The Lama and the Goat

The following is an excerpt from The Golden Garuda: The Extraordinary Life of Modern-Day Mahasiddha Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche, a biography of Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche written by one of his students, Khenpo Sodargye. The founder of Larung Gar, the world’s largest Buddhist institution, Jigme Phuntsok (1933–2004) has been recognized as one of the most influential Buddhist teachers of the 20th century. In a series of short, intimate vignettes, this new biography follows the life of this extraordinary lama from his miraculous birth through his decades of teaching around the world up until to his death. Marking what would have been Jigme Phuntsok’s 92nd birthday, today Tricycle presents one of his teachings on the dharma of a black mountain goat.

The great Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche not only benefited innumerable human beings with the dharma but also often transmitted oral teachings to the animals around him, giving them the chance to be liberated. One of these fortunate animals was a black mountain goat that had been following Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche everywhere since its birth. The goat was very gentle and obedient to him. It always slept by the side of Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche’s pillow at night. Even when it had become a big adult goat, it was still very loyal to him. No matter where Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche went, it was always willing to carry his load.

Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche treated this goat with great loving-kindness and often offered it oral transmissions of Sutrayana and Vajrayana teachings, including the complete texts of the most profound Four Parts of Heart Essence and The Seven Treasuries. After being with Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche for sixteen years, the goat passed away peacefully. After its death, Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche often thought of the goat, wondering where it had been reborn.

On the twenty-fourth day of the first Tibetan month in the earth snake year of 1989, at about five o’clock in the morning, Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche woke up and started to meditate. Suddenly he saw colorful lights, in the middle of which a child was walking toward him. The youngster, whose hair was knotted and who was dressed in white, respectfully bowed to Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche and chanted the following stanza:

The treasure of powerful speech who fearlessly teaches, debates, and composes,
You have perfected the Threefold Training and attained supreme wisdom,
You are the source of boundless benefit and happiness, like a wish-fulfilling jewel,
To you my supreme glorious master, I supplicate.

After chanting it three times, the youngster continued, “Do you recognize me? I am the black goat you used to have! In the past, you often transmitted the profound Sutrayana and Vajrayana teachings to my ears and granted me blessings with great kindness and compassion. Because of this, I was reborn into the Realm of Shambhala after my life as a goat and became an exceptionally smart bilingual parrot. I could fully understand the teachings given by Rigden Magagpa. One month ago, I was reborn in the Eastern Land of Manifest Joy after my life as a parrot, and now dwell in the presence of Bodhisattva Jikpa Kunkyob, who is in fact Mipham Rinpoche. I now come to pay my respects to you. May you live a long life! May your dharma activities flourish in all ten directions!” Having said all this, he turned into a ball of light and disappeared.

Great faith and joy arose in Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche’s heart. In case he ever forgot the details of this encounter, he picked up his pen and wrote the following stanzas:

Today I heard that in the Eastern Land of Manifest Joy,
You, the incomparably kind master Mipham Rinpoche,
Have become the invincible protector named Protecting All from Fear,
And are now expounding the vast and profound teachings
To your pure assembly of countless bodhisattvas.

I am now immersed in samsara,
Amid the ordinary beings with inferior karma,
And constantly suffer sickness, demonic forces, and adversity.
When I am thinking of this,
A mix of sorrow and joy arises in me.
From the bottom of my heart, not merely from my lips,
The only thing I want to do is benefit beings and spread the dharma.
I must accomplish the goal of benefiting beings wholeheartedly.

However, honorable master, don’t you know that I am powerless?
Nowadays in the Land of Snows,
Although many people are teaching or practicing the dharma,
They are actually engaging in the eight worldly concerns.
Those who practice the true dharma are as rare as daytime stars.
When thinking of this, my heart aches.

All beings that live on the earth
Are burdened by unbearable suffering,
And continue to generate more causes of suffering.
How can you, the compassionate Protector, take this?
For all sentient beings that establish a connection with me,
Please guide them to the pure realm.
Please transform appearances of the prevalent five degenerations
In accordance with those of the Golden Age of the past.

From now through all successive lives,
May you, the father, always accept us with joy,
Teach according to beings’ wishes and interests,
And offer a happy banquet of the profound dharma.

To instill strong interest and appreciation in his disciples toward listening to the dharma teachings, Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche publicly shared this story with the sangha.

♦

From The Golden Garuda: The Extraordinary Life of Modern-Day Mahasiddha Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche by Khenpo Sodargye © 2025 by Khenpo Sodargye. Reprinted in arrangement with Shambhala Publications.