The Treasury of Lives

Gonpo Wanggyel (mgon po dbang rgyal) was born in 1845 in the Trehor region of Kham. His father was Awo Dorten (a bo'i rdor bstan), one of the "dharma sons" of Khordong Terchen Nuden Dorje ('khor gdong gter chen nu ldan rdo rje, 1802–1864), and his mother was the noble lady Sonam Dron (btsun mo bsod nams sgron). The family likely lived at or near Khordong Monastery ('khor gdong dgon). It is said that all sorts of miracles marked his birth, as we commonly read in Tibetan hagiographies. For example, on the seventh day after his birth, while Khordong Terchen performed a long-life ceremony, at the moment when he conferred the consecration, the baby spontaneously took the lotus posture. This happened three days in a row, so the local people started saying that a prodigious incarnation had been born. He was injured by falling from the second floor of a house when he was a few years old, from which he seems to have had some painful after-effects throughout his life.

It is said that in his sixth year, 1850, he left a print of his foot on a rock "as if it were mud" and that he started receiving prophetic indications for his future revelations the following year.

He came to be regarded as an emanation of multiple glorious figures of the past: Atsar Saley (a tsar  sa le), who was Yeshe Tsogyel's (ye shes mtsho rgyal) partner for tantric practice; Yeshe Yang (ye shes dbyangs), regarded as one of Padmasambhava's twenty-five main disciples; Padampa Sanggye (pha dampa sangs rgyas, d. 1117), who is credited with originating the Zhije system; Machig Labdron (ma cig lab sgron, 1055–1149) his disciple and the founder of the Chod lineages; and Drapa Ngonshe (drwa pa mngon shes, 1012–1090), the very first treasure revealer. Gonpo Wanggyel's son, disciple, and biographer, Tulku Tsullo (sprul sku tshul khrims bzang po, 1895–1957) also includes Lekden Dorje (legs ldan rdo rje, 1452/1512–1565/1625) in the list of previous emanations, but he strangely does not mention any of Lekden Dorje's well-known past or future incarnations, such as Rigdzin Godemchen or Pema Trinle. In the same way, Tulku Tsullo tells us that Gonpo Wanggyel was in a past life the Great Yolmowa Tendzin Norbu (yol mo ba gsum pa bstan 'dzin nor bu, 1589–1644), without mentioning the previous or later incarnation of the same master.    

In 1851, Khordong Terchen himself taught the boy reading and writing. In 1855, when Gonpo Wanggyel was eleven, he received all kinds of teaching, including the Unimpeded Access to Samantabhadra's Mind (dgongs pa zang thal) from a master named Rigdzin Norbu Yondrak (rig 'dzin nor bu yongs grags), and started the preliminary practices (sngon 'gro). While engaged in the purification of Vajrasattva, he had dreams such as vomiting black blood and seeing the channels of his body filled with Vajrasattvas of all sizes.

The next year, 1856, Khordong Terchen gave him the practice instructions for Vajravārahī Sealed with Profundity (lung phag mo zab rgya). This is the main system for the completion phase in the Northern Treasures, a cycle combining earlier revelations by Rigdzin Godemchen with a later one by Tennyi Lingpa (bstan gnyis gling pa, 1480–1535), which he practiced without rest for eighty consecutive days. He then experienced heat in all internal and external channels and got all the fruits of this practice–the full mastery of the channels, winds, and drops.

