'Lopön Tenzin Namdak'
[1] () (born
1926) is
Bön religious leader.
Vajranatha, a scholar and initiated
Nyingmapa
ngagpas, has collaborated with the Lopön.
Birth, family & early education
Lopön Tenzin Namdak (Tib. ''slob dpon bstan 'dzin rnam dag'') (
1926 - ) born in Khyungpo Karu (''khyung po dkar ru'') in
Kham province of
Eastern Tibet to a family of famous artists. In
1933, at the age of seven he entered
Tingchen Monastery (''steng chen'') in the same district. In 1941 Lopön Rinpoche went to
Yungdrung Ling (''gyung drung gling''), then one of Central Tibet's two principal
Bönpo monasteries. At
Yungdrunk Ling, Lopön Rinpoche helped execute a series of wall paintings in a new
temple. In 1944 Lopön Rinpoche went on
pilgrimage to
Nepal including Solu-Khombu,
Pokhara, Mustang and
Kathmandu.
In 1945 at the age of nineteen Lopön Rinpoche returned to
Yungdrung Ling to commence studies in
philosophy (tsennyi; ''mtshan nyid''). During
1945 -
1950 Lopön Rinpoche lived principally a
hermetic existence cloistered with his
tutor and
master Gangru Rinpoche (sgang ru tshul khrims rgyal mtshan) with whom he studied
poetics (nyanga; ''snyan ngag''),
cosmology (dzopu; ''mdzod phug''),
grammer (da; ''sgra''), monastic discipline (dulwa; 'dul ba'') and the principal stages on the path to
enlightenment (salam; ''sa lam'').
Menri Monastery & awarded Geshi degree
Lopön Rinpoche, went to
Menri Monastery (''sman ri'', literally "the medicine mountain") in Tsang Province in
Central Tibet in 1950 where on the instruction of his
guru Gangru Rinpoche he commenced his studies toward the degree of
Geshe (''dge bshes'') (the Tibetan equivalent to a
Doctor of Philosophy) and achieved it in 1953 .
First professorship, retreat at Sezhig Monastery
Lopön Rinpoche became the professor or teaching master (''slob dpon'') at
Menri Monastery from
1953 -
1957. Lopön Rinpoche left Menri and this position in 1957 due to increasing conflicts between the indigenous Tibetans and the encroaching
Chinese Communists. In 1957 Lopön Rinpoche departed Menri and
Central Tibet for
Sezhig Monastery on the
Dangra Lake in northern Tsang where he remained in
retreat until 1960 .
Flight from the homeland: wounding, capture by the Chinese & escape to Nepal
Post
Lhasa uprising (March 10,
1959), many greatly esteemed
lamas of
Tibet, including the present
Dalai Lama and the
Gyalwa Karmapa along with numerous Tibetan refugees departed their
homeland to seek
refuge in
India and
Nepal.
Riding this
exodus, Lopön Rinpoche endeavoured to reach safety in
India in
1960, but was shot, wounded, and seized by Chinese soldiers and imprisoned for ten months by the Communist
Chinese. Lopön Rinpoche made good his escape via the small
principality of Mustang to the safety of
Nepal.
Kathmandu and the meeting of Tibetologist David Snellgrove
While in
Kathmandu in
1961, Lopön Rinpoche and the
English Tibetologist David Snellgrove became colleagues. David Snellgrove invited Lopön Rinpoche to
London where, through a
Rockefeller Foundation grant, he became a visiting
scholar at the
University of London. Lopön Rinpoche resided for a period at
Cambridge University. The collaboration with
David Snellgrove resulted in the publication of '''The Nine Ways of Bön''' which includes extracts translated from the esteemed '''Zhiji''' (''gzi brjid''): an extensive
hagiography of the
Buddha Tonpa Shenrab. This collaborative work was the first scholarly study of the
Bönpo tradition to be conducted in the
West. Lopön Rinpoche continued in
England for three years (
1961 -
1964). Lopön Rinpoche made a second visit to
Europe in 1969 at the invitation of professor
Helmut Hoffmann where he was a visiting scholar at
Munich University where he significantly contributed to compiling of the '''Tibetan-German-English Dictionary'''.
The building of the Tibetan Bönpo Foundation in Dolanji, Himachal Pradesh
Lopön Rinpoche undertook the task of raising funds and finding land in order to establish a
Bönpo settlement in
India. With the financial help of the
Catholic Relief Service, he purchased a piece of undeveloped forest land at
Dolanji, near
Solan in
Himachal Pradesh. In 1967 the settlement was formally established and registered with the
Indian Government under the name of the
Tibetan Bönpo Foundation. About seventy families transferred there from
Manali and each received a house and a small piece of land, the size depending on the number of people in the family in question. The
Tibetan Bönpo Foundation possessed its own consitution and administration, with the
Abbot of Menri acting as president. The new settlement at
Dolanji was named
Thobgyal Sarpa (''thob rgyal gsar pa'') after the village
Thobgyal in Tsang Provence which was located near
Menri Monastery. Most of the Tibetans in the new settlement came from the
Mount Kailash region and Upper Tsang in the west, and from Hor, Kongpo, Derge,
Amdo and Gyarung in the east of
Tibet.
