The Treasury of Lives

Tagu Nyima Gyeltsen (sta gu nyi ma rgyal mtshan) commonly known by the abbreviated name of Tagu Nyigyel (sta gu nyi rgyal), was born in Tagu Chizhar (stag gu gci bzhar) into the Ranak (dbra nag) clan. His father, Pawo Rinchen (dpa' bo rin chen), was an ardent Bon follower.

Nyima Gyeltsen studied the arts of reading and writing at the late age of ten but is said to have mastered them without particular difficulty. At twenty-three, he went to U (dbus) and Tsang (gtsang) where he took the complete monastic vows from Khenpo Tsultrim Gyeltsen (mkhan po tshul khrims rgyal mtshan, d.u.), the abbot of Menri Monastery (sman ri dgon), who gave him the ordination name Nyima Gyeltsen.

Nyima Gyeltsen spent a long time in Menri where he studied numerous kinds of teachings, starting with The Great Element (khams chen), one of the most important works of the Bon Prajñāpāramitā tradition. According to his hagiography, during his studies of The Great Element he once had a vision of the lower realms (ngan 'gro) which comforted him in his choice of dedicating all his time to religious practice.

He studied with many masters, including Shengyel Lhundrub (gshen rgyal lhun grub), Paton Lhundrub Wanggyel (spa ston lhun grub dbang rgyal), Zhuyi Namgyel Drakpa (zhu yi rnam rgyal grags pa), Druje Zhabdrung (bru rje zhabs drung), and others. From them he received all sorts of instructions, consecrations and precepts pertaining to outer and inner teachings.

Thereafter, he traveled from one hermitage to the other, eventually meeting Bondrong Lobpon (bon grong slob dpon), also known Tenpa Ozer (bstan pa 'od zer), who was the twentieth lineage holder of the Bon Atri (a khrid) system of Dzogchen. Bondrong Lobpon gave him the direct introduction (ngo sprod) to the visions of the natural state. He also gave him the consecrations and reading authorization for the Tsewang Boyulma (tshe dbang bod yul ma), a cycle of Bon Dzogchen treasure revealed by Bonzhik Yungdrung Lingpa (bon zhig g.yung grung gling pa, b. 1228), as well as all precepts and quintessential instructions necessary for its practice. Bondrong Lobpon designated Nyima Gyeltsen as his successor in the lineage of the Tsewang Boyulma.

For the next three years, Nyima Gyeltsen faithfully followed his master and received his heart essence (thugs bcud). Together with Bondrong Lobpon and other disciples, he traveled to Jari Tsukden (bya ri gtsug ldan) where the master gave the complete teaching of the Four Cycles of the Oral Transmission (bka' rgyud skor bzhi). These Four Cycles make up the actual inner subdivisions of the Oral Transmission of Zhang zhung (zhang zhung snyan rgyud), the most authoritative cycle of Dzogchen instruction in the entire Bon tradition.

Nyima Gyeltsen then isolated himself in a hermitage in Mangyul (mang yul). It is said that his practice progressed to the stage where he experienced non-differentiation between day and night, and thereafter experienced a variety of visions and prophesies. According to legend, while in retreat he was visited by a ḍākinī named Deje Zangmo (bde byed bzang mo). She exhorted him to build a stupa in order to bring benefit to sentient beings. On another occasion, while he was circumambulating a cairn of carved stones, Avalokiteśvara appeared to him and made prophecies. Still on another occasion, while he was in a place near Mount Kailash, a small child magically appeared before him, and told him that, on his way to Dronma Lhakha (sgron ma lha kha), he would find enough food for the next three years. He had a similar vision one day while he was in Samten Ling (bsam gtan gling), where a "daughter of the non-humans" (mi ma yin) gave him eight measures of tsampa.

During one of his travels in Markham, in Kham, he met a teacher named  Śākya Pel (shAkya dpal) who exhorted him to teach Bon to the Bonpos and Buddhism to the Buddhists. Śākya Pel, who currently remains unidentified, represents the ecumenical spirit of the era, in which multiple traditions are respected as valid, and in which a single teacher might carry multiple teachings, taking care not to mingle or merge them together.

According to his hagiography, Nyima Gyeltsen practiced for nine years without sleeping, being completely absorbed in a concentration known as the “Horizon of Clear-Light” ('od gsal 'khor yug) in which he would experience everything in a state of total transparency (zang thal), free from all obscurations. It is said that local people where he stayed for a while, as well as non-human entities, would come to him with offerings of food, medicine, and other necessities.

Throughout his life, he had numerous disciples from Bon and other Buddhist lineages, the foremost among them being the yogi Lodro Gyeltsen (blo gros rgyal mtshan), the twenty-second holder of the Bon Atri (a khrid) system of Dzogchen.

At the end of his life, it is said that Nyima Gyeltsen attained complete nirvāṇa and that two small statues — one of Avalokiteśvara and one of Tsewang Rigdzin (tshe dbang rig 'dzin), a legendary Bon patriarch — were found in the ashes of his cremation, among numerous other relics.