Rigdzin Nyima Drakpa

• Shentong; What links to Shentong
• Jonang; links
• Shangpa; links

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Cites

"Courtesy of Cyrus Stearns, author of "The Buddha from Dolpo" and a member of Jonang Foundation's Board of Directors, we have recently added four new short translations to our expanding online library. These additions include 2 texts by Dolpopa, one by the 16th century Jonang and Shangpa Kagyu master Kunga Drolchok, and one by Drolchok's own teacher Lochen Ratnabhadra."

"A White Tara Teaching" (PDF) - "This twenty eighth teaching from the “Jo nang Khrid brgya” of Kunga Drolchok was translated by Palden Lotsawa (James Rutke)."

Source: Kun dga’ Grol mchog. Sgrol dkar gi khrid yig. In Jo nang Khrid brgya, vol. 18 of the Gdams ngag Mdzod, 183.

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: "According to the Great Madhyamaka tradition, there is sutra zhentong and tantra zhentong. In accord with sutra zhentong, the Great Madhyamaka system of the Jonang emphasizes Shakyamuni's 3rd "turning" or final set of discourses. This understanding of mind and reality seeks to reconcile the paradox of a lack of any permanent essence (sunyata, emptiness), and that of an ever-abiding permanent enlightened essence (tathagatagarbha, buddha-nature)."

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"It is understood that there were three "Great" systems of the Buddha's teachings that were transmitted from Indian masters into Tibet. These three are:

1. Great Perfection or Dzogchen;
2. Great Seal or Mahamudra;
3. Great Madhyamaka or Zhentong.
   

"The Great Madhyamaka or Great Middle Way zhentong (shentong) system of the Jonang is in contrast to the General Madhyamaka system known as "Rangtong Madhyamaka." General Madhyamaka includes both Svatantrika and Prasangika Madhyamaka. Indian masters of this rangtong system include Buddhapalita, Bhavaviveka, Chandrakirti, Shantarakshita, and their disciples. Early Great Madhyamaka figures include the Regent Maitreya, Arya Asanga and his brother Vasubandhu, Dignaga, Dharmakirti, and their disciples. Though Nagarjuna explicitly taught Rangtong General Madhyamaka in his Collections of Reasoning, he also clearly expressed Zhentong Great Madhyamaka in works such as his Praise to the Ultimate Dimension of Reality."

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"The contemporary western Kagyu scholar Karl Brunnhölzl argues that there is no such thing as “Yogacara Madhyamaka,” but rather that orthodox Yogacara philosophy (when understood properly) is entirely compatible with Madhyamaka, and therefore no synthesis is needed. He argues that Yogacara has often been mischaracterized and unfairly marginalized in the typical Tibetan Buddhist curriculum."

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"Pettit (1999: p.113) qualifies and disambiguates 'Great Madhyamaka' and mentions Mipham, Longchenpa, Prasangika Madhyamaka, Tsongkhapa and coalescence:

"Extrinsic emptiness is also referred to as "Great Madhyamaka" (dbu ma chen po), a term that appears frequently in Mipham's works. This term can also be misleading, because dbu ma chen po does not refer exclusively to extrinsic emptiness. Klong chen pa and Mipham use it to refer to Prasangika Madhyamaka, because it emphasizes the nonconceptual ultimate, which they understand as the principle of coalescence. Tsongkhapa also uses this term in passing, for example, in the colophon of his dBu ma dgongs pa rab gsal."

"After the suppression of the Jonang school and its texts and the texts of Sakya Chokden by the Tibetan government in the 1600s, various Shentong views were propagated mainly by Karma Kagyu and Nyingma lamas. In particular, the 8th Tai Situ Rinpoche (Situ Pa?chen Chökyi Jungné (si tu pa? chen chos kyi 'byung gnas) (1700-1774)) and Katok Tsewang Norbu (ka? thog tshe dbang nor bu) (1698-1755), close colleagues and Karma Kagyu and Nyingma lamas respectively, were very instrumental in reviving Shentong among their sects. Also instrumental was Situ Panchen (1700-1774), senior court chaplain in the Kingdom of Dêgê, a student of Norbu; according to 2003's The Budda from Dolpo, "[i]n the end it would be Situ more than anyone who would create the environment for the widespread acceptance of the Zhentong theories in the next century. This revival was continued by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, a 19th century Rime (ecumenical) scholar and forceful exponent of Shentong, and were also advanced recently by the eminent Kagyu Lamas Kalu Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche."

