The Treasury of Lives

Orgyen Rigdzin Jigme Garwang Dorje (o rgyan rig 'dzin 'jigs med gar dbang rdo rje, 1940–1992), also known as Orgyen Kyab (o rgyan skyabs) and Lhase Uga (lha sras u dga'), was born in 1940. He was the son of Tsewang Dudul (tshe dbang bdud 'dul, 1916–1942) and Jamyang Pelmo (byam dbyangs dpal mo, 1913–1988), the last king and queen of Derge. He received an early education at Lhundrubteng (lhun grub steng), the royal monastery of Derge, and Dzongsar Monastery (rdzong sar dgon).[1]

In 1956 his mother sent him to Lhasa, gaining official permission with the pretense of seeking religious instruction, but in actuality her motivation was to remove him from the fighting between the People's Liberation Army and the Tibetan resistance fighters such as the Chushi Gangdruk (chu bzhi sgang grug).[2]

After the fighting stopped, Orgyen Kyab, returned to Derge and, alongside other local elites, was appointed to ceremonial government positions. He was appointed a member of the Kandze Prefectural Government Conference (dkar mdzes khul srid gros), the Standing Committee of the Kandze Prefecture Communist Party, the Kandze Prefecture Young People's Congress (dkar mdzes khul gzhon nu mnyam 'brel lhan tshogs), and the Sichuan Provincial Government Conference (zhing chen srid gros).[3]

He married a woman named Tashi Lhadron (bkra shis lha sgron).[4]

In the water-monkey year, 1992, when he was fifty-two, Orgyen Kyab traveled to central Tibet to attend the enthronement of Orgyen Trinle Dorje (o rgyan phrin las rdo rje, b. 1985) as the Seventeenth Karmapa at Tsurpu Monastery (mtshur phu dgon). He passed away suddenly in Lhasa of an illness. His wife arranged for the funeral, and had a reliquary of gilded copper installed in Lhundrubteng.[5]



[1] Blo gros phun tshogs, p. 93.

[2] Blo gros phun tshogs, pp. 93–94.

[3] Blo gros phun tshogs, p. 94.

[4] Blo gros phun tshogs, p. 94.

[5] Blo gros phun tshogs, p. 94.

 

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Alexander Gardner is Director and Chief Editor of the Treasury of Lives. He completed his PhD in Buddhist Studies at the University of Michigan in 2007. He is the author of The Life of Jamgon Kongtrul The Great.

Published March 2022

Bibliography

Blo gros phun tshogs. 1995. Zhar byung bya rgod stobs ldan dang de'i khyim rgyud kyi lo rgyus rags rim. In Sde dge'i lo rgyus, pp. 185–205. Derge: Srid gros sde dge rdzong rig gnas lo rgyus rgyu cha bsdu sgrig u yon lhan khang. TBRC W26569.

Lha lung 'chi med rdo rje and Zla g.yang. 2009. Khams sde dge rgyal po'i srid don lo rgyus. Beijing: Krung go'i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang.

View this person’s associated Works & Texts on the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center’s Website.