Migyur Dorje

Migyur Dorje Passes Away

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“The following is an excerpt from a teaching offered by Tulku Dawa Gyalpo at Kunzang Palyul Choling in Maryland. Future posts will continue with the teaching on the Life of Migyur Dorje.

Now I think it’s time to tell why he passed away so fast. Karma Chagmed explains one reason very clearly in Tulku Migyur Dorje’s life story. He said that it is very obvious. I think there is also one other reason that is not so obvious, but it isn’t described as another reason. One reason he gave I also heard very clearly from our late Holiness. There is a pure realm called Metok Tram [Tram means distributed all over], Metok Trampa. Metok Dronpi. Karma Chagme wrote that in the Buddha field of Metok Tram, which literally means June flower, the Buddha Metok passed away. They needed somebody to take care of that pure land. They said that Tulku Migyur Dorje had to go there and take his place. Tulku Migyur Dorje didn’t want to go there, but he had no choice. He had to go there. That’s why he changed his life. This reason is very clear. His Holiness also mentioned it.

This, I think, is another reason. In our refuge field there are the five Gonpos. One of them is Gonpo Ma-Ning. During his second retreat, Tulku Migyur Dorje revealed a treasure to Karma Chagme in which he experienced that Gonpo Ma-Ning was kind of eating Tulku Migyur Dorje’s body.  Through that sound, he received one of the sadhanas of Gonpo Ma-Ning. Tulku Migyur Dorje asked Karma Chagme, “Do you want to write this down?” Karma Chagme replied to him, “No!” He was kind of scared. He said, “Alas. I don’t want to write the sadhana which comes from eating your body!” And he didn’t write that. Tulku Migyur Dorje said, “OK. If you don’t write it down, then I have to give it back.” Tulku Migyur Dorje said, “Take it back.” And they did. During that night, Tulku Migyur Dorje was a little bit upset and he looked at Karma Chagme and he said, “This is how these samsaric people act. They get unnecessarily scared.” He said also, “This is the sadhana that will get rid of my big obstacles, but you don’t want to write this.” In his story, it is not mentioned clearly that this is one reason, but I think that it is.

However, the first reason which I gave you is obvious. His life changed like that when he was very young. Later, Karma Chagme started investigating what would happen next: where Tulku Migyur Dorje was going to be. Maybe some of you heard that he went down to the hell realm and liberated many beings from there. After sometime, he got tired because there are so many living beings there. He took some fine sand. After reciting a lot of mantra, he blew on the sand and threw it in those fires. By just throwing the sand, it cleaned all those fires. Still in the intermediate state time, he was there for others.

Karma Chagme wanted to know where Tulku Migyur Dorje was going. In his own experience, he heard very clearly that Tulku Migyur Dorje would take another 21 lives. Within those 21 lives, during two of them he would not do anything, would not benefit others, would not reveal treasures. It seems like he would be resting. That’s what Karma Chagme heard. During the other 19, he would complete whatever treasures were not revealed.

That’s the life of Tulku Migyur Dorje. Right now we have the same profound, precious teaching; and right now we have great masters like Holiness Karma Kuchen that we can rejoice in, and likewise so many other great masters. Mugsang Kuchen Rinpoche is also considered his reincarnation. We Palyul have great masters like Tulku Thubsang and Gyangkhang Rinpoche, all three heart sons as we know. Not only do we have them, we have so many others as well. All of them keep this profound teaching, unconditionally, but not with blind faith. We are trying to keeping this with wisdom. Understanding like this.

Now I think I have completed. Thank you so much once again to everybody for giving me this opportunity to talk about it. And also to Jetsunma Akhon Lhamo. I enjoyed it so much. Yes, I will stop here.

Dedication now.

Today we are specially related with this topic, so I want you to dedicate and make an aspiration. After dedication, making an aspiration is important. Dedication is just giving up. You are just letting go of whatever merit you accumulated from 7:30 to now. You are just offering. Offering is kind of like giving up. Let it go. From there, it’s not yours. Right? Once you offer it means tit does not belong to you. You already offered it. After we offer, then we have to make aspirations. “Through this merit then may I get” that-that-that whatsoever. So specially today I want all of us to make aspiration. After understanding this history, may I have confidence in it and put into practice the generation and completion stages. May I also achieve the same as Tulku Migyur Dorje. Make that aspiration. And after that, make aspiration for whatever circumstances you would like. “May I be healthy. May I get a good job. “May I get” whatsoever. Yes, I’m serious. You can make these aspirations. They work. If you look in history, they made aspiration that way; they achieved that way.

