Pema Lingpa. Image credit: Treasury of Lives. Click on image to enlarge.

b.1450 – d.1521

Tradition: Nyingma རྙིང་མ།
Geography: Bhutan
Historical Period: 15^th Century ༡༥ དུས་རབས། / 16^th Century ༡༦ དུས་རབས།
Institution: Chitokha Puntsok Rabten Ling སྤྱི་ཏོ་ཁ་ཕུན་ཚོགས་རབ་བརྟན་གླིང།; Gangteng Monastery སྒང་སྟེང་དགོན་པ།; Tamshing Lhakhang གཏམ་ཞིང་ལྷུན་གྲུབ་ཆོས་གླིང།; Chimpu མཆིམས་ཕུ།; Tarpa Ling འབྲུག་ཡུལ་ཐར་པ་གླིང།
Clan: Nyo གཉོས།
Vocation: Treasure Revealers གཏེར་སྟོན།
Name Variants: Dondrub Gyelpo དོན་གྲུབ་རྒྱལ་པོ།; Orgyen Pema Lingpa ཨོ་རྒྱན་པདྨ་གླིང་པ།; Peljor དཔལ་འབྱོར།; Terchen Pema Lingpa གཏེར་ཆེན་པདྨ་གླིང་པ།

Pema Lingpa (pad+ma gling pa) was born in Chel Baridrang (chal ba ri brang), in the Tang (stangs) valley in the district of Bumtang (bum thang). His father was Dondrub Zangpo (don grub bzang po, d.u.) of Sumtrang (sum phrang) and his mother was Pema Dronma (pad+ma sgron ma, d.u.). His birth was on the fifteenth day of the second month of the male iron-horse year of the eighth sexagenary cycle, corresponding to 1450. His parents named him Dondrub Gyelpo (don grub rgyal po) and his maternal aunt Peldron (dpal sgron) named him Peljor (dpal ‘byor). Another aunt of his Ashe Drubtob Zangmo (a she grub thob bzang mo, d.u.) was a consort of Tangtong Gyelpo (thang stong rgyal po, 1361-1485).

Pema Lingpa was born into the Nyo (gnyos, alt. smyos / myos) lineage, said to have emerged in Tibet from divine ancestry before arriving in Bhutan via the son of Jikten Gonpo (‘jig rten mgon po, 1143-1217), the founder of the Drigung Kagyu tradition. Jikten Gonpo is said to have experienced a vision that compelled him to send his son Ziji Pel (gzi brjid dpal, d.u.) to the south, where the young man would establish a monastery. The prophecy was fulfilled when Ziji Pel founded the Chalkha Gonpa (chal kha dgon pa) in Paro (spa gro). This lineage continued through Tenpai Nyima (bstan pa’i nyi ma, d.u.), who was the grandfather of Pema Lingpa and father of Dondrub Zangpo.

Image of tertön Pema Lingpa in a temple in Tsakaling Gewog, Bhutan. Image credit: Wikipedia. Click on image to enlarge.

While still young, the boy was sent to live with his maternal grandfather Yonten Jangchub (yon tan byang chub, d.u.), a blacksmith. His grandfather brought the boy to Lama Choyingpa (bla ma chos dbyings pa, d.u.), son of the famous terton (gter ston), or treasure revealer, Dorje Lingpa (rdo rje gling pa, 1346-1405), who gave him the name Orgyen Pema Lingpa (o rgyan pad+ma gling pa).

At the age of nine, the young Pema Lingpa began to apprentice as a blacksmith. It is said that he would often pretend to be seated on a throne, giving initiations and teachings, and performing ritual dance (‘cham). As he grew up, he crafted many works in various materials, making millstones and objects from iron. He frequently crafted iron pans (go rlang), and buried them throughout the Bumtang region (one of which is now in the collection of the National Museum of Bhutan, Paro). Other objects credited to Pema Lingpa include chainmail, swords and knives.

