The Khön family lineage, to which His
Holiness Sakya Trizin belongs, has a long history
extending back to pre-Buddhist Tibet, when they
were instrumental in the dissemination of Bön.
This great lineage traces its descent back to
the earliest times when three "Gods of
the Realm of Clear Light" (brothers) descended
from the heavens to the land which was later
to be known as Tibet. The five generations from
Yuring, the second of these brothers, to Yapang
Kye are referred to as The Divine Line of Clear
Light. After engaging in a war with the Rakshas,
Yapang Kye married a Raksha princess Yadruk
Silima who bore him a son named Khon Bar Kye,
meaning "he who is born amid strife".
For reason of this ancestral history their descendants
came variously to be known as "Lharig",
meaning "The Celestial Race"; or as
"Khon gyi dung", meaning "The
Family of Conquerors". And for reason that
they were, in a later epoch, instrumental in
establishing the Sakya Order (of Tibetan Buddhism),
they are also known as the Sakyapa Lineage.
The son of Khön Bar Kye, named Khön
Palpoche, was an influential minister of the
Tibetan King Tri-song De-tsen in the eighth
century. Another Khön, Luyi Wangpo, was
one of the first seven Tibetans to receive ordination
from the abbot Shantarakshita, a vinaya lineage
which has survived within the Nyingma tradition
until now. Khön Luyi Wangpo, together with
Dorje Rinchen (a grandson of Khön Palpoche)
were both disciples of the great master Padmasambhava,
and for this reason the lineage of the meditational
deity Vajrakilaya continues within the Sakya
tradition to the present time.
Following the persecution of
Buddhism by the Tibetan King Langdarma, Atisha,
a Pandita from Bengal, travelled to Tibet by invitation
in the year 1042 after having consulted the goddess
Tara. While on his journey he stopped in an empty
valley and prostrated many times, experiencing
a vision of the syllable Hri, seven Dhi Syllables,
and the syllable Hum on the side of the mountain.
He prophesied the future existence of Sakya Monastery
at this place, and that it would witness one incarnation
of Avalokiteshvara, seven of Manjushri, and one
of Vajrapani. It was another member of the Khön
lineage, Könchog Gyalpo who in the year 1073
founded the Sakya Monastery here in Upper Tibet
(known in Tibetan as "Toe"). The monastery
was so named on account of the pale tawny colour
of the upper landscape at that particular spot.
Könchog Gyalpo was thus the first "Sakya
Trizin" (Throne-holder of Sakya).
It was the latter's illustrious
son Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1102-1158) who inherited
the precious Lam Dre (Path and Fruit) teachings
from the siddha Zhangton Chobar, since when this
core system of sutric and tantric instruction
has been handed down through successive generations
of gurus within the Sakya Order to modern times.
A number of important Masters in the Lam Dre lineage
have also been members of the Khön family.
A grandson of Sachen Kunga Nyingpo,
named Kunga Gyaltsen Pal Zangpo ("Sakya Pandita":1182-1251)
became one of the most outstanding spiritual teachers
in the whole history of Tibet, and it was he who
became guru to Godan Khan, the Mongol ruler of
China at that time. His nephew Chogyal Phakpa
in turn became "chaplain" to the court
of Kublai Khan, Godan's successor.
Thus Chogyal Phakpa, another
member of the Khön lineage and an outstanding
figure in the Lam Dre lineage besides, became
effective ruler of Tibet. The Sakya Trizins governed
Tibet in this manner as "tishris" for
nearly 100 years. It was the Yuan Dynasty (Kublai
Khan and his successors) who conferred on them
the title of "Sakya Gongma".
As time went on the Sakya dynasty
divided into several dynastic "palaces"
known as phodrangs. Though there were initially
four such phodrangs, in more recent centuries
there have been two only: the Drolma Phodrang
(so named because this palace was built next to
the Turquoise Tara Shrine at Sakya Monastery),
and the Phuntsok Phodrang.
His Holiness (the present Sakya
Trizin) was born into the Drolma Phodrang
in the sixteenth "rabjong" (sixty-year
cycle) on the first day of the eighth month of
the Wood- Bird year (7th september 1945). His
parents were Vajradhara Ngawang Kunga Rinchen,
the previous head of the Sakya Drolma Phodrang,
and Sonam Drolkar, the sister of a renowned minister
of the Tibetan Government. They had four children,
the eldest of which was a daughter, Jetsun Kusho
Chime Luding, an accomplished practitioner who
now lives and teaches in Canada. Two further children
died in infancy before the birth of His Holiness
in the Sakya Palace at Tsedong. It is related
by those who were present that a number of auspicious
signs accompanied his coming. and that an aura
of rainbow light enveloped the place where he
lay. The letter DHIH (the seed syllable of Manjusri,
the Bodhisattva of Primordial Wisdom) was traced
upon his tongue, and the milk of one hundred dri
(female yak) offered to the palace; also an image
of Guru Padmasambhava.