In 1857, he received from a teacher named Jangchub Dorje (byang chub rdo rje) the two Dzogchen cycles of the Northern Treasures–the Primordial Purity, Spontaneous and Self Arisen (ka dag rang byung rang shar) and the Unimpeded Access to Samantabhadra's Mind. According to Tulku Tsullo, he was trained on the basis of a practice manual–which seems to be lost–said to be composed by the sixteenth-century master Ado Konchok Gyeltsen (a rdo dkon mchog rgyal mtshan), also known by the pseudo-Sanskritized version of his name, Trayekatu and other forms. The significance of this is that this master taught Gonpo Wanggyel from the alternate Northern Treasure lineage running not via Dorje Drag but through Tangtong Gyelpo (thang stong rgyal po, 1361–1485) and preserved at Katok Monastery (kaH thog). It is said that the primordial purity and the spontaneous perfection then became transparently obvious to him. He had continuous visions of the Twelve Masters of Dzogchen (ston pa bcu gnyis), enlightened beings that do not belong to our dimension, be it in dreams or in his waking state.

In 1858, Khordong Terchen Nuden Dorje then gave him the Black Quintessence (yang ti nag po) and followed him during the forty-nine-days retreat in complete darkness. After a few days, he could see in the dark as if it were daylight, as well as what was outside the cell. It is from this year on that Khordong Terchen gave him all the transmissions of the Northern Treasures: the Primordial Purity, the Unimpeded Access to Samantabhadra's Mind and the teachings known collectively as the Ka, Phur and Shin Triad (bka' phur gshin gsum): that is, the Eight Commands (bka' brgyad) teaching, the Vajrakīla cycles and that of Yamāntaka. He also taught him the three guru-yogas of the Northern Treasures: the sādhana of Avalokiteśvara called "Liberating all the Migrants" ('gro ba kun grol), which serves as the outer practice; the peaceful Padmasambhava called "Sadhāna of the Lineage of Awareness-Holders," (rig 'dzin gdung sgrub), which  is the inner practice; and the "heart practice" (thugs sgrub)–that of the wrathful form of Padmasambhava, Guru Dorje Drakpo Tsal (gu ru rdo rje drag po rtsal)–the secret practice–as well as the Gathering of Intentions (dgongs 'dus). He transmitted many additional teachings, mostly from the Northern Treasure lineages, but also from other branches of the Nyingma tradition, plus the Chod tradition, as well as nearly all of his own revelations.

Following these teachings, Gonpo Wanggyel began to have visions of Mahākāla. Khordong Terchen understood this to mean that his disciple was an emanation of that deity and informed him that he was to henceforth propitiate Mahākāla.  

In his seventeenth year, 1861, he received more transmissions from Baḥne Gyelse Orgyen Puntsok (baH gnas rgyal sras o rgyan phun tshogs), including the "Heart Practice" of Guru Dorje Drakpo Tsel. This master designated him as his successor. The next year, at Zhichen Kharmar Sangak Drubde (gzhi chen mkhar dmar gsang sngags sgrub sde), he received from Yizhin Wanggyel (yid bzhin dbang rgyal) a transmission of the complete Collected Nyingma Tantras (rnying ma rgyud 'bum). Namkha Dorje (nam mkha' rdo rje) gave him The Secret Completeness of the Eight Commands (bka' brgyad gsang rdzogs), the system for the Eight Commands from the revelations of Guru Chowang (gu ru chos dbang, 1212–1270).

After all this training, a turn occurred in his life in 1863 when Khordong Terchen Nuden Dorje ordered him to go to central Tibet to check the conformity of some details in the Khordong liturgy with that of the mother monastery of Dorje Drak (rdo rje brag). A group of one hundred and ten people, led by Kunzang Nyendrak (kun bzang snyan grags), the reincarnation of Khamtrul Sherab Mebar (khams sprul shes rab me 'bar, 1752–1815), set out for central Tibet by the northern route.

