Rainbow body

"According to the Dzogchen teachings of the Nyingmapa school of Tibetan Buddhism, advanced practitioners can end their lives in a remarkable way, causing their bodies to be reabsorbed back into the light essence of the elements that created them; a manner of passing that is called the “rainbow body.”

In 1952 there was a famous instance of the rainbow body in the east of Tibet, witnessed by many people. The man who attained it, Sonam Namgyal, was a humble person, an itinerant stone carver of mantras and sacred texts. Some say he had been a hunter in his youth, and had received teaching from a great master. No one really knew he was a practitioner; he was truly what is called a “hidden yogin.” Some time before his death, he would go up into the mountains and just sit, silhouetted against the skyline, gazing up into space. He composed his own songs and chants and sang them instead of the traditional ones. No one had any idea what he was doing. He fell ill, but, strange to say, became increasingly happy. When the illness got worse, his family called in masters and doctors. His son told him he should remember all the teachings he had heard, and he smiled and said, “I’ve forgotten them all and anyway, there’s nothing to remember. Everything is illusion, but I am confident that all is well.”

Just before his death at seventy-nine, he said: “All I ask is that when I die, don’t move my body for a week.” When he died his family wrapped his body and invited lamas and monks to come and practice for him. They placed the body in a small room in the house, and they could not help noticing that though he had been a tall person, they had no trouble getting it in, as if he were becoming smaller. At the same time, an extraordinary display of rainbow-colored light was seen all around the house. When they looked into the room on the sixth day, they saw that the body was getting smaller and smaller. On the eighth day after his death, the morning on which the funeral had been arranged, the undertakers arrived to collect his body. When they undid its coverings, they found nothing inside but his nails and hair."

~ from Graceful Exits: How Great Beings Die, by Sushila Blackman

"Death is a subject obscured by fear and denial. When we do think of dying, we are more often concerned with how to avoid the pain and suffering that may accompany our death than we are with really confronting the meaning of death and how to approach it. Sushila Blackman places death—and life—in a truer perspective, by telling us of others who have left this world with dignity.

Graceful Exits offers valuable guidance in the form of 108 stories recounting the ways in which Hindu, Tibetan Buddhist, and Zen masters, both ancient and modern, have confronted their own deaths. By directly presenting the grace, clarity, and even humor with which great spiritual teachers have met the end of their days, Blackman provides inspiration and nourishment to anyone truly concerned with the fundamental issues of life and death."

"Yilhungpa Sonam Namgyel (yid lhung pa bsod nams rnam rgyal) belonged to the Takrong (stag rong) clan in the Yilhung (yid lhung) valley in Kham. According to Tulku Thondup Rinpoche (sprul sku don grub, b. 1939), he was born in 1874.[1] Tenzin Lungtok Nyima (bstan 'dzin lung rtogs nyi ma, b. 1974) gives his birth year as the iron-snake year, 1881–82, and says that his father, Tsering Wangchuk (tshe ring dbang phyug), was a descendant of Gesar's uncle Trotung, while his mother was named Wangchen Tso (dbang chen mtsho).

Sonam Namgyel grew up as an ordinary lay person. In his youth he behaved in ways that he later came to regret, for example, by chopping down trees and hunting wild animals. At the age of around thirty, he was overwhelmed by feelings of renunciation and compassion and sought instruction from several teachers. He received empowerments and teachings related to the outer and inner preliminaries and the main practice of Dzogchen from the treasure revealer Yakze Terton Garwang Tekchok Lingpa (g.yag ze gter ston gar dbang theg mchog gling pa), whose collected revelations fill thirteen volumes. Yakze Terton was himself a student of Yakze Lama Peljin (g.yag ze'i bla ma dpal sbyin), who was once told by Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje (mdo mkhyen brtse ye shes rdo rje, 1800–1866) that his lineage of disciples would include seven people who would attain the "rainbow body" ('ja' lus). That is to say, as a sign of their advanced realization of Dzogchen, their bodies would dissolve at death, leaving nothing more than rainbow-colored light.