His childhood name was Ayu Vajra.
Then on the occasion of his first initiation (that
of the nine-deity mandala of Amitayus), bestowed
on him by his father, he was given his full name
of Ngawang Kunga Thegchen Palbar Trinley Samphel
Wangi Gyalpo.
He passed the first year of his
life with his parents at Tsedong before he and
his family returned to Sakya for extensive celebrations
of the anniversary of his birth. Here at Sakya
Monastery he was given the major initiation of
Vajrakilaya and other profound transmissions by
his father.
He lost both of his parents at
a very early age and was subsequently cared for
by his maternal aunt, Trinley Paljor Zangmo. The
latter was herself an outstanding practitioner
who from then onwards took a key role in his upbringing.
It was she who appointed his first tutor, Genphel
Ponlop Kunga Gyaltsen, to teach him the fundamentals
of reading, writing and liturgy, and it was she
also who arranged his later escape from Tibet.
From his junior tutor Kunga Tsewang he additionally
learned the ritual of the Sakya heritage, including
such subjects as chanting, music, ritual dancing
and mudra. On completion of these studies a great
celebration was held, in which His Holiness officially
entered the Mahayana and Vajrayana Monasteries
of Sakya to perform the traditional ceremonies.
One of his early childhood responsibilities
was to preside over the annual Vajrakilaya puja
at Sakya, which he was required to recite in full:
an all-day event.
Then at the age of five he went
to the monastery of Ngor E-wam Choden for further
teaching. There he received from the great Ngor
abbot Ngawang Lodro Zhenphen Nyingpo, who thus
became his main Root Guru, the full Lam Dre transmission
of Tsokshey and Lobshey.
Also in 1951 when still under
the age of six he was taken on pilgrimage to Lhasa,
where he formally received the title of Sakya
Trizin (the Throne-holder of Sakya) from the Dalai
Lama - thus becoming the forty-first holder of
this position . A preliminary enthronement ceremony
was held the following year, in which he accepted
the official seals of this office.
Following the Parinirvana of
His Root Guru Ngawang Lodro Zhenpen Nyingpo in
1953, the latter's Regent, Ngawang Tenzin Nyingpo,
became another important guru to him. From this
lama he received the initiations and reading tranmission
(lung) for sGrub-thabs Kun-btus ("The Collection
of Sadhanas"). And from Lama Ngawang Lodro
Rinpoche he received the initiations and oral
instructions relating to the Three Red Deities,
the Three Vajrayoginis, and the two main Sakya
Protectors.
At the age of eleven he again
journeyed to Lhasa where he received teachings
from the Dalai Lama at the Potala Palace. Also
on this occasion he gave an extensive explanation
of the Mandala Offering before the Dalai Lama
and a large assembly. This event led to his wisdom
being proclaimed throughout Tibet.
Another guru to His Holiness
was the renowned Lama Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi
Lodro, from whom he received many Tantric initiations
and teachings, both Sakya and Nyingma.
In 1957 he again received the
Lam Dre teachings, on this occasion from the great
abbot of Sakya, Vajradhara Jampal Zangpo, according
to the tradition of the Khon Lineage transmission.
In 1959 at the age of fourteen
he was formally enthroned as the Sakya Trizin,
this three-day ceremony being preceded by a seven-day
Mahakala ritual. Representatives of the Dalai
Lama and the Tibetan Government were in attendance.
But by this time the political and military situation
in Tibet had undergone a dangerous deterioration,
and his flight to neighbouring Sikkim - a three
day journey from Sakya - soon became necessary.
He was able to take with him only the barest minimum
of possessions and a few attendants.
Arriving in India in 1959 at
the age of barely 15 he was nonetheless able the
following year to found Ghoom Monastery at Darjeeling,
and Sa-Ngor Chotsok Monastery at Gangtok in Sikkhim;
and also to begin the task of reassembling the
Sangha.
Under the oversight of his aunt
his studies continued with various of the great
Buddhist teachers of the Sakya tradition who had
survived the catastrophe in Tibet. From such great
scholars as the Abbots Tritso Rinchen and Serjong
Appey Rinpoche he received extensive philosophical
teachings in Logic, Abhidharma, Madhyamika, the
Prajnaparamita, and the "Discrimination of
the Three Vows". Particularly from Khenpo
Appey he received a thorough and detailed explanation
of the Hevajra Root Tantra and other related teachings.
