Ngawang Trinlé

From the early years of Düdjom Lingpa’s activity in the Mar Chu Valley until the final phase of his life in the Do Chu Valley, Ngawang Trinlé served his teacher with unwavering and practical dedication. Shortly before his passing, Düdjom Lingpa entrusted Ngawang Trinlé with a final and singular responsibility: to journey to the remote hidden land of Béyül Pemakö and establish a connection with his forthcoming rebirth. Ngawang Trinlé faithfully fulfilled this charge, traveling to Pemakö to encounter Düdjom Jigdrel Yéshé Dorjé (1904–1987), thus ensuring an unbroken continuity between the tertön’s final lifetime and the unfolding of the Düdjom Tersar lineage in the twentieth century.

One of Düdjom Lingpa’s Six Earliest Students

Ngawang Trinlé was born into Golok’s Apo Dong clan around 1840. He was still in his teens when he first met Düdjom Lingpa, who arrived in Dziteng in the Mar Chu Valley in 1857 as a guest of the prominent Gili family. Although little is known about Ngawang Trinlé’s early life, he is remembered as a highly accomplished writer and quickly became one of Düdjom Lingpa’s closest attendants. Together with Goser Önpo Khyenrab Gyatso (c.1840–c.1910), Gili Ngawang Gyatso (c.1841–1893), Hor Püntsok Tashi (c.1835–1893), Horla Pema Tashi (c.1840–c.1890s), and Lama Tséchu (1850–c.1890), he formed part of Düdjom Lingpa’s informal circle of early students and scribes in the Mar Chu Valley—a group that would remain central to the transmission and consolidation of his terma revelations.

Unlike Düdjom Lingpa’s other five earliest disciples, Ngawang Trinlé may not initially have been an ordained monk. In his outer autobiography, Namtar Shyal Sungma, Düdjom Lingpa recounts a prophetic encounter at the age of twenty-one in which a dakini foretold that his most exceptional disciples would ‘live in unfixed mountain locales, keep their hair in long braids, and wear the attire of male and female adepts.’ Thirteen such future students, she added, would be identifiable by ‘their hair twisted in braids at the crown of the head.’ Düdjom Lingpa received this prophecy in 1856, a year before meeting his first disciples in Golok.

While Goser Önpo Lama Khyenrab Gyatso, Gili Ngawang Gyatso, Hor Püntsok Tashi, Horla Pema Tashi, and Lama Tséchu had all received monastic ordination, it remains unclear how strictly they comported themselves as monks after becoming Düdjom Lingpa’s followers. Tibetan Buddhist monasticism conventionally entails maroon robes and close-cropped hair, whereas practitioners who receive tantric vows within some branches of the Nyingma tradition are encouraged to wear white robes and keep their hair uncut. This form of ordination— Gökar Changlo De, literally ‘white-clad, long-haired section’—marks formal entry into the ngakpa tradition. Unlike monks bound by celibacy, tantric yogins (ngakpa) may marry, raise families, and live outside monasteries while remaining fully committed to mantra recitation, ritual observances, and intensive meditation. Their long hair and white robes symbolize purity and renunciation while remaining engaged with the phenomenal world. In real life, the codes of dress and comportment tend to be fluent between the two.

The Gökar Changlo De ordination is especially preserved within the Nyingma and Kagyü schools and is closely associated with advanced tantric cycles such as Tröma Nakmo, whose initiation symbolically includes transgressive practices (e.g., taking a consort and drinking from a skull bowl) that differ markedly from monastic conventions. Given Ngawang Trinlé’s role in Düdjom Lingpa’s tantric transmissions, it is likely that he adopted aspects of this yogic mode of life after becoming his disciple.

Between 1857 and 1861, Düdjom Lingpa resided primarily at the Gili family homestead in the Mar Chu Valley, where he revealed four foundational terma cycles through a succession of daknang, or ‘pure visions’. The first of these, the Zabchö Gongpa Longdrol (1857), records Ngawang Trinlé as one of those who assisted in transforming cryptic script into readable Tibetan prose. He is especially noted for requesting Düdjom Lingpa to elaborate on the Dzogchen practices of Kordé Rushen and Tögal, as preserved in the section entitled Zabsang Dzogpachenpö Yangzab Chükyi Dangma Nyurlam Powa Chenpö Dampa Magom Sangyé (‘Supremely Profound Vital Quintessence of the Profound Secret Great Perfection, Buddhahood without Meditation: Instructions on the Swift Path of Great Transference’).

