Tsangpa Gyare
{{Tibetan Buddhism}}
The great ascetic Drogon Tsangpa Gyare (1161–1211) was the main disciple of Lingchen Repa Pema Dorje and the founder of the Drukpa Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism the main or central branch of which was, until the 17th century, transmitted by his hereditary family lineage at Ralung in the Tsang region of Tibet. Later, following the birth of Gyalwang Je Kunga Paljor (1428–1476) considered to be the first of his re-incarnations, Tsangpa Gyare was held to be the first of a succession of Gyalwang Drukpa or Drukchen incarnations who, at the time of the fifth Gyalwang Drukpa Pagsam Wangpo (1593—1653), became established as the reincarnate leaders of the Drukpa lineage in Tibet.
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Predictions regarding Tsangpa Gyare
Later hagiographies of Tsangpa Gyare record several verses which are said to foretell his coming. In a terma, discovered by Guru Chokyi Wangchuk (1212–1270), it is said Guru Padmasambhava foretold the coming of Tsangpa Gyare:
:At the conjoining of three valleys
Which one calls Khule Sarel – the Fissure in the Earth –
An emanation of the Holder of the Jewel will manifest
From the summit of the large rock resembling a cube,
He will embark upon the teaching of the Dharma{{Cite quote|date=August 2008}}
In another terma, said to have been revealed by Terton Ratna Lingpa (1403-1478/79) and Terton Padma Lingpa (1445–1521) on different occasions, Padmasambhava is recorded as predicting:
:In Druk and in Ralung
Tsangpa Gyare will perform
The magic dance of emanation
Of Great Pandit Naropa.{{Cite quote|date=August 2008}}
When the famous disciple of Milarepa, Rechungpa received the teaching of Naropa's Six Points of Equal Taste from the Indian master Tipupa Sangag Dongpo, the master prophesied that Tsangpa Gyare would re-discover the text of the teachings.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}}
Biographical details
Drogon Tsangpa Gyare was born into the Gya clan at a place near Kule in the Tsang province of Southern Tibet. His father was Gya Zurpo Tsabpey and his mother Marza Darkyi. According to legend and hagiography, the child was born with his birth membrane intact, causing his parents to abandon him through fear. Whilst a giant eagle protected the vulnerable child with his wings, the new born kicked through the membrane leaving a footmark on the nearby rock.{{Citation needed|date=August 2008}}
As a young man, Drogon Tsangpa Gyare was a practitioner who studied the Sutra canon of the time, including Logic, The Way of the Bodhisattva, Metaphysics, the Transcendent Perfection of Great Wisdom and the Middle Path.
He met his Guru Lingchen Repa when he was 23.
After establishing Longbol (kLong rBol) and Ralung monasteries Drogon Tsangpa Gyare went to a place called Nam Phu to build a monastery. It is said that when he and his disciples reached the place nine roaring dragons arose from the ground and soared in the sky. The Tibetan word for dragon is
:"Half the people are Drukpa Kagyupas,
Half the Drukpa Kagyupas are beggars,
And half the beggars are Drubtobs (Siddhas)."
Students
File:Gotsangpa Gonpo Dorje.jpg (1189—1258)]]
- Önre Darma Senge (dar ma sengge) [1177—1237] - nephew of Tsangpa Gyare and first of the Middle Drukpa Kagyu lineage based at Ralung.
- Zhonnu Senge (gzhon nu sengge) [1200—1266] - nephew of Tsangpa Gyare and successor of Önre Darma Senge.
- Gotsangpa Gonpo Dorje (rgod tshang pa mgon po rdo rje) [1189—1258]
- Lorepa Wangchug Tsondru (lo ras pa dbang phyug brtson 'grus) [1187—1250]
- Gyaltsha Rinchen Gon (rgyal tsha rin chen mgon) [1118—1195] - Trophu Kagyu
- Dremowa ('bras mo ba) - founder of myang stod 'bras mo dgon
- Terkungpa
Sources
- {{cite book
| last = Dargye
| first =Yonten
| title = History of the Drukpa Kagyud School in Bhutan (12th to 17th Century A.D.)
| publisher =
| year = 2001
| location = Thimphu
| pages =
| isbn =99936-616-0-0}}
- {{cite book
| last = Powers
| first = John
| title = Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism
| publisher = Snow Lion
| year = 1994
| location =
| pages =
| isbn = 1-55939-026-3
| url-access = registration
| url = https://archive.org/details/introductiontoti00powe_0
}}
- {{cite book
| author = Tulku Thondup Rinpoche
| title = Buddhist Civilization in Tibet
| publisher = Arkana
| year = 1988
| location =
| pages =
| isbn= 0-14-019083-X}}
- {{cite book
| author = Lama Nawang Tenzin (compiler)
| title = The Wand That Opens the Eyes and Dispels the Darkness of the Mind
| publisher = Pel Drukpay Tcheutsok
| date = July 2004
| location = Shey, Ladakh
}}
References
{{No footnotes|date=August 2008}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110519131255/http://tbrc.org/link/?RID=P909 TBRC P909]
- Page on [http://www.drukpa.org/lineage/gdrukpa/01drukpa.htm Tsangpa Gyare] on His Holiness the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa's website.
- Page on [https://web.archive.org/web/20110815065612/http://drukpa.com/mwiki/index.php?title=Tsangpa_Gyare Tsangpa Gyare] at wiki.drukpa.com
- Biography of [http://www.treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Tsangpa-Gyarepa-Yeshe-Dorje/11865 The First Drukchen, Tsangpa Gyare Yeshe Dorje] at Treasuryoflives.org
{{Gyalwang Drukpa}}
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