Tertön Pegyal Lingpa
(gter ston pad rgyal gling pa, 1924 -1988)
This great photo of the Tertön shows him at a young age, wearing the hair bound up into a topknot with a silvery reliquiary container containing his treasures written in dakini script. This pic containsmore details as others extracted from this one.
According to HH Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdral Yeshe Dorje the Great Tertön Pegyal Lingpa (gter ston pad rgyal gling pa, 1924 -1988) was born 1924, the wood-rat year of the 15th Rabjung Tibetan cycle, in Golok Serta, of Eastern Tibet or Dhokham among the clan of Chok tsang of Mukpo clan. His father was Pema Jigmed and his mother Sherab Tshomo under auspicious signs. He was recognized as an incarnation of Guru Padmasambhava and Nupchen Sangye Yeshe. Pegyal Lingpa was trained in Tibet.
It was prophesied by Padmasambhava: “The final birth of Great Nubchen, the master of the treasure, will appear with the name of lotus, for the glory of sentient beings.” So at the time of the rapid occurrence of the five degenerations, Nubchen, according to the prophecy, compassionately emanated as the great treasure discoverer Tertön Padgyal Lingpa, who was blessed by the origin of his emanation, which is Nubchen himself in body, speech and mind, making him inseparable. Moreover, he also received the pure vision from Guru Padmasambhava and many other wisdom deities, who prophesied that Pegyal Lingpa will discover the treasured doctrines from various natural locations such as underground, lakes, and the sky, benefitting countless disciples resulting in their liberation by his sublime action in the process.
Although Pegyal Lingpa was trained in Tibet he had to leave Tibet with the Tiebaten diaspora and lived for some time in Pemakö, India, and later, he settled and lived mainly in Bhutan, where most of his students gathered around him. Actually, he lived a very simple and poor life of a yogic practitioner or naldjorpa (rnal ‘byor pa) with neither having any personal possessions nor great following. In Bhutan he lived a simple and secluded life as Chöd practitioner (chod pa) and Tummo practitioner or repa (ras pa) before he stayed with two secret consorts. However, these relations did not last for a long time as the living conditions were very difficult to uphold a real family life. After his first wife passed away he stayed with another lady for three years. Finally, from his third wife Sangyum Tsewang Zangmo (gsang yum tshe dbang bzang mo); one son Tertrul (gter sprul) and two daughters were born Yangden Lhamo (yang ldan lha mo) Dawa Dema (lda ba bde ma) in Karma Yangtse, Buthan. The mother passed away at age 39 when the children were quite young. As Rinpoche practiced the inner yogas of tummo (gtum mo) and chülen (bcud len) he could maintain his simple life. As an external sign he wore a white skirt or shamthab indicating his mastery over the practice of inner heat according tot he repa tradition (ras pa) oft he cotton clad yogic practitioners.
He revealed both sater (sa gter) and gongter (dgongs gter). Most of Pegyal Lingpa’s gongter were revealed in Tibet, and so almost all of these texts were lost during the political events in the 1960’s.
One of the most important terma of Pegyal Lingpa is known as the Cycle of Kusum Gongdü or the ‘Union of Enlightened Intent or Enlightend Mind of the Three Kayas’, was revealed by Pegyal Lingpa in Pemakö in 1960. The inner sadhana of this cycle is the Pema Sangwa’i Thigle aka Red Vajrasattva practice, which is widely practiced as a drubchen within the sangha of Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche.
གཏེར་ཆེན་པད་རྒྱལ་གླིང་པའི་གདུང་སྲས་གཏེར་སྤྲུལ་འཇིགས་མེད་བསོད་ནམས།།
Terchen Pegyal Lingpa’i Terse, Tertrul Jigme Sönam (1981).
