The Treasury of Lives

The Fifty-ninth Ganden Tripa, Ngawang Chodrak (dga' ldan khri pa 59 ngag dbang chos grags) was born at Rinchen Shong (rin chen shongs) near Chubzang Monastery in Tolung (stod lung chu bzang dgon) a place said to have been blessed by the Kadam lamas, in 1710, the iron-tiger year of the twelfth sexagenary cycle. His father was called Tsering Samdrub (tse ring bsam grub) and mother was named Dzom Kyi ('dzoms skyid).

At a young age he was admitted to the Chubzang Monastery (chu bzang dgon) where he was given the primary vows of monk (rab byung) the basic training in the monastic life, and was taught reading, writing, and memorizing prayer texts and root-verses of important philosophical texts.

In his youth Ngawang Chodrak travelled to Lhasa and enrolled in Sera Me College (se ra smad thos bsam gling) of Sera Monastic University near Lhasa. There he studied logic, Abhisamayālaṃkāra, Madhyamaka, Abhidharmakośa, Pramāṇavārttika, and Vinaya, the major subjects of the Geshe courses of studies under a number of eminent teachers of the monastery such as Khedrub Chenpo Rinchen Gyeltsen (mkhas grub chen po rin chen rgyal mtshan, d.u.).

Ngawang Chodrak slept little as he pursued his studies. It is said that one morning at the break of dawn, having spent the night reciting texts on the roof, he experienced a vision of white ray of light entering into his body that brought a long-lasting ecstasy. As a result he enjoyed a sharper intellect and a heightened understanding of the meanings of texts. On his own initiative he engaged in a debate with monks from Sera Je with a performance that contributed to the elevation of his reputation, and taught the new students of both Sera Je and Sera Je courses in logic. He earned first the Lingse Geshe (ling bsre dge bshes) degree and subsequently Geshe Rabjampa (rab byams pa) during the Lhaden Tsokcho Chenmo (lha ldan tshogs mchod chen mo), an annual prayer festival dedicated to the Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobzang Gyatso (ta la'i bla ma 05 ngag dbang blo bzang rgya mtsho, 1617-1682). He was appointed as disciplinarian for the debate-session of his college during and is remembered for raising the quality of the debate classes.

Ngawang Chodrak then enrolled in Gyuto College, as it was the tradition for ambitious young scholars to study advanced and systematic tantra in either of the Tantric colleges in Lhasa. There he studied under the tutorship of the Fifty-fifth Ganden Tripa, Ngawang Namkha Zangpo (dga' ldan khri pa 55 ngag dbang nam mkha' bzang po, 1690-1750), Sharchen Ngawang Lhundrub (shar chen ngag dbang lhun grub, d.u.), and the Fifty-seventh Ganden Tripa, Samten Puntsok (dga' ldan khri pa 57 bsam gtan phun tshogs, 1703-1770). In addition to studying the tantric literature, he was trained in rites and rituals, religious dance and music, the chanting of prayers, drawing maṇḍala, and related tantric topics according to the Gyuto tradition.

After completion of studies in tantra Ngawang Chodrak was appointed as chant-leader and then abbot of Gyuto College, during which he taught mainly regular tantra courses in detail as per their tradition. He subsequently served as the abbot of Ganden Shartse and taught both sutra and tantra and then ascended to the Golden Throne of Ganden Monastery (dga' ldan dgon) as its Fifty-ninth Tripa in 1771, the iron-hare year of the thirteenth sexagenary cycle. He served for less than two years, giving teachings in the summer as well as winter study sessions; leading the fortnightly confession ceremonies; and the prayer sessions of the 1772  Lhasa Monlam Chenmo. He also served as patron-lama to Gyaljetsal (rgyal byed tshal) and Chubzang Monasteries.

Trichen Ngawang Chodrak was known for living a very simple life, preferring inexpensive, ordinary robes and a very old wooden tea cup, in contrast to the expensive brocade robes and silver-plated dishes.

Trichen Ngawang Chodrak related a dream that was understood to foretell his nirvana: “I was standing in front of a large Maitreya statue and a man in white dress offered me a skull-cup full of nectar that I drank to the last drop.” Some of his disciples also dreamed that he was fully recovered from an illness that he had suffered for some time, and that he was well dressed in new robes, departing for the Tushita Pure Land. Some others saw bright rainbows covering the Trichen's residence. Anticipating his death, the Trichen gave important advice to monks. He passed into nirvana in 1772, the year of water-dragon in the thirteenth sexagenary cycle, when he was sixty.

His disciples took his body to a forest called Pabongkha Jangchub Shinggi Nagtro (pha bong kha byang chub shing gi ngags khrod) and cremated with great respect and prayers and rituals. Later they found his heart, tongue, eyeballs, genitals with pubic hair, and some intestines surprisingly intact in the ashes of his cremation. A silver reliquary in form of enlightenment stupa (byang chub mchod rten) was built to hold the remains and installed among the objects of faith in the Ganden Lolang Lhakhang (dga' ldan blos blangs khang). An extensive nirvana-prayer was done by making abundant extensive meal-offerings to monks and prayers at holy shrines at a large number of monasteries in the region.

Ngawang Chodrak had a large number of disciples among which most known names included Longdol Lama Ngawang Lobzang (klong rdol bla ma ngag dbang blo bzang, 1719-1794) and Tsangpa Khenchen Yeshe Peljor (gtsang pa mkhan chen ye shes dpal 'byor, 1714-1783).

Lobzang Genyen (mdzod pa blo bzang dge bsnyen), the treasurer of the Tripa's monastic residence gave the late Trichen Ngawang Chodrak's personal mattress, scholar-hat, and many other personal belongings to the house for preservation as objects of faith.