Bönpo Masters

Discussion of the fifth religious tradition of Tibet.
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kalden yungdrung
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Re: Bönpo Masters

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Tashi delek,

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བྱ་འཕུར་དགེ་བཤེས་ལྷུན་གྲུབ་རྒྱ་མཚོ།
Geshe Chaphur Rinpoche

Geshe Chaphur was born in Amdo Ngaba in Eastern Tibet.

As a young boy he was recognized as the reincarnation of a great master Chaphur Phuntsok Wangyal Rinpoche by His Eminence Bon-Gya Rinpoche and other high lamas.

He received his Geshe degree in 2008 from Menri Monastery, the principal monastery for the Bön tradition, and the home of HH Menri Trizin, the head of the Bön sect and Menri Lopon Rinpoche.

While a student he served as president of the Bön School of Dialectics. Geshe Chaphur has broad research interests, but he currently focuses on the poems and songs of realization of the masters of the Oral Tradition of Zhang Zhung.

Geshe la’s first book was a collection of his poetry in Tibetan entitled Waves of an Uncontrived Mind (ma bcos sems kyi rlabs zhags), published by Menri Monastery in 2001.

His second book, also in Tibetan, was a historical study of Zhang Zhung and Yungdrung Bön in Tibet entitled Footsteps of Buddha Shenrab of Olmo Ling, published by Menri Monastery in 2007.

He also contributed articles and served as an Associated Editor of “Bön-Go” (bon sgo), the first and most respected academic journal devoted to the study of Bön.

He has contributed a number of works of poetry and articles to various other popular Tibetan magazines. In 2003, his poetic efforts merited him the title of Artist of Tsampa Magazine (rtsam pa’i sgyu tsal ba), recognizing him as the second best writer in the Tsampa Association for poetry.

Geshe Chaphur is the founder and Spiritual director of Gyalshen Institute in San Francisco Bay Area, the United State.
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Re: Bönpo Masters

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Tashi delek,

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Tséwang Rikdzin was an historical person. He was the son of Zhang Zhung Drenpa Namkha and his twin brother was Pema Tongdrol. Although an emanation with great knowledge and realization at his birth, Tséwang Rikdzin received many teachings and heart instructions from his father. In addition to composing many ritual texts in order to alleviate the suffering of sentient beings, he is also an important lineage master of the highest teachings, called Dzogchen, The Great Perfection.


Bön and Nyingma mythology conflate Pema Tongdrol with Padmasambhava, the tantric adept who, in religious imagination, receives credit for subduing the demons of Tibet and allowing Buddhism to flourish.

viewtopic.php?f=78&t=20523


See also below the Bön vision regarding Pema Tongdrol / Bönpo Guru Rinpoche:
viewtopic.php?f=78&t=23439
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Re: Bönpo Masters

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Tashi delek,

The Kundrul Lineage, a real non sectarian Lineage, like Rime.

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Base, Path and Fruit

If Buddha of the Base is not recognized,
Buddha of the Path does not illuminate in the mind stream.
When Buddha of the Path does not shine in the mind stream,
Buddha of the Fruit is not achieved.

Hence, one needs to practice on all the 3
– Base
- Path
- Fruit.

That the mind does not move, is empty but radiantly clear is the Base.
That reflection of clarity in emptiness manifests is the Path.
That clarity and emptiness exist without grasping is the Fruit.


The Kundrol Dragpa Rinpoche


See also below:
viewtopic.php?f=78&t=20867
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Re: Bönpo Masters

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གྲུབ་ཆེན་ནམ་མཁའ་རྒྱལ་མཚན༌།།
Drubchen Namkha Gyaltsen
(grub chen nam mkha’ rgyal msthan)
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Recent foto of the great Master!

The great yogic practitioner is already known as Drubchen (grub chen) or Mahasiddha in Sanskrit as he follows the practice traditions of yogis or Näldjorpas (rnal 'byor pa), wearing little garment and eating only the essence of elements such as juniper berries.

For the latter practice known as Chülen (bcud len) or Rasayana in Sanskrit, The Extraction of Essence Namkha Gyaltsen got famous in Eastern Tibet as he survived 14 years of retreat on just eating 3 juniper berries a day. Since he continues with this diet drinking water at times adding a little milk to it.
viewtopic.php?f=110&t=28447

Since the 1980th he lives in retreat and as a true renunciate wearing simple often ragged cloth as he had virtually nothing at all, not even a white shawl or zen (gzan dkar). He is wearing his long hair (lcang lo) half way bound to a topknot and half hanging down.

He belongs to the yogic practitioners wearing white robes and long hair (gos dkar lcang lo’i sde) like Shardza Rinpoche himself.
As yogic practitioner of Dzogpachenpo (rdzogs pa chen po'i rnal 'byor pa) he gazes with wide open eyes and rests in the Natural State of Mind (gnas lugs).

