The Treasury of Lives

Dudjom Lingpa was born in 1835 in the Serta or Serthal (gser rta/thal) valley southwest of Golok (mgo log)—a rugged highland region between Amdo in the north and Kham in the south. His father was named Aten (a bstan) and belonged to a clan called Achak Dru (a lcags 'gru). The clan claimed descent from the ancient Nub (gnubs) clan of central Tibet to which belonged the great masters Nubchen Sanggye Yeshe (gnubs chen sangs rgyas ye shes, 832/844–942) and Namkhai Nyingpo (nam mkha'i snying po)—both counted among Padmasambhava's (pad+ma sam b+ha ba) twenty-five close Tibetan disciples. Later masters in the clan line included the seventeenth-century treasure revealer Maṇi Raṭṇa (ma ni rat+na) and Chogyel Lingpa (chos rgyal gling pa, 1649/1650–1729?). Dudjom Lingpa's mother was named Bodzok (bo rdzogs) and came from a clan called Mutsa Ga (dmu tsha sga/lga). According to Dudjom Lingpa's autobiography, his parents had, in earlier lives, been the parents of Terton Dudul Dorje (bdud 'dul rdo rje, 1615–1672) and had reunited on the strength of their aspiration prayers. Dudjom Lingpa was himself identified as a reincarnation of Dudul Dorje. 

When he was born, the family's local Buddhist teacher, Lama Jigme (bla ma 'jigs med), predicted that the child would be special. He reportedly told Dudjom Lingpa's parents,

When I married the two of you, I had the sense that it would be very fortunate if you stayed together… Today I have the impression that this child of yours is an incomparable reincarnate master. Even if a monastery doesn't claim him…it seems certain he will help others. Therefore, make it a point to keep him very clean and periodically exert yourself in making smoke offerings and ablution rituals.[1]

Dudjom Lingpa reports that in his earliest memories, when he was still an infant, he had visions of countless demons, spirits, ḍākas, and ḍākinīs, which caused him much distress. He recalls, “Though I wanted to express myself, I didn't know how to talk, so I just rolled around in bed and wailed.”[2]

Early Life



In early 1837, at the age of three, his mother once went out to forage wild sweet potatoes and tied him to a rope at their tent so he would not wander. He claims that on that day, as he sat in despair at being left alone, a beautiful woman who must have been a wisdom ḍākinī appeared to him and took him on a visionary journey through pure lands where he was introduced to several bodhisattvas and a buddha named Donmizawa Gyelpo (don mi za ba rgyal po). This buddha reportedly told him that Dudjom Lingpa had “already gained supreme and common spiritual attainments” and was authorized to teach the Vajrayana in the human realm. Dudjom Lingpa then recalls,

Domizawa Gyelpo placed a crystal box in my hands. Inside appeared the shapes of the syllables Om Ah Hung, as if painted clearly in white, red, and blue, [and told me,] “This is your share of your father's wealth. Without harboring any doubts, swallow it.” Just as he instructed me, I gulped it down. This caused me to remember a multitude of teachings; it renewed my aptitude for everything I had learned and trained in throughout my previous lifetimes, including every creation- and completion-phase meditation practice. These all became vivid in my mind as if a precise copy had been made. I rested for a while within that luminous state.[3]

He further reports that between 1837 and 1844 he went through many similar experiences in which mysterious holy beings, and sometimes animals, told him who he had been in his past lives and gave him teachings and encouraging predictions about his future.

In late 1840, at six years old, he reports having a vision of Vajravārāhī who instructed him to accumulate various specific mantras and gave him a prophecy about his own destiny as a treasure revealer. He recalls her saying,

Once you have completed all those tasks, at the age of twenty-two your mind treasure will overflow.

At the age of twenty-four, you will bring forth three cycles of earth treasure.

After the age of forty, you will be of incredible service to beings.[4]

In the summer of 1844, when he was ten years old, he dreamed of a divine figure telling him to prepare to go live with his maternal uncle, Mingyur (mi 'gyur). Dudjom Lingpa's parents sent him to learn reading and writing from this uncle, who hoped to make him the heir to his modest estate. For his room and board Dudjom Lingpa was expected to tend to the family's animals. He had no taste for such work, however, and showed his displeasure by destroying most of the kitchenware in the house.

