The Treasury of Lives

Chakrasamvara, Sahaja Heruka, with the footprints of Drigungpa Rinchen Pel

This late eighteenth or early twentieth century Drigung Kagyu painting of Padmasambhava and the Drigung Kagyu refuge field is associated with a terma tradition of Rinchen Puntsok. Drigung Monastery is pictured along the bottom of the painting along with Terdrom on the left edge. A nearby treasure site is shown adjacent to Terdrom.

The Drigung Chetsang line is one of two main tulku lines of Drigung Monastery, the other being the Drigung Chungstang. The First Drigung Chetsang was Konchok Rinchen (1590-1654) and his younger brother, Chokyi Drakpa, was the First Drigung Chungstang.

The Drigung Chungstang line is one of two main tulku lines of Drigung Monastery, the other being the Drigung Chetsang. Chokyi Drakpa was the First Drigung Chungstang and the First Drigung Chetsang was Konchok Rinchen (1590-1654), his older brother.

Drigung Til was founded in 1179 by Jikten Gonpo Rinchen Pel in the area where Lama Menyak Gomring had built a hermitage. Drigung Til is the seat of the Drigung Kagyu tradition. It was controlled the by Kyura clan, to which Jikten Gonpo belonged, until the seventeenth century, when leadership transfered to two incarnation lines: the Drigung Chetsang and the Drigung Chungtsang.

Pari Drigung is a Geluk monastery that was founded in 1619 in Pari Dzong in Gansu province. 

The Drigung Kagyu tradition was initiated by Jikten Gonpo, a disciple of Pakmodrupa, upon the establishment of Drigung Til Monastery in 1179. One of the largest and most influential Kagyu sub-traditions, it briefly vied with the Sakya for control of Tibet during the thirteenth century. Originally led by the Kyura clan, since the seventeenth century it has been headed by the Drigung Chungtsang and Drigung Chetsang incarnation lines. The tradition is particularly strong in Ladakh.