According to a diary that was either kept by Gonpo Wanggyel himself or a disciple, the journey was marked by all sorts of visions for Gonpo Wanggyel: when the mountain range Mato Pomra (rma stod sbom ra) was in sight, he was visited by an apparition of the mountain god Machen Pomra (rma chen sbom ra) in his aspect of wealth deity, riding a white lion, who gave him prophecies and placed himself at his service. He also had a vision of wrathful gods and demons that he resolved to later tame for the protection of the country. Likewise, as they approached the Tanglha range, the mountain deity Nyenchen Tanglha (gnyen chen thang lha)—an important deity to the Northern Treasures tradition—came to meet him and offered him a crystal globe and other sacred objects. In central Tibet, the group visited various holy places; at Samye Monastery (bsam yas dgon), Gonpo Wangyal had a vision of Padmasambhava, remembered his past life as a disciple, and recollected the teachings he received from him. 

Gonpo Wanggyel sometimes wandered alone and as if at random, making curious encounters. Tulku Tsullo reports that he once met a beautiful woman with three eyes who invited him into a spontaneously emanated palace. She offered him fruits "with a hundred flavors" in a skull-cup. She then introduced herself as the Ḍākinī White Crystal and blessed him by giving him these fruits to eat. All the channels of his body filled with bliss; then everything vanished, as if he was waking up from a dream.

When they arrived at Dorje Drak, Gonpo Wanggyel was welcomed by the Eighth Rigdzin Chenpo, Kelzang Pema Wanggyel (rig 'dzin chen po 08 skal bzang padma dbang rgyal, 1848–1880) and Chuzang Namkha Longyang (chu bzang sprul sku nam mkha' klong yangs). The latter lama had served three successive incarnations of Rigdzin Godem during an extremely difficult period of time for Dorje Drak (the destruction of the monastery by the Dzungars in 1717 or 1718 was for the Northern Treasures tradition, which had reached the height of its glory under the Fifth Dalai Lama (ta la'i bla ma 05, 1617–1682), the beginning of a gradual weakening, of which its state in the 19th century was the result).

From them he received the initiations and oral transmissions of the Northern Treasures, probably completing small parts that might still have been unavailable in Khordong; they made all the verifications in the "practical know-how," both liturgical details and aspects of yogic technique. The biography gives the feeling of a very cordial, mutual appreciation; he received the ritual headdress of one of the prior Rigdzin Chenpo incarnations, a sign of the perfect, complete and somehow autonomous transmission of the Northern Treasures to Khordong.

He then returned to Khordong where he received the final teachings of Khordong Terchen in 1864, the year in which the terton passed away. Gonpo Wanggyel performed the funeral rites for his teacher and carried out all the testamentary prescriptions of the master. In 1866, Khordong Terchen's first reincarnation, Drodul Lingpa ('khor gdong gter sprul 02 'gro 'dul gling pa, ca.1865–1885), was formally recognized, but unfortunately, he died young.

Gongpo Wanggyel was unable to receive one of Khordong Terton's revelations, The Eight Commands, a Display of Primordial Wisdom (bka' brgyad ye shes rol pa) directly from the master, and instead received it via dream in 1865. This transmission was formalized with a transmission of the cycle from Kunzang Nyendrak.

Khordong Terchen's wife, Tamdrin Wangmo (mkha' 'gro rta mgrin dbang mo), also gave him transmissions. It is probable that she alone had received the entirety of the transmissions of Khordong Terchen's revelations, although little details are available of her role as a lineage holder. She gave Gonpo Wanggyel the transmission of the most secret (yang gsang) part of the Secret Treasure of the Ḍākiṇī (mkha' 'gro gsang mdzod), which itself is the very heart of Khordong Terchen's revelations.  

