The Treasury of Lives

Bamda Gelek ('ba' mda' dge legs) was born in the village of Bamda ('ba' mda') in the valley of Dzamtang ('dzam thang) in Amdo. He was the eldest of five children born to a father named Drala Chaklo (dgra bla lcags lo) and a mother named Kyi Koma (skyid ko ma). His personal name was Tubten Gelek Gyatso (thub bstan dge legs rgya mtsho). He is said to have had the ability to master with little difficulty any topic taught to him. In his youth he studied mostly under teachers of Tsangwa Monastery (gtsang pa dgon), the largest and most famous of the sections of Dzamtang Monastery ('dzam thang dgon), and the one closest to Bamda Gelek's home.

Around age eighteen he left home for the kingdom of Derge (sde dge) in Kham to enroll in the famous Śrī Siṃha Monastic College (shrI sing+ha bshad grwa) of Dzogchen Monastery (rdzog chen dgon), a Nyingma institution renowned for its teaching of the "five great texts" (bka' pod lnga) of Indian exoteric Buddhism. There he studied under some of the most important scholars of his day, including the Fourth Dzogchen Rinpoche Mingyur Namkhai Dorje (mi 'gyur nam mkha'i rdo rje, 1793-1870), the eighth abbot of Dzogchen, Padma Vajra (mkhan po pad+ma badz+ra, 1807-1884), the great Patrul Rinpoche, Orgyen Jigme Chokyi Wangpo (dpal sprul o rgyan 'jigs med chos kyi dbang po, 1808-1887), and the then abbot of Śrī Siṃha, Konchok Ozer (dkon mchog 'od zer, b. 1830s), otherwise known as Lama Akon (bla ma a dkon). He also studied for some time at Dzaser Monastery (rdza ser dgon).

Bamda Gelek not only studied the texts of exoteric Buddhism – including the Lamrim, or "stages of the path" literature (lam rim), and the five great Indian texts – of traditional monastic scholasticism, but also secular sciences like astrology and even some Tantra.

After completing his studies at Śrī Siṃha, he went to Pelpung Monastery (dpal spung dgon), where he studied and practiced the Six Yogas of Nāropa under the great Jamgon Kongtrul Yonten Gyatso ('jam mgon kong sprul yon tan rgya mtsho, 1813-1890). During his time at Pelpung, Bamda Gelek gave some lectures on Śāntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra. According to legend, during these teachings, a man approached him and said, "You're exceptionally bright, but don't be satisfied with just studying the teachings intellectually." The man then left for Wutai Shan (ri bo rtse lnga, 清凉山) where, it is said, he obtained the rainbow body. Bamda Gelek took these words to heart, and from that day on always committed himself to deeply internalizing the teachings that he studied.

In his twenty-first year, while at Pelpung, his younger brother called him back to Dzamtang. He originally thought to disregard the summons, but a dream convinced him that the time had come to return home. Upon his return, he stayed at Dzamtang Monastery and received many empowerments and instructions from the monastery's greatest master, Ngawang Chopel Gyatso (gag dbang chos 'phel rgya mtsho, 1788-1865), a teacher of Jamgon Kongtrul. His studies at Dzamtang, which lasted about twelve years, focused chiefly on the Kālacakra, the principal deity of the Jonang tradition, but included many other tantric lineages as well.

After the death of Ngawang Chopel Gyatso in 1865, Bamda Gelek was appointed the chief architect of the Kālacakra stūpa in which the lama's body was to be enshrined. This bespeaks the reputation he had achieved in the science of architecture and maṇḍala construction. In 1873 he taught for a time at his home monastery of Tsangpa. Bamda Gelek's Kālacakra studies culminated in 1876 with his receiving the complete instructions on the generation and completion stage of Kālacakra – including the "six yoga" (ṣadaṅga) practice – under the next vajra master of Dzamtang, Ngawang Choki Pakpa (ngag dbang chos kyi 'phags pa, 1808-1877). He also studied the teachings of the Shangpa Kagyu and many other tantric cycles of teachings under this same master. For a period of twelve years – from the time he returned from Derge until Ngawang Choki Pakpa's death in 1877 – Bamda Gelek principally lived in the abbatial residence of Dzamtang, the so-called "yellow house" (khang gser).