Ngawang Trinlé is also named as one of the three principal scribes for Düdjom Lingpa’s subsequent terma, Daknang Yéshé Drawa (1858) (‘Wisdom Net of Pure Visions’), which includes extensive Dzogchen teachings alongside Chö practices centered on Tröma Nakmo.

In 1859, Ngawang Trinlé accompanied Düdjom Lingpa and several young disciples on a journey to the Ser Chu Valley, where Düdjom Lingpa revealed his sole sater, or ‘earth treasure’, at Shadrak Dorjé Dzong in the Ngala Taktsé mountain range. Ngawang Trinlé is credited with requesting many of the practices from this cycle and with assisting in their transcription and preservation over the following three decades, at various sites throughout Golok. Through this sustained involvement, he played an indispensable role in ensuring the continuity of Düdjom Lingpa’s earliest revelations and their transmission to future generations.

A Passionate Scribe

In Düdjom Lingpa’s collected works, Ngawang Trinlé is credited as the principal instigator and scribe for fourteen texts belonging to the Zabsang Khandro Nyingtik ('The Profound Secret Heart Essence of the Dakinis’), terma cycle central to the early consolidation of Düdjom Lingpa’s revelations. His role exemplifies the function of the early chödaks and scribes whose requests catalyzed the Düdjom Lingpa’s visionary disclosures and whose literary skill ensured their preservation.

Ngawang Trinlé first requested Düdjom Lingpa to dictate the Khajang Salwé Adarsha, the ‘Lucid Mirror’, a comprehensive overview enumerating the full contents and internal structure of the terma. He next solicited the dictation of the elaborately titled Nyingtam Dütsi Tikpa Phachik Tsokyé Dorjé Dampa Buchik Düdjom Dorjé Nyingtik Go—‘Essential Advice, the Nectar Drop: Oral Instructions of the Father, Lake-Born Vajra, the Heart Essence of the Sole Son, Düdjom Dorjé’. This text preserves cryptic counsel that Düdjom Lingpa received in a visionary encounter with Guru Rinpoche, addressing the averting of obstacles, prophetic indications concerning future disciples, and a list of sites destined to support the flourishing of his activities.

The third text Ngawang Trinlé is recorded as transcribing is Orgyen Chemchok Pema Gyalpo La Soldeb Tukdam Gyükul, ‘Inciting the Noble Wisdom Mind: A Supplication to the Lotus King, Orgyen Chemchok’. According to its colophon, Ngawang Trinlé requested this transmission together with Khedrup Wangchuk and Khyentse Tulku Dzamling Wangyal (1868–1907), one of Düdjom Lingpa’s sons. The prayer is attributed to Guru Rinpoché himself, composed at the request of Yéshé Tsogyal while they were residing at Samyé Chimphu in the eighth century.

Together with Khenpo Kunzang Palden, Ngawang Trinlé next requested the Jampal Sangwa Düpa, a practice cycle associated with the wisdom deity Manjushri. His fifth request, made jointly with a disciple named Viryabhadra whose Tibetan name likely was Rikzang, concerned the Amitabha practice Amitabha Dechen Shyingdrub, embedded within the broader cycle Chöku Dechen Gyalpö Chidrub Tarpé Drongjuk Namkhyen Lamzang. He then requested and transcribed the Tamdrin Yangtrö Nakpo, ‘Extremely Wrathful Black Hayagriva’, from the cycle Tamdrin Yangtrö Mahakala Yi Zurgyen Dragek Pungjom.