With confidence shattered in the boy's prospects as a working man, in 1845, Dudjom Lingpa's uncle took him to a local teacher named Lama Jamyang (bla ma 'jam dbyangs) and asked if he would be willing to try to teach him. The lama was kind and encouraged his interest in Buddhism and tutored him in reading. Dudjom Lingpa recalls a vision in which he was told that he and Lama Jamyang had been connected for many lifetimes. Lama Jamyang taught him preliminary practices and gave him the empowerments and reading transmissions for Dudul Dorje's treasures.[5]

By his own account, Dudjom Lingpa continued to find himself in a nearly perpetual state of strange perception that he was unsure how to handle and that marked him as odd to those around him. For example, he recalls,

Especially in the time since I turned ten or eleven years old, with no sky above and no earth below, I have seen tremendous waves of blood within an expanse of vivid emptiness. These would change into a glowing red inferno like a rainbow, from which shone infinite masses of light, causing the environment and beings of a vast region to appear, like the reflection of the moon on water—an appearance without any intrinsic nature. That experience led me to understand that the entire range of environments and beings is my own manifestation, without any reality, like a dream.[6]

His parents were worried there was something quite wrong with the boy, but just as Lama Jigme had reassured them earlier, an advanced practitioner named Lama Tsenzang (bla ma mtshan bzang) told them that the boy was not disabled but rather was a being dwelling in advanced levels of spiritual attainment.

In 1847, when he was thirteen, he recalls another intense vision of a terrifying black deity who warned him of dangers to the lives of his uncle and Lama Jamyang. When he reported this to Lama Jamyang, he took the boy's experience seriously and bestowed on him his lineage for the Nyingma protector deity Nojin Shenpa Marnak (gnod sbyin shan pa dmar nag). The next year, he claims to have had another vision of a ḍākiṇi warning him of obstacles to his uncle's life. His uncle, who dismissed the vision, died in an epidemic several weeks later.

In 1849, Dudjom Lingpa experienced a vision in which a mysterious black horseman instructed him in the practice of the fierce deity Dorje Drolo (rdo rje gro lod). He recalls that, “From that point on, throughout my life I was released from hindering obstacles by virtue of relying upon these key meditation and recitation instructions.”[7]

In 1850, when he was sixteen, he had another vision in which Yeshe Tsogyel (ye shes mtsho rgyal) instructed him to train with the local teacher from his youth, Lama Jigme. Accordingly, Dudjom Lingpa performed what seems to be his first group practice activity: a monthlong retreat with fifteen companions on the preliminary practices of an unnamed lineage. His visions continued unabated throughout his late teens, many of which were of deities and past masters giving clear and practical instructions on how to meditate.

In his youth, it is said that Dudjom Lingpa and his poor nomadic peers were often subjected to banditry. This likely contributed to his gradual adoption of a rough, sword-bearing persona not to be trifled with, and to his later mastery of black magic against his enemies.[8]

Early Adulthood

In 1852, when he was eighteen, Dudjom Lingpa began to provide religious services for others, which earned him a subsistence income. Still, however, he did not consider himself a lama prepared to guide disciples. His confidence to teach would only slowly unfold over the years with much encouragement from his visionary companions. That year, he was invited by a patron named Gonten (mgon bstan) to recite scriptures at his home. During the service, he had a vision in which a demoness tried to poison him and he was warned about it by a protector deity. It does not appear that the patron had anything to do with this paranormal perfidy, as they continued to support his activities, and he later healed Gonten's animals and caused a defunct water spring to become active again, greatly increasing the livability of the region.

At the end of that year, he performed a monthlong retreat on the practice of Mañjuśrī—the bodhisattva of wisdom and intellect. As a result of this practice, he claims to have had a vision of Mañjuśrī, who offered him a boon:

Mañjuśrī said to me, “My child, what do you want? I'll give it to you.”

“I want skill in writing,” I requested.

“It is possible for even some secular laypeople to know how to write well. What is the use of that?”

“Oh. Well then, I wish for sublime insight.”[9]

Encouraged by this and other visions that he was on the right track, for the next four years, he continued his life of largely solitary meditation, most likely supported by his patron, Gonten, moving among different sites in the nomadic Serta region.

