The Treasury of Lives

Meu Gongdzo (rme'u dgongs mdzod) was born in 1038 in a place called Gurzhok (gur zhogs), located in the Shang (shangs) district of Tibet. His father was called Shakya Ten (shakya brten) of the Meu (rme'u) clan, and his mother was called Dorje Tso (rdo rje mtsho). He was the elder of four brothers. When he grew up, his parents forced him to marry when he was eighteen. However, disgusted with worldly life, he broke from his wife by faking a painful illness.

Soon after, Meu Gongdzo met Lama Kyese Chenpo (bla ma skye se chen po) from whom he received numerous tantric and Dzogchen teachings. Moreover, he listened to the minor sections of Mind (sems phran), including works like the Gabpa (gab pa) in the presence of Druton Yungdrung (bru ston g.yung drung) and Drolwa Shengyel (sgrol ba gshen rgyal).

Together with these two masters, Meu Gongdzo traveled to Upper Nyang (nyangs stod) to visit the master Takpa Khache (stag pa kha che) from whom the little group listened to teachings on logic (tshad ma). After this, he reflected that it would be better for him to spend his time practicing meditation in seclusion.

Meu Gongdzo traveled to Karpo Drak (dkar po'i brag) in Shang and he met there Droton Treton Gocha (drod ston tre ston go cha, late 10th-early 11th century) and Jetsun Trotsang Druklha (rje btsun khro tshang 'brug lha, 956-1077) from whom he received several oral instructions. After that, he went to U and attended the teachings of Khenpo Daryupa (mkhan po dar yu pa) and Lobpon Joyung (slob dpon jo g.yung) before taking full monk vows at the age of twenty-four.

That same year, Khenpo Daryupa returned to Tsang where he entered an intensive retreat in a hermitage. Meu Gongdzo decided to follow his example and remained in his hermitage on Karpo Drak for twelve years. He practiced there in complete solitude, having cut all links with other people. He practiced meditation without distraction and with great zeal, day and night. Ultimately, he saw all illusory appearances liberate in and as the Space of Reality (bon nyid dbyings). He is said to have obtained the Body of Immaculate Wisdom (zag med ye shes sku), while the supreme accomplishment (buddhahood) instantaneously arose in him.

Meu Gongdzo transmitted his teachings to a group of four main disciples, instructing each of them in different matters. He gave the transmission of the teachings regarding the View and Meditation of Dzogchen to Gomchen Barwa (sgom chen 'bar ba). He taught the practice of Secret Formulas (gsang sngags, i.e. tantras) to Nuden Drupshen (nus ldan sgrub gshen). He taught the practice of monastic discipline to Namdak Tsunpa (rnam dag btsun pa), and he gave the teachings of the Great Vehicle to Jangchub Sempa (byang chub sems dpa'). Moreover, he had numerous other qualified practitioners who attended his teachings on meditation and many of them reached the highest stages of accomplishment.

When Meu Gongdzo was fifty-nine, as he was preparing to return to Tsang, he was invited by Sonam Gyel (bsod nams rgyal) of the Trotsang (khro tshang) family to strive for the welfare of all beings. Despite being struck by illness, for fourteen days he gave gave teachings and oral instructions to his attendants. Then, on the fourteenth of the middle month of winter, in the Fire mouse year (1096), at the early break of dawn, his contemplation (dgongs pa) dissolved into the Space of Reality. The tradition reports that, as supports for guiding beings of future generations, he left many relics in the cremation of his body, such as statues, seed-syllables, and so forth.

Meu Gongdzo's many disciples continued his teachings and thus maintained his special tradition of practice. They are commonly grouped into several categories: his four mind-sons (thugs sras), his two wives (lcam gnyis), his eight younger brothers (gcung brgyad), his two young sons (tha chung), the fifty-eight Siddhas (grub thob nga brgyad), and the three hundred hermits wandering in the mountains. Beyond these he was said to have guided thousands of disciples in meditation. Having begun teaching meditation in a simple hermitage, the lamp of his teachings spread far and wide. In particular, he spread the outer teachings of monastic discipline, the inner teachings of the Great Vehicle (Mahāyāna) and the secret teachings on the practice of View and Meditation (lta sgom nyams len).

His main disciples diffused the teachings in the four directions of Tibet: Zhakgom Barwa (bzhag sgom 'bar ba, a.k.a sgom chen 'bar ba) in the east; Pogom Zhikpo (pho sgom zhig po) in the north; Kyeme Drangsong (skye med drang srong) in the west; and Yardrok Meton (yar 'brog me ston) in the south. The master who received the Atri (a khrid) transmission and was to be the next lineage-holder was Tokden Gomchen Barwa.

Meu Gongdzo was prophecized as an emanation of Tseme Oden (tshad med 'od ldan) in a text known as the Kyangpak Nejang Drukcu (skyang 'phags gnad byang drug cu) where he is named Meuton Dampa Ritro (rme'u/rmi'u ston dam pa ri khrod) and described as endowed with the Contemplation of Kuntuzangpo. In the Dulwa Lingdrak ('dul ba gling grags), he is known as an emanation of Sertok Chejam (gser thog lce 'byams) and as belonging to the Meu clan. However, in the Magic Key of Drogon ('gro mgon 'phrul lde), he is regarded as an emanation of Sene Ga'u (sad ne ga'u) and he is known under his ordination name of Yungdrung Gyeltsen (g.yung drung rgyal mtshan).