The Treasury of Lives

Pema Chozin, also named Gyurme Chozin, was born into Lhasa aristocracy in the last decades of the seventeenth century. Her brother was Polhane Sonam Tobgyel (pho lha nas bsod nams stobs rgyal, 1689–1747); if they were full siblings, then her parents were Dolma Butri (sgrol ma bu khrid), a daughter of a well-known artist, and Pema Gyelpo (padma rgyal po), a government official and soldier. The family had an estate named Drum Polha ('brum pho lha), near Gyantse, that was a gift from the Fifth Dalai Lama (ta la'i bla ma 05, 1617–1682) for their grandfather's support during a local rebellion in the late 1650s.

She and her sister Pema Chodzom (padma chos 'dzom, d. 1748) are known to history only in brief mentions in a handful of sources, and their lives, save for the participation in one important project, are indistinguishable. They are known in sources as the "great reverend women" (rje btsun chen mo) and "reverend sisters" (rje btsun sku mched and rje btsun mched gnyis).

In 1717 the sisters fled Lhasa alongside their brother and a teacher named Drubwang Orgyen Tenpel (grub dbang o rgyan bstan 'phel, d. 1732)—a Nyingma lama also known as Shangpa Rechen (shangs pa ras chen)—taking refuge at Karye Monastery (dkar ye dgon) in Mangyul. They were escaping the Dzungar Mongol invaders who deposed Polhane's initial patron, the Khoshut Mongol ruler of Tibet Lhazang Khan (lha bzang khang, d. 1717). Although Polhane was captured, he was quickly rehabilitated and returned to positions of influence in Lhasa. The two sisters, however, remained at Karye.

The two sisters retained a degree of wealth and privilege at the monastery, which they used to sponsor Buddhist activity. They invited the prominent Barawa master Orgyen Ngawang Yeshe (o rgyan ngag dbang ye shes, 1700–1760), who was frequently in residence at the nearby Drapu Choling ( grwa phu chos gling), the main Barawa monastery in Kyirong. A native of Kyirong and a member of the prominent Jamling family ('jam gling), Orgyen Ngawang Yeshe was primarily based at Baradrak Monastery ('ba' ra brag dgon) in the Shang valley. He was the publisher of the collected writings of Barawa Gyeltsen Pelzang ('ba' ra ba rgyal mtshan dpal bzang, 1310–1391), the founder of the Barawa tradition. On their invitation he participated in consecration ceremonies and taught the community. He also performed rites for the Tibetan government at the request of Polhane, their relationship apparently managed by the sisters. The sisters sponsored his renovations of the famous Jamtrin Temple (byams sprin). In 1732 he presided over the funeral rituals of the sister's teacher Drubwang Orgyen Tenpel.

In the early 1740s Pema Chozin and Pema Chodzom served as patrons and editors for an edition in thirty-three volumes of the Collected Nyingma Tantras (rnying ma rgyud 'bum) being prepared at Karye in honor of Katok Rigdzin Tsewang Norbu (kaH thog rig 'dzin tshe dbang nor bu, 1698–1755), whose image is found repeatedly across the volumes. Such a project would have required considerable resources and labor, and their participation thus reflected not only the high degree of their education but also their wealth and connections. The project was headed by Tsewang Norbu's disciple, Trinle Dudjom Gonnang Choje (phrin las dud 'jom mgon gnang chos rje, 1726–1789) and Orgyen Ngawang Yeshe, who presided over rituals performed at the beginning and the end of the editing process under the sponsorship of the sisters. Although the collection's history names only Pema Chodzom, described as a "female bodhisattva" (byang chub sems ma), it is likely that both sisters participated in the work. The manuscript, now known as the Rigdzin Tsewang Norbu (Waddell) Edition, was taken out of Tibet by Laurence Austine Waddell (1854–1938) during the 1904 Younghusband invasion of Tibet, and its surviving thirty volumes are currently divided between the British Library, the Bodleian Library, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

In 1755, the year Tsewang Norbu passed away, Pema Chozin edited (yi ger bkod) his collected works.

The sister's presence at the monastery was still remembered decades after their death, as noted in a record of a 1789 visit to the monastery by Doring Tenzin Peljor (rdo ring bstan 'dzin dpal 'jor, b. 1760).

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