Chokgyur Lingpa

Chokgyur Lingpa (1829–1870), also called Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa, was one of the most prolific tertöns, or treasure revealers, of the 19th century. His revelations form the Chokling Tersar, the “New Treasures of Chokgyur Lingpa”, which his descendants and incarnations still transmit in both the Nyingma and Kagyu schools.

Life

He was born in 1829 at the foot of the sacred mountain Namkhadzö in Nangchen, in eastern Tibet. His mother was Tsering Yangtso and his father Pema Wangchuk. He became a novice at a Drikung Kagyu monastery and later moved to the Drukpa Kagyu monastery at Nangchen Gar. According to the Treasury of Lives, he revealed the Barché Kunsel (Dispelling All Obstacles), one of his most successful revelations, in 1848, at nineteen, but colleagues in Nangchen refused to accept him as a treasure revealer.

In 1853 he went to Derge looking for recognition. At Pelpung, Jamgön Kongtrul gave him tantric vows, and between 1853 and 1855 Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo gave him empowerments and in time embraced him as a close collaborator. Lotsawa House dates the Sevenfold Cycle of Profundity to 1856, and a Kagyé practice from the Three Sections of the Great Perfection (Dzogchen Desum) to 1857, revealed at the Lotus Crystal Cave, a treasure shared with Khyentse Wangpo. The two jointly revealed The Guru’s Heart Practice, Wish-Fulfilling Jewel in November 1858, and the Sangtik Korsum cycle was a joint revelation with Kongtrul. He revealed a Gesar practice in 1867.

Through the 1860s the three masters worked together in the service of the kingdom of Derge, consecrating sacred sites and giving empowerments. They are remembered together as the Khyen Kong Chok Desum, and their work is associated with the non-sectarian (Rimé) movement. Chokgyur Lingpa established two monastic seats, Tsike and Neten, which became the seats of his two lines of incarnations. He died at Neten in 1870, aged 42. His short autobiography in verse covers his life up to 1865. After his mother died, Khyentse Wangpo compiled an Amitābha liturgy from his treasure, and Kongtrul later wrote a biographical prayer to him.

The lineage

His main consort was Dekyi Chödrön, mother of two of his three children. Their daughter, Könchok Paldrön, was the grandmother of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, who held an especially close transmission of the Chokling Tersar and passed it on to the 16th Karmapa. Tergar records that the 14th Karmapa received empowerments from Chokgyur Lingpa himself. His incarnations continue in two lines, the Tsike Chokling, of which Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche was the fourth, and the Neten Chokling, now Neten Chokling Rinpoche. Lotsawa House publishes many translations from the Chokling Tersar; some are restricted to those who have received the empowerment.