The Treasury of Lives

Ngok Jo Tsultrim Sherab (rngog jo tshul khrims shes rab) was born the elder son of Ngok Dode (rngog mdo sde, c.1089-1167) in 1115, when the latter was in his twenty-sixth year. (The Lorong History gives an alternate birth year of 1103.) According to legend, the night before he was conceived, a female teacher named Dremo (sgre mo) advised Dode to wait until the next night to visit his consort, in in order to ensure that an amazing son would be born. The Blue Annals gives his name as Tsangtsa Jotsul (gtsang tsha jo tshul).

When Ngok Jo was three his mother placed him under the care of his father. After the usual studies his father conferred upon him the Hevajra teachings, and when he was seventeen he set off to be in the presence of Gampopa Sonam Rinchen (sgam po pa bsod nam rin chen, 1079-1153), from whom he received the guidance instructions in full. He also received the Zhije teaching called the Three Lamps (sgron ma rnam gsum) from Gyelwa Lo (rgyal ba lo, d.u.). He married a woman named Dardze (dar mdzes), with whom he had a son, Ngok Kunga Dorje (rngog kun dga' rdo rje, 1157-1234). Just seven months later, Ngok Jo died. According to the Blue Annals, he was forty-four at the time of his death, in 1158. The Lorong History gives the year of death as 1154.

The Ngok family lineage (rngog lugs) served an important role in Tibetan Buddhism, particularly for the Kagyu tradition. For many centuries Kagyu and other practitioners turned to them for more advanced studies of Vajrayāna rituals and texts.