Gongga Laoren (1903-1997): Her Role in the Spread of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan 900446574X, 9789004465749

Table of contents :
‎Contents
‎Acknowledgments
‎Figures
‎Introduction
‎Chapter 1. Life in China and Tibet (from 1903 to 1958)
‎1. Birth and Early Childhood
‎2. Youth and Majority
‎3. Heading towards the Bo Gangkar Monastery
‎4. From the Bo Gangkar Monastery to Hong Kong
‎Chapter 2. Building Religious Legitimacy in Taiwan (from 1958 to 1980)
‎1. Arrival in Taipei
‎2. Publication of the First Dictated Autobiography
‎3. Esoteric Teachings
‎4. Retreats
‎5. Using the Secret
‎Chapter 3. Contribution to the Development of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan (from 1980 to 1997)
‎1. Vows Taken with the 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rikpé Dorjé
‎2. Invitations Extended to Karma Kagyü School’s Reincarnated Masters
‎3. Place in the Karma Kagyü School’s International Network
‎4. Links with the 14th Dalai Lama
‎Chapter 4. Spiritual Heritage
‎1. Death and Mummification
‎2. Succession
‎3. Maintaining Links with the Karma Kagyü School
‎4. Continuing Charity Projects
‎Conclusion
‎Appendix. Timeline of Gongga Laoren’s Life (1903–1997)
‎Glossary of Tibetan Names
‎Bibliography
‎Index

Citation preview

Gongga Laoren (1903–1997)

Studies on East Asian Religions Edited by James A. Benn (McMaster University) Jinhua Chen (University of British Columbia)

volume 4

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/sear

Gongga Laoren (1903–1997) Her Role in the Spread of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan

By

Fabienne Jagou

leiden | boston

The author received funding by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange (from 2011 to 2015) for the collaborative project entitled “Practices of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan,” of which this book is the result. Cover illustration: Gongga Laoren mummified corpse, Gongga Meditation Center, Taipei (Source: July 2010, Author’s photograph) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Jagou, Fabienne, author. Title: Gongga Laoren (1903-1997) : her role in the spread of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan / Fabienne Jagou. Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2021. | Series: Studies on East Asian religions, 2452-0098 ; vol.4 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: lccn 2021023579 (print) | lccn 2021023580 (ebook) | isbn 9789004465749 (hardback) | isbn 9789004466289 (ebook) Subjects: lcsh: Gongga Laoren, 1903-1997. | Buddhist women–Biography. | Buddhist women–Taiwan–Biography. | Buddhists–Taiwan–Biography. | Buddhism–Taiwan–History–20th century. Classification: lcc bq960.O64 j34 2021 (print) | lcc bq960.O64 (ebook) | ddc 294.3092 [b]–dc23 lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021023579 lc ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021023580

Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill‑typeface. issn 2452-0098 isbn 978-90-04-46574-9 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-46628-9 (e-book)

Copyright 2021 by Fabienne Jagou. Published by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Hotei, Brill Schöningh, Brill Fink, Brill mentis, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Böhlau Verlag and V&R Unipress. Koninklijke Brill nv reserves the right to protect this publication against unauthorized use. Requests for re-use and/or translations must be addressed to Koninklijke Brill nv via brill.com or copyright.com. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.

Contents Acknowledgments vii List of Figures viii Introduction 1 1 Life in China and Tibet (from 1903 to 1958) 10 1 Birth and Early Childhood 10 2 Youth and Majority 14 3 Heading towards the Bo Gangkar Monastery 25 4 From the Bo Gangkar Monastery to Hong Kong 33 2 Building Religious Legitimacy in Taiwan (from 1958 to 1980) 1 Arrival in Taipei 36 2 Publication of the First Dictated Autobiography 44 3 Esoteric Teachings 69 4 Retreats 83 5 Using the Secret 85

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3 Contribution to the Development of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan (from 1980 to 1997) 88 1 Vows Taken with the 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rikpé Dorjé 88 2 Invitations Extended to Karma Kagyü School’s Reincarnated Masters 92 3 Place in the Karma Kagyü School’s International Network 96 4 Links with the 14th Dalai Lama 107 4 Spiritual Heritage 120 1 Death and Mummification 120 2 Succession 125 3 Maintaining Links with the Karma Kagyü School 4 Continuing Charity Projects 135

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Conclusion 139 Appendix: Timeline of Gongga Laoren’s Life (1903–1997) Glossary of Tibetan Names 147 Bibliography 150 Index 165

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Acknowledgments This book is the result of researches conducted in the frame of the collaborative project entitled “Practices of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan,” funded by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange from 2011 to 2015, to which I am indebted. I would like also to express my deepest appreciation to the Center for Chinese Studies in Taipei for its support. My deepest gratitude goes to the many colleagues and friends who shared their knowledge on Chinese and Tibetan forms of Buddhism, and religion in general, to help me understand the specific case presented here. I would like to express special thanks to Matthew Kapstein, professor at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris, Ji Zhe, professor at the inalco, Paris, and Ester Bianchi, associate professor at the Perugia University, Italy. Patricia Radder from Brill is a highly skilled person, full of patience and kindness, moral qualities that are very precious when editing a book. I thank her very sincerely. Furthermore, I wish to express my profond gratitude to the Gongga Laoren’s disciples who received me with great openness (not always) and confidence (after a long time and many visits in their monasteries). The book is dedicated to Professor Anne Chayet (1943–2015) in memory of our last talk.

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Gangkar Rinpoche (1893–1957) seal. Source: Autobiography of the Reincarnated Master Gangkar from Kham, Omniscient Meditation Master, Benefactor Spreading Buddhism (Fujiao guangjue chanshi Xikang Gongga Hutuketu benzhuan 輔教廣覺禪師西康貢噶呼圖克圖本傳), Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits of the Vajra Master Juezhudengbai, Gongga Laoren ( Jingang shangshi Juezhudengbai, Gongga Laoren xueshan xiuxing ji 金剛上師覺珠登白貢噶老人雪山修行記), 1961. 49 Gangkar Rinpoche (1893–1957). Source: Autobiography of the Reincarnated Master Gangkar from Kham, Omniscient Meditation Master, Benefactor Spreading Buddhism (Fujiao guangjue chanshi Xikang Gongga Hutuketu benzhuan 輔教廣覺禪師西康貢噶呼圖克圖本傳), Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits of the Vajra Master Juezhudengbai, Gongga Laoren ( Jingang shangshi Juezhudengbai, Gongga Laoren xueshan xiuxing ji 金剛上師覺珠登白貢噶老人雪山修行記), 1961. 50 Gongga Laoren dressed as a lay tantric master. Source: Autobiography of the Reincarnated Master Gangkar from Kham, Omniscient Meditation Master, Benefactor Spreading Buddhism (Fujiao guangjue chanshi Xikang Gongga Hutuketu benzhuan 輔教廣覺禪師西康貢噶呼圖克圖本傳), Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits of the Vajra Master Juezhudengbai, Gongga Laoren ( Jingang shangshi Juezhudengbai, Gongga Laoren xueshan xiuxing ji 金剛上師覺珠登白貢噶老人雪山修行記), 1961. 51 Gangkar Rinpoche (1893–1957) on his dharma throne. Source: Extraordinary Story Amidst the White Clouds: Account of a Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits of the Vajra Master, Gongga Laoren (based on her own testimony) Bai yun jian de zhuanqi: Jingang Shangshi Gongga Laoren xueshan xiuxing ji (Gongga Laoren kou shu) 白雲間的傳奇: 金剛上師貢噶老人雪山修行記 (貢噶老 人口述) (Zhonghe, Zhengfayan), 2002. 53 The nun Gongga Laoren. Source: Extraordinary Story Amidst the White Clouds: Account of a Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits of the Vajra Master, Gongga Laoren (based on her own testimony) Bai yun jian de zhuanqi: Jingang Shangshi Gongga Laoren xueshan xiuxing ji (Gongga Laoren kou shu) 白 雲間的傳奇: 金剛上師貢噶老人雪山修行記 (貢噶老人口述) (Zhonghe, Zhengfayan), 2002. 54 Gongga Laoren mummy. Source: Extraordinary Story Amidst the White Clouds: Account of a Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits of the Vajra Master, Gongga Laoren (based on her own testimony) Bai yun jian de zhuanqi: Jingang Shangshi Gongga Laoren xueshan xiuxing ji (Gongga Laoren kou shu) 白

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雲間的傳奇: 金剛上師貢噶老人雪山修行記 (貢噶老人口述) (Zhonghe,

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12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Zhengfayan), 2002. 55 New Bo Gangkar Monastery. Source: Extraordinary Story Amidst the White Clouds: Account of a Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits of the Vajra Master, Gongga Laoren (based on her own testimony) Bai yun jian de zhuanqi: Jingang Shangshi Gongga Laoren xueshan xiuxing ji (Gongga Laoren kou shu) 白雲間的傳奇: 金剛上師貢噶老人雪山修行記 (貢噶老人口述) (Zhonghe, Zhengfayan), 2002. 56 Old Bo Gangkar Monastery. Source: Extraordinary Story Amidst the White Clouds: Account of a Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits of the Vajra Master, Gongga Laoren (based on her own testimony) Bai yun jian de zhuanqi: Jingang Shangshi Gongga Laoren xueshan xiuxing ji (Gongga Laoren kou shu) 白雲間的傳奇: 金剛上師貢噶老人雪山修行記 (貢噶老人口述) (Zhonghe, Zhengfayan), 2002. 56 Old Chongqing Monastery, Tainan. Source: September 2010, Author’s photograph. 72 Commemorative picture of the Transfer of Awareness initiation transmission by Gongga Laoren, September 17, 1960. Source: September 2010, Author’s photograph. Pictures exhibited within the administrative office of the Chongqing monastery. 73 Commemorative picture of the Transfer of Awareness initiation transmission by Gongga Laoren, December 3, 1971. Source: September 2010, Author’s photograph. Pictures exhibited within the administrative office of the Chongqing monastery. 74 New Chongqing Monastery, Tainan. Source: August 2013, Author’s photograph. 78 Shrine dedicated to Gongga Laoren in the old Chongqing monastery, Tainan. Source: July 2012, Author’s photograph. 79 Shrine dedicated to Gongga Laoren in the new Chongqing monastery, Tainan. Source: August 2013, Author’s photograph. 80 Shrine dedicated to Gongga Laoren in the new Chongqing monastery, Tainan. Source: August 2013, Author’s photograph. 81 Gongga Meditation Center, Taipei. Source: July 2010, Author’s photograph. 91 Gongga Monastery, Tainan. Source: July 2013, Author’s photograph. 103 Devotees Assembly, Tainan. Source: September 2010, Author’s photograph. 126 Tong Bingqing and Gongga Laoren portraits. Source: September 2010, Author’s photograph. Pictures exhibited within the administrative office of the Chongqing monastery. 128

Introduction As of the 1960s, Tibetan Buddhism began to be practiced in Taiwan with the arrival of lay Chinese Buddhists from the continent. They had received teachings from Tibetan masters. It has continued to develop to this day. In China, in the 1930s and 1940s, Sichuan had become a cultural crossroads between the Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist circles. Numerous Chinese lay people and monks came into contact with Tibetan masters. They sought the transmission of esoteric teachings while Tibetan masters seized the opportunity to reinforce their disciples community in China. To this day, the 9th Panchen Lama Lozang Chökyi Nyima Gélèk Namgyel (Wylie: Blo bzang chos kyi nyi ma dge legs rnam rgyal, 1883–1937) remains the only Tibetan to have bestowed the Kālacakra initiation inside the Beijing 北京 Forbidden City (1934).1 Others such as Bai Puren 白普仁 (1870–1927), Dorjé Chöpa (Wylie: Rdo rje gcod pa; Chin.: Duojie Jueba 多傑覺巴, 1874–?) and Norlha Qutuγtu Sönam Rabten (Wylie: Nor lha Qutuγtu Bsod nams rab brtan, 1865–1936)2 received favors from lay Chinese followers. Thus, thousands of Chinese had access to Tibetan Buddhist teachings. Among them were members of the government who, during times of unceasing wars against endlessly recurring enemies, sought to attract the strength, power and protection the initiations are supposed to bring about.3 1 According to Buddhist tradition, one year after achieving enlightenment, Buddha appeared as the Kālacakra deity in Dhānyakataka, aka in the south of India, while at the same time he taught the sūtra of Wisdom (prajñāpāramitā) at Vulture Peak. On the Kālacakra, see Newman, “A Brief History of Kālacakra,” in The Wheel of Time: The Kālacakra in Context, ed. Geshe Lhundrup Sopa (Madison: Deer Park Books, 1985), 51–90; Vira and Chandra, introduction to Kālacakra Tantra and Other Texts (New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1966). 2 Bai Puren was a Mongolian Géluk Buddhist, born in Jehol Province. In 1925, he became the Beijing Palace of Eternal Harmony (Yonghegong 雍和宮) abbot and died there in 1927. He used to recite the sūtra of Golden Light ( Jinguangming zui sheng wang jing 金光明最勝王 經). There is very little information about Dorjé Chöpa. Norlha Qutuγtu Sönam Rabten is also called Gara Lama Sönam Rapten (Wylie: Mgar ra Bla ma Bsod nams rab brtan) in Tibetan and Nuona Lama 諾那喇嘛 or Nuona Hutuketu 諾那呼圖克圖 in the Chinese texts. 3 On the 9th Panchen Lama, see Fabienne Jagou, Le 9e Panchen lama (1883–1937): enjeu des relations sino-tibétaines (Paris: École française d’Extrême-Orient, 2004); Gray Tuttle, Tibetan Buddhists in the making of Modern China (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005). On Norlha Qutuγtu, see Rje drung ’Jam dpal rgyal mtshan, “Khams Ri bo che dgon dang Rje drung sprul sku Gong ma Mga ra bla ma bcas kyi lo rgyus rags bsdus” [Brief Biographies of Jédrung Tulku Gongma and of Gara Lama, Two Reincarnated Masters of Riwoché Monastery], Bod kyi lo rgyus rig gnas dpyad gzhi’i rgyu cha bdams bsgrigs 6 (1985): 207–233; Gray Tuttle, “Uniting Religion and Politics in a Bid for Autonomy: Lamas in Exile in China and America,” in Buddhist

© Fabienne Jagou, 2021 | doi:10.1163/9789004466289_002

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Some teachings were recorded and preserved by lay Buddhist associations and survived the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). These texts were compiled and published in at least two volumes (the first, between 1931 and 1951 in Beijing; and the second in 1930 in Chongqing 重慶), prepared respectively by Lü Tiegang 呂鐵鋼 and Dorjé Chöpa.4 They shed light on Tibetan masters’ religious activities in China. They were translated by Chinese translators who had studied with Tibetan masters and/or who had learned Tibetan at the Institute of Tibetan Language and Buddhist studies ( fojiao zang wen xueyuan 佛教藏文 學院), founded in Beijing by Dayong 大勇 (1893–1929) and Taixu 太虛 (1889– 1947) in the 1920s.5 This institute intended to prepare students to go to Tibet in order to study Tantric Buddhism. Its members were soon renamed Buddhist Study Group of Foreign Residents in Tibet (Liu Zang xue fa tuan 留藏學法團). They set up in Kham (Wylie: Khams, Eastern Tibet), from late 1925 till Spring 1927, where they undertook to study the Tibetan language and translate the text The Great Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (Tib.: lam rim chen mo) by Tsongkhapa (Wylie : Tsong kha pa, 1357–1419), the Gélukpa School’s founding master. Though they wished to continue and reach the great Gélukpa monasteries in Central Tibet, they were stopped in their tracks by Tibetan authorities. Therefore, they gathered in Kardzé in the Tibetan province of Kham, where they persevered in their translation effort.6 Finally, four out of the twenty who

Missionaries in the Era of Globalization, ed. Linda Learman (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2005), 210–232; Gray Tuttle, “Translating Buddhism from Tibetan to Chinese in earlyTwentieth-Century China (1931–1951),” in Buddhism between Tibet and China, ed. Matthew T. Kapstein (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2009), 241–279. For example, the 9th Panchen Lama was the master of Dai Jitao 戴季陶 (1891–1949) Minister of Education from 1928 to 1948, of Duan Qirui 段祺瑞 (1865–1936), President of the Beijing government of the Republic of China from 1924–1926. Norlha Qutuγtu and Gangkar Rinpoche were Li Zongren’s masters (1891–1969), who was the last President of the Chinese Republic in mainland China. 4 Lü Tiegang 呂鐵鋼, Zang mi xiufa midian 藏密修法秘典 [Secret Texts of the Esoteric Tibetan Buddhist Practices] (Beijing: Huaxia chubanshe, 1995, 5 vols.); Duojue jueda gexi 多覺覺達格 西, Micheng fahai 密乘法海 [The Esoteric Vehicle of the Dharma Ocean] (Taipei: Xinwenfeng chuban she gongsi, 1987). Also see Tuttle, “Translating Buddhism.” 5 There is very little information on Dayong, born in the Sichuan province. He embarked on a military career before taking his vows as a monk with Taixu in Shanghai in 1919. On Taixu, see Don A. Pittman, Toward a Modern Chinese Buddhism. Taixu’s Reforms (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2001); Justin R. Ritzinger, Anarchy in the Pure Land: Reinventing the Cult of Maitreya in Modern Chinese Buddhism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), and Charles B. Jones, Taixu ‘On the Establishment of the Pure Land in the Human Realm’: A Translation and Study (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2021). On Taixu and Tibetan Buddhism, Luo Tongbing, “The Reformist Monk Taixu and the Controversy About Exoteric and Esoteric Buddhism in Republican China,” in Images of Tibet in the 19th and 20th centuries, 433–471. 6 Dayong and Fazun 法尊 (1902–1980) were the next two, successively, to lead this study group.

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made up the initial group, arrived in Lhasa in 1931.7 They were the first Chinese to follow the Tibetan masters’ teachings in Tibet and so became important actors in trans-cultural relations between China and Tibet.8 Other learning centers were then set up, including the Institute of Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Study (Han Zang jiaoli yuan 漢藏教理院) in Chongqing in 1932. These centers were attended by monks and lay Chinese students, wishing to learn Tibetan to go study in Tibet. This led to the formation of a community of Buddhists open to all teachings, all schools and all masters. Thus, up until 1949, the transmission of teachings by Tibetan masters in China; Chinese Buddhists stays in Tibetan monasteries in Tibet; and the translation of texts favored the relative blossoming of Tibetan Buddhism in Han Buddhist circles, in China, where some Chinese became masters in this Buddhist tradition.9 From 1949, the foundation of the People’s Republic of

7 That is Langchan 朗禪 and Changguang 常光 first, Fazun and Huishen 慧深, next. 8 Holmes Welch, The Buddhist Revival in China (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1968), 197–199; Shi Dongchu 釋東初, “Zhongguo fojiao jindai shi 中國佛教近代史” [History of Chinese Buddhism in Modern Times], in Dongchu Laoren quanji 東 初 老 人 全 集 [Complete Collection of the Works of Venerable Dongchu] (Taipei: Dongchu, 1974), vol. 1, 208. The most famous among them were Dayong, Fazun and Nenghai 能海 (1886–1967). Yu Lingbo 于凌波 ed., Xiandai fojiao renwu cidian 現代佛教人物辭典 [A Dictionary of Contemporary Buddhist Celebrities] (Taipei: Foguang, 2004), vol. 1, 683c–687a; Françoise WangToutain, “Quand les maîtres chinois s’éveillent au bouddhisme tibétain: Fazun, le Xuanzang des temps modernes,” Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient 87, no. 2 (2000): 707–727; Brenton Sullivan, “Venerable Fazun at the Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Studies Institute (1932– 1950) and Tibetan Geluk Buddhism in China,”Indian International Journal of Buddhist Studies 9 (2008): 199–241; Brenton Sullivan, “Blood and Teardrops: The Life and Travels of Venerable Fazun (1901–1980),” in Buddhists: Understanding Buddhism Through the Lives of Practitioners, ed. Todd Lewis (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014), 296–304; Ester Bianchi, Tiexiangsi, a Buddhist Nunnery of Tibetan Tradition in Contemporary China (Firenze: Leo S. Olschki, 2001); Ester Bianchi, “The ‘Chinese lama’ Nenghai (1886–1967). Doctrinal tradition and teaching strategies of a Gélukpa master in Republican China,” in Buddhism between Tibet and China, 295−346; Ester Bianchi, “A Religion-Oriented ‘Tibet Fever’. Tibetan Buddhist Practices among the Han Chinese in Contemporary prc,” in From Mediterranean to Himalaya. A Festschrift to Commemorate the 120th Birthday of the Italian Tibetologist Giuseppe Tucci—Cong Dizhonghai dao Ximalaya: Idali zhuming Zangxuejia Zhusaipei Tuji danchen 120 zhou nian jinian wenji 从 地中海到喜马拉雅: 意大利著名藏学家朱塞佩·图齐诞辰120 周年纪念文集, eds. Dramdul and Francesca Sferra (Beijing: China Tibetology Publishing House, 2014), 347–374; Tuttle, Tibetan Buddhists. 9 For example, see Bianchi, Tiexiangsi; Monica Esposito, “rDzogs chen in China: From Chan to ‘Tibetan Tantrism’ in Fahai Lama’s (1920–1991) Footsteps,” in Images of Tibet in the 19th and 20th Centuries, ed. Monica Esposito (Paris: École française d’ Extrême-Orient, Coll. Études thématiques no. 22, 2008), 473–548; Monica Esposito, The Zen of Tantra. Tibetan Great Perfection in Fahai Lama’s Chinese Zen Monastery (Paris: University Media, 2013).

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China urged members of the Chinese Nationalist regime and part of the population to seek refuge in Taiwan. Later, in 1959 and in the following years, many Tibetans would leave their homeland to flee Mao Zedong 毛澤東 (1893–1976)’s army and administration. The spread of Tibetan Buddhism thus occurred through migratory phases, most often following political events that constrained masters and disciples to seek exile outside Tibet and China. Just before the Cultural Revolution, another wave of numerous Tibetan and Chinese masters bestowed with esoteric teachings began flowing outside Tibet and China. Among them was a woman, Shen Shuwen 申書文 (1903–1997), better known under the nickname “Venerable Gongga” (Gongga Laoren 貢噶老人), born in Beijing in 1903. From now on we will refer to Shen Shuwen by her nickname “Gongga Laoren” which was typically used by her Taiwanese disciples. From 1942 to 1945, she is said to have studied Tibetan Buddhism with the 5th Bo Gangkar Rinpoche Karma Chökyi Senggé (Wylie: ’Bo Gangs dkar rin po che Karma chos kyi seng ge; Chin.: Gongga Qutuγtu 貢噶呼圖克圖, 1893–1957; hereafter named Gangkar Rinpoche), a Tibetan from the Kagyü School, from the principality of Minyak in the Kham province of Tibet. After her master’s death (1957), she temporarily found refuge in Hong Kong (1958).10 The same year, she moved to Taiwan where, over time, she fulfilled great achievements: the transmission of esoteric teachings, the establishment of a community of disciples and the founding of three teaching venues. Today, she is considered to have initiated the development of Tibetan Buddhism there and its legitimacy is recognized in the Taiwanese-Tibetan Buddhist world. The Taiwanese, fervent adepts of Tibetan Buddhism, refer to her as a “very unique person.” They admire her for her strong character, her extraordinary (for her time) spiritual experience, and because she received and developed a specific teaching. Who was Gongga Laoren? How did she come across Buddhism in China? Why did she enter a three-year retreat in Tibet? Why did she leave to Hong Kong and later Taiwan? Under what circumstances did she transmit her first esoteric 10

I have chosen to respect the numbering for the Gangkar Rinpoche lineage proposed in the autobiography and biography dedicated to him, for example, Zhu Tongsheng 朱同生, Fujiao guangjue chanshi Xikang Gongga Hutuketu benzhuan 輔教廣覺禪師西康貢噶 呼圖克圖本傳 [Autobiography of the Reincarnated Master Gangkar from Kham, Omniscient meditation master, benefactor spreading Buddhism] (Zhonghe: Gongga Meditation Center, 1961) and Mi nyag Mgon po, ’Bo Gangs dkar sprul sku’i rnam thar dad pa’i pad dkar bzhugs so [Biography of Bo Gangkar Rinpoche: The White Lotus of Faith] (Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1997). Another numbering system considers the 5th Gangkar as being the 9th in the lineage.

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initiations in Taiwan? How did she build up her legitimacy as a Buddhist master in Taiwan? How did she contribute to, and develop Tibetan Buddhism there? What spiritual heritage did she impart? To answer these questions, I researched several sources. The prevalence of internal materials as primary sources is due to the objective lack of other resources. Despite researches conducted in archives and in newspapers, Gongga Laoren’s life in Mainland China remains very poorly documented. Chinese and Taiwanese archives do not reveal new elements about her. As a matter of fact, most of the information we do have about this part of her life are grounded on her own testimony. Her Taiwanese life is more documented in writings, mainly in newspapers that covered important events, such as the visit of the 14th Dalai Lama (born in 1935) to her Tainan 台南 Monastery, her funerals and mummification. To start with, I used a short work compiled by Zhu Tongsheng 朱同生, edited by the Gongga Meditation Center (Gongga jingshe 貢 噶 精 舍) in Zhonghe 中 和, and published in 1961, under the title: Autobiography of the Reincarnated Master Gangkar from Kham, Omniscient Meditation Master, Benefactor Spreading Buddhism—Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits of the Vajra Master Juezhudengbai, Gongga Laoren (Fujiao guangjue chanshi Xikang Gongga Hutuketu benzhuan—Jingang Shangshi Juezhudengbai, Gongga Laoren xueshan xiuxing ji 輔教廣覺禪師西康貢噶呼圖克圖本傳—金 剛上師覺珠登白貢噶老人雪山修行記). This work contains the following texts: – “Autobiography of the Reincarnated Master Gangkar from Kham, Omniscient Meditation Master, Benefactor Spreading Buddhism” (Fujiao guangjue chanshi Xikang Gongga Hutuketu benzhuan 輔教廣覺禪師西康貢噶呼圖 克圖本傳), Gangkar Rinpoche’s spoken testimony, gathered by his disciples: Gui Rudan 桂汝丹 and Yu Wufan 余悟凡, who translated it; Chen Jibo 陳濟 博, who noted down the translation, and Zhu Tongsheng, who organized it (pp. 9–22); – “Birthday prayer dedicated to reincarnated master Gangkar Rinpoche” (Shangshi Jingang chi Gongga Huofo jiang yan song 上師金剛持貢噶活佛 降誕頌), written by his disciple Chen Jianmin 陳建民 (pp. 23–24); – “Brief Request for Dharma Transmission Made to Gangkar Qutuγtu, Omniscient Meditation Master, Benefactor Spreading Buddhism” (Fujiao guangjue chanshi Xikang Gongga Hutuketu qing zhuanfalun lüeyi 輔教廣覺禪師 西康貢噶呼圖克圖請轉法輪略議), formulated by Qu Yingguang 屈映光 (1883–1973) (pp. 25–28); – “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits of the Vajra Master Juezhudengbai, Gongga Laoren” ( Jingang Shangshi Juezhudengbai Gongga Laoren xueshan xiuxing ji 金剛上師覺珠登白貢噶老人雪

6

introduction

山修行記), told by Gongga Laoren and written by Wang Yefeng 王野楓 and Deng Zhongduan 鄧仲端 (pp. 29–48); – “Portrait of Gongga Laoren” (Gongga Laoren shilüe 貢噶老人事略), prepared by Wu Changtao 吳長濤 and Chen Zuohan 陳作涵 (pp. 49–56);

– “Account of the Construction of the Gongga Meditation Center” (Gongga jingshe yu jian ji cheng 貢 噶 精 舍 興 建 記 成), recorded by Wu Changtao (pp. 57–59); – “Account of the Construction of the Vajrayāna bodhimaṇḍa: The Gongga Meditation Center” ( Jingang cheng daochang: Gongga jingshe ji 金剛乘道 場: 貢噶精舍記), Zhang Ling 張齡 (pp. 61–62). This work’s title is both double and long and it involves two dictated autobiographies, Gangkar Rinpoche’s and Gongga Laoren’s. So, the shortened version, Autobiographies of the Master and the Disciple, will be used from now on in this study. It was written in Gongga Laoren’s lifetime and the text in its first version, published in 1961, underwent no later modifications. However, during the subsequent six later reprints, between 1961 and 2002, four new texts were added. The latest and seventh edition, compiled by Long Zhaoyu 龍昭宇, published in 2002, is entitled Extraordinary Story Amidst the White Clouds: Account of a Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits of the Vajra Master, Gongga Laoren (based on her own testimony) Bai yun jian de zhuanqi: Jingang Shangshi Gongga Laoren xueshan xiuxing ji (Gongga Laoren kou shu) 白雲間的傳奇: 金 剛上師貢噶老人雪山修行記 (貢噶老人口述) (Zhonghe, Zhengfayan). The four new texts are: – “Biographical Notes on Gongga Laoren” (Gongga Laoren zhuan lüe 貢噶老 人傳略), gathered and noted down by Wang Shicheng 王世成, 1975 (pp. 75– 100); – “Return to Holy Land” (Chong fan sheng di 重返聖地), by Tong Dazhen 童大 眞, 1993, pp. 115–158; – “The Epigraph of the Temple Foundation at the Gongga Meditation Center in Taipei” (Taibei Gongga jingshe fodian luocheng beiji 台北貢噶精舍佛殿落 成碑記), de Liu Zhongyi 劉中一, 1980, pp. 166–169; – “Chronological Biography of Gongga Laoren” (Gongga Laoren nianpu 貢噶 老人年譜, pp. 172–185). Again, due to the long title, this sixth reprint of the initial 1961 work will be referred to as Extraordinary Story from amidst the White Clouds. The newspapers published by the Meditation Center (Gongga jingshe 貢噶 精舍) in Taipei 臺北 and by the monastery in Tainan (Gongga si 貢噶寺) offer a firsthand look allowing to analyze the choices of exoteric and esoteric teachings transmitted by Gongga Laoren and her desire to contribute to the devel-

introduction

7

opment of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan. The main newspaper published by the Taipei center was first a modest “feuille de chou” in French, i.e. a “rag” ( jian bao 間報), called Benevolent Deeds (Shanxing 善行). It may have amounted to 150 issues, all lost. As of 1981, it took a four-page newsletter format (huixun 會 訊) of the same name, going from issues 151 to 164. Then it became a bimonthly review (shuangyue kan 雙月刊), continuing with the same title (1993). Finally, it turned into a monthly magazine ( yue kan 月刊), which Gongga Laoren named The Eye of the True Law (Zhengfayan 正法眼; 1984).11 The first issues of the newsletter (from number 151 to 164—the preceding ones being the “rag” version, Benevolent Deeds) were compiled by disciples on the occasion of Gongga Laoren’s 82nd birthday in 1985. They no longer exist in their original form. The first issue (number 165) of the bimonthly magazine that I was able to consult on site was dated June 1983, but the archives at the meditation center in Taipei began with number 171, dating back to June 1984 and had been preserved quite well. The monthly magazine The Eye of the True Law is organized as follows: the program of upcoming teachings, the calendar of practices, visits, teachings and biographies of Tibetan masters, summaries of teachings given by Gongga Laoren, progress reports on diverse humanitarian projects, the list of donors and the destination of sums offered. The Tainan monastery’s journal came later. It began in 2000, that is, a few years after the construction of the monastery and Gongga Laoren’s death (1997). It covers the period from roughly 2000 to this day, but the collection has gaps (some early issues are missing). It also exists in newsletter (huixun) format, under the unsophisticated title of Gongga 貢噶. It is a more succinct form of the same information published in The Eye of the True Law magazine. Both give an account of life in the meditation center in Taipei and the monastery in Tainan. They are illustrated with numerous photographs that give a detailed view of what is going on there. As mentioned before, the first issues (151 to 164) of the newsletter Benevolent Deeds were compiled into a book, which is the first volume of five under the same name as the monthly magazine, The Eye of the True Law.

11

The name of the magazine is derived from the text The Treasure of the Eye of the True Law (zhengfayan zang 正法眼藏) published by Master Dahui Zonggao (大慧宗杲, 1089– 1163) and his lay disciples in 1147. The book records the discussions between the master and his disciples at that time. The title refers to the Chan School as holder of the spirit of Buddha’s teachings distinct from the written tradition. Eye of the True Law (Zhengfayan 正法眼; Tib.: yang dag pa’i chos), foreword (qian yan 前言) vol. 1: 4; Eye of the True Law 224 (August 20, 1992): 4.

8

introduction

Here is a brief look at the contents of this collection: – Volume 1 (published in 1985) goes over the basic teachings of Buddhism given by Gongga Laoren (taking refuge, setting up an altar and the appropriate behavior when in company with a Tibetan master). It presents the Karmapa lineage and proposes biographies of great masters of the Karma Kagyü lineages, such as the 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rikpé Dorjé (Wylie: Rang ’byung rig pa’i rdo rje, 1924–1981), the 12th Tai Situ Péma Tönyö Nyinjé Wangpo Rinpoche (Wylie: Tai Situ Rin po che Pad ma don yod nyin byed dbang po, born in 1954), the 14th Shamar Rinpoche Mipam Chökyi Lodrö (Wylie: Zhwa dmar pa Rin po che Mi pham chos kyi blo gros, 1952–2014). It describes the funeral of the 16th Karmapa, his relics and the construction of his monastery in New York, for example. It also gives some information concerning Gongga Laoren and her meditation center, such as the text of a conference she gave on the political and religious history of Tibet or on the inauguration of the building in Taipei. – Volume 2 (published in 1987) compiles some of Gongga Laoren’s teachings such as worship, mantra and the forms of Avalokiteśvara, meditation, taking refuge, a brief history of Tibetan Buddhism, the story of Shambala, the lifestyle of the Bönpo. It continues with the presentation of the lineage of the great masters of the Karma Kagyü School, including the 16th Karmapa, Tai Situ Rinpoche, the First Kalu Rinpoche Karma Rangjung Künkhyap (Wylie: Kar lu Rin po che Karma rang ’byung kun khyab, 1905–1989). – Volume 3 (published in 1988) includes a translation by Fazun (in the Guangji si Monastery 廣濟寺 in Chongqing in 1978) from the text entitled The Light of the Bodhisattva Path (Puti dao deng lun 菩提道燈論), the teachings given by the great Karma Kagyü masters such as the one relating to the taking of Bodhisattva vows (pusa jie 菩薩戒) given by Thrangu Rinpoche Karma Lodrö Lungrik (Wylie: Khra ’gu karma blo gros lung rig Rin po che, born in 1933) in New York, on November 9, 1985. – Volume 4 (published in 1990) includes teachings given by the great masters of the Karma Kagyü School, to which about fifty pages have been added about the education of monks in exile. – Volume 5 (published in 1992) is dedicated to the Karma Kagyü lineage and to the respect owed to its masters. Finally, in addition to the totality of these sources coming from the Taipei Meditation Center and Gongga Laoren’s Tainan monastery, I used two biographies of Gangkar Rinpoche, Gongga Laoren’s Tibetan master, which were written by two of his disciples. One is written in Tibetan by Mi nyag Mgon po. It is entitled Biography of Bo Gangkar Rinpoche: The White Lotus of Faith (’Bo Gangs dkar sprul sku’i rnam thar dad pa’i pad dkar bzhugs so). Published in Beijing, it dates

introduction

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back to 1997. The other, written in Chinese by Wang Desheng 王德生, the son of one of his Chinese disciples and disciple himself as well, is entitled The Reincarnated Master Gangkar (Gongga huofo 貢噶活佛), published in Kunming in 2006. I was aware of the subjectivity of my sources, so I interviewed disciples who had known Gongga Laoren, and the administrators (dongshi 董事) of two of her monasteries, but these forbid any criticism of the master’s words, in strict Buddhist fashion. That is why, in order to counterbalance this obvious disadvantage, I analyzed Gongga Laoren’s thoughts, using the concepts of legitimacy proposed by Weber. Weber’s thesis recognizes three forms of legitimacy: 1) legal-rational legitimacy coming from an institutional position or power, 2) traditional legitimacy, which stems from the idea that tradition cannot change, and this permanence ensures the community’s well-being and survival, 3) charismatic legitimacy, which a chief possesses and whose mission and vision inspire others. The last two forms are part of a domination mechanism that can occur only if people accept to submit to the person’s sacred character or exemplary nature. This submission, however, is the result of recognition by the others and cannot be imposed on them. As for charisma, it is a specific kind of authority which leads to the group’s acceptation of a person’s supposed extraordinary qualities. It, thus, establishes a relation of domination between the leader (here, the spiritual master who holds the power) and the subordinate (here, the devotees, the disciples). This link is ephemeral and volatile. That is why the master must always prove that he or she is legitimate.12 The first chapter of the present study retraces Gongga Laoren’s life in China and in Tibet, from her birth to her arrival in Hong Kong. The second analyzes her move to Taiwan and her achievements on the island till her taking of the monastic vows, which marks a turning point in her action development. The third shows how Gongga Laoren contributed to the flourishing of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan thanks to the many invitations she extended to the Karma Kagyü School’s great Tibetan masters, while the fourth describes how her legacy has been sustained over time. 12

Max Weber, Économie et Société. Les catégories de la sociologie, 2nd ed. (Paris: Pocket, 1995), 1:285–390.

chapter 1

Life in China and Tibet (from 1903 to 1958) 1

Birth and Early Childhood

Two texts, written in Gongga Laoren’s lifetime, provide elements concerning her life in China from 1903 to 1958: the chapter entitled “Portrait of a Vajra Master, Gongga Laoren” (which is present both in the Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple from 1961 and in Extraordinary Story Amidst the White Clouds published in 2002) and the “Biographical Notes on the Great Vajra Master, Gongga Laoren” dated 1975 (only in Extraordinary Story Amidst the White Clouds). Since she supervised the writing, they provide information about what official story she wanted her disciples to know. The “Chronological Biography of Gongga Laoren” also contains information, but as the chronology appears at the end of the Extraordinary Story Amidst the White Clouds published in 2002, and since Gongga Laoren passed away in 1997, there is no guarantee that she reviewed or validated it. To sum up, the “Portrait,” the “Biographical Notes,” and the “Chronological Biography” make up the only published sources pertaining to this period in Gongga Laoren’s life. Indeed, no other information on her activity in China (which could have been published during this timeframe) has been located at the time of writing. Her name and activities appear nowhere in magazines or in newspapers published in Sichuan during the 1940s. The fact is that it seems she did not exist as a lay Buddhist, or as one of Gangkar Rinpoche’ accomplished disciples, or as a recognized master in the Chinese Republican era’s written sources (1912– 1949). Archives are equally silent regarding her. Thus, the information in the hands of her disciples about her relied—and still rely—entirely on her own narrative.1 To my knowledge, none of the facts given have been put into question till now, neither in writing nor orally.2 The interviews I conducted with some of her disciples brought no further detail and their version of Gongga Laoren’s life did not vary from the description found in the Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple from 1961. Some of them go so far as to certify that they themselves were the true—and the only—ones knowing the truth about 1 In 2015, one of Gongga Laoren’s disciples began to compile the texts of her master’s teachings. She asked me whether I had found any among those Gongga Laoren may have given in China. My negative reply surprised her. I am not sure that she believed me. 2 I met no disciple who openly disagreed.

© Fabienne Jagou, 2021 | doi:10.1163/9789004466289_003

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her time in China because she had personally—and exclusively—narrated it to them, though they did not know her before her arrival in Taiwan. Throughout this chapter, I will use the “Portrait of the Vajra Master” (from 1961), the “Biographical Notes on the Great Vajra Master” (from 1975), the “Chronological Biography of Gongga Laoren” and some information collected orally in order to evaluate which events stood out from the others depending on the interviewee and the focus of my study. I will add information published on Taiwanese Buddhist websites that reiterate the same data. However, I will be stressing some facts over others, and trying to determine the outcome of these choices, while keeping the common denominator of affirming Gongga Laoren’s charismatic authority. Gongga Laoren’s lay name is Shen Shuwen. Her spiritual retreat experience at the Bo Gangkar Monastery is, without a doubt, at the origin of her name, “Gongga Laoren” in Taiwan today.3 However, it is difficult to determine exactly who gave her that name. When asked, her disciples agree on the translation, “She who stayed a long time at Mount Gangkar.” They explain that it refers to the 3-year retreat Gongga Laoren is said to have made there. Some believe that it is her spiritual master, Gangkar Rinpoche, who gave her the name, because she is the person who is said to have accomplished the longest retreat in his hermitage. Others, such as Wang Desheng, Gangkar Rinpoche’s Chinese biographer, consider this name was given to her by her Taiwanese disciples after she told them of her experience in Tibet.4 Her “Portrait” and “Biographical Notes” abound in detail. In these writings, she is described as being strong-willed from early age, predestined for a Buddhist path—an obvious prerequisite for a hagiography.5 The narration of her first months, from embryonic state to infancy, do not mention the miraculous dreams that habitually precede an extraordinary child’s birth.6 However, one of her biographies, published on the Taipei Meditation Center website, mentions that she was born exactly when her grandfather saw an old monk enter the room.7 The presence of this old monk is the 3 Bo Gangkar Monastery is located at Kangding County, Kardzé Tibetan Autonomous prefecture, Sichuan Province. 4 Wang Desheng 王德生, Gongga huofo 贡噶活佛 [The Reincarnated Master, Gangkar] (Kunming: Yunnan minzu chubanshe, 2006), 129. 5 On Gongga Laoren’s as a gifted child and her early calling, see Miriam Levering, “The Precocious Child in Chinese Buddhism,” in Little Buddhas: Children and Childhoods in Buddhist Texts and Traditions, ed. Vanessa R. Sasson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 124–156. 6 “Chronological Biography of Gongga Laoren” (Gongga Laoren nianpu 貢噶老人年譜) prepared by Wu Changtao 吳長濤 [hereafter noted as: “Chronological Biography”], 172. 7 “Chronological Biography,” 172 and her chronology published on the website of the Gongga

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first “marvelous” element showing she was predestined for Buddhism. It is surprising, however, that her grandfather be present at his granddaughter’s birth, while there is no mention of her parents—even if, her mother was undoubtedly there. Her parents, indeed, are, to put it concisely, absent from her “Portrait” and her “Biographical Notes” as in oral accounts that came later. However, according to Weng Hanliang 翁漢良, one of her first-generation disciples who wished to speak of her with me, specifyied he was one of the rare people who held the true story from her master: It is public knowledge that Gongga [Laoren] was born into one of the most prominent imperial Manchu families. So, she was of Manchu origin.8 Her father’s name was Shen Xingwu 申省吾 and her mother’s, Sun Qingyun 孫 清雲. But her grandfather is the important figure in the account of the first years of her life. Sources consistently point out that he was a prince in the imperial family. This ancestry is highlighted in repeated fashion in the narration of the interview he had with Empress Dowager Cixi 慈禧 (1835–1908), when he was accompanied by young Gongga Laoren, five years old at the time.9 It is surprising that her grandfather’s full name is never mentioned. In sources, he is referred to as Prince Duan (duan wang 端王) without making him directly identifiable.10 It is likely that her family was from the Cang 滄 district in the Hebei 河北 province and that her father was appointed a member of the province of

8 9

10

Meditation Center in Taipei, http://konga.wyweb.hinet.net/ “The Portrait of Gongga Laoren” (Gongga Laoren shilüe 貢噶老人事略) prepared by Wu Changtao and Chen Zuohan [hereafter referred to as: “Portrait”] and “Biographical Notes on Gongga Laoren” (Gongga Laoren zhuan lüe 貢噶老人傳略) [hereafter referred to as: “Biographical Notes”] does not mention it. Weng Hanliang 翁漢良, Ting Shifu shuo gushi 聽師父說故事 [Listening to the Master’s Stories], personal notes transmitted by M. Weng, many thanks to him. For example, “Chronological Biography,” 172; the chronology published by Zhu Ming 佚 名, “Gongga shengping jianjie 貢 噶 生 平 間 介 [Short presentation of Gongga’s life] and “Gongga fashi 貢 噶 法 師” [Master Gongga].” From the website Taiwan fojiao shuwei bowuguan—Fojiao renwu 臺 灣 佛 教 數 位 博 物 館—佛 教 人 物 [Digital Museum of Taiwanese Buddhism—Buddhist Figures], posted October 7, 2002. http://ccbs.ntu.edu​ .tw/formosa/people/2‑gong‑ga.html. Accessed July 12, 2010. (Unavailable December 10, 2020); Her “Portrait” (1961 and 2002) and her “Biographical Notes” do not mention this meeting. I don’t think Gongga Laoren had any link with Zaiyi 載漪 (1856–1923), who bears the title of “Prince Duan” and was born in the Aisin Gioro clan, as Zaiyi was exiled after the Boxer Rebellion at the end of 1901, and only came back briefly to Peking in 1911. This “Prince Duan” was then not in Peking and at the court with Cixi in 1908.

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Henan 河南’s government, in 1909, without his position or titles being mentioned in the texts. We know that, through her grandfather, Gongga Laoren was of Manchu ancestry and that her family belonged to the imperial clan. In addition to her grandfather’s vision of the Buddhist monk at her birth, her noble and Manchu origins are added. We also know she was an only child and very much loved by her parents.11 Gongga Laoren was born in Beijing in 1903. According to the legend recounted by her disciples, her paternal grandfather, quasi omnipresent, wished he had had a grandson. That is why Gongga Laoren’s mother did not dare say she had given birth to a daughter and pretended the infant was a boy. That way, and during her early years, Gongga Laoren received the Manchu upbringing intended for boys: her head was shaved, and she learned horse-riding and archery.12 She was also initiated to martial arts (wushu 武術) as early as the age of five. Of course, her current disciples spread this story and see in it an explanation for the strong character she displayed her whole life. This is the first indication of Gongga Laoren’s wish to appear as a man, and the first sign of her denial of her feminity. At the age of twelve, while her parents lived in Henan, Gongga Laoren learned sword fighting and mastering her breath. On top of these skills, exceptional for a young girl at that time, an internet account of her life emphasizes how she had been predestined to turn towards Buddhism. For example, while she was in middle-school in Kaifeng 開封, the article mentions she often dreamed of an immortal being who explained to her how important it was to practice meditation. Two later biographies also published on internet, mention that, at that time, she wished she could become a nun and follow Buddha’s path. However, that did not happen then as her karma was not yet accomplished.13 This unverifiable dream highlights traditional elements linked to Buddhist masters’ lives, such as an early interest in religion and strong determination. However, nothing is revealed about her schooling at the Kaifeng middle-school. In 1919, her father got her engaged, at the age of 15, to the oldest son (called Wu Yingting 武英亭) of a notable and friend of Henan’s (Wu Jingchen 武靜 塵).14 It was the second formative event in Gongga Laoren’s life. Sources frequently mention it. According to Weng Hanliang, her Taiwanese disciple:

11 12 13 14

“Portrait” (1961), 49; “Portrait” (2002), 102. In discussion with Lin Lama, abbot and administrator (dongshi 董事) of the Gongga Meditation Center in Taipei, July 2012. Zhu, “Short presentation.” Zhu, “Short presentation,” October 10, 2009; “Chronological Biography,” 173.

