The Treasury of Lives

Katok Rigdzin Tsewang Norbu (kaH thog rigs 'dzin tshe dbang nor bu) was born in Sangen Sowa (sa ngan bso ba), in Kham, into the Go (sgo) clan. His father was Dupa Ati Gonpo (rdu pa a ti mgon po) and his mother was Goza Dorje Tso (sgo bza' rdo rje 'tsho). An uncle, Pema Dechen Lingpa (padma bde chen gling pa, 1663-1713), a disciple of Longsel Nyingpo (klong gsal snying po, 1625-1692), declared him an incarnation of a certain Ta Lama Pema Norbu (ta bla ma padma nor bu), about whom information is currently lacking. He also received teachings from a nephew of his previous incarnation named Kelzang Orgyen Tendzin (skal bzang o rgyan bstan 'dzin).

Tsewang Norbu experimented with treasure revelation in his youth, writing down a volume of treasure but burning them in displeasure. At twenty-one, however, he was satisfied with further revelations, and these are preserved in his collected works.

At the age of twenty-two Tsewang Norbu went to Katok Monastery (kaH thog) for the first time, taking teachings from Longsal Nyingpo's son, Sonam Deutsen (bsod nams lde'u btsan, 1679-1723). In the wake of the Dzungar invasion of Tibet there was influx into Kham of Nyingma lamas fleeing the destruction of Mindroling (smin grol gling), Dorje Drak (rdo rje brag) and other monasteries, and Tsewang Norbu was able to received teachings from many of them. He studied with the sons of the murdered Terdak Lingpa (gter bdag gling pa, 1646-1714), Gyurme Rinchen Namgyel ('gyur med rin chen rnam rgyal, 1694-1758) and a lama named Gyurme Pema Zangpo / Gyatso ('gyur med pad+ma bzang po / rgya mtsho). At twenty-four he returned to Katok, taking further teachings from Sonam Deutsen, who attempted to enthrone him as a regent of Katok, an appointment Tsewang Norbu declined, preferring to maintain his “vagabond” lifestyle.

The previous year Tsewang Norbu had traveled to Markham Wendzong (smar khams dben rdzong) to meet Zurmang Chetsang Sungrab Gyatso (zur mang che tshang gsung rab rgya mtsho, 17/18th century), whom Tsewang Norbu came to consider his second root lama. Zurmang Chetsang gave his new disciple both Kagyu and Nyingma teachings, in keeping with the Karma Kagyu traditions of the region. Tsewang Norbu credited the Mahāmudrā practices he received with stabilizing his meditation.

In 1725 Tsewang Norbu went to central Tibet, where he received an audience with the Twelfth Karmapa Jangchub Dorje (karma pa 12 byang chub rdo rje, 1703-1732) and the Eighth Zhamarpa Pelchen Chokyi Dondrub (zhwa dmar 08 dpal chen chos kyi don grub, 1695-1732). He also met the Third Trewo Lama Karma Tendzin Dargye (tre bo 03 karma bstan 'dzin dar rgyas) who became his third root lama, and introduced him to the Jonang tradition.

Tsewang Norbu later received the entire Jonangpa tradition's teachings from Drubchen Kunzang Wangpo (grub chen kun bzang dbang po, seventeenth century), and he is credited with bringing about a renaissance of the teachings, particularly of the Jonang zhentong, or  “other emptiness” view (gzhan stong). Tsewang Norbu had first attempted to meet with Kunzang Wangpo in 1726, while en route to Nepal, but was unable to do so. When he returned to Tibet the following year, the two met, and Tsewang Norbu received the extensive transmission at the hermitage Ganden Khacho (dga' ldan mkha' chos) in Tsang, which was named Rulak Drepung (ru lag 'bras spung) prior to its forced conversion to Geluk. Tsewang Norbu transmitted the Jonang teachings to many Kagyu and Nyingma lamas, most importantly to the Eighth Tai Situ, Chokyi Gyeltsen (ta'i si tu 08 chos kyi 'byung gnas, c.1699-1774), with whom he spent time at the Swayambhunath Stūpa in Kathmandu in 1748.

In 1733 both the Twelfth Karmapa and the Eighth Zharmapa died en route to China, and Tsewang Norbu became involved in the search for their replacements, attaining a heightened level of influence among the Kagyu community.  He continued his involvement in Tibetan politics and Karma Kagyu religious affairs for the next several decades, serving as representative in Ladakh for the King of Tibet, Polhane Sonam Tobgye (pho lha nas bsod nams stobs rgyas, 1689-1747), and successfully mediating the end of a conflict there.

Only in the 1750s did Tsewang Norbu return to his Nyingma roots and Katok monastery's affairs. He attempted, unsuccessfully, to install a new leader at the monastery, as he was critical of the treasure traditions that the monastery had adopted, and of its lax observance of the monastic code. Further, he condemned the transition from a meritocratic transition of leaders initially practiced to an uncle-nephew transition of the Drungpa lamas, who had taken over in the sixteenth century and controlled the monastery up through Tsewang Norbu's time. Tsewang Norbu considered the era of the thirteen Drung abbots to be the period of the monastery's decline. It should be noted that Longsel Nyingpo, to whose lineage Tsewang Norbu belonged, could be blamed for much of the alterations to the monastery that Tsewang Norbu decried. By focusing his criticism on the Drungpa lamas, it would seem Tsewang Norbu was seeking to avoid speaking ill of a lama who was close to his heart.

Tsewang Norbu also avoided criticizing Sonam Deutsen, even as he singled out that lama's reincarnation, Drime Zhingkyong Gonpo (dri med zhing skyong mgon po), who had assumed abbacy of Katok in the mid eighteenth century and whom Tsewang Norbu blamed for the deteriorated state of the monastery's buildings. In his place, Tsewang Norbu attempted to install the young Tenth Zhamarpa, Chodrub Gyatso (zhwa dmar pa 10 chos grub rgya mtsho, 1742-1792) in the abbacy of Katok. The plan was unsuccessful, despite the considerable effort Tsewang Norbu made in eliciting the aid of the Seventh Dalai Lama, Polhane, and Situ Paṇchen.

Tsewang Norbu spent a considerable amount of time traveling in western Tibet and Nepal, where he restored the famous Boudhanath and Swayambhunath stūpas and collected ancient Buddhist manuscripts. He first visited the region in the 1720s, and made several trips thereafter, in the 1740s and again in the 1750s. He is credited with ending the Nepali custom of murdering women following the death of their husbands. 

He passed away in Kyirong (skyid rong) in 1755.