The Treasury of Lives

Drakpa Zangpo was born in Markham (dmar khams) at the end of the fourteenth century. His parents took him to meet Lama Umapa Pawo Dorje (bla ma dbu ma pa dpa' bo rdo rje, b. fourteenth century) when he was five or six. The famous oracle, who was a close confidant of Tsongkhapa (rje tsong kha pa, 1357-1419), advised his parents, "if you send him to study under Tsongkhapa and others in central Tibet, it will be a great benefit to the teachings." The parents agreed, and after some time the boy took novice vows in his native Markham, though they declined to send him to central Tibet.

Drakpa Zangpo pressured his parents to send him to central Tibet for studies until they finally allowed him to go to Sangpu Neutok (gsang phu sne'u thog), the great interdenominational Buddhist college located south of Lhasa. He enrolled in the Upper Center (gling stod) of the monastery. At Sangpu, Drakpa Zangpo studied under the great Sakya scholar Rongton Sheja Kunrik (rong ston shes bya kun rig, 1357-1449). He found it very easy to memorize and understand texts, which pleased the Choje (Rongton). After memorizing all of the necessary prayers and preliminaries, he began to memorize the necessary texts for the study of Prajñāpāramitā. This came so easy to him that he was able to complete his study of the subject in just eighteen months. He then sat for his examinations on Prajñāpāramitā—called drakor (grwa skor)—at both Sangpu and at Dewachen (bde ba can).

When it came time to study Madhyamaka, however, he encountered a problem. Drakpa Zangpo thought to himself, "My teacher doesn't much like the system of Candrakīrti, always making small criticisms of it. What should I do?" One day Gungru Gyeltsen Zangpo (gung ru rgyal mtshan bzang po, 1383-1450)—a great scholar and later, the third abbot of Sera (se ra)—invited him to tea and told him, "Your Prajñāpāramitā drakor went well." He replied that he now wanted to start learning Madhyamaka, and described his plans to him in detail. Gungruwa said, "If you really want to learn the Madhyamaka view, it's better if you go study under the lord Tsongkhapa at Ganden (dga ldan)." The mere mention of Tsongkhapa's name made Drakzangpa happy. He followed Gungruwa's advice and arrived at Ganden just as the teachings on Nāgārjuna’s Mūla-madhyamaka-kārikā and Candrakīrti’s Madhyamakāvatāra were beginning, a very auspicious sign. When he saw Tsongkhapa for the first time, his eyes teared up in devotion.

Drakzangpa stayed at Ganden much longer than he anticipated, receiving teachings not only on Madhyamaka, but also on many other subjects as well, including: the Stages of the Path (lam rim), the Stages of Secret Mantra (sngags rim), Asaṅga’s Abhidharmasamuccaya, Dharmakīrti’s Pramāṇavārttika, and others. During his time at Ganden his understanding of Madhyamaka became especially thorough, and he gained a deep realization of emptiness. Tsongkhapa himself publically commented on his progress one day, saying, "Kachupa Drakzang's latent seeds have awakened. He will be of great benefit to the teachings. Now, Drakzangpa, you should return to Sangpu to study Pramāṇa." Once back at Sangpu, he should have re-entered the Upper Center, his previous college, and studied under Choje Konchok Gyatso (chos rje dkon mchog rgya mtsho, d.u.), but the lama was in retreat recovering from fatigue, and so Drakpa Zangpo entered the Lower Center and started to study the Pramāṇavārttika under Sanggye Gyeltsen (sangs rgyas rgyal mtshan, d.u.). Before long, he sat for a combined drakor exam on both Madhyamaka and Pramāṇa and then returned to Ganden, where he continued his studies under Tsongkhapa, this time focusing more on tantra. During a Varjabhairava empowerment Tsongkhapa told him that this should be his tutelary deity, and from then on Drakzangpa dedicated himself to the practice of that deity.

