Tsultrim Dorjé

Training

Teachers

• Düdjom Lingpa
• Déwé Dorjé
• Trülku Drimé Özer

Activity

Roles

• Chödak
• Monk
• Teacher
• Student

Places of activity

• Dartsang Kalzang
• Awo Séra Tekchen Chökhor Ling

Timeline

Born

Age at death

Passed

1880

c. 75

c. 1955

Serta

Serta

ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་རྡོ་རྗེ།

Courtesy of Namtars Foundation

Names

ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་རྡོ་རྗེ།

Tsultrim Dorjé

tshul khrims rdo rje/

Shila Vajra

Terma lineages thrive through the work of their chödaks—the dharma heirs who inspire, request, receive, transcribe, curate, practice, and ultimately transmit a tertön’s visionary revelations. Within the Düdjom Tersar tradition, Tsultrim Dorjé stands out as the principal chödak for four successive cycles of terma revelation: those of Düdjom Lingpa (1835–1903), his son Trülku Drimé Özer (1881–1924), Déwé Dorjé Sera Khandro (1892–1940), and Sönam Déutsen (1910–1958), Trülku Drimé Özer's only descendant and the mind incarnation of Düdjom Lingpa. His life was thus defined by an unwavering commitment to these four tertöns and to the preservation, practice, and transmission of the teachings and literary corpus that emerged through their visionary activity.

Düdjom Lingpa’s Scribe at Dartsang Kalzang

Tsultrim Dorjé  was born in the Serta region of Golok in 1880. At a young age, he was ordained as a monk at one of the Palyul or Katok branch monasteries in Golok, where he developed expertise in several styles of Tibetan calligraphy. In the colophons to several of Düdjom Lingpa's terma revelations, he is identified as a reincarnation of Sangyé Özer, possibly referring to Gyalsé Shenpen Tayé Sangyé Özer (1800–1855), the spiritual heir of the Dodrubchen Jikmé Trinlé Özer (First Dodrubchen, 1745–1821).

In the mid-1890s, while Düdjom Lingpa was residing at Dartsang Kalzang, his dharma encampment in the upper Do Chu Valey, Tsultrim Dorjé travelled there to meet him. Although still only in his mid-teens, he quickly became one of Düdjom Lingpa’s principal scribes. Working with exceptional diligence, he transcribed newly revealed liturgies such as Tamdrim Yangtrö Ngakpo (‘The Extremely Ferocious Black Hayagrīva’) and Yangtrö Mahakalé Kuldok Dorjé Gemo (‘The Vajra Howl of the Pitch-Black Mahākāla of the Upper Hermitage’), practices that, when recited, are said to pacify external adversities while dissolving the internal obstacles that impede spiritual realization.

Tsultrim Dorjé is credited as the scribe for numerous texts within Düdjom Lingpa’s Kagyé Déshek Düpa (‘The Thus-Gone Assembly of Eight Herukas’), part of the Zabzang Khandro Nyingtik (‘Profound Secret Heart Essence of the Ḍākinīs’) terma cycle. Among the other works from the Zabzang Khandro Nyingtik that he transcribed are the outer ḍākinī practice Sangwa Yeshé Vajrayoginī (‘The Secret Wisdom Vajrayoginī’) and Khandro Sangwa Shé kyi Kangdü Ngödrub Künjung (‘Fulfillment and Amendment Ritual of the Secret Gathering of the Ḍākinīs: The Source of All Accomplishments’).

Among the many other works that Tsultrim Dorjé transcribed are Deshek Sangwa Düwé Wangchok Dorjé Minjé (‘Vajra Supreme Empowerment of the Secret Assembly of the Sugatas’); Deshek Chuter Düpa Yi Jinbeb Ökyi Sarwa (‘Radiance of the Descent of Blessings from the Ocean-like Treasury Gathering of the Buddhas’); Deshek Drubpa Kagyé Sangwa Düpé Jinbeb Tsangpé Drayang (‘Sublime Melody for the Descent of Blessings from the Secret Gathering of the Eight Great Sādhana Teachings of the Buddhas’); Deshek Kagyé Sangwa Düpé Lejang Dönsal Drönmé Jinlab Charbeb (‘Activity Manual of the Secret Gathering of the Eight Great Sādhana Teachings of the Buddhas—An Illuminating Lamp Clarifying the Meaning, Downpour of Blessings’); Deshek Drubpa Kagyé kyi Sangdrub Jungpo Dulwé Tolum Chakgya Zilnön Chikpa (‘The Unique Blazing Iron Weapon and Overwhelming Mudrā for Subduing Elemental Spirits: The Secret Sādhana from the Eight Great Sādhana Teachings of the Buddhas’); and Tüntsam Sudok Pai Ngardok (‘The Fierce Empowering Display for Repelling Obstacles through the Scent Offering Ritual During Session Intermissions’).

The surviving colophons demonstrate that, while still a young monk, Tsultrim Dorjé played a central role in preserving Düdjom Lingpa’s revelations in written form, thereby helping to secure the textual transmission of the emerging Düdjom Tersar. In recognition of his extraordinary contribution to the transcription of these revealed teachings, Düdjom Lingpa spontaneously composed a gur (doha) in his honor entitled Düsum Gyalwa Küngyi Yeshe Sok Naljor Tsultrim La Dampa (‘Sublime Tsultrim, Yogin and Living Wisdom Essence of All the Buddhas of the Three Times’).

Chödak and Confidant of Drimé Özer

While residing at Dartsang Kalzang, Tsultrim Dorjé became close to many of Düdjom Lingpa’s senior disciples, including Goser Önpo Khyenrab Gyatso (c.1840–c.1910), Longchen Dorjé, Rebkong Sögyal, Rebkong Aku Dorjé Namgyal (c.1870s–c.1930s), and Rebkong Alak Gendün Gyatso (1870s–1940s). He forged an especially close bond with Sögen Trülku Natsok Rangdröl (1869–1935), with whom he later resided at Awo Sera Monastery in the Nyi Chu Valley.

Tsultrim Dorjé also established close relationships with two of Düdjom Lingpa’s sons. The first was Trülku Dorjé Dradül (1891–1959), on whose behalf he requested Düdjom Lingpa to reveal a longevity practice entitled Chimé Tséyi Drubpé Döchong Palgyi Bé'u Barché Künsel (‘Glorious Wish-Fulfilling Casket of Deathless Longevity Accomplishment: Dispeller of All Obstacles’). The second was Trülku Drimé Özer (1880–1921), who was the same age as Tsultrim Dorjé and whom he soon came to regard as his teacher, perceiving no difference between him and Düdjom Lingpa.