Thus, we rejoice that he not only takes care of women by having established a nunnery but that he has instructions to other, yet unknown yogic practitioners or naldjorpa (rnal ‘byor pa) in Kham, eastern Tibet.

By: Näldjor
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Re: Bönpo Masters

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Tashi delek,

The younger brother of Tengelek Geshela, Tulku Dugsay Tenzin Rinpoche.

He is 10th reincarnation of Yungdrung Ling abbot of Bön monastery in Namling county. It was founded in 1834 by Nangton Lawa Gyeltsen on the banks of the Yarlung Tsangpo river.

It was restored in 1982. — with Tulku Dugsay Tenzin Rinpoche.

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Re: Bönpo Masters

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Tashi delek,

Master in the Dzogchen Yundrung Bön Tradition, a disciple of Tsultrim Nyima Rinpoche, the great Yogi Chime Rigdzin (from monastery Kündrag Ling), realized in April 2015 a small rainbow body. Within 4 weeks his body was reduced to very small sizes.
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Re: Bönpo Masters

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IN ADDITION:
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Re: Bönpo Masters

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Tashi delek,

Menri Shedrup Khenpo Geshe Nyima Dhondup Rinpoche is the abbot of the Bon Dialectic School at Menri Monastery.

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He was born on december 15june1978 in Delhi. His father was Gazi Sonam Dakpa and his mother is Marong Sonam Lhamo. His birth name is Tsering Dhondup and was given by Tsondue Rinpoche, one of the greatest Bon masters in 20th century. From 8 years old to 15 years old, he went to the elementary school at the Central School for Tibetan in Dolanji.

On 15th of june, 1992, he was ordained novice by His Holiness Lungtok Tenpa’i Nyima Rinpoche, the 33rd enthronement holder of Menri Monastery and by His Eminence Menri Ponlop Yangton Thinley Nyima Rinpoche and was admitted at the Bon Dialectic School of Menri Monastery.

On 23rd of february, 1996, on the birth anniversary of Nyam-med Sherab Gyaltsen, who is considered as the second Buddha of Bon tradition, he got his full monk ordination from His Holiness Lungtok Tenpa’i Nyima Rinpoche, the 33rd enthronement holder of Menri Monastery and from His Eminence Menri Yongzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche. He completed over 15 years study of Bon Zogchen, Tantra, Sutra and five major and minor sciences of Bon tradition.

He received his Geshe Degree on 15th of march, 2006.

Throughout his study, he took several responsibilities at the Bon Dialectic School, such as playing ritual instruments, mask dance leader, accounting and discipline leader.

On 9th of February, 2008, he was enthroned as Menri Shedrup Lopon, the principal master of Bon Dialectic School at Menri Monastery. On 25th of february, 2012, he was enthroned as the Menri Shedrup Khenpo, the abbot of Bon Dialectic School at Menri monastery.

He has been teaching Bon Zogchen,Tantra and Sutra to Bon Dialectic Students for more than 15 years and he has been invited speaker at several major Bon and Buddhist conferences. Furthermore, he has contributed to several articles for Bon-sGo, the periodical journal in Tibetan of Menri monastery in India and the Himalayan Bon website in Tibet.

He has been taking the responsibility of General Secretary of Governing Council of Menri Monastery. Moreover, since 2011, he has been the Director of the official website of the Menri monastery (www.theyungdrungbon.com). In 2014, He visited Tibet and blessed many Bon followers and practitioners.

He is the author of the book ‘Rigs sMa dGyes Pi mChod Trin’, ‘Offerings to rejoice the Great Scholars’. ‘Man-ngag Lung gi Yang Zhun, sTod Cha and sMad Cha’, ‘A clear oral transmission of the sacred instruction Part- 1&2’. ‘Yungdrung gi Tson Dhon’, ‘Illustration on the meaning of Yungdrung’. These books cover the main philosophical teachings in Bon tradition.
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Re: Bönpo Masters

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Tashi delek,

By: Näldjor

དབྱིལྶ་ཏོན་དཔོན་གསས་ཁྱུང་རྒོད་རྩ་འམ་དཔོན་གསས་ཁྱུང་ཐོག།

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Kyiltön Pönse Khyunggöd Tsal aka Pönse Khyungthog
(dbyils ton dpon gsas khyung rgod rtsal 'am dpon gsas khyung thog, 1175- )

Kyiltön Pönse Khyunggöd Tsal (dbyils ton dpon gsas khyung rgod rtsal) or simply Pönse Khyunggöd Tsal (dpon gsas khyung rgod rtsal) and often known as Pönse Khyungthog (dpon gsas khyung thog) in Buddhist works was born in 1175, the wood-sheep year of third sexagenary cycle, near To Lhatse (stod lha rtse) in central Tibet. He was known also as Jilton Heruka Khyunggo Tsel (dbyil ston he ru ka khyung rgod rtsal).

He was a prolific treasure revealer of the Bön tradition whose works are part of the Bön canon.