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Her parents wanted her to marry Wu, but, in her heart, she wished to study Buddhism and certainly not marry. So, she refused the marriage.15 It is said that she fled. Weng Hanliang continues: From this moment, she lived as a wanderer, studying the medical arts, martial arts and other specialties requiring talent.16 This refusal of her social condition is today broadly spread by her disciples. They consider it as irrefutable proof of her determination (indeed, rejecting an arranged marriage at the beginning of the 20th century, could be considered as very courageous). It arouses their admiration and contributes to Gongga Laoren’s charisma. According to Lin Lama, abbot of the Gongga Meditation Center, she is said to have added to her life story that, since she had been raised as a boy, she saw no reason to marry (being understood as ‘with another boy’)!17 From then on, her parents are no longer mentioned in sources, whereas the rejected fiancé remains present in her life, as will be seen later on. Weng Hanliang sums up the first years of Gongga Laoren’s life this way: he reveals two important events, her imperial ancestry, hence her noble origins, and her refusal to marry and raise a family. Though her disciple does not mention it in writing, or orally either, the parallel with Buddha’s life is obvious: of noble origin, Buddha, destined to become king, abandoned his family to consecrate himself to the quest of obtaining liberation from suffering and from the completion of all qualities. In the story of Gongga Laoren’s life, another element also particularly stands out: she was a woman who attempted to erase her gender in order to be considered as a man.

2

Youth and Majority

According to sources, Gongga Laoren does seem, therefore, to have been attracted to religion as a young child. She began by studying Taoism and martial arts. Then, influenced by General Zhu Qinglan 朱 慶 瀾 將 軍 (1874–1941), a friend of her father and a fervent Buddhist practitioner, she became interested in

15 16 17

Weng, Listening to the Master’s Stories. Ibid. In discussion with Lin Lama, July 2012.

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Buddhism and took refuge with several masters.18 Her encounter with Zhu Qinglan and taking refuge would mark the beginning of her active involvement in the Buddhist world. So, in accordance with the philanthropic religious trends of the day, she participated in civil society by creating a primary school for girls in Hebei, in 1928. Then, leaving Hebei for Beijing, she founded another and then a third.19 The “Portrait” and the “Biographical Notes” say little more. No detail is given about these establishments (number of students, their importance, etc.) or about the role Gongga Laoren held there.20 Other posthumous biographies published on internet add that, from 1933 till 1937, she is said to have run the Renyou 仁佑 primary school in Beijing with Zhu Qinglan, and is said to have helped poor children get an education.21 This experience was cut short by the Japanese invasion. In Weng Hanliang’s account, the war with Japan changed the situation: And then the armed resistance against Japan was formed and Gongga [Laoren] became the head of a group of patriots fighting against the Japanese.22 Like so many others, in 1938, Gongga Laoren enlisted and convinced her oldest students to join the fight. They went to Henan to create a military militia with her as leader ( youji dui siling 游擊隊司令). They took up the slogan “Protect the family and defend the country” (bao jia wei guo 保家衛國). Gongga Laoren was wounded and they were all captured and imprisoned for 21 days. In the “Biographical Notes,” it is said that Gongga Laoren was very affected by this failure: it made her feel useless, but, luckily, she heard voices inside encouraging her 18

19 20 21 22

The relation between Gongga Laoren and Zhu Qinglan seems to have begun in the 1920s when Zhu Qinglan presented her to Master Daojie 高僧道楷老和尚 of the Fayuan monastery 法源寺 in Beijing, with whom she took refuge. Zhu Qinglan was well-known. After a time in the military, he became president of several Chinese provinces. He left his military functions to develop charity associations (notably the Cishan tuanti 慈善團體), lay Buddhist associations and participated in the printing of old Buddhist sūtra discovered in the Shanxi Province, while he governed there. He is recognized as an important actor in the resurgence of Buddhism in Northwest China. He is considered as being the protector of the Chongqing 重慶 Famen monastery 法門寺 during the Republican period. See Shi, “History of Chinese Buddhism in Modern Times,” 329–337; “Biographical Notes,” 77; “Portrait” (1961), 50; “Portrait” (2002), 103. “Biographical Notes,” 77. In fact, no information is given regarding her upbringing (she only mentions that she went to a middle school in Kaifeng 開封), “Biographical Notes,” 76. “Chronological Biography,” 174; Zhu, “Short Presentation.” Weng, Listening to the Master’s Stories.

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not to be sad, because she would soon be in a position to prevent dangers and disasters! From this moment on, these voices would come to her regularly to comfort her!23 This version differs from that found on internet: there she is said to have started reciting the Guanyin mantra in prison and to have been freed three days later. It says that next she went to Hebei for medical help.24 The same source indicates this trial was the beginning of her exceptional Buddhist fervor and Gongga Laoren’s return to civil life, where she once again established a girls’ school, in the Jiangbei district 江北縣. Reading the “Portrait” and the “Biographical Notes,” clearly Gongga Laoren met the “right” people from the beginning, literally and metaphorically. General Zhu Qinglan maintained his role as protector (and probably sponsor, because financing the trips to Tibet was an issue for many, whether monk or layperson, desiring to go for esoteric teachings from Tibetan masters); and as liaison officer between her and the famous Buddhists.25 He invited her to go to the Chang’an Monastery 長安寺 in Chongqing and meet Taixu, a well-known Chinese monk, a fervent Buddhist and true radical who wanted to save Chinese society through social reform and Buddhism.26 Zhu Qinglan represented the lay Buddhist sympathizers restoring monasteries, saving manuscripts and reviving the transmission of Buddhist teaching all around China. Lay Buddhists organized themselves through charitable associations and became very active socially, helping people in distress during the troubled period China experienced from 1912–1940 and especially during the Sino-Japanese War in the 1930s. They followed the example of Yang Wenhui 楊文會 (1837–1911), who had begun to collect and print Buddhist texts in the late 19th century and early 20th century, while the debate concerning religious reform arose among reformers such as Kang Youwei 康有為 (1858–1927), wishing to adopt Confucianism as the sole religion.27 Others, such as Zhang Zhidong 張之洞 (1837–1909), wanted to give priority to education and suggested transforming temples into schools. Then the discourse changed under Christian missionaries’ influence. The important issue was from then on to define reli23 24 25

26 27

“Biographical Notes,” 77–78. “Chronological Biography,” 174; Zhu, “Short Presentation.” The accounts of these financial difficulties encountered by the monks and lay persons wishing to go to Tibet are quite numerous, see the examples of Dayong (in 1926), and later Chen Jianmin (in 1938). “Biographical Notes,” 78. On Yang Wenhui and lay Buddhists in modern China, see Welch, The Buddhist Revival in China; Gabriele Goldfuss, Vers un bouddhisme du xxe siècle. Yang Wenhui (1837–1911), réformateur laïque et imprimeur (Paris: Collège de France-Institut des Hautes Études Chinoises, 2001).

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gion and separate it from superstition.28 Following the example of Christianity, two qualifications arose, zongjiao 宗教 for religion and mixin 迷信 for superstition. In other words, religion was tolerated as long as superstition was deleted. As of 1912, the Republicans kept up this reform initiated under the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). Religious affairs were set up under the Ministry of Interior Affairs and Ministry for Education. Authorities encouraged religious freedom all the while remaining firmly against superstitions (to which local cults or mediums belonged, among others). However, as long as religions (Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Protestantism and Islam) were tolerated, their rituals were no longer to be performed openly. It then became important that religion contribute to social reform in Chinese society. Again, following the Christian model, Chinese religions had to stand up and define themselves as truly separated from local cults. Some Buddhist reformers would require Buddhism to turn to studying texts rather than organize rituals, particularly funerary ones. Thus, Buddhists were obliged to create national associations capable of serving as mediators to discuss matters and negotiate with the State. It was the beginning of the creation of numerous religious associations that managed to maintain monasteries’ activities and extend their protection thanks to public funds. This reform did not leave out Tibetan Buddhism. As I mentioned in the introduction, many Chinese monks studied the Tibetan language in order to go and study in Tibetan monasteries. A few Chinese monks, most notably Fazun and Nenghai 能海 (1886–1967) managed to reach Lhasa and stay to study in the Drépung Monastery for several years.29 Other Chinese left Northern China to stay in Tibet and study there, notably, Ouyang Wuwei 歐陽無畏 (1913–1991).30

28

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For further discussion, see Rebecca Nedostup, Superstitious Regimes. Religion and the Politics of Chinese Modernity (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009); Vincent Goossaert and David Palmer, The Religious Question in Modern China (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2011). Welch, The Buddhist Revival in China, 197, 199; On Fazun, see Wang-Toutain, “Quand les maîtres chinois;” Sullivan, “Venerable Fazun;” Sullivan, “Blood and Teardrops”. On Nenghai, see Ester Bianchi, “The Tantric Rebirth Movement in Modern China. Esoteric Buddhism Re-vivified by the Japanese and Tibetan Traditions,” Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungarica 57, no. 1 (2004): 31–54; Ester Bianchi, “The ‘Chinese Lama’ Nenghai (1886–1967). Doctrinal Tradition and Teaching Strategies of a Gélukpa Master in Republican China,” in Buddhism Between Tibet and China, 295–346; Ester Bianchi, “Sino-Tibetan Buddhism: Continuities and Discontinuities. The Case of Nenghai 能海’s Legacy in the Contemporary Era in Chinese and Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism,” in Chinese and Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism, eds. Yael Bentor and Meir Shahar (Leiden: Brill, 2017), 300–318. On Ouyang Wuwei, see Hsiao Chin-sung 蕭金松, “Ouyang Wuwei lama (Junbi Jimei) de xueshu gongxian 歐陽無畏喇嘛（君庇亟美）的學術貢獻 (1913–1991)” [The Academic Contribution of Ouyang Wuwei (1913–1991)], Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Com-

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Fazun later became professor at the Institute of Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Study, founded by Taixu inside the Jinyun Monastery 縉雲寺 near Chongqing. This institute remained active from 1932 to 1950.31 It was one of Taixu’s numerous creations in response to the Chinese religious reform movement and to his wish to create a Pan-Asian Buddhism, even though there is no clear evidence that Taixu himself practiced Tibetan Buddhism. The encounter between Gongga Laoren and Taixu (in 1939) inspired her decision to study at the Institute of Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Study in Chongqing: it was decisive and sparked her interest in esoteric Buddhism.32 Taixu was not a fervent adept of esoteric Buddhism, but from the beginning he was on board for research efforts into Japanese and Tibetan esoteric teachings. Encouraged by Liu Xiang 劉湘 (1888–1938), then commander of the twenty-first army in Sichuan (who himself had realized the importance of creating cultural links between Tibet and China and had undertaken the first Sino-Tibetan religious exchanges), Taixu developed relations between Tibet and China from Sichuan through his institute.33 The establishment became a required stop for monks and lay persons who were keen on esoteric Buddhism. There, they learned the

31

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mission Quarterly 20, no. 1 (2011): 56–71 and in China’s Tibetology (Zhongguo Zangxue 中國 藏學) 1 (2011): 33–41; Hsiao Ching-sung, “The Academic Contributions of Ouyang Wuwei (1913–1991): A Disciple Testimony,” in The Hybridity of Buddhism: Contemporary Encounters between Tibetan and Chinese traditions in Taiwan and the Mainland, ed. Fabienne Jagou (Paris: École française d’Extrême-Orient, Coll. Études thématiques no. 29, 2017), 177–187. Mei, Ching-hsuan 梅靜軒, “Minguo yilai de Han Zang fojiao guanxi (1912–1949)—yi Han Zang jiaoli yuan wei zhongxin de tantao (民國以來的漢藏佛教關系 (1912–1949)— 以漢藏教理院爲中心的探討)” [Relations between Chinese and Tibetan Buddhisms during the Modern Era (1912–1949) from the Institute of Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Study Analysis], Chung-Hwa Buddhist Studies 中華佛學研究 2 (1998): 251–288; Tuttle, Tibetan Buddhists; Sullivan, “Venerable Fazun;” Sullivan, “Blood and Teardrops.” “Biographical Notes,” 79; Zhu Tongsheng 朱同生, Fujiao guangjue chanshi Xikang Gongga Hutuketu benzhuan—Jingang Shangshi Juezhudengbai Gongga Laoren xueshan xiuxing ji 輔教廣覺禪師西康貢噶呼圖克圖本傳—金剛上師覺珠登白貢噶老人雪山 修行記 [Autobiography of the Reincarnated Master Gangkar from Kham, Omniscient Meditation Master, Benefactor Spreading Buddhism—Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits of the Vajra Master, Gongga Laoren] [hereafter referred to as: Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple], 31; Wang Yefeng 王 野 楓 and Deng Zhongduan 鄧仲端, Bai yun jian de zhuanqi: Jingang Shangshi Juezhudengbai Gongga Laoren xueshan xiuxing ji (Gongga Laoren kou shu) 白雲間的傳奇: 金剛上師覺珠登白 貢噶老人雪山修行記 (貢噶老人口述) [Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds: Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits, oral testimony by Gongga Laoren] [hereafter referred to as: Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds], 51. Tuttle, Tibetan Buddhists, 122–126. Liu Xiang received initiations from Gangkar Rinpoche in 1936, Mi nyag Mgon po, Biography of Bo Gangkar, 59.

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Tibetan language and the rudiments of Tibetan Buddhism from Tibetan and Chinese masters. Afterwards, they would begin the trip to Central Tibet, or to Kham for most of them.34 This wave of interest for Tibetan Buddhism was not new. Many politicians—to name a few: Duan Qirui 段祺瑞 (1865–1936, president of the Beijing government from 1924 to 1926); Dai Jitao 戴季陶 (1891–1949, Education Minister from 1928 to 1948); or even Qu Yingguang, who was close to Yuan Shi-kai 袁世凯 (1859–1916) and then member of the Beiyang government (from 1924 to 1926)—were interested in Tibetan Buddhism. Their organization, sponsorship and attendance at Tantric teachings was made possible by the presence of Tibetan masters in China: namely such as the 9th Panchen Lama or Norlha Qutuγtu Sönam Rapten, and later, Gangkar Rinpoche, who only amplified the trend.35 Their requests and support for esoteric teachings were motivated by the quest for supernatural powers and protection, but also by the desire to save the nation from the perils of civil war and foreign invasion.36 Others, simple monks or lay persons, would also participate in these exchanges. Monk Fazun, for example, got involved in the life of the Institute of Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Study by teaching there. He translated Tibetan teachings into Chinese and allowed Tibetan Buddhism to spread significantly. Others became recognized masters of Tibetan Buddhism in China and founded their own monasteries.37 Let us keep in mind the importance of the research on esoteric teachings accomplished as of the beginning of the 20th century by lay Buddhist Yang Wenhui,38 or the expressed intention of the government to use Buddhism to catalyze a new relationship between Tibet and China. Yet, the determining factor favoring these religious exchanges must be noted: the nationalist government’s transfert from Nanjing 南京 to Chongqing in the early 1930s. An official exchange program for monks, financed by the Republican government itself was put in place. In Chongqing, politicians, artists, individuals such as Gongga Laoren found themselves faced with a Tibetan religious culture which, through proximity, looked both promising and appealing. For example, Gongga Laoren 34 35

36 37 38

Mei, “Minguo yilai;” Sullivan, “Venerable Fazun;” Sullivan “Blood and Teardrops”. Jagou, Le 9e Panchen Lama, 114; 131; Tuttle, Tibetan Buddhists; Carmen Meinert, “Gangkar Rinpoché between Tibet and China: A Tibetan Lama among Ethnic Chinese in the 1930s to 1950s,” in Buddhism Between Tibet and China, 218–221. Tuttle, Tibetan Buddhists. Bianchi, Tiexiangsi; Esposito, “rDzogs chen in China;” Tuttle, Tibetan Buddhists; Sullivan, “Venerable Fazun;” Sullivan, “Blood and Teardrops.” Martino Dibeltulo, “The Revival of Tantrism: Tibetan Buddhism and Modern China” (PhD Dissertation, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, University of Michigan, 2015), 100–148.

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had apparently not shown the slightest interest in Tibetan Buddhism before moving there. A biography published on internet says that after several discussions with Taixu, she started looking into esoteric Buddhism and during one of these conversations Taixu had spoken to her of Tibetan Buddhism.39 Gongga Laoren had said she wished to learn more on the subject and Taixu recommended enrolling in the Institute of Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Study in Chongqing to learn Tibetan and then go to Tibet to study.40 Thus, she joined the institute in 1939 and stayed there a while.41 She does not specify who she studied with, mentioning neither teachers nor fellow students. We can, however, consider she had excellent professors since it is exactly at that time that the institute was able to benefit from the involvement of Chinese monks that had been trained in Tibet, such as Fazun, and invited numerous Tibetan masters, such as Shérap Gyatso (Wylie: Shes rab rgya mtsho, 1884–1968), through government subsidies granted to this establishment.42 At the end of her studies at the institute, in the winter of 1940, Gongga Laoren was appointed Secretary for Tibetan language correspondence (Zangwen mishu 藏文秘書) at the Education section of the Xikang province government, located in Dartsédo (Chin.: Kangding 康定), through the intervention of General Zhu Qinglan, her protector.43 There, in 1941, she ran into Wu Yingting, her former fiancé who had recently moved there and had become Head Secretary of the Xikang province Kuomintang Party.44 And there she is said to 39 40 41 42

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Yu Lingpo 于凌波, “Gongga Laoren (1903–1997) 贡噶老人 (1903–1997).” From the website www.szjt.org/53can/dade/contents/dade_31.htm (unavailable December 10, 2020). “Biographical Notes,” 78–79. Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, 51; Mei, “Minguo yilai.” For Shérap Gyatso, see Heather Stoddard, “The Long Life of rDo-sbis dGe-bšes Šes-rab rGya-mcho (1884–1968),” in Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the 4th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, eds. Helga Uebach and Jampa L. Panglung (Munich: Kommission fur Zentralasiatische Studien, 1988), 465–471. Yu Lingpo, “Gongga Laoren (1903–1997).” On the creation of the Xikang province, see Elliot Sperling, “Chinese Venture in K’am, 1904–1911 and the Role of Zhao Erfeng,” The Tibet Journal 1, no. 2 (1976): 10–36; Carole Macgranahan, “From Simla to Rongbatsa: The British and the ‘Modern’ Boundaries of Tibet,” The Tibet Journal 28, no. 4 (2003): 39–60; Fabienne Jagou, “Vers une nouvelle définition de la frontière sino-tibétaine: la Conférence de Simla (1913) et le projet de création de la province chinoise du Xikang,” Extrême-Orient ExtrêmeOccident. Special issue: Desseins de frontières 28 (2006): 147–167; Lin Hsiao-ting, Tibet and Nationalist China’s Frontier: Intrigues and Ethnopolitics, 1928–49 (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2006), Scott Relyea, “Conceiving the ‘West’: Early Twentieth Century Visions of Kham,” Twentieth Century China 40, no. 3 (2015): 181–200; Scott Relyea, “Yokes of Gold and Threads of Silk: Sino-Tibetan competition for authority in early twentieth century Kham,” Modern Asian Studies 49, no. 4 (2015): 963–1009. The autobiography of Gongga Laoren which appears in Autobiographies of the Master and

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have met Gangkar Rinpoche for the first time, as his monastery, Bo Gangkar, was located at the foot of Mount Minyak Gangkar, a three-day walk away from Dartsédo. Apparently, she took him as master at that time, which altered the path of her destiny.45 She also met Mankong 满空 (date unknown), Gangkar Rinpoche’s translator.46 Gangkar Rinpoche was the fifth in the lineage of reincarnation connected to the Bo Gangkar Monastery. He had been recognized by the 15th Karmapa Khakyab Dorjé (Wylie: Mkha’ khyab rdo rje, 1871–1922). He had been ordained by Khenchen Kama Déchen Ngédön Tendzin Rapgyé (Wylie: Mkhan chen karma Bde chen nges don bstan ’dzin rab rgyas), in Pelpung (Dpal spungs), which, according to Mi nyag Mgon po, was one of the most famous places in terms of religious education in Kham. There he had met the 11th Tai Situ Rinpoche Péma Wangchok Gyelpo (Wylie: T’ai Situ Rinpoche Padma dbang mchog rgyal po, 1886–1952), with whom he studied for twelve years.47 During this period, he had once been to Lhasa to receive a teaching from the 15th Karmapa.48 Next he began a three-year retreat at the age of 25.49 In 1922, he returned to his monastery and began restoring it and teaching there, before undertaking a second two-year retreat in his hermitage.50 He was appointed junior tutor of the 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rikpé Dorjé and went to Tsurphu (Mtshur phu) in 1930, where he spent one year, just long enough to pass on to him the teachings he himself had received from the 15th.51 For most Tibetan masters who went to China between 1923 and 1949, it was their first trip outside Tibet, and their first-time teaching in China.52 Gangkar

45 46

47 48 49 50 51

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Disciple does not explain Wu Yingting’s presence in Dartsédo. But we learn from another source that he had just been named General Secretary of the Kuomintang Party of the province (sheng dangbu shujizhang 省 黨 部 書 記 長), see Yu Lingpo, “Gongga Laoren (1903–1997).” “Chronological Biography,” 175. Chapter entitled “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 38 and in Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 61. Mi nyag Mgon po, Biography of Bo Gangkar, 36–37. Ibid., 38. Ibid., 40. Ibid., 41. Chapter “Autobiography of the Reincarnated Master Gangkar from Kham, Omniscient Meditation Master, Benefactor Spreading Buddhism” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961,13; 16–17; Mi nyag Mgon po, Biography of Bo Gangkar, 52; Meinert, “Gangkar Rinpoche,” 216–217. The exception mainly concerns the 9th Panchen Lama who first taught Mongols before going to China.

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Rinpoche, contrary to the majority of these masters, did not go to China following a (self-imposed or not) exile or wave of migration.53 He was invited by Norlha Qutuγtu, who designated him to his disciples as his successor. However, Gangkar Rinpoche did not immediately accept this decision, or such responsibility.54 He ended up fulfilling Norlha’s wish once Norlha had passed away (in 1936), for he came back to consecrate the stūpa where Norlha’s relics would be stored.55 His mission soon grew in scope: he taught Tibetan Buddhism in China, helped the country’s national stability efforts and trained future Chinese intellectuals in Tibetan studies.56 The impetus for the relationship between the two men has often been discussed.57 However, each time I asked my informants, they replied: Norlha Qutuγtu and Gangkar Rinpoche were cousins, which would explain why the 53

54

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Contrary to the 9th Panchen Lama or to Norlha Qutuγtu, for example, who were in disagreement with the Tibetan government, see Melvyn C. Goldstein, A History of Modern Tibet, 1913–1951: The Demise of the Lamaist State (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991), 110–138; Jagou, Le 9e Panchen Lama, 45–107. Chapter “Autobiography of the Reincarnated Master Gangkar from Kham, Omniscient Meditation Master, Benefactor Spreading Buddhism,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 18. Chapter “Autobiography of the Reincarnated Master Gangkar from Kham, Omniscient Meditation Master, a Benefactor Spreading Buddhism,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 18; Mi nyag Mgon po, Biography of Bo Gangkar, 57; 60–61; Meinert, “Gangkar Rinpoche,” 221. “Autobiography of the Reincarnated Master Gangkar from Kham, Omniscient Meditation Master, a Benefactor Spreading Buddhism,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 3;19–20. Concerning the link between Norlha Qutuγtu and Gangkar Rinpoche, according to Meinert, they were friends and Norlha Qutuγtu is said to have been at the origin of the invitation to Gangkar Rinpoche to teach in China. And also, earlier, in his article, Carmen Meinert suggested a vow taken by Norlha that Gangkar come to teach in China. According to Hsu Chin-ting, Norlha, while in Kham, entrusted Gangkar Rinpoche with the task of teaching Buddhism as of 1935. However, Hsu adds caution to this information specifying that he “knows it is due to karmic links with Norlha (zi zhi yinyuan yi liao 自知因 緣已了).” Wang Desheng, a disciple and biographer of Gangkar Rinpoche’s confirms that Norlha invited Gangkar to come join him in Dartsédo the same year, see Meinert, “Gangkar Rinpoche,” 218; 221; Wang, The Reincarnated Master, 71; Hsu Chin-ting 徐 芹 庭, Nuona fawang hongjiao baozang 諾那法王紅教寶藏 [Precious Buddhist Teachings from Master Nuona of the Nyingma School] (Taipei: Shenghuan tushu, 1997), chapter 1, 24. “Autobiography of the Reincarnated Master Gangkar from Kham, Omniscient Meditation Master, Benefactor Spreading Buddhism,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 18; Gongga Laoren indicates, during one of her teachings that the reason why Norlha had invited Gangkar Rinpoche was that they had studied together and held each other in great esteem, Zi xing guang ming 自性光明 [The Intrinsic Nature of Enlightenment] (Taipei: Zhengfayan, 1993), 110.

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first transmitted his responsibilities to the second. No written source has confirmed this assertion. Norlha Qutuγtu is a master who is difficult to describe due to the sparseness of evidence and the contradictory nature of the information available. In Tibetan he was called Gara Lama, derived from his family name, and Nuona Lama (or Qutuγtu) in Chinese, yet no link between Gara in Tibetan and Nuona in Chinese is clear. However, Norlha and Nuona sound phonetically closer. Originally from Riwoché in Kham, Norlha arrived in Beijing in 1924 after fleeing Tibet.58 In China, he held political and religious roles. He became a government member and opened offices in Nanjing and Dartsédo, which at the time was considered the capital of the future Xikang province (西康省; since 1927). It seems he had his own political agenda: creating an independent kingdom in the Tibetan province of Kham. He taught texts by the Nyingma and Kagyü Schools to many Chinese and Tibetan devotees.59 He died in Kham in 1936, where he was cremated and his relics, including his ashes, were placed in a stūpa (built on Mount Lu in the Jiangxi province 江西省庐山) as per his wish.60 58

59 60

The reason for fleeing Tibet where he had been imprisoned for six years remains obscure. ’Jam dpal Rgyal mtshan, “Brief Biographies of Jédrung Tulku Gongma and Gara Lama, Two Reincarnated Masters from the Riwoché Monastery,” 211–220. According to Skal bzang Bkra shis, quoted by Meinert (“Gangkar Rinpoche,” 233, footnote 13), Norlha is said to have been first recognized by the Tibetan Ministerial Cabinet as being the 12th Dalai Lama reincarnation, before this choice was cancelled. According to Hsu Chin-ting, Norlha was reportedly involved in one of the numerous skirmishes opposing the Kuomintang and the Tibetans from Kham. After the Chinese failed to keep Chamdo, Norlha is said to have organized his own army (more than 7000 soldiers) to resist the Tibetans’. He was vanquished and imprisoned in Lhasa for six years. According to Hsu Chin-ting, Norlha was imprisoned in a cell dug out in the earth. For the six years he was incarcerated, he dug off the earth and finally got out. He alledgedly escaped and lived as a beggar until someone recognized him and helped him get to India. Skal bzang Bkra shis, “Mgar ra bla mas Lu’u cun dmag Kham khul ’byor skabs mnyam ’brel dang Go min tang skabs Bod Sog u yon lhan khang gi u yon sogs byas skor [The alliance between Gara Lama and the General Liu during the Khams war and the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission at the time of Kuomintang],”Bod rang skyong ljongs srid gros lo rgyus rig gnas dpyad gzhi’i rgyu cha u yon lhan khang, eds. Bod kyi lo rgyus rig gnas dpyad gzhi’i rgyu cha bdams bsgrigs 10/19, Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 10 (1996): 113–122; Hsu, Precious Buddhist Teachings, chap. 1, 5–7. His teachings were compiled and published in Taipei in 1998, see Hsu, Precious Buddhist Teachings, Meinert, “Gangkar Rinpoche,” 219–220. Meinert, “Gangkar Rinpoche,” 221. This stūpa is the second dedicated to Norlha Qutuγtu. According to Ding Zipei 丁子佩, representative of the Xikang province and the Tibetan Dorjé Chöpa, when Norlha Qutuγtu escaped from his cell in 1923, he reportedly attained such spiritual advancement that he was able to produce a double of his own body! When the 13th Dalai Lama was informed of his death, he supposedly recognized his high spir-

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He was the seventh of his reincarnation lineage and no successor has been officially recognized since. In 1936, Gangkar Rinpoche left his Tibetan monastery to take care of Norlha Qutuγtu’s relics and consecrate his stūpa. It was his first trip to China. There were others from 1945 to 1949 and then from 1953 to 1956.61 The confidence Norlha Qutuγtu placed in Gangkar Rinpoche and the responsibility he transmitted him proved very important. They allowed Norlha Qutuγtu’s Chinese disciples to continue their spiritual studies despite there being no successor to Norlha Qutuγtu and granted Gangkar Rinpoche an immediate hearing as soon as he arrived at Mount Lu. Due to this acknowledgment, political higher-ups came to visit him.62 As of 1936, Gangkar Rinpoche’s reputation extended to the Chinese Buddhist milieu. It also seems that at this time, Gangkar Rinpoche enrolled in the Institute of Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Study opened by Taixu in Chongqing, but no precise date is given.63 From that moment on, he became well-known and appreciated among the lay Buddhist refugees in Sichuan. Upon his return to his monastery, Bo Gangkar (1939), he founded the Minyak Institute for the Study of Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhism (Muya xianmi foxueyuan 木 雅 顯 密 佛 學 院), thereby providing a teaching structure conforming to Chinese guidelines, as explained previously.64 The institute hosted more than forty Chinese and Tibetan students

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itual level and ordered the construction of a stūpa. But in 1924, someone told the 13th Dalai Lama that he had seen Norlha in Beijing. His stūpa was then opened and found empty, i.e. with no trace of a body inside. Finally, the guard who had been charged with watching Norlha’s corpse was punished and beaten to death, see Hsu, Precious Buddhist Teachings, chap. 1, 8–9; Skal bzang Bkra shis, “The alliance between Gara Lama.” Gangkar Rinpoche left, accompanied by his treasurer, his intendants Khyenrap and Chödrak, a Chinese monk and translator known as “Dharma Master Mankong,” monks Gyeltsen and Sönam Tsering (the latter being the cousin of Mi nyag Mgon po, Gangkar Rinpoche’s Tibetan biographer) and Chen Jianmin 陳 健 民 (1906–1987), one of his Chinese disciples. He began a retreat before undertaking the construction of the stūpa, Meinert, “Gangkar Rinpoche,” 222; Hsu, Precious Buddhist Teachings, chap. 1, 25; Mi nyag Mgon po, Biography of Bo Gangkar, 59; 61; 63–69. For example, Li Zongren 李宗仁 (1891–1969) and his wife Guo Dejie 郭德潔 (1906–1966). Wang, The Reincarnated Master, 81. According to the “Autobiography of the Reincarnated Master Gangkar from Kham, Omniscient Meditation Master, Benefactor Spreading Buddhism,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 18, Gangkar Rinpoche founded an academic curriculum dedicated to the study of mahāyāna and tantrayāna Buddhism (xianmi xue 顯密學) in 1940. Mi nyag Mgon po, Biography of Bo Gangkar, 46–49, 72–73; Wang, The Reincarnated Master, 105; Meinert, “Gangkar Rinpoche,” 226–227. Today, only the Chinese name of this institute seems to be known. Mi nyag Mgon po mentions the “School” (slob grwa) in his text and never the “commentarial School” (bshad grwa) which is normally used in Tibetan monas-

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each year. Teachings from Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhism were dispensed by professors of the establishment or guests, such as the Dégé (Sde dge) Monastery abbot, Thupten Dendrang (Wylie: Thub bstan gdan drang).65 From then on, numerous Chinese (monks and lay persons, future Chinese and Tibetan intellectuals) went there to study.

3

Heading towards the Bo Gangkar Monastery

Before telling the story of Gongga Laoren’s journey from Dartsédo to Bo Gangkar, it is important to underline the only sources of information available are: 1) “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits of the Vajra Master, Gongga Laoren” whose 1961 version, featuring in Autobiography of the Master and Disciple, and 2002 version, found in The Extraordinary Story Amidst the White Clouds, are strictly identical; 2) the “Portrait of the Vajra Master, Gongga Laoren,” also in the 1961 and 2002 publications and 3) “Biographical Notes on the Great Vajra Master, Gongga Laoren,” a text dated in 1975, which appears only in The Extraordinary Story Amidst the White Clouds. Why did Gongga Laoren decide to go to Bo Gangkar? According to the “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” Shao Fuchen 邵 福 宸, an old friend of her, reportedly the Department of Roads and Communications director in the Xikang province (Xikang sheng jiaotong juzhang 西康省交通局長) and a practitioner of esoterism himself, may have advised her to go there to study with Gangkar Rinpoche.66 On the chosen day, she left, heading towards the Bo Gangkar Monastery with food supplies, three mules, tea bricks and gifts. She was also provided with a soldier to escort her.67 It seems that she had planned to undertake a retreat at Bo

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teries. This difference in name probably reveals the academy was organized just like those opened by Taixu in China, whose purpose was to attract Chinese visitors. Indeed, many came there. “Autobiography of the Reincarnated Master Gangkar from Kham, Omniscient Meditation Master, Benefactor Spreading Buddhism,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 18; Mi nyag Mgon po, Biography of Bo Gangkar, 46. “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 32 and in Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 51. Shao Fuchen was an active member of the lay Buddhists’ circle in the Suiyuan province, northern China. “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 32 and in Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 52.

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Gangkar for she specifies that Wu Yingting, her former fiancé, had offered her the necessaries to tide her over the duration of a long practice. Her “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” later stated that despite difficulties encountered along the way, Gongga Laoren was so determined that she never had qualms to carry on.68 Even before her arrival at the monastery, the text absorbs the reader into her spiritual universe. It mentions her meditation sessions, one of which generated a vision of a “bodhisattva with five Buddhas in his/her hair,” an omen that the next day’s leg of the journey would be safe, despite the dangers announced by a number of Tibetans they had met.69 Finally, the climatic conditions did not seem favorable for her to walk on, as snow fell unabatedly and the road was snow-bound. Gongga Laoren is said to have, consequently, walked across deserted regions, never meeting a living soul, so sparsely populated was the region. The snowfall continued and she was on the verge of exhaustion. Eventually, according to her “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” she caught sight of a nomad’s tent: Gongga Laoren was saved and she saw this as a providential sign!70 The description of her journey, which lasted three days, enabled her to enhance her new powers stemming from her solid meditation practice. For example, she recounts her encounter with bandits that spared her and the sudden sight of the nomad’s tent in a way suggesting these were miracles.71 Her “Account” introduces the idea of supernatural powers for the first time and seeks to show the Beijing woman’s spiritual evolution: Gongga Laoren was no longer just a determined individual; she was also endowed with “extraordinary powers” to the point of vanquishing the elements. However, it fails to mention she traveled in military clothing hiding her gender! However, this is what is narrated by Wang Desheng—the son of a Chinese disciple of Gangkar Rinpoche and author of one of the two biographies of this Tibetan master published in 2006, nearly fifty years after his death.72 As for Gongga Laoren, she implicitly 68

69

70

71

72

“Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 32–37 and in Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 52–57. “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 34 and in Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 55. “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 36 and in Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 57. “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 36–37 and in Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 56–57. Wang, The Reincarnated Master, 123.

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admits this when she reports her dialogues with the Tibetans met by chance along the way who addressed her as “Sir (xiansheng 先生) …”73 According to her “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” when Gongga Laoren arrived within sight of the monastery, she first saw a pine forest (qingcong 青葱), then the golden roofs of the main temple. There, she explains, she came across Mankong, Gangkar Rinpoche’s translator; they had already met in Dartsédo and he introduced her to the person in charge: Gangkar Rinpoche.74 It is at this moment, the only time in the text, that she names some of the Chinese disciples of Gangkar Rinpoche. She limits her list to those who, according to her, held the title of “Vajra Master” ( Jingang shangshi 金刚上師): Mankong, Puqin 普欽 (1905–1960), Pujing 普淨 (1902–1986),75 Zhang Chengji 張澄基 (1920–1988, who was to become Professor Garma C.C. Chang), Chen Jianmin (1906–1987, known in the West as Yogi Chen) and Chen Jibo 陳濟博 (1899–1993).76 Other Chinese disciples of Gangkar Rinpoche, such as Hu Yalong 胡亞龍,77 Chen Yuanbai 陳 圓 白 (future translator of the Mahāmudra), Wang Yinuan 73

74

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“Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 33–34; 36 and in Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 53; 55; 57–58. “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 38 and in Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 61. The first, Puqin lived in China while the second, Pujing, emigrated to Thailand where he founded two monasteries and gathered a community around him. The first began studying Mahāyāna, and then went to Sichuan where he met Taixu. He turned to the study of the Avatamsaka sūtra while the second laid claim to having received teachings from Gangkar Rinpoche, but he did not transmit Tibetan teachings. To my knowledge, Pujing left no writings in Chinese. Notes existed in Thai language, and pictures as well as inscriptions that he himself is to have painted on the frames of the doors and windows in one of his monasteries, the Wat Pho Yen, in the province of Kanchanaburi. I thank Peter Skilling for having organized the visit of the monastery and of some other places of esoteric Tibetan Buddhism in Thailand. “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 38 and in Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 61. Chen Jibo studied in Belgium before returning to China. There he became one of the translators of Norlha Qutuγtu, alongside Chen Xingbai 陳性白 (1882–1962). On Chen Jianmin, see Fabienne Jagou, “The Chen Jianmin (1906–1987) Legacy: An “Always on the Move” Buddhist Practice,” in Translocal Lives and Religion: Connections between Asia and Europe in the Late Modern World, ed. Philippe Bornet (Amsterdam: Equinox Publishing, 2021), 251–269. Mi nyag Mgon po names her sge bsnyen ma Hu’u Ya’o lung, Biography of Bo Gangkar, 48.

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王 沂 暖 (1907–1998) or Liu Liqian 劉 立 千 (1910–2008) who became Tibeto-

logists, had important roles whereas high-level politicians were also among the disciples, such as warlords Pan Wenhua 潘文華 (1886–1993) in Chengdu 成都; Li Jishen 李濟深 (1885–1959), a member of the Guangxi 廣西 clique in Chongqing, Long Yun 龍雲 (1884–1962) in Kunming 昆明, Yunnan province 雲 南省 and, the most famous of them all, Li Zongren 李宗仁 (1891–1969), who became vice-president of the Republic in 1948 before being appointed to the highest position in November 1949.78 The “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits” by Gongga Laoren does not cite them. It therefore only mentions those who were recognized as “Vajra Master,” which no other source confirms. Her account gives no other information on them, commendable or not, except for Mankong. This silence regarding them is even more surprising since, among Gangkar Rinpoche’s consecrated texts gathered at the beginning of the volume Autobiographies of the Master and Disciples of 1961 and The Extraordinary Story Amidst the White Clouds from 2002, two names stand out in the list of five “Vajra Masters”: Chen Jibo, which describes Gangkar Rinpoche’s lineage; and Chen Jianmin, who signs his birthday prayer.79 We could, thus, deduce that Gongga Laoren was close enough to them to have reported anecdotes, but she did not. For their part, the five “Vajra Masters” did the same in their writings, when they have left any, or in texts where their names appear: Gongga Laoren is not mentioned. Furthermore, no disciple’s name is mentioned in the chapter dedicated to Gangkar Rinpoche included in Autobiography of the Master and Disciple. The only two (to my knowledge) existing apocryphal biographies of Gangkar Rinpoche (one written forty years after his death by Mi nyag Mgon po, one of his Tibetan disciples), and the other by Wang Desheng (mentioned previously) give the impression that the two worlds, Tibetan and Chinese, did not mix at Bo Gangkar. If Mi nyag Mgon po does specify the names of a few of Gangkar Rinpoche’s Chinese disciples (a list which does not include Gongga Laoren’s name), Wang Desheng only brings up the names of Chinese disciples, including Gongga Laoren, without citing any Tibetan followers. Nevertheless, the life path of three of the five “Vajra Masters” (Mankong, Chen Jianmin and Zhang Chengji) have interesting content on lay Chinese Buddhist communit78 79

Meinert, “Gangkar Rinpoche,” 224; Mi nyag Mgon po, Biography of Bo Gangkar, 64–65. “Autobiography of the Reincarnated Master Gangkar from Kham, Omniscient Meditation Master, Benefactor Spreading Buddhism,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 11; 23 and in Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 14; 34.

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ies and the determination they showed to approach a Tibetan master. It is worth taking a look at them to understand the milieu in which Gongga Laoren lived.80 First, Mankong, known for having been one of Gangkar Rinpoche’s translators and interpreters, according to the “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits”, Gongga Laoren first met him in Dartsédo, and then came across him again while arriving at Bo Gangkar Monastery.81 The dates of the first meetings between Gangkar Rinpoche and his main Chinese disciples are speculative. According to Mi nyag Mgon po, Mankong already accompanied Gangkar Rinpoche in China in 1936 but he has no possible way of clarifying how they could have met before.82 In fact, Mankong, originally from Chongqing, studied with Taixu at the institute. As he already spoke Tibetan before arriving (we do not know how he had learned the language), he began working there as a translator. He is said to have heard Gangkar Rinpoche’s Buddhist teachings when he passed through Chongqing, subsequently taking refuge with him and becoming his disciple. According to Wang Desheng, it is from this moment on that Mankong became Gangkar Rinpoche’s interpreter in China.83 Before that, contrary to what Mi nyag Mgon po affirms, it seems Han Dazai 韓 大 哉 would do the interpreting, not Mankong. The latter accompanied Gangkar Rinpoche during his first stay in China in 1936, on the recommendation of Norlha Qutuγtu, whose interpreter and translator he already was.84 However, Wang Desheng mentions otherwise that Mankong and Han Dazai monitored the construction of Norlha Qutuγtu’s stūpa with Gangkar Rinpoche. Therefore, both interpreters were already together and stayed with him until the consecration of the monument, which took place in March 1939.85 It is, for example, Mankong who served as interpreter during the meeting between Gangkar Rinpoche and Li Zongren (accompanied by his wife, Guo Dejie), who had come to Mount Lu especially to

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82 83 84 85

Fabienne Jagou, “The Chinese Disciples of Gangkar Rinpoché (1893–1956),” in Reasons and Lives in Buddhist Traditions. Studies in Honor of Matthew Kapstein, eds Dan Arnold, Cécile Ducher and Pierre-Julien Harter (Somerville: Wisdom Publications), 85–96. “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 38 and in Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 61. Mi nyag Mgon po, Biography of Bo Gangkar, 59. Mi nyag Mgon po cites Mankong sometimes with different titles Mankong Fashi or Heshang Mankong (49). Wang, The Reincarnated Master, 81. Wang, The Reincarnated Master, 76; Han Dazai is transcribed Han Dra Tsa’i in Tibetan, see Mi nyag Mgon po, Biography of Bo Gangkar, 58. Wang, The Reincarnated Master, 85–88.

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see him.86 Wang Desheng’s version leads us to consider that Mankong stayed with Gangkar Rinpoche from his first visit to China in 1936 or as from his transmissions of his teachings in Chongqing, and that Mankong had then gone with him to Kham (1939).87 Next, it would seem he systematically accompanied Gangkar Rinpoche as his interpreter during his trips. Soon, he was no longer the only one in this position (we do not know what exactly happened to Han Dazai). Gangkar Rinpoche chose Hu Yalong as disciple and interpreter, a young Chinese woman who introduced herself to him in Tibetan.88 From then on, since 1946, Mankong and Hu Yalong would assist him in China. Then they were arrested and imprisoned by the Communists in 1951, after they took over Gangkar Rinpoche’s monastery in Kham.89 Mankong was rapidly freed and went back to work as an interpreter and translator. As for Hu Yalong, accused of espionage, she was not released until 1976. She died a few years later from cancer.90 We do not know what happened to Mankong afterwards. Now let us look at what we know of Chen Jianmin, another of these lay Buddhists who gravitated around the little Sino-Tibetan world created by Taixu in Sichuan. He was a married man, the father of two. His father-in-law, Chen Xunlin 陳 珣 林, was one of the lay Buddhists who had supervised the construction of Norlha Qutuγtu’s stūpa.91 Chen Jianmin had himself become a disciple of Norlha Qutuγtu after studying with Taixu. In 1937, he chose to leave his position as professor of Chinese at the Chongqing Institute of Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Study, a post he obtained through Taixu, to follow Gangkar Rinpoche’s teachings, who had also been involved in the rituals surrounding the construction of the stūpa. He decided to follow Gangkar Rinpoche to Kham when he left China after the consecration of the reliquary (1939). At first, Gangkar Rinpoche refused, claiming that Chen Jianmin should take care of his family. But Chen Jianmin found a sponsor (shizhu 施主) in Fan Changyou 藩昌猷, a bank director in Chongqing who, in addition, accepted to take care of his wife and

86 87 88

89

90 91

Ibid., 96. Ibid., 102. Wang Desheng points out that Hu Yalong’s level of scholarship being higher than Mankong’s, she was more comfortable translating Gangkar Rinpoche’s teachings, see The Reincarnated Master, 157. Wang Desheng specifies that Gangkar Rinpoche was worried about the influx of Chinese and felt a strong presence of bad-intentioned people. Carmen Meinert mentions the presence of about eighty-four Chinese at Bo Gangkar in 1952. Wang, The Reincarnated Master, 218; Meinert, “Gangkar Rinpoche,” 226. Wang, The Reincarnated Master, 218–219. Ibid., 72.

