The Four Dharmas of Gampopa

Although he lived long ago, Gampopa is someone who can relate to the suffering and turmoil of modern times. Gampopa, a medical doctor of his time, lived through a pandemic in Tibet, losing his son, daughter, and his wife. In his intense suffering, he sought relief by becoming a monk, and studying the Dharma (teachings of the Buddha Shakyamuni). He entered the Kadampa order, learning many texts and becoming well versed in the Dharma, but it was Milarepa, the fully enlightened yogi of Tibet, who became his root guru.  Under Milarepa’s teachings, he learned the visualization practice of tantra.  He combined the step-by-step, graduated path and logic of the Kadam master Atisha, with the tantric practice of Milarepa, and founded the “practice lineage,” the Karma Kagyu.

“Gampopa lived from 1070 to 1153. He was born in Central Tibet and trained as a doctor. At age 26, when his family succumbed to an epidemic, he promised his wife on her deathbed that he would become a monk and devote his life to Buddhism. He eventually met the great yogi Milarepa and became his foremost student. He founded the system of Mahamudra which combines the tantric teachings of the great siddhas of India with the graduated path teachings of Atisha.*”

*Note:  The general description of Gampopa’s life is quoted from Shambala Publications: https://www.shambhala.com/snowlion_articles/the-instructions-of-gampopa/

1) Rinpoche previously he taught the Jewel Ornament of Liberation,  which is the seminal text by Gampopa.  We went through this text methodically over nearly two years 2016-2018.   We studied it in conjunction with a commentary by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche.  We held a book club following these teachings.

2) Rinpoche then wrote a 108 verse succinct commentary called the “Excellent Path Of Freedom, The Jewel Ornament of Liberation in Brief,” 2018-2019.

3) He next taught on the Four Dharmas of Gampopa in a one-day retreat in June of 2019 (no texts or recordings of that day).

4) Most recently from 2020-2022, Rinpoche taught on the Instructions of Gampopa:  The Precious Garland of the Supreme Path.  The Precious Garland of the Supreme Path addresses the many facets of turning the Dharma into the Path:  bullet points for right actions and intentions in 28 verses.  In addition, the text includes many inspiring and poetic descriptions of the ultimate nature of mind and reality.  Each of these sessions was recorded, and the whole series is on YouTube  (except for one we missed due to technical difficulties).  We concluded the Precious Garland during a two-day retreat, and that retreat webpage has many additional resources.