On September 20, 2018, Dharma King Gar Tongstan left this world in a perfectly liberated state, just as he had predicted he would. He said he would leave this world after a “last dharma assembly.” That is what happened. Right after the perfect completion of the holy fire offering dharma assembly on September 19, in the grand hall of Shakyamuni Buddha, the Tremendously Great Holy Virtuous One announced, “Today’s grand dharma assembly has been practiced. This is what Dharma King Gar Tongstan has been waiting for. This is the last dharma assembly that he received empowerment from.”
Two dharma masters had visited him and tried to persuade him to stay to propagate the dharma and save living beings. The Dharma King said, “With the Buddha Master staying in the world, what use can be made from one who has my realization! Human life is simply a dream. One will leave sooner or later. When causes and conditions gather and combine, existence is manifested illusorily. When the conditions come to an end, one will leave. That will be it. I will not stay!” He also said, “My freedom from birth and death is decided by me. I can go whenever I want to. This is different from holy virtuous one Zhao Yusheng who had to rely on the Bodhisattva to be received at a defined time.”
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It turned out that Dharma King Gar Tongstan truly fulfilled his words on the freedom from birth and death. On September 20, which was the day after the dharma assembly, he put on his rinpoche robes after taking a bath and then laid out stationary before his dharma seat. He wrote a farewell letter to H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III that is shown here, which mentioned that he would “pass away in a state of perfect accomplishment before the ink dries. His words of “pass away in a state of perfect accomplishment before the ink dries” means that he passed away in a state of perfect accomplishment right after putting down his pen. This photo is taken at that time.
Dharma King Gar Tongstan attained mastery over his own birth and death. He said he would leave this world before the ink got dry and he did. After he was cremated, he left behind ringsels (Tibetan term for shariras); unprecedented relic-flowers in green, blue, yellow, white, and black colors; and a tooth-relic. Such are testimony that he said his words truthfully and exactly as the facts.
Zhaxi Zhuoma reported that the Dharma King had always been so kind and generous to her and, because both he and his lovely wife Katherine spoke English so well, had helped her so many times to understand what was happening and subtle meanings of the dharma. The Abbot remembered Katherine translating, the special dharma discourses that are kept in a precious silver box that document his awakening. She also remembered seeing him tell the Buddha Master about his awakening experience. She was in one car driving to the Los Angeles airport to board an airplane to Hawaii and the Dharma King was suppose to be driving his large white Mercedes Benz in the car next to her to take the Buddha. The normally quiet, reserved and very dignified Dharma King was very excited and moving his arms around to tell his story. She said she was not sure who was driving the car–maybe the car was driving itself. What she learned later was that the Dharma King was telling the Buddha about his enlightenment experience. He composed an enlightenment poem for the Buddha about it, but what she remembered most was hearing that the Buddha had asked him why he had not asked the Buddha if he was enlightened? Was the experience real? Many want to have what they think is such an experience confirmed. The Dharma King responded, “I don’t need to.” The Buddha Master was delighted as that was exactly the correct response. If you have to ask, you are not enlightened.
The Dharma King proved his enlightened state and freedom from birth and death by deciding when to leave this world. We will greatly miss him.
The Buddha Master stated at the Holy Fire Offering Dharma Assembly reported elsewhere that the Dharma King would soon move on. CLICK for more
CLICK for another article about the Dharma King’s passing and how “Supreme Buddha-dharma Astonished the World Once Again” that contains a translation of the entire text of the Dharma King’s farewell verses.
CLICK for article on ringsels/shariras, the relics left after the cremation of enlightened beings.
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2018