The Treasury of Lives

Namgyel Gonpo was born in Ngamring (ngam ring) in the province of Lato Jang (la stod byang) in the earth-rabbit year, 1399. He was the son of Rigdzin Godemchen (rig 'dzin rgod ldem chen, 1337-1409), the founding revelator of the Northern Treasure Tradition (byang gter). His mother was also an accomplished practitioner and teacher; she was known as both Master Pema (slob dpon pad+ma) and Lama Pema (bla ma pad+ma). At some point after the passing of Godemchen, she was the consort of the Indian Paṇḍita Vanaratna (paN chen nags kyi rin chen). Tradition maintains that Master Pema was Vajravārahī, an important female deity of the Northern Treasure Tradition.

The majority of Namgyel Gonpo's life from birth to death unfolded in the vicinity of Trazang (bkra bzang), a practice center and temple complex that his father established as the seat of the Northern Treasure Tradition around 1366.

He received the empowerments and guidance instructions for the primary treasure cycle of the Northern Treasure Tradition—the Great Perfection anthology entitled The Unimpeded Realization of Samantabhadra (kun tu bzang po'i dgongs pa zang thal)—directly from his father at the age of six. Tradition holds that when the religious community at Trazang recognized young Namgyel Gonpo's potential, they assembled before Rigdzin Godemchen and beseeched him to transmit the entirety of his learning to Namgyel Gonpo so that the worthy son could succeed the father as patriarch of the tradition. Before his death in 1409, Rigdzin Godemchen reportedly had already named his son as regent and transmitted to him all of the Northern Treasures, two cycles of the Seminal Heart of the Great Perfection (rdzogs pa chen po snying tig rnam gnyis), the Secret Magical Net (gsang ba sgyu 'phrul), the Ancestral Vajrakīla (pha chos rdo rje phur pa), the revelations of Guru Chowang (gu ru chos dbang, 1212-1270), the Eight Herukas (bka' brgyad), and other assorted teachings of the new and old translations.

Namgyel Gonpo continued to train from the age of ten under the supervision of his mother and his elder cousin named Dorje Pel (rdo rje dpal, b. late 14th c.), who was the primary ritual attendant and maternal nephew of Rigdzin Godemchen.

Namgyel Gonpo passed away at the age of twenty-five, in 1424. Chroniclers of the Northern Treasure Tradition explain his early demise as having been both an intentional act – a teaching on morality and mortality for his disciples -- and as the consequences of violating tantric precepts. The specific events that ultimately resulted in Namgyel Gonpo's demise are recorded in The Garland of Light: Lives of the Masters (bla ma rnams kyi rnam thar 'od kyi 'phreng ba), composed by the man who claimed to be Namgyel Gonpo's reincarnation, Sanggye Pelzang (sangs rgyas dpal bzang). It seems that the residents of a nearby hermitage who maintained a Hayagrīva chapel had requested Namgyel Gonpo and his mother to come to their hermitage and transmit the Dzogchen empowerments and teachings. Dorje Pel warned his disciple that he was too young to perform such deeds but Namgyel Gonpo proceeded to give the teachings without his teacher's consent. Dorje Pel learned from a vision soon after the event that Namgyel Gonpo's longevity had been compromised as a result of his actions.

Although Namgyel Gonpo married a woman named Wonmo Khandro (dbon mo mkha' 'gro) at the age of eighteen, their union did not produce any children.

It is said that he excelled at wrathful tantric practices and set many students on the path toward liberation, but none of his students are explicitly named in the biographies other than his cousin, Dorje Pel, who was also his teacher. According to the records of the Fifth Dalai Lama (ta la'i bla mo 05, 1617-1682), Namgyel Gonpo also transmitted teachings to Dorje Gonpo (rdo rje mgon po), who was one of Rigdzin Godemchen's earliest disciples, Sonam Zangpo (bsod nams bzang po, 1341-1433), Sangye Wonchen (sangs rgyas dbon chen), Rigdzin Sangngak Dongpo (rigs 'dzin gsang sngags sdong po), and Donyo Gyeltsen (don yod rgyal mtshan), who transmitted the Northern Treasures to Tangtong Gyelpo (thang stong rgyal po, 1361-1486).