One story speaks to Drakpa Zangpo's reputation at Ganden during this time. Some visiting scholars remarked one day that there was no one as wise and profound as Tsongkhapa, thinking that the Ganden monks would appreciate this praise of their master, but the monks scolded them and replied that the same applied to Drakpa Zangpo whom, they said, was a holy being.

Drakzangpa took full ordination at Ganden with Tsongkhapa as abbot, Duldzin Drakpa Gyeltsen ('dul 'dzin grags pa rgyal mtshan, 1374-1434) as ritual master, and Kazhipa Rinchen Pel (bka' bzhi pa rin chen dpal, d.u.) as confidential reporter. At Tsongkhapa's advice, he then went to study Vinaya under Marton Gyatso Rinchen (dmar ston rgya mtsho rin chen, fourteenth century) at Penyul Drosa ('phan yul gro sa), a renowned center for the study of Vinaya and Abhidharma. Two and a half years into his studies Tsongkhapa passed away. Drakzangpa became distraught, and that night dreamt of his teacher. In the dream, Tsongkhapa said to him, "Hey you, there's no need to be so sad. You will benefit the teachings and have many students. So teach for a while and before too long we'll meet up in the Tuṣita Pure Land (known as Ganden in Tibetan)." Tsongkhapa then disappeared like a rainbow. As soon as he woke up, Drakzangpa was joyful and his grief had vanished.

Hearing that Gyeltsabje (rgyal tshab rje, 1364-1432) had taken Tsongkhapa's place on the throne of Ganden, Drakzangpa went to meet him to request teachings on Pramāṇa. Gyeltsabje told him to go to Sangpu to study the Pramāṇavārttika and gave him a gold sang (gser srang) for his expenses. Drakpa Zangpo returned once more to Sangpu and it was during this time that he started teaching, and gathered many disciples around him as a result. One day he decided to teach while sitting on the throne of the monastery's founder, the translator Ngok Loden Sherab (rngog blo ldan shes rab, 1059-1109). Some monks were incensed, and tried to drag him off the throne by force. Drakzangpa replied, "You monks are obsessed with the Lotsāwa's throne, but maybe you're causing the Lotsāwa hardship." He then declared himself to be the reincarnation of Ngok Lotsāwa. Tradition has it that from then on it has been permitted for the dharma to be taught from the throne of Ngok.

It was as a result of these events that the Geluk monks at Sangpu—the students of Drakzangpa, Gungruwa, and other Geluk scholars—split with the Sakya monks of Sangpu's Lingme College, built a wall, and relocated to a site above it. They called themselves "the college founded from the gold of Gyeltsabje," and later "the College Above the Wall" or Rawa Topai Dratsang (ra ba stod pa'i grwa tshang). Because many Geluk monks were now coming to study at Sangpu, Rawa To flourished and grew in numbers, while the other colleges of Sangpu slowly decreased in size due to lack of enrollment. Rawa Topai Dratsang later became known under its abbreviated name of Rato (ra stod) and at some point in time relocated to Nyetang Dewachen.

After teaching at Rato for a short time, Drakpa Zangpo had a dream in which he saw men carrying various volumes of texts off to the west. He interpreted this to mean that his time at Sangpu had come to an end and that he needed to travel to Tsang. He stepped down as head of Rato, installed his student Yonten Gyatso (yon tan rgya mtsho, 1443-1521) as his successor, and left for Tsang with twenty of his students. On his way, Drakzangpa met the Rinpung lord Norbu Zangpo (nor bu bzang po, fifteenth century), who was so taken with him that he offered him a monastery, but Drakzangpa refused, stating that he had no wish to be attached to a monastery and preferred to be a wandering teacher. He agreed, however, to come back to teach.