Sonam Namgyel apparently regarded Garwang Tekchok Lingpa as his main teacher. In later life he carved "O Pema Tekchok Lingpa, watch over me!" (pad+ma theg mchog gling pa mkhyen) on the rock face near his place of meditation, and he was heard uttering a similar expression shortly before his death. However, he reportedly told Chatral Sangye Dorje (bya bral sangs rgyas rdo rje, 1913–2015) that it was the Fifth Dzogchen Rinpoche, Tubten Chokyi Dorje (rdzogs chen grub dbang 05 thub bstan chos kyi rdo rje, 1872–1935) who had helped him to understand Dzogchen. Chatral Sangye Dorje was amazed at Sonam Namgyel's realization, which he said was exceptional for a layperson.[3]

According to Chogyam Trungpa (chos rgya drung pa, 1939–1987), Sonam Namgyel was a servant to a wealthy family. He had to work long hours but was able to meditate at night by restricting himself to only two or three hours of sleep. At some point, he left his employer and spent three years in retreat on a mountain in Yilhung. During this time, he experienced signs that indicated his mastery of the four visions (snang ba bzhi) of Dzogchen. He also completed mantra recitations related to the Hayagrīva practice from the Longchen Nyingtik. He carved images of Hayagrīva and inscribed "Do not be distracted!" (sems ma yengs) on the wall of his cave.

In later life, he became an itinerant meditator, dwelling in caves on the shore of Yilhung Lhatso (yid lhung lha mtsho), a lake near Manigango (ma Ni gad 'go) famous for its carvings of the mantra of Avalokiteśvara, as well as in the surrounding mountains. Here he recited the famous "Prayer that Spontaneously Fulfils Wishes" 

(bsam pa lhun grub ma) one hundred thousand times before an image of Padmasambhava that he had carved out of stone. He also chanted prayers of his own composition.

In the early 1950s he began to show signs of illness. His son Lama Gyurdrak (bla ma 'gyur grags, d. 1975) left a retreat when he heard the news and joined other members of the family at Manigango. No one suspected that Sonam Namgyel might attain the rainbow body, but he did leave instructions that his body should not be moved for seven days after his death. Once he died his corpse was treated like that of any other layperson and covered with a simple cloth. Although this cloth appeared to shrink in height in the days that followed, no one paid much attention. After a few days a lama from Lhagyel Monastery (lha rgyal dgon) came to perform an elaborate cleansing (khrus gsol) rite. Then, after a week, when family members entered the tent where the body was kept, they saw rays of rainbow-colored light. The body had disappeared; only the hair and nails remained.

News soon spread that there had been a possible case of someone attaining rainbow body. When word reached the local chieftain Jago Tobden (bya rgod stobs ldan, 1898–1960) he set out together with a small party. They brought a treasure vase into which they placed the hair and nails, sealing the top with five-colored silk. Jago Tobden then dispatched a messenger to Dzogchen Monastery (rdzogs chen dgon), Dzongsar (rdzong sar) and elsewhere to determine whether this was a true case of the rainbow body. It was decided that the relics were authentic, and several lamas, including the Sixth Dzogchen Rinpoche, Jikdrel Jangchub Dorje (rdzogs chen 06 'jigs bral byang chub rdo rje, 1935–1959), Gemang Tulku Garwang Lerab Lingpa (dge mang sprul sku 03 gar dbang las rab gling pa, 1930–1959), and Ngawang Norbu (ngag dbang nor bu, 1886–1958), came to perform feast offerings and lead prayers of aspiration.

Sonam Namgyel's relics were divided into five main portions: one was offered to Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro ('jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse chos kyi blo gros, 1893–1959) of Dzongsar; one to Dzogchen Rinpoche; one to Jago Tobden; one to his son Dola Tsering Ge (rdo bla tshe ring dge) and one to Tsering Khandro (tshe ring mkha' 'gro). The final portion was later acquired by Khenpo Sonam Rinchen (mkhan po bsod nams rin chen) of the nearby Yakze Monastery (g.yag ze dgon) and enshrined in a stūpa.

