Dzogchen Nyingma Lineage

of Khenpo Sherab Sangpo

Blessing Supplication Prayer

Grant your blessings so that I realize primordial purity is the true nature.
Grant your blessings so that I realize whatever arises is my own mind.
Grant your blessings so that I liberate delusion into its own natural state.
Grant your blessings so that I increase my meditative stability continually.
Grant your blessings so that I actualize enlightenment in this lifetime.

–This prayer was written by Khenpo Sherab Sangpo and given to his students on May 23, 2019.

Dzogchen Lineage Overview

The lineage of Dzogchen is traced from the dharmakāya Samantabhadra to the sambhogakāya—the five buddha families and Vajrasattva. This is the mind direct transmission. In our world, Vajrasattva manifested as the nirmanakāya Garab Dorjé, who received the teachings from Vajrasattva by way of symbolic indication. Garab Dorjé then transmitted the teachings to his student Mañjuśrīmitra.

This is the genuine, absolute path that all of the buddhas of the three times have accomplished. This quintessential vehicle of Dzogpachenpo originates in the pureland of Akaniṣṭha where the teacher is Samantabhadra (Kuntuzangpo). The retinue is not differentiated from the teacher, appearing as the manifestation of primordial buddha’s own wisdom awareness. The lineage of Dzogchen is traced from the dharmakāya Samantabhadra to the sambhogakāya—the five buddha families and Vajrasattva. This is the mind direct transmission. In our world, Vajrasattva manifested as the nirmanakāya Garab Dorjé, who received the teachings from Vajrasattva by way of symbolic indication. Garab Dorjé then transmitted the teachings to his student Mañjuśrīmitra.

The Three Lineages of Transmission

The Dzogchen lineage that passed from the primordial buddha Samantabhadra through Vajrasattva to Garab Dorjé is known as the mind direct transmission of the buddhas (gyalwa gong gyü). From Garab Dorjé down through to Vimalamitra, the lineage is known as the sign transmission of the vidyadharas (rigdzin da gyü). Finally from Vimalamitra onward, the lineage is called the oral transmission from special individuals (gangzak nyen gyü). These are known as the three transmissions according to the tradition of Vimalamitra.

 

This is Dzogchen Nyingma Lineage thangka painting of Khenpo Sherab Sangpo at Bodhicitta Sangha.

Key to Dzogchen Lineage Thangka of Khenpo Sherab Sangpo

The thangka painting above is our Dzogchen lineage painted by Khenpo Sherab Sangpo’s nephew in 2021. Click this link to download a PDF of the thangka painting with the chart of who is who shown above.

 

Short Supplication Prayers to the Dzogchen Lineage and Root Teachers of Khenpo Sherab Sangpo (PDF)
Dzogchen Lineage Transmission of Khenpo Sherab Sangpo (PDF)

Online Resources for Buddhist Studies

Here are some helpful links to online resources for studying Tibetan Buddhism:

Dharmakāya Samantabhadra and Samantabhadri

Homage to Glorious Samantabhadra!

Naturally occurring timeless awareness—utterly lucid awakened mind—
is something marvelous, superb, primordially and spontanousely  present.
It is the treasury from which comes the universe of appearances and possibilities, whether of samsara or nirvana.
Homage to that unwavering state, free of elaboration.

-Longchenpa’s homage from the The Precious Treasury of The Basic Space of Phenomena

Samantabhadra, the primordial Buddha is pure omniscience, the essence of the enlightened mind of all the buddhas. Embracing Samantabhadri, the female primordial Buddha, they represent the unity of awareness-emptiness, the ultimate indivisibility of samsara and nirvana, and the natural, unchanging perfection beyond conditions and concepts. When the first manifestation of phenomena arises from the primordial ground, to recognize that this arising is the display of one’s own awareness leads instantaneously to the primordial buddhahood of Samantabhadra.

