The Treasury of Lives

Do Dasel Wangmo (mdo zla gsal dbang mo) was born in Tratsang (khra tshang), a settlement located in the Machen Mountain range in Golok on the twenty-fifth lunar day of the sixth month of the earth, dragon year,[1] 1928, to a well-positioned Nyingma Buddhist family with influential social networks.[2] This was the family line of the nineteenth-century treasure revealer Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje (mdo mkhyen brtse ye shes rdo rje, 1800–1866). Her parents were Do Tsedzin Wangmo (mdo tshe 'dzin dbang mo, 1894–1953) and Traktung Tubtob Pawo (khrag 'thung thub stobs dpa' bo).[3] Her mother was an eminent medical doctor and the daughter of Rigpai Reltri (rig pa'i ral gri, 1830–1896); while her father was a long-haired, white-cotton-clad yogin.[4] In addition to her mother's care, she was reared by her maternal uncle, Do Rinpoche Gyepa Dorje (khams gsum zil gnon dgyes pa rdo rje, 1890–1939) when her father was absent due to his yogic lifestyle.[5] Prior to giving birth, Tsedzin Wangmo dreamed of luminous moonlight which inspired her to name her daughter Dasel Wangmo—"Feminine Power of the Brilliant Moon."[6]

She spent much of her youth at the Do Encampment (mdo sgar ri khrod) established by her great-grandfather Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje. The encampment was originally situated a place near the Turquoise Lake (g.yu mtsho), located in the area of Makhaka (rma kha kha) within the vicinity of Zhaktra Mountain in Minyak. The camp came to function nomadically as Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje traveled, a tradition that was kept up through the time of Do Rinpoche Gyepa Dorje.[7]

Dasel Wangmo had one brother and two sisters who all died young, resulting in her becoming the final hope in continuing the Do family line.[8] Intending to have Dasel Wangmo propagate the family, her mother let Dasel Wangmo's hair grow long and dressed her in quality jewelry and fine attire. Even at a young age, Dasel Wangmo did not accept this legacy; her biographies tell of an incident in which she destroyed the jewelry and clothing in a fit of expressive anger.[9] In the most extensive biography of Dasel Wangmo, Luminous Moonlight: The Biography of Do Dasel Wangmo, composed by Minyak Tubten Chodar (mi nyag pa thub bstan chos dar, b. 1969), this vignette is followed by recounting her learning to read quite easily, followed by her religious studies and teachings received while she stayed at the Do Encampment. This juxtaposition of cathartic release and intellectual, spiritual prowess not only displays Dasel Wangmo in both temporal and spiritual poles but also fulfils the biographical trope in Tibetan life writing that refers to the protagonist's revulsion of worldly affairs and natural religious affinity.

Dasel Wangmo began receiving teachings at a young age while living at the Do Encampment. The most notable of these teachings was her great-grandfather Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje's treasure collection of The Exceedingly Secret, Enlightened Heart-Essence of the Ḍākinī (yang gsang mkha' 'gro thugs thig), containing The Natural Liberation of Grasping ('dzin pa rang 'grol). She began to receive the empowerments and transmission of these treasure teachings from Do Rinpoche Gyepa Dorje, but he passed away in 1939 before he was able to finish. Shortly after, when she was thirteen, Dasel Wangmo, her mother, and her uncle, Tulku Rangjung (sprul sku rang 'byung, 1908–1946), went to the Adzom Encampment (a 'dzoms sgar), where she received teachings from Adzom Gyelse Gyurme Dorje (a 'dzom rgyal sras 'gyur med rdo rje, b. 1895).

When she was seventeen, Dasel Wangmo joined her mother and uncle, Tulku Rangjung, on a pilgrimage to various sacred sites and monasteries in central Tibet. It appears that the most significant place she visited during her pilgrimage was Tseringjong (tshe ring ljongs), the seat of Jigme Lingpa ('jigs med gling pa, 1730–1798), where she expressed a desire to ordain and remain for the foreseeable future but was not permitted.[10] Her family had several close familial and religious connections to Tseringjong: her great-grandfather, Do Khyentse, was the body emanation of Jigme Lingpa and frequented the monastery; her grandfather, Rigpai Reltri had reincarnate history with the site, as he was a reincarnation of the Fourth Drigung Chungtsang Tenzin Chokyi Gyeltsen ('bri gung chung tshang 04 bstan 'dzin chos kyi rgyal mtshan, 1793–1826), who was the son of Jigme Lingpa; and the reliquaries of Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje and Do Rinpoche Gyepa Dorje were both installed there. 