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children. He met up with Gangkar Rinpoche at his monastery92 and received numerous teachings from him. He also seems to have played a role in Gongga Laoren’s spiritual path. Although mentioned only laconically in Wang Desheng’s book, he writes that Chen Jianmin had indirectly influenced Gongga Laoren to take the decision to do a retreat at Bo Gangkar, because he had just finished doing one there.93 Although unverifiable—even in Chen Jianmin’s writings—94 this piece of information is nevertheless interesting. It would mean that Gongga Laoren might not have been the first Chinese to go on a retreat there. Lastly, let us examine Zhang Chengji’ case, another of Gangkar Rinpoche’s Chinese disciples. In her list, Gongga Laoren mentions him as having also visited Gangkar Rinpoche at Mont Lu during the consecration of Norlha Qutuγtu’s stūpa.95 When he was eighteen years old, his father Zhang Dulun 張篤倫 (who became mayor of Chongqing a few years later) helped him financially so he could join Gangkar Rinpoche in Kham, where he studied the Tibetan language and Buddhism. He married a Tibetan woman and had two sons. In Bo Gangkar, he connected with Chen Jianmin. Both received Gangkar Rinpoche’s teachings and when Chen Jianmin undertook his retreat in the Bo Gangkar hermitage (where Gongga Laoren did hers later), Zhang Chengji helped him at first. Later, they went together on a pilgrimage to India upon the advent of the People’s Republic of China (1949). Chen Jianmin stayed there, living as a hermit, while Zhang Chengji took refuge in Hong Kong, then in Taiwan before leaving for the United States. Zhang Chengji is known for his translations of Tibetan texts, including The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa, the first English translation of the work, and Tibetan teachings.96 Chen Jianmin, known in the West under the name Yogi Chen, is famous for spending 25 years in Darjeeling med-

92 93 94

95 96

Wang, The Reincarnated Master, 72–115. Ibid., 124. Bhikkhu Kantipalo, “Autobiography of Yogi Chen.” From the website Fojiao yujiashi Chen Jianmin shangshi zhi wangye, Puxianwang rulai tancheng famai 佛 教 瑜 伽 師 陳 建 民 上師之網頁，普賢王如來壇城法脤 [Buddhist Yogi C.M. Chen, Dharma Lineage of Adi Buddha Mandala] posted April 2, 2009. http://www.yogichen.org/gurulin/gc/sa0012e​ .html. Accessed July 27, 2013. The Tibetan transcription of the name of Zhang Chengji is Khrung Ching Hri; see Mi nyag Mgon po, Biography of Bo Gangkar, 48. Wang, The Reincarnated Master, 111; 113–114; 118; 121; Zhang Chengji, alias Garma C.C. Chang, The Practice of Zen (New York: Harper and Row, 1959); trans., The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa (Boston: Shambhala, 1962); The Six Yogas of Naropa and Teachings on Mahamudra (Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications, 1986), 37–46.

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itating and producing hundreds of Buddhist booklets. He created new Buddhist symbols mixing Tibetan and Chinese traditions, and finally died in the United States. To sum up, in her “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” Gongga Laoren gives a list of five “Vajra Masters” in Gangkar Rinpoche’s entourage but only describes one fact involving only Mankong, whom she had met in Dartsédo and encountered again at the Bo Gangkar Monastery. She offers no other anecdote about the other four. In Gangkar Rinpoche’s biography, written by Mi nyag Mgon po, Gongga Laoren is mentioned nowhere. In Wang Desheng’s, she is present, however: one chapter is dedicated to her, in which she is only linked with Chen Jianmin.97 In the writings left by the five “Vajra Masters” or in those about them, none of these authors mention Gongga Laoren. Could they have resided at Bo Gangkar at the same time without meeting? This is unlikely due to the relatively modest size of the monastery compared to the great city-monasteries on the edge of Lhasa. In addition, Weng Hanliang, one of Gongga Laoren’s very first disciples, is said to have asked her questions during her stay about the presence of other Chinese at the monastery, notably Chen Jianmin and Zhang Chengji. She confirmed she had seen them, noting that Chen Jianmin looked old to her, earnestly and systematically noting down Gangkar Rinpoche’s words, while Zhang Chengji was younger and more frivolous. She evaded the question concerning the possibility that Chen Jianmin was in retreat there at the same time as her, by simply emphasizing the difficult conditions of her own practice.98 In any case, the absence of first-hand witnesses to her spiritual experience at Bo Gangkar and the sparseness of the secondhand accounts cast doubts on the reality of her retreat which, according to the “Biographical Notes” written in 1975 and mentioned in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple in 1961 and in The Extraordinary History from amidst the White Clouds published in 2002, is supposed to have taken place from 1942 to 1945.99 Chapter two will discuss what it involved, according to her.

97 98 99

Wang, The Reincarnated Master, 123–136. In discussion with Weng Hanliang. “Biographical Notes,” 80.

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From the Bo Gangkar Monastery to Hong Kong

Gongga Laoren left the hermitage after her retreat there (springtime 1945) and returned to Bo Gangkar.100 Upon leaving the monastery, Gangkar Rinpoche offered her ritual objects including a bell, a vajra and a headpiece with five Buddhas.101 It is said she returned to Dartsédo where she saw her friends, who asked her to train them in the Red Avalokiteśvara practice,102 which she did for seven days. In her “Biographical Notes” (from 1975), it is indicated that this teaching marked the beginning of her mission of transmitting the Dharma.103 At that time, the Chinese government is said to have invited Gangkar Rinpoche to Chongqing through Zhang Chengji, one of the five “Vajra Masters” presented above, to perform a ceremony to “eliminate obstacles.”104 Gangkar Rinpoche agreed and left his monastery. According to the “Portrait of Gongga Laoren” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple (1961), Gongga Laoren is said to have accompanied him. According to the “Biographical Notes” from 1975, and also in The Extraordinary History from amidst the White Clouds, “Gongga Laoren, due to previous engagements, could not accompany him and requested authorization to leave later for Chongqing.”105 However, both texts match concerning this: on the way, she gave a teaching in Ya’an 雅安, at the Helin Monastery 鹤 林 寺, at notable Song Xiaomu 宋 孝 慕’s request.106 And then, at Song Xiaochi 宋孝持’s request (Song Xiaomu’s elder brother), she went to Chengdu where she stayed for twenty days and gave, among other teachings, the Avalokiteśvara initiation to more than 150 people.107 Finally, she joined Gangkar Rinpoche in Chongqing, but not before winter in 1945.108 100 101 102

103 104 105 106 107 108

Ibid., 83. Ibid., 84. Spyan ras gzigs in Tibetan, Avalokiteśvara in Sanskrit, Hong Guanyin pusa 紅觀音菩薩 in Chinese, Avalokiteśvara is the bodhisattva that personifies compassion. Red Avalokiteśvara can have three forms, the one Gongga Laoren is said to have visualized and practiced her whole life would be Padma gar gyi dbang phyug (the Lord of the Lotus Dance), Red, sitting with a noble attitude on a carnation lotus, see Philippe Cornu, Dictionnaire encyclopédique du bouddhisme, 2nd ed. (Paris: Seuil, 2006), 60–62. See also Anne Vergati, “Le roi faiseur de pluie. Une nouvelle version de la légende d’ Avalokiteśvara Rouge au Népal.” Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient 75 (1985): 287–303. “Biographical Notes,” 83. “Biographical Notes,” 84; “Portrait” (1961) specifies “to pray against the disasters caused by the Japanese,” 52. “Biographical Notes,” 84. “Portrait” (1961), 52; “Biographical Notes,” 84. “Portrait” (1961), 52; “Biographical Notes,” 84. “Portrait” (1961), 52; “Biographical Notes,” 84.

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Curiously, neither the “Portrait of Gongga Laoren,” published in 1961, nor her “Biographical Notes” (2002) mention the Red Avalokiteśvara training and practice she is said to have given in Dartsédo in 1945, according to her “Chronological Biography”: both state she began her Dharma transmission in Ya’an at the Helin Monastery.109 From springtime 1946 to summer 1947, according to sources, Gongga Laoren shared her time between Beijing (where she reunited with her parents and Gangkar Rinpoche and where she occasionally taught Dharma), Nanjing and Shanghai 上海, where she studied acupuncture.110 She was named head of the religious department of the Beijing government. January 20th, 1947, in Nanjing, the Republican government gave Gangkar Rinpoche the title of “Omniscient meditation master, benefactor spreading Buddhism” (Fujiao guangjue chanshi 輔教廣覺禪師; bstan pa spel ba’i bshes gnyen kun mkhyen bsam gtan gyi slob dpon), in addition to the seal representing the title.111 Gongga Laoren’s presence at the ceremony is not confirmed. However, we will see later how important this seal will be for her. In the winter of 1947, after a ceremony to ward off disasters, given by Gangkar Rinpoche at the Yujia fotang Monastery 瑜伽佛堂寺 in Beijing (attended by Gongga Laoren), she is said to have undertaken another retreat at the mountain behind the summer palace. She ended it in Autumn 1949, when the town fell to the Communists.112 Afterwards, from 1950 to 1958, sources show her essentially in Shanghai, where she kept a low profile, since the times were not favorable to religious activities. There, she studied and practiced medicine, except for a three-year break (from 1953 to 1956), spent in Suzhou 蘇州 doing the same type of activities. A famous doctor, Wang Shenxuan 王愼軒 would have invited her there, to teach Dharma at his house, notwithstanding the risks. It is said that more than one hundred people took refuge with her (although she had not taken her nun vows yet).113 In the summer of 1956, when she went back to Shanghai after her time in Suzhou, a significant event marked her life, a trace of which is found in the “Portrait of Gongga Laoren” (1961), in the “Biographical Notes” (1975) and in the 109 110

111 112 113

“Chronological Biography,” 176. “Biographical Notes,” 85–87; Zhu, “Short presentation,” Eye of the True Law, 3rd ed. (1995), 1: 249, discourse given by Gongga Laoren on the occasion of the consecration of her meditation center named Karma Triyāna Dharmachakra and that of the Red Avalokiteśvara statue, in 1981. Mi nyag Mgon po, Biography of Bo Gangkar, 67; Meinert, “Gangkar Rinpoche,” 224. “Biographical Notes,” 86. Ibid., 86.

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“Chronological Biography” (2002). Gangkar Rinpoche, who had been residing in Beijing since 1953, would have summoned her. In chapter two, we will see what the nature of their meeting actually was and how her account evolved through time.114 In 1958, Gongga Laoren left Shanghai to go to Hong Kong, where Lau Yui-chi (Chin. pinyin: Liu Ruizhi 劉銳之, 1914–1997), a lay disciple of Norlha Qutuγtu’s, who knew her, accomodated her. Then in autumn that same year, she left Hong Kong and flew to Taipei. Sources do not give details as to what motivated her to leave. They only indicate that either she had heard that Wu Yingting, her former fiancé, who had become one of the Kuomintang’s eminent member and had taken refuge in Taiwan, was very ill in Taipei, or that she had seen him in a dream hospitalized in a serious condition in Taipei.115 In the meantime, Gangkar Rinpoche had returned to his Bo Gangkar Monastery, where he died in January 29th, 1957. Obviously, his death and China’s political context, which the Communists had taken over to create the People’s Republic of China in 1949, provided Gongga Laoren ample pretext to leave. In addition, Weng Hanliang, one of her first-generation disciples, put forward a reason that makes sense: she felt her relationship with Wu Yingting was known by the Communists and could be used against her. According to him, she feared arrest and imprisonment and had remained in hiding for several months. As soon as she could, she left mainland China to reach Taiwan. Again, according to Weng Hanliang, upon her arrival in Taipei, the customs confiscated her Tibetan texts and ritual objects, so that she entered Taiwan empty-handed.116 114 115 116

“Biographical Notes,” 87; “Portrait” (1961), 54; “Chronological Biography,” 178. “Portrait” (1961), 54; “Biographical Notes,” 88. In discussion with Weng, July 22, 2012.

chapter 2

Building Religious Legitimacy in Taiwan (from 1958 to 1980) Before getting to the heart of the matter in this chapter, it is important to notice that Gongga Laoren imposed secrecy on her disciples regarding their esoteric activities. That, no doubt, resulted in strengthening her charismatic legitimacy and her domination over them, as well as making my own field work exceedingly difficult. Gongga Laoren did not authorize them to speak about the content of the teachings they had received (typically meant for esoteric teachings) and they were even forbidden to mention they had received them. Fortunately for the historian, the newspapers published by her meditation center and her monastery (designed to link the master and recipients) provided the transmissions and practices schedule: the texts titles, the names of the invited masters responsible for teachings were indicated, as well as the size of their audience, seen in the photographs published after the ceremonies. Aside from these data, no other information filtered out from her disciples. Nevertheless, some of them ended up accepting to speak of the teachings they had received by revealing their titles, all the while claiming they never practiced them. It remained, however, impossible to leaf through the faben 法本, the “Dharma Notebook” that every disciple had received directly from Gongga Laoren when they took refuge, although she was not legitimately able to preside over such ceremonies, since she had not been ordained.

1

Arrival in Taipei

Landing in Taipei, Gongga Laoren was entering a territory where not only was she a nobody, but that was steeped in very particular political, economic, social and religious contexts. There, Chiang Kai-shek’s government (Chin. pinyin: Jiang Jieshi 蔣 介 石, 1887–1975) had taken over ten years earlier and established a military dictatorship. The mainland Chinese followed the Japanese, who had been occupying Taiwan under the terms of the Shimonoseki Treaty, signed in 1895 until their surrender in 1945. They found an island where Japanese culture, and notably Shinto and Japanese esoteric Buddhism, had been imposed and where popular Taiwanese religions had been downplayed while the Buddhism of Chinese ori-

© Fabienne Jagou, 2021 | doi:10.1163/9789004466289_004

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gin was tolerated.1 The Japanese had also considerably developed the island by opening roads connecting the North to the South, which benefited Taiwanese believers both during and after the colonization. As Charles B. Jones shows, this modernization contributed to accelerating the efforts already made by Chinese migrants at the end of the 16th century. From the creation of religious associations (shenming hui 神明會) based on native hometowns or family gods, it moved on to the establishment of assembly centers such as monasteries and temples, going far beyond a simple home. As a result, religions, both popular and classical, such as Taoism or Buddhism, were more delocalized and followers could now travel from one part of the island to another.2 The Chinese, who arrived in Taiwan in 1949, continued the Japanese modernization effort and strove to focus on education as well as on Western sciences and methods. From another perspective, the arrival of monks from the continent, of all faiths and varying degrees of reputability, contributed to the rebirth of “orthodox” Buddhism (zhengtong 正統) practice.3 The imposition of martial law, which set up a dictatorial presidency, implied strict control over these monks and their institutions.4 They fell under the authority of the newly founded Buddhist Association of the Republic of China (Zhongguo fojiao hui 中國佛教會, baroc,

1 Ting Je-Chien (Chin. pinyin: Ding Renjia 丁仁傑), “Dangdai Taiwan shehui zhong de zongjiao fuxian: yi shehui fenhua guocheng wei jiaodian suo zuo de chubu kaocha 當代台灣社會中 的宗教浮現：以社會分化過程為焦點所做的初步考察” [The Emerging Religions in Contemporary Taiwanese Society: Preliminary Study from the Point of View of Social Differences], Taiwan shehui yanjiu jikan 台灣社會研究季刊 (Taiwan: A Radical Quarterly in Social Studies) 41 (2001): 205–270. 2 Charles B. Jones, “Religion in Taiwan at the End of the Japanese Colonial Period,” in Religion in Modern Taiwan, Tradition and Innovation in a Changing Society, eds. Philip Clart and Charles B. Jones (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2003), 10–35. 3 Zheng Zhiming acknowledges the existence of three forms of Buddhism in Taiwan in 1949: Jijiao 齊教 practiced within families who, according to him, combines three religions into one (Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism), Tongsu hua de fosi 通俗化的佛寺, a popular Buddhism practiced in Buddhist monasteries, in which adepts meet to read texts, and Bentu Taiwan fojiao 本土台灣佛教, the local Taiwanese Buddhism which gathers adepts of a monastery independently of the school to which their root master (rtsa ba’i bla ma) belongs and which respects the precepts and practices of several Buddhist schools, see Zheng Zhiming 鄭志明, Taiwan zongjiao de fazhan yu bianqian 台灣宗教的發展與變遷 [Vicissitudes and Development of Taiwanese Religions] (Taipei: Wenjin, 2011), 123–130. 4 Martial law applied to Taiwan from 1949 to 1987. Several provisional policies had been amended in China before 1949 when the Kuomintang, the ruling party, was resisting the Communists. They remained in force in Taiwan until 1991. They granted exceptional powers to the presidency and forbade, notably, religious activities, see Fiorella Allio, “Démocratisation et processus électoral,” in La Chine et la démocratie, eds. Mireille Delmas-Marty and PierreÉtienne Will (Paris: Fayard, 2007), 735–802.

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which was responsible for managing Buddhist affairs. Most surprising, a master of Mongolian origin, a practitioner of the Tibetan Gélukpa School tradition, was put at its head. He was Changkya Qutuγtu Lozang Penden Tenpé Drönmé (Wylie: Lcang skya Qutuγtu Blo bzang dpal ldan bstan pa’i sgron me, 1891– 1957),5 one of the privileged who followed Chiang Kai-shek when he fled from mainland China to Taiwan in 1949. On top of the traditional roles and recognition that Manchu emperors and various nationalist governments had attributed him (he was the last living reincarnated master recognized by the Manchus), he had been appointed as a government member (from 1930) and had begun to gain some religious authority as of 1937. Together with the Chinese master, Taixu, they had reorganized the Commission responsible for handling Buddhist affairs in China (Zhongguo fojiao zhengli weiyuanhui 中國佛教整理委員會),6 which would later become the baroc. Changkya Qutuγtu had been elected as its president during the association’s first meeting (1947) “in part because of the importance the government placed on consolidating relations with Tibet”7 and probably because Taixu had just died and no other religious figure was able to hold the position. However, as is emphasized by Gray Tuttle, “for the first time since the Yuan dynasty, a Tibetan Buddhist figure was actually in charge of a government office responsible for supervising all Buddhists in China.”8 Once in Taiwan, Changkya Qutuγtu became one of Chiang Kai-shek’s close advisors and, consequently, an active member of the new Buddhist society developing in Taiwan.9 He was respected both as a Buddhist master and as a politician. He was viewed as an intermediary between the Tibetan and Chinese Buddhist worlds, as well as a gifted negotiator and conciliator in religious and political circles. Throughout his life, Changkya Qutuγtu carried out actions in favor of all Buddhist schools, and that probably led to his widespread reputation. Changkya Qutuγtu kept his prerogatives and became president of the League of Chinese Religions (Zhongguo zongjiao tu lianyihui 中國宗教徒聯誼 5 About Changkya Qutuγtu, see Fabienne Jagou, “Le bouddhisme tibétain à Taïwan,” Le Monde chinois, nouvelle Asie, Special Issue: Les 100 ans de la République de Chine 27 (2011): 53–56; Fabienne Jagou, “Tibetan relics in Taiwan: A link between the past, the present, and the future,” in The Hybridity of Buddhism, 67–89. 6 Jiang Zhongzheng 蔣中正, Hu guo jing jue fujiao da shi Zhangjia Hutuketu shi 謢國淨覺輔 教大師章嘉呼圖克圖史 [Biography of the Protector of the Country, the Enlightened which Serves the Doctrine, Great Master Changkya Qutuγtu] (Taipei, 1957), 34. 7 Welch, The Buddhist revival of China, 47. 8 Tuttle, Tibetan Buddhists, 218. 9 Jiang, Biography of the Protector, 33–36.

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會). Thus, he participated, with masters from the Pure Land School, in Buddhist ceremonies dedicated to the country’s protection (huguo 護國). He also offi-

ciated side by side with Chinese masters.10 His biography contains a number of speeches delivered as of 1952, which reveal his role on the Taiwanese politico-religious scene,11 on top of those delivered at the celebrations dedicated to welcoming monk Xuanzang’s 玄奘 (602–664) relics in 1955.12 There, he developed themes such as the importance of Buddhism for world peace; the country’s and Buddhist teaching protection and of Buddhist teaching as a way to deliver mainland China from the Communists. He was reelected twice (in 1952 and in 1955) as baroc’s president and kept this position until his death (1957).13 According to Jones, Changkya Qutuγtu was a “figure of compromise” in the baroc, where two rival factions jockeyed for power.14 However, he was not the only master of Mongolian origin present in Taiwan at that time. Kanjurwa Qutuγtu (Wylie: Bka’ ’gyur Qutuγtu, 1914–1978), a member of the Gélukpa School, was also there (the year of his arrival in Taiwan is not clear). Kanjurwa Qutuγtu also belonged to Mongolian Buddhist masters’ eight lineages recognized by the Manchu emperors. He served the Taiwanese Buddhist community as a prominent baroc Board member from 1959 to 1962, thus perpetuating the presence of a master of Mongolian origin practicing Tibetan Buddhism within this association.15 And lastly, he officiated at Changkya’s funeral. So, in Taiwan, Changkya Qutuγtu was an important religious figure in the first half of the 20th century and played a very active role as “head of Taiwanese Buddhism” in particularly troubled times. Indeed, he was a fervent supporter of uniting different Buddhist schools and got together Chinese Buddhist masters to celebrate ceremonies dedicated to peace. He displayed a degree of Buddhist

10 11 12

13 14

15

Notably, Daxing 大星, a disciple of Taixu, in 1950; Nanting 南亭 in 1951 and Yinshun 印 順 in 1954, see Jiang, Biography of the Protector, 35. Jiang, Biography of the Protector, 37–59. Xuanzang is known for his pilgrimage from China to India which lasted sixteen years and allowed him to bring back numerous texts written in Sanskrit in the year 645. On the arrival of Xuanzang’s relics, see Benjamin Brose, “Resurrecting Xuanzang: The Modern Travels of a Medieval Monk,” in Recovering Buddhism in Modern China, eds. Jan Kiely and J. Brooks Jessup (New York: Columbia University Press, 2016), 143–176. Jiang, Biography of the Protector, 35. Jones, Buddhism in Taiwan, 139–141; 156–157. A fight arose between reformers (Daxing and Li Zikuan 李子寬, two disciples of Taixu) and the conservatives (Daoyuan 道源, Baisheng 白聖, and Yuanjing 元精). On the Kanjurwa Qutuγtu, see Paul Hyer and Sechin Jagchid, A Mongolian Living Buddha. Biography of the Kanjurwa Khutughtu (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1983).

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ecumenism, however, without contributing in any significant way to the development of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan. Others, such as Mingyur Rinpoche Ngakwang Tenzin Mingyur (Wylie: Mi ’gyur Rin po che Ngag dbang bstan ’dzin mi ’gyur, born in 1935), of the Sakya School, and Gélèk Rinpoche (Dge legs Rin po che, 1924–2009), of the Gélukpa School, arrived in Taiwan, in the early 1960s. Mingyur Rinpoche opted for a public career. He became a member of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (蒙藏委員會; mtac) and taught at the Taipei Political Science University (zhengzhi daxue 政治大學).16 As for Gélèk Rinpoche, he was a recognized Tibetan master from Lithang, in the province of Kham. He had studied with the most famous Lhasa masters, including Phabongkha Rinpoche Déchen Nyingpo (Wylie: Pha bong kha Rin po che Pde chen snying po, 1878–1941). He was also very close to the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso (Wylie: Bstan ’dzin rgya mtsho, born in 1935)’s tutors, Ling Rinpoche Thupten Lungtok Namgyel Trinley (Wylie: Gling Rin po che Thub bstan lung rtogs rnam rgyal ’phrin las, 1902–1983) and Trijang Rinpoche Lozang Yéshé Tenzin Gyatso (Wylie: Khri byang Rin po che Blo bzang ye shes bstan ’dzin rgya mtsho, 1901–1981). Gélèk Rinpoche is said to have first gone to Hong Kong at the invitation of a Buddhist association and has reportedly been invited by the Taiwanese government to come to the island. As for Mingyur Rinpoche, he is said to have been received by President Chiang Kai-shek shortly after his arrival in Taipei. However, the circumstances of their respective invitations remain vague. These two masters were very close and lived together in the same monastery, today called the Monastery of the Bodhi on the White Horse Mountain (Baima shan, Puti si 白馬山 菩提寺). Gélèk Rinpoche kept a low profile during his whole stay in Taiwan. He did not teach when he arrived in the territory, probably because the political context did not allow it, and only did occasionally afterwards. Such discretion can be explained, however, by the mistrust shown by Tibetans in exile concerning Gélukpa masters taking refuge in Taiwan. This changed after the 14th Dalai Lama’s visit there in 1997, when he granted authorization to this School’s masters to go and settle there. It is possible to consider that Gélèk Rinpoche’s arrival in Taiwan happened by chance and that due to the ensuing proximity with the Dalai Lama’s tutors, he preferred to keep a low profile rather than dishonoring himself and the members of his government in exile. In any case, Mingyur Rinpoche and Gélèk Rinpoche seem to have been reticent to bestow tantric initiations probably due to the political climate at the 16

Mingyur Rinpoche opened a first meditation center named the Mingzhu Meditation Center (Mingzhu jingshe 明珠精舍) in Taipei in 1985, then the Monastery of the Bodhi on the White Horse Mountain (Baima shan, Puti si 白馬山，菩提寺) in Yunlin, in 1997.

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time. They therefore advised the Taiwanese wishing to receive esoteric teachings to go to Hong Kong where religious regulations were less strict and where resided Tibetan masters, themselves in exile but free to do as they pleased. This way, they opened the door to other masters holding authority to dispense this type of teaching the Taiwanese were already interested in. Getting back to Gongga Laoren. When she arrived in Taiwan, she was dispossessed of her Tibetan texts and of her ritual objects. Since she belonged to no official lineage of masters, her only spiritual baggage was the account of her 3-year retreat at the Bo Gangkar Monastery; Gangkar Rinpoche, her spiritual master’s affirmation, who had asked her to teach where he had not been able to (as it happens, Taiwan); and the praises he reportedly lavished on her, implicitly making her his heir. All of this based on pure and simple hearsay, though. Under these conditions, precarious at the very least, how did she manage to establish the legitimacy of her religious activities in Taiwan? In fact, some lay Chinese, Norlha Qutuγtu’s disciples, who equally appreciated Gangkar Rinpoche due to the two masters’ closeness, were already present in Taiwan at the time. Since Gongga Laoren benefited from Gangkar Rinpoche’s reputation, she easily fitted in this microcosm, a Mr. Qu Yingguang was also part of. Curiously, she never spoke of him in the Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple from 1961, though he wrote a brief request for the transmission of the Dharma to Gangkar Rinpoche, “Omniscient Meditation Master, Benefactor Spreading Buddhism.” Qu Yingguang, who had been a close friend of Yuan Shikai’s, was one of the Bodhi Society’s founders (Puti xuehui 菩提學會) in Shanghai in the 1930s.17 Had he met Gongga Laoren in Tibet or in mainland China? Sources mention nothing about this. Wu Runjiang 吳潤江, another disciple of Norlha Qutuγtu’s, came to Taiwan at about the same time as Gongga Laoren (in 1958), and taught Tibetan Buddhism there.18 Nothing in sources indicates they had known each other before. Other Norlha Qutuγtu disciples taught in Taiwan, in particular, lay disciples Han Torng (Chin. pinyin: Han Tong 韓同) and Lau Yui-chi. Unfortunately, the date of their arrival there is unknown.19

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19

Qu Yingguang created the Vajra Meditation Center ( Jingang jingshe 金剛精舍) in northern Taiwan in 1971. After his death (1973), two of his disciples, Lin Xianghuang 林祥煌 and Ouyang Zhongguang 歐陽重光, succeeded him at the head of the center. Upon his death (1979), his disciples, including Qian Zhimin 錢智敏, opened two meditation centers, one in Taipei, the other in Taichong, named “Nuona Meditation Center (Nuona jingshe 諾那精舍)” openly showing their link to Norlha Qutuγtu. Han Thorng would found the Lotus Meditation Center (Lianhua jingshe 蓮花精舍) and

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Concerning Gangkar Rinpoche’s disciples, only Zhang Chengji’s presence is confirmed. He was one of the five “Vajra Masters” that Gongga Laoren had probably met at Bo Gangkar. He came to the island in 1963, taught for a while at Wenhua University’s Philosophy Department, then emigrated to the United States. Few Gélukpa took their chance in Taiwan at that time. It seems an Austrian monk who went by the name “Ordained Master Yicheng” (Biqiu Yicheng Fashi 比丘義成法師), taught The Great Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, the text by Tsongkhapa, but he had very few disciples, due to his poor command of Mandarin. No lay Chinese seems to have represented the Sakya School at the time.20 According to “Biographical Notes,” Gongga Laoren began to teach in Taipei’s private homes, shortly after her arrival.21 Sources are consistent on the fact that two local lay Buddhists, Chen Yulin 陳玉麟 and Tong Bingqing 童炳清, were the first to request her teachings.22 Gongga Laoren’s itinerance began in Muzha, where she lived in the Xu 徐 family’s house. Her students were mainly Tong Bingqing’s close friends and the altar ( fotang 佛堂) was located at the home of a Mr. Chen 陳. Other people wished to join her group of disciples, which forced her to find a larger space to accommodate the growing demand. First, it was the Guo 郭’s house, then another located at 129 East Nanjing Street, followed by another again on Xiamen Street, in the home of one of her close disciples, Chen Zuoqian 陳作簽. Gongga Laoren’s approach corresponds to the habits of the time, when religious rituals and ceremonies were organized in great secrecy and in places only the initiated knew about. In fact, her nascent success was no fluke. She was at “the right place at the right time.” According to Pierre Bourdieu charisma manifests suddenly by an “inaugural act.”23 Her decisive Taiwanese “inaugural act” occurred in 1959. According to the “Biographical Notes,” a lay Buddhist, Liwu Ruohua 李吳若華, head of a Hong

20

21 22 23

Lau Yui-chi the Vajrayāna Study Center ( Jingangcheng xuehui 金剛乘學會) in 1975 with mitigated success. Huang Ying-chieh 黃英傑, Minguo mizong nianjian 民國密宗年鑑 [Almanac of Esoteric Buddhism during the Republic of China] (Taipei: Quan fo wenhua chubanshe, 1992), 264; Chen Yujiao 陳玉蛟, “Taiwan de Xizang fojiao 台灣的西藏佛教” [Tibetan Buddhism of Taiwan], Xizang yanjiu lunwenji 西藏研究論文集 3 (1991): 107; Hsu, Precious Buddhist Teachings, foreword, 1; Yao Lixiang 姚麗香, Zang chuan fojiao zai Taiwan 藏傳佛教在台 灣 [Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan] (Taipei: Dongda, 2007), 60. “Biographical Notes,” 88. Ibid., 88; “Chronological Biography,” 178. Pierre Bourdieu, Langage et pouvoir symbolique (Paris: Seuil, 2001), 24.

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Kong firm came to Taiwan.24 We do not know in what way they met. In any case, this person asked Gongga Laoren to perform the ritual of The Great Liberation from the Intermediary States through Hearing (Tib.: Bar do thos grol; Chin.: Xizang duwang jing 西藏度亡經; Zhongyin dedu 中阴得度) to honor her husband.25 He was from Taiwan, had just passed away and was to be buried on the island. A small community of regular disciples began to form around her. This led them to build a place for her to dispense her teachings there. Liwu Ruohua and Chong Haoyuan 仲浩源, her older brother, contributed to the purchase of land and began raising funds for the foundation of the place, which became the Gongga Meditation Center (Gongga jingshe 貢噶精舍), located in Zhonghe 中 和, a city now part of the Taipei district. It was finished and inaugurated in 1961.26 Its construction was fundamental for Gongga Laoren, who thereby acquired a place of worship and her disciples a place to meet and do retreats. It had all the characteristics of a monastery: built on the Japanese model, with a single, one-storey wood building, and a tile roof.27 Upon entering, the visitor would come upon a representation of Red Avalokiteśvara. To the right were the offices; to the left was the reception room (runtian tang 潤田堂). At the back, a large prayer hall had been set up. This way, Gongga Laoren established her monastic base under her tutelary divinity, Red Avalokiteśvara, the one she alledgedly visualized at the Bo Gangkar Monastery. She definitively established Tibetan Buddhism in the Taiwanese capital even though the period was not yet favorable to it and she never linked her meditation center to a particular school of Buddhism. Later, behind this first meditation center, a two-storey building was constructed. On the ground floor, there was a reception room and a kitchen, and on the first floor, Gongga Laoren’s apartments and a Tantric chapel (mizang yuan

24 25

26 27

“Portrait,” 55; “Biographical Notes,” 89; “Chronological Biography,” 178. Bar do thos grol in Tibetan, Xizang duwang jing or Zhongyin dedu in Chinese, The Great Liberation from the Intermediary States through Hearing regroups several texts of the terma (treasure texts) cycle Kar gling zhi khro discovered by Karma Lingpa in the 14th century. These texts describe the process of dissolution at the moment of death, the rising of clear light and the manifestation of the visions of the 110 deities, the judgement of Yāma and lastly the wanderings of the intermediary being in the bar do of becoming, before rebirth, Cornu, Dictionnaire encyclopédique du bouddhisme, 77. “Biographical Notes,” 89–90. This first meditation center was built in Zhonghe, at 16 alley 378 Zhonghe street 中和市中和路378巷16號. I had the opportunity to see a unique photograph that showed that the meditation center was very simple and looked, in every way, like a traditional Japanese house, the same as some that can still be seen today in Taipei.

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密藏院). The second and last floor was called “Pavilion of the Two Splendors” (shuang hua lou 雙華樓). There were the cells for spiritual retreats. This build-

ing was finished in 1967. The meditation center remained the same for around ten years. But, faced with the increasing number of visiting followers, thousands even at that time (undeniable proof of the success of Gongga Laoren’s teachings in the Taipei area), it was decided to pull down the first building and replace it with a new one, which was completed in 1980.28

2

Publication of the First Dictated Autobiography

During the construction of her meditation center in Zhonghe, Gongga Laoren told her life-story to two of her disciples, Wang Yefeng 王野楓 and Deng Zhongrui 鄧仲瑞. They transcribed her words into an autobiography as part of the work entitled Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple published in Taipei in 1961, shortly after the center opened, because two chapters focus on it (the Account of the construction of Gongga Meditation Center, pp. 57–59 and the Account of the Construction of the Vajrayāna bodhimaṇḍa, pp. 61–62), which could not have happened if written at an earlier date. It is important to know that the biographical genre appeared in Tibet in the 11th century.29 The master, whose biography was written, was either at the origin of the creation of a lineage, or a member linked to an already recognized one. In Tibet, from the origin of this literary genre until the end of the first half of the 20th century, distinguishing a biography from an autobiography was not always easy. If the writing of an “autobiography” was undertaken, it was often at the initiative of the work subject: he or she wished to specify certain facts and/or correct unflattering passages, but nothing warranted they were really the author.30 To put it otherwise, a number of biographies were written

28 29 30

http://emmm.tw/L3_content.php?L3_id=2092. Accessed July 12, 2012 (unavailable on December 10, 2020). Janet Gyatso, Apparitions of the Self: The Secret Autobiographies of a Tibetan Visionary (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999), 101–123. See, for example, David Templeman (trans. and ed.), Taranatha, The Seven Instruction Lineages (Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, 2002), 132–147, where the author shows that Taranatha modified the hagiographies of Mahāsiddha Krsnācārya in the narration of his own lineage of reincarnation and Kurtis R. Schaeffer, “Tibetan Biography: Growth and Criticism,” in Edition, éditions: L’écrit au Tibet, évolution et devenir, eds. Anne Chayet, Jean-Luc Achard, and Françoise Robin (Munich: Indus Verlag, 2010), 263–306, where the author explains the modifications brought by the 5th Dalai Lama

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during the masters’ lifetimes and some of them reviewed and corrected them significantly, hence the name autobiographies. They would check the process, complete or erase the information compiled by their secretary or disciples as they saw fit and chose what was to be included in the final text.31 This way they truly kept control over the content. Nevertheless, classic biographies were more prevalent than this type of “autobiography.”32 In general, they were written by close disciples who took notes consistently during their master’s life and thus produced a chronological work (the rnam thar). These disciples also compiled their master’s works (the gsung ’bum). The result, often several volumes long, was important, as it placed the master at the heart of a lineage of reincarnation and transmission. The volume described the path that he or she had followed and set up a model for future generations. In general, it was published shortly after their deaths. On the contrary, in China, most Buddhist biographies were written several years after the subject’s death. No autobiographies seem to have existed. As of the beginning of the 20th century, there emerged Chinese Buddhist masters’ biographies, written during their lifetime. Since then, the master and subject of the text could suggest corrections but would not intervene themselves in the phrasing of content, as frequently did their Tibetan counterparts.33 In the contemporary Tibetan world new forms of biographies or autobiographies were published. They focused more on the social, historical and political environment of the time than on the spiritual path followed by the master

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Ngakwang Lozang Gyatso (Wylie: Ngag dbang blo bzang rgya mtsho, 1617–1682) to his autobiography. See the example of the elaboration of the 5th Dalai Lama’s autobiography (The Fine Silken dress), Schaeffer “Tibetan Biography,” 273–274. See the figures provided by Schaeffer “Tibetan Biography,” 296; and for the case of the Dalai Lamas and Panchen Lamas, see the graph, 303. On the terms ‘biography’ and ‘autobiography’, see Janet Gyatso ed., In the Mirror of Memory: Reflections on Mindfulness and Remembrance in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992), 465–478. For further discussion, see Denis C. Twitchett, “Chinese Biographical Writing,” in Historians of China and Japan, eds. William G. Beasley and Edwin G. Pulleyblank (London: Oxford University Press, 1961), 95–114; Arthur F. Wright, “Biography and Hagiography. Hui-chiao’s Lives of Eminent Monks,” in Studies in Chinese Buddhism, ed. Robert M. Somers (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1990), 73–172; Phyllis Granoff and Shinohara Koichi, Monks and Magicians. Religious Biographies in Asia (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1994); John Kieschnick, The Eminent Monk: Buddhist Ideals in Medieval Chinese Hagiography (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1997); John Lagerwey, “Dingguang Gufo: Oral and Written Sources in the Study of a Saint,” Cahiers d’Extrême-Asie 10 (1998): 77–129; Daniela Campo, La construction de la sainteté dans la Chine moderne: la vie du maître bouddhiste Xuyun (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2013), 50.

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and on his or her realizations. The authors were not necessarily close to the master and were, more often than not, lay persons. While the form of the texts published is changed, so is the way they are used. Not only did they aim to explain the master’s spiritual background, but, what’s more, they served to support the Tibetan cause and to place of Tibetan Buddhism within transnational dynamics. Nevertheless, the biography remains an important genre, for it confirms a reincarnated master’s traditional legitimacy. For Weber, the concept of traditional legitimacy was founded on the belief in the value of traditions tested with success in the past. So, they remain valid in the present as in future. Thus, according to him, traditional legitimacy guarantees institutions’ durability and efficiency throughout the centuries. The reincarnated master who is the subject of a Tibetan biography belongs to a lineage. He or she has a monastic base and a community of disciples. As soon as the master has been found, he or she joins an already existing structure. Charisma is not an issue, because their role is to serve their institution. That is why Tibetans tolerate reincarnated masters whose behavior is found lacking. This was the case, for example, of the 6th Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso (Wylie: Tshang dbyangs rgya mtsho, 1683–1706). He neglected his spiritual and temporal duties. If we follow Weber’s reasoning, the person is distinct from the institution. That is, the person could be declared unfit for the function of reincarnated master, but his or her ineptitude did not challenge the value of the existing tradition linked to the reincarnation lineage. More recently, the 14th Dalai Lama’s project to elaborate a new way of selecting members of his lineage was rejected by Tibetans because they are attached to the tradition which, they feel, is a guarantee of stability: it creates a link between the past (which, for them, finds its origin in Buddha’s times and lasts till today), the present and the future. The existence of a reincarnation lineage attests that the tradition perpetuates itself. It legitimizes the tradition itself, as recalled at the beginning of each biography. In the case of the traditional legitimacy described by Weber, authority arises from the holy character attached through tradition to the reincarnation lineage. The domination of a reincarnated master pre-exists his or her selection, given that the structure designed to welcome him or her already exists. Their rebirths do not depend on their disciples, or even their own wishes. It is the result of the belief in the principle of transmigration of consciousness and the centuries-old traditional tests devised to confirm a transmigration process. These beliefs in tradition do not prevent the master from being charismatic in the Weberian sense of the word, that is to say, endowed with divine or supernatural powers, quite different from ordinary people, and considered exemplary. In any case, the charismatic legitimacy reinforces the domination already

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established through tradition. And charisma is inscribed in a historical and traditional process that regulates society through the writing of biographies. We can also consider that it is established and acquired automatically by the various masters belonging to a reincarnation lineage. However, how to explain that some masters enjoy long biographies while others have only short ones?34 Can it be argued that charisma plays a paramount role in the writing of a biography rather than attributing these differences in lengths to the longevity of some masters compared to others? Could it be linked to the fluctuating popularity of the biographical literary genre according to time periods?35 Can we consider the length of a biography as a measure of its subject’s charisma. Could it be “situational,” that is, the result of an exceptional historical context? Indeed, the number and length of biographies regarding the same subject betray the concept that “great men make history.” Hence, the great number of lengthy biographies dedicated to the 5th (1617–1682) and 13th Dalai Lama (1876–1933) comes as no surprise. Charisma is a specific form of authority that depends on a person’s extraordinary qualities being recognized. It authorizes a link of domination between master and disciple. For Weber, domination is a position of authority. The master gives instructions to his or her disciples, who follow them. However, domination is not acquired in a permanent way. It must be reinforced every instant and attested to, and biographies are the sufficient and necessary tools for such justification. The master uses his or her legitimization discourse as an instrument to help establish and maintain his or her domination over others. Masters, whoever they are, can develop charismatic legitimacy through a process of traditional legitimacy. That is why biographies highlight the master’s charisma compared with (or parallel to) the institution he or she incarnates at a given moment.36 Traditional legitimacy and charisma coexist and complement each other. It is different in the case of a master who does not belong to a reincarnation lineage and who, therefore, finds herself or himself lacking tra34

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Graph 11, proposed by Schaeffer “Tibetan Biography,” 303, shows the extreme length and number of compilations of biographies dedicated to the 5th Dalai Lama (1081) and to the 13th Dalai Lama Thupten Gyatso (758) compared to those dedicated to the 3rd Dalai Lama Sönam Gyatso (Wylie: Bsod nams rgya mtsho, 1543–1588) (109) and to the 4th Dalai Lama Yönten Gyatso (Wylie: Yon tan rgya mtsho, 1589–1616) (52). Schaeffer “Tibetan Biography,” 295, Graph 1 indicates the number of published biographies per century and the number is over three in the 11th century to 224 in the 20th century. From another point of view, numerous biographies mean a lot of material for historians whose work contributes to confirming charismatic legitimacy of figures from the past in the present.

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ditional legitimacy, as in Gongga Laoren’s case.37 The written transcription of her retreat experience at Bo Gangkar (today located in the Kangding district of the Ganzi 甘孜 (Tib.: Kardzé; Wylie: Dkar mdzes) autonomous prefecture, in the Sichuan province) was therefore very important for her because it was one of the only means at her disposal to establish a foundation for her charismatic legitimacy. Yet, before discovering her as she appears in the chapter “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits” from the book that, by convention we have named Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple in this study, let us begin by examining this work first edition, dated 1961. Curiously, the first cover has two titles side by side written in identical calligraphy: Autobiography of the Reincarnated Master Gangkar from Kham, Omniscient Meditation Master, Benefactor Spreading Buddhism and Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits of the Vajra Master, Gongga Laoren. Presented this way, we may feel the account of Gongga Laoren’s life is incomplete, that it is, only about her practice at Bo Gangkar, but this is not so. We could also think that Gangkar Rinpoche’s life and Gongga Laoren’s practice are inseparable. As for the book’s content, we first find the table of contents, nothing original, then a section of three photographs, which is more remarkable. The first shows the print of the stamp that the Nationalist government offered to Gangkar Rinpoche on January 25th, 1947 in Nanjing, making him the Omniscient Meditation Master, Benefactor Spreading Buddhism. See Fig. 1. The second shows Gangkar Rinpoche sitting on his teaching throne. See Fig. 2. And the third, Gongga Laoren, wearing the headdress of five Buddhas, herself sitting on a throne, in a very formal attitude. See Fig. 3. These three photographs call for some comments. First of all, it is undeniable that the order in which they appear (the stamp which guarantees Gangkar Rinpoche’s qualities in the eyes of the Chinese government, his portrait and Gongga Laoren’s) result in anchoring Gongga Laoren’s spiritual affiliation with

37

About charisma and legitimacy in Chinese Buddhism, see Vincent Goossaert and David Ownby, introduction to “Mapping Charisma in Chinese Religion,”Nova Religio-The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 12 (2): 2008; Feutchwang, Stephan, “Suggestions for a Redefinition of Charisma.” Nova Religio-The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 12, no. 2 (2008): 90–105; Todd Lewis, introduction to Buddhists: Understanding Buddhism Through the Lives of Practitioners, ed. Todd Lewis (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014); David Ownby, Ji Zhe, and Vincent Goossaert eds., Introduction to Making Saints in Modern China, eds. David Ownby, Ji Zhe, and Vincent Goossaert (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017).

