A Partial Genealogy of the Lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal

Janet Gyatso
Harvard University

Abstract: This essay surveys the sources for the lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal, also known as Mkhar chen bza. It considers references to such a figure in works from Chronicle of Ba (Sba bzhed), Rnying ma bka ma materials on Vajrakla traditions, Nyang rals life of Padmasambhava, and other Rnying ma sources, down to the well-known biography from the Treasures of Stag sham, as well as a recent Bon po version of her life. It also considers what historical works do not mention her, and raises the question of whether she was a historical person or not. The heart of the essay provides detailed information on an important but little-known long biography of Ye shes mtsho rgyal from the fourteenth century by Dri med kun dga snying po, a work that is interestingly different from Stag shams story but also clearly was a source for him. Among other things, this version of the story makes no mention of any connection of Ye shes mtsho rgyal to the king Khri srong lde btsan. Another intriguing suggestion concerns references to her by Gu ru chos dbang, which hint that yet an older rendition of her lifestory might have been preserved in his collected works which has either been lost or is still to come to light. The essay considers the development of the role of Ye shes mtsho rgyal as a female consort and especially the seemingly feminist figuration of her by Stag sham. It also serves to illustrate the complex process of hagiographical development known also for so many other saints in Tibetan religious literature. Ye shes mtsho rgyal is the foremost female figure of the Rnying ma tradition.1 She shares with Ma gcig lab sgron (tenth-eleventh century) the position of pre-eminent female exemplar with whom Tibetan Buddhist women have been identified, but she far exceeds Ma gcig in significance for Tibetan national self-conception. Her legend has it that she became queen of the pivotal Yar lung king Khri srong lde

1 I am grateful to Amherst College for two Faculty Research Awards, which enabled my travel to Tibet in 1996 and 1998 and my discovery and research on Dri med kun dgas biographies described herein.

Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, no. 2 (August 2006): 1-27. www.thdl.org?id=T2719. 1550-6363/2006/2/T2719. 2006 by Janet Gyatso, Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library, and International Association of Tibetan Studies. Distributed under the THDL Digital Text License.

Gyatso: A Partial Genealogy of the Lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal

btsan, only to be bestowed in turn as a gift to the Indian master Padmasambhava in exchange for the masters tantric teachings to the royal court.2 As consort of Padmasambhava, however, Ye shes mtsho rgyal becomes a master in her own right. In some versions of the story she achieves a veritable independence, in addition to serving as a key mediatrix between Tibetans and their Indian guru in the post-eleventh-century mythology surrounding Tibets transformation into a Buddhist land. For close to twenty years western readers have had the luxury of two English translations (and more recently one in French as well) of a detailed and richly interesting account of Ye shes mtsho rgyals life.3 Replete with stories of her abduction by suitors, her Buddhist austerities, her eventual purchase of her own male consort, and even her mastery of her own rape, the tale serves, among other things, as a splendid tool for teaching college students about images of women in Tibetan tantric Buddhism. From a historical perspective, however, this hagiography of Ye shes mtsho rgyal leaves some important questions unanswered. It is the work of Stag sham nus ldan rdo rje (b. 1655), a visionary of the seventeenth century, and so was written some nine-hundred years after Ye shes mtsho rgyal would have lived. What sources did Stag sham draw upon in conceiving the narrative? Surely some earlier versions of the story existed. But none are known to Tibetan historiography, and most Tibetan scholars to whom I have ever posed this question had no clue either. More basic yet is the question of whether Ye shes mtsho rgyal is a historical figure at all. The problem is that none of the contemporary epigraphy ever mentions a Ye shes mtsho rgyal, nor a Mkhar chen bza (her clan title), at least as far as we know. What follows summarizes my progress in attempting to address these questions, the first in more detail than the second, given the paucity of historical evidence about the eighth century in Tibet.4 In the course of this discussion I will also address a third, larger question regarding the significance of the story of Ye shes mtsho rgyal, both for Tibetan Buddhist narratives about the past more generally, and with respect to the image of the female in Tibetan Buddhist practice. That significance

Mentioned in Clear Mirror Royal Chronicle (Rgyal rabs gsal bai me long), interlinear note (added, according to Srensen, soon after the authors death): Per Srensen, Tibetan Buddhist Historiography: The Mirror Illuminating the Royal Genealogies (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1994), 369n1200, 373nn1229-30.
3 Nam mkhai snying po, Mother of Knowledge: The Enlightenment of Ye-shes mTsho-rgyal, translated by Tarthang Tulku (Berkeley: Dharma Publishing, 1983); Keith Dowman, Sky Dancer: The Secret Life and Songs of the Lady Yeshe Tsogyal (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1984); and Gyalwa Tchangtchoub and Namkhai Nyingpo, La Vie de Ysh Tsogyal Souveraine du Tibet (Paris: Editions Padmakara, 1995). The Tibetan text is Stag sham rdo rje, Mkha gro ye shes mtsho rgyal gyi rnam thar (Chengdu: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1989).

Much detail and documentation has been omitted from this paper because of limitations on length; this data will be provided in full with my publication of the translation of the Dri med kun dga biography.

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has in turn some impact on our understanding of how the various versions of her life developed. Regarding first the most basic matter is Ye shes mtsho rgyal a historical figure? we are still not in a position to assert without doubt that there was an early Tibetan female master of tantric yoga called Ye shes mtsho rgyal or even Mkhar chen bza. I can say at least that there is consistency throughout the sources discussed below in locating her birth date in a bird year and her birthplace in the district of Sgrags, but there are discrepancies in these same sources concerning the names of her parents and suitors. There is a brief mention of Mkhar chen bza mtsho rgyal in some versions of the Chronicle of Ba (Sba bzhed). Interestingly, this work seems itself to be responding to the historical question of why there are no inscriptions about her by saying that she was one of the wives of Khri srong lde btsan who was engaged in meditative practice and therefore left no legacy (phyag ris).5 However, this statement is not to be found in the apparently earlier version of the Chronicle of Ba recently published.6 Mkhar chen bza mtsho rgyal is in any event known to the historian Mkhas pa ldeu (thirteenth century?) as one of eight ladies who did not hold political power but who built royal tombs, and who received initiations from Padmasambhava alongside the king.7 In addition there is a relatively early attribution of special Vajrakla virtuosity to Ye shes mtsho rgyal, as found for example in Rnying ma bka ma materials,8 as well as in the Padmasambhava hagiographical tradition beginning at least by the time of Nyang ral nyi ma od zer (1136-1204), who also lists her as one of the queens.9 In general, the references to her aristocratic affiliations in these sources fits with what is said about many other figures from the same period who are also not mentioned in inscriptions but whose existence
5 Sba bzhed ces bya ba las sba gsal snang gi bzhed pa (Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1980), 54. This statement is repeated by Nyang ral nyi ma od zer, Byang chub sems dpai sems dpa chen po chos rgyal mes dpon rnam gsum gyi rnam thar rin po chei phreng ba (Paro: Ugyen Tempai Gyaltsen, 1980), 228. 6 Pasang Wangdu and Hildegard Diemberger, dBa bzhed: The Royal Narrative Concerning the Bringing of the Buddhas Doctrine to Tibet (Vienna: Verlag der Osterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2000). 7 Mkhas pa ldeu, Rgya bod kyi chos byung rgyas pa (Lha sa: Bod rang skyong ljongs spyi tshogs tshan rig khang, 1987), 379. 8 See especially Rdo rje phur pai bshad bum slob dpon rnam gsum gyis dgongs pa slob dpon chen po padmas mkhar chen bza la gdams pa, in Two Rare Vajrakla Teachings from the Miraculous Lotus-Born Gu-ru Rin-po-che Padmasambhava (Gangtok: Gonpo Tseten, 1976), 20-22. [Also in Rnying ma bka ma rgyas pa (Darjeeling: Dupjung Lama, 1982), 10:241- 245.] See also Sog zlog pa blo gros rgyal mtshan, Dpal rdo rje phur pai lo rgyus chos kyi byung gnas ngo mtshar rgya mtshoi rba rlabs, in Collected Writings of Sog-bzlog-pa Blo-gros-rgyal-mtshan (New Delhi: Sanje Dorji, 1975), 1:133-145, and Jigs med gling pa, Phur pa rgyud lugs las chos byung ngo mtshar snang byed, in Rnying ma bka ma rgyas pa, 7:5-14. 9 Nyang ral, Slob dpon padma byung gnas kyi skyes rabs chos byung nor bui phreng ba, in Slob dpon padmai rnam thar zangs gling ma (Chengdu: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1989), 118. She is also credited with the ability to raise the dead: Nyang ral, Chos byung me tog snying po sbrang rtsii bcud (Lha sa: Bod rang skyong ljongs spyi tshogs tshan rig khang gi bod yig dpe rnying dpe skrun khang, 1988), 342. See also Bla ma rgyud pai gsol debs, in Nyang ral nyi ma od zer, Bka brgyad bde gsegs dus pai chos skor (Dalhousie: Damchoe Sangpo, 1977), 1:7.

