I prostrate to the noble Lamas.
I prostrate to the glorious Galo,
Who is well-known for the quality of mastering the Bodhicitta Mind. Therefore, I am going to write, without exaggeration or depreciation, a brief hagiography of Palchen Galo, in order for future disciples to follow in his footsteps.
Here is the story of Palchen Galo in a seven-fold synopsis:
- The biography of Palchen Galo’s birth and early years
- Palchen Galo’s ascetic qualities
- After studying and contemplating thoroughly, finally, his meditation practices and resulting accomplishments
- His extraordinary siddhis (attainments) from perfecting his practice
- How he brought benefit to sentient beings and the Dharma after attaining realization
- How he brought fortunate disciples (Dharma lineage holders and the three types of practitioners of lower, middle and higher capacities) to spiritual maturity through empowerments and oral teachings in order to cause the dharma to flourish.
- His passing into nirvana
Palchen Galo’s Birth and Early Years
Palchen Galo was born in the land of Tsanke Theu, located in the east of Yarmo Thang, in the district of Minyag, in lower Kham, one of Tibet’s three main parts (Central Tibet, Kham and Amdo). He was born as the son of the great spiritual teacher, Ga Sherab Tseg, Master of Abhidharma, who was his father, and his mother was NyangsaTshetrul. At birth, he was named Jossey Gyamtso.
As a child, he had exceptionally sharp intelligence and great wisdom and because of this, his father taught him the Dharma at the age of 7. By the age of 17, he had completely mastered the Abhidharma teachings. When he reached the age of 20, he received the three degrees of ordination all at once, from Lama Wangten who was a student of the spiritual master, Ngog Lotsawa, as well as the teachings of Vinaya, Madhyamika philosophy and Valid Cognitions.
Palchen Galo’s Ascetic Qualities
When he reached the age of 30, he had a thought: “Wow! I have attained a human body! What is the purpose for which I have attained this human body? My faculties are without any defect whatsoever, I have met the Buddha Dharma, and this body is able to achieve special results. So now, I need to find the skillful means in order to achieve some supreme accomplishment before this body perishes.”
“First, I need to go to India,” he thought. Since he suspected that his parents and abbot would force him to postpone his trip to India, he simply ran away without any arrangements or necessary provisions.
By saying, “I am going to India!” he continued his journey by begging on his way. Whatever he was offered, he transformed into gold. By the time he arrived in Nepal, he had collected 60 golden coins. Whatever dangers he met on his journey became nothing more than friends greeting him. Thus, he arrived in Bodh Gaya intact. At that time, he stayed at the abode of King Shingtatsen for some time.
The king himself then asked him, “What is it that you are looking for? If you are looking for the Dharma, there are many panditas (great scholars) staying at the glorious University of Nalanda. Among them, the greatest one is the one who has mastered the five sciences, attained the long life siddhi, and is called Tsami Sangye Drakpa. Go there!” the king said to Palchen Galo.
Palchen Galo thought to himself, “Since this Tsami is Tibetan and I have come to India from Tibet, it seems illogical to receive teachings from a Tibetan in India!” Nevertheless, I cannot disobey the command of the king, so I must go into the presence of Tsami.” Thinking like this, he departed, leaving behind all his gold as he entrusted it there.
Whoever he met on his path, he kept asking repeatedly, “Since this Tsami seems to be Tibetan, who else do you have in your India who has achieved the accomplishments of a proficient pandita?” He was told of bodhisattva Abhyakara. There, with seven golden coins he created a mandala and offered it. Abhyakara bestowed upon him empowerments and with oral teachings introduced Galo to Nature of Mind. After a while, he heard that Abhyakara was at Tsami Lotsawa receiving teachings, and he wondered, “Isn’t there anyone greater than Tsami?” Then, with this thought, he went in search of an even greater master. He wore clothes of the lowest value, and he ate no more than once a day. For three years, he continued in this way as an ascetic vagabond, visiting Shravasti and all other cities.
