The Treasury of Lives

The Second Kirti, Tenpa Rinchen (kirti 02 bstan pa rin chen), was born in 1474 in a place called Dungsha (gdung sha) in the lower region of Ngawa (rnga ba), in Amdo. His father was Konchok Kyab (dkon mchog skyabs) and mother was Kyide (skyid bde).

In 1489, at the age of sixteen, he traveled to U (dbu) where he studied medicine under a physician named Dondrub (don 'grub) and the sutras of Maitreya under Lama Chopel Zangpo (bla ma chos dpal bzang po, d.u.) at a hermitage named Rakhadrak (ra kha brag). He studied Abhidharma and Vinaya under Meru Jampa Rinchen (rme ru byams pa rin chen, d.u.), who, in 1493, gave him full ordination together with the name Tenpa Rinchen Chokyi Gyeltsen (bstan pa rin chen chos kyi rgyal mtshan).

After studying sutra and tantra for six years, he received empowerments for various dharma protectors from the Sakya lama Kunga Rinchen (kun dga rin chen, d.u.) after which he went into retreat for three years. In total he spent fourteen years in U, returning home in 1504 at the age of thirty-one.

He first went to Tala Hermitage (tha la ri khrod) in Taktsang Lhamo (stag tshang lha mo), which had been established by Rongchen Gendun Gyeltsen (rong chen dge 'dun rgyal mtshan, 1374-1450). There he gave empowerments and teachings on language, poetry, medicine and astrology. He lived at Tala for seven years, expanding it and overseeing the community. At the end of that time he announced that he was the reincarnation of Rongchen Gendun Gyeltsen, and then went to Kalari Kirti monastery (ka la ri kirti), which Gendun Gyeltsen had established in 1412 as his seat. He took for himself the title of Kirti Lama, and posthumously gave the title of the First Kirti to Gendun Gyeltsen.

As part of his activity in expanding the Geluk tradition in Amdo he converted a Jonang monastery to Geluk, apparently by force. In retaliation a Jonang Tulku sent the army of Tsangpa Lhundup Rabten (gtsang pa lhun 'grub rab brtan) to attack Kalari Kirti Monastery, forcing Tenpa Rinchen to flee.

He was invited to Muge Monastery (dmu rge'i dgon) in Ngawa, where he gave teachings. At around the same time, the Chinese Ming Emperor Zhengde (正德r. 1505-1521) invited him to China. He declined the invitation but he did a divination for him and recommended what prayers the Emperor should read. Zhengde again sent an envoy with gold and silver gifts and an ivory stamp which read “The Precious Accomplished and Enlightened Teacher” (bla ma grub thob sangs rgyas rin po che).

The Second Kirti is said to have composed eight volumes of texts on various topics, including works on the Abhisamayālaṅkāra, and Vinaya, grammar, and poetry in general. These do not appear to be extant.

He passed away in 1558.

Thinlay Gyatso is an academic researcher at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. Born in Amdo and educated at Labrang and in India, he has published several translations, including An Undercover Journey Through Tibet, by Ajam (from Tibetan to English) and Bertrand Russel's On Education: Especially in Early Childhood (from English to Tibetan).

Published April 2013

དཔྱད་གཞིའི་ཡིག་ཆ་ཁག།

Brag dgon pa bstan pa rab rgyas. 1981.Mdo smad chos 'byung. Lanzhou: Kan su' mi rigs dpe skrun khang, pp. 716.

Dge bshes blo bzang nyi ma. 2003.Sku phreng gnyis pa. InRnam thar gser phreng,vol. 3, pp. 322-325. Dharamsala: Kirti Monastery India.TBRC W2CZ7862.

Dung dkar blo bzang 'phrin las. 2002.Dung dkar tshig mdzod chen mo.Beijing: Krung go'i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang, pp. 46.TBRC W26372

Re mdo pa dkon mchog sengge. 2003.Sku phreng gnyis pa. InRnam thar gser phreng,vol. 3, pp. 389-392. Dharamsala: Kirti Monastery India.TBRC W2CZ7862.

གང་ཟག་འདིའི་གསུང་རྩོམ་ཁག་བོད་ཀྱི་ནང་བསྟན་དཔེ་ཚོགས་ལྟེ་གནས་སུ་འཚོལ།