Despite his early inclinations toward religion, Pema Lingpa spent the majority of his young adulthood working as a blacksmith. However, at the age of twenty-five he experienced a prophetic dream, which he did not know what to make of. Two years later, on the tenth day of the second month of the monkey year, Pema Lingpa fell asleep near Mani Gonpa (ma ni dgon pa). A voice awakened him and he saw a shabbily-dressed monk, urging him to read the small scroll in his outthrust hands. Pema Lingpa took the scroll and the monk disappeared. Unrolling the scroll, he read an injunction, stating he was to gather five friends and go to Naring Drak (sna ring brag) during the night of the full moon to uncover his destiny from beneath the rock; also included in the scroll was a key to decode the predestined terma (gter ma), or treasure.

When Pema Lingpa showed him the scroll his father dismissed it. His mother, however, did not, saying that the treasure revealer Ratna Lingpa (rat+na ling pa; 1403-1479) had had a similar experience. (Some sources have it that a nun named Delek (bde legs, d.u.) made this statement.)

A mural of Pema Lingpa. Image credit: yeshekhorlo.org. Click on image to enlarge.

Pema Lingpa followed the instructions of the scroll, and together with five people he went to Naring Drak on the appointed night. Without warning and without uttering a word, Pema Lingpa stripped naked and dove into the small lake below the cliff. It is said that he found a large underwater cave, and upon entering, saw a throne and a stack of texts. The guardian of the cave took one of the texts and pushed it towards him and told him to run. Pema Lingpa came to his senses at the surface of the water and felt himself propelled up to the cliff as if by pushed by a wind.

Once home, he shared the contents of the text with his parents and with two masters from nearby Tarpaling Monastery (thar pa gling dgon pa); however, no one could read it. Back at Mani Gonpa, Pema Lingpa looked at the scroll, after consulting the key that had been given to him by the shabby-looking monk, he was able to see the title of the text, Crystallization of the Tantra of Luminous Space (klong gsal gsang ba snying bcud). This is considered the first of his thirty-two terma.

Having decoded the entire treasure, in the pig month of that year, Pema Lingpa began preparing to offer the first initiation from it, which was to occur at Dunkhabi (gdung kha sbi) under the patronage of the lama Rinchen Pel (rin chen dpal, d.u.). Over the course of three weeks, Pema Lingpa offered the teachings publically. It is said that dakinis would visit him in dreams to teach him the steps of different sacred dances and give him further instructions.

Many additional terma revelations followed, with one marking his return to the lake below Naring Drak. By this time, Pema Lingpa had garnered much attention, and not all of it positive. The local Chokhor (chos ‘khor) governor had heard of Pema Lingpa, but was not convinced of his authenticity. He assembled a large group of people for the extraction, and said to Pema Lingpa that if the terton were successful in bringing forth the treasure, he would support him; however, if he failed to perform convincingly, he would punish him for disrupting his district. Pema Lingpa then grabbed a burning butter lamp, and, standing on Naring Drak, made the proclamation, “If I am genuine, let me bring back the treasure with this lamp still burning. If I am a fraud, let me die in the waters below.”

Samantabhadra with consort, surrounded by peaceful and wrathful deities. Image credit: himalayanart.org. Click on image to enlarge.

Pema Lingpa dove in, and resurfaced some time later holding a small box crafted from joined skulls, a small sculpture, and the butter lamp, which was still alight. According to tradition, this miraculous occurrence caused all those present to become followers and patrons of his, and the event also gave the small lake its present name, Mebartso (me ‘bar tsho), or Burning Lake.

In 1482, the water tiger year, at the age of thirty-three, Pema Lingpa had a dream in which the protector deity Shelging Karpo (shel ging dkar po) told him to go to Kurje (sku rje) to reveal an important treasure teaching. With six friends, he proceeded there and was given a small box by the same protector deity as in his vision; this was the Lama Drakpo (bla ma drag po) cycle of teachings. In Lhodrak (lho ‘brag), Pema Lingpa revealed one of the most famous of his treasures, the Lama Norbu Gyatso (bla ma nor bu rgya mtsho) from the Mendo Drak Karpo (sman rdo ‘brag dkar po). The date of this revelation was the tenth day of the eighth month of the rabbit year, 1483.

