Chakung
An offspring of the Nub ancestral clan, the Chakung clan is famous in Eastern Tibet, and is the clan of Düdjom Lingpa.
The Nub family, descended from the lineage of Namkha Nyingpo and Nubchen Sangyé Yéshé, gradually migrated from Central Tibet to Eastern Kham, first settling near Kokonor Lake before being expelled by a Mongolian king's army and eventually reaching the Minyak Shyakdrak Lhatsé mountain region in lower Amdo.
A branch of the family, including the Rungta line, settled at the sacred site of Dra Chakung—named after an ancient Chinese iron mine (Chak meaning "iron," Kung meaning "extraction")—located on the flanks of the 5,820-meter Minyak Shyakdrak Lhatsé mountain, which is associated with Guru Rinpoche and Gesar of Ling.
The descendants of this earlier Rung line, now known by various clan names including Nuzok, Tongpön, Doshul, and Rungta, are collectively called Chakung and, though now mainly established in the Ser Chu and Do Chu valleys of Golok, trace their ancestral home to this sacred mountain region.
Since the early 8th century, Tibetans and Himalayan people have treasured "Namtars" as written or spoken narratives that demonstrate the realization of the Buddhist path by exceptional practitioners. These namtars, or spiritual biographies, serve as inspirational guides on the path to enlightenment.
Today, Namtars Foundation aims to record, preserve, and freely offer the world a written and electronic treasury of the oral wisdom of Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhism.