Gyatso: A Partial Genealogy of the Lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal

we do not doubt. Were it not for the enormous cult that has constellated around Ye shes mtsho rgyal, there might be no particular reason to question the historicity of a queen named Mkhar chen bza. That cult is of course deeply indebted to the story of her life; the rest of this essay will study the history and significance of that story. As for the history of narratives of her life, my most dramatic contribution is my discovery of a full-length biography of Ye shes mtsho rgyal from the 1300s which was almost certainly an important source for Stag sham. But before describing that, the biographical fragments that are older yet should be summarized. As already noted, she is mentioned in some versions of the Chronicle of Ba as one of the queens of Khri srong lde btsan and a virtuoso of meditative practice. The so-called Mistress Way (Jo mo lugs), Ladys Way (Lcam lugs), and especially the Black Hundred Thousand (Bum nag) of the Rnying ma bka ma Vajrakla tradition preserves stories concerning Ye shes mtsho rgyals receipt of Kla teachings along with other aristocratic ladies such as Lcog ro bza and Ngam dre gsal le. It also mentions Mtsho rgyals transmission of those teachings to her brother Dpal gyi dbang phyug,10 and her display of mastery by, for example, controlling a fire in the forests around Chims phu.11 Another episode in the Bka ma, known also to Mkhas pa ldeu, occurs after her receipt of a Kla initiation alongside Khri srong lde btsan. When Padmasambhava pronounces her a kin, the king skeptically questions her abilities by challenging her to travel to Akaniha and other heavens to retrieve some of his familys lost royal treasures, a test she can pass only with the help of Padmasambhava.12 This interesting episode, which disappears in the later hagiographies, suggests the kings doubt or even jealousy about Mtsho rgyals tantric practices.13 A further question about the place of Ye shes mtsho rgyals relationship with Khri srong lde btsan in her hagiography concerns the fact that the earliest biographical sketch of her that we have, which is in Nyang rals hagiography of Padmasambhava, fails to mention her connection to the king at all. Nyang ral describes her simply as the daughter of Mkhar chen dpal gyi dbang phyug.14 Nyang ral states at the age of sixteen she was taken as a consort by Padmasambhava to Ti sgro, Bsgrags, and Mchims phu bre gu dgeu for secret tantric practices, and that she later achieved virtuosity in the Kla sdhanas and could raise the dead. She also attained the dhran of non-forgetting, for which reason she could record

10 11 12 13

See note 8 above and note 14 below. Rdo rje phur pai bshad bum, 22 (245). Mkhas pa ldeu, Chos byung, 347-48. See also Sog zlog pa, Rdo rje phur pai lo rgyus, 134-36.

As suggested also by Dri med od zer, Gter byung rin po chei lo rgyus, in Snying thig ya bzhi (Delhi: Sherab Gyaltsen Lama, 1975-79), vol. 7 (Mkha gro yang thig, part 1): 88. In this version Mtsho rgyal stays in Akaniha for three years.
14 There seems to be some confusion about the identity of this figure. In some sources, e.g., Sog zlog pa, Rdo rje phur pai lo rgyus, 143, this is Mtsho rgyals brother.

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the Treasure (gter ma) text of Padmasambhavas life.15 But in other contexts Nyang ral certainly does know Mkhar chen bza mtsho rgyal to be an imperial queen, for example in his account of Tibets kings where he repeats the Chronicle of Ba statement already mentioned.16 Nyang rals own autobiographical material even claims that his wife Jo bum ma was an emanation of Ye shes mtsho rgyal, while he himself was Khri srong lde btsan.17 That Ye shes mtsho rgyals story is important enough to Nyang ral that he deems his own wife to be her emanation is in keeping with his keenness for the Padmasambhava mythos, of which he was probably the principal architect. A key element of that mythos is in fact its emphasis on heterosexual yoga, the principal facilitator of which in the story is Ye shes mtsho rgyal herself. None of this necessarily means that Nyang ral was a proto-feminist, however. Witness his reference to his son Gro bai mgon pos body with the honorific sku, but to the body of his wife (and emanation of Ye shes mtsho rgyal!) with the non-honorific lus, all in the same sentence.18 Gu ru chos dbang (1212-70), the next major contributor to the Padmasambhava tradition, fares better. Gu ru chos dbang significantly enhanced Mtsho rgyals status by converting the already-current phrase lord and subjects (rje bangs), to a new compound lord, subject, and friend trio (rje bangs grogs gsum) that is, Khri srong lde btsan, Nam mkha snying po, and Mkhar chen bza. Lord, subject, and friend trio is Gu ru chos dbangs recurrent gloss for the principal recipients of Padmasambhavas teachings.19 (Friend is a standard euphemism for tantric consort.) In this, he put Ye shes mtsho rgyal at the same level as the king and the nobleman who were Padmasambhavas main students in the myth. More significant yet is an important indication that Gu ru chos dbang may have been the first author of a full-length lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal. I will return to this discovery below. Ye shes mtsho rgyal continues to appear in the Treasure literature after Gu ru chos dbang, although precious little is made of her elsewhere. She is entirely
15 Nyang ral, Zangs gling ma, 113. Regarding Jo mo mtsho rgyals attainment of the dhran of non-forgetting, see the colophon, p. 193. Ti sgro is only mentioned by Nyang ral, Rnam thar gsol debs, in Zangs gling ma, 198. See also Nyang rals question and answer text (zhus lan) between Mtsho rgyal and Padmasambhava, which adds other places that Ye shes mtsho rgyal stayed, and states that she became Padmasambhavas consort at age 13: extracts from this work are translated in Yeshe Tsogyal, Dakini Teachings: Padmasambhavas Oral Instructions to Lady Tsogyal, trans. Erik Pema Kunsang (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1990). 16 17

See note 5 above.

