Goser Önpo Khyenrab Gyatso

Regarded as a reincarnation of Réchung Dorjé Drakpa (1083–1161)—one of the two principal disciples of the eleventh-century Kagyü yogin Jetsün Milarepa (1052–1135)—Goser Önpo Khyenrab Gyatso was born into the Goser family of Düdjom Lingpa’s Nubzur clan, and may have been his first disciple.

A Life-Long Disciple of Düdjom Lingpa

Born around 1840, Goser Önpo Khyenrab Gyatso was no more than eight years old when Düdjom Lingpa returned to his native village of Nubzur in 1848, following four years of study with the Nyingma masters, Lama Mingyur and Lama Jamyang, in the isolated Nyi Chu Valley.

Ordained as a monk at Nubzur Monastery—a branch of Palyul Namgyal Jangchub Chöling in Kham, one of the six mother monasteries of the Nyingma school—Khyenrab Gyatso immersed himself in the Namchö revelation cycle of Tertön Mingyur Dorjé (1645–1667). He also received the transmissions, empowerments, and meditative instructions of the Zabchö Shitro Gongpa Rangdrol––‘The Peaceful and Wrathful Deities: The Profound Dharma of Self-Liberated Wisdom Mind’––a terma cycle revealed by the fourteenth-century visionary Karma Lingpa (1326–1386).

In 1857, Düdjom Lingpa departed Nubzur for Dziteng, a settlement on the banks of the Mar Chu, at the invitation of a prosperous merchant family headed by Gili Wangli. Khyenrab Gyatso either accompanied him on this journey or followed soon after, entering the circle of Düdjom Lingpa’s early and most steadfast disciples. Beginning in 1862, under the Gili family’s patronage, Düdjom Lingpa undertook extended retreats at the hermitage of Dröpuk Khandro Dükhang, where Khyenrab Gyatso is believed to have remained at his side, attending to his teacher’s practice and instruction.

At the conclusion of their first retreat together, Khyenrab Gyatso and Düdjom Lingpa returned to the Gili family estate in Dziteng. There, in the late summer of 1862, Gili Wangdi was also hosting the Third Katok Chaktsa Tulku (Kyilung Tukchok Dorjé), who had come from Katok Dorjé Den Monastery in Kham to bestow teachings. Together with the Gili family, Düdjom Lingpa and Khyenrab Gyatso received from him the oral transmissions, empowerments, and meditative instructions of the terma cycles of Rigdzin Düdul Dorjé (1615–1672) and Longsal Nyingpo (1625–1692)–which together form the core of Katok Monastery’s terma tradition.

The following year, 1863, Düdjom Lingpa returned to Nubzur with Khyenrab Gyatso to undertake a meditation retreat on Rigdzin Düdül Dorjé’s Guru Dorjé Drolö terma revelation, which they had received from the Third Katok Chaktsa Tulku. They were joined by three of Düdjom Lingpa’s early disciples: Karma Könchok, Lama Ten, and Rikchok.

On the seventh day of the retreat, Düdjom Lingpa dreamed of three women approaching their door, only to flee as he radiated a scorching fire. On the night of the twenty-first day, a red cat appeared in the retreat cabin. Recognizing it as a magical projection of a gyalpo—a class of potentially malevolent spirits in both Buddhist and Bön traditions—Düdjom Lingpa took decisive action.

To protect himself and his fellow retreatants, he pinned the cat with a stick. Understanding it as an illusory projection, he boldly placed his right hand in its mouth while manifesting as Dorjé Drolö, the ‘wild wrathful vajra’ aspect of Guru Rinpoche for taming obstreperous deities and spirits. As the cat clawed at him, he grasped its neck with his left hand, squeezing tightly. In an instant, the cat transformed into a monk in ragged maroon robes. ‘Brother, don’t wring my neck!’, the gyalpo spirit pleaded. ‘I have something good to tell you.’ Düdjom Lingpa replied, ‘We don’t need to talk. Just promise that you won’t cause any more disturbance.’