At the end of 1856, when he was twenty-two, Dudjom Lingpa was instructed by a ḍākiṇī in a vision to go east to Golok to find a disciple he was destined to teach. Still not considering himself to be the kind of lama who takes on serious students, he asked the ḍākiṇī, “Elder sister, if I go there, how much tea will I get from this disciple?” To which she replied, “He is not that sort of disciple. Many disciples like your own heart will appear and you will accomplish what is beneficial for beings on a vast scale.”[10]

The next year, Dudjom Lingpa was introduced by a Lama Sang-ngak Drubchok (bla ma gsang sngags) to a trader named Gili Wangli (rgis li dbang li) who was on his way to do business in the towns of Golok. They traveled together and Dudjom Lingpa gave scriptural transmissions and instructions to Gili Wangli's nephew, a monk named Ngawang Gyatso (ngag dbang rgya mtsho), as well as to another member of the party named Kyatse Don (skya tshe don). After a few months in the pleasant company of this family, Dudjom Lingpa reports having a vision in which a ḍākiṇī told him not to stay too long with them, as they would not be his long-term patrons. Gili Wangli was so impressed with Dudjom Lingpa, however, that he spread praise about him throughout eastern Tibet, and as a result, early in Dudjom Lingpa's career he was known simply as Gili Terton (rgis li gter ston)—"the Gili family treasure revealer."[11] The unconventional, rugged personality and appearance he had cultivated likely served him well  at that time in Golok where there was little rule of law and lamas were often expected to act as arbiters and to project authority.[12]

Treasure Revelations

In 1858, Dudjom Lingpa reports having a vision of Avalokiteśvara who exhorted him to reveal the treasure cycle The Profound Teaching on the Naturally Free Enlightened Perspective (zab chos dgongs pa rang grol). Doing so, he then tried to decode the symbolic script of the treasure, but it did not come to him easily. Later that year, he reports having a vision of the eighth-century Nepalese master Hūṃkara (hUM ka ra) who gave him an additional empowerment for Nojin Shenpa Marnak that facilitated his treasure-revealing process, though he still appears to have doubted that he was up to the task.  

At that time, it is said that a Kagyu practitioner named Repon (ras dpon) from the region of Horkok (hor khog) arrived in Golok and began spreading rumors that Dudjom Lingpa's treasures were fraudulent. This affair seems to have discouraged Dudjom Lingpa considerably, to the point that he thought it not worth the effort and burned what he had composed to that point.[13]

Later in 1858, he entered retreat on Dorje Drolo practice with a disciple named Ngawang Gyatso (ngag dbang rgya mtsho), during which time he received a prophecy that he would meet a monk from the region of Hor named Puntsok Tashi (phun tshogs bkra shis) who would act as a scribe for his future treasures. This unfolded as predicted, and later that year he traveled to Hor to give extensive teachings to a large gathering of the faithful.

That summer, he revealed an earth treasure (sa gter) at a site called Ba Treasure Cliff (rba gter brag), which included a statue of Tārā, a rosary said to have belonged to the Mahāsiddha Saraha, and a registry (kha byang) of future treasures to reveal along with instructions about how to do so. The sites of his revelations were to include the Ngala Taktse Mountains (rnga la stag rtse) in Serme (ser smad) and a place called Shadrak Dorje (sha brag rdo rje). After revealing these treasures he established his disciples Puntsok Tashi and Ngawang Gyatso as their custodians (gter bdag). They traveled together back east to Golok with the long-term plan to compile, edit, and propagate them, although Dudjom Lingpa declared that he had to wait six years before sharing them with others.[14]

Around this same time, he revealed his second major treasure cycle The Wisdom Net of Pure Appearances (dag snang ye shes drwa ba),[15] which included the Dudjom Tersar (bdud 'jom gter gsar) preliminary practices; the Dzogchen tantra, The Sharp Vajra of Awareness (shes rig rdo rje rnon po rgyud); and the now-widely practiced chod (gcod) liturgy of Krodikāli, or Black Troma (khro ma nag po).[16] In a visionary conversation with in 1865, Padmasambhava told Dudjom Lingpa about the importance of the chod practice among his revelations:

Severance constitutes the pith instructions for considering bad omens as your own good fortune and accepting the upheavals of sickness as the path. It is especially profound. In the past, people knew the full import of these vital instructions, but now no one does. These days, the decline of the Secret Mantra's supreme approach is entirely due to the weakness of sentient beings' [positive] karma and merit: Their teachers delight in, consider best, and teach to others the paths of lesser spiritual approaches, in which the concepts of the rational, intellectual mind are valued with attachment. Disciples with little merit meet only such teachers.[17]

Embracing the Life of a Teacher

By 1861 Dudjom Lingpa's confidence in his treasure-revelation abilities was strong. He wrote,

From that time forth, like planets and stars shimmering on the surface of the ocean, I recognized that all phenomena—both that of cyclic existence and enlightenment—are a perfectly contained, self-manifest display within supreme basic space. Further, merely by focusing my mind's intent on any subject, whatever teachings I needed would flow forth [in my mind's eye] as if a precise copy had been made.

