Chaktsa Trülku Kunzang Péma Trinlé

Chaktsa Trülku Kunzang Péma Trinlé became a major lineage holder of three major streams of the Nyingma tradition: of the Katok lineage, as he was a son of Gönpa Lama Chökyi Dorjé (1847–1908), himself an emanation of Katok Dampa Déshek (1122–1192); of the Longchen Nyingtik, as he became one of the four heart sons of Khenpo Ngawang Palzang (1879–1941); and of the Düdjom Tersar, as he upheld the role of a chödak of Déwé Dorjé (1892–1940).

A Son of Düdjom Lingpa's Direct Disciple, Gönpa Lama Chökyi Dorjé

Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso was born around 1890 in the Da Chu region of the Golok highlands as a son of Gönpa Lama Chökyi Dorjé (1847–1908), a prophesied chödak of Düdjom Lingpa’s Tröma Nakmo terma cycles and an incarnation of Katok Dampa Deshek (1122–1192), the illustrious founder of Katok Dorjé Den Monastery in Kham.

Although Gönpa Lama Chökyi Dorjé was a prominent holder of Katok Dorjé Den’s kama tradition—the unbroken oral transmission of the ancient Buddhist scriptures translated from Sanskrit and their accompanying commentaries––as well as the terma lineages of Rigdzin Düdul Dorjé (1615–1672) and Longsal Dorjé Nyingpo (1625–1692), his life transformed after meeting Düdjom Lingpa at his dharma encampment of Mardo Tashi Gakyil in southeastern Golok in 1873. He became one of Düdjom Lingpa’s closest disciples and one of his thirteen prophesied chödaks, or dharma heirs.

In 1882, after Düdjom Lingpa relocated to Lama Rung in the Ser Chu Valley, Gönpa Lama Chökyi Dorjé assumed responsibility for his teacher’s former dharma encampment in the Mar Chu Valley. There, he preserved and transmitted Düdjom Lingpa’s newly revealed treasure teachings alongside the scholastic and ritual curriculum of Katok Dorjé Den, thereby serving as an important bridge between the ancient Kama transmissions and the emergent Düdjom Tersar tradition.

Gönpa Lama Chökyi Dorjé’s first-born son, Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso—literally, ‘All-Good Lotus of Boundless Enlightened Activity’—was recognized as the reincarnation of his father’s principal teacher, the Third Chaktsa Trülku Jampa Sengé, c. 1850–1890) of Katok Dorjé Den. In his own life and accomplishments, he would come to embody the same synthesis of ancient and revealed lineages that had distinguished his father.

A Katok Dorjé Den Trülku

Founded in 1159 in the Dergé region of Kham, Katok Dorjé Den became one of the six principal monasteries of the Nyingma tradition and one of the most influential centers of Buddhist learning in eastern Tibet. During the first several centuries of its history, it was renowned as a bastion of the kama tradition—the unbroken oral transmission of the ancient Nyingma tantras and their accompanying instructions, translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan during the imperial period (seventh to ninth centuries), when Tibet emerged as a formidable power across Central Asia.

By the mid-seventeenth century, concurrent with the rise of the Dergé kingdom, Katok had also become a major center for the transmission of termas, or revealed treasure teachings. Under the leadership of Longsal Nyingpo (1625–1692), a disciple of the great tertön Rigdzin Düdul Dorjé (1615–1672), the monastery incorporated these newly revealed scriptures into its ritual and contemplative traditions. By the early nineteenth century, Katok’s scholastic and liturgical curriculum had been reformulated to uphold both the ancient Kama transmissions and the terma cycles of the non-celibate yogins Longsal Nyingpo and Rigdzin Düdul Dorjé, establishing the distinctive synthesis of lineage traditions for which the monastery became renowned.

Katok likewise became known for recognizing successions of reincarnate lamas (trülkus), initially among the descendants and principal disciples of Longsal Nyingpo. By the 1760s, four major incarnation lineages had been established at the monastery. Among these was the Chaktsa lineage—named after a prominent local clan—which originated with the First Chaktsa Trülku Kunzang Ngedön Wangpo, mid-eighteenth century–1816), who was recognized as an incarnation of Bangowa Tsöndru Gyatso, a direct disciple of both Rigdzin Düdul Dorjé and Longsal Nyingpo.

