shar kaH thog pa bsod nams rgyal mtshan dpal bzang po'i rnam par thar pa dri med yid bzhin nor bu'i phreng ba

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This outline of the Shangpa Kagyu lineages is based in part on the research of E. Gene Smith, Nicole Riggs and Michael Pahlke, as well as some research of my own. Tibetan sources: Jamgon Kongtrul's shes bya kun khyab mdzod, his gsan yig chen mo (compiled by Kongtrul's student Karma Tashi Chöphel), shangs pa gser 'phreng, shangs pa bka' brgyud bla rabs kyi rnam thar, dpal ldan shangs pa bka' brgyud gyi gser chos rin po che'i mdzod yongs su phye ba'i dkar chag bai durya'i lde'u mig, dpal ldan shangs pa'i chos skor gyi 'byung khungs yid kyi mun sel and the deb ther sngon po.

The Seven Shangpa Jewels (rin chen rnam bdun):

Until then the full Shangpa transmissions were, as commanded by Niguma, given from the lineage holding master to only a single student. It fell then to Sangye Tönpa to disseminate the transmissions more widely, and he gave the full lineage transmission to his two main students:

  • Khedrub Tsangma Shangtön (mkhas grub gtsang ma shangs ston, 1234-1309), who originated the Jonang transmission of the Shangpa, the Thanglug and Jagpa lineages.
  • Khetsün Shönu Drub (mkhas btsun gzhon nu grub, d.1319), who originated the Nyangme Samding lineage.

Jonang (jo nang) transmission of the Shangpa - originated with Khedrub Tsangma Shangtön (1234-1309)

Thanglug (thang lugs) - originated with Khedrub Tsangma Shangtön (1234-1309), but called after Thangtong Gyalpo (1361-1485?)

  • Müchen Gyaltsen Palsang (mus chen rgyal mtshan dpal bzang)
  • Khedrub Dorje Shönu (mkhas grub rdo rje gzhon nu)
  • Müchen/Tsenden Namkhe Naljor (mus chen/mtsan ldan nam mkha'i rnal 'byor; aka grub thob bya 'phur ba)
  • Khangapa Paljor Sherab (bka' lnga pa dpal 'byor shes rab)
  • Jangsem Jinpa Sangpo (byang sems sbyin pa bzang po)
  • Drubchen Thangtong Gyalpo (grub chen thang stong rgyal po, 1361-1485?)
  • Mangkar Gönsar Gyüdzin Lodrö Gyaltsen (mang mkhar dgon gsar brgyud 'dzin blo gros rgyal mtshan)
  • Khedrub Palden Karpo (mkhas grub dpal ldan dkar po)
  • Jetsün Sönam Tsemo (rje btsun bsod nams rtse mo)
  • Lochen Gyurme Dechen (lo chen 'gyur med bde chen, b.1540)
  • Latang Dzongpa Khenchen Ngawang Chödrag (bla btang mkhan chen ngag dbang chos grags, 1572-1641)
  • Jamyang Sönam Gyaltsen ('jam dbyangs bsod nams rgyal mtshan)
  • Ngawang Tenpa Dargye (ngag dbang bstan pa dar rgyas)
  • Mangthö Sönam Chöpel (mang thos bsod nams chos 'phel)
  • Kunga Legpe Jungne (kung dga' legs pa'i 'byung gnas)
  • Jamyang Sönam Palsang ('jam dbyangs bsod nams dpal bzang)
  • Phagchog Chönyi Yeshe ('phags mchog chos nyid ye shes)
  • Mü Yeshe Gyalchog (mus ye shes rgyal mchog)
  • Yongdzin Mati (yongs 'dzin ma ti)
  • Jamgön Dorje Rinchen ('jam mgon rdo rje rin chen)
  • Shalu Ribug Tulku Losal Tenkyong (zhwa lu ri sbug sprul sku blo gsal bstan skyong, b.1804)
  • Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo ('jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse'i dbang po, 1820-1892)
  • Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye ('jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas, 1813-1899)

Jagpa ('jag pa) - originated with Khedrub Tsangma Shangtön (1234-1309), named after the monastery Jag Chungpal ('jag chung dpal) which he established

  • Jagpa Gyaltsen Bum ('jag pa rgyal mtshan 'bum, 1261-1334)
  • Jagchen Jampa Pal ('jag chen byams pa dpal, 1310-1391)
  • Lodrö Kunga Pal (blo gros kun dga' dpal)
  • Drubchen Rindzongpa Wangchuk Gyaltsen (grub chen rin rdzong pa dbang phyug rgyal mtshan, b.1317)
  • Drubthob Chöjung Rinchen (grub thob chos 'byung rin chen, 1351-1408)
  • Lapchiwa Namkha Gyaltsen (la phyi ba nam mkha' rgyal mtshan, 1372-1437)
  • Duldzin Ngawang Gyaltsen ('dul 'dzin ngag dbang rgyal mtshan)
  • Namkha Samdrub Gyaltsen (nam mkha' bsam grub rgyal mtshan, 1408–1462)
  • Khetsün Chöje (mkhas btsun chos rje)
  • Sönam Chödrub (bsod nams chos grub)
  • Rabjam Chöje Könsam (rab 'byams chos rje dkon bsam)

Nyangme Samding (nyang smad bsam sdings) - originated with Khetsün Shönu Drub (d.1319), named after the Samding monastery in lower Nyang, where Shönu Drub made his seat