Dalai Lama V Desi Sanggye Gyatso (sde sri sangs rgyas rgya mtsho, 1653-1705) referred to Khyunggo Tsal's treasure, A Vase of Nectar (bdud rtsi bum 'bring) in his writings on medical history.

Among his students were Azha Lodrö Gyaltsen ('a zha blo gros rgyal mtshan, 1198-1263).

In the Buddhist tradition there existed a line of incarnations which seemingly ceased recently.
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Re: Bönpo Masters

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By: Näldjor

༄༅།།ཀུན་གྲོལ་འཇའ་ཚོན་སྙིང་པོའི་སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་ཀུན་གྲོལ་ཧུཾ་ཆེན་འགྲོ་འདུལ་གླིང་པ།།
Kündrol Hūṃchen Drodul Lingpa (kun grol hum chen ‘gro ‘dul gling pa, 1901-1956)

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The 6th incarnation of Kündrol Dragpa Jatsön Nyingpo ( kun grol grags pa ‘ja‘ tshon snying po, 1700-) was known as Kundrol Hūṃchen Drodul Lingpa (kun grol hum chen ‘gro ‘dul gling pa, 1901-1956) also known as Drodul Drakpa ('gro 'dul grags pa).

In this rare and exceptional foto shows Kundrol Dragpa Hūṃchen Drodul wearing the full range of a tantric practitioner in the fashion of the ancient Mahasiddhas with hat and cloak made of tiger skin and a cloak with leopard fur etc.
He holds a Phurba and a Kapala. He wears his long hair hanging down half loose or ralpa changlo (ral pa lcan lo) .

The 4th and 5th Kundrol Rinpoches also played a great role in the tradition of Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen as particularly the 5th Kundrol Dragpa Chime Düddul Lingpa was a master of Shardza Rinpoche in the late 19th century.

Kündrol Hūṃchen Drodul Lingpa was one of the main disciples of Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen Rinpoche and a master of Rakshi Tokden Rinpoche Drime Yungdrung and of Yongdzin Rinpoche Lopön Tendzin Namdak, which mentions this tulku and tertön (sprul sku dang gter stön), as he met him when he was quite young. Yongdzin Rinpoche describes him as a very impressive appearance, which is certainly displayed in this photo.
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Re: Bönpo Masters

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By: Näldjor

།།རྫོགས་ཆེན་རྣལ་འབྱོར་པ་ནོར་བུ་རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་འཇའ་ལུས་འཕུ་ཆུང༌།།

Small Rainbow Body of Dzogchen Näldjorpa Norbu Rinpoche
(rdzogs chen rnal 'byor pa nor bu rin po che'i 'ja' lus 'phu chung)

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Dzogchen Naldjorpa Norbu Rinpoche from Yungdrung Phüntsog Monastery (g.yung drung phun tshogs dgon) attained the small rainbow body in 2012 December 6th. This foto is taken 2013 January 25 the, after leaving his body for 49 days in Thugdam (thugs dam) just before cremating it.
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Re: Bönpo Masters

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རྒྱལ་བ་གཉིས་པ་མཉམ་མེད་ཤེས་རབ་རྒྱལ་མཚན།

The 1st Menri, H.H. Nyame Shenrab Gyaltsen, (mNyan-med shes-rab rgyal-mtshan, 1356-1415), The Founder and first abbot of Menri Monastery in Tibet.

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In 1405, the great Bonpo teacher H.H. Nyame Shenrab Gyaltsen established the first Menri monastery near the site of Yeru Wensakha.



NYAMÉ SHERAP GYALTSEN ~ A PRAYER TO THE PEERLESS SUPREME LAMA

http://www.ligmincha.org/…/down…/NyameS ... en2008.pdf



-----Prayer By: Chaphur Rinpoche-------


Guru Yoga:
དཔལ་ལྡན་བླ་མའི་རྣལ་འབྱོར།

བདེ་ཆེན་རྒྱལ་པོ་ཀུན་བཟང་རྒྱལ་བ་འདུས།
མི་བརྗེད་གཟུངས་ལྡན་ཤེས་རབ་སྨྲ་བའི་སེང་།
འཛམ་གླིང་བོན་གྱི་གཙུག་རྒྱན་མཉམ་མེད་པ།
ཤེས་རབ་རྒྱལ་མཚན་ཞབས་ལ་གསོལ་བ་འདེབས།


DE-CHEN GYAL-PO KUN-ZANG GYAL-WA DU
MI-JE ZUNG-DEN SHE-RAB MA-WE SENG
DZAM-LING BÖN-GYI TSUG-GYEN NYAM-ME PA
SHE-RAB GYAL-TSEN ZHAB-LA SOL-WA DEB

Translation:
Oh, king of great bliss who is in the form of Kun Zang Gyalwa Du pa
You are the wisdom deity, the lion of speech
endowed with omniscience.
You are the matchless crown ornament of the Bön World
To Sherab Gyaltsen
I pray and pay homage.

