Bodhisattvacharyavatara

by Andreas Kretschmar | 246,740 words

The English translation of the Bodhisattvacharyavatara (“entering the conduct of the bodhisattvas”), a Sanskrit text with Tibetan commentary. This book explains the bodhisattva concept and gives guidance to the Buddhist practitioner following the Mahāyāna path towards the attainment of enlightenment. The text was written in Sanskrit by Shantideva ...

Life Story Of Dzongsar Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk

The Life Story of Dzongsar Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk[1]

Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk[2] was born in 1921 in the state of Derge in East Tibet,[3] in the Jonda district,[4] in the village of Renda.[5] At the age of twelve his parents taught him to read and write. Until reaching eighteen, he worked on his parent’s farm. In 1938 he took monk ordination at Dosib Monastery,[6] belonging to the Ngor lineage of the Sakya school. His uncle, Khenchen Dosib Thubten Gyaltsen,[7] was the head of Dosib Monastery. From Dosib Khenpo Dzepa Lekshe[8] he received the precepts of an ordained monk.[9] When Khenchen Dosib Thubten Gyaltsen founded a shedra at Dosib Monastery, Kunga Wangchuk was able to join the teachings. In the shedra the first teaching he received was an extensive explanation[10] on the Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra, which was given by his uncle.

In 1939 Kunga Wangchuk went on a one-year pilgrimage to Lhasa and Central Tibet. At Ngor Monastery he received the precepts of full monk ordination[11] from Ngor Khenchen Jampa Namkha Kunzang Tenpe Gyaltsen,[12] from whom he received the ordination name Kunga Wangchuk. Returning first to Dosib Monastery, at the age of twenty-two, Kunga Wangchuk joined the shedra at Öntö Monastery[13] in order to study with Öntö Khyenrab Chökyi Özer.[14]

At 1943, Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodro requested Khenchen Dosib Thubten Gyaltsen to teach as the main khenpo[15] at Dzongsar Shedra. Kunga Wangchuk accompanied his uncle as a servant. This was the first time Kunga Wangchuk met Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodro.[16]

From this great master he received many teachings, including a commentary on Śāntideva’s Śikṣā-samuccaya.[17] Khenchen Dosib Thubten Gyaltsen taught for eight years at Dzongsar Shedra and Kunga Wangchuk was able to join the teachings for the entire period. He studied the ‘six great collections’,[18] the ‘thirteen great textbooks of Indian origin’,[19] ‘the eighteen famous textbooks’.[20] During these eight years Kunga Wangchuk became Khenchen Dosib Thubten Gyaltsen’s ‘assistant teacher’.[21]

He later said that the pressure to prepare for the teaching sessions as an assistant teacher was so great that he had to study for most of the night and hardly found time to sleep during these years.

Later, Kunga Wangchuk received many teachings on sūtra and tantra from Dezhung Tulku Ajam Rinpoche,[22] also known as Dezhung Tulku Jamyang Kunga Tenpe Gyaltshen[23] (1885-1952). In addition, Yena Chöphel Rabgye[24] gave him many teachings on sūtra and tantra. In total, Kunga Wangchuk studied for over ten years with Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodro and his uncle Khenchen Dosib Thubten Gyaltsen.

At the age of thirty-one, in 1951, Kunga Wangchuk returned to Dosib Monastery on his uncle’s instructions and became the main khenpo there, teaching about twenty students. In 1956,[25] he started a shedra at Vara Monastery[26] in Derge with twenty students. He taught at Vara Monastery until 1959, when due to the Chinese invasion of Tibet it became impossible to teach the dharma any longer. Khenchen Kunga Wangchuk was imprisoned from 1962 until 1980. After being released, he stayed with relatives in Derge for one year.

