The Treasury of Lives

Humrel Dung Dung Gyelchok (hum ral drung drung rgyal mchog) was born in Bhutan to Damtrul Loden Gyelpo (dam sprul blo ldan rgyal po), the reincarnation and descendent of Padampa Sanggye (pa dam pa sangs rgyas, d.c.1117). His paternal grandfather was Druk Kunzang Dorje ('brug kun bzang rdo rje), whose wife was a lady from Wangdrumo Chukha (wang 'bru rmo chu kha), and his great-grandfather was Padampa Sanggye, whose wife was a lady from Wang Dagala (wang dar dkar la) named Budenma (bu ldan ma). Padampa Sanggye's own father was Pajo Drukgom Zhikpo (pha jo 'brug sgom zhig po, 1184-1251) and Amchok (a mchog), a lady from Wang Chudo (wang chu mdo). Dung Dung Gyelchok’s brother was Dung Dung Gyeldzom (drung drung rgyal 'dzom). Through his family and by virtue of his father's status as Padampa Sanggye's reincarnation, Dung Dung Gyelchok thus belonged to the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions which were passed down from Tsangpa Gyare Yeshe Dorje (gtsang pa rgya ras ye shes rdo rje, 1161-1211) to Sanggye Wonre Dharma Sengge (sangs rgyas dbon chen ras dhar ma seng ge, 1177-1237) to Pajo Drugom Zhikpo.

When his brother Dung Dung Gyeldzom succeeded Kunzang Dorje as the fourth abbot of Dechenpuk Drubde (bde chen phug sgrub sde), Dung Dung Gyelchok went to Ralung Monastery (rwa lung) in Tibet to receive teachings from Kunga Sengge (kun dga' seng ge, 1314-1347), the sixth abbot of Ralung. In 1499 when Kunga Sanggye made his first visit to Bhutan, Dung Dung Gyelchok escorted the him to his seat at Dechenpuk, where he stayed and taught for four months. When the abbot returned to Tibet, Dung Dung Gyelchok accompanied him to Ralung, and received additional teachings.

Later Dung Dung Gyelchok again went to Tibet and presented himself before the Second Drukchen Kunga Peljor ('brug chen 02 kun dga' dpal 'byor, 1428-1476), the first incarnation of Tsangpa Gyare. There he received the comprehensive teachings of Drukpa Kagyu, on which he subsequently practiced and became an accomplished yogi. In Tibet he meditated in hermitages in high mountains and perfected the tradition of the Mahāmudrā. It was said that his yogic power was such that he could not drown in water and could mold rocks like mud. With his Gendun Zangmo (dge 'dun bzang mo) he had two sons: Namkha Gyeltsen (rnam mkha' rgyal mtshan) and Lodro Gyeltsen (blo gro rgyal mtshan).

Dung Dung Gyelchok and his family returned to Bhutan from Tibet and went to Paro where his brother Dung Dung Gyeldzom had established himself at Gangtagkhar (sgang ltag khar). However, his brother disowned him and chased him away, purportedly because Dung Dung Gyelchok was materially poor. He tried to stay at Yusakha (yul gsar khar), but was again chased away by his brother.

Dung Dung Gyelchok ultimately pitched his tent at Choding (cho sdings) crematorium in Paro, and began to meditate there. According to legend, the deity known as Humrel Gonpo (hum ral mgon po), who resided on a cliff across the river tried to distract Dung Dung by disturbing the river and shaking the cliff. Dung Dung Gyelchok subdued the deity and converted it into a protector of the Drukpa Kagyu teachings, and Humrel Gonpo offered his citadel to Gyelchok, who later built a small wooden hut there, thus establishing his seat on the top of the cliff where Rinpung Dzong (rin spungs rdzong) presently stands. As Dung Dung Gyelchok meditated there, all the local deities of Paro came and submitted their allegiance to him. Hearing about this great yogi, the people of Wangchang (wang chang) and Dolpo (dol po) came to pay their respects and promised their patronage.