In 1897, when both Tsultrim Dorjé and Trülku Drimé Özer were seventeen years old, Trülku Drimé Özer began revealing termas. Tsultrim Dorjé served as his scribe, using his mastery of calligraphy with a hand-cut bamboo pen and homemade lampblack ink to record on paper fashioned from local fibrous plants the terma practices that Drimé Özer dictated. Through this work, Tsultrim Dorjé became one of Trülku Drimé Özer’s principal chödaks, or lineage heirs. This role had itself been foretold in one of Drimé Özer’s visions:

‘The noble compiler of your writings and the custodian of your doctrines is named Vajra [Dorjé]. You will meet him through the strength of your past connections.’

The prophecy was fulfilled when Tsultrim Dorjé became one of Trülku Drimé Özer’s closest students, attendants, confidants, and companions.

Tsultrim Dorjé was a frequent witness to the extraordinary circumstances surrounding Drimé Özer’s terma revelations. Before dawn on a frost-laden morning in the autumn of 1920, an apparitional ḍākinī, who identified herself as Longyang Ma, ‘Lady of the Infinite Expanse’, bestowed upon Trülku Drimé Özer a terma cache containing predictions of forthcoming events. At that moment, Tsultrim Dorjé was outside gathering dried yak dung to fuel the fire for brewing the customary morning yak-butter tea. Although the sky was cloudless, a white rainbow appeared above the tent in which Drimé Özer had been sleeping. When Tsultrim Dorjé entered to serve him tea, Drimé Özer asked whether he had noticed anything unusual that morning. Tsultrim Dorjé replied, ‘Yes; I saw a white rainbow above your tent. It was astonishing, as there were no conditions for it to arise.’

As time passed, Trülku Drimé Özer’s terma revelations came to rely increasingly upon the visionary support of Déwé Dorjé (1892–1940), renowned as the ‘ḍākinī from central Tibet’, who, at the age of fifteen, travelled to Golok with Drimé Özer and his entourage—including Tsultrim Dorjé—following their pilgrimage to Lhasa between 1905 and 1908. The prophesied union of Drimé Özer and Déwé Dorjé was initially thwarted by the presence of Drimé Özer’s existing consort, Washül Drolma Akyong Za (19th–20th century), with whom he fathered a son, Sönam Déutsen (1910–1958), in 1910.

Although unable to be together for more than a decade, Déwé Dorjé continued to support Drimé Özer’s revelatory activity while caring for his physical wellbeing. On one occasion, Drimé Özer’s close disciples—Sögen Trülku Natsok Rangdröl, Khyenrab Palzang, and Lama Rigdzin Dargyé—requested that he compose a commentary on Düdjom Lingpa’s terma revelation Nang Jang (‘Refined Perception’). Drimé Özer entitled the work Rangzhin Dzogpachenpö Rang Zhal Ngön du Jepé Dampa Ma Gom Sangye Kyi Dön Drel Zab Dönnyingpo (‘Instructions for Realizing the True Nature of the Natural Great Perfection’). Owing to profound fatigue, however, he was unable to complete it.

Déwé Dorjé then appeared to him in a dream and urged him to finish the commentary. With renewed vigour, he completed the work, while Tsultrim Dorjé served as his scribe. As the colophon records:

‘This commentary on the profound approach taught in the Nang Jang, ‘Buddhahood Without Meditation’, was repeatedly requested by the chödak Sögen Trülku Natsok Rangdröl with offerings of gold. Later, the diligent practitioners Khyenrab Palzang and Lama Rigdzin Dargyé requested it with offerings of a vajra and bell to support their commitment. Based on these requests, I had nearly completed the work when I was overcome with unrelenting fatigue. But during that period the Mistress of Space, Dékyong Wangmo [Déwé Dorjé], commanded me to finish it. Unable to refuse her, I, Longchen Drimé Özer, also known as Pema Leydrel Tsal, established the supportive conditions for the concluding words, which were written down by the yogi Shila Vajra [Tsultrim Dorjé]. May virtue prevail! May it be excellent! May it be auspicious!’

Chödak and Attendant of Déwé Dorjé (Sera Khandro)

Tsultrim Dorjé was an essential intermediary not only in furthering the visionary terma revelations of Trülku Drimé Özer and Déwé Dorjé, but also as a trusted liaison between the destined consorts themselves. He had accompanied Drimé Özer on his three-year pilgrimage to Central Tibet between 1905 and 1908 and thus became acquainted with the then fifteen-year-old Déwé Dorjé during their return journey from Lhasa to Dartsang Kalzang in 1907.

From 1908 until 1921, when karmic circumstances prevented Déwé Dorjé and Drimé Özer from being together, Tsultrim Dorjé acted as a messenger between them and was often present on the few occasions when they were able to meet. During those years they collaborated, sometimes from afar and sometimes in person, in the discovery, decoding, and transmission of termas. At a meeting at Nédro Dorjé Dzong, Drimé Özer's hermitage near Dartsang Kalzang Monastery, Déwé Dorjé bestowed upon him some of her most precious and profound teachings. Shortly afterwards, she dreamed that Trülku Drimé Özer was facing grave obstacles. She therefore requested Tsultrim Dorjé, who was then attending her, to deliver special medicinal substances to Drimé Özer, together with instructions she had received from the ḍākinīs concerning rituals to reverse these adverse circumstances and prolong his life.

As the connection between Drimé Özer and Déwé Dorjé deepened, Tsultrim Dorjé's devotion to them both likewise grew unwavering, and he did everything within his power to bring them together. On one occasion in 1921, while attending Déwé Dorjé, he witnessed her receive a bronze image of Shakyamuni Buddha and a sacred terma statue of the long-life buddha Amitayus in union with White Tārā from the revered Dzogchen yogi Adzom Drukpa Pawo Dorjé (1842–1924). Carefully swaddling the statues in a colored silk scarf, she entrusted them to Tsultrim Dorjé to deliver to Trülku Drimé Özer. She accompanied the offering with a text that included the following words:

‘Om Swasti! Dharma Master of Great Treasures, your immense kindness exceeds that of all buddhas gone before, present now, and yet to come . . . may your lifespan extend without decline. Please accept these offerings for the auspicious spread of your wisdom activity and compassion!’  

