The Life of Gönpo Wangyal (1845-1915)

Thanks to Dr. Martin Boord and David Cowey for the kind revision of the version of this text that is about to be printed in the introduction of our translation of Tülku Tsullo’s practice manual for the Direct Revelation.

Gönpo Wangyal: vignette from the 16-volume edition of the Complete Works of Tülku Tsullo: vol. 5.

Gönpo Wangyal (mGon po dbang rgyal, 1845-1915) was a Nyingma master, active in the Golok area. He was the nephew and successor of Terchen Nüden Dorje of Khordong (‘khor gdong gter chen Nus ldan rdo rje). He was the head of the Khordong monastery for many years and did much to make it a stronghold, in the Golok area, of both the Jangter and the revelations of his uncle Terchen Nüden Dorje. He was himself a tertön who mostly had revelations connected to the practice of Chöd (gcod).

Here is a short summary of Gönpo Wangyal’s biography by Tülku Tsullo (sprul sku tshul khrims bzang po, 2014: vol. 8 p. 1-110). I also used a shorter one (30 p.) in the History of the Jangter (Byang gter chos ’byung) by Chöying of Khordong (Byang gter phyogs bsgrigs : vol. 62, p. 757-787).

Tsullo’s biography starts with a summary of Gönpo Wangyal’s previous lives in India and Tibet. He was regarded as an emanation of Buddhas’s disciple Ananda, of Atsara Sale (Yeshe Tsogyal’s legendary male consort), Phadampa Sangye, Drapa Ngönshe, and, as for his Jangter connections, of Legdenje (Legs ldan rje) and Yölmo Tülku Tendzin Norbu (Yol mo sprul sku btTsan ‘dzin nor bu), etc.

Then follows a history of his family, established in Trehor. His ancestors are thus named : Drupchen Sangye Dorje (Sangs rgyas rdo rje), who founded Khordong in unknown times ; his nephew Rinchen Phuntsok (Rin chen phun tshogs) ; his nephew Lhawang Tsenden (lHa dbang tshe ldan) ; his nephew Sangye Tenzin (Sangs rgyas bstan ‘dzin) ; his nephew Karma Lhawang (Karma lha dbang) ; his nephew Sönam Sherap (bSod nams shes rab). Of all these figures, only the names are know so far, as Khordong was most probably a small community of ngakpas in those times, until Sherab Mebar (Shes rab me ‘bar) who established the link with the Janter (Byang gter) tradition (https://treasuryoflives.org/zh/biographies/view/khamtrul-sherab-mebar/13688), and whose nephew was Khordong Terchen Nüden Dorje (https://treasuryoflives.org/zh/biographies/view/Khordong-Terchen-Nuden-Dorje/TBRC_P1KG9679), whose main disciple was Gönpo Wangyal. 

In Nüden Dorje’s biographies, the birth of the child is clearly described as having been necessary for the transmission of the lineage of his termas and as having been brought up by rituals. His father was Awo Dorjetan and his mother, Tsünmo Sönamdrön, was a niece or daughter of the Tertön. The biography tells of all sorts of wondrous signs before and after his birth but also mentions that he got injured and maybe got slightly handicapped after by falling from the 2nd floor of the house when he was a few years old (this is mentioned by Tülku Tsullo only, but not in the shorter biography by Chöying; it is difficult to understand whether he would still suffer of the sequels as an adult, but it might well be a reason why he later focused on the Chöd (gcod) practice).

In 1851, Terchen Nüden Dorje himself taught him to read and write, which he learned, it is said, easily. From 1855 on, he received all sorts of teachings, mostly the Gongpa Zangthal (or Direct Revelation, the main Dzogchen cycle of the Northern Treasures) from one Rigdzin Norbu Yongdrak (Nor bu yongs grags), did the preliminary practice and got amazing signs, especially while doing the Vajrasattva meditation. In 1856, he received from Terchen Nuden Dorje the Lung Phagmo Zabgya – the main Jangter original teaching for the inner yogas – and also got full success within a short time. The next year, he received from Jewön Jangchub Dorje (Byang chub rdo rje) the Primordial Purity, Spontaneous and Self Arisen and, again, the Direct Revelation – both Dzogchen of the Northern Treasures. The biographies mention that he then got  the Direct Revelation “on the basis of the manual composed by Ado Könchok Gyaltsen (A rdo dKon mchog rgyal mtshan),” which raises a series of problems (such a text seems to be no longer extant) but clearly means, which is very interesting, that this is the transmission from the Kathok (Kaḥ thog) lineage of the Direct Revelation, different from the Dorjedrak one. It is important, because it means that all the available lineages of the Direct Revelation were then gathered in Khordong, which sheds some light on the way Tülku Tsullo later composed his large practice manual on this cycle. 