After her return to Minyak, Dasel Wangmo received transmission for the Four Tantras (rgyud bzhi) from Do Rinpoche's main disciple, Guru Sanglo (dgu ru gsang lo).[11] Her mother supported her studies by instructing her in the practical procedures in the third volume of the Four Tantras, as her mother had received parts of Ju Mipam Gyatso's (mi pham rgya mtsho, 1846–1912) medical lineage via Troru Jampal (khro ru 'jam dpal).[12]

Dasel Wangmo's uncle, Tulku Rangjung, passed away soon after her return in 1946. In the autumn of that year, she traveled to Dzogchen Monastery (rdzogs chen dgon), where she contracted smallpox, forcing her to quarantine at the monastery. Tubten Chodar's biography attributes her healing to receiving the Gesar life-entrustment ceremony from Gapa Khyentse (sga pa mkhyen brtse), said to be an incarnation of Do Khyentse.[13] In reciprocity, she bestowed upon Gapa Khyentse the empowerments and reading transmissions for her two volumes of revealed treasures concerning Gesar and subsequently enthroned him as a proprietor (chos bdag) of these teachings.[14]

Dasel Wangmo is said to have revealed treasure,[15] although neither of her biographers indicate that she was considered an emanation of one of Padmasambhava's disciples, a typical claim for Tibetan treasure revealers, and so we might consider these to have been mind treasures (dag snang). The only emanation that she was reported to be was of Losel Drolma (blo gsal sgrol ma, 1802–1861), the half-sister, religious companion, and treasure assistant of Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje.[16] Nevertheless, it appears that she revealed and deciphered mind-treasures and did not excavate physical materials. Dasel Wangmo apparently perceived her treasure teachings to be of little value, and she cast the majority into fires, claiming the world has enough treasure teachings.[17]

One day when Dasel Wangmo was twenty-one, her mother realized her daughter possessed the ability to choose her own path, and she inquired, "Are you sure you have decided?" Dasel Wangmo's reply, expressing her intention to ordain, aligned with the pledge she made earlier in her life; consequently, Tulku Drachen of Lautang in Minyak performed the first-hair-cutting ceremony and bestowed upon her the initial lay vows.[18] The following year she received her novice vows and the name Tubten Tsultrim Pelmo from Khenchen Tubten Nyendrak (thub bstan tshul khrims dpal mo; mkhan chen thub bstan snyan grags, 1883–1959) at Dzogchen Monastery.[19]

Dasel Wangmo remained at Dzogchen Monastery and its surrounding environs, engaging in study and practice in such places as Śrī Siṃha College and Dzogchen Kyamo Hermitage (rdzogs chen skya mo ri khrod). During this time she received multiple religious teachings, including The Treasury of Precious Qualities, Madhyamakāvatāra, The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, The Seven Treasuries, The Trilogy of Finding Comfort and Ease, Unexcelled Primordial Wisdom (ye bshes bla ma) along with its instructional manual, and various other transmissions and empowerments of the Nyingma tradition. She also studied Indian and Chinese Elemental Mathematics, such as the five components, five planets, and the Svarodaya text;[20] thus she became a specialist in medicine and astrology. During this period, she also received the entrustment ceremony (bka' gtad) for Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje's treasure teachings from Dzogchen Khenpo Yonten Gongpo (rdzogs chen mkhan chen yon tan mgon po, 1899–1959), through which she entered the disciple lineage, becoming a dual holder of the disciple lineage and the family lineage.[21] All in all, she stayed for about six years around Dzogchen Monastery with intermittent sojourns.[22]           

