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Tsongkhapa Lobzang Drakpa Biography
Tsongkhapa Lobzang DrakpaTsongkhapa Lobzang Drakpa (1357-1419) – was the founder of the Gelug school. As a young man he distinguished himself through his study and his intellect.
The last thirty years of his life were dedicated to teaching, writing, founding monasteries and other activities that greatly contributed to the revitalization of Buddhism in Tibet.
Popularly known as 'Je Rinpoche', he was born in 1357 to a Mongolian father and a Tibetan mother in the Tsongkha region of Amdo, East Tibet (present-day Haidong and Xining, Qinghai).
Regarded as the living embodiment of Mañjuśrī, and of Guru Rinpoche, he is also considered to have been the reincarnation of a young boy who offered a crystal rosary to Shakyamuni Buddha, and whom the Buddha predicted would be instrumental in the flourishing of the Buddhadharma in Tibet.
Many prophecies about him can be found in the teaching of Buddha and later masters, including Padmasambhava.
Tsongkhapa took the lay vows at the age of three before Rolpe Dorje, 4th Karmapa Lama and was named Künga Nyingpo. At the age of seven, he was ordained as a śrāmaṇera1 by Döndrup Rinchen (1309–1385), the first abbott of Jakhyung Monastery, and was given the ordination name Losang Drakpa.
At this early age he received the empowerments of Heruka, Hevajra, and Yamantaka, three of the most prominent wrathful deities of Tibetan Buddhism, as well as being able to recite a great many Sutras, not the least of which was Mañjuśrīnāmasamgīti. 2.
He would go on to be a great student of the vinaya, the doctrine of behaviour, and even later of the Six Yogas of Naropa, the Kalachakra tantra, and the practice of Mahamudra. At the age of 24, he received full ordination as a monk of the Sakya school.
From Zhönnu Lodrö and Rendawa, he received the lineage of the Pramanavarttika3 transmitted by Sakya Pandita. He mastered all the courses of study at Drikung Kagyu Monastery in Ü-Tsang.
As an emanation of Mañjuśrī, Tsongkhapa is said have been of "one mind" with Atiśa, received the Kadam lineages and studied the major Sarma tantras under Sakya and Kagyu masters. He also studied with a Nyingma teacher, the siddha Lek gyi Dorjé and the abbot of Shalu Monastery, Chö kyi Pel and his main Dzogchen master was Drupchen Lekyi Dorje, also known as Namkha Gyaltsen (1326–1401).
In addition to his studies, he engaged in extensive meditation retreats. He is reputed to have performed millions of prostrations, mandala offerings and other forms of purification practice. Tsongkhapa often had visions of iṣṭadevatās 4, especially of Mañjuśrī, with whom he would communicate directly to clarify difficult points of the scriptures.
Tsongkhapa died in 1419 at the age of sixty-two, at Ganden Monastery, the year after he completed his composition of The Elucidation of the Thought. He is believed to have attained enlightenment through yogic practices during the death process, attaining the illusory body5. His body was entombed inside a jeweled stupa at Ganden.
Tsongkhapa designated Gyaltsab Darma Rinchen (1364-1432) as his successor, who in turn appointed Khedrub Gelek Pälsang (1385–1438) as the next throne-holder of Ganden.
After his death several biographies were written by Lamas of different traditions. Wangchuk Dorje, 9th Karmapa Lama, praised Tsongkhapa as one "who swept away wrong views with the correct and perfect ones."
Tsongkhapa was acquainted with all Tibetan Buddhist traditions of his time, and received lineages transmitted in the major schools. His main source of inspiration was the Kadam school, the legacy of Atiśa.
Tsongkhapa received two of the three main Kadampa lineages (the Lam-Rim lineage, and the oral guideline lineage) from the Nyingma Lama, Lhodrag Namka-gyeltsen; and the third main Kadampa lineage (the lineage of textual transmission) from the Kagyu teacher Lama Umapa.
Tsongkhapa's teachings drew upon these Kadampa teachings of Atiśa, emphasizing the study of Vinaya, the Tripiṭaka, and the Śāstra6. Atiśa's Lamrim inspired Tsongkhapa's Lamrim Chenmo, which became a main text among his followers.
