The Treasury of Lives

Gorumpa Kunga Lekpa (sgo rum pa kun dga' legs pa) was born in 1477 at Palung Monastery (dpa' lung dgon), not far from the great monastery of Sakya (sa skya). At six years of age he first received special tantric initiations such as Hevajra in the Sakya tradition from his uncle, Sanggye Gyeltsen (sangs rgyas rgyal mtshan). In 1486 he received ordination as a novice monk from the great Sakya throne-holder Lodro Gyeltsen (blo gros rgyal mtshan, 1444-1495) and then begin serious studies at Sakya Monastery (sa skya dgon).

When he was seventeen years old, Gorumpa received the entire teachings of Lamdre (lam 'bras) and many other transmissions from Lodro Gyeltsen. After that master passed away in 1495, Gorumpa again received from his heir, Kunpang Doringpa (kun spangs rdo ring pa, 1449-1524), Lamdre and many other esoteric teachings of the Sakya tradition, as well as the Six Dharmas of Niguma (ni gu chos drug) and other key instructions of the Shangpa Kagyu tradition, Mahāmudrā teachings of the Marpa Kagyu tradition, and so forth. During these years he also received Lamdre and other special Sakya transmissions from Konchok Tsultrim (dkon mchog tshul khrims, d.u.), who was the abbot of Zhalu Monastery (zhwa lu), and the great yogin Jagyur Sonam Sengge (bya 'gyur bsod nams seng ge).

From the master Namkha Chokyong (nam mkha' chos skyong, 1436-1507), who was the eighteenth holder of the monastic seat at Jonang Monastery (jo nang dgon), Gorumpa received the complete initiation of Kālacakra and the instructions of the six-branch yoga according to the guidance manuals of Dolpopa Sherab Gyeltsen's (dol po pa shes rab rgyal mtshan, 1292-1361) major disciple Chokle Namgyel (phyogs las rnam rgyal, 1306-1386). When he practiced these instructions, he is said to have actualized the emptiness endowed with the best of all aspects and experienced a sublime immutable great bliss, thus actualizing the glorious Kālacakra of definitive meaning.

Gorumpa also received many other teachings of the Kālacakra tradition and some key works of Dolpopa, such as the Ocean of Definitive Meaning (nges don rgya mtsho), the Fourth Council (bka' bsdu bzhi pa rtsa ‘grel), and the General Commentary on the Doctrine (bstan pa spyi 'grel). From the master Pelden Rinchen (dpal ldan rin chen), who was Namkha Chokyong’s successor on the monastic seat of Jonang, Gorumpa received many teachings such as the Jonang translation of the Kālacakra Tantra and the great Vimalaprabhā commentary together with Dolpopa’s topical outline, the other two texts of the Bodhisattva Trilogy, and Chokle Namgyel’s instruction manuals on the six-branch yoga of Kālacakra. Gorumpa also later received a huge number of Kālacakra and six-branch yoga teachings at Jonang from the master Bumwon Dorje Gyelpo ('bum dbon rdo rje rgyal po).

During the following years, except when he was teaching, Gorumpa constantly practiced the six-branch yoga of Kālacakra, remaining in a sealed dark room meditating on the forms of emptiness and resting in the nonconceptual yet blissful state of Mahāmudrā. At various points in his life he experienced visions of deities and great masters, such as Jonang Kunpang Tukje Tsondru (kun spangs thugs rje brtson grus), from whom he received many teachings on key points of the six-branch yoga.

In 1516, when he was forty years old, Gorumpa became the twenty-first holder of the monastic seat of Jonang Monastery. He held this position for the next twelve years, giving the complete Kālacakra initiation and the teachings of the six-branch yoga in the Jonang tradition every year to many hundreds of men and women who gathered from different regions of Tibet. Gorumpa was an exceptionally gifted and charismatic teacher who particularly inspired people to become dedicated to meditation.

During his time at Jonang there were always between sixty and seventy men and women in sealed three-year retreat and about three hundred who had completed three-year retreat and continued to observe summer and winter retreats. He also performed restorations to the southern wall of the main assembly hall during these years, and comissioned on the walls murals of the pure lands of Akṣobhya and Amoghasiddhi. At Jonang and nearby hermitages Gorumpa gave the instructions of the six-branch yoga of Kālacakra thirty-six times and the textual transmission of the great Vimalaprabhā commentary and the other two commentaries of the Bodhisattva Trilogy more than ten times.

In 1528 Gorumpa retired from the monastic seat of Jonang and appointed the master Namkha Sangpo (nam mkha' bzang po) as his successor, transmitting to him the Kālacakra initiation, the teachings of the six-branch yoga, and the Vimalaprabhā in great detail. Namkha Sangpo would hold the monastic seat for the next sixteen years, during which time he also accomplished restorations of the ecclesiastical residence, the main assembly hall, and Dolpopa’s great stupa. Thus the preservation of the pure tradition of the teachings of definitive meaning as transmitted by Dolpopa was maintained for twenty-eight years by Gorumpa and his appointed heir.

Gorumpa spent the rest of his life mostly in meditation retreats interspersed with periods of giving teachings such as the Jonang six-branch yoga of Kālacakra and the Sakya Lamdre in the Lobshe tradition (lam 'bras slob bshad). He passed away in 1544.