Konchok Gyeltsen grew up in an environment where the Barawa and the Sakya traditions were practiced. A man named Sanggye Chopel (sangs rgyas chos 'phel) from the Jamling / Jampa Lingpa ('jam gling / 'jam dpal gling pa) family performed his first hair cutting and became his first religious teacher. The Jamling family were followers of the Barawa tradition, which had been introduced to Kyirong during the sixteenth century by Namkha Dorje (nam mkha' rdo rje, 1486–1553), as well as the Sakya tradition. Konchok Gyeltsen received instructions from different traditions and read widely, apparently engendering envy in other monks.
When Konchok Gyeltsen was still a young man, the Third Barawa Tulku, Karma Selje ('ba' ra ba sprul sku 03 karma gsal byed, d.1658), arrived at the Barawa monastery of Drapu Choling (grwa phu chos gling) in Kyirong. Tradition holds that Karma Selje and Konchok Gyeltsen met like father and son, and together they received Barawa teachings from the master Namkha Gyelpo (nam mkha' rgyal po). Konchok Gyeltsen then travelled to Tsang, where he took the first vows of a novice under the Sakya master Ngawang Chodrak (ngag dbang chos grags 1572–1641) and received further Sakya teachings. Karma Selje, however, whom he repeatedly visited at his main seat in Baradrak Monastery (ba' ra grags), also known as Dondrubding (don grub sdings), became his main teacher. He also received Barawa teachings from a Drumpa Tulku (grum pa sprul sku), another lineage within the Barawa Kagyupa with its main seat at Drumpa Monastery (grum pa dgon) on the present-day border with Bhutan.[2]
Konchok Gyeltsen spent the first decades of his monastic career in Tibet. Whenever possible, he concentrated on his meditational practice. He is also known for performing virtuous deeds, such as ending a deadly epidemic in Shigatse. Karma Selje assigned him to serve as supervisor at Chakkyi Yangtse (lcags kyi yangs rtse), a hermitage affiliated to Dondrubding Monastery.[3]
Karma Selje encouraged him to visit Barawa centers in what is now western Bhutan, such as Dranggyekha Monastery ('brang rgyas kha dgon) in Paro (spa gro) and Shongchenkha Monastery (gshongs chen kha) north of Punakha (spu na kha). Arriving in the region, for one month Konchok Gyeltsen practiced on a charnel ground. While in retreat he received a prophecy in a vision of the Five Sisters of Long Life (tshe ring mched lnga) that troops from the Drukpa would soon arrive, but that it would be safe to stay at Shongchenkha. In Tibet, a dispute over the incarnation of the famous Drukpa Kagyu master Pema Karpo (padma dkar po, 1527–1592) had split the Drukpa followers into two camps: those who believed Zhabdrung Rinpoche (zhabs drung rin po che, 1594–1651) to be the legitimate heir and those who preferred Paksam Wangpo (dpag bsam dbang po, 1593–1641). It was both a theological and a political dispute, as the Tsangpa rulers, who then ruled central Tibet, backed Paksam Wangpo. As the conflict escalated, Zhabdrung decided to flee to what is now Bhutan in 1616/1617. He initially stayed in the western part of the land, where the regions were already divided among different Buddhist traditions, including the Barawa Kagyu. As his influence in the region increased, so too did opposition to him by the non-Drukpa leaders, and the rulers of Tsang and Tibetan troops eventually attacked Zhabdrung. His troops, identified with the Drukpa, defeated the Tibetan invaders with the help of locals. Aside from military combat, both sides relied on the power of destructive magic performed by monks.[4]
In the wake of the Tibetan invasion, which left non-Drukpa establishments at a disadvantage, Konchok Gyeltsen returned to Tibet and visited the Drumpa Tulku. Soon after he proceeded on to Baradrak to meet Karma Selje. He received further Barawa teachings from both masters.