Katok oral traditions preserve a dramatic account concerning Bangowa Tsöndru Gyatso’s subsequent incarnation, who is said to have been murdered by several monks acting at the behest of his consort. According to these accounts, the consort herself was subsequently killed and their residence burned to the ground, the ruins of which remain on a ridge overlooking Katok Monastery.

Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso’s father, Gönpa Lama Chökyi Dorjé, became a disciple of the Third Chaktsa Trülku (Kunzang Jampa Sengé, 1850–c. 1890), who had assumed his seat at Katok’s branch monastery of Gétsé Tralek in the glacier-fed highlands of Golok, Gönpa Lama’s native region. Five years after the Third Chaktsa Trülku’s passing, in 1895, the Third Katok Situ Chökyi Gyatso, 1880–1925), recognized Gönpa Lama Chökyi Dorjé’s eldest son, Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso, as his reincarnation. His younger brother, Trülku Péma Nangsal Dorjé (c. 1900–1961), was subsequently recognized as the reincarnation of the Second Katok Chamtrül, thereby establishing two prominent Katok incarnation lineages within the same family.

Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso’s enthronement ceremony was conducted at Katok Dorjé Den under the auspices of the teenage Third Katok Situ Chökyi Gyatso and attended by thousands of monks, nuns, and lay devotees. Among the traditional offerings presented were an image of the Buddha symbolizing enlightened body, a long-life sutra symbolizing enlightened speech, and a jeweled stūpa symbolizing enlightened mind.

Following the ceremony, the newly recognized five-year-old Fourth Chaktsa Trülku traveled with his father and a large entourage to Gétsé Tralek Shédrub Do Ngak Ling Monastery, situated on a mountainside overlooking the Da Chu Valley. There he formally ascended his throne and assumed nominal spiritual authority over thousands of households distributed throughout the eighteen districts of Golok, a role that encompassed religious patronage networks and ritual responsibilities among the region’s pastoral communities.

Training at Gétsé Tralek and Katok Dorjé Den

In 1778, Gétsé Mahapaṇḍita Gyürmé Tsewang Chokdrup (1761–1829) founded Gétsé Tralek Shédrub Do Ngak Ling Monastery in the glacier-fed alpine grasslands of Golok as a branch monastery of Katok Dorjé Den. Following his arrival there in 1895, the young Fourth Chaktsa Trülku (Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso), embarked upon an intensive course of religious training under the supervision of the Third Katok Situ Chökyi Gyatso, who had recognized him as the reincarnation of the Third Chaktsa Trülku. He also studied with resident masters of Gétsé Tralek, including Déshul Lama Péma Gyaltsen and Tokgo Lama Melong.

Among his closest contemporaries was the Third Katok Gétsé Gyürmé Tenpa Namgyal, 1886–1952), who divided his time between Katok Dorjé Den and Gétsé Tralek. The friendship and shared training of these two young incarnate lamas would endure throughout their lives.

In 1906, at the age of sixteen, Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso departed Gétsé Tralek to continue his studies at Katok Dorjé Den, following the educational path established by his predecessors. There, his principal teacher was the Third Katok Situ (Chökyi Gyatso, 1880–1925), the nephew and spiritual heir of the teacher, scholar, and yogin Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo (1820–1892), one of the leading exponents of the nineteenth-century Nyingma renaissance.

That same year, the Third Katok Situ founded Shédrup Norbu Lhunpo, Katok’s monastic college (shedra), where Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso undertook a rigorous course of philosophical and tantric studies. The institution’s first abbot, Khenpo Kunzang Palden, had been a direct disciple of both Dza Patrül Orgyen Chökyi Wangpo (1808–1887) and Düdjom Lingpa (1835–1903) and instructed Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso during the formative years of the college, from 1906 to 1909.

While at Katok Dorjé Den, Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso received teachings and transmissions from a number of eminent masters. These included Khen Gyaltsen Özer the Elder; Lala Sönam Chödrup (1862–1944)—also known as Khenchen Chödrup and Rigtsal Dorjé—of Nyakrong, who was regarded as a speech emanation of Dzogchen Drubwang Péma Rigdzin (1625–1697); Katok Jéwön Péma Gyeltsen; and Khenpo Lekshé Jorden (commonly known as Khen Lekjor), who would later become one of the teachers of the renowned Dzogchen yogin Jadral Sangyé Dorjé (1913–2015).