During this time, Khenchen Kunga Wangchuk received three letters from the third Dzongsar Khyentse Thubten Chökyi Gyamtso inviting him to India. After a long seven-month journey Khenchen Kunga Wangchuk arrived in Sikkim at the age of 62. Following an extensive pilgrimage in Nepal and India, on the request of the third Dzongsar Khyentse, he started the Dzongsar Shedra in 1983 in West Sikkim, at the holy site of Dechen Ling.[27] At first, the shedra only had seven students, one of whom was the third Dzongsar Khyentse. The Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra was the very first teaching given. The entire curriculum was modeled after the Dzongsar Shedra in East Tibet. In 1985 the Dzongsar Shedra moved from Sikkim to Bir, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, North India. Over 70 monks joined the new shedra. By 2003 the number of students had grown to 450.

Khenchen Kunga Wangchuk himself taught until he reached the age of 73. He always taught ‘thirteen great textbooks of Indian origin’ based on Khenpo Zhenga’s annotation commentaries. While teaching at Bir he wrote additional annotation commentaries to Khenpo Zhenga’s annotation commentaries. In 1997, on a visit to Taiwan, Khenchen Kunga Wangchuk wrote a commentary on the ninth chapter of the Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra.

Throughout his lifetime Khenchen Kunga Wangchug taught the Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra sixteen times. The explanation lineage that he received is as follows: At Dosib Monastery[28] as well as at the Dzongsar Shedra he received teachings on the Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra from his uncle, Khenchen Dosib Thubten Gyaltsen,[29] based on Khenpo Zhenga’s annotation commentary. His uncle had received this teaching from Dzogchen Khenpo Apal[30] and from Khenpo Zhenga himself.[31]

In addition, Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodro, Khenchen Kunga Wangchuk received the reading transmission interspersed with a commentary[32] on Khenpo Kunpal’s commentary to the Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra. Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodro had received the transmission of the text directly from Khenpo Kunpal.[33]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk always refers to himself as Dosib Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk [mdo srib mkhan po kun dga’ dbang phyug].

[2]:

kun dga’ dbang phyug

[3]:

khams sde dge mnga’ khul

[4]:

’jo mda’ rdzong

[5]:

re mda’

[6]:

mdo srib dgon

[7]:

mdo srib thub bstan rgyal mtshan

[8]:

mdo srib mkhan po mdzad pa legs bshad

[9]:

dge tshul sdom pa

[10]:

bshad khrid

[11]:

dge slong sdom

[12]:

ngor mkhan chen byams pa nam mkha’ kun bzang bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan

[13]:

dbon stod dgon pa’i bshad grva

[14]:

dbon stod mkhyen rab chos kyi ’od zer

[15]:

las thog mkhan po

[16]:

rdzong gsar mkhyen brtse chos kyi blo gros

[17]:

bslab btus

[18]:

According to the Sakya school, the ‘six great collections’ [pod chen drug] of texts are: 1) the texts on vinaya [’dul ba], 2) the texts on Abhidharma [mngon pa], 3) the texts of Madhyamaka [dbu ma], 4) the texts on Prajñāpāramitā [sher phyin], which here refers to the five teachings of Maitreya [byams chos sde lnga], 5) the texts on valid cognition [tshad ma; skr. pramāṇa] and 6) the texts on the three sets of precepts [sdom gsum].

[19]:

The ‘thirteen great textbooks of Indian origin’ [gzhung chen bcu gsum] are: 1) Prātimokṣasūtra [so sor thar pa’i mdo], 2) Vinaya-sūtra [‘dul ba mdo rtsa ba], 3) Prajñā-madhyamaka-mūla [dbu ma rtsa ba shes rab], 4) Madhyamakāvatāra [dbu ma la ’jug pa], 5) Catuḥśataka-śāstra [bstan bcos bzhi brgya pa / dbu ma bzhi brgya pa], 6) Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra [spyod ’jug], 7) Sūtrālaṃkāra [mdo sde rgyan], 8) Abhisamayālaṃkāra [mngon rtogs rgyan], 9) Madhyāntavibhaṇga [dbus mtha’ rnam ’byed], 10) Dharma-dharmatā-vibhaṇga [chos dang chos nyid rnam ’byed], 11) Uttara-tantra [rgyud bla ma], 12) Abhidharma-koṣa [chos mngon pa’i mdzod], and 13) Abhidharma-samuccaya [chos mngon pa kun las btus pa]. See The Thirteen Great Treatises.