Sometimes we don’t know how to make aspirations. That spoils our merit. We make aspirations for the first purpose, which is to become enlightened. But we also need circumstances. So this is the second purpose for aspiration. So please, dedicate and make aspirations together.

Tulku Migyur Dorje Blessings for Palyul

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“The following is an excerpt from a teaching offered by Tulku Dawa Gyalpo at Kunzang Palyul Choling in Maryland. Future posts will continue with the teaching on the Life of Migyur Dorje.

Tulku Migyur Dorje organized many of these great sadhanas, and retreats. He made great sadhanas for doing Vajra Guru mantra, BENZAR GURU PEDMA SIDDHI HUNG mantra and OM MANI PEDME HUNG mantra. He made a 1.3 billion BENZAR GURU mantra retreat.

Whatever money he got from the teachings he gave while traveling, he spent for that purpose. Like now here also Jetsunma is doing. It’s a good thing. We appreciate that. I know this from two years ago, but sometimes appreciation is not coming so openly. That shows that whatever Tulku Migyur Dorje does, he does only for others. Even whatever wealth he received, he spent for others, giving teaching, empowerment, instruction. He didn’t need it. He had already accomplished by doing retreat.

Then he turned twenty-three which was the end of his life. Let me tell it briefly. When he was about to die, he got very bad diseases. Bad diseases. He was very ill. At that time, he wrote a letter to Karma Chagme, and he sent some Dzambhala statues made in Nepal, not from India. India doesn’t make the kind of metal [lima?]that these statues were made from. In Tibet, lima is considered very precious because they don’t have it there. However, when Tulku Migyur Dorje was very ill, he sent a Dzambhala statue made from li, this kind of metal, and also some other things to Karma Chagme. In a letter, he wrote, “I’m really very ill and struggling far away from you. I have nobody taking care of me like you.” He did have somebody taking care of him, but he was saying that when he was with Karma Chagme, he was very comfortable. When he left Karma Chagme, even though he had somebody serving him, it seemed that he didn’t feel so confident as he did when he was with Karma Chagme. He wrote this letter to Karma Chagme that he was very ill and in a difficult situation. Karma Chagme got very sad and from his retreat, he did lots of prayer for him, long life prayer and so forth.

Now I will go to the end. When he was about to pass away, about to change his life, then he became more weak. During the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the lunar calendar, he was feeling very strange. He had someone who was taking care of him at that time. His name was Khyentse, but not Dilgo Khyentse. Khyentse became his very close assistant at that time. Tulku Migyur Dorje asked him to read some prayers so he could meditate even in that very painful situation. He asked Khyentse to read what we are reading right now, the Nam Cho lineage masters invocation. He asked him to read that while he was meditating. While he was meditating, Tulku Migyur Dorje spoke out to him that,… “some kind of white things are coming to me and taking me toward the eastern direction. At the same time, many monks are flying with me, and Khyentse, you are also flying with me.” He said that. Right after, he said, “But don’t worry. Don’t think anything.” He was saying you are not going to die. It seems that you are coming later. He’s saying, “Don’t worry, but don’t worry. Don’t think anything. Just let it be.” The hundred deities mandala appeared. During that very painful time, still that kind of experience happened to him. On the night of the sixteenth day, the last day of his life on this earth, he sat up and crossed his legs in meditation posture. Khyentse and many other lamas surrounded him. All of them expected that he would get better. They requested him to live long, but he just sat in Vajra posture and meditated.

