A Brief Biography of Kyabjé Tenzin Nyima Rinpoché (1924-2006) The 36th Tripön of Drigung-til Monastery

Kyabjé1 Könchok Tenzin Nyima Rinpoché was born in 1924 near the Zha Temple at Meldro Gongkar2 district of Lhasa, Tibet. His father’s name was Tsingkhan and his mother’s name was Nyikyi Lhamo and he also had two sisters. At a very young age, Rinpoché was admitted to Drigung-til Monastery. It was at the monastery that he first started learning to read and write. Even from that time, he was known for his great exertion in learning the various aspects of monastic knowledge. Growing up as an ordinary monk at Drigung-til, he was appointed different positions of trust due to his abilities and dedication. While still a young monk, he was appointed as the shrine-keeper of the important Golden Temple3 at Drigung-til. Later he also functioned as chabril (a monk who specializes in chanting). Rinpoché was remembered as having a very strict and stern demeanor and did not hesitate in reprimanding

1 Kyabjé – “Lord of Refuge.” 2 Drigung Valley is part of Meldro Gongkar district. 3 The Golden Temple or “Serkhang” is where Kyobpa Jikten Sumgön composed the famed “Serkhangma Practice.” It currently houses an image of Kyobpa Rinpoché that contains his heart-relic.

and punishing any misdeeds done by those monks under his supervision. Nobody at the monastery objected or complained about Rinpoché’s style since he always led by example, being especially strict with his own conduct at all times. When Rinpoché reached the appropriate age for receiving the bhikshu vows, he was ordained as a bhikshu by the previous Gyabra Rinpoché (Tenzin Thupten Wangpo, 1921-1979, who eventually became the regent of the Drigung Kyabgöns). When His Holiness Drigung Kyabgön Chetsang, Shiwé Lodrö (1886-1943, the previous Drigung Kyabgon Chetsang Rinpoché) gave the Cakrasamvara empowerment to a selected group of retreatants at Yangri-gar Monastery4, Rinpoché was able to join the group and receive this precious empowerment from His Holiness. Later, Rinpoché received many important teachings such as the Five-fold Profound Path of Mahamudra and the Six Yogas of Naropa from the great master Vajradhara Pachung Rinpoché (1901-1988). In his thirties, Rinpoché was appointed as the jangdrenpa (the monastic chant-leader). At that time, Rinpoché also started training in calm-abiding meditation. It is said that during this time, Rinpoché’s meditative-absorption was so intense that his assistant frequently had to interrupt Rinpoché’s meditative-absorption during chanting sessions so that the sessions can end. This is just as Rinpoché would relate later in life how he would be fully absorbed in reading a text that countless hours would pass without him barely noticing it. Although Rinpoché was not able to attend the famed Nyima Jangra Shedra (monastic college at Drigung) or join the formal meditation group at the retreat center at Drigung-til, he received many profound secret oral-instructions, reading transmissions of the “Profound Dharma” of Kyobpa Jigten Sumgön, and other pith-instructions from Vajradhara Pachung Rinpoché and thoroughly mastered these teachings himself. Rinpoché also received some precious teachings from the previous Yongzin A-yang Rinpoché and Chözed Rinpoché. Many changes happened over the years, culminating in the so-called Cultural Revolution. During the Earth Pig year, like many others at the monastery, Rinpoché was forced to leave the monastery and had to live at Gongbo Tsara, a small village below the monastery. During this time, Rinpoché was often ill and it especially pained him to have to witness the complete destruction of Drigung-til during this time. As he would later recount, these events led Rinpoché to deeply recognize that all compounded phenomena are indeed impermanent. Also, even as other monks returned to lay-life and started families under the duress of rapidly changing conditions and hostile governmental policies, Rinpoché held on to his monastic vows and firmly adhered to Kyobpa Jikten Sumgön’s teaching in the Gongchik that “mahamudra and Vinaya-discipline are one.” Eventually, things began to improve. After the end of the Cultural Revolution, religious policies in Tibet began to change for the better. At that time, several leaders of Drigung-til Monastery conferred together and decided to seek the government’s permission to rebuild

4 Yangri-gar Monastery was established by Gyalwang Rinchen Puntsok, the 17th throne-holder of the lineage and is not far from Drigung-til Monastery. Since that time, it has functioned as one of the three official residences of the Drigung Kyabgöns. It is now in the process of being rebuilt (after being completely destroyed during the Cultural Revolution). The Gyabra and Palok tulkus are lamas of this monastery.