=====================

Look here also:
viewtopic.php?f=78&t=8963&p=111689&hili ... en#p111689
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Re: Bönpo Masters

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Tashi delek,

Geshe Sherab Phuntsok jest dobrze znany w Rosji
Geshe Sherab Phuntsok is well known in Russia

Geshe Sherab Phuncog
Yakutsk Republic of sakha yakutia
Spring 2016.

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Re: Bönpo Masters

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Tashi delek,

Biography of Lha-Tri Khenpo Nyima Dakpa Rinpoche



My name is Lha-Tri Khenpo Nyima Dakpa Rinpoche. I am the abbot and lineage holder of the Lha-Tri monastery in the Kham/Dege region of Eastern Tibet.

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I was born in Tibet in 1959 and grew up in Nepal at Dorpatan, the first refugee Bönpo community. My family is the lineage holder of the Lha-Tri lineage. My father, Lha-Tri Gyaltsen Nyima, was the third reincarnation of Tsultrim Phunstok, a great practitioner of Eastern Tibet. When I was six years old, I began to learn to read and write Tibetan. At this time I also started my religious studies under the guidance of my father and Tsultrim Nyima Rinpoche, the abbot of Dorpatan monastery. When I was thirteen I moved to Kathmandu (Nepal) with my family where I had to work in a sweat shop and learned the art of carpet design.

Most Bönpo people who live in Kathmandu have come originally from the Dorpatan area. The majority are devotees of the Te-Wa monastery, located in the North of Tibet. My father was the lama of the Te-Wa monastery. As long as he lived he was in charge of all annual religious activities. His main goal was to keep the Bönpo community alive and to grant young people to get in contact with their original Bön culture. For that reason he re-established the Bön community Te-Wa [Te-Bön Kyi Dug] in Kathmandu. Until this day this institution is still active.

When I was fifteen (1974) my father took me to the sMen-ri monastery at Dolanji, India (in the Himashal Pradesh region) so that I could become a monk there. He was worried about the future of Tibet and wanted to make sure to leave a successor from within our family. He expected me to become a spiritual practitioner and to serve the Bönpo community as a spiritual master later on. But I became very homesick and returned to my family in Kathmandu.

Three years later the senior sMen-ri Löpon, Sangye Tenzin Rinpoche, asked my father why I had not yet become a monk. By that time I realized that as the eldest son and with the name of the lineage holder Lha-Tri it was my duty to become a monk and serve the Bönpo people.

At a family gathering my father talked about the message from Sangye Tenzin Rinpoche and all my family encouraged me to take up the challenge, and so I decided to return to sMen-ri monastery at Dolanji.

It was during the Tibetan New Year, on the birthday of Nyam Sherab Gyaltsen that I took the vow to become a monk. From that day on I have been cared for and guided by H.H. the 33rd sMen-ri Trizin, the spiritual head of the Bön.

In 1978 I was among the first students to enter the newly founded Bön Dialectic School, a monastery school that teaches philosophy (sutra, tantra and dzogchen), astrology, medicine and all other traditional Bön disciplines.
There I received all my teachings from Löpon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche and Lharam Geshe Yung Drung Nam Gyal.
I had made a commitment not to take any vacation before graduating from the dialectic school and so I did not return home before 1987. By then I had received my Geshe degree which equals a Western PhD.

During the whole period of my studies and up to now I have been assisting His Holiness with the administration of the monastic centre as well as the school (CST) at Dolanji. I have had the honour of representing His Holiness the 33rd sMen-ri Trizin at meetings and conferences held away from Dolanji.
Biography of Lha-Tri Khenpo Nyima Dakpa Rinpoche
Page 2

After having received several letters from the people of the Lha-Tri monastery asking me to join them and help them educate the young monks of their monastery I travelled to Tibet in 1987. There, in addition to visiting the Lha-Tri monastery, I also made a tour of thirty-eight other monasteries. The purpose of my visit was to enforce the connection between the monasteries in India and Tibet.
Respectively my most important visits in Tibet were to the sMen-ri monastery as well as the Lha-Tri monastery, where I was enthroned as abbot.

In 1988 I returned to sMen-ri monastery at Dolanji. In April of the same year His Holiness the Dalai Lama visited the monastery and discussed the school system of Dolanji with H.H. the 33rd sMen-ri Trizin.
By then the school had only 6 grades and H.H. the 33rd sMen-ri Trizin asked for the permission to add a 7th and 8th grade. Thus the children would have even a more profound opportunity to study their original Bön culture. H.H. the Dalai Lama agreed to the project and wished as many children as possible to be brought to Dolanji to be raised in the Bön culture. The Minister of Education of the exiled government of Tibet at that time, Juchen Thupten, gave the thousand rupees for the project.

I was assigned not only the task of working out the project (including the dealings with the Indian government) but also to encourage the various Bönpo communities to send children to the Bönpo school at Dolanji. I made an official visit to Kathmandu to talk to the local Bönpo community about the project and spread the information to Dolpo, Lubrak, Zomsom and Tankye as well as to remote Bönpo communities in Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim and India.

