topics: |  poetry | tibet | romance

Background: The Gelugpa sect in Tibetan history

From the 11th to the 14th centuries, Tibet was riven by factionalism and was under mongol conquest. In the 1350s, the lamas from Phagmodru Pa monastery at Nejong [Neudong] in eastern Tibet (part of the Karma Kagyu sect) defeated the Sakya sect who were aligned with the Yuan overlords. They ruled Tibet as largely independent tributaries of the Chinese Ming state.

Meanwhile, the Gelug sect was formed by the Buddhist teacher Je Tsongkhapa (d. 1419). After a period which saw the rise of several monasteries amid local satraps, in 1601, the fourth Dalai Lama was recognized in a Mongol royal family. However, he died (possibly poisoned) in 1617, at age 27. At the time, Gelug was one of several sects in Tibet.

The fith Dalai Lama

Subsequently, the fifth Dalai Lama was discovered in the Tsang region
(includes Lhasa).  His regent managed to procure the help of Gushri Khan of
the Khoshot Mongols, who subdued all three regions of Tibet - Kham (north)
and Amdo (west), and finally Tsang (east) in 1642.  However, he handed over
power to the Fifth Dalai Lama, Lobsang Gyatso, who wielded both religious and
secular power over unified Tibet.

Lobsang Gyatso emerged as a strong temporal as well as spiritual ruler.  He
established Lhasa as the capital and built the Potala palace starting
1654.

The sixth Dalai Lama

After his death in 1682, his regent Sangye Gyatso [widely believed to be his
son], kept his death secret, and continued the rule.  Meanwhile, the sixth
Dalai Lama was discovered and was initiated by the Panchen Lama and started
his training.

In 1697, when the Sixth Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso was 14 years old, the
deception was revealed to the world, but this brought a furious Chinese
backlash.  In 1701, Gushi Khan's grandson, Lhabzang Khan, aligned with the
Kangxi emperors and attacked Tibet.  His army marched into Lhasa and killed
Sangye Gyatso.  Tsangyang was then 18, and was immensely affected by the
turmoil.  It is said he went to the Panchen Lama in Shigatse and renounced
his vows.  However, he continued living his dual life as spiritual leader by
day and hedonist by night, as reflected in most of these poems.

Five years later, he was deposed and then executed by Lhabzang's army.
Lhabzang then installed Yeshi Gyatso as 7th Dalai lama, but he was not
accepted by the Gelugpa.  Lhabzang was killed in 1717, and by 1720, the true
7the Dalai Lama, Kelzang Gyatso, was installed in Lhasa.  By 1727 however,
Tibet became a protectorate of the Chinese.

The authorship of these poems

There are wide-ranging debates on the authorship of these popular songs in
the Tibetan folk sytle (mgur ma).  A detailed discussion on their
authenticity appears in Per K Sorensen's scholarly text,
	 Divinity Secularized: An Inquiry Into the Nature and Form of
	 the songs ascribed to the Sixth Dalai Lama (1990)

For a discussion of these issues, check out our writeup and excerpts from
the more scholarly translations by Paul Williams:

Tsangyang Gyatso:
Poems of sadness: the erotic verse of the Sixth Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso, tr. Paul Williams 2004

Excerpts

from the Introduction

Rigdzin Tsangyang Gyatso.

Rig-dzin means "treasure." Tsangyang came from a pre-cognitive dream that a
monk had about him. It means, "having a voice like God's." [Gyatso is the
Dalai Lama lineage].

The sweetness of these songs in Tibetan has always been associated with his
voice-melody. They are treasured throughout the Himalayan region, and up
until the 1950s, when street-singing was outlawed by the Chinese
communists, they were heard in the markets of Lhasa.