And from one of the four Ngor abbots, Phende Khen
Rinpoche he received the initiation and explanation
of Yamantaka in the Ra Lotsawa Tradition, as well
as the collected writings of Ngorchen Könchog
Lhundrup.
On account of political tensions
between India and China during the early 1960s
which were giving rise to military activity in
the border regions, His Holiness then moved from
Darjeeling to the relative safety of Mussourie
in the Himalayan foothills near Dehra Dun.
Around this time he taught the
Lam Dre Tsokshey at Varanasi. The Tibetan University
had recently been established at nearby Sarnath,
and this was a time for regrouping and re-establishing
of contacts for many Tibetan people who had been
scattered and separated by the traumatic events
of recent years. His Holiness, His Eminence Chogye
Trichen Rinpoche (head of the Tsharpa branch of
the Sakya Tradition and of Nalendra Monastery),
and H.E. Ngor Luding Khen Rinpoche (75th abbot
of Ngor Monastery) were all present. This event
was seen by many as a watershed, after which a
new blossoming of Dharma activity came about.
In 1964 His Holiness undertook
the task of re-establishing the main seat of the
Sakya Order at Rajpur, near Dehra Dun in the Indian
state of Uttar Pradesh. It was here that he founded
The Sakya Centre for the training of young monks
in ritual.
In 1968, for the benefit of the
lay followers of the Sakya Order he additionally
established a Tibetan Settlement at Puruwala in
Himachal Pradesh.
Around this time also the King
of Nepal donated some land at Lumbini (the birthplace
of the Buddha) where H.E. Chogye Trichen established
a monastery and temple.
In 1972, Sakya College, a faculty
for the higher education and philosophical training
of selected monks, was established at Rajpur by
Venerable Khenpo Appey Rinpoche at the request
of his Holiness, the former becoming its first
Dean. Its function would be to provide high quality
training in Tantra, Sutra, and common subjects
for monks of the necessary ability, in order to
maintain the living transmission of the Sakya
teachings and commentaries for posterity. Through
this particular initiative His Holiness played
a major part in the revitalisation of the sutric
and tantric traditions of Tibetan Buddhism and
in ensuring the supply of a new generation of
well trained teachers.
It was here at Rajpur also that
in 1971-1972 His Holiness received from Chogye
Trichen Rinpoche further extensive transmissions.
These included "The Collection of All the
Tantras", "The Collected Writings of
Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo", The Lam Dre Lob Shey
from the Tsharpa Tradition, and "The One
Hundred Teachings " of the Jonang Tradition.
In 1974, to maintain the tradition
of the Khön Lineage, His Holiness married
Dagmo Kusho Tashi Lhakee, the daughter of the
Minister of the King of Dege. That same year was
highlighted by the auspicious birth of their first
son, Ratna Vajra. A second son, Gyana Vajra, was
to be born five years later in 1979.
In 1978, he received the complete
"reading transmission" (lung) of "The
Collected Works of the Five Great Founders of
Sakya", and "The Collected Tantric Works
of the Omniscient Teacher Gorampa", from
the Lord of Refuge Dezhung Rinpoche.
Then in 1980 he performed the
opening ceremony of the main Sakya Monastery,
Thupten Namgyal Ling at Puruwala. Later, in January
1988, on the anniversary of the Parinirvana of
Sakya Pandita, His Holiness consecrated and inaugurated
the monastery and temple of Ngor E-wam Choden
at Manduwala, near Dehra Dun. Meanwhile larger
permanent premises for Sakya College (referred
to earlier) had been built at Rajpur, and by the
present time it caters for 130 monks, producing
12 graduates each year.
Thus from the difficult beginnings
of exile from his homeland His Holiness has worked
ceaselessly for the preservation and successful
reconstitution of Sakya's rich and profound Dharma
heritage. Apart from these heavy responsibilities
he has, in the course of his life so far, undertaken
major and minor meditational retreats on twenty
deities of the Sakya Lineage, given numerous initiations
(including the entire "Collection of Sadhanas"
three times), written a large number of texts,
and in particular has bestowed the vast Lam Dre
teachings on no fewer than eleven occasions. Moreover
he has not only been a beacon to his own Tibetan
community in their time of crisis, but has taken
an extensive part in making the Dharma available
world-wide, travelling repeatedly and regularly
to teach in many parts of the world. These have
included Austria, Canada, Estonia, France, Germany,
Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia,
Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom,
and United States. He is an unfailing source of
wisdom and compassion for his fortunate disciples.
He lives, when not engaged on
his many commitments, at the Dolma Phodrang in
Rajpur, Northern India, together with his wife
and two sons Ratna Vajra and Gyana Vajra, both
of whom have themselves received an extensive
education in the Buddha Dharma - this in the interests
of preserving unbroken the traditions of the Khön
Lineage.
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