Gyaltrul Rinpoche:
When I
was a boy, I met my root guru, Tulku Natsog. He wanted me to learn to read and
begin my dharma education, so he asked his uncle, Sangye Gön, to be my teacher.
Tulku Natsog said, “Don’t beat this boy. He might have trouble learning, but
always be patient with him.”
I lived with Sangye Gön. He would get up very, very early, maybe 3:00 a.m., to
do his practice, including many prostrations. I could hear the rumble of his
recitations as I slept. Then he would wake me up and we would have breakfast,
followed by my reading lessons.
He was an amazing practitioner. He continuously kept the two-day nyungnay fasting discipline. So on one day, he would eat and speak, and the next day he
would fast and remain silent for most of the day. Chenrezig was his main practice,
and in his lifetime he recited millions of the MANI mantra. At the end of his
life, he suddenly grew new teeth, and his grey hair was replaced by new black
hair growing in. That kind of practitioner!
Gyaltrul Rinpoche’s comments from another teaching:
Sangye
Gon wore patched clothing, and looking at him, you would think that he had no
inner realization at all. But in fact,
he encountered Avalokiteshvara directly.
He would speak to him and receive teachings from him as if he were
another person in the same room. He gave
many prophecies and constantly recited OM MANI PADME HUM. As he grew older, his hair turned white and
his teeth fell out. But as he continued
to practice, his wrinkles disappeared, a set of teeth grew, and his hair turned
black again. Outwardly, he still looked
like nothing special.
