CP in Mongolia

This is Part 3 of an English translation¹of a letter by the Mongolian Buddhist scholar Zava Damdin Rinpoche (b. 1976). Deeply personal in tone, the letter offers a vivid glimpse into a spiritual inner life, and into how sincere faith is remembered, tested, and carried forward. Continued from Part 2.

_______________________________

ON FAITH AND DEVOTION

(English Translation)

Once again I asked Gevsh Bagsh Thubten Perenlei:² “Why did the noble Milarepa,³after studying only a single volume thoroughly, attain Buddhahood⁴in one lifetime? And why did the noble Tsongkhapa,⁵in a single lifetime, study, realise, and completely understand all of the Buddha’s greater and lesser vehicles, sutra and tantra, and the ten major and minor sciences,⁶and become perfectly enlightened?”

Gevsh Bagsh replied:

“Milarepa was a person of extremely sincere faith, while the noble Tsongkhapa was a person of extremely sharp intelligence. But this does not mean Milarepa had no intelligence; he had genius, though compared with Tsongkhapa it was lesser. Nor does it mean Tsongkhapa had no faith; he had great faith, though compared with Milarepa it was lesser. It is like how Maidar Buddha is renowned for loving-kindness, and Manzushri Buddha for wisdom. But this is not something easily grasped by ordinary understanding.

From what this humble person has seen in his own life, true faith contains all of the feelings of loving, respecting, honouring, cherishing, and revering that which is greater than oneself and capable of guiding and leading one. Of course, in some beings these states of mind exist separately. For example, within courage too there are dull courage and sharp courage, foolish courage and sincere courage, and so forth.

Blind faith is the opposite of true faith, and it is even lower than dull faith. It is a mind that arises without analytical intelligence, led by selfish clinging to oneself and to what one calls “mine,” toward the religious propaganda shown or spoken by others, or toward trivial magical and superstitious things. Of course,

Just as the sky clears and the sun rises, at some point the causes and conditions will come together and one will emerge from that dead end.

Another thing must be clarified. Some people do not even know the difference between faith and superstitious anxiety; they call a person ruled by superstitious anxiety “very faithful.” But this mind of superstitious anxiety is like this: being afraid and uneasy about going to a cemetery; being anxious, when entering a crowd, about others’ words, gossip, and glances; being anxious, even when sitting alone, about others’ black or white speech; wondering fearfully even about which day to go outside; and, due to extreme ignorance, becoming anxious even about one’s own and others’ Buddhas and sacred objects.⁷

Of course, in the science of astrology there are adjustments concerning some of these matters. But that means to use them in a cultured way with sound intelligence; it does not mean to approach them with a petty, selfish mind of superstitious anxiety. It is utterly wrong for those of limited understanding to become anxious and say, “This is harm caused by the Buddha.” The Buddha attained perfect enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings, so how could he ever harm anyone?

If you have sincere faith and are striving for the benefit of others, then stars, planets, sun, moon, humans, and non-humans—none of them will obstruct you or become a source of harm. This superstitious state of mind is called in the scriptures “a biased, distorted mind.”⁸

To those who proudly present themselves as “without faith” and enjoy criticising the faith and devotion of others, I would say this:

To respect human civilisation, it is highly improper to discriminate against, humiliate, insult, persecute, or torment others on the basis of religion, ethnicity, lineage, origin, or skin colour.

There are also some who wear the Dharma robes of a lama, drape the monastic shawl, and study Buddhist philosophy for their entire lives, yet cannot remove their own biased minds and have not generated even the slightest faith. There are also lay people of the state who hold prayer beads and recite mantras all their lives, assuming a virtuous appearance without ever correcting their minds.

They are like stones lying for ages at the bottom of the ocean, yet remaining dry inside.

Those with dull faith, like leaden spears, and those with blind faith, like blind oxen, rush about merely on hearing rumours that this or that is good. Before long they lose interest and run toward something else. Such behaviour is a matter of worldly comedy.

Since nothing said to crude and brutish people is of any use, I have found no words here to address them. As our people say:

“Put gold in a donkey’s ear and it will shake it out; put water in and it will shake that out too.”