The origin legend of the name of the cliff and the deity Dung Dung Gyelchok subjugated is as follows: Centuries before, during a visit to the same area, Padmasambhava had likened the location to a heap of seven kinds of jewels, thus giving the area its name, Rinpung Drak (rin spungs brag), the Cliff of the Heap of Jewels. To sanctify the place, Padmasambhava left an imprint of a tsha-tsha (tsha tsha) as a counterforce against the local deity. Later, when Tangtong Gyelpo (thang stong rgyal po, 1361-1485) summoned all the deities of Paro to help him build a stupa there, one deity refused to appear. Tangtong Gyelpo pointed his finger at the cliff where that deity lived and uttered the mantra syllable ‘Hum’. The cliff shook, forcing the deity out. Thereafter, the cliff came to be known as Humrel Drak (hum ral brag).

Hung Hung Gyelchok's reputation for subjugating evil spirits grew further following an exorcism he performed for a man from Dolpo Jikar (dol po byi dkar) that had previously been terrorizing people and cattle in Dolpo. At the conclusion of the exorcism the spirit manifested in person before it was chased away. He then performed a gektro (bgegs bkrod) ritual and an empowerment of Hayagrīva, and after that the misfortune stopped and people and cattle flourished in this village. The people of Dolpo Jikar thus became his patrons, and as the story spread he attracted further sponsors.

Dung Dung Gyelchok is credited with peace between the warring communities of eastern and western Dolpo, after which the people of eastern Dolpo made substantial offerings to him and pledged their patronage. He lived there, both working for benefits of his patrons and meditating. People began to call him Humrel Lama (hum ral bla ma), Pa Dung Dung (pha drung drung) as well as Dung Dung Rinpoche (drung drung rin po che).

By that time different religious traditions had established in Paro: the Lhapas (lha pa) of Nyo Gyelwa Lhanangpa Sanggye Rinchen (gnyos rgyal ba lha nang pa sangs rgyas rin chen, 1164-1224); the Nenyingpas (gnas rnying pa) of the Geluk school; the Barawa ('ba' ra ba) of Barawa Gyeltsen Pelzang ('ba' ra ba rgyal mtshan dpal bzang, 1310-1391), an offshoot of the Todruk (stod brug); the Katok (ka thog pa) line of the of the Nyingma tradition founded by Dampa Deshek Sherab Sengge (dam pa bde gshegs shes rab seng ge, 1122-1192); and the Chakzampa (lcag zam pa) tradition of Tangtong Gyelpo. Also present were Nyingma traditions of Longchenpa Drime Ozer (klong chen pa dri med 'od zer, 1308-1363) and Terton Dorje Lingpa (gter ston rdo rje gling pa, 1346-1405). There were frequent conflicts among various lineage holders of these traditions as well as between the upper and lower Paro valleys.

Saddened by this situation, Dung Dung Gyelchok decided to return to Tibet. His patrons from Dolpo heard of this decision and entreated him to stay, and pledged the patronage of the people of the Drak Gye (brag brgyad), or Eight Cliffs: Humrel Drak (hum ral brag), Dedar Drak (bde brdar brag), Namchak Drak (gnam lcags brag), Raged Drak (ra rgod brag), Shala Drak (sha la brag), Pigang Drak (spus sgang brag), Sengge Drak (seng ge brag), and Tsalung Drak (tsha lung brag). They explained that if an accomplished lama like him lived in Humrel Drak, the most supreme of the eight cliffs, the entire valley would be blessed, and thus they offered him Humrel Drak. Dung Dung Gyelchok agreed and constructed a five-storied permanent seat at Humrel with the support of his patrons. It is said that his human patrons from Wangchang and Dolpo worked during the day, while at night non-humans and spirits were summoned to work through Dung Dung Gyelchok’s miraculous power. Dung Dung Gyelchok gave empowerments and initiations during the construction, and it was completed in a short time. Thus a local saying developed, “Humrel Dung Dung is teaching; come to receive empowerments, and bring baskets for a backrest”. He then served as the lama as well as the ruler of the people of Dolpo Drakchen Gyad (dol po brag chen brgyad), or Eight Great Cliffs of Dolpo).