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Gangkar Rinpoche (1893–1957) seal

Gangkar Rinpoche in readers’ minds. Was this effect deliberate on the part of Gongga Laoren and her biographers? It is obvious the layout of these three photos is not just haphazard. Concerning the presence of Gangkar Rinpoche’s seal on the opening page, it is rather surprising. Indeed, seeing it there could lead to concluding Gangkar Rinpoche offered his seal to Gongga Laoren, for example, during their meeting, said to have taken place in Beijing in the summer of 1956, shortly before the Tibetan master’s death, but sources mention nothing of the kind. Besides, let us remember Weng Hanliang, Gongga Laoren’s first-generation disciple, claimed that customs at the Taipei airport had confiscated her Tibetan texts and ritual objects upon her arrival in 1958. So, how could the seal have escaped verific-

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Gangkar Rinpoche (1893–1957)

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Gongga Laoren dressed as a lay tantric master

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ation? If not, had she simply brought the stamp of the seal? Otherwise, how come she had the seal or its stamp? Who gave them to her? At this stage of my research, I do not have reliable answers to these questions. Let us now examine the other two photographs. In Gangkar Rinpoche’s, printed with his name and title in Chinese and Tibetan, he shows a jesting smile which departs from Tibetan masters’ seriousness in this type of circumstances. It is well known that his joviality probably did not please Gongga Laoren’s Taiwanese disciples since in the Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds (dated 2002, the latest edition of the book first published in 1961), there is a new photo of Gangkar Rinpoche, with a solemn expression on his face, more befitting his rank. See Fig. 4. As for Gongga Laoren’s picture, it is also rather surprising, but in the opposite sense. Gongga Laoren looks severe, in a still pose, wearing an outfit characteristic of Tantric initiations, while she was taking her vows with the 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rikpé Dorjé only in 1980. In the 2002 edition, her photo is much more sober: she is wearing a nun’s robe. See Fig. 5. In addition to these first three photographs, the Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds displays three others, one of Gongga Laoren’s mummified statue beaming rays of light (obviously added on with the help of photoediting software), and two of the Bo Gangkar monasteries. See Fig. 6, Fig. 7, and Fig. 8. These three new images are intended to illustrate Gongga Laoren’s Enlightenment after her Tibetan retreat. On closer inspection, the text from the 1961 edition shows a structure comparable to that of the photo insert. The first chapter is entirely consecrated to Gangkar Rinpoche’s autobiography (whose title Omniscient Meditation Master, Benefactor Spreading Buddhism is engraved on his seal), completed with a longlife prayer dedicated to him and a brief request for a Dharma transmission. The second chapter details Gongga Laoren’s retreat in Tibet. Its title, “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits” is identical to one of the two written on the coverpage. The name “Vajra Master” and the adjective “Venerable” are not innocent. They place Gongga Laoren and Gangkar Rinpoche on an equal footing though Gongga Laoren belongs to no lineage, and especially not Gangkar Rinpoche’s; she was only his disciple. In addition, when we read these two chapters one after the other, we sense that Gongga Laoren’s retreat is the logical next step after the narration of Gangkar Rinpoche’s life. This editorial choice (the account of the retreat following Gangkar Rinpoche’s autobiography) results in implicitly legitimizing Gongga Laoren, making her a sort of Gangkar Rinpoche’s “spiritual daughter,” indicating the disciple’s realizations are worthy of the master’s; part of the master’s traditional legitimacy rubs on her; they fit into the master’s holy tradition. Was this new effect inten-

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Gangkar Rinpoche (1893–1957) on his dharma throne

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The nun Gongga Laoren

tional on Gongga Laoren’s part? It seems evident. Otherwise, she would have placed the account of her life in China, starting with her birth in 1903 until her going into retreat in 1942, just after Gangkar Rinpoche’s autobiography, without immediately emphasizing her practice. The report of the early thirty-nine years of her life can be found in the book, but not until the third chapter, entitled “Portrait of a Vajra Master, the Venerable Gongga.” The repetition of the terms “Vajra Master” and “Venerable” already appeared in the title of the second chapter, resulting in deliberate emphasis. As for the fourth and fifth chapters, they describe the construction of the Gongga Meditation Center and the erection of the altar dedicated to the Vajra practice. There, too, the legitimacy of Gongga Laoren’s teachings in Taiwan

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Gongga Laoren mummy

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figure 7

New Bo Gangkar Monastery

figure 8

Old Bo Gangkar Monastery

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in 1961 are underscored. Indeed, if this had not been felt worthy of interest; Gongga Laoren’s disciples would not have financed the construction of her meditation center and of the altar. These are concrete evidence of her qualities. Lastly, comparing the 1961 and 2002 editions covers proves instructive. In the latter, one of the two titles (Autobiography of the Reincarnated Master Gangkar from Kham, Omniscient Meditation Master, Benefactor Spreading Buddhism) is gone and the other (Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits of the Vajra Master, Gongga Laoren) has been replaced with Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds. Everything takes place as if Gangkar Rinpoche’s very existence had been erased, as well as the name Gongga Laoren, so as to preserve only the account of an extraordinary story featuring one sole heroine, Gongga Laoren (intentionally?), an omission designed to make her shine all the brighter, freed from the master’s cumbersome presence. What is more, the background of the cover, solid white in the 1961 version, became blue in the 2002 one. It displays a re-worked photo of Mount Gangkar in watermark, alluding directly to her moniker “Venerable Gongga” or “She who stayed a long time at Mount Gangkar,” to designate her without naming her. However, we cannot blame Gongga Laoren for this sleight of hand since in 2002 she had been dead for five years. Having said that, her disciples and editor’s intention to revive a declining charisma owing to circumstances (the passing of Gongga Laoren) seems obvious. After this brief analysis of the book’s form, let us now turn to its content, in particular the account of Gongga Laoren’s retreat. Gongga Laoren, it is said, moved into the Bo Gangkar Monastery located at the foot of Mount Gangkar, the highest summit in Eastern Tibet (altitude: 7,590 meters), between the Gyelmo Ngülchu and Nyakchu rivers, in 1942. As seen in the photo at the beginning of the Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, the building, erected at an altitude of 4,000 meters, while small, is not lacking in majesty, with its roof’s angles curving upwards towards the sky (see Fig. 7). Upon arrival, Gongga Laoren first saw a set of buildings constructed in 1341, called “the new monastery.” There she had a private audience with Gangkar Rinpoche whom she immediately felt great respect for, and who is said to have soon passed on her first teachings and initiations, without indicating what they were. In the “Biographical Notes” (1975), she is said to have requested to receive the four great initiations (Si guanding yi qie dafa 四灌頂一切大法).38 According 38

“Biographical Notes,” 80. Guanding 灌顶 in Chinese, dbang in Tibetan, abhiśeka in Sanskrit is a method of esoteric transmission, see Cornu, Dictionnaire encyclopédique du bouddhisme, 31–32.

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to the “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” the period in which she reportedly received the initiations she is said to have achieved in the aftermath lasted around three months.39 Next, Shao Fuchen, her benefactor in Dartsédo, who had advised her to go to Bo Gangkar, arrived at the monastery where he is said to have interceded in her favor with Gangkar Rinpoche so she could follow a retreat. Then she allegedly spoke directly with Gangkar Rinpoche and is said to have had the following conversation: ‘Which mountain is the most appropriate for a retreat? Which teaching must one meditate on to reach Enlightenment?’ After a period of reflection, the master told me, ‘The place to meditate is where my predecessors practised, my hermitage at the top of Mount Gangkar is the appropriate place. But it is very high, and the air very thin, no-one lives there except an old nun who takes charge of the maintenance.’ I replied, ‘That suits me!’ The master continued, ‘As for the teaching, each and every one leads to Enlightenment. Ask yourself whether you can, or cannot, meditate according to the Dharma.’ I replied, ‘I can.’ The master added, ‘The initiation of Red Avalokiteśvara is vast and difficult to practice, but the results are incomparable. Others are easier. They bring high realizations but are not on the same level as those from Red Avalokiteśvara, given your karmic link with this divinity.’ I followed his words and chose to make it my root teaching. The master decided on the date to begin my retreat (ru shan 入山).40 In this dialogue, Gongga Laoren announces from the very beginning that the Red Avalokiteśvara initiation is of great importance to her. In mentioning the karmic link with this divinity that her master is said to have remarked, she places herself as the person this specific teaching can be legitimately revealed to. Accompanied by Shao Fuchen and a monk, Gongga Laoren left for the “old monastery” which had been built in 1285, at the time of the first member of 39

40

“Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 39 and in Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 62. “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 39 and in Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 62–63.

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Gangkar Rinpoche’s lineage, Drakpé pel (Wylie: Grags pa’i dpal, born in 1260), nestled high up a two-day walk away. See Fig. 8. Built in stone, it was poorly maintained and quite dilapidated. The monastery reportedly requested that repairs be made.41 To the left was the meditator’s cell of about five square meters. According to Gangkar Rinpoche, it had served as a retreat place for his predecessors, but also, as others confirm, for Chinese lay Buddhists, including Chen Jianmin, one of the five disciples who is said to have received from him the title of “Vajra Master.” The place was isolated. Year-round snows covered the summits. Nothing grew there and there was no water. One had to walk down the mountain for supplies and half-way down to get water. An aged nun lived there and possessed a few female yaks to make butter with their milk. It served for bartering with pilgrims who would pass that way in August and September.42 The harshness of the climatic conditions and the lack of food which Gongga Laoren was to be confronted with were such that, according to the “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” Shao Fuchen is said to have hesitated to leave her alone. But this rhetorical device enables Gongga Laoren to show her determination and her strong-willed personality, to encourage her new Taiwanese disciples not to abandon the Buddhist path and to inspire great admiration from them. Shao Fuchen serves as a witness to the extreme conditions she was ready to face and which, thanks to him, could be known by all, thereby adding to her charisma. Her will, as she reminds us, was unwavering. She was convinced that after this retreat, the Gongga Laoren who had entered would no longer exist. However, she was pragmatic and asked Shao Fuchen to remind Wu Yingting, her former fiancé who resided in Dartsédo, to send her supplies annually.43 Now let us examine the narration of her foundational mystical experience found in the “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits.”44 She details facts as they have unfolded, and she comments on them. In

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Chapter titled “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 39 and in Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 63. Yu Lingpo, “Gongga Laoren (1903–1997).” “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 39 and in Extraordinary Story Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 64. “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 40–47 and in Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 65–74.

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the body of the text, facts and commentary are differentiated by various graphics and fonts. First, we learn that Gongga Laoren did not really begin her meditation practice until the third day of her arrival at the hermitage. At first, she had problems concentrating and understood that she should not immediately study the texts but first put her mind to rest. So, she put aside her sūtra, closed the door and began to pacify her thoughts. She reportedly said: It was at that precise moment that I entered the peaceful world in which Mount Gangkar seemed like an altar, to listen to and understand the Dharma, to appease my mind. Suddenly, I heard someone yelling to get out. As I obliged, the door opened by itself. Stating this, the reader gets to the heart of the magical world so characteristic of Tibetan Buddhism. This was the first of five major “events” that occurred during Gongga Laoren’s retreat, which lasted from 1942 till 1945. Here are the four others: she apparently stayed in meditation for sixty-four days without eating and her body is said to have levitated. She is believed to have vomited blood and nearly died, and finally to have visualized Red Avalokiteśvara. These wonders are supposed to show the high level of realization she had reached because, in Tibetan Buddhism, such wonders can only be worked by beings who are very advanced along the Path. So as to be credible in her Taiwanese disciples’ eyes, one or several trustworthy witnesses were needed. According to Weber, charisma cannot exist alone, it must be recognized by others. To be accepted as a charismatic master in Taiwan, Gongga Laoren had to imperatively include in her account a witness who could vouch for her. Enters the aged nun in charge of taking care of her during her retreat. Her simple status as a nun convinced Gongga Laoren’s Taiwanese disciples she was not lying, since nuns are supposed to respect their vows and always tell the truth. According to Gongga Laoren’s narrative principle, the nun, as a privileged witness, comments her realizations. Concerning her sixty-four-day period of fasting reclusion, the second “event” in the “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” Gongga Laoren lets the nun say, in direct style, that “she had never seen a hermit stay inside for such a long time” adding that, “Gongga [Laoren] was the only hermit in a century at Mount Gangkar to have meditated without eating.” So, she asked her how she could have known she had stayed sixty-four days as a recluse in the hermitage. The nun’s reply is compelling. According to Gongga Laoren’s account, each day the nun came up to the entrance of the hermitage

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and put down a pebble that, in addition to the preceding ones, enabled her to measure the duration of her fast and reclusion. The “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits” does not say what made Gongga Laoren stop her meditation after sixty-four days, even if she claims she could have carried on much longer, had she not been interrupted. Throughout the text, Gongga Laoren always has the nun intervene while choosing carefully the vocabulary she uses to describe Gongga Laoren’s own acts and gestures. This way, as she puts it, the nun modified little by little the way she addressed her during Gongga’s spiritual development,45 going from the typical term of “hermit” ( jueba 覺八) to that of “bodhisattva” (pusa 菩萨). The third “event,” last but not least—as it could have been the death of her— also had its witnesses.46 Gongga Laoren relates it in the following way: One day, after my morning meditation, I felt that my body had changed. After my midday meditation, the nun brought me a glass of milk. I drank it and suddenly began to vomit blood which spread on the floor covering about one square meter. I stayed calm and closed my eyes. The nun is to have witnessed this vomiting and she immediately called a monk who was meditating nearby (so there was another person not far from the hermitage). He noticed that Gongga Laoren’s body was already cold: she could not breathe well and only her face was warm. He concluded she was in agony. That very night the monastery was alerted to her health condition. Mankong is said to have informed Gangkar Rinpoche who, on the one hand, prepared her to pass through the bardo and on the other hand, sent someone to find medicine. The episode is said to have lasted seven days until Mankong went up to the hermitage and saw that Gongga Laoren had gotten better. In her account, in order to highlight the importance of this test, Gongga Laoren uses a special font. She specifies it was a necessary step, one of five changes the body had to undergo during a three-year retreat. This way, the dangerous side of her practice was further proof that her retreat was unfolding in textbook fashion. Gongga Laoren then explains she went back to her habitual meditation after several days of rest. The first was from 4 am till 6:30 am, followed by some refreshment. The second was from 7 am till noon. Later, Gongga Laoren had 45 46

The nun intervenes in direct style in Gongga Laoren’s text, but the transcribed testimony is Gongga Laoren’s, so the ambiguity of the expression is present. “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 42–43 and in Extraordinary Story Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 67–68.

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some milk and then relaxed. The third lasted till 5 pm, then Gongga Laoren rested for one hour. Then, she began her last daily session, from 7 pm till 11 pm. Finally, she slept in a sitting position whether in winter or summer.47 The other two “events” reputed to have occurred during her retreat are her levitation and visualization of Red Avalokiteśvara. Each time, in the “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” the narration paragraph is highlighted by special graphics and the experience is always described as a positive realization that proves the successful progression of the retreat. Gongga Laoren’s body is, therefore, said to have levitated!48 I do not know whether, at the time of her retreat, or later when she was in Taiwan, levitation was already part of the fantasies associated with the practice of Tibetan Buddhism, or whether Gongga Laoren “saw herself” levitate after a state of trance. In any case, she considered this event as of capital importance to her spiritual progression. As for her visualization of the divinity, she would have to wait. In her narration, Gongga Laoren says it appeared in the form of two teenagers questioning her about the various ritual instruments she had at hand. Suddenly, these children fainted and became emanations of Red Avalokiteśvara, who blessed her.49 Shortly thereafter, Gongga Laoren wrote the following poem as a testimony: How high are the summits covered eternally in snow Nobody goes there, Only me, the meditator, comes to pay you homage, Hoping that you fulfill my wishes, these realizations that I wished to attain, And to live again among the beings; Return to my master’s side as disciple Return to my monastery. Meditate, meditate, meditate, practice, practice, practice, It does not matter if storms upset the mountains and rivers, It does not matter if ice and snowdrifts are piled up like mountains. 47

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“Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 42 and in Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 66–67. “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 42 and in Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 67. “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 46–47 and in Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 72.

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Meditate, meditate, meditate, practice, practice, practice, It does not matter that the monastery is decayed, It does not matter if wild animals live here. Meditate, meditate, meditate, practice, practice, practice, It does not matter to have to eat pork, to drink snowflakes, to wear animal skin, to see my face transform. 3 March 1945 is the day I saw my divinity, she is the proof of the cessation of suffering and she repels the life and death limits. Ha, ha, ha, the three years of retreat are accomplished, I descended the mountain to greet my master, Who waited for me while I matured spiritually!50 This is how ended the narration of her mystical experience in the “Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits.” Apart from belonging to a lineage of masters and benefitting from the traditional legitimacy of such a lineage, Gongga Laoren wanted to prove that she was fully part of the Tibetan Tantric Buddhist tradition, through the account of the five major “events” occurring during her three-year retreat, punctuated by her visualization of Red Avalokiteśvara. Obviously, for the profane steeped in logic, such a story seems unlikely. However, for Gongga Laoren’s first Taiwanese disciples, who were impressed by the ritual of The Great Liberation from the Intermediary States through Hearing she officiated in 1959, shortly after arriving on the island (to the point of offering her her first meditation center in Taipei as of 1961), this was not the case. On the contrary, their expectations were fulfilled: proof she had supernatural powers. As strange as it sounds, the more marvelous her account, the more inclined they were to believe it; and believing it, they legitimized Gongga Laoren’s charisma. In that same tone, Wu Changtao, who was preparing her “Portrait” included in the Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple of 1961, wrote the four following sentences, which must have been re-read and approved by Gongga Laoren: She stayed three years meditating in difficult conditions in the mountains. She practiced visualizing her tutelary divinity till she achieved it. She reached total Enlightenment. It is extraordinary.51 50

51

“Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 46–47 and in Extraordinary Story Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 73–74. “Portrait,” 1961, 52.

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The elderly nun, who was the only witness to her meditative exploits, was not of sufficient spiritual level to evaluate her achievement. That is why Gongga Laoren brings Gangkar Rinpoche into her story. First, in the next part of her “Portrait,” it is written that at the end of her retreat, Gangkar Rinpoche is said to have attributed to his disciple the Chinese moniker “Gongga Laoren” that we can translate as “Venerable Gongga” or “The One Who Stayed a Long Time at Gangkar.”52 We can think that this “label” was not sufficient to warrant her charisma in Taiwan over time, because her “Biographical Notes”, starting in 1975, offer extra information: In 1945, Gongga Laoren came down from the hermitage and back to Gangkar Rinpoche’s monastery. That is when Gangkar Rinpoche transmitted to her the Great Seal (Dashouyin fa 大手印法) teaching53 and gave her the Transfer of Awareness (Powa fa 頗瓦法).54 After a few days, she left

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Ibid., 52. The teaching of the Great Seal is called Mahāmudrā in Sanskrit and Phyag rgya chen po in Tibetan. Mudrā (phya rgya), which can signify sign, symbolic gesture or seal, represents the vacuity which seals all phenomenon of samsāra and of nirvāna. It is ‘Great,’ mahā (chen po), because it comprises all phenomenons without exception. According to another interpretation, phyag is primordial knowledge of vacuity, rgya signifies ‘nothing beyond.’ Phyag rgya or mudrā therefore means ‘do not leave the knowledge of vacuity,’ and chen po or mahā, ‘Great,’ implies that no practice goes beyond this truth, the fundamental vacuity of phenomena, and this teaching is the highest. This method is especially practiced by the Kagyü lineage, see Cornu, Dictionnaire encyclopédique du bouddhisme, 346–347. About the teaching of the Mahāmudra, see Roger Reid Jackson and Matthew T. Kapstein, Mahāmudrā and the Bka’-brgyud tradition: piats 2006 (Andiast: iitbs, International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, 2011); Peter Alan Roberts (trad.), The mind of Mahāmudra: Advice from the Kagyü Masters (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2014). ’Pho ba in Tibetan, kaiding 開 顶 or powa fa 頗 瓦 法 in Chinese is a specific Tibetan Vajrayāna practice belonging to perfection phase techniques (rdzogs rim). This teaching is transmitted to all and not only reserved to confirmed Tantra practitioners. During seven to twenty-one days, the practitioner trains in transferring his or her principle sensient mind awareness in a pure Buddha field. Once the signs of success are obtained, he or she is sure that at death, the transfer will be easy, see Cornu, Dictionnaire encyclopédique du bouddhisme, 454; Mei Ching Hsuan, “’Pho wa Liturgy in 14th century Tibet,” The Tibet Journal 29, no. 2 (2004): 47–70; Mei Ching Hsuan, “The Early Transmission of ’Pho ba Teachings,” The Tibet Journal 29, no. 4 (2004): 27–42; Mei Ching-hsuan, “The Development of ’Pho ba Liturgy in Medieval Tibet” (PhD Diss., Bonn Rheinische FriedrichWilhelms-Universität, 2009); Matthew T. Kapstein, The Presence of Light: Divine Radiance And Religious Experience (Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 2004); Matthew T. Kapstein, “A Pilgrimage of Rebirth reborn: The 1992 Celebration of the Drigung Powa Chenmo,” in Buddhism in Contemporary Tibet, Religious Revival and Cultural Identity, eds.

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him. That is when Gangkar Rinpoche offered her the bell, the vajra and the five-Buddha headdress, telling her: “A good number of people have meditated at Mount Gangkar over the century. None have obtained such an achievement. I plan to make you my successor in the Kagyü School.55 In the same chapter, on the next page, the conversation below is reported. It is said to have taken place at the end of 1945 between an unnamed person and Gangkar Rinpoche while he was in Chongqing, where Gongga Laoren was supposed to meet up with him. One day, someone asked Gangkar Rinpoche: ‘Among your disciples, who is the best practitioner?’ He replied: ‘Among my disciples who have accomplished a three-year retreat in the mountains, it is Gongga Laoren who is the best.’56 When reporting these words, Gongga Laoren uses the same narrative procedure as with the aged nun, namely let “the other” speak. Doing this, she emphasizes the recognition of her spiritual realizations by her master. He was allegedly so impressed that he declared he would make her his successor for the Kagyü. In short, we understand as we go along that her account sounds like a kind of self-fictional novel. Gongga Laoren got Gangkar Rinpoche to approve her presumed mystical accomplishments that no other trustworthy source confirms. She still had to explain why she went to teach Dharma in Taiwan and not elsewhere. Again, she has Gangkar Rinpoche intervene to legitimize her choice. Her master is said to have given the first hints in Beijing, during their meeting in the summer of 1956, as told in the “Portrait” of 1961, in the “Biographical Notes” of 1975 and in the “Chronological Biography” of 2002. The “Portrait” gives the following version: Gangkar [Rinpoche] secretly confided to Gongga [Laoren]: ‘I will soon return to the mountains. After that, the situation will be very unstable and the state of the world will change. Since your practice is successful, make sure you transmit my teaching. My garments and my liturgical instruments that I often use, I transmit and entrust them to you. Take good

55 56

Melvyn C. Goldstein and Matthew T. Kapstein (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1999), 95–119; Matthew T. Kapstein, The Great Transference at Drikung: Its Last Traditional Performance (Munich: Garchen Foundation, 2016). “Biographical Notes,” 83–84. Ibid., 85.

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care of them and pass on my teaching to a multitude of people. It is urgent you leave.’ Gongga [Laoren] respectfully obeyed, stayed prostrated for a long time, crying. Gangkar Rinpoche stopped speaking. Gongga [Laoren] asked him where and when. Gangkar Rinpoche made a gesture with his hand and ordered her to leave. Gongga [Laoren] bowed and complied. She returned to Shanghai where she remained in hiding and practiced medicine.57 The “Biographical Notes” reveals a longer version which is as follows: In 1956, Gangkar [Rinpoche] had been given a post as a Professor of Tibetan language at the Beijing Institute of Minorities. The summer of that year, he asked Luo Renqiu 羅紉秋, a lay Buddhist, to send a letter to Shanghai ordering [Gongga Laoren] to come quickly to Beijing. Gongga [Laoren] obeyed. Hastily, Gangkar Rinpoche gave her the bell, the vajra, the drum, and his Dharma clothes while Gongga [Laoren] kneeled and awaited his instructions. He said: ‘I will soon return to Mount Gangkar. Today, I asked you to come quickly so I could give you my ritual objects and Dharma clothes. From now on, you must go where I have never been to transmit the Tantric teachings. You are my most talented Chinese disciple, I hand over to you the responsibility of propagating my Kagyü teachings. Go quickly spread the Dharma and protect it charitably. Do not put an end to my lineage.’ Gongga [Laoren] cried. Gangkar [Rinpoche] told her: ‘Our master-disciple relationship is karmic. Now leave quickly. Do not linger.’ Gongga [Laoren] returned to Shanghai and prepared to depart.58 This is what the “Chronological Biography” version says: In summer, she was summoned by Gangkar [Rinpoche] to Beijing. Gangkar [Rinpoche] ordered her in secret to go teach to the Taiwanese people and not to interrupt the transmission of the Dharma. That night, she fled to Shanghai where she was teaching medicine in hiding.59 When we compare these three versions of the meeting, we can notice they differ noticeably, in particular regarding where Gangkar Rinpoche is to have

57 58 59

“Portrait” (1961), 54; “Portrait” (2002), 110. “Biographical Notes,” 87. “Chronological Biography,” 178.

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advised her to teach. In the first, he remains very vague. In the second, he simply asks her to go “where I have never been,” and in the third, he specifies “to the Taiwanese people.” Since the first two versions (from 1961 and 1975 respectively) have been reviewed by Gongga Laoren, we can conclude that Gangkar Rinpoche had actually not given her clear instructions. As for the 2002 edition, published after her death, it tends to reveal that her Taiwanese disciples mistook their wishes for reality! What is more, it is surprising these three versions coexist in the same volume (the Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds), all the same, as if the compiler did not realize he was giving the reader an easy possibility to bring them closer together! Concerning Gangkar Rinpoche’s request that Gongga Laoren teach the Dharma,60 Weng Hanliang, one of her first-generation disciples gives a very different view. I interviewed him and he gave me a summary of the notes taken during his interviews with her, Gongga Laoren alledgedly confided to him that Gangkar Rinpoche had summoned her to visit him in Beijing in 1956, because he felt his end was near and he wished to return and die in his monastery. During their meeting, he reportedly said: “You must pay back your debt (Ni qian renjia de yi ding yao huan 你欠人家的一定要還).”61 Gongga Laoren is said to have confessed to Weng Hanliang that, at the time, she had not understood the meaning of Gangkar Rinpoche’s words and she later interpreted them as an injunction to transmit the teachings she had received from him. Proof of Gongga Laoren’s doubt is found in the “Biographical Notes” from 1975. We read that shortly upon her arrival in Taiwan in 1958, Chen Yulin and Tong Bingqing requested she teach them the Dharma. She says she did not know what to do and delayed before acquiescing. She only decided to reply favorably after a dream she had, in which Gangkar Rinpoche appeared to her. According to the editor of the “Biographical Notes:” He held the vajra and the bell and cried out her religious name while pointing towards the East.62 Gongga [Laoren] woke up then. She saw a sparrow feather in her room. She knew the meaning: Gangkar Rinpoche authorized her to teach the Dharma.63

60 61 62 63

“Biographical Notes,” 87. In discussion with Weng, July 6, 2012 and Listening to the Master’s Stories. Remember that Taiwan is located to the East of Tibet. “Biographical Notes,” 88.

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Obviously, had Gangkar Rinpoche left her with explicit instructions during their last meeting in Beijing, Gongga Laoren would not have needed the story of this dream (whether real or imagined) to justify her decision to teach in Taiwan. Ultimately, reading the “Portrait” from 1961 and the “Biographical Notes” from 1975, both approved by Gongga Laoren, we understand they have very few tangible elements that can legitimize the spiritual link uniting her to Gangkar Rinpoche. Regarding her mystical experience, culminating in her vision of Red Avalokiteśvara, the foundation of her charisma (recorded in the Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits), we see that at the time of its publication in Taiwan in 1961, nearly no-one there could guarantee its veracity since the name of the aged nun who assisted her in her retreat is never mentioned and Gangkar Rinpoche had passed away in 1957. After all, the only individual capable of bringing credibility to the account is Wu Yingting, the exfiancé, who had recently taken refuge in Taiwan and who is said to have visited Gongga Laoren from time to time at the Mount Gangkar hermitage to bring her supplies.64 As for Weng Hanliang, Gongga Laoren’s first-generation disciple, he declares that Qu Yingguang (seen above), the Chinese lay Buddhist (a member of Norlha Qutuγtu’s entourage) who also had just arrived in Taiwan where he taught in secret, advised his friends to go hear Gongga Laoren, because, according to him, she was enlightened and had a higher level than his (Ta yijing de dao, jingjie yuan zai wo zhi shang 她已經得道，境界遠在我之上).65 But Weng Hanliang did not indicate why Qu Yingguang had such a favorable opinion of Gongga Laoren. In particular, he did not say that Qu Yingguang and Gongga Laoren had met at the Bo Gangkar Monastery or elsewhere in Tibet or in China. If they had, surely, he would have mentioned it. Therefore, Qu Yingguang never witnessed Gongga Laoren’s retreat. In the context of the 1960s, it is highly unlikely Gongga Laoren could have built up her charisma and legitimacy only through the work Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple. Nevertheless, its publication must have contributed significantly to it, since the book’s readership was keen on this sort of extravagant anecdotes.

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“Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits,” in Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple, 1961, 32; 40; 42; 44–45 and in Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 64; 67; 69–71. Weng Hanliang, Ting Shifu shuo gushi: jing she faben de youlai 聽師父說故事: 經舍法本 的由來 [Listening to the Master’s Stories: Origins of the “dharma Booklet”].

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In fact, at that time, Gongga Laoren’s main activity was to transmit the Dharma. So, the key to her undeniable success necessarily resides in the fit between the teachings she gave and her disciples’ expectations. Now is the time to examine what she taught.

3

Esoteric Teachings

The number of sources available concerning Gongga Laoren’s esoteric teachings and retreats is rather limited. At first sight, it might seem surprising since it was her main activity but the political situation can easily account for it. Teachings were organized clandestinely, and the publication of religious works was forbidden. That is why no book dealing with esoteric Buddhism was published before 1976.66 Gongga Laoren’s autobiography was the only authorized one and the absence of teachings transcriptions results from the ban at that time. The most interesting source is a work entitled the Intrisic Nature of Enlightenment (Zixing guangming 自性光明), published in 1993. Next, in the magazine the Eye of the True Law (Zhengfayan 正法眼), some articles were compiled and published in five volumes. The second provides key information.67 Unfortunately, they start only in 1983. The later “Biographical Notes” and the “Chronological Biography,” included in the last edition (2002) of the Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, have a number of useful descriptions. Thanks to some photographs discovered in the Tainan Chongqing Monastery 台南重慶 寺, we know more about the liturgy and can identify guaranteed dates. Finally, on this subject, as for others, I interviewed first-generation disciples to try and find more facts and/or corroborate other information. Altogether, the above sources show that for many years, Gongga Laoren officiated the ritual of The Great Liberation from the Intermediary States through Hearing (at least once in 1959)68 and that she gave the “Six Thoughts” (liu xiang 六想) initiation.69 She also gave the Transfer of Awareness several 66

67 68 69

Huang Ying-chieh 黄英傑, “Taiwan Zang chuan fojiao yinjing hui xiankuang fenxi 台灣 藏傳佛教印經會現况分析,” [Analysis of the state of Taiwanese Publishing Concerning Tibetan Buddhism], Fojiao tushuguan guankan 佛教图書管管刊 50 (2009): 6–14. The first compiles some transcriptions of teachings given by Gongga Laoren. The second is the newspaper published by the Gongga Meditation Center in Taipei. See chapter 2, footnote 25. “Biographical Notes,” 91. These “Six Thoughts” consist of 1) Consider oneself ill; 2) Heal the illness following the master’s instructions; 3) Follow the method indicated by the teaching; 4) Meditate to escape the illness; 5) Produce the awakened mind; 6) Strive to keep it.

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times;70 she taught the Great Seal71 (apparently only once, in 1965) and the Vajrayāna and Red Avalokiteśvara (the last two were usually revealed during the retreats). However, we cannot have a complete list of places, or dates or the number of people attending all her religious activities. Only in 1993 were the transcriptions of Gongga Laoren’s teachings compiled and published in one book: The Intrinsic Nature of Enlightenment. Its organization is not clear. It is just a selection, not a complete compilation. The preface indicates that disciples and a Tibetan monk helped the compiler prepare it, without specifying their selection criteria. Only nine transcriptions and eight sentences or poems are included. Among the nine transcriptions, four are not dated, four date back to the first period (1965, 1970, 1973 and 1977 respectively) and one to the second (1983–1984), i.e. after Gongga Laoren had taken her monastic vows with the 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rikpé Dorjé. The transcriptions from 1970, 1973 and 1977 concern teachings given during group retreats. The Great Seal teaching, in 1965, is part of the four transcribed between 1965 and 1973.72 These transcriptions refer to the first teaching transmitted by Gongga Laoren when she arrived in Taiwan and to her advice on how to lead a retreat in the best way. No transcriptions of other teachings by Gongga Laoren, between 1961 and 1975, appear in this work, which does not mean they never happened. Her stanzas (Shang shi yu lu 上師語錄) are not all dated. Some were delivered between 1962 and 1974. They are organized chronologically.73 It is worth noting that the various transcripts seem to have been written later with no censorship because they read as if spoken and the speech organization is a bit disjointed. The Q&A sessions which, traditionally, take place after teachings, are not included. We can imagine they were simply edited out for publication.

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“Jingang Shangshi Gongga Laoren zhuancheng nianpu 金剛上師貢噶老人傳承年譜.” http://www.konga.tw/02Biography/02Biography_01.aspx. Accessed July 12, 2010. (unavailable December 9, 2020). Replaced by “Kaishan shangren, Gongga Laoren, zhuanji 開山 上人，貢噶老人，傳記” [Founder of the monastery, Gongga Laoren, Biography]. From the website Kongga.com.tw. https://www.konga.com.tw/a‑3.html. Accessed December 9, 2020. See, for example Yu Lingpo, “Gongga Laoren (1903–1997).” Eye of the True Law, June 20, 1993, no. 234. The transmission of the Great Seal teaching is considered as an important event in the life of Gongga Laoren, because the information is included in each of her biographical notes, for example Yu Lingpo, “Gongga Laoren (1903–1997)” or Zhu, “Short Presentation.” The two other accounts of her experiment as a retreatant are Guan zhong guan Jingang jinxing 關中關金剛禁行 (1970); Guan nei kaishi 關内開 示 (1973), and The Intrinsic Nature of Enlightenment, 105–133. The Intrinsic Nature of Enlightenment, 158–166.

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As for the volume dedicated to the magazine Eye of the True Law, it compiles Gongga Laoren’s teachings on Red Avalokiteśvara because this deity was her “specialty”: she claims to have realized it during her three-year retreat in Tibet. Concerning the chapter “Biographical Notes” from Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, it mentions the ritual of The Great Liberation from the Intermediary States through Hearing from 1959, the initiation to the Six Thoughts and to the 1960 Transfer of Awareness, and to the 1965 Great Seal. The “Chronological Biographies” indicate years only. The ritual of The Great Liberation from the Intermediary States through Hearing was done upon special request when someone was about to die. Probably, the very first esoteric initiation Gongga Laoren gave on Taiwanese soil was the Six Thoughts, because she makes it a priority to address beginner practitioners. Although neither the exact date, nor the place, nor the number of participants are known, it is described in detail in the “Biographical Notes” from 1975. During this teaching, Gongga Laoren asked her disciples to: Begin by considering you have bad thoughts: those who transmit the Dharma use benevolence to heal these thoughts; they turn benevolence into a medicine; those who receive the teaching generate wholesome thoughts; [one must, as Buddha, attain right thought; conform to Buddha’s words and develop his way of thinking.74 Now let us deal with the photographs. When I first arrived at the Chongqing Monastery in Tainan (south of Taiwan) in 2009, I was extremely surprised to find some photos dating from the 1960s and 1970s on the wall in the administration office. See Fig. 9 and Fig. 10. Captions indicated these images had been taken during various transmissions of the Transfer of Awareness initiation. The dates—17 September 1960, 30 June 1968, 14, 20 and 25 November 1971 and 3 December 1971—warrant the realization dates of these transmissions. The number of participants is provided: 52, 44, 21, 24, 21 and 25 people respectively. A great success in those days. Men were slightly more numerous than women at each initiation. In the photo dated 25 November 1971, all the people present, except two young girls, show the sign that the transmission was correctly received: a blade of grass rested vertically on their head to symbolize that their fontanelles had been opened. In the 1975 “Biographical Notes,” it is specified that the disciples who received the initiation from Gongga Laoren herself had their fontanelles open as of the first day, while seven to twenty-

74

“Biographical Notes,” 91.

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figure 9

Old Chongqing Monastery, Tainan

one days are usually necessary.75 Therefore, they could rest assured that, on dying, the transference of their consciousness principle would be easy and land them in Buddha’s pure lands, usually in Buddha Amitābha’s realm of Sukhāvatī, where Enlightenment can be attained.76 Having received the transmission and instructions for the transfer of awareness, they were supposed to master the practice and liberate themselves the moment they died, without having to try out new rebirths. The blade of grass placed on the top of their skull indicated the operation’s success: the opening thus created had liberated their conscious aspect. Gongga Laoren is at the center of the photos. In the first, she is not wearing a headdress and is seated at the same level as disciples. She stands out from the others because of her Tibetan style clothing (a yellow blouse covered with a dark red dress). See Fig. 11. In the other photographs, she sits on a chair placed on a raised platform, while her disciples sit cross-legged on the floor. She is wearing two different head pieces. One is that of Gampopa (Wylie: Sgam po pa, 75 76

Ibid., 89. Kapstein, “A Pilgrimage of Rebirth reborn,” 98–99; Cornu, Dictionnaire encyclopédique du bouddhisme, 454.

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figure 10 Commemorative picture of the Transfer of Awareness initiation transmission by Gongga Laoren, September 17, 1960

1079–1153) and the other, the crown of the five families (rigs lnga or dbu rgyan rigs lnga). The first is usually worn by prominent figures of the Karma Kagyü School. It usually represents either a mountain opposite which Gampopa is said to have meditated, or a shoe that Milarepa (Wylie: Mi la ras pa, 1040–1123) offered him to turn into a hat.77 The second, the crown of the five families, is used mainly for transmissions (dbang) and, at times, for dances. According to Etienne Bock, it is found in all Tibetan Buddhism Schools, and even in the Bön School in a particular form. It is much sought after among Chinese masters. These photos testify to events in a reliable way (no Photoshop when they were processed!), but no-one could (or wanted to) tell me more. Since 2010, they have no longer been exhibited. This being said, these photos do show us that Gongga Laoren conducted the initiation of the Transfer of Awareness very early on, as of Autumn 1960. Then, the Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple had not yet been pub77

Gega Lama, Principles of Tibetan Art (Antwerp: Karma Sonam Gyamtso Ling, 1983), 375; Giuseppe Tucci, Religions of Tibet (London: Routledge, 2009 [1st ed. 1980]), 125. Many thanks to Etienne Bock for having forwarded me these references by mail on February 25, 2015.

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figure 11

Commemorative picture of the Transfer of Awareness initiation transmission by Gongga Laoren, December 3, 1971

lished, so she could not have used them to promote her teachings or to attract crowds. Not an innocent choice because, in Tibetan Buddhism, this type of esoteric teaching is normally reserved for disciples much advanced on the Path. She was able to immediately open there probably thanks to Tong Bingqing’s influence, one of her first two disciples who worked at the national telecommunications company in Tainan. According to Li Mingwei, a very early disciple, Tong Bingqing and his friend Mo Zhengxi 莫正熹, both influential members of the lay Buddhist community in Tainan, invited Gongga Laoren officially via the local branch of the Buddhist Association of the Republic of China.78 Both were to become her local contacts and they hunted for a permanent place of worship for her. According to various testimonies, they organized her arrival and the transmission ceremonies of esoteric teachings at the Zhuxi Monastery 竹溪寺 and the Guanyin jiang Monastery 觀音講寺. Both sites belonged to the oldest (built in the 18th century) and most important Mahāyāna monasteries in Tainan. Tong Bingqing and Mo Zhengxi knew these

78

In discussion with Li Mingwei, whose mother welcomed Gongga Laoren during her first stay in Tainan, September 2010.

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communities. Gongga Laoren transmitted the initiation of the Transfer of Awareness at the Zhuxi Monastery with nearly one hundred people attending and twice as many came to receive her blessing or take refuge (guiyi zhe 皈依 者) at the Guanyin jiang Monastery.79 Various incidents, not reported in Gongga Laoren’s authorized biographies, spoilt these celebrations success. Some time later, the Zhuxi and Guanyin jiang monasteries were no longer teaching sites, but sources cannot establish a definite link between the incidents and this change. The first outbursts concerned the very practice of Tibetan Buddhism. Gongga Laoren was reproached for using alcohol during rituals and eating meat within the Mahāyāna monasteries, since the Taiwanese Buddhists are vegetarians and only allow fruit or flowers offerings. Accordingly, Gongga Laoren was accused of having sullied these pure places and many questioned her Buddhist practice “orthodoxy.” Gongga Laoren was equally blamed for wasting food when she used rice and threw a few grains in the air, as times were difficult for exiled Chinese, but this was the Tibetan practice during the mandala offering at the start of each religious ceremony.80 Faced with the virulence of the criticism, the heads of the monastery refused to have any new Tantric initiations celebrated there. So, another site had to be found. Master Quanmiao 全 妙 法 師, who apparently was at the time the Zhuxi Monastery abbot or manager, also probably played a major role in the matter. According to the “Biographical Notes,” he invited Gongga Laoren to come teach in the Southern part of the island, together with Tong Bingqing and Mo Zhengxi.81 Others suggested he alone was the initiator.82 In his memoirs, Quanmiao highlights the risk he took when accepting a ten-day-long transmission although the other monasteries had turned them down.83 No detail 79

80 81 82 83

“Biographical Notes,” 91; Huang Hui-li 黃慧琍, Zang chuan fojiao zai Tai fazhan chutan—yi Tainan diqu de Zang chuan fojiao tuanti wei yanjiu duixiang 藏傳佛教在台發展初探— 以台南地區的藏傳佛教團體為研究對象 [Preliminary Analysis of the Development of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan Based on the Tibetan Buddhist Centers in Tainan] (PhD Diss., National University of Tainan, 2008), 52; Lo Wei-shu 羅娓淑, “Tainan Chongqing si de fazhan licheng yu Nan Taiwan Zang chuan fojiao fazhan guanxi yanjiu 台南重慶寺 的發展歷程與南台灣藏傳佛教發展關係研究” [Research on the Relations Between the Development of the Chongqing Monastery in Tainan and that of Tibetan Buddhism in Southern Taiwan], Zhonghua Foxue xuebao 中華佛學學報 20 (2007): 316–317. In discussion with a disciple, July 2010. See also Huang, Preliminary Analysis, 52–53. “Biographical Notes,” 90. Yu Lingpo, “Gongga Laoren (1903–1997)”; Zhu, “Short Presentation.” Master Quanmiao 全 妙 法 師, Cangsang huiyi lu 滄 桑 回 憶 錄 [Memoirs of my Vicissitudes], 7. I thank Cody Bahir who forwarded me this source which gives Quanmiao’s point of view.

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is mentioned in the Autobiography of the Master and Disciple and neither in the Account of the Spiritual Practice Undertaken in the Snowy Summits. However, oral testimonies warrant Quanmiao had taken refuge with Gongga Laoren (though she had not even been ordained at that time). Clearly, the ethical reasons put forward were not the only ones for evicting them. Gongga Laoren’s first-generation disciples very reluctantly revealed that a rivalry opposed Quanmiao and Tong Bingqing as to which one of them would become Gongga Laoren teachings repository and possibly the head of the budding Tainan disciples community. As a matter of fact, she lived in Taipei and only came to the south once a year for only ten days. When Quanmiao mentions this animosity in his memoirs, he accuses Tong Bingqing of sparking the argument. According to him, Gongga Laoren had always recognized him as her closest collaborator: he assisted when she taught. Quanmiao, Gongga Laoren’s first devotee, also claimed she had also recognized his legitimacy when requesting him to comment the Vimalakīrti sūtra (Chin.: Weimojie shuo jing 維摩詰說經; Tib.: ’Phags pa dri ma med par ’grags pas bstan pa) at the Dehua tang Monastery 德 化 堂.84 However, Quanmiao’s memoirs assert Tong Bingqing plotted in order to be recognized as Gongga Laoren’s “favorite”: he invited her to Tainan without informing Quanmiao. And while Quanmiao was practicing the Vimalakīrti sūtra with his disciples, Gongga Laoren is said to have awarded Tong Bingqing the title of Acharya (gei Tong Bingqing jushi guan Acharya ding 給童炳清居 士灌阿闍梨頂) and appointed him manager of her Tainan daochang (Tainan daochang de fuzeren 台南道場的負責人), although it had not yet been built.85 Quanmiao vouched for himself that, as magnanimously as ever, he withdrew from the Tainan Tibetan esoteric scene. He reputedly continued, however, to practice the teachings he had received at the Zhuxi Monastery after Gongga Laoren was considered persona non grata due to her misguided choice of Tong Bingqing as her representative in Tainan.86 Eventually, he turned to Japanese

84

85 86

The Vimalakīrti sūtra treats the essential principles of Mahāyāna Buddhism, including non-duality, and vacuity, see T No. 475, 14. Etienne Lamotte translated the Tibetan version of this text, dating from the beginning of the 9th century prepared by Dharmatāśila, which appeared under the title The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (Louvain: Bibliothèque du Muséon, 1962). Patrick Carré translated the Chinese version of Kumārājīva dating from 406, see La liberté inconcevable, les enseignements de Vimalakīrti (Paris: Fayard, Coll. Trésors du bouddhisme, 2000). See Cornu, Dictionnaire encyclopédique du bouddhisme, 697– 698. Quanmiao, Memoirs of my Vicissitudes, 7. Quanmiao, Memoirs of my Vicissitudes, 7. An author from the 1980s mentions that while he was at the Zhuxi Monastery he ‘visited a monk who practiced Tantric Buddhism in Zhuxi si at Tainan and told him that there were no more than two monks practicing Tan-

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Buddhism. Even today, however, his heir still lays claim to the early Tibetan esoteric teachings she transmitted to Quanmiao first.87 For all its rather chaotic beginnings, besides the real or imagined rivalry between Tong Bingqing and Quanmiao, photos exhibited in the Chongqing Monastery warrant Gongga Laoren had conferred the Transfer of Awareness initiation three other times in Tainan, proof that her disciples appreciated it. In the following years, she continued to go once a year to Tainan for around ten-day sessions.88 No fixed place of worship had been chosen when one of her new disciples, Wang Tian’en 王 天 恩, a well-known lay Buddhist in the Tainan circle, proposed teachings and practice sessions should take place at the Chongqing Monastery, where he was an administrator. This site, like the Zhuxi and Guanyin jiang monasteries, was one of the oldest in Tainan and part of the first-generation Buddhist monasteries constructed on the island of Taiwan in the 18th century. It had the disadvantage, compared with the Zhuxi Monastery, of its small size and lack of expansion potential, due to its central location in the city. According to Lo Wei-shu (who dedicated a monograph to it), that is probably why it was cast aside by the Buddhist community at the time. Consequently, it was largely in ruins at the end of the 1960s.89 Both to give it new life and offer Gongga Laoren a permanent place of worship in Tainan, Wang Tian’en decided to grant her the usufruct (lipin Gongga Laoren dang ren zhuchi 禮聘貢噶老人當任住持).90 From then on, while the Chongqing Monastery was reputed for its ecumenism, it was recognized as being of Tibetan Buddhist obedience. Tong Bingqing was named administrator. From that time on, he organized retreats for the devotees coming from Gaoxiong 高 雄 (a city located south of Tainan), and from Jiayi 嘉義 (located slightly north of Tainan). As a concession to Taiwanese Buddhism, he adopted vegetarianism. Thus, after each gathering, he invited disciples to a vegetarian buffet thereby encouraging them to take refreshment at the monastery and socialize. He helped them with their practices and went to the funeral ceremonies of their families’ deceased members to lead prayers. Today, testimonies unanimously agree his actions greatly helped increase and

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tric Buddhism in Taiwan at the present time.’ see Fu-Ch’üan Hsing, Taiwanese Buddhism and Buddhist temples (Taipei: Pacific Cultural Foundation, 1983), 9, footnote 31. Quanmiao, Memoirs of my Vicissitudes, p. 7; Cody Bahir, “Reformulating the Appropriated and Relinking the Chain: Challenges of Lineage and Legitimacy in Zhenyan Revivalism,” in The Hybridity of Buddhism, 91–108. In discussion with Weng, July 5, 2012. Lo, “Research on the Relations,” 315. Ibid., 318.

