Garab Dorje

Garab Dorje (or Garap Dorje) is his only attested name. The Sanskrit offerings are reconstructions. No Sanskrit name has been found in a colophon. That said, John Myrdhin Reynolds cited Prahevajra or Pramodavajra in his book Self-Liberation Through Seeing with Naked Awareness [rig pa ngo sprod gcer mthong rang grol].{{sfnp|Reynolds|2000}}{{sfnp|Dharma Fellowship|2005}}

According to the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, Garab Dorje transmitted the complete empowerments of Dzogchen to Manjushrimitra,{{sfnp|Manjushrimitra|2001}} who was regarded as his chief disciple. Padmasambhava is said to have received Garab Dorje's transmission of the Dzogchen tantras through an unbroken lineage via Mañjuśrīmitra, Śrī Simha, Jñānasūtra, and Vimalamitra.

Garab Dorje received the empowerment and transmission of the Mahayoga teachings of the Secret Matrix Tradition (Guhyagarbha tantra) from Mahasiddha Kukuraja.{{sfnp|Dharma Fellowship|2005}}

Garab Dorje's birth is interpreted in different ways by different people: In one interpretation, he was born as a son of Su-dharmā and an island-dwelling daughter of king Upa-rāja of {{IAST|Dhana-koṣa}},{{sfnp|Kunsang|2006|p=125}} in the land of Uddiyana, also the birthplace of Padmasambhava. In another interpretation, his mother is named as {{IAST|Pāraņī}}, located on the banks of lake Kutra.{{sfnp|Kunsang|2006|p=199}}

The Nyingmapa lineage conveys Garab Dorje's birth to be a miraculous birth by a virgin daughter of the king of Odiyana (Uddiyana), and that he recited Dzogchen tantras at his birth.{{sfnp|Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche|Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche|2008|pp=185–187}} A detailed interpretation of the hagiographic nativity of Garab Dorje briefly contextualizes his mother, a bhikṣuṇī whose sadhana was Yoga tantra, and her parents. The bhiksuni daughter has a dream in which a man holds the vase of the Astamangala, the 'threefold world', with the syllables 'oṃ  ā  hūṃ' and svāhā:

{{blockquote|The Lord of Secrets (gSang-ba'i-bdag-po) instructed the Holders of Wisdom (Rig-'dsin) in Dhanakośa in Uḍḍiyāna the contemporary Swat valley. There was a large temple, called bDe-byed-brtsegs-pa; it was surrounded by 16081608 may or may not be a typographical error. Usually, such numbers are multiples of 9 such as 108. smaller chapels. King Uparāja, and Queen sNang-ba-gsal-ba'i-od-ldan-ma resided there. They had a daughter called Sudharmā; she took the novice vows, and soon afterwards the full monastic vows. Sudharmā, together with her maidens, stayed on an island and meditated about the Yoga Tantra (rnal-'byor-gyi rgyud). One night the Bhikṣuṇī Sudharmā dreamed that a white man had come, who was utterly pure and beautiful. He held a crystal vessel in his hand which had the letters oṃ  ā  hūṃ  svāhā engraved upon it. Three times he set the vessel upon the crown of her head, and light then shone from it. While this happened, she beheld the threefold world perfectly and clearly. Not long after this dream the Bhikṣuṇī gave birth to a true son of the gods.{{sfnp|Dargyay|1998|p=19}} }}

In the tradition of the oral transmission lineage, Garab Dorje's teachings are also shared through quotations.

Before becoming Garab Dorje's student, Manjushrimitra heard of Garab Dorje's Dzogchen teachings, and sought a debate to defeat the heretical views. Manjushrimitra lost the debate and realized his errors. Garab Dorje then gave Manjushrimitra the complete Dzogchen empowerments, and summarized his teaching as follows: The nature of mind is the original Buddha without birth or cessation, like the sky! When you understand that, all apparent phenomena are beyond birth and cessation. Meditating means letting this condition be as it is, without seeking.{{sfnp|Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche|Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche|2008|pp=185–187}}

As Garab Dorje attained paranirvana, his body dissolved into a mist of rainbow light. Manjushrimitra called to his teacher and Garab Dorje responded by handing his last teaching to Manjushrimitra, which was enclosed in a golden casket the size of a thumbnail. Inside, the three precepts known as the Three Words that Strike to the Heart of the Essential Point, or Tsig Sum Nèdek, ({{bo|w=tshig gSum gNad brDeg}}){{citation needed|date=July 2020}} contain the whole of the Dzogchen teachings, and are a universal introduction to Dzogchen.{{sfnp|Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche|Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche|2008|pp=185–187}} Garab Dorje became the wellspring for the body of instructions eventually known as the mind teachings of Tibet associated with Dzogchen of the Nyingma lineages.{{sfnp|Dudjom Rinpoche|1991|pp=490-494}}

Garab Dorje's "Three Words that Strike to the Heart" are considered the essential teaching by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, and the infallible key point by Patrul Rinpoche.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}} "The Three Statements that Strike the Vital Point" teaching, as translated by Lotsawa House:

{{blockquote|Introducing directly the face of rigpa itself. (ngo rang tok tu tré)

