The Treasury of Lives

Tersey Tulku (gter sras sprul sku) was born in 1887 or 1889 in the Nangchen region of Kham. He was the youngest of four brothers, the sons of Konchok Peldron (dkon mchog dpal sgron, 1850s–1930s), and Orgyen Chopel (o rgyan chos 'phel), of the Tsangsar family (gtsang sar) of Nangchen. His three elder brothers were Samten Gyatso (bsam gtan rgya mtsho, 1881–1945), Chime Dorje ('chi med rdo rje, 1884–1948), and Lama Sangngak (bla ma sangs sngags, 1885–circa 1949). He also had two sisters: Tashi Chime (bkra shis 'chi med) and Rigdzin Peldron (rig 'dzin dpal sgron). Although the Tsangsar family controlled several Barom Kagyu monasteries, Konchok Peldron and her sons were primarily dedicated to the propagation of the revelations of Konchok Peldron's father, Chokgyur Lingpa (mchog 'gyur gling pa, 1829–1870).

Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo ('jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse'i dbang po, 1820–1892) identified Tersey Tulku as the reincarnation of Wangchuk Dorje (dbang phyug rdo rje, c. 1860–1886), the second son of Chokgyur Lingpa and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo's great-nephew, who was a main lineage holder of his father's revelations.

Tulku Urgyen, whose memoir Blazing Splendor serves as the source for this essay, and who was Tersey Tulku's nephew, does not describe Tersey Tulku's childhood, save that he was taken to Tsike Monastery (rtsi ke dgon) to be trained.^[1] Tsike, one of two monasteries founded by Chokgyur Lingpa, was the seat of the Tsike Chokling incarnation. Tulku Urgyen states that as the reincarnation of Chokgyur Lingpa's eldest son he held equal status to the two incarnations of Chokgyur Lingpa—Tsike Chokling Konchok Gyurme (rtsi rke mchog gling dkon mchog 'gyur med, 1871–1939) and Neten Chokling Ngedon Drubpai Dorje (gnas brtsan mchog gling nges don grub pa'i rdo rje, 1873–1927).^[2] Unlike his previous incarnation, he did not ordain.

Among his teachers in his youth was the Third Katok Situ, Chokyi Gyatso (kaH thog si tu 03 chos kyi rgya mtsho, 1880–1925), .^[3] As a child he received an empowerment from Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo at Dzongsar Monastery (rdzong sar dgon). His grandmother Dechen Chodron (bde chen chos sgron)—known to people as Degah (sde dga')—his mother, and his brothers Samten Gyatso and Chime Dorje were all present as Khyentse Wangpo gave the family the empowerment of his own revelation, the Gathering of All Secret Ḍākinīs (mkha' 'gro gsang ba kun 'dus). Decades later Tersey Tulku transmitted this teaching to Dilgo Khyentse Tashi Peljor (dil mgo mkhyen brtse bkra shis dpal 'byor, 1910–1991).^[4]

When he was a young man he left Kham for pilgrimage to central Tibet, which Tulku Urgyen characterizes as having been done without the approval—nor, possibly, the permission—of his family. He made the months-long journey with just two companions, absent the support and protection of a caravan or even a pack animal, all three men carrying their possessions on their backs.

After his extended pilgrimage, during which he also visited India, he became a disciple of the famous meditation master Shākya Shrī (1853–1919), and settled at the master's hermitage near Sangngak Choling (gsang sngags chos gling), the seat of the Tenth Drukchen, Mipam Chokyi Wangpo ('brug chen 10 mi 'pham chos kyi dbang po, 1884–1930). Shākya Shrī, a holder of both Kagyu and Nyingma lineages—including the revelations of Chokgyur Lingpa—apparently divided his disciples into separate camps of Mahāmudrā and Dzogchen practitioners. Tersey Tulku belonged to the Dzogchen community. According to Tulku Urgyen, some seven hundred students lived at the site, in either caves dug from the hillside or in tents, all keeping to a strict schedule of meditation. A bell would ring alerting residents that they could prepare their morning and noon meals, and again when it was time to return to their practice.^[5]

