The Treasury of Lives

Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdrel Yeshe Dorje was born in 1904 in Terkong Nang (gter kong nang), Pemako, southeastern Tibet. There is not yet clarity on the exact date; some say the tenth day of the sixth lunar month. His father was Khengen Tulku (mkhan rgan sprul sku),^[1] a son of a king of Pemako named Kanam Depa (kaH gnam sde pa) who traced his ancestry back to ancient central Tibetan kings.^[2] Khengen Tulku was considered a reincarnation of Japur Lama ('ja' phur bla ma), the son of Katok Gyelse Sonam Deutsen (kaH thog rgyal sras bsod nams lde'u btsan, 1679–1723) of Katok Monastery (kah thog dgon) in Derge. Japur Lama had left Kham for Pemako in the early eighteenth century and established a teaching and practice center in the region. His reincarnation, Khengen Tulku, was trained as a lay lama and married a woman from Terkong Nang named Namgyel Dolma (rnam rgyal sgrol ma) of a Bhutanese family descended from Ratna Lingpa (ratna gling pa, 1403–1479). He established a monastery near her village, where Dudjom Rinpoche was later born.^[3]

Khengen Tulku was away at the time of Dudjom Rinpoche's birth, so local lamas were consulted, and the newborn was named Nyima Gyeltsen (nyi ma rgyal mtshan), since he was born on a Sunday (nyi ma, means "sun"). When Khengen Tulku returned, he said that he already had a name for the boy based on a dream he had while Namgyel Dolma was pregnant. In that dream, ḍākinīs gave him a mirror and a vajra (rdo rje), telling him that these represented the unborn child's name. His father interpreted the mirror as representing wisdom (ye shes), and so gave him the name Yeshe Dorje (ye shes rdo rje). Thus, when Dudjom Rinpoche was a child, most people referred to him as Tulku Yeshe.^[4]

Recognition and Enthronement

Two lamas, Ling Lama Chojor Gyatso (gling bla ma chos 'byor rgya mtsho) and Puktrul Gyurme Ngedon Wangpo (phug sprul 'gyur med nges don dbang po) identified him soon after his birth as a reincarnation of their teacher, the prominent eastern-Tibetan treasure revealer Dudjom Lingpa (bdud 'joms gling pa, 1835–1904), whose revelations form the basis of the Dudjom Tersar (bdud 'joms gter gsar) tradition. Dudjom Lingpa had, in the last decades of his life, expressed a strong desire to move to Pemako—an isolated and idyllic region on the border of eastern Tibet, Arunachal Pradesh, and Burma—and his hagiographies claim that he discussed his aspiration in a correspondence with a nun there—a daughter of King Kanam Depa named Ani Nangsel (a ni snang gsal). In his final years, Dudjom Lingpa is said to have exhorted his students to move to Pemako, saying that he too would go there.

Chojor Gyatso and Puktrul Gyurme Ngedon Wangpo had learned of Dudjom Lingpa's death while making their way to Pemako, and they committed to identifying his rebirth in the region. In Pemako, they encountered the Seventh Riwoche Jedrung, Trinle Jampa Jungne (ri bo che rje drung 'phrin las byams pa 'byung gnas, 1856–1922), also known as Dudjom Namkhai Dorje (bdud 'joms nam mkha'i rdo rje), who had fled to Pemako from Kham to escape invading Qing troops. They inquired about potential candidates and Jedrung Rinpoche told them of Khengen Tulku and Namgyel Dolma's child, and the three agreed that he was Dudjom Lingpa's rebirth. Jedrung Rinpoche, who would later be an important teacher to Dudjom Rinpoche, composed a long-life prayer naming the child Jigdral Dechen Dorje Drakpo Tsel ('jigs bral bde chen rdo rje drag po rtsal). For the rest of Dudjom Rinpoche's life, he kept the name Jigdral and added it to the name Yeshe Dorje, which his father had given him.^[5]

According to Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal's (mkhan po tshe dbang don rgyal) biography of Dudjom Rinpoche, before Lama Chojor Gyatso and the party from eastern Tibet came to find the young Dudjom, now a toddler, he told his parents to prepare to receive guests. When they arrived, he greeted them warmly by name in his odd accent that had always puzzled the Pemako natives, but which was later explained as a remnant of his previous incarnation's Golok accent.

Fully satisfied with the tulku's qualifications, the two disciples of Dudjom Lingpa presented Khengen Tulku with offerings and a recognition letter sent from Jedrung Trinle Jampa Jungne and formally declared him to be the tulku of Dudjom Lingpa.

Early Training and Discovering his Identity as a Treasure Revealer

Dudjom Rinpoche's early education was directed by Lama Chojor Gyatso, who had been a disciple of Patrul Rinpoche (dpal sprul rin po che, 1808–1887) before becoming a disciple of Dudjom Lingpa. First, Lama Chojor Gyatso arranged for Dudjom Tulku to learn reading from Lama Pema Sampel (bla ma pad+ma bsam 'phel), another disciple of Dudjom Lingpa living in the area. Dudjom Rinpoche described this lama as a gentle and kind man who showered him with devotion; however, because of his unwillingness to discipline the child, he was not an effective tutor. Lama Chojor replaced Lama Pema Sampel with a Lama Khedrub (bla ma mkhas grub), an intimidating practitioner of Krodikāli, or Black Troma (khros ma nag mo), a central deity in the Dudjom Tersar. According to Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal, Dudjom Tulku's reading improved under Lama Khedrub's tutelage, and very shortly, his memory from past lives unfurled, making it easy for him to read any text he encountered.