During the years of their separation, Déwé Dorjé married the influential tertön Gara Gyalsé Pema Namgyal (b.1882) in the Mar Chu region and gave birth to a daughter and a son. Alongside her domestic responsibilities of caring for the family’s property and livestock, she continued to record her visionary revelations. During this same period, both she and Drimé Özer suffered declining health. Through Tsultrim Dorjé’s intercession, Gara Gyalsé agreed to release Déwé Dorjé from their marriage so that she could move to Nédro Dorjé Dzong, Trülku Drimé Özer’s residence near Dartsang Kalzang. All concerned believed that this reunion would not only restore their physical wellbeing but also further their intertwined terma activity.

The transition took place in 1921. With Tsultrim Dorjé serving as her attendant, Déwé Dorjé settled at Nédro Dorjé Dzong together with her two children—eight-year-old Yangchen Chöying Drönma (1913–1946) and two-year-old Rigdzin Gyürmé Dorjé (1919–1924).

Over the following three years, both Drimé Özer’s and Déwé Dorjé’s health improved as they devoted themselves to terma revelation arising through their intimate relationship as tantric consorts. This brief period of love and revelation came to a tragic end in 1924, when an epidemic swept through Dartsang Kalzang, claiming the life of five-year-old Rigdzin Gyürmé Dorjé and, a few days later, that of Drimé Özer himself, who was only forty-three.

Following Trülku Drimé Özer’s passing, Déwé Dorjé was not allowed to remain in or near Dartsang Kalzang by those close to Washül Drolma Akyong Za. Tsultrim Dorjé remained close to Déwé Dorjé as her close confidant and attendant. In accord with his promise to Trülku Drimé Özer, he escorted Déwé Dorjé and her daughter to Awo Sera Monastery, where they were received by Sögen Trülku Natsok Rangdröl (1869–1935), one of Drimé Özer’s closest disciples. Déwé Dorjé remained at Awo Sera Monastery for the next decade and thereafter became widely known as Sera Khandro, the ‘Ḍākinī from Sera Monastery’. Throughout this period, Tsultrim Dorjé continued to serve her while also attending to the needs of Sögen Trülku. The three remained deeply united through their shared devotion to Trülku Drimé Özer’s memory and their commitment to preserving and transmitting his lineage.

Over the ensuing decade, Tsultrim Dorjé supported Déwé Dorjé in the unfolding of her life as the foremost female tertön of her generation. He repeatedly requested and transcribed her teachings on Dzogchen, while many of her personal writings were addressed directly to him. Much of this correspondence reflects her efforts to come to terms with the profound grief occasioned by the loss of both her young son and her cherished consort. With Tsultrim Dorjé beside her, she gave voice to these experiences in a number of songs of spiritual reflection.

Songs of Love and Lament

With Tsultrim Dorjé beside her, Déwé Dorjé composed the following supplication to her deceased consort, Trülku Drimé Özer:

Kye ma! Padmasambhava, the embodiment of all triumphant buddhas, and Yeshé Tsogyal—please think of me! Gaze upon me in my wretchedness with compassion—I am alone and have no one to guide me.

The force of earlier karmic connections and Yeshé Tsogyal’s compassion brought forth an illusory wisdom form of Longchenpa [Drimé Özer], who arose as a buddha of past, present, and future. He, the Protector of the Dharma, directly perceived the immaculate truth of ultimate reality and primordial wisdom itself, illuminating the inner meaning of the unborn.

Manifested from the pure and equal expanse of the luminous nature of reality as well as from the warm glow of compassion, our lama and protector of beings excellently appeared as the glorious realization of our merit.

Yet, since the nature of everything is conditional, now we are apart, and have no way to ever see or hear him again. It’s utterly devastating!

When the all-illuminating sun peaks from the tip of the eastern mountains, I remember his beautiful face, caring for me with a loving smile. When its light rays naturally clear the darkness of beings, I remember his giving Dharma instructions with words of loving-kindness.

I think about how, when the cooling nectar of the gods rained down from space, I sought out the secret key teachings from his realized and loving mind, and then he bequeathed me my inheritance, and our minds mingling as one.

I remember the time when flowers and trees bloomed across the earth, and he opened the door to a secret treasury of Dharma instructions, containing everything one could ever desire, and then bestowed sublime teachings, according to our propensities and capacities for practice.

Then, when it came time to enjoy the ripe fruits of the harvest, I recall how he introduced me to my true nature—luminous and uncontrived self-knowing awareness—the excellent path of self-existent wakefulness.

When I see the rise of the sacred orbs of sun and moon in the heavens, all possible concepts naturally subside through the powerful force of connecting with nondual primordial wisdom, and I recall the highest path of great unified Mahamūdra.

When the sparkling lights of myriad stars appear in the universe, I think about the penetrating knowledge of all the students and vajra siblings in the retinue.

When the eastern sun moves toward the western mountains, I remember my soulmate, the purest part of my heart. I think about the teacher who appears separate but never is.

Kye hu! Kye hu! Three Supremes and Three Roots, please consider me! I’m thinking of him. I’m remembering him. I’m missing my lama. Now quickly, let us practice the sublime Dharma before it’s too late!

Since all that is accumulated is eventually lost, what use is there for illusory wealth and possessions? Since all that gathers eventually must part, what use is there for attendants, students, or power? Since life ends in death, what need is there for cherished offspring? Since all talk is deceptive, why bother quarreling back and forth?

Now all the things of Samsara and Nirvana appear to me just like magical illusions. Everything is impermanent, the ground of myriad suffering, so, what’s the use of getting exhausted by tying yourself up in attachment to anything?

I no longer think of friends. I’ve no interest in love or trusting intimacy. I no longer think of food. I’ve no interest in nourishing my body. I no longer think of clothes. They don’t feel warm or soft anymore. I no longer think of a home, since my soulmate is gone.

I will wander in mountain solitudes without any fixed abode, practicing the instructions of my lama who possesses the realization of the sole father. I will sustain the natural state of no-mind, non-conceptuality, and behold my true Dharmakāya nature within the meditation of non-meditation.

Once I establish my practice in mountain retreat, firmly committed to the conduct of natural liberation, I won’t fixate upon or fabricate a natural mode of being. Instead, I will nurture the exalted state of innate and uncontrived self-knowing awareness and thereby encounter the true nature of the self-existing ultimate lama.