  • Serlingpa Tashi Pal (gser gling pa bkra shis dpal, 1292-1365)
  • Dragpo Chewa Dorje Pal (brag po che ba rdo rje dpal)
  • Chögowa Chöpal Sherab (chos sgo ba chos dpal shes rab)

We do not know how the Jagpa and Nyangme Samding lineages continued, whether they simply ceased to exist or were absorbed into the Jonang and Thanglug lineages or not. Some transmissions of the Jagpa lineage certainly continue within the Gelugpa school, on account of Tsongkhapa Lobsang Dragpa (tsong kha pa blo bzang grags pa, 1357-1419) having been a student of Jagchen Jampa Pal. Tsongkhapa's student Khedrub Je Geleg Palsang (mkhas grub rje dge legs dpal bzang, 1385-1438) wrote on Shangpa materials, as did the 2nd Dalai Lama Gendun Gyatso (dge 'dun rgya mtsho, 1475-1542) and the great 18th century Gelugpa master Changkya Rolpe Dorje (lcang skya rol pa'i rdo rje, 1717-1786). However, whether the full transmission has been received or not is an open question. What we do know is that there must have been some exchanges at least among certain lineage masters. We for instance know that the Māhasiddha Thangtong Gyalpo went to Lapchi in order to visit Lapchiwa Namkha Gyaltsen. It is by all means possible, even likely, that both masters would have compared notes, exchanged teachings, maybe even empowerments. Indeed it says clearly in Thangtong Gyalpo's biography: "They gave explanations to each other of the teachings of Naropa and Niguma." We also know that the above mentioned Kalsang Gyurme Dechen, better known as Lochen Gyurme Dechen, studied closely under Jetsün Kunga Drölchog and received many Shangpa teachings from him. We should also remind ourselves of the fact, which we learn from Kunga Drölchog's biography, that once upon a time there were many more lineages that just the four above mentioned ones. Kunga Drölchog was famous for having received the 24 (!) existing transmission lineages of the Shangpa Kagyu of his time, to which he contributed his own close or visionary lineage, making it 25 lineages altogether! Even though the above lineages are presented as rather static, we must not think that the masters listed transmitted the Shangpa teachings only within the narrow confines of their own lineages. There is more and more evidence that there was much cross-fertilization between these lineages, virtually in all generations. However that may be, the existing lineages were all received by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye and continue, as shown below, until the present day:

Yet another parallel Shangpa lineage comes through the 2nd Jamgön Kongtrul, Palden Khyentse Öser (1904-1953), aka Karsey Kongtrul on account of his having been the son of the 15th Karmapa Khakyab Dorje (1871-1922). He must have received the transmission from Khenchen Tashi Öser and Karma Tashi Chöpel , and passed it on to Sangye Tendzin Rinpoche, the great master of Kongya monastery in Nangchen, who passed away only a few years ago.

Clearly there are extant Shangpa lineages in Tibet, such as the Shangpa transmissions within the Jonang school in Amdo and Golok, or the one maintained in Tshabtsha Monastery (tshab tsha dgon) in Kham/Eastern Tibet, which used to be a branch of Palpung monastery, the seat of the Tai Situ Rinpoches, though it eventually became much larger than Palpung itself. The master of that monastery had done a retreat focussing on the Shangpa practices under Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye, at his seat of Tsadra Rinchen Drak (tsa 'dra rin chen brag). Upon his return to his own monastery, he constructed another such retreat centre there. Apparently the previous Kalu Rinpoche went there in the 1940s and both masters reviewed and exchanged their Shangpa transmissions. Pangen monastery (phang en dgon), the monastery where the young previous Kalu Rinpoche originally came from before he went to Palpung and Tsadra, has also established a retreat centre for the Shangpa tradition recently.

Also the two main seats of Jamgön Kongtrul in Tibet, Tsadra Rinchen Drak (tsa 'dra rin chen brag) and Dzongshö Desheg Düpe Phodrang (rdzong shod bde gshegs 'dus pa'i pho drang), have been reconstructed and a number of retreats following the Shangpa tradition have been performed there.

Yet another functioning Shangpa retreat centre can be found at Benchen monastery (ban chen dgon) in Nangchen/Eastern Tibet, the seat of H.E. Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche (sangs rgyas mnyan pa), Kyabje Tenga Rinpoche (bstan dga’) and Chime Tulku Rinpoche (‘chi med). This goes back to the previous, 2nd Tenga Rinpoche, Tendzin Chögyal (bstan ‘dzin chos rgyal, d.1930), who had been a close disciple and attendant of Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye. He performed the Shangpa retreat under Jamgön Kongtrul’s supervision and served as the retreat master, or Drubpön, for a number of retreats while Jamgön Kongtrul himself was obliged to travel to Central Tibet. Upon Tendzin Chögyal’s return to his own Benchen monastery, years later, he immediately established a retreat center for the practice of the Shangpa teachings. Presently, the 3rd Kyabje Tenga Rinpoche, is establishing a new retreat center which will focus upon the practices of the Shangpa Kagyü lineage in Parphing near Kathmandu. It is hoped to be operational in late 2010 or early 2011.

True to the spirit of the Shangpa lineage, its ongoing existence has never been publicized a lot by the lineage holding masters. It is therefore by all means to be expected, that there are many more retreat facilities in present-day Tibet which follow the Shangpa curriculum. Presently we know of the five above mentioned ones: Tsadra, Dzongshö, Benchen, Tshabtsha and Pangen. Only extensive research of these matters, on the ground, i.e. in Tibet itself, could bring more light into this.

[TSD]

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