A little bit later, there was a very strong thunderstorm. It felt like the whole earth was shaking. The ground and the mountains were trembling, shaking. Khyentse, his assistant, said that. Karma Chagme wrote in accordance with what Khyentse said. Right before Tulku Migyur Dorje also wrote a letter. It seems that he didn’t give it to anybody, but nobody knows what happened to it. Some people said that he himself hid the letter for the future. Somebody else said that during that time there were so many lamas, maybe someone took the letter from him. Karma Chagme said, “We know that he wrote a letter, but we don’t know right now what happened after that.” This is lost information. At the end this very strong thunder happened. Everybody felt like everything was shaking. Then Tulku Migyur Dorje asked Khyentse to give him two cups of nectar. After consuming the two cups of nectar, he straightened up his body. In his left hand, he was counting with the rosary, but his voice could not be heard.  He couldn’t talk anymore. Then he was just silent, totally silent in meditation. At that time, Khyentse and the other lamas asked him to please come back again for them. Khyentse said he shook his head three times then he went.

Everything seems very important in this history, particularly how Rigdzin Kunzang Sherab received all the teachings that we are practicing right now from him; also whether those treasures are authentic or not. We can understand from his history and we can also understand by looking back to our Palyul lineage history too. People like our late Holiness become that kind of person because the teachings are authentic. These teachings are the one idea, the method, that make that kind of person. Likewise if you go all the way back [to the beginning of the] lineage, back, back, back, we are only talking about lineage masters, because obviously these are important persons; but there are so many other great practitioners, whose history we don’t keep because they did not become important persons. Our late Holiness also used to tell us about these histories of the time of Palchen Dupa, before Palchen Dupa, and all of Karma Kuchen’s incarnations, the previous Karma Kuchens, taking care of the Palyul lineage: How Palyul retreat was famous in the Kham region. Even Paltrul Rinpoche came to Palyul retreat center and took the siddhis from the Palyul retreat center. Do you know how he took the siddhis from Palyul retreat center? He took siddhis from the retreat center sewage. He took the siddhis from the sewage. That’s how they showed this retreat was profound. He actually drank the sewage because it came from those practitioners inside. Patrul Rinpoche is considered a very great master, a dzogchen practitioner, and he’s appreciated that retreat. Likewise Mipham Rinpoche praised the Palyul retreat center and the previous Dodrupchen Rinpoche, and the previous Situ Rinpoche. Those great masters also recommended that people go there and practice. So many lamas achieved siddhis from their retreat. Therefore others came and took the siddhis. Otherwise they would not come. They are not fools. They are very wise.

During their own time, those persons, like Paltrul Rinpoche and Mipham Rinpoche, are kind of like one person in Tibet. They are like that. One piece, scholar. These histories also show that what we have right now is authentic and profound. Precious. Our late Holiness said there is a prophesy that through this practice that Tulku Migyur Dorje revealed, there will be ten million great masters. Through these teachings, this practice. Now among the ten million, some have already come. It has been over three hundred years. Still there are many chances. We, I, also could be one of them. There are prophesies. That’s what our late Holiness used to tell us. During Tulku MIgyur Dorje’s short time, what he achieved was so immeasurable. Still today his blessing remains here for us.

The life story of Migyur Dorje will continue in future posts.

If you are inspired by these stories and wish to engage in the profound practices revealed by Tulku Migyur Dorje, there is an opportunity to receive these teachings and empowerments directly from Palyul Masters in New York each summer. To register for Palyul Retreat in New York in July 2017 please click here: http://retreat.palyul.org/registration

Migyur Dorje and the Beginning of the Palyul Lineage

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Vidyadhara Kunzang Sherab

The following is an excerpt from a teaching offered by Tulku Dawa Gyalpo at Kunzang Palyul Choling in Maryland. Future posts will continue with the teaching on the Life of Migyur Dorje.

Some other prophesies happened to Tulku Migyur Dorje, saying he must go to Kham and open some sacred place, a holy place. He can’t go in [to Karma Chagme’s retreat], but he wrote a letter, asking can I go or not? Karma Chagme gave back the letter telling him, “said everything to you. Now this is your time to make decision. Please make sure that you write down whatever kind of special things happen to you and send it to me.” That’s what he said. “Please this is very important. Write down everything that happens to you during those times and bring those letters to me” is how he collected all the letters even after Tulku Migyur Dorje was not with him.