He characterizes her as sgrub rten du ye shes mtsho rgyal gyi sprul pa. Nyang ral, Bka brgyad bde gshegs dus pai gter ston myang sprul sku nyi ma od zer gyi rnam thar gsal bai me long, in Bka brgyad bde gsegs dus pai chos skor (Paro: Lama Ngodrup, 1979-80), 2:343-46. This text switches back and forth between first person accounts told with non-honorific verbs (often in narratives of dreams of meditative experiences) and third person narrative told with honorific verbs. ...mtsho rgyal gyi sprul pa/ jo bum mai lus la sku bltams/ spreui lo la...sku khrungs so/: Nyang ral, Rnam thar, 354.
19 As in Gu ru chos dbang, Bka brgyad gsang ba yongs rdzogs kyi dbang chog chen mo, in Bka brgyad bsan ba yons rdzogs (Paro: Ngodrup and Sherab Drimay, 1979), 2:398. 18

Gyatso: A Partial Genealogy of the Lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal

missing from Bu stons history, and appears only to be mentioned once, and not even by name, in the Blue Annals account of the Vajrakla lineages. In contrast, she figures fairly frequently in the Heart-Sphere of the Dakinis (Mkha gro snying tig), a key Treasure cycle put together in the fourteenth century.20 Although this cycle is officially preached to Lha lcam padma gsal,21 the resuscitated daughter of Khri srong lde btsan, Ye shes mtsho rgyal shows up in a curious detail of the story, when Padmasambhava summons her after the king faints upon learning of his daughters death. The poor-minded woman Ye shes mtsho rgyal takes a white scarf from her head and sprinkles sandalwood water which revives the king.22 This is another isolated episode that does not appear in the major biographies of Ye shes mtsho rgyal, and I wonder about its significance. Ye shes mtsho rgyals main function in the Heart-Sphere of the Dakinis seems to be, as it is elsewhere, the recorder of the Treasure. But a question and answer text (zhus lan) included in the cycle does provide this striking statement about her by Padmasambhava: Mtsho rgyal... I have searched all over Tibet and you are the only one I found who is keeping the tantric commitments (dam tshig).23 This is a rather strong claim, and the fact that it is the Heart-Sphere of the Dakinis that makes it most appropriate. Although Ye shes mtsho rgyal is not herself the star of this cycle, the Heart-Sphere of the Dakinis is precisely what makes way for her cult to develop thereafter. By being one of the first places in which Great Perfection and consort yoga are brought together and both attributed to Padmasambhava, this cycle marks the inception of the full imperial reign of Padmasambhava over the Rnying ma tradition. That in turn entails the momentous significance of Padmasambhavas own consort activity, especially with his Tibetan friend, Ye shes mtsho rgyal.24 It is not surprising that Klong chen rab byams pa (1308-1363) appears to be mentioned as one of the prophecied Treasure holders of Ye shes mtsho rgyals biography, although I have not yet found any evidence that he did produce such a work.25 He does provide a brief overview of her life, however, in one of his histories of the Heart-Sphere of the Dakinis. This overview is fairly idiosyncratic in its names for her parents and birthplace, suggesting that he was drawing on a biographical source different than the ones I have identified so far. But otherwise,
20 I discussed the role of Ye shes mtsho rgyal in this cycle in The Heart Sphere of the kins: The Place of the Female in Tibetan Myth, a paper delivered at the American Academy of Religion, 1995. David Germano provides detailed information on the history of the Heart-Sphere of the Dakinis cycle in his book manuscript Prophetic Histories of Buddhas, kins and Saints in Tibet. 21 Nonetheless, some texts in the cycle are addressed to Mtsho rgyal, such as kkii lam bras kyi skor and the key text Zhus len bdud rtsi gser phreng. 22 Dri med od zer, Gter byung rin po chei lo rgyus, 89-90. The phrase poor-minded woman (blo dman bud med) is from a similar story in O rgyan gling pa, Padma bka thang (Chengdu: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1993), 536. 23 Zhus len bdud rtsi gser phreng, in Snying thig ya bzhi (Delhi: Sherab Gyaltsen Lama, 1975-79) vol. 11 (Mkha gro snying thig, part 2): 29. 24 25

This point develped in Gyatso, The Heart Sphere of the kins. Dri med od zer is so prophecied in Dri med kun dga, Mtsho rgyal dbu, f. 62a.

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Klong chen pa refers to the standard episodes about her beauty, the kings gift of her to Padmasambhava, her consort activity with Padmasambhava, her own tantric virtuosity, and her participation in the recording of Padmasambhavas teachings.26 Other fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Treasure sources show varying degrees of knowledge about, and interest in, Ye shes mtsho rgyals life (I am setting aside her frequent appearance in visions and sdhanas). She continues to be Padamsambhavas interlocutor in a question and answer text of the Treasures of Rdo rje gling pa (1346-1405) and Sangs rgyas gling pa (1340-1396). The only thing that Bsod nams rgyal mtshans (1312-75) Clear Mirror Royal Chronicle says about her is to list her with the other consorts of Khri srong lde btsan.27 O rgyan gling pas (c.1323-1360) Testament of the Queen (Btsun moi bka thang) also has her as one of the five queens.28 O rgyan gling pa is another one of the prophecied discoverers of Ye shes mtsho rgyals biography, but again, such a work by him is not currently in evidence. However, his hagiography of Padmasambhava does name her parents, and has a few lines summarizing her life as a self-effacing devoted nun disciple of the master, adding she had no offspring.29 If neither Klong chen pa nor O rgyan gling pa have a full biography of our heroine, another visionary active in approximately the same period, and the author of the very prophecies of Klong chen pa and O rgyan gling pa just mentioned, seems to represent a quantum leap forward in the fortunes of Ye shes mtsho rgyal. His biography of Ye shes mtsho rgyal is my dramatic discovery that I alluded to above. This work may well be the oldest full length story of her life that survives. I discovered a blockprint edition of it in 1996 in Lhasa, with the help of Jake Dalton. I later found other versions in Lhasa as a well. I am preparing a translation of the text which I plan to publish; if I can obtain a copy of two other manuscript editions of the text which I now know exist, I would like to publish an edition of the Tibetan as well. The work, usually entitled something like The Lifestory of Yesh Tsogyel,30 is the revelation of a lesser-known Treasure discoverer, Dri med kun dga snying
26 Dri med od zer, Gter byung rin po chei lo rgyus, 86-90, 105, 109. See also Khro rgyal rdo rje, Slob dpon rnam gsum gyi dgongs pa phur ka bum nag lugs kyi dbang chog lag len du bsdebs pa mtsho rgyal zhal lung, in Rnying ma bka ma rgyas pa, 10:630, mentioning an important vision by Ngag gi dbang po or Padma las brel rtsal (= Klong chen pa) of Ye shes mtsho rgyal and her consort. 27 The interlinear notes do add that she was offered by the king as a consort of Padmasambhava, at which the ministers were displeased: see note 2 above. 28 O rgyan gling pa, Btsun mo bka thang yig, in Bka thang sde lnga (Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1986), 232-33. Also O rgyan gling pa, Rgyal poi bka thang, in Bka thang sde lnga (Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1986), 128, knows her as one of the recipients of the Kla teachings from Padmasambhava. 29 30

O rgyan gling pa, Padma bka thang, 705. See also pp. 3-4.

