Tertön Sogyal, or Lerab Linpa was a treasure reveler, a tertön, who was born in the year of the Fire Dragon (1856) in Shiwa Village, in Nearing, Eastern Tibet. His family was descended from a financially secure lineage in upper Nyarong in Kham. Dargye, Sonam Gyalop’s father, encouraged his son to follow in the footsteps of the warrior chief Amgon, a skilled marksman hunter, … [Read more...]
The Life of Longchenpa
The fourteenth century Nyingma synthesizer known by the epithet Longchenpa occupies a fascinating space within his tradition. He was among the first treasure discoverers, the hallmark of Nyingma, yet he also studied widely across the ‘new tradition’ (Sarma) topics and was ordained – both somewhat characteristics being aberrational in a tradition that largely values its … [Read more...]
The spiritual biography of Marpa, the translator
In 2000 Sri Satguru Publications published The Spiritual Biography of Marpa the Translator, providing an insightful English Language biography of one of the most influential figures in the Kagyu Lineage. Written by the 20th century teacher, Thrangu Rinpoche (Geshe Lharampa), the biography presents part of a planned series on the great masters of the Kagyu Lineage. Ken and Katia … [Read more...]
Life and Times of a Realized Tibetan Master, Khyentse Chökyi Wangchug
The Life of Khyentse Chökyi Wangchug,A Great Master of the Rime Movement Ling-Wei Kung Abstract Khyentse Chökyi Wangchug (མཁྱེན་བརྩེའི་ཆོས་ཀྱི་དབང་ཕྱུག, 1909-1960) is a famous Tibetan master of the Rime movement in Eastern Tibetan region. He was born in Derge (སྡེ་དགེ) between eastern Tibet and western China. At an early age, Khyentse Chökyi Wangchug was recognized as a … [Read more...]
The Life and Works of Shardza Tashi Gyeltsen (1859-1935)
summarized by Shan Wu Source: Achard, Jean-Luc. 2008. The life and works of Shardza Tashi Gyeltsen [1859–1935]. Leiden: Brill. Abstract Shardza Tashi Gyeltsen (1859-1934), born as bKra shis rgyal mtshan, was arguably the most important Bönpo masters of the last century. He was referred to by his contemporaries as rTogs Idan rin poche (“Realized Rinpoche”) and ‘Ja’ lus pa … [Read more...]
Rosary of White Lotuses
A Brief Examination of Two Figures in Rosary of White Lotuses, Being the Clear Account of How the Precious Teaching of Buddha Appeared and Spread in the Great Hor Country Nathan Bates Abstract: Damcho Gyatso Dharmatāla (Dam-chos rGya-mtsho Dharma-ta-la) wrote Rosary of White Lotuses, Being the Clear Account of How the Precious Teaching of Buddha Appeared and Spread in the … [Read more...]
Precious Essence
John P. DeSerio Precious Essence: The Inner Autobiography of Terchen Barway Dorje In Precious Essence: The Inner Autobiography of Terchen Barway Dorje, Kagyu Tashi, a disciple of Terchen Barway Dorje (Gter chen Bar ba’i rdo rje, c.1837-1920), records Terchen Barway Dorje’s autobiography. There are two autobiographies of Barway Dorje’s life: an inner and outer … [Read more...]
The Autobiography of Jamgon Kongtrul
Pete Faggen Jamgön Kongtrul: A Rimé Treasure Digger in Dergé Born in 1813 in Rongyap, Longtri, Kham, Tibet, Jamgön Kongtrul, of the Karma Kagyü Tibetan Buddhist sect, was a prolific author, well-known religious master, founder of a retreat/meditation center (at Pelpung Monastery), terma revealer, and even a historian according to Jamgön Kongtrul’s biographer, Nesar Karma … [Read more...]
The Life of Shabkar
Becky Best The Life of Shabkar: The Autobiography of a Tibetan Yogin Abstract The Life of Shabkar is the autobiography of Shabkar Tsodruk Rangdrol (1781-1851). Tracing his spiritual development and activities from birth through age 56, the autobiography is noteworthy for its songs which convey a rich mixture of sorrow, exuberance and sly wit. The story of Shabkar’s life … [Read more...]
Masters of Meditation and Miracles
Written by Tulku Thondup, Masters of Meditation and Miracles: The Longchen Nyingthig Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism is a collection of summarized biographies of important knowledge-holders within the tradition of Longchen Nyingthig, the mind treasure (terma) revealed to Jigme Lingpa through his visions of Longchen Rabjam. The first part of the collection gives the reader a … [Read more...]
Rdo-ring Bandi-ta’i rnam thar
Review by Zhang Huasha Rdo ring Pandita’i rnam thar [Doring Pandita’s Biograpy] Abstract: Rdo ring Pandita’i rnam thar is the autobiography of Rdo ring Bstan ‘dzin dpal ‘byor (Doring Tendzin Peljor), the third generation of the Tibetan aristocratic Doring (Rdo ring) family family. This autobiography records the origin of the Rdo ring family, the experiences of the head of … [Read more...]
Galun Zhuan
Ulan Galun zhuan (Autobiography of Dokharwa Tsering Wanggyel (1697-1763)) Abstract: Dokharwa Tsering Wanggyel was a pivotal figure in the Lhasa political arena in the first half of the eighteenth century. He served several regimes during that tumultuous era and managed to stabilize his power. Aside from his official career, he was also a gifted scholar who wrote several … [Read more...]