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Old, and New Again

"If I am not mistaken the Shang lineage had disappeared as its own school and been dispersed into the other lineages a long time ago with various practices survivng here and there. I believe it was Kalu II that went around and 'collected' all the vaious initiations and lungs that comprised the full lineage and re-consolidated them into a coherent 'school'. If someone knows the history better please let me know."

"It was never a "school," really...at least, not after Mokchokpa, the second lineage holder....the Monastery of Shang pretty much dissolved at that time-as foretold by Khyungpo Naljor. However, the practices of the Shangpa 5 Golden Dharmas were not disseminated at that time--they were a one-to-one transmission until after the seventh holder, and Mokchokpa was only the second holder. So, in a sense, there was never an institution or "school" that practiced the Shangpa Core Teachings-the 5 Golden Dharmas--seperate from other institutional lineages. Just one-to-one transmission for quite some time....

The "Long Tradition," which is what I'm talking about here, passed down and was disseminated through the Karma Kagyu and the Jonang, as well as the Sakya and eventually the Geluk and Nyingma as well. The "Long Tradition" really achieved most of it's final form when Jonang Taranatha wrote out the sadhanas and commentaries on most of the core Shangpa Practices, and gathered together what had been extant at that time. The Jonang tradition, during Taranatha's time, practiced the Shangpa transmissions as well as their own Kalachakra lineage.

The other "Lineage" of Shangpa Kagyu is more recent and direct, coming from Thangtong Gyalpo.

Jamgon Kongtrul was chiefly responsible, along with Khytense Rinpoche, for re-popularizing these practices at his retreat center, Tsadra Rinchen Drak, in the 1800's. He wrote down additional practices that Taranatha and others had not written....practices that were oral prior to him.....and he also "completed" or amended some of Taranatha's works. Since he founded that center, the Shangpa 5 Golden Dharmas, as well as the Shangpa Yidam Practices and the Six Armed Mahakala, have been practiced as kind of a subspeciality of the Karma Kagyu. This was associated with Palpung Tradition, though the Tsurphu Tradition also maintained some Shangpa practices, and had since the time of the Third Karmapa.

Kalu Rinpoche was the third generation of Lamas to do retreat at Tsadra Rinchen Drak, and the third Kongtrul Trulku to focus on these practices, and he, of course, was responsible for the world-wide spread of the Shangpa practices.

Currently, Sonada Monastery, near Darjeeling, focuses on the Shanga methods. Also, Palpung has stressed Shangpa methods and has had a retreat center devoted to the Shangpa associated with the main monastery. I believe Yangsi Kongtrul's monastery near Pullahari in Nepal also maintains focus on these practices--though Palpung, Pullahari, and Sherab Ling also equally maintain and propagate the Kamtsang practices. I believe the recently-revitalized Jonang institutions, including the one in India, also maintain Shangpa practice. In the West, Kalu Rinpoche's Western centers, including my center, KDK in San Francisco, maintain the Shangpa and also the Kamtsang methods, especially in their retreat centers. Thus, many Western students have had the good fortune to receive the transmission and to train in some way in the methods. And finally, Bokar Ngedon Chokhor Ling, in Mirik, India, has a Shangpa retreat center, as well as Kamtsang and Vajra Yoga (Kalachakra) retreat centers associated with the monastery. Kalu Rinpoche's Yangsi is currently there, in strict retreat, I imagine practicing the Shangpa Methods.

Hope that helps in understanding the place of the Shangpa Methods in the current landscape of Tibetan Dharma, and a bit of how it came to be here."

reply by conebeckham in forum

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Kongtrul the Great and Jonang

"Returning to Kongtrul's record, it then goes on to list the lineage from which he received transmission for the works of Tāranātha. Following the line from Tāranātha's disciple Yeshe Gyatso this lineage then passes on through Karma Ödsal Gyurmé from whom Kongtrul received this transmission. Karma Ödsal Gyurmé was a student of Karma Ratna and is also referred to as Lama Gonpo Tsewang. According to the history of the Jonangpa, he met Kongtrul on his way to Gyalrong as he was traveling from Dzamthang, and it appears as if he conferred numerous transmissions upon Kongtrul during their time together."