He also practiced and taught extensively the Vajrayāna, and especially how to bring the Sūtra and Tantra teachings together, wrote works that summarized the root teachings of the Buddhist philosophical schools, as well as commentaries on the Prātimokṣa, Prajñāpāramitā, Candrakirti's Madhyamakāvatāra, logic, Pure Land7 and the Sarma tantras.
Tsongkhapa emphasised a strong monastic community. With the founding of the Ganden monastery in 1409, he laid down the basis for what was later named the Gelug ("virtuous ones") order. At the time of the foundation of the Ganden monastery, his followers became known as "Gandenbas." Tsongkhapa himself never announced the establishment of a new monastic order.
After Tsongkhapa had founded Ganden Monastery in 1409, it became his main seat. He had many students, among whom Gyaltsab Je (1364–1431), Khedrup Gelek Pelzang, 1st Panchen Lama (1385–1438), Togden Jampal Gyatso, Jamyang Choje, Jamchenpa Sherap Senge, and the 1st Dalai Lama (1391–1474), were the most outstanding.
After Tsongkhapa's passing, his teachings were held and kept by Gyaltsab Dharma Rinchen and Khedrub Gelek Pälsang. From then on, his lineage has been held by the Ganden Tripas, the throne-holders of Ganden Monastery, among whom the present one is Thubten Nyima Lungtok Tenzin Norbu, the 102nd Ganden Tripa.
After the founding of Ganden Monastery by Tsongkhapa, Drepung Monastery was founded by Jamyang Choje, Sera Monastery was founded by Chöje Shakya Yeshe and the 1st Dalai Lama founded Tashilhunpo Monastery. Many Gelug monasteries were built throughout Tibet but also in China and Mongolia.
Major works
• The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (lam rim chen mo)
• The Great Exposition of Secret Mantra (sngags rim chen mo)
• Essence of True Eloquence
• Ocean of Reasoning: A Great Commentary on Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika
• Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp of the Five Stages / A Lamp to Illuminate the Five Stages
• Golden Garland of Eloquence
• The Praise of Relativity.
English translations
Biography
• Life and Teachings of Tsongkhapa, Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, 2006
Lam Rim - Great Treatise
• The Great Treatise On The Stages Of The Path To Enlightenment, Vol. 1,2,3, Snow Lion
• Dependent-Arising and Emptiness: A Tibetan Buddhist Interpretation of Mādhyamika Philosophy, trans. Elizabeth Napper, Wisdom Publications
Lam Rim - Medium Treatise
• The Medium Treatise On The Stages Of The Path To Enlightenment - Calm Abiding Section translated in "Balancing The Mind: A Tibetan Buddhist Approach To Refining Attention", Shambhala Publications, 2005
• The Medium Treatise On The Stages Of The Path To Enlightenment - Insight Section translated in "Life and Teachings of Tsongkhapa", Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, 2006
• The Medium Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (Calm Abiding Section) translated in Alan Wallace, Dissertation, 1995
Lam Rim - Small Treatise
•Small Exposition of the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment - Wallace, B. Alan (1995), The Cultivation of Sustained Voluntary Attention in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism.