As Düdjom Lingpa recounts in his autobiography Salwé Melong, ‘A Clear Mirror’, the spirit—manifesting as the monk—swore not to harm Düdjom Lingpa or those around him. ‘But as for this monk, Khyenrab Gyatso,’ the spirit said, ‘I must speak with him. After that, I will release him’. Still in the blazing and wrathful guise of Dorjé Drolö, Düdjom Lingpa placed his hand on the gyalpo’s head, poured nectar into its mouth, bound it under oath, and banished it. Three days later, the retreat concluded. During this period, the gyalpo spirit returned and possessed Khyenrab Gyatso. Yet through their collective practice, the group overcame the impediment, and ‘every sort of disturbance vanished without a trace’.

To conclude the retreat, Düdjom Lingpa and his four students performed two thousand vajra feasts and fulfillment offerings to Dorjé Drolö, receiving indications of spiritual attainment in the form of dütsi (nectar). ‘Excellent signs, truly virtuous in nature, appeared, including a white rainbow extending to the roof [of the retreat cabin], and snow falling continuously in the form of flowers’.

Afterward, Khyenrab Gyatso accompanied Düdjom Lingpa back to the Mar Chu Valley, remaining close to him for the next eight years. In 1871, he journeyed with Düdjom Lingpa further up the valley to establish the flourishing dharma community of Mardo Tashi Chöling. In 1880, they returned to Nubzur to create the dharma enclave of Lama Rung. A decade later, in 1890, Düdjom Lingpa accepted the invitation to preside at Dartsang Kalzang, a small dharma community in Golok’s Do Chu Valley. Khyenrab Gyatso accompanied him there and became an influential presence within Düdjom Lingpa’s household.

Consoling Tulku Drimé Özer in Dartsang Kalzang

Under Düdjom Lingpa’s guidance, Dartsang Kalzang entered a decade of remarkable growth. A new temple rose to house the complete Kangyur and Tengyur––the sacred texts recognized by various schools of Tibetan Buddhism as the Buddha’s recorded teachings and associated commentaries by great masters––and the monastery became a hub of dharma activity, with empowerments, transmissions, and teachings on Düdjom Lingpa’s full cycles of termas. Recognition of Düdjom Lingpa’s profound spiritual authority began to spread throughout Golok.

Dartsang Kalzang also became a base for Düdjom Lingpa’s extended family. Several of his eight sons lived at or frequently visited the monastery, among them Tulku Drimé Özer (1881–1924), Tulku Lhachen Tobgyal (1884–1942), and Tulku Dorjé Dradul (1891–1959). As one of Düdjom Lingpa’s closest disciples, Khyenrab Gyatso developed warm and enduring relationships with the family, particularly the younger tulkus.

In 1897, when Tulku Drimé Özer turned sixteen, Düdjom Lingpa foresaw major obstacles arising in his son’s life. To dispel these dangers, he treated Drimé Özer with apparent severity—often scolding or striking him, rarely showing affection, and even preventing him from attending teachings or empowerments. Though his devotion and pure view of his father remained unwavering, the young tulku grew despondent.

One day, finding Drimé Özer alone and in tears, Khyenrab Gyatso and his dharma brothers comforted him. They explained the true motivation behind his father’s actions: ‘Don’t be upset. Düdjom Lingpa has foreseen your obstacles. No matter how he scolds or strikes you, do not think negatively.’

They repeated the words they had heard directly from Düdjom Lingpa himself: ‘My son Drimé’s nature is excellent. I do not strike him out of anger or to diminish him. My actions address a major obstacle in his life—they are not born of aggression. My doctrine rests upon him.’

Through the guidance of Khyenrab Gyatso and his dharma brothers, Tulku Drimé Özer came to understand the necessity of his father’s stern methods, recognizing his apparent wrath as a means of protecting both him and the Düdjom Tersar lineage.