While receiving these various empowerments and teachings at Dzamtang, Bamda Gelek also continued to study the texts of the philosophical tradition, especially the works of Tsongkhapa (tsong kha pa, 1357-1419) and the textbooks of Jamyang Zhepa ('jam dbyangs bzhad pa, 1648-1721/1722). Due to his interest in Jamyang Zhepa's compositions, Bamda Gelek was sometimes said to have been his incarnation. He also taught more extensively. With so much on his plate, it seems that he pushed himself to the limit, and the biographers states that he had a small nervous breakdown (rlung nad) and started to act strangely – for example, he took to wearing two hats, one on top of the other. In time, this passed. The year 1884 saw him taking more Kālacakra teachings from Ngawang Chodzin (ngag dbang chos 'dzin), an important Jonang lineage holder. He dedicated himself to very intensive practice at the lama's hermitage of Tashi Lhari (bkra shis lha ri) in Dzinyin ('dzi nyin) until the special signs of accomplishment arose.

From this point in time, Bamda Gelek took up residence in the Gepel Hermitage (dge 'phel ri khrod) and other isolated retreat centers in Dzamtang. Different groups of disciples would come to him for teachings on all manner of subjects, from the secular sciences to Tantra, and in his spare time he devoted himself to writing. However, in 1889 he made a special trip to Lhatse Monastery (lha tshe dgon), the seat of the famous Nyingma lama Chodrak Gyatso (chos grags rgya mtsho, d.u.), from whom he received teachings on the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities of Karma Lingpa (kar gling zhi 'khro) and on Chodrak Gyatso's protector deity Rāhu. One of his biographers states that while receiving the empowerment, Rāhu actually appeared in the sky. From that time on, Bamda Gelek and Chodrak Gyatso had a close relationship.  Five years later, around age fifty, Bamda Gelek suffered from some illness – perhaps a stroke – that left him unable to speak. He moved back to Lhatse Monastery and is said to have been cured with the help of Chodrak Gyatso's powers.

Having achieved great fame as a scholar, sometime in the last decade of his life (we are not sure exactly when), Bamda Gelek was appointed vajra master of Yutok Monastery (g.yu thog dgon) in Amdo, where he founded a meditation college (sgrub grwa) dedicated to the practice of the Six Yogas of Nāropa. Bamda Gelek transmitted to the monks all of the teachings on this subject that he had received. According to legend, once, while he was teaching, he discerned, through his extrasensory powers, that a group of monks in the audience had doubts about whether he possessed the full transmission of the Six Yogas, and more important, whether he had achieved realization. He immediately scolded them, telling them that he had received the transmission from Jamgon Kongtrul himself, and that few people had devoted themselves more to the practice than he had. The monks were amazed that he had been able to read their minds, and terribly remorseful, never entertained such doubts again. The schedule for Yutok Monastery that Bamda Gelek created – which included six daily sessions of meditation and occasional lectures on the lives of famous masters – is said to have been so effective that even beginners could quickly achieve realization.

While at Yutok, Bamda Gelek received an invitation to become tutor to the Eleventh Tai Situ, Pema Wangchok Gyelpo (ta'i si tu 11 pad ma dbang mchog rgyal po, 1886-1952), which he famously declined. He had many other important disciples, including many important tulkus from throughout Amdo and Kham. His relationship to the Sixth Tuken, Lobzang Wangchuk Shedrub Gyatso (thu'u bkwan 06 blo bzang dbang phyug bshad grub rgya mtsho, 1839-1894) is said to have been especially close and amicable, each of them simultaneously serving as master and disciple to the other. With many of his other disciples he had a reputation for being rather harsh, and sometimes even abusive, but he explained this as serving the purpose of "clearing away any obstacles that might arise in the future."

