Jatson Nyingpo Page
Jatson Nyingpo Biography:
Jatson Nyingpo, 1585-1656, ('ja' tshon snying po) was born in 1585 in Waru, in Kongpo. His father was named Chogyong Gonpo (chos skyong mgon po) and his mother was Namlang Buti (nam langs bu khrid). From the age of twelve until twenty he studied various subjects, including medicine. Then, at the age of twenty, he took preliminary ordination under Mipam Tashi Lodro (mi pham bkra shis blo gros, 1577-1636), and received the name of Ngagwang Chogyal Wangpo (ngag dbang chos rgyal dbang po). He received full ordination from a certain Lhatsewa (lha rtse ba).
Jatson Nyingpo spent seventeen years in retreat, sealing the door of his hermitage with clay. According to his hagiography, while in retreat or soon afterwards, at the age of thirty-six, in 1620, Jatson Nyingpo revealed a treasure inventory written in the hand of Yeshe Tsogyal (mtsho rgyal gyi phyag bris ma), and went on to reveal numerous treasure texts, including his best known cycle, the Konchog Chidu (dkon mchog spyi 'dus). He is also known under the treasure name Ledro Lingpa (las 'phro gling pa) and the tantric name Ngagchang Humnag Mebar (sngags 'chang hUm nag me 'bar).
Jatson Nyingpo established the monastic center of Pangri Jokpo (bang ri 'jog po), and he served as master to many prominent Nyingma and Kagyu lamas. These included the Tenth Karmapa, Choying Dorje (karma pa 10 chos dbyings rdo rje. 1610-1674); the Fourth Tsurpu Gyaltsab, Dragpa Dongrub (mtshur phu rgyal tshab 04 grags pa don grub, 1550-1617); the First Drigung Chungtsang, Chokyi Dragpa ('bri gung chung tshang chos kyi grags pa, 1595-1659); The Fifth Drugchen, Pagsam Wangpo ('brug chen 05 dpag bsam dbang po, 1593-1641), Dordrag Rigdzin Ngagi Wangpo (rdo brag rig 'dzin ngag gi dbang po, 1580-1639), Tsele Natsog Rangdrol (rtse le sna tshogs rang grol, b. 1608), Lhatsun Namkha Jigme (lha btsun nam mkha' 'jigs med, 1597-1650), Rigdzin Trinle Lhundrub (rig 'dzin 'phrin las lhun grub, 1611-1662) and Terton Dudul Dorje (gter ston bdud 'dul rdo rje, 1615-1672). Jatson Nyingpo died at the age of seventy-two.
Name Variants: Bangri Jatson Nyingpo; Bangter Jatson Nyingpo; Ledro Lingpa; Ngagchang Humnag Mebar; Ngagwang Chogyal Wangpo.
Sources:
Dudjom Rinpoche. The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism. Translated by Gyurme Dorje and Matthew Kapstein. Boston: Wisdom, 2002, pp. 809-812.
Grags pa 'byung gnas and Rgyal ba blo bzang mkhas grub. 1992. Gangs can mkhas grub rim byon ming mdzod. Lanzhou: Kan su'u mi rigs dpe skrun khang, pp. 718-720.
Khetsun Sangpo. 1973. Biographical Dictionary of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, vol. 3, p. 772.
The Complete Works of Rtse le Rgod tshang pa Padma legs grub. Repro. from a rare manuscript collection of Sikkim. Mgon po tshe brtan, Palace Mon., Gangtok 1979. (p. I 407-433).
Karma mi 'gyur dbang rgyal, Gter bton Brgya rtsa'i Mtshan Sdom Gsol 'debs Chos rgyal Bkra shis stobs rgyal gyi Mdzad pa'i 'Grel pa Lo rgyus Gter bton Chos 'byung, Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche Pema Wangyal, Orgyan Kunsang Chokhor Ling (Darjeeling 1978). (p.341.2 ff.)
'Jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas. 2007. Gter ston brgya rtsa. In Rin chen gter mdzod chen mo, vol. 1, pp. 404-696. New Delhi: Shechen, p. 501-507.
Alexander Gardner, 2010
[Extracted from the Treasury of Lives, Tibetan lineages website. Edited and formatted for inclusion on the Himalayan Art Resources website. September 2010].