Ngawang Trinlé’s seventh request was for Düdjom Lingpa to dictate the lineage prayer of Lama Shyitro Düpa, ‘Gathering of the Peaceful and Wrathful Gurus’. Together with fellow disciples Hor Püntsok Tashi and Horla Pema Tashi, he subsequently asked Düdjom Lingpa to elucidate the nineteen practices of Dorjé Phurba Palchen Trinlé Chudün. This was followed by a further request, made with a disciple named Lama Rigga, for the more extensive cycle of Phurba Deshek Nyingpo.

As his tenth request, Ngawang Trinlé—together with a student named Longchen—asked Düdjom Lingpa to reveal twelve distinct practices of Sengdongma, the ‘Lion-Faced Dakini’, deployed for the reversal of curses, sorcery, and other forms of malevolent intent. He then served as scribe for the Tara practice Jetsün Drolmé Wangchok Ngödrub Jungné.

Ngawang Trinlé also played a notable role in recording several key texts related to the Chö practices of Tröma Nakmo, whose central aim is the severing of fixation to a self and the related mental states of hope and fear. Among these was a text concerning the Trawang, or ‘hair empowerment’, an optional initiation bestowed within the context of Tröma Nakmo. This rite transmits the samaya commitment never to cut one’s hair, blessing the practitioner’s hair as actual dakinis. Closely related texts transcribed by Ngawang Trinlé include a supplementary (shapka) Tröma Nakmo text entitled Damtsik Nyamchak Tamché Shakpé Gyalpo Yeshe Özer, as well as the liturgy for the ‘The annex for the profound Cemetery severance rite’, Dur Chö Zabmö Chalak.

Further requests made by Ngawang Trinlé include the Khandrö Tsomo Dorjé Pakmö Lado Tsatra Changtab, belonging to the Dorjé Pakmo (Vajravarahi) cycle, and the Yeshé Khandro Dorjé Naljormé Sangwé Drubpa Yeshe Öpung, from the Dorjé Naljorma (Vajrayogini) cycle. His fourteenth and final recorded request concerned a series of protector practices related to Nöjin Terdak, Zadü Rahula, and Shyingkyong Sengdong Yabyum.

As preserved in the lineage’s oral history, Düdjom Lingpa’s earliest, highly literate disciples all functioned as scribes, carefully decoding symbolic scripts and recording dictated visionary transmissions. Much of this intensive work took place during Düdjom Lingpa’s retreats at Dröpuk Khandro Duling—the ‘Dakinis’ Wrathful Gathering Hall’—near Chakri Tang Monastery on the banks of the Mar Chu, between 1862 and 1871, after his departure from the Gili family homestead in Dziteng. Within this milieu, Ngawang Trinlé emerged as one of the most prolific and devoted scribes, his requests shaping the emergent Düdjom Tersar corpus.

Seeking Clarification of Kordé Rushen and Tögal

In 1865, midway through his residency at Dröpuk Khandro Duling, Düdjom Lingpa met a young woman from the nearby village of Chakri Tang named Traza Sönam Tso (1845–1867). She soon became his consort and, later that year, gave birth to his first child, Sönam Tenzin—later known as Dodrubchen Jikmé Tenpé Nyima (1865–1926).

Although the precise date is unknown, it may have been around this same period, or later in either Mardo Tashi Chöling or Lama Rung, Ngawang Trinlé partnered with Ani Labdrön, a former nun and devoted student of Düdjom Lingpa. They remained together until the end of their lives in the hidden land of Pemakö.

In 1871, Düdjom Lingpa departed Dröpuk Khandro Duling and travelled up the Mar Chu with his growing family and a small circle of close disciples—including Ngawang Trinlé—laying the foundations of what would become his first permanent residence, Mardo Tashi Chöling. During this formative period, Ngawang Trinlé continued to serve as one of Düdjom Lingpa’s principal scribes, while simultaneously pursuing his own vocation as a ngakpa, a tantric yogin deeply committed to Düdjom Lingpa’s exposition of Dzogchen.

