1320：Sharing the Disciple’s Experience on the Pilgrimage Led by the Guru
Prostrations to His Eminence Vajra Guru Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche, His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang, Dharma Protector Achi, and the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Greetings, fellow believers and Dharma brothers. I am Wang Xiao Ling from Group Six, my Dharma name is Hui Qin Drolma, and I took refuge in August, 2000. I am grateful to His Eminence Vajra Guru Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche for bestowing me the opportunity to publicly praise the guru’s help to me and to repent my wrong mindset in learning Buddhism.
On February 7, Green Tara Puja was held at the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Monastery of Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche. Rinpoche held a very ancient Buddhist statue of Green Tara, which had been bestowed by Rinpoche’s guru more than twenty years ago during a visit to Tibet. Using this statue of Green Tara, Rinpoche blessed all sentient beings and continuously chanted mantras to bless the assembly. Throughout the one-day puja, I felt that Rinpoche is using his life to propagate Buddha Dharma and benefit sentient beings, just as parents always give their best to their children without reservation.
At the Green Tara Puja in May 2016, Rinpoche used the sacred statue of Green Tara bestowed by Yunga Rinpoche to bless the assembly, and expounded:‘This statue of Green Tara you see now is of an antique bronze color. Yunga Rinpoche once held this statue of Green Tara and took a photograph. In the photo, once this Green Tara was in the hands of the elder Rinpoche, the statue appeared as a golden-colored Bodhisattva. Therefore, the blessing power of this statue is especially strong.’ Rinpoche’s mind is always on sentient beings. At every Green Tara Puja, Rinpoche will reverently invite the Buddhist statue of Green Tara to bless all sentient beings. (Please refer to: The Incomparably Wondrous Dharma Fate Between the Great Practitioner and His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche—His Eminence Yunga Rinpoche)
This reminded me of all the moments when I followed Rinpoche to seek an audience with Yunga Rinpoche in Nyingchi, Tibet. In 2006, Rinpoche traveled day and night over long distances, crossing the Tangula Mountains at an altitude of five thousand meters and passing through areas with temperatures as low as minus 11 degrees, to lead disciples to go to Nyingchi, Tibet, to seek an audience with Yunga Rinpoche. Due to Nyingchi’s special geographical location and the complex territorial issues along a border over a thousand kilometers long, not only were the roads bumpy, but we also had to go through border checkpoints, which were not easy to pass. Under the blessings of Rinpoche, the Buddhas and Bodhissattvas, our group overcame these difficulties and finally arrived smoothly in Nyingchi. I am grateful to Rinpoche for sparing no effort to lead us on this pilgrimage, allowing us to accumulate the resources of learning Buddhism. Now, whenever I see the sacred statue of Green Tara, it reminds me of the memories of following Rinpoche on the pilgrimage, as well as the guru’s unreserved care and blessings for his disciples. I am grateful that I was born in an era when the Buddha Dharma is present in the world, and that I could become a disciple of His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche, which was the good fortune I had accumulated through practice from past lifetimes.
Rinpoche once expounded that one should seize the opportunity to go on a pilgrimage to holy places to accumulate good fortune. Rinpoche also created many fates to allow disciples to follow Rinpoche to seek an audience with great practitioners. In 2005, Rinpoche led disciples over two thousand kilometers to Qinghai to seek an audience with the Elder Buddhist Nun (His Eminence Vidyadhara Guru, Renze Kaje Wenmao Rinpoche). (Please refer to: The Incomparably Wondrous Dharma Fate Between the Great Practitioner and His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche—His Eminence Renze Kaje Wenmao Rinpoche–the Elder Buddhist Nun.) It was a strenuous pilgrimage journey, during which we even traveled on a high-altitude highway. If it were not for the blessings of Rinpoche, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas along the way, I, who lack in good fortune and fate, would not have been qualified to make the journey. Before departure, Rinpoche reminded everyone to take good care of their health; in order not to influence the large group, if anyone caught a cold during the journey at any location, he or she would have to stay there and wait for the group. Therefore, from the moment I learned of this pilgrimage journey, every day during my practice of the Dharma Protector, I would implore the Dharma Protector to allow me to take leave smoothly, not fall ill, and complete the journey smoothly.
