Theresa Ding 03/03/2018 Abstract: The All-Pervading Melodious Drumbeat is a hagiographical telling of the story of Ra Lotsawa Dorjé Drak, also known as Ralo, one of the most notorious Buddhist saints of Tibet. Though his exact year of birth is unknown, the translator notes that it has been traced back to 1016 by other scholars. Ra Lotsawa’s story begins in the southern region … [Read more...]
The Life of Milarepa
A summary by Zhao (Tina) Sun March 4, 2019 Abstract: The Life of Milarepa is a biography with multiple iterations, the most famous of which was compiled by Tsangnyön Heruka in the 15th century. Various translated editions exist today, but this summary focuses on two English editions, one by Lobsang P. Lhalungpa translated in 1977, and another by Andrew Quintman in 2010, both … [Read more...]
Tibetan Biographies in Translation
Biographies under review:Note: The list is in chronological order based on when the biography was written. 14th Century Rinchen Namgyal, Dratshadpa. A Handful of Flowers: A brief biography of Buton Rinchen Drub. (1290-1364, written 1366). Hans van der Bogaert (trans.). Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, 1996. 15th Century Heruka, Tsangnyon … [Read more...]
Fearless in Tibet; the life of the mystic Tertön Sogyal
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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]