Gyelwa Choyang

Gyelwa Choyang (rgyal ba mchog dbyangs) was born into the clan of Nganlam (ngan lam) in Uru Phanyul Valley (dbu ru 'phan yul), north of Lhasa. He was part of the first group of seven Tibetans to receive full ordination from Shantarakshita and was renowned for his discipline.

When he received the empowerment of the Eight Great Classes from Padmasambhava, his flower landed on the mandala of Hayagriva, the speech embodiment of all buddhas. Perfecting the practice of Hayagriva, he was able to display the horse-head deity from the top of his head, at which point the neighing of horses would be heard. It is also said that he was able to transmute his body into a raging fire.

Gyelwa Choyang mastered the practice of long life and conquered death. During the time of Ngadag Pelkor Tsan (mnga' bdag dpal 'khor btsan), the grandson of Trison Detsen (khri srong lde'u btsan) the translator Maben Jangchub Lodro (rma ban byang chub blo gros) was murdered and became a wrathful spirit who attacked the king. Gyelwai Choyang was able to use a thread cross rite to vanquish the spirit and cure the king. He later concealed the liturgy for the thread cross at Samye Karchu (bsam yes mkhar chu). It was revealed by Kampa Darberchen (kham pa dar ber can).

Gyelwa Choyang’s reincarnations are said to include Guru Tseten Gyaltsan (gu ru tshe brtan rgyal mtshan), Gyaton Pema Wangchuk (rgya ston pad+ma dbang phyug), Tegchen Lingpa (thegs chen gling pa) and the 2nd Karmapa, Karma Pakshi. Longchen Rabjam (klong chen rab 'jam) was his descendent in the 26th generation.

Sources

Dudjom Rinpoche. 2002. The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism. Gyurme Dorje and Matthew Kapstein, trans. Boston: Wisdom.

Tarthang Tulku. 1975. Bringing the Teachings Alive. Cazadero, CA: Dharma Publishing.

’Jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha’ yas. 2007. Gter ston brgya rtsa. In Rin chen gter mdzod chen mo. New Delhi: Shechen (v.1 p. 391).

Gu ru bkra shis. 1990. Gu bkra’i chos ’byung. Beijing: Krung go’i bod kyi shes rig dpe skrun khang, pp. 167-168.

Arthur Mandelbaum
August 2007