In 1862, when he was twenty-eight, Dudjom Lingpa had a vision that gave him a clear sense of direction. A ḍākinī instructed him to do retreat at Dropuk (grod phug),[18] and after one month there, he had another vision telling him where he could go in the coming years to gain provisions to support him and his retinue. He writes that he was explicitly instructed not to go out of his way to promote himself and not to seek any more material wealth than necessary. Later, another divine being told him to return to Dropuk regularly and to nurture his practice there. He was also instructed to do some short retreats at a site further east called Sergyi Dzichen She (ser gyi 'dzi chen shes) and to prepare to guide the disciples that would soon be gathering around him. Having never been trained in a formal religious community or received institutional support, he expressed his discomfort with the idea of being a religious leader in a song:

Although I have taught others

As my self-manifest teachers ordered,

No one is interested in me

Except as an object of universal criticism.[19]

Following this episode, in the summer of 1862, he wandered the plains of Hor practicing his own Dorje Drolo treasure until a man named Anam Wangchen (a gnam dbang chen) requested him to perform rituals. Anam Wangchen had been advised to do so by Do-ngak Gyatso (mdo sngags rgya mtsho), a disciple of Patrul Rinpoche Orgyen Chokyi Wangpo (dpal sprul rin po che o rgyan chos kyi dbang po, 1808–1887), a lama with whom Dudjom Lingpa would forge an important relationship in later years. Why Do-ngak Gyatso held Dudjom Lingpa in such high regard is not explained, but it is likely that he heard about him through the network of his former patrons, the Gili family.   

At the end of the summer of 1862, Dudjom Lingpa returned to visit the Gili estate, this time bearing the status of an up-and-coming treasure revealer still in need of establishing his authenticity. There, he met a man named Kela Chopak (ske bla chos 'phags) who proposed to help him with his treasure work, even while expressing skepticism about Dudjom Lingpa's bona fides. At that time, the Fourth Katok Chaktsa Tulku (kaH thog phyag tsha sprul sku) was passing through and he was asked about Dudjom Lingpa. After consulting his dreams, Chaktsa Tulku declared, “He seems to be an authentic treasure revealer,” which strengthened Dudjom Lingpa's credibility. Chaktsa Tulku was later asked to evaluate the coherence of a slightly unusual-sounding line in Dudjom Lingpa's treasures. A particularly hostile skeptic named Rewon (re 'on) suspected that Dudjom Lingpa had employed mere poetic flights of fancy, however, Chaktsa Tulku declared that his words were indeed profound and bore comparisons to some phrasings of the First Dodrubchen, Jikme Trinle Wozer (rdo grub chen 01 'jigs med phrin las 'od er, 1745–1821). In revenge for Rewon's disparagement, Dudjom Lingpa ritually cursed the man and brought him to ruin. Around this time Katok Chaktsa Tulku gave Dudjom Lingpa empowerments for Dudul Dorje's treasures.

Later that year, Dudjom Lingpa revealed his treasure cycle The Profound Secret Heart-Essence of the Ḍākiṇīs (zab gsang mkha' 'gro snying thig).

Increasing Activity and Building the Family Line[20]

In 1863, when he was twenty-nine years old, Dudjom Lingpa stayed for one year in retreat at Dropuk with two of his disciples. There, they trained in the anuyoga practices of the Longchen Nyingtik (klong chen snying thig), the widely practiced treasure cycle of Jigme Lingpa ('jigs med gling pa, 1730–1798). That winter, he returned to his home region west of Golok and practiced a Dorje Drolo treasure of Dudul Dorje for two months in a retreat with disciples named Kyenrab (mkhyen rab), Karma Konchok (karma dkon mchog), Lama Ten (bla ma brtan), and Rikchok (rigs mchog).

The next year, he returned to Dropuk for around a year. While he was there, from a ḍākinī in a vision, he received instruction in the Dzogchen practice of togel (thod rgal), which expanded the scope of his visionary experience and gave him access to vast pure lands. He seems to have spent 1864–1865 focused on togel practice.