In addition to the school project H.H. the 33rd sMen-ri Trizin asked me to set up a home for girls and boys at Dolanji. So in 1988 I founded the Home known today as the Bon Children’s Home (BCH). There boys and girls are brought up together. Here they find not only a place to receive an education but also a real home. I have been the director of the Bon Children’s Home up to now.

Most children at the Bon Children’s Home are from very remote Bönpo communities such as Dolpo and Lubrak (Nepal). In the beginning there were 45 children. Today the number has grown up to 180 children between 5 and 20 years of age. Some of them have already graduated from the school at Dolanji and continue their education at Shimla, Varanasi and Dera Dun.

Besides I am also the chairman of the local advisory committee of the Central School for Tibetan at Dolanji.

Already in 1987 I created and edited “sBön Sgo” (door to Bön), the only Bönpo magazine published in Tibetan language. The editorial staff has six members and will soon publish the 14th issue of the annual magazine.

In May 1996 I was assigned by H.H. the 33rd sMen-ri Trizin to set up the Mongyal monastery at Dera Dun in India. The land for the project had been donated by the Prince of Lingtsang and the Tibetan Kham Lingtsang society already in 1974. The project has been aimed at reestablishing the original Tibetan educational system.

Every year since 1991 I have travelled to the United States and various countries in Europe, for instance Austria, France, Germany, Poland and Switzerland, to spread the Teachings of Bön and raise funds for the Bon Children’s Home. Regularly I have returned to give Teachings at the Bön centres I have founded: Yeru Bön Centre in Los Angeles (USA), Shen Teng Ling in Minsk (BEL), Bön Shen Ling in Moscow (RU) and Shen Teng Ling Bön Centre in Vienna (A).

The motivation to spread the Bönpo religion not only to the Tibetans who had to flee their native country but also to other parts of the world and the love and care for “my” children give me the remarkable strength to take up so many different tasks like teaching, organizing, collecting funds, founding new schools, managing the Home, editing a magazine and travelling around the world and to go on with so many different projects.
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Re: Bönpo Masters

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Tashi delek,

TenGelek Geshela a Geshe from Menri Monastery / Dolanji / India - HP.
Geshela is famous for his excellent high quality webcam teachings. :twothumbsup:

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Education:

• Geshe Degree (Doctor of Philosophy), Tibetan Bön Academy of Philosophy, Menri Monastery, India, 1996
• Primary Education, Central School for Tibetan (CST), Dholanji, H.P. (India), 1982 Experience
• Chairman of the Tibetan Bön Academy of Philosophy, Menri Monastery.
• Chant master for 3 years at Menri Monastery.
• Teacher of Bön secret tantric tradition Dance for 6 years, Menri Monastery.
• Bön Lecturer, Central University for Tibetan Studies (CUTS), Varanasi, India, 1996-2009
The best meditation is no meditation
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Re: Bönpo Masters

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The best meditation is no meditation
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Re: Bönpo Masters

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Nyamme Sherab Gyaltsen Biography

Nyammed Sherab Gyaltsen, 1356-1415, (myam med shes rab rgyal mtshan) was born in the region of Gyalmorong (rgyal mo rong) a region in southeastern Amdo, in a Fire-Monkey year, 1356. His father, Lugyal (klu rgyal) of the Ra (bra) clan, was an expert in the 4 Causal Bön Teachings.

His mother, Rinchen Men (rin chen sman), was said to have all the signs of a kandroma. At the time of his birth, on the 15th of the second spring month, it is said that the sky was filled with rainbows, gods danced amidst clouds, producing rains of flowers while on earth fruits ripened before their usual season and birds offered the melodious songs as gifts to his birth.

He was a reincarnation of Yikyi Khye’u Chung, one of Buddha Tönpa Shenrap Miwoche’s sons.

Sherab Gyaltsen was a child of exceptional intelligence. At the age of ten he took novice vows from Chala Yungdrung Gyaltsen (phya bla g.yung drung rgyal mtshan) who gave him the name Sherab Gyaltsen. He then studied with numerous renowned masters in Dokham (mdo khams) and Nyarong (nyag rong).

Later in his early adult life, Sherab Gyaltsen met Rinchen Lodro (rin chen blo gros, d.u.) on the way to Tibet and became his disciple. He practiced with such zeal the teachings of his master that, when back in Kham, he is said to have had the meditative realization known as "samsara and nirvana having a single flavor."

Sherab Gyaltsen later made a second trip to Tibet during which he met the great Buddhist master Rongton Sheja Kunkhyen (rong ston shes bya kun mkhyen, 1367-1449), with whom he studied:

- Madhyamaka
- Prajnaparamita
- Vinaya
- Abhidharma
- Logic.