"Adjacent to this lineage, Kongtrul's record lists an alternative lineage of transmission for his reception of the works of Tāranātha, starting with Tāranātha’s disciple Rinchen Gyatso, and then passing through the master from Katok Monastery Rigzin Tsewang Norbu (1698-1755) several generations later, then being passed to Kongtrul from Karma Tsewang Kunkhyab. This was Zurmang Tsewang Kunkhyab, a main disciple of Situ Paṇchen Chökyi Jungné (1700-1774) who was also a lineage-holder of numerous Jonang transmissions and someone who seems to have played a pivotal role in the intersections of these lineages."

"It's important to keep in mind that a generation before Kongtrul and his colleagues set the Rimè movement in motion, in those same regions of Kham, the scholar Rigzin Tsewang Norbu and his close friend the polymath Situ Paṇchen were also active in restoring the diversity of scholastic and artistic traditions to Tibetan intellectual life. Interesting enough, the lineage relationships forged by Tsewang Norbu and Situ Paṇchen are often considered precursors to Kongtrul’s Rimè approach, and in many ways, their activities were a catalyst for Rimè eclecticism."

"It is well known that Kongtrul appropriated a certain brand of zhentong in his own writings, that he edited and re-compiled several of the works of Tāranātha on the Kālachakra and other tantric systems, that his famous Treasury of Spiritual Advice (Gdams ngag mdzod) was inspired by the One Hundred and Eight Instructions of the Jonang preserved by the Jonang master Kunga Drolchok (1507-1566), and that he even considered himself an inheritor of Tāranātha's reincarnation line. With these influences in mind, and Kongtrul's emulation of Kunga Drolchok's and Tāranātha's vision of synthesis, the pattern of these lineage crossings is important for understanding both modern Jonang history and the Rimè project as a whole."

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Jonang Kalachakra Masters

Supplication of the Six Subsidiary Yogas
Verses of Invocation to the Glorious Jonang Kalachakra Lineage Masters (PDF) ¹
Translated by Michael R. Sheehy (Ngedon Tenzin Dargyay).

To the thirty-five Dharma Kings, I supplicate.³
To the great accomplished Kalachakrapada the Elder, I supplicate.⁴
To the great accomplished Kalachakrapada the Younger, I supplicate.⁵
To the victor's heir Nalendrapa, I supplicate.⁶
To the great scholar Somanatha, I supplicate.
To the translator Dro Lotwawa, I supplicate.⁷
To the master Lhaje Gompa, I supplicate.
To the master Droton Namseg, I supplicate.
To the great accomplished master Yumo, I supplicate.⁸
To the supreme ancestor Dharmeshvara, I supplicate.
To the learned Namkha Odzer, I supplicate.
To Machig Tulku Jobum, I supplicate.
To the master Drubtob Sechen, I supplicate.
To the Sovereign of Dharma Jamyang Sarma, I supplicate.
To the Omniscient Chöku Odzer, I supplicate.
To the incomparable Kunpang Chöje, I supplicate.⁹
To Changsem Gyalwa Yeshe, I supplicate.
To the learned and righteous Yontan Gyatso, I supplicate.
To the omniscient Buddha of the three times, I supplicate.¹⁰ To the King of Dharma Choglé Namgyal, I supplicate.
To the incomparable Nyawon Kunga Pal, I supplicate.
To the great accomplished Kunga Lodro, I supplicate.
To Jamyang Konchg Zangpo, I supplicate.
To the supreme guide Namkhai Tsenchan, I supplicate.
To the great scholar Namkha Palzang, I supplicate.
To Lochen Ratnabhadra, I supplicate.
To Jamgon Drupay Pawo, I supplicate.
To the illustrious Kunga Dolchog, I supplicate.
To the clear minded Gyatso Deje, I supplicate.
To the heart-son Khadrup Namtsol, I supplicate.
To Jamyang Kunga Nyingpo, I supplicate.¹¹
To Tashi Gyaltsen Palzang, I supplicate.
To the universal lord Drolway Gonpo, I supplicate.
To Ngonjang Rinchen Gyatso, I supplicate.
To the learned and accomplished Lodro Namgyal, I supplicate.¹²
To the great accomplished Ngawang Thinley, I supplicate.
To Ngawang Tenzin Namgyal, I supplicate.¹³
To Ngawang Khatsun Dargyay, I supplicate.
To Kunzang Thinley Namgyal, I supplicate.
To Nudan Lhundrup Gyatso, I supplicate.
To Konchog Jigmed Namgyal, I supplicate.
To Ngawang Chöpel Gyatso, I supplicate.
To Ngawang Chokyi Phakpa, I supplicate.
To Ngawang Chözin Gyatso, I supplicate.
To Ngawang Chökyi Naljor, I supplicate.14