I base the following on a block print of this text in 63 folia that was kept at the Public Library of Lhasa, with a title page labelled simply Mtsho rgyal dbu. I was able to photocopy this text in 1996. When I went back in 1998 I found that the first ten folia of this copy are now missing. I also saw two cursive script (dbu med) manuscripts of the same work in Lhasa in 1998. One is entitled Mkha gro ma thams cad kyi gtso mo ye shes mtsho rgyal gyi rnam thar (46 ff.) and the other is entitled Ye shes mtsho rgyal gyi rnam par thar pa (so-called at f. 43a). I was only able to copy a few pages of the two

Gyatso: A Partial Genealogy of the Lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal

po.31 He was born in a fire pig year,32 probably 1347.33 Curiously, his biography of Ye shes mtsho rgyal seems to have been all but forgotten in recent centuries; only one of the four summaries currently available of Dri med kun dgas own life even mention that he had a lifestory (rnam thar) of Ye shes mtsho rgyal.34 Nor has a single Tibetan scholar whom I have queried orally about Ye shes mtsho rgyals lifestory heard of Dri med kun dgas writing about her. But it was certainly in circulation at one time, as evidenced by the varying manuscript editions of the work still extant in Lhasa. It was surely known to Stag sham, who names a kun dga in the prophecy of the discoverers of Ye shes mtsho rgyals lifestory and clearly follows Dri med kun dgas story line in several of his own chapters of her life, and it also spawned a partial paraphrase attributed to Padma gling pa as well as a recent Bon po version.35 Moreover, one chapter from Dri med kun dgas work,
manuscripts. The three versions of the text have interesting differences. Words and locutions are often changed and one of the manuscripts even provides an entirely different name for the heroines father, viz., Sangs rgyas ye shes.
31 He also has a Treasure cycle on Avalokitevara: Dri med kun dga, Thugs rje chen po ye shes od mchog, 2 vols. (Dalhousie: Damchoe Sangpo, 1978). He also wrote a biography of Mitrayogin called Bstan pa gsal bai sgron me. Biographical sketches of him are as follows:

1. Mkhyen rab rgya mtsho, Sangs rgyas bstan pai chos byung dris lan nor bui phreng ba (Gangtok: Dzongsar Chhentse Labrang, 1981), 391-93. 2. Kun bzang nges don klong yangs, Bod du byung bai gsang sngags snga gyur gyi bstan dzin skyes mchog rim byon gyi rnam thar nor bui do shal (A Concise History of the Nyingmapa Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism) (Dalhousie: Damchoe Sangpo, 1976), ff. 129a-130b. 3. Gu ru bkra shis, Bstan pai snying po gsang chen snga gyur nges don zab moi chos kyi byung ba gsal bar byed pai legs bshad mkhas pa dga byed ngo mtshar gtam gyi rol mtsho (n.p.: Jamyang Khentse, n.d.), 2:736-42. 4. Kong sprul blo gros mtha yas, Zab moi gter dang gter ston grub thob ji ltar byon pai lo rgyus mdor bsdus bkod pa rin chen baiuryai phreng ba, in Rin chen gter mdzod chen mo (Paro: Ngodrup and Sherap Drimay, 1976), 1:529-532. Dudjom Rimpoches (Bdud jom rin po che) history fails to give a biographical sketch of Dri med kun dga, although it does quote him (as does Kong sprul) on the question of how many Treasure discoverers there will be: Dudjom Rimpoche, The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History, trans. Gyurme Dorje and Matthew Kapstein (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1991), 1:935. Note that the listing for Trime Kunga in the index of The Nyingma School (vol. 2) refers the reader to Trime Lingpa (Dri med gling pa) but this identification is incorrect: it reflects a contemporary tendency to confuse Dri med kun dga with Dri med gling pa, who lived in the eighteenth century, and was a teacher of Jigs med gling pa.
32 Kong sprul specifies that this was a female year, while Gu ru bkra shis specifies a male year. The other biographical sketches do not specify. 33 E. Gene Smith, introduction to Kongtruls Encyclopaedia of Indo-Tibetan Culture, Parts 1-3, ed. Lokesh Chandra (New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1970), 12, gives Dri med kun dgas birth date as 1357, but this seems to be an error. We can assume he lived no earlier than the sixth twelve-year calendrical unit (rab byung), since the prophecy in his Ye shes mtsho rgyal biography mentions Dri med od zer, who we assume is Klong chen pa (1308-1363), and O rgyan gling pa (c. 1323-1360), and no later than Padma gling pa (1450-1521). He is regularly listed as one of the three Dri meds, who seem to be rough contemporaries, and one of which is Klong chen pa, so it seems likely that his birthdate is in the fourteenth century as indicated. 34 35

Kun bzang, Nor bui do shal.

I am preparing a separate article on an incomplete and simplified paraphrase attributed to Padma gling pa. The Bon po rendition of Mtsho rgyals life is discussed further below.

Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 2 (August 2006)

concerning Mtsho rgyals rescue of the evil Shita (var. Shantipa) from hell, was published separately in its own block print edition, which I also found in Lhasa, and reportedly there is another version of this smaller work in Lhasa as well. The biographical sketches of Dri med kun dgas life tell us little beyond the facts that he was born in Grwa phyi mda khang dmar and studied at Grwa phyi chu bzang. Later he went to Bsam yas chims phu where he had various Treasure revelations, and finally stayed in Kong po lhun brag36 where he built a retreat center for tantric practitioners (sngags pa).37 Why this particular figure was inspired to write a full-length lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal is far from clear. What is clear is that he produced a considerable saga, with beautifully portrayed characters and a sustained story line that are rare in Tibetan writing; the work is an interesting precursor to such literary masterpieces as the fifteenth-century Gtsang smyons biography of Mi la ras pa. In some ways reminiscent of the moving account of emotional travails in Avaghoas Buddhacarita, Dri med kun dgas tale nonetheless mimics few of the Indic kvya literary devices that we sometimes find in other Tibetan Buddhist narratives. Rather he preserves what I would say is a distinctively Tibetan aesthetic, for example in the clever and yet deeply-felt exchanges between the courting Zur mkhar38 prince and the reluctant heroine, or in the preoccupation with visionary journey and tests of skill and endurance, or in the dramaturgical segways facilitated by magical skulls and flying carpets that transport the heroine from one scene to the next. Here is an overview of the story: After a brief description of her royal family and birth in a village in Sgrags in central Tibet, the story begins in detail with the events of her sixteenth year, when her hand is sought by a prince of the Indian kingdom Bhidzara and by the Tibetan prince from Zur mkhar. She refuses both, preferring to practice Dharma. After being roughed up by her fathers own ministers, she is finally banished from the kingdom and takes up residence in a forest retreat. The Tibetan prince pursues her there and attempts forcibly to bring her back to his kingdom, but she prays to the deities, and is rescued by a youth with a topknot who turns out to be Padmasambhava. The latter is almost always called Oiyana (i.e., Oiyna) in this work, as well as Padmasambhava, Oiyana mkhan po Padmasambhava, or other variants on the name Padma, and occasionally Gu ru rin po che in this work. Padmasambhava/Oiyana gives her a magical ring to wear on her hand, and the two escape to Bsam yas chings phu (i.e., Chims phu), leaving behind two magical automatons for her frustrated suitors. In the second chapter, Padmasambhava/Oiyana transmits Great Perfection teachings to her and instructs her to practice in Chings phu for twelve years while he goes to India. After one month, a white woman appears at the door of her hut and leads her on a long visionary journey to Padma bkod (this is a notably early reference in Tibetan
36 37 38

Var. Kong po lhun grags. This place was further established by his disciple Mtshan ldan gzhon nu sangs rgyas. Vars. Zur mo mkhar, Zung mo mkhar, and Zungs mo mkhar.