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Saṃbhogakāya Vajrasattva and Vajratöpa

The vast space of Vajrasattva
the all-good expanse of the field of reality,
this is the all-releasing and pure modality
uncreated, unceasing, and unthinking.

-Samantabhadra reveals himself to Vajrasattva as his own nature in Vairotsana’s The Eternal Victory Banner: The Vast Space of Vajrasattva

Vajrasattva is the manifestation of the pure body, speech, and mind of all the buddhas. As a meditational deity Vajrasattva is visualized as the expression of mind’s pure essence. In this way negativities and obscurations are cleansed allowing buddha nature to fully manifest. As a bodhisattva, Vajrasattva vowed to free all beings from their negative karma.

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Nirmāṇakāya Garab Dorjé

Recognize your nature.
Decide on one point.
Gain confidence in liberation.

-Garab Dorjé’s Three Words that Strike the Vital Point

Nirmāṇakāya Garab Dorjé (2nd century) was the first human master of Dzogchen. At the time of his parinirvana, Garab Dorjé ascended into the sky and dissolved into rainbow light. At this, his student Mañjushrimitra cried out in despair and distress, and made a very beautiful plea: “What will become of us now that you are passing away? You are the light of the world…” This moved Garab Dorjé and his hand reappeared holding a small golden casket containing the teaching of Three Words that Strike the Vital Point. He let this casket fall into the hand of Mañjushrimitra. As soon as he received this casket with his teacher’s testament, his mind became inseparable from the wisdom mind of his guru Garab Dorjé.

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Ācārya Mañjuśrīmitra

Attaining the unsurpassable achievement,
A fountain of wish-fulfilling teaching,
You showered true dharma upon beings.
Homage to Mañjushrimitra.

Mañjushrimitra (1st-3rd century) was one of the early masters of the Dzogchen lineage. He was a disciple of Garab Dorjé and the main teacher of Śrī Siṃha. He is famous for arranging the Dzogchen teachings into three classes—the Mind Class (sem dé), Space Class (long dé), and Pith Instruction Class (mengak dé). His last testament—that he conferred upon Śrī Siṃha before passing into the rainbow body—is called the The Six Meditation Techniques of Ācārya Mañjuśrīmitra.

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Vidyādhara Śrī Siṃha

Drive the spike of unimpeded, lucid wakefulness between
samsara and nirvana.
Drive the spike of the lamp of self-display between object and
the knower.
Drive the spike of self-pure essence between mind and matter.
Drive the spike of unbound view between permanence and
nothingness.
Drive the spike of dharma-less knowing between dharmas and
dharmata.
Drive the spike of five wide-open doors between dullness and
agitation.
Drive the spike of primordially perfected dharmakaya between
appearance and emptiness.

-Excerpt from The Seven Spikes of Shri Singha

Śrī Siṃha (299 BCE), one of the early masters of the Dzogchen lineage, was originally from the kingdom of Khotan located in the present day Xinjiang province of China. He was a disciple of Mañjushrimitra and the main teacher of Jñanasutra. He is famous for arranging the teachings of the Pith Instruction Class (mengak dé) into four cycles: outer, inner, secret and innermost secret unsurpassed. His last testament—that he conferred upon Jñanasutra before passing into the rainbow body—is called the Seven Spikes.

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Paṇḍita Jñānasūtra

Homage to the primordial pure emptiness.
Wonderful!
If you train in these, joy will arise naturally.

-Excerpt from the Four Means of Abiding

Jñānasūtra was one of the early masters of the Dzogchen lineage. He was a disciple of Śrī Siṃha and the main teacher of Vimalamitra. His last testament—that he conferred upon Vimalamitra before passing into the rainbow body—is called the Four Means of Abiding.