Sometime during the late 1920s or early 1930s, Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso also established a connection at Katok Dorjé Den with Jamyang Khyentsé Chökyi Lodrö (1893–1959), who was of similar age and would become one of the foremost Rimé (non-sectarian) masters of twentieth-century Tibet.

A Close Student of Katok Khenpo Ngawang Palzang

Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso's principal teacher at Katok Dorjé Den was Khenpo Ngawang Palzang (1879–1941), one of the most revered Dzogchen masters of his generation and traditionally regarded as an emanation of the eighth-century Indian pandita Vimalamitra, one of Guru Rinpoché’s foremost teachers and disciples. From him, Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso received the complete transmissions of the nyingma kama as well as numerous terma lineages, including Lama Gongdü (‘Embodied Realization of All the Gurus’) revealed by Sangyé Lingpa (1340–1396), the Longchen Nyingtik (‘Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse’) revealed by Rigdzin Jikmé Lingpa (1730–1798), and the Rinchen Terdzö (‘Precious Treasury of Terma Teachings’) compiled by Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thayé (1813–1899).

As one of the principal lineage holders of the Longchen Nyingtik tradition, Khenpo Ngawang Palzang took particular care in transmitting its most profound experiential instructions to his disciple. These included the Triyik Yéshé Lama, Jikmé Lingpa’s celebrated manual of Dzogchen meditation, and the Mengak Nyengyü Chenmo (‘The Great Oral Lineage of the Pith Instructions’) upheld by Nyoshül Lungtok Tenpé Nyima (1829–1901).

The Pack Mule Story and Leftover Rice

According to Katok Khenpo Ngawang Palzang’s spiritual autobiography—Ösel Rinchen Nyingpo Padma Lendrel Tsal Gyi Tokjö Ngotsar Gyümai Rölgar (‘Wondrous Dance of Illusion’)^[1], Chaktsa Trülku once traveled with his disciples to Lhasa during the late 1910s or early 1920s. As the party crossed a snow-covered mountain pass, one of their heavily laden pack mules lost its footing and tumbled down the mountainside.

Overcome with fear and helplessness, Chaktsa Trülku cried out repeatedly, ‘Omniscient Ngagi Wangpo [i.e. Khenpo Ngawang Palzang]! Think of me! Omniscient Ngagi Wangpo! Think of me!’

He later recounted that he immediately perceived Khenpo Ngawang Palzang standing before him, smiling radiantly. Moved to tears of devotion, his anguish dissolved. When he descended the slope to inspect the animal, he discovered that both the mule and its load were completely unharmed—a circumstance he attributed to his teacher’s compassionate intervention.

Upon returning from Lhasa, Chaktsa Trülku visited Khenpo Ngawang Palzang at Katok Dorjé Den. The master greeted him playfully: ‘Did you hear about the old pack mule that fell from the eastern snow mountain pass, and the faint-hearted young monk who sat there crying?’ Chaktsa Trülku placed his head upon his teacher’s knee and replied through tears, ‘You saved his life!’

Another time, in the year of the Wood Rat [1924], when Khenpo Ngawang Palzang was conferring the Rinchen Terdzö empowerments at Gétsé Tralek, a white flower with a hundred petals bloomed in the corridor inside the assembly hall. It did not wilt until the empowerments were complete. This and many other wondrous signs occurred. During that period, Khenpo Ngawang Palzang requested a monk named Gönten to distribute the leftover rice in his jade bowl among his disciples, including Chaktsa Trülku Kunzang Pema Trinlé Gyatso. The monk did so, but there wasn’t enough rice to go around. Another monk, named Lodrö Zangpo, remarked, ‘That Dergé lama thinks rather highly of himself, serving us his leftovers—even Chaktsa Trülku himself!’ A short time later, the community was plagued by life-threatening dysentery. Those who had had partaken of Khenpo Ngawang Palzang’s leftover rice did not fall ill, while others, in particular the monk who had disparaged Khenpo Ngawang Palzang’s qualities, came close to dying. This event increased everyone’s faith.

After Khenpo Ngawang Palzang had concluded the empowerments of the Rinchen Terdzö, he bestowed the reading transmission for his autobiography. When he came to his prediction that his future reincarnation—Khenpo Ngawang Palzang Yangsi—would be born southeast of Lhasa in the region of Kongpo, Chaktsa Trülku Kunzang Pema Trinlé Gyatso vowed to look after his reincarnation. Khenpo Ngawang Palzang expressed great happiness, and he formally entrusted Chaktsa Trülku Kunzang Pema Trinlé Gyatso with granting the empowerments and reading transmissions for the Rinchen Terdzö to his future reincarnation.

