The Treasury of Lives

Kachen Lobzang Zotpa (bka' chen blo bzang bzod pa) was born in Sharngo (shar ngos) village in the Leh district of Ladakh, in 1932. He was ordained at the age of eleven at Thikse Monastery (khrig tse dgon) by the twenty-fifth Thikse Rinpoche Lobsang Tashi (khrig tse rin po che blo bzang bkra shis) a man who is said to have lived to the age of one hundred and five. At the age of sixteen he left for Tibet to pursue higher studies at Tashilhunpo Monastery (bkra shis lhun po). There he resided in the Stakmo Khamtsen (stag mo khams tshan), the house where most of the Ladakhi students studied. He studied the five traditional subjects of the Geluk curriculum— Vinaya, Logic and Epistemology, Madhyamaka, Abhidharma, and Prajñāparamitā—under Kachen Lobsang Ngodrub (bka' chen blo bzang dngos grub), who regarded him as his favorite student.

He studied with the Second Pabongkha Rinpoche, Dechen Nyinpo (pha bong kha 02 bde chen snying po, 1878–1941); Tibetan literature, grammar, and poetry under Kilti Rinpoche and medicine and astrology with other teachers. At the age of thirty-three, he received the degree of kachen (bka' chen), the highest degree offered at Tashilhunpo, equivalent to a geshe (dge bshes) degree.

At the time, he and a certain Lama Dawa (bla ma zla ba) of Sakti Village were considered the two greatest Ladakhi scholars in Tibet.

Kachen Lobsang Zotpa lived in Tibet for seventeen years. He was well versed in Buddhist philosophy and an expert in Guhyasamāja and Cakrasaṃvara. He was also highly knowledgeable on geography, history, politics, and sculpture making. He was listed among the twenty great scholars of Tashilhunpo by the Tenth Paṇchen Lama, Lobzang Trinle Lhundrub Chokyi Gyeltsen (paN chen 10 blo bzang phrin las lhun grub chos kyi rgyal mtshan, 1938–1989). 

In the year 1959, at the age of thirty-eight, as a result of the Chinese takeover of Tibet, he was forced to leave his teaching and studies and return to Thikse Monastery in Ladakh. There he became the teacher of Khamtrul Rinpoche of Thikse who would later become known as Thikse Nawang Chamba Rinpoche (khrig khrig tse ngag dbang byams pa), or Thikse Yongdzin (khrig tse yong 'dzin)  

In the year 1967, Kachen Lobsang Zotpa was appointed as the general secretary of the Ladakh Buddhist Association. He was well known for his speeches in ceremonies, seminars, radio and other mode of communications. He visited Nubra, Jangtang, Zangskar and other regions to give Buddhist teachings.

In 1972, Lobzang Zotpa bestowed initiations during a visit to Karsha, where a group of women had been organizing a nunnery in a cliff-side temple above the town said to be founded by Rinchen Zangpo (rin chen bzang po, 958–1055). According to Kim Gutshow, Kachen Lobzang Zotpa's initial and subsequent visits to this community were essential to its gaining legitimacy among the larger community. He ordained four of the women during this first visit, and returned in 1975 to bestow the Vajrayoginī empowerment, which the nun and laywomen community embraced with far greater enthusiasm than the monastery's monks—the empowerment required a significant commitment of meditation practice. Crucially, he assisted the nuns in their efforts to construct a gathering hall, and returned the following year to continue his support for their community.

Later he along with Kachen Yeshe Dondrub (bka' chen ye shes don grub) was invited to give teachings at the exile monasteries of Sera, Drepung, Ganden, and Tashilhunpo on the invitation of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. They both were given the title of Khenpo at Tashilhunpo in India.

An accomplished writer, he authored several histories of Buddhism in Ladakh, as well as expositions on philosophy, and commentaries, and his collected works constitute eight volumes. In 1981 he received the Sahitya Academy award from Jammu and Kashmir Culture and Language Academy.

In 1995, while returning to Ladakh from a visit to south India, he fell ill and was admitted in a hospital in Delhi. He passed away there on June 11, 1995. His body was brought to Ladakh and funeral rituals were conducted.

In his memory, a stupa was built in Thikse monastery. In the year 2000, his reincarnation was born in Nubra.