I still remember that when we went to seek an audience with the Elder Buddhist Nun, it was just past four in the morning, and we had not yet gotten up, but Rinpoche had already gone outside to bless the more than twenty jeeps we were taking. Every morning before departure, when we paid our prostrations to Rinpoche, we could see Rinpoche continuously blessing everyone with his gaze. Rinpoche’s vehicle was always at the very front, and Rinpoche was blessing along the way to remove our obstacles, so that the vehicles following behind could encounter fewer obstacles and arrive smoothly.
At lunch time, as soon as we entered the dining hall, we could see Rinpoche using his gaze to bless the disciples who walked in one after another. Rinpoche’s spine has a pronounced S-shaped curvature, and after sitting in jeeps traveling at high speed for more than ten hours, Rinpoche must have been extremely exhausted. Yet even during the brief rest time for meals, Rinpoche still chose to sit in a seat where he could see the entrance at a glance, ceaselessly blessing the disciples as they entered. Throughout the journey, Rinpoche also continuously blessed the food, which was then distributed to the disciples, to alleviate our physical discomfort. If it were not for Rinpoche’s good fortune protecting us and for Rinpoche leading us, with these harsh conditions of an average altitude above 3000 meters and cold weather, I would not have been able to go on a pilgrimage to the holy place, seek an audience with the great practitioner, and attend the pujas.
On one road to the holy place, while everyone was sitting in the jeeps traveling at high speed, after more than ten hours, many of us already had splitting headaches, and some even vomited uncontrollably. Suddenly, through the walkie-talkie, we received instructions to stop and look at the sky. Everyone quickly got out of the jeeps, and when we looked up, we saw a very large halo around the sun in the clear, cloudless sky. Rinpoche once expounded that this is the backlight of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and seeing it brings blessings. After witnessing it, everyone felt greatly delighted, and our physical discomfort was alleviated remarkably. I am grateful for the blessings of Rinpoche, the Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas. Only by receiving these blessings could I endure the over twenty-hour journey by jeep.
On the way back, Rinpoche’s jeep was the last to depart. Since it was the only road, Rinpoche’s vehicle passed by all the disciples’ vehicles, blessing each one along the way. Although Rinpoche was the last to depart, he was the first to arrive at the destination. When I saw Rinpoche’s jeep, adorned with the five-colored cord, passing beside us, I not only felt calm and realized Rinpoche’s tremendous efforts, but also had the motivation of following quickly—with the guru leading ahead, how could the disciples be so slow?
I am grateful to Rinpoche for bestowing disciples the opportunity to personally meet the great practitioners. If it were not for being a disciple of Rinpoche and following Rinpoche, what merit or capability could I have to deserve this meeting? All the pilgrimage journeys could only be smoothly completed under Rinpoche’s protective umbrella.
Now, I live on this land of Taiwan, and have a meritorious guru guiding us and even granting us the opportunity to go to the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Monastery of Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche in Miaoli to make a pilgrimage or attend the pujas. For me, that Monastery is a holy place and a Pure Land. I must seize the rare and perfect human form to closely follow the guru to learn Buddha Dharma, so as not to waste the only opportunity from accumulated past lifetimes in vain.