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literature to this hidden land). Here she witnesses many frightening austerities, all lessons to help her develop her own faith and diligence in practice. After succeeding in a variety of feats, including beheading a tiger, she gains access to an elaborate palace where she receives esoteric initiations from several vidydharas and buddhas. She returns to Chings phu and after a year is robbed by seven bandits whom she then converts to Buddhist practice. She proceeds with the bandits on a magic carpet to the place Oiyna where they all receive peaceful and wrathful deity practice (zhi khro) initiations from a vidydhara, who gives her the secret name Mkhar chen bza and cavorts in bliss with her. In the third chapter she returns to Chings phu and finally meets Oiyana again who is back from India. A question and answer (zhus lan) session ensues, which becomes the vehicle for the master to expound on tantric and Great Perfection practice. The fourth chapter briefly lists the many other places in Tibet where Padmasambhava/Oiyana gave her teachings from the nine ynas. In the fifth chapter, she is joined by a slew of other aristocratic women to receive more Great Perfection teachings, after which twenty-five women become siddhas. She is then challenged to prove that she can help other beings by descending to hell to rescue the evil Shita/Shantipa, which she does, receiving a didactic message along the way about the inexorability of karma and its result. At the close of the episode, the wrathful deity who challenged her to the test names her Mkha gro ye shes mtsho rgyal, the first time this name appears in the work; thereafter she is almost always called by that name instead of the title used up to that point, Lady (Lha lcam). In the sixth chapter she receives teachings and prophecies of her future emanations in Tibet, and is exhorted to hide Padmasambhavas Treasure texts. The final chapter elaborates that same prophecy and the degenerate times that lie ahead. Here the five who will hold her biography are listed. The reader is also told that the author of the biography is Bandhe sangs rgyas ye shes, who hides it as a Treasure. Then Padmasambhava and Ye shes mtsho rgyal spend another sixty years together taming beings, and he finally leaves. She then becomes a buddha, just like Samantabhadr. Much of the basic outline of this story will be familiar to those who have read the Stag sham version. There are, however, several salient differences. Most noticeably, Dri med kun dga names his heroine Lha lcam padma lcam, or Lha lcam for short, a title virtually unknown for Ye shes mtsho rgyal elsewhere, where she is usually either Jo mo or Mkha gro. Furthermore, she only gets her well-known clan title Mkhar chen bza at the end of the work, as a secret initiatory name, and her most common name Ye shes mtsho rgyal also only appears at the end.39 I wonder too about the signficance of making Sangs rgyas ye shes the imputed original author of Dri med kun dgas story, rather than Nam mkha snying po, who tells Stag shams biography. There are other curious differences too, like the fact that her first suitor is from India rather than the Dpal gyi gzhon nu of Mkhar chu described by Stag sham. But perhaps the most significant divergence represented by the Dri med kun dga biography is, again, the complete lack of any reference to Ye shes mtsho rgyals marriage to Khri srong lde btsan. Rather, she goes
39

Dri med kun dga, Mtsho rgyal dbu, f. 59a .

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immediately from her struggles with her suitors into the orbit of Padmasambhava. More broadly, what this difference means is that Dri med kun dgas story lacks the leitmotif of the outraged Tibetan ministers, nor does it make the detour into Tibetan history and competition with the Bon pos that Ye shes mtsho rgyals story becomes the site for in Stag shams and other later versions of her life. The stories are otherwise closely related, but quite different in style and structure. Each version also gives very different weight to the many episodes that they share, and narrates them with independent wording. It seems on reflection that they both are dependent upon yet some other version(s). Stag sham knows of some incidents in the life of Ye shes mtsho rgyal which he does not recount but only mentions briefly, referring the reader to other sources for details.40 Some of these incidents are indeed to be found in detail in Dri med kun dgas biography, for example, her extraction of Shita from hell, and her tour of various pure lands and sight of gruesome self-mutilations. But other incidents that Stag sham mentions, like her serving of many kins, is not to be recognized in the biography by Dri med kun dga either. Moreover, various passages in Dri med kun dga curiously seem to be dependent upon certain elements in Stag sham, although this is impossible; rather what is actually indicated is that Dri med kun dga summarizes a section of an older source that Stag sham also drew upon but in more detail. For example, although Dri med kun dga makes a lot of Ye shes mtsho rgyals rescue of Shita/Shantipa, devoting an entire chapter to it, he fails to mention this evil minister in the earlier part of the story, when he commits the very abuses of the heroine that land him in hell in the first place. Stag sham, on the other hand, mentions Shantipa several times in the early torture scenes, but later only refers with one line to Mtsho rgyals rescue of him. Further clues about the sources of Dri med kun dga and Stag shams biographies might be had from their prophecies, placed in the mouth of Ye shes mtsho rgyal herself, of future discoverers of her biographies: Dri med kun dgas work provides five names and Stag shams a full nine.41 As is well known, prophecies in the Treasure literature often recount what has already happened, so we can presume that these prophesied figures actually represent previous redactors of biographies of the heroine upon which the present one draws. However, some of the names

40 Among the sources to which Stag sham, Rnam thar, makes reference for other accounts of the life of Ye shes mtsho rgyal are a Lung byang chen mo (230); a purported record of teachings received (gsan yig) (30 and 84); biographies of Padmasambhava (169); a longer account of her vision of pure lands (89); longer accounts of her journey into hell and rescue of Shantipa (184); and longer accounts of her serving many kins and travelling through sixty-two pure lands (183). 41 Dri med kun dga, Mtsho rgyal dbu, f. 62a, mentions these names: Chos kyi dbang phyug from the area of Lho mon; Oiyana gling pa of Gra mo yar; Dri med od zer of Mon bu thang; Padma badzra of Bkra shis gzhong lung; and Dri med kun dga snying po of Gra mda khang dmar (= Dri med kun dga). Stag sham, Rnam thar, 238, lists nine: Chos dbang; Bkra shis from La stod; Rdo rje who is called Dpa bo from Lho rong (= Stag sham?); Ra dza from Sham po; Rdo rje from Spu bo; Kun dga from the east (= Dri med kun dga?); and finally three women. Stag shams prophecy also states here that there will be three versions of the lifestory, a long one hidden at Zab bu ri rtse; a medium one hidden at Lho rong Khams, which is Stag shams version; and a brief one hidden at Lho brag gnam skas can.

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provided may refer merely to hypothetical individuals; and in any case, all of the names are abbreviated and therefore rarely definitive. Nonetheless, there is exciting evidence that at least one of these names, a certain Chos dbang, does indeed refer to an actual previous biographer of Ye shes mtsho rgyal.42 One of the manuscript versions of Dri med kun dgas biography quotes a passage from what is called the Collected Works of Chwang (Chos dbang bka bum)43 in the course of describing Ye shes mtsho rgyals death (which, oddly enough, is not described at all in the other versions of Dri med kun dgas work44). The quotation states that after Padmasambhava left for Rnga yab gling, Lha lcam (Mtsho rgyal) lived and meditated in Lho brag mkhar chu for two more months.45 Then, on the morning of the tenth of the second month, she rode a sunbeam and merged indistinguishably with Padmasambhava in a mansion of light. This fortuitous interpolation provides definitive evidence of yet another biography of Ye shes mtsho rgyal, otherwise unknown to us at present, from the oevre of one Chos dbang. It is not certain that this person is the famed thirteenth-century Treasure discoverer (gter ston) Gu ru chos dbang, but it is likely, for he is regularly referred to as Chos dbang. In any event, this rendition of Ye shes mtsho rgyals life in the Collected Works of Chwang was still available when this particular version of Dri med kun dgas work was being copied. Hopefully the single quoted passage is not all of the earlier text which survives now. The simple account of Ye shes mtsho rgyals death from the biography of Chos dbang probably represents an early moment in the development of the Mtsho rgyal story. It certainly contrasts strikingly with the lengthy and glorified description of her death in our most well-known hagiography of Mtsho rgyal by Stag sham. dri med kun dgas biography would seem to represent a middle point in this development, focusing as it does upon the psychological and personal dimensions of Mtsho rgyals story, cast largely as the drama of an individual woman on a journey to enlightenment. By the time the story is told by Stag sham, virtually every detail of Mtsho rgyals life has become an indication of her glorified sainthood and her status as a key player in the grand drama of the conversion of Tibet to Buddhism. This grand status is only further consolidated in a twentieth-century Bon po version of Ye shes mtsho rgyals life, which has also come to our attention. This rendition is part of a collection of biographies of female tantric masters, studied recently by Donatella Rossi, which were revealed as Treasure by Bde chen dbang mo in 1918 and included in the recent Ling shan edition of the Bnpo Canon

42

He is mentioned in both Stag sham, Rnam thar, 238, and Dri med kun dga, Mtsho rgyal dbu, f.