At the age of 31 , Sherab Gyaltsen went to the Bön monastery of Yeru Wensakha (g.yas ru dben sa kha) in Tsang, where he took monk vows from the abbot Tsultrim Yeshe (tshul khrims ye shes).
At Wensakha, he studied the Walpur (dbal phur) cycles [Walse Ngampa & Purba Drugse Chempa cycles] with Meton Kunzang Gyaltsen (me ston kun bzang rgyal mtshan).
During this initiation he reported seeing clearly Meton as the deity Tagla Membar (stag la me 'bar), and the teacher's wife and children as gods and goddesses.

Sherab Gyaltsen studied with numerous masters and his knowledge became so famous that 2 members of the Dru (bru) clan offered him the abbot throne of 2 monastic colleges in Yeru Wensakha. There, he spread the teachings through exposition, debate and composition of works.
During that time, he felt the need to return to his native place and meet his parents. On the way back to Kham, he received the terrible news that the Yeru Wensakha Monastery had been entirely destroyed by floods. Sherab Gyaltsen stayed some time in the East until, according to the later tradition, a prophecy uttered by Yeshe Walmo (ye shes dbal mo) to the effect that he would only obtain accomplishments in Tsang brought him back to Tibet.

In 1405, at the age of 50 , Sherab Gyaltsen founded the famed Tashi Menri (bkra shi sman ri) monastery on the slope of Mt Shari Powa (shar ri pho ba) in Tobgyal (thob rgyal). Upon reaching the site of the future monastery, Sherab Gyaltsen met two ascetics to whom he offered some tea. None of them had water to make tea, but tradition says that Sherab Gyaltsen struck the ground with his staff and caused a fountain of pure water to appear. Later, he asked his disciple Rinchen Gyaltsen (rin chen rgyal mtshan) to use small pebbles to delineate the basis of the monastery and the number of cells for the monks.

After the completion of the building, Sherab Gyaltsen had visions of the guardians of the teachings, such as:

- Walchen Gekho (dbal chen ge khod)
- Tsochog Trowo (gtso mchog khro bo), and others.

He also envisioned illustrious masters of the past, such as Tong Gyung Tuchen (stong rgyung mthu can) and Drenpa Namkha (dran pa nam mkha'). He then taught at Kharna (khar sna), as well as in numerous hermitages, teaching primarily meditative practices.

Numerous miraculous stories are told of Sherab Gyaltsen's life. Perhaps the best known is that of his hat. It is reported that as a proof of their spiritual accomplishments both Sherab Gyaltsen and Mugyal Nyima (dmu rgyal nyi ma) could fly in the sky. However, Sherab Gyaltsen flew so high in the atmosphere that his hat was burnt by the rays of the sun. As a display of more ordinary miracles, he was also said to be able to write on stones with his fingers or leave his footprints on rocks. [See Bön hats].

Sherab Gyaltsen's compositions were collected in 10 volumes. He wrote on:

- logic
- tantras
- outer, inner and secret practices
- monastic rules and discipline
- philosophical commentaries
- and other topics.

Among Sherab Gyaltsen's more famous disciples were:

- Gyaltsab Rinchen Gyaltsen (rgyal tshab rin chen rgyal mtshan), from the Tsang region of Tibet; Sonam Gyaltsen (bsod nams rgyal mtshan)
* from the Ngari (mnga' ris) region, Dardo Tsultrim Wangden (dar do tshul khrims dbang ldan) and Sonam Ozer (bsod nams 'od zer),
- from Kham; Yeshe Tsultrim (ye shes tshul khrims) and Rinchen Tsultrim (rin chen tshul khrims), from Gyalmorong.

At the age of 60 , Sherab Gyaltsen preached the teachings of the Oral Transmission of Zhangzhung (zhang zhung snyan rgyud) under a tent in Terchukha (gter chu kha). It is said that during the day, he taught his disciples and in the night he would teach the lu [serpent spirits] and other local deities.
Tradition has it that it was then, at dawn of the 8th day of the third summer month of the year 1415, that his mind dissolved into the absolute space (Bön dbyings) and for 3 whole days his body remained floating above the ground, amidst rainbows and rays of light. Prayers were recited and his body descended on the ground for the cremation.

According to the tradition, his disciples found in the ashes several small statues of:
- Kuntuzangpo (kun tu bzang po)
- Mawai Senge (smra ba'i seng ge), and other Bön deities, as well as seed-syllables (a, om and huM), and other relics.

Among the latter, three had large dimensions: two, meant for the gods, flew into the sky amidst sounds and rays. The third one was given to his most important disciple, Rinchen Gyaltsen.

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kalden yungdrung
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Re: Bönpo Masters

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Tashi delek,

Jean Huang is devoted to the Bön Sarma Kundrol Lineage.

====================

By; Jean Huang

HE Namkha Gyaltsen Rinpoche joined the Puja in Za Mongyal Yungdrung Ling in Tibet
He is the great Yogic Practioner of the Yungdrung Bön Kundrol Tradtion.