When Dudjom Rinpoche was around six years old, Lama Chojor encouraged him to study diligently so that, before he turned eight, he could teach the first four chapters of Śāntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra as Dudjom Lingpa's eldest son, the Third Dodrubchen, Jigme Tenpai Nyima (rdo grub chen 03 'jigs med bstan pa'i nyi ma, 1865–1926) had done. According to his biography, Dudjom Rinpoche gave the teaching before he turned seven and a half to a gathering of monks, ngakpas (lay lamas), and laypeople in Pemako. When he concluded his teachings, Lama Chojor asked him to blow a conch in the four directions. In the south and west the conch resounded, but was muted in the north and east. This was interpreted as an indication that his future activity would be limited in the north and east, but flourish elsewhere.^[6]

Dudjom Rinpoche was given a vast array of empowerments and transmissions in the two main scriptural divisions of the Nyingma tradition: the Kama (bka' ma), or "spoken word," and those classified as revelation, or terma (gter ma). As he was being groomed to be an important master, he was trained in the intricate ritual protocols of the Vajrayāna, chiefly those codified at Mindroling Monastery (smin grol gling), which were commonly borrowed by other Nyingma lineages.[7]

Under the supervision of Ling Lama Chojor Gyatso, Dudjom Rinpoche completed the preliminary practices for the Longchen Nyingtik (klong chen snying thig), Dudjom Tersar, and the Black Troma treasure of Dudjom Lingpa. He also received from him the empowerments, transmissions, and instructions for all the treasures of Karma Lingpa (karma gling pa, fourteenth century), Longsel Nyingpo (klong gsal snying po, 1625–1692), and Dudjom Lingpa, as well as extensive teachings on the Six Bardos and the special Dzogchen preliminary practices known as "distinguishing between saṃsāra and nirvāṇa" ('khor 'das ru shan).

From Gyurme Pende Wozer ('gyur med phan bde 'od zer), also known as Jampai Dewai Nyima ('byams pa'i bde ba'i nyi ma), he received novice monastic ordination as well as bodhisattva and tantric vows, and numerous foundational Nyingma empowerments, transmissions, and instructions. These included Nyangrel Nyima Wozer's (nyang ral nyi ma 'od zer, 1124–1192) Eight Commands: Embodiment of the Sugatas (bka' brgyad bde gshegs 'dus pa); Sanggye Lingpa's (sangs rgyas gling pa, b. 1705) Embodiment of the Lama's Realization (bla ma dgongs 'dus); Terdak Lingpa's (gter bdag gling pa, 1646–1714) Minling Tersar (smin gling gter gsar); Jigme Lingpa's ('jigs med gling pa, 1729–1798) Longchen Nyingtik; and the complete scriptures of the Nyingma Kama, including the Guhyagarbha Tantra (gsang ba snying po), The Sūtra That Gathers All Intentions (dgongs pa 'dus pa'i mdo), and the Dzogchen tantras. Gyurme Pende Wozer also gave him transmission and teachings for Longchenpa's (klong chen pa, 1308–1364) Seven Treasuries (mdzod bdun) and Trilogy of Ease (ngal so skor gsum), Jigme Lingpa's Treasury of Precious Qualities (yon tan mdzod), and the many volumes of Jamgon Kongtrul's ('jam mgon kong sprul, 1813–1899) Treasury of Knowledge (shes bya kun khyab).^[8]

Puktrul Gyurme Ngedon Wangpo (phug sprul 'gyur med nges don dbang po) gave him empowerments, transmissions, and instructions for Jamgon Kongtrul's Treasury of Revelations (rin chen gter mdzod); Terdak Lingpa's Collected Sādhanas of the Excellent Wish-Fulfilling Vase (sgrub thabs 'dod 'jo bum bzang) and the Minling Tersar; Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo's ('jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse dbang po, 1820–1892) collected treasures known as the Seven Entrustments (bka' babs bdun); the Dudjom Tersar; Longchenpa's entire corpus; the collected works of Patrul Rinpoche; and the Four Medical Tantras (sman rgyud bzhi) with their commentaries. Puktrul Gyurme Ngedon Wangpo also instructed him in the ritual arts and declared Dudjom Rinpoche the heir and custodian of all the Nyingma teachings.

It is said that when he was as young as five years old, Dudjom Rinpoche began discovering treasure objects.^[9]  In 1917, when he was thirteen, during the course of a vision, he discovered his first full terma cycle based on Dorje Drolo, a fierce form of Padmasambhava. However, rather than publicize his revelation, he practiced it in secret for decades before transmitting it to others. He said at this time several other treasures presented themselves to him, however, he was inspired to preserve and spread the treasures of past tertons and chose not to decode them.^[10] For this reason, it would not be until late in life that he finally transmitted his own treasures on a large scale.

Despite his apparent reluctance to commit to the life of a treasure revealer, he did manage to produce four full treasure cycles, the same number as Dudjom Lingpa. In 1928, when he was twenty-five and staying in central Tibet, he revealed the treasure cycle The Ḍākinīs' Heart Drop (mkha' 'gro thugs thig), and in 1929, he revealed another treasure cycle, The Heart Essence of the Lake-Born Vajra (mtsho skyes thugs thig). He only shared these privately with a few select students, a yogi named Trulzhik Dorje ('khrul zhig rdo rje) foremost among them.^[11] Around 1937, in his early thirties, at Paro Taktsang (spa gro stag tshang) in Bhutan, he revealed his Vajrakīlaya treasure cycle, The Razor that Destroys at a Touch (spu gri reg phung). He would not, however, share this with anyone until 1948.^[12]

While still in his teens, Dudjom Rinpoche went to Riwoche Monastery (ri bo che dgon) in Kham to study with Riwoche Jedrung. From him he received empowerments, transmissions, and extensive instructions from the Treasury of Revelations; Chogyur Lingpa's (mchog 'gyur gling pa, 1829–1870) Gradual Path of the Essence of Wisdom (lam rim ye shes snying po) and Jamgon Kongtrul's commentary on it, the Light of Wisdom (ye shes snang ba); Longchenpa's Dzogchen compendium known as the Nyingtik Yabzhi (snying thig ya bzhi); the Kangyur (bka' 'gyur); and Jedrung Rinpoche's own treasures.^[13]

In 1925, when he was twenty-one years old and staying at Mindroling Monastery in central Tibet, he met the treasure revealer Zilnon Namkhai Dorje (zil gnon nam mkha'i rdo rje, b. 1868) who entrusted him with his treasure cycle, the Life-Force Bindu of Deathlessness ('chi med srog thig) and made favorable predictions about his future. Dudjom Rinpoche recounts that near the end of their meeting,

He bestowed Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé's secret empowerment of Guru Dorje Drolö. He looked at me with eyes wide open and shouted, "Phat!" In that instant my body, perception, and mind became unimpeded, all notions of solidity disappeared. "That is the absolute wisdom empowerment. Supra tishta soha!" Saying this, he tossed barley grains skyward. From that time on, my mind remained relaxed and open. I felt no need to boast about spending months and years in retreat; nor did I feel the need to focus forcefully on my meditation, nor cling to practice schedules. I knew the power of the lineage realization of absolute truth had been transferred to me. This karmically connected great teacher was none other than Guru Rinpoche.^[14]