62a.
43 From Dri med kun dga, Mkha gro ma thams cad kyi gtso mo ye shes mtsho rgyal gyi rnam thar, ff. 45b-46a: chos dbang bka bum las/ des slob dpon rnga yab la gshegs te/ lha lcam thugs skyo bas ngang nas lho brag mkhar chur bsgrub pa la bzhugs pas/ zla ba gnyis song bai tshes bcui snga dro nyi zer la chibs te slob dpon dang dbyer med od kyi zhal yas su gshegs so zer ba dug go/ 44 45

This might indicate that the entire passage on her death is a later interpolation. Like Dri med kun dga, Chos dbang calls her Lha lcam.

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(Bon po bka gyur).46 Bde chen dbang mos version of Mtsho rgyals life sees her story from the perspective of the hagiography of Padmasambhava, as already found in Stag sham. But it goes way beyond Stag shams detour into the Buddhist-Bon po contest under Khri srong lde btsan to insert into the narrative of Ye shes mtsho rgyals life also a detailed Tibetan geography, a theogony, a royal history, and a recap of virtually every major episode in the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet and its interaction with Bon all to serve the ecumenical New Bn (Bon gsar) program for a Bon po-Buddhist reconciliation. In the modern Bon po rendition it is clearer than ever how the kings gift of Ye shes mtsho rgyal to Padmasambhava as a sexual yogic consort is essential for tantric religion to be brought to Tibet.47 It makes her the first (and virtually only) Tibetan to receive Padmasambhavas tantric transmission directly, as it were. And it serves violently but effectively to disrupt the patriarchal propriety of the old order. If these two points are at the heart of the Ye shes mtsho rgyal cult, as I believe they are, we cannot help but notice how both are saturated with the significance of her gender, that is, her female gender. I would like in conclusion, then, to attend briefly to the influence of Mtsho rgyals femaleness on the development of her lifestory. We might first of all be tempted to ask, as many western adherents of Tibetan Buddhism have done, whether Mtsho rgyals story evinces a proto-feminism in Tibetan religion.48 The answer is mixed, at best. Yes, the needs of women are served by the creation and presentation of a female heroine. Typically female predicaments are dramatized in the story, and a female perspective is frequently represented. In addition, such a heroine most certainly became a role model for real, live women, and I suspect that creating such a female model was a motivation for all of our biographers of Mtsho rgyal, at least in part. There can be no question that the story of Ye shes mtsho rgyal not only provided for Tibetans a template for the ideal female religious life, it also created a reference point for the identification and legitimation of female hierarchs and masters. One of the few ways to recognize a talented woman in Tibetan religious society has been to declare her an emanation of Ye shes mtsho rgyal. Several such women are operative today in Tibetan religion. But making a place for recognition does not eradicate misogyny. Our heroine herself points to her inferiority to men on many occasions as a woman, her birth is low, her self-regard is great, and her wisdom is small, she avers.49 Feminine weakness is even made to be intrinsic to her eminence: even the important Kla
46 Bde chen chos kyi dbang mo, Mkha gro rgya mtshoi rnam thar gsang bai mdzod, in the Bon po bka gyur (Ling shan [Lixian] edition, c. 1985), 189: ff. 196b-278a. Rossis essay is due to appear in the Proceedings of the Eighth Seminar of the International Association of Tibetan Studies. 47 See especially Bde chen, Rnam thar gsang mdzod, f. 224a seq. Alas, 224b is missing in the copy of this text owned by University of Oslo!

See, for example, Rita Gross, Yeshe Tsogyal: Enlightened Consort, Great Teacher, Female Role Model, Tibet Journal 12, no. 4 (Winter 1987): 1-18.
49 Dri med kun dga, Mtsho rgyal dbu, f. 26b; many such statements can also be located in the Stag sham version.

48

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traditions that are traced to Mtsho rgyal are said to have been created because she asked for a teaching that would be appropriately brief for her poor female mind, and would address the particularly female problem of exaggerated desire.50 The extended travails and self-denials of Dri med kun dgas ascetic Mtsho rgyal are explicitly designed as a corrective to the female tendency for weak endurance and little faith.51 Here, so low is womens esteem that their mastery of Buddhist philosophy is taken as one of the signal markers of the degenerate age52 ironically, the very degenerate age that emanations of Mtsho rgyal are predicted to ameliorate. These dismaying attitudes in the tradition of Mtsho rgyal are not surprising, given the abundant misogyny in so much of Buddhist literature. However, they do serve to make the several strikingly pro-woman statements in Stag shams version all the more astonishing. In a much-remarked passage found so far only in Stag sham, Padmasambhava counters Mtsho rgyals complaint about the difficulties of being a woman with the assertion that ultimately a womans body is in fact superior to a mans for gaining enlightenment.53 Stag sham also makes the quite unprecedented move of depicting in detail a rape scene, usually a taboo topic, and rarely described in traditional Tibetan Buddhist literature.54 But Stag sham in general is very candid about sex. Whereas Dri med kun dga alludes to Mtsho rgyals coupling with several vidydharas only elliptically, Stag sham depicts her relations with Padmasambhava and others in exuberant prose. Most striking of all, Stag sham has Padmasambhava insist that Mtsho rgyal must obtain her own male consort, one of whom she famously buys in Nepal and then trains and uses in Tibet, and another of whom she acquires in Tibet.55 Stag shams empowerment of a female figure is virtually unprecedented in Buddhist literature, and it is intriguing indeed. In particular, his depiction of female-dominant consort yoga provides a welcome development from the treatment of consort yoga in the earlier Padmasambhava-Mtsho rgyal question and answer literature, a good example of which is in fact to be found in Dri med kun dgas biography. There, Padmasambhava instructs Mtsho rgyal on how to recognize the ideal female consort, apparently forgetting that Ye shes mtsho rgyal is herself a female and would probably be more interested in recognizing the ideal male
50 51 52

Rdo rje phur pai bshad bum, 21. Cf. Sog zlog pa, Rdo rje phur pai lo rgyus, 138-39. Dri med kun dga, Mtsho rgyal dbu, f. 26b.

Dri med kun dga, Mtsho rgyal dbu, f. 61b: lta ba skye dman mtho. On a trip to Tibet in 1998, a learned male mkhan po who was the head of a academic college (shes grwa) for nuns opined that the recent appearance of such institutions for women was a sign of degenerate times.
53 54

Stag sham, Rnam thar, 114: sems bskyed ldan na mo lus lhag.

Stag sham has some confusion here for in one episode seven bandits only rob her, but in a later episode they both rob and rape her. Dri med kun dgas story recounts only that seven bandits rob her. Dri med kun dgas version has Mtsho rgyal spending much more time rehabilitating the bandits than in Stag shams story. Dri med kun dga has her eventually taking them to Oiyana (Oiyna), which is what she does in the Stag sham version for the seven rapists: Dri med kun dga, Mtsho rgyal dbu, ff. 43a-44b .
55 Dri med kun dga mentions Atsarya sale only in passing as one of the male siddhas at the end: Dri med kun dga, Mtsho rgyal dbu, f. 55b.

