The Succession of Lives of the Lhodrak Terton Kunzang Dechen Lingpa

This image replicates a wall painting at His Holiness Kunzang Dechen Lingpa’s

Zangdokpalri temple in Arunachal Pradesh, India. It shows his succession of lives and

features important figures from Tibetan Buddhist history. Each one of these figures

warrant in-depth analysis and description of their lives. Therefore, for the benefit of

those who would like to know more, I have included a list of further reading at the end

of this excerpt. Viewed as a sacred image this thangka has deep religious significance

for followers of the Buddhist tradition and of HH Kunzang Dechen Lingpa Rinpoche. In

the spirit of how the image is intended to be understood and received, what follows is a

brief description, of each of the figures depicted, from a traditional Buddhist

perspective.

1. Desheg Rinchen or Ratnaśikhin the Jeweled Crown: Identified as the last or final

Buddha of the first of the immeasurable eons. He is often included in the list of the first

seven Buddhas.

2. Drubchen Sarahapa, Saraha or Sarahapāda: Usually depicted holding an arrow,

the Mahāsiddha Saraha is considered to be one of the founders of Buddhist Vajrayāna,

particularly of the Mahāmudrā tradition. His spiritual poetry and songs are gathered in

a manuscript entitled Dohakośa, ‘Treasury of Rhyming Couplets' Sarahapāda is

generally believed to have born in Eastern India in the late 8th century or early 9th

century CE to a Brahmin family and studied at the Indian Buddhist monastic university

Nalanda.

3. Drubchen Kukuripa or Kukkuripa the Dog Lover: Well known in the Buddhist

tradition is the story of how this Indian Mahāsiddha gained spiritual insight by caring

for a stray dog. Kukkuripa was also known for his tantric songs of realization; three of

his verses appear in an early East Indian compilation called Charyapada dating from the

8th-12th centuries.

4. Jampel Shenyen or Mañjuśrīmitra: An Indian Buddhist scholar considered to be

one of the chief disciples of Garab Dorje, the first human teacher of the Great Perfection

teachings (from whom Mañjuśrīmitra received direct transmission). The division of the

Dzogchen teachings into three series of Sems sde, ‘mind class’, Klong sde ‘expanse class’

and Ma ngag sde ‘pith instructions class’ is attributed to him. Mañjuśrīmitra is also

thought to have transmitted the Dzogchen teachings to Sri Singha, who in turn, is

believed to have been the teacher of Vimalamitra.

5. Drimed Shenyen or Vimalamitra is regarded as one of the main fore-fathers of

Dzogchen. Vimalamitra was one of the Indian masters, along with Padmasambhava who

was invited to Tibet by emissaries of King Trisong Detsen in the 8th century CE.

Vimalamitra is a central figure in Tibetan Buddhist Vajrayāna; he concealed treasure

teachings known as the Vima Nyingthig ‘Secret Heart Essence of Vimalamitra’ one of the

seminal heart teachings of the ‘pith instruction class’ cycle of the Great Perfection teachings.

Vimalamitra is also the spiritual fountainhead of the Melong Dorje lineage to which

Longsel Nyingpo and Kunzang Dechen Lingpa Rinpoche are both connected.

6. Langdro Konchog Jungney was an 8th century minister at the court of King Trisong

Detsen in Tibet; he later became one of Padmasambhava’s 25 disciples. The Nyingma

treasure revealers, Ratna Ling pa (1403-1471) and Longsel Nyingpo (1625-1692) are

considered to be among his emanations.

7. King Ralpacan (9th century CE) One of the three Tibetan Dharma Kings and an

important figure in the establishment of Buddhism in Tibet. In traditional histories, he

was assassinated by anti- Buddhist ministers.