Notes
1 The author of this supplication was Jetsun Taranatha up to his immediate predecessor. The author of the list of lineage masters succeeding Taranatha is not listed.
3 The thirty-five Dharma Kings are the seven Kings of Shambhala, the twenty-five Kalkins of Shambhala plus Tsangpa (tshangs pa), Lhawang (lha dbang), and Od Sung ('od srung). There is also another system of numerating these thirty-five Dharma Kings which counts eight Kings, the twenty-five Kalkins plus Tsangpa and Lhawang.
4 Kalacakrapada the Elder is also known as Jamyang Dorje.
5 Kalacakrapada the Younger is also known as Sribhadra.
6 Nalendrapa is also known as Bodhibhadra,
7 This is Dro Lotsawa Sherab Drakpa.
8 This is Yumo Mikyo Dorje.
9 This is Kunpang Tukje Tsondru.
10 This is Kunkhyen Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen.
11 This is Jetsun Taranatha.
12 Lodro Namgyal was a disciple of Jetsun Taranatha who traveled to Dzamthang Tsangwa Monastery from Central Tibet and spent twelve years at Dzamthang Tsangwa Monastery in Far Eastern Tibet.
13 From Ngawang Tenzin Namgyal on, these are supplications to the Vajra Masters of Dzamthang Tsangwa Monastery. The Vajra Yoga masters that preceded Ngawang Tenzin Namgyal in this lineage supplication are from Central Tibet.
14 The Vajra Masters from Dzamthang Tsangwa Monastery that followed are Ngawang Kunga Palden, Kunga Kultrik Wangshik, Kunga Tenpa Salshib, Ngawang Dorje Zangpo, Ngawang Konchok Dargyay, Ngawang Lodro Drakpa, Ngawang Yontan Zangpo, and Ngawang Jigme Dorje is the present Vajra Master.

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Jonang Zhentong Masters

from Supplication to the Profound Zhentong Madhyamaka Lineage (PDF)

To you, Ga?ga Metripa, I supplicate!
To you, Anandakirti, I supplicate!
To you, Jungné Zhiwa, I supplicate!
Born into the family who was learned and realized beyond calculation,³
Blessed due to the exceptional view beyond measure,
Supreme yogi whose knowledge of eloquent speech is beyond limitation,
To you, Brahma Sajña, I supplicate!
Graced by a vision of Cakrasa?vara, learned to the highest degree,
You who proclaimed Zhentong Madhyamaka in this direction [Tibet],
And realized the vajra-body (vajrakaya) in the Peerless City,⁴
To you, Lotsawa [Gzu] Gaway Dorje, I supplicate!⁵
Sublime observer of precepts, Khawoché from the family of Tsen,
To you, Drimé Sherab, I supplicate!
To you, Darma Tsöndru, I supplicate!
Dolpa Nyan, you elucidated the essential teachings.
To you, Yeshe Jungné, I supplicate!
Changchub Kyab and Changchub the Younger,
To you, brothers of Jadtön, I supplicate!
To you, Monlam Tsultrim, I supplicate!
To you, Chömden Raltri, I supplicate!⁸
To you, Kyiton Jamyang, I supplicate!⁹
To you, Great Omniscient One [Dolpopa], I supplicate!
Master Kunga Pal, supreme scholar among everyone,
To you, Nyawon Chöje, I supplicate!
To you, Chöpal Gonpo, I supplicate!
To you, Lodrö Zangpo Gyatso, I supplicate!
To you, Dönyod Pal, known as the second Maitreya, I supplicate!
To you, Shakya Chogden, I supplicate!
To you, Dönyod Drubpa, I supplicate!
To you, Kunga Gyaltsen, I supplicate!
To you, supreme Drakden Drubpa, I supplicate!¹²

After Yeshe Jungné, there were scholars who followed from the northern world of Tukhara, and even though this was not necessary to mention, it did indeed occur. In particular, there is another transmission lineage from the brothers of Jadtön (Changchub Kyab and Changchub the Younger), Zhang Mya Nganmé, Lotsawa Chogdenpa, Pang Lotsawa, Lotsawa Changchub Tsemo, Nyawon (Kunga Pal) and so forth; even though this lineage followed later, it is known to be accepted.