By 1865 Dudjom Lingpa had paired with a woman named Traza Sonam Tso (khra bza’ bsod nams mtsho), who joined him in consort practice. Their eldest son was born that year. In 1870, the Fourth Dzogchen Drubwang, Mingyur Namkhai Dorje (rdzogs chen drub dbang 04 mi 'gyur nam mkha'i rdo rje, 1793–1870) recognized the child as the Third Dodrubchen, named him Jigme Tenpai Nyima (rdo grub chen 03 'jigs med bstan pa'i nyi ma, 1865–1926), and enthroned him at Yarlung Pemako Monastery (yar klung padma bkod). The boy would train with Dzogchen Khenpo Pema Vajra (rdzogs chen mkhan po pad+ma ba+dz+ra, d. 1887), Patrul Rinpoche, Mipam Rinpoche (mi pham rin po che, 1846–1912), and other renowned Nyingma masters of the time.[21] Since the Dodrubchen tulkus are central to the Longchen Nyingtik lineage, this connection no doubt contributed to the subsequent harmony between the Longchen Nyingtik and Dudjom Tersar traditions, with many important masters holding both lineages. Several of Dudjom Lingpa's other sons likewise trained in the Longchen Nyintik and were themselves dual lineage holders. 

In 1867, when he was around thirty-two years old, Dudjom Lingpa had his second son, Tulku Pema Dorje (sprul sku pad+ma rdo rje, 1867–1934), with Traza Sonam Tso. Tulku Pema Dorje was recognized by the Fourth Dzogchen Drubwang as an incarnation of Marpa Lotsāwa (mar pa lo tsA ba) and trained under Patrul Rinpoche and his older brother, the Third Dodrubchen, whom he served as an assistant for decades.[22]

In 1868 or 1896, with his second wife Keza Sangye Tso (ske bza' sangs rgyas mtsho), he had a third son who was recognized as an incarnation of Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje (mdo mkhyen brtse ye shes rdo rje, 1800–1866) by the Fourth Dzogchen Rinpoche, Tsamtrul Kunzang Dechen Dorje, and Dudjom Lingpa himself. This son was known as Khyentse Tulku Dzamling Wangyel (mkhyen brtse sprul sku rdzam gling dbang rgyal, 1868–1907) and he was enthroned at Dzagyel Monastery in 1878. He, like his elder brothers, trained with Patrul Rinpoche and Dudjom Lingpa, as well as Tsamtrul Kunzang Dechen Dorje. He later taught at his father's Kelzang Monastery before setting out on pilgrimage to Pemako (pad+ma bkod) with his retinue in 1906 and passing away in 1907 at Tsering Jong (tshe ring ljons).[23]

From the winter of 1871 through 1872, at the behest of a student named Pema Tashi (pa+ma bkra shis) he transcribed his final major treasure cycle, also based on Black Troma, called The Treasury of the Spacious Expanse of Reality (chos nyid nam mkha'i klong mdzod).[24]

A Family Line in Sync with Other Lineages

In his early forties, Dudjom Lingpa's visionary guides reportedly told him to settle down to some degree—to work the land from spring to fall and do retreat during the winter. Accordingly, in 1876, at forty years old, he cultivated a small barley field and tended a few head of livestock at Pulung Gegi Latok (phu lung gad gyi la thog), where he had built a house in 1871. Around this time he reports also receiving unspecific warnings about the political trouble that would engulf Tibet in the decades to come as a result of Chinese invasions.[25] Seeking refuge from these conditions in the remote reaches of southern Tibet would remain on his mind for the rest of his life, and is said to have led to his rebirth in the isolated southern region of Pemako.

Dudjom Lingpa enthroned his second son at Dodrubchen and Nuzok (rnu zog) monasteries in 1877, and then brought his third son to Dzagyel Monastery (rdza rgyal dgon) in the region of Dzachuka (rdza chu kha) in the summer of 1878. There, they were received by Tsamtrul Kunzang Dechen Dorje (mtshams sprul kun bzang bde chen rdo rje, 1845–1925), the reincarnation of the Longchen Nyingtik master Jigme Gyelwai Nyugu ('jigs med rgyal ba'i myu gu, 1765–1842), who granted the monastery's throne to the young Khyentse Tulku. At the end of that summer, Dudjom Lingpa finally met his sons' teacher, Patrul Rinpoche, in person. For several months, Patrul Rinpoche gave Dudjom Lingpa and his party teachings and transmissions of the Buddhist classics Bodhicaryāvatāra, Abhisamayālaṃkāra, Madhyamākavatāra, and the Guhyagarbha Tantra.

