Drapa Ngonshe
Drapa Ngonshe. Image credit: himalayanart.org. Click on image to enlarge.
གྲྭ་པ་མངོན་ཤེས།
b.1012 – d.1090
Tradition: Nyingma རྙིང་མ།
Geography: U-Tsang དབུས་གཙང།
Historical Period: 11th Century ༡༡ དུས་རབས།
Institution: Dratang གྲྭ་ཐང།; Samye བསམ་ཡས།; Chenye Monastery སྤྱན་གཡས་དགོན་པ།
Vocation: Treasure Revealers གཏེར་སྟོན།
Drapa Ngonshe (grwa pa mngon shes) was born in the male water mouse year, 1012, to a father named Zhangtag Karwa (zhang stag dkar ba), who named him Taktsab (stag tshab). His mother was named Lhase Shewa Gronma (lha sras sha ba sgron ma).
For five years he worked as a shepherd, and then took ordination at Samye Monastery (bsam yas) from Yamshud Gyelwa O (yam shud rgyal ba ‘od), a disciple of the great Lume Sherab Tsultrim (klu mes shes rab tshul khrims) of the Eastern Vinaya tradition that preserved the pratimoksa ordination after the collapse of the Tibetan Empire and the loss of imperial patronage of the monasteries. His ordination name was Sherab Gyelwa (shes rab rgyal ba). He was called “Drapa” because he was closely associated with the Dranang Valley (grwa nang) and “Ngonshe” because he knew (shes) the Abhidharma (mngon pa).
19th Century painting of Machig Labdron as a wisdom dakini. Image credit: himalayanart.org. Click on image to enlarge.
After receiving a tantric transmission from his uncle, Zhangton Chowar (zhang ston chos bar, 1053-1135), while serving as abbot of Gonpa Ripuk (dgon pa ri phug), he became instrumental in convincing other Eastern Vinaya monks to adopt tantric practices, to the consternation of several of his colleagues and disciples, including Kuton Tsundru Yungdrung (khu ston brtson ‘grus g.yung drung, 1011-1075), the abbot of Solnak Tangboche (sol nag thang bo che) and a disciple of Lume Sherab Tsultrim.
Later in life he returned his vows and lived as a layman at Nemoche (gnas mo che) in Lak (glag) where he taught tantras and built stupas. After taking on numerous disciples from Yarlung, he received an invitation to visit there, where he met Padampa Sanggye (pa dam pa sangs rgyas, d. c.1117) and received transmission and teachings of the Zhije Dronma Kor Gu (zhi byed sgron ma skor dgu). He later received Chod (gcod) teachings from Machik Labdron’s (ma gcig labs sgron, 1055-1149) disciple Kor Nirupa (skor ni ru pa). Machik Labdron herself had previously been his disciple in Prajnaparamita. In Yarlung he established the tantric community of Putang Chenye (phu thang spyan g.yas).
A painting of Drapa Ngonshe. Image credit: himalayanart.org. Click on image to enlarge.
In addition to his building of temples and his dissemination of new tantric teachings, Drapa Ngonshe is credited with discovering the Four Tantras, the root texts of the Tibetan medical tradition. According to legend, he revealed these from Samye in 1038, where they had been hidden by Vairocana. He supposedly passed them on to his disciple Upa Dargye (dbus pa dar rgyas), who in turn entrusted them to Tsoche Konkyab (‘tsho byed dkon skyabs). The latter finally gave it to Yutok Yonten Gonpo (g.yu thog yon tan mgon po), and they form the basis of present day Tibetan medicine.
When he was seventy, in 1081, Drapa Ngonshe established Dratang Monastery (grwa thang) in Dranang, which he was still constructing when he passed away at the age of seventy-nine.
