Chennga Drakpa Jungne

Chennga Drakpa Jungne (spyan snga grags pa 'byung gnas) was born in 1175, in a minor region of eastern Tibet called Chi (lci), near Nangchen (nang chen). Hi father,  named Yonchen Gyelwa Kyab (yon chen rgyal ba skyabs), was a member of the Lang (rlang) family, to which Pakmodrupa also belonged. His   wife, named Drodogza Khuyug Men ('bro ldog bza' khu byug sman), gave birth to three sons, including the one that would be called Chennga Drakpa Jungne. Later Yonchen took a second wife named Deguma (de gu ma) who had yet another son.

Chennga took his novice ordination at Yogu (g.yo gu) in his eleventh year, receiving together with it the name Drakpa Jungne. For a three-year period he received guidance in meditation at the feet of one of Pakmodrupa's disciples Yelpugpa (yel phug pa). One day when he was fifteen, he told his father that he needed to travel with Yelpugpa as his attendant, so his father gave him a fine horse and he ran away, riding it to Karsho (dkar shod). There he met a countryman of Jigten Gonpo. This man told him that the fulfilment of his karma and aspirations were to be found in U (dbus). With his lama supplying all his needs, he set out for Drigung ('bri gung).

When Chennga arrived at Drigung he was greeted by his paternal kinsman Yeshe Lama (ye shes bla ma). Together they went for an audience with Jigten Gonpo who was seated on the red teaching chair. The Dharma Lord smiled and placed his hands on top of Chennga's head saying, “This child is bright and his past accumulations are great, and seeing the way you wear your hat you will make a great meditator.” It is said that the moment the teacher touched his head he experienced “the king of contemplative concentrations in which all dharmas are equalized and free of intrusions by mental projections.”

Jigten Gonpo gave Chennga a hut and he practiced meditation for a few years. When Jigten Gonpo went to Dakpo he went along as his attendant, and served in this position for nearly two decades, right up until the time he became an abbot. This is why the name Chennga (spyan snga), which means “servant,” was given to him. Although his duties took up much of his time, he would sit at Jigten Gonpo's right-hand side when there were teachings. He did his recitations in the evening and engaged in quiet meditation at midnight. Sometimes he tutored other monks who had problems understanding the teachings.

In 1208 there was a dispute based in different ideas about how best to preserve the books of Pakmodrupa at Densa Til. Jigten Gonpo thought they would be safer at Daklha Gampo (dwags la sgam po) and had them moved there. Some even accused him of doing damage to Densa Til (gdan sa thil). He responded, “I will make the Headquarters (gdan sa) an hundred, even a thousand times better.” In fact Densa Til had been seeing hard times, including local fighting and famines that might in turn explain why there had been problems keeping monks there. So Chennga had been entrusted with a difficult job. The former relationship of teacher and student as well as employer and servant was reversed. Jigten Gonpo even told him, “Until now I was the Lama, but from now on you are my Lama.” As abbot, Chennga involved himself exclusively in the internal affairs of the monastic community, spending most of the time he was not teaching meditating in seclusion. He insisted that his monks also spend much time meditating and that they observe the rules of the Vinaya. Jigten Gonpo's predictions proved true, since the monastery flourished under his abbacy.

In 1234, On Sonam Drakpa died, and Chennga attended the funeral rites at Drigung. While he was there the elders held a council and requested him to be their abbot. For the most part his abbacy of Drigung went very smoothly, except in 1239, when an advanced force of the Mongols reached Drigung. The threat of a Mongol invasion had been hanging over Tibet for years, certainly since the fall of the Tanguts in 1226. The Mongols burned both Reting (rwa sgreng) and Gyal Lhakang (rgyal lha khang). When the Mongol general Miliji (mi li ci) met with Chennga face to face, he felt drawn to him by faith, thinking of him has his own father. The general promised to support him with offerings at a later time and turned back. Just twenty-eight days later when the second Mongol general Dora (rdo rta) arrived, there was a shower of stones from the sky. They say it is because the Mongols were so impressed by this prodigy they caused very little harm to Tibet. In fact, Tibet never underwent a Mongolian military occupation as so much of the northern parts of Eurasia suffered in those times.

Chennga's disciples during his later years included very many of the significant Kagyu figures of the day. Yanggonpa (yang dgon pa) at least ought to be mentioned. When Chennga died in his bedroom in Drigung at the ripe age of eighty-one, his funeral was very widely attended. When his body was cremated there were a number of marvelous occurrences. Flowers fell from the sky. Rainbows appeared. Since everything touched by the smoke from his pyre started producing crystalline relic spheres called ringsel, it is said that ringsel fell down like rain. During his lifetime, Drigung Monastery in particular flourished. So much so that it is said that as many as 180,000 monks gathered there. This is surely an exaggerated number, but it must hold some truth. Perhaps 18,000 was the intended number, and even then it had to be the number of monks that attended the funeral of On Sonam Drakpa in 1234, not the number of permanent residents.

Sources

Roerich, George, trans. 1996. The Blue Annals. 2nd ed. Delhi: Motilal, pp. 609-10.

Tshe dbang rgyal. 1994. Lho rong chos ’byung. Lhasa: Bod ljongs bod yig dpe rnying dpe skrun khang, pp. 368-70.

Dan Martin
August 2008