This episode partly explains the absence in Dudjom Rinpoche's biography of tales of ascetic hardship and overcoming frustrations on the path. According to oral histories, he gave the impression of someone who carried immense spiritual realization with him from previous lives; it seemed that even the briefest period of study would unlock a limitless wealth of knowledge about any Buddhist topic.^[15]

Throughout his life, Dudjom Rinpoche received countless other empowerments, transmissions, and instructions, from a multitude of lamas, including Dungkar Ngedon Gyatso (dung dkar nges don rgya mtsho); Orgyen Namdrol Gyatso (o rgyan rnam grol rgya mtsho) of Mindroling; Chatral Sangye Dorje (bya bral sangs rgyas rdo rje, 1913–2015), from whom he especially received the revelations of Sera Khandro (se ra mkha' 'gro, 1892–1940); Tulku Urgyen (sprul sku o rgyan1920–1996); the Seventh Drikung Chungtsang Chokyi Jungne ('bri gung chung tshang chos kyi 'byung gnas, 1909–1940); Pema Konchok Rabten (pad+ma dkon mchog rab brtan); and the Third Katok Getse Gyurme Tenpa Namgyel ('gyur med bstan pa rnam rgyal, 1886–1952).

Activities in Central and Southern Tibet, Bhutan, and Sikkim

Around 1916, when he was thirteen, Dudjom Rinpoche gave for the first time the empowerments of the Treasury of Revelations (rin chen gter mdzod) to a large gathering in a hidden valley of Pemako called Devakoṭa.^[16] He had been requested to do so by another treasure revealer active in the region—either Terton Ngawang Gelek (gter ston ngag dbang dge legs) or Dudjom Dra-ngak Lingpa (bdud 'joms drag sngags ging pa, 1871–1936).^[17] To transmit the Treasury of Revelations at such an early age is a staggering feat by any standard—one that takes four to six months and involves over a hundred volumes of texts and complex empowerment rituals. Dudjom Rinpoche would offer this transmission ten times in his life—more than anyone before or since. It is likely that this was the first time the Treasury of Revelations was offered in Pemako, since its compilation only concluded in 1889 and in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Pemako was still considered a cultural backwater where lamas occasionally went to do retreat or escape troubles, but not to conduct major religious events.

According to oral histories, it was during this time that Dudjom Rinpoche was engaged to Dra-ngak Lingpa's daughter. Dudjom Rinpoche finally returned to marry her when he was twenty-five, however, by then she had been spirited away by Dra-ngak Lingpa's secretary who wanted her as his own bride.^[18]

While still in his second decade, in his birthplace of Terkong Nang, he established a monastery for monks and a community for ngakpas, or tantric practitioners. His activities in Pemako flourished until regional partisans of Sera Monastery (se ra dgon)—one of the three large Geluk monasteries near Lhasa—complained to the Tibetan government that Dudjom Rinpoche's activities did not have official sanction and should not be permitted. This was no doubt influenced by the powerful Geluk lama Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo (pha bong ka bde chen snying po, 1878–1941) who throughout the 1920s and 30s waged a sectarian crusade to weaken the influence of the other Tibetan religious traditions, especially the Nyingma.^[19] In his late teens or early twenties, Dudjom Rinpoche traveled to central Tibet to appeal to the government for permission to continue his activities in Pemako. Permission was never granted, and instead, throughout his twenties, he toured central and southern Tibet teaching, receiving teachings, and visiting pilgrimage sites. During this time, he bestowed the Treasury of Revelations; the Collected Nyingma Tantras (rnying ma rgyud 'bum); the Nyingtik Yabzhi; the Nyingma Kama; the treasures of Nyangrel Nyima Wozer, Guru Chowang (gu ru chos dbang, 1212–1270), Terdak Lingpa, Dorje Lingpa (rdo rje gling pa), Ratna Lingpa, Pema Lingpa (pad+ma gling pa, 1450–1521), Dudul Dorje (bdud 'dul rdo rje, 1615–1672), Jatson Nyingpo ('ja' tshon snying po, 1616–1675), and Dudjom Lingpa.^[20]

Around the mid 1920s, at the Pema Khyung Dzong Hermitage (padma khyung rdzong) above Tsurpu Monastery (mtshur phu dgon), Samten Gyatso (bsam brtan rgya mtsho, 1888–1940/46) bestowed the empowerments and transmissions for his grandfather Chokgyur Lingpa's treasures. It is said that Dudjom Rinpoche arrived at the empowerments alone and attended for nineteen days while camped in a small tent in a meadow.^[21] At this time Dudjom Rinpoche also assisted Kyungtrul Rinpoche (khyung sprul rin po che, b. 1870) in his composition of elaborate empowerment manuals for the Chokling Tersar.

Around 1930, Kyungtrul Rinpoche passed away and Dudjom Rinpoche married his widow, Kusho Tseten Yudron (sku shog tshe brtan g.yu sgron), a woman from a noble family of the Yarlung Valley who already had a young daughter named Nordzin (nor 'dzin).^[22] With Tseten Yudron he would have seven children.^[23] The eldest was Semo Dechen Yudron (sras mo bde chen g.yu sgron, d. 2007); second was Thinley Norbu Rinpoche ('phrin las nor bu, 1931–2011) a renowned meditator and teacher; third was Dola Tulku Jigme Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche (rdo la sprul sku 'jigs med chos kyi nyi ma, d. 2000); fourth was Semo Pema Yudron (sras mo pad+ma g.yu sgron, d. 2021); fifth was Phende Norbu Rinpoche (phen bde nor bu rin po che); sixth was Se Dorje Pelzang (sras rdo rje dpal bzang); and the seventh was Tsering Yangchen (tshe ring dbyangs can), who passed away very young in Tibet.