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Mahapaṇḍita Vimalamitra

Vimalamitra (7th-8th century) was one of the most learned Indian Buddhist masters. He went to Tibet, where he taught extensively, and composed and translated numerous Sanskrit texts. The quintessence of his teaching is known as the Vima Nyingtik, one of the Heart-essence teachings of the Great Perfection. Vimalamitra spent thirteen years in Tibet, and then, promising to return to Tibet every hundred years as an emanation to further the Clear Light teaching of Dzogpachenpo, he left for the Wutai Shan mountain in China. There he remains, in the rainbow body of great transference.

The Three Lineages of Transmission

The Dzogchen Nyingma lineage that passed from the primordial buddha Samantabhadra through Vajrasattva to Garab Dorje is known as the mind direct transmission of the buddhas (gyalwa gong gyü). From Garab Dorjé down through to Vimalamitra, the lineage is known as the sign transmission of the vidyadharas (rigdzin da gyü). Finally from Vimalamitra onward, the lineage is called the oral transmission from special individuals (gangzak nyen gyü). These are known as the three transmissions according to the tradition of Vimalamitra.

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Padmasambhava from Oḍḍiyāna

My father is the pure awareness of rigpa, Samantabhadra,
My mother, the space of all things, Samantabhadri,
My line, the indivisibility of awareness and space,
My name, the glorious Lotus Born,
My homeland, the unborn dharmadhatu,
My sustenance, consuming dualistic thoughts,
My destiny, to accomplish the actions of the buddhas of past, present and future.

Padmasambhava (8th century) from Oḍḍiyāna (Guru Rinpoché) established the oral transmission lineage in Tibet known as the Nyingma Kama—meaning the words of the Buddha—that passes from teacher to disciple and continues unbroken up to the present. Guru Padmasambhava and Khadro Yeshé Tsogyal also concealed various types of spiritual treasures known as terma. Therefore, the Nyingma lineage consists of the Nyingma Kama and the Rinchen Terdzö, the Treasury of Precious Termas.

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Dharmaraja Trisong Detsen

King Trisong Detsen (742-796) was the thirty-eighth king of Tibet, second of the three great religious kings, and one of the main disciples of Padmsambhava. It was due to his efforts that the great masters Śāntarakṣita and Padmasambhava came from India and established Buddhism in Tibet.

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Dākīni Yeshé Tsogyal

Yeshe Tsogyal (777-837) was the principal consort of Padmasambhava from Oḍḍiyāna (Guru Rinpoché). She was Vajravarahi in human form and also an emanation of Tārā and Buddhalocanā. She became the consort of King Trisong Detsen before being offered to Guru Rinpoché as a maṇḍala offering during an empowerment. She specialized in the practice of Vajrakīlaya and experienced visions of the deity and gained accomplishment. In Nepal, she paid a ransom for Ācārya Salé and took him as her spiritual consort. Through the power of her unfailing memory, she collected all the teachings given by Padmasambhava in Tibet and concealed them as terma. At the end of her life, it is said, she flew through the air and went directly to Zangdokpalri.

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Lochen Vairotsana

Lochen Vairotsana (8th-9th century) is known by many names, including: Bairotsana or Berotsana (Tib. བཻ་རོ་ཙ་ན་, Wyl. bai ro tsa na) and Vairochana (Tib. བཻ་རོ་ཅ་ན་, Wyl. bai ro ca na). In the eighth-ninth centuries, he was admired as the greatest of all Tibetan translators (lotsawas). Together with Padmasambhava and Vimalamitra, he was one of the three main masters to bring the Dzogchen teachings to Tibet. Vairotsana was born into the Pagor (Tib. སྤ་གོར་, Wyl. spa gor) clan, and was sent to India by Trisong Detsen to study with Indian panditas. He also travelled widely in China, Khotan, Nepal, Shangshung and elsewhere. He was one of the original seven monks ordained by Shantarakshita. His principal teacher was Shri Singha, from whom he received the instructions and empowerments of sem dé, long dé and mengak dé. He also received direct transmissions from Mañjushrimitra, who appeared to him in his wisdom body. In realization, Vairotsana became equal to Guru Rinpoche. After returning to Tibet, he was eventually sent into exile in East Tibet; there he taught Yudra Nyingpo, Sangtön Yeshe Lama, and the old man, Mipham Gönpo before Trisong Detsen recalled him to Lhasa. He translated many of Shri Singha’s works as well as many other mantrayana texts. He also translated part of the 100,000 verse Prajnaparamita text and other sutras. The exact number of his translations cannot now be traced, as the names of early translators were not always recorded by later translators.