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figure 12 New Chongqing Monastery, Tainan

stabilize the community.91 This monastery still exists and has visible traces of Gongga Laoren’s passage, notably an altar, of utmost simplicity, dating from her arrival in Tainan. The mantra Om ma ni pad me hum is engraved and painted on it and a large photograph of her highlights the importance of the place for her contemporary disciples, who continue to maintain it. The monastery itself is still run by Gongga Laoren’s community of followers. See Fig. 12. Its 2013 renovation has not altered their devotion. The altar was, however, moved, and Gongga Laoren’s large photo replaced with a smaller one displayed on a table at the center of the main room, amidst other Buddhist and Taoist images. See Fig. 13, Fig. 14, and Fig. 15. The monastery is the ideal place to meet the devotees and enjoy long afternoon discussions about their master, her teachings and practices, at least so far as they are allowed to confide. The transmission of another esoteric teaching seems to have held some importance for Gongga Laoren: The Great Seal. She taught it for the first time in

91

Huang, Preliminary Analysis, 53–54.

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figure 13 Shrine dedicated to Gongga Laoren in the old Chongqing monastery, Tainan

1965. A trace of it is to be found in the Eye of the True Law magazine, as well as in the “Biographical Notes” and “Chronological Biography” of the Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds.92 Unfortunately, neither the exact date nor the place nor the number of the participants is known. In the Intrinsic Nature of Enlightenment, the transcription of The Great Seal teaching is summed up in Gongga Laoren’s introduction. She begins with a reminder of Gangkar Rinpoche’s lineage and of this teaching transmission (from Milarepa to Gangkar Rinpoche). In it, Gongga Laoren goes over her links with Gangkar Rinpoche. She attributes the origin of their master-disciple relation to the fact that he began to teach in China at Norlha Qutuγtu’s request. In her introduction, details are found about the Sino-Tibetan milieu during the Republican era, notably the nature of Gangkar Rinpoche and Norlha Qutuγtu’s relationship or on the importance of the role played by some lay Buddhists she knew at that time. The text is sprinkled with allusions to her Tibetan trials, with testimonies of the experiences Gangkar Rinpoche had gained and

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Eye of the True Law, June 26, 1993, no. 234; “Biographical Notes,” 84; “Chronological Biography,” 180.

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figure 14 Shrine dedicated to Gongga Laoren in the new Chongqing monastery, Tainan

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figure 15 Shrine dedicated to Gongga Laoren in the new Chongqing monastery, Tainan

shared with her, plus real events in Taiwan. To the extent that The Great Seal teaching referred to a meditation system intended to reach Enlightenment, Gongga Laoren insisted on the difficulties of meditating in an inappropriate environment. She underlined how it ultimately became easy for her to stay in contemplation several years in a row in the high Tibetan mountains, while noting the Taiwanese context did not help the practice. She notably mentioned one of her disciples who, while Gongga Laoren was in retreat, would regularly visit her at the end of the day to make sure everything was fine: the noise of her steps on the wood floor, her babbling and her snoring bothered Gongga Laoren terribly!93 She exhorted her disciples to study the “Dharma Booklet,” whose content would be examined later, to help them deepen their knowledge and practice the teachings received. In a crescendo of what seems like false modesty, she specifies that, since her arrival in Taiwan, she accomplished some transmissions and gave some blessings, but never taught in an orthodox way (mei zhengshi jiang guo sheme jing 没正式講過什麽經). She adds that if her disciples had not requested the transmission of The Great Seal, she would not have

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The Intrinsic Nature of Enlightenment, 120.

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undertaken it.94 She concludes by explaining the five realizations her disciples should strive for to reach Enlightenment, with real-life examples to support her argument.95 To my knowledge, this introduction of The Great Seal is the only existing transcription of an esoteric initiation transmitted by Gongga Laoren in Mandarin between 1961 and 1975. It was reproduced entirely in the Taipei Meditation Center’s newspaper in 1993.96 Are sources relating to the initiations of the Six Thoughts, to the Transfer of Awareness, and to the Great Seal representative of Gongga Laoren’s religious activity between 1958 and 1975? It is hard to say. Religion was practiced underground in those days, which probably explains the scarcity of written traces. Finally, the economic and political contexts of the time suggest Gongga Laoren’s disciples were, above all, trying to survive. The preservation of Gongga Laoren’s teaching were probably not their priority, yet the likelihood of finding hidden traces of it cannot be ruled out.97 To conclude this part, let me point out that a first circle disciple was kind enough to give me the notes he had taken during classes and on some teachings he attended. These notes suggest Gongga Laoren was mostly giving words of advice. She highlights the importance of motivation for efficient practice, the need to train the Enlightened mind, and respect due to others. She adds that no realization is conceivable, no matter which divinity the adept meditates on, unless these motivations and skills have been enhanced. Unfortunately, none of his notes refer to a specific teaching nor present themselves as a translation.

94 95 96

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Ibid., 117. Ibid., 129–131. The transcription of Gongga Laoren’s introduction to The Great Seal is presented in eight parts in the magazine Eye of the True Law on the following dates: (1) June 20, 1993; (2) July 20, 1993; (3) August 20, 1993; (4) September 20, 1993; (5) October 20, 1993; (6) November 20, 1993; (7) December 20, 1993; (8) January 20, 1994. Each part is published on page 8 of the magazine. Contrary to the date indicated for the transmission of this teaching in the book Intrinsic Nature of Enlightenment, which was 1965, Eye of the True Law mentions 1966. See Eye of the True Law for the practice of Mahāmudra, 156–165 and for its transmission, 175–178. Long Zhaoyu 龍昭宇, one of Gongga Laoren’s first disciples, took charge of preserving the newspapers published by the Gongga Meditation Center in Taipei and to establish a library at her own initiative.

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Retreats

A close look at the chronology of events in Gongga Laoren’s life shows her personal retreats take the lion’s share. In fifty years, from 1942 to 1992, she did no less than seven long retreats (one in Tibet, one in China and five in Taiwan), thirteen years of her life in all! Her biographers emphasize her capacity to go into retreat. On top of having kept the transcription of her testimony on the three-year meditative practice at Bo Gangkar in each of the editions starting from 1961, they describe her two successive, long reclusions in Taiwan between 1961 and 1975.98 The first one took place from 1968 to 1971 and was focused on practicing the Vajrayāna initiation.99 Gongga Laoren’s came out of retreat after two and a half years (in 1971),100 without specifying the reasons for her temporary interruption (xiao chuguan 小出關). Her oral testimony was noted down at the time, conserved and finally published in 1993 in the Intrinsic nature of Enlightenment. However, the “Chronological Biography” develops it even more. This source claims the death of Wu Yingting, her ex-fiancé, motivated Gongga Laoren’s decision to pray for his rebirth in Buddha’ paradise.101 Moreover, she wished to use this sad event to share her experience with her disciples, giving them her personal diary to read, organized into a narration of her seven days of practice. This text is re-transcribed under the name Notes on Ascetic Practices—Songs to Achieve Enlightenment (Ku xing ji—de dao ge 苦行記—得道歌) and re-publishes the verses from the Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple. Her disciples’ request to learn more on the reason for her retreat comes first in the introduction to her teaching that day. That is what a master would do as teaching could not begin unless explicitly requested. Then Gongga Laoren explained: her break, after two and a half years of meditation was meant to let them know of the suffering one had to endure during practice, but also to encourage them to experience it during their lifetime, for no other ulterior motive but only for the sake of reaching Enlightenment. She confirmed this objective was only attainable if practice was continuous and filled each instant of their days and nights. Then she granted them the Q&A session she had organized. Questions revolved around what foods to

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99 100 101

Gongga Laoren also did shorter retreats: one of one hundred days after the end of the construction of her meditation center in Taipei in 1961, another one of forty-nine days in Yangming shan, to the north of the city in 1966. “Biographical Notes,” 94. “Guan zhong guan Jingang jinxing 關中關金剛禁行 (1970),” Intrinsic Nature of Enlightenment, 91–103. “Chronological Biography,” 180.

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eat during a retreat; how long clairvoyance of mind lasts; and which deities’ meditations could protect teachings, like Mahakala. The remaining questions were very down to earth. They bring little more, especially nothing about her hypothetical realizations. The second retreat took place from 1972 to 1975, with no specified focus.102 We know that, at her disciple Tong Bingqing’s request, she accepted to leave her retreat once a year to teach.103 During one of these interruptions, she evoked the sadness she felt on learning the death of five of her disciples. She declared it an obstacle for a successful retreat and claimed having accomplished nothing during the past year. Instead of a teaching, she proposed a Q&A session, deemed more appropriate for her to help her disciples. She actually had a chat with them, reminding them of the importance of meditation while progressing on the Path. She also goes over The Great Seal teaching, which she considers as the basis for all others. In answer to her disciples, she explained that exoteric Buddhism (xian jiao 顯教) is complementary to esoteric Buddhism (mi jiao 密 教). According to her, the great difference between the two lies in the importance of the regular and intense practices essential in esoteric Buddhism. She therefore urged her disciples not to just come hear her, but also train themselves: “In general, we, the practitioners, say to ourselves, ‘we have faith, we have the will,’ but when it comes to practice, we tend to procrastinate.”104 Lastly, she said she wanted, after her retreat, to found a hospital to help people in need (qiuji ren de yiyuan 救濟人的醫院) and go to Sikkim to meet the 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rikpé Dorjé in order to clarify some aspects of Karma Kagyü’s teachings.105 Unfortunately, the visualizations realized during the two retreats were not transcribed in sources, contrary to those accomplished in Tibet. On the other hand, the instructions written down by Gongga Laoren during these retreats were used by her disciples as a sort of “guide for the retreat practitioner.”106 They are of great simplicity and highlight the difficulties of undergoing this type of meditative exercise, the suffering endured all along and how fortunate those who manage to finish them are.

102 103 104

105 106

“Biographical Notes,” 92–98. “Guan nei kaishi 關内開示 (1973),” Intrinsic Nature of Enlightenment, 73–88. “Women yi ban xiuxing ren dagai dou shi zhiyang, ⸢xin⸥ ye you, ⸢yuan⸥ ye you, zhi yu ⸢xing⸥ na jiu yao deng yi hui’er le 我們一般修行人大概都是這樣, 「信」也有，「願」也 有，至於「行」那就要等一會兒了,” The Intrinsic Nature of Enlightenment, 87. Intrinsic Nature of Enlightenment, 81. Eye of the True Law, January 20, 2002, no. 336.

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Nevertheless, the two long retreats that Gongga Laoren accomplished resulted in definitively convincing her disciples she was able to live as a recluse, in the continuation of her Tibetan experience, thereby undeniably boosting her legitimacy and charisma. Finally, let us point out that Gongga Laoren also organized short retreats for her disciples. The description of a collective retreat session was first found in 2002 in the Eye of the True Law magazine, then annually at the Chinese New Year. These collective retreats took place at the very beginning of the lunar new year. As of the end of the 1960s, one whole floor of the Taipei Meditation Center was reserved for them. They lasted two days and two nights and were dedicated to Red Avalokiteśvara. Gongga Laoren’s disciples were allowed to participate exclusively. They had to recite 108,000 mantras and prostrate 108 times a day. These days, that is, two decades after Gongga Laoren’s death, this is an ongoing tradition. Sessions (xiu 修) dedicated to Red Avalokiteśvara are organized regularly and announced at the Taipei Meditation Center. When I stopped by at one of them, I noticed nearly no-one had attended that day, which does not, however, preclude attendance on other days. While the religious activities linked to Gongga Laoren’s name seem to be losing steam, evidence shows this was not the case during her lifetime.

5

Using the Secret

Her pronounced affinity for secrecy which she used abundantly also contributed to her success. At the beginning of the 1960s, while the number of her disciples was growing steadily, she painstakingly began to create a “Dharma Booklet” ( faben). One of her disciples, Wu Changtao 吳長濤, an avid notetaker, offered to take notes during her teachings and compile them, but he fell so sick he could not move around. So, Gongga Laoren decided to transmit him the teachings while he was in bed so he could do as planned. Wu Changtao eventually managed to produce the booklet Gongga Laoren gave to each disciple taking refuge with her.107 Incidentally, she said, it was produced at great pains, but failed to specify Wu Changtao had done most of the suffering.108 It is each of her disciples’ bedside book and to our knowledge no other has been written since. I do not know whether it is still distributed today. It used to be handed out to the lay people who took refuge with Tibetan masters passing through

107 108

Weng, Listening to the Master’s Stories. Intrinsic Nature of Enlightenment, 111.

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her Taipei Meditation Center or the Tainan Monastery; or to the fully ordained monks among her disciples. People who have taken refuge with Gongga Laoren refer to it exclusively, despite the abundance of Chinese translations of Tibetan Buddhist texts. It is their way of deliberately showing unfailing loyalty to their master whose teachings oral transmission surpassed the study of texts. Their attachment for her is great, indeed. Her followers still gather regularly in her meditation center and monasteries, though many masters of Tibetan origin have settled around since the beginning of the 1980s. What exactly does Gongga Laoren’s “Dharma Booklet” contain? I received only vague replies to this question. I was able to see the famous booklet, but never could hold it in my own hands. A disciple from her inner circle confided that Gongga Laoren’s Red Avalokiteśvara and Transfer of Awareness as esoteric teachings are in it. I have my doubts, however, since that same disciple said her own practice was simply to recite the mantras, as she felt it was impossible to progress any further otherwise, particularly towards visualizations of the divinity. If the exercises following the Red Avalokiteśvara initiation had been included, she would have trained herself in it. I am afraid it will remain a mystery since the recipients are still formally banned from showing the contents to the uninitiated, as I was told each time I tried to read one. A new domination dimension is thereby created between those inside the community (to use the Tibetan term, nang pa) and those outside: by using a secret that everyone knows about but no-one dares mention. Gongga Laoren would stabilize her charisma by the secrecy surrounding the transmission of these esoteric teachings and the “Dharma Booklet” contents, as well as by the choice of events recounted in her biography, besides her narrative style. Charisma is all about domination. Here, the culture of secrecy (that her disciples still observe today) leads to domination as it creates a hierarchy between those who have received the “Dharma Booklet,” and have therefore taken refuge with Gongga Laoren, and the others, those outside the community. What is more, the same phenomenon is repeated among her successive disciples’ generations. The first generation is “above” all others. Its members are “those in the know,” that is to say, “those who received initiations directly from the master,” namely Gongga Laoren. Some of them sometimes told me I needn’t meet with the youngest disciples as “they knew nothing.” Others deliberately pushed aside the novice disciples who wished to speak with me. Another case I observed: young disciples who, thanks to their links with their family’s devotee and those of the first generation, consider themselves to be among “those in the know.” In reality, powerplays abound around the secret of esoteric initiations transmission. Disciples carefully never let the cat out of the bag but revealed just enough for subordination relations to be established among them,

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whatever their nature (the philistines and the initiated; the second child and the eldest, for example).109 Letting others incidentally guess one knows the very essence of the secret (without revealing it), the profane crave for bits of information. A good thing for the group, whose “cohesion, founded largely on ‘the ban on saying what we know,’ depends on its secrets.”110 Mastering how to handle the cult of secrecy was one of Gongga Laoren’s strengths. She leaked very little information on her accomplished realizations in Taiwan. She imposed discretion regarding taking refuge, which was the condition for receiving the “Dharma Booklet” that only the recipient could consult and study. She had created amongst them the sort of cohesion that gave them the feeling of belonging to Gangkar Rinpoche’s community and, consequently, hers. She comforted them with the belief they were having an outof-the-ordinary experience that they had been predestined to have. Since she started from scratch on landing in Taiwan, she owes these results only to her capacity to make herself accepted as a master. 109

110

On the secret and the relations of subordination that it induces, see, for example, Georges Herdt, “Secret Societies and Secret Collectives.” Oceania 60, no. 4 (1990): 360–381; Jean Jamin, Les lois du silence. Essai sur la fonction sociale du secret (Paris: François Maspéro, 1977); Julien Bonhomme, “‘La feuille sur la langue’, Pragmatique du secret initiatique,” Cahiers gabonais d’anthropologie 17 (2006): 1938–1950. Chrystel Bernat and Puccio-Den, Deborah, “Religion, secret et autorité. Pratiques textuelles et cultuelles en clandestinité,” Revue de l’histoire des religions [online] 2, 2011, published online June 1, 2014. Accessed February 6, 2015. https://doi.org/10.4000/rhr.7764.

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Contribution to the Development of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan (from 1980 to 1997) 1

Vows Taken with the 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rikpé Dorjé

When she ended her second retreat (1975), Gongga Laoren was 72 years old. She wished to meet the 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rikpé Dorjé. Why? This is not mentioned in the Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple. However, a look at the commemorative stone marker celebrating her meditation center’s extension shows she wanted to forge a direct link with the Karmapa’s lineage, because her master, Gangkar Rinpoche, had been a disciple of the 15th along the lineage.1 So, she left for the Philippines (1975). How she knew the 16th Karmapa was there and how their meeting took place remain obscure. We do not know whether she obtained a private hearing or if she mixed with the crowd of believers who had come for his blessing. However, she took advantage of her trip to establish a meditation center in her name: The Feilubin Gongga jingshe 菲侓賓貢噶精 舍. According to her “Chronological Biography,” her travel through South-East Asia was an opportunity to go to Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong to spread the Buddhist doctrine.2 From then on, she invited the 16th Karmapa to come to Taiwan to teach in her Taipei Meditation Center. The content of the center’s publications clearly 1 Liu Zhongyi 劉中一, “Taibei Gongga jingshe fodian luocheng beiji 台北貢噶精舍佛殿落成 碑記” [The epigraph of the temple foundation at the Gongga Meditation Center in Taipei] (dated 1980), in Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, 2002, 167. 2 In the meantime, after President Nixon’s visit to Beijing in 1972, it was officially under the Jimmy Carter’s presidency in 1979 that diplomatic relations between China and the USA were re-established and were marked by the opening of an American Embassy in Beijing. The Americans then broke all relations with Taiwan. Gongga Laoren celebrated two Tantric ceremonies for protection against catastrophes (that of the “goddess of the white parasol,” Chin. pinyin: Da baisan gaifomu 大白傘蓋佛母; Skt: Sitātapatrā; Tib.: gdugs kar po and another unspecified one). About the ritual of the “Goddess of the White Parasol,” see Françoise WangToutain, “La Déité au Parasol Blanc, Rituels de protection et histoire du Śūraṅgama Sūtra de la Grande Uṣṇīṣa du Buddha,” in Études tibétaines en l’ honneur d’Anne Chayet, ed. JeanLuc Achard (Paris: École Pratique des Hautes Études, Sciences historiques et philologiques-ii, coll. Hautes Études Orientales-Extrême-Orient 12–49), 327–364. Gongga Laoren presided the second initiation at the request of the Lay Buddhists Association of China (Zhongguo fojiao jushi hui 中國佛教居士會), see “Chronological Biography,” 181.

© Fabienne Jagou, 2021 | doi:10.1163/9789004466289_005

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shows the beginning of its religious opening. Indeed, Gongga Laoren’s “Portrait” included in the Autobiographies of the Master and Disciple stops in 1960 and the “Biographical Notes” published in the Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, in 1975. Only the “Chronological Biography” of the Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, as well as some late biographical notes, go beyond that. In reality, as of 1975, the Gongga Meditation Center’s publications almost exclusively concern the Karma Kagyü School’s Tibetan masters, as if Gongga Laoren had respectfully stepped aside out of deference for them. They show the evolution from an early transmission era, when only lay masters of Chinese origin (including Gongga Laoren) taught Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan, to a second one when Tibetan reincarnated masters followed suit.3 In 1985, the publication of the book compiling the first issues (151 to 164) of the Benevolent Deeds newsletter confirms this trend. Tibetan masters’ biographies are found there, with transcriptions of their teachings. It contains the description of Gongga Laoren’s new orientations as well as her meditation center’s, together with the details of the day when she took her vows as a nun, a ceremony contextualized and summarized in the preface. There, we learn that once Gongga Laoren realized the 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rikpé Dorjé was to officiate the Black Hat Ceremony ( Jingang baoguan fahui 金剛寶冠法會) and transmit the Red Avalokiteśvara initiation at his monastery in New York, she decided to attend at all costs, despite her disciples’ warnings about her fragile health.4 She brushed their advice aside and flew to New York. On July 30th, 1980, on the sidelines of the ceremonies, she was ordained by the 16th Karmapa and received her religious name: Karma Döndrup Rangjung (Wylie: Karma Don gru rang ’byung; Chin.: Gama Dunzhen langjia 噶玛頓臻朗 嘉).5 In keeping with the rule that a woman cannot become a nun without her 3 The Tibetan and Mongol masters present in Taiwan as of 1949 did not teach on a large scale, but mainly in private. To my knowledge, none of them organized an open, public ceremony before the 1980s. 4 The Black Hat Assembly is a ceremony during which the Karmapa puts one on and visualizes himself as Avalokiteśvara. He then transmits his blessing to the attendees who can hope to become bodhisattvas in the time of three lives. 5 For further discussion on the nun ordination in Tibetan Buddhism, see Karma Lekshe Tsomo ed., Sisters in Solitude. Two Traditions of Buddhist Monastic Ethics for Women. A Comparative Analysis of the Chinese Dharmagupta and the Tibetan Mūlasarvāstivāda Bhikṣuṇī Prātimokṣa Sūtras (Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1997); Li Yuchen, “Ordination, Legitimacy and Sisterhood. The International Full Ordination Ceremony in Bodhgaya,” in Innovative Buddhist Women: Swimming against the Stream, ed. Karma Lekshe Tsomo (Richmond: Curzon, 2000), 168–200; Jampa Tsedroen, “Generation to Generation: Transmitting the Bhikṣuṇī Lineage in the Tibetan Tradition,” in Buddhist Women in a Global Multicultural Community, ed. Karma Lekshe Tsomo (Kuala Lumpur: Sukhi Hotu Publications, 2008), 205–215; Nicola Schneider, Le

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parents’ consent, that same morning she turned her body in the direction of Beijing, as a sign of filial respect. She had internally informed her family relations she would be taking the vows. This way she pledged allegiance to the 16th Karmapa who, upon ordaining her, in essence, ennobled her and gave her access to a form of traditional legitimacy. She could now tighten official relations with his administration and his School’s masters, relationships she took care to develop. Further, the Taiwanese practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism, and more particularly her disciples, necessarily needed to be informed. It is therefore from the beginning of the 1980s, and until 1992, that Karma Kagyü masters’ biographies and their teachings transcriptions began to be printed by the Taipei Meditation Center. It is therefore no surprise that the introductions to most of the texts mentioned the 16th Karmapa’s and his four closest disciples’ biographies: the 12th Tai Situ Pema Dönyö Ninjé Wangpo Rinpoche; the 14th Shamar Rinpoche Mipam Chökyi Lodrö, Jamgön Kongtrül Rinpoche Lodrö Chökyi Sengge (Wylie: ’Jam mgon kong sprul Rin po che Blo gros chos kyi seng ge, 1954–1992) and Gyaltsab Rinpoche Drakpa Tenpa Yarpel (Wylie: Rgyal tshab Rin po che Grags pa bstan pa yar ’phel, born in 1954). Each of their biographies is followed by a teaching they had delivered abroad. With her ordination, Gongga Laoren had officially risen above the mere lay Buddhist’s status to a nun’s. In reality, although she had been wearing the Tibetan nun attire for a long time, Gongga Laoren had remained a lay person. It did not prevent her from attracting disciples and presiding refuge-taking ceremonies: she claimed she had been invested by her master to succeed him! Her Taipei Meditation Center was re-named Karma Triyāna Dharmacakra (Gama sancheng falun zhongxin 噶玛三乘法輪中心)6 from the name of the American headquarters of the 16th Karmapa in Woodstock in the state of New York, founded in 1976. Ritual objects and relics having belonged to lineage members were given her upon her ordination. She brought them to Taiwan as is reminded by the stele commemorating the completion of the Taipei Gongga Meditation Center’s prayer hall (in 1980).7 renoncement au féminin. Couvents et nonnes dans le bouddhisme tibétain (Nanterre: Presses universitaires de Paris Ouest, 2013). 6 “Chronological Biography,” 182. All the biographical notes dedicated to Gongga Laoren used exactly the same information as those published in the chronological one, for example Zhu, “Short Presentation.” It is possible that the administrators at the Gongga Meditation Center in Taipei forwarded their “Biographical Notes” to anyone requesting more information on Gongga Laoren. 7 “The epigraph of the temple foundation at the Gongga Meditation Center in Taipei,” 167; Preface to the Eye of the True Law, vol. 1.

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figure 16 Gongga Meditation Center, Taipei

The meditation center configuration evolved, with the creation, on the first floor, of a Hall of Universal Benevolence (da bei dian 大悲殿), where it was possible to pay homage to the four-armed Red Avalokiteśvara (si jian hong Guanyin 四臂紅觀音) and to two protectors (hufa xiang 護法像). The second floor was dedicated to the lineage masters (zushi dian 祖師殿), the Karmapas and Gangkar Rinpoche. A residence for the Karmapa was also built on that same floor. At the back, the two-storey building was preserved. Its name was changed and the Pavilion of the Two Splendors (shuang hua lou) became the chapel of Maitreya (Mituo dian 彌陀殿).8 This is still today’s lay-out. The interior ornaments and the architecture visible from the street are an attempt at Tibetan style. See Fig. 16. Gongga Laoren had now joined the mainstream lineage of Karma Kagyü masters and disciples. Accepting that her Taipei Meditation Center be renamed “Karma Triyāna Dharmacakra” meant she admitted she had joined the Karma Kagyü monasteries network and that it had become one of its Asian branches.

8 http://www.kagyu.org/kagyulineage/teachers/tea15a.php. Accessed February 21, 2015 (unavailable on December 10, 2020).

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The mid-1980s official website of the 16th Karmapa monastery in Woodstock mentioned that the Karma Kagyü monasteries’ international network was made up of thirty-two Buddhist centers located in South America, North America and three others were added in Taiwan.9 We do not know for sure whether they belonged to Gongga Laoren.

2

Invitations Extended to Karma Kagyü School’s Reincarnated Masters

Gongga Laoren’s recognition by the Karma Kagyü School’s highest authority was fundamental for her community as it had by then not only grown in Taiwan but also abroad. Some of her disciples felt her international charismatic rise dated from the time of her ordination. Thus, according to Lo Wei-shu, her ordination by the 16th Karmapa was the determining factor that contributed to the arrival of the Karma Kagyü School’s reincarnated masters to Taiwan.10 I have found practically no contemporary source recounting the Karma Kagyü School masters’ first visits from 1980 to 1984. According to secondary sources, Thrangu Rinpoche (Chin.: Canggu Renboqie 倉古仁波切) arrived in Taiwan in 1980 and the narration leads us to believe Gongga Laoren had instigated this invitation.11 However, Thrangu Rinpoche’s brief biography, published in February 1986 in the review Eye of the True Law, does not confirm this.12 In 1981, just before his death, the 16th Karmapa sent and delegated Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche (Wylie: Mkhan po Karma mthar phyin Rin po che; Chin.: Kanbu kata Renboqie 堪 布 卡 塔 仁 波 切, 1924–2019), his US headquarters abbot, to the Gongga Meditation Center in Taipei. He wanted to officialize its new name (Karma Triyāna Dharmacakra) and consecrate the representation of the fourarmed Red Avalokiteśvara in the new prayer hall dedicated to this divinity.13 Clearly, attributing his main American monastery’s name to Gongga Laoren’s meditation center meant the head of the Karma Kagyü lineage wished to integ-

9

10 11 12 13

See “Gajupai (baijiao) zai Tai de fazhan” 噶舉派（白教）在台的發展 [Development of the Karma Kagyü in Taiwan]. http://sum‑buddhism.blogspot.com/p/blog‑page_7056​ .html. Accessed June 14, 2015. Lo, “Research on the Relations,” 318. Yao, Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan, 79. Eye of the True Law, February 28, 1986, no. 181. “Chronological Biography,” 182; Eye of the True Law (1985), 246; Eye of the True Law, 3rd ed. (1995), 1:246; Huang Ying-chieh, Almanac of Esoteric Buddhism, 276; Yao Lixiang, Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan, 79.

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rate it into his international network. From that moment on, though he died in 1981, the momentum had been launched. Gongga Laoren sent three of her disciples to attend his funeral in Sikkim.14 Other monks—Badu Renboqie 巴 都仁波切 (who remains unidentified) and Lama Ganga (Gangga lama 剛噶 喇嘛, 1931–1988)—came to Taiwan the following year (1982) as Karma Triyāna Dharmacakra Monastery’s Woodstock representatives. The 1st Kalu Rinpoche also went to Taiwan in 1982, where he transmitted a Kālacakra initiation.15 He is said to have been invited by a highly respected Pure Land School’s Chinese master, Shi Chanyun Fashi 釋 懺 雲 法 師, alledged to have studied Tibetan Buddhism with Nenghai and Cizhou 慈舟 (1915–2013). According to Yao Lixiang, he warranted the 1st Kalu Rinpoche’s credibility in Taiwan.16 In any case, Gongga Laoren did not meet the 1st Kalu Rinpoche at that time. Indeed, according to an article published in 2009 in the Eye of the True Law magazine on the occasion of the visit by the 2nd Kalu Rinpoche Karma Ngédön Gyeltsen (Wylie: Kar lu Rin po che Karma nges don bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan, born in 1990), the links between his lineage masters and Gongga Laoren are brought up: we learn that the 1st Kalu Rinpoche and Gongga Laoren met in 1989,17 hence not in 1982. On the other hand, in 1983, the same magazine announced the transmission of the Rin chen gter mdzod (weida fahui chuanshou lingcheng de jue 威大法會傳授铃成得覺) teaching, taught that year in Sarnath by the 1st Kalu Rinpoche and proposed to send offerings there.18 Next, transcriptions in Chinese of the teachings given by the 1st Kalu Rinpoche were published from 1985 onwards.19 Lastly, some secondary sources authors agree on the four 16th Karmapa great disciples successive arrivals in Taiwan: the 14th Shamar Rinpoche Mipam Chökyi Lodrö (in 1984), Jamgön Kongtrül Rinpoche Lodrö Chökyi Senggé, the 12th Tai Situ Rinpoche Péma Dönyö Nyinjé Wangpo (in 1985)20 and Gyaltsab Rinpoche, who went to Gaoxiong, south of the island, 14 15 16 17 18

19 20

“Chronological Biography,” 182. They made a donation of a kagyur (bka’ ’gyur) written in Tibetan to the monastery. Chen, “Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan,” 108. Yao, Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan, 78. Eye of the True Law, November 20, 2009, no. 430. Eye of the True Law, June 1983, no. 165. Regarding Rin chen gter mdzod, see Peter Schwieger, “Collecting and Arranging the gTer ma Tradition: Kong sprul’s Great Treasury of the Hidden Teachings,” in Edition, éditions, 321–335. For example, Eye of the True Law, February 1985, no. 175; (kai shi 開示) September 1985, no. 179. Shamar Rinpoche conducted a Red Avalokiteśvara practice, another one of Mahākāla and transmitted an initiation of Amitābha from 4 to 9 May 1985, Eye of the True Law, February 28, 1985, no. 175. As of the June 1985 issue, the Gongga Meditation Center proposed a short biography of Shamar Rinpoche (in which no trip to Taiwan is mentioned) and the

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to transmit a Red Avalokiteśvara initiation that Gongga Laoren participated in (1985).21 That same year (1985), Tenga Rinpoche Karma Tenzin Trinlé Namgyel (Wylie: Bstan dga’ Rin po che karma bstan ’dzin ’phrin las rnam rgyal; Chin.: Tianga Renboqie 天噶仁波切, 1933–2012) went to Gongga Laoren’s meditation center in Taipei and Karma khenchen Rinpoche Chökyi Dawa (Wylie: Karma mkhan chen Rin po che chos kyi zla ba, Chin.: Gama Kanqian Renboqie 噶瑪 堪謙仁波切) is mentioned as celebrating a Kālacakra initiation in Malaysia.22 These last two masters were to stay very close to Gongga Laoren, then to her disciples after she died.23 All these visits were so many occasions to introduce Karma Kagyü School’s masters to the Taiwanese public by publishing short biographies and providing the Meditation Center magazine with transcriptions of some of their teachings in Chinese. Except for Shamar Rinpoche and Gyaltsab Rinpoche, who, it is specified, transmitted teachings, these other masters did not, at least not officially. The quality of the translations done by Sönam Gyatso (Wylie: Bsod nams rgya mtsho; Chin.: Sunan Jiacuo 蘇南嘉措; lay name: Wu Wentou 吴文投, a Taiwanese monk ordained by the 16th Karmapa) of all their teachings and interviews contributed to the warm welcome given to these Tibetan masters.24 The sole written record of the transmission of one esoteric teaching during the 1980s reveals that caution was the rule given that martial law was not lifted until 1987. However, the esoteric teachings were bestowed in the greatest secrecy in the Buddhist lay associations created after baroc had refused to welcome lay members in its midst.25 That way, masters, mainly Chinese ones, claiming to be taught by Tibetan masters, ensured permanence in these associations’ facilities. This was notably the case in one of them: it transformed one of its rooms into a Tibetan temple where initiations were transmitted. Currently, it is still possible to meet these first-generation Tibetan Buddhism practitioners, whose testimony is credible.26

21 22 23 24

25 26

transcription of his teachings (kaishi), given in India in August 1982, Eye of the True Law, September 30, 1985, no. 179. The visit of Jamgön Kongtrül Rinpoche Lodrö Chökyi Senggé is announced with no details, Eye of the True Law, October 31, 1984, no. 173. One of his teachings (kaishi) is transcribed in Eye of the True Law, August 30, 1985, no. 178. Eye of the True Law, September 30, 1985, no. 179. Eye of the True Law, February 28, 1985, no. 175. Ibid. Chen, “Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan,” 109. Sönam Gyatso is to have also undertaken translations of texts and the publishing of a Buddhist magazine called Falu zazhi 法露雜誌 as of 1982. Jones, Buddhism in China, 184. In discussion with the director of the Lay Buddhists Association of the Republic of China.

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However, no written source or photograph mentions or proves the reality of these clandestine transmission cases, knowing that Gongga Laoren was not the only Chinese lay Buddhist to have received Dharma teachings from Tibetan masters in the 1940s, whether in Tibet or in China. As mentioned earlier, others claimed identical experiences and shared them in Taiwan. Karma Kagyü School’s reincarnated masters came in succession to Taiwan, without settling there permanently at first. According to Yao Lixiang—who undertook a sociological study of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan—before opening their own Buddhist center, they were received in Gongga Laoren’s institutions, which gained some prestige from it.27 Nevertheless, they were themselves keen on spreading their network on the island. Therefore, they began to create facilities. For example, the 1st Kalu Rinpoche founded a center (the Fojiao lisheng zhongxin 佛教利生中心), later called the Daxiang Monastery 達香寺, and then the Jinfalin Monastery 金法林寺 in Taipei.28 As for Thrangu Rinpoche, he created the Vajra Vidya Buddhist Center (Zhihui jingang foxue zhongxin 智 慧金剛佛學中心) in Tainan. Taiwan offered new perspectives on international development for these Tibetan masters and their School. In two issues of the Eye of the True Law, the magazine calls for donations, for example, to support the construction of the Palpung Sherab ling Monastery in Bir in Himachal Pradesh in India after Jamgön Kongtrül Rinpoche visit in October 1984, or for the construction of another before the 14th Shamar Rinpoche’s visit (February 1985).29 The latter put in a new request for another monastery in Nepal in August 1985.30 Upon completion, the 14th Shamar Rinpoche offered Gongga Laoren’s community relics of his lineage members, to thank the disciples for the donations they had given in favor of his projects. Gongga Laoren’s Taiwanese disciples contributed to the financing of the institution of Karma Shri Nalanda from Rumtek in August 1986.31 The donation receipts from the Gongga Meditation Center’s members were signed by Gyaltsab Rinpoche and published: the first amounted to US$2,700 for the Karma Shri Nalanda institute (letter dated 28 September 1985), the other donated US$ 226 (dated 10 July 1986) for the Karma Jamyang Khang Educational Project, also in Rumtek. Lastly, another request for funding was made on behalf of Karma Shri Nalanda in August

27 28 29 30 31

Yao, Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan, 59; 78. On Jinfalin, Sarah E. Fraser, “Tibetan Buddhist Temples in Taiwan: An Exploration of Tibetan Architecture,” in The Hybridity of Buddhism, 57–59. Eye of the True Law, no. 173 and February 28, 1985, no. 175. Ibid., no. 178. Ibid., no. 184.

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1986.32 Gongga Laoren’s Taiwanese disciples participated in the construction of these monasteries and institutes as was indicated at the end of each magazine. In effect, the paper’s last pages provided donors’ names, the amounts given, and their donations destinations, listed in the order of contributions amounts. Gongga Laoren always ranks first in the list.

3

Place in the Karma Kagyü School’s International Network

More generally, in order to sustain visits by Karma Kagyü masters and the establishment of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan, Jamgön Kongtrül Rinpoche created in 1985 the Taiwanese Karma Kagyü Commission (Taiwan gama gaju weiyuanhui 台灣噶瑪噶舉委員會).33 It registered this school’s masters and recommended them to one or several chosen monasteries or centers. It gradually established close collaboration between this new institution and Gongga Laoren’s centers. According to Lo Wei-shu, the Chongqing Monastery, the platform where Gongga Laoren taught when in Tainan, became an inevitable stop for these Tibetan masters.34 According to Wu Mianhui (another Gongga Laoren disciple), a structure called the Congregation of the Taiwanese Buddhists of Tainan from the Karma Triyāna Dharmacakra Meditation Center (Caituan faren Taiwan sheng Tainan shi Gama Gaju falun zhongxin 財團法人台灣省台 南市噶瑪噶舉法輪中心) was founded there to permanently establish Tibetan Buddhism in the southern part of the island. This new structure was linked to the one opened by the Tibetans.35 At the same time, Dong Shufan 董樹藩, the new mtac director, favorable to Tibetan Buddhism, founded the Association for Chinese and Tibetan Culture of the Republic of China (Zhonghua Han Zang wenhua xiehui 中華漢藏文化協會).36 He appointed Master Xingyun 星雲法師 32 33

34 35

36

Ibid., no. 184. Lo, “Research on the Relations,” 321; See “Gajupai (baijiao) zai Tai de fazhan.” The Taiwanese Karma Kagyü Commission would become the Karma Kagyü Association of Esoteric Buddhism of the Republic of China (Zhonghua fojiao Zang mi Gama Gaju xiehui 中 華佛教藏密噶瑪噶舉協會), managed by the Gongga Monastery in Tainan. Lo, “Research on the Relations,” 321. In discussion with Wu Mianhui, September 2010. Lo, “Research on the Relations,” 326 mentions that the Taiwanese Karma Kagyü Commission was created by a disciple of Gongga Laoren, I think, however that she mixed the two institutions: that of Jamgön Kongtrül Rinpoche and that founded by the Chongqing Monastery. About the mtac, see Fabienne Jagou, “Guanyu Meng Zang shiwu weiyuanhui de chubu yanjiu 關於蒙藏事務委員會的初步研究” [Preliminary Researches about the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission], Gu Jin lunheng 古今論衡Disquisitions about the Past and the Present 9 (2003): 105–114; Lan Mei-hua, “From Lifanyuan to the Mongolian and

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(born in 1927), the founder of The Mountain of the Light of Buddha (Foguang Shan 佛光山) Buddhist Monastery and a member of the Buddhist Association of the Republic of China.37 Today, this association’s activities remain linked to Foguang Shan’s. The 1980s were fundamental for the development of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan. The Karma Triyāna Dharmacakra Monastery’s website in Woodstock is significant in this regard: “the centers in Taiwan were particularly enthusiastic to receive teachings and empowerments from Rinpoche.”38 What is more, according to Yao Lixiang, it is obvious Gongga Laoren was a key personality that instigated this development. Yao Lixiang felt that the Nyingma School developed less well and more slowly because it did not enjoy reception facilities or a local figure able to intercede with local authorities on its members’ behalf.39 Apart from the Karma Kagyü, here are the most famous Nyingma masters: Dudjom Rinpoche Jikdrel Yéshé Dorjé (Wylie: Bdud ’joms Rin po che ’jigs bral ye shes rdo rje, 1904–1987) and Jampel Lodrö Rinpoche (Wylie: ’Jam dpal blo gros Rin po che, 1930–1987), who nevertheless tried and also contributed to the development of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan. The Sakya School took advantage of Mingyur Rinpoche’s presence as of 1983: he interpreted for Dézhung Rinpoche (Wylie: Sde gzhung Rin po che, 1906–1987). Masters from the Géluk School did not arrive in Taiwan until 1987. Lama Thupten Zopa Rinpoche (Wylie: Bla ma Thub bstan bzod pa Rin po che, born in 1946) was the first master authorized to go there that same year. According to Chen Yujiao, the Sakya and Géluk Schools did not appeal to Taiwanese as much as the Kagyü or Nyingma Schools: their teaching is mainly based on study while the other two schools focus on practice.40 Nevertheless, a speech from the 14th Dalai Lama, entitled “Humankind and Peace in the World,” delivered in Assise, Italy was transcribed in early 1986 in the Eye of the True Law magazine41 and a biography

37

38 39

40 41

Tibetan Affairs Commission,” in Managing Frontiers in Qing China. The Lifanyuan and Libu Revisited, eds Dittmar Schorkowitz and Chia Ning (Leiden: Brill, 2017), 336–348. Foguang Shan wenjiao jijinhui 佛光山文教基金會, Shijie xian mi foxue huiyi shilu 世 界顯密佛學會議實錄 [True Collection of the World Assembly of Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhism] (Gaoxiong: Foguang Shan Publications, 1988), 3. Several congresses were organized and the visits of the Dalai Lama (1997) and that of Sakya Trinzin (2002) are considered as falling under the scope of the program. http://www.kagyu.org/kagyulineage/teachers/tea15a.php. Accessed February 21, 2015 (unavailable on December 10, 2020). Yao, Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan, 78–79. Lay Chinese Buddhist, such as Qu Yingguang or Wu Runjiang, disciples of the Nyingma master Norlha Qutuγtu, were, however, present in Taiwan as of the 1960s where they established centers. Chen, “Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan,” 109. Eye of the True Law, February 28, 1986, no. 181. See also Georges Mattia, “27 Octobre 1986, la

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of the Nyingma master, Dilgo Khyentse Ché Gyurmé Tekchok Tenpé Gyeltsen Rinpoche (Wylie: Dil mgo mkhyen brtse che ’gyur med theg mchog bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan Rin po che, 1910–1991) was published in it in the same year, next to another about Gyaltsab Rinpoche.42 Nyingma master Dudjom Rinpoche’s death, was reported in it (1987).43 The fact remains: all these Tibetan masters were invited to go to Taiwan while the island was still under martial law and all these centers and institutions had no legal existence. They were not registered with the Ministry of Interior Affairs.44 According to the interviews I was able to carry out, Gongga Laoren’s personal relations played an essential role in organizing visits by Tibetan masters. They started as soon as the first signs of liberalization cropped up. Indeed, some solidarity was established between the few Tibetans present in Taiwan, all the more so when they came from the same region. This way, one of the high-ups at the mtac connected with Gongga Laoren. He came from the Minyak region in Kham, the same where the Bo Gangkar Monastery was located and where Gongga Laoren had meditated. Gongga Laoren could boast some of her disciples were personalities. For example, Tong Bingqing, her first Tainan disciple who, in addition to working in telecommunications, had been the private secretary to Soong May-ling 宋美齡 (1898–2003), Chiang Kai-shek’s wife. Besides, public figures had joined: for one, Chen Lili, a famous television host or then again the mayor of Taizhong 台中. Some suggest that without her privileged relations (above all with the mtac dignitary responsible for the invitations and residency visas—for two-month maximum at that time—of the visiting Tibetan monks), Gongga Laoren could not have arranged for these first Tibetan masters to visit Taiwanese territory. Religious pluralism ended up being recognized by the State. Tibetan centers and associations were then allowed to acquire legal existence. Indeed, after martial law was lifted (1987), the promulgation of the civic organizations act and of the law on gatherings and parades (1989), the Taiwanese obtained the

42 43 44

première rencontre interreligieuse pour la paix à Assise.” From the website la‑croix.com. Online resource posted Octobre 27, 2016. https://www.la‑croix.com/Debats/Ce‑jour‑la/27​ ‑October‑1986‑premiere‑rencontre‑interreligieuse‑pour‑paix‑Assise‑2016‑10‑27‑12007991 03. Accessed June 18, 2017. Eye of the True Law, June 30, 1986, no. 183. Eye of the True Law, April 30, 1987, no. 188. At this time, the criteria for being known as a monastery and registered as such with the Minister of Interior Affairs remained those defined in 1949, that is, that the religious building had to have land, a building of its own and its roof had to have a Chinese traditional shape, see Zhuo Kehua 卓 克 華, Cong simiao faxian lishi 從 寺 廟 發 現 歷 史 [History through the Monasteries] (Taipei: Yangzhi wenhua, 2003), p. iii.

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right to assemble, through associations, for example. Religious affairs continued to be handled by the Office of Civil Affairs, part of the Ministry of Interior Affairs.45 However, concerning Buddhist affairs, the Buddhist Association of the Republic of China, until then the only instance in charge of monitoring Buddhist clergy, lost the privilege, which sparked numerous discussions around defining religious organizations.46 After 1989, the development of numerous structures (such as the great Buddhist monasteries of Foguang Shan or Fagu Shan 法鼓山, but also the Taiwanese Karma Kagyü Commission or the Congregation of Taiwanese Buddhist of Tainan from the Karma Triyāna Dharmacakra Meditation Center) undermined its control over ordinations. Religious liberty was from then on recognized and the Buddhist Association of the Republic of China, which had applied the Nationalist Party (kmt) policies and in exchange received the privilege of being the only organization to represent Buddhism in Taiwan from 1952 to 1989, was at that moment rivaled by a great number of religious and lay Buddhist associations.47 Tibetan Buddhism took advantage of these new regulations and many groups were created. Some had an ecumenical approach (intended to manage all Tibetan Buddhist Schools centers) while others worked for one particular school.48 Tibetan masters then became more and more numerous in Taiwan and the transmission of teachings and initiations was authorized. A special relationship developed between the monastic assemblies of Gongga Laoren and Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche (the 45

46

47

48

Only one association was authorized for each religion. Each represented its clergy and its participants’ interests. Thus, there was a Buddhist Association of the Republic of China, a Taoist one, a Confucian one, a Congregation of Bishops of the Republic of China. As of 1981, the government encouraged the monasteries to create congregations (caituan faren 財 團 法 人), and, as of 1991, to open foundations ( jijin hui 基 金 會), see Zheng Zhiming 鄭志明, Taiwan zongjiao zuzhi yu xingzheng 台灣宗教组織與行政 [Legal Organization of Religions in Taiwan] (Taipei: Wenjin, 2010), 53. Jones, Buddhism in Taiwan, 180–185; André Laliberté, “Religious Change and Democratization in postwar Taiwan. Mainstream Buddhist Organizations and the Kuomintang, 1947–1996,” in Religion in Modern Taiwan, 165; André Laliberté, “ ‘Buddhism for the Human Realm’ and Taiwanese Democracy,” in Religious Organizations and Democratization, Case Studies from Contemporary Asia, eds. Cheng Tun-jen and Déborah A. Brown (Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 2006), 65. In 2000, Yao Lixiang mentioned that the centers of the Karma Kagyü school were handled by the Zhonghua Gama Gaju xiejinhui 中華噶瑪噶居協金會, which had at least two branches ( Jiang yang shehui fuli cishan jijinhui 蔣揚社會福利慈善基金會 and the Tainanshi jieyin xiejinhui 台南市戒癮協進會), see Yao Lixiang 姚麗香, “Zangchuan fojiao zai Taiwan fazhan zhi chubu yanjiu 藏傳佛教在台灣發展之初步研究” [Preliminary Analysis of the Development of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan], Foxue yanjiu zhongxin xuebao 佛學研究中心學報 [Journal of the Tibetan Buddhism Study Center] 5 (2000): 328.