Gonpo Wanggyel spent years in meditation mastering the teachings he had received. These include the Gathering of Intentions and the Peaceful and Wrathful of the Net of Magical Illusions (sgyu 'phrul zhi khro); the three sets of the Eight Commands, that is, those from the revelations of Nyangrel Nyima Wozer (nyang ral nyi ma 'od zer, 1124/1136–1192/1204), Guru Chowang and Rigdzin Godemchen–the Self-Arisen Eight Commands (bka' brgyad rang byung rang shar), for which, it is said, he did the complete practice in all its developed and medium forms great many times. His Vajrakīla practices were mostly from the Northern Treasures, but also integrated the systems from Ratna Lingpa (ratna gling pa, 1403–1479) and Terton Dudul Dorje (gter ston bdud 'dul rdo rje, 1615–1672). He did long retreats of Yamāntaka in his form Mañjuśrī Master of Life ('jam dpal tshe bdag) from the revelations of the eleventh-century terton Gyazhangtrom (rgya zhang khrom rdo rje 'od 'bar). He practiced all the cycles of the Northern Treasures and the Dorje Drak tradition up to the completion of the approach and accomplishment (bsnyen sgrub), including the cycles connected to Hayagrīva, and also all sorts of forms of wrathful Padmasambhava, especially the Dorje Drolo from Khordong Terchen's revelations, as well as Siṃhamukhā, the Lion Headed Ḍākinī, combining Khordong Terchen's revelations with cycles revealed by other tertons. He was very assiduous in the practice of Mahākāla, as we have already seen. It is said that his main practice was that of the Secret Treasure of the Ḍākinī, which is regarded as the heart and summit of the whole of Khordong Terchen's revelations; biographies say that his practice of this Secret Treasure was permanent and uninterrupted.

In 1868 and the following year, at Khordong, Gonpo Wanggyel gave the complete transmissions for the Master Gathering the Intentions (bla ma dgongs 'dus)—a revelation of Sanggye Lingpa (sangs rgyas gling pa, 1340–1396)—to all the assembly gathered in the monastery, headed by Nuden Dorje's son Pema Donsel (padma don gsal).

He began revealing treasure in 1870. The first revelation occurred in a cave devoted to Nāgarakṣa (a form of Yamāntaka) in Tsori Demchok (gtsos ris bde mchog), in the midst of wondrous signs. He found there a ritual dagger that had belonged to Nanam Dorje Düdjom and a sealed treasure casket.

The years 1871 to 1875 seem to have been devoted mostly to wrathful rites and to giving transmissions to a few close disciples, bringing out revelations of further hidden treasures, and doing some public teachings in monasteries under his jurisdiction. These included the preliminary practices of the Northern Treasures, the "Five Nails" (gzer lnga) and the Mind Training in Seven Points (blo sbyong don bdun ma), a set of instructions for the development of renunciation and bodhicitta.

In 1877, in his thirty-third year, he gave, at Shukjung Monastery (shugs 'byung dgon), the complete transmission of the Northern Treasures, and then, in Khordong, a complete transmission of Khordong Terchen's termas. He gave the complete transmissions of the Northern Treasures at Shukjung a second time in 1894, complementing these with the termas of Khordong Terchen, and the next year, at Khordong, gave the Thousand Empowerments for Chöd (gcod dbang stong rtsa).

It must be around that time, in the early 1880s, that he married, though this is not clearly stated in our sources: his son, Tulku Tsullo, was born in 1895 from his union with Zhiwatso (zhi wa 'tsho), a daughter of Khordong Terchen. His elder son, Khordong Choktrul Gyurme Dorje, was born in 1887.

It was under the guidance of Gonpo Wanggyel that the Khordong Monastery took its full measure, with many additional constructions, including a new main temple that was completed and consecrated in 1884 and another large assembly hall built by 1888. He also supervised construction of new buildings at Baḥne and Shukjung, which under his leadership had become branch monasteries of Khordong. At a consecration ceremony in Shukjung in 1885, Kunzang Nyendrak gave him the transmission of the Vajra Bridge (klong sde'i rdo rje zam pa), the last surviving system of practice instructions for the Dzogchen Longde.  

In 1887, in his forty-third year, he went for a teaching tour in the surrounding areas, during which he gave to a vast crowd the large empowerment for the Gathering of Intentions according to the tradition of Dorje Drak, which is quite extensive and elaborate, with nine maṇḍalas and thirty-six consecrations. He gave the very same empowerment again in Shukjung in 1889. It was during that ceremony that he received from Tamdrin Wangmo the Secret Treasure of the Ḍākiṇī.    

