Gesar of Ling Introduction
The tradition of human warriorship
Gesar represents the ideal warrior, the principle of all-victorious confidence. As the central force of sanity, he conquers all his enemies, the evil forces of the four directions…. These represent the different manifestations of cowardly mind, which the ideal warrior subjugates through the power of his unconquerable confidence.
– The Vidyadhara, Ven. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Gesar and the teachings on human warriorship appear at a time when the world is in turmoil:
The current state of world affairs is a source of concern to all of us: the threat of nuclear war, widespread poverty and economic instability, social and political chaos, and psychological upheavals of many kinds. The world is in absolute turmoil. The Shambhala teachings are founded on the premise that there is basic human wisdom that can help to solve the world’s problems…. It is a tradition of human warriorship, that has existed in many cultures at many times throughout history.
Warriorship here does not refer to making war on others. Aggression is the source of our problem not the solution…. It is the tradition of human bravery and human fearlessness….
Warriorship here refers to realizing the power, dignity and wakefulness that is inherent in all of us as human beings…. It is awakening our basic human confidence, which allows us to cheer up, develop a sense of vision and succeed in what we are doing.
– The Vidyadhara Ven. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Who is Gesar?
Gesar—the outer aspect
Gesar of Ling—an enlightened warrior—creates harmony and peace in times of crisis and war
The legendary warrior-king Gesar is said to have lived in the kingdom of Ling in eastern Tibet at a time when the dharma, the teachings of Buddhism were under attack. Some say he lived in the 11th century; others say he lived in the 13th century.
Gesar is connected with a critical juncture in the history of Tibet. Tibet had reached the height of its political power and its greatest extension—from the Ganges valley in the south to China in the east—at the time of Songtsen Gampo. His grandson Trisong Detsen established the dharma in Tibet by inviting Padmasambhava, Guru Rinpoche, and the abbot Shantarakshita to Tibet. After King Ralpachen, at the time of Langdharma, the dharma was persecuted and the Tibetan nation broke apart. There was no real central ruler, and great destruction was done to the dharma. At that time negative forces arose in the form of rulers of small kingdoms, and a reign of terror arose. It was at this time that Gesar became active as a wrathful bodhisattva-king. Things like this might happen again until the time the twenty-fifth Rigden comes.
Gesar’s life story, his adventures and his victories over the enemies of the dharma are still told and sung today by the bards in Tibet, Mongolia, China and Northern Pakistan. They are the subject of the Gesar epic, which scholars value as the longest oral epic existing in world literature.
The Gesar epic discusses recurrently the principles of windhorse (lungta), authentic presence (wangtang), confidence and dignity (ziji) and enriching presence (yang) —the principles that are taught in the Shambhala texts by the Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche. These principles are applied by many Tibetans to achieve worldly success.
People invoke the folkloric figure Gesar so that he may grant them lungta, wangtang and ziji, but also as a dharma protector. Without the activity of Gesar, the dharma would not have flourished in Tibet as it has.
However there is another aspect to Gesar.
Gesar—the inner aspect
Gesar the bodhisattva-warrior fostering enlightened society
The inner aspect of Gesar could not be revealed by the bards, but only by tertöns—discoverers of hidden spiritual teachings (terma) that were meant to be found when the time was ripe for them, and when people needed them. The Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, was one such tertön. He said that his Shambhala terma texts came directly from Gesar, who he said was a manifestation of Padmasambhava.
Gesar is seen as a spiritual entity, or spiritual force, that has command over the world of dralas—entities or energies that serve to overcome aggression and negative forces, and to create harmony in human society. These entities or energies help human beings to transcend petty mind or egoistic hesitation, and thereby bring about an uplifted state of mind that is able to radiate confidence, peace and dignity. In this context, Gesar himself is also sometimes described as a transcendent, or enlightened drala, or werma.
Gesar is also invoked and called upon variously as all of the three roots—guru, protector, and meditation deity (yidam)—in special practices that were discovered or composed by great Tibetan yogis and scholars, such as Ju Mipham the Great or Khyentse the Great.
Today His Eminence Namkha Drimed Rinpoche is seen as one of the main and one of the last living holders of termas on Gesar of Ling. He met Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in Tibet in 1959 before their escape to India. They shared a close connection with Gesar and Shambhala. At that time, Namkha Drimed Rinpoche received teachings from Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche. He later revealed several cycles of teachings and practices connected to Gesar that contain the highest and the innermost level of spiritual teachings of Tibet (i.e., dzogchen).
In his inner aspect, Gesar is seen as a manifestation of both the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara and Padmasambhava, and is also closely connected with the wrathful meditation deity Hayagriva (the horse-headed one) and the local protector Magyel Pomra from eastern Tibet.
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, on the Gesar teachings
Excerpts of closing remarks At the Kalapa Gathering/Festival in Halifax, NS. Aug. 2007 by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, on the Gesar teachings.
