The Treasury of Lives

Orgyen Samten (o rgyan bsam gtan) was born in the fire-pig year of 1647 to Ngonpo Sonam (mgon po bsod nams) and Yumnazei Yangkyi (yum sna gza'i dbyangs skyid) in the Markham (mar khams) region of Kham (khams), near the place where Simda Dzogchen Monastery (srib mda' rdzogs chen dgon) would come to be built at Trau La (khra'u la).

Tradition holds that one day, while herding calves and sheep, he sat on huge rock, and was approached by a dreadlocked yogī clad in white robes who gave him teachings, including pointing out instructions.

His biography states that when he was twelve he left home to join the master Katok Gyelse Sonam Detsen (rgyal sras bsod nams lde'u btsan, 1679-1723), from whom he took his refuge and bodhisattva vows. Sonam Detsen gave him teachings and transmissions and told him to go into solitary retreat to practice.

However, the dates recorded for Orgyen Samten or Sonam Detsen make such a meeting an impossibility, suggesting either the two did not meet when they did or did not meet at all, or the birth year of one of them is incorrectly recorded.

Orgyen Samten is said to have returned to his homeland and practiced as a solitary cave-dwelling yogī. Later, at the age of twenty-three, went to central Tibet to further his studies.

In central Tibet, Orgyen Samten received ordination from the Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobzang Gyatso (ngag dbang blo bzang rgya mtsho, b.1617 - d.1682), after which he traveled to Samye (bsam yas dgon pa), and then to a meditation cave in nearby Chimpu (mchims phu). There he received Dzogchen instructions from the First Dzogchen Drubwang, Pema Rigdzin (rdzogs chen grub dbang 01 pad+ma rig 'dzin, 1625-1697), and many other cycles, sādhana, and practices from the translator and treasure revealer Ngawang Chopel (ngag dbang chos 'phel) who then resided at the great monastery of Mindroling (smin 'grol gling). Through Pema Rigdzin he met the man who would serve as his main teacher, the First Shechen Rabjam, Tenpai Gyeltsen (zhe chen rab 'byams 01 bstan pa'i rgyal mtshan, 1650-1704).

Orgyen Samten spent fourteen years in central Tibet practicing and studying the traditional arts and sciences, giving and receiving initiations, transmissions, and instructions. Tenpai Gyeltsen told him to go for pilgrimage to the sacred sites associated with Padmasambhava's body, speech, mind, and qualities: Drak Yangdzong (sgrags yang dzong) Samye Chimpu, Chakpurchen (lcags phur can), above Lhodrak Kharchu (lho brag mkhar chu), Yarlung Sheldrak (yar klungs shel brag), and then settle in a solitary place to practice.

In the late 1670s Orgyen Samten returned to Kham with Tenpai Gyeltsen and Pema Rigdzin. There, in the Markham region, he established a Nyingma monastery in 1678, named Simda Dzogchen Monastery, Sangchen Tashi Choling (srib mdha rdzogs chen dgon gsang chen bkra shis chos gling). Orgyen Samten oversaw the rituals and consecrations of the buildings and campus, along with all its subsidiary temples and statues. One of the monasteries more prized possessions is an original early-edition printing of the Derge Kangyur.

Tradition tells of a conflict between Orgyen Samten's activities and the Bon community that had long enjoyed widespread support in the region. It seems that Orgyen Samten was entrusted to Orgyen Samten against the wishes of the local Bon leaders. In response the Bon leaders opposed his plans to renovate the monastery, and engaged in black magic to prevent it from happening. The Nyingma also practiced rituals to block the efforts of the Bon, and ultimately the monastery caught fire, and the Bon leader was murdered.

Orgyen Samten passed away in the wood-tiger year of 1735, at the age of eighty-eight. Following the identification of his reincarnation, Kunzang Pema Wanggyel (kun bzang pad+ma dbang rgyal, 1736-1784) he was posthumously given the title of First Simda Dzogchen Tulku.