As I read Lama’s words, I felt overwhelmed. While I had an inkling of the origins of the secret I was to reveal, it was quite another thing to have written confirmation. Padmasambhava. He was one of the central historical figures in Tibetan Buddhism! Nearly every temple in Bhutan had him as their central Buddha statue. He was more famous in these parts than any other yogi for the prophecies, many of which he had stored in termas, or hidden scrolls. The most famous of all Tibetan Buddhist prophecies had been composed by him:

In the time that the iron bird flies,

And horses run on wheels,

The Tibetan people will be scattered
across the face of the earth like ants,

And the Dharma will come to
the land of the red-faced people.

Written almost a thousand years before cars or airplanes were invented, Padmasambhava had foreseen both tragedy for Tibet and the benefit to Westerners—the red-faced people.

During the years I was at Zheng-po I had heard the story that Lama Tsering had found a sacred scroll in a hidden cave in the mountains—a highly auspicious discovery. I’d asked him about it only once. With typical modesty he’d just shrugged his shoulders and said “yapping dogs”—his short-hand way of dismissing all forms of speculation.

The Office of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, has chosen you to open the scroll and reveal the text within, for the benefit of all living beings without exception.

There, in a single sentence, was my purpose defined. It was an astonishing statement—almost unbelievable. Of all the people in the world, of all the many more knowledgeable and wise practitioners within Tibetan Buddhism, how was it that I, an unenlightened Westerner, had found myself in a position of such immense trust?

But exactly where was the scroll? Lama’s letter had only one short paragraph left:

Please show this letter to the abbot of Tiger’s Nest Monastery.
By these words I grant you the authority to receive the scroll.
For safekeeping, I lodged it in the main temple, inside the statue of Sangye Menla.

May all beings have health, happiness, and long life!

Signed: Lama Tsering Gyatso at Tiger’s Nest Monastery

October 1959.

I brought my face to my hands and groaned. I had no words. I couldn’t even think. As the abbot stepped towards me, I handed him the letter.

My purpose as the one to reveal Padmasambhava’s terma had seemed wildly improbable. But the theft of the Sangye Menla statue made it impossible. The Khampas would already be on the lower slopes of the mountain. With no way of making contact with the outside world from Tiger’s Nest, by the time Sangay got word to the local Police, both thieves and the statue would be long gone. I sat, hugging myself in the chair.

After a pause I heard the abbot say, ‘You’ll have to get moving.’

Having returned to his desk, he was opening a drawer and taking out a small box of cards.