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abbot of the Karmapa United States headquarters). I noticed as well that a number of disciples unofficially considered him as her successor. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche came to Taiwan regularly throughout the 1990s. At Gongga Laoren’s Taipei Meditation Center, he gave initiations of Onethousand-armed White Avalokiteśvara, Medicine Buddha, “Horse Neck,” the Great Liberation from the Intermediate States through Hearing, Long Life, Red Avalokiteśvara and Mahāmudrā. He conducted One-thousand-armed White Avalokiteśvara retreats and organized a refuge-taking ceremony boasting more than six hundred participants.49 The last one took place in 1987, but we do not know who officiated then.50 Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche was equally active at the Tainan Chongqing Monastery, Gongga Laoren’s monastic base in the southern part of the island, where he transmitted a Green Tara initiation and the Bodhisattva vows (pusa jie 菩 薩 戒) in March 1993, then a Red Avalokiteśvara initiation and led a One-thousand-armed White Avalokiteśvara retreat in April 199651—these teachings and initiations were added to the transcriptions in the Eye of the True Law magazine; among them, The ten kinds of wholesome behavior (shi shanye 十善业); The emptiness of dharmas and emptiness of the mind ( fa kong yu xin kong 法 空 与 心 空) and Right view and meditation (zhengjian yu xiuxing 正见与修行) continually from 1993 to 1996. Finally, the privileged relationship that grew between Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche and Gongga Laoren was further reinforced: in 1992, he came especially from New York to inaugurate a new wing of the Karma Triyāna Dharmacakra Meditation Center in Taipei which, at first, had been undertaken to receive the 16th Karmapa, after he had ordained Gongga Laoren.52 Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche did not only visit the Gongga Meditation Center. Given Taiwan’s visa restraints limiting the stay duration to two months, non-renewable, he used his time there circuiting the Karma Kagyü newly opened centers (twenty-one in the early 1990s).53 Other masters were equally active during this period, notably the 1st Kalu Rinpoche, Thrangu Rinpoche, the 12th Tai Situ Rinpoche and the 14th Shamar

49 50 51 52 53

Eye of the True Law, March 15, 1992, no. 219; November 20, 1992, no. 244; February 20, 1993, no. 230; March 20, 1996, no. 266. Eye of the True Law, March 15, 1992, no. 219. Eye of the True Law, February 20, 1993, no. 230 and March 20, 1996, no. 266. Huang, Almanac of Esoteric Buddhism, 153. Ibid., 282. From 2018 on, Tibetan Buddhist monks detained passport can obtain resident visas for religious work. However, it is not the case for the Tibetan Buddhist monks who traveled with Indian Identity Certificates who are obliged to leave Taiwan every two months to renew their passport in another country.

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Rinpoche. The latter celebrated an initiation of One-thousand-armed Avalokiteśvara, followed by a retreat at the Gongga Meditation Center in Taipei.54 Above all, he recognized the first Taiwanese reincarnation in Wei Chengxiang 魏呈祥 (born in 1960), as being Lopön Rinpoche’s (Wylie: Slob dpon Rin po che), whose predecessor was a close friend of the 15th Karmapa, and who became the third master in the lineage.55 Wei Chengxiang was enthroned at the Asian headquarters of the Karma Kagyü at Rumtek, in Sikkim, in September 1991 and was from then on called Lopön Tenzin Jikmé Rinpoche (Wylie: Slob dpon bstan ’dzin ’jigs med Rin po che; abridged to Lopön Rinpoche; Chin.: Luoben Tianjin Renboqie 洛本天津仁波切). Since childhood he had been considered a medium ( Ji Gong 乩 童) who, after following an esoteric teaching transmitted by Thrangu Rinpoche in Gaoxiong,56 became close with Gongga Laoren and more and more interested in Tibetan Buddhism. He is today at the head of the Karma Kagyü Monastery (Gama gaju si 噶瑪噶居寺) located in the southern part of the island, in Tainan, one of the biggest Buddhist monasteries in Taiwan being similar in size to the big Taiwanese Buddhist Foguang Shan and Fagu Shan monasteries.57 Several years earlier (1987), a young Tibetan, Lozang Jikmé (Wylie: Blo bzang ’jigs med), born in Taiwan in 1983 to Tibetan parents, had been recognized as Lochephel’s reincarnation (Chin.: Luojipei Renboqie 洛 吉 佩 仁 波 切) by Drikung Kyabgön Chetsang Konchog Tenzin Kunsang Thrinle Lhundrup (Wylie: Bri kung skyabs mgon che tsang dkon mchog bstan ’dzin kun bzang ’phrin las lhun grub, born in 1946). He was ordained and enthroned in the Jangchub ling Monastery (Chin.: Qiangjiu lin 強久林) in Dehradun, in Uttaranchal Pradesh, in India, in 1992, and received the religious name Konchok Thinley Namgyal Tempei Nyima (Wylie: Dkon mchog ’phrin las rnam rgyal bstan pa’i nyi ma).58 He studied in Nepal where he received a monastic education from 9 to 17 years of age. Since then, he shares his time between Nepal, India and Taiwan, where he founded the Drikung Kagyü Bhumang Nyihudling Center (Zhonghua fojiao Zhigong Gaju puman riguang lin foxuehui 中華佛教直貢噶舉

54 55 56 57 58

Eye of the True Law, January 15, 1992, no. 217. “Taiwan Gamagaju si, di san shi Luoben Tianjin 台灣噶瑪噶居寺第三世洛本天津.” Updated December 9, 2020. http://www.lopon.org.tw/master/page_01.aspx?cid=80. Huang, Preliminary Analysis, 57. Huang Ying-chieh, “Medium, Spirit-possession, Identities of a Master and the Rise of a Karma Kagyü Monastery in Taiwan,” in The Hybridity of Buddhism, 159–176. The Jangchub Monastery is the main institute of the Drigung Kagyü School. It was founded by Drikung Kyabgön Chetsang in 1985.

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菩曼日光林佛學會) in 2003. He is now known as the 4th Bhumang Rinpoche (Chin.: Pumang Renboqie 菩曼仁波切), from the name of his predecessor’s

monastery.59 In 2005, Huang Ying-chieh (born in 1967 in Taiwan), known as the 3rd Palme Khyentse Rinpoche (Wylie: Dpal me mkhyen brtse Rin po che, Chin.: Bamai qinzhi Renboqie 巴麥欽哲仁波切), was recognized as reincarnating the 2nd of the lineage (1897–1945) by Drikung Kyabgön Chetsang and Sakya Trinzin Ngakwang Künga Tekchen Rinpoche (Wylie: Sa skya khri ’dzin ngag dbang kun dga’ theg chen Rin po che, born in 1945) after studying Tibetan Buddhism and translating some teachings from Tibetan into Chinese.60 Among these three reincarnated masters born on Taiwanese soil, one was recognized as a child and the other two as adults. The first received a Tibetan monastic education while the other two attended teachings from visiting masters in Taiwan or the Himalayas. All three belonged to small lineages holding monasteries with modest spiritual influence. The reasons for their recognition as Tibetan reincarnations are numerous. On the one hand, Tibetan masters are often confronted with the language barrier: they often are not proficient in Mandarin or Taiwanese, while masters originally from Taiwan are not hindered by this limitation and can attract many more disciples. On the other hand, Taiwanese masters are precious agents of the Karma Kagyü School’s international network. Since they are in contact with rich, local disciples, they are able to mobilize donations which support the community outside Taiwan. All publications from the Taipei Meditation Center, published during the 1980s, placed Gongga Laoren in a new context and dynamic. She was now part of the sphere of influence of the Karma Kagyü network of Tibetan masters. She gradually stepped aside, leaving them to transmit the Tantric initiations to the Taiwanese in her meditation center. She left the spotlight all the while ensuring it stayed very active. As of 1984, she passed on the responsibility of leading daily practices to one of her disciples who had been ordained as a monk,61 and practice sessions following initiations transmitted by Tibetan masters were organized.62 However, her teachings were highlighted in the Eye of the True Law magazine, under the title ‘Words of the Master’ (Shifu de hua 師父的話) 59

60 61 62

Lin Jiancheng 林建成, Taiwan di yi wei zhuanshi huofo, Puman Renboqie 台灣第一位轉 世活佛, 菩曼仁波切 [The First Taiwanese Reincarnated Master, Bhumang Rinpoche] (Taipei: Baobing wenhua, 2005), 26; 50; 56; 78; 80–83. Bamai qinzhi Renboqie 巴麥欽哲仁波切 Huang Ying-chieh 黄英傑, Huofo laoshi shuo— The Words of the Tulku Professor 活佛老師說 (Taipei: Shang zhou, 2015), 11. Tshe ring bkra shis (Zhang Zhongwei 张仲韋), Eye of the True Law, August 20, 1993, no. 236. For example, practices of Red Avalokiteśvara, of the “Horse Neck” and of the Mahāmudrā, Eye of the True Law, September 20, 1993, no. 237.

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figure 17 Gongga Monastery, Tainan

or ‘Teachings of the Master’ (kaishi lu 開示錄). For example, the transcription of a Mahāmudrā teaching, which she had transmitted in 1966, was published between June 1993 and January 1994, in the section ‘Words of the Master.’63 It is also in the early 1990s that she reinforced her presence in Tainan’s southern part of the island. Till then, she had been going once or twice a year to teach at the Chongqing Monastery where a community of lay Buddhists and about ten ordained monks and nuns met to practice.64 The project to construct a new place emerged and on November 23, 1992, Gongga Laoren blessed the land the future Gongga Monastery (Gongga si 貢 噶 寺) would soon be built on. This place of worship, located in the suburbs of Tainan, stood out with its hybrid architecture: half Taiwanese, half Tibetan. It looks like a Tibetan monastery, but is organized vertically, like Taiwanese buildings, five storeys high. See Fig. 17. Each level is dedicated to a function or a divinity: the prayer hall is on the first floor, where the five dhyani Buddhas are displayed; on the second, the Vajra

63 64

Release on page 8 of the magazine Eye of the True Law of June 20, 1993 to January 20, 1994. Gyaltsab Rinpoche is said to have ordered seven monks in Tainan in 1990, Chen, “Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan,” 112.

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room, the Avalokiteśvara room and the altar where the initiations are transmitted; on the third, the Tantric College and the room devoted to lineage masters; on the fourth floor Gongga Laoren’s apartments; and on the fifth, the room dedicated to Red Avalokiteśvara. Note that a building intended to house visitors was also constructed close by. The site consecration rituals were performed by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche and the 12th Tai Situ Rinpoche.65 As of 1997, the Tainan Monastery’s activities were reported in the magazine of the Taipei Meditation Center, Eye of the True Law. Gongga Laoren, therefore, had two teaching halls at her disposal, one in the capital and the other in the southern part of the island, in addition to the Chongqing Monastery whose usufruct she still enjoyed. The new monastic base in the South illustrates her own and her disciples’ will to create an enduring host structure intended for Tibetan masters passing through. It also testifies to the success of her endeavors and her acceptance by her community. Tibetan masters from the Karma Kagyü School continued to come to Taiwan for stays of varying lengths. They bestowed initiations and led practices. They opened new centers where they themselves never stayed long, naming an administrator and delegating to two or three monks. They did not, however, abandon Gongga Laoren’s meditation center and monasteries. They kept visiting them in order to transmit initiations or teachings, to lead retreats or practice sessions and solicit donations for the construction of a monastery or a Karma Kagyü retreat center in Asia or in the West.66 Their visits durably inscribe Gongga Laoren and her places of worship into the transnational Karma Kagyü network while proving she preferred esoteric teachings being transmitted to her Taiwanese disciples by their Tibetan depositaries (as we saw earlier, even she herself thought she was not teaching in an appropriate way). Finally, while she reached the age of 90 in 1993, her initiatives hinted she was preparing her succession to guarantee her teaching institutions’ lasting sustainability. The 1990s witnessed real progress in Gongga Laoren’s Taiwanese community as well as in the international Karma Kagyü School. The latter kept training some of Gongga Laoren’s Taiwanese disciples, just as the 16th Karmapa and

65 66

Eye of the True Law, April 20, 1993, no. 232. For example, after Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche conducted a retreat dedicated to Onethousand-armed Avalokiteśvara and transmitted an initiation of Red Avalokiteśvara from 4 to 7 April 1996 at the Gongga Monastery in Tainan, two calls for donations were launched: one for the acquisition of a Red Avalokiteśvara statue, and the other for the Karma Kagyü center in Toronto, headed by Choje Lama Namse Rinpoche (1930–2009), named official representative of the School in Canada by the 16th Karmapa in 1980, Eye of the True Law, March 20, 1996, no. 266.

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herself had decided at the time of her ordination.67 In this context, Lin Shengnan 林昇南, one of her close disciples, who had known her since childhood (as his mother was one of her original disciples) came in 1993 to the Benchen Phuntsok Dargyeling Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal. There, he was ordained a monk by Tenga Rinpoche who attributed him the religious name of Yéshé Dorjé (Wylie: Ye shes rdo rje). He stayed there two years to learn Tibetan and study the texts.68 Nowadays, Lin Lama, as he is typically referred to in Taipei, administers the Taipei Gongga Meditation Center and is the sole permanent resident monk. Otherwise, that same year, in 1993, three young women, Gongga Laoren’s disciples, planned to go to Kham, to Minyak and the Bo Gangkar Monastery, Gangkar Rinpoche’s lineage is attached to.69 These three disciples were: Long Zhaoyu 龍 昭 宇, Zhang Shanben 張 山 本 and Tong Dazhen 童 大 真, the granddaughter of Tong Bingqing (the first of Gongga Laoren’s disciples in Tainan) who is nowadays Gongga Monastery manager in Tainan, better known under the dharma name of Master Puzhou 普周法師. Their pilgrimage took place from 21 to 30 June 1993. A summary of it can be read in the book Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, in the chapter entitled “Return to Holy Land” (Chong fan sheng di) signed by Tong Dazhen. It underscores Gongga Laoren’s devotion to the 5th Gangkar Rinpoche, her root master, and her determined intention to maintain the testimony to the link between his successor (the 6th in the lineage) and her Taiwanese disciples’ community.70 Tong Dazhen very emotionally narrates the visit of the places where Gongga Laoren lived her most intense spiritual experience. There, Tong Dazhen enjoyed the services of Ngakwang Norbu (Wylie: Ngag dbang nor bu, who was around 80 years old then). He had been the 5th Gangkar Rinpoche’s super-

67 68

69

70

The idea was that one or two of Gongga Laoren’s disciples’ study at the Rumtek Monastery, Sikkim, the headquarters of the Karmapa, Lo, “Research on the Relations,” 318. In discussion with Lin Lama, July 2013. Eye of the True Law, March 20, 1993, no. 231 which announced his departure and Eye of the True Law, April 20, 1995, no. 256 which celebrated his return. See also, Lo, “Research on the Relations,” 319, footnote 45. The information, according to which Gongga Laoren had ordered them to go on this pilgrimage to the Bo Gangkar Monastery in order to offer a copy of the Tibetan canon of the words of Buddha, appears in one of her chronological biographies. However, the account of the pilgrimage does not mention this gift. In fact, it seems that Tai Situ Rinpoche had mentioned the Bo Gangkar Monastery and the existence of the 5th Gangkar Rinpoche mummy during one of his visits, which had convinced some of Gongga Laoren’s disciples to undertake the pilgrimage, see “Return to Holy Land” (Chong fan sheng di 重返聖地), 118; “Jingang Shangshi Gongga Laoren nianpu,” in Intrinsic Nature of Enlightenment, 179. “Return to Holy Land,” 117–158.

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intendant and she could easily contact him with a recommendation letter by the 12th Tai Situ Rinpoche. Thanks to Ngakwang Norbu, she was allowed to visit the hermitage where Gongga Laoren had meditated back then. Her host pretended to remember having heard of Gongga Laoren (at a time, we should point out, when he was only ten years old or so),71 playing the role of an unexpected witness to all the years gone by. For her part, Tong Dazhen writes about the enduring feeling of returning to a place she already knew, as if she had lived there in a previous life, thus implying a privileged spiritual relation with Gongga Laoren. Ngakwang Norbu told her the circumstances of the 5th Gangkar Rinpoche’s death and the way his mummified body was conserved, perhaps to help her understand that the same should be done with Gongga Laoren, once she had passed away. This is just a hypothesis on my part, not substantiated by my sources. In any case, the three Taiwanese’s pilgrims (and Tong Dazhen’s account of it) led to highlight Gongga Laoren’s Tibetan retreat towards the end of her life, thus reviving the link with the place (should we say the testing ground?) that had given her charismatic legitimacy. It also reinforced the importance of her initial spiritual experience to her third-generation disciples who had not benefitted from their master’s oral and personal testimony, given her old age. During their trip to Bo Gangkar, the three young women implicitly acknowledged that their master’s legitimacy had originated in her retreat there. Accordingly, they granted this place, considered holy, the power of contributing to the holiness of a person who had lived there. Put differently, they highlighted the site’s sacred character, but also, and especially, the holiness Gongga Laoren acquired following her experience there. Forty-five years later (in 1993), they validated the testimony of the spiritual realizations Gongga Laoren had accomplished during her retreat (from 1942 to 1945). In this validation process, Tong Dazhen’s role was particularly important, because she renewed (on a smaller scale) Gongga Laoren’s mystical experience by residing a few days at the Bo Gangkar hermitage while the other two disciples accompanying her chose to go back to Dartsédo. Thanks to Ngakwang Norbu, the “witness” dear to Weber, she stayed in the same room where Gongga Laoren had meditated for three years; she took the same path leading to the river where Gongga Laoren would draw water and she visited all Mount Gangkar’s holy places.72 In her account, she claims to have felt Gongga Laoren’s and the 5th Gangkar Rinpoche’s presence. She goes on saying she burst into tears when seeing the root master’s mummy and she had the feeling of return-

71 72

Ibid., 130. Ibid., 136–154.

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ing home,73 so many signs that, in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, are proof of a strong karmic link with those involved. That way, by following in the footsteps of her spiritual master, she in her own way became the depository of an experience at Mount Gangkar that she alone among Gongga Laoren’s disciples had accomplished. The pilgrimage surely overwhelmed her: a while after her return to Taiwan, she became a nun. This way, she acquired a particular position in Gongga Laoren’s disciples community, to the point where the latter called her “Master Puzhou.” Let us note that the end of the chapter “Return to Holy Land,” written in the Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds, showed she acted this way based on a teaching of her own (affirming that whatever the practitioner’s level, what matters most is the sincerity of one’s faith).74 Besides, her name appeared in nearly all the meditation center’s publications, as part of the core team. The ten names or so cited in the body of texts identifies its members or its authors, including Long Zhaoyu, who also participated in the pilgrimage to Bo Gangkar, as cited earlier. Finally, this pilgrimage can be said to have had important consequences for the Gongga Laoren community since, shortly afterwards, Gangkar Rinpoche’s 6th reincarnation was invited to Taiwan and there began a construction and renovation project of the Bo Gangkar Institute of Study, as will later be seen.75

4

Links with the 14th Dalai Lama

At the end of the 1990s, two simultaneous events occurred which were included in the same issue of the Eye of the True Law magazine:76 the 14th Dalai Lama visited the Gongga Monastery in Tainan (March 23, 1997) and Gongga Laoren passed away nineteen days later (April 11, 1997), as if the Tibetan pontiff’s arrival allowed her to die in peace. As of the 1980s, the Gongga Meditation Center’s magazine had published the transcriptions of teachings transmitted by the Dalai Lama and continued to do so throughout the 1990s. This magazine, Eye of the True Law, published three photographs of the Dalai Lama’s visit to the Gongga Monastery and of the crowd of disciples who had gone there (1997). The Dalai Lama’s speech was

73 74 75

76

Ibid., 156. Ibid., 156. Conforming to his autobiographies to which we have access and in the continuity of the numbering we adopted for the previous Gangkar Rinpoche, who was the 5th, we name him the 6th, although he is referred to as the 10th in contemporary sources. Eye of the True Law, 20 April 1997, no. 279.

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also published.77 Two other photos record his passage in the Gongga Monastery in the commemorative publication connected to the Dalai Lama visit to Taiwan.78 According to Abraham Zablocki, the Dalai Lama stayed six days in Taiwan, from the 22nd to the 27th of March 1997 at the invitation of the baroc with the approval of Lee Teng-hui 李登輝 (1923–2020), Presbyterian, a member of the Kuomintang (the nationalist party created in China and at the head of the Republic of China since 1928), first elected president of Taiwan by universal suffrage in 1988. It was the Dalai Lama’s first visit to the island. Others followed in 2001 and 2009. Two were turned down in 2008 and 2012. For Zablocki, this inaugural trip was a major political event for establishing relations between Taiwan and the Tibetan government-in-exile,79 after more than fifty years of mutual suspicion and scandals. This way, according to Zablocki, he renewed with the spiritual master to lay protector relation principle that sets Buddhism apart. This also contributed to the faster and broader Buddhism development of the island and its Tibetan sector, as well as the emergence of a globalized frame of Dharma. The Dalai Lama gave teachings at the capital and visited some monasteries on the island: Foguang Shan, directed by Master Xingyun; Baima si 白馬 寺, founded by Gélèk Rinpoche; Kuang Teh (The Light of Virtue; Chin. pinyin: Guangde si 光德寺) in Gaoxiong and Gongga si in Tainan.80 His journey around the island was monitored closely by the authorities. He did not officially meet these monasteries’ masters, even if we can estimate he had private interviews with them but there is no solid proof.81 As Gongga Laoren was at the outer limit of her life, we do not know whether the Dalai Lama met with her or not. No comment was made on his arrival at the Gongga Monastery, neither in the monastery’s writings (which remain strictly informative), nor elsewhere. The

77 78

79 80 81

Ibid. Shi Jingxin 釋淨心, Dalai Lama lai Tai hongfa xing−1997 nian jinian zhuanji 達賴喇嘛來 台弘法行−1997年纪念專輯 [Commemorative Collection for the Dalai Lama’s visit to Taiwan to Spread Buddhism] (Taipei: Zhongguo fojiao hui, 1998), 40; 64. Abraham Zablocki, “The Taiwanese Connection: Politics, Piety, and Patronage in Transnational Tibetan Buddhism,” in Buddhism Between Tibet and China, 379–414. Minsheng bao 民生報 [Minsheng Daily], March 22, 1997: 1. A meeting between the Dalai Lama and practitioners of esoteric and exoteric Buddhism, open to the public, was organized. During his second visit to Taiwan in 2001, the Dalai Lama met Shengyan 聖嚴, the master at the origin of Fagu Shan and Zhengyan 證嚴, the founder of the Ciji Buddhist Foundation (Ciji Fojiao Gongdehui 慈濟佛教功德會), Zhongyang ribao 中央日報, April 8, 2001: 5; Zhongyang ribao, April 9, 2001: 5; Minsheng bao, April 9, 2001.

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photographs and his speech transcription are the only evidence of his visit. His speech includes the presentation of the principles undertaken by Buddhist practitioners to do no harm and to practice goodness, an explanation of the law of karma and an exhortation to help one another independently of any sectarianism. Less than three weeks later, Gongga Laoren presided over her final ceremony (the celebration of Avalokiteśvara’s anniversary: Guanyin shengdan fahui 觀音聖誕法會) in the Taipei Meditation Center temple, before she passed away on the 11 of April.82 The Dalai Lama’s first visit to Taiwan opened the dialog between the Tibetan government-in-exile and the Taiwanese State. Officially, the Dalai Lama accepted the trip as long as the mtac was not involved in its organization. It was therefore decided that the baroc would plan his visit. Nothing is said about Lee Teng-hui’s motivation for approving the invitation,83 given that it risked provoking China. From the Dalai Lama’s point of view, we understand he could interpret Lee Teng-hui’s approval as an endorsement of his request for Tibet’s true autonomy, without seeking independence at all costs.84 As of 1997, and then at each of his visits, the Dalai Lama insisted that he held no partisan opinion concerning relations between the two banks of the Taiwan strait, but that the protagonists must find a way to develop harmonious connections.85 He praised progress towards democracy in Taiwan, where presidents have been elected by direct vote since Lee Teng-hui’s election. He prophesized that a solution would be found for Tibet the day China became democratic.86 The 1997 visit revealed the Taiwanese had little or no idea who the Dalai Lama was and on his position towards mainland China. Likewise, a published survey showed that 32,8% of Taiwanese questioned the relevance of the meeting between the Dalai Lama and Lee Teng-hui or had no opinion.87 Some years later, at the time of his second visit (2001), the situation evolved. The Taiwanese had just elected Chen Shui-bian 陳水扁 (born in 1950), first representative of the Democratic Progressives’ Party (dpp, independence party) to the highest office. Thus, the Dalai Lama, his people and his cause were at the heart of Taiwan’s political battles between the Kuomintang (kmt)’s partisans and supporters of Taiwan independence (dpp), hence the establishment of 82 83

84 85 86 87

“Chronological Biography,” 184. André Laliberté considers that this invitation allowed kmt to win favorable opinion nationally and internationally, see “Religious change and Democratization in postwar Taiwan,” 166. Zhongyang shibao 中央時報, December 5, 1997. Zhongyang shibao, March 28, 1997: 2. Lian he bao 聯合報 [United Daily News], April 1, 2001: 6. Zhongyang shibao, March 24, 1997: 10.

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close bilateral relations with mainland China. Consequently, in 2001, voices were raised to criticize the Dalai Lama’s visit and accuse him of wishing to divide China and Taiwan: demonstrations were organized88 while others admitted relations between Tibet and Taiwan and shouted slogans like: “China oppresses Tibet and Taiwan! Tibet and Taiwan need to fight courageously! Cheer up to the Dalai Lama, courage to Taiwan! Say no to China!”89 The Dalai Lama’s arrival in 2009 was equally at the heart of Taiwan’s internal politics. Typhoon Morakot had just caused a great number of victims and damage to the southern part of the island and Chen Chu 陳菊, the mayor of Gaoxiong, a member of the dpp, invited him to pray at the scenes of the catastrophe.90 This is an outstanding event insofar as, till then, the Dalai Lama had rarely visited disaster sites. Some opposed his visit, arguing Taiwan had enough religious figures able to pray for the typhoon victims.91 Then, Ma Ying-jeou 馬英 九 (born 1950), a member of the kmt, elected president in 2008, authorized his arrival after being overtly criticizing his bad management of the situation in the wake of the disaster. So, the Dalai Lama came and was forbidden any contact with politicians or the press.92 He was also prevented from attending the national funeral for victims. Many were against allowing him to come since they felt it could endanger the relations established with the continent since the kmt had taken office.93 As for China, it for a time dropped the negotiations initiated for the signature of economic agreements with Taiwan.94 Ma Ying-jeou got the message and refused the Dalai Lama’s return to Taiwan in 2012. He had already rejected such a request in 2008, at the time of his election. We cannot deny members of the dpp support Tibet’s independence. Chen Shui-bian, the president of the Republic of China from 2000 to 2008, welcomes the position of the Dalai Lama who has never admitted that Taiwan 88 89

90

91 92 93 94

Zhongyang shibao, April 1, 2001: 5; Minsheng bao, April 1, 2001; Lian he bao, April 1, 2001: 6. Lian he bao, April 1, 2001: 6: “Zhongguo yapo Xizang he Taiwan; Xizang he Taiwan dou yao yonggan de zhan qilai, suoyi Dalai Lama jia you, Taiwan ye yao jia you; xiang Zhongguo shuo bu!” 中國壓迫西藏和台灣；西藏和台灣都要勇敢的站起來，所以達賴喇嘛 加油，台灣也要加油；想中國說不！ The typhoon Morakot destroyed the South of Taiwan at the beginning of 2009. It killed 461 people and wounded 192 and the material damage was considerable. Wikipedia, Wikipedia’s “Typhoon Morakot” entry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Morakot. Accessed by December 9, 2012. Lian he bao, August 29, 2009: 21 and August 21, 2009: A3 and August 30, 2009: A3. Zhongguo shibao, August 30, 2009: 1. Lian he bao, August 28, 2009: A3; Zhongguo shibao, August 29, 2009: A4. Zhongguo shibao, September 1, 2009: A5.

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is part of China, as China has asked of him since 1995.95 dpp members link Tibet’s fate to Taiwan’s. They want complete independence both for Taiwan and Tibet. That way, they do not take into account the Dalai Lama’s official viewpoint as partisan of an authentic autonomy for Tibet—within China, i.e. without any possibility of independence—and who encourages relations between the two banks of the Taiwan straits, which he feels are necessary.96 They use the Dalai Lama to defend their own cause and weaken the kmt’s position. However, the Taiwanese (and Tibetan) protagonists’ respective opinions are not as entrenched as they may seem, since two kmt presidents have received the Dalai Lama, while so far, only one dpp leader has done so. Tsai Ingwen’s 2016 election (蔡英文, born in 1956) to the presidency of the Republic of China and a member of the dpp, could result in the Dalai Lama’s visit to Taiwan soon, because she already met him in 2009 as president of the dpp and a close ally to Chen Chu (Gaoxiong’s mayor), while no other political figure had done so that year. The alternance which characterizes the island’s presidency is also typical of Taipei’s city hall: mayors, whether democratic progressives or nationalists (Chen Shuibian from 1994 to 1998 and Ma Ying-jeou from 1998 to 2006), each in turn welcomed the Dalai Lama in their facilities,97 with the exception of Hau Lung-bin 郝龍斌 (born in 1952; kmt), who succeeded Ma Ying-jeou from 2006 to 2014 (in 2009). We do not know what Ko Wen-je 柯文哲 (born in 1959) will choose to do. Taipei’s current mayor (since 2014) was elected as a member of the Taiwan People’s Party but with dpp’s support.98 The two main Taiwanese political parties’ shifting positions coincide on the matter of the mtac. Indeed, despite their political alternance to the highest office, the Commission still stands. We have already mentioned it is widely admitted that the Dalai Lama had asked the Commission not to get involved in the organization of his 1997 visit. Actually, it did participate through dependent departments such as the Association for Chinese and Tibetan Culture of the Republic of China (Zhonghua Han Zang wenhua xiehui), one of its emanations, directed by Xingyun, a member of the baroc and master-founder of the Foguang Shan Monastery the Dalai Lama visited in 1997.99 This associ-

95 96 97 98 99

Zhongguo shibao, April 6, 2001: 5. Zhongguo shibao, March 28, 1997: 2. Lee Teng-hui met the Dalai Lama in 1997 and 2001, not in 2009. The mayors of Taipei are elected universal suffrage since 1994 for a four-year term. True Collection of the World Assembly of Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhism, 3. Several congresses were organized, and the Dalai Lama visits are considered as falling under the framework of this program.

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ation’s intervention was justified by claiming the Dalai Lama’s trip fell under its mission: to promote Tibetan culture. The mtac is said to have participated in opening the Dalai Lama’s Office in Taipei by financing it in part.100 Other clues, notably the Dalai Lama’s visit to the Gongga Monastery in Tainan, implies the mtac did have a say in the choice of the places he visited. Keep in mind actually that Gongga Laoren had privileged relations with some of its members. Nevertheless, even the very existence of the mtac was challenged by the Dalai Lama’s demand not to be invited, or received by it, because it underscored its uselessness. Regardless of the problems that tarnished relations between the Taiwanese government and the Tibetan government-in-exile from 1983 to 1996,101 maintaining this Commission (an administrative body inherited from the Nanjing government) de facto affirms the Taiwanese government’s perceived right to exercise sovereignty over Tibet and Mongolia.102 That is why, the foundation of a Dalai Lama Congregation in Taipei (in reality, a representation office) was so important for Tibetans, who had worked for its opening since 1994.103 Until 1997, its creation had been regularly refused by Taiwanese authorities, who were afraid it would harm their relations with China (Guo dui guo de guanxi 國 對 國 的 關 係).104 It was finally authorised provided it only handled religious affairs as its name ascribes in the Taiwanese religious nomenclature. One of the main consequences of the Dalai Lama’s first visit to Taiwan was therefore the opening of the Tibetan Religious Congregation of the Dalai Lama (cai tuan fa ren Dalai Lama Xizang zongjiao jijinhui 財團法人達賴喇嘛

100 101

102

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550,000 New Taiwan dollars (about €15,000) of the budget of the mtac is said to have been allocated to this office, Zhongguo shibao, March 30, 1997: 4. Over the last years, several scandals were at the origin of bad political relations from both sides. For example, while the Taiwanese financed the training of Tibetans in Mandarin (from 1983 to 1996), the Tibetans would accuse them of using the trained youth as spies for Taiwan and some members of the Tibetan government-in-exile were accused of receiving funds from the Taiwanese government (1989). The Tibetan government-inexile still refused to recognize the Taiwanese helped the Tibetan resistance from 1957 to 1958 and reproached the Tibetan resistance group called “Four Rivers and Six Mountains” (Chushi Gangdruk; Wylie: Chu bzhi sgang drug) with having signed an agreement with the Taiwanese authorities without prior consultation (1994), Zablocki, “The Taiwanese Connection,” 394–405. Remember that, for example, the Taiwanese government considered it had rights over exOuter Mongolia until 2002, even though the Republic of Mongolia had been created in 1913. Gyalo Thondup, the Dalai Lama’s eldest brother had been working on it for years, officially since 1994, Zhongguo shibao, December 6, 1997. Zhongguo shibao, March 25, 1997: 4.

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西藏宗教基金會) in September 1997. Its purpose was to organize later Dalai

Lama’s trips to the island as well as future visits by masters and monks belonging to the Gélukpa School, with the help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, not the mtac. From 1997 on, Gélukpa clergy members began visiting Taiwan to teach and open centers, whereas the Tibetan government-in-exile had forbidden such activity till then. Indeed, the office organized the Dalai Lama’s 2001 and 2009 visits. Since then, it also operates as an official office for the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile when it needs to deal with the Taiwanese press and government, notably to regularize the presence of clandestine Tibetans on the island.105 It centralizes the list of Gélukpa centers created in Taiwan, but not the other Schools. It offers Tibetan language courses and Gélukpa teachings. Since its creation, it has allowed Gélukpa masters and monks visits and the opening of numerous centers of the very School that had been under-represented in Taiwan due to the restrictions imposed by the Tibetan government-in-exile. Though it is dedicated to handling Gélukpa affairs exclusively and while masters and monks from other Tibetan Buddhism Schools and Gélukpa as well depend on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their visits on Taiwanese soil (from 2018), its foundation was also a pretext to set up new discussions concerning the mtac’s future. This ongoing debate concerned its mere suppression, almost unanimously approved, as well as the future of the affairs it addresses and their importance. This way, some suggested replacing it by a Commission on Aboriginal Affairs ( yuanzhumin weiyanhui 原住民委員會) to take into account the Taiwanese aboriginal populations’ specificities. Meanwhile, some denounced the Taiwanese government’s lack of interest for mainland China’s national minorities (bianjiang minzu 邊疆民族). Others suggested the creation of a Commission of Border Affairs (bianjiang minzu weiyuanhui 邊 疆民族委員會), without specifying whether Tibet would be part of it. Others again promoted incorporating Mongolian affairs (which would concern only Inner Mongolia) into the commission in charge of mainland China (dalu weiyan hui 大陸委員會) and an inclusion of Tibetan affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Still others would prefer the contrary. Obviously, the president of the Republic’s political orientation does matter and why the dpp did not dissolve the mtac as soon as 2000 altogether is unclear. After the Dalai Lama’s first two visits to Taiwan, an ngo, the Foundation for Exchanges between Taiwan and Tibet (Taiwan Xizang jiaoliu jijinhui 台灣西藏交流基金

105

Zhongguo shibao, March 25, 1997; Zhongyang ribao, April 1, 2001: 5; Lian he bao, April 1, 2001: 6; Zhongguo shibao, April 2, 2012: 5; Taiwan Info, February 8, 2010.

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會), was created in early 2003. Its objectives were identical to the intentions

of the Dalai Lama’s office: organizing religious, cultural and tourist exchanges between the two parties. Taiwanese figures (industrials and politicians) participated in its financing and it seems it operated as a think-tank for the dpp government while in place, with the unspoken goal of finding a skills and tasks transfer from mtac, to prepare for its demise. Finally, the mtac was really dissolved in 2018 and its responsibilities were re-assigned to the Mongolian and Tibetan Cultural Center under the authority of the Ministry of Culture and to the Department of Hong Kong, Macao, Inner Mongolia, and Tibet Affairs under the Mainland Affairs Council. Nevertheless, it remains true that the establishment of a Dalai Lama office in Taiwan and the discussions on the future of the mtac are direct consequences of the Dalai Lama’s first visit to the island. Now, the Tibetan governmentin-exile has its own administrative body in Taiwan. It liaises between the Taiwanese government and the Tibetan government-in-exile. For mainland China, the creation of this office in Taiwan has been interpreted as proof of the Dalai Lama’s separatist stance.106 The religious character of the Dalai Lama’s visits, especially in 1997 and 2001 (because in 2009 he did not transmit a teaching), were not only the catalyst for the expression of national political divides, but also highlighted a new Taiwanese religiosity that emerged throughout the 1990s. The Dalai Lama’s teachings were monitored closely. In 1997, he transmitted the Dharma three times in Taipei (the press cited neither the texts nor their titles) and once in Gaoxiong. He attracted tens of thousands of people.107 Note that at that time, the Taiwanese were not very well-informed about the Tibetan religion. In 2001, the situation had evolved. The Dalai Lama’s trip had been dubbed “Visit in favor of Compassion and Wisdom (cibei yu zhihui zhi lu 慈悲與智慧之路).”108 The names of the teaching he gave and the initiation he conferred were published. The teaching dealt with the Heart sūtra (Bore Poluomi duoxin jing 般若波羅蜜多心經). As for the Tantric initiation, it was the One-Thousand-Armed Avalokiteśvara (Qian shou qian yan guanshiyin pusa guanding 千手千眼觀世音菩薩灌頂).109 The media coverage and the high attendance by the Taiwanese testified to the birth of the “Tibet Fever.” It has taken hold and is even now characterized by a keen attraction for the unusual

106 107 108 109

Zhongguo shibao, April 2, 2001: 11. Zhongguo shibao, March 27, 1997. Minsheng bao, April 1, 2001. Zhongyang ribao, March 31, 2001.

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and supernatural.110 As for the prayer ceremony the Dalai Lama presided in 2009 in homage to typhoon Morakot victims, it attracted 15,000 people.111 As already mentioned, on top of his teachings (a great success), the Dalai Lama visited the Taiwanese Buddhism monasteries: The Mountain of the Light of Buddha (Foguang Shan) and The Light of Virtue (Guangde si) and other Tibetan Buddhism institutions (The Monastery of the Bodhi on the White Horse Mountain (Baima si) in Jiayi and Gongga si in Tainan) but he did not meet their masters or abbots (1997).112 Four years later, in 2001, he met Shengyan 聖 嚴, the Dharma Drum Mountain Monastery master (Fagu Shan) and Zhengyan 證嚴, the nun at the head of the Ciji Buddhist Foundation, without visiting their monasteries.113 His activities testify to the development of religiosity in a society that democratized by the end of the 1980s. Consequently, Gongga Laoren’s teachings, centers and monasteries progressively faced up to direct competition from Mahāyāna Buddhism establishments, but also from the Gélukpa School’s, which arrived on the island along with the Dalai Lama’s visits, not to mention the Nyingma monasteries. Numbers speak for themselves, though they need be interpreted with caution, especially the count of worship places, whether registered or not. From a general point of view, Julian Pas refers to studies on Taiwanese monasteries undertaken by Lin Hengdao to indicate the existence of 5,183 Buddhist and Taoist monasteries in 1978, then 5,362 registered monasteries and 11,000 private altars in 1990: all in all, 9,707 Buddhist and Taoist temples in 2001.114 The number of Buddhist and Taoist monasteries nearly doubled between 1978 and 2001. In his study on Taiwanese religious institutions, Zhuo Kehua estimated there 110

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According to the Lian he bao, this year, the entry tickets for the initiation sold out faster than for any other teaching (March 31, 2001: 5). The Dalai Lama himself announced that he was not a supernatural being and said that those who wished to see a medium would be highly disappointed (April 2, 2001: A4). Zhongguo shibao, September 2, 2009: 12. A list of ceremonies presided by the Tibetan masters in Taiwan was published, Su Quanzheng 蘇全正, “921 zhenzai zhong de zai Tai Zang chuan fojiao 九二ㄧ震災中的在台藏傳佛教” [Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan at the Heart of the 21 September Earthquake], Taiwan zongjiao xuehui tongxun 台灣宗教學會 通訊 4, 2000: 75–81. Minsheng bao, March 22, 1997: 1. The most complete study of the Foguang Shan Monastery is Stuart Chandler’s, Establishing a Pure Land on Earth: The Foguang Buddhist Perspective on Modernization and Globalization (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2004). Zhongyang ribao, April 5, 2001, April 8, 2001, and April 9, 2001: 5; Minsheng bao, April 9, 2001. Julian Pas, “Stability and Change in Taiwan’s Religious Culture,” in Religion in Modern Taiwan, 37.

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were 9,834 registered monasteries, altars and churches, and 7,775 unregistered altars in 1993. In total therefore, 17,609 places of worship. He then broke down the numbers by religion: 71.5% were Taoist, 12.9 % Buddhist, 11 % Christian, of which 3.5% Catholic, and 1.1% regrouping various secret societies. He continued his analysis indicating that 40.2% of these places of worship were built between 1981 and 1993.115 These figures are confirmed with the breakdown of 11,400 monasteries, 78% of which Taoist and 20 % Buddhist in 2003, the rest distributed among Presbyterians, Catholics and unregistered monasteries.116 Despite Taoist monasteries’ predominance, the number of Buddhist places of worship is deemed to have quadrupled between 1983 and 1995. Barbara E. Reed indicates that 1,157 were registered in 1983, and 4,020 in 1995.117 To conclude on this striking development of the religious phenomenon in Taiwan and more precisely Buddhism, let me add this: this religion followers also increased considerably, from 800,000 to 4.9 million and the number of monks and nuns from 3,470 to over 9,300 between 1983 and 1995.118 Along with Julian Pas, it can be concluded that, while the number of Buddhists reached nearly 5 million people in 1995, it comprised 25% of the Taiwanese population and probably many more in 2021.119 As for the Dalai Lama’s visits to the three great Buddhist institutions— Foguang Shan, Fagu Shan. and Ciji Buddhist Foundation, founded in the late 1960s, but which never stopped growing—they highlight the place Buddhism holds in Taiwanese society.120 They also show the Dalai Lama’s “willingness to please” and to learn more about humanist Buddhism (ren jian fo jiao 人間佛 教), so pregnant in Taiwan. In his book about these three great Buddhist institutions, Richard Madsen classifies them in a way underscoring their attachment to Taixu’s and Yinshun’s 印順 (1906–2005) ideas, both proponents of humanist Buddhism.121 Likewise, Madsen calls Ciji an agent of the modernization of Buddhist compassion and Xingyun (the Foguang Shan Monastery master-

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Zhuo, History through the Monasteries, viii. Xing Fuquan 邢福泉, Taiwan de fojiao yu fo si 台灣的佛教與佛寺 [Buddhist Monasteries and Taiwanese Buddhism] (Taipei: Taiwan shangwu, 2006), 004. Barbara E. Reed, “Guanyin Narrative—Wartime and Postwar,” in Religion in Modern Taiwan, 186. Pas, “Stability and Change,” 46, footnote 16, which explains that these figures are based on statistics established by the Ministry of Interior Affairs. Ibid. Different from Foguang Shan and Fagu Shan which are registered as monasteries with the Ministry of Interior Affairs, the Ciji Buddhist Foundation is declared as a charity association. Concerning this affiliation, see Laliberté, “Religious Change,” 172; 175.

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founder) an agent of the Buddhist contribution that paved the way for a democratic religion. As for Shengyan (the Fagu Shan Monastery’s master), he is said to give meaning in a deliquescent world.122 Concretely, the heritage and adhesion to humanist Buddhism implies political, social and charitable commitments, which these three institutions share in the field of their choice.123 This is a reminder that the Dalai Lama’s visit in homage to the Morakot typhoon victims pertained to the humanist, compassionate approach the three Taiwanese Buddhist masters proclaimed. Another consequence of their relationship was to open in their Buddhist universities and monasteries classes and seminars dedicated to Tibetan Buddhism. The Dalai Lama observed the modalities of religion in Taiwan might better integrate Tibetan Buddhism there. Still, he needed to accept to debate the matter of Tibetan nuns’ complete ordination.124 Indeed, in Taiwan, Korea and some South-East Asian countries, nuns can obtain full ordination. Not in Tibet. A Tibetan nun who wishes to be ordained fully can go to Taiwan, but her new status as a nun will not be acknowledged by the Tibetan clergy. Exchanges were organized (in 1997 and 2001) and the Dalai Lama sent a representative to Taiwan (1999) to discuss it with Taiwanese women movement leaders.125 In the end, he refused to allow complete ordination to Tibetan nuns and left it to the South-East Asian religious communities’ responsibility.126 He proposed organizing an international conference in Taipei (Guoji seng tuan huiyi 國際僧 團會議).127 A proposal received poorly by the Taiwanese who felt he refused to take a decision and asked the baroc to resolve the question. Shih Chao-Hwei (Chin. pinyin: Shi Zhao Hui 釋昭慧), the nun who instigated the movement ended up considering Tibetan nuns could expect no change from him. Their status would not change,128 hence she stopped seeking dialogue with the Dalai Lama.129

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Richard Madsen, Democracy’s Dharma, Religious Renaissance and Political Development in Taiwan (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007), v. Xingyun, for example, is the only of the three masters to be truly politically committed (he claims to be the heir of Taixu) while Shengyan and Zhengyan are invested in educational and charitable actions and, in this way, are closer ideologically to Yinshun. Minsheng bao, March 22, 1997: 1. See chapter 3, footnote 5 for references about the nun’s ordination. Zhongguo shibao, March 30, 2001: 5. Zhongyang ribao, April 1, 2001: 2; 5; Zhongguo shibao, April 1, 2001: 2. Minsheng bao, April 6, 2001: A4. Lian he bao, April 7, 2001: 5. In 2020, Shih Chao-Hwei became the administrator of the Tibetan Buddhism Research Center founded in the Hsuan-Chuang University, in Hsin-Chu.

