Sheja Zangpo was born in 1661 at a place in Upper Shab (shab stod) called either Jelung Gyatso Ling (rje lung rgya mtsho gling) or Dzilung Gyatso Ling (rdzi lung rgya mtsho gling). He was born as the son of Orgyen (u rgyan) and Peldzom (dpal 'dzom), who was related to the Drangti (brang ti) family of Ngor Ewaṃ Choden Monastery (ngor e waM chos ldan). From the time of Drangti Paṇchen Namkha Pelzang (brang ti paN chen nam mkha' dpal bzang, 1535-1602), the thirteenth Ngor abbot (two tenures: 1579–1582 and 1590–1594), members of the Drangti family headed the Tartse Labrang (thar rtse bla brang) of Ngor. Many of those members, as Sheja Zangpo, originated from Je/Dzilung Gyatso gling in Upper Shab.
As a small boy, Sheja Zangpo was taken to the Tartse Labrang by Kuzhang Khenchen Sherab Gyatso (sku zhang mkhan chen shes rab rgya mtsho, d.u.) and studied under him reading and other subjects. Starting with the liturgies and rituals of the Ngor tradition, he began his monastic education and trained himself in that tradition's scriptures. For instance, he studied the four small tantric texts (rgyud chung bzhi) that had to be mastered as one requirement to become a candidate for the abbacy of Ngor in one of the monastery's lama palaces (bla brang): the Hevajratantra, Sakya Paṇḍita's (sa skya paN Di ta, 1182-1251) Distinguishing the Three Vows (sdom gsum rab dbye), and two expositions by Konchok Lhundrub (dkon mchog lhun grub, 1497-1577), the tenth Ngor abbot (tenure: 1534–1557), the Ornament To Beautify the Three Means (tshul gsum mdzes rgyan) and the Ornament To Beautify the Jeweled Tree (ljon shing mdzes rgyan).
Sheja Zangpo continued to pursue his monastic training under prominent Ngorpa masters such as Lhundrub Pelden (lhun grub dpal ldan, 1624-1697), the twenty-fourth Ngor abbot (tenure: 1673-1686), and Sanggye Puntsok (sangs rgyas phun tshogs, 1649-1705), the twenty-fifth Ngor abbot (tenure: 1686-1689). He also received his ordinations from Lhundrub Pelden as presiding abbot (mkhan po: upādhyāya) and Sherab Gyatso (shes rab rgya mtsho) and/or Sharpa Yeshe Zangpo (shar pa ye shes bzang po, d. 1695) as ceremony master/s (las kyi slob dpon: karmācārya).
In 1683, at age twenty-two, he was dispatched to Gato (dga'/sga stod), near Jyekundo (skye kun mdo), Kham (khams), to collect offerings and donations for the Tartse Labrang and to take over the encampment at Dongtre Samten Ling (gdong sprad bsam gtan gling) from his teacher Sanggye Puntsok.
In 1695, at age thirty-four, he was installed as new abbot of Ngor and held this position until his death in 1702. Through his teaching activities such as of the Lamdre (lam 'bras), he was able to make considerable offerings to Ngor and its monastic community, to the degree that he was said to have rivaled the guardian king and god of wealth Vaiśravaṇa.
His funeral ceremonies were taken care of by Khenchen Tsultrim Pelzang (mkhan chen tshul khrims dpal bzang, 1675-1710), who first acted in 1702 as Sheja Zangpo's abbatial substitute until he was officially installed as the twenty-eighth abbot of Ngor in the tenth month of 1703.
As a means to fulfill the last wishes of Sheja Zangpo, Chakdzod Chenpo Tongzang Jedrung Pelden Lhundrub (phyag mdzod chen po stong bzang rje drung dpal ldan lhun grub) commissioned his master’s statue as a continuation of the lineage masters of the Lamdre, handed out donations to lamas and monastic communities of various traditions, and donated the remaining possessions of his master as funds to the central office of Ngor.
དཔྱད་གཞིའི་ཡིག་ཆ་ཁག།
Dge slong Bkra shis dbang phyug (fl. 18th century) with additions by Zhu chen Tshul khrims rin chen (1697–1774). 2008. Dpal ldan stobs bcu mnga’ ba’i dbang phyug sras dang bcas pa thams cad kyi mkhyen brtse nus pa gcig tu bsdus pa’i ngo bo mkhan chen ’jam pa’i dbyangs byams pa tshul khrims dpal bzang po’i zhal snga nas kyi sku gsung thugs kyi gsang ba rmad du byung ba mdor bsdus te spel ba dad pa’i dkar bzhed pa’i zla zer. In Mkhan chen A pad Rin po che Yon tan bzang po (1927–2010), ed., Gsung ngag lam 'bras tshogs bshad chen mo, vol. 29 (ha), pp. 363–434. Kathmandu: Sachen International.
Dpal ldan chos skyong (1702–1760). 1985. E waṃ pa’i gdan rabs rin chen phreng mdzes kyi kha skong rtogs brjod byin rlabs ’dod dgu’i dpal ster. In Lam ’bras tshogs bshad, vol. 25, pp. 495-593. Dehra Dun: Sakya Centre.
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Shar Mi nyag Rab sgang pa Byams pa Tshul khrims dpal bzang (1675–1710). 2008. 'Jam pa'i dbyangs sangs rgyas phun tshogs bkra shis grags pa rgyal mtshan dpal bzang po'i rnam par thar pa thub bstan snang ba'i nyin byed. In gSung ngag lam 'bras tshogs bshad chen mo, vol. 29, pp. 265-361. Kathmandu: Sachen International.