The Treasury of Lives

Jigme Ngotsar Gyatso ('jigs med ngo mtshar rgya mtsho) also known as Getse Lama Sonam Tenzin (dge rtse'i bla ma bsod nams bstan 'dzin) and the First Kilung Rinpoche (ki lung rin po che), was born in the mid-eighteenth century probably between 1750 and 1760,¹ among the nomads of Getse (dge rtse), in Derge. He was born in a noble family; his father was a chieftain called Nying Bum Gyel (snying 'bum rgyal) and his mother's name was Drolma (sgrol ma).

There are multiple legends about his activity as a youth. He once vanquished an obstacle-causing demon by assuming the form of Guru Drakpo (gu ru grag po), a wrathful form of Padmasambhava. He remarked one day, while gazing to the south-west: "This year the harvest in Yarlung (yar klungs) is excellent. I'm so happy." When some elderly people nearby asked him why he would be happy about the harvest in Yarlung, hundreds of kilometers away, he replied: "My guru from past lives, the omniscient second Buddha resides there." This is taken by tradition to be a reference to Jigme Lingpa ('jigs med gling pa, 1730-1785), who would become his root teacher. He also is said to have predicted his own future status in Derge: in reference to the taxes that the people of Getse had to pay to Derge, he told his father "Now you are perhaps afraid of the other Derge chieftains, but when I grow up I will be the religious advisor of the king of Derge and I will be the object of their worship." He is also said to have left footprints in stones as if they were mud.

As a youth Jigme Ngotsar was taught reading and writing and trained in the ritual traditions of Dzogchen Monastery (rdzogs chen dgon), which he entered at age thirteen as a novice monk. He received empowerments and teachings on Dzogchen and other Nyingma traditions from the Third Dzogchen Rinpoche, Ngedon Tenzin Zangpo (rdzogs chen 04 nges don bstan 'dzin bzang po, 1759-1792), and Jewon Pema Kundrol Namgyel (pad+ma kun grol rnam rgyal, 1706-1773), the monastery's fourth abbot.² At Dzogchen he was given the name Sonam Tenzin (bsod nams bstan 'dzin) and earned the title Getse Lama (dge rtse'i bla ma).

He also studied at other Nyingma monasteries in the region, such as Kathok (kaH thog) and Pelyul (dpal yul) where he received empowerments and explanations of the Nyingma tantras. Towards the end of his formal education, probably in the early 1780s, the Third Dzogchen Rinpoche encouraged him to travel to central Tibet to study with Jigme Lingpa, who was by then one of the most famous living Nyingma lamas and who was a teacher to several prominent Kham lamas such as Jigme Gyelwai Nyugu ('jigs med rgyal ba'i myu gu, 1765-1842) and the First Dodrubchen, Jigme Trinle Wozer (rdo grub chen 01 'jigs med 'phrin las 'od zer, 1745-1821), with whom he traveled to central Tibet to meet Jigme Lingpa around the year 1785.³

On taking him as a disciple, Jigme Lingpa gave him the name Jigme Ngotsar Gyatso. Alongside the First Dodrubchen, Gyelwai Nyugu and Jigme Kundrol Namgyel ('jigs med kun grol rnam rgyal, 1750-1825) of Bhutan, Jigme Ngotsar Gyatso would become known as one of the four heart-sons of Jigme Lingpa with the name Jigme. Jigme Lingpa gave him transmissions and teachings in the full span of Nyingma tradition, including Kama and Terma, the Nyingtik tradition of Dzogchen, the collected works of Longchen Rabjam (klong chen rab 'byams, 1308-1364), as well as his own revelations and compositions. He practiced at Samye Chimpu (bsam yas mchims phu) at the Crystal Moon Cave (zla ba shel phug) and other places in central Tibet.

