Volume 2: No. 1
Summer 2006

News Front Page

Letter to the sangha from Khandro Rinpoche

Like Pearls on a String:
A short biography of
His Eminence Kongtrül Rinpoche

Meeting the Buddha Within:
VKR presents the Uttaratantra

Remaining Like a Log:
Memories of Shedra 2006

Stand-Up-Sit-Down-Zen!
Kyudo comes to Lotus Garden

Turning the Wheel of Dharma:
Annual Retreat is just ahead

Tibetan Lesson: Bodhicitta

Lotus News Contributors

Like Pearls on a String

A short biography of HE Dzigar Kongtrül Rinpoche

During the Inaugural Celebration last September, Khandro Rinpoche announced to the sangha that she had invited His Eminence Dzigar Kongtrül Rinpoche to join her in the creation and direction of the new Shedra program at Lotus Garden. It is all our good fortune that Rinpoche accepted her offer. We are most grateful for his profound presentation of the 'Bodhisattvacaryavatara' at our very first Shedra and supplicate him to return and give many teachings at Lotus Garden in the years to come.

The task of describing our lineage and the masters who have held it is a daunting one, because words quite simply do not do justice to these masters, who have each in their turn sought out great masters, studied under them (in the course of which they underwent great hardships), and attained realization, and have done so not just once, but again and again, in a succession of lifetimes like pearls on a string.

Dzigar Kongtrül Rinpoche teaching at the ShedraIn this short article, I will do my best to describe of one of these masters, His Eminence Dzigar Kongtrül Rinpoche. But first, in order to do so, I will try to provide a bit of background of the lineage.

An illustrious lineage

Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thaye, also known as Jamgön Kongtrül the Great, was one of the most influential teachers of the Rimé movement of Tibetan Buddhism. Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye was an emanation of many great learned and accomplished masters of India and Tibet, including Buddha Sakyamuni’s attendant Ananda, the great translator Vairotsana, Tsele Natsok Rangdrol, and the founder of Mindrolling Monastery, Rigdzin Gyurme Dorje.

He was born in eastern Tibet on the 2nd of December, 1813 into the Khyung family of accomplished masters, and showed remarkable signs from an early age. He quickly mastered reading and writing, the ten common sciences (medicine, grammar, astrology, and so forth) and the whole range of the Buddha’s teachings, having studied widely, particularly at the monasteries of Shechen (a Nyingma monastery) & Palpung (a Karma Kagyu monastery). In total, he is said to have studied under more than fifty teachers, studying the teachings of all the different lineages of the eight great chariots, the eight practice lineages of the buddhas’ teachings which flourished in Tibet.

Foremost among these teachers were Ta’i Situ Pema Nyinje Wangpo, a Karma Kagyu master with whom Jamgön Lodrö Thaye studied at Palpung Monastery, and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, who was the combined emanation of Vimalamitra and King Trisong Deutsen, a great Sakya teacher, and the last of the five great tertön kings.

Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö ThayeA third master who had a great influence in the life of Jamgön Kongtrül was the renowned tertön Chokgyur Lingpa. Known as “the universal monarch of all tertöns” because of the incredible completeness of his terma, he is sometimes counted as the last of the one hundred tertöns of major significance. Although Chokgyur Lingpa had not gone through any formal studies, he was incredibly learned and eloquent as a result of his practice and realisation.

The three great masters Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Chokgyur Lingpa, and Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thaye all acted as both each others teachers and disciples, so that the lineages of each of their teachings and terma were held by the other two masters. These three great teachers became renowned throughout Tibet, and eventually the entire world, as masters whose incomparable realisation and activity was without bias, sectarian or otherwise, and have thus been of immeasurable benefit and inspiration.


There is no way to describe the incredible kindness of this master.... He dedicated the whole of his life to teaching and propagating the dharma...


The tireless activity of Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thaye

Having studied extensively, Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thaye began to compose and compile teachings. His collected works total more than ninety volumes, foremost amongst which are the Five Great Treasuries:

  1. The Treasury of Encyclopedic Knowledge (shes bya kun la khyab pa’i mdzod), which reveals the ground, path and fruition for the whole of sutra and mantra, from the paths of the common sciences all the way up to dzogchen atiyoga.
  2. The Treasury of Precious Instructions (gdams ngag rin po che’i mdzod), which is a compilation of the most profound maturing empowerments and liberating instructions belonging to the eight great chariots of the practice lineage.
  3. The Treasury of Kagyü Mantras (bka’ brgyud sngags kyi mdzod), which is a compendium of mandala rituals, maturing empowerments and liberating instructions, such as Yangdak, Vajrakilaya and Yamantaka from the Nyingma kama, and the tantra cycles from the new translation lineages of Marpa and Ngok.
  4. The Treasury of Precious Termas (rin chen gter mdzod), which distills the quintessence of an ocean of profound termas within the Nyingma school.
  5. The Uncommon Treasury (thun mong ma yin pa’i mdzod), which contains Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thaye’s own profound terma revelations.
  6. The Treasury of Extensive Teachings (rgya chen bka’ mdzod), which includes various related works, such as praises and advice, as well as compositions on medicine, science and so on.

