Three Biographies from Jewel Rosary

Biographies of Nyang Tingdzin Zangpo, Dangma Lhungyal and Chetsün Senge Wangchuk

from The Jewel Rosary History

by Longchen Rabjam

Then Nyang Tingdzin Zangpo founded the temple of Zha Lhakhang in Uru,[1] and annotated the texts of the oral transmission for Bé Lodrö Wangchuk. He concealed these texts as treasure in the capital[2] of a pillar and in a cave[3] where they remained undetected for a hundred years. Having entrusted the teachings to Damchen Dorje Lekpa, Nyang dissolved into a mass of light in the sky above Draklha Cave near Lhasa.

After one hundred years had passed, in the temple of Zha’i Lhakhang in Uru, Dorje Lekpa issued a prophecy to the elder Dangma Lhüngyi Gyaltsen, son of Dangma Gechok. Dangma Lhungyal then extracted the treasure texts. Fifteen years later, he went in search of suitable vessel to whom he might impart the explanatory lineage. He met Chetsün Senge Wangchuk, son of Ché Tubpé Wangpo, at the lake called Nyentso in the region of Nyangro, and saw that he was a suitable recipient. Having begun to impart the instructions at Kharak, Dangma Lhungyal transmitted them completely. Then, when Dangma passed away, the whole sky filled with rainbow light, and countless relics and ringsel appeared.

Chetsün then copied the texts. He concealed the original treasure texts near Takdra Spring in Langdro Chepa. One night while he was staying there, he had a dream in which an ācārya appeared to him and said:

I am the learned Vimalamitra.
Fortunate one, if you seek the most distilled heart-essence,
In the upper recesses of Gegong at Drakmar in Chimphu
Lie the secret Nyingtik teachings, analogous to the heart.
Retrieve them and meditate upon them in Oyuk Chigong
For seven years without being seen by anyone.
Your defiled aggregates will no longer appear.

He went to Chimphu, where he met a woman with conch-like teeth and turquoise eyebrows. She took out the texts and gave them to him. He then went to stay in a rock enclosure at Oyuk Chigong, where Vimalamitra came to him in person and stayed for a fortnight, bestowing all the empowerments and instructions, before returning to China.

Chetsün then meditated for seven years and attained the level at which no physical remains are left behind. He met Tulku Gyalwa Zhangtön and, knowing him to be a suitable recipient of the instructions, fully imparted the teachings to him. Chetsün passed away at the age of 125, dissolving into a unique cluster of light rays in the sky.

| Translated by Adam Pearcey with the generous support of the Tsadra Foundation, 2025.

Bibliography

Tibetan Edition

klong chen rab 'byams pa dri med 'od zer. "lo rgyus rin po che’i phreng ba" In snying thig ya bzhi. 13 vols. Delhi: Sherab Gyaltsen Lama, 1975. Vol. 1: 101–103 (1.5 folios)

Secondary Sources

Akester, Matthew. Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo's Guide to Central Tibet. Chicago: Serindia Publications, 2016

Dudjom Rinpoche. The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism. Translated by Gyurme Dorje and Matthew Kapstein. Boston: Wisdom, 1991.

Jakob Leschly, "Chetsun Sengge Wangchuk," Treasury of Lives, accessed August 27, 2025, https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Chetsun-Sengge-Wangchuk/495.

Leschly, Jakob. "Dangma Lhungyel," Treasury of Lives, accessed August 27, 2025, https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Dangma-Lhungyel/494.

Leschly, Jakob. "Nyang Tingdzin Zangpo," Treasury of Lives, accessed August 27, 2025, https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Nyang-Tingngedzin-Zangpo/6205.

Nyoshul Khenpo. A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems. Translated by Richard Barron. Junction City, California: Padma Publication, 2005.

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