Deciding upon one thing and one thing only. (tak chik tok tu ché)

Confidence directly in the liberation of rising thoughts. (deng drol tok tu cha){{sfnp|Garab Dorje|n.d.}}

}}

Though not his writings the tradition holds that the Seventeen Tantras were directly revealed to Garab Dorje. The following texts are attributed to Garab Dorje:

• "Cutting Through the Three Times" ({{bo|t=དུས་གསུམ་ཆིག་ཆོད|w=dus gsum chig chod}})
• "Overwhelming the Six Modes of Consciousness with Splendour" ({{bo|t=ཚོགས་དྲུག་ཟིལ་གནོན|w=tshogs drug zil gnon}})
• "Natural Freedom That Underlies Characteristics" ({{bo|t=མཚན་མ་རང་གྲོལ|w=mtshan ma rang grol}})
• "Direct Encounter with the Three Kayas" ({{bo|t=སྐུ་གསུམ་ཐུག་ཕྲད|w=sku gsum thug phrad}})
• "Vajra Fortress" ({{bo|t=རྡོ་རྗེ་མཁར་རྫོང|w=rdo rje mkhar rdzong}})
• "Deep Immersion in Awareness" ({{bo|t=རིག་པ་སྤྱི་བླུགས|w=rig pa spyi blugs}})

• {{annotated link|Dzogchen|Atiyoga}}
• Merlin - also said to have been conceived by a nun without a human father
• {{annotated link|Vimalamitra}}

{{reflist|group="Notes"}}

{{reflist|25em}}

• {{cite book |last=Dargyay |first=Eva M. |editor=Wayman, Alex |orig-year=1977 |year=1998 |title=The Rise of Esoteric Buddhism in Tibet |edition=2nd revised |location=Delhi, India |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt Ltd. |series=Buddhist Tradition Series |volume=32 |isbn=81-208-1579-3}}
• {{cite book |last1=Dudjom Rinpoche |first1=Jigdrel Yeshe Dorje |title=The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History |publisher=Wisdom Publications |year= 1991 |ISBN=0-86171-199-8 }}
• {{cite web |author=Dharma Fellowship |year=2005 |title=Biographies: Pramodavajra, Regent of the Divine'' |url=http://www.dharmafellowship.org/biographies/historicalsaints/pramodavajra.htm |work=Dharmafellowship.org |publisher=Dharma Fellowship |accessdate=2020-07-03 |archive-date=2020-02-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204233904/http://www.dharmafellowship.org/biographies/historicalsaints/pramodavajra.htm |url-status=dead }}
• {{cite web |author=Garab Dorje |translator=Lotsawa House (tr.) |title=The Three Statements that Strike the Vital Point |url=https://www.lotsawahouse.org/indian-masters/garab-dorje/three-statements-that-strike-vital-point |work=LotsawaHouse.org |publisher=Lotsawa House |year=n.d. |access-date=2020-07-03}}
• {{cite book |author1=Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche |author2=Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche |title=Illuminating the Path: Ngondro Instructions According to the Nyingma School of Vajrayana Buddhism |publisher=Padmasambhava Buddhist Center |year=2008 |isbn=978-0965933940}}
• {{cite book |last=Kunsang |first=Erik Pema (tr.) |title=Wellsprings of the Great Perfection: The Lives and Insights of the Early Masters |edition=1st |publisher=Rangjung Yeshe Publications |location=Hong Kong |year=2006 |isbn=978-9627341574}}
• {{cite book |author=Manjushrimitra |title=Primordial Experience: An Introduction to rDzogs-chen Meditation |translator1=Norbu, Namkhai |translator2=Lipman, Kennard |publisher=Shambhala Publications |year=2001 |isbn=978-1570628986}}
• {{cite book |last=Reynolds |first=John Myrdhin (tr.) |orig-year=1989 |year=2000 |edition=revised |title=Self-Liberation Through Seeing with Naked Awareness [rig pa ngo sprod gcer mthong rang grol] |location=Ithaca, NY |publisher=Snow Lion Publications |isbn=978-1559391443}}

• {{cite thesis |last=Germano |first=David Francis |year=1992 |title=Poetic thought, the intelligent Universe, and the mystery of self: The Tantric synthesis of rDzogs Chen in fourteenth century Tibet |publisher=The University of Wisconsin, Madison. Doctoral thesis |url=http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/Poetic%20thought%20-%20The%20Tantric%20synthesis%20of%20Dzogs%20Chen.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301185505/http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/Poetic%20thought%20-%20The%20Tantric%20synthesis%20of%20Dzogs%20Chen.pdf |archive-date=2012-03-01 |access-date=2009-12-18}}
• {{cite book |author1=Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche |author2=Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche |title=Lion's Gaze: A Commentary on Tsig Sum Nedek |translator=Sarah Harding |publisher=Sky Dancer Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-1880975046}}
• {{cite book |last=Reynolds |first=John Myrdhin |location=Ithaca, NY |year=1996 |publisher=Snow Lion Publications |title=The Golden Letters |isbn=978-1-55939-050-7}}

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