The Treasury of Lives

Tubten Tsondru Puntsok (thub bstan brtson 'grus phun tshogs) was born in 1920, the iron-monkey year, into the Akyong Ponmo (a skyong dpon mo) tribe in Golok (mgo log), Amdo. His father Tenpa Pelgye (bstan pa 'phel rgyas) was a former monk of Sera Monastery, and his mother was called Kyaza Tsedron (skya bza' tshe sgron).

At the age of seven or eight he learned to read with such ease that he became known as the 'wise little monk from Sera' (se ra'i grwa chung mkhas pa) and soon memorized popular liturgies from the Geluk and Nyingma traditions. A Lama Riklo (bla ma rig blo, d.u.), a teacher from Pelyul Dartang (dpal yul dar thang) in Golok who passed through the region on an alms tour taught the boy the Pelyul style of chanting, writing and elemental divination ('byung rtsis). Another lama who passed through his homeland, Dzigak Choktrul Tubten Chokyi Dawa (rdzi 'gag mchog sprul thub bstan chos kyi zla ba, 1894-1958/9), gave him novice, or getsul (dge tshul), ordination.

Dzogchen Khenpo Chotsa (rdzogs chen mkhan po chos tsha, d.u.) gave him teachings on the preliminary practice known as White Path to Liberation (thar lam dkar po) and on Patrul Rinpoche's Words of My Perfect Teacher (kun bzang bla ma'i zhal lung), as well as grammar, medicine, astrology, chanting and ritual performance. He also received several teachings and transmissions from Shechen Khenpo Tsuktorchen (zhe chen mkhan po gtsug tor can, d.u.).

His father took him to see the Second Dzogchen Kongtrul Konchok Tenpai Gyeltsen (rdzogs chen kong sprul 02 dkon mchog bstan pa'i rgyal mtshan, c.1900-c.1952) and formally offered him to Dzogchen Monastery (rdzog chen dgon), much to the delight of Kongtrul, who told him he should come soon. He arrived the next year.

At Dzogchen Monastery's Śrī Siṃha college (shrI sing+ha bshad grwa) he studied the thirteen major treatises (gzhung chen mo bcu gsum) with Khenpo Chime Yeshe (mkhan po 'chi med ye shes, d.u.). He also studied the instructional manual Yeshe Lama (khrid yig ye shes bla ma) and other texts with Khenpo Ngawang Norbu (ngag dbang nor bu, 1886-1958). He also studied Ju Mipam Gyatso's ('ju mi pham rgya mtsho, 1846-1912) commentary on the Pramānavārttika and Introduction to Scholarship (mkhas 'jug) with Khenpo Jigme Lodro (mkhan po 'jigs med blo gros, d.u.).

In addition, while at Dzogchen he studied with many of the most senior resident teachers of the time, including Khenchen Tubten Nyendrak (mkhan chen thub bstan snyan grags, 1883-1959), Khenchen Pema Tsewang (mkhan chen padma tshe dbang, 1902-1959), Lingtrul Tubten Trinle Gyatso (gling sprul thub bstan phrin las rgya mtsho, d.u.) and Khenchen Jigme Yonten Gonpo ('jigs med yon tan mgon po, 1899-1959). It was from Khenpo Lhagang Pema Tekchok Loden (mkhan po lha sgang pad+ma theg mchog blo ldan, 1879-1955) that he received the vows of a fully ordained monk (bhikṣu).

While studying at Śrī Siṃha he endured great hardship, living in a cave and lacking basic provisions. Once, when his only cooking pot broke, he was unable to boil tea for more than a week. He is said to have studied day and night, reading his texts by moonlight, and always revising what was covered in the text classes (dpe khrid) at least ten times on his own.

On one occasion he received a message from Shechen Khenpo Tsuktorchen saying, "I have told your story to [Shechen] Kongtrul Pema Drime (zhe chen kong sprul pad+ma dri med, 1901-1960). If you can come here to Shechen he will certainly grant you the 'mind instructions' (sems khrid) and I will do what I can to arrange somewhere for you to stay." He had a strong wish to go, and when he heard of a party of monks going from Dzogchen to meet Shechen Kongtrul, he set off after them immediately without taking a single thing with him, but even though he ran, he could not catch them. When he arrived at Shechen, Khenpo Tsuktorchen introduced him to Kongtrul, who asked him to serve as ritual attendant (mchod dpon) during the empowerment he was about to give. After the empowerment, everyone left and he too was about to go when a monk told him Kongtrul wished to see him. He went back inside and Kongtrul asked him all about his studies. He requested the mind instructions, and Kongtrul agreed to give them in the coming days.

Returning the next day to Dzogchen he told his teacher Khenpo Jigme Lodro that he was about to receive the mind instructions from Shechen Kongtrul. Jigme Lodro was delighted and said, "These days there is no one better at giving such a teaching either here in Dzogchen or at Shechen."