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From a different angle, the offerings received by the Dalai Lama during his visits to Taiwan were considerable. He redistributed part of them and dedicated the rest to educating Tibetan refugees. The Taiwanese newspapers mentioned the sums received and aired their outrage, as did local monasteries. Beyond the gifts, his visits’ main benefit was the opening of a Taiwanese religious “market” for the Gélukpa School members. As of the Dalai Lama’s first visit in 1997, the number of Gélukpa centers rose considerably. In a sort of “trickle-up,” his visits allowed Tibetan schools to found new centers. Indeed, according to Huang Ying-chieh, 21 Kagyü, 11 Karmapa, 4 Sakya, 4 Géluk and 3 Nyingma had opened over the 1980s130 while, according to Yao Lixiang, 600,000 Taiwanese adhered to Tibetan Buddhism in 2000, more than 150 Tibetan centers were registered and more than 500 monks went to Taiwan each year, half of them stayed for the full two months their visa granted them. Yao Lixiang adds that in 2000, the Karma Kagyü School continued to be the most represented: there were more than 40 centers.131 Let us point out that the latter school benefitted from the island’s political opening and economic development, which provided its masters with more means to found new centers. They were also able to develop their monastic branches in Asia and in the West thanks to rich Taiwanese disciples’ donations. The Karma Kagyü did not suffer from the establishment of the Gélukpa nor from the quarrels that were sparked between the 16th Karmapa’s four main disciples about the recognition of his reincarnation. They, and consequently their Taiwanese disciples, have been divided since the 1990s over the recognition of, and support to, the two 16th Karmapa’s recognized successors. One, Orgyan Trinley Dorjé (Wylie: U rgyan ’phrin las rdo rje, born in 1985) was first “certified” by the 12th Tai Situ Rinpoche and the 14th Dalai Lama in 1990, while the other, Trinley Thayé Dorjé (Wylie: ’Phrin las mtha’ yas rdo rje, born in 1983) was anointed by the 14th Shamar Rinpoche in 1994. Gongga Laoren supported Orgyan Trinley Dorjé while Lopön Rinpoche, the Taiwanese recognized as a reincarnated master by the 14th Shamar Rinpoche in 1992, favored Trinley Thayé Dorjé because he himself had been recognized by Shamar Rinpoche.132 This conflict divides the Karma Kagyü community internationally. It was particularly violent in Tainan where the two monasteries’ followers (Gongga si, of Gongga Laoren and Gama gaju si, of Lopön Rinpoche) publicly confronted each other, so much so that the mtac threatened them

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Huang, Almanac of Esoteric Buddhism, 282. Yao, “The Development and Evolution of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan,” in Images of Tibet in the 19th and 20th Centuries, 595 and Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan, 78. Huang, “Medium, Spirit-possession,” 165.

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with ending Tibetan monks’ right of entry on Taiwanese soil, should their dispute continue. Nevertheless, beyond this untimely quarrel, achievements in the 90s were considerable, both for the development of the Taiwanese and Tibetan strands of Buddhism, for the Karma Kagyü School in Taiwan (and abroad), and for Gongga Laoren’s community. Her Taipei Karma Triyāna Dharmachakra Meditation Center affirmed itself as a structure able to accomodate exiled Tibetan masters and a place for spreading the Karma Kagyü teachings transmitted by its most famous masters. The number of people going there then continued to increase. In Tainan, her disciples financed the construction of a new monastery, the Gongga si, as proof of their adhesion to this school. Thus, Gongga Laoren largely contributed to the Karma Kagyü expansion as per the will of her root master, Gangkar Rinpoche, who had asked her to do it during their meeting in Beijing in 1956, shortly before his death.

chapter 4

Spiritual Heritage 1

Death and Mummification

Gongga Laoren passed away on April 11, 1997 at the age of 94. Two days later, her body was encased in a coating and sealed in an urn. A forty-nine-day ceremony including the Red Avalokiteśvara practice was celebrated, presided over by Tenga Rinpoche and Karma Khenchen Rinpoche, the two reincarnated masters who had been designated by the 16th Karmapa to Gongga Laoren in the early 1980s and who had regularly visited her teaching venues the following years. After three years of confinement, Gongga Laoren’s body is said to have been found intact. After various treatments, her body was covered in gold leaf. On March 16, 2000, the resulting mummy was exposed in her Tainan Monastery. A “Horse Neck” initiation, the wrathful form of Avalokiteśvara, was celebrated and dances performed.1 On April 9 of that same year, the mummy was enthroned and installed at the entrance to the Taipei Karma Triyāna Dharmachakra Meditation Center after seven-day celebrations officiated by Tenga Rinpoche and Karma Khenchen Rinpoche.2 That is how the “Chronological Biography” of Gongga Laoren ended. It wrapped up the Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds.3 No Taipei Meditation Center’s publication mentions the mummification of Gongga Laoren’s body, or accounts for it. Nevertheless, it was decided to make a “flesh bodhisattva” (roushen pusa 肉身普薩), like the six others already in existence in Taiwan.4 In reality, a few days after her death, the Eye of the True 1 According to Philippe Cornu, this initiation leads to control of, and liberation from, passions, in particular desire-attachment and sensual pleasures amidst felicity-vacuity. The “Horse Neck” is that which controls the universe through the power of compassion. More simply, it is practiced by controlling and chasing away evil spirits. See Dictionnaire encyclopédique du bouddhisme, 247. 2 “Chronological Biography,” 184–185; Eye of the True Law, February 20, 2000, no. 313. The issue 279, dated April 20, 1997, published a few photographs of Gongga Laoren’s body wrapped in ceremonial scarves. On the mummification of Gongga Laoren, see Fabienne Jagou, “Tibetan relics in Taiwan: A link between the past, the present, and the future,” in The Hybridity of Buddhism, 67–90. 3 “Chronological Biography,” published in the Extraordinary Story from Amidst the White Clouds. 4 Eye of the True Law, May 20, 1997, no. 280. There are said to be seven mummies in Taiwan. Three Chinese Buddhist masters were mummified: Cihang Fashi (慈 航 法 師, 1895–1954; enthroned as a “Flesh Bodhisattva” in 1959), Qingyan Fashi (清嚴法師, 1924–1970; enthroned

© Fabienne Jagou, 2021 | doi:10.1163/9789004466289_006

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Law magazine published a facsimile of a letter written by Tenga Rinpoche: it recommended her disciples to contact Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche for advice concerning her body’s cremation (this master, born in 1964, was recognized and enthroned by the 16th Karmapa, his root master, with whom he shared the Benchen Phuntsok Darjeeling management, in Kathmandu, Nepal and who was visiting Hong Kong at the time).5 We do not know whether Gongga Laoren’s disciples wrote to him. However, Gongga Laoren’s body was actually not incinerated. I asked her disciples about this and they remained silent. Only one of them dared say that one of Gongga Laoren’s followers (probably a very influential one) had instigated the mummification. This information is unverifiable, though. Only posthumous biographical announcements and magazine articles give details on the mummification.6 Firstly, before dying, Gongga Laoren reportedly expressed her desire to become a “flesh bodhisattva.”7 The Taiwanese Buddhist context, which had already mummified six masters may have influenced her. as a “Flesh Bodhisattva” in 1976) and Yingmiao Fashi (瀛妙法師, 1891–1973; enthroned as a “Flesh Bodhisattva” in 1983). Two Taoist (or Buddhist, it is unclear) masters, one of which is a female, Puzhao Fashi (普照法師, d. 1983; enthroned as a “Flesh Bodhisattva” in 1983) and Mingjie Shangren (明 潔 上 人, dates unknown). Lastly, two Tibetan masters were as well: Kanjurwa Qutuγtu (1914–1978; enthroned as a “Flesh Bodhisattva” in 1978), and Gongga Laoren (1903–1997; enthroned as a “Flesh Bodhisattva” in 2000), Douglas M. Gildow and Marcus Bingenheimer, “Buddhist Mummification in Taiwan: Two Case Studies,” Asia Major 15, no. 2 (2002): 88. 5 Eye of the True Law, May 20, 1997, no. 280. This letter is not dated but seems to have been sent to the Gongga Meditation Center shortly after the master’s death, because Tenga Rinpoche refered to it when Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche was in Hong Kong on 13 and 14 April. 6 Concerning the mummification of contemporary Tibetan and Chinese masters, see Rachel Guidoni, “Entre relique et reliquaire. L’exceptionnelle momie de Gling Rinpoché (1903– 1983),” in Les objets de la mémoire: pour une approche comparatiste des reliques et de leur culte, eds. Philippe Borgeaud and Youri Volokhine (Studia Religiosa Helvandica, Bern: Pander Lang, 2005), 193–218; Tania Maria Zivkovic, “Tibetan Buddhist Embodiment: The Religious Bodies of a Deceased Lama,” Body and Society 16, no. 2 (2010): 119–142; Marcus Bingenheimer, “Roushen pusa and Corpus integrum—Whole-body relics in Buddhism and Christianity,” unpublished article, 1995; Douglas M. Gildow, “Flesh Bodies, Stiff Corpses, and Gathered Gold: Mummy Worship, Corpse Processing, and Mortuary Ritual in Contemporary Taiwan,” Journal of Chinese Religions 33 (2005): 1–37; Huang Xuan 黄玄, Taiwan roushen pusa 台灣肉身菩 薩 [The Flesh Bodhisattvas of Taiwan] (Taipei: Jinpoluo wenhua, 1995); Justin Ritzinger and Marcus Bingenheimer, “Whole-Body Relics in Chinese Buddhism—Previous Research and Historical Overview,” The Indian International Journal of Buddhist Studies 7 (2006): 37–94; Jagou, “Tibetan relics in Taiwan.” 7 In Taiwan, the term for relic (shelizi 舍利子) is the phonetic transcription of the Sanskrit term śarīra. When the body stays intact, the term chosen is “relic of the complete body” (quanshen sheli 全身舍利) and by extension, the term “Flesh Bodhisattva” (roushen pusa 肉身菩薩) is also used. Since 1959, it seems that near ten successful mummifications of Buddhist and

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Her master, Gangkar Rinpoche, whose body was preserved intact, may well have as well. We know nothing of the chosen mummification technique. According to oral testimonies, Gongga Laoren’s disciples followed the Chinese procedure for mummification. It consisted in steeping the corpse in a vat for three years (e.g. the corpse confinement, roushen fengcun 肉身封存).8 It should be noted that this technique existed in Tibet. It was not popular, though, as Tibetans preferred desiccation in salt.9 The place where her body has been kept remains secret.10 The name of the master who presided over the mummification process was not revealed.11 However, everyone agrees the choice of how her mummy should be treated and preserved after the confinement period came down to her disciples.12 Those who did, decided she would be covered in gold leaf and dressed in Tibetan religious garments. Yet between the time her body was taken from the vat and its display, a number of points remain unclear. According to the artisan responsible for the final mummification stages, the protection and gilding processes went fine.13 However, the procedure was allegedly not finished on the day the mummy’s consecration took place, because calls for donations towards the purchase of gold leaf continued to be published in the Eye of the True Law magazine, until March 2002. At that time, the reader learned that one gold leaf cost 500 Taiwanese dollars (the equivalent of about €20 at that time). The believers who offered two gold leaves received a bottle of holy water; those who gave a four-gold leaf donation received two pearl-relics, a red one and a white one (plus a turquoise necklace), said to have

8 9

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Taoist masters were done in Taiwan, knowing that 7 are clearly identified. Concerning the desire expressed by Gongga Laoren, see Lian he bao, April 17, 1997; Minsheng bao, April 10, 2000: 6; Lian he bao, April 9, 2000: 5. Minsheng bao, April 10, 2000: 6; Lian he bao, April 9, 2000: 5. The body of the 5th Dalai Lama was preserved this way. See Kurtis R. Schaeffer, “Salt and the Sovereignty of the Dalai Lama,” in Images, Relics and Legends: The Formation and Transformation of Buddhist Sacred Sites. Essays in Honour of Professor Koichi Shinohara, eds. Jinhua Chen and James Robson (Oakville, Ont.: Mosaic Press, 2012), 305. We know that in other cases of mummifications, the inhabitants of the neighborhood feared air pollution. Shi Dao’an 释道安 (1907–1977) officiated the entire process of monk Cihang’s mummification. He was also present during the enthronization of the Qingyan mummy. Lian he bao, April 9, 2000: 5. In discussion with the artisan, August 2014. I met the artisan responsible for the mummification of Buddhist and Taoist masters in Taiwan while I was doing research on Buddhist mummies. He told me he took care of Gongga Laoren’s mummy but did not show me any picture of the process endured by the body, as Gongga Laoren’s disciple ordered him to do so.

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been produced by Gongga Laoren’s body during the mummification process, the white corresponding to her body’s purity and the red to the purity of her speech. A third kind of pearl, golden ones, revealing the clarity of the master’s thought, also cropped up, but they were not proposed to donors.14 Nowadays, Gongga Laoren’s mummy is displayed in her Taipei Meditation Center entrance hall. She wears a nun’s robe and the Gampopa headdress (dak zha)15 and is seated in contemplation posture (two arms crossed on her chest with the right hand covering the left), which confirms that while alive, Gongga Laoren identified herself as a Tibetan master, and her disciples agreed. No statue of a Buddha or bodhisattva sits next to her. She reigns alone at the entrance to the meditation center, as if to “arouse awe and devotion through spectacular displays of grandeur”.16 She seems to be watching over her spiritual and material accomplishments, since the Tibetan obedience Buddhist structures she founded still exist to this day, as does her followers’ community that remained faithful to her (more than 100,000 according to some among them, though this number is unverifiable17). Those who hoped for her body to be mummified probably wished to “evoke her continuing presence” beyond death as their community’s master.18 Indeed, in her disciples eyes, Gongga Laoren has from then on showed up in a different form. She has remained visible and kept an important place in their spiritual lives. She is “treated as pure and simple presence. That is to say, a relic that did not represent, symbolize, or denote a transcendent presence, numinous absence, or anything in between, any more than the person of the Buddha represented or symbolized the Buddha.”19 This way, she remains an object for meditation and practice in her community. Note that these days visitors of the Taipei Meditation Center receive a photo of Gongga Laoren’s mummy rather than one taken while she was alive. Her mummy is the link between the root master she claimed hers (Gangkar Rinpoche) and the disciples she trained. According to them, the success of the mummification process is material proof of her high spiritual realizations. On the other hand, they do not claim that the existence of the

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Eye of the True Law, August 20, 1999, no. 307 and February 20, 2002, no. 337. Many thanks to Etienne Bock for helping me identify these headdresses. John Kieschnick, The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture (Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2003), 7. Lian he bao, April 10, 2000. Jacob N. Kinnard, “The Field of the Buddha’s Presence,” in Embodying the Dharma: Buddhist Relic Veneration in Asia, eds. David Germano and Kevin Trainor (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2004), 118. Robert H. Sharf, “On the Allure of Buddhist Relics,” in Embodying the Dharma, 167.

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mummy may have been caused by their merit and their faith,20 nor that they deserve credit for having completed it.21 On the contrary, Gongga Laoren mummy’s presence does not prevent her disciples from maintaining hope that her reincarnation may one day be found and recognized. In fact, according to an undated letter by Tenga Rinpoche published in the Eye of the True Law magazine from May 20, 1997, the possibility has been suggested immediately after Gongga Laoren’s death: At the request of the center members, I wrote a short prayer for Sister Gongga’s rapid return. Questions about her reincarnation should be addressed to His Holiness the Karmapa or His Excellence Tai Situ Rinpoche for details such as her parents’ name, etc.22 Since Gongga Laoren’s death and the mailing of this letter, the fact is that her reincarnation has not been found. Prayer ceremonies were (and still are) organized in her teaching centers in Taipei and Tainan. A month of practices (“Horse Neck” and Red Avalokiteśvara) have been especially dedicated to the future discovery of the Gongga Laoren’s reincarnation, in early 2007.23 Her followers regularly question the Tibetan masters who, invariably respond that the time has not come for her reincarnation to manifest. Of course, the dearest wish of Gongga Laoren’s disciples would be to witness her re-birth. That way, the mummy’s presence enables them to wait patiently for her return, as the matter of her succession is crucial for the community’s future. According to the Weberian theory, the choice of the continuation mode implies the passage from an organization based on a charismatic being to a kind of routinization. Thus, in Gongga Laoren’s case, the initial charismatic movement naturally became traditional.24 Her disciples therefore expect the manifestation of a reincarnation that would inscribe her (plus her community and places of worship) across centuries and sustain her spiritual heritage, but some of them feel that the mummy’s presence prevents Gongga Laoren from achieving her reincarnation.25

20 21 22 23 24 25

John S. Strong, “Buddhist Relics in Comparative Perspective: Beyond the Parallels,” in Embodying the Dharma, 40. Peter Skilling, “Cutting across Categories: The Ideology of Relics in Buddhism,” Aririab 8 (2005): 284. The term gongde sheli (功德舍利) expresses this merits action. Eye of the True Law, May 20, 1997, no. 280. Eye of the True Law, December 20, 2006, no. 395. Max Weber, Economie et société, 1: 288–294. Numerous rumors circulated to the point that the Tainan monastery published a denial on

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The reason why she is displayed in the Taipei Meditation Center rather than in one of the two monasteries in Tainan is not known. In fact, the Taipei center was probably chosen because it was founded before all others. It is not less true that the mummy is at the heart of the dynamic of the relations between the two cities’ communities and that tensions arose between them on the topic. It is quite telling that, by way of substitute, the Gongga Monastery’s disciples in Tainan, as of 2012, apparently displayed relics (mainly garments that used to belong to and be worn by Gongga Laoren), and photographs of her to get their “share” of their master’s charisma.26 Though it seems the mummification was not done in order to attract donations for the Taipei center, and that no pilgrimage has yet been organized there,27 it is obvious that Gongga Laoren’s mummy is not the indisputable “social nexus” it should be for her disciples.

2

Succession

Had Gongga Laoren expected the discovery of her reincarnation? Had she named her successors? Had she designated administrators for her places of worship? In Taipei, Lin Shengnan (a monk better known by the nickname Lin Lama, already seen in Chapter 3) is the meditation center’s administrator and its spiritual director. It seems he had been named very early on. In Tainan, Tong Dazhen (a nun going by the name Master Puzhou, also seen in Chapter 3) is today at the head of the Gongga si and Chongqing monasteries. Some disciples say Master Puzhou got this position because she had cared for Gongga Laoren throughout the final years of her life, but this is unclear. The fact is that Lin Lama transmits esoteric initiations in Taipei. Master Puzhou does the same in Tainan and both perform Buddhist rituals. See Fig. 18. And when a Tibetan master visits, each of them lets the passing Tibetan mas-

26

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August 1, 2005, see the website for Konga Tainan, http://www.konga.com.tw/news‑detail​ ‑1046125.html. Accessed June 6, 2016 (removed from the website by December 10, 2020). In this environment of devotion to relics, I do not know what happened to Gangkar Rinpoche’s relics (mentioned by Gongga Laoren) nor to the Karmapas’ (mentioned by his disciples at the time of the narration of her nun vow taking). In fact, on reading the published list of donations in the Eye of the True Law magazine at the moment of the enthronement of Gongga Laoren’s mummy, it seems that the offerings flowed in, with amounts varying from 100 to 10,000 Taiwanese dollars (February 20, 2000, no. 313) reaching up to 500,000 Taiwanese dollars (between March and June 2000, no. 315 to 317) and then stopped completely. These donations were intended to be used to buy gold leaf which would cover Gongga Laoren’s body.

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figure 18 Devotees Assembly, Tainan

ter take his place to preside. Thus, viewed from the outside, Gongga Laoren’s succession seems under control. Take a closer look: this is not necessarily the case. And yet, Gongga Laoren knew how to quickly establish her own charismatic authority by organizing her staff. Her behavior conforms therefore to the notion of charisma as defined by Weber: Charismatic authority is a well-defined social structure, equipped with an organized staff and service mechanisms as well as specialized goods adapted to the charisma holder’s mission. The staff assistants and, within the group a specific type of charismatic aristocracy forms a more restrained group of chosen adepts depending on their own charismatic qualification and whose cohesion relies on the allegiance of the disciples to the master and their continued loyalty.28

28

Max Weber, La domination (Paris: La Découverte, Coll. Politique et Sociétés), 282.

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We saw above that, as of the early 1960s, Gongga Laoren rapidly recognized Tong Bingqing as her representative in Tainan. In Taipei, the matter was less crucial since she resided there more often. We can imagine that a number of people were needed to keep the meditation center functioning and the ceremonies held properly, but Gongga Laoren’s presence regulated this organization. Today, her disciples break down into four generations: the first has been attributed the character Ci 慈; the second has that of Guang 光; the third that of Pu 普; and the fourth and last that of Zhao 照. This specificity clarifies the disciples’ hierarchical structure vis-à-vis each other. Belonging to one generation or another does not give indications on proximity to the master, except for the first generation. Nowadays, the majority of first-generation disciples have passed away. Those of the second one are easy to spot at ceremonies. They officiate at the side of Lin Lama or Master Puzhou and they are seconded by the younger, third generation disciples. They enjoy a degree of authority and are part of the administrative staff at the Taipei Meditation Center and the Tainan monasteries. Each of them has a well-defined place within an established hierarchy. Nevertheless, some individuals belonging to this second generation remain very discrete. They show up very little, some never do, at the collective practice sessions or at the teachings. They are hard to meet and express themselves tersely on Gongga Laoren’s worship places current situation. Those who accepted to speak were heavily critical of Lin Lama and Master Puzhou. They deemed them incompetent and unqualified spiritually to claim any authority whatsoever. They disagree so profoundly with the current meditation center and monasteries development that, while not being gung-ho, dissidents prefer practicing at home and no longer attend there. Others, living in the capital, choose to attend the Tainan Monastery to participate in celebrations rather than at the Taipei Meditation Center. However, situations are variable, and opinions fluctuate. What emerges from my interviews and observations is that no-one in the community enjoys the same recognized charisma as Gongga Laoren’s. How did they get to this? Lin Lama and Master Puzhou respectively belong to the second and third generation disciple circles. Both knew Gongga Laoren well and received her teachings. Lin Lama’s mother had been part of the inner circle. She is said to have met Gongga Laoren just after dreaming she met her spiritual master, without knowing it was her. Lin Lama mentions that his mother was very pious and participated in as many initiations as possible, never thinking twice about going to Hong Kong if need be, to meet a master whose teachings she deemed important. In Taipei, she brought her son with her to the meditation center. Once, she left him there several months while she was in Hong Kong with the

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figure 19 Tong Bingqing and Gongga Laoren portraits

rest of the family. Lin Lama, therefore, has very private and vivid memories of the times spent with Gongga Laoren. He readily speaks of her moods: apparently, she got easily carried away! He adds it was important to be near her at the right moment! This shows he had known her since childhood. As for Master Puzhou, as we saw earlier, she is Tong Bingqing’s granddaughter, the disciple who contributed to Gongga Laoren’s arrival in Tainan and organized her first esoteric teachings there. In the South, Tong Bingqing is considered as Gongga Laoren’s main disciple. Still recently (2010), his portrait, in a dark red and safran robe, holding two ritual instruments (the vajra and the bell), was hung next to Gongga Laoren’s in the Chongqing Monastery administrative office. See Fig. 19. However, even if Tong Bingqing role was essential—since his granddaughter is in charge of Gongga Laoren’s Tainan community today and that his family members work in the Chongqing Monastery administrative department—the hypothesis that his portrait was displayed to reinforce his family’s current members’ legitimacy is indeed plausible. Whatever: because he had parents or grandparents belonging to Gongga Laoren’s inner circle disciples (and since they themselves received esoteric teachings from her) enabled Lin Lama and Master Puzhou to stand out among community members, but not to the point of automatically making them

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Gongga Laoren’s legitimate successors. Actually, Gongga Laoren apparently had explicitly named a successor. In any case, I did not find a document alluding to this. I questioned some disciples who remained very vague about it. Others, more vindictive, claimed that Lin Lama and Master Puzhou had usurped their authority, but they never supported their claim with convincing arguments. And yet, because of the end-of-life favors she gave to Lin Lama and Master Puzhou when she was 90 years old (in 1993), clearly Gongga Laoren had sought to turn her disciples’ attention to them. Actually, that year, as mentioned in Chapter 3, she had sent Lin Lama to the Benchen Phuntsok Dargyeling in Nepal, where he stayed two years to learn Tibetan and study the Buddhist texts. And she had sent Master Puzhou (accompanied with two other disciples) on a pilgrimage to Tibet, at the Bo Gangkar Monastery, to perpetuate the link with her root master. Later, upon returning, Master Puzhou became a nun. We can clearly see that through these spiritual steps, Lin Lama and Master Puzhou acquired sufficient legitimacy to access the positions they have today. And yet the only traces I could find proving their election as administrators was published in the Eye of the True Law magazine years later.29 Finally, not having received their power in an explicit way, each of them tries to keep up the life of the community while preserving Gongga Laoren’s charisma “open,” but this is no easy task. To my knowledge, Gongga Laoren left no instructions as to her community’s future, or on her desire (or not) to be considered as a lineage matriarch, or whether her reincarnation should be sought after her death. This did not help them.

3

Maintaining Links with the Karma Kagyü School

In the early 21st century, Gongga Laoren’s disciples clarified their intention to tie relations with her root master’s successor. To that effect, they contacted the 6th Gangkar Rinpoche Tenzin Jigme Chodrak (Wylie: Bstan ’dzin ’jigs med chos grags, born in 1982). The Eye of the True Law magazine announced the provisional calendar and what teachings had been planned, with no details given.30 Contrary to the norm, his biography did not precede nor accompany the information.

29

30

For example, after successive yearly general assemblies, Lin Lama was confirmed as administrator (dongshi) in 2004 while Master Puzhou was in 2010, Eye of the True Law, May 20, 2004, no. 364 and April 20, 2010, no. 435. Eye of the True Law, January 20, 2001, no. 324.

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The new Gangkar Rinpoche was then 19 years old. Very little information is available about him online. Consequently, his biography is quite succinct. Only a few Taiwanese sites present a few rare facts likely to construct a timeline, while his own personal internet site is rather indigent.31 We learn that he was born in Nepal into a Tibetan family (1982).32 When he reached the age of one and a half, his family members went on a pilgrimage to visit the great Buddhist sites in India. They began with Bodhgaya, where they attended a Kālacakra initiation by the 14th Dalai Lama, whom they briefly met. He advised Gangkar Rinpoche’s mother to take care of her son and keep him clean. He also offered them a ceremonial scarf. Next in their pilgrimage, the family went to Tso Pema in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Meanwhile, the 12th Tai Situ Rinpoche had understood that the 5th Gangkar Rinpoche’s reincarnation had been born and was located in Sikkim or in Tso Pema. His envoys found him and brought him to the Palpung Sherabling Monastery in India. There the 12th Tai Situ Rinpoche ordered the child as a novice monk and named him Karma Lungtok Tenpai Gyaltsen (Wylie: Karma Lung rtogs bstan pa’i rgyal msthan) in 1993. While his family returned to Sikkim, young Gangkar Rinpoche remained at Palpung Sherabling. He officially took his monk’s vows with the Dalai Lama who granted him the name of Tenzin Jigme Chodrak (in 1998).33 He studied with the 17th Karmapa Orgyen Trinley Dorjé (born in 1985) after taking refuge in India and before starting a three-year retreat. He also studied with other Kagyü School’s masters, whose names can be found on Taiwanese websites. At this point in the study, we notice an event that may not have occurred by chance. The 6th Gangkar Rinpoche’s ordination took place in 1993. Yet, at that time, Gongga Laoren was already 90 years old. In view of the links between the nun and the 5th Gangkar Rinpoche, and since her death was round the corner given her old age, we are entitled to think that the 6th Gangkar Rinpoche’s emergence came at the opportune time when the Taipei Meditation Center and Tainan Monastery directions were vacant. In any case, the timing of his discovery is strange because it came twenty-five years after the death of the 5th in the lineage, which, in Tibetan Buddhist tradition is abnormally long, since a reincarnation is usually conceived 49 days after the death of the person who is 31

32

33

“Dangdai dishi shi Gongga Hutuketu Renboqie 當代第十世貢噶呼圖克圖仁波切” [The contemporary 10th Gangkar Rinpoche]. From the website China84000.com. http://​ www.china84000.com/Article/fjrw/china/200612/2955.html. Accessed July 15, 2012. “Rinpoche Gangkar’s nationality remains a mystery.” From the website The Tribune of India, posted June 17, 2012. http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120618/himachal.htm#4. Accessed May 2017. “Biography of Bo Gangkar Rinpoche.” http://bogangkar.org/biography/10th‑bo‑gangkar​ ‑rinpoche/ (unavailable December 9, 2020).

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“replaced”, and is born 9 months later, to be recognized around the age of 4. We see that Gongga Laoren’s current disciples are regaining confidence since they have already been hoping for more than twenty-five years for her reincarnation to occur. In 2001, during his first visit to Taiwan, the 6th Gangkar Rinpoche suggested to Gongga Laoren’s disciples (who had paid up Gongga Laoren’s mummification) they should contribute to restore the study institute called “Academy of the five sciences” (Gongga wuming foxueyuan 貢噶五明佛学院), founded by the 5th Gangkar Rinpoche at the Bo Gangkar Monastery, which Master Puzhou had visited during her 1993 pilgrimage. According to her, the academy, as it then existed (in 1993), had sixteen students living there in difficult conditions. It meant helping them through sponsorships or by contributing to the reconstruction of classrooms through financial offerings. In April 2003, a call for donations was made in the Eye of the True Law magazine, which enjoyed favorable reception: donations have flowed in as of July and up to this day34 As for the 6th Gangkar rinpoche, he returned to Taiwan in May and in June– July 2005, after completion of a three-year retreat on 9 February that same year. The end of his retreat was such an important occasion that some of Gongga Laoren’s disciples traveled to attend and receive the 17th Karmapa Orgyen Trinley Dorjé’s and the 12th Tai Situ Rinpoche’s blessings. The arrival in Taiwan of the 6th Gangkar Rinpoche had been preceded by a call for donations and the publication of a letter he had written in Tibetan, congratulating the Taipei Meditation Center’s followers for studying so assiduously and sending wishes for peace in the world. Meanwhile, he indicated his willingness to resume the Dharma propagation work undertaken by his predecessor. His teachings schedule reveals he came to the Taipei Gongga Meditation Center between 16 and 22 May 2005. There, he taught and transmitted The Heart Sphere of the Vast Space (Sheshen fa 施身法, Tib.: Klong chen snying thig) as well as the basics of meditation (chan xiu jichu 禪修基礎), participated in a Q&A session, performed a White Tara fire offering, celebrated an initiation of Red Avalokiteśvara, and met with donors who contributed to the restoration of the Bo Gangkar Academy.35 His teachings marked Gongga Laoren’s disciples so much that a report on it was published in the 20 June issue of the Eye of the True Law magazine. According to the anonymous author, the benefits received 34 35

Regarding the first donations, Eye of the True Law, from May to July 2003, no. 352 to 354. The Heart Sphere of the Vast Space is a text revealed to ’Jigs med gling pa during three visions of Klong chen rab ’byams pa (1308–1363) of the Nyingma School, see Robert E. Buswell and Donald S. Lopez, The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014), 1092.

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during the transmission were “incommensurable.” According to him, the 6th Gangkar Rinpoche gathered between three hundred and four hundred disciples, the largest crowd at the meditation center since Gongga Laoren’s death. Then the Eye of the True Law magazine published the abstracts of his teachings.36 When the teachings were over, the 6th Gangkar Rinpoche organized the next visit (June–July 2005) with Gongga Laoren’s disciples and presented the construction project of a new study institute in Palpung Sherabling (Babeng zhihui lin sengjia xuexiao 八蚌智慧林僧伽學校), in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.37 He added that he intended to come to the Taipei Meditation Center every time he came to Taiwan and wished to consider it as his own in order to revive Gongga Laoren’s spiritual heritage. Some photographs were published in the same issue confirming the magnitude of attendance at his teachings. However, the 6th Gangkar rinpoche did not limit his action to the Gongga Meditation Center. In reality, he visited many others, of Karma Kagyü obedience. However, in June and July 2005, he went to the Gongga Laoren monasteries in Tainan, the Chongqing si and the Gongga si, where he led a retreat of One-thousand-armed Avalokiteśvara and celebrated the initiations of the “Horse Neck,” Red Avalokiteśvara, Mañjuśrī (Wenshu pusa guanding 文殊菩萨 灌頂) and Vajrakīlaya (Puba Jingang guanding 普巴金剛灌頂, Tib.: Rdo rje phur pa).38 After these two 2005 sojourns, the information in the Eye of the True Law magazine regarding the 6th Gangkar Rinpoche concerns the study institute construction project in India which, in addition to being included in the list of donations indicated at the end of each issue of the magazine, had already been the subject of an article published in June 2005, presenting it as the 12th Tai Situ Rinpoche’s longstanding dream, fulfilled by the 6th Gangkar Rinpoche (an extremely detailed provisional budget accompanies the article).39 I later found no other mention of it, neither progress report nor photos, nor regarding

36

37

38 39

For example, the transcription of a teaching of the “Horse Neck” (Eye of the True Law, July 20, 2005, no. 378) or of the Heart sūtra (xinjing jiangjie 心經講解) given by Gangkar Rinpoche from November 20, 2005 to May 20, 2006 (Eye of the True Law, no. 382 to 388). The following article from Eye of the True Law concerns this project and was published in March 2007. It gives a progress report on the construction of the institute with a view to motivate new donations. For example, a photograph shows the construction of the foundations of meditation cells which each measure one square meter. The project was to build 108 such cells. This initiation is to purify the teaching place and push away enemies, see Buswell and Lopez, The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 2328. The budget shows a total of 33,065,400 rupees, that is, € 438,473.

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Mount Gangkar project. However, the amount of donations allocated to those projects continued to be published at the end of each issue. Following the 6th Gangkar Rinpoche’s June–July 2005 teachings, a pilgrimage to the Bo Gangkar Monastery was organized at his own initiative, like the one done in 1993 by Master Puzhou, Tong Bingqing’s granddaughter (Gongga Laoren’s first Tainan disciple) and current administrator of the Tainan Gongga Monastery. The group is said to have gathered the 6th Gangkar Rinpoche, Lin Lama and a few believers. In the end, for various reasons, the 6th Gangkar Rinpoche left before the others (August 5th, 2005), Lin Lama and ten or so disciples met up with him on August 22nd. They found him on site at the new Bo Gangkar Monastery. There they participated in the transmission of a White Avalokiteśvara initiation, given by the 6th Gangkar Rinpoche. The report published in the Eye of the True Law magazine is eloquent as to the success of the meeting for its Taiwanese audience, but also for the Tibetans who had flooded there to receive his blessing. Lin Lama and his disciples next went to the hermitage where Gongga Laoren had meditated in her time. The article emphasizes her difficulties climbing there, mainly on horseback. It also mentions some emblematic places, such as the route taken by Gongga Laoren when she went to fetch water from the stream. Little does the reader learn on the monastery condition—just that sixty-three monks live there. No information is given on the workings of the Bo Gangkar Monastery’s Academy of the Five Sciences or on the progress of the work undertaken since 2003 thanks to donations by Gongga Laoren’s Taiwanese disciples. However, this trip’s objective, as is reminded in the conclusion of the article, was certainly to do a pilgrimage to Bo Gangkar, but especially to pass on the Taiwanese devotees’s donations directly into the hands of the administrators of the monastery in question.40 The number of visits by the 6th Gangkar Rinpoche to Taiwan per year (two in 2005 and two in 2006) and their organization are telling as to the development of Tibetan Buddhism in general and the Karma Kagyü School in particular. Since freedom of religion and practices was recognized at the end of the 80s and ever since the Dalai Lama’s visits in 1997, 2001 (and later in 2009), interest in Tibetan Buddhism has kept growing unabatedly among Taiwanese populations. Centers are multiplying and followers ever more numerous while Tibetan masters gain more and more influence. The available statistics for 2009 mention the existence of 217 Tibetan centers (102 Nyingma, 75 Kagyü, 26 Sakya and 14 Géluk, besides others accommodating different schools together) and post at 500,000 to 600,000 the number of Tibetan Buddhism practitioners,

40

Eye of the True Law, November 20, 2005, no. 382.

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with a majority of Kagyü teachings adepts.41 This interest, however, is not limited to Tibetan centers. The number of big Taiwanese Buddhist monasteries soared after the Taiwanese government authorised the creation of Buddhist universities within them, whose training programs were validated by degrees recognized by the State (2009). That way, courses dedicated to the study of Tibetan Buddhism and followed by the Chan monks and nuns were devised in the Foguang Shan and Fagu Shan monastic universities, amongst others.42 For their part, the Gongga Laoren Meditation Center and monasteries indicate teachings were delivered abroad by the great Karma Kagyü School’s masters. As for the 6th Gangkar Rinpoche, he participated in this frenzy and spoke in the Karma Kagyü Taiwanese centers. For the first time, on the occasion of a Tibetan master’s visit to the island, the Eye of the True Law magazine published the complete teachings program this master was to transmit, not only those scheduled in their own venue.43 It did the same a second (and last) time in 2011 to present Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche’s visit to Taiwan.44 Presently, the 6th Gangkar Rinpoche often resides in Hong Kong where he has a center called the Gangkar Dharamraza. His disciples are mostly Chinese, and his Taiwanese disciples quickly noticed his special relationship with the Han (Renboqie guo zhen yu Han ren you zhe zui shen de yinyuan 仁波切果真與漢人有著最深的因缘), as of 2005.45 Accordingly, his Facebook page is essentially written in Chinese.46 So, the Taipei Gongga Meditation Center is anchored in the Karma Kagyü School’s transnational landscape. It hosts masters and finances good works destined to their Western and Asian monasteries. It has since been recognized as one of the Taiwan Karma Kagyü centers and has accepted to join their subsidiaries’ network. In a way, the publication in the Eye of the True Law magazine of the 6th Gangkar Rinpoche’s complete program is evidence enough of the importance this master has gained in the community of Gongga Laoren’s disciples. Indeed, teaching in a great number of Taiwanese centers was beneficial for his renown, which shone down on Gongga Laoren’s places of worship. Com-

41

42 43 44 45 46

Chen Youxin 陳又新, “Da bao fawang yu Taiwan 大寶法王與台灣” [The Karmapa and Taiwan], Meng Zang jikan 蒙藏季刊 [Magazine on Mongolia and Tibet] 19, no. 3 (2007): 46. The existence of Tibetan Buddhism classes in the Chan monastic universities remains unsure because of the ties the monasteries wish to maintain or not with China. Eye of the True Law, July 20, 2005, no. 378. Eye of the True Law, December 20, 2011, no. 455. Eye of the True Law, June 20, 2005, no. 377. Dishi shi Gongga Renboqie dizi fenxiangqu 第十世貢噶仁波切弟子分享區 [Page for the 10th Gangkar Rinpoche’s disciples]. https://www.facebook.com/第十世貢噶仁波切 弟子分享區-1505097333080692. Accessed July, 2016.

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paring his 2005 and 2006 teaching programs reveals that he granted particular importance to Gongga Laoren’s places of teaching. He has remained faithful even though he does flit from one Kagyü center to another.47 However, while he came twice in 2005 and 2006, he gradually faded from the scene, making only occasional visits. The great Karma Kagyü masters passed away one after the other. Their successors introduced themselves, like Sunan quepei Rinpoche 蘇 南却佩仁波切, Qiamei Rinpoche 恰美仁波切, Gama Kanqing Renboqie 噶玛 堪庆仁波切 or Gejie Renboqie 格榤仁波切. They gave teachings at the Gongga Laoren’s Meditation Center and monasteries,48 where the content remained unchanged. In August 2008, the Padmasambhava (Lianhua sheng dashi 莲花 生 大 士) initiation was the only addition to those traditionally delivered.49 Finally, the Eye of the True Law magazine rarely urged disciples to make donations towards the teachings given in India by the great Karma Kagyü masters or to finance the intronisation ceremonies (for the 17th Karmapa Orgyen Trinley Dorjé, amongst others). As of 2013, it proposed its readership to attend the great annual Karma Kagyü celebration, thereby authorizing them to open up to the international scene.50

4

Continuing Charity Projects

Initially, the Taipei Meditation Center magazine (Eye of the True Law) and the Gongga newsletter by the Tainan Monastery (Gongga huizun; first published in 2000) were intended to publish the financial accounts. Some issues even focused on this type of information exclusively. Individuals’ donations towards particular projects are duly noted. Reports sometimes deal with animal liberation ceremonies ( fangsheng 放生). However, the revenue generated by initiations or teachings transmissions, which imply a fee or request participants to

47

48

49 50

The name given (Center of Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhist Studies in the Taoyuan District) is incomplete because no Tibetan center in the Taoyuan District has exactly that name. The 2nd Kalu Rinpoche went to the Gongga Monastery in Tainan in December 2009, see Gongga fa zun 贡噶法讯, December 2009 and Eye of the True Law, November 20, 2009, no. 430. Gongga huizun, August 2008. For example, it is suggested to send donations for the transmission of a teaching by the 1st Kalu Rinpoche, in Sarnath, see Eye of the True Law, June 1983, no. 165. For the donations destined for the 17th Karmapa’s enthronement ceremony, see Eye of the True Law, September 20, 1992, no. 241. The first announcement to participate in the great annual Karma Kagyü festival was published in Eye of the True Law, November 20, 2013, no. 478.

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make donations, are not published. On the contrary, Tibetan masters disclose the amounts donated to their own monasteries, to their subsidiaries in Tibet or in India and to the Tibetan population in exile. Gongga Laoren’s published lists considerably emphasized the social aid she and her followers provided to the Taiwanese civil population and focused besides on Buddha’s teachings. As early as 1969, Gongga Laoren founded the Association of Great Compassion (Dabei lisheng hui 大悲利生會). She transformed it in 1993 into the Foundation for the Social Works of Gongga Laoren (Caituan faren Gongga Laoren zonghe shehui fuli shiye jijinhui 財團法人貢噶老人綜合社會福利事業基金會), still active today. This charitable institution has eleven objectives, divided into seven charitable works (cishan shiye 慈善事業) and four educational works ( jiaoyu ye 教育業). Charities fall into the following categories: (1) emergency relief, (2) the elderly’s welfare, (3) children’s welfare, (4) the happiness of the disabled, (5) assistance to low-income people, (6) health care for the poor, (7) assistance to the elderly and socially isolated. As for educational works, they include: 1) Dharma dissemination, 2) development of cultural activities related to Dharma, 3) provision of scholarships, 4) support of cultural activities that benefit society. A large part of the donations are intended to support the needy or associations, whether religious (e.g. Christian) or orphanages, hospitals or retirement homes. Community members submit a selection of persons or associations to be supported; then the choice is made official during a general meeting. Projects contributing to the spread of Tibetan Buddhism fall into two categories: on the one hand, those related to the construction, maintenance or expansion of Gongga Laoren’s monastic structures in Taiwan and the Karma Kagyü School in the West or in India; on the other hand, those related to novice monks’ education abroad. In the first case the point is to ensure the community’s stability now and in future. For example, while the Karma Triyāna Dharmachakra Meditation Center in Taipei has kept the same size given its location in the heart of the city, the Gongga Monastery in Tainan, whose construction began in the early 1990s, has continued to grow. The first pages devoted to it in the Eye of the True Law (the Taipei Meditation Center magazine), before it began its own newsletter in 2000, listed exclusively donations for its constructions. The publishing house’s operations (established in 1992) are also financed by community members. And again, after she passed away, her followers stopped making donations to foreign projects for about three years, presumably to concentrate their means on preparing her mummy. In terms of supporting the Karma Kagyü School’s development, the process was (and still is) the same: when Tibetan masters came to teach in Taiwan, their

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services were followed by a call for donations for this or that monastic project and Gongga Laoren’s disciples responded each according to their income. From punctual and scattered, the help given by the Gongga Laoren community to the Karma Kagyü School at international level has ended up focusing on three projects: 1) the Academy of the Five Sciences at Bo Gangkar Monastery in Kham, 2) the Academy at Palpung Sherabling Monastery in Himachal Pradesh, India, of the 12th Tai Situ Rinpoche and 3) Benchen Sedra (Bianqian si 邊倩寺) located in Kathmandu and directed by Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche. As seen previously, the call for donations to Gongga Laoren’s disciples for the renovation of the Academy of the Five Sciences of Bo Gangkar Monastery and for its monks’ education was made in April 2003. He said that the 6th Gangkar Rinpoche was at the origin of this appeal. He pointed out this study institution had been founded by his previous incarnation in 1956 so that, by contributing to this project, disciples were strengthening the bond the two masters (Gongga Laoren and the 5th in the lineage) had shared together years earlier. Two possibilities were suggested. Either to sponsor a monk by giving him 50 Taiwanese dollars per month, with a commitment over a certain period of time, or by allocating an amount to the construction of the Academy. Donations flowed in and an initial report written by Lin Lama, the Taipei Gongga Meditation Center’s administrator, was published a year later. It gave the teaching schedule and an account of the monks’ situation at the Academy. A total of 46 novices benefited from the program, including 19 primary school students (whose school was located at Didang Monastery 地黨寺 in Yajiang 雅江), 16 secondary school students and 11 middle school students. Classes included hours of memorization, recitation and discussion of texts from Vasubandhu, Abhidarmakosākārikā ( Jushelun 俱舍論), Shantideva, Bodhicaryāvatāra (Ru pusa xinglun 入普蕯行論) and bodhisattva practices ( fozi xing 佛子行). The Academy’s project for the 12th Tai Situ Rinpoche’s Palpung Sherabling Monastery, located in Himachal Pradesh, India, was inaugurated after the 6th Gangkar Rinpoche transmitted teachings to Gongga Laoren’s meditation center and monasteries in 2005. He borrowed an idea from the 12th Tai Situ Rinpoche: to organize a structure to host and educate young monks, 500 at that time. Two urgent appeals for donations were launched again in 2007. In 2010, Tenga Rinpoche asked Gongga Laoren’s disciples to contribute to the maintenance of the Benchen Academy (shedra), located in Kathmandu and directed by Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, one of the 16th Karmapa’s disciples, and to the monks’ education. Lin Lama, ordained by Tenga Rinpoche, attended his master’s funeral, in Kathmandu in June 2012. On this occasion, he handed over to the monastery the money collected during the previous year for the monks’ education, amounting to nt$1,305,700 (the equivalent of US$ 7,911 or 7,119,901

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Nepalese rupees). Since then, all of the Eye of the True Law issues have reported donations to these three monastic bases. In short, despite the successful mummification of Gongga Laoren’s body; despite Lin Lama and Master Puzhou’s obvious good intentions to ensure the Taipei center and the Tainan monasteries administration and to perpetuate the initiations received from Gongga Laoren; for all the ties that have remained strong with the Karma Kagyü clergy; in spite of the continuation of charitable works, failing the discovery of her reincarnation, her spiritual heritage does seem vulnerable. Will it survive over time? Will her reincarnation eventually materialize? Only time will tell.