Terchen Pegyal Lingpa’i Terse aka Tertrul Jigme Sönam, the Meritorious and Fearless Emanation, Son of the Treasure Finder Pegyal Lingpa, was born at full moon in 1981 December 21st, the fifteenth day of the tenth Bhutanese month, at Jamkhar, a place colloquially known as Chörten Gonpa Golom Zorn, the last residence (gdan sa) of Tertön Pegyal Lingpa. His father was the famous Tertchen Pegyal Lingpa (1924 -1988) aka Drudul Pegyal Lingpa, and his mother was Sangyum Tsewang Zangmo, the Secret Consort, Precious Lady with the Power of Longevity. Pegyal Lingpa gave him the name Tsewang Jamtsho, the Gentle Lake with the Power of Longevity. Thus, Tertrul is the son and actual clan holder of his father’s bone lineage originating from the ancient Tibetan Mugpo clan, and will become the holder of the new treasure teachings of “The Union of the Enlightened Intent of the Three Bodies or Kusum Gongdü” in the Land of the Dragon. At age three (1984), when Tertön Pegyal Lingpa practiced at the sacred place of Senge Dzong, the Lion’s Fortress, where Guru Padmasambhava and Khandro Yeshe Tsogyal attained the realization of Vakrakilaya, and where Tertön Pegyal Lingpa discovered his famous Mind Treasure or Gongter known as “The Union of the Enlightened Intent of the Three Bodies or Kusum Gongdü”. Tertrul attracted a serious illness so that his mother had to send a note to his father asking for his advice. In response, Tertön Pegyal Lingpa asked that his son should be immediately brought to him. Therefore, from around the age of three years Tertrul lived with his father at Senghe Dzong, where he completely recovered his health. Not long after the son’s arrival, the Fourth Dodrupchen Rinpoche, Thubten Trinle Pal Zangpo, came to make a pilgrimage and circumambulation of the sacred place or Nekhor of the Lion’s Fortress and met the young emanation. He recognized him as the incarnation of Khorlo Rinpoche and requested Tertön Pegyal Lingpa to give him his son, in order to train him at his monastic seat. Instead, the Tertön promised him to take good care for his son’s education and spiritual training. At the end of Tertön Pegyal Lingpa’s three year retreat at the Lion’s Fortress Tertrul took part of the first Drubchen of the Kusum Gongdü, that ever happened in the history of this new treasure teaching. A little later, when Dodrubchen Rinpoche gave the transmission of The Great Treasury of the Precious Treasure Teachings or Rinchen Terdzö Chenmo at Gelephu, Bhutan, Tertrul received it together with his father Tertön Pegyal Lingpa. At that time Dodrubchen Rinpoche bestowed upon him the name Tertrul Jigme Sönam, together with the novice vows. From then onwards he was trained by Khenpo Trekchö at Dodrubchen’s Chörten Gonpa Monastery in Sikkim. In 1988, Tertön Pegyal Lingpa looked after him and his training at the monastery. Just after having returned back to eastern Bhutan his father unexpectedly passed away. Not long after this tragic event also his mother passed away and Tertrul was left as an orphan boy. Thus, with no parents and sustenance his life turned out to very difficult, as even an envisioned meeting with the descendents of his previous incarnation, Khorlo Rinpoche, finally failed. Then, according to the advice of the Sixth Gochen Tulku Sangngag Rinpoche, Tertrul began his studies at the college or Shedra of the Ngaggyur Tholop Thekgu’i Leksheyling. After having finished his monastic education Tertrul requested from the Sixth Gochen Tulku Sanggnag Rinpoche the complete empowerment and transmission of his father’s treasure teaching, The Union of the Enlightened Intent of the Three Bodies or Kusum Gongdü, and practiced it at various places, such as the cave of Jitsi Phu at Paro, the previous residence of Tertön Pegyal Lingpa. After having finished the particular Preliminary practices or Ngondro of Kusum Gongdu he practiced with lama Karma at Chumbu in Paro with Trulku Sangnga Rinpoche. Moreover he practiced at Draygyi Pangtso, Sangtsam Chorten in Paro and at the scared place of Tandin Ne, Thimphu, as well as at most remote place of Shingkhar Lauri at Samdrupjongkhar. On his way from Lungtan Zampa, the bridge of prophency, at Thimphu, which goes back to the 13th century master Phajo Drukgom Zhipo (1184—1251), to Paro Tasktsang, he proceed by making full body prostrations. After this he successfully completed three years retreat (Lo sum chok sum) under the renouned Drupla Lama Ngawang Dorji Rinpoche.