who is the Greatest master you have ever seen?

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kirtu
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Re: who is the Greatest master you have ever seen?

Post by kirtu »

smcj wrote:The 16th Karmapa was quite a guy. Very imposing, almost regal in his personal presence. But when he did the Vajra Crown ceremony it was a bit different.
I saw a video of HH 16th Karmapa and was unimpressed. This was a US interview so it may not have been under the best conditions. I'm pretty sure I saw this interview as a kid also.

However it is often the case that when lamas begin to teach or begin a tantric practice everything totally changes.

I also saw Ginsberg reciting the Heart Sutra on the evening news as a kid. That planted seeds for sure, in those who were ripe for them. And Ginsberg was certainly no 16th Karmapa.

For some reason tyler2 doesn't click with HHDL. something unthinkable for me. But different people have different karma with different teachers. Some people have no connections with HH Penor Rinpoche for example. Many people have very tenuous connections with some lamas and need to make great efforts to make a connection with these lamas. In other cases they might literally walk in almost off the street.

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"Even if you practice only for an hour a day with faith and inspiration, good qualities will steadily increase. Regular practice makes it easy to transform your mind. From seeing only relative truth, you will eventually reach a profound certainty in the meaning of absolute truth."
Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

"Only you can make your mind beautiful."
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jiashengrox
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Re: who is the Greatest master you have ever seen?

Post by jiashengrox »

His Eminence Garchen Rinpoche is amazing. In fact, i think masters of the drikung kagyu tradition are very amazing.

Many have mentioned the kagyu lamas that are no doubt omniscient, but allow me to mention that the khenpo and khensur of the three great seats are also amazing as well. Not to mention The Lord of the two dharma halls, and the throne holder of ganden. I was once placed in the presence of Kyabje Sharpa Choje Rinpoche and ... He is just so amazing, refined in his behaviour.

I have heard that Tri Rinpoche Rizong Rinpoche is a humble but strict bhiskhu. I really hope to meet him one day as well.

Of course, HHST is also one of the greatest living masters of the day. Another time i was placed in his presence, and i trembled when he stared at me. But when he held my hand and started speaking, you can feel his overflowing compassion.

Some lamas appear to be ordinary, but their knowledge and understanding far surpasses many of those who are "famous". One of my main teachers is from Sakya. He is a Khenpo, but his practices and understanding of the teachings are unrivaled.
The 100th ganden tri rinpoche was a very humble monk who appeared to be simple, but who would have heard about his clairvoyance and his realizations?

Thus, rather than focusing on the aura, why not judge a teacher based on his understanding and behaviour? :namaste: :twothumbsup:
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which through knowledge of all leads Hearers seeking pacification to thorough peace
And which through knowledge of paths causes those helping transmigrators to achieve the welfare of the world,
And through possession of which the Subduers set forth these varieties endowed with all aspects.

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Re: who is the Greatest master you have ever seen?

Post by greentara »

dzogchungpa, Regarding Ammachi...have you read Gail Tredwells book? Its an eye opener.
Simon E.
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Re: who is the Greatest master you have ever seen?

Post by Simon E. »

CTR.
Kalu Rinpoche.
16th Karmapa.
Dudjom Rinpoche.
Tai Situ Rinpoche.
ChNN.
“You don’t know it. You just know about it. That is not the same thing.”

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche to me.
dzoki
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Re: who is the Greatest master you have ever seen?

Post by dzoki »

One of my teachers, met all of the old great masters, 16th Karmapa, Dudjom Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse, Kalu Rinpoche, Gendun Rinpoche etc. Gendun Rinpoche became his root guru. My teacher said that among all these 16th Karmapa had very impressive presence it was as if every movement he made was a mudra, he was so dignified, on the other hand Dudjom Rinpoche and Gendun Rinpoche had a kind of ordinary presence, you could overlook them in the crowd of people waiting for the train in India, yet both of them has such wast realization. For example when Gendun Rinpoche was teaching on tsa-lung and trulkhor, he had not done those yogas for very long time, since he mostly practiced mahamudra in his later life, he did not remember the exact exercises, so he taught based on his immediate experience. He could directly see all the channels and the flow of different vayus in his body, so like this he could give perfect advice on how to do those exercises. Gendun Rinpoche himself studied with Dudjom Rinpoche, he later said that whatever question he had about whatever experience that arose in his practice, Dudjom Rinpoche always knew the precise answer.
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Re: who is the Greatest master you have ever seen?