The glorious self-appearing Zangdok Palri (Copper-Colored Mountain) isn’t far away. It is completely and thoroughly encompassed in this great self-occurring, awakened experience, present in and of itself.

Should a Dharma brother or sister want to meet our lama, alight upon this—the primordial throne of self-knowing awareness!

The Lake-Born Vajra, born from a naturally occurring lotus, appears for the fortune of karmically connected beings as fully qualified lamas who guide all connected to them to the pure realm of Lotus Light, escorted by dakas and ḍakinis manifesting as their own dynamic energy.

Singing beautiful songs and bathing in floral nectar in that pure realm of Akaniṣṭha, which has no fixed location, lama and students, as teacher and retinue, enjoy the glory of the profound and vast instructions of the Dharma.

Even now, as the intentions of the Lotus Born and consort are being accomplished, I’m praying for all who are connected to me to awaken in the realm of Lotus Light.

These words come from a heartbroken beggar lady named Ananda [aka Déwé Dorjé], when she was overcome with grief and had no idea what to do. With her heart son Shila Vajra [Tsultrim Dorjé] beside her, she wrote them with the wind on her paw and offered them to him. May he now, awed by the illusory spectacle of an illusory girl, realize the unchanging everlasting kingdom!

Around the same time, in 1924, Déwé Dorjé composed an additional lament, in the form of the following song that seeks to transmute acute pain and sorrow into self-transcendent insight. As revealed in the colophon, she dedicated the song to her heart son, Tsultrim Dorjé.

‘Padmasambhava, universal embodiment of all triumphant buddhas throughout the three times, and Yeshé Tsogyal—pray, see me with compassion from your invisible buddha fields of purity.

Reflecting upon my wretchedness and vulnerability, I’d have no regret about ending my life in this, my cherished body.

My lama, kinder than all buddhas, gone before, present now, and still to come, appears no more. He is hiding in the Palace of Lotus Light at the Glorious Mountain.

My son, the apple of his mother’s eye, was led away by the heartless and cruel Lord of Death.

My lama’s students and followers are countless, like a constellation of stars, but I, alone, have been exiled to the ends of the earth without any support.

Never have I suffered greater physical or mental anguish than this! I pray—Sole Father Péma Ledrel [Drimé Özer], please see me from your invisible realm!

This noble human lady that you loved in earlier times is now wandering around homeless after you discarded her.

Forget about preserving the profound treasures of the lama and sole father [Drimé Özer]! I am a woman with a bad body from bad karma, oppressed by suffering.

Wish-Fulfilling Jewel, my lifelong companion and meditation partner—you cared for me as your beloved with a kind and loving heart and didn’t hide any instructions on the most profound meaning.

When I think about your outer, inner, secret qualities and more, the stress of my grief feels like an executioner.

Who is there in the three-thousandfold universe with pain greater than mine?

Noble Wish-Fulfilling Jewel, please, see me with your compassion. Forget about practicing and praying to the lama. All I can do is just attend to my grief and physical illness!

Forget about upholding the profound treasures and gathering students. Everyone gossips about me as a woman and avoids me like poison.

Forget about remaining at the lama’s residence to practice. Everyone treats me like a thorn in their eyes, and like evil, I’ve been banished into a defenseless and homeless condition.

Forget about help or consolation from anyone in the retinue. They are just making things nice for themselves with what they want.

I am a wretched girl without any friends or protection, oppressed by a load of suffering, lying down utterly disheartened.

In most circumstances, I can take care of my suffering. Yet, through the force of the winds in my heart moving in the depth of my mind a little bit, your mother, who is staying at the right side of the mountain retreat center at Sera Monastery, burst out with this little song for her beloved heart son. Little monk, I have nothing else to say besides this!

The mother, Sukha Vajra [Déwé Dorjé], offered this to her sole son, Shila Vajra [Tsultrim Dorjé], without hiding anything about her situation.

Songs of Heart Advice

As Tsultrim Dorjé was Déwé Dorjé’s avowed heart son, she addressed several of her songs directly to him, and she mentions him multiple times in her zhaldam, her collection of heart advice and songs. She composed the following self-revelation specifically for him:

‘Self-knowing awareness is pure from the outset. It is the Dharmakaya, the body of ultimate reality. Self-arising, it forever expresses itself as the Saṃbhogakāya, the subtle body of limitless enjoyment. Self-liberated and uncontrived, it appears in manifold ways as the Nirmaṇakaya, the body of emanation. Self-experienced as the teacher, it is the Svabhavikakaya, the essence body: Péma Ledrel, whom I continuously remember with deep faith and pray—remain always and forever as Lord of the Family.

Kye ma! Kye hu! How very sad! Saṃsara’s phenomena are just conditioned things, and when I think about them, sadness grows from deep within me.

The purest part of my heart is hidden away at the Lotus Light Palace, and my only son, my very heart, is no longer in the world. I have been left behind and am now just a thing to be pitied.

Deep inside, I am seriously considering journeying to a Buddha field—a pure realm beyond fixed location—but since I vowed to myself to preserve the profound teachings and benefit everyone, I guess I should stay on for a few more years.

Our intentions have been perfectly pure, but a call for you to oversee things back home has come. Now, no matter what I think, I just feel exhausted.

At this point, the force of my unfortunate karma from before is such that I am completely sure I won’t be able to benefit beings at this time.

Now, Shila Vajra [Tsultrim Dorjé], when you and I must definitely separate, my despair is unbearable, as though my heart is being torn out.

I am just writing down whatever I think. Who can substitute for my only son, the nexus of my heart? With whom can I share my pure visions?

Whatever I think causes my sorrow to grow. Whatever I do is suffering, by its very nature. My intentions never go well and just bring weariness.

I am sure about one idea for happiness: my deep wish to go to the Lotus Light Palace at the Glorious Mountain.

Due to the power and excellent aspirations of the regent of Padmasambhava, my sole protector Péma Drodül Sangnak Lingpa, and Padmasambhava himself, my longing to go there becomes greater and greater.

I pray that all who are connected to me, both positively and negatively, will take rebirth there, first among my retinue. Benefiting everyone will be easier in a Buddha field.

I am completely joking, my heart son!

Although nothing is certain about conditioned things, I do strongly wish to stay for a few more years.

If Sagadawa doesn’t bring a summons for me, we’ll never be apart. Together, may we fully spread the teachings of the two treasure lineages! May the lives of the treasure holders be long! May the profound treasure teachings reach to the ends of the earth. And may the treasure protectors swiftly enact their wisdom activity!

