Chapter 1 - Shri System (ix): Snag phu pa bsod nams dbang phyug

The latter was born at mus dang ma gling skya. At the age of 5, he became an upāsaka and studied reading and writing. At the age of 11, he was ordained in the presence of the maha upādhyāya shakya mgon and the ācārya 'od zer rtse mo.

At the age of 13, he studied the Vinaya sutra (of Gunnaprabha) at ldog long with the maha upādhyāya kun rgyal, and the assistant preacher zhang stop ‘gyur med dpal.

In the presence of mus chen pa he studied the Five Treatises of Maitreya. From the ācārya byang seng (he obtained) the (Pramānnavinisscaya). From the ācārya shes rab ral gri the Pramānnavartika and the Bodhisattva bhuumi (sa sde). He also made a round of monastic colleges for the purpose of conducting philosophical debates. Once in a dream a woman told him: You will not live more than seven days! The maha upadhaya chu bzangs pa said to him: Fasting is the best of the life preserving ceremonies! Accordingly he fasted and his life was prolonged.

He received final monastic ordination from the maha upādhyāya chu bzags pa and obtained many bka’ gdams pa doctrines at mus gle lung. He occupied the abbot’s chair of gro mo che for five years.

From the Dharmasvamin nyan chen pa he obtained the Path and Fruit (lam ‘bras) doctrine and the Cycle of the Doctrines of dam pa (sangs rgyas). From the ācārya grags tshul he obtained many sādhanas of the mandalas belonging to the Outer and Inner Tantras.^[1]

For three years he observed a fast during the month of Vaisakha. After that his supporters built the monastery of snyag phu and presented it to him.

He considered the following to be his root teachers^[2] : nyang chen pa, chu bzangs pa, mus chen pa, and rgyal mtshan dpal. Further, he was the disciple of 42 teachers.

Wishing to spread the deeds of Avalokiteśvara, he resolved to observe 10,000 fasts.^[3] After finishing the 2000th fast, (he found) that all his means had become exhausted. But then following an auspicious dream, his means again increased. He completed his fast within three years. He also spread the practice of fasting. Numerous other persons saw him as Avalokiteśvara in their visions.

He passed away at the age of 68 in the Hog year (phag lo 1371 A.D.?). His disciple was the Precious maha upādhyāya bsod nams bzang po. The facts about his parents, his ordination and final monastic ordination, their dates, his pecuniary situation in his youth, are to be known from other sources.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

phyi, or outer means the three classes of Tantras; nang, or inner means the Anuttara class

[2]:

mūla guru, rtsa ba'i bla ma; muula guru means the personal Teacher of a disciple;rgyud pa'i bla ma means the Teachers of the Spiritual Lineage to which the disciple belongs. Muula guru is also used to designate the chief Teacher of a disciple/gtso bo bla ma/ {R}

[3]:

this seems to mean that he paid people to make them observe fasts {R}