Tapihritsa was born in the 7th century. From his childhood he bore a special interest in the virtuous deeds. At the age of eleven, he received complete ordination relating to Dzogchen from his master. It is believed that after accomplishing his intensive and systematic practice on Dzögchen teaching, he obtained the state of Buddhahood by dissolving his physical body into rainbow color. Attaining the rainbow body means the body disappears from sight, leaving no trace of where it has gone, other than bits of hair and nails on the meditation cushion. It is believed that practitioners of the great perfection, Dzögchen practice, may accomplish the rainbow body. As a result of Tapihritsa’s marvelous teaching as many as twenty-five disciples have attained the Rainbow Body Accomplishment.

 Tapihritsa Lami Naljor

Sounding the seed syllable Ah, visualize Tapihritsa in the sky in front of oneself above the crown of one's head. Tapihritsa is transparent and translucent, his body being clear and empty like the rainbow, because he represents the inseparability of clarity and emptiness. He is pure white like a quartz crystal because he has been thoroughly purified of all obscurations and defilements. He is entirely naked and unadorned because he is completely free of all discursive thoughts and operations of mind pertaining to the thought process. And he is visualized as sitting in peaceful contemplation in the center of a rainbow sphere of light suspended in the sky because he has already attained the Body of Light of the Great Transfer. This indicates that his nature is wisdom, primordial awareness.

One should feel that he is alive and actually present before one in space and that he sees the practitioner sitting there below him and looks down upon one with compassion and loving kindness. Therefore, this is a very personal encounter.

Think that this luminous figure of Tapihritsa embodies the unification of all the Lamas and masters and all the lineages of transmission for Dzogchen that one has received in this present life and in all one's previous lifetimes. Pray fervently with heart-felt devotion to Tapihritsa, as if he is actually present before you, presenting offerings to him, including a tsok offering, whether these offerings are actually present or merely visualized in imagination.

Then recite:

Next one requests the blessings of the empowerments of the Body, the Speech, and the Mind of the Lama. Visualize a great wisdom fire RAM coming from the heart of Tapihritsa, burning away your negative karmic traces and obstructions. After the flame, imagine powerful wisdom winds YAM rushing from the Tapihritsa’s heart, blowing away the residue of the fire and any remaining obstructions. Finally, visualize a torrent of pure water MAM streaming from the heart of the Tapihritsa, washing away any remaining negativities, leaving you completely purified—a pure vessel fit for the sacred teachings.

Now, receive initiation from the Tapihritsa: A beam of pure white light, AH, originating in the chakra behind Tapihritsa’s brow, shines into your corresponding chakra situated between and behind the eyebrows. Through this you receive the initiation and empowerment of the body. Feel your entire body relax. Then a pure red light, OM, radiates from the Tapihritsa’s throat chakra into your throat chakra. Through this you receive the initiation and empowerment of the energy. Feel an even deeper relaxation. After this, a pure blue light, HUNG, shines from the Tapihritsa’s heart into your own. Through this you receive the initiation and empowerment of the mind. Feel a relaxation into the most subtle dimension of yourself. Then imagine Tapihritsa and the surrounding enlightened beings transforming into light that enters your body through the crown chakra and then descends to rest in your heart. Let all effort, visualization, and thought dissolve, and rest in clear presence. If you have been introduced to the nature of mind, abide in that during the practice. If not, remain as present and aware as possible.

At this point, having received the empowerments and blessings of the Tapihritsa, one may recite "the Prayer to Tapihritsa," linked below.

Life of Tapihritsa

Tapihritsa was the one who directly transmitted the complete Dzogchen Zhang Zhung Nyen Gyü mainly to his disciple Gyerpung Nangzher Löpo, who is also called Gyerpung Chenpo or ‘The Great.’ Therefore the line starting with Tapihritsa is called direct transmission or short transmission. 

According to the traditional accounts in the Zhang Zhung Nyen Gyü, Tapihritsa was born in the eighth century. His father was Rasang Lugyal and his mother was Sherig Sal. He received teachings through the mind-to-mind transmission and through the oral transmissions from his father and from the great master Ponchen Rasang, but in particular he was the disciple of the Siddha and twenty-fourth lineage master of the oral transmission of Zhang Zhung, Tsepung Dawa Gyaltsen. 