By 1944 Dudjom Rinpoche and Tseten Yudron separated. According to oral history, Tseten Yudron exercised her right to movable property granted by Tibetan law, and took most of the belongings and furniture from Dudjom Rinpoche's house. It is said that Dudjom Rinpoche accepted her decision with considerable equanimity and that his disciples, taking pity on him, refurnished his home for him. From 1944 until Tseten Yudron left Tibet in the mid 1950s, they shared custody of their children, who went back and forth between their parents' homes in the Lhasa area.^[25]

Among their children, Dola Tulku Jigme Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche was the father of one of Dudjom Rinpoche's reincarnations, Dudjom Sangye Pema Shepa (bdud 'joms sangs rgyas padma bzhad pa, 1990–2022). Thinley Norbu Rinpoche had several children, including the teachers Dzongsar Khyentse Norbu (rdzong sar mkhyen brtse nor bu, b. 1961) and Dungse Garab Rinpoche (gdung sras dga' rab rin po che, b. 1965).

Not long after his separation from Tseten Yudron, Dudjom Rinpoche married Sangyum Rigdzin Wangmo (gsang yum rig 'dzin dbang mo, 1925–2014), a teenage aristocrat who had been recognized as an emanation of White Tārā and Yeshe Tsogyel (ye shes mtsho rgyal). She would, for the rest of Dudjom Rinpoche's life, play an important role in all his activities, acting as something like his chief of staff. She was also regarded as a wisdom ḍākinī who recognized many tulkus’ incarnations, performed divinations, and is said to have regular pure visions and clairvoyant dreams.^[26] With her, he had four more children: Dekyong Yeshe Wangmo (bde skyong ye shes dbang mo); Chime Wangmo ('chi med dbang mo); Shenphen Dawa Rinpoche (gzhan phan zla ba rin po che, 1950–2018); and Tsering Pendzom (tshe ring phen 'dzoms)

Shenphen Dawa Rinpoche had four children, including the tulkus Namgay Dawa Rinpoche (rnam rgyal zla ba rin po che, b. 1974) and the Fifth Katok Situ (kaH thog it u 05, b. 1978).

Around 1937, in his early thirties, Dudjom Rinpoche went to Bhutan where he revealed his Vajrakīlaya treasure cycle at Paro Taktsang. He then went to Trashigang (bkra shis sgang) in eastern Bhutan and bestowed the Treasury of Revelations as well as other empowerments, teachings, and transmissions in more private ceremonies.

In Bumthang (bum thang), the sacred valley associated with Longchenpa, he met the Tenth Peling Sungtrul, Pema Wosel Gyurme Dorje (pad gling gsung sprul 10 pad+ma 'od gsal 'gyur med rdo rje, 1930–1955), to whom he bestowed Sanggye Lingpa's Embodiment of the Lama's Realization. Later, after Dudjom Rinpoche had returned to Lhasa, at the request of Pema Wosel Gyurme Dorje, he edited Pema Lingpa's Vajrakīlaya treasures, making them easier to use. From Bhutan he was invited by the royal family of Sikkim to bestow the Treasury of Revelations and other transmissions.

On his return to Tibet, he established Zangdok Pelri Monastery (zangs mdog dpal ri dgon) on a hill called Jewel Mountain (nor bu ri) in Kongpo Buchu in southern Tibet, as well as a complex of dharma centers nearby: Rigdzin Gatsel Ling (rig 'dzin dga' tshal gling) was a personal retreat center for him and his wife, Kusho Tseten Yudron; Sangchen Wosel Namdroling (gsang chos 'od gsal rnam grol gling) was for ordained sangha; Lama Ling (bla ma gling) was for laypeople and ngakpas; Dechen Tang (bde chen thang) was the temple they all shared for group practice. The location was chosen because it had been one of the geomantic sites first "tamed" by King Songtsen Gampo (srong btsan sgam po) when preparing Tibet to receive the Buddha's teachings, and it is said to have been later strengthened by Padmasambhava and other masters.^[27]

Many important lamas trained at these centers, particularly at Lama Ling, including Doring Tulku (rdo ring sprul sku), Lama Chime Rinpoche (bla ma 'chi med rin po che), Lama Konchok Jungne (bla ma dkon mchog 'byung gnas), Lama Tharchin Rinpoche (bla ma mthar phyin rin po che, 1936–2013), and Kunzang Dechen Lingpa (kun bzang bde chen gling pa, 1928–2006).^[28] In 1950, an earthquake toppled the Zangdok Pelri temple and the rest of the sites were badly damaged during the Cultural Revolution. However, Lama Ling and the Zangdok Pelri temple were restored in 1989 and maintained as active training centers by Dudjom Rinpoche’s eldest daughter Semo Dechen Yudron and her husband, Chonyi Rinpoche (chos nyid rin po che), who remained there for the rest of their lives.^[29]

In the 1940s, sectarian tensions intensified in Kongpo and parts of eastern Tibet, again motivated by followers of Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo who forcibly converted or vandalized several Nyingma institutions. Amid these social and political tensions and the earthquake that damaged his monastery in Kongpo, Dudjom Rinpoche spent much of his time performing rituals in response to the mounting ill omens.^[30]

In 1951 in Lhasa, Dudjom Rinpoche sponsored the publication of the recently deceased iconoclastic philosopher Gendun Chopel's (dge dun chos 'phel, 1903–1951) Adornment for Nāgārjuna’s Thought (klu sgrub dgongs rgyan).^[31] Without this patronage, it is likely Gendun Chopel's composition would have been lost in the face of suppression from the Geluk establishment. Recognizing the value of Gendun Chopel's literary contributions, Dudjom Rinpoche later published his Treatise on Desire ('dod pa’i bstan bcos) around 1966 in India.^[32]

In the early 1950s, the Chinese had increased their military presence in Tibet, putting pressure on the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Government to accept Communist rule. In 1954, the Dalai Lama requested Dudjom Rinpoche to serve as the Nyingma representative in a delegation to Beijing to meet with Mao Zedong (1893–1976) and negotiate the terms of Chinese control of Tibet. Also in the delegation were the Sixteenth Karmapa (karma pa 16, 1924–1981), the Tenth Panchen Lama (paN chen bla ma 10, 1938–1989), and other influential lamas.^[33]

