April 6, 2000, Chogye Trichen Rinpoche, one of the most eminent Sakya masters of the 20th century, is welcomed to Dhagpo Kundreul Ling in order to transmit teachings to Thaye Dorje, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, who had been in retreat there since February 6, 2000.
Kunzig Shamarpa took care that Karmapa received not only the entirety of the transmissions and practices associated with the Karma Kagyu lineage but also those associated with other lineages of Tibetan Buddhism, from the most eminent masters who held them, such as His Eminence Chogye Trichen Rinpoche, Tupten Lekshe Gyatso (1919–2007).
The eighteenth abbot of Nalendra Monastery in Central Tibet prior to exile in 1959, he later built two major monasteries in Nepal—his primary seat at Lumbini and Maitreya Temple in Boudhanath. He was one of the rare holders of numerous Sakya teachings. He constantly travelled through the Tibetan communities to give transmissions and empowerments. Unanimously recognized and revered, he gave empowerments, practice instructions, and teachings to the most eminent masters of all the lineages.
He was eighty-one years old when he visited France from Nepal at Shamarpa’s request in order to confer the transmission of the Druptap Küntü empowerments, the Collection of All Sadhanas, to Karmapa during one month. In his biography entitled Lama of Lamas, Chogye Trichen Rinpoche explains that the 16th Karmapa had one day introduced the young 14th Shamarpa to him with these words,
This is my nephew, Shamarpa. Take care to give all the teachings he will request of you in the future.
The previous Chogye Trichen, Jampa Khyentse Wangpo (1869–1927) maintained close ties with the 15th Karmapa Khakhyab Dorje (1871-1922), from whom he received numerous teachings on Dzogchen. Additionally, Chogye Trichen Rinpoche explained this connection during an interview he gave during his stay at Dhagpo Kundreul Ling,
The connection that exists between my monastery and the Gyalwa Karmapa does not date to today. This is why I am particularly happy to give these transmissions to the 17th holder of the name.
Chogye Trichen Rinpoche was also an authentic holder of the Vinaya and notably its monastic disciplines. During this retreat period, Karmapa also received the disciplines of novice monk or guetsul from him.
Asked about these transmissions, the Karmapa—sixteen-years-old at the time—explained,
Generally, empowerments, the transmission of the ritual reading, and the instructions are very important, and just like the previous Karmapas, I must receive all the transmissions. In the future, it will be my responsibility to give these transmissions to others.
Event
Sunday, April 27 at 3:30 p.m.: Talk by Dhongtsang Shabdrung Rinpoche.
Dhongtsang Shabdrung Rinpoche of the Sakya school is renowned for his great erudition. His predecessor was the elder brother of the 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpé Dorjé. While he is at Dhagpo Kagyu Ling, he has agreed to speak to us about Chögyé Trichen Rinpoche.
Streaming will be available
Karme Guendune 2000
These photos come from our archives or were collected as part of the research for Dhagpo Kagyu Ling’s 50th anniversary. We have not been able to identify all the authors. The use of these photos is solely for informational purposes within the context of Dhagpo Kagyu Ling’s 50th anniversary celebration. Their use is limited to this event and our website and is not for commercial purposes.
Presentation of the Collection of All Sadhanas and the Collection of All Tantras
Entry to the Vajrayana is marked by empowerment. Over the centuries in Tibet, numerous lineages transmitted empowerments in this way from master to disciple, accompanied by instructions and ritual readings (lung), so that, one after another, generations of disciples could connect to enlightenment and actualize its potential.
As meditation deities (yidam) are quite numerous, traditions were diverse and complex, and many empowerments were compiled into collections of the complete works of individual masters (sungbum) and into collections from specific traditions. The end of the 19th century was particularly rich in immense collections of several thousand pages gathering empowerment rituals, practice methods (druptab), and instructions. This profusion is explained by the increasing rarity of certain traditions at this time and presence of masters with exceptional realization and scholarship.
Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thaye (1813–1899) and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820–1892), for example, were a part of the Rime (Impartial) movement, whose vocation was gathering the teachings of the different lineages that had taken root in Tibet. For many years, they travelled across the country to receive all of the possible transmissions, they practiced them, they compiled them, and they wrote handbooks when necessary. During this time, these collections occupied a central place in the transmission from master to disciple and the safeguarding of these vast and complex practices.