Monastic Alliances

Although he had moved with Düdjom Lingpa to Dartsang Kalzang in 1890, Khyenrab Gyatso maintained his connection with Nubzur Monastery, the location of his early ordination. Throughout the 1890s, he returned repeatedly, offering empowerments and teachings that bridged generations—sharing the Düdjom Tersar alongside the Namchö terma cycle of Mingyur Dorjé. His presence brought renewed vitality to Nubzur Monastery, linking its spiritual heritage with Düdjom Lingpa’s flourishing terma revelations.

In the early 1900s, Khyenrab Gyatso relocated to Shyichen Kharmar Sangngak Tengyé Ling, a branch of Katok Dorjé Den Monastery in Kham. There, as chief abbot, he guided both monks and lay practitioners and extended the reach of the Düdjom Tersar lineage.

A Prolific Scribe

Due in large part to his early monastic training, Khyenrab Gyatso served as a scribe for Düdjom Lingpa beginning in the 1860s and carried out this role for nearly four decades. He is noted as having requested or transcribed more than fifty of Düdjom Lingpa’s terma texts, sometimes collaborating with other direct disciples such as Chönjuk Lama (1816–1904+), Hor Püntsok Tashi (1835?–1893?), Lingtrul Pema Lungtok Gyatso (1856?–?), Sögen Trülku Natsok Rangdrol (1869–1935), Tsultrim Dorjé (1880–1950?), Tulku Drimé Özer (1881–1924), Chödak Dongpön Lhündrup Dorjé, Longchen Dorjé, and Washül Tubten Drakpa.

The auspicious connection (tendrel) between a tertön and a suitable scribe is crucial for a terma revelation to successfully unfold. Düdjom Lingpa’s activity depended on innumerable interconnections among people, places, time, and circumstances, and his positive link with his scribes was crucial to his development and legacy as a tertön.

On one occasion, in 1872, Khyenrab Gyatso inadvertently impeded the transmission of a terma while residing with Düdjom Lingpa at the homestead of the Hor Clan Chief on the banks of the Mar Chu. Khyenrab Gyatso had requested Düdjom Lingpa to put into words a Manjushri (Jampal) tantra. On the auspicious tenth day of the middle winter month, as Düdjom Lingpa began, thunder rumbled from the sky and small hailstones began to fall. Düdjom Lingpa shared his delight at this auspicious sign, but hesitation arose in Khyenrab Gyatso’s mind. Questioning the unusual phenomena, he asked, ‘During the winter, isn’t the sound of thunder inauspicious?’ His uncharacteristic doubt prevented the terma from fully manifesting. After transcribing only five pages of the Tantra of Manjushri, Düdjom Lingpa set it aside. Apart from this single incident, Khyenrab Gyatso continued for decades as a meticulous and devoted scribe.

Khyenrab Gyatso is cited as having requested or transcribed numerous terma cycles, including Düdjom Lingpa’s 1857 revelation Daknang Yéshé Drawa, ‘The Wisdom Net of Pure Visions’, one of his four principal treasure cycles. Khyenrab Gyatso was also the scribe for a Guru Yoga terma called Lamé Naljor Tukjé Chugyün, a chülen practice for subsisting on the essence of flowers, and a terma called Möchol Drasok Chöpé Pudri. He also set into writing the 1859 Zabsang Khandro Nyingtik (‘The Profound Doctrine of the Heart Essence of the Dakinis’) terma revelation, which included many associated practice cycles and texts, including rituals and sadhanas connected to deities and protectors such as Sangdak Chakna Dorjé, Drölma (Tara), Nordak Apara Tsitté, and Tsengö.

For the Lamé Zhiwa Rigdzin Düpa, the main Guru Yoga practice of the Zabsang Khandro Nyingtik, Khyenrab Gyatso requested that Düdjom Lingpa transmit a fire offering ritual called Gyalwang Pema Öbar La Tenpé Shyigyé Kyi Sekluk Lhündrub for performing peaceful and enriching activities connected with Guru Rinpoché’s manifestation as Pema Öbar, (‘Blazing Lotus Light’).