As Tibetan military forces attacked Bhutan, Konchok Gyeltsen tried to stay in retreat, but was forced to leave when the people of Shongchenkha fled to Tibet. Konchok Gyeltsen is said to have regretted leaving the monastery and abandoning it to the Drukpa, but he was also eager to return to Barawa Monastery in Tibet, the main seat of the tradition. After his victory, Zhabdrung Rinpoche travelled through Punakha valley and claimed sites of the opposing traditions, including Barawa institutions. Zhabdrung’s unification was the beginning of the modern state of Bhutan.[5]
After some time at Baradrak, Konchok Gyeltsen embarked upon a journey to the hidden land of Dremojong ('bras mo ljong), that is, present-day Sikkim. This was a period soon after the establishment of the Ganden Podrang government and the control of Tibet by the Geluk tradition. In response to the political environment in which they were at a considerable disadvantage, Nyingma lamas began to search for new safe territory. A legendary prophecy of Padmasambhava in which he once blessed Sikkim as a hidden land (sbas yul) that would offer protection in difficult times, gained currency, and three Tibetan Nyingma masters ritually opened Sikkim to Buddhism and enthroned the first Buddhist king, Chogyel Puntsok Namgyel (chos rgyal phun tshogs rnam rgyal, 1604–1670). This was the beginning of the Namgyal Dynasty, which would last into the twentieth century.
Konchok Gyeltsen met the first Buddhist ruler of the land soon after his enthronement. He visited the sacred site of Tashiding (bkra shis lding), where he would later be involved in erecting a stūpa and temples. Supported by the king, he established a branch of Barawa Monastery, built in the Mon style (mon lugs), in Damzang ('dam bzang). Its name and precise location is not currently known. Damzang, on the present-day India-Bhutan border, was then a contested territory. Among others, Barawa patrons were attacked by the combating forces and, consequently, Konchok Gyeltsen lost local patronage and struggled to maintain the monastery.[6]
During his time in Sikkim Konchok Gyeltsen met the reincarnation of Karma Selje, a young boy named Rinchen Tenpai Selje (rin chen bstan pa'i gsal byed 1658–1696) who had been brought from Tibet. Konchok Gyeltsen was one of several lamas involved in the process of confirming the boy's status as the Fourth Barawa Tulku, and he would become one of his main teachers.[7]
In the late 1670s or the beginning of the 1680s, Konchok Gyeltsen returned to Tibet. After some time practicing and teaching at Baradrak he returned again to Sikkim, settling this time in the northern parts of the land.[8] He established a new Barawa Kagyu monastery, Tsuntang (btsun thang / btsun mo rin chen thang) known today as Chungtang, named after the place where the two rivers of Lachen and Lachung join together to become the Teesta. According to legend, Konchok Gyeltsen first had to subjugate demons that been harming villagers, including a female nāgā who appeared in the form of a stone serpent's head. He located the monastery near the stone. He also opened a spring close to the monastery and thus provided the villagers with drinking water.[9]
His reincarnation was found in the person of Tenzin Nyida (bstan 'dzin nyi zla, d.1753), and given the title of the Second Kagyu Tulku, after his seat, Kagyu Gonsar (bka' brgyud dgon gsar) in the Chumbi valley, which was built during the first half of the eighteenth century. The line is also known as the Drubtob Tulku (grub thob sprul sku). Konchok Gyeltsen was posthumously given the title of First Kagyu Tulku. Every incarnation of this lineage since has resided at Kagyu Gonsar up to the twentieth century. In the 1950s, most monks left the monastery. A new lineage seat, Kagyu Tsechok Ling (bka' brgyud tshe mchog gling), was established close to Gangtok in Sikkim in 1988.[11]
[1] Ehrhard 2009, p. 196; Erschbamer 2011, pp. 17–18, 126; Erschbamer 2017, pp. 144–145.
[2] Erschbamer 2011, pp. 24–28; Erschbamer 2013, pp. 27–28; Erschbamer 2017, p. 146.
[3] Erschbamer 2011, 29–33; Erschbamer 2017, p. 176.
[4] Ardussi 2011, p. 35; Erschbamer 2011, p. 33; Karma Phuntsho 2013, pp. 212–224.
[5] Ardussi 2011, pp. 35–36; Erschbamer 2011, pp. 35–37; Erschbamer 2017, pp. 146–147; Karma Phuntsho 2013, pp. 229–238.
[6] Ardussi 2011, p. 36–38; Ardussi et al. 2021, pp. 78–93, 124–125; Erschbamer 2011, pp. 39–47, 53–56; Erschbamer 2017, pp. 147–148.
[7] Erschbamer 2017, p. 127.
[8] Erschbamer 2011, pp. 56–57; Erschbamer 2017, pp. 134–135.
[9] Erschbamer 2011, pp. 57–62, 121; Erschbamer 2013; Erschbamer 2017, pp. 148, 204–205.
[10] Erschbamer 2011, pp. 62–64; Erschbamer 2017, pp. 149–150.
[11] Erschbamer 2014; Erschbamer 2016; Erschbamer 2017, pp. 188–194, 213–215.