While he was visiting all of these kingdoms, he kept asking, “Apart from Abhyakara, who else is a great master?” He was told that in the North Land of Udiyana, there is a pandita who is called Wangisvara. As soon as he decided to depart for Udiyana, a pandita under a ceremonial parasol with fluttering tassels suddenly arrived at Sri Nalanda, along with four or five servants.
“Who are all these people?” Galo asked. “This is Urgyen Pandita Wangisvara,” he was told. “He is a student of Lama Minyak.” “Why has he come here?” Galo asked. “In the past, he had received oral instructions from Lama Tsami and now he has come to receive the simplified written version on the key points of Kalachakra tantra. As soon as he received an explanation on the connection, the glorious Galo thought to himself, “Finally, it seems that apart from Lama Tsami and Abhyakara, there are no other greater masters to be found! A la la! How wonderful this is!” Pondering like this, he kept 10 of the 47 gold coins he had, and with the remaining 37 coins, he created a mandala disc and offered it to Lama Tsami.
Palchen Galo said to Lama Tsami, “Give me the quintessential instructions (menyak), which nobody else has, for attaining enlightenment in this lifetime.” Lama Tsami replied, “What are you saying? How is it possible to have spiritual instructions (damnyak) that no one else possess?”
Palchen Galo then said, “Give me the final meditational instructions, which do not require a shift in one’s visualization. Through the key points of Kalachakra, give me instructions on how to generate in my mind stream the essence of compassion which is embedded with emptiness.”
Palchen Galo’s Meditation Practices and Resulting Accomplishments
Near the town of the glorious Nalanda University, close by a monastery, he stayed in meditation at a hermitage called Gosa Tramala, where his door was sealed with mud. After two and a half years, when Lama Abhyakara checked on him from a small opening in the wall, Palchen Galo told Abhyakara that he felt marks of mental purification in his mind and in his accomplishment.
“There are not any signs,” Lama Abhyakara said, and thus the radiance of Galo’s signs was interrupted. But then, Lama Tsami’s answer was, “Lama Abhyakara is a great scholar, but he lacks great qualities in meditation. You should continue the meditation with perseverance, and in the future, the signs will surely come! There is no doubt! And when you receive the signs, do not speak of them, not even to me.”
After meditating for six years, Palchen Galo received an auspicious sign: the figure of Tara (Drolma) appeared in a vision standing in front of him and said, “Son, you have to go to the cremation ground of Shitavana (Silwa tsal). There, all your siddhis will be completed.” Saying this, she disappeared.
Then Palchen Galo said to Lama Tsami, “Allow me to go to Shitavana to offer a torma (offering cake).”
“You should meditate without feeling that you need to add something extra or that you are missing out on something from your practice.” Lama Tsami said, hence, forbidding Galo to go. Therefore, unable to disobey his lama, he stayed in meditation for another year and five months, without going anywhere.
All that time, Galo had kept the prophecy that Tara gave him sealed in his heart. Then he contemplated as such, “Since it was prophesized by the divine beings and I have such a stabilized samadhi (meditative absorption), I really should go.” Thus, he revealed to Lama Tsami the prophecy of the deities and the other signs of his meditation. “So now, you are excused to go to the charnel ground,” Lama Tsami said. “It will be auspicious if you go at sunset.”
Lama Tsami gave him a trikug (hooked knife) and a khatvāṅga (staff) to carry and he also sent an experienced attendant with him. Lama Tsami said, “As soon as the ganachakra (tsok offering) and the torma offerings are completed, it is better that you are not there anymore.”
Palchen Galo went in the evening. On his way, he came across a netrotra tree (a type of tree), which was the representation for the great lokapala (protector deity dwelling at a cemetery), the guardian of the cemetery. As he sat down, Palchen Galo offered a torma in front of the netrota tree’s trunk. The tree trunk then creaked, “Tsaktsak!” and from between the leaves he heard, “I will bind you together with this tree trunk!”