Golden Garland of Eloquence
• Golden Garland of Eloquence - Volume 1 of 4: First Abhisamaya, Jain Pub Co, 2008
• Golden Garland of Eloquence - Volume 2 of 4: Second and Third Abhisamayas, Jain Pub Co, 2008
• Golden Garland of Eloquence - Volume 3 of 4: Fourth Abhisamaya, Jain Pub Co, 2010
• Golden Garland of Eloquence - Volume 4 of 4: Fourth Abhisamaya, Jain Pub Co, 2013
Madhyamaka
• Ocean of Reasoning: A Great Commentary on Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika, Oxford University Press
• Essence of True Eloquence, translated in The Central Philosophy of Tibet, Princeton University Press
• Guided Tour Through the Seven Books of Dharmakirti, translated in A Millennium of Buddhist Logic, Motilal Barnasidass, 1999
Tantra
• The Fulfillment of All Hopes: Guru Devotion in Tibetan Buddhism, Wisdom Publications
• Tantric Ethics: An Explanation of the Precepts for Buddhist Vajrayana Practice, Wisdom Publications
• The Great Exposition of Secret Mantra - Chapter 1 of 13, translated in Tantra in Tibet, Shambhala Publications, 1987
• The Great Exposition of Secret Mantra - Chapter 2 & 3 of 13, translated in Deity Yoga, Shambhala Publications, 1987
• The Great Exposition of Secret Mantra - Chapter 4 of 13, translated in Yoga Tantra, Shambhala Publications, 2012
• The Great Exposition of Secret Mantra - Chapter 11 & 12 of 13, translated in Great Treatise on the Stages of Mantra: Chapters XI–XII (The Creation Stage), Columbia University Press, 2013
• The Six Yogas of Naropa: Tsongkhapa's Commentary, Snow Lion Publications
Lamp of the Five Stages
• Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp of the Five Stages, Columbia University Press, 2011
• A Lamp to Illuminate the Five Stages, Library of Tibetan Classics, 2013
Yogacara
• Ocean of Eloquence: Tsong Kha Pa's Commentary on the Yogacara Doctrine of Mind, State University of New York Press
Other
• The Splendor of an Autumn Moon: The Devotional Verse of Tsongkhapa Wisdom Publications
• Three Principal Aspects of the Path, Tharpa Publications
• Stairway to Nirvāṇa: A Study of the Twenty Saṃghas based on the works of Tsong-kha-pa, James B. Apple, State University of New York Press, 2008.
Sources
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Je_Tsongkhapa
• https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Tsongkhapa_Lobzang_Drakpa
Footnotes
1. A sāmaṇera (Pali); Sanskrit śrāmaṇera, is a novice male monastic Buddhist. A female novice is a śrāmaṇerī or śrāmaṇerikā (Sanskrit; Pāli: sāmaṇerī).
2. The Mañjuśrī-Nāma-Saṃgīti (Nāma-Saṃgīti) is considered amongst the most advanced teachings given by the Shakyamuni Buddha. It represents the pinnacle of all Shakyamuni Buddha's teachings, being a tantra of the nondual (advaya) class, along with the Kalachakra Tantra. The Nama-samgiti was preached by Shakyamuni Buddha for his disciple Vajrapani and his wrathful retinue in order to lead them into buddhahood. The essence of the Nama-samgiti is that Mañjuśrī bodhisattva is the embodiment of all knowledge.
The Nama-samgiti is a short text, only circa 160 verses and a prose section. It is a fraction of the vast Sutras such as Avatamsaka Sutra and Prajñāpāramitā Sutras or the endless ocean of tantras such as manjushri-mula-kalpa and the mountainous Hinayana teachings and sea of sundry extra-canonical works. And yet, the Nama-samgiti contains all of the Buddha's dharmas. It summarizes everything he taught. As Shakyamuni Buddha says of the Nama-samgiti, it is "the chief clarification of words".[citation needed] It is the "nondual reality".[citation needed] Therefore, all sentient beings should definitely study and recite the manjushri-nama-samgiti.
3. The Pramāṇavārttika (Commentary on Valid Cognition) is an influential Buddhist text on pramana (valid instruments of knowledge, epistemic criteria), a form of Indian epistemology. The Pramāṇavārttika is the magnum opus of the Indian Buddhist Dharmakirti (6-7century CE).
4. Iṣṭadevatā (Tib.: Yidam) is a type of deity associated with tantric or Vajrayana Buddhism said to be manifestations of Buddhahood or enlightened mind. During personal meditation (sādhana) practice, the yogi identifies their own form, attributes, and mind with those of a yidam for the purpose of spiritual transformation. Yidam is sometimes translated by the terms "meditational deity" or "tutelary deity".
5. Tib.:sgyu lus; Skt.: māyākāyā
6. Śāstra (Skt.): precept, rules, manual, compendium, book or treatise.
7. Pure Land (Skt.: Sukhāvatī, "Ultimate Bliss" ) is a tradition of Buddhist teachings that are focused on the Buddha Amitābha.
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