It was from this position of close discipleship and contemplative engagement that Ngawang Trinlé repeatedly implored Düdjom Lingpa to further elucidate his revealed instructions on Kordé Rushen—‘differentiating samsara from nirvana, the experiential foundation of the Dzogchen path—and Tögal, or ‘direct crossing’, its culmination. These teachings were articulated within the Zabsang Dzogpachenpö Yangzab Chükyi Dangma Nyurlam Powa Chenpö Dampa Magom Sangyé Shukso, commonly translated as ‘Buddhahood Without Meditation: Instructions on the Swift Path of Great Transference’. This work forms a central component of Düdjom Lingpa’s first major terma cycle, the Zabchö Gongpa Longdrol—‘Maha Ati Yoga’s Profound Dharma, Wellspring of Naturally Liberated Wisdom Mind’.

In the colophon, Düdjom Lingpa explains that, in response to the repeated exhortations of his disciples Ngawang Trinlé, Gépel, and Ngöngpar Gawa, he decoded these teachings from ‘the unwritten secret treasury of the dakinis near a mountain associated with the local guardian deity Dzagyal Penchuk. He further records that the actual transcription of the text was undertaken by Ngöngpar Gawa, underscoring the collaborative process through which these early revelations were committed to writing.

Within the Zabchö Gongpa Longdrol terma cycle, the Zabsang Dzogpachenpö Yangzab Chükyi Dangma Nyurlam Powa Chenpö presents what it terms the ‘supremely profound, vital quintessence of the Secret Great Perfection’, with the explicit aim of pointing out ‘the all-embracing consummation of samsara [conditioned existence] and nirvana [unconditional awareness] within the luminous expanse of pristine emptiness’. The text describes a progression from three stages of deeply embodied preliminary practices [Kordé Rushen], to be completed over the course of eighty days, to a sustained process of ‘complete release into [the visual displays of] manifest presence’ [Tögal], unfolding over successive weeks, months, or years.

Düdjom Lingpa writes that ‘when the influence of dualistic fixation is removed, you will expand freely into the nature of the primordial ground of being’, culminating in the attainment of ‘complete and perfect Buddhahood in the Body of Great Transference and the Rainbow Body (jalü)’. He emphasizes that this approach represents ‘the secret heart of all buddhas and bodhisattvas of the three times [and] the actualization of the vast expanse of the display of true reality’, through which liberation from conditioned existence is irrevocably ensured.

In keeping with the text’s title—and consonant with Düdjom Lingpa’s broader pedagogical approach—Buddhahood is presented in the text as a natural process beyond contrived forms of contemplative practice. Rigpa (Primordial awareness) is self-cognizant, self-dsplaying, and self-releasing without artifice or cultivation, whether one lives as a householder, yogin, monk, or nun. As Düdjom Lingpa concludes with characteristic directness: ‘If you do not achieve realization as described here, however much you may meditate, you have strayed onto the path of dualistic grasping.’

Requesting Two of Düdjom Lingpa’s Four Biographies

In accordance with a prophecy received in childhood, Düdjom Lingpa left the Mar Chu Valley in 1880 and returned to his homeland in the Ser Chu Valley. He was accompanied by Ngawang Trinlé, Horla Pema Tashi, Hor Püntsok Tashi, Lama Tséchu, and a small group of devoted Dzogchen practitioners. Upon their arrival, they established a dharma encampment which would later be known as Lama Rung.

A decade later, in 1890, Düdjom Lingpa continued to travel with Ngawang Trinlé after receiving an invitation from a teenage disciple, Yungshul Sungchok Dorjé (1872–1952), to preside over Dartsang Kalzang Monastery. The monastery lay in the Li Gorge of the Do Chu river, near the village of Dartsang. At this new residence, Ngawang Trinlé and Ani Labdrön remained among Düdjom Lingpa’s closest attendants.

It was during this period that Ngawang Trinlé requested Düdjom Lingpa to compose the Sangwé Namtar Chungzé Shé Yéshé Daki Drilen, a ‘secret’ autobiography in which brief autobiographical statements are framed as responses to the inquiries of the wisdom dakini Ekajaṭī. The work constitutes the second of Düdjom Lingpa’s two secret namtars and belongs to the Daknang Yeshé Drawa, ‘Wisdom Net of Pure Visions’, terma cycle.