The warm relations he fostered with Patrul Rinpoche through his sons no doubt had a profound impact on his reputation. Patrul Rinpoche was also famously an institutional outsider, though his authenticity as a master was unassailable. Anyone he approved of would surely be looked on with less skepticism by the religious gatekeepers of the time. These gatekeepers included the towering scholar Mipam Rinpoche, Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye ('jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas, 1813–1899), and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo ('jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse'i dbang po, 1820–1892). It was the latter two who had early carefully granted legitimacy to another treasure revealer of the time, Chokgyur Lingpa (mchog 'gyur gling pa, 1829–1870). Yet where Chokgyur Lingpa had actively solicited Kongtrul and Khyentse's help in ushering his treasures to receptive audiences, Dudjom Lingpa appears to have preferred to remain on the margins of eastern Tibetan religious life, where he was unlikely to vanquish the establishments' doubts about him. [26] Still, for his elder sons to have been recognized by Dzogchen Rinpoche and accepted by Patrul Rinpoche suggests that he had strong support from people of influence. Without evidence of such direct support, and since Dudjom Lingpa was never a lama of means, it seems most likely that his reputation had grown organically since his time with the Gili family, his interactions with establishment insiders like Katok Chaktsa, and word of mouth from his disciples.  

Eventually, he gained the backing of the major lamas of his day. Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo sent his close disciple, Gyurme Ngedon Wangpo ('gyur med nges don dbang po), to train with him for the rest of his life;[27] Mipam is said to have praised his treasures for their "their fresh, nontraditional Buddhist vocabulary, both profound and authentic"; and some say that Jamgon Kongtrul asked Dudjom Lingpa's permission to include his works in his Treasury of Revelations (rin chen gter mdzod). If such a request was in fact made, Dudjom Lingpa declined the honor.[28]

In 1879, when he was forty-five, his fourth son, Namtrul Mipam Dorje (rnam sprul mi pham rdo rje, 1879–1905), was born to Keza Sangye Tso. He was recognized as the incarnation of enlightened figures whose identities are unclear. Pema Wosel Taye (pad+ma 'od gsal mtha' yas) names him as a combined emanation of a hidden yogi (sbas pa'i rnal 'byor) and a Chewo'i Rigdzin Chenmo (che bo'i rig 'dzin chen mo), which might possibly be a variant of Cheyol Rigdzin Chenmo (che yol rig 'dzin chen mo).[29]

Dudjom Lingpa sent him to train under Patrul Rinpoche with his other sons, though he passed away by the time he reached twenty-six years of age. He likewise sent their fifth son, Tulku Drime Wozer (sprul sku dri med 'od zer, 1881–1924), to train at Dodrubchen Monastery. When he was seventeen or eighteen, he began revealing treasure teachings, and when he was twenty-two, he returned to his father's side and trained mostly in the Dudjom Tersar. [30] Drime Wozer spent his life propagating his father's revelations, later with the help of his illustrious partner, Sera Khandro (se ra mkha' 'gro, 1892–1940), herself a treasure revealer. Drime Wozer's own treasures seem to have been lost in the Cultural Revolution.[31]

In the summer of 1884 a third wife, Akyabza Kelzang Dronma (a skyabs bza' skal bzang sgron ma), gave birth to Dudjom Lingpa's sixth son, Tulku Lhatop or Lhachen Tobyal (sprul sku lha stobs / lha chen stobs rgyal, 1884–1942). He was recognized as a reincarnation of Zhichen Tulku (gzhi chen sprul sku) of Zhichen Monastery (gzhi chen dgon), a branch of Katok Monastery (kaH thog dgon). In 1893, he was enthroned at the Katok-affiliated Taktse Samdrub Chokor Ling (stag rtse bsam grub chos 'khor gling) but did most of his training with his father and older brother Drime Wozer.[32] His seventh son, Patrul Namkha Jikme (dpal sprul nam mkha' 'jigs med, 1888–1960), was recognized as a reincarnation of Patrul Rinpoche. He would train under his father and the great scholar Khenpo Kunpel (mkhan po kun dpal, 1862–1943), and was enthroned in 1895 at Dzagyel Monastery, which he later passed on to his daughter, Kunzang Wangmo (kun bzang dbang mo, 1930–2009).[33] His eighth son, Tulku Dorje Dradul (sprul sku rdo rje dgra 'dul, 1891–1959), would become a treasure revealer, look after Kelzang Monastery, and pass away during the Chinese invasion of 1959.[34]

Dudjom Lingpa had four daughters, all of whom were recognized as ḍākinīs, but their names and biographies appear to have been lost to the historical record.[35]

Kelzang Monastery and Planning for Pemako

After wandering the border regions between Amdo and Kham for over thirty years, in 1890 Dudjom Lingpa built an institutional seat—Dartsang Kelzang Monastery (brda tshang skal bzang dgon).[36] Although he continued wandering from place to place for the rest of his life, at the very least, Kelzang Monastery served as a home base and provided a stable seat to several of his sons, who at various points occupied its administrative throne after Dudjom Lingpa had passed away. In the summer of 1892, he accepted an invitation to teach in Taktob Gabma (stag thob sgab ma), where he received generous gifts of valuables and livestock to support his activity. That summer, he camped at Tsachu (tsha chu) before serving as vajra master for a great accomplishment ceremony for the same people of Taktob who had been so generous to him the year before. On this visit, the people of Taktob wanted to offer their monastery to him and have him take over its administration. He declined, writing in his autobiography, "The monks were offered to me. I pretended to be pleased, then returned home once again."[37]

