Pelgyi Sengge

Pelgyi Sengge (dpal gyi seng ge) was born in Lodrak (lho brag) into the Shubu clan (shud phu), the same clan as King Trison Detsen (khri srong lde'u btsan). He was an interior or military minister at the court, an expert in Bon, Grung (sgrung), and Deu (lde'u), or rituals, bards, and singers.

The King sent Pelgyi Sengge to Nepel to invite Padmasambhava to Tibet, after which he became a close disciple, training in Yamantaka, Mamo, and Vajrakila tantric systems. He is counted among the “eight great scholars” of Tibet.

Demonstrations of Pelgyi Sengge's spiritual attainments include reversing the flow of the river Ngamsho (ngam shod) and the stream at Chimphu (mchims phu), and shattering a rock into pieces by pointing his kila dagger at it.

Pelgyi Sengge is credited with the construction of the white stupa on the eastern side of the temple at Samye (bsam yas). At the time of the temple's consecration he sank a long wooden pipe into the soil, whence oozed forth a buttery oil which was then distributed to all present as a tea.

His clan lineage generated many successful masters and monks. Included among his reincarnations are Namcho Mingyur Dorje (gnam chos mi 'gyur rdo rje) and the Thrangu tulkus (khra 'gu sprul sku).

Sources

Bradburn, Leslie, ed. 1995. Masters of the Nyingma Lineage. Cazadero: Dharma Publications, 1995, pp. 51-52.

Grags pa 'byung gnas. 1992. Gangs can mkhas grub rim byon ming mdzod. Lanzhou: Kan su'u mi rigs dpe skrun khang, pp. 1711-1712.

Gu ru bkra shis. 1990. Gu bkra'i chos 'byung. Beijing: Krung go'i bod kyi shes rig dpe skrun khang, pp. 173-174.

'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 pp. 390-391.

Smith, Gene. 2006. “Siddha Groups and the Mahasiddhas in the Art and Literature of Tibet.” In Holy Madness: Portraits of Tantric Siddhas. New York: Rubin Museum of Art, p. 72.

Tarthang Tulku. 1975. Bringing the Teachings Alive. Cazadero, CA: Dharma Publishing, pp. 73-74.

Tarthang Tulku, et al. 1987. The Life and Liberation of Padmasambhava. Emeryville, CA: Dharma Publishing.

Arthur Mandelbaum
August 2007