The Treasury of Lives

Je Barawa Gyeltsen Pelzang (rje 'ba' ra ba rgyal mtshan dpal bzang) was born on a full moon day in December, 1310, an iron-dog year. His birthplace, Chapli village (chabs li grong) is situated in the Shang valley. This central Tibetan valley was a political center under Sakya hegemony during that time. Je Barawa's family belonged to the ancient Gya (rgya) clan that had close ties with the Sakya Khon ('khon) family. His grandfather, Nyene Kungabum (nye gnas kun dga' 'bum), was a minister of the Sakya hierarch Pakpa Lodro Gyeltsen ('phags pa blo gros rgyal mtshan, 1235–1280). Je Barawa's father, Ponrampa (dpon ram pa), was a widely respected expert in protection from hail. His mother, Sonambum (bsod nams 'bum), passed away when Barawa Gyeltsen was only seven years old.[1]

He was recognized, probably fairly late in life, as an incarnation of Yanggonpa Gyeltsen Pel (yang dgon pa rgyal mtshan dpal, 1213–1258), the author of the Mountain Dharma Trilogy (ri chos skor gsum), which became one of the core teachings of the Barawa Kagyu. His prior incarnations are said to also include Zhang Yudrakpa (zhang g.yu grags pa, 1123–1193), the founder of the Tselpa Kagyu, and the Indian brahmin Saraha;[2] Barawa received the Dohā trilogy that is ascribed to Saraha by a lama named Shukseb Ripa (shug gseb ri pa) at Shukseb Monastery (shug gseb) after 1330.[3]

Je Barawa's monastic career, however, began at Sakya Monastery (sa skya dgon) when he reached the age of eight. At Sakya he studied under a man named Jigme Drakpa ('jigs med grags pa), and received numerous teachings and empowerments from other lamas. He is said to have exorcized an evil spirit that possessed a donkey using a Yamāntaka rite. This impressed his father, who praised him for his virtuous deeds.

By the time he was thirteen, his teachers were said to have recognized his patience, understanding, compassion, and other good qualities.[4] At the age of fifteen he took the vows of a novice monk at Bodong E (bo dong e) under Lama Dampa Sonam Gyeltsen (bsod nams rgyal mtshan, 1312–1375), Rinchen Pelzang (rin chen dpal bzang, b. 1263), and Pelden Sengge (dpal ldan seng ge), who was also a teacher of Sakya Sonam Lodro (sa skya bsod nams blo gros, 1332–1362).[5]

In the following years Je Barawa studied intensively under a man named Jangchub Zangpo (byang chub bzang po). He received teachings from the Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje (rang byung rdo rje, 1284–1339) and Buton Rinchen Drub (bu ston rin chen grub, 1290–1364), and from teachers of the Shukseb Kagyu (shug gseb bka' brgyud) and the Bodong (bo dong) traditions.

Je Barawa's root teacher was the Drukpa master Zurpukpa Rinchen Pelzang (zur phug pa rin chen dpal bzang, b. 1263), whom Je Barawa sought out after hearing of him. Zurpukpa is said to have prophesized that Barawa Gyeltsen would become a great leader of uncountable sentient beings. After receiving Zurpukpa's teachings and practicing the essential instructions he was able to piece together the different doctrinal expositions, becoming Zurpukpa's prized disciple. At the age of nineteen, Je Barawa received full monastic ordination from his root teacher, who affirmed in him the three traditional qualities of a lama: learning (mkhas), discipline (btsun), and goodness (bzang). After Zurpukpa passed away Je Barawa continued to meet his teacher in his dreams.[6]

It was a dream that encouraged Je Barawa to establish his first institution, initially named Dondrubding (don grub sdings), built above his birthplace Chapli on a rock known as Baradrak ('ba' ra brag). Both Gyeltsen Pelzang and the Barawa Kagyu tradition derive their names from the place.[7] The mountain hermitage Dondrubding was originally built as a celestial abode for Cakrasaṃvara, whose teachings play an important role within the Barawa Kagyu tradition. The structure developed into a monastery, known as Baradrakkar ('ba' ra brag dkar) or simply Baradrak Monastery, and became the main seat of Gyeltsen Pelzang's incarnation line, the Barawa Tulku ('ba' ra ba sprul sku).