Conclusion Gongga Laoren’s life is divided into two periods. The first lasted 55 years and took place in mainland China (with the notable exception of three years spent in Tibet) and the second, a period of 39 years spent in Taiwan. The Taiwanese period is divided into two: the 22 years during which Gongga Laoren had intense religious activity although she was a laywoman, and the 17 years she spent as a nun of the Karma Kagyü obedience. Apart from her autobiographical account, no other reliable source describes the Chinese period, which must therefore be read entirely in the conditional. There we find that Gongga Laoren, born in 1903, was of Manchu ancestry and that her family belonged to the imperial clan. An only child, and strong of will, raised by her parents from childhood, she very early denied her feminity and felt drawn to religion at an early age. Her family engaged her to Wu Yingting, the son of a friend of her father’s, but in 1920, she refused this marriage (hence her social status) and deserted her family. She nevertheless remained in contact with General Zhu Qinglan, a friend of her father’s, a fervent Buddhist, who became her protector and influenced her spiritual choices. Some time later, she took refuge for the first time with an old Pekinese monk. With Zhu Qinglan’s support, she got involved in civil society by creating schools here and there. Thanks to him, in 1939, she met the Chinese monk Taixu, who advised her to enroll at the Institute of Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Study that he had created in Chongqing and to go to Tibet to deepen her knowledge. It is again thanks to him that one year later she obtained the position of secretary in the government of the province of Xikang education department based in Dartsédo, where she met Wu Yingting, her ex-fiancé! There she met Gangkar Rinpoche for the first time and took him as her master. Two years later, she made friends in Dartsédo with Shao Fuchen (an active member of the Suiyuan province 綏遠省 lay Buddhists circle, practicing the esoteric path). He became one of her benefactors and encouraged her to go to Bo Gangkar, her new master’s monastery, to study and meditate. As she was eager to attain the highest achievements, she was taught Tantric initiations and her master granted her the authorization and the means to make a threeyear retreat. It took place from 1942 to 1945 within the walls of an old hermitage located on the slopes of Mount Gangkar. At the end of this retreat, Gongga Laoren felt transformed. She then taught Dharma in Beijing, Nanjing and Shanghai until, in 1947, the political climate became hostile to religion. She then turned to studying and practicing traditional medicine either in Shanghai or, more sporadically, in Suzhou. In 1956, in Beijing, she had one

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last meeting with Gangkar Rinpoche, who asked her to leave the country and spread his teaching. She left Shanghai for Taiwan via Hong Kong in 1958. There, she met Wu Yingting, her ex-fiancé, who had preceded her in exile and who, undeniably, cultivated the art of appearing at the most crucial moments of her life. Her arrival in Taipei opened the second chapter of her life, which, unlike the first, is well documented. An objective analysis of her Taiwanese life trajectory suggests a genuine success story. Proof of this is the very existence of her meditation center in Taipei and her Gongga Monastery in Tainan, financed by donations from her disciples. The latter never shied away from erecting new buildings when they deemed it useful, especially in the 1960s (for the former), when the economic conditions in Taiwan were not at all the same as they are today, to provide Gongga Laoren with a teaching environment in keeping with her qualities. In other words, if they had not valued her teachings, they would not have been willing to forego their savings to build two monasteries to accomodate them. The success of Gongga Laoren’s religious activities stems from several causes. The first is certainly her choice to transmit esoteric teachings that are usually reserved for the most advanced practitioners of the Way. This was probably not the case of her first Taiwanese disciples who discovered the Tibetan Tantric initiations thanks to her. Weng Hanliang, one of her disciples, told me Gongga Laoren arrived empty-handed in 1958 because customs had dispossessed her of her texts and ritual objects, whereas her very purpose was to transcribe the teachings she had received in Tibet and China before she could forget them. Her argument is obviously irrefutable but, unfortunately, not a single source can confirm it. In any case, she succeeded. We say Gongga Laoren’s offer met local Buddhists’ demand since, traditionally, the Chinese in general and the Taiwanese in particular are fond of somewhat magical rites designed to decouple physical and mental powers. As we saw previously, the rare Tibetan masters present on the island (Changkya Qutuγtu, Kanjurwa Qutuγtu, Mingyur Rinpoche and Gélèk Rinpoche) did not teach anything of the kind. They had allowed a spiritual void to form that gave Gongga Laoren the opportunity to fill it. The second reason for her success, which really distinguished her from Tibetan masters on the island, had they wished to teach, was her ability to teach directly in the Chinese language, unlike them. This point is essential. Even today, the matter of language when teaching remains important. Note that a number of Tibetan masters fled Tibet in 1959 in the face of the Chinese army and took refuge in the West where most of them learned English. Their successors only made sporadic appearances in Taiwan because they did not master

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Chinese, which limited their exchanges with the local Buddhists, whereas those who could not escape in 1959 and were forced to learn Chinese came more willingly (since it was possible for them). The third cause of Gongga Laoren’s success in Taiwan is the first two long retreats she completed. The third, undertaken from 1989 to 1991 when she was middle-aged, was not significant. In doing them, she unambiguously demonstrated her ability to carry them out, while her account of her experience in Tibet lacked confirming elements to reassure skeptics. While her account is tinged with extraordinary anecdotes supposed to prove the high level of her spiritual realization, they nevertheless contributed to establishing her charisma among her disciples; so eager was she for the marvelous, her first Taiwanese retreat renewed her (a voluntary three-year seclusion, undertaken in full view of all, astonished the public) and the second strengthened her (as if that were necessary). In reality, Gongga Laoren’s entire behavior in Taiwan suggested a person eager to advance on the Buddhist path rather than a powerhungry despot at the head of a community. Gongga Laoren herself pointed out that she did not always teach properly and mentioned the difficulties she encountered during retreats. In addition, she took the risk of losing disciples by leaving the earthly world as soon as she could and revealing the scant results of her practices. In any case, when a disciple criticized her for isolating herself too often to the detriment of the people who came to meet her, she answered that the visitors’ karmas was to blame! The last reason for her success is to be found in the art of secrecy which she handled with virtuosity; between her disciples and the others; those who had received her “Dharma Booklet” and those who had not; the first-generation followers as opposed to the others; those who knew and those who did not. To all this, Gongga Laoren had always lived in exemplary modesty and frugality. That is why it was all the more natural that, from 1980 onward, she adopted the monastic status of nun, which left little room for fantasy. During this last period (1980–1997), she gradually abandoned her role as a Dharma teacher to make herself useful to the Karma Kagyü clergy, notably by facilitating their arrival on the island. She also obtained the integration of her meditation center in Taipei into this school’s international monasteries network (she even agreed to change its name to Karma Triyāna Dharmachakra, which was that of the 16th Karmapa American headquarters), and of her Chongqing and Gongga monasteries in Tainan. Icing on the cake, her Gongga Monastery was visited by the 14th Dalai Lama about a week before her death, which earned her a tremendous and final recognition. By the way, since she was there that day, it is unimaginable that they did not meet.

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Thus, not only had she fulfilled Gangkar Rinpoche’s (her root master) wish to spread the Karma Kagyü doctrine, but it is noteworthy she contributed effectively to the establishment of Tibetan Buddhism on the island of Taiwan. This in itself was quite an achievement, especially considering the state of destitution in which she arrived. The thorny question remains as to her personal spiritual legacy. While visiting her meditation center and two monasteries and meeting with her disciples, I observed clear signs of disarray. Gongga Laoren had been dead for two decades, her reincarnation has not been found, and with each passing day, hopes she will one day be found weaken. More generally, we can see that Tibetan monks in charge of finding a master in reincarnation are facing more and more difficulties of all kinds, including political ones, when it comes to identifying the reincarnation of such and such a master and getting it accepted by the disciples. As a result, there are nowadays two Karmapa and two Panchen Lama! Concerning Gongga Laoren, as she did not explicitly designate successors, dissensions have arisen between the disciples in Taipei and those in Tainan, further weakening her community. In this regard, in one way or another, it is likely these dissensions are hindering the emergence of her reincarnation. Finally, what remains of Gongga Laoren’s passage on earth, apart from her body’s mummy, her autobiography and some of her teachings transcriptions, three generally empty buildings and a handful of worried disciples? Her name remains engraved in the great book of Taiwan’s History, in the chapter on Tibetan Buddhism, which, thanks to her, has taken firm roots. Not a trifle.

appendix

Timeline of Gongga Laoren’s Life (1903–1997) 1903 1908 1909 1914 1919 1920 1922 1928 1930 1933 1937 1938 1939

1940 1941

1942

1945

1946 1947 1949

Birth in Beijing. Meeting with Cixi in the Forbidden City. The family moved to Kaifeng in the Henan province. Study of martial arts. Engaged to be married with Wu Yingting. Returned to Beijing and renounced marriage. Took refuge with Venerable Daojie in the Fayuan Monastery in Beijing. Worked as a teacher in a girls’ school in the Hebei province. Opening of a free girls’ school in Beijing. Opening of the Renyou primary school, with General Zhu Qinglan, in Beijing. She became its director. Abandoned the school at the arrival of Japanese troops. Created a partisan group in Henan. Beginning of her study of Buddhism. – Studied at the Institute of Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Study in Chongqing. – Took refuge with Taixu. – Chose Xuyun as spiritual master. Secretary of Tibetan language correspondence in the Education Department of the Xikang Government in Dartsédo. – Met with her ex-fiancé, Wu Yingting, Head Secretary of the Party of the province of Xikang. – Chose Gangkar Rinpoche as spiritual master. – Arrival at Bo Gangkar, Gangkar Rinpoche’s monastery. – Attended Tantric teachings and initiations. – Beginning of a three-year retreat at the Bo Gangkar hermitage. – End of retreat and was granted the religious name Juezhudengbai by Gangkar Rinpoche. – Taught Dharma at the Helin Monastery, at the invitation of Song Xiaomu, a lay disciple from Ya’an. – Taught Dharma in Chengdu for twenty-one days and bestowed the initiation of Red Avalokiteśvara for seven days. – Invitation to Nanjing. – Studied acupuncture. – Taught Dharma at the Buddhist temple Yujia in Beijing. – Entered into retreat at the Summer Palace (Yiheyuan) for two years. – Exit from retreat.

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1950 1953 1956

1957 1958

1959

1960

1961 1962

1963 1965 1966 1968 1971

1972 1975

appendix – Nominated as Head of the Office of Religious Affairs under the Ministry of Interior Affairs. – Lived as a hermit in Shanghai. – Studied traditional medicine. – Studied medicine in Suzhou for three years. – Taught Dharma at the invitation of the doctor Wang Shenxuan. – Returned to Shanghai. – Traveled to Beijing to meet with Gangkar Rinpoche. – Returned to Shanghai. Death of Gangkar Rinpoche in his monastery, Bo Gangkar in Kham (29/01). – Went into exile in Hong Kong, then Taiwan. – Invited by Chen Yulin and Tong Bingqing, two lay Buddhists, to teach Dharma in Taipei and Tainan. – Performed the ritual of the Transfer of Awareness to honor Liwu Ruohua’s husband, a lay Buddhist of Taiwanese origin living in Hong Kong. – Liwu Ruohua took refuge with Gongga Laoren. – Received donation by Liwu Ruohua for the purchase of land and construction of a place of worship in Taipei. – Taught Dharma and celebration of the Transfer of Awareness initiation at the Zhuxi Monastery in Tainan at the invitation of Master Quanmiao. – Attended a ceremony organized in honor of Gangkar Rinpoche, at the Shandao Monastery, in Taipei. – Inauguration of the meditation center in Taipei. – Beginning of a 108-day retreat. – End of her retreat. – Set up Board of the Gongga Meditation Center. – Death of her father in China. – Death of her mother in China. Transmission of the Great Seal initiation. – Entered into a 49-day retreat in Yangming Shan, north of Taipei. – Foundation of a traditional Chinese medicine center. – Bestow the Transfer of Awareness initiation (30/06). – Beginning of a three-year retreat. – Death of Wu Yingjing, her ex-fiancé. – End of her retreat. – Transmission of the initiation of the Transfer of Awareness (14-20-25/11 and 3/12). Beginning of a three-year retreat. End of retreat. Travelled to the Philippines to meet the 16th Karmapa and foun-

timeline of gongga laoren’s life (1903–1997)

1980

1981

1982 1988 1989 1991 1992

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ded a center there. Traveled to Singapore, in Malaysia, in Thailand and Hong Kong to teach Dharma. – Performed a ceremony to avoid disasters and protect Taiwan. – Travelled to the USA to meet with the 16th Karmapa. – Took nun’s vows with the 16th Karmapa (30/07). – Is given the religious name Karma Don grub rang ’byung by the 16th Karmapa. – Changed the name of the Gongga Meditation Center in Taipei to Karma Triyāna Dharmachakra. – Arrival of the first Tibetan masters from the Karma Kagyü School in Taiwan (03). – Consecration by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche of the chapel dedicated to the four-armed Red Avalokiteśvara in the Karma Triyāna Dharmachakra Meditation Center. – Death of the 16th Karmapa in the USA (06/11). – Sent three emissaries (Long Zhaoyu, Liang Youyou and Wang Zhenhao) to the funeral of the 16th Karmapa in Sikkim. – Donated a Tibetan Kangyur. Consecration of the monastery new buildings by the Karma Kagyü masters from the Karmapa’s New York Monastery. Fell sick: Serious illness and hospitalization. Entered into a two-year retreat. End of the retreat. – End of the construction of the new building of the Taipei Monastery dedicated by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche (01/03). – Consecration of the site of the future Tainan Monastery and Dharma teaching (23/11). – Visit by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche from New York to celebrate the Taiwanese festival of the dead (Qingming) for three days. – Departure on pilgrimage by Long Zhaoyu, Zhang Shanben and Tong Dazhen to the Bo Gangkar Monastery in Kham. – Departure of Lin Lama for Nepal to learn Tibetan and study the Buddhist texts (06). – Inauguration of the Gongga Monastery in Tainan. – Visit by the 14th Dalai Lama to the Gongga Monastery in Tainan (23/03). – Attended a ceremony dedicated to Avalokiteśvara at the Gongga Monastery in Tainan (27/03). – Death (11/04). – Preservation of her corpse in a sealed urn (13/04). – Celebration of a funeral ceremony and of a Red Avalokiteśvara initiation

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appendix by Tenga Rinpoche Karma Tenzin Trinlé Namgyel, Karma khenchen Chökyi Dawa and Lama Tséten Trashi. – Successful mummification. – Reception and display of the mummy at the Tainan Monastery (16/03). – Display and enthronement of the mummy in the Taipei Meditation Center entrance hall by Tenga Rinpoche Karma Tenzin Trinlé Namgyel and Karma khenchen Chökyi Dawa (3–9/04).

Glossary of Tibetan Names Bo Gangkar Bo Gangkar Rinpoche 5th Karma Chökyi Senggé (’Bo gangs dkar Rin po che 5th Karma chos kyi seng ge; Chin.: Gongga Qutuγtu 貢噶呼圖克圖, 1893–1957) Bhumang Rinpoche (Chin.: Puman Renboqie 菩曼仁波切) Changkya Qutuγtu 9th Lozang Pelden Tenpé Drönmé (Lcang skya Qutuγtu 9th Blo bzang dpal ldan bstan pa’i sgron me, 1891–1957) Chödrak (Chos grags) Dalai Lama 5th Lozang Gyatso (Dalai Lama 5th Blo bzang rgya mtsho, 1617–1682) Dalai Lama 6th Tsangyang Gyatso (Dalai Lama 6th Tshang dbyangs rgya mtsho, 1683– 1706) Dalai Lama 13th Thupten Gyatso (Dalai Lama 13th Thub bstan rgya mtsho, 1876–1933) Gyelmo Ngülchu (Rgyal mo dngul chu) Dalai Lama 14th Tenzin Gyatso (Dalai Lama 14th Bstan ’dzin rgya mtsho, born in 1935) Dartsédo (Dar rtse mdo) Dégé (Sde dge) Dézhung Rinpoche (Sde gzhung Rin po che, 1906–1987) Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche Ché Gyurmé Tekchok Tenpé Gyeltsen (Dil mgo mkhyen brtse Rin po che che ’gyur med theg mchog bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan, 1910–1991) Dorjé Chöpa (Rdo rje gcod pa, Duojie Jueba 多傑覺巴, 1874–?) Drakpé pel (Grags pa’i dpal, born in 1260) Drépung (’Bras spungs) Drikung Kyabgön Chetsang Konchog Tenzin Kunsang Thrinle Lhundrup (Bri kung skyabs mgon che tsang dkon mchog bstan ’dzin, kun bzang ’phrin las lhun grub, born in 1946) Dudjom Rinpoche Jikdrel Yéshé Dorjé (Bdud ’joms Rin po che ’Jigs bral ye shes rdo rje, 1904–1987) Gampopa (Sgam po pa, 1079–1153) Gangkar Rinpoche 6th Tenzin Jigme Chodrak (Gangs dkar Rin po che 6th Bstan ’dzin ’jigs med chos grags, born in 1982) Gara Lama Sönam Rabten (Mgar ra Bla ma Bsod nams rab brtan, 1865–1936) Gélukpa (Dge lugs pa) Gélèk Rinpoche (Dge legs Rin po che, 1924–2009) Gyaltsab Rinpoché Drakpa Tenpa Yarpel (Rgyal tshab Rin po che Grags pa bstan pa yar ’phel, born in 1954) Gyeltsen (Rgyal mtshan) Jamgön Kongtrül Rinpoche Lodrö Chökyi Senggé (’Jam mgon kong sprul Rin po che Blo gros chos kyi seng ge, 1954–1992)

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Jampel Lodrö Rinpoche (’Jam dpal blo gros Rin po che, 1930–1987) Kagyü (Bka’ brgyud) Kanjurwa Qutuγtu (Bka’ ’gyur Qutuγtu 1914–1978) Kalu Rinpoché 2nd Karma Ngédön Tenpé Gyeltsen (Kar lu Rin po che 2nd Karma nges don bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan, born in 1990) Kalu Rinpoché 1st Karma Rangjung Künkhyap (Kar lu Rin po che 1st Karma rang ’byung kun khyab, 1905–1989) Kardzé (Dkar mdzes) Karma Döndrup Rangjung (Karma Don grub rang ’byung) Karma kagyü (Karma bka’ brgyud) Karma khenchen Chökyi Dawa (Karma mkhan chen chos kyi zla ba; Chin.: Gama Kanqian Renboqie 噶瑪堪謙仁波切) Karmapa 15th Khakyab Dorjé (Karmapa 15th Mkha’ khyab rdo rje, 1871–1922) Karmapa 16th Rangjung Rikpé Dorjé (Karmapa 16th Rang ’byung rig pa’i rdo rje, 1924– 1981) Kham (Khams) Khenchen Kama Déchen Ngédön Tendzin Rapgyé (Mkhan chen karma Bde chen nges don bstan ’dzin rab rgyas) Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche (Karma mthar phyin Rin po che; Chin.: Kanbu kata Renpoqie 堪布卡塔仁波切, 1924–2019) Khyenrap (Mkhyen rab) Konchok Thinley Namgyal Tempei Nyima (Dkon mchog ’phrin las rnam rgyal bstan pa’i nyi ma, born in 1983) Lama Thupten Zopa Rinpoche (Bla ma Thub bstan bzod pa Rin po che, born in 1946) Lama Tséten Trashi (Bla ma Tshe brtan bkra shis; Chin.: Ceren Daxi Lama 側忍達西喇 嘛) Ling Rinpoche Thupten Lungtok Namgyel Trinlé (Gling Rin po che Thub bstan lung rtogs rnam rgyal ’phrin las, 1902–1983) Lopön Rinpoche (Slob dpon Rin po che, born in 1960) Lopön Tenzin Jikmé Rinpoche (Slob dpon Bstan ’dzin ’jigs med Rin po che, Slob dpon Tenzin Rinpoche; Chin.: Luoben Tianjin Renboqie 洛本天津仁波切, born in 1960) Lozang Jikmé (Blo bzang ’jigs med) Milarepa (Mi la res pa, 1040–1123) Mingyur Rinpoche Ngakwang Tenzin Mingyur (Mi ’gyur Rin po che Ngag dbang bstan ’dzin mi ’gyur, born in 1935) Minyak (Mi nyag) Ngakwang Norbu (Ngag dbang nor bu) Norlha Qutuγtu Sönam Rapten (Nor lha Qutuγtu Bsod nams rab brtan, 1865–1936) Nyakchu (Nyag chu) Nyingma (Rnying ma)

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Orgyen Trinley Dorjé (U rgyan ’phrin las rdo rje, born in 1985) Panchen Lama 9th Lozang Chökyi Nyima Gélèk Namgyel (Panchen Lama 9th Blo bzang chos kyi nyi ma dge legs rnam rgyal, 1883–1937) Palme Khyentse Rinpoche 3rd (Dpal me mkhyen brtse Rin po che 3rd; Chin.: Bamai qinzhi Renboqie 巴麥欽哲仁波切) Pelpung (Dpal spungs) Phabongkha (Pha bong kha Rin po che Pde chen snying po, 1878–1941) Riwoché (Ri bo che) Sakyapa (Sa skya pa) Sakya Trinzin Ngakwang Künga Tekchen Rinpoche (Sa skya khri ’dzin ngag dbang kun dga’ theg chen Rin po che, born in 1945) Shamar Rinpoche 14th Mipam Chökyi Lodrö (Zhwa dmar pa Rin po che 14th Mi pham chos kyi blo gros, 1952–2014) Shérap Gyatso (Shes rab rgya mtsho, 1884–1968) Sönam Gyatso (Bsod nams rgya mtsho; Chin.: Sunan Jiacuo 蘇南嘉措) Sönam Tsering (Bsod nams tshe ring) Tai Situ 12th Péma Tönyö Nyinjé Wangpo Rinpoche (Ta’i si tu 12th Padma don yod nyin byed dbang po Rin po che, born in 1954) Tai Situ Rinpoche 11th Péma Wangchok Gyelpo (T’ai Situ Rin po che 11th Padma dbang mchog rgyal po, 1886–1952) Tenga Rinpoche Karma Tenzin Trinlé Namgyel (Bstan dga’ Rin po che Karma bstan ’dzin ’phrin las rnam rgyal; Chin.: Tianga Renboqie 天噶仁波切, 1933–2012) Tenzin Jigme Chodrak (Bstan ’dzin ’jigs med chos grags) Thrangu Rinpoche Karma Lodrö Lungrik (Khra ’gu Rin po che Karma blo gros lung rig, born in 1933) Thupten dendrang (Thub bstan gdan drang) Trijang Rinpoche Lozang Yéshé Tenzin Gyatso (Khri byang Rin po che Blo bzang ye shes bstan ’dzin rgya mtsho, 1901–1981) Trinley Thayé Dorjé (’Phrin las mtha’ yas rdo rje, born in 1983) Tsongkhapa (Tsong kha pa, 1357–1419) Tsurpu (Mtshur phu) Yéshé Dorjé (Ye shes rdo rje)

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Index Bai Puren 白普仁 (1870–1927) 1, 1n2 Baima si 白馬寺 see Monastery of the Bodhi on the White Horse Mountain (Baima Shan, Puti si 白馬山菩提寺) Baisheng 白聖 39n14 Beijing 北京 1, 2, 4, 8, 13, 15, 15n18, 23, 24n60, 26, 34–35, 49, 65–67, 88n2, 90, 119, 139 Belgium 27n76 Benchen Phuntsok Dargyeling (Darjeeling) Monastery 105, 121, 129 Bir 95 Bodhi Society (Puti xuehui 菩提學會) 41 Bo Gangkar Monastery 11, 11n3, 20–21, 24– 25, 28–29, 30n89, 31–33, 35, 41–43, 48, 52, 56–58, 68, 83, 98, 105, 105n69, 106, 129–130, 133, 137, 139 Bön (Bon) 73 Bhumang Rinpoche (Chin.: Pumang Renboqie 菩曼仁波切) 102 Buddhist Study Group of Foreign Residents in Tibet 2 Central Tibet 19 Chamdo 23n58 Chang’an si 長安寺 16 Changguang 常光 3n7 Changkya Qutuγtu 9th Lozang Pelden Tenpé Drönmé (Lcang skya Qutuγtu 9th Blo bzang dpal ldan bstan pa’i sgron me, 1891– 1957) 38, 39, 140 Chen Chu 陳菊 110, 111 Chengdu 成都 28, 33 Chen Jibo 陳濟博 (1899–1993) 5, 27, 27n76, 28 Chen Jianmin 陳健民 (1906–1987) 5, 16n25, 24n61, 27–28, 30–32, 59 Chen Shuibian 陳水扁 (born in 1950) 109, 111 Chen Xingbai 陳性白 (1882–1962) 27n76 Chen Xunlin 陳珣林 30 Chen Yuanbai 陳圓白 (date unknown) 27 Chen Yulin 陳玉麟 42, 67 Chen Zuojian 陳作鉴 42 Chiang Kai-shek (Chin. pinyin: Jiang Jieshi 蔣介石, 1887–1975) 36, 38, 40, 98

Chödrak (Chos grags) 24n61 Chong Haoyuan 仲浩源 42 Chongqing 重慶 3, 8, 15n18, 16, 18–20, 24, 28–31, 33, 65, 69, 139, 141 Chongqing Monastery 重慶寺 71–72, 77– 81, 96, 96n35, 100, 103–104, 125, 128, 132 Ciji see Zhengyan, Master Ciji Buddhist Foundation (Ciji Fojiao Gongdehui 慈濟佛教功德會) 108n81, 115–116, 116n120 Cixi, Empress Dowager (慈禧, 1835–1908) 12 Cizhou 慈舟 (1915–2013) 93 Dahui Zonggao (大慧宗杲, 1089–1163) 7n11 Dai Jitao 戴季陶 (1891–1949) 19 Dalai Lama 3rd Sönam Gyatso (Dalai Lama 3rd Bsod nams rgya mtsho, 1543–1588) 47n34 Dalai Lama 4th Yönten Gyatso (Dalai Lama 4th Yon tan rgya mtsho, 1589–1616) 47n34 Dalai Lama 5th Lozang Gyatso (Dalai Lama 5th Blo bzang rgya mtsho, 1617–1682) 44n30, 47, 47n34, 122n9 Dalai Lama 6th Tsangyang Gyatso (Dalai Lama 6th Tshang dbyangs rgya mtsho, 1683–1706) 46 Dalai Lama 12th Trinlé Gyatso (Dalai Lama 12 ’Phrin las rgya mtsho, 1856–1875) 23n58 Dalai Lama 13th Thupten Gyatso (Dalai Lama 13th Thub bstan rgya mtsho, 1876–1933) 23n60, 47 Dalai Lama 14th Tenzin Gyatso (Dalai Lama 14th Bstan ’dzin rgya mtsho, born in 1935) 5, 40, 46, 97, 97n37, 107–108, 108n81, 109–111, 111n97, 111n98, 112, 112n103, 113– 115, 115n110, 116–118, 130, 133, 141 Daojie, Master 高僧道楷 15n18 Daoyuan 道源 39n14 Darjeeling 31 Dartsédo (Dar rtse mdo) 20–21, 21n44, 22n57, 23, 25, 27, 29, 32–34, 58–59, 106, 139 Daxiang Monastery 達香寺 95

166 Daxing 大星 39n10, 39n14 Dayong 大勇 (1893–1929) 2, 2n5, 2n6, 3n8, 16n25 Dégé (Sde dge) 25 Dehradun 101 Dehua tang Monastery 德化堂 76 Democratic Progressives’ Party (dpp) 109, 109n83, 110–111, 113–114 Deng Zhongrui 鄧仲瑞 6, 44 Dézhung Rinpoche (Sde gzhung Rin po che, 1906–1987) 97 Dharma Drum Mountain Monastery see Fagu Shan Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche Ché Gyurmé Tekchok Tenpé Gyeltsen (Dil mgo mkhyen brtse Rin po che che ’gyur med theg mchog bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan, 1910– 1991) 98 Dong Shufan 董樹藩 96 Dorjé Chöpa (Rdo rje gcod pa, 1874-?) 1, 1n2, 2, 23n60 dpp see Democratic Progressives’ Party Drakpé pel (Grags pa’i dpal, born in 1260) 59 Drépung (’Bras spungs) 17 Drikung Kyabgön Chetsang Konchog Tenzin Kunsang Thrinle Lhundrup (Bri kung skyabs mgon che tsang dkon mchog bstan ’dzin, kun bzang ’phrin las lhun grub, born in 1946) 101–102 Duan Qirui 段祺瑞 (1865–1936) 19 Dudjom Rinpoche Jikdrel Yéshé Dorjé (Bdud ’joms Rin po che ’Jigs bral ye shes rdo rje, 1904–1987) 97–98 Fagu Shan 法鼓山 99, 101, 108n81, 115–116, 116n120, 117, 134 Famen si 法門寺 15n18 Fan Changyou 藩昌猷 30 Fayuan si 法源寺 15n18 Fazun 法尊 (1902–1980) 2n6, 3n7, 3n8, 8, 17–20 Foguang Shan 佛光山 97, 99, 101, 108, 111, 115–116, 116n120, 134 Gampopa (Sgam po pa, 1079–1153) 72–73, 123 Gangkar Rinpoche 5th Karma Chökyi Senggé (’Bo gangs dkar Rin po che 5th Karma

index chos kyi seng ge, 1893–1957) 4, 4n10, 6, 8, 10–11, 18n33, 19–22, 22n57, 24, 24n61, 24n64, 25, 27, 27n75, 28–30, 30n88, 30n89, 31–35, 41–42, 48–50, 52, 53, 54, 57–59, 61, 64–68, 79, 87–88, 91, 105– 106, 105n69, 119, 122–123, 125, 130–131, 137, 139–140 Gangkar Rinpoche 6th Tenzin Jigme Chodrak (Gangs dkar Rin po che 6th Bstan ’dzin ’jigs med chos grags) 105, 107, 129–134, 137 Ganzi 甘孜 see Kardzé Gaoxiong 高雄 77, 93, 101, 108, 110–111, 114 Gara Lama Sönam Rabten (Mgar ra Bla ma Bsod nams rab brtan, 1865–1936) see Norlha Qutuγtu Sönam Rapten Garma C.C. Chang see Zhang Chengqi Gélèk Rinpoche (Dge legs Rin po che, 1924– 2009) 40, 108, 140 Gélukpa (Dge lugs pa) 2, 38–40, 42, 97, 113, 115, 118, 133 Guangji si 廣濟寺 8 Guangxi clique 廣西 28 Guanyin jiang Monastery 觀音講寺 74–75, 77 Guo Dejie 郭德潔 (1906–1966) 24n62, 29 Gyaltsab Rinpoché Drakpa Tenpa Yarpel (Rgyal tshab Rin po che Grags pa bstan pa yar ’phel, born in 1954) 90, 93–94, 98, 103n64 Gyelmo Ngülchu (Rgya mo ngul chu) 57 Gyeltsen (Rgyal mtshan) 24n61 Han Dazai 韓大哉 29, 29n84, 30 Han Tong 韓同 see Han Torng Han Torng (Chin. pinyin: Han Tong 韓同) 41, 41n19 Hau Lung-bin 郝龍斌 (born in 1952) 111 Hebei 河北 12, 15–16 Helin si 鹤林寺 33–34 Henan 河南 13, 15 Himachal Pradesh 95, 130, 132, 137 Hong Kong 4, 9, 31, 33, 35, 40–43, 88, 114, 121, 121n5, 127, 134, 140 Hu Yalong 胡亞龍 (1915–1981) 27, 30, 30n88 Huishen 慧深 3n7

index India 23n58, 31, 95, 101, 130, 132, 135–137 Institute of Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Study 3, 18–20, 24, 29–30, 139 Institute of Tibetan Language and Buddhist Studies 2 Japan 15 Japanese 36, 37, 43, 43n27, 76 Jamgön Kongtrül Rinpoche Lodrö Chökyi Senggé (’Jam mgon kong sprul Rin po che Blo gros chos kyi seng ge, 1954–1992) 90, 93, 94n20, 95–96, 96n35 Jampel Lodrö Rinpoche (’Jam dpal blo gros Rin po che, 1930–1987) 97 Jangchub ling Monastery 101, 101n58 Jiang Jieshi 蔣介石 (1887–1975) see Chiang Kai-shek Jiangxi 江西 23 Jiayi 嘉義 77, 115 Jinfalin Monastery 金法林寺 95 Jinyun Monastery 縉雲寺 18 Kagyü (Bka’ brgyud) 4, 23, 64n53, 65–66, 97, 118, 130, 133–135 Kaifeng 開封 13, 15n18 Kalu Rinpoché 2nd Karma Ngédön Tenpé Gyeltsen (Kar lu Rin po che 2nd Karma nges don bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan, born in 1990) 93, 135n48 Kalu Rinpoché 1st Karma Rangjung Künkhyap (Kar lu Rin po che 1st Karma rang ’byung kun khyab, 1905–1989) 8, 93, 95, 100, 135n48 Kanchanaburi 27n75 Kangding 康定 11n3, 20, 48 Kang Youwei 康有為 (1858–1927) 16 Kanjurwa Qutuγtu (Bka’ ’gyur Qutuγtu 1914– 1978) 39, 140 Kardzé (Dkar mdzes) 2, 11, 48 Karma Döndrup Rangjung (Karma Don grub rang ’byung) 89 Karma Kagyü (Karma bka’ brgyud) 8, 9, 73, 84, 89–92, 94–96, 99–102, 104, 118–119, 129, 132–135, 135n48, 136–139, 141–142 Karma Kagyü Monastery 101 Gama gaju si 118 Karma khenchen Chökyi Dawa (Karma mkhan chen chos kyi zla ba) 120

167 Karmapa 8, 88, 89n4, 91, 100, 105n67, 118, 125, 142 Karmapa 15th Khakyab Dorjé (Karmapa 15th Mkha’ khyab rdo rje, 1871–1922) 21, 88, 101 Karmapa 16th Rangjung Rikpé Dorjé (Karmapa 16th Rang ’byung rig pa’i rdo rje, 1924–1981) 8, 21, 52, 70, 84, 88–90, 92–94, 100, 104, 118, 120–121, 124, 137, 141 Karmapa 17th Orgyen Trinley Dorje (born in 1985) see Orgyen Trinley Dorje Karma Shri Nalanda 95 Karma Triyāna Dharmachakra 34n110, 90– 93, 97, 100, 119–120, 136, 141 Kathmandu 105, 121, 137 Kham (Khams) 2, 4, 19, 21, 22n57, 23, 23n58, 30–31, 40, 98, 105, 137 Khenchen Kama Déchen Ngédön Tendzin Rapgyé (Mkhan chen karma Bde chen nges don bstan ’dzin rab rgyas) 21 Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche (Karma mthar phyin Rin po che, 1924–2019) 92, 99– 100, 104, 104n66, 134 Khyenrap (Mkhyen rab) 24n61 Konchok Thinley Namgyal Tempei Nyima (Dkon mchog ’phrin las rnam rgyal bstan pa’i nyi ma, born in 1983) 101 Korea 117 Ko Wen-je 柯文哲 (born in 1959) 111 Kuang Teh si (Guangde si 光德寺) 108, 115 Kunming 昆明 28 Kuomintang (kmt) 國民黨 108–111 Lama Thupten Zopa Rinpoche (Bla ma Thub bstan bzod pa Rin po che, born in 1946) 97 Lama Tséten Trashi (Bla ma Tshe brtan bkra shis) 146 Langchan 朗禪 3n7 Lau Yui-chi (Chin. pinyin: Liu Ruizhi 劉銳之, 1914–1997) 35, 41 Lee Teng-hui 李登輝 (1923–2020) 108–109, 111n97 Lhasa 17, 21, 23n58, 32 Light of Virtue see Kuang Teh si (Guangde si 光德寺) Li Jishen 李濟深 (1885–1959) 28 Liwu Ruohua 李吳若華 42–43 Li Zikuan 李子寬 39n14

168 Li Zongren 李宗仁 24n61, 28–29 Lin Lama 林喇嘛 14, 105, 125, 127–129, 129n29, 133, 137–138 Ling Rinpoche Thupten Lungtok Namgyel Trinlé (Gling Rin po che Thub bstan lung rtogs rnam rgyal ’phrin las, 1902–1983) 40 Lin Shengnan 林昇南 see Lin Lama Lin Xianghuang 林祥煌 41n17 Lithang (Li thang) 40 Liu Liqian 劉立千 (1910–2008) 28 Liu Ruizhi 劉銳之 (1914–1997) see Lau Yuichi Liu Xiang 劉湘 (1888–1938) 18, 18n33 Long Yun 龍雲 (1884–1962) 28 Long Zhaoyu 龍昭宇 105, 107 Lopön Rinpoche (Slob dpon Rin po che, born in 1960) 101, 118 Lopön Tenzin Jikmé Rinpoche (Slob dpon Bstan ’dzin ’jigs med Rin po che, Slob dpon Tenzin Rinpoche, born in 1960) see Lopön Rinpoche Lozang Jikmé (Blo bzang ’jigs med) 101 Luo Renqiu 羅紉秋 66 Macao 114 Malaysia 88, 94 Mankong 满空 (date unknown) 21, 27–29, 29n82, 30, 30n88, 32, 61 Mao Zedong 毛澤東 (1893–1976) 4 Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九 (born in 1950) 110–111 Milarepa (Mi la res pa, 1040–1123) 73, 79 Mingyur Rinpoche Ngakwang Tenzin Mingyur (Mi ’gyur Rin po che Ngag dbang bstan ’dzin mi ’gyur, born in 1935) 40, 97, 140 Minyak (Mi nyag) 4, 98, 105 Minyak Institute for the Study of Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna 24 Monastery of the Bodhi on the White Horse Mountain (Baima Shan, Puti si 白馬山菩 提寺) 40, 108, 115 Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (mtac) 40 Morakot, typhoon 115, 117 Mountain of the Light of Buddha, The see Foguang Shan Mount Gangkar 11, 57–58, 60, 65–66, 68, 106, 133, 139

index Mount Lu 23, 24, 29, 31 Mount Minyak (Mi nyag) 21 Mo Zhengxi 莫正熹 74–75 Nanjing 南京 19, 23, 34, 48, 112, 139 Nanting 南亭 39n10 Nenghai 能海 (1886–1967) 3n8, 17, 93 Nepal 95, 101, 105, 121, 129–130, 138 New York 8, 89–90, 100 Ngakwang Norbu (Ngag dbang nor bu) 105–106 Norlha Qutuγtu Sönam Rapten (Nor lha Qutuγtu Bsod nams rab brtan, 1865–1936) 1, 1n2–3, 19, 22, 22n53, 22n57, 23, 23n58, 23n60, 24, 24n60, 27n76, 29–31, 35, 41, 68, 79, 97n39 Nuona Lama see Norlha Qutuγtu Sönam Rapten (Nor lha Qutuγtu Bsod nams rab brtan, 1865–1936) Nyakchu (Nyag chu) 57 Nyingma (Rnying ma) 23, 97, 97n39, 98, 115, 118, 133 Orgyen Trinley Dorjé (U rgyan ’phrin las rdo rje, born in 1985) 118, 130–131, 135, 135n48 Ouyang Wuwei 歐陽無畏 (1913–1991) 17 Ouyang Zhongguang 歐陽重光 41n17 Palme Khyentse Rinpoche 3rd (Dpal me mkhyen brtse Rin po che 3rd) 102 Pan Wenhua 潘文華 (1886–1993) 28 Panchen Lama 9th Lozang Chökyi Nyima Gélèk Namgyel (Panchen Lama 9th Blo bzang chos kyi nyi ma dge legs rnam rgyal, 1883–1937) 1, 19, 21n52, 22n53 Palpung Sherab ling Monastery 95, 130, 132, 137 Pelpung (Dpal spungs) 21 Phabongkha (Pha bong kha Rin po che Pde chen snying po, 1878–1941) 40 Philippines 88 Pujing 普淨 (1902–1986) 27, 27n75 Puqin 普欽 (1905–1960) 27, 27n75 Puzhou, Master 普周法師 105–106, 125, 127–129, 129n29, 130, 133, 138 Qian Zhimin 錢智敏 41n18 Qing dynasty (1644–1912) 17 Quanmiao, Master 全妙法師 75–77 Qu Yingguang 屈映光 (1883–1973) 19, 41, 41n17, 68, 97n39

169

index Riwoché (Ri bo che) 23 Rumtek 95, 101, 105n67 Sakya (Sa skya) 40, 42, 97, 118, 133 Sakya Trinzin Ngakwang Künga Tekchen Rinpoche (Sa skya khri ’dzin ngag dbang kun dga’ theg chen Rin po che, born in 1945) 97n37, 102 Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche 121, 121n5, 137 Shamar Rinpoche 14th Mipam Chökyi Lodrö (Zhwa dmar pa Rin po che 14th Mi pham chos kyi blo gros, 1952–2014) 8, 90, 93, 93n20, 94, 100, 118 Shanghai 34–35, 41, 66, 139–140 Shanxi 山西 15n18 Shao Fuchen 邵福宸 (date unknown) 25, 58–59, 139 Shengyan, Master 聖嚴法師 108n81, 115, 117, 117n123 Shen Shuwen 申書文 (1903–1997) 4, 11 Shen Xingwu 申省吾 12 Shérap Gyatso (Shes rab rgya mtsho, 1884– 1968) 20 Shi Chanyun, Master 釋懺雲法師 93 Shih Chao-Hwei 釋昭慧 117, 117n129 Sichuan 四川 10–11, 18, 24, 27n75, 30, 48 Sikkim 93, 101, 105n67, 130 Singapore 88 Soong May-Ling 宋美齡 98 Sönam Gyatso (Bsod nams rgya mtsho) 94, 94n24 Sönam Tsering (Bsod nams tshe ring) 24n61 Song Xiaochi 宋孝持 (date unknown) 33 Song Xiaomu 宋孝慕 (date unknown) 33 South America 92 Sun Qingyun 孫清雲 12 Suzhou 蘇州 34, 139 Tainan 5–8, 69, 71, 74, 76, 76n86, 77, 86, 95– 96, 98, 100–101, 103, 103n64, 105, 108, 112, 115, 118–119, 124–128, 130, 135n48, 136, 140–142 Taipei 6–8 Tai Situ Rinpoche 11th Péma Wangchok Gyelpo (T’ai Situ Rin po che 11th Padma dbang mchog rgyal po, 1886–1952) 21 Tai Situ 12th Péma Tönyö Nyinjé Wangpo Rinpoche (Ta’i si tu 12th Padma don yod

nyin byed dbang po Rin po che, born in 1954) 8, 90, 93, 100, 104, 105n69, 106, 118, 124, 130–132, 137 Taiwanese Karma Kagyü Commission 96, 96n33, 96n35, 99 Taixu (太虛, 1889–1947) 2, 16, 18, 20, 24, 25n64, 27n75, 29–30, 38, 39n10, 39n14, 116, 117n123, 139 Taizhong 98 Tenga Rinpoche Karma Tenzin Trinlé Namgyel (Bstan dga’ Rin po che Karma bstan ’dzin ’phrin las rnam rgyal, 1933– 2012) 94, 105, 120–121, 121n5, 124, 137 Tenzin Jigme Chodrak (Bstan ’dzin ’jigs med chos grags) 130 Thailand 27n75, 88 Thrangu Rinpoche Karma Lodrö Lungrik (Khra ’gu Rin po che Karma blo gros lung rig, born in 1933) 8, 92, 95, 100–101 Thupten dendrang (Thub bstan gdan drang) 25 Tong Bingqing 童炳清 42, 67, 74–77, 84, 98, 105, 127–128, 133 Tong Dazhen see Puzhou, Master Trijang Rinpoche Lozang Yéshé Tenzin Gyatso (Khri byang Rin po che Blo bzang ye shes bstan ’dzin rgya mtsho, 1901–1981) 40 Trinley Thayé Dorjé (’Phrin las mtha’ yas rdo rje, born in 1983) 118 Tsai Ing-wen 蔡英文 (born in 1956) 111 Tsongkhapa (Tsong kha pa, 1357–1419) 2, 42 Tsurpu (Mtshur phu) 21 United States 31, 32, 42, 88n2, 92, 100 Uttaranchal Pradesh 101 Wang Shenxuan 王愼軒 34 Wang Tian’en 王天恩 77 Wang Yefeng 王野楓 6, 44 Wang Yinuan 王沂暖 (1907–1998) 27–28 Wat Pho Yen 27n75 Wei Chengxiang 魏呈祥 (born in 1960) see Lopön Rinpoche Woodstock 90, 92–93, 97 Wu Changtao 吳長濤 6, 63, 85 Wu Jingchen 武靜塵 13 Wu Runjiang 吳潤江 41, 97n39

170

index

Wu Wentou 吴文投 see Sönam Gyatso (Bsod nams rgya mtsho) Wu Yingting 武英亭 13, 20, 21n44, 26, 35, 59, 68, 83, 139, 140

Yuanjing 元精 39n14 Yuan Shi-kai 袁世凯 (1859–1916) 19, 41 Yujia fotang Monastery 瑜伽佛堂寺 34 Yunnan 雲南 28

Xikang 西康 20, 23, 23n60, 25, 139 Xingyun, Master 星雲法師 (born in 1927) 96, 108, 111, 116, 117n123 Xuanzang 玄奘 (602–664) 39, 39n10

Zaiyi 載漪, (1856–1923) 12n10 Zhang Chengji 張澄基 (1920–1988) 27–28, 31, 31n95, 32–33, 42 Zhang Dulun 張篤倫 31 Zhang Shanben 張山本 105 Zhang Zhidong 張之洞 (1837–1909) 16 Zhengyan, Master 證嚴法師 108n81, 115– 116, 117n123 Zhonghe 中和 43, 44 Zhu Qinglan 朱慶瀾 (1874–1941) 14–15, 15n18, 16, 20, 139 Zhuxi Monastery 竹溪寺 74–76, 76n86, 77

Ya’an 雅安 33, 34 Yang Wenhui 楊文會 (1837–1911) 16, 19 Yéshé Dorjé (Ye shes rdo rje) see Lin Lama Yicheng (Biqiu Yicheng fashi 比丘義成法 師) 42 Yinshun 印順 39n10, 116, 117n123 Yogi Chen see Chen Jianmin