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Re: Bönpo Masters

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The best meditation is no meditation
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Re: Bönpo Masters

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By: Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche
Masters of Zhang Zhung



Shengyal Lhatse

Shengyal Lhatse was Tibetan, a contemporary of Lama Zurchen of the Nyingma tradition. They were good friends .

When he was 12 or 13 years old, his mother passed away and he had a very rough time because of his step-mother. He suffered for a long time and
finally became very angry. He couldn ' t bear to live at home any longer so he ran away and went looking for magic to destroy his stepmother.

As he wandered through Tibet, one day he saw some people playing dice and stopped to watch them. They gave him some food so he stayed there a while. They asked him where he was going but instead of replying he asked them if they knew of a powerful magician in that part of Tibet.

It was in the west of Central Tibet. The dice players told him about Pan Lhundrub Muthur, who had become very powerful and famous. The boy decided to go and see him but when the people heard of his plan they warned him to be careful because the Master had several extremely fierce dogs that could eat him up.

Undaunted, Shengyal Lhatse went to the Master' s place, following the directions he had been given by the dice players who had advised him
to go down to the river and wait for the Master' s wife to come and collect water. He went to the river and sure enough after a while the
Master' s wife came to get water there, so they met. She asked him many questions about where he was going and what he wanted but he
said he had heard that the Master was a very powerful Lama.

' Yes, ' replied the Master ' s wife.
' How can I see him?' he asked.
'Can you work ? '
' Yes, I can, ' said Shengyal Lhatse and promised t o help her.

So she took him home to work for her. When he came to her house the Master was not there, only his wife and some workers . The boy worked hard for several days without seeing Lhundrub Muthur, so finally he asked where the powerful Master was . ' Oh, he quite often goes to the mountains to meet his Master. He' ll be back soon ' , said his wife. The boy continued to work very hard. After a while the Master came down from the mountains and asked the boy what he wanted. He explained that he wanted to destroy his step-mother. The Master taught him some Tantric practices and he still continued to work very hard. When the Master went back to the mountains again, his own Master, Panchen Tsenpo, asked him:
'Do you have a boy who wants to learn black magic ? '

' Yes, that is true, a boy has come . '
' He is a suitable student for Dzogchen. Bring him t o me, ' said Ponchen Tsenpo.

So the next time Lhundrub Muthur wanted to go to the mountains again he told the boy that the Lama had said to fetch him, so they both went to see Ponchen Tsenpo who always moved from one place to another in the mountains . When the Master Pon Tsenpo met the boy, he asked him what he wanted. The boy replied that he was searching for some very powerful magic with which to destroy his step-mother. Ponchen Tsenpo said:
'Oh, it' s very easy to destroy her, not at all difficult. ' And he started to teach the boy how to practise Dzogchen.

The boy worked very hard, learning and practising, and finally he found the view of Dzogchen Nature . His Teacher asked him:
'Now what does your step-mother look like?'
'Oh, I have lost my step-mother ! ' replied the boy. ' There is no need to destroy her. '
'I destroy my enemies like this, ' 1 said his Teacher.

The boy didn ' t reply, he just practised Dzogchen continuously and didn ' t care about his step-mother any more.

Ponchen Tsenpo taught Shengyal Lhatse:
"The Natural State has no foundation, no root or source.

Don ' t give it any names. There is no need to recognize anything as existing externally so don ' t follow visions at all. Don ' t try to partition
this Nature as it has neither side nor segments . The view of Dharmakaya has no partiality, no vision, no names and it is not possible to establish a direction - this side, that side, my side, your side - there are no sides . This is the view of all the Buddhas . This view of Buddha-Nature cannot be improved by Buddha, nor can even the cleverest beings change it. It is impossible to point out anything material or visible in it; that is the view of the Buddhas .

This is the only Nature and nothing can show or describe it to you. This state is simply called Empty Nature. D on ' t grasp it by consciousness as
consciousness cannot know it, therefore don ' t give it any names . "

Lama Shengyal Lhatse spontaneously realized the meaning through his experience and he could neither alter nor show what he had experienced. He explained this to his Master and the Master said:

"That is called the Wisdom o f Self-Awareness. 1 No-one can practise better than this and no matter how much you practise, the Nature doesn ' t improve with practice, it simply becomes more stable for you. If you practise more, this state will always be the same, it will merely remain stable for longer. This Nature never grows better or worse, so there is no work for sems or consciousness . There is nothing special to see and consciousness liberates into Nature. Soon even this consciousness gradually disappears.

The Natural State simply appears temporarily, spontaneously, but if you follow these manifestations, you find no substance and no result. Therefore there is no need to do anything or use material things ; everything is Empty Form.

This Nature knows neither birth nor death. Death or birth, it doesn' t matter as the Nature will always be the same. This Natural State can be neither altered nor developed. Therefore, this Basic Nature shows nothing and that is the Great View of Dzogchen. Just remain in this view for as long as possible and try to stabilise it. That is meditation. Try to make what you practise stable. That is the only fruit; don ' t expect anything. Sometimes thoughts can appear spontaneously but don ' t try to follow them and they will disappear without trace.

