Teacher: Yang Gonpa Gyaltsen Pal
Yang Gonpa Gyaltsen Pal | Drugpa Kagyu Main PageYanggonpa Gyeltsen Pel (yang dgon pa rgyal mtshan dpal), also known as Lhadongpa Gyeltsen Pel (lha gdong pa rgyal mtshan dpal) was born in the Lato (la stod) region of Tsang (gtsang), in 1213. Yanggonpa, the informal a name he adopted, came from a hermitage he refers to in his Inner Autobiography as Yanggon (yang dgon), where he did his first Vajravarahi retreat. The village of his birth was Chuja (chu bya), a lay settlement associated with the small monastic complex of Lhadong Monastery (lha gdong dgon pa), in the principality of Gungtang (gung thang), not far form the Tibet-Nepal border. This small monastic complex of Lhadong was the place of Yanggonpa's early religious education, and he did not stray far from the area of Gungtang during his lifetime.
He was born into the Tong (stong) clan, as the youngest boy in a Nyingma family. He had two older brothers and one older sister. He was given the name Dungsob Pelbar (gdung sob dpal 'bar) by his father, a lay lama associated with Lhadong, who passed away before his birth. He began his religious training at about age five and entered Lhadong monastery at age nine. Both his father's brother, Drubtob Darma (grub thob dar ma) and his mother, Chotongma (chos mthong ma), who was a respected Buddhist practitioner, transmitted teachings to him as a boy.
In Yanggonpa's life he would serve as an apprentice to four main teachers, to whom he referred affectionately in many of his writings as "the four precious ones." The first of these teachers was Kodrakpa Sonam Gyeltsen (ko brag pa bsod nams rgyal mtshan, 1182-1261), a mountain yogi and poet who practiced the "Path and Fruit" (lam 'bras) tradition of Machik Zhama (ma gcig zha ma, 1062-1149). From approximately 1223 to 1234, from the time he was eleven until he was twenty-two, he apprenticed and lived with Kodrakpa as his personal attendant and his foremost disciple.
Yanggonpa took full ordination as a monk at age twenty-two in the presence of Kodrakpa, from whom he received the name Gyeltsen Pel Zangpo (rgyal mtshan dpal bzang po). From Kodrakpa, he received the lineage of bardo teachings of Machik Zhama, and practiced them extensively. He eventually wrote a set of important bardo texts, reflecting his training in Machik Zhama's lineage. In his Inner Autobiographical Accounts, he mentions Kodrakpa as the lama who empowered him to practice Vajravarahi, his main meditational deity.
While he was making a traditional begging round near Shri Mountain (shri ri) as a novice monk, Yanggonpa met his second main teacher, Gotsangpa Gonpo Dorje (rgod tshang pa mgon po rdo rje, 1189-1258), the famous founder of the "Upper Druk" (stod 'brug) branch of the Drukpa Kagyu tradition. Having heard that Gotsangpa was in the area, Gyeltsen Pel sought him out and requested teachings. Gotsangpa was at first reluctant, and replied "You are more of a scholar than I am, but if you wish, I will teach you."
After receiving full transmission of the Drukpa teachings from Gotsangpa, Yanggonpa – who was then in his mid-twenties – proceeded to meditate intensively in retreat under his guru's supervision on Shri Mountain, in a retreat cave called Namding (gnam sdings), which would eventually become his favorite and principal retreat location.
It was during this period of intensive, rigorous and solitary retreat that Yanggonpa first took up the practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa, including somatic exercises and the subtle body visualizations. He recounts that, after meditating for eleven months without breaking his vajra posture, he experienced a breakthrough and his "energy became workable." Some time after this intense retreat experience, Yanggonpa returned to his home monastery of Lhadong to practice the stages of vows (sdom rim). At that time, in his mid to late twenties, he reported having actual visionary experience of the subtle body, one that would become the basis for his influential work on tantric anatomy Description of the Hidden Vajra Body (rdo rje lus kyi sbas bshad).
During his adult life, Yanggonpa observed the habit of spending four months of every summer in strict retreat, usually at the Namding hermitage, and four months of every winter in strict retreat, usually at Lhadong. The other four months of the year he was in partial retreat as much as possible. He professed a disinterest in joining a settled community, and held a vow to avoid sleeping in towns or monasteries. Nevertheless, he and his disciples seem to have been significantly impacted by the Mongol incursions of 1240 and 1252.