Je Barawa established a second hermitage at a place called Dechen Tashi Pelri (bde chen bkra shis dpal ri). Residents at this two centers argued over where Je Barawa should reside, and to mollify them he spent the winters at Baradrak and the summers at Pelri. During his absences Baradrak was administered by a disciple named Gelong Nyima (dge slong nyi ma) and Pelri was entrusted to Gelong Namzang (dge slong nam bzang). Occasionally, he also returned to Sakya to receive further empowerments.[8]

In 1346/7 a conflict between two factions at Sakya broke out over who was next in line to the Sakya throne. This let to multiple clashes, including several in the Shang valley, not far from Baradrak, disrupting the practice there. In that same year an epidemic struck the region, which Je Barawa, along with other accomplished masters, ended by performing a healing ceremony. A fire then destroyed the assembly hall at Dondrubding Monastery, and a bad harvest caused the death of many people in Tsang region. Je Barawa interpreted these tragedies as signs that he ought to leave the region.[9]

At some point in the 1350s Barawa Gyeltsen sent one of his disciples south to find a more suitable location for his activity. His disciple met Lobpon Kunga (slob dpon kun dga'), a native from the Paro (spa gro) valley, in what is now known as Bhutan, who agreed to sponsor Je Barawa there. Consequently, Je Barawa traveled to the region, where he found numerous followers and patrons. He returned to the Shang valley soon after, yet because of the continued instability in Tibet—the Sakya hegemony had only recently been replaced by the Pakmodrupa—he returned to Bhutan in about 1362. There his patrons erected Dranggyekha Monastery ('brang rgyas kha dgon) in Paro, which developed into his main seat in Bhutan. Over the course of his several sojourns in the region he resided at other institutions that were given to him to administer that became known as branches or affiliated monasteries (dgon lag), including Shongchenkha (gshongs chen kha) and Martikkha (mar tig kha) north of Punakha (spu na kha), Yultsepuk (yul tshe phug), Nangsel Monastery (snang gsal dgon), and Gobur Monastery ('go 'bur dgon) in Te (thed) in northern Bhutan, Dochorten (rdo mchod rten) and Chewal Dzechu Monastery (che bal mdze chu dgon) in Paro, as well as Gyadu Monastery (rgya mdud dgon) in He (had) in western Bhutan.[10] His sponsors motivation in giving him these monasteries appear to have been a desire to keep Je Barawa in Bhutan. What these monasteries' affiliations were before Barawa's arrival is not known; all have since been converted to Drukpa Kagyu monasteries.

He served several times as mediator in Bhutan, each time preventing violence. During his second stay, in the 1360s, he was able to settle three disputes. The first, between a Lobpon Sakhar Dorji (slob dpon sa mkhar rdo rje) and Lobpon Trogyel (slob dpon khro rgyal), involved slander. The second occasion, resulted from the death of a nephew of a Lobpon Azang (slob dpon a bzangs). In the third incident he resolved a dispute between the people of upper and lower Tsentang (rtsen thang).[11]

The monks at Baradrak repeatedly insisted he return, and so after about three years he went back to Tibet, singing a song for keeping the practice alive on his arrival. The political situation in Shang had not sufficiently improved. Again, this was a time of violence and killing in Tibet, and Barawa Gyeltsen reflected on all these developments. After some time, he returned to Bhutan, where he received another monastery, Shongchenkha in the north of Punakha, as an offering. He traveled back and forth in this way several times but, at this later stage of life, he mainly stayed in Bhutan and took care of the different monasteries he had been given.