In 1893, at the age of fifty-nine, Dudjom Lingpa received instruction from a ḍākinī to travel south to a place called Sengdam (seng 'dam) in lower Kongpo. There, she told him, he would find a treasure map leading him to the hidden valleys of Pemako, a region that had been "opened" by his earlier incarnation, Dudul Dorje. Although he was unable to make the journey, the divine exhortation played a major role in the discovery of his reincarnation, Dudjom Rinpoche Jikdrel Yeshe Dorje (bdud 'joms 'jigs bral ye shes rdo rje, 1904–1987).[38] In his visions, he was continually instructed not to settle in a house or monastery but to instead wander the region in a nomadic fashion, sleeping in a yak-hair tent and stopping over at monasteries where his children were based.[39]

Within the oral tradition of the Dudjom Tersar lineage, and as recorded in Nyoshul Khenpo's A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems, it is claimed that in 1895, Dudjom Lingpa sired a ninth son, Apang Terton (a pang gter ston, 1895–1945), under unusual circumstances. This account claims that Apaṃ Terton was conceived miraculously to a virgin mother who was an ordained nun. Her name is not recorded. Dudjom Lingpa is said to have claimed the child as his own a few years after his birth and arranged for his training with great masters of the time, such as Terton Sogyel Lerab Lingpa (gter ston bsod rgyal las rab gling pa, 1856–1904).[40].

It is important to note, however, that earlier records of Apaṃ Terton make no claim that he was Dudjom Rinpoche's son.[41] They even list the names of his biological parents.[42] He was, however, the father of Tāre Lhamo (tA re lha mo, 1938–2002), a respected treasure revealer and teacher whose first husband was Dudjom Lingpa's great-grandson, Mingyur Dorje (mi 'gyur rdo rje, 1934–1959).[43] After marrying into the Dudjom line, Tāre Lhamo became deeply involved in its practice and propagation in Eastern Tibet. It is therefore nearly certain that oral accounts of Apang Terton being Dudjom Lingpa’s miraculous son only developed after 1958 or 1959 when Tāre Lhamo married Mingyur Dorje, who passed away within a year or so.[44] These accounts would have then had time to spread and be written down by Nyoshul Khenpo in his history, which was completed in 1980–1981 in Bhutan. Whatever the case, Apang Terton become an influential treasure revealer, perhaps best known for his widely practiced Red Tārā cycle, for founding Tsimda Monastery (rtsis mda' dgon) in Pema County in Golok,[45] and for taking rebirth as the Forty-First Sakya Trizin Ngawang Kunga Tekchen Pelbar (sa skya khri 'dzin 41 ngag dbang kun dga' theg chen dpal 'bar, b. 1945).

Final Years

In the final years of the nineteenth century Dudjom Lingpa became increasingly concerned by the impending political turmoil of war with the Qing empire in China and contemplated again fleeing to Pemako. He even cultivated an epistolary relationship with Pemako's king, Kanam Depa's (kaH gnam sde pa) daughter, Ani Nangsel (a ni snang gsal), whom he intended to take as a consort upon moving there.[46] Still, a visionary ḍākinī told him,

My child, you don't need to escape this year. There won't be any danger from a human army. An army of wicked murderous spirits will materialize as a miraculous manifestation of the barbarian border people. Even if you try to escape from them, you won't manage to.[47]

Dudjom Lingpa remained in his encampment in the Golok and Serta regions, and in 1898, at the requests of his students, composed his life story, which was completed and published within a year. He nevertheless continued to think about Pemako, even urging his students to go there without him, promising he would follow. Several of them did, including Ling Lama Chojor Gyatso (gling bla ma chos 'byor rgya mtsho) and Gyurme Ngedon Wangpo.[48]

Dudjom Lingpa passed away  soon after their departure, on the eighth day of the eleventh month of the water-hare year, or December 27, 1903. According to tradition, his body was laid in a funeral stūpa facing east, but during the course of the cremation the entire structure turned itself south. This was interpreted as an indication of his rebirth in Pemako. Soon after arriving in Pemako, Ling Lama Chojor identified his reincarnation, Dudjom Rinpoche, who was born in 1904.

