Guru Jober

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Guru Jober (Tib. གུ་རུ་ཇོ་འབེར་, Wyl. gu ru jo 'ber) (1196-1255) — an important master in the transmission of the Mengakde of Dzogpachenpo. He was the nephew and main disciple of Drupchen Khepa Nyima Bum.

Guru Jober seemed mentally handicapped as a young child, but from the age of eight onward, his knowledge blazed like wildfire. He studied with his uncle, Nyima Bum, until he was eighteen, receiving all of the empowerments, teachings, and instructions of the Mengakdé without exception and spending his time explaining the tantras and pursuing his practice with diligence.

Later, he studied with Sakya Pandita[1], Tropu Lotsawa, Drakpa Bumme, and a number of learned and accomplished masters. He completed his studies at the age of thirty-six.

His practice gave rise to visions of his meditation deities. Once, in Lhasa, he beheld the face of the Jowo Shakyamuni statue in the main temple bathed in five-coloured rainbow light. From the mouth issued five spheres of light, in the center of which he saw the masculine and feminine aspects of Vajrasattva in union, Vajrapani, and Avalokiteshvara. At dawn he perceived the protector Amitayus in the midst of a field of rainbow light. Of this vision he said, "This must have arisen from enlightened qualities that ensure longevity. Although I do not hail from a long-lived family, things will turn out well for me."

Guru Jober passed on the instructions of the Mengakde in their entirety to the great Trulshik Sengé Gyabpa, thus continuing its unbroken lineage of transmission.[2]

Notes

  1. According to the Blue Annals, p.195, this occurred in year 1214. In that source, Sakya Lotsawa is clearly identified as Sakya Pandita.
  2. Sources for this article are the two references mentioned in the Further Reading section.

Further Reading

  • Dudjom Rinpoche, The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, Its Fundamentals and History, trans. and ed. Gyurme Dorje (Boston: Wisdom, 1991), pages 563-564.
  • Nyoshul Khenpo, A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems: Biographies of Masters of Awareness in the Dzogchen Lineage (Junction City: Padma Publications, 2005), page 89-90.

External Links