The most complete biography of Yanggonpa, composed by this closest disciple Chengawa Rinchen Den (spyan snga ba rin chen ldan, b.1202), spends significant time describing the impact of these incursions on Yanggonpa's life, as well as on the local population. It is a valuable source for information on Mongol invasions in 13th century central Tibet. For example, we find this fascinating description, hinting that cultural differences between the Mongols and the Tibetans made things more difficult:
By the power of the common karma of beings, the terrifying chaos of the Mongol and Beri [invasion] occurred. The Mongols arrived at Dam ('dam), and killed all the people in their path. They took all the wealth they could find. They burned every house. They destroyed every temple. In particular, they hated the monks. Among them, there were very few translators, or people who knew Tibetan, perhaps just one in a hundred. Even though verbal communication was sometimes possible, the Tibetan people did not understand the Mongolian's laws, or their culture. When they merely heard the name of the Mongols (hor pa) or Tartars (sok po), they trembled with fear so fiercely, they could not stand up. All the people a felt the terror and trepidation as if they had been delivered into the hands of the karmic lord of death.
Chengawa tells us that Yanggonpa offered various forms of pastoral care to the distressed local community, as well as acted as a political diplomat. At one point, possibly during the invasion of 1252, which eventually resulted in Tibet being absorbed into the Mongolian Empire following their conquest of China, Yanggonpa stepped in and convinced the prince of Lato to agree to Mongol demands. On another occasion, Yanggonpa engaged local villagers in creating an enormous ceremonial cake, or torma (gtor ma) to help ritually avert the approaching army.
Despite this unrest, throughout his adult life, Yanggonpa managed to compose a fairly large body of literature. His writings principally focus on "mountain dharma," (ri chos) or retreat practice; instruction on Bardo practice for navigating the intermediate state between death and rebirth; Mahamudra exegesis, the subtle instructions on how to rest the mind in meditation; and commentary on the Six Yogas of Naropa. His disciple Chengawa organized the bulk of his writings under the heading "Three Cycles of Retreat Teachings". The three cycles are (1) Retreat Teachings, the Source of All Qualities (ri chos yon tan kun ‘byung), (2) Explanation of the Hidden Vajra Body (rdo rje lus kyi sbas bshad), and (3) Liberation from the Impasse of the Intermediate State (bar do gnad kyi 'phrang sgrol). Included as the accompanying “advice” on the Three Cycles of Retreat Teachings were his famous "Six Mothers" (ma drug): (1) the Five Points of Fierce Breathing (drag rlung gnad lnga ma), (2) the Secret Conduct of Dreams (gsang spyod rmang lam ma), (3) the Six Words of Emptiness (stong nyid tshig drug ma), (4) the Transference of the Red Hu? ('pho ba hung dmar ma), (5) Healing Sickness and Neurosis with Hu? (nad 'don hung bcos ma), and (6) the Sealed Teaching on Retaining Vitality ('dzag srung bka’ rgya ma). His Collected Songs (mgur 'bum) is also a substantial work.
Some time around 1243, when Yanggonpa was thirty years old, he met and studied with his third main teacher, Sakya Pa??ita Kunga Gyeltsen (sa skya paNDi ta kun dga' rgyal mtshan, 1182-1251), the eminent scholar and abbot of Sakya (sa skya) monastery. Yanggonpa first met him briefly in Gungtang by chance, and feeling a strong attraction, traveled to Sakya the following year to receive teachings from him. During his stay at Sakya, Yanggonpa received some of the rarest instructions of the "Path and Fruit" system from the great master. At the end of their time together, Sakya Pa??ita was so impressed with Yanggonpa that he is said to have declared "I hope that my nephew Pakpa will turn out as well!" His nephew Pakpa Lodro Gyeltsen ('phags pa blo gros rgyal mtshan, 1235-1280), famously went on to become the the personal preceptor to Kublai Khan and to establish the Mongol-Sakya alliance that ruled Tibet for close to two hundred years. Some of the teachings of Sakya Pa??ita were channeled into the mainstream Sakya "Path and Fruit" tradition through the writings of Yanggonpa.
The fourth of Yanggonpa's major teachers was Drigung Chennga Drakpa Jungne ('bri gung spyan snga grags pa 'byung gnas, 1175-1255), the fourth abbot of Drigung Til Monastery ('bri gung mthil dgon) and a close disciple of Jikten Gonpo Rinchen Pel ('jig rten mgon po rin chen dpal, 1143-1217), the founder of Drigung. Yanggonpa studied with Drakpa Jungne some time between 1247 and 1256, in his late thirties or early forties, and they developed a close bond. During one intense year of study, Yanggonpa received the entire Drigung Kagyu transmission, with special emphasis on the physical yogic exercises, along with the accompanying oral instructions. He also received from Chung Dorje Drakpa (gcung rdo rje grags pa, 1210-1278), Drakpa Jungne's abbatial successor, the entire teachings of Pamodrupa Dorje Gyelpo (phag mo gru pa rdo rje rgyal po, 1110-1170).