Together with Sögen Trülku Natsok Rangdröl and Longchen Dorjé, Khyenrab Gyatso requested more than twelve texts from the Kagyé Deshek Sangwa Düpa practice cycle, including the extensive empowerment of Lhachen Wangchuk Chenpo––a Tantric Buddhist form of Shiva––and the léjang, or activity manual, for related Kangwa and Külwa practices.

In 1861, Düdjom Lingpa revealed, through pure vision, the Chönyi Namkhé Long Dzö (‘The Vast Space Treasury of the Nature of Reality’), his most famous terma cycle. Over the following decades, Khyenrab Gyatso was consistently mentioned as the one requesting teachings or committing them to writing, particularly the sadhanas of Chemchok Dorjé Drolö, Drolma (Tara), Zadü Rahula, Soklen Marpo, Nöjin Tsengyal Chenpo, Machen Pomra, and Riwang Gyalpo.

In the Male Earth Bird Year of 1888, Khyenrab Gyatso, together with several disciples residing at Lama Rung, requested that Düdjom Lingpa compose an autobiography to ensure his legacy. To establish the auspicious circumstances, Düdjom Lingpa’s son Lama Tséchu offered a silk scarf, a jewel-inlaid chöd drum, and an exceptional pair of human thighbone trumpets (kangling). Jampal presented a lion-patterned brocade banner adorned with endless knot emblems, turquoise, and coral to attach to the drum.

Many male and female disciples from Lama Rung contributed additional offerings—silver, brocade, and tea bricks––with the request that Düdjom Lingpa produce a record of his life and visions. According to their circumstances and capacity, they also offered commitments of spiritual practice, some pledging to remain in solitude for the remainder of their lives, while others vowed to engage in meditation for thirteen years, eighteen years, or longer to perpetuate the Düdjom Tersar lineage.

The pivotal moment that prompted Düdjom Lingpa to write his life story was a visionary experience during the winter of 1896 in which Khyenrab Gyatso’s role was central. Yéshé Tsogyal appeared to him in a dream amidst clouds and rainbows and urged him, ‘Don’t procrastinate! Finish the work quickly!’ In her exhortation, Yéshé Tsogyal revealed that Khyenrab Gyatso was a reincarnation of Réchung Dorjé Drakpa (1083–1161), the heart-son of the renowned yogin and poet Milarepa (1152–1135). Yéshé Tsogyal instructed him to seek Khyenrab Gyatso’s assistance as both editor and transcriber. Following her guidance, Düdjom Lingpa began composing his spiritual memoirs, with Khyenrab Gyatso serving as one of the primary scribes. The final work, known as Salwé Mélong, ‘A Clear Mirror’, comprises eighty double-sided folios and recounts the dreams, visions, and prophetic events that shaped his life and legacy in Golok.

A Tröma Nakmo Practitioner

Düdjom Lingpa’s terma Chönyi Namkhé Long Dzö (‘The Vast Space Treasury of the Nature of Reality’) contains practices devoted to a wide array of male and female deities. Among these, one of the most widely practiced is the Dzogchen cycle of Tröma Nakmo. This cycle establishes the practitioner in non-dual awareness and the recognition that all phenomena, however fearsome, arise as expressions of enlightened mind.

Khyenrab Gyatso diligently transcribed the five interrelated practices associated with Tröma Nakmo. He also served as scribe for the Khandro Düpé Wangchok Chönyi Trinpung, an extensive twenty-folio empowerment text connected with the same cycle. Among other works he copied were the Chöyul Lhamö Garkhen Ladrer Tsiklok Drilwa, an encrypted scripture designed to confound both gods and demons; the Khandro Tröma’i Chalak Lüdön Khandrö Shyaltab, a ritual offering of the bodies of harmful spirits to the mouths of dakinis; the Machik Tröma Nakmo La Tenné Shinpo Jedzin Tarpé Temké, which contains instructions for caring for the deceased and invoking Tröma Nakmo to guide their consciousness toward a pure realm (shingkham); and the Yéshé Khandro Tröma Nakmo La Tenpé Lé Shyi’i Sekluk Trinlé Lhündrub, a Tröma Nakmo ritual text in which burnt offerings are made to accomplish the four enlightened activities.