The early part of Tsangyang Gyatso's life was lived in secret confinement
with his tutors, evidently to preserve the politically expedient illusion
that the Fifth Dalai Lama was still alive and on retreat. In 1697 at the age
of fourteen, his public life began. He was enthroned with great ceremony as
the Sixth Dalai Lama. But he turned out to be a unique sort of holy man. He
seems to have formally "given back" the monastic vows he took. He lived in
the Potala (the monastery palace) but dressed as a layman. He wore rings and
blue silk, instead of the red and yellow of the monks. He kept his hair long,
and on most days was to be found out in the archery field with his
friends.

He had a free-roving spirit, and he loved to take short journeys "according
to his will." He is best remembered now, of course, for his nights, which
he spent with many different partners, aristocratic women from Lhasa and
peasant girls from Shol, the village at the foot of the Potala. His
love-life and the poems he wrote from within it are a cultural treasure. It
was an honor to have the Sixth Dalai Lama visit one's daughter for a
night. Houses were painted yellow as a sign that the privilege had
occurred, and it is said that a good percentage of the houses were yellow,
as opposed to the traditional white.

[He was taken away by the Chinese in 1706, and was possibly killed soon
thereafter. ]

Poems

[the songs are not numbered.  Indexed here by page number].

12

Even the stars can be measured,
Their arrangements and influences.

Her body can be lovingly touched,
but not her deep longings.

Those cannot be understood
by science.

13

Lassoes can catch the wild horses
that flee over the hills.

But nothing, not even incantations
can hold a wild beloved

who has stopped loving
her lover.

16

The ink of lovesongs
washes off in the rain,
but the love itself,

that which cannot be
written down, stays
inside *here*

20

I listen intently
to what my teacher says
but beneath that concentration

my loving slips
out of the room
to be with you.

21

In meditation, the face of my teacher
does not come to me very clearly,

but your face does, smiling one way,
then smiling another.

22

If I could meditate as deeply
on the sacred texts as I do

on you, I would clearly be
enlightened in this lifetime.

23

Your stallion trots on the sllppery ice,
over deep-frozen and nearly-frozen water.

When you move toward the beauty of a new lover,
be careful that your secret legs
don't scatter and fall!

25

The old dog at the gate
has a more subtle soul
than most human beings.

Please don't tell them
how I left at dusk
and came back in at dawn!

26

It was snowing at nightfall
when i went out to look for my lover.

Now the secret of where my feet went
is openly visible to everyone.

27

Lover waiting in my bed
to give me your soft, sweet body,
do you mean me well?

What will you take off me,
Besides my clothes?

29

A peacock from Bengal;
A parrot from eastern Tibet,

They come together at Lhasa
in sacred companionship.

38

At night, I'm so in love
I can't sleep, and each day

fills with the fatigue
of not having you again.

39

Wanting this landlord's daughter
is wanting the topmost
peach.

44

Back when I was lucky,
I could hoist a prayerflag,

and some well-bred young woman
would invite me home.

45

She shone her whole smiling face
at the crowd in the tavern.

Then, from the delicate corners
of her eyes, she spoke
love-secrets to me.

48

I'm young, so
with a slight smile
you have me.

But what I want
is a word from the stream
of your being.

52

I often see my lost lover in dreams.
I will ask a shaman to search in there
and bring her back to me.

56

She puts on her hat and leaves,
slinging her hair back,
waving goodbye.

"I'm sad that you're going."
I say. "Don't feel sad, my love,"
she said, "Every going-away
brings a coming-together."

58

Oracle of the Tenth Stage,
Dorje Chokyang, if you have power,
destroy those who hate the natural law.

61

My lover and I, we meet in complete
privacy, in the southern valley forest.

Then I hear some parrot in the market
jabbering our secrets.

62

We've had our short walk together,
this joy. Let's hope we meet early
in the next life, as young lovers.

64

While I live in the monastery palace,
I am Ridzin Tsangyang Gyatso,
honored in this lineage.

When I roam the streets in Lhasa,
and down in the valley to Shol,

I am the wildman, Dangyang Wangpo,
who has many lovers.

70

Pure snow-water from the holy mountain,
Dew off the rare Naga Vajra grass.

These essences make a nectar
which is fermented by one
who is incarnated as a maiden.