The text opens with the appearance of Ekadzati, the single-eyed wisdom protectress of the Dzogchen teachings, who requests Düdjom Lingpa to express his secret life story—his realization itself—in the form of a song. In reply, Düdjom Lingpa begins to sing:

‘Kyé ho! Universal Empress of Samsara and Nirvana, I am the Original Awakened State [Buddha]. Within the essential equality of Cyclic Existence and Enlightenment, I am the Unaltering and Faultless All-Pervading Buddha Samantabhadra!’

He then recounts, in visionary song, pivotal aspects of his spiritual awakening:

‘Hear me, precious Ekajati! From the beginning to the end of this human life, I did not rely upon a single lama. Karmic propensities from previous lives awakened, and propelled me effortlessly to the state of a rigdzin (Vidyadhara). I did not depend up-on metaphors or words, yet the treasury of the vast expanse of reality overflowed. All appearances arose as signs and symbols. I realized the supreme equality of Sam-sara and Nirvana. All phenomena resolved in naked Rigpa (unconditioned aware-ness). I gained mastery in Dzogchen (The Great Perfection).

At the conclusion of the text, Ekajaṭī sings back:

‘Well then. At a future time, this song of your outstanding qualities will benefit be-ings greatly. Therefore, commit it to writing!’

Having spoken these words, Ekajati’s magical wisdom display dissolved back into primordial emptiness, the Dharmakaya.

The second biographical text requested by Ngawang Trinlé is the Jinlab Öpung. In 1902—or possibly in the early months of 1903—Ngawang Trinlé asked his teacher to compose a supplication addressed to himself. Düdjom Lingpa complied, producing this brief yet signifi-cant work, whose title may be translated as ‘Brilliant Light of Blessings’. This text constitutes the fourth namtar of Düdjom Lingpa and presents a concise account of his extraordinary ac-complishments.

The Jinlab Öpung structures Düdjom Lingpa’s life into five temporal phases: from birth in 1835 to the age of eight (1843); from nine (1844) to twenty-four (1859); from twenty-five (1860) to thirty-six (1871); from thirty-seven (1872) to fifty-six (1891); and from fifty-seven (1892) to sixty-seven (1902). One representative supplicatory verse proclaims:

‘Opening the gateway to Dzogchen, the supreme pinnacle of the Vajrayana, you guided beings skillfully, in accordance with their capacities and circumstances. Among them, destined individuals attained the rainbow body of supreme transfer-ence. Teacher of the unsurpassed path, to you we pray!’

In the colophon, Düdjom Lingpa characteristically combines humility with self-deprecating hu-mor, while acknowledging Ngawang Trinlé’s decisive role in the text’s composition:

‘This supplication to my life story, entitled ‘A Blazing Light of Blessings’, was per-sistently and repeatedly requested by my student, the yogi Ngawang Trinlé. In re-sponse, I—Rigdzin Düdjom Dorjé—simply blurted out whatever came to mind. May it be virtuous in the beginning, middle, and end. May auspiciousness prevail!’

A Messenger Between Lives

Ngawang Trinlé was present at Dartsang Kalzang in early 1903 when Düdjom Lingpa began to show clear signs of serious illness, making it evident that he would be unable to undertake his intended journey to the hidden land of Pemakö. Before passing into parinirvana in December of that year, Düdjom Lingpa summoned Ngawang Trinlé and his consort, Ani Labdrön, to his chamber and said:

‘Ngaktrin, life is impermanent. I do not know whether we will be able to meet in Zangdok Palri [Guru Rinpoche’s Copper-Colored Mountain Paradise]. If we cannot not meet there, then we will certainly meet at the Lion’s Mouth.’

Overcome with grief at the prospect of his teacher’s departure from this world, Ngawang Trinlé implored him not to pass away. ‘Why must you dissolve your form at this time?’, he asked. ‘Please remain and share your heart-advice!’ Düdjom Lingpa responded with kindness and resolve:

‘I must pass away now so that I may meet my future mother and take birth under the proper circumstances for continuing my enlightened activities. But do not worry. From this moment onward, you are in charge of my sungbum [collected works]. Therefore, do not grieve. Take with you the written terma teachings and sacred ob-jects that I am now entrusting to you. Travel promptly to Central Tibet. Not long from now you will meet me again in one of my new incarnations. At that time, you must return to me the texts and sacred objects that I am placing in your care.’

