Zurchen Choying Rangdrol
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Short biography
Zurchen Choying Rangdrol (1604-1669), Born to the Zur family, his father Zurchen Zhonu Dondrub, was an incarnation of Rigdzin Kumaradza and his mother, Tsenden Yidzin, was said to be a dakini. Choying Rangdrol himself was an incarnation of Trungpa Konchok Rinchen and Nyak Jnanakumara. At the age of nine he met Rigdzin Ngagi Wangpo who instatntly recognized the young boy as a special incarnation who would greatly benefit beings and the teachings and specifically the Nyingmapa doctrine. From that time he began to receive teachings from all branches of the Nyingma school, but especially the Northern Treasures of Rigdzin Godemchen. From his seventeenth year, he began to study and practice the Guhyagarbha Tantra (The Root Tantra of the Maha Yoga) so that by the age of twenty he was able and ready to teach it himself. After hearing his teaching, Ngagi Wangpo draped a silk scarf around his neck and his reputation began to be wide spread.
His teaching on the Guyagarbha in particular passed to Lhodrak Peling Sungtrul (the 4th Padma Lingpa incarnation) Tsultrim Dorje who taught it even more widely. The great 5th Dalai Lama honored Choying Rangdrol as his root teacher, receiving the Northern Treasures from him. In particular, the Great Fifth relied on Choying Rangdrol for teachings on the Great Perfection practices unitl the confidence of nirvana was born within him. Eventually, he retired to Kungtang where he spent the latter part of his life teaching beings from throughout Tibet, China and Mongolia.
Literary Works
Main Teachers
- Kathok Padmamati
- Gonpo Sonam Chogden
- Sangdak Trinley Lhundrub
- Zurchen Zhonu Dondrub (father)
- Nangsel Rinpoche, Ngawang Yeshe Trupa (??)
- Peljor Lhundrub of Phawangkha (??)
Main Students
- Dordrak Rigdzin Chenpo Pema Trinley
- Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso
- Gonpo Sonam Chogden
- Sangdak Trinley Lhundrub
- Kathok Padmamati
Main Lineages
Alternate Names & Spellings
Other Resources
- zur thams cad mkhyen pa chos dbyings rang grol gyi rnam thar theg mchog bstan pa'i shing rta - {rgyal ba lnga pa chen po ngag dbang blo bzang rgya mtsho mdzad pa, zhu dag byed pa po slob dpon gnag mdog}; Dalai Lama V (1617-1682). (RY)
- zur chos dbyings rang grol - Zur Chöying Rangdröl: 1604-1669 [RY]
- chos dbyings rang grol - zur thams cad mkhyen pa [RY]