The Treasury of Lives

Nesar Jamyang Khyentse Wangchuk (gnas gsar 'jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse'i dbang phyug) was born in Bodong E (bo dong e) valley in 1524. His father, a tantric practitioner who came from the Azha clan of Tsinesar (rtsis gnas gsar ba 'a zha) clan, was named Namkha Dorje (nam mkha' rdo rje) and his mother was called Tseten Budren (tshe brtan bu 'dren). He was given the name Sonam Chokden (bsod nams mchog ldan) by the Jonang lama Gorumpa Kunga Lekpa (sgo rum pa kun dga' legs pa, 1502‑1566). From a paternal aunt, Trulzhik Kungazhab ('khrul zhig kun dga'i zhabs) he received the treasure lineage of Ratna Lingpa (rat+na gling pa, 1403-1479), and from his father a treasure lineage of Mahākāla.

At the age of eight he ordained before of Gorumpa, Rutok Lachen Namkha Ziji (ru thog bla chen nam mkha' gzi brjid, d.u.), a Sakya master from Ngari, and three other lamas, who gave him the name Khyentse Wangchuk Tenpai Gyeltsen Pelzangpo (mkhyen brtse'i dbang phyug bstan pa'i rgyal mtshan dpal bzang po). At Bodong E Monastery he studied Prajñāpāramitā with Gorumpa and also Sanskrit and Tibetan with Rutok Lachen.

It was also when he was eight that Khyentse Wangchuk first met one of his main teachers, Tsarchen Losel Gyatso (tshar chen blo gsal rgya mtsho, 1502-1566), the founder of Dar Drangmoche Monastery ('dar grang mo che) and the Tsarpa branch of the Sakya tradition. The following year Tsarchen gave him initiations and sadhanas for a number of deities such as the Nine-deity Amitāyus and Hevajra.

When Khyentse Wangchuk was twelve he took his getsul (dge tshul) vows and, until he was twenty, studied with Gorumpa, from whom he received the Kālacakra; Tsharchen; and Rutok Lachen. These three lamas, together with Khenchen Ngawang Tenpai Dorje (mkhan chen ngag dbang bstan pa'i rdo rje, d.u.), gave him his full bhikṣu ordination at the age of twenty. He also studied sutra at the Sakya monastery Tanak Tubten Namgyel (rta nag thub bstan rnam rgyal).

Khyentse Wangchuk received teachings from over thirty lamas in numerous tantric cycles, and trained and practiced at many monasteries and hermitages including the Drukpa Kagyu monastery of Ralung (ra lung). Among the Nyingma treasure lineages he held was the Jangter (byang gter) of Rigdzin Godemchen (rig 'dzin rgod ldem chen, 1337-1408).

At the instruction of Tsarchen, Khyentse Wangchuk went to Zhalu Monastery (zhwa lu) to receive teachings from a woman known to history only as Gyelyum Wangmo (rgyal yum dbang mo), a member of the house of Che (lce) that once controlled Zhalu. Then, at the age of thirty-six he ascended the throne of Zhalu, the fourteenth person to serve as abbot. He taught the uncommon Lamdre Lobshe which he had received from Tsarchen, as well as empowerments from the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions. Such ecumenical teaching, drawing from his extensive training in multiple traditions and lineages.

Regarding his treasure revelations, Jamgon Kongtrul ('jam mgon kong sprul, 1913-1899), in his Terton Gyatsa (gter ston rgya rtsa), writes that they were received at Drompagyang (grom pa rgyang), one of the so-called demon taming temples built by the seventh-century Tibetan emperor Songtsen Gampo (srong btsan sgam po) of whom Khyentse Wangchuk was said to have been a reincarnation. Kongtrul explains that because Khyentse Wangchuk lived for much of his life at monasteries, and because of broken samaya, most of his prophesied treasures were not revealed. Khyentse Wangchuk's treasure name was Dongag Lingpa (mdo sngags gling pa).

Khyentse Wangchuk was a prolific author of liturgical manuals and instruction texts for the tantric cycles he received, many of which were included in the Gyude Kundu (rgyud sde kun btus) and Drubta Kundu (sgrub thabs kun btus) of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (byams dbyang mkhyen brtse'i dbang po, 1820-1893) and Jamyang Loter Wangpo ('byams dbyang blo gter dbang po, 1847-1914). His treasures were included in the Rinchen Terdzo (rin chen gter mdzod).

It should be noted that Khyentse Wangchuk was not the originator of the Khyenri (mkhyen ris) style of Tibetan painting, as has been suggested. Rather, as shown by David Jackson, the founder of the style of painting was Gongkar Khyentse Chenmo (gong dkar mkhyen brtse chen mo).

Khyentse Wangchuk died at the age of forty-four, in the year 1567.