Lama Norlha

On the tenth day of the ninth month of the Earth Monkey Year (November 7, 1848), Chokgyur Lingpa was only twenty years old, yet the time was ripe to reveal what would become the most renowned of his treasures: the cycle known as the Guru’s Heart Practice, Dispeller of All Obstacles (Lamé Tukdrup Barché Künsel). Khandro Yeshé Tsogyal had hidden this vast treasure twelve years after Guru Rinpoché’s departure from Tibet. It lay concealed beneath the foot of Drak Palchenpo (Great Glory Cliff) at Danyin Khala Rongo (Sun and Moon Valley Pass), one of the twenty-five sacred sites of Kham that represent the enlightened qualities of Guru Rinpoché’s awakened body. Chokgyur Lingpa kept this treasure hidden for eight years, after which he presented the decoded treasure to Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo. Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo realized as he began to read it that both the meaning and the words were virtually identical to a treasure he had personally revealed. They therefore decided to combine the two practices into one. Khyentsé declared that, since Chokgyur Lingpa’s Dispeller of All Obstacles was an earth terma, its authenticity was the more clearly established of the two. At this, they mutually resolved to retain only the Dispeller of All Obstacles. With the help of Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thayé these teachings were spread throughout Tibet and, eventually, the world.

In the mandala of the Dispeller of All Obstacles, Mahaguru Padmasambhava appears surrounded by his twelve emanations, each offering unique and profound teachings and practices.

Kyechok Tsülzang (Sublime Being of Excellence), or Lama Norlha, is the third of these twelve emanations. As detailed in the famous Barché Lamsel prayer, Mahaguru Padmasambhava manifested in this form at Chumik Changchup, the Spring of Enlightenment in Nepal, on his way to Tibet. At this sacred site, he bound evil spirits and plunged his kila dagger into the rock, causing a stream of blessed water to flow, which continues to this day.

Mahaguru Padmasambhava assumed the form of Lama Norlha to aid practitioners in achieving wealth and prosperity. As Lama Norlha, the Guru inseparable from Jambhala, Padmasambhava embodies all deities of wealth and prosperity. He grants the “siddhi of holding the sky treasury” and presides over a retinue of wealth deities from all enlightened families. AS Lama Norlha, the Mahaguru also embodies all the three roots—guru, yidams, and dakinis—and is renowned as the wish-fulfilling jewel.

Mahaguru Padmasambhava taught that increasing wealth involves making offerings and practicing generosity. By combining these fundamental Buddhist practices with the skillful means of the Vajrayana, the practice of Lama Norlha enhances outer, inner, and secret wealth. Outer wealth consists of material possessions, inner wealth involves personal virtues and fortune, and secret wealth is the understanding of emptiness and inner awareness leading to awakening for the benefit of all. The practice of Lama Norlha fosters both wealth and spiritual growth.

This booklet includes Kyapjé Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche’s arrangement of the Concise Excellent Vase of Jewels (Rinchen Bumzang) based on Terchen Chokgyur Lingpa’s original revelation, along with brief lineage and dedication prayers, and both Lama Norlha Smoke Offering (Sang) and Feast Gathering (Tsok) liturgies.