After that, Tulku Migyur Dorje started to teach again, giving empowerment and giving those instructions again. Many different monasteries invited him and requested him to teach, give empowerment, instructions. He went to so many different monasteries. I have the name of one monastery, [Tibetan name]. He went back to Kathog monastery. Also he went to some Kagyu monasteries; Kagyu monks, Sakya monks, even the Bon practitioners were inspired by him. They also requested teaching from him. He all gave empowerment, teaching, instruction, and everything to whoever requested it. Then, especially in that monastery, [Tibetan name], he did the one sadhana that we do in Namdroling, the eight day Drupchen, the great sadhana, that all the monks together continuously recite mantras day and night. He did it in accordance with Sky Treasure [Tibetan]: the collection of one hundred thousand MANI mantra and also [Tibetan] the sadhana of reciting one hundred thousand MANI and another sadhana called Do Drup, kind of like mendrup. We make this medicine. Medicines are actually made this way. It is a blessing, not just collecting all the herbs. After collecting all the herbs, then we make sure everything is balanced. After that, we do sadhana. Also during the sadhana, there has to be some sign of accomplishment. Otherwise, we won’t use this mendrup. Our late Holiness also used to do that in Namdroling. After Tulku Migyur Dorje was nineteen, he did that in that monastery particularly. In those eight days, so many signs appeared as the success of this mendrup. They made pills and they had the signs of kind of flying up. This was not something just seen by him, but by everybody in the mandala.  There were other signs like very sweet scent pervading all around the mandala, and also some sounds came up, and those small pills increased. There were common signs like rainbows and flowers raining down. The signs continuously happened until the sadhana was finished.

After that, he gave all these special teachings that we are practicing during our summer retreat. He started giving those teachings then. At that time, our first lineage holder, Kunzang Sherab was there, and also many others. I think it is important that we know he was there because that was when our lineage started. There were many other disciples as well, not just him. Then Tulku Migyur Dorje started to give the Ngondro, and the togyal and the threkchod teachings that we practice every summer. Also the tummo. He gave all these dzogchen teachings from Ngondro to the threkchod togyal two times. During those two times, Kunzang Sherab was there; and he gave the tummo teaching which we practice many times. During that time also, Kunzang Sherab was there, receiving all this teaching from him. Likewise he gave the P’howa which we do to many people. If somebody asked him to do P’howa for their dead person, he did it for them. He gave teaching so people could practice P’howa as we continue to do today. These same practices that we are doing today started then. He traveled and gave these teachings.

At that same time, he opened some important sacred places as well. He gave the introduction. The sacred palace opening already existed there, but people like Tulku Migyur Dorje introduced the place, told who came there before, what blessing they gave, and what retreat to do there. These are the places where if you do retreat, there is more potential. He opened that kind of sacred place. Through that and by giving teaching, he got so much wealth and money and so forth. All of the things that were given to Tulku Migyur Dorje, he just gave or used for the purpose of the Dharma. He didn’t keep anything for himself. What it says literally here is whatever he got he used right away. He purely used everything for the sake of Dharma.

Our late Holiness was also like that. Whatever he got, he spent for the Dharma. He didn’t waste any money. Therefore it becomes worthwhile to offer. Your offering is not going to be misused.

Migyur Dorje Leaves Retreat

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Rigdzin Dudul Dorje asked him to go back into three year retreat again because if he didn’t go, there would be obstacles when he was seventeen and eighteen. That was why he went back into retreat again. When he turned nineteen during the time of his second retreat, Karma Chagme was getting a little bit tired of teaching and serving him. Karma Chagme said to Rigdzin Dudul Dorje, his master, the treasure revealer, “I want to do my own personal retreat. You two are actually like a father and son, you two have a long karmic connection, so please take this from me, I am tired now.” Rigdzin Dudul Dorje said, “Well, you are old and you have done so many retreats already. Now it seems you don’t need to do retreat anymore. Treat this kid well, serve this kid well. Just by doing that,” he said, “you are also doing a great service to the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha as well as to the teachings of Guru Padsambhava. Just serving that kid, you are spending all your time and energy to practice the Buddhadharma. This is itself called Buddhadharma or you can call this itself following the path of Guru Padsambhava.” He was encouraging him, but at the same time he was telling the truth.