8. Karma Düsum Khyenpa, The Knower of the Three Times (1110 – 1193) The First

Karmapa was a disciple of Gampopa (1079 -1135) who received the oral transmission, (of

teachings that were later to be known as those of the Kagyu lineage) from Tibet's great yogi,

Milarepa (1052 - 1135). One of Düsum Khyenpa’s main disciples was Kadampa Desheg

(1122-1192) founder of the Kathok Nyingma lineage. Düsum Khyenpa is also

considered to be one the first recorded examples of a Tibetan reincarnate lama, as

before his death he left a letter describing the conditions of his rebirth.

9. Tsongkhapa (1357–1419) was a famous and pre-eminent Tibetan scholar and lama

whose activities led to the formation of the Gelugpa tradition in the 14th century. He

was believed to have received teachings from masters of all Tibetan Buddhist traditions.

Tsongkhapa drew inspiration from the teachings of Atisha and placed great emphasis

upon debate, the study of logic and the monastic moral code vinaya. He also taught

extensively on how to bring the Sutra and Tantra teachings together as well as writing

numerous commentaries and summarizations on philosophical Buddhist teachings

10. Longsel Nyingpo (1625-1692) was a treasure revealer influential in the rebuilding

of one of the ancient Nyingma monasteries, Kathok (originally dating from the 12th

century CE), in the eastern Tibetan region of Kham. In the mid 17th century CE, he

became its head lama and brought about a profound transformation of its

administrative and religious programs. Longsel Nyingpo was considered to be an

emanation of one of Padmasambhava’s original 25 disciples, Langdro Konchog Jungnay.

Kunzang Dechen Lingpa Rinpoche as a young boy was recognized as an incarnation of

Longsel Nyingpo and therefore is linked with all of this figure’s previous incarnations.

11. Ratna Lingpa (1403-1478) was a prominent Tibetan Nyingma treasure revealer

and one of the compilers of the Nyingma canonical texts known as ‘The Collected Tantra

of the Ancients’ Nyingma Gyubum. He is also considered to be reincarnation of Langdro

Konchog Jungnay.

12. Jedrung Jampa Jungnay or Jedrung Rinpoche (1856-1922) was the 7th abbot of

Riwoche Monastery in Kham. Jedrung Rinpoche was primarily known as a Kagyu lama,

but he also was a master of the Nyingma tradition, and a renowned treasure revealer.

At the beginning of the 20th century, when thousands of Tibetans fled Kham during the

atrocities of the Chinese general Zhao Erfeng (1845-1911), Jedrung Rinpoche led

approximately 2,000 followers in search of the mythical hidden land of Pemako; where

he built a temple called Karmo Ling. However, the refugees experienced difficult

relations with the local people and many of them eventually returned to Kham. Jedrung

Rinpoche remained in Pemako with many disciples, and it was there that he

encountered the renowned Lama, scholar and treasure revealer, Dudjom Rinpoche

(1904-1988), who became one of his closest disciples.

Amongst the thirteen volumes of Jedrung Rinpoche’s writings is a revealed longevity

sādhana called The Secret Heart Drop of Padma, Pad ma gsang thig. In the 1950s the

disciples of Jedrung Rinpoche in Pemako, offered the temple to Kunzang Dechen Lingpa

before he escaped to India in 1962.

Further Reading:

Dowman, Keith 1986 Masters of Mahāmudrā: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-four

Buddhist Siddhas. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Dudjom Rinpoche (new edition) 2005 The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its

Fundamentals and History. Wisdom Publications.

Khenpo, Nyoshul 2005 A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems: Biographies of Masters of

Awareness in the Dzogchen Lineage. Padma Publishing: Junction City.

Schaeffer, Kurtis R. 2005 Dreaming the Great Brahmin: Tibetan Traditions of the

Buddhist Poet-Saint Saraha. Oxford University Press, USA.

Stein, R. A. 1972 Tibetan Civilization Stanford University Press.

Thondup, Tulku 2000 Masters of Meditation and Miracles: Lives of the Great Buddhist

Masters of India and Tibet. Shambhala Publications: Boston.