Yanggonpa had quite a few other teachers from whom he received instruction and tantric transmissions during his lifetime. These included Mikyo Dorje (mi bskyod rdo rje, 12th century), who was also known as Yanggonpa Sanggye Drak (yang dgon pa sangs rgyas grags), as well as otherwise unidentified teachers whose names are given as Dzing Bupa (rdzing bu pa), Drochungwa (drod chung pa), Sanggye Rechen (sangs rgyas ras chen),
Jowo Lhatsun (jo bo lha btsun), and Bardrok Menlungpa (bar 'brog man lung pa).
Yanggonpa also had a connection with the Tselpa ('tshal pa) Kagyu. He, himself, believed that he had been a disciple of Lama Zhang Yudrakpa (bla ma zhang g.yu brag pa, 1123-1193) for many lifetimes. According to legend, Yanggonpa had a series of powerful dreams about Lama Zhang, in which he met the great master face to face, and received from him teachings, empowerments, and prophesies. On the heels of these dreams, he made a pilgrimage to Tsel Gungtang (tshal gung thang), the monastery outside of Lhasa that Lama Zhang had established in 1175, to offer prayers and practice in front of a statue of Lama Zhang.
This visit yielded further confirmation of his connection to Lama Zhang, including an incident in which a dream-message from the lama allowed him to warn the residents of Tsel Gungtang about an approaching Mongolian Army, likely a reference to the 1240 General Doorda expedition that brought Sakya Pa??ita to the attention of the Mongols. This incident established Yanggonpa in local lore, and in the memory of Lama Zhang's disciples. For this reason, even though Lama Zhang died before Yanggonpa was born, Yanggonpa is listed (in some Tselpa sources) as one of Lama Zhang's "minor disciples" (bu phran), and in some sources is viewed as Lama Zhang's reincarnation. In his autobiography, Yanggonpa reflected on his devotion to the master:
I celebrate his death-day every year. When my meditation is flat, I supplicate him. When I am training in dream yoga, and seeking enhancement in bodhicitta mind-training, I supplicate him. Even now, when I supplicate him, he appears.
While Yanggonpa had many students, his chief religious heir and the main recipient of his teachings was Chengawa Rinchen Den. He was called by the nickname Chengawa (meaning "the Attendant") because of his long apprenticeship to Yanggonpa, whom he served for decades until his master's death. Chengawa did much to further Yanggonpa's legacy, composing the richest biography we have on Yanggonpa's life, and compiling, cataloguing, and preserving Yanggonpa's collected works. He also wrote outlines and commentaries on Yanggonpa's key texts.
Early in the year of 1258, when Yanggonpa was forty-six years old, he left Lhadong for Bardrok Dorje Ling (bar 'brog rdo rje gling), the Drukpa Kagyu monastic seat of Gotsangpa. Before leaving Lhadong he announced that he would not return to his home monastery ever again, a statement that was prescient of his death but that was interpreted by his disciples an expression of unspecified disillusionment. Yanggonpa fell ill during the journey, and at Bardrok he met Gotsangpa, whose health was also deteriorating. The two remained together for some time and apparently discussed the possibility of their imminent demise, helping each other get their affairs in order. After this, Yanggonpa traveled to Chaknur (lchags nur), where it became clear that his illness was serious. Many of his students gathered around him, nursing him and reciting liturgies for his benefit. In the fourth Tibetan month (the traditional "month of merit") of 1258, Yanggonpa declared that he was having visions of celestial beings and his deceased teachers, as if they were in the room with him. Then, when the morning of the nineteenth arrived, he spoke his last words, saying
Today, my sons, be happy. Be joyous. Be blissful! Today, arrange excellent offerings and tormas. Today is the day to arrange things well! Today is the time to make prayers! For you, who are staying on this earth, I will enter my final meditation.
Later that morning, he passed away in the posture of Cakrasa?vara, one of his main meditation deities.
Before passing he had requested that his dharma robes be given to Gotsangpa. When Gotsangpa – who was sixty-nine years old at the time – received them, he expressed grief at losing his close disciple and friend, and declared, "He was a man who lived to benefit beings." Gotsangpa himself died a mere thirteen days later.
Willa Miller is Visiting Professor at Harvard Divinity School and Director of Natural Dharma Fellowship, a non-profit Buddhist organization. She completed a PhD in Religion at Harvard University in 2013. Published May 2014.