As the holder of the Karma Kagyu lineage, during his training, the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa received several of these collections, which gather most of transmissions still available in our time, from masters considered to be particularly representative of these lineages. In this article, we are interested in two collections compiled by two masters of the Sakya lineage, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and his disciple Jamyang Loter Wangpo (1847–1914), that gathered together transmission covering the whole of the Tibetan lineages.
The first collection, the Gyude Küntü, or Collection of All Tantras, contains thirty-two volumes with 315 empowerments and twenty-five commentaries. It includes the complete transmission of 139 mandalas associated with the four classes of tantras and with the Sakya, Gelug, Kagyu, Nyingma, Bodong, Jonang, Zhije, Orgyen Nyengyu, and Kalachakra. A mandala is an enlightened world associated with a specific yidam, surrounded (or not) by entourage divinities. Each mandala is generally described in a tantra, in other words a canonical source taught by the Buddha that takes on various forms called sambhogakaya.
For example, the Hevajra Tantra, which belongs to the fourth and highest class of tantras, the Niruttaratantra, contains the teaching given by the state of buddhahood, the dharmakaya, in the form of Hevajra, the sambhogakaya. This canonical text describes two primary mandalas, Hevajra and Nairatmya, as well as several secondary mandalas. In Tibet, there are two specific traditions—that of the Sakya lineage and that of Marpa’s lineage. In each of these traditions, we find the empowerment rites and the sadhanas of each of the two primary divinities of the Hevajra Tantra and the secondary divinities. These traditions contain similarities arising from the tantra and from Indian sources, as well as differences arising from Indian and Tibetan sources that emphasize this or that perspective of the tantra or make explicit certain points that are not so in the tantra. These differences were systematized in the various Tibetan lineages, and we find these different transmissions in the Gyüde Küntü.
The 17th Gyalwa Karmapa received the transmission of the empowerments of the Gyüde Küntü from the Sakya master Luding Khenchen Rinpoche (1931–2023) in 2002. Luding Khen Rinpoche was the abbot of Ngor Monastery and heir of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Loter Wangpo, who had compiled the collection. As the holder of the Ngor branch of the Sakya tradition, he was the most appropriate person to transmit these empowerments.
A second collection of fourteen volumes compiled by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo starting in 1840 and completed by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye and Loter Wangpo is the Druptap Küntü, or Collection of All Sadhanas. The 17th Gyalwa Karmapa received this transmission in 2000 at Kundreul Ling from the Sakya master Chogye Trichen Rinpoche (1920–2007), head of the Tsarpa branch of the Sakya tradition. As an example, when Dzongsar Khyentse transmitted this collection in India in 2022, it took one and a half months.
Like the Gyude Küntü, which is focused on the preservation of the tantric texts themselves and their transmission via empowerment (wang), the Druptap Küntü contains all the materials for the practice of numerous yidams associated with the four classes of tantras and the various Tibetan traditions, which are called sadhanas (druptap in Tibetan), or accomplishment methods, and their practice authorization rituals (jenang). The Druptap Küntü contains more than one thousand sadhanas and seven hundred authorizations. For the translation of certain among these sadhanas, readers may consult the Lotsawahouse website section on this collection, or the list of preserved titles on the Dhagpo Kagyu Library website.
Descriptions of the fourteen volumes of the Collection of All Sadhanas:
- Three White Divinities and Longevity Divinities
- The Protectors of the Three Families and Wisdom Divinities, including Manjushri and Sarasvati
- Avalokiteshvara, Vajrapani, and Tara
- Divinities of the Highest Class of Tantra, including Chakrasamvara, Guhyasamaja, and White Tara
- Various Tathagatas, the Four Kadampa Divinities, the Six Vajrasana Divinities, Three Cycles of Secret Sadhanas of the Shangpa Lineage and the Kalachakra Tantra Divinities
- Three Divinities of the Vajrapanjara Tantra and Purification Divinities
- Majushri Ekavira, Pacification, Enriching, and Subjugation Divinities
- Subjugation and Wealth Divinities
- Wealth and Protection Divinities
- Various Practices and Rituals
- Various Practices, Dedication, and Index
- Supplementary Material, including Collections of Mantras and Longevity Divinities
- Supplementary Material with Longevity Divinities and Vajrakila.
- Practices associated with the eighty-four thousand mahasiddhas.
These photos come from our archives or were collected as part of the research for Dhagpo Kagyu Ling’s 50th anniversary. We have not been able to identify all the authors. The use of these photos is solely for informational purposes within the context of Dhagpo Kagyu Ling’s 50th anniversary celebration. Their use is limited to this event and our website and is not for commercial purposes.
