The Treasury of Lives

Kunzang Wangmo (kun bzang dbang mo) was born in the 1930s at Dzagyel Monastery (rdza rgyal dgon) in the Dzachukha (rda chu kha) region of Kham. Dzagyel Monastery had been founded by the First Dodrubchen, Jigme Trinle Wozer (rdo grub chen 01 'jigs med phrin las 'od zer, 1745–1821) and Jigme Gyelwai Nyugu ('jigs med rgyal ba'i myu gu, 1765–1843) and was the seat of Jigme Gyelwai Nyugu and his disciple, Patrul Rinpoche Jigme Chokyi Wangpo (dpal sprul 'jigs med chos kyi dbang po, 1808–1887). Patrul Rinpoche's reincarnation, Patrul Namkha Jigme (dpal sprul nam mkha' 'jigs med, 1888–1960), who was the seventh son of the renowned treasure revealer Dudjom Lingpa (bdud 'joms gling pa, 1835–1904), was Kunzang Wangmo's father. Kunzang Wangmo was thus born into the confluence of her family's Dudjom Tersar lineage and the Longchen Nyingtik lineage that her father inherited as a tulku of Patrul Rinpoche.

At Dzagyel Monastery, Patrul Namkha Jigme gave Kunzang Wangmo empowerments, transmissions, and instructions for the Longchen Nyingtik and Dudjom Tersar from the time she was a toddler. Early on, her father predicted that she would be his heir to both lineages, telling his disciples, "One day she will be the one to teach you."[1] Details about her training are scant, and we are left to assume that she simply practiced her father's instructions in and around Dzagyel Monastery, gaining a reputation as an accomplished teacher with the power to perform divinations and funeral rituals and the wisdom to offer life counsel.

Her reputation also spread among Chinese devotees, many of whom heard about her through the lamas at Larung Gar (bla rung sgar)—the largest Nyingma institution in Kham frequented by thousands of Chinese students. She accepted invitations to teach in twenty-one out of the twenty-three Chinese provinces.

When Kunzang Wangmo was in her seventies, she had gathered enough funds from her Chinese disciples to renovate and expand Dzagyel Monastery's meditation school (sgrub grwa), which had been built by her father. She also founded a college (bshad grwa) at the monastery where monks could study a full curriculum of philosophy, poetry, and other traditional fields of knowledge.

In filmed interviews, she spoke of her intentions late in life, saying,

I started the monastic college with money donated by people living in China. I am not ignoring the responsibilities that were placed before me or letting down my ancestors. I am trying to do as much good work as I can.[2]

Now, I’m not accumulating any suffering as a result of attachment to worldly ambitions or dreams. Keeping the lineage of empowerment and transmission intact is very important, and it’s my intention to continue them.[3]

Although not ordained, she never married, nor did she have children. However, throughout her life, she took care of orphans in the region, including Chinese children. She also showed great concern for the well-being of animals, providing refuge for livestock and ransoming the lives of birds from markets—a common practice for accumulating merit.[4]

About animals, she said,

Buddha Nature is inherent in every sentient being… The suffering which animals are going through is unbelievable and unreal. For many days they are confined with an iron bar hanging over their neck. Preventing them from grazing or looking up, and they are sold to be butchered. In our case, we don’t have to sell animals to the butchers, and I tell my daughter and her husband not to sell the animals, even if our family is starving.

This year, I have set free many kinds of caged birds. When they fly out of the cage, they wouldn’t fly away. They’d land on the roof and chirp and move like monks praying. And I ask the monks, “Why don’t they fly before they are caught again? It’s painful to go into those kinds of factories [markets], where many kinds of birds are killed. When you set some free, it’s hard to see many more you can’t set free. Animals understand us and our actions. 

In 2009, after a protracted illness, she passed away in an unspecified hospital. The film of her life presents the moment of her death as a miracle, stating,

In the hospital room where she spent her final moments, the machines monitoring her vital signs suddenly and spontaneously ceased to record any functions or signs of life, stunning the attending doctors and inspiring all those present with great faith.

It is also states that her cremation was accompanied by rainbows and that many relics (ring srel) were found among her remains.

One of her most prominent lineage heirs is Tulku Jigme Wangdrak (sprul sku 'jigs med dbang grags) who founded the Abhaya Fellowship[5] and teaches primarily in California’s Bay Area.[6]

Learn more about the Women Initiative, an effort to add 100 new biographies of women by 2026.