Galo Rinpoche looked up and saw a creature among the leaves, appearing with a human body and a pig’s face. Then Galo said, “Without playing any magic tricks, show yourself in your real form!” Then the tree trunk made a creaking noise again, “Tsaktsak!” From the root of the tree trunk, a green snake with a red belly the size of the tree trunk came out and coiled around the tree. Then, in the midst of the charnel ground, in which there was a forest of netrota trees, Palchen Galo went into a cave, where there were many frightening creatures. There, as he experienced some fear, he thought, “Where is this fear coming from? Ruler of the fear, where are you?”, and his mind naturally went into deep samadhi.
As the morning star vanished with the dawn, Galo felt awakened, completed his session, and opened his eyes. Before all the ganachakra and the torma offerings disappeared, a white-ness illuminated in front of him and a skull filled with chang (Tibetan wine) appeared.
“Until now I have not been drinking any alcohol. But this time, I have become Heruka myself. I have been bestowed with siddhis.” Thinking like that, he drank the chang. Then, Palchen Galo saw directly above him in the sky, the mandala of Chakrasamvara. Chakrasamvara was encircled by 62 deities, and the charnel ground (cemetery) surrounded the mandala. From the heart of Chakrasamvara emanated a dakini of primordial wisdom and she said, “For the sake of the future, these are instructions for tumo practice,” and so the dakini gave him the instructions.
At that moment, he saw the entire mandala, and instantly he realized that the nature of all phenomena is emptiness. Simultaneously, all his bodily impurities ended. He attained many common siddhis like walking on water, among others. Then, when the daylight broke the flesh-eating demons, zombies, jackals and all various scary creatures slavishly prostrated made offerings, and made various actions of honor.
In the meantime, the two lamas thought, “There is not a single person who has returned from the charnel ground. Perhaps Palchen Galo has died.” They sent a watchman, the two of them following slowly behind with their retinue. The watchman, having seen that Palchen Galo had not died, quickly returned to the lamas to inform them. The two lamas then moved quickly as they were very pleased. They made Palchen Galo sit on a throne compiled of clothing bound together. Lama Tsami said to him, “You made it!” He praised him as he placed his head at Galo’s feet and Lama Abhyakara embraced Galo from the neck with joy.
His Extraordinary Attainments from Perfecting His Practice
Then his fame pervaded all of India. Palchen Galo stayed in an extremely frightening, empty temple, called the Four Seats of the Buddha. Seven human skeletons arose and pierced him with sticks, while he was carrying the trikug and the skull. They attacked him with violence, inserting arrows into his ears and other similar things. Unable to intimidate him, they finally did one khora (circumambulation) around him and left. Galo pacified the magical tricks of the maras (evil forces) through the primordial wisdom of his own mind.
Then he sat down to the left of Netrote, to meditate in front of a Buddhist holy object, a representation of Avalokiteshvara. He saw the noble Avalokiteshvara vision in front of him, meditating in the half-lotus posture.
As he offered a torma in front of a self-arising stone statue of Mahakala, Galo sat down and envisioned in the sky, the protector Mahakala with two hands, and Galo composed a prayer as such: “Hung! From the cemetery of Shivatana, etc.” Then Galo had a vision of the protector Mahakala with four hands, on the ground. Mahakala gave his life-heart and transmission method directly to Galo.
After the family members of the cremated death beings returned home, jackals and many other hungry wild beasts arrived in groups. Galo’s heart, unable to take the suffering of seeing them hungry, acted generously by extracting human flesh from the fire when the animals gathered there. In this way, he stayed at the charnel ground of Shivatana for nine months.
At that time, in the central land of Shri Nalanda, at Magadha at the east direction, in Bangala at the south direction, at the wealthy regions at the west direction, at the land of Ugyen at the north direction, at Varanasi, in all places in India, in our Tibet, in China and all over India; people were saying that an accomplished siddha from the east region of Tibet, was staying at the big charnel ground of Shivatana. And in our Tibet, people were saying, “Before, there used to be one Khampa from the lower Kham, who is called Galo and he used to say, ‘I will go to India as a beggar of gold.’ Now that he has attained siddhis, he is staying at the big cemetery of Shivatana charnel ground.”