Spiritual leader of the Bönpo community in exile
After the death of the abbot of
Menri in
1963,
Sherab Lodro, the abbot of of
Yungdrung Ling became the spiritual head of the
Bönpo community in exile.
Sherab Lodro came to
Dolanji with a band of monks who founded a new monastic community. An intimate
prayer chapel and a few small houses were built. In 1969 the successor to the abbot of Menri was established by lot and the office fell to
Lungtog Tenpai Nyima Rinpoche (''lung rtogs bstan pa'i nyi ma rin po che''), who was installed as the thirty-third abbot of Menri.
Following the death of
Yungdrung Ling abbot,
Sangye Tenzin assumed the spiritual leadership of the
Bönpos in exile. More houses were established, along with a library and abbot's residence (labrang; ''bla brang''). Monastic life was structured around the
ordinances of the
Vinaya (dulwa; 'dul ba''). The foundation for the principal
temple was inaugurated in 1969 and completed in 1978 and named
Pal Shentan Menri Ling (''dpal gshen bstan sman ri'i gling''). The whole
complex was styled the
Bönpo Monastic Centre and formed part of the
Tibetan Bönpo Foundation.
From
1970 -
1979 Lopön Rinpoche continued writing and teaching whilst in residence at the
Bönpo Monastic Centre. Concurrently, Lopön Rinpoche was engaged in
New Delhi with the publishing of a large number of significant
Bönpo texts. From
1967, when the first monks came to
Dolanji, teaching had been done by
Lopön Sangye Tenzin (former head teaching master at Menri) and assisted by Lopön Tenzin Namdak, who became his successor.
Yungdrung Bön Shedrup Lobnyer Dude: Lamas college at Dolanji
When
Sangye Tenzin died in
1968, Lopön Tenzin Namdak was assigned the full responsibility for the education of the younger generation of monks. By 1978 a sufficient number of
Bönpo texts had been published so that classes could be organized around them in a
curriculum. Thus a
lama's college (shedrup; ''bshad sgrub'') was established in
1978, organized under the guidance of Lopön Rinpoche who served as one of the two professors at the college. The official name of the college is
Yungdrung Bön Shedrup Lobnyer Dude (''gyung drung bon bshad sgrub slob gnyer 'dud sde'').
The purpose of the new lama's college at Dolanji was to preseve the tradition of philosophy established and developed at
Yeru Wensaka (''gyas ru dben sa kha''), where philosophical analysis and
logic were applied to the understanding of '''Do Nga Semsum''' (''mdo sngags sems gsum''), that is, to the teachings of the
Sutras, the
Tantras and
Dzogchen. Unlike the
Nyingmapa tradition, the
Bönpos developed a system of
logic and
debate specifically relating to the
Dzogchen teaching., At
Menri in
Tibet, the monks studied the five scripture systems (Dozhung Nga; ''mdo gzhung lnga'') in the philosophy college, but all instruction in
Tantra and
Dzogchen was done in private. The five scriptures, actually five collection of texts, are:
★ 1 '''Tsema''' (''tshad ma'') -
Pramana or
logic;
★ 2 '''Parchin''' (''phar phyin'') -
Prajnaparamita or the
Perfection of Wisdom Sutras;
★ 3 '''Uma''' (''dbu ma'') -
Madhyamaka philosophy;
★ 4 '''Dzopu''' (''mdzod phug'') -
Abhidharma or
cosmology;
★ 5 '''Dulwa''' ('dul ba'') -
Vinaya or
monastic discipline.
However, at the revived
Menri at
Dolanji, students also study
Tantra and
Dzogchen in the college, as well as the above five scriptural systems which pertain to
Sutra. Also included
curriculum are the
secular sciences ('''rignai'''; ''rig gnas''), such as
grammar,
poetics,
astrology, and so on. The college has a nine-year term of studies which prepare the student for degree of
Geshe. The first group of young monks graduated in 1986 .
Another
Bönpo monastery and college has been established under the direction of Lopön Tenzin Namdak in
Nepal. Known as
Triten Norbutse (''khri brtan nor bu rtse''), it is located near the auspicious
Swayambhu, west of
Kathmandu.
Third trip to The West
In
1989, Lopön Tenzin Namdak made his third visit to the
West, this time to
England,
America and
Italy, at the invitation of the
International Dzogchen Community of
Chögyal Namkai Norbu Rinpoche in those countries. During the course of six months Lopön Rinpoche presented to interested Western students the
Dzogchen teaching according to the Bönpo traditions of the Atri (''a khrid'') and the Zhang Zhung Nyengyu (''shang zhung snyan rgyud'').
Also, in the beginning of
1991, he visited
Germany,
England,
Holland and
Italy. During his visit to these countries he gave
discourses and teaching on various
meditation systems and fields of study of the
Bön tradition. Later that year he was invited by His Holiness the
Dalai Lama to represent the
Bön tradition at the
Kalachakra Initiation in
New York. In this way, Lopön Rinpoche has been spreading the
Bönpo teachings in many countries. His permanent residencies are in
Kathmandu (
Nepal) and
Dolanji (
India).
Notes
1. Lopön is a title that may be rendered in English as 'Great Teacher'.
References
★ Lopön Tenzin Namdak and Dixey, Richard (2002). ''Heart Drops of Dharmakaya: Dzogchen Practice of the Bön Tradition''. Snow Lion Publications. ISBN : 1559391723
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