The Treasury of Lives

The Fifth Shardong, Lobzang Shedrub Gyatso (shar gdong 05 blo bzang bshad sgrub rgya mtsho) was born to a father named Zungtar (gzungs thar) and a mother Tsokyi (mtsho skyid) in 1922 in a village called Gung-ye Gontsar (gung ye dgon tshar), which was under the administration of Jakhyung (bya khyung) Monastery. While he was in his mother’s womb, Khagya Jamyang Pelden (kha gya 'jam dbyangs dpal ldan, d.u.), a lama based at Jakhyung, recognized him as the reincarnation of the Fourth Shardong, about whom we have no information.

At the age of seven he was enthroned at Jakhyung where he was ordained by Besi Rinpoche Lobzang Tenpa Gyatso (be si rin po che blo bzang bstan pa rgya mtsho, d.u.). Lobzang Tenpai Gyeltsen (blo bzang bstan pa'i rgyal mtshan, d.u.) taught him how to read and write. He is said to have memorized about ten pages of texts in a day. Jigme Damcho Gyatso ('jigs med dam chos rgya mtsho, 1888-1946) and the Sixth Tseten Zhabdrung, Jigme Rigpai Lodro (tshe tan zhabs drung 06 'jigs med rig pa'i blo gros, 1910-1985) taught him the sutras, tantras, and the other Tibetan studies. He earned his Geshe title in the monastery.

He received subtle teachings from eminent masters like Jigme Trinle Gyatso ('jigs med 'phrin las rgya mtsho, 1866-1948) and Dobi Geshe Sherab Gyatso (rdo sbis dge bshes shes rab rgya mtsho, 1884-1968). Sherab Gyatso is said to have praised him saying that there was a lump of gold in Jakyung monastery.

In 1956, at the age of thirty-five, he was invited to teach Tibetan language at Qinghai University for Nationalities (Qinghai Minzu Daxue). However as Communist policies were initiated in Kham and Amdo, and Tibetans rebelled, monasteries and universities began to be closed. Lobzang Shedrub Gyatso was forced out and sent to herd yaks and guard timber for the next twenty years.

In 1979, when he was fifty-eight years old, he was cleared of all accusations that had been leveled against him in the 1950s and during the Cultural Revolution. He again became a lecturer at Qinghai University for Nationalities. He initiated a Master’s program in the minority languages department at the University, and he taught Tibetan literature, Buddhism, and dialectics to the teachers and students alike at the university. He retired in 1985 when he was sixty-four, but the University invited him back to teach the Master’s students.

In 1987 the Tenth Paṇchen Lama, Chokyi Gyeltsen (paN chen 10 chos kyi rgyal mtshan, 1938-1989) asked him to teach the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (byang chub lam rim chen mo) and other texts to the hundreds of students from different ethnic groups at the Tibetan Buddhism College of China in Beijing.

At Jakhyung Monastery he helped rebuild temples and halls that had housed the tantric college and relics of the monastery's founder, Choje Dondrub Rinchen (chos rje don 'grub rin chen, 1309-1385). In 1996, he gave his first Kālacakra empowerment and teachings at the request of devotees from Bāyen (bA yan). In 2001 he gave final Kālacakra empowerment and teachings.

His extensive compositions are collected in six volumes, which were later expanded to nine volumes. He passed away in the summer of 2001.