The Treasury of Lives

Ga Rabjampa Kunga Yeshe (sga rab 'byams pa kun dga' ye shes) was born in 1397 in the village of Dzonyak (mdzo nyag) in Upper Ga (sga) in north-western Kham, an area associated with the great tenth-century Indian scholar Smṛtijñānakīrti. His father, Sanggye Kyab (sangs rgyas skyabs), belonged to the ancient family of chieftains who ruled the area. His mother was named Tarden Wangmo (thar ldan dbang mo). It is said that before his birth his mother dreamed of finding a statue of the Buddha Maitreya, radiating brilliant light, in front of the Dzonyak stūpa built by Smṛtijñānakīrti.

At six, Kunga Yeshe entered the local monastery of Ga Nyide (sga nyi bde), where he learned to read and write with a lama called Jangchup Zangpo (byang chub bzang po, d.u.). When the lama gave extensive transmissions, including the reading transmission of the complete works of the five Sakya patriarchs (sa skya gong ma lnga), the young Kunga Yeshe also attended. Observing the boy's extraordinary diligence, some of those present suggested he might be an incarnation of the great Smṛtijñānakīrti himself.

When he was eight years old, Kunga Yeshe began his study of grammar and poetics and first received teachings on Smṛtijñānakīrti's Weapon-Like Introduction to Speech (smra sgo mtshon cha), which inspired dreams indicating that he could be the master's incarnation. At the age of ten, he undertook a retreat on the deity Vajrabhairava according to the tradition of Ra Lotsāwa Dorje Drak (rwa lo tsA ba rdo rje grags, 1016-c.1128). One night the following year, he dreamed he was about to be attacked by an elemental spirit ('byung po) and immediately assumed the form of Vajrabhairava, beating sixteen drums in his sixteen right hands and ringing sixteen bells in his sixteen left hands, while uttering wrathful mantras and fiercely stomping his feet. His mother, asleep nearby, was disturbed by the noise and awoke to find her son standing, stomping his feet, and uttering the syllable hūṃ!

At sixteen, he had a dream in which a lama appeared to him saying, “Son, do not remain here. Go to U-Tsang. Follow teachers there and study and reflect. By becoming learned, you will benefit the teachings and beings. Do not tarry. Do not delay.”

During the sixth month of that same year, he received novice ordination from the Sakya lamas Tekchen Choje Khenpo (theg chen chos rje kun dga' bkra shis, 1349-1425) and Drung Choje Kunga Rinchen (drung chos rje kun dga' rin chen, d.u.). It was then that he received the name Kunga Yeshe (kun dga' ye shes)—Kunga being the first name of both preceptors, and Yeshe (jñāna) to indicate that he was the incarnation of Smṛtijñānakīrti.

Shortly afterward he journeyed to U-Tsang and first made his way to the great center of learning, Sangpu Neutok (gsang phu ne'u thog), where he met the great master Rongton Shākya Gyeltsen (rong ston shAkya rgyal mtshan, 1367-1449). With Rongton he then embarked upon an intensive period of study, receiving teachings on almost all the most important Indian treatises.

During the breaks while Rongton was away traveling and teaching, Kunga Yeshe took the opportunity to study with some of the most learned masters of his day. With the “Fourth Sthiramati” of Nyetang, Lodro Tenpa (snye thang blo brtan bzhi pa blo gros bstan pa, d.u.), he studied grammar, including Smṛtijñānakīrti's Weapon-Like Introduction to Speech. [The title "Fourth Sthiramati" is a reference to Lodro Tenpa's claim to have been in an incarnation lineage of Vasubandhu's disciple Sthiramati, the second having been Shong Lodro Tenpa (shong blo gros brtan pa, d.u.), while the third was Pang Lodro Tenpa (dpang blo gros brtan pa, 1276-1342).]