There is no way to describe the incredible kindness of this master as he tirelessly sought out teachings (the lineages of some of which were becoming incredibly scarce), tirelessly practiced and accomplished these teachings, indefatigably composed new teachings, brought forth collections of treasure teachings, collected all of these into a single body of work, and then transmitted these teachings to following generations of practitioners. He dedicated the whole of his life to teaching and propagating the dharma by giving empowerments, instructions, advice, and reading transmissions for both sutra and mantra, kama and terma, from all of the old and new translation schools, without any sectarian bias.

Jamgon Kongtrül Lodrö Thaye passed into parinirvana on 28 December, 1899 at the age of 87.

Predicting the birth of Dzigar Kongtrül

After he passed away, five emanations appeared. The first Dzigar Kongtrül was one of these. He was the younger brother of Dzigar Chogtrül, who was a great lama from the Drukpa Kagyü school and lived in Kham Derge. The name Dzigar comes in part from the valley where Dzigar Chogtrül’s monastery was situated. The valley looks like the white marking found on the forehead of some animals. This marking is called a dzi in Tibetan. Gar, which means “tent,” comes from the tradition of Khamtrül Rinpoche, who was the root teacher of the first Dzigar Chogtrül. The first two Khamtrül Rinpoches always traveled around Tibet in tent encampments, never building a monastery.

The first Dzigar Kongtrül, Lodrö Rabpel, was recognized by the 15th Karmapa, Khakyab Dorje and was brought up and enthroned at Palpung. Two Kongtrül emanations were discovered at Palpung – Karse Kongtrül (Jamgön Palden Khyentse Özer), the son of the 15th Karmapa, and Dzigar Kongtrül.

Dzigar Kongtrül was very close with the 2nd Chokling of Neten, so at some point he left Palpung and established his own monastery near Neten Gön. There was a lovely lake close by and so his monastery became known as Tsokar.

Before Chokling Rinpoche left Tibet, Dzigar Kongtrül Rinpoche invited him to Tsokar for a visit. The night before Chokling Rinpoche was to return to his own monastery, Kongtrül told him that he would come back as his own son. He also told him that he must leave for India immediately. That following morning at dawn, Dzigar Kongtrül passed into nirvana without any signs of illness. After Chokling Rinpoche performed the cremation rituals, he returned to Chokling Gompa and arranged to leave for India as Kongtrül Rinpoche had asked.

The present Dzigar Kongtrül, Jigme Namgyel, was born in Northern India, just before his father established the Tibetan community settlement of Bir. When Rinpoche was nine years old, his father Chokling Rinpoche passed away. Soon after this His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche recognized him as an emanation of Jamgön Kongtrül the Great and His Holiness the 16th Karmapa confirmed this. He was soon enthroned at Chokling Gompa in Bir.

Education and empowerments

Rinpoche meets with practitioners at a tea in his honor.Rinpoche’s first teacher was his own mother, Chokling Mayum. She disciplined him, teaching him reading and writing, as well as prayers and rituals. At thirteen Rinpoche began to formally study under and serve his root teacher His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

From him Rinpoche received:

  1. Nyingma Kama – the oral transmissions of the Nyingma lineage.
  2. Rinchen Terdzö – the treasure cycle of the Nyingma lineage.
  3. Dam Ngag Dzö – teachings on the Eight Lineages of Vajrayana Buddhism.
  4. Dzöd Dün – Longchenpa’s Seven Treasures.
  5. All the works of Longchenpa.
  6. All the works of Jigme Lingpa, with particular emphasis on the Longchen Nyingthik cycle.
  7. All the treasures of Chokgyür Lingpa.
  8. All the treasures of Ratna Lingpa, Padma Lingpa, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Jamgön Kongtrül, as well as many others.
  9. In particular, guided meditation on the Dzogchen path.

This is a short list of the main teachings and empowerments that Rinpoche received from his root teacher.

In addition, his philosophy teacher was Khenpo Rinchen, whom Rinpoche followed all over India in order to complete his own shedra studies. From him Rinpoche received extensive teachings on madhyamika, prajnaparamita, the Abhisamaya-alankara and the Uttaratantra Shastra.

Making offerings to His Eminence at the conlcusion of Shedra

Later on, after His Holiness Khyentse Rinpoche passed away, Rinpoche received many empowerments and guided meditation on the Dzogchen path from Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche. He also studied under Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche’s guidance for many years in Nepal.

Rinpoche's activities in the West

Currently, Rinpoche studies with and receives empowerments from Trulshik Rinpoche, Penor Rinpoche and, of course, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, from whom he has received the Kalachakra empowerment three times, as well as many sutrayana teachings. Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche moved to the United States in 1989 with his family and began a five-year tenure as a professor of Buddhist philosophy at Naropa University (then Institute) in 1990. Not long after arriving in the United States, Rinpoche founded Mangala Shri Bhuti, an organization established to further the practice of the Longchen Nyingtik lineage. He established a mountain retreat center, Longchen Jigme Samten Ling, in southern Colorado, where he spends much of his time in retreat and guides students in long-term retreat practice. When not in retreat, Rinpoche travels widely throughout the world teaching and furthering his own education.

 

Contributed by: Geoff Picus

Photo: His Eminence teaching at the 2006 Shedra (top); Jamgon Kongtrül Lodrö Thaye (middle); Meeting with a practitioner during an afternoon tea held in his honor (middle); Making offerings to His Eminence at the conclusion of the Shedra (bottom); ©2006 Mindrolling International