The Ultimate Witness
January 18, 2026, marks the 49th day—the final day of the traditional mourning period—since the passing of my root teacher, the Venerable Khenpo Jamyang Kunga. Looking back over four decades of our teacher-disciple bond, I am most struck by his final “manifestation.” Following the medical pronouncement of death, he remained in profound meditative absorption (Thukdam) for ten full days. His body remained supple, his countenance radiant—a supreme testament to a master who had truly realized the “Non-Duality of Samsara and Nirvana.”
This was more than a master’s farewell; it was a warm legacy left to the world. Through the echoes of hundreds of thousands of words exchanged in Dharma dialogues between Pema Khyentse Rinpoche and his late teacher, we may find the healing medicine our souls long for.
An Encounter Refined into Gold
Some worldly affairs scatter like dust in the wind; others are refined into gold, shimmering eternally in the river of time.
My teacher entered parinirvana on November 21, 2025. Yet, he did not depart immediately. He dwelled in the profound luminosity of Thukdam for ten days, only emerging from that meditative state on November 30. Thus, the calculation of these 49 days began only when his subtlest consciousness finally departed his physical form.
Having known him for nearly forty years, I witnessed his quiet departure at Tharlam Monastery in Nepal. His passing was not an end, but a thunderous “sound of silence,” demonstrating the ultimate mystery of the Dharma. Even when medical instruments showed no pulse, his body remained soft, his skin elastic and glowing, free from the signs of decay, instead exhaling the subtle fragrance of pure discipline.
He manifested the core of the Lamdre (Path and Result) teachings: when the external elements dissolve, the “Child Luminosity” of internal meditation meets the “Mother Luminosity” of original nature. In that moment, the death that ordinary people fear is transformed into the path of liberation.
Strict Guidance, Lifelong Benefit
To be his student was to understand the true meaning of “rigor.” He demanded absolute precision. Whenever I posed a question based on my own assumptions, he would often counter with: “Did I say that?”
That simple question was a wake-up call. I realized how easily my conceptual mind distorted the teacher’s original words. From then on, I made it my habit to memorize his teachings word-for-word, transcribing them the moment I was alone. These hundreds of thousands of words are not just records; they are the tracks of a seeker, establishing a profound respect for the lineage. He often said that no one achieves realization simply by “asking questions.” True learning comes from holding the teacher’s words in the heart and putting them into practice.
Hidden Merits and Silent Devotion
Khenpo was a man of deep reserve who disliked social spotlighting. He often joked about his “ascetic looks,” yet beneath that plain exterior was a heart of pure gold, acting as the “fire captain” of the Sakya school. He took on the most difficult and thankless tasks—solving financial crises for monasteries and building infrastructure in remote areas.
When he served as the Principal of the Sakya College in Puruwala, he used his own offerings from teaching abroad to build a swimming pool for the students to escape the Indian heat. When he eventually stepped down, His Holiness the Sakya Trichen remarked that every student wept with longing to keep him there—a level of devotion rarely seen.
A Giant in the Guise of a Patient
In his later years, Khenpo battled multiple myeloma. During a long talk in 2024, despite the scorching sun, he wore thick layers, his body frail from illness. Yet, the moment we spoke of Dharma, he became a walking encyclopedia of wisdom, vibrant and tireless.
In that moment, tears filled my eyes as a thought became clear: “In the face of the Dharma, we are the ones who are sick; he is perfectly whole.” We are the ones bound by the “sickness” of ignorance and worldly worry; he, though physically ill, dwelt serenely in the luminosity of the nature of mind.
Even on his deathbed, he humbly told His Holiness the 42nd Sakya Trizin that he felt he had “contributed nothing” to the Sakya lineage. Such humility from a giant of the faith is heart-shattering.
An Eternal Exemplar
Khenpo Jamyang Kunga’s life had no thundering fame or grand processions. He was a silent teacher, a hidden practitioner of the Snowlands. He spent forty years teaching me how to treat the Dharma with sacred rigor, and ten days of Thukdam showing me that enlightenment is not a distant myth, but a living possibility.
Do you feel like an “incurable patient” lost in your own afflictions? Look to his manifestation. He tells us with his very life that even as the body fails, if the heart is one with the Dharma, it can transcend all suffering and bloom into the subtlest light.
May our practice be the ultimate offering to the teacher who gave us everything.
Postscript:
Written in haste during the Great Treasure of Termas (Rinchen Terdzo) empowerment cycle, 49 days after my teacher’s passing. I welcome any further materials regarding Khenpo to be shared, so that I may compile a full record of his life and wisdom for all faithful practitioners.
Your devoted disciple,
Pema Khyentse
January 18, 2026
Near the holy Swayambhu Stupa, Nepal
🌈雪域潛藏的佛光：憶念恩師堪布蔣揚貢噶，一場跨越四十年的輪涅告別
🟡2026年1月18日，是恩師蔣揚貢噶涅槃的七七日。回望這四十載的師徒緣分，最震撼的竟是恩師最後的「示現」。在醫學判定死亡後，他安住在甚深禪定中整整十天，法體柔軟、面容有光，那是修持「輪涅不二」者最極致的生命印證。
這不只是一位修行者的告別，更是一份留給世間的溫暖遺產。透過巴麥欽哲仁波切與其恩師數十萬字法談的回憶，我們或許能找到治癒心靈的良方。
https://youtu.be/AFH2-vaBiwQ