Ngawang Trinlé and Ani Labdrön then set out from Dartsang Kalzang in the direction of Lhasa. About an hour into their journey, they stopped to visit Ani Jetsun, a disciple of Düdjom Lingpa who had spent most of her life in retreat and was widely known for her clairvoyance and accu-rate divinations. She welcomed them warmly with offerings of tea and tsampa. Ngawang Trinlé shared what Düdjom Lingpa had told them about his intention of departing to Zangdok Palri. Ani Jetsun suddenly closed her eyes while moving the 108 beads of her mala slowly through her fingers. After a few moments she suddenly stopped, opened her eyes wide, and exclaimed, ‘Lama is gone! You must return to Dartsang Kalzang at once!’

By that time, only a few disciples remained at Dartsang Kalzang; earlier groups had al-ready departed for Pemakö. Ngawang Trinlé and Ani Labdrön hurried back and prayed before Düdjom Lingpa’s kudung, which gradually diminished in size. They remained at Dartsang Kalzang for approximately two weeks until the cremation was performed. After collecting ringsel from the ashes, they departed and began on a long and perilous pilgrimage to Lhasa, in Central Tibet.

Six years later, in 1910, Ngawang Trinlé began to hear reports that Düdjom Lingpa’s incarnation had been discovered in the sacred hidden land of Pemakö—a dense, untamed jungle of steep ravines lying between the Tibetan plateau and the plains of the Brahmaputra, in India. Ngawang Trinlé and Ani Labdrön immediately set out on the arduous journey southward.

Arriving in Pemakö without precise information, they eventually found their way to a mountain village called Terkong Nang (Tirkung), where disciples of Düdjom Lingpa who had reached there several years before them had identified a precocious child as Düdjom Lingpa’s reincarnation. The father, Tulku Jampal Norbu (c.1880-c.1940’s), was a ngakpa (householder yogi) and the son of Trépo Sangngak—the 24th Kanam Depa of Powo, an independent King-dom to the north of Pemakö. His Bhutanese mother, Namgyal Drolma (c.1887–c.1960), was a descendent of Tertön Ratna Lingpa.

At the time of Ngawang Trinlé and Ani Labdrön’s arrival in Terkong Nang, Düdjom Jigdrel Yeshé Dorjé, as the child came to be known, was already six years old. The two pilgrims were given shelter in the young tulku’s home. Over dinner, the child began teasing them, tossing small balls of tsampa, roasted barley flour, in Ngawang Trinlé’s direction. Astonishingly, he then addressed Ngawang Trinlé in the Golok dialect––which is markedly different from the speech of either Central Tibet or Pemakö––and asked:

‘As we discussed together at Dartsang Kalzang before I passed away, did you bring back the teaching texts and sacred objects that I entrusted to you?’

Ngawang Trinlé replied without hesitation:

‘Yes. I have kept them exactly as you instructed, and I have come here to fulfill the responsibility that you placed in me.’

Düdjom Jigdral Yeshé Dorje had already been recognized and enthroned by Düdjom Lingpa’s former students from Golok––Ling Lama Chöjor Gyatso, Lama Péma Samphel, and Lama Khédrup––the latter two having taught him to read and write before he reached the age of five. Although the young reincarnate lama had thus been exposed to the Golok dialect prior to Ngawang Trinlé’s arrival in Pemakö in 1910, oral lineage accounts maintain that Düdjom Jigdrel Yeshé Dorjé was already capable of speaking Golok by the age of six, without anyone having trained him.

Passing away in Terkong Nang

Ngawang Trinlé and Ani Labdrön settled in Pemakö and remained joyfully close to the young Düdjom Jigdrel Yeshé Dorjé as he continued his studies with some of his previous in-carnation’s devoted Golokpa disciples. Ngawang Trinlé passed away in Terkong Nang not long after, around the age of seventy, having fully and faithfully fulfilled the sacred responsibility entrusted to him by his teacher in 1903.

Description:

Select files (or drop them here)...