In general, faith is not something that anyone imposes by force, as communism tried to do. Nor can anyone do so. There is no such condition. There is no need. Our people’s sacred objects were violently destroyed; in their place were set the statues and painted heads of Marx, Engels, and Lenin. Instead of the Oyun Tülkhüür and the Sandüinjüd, which had been scriptures carried at the breast, people were made to carry Party membership booklets in their breast pockets.⁹ Although such things were used excessively and in blind ignorance, they could not reach the sincere depths of people’s hearts. In many countries of the world as well, faith could not be seized and held by such violence.

Faith is not found only in the East; it exists wherever human beings live. For example, the central meaning of Nabucco, the famous opera by the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi, is that a king intoxicated by state power and deceitful ministers enslave another people, who suffer in anguish. In the end, through the people’s pure faith and the help of Fenena, a kind-hearted woman who understands it, they are liberated. In this scene, the oppressed slaves struggle not through violence, but through pure faith.¹⁰

This is not merely an operatic work for the stage. In our own Mongolia, after the great repression of 1937, freedom remained restricted until democracy arose in 1990 through the power of the sincere faith and devotion of the majority of people of that time.

Those of sound intelligence who saw it with their own eyes, heard it with their own ears, and took part in it themselves, will understand this more deeply.

To speak a little further of the benefit of sincere faith:

Sincere faith is like a wish-fulfilling jewel.
Thieves and robbers cannot steal it.

When one is ill,
it becomes medicine.

When one is lonely,
it becomes a companion.

When one is thirsty,
it becomes water.

When one is hungry,
it becomes food.

When one is lost,
it becomes a road.

In darkness,
it becomes light.

In suffering,
it becomes support.

At death,
it stays with one.

It goes with one
into the next life.

It is the supreme,
inseparable friend.¹¹ ¹²

My aged Bagsh Itgel—whose qualities are difficult for this humble one to properly praise—was a direct disciple of Ugalzyn Lama, the last geshe of the Daichin Wang Khüree.¹³He taught that sincere faith is the finest steed that carries one through the study of Buddhist sutra and tantra to the farthest limit of wisdom.

Then he recited this verse:

Upon the fine steed of irreversible faith,
bridle it with the golden bridle of powerful wisdom;
saddle it with the firm saddle of samadhi meditation;
hold the whip of steadfast courage, effort, and diligence;
grasp the golden reins of all good mindfulness;
and gallop toward the land of the supreme noble state to which you aspire!

Харишгүй сүсгийн ажнай сайн хөлөг моринд
Хатангат билиг оюуны алтан хазаар хазаарлаад
Хатуу бат самади бясалгалын эмээл эмээллэж
Хатан зориг хичээл шамдалын ташуурыг барьж
Хамаг сайн дурдалын алтан жолоог атгаад
Хандсан дээд хутагтын газраа давхин хүрэхтүн!

Thus it was taught.¹⁴

Zava Damdin Rinpoche
On this auspicious day, 24 May 2017.