Dung Dung Gyelchok built Gonsar Shedrubling (dgon gsar bshad sgrub gling) as his residence. Realizing that there was no water in the place, he entered into meditation to subdue a local lu (klu) spirit. When he was about to receive blessing for water, his wife brought him tea, and remarked that only a little water was likely to emerge from the rock. Her remark did not foretell a large water source, and still today the water supply from the rock is minimal. Known as Gonsar Menchu (dgon gsar sman chu), the water is believed to contain eight different medicinal elements.

In a later story of his conquest of local deities, when Dung Dung Gyelchok was living at Zechugang (mdzes chu'i sgang), the seat of Lama Barawa (‘ba’ ra ba), the local deity Jowo Drela (jo bo bras la) appeared before him in a human form, offered an iron plough, and took an oath to benefit all sentient beings. The plough can still be seen today. In turn, the master gave empowerment and initiations.

Dung Dung Gyelchok is said to have performed many additional miracles during the remainder of his life. For example, while meditating at Yangon Dechenling (yang dgon bde chen gling), Dung Dung Gyelchok planted his walking staff into the ground and prayed that if his activities were to flourish, the staff should grow into a tree. He then entered a deep meditation. When his meditation ended, the staff had indeed grown into a tree. One time, Dung Dung Gyelchok summoned the consciousness of a dead parrot back to life. It seems that even those associated with Dung Dung Gyelchok were capable of manifesting miracles. His consort, Gendun Zangmo, left imprint of her left hand on a pestle while his maid left her handprint on a wooden staff while pounding paddy into rice. His descendants retain these imprints as sacred relics today.

After appointing his elder son Namkha Gyeltsen as his lineage holder, Dung Dung Gyelchok retired to Gonsar Shedrubling. Many of his students and patrons followed and he gave teachings to them. He then decided to spend the rest of his life in meditation and built Yangon Dechenling hermitage for that purpose. There too many followers gathered, and a monastic community was established there for to house the highly accomplished practitioners. Shortly thereafter he was offered the seat of Longchenpa below Chewekha (che ba kha). It was during that time that Drukchen Ngawang Chogyel ('brug chen ngag dbang chos rgyal, 1465-1540), visited Bhutan. Gyelchok and his son received and supported the Drukchen.

For the benefit of people and to generate income for Humrel Dzong and his monastery, Dung Dung Gyelchok set up water mills (chu rag) at Drakwang (brag wang), Bara (bar a), Nepu (gnas phug), Wang (wang), Jangsar (gyang gsar), Gadteng (gad steng), Jalung (rgya lung), Kewang (khyi dbang), and Dolpo (dol po). A local saying reflects this activity: Do not lift your knees, the Drukpas will build a monastery on the spot; do not spill holy water, Humrelpa will set up a water mill (ris la pus mo ma lhong zhig/ 'brug pas dgon pa btab 'ong/ sna chu ma gzar zhig/ hum ral pas chu rag brtsugs 'ong).

After his death, his mortal remains were cremated, and his skull, tongue and heart were said to have been unscathed by fire. His descendants took turns keeping his skull for a certain period of time, and, according to tradition, whichever household holding the skull for that period always reaped a bumper harvest. As a result, the descendants fought over it, eventually splitting it into pieces, which then are said to have flown away into a gorge below the Nyame Bridge in Paro; some say the skull can still be seen in the water. His elder son, Namkha Gyeltsen, took control of the lineage after his father’s death. Namkha Gyeltsen became the First Humrel Lama.