The Treasury of Lives

Chekhawa Yeshe Dorje ('chad kha ba ye shes rdo rje) was born in a place called Luro or Lura (lu ro / lu ra) in 1101, the iron-snake year of the second sexagenary cycle. His father was called Pakpa Kyab ('phags pa skyabs) and his mother was Sonam Kyi (bsod nams skyid). The name of their clan was Ja (bya), which is sometimes given as the name of his birthplace.

As a young boy he became a student of Rechungpa (ras chung pa, 1084-1161) at Loro (lo ro), and was given the vows of novice monk (dge tshul; SK: śrāmaṇera) at the age of twenty-one at Loro Zhingsar (lo ro zhing gsar) by a Khenpo Tsewerwa (mkhan po rtse ber ba, d.u.) and Chak Rinchen Chang (chags rin chen 'chang) or Lobpon Dakpo Tsangdulwa (slob dpon dwags po gtsang 'dul ba). They gave him the name Yeshe Dorje. Shamiwa Monlambar (sha mi ba smon lam 'bar, 1085-1171) gave him teachings on Vinaya and related topics.

Soon after he accompanied Rechungpa to Nyel (gnyal) to an assembly of a Ngor Jetsun Bhora (ngor rje btsun bho ra, d.u.) that was presided over by a Ngok Lotsāwa (rngog lo tsA ba; certainly not Loden Sherab, who passed away in 1109). Inspired by the teachings, he sought out full ordination, which was ultimately granted by Tsarong Joten (tsha rong jo stan, d.u.), Zhang Sherab Tring (zhang shes rab spring, d.u.) and Dakpo Tsangdulwa (dwags po gtsang 'dul ba, d.u.) in 1123, when he was twenty-three.

Yeshe Dorje received teachings from numerous masters. A Geshe Tsen (dge bshes btsan, d.u.) taught him Maitreya’s Sūtrālaṅkāra six times; he and Jayulwa (bya yul ba) gave Yeshe Dorje wide ranging instructions based on the Indian scriptures; Rechungpa transmitted the esoteric instructions of Milarepa (mi la ras pa, 1040-1123). He received Lojong instructions from Geshe Nyangchak Zhingpa (dge bshes myang lcags zhing pa, d.u.), including "Eight Sentences" (tshig byad pa) of Langri Tangpa Dorje Sengge (glang ri thang pa rdo rje seng+ge, 1054-1123) and Lamrim teachings in the tradition of Neuzurpa Yeshe Bar (sne'u zur pa ye shes 'bar, 1042-1118) from Geshe Lukmepa (dge bshes lugs smad pa, d.u.) who also later gave commentarial teachings on the Dependent Arising (rten ’brel) and related topics.

In 1130 he travelled to Lhasa in search of an audience with Langri Tangpa, who had unfortunately already passed away. Instead he met with Sharawa Yonten Drak (sha ra ba yon tan grags, 1070-1141) with whom he remained for sixteen years, including eight years at the seat monastery of Sharawa. Sharawa gave him extensive Lojong teachings over the course of thirteen years, together with many other instructions, including those on the method of “Exchange of self with others” (bdag gzhan mnyam brjes), that was private practice of Atiśa Dīpaṃkara Śrījñāna, (980-1054) and his principal disciples. Under Sharawa, Yeshe Dorje became a highly regarded teacher in the Kadampa tradition, particularly of the  as an expert in the Zhungpa (gzhung pa) tradition.

Other teachers included a Geshe Dolpa (dge bshes dol pa, d.u.), Drai Sotangpa (gra'i so thang pa, d.u.), Geshe Chakriwa (rgya lcags ri ba, d.u.), and Monlam Bar (sha mi sgom chen smon lam 'bar, 1085-1171).

Following Sharawa's death in 1141 Yeshe Dorje succeeded him at the monastery and took over teaching duties. He taught many topics from sutra and tantra, and based his Lamrim teachings on notes from Sharawa's lectures. He is known to have composed one treatise on Lojong entitled The Seven Point Mind Training (blo sbyong don bdun ma). His most important disciple was Sechil Buwa Chokyi Gyeltsen was (se spyil bu ba chos kyi rgyal mtshan, 1121-1189).

In 1141 or 1142 he founded the Chekha ('chad kha) Monastery in Meldro (mal gro) about seventy kilometers to the north-east of Lhasa, from which his epithet Chekhawa derived. The monastery housed about nine-hundred monks. The length of his tenure at the monastery is not clear; according to some records he served for thirty-four years until his death. Other sources have it that he left after eleven years, having established a new Chekha monastery. Today two Chekha monasteries exist in Meldro: a Chekha Nyingma and a Chekha Sarma, or "Old Chekha" and "New Chekha". Chekhawa is said to have spent much of the later part of his life in secluded practice in a place called Jadurmo (bya dur mo).

His last eight months were spent at a place called Tapur (mtha' phur) probably doing intense meditation. He passed into nirvana at the age of seventy-five in 1175, the wood-sheep year of the third sexagenary cycle.