Post by michaelb »

I think this is all very subjective, of course, but it's also not an unreasonable question.

Like tyler2, I've never had a strong feeling about HH Dalai Lama. I mean, I would like to and I think he's really great and admire him a lot but I've not really experienced much when I've seen him face to face. I had very little expectations about the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa but he totally blew my socks off. It was like he was doing the black crown ceremony just sitting there. Maybe this was just in my mind but it was unexpected.

Other lamas who have done loads of retreat (I think Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was in retreat for 20 years) have a presence anyway. I used to love just sitting with Togden Amtrin in Tashi Jong. I bumped into Chatral Rinpoche once and I found him rather intimidating but maybe, if we had spoken it would have been different. Dodrupchen Rinpoche was also a bit scary.
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Re: who is the Greatest master you have ever seen?

Post by Simon E. »

Talking of scary Lamas, Chime Rigdzin Rinpoche made quite an impact....
“You don’t know it. You just know about it. That is not the same thing.”

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche to me.
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Re: who is the Greatest master you have ever seen?

Post by Ayu »

tyler2 wrote:i mean the one with the most awesome presence that liberated the whole atmosphere...
i heard Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was one of the few who did that but he died in 1991
any masters around now or dead that that are/were awesome in presence?
I didn't read this thread now, but I would like to say, that there is no such a thing like great/greater/greatest. This depends on who is looking at the master. Different subjects see different objects. There is no objective greatness.

And the masters I have seen have been very different, but that what i personally detected as "great" was the same. If it is a master, the intensity of his greatness is not measurable. :smile:
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Re: who is the Greatest master you have ever seen?

Post by tyler2 »

Ayu wrote:
tyler2 wrote:i mean the one with the most awesome presence that liberated the whole atmosphere...
i heard Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was one of the few who did that but he died in 1991
any masters around now or dead that that are/were awesome in presence?
I didn't read this thread now, but I would like to say, that there is no such a thing like great/greater/greatest. This depends on who is looking at the master. Different subjects see different objects. There is no objective greatness.

And the masters I have seen have been very different, but that what i personally detected as "great" was the same. If it is a master, the intensity of his greatness is not measurable. :smile:
well thats why i said "you" according to you, like the guy above said he didnt have a strong feeling about the dalai lama when he met him, but when he saw the the 17th gwalya karmapahe blew his socks off...

so yes i think it is measureable who is the greatest master who blew you away the most with there presence
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Re: who is the Greatest master you have ever seen?

Post by tyler2 »

michaelb wrote:I think this is all very subjective, of course, but it's also not an unreasonable question.

Like tyler2, I've never had a strong feeling about HH Dalai Lama. I mean, I would like to and I think he's really great and admire him a lot but I've not really experienced much when I've seen him face to face. I had very little expectations about the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa but he totally blew my socks off. It was like he was doing the black crown ceremony just sitting there. Maybe this was just in my mind but it was unexpected.
yeah i agree although some people say he has great presence, i dont see it by the way people interact with him but i "havent been in the same room" with him so i Cant comment.

but its a feeling i heard other people say simular to you, so you confirmed it for me
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Re: who is the Greatest master you have ever seen?

Post by theanarchist »

Simon E. wrote:Talking of scary Lamas, Chime Rigdzin Rinpoche made quite an impact....

Oh yes. But CRR had an anarchistic sense of humour to balance that.

At one teaching someone asked about the deities in union and sex, and then he gave a lengthy lecture how uncomfortable and unpractical this position (as depicted in the thangkas) is and with a gleam of mischief in his eyes watched how a lot of people in the audience got more and more uncomfortable. LOL.

Another one that I find slightly scary is Orgyan Topgyal Rinpoche. Although when I went to him to ask him a question he was very nice and friendly. Still, he is definitely a no nonsense, no small talk lama.
Last edited by theanarchist on Thu Mar 20, 2014 2:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: who is the Greatest master you have ever seen?