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Rongzom Chöyki Zangpo

Rongzom Chöyki Zangpo (1012-1088) who was renowned as the supreme mahapandita of Tibet, the land of snow mountains, took birth in Narlung-rong, a subdistrict of Rulak in lower Tsang. The rite of the five awakenings of the causal phase was first performed by his father Rongben Rinchen Tshültrim, the son of Rongben Pelgi Rinpoche. Consequently, he was to demonstrate an enlightenment exemplifying five excellences; Dignaga’s discriminative awareness, Vasubandhu’s learning, Candragomin’s expressive style, Dharmakirti’s analytical acuity, and master Aryasura’s poetic composition. It is said that Rongzompa was the immediate reincarnation of a pandita called master Smritijnanakirti, who had come to Tibet towards the end of the early propagation of the teaching. In the province of Dokam he corrected the translations of some of the tantras, and translated commentaries on the way of secret mantra.

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Kunkhyen Longchen Rabjam

Longchen Rabjampa (Longchenpa) (1308–1363) was the reincarnation of Princess Pemasel, the daughter of King Trisong Detsen, and a direct student of Guru Rinpoche. His birth in the Tra Valley of southern Tibet was accompanied by miraculous events and auspicious omens. He began his Dharma training at the age of seven, when he received empowerments and teachings from his father, a tantric yogi. At twelve, he took novice monastic vows at Samye monastery. Longchenpa studied and practiced teachings from a variety of lineages and masters. Longchenpa passed away at the age of fifty-six. He left over two hundred and fifty treatises behind, many of which are still regarded as the most comprehensive and authoritative works yet written concerning the view and practice of the Great Perfection.

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Rigdzin Gyurmé Dorjé

May appearance, sound and awareness in the state of deity, mantra and dharmakāya
Merge boundlessly as the display of kāyas and wisdoms,
In the profound and secret practice of the Great Yoga,
And may they be of one taste, indivisible with the tiklé of the wisdom mind.

Rigdzin Terdak Lingpa (Minling Terchen Gyurme Dorje, 1646-1714) was the speech emanation of the great translator Vairocana. At the request of the dakinis, the body of his pristine cognition assumed the form of Heruka and entered the womb. Terdak Lingpa, accompanied by rainbows and various wondrous omens, was born on Monday, March 26, 1646 (tenth day, second month, fire dog year). His mother was Yum Lhandzin Yangchen Drölma, who was a direct descendent of the Chögyal Dynasty of the great kings Songtsen Gampo and Trisong Detsen. His father, Sangdak Thrinley Lhündrup, was the reincarnation of Nubchen Sangyay Yeshe, one of the twenty-five disciples of Guru Padmasambhava. Sangdak Thrinley Lhundrup himself, born at Chak Jangchubling in 1611 (iron female pig year), was the son of Khedrub Don-Nga Tenzin, a learned and accomplished teacher of the Nyö clan. Sangdak Thrinley Lhündrup was a renowned scholar and teacher who studied with more than 30 highly-accomplished masters of the time. He then bestowed these profound and vast teachings on his supreme spiritual son of body, speech and mind, the great treasure finder Chögyal Terdak Lingpa Rigdzin Gyurme Dorje.

Minling Terchen Gyurme Dorje (Terdak Lingpa) was the founder of Mindroling Monastery in 1676. This is the “Gyurme” that Khenpo Sherab Sangpo names his Dharma students after when he bestows refuge vows.