Between 1931 and 1933, Khenpo Ngawang Palzang guided Chaktsa Tülku Kunzang Pema Trinlé Gyatso in the principal practices of the Longchen Nyingtik, including Tsa Lung exercises for activating the subtle vajra body. As Nyoshul Khenpo Jamyang Dorjé (1932–1999) later wrote,

‘Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso studied and contemplated these teachings extensively. He put them into practice with constant devotion, attaining the sublime siddhi through the stages of development and completion. The Fourth Chaktsa Trülku [Kunzang Pema Trinlé Gyatso] became considered one of the four main great sons of Khenpo Ngawang Palzang, along with Tromgé Arik Trülku (c.1908–1988), Nyoshul Lungtok Shédrup Tenpé Nyima (b.1920), and Palyul Drubwang Penor Trülku (1932–2009). Among them, The Fourth Chaktsa Trülku was perhaps the most renowned of Khenchen Ngawang Palzang’s four heart sons.’

Khenpo Ngawang Palzang’s Passing

In 1941, Katok Khenpo Ngawang Palzang passed away at the age of sixty-three. For seven days and nights, the kudung was kept hidden and undisturbed. When this period was over and his attendants entered the room, they discovered that a nectar-like liquid that looked, smelled, and tasted like honey was flowing from the pores of the sacred body. The body was prepared and adorned, and numerous people came to pay their respects over the ensuing twenty-one days. Many who came vowed to accomplish positive activities with their lives and to renounce negative actions. The nectar that streamed from Khenpo Ngawang Palzang’s body neither spoiled during the following summer nor dried up during the winter. More than three teapots full of nectar were collected and, in subsequent years when it came time to make mendrup—sacred medicine—a bowlful of the nectar was added to each batch. Traditional accounts maintain that those who partook of this sacred nectar experienced profound blessings, liberation from the sufferings of samsara, and advancement upon the path to nirvana.

Khenpo Ngawang Palzang’s principal students from surrounding areas, including Tromgé Trülku Arik (c.1908–1988) and khenpos and trülkus belonging to Khenpo Ngawang Palzang’s home monastery of Nyoshul Jönpa Lung, made substantial offerings to Khenpo Ngawang Palzang’s reliquary. When Chaktsa Trülku Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso came before the reliquary, he briefly lost consciousness. When he regained consciousness, witnesses reported that he spoke to the kudung as though conversing with his beloved teacher face to face.

Düdjom Tersar Connections and Dharma Heir of Déwé Dorjé

Although Chaktsa Trülku Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso was trained within the ancient kama and terma traditions of Katok Dorjé Den, his familial and spiritual ties to Düdjom Lingpa’s lineage remained strong throughout his life. Through his father, Gönpa Lama Chökyi Dorjé, and later through his own teachers and discipleship, he became one of the most important links between the Katok and Düdjom Tersar traditions in twentieth-century Golok.

Gönpa Lama Chökyi Dorjé, who passed away in 1908 when Chaktsa Trülku was eighteen years old, had been one of Düdjom Lingpa’s direct disciples at his dharma encampment in the Mar Chu Valley and he remained there after Düdjom Lingpa relocated to Lama Rung in the Ser Chu Valley in 1880. In addition to the teachings he received from his father, Chaktsa Trülku was given empowerments and oral transmissions of the Düdjom Tersar at Katok Dorjé Den by Khenpo Künzang Palden, another direct disciple of Düdjom Lingpa and one of his principal teachers.

Over the course of his life, Chaktsa Trülku established close relationships with a number of eminent Düdjom Tersar lineage holders. Among them were Apang Tertön Pawo Chöying Dorjé (1895–1945), who had trained under Trülku Drimé Özer (1881–1924), Düdjom Lingpa’s seventh child and fifth son, and Sögen Trülku Natsok Rangdrol (1869–1935), whom he met at Awo Séra Tekchen Chökhor Ling Monastery. His most profound connection, however, was with Déwé Dorjé (1892–1940)—renowned later mainly in the West as Séra Khandro—the visionary tertön and spiritual consort of Düdjom Lingpa’s son, Trülku Drimé Özer.