[20]:

The ‘eighteen famous textbooks’ [grags chen bco brgyad] of the Sakya tradition are: 1) Sūtrālaṃkāra [mdo sde rgyan], 2) Abhisamayālaṃkāra [mngon rtogs rgyan], 3) Madhyāntavibhaṇga [dbus mtha’ rnam ’byed], 4) Dharma-dharmatā-vibhaṇga [chos dang chos nyid rnam ’byed], 5) Uttara-tantra [rgyud bla ma], 6) Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra [spyod ’jug], 7) Pramāṇasammuccaya [tshad ma kun btus], 8) Pramāṇa-vārttika [tshad ma rnam ’grel], 9) Pramāṇavimiścaya [tshad ma rnam nges], 10) Prātimokṣa-sūtra [so sor thar pa’i mdo], 11) Vinaya-sūtra [‘dul ba mdo rtsa ba], 12) Abhidharma-samuccaya [chos mngon pa kun las btus pa], 13) Abhidharma-koṣa [chos mngon pa’i mdzod], 14) Prajñā-madhyamaka-mūla [dbu ma rtsa ba shes rab], 15) Madhyamakāvatāra [dbu ma la ’jug pa], 16) Catuḥśataka-śāstra [bstan bcos bzhi brgya pa / dbu ma bzhi brgya pa], 17) ‘The Treasury of Valid Cognition’ [tshad ma rigs gter] and 18) ‘The Classification of the Three Sets of Precepts’ [sdom gsum rab dbye].

[21]:

skyor dpon

[22]:

sde gzhung sprul sku a ’jam rin po che.

[23]:

sde bzhung sprul sku ’jam dbyangs kun dga’ bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan.

[24]:

ye na chos ’phel rab rgyas

[25]:

me sprel lo

[26]:

va ra dgon pa

[27]:

bde chen gling

[28]:

mdo srib dgon pa

[29]:

mdo srib thub bstan rgyal mtshan

[30]:

Dzogchen Khenpo Apal [rdzogs chen mkhan po a dpal] was a direct student of Khenpo Zhenga.

[31]:

Khenpo Zhenga [gzhan dga’] received the teachings on the Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra from Ön Urgyen Tendzin Norbu [dbon u rgyan bstan ’dzin nor bu], who was a cousin [tsha bo] of Gyalse Zhenphen Thaye. Ön Urgyen Tendzin Norbu had received extensive teachings on the ‘thirteen great textbooks of Indian origin’ [gzhung chen bcu gsum] both from Paltrül Rinpoche and from Gyalse Zhenphen Thaye. Ön Urgyen Tendzin Norbu taught all ‘thirteen great textbooks of Indian origin’ [gzhung chen bcu gsum] to his main lineage-holder, Khenpo Zhenga. Khenpo Zhenga is also reported to have received many teachings on textbooks, including the Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra, from Loter Wangpo [blo gter dbang po], who in turn had received his transmission from Tanak Khenpo Thubten Senge Rabgye [rta nag mkhan po thub bstan seng ge rab rgyas], a famous khenpo at Gorampa’s monastery ‘Thubten Namgyal Ling’ [thub bstan rnam rgyal gling].

[32]:

khrid lung

[33]:

Dzongsar Khenpo Khyenrab Wangchuk [rdzong gsar mkhan po mkhyen rab dbang phyug] received the reading instruction interspersed with teachings [khrid lung] on Khenpo Kunpal’s commentary on the Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra from Khenchen Kunga Wangchuk. In addition, throughout his twelve years of study at Dzongsar Shedra in Bir, Khenpo Khyenrab Wangchuk on three occasions received extensive commentaries from Khenchen Kunga Wangchuk on Khenpo Zhenga’s annotation commentary to the Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra.

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