For more than five decades, Khyenrab Gyatso devoted himself to the Tröma Nakmo practices and, as a fully ordained monk, became both a distinguished Dzogchen practitioner and a monastic lineage holder of the Düdjom Tersar.

A Lhachen Practitioner

Düdjom Lingpa’s 1859 revelation of the Zabsang Khandro Nyingtik (‘Profound Heart Essence of the Dakinis) contains numerous practices associated with Lhachen Wangchuk Chenpo, a powerful Tibetan Buddhist protector deity known variously as Lhachen, Wangchuk Chenpo, or Legden.

Düdjom Lingpa first encountered Lhachen Wangchuk Chenpo in 1847, at the age of twelve, while residing in the Nyi Chu Valley under the tutelage of his early teachers, Lama Mingyur and Lama Jamyang. On the morning of the eighth day of the Ox Month, the deity appeared to him in the form of Orgyen Terdak Gyalpo, holding a golden hook and a mongoose amid a dazzling display of magical emanations. At one point during this vision, Orgyen Terdak Gyalpo turned toward the southwest and said, ‘For my practice, visualize like this!’ In that instant, the entire maṇḍala of Lhachen Wangchuk Chenpo unfolded before Düdjom Lingpa in precise geometric configurations populated by subsidiary deities, through which he received direct instruction on invoking Lhachen’s protective power.

The transcription of the practice texts connected with Lhachen Wangchuk Chenpo is said to have involved more than three decades of meticulous work. Khyenrab Gyatso devoted himself fully to the task, transcribing fifteen texts, including an offering petition to Lhachen Wangchuk Chenpo, a külwa or exhortation, and an extensive wrathful accomplishment ritual titled Lhachen Wangchuk Chenpö Sepa Pudri Khorlo––‘Wheel of Razors, the Activity of Killing Related to the Great Mighty Lhachen’.

He also served as scribe for another Lhachen Wangchuk Chenpo practice, the Lhachen Wang Payak Chenpö Chakgya Khamsum Wangdü, which forms part of the Yéshé Gyutrul Rölpa terma cycle that Düdjom Lingpa began revealing at the request of Hor Püntsok Tashi, though it was never fully transcribed.

Throughout the lives of both Düdjom Lingpa and Khyenrab Gyatso, Lhachen Wangchuk Chenpo remained a central protector, invoked continually to empower and safeguard their vast range of activities in the unfolding of the Düdjom Tersar tradition.

The Root Teacher of Péma Lungtok Gyatso (aka Golok Serta)

In 1898, a seven-year-old boy from the Ser Chu Valley accompanied his father, Sönam Dorjé, on a visit to Düdjom Lingpa at his seat of Dartsang Kalzang in the Do Chu Valley. Düdjom Lingpa recognized them as kin, for they all belonged to the same ancestral Achak Dru clan.

In 1902, the boy—later known as Golok Serta Péma Lungtok Gyatso (1891–1963/4)—was ordained as a novice monk at the age of eleven at Shyichen Kharmar Sangngak Tengyé Ling, a branch of Katok Dorjé Den Monastery, where Khyenrab Gyatso was serving as head lama. As a direct disciple of Khyenrab Gyatso, Golok Serta received transmissions for many terma cycles, including the Zabchö Shitro Gongpa Rangdröl of Karma Lingpa (1326-1386) and the Namchö (Sky Dharma) revelations of Tertön Mingyur Dorjé. Khyenrab Gyatso also transmitted to him extensive instructions on Tröma Nakmo.

Inspired by these teachings, the young Golok Serta entered a strict two-year retreat at Shukgang Hermitage, where he completed the ngöndro accumulations for the Tröma Nakmo cycle. Following this retreat, he felt no inclination to return to monastic life and instead wished to remain in solitary meditation. The clergy of Shyichen Kharmar Sangngak Tengyé Ling, however, objected and insisted that he resume his monastic duties.