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Lochen Dharmaśrī

Lochen Dharmaśrī (1654-1718) received refuge and bodhicitta vows from Terdak Lingpa, who was his principle guru. At the age of twelve, Dharmaśrī received the empowerment of Rigdzin Thugthig (Innermost Spirituality of the Vidyadharas) from Terdak Lingpa, due to which his mind matured, and the pratimoksha and bodhicitta vows that he later received arose as the essence of the discipline of secret mantra. When Dharmaśrī was fifteen, he received novice monastic vows from the Fifth Dalai Lama, from whom he also received full ordination when he reached the age of twenty. Fulfilling the instruction of the Dalai Lama, he later received the pure lineage of the Lower Tibetan Vinaya of the Nyingma. This was the Vinaya lineage from Kham that had survived the persecution of the buddhadharma by King Langdarma. Dharmaśrī became a great preserver of this tradition, widely propagating its explanation and practice. He and his elder brother, Terdak Lingpa, both sought out the great doctrine holders of the time and received an enormous number of transmissions on an equally vast number of topics.

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Rigdzin Jigmé Lingpa

As a child Rigdzin Jigmé Lingpa (1729-1798) remembered previous incarnations, his mind was detached from wordly concerns, and he was extraordinarily compassionate, intelligent, and courageous. At age 6, he entered Palri Monastery, but lived the life of a poor novice with nothing to facilitate learning. His intense zeal for the Dharma, devotion to Guru Rinpoche, and rich inner life sustained him and he felt no need to have a master or study intellectual subjects in detail as other students were doing. He learned merely by overhearing the classes of other students or glancing at the texts.

In his twenty-eighth year he started a strict retreat concentrating his meditation on the development and perfection stages. He experienced many visions of Guru Rinpoche, Yeshe Tsogyal, Manjushrimitra and others, each further awakening his inner wisdom. One evening with an unbearable devotion to Guru Rinpoche in his heart, he experienced flying through the sky to the circumnambulation path of the Bodhnath stupa. In the courtyard of the stupa, a dakini entrusted him with a wooden casket containing yellow scrolls and crystal beads. Encouraged by another dakini, he swallowed these and instantly experienced the full awakening in his mind of all the words and meaning of the Longchen Nyingthik cycle.

Three years later during a retreat at the Chimpu caves, the highest realisation of Dzogchen awakened in him through three visionary transmissions of the Longchen Nyingthik teachings from Longchen Rabjam. He kept them secret for seven years, until a clairvoyant disciple beseeched Jigme Lingpa to transmit them. Swiftly the teachings reached every corner of the Nyingma world and became the heart essence of meditation instructions for many realised meditators to this day.

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Jigmé Gyalwé Nyugu

Jikme Gyalwe Nyugu (1765-1843) was a great meditator, bodhisattva and adept. Born in 1765, in the Dzachuka valley, he experienced unbearable urges as a child to go to a solitary place and devote himself to meditation. As a youth he made a pilgrimage to Samye and other holy places and received instructions on Dzogchen, but his family obliged him to join his elder brother on business trips.

During these he was overcome with revulsion for the lying and cursing practiced by laypeople. When his brother died at age 18, this more than any other single event, turned his mind resolutely to Dharma, but relatives put great pressure on him to marry and take care of the family. He was forced to run away from home and traveled to Central Tibet with a like-minded friend. At Samye they met with the first Dodrupchen who advised them to see Jigme Lingpa. When they reached Tsering Jong and beheld Jigme Lingpa, Jigme Gyalwe Nyugu experienced incredible joy. They received empowerments, transmissions, and detailed instructions on Dzogchen.

After several more retreats in east Tibet he returned to Tsering Jong and experienced once more the great joy of seeing the omniscient Jigme Lingpa, who invited him to stay for three years. He explained frankly that he had to go back home because of obligations. He returned to Kham and did many years retreat around Dzogchen, and in Dzachuka, he had many extraordinary experiences. As advised by Jigme Lingpa, he devoted the entire latter part of his life to teaching whoever came to listen, giving empowerments or meditation instructions to all who were devout and sincere. During this period, he gave Patrül Rinpoche teachings on the Ngöndro of Longchen Nyingtik 25 times as well as the teachings on Tsalung and Dzogchen.

