A history of His Eminence The Twelfth Zurmang Gharwang Rinpoche, Karma Choekyong Tenpa Gyaltsen, the brilliant upholder of the doctrine of Pal Tashi Zurmang Shedup Ling In Kham.
Distributed by Lingdum Gompa
31 July, 2003
Section 1:
An account of Dupgyud Karma Tsang
An account of Dupgyud Karma Tsang followed by a short history of how the great monastery was built as a spiritual institution by Trung Mase Lodro Rinchen, the manifestation of Tilopa.
Of the numerous brilliant spiritual students bestowed with extensive knowledge of the great pandit Naropa, as prophesied by Tilopa, were saint Maitripa, equivalent to him both in knowledge and realizations, Pandit Tipupa, the upholder and undisputed propagator of the lineage of secret teachings, Atisha and Tsona Agura, the great masters who possessed the divine eye.
Pandit Naropa’s other great followers were Padampa, Marpa, the great translator who was prophesied and appointed as a regent to master over the untamed beings of North and who was an unparalleled highly realized spiritual master in Tibet, being the most outstanding ancestral spiritual figure among thousands of masters of Kagyudpa sect.
While he guided numerous spiritual followers endowed with extensive knowledge and high realizations such as Nyogthon Dorje Tingwa Dungyud (Nyogthon Chodor) and many great masters of the Tsur and Mai clan, the most intimate spiritual son was Jetsun Milarepa who was said to be the manifestation of Heruka, the ornament amongst numerous highly realized spiritual masters in Tibet.
As a result, he was venerated with respect and admiration by the great Pandit Naropa and Dharma Bodhi. The great master Milarepa nourished numerous renowned spiritual sons with the inexhaustible spiritual food of Dharma, thus thirteen prominent spiritual sons were born. Among them, four saints.
Another seven great followers achieved beautitude. Lord Gampopa, among these outstanding masters was likened to the bright sun while Rechungpa was like the illuminating moon and Bodhi Raza who had attained the rainbow body was like a shinning star. However, the most prominent saint was Gampopa whose benevolent deeds were vast and boundless as the sky.
This great saint had four spiritual sons where three were Khampas who were the manifestations of the three classes of Bodhisattvas. They had accumulated immeasurable merits through offerings and paying homage to thousands of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
Furthermore, Gampopa had various other well-known followers such as the four close and outstanding spiritual sons, while another four spiritual sons and four attendants were highly realized saints of the Kargyudpa. They were highly inspired by the Buddha Dharma and felt disillusioned with the worldly dharma.
Enriched by streams of boundless and indiscriminating compassion towards all sentient beings, they attained two kinds of knowledge and wisdom, achieving power of the figurative designation of soul. All of them dedicated themselves to the preservation and propagation of the doctrine of the second Buddha Urygen and so had caused numerous followers to adopt the yogic white robes(lay practitioners) and way of life in the snow land Tibet.
The supreme guide of the Great four major and eight lesser branches of the Kagyudpa lineage is H.H. the Karmapa, who was foretold in the Sutra by Lord Buddha to be the manifestation of the sixth Buddha and also the founder of the Karma Kamtsang lineage known by all with the name of Dusum Kyenpa.
Deshing Shegpa, the fifth incarnation of the Karmapa , was extremely learned and knowledgeable in both the studies of Sutras and Tantras . As such, he became the root spiritual guru of the Chinese Emperor; Daming Yunglo.
Karmapa through his boundless compassion was able to tame all hostile beings leading to their conversion and eventual salvation.
Karmapa Deshing Shegpa was foretold by Pandit Naropa to be the thirteenth lineage upholder of the secret teaching among the three whispered lineages. (Minlam Yidzhin Norbu, Gyudpa Yidzhin Norbu & Nelug Yidzhin Norbu.
Karmapa Deshing Shegpa later transmitted the secret teachings of the three lineages along with vital oral instructions to Trung Mase Lodro Rinchen who was the earthly embodiment of the great Siddha Tilopa.
As the great master (Trung Mase) himself had asserted as follows:
"due to the unstained purity of my strong aspiration, I was privileged to be able to see nineteen famous masters such as, Choje Deshing Shegpa, who was matchless in knowledge. He gave me the transmission of the secret teachings out of boundless compassion, foretelling that I will be the upholder of this unique teaching. I too was also fully devoted to it without the tiniest doubts."
Karmapa Deshing Shegpa himself instructed him in person as follows:
"When an upholder of this teaching appears, it is like the returning of property to the original owner. It is extremely auspicious that you, my spiritual son, should do Sadya and being able to comprehend the real essence of the teachings without arising any opposing views, you would be able to play a central role in benefiting sentient beings from here and until the region of Kham indiscriminately. You should establish your monastery in the area that resembles the corpse of a horse for that is the abode of the Buddha Yiddam. Ekajati, the protector of the Tantra had vowed to protect the monastery from any evil forces as long as you build the monastery on the site".
Thus, as instructed and predicted by the great master, Karma Deshing Shegpa. Trung Mase Lodro Rinchen, at the age of thirty-eight laid the foundation for the Gon Kang (Mahakala Retreat Centre) and Tayarma (Main Puja Hall) in the fourteenth century. It was said that he was overwhelmed with immeasurable pleasure at the sight of the predicted grounds, covered with flowers that filled with great bliss and virtues for anyone residing there.
Further information about it’s landscape and the auspicious signs that had manifested during the time of the monastery’s construction and how it was established could be found in the page number 570 of the compiled book of history, entitled "Rinchen Domgya Jepe Thapthar Sargi Melong" where various histories of numerous monasteries of Kham, Nangchen were recorded. The history of the monastery was titled "History of Pal Tashi Zurmang Lhundup Ling" and reader is requested to read it carefully if further information is desired.
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