Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen
Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (1292-1361) was one of the great luminaries of 14th century Tibet. Born in the present-day Dolpo region of Nepal, Sherab Gyaltsen was raised within the Nyingma tradition. When he was 17 years old, he fled to Mustang in search of his teacher Kyiton Jamyang Dragpa Gyaltsen, who was to be be one of Dolpopa's main teachers. At the age of 20, he went to the great monastic establishment of Sakya in Central Tibet where he studied intensively for many years. Among other teachings he received there, mostly from Kyiton Jamyang, the Kalachakra-tantra, the Bodhisattva Trilogy (sems 'grel skor gsum), the Sutras on Buddha-nature (snying po'i mdo), the Sutras of Definitive Meaning (nges don mdo) and the Five treatises of Maitreya (byams chos sde lnga). Until the age of 29, Dolpopa had already studied under more than 30 teachers, and had become an eminent teacher in his own right, having earned the honorary title "Kunkhyen" (Omniscient One).
After traveling throughout Central Tibet on a tour of the most prestigious centers of learning where he received instructions and transmissions from some of the most influential spiritual masters at the time, Dolpopa arrived at Jomonang. A year later, in 1322, Dolpopa returned to the Richo Chenmo at Jomonang to request the full empowerment of the Kalachakra Tantra from Yontan Gyatso, the throne-holder at Jonang who was to become his second main teacher. He then entered into a solitary retreat on the 6-fold vajrayoga ("six yogas," sbyor drug) of the Kalachakra in the Khacho Dedan cave.
In 1326, Yontan Gyatso appointed Dolpopa as the 4th heir to the throne at Jomonang. Then from 1330-1333, Dolpopa constructed the Great Stupa of Jonang. He then began to formulate his understandings derived from his meditation experiences. Beginning in 1334, Dolpopa oversaw a new translation of the Kalachakra Tantra from Sanskrit into Tibetan by his disciples Lotsawa Lodro Pal and Sabzang Mati Panchen. Synthesizing the 3rd turning sutra discourses of the Buddha with the tantras, Dolpopa's teachings later were referred to as "zhentong," a term that he used to describe the ultimate nature of reality.
Primary Teachers[edit]
Kyiton Jamyang Dragpa Gyaltsen
Yonten Gyatso
Primary Students[edit]
Jonang Chogle Namgyal
Nyawon Kunga Pal
Lotsawa Lodro Pal
Sabzang Mati Panchen
References[edit]
- The Buddha from Dolpo, by Cyrus Stearns. ISBN 0-7914-4191-1