Other major textual revelations of his include the Great Compassionate One, the Darkness-Dispelling Lamp (thugs rje chen po mun sel sgron me) from Rimochen in Tang (stang ri mo can); The Attainment of Longevity, Combining Gems with the Path (tshe sgrub nor bu lam khyer) from Bumtang Kurje Drak (bum thang sku rje brag); and the Three Black Teachings (nag po skor gsum) and the Cycle of Small Activities (las phran skor) from Tselung Lhakhang in Bumtang (bum thang rtse lung lha khang), which he revealed over a period of time.

In Tibet, Pema Lingpa revealed the Gathering of Samantabhadra’s Intention (kun bzang dgongs ‘dus) at Samye Chimphu (bsam yas chims phu). He revealed multiple treasures throughout Lhodrak, including Lama Jewel Ocean (bla ma nor bu rgya mtsho), Indestructible Garland of Long-life Instructions (tshe khrid rdo rje’i phreng ba), The Protector Maning (mgon po ma ning), Vajrapani the Tamer of Spirits (phyag rdor dregs pa kun ‘dul), Kila, the Utterly Secret Vital Razor (phur ba yang gsang srog go spu gri) and Red Hayagriva that Defeats Arrogance (rta mgrin dmar po dregs pa zil gnon).

A thangka of Padmasambhava holding upraised in his right hand, a blue vaidurya ‘terma’ treasure casket. Image credit: himalayanart.org. Click on image to enlarge.

Pema Lingpa also is said to have revealed numerous material objects, such as an image of Padmasambhava from Sengge Drak (seng+ge brag) in Chume, Bumtang (bum thang chu smad), a skull sealed with wax and filled with precious substances from Mebartso, a sculpture of Hayagriva from Sengge Namdzong Drak (seng+ge nam rdzong brag) and a vase filled with the elixir of immortality from Tang Rimochen.

He is also credited with opening the hidden valley (bas yul) of Khampa Lung (kham pa lung).

In 1501, Pema Lingpa broke ground on his main seat in Chokhor (chos ‘khor), Tamzhing Lhundrub Choling Lhakhang (gtam zhing lhun grub chos gling), and, when it was completed four years later, he performed the consecration ceremony.

His fame continued to grow and he attracted many patrons and students.

Among his peers and disciples were Drukpa Kunle (‘brug pa kun legs, 1455-1529), the Seventh Karmapa, Chodrak Gyatso (karma pa 07 chos grags rgya mtsho, 1454-1506), the First Yolmo Tulku Shakya Zangpo (yol mo sprul sku 01 shAkya bzang po, d.u.), and his own two sons, and Drakpa Gyeltsen (grags pa rgyal mtshan, d.u.), and Dawa Gyeltsen (zla ba rgyal mtshan, 1499-1587).

In the dog month of the iron dragon year (1520), Pema Lingpa went to Lhalung (lha lung) in Tibet to give initiations into the Lama Norbu Gyatso cycle of practice. It is said that on his return to the Bumtang region, three sculptures of Tsilung (rtsi lung) were weeping, as was the Tongwa Kundol (mthong ba kun grol) sculpture in Tamzhing Lhakhang. In the eleventh month, other negative omens began to appear in the region, and on the eleventh night of that month, Pema Lingpa fell ill. His sons Dawa Gyeltsen and Drakpa Gyeltsen are said to have had dreams that revealed omens portending their father’s death. At the same time, it was reported that at Dechen Ling Monastery (bde chen gling) in Tang valley, musical instruments played themselves, and the site filled with the smell of incense.

In 1521, on the third day of the first month of the iron-snake year, Pema Lingpa died at Tamzhing Monastery, holding the hand of Dawa Gyeltsen. His body was left undisturbed, and after nine days showed no signs of decomposing. It was then cremated and placed into a reliquary stupa at Tamzhing Lhundrub Choling.

Another depiction of Pema Lingpa. Image credit: pelingtreasures.com. Click on image to enlarge.