Back in Shechen, he received many special teachings from Kongtrul, who also instructed him to study Mipam's commentary on the Madhyamakālaṃkāra (dbu ma rgyan), which he duly did with Khenpo Gangshar Wangpo (mkhan po gang shar dbang po, 1925-1958/9). At this time, he impressed Kongtrul with his diligence and the austerity of his lifestyle. As he had no financial support and only few possessions, Khenpo Gangshar provided him with the essentials like tea and butter. He stayed for six months, and then returned briefly to Dzogchen before going back to his homeland where he stayed in a small tent and devoted his time to study and meditation, healing the sick through medicine and the power of mantra. He also taught the Bodhicaryāvatāra and preliminary practices (sngon 'gro) to a small group of devotees.

Some sources mention that he also studied with Khenchen Tupten Chopel (thub bstan chos 'phel, 1886-1956) at his hermitage in Changma (lcang ma), and with Botrul Dongak Tenpai Nyima (bod sprul mdo sngags bstan pa'i nyi ma, 1898/1900/1902-1959) at Gegong (dge gong) around this time.

In 1952 he journeyed to Lhasa, and upon his return entered a strict retreat on The Natural Liberation of Suffering (sdug bsngal rang grol) from the Longchen Nyingtik (klong chen snying thig) treasure cycle of Jigme Lingpa ('jigs med gling pa, c1730-1798). As a result of this and practices such as the peaceful and wrathful forms of Mañjuśrī, the wrathful Hayagrīva and Garuḍa (rta khyung) and Vajrakīlaya, it is said, he gained the ability to produce rain, guard against hailstorms and heal the sick.

Travelling to Lhasa once again, he spent three years with the learned Geshe Tashi Bum (dge bshes bkra shis 'bum, d.u.) of the Jadrel section (bya bral khang tshan) of Sera Je (se ra byes), eliminating any doubts he still had about the scriptural tradition. When Shechen Kongtrul came to Kongpo and visited Draksum Lake (brag gsum mtsho), he stayed with him for more than a year. Then, leaving all his possessions behind, he went again to Sera before setting off with his close friend, a Lama Jigtse (bla ma 'jigs tshe) on a long pilgrimage to the holy sites of Yarlung (yar lung), Samye (bsam yas), Mindroling (smin grol gling) and other places.

When he returned to Sera it became clear that circumstances in Tibet were deteriorating, and so in 1959, together with Ngawang Drakpa, he fled to Yolmo in Nepal. From there he went to Kathmandu, and in 1960 to Kalimpong in northern India. While in exile, he was able to receive extensive teachings and transmissions from both Dilgo Khyentse Tashi Peljor (dil mgo mkhen brtse bkra shis dpal 'byor, 1910-1991) and the Fourth Dodrubchen, Tubten Trinle Zangpo (rdo grub 04 thub bstan phrin las bzang po, b.1927).

In 1962 he was invited to Bhutan, where he spent more than two years teaching Tibetan grammar and Buddhist texts to monks and lay people at Semtokha. From there he went Tso Pema in northern India, where he taught and wrote his commentary on the monastic precepts. He then spent several years at the school for young incarnations in Dalhousie, where he also had the opportunity to study grammar with Khunu Lama Tendzin Gyeltsen (khu nu bla ma bstan 'dzin rgyal mtshan, 1894-1977). Then he was invited to teach the major treatises at the newly re-established Mindroling Monastery in Dehra Dun. After more than five years there he went to Sarnath and taught for two years at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies (as it was then known).

He was appointed as the third abbot at the government shedra, Tubten Dongak Choling (thub bstan mdo sngags chos gling), in Dabrali, Sikkim. While in Sikkim his students included the Seventh Dzogchen Drubwang (rdzogs chen 07 'jigs med blo gsal dbang po, b.1964), Gonjang Tulku (dgon byang sprul sku, b.1962), Ringu Tulku (ri mgul sprul sku, b.1952) and Khenchen Namdrol Tsering (mkhan chen rnam grol tshe ring, b.1953). In 1978, after seven years in Sikkim, he was invited by the Third Penor, Lekshe Chokyi Drayang (pad nor 03 legs bshad chos kyi sgra dbyangs, 1932-2009) to Bylakuppe near Mysore in South India, where he became the first abbot at the newly established Namdroling monastic college.

In his sixtieth year, he wrote to his friend Lama Jiktso explaining that there would be an obstacle to his health in the coming year and asking him to pray for him. Shortly thereafter, in 1979, on the anniversary of Longchenpa's (klong chen pa, 1308-1364) own parinirvāṇa, on the eighteenth day of the twelfth month of the earth-sheep year, he died suddenly at Mindroling monastery in the midst of a gathering of many thousand headed by Dilgo Khyentse, after delivering a long discourse on the Prajñāpāramitā.

Two volumes of his writings were published in Mysore and more recently in Tibet; they include works on Tibetan grammar and the Abhisamayālaṃkāra, as well as an introduction to logic (rtags rigs). Some audio recordings of his teachings have also survived, in the possession of some of his disciples.

In addition to those mentioned above, his students included Khenchen Dawai Ozer (zla ba'i 'od zer, 1922-1990), Khenchen Pelden Sherab (dpal ldan shes rab, 1938-2010), Khenchen Pema Sherab (pad+ma shes rab, b.1936), and Gyelse Tulku (rgyal sras sprul sku).