the monastery. Permission was eventually granted and rebuilding commenced. Encouraged by his root-lama Vajradhara Pachung Rinpoché, Gelong Rinpoché eventually returned to the monastery and was reunited with his lama and the monastery and together worked for the happiness of all. At the age of fifty-nine, Gelong Rinpoché was finally able to enter into a formal retreat. He joined a group of meditators under the direction of Vajradhara Pachung Rinpoché. During that time, he also guided the other meditators while simultaneously serving as the main abbot of Drigung-til and leading the monks in reconstructing the monastery. Later, when Soktrul Rinpoché came to Drigung-til, Gelong Rinpoché retired from the position of the abbot and offered it to Soktrul Rinpoché. This allowed Gelong Rinpoché to focus exclusively on his own meditative-practice. In the Wood-Ox Year (1985), Gelong Rinpoché served as one of three preceptors when Pachung Rinpoché transmitted the bhikshu-vows to many monks. This was a happy occasion considering the recent oppression of monasteries in Tibet. Once again, Drigung-til was rising from the ashes. Soon after, however, his root-lama Pachung Rinpoché began to manifest signs of impermanence. On the 14th day of seventh month of the Fire-Tiger Year (1986), Pachung Rinpoché said to Gelong Rinpoché: “If the father does not go away, the son will not grow up. So, now it is time for me to hand over the helm of the practice-lineage to you.” On that occasion, Pachung Rinpoché installed Gelong Rinpoché as his successor. From the 16th century on, there has always been a highly-realized master at Drigung-til Monastery appointed as the main teacher to all the short and long-term retreatants. Each of these masters often started as ordinary monks at the monastery who were later recognized for their high accomplishments and eventually appointed to this special position and formally honored with the title of tripön (“master of pith-instructions”).5 Since that time until recently, Gelong Rinpoché has served as the main teacher in the Drigung area - with all the Drigung Kagyü monks and nuns receiving all their monastic vows from him. The monks, nuns and lay-yogins in the area also came to Rinpoché for empowerments, teachings and oral-instructions of the lineage. The name “Gelong Rinpoché” (lit. “the Precious Bhikshu”) is another unique term used only for those considered highly-realized in the Drigung Kagyü lineage. It is based on the understanding that a true monk/bhikshu (gelong in Tibetan) is an enlightened monk. Thus, such individuals are sometimes referred “simply” to as “Bhikshu/Monk Rinpoché.” Gelong Rinpoché began to give oral-instructions and transmissions of mahamudra and the Six Dharmas of Naropa to new practitioners after he was designated as Pachung Rinpoché’s successor. In the Earth-Dragon Year (1988), Vajradhara Pachung Rinpoché passed into nirvana. Gelong Rinpoché led the funeral rites in an extensive as well as detailed manner, mourning the loss of his root-lama. Right after the rites were completed, Gelong Rinpoché entered into strict solitary-retreat, sealing the entrance to his meditation-hut with mud. (This is a tradition at Drigung-til – to seal one’s door with mud when one is in strict retreat.)

5 This information is taken from Guide to Drigung-til Monastery authored by Dakpo Chenga Rinpoché (aka Könchok Gyatso) and published by Drigung-til Monastery.

On only one occasion during this long period of strict solitary-retreat, did Gelong Rinpoché leave his retreat when he agreed to visit some of the monasteries in the Lhokha area (in southern Tibet) due to the requests of Nyidak Rinpoché (head-lama of Katsel Monastery, and also one of Gelong Rinpoché’s disciples). Other than that occasion, Rinpoché never left Drigung-til but instead remained in retreat in his meditation-hut. From the time of his appointment as the tripön of Drigung-til on, Rinpoché dedicated his time to his own practice and the instruction of disciples. When someone tried to persuade Rinpoché to rebuild an assembly hall for the exclusive use of retreatants at Drigung-til, Rinpoché responded by saying, “My honored lama gave me the responsibility of teaching mahamudra and the Six Dharmas of Naropa, not constructing buildings. If you want to pray, you can just go to the monastic hall (i.e. the main shrine hall).” On another occasion, someone else wanted to initiate the practice of an annual recitation of the Extensive Perfection of Wisdom Sutra at the charnel ground and so tried to persuade Rinpoché to participate in it. In response to that effort, Rinpoché said, “A practitioner is one who meditates on the essential-meaning of the Perfection of Wisdom, not one who recites it.” Thus, Rinpoché’s instructions were always direct and exacting.