In 1859, he received from Terchen Nüden Dorje the Black Quintessence (Yang ti nag po, a Dzokchen cycle focusing on advanced practices in complete darkness) in the tradition of Dungtso Repa. This is also extremely interesting for us to understand that Khordong had already become a repository for great many Dzogchen teachings. According to this system, he practiced in a dark cell and it is said that, after a few days, he saw in the dark as in daylight, as well as what was outside the cell. Then, from this year on and during three years, he received from the Terchen all the whole Northern Treasures (i.e., all the Dorjedrak lineages, including Mañjuśrī Master of Life – ’Jam dpal tshe bdag, or the special system stemming from Padma ’phrin las for the Gathering of Intentions, etc., and not merely the Jangter in the narrowest sense), but also the traditions of Sangye Lingpa (Sangs rgyas gling pa, 1340-1396), Ratna Lingpa (Ratna gling pa, 1403-1479, https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Ratna-Lingpa/7164), Pema Lingpa (Paddma gling pa, 1450-1521,https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Pema-Lingpa/3000), the empowerments “of the 108” (or “of the 1008”, according to Chöying of Khordong) for Chö (gcod), plus the termas of Khordong Terchen Nüden Dorje himself, with their outer, inner, secret and hyper-secret sections ; and Nüden Dorje was content of him. 

It is at this point that Mahākāla (i.e., the special form of the six-armed Mahākāla which is the main protector of the Northern Treasures) promised to accompany him always as his shadow. Terchen Nüden Dorje confirmed that Gönpo Wangyal was an emanation born from the blessings of Mahākāla, congratulated him and  commanded him to dedicate himself with zeal to the practice of this guardian deity, in whose practice he got many signs. 

In 1861, as fe is in his 17th year, he met Gyalse Orgyen Phuntsok of Bane Monastery (Baḥ gnas rgyal sras O rgyan phun tshogs), regarded as an emanation of Vasubandhu and followed him as his disciple. Gyalse Orgyen Phuntsok gave him all his teachings and, as a sign of appointing him as his successor, he gave  and Gönpo Wangyal his teaching hat.

In 1862, in his eighteenth year, he made a 90 days practice retreat on the Three forms of the Master Padmasambhava according to the Northern Treasure–one month each–with his five close disciples. In the retreat centre of Zhichen Monastery (gZhi chen mkhar dmar gsang sngags sgrub sde), from Lama Yizhin Wangyal (Bla ma Yid bzhin dbang rgyal) and from Namkha Dorje (Nam mkha’ rdo rje), he received the transmission of the complete collection of the Ancient Tantras (rNying ma’i rgyud ’bum) and a few sadhanas belonging to the category of the “oral transmission” (bka’ ma). From the second, he received the Complete Secrets of the Eight Commands (bKa’ brgyad gsang rdzogs), Guru Chöwang’s (Gu ru Chos dbang, 1212-1270, https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Guru-Chowang/5588) revelations. 

In 1863, as he turned 19, he went to Dorjedrak in Central Tibet for a meticulous verification of the conformity of the Khordong rituals to those of Dorjedrak, probably with Terchen Nüden Dorje. There, he received all sorts of teachings; then he moved in the direction of the Janglung (byang lung, the region where the so-called “Northern Treasures” were revealed). When he arrived in sight of Matö Pomra (rMa stod sbom ra) he had a vision of the local deity Machen Pomra (rMa chen sbom ra) as a wealth god, with his entourage. Machen Pomra spoke to him, making prophecies, and promised to serve him as a guardian deity. Gönpo Wangyal also had a vision of hostile gods and demons and resolved to practice in retreat for the protection of the country. 

He then arrived near Thanglha where he has the vision of another protective deity closely connected to the Northern Treasures, Nyenchen Thanglha (gNyen chen thang lha), who touched his body, offered him various precious items and promised to accomplish promptly all the tasks Gönpo Wangyal would entrust him. Gönpo Wangyal pilgrimed trough all Central Tibet. The biographies mentions all sorts of miracles, but, given the importance of the practice of Chö in his later life, the most significant seems to be the vision he had in “the Copper Montain, White and Red” (Zangs ri mkhar dmar) in Densathil (gDan sa mthil), where, after he had done prayers related to the Chö lineage, he saw in a vision Machik Labdrön (Ma gcig Lab sgron) as a red dakini, who melted into him, giving him the blessings required to reveal his future “mind treasure” (dgongs gter) about Chö.