In 1935, at the age of forty-three, Déwé Dorjé presided over an extraordinary gathering at Awo Séra Monastery on the banks of the Nyi Chu in Serta. There she bestowed the complete transmissions—including empowerments, reading transmissions, and meditative instructions—of the twenty volumes of Düdjom Lingpa’s terma (revealed teachings) cycles and the eighteen volumes of Trülku Drimé Özer’s terma. Chaktsa Trülku Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso was among the distinguished assembly of lamas who received these complete transmissions.

At that time, Déwé Dorjé perceived signs that her worldly lifespan was nearing its end. In an effort to avert the obstacles threatening her life, Chaktsa Trülku Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso presented her with numerous offerings, including sacred samaya substances and an ornate vajra and bell symbolizing the inseparable union of method and wisdom. With great earnestness, he implored her to remain in the world for the benefit of future generations and to continue safeguarding the three terma lineages of which she was the principal custodian—her own revelations and those of Trülku Drimé Özer and Düdjom Lingpa. According to traditional accounts, the positive circumstances created by his offerings and pure intention dispelled the immediate danger to her life, enabling her to live for another five years.

Following her teachings at Awo Sera Monastery, Déwé Dorjé gave teachings at Khandro Yangdzong Vairotsana Cave, in the upper reaches of the Dza Chu Valley. That same year, Chaktsa Tülku Kunzang Pema Trinlé Gyatso invited Déwé Dorje to Gétsé Tralek Monastery to enjoy a summer festival dedicated to Guru Rinpoché on the tenth day of the sixth Tibetan month.

Following her stay there, Déwé Dorjé gave further teachings at the Khandro Yangdzong Vairotsana Cave, including the Dzogchen practices of Kadak Trekchö and Lhundrub Tögal. This was followed by a collective one-hundred-day retreat, ending with an extensive Tsok offering. Déwé Dorjé then shared with Chaktsa Trülku Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso specific teachings that he had requested from her own terma cycles, including a Vajrakilaya practice for overcoming obstructing forces and harmful influences. During this period, she formally recognized him as one of her chödaks, thereby establishing him as one of the principal lineage holders entrusted with preserving and transmitting her revelations.

During the 1930s, Chaktsa Trülku Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso also established close ties with the next generation of Düdjom Lingpa's family lineage. He bestowed empowerments and teachings upon Düdjom Lingpa’s grandson, Sönam Déutsen (1910–1959)—the son of Trülku Drimé Özer and regarded as a mind emanation of Düdjom Lingpa—who had taken part in the leadership of Düdjom Lingpa’s dharma community of Dartsang Kalzang in the upper Do Chu Valley of Golok.

He likewise gave teachings and empowerments to Sönam Déutsen’s consort, Yangchen Drönma (1913–1946), who was then in her early twenties and was the first and only surviving child of Déwé Dorjé. Through these relationships, Chaktsa Trülku Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso became intimately connected not only with the treasure lineages of Düdjom Lingpa and Déwé Dorjé, but also with their familial and spiritual descendants.

A Golden Throne Holder

During the mid-1920s, Chaktsa Trülku Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso devoted considerable energy to the expansion and revitalization of Gétsé Tralek Monastery. Among his first initiatives was the establishment of a shedra, or monastic college, for the education of its resident monks. He appointed his principal teacher, Katok Khenpo Ngawang Palzang, to oversee the institution, where he conferred the complete empowerments and reading transmissions of the Rinchen Terdzö (‘The Precious Treasury of Terma’), the monumental collection of termas compiled during the nineteenth century by Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thayé (1813-1899).

The Third Katok Situ Chökyi Gyatso (1880–1925) likewise played a pivotal role in the founding of the Gétsé Tralek shedra, contributing both material support and scholarly instruction, despite his advanced age at that time. Another key figure in its flourishing was the Third Gétsé Trülku, Gyürmé Tenpa Namgyal (1886–1952), who regularly bestowed empowerments, reading transmissions, and essential instructions in the Terma traditions of Rigdzin Düdul Dorjé (1615–1672) and Longsal Nyingpo (1625–1692).

Chaktsa Trülku further expanded the monastery’s religious infrastructure by establishing a drupdra (retreat and practice center), where monks and yogic practitioners could devote themselves to prolonged periods of contemplative practice and tantric retreat.

