About Zangdok Palri
This Guru Rinpoche thangka image is available for download from the website of Tulku Thondup Rinpoche at tulkuthondup.com.
Zangdok Palri is the enlighted abode of Guru Rinpoche, Padmasambhava, the visionary mystic who brought Buddhism to Tibet in the ninth century. Nyingma practitioners consider Guru Rinpoche to be a fully awakened Buddha, one who manifested as an adept endowed with miraculous power and enlightened wisdom in order to benefit beings.
Through the pure aspirations of the Venerable Gelong Kalsang Rinpoche and the support of many donors, the physical Zangdok Palri is now manifesting in Phulchok, Pharping. Please find the links below to learn more about the many aspects of creating this important monument of enlightened mind, including two teachings by the Ven Gelong Kalsang Rinpoche, one of which includes this excerpt:
"Just by going to that place, one attains enlightenment."
The sacred geometry of Zangdok Palri is highly symbolic and laden with layers of of meaning, such that entire books have been written on the topic.* There are many aspirations prayers (mönlam) written by great enlightened masters to be reborn there. (See the Benefits of Building Zangdok Palri page for selected teachings.)
In brief, Zangdok Palri is the form of the Copper-colored Mountain, and atop this radiant mountain is the Lotus Light Palace, the core of Guru Rinpoche’s manifested pure land. There are traditionally three levels representing Guru Rinpoche’s Pure Land of Lotus Light––in this construction, the three upper levels that are the sacred abode of Guru Rinpoche rest atop two more levels which are designed for gatherings for dharma activities, for a total of five storeys.
In this Phulchok Zangdok Palri, the ground level consists of a large, open space that will be used for special practice occasions when many people come together; it is large enough to fit several hundred people. The second storey includes residences for lamas at the four corners, and in the center will be the main shrine room for public practices. On the third floor begins the actual palace of Guru Rinpoche’s pure land, the Lotus Light Palace (Padma Öd), which tops the Glorious Copper-Colored Mountain, with each floor representing one of the three kayas (bodies of truth) and its representational Buddha.
Thus, the third storey represents the first level of the Lotus Light Palace, and the first of the three truth bodies, or kayas––the nirmanakaya level. This will house the main representation of Guru Rinpoche, a gilded copper statue that is more than two meters in height and is awaiting installation. Atop this, the second level represents the sambhogakaya, with Avalokiteshvara as the principle deity residing there; the Avalokiteshvara statue has also already been created. The Avalokiteshvara level is eight-sided, while the other two levels are square in shape. The third floor is the dharmakaya level, with the main deity of Amitabha. This statue is also awaiting installation and consecration. At the very top is a cupola with a six-sided roof, topped with a golden ornament. Ornate carvings and paintings will decorate every dimension of Zangdok Palri.
*See “Zangdok Palri: The Lotus Light Palace of Guru Rinpoche” (Gatshel Publishing, 2012), especially the teachings offered by the Ven Tulku Thondup Rinpoche
Benefits of Building Zangdok Palri
History and Timeline
Photo Gallery
A Concise Zangdok Palri Aspiration Prayer by Jigme Lingpa (1730-1798)
At the end of my life, may Ögyen the Lord of Dharma
actually appear before me and lead me to Zangdok Palri, the Copper- Colored Mountain;
and in the midst of the gathering of intrinsic awareness-holders,
may I partake in the oceanic glory of the Dharma of the supreme vehicle.