Pema Lingpa’s teaching transmission lineage is passed down through three primary lines of incarnations, one direct line of his own reincarnations, and two stemming from his son and grandson: the Peling Sungtrul (pad gling gsung sprul), the Peling Tukse (pad gling thugs sras), and the Peling Gyelse (pad gling rgyal sras), also known as the Gangteng Tulku (sgang steng sprul sku).

Sources do not agree on the relationship between the initial incarnations of these lines. According to the Sixty-ninth Je Khenpo, Gendun Rinchen (‘brug rje mkhan po 69 dge ‘dun rin chen, 1926-1997), the First Peling Tukse, Pema Lingpa’s son Dawa Gyeltsen, was the father of the First Peling Gyelse, Pema Trinle (pad gling rgyal sras pad+ma ‘phrin las, 1564-1642). The Second Peling Sungtrul, Pema Lingpa’s immediate reincarnation, was Yenpa Lode (pad gling gsung sprul 02 yan pa blo bde, 1536-1597), also known as Tendzin Chokyi Drakpa (bstan ‘dzin chos kyi grags pa). He was a teacher of the First Peling Gyelse.

Other sources have alternate relationships between the three: Yenpa Lode, the Second Peling Sungtrul, was a disciple of Dawa Gyeltsen (the First Peling Tukse), and the father of Pema Trinle, the First Gyelse.

As given in Holly Gayley’s Introduction to Sarah Harding’s translation of Pema Lingpa’s biography, the current Gangteng Tulku, Rigdzin Kunzang Pema Namgyel (sgang steng 09 rig ‘dzin kun bzang pad+ma rnam gyal, b. 1955), solves the historical discrepancy by explaining that the Dawa Gyeltsen passed away while his wife was pregnant with the First Gangteng Tulku, Pema Trinle. He entrusted his wife to his disciple, Tendzin Drakpa, who then raised the child as his own. Because the boy was believed to be the activity incarnation of both Pema Lingpa and Padmasambhava, he was given the name Pema Trinle.

The First Gangteng, Pema Trinle. Image credit: Treasury of Lives. Click on image to enlarge.

The Peling Sungtrul and Peling Tukse each maintain a seat Tamzhing; historically they also maintained a seat at Tekchok Rabgye Ling (theg mchog rab rgyas gling) in Lhodrak. In the more recent past, the King of Bhutan appointed the monastery of Orgyen Choling (o rgyan chos gling) in Tashigang (bkra shis sgang) to serve as a seat for the Peling Sungtrul.

Pema Trinle established the seat for all successive incarnations of the Peling Gyelse line at Gangteng Sang-ngak Choling Monastery (sgang steng gsang sngags chos gling) and, since 1682, has maintained a winter monastery at Puntso Rabten Ling (phun tshogs rab brtan gling).

Pema Lingpa’s legend has it that his previous incarnations were Lhachik Pemasel (lha gcig pad+ma gsal, d.u.), daughter of the Tibetan king Tri Songdetsen (khri srong lde brtsan, 742-796). The next pre-incarnations were the nun Rikma Sanggye Kyi (rig ma sangs rgyas skyid, d.u.), from Tibet; Pema Drol (pad+ma sgrol, d.u.), the consort of Guru Chokyi Wangchuck (gu ru chos kyi dbang phyug, 1212-1270); Ngakchang Rinchen Drakpa (sngags ‘chang rin chen grags pa, d.u.); the terton Pema Ledrel Tsel (pad+ma las ‘brel rtsal, 1291-1315); the terton and scholar Longchen Rabjampa (klong chen rab ‘byams pa, 1308-1364); and as Tokar (thod dkar, d.u.), a boy from Bumtang who died at the age of seven.