Beyond his responsibilities at Gétsé Tralek, Chaktsa Trülku maintained close ties with Katok Dorjé Den, making frequent visits to exchange teachings and transmissions of rare texts with many of its foremost masters, including the Third Gétsé Trülku and Khenchen Lekshé Jorden (nineteenth–twentieth century). He also taught extensively throughout Kham and Golok, particularly at branch monasteries of Katok Dorjé Den, including Wangchen Töyul and Tra Ling Monastery, which had been founded by Düdjom Lingpa's disciple, Ling Lama Orgyen Chökyi Jorpa (c.1850s–c.1920s).

The cycles of teachings that Chaktsa Trülku Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso transmitted reflect the breadth of his scholastic and contemplative training. In addition to the Düdjom Tersar, they included the Rinchen Terdzö ('The Precious Treasury of Termas’); the Dzö Dün (‘Seven Treasuries’) of Longchen Rabjam Drimé Özer (1308–1364); the Nyingtik Yabshyi (‘Fourfold Heart Essence’), comprising the Vima Nyingtik, Lama Yangtik, Khandro Nyingtik, and Khandro Yangtik; the source texts of the Longchen Nyingtik (‘Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse’) revealed by Rigdzin Jikmé Lingpa (1730–1798); and the principal Terma cycles of the Katok tradition revealed by Rigdzin Düdul Dorjé and Longsal Dorjé Nyingpo.

Nyoshul Khenpo Jamyang Dorjé (1932–1999) wrote that Chaktsa Trülku ‘continually imparted the nectar of the Dharma to gatherings of countless students, principally in the northern reaches of eastern Tibet and as far away as Amdo. At his own monastery, he taught at the shedra and meditation center and presided over ceremonies on the tenth day of the lunar month, as well as at great drupchen practice gatherings. He commissioned a two-story, copper-and-gold image of the Lord of Sages [the Buddha Shakymuni], thangkas depicting buddhas and bodhisattvas painted in gold, and brocade vestments for hundreds of sacred images.’ He also oversaw the woodblock printing of thousands of volumes of Buddhist scriptures, thereby contributing significantly to the preservation and dissemination of the Dharma.

Chaktsa Trülku actively encouraged nomadic and lay communities throughout Kham and Golok to engage in devotional and contemplative practices. He inspired them to recite the mantras ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’ and ‘Om Ah Hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hum’; to cultivate devotion to Sukhavati, Amitabha's Pure Land of Bliss; to undertake the Nyungné purification and fasting practice; and to raise hundreds of thousands of prayer flags so that prayers for wisdom, compassion, and well-being might be carried by the mountain winds throughout the world.

During Chaktsa Trülku Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso’s later years, Golok was beset by civil unrest, banditry, and intermittent warfare. Through his religious activities, charitable works, and spiritual leadership, he became an important source of stability and inspiration for the people of the region. As Nyoshül Khenpo Jamyang Dorjé observed:

‘Chaktsa Rinpoché used a variety of skillful means to exert a positive influence over the entire region, lifting the darkness with the light of the extensive deeds he undertook to nurture the teachings in general and his school in particular. He engaged in the far-reaching activities of someone learned, venerable, and noble, and his wisdom, love, and spiritual energy were superb sources of benefit and happiness.’

A Legacy of Illustrious Disciples

Chaktsa Trülku Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso transmitted teachings to a remarkable generation of lineage holders whose activities helped shape the Nyingma tradition throughout twentieth-century Tibet. His disciples represented many of the principal transmission lineages of eastern Tibet and carried his teachings throughout Kham, Golok, Amdo, and beyond.

Among his foremost students was the Third Gétsé Trülku (Gyürmé Tenpa Namgyal, 1886–1952), who later established a close relationship with the Thirteenth Dalai Lama (Ngawang Lobzang Thupten Gyatso Jigdral Chokley Namgyal, 1876–1933), while residing in Lhasa. Other distinguished disciples included Rakor Khen Drimé Özer (c.1890–1950s), himself a student of Katok Khenpo Ngawang Palzang; Düdjom Lingpa’s disciple, Yukhok Jadralwa Chöying Rangdrol (1872–1952); and Khenchen Lekshé Jorden of Katok, a close disciple of Tertön Sogyal Lérab Lingpa (1856–1926).

His students also included the renowned Golok yogin Jazi Amnyé Drödul Péma Garwang Lingpa (1901–1975); and Düdjom Jigdrel Yéshé Dorjé (1904–1987), who was recognized as the body incarnation of Düdjom Lingpa and would later become one of the foremost Nyingma masters of the twentieth century.