Towards the end of the second decade of the twentieth century, Tersey Tulku's mother decided that he needed to return to Kham to play his part in the organization and dissemination of Chokgyur Lingpa's revelations, known as the Chokling Tersar (mchog gling gter gsar), or New Treasures of Chokgyur Lingpa. She and her three elder sons accordingly set off for central Tibet, where they found him living at Shākya Shrī's hermitage. He agreed to return only after five years of additional pilgrimage and practice. Tulku Urgyen describes his uncle as having attained prominent status, surrounded by disciples and patrons and even receiving gifts from the king of Bhutan.^[6] Before departing central Tibet in the early 1920s most of the family spent a year at Drong Monastery ('brong dgon pa) to the north of Lhasa. The head of the monastery, Lama Tenzin Dorje (bla ma bstan 'dzin rdo rje), was a close friend of Tersey Tulku and a fellow disciple of Shākya Shrī.^[7] His reincarnation was later found in the family, in the person of Tulku Urgyen's son Chokyi Nyima (chos kyi nyi ma, b. 1951).

Around 1923 the entire family returned to Kham. For several years Tersey Tulku lived first at Tsike for a time, and then at Lachab Monastery (bla khyab dgon), and then at the hermitage above the monastery, Dzonggo Ling (rdzong mgo gling), both closely associated with the Tsangsar family.[8] While there he arranged many of the liturgies for the Chokling Tersar, having received the full transmission from Chokgyur Lingpa's eldest son, Tsewang Norbu (tshe dbang nor bu, 1856–1915/16). Both incarnations of Chokgyur Lingpa were also present for the transmission, which occurred at Riwoche Monastery (ri bo che dgon). He then moved to Mindroling (smin 'grol gling), a hermitage above Tsike Monastery, and remained there for the rest of his life.^[9]

Tulku Urgyen described his uncle as meticulous in his ritual obligations. He would spend days in preparation for giving empowerments, a burden that led to him being disinclined to bestow them.^[10] When giving the Second Kongtrul, Khyentse Wozer ('jam mgon kon sprul 02 mkhyen brtse 'od zer, 1904–1953), the transmission of the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel: Essential Oral Instructions (zhel gdams snying byang yid bzhin nor bu), the main scripture in the Dispelling All Obstacles (bar chad kun gsal) cycle, he spent two full days reading the single-volume work.^[11] Tersey Tulku was also known to be the most capable and knowledgeable writer of the lineage after Karmey Khenpo and Tsewang Norbu's passing, and he composed many manuals and arrangements for Chokling Tersar practice, including for the Heart Essence of Samantabhadra, though many of these texts were lost in the second half of the century.[12]

Like his three brothers, Tersey Tulku's personal practices were the Heart Essence of Samantabhadra (kun bzang thugs thig), from the Chokling Tersar, and the Heart Essence of Chetsun (lce btsun snying thig), one of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo's main Dzogchen revelations. He also practiced Shākya Shrī's revealed Padmasambhava sādhana called Guru Mahāsukha.^[13]

In the late 1930s or early 1940s Tersey Tulku came into possession of a treasure scroll—a revealed object from which treasure scriptures are decoded—that Chokgyur Lingpa had discovered but had not deciphered. Tulku Urgyen had been given the scroll after Konchok Peldron's death, but did not dare hold on to it, so he gave it to his uncle. During a visit of Dilgo Khyentse to the hermitage above Tsike, Tersey Tulku showed him the scroll and asked him to extract the treasure. Dilgo Khyentse proposed that, on the tenth day of the month, in the temple at Tsike that held Chokgyur Lingpa's reliquary, the two of them perform a guru sādhana to a form of Chokgyur Lingpa known as Padmasattva. This sādhana was based on a vision Khyentse Wangpo had of the treasure revealer shortly after his death. Tersey Tulku was at this point in his sixties and not physically well, walking with canes, and had to be helped down the mountain path to the monastery. Although they successfully wrote out the scripture, Dilgo Khyentse wanted Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro (byam dbyangs mkhyen brtse'i mchog gi blo gros, 1893–1959) to authenticate it before giving the empowerment, but he was unable to do so, and so the treasure was lost.^[14]

Tersey Tulku passed away at Tsike Monastery around the year 1956.

 

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