Brilliant Moon
(Google
books forward)
Rinpoche’s Forward to ‘Brilliant Moon’ an (auto)biography of
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
“Simply to be in Khyentse Rinpoche’s
presence transformed your mind, so much so that your whole
perception and experience of the environment changed. Things
and events appeared differently, even circumstances began to
change. Around him, everything became heavenly, almost a
paradise. Wherever Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was became like
the palace of lotus light in Guru Rinpoche’s pure realm, the
Copper-Colored Mountain of glory.”
“…greatest contribution, beside
all his tremendous achievements, was the simple fact that he
came and lived and taught in our time. An enlightened being
actually manifested here and displayed his activity, and we
were fortunate enough to witness it. As we will see in the
pages that follow, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was a miracle in
himself, and his accomplishments, every bit as extraordinary
as those of his predecessor Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo or his
master Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro, were clearly the
activities of an enlightened being.”
“Both in his spiritual realization
and in his physical appearance and build, he was larger than
life. In every sense there was something universal, even
superhuman, about him, so much so that at one stage the
young incarnate lamas he looked after with such infinite and
tender care would playfully call him “Mr.
Universe.””
“Everyone who met him had a powerful
experience, and just to have seen him once, even for a
moment, I believe, is to have had sown in you a seed of
liberation that nothing will ever destroy and that will one
day flower completely. If you had such great good fortune,
be sure to remember that experience, treasure it, and keep
it in your mind, because it is the Khyentse Rinpoche within
you. The memory itself is his blessing.”
“Whenever I speak or think of him, I
am filled with gratitude, amazement, and devotion-gratitude
that someone like him came and showed us what he did;
amazement that we were so fortunate to have known him;
devotion because just to think of him is guru yoga, just to
gaze at a photo of him is to reawaken the view of the nature
of the mind. For me there was no one who, by simply being
the way he was, expressed the view of dzogchen as vividly as
did Khyentse Rinpoche. Through his very presence, he
communicated the essence, the spirit, and the truth of the
Great Perfection.”
“It’s true that Khyentse Rinpoche’s
majesty would have been overwhelming had there not always
emanated from him the most profound calm and gentleness, a
rich, natural humor, and the peace and bliss that are the
signs of ultimate realization”.
“Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche said,
“Whatever he did was perfection of its kind. Even the way he
walked into the hall showed this quality.”
“Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche once
said’, “If Buddha Shakyamuni were alive, he would look like
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.”
“When devotion is aroused, all your
ordinary thoughts and emotions cease, laying bare the
innermost nature of your mind. If you think of the lama, or
even just hear his name, that feeling fills your mind, your
ordinary being dissolves, and you enter into his being. So
simply to think of him is to become one with him, in other
words, one with all the buddhas. You are infused with his
blessing and transformed, so that you begin almost to feel
him within you. That moment is when pure perception has
conquered your mind. And that is where you build your faith
and your trust.”
“I Feel that the only way for us to
arrive at transcendence is by being uplifted like this
through devotion, so that we receive the master’s blessing.
In fact, when the Vajrayana is called the direct or swift
path, I sometimes think that this is what it must really
mean. Khyentse Rinpoche said, “Devotion is the essence of
the path, and if we have in mind nothing but the guru and
feel nothing but fervent devotion, whatever occurs is
perceived as his blessing. When all thoughts are imbued with
devotion to the guru, there is a natural confidence that
this devotion will take care of whatever may happen. All
forms are the guru, all sounds are prayer, and all gross and
subtle thoughts arise as devotion. Everything is
spontaneously liberated in the absolute nature, like knots
tied in the sky.”
“Once he arrived at the airport in
Hong Kong, where he was met from the plane with a
wheelchair. Hundreds of people were waiting at the airport
for their relatives and friends to arrive. They were all
milling around and talking to one another, so there was
quite a din. But the moment the automatic doors of the
customs area parted and Khyentse Rinpoche appeared in the
arrivals lounge, everyone instantly rose to their feet,
although they had no idea who he was. They all fell silent
and stood there, in awe. He possessed that enchanting
charisma and magnetism.”
“Thinking of the master, you are
ushered into a different space-the essential nature of your
mind, your buddha nature. And because it is the master who
has revealed it to you and made that connection, you feel
such enormous gratitude.”
“The great Dzogchen Khenpo Shenga
gave Khyentse Rinpoche the name Rabsel Dawa, “brilliant
moon,” as if to single out, among his remarkable qualities,
his compassion, and to depict its cooling moonbeams
dispelling the searing heat of suffering. For compassion and
kindness marked Khyentse Rinpoche’s every action toward
anyone he met.”
“On one hand, Khyentse Rinpoche’s
enlightened qualities were so self evident that no one could
miss them, and on the other, he was forever humble, because
he had tamed his mind and his whole being. He was always the
same, stable and unchanging, his equanimity as steadfast as
a mountain, his wisdom as endless as the sky, and his
enlightened qualities as vast as an ocean.”
——————
more
——————–
from:
Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche
“Khyentse Rinpoche thus became my
spiritual master. When I started studying the scriptures, I
found in him all the qualities they described for an
authentic and realized master. After his death – the
strength of his presence, far from vanishing, became
increasingly all-pervading. I now realize how fortunate I
was to have met someone like him and spent twenty fears of
my life in his presence, as I lived with him since I was
five years old, until his passing away, when I was
twenty-five.”
“…there was a blood clot on his
knee that had to be removed, but the doctors couldn’t give
him anesthetics due to his age and heart condition. I went
into the operating room with Khyentse Rinpoche; he was
holding my hand and said, “Go ahead; cut it.” So they
started doing the operation without anesthetic and took out
the blood clot, cutting the knee about three or four inches
wide. I was amazed that Rinpoche’s face. didn’t show any
pain; he was just smiling all the time. Rinpoche was so
courageous, not crying in such pain but shedding tears when
he talked about his teachers.”
“Khyentse Rinpoche always placed
great emphasis on the importance of mingling our mind with
the Dharma and unifying the practice with daily life. He
used to say, “It is not when things go well that you can
judge a true practitioner. When adverse circumstances arise,
then you can clearly see the shortcomings of someone’s
practice.”