I offer these words of sorrow-laden advice from a girl of illusion to you, my supreme son of magical emanation. Like a painting of billowing cloudbanks, they are a magical manifestation matrix of lies.

Ha, ha! This is just crazy talk, my heart son! Hey, hey! These are just words of confusion, my dear Dharma friend! Ho, ho! Beloved son, this is just silly advice!

These words, Dékyong Wangmo’s [Déwé Dorjé] crazy counsel, were virtuously offered just as a joke, something to laugh about, for Shila Vajra [Tsultrim Dorjé]. May virtue prevail!

Déwé Dorjé wrote other zhaldam for Tsultrim Dorjé, such as the following song that points out the challenges of following a spiritual path amidst life’s inevitable sufferings:

‘Dharmadhatu wisdom is lofty and spacious. What can the eyes of an old dog see?

Mirrorlike wisdom’s pure, brilliant clarity is difficult to perceive when abiding in the dark forest of ignorance.

Since the wisdom of equality is a great encompassing vast expanse, it is impossible for it to fit in the old mind of someone like me.

Discerning wisdom is unobstructed skill. What can the mind of an impetuous child overcome?

All-accomplishing wisdom is swift and goes everywhere. A legless person like me has no chance to catch it.

If there were some positive qualities in enacting the behavior of the five poisons as they are, what would sentient beings wandering throughout the three realms be confused about? The experiences of suffering in the lower realms as a result would be meaningless.

I have no need for lots of words that contradict the ultimate. Buddha taught relative cause and result to be infallible. What sense is there in a result that has no cause? I haven’t seen mind burned by something other than the five poisons.

With their eyes of wisdom, my two friends see the enactment of the five poisons as they are to be Dharma practice.

This accords with what previous masters have taught to their sharpest disciples and aligns with the pith instructions that reveal how the five poisons can arise as supports, without needing to reject or transform them.

Although I think instructions such as these are marvelous, they don’t fit into my understanding and always remain disconnected. It is like pointing out the stars to a dog.

Someone like me isn’t even able to understand the lower vehicles. However, since you requested me to say something, my tradition does align with the key points of these instructions. Although they can’t be comprehended by small-minded individuals, Déwé Dorje still gives expedient and definitive advice.

This was offered as a playful response to both my Dharma friends Tsultrim Dorjé and Tsogyam.

Although Déwé Dorjé’s time with Drimé Özer was tragically short, it inspired much of her literary production and imbued her writings with the poignancy of love and loss. Yet beyond her songs of lament, their love endured in the eventual union of her daughter, Yangchen Drönma (also known as Gara Chöying Drönma), with Sönam Déutsen, Drimé Özer’s only son, who was recognized as embodying his grandfather’s enlightened mindstream. Having first met in 1921, when Déwé Dorjé and Drimé Özer were finally reunited, and being only three years apart in age, the two became close companions before reaching their teenage years. Although Sönam Déutsen had previously taken a consort, with whom he fathered several children who all died in infancy, his relationship with Yangchen Drönma gradually deepened until they themselves became consorts. Tsultrim Dorjé remained close to them both and rejoiced when Sönam Déutsen was formally recognized as a reincarnation of his grandfather, Düdjom Lingpa, thereby exemplifying the intricate incarnational relationships that characterize the Düdjom Tersar lineage.

As the son of Trülku Drimé Özer, Sönam Déutsen eventually assumed leadership of Dartsang Kalzang Monastery together with his uncle, Trülku Dorjé Dradül (1891–1959). With the support of Yangchen Drönma—until her death in 1946—he revealed more than five volumes of termas under the revelatory name Dorjé Drakpo Tsal, thereby uniting two of the most influential Nyingma terma lineages of eastern Tibet: those of Düdjom Lingpa and Déwé Dorjé. Until his own death around 1955, Tsultrim Dorjé remained closely associated with Sönam Déutsen and is said to have assisted in the transcription of his terma revelations, just as he had earlier done for Drimé Özer and Déwé Dorjé.

Sönam Déutsen and Yangchen Chöying Drönma’s tenure at Dartsang Kalzang coincided with increasing political instability in Golok, as well as profound personal tragedy. In 1946, while Yangchen Drönma gave birth to their first son, Do Nyak Tenpé Nyima, also known as Doli Nyima (1946–1960), she herself died in childbirth. Sönam Déutsen later fathered three further sons with three subsequent consorts before passing away in 1958/59.

The years that followed brought devastating upheaval to the Düdjom Tersar community. In 1959, Dartsang Kalzang Monastery stood on the brink of destruction as forces of the Chinese People's Liberation Army advanced into the region. Subsequently, traditional religious institutions throughout Golok were dismantled during the Maoist Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. Unlike earlier generations of the Düdjom family, Do Nyak Tenpé Nyima had little opportunity to complete the education and training traditionally expected of a hereditary trülku, and he passed away only two years after his father, in 1960. Nevertheless, his surviving half-brothers—Trülku Tamdrin Wangyal (1952–2005), Trülku Péma Wangyal (1953–1990), and Gyalsé Shenphen Nyima (b.1954)—all became highly accomplished practitioners of the Düdjom Tersar. Trülku Péma Wangyal is reported to have attained the rainbow body at the time of his passing, while Gyalsé Shenphen Nyima fathered several important lineage holders and practitioners, including Khandro Né'u Chung Lhamo, Trülku Lungrik Gyatso, and Trülku Jikmé Wangdrak, all of whom manifested signs of accomplishment in Dzogchen on their passing.

Supporting Déwé Dorjé’s Literary Endeavors

Tsultrim Dorjé’s life became deeply intertwined with that of Déwé Dorjé, whose literary production depended in large measure upon his faithful transcription of the teachings she received from visionary ḍakinis and dictated to him. Following Trülku Drimé Özer’s passing in 1924, Déwé Dorjé was inspired by visions and prophecies of the ḍakinss to undertake the composition of his biography.

To complete the work, Déwé Dorjé entered retreat at Kunzang Thekchok Ling, a mountain hermitage associated with Awo Sera on the slopes of Lhalung Norbu Yutsé. There she was assisted by Sherab Öbar and Tsultrim Dorjé, both of whom served as her scribes.