From Marton Drepo Pelden Rinchen (dmar ston bgres po dpal ldan rin chen, d.u.) at Chakla Drosa (chag la gro sa), he received teachings on the Abhidharma and Vinaya. He also studied the Vinaya with Marton's nephew, Gyatso Rinchen (rgya mtsho rin chen, d.u.), a teacher of the First Dalai Lama, Gendun Drub (ta la'i bla ma 01 dge 'dun grub, 1391-1474). At Sera Monastery, which had only recently been founded (in 1419), he received teachings on Nāgārjuna's reasoning corpus and other Madhyamaka treatises from the great Gungru Gyeltsen Zangpo (gung ru rgyal mtshan bzang po, 1383–1450), the third throne-holder, who had studied with Tsongkhapa Lobzang Drakpa (tsong kha pa blo bzang grags pa, 1357-1419) in his youth. From Radrengpa Shākya Sonam (rwa sgreng pa shAkya bsod nams, b.1357?), a disciple of the great Ngulchu Tokme Zangpo (dngul chu thogs med bzang po, 1297-1371), he received several teachings on mind training, including the master's own composition entitled The Flowing River of Bodhicitta (byang sems chu rgyun).

It was around this time that Kunga Yeshe first met Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo (ngor chen kun dga' bzang po, 1382-1457). Earlier, in Kham, he had been told by Drung Choje that at that time in the Sakya school there was none more learned in sutra studies than Rongton and none more learned in secret mantra than Ngorchen, and so he should study with them both and master both disciplines. And so, in 1417 he followed Ngorchen to Sakya, and after meeting the hierarchs, went to see the famous master, who was residing at Shākzang Kumbum (shAk bzang sku 'bum) at Sakya Monastery (sa skya dgon). He offered a mandala, requesting empowerment and instructions, and before long was granted extensive teachings on Lamdre (lam 'bras), as well as many other empowerments and transmissions.

In 1421, at the age of twenty-five, Kunga Yeshe received full ordination in the great four-story temple of Sakya Monastery with Kunga Zangpo as preceptor, assisted by his younger brother, Zhonnu Sengge (gzhon nu seng ge, d.u.). Zhonnu Sengge became another of Kunga Yeshe's main teachers, granting him empowerments, as well as teachings on the three sets of vows and on logic and epistemology. While at Sakya, Kunga Yeshe also received teachings from Choje Zhonnu Gyeltsen Chokpa (chos rje gzhon nu rgyal mtshan mchog pa, d.u.), including the master's own commentary on mind training and instructions on Parting from the Four Attachments (zhen pa bzhi bral). From the great scholar Pokhangpa Rinchen Gyeltsen (spos khang pa rin chen rgyal mtshan, 1348-1430) he received a detailed commentary on the three sets of vows (sdom gsum) as well as reading transmissions for the writings of Sabzang Mati Paṇchen (sa bzang ma ti paN chen, 1294-1376) and the six treatises of the Kadampas.

On his way back to Sangpu, he visited the monastery of Zhalu Monastery (zha lu), and saw an image of the great Buton Rinchen Drub (bu ston rin chen grub, 1290-1364). According to the biographies, at that moment he realized that this was the master who had appeared to him in his dream, telling him to come to U-Tsang.

Once safely back at Sangpu he continued his training with Rongton, memorizing as many as forty-two pages a day. In the spring of that year, he went on debating rounds at several monasteries, and, by gaining victory over everyone in debate, earned the title of Rabjampa (rab 'byams pa).

Finally, having accomplished all that he set out to achieve in U-Tsang, he returned to Kham. After spending more than a year with Drung Choje in Upper Ga, he renovated the practice cave at Dzonyak and entered retreat there in 1423 at the age of twenty-seven. For the next thirteen years he put his energy into practicing the teachings he had received in U-Tsang, especially Lamdre and the practice of Hevajra, moving from cave to cave and occasionally giving teachings and empowerments to disciples.

In 1436, on the thirteenth day of the holy fourth month of Saga Dawa (sa ga zla ba), he founded the monastery of Tarlam Ganden Sabzang Namgyel Ling (thar lam dga' ldan sa bzang rnam rgyal gling). Shortly thereafter, in the newly opened monastery, he gave a series of transmissions, including that of the writings of the five Sakya patriarchs.