Around 1955, he returned to central Tibet where he bestowed the Treasury of Revelations and the Nyingma Kama in the vicinity of Lhasa and the transmissions of Longchenpa's writings at Samye.^[34] Among those who attended his transmissions were Chatral Sangye Dorje; and prominent leaders of Dorje Drak Monastery (rdo rje brag dgon) and Mindroling, including the Tenth Dorje Drak Rigdzin Chenpo Jigme Namgrol Gyatso (rdo rje brag rig 'dzin chen po 10 'jigs med rnam sgrol rgya mtsho, b. 1936) and the Eighth Dorje Drak Chubzang Rinpoche, Tubten Jigme Namdrol Gyatso (chu bzang rin po che 08 thub bstan 'jigs med rnam grol rgya mtsho, b. 1936); Minling Khenchen Ngawang Khyentse Norbu (smin gling mkhan chen ngag dbang mkhyen brtse nor bu, 1905–1968); Minling Chung Gyurme Ngawang Chokyi Drakpa (smin gling gcung ngag dbang chos kyi grags pa, 1908–1980); Minling Trichen Kunzang Wangyel (smin gling khri chen kun bzang dbang rgyal, 1931–2008); Polu Khenpo Dorje (spo lu mkhan po rdo rje); Chagdud Tulku (lcags mdud sprul sku, 1930–2002); Tulku Urgyen and many others.

Tulku Ugyen recalls a discussion he had with Dudjom Rinpoche about Tibet's political situation at the time. Dudjom Rinpoche expressed his belief that they had about a year left before they would need to leave Tibet and told him: "We should take advantage of the Chinese while we can. I plan to stay here for about one year, and to use their silver coins to ensure the Dharma's future."^[35] Accordingly, using the wealth he was offered around this time, Dudjom built a house on the border of southern Tibet and Sikkim to which he shipped many books that were then brought further south where they could be preserved.^[36]

Tulku Urgyen also recounts a meeting he had in Lhasa with the renowned lama Zhechen Kongtrul (zhe chen kong sprul, 1901–1960), who told him how he considered Dudjom Rinpoche a great master of their time. Zhechen Kongtrul told him,

Take a look at Dudjom… His eyes are so bright and present, almost like a hawk. In the eyes you can see the quality of complete open awareness. If anyone has realization, he does. Compared to him everyone else seems quite dull and absentminded.^[37]

From Lhasa, Dudjom Rinpoche returned to Pemako and then returned to central Tibet around the turn of 1956, when he was fifty-three years old. In Lhasa, the State Oracle of Nechung advised the central government to request Dudjom Rinpoche to perform rituals of Dorje Drolo and to build a protective stupa at a geomantic location in the Tsela Gang (rtse la sgang) mountains where the Yarchab Tsangpo (yar chab gtsang po) and the Nyangkhe Tsangpo (nyang khe gtsang po) rivers join.

Around this time in Lhasa, he met two of the most renowned teachers of the era: Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro ('jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse chos kyi blo gros, 1893–1959) and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (dil mgo mkhyen brtse brtse, 1910–1991), who were both then preparing to leave Tibet. Dilgo Khyentse remembered that Dudjom Rinpoche then already wore the Bhutanese chuba that he was known for in exile and the Western hat he would wear when outside.^[38] A story recounted in The Life and Times of Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro gives an idea of the impression Dudjom Rinpoche made during those years with his unusual fashion, elegance, and androgynous bearing: A lama-disciple of Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro entered a temple hall where he saw his renowned teacher sitting next to a woman whose throne was even higher than his. He could not, for the life of him, think of who this woman could be—surely Khyentse Rinpoche's wife would not sit higher than him. A few days later, he attended another ceremony at which this elegant woman was sitting on the throne of honor again. Finally, he asked someone who she was and learned that it was, in fact, Dudjom Rinpoche from Pemako.^[39]

Leaving Tibet and Settling in Kalimpong and Nepal

In 1957, convinced that the political situation was becoming untenable, Dudjom Rinpoche left Tibet with Sangyum Rigdzin Wangmo and their young children for Sikkim, where he had established a house on his earlier visit. They then went to Kalimpong, which would be his headquarters for many years. In the 1970s, his former wife, Tseten Yudron and her daughter Nordzin also settled in Kalimpong. The children she shared with Dudjom Rinpoche were scattered in different places: Semo Dechen Yudron stayed in Lhasa and, from 1989, rebuilt and managed her father's center in Kongpo along with her husband, Chonyi Rinpoche (chos nyid rin po che); Thinley Norbu Rinpoche went to India and Bhutan and settled in the United States; Dola Tulku Jigme Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche stayed in Qinghai, China and later offered the Dudjom Tersar lineage to Khandro Tare Lhamo (mkha' 'gro tA re lha mo, 1938–2002) and her consort Namtrul Jigme Puntsok (nam sprul 'jigs med phun tshogs); Semo Pema Yudron remained in Tibet, it seems through the Cultural Revolution, before making her way to Nepal, and then back to Lama Ling in Kongpo;[40] Phende Norbu Rinpoche eventually settled in Nepal; and Se Dorje Pelzang (sras rdo rje dpal bzang), who was based around Lama Ling in Kongpo, was killed as a resistance fighter during the Cultural Revolution.[41]

In Kalimpong, he took over a large colonial house located on the outskirts of the city in the village of Durbindara.[42] As soon as he was settled in Kalimpong, he returned to central Tibet to recover as many texts and religious items as he could, which were mostly gathered at his house in Sikkim. Upon returning to Kalimpong, he began building Zangdok Palri Monastery there—also called Durpin Monastery, after the name of the hill on which it stands—with the help of his local disciple Sharpa Tsenam (shar pa tshe rnam). Tens of thousands of Tibetans would settle in the area after fleeing the Chinese in 1959. During this time, Mayum Choying Wangmo (ma yum chos dbyings dbang mo), the mother of Queen Ashi Kesang Choden (b. 1930) and the designer of the Bhutanese flag, also granted him leadership of Jangsa Dechen Choling Monastery (byang sa bde chen chos gling dgon) in Kalimpong, which he used primarily as a base for training lamas and disciples in ritual systems. 

In 1960, the Dalai Lama, concerned with the preservation of Tibet's culture, especially religion, appointed Dudjom Rinpoche the semi-official representative of the Nyingma lineage, which to that point had always remained decentralized and without an official head. Dudjom Rinpoche would remain the Nyingma representative until he passed away in 1987 when the position passed to Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Part of the responsibilities of this position was to assist the Dalai Lama's administration in education programs, including the writing and publishing of textbooks for young students.