He practiced austerity for nine years on the rocky mountain of the lion in Tagthab, during which time the silence was never broken by human speech, and obtained the ordinary and supreme attainments. At the end of his life, he achieved the rainbow body, entering the totally purified condition without leaving physical remains. For his own benefit he realized the state of bönku, for the benefit of others the state of tulku, manifesting in visible form to reawaken those who had the blessing of seeing him. His physical manifestation was not limited and he had the capacity to transform into different shapes. After obtaining the rainbow body, Tapihritsa reincarnated as a wise child to teach his two main disciples, Gyerpung Nangzher Lödpo and Mo Yungdrung.

Gyerpung Nangzher Lödpo belonged to the famous Gurib family, a clan that boasted several previous lineage holders. His father was Gurib Bume, his mother Mangorza Drönma. He received instructions and teachings from the master Tsepung Dawa Gyaltsen and from many scholars. He was a great scholar, perfectly versed in all the doctrines of the nine ways. He practiced austerity and kept all the vows. He obtained great power through the practice of the Yidam Meri and became royal priest to King Ligmincha of Zhang Zhung. After the murder of King Ligmincha by King Trisong Detsen (724-797 CE) of Tibet, he hurled magic bombs at Trisong Detsen, thereby saving the Bön teachings by forcing the Tibetan king to refrain from destroying the Bön texts, so that the Zhang Zhung Nyen Gyü texts, which he had compiled, did not have to be hidden and rediscovered as Terma.

Nangzher Lödpo had become very proud and arrogant because of his great power and fame as official priest of the king of Zhang Zhung. To overcome his pride Tapihritsa appeared to him in the form of a child and released him from all the chains of his attachment to ego, whereby he was able to contemplate his mind in the condition of equipoise and achieve perfect supreme realization and became an omniscient Buddha. This child is the manifestation of the rainbow body of Tapihritsa, reincarnating in order to destroy or purify the blockages of his disciples. As a begging, ragged boy he came to Mo Yungdrung, who was very wealthy, and told him that he has no home and no parents. The rich man asked him why he is not working and the boy answered that he could not find any work. So the rich man offered to let him stay with his family as a servant looking after the animals. He started to work there and that was his first aim in order to get into contact with Nangzher Lödpo, who was sponsored by this rich man. The boy was very intelligent and sharp in his work and therefore he was given the name Nyeleg, the well-found little boy. 

At that time Nangzher Lödpo was in retreat in a nearby cave. One day Nyeleg was returning with his bag from taking the animals to graze in the mountains when he saw Nangzher Lödpo coming out of his cave; Nyeleg prostrated and paid ninefold respect in the traditional way. The master noticed that the boy was trained in the teachings and asked him: `Who is your master? What meditation do you practice? What are you carrying in your bag? Why are you behaving this way? Where are you going? ́

Nyeleg answered: `My master is the visions. I practice the nonconceptual state. I meditate on everything I see in the three dimensions of existence. I am carrying thoughts in my bag. My behavior is to work as the servant of sentient beings. I am going nowhere. ́ 

The master was disappointed. He felt proud of being an important master and felt that the child ́s answer had been disrespectful. He rejoined skeptically, `If the view is your master, it means you have no master. If the nonconceptual state is your practice, it means you don't need food and clothes. If your meditation is all the visions of the three dimensions, it means you don't need to meditate; without meditating you will obtain complete realization. If you are carrying discursive thoughts in your bag, it means you don't have desires. ́ 

So the boy said: 'If you do not understand view as the master, then who taught the primordial Buddha Kuntuzangpo?' He meant that in order to understand the true condition, there is no need of a master; the master explains and confirms to the practitioner his experience of his own innate wisdom, something the practitioner already knows; there is nothing new that he can teach him. `My practice is the nonconceptual state because in this base there are no thoughts; all the different conceptual views are not the practice of real meditation. My meditation is the visions of the three worlds; the actual nature is without partiality. If there were, it would be no real meditation. If I am carrying thoughts in my bag, it means that desires are finished, so there are no thoughts. If you have no concepts, you understand the meaning. If my activity is to be the servant of all beings, it means all the experiences of bliss and suffering are of the same taste, and experiencing the nonseparation of good and bad is my practice. ́ 

