Gyarong Tendzin Drakpa
རྒྱལ་རོང་བསྟན་འཛིན་གྲགས་པ།
rgyal rong bstan ’dzin grags pa
Short Biography
b.1847/8 – c.1921
From Achim Bayer's "The Life and Works of mKhan-po gZhan-dga’ (1871–1927); rDzogs-chen Master and Educational Reformer of Eastern Tibet"
Four main disciples of Paltrul Rinpoche are complimented as being superior to Paltrul himself, an arrangement resembling the well known list of Vasubandhu’s four disciples who were more learned than himself.
(#2): The one who was superior to Paltrul himself in pramāṇa [was] the supreme scholar Tendzin Drakpa. According to Benchen Tenga Rinpoche (interview, Bremen 1999), this person is rGyal-rong bsTan-’dzin-grags-pa (TBRC-P5232). He was a controversial figure, and Nyushul Khenpo abstained from writing his biography.
- rdzogs chen chos ’byung, vol. 2, p. 323: de la dag snang ’dzin min ci rigs zhig snang bas re zhig bzhag go|. “Since I do not know whether it is appropriate to hold a pure view with regard to him, I leave it for the time being.” Cf. Marvelous Garland, p. 465: “I have refrained from doing so, since it appears that there are some who, for whatever reason, do not hold this master in high regard.”
From Adam S. Pearcey's "Did Kongtrul and Patrul Really Never Meet?"[1]
Gyalrong Tendzin Drakpa
While on the subject of connections between Patrul and Kongtrul, there is another link—albeit an indirect one—that is worthy of note. It concerns one of Patrul’s foremost students, Gyalrong Tendzin Drakpa (rGyal rong bstan ‘dzin grags pa). He was one of the quartet said to have surpassed their teacher in a given discipline—in his case, logic and epistemology (pramāṇa; tshad ma).[4] Today, he is remembered primarily for his objection to Kongtrul’s inclusion of some Bönpo works in his monumental compilation of terma (gter ma), the Precious Treasury of Revelations (rin chen gter mdzod).[5] The text in which he expressed this disapproval is currently unavailable. Yet if the title is anything to go by, he was vehement in his opposition: Rin chen gter mdzod du bsgrags nas rmong dbang gyur rnams mi khom kla klor ‘khrid pa chos min sa the nag po chos zab mo’i sa ‘og tu sbas pa brlag byed rgol lan lung rig gnam lcags thog mda’ translates (roughly) as A Thunderbolt of Meteoric Iron: Scripture and Reasoning in Response to the Threat of the Black Demon of Non-Dharma that Lurks Beneath the Earth of Profound Dharma and Leads Those Bewildered by the So-Called ‘Precious Treasury of Revelations’ to Unfree States of Barbarism. The work is listed in a catalogue of the Potala library.[6]
One biographical source says that Gyalrong Tendzin Drakpa taught Dzogchen secretly to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, which might explain why his writings are housed in the Potala.[7] He also supposedly attracted criticism from the Great Thirteenth’s erstwhile debate partner, Dobi Geshe Sherab Gyatso (rDo sbis dge bshes shes rab rgya mtsho, 1884–1968), as well as the Fifteenth Karmapa, Khakhyab Dorje (mKha’ khyab rdo rje, 1870/1–1921/2) and Shechen Gyaltsab Gyurme Pema Namgyal (Zhe chen rgyal tshab ‘gyur med padma rnam rgyal, 1871–1926).[8]
In any case, Gyalrong Tendzin Drakpa’s life, including his opposition to Kongtrul, certainly merits further attention—if and when the books become available.
- 4.The others were Nyoshul Lungtok Tenpai Nyima, who surpassed Patrul in the view (lta ba); Orgyen Tendzin Norbu, who was pre-eminent in exposition (bshad pa); and Minyak Kunzang Sonam who excelled in his mastery of Bodhicaryāvatāra.
- 5. For more on this topic, see Blondeau 1988.
- 6. Thub bstan rgyal mtshan 1992: 59. Another title might also be related: A Hook of Scripture and Reasoning to Lift the Childish who have Fallen into the Abyss of Evil Destiny through Confusing Genuine Works of Profound Terma (Zab gter tshad ma’i gzhung la bsre dkrug gi ngan ‘gro’i g.yang gzar lhung ba’i byis pa ‘dren byed lung rig lcags kyu). .bsTan ’dzin lung rtogs nyi ma (2004: 596) claims that Gyalrong Tendzin Drakpa composed several (du ma) treatises condemning Kongtrul’s editorial stance.
- 7. bsTan ’dzin lung rtogs nyi ma 2004: 596.
- 8. See Blondeau 1988.
Primary Teachers
- Dza Paltrul Rinpoche
- Dzogchen Mingyur Namkhe Dorje
- Dodrub Jigme Tenpe Nyima
- Kongtrul Lodro Thaye
- Khenchen Padma Vajra
Primary Students
Primary Lineage
Publications
Alternate Names & Spellings
Internal Links
External Links
- BDRC / TBRC link [2]