008
• White Lotus: An Explanation of the Seven-line Prayer to Guru Padmasambhava by Jamgön Mipham. Trans. Padmakara Translation Group. Shambhala 2008
• Garland of Jewels: The Eight Great Bodhisattvas. Trans. Yeshe Gyamtso. KTD Publications 2008
• The Way of the Realized Old Dogs, Advice that Points out the Essence of Mind, called "A Lamp that Dispells the Darkness". Trans. Tony Duff. PKTC 2009
• The Method of Preserving the Face of Rigpa, the Essence of Wisdom: An Aspect of Training in Thorough Cut. Trans. Tony Duff. PKTC 2009
• Luminous Essence: A Guide to the Guhyagarbha Tantra. Trans. Dharmachakra Translation Committee. Snow Lion 2009
• Essence of Clear Light: An Overview of the Secret Commentary "Thorough Dispelling of Darkness throughout the Ten Directions". Trans. Light of Berotsana. Snow Lion 2010. Sale of this book is unfortunately restricted to those readers who are deemed to satisfy certain conditions ordained by the publisher. It may be pointed out that the very same text is published by the same house, in another translation (Luminous Essence, 2009) and is not restricted.
• Unending Auspiciousness: The Sutra of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels, with Commentaries by Ju Mipham, Taranatha and the Author. Trans. Tony Duff. PKTC 2010
• Jamgon Mipham: His Life and Teachings. Selected translations by Douglas S. Duckworth. Shambhala 2011
• Ornament of the Great Vehicle Sutras: Maitreya's Mahayanasutralamkara with Commentaries by Khenpo Shenga and Ju Mipham. Trans. Dharmachakra Translation Committee. Snow Lion 2014

Translations available online

• Lotsawa House - Mipham Rinpoche Series - Translations of several texts by Mipham Rinpoche.

See also

• Mo (divination)

Sources

Primary sources

• "Sherdrel Ketaka" The commentary of 9 Chapter of Bodhisattavacharya (shes rab le'u'i tshig don go sla bar rnam par bshad pa nor bu ke ta ka) [4] (accessed: Sunday November 8, 2009)
• Mipham's don rnam nges shes rab ral gri, The Sword of Prajna (DRG) & the translation of this text in English is also freely available from Lotsawa House
• Root text of "Umajen" or "Madhyamakalamkara" by Shanta Rakshita. Commentary ("Jamyang Gyepai Zhalung") by Mipham Rinpoche.

Further reading

Studies 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 0-415-35252-5
• *

External links

• 'Jam-mgon 'Ju Mi-pham rgya-mtsho - Open Library
• Mipham Rinpoche - Rigpa Wiki
• Mipham Rinpoche Timeline
• Mipham Rinpoche - Rangjung Yeshe Wiki
• TBRC P252 mi pham rgya mtsho at TBRC
• 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 0-86171-157-2 p. 19-39
• Lotsawa House - Translations of several texts by Mipham Rinpoche
• The Life of Mipham Jamyang Namgyal (1846–1912)
• Table of Contents for the 27 volumes of the Collected Works of Mipham - in Tibetan
• Ju Mohar Monastery - Mipham Rinpoche's monastery, where he accomplished Manjushri whilst on retreat