Orgyen Dzongpa Chokyong Gyeltsen

Even as a small child, Orgyen Dzongpa (o rgyan rdzong pa) was extremely compassionate and possessed an exceptional awareness of the fragile nature of life and the certainty of death. As a young man he studied subjects such as the monastic code, the perfections, and epistemology with teachers such as Namso Chenmo (nam bsod chen mo) and Sonam Yeshe (bsod nams ye shes). He traveled to Ngamring (ngam ring) Monastery when he was nineteen years old and gained a reputation as an expert in the Five Dharmas of Maitreya and other subjects. At the age of twenty-three he taught at Sakya Monastery and made a great impression.

At one point Orgyen Dzongpa had an extraordinary dream of the great Sakya scholar Gorampa Sonam Sengge (go rams pa bsod nams seng ge). In the dream Gorampa gave him a bowl of his vomit, which Orgyen Dzongpa completely drank, and a volume of Cakrasamvara teachings. This dream caused Orgyen Dzongpa to seek out Gorampa, from whom he then received many sutra and tantra teachings for a period of five years. He received the vows of complete ordination from Gorampa at the Sakya monastery of Ngor Ewam Choden (ngor e vaM chos ldan).

When he was thirty-two years old Orgyen Dzongpa was invited to become the teaching master (slob dpon) of the Rawame College (grwa tshang ra ba smad) of the Sakya monastery of NAlendra (nA lendra) in Central Tibet, where he taught for the next seventeen years. During this period he received many initiations, textual transmissions, and esoteric instructions such as Lamdre and the six-branch yoga of Kalacakra from the Zhalu master Khyenrab Choje (zha lu mkhyen rab chos rje), who was enthroned on the monastic seat of NAlendra in 1491 and passed away there in 1497. Orgyen Dzongpa also received Lamdre transmission from three other masters: Donyo Namgyel (don yod rnam rgyal), Kunpang Ngawang Peljor (kun spangs ngag dbang dpal 'byor), and Lodro Gyeltsen (probably bdag chen blo gros rgyal mtshan). From the seventh Karmapa, Chodrak Gyatso (karma pa chos grags rgya mtsho), Chen Nga Chokyi Drakpa (spyan mnga' chos kyi grags pa), and Ngawang Drakpa (ngag dbang grags pa, probably spyan snga ngag dbang grags pa) he received teachings of the Kagyu tradition. He received the instructions on the Six Dharmas of Niguma (ni gu chos drug) composed by the great adept Tangtong Gyelpo (grub chen thang stong rgyal po) from the Dharma lord Tenzin (chos rje bstan 'dzin pa, probably Tangtong Gyelpo's son and Dharma heir, bstan 'dzin nyi ma bzang po). And from Chokyong Sangpo, the great translator of Zhalu (zhwa lu lo tsA ba chos skyong bzang po), he received the massive Vimalaprabha commentary on the Kalacakra Tantra.

Orgyen Dzongpa was particularly dedicated to meditation practice, and his biography often mentions dreams and visionary transmissions that he received from great masters of the past. In particular, his marvelous meditation experiences are described in some detail. When he received the Path with the Result from Khyenrab Choje and practiced the yogas of the vital wind, he actually saw the colors and shapes of the vital winds of the four elements and observed their passage in and out of his body. When he practiced the yoga of the vase retention, all ordinary phenomena vanished, the forms of emptiness manifested, and his body was experienced as bliss, so that even the prick of a needle or a thorn was blissful. When he received the six-branch yoga of Kalacakra from Khyenrab Choje and practiced the first branch of Individual Withdrawal (sor sdud), the vital winds of the right and left subtle channels were drawn into the central channel, he was able to emanate and transform into various forms, all of space was filled with the forms of emptiness, and all the ten signs such as smoke appeared.

When Orgyen Dzongpa was sixty-two years old he became the twentieth holder of the monastic seat of Jonang Monastery. During the next two years he gave many teachings, including the six-branch yoga of Kalacakra on two occasions, Lamdre, the Hevjara Tantra, the Doha of Saraha, and Cho. He also taught in many other monasteries, such as Sakya, Ngamring, Pelkhor Dechen (dpal 'khor bde chen) in Gyantse, and Shelkar (shel dkar). At one point he engaged in a debate with the great Sakya master Serdok Panchen Shakya Chokden (gser mdog paN chen shAkya mchog ldan) on the topic of whether the fundamental nature of phenomena can or cannot be established as real.

When Orgyen Dzongpa passed away, he sat in the vajra position, covered his knees with his hands, straighted his back, and dissolved his awareness into the profound basic space of phenomena. Various miracles accompanied his passing, and when his body was cremated rainbows of five colors appeared in Sakya and several other places, all with their tips pointed toward Jonang.

Sources

Lo chen ratna bha dra. Kun mkhyen dbu rgyan rdzong pa yi/ rtogs brjod nyung ngu rnam gsal bzhugs. Dbu med manuscript in 19 fols.

Cyrus Stearns
August 2008