Students

• Drukpa Kunle འབྲུག་པ་ཀུན་ལེགས། b.1455 – d.1529
• The Seventh Karmapa, Chodrak Gyatso ཀརྨ་པ ༠༧ ཆོས་གྲགས་རྒྱ་མཚོ། b.1454 – d.1506
• shAkya bzang po ཤཱཀྱ་བཟང་པོ།
• sna tshogs rang grol སྣ་ཚོགས་རང་གྲོལ། b.1494 – d.1570
• mchog ldan mgon po མཆོག་ལྡན་མགོན་པོ། b.1497 – d.1557
• dkon mchog bzang po དཀོན་མཆོག་བཟང་པོ།
• grags pa rgyal po གྲགས་པ་རྒྱལ་པོ།
• The First Peling Tukse, Dawa Gyeltsen པད་གླིང་ཐུགས་སྲས ༠༡ ཟླ་བ་རྒྱལ་མཚན། b.1499 – d.1587
• tshul khrims dpal ‘byor ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་དཔལ་འབྱོར།
• grub pa kun ‘dus གྲུབ་པ་ཀུན་འདུས།
• bsod nams rin chen བསོད་ནམས་རིན་ཆེན།
• ‘od gsal klong yangs འོད་གསལ་ཀློང་ཡངས།
• chos grags rgya mtsho ཆོས་གྲགས་རྒྱ་མཚོ། b.1454 – d.1506

Bibliography

• Anon. 1983. De’i sras pad+ma gling pa dang pad gling sku ‘phreng rnams kyi skor. In ‘Brug gi smyos rabs gsal ba’i me long. Thimphu: Maṇi Dorji, pp, 233-244.
• Anon. 1975-1976. Pad gling ‘khrungs rabs kyi rtogs brjod nyung gsal dud pa’i me tog. In Pad gling gter chos, vol. Pha, p. 511-558. Thimphu: Kunsang Tobgay.
• Aris, Michael. 1989. Hidden Treasures and Secret Lives. London: Kegan Paul International.
• ‘Brug rje mkhan po 69 dge ‘dun rin chen. 1976. Lho ‘brug chos ‘byung and in the dpal sgang steng gsang sngags chos gling gi gdan rabs nor bu’i phreng ba. Bhutan: Nges don zung ‘jug grub pa’i dga’ tshal.
• Harding, Sarah. 2005. The Life and Revelations of Pema Lingpa. Boston: Snow Lion Publications.
• Pad+ma tshe dbang. 1991. Pad gling lo rgyus drang gtam. Thimphu.
• Phuntsho, Karma. 2008. “Ogyen Pema Lingpa (1450-1521), His Life and Legacy.” in The Dragon’s Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan. Terese Tse Bartholomew and John Johnston, eds. Chicago: Serindia, pp, 66-77.
• Roerich, George, trans. 1996. The Blue Annals. 2nd ed. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas.
• Tshewang, Padma, Khenpo Phuntshok Tashi, Chris Butters and Sigmund K. Sætreng. 1995. The Treasure Revealer of Bhutan: Pemalingpa, the Terma Tradition and Its Critics. Biblioteca Himalayica, Series III, Volume 8. Kathmandu: EMR Publishing House.

Source: Ariana Maki, “Pema Lingpa,” Treasury of Lives, accessed July 28, 2018, http://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Pema-Lingpa/3000.

Ariana Maki is Associate Director of the Tibet Center and Bhutan Initiative at the University of Virginia and holds a Ph.D. in Art History with a specialization in Himalayan Art. http://virginia.academia.edu/ArianaMaki

Published April 2011

Disclaimer: All rights are reserved by the author. The article is reproduced here for educational purposes only.

Source: https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Padma-Lingpa/P1693. Click on image to enlarge.

For more interesting information:

• The Dorje Shugden category on my blog
• The Tsongkhapa category on my blog
• The Great Lamas and Masters category on my blog
• Who is Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen
• Murder in Drepung Monastery: Depa Norbu
• The Fourth Takpu, Pema Vajra Jampel Tenpai Ngodrub
• Tagpu Pemavajra and Visions from Gaden Heaven
• Dorje Shugden in Nyingma Pemayangtse Monastery, Sikkim
• This so-called ‘Rinpoche’ wants to send Tsem Rinpoche to hell
• Videos Redressing the Misinformation About Dorje Shugden and the Tibetan Situation

Please support us so that we can continue to bring you more Dharma:

If you are in the United States, please note that your offerings and contributions are tax deductible. ~ the tsemrinpoche.com blog team