Although there is no need to mention the transmission from Asa?ga and his brother (Vasubandhu), it is necessary to definitively establish that they were the charioteers of this tradition. Subsequent to these brothers, with devotion towards this single successive transmission line, there were those that likewise followed in this lineage such as Lodrö Tenpa, Yontan Lodrö, Gangpel, Dharmamati, Bajamitra, Ratnamitra, Shantiwa Metripa.

There is also a transmission lineage from Nagarjuna of the successive zhentong view; this is from our teacher the Majesty of Sages, Vajrapa?i, Rahulabhadra, Nagarjuna, Sawari Metripa all the way up to and including those who have already been mentioned.

This is the transmission lineage of oral instructions that gather together the single intended meaning of everything that belongs to the commentaries on the intent of the sutras of the final turning. There is a separate transmission lineage on the particular instructions from the Five Treasures of Maitreya.
This is the lineage supplication of instructions on the view of the Zhentong Madhyamaka.
Composed in verses and edited by Taranatha.

Supplementary Verses

Following Lhawang Drakpa on,¹³
To you, Master of Secrets and majestic Taranatha, I supplicate!
To you, Jetsun Thinley Wangmo, I supplicate!¹⁴
Having received instructions in the presence of the Jetsun-ma,¹⁵
To you, majestic Kunga Palzang, I supplicate!¹⁶
To you, Kunga Yontan Gyatso, I supplicate!¹⁷
To you, Palden Namnang Dorje, I supplicate!¹⁸
To you, Kunga Ödzer, I supplicate!
To you, supreme Palden Lama, I supplicate!
To you endowed with threefold kindness, I supplicate!¹⁹

Through the blessings of all the buddhas of the three times,
In accord with what is included here and what has been explained,
These supplementary verses were composed by Mati [Khenpo Ngawang Lodrö Drakpa].

Notes
4 The "Peerless City" (Dpe med) is a city in Kashmir.
8 Chömden Raltri was a Kadampa master.
9 Kyiton Jamyang was the preceptor who transmitted the sutra zhentong works to Dolpopa.
11 Dönyod Drubpa was a disciple of Sakya Chogden and a teacher of Kunga Dolchok.
12 This was Taranatha's root lama.
13 Lhawang Drakpa was the master who transmitted this lineage on to Taranatha. See the last verse above for praise to him.
14 This was Taranatha’s younger sister.
15 This is a reference to his root master, Jetsun Thinley Wangmo.
16 Kunga Palzang was the first figure in this supplication to be from Amdo. The previous Tibetan masters recorded are from the Ü-Tsang region, Central Tibet. Kunga Palzang otherwise known as "Droggi Lama" founded Droggi Monastery in Ngawa County in Amdo, see Ngag dbang (1992), 521-3. He was also a disciple of Kunga Rinchen Gyatso, see Ngag dbang (1992), 61. The lineage transmission (brgyud rim) from here on follows the tradition from Droggi Monastery and its affiliate Swe Monastery. Although these verses were composed by Khenpo Lodrö Drakpa who was from Dzamthang Tsangwa Monastery, a record of this lineage was given to him by his contemporary, Lama Thukjé from Swe Monastery with the request that he compose verses to this particular branch of the Jonang transmission lineage. There is a separate lineage of figures from Dzamthang Tsangwa Monastery and other main Jonang monasteries in Amdo.
17 This was the reincarnation (sprul sku) of Kunga Palzang.
18 This master was from Swe Monastery.
19 This is a reference to Lama Thukjé from Swe Monastery

Tibetan Sources:

• Ta ra na tha, Rje btsun. Zab mo gzhan stong dbu ma'i brgyud 'debs, 3, 159-70. In Kun mkhyen Dol po pa Shes rab Rgyal mtshan Gsung ‘bum. ‘Dzam thang.
  
• Ngag dbang Blos gros Grags pa. Jo nang chos 'byung zla ba'i sgron me. Qinghai: Nationalities Press, 1992.

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