In 1450 he learned that Rongton, who had founded the monastery of Nalendra (na len dra) in 1436, had recently passed away. Swiftly, he returned to U in order to pay his respects before his former master's holy remains at Nalendra. On the same trip, he also visited the famous Jowo statue in Lhasa and his former study college of Sangpu, where he made donations to all the monks.

Continuing on to Tsang, he visited Ngor Evaṁ Choden (ngor e waM chos ldan), which his teacher Kunga Zangpo had founded it in 1430. There he made offerings and received further instructions. In 1451 he visited Sakya, where he made a connection with the new hierarchs, including Dakchen Lodro Wangchuk (bdag chen blo gros dbang phyug, b. 1402), and gave offerings to the monks. During his stay he composed a praise of the monastery entitled Ocean of Blessings, said to be inspired by his clear recollection of having being at Sakya in his former lives.

Once back at Tarlam, in 1452, he gave extensive teachings on the Seven Points of Mind Training (blo sbyong don bdun ma).

In 1459, aged sixty-three, he journeyed to Kyegu Dondrub Ling (skye dgu don grub gling) Monastery, where he met the Sakya hierarch, Dakchen Gyagarpa Sherab Gyeltsen (bdag chen rgya gar pa shes rab rgyal mtshan, 1436/39-1495). Following their encounter, he was invited to teach at Dondrub Ling, and for the next few years spent his summers there and his winters at Tarlam. Much of his time during these later years of his life was spent in retreat.

Finally, in 1470, at the beginning of the first month, he composed a prayer that included the lines: “As soon as the appearances of this life cease, may I be born in the heaven of Tuṣita, as the son of the protector Maitreya, and savor the glorious Mahāyāna teachings.” Many times he told those around him that he would not remain for long. He asked his nephew Namgyel whether the index to the works of the five Sakya patriarchs had been completed, and on learning that it had not, told him to hurry. Some days later, when it was finished and offered to him, he expressed his delight. He later entrusted to his disciples his most sacred possession -- an image of the gandhola at Bodhgaya, handcrafted from 'nāga clay' by Smṛtijñānakīrti and containing many sacred relics. He passed away on the morning of the thirteenth day of the second month, adopting the posture for the moment of death that is specified in the tantras, and remained in a state of absorption, it is said, for the next three and a half days.

Ga Rabjampa left behind four volumes of writing, which include commentaries on the Hevajra Tantra, Chanting the Names of Mañjuśrī (Mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgīti), Sarvadurgatipariśodhana Tantra, Seven Points of Mind Training (now translated into English) and Guṇaprabha's Vinaya Sūtra; overviews of the Vinaya, Ornament of Clear Realization (Abhisamayālaṃkāra), Ornament of Mahāyāna Sūtras (Māhayānasūtrālaṃkāra), Sublime Continuum (Uttaratantra Śāstra) and Vasubandhu's Treasury of Abhidharma (Abhidharmakośa); a summary of logic and epistemology (pramāṇa); a maṇḍala rite for Guhyasamāja Mañjuvajra; a clarification of difficult points in the Hevajrābhisamayaṭīkā; an explanation of the body maṇḍala; a praise of the masters of Sakya Monastery called Ocean of Blessings (sa bstod byin rlabs kyi rgya mtsho); a praise of the Anyen Dampa “uncle and nephew” called Beautiful Rosary of Jewels (nor bu'i phreng mdzes); a praise of Drung Tsultrim Gyeltsen called Rosary of Jewels (nor bu'i phreng ba); a dharmapāla rite called Eliminating All Obstacles (bar chad kun sel); songs of realization; an aspiration prayer called The Heart of the Mahāyāna Path (theg chen lam gyi snying po); and an aspiration prayer for mind training called The Excellent Path to Enlightenment (byang chub lam bzang); plus a large record of teachings received (gsan yig) in 133 folios. Only one volume of his collected writings has been published so far.