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Patrül Rinpoché (Orgyen Jigmé Chökyi Wangpo)

Patrül Rinpoché (Orgyen Jigmé Chökyi Wangpo, 1808-1887) was born in the Dzachuka valley of Eastern Tibet. Although he is generally considered to have been the speech incarnation of the great tertön Jigmé Lingpa, Patrül Rinpoché was originally recognized as an incarnation of Palgé Tülku, a lama from Dzogchen Monastery. The first Dodrupchen Rinpoche, one of Jigmé Lingpa’s two main disciples, entrusted young Patrül with the Longchen Nyingthik lineage shortly after the recognition. He practiced, studied, and taught this lineage throughout his life.

Patrül Rinpoché studied with many different masters. His two main teachers, however, were Jigmé Lingpa’s second main disciple, Jigmé Gyalwe Nyugu, and the great tantric yogi Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje, the mind incarnation of Jigmé Lingpa. Under these and other important lamas, he studied a vast array of topics, from the foundational teachings of the Hinayana up to the most profound and secret oral instructions of the Great Perfection.

At the age of twenty, Patrül Rinpoché left the residence of his predecessor and took up the life of a wandering hermit. For the rest of his days, Patrül wandered from mountain retreats to large monasteries, practicing the teachings, instructing students, and composing commentaries on important texts and practices. Though he was master of the Great Perfection teachings, he had a passion for teaching the Mahayana as well. He taught Shantideva’s Bodhicaryavatara over a hundred times. Throughout his life, Patrül Rinpoché demonstrated the impeccable life of a true siddha-scholar; he kept few possessions, had no fixed abode, and was often mistaken for a beggar due to his humble appearance.

Patrül Rinpoché’s heart disciple was Lungtok Tenpé Nyima, who lived with him for twenty-eight years. His other disciples include some of the 19th century’s most outstanding masters. Among them were Mipham Rinpoche, Khenpo Künpal, the 3rd Dodrupchen Rinpoche, the famed tertön and teacher of the 13th Dalai Lama, Lerab Lingpa, and Adzom Drukpa. Patrül Rinpoché Rinpoche died at the age of 80.

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Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo

Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo (1820-1892), also known as Pema Ösal Do-ngak Lingpa, was a major treasure revealer—the last of the Five Sovereign Tertöns—and one of the most eminent masters of the nineteenth century. He was a contemporary of Chokgyur Lingpa (1829-1870) and Jamgön Kongtrul the Great and was regarded as the combined reincarnation of Vimalamitra and King Trisong Deutsen. He became the founder of the Rimé (ecumenical) movement.

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Mipham Jamyang Namgyal

Ju Mipham (1846-1912) ranks alongside Longchen Rabjam and Tsongkhapa as one of Tibet’s most prolific and influential masters. His presentation of the Nyingma School’s unique approach to the view and practice of Buddhism, and in particular the relationship between Madhyamaka and the Great Perfection, has had an enormous impact on the past few generations of Tibetan Buddhist scholars and practitioners. Namdrolling Monastic College, currently the largest functioning Nyingma educational institution, includes twenty of his texts in its curriculum. By comparison, only five texts by Longchenpa are included and only one by Rongzom Pandita.

Mipham’s primary teachers were Patrül Rinpoche and Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo, both incarnations of the tertön Jigmé Lingpa. Khyentsé Rinpoche requested Mipham to preserve the Nyingma teachings through teaching, debate, and composition—a task in which he admirably succeeded. About his remarkable student, Khyentsé remarked: “In this time, there is no one else on earth more learned than Lama Mipham.”

He excelled not only in study and teaching, however, but in practice as well. The numerous retreats he completed were always accompanied by miraculous signs of accomplishment.