Preserving and Spreading the Nyingma Teachings in Exile

Dudjom Rinpoche's foremost task at this time was the preservation of the Nyingma tradition. Back in Tibet, monasteries and their libraries were being burned, and a whole generation of lamas was being executed or incarcerated. There was very real concern that Buddhism in Tibet would be annihilated and that the Tibetans coming into exile would not be able to maintain their traditions. Against this backdrop, for the next two decades, Dudjom Rinpoche repeatedly transmitted the major collections of the Nyingma teachings: the Treasury of Revelations, the Nyingma Kama, and Collected Nyingma Tantras. These transmissions give lamas who attend ritual access to teachings that they could subsequently pass on to their own students. The transmissions also give lay and monastic devotees access to the empowerments they need to pursue tantric practices.

The first of these transmissions in exile was the Treasury of Revelations, delivered in 1961 at Zangdok Pelri Monastery in Kalimpong.[43] In attendance were thousands of anxious and mostly destitute Tibetan refugees, as well as nearly every Nyingma lama outside of Tibet. It was sponsored by Tsewang Gyeltsen (tshe dbang rgyal mtshan) from Riwoche in Kham. In 1962, also in Kalimpong, Trulshik Rinpoche Ngawang Chokyi Lodro ('khrul zhig ngag dbang chos kyi blo gros, 1924–2011) requested Dudjom Rinpoche to bestow the Nyingma Kama to approximately 2000 monastics and laypeople, including thirty-seven tulkus and sixty khenpos and instructors (slob dpon).[44] In his concluding remarks after the months of transmissions, Dudjom Rinpoche spoke on the significance of the event, telling them that the texts he was using were possibly the only surviving copy of the Nyingma Kama at the time. He exhorted them to copy it and transmit it to ensure that the Nyingma teachings would not be lost.[45] Later that same year, he bestowed the Nyingma Gyubum at Tso Pema (mtsho pad+ma) in Rewalsar, which was attended by thousands of people, including many who traveled from highland regions like Nyungti, Parti, Khunu, Gazha, and Ladakh. In 1974, after hundreds of thousands more refugees settled in India, Dudjom Rinpoche bestowed the Treasury of Revelations a second time at Tso Pema at the request of Drikung Ladakh Tokden Rinpoche, Tubten Tenpai Nyima ('bri gung lha dwags rtogs ldan rin po che thub bstan bstan pa'i nyi ma, 1941–2023).

Around this same time, Dudjom Rinpoche's devotees from Kongpo—thousands of whom had been resettled to a camp in the Indian state of Orissa—requested his support to keep them from being separated among multiple settlements across India. Dudjom Rinpoche received permission from the Tibetan exile and Indian governments to oversee the camp and he installed Chagdud Tulku to administer it in its first three years.[46]

In 1963, when Dudjom Rinpoche was teaching extensively in and around Kalimpong, Chatral Sangye Dorje invited him to Darjeeling to bless a life-sized statue of Padmasambhava he had constructed there. Dudjom Rinpoche consecrated the statue and also gave a Guru Rinpoche empowerment to a gathering of at least five hundred people, including the young Tsewang Dongyal, who would later become his close disciple and the author of Dudjom Rinpoche's biography, available in English as Light of Fearless Indestructible Wisdom.

In 1964, after meeting with the Tibetan exile government in Dharamsala, with his attendant Katok Zhichen Wontrul Rinpoche (kaH thog gzhi chen dbon sprul, 1922–1997), Dudjom Rinpoche traveled to Delhi and then to Siliguri, where he was arrested by Indian intelligence services on suspicion of being a Chinese agent. This was due to his remaining in contact with two of his sons living in Communist-controlled areas. There was also speculation that rumors had been spread about him by Geluk fundamentalists who were resentful of Dudjom Rinpoche's activities. After not more than a week of house arrest, a letter campaign led by the Dalai Lama, the king of Sikkim, and the Bhutanese royals and government appealed to Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India, and secured his release.[47]

In 1965, the Dalai Lama asked Dudjom Rinpoche to nominate Nyingma scholars for the inaugural faculty at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies (CIHTS), a nonsectarian Buddhist college that would open in 1967 in Sarnath, India. He chose Khenchen Tubten Tsondru (mkhan chen thub bstan brtson 'grus, 1920–1979) and Khenchen Palden Sherab (mkhan chen dpal ldan shes rab, 1838/1941–2010) as the institution's first Nyingma khenpos. 

That same year he participated in an intensive practice ceremony (sgrub chen) of the Gathering of Vidyādharas (rig 'dzin 'dus pa) from the Longchen Nyingtik treasures in Bhutan. The Queen Mother, Ashi Phuntsho Choden (a zhe phun tshogs chos sgron) sponsored the event, and Dilgo Khyentse and Chatral Sangye Dorje co-chaired. Polu Khenpo Dorje and other dignitaries also participated.[48] The queen mother invited him back to Bhutan in 1974 to give the empowerments for the treasures of Pema Lingpa. At that time, he consecrated the Thimphu Memorial Chorten in Bhutan's capital. The structure had been designed by Dudjom Rinpoche's son, Thinley Norbu, as a reliquary for the Third Druk Gyelpo, Jigme Dorji Wangchuk ('brug rgyal po 03 'jigs med rdo rje dbang phyug, 1928–1972).

In 1969 at Ghoom Monastery, also known as Yiga Choling (yid dga' chos gling) in Darjeeling, he gave empowerments and teachings on Nyangrel Nyima Wozer's treasure cycle The Eight Commands: Embodiment of all the Sugatas at the request of a sponsorship collective called the Tsechu Association,[49] then headed by a Golok Tulku (mgo log sprul sku). Most of the major Nyingma lamas of the era were present, including Minling Trichen Rinpoche; Dudjom Rinpoche's grandson Dzongsar Khyentse Norbu; his second wife Sangyum Rigdzin Wangmo; his sons Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche and Dungse Shenphen Dawa Rinpoche; Nyoshul Khenpo Jamyang Dorje (smyo shul mkhan po 'jam dbyangs rdo rje, 1931–1999); and Sakya Khenchen Sangye Tendzin Rinpoche (sa skya mkhan chen sangs rgyas bstan 'dzin rin po che, 1904–1990).[50]