Drakpa Zangpo then began a long pilgrimage that took him to all of the important monasteries of western Tibet: Nenying (gnas rnying), Zhalu (zhwa lu), Nartang (snar thang), Sakya (sa skya), Bodong (bo dong), and Chokhor (chos 'khor). It was at the last of these that he met one of his most famous students, Taktsang Lotsāwa (stag tsang lo tsA ba, b. 1405). Drakzangpa made offerings at each institution that he visited. He also took teachings and empowerments—including Lamdre, Vajrapañjara, Kālacakra, Hevajra, Medicine Buddha, Mahākāla, the yogas of Niguma, etc.—from the most important lamas in these monasteries: the erudite Bodong Chokle Namgyel (bo dong phyogs las rnam rgyal, 1376-1451), the translator Kyabchok Pelzang (lo tsA ba skyabs mchog dpal bzang, fourteenth to fifteenth century), the great Sakya lama Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo (ngor chen kun dga' bzang po, 1382-1456), the Nartang abbot Drubpa Sherab (grub pa shes rab, 1357-1423), and the Shangpa Kagyu master Lodro Pelzang (blo gros dpal zang, fourteenth to fifteenth century), the nephew of Jakchen Jampa Pel ('jag chen byams pa dpal, 1310-1391). Drakpa Zangpo's expertise in the different traditions of Buddhism became so vast that he became known as Divine Master of Knowledge (mkhyen rab dbang phyug). During a time that saw a great deal of sectarian conflict in Tibet, he was respected by many different traditions.

Drakpa Zangpo also taught extensively throughout his travels. For example, he lectured at Oyuk ('od yug), Shang Tanak (shangs rta nag), and Zhe (bzhed) on the four great classics of Indian Buddhism (bka' bzhi), on Lamrim, and on Vinaya. As the result of these teachings, monks followed him and he established a center called "The College North of the River" (chu byang gi grwa tshang) that, according to the First Paṇchen Lama, Lobzang Chokyi Gyeltsen (paṇ chen blo bzang chos kyi rgyal mtshan, 1570-1662), was in friendly competition with a similar hermitage called "South of the River" (chu lho) founded by the First Dalai Lama, Gendun Drub (dge 'dun grub, 1391-1474).

Drakzangpa taught at Chum Dechen ('chums sde chen), and followed this up with a weeklong retreat. During that time he had a vision of Maitreya, and shortly thereafter, at Sekshing (sreg shing), he had another vision, this time of Vaiśravaṇa, who bestowed upon him, an unspecified prophecy. As a result of this, he moved to the monastery of Rinchen Gang (rin chen sgang), and stayed there for the rest of his life. The Rinpung lord Norbu Zangpo had been waiting for Drakzangpa's return for a long time, and even offered him a vast fief, but Drakzangpa did not accept it. In return, Drakzangpa sent Norbu Zangpo his most cherished personal religious icon, a very holy statue of the Buddha a cubit in height, which the ruler enthusiastically accepted.

Drakpa Zangpo died at the age of eighty at Rinchen Gang. He told his attendants, "Arrange extensive offerings today; it is time for me to go to Tuṣita." He then sat up straight, entered into equipoise, and passed away. An extensive biography was written by Taktsang Lotsāwa, but unfortunately it has not survived. The First Paṇchen Lama wrote an abridged biography based chiefly on the work of Taktsangpa, and this is available in the Paṇchen's collected works.

Many important monks became disciples of Drakzangpa over his long and peripatetic career. The most notable of these were Sempa Chenpo Zhonnu Gyelchok (sems dpa' chen po gzhon nu rgyal mchog, 1382-1439), the Sangpu abbot Yonten Gyatso, Jamchen Kunga Tashi (byams chen kun dga' bkra shis, d.u.), Jamchen Rabjampa Sanggye Pel (byams chen rab 'byams pa sangs rgyas 'phel, 1412-1485), Khepa Donyo Pel (mkhas pa don yod dpal, d.u.), Kunkhyen Namso Chenmo (kun mkhyen nam bsod chen mo, d.u.), and Khyenrab Yonten Peljung (mkhyen rab yon tan dpal 'byung, fifteenth century). It is known that Drakzangpa authored at least one work because Taktsang Lotsāwa mentions having served as the scribe for it, but none of his writings have survived.