Déwé Dorjé completed the biography over a period of eight months, finishing it on the fifth day of the eighth month of the Year of the Wood Ox (1925). The resulting work, comprising 248 folios, bears the ambitious title: ‘The Biography of the Omniscient Refuge Master, Lord of Accomplished Ones, the Precious Sovereign of the Ocean of Profound Treasures Pema Drondül Sangngak Lingpa: A Chariot for the Faithful That Dispels the Heart’s Darkness, a Garland of Blue Lotuses and Cascading Jewels’.

Four years later, in 1929, Déwé Dorjé undertook an even more ambitious project: collecting, editing, and transcribing Düdjom Lingpa’s complete corpus of teachings, comprising more than twenty volumes.

This was a formidable undertaking. The original manuscripts were housed at Dartsang Kalzang, where Washül Drolma Akyong Za—Trülku Drimé Özer’s principal consort and the sister of a powerful lord of the Akyong clan—continued to reside, and from which Déwé Dorjé herself had been expelled following Drimé Özer’s passing in 1924. Nevertheless, she resolved to return to Dartsang Kalzang in order to complete this vital task.

When Déwé Dorjé, accompanied by her daughter Yangchen Drönma and two attendants, Tupzang and Tsultrim Dorjé, arrived at the Karlung hermitage near Dartsang Kalzang, they were welcomed by Trülku Dorjé Dradül (1891–1959), who had by then become the presiding lama of Dartsang Kalzang. He immediately granted her unrestricted access to his father's terma collection. Over the following month, Déwé Dorjé and her attendants produced meticulous copies of the texts, financing the work through local donations. Throughout the project, Tsultrim Dorjé remained at her side, applying his accomplished calligraphic skills to the preservation of Düdjom Lingpa's revealed teachings.

Before departing Dartsang Kalzang, and at the request of Trülku Drimé Özer's former disciples, Déwé Dorjé bestowed teachings from Drimé Özer based upon the visionary biography she had composed at Awo Sera.

Even before undertaking the compilation of Düdjom Lingpa's complete treasury of revealed teachings, Déwé Dorjé had begun writing her own autobiography. She commenced the work in 1927, two years after completing Trülku Drimé Özer’s biography. Once again, Tsultrim Dorjé served as her scribe. She completed the first part within a year, recounting her life from her birth in 1892 through 1926. As she wrote in the colophon:

‘I finished it when I was thirty-five, on the first day of the eleventh month in the female Fire Hare Year (1927), at the secluded hermitage of Awo Sera Monastery, the supreme place where natural ḍākinīs gather. My disciple of pure commitment, Tsultrim Dorjé, acted as the scribe.’

Déwé Dorjé later composed the second part of her autobiography, covering the period from the age of thirty-five (1927) to forty-two (1936), and completed it in 1937. Its colophon exemplifies the traditional Tibetan literary convention of humorous self-deprecation:

‘Because my disciples exhorted me over and over to write this, my heart could not bear it, and this perpetual liar, this guide of degenerate age beings with a degenerate age tertön name who is an object of pity as one who behaves as a householder, this ordinary one who yearned for the isolated hermitage of a homeless one, the lowest of all, Déwé Dorjé, wrote a partial account of my deeds and activities from age thirty-five to forty-two.’

Connection with Jadral Sangyé Dorjé

A pivotal moment in the transmission of Déwé Dorjé’s terma lineage occurred in 1928, when a fifteen-year-old practitioner arrived on foot at Awo Sera together with his uncle. Jadral Sangyé Dorjé (1913–2015), then known simply as Thrögyal Dorjé, had recently embarked upon the life of a wandering yogi. Leaving behind his family among the Absé tribal group of Nyakrong, a polity in eastern Kham in the upper Yalong River valley, he travelled north through precipitous mountains to the Nyi Chu valley in southeastern Golok to seek out the increasingly renowned female tertön, Déwé Dorjé.

Tsultrim Dorjé welcomed the young practitioner and arranged his first meeting with Déwé Dorjé. Thirty-six years old at the time, she immediately recognized that he was destined to play a major role in the future of both the Düdjom Tersar and her own revelatory lineage. Accordingly, she carefully bestowed upon him the complete cycle of empowerments, oral transmissions, and meditative instructions associated with her termas, acknowledging him as a guardian of her lineage. Between 1937 and 1939, during the final years of her life, Jadral Sangyé Dorjé in turn transmitted these teachings to the Fifth Reting Rinpoche, Thubten Jamphel Yeshé Gyaltsen (1912–1947), then serving as Regent to the two-to-four-year-old Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso (b.1935).

Tsultrim Dorjé developed a close relationship with Jadral Sangyé Dorjé and witnessed how the three of them—Sögen Trülku Natsok Rangdröl, Jadral Sangyé Dorjé, and himself—shared the rare karmic fortune of becoming chödaks of Déwé Dorjé’s revealed teachings.

Many decades later, while living in Nepal, Jadral Sangyé Dorjé was requested by Western students to bestow the oral transmission (lung) of Déwé Dorjé’s namtar (autobiography). He accepted and began reading the text aloud. Yet the poignancy of her words, together with his memories of her as his beloved teacher, so overwhelmed him that tears welled in his eyes and he was unable to continue. He resumed the transmission the following day, but once again emotion overcame him and he was forced to stop. Only on a subsequent occasion was he finally able to complete the transmission.

Further Contributions to Déwé Dorjé’s Writings

During 1928–29, when Jadral Sangyé Dorjé first met Déwé Dorjé at Awo Sera Monastery, she was deeply engaged in dictating the later portion of her extended autobiography to Tsultrim Dorjé. Around this same time, she also composed a concise autobiographical poem that distilled the principal events and spiritual significance of her life. Entitled The Excellent Path of Devotion: An Abridged Story of a Mendicant’s Experiences in Response to Questions from Vajra Kin, the work presents her life as a vehicle for Dharma instruction, emphasizing the importance of following one’s heart, persevering through adversity, and cultivating both trust and discernment. As with so many of Déwé Dorjé’s writings, the colophon records that Tsultrim Dorjé served as its scribe:

‘My two vajra brothers, sublime monks in the manner of Sākyamuni, with minds free of concepts––the sky-like yogis Donli and Rangjung who were disciples of the great awareness holder and lord of accomplishments [Chönjuk Lama Yangchen Gawé Lodrö aka Gelek Palzang]—earnestly requested me to write this, with stainless offerings of silver and silken scarves. My own disciple, the vagabond Sherab Özer, who supported the three terma lineages, abided in isolated hermitages and propagated the profound teachings however he could. In particular, he offered his body, speech, and mind to his teacher and, having forsaken non-virtuous activity, engaged in perpetual practice. He also persistently beseeched me to write this.