The story of Sonam Namgyel's death has been recounted many times. Chogyam Trungpa included it in his autobiography, Born in Tibet. Dudjom Rinpoche mentioned it in his monumental history of the Nyingma school. Sogyal Rinpoche, who was tutored by Sonam Namgyel's son Lama Gyurdrak, included the story in his bestselling book The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. Tulku Thondup has described the event in several books, and it has also featured in scholarship on the phenomenon of the rainbow body."

Adam Pearcey is the founder of Lotsawa House. He completed his PhD at SOAS, University of London, in 2018 with a thesis on Dzogchen, scholasticism and sectarian identity in early twentieth-century Tibet. Read more at adamspearcey.com.

Published August 2023

What Is Rainbow Body?

by Michael Sheehy 

In Tibetan Buddhism, it is said that certain meditation practices can alter the appearance of the body, transforming it into five radiant lights. The name given to this physical fluorescence is “rainbow body.”

In Vajrayana traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, tangible matter is considered to be made up of five elements: space, air, fire, water, and earth. As described in Tibetan literary sources, including The Tibetan Book of the Dead, the elemental energies that make up the cosmos are understood to be undifferentiated from those that make up the human body. Therefore, the body is simultaneously an individual person and the cosmic whole.

Certain Buddhist meditation practices are meant to alter the gravitational field of these five elements that constitute the body, transforming them into the five radiant lights of the color spectrum. The Tibetan name given to this physical fluorescence is jalu, literally meaning, “rainbow body.” Rainbow body is also the name given to the transformation of the ordinary physical body as a result of years of specific disciplined practices.

Reports from inside Tibet of rainbow bodies have emerged sporadically over the past century.

Tibetan traditions have identified signs that indicate when a practitioner has achieved rainbow body. While alive, it is said that the bodies of these beings do not cast a shadow in either lamplight or sunlight. At death, it is said that the physical body dramatically shrinks in size, exuding fragrances and perfumes rather than the odors of decomposition. A common Tibetan metric for the shrunken corpse of a rainbow body is the “length of a forearm.” Other signs are the sudden blooming of exotic plants and flowers anytime of year, as well as rainbows appearing in the sky.

There is also a special kind of rainbow body known as the “great transference into rainbow body,” or jalu powa chemo. This is the complete transference of the material body into radiance so that the only thing left of the body is hair and fingernails. While the historical origins of this phenomena are not well studied, the concept of the rainbow body is associated with the eighth-century Dzogchen meditation master Padmasambhava who, according to legend, achieved great transference and entered into a deathless state of being.

Reports from inside Tibet of rainbow bodies have emerged sporadically over the past century, though there has been an upturn of accounts over the past decades. The best known case is that of Yilungpa Sonam Namgyel, who achieved rainbow body in 1952, as recounted by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in his memoir, Born in Tibet. There is also the case of Changchub Dorje, a medical doctor and leader of a Dzogchen community in the Nyarong region of eastern Tibet, about whom Chogyal Namkhai Norbu recounts in The Crystal and the Way of Light."

"Michael R. Sheehy is a scholar of Tibetan Buddhism and Contemplative Studies. His research focuses on the generative, dynamic, and ever-evolving processes of contemplative practices detailed in historical Tibetan meditation manuals. Michael is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies and the Director of Scholarship at the Contemplative Sciences Center at the University of Virginia. He is the cofounder and Executive Editor of the Journal of Contemplative Studies, and Series Editor for the Contemplative Studies as well as Traditions and Transformations in Tibetan Buddhism book series at the University of Virginia Press. He is coeditor of The Other Emptiness: Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in Tibet, and his forthcoming book is an intellectual history of the Jonang order of Tibetan Buddhism. He is currently writing a book about Tibetan contemplative practices."