After that Karma Chagme took him back to retreat again. They both started retreat again when Tulku Migyur Dorje was seventeen. Karma Chagme took care of him again. Then when Tulku Migyur Dorje turned nineteen, Karma Chagme said to him directly, “Now you are already an adult. Now you know what you have to do, and also you know what to think, what to avoid and everything.” Let me just say it exactly. He said it very beautifully. When Tulku Migyur Dorje turned nineteen, Karma Chagme said, “Although you are the mind of the Buddha, you are also a child. I have tried to teach you the Dharma as well as the mundane life so far.” Both kinds of education he provided: the mundane education and the Dharma education. “In both ways, I am taking care of you so far. Now you have to make your own decisions. Whenever you have difficulties, just invoke Guru Padmasambhava. I know that you have this clairvoyance and I know that you can see all these deities. Now you are able to make decisions by yourself. Don’t ask me anymore what you have to do or not.” From then, Tulku Migyur Dorje becomes free. After that, Karma Chagme went to his personal retreat. Tulku Migyur Dorje was not with him after that.

The life of Migyur Dorje will continue in future posts.

 

Migyur Dorje Accomplishes Siddhis

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Palyul Nam Chö Refuge Visualization

The following is an excerpt from a teaching offered by Tulku Dawa Gyalpo at Kunzang Palyul Choling in Maryland. Future posts will continue with the teaching on the Life of Migyur Dorje.

Actually when we look to the Tantric teachings, you will see so many references to this kind of treasure revealer. It’s possible. More or less, Buddhists ask, “Does Buddha say that or not?” Actually, yes. This was already told when Nagarjuna clarified in Mahayana teachings. Also there is argument: This is not what Buddha taught when Buddha was alive. The Hinayana practitioners agree that it didn’t happen. I will tell here exactly what Buddha Shakyamuni said in the sutra, The Collection of Pure Dharmas. In that sutra, it says that some bodhisattvas who have pure motivation, pure bodhicitta, even though Buddha is not alive, Buddha is not there, will still hear the Dharma from the space, from the sky, or from the wall, or from other things. You can also receive the teachings from the trees. I know some of them they took from the wall. The history is there. Actually there were treasure revealers like this before Shakyamuni, but they are not called treasure revealers. This kind of name is not there. They would just take it and practice it. If it made sense, they kept it. If it didn’t make sense, they let it go.

During this three years, Tulku Migyur Dorje revealed all the treasures that we have right now. He started revealing all these different things. Then they completed three year retreat. From fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, and half of seventeen, he was out of retreat. Then he started to teach. He traveled. During those years, he also revealed some of the Earth Treasures, and also opened some of the sacred places. Also within those three, almost four years, he taught many people the Sky or Space Treasure Dharma. Especially there are 13 karmically connected people. Although in his lifetime, he taught many people, these thirteen are the main disciples. They’re called the 13 main karmically connected, or fortunate, people.

There are so many people’s names in that history. Let me give you one, Nyemba Tulku. Nyemba Tulku is one among the 13. There are so many people. It seems that during that time, Rigdzin Kunzang Sherab was not there. Tulku Migyur Dorje was giving teachings to all these other karmically connected great persons. When he was seventeen, again he went back to retreat with Karma Chagme. When they did retreat, there were so many signs of siddhis. I will tell you about one when they were practicing in accordance with Sky Treasure, doing the Heart Sadhana of the Bishuddhi, Yangdak, one of the eight Herukas.

During that time, this was a sign of the achieved siddhis during this sadhana that occurred. In the front, there was a red and yellowish lotus flower and upon that was a golden wheel with a thousand spokes. That wheel was turning toward the right, clockwise, for a long time, adorned with the wish fulfilling jewel, which is mostly benduria, blue in color. That wish fulfilling jewel had a wooden handle. Tulku Migyur Dorje had the experience of being given these kinds of things in his hand. This was one sign when they were doing this sadhana in their retreat time. It continuously happened all during these three years. Whenever he started some new sadhana, some sign like this appeared.

