Longchenpa


Longchen Rabjampa, Drimé Özer, commonly abbreviated to Longchenpa, known of as the " all-knowing", was perhaps the most famous of the realized scholars in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. Along with Sakya Pandita and Je Tsongkhapa, he is commonly recognized as one of the three main manifestations of Manjushri to have taught in Central Tibet. His monumental work of Tibetan literature is the Seven Treasuries, while his more than 250 treatises encapsulate the core of the previous 600 years of monastic Nyingma doctrine and Buddhist thought in Tibet. Longchenpa was a critical link in the exoteric and esoteric transmission of the Dzogchen teachings. He was abbot of Samye, one of Tibet's most important monasteries and the first Buddhist monastery established in the Himalaya, but spent most of his life travelling or in retreat.

Biography

Longchen Rabjampa was born at Gra-phu stod-gron in g.Yo-ru in Eastern dBus in Central Tibet on the eighth day of the second lunar month of the Earth-Male-Ape year. The date of Longchen Rabjampa's parinirvāṇa was the 18th day of the 12th lunar month of the Water-Female-Hare year at O-rgyan-rdzong in Gangs-ri thod-kar, Tibet.
Longchenpa is regarded as an indirect incarnation of the princess Pema Sal. He was born to the master Tenpasung, an adept at both the sciences and the practice of mantra, and Dromza Sonamgyen, who was descended from the family of Dromton Gyelwie Jungne. Legend states that at age five, Longchenpa could read and write, and by age seven his father began instructing him in Nyingma tantras. Longchenpa was first ordained at the age of 12 and studied extensively with the Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje. He not only received the Nyingma transmissions as passed down in his family, but also studied with many of the great teachers of his day without regard to sect. He thus received the combined Kadam and Sakya teachings of the Sutrayana through his main Sakya teacher, Palden Lama Dampa Sonam Gyaltsen, in addition to the corpus of both old and new translation tantras. At the age of 19, Longchenpa entered the famous shedra Sangpu Neutok, where he acquired great scholarly wisdom. He later chose to practice in the solitude of the mountains, after becoming disgusted by the behavior of certain scholars.
When he was in his late twenties two events occurred of decisive importance in his intellectual and spiritual development. One was a vision of Guru Padmasambhava and his consort Yeshe Tsogyal. The other happened in his 29th year, his meeting with the great mystic Rigdzin Kumaradza, from whom he received the Dzogchen empowerment and teachings in the uplands of Yartökyam at Samye, where he was traveling from valley to valley with his students in difficult conditions. Dudjom Rinpoche et al. held that just prior to the arrival of Longchenpa, Kumaraja related to his disciples:
Kumaraja accepted no outer tribute from Longchenpa for the teachings he received, discerning that Longchenpa was blameless and had offered his tribute internally.
Together with Rangjung Dorje, Longchenpa accompanied Kumaraja and his disciples for two years, during which time he received all of Rigdzin Kumaradza's transmissions. Through the efforts of these three, the diverse streams of the "Innermost Essence" teachings of Dzogchen were brought together and codified into one of the common grounds between the Nyingma and Karma Kagyud traditions.
After several years in retreat, Longchenpa attracted more and more students, even though he had spent nearly all of his life in mountain caves. During a stay in Bhutan, Longchenpa fathered a daughter and a son, Trugpa Odzer, who also became a holder of the Nyingtig lineage. A detailed account of Longchenpa's life and teachings is found in Buddha Mind by Tulku Thondup Rinpoche and in A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems by Nyoshul Khenpo.
Pema Lingpa, the famous terton of Bhutan, is regarded as the immediate reincarnation of Longchenpa.
In the Nyingma lineage, Longchenpa, Rongzom, and Mipham are known as the Three Omniscient Ones.

Influence

David Germano, in his doctoral thesis on the Tsigdön Dzö , frames Longchenpa's brilliance within the wider discourse of the Dzogchen tradition :

Works

Longchenpa is widely considered the single most important writer on Dzogchen teachings. He is credited with more than 250 works, both as author and compiler, among which are the famous Seven Treasuries, the Trilogy of Natural Freedom, the Trilogy of Natural Ease, his Trilogy of Dispelling Darkness, and his compilation, with commentaries, of the Nyingtig Yabshi. He is also a commentator on the Kunyed Gyalpo Tantra, a text belonging to the Mind Class of the Ati Yoga Inner Tantras. As scholar Jacob Dalton summarizes,
Longchenpa combined the teachings of the Vima Nyingtig lineage with those of the Khandro Nyingtig, thus preparing the ground for the fully unified system of teachings that became known as the Longchen Nyingthig.

English translations

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Apart from Longchenpa's names given below, he is sometimes referred to by the honorary title "Second Buddha", a term usually reserved for Guru Padmasambhava and indicative of the high regard in which he and his teachings are held. Like the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje, Rongzompa and Jigme Lingpa, he carried the title "Kunkhyen".
Various forms and spellings of Longchenpa's full name, in which 'Longchen' means "great expanse", "vast space", "great vortex", and 'Rab 'byams' "cosmic", "vast", "extensive", "infinite".