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consort.56 But instead, this and other question and answer texts seem to be using Mtsho rgyal merely as a vehicle to convey teachings that are, as usual, tailored for a male audience.57 I continue to try to locate other indications of woman-focused consort yoga, as well as to search for the rest of the pieces in the history of the lifestory of Ye shes mtsho rgyal.

56 57

Dri med kun dga, Mtsho rgyal dbu, ff. 48b-49a. I discuss this problem in The Heart Sphere of the kins.

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Glossary
Note: Glossary entries are organized in Tibetan alphabetical order. All entries list the following information in this order: THDL Extended Wylie transliteration of the term, THDL Phonetic rendering of the term, English translation, Sanskrit and/or Chinese equivalent, dates when applicable, and type.
Ka Wylie kun dga kun bzang kun bzang nges don klong yangs kong po lhun grags kong po lhun brag kong sprul blo gros mtha yas klong chen pa klong chen rab byams pa bka brgyad bde gshegs dus pai gter ston myang sprul sku nyi ma od zer gyi rnam thar gsal bai me long Phonetics Knga Knzang Knzang Ngedn Longyang Kongpo Lhndrak Kongpo Lhndrak Kongtrl Lodr Tay Longchenpa Longchen Rapjampa Kagy Deshek Dp Tertn Nyang Trlku Nyima zergyi Namtar Selw Melong 1308-63 English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type Person Author Author Place Place Author Person Person Text

Kagy Deshek Dp bka brgyad bde gshegs dus pai chos Chkor skor bka brgyad gsang ba Kagy Sangwa Yongdzokkyi yongs rdzogs kyi dbang chog chen mo Wangchok Chenmo bka brgyad gsang ba Kagy Sangwa Yngdzok yongs rdzogs bka thang sde lnga bka ma bkra shis Katang D Nga Kama Trashi

Text

Text

Text Text Text Person Place Term

bkra shis gzhong lung Trashi Zhonglung sku Kha Wylie khams khri srong lde btsan khro rgyal rdo rje mkhan po mkha gro mkha gro rgya mtshoi rnam thar gsang bai mdzod Phonetics Kham Tri Songd Tsen Trogyel Dorj khenpo Khandro Khandro Gyats Namtar Sangw Dz English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates ku

Type Place Person Author Term Person Text

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mkha gro snying tig Khandro Nyingtik mkha gro snying thig mkha gro ma thams cad kyi gtso mo ye shes mtsho rgyal gyi rnam thar Khandro Nyingtik Khandroma Tamchekyi Tsomo Yesh Tsogyelgyi Namtar

Heart-Sphere of the Dakinis

Textual Collection Text Text

mkha gro yang thig Khandro Yangtik mkha gro ye shes mtsho rgyal Kandro Yesh Tsogyel

Text Person Text

Khandro Yesh mkha gro ye shes mtsho rgyal gyi rnam Tsogyelgyi Namtar thar mkhar chu mkhar chen dpal gyi dbang phyug mkhar chen bza mkhar chen bza mtsho rgyal mkhas pa ldeu mkhyen rab rgya mtsho mkhyen rab rgya mtsho, dul dzin Ga Wylie gu ru bkra shis gu ru chos dbang gu ru rin po che Phonetics Guru Trashi Guru Chwang Guru Rinpoch 1212-70 English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Kharchu Kharchen Pelgyi Wangchuk Kharchen Za Kharchen Za Tsogyel Khepa Deu Khyenrap Gyatso Khyenrap Gyatso, Dndzin

Place Person Person Person thirteenth Author; Person century? Author Author

Type Author Author; Person Person Place Place Place Place Person Text Text

gra mda khang dmar Drada Khangmar gra mo yar Dramoyar

grwa phyi chu bzang Drachi Chuzang grwa phyi mda khang Drachi Da Khangmar dmar gro bai mgon po rgya bod kyi chos byung rgyas pa Drow Gnpo Gya Bkyi Chnjung Gyepa

rgyal poi bka thang Gyelpo Katang rgyal rabs gsal bai me long sgrags bsgrags Nga Wylie ngag gi dbang po Phonetics Ngakgi Wangpo English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Gyelrap Selw Melong Drak Drak Clear Mirror Royal Chronicle

Text Place Place

Type Person Author

ngag dbang blo gros Ngawang Lodr

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ngam dre gsal le rnga yab rnga yab gling sngags pa Ca Wylie lcam lugs lcog ro bza Cha Wylie

Ngandr Sall Ngayap Ngayap Ling ngakpa tantric practitioner

Person Place Place Term

Phonetics Cham Luk Chokro Za

English Ladys Way

Sanskrit/Chinese

Dates

Type Religious Practice Person

Phonetics

English

Sanskrit/Chinese

Dates

Type Person Person

chos kyi dbang phyug Chkyi Wangchuk chos dbang Chwang Collected Works of Chos-dbang

chos dbang bka bum Chwang Kambum chos byung chos byung me tog snying po Chnjung Chjung Metok Nyingpo

Text Text Text Text

chos byung me tog Chjung Metok snying po sbrang rtsii Nyingpo Drangtsi Ch bcud mchims phu bre gu dgeu chings phu chims phu Ja Wylie jo bum ma jo mo jo mo mtsho rgyal jo mo lugs jigs med gling pa rje bangs Phonetics Jombumma Jomo Jomo Tsogyel Jomo Luk Jikm Lingpa j bang lord and subjects lord, subject, and friend trio Mistress Way English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Chimpu Dregu Geu Chingpu Chimpu

Place Place Place

Type Person Person Person Religious Practice Author; Person Term Term

rje bangs grogs gsum j bang drok sum Nya Wylie nyang ral Phonetics Nyangrel

English

Sanskrit/Chinese

Dates

Type Author; Person

nyang ral nyi ma od Nyangrel Nyima zer zer nyang ral nyi ma od Nyangrel Nyima zer, Ngadak zer, mnga bdag rnying ma rnying ma bka ma rnying ma bka ma rgyas pa Nyingma Nyingma Kama Nyingma Kama Gyepa

1136-1204 Author; Person Author Organization Text Text

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snying thig ya bzhi snying ma bka ma rgyas pa Ta Wylie ti sgro gter ston gter byung rin po chei lo rgyus gter ma stag sham stag sham rdo rje stag sham nus ldan rdo rje bstan pai snying po gsang chen snga gyur nges don zab moi chos kyi byung ba gsal bar byed pai legs bshad mkhas pa dga byed ngo mtshar gtam gyi rol mtsho Tha Wylie thugs rje chen po thugs rje chen po ye shes od mchog Da Wylie dam tshig dri med dri med kun dga dri med kun dga snying po dri med gling pa dri med od zer bde chen bde chen chos kyi dbang mo bde chen dbang mo rdo rje gling pa rdo rje phur pai lo rgyus rdo rje phur pai bshad bum

Nyingtik Yazhi Nyingma Kama Gyepa

Text Text

Phonetics Tidro tertn Terjung Rinpoch Logy Terma Taksham Taksham Dorj Taksham Nden Dorj Tenp Nyingpo Sangchen Ngangyur Ngedn Zapm Chkyi Jungwa Selwar Jep Leksh Khepa Gaj Ngotsar Tamgyi Rltso

English

Sanskrit/Chinese

Dates

Type Place

Treasure discoverer

Term Text

Treasure

Term Author; Person Author Person Text

Phonetics Tukj Chenpo Tukj Chenpo Yesh chok

English

Sanskrit/Chinese

Dates

Type Text Text

Phonetics damtsik Drim Drim Knga Drim Knga Nyingpo Drim Lingpa Drim zer Dechen Dechen Chkyi Wangmo Dechen Wangmo Dorj Lingpa Dorj Purp Logy Dorj Purp Shembum