If thoughts arise spontaneously there is no need to doubt or be frightened - they don ' t make any trouble. The state knows neither my side nor other' s side, neither friend nor enemy, so don ' t follow or check anything. N o matter what thoughts come up, leave them alone and they will disappear without trace.

Once they disappear, there is no need to check where they have gone or whether any trace is left. There is no need to verify or think. There is no
dualism of object/subject. Awareness has no support, it is only naked, clear presence; that is the Nature of Buddha."

He received this from his Master and the idea of his enemy step-mother liberated completely and became a friend.


Once Shengyal Lhatse had received the Teaching he was always practising in the mountains moving from place to place. One day a nomad was looking after sheep on the Targo range near Lake Dangra when he met a man with no shoes carrying only a bag with nothing but a skull cup inside it. His clothes were very poor. Very surprised that the man was roaming the mountains barefoot, the nomad asked him,

' Where are you from?'
'There is no certain place where I come from. '
'Where are you going? Where are you staying? '
' I have no place to g o and no place to stay . '

The nomad was very surprised and thought the man was probably a wonderful yogi-practitioner, so he offered him his food but the man
hardly took anything. Then the nomad offered him his shoes, saying, ' You have no shoes, you'd better have mine . '

' No, ' replied the strange man. ' I t is better i f you keep your own shoes. If I put your shoes on my feet, what shall I do when they wear out? You keep your shoes . 'So then the nomad said, ' I have a house. Come to my home. ''No, that ' s impossible. I ' m just like a wild animal, it' s not possible for me to come down to the village or somewhere else. '

This nomad had heard about the boy who had run away from home and gone in search of magic to destroy his step-mother and thinking he had found him, he caught the man, carried him home and kept him in his temple. In fact, the nomad was a rich man so he said to his captive,
'You stay here and I will feed you and give you all you need. '
'But I am a sick man, ' said the yogi, ' and you ' ll probably get sick, too. Let me go. '
'No, no ! ' replied the nomad. ' We want to keep you in my temple. You practise there, I don ' t want to let you out. '

So he fed him and let him practise in the temple. Meanwhile,there was a village meeting. The rich nomad went along and told the villagers that he had caught Panchen Tsenpo ' s pupil in the mountains, the boy who had escaped from home to look for magic. 'It is marvellous that I've found him, ' he said. ' I ' ll keep him and never let him out. '

So the nomad helped Shengyal Lhatse build a hermitage, and indeed, it is still there now in the Dangra area. Although it was destroyed, it has now been rebuilt as a small monastery and goes by its original name Yungdrung Lhatse after the hermit who practised in the cave.

This Master Shengyal Lhatse was a contemporary of Zurchen, a Nyingmapa. They were friends .

Shengyal Lhatse ' s pupil was Lhagom Karpo. He was very learned. He was about to complete his final religious education and needed to get some offerings for the ceremony, so he was carrying molasses with him on his horse to sell and exchange for butter, to celebrate his degree. On his way he stopped for the night somewhere, and while he was there he overheard people talking about a practitioner who lived in a nearby cave. As soon as he heard about him, Lhagom Karpo was overwhelmed by very strong devotion and broke into tears . He resolved to go and see that Master.

In the morning the people he was staying with woke him very early because they had to make a journey. When he asked them where they were going, they said they were planning to visit a very special yogi who lived in a cave not far from there. When he told them he wanted to go with
them, they warned him, saying, 'OK, but the Master might not accept you . '

' He has to, ' replied Lhagom Karpo. ' My devotion is very strong. 'So he loaded his bag onto his horse and they set off.

On seeing the yogi, he was filled with devotion and requested some initiation or other. The Master said that he should have a special initiation, so he put his hands on Lhagom ' s head for a while.

' Has your head grown hot from my hands ? ' asked the Master. 'Yes , ' confirmed his student. That was the initiation.
Lhagom stayed there with the Master and offered him his own horse. Shengyal Lhatse asked his assistant to bring the horse. ' Your master gave you to me and now you have to stay here, ' he s aid into the animal ' s ear. The horse never went far away.

Shengyal Lhatse taught Lhagom Karpo :
"If you look into the object, into all visions and visible things, you can ' t find anything which exists inherently or concretely so there is
absolutely nothing to meditate upon or practise. If you realize that there is nothing whatsoever which exists inherently, then you don ' t
need to hope o r doubt anything ; simply continue to abide clearly in the Nature.
There is no root, no base, no object, nothing that can be caught by consciousness .
There is nowhere this Nature can stay, you cannot point to where it is, there is nothing you can recognize, nothing.
There is neither hope of attaining some result nor disappointment if you don ' t see or know something.
There is just clear presence.

I have understood the Nature like that.
If you understand what I said and keep on practising, maybe you will have the experience," he said. "I think that is important."
The best meditation is no meditation
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