The illustrious Dzogchen master Nyoshul Khenpo Jamyang Dorjé (1932–1999), regarded by many as an emanation of Longchen Rabjam Drimé Özer (1308–1364), likewise received teachings from Chaktsa Trülku. Other notable disciples included the Fifth Nyingön Choktrül (Gyürmé Kalzang Tobgyal Dorjé, 1937–1979), and Khenpo Ngawang Sangyé Tendzin (b. 1944), recognized as an incarnation of Khenpo Ngawang Palzang.

Through these and many other disciples, Chaktsa Trülku Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso’s influence extended well beyond the confines of Gétsé Tralek and Golok, contributing significantly to the preservation and transmission of the Katok and Düdjom Tersar lineages during one of the most dynamic periods in the history of the Nyingma tradition.

Self–Dissolution into a Body of Light

Chaktsa Trülku Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso passed away sometime during the 1950s. Nyoshül Khenpo Jamyang Dorjé recounts the circumstances of his final days as follows:

‘During the troubles of recent times, I and others served the Fourth Chaktsa Trülku unhesitatingly with body, speech, and mind and invited him to Achen Gangchak in the northern reaches of eastern Tibet, near Chumar Rabdün on the banks of the upper Dri Chu. There he remained without showing any signs of illness or physical pain. His nephew, Pesang, asked him, “Trülku Rinpoche, would it not be better to go to a place where we may devote our lives to the Dharma rather than remain here under the barbarians without it?”

The Fourth Chaktsa Trülku replied, “Yes, indeed, it would. You go, and I will join you shortly.”

Thereupon, his nephew sat in meditation with his hands resting in his lap and, in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, passed into a pure realm through the profound practice of transference of consciousness (phowa). At sunrise the following day, amid pavilions of radiant rainbow light, Chaktsa Trülku lay down in the posture of the sleeping lion and uttered “Phat!” several times. The display of his emanated form then resolved back into the vast expanse of the state of peace, the basic space of phenomena.’

According to this traditional account, Chaktsa Trülku Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso attained the supreme accomplishment known in the Dzogchen tradition as the self-dissolution of the physical body into light at the time of death. Such accounts describe accomplished practitioners whose physical forms dissolve wholly or partially into their primordial luminous nature, leaving behind few or no corporeal remains.

The Fourth Chaktsa Trülku’s reincarnation, Tsültrim Thübten Lodrö Chökyi Gyaltsen Palzangpo (mid-twentieth century–late twentieth century), was born near Dzamtang in Golok during a period of increasing Communist Chinese control over Tibet. As the Fifth Chaktsa Trülku, he received extensive training in the Dzogchen tradition from eminent teachers, including Khenpo Münsel (1916–1994), a direct disciple of Khenpo Ngawang Palzang who spent twenty-two years imprisoned by the Chinese authorities following the political turmoil of of 1959.

Until his passing at an unknown date, The Fifth Chaktsa Trülku Tsültrim Thübten Lodrö Chökyi Gyaltsen Palzangpo preserved and propagated the teachings and activities of his former incarnation at Gétsé Tralek Monastery. According to lineage accounts, he displayed the major and minor marks of spiritual perfection and bestowed liberation upon sight to countless beings who encountered him.

The highest realization of Dzogchen

Through his mastery of the contemplative traditions of Katok Dorjé Den and the Düdjom Tersar, Chaktsa Trülku Kunzang Péma Trinlé Gyatso attained the highest realization of Dzogchen, a realization reflected in his pith instructions for the moment of death:

‘One day, when the time of death arrives, unite lung (the inner wind), rigpa (awareness), and sem (mind) as the syllable Hung. Within the vast expanse of space—the fundamental sphere of great emptiness—blend space and awareness, and rest without rejection or acceptance. Having awakened directly into the primordial ground of liberation, may the unceasing, spontaneously present and all-pervading enlightened activity, the display of the three kayas, pervade limitless space until the infinite ocean of sentient beings is emptied.’

Notes

↑ Ösel Rinchen Nyingpo Padma Lendrel Tsal Gyi Tokjö Ngotsar Gyümai Rölgar (‘Wondrous Dance of Illusion’).

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[1] Ösel Rinchen Nyingpo Padma Lendrel Tsal Gyi Tokjö Ngotsar Gyümai Rölgar (‘Wondrous Dance of Illusion’).

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