At the end of the 1780s Jigme Lingpa sent him back to Kham, instructing him to establish a monastery and spread the Nyingtik teachings. He blessed him with a prediction that he "would be like a great doctor for the teachings and for sentient beings." Jigme Lingpa specified that the monastery should be named Gonsar Wokmin Rigzin Pelgye Ling (dgon gsar 'og min rig 'dzin 'phel rgyas gling) and that it should have sixteen pillars—meaning an assembly hall of fairly large size—and he gave his disciple relics and blessed objects to furnish the temple. These included a small statue of Vajrakīlaya, a commentary on Vajrakīlaya written in his own hand, a "lotus blossom" stūpa (commemorating the birth of the Buddha), a kīla dagger wrapped in golden thread, an elephant tusk, the ceremonial hat of Gotsang Natsok Rangdrol (rgod tshang sna tshogs rang grol, b. 1608), his own empowerment hat, a walking stick (phyag rten), a special darlima (dar li ma) bell made in China, a bowl made of the skull of a Yeti with a silver rim, a handwritten life-force cakra of the dharma-protectors Ekajaṭī, Za Rāhula and Vajrasādhu, a longevity arrow made of white sandalwood, a portrait of himself, and nine paintings of the deities of the Ocean of the Eight Commands (dpal chen bka' 'dus rgya mtsho) painted in gold on black material. This was a liturgical cycle from Jigme Lingpa's major revelation, the Longchen Nyingtik (klong chen snying thig). Also included was a small amount of blood from Jigme Lingpa's nose. According to Jigme Linpa's own account of the production of these objects, the deities Ekajaṭī, Za Rāhula and Vajrasādhu themselves participated, preparing the writing materials and mixing the ink.⁴

Jigme Ngotsar fervently requested Jigme Lingpa to come to Kham to bless the site of the land and perform the ritual asking the earth spirits' permission. The master declined, saying

I am now burdened by old age, and the place and the water will not be agreeable to me. There is little need and there are many reasons not to go. Earlier, when the messengers of the king of Derge came I simply offered them representations of the three jewels and a letter, but I did not go. Yet I told them that in the perception of faithful students, the blessing and virtuous omens of your presence, my disciple, would be similar to my going there myself.

Thus Jigme Ngotsar returned to Kham and sought a place to build a monastery. He was initially unable to locate a spot. Discouraged, he prayed to his lama and received a vision in a dream: three lamas in white robes with wings of monk-shawls were flying towards him from the West. Hovering in the sky, they performed a vajra dance, and then left footprints on an iron magnetite stone that looked like a white tent and from which the Vajrakīlaya mantra resounded, echoing through the valley. The next day a group of five men, a teacher and his students, arrived, and they gave directions to a nearby place where Jigme Ngotsar could find iron magnetite stone with footprints. This became the site of the monastery. Since in that region the Vajrakīlaya mantra is said to resound naturally, it is called Kilung (ki lung), an abbreviation of Vajrakīlaya Valley, and the monastery he built came to be known as Kilung Monastery.

Soon afterwards Jigme Ngotsar received a summons to the Derge court to perform rituals for a young prince, possibly Tsewang Norbu, (tshe dbang rdo rje rig 'dzin) who was born in 1786. It is said that the court first requested assistance from Jigme Lingpa and Dodrubchen, who both recommended Jigme Ngotsar. In the capital he performed a Vajrakīlaya ceremony and gave the royal family a long-life empowerment. The royal family, then led by Queen Tsewang Lhamo (tshe dbang lha mo, d. 1812) was pleased with him and gave him funds to construct his monastery. No doubt Jigme Ngotsar's rise in statue benefited from the prominence of his countryman, Getse Mahāpaṇḍita Gyurme Tsewang Chokdrub (dge rtse paN chen 'gyur med mchog grub 1761-1829), by then a prominent chaplain in Derge and the editor of the Derge edition of the Collected Nyingma Tantras (rnying ma rgyud 'bum). Getse Mahāpaṇḍita played a pivotal role in directing the attention of the Derge royal family towards the Getse region and building the Nyingma community there.