Nangzher Lödpo became annoyed and said: `If you are so intelligent, tomorrow we must debate in front of the king. ́ As the were no courts in these days the master intended to go to the king, debating in front of him. The master continued: `If I win I will punish you and if you win I will become your disciple. ́ 

At that moment the boy laughed loudly Ha Ha, jumped into the air and said, `Cause and effect is ignorant understanding. ́ With that he tried to destroy all the intellectual fixations of Nangzher Lödpo. Then he said:` These great meditators who keep thoughts imprisoned and controlled are drowsy and sleep when they meditate. Language and the logic of philosophy are like weapons and dark nets. Debating is only verbal concepts and tantric practice is transforming the mind and not leaving it in its nature. Learned scholars have meaningless understanding, and their view and meditation are like bubbles, mere words without application in practice. All these are not real practice; the ultimate state is unconditioned. There is no practice to do, there are no obscurations, and once you have the real understanding there is nothing more to be forced or changed. ́

What he said is that all these tantric practices are like our mind; creating a mandala, create divinities, sending and receiving lights, changing your body position in yoga – all that is constantly changing your mind; and all these learned scholars doing meaningless things, not knowing what they discuss in reality, not practicing what they are thinking and writing – they discuss meditation without the view. There are three ways of explaining things to people; you can point out their mistakes to them, which is not the best way; you can remain silent, because if people ask many questions and you do not answer, they may understand something that way; or you can act the same way they do. This is what Nyeleg was doing. He was reacting to the questions and answers he was receiving. He was criticizing Nangzher Lödpo, who got angry and said: `Tomorrow we will debate in front of the king. If you win, you will become my master; if I win, I will punish you. ́ Then suddenly Nangzher Lödpo recognized the boy as an emanation and fell unconscious. When he regained consciousness, he confessed his negative acts to Tapihritsa. Meanwhile, as all the animals were wandering loose and being eaten by wolves, Mo Yungdrung came and started berating the child, but Nangzher Lödpo told him: `You should not get angry because he is a great master and is very important for us. ́ So they both were upset and apologized for the way they had spoken to the boy and then fainted. When they regained their senses Tapihritsa had risen into the sky and was sitting in space, surrounded by rainbow circles and smiling. Then the two disciples sat down and Tapihritsa started to impart his last teaching. Although Nangzher Lödpo was very learned, his great pride was still blocking true understanding, and these short but essential teachings helped him to liberate himself.

Normally what we expect to practice are all these secondary practices. We have this idea that this is practice, but the real practice is what Tapihritsa explains as a child to his student, the master Gyerpung Chenpo. You always want to practice, you always want to do something that is very visible. You are not trying to understand for the practice. What we call living understanding, that is the real sense of practice. If we limit our practice in some way, in some time, some movement, some changes, these are secondary practices. If we need it it is as practice very helpful, but they are not the principle. The principle is these things the boy explained to the master. And this master was a very great practitioner and the period they lived was a very good period, not confused like nowadays, and also the environment in the Zhang Zhung kingdom was very good. There were a lot of learned persons and of these he was one of the most important, but still he had not understood the principle completely. Therefore Tapihritsa came down again as a child to explain these things to him. That means it's very important what he explains here. That we have to understand. If a master like Gyerpung Chenpo who is almost realized needs these teachings, which I`m going to explain afterwards, you can understand how important it is if we understand it.

In this very time of the Zhang Zhung kingdom there were only these two mentioned disciples. Even though it was such a big kingdom there were only two persons who could maintain the transmission of these precious teachings. And, as we already saw, these two had some big obstacles to purify or overcome, like pride. Tapihritsa reincarnated solely for their benefit, in order to destroy or purify their blockages. As Gyerpung Chenpo was already a great practitioner of Dzogchen and on top of that a very well-known master. He was very powerful but still there were even more powerful blockages which were obstructing his total realization. Therefore Tapihritsa incarnated, after his own obtaining realization, in the form of this child in order to remove these disciples ́ blocks.