Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye Popular Books

Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye Biography & Facts

Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thayé (Tibetan: འཇམ་མགོན་ཀོང་སྤྲུལ་བློ་གྲོས་མཐའ་ཡས་, Wylie: ʽjam mgon kong sprul blo gros mthaʽ yas, 1813–1899), also known as Jamgön Kongtrül the Great, was a Tibetan Buddhist scholar, poet, artist, physician, tertön and polymath. He is credited as one of the founders of the Rimé movement (non-sectarian), compiling what is known as the "Five Great Treasuries". He achieved great renown as a scholar and writer, especially among the Nyingma and Kagyu lineages and composed over 90 volumes of Buddhist writing, including his magnum opus, The Treasury of Knowledge. Overview Kongtrül was born in Rongyab (rong rgyab), Kham, then part of the Derge Kingdom. He was first tonsured at a Bon monastery, and then at 20 became a monk at Shechen, a major Nyingma monastery in the region, later moving on to the Kagyu Palpung monastery in 1833 under the Ninth Tai Situ, Pema Nyinje Wangpo (1775-1853). He studied many fields at Palpung, including Buddhist philosophy, tantra, medicine, architecture, poetics and Sanskrit. By thirty he had received teachings and empowerments from more than sixty masters from the different schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Kongtrül studied and practiced mainly in the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions, including Mahamudra and Dzogchen, but also studied and taught Jonang Kalachakra. He also went on tour with the fourteenth Karmapa and taught him Sanskrit. He became an influential figure in Kham and eastern Tibet, in matters of religion as well as in secular administration and diplomacy. He was influential in saving Palpung monastery when an army from the Tibetan government of Central Tibet occupied Kham in 1865. Kongtrül was affected by the political and inter-religious conflict going on in Tibet during his life and worked together with other influential figures, mainly Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820–1892) and also with the Nyingma treasure revealer Chogyur Lingpa (1829–1870) and Ju Mipham Gyatso (1846–1912). Kongtrül and his colleagues worked together to compile, exchange and revive the teachings of the Sakya, Kagyu and Nyingma, including many near-extinct teachings. This movement came to be named Rimé (Ris med), “nonsectarian,” or “impartial,” because it held that there was value in all Buddhist traditions, and all were worthy of study and preservation. According to Sam van Schaik, without this collecting and printing of rare works, the later suppression of Buddhism by the Communists would have been much more final. Jamgon Kongtrül's personal hermitage was Kunzang Dechen Osel Ling (kun bzang bde chen 'od gsal gling), "the Garden of Auspicious Bliss and Clear Light", and was built on a rocky outcrop above Palpung monastery. It became an important center for the practice of three year retreats. This is also where he composed most of his major works. Kongtrül's works, especially his 10 volume The Treasury of Knowledge. has been very influential, especially in the Kagyu and Nyingma schools. Philosophy Besides promoting a general inclusiveness and non-sectarian attitude towards all the different Buddhist lineages and schools, Kongtrül was known to promote a shentong view of emptiness as the highest view. His view of Prasangika Madhyamaka is outlined in the following verse from the Treasury of Knowledge: According to Kongtrül, the difference between prasangika and svatantrika Madhyamaka is: These schools differ in the way the ultimate view is generated in one's being. There is no difference in what they assert the ultimate nature to be. All the great scholars who are unbiased say that both of these schools are authentic Madhyamaka. Kongtrül also held that "Shentong Madhyamaka" was a valid form of Madhyamaka, which was also based on the Buddha nature teachings of the third turning and Nagarjuna's "Collection of Praises". For him, this Shentong Madhyamaka is the view which holds that the Ultimate truth, the "primordial wisdom nature, the dharmata": ways exists in its own nature and never changes, so it is never empty of its own nature and it is there all the time. However, he makes it clear that "The Shentong view is free of the fault of saying that the ultimate is an entity." Furthermore, Kongtrül states: The ultimate truth is the primordial wisdom of emptiness free of elaborations. Primordial wisdom is there in its very nature and is present within the impure, mistaken consciousness. Even while consciousness is temporarily stained, it remains in the wisdom nature. The defilements are separable and can be abandoned because they are not the true nature. Therefore, the ultimate truth is also free of the two extremes of nihilism and eternalism. Since emptiness is truly established, then the extreme of nihilism is avoided; and since all phenomena and concepts of subject-object grasping do not truly exist, then the extreme of eternalism is avoided. Finally, on the difference between Rangtong and Shentong, Kongtrül writes in the Treasury of Knowledge: For both Rangtong and Shentong the relative level is empty, and in meditation, all fabricated extremes have ceased. However, they differ in their terminology about whether dharmata is there or not there in post-meditation, and in the ultimate analysis, whether primordial wisdom is truly established or not. Shentong says that if the ultimate truth had no established nature and was a mere absolute negation, then it would be a vacuous nothingness. Instead, the ultimate is nondual, self-aware primordial wisdom. Shentong presents a profound view which joins the sutras and tantras. Tulkus There have been several recognized tulkus (incarnations) of Lodro Thaye. 2nd Jamgon Kongtrul (1902–1952) The biography of Khakyab Dorje, 15th Karmapa Lama mentions he had a vision in which he saw 25 simultaneous emanations of the master Jamgön Kongtrül. Preeminent among these was Karsé Kongtrül (Tibetan: ཀར་སྲས་ཀོང་སྤྲུལ་, Wylie: kar sras kong sprul, 1904–10 May 1952). Karsé Kongtrül was born as the son of the 15th Karmapa: Karsé means "son of the Karmapa". His formal religious name was as Jamyang Khyentsé Özer (Wylie: 'jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse'i 'od zer). Karsé Kongtrül was identified and enthroned by his father at age twelve in 1902, in Samdrub Choling at the monastery of Dowolung Tsurphu. Karsé Kongtrül resided at Tsadra Rinchen Drak, the seat of his predecessor in eastern Tibet. He received the full education and lineage transmission from the Karmapa. Among his other teachers were Surmang Trungpa Chökyi Nyinche, the 10th Trungpa tulku. He attained realization of the ultimate lineage, was one of the most renowned Mahamudra masters and transmitted the innermost teachings to Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, 16th Karmapa. On many occasions he gave teachings, empowerments, and reading transmissions from the old and new traditions, such as the Treasury of Precious Termas (Rinchen Terdzö), and he rebuilt the retreat center of Tsandra Rinchen Drak, his residence at Palpung Monastery. Karsé Kongtrül died on 10 May 1952 at the age of 49. 3.... Discover the Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye books.