Chodar's biography details Dasel Wangmo's first encounter with the People's Liberation Army in 1958, when she had to flee into the mountains, only coming to surrender in 1959, an incident not recorded in Tubten Kongchen Dorje's account. That same year she was ordered to work at Nangkor (nang skor), and she resided at Drakkhar Monastery (brag mkhar dgon). A year later the local Communist leadership accused her of being an organizer for a rebellion. She was taken to Lhagang (lha sgang) and severely beaten for four months as a result of this allegation. Later, she was ordered to go to Goro (go ro) village, where she lived with her maternal uncle, Do Ngak, at the Rakshul settlement.[23] She was forced to wear a hat of a counterrevolutionary and underwent hard labor and indoctrination. This period of intense suffering lasted for fourteen years.[24]

In 1969 at the age of forty-one, Dasel Wangmo was appointed as the doctor of Goro. But she did not possess any medical equipment and had not practiced medicine for some time. As a result, she requested to meet with Doctor Kunub Woser (sman pa sku nub 'od zer), a petition that was granted by the local authority. During her one-month stay with Kunub Woser, she reviewed Tibetan medicine and received supplies and medical manuals. Following her stay, she collected the necessary herbs and prepared to administer medical care, which she began in 1970.[25] Three years later she had a medical clinic and pharmacy constructed, where she cared for her patients. During this period, she was known as the "bare-footed doctor of Goro," "barefooted doctor" being a term for folk medicine practitioners who were lauded during the Cultural Revolution when institutionally trained Chinese doctors were forbidden to practice. In 1977 she was appointed as the doctor of Naklung (nags lung),[26] where she was so busy with patients that she was not able to sit down for the customary twice-daily tea break.[27]

As official policies of the Cultural Revolution began to relax, in 1978 the Derge Printing House (sde dge par khang) was allowed to reopen. Dasel Wangmo was invited to Derge Monastery to assist with collating and editing textual materials, including the Kangyur and Tengyur. In this way, she assisted with reestablishing the famous and prolific Tibetan publishing house.[28] On the same grounds of these policy reforms, Dasel Wangmo was placed in the ranks of the erudite in 1979 and consequently gained her freedom.[29]

In 1981, Dasel Wangmo was invited to teach at the Sichuan Province Tibetan Language School (si khron zhing chen bod yig slob grwa) established by the Third Alak Zenkar Rinpoche, Tubten Nyima (a lags gzan dkar 03 thub bstan nyi ma, b. 1943), and Bapa Tashi Tsering ('ba' pa bkra shis tshe ring). The school was initially established at Dzogchen’s Śrī Siṃha College but subsequently moved to Tau (rta'u) and then permanently to Dartsedo (mdar rtse mdo), where it became one of Kham’s primary institutions for studying Tibetan medicine. For the first two years, she and such others as Doctor Kunub Woser, gathered the necessary textbooks, and in 1983 at the age of fifty-five Dasel Wangmo began teaching her speciality, Tibetan medicine and astrology. Once the school was moved to Dartsedo, she was promoted to professor of Tibetan medicine, a rare and unheard-of position for a woman of the post-reform era prior to the late 1990s. In addition to leading her classes, Dasel Wangmo continued her own studies and received teachings in her spare time and even journeyed to the Lhasa Institute of Medicine and Astrology. Every year, Dasel Wangmo was invited to Dzogchen Monastery by Dzogchen Pema Kelzang (rdzogs chen pad+ma skal bzang, b. 1943) while the students were on break, where she administered medical care and gave empowerments and transmissions. In 1985 she had Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje's The Speech of the Ḍākinī: An Autobiography (rang rnam mkha' 'gro'i zhal lung) inscribed into block prints and stored at the monastery.[30]

In the years that followed, Do Dasel Wangmo adhered to the commands of her principal teacher, Zenkar Rinpoche, and traveled to Mahā Kyilung Monastery (ma hA skyid lung dgo) and Wosal Choling ('od gsal chos gling dgon) to bestow empowerments and transmissions. In 2000, she collaborated with others to collate and edit her family's teachings, including those of Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje and Do Rinpoche Gyepa Dorje, under Zenkar Rinpoche's direction. Since her biographies were composed during the latter portion of her life, there are no literary works concerning this later period. We do know that she was persistent in teaching and giving medical treatment at the Tibetan Language School in Dartsedo well into the late stages of her life and spent a part of the winter in Chengdu.[31] Additionally, she continued to bestow teachings and transmissions to select individuals until her passing in December 2018.[32]   

 

---

Learn more about the Women Initiative, an effort to add 100 new biographies of women by 2026.