Mipham Rinpoche’s collected writings comprise twenty-seven volumes and cover a vast array of topics. Among his most influential writings are The Speech of Delight—a commentary on Shantarakshita’s Ornament of the Middle Way, Gateway to Knowledge—which provides an overview of the Buddha’s teachings, and Beacon of Certainty—an elucidation of the view of the Great Perfection and its relationship to the Middle Way teachings.

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Khenchen Yönten Gyatso

Khenchen Yönten Gyatso (Khenpo Yönga, 18th-19th century) was a personal student of Patrul Rinpoche and Orgyen Tendzin Norbu. He belonged to Gemang Monastery, a branch of Dzogchen Monastery, and studied at Dzogchen and Shechen monasteries. He wrote a very popular two-part commentary on Rigdzin Jigmé Lingpa’s Treasury of Precious Qualities, called Lamp of Moonlight and Rays of Sunlight. Among his students were Changma Khenchen Thubten Chöpel (the teacher of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and Khenpo Jikmé Phuntsok) and Khenchen Tsewang Rigdzin of Washul Mewa (who attained the rainbow body).

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Khenchen Thupten Chöphel

Profound and peaceful, free from complexity, uncompounded luminosity—
Having realized the nectar-like nature of reality,
May I gain the power to guide infinite beings
Through the skillful conduct of training each according to their needs.

Khenchen Thupten Chöphel of Changma (1886-1956) was a student of Khenchen Yönten Gyatso. His birthplace was a nomadic community in the Batur region of the Dalung river valley. At the age of eleven, he entered the monastic community of Puntsok Norling and, beginning with reading and writing, trained in all the usual fields of knowledge. He was ordained as a novice by Khenchen Yonten Gyatso. At twenty-four Tupten Chopel requested additional vows and became a fully-ordained monk. Tupten Chopel studied myriad source texts and pith instructions of the Early Translation School, such as the teachings on mind teaching. In particular, from Khenchen Yonten Gyatso, the extraordinary master of his buddha family, Tupten Chopel received the earlier and later cycles of the secret Nyingtik teachings of the Dzogchen approach, as well as teachings on the most majestic tantra, and other cycles, receiving these as experiential transmissions based on the oral instructions of the lord of the dharma Paltrül Rinpoche. He put these teachings into practice and experienced the enlightened intent that is the ultimate lineage. Serving thus as a glorious protector of the teachings and of beings, Tupten Chople lived for seventy-one years. Of his students, the foremost were Khenchen Jigme Puntsok, Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and Khenchen Pema Tsewang of Arigzha.

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Khenchen Thupten Chophel

Dongak Tenpé Nyima

Bötrul Do-ngak Tenpai Nyima (1900–1959) was born in Dakpo, in the eastern part of central Tibet. When he was very young, his spiritual predisposition awakened and he entered the path of the dharma. At a certain point, he joined an eastern Tibetan merchant on a pilgrimage and journeyed to eastern Tibet in search of teachings. Because he was still so young and his homeland was far away, Do-ngak Tenpai Nyima had no provisions for supporting himself while receiving teachings and therefore endured many hardships, including a lack of adequate clothing, and adopted a way of life reminiscent of the lord Milarepa’s.

He finally reached Dzogchen Monastery in eastern Tibet and studied with all of the gurus, tulkus, khenpos, and teachers residing there, investigating the thirteen great source texts and teachings from the sutras, tantras, and other fields of knowledge. He himself joined the ranks of the learned. From Dzogchen Tupten Chökyi Dorjé, he received many empowerments and oral transmissions for the practice of tantra. Dzogchen Rinpoche took responsibility for Bötrul Do-ngak Tenpai Nyima and accorded him many honors. For example, he conferred the title of tulku on him, seated him during large gatherings on a throne that stood in the center at the back of the hall, and assigned several monks as his attendants when he traveled. Everyone honored him as Böpa Tulku. […]

Do-ngak Tenpai Nyima attracted many students from all directions and upheld and fostered Mipham Rinpoché’s teaching methods. Among his students were Khenpo Chöchap, Pema Tsewang Lhundrup, Khen Tupten of Mepa, Khen Tupten of Rahor, Khen Dazer, and many other learned masters. He wrote numerous extensive and more concise works, including The Delineation of the Tenets of the View, An Overview of the Perfection of Sublime Knowledge, and A Word-by-Word Commentary on the Perfection of Sublime Knowing.