He sometimes wandered alone, as if at random, and had curious encounters. Tülku Tsullo tells us that, on one of those occasions, Gönpo Wangyal met a beautiful woman with three eyes who invited him into a spontaneously emanated palace. She offered him a skull cup filled with ‘fruits of a hundred flavours’ before introducing herself as the Ḍākiṇī White-Crystal. Blessed by the eating of these fruits, he felt that the channels of his body were filled with bliss. Then everything vanished, as if he was waking from a dream. 

Finally the party arrived at Dorjedrak where, it is said, Gönpo Wangyal was welcomed by the eighth Rigdzin Chenpo, Pema Wangyal (Rig ’dzin Padma dbang rgyal) and by Chuzang Namkha Longyang (Chu bzang sprul sku Nam mkha’ klong yangs). 

From these two lamas he once again received the initiations and oral transmissions of the Northern Treasures, probably completing small parts that may still have been missing in Khordong. They verified all the points of ‘practical know-how’ (which can mean liturgical details as well as aspects of yogic technique), and the biography gives the feeling of a very cordial understanding. Then Gönpo Wangyal received the ritual headdress of one of the ancient Rigdzin Chenpos, a sign of the perfect, complete and now autonomous transmission of the Northern Treasures to Khordong. 

He then returned to Khordong, where he received the final teachings of Khordong Terchen in 1864, the year in which Nüden Dorje left for another world. The gter chen, after having given him the empowerments and instructions, prescribed him to make a practice retreat. It is then also that Khordong Terchen formally made him the heir to his Dharma. In order to remove obstacles, Gönpo Wangyal commissioned a painting (sku brnyan) of Thangtong Gyalpo (Thang rgyal) as well as a statue of Dorje Drolö (rDo rje gro lod).

He then had a dream in which he saw Padmasambhava in a rainbow nimbus, ready to depart for the southwest. Although he prayed to him fervently, Padamsambhava, only turning his face towards him, went away. It was a sign of the death of Khordong Terchen which, it is said, occured in the midst of the most amazing signs in 1864.  Gönpo Wangyal performed the required rites perfectly and carried out all the testamentary prescriptions of his master.

In his 21st year (1865–1866–so, during this retreat), he had a vision of Khordong Terchen passing on his entire tradition to him, including the bKa’ brgyad ye shes rol pa, which he could not receive from the tertön’s own mouth. Thus did he become the lineage holder of bKa’ brgyad ye shes rol pa and the rest of the gter ma. In a vision, a figure who was both Padmasambhava and Atsar Sale (A tsar sa le) blessed him with the volumes of bKa’ brgyad ye shes rol pa and then gave him the volumes.

It should be noted here that, although the details are missing from his biography written by Tülku Tsullo, it is clearly stated that Khordong Terchen’s wife, Tamdrin Wangmo (rTa mgrin dbang mo), also bestowed transmissions upon Gönpo Wangyal. It is probable that she alone had received the entirety of the transmissions from Khordong Terchen’s ‘new treasury’ as it was revealed. It is a pity that these remarkable women are only mentioned in passing in the hagiographies, in a way that does not allow us to imagine exactly how they lived, how they were trained, how they led their lives as practitioners, nor how they accomplished the tasks, normally assigned to men in Tibetan society, of teaching Buddhism and giving Tantric transmissions. We would like to know if this was done in a discreet way, within the domestic setting of a family circle, or if there was nothing to prevent it from happening in a large public ceremony.

It is said that, as a result of his several past lives as accomplished masters, Gönpo Wangyal did not need any personal practice. Despite this, however, he went through all the steps of every teaching he received in other to set an example to others, and probably also to familiarise himself with every detail in preparation for the time when he would have to teach them. The biographies contain lists of all the practices in which he obtained signs of accomplishment, including the Gathering of Intentions and the Peaceful and Wrathful [Deities] of the Net of Magical Illusions (sGyu ’phrul zhi khro)–both belonging to the uninterrupted oral transmission or bKa’ ma); the ‘three [sets of the] Eight Commands’ (i.e. from the terma revelations of Nyangral Nyima Özer, Guru Chöwang and Rigdzin Gödem); Vajrakīla practices (mostly from the Northern Treasures but integrating also the systems from Ratna Lingpa and Tertön Düdül Dorje); and he did long retreats on Yamāntaka in his form Mañjuśrī Master of Life. Basically, he practised all the cycles of the Northern Treasures and the Dorjedrak tradition up to the completion of the ‘propiciation’ (nyendrup), including the cycles connected to Hayagrīva. He also engaged in the practice of various wrathful forms of Padmasambhava (especially Dorje Drolö from the revelations of Khordong Terchen), as well as Siṃhamukhā, the Lion-Headed Ḍākiṇī, combining Khordong Terchen’s termas with cycles revealed by other tertöns. He was also very assiduous in the practice of Mahākāla, as we have already seen. It is said that his main practice was that of the Secret Treasure of the Ḍākinī (mKha’ ’gro gsang mdzod), regarded as the heart and summit of the whole of Khordong Terchen’s revelations, and that his engagement in this practice was permanent, uninterrupted.

