Tertön Shenchen Luga was an important revealer and for sure after the persecution time of Bön.
He was murdered / poisened, by a Buddhist monk .
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By
Raven Cypres Wood, a devoted Bönpo.
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Shenchen Luga was born in the Western year 996, the year of the Fire Monkey, in the Dringtsam region of Tsang, Tibet.
He was born into the Mu-Shen clan, the same family lineage of Lord Tönpa Shenrap Miwoché. His father was of the ‘Ga’ clan and his mother was a Bönpo. He was the eldest of 3 brothers and considered an emantion of the great yogi Tongyung Tüchen.
The scriptural terma, or hidden treasures, that he discovered marked a great revival of the Yungdrung Bön after its persecutions and subsequent hiding of texts and sacred objects. Although there were tertöns, or treasure revealers, both before and after Shenchen Luga, none came close to having the impact upon the religious tradition of Yungdrung Bön.
He is the foremost among all tertöns and was well known during his lifetime.
In 1014 while he was on retreat, his father died. By the time Shenchen Luga was 18 years old, he was quite athletic and was stronger than almost anyone. Because of this, he would compete in games of strength. One day, he was carrying a load of 20 bricks up a wooden ladder. Having reached the eleventh step near to the top, he fell. Although his back was set after the accident, from that time on he walked bent over from the waist. Because of this, he was henceforth called “Shengur, the bent Shen.”
The following year, 1014, at the age of 19, he requested teachings from Lama Ponse Razhak. He engaged in spiritual practice and had many auspicious dreams and visions of having attained the power and benefit of these practices. In 1016, he wed Nagaza Paldrön.
In 1017, the frequency of his visions increased. One day he was experiencing many sparkling lights filling the sky and lights of the five colors dissolving into him. Then, 4 women came from the sky each riding a different animal. One woman was riding a dragon, one was riding a garuda, one was riding a lion and the other was riding a tiger. These 4 khandro presented Shenchen Luga with a crystal phurba that, among other characteristics, contained nine notches representing the 9 Ways of Bön.
They instructed him to keep his revelations secret for 12 years. Soon afterwards, he found boxes of Yungdrung Bön texts hidden in rocks marked with 2 yungdrungs. In the process of trying to remove them, the boxes disappeared. That evening, the treasure guardians appeared to him and told him that he could not take the terma without first making offerings and then to sit and make copies of the texts. There are conflicting reports about the number of boxes that were found but all reports agree that some of the boxes were left undisturbed.
Tertön Shenchen Luga managed to keep his discoveries secret for 11 years. Among his terma was the External Mother Tantra, which has since been lost and no known copies remain. He had many disciples who returned to their home villages and began religious centers overseen by their family lineages.
One of these disciples was Drujé Yungdrung Lama. He was the grandson of Druchen Namkha Yungdrung, the founder of the renowned Yeru Wensaka Yungdrung Bön monastery. Another disciple was Wangden Zhu Ye Lekpo who served the tertön as an attendant for many years. He was entrusted with the terma teachings related to dzogchen.
The tertön died at the age of 40 after being poisoned by a Buddhist monk by the name of Lotön Dorjé Wangchuk. It is said that he had received a prophecy concerning the person that poisoned him but he did not understand the meaning of the prophecy until it was too late. As he passed away, there was an earthquake and strange lights could be seen in the sky. Some sources associate his early death with not fulfilling the request to keep the terma secret for a full 12 years. According to an historical text written by the 23rd Menri Trizen Nyima Tenzin Rinpoche, Shenchen Luga’s murderer died of a heart ailment 3 days after poisoning him.
Writings (rtsom yig)
- g.yung drung las rnam par dag pa srid pa’i phug gi mdo (Innermost Treasury of Life), text written in both Tibetan and Zhangzhung, revealed in 1017
- khams brgyad gtan la phab ya’i ‘bum, revealed 1017
- rnam dag yum gyi ‘phrin las (rnam dag padma klong yangs), revealed outer tantra 1017
- thang ma ‘od rgyal gyi mchod gtor, revealed outer tantra 1017
- mu dra lha’i phyag rgya, revealed outer tantra 1017
- kun snang khyab pa, revealed outer tantra 1017
- rab gnas skor gsum, revealed outer tantra 1017
- kun rigs lha ma yin gyi sbyin bsreg, revealed outer tantra 1017
- zhi ba yongs rdzogs, revealed inner tantra 1017
- man ngag thig le dbyings ‘chad, revealed inner tantra 1017
- khro bo dbang chen gzhung rtags, revealed inner tantra 1017
- dbang chu bo rab ‘byam, revealed inner tantra 1017
- dus drug ma mo, revealed inner tantra 1017
- ma mo ‘dus pa yang snying, revealed inner tantra 1017
- ”Nine series of lesser Mental Class texts including the ga pa”, revealed 1017
- mu stegs a mu kha phung gi rgyud, revealed 1017
- shan pa ma bzhi’i gsang sgrub, revealed 1017
- khro gzhung ngo mtshar rgyas pa, revealed 1017
- tig le dbyings ‘ched, revealed 1017