Biography of Migyur Dorje

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Migyur-Dorje-Stupa

The following is respectfully quoted from “Biography of Migyur Dorje” published by Palyul Jangchub Darjeling Center

History of Mugsang Monastery

The Great Compassionate Teacher, Shakyamuni Buddha, prophesied that teachings would spread to the Land of Snow. As per his prediction, during the reign of twenty-seventh Tibetan King, Lha Tho Ri Nyentsen, Buddhadharma first originated in Tibet. Five generations later, the thirty-third Dharma King Songtsen Gampo established Lord Buddha’s doctrine. Five reigns later in the ninth century, the Great Three-Abbot Santaraksita, Guru Padmasambhava, and King Trisong Deutsun who were bonded together by their past aspiration prayer, met together that led to the widespread flourishment of the whole sutra and tantra teachings in Tibet. This unique tradition that possesses six distinct qualities, flourished in entire Tibet which later came to be known as the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism. Subsequently, the six main monasteries of Dorje Drag, Mindroling, Shechen, Dzogchen, Kathok and Palyul were preserving the Nyingma tradition.

Kere Chogkyong Dampa first established the Palyul Monastery in the year 890, and widely spread the teachings of Mdo-sGyu-Sems (Sutra of Gathered Intentions, Peaceful Illusory Net, and Mental Classes). In 1664, Dharma King of Dege constructed the main temple with statues inside. Under the guidance of Rigzin Migyur Dorje and Serlo Tonpa Gyaltsen, the king conferred the responsibility of looking after the monastery and became the first throneholder. He widely propagated the entire Kama and Terma teachings through study and practice. The unique tradition of Palyul monastery was preserved by the later throne holders, namely Pama Lhundrub Gyamtso, Drubwang Palchen Duspa Tsal and Karma Thegchong Nyingpo. The eleventh throneholder is the present Drubwang Pedma Norbu Rinpoche, Jigme Thubten Shedrub Choekyi Drayang Palzangpo.

Out of several branch monasteries of Palyul Namgyal Jangchub Choeling, the brief history one of the most sacred monastery, Mugsang Thubten Sangngag Choeling is being mentioned here.

Terton Migyur Dorje

In Pedma Kathang action,
“In the white cave with the leaping lion appearance, the treasure lies.
When it’s auspicious sign to reveal occurs
Terton Migyur Dorje will come to reveal
A hundred such treasures in Eastern Tibet.”

Ratna Lingpa prophesied,

“During the time of Terton Choy Yang Dorjr, Migyur Dorje will come,
And discover a hundred treasures in Kham”

In the prophecy of Terton Guru Kyngdrak,

“In a place close to Nabuszin, in Do Kham,
The holder of the name ‘Dorje’ will find the treasure.”

As Guru Rinpoche and several Tertons prophesied, in the early hours of the seventh day of the tenth month in the Wood Female Bird year of the tenth Rabjung (16th century, 1585 AD) Migyur Dorje was born to father Gonpo Tseten and mother Sonam Tsonyi with miraculous birth signs. The patriarchal lineage of Ratna Lingpa’s father went back in an unbroken line, all the way to the Dharma King Trisong Deutsen.

When he was still very young, Guru Loden Chokset appeared to him and taught him all aspects of reading and writing. His personal protecting deity Shenpa Marnak predicted that he would meet with the consort appeared to him in a vision and told him that the time was near when he should find a teacher, and so in the Wood Male Horse year, he met Raga Ahse. As Raga Ahse meditated on what the previous life of Migyur Dorje was, spontaneously this came to his mind,

“In a cave called Kula Sangwe Yang Phug,
He will get the siddhis of the Great Compassionate One.”

And pondering on these two sentences, he came to the conclusion that Migyur Dorje was the reincarnation of Wangdak Gyatso. When Raga Ahse was giving the empowerment of The Condensed Secret Teachings of the Wrathful and Peaceful Deities to Migyur Dorje, the flower that Migyur Dorje threw into the mandala always fell to the center and east and never to any other direction. The center being Migyur and the east being Dorje, he was given the name Migyur Dorje.

In the Wood Sheep year when Migyur Dorje was eleven years old, he and his teacher Raga Ahse entered a very strict retreat which none was allowed to enter or visit. During this retreat, he studied the common five major and minor sciences and received the uncommon empowerments, oral transmissions and secret instructions.

He spent the rest Ahse wrote a biography on him.

Quoted from his biography,

“If condensed, from the age of eleven,
Until twenty-three, the age he passed away,
He spent half of his life in retreat.”

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