Her cup's contents can protect you
from rebirth in a lower form,

if it is tasted in the state
of awareness it deserves.

72

I know her body's softness
but not her love.

I draw figures in sand
to measure great distances
through the sky.

blurb

The Sixth Dalai Lama, Rigdzin Tsangyang Gyatso, born in 1683,
was a rebel in his own times. His death has remained a mystery and we are
unsure of whether it took place in 1706 or 1746. A much loved poet and
tantric master he lived beyond his contemporaries' concept of
identity. Shrouded in legend, he turned out to be a unique sort of holy
man. He seems to have officially given back the ascetic pledge he took and
lived in the Potala dressed as a layman. He wore rings and blue silk, instead
of the red and yellow attire of the monks. Whatever the truth may be, the
diverse powers that make up the Sixth Dalai Lama are intensely
indefinable. They confuse normal concepts of identity, and they make his
poetry very alive to the touch.

His poems reflect not only his meditative lineage but the mystery and
mercurial passion of sexual love as well. The songs are modeled on anonymous
folk songs, sung in a lilting manner. They treat love problems in
uncomplicated images and natural, passionate language. They are creations,
which remind the reader of some of the greatest romantic poets. These songs
were sung in the streets of Tibet until banned by the occupying Chinese
authorities.

translator bio

Coleman Barks has also translated and published other esoteric poets like
Lalla and Rumi, whose works are to be found included in this present series.

---

links: http://www.jmeditate.com/enlightenment/love-poems.html

Contents

   Introduction: The Sixth Dalai Lama				1

 1 This young man Slyly manages					11
 2 Even the stars can be measured,				12
 3 Lassoes can catch the wild horses				13
 4 The carved horse on the ferryboat				14
 5 I have planted prayerflags					15
 6 The ink of lovesongs						16
 7 The pressed wax that legalizes documents			17
 8 The branch of blossoming hollyhocks				18
 9 If the one I love gives up everything			19
10  I listen intently						20
11  In meditation, the face of my teacher			21
12  If I could meditate as deeply				22
13  Your stallion trots on the slippery ice,			23
14  In Lhasa, the crowds thicken,				24
15  The old dog at the gate					25
16  It was snowing at nightfall					26
17  Lover waiting in my bed					27
18  White crane!						28
19  A peacock from Bengal,					29
20  The willow loves the sparrow,				30
21  Devil thorns at my back,					31
22  The swan wants to stay longer,				32
23  Late frost on the blossoms,					33
24  What appears in Spring					34
25  The moon tonight is full,					35
26  The batterning wings of this eagle!				36
27  My childhood friend,						37
28  At night, I'm so in love					38
29  Wanting this landlord's daughter				39
30  Your body smells so sweet,					40
31  If I could live with the one				41
32  Yesterday's new-green shoots				42
33  The full moon lifts						43
34  Back when I was lucky,					44
35  She shone her whole smiling face				45
36  Intrigued, and wanting her,					46
37  Doing what my darling wants					47
38  I'm young, so						48
39  I was a solitary hunter,					49
40  When I had the priceless jewel,				50
41  One who loved me						51
42  I often see my lover in dreams				52
43  If my lover lives forever,					53
44  Is this girl human,						54
45  The moon goes away, marking					55
46  Rirab Lhunpo, golden Sumeru, mountain			56
47  On the third day, the moon appears				57
48  Oracle of the Tenth Stage,					58
49  The bird has come that brings wentness			59
50  Animals of all kinds can be tamed				60
51  My lover and I, we meet in complete				61
52  We've had our short walk together,				62
53  The glowing pink clouds					63
54  While I live in the monastery palace,			64
55  The fierce Lord of Death, Yama,				65
56  She puts on her hat and leaves,				66
57  The arrow hit the target, cut through,			67
58  People are talking about me,				68
59  Parrot, would you quit talking,				69
60  Pure snow-water from the holy mountain,			70
61  I have never slept						71
62  I know her body's softness,					72