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Künkhyen Drimey Özer (kun mkhyen dri med 'od zer)
Künkhyen Drimey Özer, or Longchen Rabjam, was a most outstanding teacher in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. He became a critical link in the transmission of the Dzogchen teachings passed down by both Vimalamitra and Guru Rinpoche.
Vimalamitra Guru Rinpoche The following is a short compilation, based on biographies of Longchen Rabjam as they written in two books: Masters of Meditation and Miracles by Tulku Thondup and A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems by Nyoshul Khenpo. It’s recommended to read the original biography from these sources.
Early life Longchen Rabjam was born at Totrong in Tra Valley of central Tibet in 1308 in a family of a tantric yogi of the Rok clan. At his conception his mother dreamed of an all-illuminating sun placed on the lion’s head. At his birth Dharma protectress Namdru Remati promised to his mother to protect him. Longchen Rabjam was an incarnation of princess Pemasal, a daughter of King Trisong Detsen, to whom Guru Rinpoche had entrusted the transmission of the Khandro Nyingthig. Pema Ledreltsal was directly preceding incarnation of Longchenpa, who rediscovered the Khandro Nyingthig teachings as ter. From childhood Longchen Rabjam was endowed with noble qualities of faith, compassion and wisdom. He learned to read and write when he was five and at seven he was empowered and guided by his father for practice of The Peaceful and Wrathful Aspects of the Guru and Kagye Deshek Dupa. His father also trained him in medicine and astrology.
Later studies At twelve, Longchenpa took the ordination of a novice at Samye Monastery and gained mastery of Vinaya, which he taught from the age of fourteen. He started studies of tantras of New Tantric lineage at sixteen. At nineteen he went to study Buddhist scriptures of philosophy, logic and meditation to Sangphu Neuthang Monastery for six years. From various masters he studied the five Mahayana texts by Maitreya, treatises on logic by Dignaga and Dhamakirti, texts on the Madhyamaka and Prajnaparamita philosophies, Sanskrit, poetry, composition, drama and many sutras. He received the initiations and instructions on the important Nyingma tantras, sutras of Anuyoga, Mayajala-tantra of Mahayoga, and Semde of Atiyoga. With the lord of the dharma Karmapa Rangjung Dorje, Longchenpa studied Six Techniques of Union from the Kalachakra cycle, the Six Yogas of Naropa, The Direct introduction to the Three Kayas, the tantras of Guhyasamaja, Samputa, Mahamaya, and other teachings. Studying these teachings, he came to master thoroughly all of the words and their underlying meaning in three years. He traveled to the shedras in centers where scriptures and correct reasoning were taught and encountered no impediment in mastering the full range of source texts, developing the dynamic energy of his wisdom and perfecting all the expressions of this intelligence. While studying, he was always engaged in meditative training in retreats, and he had the pure visions of deities and realized various spiritual attainments. Thus Longchenpa mastered the empowerments and permission blessings of the Nyingma and Sarma schools of secret mantra, explanations of many major and minor source texts of the sutra and tantra traditions, explanatory commentaries and profound teachings, and such secular subjects as grammar, poetics, and astrology. He became known as Master of Infinite Realization (Longchen Rabjam) and Master of Scriptures from Samye (Samye Lungmangpa).
Training under master Kumaradza At twenty-seven, as prophesied by Tara, he went to meet master Rigdzin Kumaradza, the holder of the Vima Nyingthig teachings, in retreat camp of about seventy disciples in Yarto Kyam Valley. As soon as he saw Kumaradza, Longchenpa knew with certainty that before him was Vimalamitra in person. The master received Longchen Rabjam with great joy and gave a prophecy that he would be the transmission-holder of the Vima Nyingthig teachings. Longchenpa studied with him for two years, receiving instructions on all three categories of Dzogchen: Semde, Longde and Me-ngagde. The main emphasis was on texts of four divisions of Me-ngagde, (the cycle of ultimate instructions), namely: Outer, Inner, Esoteric, and Innermost Esoteric teachings. Rigdzin Kumaradza conferred all his Nyingthig teachings on Longchen Rabjam and proclaimed him his lineage successor. While he was studying with Rigdzin Kumaradza, Longchenpa lived under circumstances of severe deprivation. In order to combat his attachments to material things, it was Kumaradza’s practice to keep moving from place to place. In nine months he and his disciples moved their camp nine times, causing great hardship to Longchenpa and every one else. Just as soon as he got his simple life settled in a temporary shelter, usually a cave, which would protect him from rain and cold, the time would come to move again. He had very little food and only one ragged bag to use as both mattress and blanket to protect him from the extremely cold winter. Under these severe conditions Longchen Rabjam obtained the most rare and precious teachings of the tantras and instructions of the three cycles of Dzogchen and finally he was empowered to be the lineage holder of Nyingthig transmission.
