Report March 2025: Inner Yumka Practice
This month we published one major text, The Treasure Vase Containing the Essence of Great Bliss, which is the inner practice of Yumka Dechen Gyalmo, revealed by Jigme Lingpa.
The inner practice of Yumka, called in full The Treasure Vase Containing the Essence of Great Bliss, The Inner Female (Yumka) Practice of the Ḍākinī from the Heart-Essence of the Vast Expanse, includes twenty-one forms of activity, such as increasing intelligence, extending longevity, and eliminating obstacles, all linked to the Twenty-One Tārās and the corresponding verses of the famous Praise to Tārā with Twenty-One Verses of Homage. The introduction of the terma text itself states:
“From the heart of a lotus flower
Arose the goddess Tārā, swift and courageous.
In the wilderness of snowy mountains, she appears as a woman.
Outwardly, she is the sweet-voiced Tsogyal.
Inwardly, she is venerable Tārā in actuality.
Secretly, she is Vajravārāhī.
Perform the approach phase from within the Mother of all-pervading space—
Then you will see the face of the absolute Vajravārāhī.
Her enlightened activities are the powerful radiance of compassion:
Billions of buddhas and sublime bodhisattvas
Have venerated her.
When she generated bodhicitta and vowed to liberate beings,
She was courageous and her compassion swift.
Therefore the bhagavān Amitābha
And the thousand buddhas of this fortunate age have praised her
And the bodhisattvas have relied on her.
If you practice this form of Tārā-yoginī,
Who has mastered the bhūmis and transcendent perfections,
The blessings will be swift to arrive. Samaya!”
Tanka of Yumka Dechen Gyalmo, depicting the outer, inner (the 21 Tārās) and secret (Senge Dongma) practices.
Courtesy of Shechen Archives
In the colophon Jigme Lingpa tell us how the treasure was written down:
“I was requested to decipher this collection of activities many times by others, yet still I had not released the seal of the treasure. Later, in the year of ‘the guardian of wealth’, we accumulated a hundred thousand prayers to venerable Tārā, and through her blessings alone, I was able to decipher the symbolic scripts of the expanse. That year, there was hardly any rainfall. We went to the auspicious tomb of King Songtsen Gampo and performed the Female Practice together with the activity and fulfilment. Practising the twelfth activity of the Lord of the Families, we gained faith. Let it be virtuous!”
Khenchen Pema Sherab Rinpoche receiving the lung for The Light of the Sun and the Moon from Jigme Khyentse Rinpoche in the Dordogne. Courtesy of Khenpo Sonam Tsewang.
Finally, we like to inform everyone who has the necessary prerequisites that Khenchen Pema Sherab Rinpoche is going to give the oral transmission and teaching on the Gathering of Vidyādharas (Rigdzin Dupa) practice using the commentary by Khangsar Tenpé Wangchuk at the end of May. The reading transmission for this text is extremely rare and almost no one outside of Tibet has this transmission. In order to give this teaching, Khenchen Pema Sherab Rinpoche has specifically requested and received this lung from Jigme Khyentse Rinpoche in 2024, who had received the lung from the nephew of Kangshar Tenpe Wangchuk.
This commentary, "The Light of the Sun and the Moon—Generation and Perfection Stages, Notes Explaining the Words of the Rigdzin Düpa, the Inner Sadhana of the Longchen Nyingtik", is very special and clearly shows the way to practice each section of the sadhana from the Dzogchen perspective.
Dates: from 24 May to 1 June. Onsite and live online. The Longchen Nyingtik Project is not organizing this event and any inquiries must be made to Lerab Ling monastery.