The Treasury of Lives

Lama Gyurme Drakpa (bla ma 'gyur med grags pa), best known by the contraction Lama Gyurdrak (bla ma 'gyur grags), was the son of Yilhungpa Sonam Namgyel (yid lhung pa bsod nams rnam rgyal, c.1874–1952),[1] who belonged to the Takrong (stag rong) clan in the Yilhung (yid lhung) valley in Kham. The year of Gyurme Drakpa's birth and the name of his mother are not recorded. He had at least one brother, Khenpo Tsewang Gyurme (mkhan po tshe dbang 'gyur med).[2]

In his youth Gyurdrak was a monk at Yakze Monastery (g.yag ze dgon) in Derge. In 1952 while he was in retreat his brother notified him that their father Sonam Namgyel was seriously ill and approaching death. The events that followed, and how Sonam Namgyel is said to have attained the rainbow body ('ja' lus), have been recounted numerous times, including by Chogyam Trungpa (chos rgya drung pa, 1939–1987) in his autobiography Born in Tibet. The remarkable nature of his father's death inspired Gyurdrak to renounce mainstream monasticism in favor of the more eccentric lifestyle of yogin and Dzogchen adept.[3]

In his teens, Gyurdrak spent several years serving and studying with the Gyarong Khandro Dechen Wangmo (rgya rong mkha' 'gro bde chen dbang mo, b. 1868?) at her hermitage near Dzongsar Monastery (rdzong sar dgon). He later recalled that she would often exhibit apparent clairvoyance, for example by telling him to prepare the favorite meal of a person who would later arrive unannounced. Gyurdrak was also present when Gyarong Khandro "reopened" the sacred place of Khyungtak (khyung ltag) and, together with Khandro Tsering Chodron (mkha' 'gro tshe ring chos sgron, 1929–2011), revealed the Vajrakīla practice called Tsogyel's Whispered Transmission of Kīla (mtsho rgyal snyan brgyud phur pa) as an earth treasure (sa gter).[4]

Lama Gyurdrak was appointed by Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro (rdzong gsar mkhyen brtse chos kyi blo gros, 1893–1959 as the first tutor of Sogyal Rinpoche (bsod rgyal rin po che, 1947–2019), whom he taught to read and write. Whenever Gyurdrak tried to administer corporal punishment, the young tulku would run to Chokyi Lodro for protection.[5]

In 1956 Lama Gyurdrak traveled together with Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro from eastern Tibet and into exile. The party also included his uncle Lama Tseten (bla ma tshe brtan, d. 1956), who was tutor to Khandro Tsering Chodron and who died during the journey. Gyurdrak requested Jamyang Khyentse to compose several texts including a guru yoga of Pema Lingpa (pad+ma gling pa, 1450–1521) and a prayer to Padmasambhava (pad+ma 'byung gnas). Both texts were requested at Pemaling Lake (grub mtsho pad+ma gling) in Tibet.[6]

On occasion he also served as a scribe for Jamyang Khyentse. For example, he wrote down the guru yoga of Shukseb Jetsun Choying Zangmo (shug gseb rje btsun chos dbyings bzang mo, 1853/1865–1951) that Jamyang Khyentse composed at Gangri Tokar (gangs ri thod dkar).[7] He also accompanied Khyentse Chokyi Lodro to Bodhgaya (rdo rje gdan) in the winter of 1957–58. During the visit, he requested an aspiration prayer, which Khyentse Rinpoche composed at the Mahabodhi temple.[8] Khyentse Chokyi Lodro's travel journal also notes the occasion on which he taught Gyurdrak the Dzogchen instruction known as Three Statements that Strike the Crucial Point (tshig gsum gnad brdegs).[9]

Lama Gyurdrak's root teacher was Jamyang Khyentse, but he also studied with several other senior Nyingma lamas of his day, including Dudjom Rinpoche (bdud 'joms rin po che, 1904–1987) and Kangyur Rinpoche, Longchen Yeshe Dorje (bka' 'gyur rin po che klong chen ye shes rdo rje, 1878/9–1975).[10]

Gyurdrak himself became one of the main teachers of the American scholar and editor Harold Talbott (1939–2019), whose autobiography Tendrel, published in 2019, is one of the best available sources of biographical information. Talbott first met Gyurdrak in 1969. He had already heard from Lobsang Phuntsok Lhalungpa (blo bzang phun tshogs lha lung pa, 1926–2008) that Gyurdrak might make an excellent Dzogchen teacher, but it was Sogyal Rinpoche who first introduced them. At the time, Gyurdrak was living in Alubari near Darjeeling in the house of Dawa Zangmo (zla ba bzang mo), also known as Amala Dorje. This was the same residence as another disciple of Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro, the eminent doctor Trogawa Rinpoche (khro dga' bo rin po che, 1931/32–2005), whose brother was married to Dawa Zangmo's daughter. In the years that followed, Talbott would visit Gyurdrak regularly at Dawa Zangmo's house in Alubari as well as in Delhi to receive instruction, often relying on Tulku Thondup Rinpoche (sprul sku don grub, b. 1939) as translator.

Talbott recounts how Lama Gyurdrak performed several extraordinary feats, such leaving the imprint of his rubber sandals in solid rock, divining the location of some books belonging to Kalu Rinpoche (kar lu rin po che, 1905–1989) that had been lost on a train between Calcutta and Siliguri, and divining the identity of a thief.[11]

"Every day of my life," Talbott wrote in his autobiography, "Lama Gyurda-la has been very frequently in my mind."[12]

Gyurdrak was instrumental in publishing a number of rare texts, including the works of Lhatsun Namkha Jigme (lha btsun nam mkha' 'jigs med, 1597–1650) (W20865), a collection of protector liturgies from Dzogchen Monastery (rdzogs chen dgon) (BDRC W21955), an edition of the Four-Part Heart-Essence (snying thig ya bzhi) collection of Dzogchen instructions (W12827), and a compendium of magical rites or grimoire (be'u bum) attributed to Bari Lotsawa Rinchen Drak (ba ri lo tsA rin chen grags, 1040–1112) (W15562). In the latter two his name appears as Ven. Lama Jurme Drakpa. He also published a biography of Yeshe Tsogyel (ye shes mtsho rgyal) with financial support from Harold Talbott.[13]

In late 1974[14] it became clear that Lama Gyurdrak was suffering from cirrhosis of the liver, even though he never drank alcohol. He was admitted to hospital in Delhi, insisting to Talbott that they travel there by scooter rather than squander money on a taxi. In February 1975 Gyurdrak went into a coma and died. The transference of consciousness ('pho ba) was performed by one of the incarnations of Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro,[15] and his cremation ceremony was led by Tulku Thondup Rinpoche.

Although Lama Gyurdrak's writings have never been published, he is said to have composed several prayers, including some addressed to his own father[16] and one to Mañjuśrī, which came to him in a state of partial dream, partial meditation.[17]

 

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