Lotus Dharma Treasure | The Great Bliss Guru Rinpoche Liberating-by-Sight Image
The Great Bliss Guru Rinpoche Liberating-by-Sight Image — Origins and Auspicious News
July 5, Saturday · Tibetan Calendar: 5th Month, 10th Day — Guru Rinpoche Tsok Day
The Supreme Qualities of the Great Bliss Guru Rinpoche
The Great Bliss Guru Rinpoche depicts Padmasambhava wearing monastic robes (discipline), hands in the mudra of meditative equipoise (concentration), and head adorned with the omniscient Pandita hat (wisdom) — embodying the perfect completion of the three trainings. He is therefore also called the "Enlightened Form of Guru Rinpoche."
The Nyingma tradition holds that the Great Bliss Guru Rinpoche is the root deity of the Eight Manifestations of Guru Rinpoche and is the primary practice object of generations of Dzogchen practitioners.
The three secret qualities of this practice are:
- Body quality: Symbolizes compassion; brings joy and diligence to those who behold it, dispelling anger and ignorance.
- Speech quality: Possesses courageous power and dignity; swiftly removes all outer, inner and secret disasters and demonic obstacles.
- Mind quality: Disciples receive the deep wisdom blessings of Guru Rinpoche, revealing the innately unstained luminous buddha-nature.
"In the degenerate age when the five degenerations are heavy, the power of the Great Bliss Guru Rinpoche's blessings is most supreme, incomparable." — Karmapa Avalokitesvara
Historical Origins of the Image
The "Great Bliss Guru Rinpoche Image" has a long history, traceable to the time of Guru Rinpoche himself. In the 8th century, Guru Rinpoche personally crafted a small Great Bliss substitute image. When he saw the life-size statue made of him at Samye Monastery, he exclaimed: "Like me!" — and immediately placed his own crafted image inside, calling it "Liberating by Sight, Like My Own Image."
In his later years, Guru Rinpoche displayed twenty-five substitute images throughout Tibet, waiting for future qualified tertons to discover them. In the 19th century, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Chokgyur Lingpa extracted the "Great Bliss Guru Rinpoche representative image" from terma — and the tradition of venerating this "Liberating-by-Sight Image" was established in the Nyingma school.
Artistic Features and Symbolism
The Great Bliss Guru Rinpoche image belongs to the auspicious peaceful form of Padmasambhava:
- Body: Light red or flesh-colored, resting in full lotus upon double lotus sun-moon cushion
- Head: Adorned with the omniscient Great Pandita hat with vajra and vulture feather
- Robes: Red monk's robes and the three dharma robes, representing pure discipline
- Hands: In the mudra of meditative equipoise, emphasizing meditative stillness
Each detail carries profound symbolism:
- Dharma robes (discipline): Symbolizes compassion and the purity of discipline
- Meditative mudra (concentration): Represents Guru Rinpoche's great power of samadhi
- Omniscient hat (wisdom): Symbolizes great wisdom, severing all ignorance
"Great Bliss" (Sanskrit: Mahāsukha) in tantra refers to the ultimate state of non-duality of emptiness and bliss — the very essence this image embodies.
The Revival Through Namdroling Monastery
In the early 1960s, Penor Rinpoche established Namdroling Monastery in Bylakuppe, South India, propagating the Palyul lineage. Around 2010, the Seventh Nangkaï Nyingpo Rinpoche initiated the "Great Bliss Guru Rinpoche Amrita Image" creation project. Each image contains:
- Buddha relics and sacred objects from Guru Rinpoche and great saints
- Amrita pills and dozens of rare Tibetan medicines
- Blessings from numerous eminent masters
The completed images were consecrated by over 3,000 monks of Namdroling Monastery in a grand ceremony.
The Supreme Karmic Connection for Australia
Tsewang Rinpoche, deeply understanding the supreme blessings of the Great Bliss Guru Rinpoche, after extensive comparison and investigation, chose the Namdroling Monastery image for four supreme reasons:
I. Supremacy of Lineage: From Penor Rinpoche's authentic pure Nyingma lineage.
II. Supremacy of Karmic Connection: Each image is specially filled with amrita pills personally made by Penor Rinpoche, dharma robes, personal items, relics, the five directional sacred soils, and rare blessed objects from numerous eminent masters. Through Tsewang Rinpoche's earnest supplication, a limited quantity of 500 images has been specially obtained for practitioners in Australia — extremely precious and rare.
III. Supremacy of Craftsmanship: Personally supervised by Khenpo Tsedak (Tsering Dakpa), the sacred image project director and a vajra-brother as close as blood brothers with Tsewang Rinpoche. The material is not ordinary copper, iron, wood or clay — but extremely precious secret-formula incense from the Kagyu tradition (Red Ruby Incense and Blue Sapphire Incense), possessing the triple blessing of seeing, touching and smelling.
IV. Supremacy of Consecration: Consecrated with great ceremony by over 3,000 monks of Namdroling Monastery in a grand dharma ceremony, each image placed individually.
"Whoever sees, hears, remembers or touches this image, it is as if they have personally met Guru Rinpoche; whoever sincerely venerates and prays, all wishes shall be granted." — Terma Scripture
This sacred image is a true "Vajra dharma form," suitable for enshrinement in home shrines, retreat rooms, and at the center of practice mandalas — a supreme support for accumulating merit and accomplishing practice.
Through the tireless efforts of the Lotus Dharma Buddhist Association monastics and volunteer dharma workers, the supreme Great Bliss Guru Rinpoche images have gradually begun arriving in Australia in batches!
We rejoice in all practitioners and devotees with karmic connection who obtain this image in this lifetime — may you be ceaselessly embraced by Guru Rinpoche himself, your practice unobstructed, your merit complete!