Pema Shelpuk
“Blissful Pema Shelpuk, the Lotus Crystal Cave, ༔
Is far superior to all others; none can even approach it. ༔
For it holds the foremost treasure of all, beneath Tibetan soil. ༔
It is the sacred site where resides the sublime teaching, ༔
The Three Classes Of the Great Perfection, ༔
The heart-essence of all learned masters— ༔
A treasure chest, a casket of precious gold, ༔
That shall remain until the farthest reaches of samsara are emptied!”
at a glance
At Pema Shelpuk Guru Padmasambhava discussed the Dzokchen teachings with his disciple Lotsawa Vairocana. Khandro Yeshé Tsogyal served as their scribe, putting into writing what became renowned as the Vairo Nyingtik, the final teachings that resulted from this gathering.
the story
After King Trisong Detsen had passed into parinirvana, the Mahaguru visited Kham, shortly before his departure from Tibet. He entered retreat at the Pema Shelpuk with his disciples Lotsawa Vairocana and Khandro Yeshé Tsogyal. For three months the Mahaguru one-pointedly practiced the Kagyé Deshek Düpa (Assembly of Sugatas). During this time the Mahaguru and Lotsawa Vairocana were also meeting every day to discuss the Dzokchen teachings that they had received from their root teacher Shri Singha in India. The Mahaguru merely focused his mind on his guru Shri Singha, and the master arrived instantly in his wisdom body. This was when the masters agreed to put in writing the unique set of teachings that Lotsawa Vairocana had received on all three sections of the Great Perfection, and to hide it as a terma treasure. As the scene unfolded, Khandro Yeshé Tsogyal joined the masters and received their instructions. The wisdom dakini served as scribe, noting down the final teaching that emerged from this gathering. Subsequently she hid the teaching within Pema Shelpuk itself. Just as Samye Chimpu was the primary sacred site for the transmission of the Khandro Nyingtik and Vima Nyingtik, Pema Shelpuk thus became the sacred site for the transmission of the Vairo Nyingtik.
Words from the Masters
Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo’s The Breeze That Carries the Auspicious Melody
How to Get There
Pema Shelpuk (31.68485, 98.94665)
While at the main site
Pema Shelpuk lies within a tributary valley to the west of Dzongsar Monastery. Surrounded by white mountain cliffs, the Meshö Valley is like an open lotus flower, and the foothills are cloaked in meadows and forests. Flowers grow abundantly in summer, and water flows freely. In the middle, at the heart of the lotus, is a huge white rock with a cave in the center known as Pema Shelpuk (Lotus Crystal Cave). The rock, cave, and surroundings are all white in color. As a result of the Mahaguru’s practice, the central cave produced a naturally arisen mandala of the Kagyé deities, into which the deities dissolved in actuality. Khandro Yeshe Tsogyal practiced in a small cave to the left. The practice caves of Shri Singha and Lotsawa Vairocana, with their self-arisen thrones, are at the top of the rock.