Poluonai Zhuan
Bo Huang Poluonai Zhuan (Polhané’s Biography) Polhané’s Biography is a description of the life of the 18th century Tibetan king Polhané by his close minister Dokhar Zhapdrung Tsering Wanggyel (Duokaxiazhong Cerenwangjie). The book is divided into nineteen chapters and describes the ancestral background of the king, his childhood, his marriage, and his political and … [Read more...]
The Fugitive Lives of the Sixth Dalai Lama
Chris Peacock Abstract The Hidden Life of the Sixth Dalai Lama (trans. Simon Wickham-Smith)[1] is a professed account of the activities of Tsangyang Gyatso (Tsangs dbyangs rgya mtsho), the Sixth Dalai Lama. The text was composed by Ngawang Lhundrup Dargyé (Ngag dbang lhun grub dar rgyas), a Mongol who became a student of the text’s subject and decided to record the events … [Read more...]
Himalayan Hermitess
Annie Huntoon Using Himalayan Hermitess as a Text for Ninth Graders This past week I returned to Phillips Academy for a second interview with my former colleagues in the history department. While there, many questions came my way regarding further inclusion of China into the curriculum. As it stands now, the ninth graders spend about a week or two studying China as it … [Read more...]
Sky Dancer
Christina Stoltz Sky Dancer: The Secret Songs and Autobiography of the Lady Yeshe Tsogyel Abstract: Sky Dancer: The Secret Songs and Autobiography of the Lady Yeshe Tsogyel is a treasure text from the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. It recounts the life and teachings of Yeshe Tsogyal, the famous consort of Padmasambhava. Although it was “discovered” and written in … [Read more...]
Panchen Lobsang Choekyi Gyaltsen
Lobsang Choekyi Gyaltsen, First Panchen Lama. "Chos Smra ba’i dge slong blo bzang chos kyi rgyal mtshan gyi spyod tshul gsal bar ston pa nor bu’i phreng ba (=nor bu’i phreng ba)", Blo bzang chos kyi rgyal mtshan gyi gsung ’bum (Collected Works of the First Panchen Lama Lobsang Choekyi Gyaltsen). Tashi Lhunpo Edition. Vol.1, ff.1r-225v. Also see TBRC W23430 (5 vols.) Panchen … [Read more...]
The Life of Yol mo dzin nor bu
Tenzin Doma Lama The Life of Yol mo Bstan 'dzin nor bu: A critical edition, translation, and study of the memoirs of a seventeenth-century Tibetan Buddhist lama Abstract: “The Life of Yol mo Bstan 'dzin nor bu: A critical edition, translation, and study of the memoirs of a seventeenth-century Tibetan Buddhist lama” by Bogin, Benjamine E is already a critical edition, which … [Read more...]
The Biography of Pha jo sgom Zhig po
Michael Monhart The Biography of Pha-jo-Sgom Zhig-po: Called the Current of Compassion Abstract The biography of Pha-jo-Sgom Zhig-po (1184-1251/1208-1275) gives us a window into a little known period of Bhutanese history. Bhutan was first unified under a single religious/secular leader by the Shapdrung Ngawang Namgyel, a member of the Drukpa Buddhist sect, in the 17th … [Read more...]
The Samding Dorje Phagmo of Tibe
Abstract: Chokyi Dronma (1422-1455) was a princess of a kingdom in lower Ngari in south-western Tibet who left her royal marriage at a young age to pursue a religious life. She became renowned throughout Tibet as an embodiment of Vajravarahi (Tib: rdo rje phag mo) and became the first in an incarnation line of female lamas known as the Samding Dorje Phagmo, the first and most … [Read more...]
Drukpa Kunley
Summary written by Kim Carson, May 2015. Drukpa Kunley spent the 115 years of his life, from 1455 to 1570 AD, as a perpetual teenager, rebelling vehemently against convention. Born in the Tsang region of Western Tibet, he left home as a young man, following the assassination of his father in a family feud, with the goal of receiving formal religious training in the Mahamudra … [Read more...]
A Biography from the Tibetan
Abstract Evans-Wentz’s edition of the The Life of Milarepa begins in a particularly Mahayana context: Rechung (Ras chung pa), a disciple, dreams, and walks through the Western land of Urgyan. He finds images of a jeweled stupa upon which Buddha Ashobhya is seated, and requests transmission of the teachings. The histories of Tilopa, Naropa and Marpa are told, and a greater … [Read more...]
A brief biography of Buton Rinchen Drub
A Handful of Flowers recounts the life and teachings of Butön Rinpoche, (bu ston rin chen grub), 1290-1364, from the perspective of his close disciple, Dratsepa Rinchen Namgyal (sgra tshad pa rin chen rnam rgyal). Butön was active primarily in U and Tsang, travelling widely to teach, but his position as abbot of Zhalu Monastery found him there, between Zhigatse and Gyantse in … [Read more...]
Like an Illusion
Abstract: Nicole Riggs’s Like An Illusion: Lives of the Shangpa Kagyu Masters is a collection of translations of the autobiographies of key figures of Shangpa Kagyu, an important lineage of Tibetan Buddhism dating from early 11th century to recent. It traces the origin, development, key concepts and practices of Shangpa Kagyu as well as gives us quintessential examples of … [Read more...]
Pema, Jetsun. Tibet: My Story. Element Books, 1996.
Jack A. Waddell Abstract Tibet: My Story is the autobiography of Jetsun Pema (born July 7th, 1940), the sister of the 14th Dalai Lama and the President of the Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV). Written at the age of fifty-six years-old, Jetsun Pema uses her autobiography not only to recount her life from her birth in Lhasa in 1940 to her 2006 retirement from … [Read more...]