How Did Doegyal Come Into Being

How did Doegyal come into being?

Shugden propitiators say that soon after the death, the cremation took place at the compound of a tantric house of Drepung monastery. However, his spirit rose from the funeral pyre for vengeance. Soon after, misfortunes such as earthquakes and famines occurred in Central Tibet, were considered the consequences of Doegyal´s furious and merciless act. Doegyal survived and left for Tashi Lhunpo Monastery to meet his teacher Penchen Lobsang choeky Gyaltsen in Tsang Province, but Guardian Namsey and his retinue of eight did not allow him to enter the monastery. The events are narrated in Phabonkapa´s writing, “when he arrived at Tashi Lhunpo monastery, due to a bit of negative omen, he turned towards Sakya disillusioned.” He went to the Sakya Monastery in Sakya province and appeared before Sakya Dakchen
Sonam Rinchen, who gave him a role of a Dharma protector. They have written those events as if they took place successively and smoothly.

When we delve into the story, it is absolutely true that after the death of Tulku Dakpa Gyaltsen in 1656, the natural disasters like earthquakes struck the central Tibet and consequently, many people died. Nonetheless, how on earth they dare to attribute such misfortunes to the wrath of Drakpa Gyaltsen´s spirit? The mentality of pro-Shugden followers appears to be very similar to the Europeans in the 14th Century when the plague called “The Black Death” swept across Europe, leaving more than 20 million people death. Europeans of the medieval age believed that the calamity was the punishment of God for the human beings’ incessant acts of sin.

According to the book, “Heavenly Garment”, the 5th Dalai Lama did small-scale tantric rituals several times at the beginning, but it was in 1675 when he led an extensive wrathful Fire ritual to subdue the violent spirit of Tulku Dhakpa Gyaltsen. Seven different tantric adepts like Terma Lingpa, Rigzing Chemo Dorjee Drak, and others accompanied him. Everybody who participated the ceremony felt the smell of burning flesh. They were confident of the success of the performance. The 5th Dalai Lama wrote the success in his autobiography. Miling Trichen Dharmashri wrote a similar note in the biography of Tadak Linpa. The name “Doegyal” was not used then. The spirit was known by another name "Dhol chu mig karmo" (the spirit of the white spring of Dhol). From 1675 until 1721, for 47 years, nobody heard anything about Doegyal. The life in Lhasa followed its natural course.
From 1656 to 1721 AD, the spirit was wondering with no definite place to stay.
There is no record of Doegyal as a Dharmapala during that time. It makes sense why the State Oracle Nechung called him, 'Asey khyampo' (Drifter). In the course of 47 years, nothing was heard of the spirit.

In 1721, the spirit appeared for the first time before Dakchen Sonam Rinchen, (1705-1741) the head of the Sakya tradition. He put his hand through the window of the master's residence to beg for food. When asked, "Who are you?" The spirit replied, "I am the untrustworthy Spirit of Gaden."
Someone wrote that it was not the right time to subdue the spirit because the negative karma he created through his distorted prayer was still not exhausted. Therefore, Dagchen Sonam Rinchen included him in the pantheon of worldly dharma protectors of the lower rank. I found the above explanation far from convincing. In my opinion, seeing the deplorable situation in which the spirit was passing through, out of pity, Dagchen admitted him to the lower rank of Sakya protectors on the condition that he must serve dharma practitioners. Anyhow, he finally found a
shelter.