Biographies tell us that throughout his life Bamda Gelek accumulated 1.3 billion mantra repetitions, including 600 million repetitions of the Mañjuśrī arapatsa mantras, and 100 million repetitions of the Kālacakra hakṣa mantra. As a result of these practices, he is said to have had dream visions of deities such as Mañjuśrī and Sarasvatī (both associated with learning and scholarship). Many individuals claim to have witnessed the powers he achieved through tantric practice. For example, his biographer Lodro Drakpa (blo gros grags pa, 1920-1975) reports that he could "clearly remember details of his past life at Labrang Monastery, could read the minds of his present disciples, know what they were up to, and accurately predict what happiness or suffering they would encounter in the future." Several of the demonstrations of Bamda Gelek's magical powers have to do with Ju Mipam Gyatso ('ju mi pham rgya mtsho, 1846-1912). On one occasion, during a funerary ritual that he was performing with Mipam, the water in a ritual vase is said to have miraculously bubbled up and overflowed. On another occasion he supposedly engaged in a competition of magical powers with Mipam. Mipam caused powerful hail to fall, and Bamda Gelek caused the sun to shine and made it melt. Mipam then praised him. "I have met many scholars," he said, "but in this day and age, to meet a scholar of the highest rank is rare. Dzamtangpa Gelek is such a scholar."

Toward the end of his life, Bamda Gelek had a vision of Mañjuśrī who told him that, "Even though you have not been of extraordinary benefit to others in your own lifetime, you will be of great benefit in the next one, when you will be reborn in the northern kingdom Shambhala as one of its rikden (rigs ldan) kings." It is noteworthy that Bamda Gelek should have been perceived (whether by Mañjuśrī or anyone else) as not having lived to his full potential in his own lifetime – noteworthy but not really surprising, for despite his great erudition and reputation as a tantric master, he never held a position of authority until the very end of his life, and then never in any of the institutions of his own Jonang tradition (never at Dzamtang, for example). Was this because of his affinity for the "emptiness of self" (rang stong) view found in the writings of Candrakīrti and the Geluk, in contrast to the Jonang position of "emptiness of other" (gzhan stong)? Did it have to do with his irascible temperament? Whatever the case, it is not surprising to find the claim in his biographies that he did not have the impact that he could have in his own lifetime. 

Shortly after this vision of Mañjuśrī, in his sixty-first year, his demeanor became uncharacteristically sweet. Realizing that the end was near, he began to drop hints to his closest disciples about his impending death. Now residing at Yutok, he eventually announced, "Regardless of what the divinations and astrological calculations (mo rtis) have to say about the fact that this is an auspicious year for me, it is now certain that I am going to die very shortly." "I may not have great powers to predict the exact date and time that my breath will stop," he said, "but whenever it does, because of my skill in meditation, I'll have the wherewithal to face it." Shortly thereafter, on the evening of the twenty-fifth of the tenth Tibetan month – the evening of Ganden Ngamcho (dga' ldan lngam chos), the most important holy day in the Geluk calendar, commemorating the death of Tsongkhapa – he ate a full dinner and dismissed his attendants, telling them that he would not need them to do anything else. A couple of them nonetheless remained behind. When they had gone, he sat upright, assumed the posture of meditation, and with his eyes staring into the sky, he recited the buddhas' names, prayed to former lamas, and began the extensive rite of powa ('pho ba), the "transference of consciousness," one the Six Yogas of Nāropa. At the end of the rite, he enunciated the syllable pet three times – first in a low voice, then a little louder, and finally in a shout. He then forcefully pronounced the syllable hig, and as he did, "his consciousness left his physical body and passed into the dharmadhātu." His physical remains were interred in a reliquary stūpa that was built for him at Dzisib Monastery ('dzi sribs dgon), a small Jonang monastery north of Dzamtang.

A prolific author and scholar of all the traditional sciences (including astrology, astronomy, and maṇḍala construction), Bamda Gelek's collected works in twenty-two volumes spans the gamut of exoteric and esoteric Buddhism. He is especially known for his extensive commentaries on the Abhisamāyālaṃkāra and for his writings on Tantra – on the Kālacakra, of course, but also on the Six Yogas of Nāropa, on the practices of the Shangpa Kargyu, and on the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities of the Nyingma school. A true non-sectarian master, his works are studied in many different schools to this day.