Golok Serta appealed to his teacher, saying, ‘If I remain at the monastery, I will be unable to practice effectively—there are too many distractions. Please allow me to leave. Otherwise please make a divination to clarify this matter.’

Feigning irritation, Khyenrab Gyatso reminded him that he was a direct descendant of the great fifteenth-century Dzogchen master and treasure revealer, Tertön Sherab Mebar. ‘I had great hopes that you would benefit this excellent monastery of Zhichen’, Khyenrab Gyatso said. ‘But it seems it will be difficult for you to benefit anyone if you are determined to wander alone in the wilderness!’

That night, however, Khyenrab Gyatso dreamed a prophetic dream. He saw Golok Serta standing atop a mountain surrounded by grazing deer. Upon waking, he told Golok Serta, ‘I therefore predict that you will indeed be of benefit to sentient beings.’ He further recognized Golok Serta as an incarnation of Yudra Nyingpo, the eighth-century Gyalrong prince and eminent lotsawa who translated Sanskrit texts into Tibetan under the guidance of Guru Rinpoché.

Convinced that their connection spanned multiple lifetimes, Khyenrab Gyatso declared that he would entrust Golok Serta to the direct protection of the deity Lhachen Wangchuk Chenpo, ensuring that no obstacles would arise after he left the monastery. As he raised his hands in homage, Lhachen Wangchuk Chenpo’s consorts are said to have appeared before them in a shimmering expanse of light.

Khyenrab Gyatso then foretold that Golok Serta would face many hardships on his path. ‘Though we may not meet again in this life,’ he said, ‘if ever you encounter great difficulty, call upon me—and I will come.’

Though reluctant to part from his revered teacher, Golok Serta recognized that fulfilling the Dharma would be the greatest offering he could make. He said, ‘I now request leave. All bodhisattvas of the past have engaged in profound practice, many in remote mountain hermitages, benefitting beings by severing attachment to family and homeland. In the same way, without delay, I shall strive to realize ultimate enlightenment!’

Seeing his disciple’s resolve, Khyenrab Gyatso granted him permission to leave and follow the life of a wandering hermit. Devoting himself to the path of Tröma Nakmo, Golok Serta carried a double-sided drum and thighbone trumpet, frequenting charnel grounds and haunted places in accordance with the oral instructions of the Düdjom Tersar lineage.

With matted hair and beard, Golok Serta cut an imposing figure when he arrived at Tsurphu, the monastic seat of the Karmapas in Central Tibet. As he approached the nearby nomad camp of Gala Karlong, ten unchained mastiffs rushed toward him from a large yak-hair tent. Though far from his homeland, the spiritual bond between Golok Serta and his teacher remained unbroken. At the sight of the dogs, he called out his guru’s name—'Goser Önpo Khyen!’ (an abbreviation of Goser Önpo Khyenrab Gyatso)—and leapt into a nearby ditch for protection.

At that instant, his teacher appeared to him in visionary form, surrounded by volumes of sacred scriptures revolving in the air. As the mastiffs reached the ditch, they suddenly halted, turned, and ran off in another direction. The astonished nomads exclaimed, ‘This young practitioner must have a spell for dogs—otherwise those ferocious beasts would surely have devoured him!’ They then offered him butter tea, dried yak cheese, and roasted barley flour (tsampa).

Before Golok Serta had departed from Shyichen Kharmar Sangngak Tengyé Ling, Khyenrab Gyatso had told him that if he ever faced serious danger, he need only call his name and he would come. The incident at Tsurphu revealed the depth of their bond—and Khyenrab Gyatso’s compassionate power.

Tukdam for several days

Yéshé Tsogyal had once advised Düdjom Lingpa in a vision that Khyenrab Gyatso, his first student, should dwell in mountain hermitages to prolong his life. Nevertheless, after leaving Dartsang Kalzang, he chose to return to Shyichen Kharmar Sangngak Tengyé Ling. Around 1910, while serving as chief abbot, Khyenrab Gyatso passed away. It is said that he remained in tukdam—the meditative absorption maintained by realized masters at the time of death—for several days.

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