On Apr 11, 2005, at 9:29 AM, rudra_joe wrote:
The Dalai Lama always traveled with a weather maker who would change the weather for him whenever he wanted.
An interesting story on his lineage, in regards to levitation:
<x-tad-bigger>Lama Yeshé Dorje Rinpoche’s Family-Lineage began with the 17th century Lama Drüpthob Tashi Rinpoche </x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger>(sGrub thob bKra shis rin po che)</x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger> – a siddha of profound accomplishment. He was a </x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger>Dzogchen Togden</x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger> who wore a </x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger>white skirt</x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger>, </x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger>long matted braids of hair</x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger> and the </x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger>Tantric conch shell earrings</x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger>. His main practice was the method of integrating awareness with every aspect of life.
During the life of Drüpthob Tashi Rinpoche, the Lhasa government imposed inhumane taxes on many villages, and the people of Drüpthob Tashi Rinpoche’s village suffered a great deal in consequence. The villagers protested that they could not meet the level of taxation imposed upon them, but the Dzong-pön </x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger>(rDzong dPon – governor)</x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger> was authorised by the Lhasa government to extract taxes by force.
Drüpthob Tashi Rinpoche became aware of the situation of the people and was moved by their plight. He determined to assist them in their resistance to the government’s unreasonable demands. He decided to become directly responsible to the Dzong-pön in the rôle of Pönpo </x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger>(dPon po – village head man) </x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger>in order that he would carry the responsibility for the taxes rather than the villagers. </x-tad-bigger><x-tad-smaller>
</x-tad-smaller><x-tad-bigger>Having taken this rôle Drüpthob Tashi Rinpoche approached the Dzong-pön and proffered money on behalf of the villagers, saying: </x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger>“These are the taxes that I deem the villagers can afford. They have no more to give – so this must be enough for you and for the </x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger> </x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger>government.”
</x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger>The Dzong-pön—on hearing these words—flew into a rage, at which Drüpthob Tashi Rinpoche returned to his home stating that he had nothing further to say. After some time, the Dzong-pön talked himself into a petulant frenzy and ordered the soldiers under his command to compel Drüpthob Tashi Rinpoche by force of arms to provide the original sum demanded by the Lhasa government. Some sixty men-at-arms left the Dzong-pön’s castle and assailed Drüpthob Tashi Rinpoche’s house. Whilst fifty or more soldiers surrounded the house, the others broke the door down with a battering ram and forced their entry. They bound Drüpthob Tashi Rinpoche’s Sang-yum and children to internal pillars of the house.
Drüpthob Tashi Rinpoche was not inside the house to assist his family when the assault commenced, as he had previously climbed to the roof to meditate – as was his custom. Unable to climb down to aid his family, he remained where he was in a state of meditative absorption and awaited the attack. The soldiers shouted their demands for him to descend and be captured, to which Drüpthob Tashi Rinpoche replied: </x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger>“Release my Sang-yum and my children and I will certainly surrender to you immediately.”</x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger>
The soldiers, however, refused to release his family and instead scaled the wall of the house in order to arrest him. Once the soldiers had reached the flat roof, they threatened Drüpthob Tashi Rinpoche with violence unless he paid the additional taxes immediately – at which point Drüpthob Tashi Rinpoche threw off his clothes. Naked, he rose effortlessly into the sky and remained out of reach. This display of siddhi terrified the soldiers, who began making prostrations immediately, entreating him to forgive their execrable behaviour on the basis that they were ignorant of his supreme attainment. Below—in the house—the soldiers untied Drüpthob Tashi Rinpoche’s Sang-yum and family and begged them for forgiveness for the vile treatment to which they had been subject.
Ngak’chang Rinpoche comments:
</x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger> “The reason that Drüpthob Tashi Rinpoche would cast off his clothing before ascending into the sky dimension would have been a statement to the effect that he was not a black magician. A black magician would have employed magical means of a physical nature to perform such a feat. He would probably have employed amulets containing prescribed esoteric materials, so for Drüpthob Tashi Rinpoche to divest himself of clothing would be to say,‘There is no magic here – I have simply integrated with the air element.’
“The story of </x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger>Milarépa</x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger> is useful in this context. Once when Milarépa flew through the sky, an arrogantly antipathetical farmer cursed him and abjured his son: ‘There’s that damn black magician Milarépa – don’t let his accursed shadow fall upon you!’ This does not mean that Milarépa was employing magic rather than integrating with the elements – but the Dzogchen nakedness of Drüpthob Tashi Rinpoche proved the point – should that point have needed to be made.
“Nakedness is a primary symbol in the </x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger> Dzogchen teachings</x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger>. Nakedness remains a custom in India </x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger>amongst the sadhus</x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger>, for whom the dictates of social conventions are meaningless. During the time of the Mahasiddhas in India, and during the First Spread of Vajrayana in Tibet, </x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger>nakedness</x-tad-bigger><x-tad-bigger> was common to Dzogchen as a display of realisation.</x-tad-bigger><x-tad-smaller>
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