English tantric commitments

Sanskrit/Chinese

Dates

Type Term Name Author; Person Person Person Author; Person Author Author Person

1346-1405 Person Text Text

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rdo rje phur pai bshad bum slob dpon rnam gsum gyis dgongs pa slob dpon chen po padmas mkhar chen bza la gdams pa Na Wylie

Dorj Purp Shembum Loppn Nam Sumgyi Gongpa Loppn Chenpo Pem Kharchen Zala Dampa

Text

Phonetics

English

Sanskrit/Chinese

Dates

Type Person Author Text Text

nam mkha snying po Namkha Nyingpo nam mkhai snying po Namkh Nyingpo nor bui do shal rnam thar rnam thar rnam thar gsang mdzod Norb Doshel Namtar namtar Namtar Sangdz lifestory

Term Text Text

rnam thar gsol debs Namtar Sldep Pa Wylie padma bka thang padma bkod padma gling pa padma badzra Phonetics Pema Katang Pema K Pema Lingpa Pema Badzra English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates

Type Text Place

1450-1521 Person Person Person Person Person Person Text

padma las brel rtsal Pema Lendreltsel dpa bo Pawo

dpal gyi dbang phyug Pelgyi Wangchuk dpal gyi gzhon nu Pelgyi Zhnnu

dpal rdo rje phur pai Pel Dorj Purp Logy Chkyi Jungn lo rgyus chos kyi Ngotsar Gyats Balap byung gnas ngo mtshar rgya mtshoi rba rlabs spu bo Pha Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Puwo

Place

Type Text

phur pa rgyud lugs las Purpa Gylukl Chnjung Ngotsar chos byung ngo Nangj mtshar snang byed phyag ris Ba Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates chakri legacy

Term

Type Person Person

bandhe sangs rgyas ye Bend Sanggy Yesh shes bu ston Butn

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bod du byung bai gsang sngags snga gyur gyi bstan dzin skyes mchog rim byon gyi rnam thar nor bui do shal bon po bon po bka gyur bon gsar byang chub sems dpai sems dpa chen po chos rgyal mes dpon rnam gsum gyi rnam thar rin po chei phreng ba bla ma rgyud pai gsol debs blo dman bud med dbang chog dbu med bum nag sba bzhed

Bdu Jungw Sangngak Ngangyurgyi Tendzin Kyechok Rimjngyi Namtar Norb Doshel Bnpo Bnpo Kangyur Bnsar Jangchup Semp Chenpo Chgyel Mepn Nam Sumgyi Namtar Rinpoch Trengwa Lama Gyp Sldep lomen bm Wangchok um Bumnak Bazh

A Concise History of the Nyingmapa Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism

Text

Lineage Bonpo Canon New Bn Text Organization Text

Text poor-minded woman Term Text cursive script Black Hundred Thousand Chronicle of Ba Term Religious Practice Text Text

sba bzhed ces bya ba Bazh Chejawal Ba las sba gsal snang gi Selnanggi Zhepa bzhed pa Ma Wylie ma gcig ma gcig lab sgron mi la ras pa Phonetics Machik Machik Lapdrn Mila Repa English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates

Type Person

tenth-eleventh Person century Person Text Place

mes dpon rnam gsum Mepn Nam Sum mon bu thang Tsa Wylie gtsang smyon btsun mo bka thang yig Phonetics Tsangnyn Tsnmo Katangyik Testament of the Queen English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Mnbu Tang

Type Person Text Text

btsun moi bka thang Tsnm Katang Tsha Wylie Phonetics

English

Sanskrit/Chinese

Dates

Type Person Person Text

mtshan ldan gzhon nu Tsenden Zhnnu Sanggy sangs rgyas mtsho rgyal mtsho rgyal dbu Tsogyel Tsogyel U

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Zha Wylie zhi khro Phonetics Zhitro English peaceful and wrathful deity practice question and answer question and answer text Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Type Religious Practice Term Term Text

zhus lan zhus lan

zhlen zhlen

zhus len bdud rtsi gser Zhlen Dtsi Sertreng phreng Za Wylie zangs gling ma zab bu ri rtse zab moi gter dang gter ston grub thob ji ltar byon pai lo rgyus mdor bsdus bkod pa rin chen baiuryai phreng ba zung mo mkhar zur mkhar zur mo mkhar Ya Wylie yar lung ye shes mtsho rgyal g.yag sde pa chen Ra Wylie ra dza rab byung rin chen gter mdzod chen mo La Wylie la stod ling shan lus Sha Wylie sham po shes grwa Phonetics Shampo shedra academic college English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Phonetics Lat Lingshen l English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Phonetics Radza rapjung Rinchen Terdz Chenmo twelve-year calendrical unit English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Phonetics Yarlung Yesh Tsogyel Yakd Penchen English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Phonetics Zanglingma Zapbu Rits Zapm Ter dang Tertn Druptop Jitar Jnp Logy Dord Kpa Rinchen Baidury Trengwa Zungmokhar Zurkhar Zurmokhar English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates

Type Text Place Text

Place Place Place

Type Place Person Author

Type Person Term Text

Type Person Place Term

Type Place Term

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Sa Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates 1340-96 Type Person Text

sangs rgyas gling pa Sanggy Lingpa sangs rgyas bstan pai Sanggy Tenp chos byung dris lan Chnjung Drilen nor bui phreng ba Norb Trengwa sangs rgyas ye shes sog zlog pa sog zlog pa blo gros rgyal mtshan slob dpon rnam gsum gyi dgongs pa phur ka bum nag lugs kyi dbang chog lag len du bsdebs pa mtsho rgyal zhal lung slob dpon padma byung gnas kyi skyes rabs chos byung nor bui phreng ba Sanggy Yesh sokdokpa sokdokpa Lodr Gyeltsen Loppn Namsumgyi Gongpa Pur Tika Bum Nak Lukkyi Wangchok Laklendu Deppa Tsogyel Zhellung Loppn Pema Jungnekyi Kyerap Chnjung Norb Trengwa

Person Author Author Text

Text

Loppn Pem Namtar slob dpon padmai rnam thar zangs gling Zanglingma ma gsan yig senyik record of teachings received

Text

Term Place Place 1312-75 Person

bsam yas chings phu Samy Chingpu bsam yas chims phu Samy Chimpu bsod nams rgyal mtshan Ha Wylie lha lcam Phonetics Lhacham English Lady Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Snam Gyeltsen

Type Person Person Person Place Place Place Place Place

lha lcam padma lcam Lhacham Pema Cham lha lcam padma gsal Lhacham Pemasel lha sa lho brag mkhar chu lho brag gnam skas can lho mon lho rong A Wylie atsarya sale o rgyan gling pa oiyana gling pa Non-Tibetan Wylie Phonetics English Sanskrit/Chinese San. Avaghoa Dates Phonetics Atsarya Sal Orgyen Lingpa Otiyana Lingpa English Sanskrit/Chinese Dates Lhasa Lhodrak Kharchu Lhodrak Namkechen Lhomn Lhorong

Type Person

c.1323-60 Author; Person Person

Type Person

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San. Buddhacarita San. dhran San. kvya San. Kla San. Oiyna San. Padmasambhava San. Samantabhadr San. sdhana San. siddha San. Vajrakla San. vidydhara San. yna Chi. Beijing Chi. Chengdu

Text Term Term Deity Place Person Deity Term Term Deity Term Term Place Place

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