The Treasury of Lives

Ritropa Zangpo Drakpa (ri khrod pa bzang po) is said to have been born in a tiger year, almost certainly in the first part of the fourteenth century, and so likely either the water tiger (1303), the wood tiger (1315), or the fire tiger year (1326). His birthplace was somewhere in the traditional province of Southern Lato. This is a vast region that stretches along the border with Nepal and includes the present-day counties of Dingri (ding ri), Nyalam (gnya' lam), and Kyirong (skyid grong) This approximation of his natal land is likely based on his known activities in the mountains of Dingri and his concern with the welfare of the royal dynasty of Mangyul Gungtang (mang yul gung thang), which was centered in the city of Dzongkha (dzong kha) in Kyirong County (skyid rong). Nevertheless, he is also known to have ventured northeast into Lhartse (lha rtse), which is in the western reaches of the traditional province of Tsang.  

Just as the available sources do not identify his specific birth place, they also do not name his parents or any other family members, although some sources refer to him as "Manglam" (mang lam) Zangpo Drakpa, which suggests that might be his birth region.

While still a youth, Zangpo Drakpa was affiliated with the Dakpo Kagyu. Although one nineteenth century source refers to him as a monk, he is more frequently described as a wandering mountain hermit, who was an expert meditator specializing in Mahāmudrā. He is also referred to as a Kusulupa (ku su lu pa), which is a title meaning "exorcist" or "mystic" that is used for Chod (gcod) practitioners. The titles of his treasures, discussed below, suggest that he was known for subduing local divinities and producing ritual practices that reinforced his mystical accomplishments. The available sources do not mention any of his teachers by name, nor do they mention any specific temples or monasteries to which he paid allegiance.      

According to the vast majority of the biographical sources, Zangpo Drakpa experienced a pair of prophetic visions that lead to his career as a treasure revealer. The first is known as the prophecy of the snowy Bule mountains (gangs ri bu le), for it is in a cave of Mount Shri (shri ri), known also as Tsibri (rtsib ri), within this mountain range that he received his first instructions regarding treasure. In the most elaborate account, the spirit (gnod sbyin) of the Bule mountains took the form of a boy wearing a white, silken turban and engaged in a lengthy, dream-like conversation with Zangpo Drakpa. The encounter concluded with the boy beseeching the meditator to travel to the temple of Drompa Gyang (grom pa rgyang) in Lhartse County (lha rtse) to extract treasures that were concealed there by Padmasambhava and his disciples. This temple was one of the structures featured in the seventh century geomantic network established by the Emperor Songtsen Gampo (srong brtsan sgam po, c. 617-c.650). Despite the urgency with which the boy spoke, Zangpo Drakpa ignored the spirit, treating it merely as a distraction to his meditation.

Later, while travelling as a beggar in Langkhor (glang 'khor), which is also in Dingri (ding ri), Zangpo Drakpa met a meditation master who said that his name was "Nyanam Lagom" (snya nam la sgom), which means something like "he who meditates while asleep." The meditation master, who tradition maintains was a manifestation of Padmasambhava himself, commanded Zangpo Drakpa to follow the instructions of the Bule prophecies that were previously transmitted to him in a dream-like state.

Finally convinced of the importance of his visions, Zangpo Drakpa traveled to the Gyang (rgyang) district in Lhartse, where he extracted treasures from two different locations. The first cache was discovered as prophesized at Drompa Gyang. The second cache was discovered in one of Padmasambhava's retreat caves, known as Gyang Yonbulung (rgyang yon bu lung), in the same district. It is significant that both of these sites are associated with the imperial period of Tibetan history, which is when treasure texts are believed to have been concealed by Padmasambhava and others.

These treasures were extracted in the final month of summer in the year of the water tiger (1362), which is one of the few complete dates that are provided in the sources.

At Rulak Drompa Gyang, he found the scrolls within a statue of a local deity known as Gonpo Jampa or "friendly protector" of Gyang (rgyang gi mgon po byams pa). At this location, there were thirty-six scrolls: twenty eight scrolls of the Sādhana for the Tamdrin Empowerment (rta mgrin dbang gi bsgrub thabs), four of the Treasures intended for the King of Gungtang (gung thang rgyal po la gsungs pa), one of the Sādhana of Gonpo Jampa, the Protector of Gyang (mgon po byams pa'i sgrub thabs), and three of the Sādhana of the Spirit of the Bule Mountains (gnod sbyin bu le'i sgrub thabs).