On the occasion of the visit to Khordong in 1892 of two important incarnations—Orgyen Tenkyong (o rgyan bstan skyongs), the reincarnation of Zhichen Bairo (gzhi chen bai ro), and Orgyen Namgyel (o rgyan rnam rgyal), the reincarnation of his teacher Namkha Dorje (nam mkha' rdo rje)—he gave a large series of empowerments and oral transmissions along the same lines as always: the complete Northern Treasures, the complete writings of Rigdzin Pema Trinle and other classics of the Northern Treasures tradition, plus Guru Chowang's The Secret Completeness of the Eight Commands and a few other empowerments.

In 1893, Gonpo Wanggyel engaged in a magical contest with an obscure figure named Repa Wonpo (ras pa dbon po). It would seem that Repa Wonpo was hostile to the Northern Treasures tradition and attempted to rain a destructive storm of hail on Gonpo Wanggyel's patrons in Golok in order to dissuade them from embracing the teachings. Gonpo Wanggyel performed a large public Vajrakīla ritual in order to avert the negativity, and witnesses reported that the clouds of hail dissipated without causing any damage. Repa Wonpo had to flee from the shore of a lake that he had threatened would swallow up all his enemies; instead, the lake bubbled up in a terrible manner and all the ritual paraphernalia used by Repa Wonpo and his disciples were swept away and destroyed.

At the end of that year, the second reincarnation of Khordong Terchen, called Dorje Gyeltsen (rdo rje rgyal mtshan) or Pema Wanggi Gyelpo (padma dbang gi rgyal po), but is best known by his terton name, Kelden Lingpa ('khor gdong gter sprul 03 skal ldan gling pa, ca.1886–ca.1922), was enthroned. 

The final years of Gonpo Wanggyel's life were filled with more retreats, teachings given, and visions. In 1900, he gave a transmission of the full Collected Nyingma Tantras at Khordong. He received, in 1902, the oral transmission of the Kanggyur given by the famous Drakkar Tulku Lobzang Pelden (blo bzang dpal ldan bstan 'dzin snyan grags, 1866–1929), the Geluk geshe who is famous for his debate with Ju Mipam ('jam mgon 'ju mi pham ram rgyal rgya mtsho, 1846–1912) about the exegesis of Śāntideva's Bodhicāryavatāra.

In 1903, he recognized the fifth incarnation of the Baḥne Tulku, Tubten Dongak Shedrub (bah gnas sprul sku 05 thub bstan mdo sngags bshad sgrub rgyal mtshan, 1888–1964).

He once again, in 1904, gave the complete transmission of Khordong Terchen's revelations—minus the Secret Treasure of the Ḍākiṇī, but together with the Vajra Bridge—to disciples including Kelden Lingpa and Tulku Tsullo. In 1906, he gave all the transmissions of his own revelations, which fill two volumes. It is said that from 1907 onwards, he dropped all his formal daily recitations, except for his main practice, the Secret Treasure of the Ḍākiṇī, and remained immersed in the view of Dzogchen. He again had many visions of Padmasambhava, Vajrayogini, and Mahākāla, and continued displaying various miracles. In 1908, he gave the empowerment for the Gathering of Intentions in its most complete form to Kelden Lingpa, Tulku Tsullo and many others. In 1910, he consecrated all the newly erected statues in Shukjung. This was the year when the Thirteenth Dalai Lama had to flee to India from the Chinese troops invading Lhasa. It is because of this war situation that, in the next year, Gonpo Wanggyel mostly focused on rites for repelling the foreign armies, especially the Razor of Life (srog gi spu gri), a group of texts about Vajrakīla from Rigdzin Godem's revelations.  

Gonpo Wanggyel died in 1915, most likely at Khordong Monastery.