"The Serkhang Chojé," a most blessed
statue of Kyobpa Rinpoché enshrined in the Golden Temple at
Drikung Thil Monastery.
Since
his was a religious family, Jikten Sumgön was trained in the
Dharma at a very young age. By the age of four, he had learnt how to
read and when he was only six, he read the Mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgiti
once and was able to memorize it perfectly. From his father, he
received Yamāntaka practice and mastered it. At the age of eight, due
to his diligent practice, he gained a vision of Yamāntaka. From his
uncle, Khenpo Darma, he received the three Vajrakīla cycles. From the
Kadampa masters Kyebupa and Reting Gomchen, he received all the Kadampa
teachings and from Lhopa Dorjé Nyingpo he received the
Guhyasamāja teachings. In this way, he became a great vessel for the
Dharma starting from at a very young age.
There are many stories of Jikten Sumgön’s kind nature even
as a child. In one incident, Jikten Sumgön found a dog that was
close to dying due to starvation and an injury inflicted upon it when
it was caught stealing food from a monastery. Jikten Sumgön was
not able to find any food for the dog and out of desperation he caused
himself to regurgitate the food he had eaten in order to feed the
starving dog. While others feared and shunned lepers and would not have
anything to do with them, Jikten Sumgön attended to them and even
gave them massages with his own bare hands. (People then believed that
leprosy could be contracted simply through casual contact).