In the biography written by Tülku Tsullo, Gönpo Wangyal had many signs and visions connected with his practice during the years 1865 and 1866, and he also received further teachings, especially from Khamtrül Sherab Mebar’s tülku, Künzang Nyendrak (Kun bzang snyan grags). It was also in 1866 that Khordong Terchen’s first reincarnation, Drodül Lingpa, was formally recognised. Unfortunately, Drodül Lingpa died young (1885 at the latest), so that he did not become Gönpo Wangyal’s successor. 

In 1868 and the following year, Gönpo Wangyal gave the complete transmissions for the termas of Ratna Lingpa and for Sangye Lingpa’s Master Gathering the Intentions (Bla ma dgongs ’dus) to all the assembly gathered in Khordong monastery, headed by Nüden Dorje’s son Pema Dönsal (rGyal sras Padma don gsal).

In 1870 that he started revealing treasures in a cave devoted to Nāgarākṣa in Tsöri Demchok, in the midst of wondrous signs. He found there a ritual phurba that had belonged to Nanam Dorje Düdjom, and a sealed treasure casket. 

The years 1871 to 1875 seem to have been chiefly devoted to wrathful rites ‘in which he was comparable to Nubchen, Lekdenjé, or the Lords of the North, Father and Sons.’ His magic weapon-torma is reported to have spontaneously ignited as a sign of the impending destruction of the enemies of religion and civil order. Meanwhile, he continued to bestow transmissions upon a few close disciples, reveal further hidden treasures, and to give public teachings in the various monasteries that were under his jurisdiction–especially on the preliminary practices of the Northern Treasures and the Mind training in Seven Points. 

In 1877, in his 33rd year, he gave a complete detailed transmission of the Northern Treasures in Shukjung (Shugs ’byung) Monastery, and then, in Khordong, a complete transmission of Nüden Dorje’s termas. The biographies tell us of his many visions and terma revelations during the following years, and also of his relationships with powerful patrons in the surrounding areas. 

It was under the guidance of Gönpo Wangyal that Khordong Monastery was enlarged with much additional construction, and the shrine of its new main temple, complete with all its statues and paintings, was consecrated in 1884. He also had a lot of construction work done in Baḥne (Baḥ gnas) and Shukjung, which had both become branch monasteries of Khordong, and he performed a similar consecration ceremony in Shukjung in 1885. Interestingly, it is reported that on this occasion he received ‘in great detail’ the previously mentioned Vajra Bridge (Klong sde’i rdo rje’i zam pa) from Künzang Nyendrak (this seems to be the last surviving system of practice for the Dzogchen Longdé). 

The biographies continue in this fashon with more wondrous signs, more miracles, more constructions and more terma revelations. 

In 1887, in his 43rd year, Gönpo Wangyal made a teaching tour in the surrounding areas during which he especially gave to a vast crowd the large empowerment for the Gathering of Intentions ‘in the style of Pema Trinle,’ that is, according to the tradition of Dorjedrak, which is quite extensive and elaborate, with its ‘nine maṇḍalas and thirty-six consecrations.’ There were all sorts of auspicious signs. He gave the very same empowerment again in Shukjung in 1889, and, in the same year, he received from Tamdrin Wangmo the most secret parts–‘the sealed golden Dharmas’ of the Secret Treasure of the Ḍākini, the very heart of Khordong Terchen’s revelations. 

In 1892, on the occasion of a visit to Khordong by two important tülkus, Gönpo Wangyal gave a large series of empowerments and oral transmissions, including the complete Northern Treasures, the complete writings of Rigdzin Pema Trinle and other ‘classics’ of the Northern Treasures tradition, plus Guru Chöwang’s The Secret Completeness of the Eight Commands and a few other empowerments.

For the year 1893, the biographies give an obscure account of a large Vajrakīla public ritual that he performed at the instigation of powerful lords of the Golok area in order to avert negative omens which were being caused by the black magic of an obscure figure named Repa Wönpo (Ras pa dbon po). If I understand it properly, it seems that Repa Wönpo disliked the Vajrakīla tradition of the Northern Treasures. His hostile magical manoeuvres, however, not only failed to bear fruit (the clouds of hail that he had conjured up were dissipated without causing any damage), but their instigator, Repa Wönpo himself, had to flee from the shore of the lake into which he had cursed his enemies to be swallowed up and drowned. The lake indeed began to bubble up in a terrible manner, and all the ritual paraphernalia used by Repa Wönpo and his disciples were swept away and destroyed. 