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A Brief Biography of Böpa Tulku Dongak Tenpe Nyima

Böpa Tulku Dongak Tenpe Nyima was a disciple of Kunpal Rinpoche who upheld the pure tradition of Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche. He was born during the fifteenth calendrical cycle in the eastern part of central Tibet, in the region of Dakpo. From an early age, his enlightened potential was awakened and he entered the path of the Dharma. In time, he joined a party of traders and pilgrims returning to Eastern Tibet, and went with them to Kham in search of teachings.

Being young and a great distance from home, he had to face countless hardships, similar to those faced by Jetsün Milarepa, as he lacked the provisions needed to practise, had only poor clothes to wear and so on. Eventually, he made his way to Dzogchen Monastery in Dokham, and there received teachings from the resident lamas, tulkus, khenpos and acharyas on the various disciplines of the sūtras and tantras, but especially on the thirteen great classical scriptures. Through this training, he joined the ranks of the learned.

He also received many empowerments and oral transmissions from the [fifth] Dzogchen incarnation Tubten Chökyi Dorje. Dzogchen Rinpoche treated him with great affection, and accorded him the title of tulku, gave him a throne, and appointed a pair of monk-attendants to accompany him wherever he travelled. So it was that everyone honoured him with the name ‘Böpa Tulku’, i.e., the tulku from central Tibet. […]

To read the rest of the biography, please visit Lotsawa House by clicking on this link.

This brief biography was supplemented by his direct disciple Khenchen Pema Tsewang Lhundrup while he was traveling in the foreign land of England furthering the Dharma tradition of the Ancient School.

Translated by Adam Pearcey, Rigpa Translations, 2005.

Gyalsé Gyurmé Dorjé

Adzom Gyalsé Gyurmé Dorjé (1895-1969) was the third son and student of Adzom Drukpa. He was recognized by Jamgön Kongtrul as an emanation of Orgyen Terdak Lingpa. He wrote a commentary on the Zangchö Mönlam entitled bzang po spyod pa’i smon lam gyi ‘bru ‘grel mkhas grub dam pa’i zhal rgyun theg chen lam bzang. In 1958, Adzom Gyalsé was arrested and put in prison where he gave teachings to his fellow inmates. He passed away in 1969, with many miraculous signs, and left a letter predicting the date and place of his future rebirth and the names of his future parents.

Resources

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Please visit our website page devoted to Khenchen Padma Tsewang (1931-2002) to read his biography, learn about Khenpo Sherab Sangpo’s connection to his root teacher, and view a slideshow of photos.

Resources

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Please visit our website page devoted to Khenchen Jigmé Phuntsok (1933-2004) to read his biography, learn about Khenpo Sherab Sangpo’s connection to his root teacher, and view a slideshow of photos.

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Please visit our website page devoted to Khenchen Chöying Chapdal (1920-1997) to read his biography, learn about Khenpo Sherab Sangpo’s connection to his root teacher, and view a slideshow of photos.

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Please visit our website page devoted to Adzom Drukpa Thupten Padma Trinlé (1926-2001) to read his biography, learn about Khenpo Sherab Sangpo’s connection to his root teacher, and view a slideshow of photos.

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Please visit our website page devoted to Khangsar Tenpé Wangchuk (1938-2014) to read his biography, learn about Khenpo Sherab Sangpo’s connection to his root teacher, and view a slideshow of photos.

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