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NOTES

1
Translated by C.Pleteshner. English interpretation 2.07.2026 from the original Mongolian 24.05.2017. Translation is always an interpretation into another language and culture. Any errors in this regard are entirely my own, and for these I humbly apologise. I am profoundly grateful to the author for permission to share this English translation with readers here. To study precious original sources such as this is a privilege not to be taken for granted.
2
Gevsh Bagsh Thubten Perenlei (Гэвш багш Түвдэн Пэрэнлэй) preserves the Mongolian pronunciation of his name. His full title and name are commonly given in English as Lharampa Geshe Lobsang Dayang Thubten Trinley. Gevsh Bagsh combines gevsh, a scholar-monk trained in the Mongolian Gelugpa scholastic tradition, with bagsh, Teacher. Here it refers to one of Zava Damdin Rinpoche’s heart Teachers.
3
Milarepa (Миларайв; Жэцүн Миларайв) refers to Jetsun Milarepa (c. 1052–1135), the great yogin and poet, a celebrated Buddhist practitioner whose life story is widely read as an example of perseverance and the possibility of realisation in one lifetime.
4
Buddhahood (бурханы хутгийг олох) refers, in general terms, to a state of mind free from ignorance and confusion.
5
Tsongkhapa (Богд Зонхаба; Жэ Зонхаба Лувсандагва) refers to Je Tsongkhapa Lobsang Drakpa (1357–1419), the great scholar-practitioner and founder of the Gelugpa tradition, revered in Mongolian Buddhism for his union of disciplined study, reasoning, ethical conduct, and tantric realisation.
6
The ten major and minor sciences (их, бага арван ухаан) are the traditional fields of Buddhist learning. The five major sciences are: (i) inner science (дотоод ухаан), (ii) logic and epistemology (учир шалтгааны ухаан), (iii) grammar and language (дуун ухаан), (iv) medicine (анагаах ухаан / эмнэх ухаан), and (v) arts and crafts (урлах ухаан). The five minor sciences are: (i) poetics (яруу найргийн ухаан), (ii) lexicography or synonymics (нэр зүйн ухаан / илт өгүүлэхүйн ухаан), (iii) prosody (хэмжээ, айзам зүйн ухаан), (iv) drama and performance (жүжиг, бүжгийн ухаан), and (v) astrology (зурхайн ухаан).
7
Süsüg; sejig; sejgiin setgel (сүсэг; сэжиг; сэжгийн сэтгэл) Zava Damdin Rinpoche contrasts süsüg, faith or devotion, with sejig, a fearful, omen-driven, self-protective mind. Here sejgiin setgel is translated as “superstitious anxiety” or “a mind of superstitious anxiety,” not simply “suspicion.”
8
Biased, distorted mind (тийн атгаг сэтгэл) refers here to the mind of sejig, or superstitious anxiety: a fearful, self-protective mind that misreads conditions, signs, and sacred objects through distortion rather than sincere faith.
9
Oyun Tülkhüür; Sandüinjüd; övriin sudar (Оюун түлхүүр; Сандүйнжүд; өврийн судар) Oyun Tülkhüür means “Key to Wisdom” or “Key of Intelligence,” evokes Mongolia’s older wisdom literature. Sandüinjüd is a major esoteric Buddhist scripture known in Mongolian Gelugpa tradition as “The Secret Assembly Tantra.” Övriin sudar suggests a scripture carried close to the breast or kept in one’s inner garment; Rinpoche contrasts this with the Party membership booklet carried during the socialist period.
10
Nabucco is an opera by Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901). It was composed in 1841 and first performed at La Scala, Milan, in 1842. Fenena is the daughter of Nabucco, the Babylonian king.
11
This passage has been presented in verse form because the original has a strongly rhythmic, litany-like structure. Its repeated clauses build through a sequence of ordinary human needs—illness, loneliness, thirst, hunger, losing the way, darkness, suffering, death, and the next life. Here, Rinpoche shows faith not as an abstract idea, but as a sustaining presence in every condition.
12
The images seem deliberately simple, yet they also allow Buddhist resonances. Thirst may suggest craving as well as bodily thirst; hunger may recall the suffering of hungry ghosts; darkness may suggest ignorance; and losing the way may suggest spiritual confusion. The translation keeps the literal images intact so that these wider meanings can remain open.
13
Itgel; Ugalzyn Lama; Daichin Wang Khüree; Bagsh (Итгэл; Угалзын Лам; Дайчин Вангийн Хүрээ; багш) Rinpoche places his aged Bagsh Itgel within a remembered monastic lineage. Bagsh means Teacher; in Mongolian Buddhist usage it refers to one’s religious teacher, instructor, or guide. Itgel also means “faith,” “trust,” or “confidence” in Mongolian. Ugalzyn Lama is described as the last geshe of Daichin Wang Khüree; here geshe means a highly trained scholar-monk in the Mongolian Gelugpa scholastic tradition.
14
Thus it was taught (ийн айлдсан ажгуу) This closing phrase can be read as more than a formal ending. In the context of this letter, it gathers the people through whom Zava Damdin Rinpoche (b. 1976) has traced faith: his grandfather Jantsan, his father and mother, Damdin guai, the elders of the old monastic cohort, Gevsh Bagsh Thubten Perenlei, Milarepa, Tsongkhapa, his aged Bagsh Itgel, and Ugalzyn Lama. My reading is that Zava Damdin Rinpoche presents his authority to speak not as personal assertion, but as something received through living persons, remembered Teachers, unbroken Gelugpa monastic lineages and genealogical descent. Faith is shown as embodied and transmitted: carried by people, tested in their lives, and handed onward through speech, memory, and practice.

End of transcript.

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© 2013-2026. CP in Mongolia. “Letter from Mongolia 26: On Faith and Devotion: Part 3” is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions. Posted: 11 July 2026. Last updated: 11 July 2026.