The Treasury of Lives

The Zhabdrung Sungtrul incarnation line represents the speech incarnation of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel, the seventeenth century Tibetan-born Drukpa Kagyu leader who was recognized as an incarnation of Pema Karpo. When the Tsang Desi challenged the recognition, Ngawang Namgyel fled to Bhutan. The Zhabdrung Sungtrul line, one of several incarnation lines of the Zhabdrung, was established in the eighteenth century. The Second Zhabdrung Sungtrul, Shakya Tendzin founded Sang Chokhor Monastery, which became a seat of the line, in Paro.