At the end of this year, the second reincarnation of Khordong Terchen was enthroned. He was called Dorje Gyaltsen (rDo rje rgyal mtshan) or Pema Wang gi Gyalpo (Padma dbang gi rgyal po), but became more famous under his tertön name, Kalden Lingpa (sKal ldan gling pa), and it was surely for his benefit that, in 1894, Gönpo Wangyal gave the complete transmissions of the Northern Treasures and of the treasures of Khordong Terchen in Shukjung. Then, in the following year, he bestowed the Thousand Empowerments for Chöd in Khordong. In his large biography of Gönpo Wangyal, this is perhaps the first occasion on which Tülku Tsullo, who was actually born in 1895, mentions himself. There must be a small chronological mistake somewhere, but the main point is that Gönpo Wangyal’s successor should have been Kalden Lingpa, the tülku of his own master. This could not happen, however, as Kalden Lingpa died before 1922 and thus did not outlive Gönpo Wangyal (who died 1915) by very long. This must have been why Tülku Tsullo was chosen to become the main heir to this lineage. In any case, what Tülku Tsullo means to indicate is that he (even as a newborn baby) was always associated with Kalden Lingpa whenever Gönpo Wangyal gave him transmissions.

The final years of Gönpo Wangyal’s life were punctuated by retreats, visions, and giving teachings. In 1900 he gave a transmission of the full Collected Nyingma Tantras in Khordong. Interestingly, in 1902, he received an oral transmission (lung) of the whole Buddhist canon given by the famous Drakkar Tülku Lobzang Palden, during which Gönpo Wangyal saw Lobzang Palden as Avalokiteśvara in his form with a thousand arms and eyes. 

In 1903 Gönpo Wangyal recognised Thubten Dongak Shedrup as the 5th incarnation of the Baḥne tülku. This lama is recorded in the colophon of Tülku Tsullo’s Gongpa Zangthal practice manual as the person who solicited its composition. in his sixtieth year (1904), Gönpo Wangyal transmitted the whole of Khordong Terchen’s revelations, except the Secret Treasure of the Ḍākinī, plus the Vajra Bridge of the Longdé, to a number of disciples including Kalden Lingpa and Tülku Tsullo. In 1906 he gave all the transmissions of his own termas, which fill two volumes. It is said that from 1907 onwards he dropped all his formal daily recitations, except for his ‘main practice’ (the Secret Treasure of the Ḍākinī, I guess) and remained immersed in the view of Dzogchen. He again experienced many visions of Padmasambhava, Vajrayoginī and Mahākāla, etc., and continued to display various miracles. In 1908 he gave the empowerment for the Gathering of Intentions in its most complete form to Kalden Lingpa, Tülku Tsullo and many others. In 1910 he consecrated all the newly erected statues in Shukjung. Throughout 1911, he was chiefly focussed on rites for repelling the foreign armies, especially on the Razor of Life, and it is recorded that, as a result, the power of those enemies collapsed. 

There are not many details in the biographies about the final years of Gönpo Wangyal’s life. But, overall, he appears to have had all the perfect characteristics of a Nyingma tülku: born in an excellent family in which he was taken care of and trained almost from birth, always taught by the best possible masters, himself extremely talented, zealous and energetic, successful in all his undertakings, enjoying a long life with a good reputation and displaying an inexhaustible energy in achieving his aims, mostly spiritual, but deeply rooted in the visible world, both through his vast construction activities, his successes in all forms of magic–including, as we have just seen, war magic–and harmonious relationships with generous patrons. 

The only thing that went slightly awry in the smooth progression of his life is that his natural successor, Kalden Lingpa, did not possess the same strong health and passed away in his early twenties. But he was careful enough to have trained ‘spare tülkus’ (if I dare refer to them as such), among whom his own son, Tülku Tsullo, proved to be one of the most brilliant masters of his generation, both as a scholar and a practitioner–one who built, to the glory of Gönpo Wangyal, a monument that the Cultural Revolution itself could not vandalise: a sumptuous biography that informs us of a great many details of his life and, incidentally, of the fervent piety that he was able to inspire in the heart of Tülku Tsullo.


OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Stéphane Arguillère (January 14, 2023). The Life of Gönpo Wangyal (1845-1915). Northern Treasures Histories. Retrieved May 13, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/opek


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