Furthermore, many faithful students such as Rigzang [Rigdzin Zangpo], Gyürme Trinlé, and others also earnestly requested me. In order not to ignore their profound requests, this lowliest of all students of the omniscient lord, I, Kunzang Dekyong Chönyi Wangmo [Déwé Dorjé] composed this in the Earth Snake Year (1929) in the ninth month on the excellent sixteenth day, from the isolated retreat place at Sera Monastery. My attendant, the monk Tsultrim Dorjé, supplied the writing materials.

May this spread throughout all directions and times and may everything be auspicious! May virtue prevail in the three times!

Ge’o Ge’o Ge’o. Sarva Mangalam.’

In addition to her autobiographical writings, Déwé Dorjé revealed profound expositions of Dzogchen based on the oral instructions transmitted from Düdjom Lingpa to Trülku Drimé Özer and, through him, to herself. To benefit future practitioners, she composed a commentary on Düdjom Lingpa’s Nang Jang (‘Refined Perception’), a manual on the Dzogchen practice of Kadak Trekchö (‘Cutting Through to Primordial Purity’). Tsultrim Dorjé served as the scribe for this work, entitled Rangzhin Dzogpa Chenpo Ma Gom Sangye Kyi Zin Drip Laden Lamé Zhalgyün Ngagdro Su Köpa Tsik Dön Rabsal Kalden Gyepé Gülgyen Zhuk (‘Ornament to Delight the Fortunate Ones, Fully Clarifying the Words and Meaning: A Guidebook Arranged as a Liturgical Recitation of the Master's Oral Instructions on the Natural Great Perfection, Buddhahood Without Meditation’). As the colophon records:

‘Our precious guide and teacher’s name is difficult to say aloud, but for this purpose, I will do so. Our lord of refuge and omniscient supreme treasure, Péma Lédrel Tsal, suffused with great love, offered us this precious gem, the nectar that distills oceans of pith instructions. Fearing that I would forget its meaning, I have recorded it here without elaborations of scriptural citations or interpretation. I have written these teachings exactly as they were spoken, without errors or intellectual creations. I, the one who possesses only a fraction of the qualities praised in the great tertön’s own transmissions, as she who is his consort and the last of his disciples, by the name Déwé Dorje [Sera Khandro], or Kunzang Dékyong Wangmo, wishing to benefit both myself and others, I have written this book in a form that is easy to understand. The one who helped with its transcription is the one upheld as the precious master [Drimé Özer]’s chödak–Tsultrim Dorjé, or Yongdrub Rikpé Dorjé. May this work spread and develop in every place, time, and circumstance.

As Déwé Dorjé further wrote,

‘Then, that month, on the fourteenth day [in 1927], my attendant Tsultrim Dorjé, my daughter Yangchen Drönma, and I went together with two people who had come to invite us to Dzirong Sanglung Monastery.  While we were staying there, a white man appeared on a white horse and said he was the land protector (shidak) Lharik Nyentsé, came and said, “You should make offerings to us, and I will do whatever you wish.” Having said this, he disappeared. I thought that from the time I was nine years old until now, I had set my mind on the Three Jewels. Aside from praying to them, it seemed that I had no custom of taking refuge and making offerings to land protectors and land deities and so forth. Despite this, because he was my terma protector, thinking of our sacred relationship (samaya) and land deity and guests (gnas mgron gyi dam tshig), I visualized him. When I had made some offerings to him, I got whatever provisions I needed.’

In 1935, when Déwé Dorjé was forty-three years old, she bestowed teachings at Awo Sera Monastery drawn from the combined terma revelations of Düdjom Lingpa and Trülku Drimé Özer. During the course of these transmissions, her principal sponsor and intimate ally, Sögen Trülku Natsok Rangdröl (1869–1935), passed away, lending a poignant significance to the occasion. At the same time, Déwé Dorjé herself began to receive indications that she would not remain in the world much longer.

Later that year, she returned to Dartsang Kalzang Monastery with Tsultrim Dorjé to receive a series of empowerments from Lama Tsechok on termas revealed by Tertön Sögyal Lerab Lingpa (1856–1926). They were warmly welcomed there by Drimé Özer’s younger brother, Trülku Dorjé Dradül, who, according to Tsultrim Dorjé’s later writings, not only assisted Déwé Dorjé in deciphering the symbolic script of several of her own termas but also relieved her life-threatening illness through ‘the auspicious connections of relying on the swift path of method and insight’. Jadral Sangyé Dorjé later explained that these favourable circumstances arose through Déwé Dorjé serving as Dorjé Dradül’s sangyum (‘secret consort’), thereby benefiting the longevity and spiritual activity of them both.

In 1936, Déwé Dorjé’s chödak Sherab Özer invited her to his seat at Khandro Yangdzong Vairotsana Cave––near the hot springs at Dzakhok on the banks of the Dza Chu––where she taught Ngöndro (preliminary practices) as well as advanced practices of Trekchö and Tögal to a large assembly of monks, nuns, and lay practitioners. Afterwards, she led them in a one-hundred-day retreat culminating with an extensive tsok offering.

Tsultrim Dorjé records that, during that same year, they were repeatedly compelled to relocate their dharma encampments between the Dza Chu, Da Chu, and Nyi Chu valleys in order to avoid advancing forces of the Chinese Muslim warlord Ma Bufang (1903–1975). As Jadral Sangyé Dorjé later recalled, ‘Thanks to the power of Déwé Dorjé’s compassion, no harm came to any people or livestock.’

In 1937, after the Chinese forces had withdrawn from the region, Tsultrim Dorjé accompanied Déwé Dorjé to the slopes of Ado, a mountain overlooking the Nyi Chu, where she revealed further termas. He subsequently traveled with Déwé Dorjé to other sites in the Serta region––including Tsang Gar, Tralek Monastery, and Dzatö––heeding requests to transmit her own terma teachings as well as those of Düdjom Lingpa and Trülku Drimé Özer.

