By Tulku Palme Khyentse
The story is about what it takes in order to receive pure Buddha dharma, and why it has to be so. The story was told by HE Garchen Rinpoche, who was held in prison by the Chinese communist regime from the late 1950s to early 1980s. Among his fellow prisoners were Sangye Tenzin Rinpoche of the Karma Kagyu lineage, guru to the 17th Karmapa; Adeu Rinpoche of the Drukpa lineage, the most influential Tulku in the Qinghai region; and Khenpo Munsel. All were great masters, with himself being a Rinpoche of the Drikung Kagyu lineage.
Although all religious practices were strictly forbidden in the prison, Garchen Rinpoche still risked requesting the teaching of the Great Perfection from Khenpo Munsel. The latter kindly agreed, provided that Garchen Rinpochepresented him with some gold. Under the circumstances where everyone was in jail and gold did not seem to mean anything to prisoners, why did Khenpo Munsel still insist on that?
No one dared to ask. The traditional monastic education in Tibet requires students to repeat what the teacher says, not to ask. Teachers normally go through the ‘textbook’ without giving any explanation. Nevertheless, Garchen Rinpoche managed to find an old watch with some parts in gold. He happily presented them to Khenpo Munsel who was very pleased and agreed to instruct them the teaching of the Great Perfection.
However, after the Mandala offering where the gold was presented, Khenpo Munsel threw it outside of the prison wall. Everyone was bewildered by this. Khenpo Munsel then explained: ‘We prisoners need no gold. However, gold is the purest thing in the world, just like the teaching of the Great Perfection, which is pure, flawless and perfect. We need gold to create auspicious interdependence, with which we may hope for the continuous transmission of the teaching of the Great Perfection’.
This is why people in the past always brought the most precious objects for offering when requesting teachings. One needed, for example, at least 100 pairs of offerings to be considered qualified for requesting the Black Hat ceremony from Karmapa. This is all for the purpose of creating auspicious interdependence. For us disciple, it is important to bear in mind that no merits, no pure Buddha dharma!