Expanding Activity in Asia

Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal's biography of Dudjom Rinpoche mentions no large events from 1970–1972 and it seems that he lived relatively quietly between Kalimpong and Nepal. Thomas Shor's book about Dudjom Rinpoche's disciple Tulshuk Lingpa (brtul zhugs gling pa) records that in 1970, Dudjom Rinpoche was living in Thamel in Kathmandu.[51]

In the mid-1970s, Dudjom Rinpoche began compiling teachings to be included in a vastly expanded edition of the Nyingma Kama. The first edition of the Nyingma Kama, prepared in the late seventeenth century by Terdak Lingpa of Mindroling Monastery, comprised thirteen volumes. Dudjom Rinpoche's edition would come out to fifty-eight volumes incorporating hundreds of teachings that had for generations been scattered in various monastic libraries and private collections. Without his efforts, hundreds of important teachings would likely have been lost. About this project, Tsewang Dongyal wrote, "Completing this collection was one of his dearest aspirations. Whenever he returned from his travels, he continued his work on this."[52] Dudjom Rinpoche's edition was further expanded in the early 2000s by Khenpo Jamyang (mkhan po 'jam dbyangs, 1929–1999) of Katok Monastery in Tibet and published by Katok in 108 volumes.

In 1973, Dudjom Rinpoche made his first visit to Hong Kong, where he helped his disciple Guru Lau (1914–1997), also known by his Tibetan name Sonam Chokyi Gyaltsen (bsod nams chos kyi rgyal mtshan) establish Dudjom International, which remains an active organization for the dissemination of the Dudjom lineage in East Asia. He returned to Hong Kong in 1981 and in 1984 after consecrating Tai Chung Monastery in Taiwan, which had been constructed under Guru Lau's leadership.[53]

Throughout the 1970s, Dudjom Rinpoche established Dundul Rabtenling Monastery (bdud 'dul rab brtan gling) in Orissa, India; Tso Pema Orgyen Heruka Nyingmapa Gompa (mtsho pad+ma o rgyan he ru ka rnying ma pa dgon pa) at Tso Pema; Dudjom Gompa Orgyan Do-ngak Chokorling (o rgyan mdo sngags chos 'khor gling) in Boudhanath, Kathmandu; and Tsechu Monastery (tshes bcu dgon) in Darjeeling.[54] In 1978, he instructed his disciple Khetsun Zangpo Rinpoche (mkhas btsun bzang po rin po che, 1920–2009) to build and oversee the Wish-Fulfilling Nyingma Institute—Shedrub Döjo Ling (shes sgrub 'dod 'jo gling), a school in Kathmandu dedicated to Nyingma scholarship. Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal was appointed as the first abbot.

In 1977–78, while based at Dudjom Gompa, he conferred, for the first time in his life, empowerments, transmissions, and teachings for the entire Dudjom Tersar—all the treasures revealed by him and his predecessor, Dudjom Lingpa. Nearly every Nyingma lama who was able attended, along with many important Kagyu and Sakya lamas and thousands of monks and laypeople from all over the world.[55]

United States

In 1973, after his trip to Hong Kong, Dudjom Rinpoche traveled for the first time to the United States at the invitation of several disciples who had settled there, including Gyatrul Rinpoche (rgya sprul rin po che, 1924–2023), whom Dudjom Rinpoche had sent to North America as his representative the year before. His first stop was California, where at the request of Tarthang Tulku (dar thang sprul sku, b. 1935), he gave empowerments, transmissions, teachings, and consecrations at Tarthang Tulku's Nyingma Meditation Center and Nyingma Institute in Berkeley, as well as his Odiyana Retreat Center in Sonoma County. He then traveled to New York at the request of the Sikkimese scholar Sonam T. Kazi (bsod nams ka dzi, 1925–2009) where he gave empowerments and Dzogchen instructions in private homes and rented spaces. He returned to the U.S. in 1976, teaching in Colorado at the invitation of Chogyam Trungpa (chos rgyam drung pa, 1939–1987). In New York that year, he was offered a townhouse on West 16th Street by a group of devotees led by the poet John Giorno (1936–2019), whom he had met in India in 1971.[56] Dudjom Rinpoche named the house Yeshe Nyingpo and used it as his primary seat of teaching in the United States. It is currently presided over by Dudjom Rinpoche's grandson, Namgay Dawa Rinpoche (rnam rgyal zla ba rin po che).

He returned to the United States in 1980, teaching extensively in California; Gyatrul Rinpoche's center in Oregon, Tashi Choling, and Sakya Monastery in Seattle, the seat of Sakya Dagchen Rinpoche (sa skya bdag chen rin po che, 1929–2016).[57] That year, disciples in New York offered him a large property in New York's Catskill Mountains which he used to establish a retreat center named Orgyen Cho Dzong (o rgyan chos rdzong).[58] In 1982, he returned to New York, where he would stay until March 1983. Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal, one of his interpreters at that time, recalled,

In New York at that time his routine included morning and evening meditation sessions, and following lunch he answered letters and received visitors. During that stay in New York, he received a number of visitors, including the great teacher His Eminence Shamar Rinpoche, the Honorable Prince of the Kingdom of Sikkim, and Mr. Om Pradam, the permanent Bhutanese delegate to the United Nations. Many other Bhutanese dignitaries visited, as well as many renowned Tibetan scholars and officials, and in addition many Western students. He received them all, giving blessings and answering questions, and thus he fulfilled their wishes.[59]

In March and April 1983, he taught extensively in California before returning to New York. At the end of that year, he intended to return to Nepal to continue working on the Nyingma Kama project, however, at the last minute, citing the health benefits of being in the United States, he decided to stay and instead flew in scribes and assistants to help him with his work.