On the completion of the construction, the temple and all the representations were consecrated by the First Dodrubchen and Jigme Ngotsar, who led an assembly of nearly a hundred community members. Ten monks resided at the new monastery in the first years. Probably around this time he became known as Getse Lama Sonam Tenzin (dge rtse'i bla ma bsod nams bstan 'dzin). The monastery is located close to Gemang (dge mang dgon) and other Longchen Nyingtik-centered monasteries, participating in a fairly close-knit community of like-minded communities.

Jigme Ngotsar taught during spring and winter, focusing on the Nyingtik traditions of Dzogchen. Many of the greatest Nyingma masters of the day passed through the monastery, including Jigme Gyelwai Nyugu, Dza Patrul Rinpoche (rdza dpal sprul rin po che, 1808-1887) and Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje (mdo mkhyen brtse ye shes rdo rje, 1800-1866). Jigme Ngotsar invited Ritro Rigzin Gyatso (ri khrod rig 'dzin rgya mtsho), later known as the First Dza Mura Tulku (rdza mu ra sprul sku), to make Kilung Monastery his seat. This man was in the lineage of Terton Nyima Drakpa (gter ston nyi ma grags pa, 1647-1710), and was the architect of a famous maṇi wall in Godum (mgo zlum) in upper Dza. His incarnations continue to share administration of the monastery.

It is not known when Jigme Ngotsar passed away, but we can be sure that he was still alive in the first two decades of the nineteenth century. Sometime between 1816 and 1818, possibly at Katok, both Do Khyentse and Gyelse Zhenpen Taye (rgyal sras gzhan phan mtha' yas, 1800-1855/69) are said to have received the Collected Nyingma Tantras from him.⁵ Also, a treasure text of Kurukullā found in Do Khyentse's collected works was revealed by Do Khyentse at the request of a Jigme Ngotsar. This is unlikely to have happened before Do Khyentse was a teenager, i.e. in the second decade of the nineteenth century.⁶ Do Khyentse met with Jigme Ngotsar in Dzachukha in 1814.⁷ Finally, Patrul Rinpoche, who was born in 1808, is also said to have received teachings from him.⁸ Thus we can surmise that he passed away around 1820.

As far as we know, no writings of Jigme Ngotsar have been identified.

The Fifth Dza Kilung Rinpoche lives in America and runs the Kilung Foundation, through which he aims to support the revival of Kilung monastery in Tibet.

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¹ Sources disagree on the year of his birth. Tenzin Lungtok Nyima (bstan ’dzin lung rtogs nyi ma) records the year as the Iron Dog year of the twelfth sexagenary cycle, i.e., 1730, as does Jigme Samdrub ('jigs med bsam grub), although he also writes the Fire Dog of the twelfth sexagenary cycle, which would be 1706. This might be an error for the Fire Dog of the thirteenth cycle, which would be a more plausible date of 1766.

² Tenzin Lungtok Nyima (bstan 'dzin lung rtogs nyi ma) reports that he received received ordination from the teacher Sengtruk Pema Tashi (seng phrug pad+ma bkra shis, b. 1798) and that he received the two traditions of the bodhisattva vows from Gyelse Zhenpen Taye (rgyal sras gzhan phan mtha' yas, 1800–1855 or 1869/70), but that is implausible since they would not have yet been born.

³ Tulku Thondup, Masters of Meditation and Miracles, 142.

⁴ 'Jigs med gling pa, Mkhyen brtse'i 'od zer gyi rnam thar, 369.

⁵ Tulku Thondup, Masters of Meditation and Miracles, 187. Gzhan phan mtha' yas 'od zer, p. 20.

⁶ Ye shes rdo rje, 471–72.

⁷ Tulku Thondup, Masters of Meditation and Miracles, 184.

⁸ Ricard, Enlightened Vagabond.