How Palchen Galo Brought Benefit to Sentient Beings and the Dharma
After Attaining Realization
Then the King Shingtatsen invited Palchen Galo to Bodh Gaya. With the water that he had used to wash his hands and face, the king sprinkled the queen and everybody in the palace. As they considered it sacred water they used it to wash and drink, and hence, the retinue of the king became faithful in His Eminence. Then Palchen Galo went to the hill of Vulture Peak (Rajgir).
During the three months that he stayed there, many panditas came from the west side of India, the land of Ugyen. They had come to see the Galo Rinpoche and his miraculous powers and to honor the Vulture Peak hill. Palchen Galo was able to see the birds and the trees exactly as they were described in the sutra of the teaching of the Three Vows, among other things. Palchen Galo could also see the Buddha sitting there and teaching the Dharma to his close disciples along with the Shravakas (hearers of the teachings).
Then, when Palchen Galo was going to the glorious Nalanda, all the people on his path were showering him with flowers, so much so that the road was blocked and they had to clear the path. All the old panditas were saying, “How wonderful! As far as we can remember, until this day, it has never happened before that we witness such devotion to such an admirable being, from all the people!” Then, as soon as Palchen Galo arrived at the glorious Nalanda, some adepts who were staying there prostrated to him.
When he saw his two noble lamas, he told them all about his miraculous signs of accomplishment, such as envisioning deities, as well as the cessation of his bodily impurities. The two lamas both said, “It is extremely rare for the body to stop producing impurities!” Therefore, in order to verify whether it was true that his bodily impurities had indeed stopped, Lama Tsami ordered the middle floor of his three-story building to be thoroughly cleaned and placed three guards to check if there was an outflow of human waste. The guards watched him day and night, and despite keeping him very well fed for an entire month, no human waste resulted!
When Galo decided to go to Tibet, on his way, King Shingta appeared with his army. The king immediately jumped out from his carriage to meet the glorious Galo. He prostrated at his feet with great respect.
Then at some place in Tibet, someone called, Lama Aseng, said to Galo, “Lama, please show us one miracle!”
“Close your eyes!” Galo said and, with the sound of the snap of his fingers, Galo was found to be sitting like a bird on the side of rocking mountain. Again with the sound of a finger snap, he had returned to sitting at the very place he had been before.
Another time, in a big gathering of lamas and attendants, Lopon Dru Gonpo and Lopon Tsulphak said to Galo, “Display one miracle to the Masters and servants!”
Galo told them to close their eyes, and when they did, within a finger snap, Galo was not there among them anymore when they had re-opened their eyes. They checked in every direction and they found him at the other side of the river. Again, as soon as he snapped his fingers, without having moved, he appeared again in front of them.
In astonishment, all the assembly of lamas and attendants stood up and prostrated at his feet. They said, “Give us a Dharma teaching to create a spiritual connection.” Galo then said, “It is not proper to give you a Dharma teaching without first having gone for refuge and without having given rise to bodhicitta.”
“So then please give us an abbreviated teaching that encompasses refuge and bodhicitta,” they said. Palchen Galo gave simultaneously in secrecy, empowerments of Chakrasmvara and samadhi, and the disciples stayed in meditation. When Palchen Galo stayed at the region of Semodo, he had a vision of Amogasidhi. In the region of Lato, an elder monk saw Galo Rinpoche as having three eyes. Even me (the author), “I clearly saw Palchen Galo with three eyes when he was visiting the area of Gordzong Drak la.” Then, he went to the region of lower Kham for some time. His parents were no longer there, but the khenpo was still there and Palchen Galo gave him empowerments and oral instructions.
The Chinese king invited Galo, and having received the invitation, he left Kham after 10 days. At that time, the weather was extremely dry with a strong, cold wind. A monk called KyangpoTsul, asked Palchen Galo, “Lama la, since we have this extreme drought, don’t you have any spiritual blessings?”