France

In 1977, an English patron named Bernard Benson offered Dudjom Rinpoche land in France's Dordogne Valley where he established a center called Urgyen Samyé Chöling. A few kilometers away, in La Péchardie, was a house that would be his primary residence in Europe and the place where he passed away in 1987. Benson also granted land to several other important Tibetan lamas, including the Sixteenth Karmapa, Pawo Rinpoche (dpa' bo rin po che, 1912–1991), Kangyur Rinpoche (bka' 'gyur rin po che, 1898–1975), and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. The latter two established three-year retreat centers where many Western practitioners have trained. Dudjom Rinpoche returned to France in 1979 and established a center in Paris called Dorje Nyingpo where he installed Tsewang Dongyal as the resident lama in 1981.[60] This center was briefly occupied by Sogyal Rinpoche and his Rigpa organization. In 1980, Dudjom Rinpoche taught three-year retreatants in Dordogne who were under the guidance of Pema Wangyal Rinpoche (pad+ma dbang rgyal rin po che). In summer 1984, he returned to Urgyen Samyé Chöling, where Dilgo Khyentse was leading a retreat on the Longchen Nyingtik. Dudjom Rinpoche gave participants teachings on the Prayer in Seven Chapters (le'u bdun ma) in the mornings.[61]

Last Days

By 1985, Dudjom Rinpoche was no longer teaching publicly and was residing quietly with Sangyum Rigdzin Wangmo in their home at La Péchardie near Urgyen Samyé Chöling, Dordogne, France. It was then that he began speaking regularly about his own impermanence and showing signs of declining vitality. In 1986, he was briefly hospitalized, and he passed away at home on January 17, 1987.

After his vital signs ceased, it is said many observed his complexion remaining fresh and his body being surrounded by pleasant smells and unusual sensory phenomena. It was also observed that his body became smaller and lighter—a sign common to those who have mastered Dzogchen. After being embalmed in France, his body was flown to Dudjom Gompa, his monastery in Boudha, Nepal, where viewing was made available to pilgrims. It was then brought to Bhutan, so that devotees there could receive its blessings before it was finally entombed in a reliquary stupa at Dudjom Gompa under the supervision of Chatral Sangye Dorje.[62]

Several Dudjom tulkus have been recognized. Of them, two rose to prominence. The first is Sangye Pema Zhepa (bdud 'joms sangs rgyas padma bzhad pa, 1990–2022) the son of Dudjom Rinpoche's son Dola Tulku Jigme Chokyi Nyima. He was first recognized as a Dudjom tulku by Tāre Lhamo, and then by Khenpo Jigme Puntsok (mkhan po 'jigs med phun tshogs, 1933–2004), Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Norbu, Chatral Sangye Dorje, Dungse Thinley Norbu, and Minling Trichen. His training was overseen by Chatral Sangye Dorje and he taught extensively in Nepal, Tibet, and internationally until his unexpected death in 2022.

The other prominent Dudjom Tulku is Tenzin Yeshe Dorje (bstan 'dzin ye shes rdo rje, b. 1990) of Bhutan. He was recognized by Sangyum Rigdzin Wangmo, Shenphen Dawa Rinpoche, and the Fourteenth Dalai Lama.

Literary Legacy

Not only did Dudjom Rinpoche preserve the Nyingma tradition by spreading its transmissions and empowerments on an unprecedented scale, by training hundreds of lamas, and by greatly expanding the corpus of the Nyingma Kama, he also composed and compiled twenty-five volumes comprising his collected works. Among these are four cycles of his own treasures and several volumes of supplemental texts that were added to his recensions of other tertons' collected treasures, including those of his predecessors Dudul Dorje and Dudjom Lingpa, as well as others like Pema Lingpa, Drakngak Lingpa, and his own teacher, Zilnon Namkha Dorje. With his fine eye for identifying what useful might be missing, his rare talent for both scholarly and poetic composition to fit any context, and his ability to reference and borrow from a vast body of literature, he was able to smooth over treasures’ idiosyncrasies and make them more universally accessible.^[63]

Dudjom scholar Cathy Cantwell explains how this kind of scholarly work, which goes unnoticed by most, carried on the project begun by Terdak Lingpa and Lochen Dharmaśrī in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries to unify the Nyingma tradition—the most decentralized of the four major Tibetan lineages—under coherent and rigorous textual, ritual, and ethical canons.^[64] His literary legacy thus also echoes that of Jamgon Kongtrul in the second half of the nineteenth century.^[65]     

Cantwell also points out that most of what Dudjom Rinpoche composed while in Tibet was preserved thanks to the efforts of his disciple Lama Pema Longdrol (bla ma pad+ma klong grol) who, from the mid-1950s through the 1970s, travelled all over Tibet gathering his teacher’s scattered compositions to include in his Collected Works. The earliest woodblocks of Dudjom Rinpoche's writings were made in Lhasa in 1957–58; the rest were published in exile in the late 1970s through 1985.^[66]

While in exile, Dudjom Rinpoche wrote his Nyingma History (rnying ma'i chos byung), in 1962, and An Exposition of the Teachings (bstan pa'i rnam bzhag), 1966, which were translated together as The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism by Gyurme Dorje and Matthew Kapstein and published in 1991 by Wisdom.^[67] Also, at the behest of the Dalai Lama, he wrote a Political History of Tibet (bod kyi rgyal rabs) in 1979.^[68] These major reference works were part of his mission to preserve and strengthen the doctrinal and historical foundations of the Nyingma tradition, and Tibetan culture in general, so that it would endure the disasters of the twentieth century. Another influential work he composed was a commentary on Ngari Panchen's (mnga' ris paN chen, 1487–1542) Ascertaining the Three Vows (sdom gsum rnam nges), translated into English as Perfect Conduct. 

Beyond his rigorous scholarly work, literary connoisseurs find much to appreciate in Dudjom Rinpoche’s graceful, often poignant and confessional poetry and prayers, and countless devotees support their practice with his lucid and accessible instructional writings on Dzogchen and foundational practices, scores of which have been translated into other languages.

Preincarnations

The preincarnation lineage of Dudjom Rinpoche is generally given as follows: Shariputra (shA ri'i pu tra), Saraha, Krishnadhara, Humkara, Khyeu Chung Lotsawa (khye'u chung lo tsA ba), Smṛtijñāna, Rongdzom Pandita Chokyi Zangpo (rong zom chos kyi bzang po, 1040–1159), Katokpa Dampa Deshek (kaH thog pa dam pa bde gshegs, 1122–1192), Lingje Repa (gling rje ras pa, 1128–1188) Pakpa Lodro Gyeltsen ('phags pa blo gros rgyal mtshan, 1235–1280), Drum Khar Nagpopa ('brum khar nag po pa), Hewa Chojung (he ba chos 'byung), Dudul Dorje, Katok Gyelse Sonam Deutsen (kaH thog rgyal sras bsod nams lde'u btsan, 1625–1723) Dudul Rolpatsel (bdud 'dul rol pa rtsal), and Dudjom Lingpa.

 

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