In the early summer of 1939, at the age of forty-seven, Déwé Dorjé received a letter from Zhapdrung Tsewang Drakpa (1882–1962), the senior hereditary and ecclesiastical leader of Riwoché Monastery in Kham, inviting her to bestow empowerments of her terma revelations as well as those of Düdjom Lingpa and Trülku Drimé Özer. Déwé Dorjé accepted the invitation and set out on the long journey south and west with an entourage that included Tsultrim Dorjé, Sherab Özer, and her daughter, Yangchen Drönma. After seven months of travel on foot and horseback––during which they crossed the Dri Chu (Yangtze), Dza Chu (Mekong), and Gyalma Nak Chu (Salween) and the mountain ranges that separated the three river gorges––they finally arrived at Zhapdrung Tsewang Drakpa’s residential palace.

While residing at Riwoché, Déwé Dorjé bestowed the empowerments of her own terma lineage as well as those of Düdjom Lingpa and Trülku Drimé Özer. Tsultrim Dorjé served as chöpon for the empowerment ceremonies, carefully ensuring that every ritual was performed according to the respective revelations. During this period, further indications emerged that her passing was imminent. On one occasion, while Déwé Dorjé was performing the requisite self-empowerment practice behind a curtain from her ceremonial throne, Tsultrim Dorjé and Sherab Özer stood nearby on the opposite side. Déwé Dorjé—or Khandro Rinpoché, as they affectionately called her—remarked,

‘The space between this life and the next is no greater than between the outside and the inside of this curtain between us.’

On another occasion, she reflected even more poignantly:

‘We have protected and maintained the father [Düdjom Lingpa] and son [Drimé Özer]’s terma teachings well. Now, I don’t know how much life we have left.’

After completing the cycle of empowerments, Tsultrim Dorjé accompanied Déwé Dorjé when she quietly departed Riwoché with only a small entourage to visit Orgyen Dzong, a meditation site in the Pom region of Kham. There, in a cave known as Maratika––associated with extending one’s longevity––she revealed several termas before remaining in retreat there for several days. Tsultrim Dorjé also witnessed her reveal tromter—termas intentionally manifested before large gatherings to inspire confidence in the terma tradition—from a fissure in the surrounding rock.

The following year, in 1940, Tsultrim Dorjé accompanied Déwé Dorjé when she transmitted some of her terma practices to the Eighth Riwoché Jédrung, the reincarnation of the Seventh Riwoché Jédrung Trinlé Jampa Jungné (1856–1922) who famously led approximately two thousand followers on an ill-fated 1903 exodus to Béyul Pémakö. Despite the hardships and misfortunes of that journey, Jédrung Trinlé Jampa Jungné had recognized Düdjom Lingpa’s principal reincarnation––Düdjom Jikdral Yeshé Dorjé (1904–1987)––who had been born in Pémakö shortly after Jédrung Trinlé Jampa Jungné’s arrival there.

In the spring of 1940, Déwé Dorjé traveled with a small entourage to Samdo Tashikyil in Kham, where she bestowed extensive teachings on the ‘Three Terma Traditions’—those of Düdjom Lingpa, Trülku Drimé Özer, and herself—to Nyaktrül Guru Özer, his son, and his assembled disciples. During these teachings, Tsultrim Dorjé witnessed a brilliant light emanating from between Déwé Dorjé’s eyebrows. From this radiance appeared the assembly of one hundred peaceful and wrathful deities of the bardo—the intermediate state between lives—before they dissolved back into the light. He understood this extraordinary vision as a final indication that Déwé Dorjé would not remain in the world much longer.

Ensuring Déwé Dorjé’s Legacy

In the early summer of 1940, Déwé Dorjé’s health declined rapidly. Despite the rituals and prayers performed by her disciples on her behalf, her condition failed to improve. By midsummer, she requested Tsultrim Dorjé to accompany her from Samdo Tashikyil back to Riwoché Monastery. They travelled peacefully together and were warmly received at Zhapdrung Tsewang Drakpa’s estate.

Shortly thereafter, at noon on the twentieth day of the fifth Tibetan lunar month, Tsultrim Dorjé witnessed the final moments of Déwé Dorjé’s life. As he later recorded, she forcefully uttered the syllable ‘Hik’ before departing for a buddhafield. Immediately after her passing, those gathered around her could still hear the sound of her voice, although none could discern the words.

Auspicious signs accompanied her passing. Rainbow-hued clouds appeared in the sky, while a great roaring sound resounded overhead. Several days later, Jadral Sangyé Dorjé observed that her body ‘dissolved into light and all that remained was about the size of a seven-year-old child.’ After making offerings to her kudung—her sacred remains—her closest disciples, among them Tsultrim Dorjé, carried what remained of her body to the slopes of a mountain behind Riwoché Monastery, where they performed the cremation ceremony. As Tsultrim Dorjé later wrote:

‘While the kudung was burning, many amazing signs emerged from the relics, such as one eye flying in the southern direction of the sky.’

Sometime after the cremation, Tsultrim Dorjé, Yangchen Drönma, and several other close disciples undertook the construction of a reliquary stūpa at Riwoché. Built to the height of an arrow and adorned with silver, gold, and precious jewels, the stūpa enshrined Déwé Dorjé’s bone relics, locks of her hair, her mala (rosary), her terma volumes, a statue of Śākyamuni Buddha, and numerous other sacred objects, including the stone caskets and shokser (yellow scrolls) that she had revealed as termas.

Déwé Dorjé’s autobiography concludes in 1935, five years before her passing in 1940 at the age of forty-eight. To preserve the record of those final years, Tsultrim Dorjé composed a twelve-folio work entitled Gyalyum Yeshe Tsogyal Mingön Namtar Zhengpa Khandro Rinpoché Déwé Dorjé Déjé Kyi Namtar Döndü Su Khöpa (‘Posthumous Biography of Khandro Rinpoché Déwé Dorjé Who Arose as a Manifestation of the Mother of the Buddhas Yéshé Tsogyal’).

Perpetuity and living transmission of these interconnected terma lineages

Following Déwé Dorjé’s passing, Tsultrim Dorjé entered the final phase of his own life as one of the foremost Düdjom Tersar lineage holders in Serta and Golok. Until his passing in 1955, and while remaining a humble practitioner, he bestowed the terma empowerments of Düdjom Lingpa, Trülku Drimé Özer, and Déwé Dorjé—and presumably those of Sönam Déutsen—upon a new generation of practitioners and lineage holders, thus ensuring the perpetuity and living transmission of these interconnected terma lineages. Among his most important disciples was Siddhi Trülku (c.1919–2001), to whom he transmitted the combined terma cycles and who would become a principal Düdjom Tersar lineage holder in Golok during the second half of the twentieth century.