Je Barawa taught many faithful monks and nuns, laymen and laywomen. It is said that he only accepted disciples with good qualities in accordance to the standards of his previous incarnation, Yanggonpa. In his autobiography, he described all his disciples and himself as qualified and generous, with high realization. Among his disciples were several nuns, including one fully ordained bikhṣuṇī (dge slong ma).[12]

Je Barawa's most important work was his verse exegesis of central Buddhist thought, entitled Treasury of Teachings on the Profound Meaning of a Boat by which One Enters Liberation (thar par 'jug pa'i gru bo zab don chos kyi gter mdzod). It is also known under the short title Boat [Towards] Liberation Trilogy (thar gru skor gsum). He explained the metaphor in the title in one of his commentaries: His teachings were meant to help crossing a border, to leave saṃsāra and enter nirvāṇa, to cross the river that lies between one side and the other. His boat of teachings became one possibility to cross the flow of karma and kleśa, the law of cause and effect and the defilements. Je Barawa explained how to leave saṃsāra behind by stepping onto the dry bank of liberation on the other side. He also described that the wooden boat needs to be repaired because of moral missteps that cause holes and cracks.[13]

During the fourteenth century, numerous well-known masters discussed and interpreted the doctrine of buddhanature. In his work, The Sunbeam of Explaining the Intention of the Two Dharma Masters (chos rje rnam gnyis kyi dgongs bshad nyi ma'i 'od zer), Je Barawa, approaching the subject from a Mahāmudrā perspective, dealt intensively with these masters teachings.  He came to the conclusion that the "self-emptiness" (rang stong) doctrine of his teacher Buton and the "other-emptiness" (gzhan stong) doctrine of Dolpopa Sherab Gyeltsen (dol po pa shes rab rgyal mtshan, 1292-1361) must be contrasted. Both Buton and Dolpopa, he asserted, must be correct, since they were considered "all-knowing." Je Barawa's position was that both doctrines were provisional views in need of interpretation. He asserted that buddhanature manifests as saṃsāra when the unity of clarity and emptiness is not recognized, while in its natural state it is the dharmakāya of a buddha.[14]

Je Barawa's collected works are grouped into three sections: a cycle of theoretical or philosophical writings (gzung yig); a cycle of explanatory texts regarding the profound teachings (khrid); and a cycle of supplemental writings (zur 'debs lhan thabs).[15]

His disciple Lodro Rinchen (blo gros rin chen) wrote a hagiography of his master that contains a catalogue of Je Barawa's collected writings, including his famous exegesis of Buddhism.[16] A further catalogue was written by the Barawa master Ngawang Yeshe Pelzang (ngag dbang ye shes dpal bzang, 1700–1760) around three hundred years later. These two indices are both grouped into the abovementioned three sections, although they are not identical, and neither lists all known texts. The first printed edition of his autobiography, comprised of 192 songs, was produced in Paro in 1500 by Namkha Gyeltsen (nam mkha' rgyal mtshan, 1475–1530), the first identified reincarnation of Je Barawa. Yet another version was published in Mangyul Gungthang in 1540.[17]

His teachings became important not only within the Barawa Kagyu but also within other traditions. The list of well-known religious masters that studied Barawa teachings include the Nyingma master Jigme Pawo ('jigs med dpa' bo, 1682–c.1730), who became an important religious and political personage in the Buddhist kingdom of Sikkim; Tsangnyon Heruka (gtsang smyon he ru ka, 1452–1507), the author of the most famous biography of Milarepa (mi la ras pa, 1040–1123); and Gotsang Repa (rgod tshang ras pa, 1482/94–1559/70), a disciple of Tsangnyon Heruka.[18]

Je Barawa passed away in 1391, in the month of the great miracles, the first Tibetan month, at Dranggyekha Monastery. His followers erected a shrine near this monastery in Bhutan which developed into a main pilgrimage site for Barawa masters and followers. Some relics were also brought to Baradrak and statues were manufactured there to commemorate him.[19]