[12] Erschbamer 2011, p. 65; Erschbamer 2017, p. 144.
[13] Tashi Tsering 2008, pp. 26–39; Trinle Dorje 2013, pp. 198–200.
Images
Barawa Kagyu Refuge Field
Nineteenth century (likely made after 1829) painting from Drumpa Monastery in southern Tibet near the border of Bhutan depicts the Mountain Dharma Trilogy transmission of Yanggonpa. The painting portrays Kagyu masters including lineages of the Barawa subsect of the Drukpa Kagyu. Annotations and analysis courtesy of Dr. Marlene Erschbamer.
参考书目
Ardussi, John A. 2011. "Sikkim and Bhutan in the Crosscurrents of Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Tibetan History." In: Buddhist Himalaya: Studies in Religion, History and Culture, The Sikkim Papers, Anna Balikci-Denjongpa and Alex McKay (eds), Gangtok: Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, 29–42.
Ardussi, John A., Anna Balikci-Denjongpa, and Per K. Sørensen. 2021. The Royal History of Sikkim: A Chronicle of the House of Namgyal. Chicago: Serindia Publications.
Ehrhard, Franz-Karl. 2009. "The Lineage of the 'Ba'-ra-ba bKa'-brgyud-pa School as Depicted on a Thangka and in Golden Rosary Texts." Münchner Beiträge zur Völkerkunde 13, 179–209.
Erschbamer, Marlene. 2011. The Mahāsiddha dKon mchog rgyal mtshan (1601–1687): Life and Travels in Tibet and Sikkim. Unpublished MA’s thesis. Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich.
Erschbamer, Marlene. 2013. "The 'Ba' ra ba Teachings reach the hidden land of 'Bras mo ljongs: Mahāsiddha dKon mchog rgyal mtshan (1601–1687) and the Taming of Demons in Chungthang." Bulletin of Tibetology 49.2, 25–33.
Erschbamer, Marlene. 2014. "The monastery bKa' brgyud dgon gsar in the Chumbi valley: the 'Ba' ra ba bKa' brgyud pa school and its connection with Sikkim." Bulletin of Tibetology 50.1+2, 117–132.
Erschbamer, Marlene. 2016. "Where the roads from Tibet, India, and Bhutan meet: The bKa' brgyud dgon gsar in the Chumbi valley." Zentralasiatische Studien 45, 451–465.
Erschbamer, Marlene. 2017. The 'Ba'-ra-ba bKa'-brgyud-pa: Historical and Contemporary Studies. Vienna: WSTB.
Karma Phuntsho. 2013. The History of Bhutan. Noida: Random House India.
Rin chen bstan pa'i gsal byed 1970. Grub thob chen po dkon mchog rgyal mtshan gyi rnam thar mdor bsdus ngo mthar bdud rtsi'i chu rgyun. In: Bka' brgyud gser phreng chen mo: Biographies of Eminent Gurus in the Transmission Lineage of teachings of the 'Ba'-ra dKar-brgyud-pa sect, vol. 3, fol. 86–141. Dehradun: Ngawang Gyaltsen and Ngawang Lungtok. BDRC: W1KG10687.
Rin chen bstan pa'i gsal byed. 2010. Grub thob chen po dkon mchog rgyal mtshan gyi rnam thar mdor bsdus ngo mthar bdud rtsi'i chu rgyun. In: Bod kyi lo rgyus rnam thar phyogs bsgrigs: A collection of religious-historical works and biographies in dpe cha format, vol. 28, fol. 87–142. Xining: Mtsho sngon mi rigs dpe skrun khang. BDRC: W19231.
Tashi Tsering Josayma (ed., Jo sras bkra shis tshe ring). 2008. 'Bras ljongs nang dgon sde khag gcig gi chags rabs yig cha: Brief Accounts of the Monasteries of Sikkim. Gangtok: Namgyal Insitute of Tibetology and Dharamsala: Amnye Machen Institute. BDRC: W1KG819.
Trinle Dorje ('Dzi sgar mkhan chen phrin las rdo rje). 2013. Don brgyud dpal ldan 'brug pa'i mkhas grub bla ma rgya mtsho'i rnam thar legs bshad nor bu'i gter mdzod: Jewel Treasure of Elegant Writings: Biography of Saint-Scholars of the Drukpa Lineage. Vol. 1. Ed. by Mkhan po bshad sgrub bstan 'dzin. Kathmandu: Khenpo Shedup Tenzin.