Dudjom Lingpa is also said to have taken at least two other reincarnations: a mind incarnation, Sonam Deutsen (bsod nams lde'u bstan, 1910–1958),[49] the child of his son Tulku Drime Wozer; and a speech incarnation, Dzongter Kunzang Nyima (rdzong gter kun bzang nyi ma, 1904–1958), the child of his son



[1] Dudjom Lingpa, p. 10–11.

[2] Dudjom Lingpa, p. 11.

[3] Dudjom Lingpa, p. 13.

[4] Dudjom Lingpa, p. 23.

[5] Tsewang Dongyal, p. 53.

[6] Dudjom Lingpa, p. 30.

[7] Dudjom Lingpa, p. 36.

[8] Cantwell 2020, p. 64.

[9] Dudjom Lingpa, p. 47.

[10] Dudjom Lingpa, p. 62.

[11] Bdud 'joms gling pa, f. 83.6; Dudjom Lingpa, p. 139.

[12] Cantwell, p. 61–64.

[13] Dudjom Lingpa, p. 65.

[14] Dudjom Lingpa, p. 72.

[15] Dudjom Lingpa, p. 130.

[16] Translated in Wallace 2015.

[17] Dudjom Lingpa, p. 106.

[18] This may be the sacred cave called Dropuk in the region of Nyanang or Nyenam (gnya' nang / snye nam).

[19] Dudjom Lingpa, p. 81; Bdud 'joms gling pa, f. 106.5.

[20] An analysis of Dudjom Lingpa's family line can be found in Gayley 2023a.

[21] Pad+ma 'od gsal mtha' yas, pp. 14–17.

[22] Pad+ma 'od gsal mtha' yas, pp. 17–18.

[23] Pad+ma 'od gsal mtha' yas, pp. 18–19.

[24] Dudjom Lingpa, p. 133–4.

[25] Dudjom Lingpa, p. 147.

[26] Dudjom Lingpa, p. xxxiv.

[27] Nyoshul, p. 280–282.

[28] Dudjom Lingpa, p. xxxiv.

[29] Pad+ma 'od gsal mtha' yas, p. 19. Rigpa Shedra states that he was recognized as an emanation of Melong Dorje (me long rdo rje, 1243–1303), but no sources are given for that attribution.

[30] Pad+ma 'od gsal mtha' yas, pp. 25.

[31] Pad+ma 'od gsal mtha' yas, pp. 24–49.

[32] Pad+ma 'od gsal mtha' yas, pp. 49–50.

[33] Pad+ma 'od gsal mtha' yas, p. 50–52.

[34] Pad+ma 'od gsal mtha' yas, p. 52–53.

[35] Gayley 2013a: 459 and 467. On the dearth of women in Dudjom Lingpa's biographical literature, see Gayley 2023b.

[36] For more on Datsang Kelzang Monastery, see Rigpa Shedra (2021), "Dartsang Kalzang Gompa."

[37] Dudjom Lingpa, p. 177; bdud 'joms gling pa (2004), ff. 236–237. 

[38] Dudjom Lingpa, p. 157.

[39] Dudjom Lingpa, p. 185.

[40] Nyoshul, pp. 488–9.

[41] A bu dkar lo, pp, 203-14; Pad+ma 'od gsal mtha' yas, pp. 85–119; Sangs rgyas bla ma, vol. 1 preface.  

[42] Abu dkar lo gives the father as Apang Sodor (a phang bsod rdor) and the mother as Madron (ma sgron) [p. 203], whereas Pad+ma 'od gsal mtha' yas gives them as Apang Sonam Dorje (a pang bsod nams rdo rje) and Tashul Zamo Dronnyi (rta shul bza' mo sgron nyi) [p. 89]. On these details, see Stevens, ch. 10

[43] Gayley 2019, Introduction (+ note 23).

[44] Gayley 2019, Introduction (Golok Treasure Scene). 

[45] nor sde, p. 154.

[46] Tsewang Dongyal, p. 57.

[47] Dudjom Lingpa, p. 192.

[48] Tsewang Dongyal, p. 74.

[49] pad+ma 'od gsal mtha' yas, pp. 57–58.

 

_________________________________________________

Publication of this biography was made possible through support of Jnanasukha Foundation.

Additional Bios Sponsored By Jnanasukha Foundation

Joseph McClellan received a PhD from Columbia University's Department of Religion in 2013. He has taught humanities at colleges in several countries and is now an independent translator and writer based in Asia.

Published August 2007

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View this person’s associated Works & Texts on the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center’s Website.