The Treasury of Lives

Jampa Kunzang (byams pa kun bzang) was born in 1907, the fire-sheep year. His mother, whose name and family history is not recorded, died immediately after giving birth to him. His father was Sonam Sengge Wangchuk (bsod nams seng ge dbang phyug, 1873–1928), of the Zhalu Kushang family (zhwa lu sku zhang) that supplied abbots to Ngor Ewaṃ Choden (ngor e waM chos ldan dgon), Zhalu (zhwa lu dgon), and Nalendra (na len dra dgon) monasteries.

His siblings were named Trinle Wangdu ('phrin las dbang bdud, 1894–c. 1946); Khyenrab Jigme Gyatso (mkhyen rab 'jigs med rgya mtsho, 1897–1957), who was briefly a Chogye Zhabdrung (bco brgyad zhabs drung), in line to be abbot of Nalendra; and Kelzang Chodron (bskal bzang chos sgron), who married the king of Mustang (Glo bo), Jampel Tenzin Dradul (byams dpal bstan 'dzin dgra 'dul, 1900–1964).^[1]

His father remarried soon after he was born. His stepmother, Chime Dolkar, ('chi med sgrol dkar, 1895–1963/1966), gave birth to four sons and three daughters. Of the sons only Chogye Trichen Rinpoche Tubten Lekshe Gyatso (bco brgyad khri chen rin po che thub bstan legs bshad rgya mtsho, 1920–2007) grew to adulthood. Her surviving daughters were Dechen Yudron (bde chen g.yu sgron), and Kunzang Tendrol/Tendron (kun bzang bstan sgrol/sgron), who became a nun and abbess of Rinding Monastery (rin gding dgon), a nunnery a short distance from Nalendra.^[2]

His family sent him to the Khangsar Labrang (khang gsar bla brang) of Ngor Monastery in the position of an abbatial candidate, under his paternal uncle, the sixtieth Ngor abbot, Jampel Nyingpo ('jam dpal snying po, 1871–1952). Jampel Nyingpo himself had been assigned to the Khangsar Labrang by his own uncle, Ngawang Lodro Nyingpo (ngag dbang blo gros snying po, d. 1905/1906), who had served as the fifty-ninth Ngor abbot. After Ngawang Lodro Nyingpo had passed away, Jampel Nyingpo attempted to establish a hereditary abbacy at the Khangsar Labrang for his family, the Zhalu Kuzhang. He did this by identifying his nephew, Jampa Kunzang, as the reincarnation of Ngawang Lodro Nyingpo. Jampel Nyingpo himself had been identified as the reincarnation of the fifty-second Ngor abbot Ngawang Lodro Tenzin (ngag dbang blo gros bstan 'dzin), also of the Khangsar Labrang.^[3]

Jampa Kunzang's father, the head of the Zhalu Kuzhang family, Sonam Sengge Wangchuk, however, opposed the designation and withdrew his son from the Khangsar Labrang. Still wishing his son to stand for the abbacy of Ngor, his father sent him to his wife's brother, the sixty-third Ngor abbot, Jamyang Kunzang Tenpai Gyeltsen ('jam dbyangs kun bzang bstan pa'i rgyal mtshan), an abbatial candidate at the Tartse Labrang (thar rtse bla brang), who would later serve as the sixty-third Ngor abbot.^[4]  He received most of his training from this uncle: the Lamdre instructions, bodhisattva vows, Hevajra and other tantric teachings.^[5]

Around the year 1924 he visited Mustang with his father, his stepmother, and his stepbrother, Chogye Trichen. The family remained there for about two years, during which time a sixth child was born to them, a boy who did not survive infancy.^[6] Before returning to Ngor, either with his family or alone, Jampa Kunzang traveled to Ladakh and gave vows to the king there.^[7]

Around 1933 Jampa Kunzang was sent to Kham to teach, collect alms for his labrang, and to gather disciples, as was traditional for the abbatial candidates of Ngor to do. Several of these future Ngor abbots were based temporarily at Wara Monastery (wa ra dgon) in southwestern Derge and thus became known by the title of "Wara Zhabdrung." Jampa Kunzang remained at Wara for roughly eight years before being appointed abbot of Ngor.^[8]

In Kham he became a disciple of Gaton Ngawang Lekpa (sga stong ngag dbang legs pa, 1867–1941), one of the most influential Sakya masters of the region at that time. Jampa Kunzang requested Gaton Rinpoche to give the Lamdre instructions, which he agreed to do in 1936, at his seat of Tarlam Monastery (thar lam dgon). Gaton Rinpoche was then training the young Dezhung Rinpoche (sde gzhung rin po che, 1906–1987) and he called his disciple to Tarlam to receive the transmission.^[9]

Gaton praised Jampa Kunzang, then only twenty-eight years old, and he encouraged Dezhung Rinpoche to study with him. Jampa Kunzang asked Dezhung to serve as his assistant during the transmission and the two became close friends. They would sit conversing late into the night in Dezhung's quarters outside the monastery gate, sometimes well past curfew, requiring Jampa Kunzang to stay over.^[10]

After the transmission Jampa Kunzang went to the Gyade Kasum nomadic area (brgya sde kha gsum) to collect alms. When he returned he asked Gaton to transmit the Inner, Outer, and Secret Protector (mgon po phyi nang gsang gsum), which Gaton called Dezhung again to also receive. Following that transmission Jampa Kunzang and Dezhung Rinpoche went to nearby nomadic grasslands for a rest, staying in tents and eating with nomads, and enjoying the nomads' celebrations and songs.^[11]

In 1939 Jampa Kunzang was summoned back to Ngor to take the abbacy. When he was leaving, Dezhung gave him a set of robes given to him by his younger brother. Jampa Kunzang accepted them, but only after checking to make sure that Dezhung Rinpoche's brother would not be offended. Jampa Kunzang gave his friend a statue or Mahākāla, two Mahākāla texts, and a small stūpa, as supports for his activity of body, speech, and mind.^[12]

During his short tenure as seventy-first abbot of Ngor he gave vows and the Lamdra Tsokshe (lam 'bras tshogs bshad) to Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk (mkhan po kun dga' dbang phyug, 1921–2008).^[13]

He died in early 1940, at age thirty-three.^[14]

 

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