The Treasury of Lives



Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje (mdo mkhyen brtse ye shes rdo rje) was born in 1800 in the Golok region of Amdo to nomadic parents. His father was Chokor Sonampel (chos skor bsod nams 'phal) of the Golok Akyong clan, and his mother was Tsewang Men (tshe dbang sman) of the Dawa clan.

The First Dodrubchen, Jigme Trinle Ozer (rdo grub chen 01 'jigs med phrin las 'od zer, 1745-1821), who would become his main teacher, and the Second Dzogchen Ponlob, Pema Sangngak Tenzin (rdzogs chen dpon slob 02 padma gsang sngags bstan 'dzin, 1731-1805), both recognized him as the body emanation of Jigme Lingpa ('jigs med gling pa, 1729-1798). Soon after the recognition his parents moved him to Dodrubchen's encampment, later also following him to Dzogchen Monastery (rdzogs chen dgon) and to the Derge court.

As a child, Yeshe Dorje was taken to U to be enthroned at Jigme Lingpa's seat, Tseringjong (tshe ring ljongs). He received novice vows from the Fourth Drigung Chetsang, Tenzin Pemai Gyeltsen ('bri gung che tshang 04 bstan 'dzin pad+ma'i rgyal mtshan, 1770-1826). After taking teachings and empowerments from other lamas of Tibet such as the Eighth Tsurpu Gyeltsab, Chopel Zangpo (mtshur phu rgyal tshab 08 chos dpal bzang po, 1766-1820), who gave him the Yutok Nyingtik and the collected works of the Karmapas and of Gampopa.

Yeshe Dorje then returned to Kham. At Katok Monastery (kaH thog dgon) he trained in tsalung (rtsa lung) and received empowerments from Getrul Mahapaṇḍita (dge sprul mahApaNDita) and the Second Drime Zhingkyong, Jigme Rigdzin Gonpo (dri med zhing skyong 02 'jigs med rig 'dzin mgon po, d.u.) in Guhyagarbha, Māyājāla, and the Rong tradition of Vajrakīlaya. It was Dodrubchen who served as his root guru, training in the full range of teachings in sutra and tantra of both the new and old translation lineages.

Dodrubchen instructed Yeshe Dorje to live the life of a lay tantrika. Although he would receive students in his encampment he would also wander the region in the guise of a deer hunter, allegedly reviving the animals he struck down. In keeping with his status as a fully accomplished siddha he became known for other supernatural abilities as well, including flight, passing through solid objects, and the subjugation of non-human entities. He was also known to commune with a wide array of deities, including Padmasambhava, hosts of ḍākinī, and great saints of previous eras.



Stories of Yeshe Dorje's unconventional actions are widely known. On one occasion, it is said, after killing a wild blue sheep, Yeshe Dorje asked his companions to take the meat and roast it over a fire wood, but to carefully keep the bones and skin. One of his disciples could not help but think that such behavior was strange for a great teacher. Sensing his pupil's doubts, at the end of the feast, Yeshe Dorje asked him to bring the skin and bones. When these had been gathered in front of him, Yeshe Dorje entered in deep meditation and then snapped his finger. At that very moment the sheep got up, shook himself, and walked away. However, the animal was limping a little: someone has forgotten to bring back a piece of bone from one of its legs.

In another episode, two young shepherds wanted to test whether Yeshe Dorje really had clairvoyance. One of the shepherds pretended to be dead, and the other asked the lama for prayers for the dead. Yeshe Dorje smoked three pipes, putting the ashes on the shepherd's head. The boy then found that his friend actually was dead and prayed to Yeshe Dorje to revive him. Yeshe Dorje said dza! over the body and the boy regained consciousness, expressing his sorrow over being brought back, as he had been sent to a joyful pure land. Later he became a disciple of Yeshe Dorje and an accomplished meditator.

He served as religious instructor to several kingdoms in Kham. Some sources state that with Dodrubchen he served the Queen of Derge, Tsewang Lhamo (tshe dbang lha mo) who had been a disciple of Jigme Lingpa, but this is unlikely, as she died in 1812. He spent some time in Gyelrong with local lords there. In later life he was invited by the Chakla king to Dartsedo with his disciple, the Second Dodrubchen, Jigme Puntsok Jungne, where he remained for some years and earned his title Do Khyentse, the Khyentse of (Dartse-) Do. He also served as head of a military force organized by the Qing provincial governor in 1849 that sought to oppose the Nyarong leader Gonpo Namgyel (mgon po rnam rgyal).

Among his most famous students were Dza Patrul Orgyen Jigme Chokyi Wangpo (rdza dpal sprul o rgyan 'jigs med chos kyi dbang po, 1808-1887), Nyoshul Lungtok Tenpai Gyeltsen (myo shul lung rtogs bstan pa'i rgyal mtshan), Nyakla Pema Dudul (nyag bla pad+ma bdud 'dul, 1816-1872), and the Second Dodrubchen, Jigme Puntsok Jungne (rdo grub chen 02 'jigs med phun tshigs 'byung gnas, c1825-c,1860).

Do Khyentse engaged in treasure discovery, revealing several liturgies as mind treasure.

Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje had two sons: Sherab Mebar (shes rab me 'bar, 1829–1842), who was a tulku of the First Dodrubchen; and Dechen Rigpai Reltri (rgyal sras rig pa'i ral gri, 1830–1896) a khenpo at Dorje Den (rdo rje ldan) who gave Adzom Drukpa Pawo Dorje (a 'dzom brug pa dpa' bo rdo rje) the Changter (chang gter) transmission. His daughter, Khaying Dolma (mkha' dbyings sgrol ma, 1823–1854), was an accomplished practitioner who married the king of Trokhyab (khro skyabs) in Gyarong. Two lines of his incarnations were recognized: Doring Choktrul (rdo ring mchog sprul) in Minyak and Alak Zenkar Pema Ngodrub Rolpai Dorje (a lags gzan dkar pad+ma dngos grub rol pa'i rdo rje) in Amdo.

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 December 2009

Images

Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje

This 19th century painting depicts the central figure of Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje with previous Nyingma masters above. 

དཔྱད་གཞིའི་ཡིག་ཆ་ཁག།

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Mdo mkhyen brtse ye shes rdo rje. 1997. Rig ‘dzin ’jigs med gling pa’i yang srid sngags ’chang ’ja’ lus rdo rje’i rnam thar mkha’ ’gro’i zhal lung. Chengdu: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang.

Kornman, Robin. 1997. “A Tribal History” in Religions of Tibet in Practice. Donald S. Lopez, ed. Princeton University Press.

གང་ཟག་འདིའི་གསུང་རྩོམ་ཁག་བོད་ཀྱི་ནང་བསྟན་དཔེ་ཚོགས་ལྟེ་གནས་སུ་འཚོལ།