As the esteemed tripön many people would come to Rinpoché requesting mahamudra pointing-out instructions. However, many beginning practitioners failed to grasp the meaning of the instructions even when Rinpoché repeated instructed them. To these disciples, Rinpoché

would advice them as follows: “The reason why you are not able to benefit from my pointing-out instructions is because you have not done enough ‘hearing’ and ‘contemplating.’ You should focus more on learning first. Until you have cultivated the ‘hearing’ and ‘contemplating’ aspects, you will not be able to understand the pointing-out instructions.” Thus, although meditation was his main focus, Rinpoché did not downplay the importance of studying the Dharma. Over the years, as Rinpoché’s fame spread, many foreigners and visitors also came to him to request teachings and blessings. Frequently, these students are only interested in “profound instructions.” To them, Rinpoché would say: “Without first practicing the general and special preliminaries, people often want the pointing-out instructions. One might have pacified the coarse afflictive-emotions and sufferings through superficial meditation. But simply having a strong desire for a state of inner-calmness through meditation is not enough. It is important that one’s practice has the proper preliminary practices, the main body of practice and the concluding sections.” In the winter of the Wood-Pig Year (1995), KyeNga Rinpoché from Ga Drupgyü Monastery (in eastern Tibet) ordered the abbot, umdzé (chant-leader) and about thirty of his best monks to travel to Drigung-til to receive instructions from Gelong Rinpoché. During that time, Gelong Rinpoché made an exception and left his meditation-hut to give teachings to the monks who came for the unique teachings of the Drigung Kagyü tradition. Rinpoché completed the instructions with great love and compassion and prayed for the flourishing of the teachings. Soon after, Rinpoché returned to his retreat hut. In later years, Rinpoché generally interspersed his strict retreat schedule in the summer and autumn months to instruct disciples who came from all different parts of Tibet and beyond. When Rinpoché’s eyesight deteriorated to the point of him not being able to read the texts, he would have an attendant monk read the texts out loud, followed by Rinpoché‘s own explanations and instructions. Many practitioners came from far and wide to seek Rinpoché’s guidance. For many, Rinpoché was Kyobpa Rinpoché himself in our own times. After being ill for a short period, Gelong Rinpoché passed away on the morning of June 7, 2006. The week before Rinpoché’s passing, perhaps to satisfy the wishes of his disciples, Rinpoché agreed to the request that he be taken to Lhasa for better medical care. Although he did stay in Lhasa for a few days and agreed to be inspected by doctors, Rinpoché refused all other medical interventions. He also started to decrease his intake of food and drink. When disciples came and begged Rinpoché to “remain in the world and not pass away,” he responded to every request by reminding everyone that “all compounded phenomena are impermanent” and that the disciples should not hope for the impossible. It then became clear to many that Rinpoché was ready to leave. After a few days in Lhasa at Angön Rinpoché’s residence, Gelong Rinpoché was taken back to Drigung-til as he requested. Within several hours of Rinpoché’s return to the monastery, he passed away but remained in the meditation-state (Tib. “thukdam”) for several days after. In retrospect, Rinpoché foretold the exact day of his passing into nirvana. Rinpoché’s body also manifested signs of rainbow-body, shrinking in size rapidly.

About a week after Rinpoché’s passing, Rinpoché’s remains were cremated at the famous sky-burial site above Drigung-til Monastery. Many relics were collected after the cremation and a stupa will be built at Drigung-til in the near future to house Gelong Rinpoché’s relics. A small portion of Rinpoché’s ashes and robes has been offered to Tibetan Meditation Center as it is a branch of Drigung-til Monastery. These precious relics will allow people to make a more direct connection with Rinpoché and cause them to receive Rinpoché’s blessings. We are also happy to announce that Gelong Tenzin Nyima Rinpoché has left us with a successor – having chosen and enthroned his heart-disciple, Tashi Rabten last year as the thirty-seventh tripön and thus main teacher of all the retreatants, monks and nuns in the Drigung area.

(This article is based on Palok Rinpoché’s translation of an entry on Gelong Rinpoché in Chenga Dakpo Rinpoché’s History of Drigung supplemented with other oral accounts gathered by Dr. Hun Lye.)