People were asking him, “Lama la, make rain! Make rain!” And as soon as Galo Rinpoche started reciting mantras, the rain immediately started to fall. The people of the land of Kordzong Drak la had previously asked him insistently to make rain and he finally offered rain to them. Palchen Galo bestowed on the people a drum which was said to belong to the King of Minyak. Galo Rinpoche said to the people, “Whenever you need rain, you will beat the drum, and rain will fall. But you will have to already wear a hat with a rim and something to protect yourselves from the rain, because it will come as soon as you beat the drum!” And indeed, it really happened as he said.
Galo wanted to protect the wildlife of Khordzong Drak. No matter what he offered to the hunters, they would not comply. As he stayed in meditative concentration, the musk deer left, by flying to the sky. This is a legendary story.
How Palchen Galo Brought Fortunate Disciples to Spiritual Maturity
Through Empowerments and Oral Teachings to Flourish the Dharma
The holy Palchen Galo was able to bring his closest heart disciples to realization by conferring on them empowerments and oral instructions. First, at the time when he went to upper Tsang at Lato, he gave teachings to a lama called Lamgom from Yerpa Poka and the lama gained siddhis. Likewise, progressively over six years he taught the glorious Karmapa Dusum Khenpa (his main disciple, and lineage holder of the oral teachings); the oral transmission, and the quintessential instructions of the teachings:
The Gradual Path
The Seven Point Mind Training
The Six Unions of the Wheel of Time
The Protector Mahakala
The Empowerment of the Three Roots
The Means of Accomplishment
From Lato, the student who came from the lower region was the Khampa Aseng, who had a great compassionate heart for benefitting all sentient beings. The student who came from the Lake Namtso Semodo was Lama Pogom from Medor, and he possessed strong meditative contemplation of the six sessions. The student from Semodo was the bodhisattva Togton, who was endowed with vast compassion cultivated in his heart for benefiting others. The student who came from Dokham and his khenpo from Trilung, who were practicing every morning, firmly acquired meditative concentration. The Khampa Aseng and Lama Pogom and the bodhisattva Togton and his student, and Galo’s main heart disciples stayed with him; seven in total. At the lower Semodo of Namtse, he also had many students at Gomdruk Kyongwa and many people were benefitted, merely by hearing just his name.
His Passing into Nirvana
Later on, when Palchen Galo went to the lower part of the mountain Rasa Dzhongko, as soon as he almost arrived at Rasa Dzongko, he kept saying again and again, “I came here to Rasa Dzongko la to die.” And he said to Bumpal, Sherchung and other attendants, “Bring here one hoe.”
Palchen Galo ordered them to prepare the land by digging it a bit less than two extended arm’s length. In a box, made of piled stones as a frame, they found a mass of human bones and marrow. From these bones, he made some tsatsas (small clay statues). “Next year when I die, I want you to burn my body over here,” he said.
When someone who was called Neshi, invited Galo to do some consecration rituals, Palchen Galo replied that, “If I come, as soon as I arrive there, I will die. Therefore, your consecration will come to be known as inauspicious,” and thus, he did not go. At that time, as he did a big ganachakra feast offering to all the local women, he said, “Among all of you, I am definitely sure that one of you is a dakini.” And hence, he honored the women and said, “I will not pass away for some time, but I will die next year.”
The next year, when his leg became afflicted, he said to an elder monk and some great people, “Whoever wishes to meet me, tell them to come now. Later on, they will not be able to see me.” And thus, the message was sent to each and every direction. However, not a single person arrived.
“Didn’t they come?” Galo wondered. Since everybody thought that Palchen Galo was joking, no one went. “From now on, do not send anyone to me anymore,” he said, disappointed. Then, he covered his head and slept.
After nearly half a month, a geshe called Yangpa, discovered after checking his pulse, that Palchen Galo did not have a pulse. Galo Rinpoche said, “Well then, now you know! It has been 15 days without a pulse. At this point, there is nothing to do that will benefit.”
Geshe said, “If we do tarkha (blood-letting), it will benefit.”
“What are you saying? Are you going to extract blood from a Buddha?” Galo said, “Well then, we will do a therapy with oral medicine”, Geshe replied. “I am not able to take anything other than water; anything else will be pointless,” Palchen Galo said. At that time, Bumpal and about twelve other close disciples were there. “Now, don’t allow a single person apart from you to visit me, and you also should not go anywhere.”
