Khandro Nyingtik History

History of Heart-Essence of the Ḍākinīs

from the Khandro Nyingtik

Homage to the noble gurus!

To engender confidence and establish authenticity, I shall briefly relate the history of the lineage of gurus. For as the Union of the Sun and Moon says:

If you do not recount the history
Of the supremely secret definitive teachings,
People may not trust their authenticity.

As for the history of this lineage, this very tantra states:

The teacher, Samantabhadra and Samantabhadrī in union,
Blessed the vessel, Sattva, who is none other than themselves.
Entrusted with this singular knowledge that liberates all,
He transcended all limitations of bondage and freedom.
Then, through the blessings of Vajrasattva,
This naturally arose in the mind of Garab Dorje,
Who entrusted the tantra to Śrī Siṃha.
This tantra, Complete Fruition: Liberation Through Wearing,[1]
Was then entrusted to Padma of Oḍḍiyāna.
Reveal it to the disciple who possesses the five.

Thus, in the Akaniṣṭha palace of the dharmadhātu, the utterly pure expanse of space, the transcendent conqueror, glorious Samantabhadra and consort, who are immaculate dharmakāya, entirely without any concrete essence, assumed a form with features such as face and hands, and, in the location of Akaniṣṭha, taught the transcendent conqueror Vajrasattva naturally by means of blessings. The sambhogakāya Vajrasattva, adorned with marks and signs, then verbally instructed the emanation Garab Dorje, a resident of the human realm despite having realization equal to that of a buddha, in the palace of the Blazing Volcano charnel ground. He, in turn, taught the master Śrī Siṃha in the great charnel ground of Pāruṣyaka Grove by directly establishing his actual nature. Then he, in turn, taught the great vidyādhara known as Padma Tötreng Tsal, whose vajra-like form is beyond birth and death, in the great charnel ground of Sosadvīpa, by revealing the natural state beyond speculation.

He taught Tsogyal, the lady of Kharchen, who beheld all the ḍākinīs in visions and received their prophecies, in the Zhotö Tidro Cave[2] so that she directly ascertained the natural clarity of the essence of fivefold wisdom, beyond erroneous meditation, speculation or bewilderment.

I, the lady of Kharchen, served as the compiler and blessed this so that it might be transmitted to the minds of those in future who have a karmic connection. I entrust it to the ḍākinīs and conceal it as precious treasure. May it meet with the destined one in future. Samaya. Gya. Gya. Gya.

In the sacred and glorious hermitage of Chimphu, the master of Oḍḍiyāna and consort thoroughly and completely transmitted to Princess Pema Sal the direct realization of clear light, together with the four empowerments, four streams of pristine wisdom, and how the visions arise. They gave her the secret name Pema Ledrel Tsal.

Then, after a sequence of several rebirths, the princess was reborn in a female Iron Hare year[3] in Drintang Chöjung as the fortunate nirmāṇakāya called Pang Gangpa Rinchen Tsuldor. In his sixteenth year, he received various prophecies; his karmic predisposition was activated; and he realized all the phenomena of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa to be the dharmakāya within his own mind. He received the inventory and keys to the treasure, and then in the female Water Ox year, on the twenty-seventh day of the final month of autumn, he performed a feast and torma offering to the gurus, yidam deities, ḍākinīs, guardians of the teachings and treasure-keepers. He then prayed and retrieved the treasure from Tramo Drak in Dang Valley.

This nirmāṇakāya guru had twenty-one karmic disciples, as Orgyen Padma had foretold.[4] He entrusted the golden scrolls to Gyalse Lekden of Sewa Valley, the last of the seventeen rebirths of Shelkar Za Gönkyi, who was born in Shepo, and he granted him all the rivers of empowerment, teachings, transmissions and authorizations, saying, "You are the one that Orgyen foretold." In addition, he conferred entirely all the teachings and transmissions of inconceivable subjugation, the cycle that combines gurus, yidams, guardians, haughty spirits and yamas from the treasure of Tramo Drak.

Gyalse Lekpa did not spread the teachings for thirteen years.[5] Then when the dharma lord Rangjung Dorje, who was born in a monkey year,[6] was in his sixty-first year and was residing in Lhundrup Teng in his new monastery in Kongpo, he sent three emissaries to invite the nirmāṇakāya guru Lekdenpa. Their subsequent meeting brought great joy. Gyalse Lekpa then entrusted the yellow scrolls, teachings, transmissions and authorizations to the dharma lord Rangjung Dorje.

The dharma lord Rangjung Dorje, in turn, granted all the teachings and transmissions to Tokden Darma Dorje. The latter then granted all the teachings and transmissions to Tokden Namkha Dorje, who then granted all the teachings and transmissions to Lama Tsultrim Bum (Śīla Lakṣa). The latter then granted all the teachings and transmissions to Lama Chöbum (Dharma Lakṣa), who granted all the teachings and transmissions to Lama Sangye Pal (Buddha Śrī). The latter then granted all the teachings and transmissions to the Precious Lama Puṇya Lakṣa (Sonam Bum) of Katok in Kham.

It was before this master that I, Pakpa Önpo Darma Zangpo (Sonam Dar), received the teachings[7] through the glorious guru’s kindness[8] in the sacred practice place of the ḍākinīs in Yulmé in the sublime location of the wisdom maṇḍala of glorious Tsari. Ithi! It is complete within the undivided text.

| Translated by Adam Pearcey with the generous support of the Tsadra Foundation, 2026.

Bibliography

Tibetan Edition

"mkha' 'gro’i snying thig gi lo rgyus" In snying thig ya bzhi. 13 vols. Delhi: Sherab Gyaltsen Lama, 1975. Vol. 10: 69–74 (3 folios)

Secondary Sources

Germano, David and Janet Gyatso. "Longchenpa and the Possession of the Ḍākinīs". In David Gordon White (ed.), Tantra in Practice, Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2000, pp. 241–265

Kunsang, Erik Pema. Wellsprings of the Great Perfection: Lives and Insights of the Early Masters in the Dzogchen Lineage. Boudhanath: Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 2006.

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

Version: 1.0-20260129