'Did Aro Lingma really exist?' That is an interesting question. That could be addressed by pointing out Ngak'chang Rinpoche's Lamas' own recognition of his past incarnations - so in their words, the answer would be a simple (western) historical 'yes'. Perhaps in the context of what you have written another tack is called for.
If, as you suggest, one might view a lineage history (any lineage history) as method, not truth, then it is a method for realisation. If one practices in a vajrayana tradition and one has samaya, then through the 14 root vows one has taken a commitment not to undermine one's own practice or the practice of others by casting doubt on teachings - either from one's own tradition, or from other traditions and other religions. Skepticism is not necessarily a problem, as long as one expresses that in an appropriate manner. If one is struggling with a particular mantra practice, yogic posture, or form of silent sitting meditation, then guidance is sought from one's Lama or Lamas. Skepticism is voiced in terms of 'I have a problem. . .' with the emphasis being that the problem is 'me' rather than the practice that one is struggling with. There are some methods of practice that an individual may never really engage with, but that doesn't invalidate it as a source of realisation for others. If lineage history is a method, it is a practice. To apply 'western notions of historical truth' to lineage history and voice skepticism if lineage history doesn't conform to 'western notions' is a bit like applying western notions of living room furniture to lotus posture and voicing skepticism about it's validity as a meditation posture because it doesn't conform to a leather sofa. One can be a skeptic, as long as one is skeptical first and foremost about oneself.
If one engages with lineage history, one's perception of time, space, sources of inspiration, value, meaning, context, all shift. If you are open to the tradition's history, you are indeed open to inspiration, and can start to exist within the atmosphere of the lineage's history. History itself starts to extend to mean past, present and future, and one's openness, emptiness, enables the practitioner to transform into an empty chapter in that history book, through which the living lineage can communicate itself.
So, rather that 'Did Aro Lingma really exist?' one might alternatively asked 'Does Aro Lingma really exist?', since if one practices one's lineage invocation, engages openly and wholeheartedly with the tradition in its entirety, embraces the history as a source of teaching and inspiration, then the lineage history can become something one lives - not through the 'living history' of 're-enactment' but the vivid actuality of ongoing enactment.
The paper these cards are painted on was carbon dated to between 1174 and 1293 AD
These twenty-two cards (#'s 734 through 755) represent members of a group of religious teachers called RIG DZIN. Rig dzin means "holder of knowledge or awareness" (rig pa knowledge 'dzin pa, to hold, sanscrit: Vidyadhara). These masters are considered to be highly accomplished due to their meditations and ritual practices.....there are both Tibetan and Indian masters' names on these initiation cards. Some of the Tibetans are known as disciples of Padmasambhava who were famous religious teachers traditionally believed to have lived in 8th to 9th century, in Tibet and the neighboring vallies [sic!] in Bhutan. There is also the female disciple and consort of Padmasambhava, Ye shes mtsho rgyal, who is represented in this series as one of the teachers.
The radiocarbon dating makes it clear that Yeshe Tsogyal was a distinct and known personality all the way back to the earliest days of Nyingma terma. But, beyond this, a genuine "iconograpy" of Yeshe Tsogyal--left hand holding a skull bowl, right hand in fearlessness mudra holding a phurba, representation with a bare midriff, and jewel ornaments--is already present on the card. This strongly suggests that belief in her existence and significance, as well as a specific narrative of her dharma activity, goes back further than this, far enough at least for the conventions of her artistic representation, and her visualization in practice, to have stabilized.
It is also noteworthy that she is the only female Rigdzin in the series. This indicates that she was probably regarded as a special and exceptional personality in this period, as well. The traditional accounts of her as Padmasambhava's Sang Yum provide an obvious explanation for this. And the inscription on the card matches the traditional account of Dorje Phurba being her personal Yidam, as well as establishing her as the focus of a specific guru yoga and her own mantra:
In the cavern called Brag kar ting ga, when performing the meditations of the mandala of called "Three fleshes, Crystal she obtained the vision of the great glorious Vajrakila as personal meditation deity; the princess Kar chen mTso rgyal has her esoteric name rDo rje brgyan gcig ma (Vajra unique ornament), she resides in the place of the Knowledge holders. May those with good fortune obtain transmission of the best initiation (by the mantra) Varja gu ru a a...
None of this "proves" the historical existence of Yeshe Tsogyal, but it does prove that a stable belief in her existence and significance, a specific oral narrative of her dharma activity, and a developed guru yoga as the source of her iconography, were already present at about 1200 CE., and not from any terma source, that I know of, still extant.
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Skepticism
19 May 2008
'Did Aro Lingma really exist?' That is an interesting question. That could be addressed by pointing out Ngak'chang Rinpoche's Lamas' own recognition of his past incarnations - so in their words, the answer would be a simple (western) historical 'yes'. Perhaps in the context of what you have written another tack is called for.