Then, on the day he was to pass away, he did not sit at all, but instead moved around here and there. He kept repeating, “On this day, I am truly happy and joyful! At some point in the past when my body was well, despite me saying, ‘When I die, don’t burn this corpse,’ it was a meaningless hyperbole. Or else, it will bring you a bad reputation. For seven days, do not burn the body, but keep it and honor it. Then you can burn it,” he said.
From that night on, since he had the habit from the past of sitting cross-legged, he sat like that with his body in an upright position. Then, after some time passed, he called Bumpel and said, “Release my body from the crossed-legged position.” Then, after Bumpel released Galo’s meditation in the vajra lotus posture and some time passed, again Galo called Bumpel to release his vajra posture again and again five or six times. Then for a very long time, Palchen Galo stayed quiet.
Geshe Yangpa said, “Bumpel, the great lama does not speak of anything anymore. Call your lama softly.” Bumpel then said, “The great khenpo does not make any sound at all.” He called him like that, five or six times, but there was not a single response from the Galo.
Then after Geshe Yangpa inspected the lama as well, all of the entourage gathered closely together, stayed up all night and honored him. From that night and for the seven nights they had to keep his body, snow fell day and night without interruption.
Galo’s body became lighter. His ear lobes became longer and more slender during the night. His body became so light that when it was carried to the wood pile for his cremation, it could be lifted with one hand. The snow was still falling continuously.
In the past, the lama had said, “You should burn this corpse after seven days pass,” and now the seventh day had arrived. The snowfall not only did not cease, but grew stronger and stronger. No solution could be found.
Geshe Drolo said, “The great lama had said, ‘You should cremate this corpse over here at this place’, so whether we can pass or not, we have to proceed. Let us pray to the great lama. There is nothing else we can do apart from praying.”
After enduring various hardships they managed to go to the cremation place. Having done the preparations for the religious service, they prayed and in that very moment, the snow stopped falling in the shape of a circle, around his body. As soon as the sun became powerfully hot, the snow immediately melted, and they built the funeral pyre.
After making offerings to the body, they set the corpse on fire. Light blue evaporating smoke appeared from the body itself. In the sky appeared auspicious symbols made of rainbow-colored hues: the umbrella, the banner of victory, a flag, a canopy and a ribbon in bright and vivid colors, among others. The corpse was emanating a sweet fragrance without any foul smells and it burned powerfully like dry wood when set on fire. And in the state of great bliss, Palchen Galo passed away to the Akanistha heaven.
Someone like me, who is not skillful, who has inferior intelligence and my fortune is insignificant, I who have served [the Lama] for a short while, I who have not experienced any enlightened qualities neither, in order to inspire faith and to instill confidence, I wrote a little of what I have seen and heard. I rejoice for whoever gained faith. If there is any criticism for any mistakes please bear with me! Whatever amount of virtue has stemmed from faith, by this virtue, may the beings become accomplished by following in his footsteps. Oh you holy being, may you keep me and the limitless beings with compassion in your heart.
In the Land of India he underwent many hardships, encountered the wisdom of Abhya and Tsami and he was protected by them, with compassion. In the charnel ground of Netrota he attained perfect siddhis. I prostrate and praise the glorious Galo. In this way I supplicate and whatever I am expressing with respect in this hagiography, which is like just a drop of water from a vast ocean, is a brief summary of his biography. May these illustrations be the cause for the supreme and precious teachings of the Buddha to flourish in each direction.
Sarvamangalam!
Acknowledgements
Author: Shang Tsalpa
Translation and editing under the guidance of H. E. Choeje Ayang Rinpoche:
Translation: Karma Yeshe Wangmo (Georgia-Zetta Koutsokera)
Tibetan consultant: Mingyur Dorje and Tashi Gyurmey
Editors: Yeshe Wangmo (Varia Permyashkin)
Ani Samten (Leigh Files) and Jane Crancher
