The Treasury of Lives

Little is known of Orgyen Dzongpa Chokyong Gyeltsen (o rgyan rdzong pa chos skyong rgyal mtshan) birth and childhood. He was born in 1455.

It is said that he was extremely compassionate and that he possessed an exceptional awareness of the fragile nature of life and the certainty of death. As a young man he studied subjects such as the Vinaya, Prajñāpāramitā, and epistemology with teachers such as Namso Chenmo (nam bsod chen mo, d.u.) and Sonam Yeshe (bsod nams ye shes, d.u.). He traveled to Ngamring (ngam ring) Monastery when he was nineteen years old and gained a reputation as an expert in the Five Dharmas of Maitreya and other subjects. At the age of twenty-three he taught at Sakya Monastery and made a great impression.

At one point Orgyen Dzongpa had an extraordinary dream of the great Sakya scholar Gorampa Sonam Sengge (go rams pa bsod nams seng ge, 1429-1489). In the dream Gorampa gave him a bowl of his vomit, which Orgyen Dzongpa completely drank, and a volume of Cakrasaṃvara teachings. This dream caused Orgyen Dzongpa to seek out Gorampa, from whom he then received many sutra and tantra teachings for a period of five years. He received the vows of complete ordination from Gorampa at the Sakya monastery of Ngor Ewaṃ Choden (ngor e vaM chos ldan).

When he was thirty-two years old Orgyen Dzongpa was invited to become the teaching master (slob dpon) of the college at the Sakya monastery of Nalendra (na lendra) in U, where he taught for the next seventeen years. During this period he received many initiations, textual transmissions, and esoteric instructions such as Lamdre and the six-branch yoga of Kālacakra from the Zhalu master Khyenrab Choje (zha lu mkhyen rab chos rje, 1436-1497), who was enthroned on the monastic seat of Nālendra in 1491, earning the title of the First Chogye Trichen (bco brgyad khri chen).

Orgyen Dzongpa also received Lamdre transmission from three other masters: Donyo Namgyel (don yod rnam rgyal, d.u.), Kunpang Ngawang Peljor (kun spangs ngag dbang dpal 'byor, d.u.), and Lodro Gyeltsen (probably bdag chen blo gros rgyal mtshan, 1444-1495). He received Kagyu teachings from the Seventh Karmapa, Chodrak Gyatso (karma pa 07 chos grags rgya mtsho, 1454-1506), Chen Nga Chokyi Drakpa (spyan mnga' chos kyi grags pa, d.u.), and Chennga Ngawang Drakpa (spyan snga ngag dbang grags pa, d.u.). He received the instructions on the Six Yogas of Niguma (ni gu chos brug) composed by the great adept Tangtong Gyelpo (grub chen thang stong rgyal po, 1385-1464) from Tendzin Nyima Zangpo (bstan 'dzin nyi ma bzang po, d.u.), Tangtong Gyelpo's son and heir. And from Chokyong Sangpo, the great translator of Zhalu (zhwa lu lo tsA ba chos skyong bzang po, 1441-1527), he received the massive Vimalaprabhā commentary on the Kālacakra Tantra.

Orgyen Dzongpa was particularly dedicated to meditation practice, and his biography often mentions dreams and visionary transmissions that he received from great masters of the past. In particular, his marvelous meditation experiences are described in some detail. For expample, when he received Lamdre from Khyenrab Choje and practiced the yogas of the vital wind, he is said to have actually seen the colors and shapes of the vital winds of the four elements and observed their passage in and out of his body. When he practiced the yoga of the vase retention, all ordinary phenomena are said to have vanished, the forms of emptiness manifested, and his body was experienced as bliss, so that even the prick of a needle or a thorn was blissful. When he received the six-branch yoga of Kālacakra from Khyenrab Choje and practiced the first branch of Individual Withdrawal (sor sdud), the vital winds of the right and left subtle channels are said to have drawn into the central channel, he was able to emanate and transform into various forms, all of space was filled with the forms of emptiness, and all the ten signs such as smoke appeared.

When Orgyen Dzongpa was sixty-two years old he became the twentieth holder of the monastic seat of Jonang Monastery (jo nang dgon). During the next two years he gave many teachings, including the six-branch yoga of Kālacakra on two occasions, Lamdre, the Hevjara Tantra, the Doha of Saraha, and Chod. He also taught in many other monasteries, such as Sakya, Ngamring, Pelkhor Chode (dpal 'khor chos sde) in Gyantse, and Shelkar (shel dkar). At one point he engaged in a debate with the great Sakya master Serdok Paṇchen Shākya Chokden (gser mdog paN chen shAkya mchog ldan, 1428-1507) on the topic of whether the fundamental nature of phenomena can or cannot be established as real. His most important disciple was Lochen Ratnabhadra (lo chen rat+na bha dra, 1489-1563).

When Orgyen Dzongpa passed away, it is said that he sat in the vajra position, covered his knees with his hands, straighted his back, and dissolved his awareness into the profound basic space of phenomena. Various miracles accompanied his passing, and when his body was cremated rainbows of five colors appeared in Sakya and several other places, all with their tips pointed toward Jonang.