Students
- dar ma grags དར་མ་གྲགས།
- btsan kha bo che བཙན་ཁ་བོ་ཆེ། b.1021
- dbang phyug ‘bar དབང་ཕྱུག་འབར།
- Machik Labdron མ་ཅིག་ལབ་སྒྲོན། b.1055 – d.1149
Bibliography
- Roerich, George, trans. 1996. The Blue Annals. 2nd ed. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, p. 94 ff.
- Dudjom Rinpoche. 2002 The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism. Translated by Gyurme Dorje and Matthew Kapstein. Boston: Wisdom, p. 753 ff.
- ’Jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha’ yas. 1976. Gter ston brgya rtsa. In Rin chen gter mdzod chen mo Paro: Ngodrup and Sherab Drimay, p. 45B.6 ff.
- ’Jam dbyang mkhyen brtse’i dbang po. 1972. Mkhyen brtse’i chos ’yung. In the collected works of ‘Jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse’i dbang po, vol. 11 (da). Leh: S. W. Tashigangpa, p. 411.3 ff.
Source: Ron Garry, “Drapa Ngonshe,” Treasury of Lives, accessed July 21, 2018, http://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Drapa-Ngonshe/7114.
Ron Garry has a Ph.D. in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and an M.A. in integral psychotherapy.
Published August 2007
Disclaimer: All rights are reserved by the author. The article is reproduced here for educational purposes only.
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Source: https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Drapa-Ngonshe/7114. Click on image to enlarge.
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Orang-orang ini makan wang Kuil dan wang masyarakat, mereka akan menderita selama-lamanya dalam kehidupan ini dan kehidupan yang akan datang tetapi mereka tidak pernah malu kepada Tuhan dan orang lain.
Datuk Yip Kum Fook dan adik iparnya(Simon Low Kok Meng) menghina AGAMA BUDDHA, kami harap orang ramai (penganut) akan boikot segera, kemudian mereka akan berpindah dari kawasan Kepong
From Mr. Pang, taman daya, kepong, kuala lumpur
Drapa Ngonshe a Tibetan Buddhist monk was an important Eastern Vinaya monk who had integrated the Nyingma form of tantric praxis into the curriculum of the Eastern Vinaya Temples . He was regarded as the simultaneous emanation of Shüpu Palgyi Sengé and Vairochana. He is famous for discovering and propagating the lineage of the Four Medical Tantras which form the basis of Tibetan medicine. Drapa Ngonshe had established Dratang Monastery in Dranang, but sadly while constructing, he passed away at the age of seventy-nine.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing of a Great Lama.
Drapa Ngonshe was born in 1012, his father named him Taktsab. He worked as a shepherd before receiving a tantric transmission from his uncle, Zhangton Chowar. Later served as abbot of Gonpa Ripuk. He was who has instrumental in convincing other monks to adopt tantric practices . Later in life he returned his vows and lived as a layman at Namoche continuing teachings tantras and building stupas. He did received transmission and teachings of the Zhije Dronma Kor Gu and Chod teachings from Kor Nirupa. He was well known for discovering the Four Tantras, the root texts of the Tibetan medical tradition. Drapa Ngonshe established Dratang monastery before his passing.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
Nice short video of a new LED signage reminding us of who we can go to for blessings in case of need: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBwrkaKUoH0
Listening to the chanting of sacred words, melodies, mantras, sutras and prayers has a very powerful healing effect on our outer and inner environments. It clears the chakras, spiritual toxins, the paths where our ‘chi’ travels within our bodies for health as well as for clearing the mind. It is soothing and relaxing but at the same time invigorates us with positive energy. The sacred sounds invite positive beings to inhabit our environment, expels negative beings and brings the sound of growth to the land, animals, water and plants. Sacred chants bless all living beings on our land as well as inanimate objects. Do download and play while in traffic to relax, when you are about to sleep, during meditation, during stress or just anytime. Great to play for animals and children. Share with friends the blessing of a full Dorje Shugden puja performed at Kechara Forest Retreat by our puja department for the benefit of others. Tsem Rinpoche
Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbzgskLKxT8&t=5821s