Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Shines with Wisdom

Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche showered teachings and blessings on Gampo Abbey during his visit from September 28 to October 2, 2003. Teaching from his recent book The Sun of Wisdom, his teachings combined "The Twenty Emptinesses" from Chandrakirti's Entering the Middle Way; the Heart of Wisdom Sutra; An Authentic Portrait of the Middle Way, a vajra song of realization of the Lord of Yogis Milarepa; and selected root verses from Nagarjuna's The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way.

The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way is a commentary on the middle turning of the wheel of dharma. The main topic, is emptiness.

Rinpoche explained that gaining certainty in the profound view of emptiness is an important step on the path leading to direct realization of the true nature of reality, which is inconceivable to conventional mind. We heard, many times each day, that all phenomena are like dreams and illusions, mere appearance, emptiness.

An unparalleled scholar, Khenpo Rinpoche often cited the positions of the different philosophical schools concerning particular points, depending on which of the stages of analysis a particular school used.

Rinpoche was assisted by translators Ari Goldfield and Elizabeth Callahan. Adding to the richness and variety of his teachings, Rinpoche brought with him copies of a new songbook which combines songs of Milarepa with the stories of the events giving rise to those songs. Ari Goldfield led us in these songs with his strong, resonant voice. Translating songs for Rinpoche, Ari confidently sang solo, often enthusiastically performing the actions of the lyrics as he sang.

Rinpoche described Chapter 18, "An Examination of Self and Phenomena," as the heart or essence of The Sun of Wisdom because it teaches the two selflessnesses. Rinpoche taught:

"There is no self in the individual
And phenomena have no inherent nature either,
So if you know that phenomena do not truly exist and then meditate,
You will be free."

During his visit, Rinpoche compassionately and generously gave of himself. In addition to presenting the formal teachings, he met with shamatha students as a group and also with vajrayana students as a group.

Alexandra Kalinine, who was traveling with Rinpoche's party, graciously offered guided instruction and an explanation of lujong to interested students.

The overall effect of Rinpoche's visit as expressed by community members was a feeling of blessings, as seeing the possibilities of how life could be, and as a sense of warmth and cheerfulness. Many of us discovered that we were singing and humming the Milarepa songs spontaneously.