Rinpoche has great wisdom and uses various virtuous and skilful means, according to the habitual nature of sentient beings, to ingeniously integrate Buddha Dharma into daily life. By managing all kinds of business units, including music concerts, Japanese food, the Cultural and Historical Association, Baoyuan Gao, Sino Travel Services, and so on, which allow sentient beings to naturally come into contact with the Glorious Jewel, giving them opportunities to receive the help of Buddha Dharma. I never imagined that, because of the IG (Instagram) of the Glorious Jewel Tea Hut, many of my colleagues and the younger generation, these young people, could naturally come into contact with the Glorious Jewel without awkwardness through following the IG. Rinpoche once expounded that Glorious Jewel is the Dharma name of Lord Jigten Sumgon. The Lord guru once said that anyone who hears the Glorious Jewel will surely receive blessings. Therefore, those who love singing can attend the music concerts; those who enjoy social media can continually see the words ‘Glorious Jewel’ from the constantly updated posts of the Glorious Jewel Tea Hut. Rinpoche is truly incredible!
I am grateful to Rinpoche for ceaselessly demonstrating how to integrate Buddha Dharma into daily life, granting us the opportunity to attend the pujas every week, and for continuously using Buddha Dharma to cultivate us. Rinpoche once expounded, ‘As lay practitioners, there are a vast number of contradictory points while learning Buddhism. Where do these contradictions come from? They arise from ourselves. But as Buddhists, we should, with the premise of not causing others to misunderstand, learn to live our lives according to the Buddha Dharma. This is something that should be learned, and it is not that Rinpoche monitors you every day.’I know this is not something that can be achieved immediately, but under the guru’s undiscriminating blessings and guidance, I believe that on the path of learning Buddhism, even if a large number of obstacles occur, they can surely be overcome. I am grateful to the guru for not abandoning sentient beings!
Rinpoche teaches us to be grateful to the guru, to deeply believe in karma, and to accept the impermanence of death. I am a stage 2 breast cancer patient, with deep and heavy karmic hindrances. When I learn to view everything around me with a ‘mind that takes nothing for granted,’ a mind of gratitude arises naturally toward the guru, toward people, toward events, and toward things. I realize that everything I have now is under the guru’s blessings; only through them can I live a normal life. Without the guru, there is no me.
Here, I repent that after taking refuge, I did not use all my prehistoric powers to learn the Buddha Dharma. Mistakes, both big and small, continued to happen, leaving me truly shameless. In August 2024, when Rinpoche was transmitting the incomparably wondrous Buddha Dharma in Japan, I was irreverent toward the guru and the Dharma. As a volunteer distributing the Dharma texts to the attendees, I did not give one to myself. Rinpoche instructed that I could not learn Vajra nor participate in the empowerment pujas. Rinpoche expounded, ‘She always hoped that after accomplishing the practices of the Four Extraordinary Foundations of Vajrayana Ngondro, her cancer would be cured. I have said countless times that when I got cancer, I did not implore the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, did not practice Dharma, and did not implore His Holiness. When the cancer occurred to her, she just did not hear this; she thought that after completing the practices of the Four Extraordinary Foundations of Vajrayana Ngondro, she would be OK, and that when Rinpoche transmitted the Dharma again in the future, she would practice better and better, her health would improve, and she would not die. I am going to die, and won’t you die?’
I am grateful to Rinpoche for pointing out my wrong mindset of attachment to life and fear of death. I am grateful to Rinpoche for once again reminding me to transform illness into a tool for cultivation and courageously face death. In the face of death, only the guru can help the disciple. I must always be reverent to the guru, follow the guru’s words one hundred percent, abide by precepts, and examine and supervise myself with the Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattva. The guru brings one inside the doors, but practice depends on oneself; one relies on the guru, not depends on the guru, and must have a firm sense of renunciation.
Lastly, I should always respect, be reverent, and make offerings eternally. I am grateful to the guru! I also pray that all sentient beings in the void can receive the help of Rinpoche and Buddha Dharma, be liberated from birth and death, and be reborn in the Pure Land; I pray that all the merits are dedicated to the Pure Land. I implore that the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Monastery of Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche is perfectly and smoothly constructed; Rinpoche is in good health; and that his Dharma lineage spreads eternally, benefiting boundless sentient beings. I thank all fellow believers for listening patiently.
Respectfully written by disciple Wang Xiao Ling, Group Six,
on February 22, 2026
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Updated on February 25, 2026