Teaching and activities Then for six-seven years Longchenpa stayed in retreat, mainly at Chimphu, above Samye, where he practiced Dzogchen meditation. He also practiced the forms and rites of various divinities, and he beheld pure visions of the peaceful and wrathful forms of Guru Rinpoche, Vajrasattva, and the peaceful and wrathful deities. Longchen Rabjam for the first time conferred the empowerment and instructions of Vima Nyingthig upon his disciples at Nyiphu Shuksep, when he was thirty-two. For a while all the surroundings turned into pure lights, mystical sounds, and divine visions. At thirty-three he gave the Khandro Nyingthig teachings to eight male and female disciples at Samye Chimphu, after receiving this transmission from disciple of Pema Ledreltsal, his previous incarnation, and receiving the copy of the text The Heart Drop of the Dakini from Dharma protectress. Some of the disciples beheld Longchen Rabjam transforming into the Sambhogakaya form. A rain of flowers showered down, and arches, beams, and circles of multicolor lights were witnessed all over the mountain. Longchenpa himself saw the vision of Guru Rinpoche and his consort bestowing empowerments and entrusting the transmission of Khandro Nyingthig to him. Longchenpa was said by Dharma protectress that both Vima Nyingthig and Khandro Nyingthig cycles will be of benefit to others. For a long time, perhaps a month, the minds of the yogi disciples merged into a deep luminous clarity. At the request of the Dharma protectress he moved his residence to the Orgyen Dzong at Kangri Tokar, where he spent a great part of his life, turning the wheel of the dharma on a vast scale. Longchenpa wrote many of his major works, most notably The Seven Treasuries, at Orgyen Dzong. There he reached the state of perfection of awareness through the training of the direct approach (Togal) of Nyingthig. The true measure of this experience became obvious: his body could pass unimpeded through solid rock, the slightest sound of his speech captivated minds of discriminating individuals, and as repeatedly demonstrated by his vajra speech, his mind was imbued with the deep, indwelling confidence of realization. Inspired by pure vision of Vimalamitra, Longchen Rabjam wrote the Yangtig Yizhin Norbu, a collection of thirty-five treatises on Vima Nyingthig. Once, when Longchenpa passed through Lhasa, the armies of Yarlung surrounded and attempted to kill him. He used his miraculous power to vanish, thwarting his aggressors’ attempt to harm him. That night, he dreamed that he was seated before the Jowo statute in Lhasa’s main temple. Rays of golden light streamed from Jowo’s form, and within a mass of radiant light above the statue’s head, he saw the seven generations of buddhas, the white and blue form of Tara, Chakrasamvara, Hevajra, Avalokiteshvara, and other deities and Dharma protectors .
Exile The situation forced Longchenpa to move to Bumthang region of Bhutan. There he founded a number of hermitages, which became known as his “eight centers”: Tarpa Ling, Dechen Ling, Orgyen Ling, Kunzang Ling, Drechak Ling, Pema Ling, and Samten Ling. Due to his spiritual attainment, he brought forth springs of water and left many hand- and footprints in the rock near these sites. He founded studies of dharma there and brought people to the path of spiritual training. Staying in Bhutan, Longchenpa wrote many treatises on key points of the sutras and tantras in general, and on the Dzogchen approach in particular. He taught numerous people, illuminating the subjects that their minds could not comprehend. In Bhutan he had a son named Tulku Trakpa Ozer (1356-1409?) by his consort Kyipa of Bhutan, and his son became a lineage holder.
Later life and passing Being one of the greatest scholars and realized sages of Tibet, Longchen Rabjam devoted his whole life to subtle and strict spiritual discipline of learning, teaching, writing, and meditating to fulfill the purpose of enlightened manifestation, which was to be an example of a trainee and a teacher if the Dharma. His mind and life were simple and open, natural, spontaneous, pure, and profound. Wherever he lived and whatever he was doing, it was natural for him always to be in the meditative state. He visited his master Rigdzin Kumaradza again and again to perfect his realization. Five times he offered all off whatever little he possessed to his master to cleanse his clinging to any material objects. He avoided engaging in building huge monasteries, anything offered him with faith he spent directly for the service of the Dharma. He was extremely kind to poor and suffering people, and he enjoyed with great pleasure the simple food offered by poor people, and then would say many prayers of aspiration for them. For most of his life, Longchen Rabjam lived in solitude, in caves, in mountains. He summarizes the merits of solitude:
At Lhasa, Longchen Rabjam was received with great fanfare, and he spent about two weeks there. Between the Jokhang and Ramoche, sitting on a throne, he gave the vow of bodhichitta and many teachings to a huge gathering from all walks of life. He became known as Kunkhyen Choje, the Omniscient Lord of Dharma through his scholarship and realization. At the age of fifty-six, in 1963, he suddenly started dictating his spiritual testament, entitled Immaculate Radiance. Then, when he reached Chimphu, he said that he was going to die there, and he started to show the sickness of his body, while continuing to teach huge gathering of people who were following him. After performing an elaborate ceremony, he gave his disciples his last teaching on impermanence and inspired them to practice Trekcho and Thogal with the advice:
Then, he adopted the dharmakaya posture and his mind dissolved into absolute Dharma space. While his body was being preserved for twenty-five days, a tent of rainbows arched constantly across the sky and various marvelous signs continued to manifest for a month. Some people experienced the stable realization of utter lucidity. After cremation ceremony, his skull survived intact and hard as stone, by nature of holy relic. A stupa of complete enlightenment was constructed later on that very spot.
Longchenpa’s teachings Longchen Rabjam received teachings and transmissions of all the lineages of Buddhist teachings that were present in Tibet. Especially all the streams of Dzogpa Chenpo transmissions converged in him. Among the Nyingthig teachings of Dzogpa Chenpo that came to him were the Vima Nyingthig and Khandro Nyingthig. Longchenpa combined them, thus preparing the ground for the fully unified system of teachings that became known as the Longchen Nyingthig. Longchen Rabjam wrote more than hundred and fifty treatises on history, ethical instructions, sutric and tantric teachings, and especially on Dzogchen in general and Nyingthig in particular. He presented all of his teachings in the from of composed literature. An account of Longchenpa’s written works can be found in a book by Nyoshul Khenpo “A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems”. Many scholars affirm that most of his works on the tantras and on Dzogchen are actually gongter, mind treasures, discovered through his enlightened power. Longchenpa is famous for his Seven Treasures (Dzod Dun), encapsulation of the Buddhist teachings of Tibet:
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