Post by theanarchist »

Ayu wrote:This depends on who is looking at the master. Different subjects see different objects. :

Yeah. I know people who told me they are afraid of Tulku Pema Wangyal. I have honestly no clue how anyone could ever be afraid of such a gentle, patient, compassionate person.
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Re: who is the Greatest master you have ever seen?

Post by Ayu »

tyler2 wrote:
well thats why i said "you" according to you, like the guy above said he didnt have a strong feeling about the dalai lama when he met him, but when he saw the the 17th gwalya karmapahe blew his socks off...

so yes i think it is measureable who is the greatest master who blew you away the most with there presence
Okay, then I can tell, the one who blew my socks of most, is no master. Nobody knows him and I won't tell his name right here. :thinking: I'm still wondering, how he managed to transfer this deep peace into my mind, just by sitting and smiling... Maybe I'll find it out one day. But he is definitely no master.

When I saw the Dalai Lama, it was in a distance of many metres but there seemed to be a very strong vibration that was even hard to stand.
And my Master Khen Rinpoche, who lives in Hamburg, is very radiant and wise. Many people feel like this. But i know one person, who supposes him to be a bad person. He calles him a fake and he can tell this by his vibes... :roll: He saw him once...

What I want to say: if somebody blows off your socks or if he has bad vibrations, this doesn't say anything objective about the person.
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Re: who is the Greatest master you have ever seen?

Post by Ayu »

theanarchist wrote:
Ayu wrote:This depends on who is looking at the master. Different subjects see different objects. :

Yeah. I know people who told me they are afraid of Tulku Pema Wangyal. I have honestly no clue how anyone could ever be afraid of such a gentle, patient, compassionate person.
I have such phenomenons with my mind also sometimes. If the vibration is very strong and I am not used to the person, fear is my first reaction sometimes. I learned not to think much about this. I see it like a film in TV.
When something was out of order in my spiritual live, even the Tara statue in our temple looked like a bloody frightening monster. :(
After some cleaning up and calming down in my life, this disolved. Fortunately.
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Re: who is the Greatest master you have ever seen?

Post by emaho »

Simon E. wrote:Talking of scary Lamas, Chime Rigdzin Rinpoche made quite an impact....
:smile:

Oh, yes. He could be quite wrathful. I was always at least a little scared of him. Sometimes I really had to gather all my courage to show up in front of him - even though he's always been very kind to me. Sometimes I would go to his throne during the breaks and kiss his hand and he would give me a kiss on my forehead. His presence was amazing. I haven't met a more impressive teacher than him (yet).
"I struggled with some demons, They were middle class and tame..." L. Cohen
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Re: who is the Greatest master you have ever seen?

Post by Karinos »

for me:
Kyabje Tenga Rinpoche (K.Kagyu) No.1 :heart:

Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche (K.Kagyu)
Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche (K.Kagyu)
Chimed Rigdzin Rinpoche (Nyingmapa)
Desi Lama Rinpoche (Gelugpa)
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Re: who is the Greatest master you have ever seen?

Post by untxi »

It's all a function of one's own karma and karmic causes and conditions. People met the Buddha and didn't think he was anything to worry about. People met Padmaambhava and tried to kill him.
tyler2 wrote:
Malcolm wrote:Who can say one buddha is greater than another?
you can judge by the power of there presence some masters are more awesome than others but most of the great ones are dead
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Re: who is the Greatest master you have ever seen?

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

I've done only one initiation so far, HH Dagchen Rinpoche, he gave off some major vibes for sure.

My own (less famous) teachers though really have touched my heart in a particular way, and kind of change the environment for me when i'm around them...I figure that at least part of this question is about our Karma, different folks resonate with different stuff.
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Re: who is the Greatest master you have ever seen?

Post by tyler2 »

its funny cause when we talk about it to someone who "hasnt " seen a great master it seems like were talking about charisma and words never do it justice.
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Re: who is the Greatest master you have ever seen?

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

tyler2 wrote:its funny cause when we talk about it to someone who "hasnt " seen a great master it seems like were talking about charisma and words never do it justice.
Just let people have their opinions, if others think it's just charisma, that's their prerogative. Probably best not to lord your subjective experiences over other people like that on a public forum, especially something as valuable as a connection with a teacher.
Meditate upon Bodhicitta when afflicted by disease

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when sad

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when suffering occurs

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when you are scared

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