If, as you suggest, one might view a lineage history (any lineage history) as method, not truth, then it is a method for realisation. If one practices in a vajrayana tradition and one has samaya, then through the 14 root vows one has taken a commitment not to undermine one's own practice or the practice of others by casting doubt on teachings - either from one's own tradition, or from other traditions and other religions. Skepticism is not necessarily a problem, as long as one expresses that in an appropriate manner. If one is struggling with a particular mantra practice, yogic posture, or form of silent sitting meditation, then guidance is sought from one's Lama or Lamas. Skepticism is voiced in terms of 'I have a problem. . .' with the emphasis being that the problem is 'me' rather than the practice that one is struggling with. There are some methods of practice that an individual may never really engage with, but that doesn't invalidate it as a source of realisation for others. If lineage history is a method, it is a practice. To apply 'western notions of historical truth' to lineage history and voice skepticism if lineage history doesn't conform to 'western notions' is a bit like applying western notions of living room furniture to lotus posture and voicing skepticism about it's validity as a meditation posture because it doesn't conform to a leather sofa. One can be a skeptic, as long as one is skeptical first and foremost about oneself.
If one engages with lineage history, one's perception of time, space, sources of inspiration, value, meaning, context, all shift. If you are open to the tradition's history, you are indeed open to inspiration, and can start to exist within the atmosphere of the lineage's history. History itself starts to extend to mean past, present and future, and one's openness, emptiness, enables the practitioner to transform into an empty chapter in that history book, through which the living lineage can communicate itself.
So, rather that 'Did Aro Lingma really exist?' one might alternatively asked 'Does Aro Lingma really exist?', since if one practices one's lineage invocation, engages openly and wholeheartedly with the tradition in its entirety, embraces the history as a source of teaching and inspiration, then the lineage history can become something one lives - not through the 'living history' of 're-enactment' but the vivid actuality of ongoing enactment.
Historical Yeshe Tsogyal?
21 Mar 2011
One of the most interesting pieces of evidence that is not, to my knowledge, very well known, is a set of paper initiation cards in the Rubin Museum:
http://www.himalayanart.org/image.cfm?icode=744&CFID=26242192&CFTOKEN=19...
The paper these cards are painted on was carbon dated to between 1174 and 1293 AD
These twenty-two cards (#'s 734 through 755) represent members of a group of religious teachers called RIG DZIN. Rig dzin means "holder of knowledge or awareness" (rig pa knowledge 'dzin pa, to hold, sanscrit: Vidyadhara). These masters are considered to be highly accomplished due to their meditations and ritual practices.....there are both Tibetan and Indian masters' names on these initiation cards. Some of the Tibetans are known as disciples of Padmasambhava who were famous religious teachers traditionally believed to have lived in 8th to 9th century, in Tibet and the neighboring vallies [sic!] in Bhutan. There is also the female disciple and consort of Padmasambhava, Ye shes mtsho rgyal, who is represented in this series as one of the teachers.
The radiocarbon dating makes it clear that Yeshe Tsogyal was a distinct and known personality all the way back to the earliest days of Nyingma terma. But, beyond this, a genuine "iconograpy" of Yeshe Tsogyal--left hand holding a skull bowl, right hand in fearlessness mudra holding a phurba, representation with a bare midriff, and jewel ornaments--is already present on the card. This strongly suggests that belief in her existence and significance, as well as a specific narrative of her dharma activity, goes back further than this, far enough at least for the conventions of her artistic representation, and her visualization in practice, to have stabilized.
It is also noteworthy that she is the only female Rigdzin in the series. This indicates that she was probably regarded as a special and exceptional personality in this period, as well. The traditional accounts of her as Padmasambhava's Sang Yum provide an obvious explanation for this. And the inscription on the card matches the traditional account of Dorje Phurba being her personal Yidam, as well as establishing her as the focus of a specific guru yoga and her own mantra:
In the cavern called Brag kar ting ga, when performing the meditations of the mandala of called "Three fleshes, Crystal she obtained the vision of the great glorious Vajrakila as personal meditation deity; the princess Kar chen mTso rgyal has her esoteric name rDo rje brgyan gcig ma (Vajra unique ornament), she resides in the place of the Knowledge holders. May those with good fortune obtain transmission of the best initiation (by the mantra) Varja gu ru a a...
None of this "proves" the historical existence of Yeshe Tsogyal, but it does prove that a stable belief in her existence and significance, a specific oral narrative of her dharma activity, and a developed guru yoga as the source of her iconography, were already present at about 1200 CE., and not from any terma source, that I know of, still extant.
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