The Treasury of Lives

Ngawang Lodro Nyingpo (ngag dbang blo gros snying po) was born in the early nineteenth century, into the Zhalu Kuzhang (zhwa lu ku zhang) family who claimed ancestry with prominent imperial-era translators and who had close ties to multiple Sakya monasteries in central Tibet. His brother was named Dawa Dondrub (zla ba don grub) or Dawa Gyeltsen (zla ba rgyal mtshan).^[1] He was identified as a young child as the reincarnation of the fifty-second abbot of Ngor, Ngawang Lodro Tenzin (ngag dbang blo gros bstan 'dzin) and assigned to the position of Khangsar Zhabdrung (khang gsar zhabs drung), abbatial candidate of Ngor Ewaṃ Choden (ngor e waM chos ldan dgon) from the Khangsar Labrang (khang gsar bla brang).

Jampa Kunga Tenzin ('byams pa kun dga' bstan 'dzin, 1776–1862), the forty-seventh Ngor abbot, performed the haircutting ceremony and taught him reading, writing, and basic doctrine and rituals. Jampa Kunga Tenpai Gyeltsen (byams pa kun dga' bstan pa'i rgyal mtshan, 1829–1869), who would serve as the fifty-fourth abbot, gave him ordination. Given Tenpai Gyeltsen's birth year, the ordination would have to have occurred after 1849, the earliest that Tenpai Gyeltsen himself could have received ordination.

Over the course of his life Ngawang Lodro Nyingpo received many teachings in the Sakya tradition from multiple masters, including Jamyang Sherab Gyatso ('jam dbyangs shes rab rgya mtsho), who served as the fifty-sixth Ngor abbot; Pelden Lodro Gyeltsen (dpal ldan blo gros rgyal mtshan, 1840–1900), the fifty-seventh Ngor abbot; and Thirty-Seventh Sakya Trizin, Kunga Nyingpo (sa skya khri 'dzin 37 kun dga' snying po, 1850–1899). The teachings he received included both Tsokshe and Lopbshe traditions of the Lambre (gsung ngag tshogs slob), the Seven Ngor Maṇḍalas, the Vajrāvalī, the Compendium of Sādhanas (sgrub sde kun btus), Vajrakīla, the Collected Works of the Sakya Forefathers (sa skya bka' 'bum) and so forth.^[2]

As an abbatial candidate Ngawang Lodro Nyingpo went to Kham, as was the custom for future abbots, to raise money for their labrang and to give teachings and attract disciples. He stayed in Derge for a while, teaching the king, Pelden Chime Takpai Dorje (dpal ldan 'chi med rtag pa'i rdo rje, 1850/51–1898), and his family, as well as the leadership of Lhundrubteng (lhun grub steng), the royal monastery. When he was back in central Tibet, he made a pilgrimage circuit of Nepal and western Tibet, also to cultivate disciples and donors.

He served as abbot of Ngor for about ten years, from around 1881 to 1890. Heimbel numbers him the fifty-ninth abbot, while Loter Wangpo and Jackson number him the fifty-eighth.^[3] At Ngor his disciples included the celebrated sixty-fifth abbot of Ngor, Dampa Rinpoche Ngawang Lodro Zhenpen Nyingpo (dam pa rin po che ngag dbang blo gros snying po, 1876–1952); his paternal nephew, Ngawang Khyenrab Jampel Nyingpo (ngag dbang mkhyen rab byams dpal snying po, 1868–1949), who succeeded him as abbot; and two men from Kham who traveled to Ngor to study: Ngawang Nyima (ngag dbang nyi ma, 1872–1951), the uncle and first teacher of the Third Dezhung Rinpoche, Kunga Tenpai Nyima (sde gzhung 03 kun dga' bstan pa'i nyi ma, 1906–1987); and the great Sakya master Gaton Ngawang Lekpa (sga ston ngag dbang legs pa, 1867–1941).

 

After stepping down he traveled to Mongolia where he taught Vajrakīla, and then back to Kham, where he remained for a number of years. According to Loter Wangpo, while in Derge, he placed the controversial deity Dorje Shugden (rdo rje shugs ldan) into obedient service. This might be the origin of the small Shukden chapel (shugs ldan lha khang) in the Derge capital, not far from the famous Tangtong Gyelpo Temple (thang stong rgyal po lha khang).^[4] Both he and his nephew, the Ngawang Khyenrab Jampel Nyingpo, are credited with bringing Shukden worship to Derge.^[5]

Back again in central Tibet he retired to Ngor and continued to teach. In the late 1890s he sponsored the creation of a statue of Ngawang Sonam Gyeltsen (ngag dbang bsod nams rgyal mtshan, circa 1835–1895), who had served as the fifty-fifth abbot of Ngor.

He died in either 1905 or 1906. According to Jackson, his reincarnation was initially identified as a boy named Jampa Namkha Kunzang Tenpai Nyima (byams pa nam mkha' kun bzang bstan pa'i nyi ma), but was later officially designated as Ngawang Khyentse Tubten Nyingpo (ngag dbang mkhyen brtse thub bstan snying po, 1913–1988), who served as the seventy-third abbot of Ngor.^[6]

 

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