The Treasury of Lives

Kachen Lobzang Tsondru (bka chen blo bzang brtson grus) was born in the Nubra (nub ra) valley of Ladakh in the eighteenth century. As a child he was very bright and he became a novice at Diskit Monastery (bde skyid dgon pa), where he began his primary education. He remained at Diskit for about fifteen years and learned all the major rituals of the monastery. Sources on his life are limited to information found in histories of Diskit Monastery.

He went to Tibet to pursue further studies of Buddhism. There he entered Tashilhunpo Monastery (bkra shis lhun po) where he studied sutra and tantra. He also studied the major five textual traditions of Tibetan Buddhism: Pramāṇa, Mādhyamaka, Abhidharma, Prajñāpāramitā and Vinaya. He was awarded the degree of kachupa (dka' bcu pa). He then returned to his homeland of Nubra, during the reign of King Tsewang Namgyal (tshe dbang rnam rgyal, 1753–1782).

Lobzang Tsondru resided once again at Diskit Monastery in Nubra. He is credited with renovating temples at the monastery. He built a three-story Maitreya statue, which still stands today, in Hundar (hun dar) village with the sponsorship of the king, the monks of Diskit Monastery, and the villagers.

He passed away in Nubra at the age of seventy. His disciple Guge Yongdzin Lobzang Tenzin Gyatso (gu ge yongs 'dzin blo bzang bstan 'dzin rgya mtsho, 1748–1813), was the seventeenth abbot of Tashilhunpo.