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.
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.