At Gyang Yonbulung, he discovered the following nineteen scrolls: seven scrolls of the Sādhana of Avalokiteśvara ('phags pa spyan ras gzigs kyi sgrub thabs), two of the Sādhana and Subjugating Mantras for the Nāgas (klu'i gsang bsgrub drag sngags dang bcas pa), four of the Treasures intended for the King of Gungtang (gung thang rgyal po la gsungs pa), and six of the Sādhana of Vajrapāni (phyag na rdo rje'i sgrub thabs).

Within this total collection of fifty-five, there was a small group of eight scrolls that contained treasures Zangpo Drakpa concluded were intended for his fellow treasure revealer Rigdzin Godemchen (rig 'dzin rgod ldem chen, 1337-1409); this collection consisted of the following nine titles: The Supplication in Seven Chapters (gsol 'debs le'u bdun) for the King of Gungtang, The Blazing Wheel Exorcism (phyir zlog 'khor lo 'bar ba), The Heart-Essence of the Final Testament (zhal chems thugs kyi thigs pa), The Inventory of the Northern Treasures (kha byang gter gyi bang mdzod), The Lantern that Reveals the Northern Ways (lam byang gsal ba'i sgron me), The Essential Ladder-Rung: An Extensive Treasure Inventory (snying byang rgyas pa gnad kyi them bu), The Middle-length Ray of Compassion ('bring po thugs rje'i 'od zer), The Condensed Iron Hook of Compassion (bsdud pa thugs rje'i lcags kyu), and Seven Instructions of the Seminal Heart (snying thig gnad kyi man ngag don bdun ma).

Guru Tashi's History also mentions a guidebook (gnas yig) for Mt. Pelbar (ri bo dpal 'bar) and instructions for building a temple there. This is significant as Mt. Pelbar is most likely another name for Mt. Shri, one of the most important early centers for the Jangter (byang gter), or Northern Treasure Tradition, of which both Zangpo Drakpa and Rigdzin Godemchen were early propagators.

The Inventory and the Seven Instructions are important within the Jangter because they are later used to legitimize the treasure activities of Rigdzin Godemchen. It is also interesting that several of these texts are exorcistic in nature and suggest that he interacted with local divinities with skill. When Zangpo Drakpa's entire collection of treasures is considered, it appears that a fair amount of his activities were aimed at acquiring the patronage of the royal family of Mangyul Gungtang, which traced its heritage to the great monarchs of the Tibetan Empire and in many ways represented the last of the surviving remnants of the imperium. Although the kingdom flourished during the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries as a result of its close relationship with the Sakyapa, when that regime collapsed in the mid-thirteenth century, Mangyul Gungtang also experienced political instability. It appears that Zangpo Drakpa believed that his treasures held the power to stabilize the kingdom. For example, the final chapter of The Supplication in Seven Chapters, advises the kings of Gungtang to trust in the guidance of these treasures in order to secure the longevity of the kingdom. While the biographical sources do not mention any episodes in which Zangpo Drakpa attempted to contact the royal family directly, his treasure successor, Rigdzin Godemchen, diligently sought the patronage of the kings and was eventually rewarded with a royal edict that publicly consummated their relationship.

It is said that through his prophetic foresight, Zangpo Drakpa knew that the subset of eight scrolls mentioned above were destined to be wielded by another treasure revealer. In 1365, he therefore dispatched an entourage of three companions, headed by Tonpa Sonam Wangchuk (ston pa bsod nams dbang phyug), to deliver the scrolls with insightful instructions for identifying the individual who would use them. The majority of the biographical sources emphasize the part of the instructions that prophetically describe the group's future encounter with Rigdzin Godemchen and the happenstance manner in which they will eventually meet, leaving the reader with the impression that the treasure scrolls were passed between unrelated parties.

In The Ray of Sunlight, which is arguably the oldest of the historiographic sources of the Jangter tradition, the instructions to the three companions and the transmission of the scrolls are presented in a more complete form that reveals the preexisting connection, albeit indirect, between Zangpo Drakpa and Rigdzin Godemchen. According to this source, the three companions were also told that if they could not find someone who matched the prophetic description, they should seek out Zangpo Drakpa's trusted friend named Kyechok Darzang (skye mchog dar bzang). Kyechok Darzang was also the root teacher of Rigdzin Godemchen's maternal uncle named Ritropa Sanggye Tenpa (ri khrod pa sangs rgyas bstan pa). In fact, as soon as Rigdzin Godemchen received the scrolls from the three companions, he brought them to his uncle for review. Sanggye Tenpa then brought his nephew and the scrolls to see Kyechok Darzang, the very person who would have received the scrolls if the companions had not located Rigdzin Godemchen.

None of the biographical sources mention any further details of Zangpo Drakpa's life after he dispatched the three companions with the eight treasure scrolls.