A Brief Biography of Dza Patrul Rinpoche (1808-

1887)
by Alak Zenkar Rinpoche

Dza Palge Tulku or Dzogchen Patrul Rinpoche was born in the Earth Dragon year of
the fourteenth calendrical cycle in Getse Dzachukha, in the nomadic area of
northern Kham, to a family with the name of Gyaltok. He was recognized by
Dodrupchen Jigme Trinle Özer as the incarnation of Palge Samten Phuntsok and was
given the name Orgyen Jigme Chökyi Wangpo.

At an early age, he learned to read and write without any difficulty. He took
ordination with Khen Sherab Zangpo. With Dola Jigme Kalzang, Jigme Ngotsar,
Gyalse Shenpen Thaye and other teachers, he studied the Trilogy of Finding Comfort
and Ease, The Way of the Bodhisattva, Secret Essence Tantra and many other works
related to sūtra and tantra, as well as the ordinary sciences. From Shechen Öntrul
Thutob Namgyal, he received the reading transmission for the Translated Word of the
Buddha (Kangyur) and teachings on Sanskrit grammar. He received the transmissions
for the Kangyur and Tengyur in their entirety, together with the excellent writings
of the omniscient father and son1 of the Nyingma tradition, as well as the works of
Sakya Paṇḍita, Lord Tsongkhapa, and many other great masters of the old and new
translation schools, and by studying and reflecting on them with diligence and
persistence and without any sectarian bias, he attained a perfect level of scholarship.

Not only did he receive instruction on the Longchen Nyingtik preliminaries some
twenty-five times from Jigme Gyalwe Nyugu, he completed the required practices
the same number of times. 2 In addition, he received instruction on tsa-lung practice
and Dzogchen, and studied many of the cycles of practice found in the canonical
scriptures (kama) of the Nyingma school. Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje introduced him
directly to the pure awareness of rigpa while exhibiting wild and eccentric
behaviour. He trained for a long time in the Longchen Nyingtik tsa-lung practices,
and he received immense amounts of nectar-like Dharma from Dzogchen Rinpoche
Mingyur Namkhe Dorje and other masters.

While dwelling for long periods near Dzogchen Monastery in the isolated hermitages
of Rudam, such as the Yamāntaka cave and the Long Life cave, he put all his energy
into the practice of meditation and attained a realization that was as vast as space.

From the age of thirty, he travelled to Serthar, Yarlung Pemakö and other places,
teaching extensively on the Secret Essence Tantra to gatherings of fortunate
vidyādharas. To assemblies in Serthar and in the upper and lower regions of the Do
valley he bestowed countless gifts of the Dharma, teaching on The Way of the
Bodhisattva, Maṇi Kabum, Aspiration Prayer of Sukhavati and so on. He put an end to
robbery and banditry and abolished the custom of serving meat at special gatherings.

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He went to Dzamthang and studied the six yogas with Tsangpa Ngawang Chöjor,
and he went to Minyak, where he had extensive discussions with Dra Geshe
Tsultrim Namgyal on the prajñāpāramitā and other topics. In this way, he went
about as a renunciate, having abandoned all worldly concerns, and worked
impartially for the sake of others, without any fixed agenda or itinerary.

In Shri Singha college at Dzogchen Monastery and at Peme Thang and other places,
he turned the wheel of Dharma uninterruptedly, teaching on the treatises of
Maitreya, the Middle Way, Abhidharma, Secret Essence Tantra, Treasury of Precious
Qualities, Ascertainment of the Three Vows and other topics. In particular, when he
taught on The Way of the Bodhisattva in the vicinity of Dzogchen Shri Singha for
several years in succession, large numbers of flowers called Serchen, with between
thirty and fifty petals, blossomed all of a sudden, and they became known as
‘bodhicharyāvatāra flowers.’

When Tertön Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa took the terma of Demchok Sangye Nyamjor
from Rudam Kangtrö, the snow hermitage at Dzogchen, he appointed Patrul
Rinpoche as the custodian of this and other cycles, including The Heart Essence of the
Three Families (Riksum Nyingtik), and offered him all the necessary empowerments,
reading transmissions and instructions.

He went to Kathok Dorje Den, where he offered prostrations and circumambulated

the reliquaries of the three great masters Dampa Deshek, Tsangtön Dorje and Jampa
Bum. At the request of Situ Choktrul Chökyi Lodrö and others, he gave extensive
explanations on The Way of the Bodhisattva to the whole assembly of monks. He
went to major monasteries of the Riwo Gendenpa tradition such as Sershul, Labtridu,
Chuhor and others and taught elaborately on The Way of the Bodhisattva and other
topics. Since he taught clearly and succinctly, relating everything to the key points of
practice, even many holders of the title Geshe Lharampa scattered flowers of praise
and bowed before him in devotion.

He established a teaching centre in the vicinity of Dzagyal Monastery. When

repairing the great complex of walls of ‘maṇi’ stones built by his previous
incarnation Palge Samten Phuntsok, it became exceedingly beautiful and even bigger
and taller than before, and thereafter became known as the 'Patrul Stone Complex'.

This great master devoted his life entirely to study, contemplation and meditation for
his own benefit and teaching, debate and composition for the sake of others. In so
doing, he helped to make the teaching and study of texts such as The Way of the
Bodhisattva, the treatises of Maitreya, the Three Sets of Vows and Treasury of Precious
Qualities as widespread as the very stones and earth throughout the upper, middle
and lower regions of East Tibet. In particular, when the tradition of teaching the
Secret Essence Tantra, and the traditions of experiential guidance and tsa-lung
practices for the Longchen Nyingtik were just like lamps whose fuel is almost spent,
through his great kindness he revived them and made them even stronger and more

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widespread than before.

The chief disciples of this great master who did so much to preserve and spread the
teachings of the vajra essence of clear light included such learned and accomplished
masters of the Nyingma school as Kathok Situ Choktrul Chökyi Lodrö, the Fifth
Dzogchen Rinpoche Thubten Chökyi Dorje, Gyarong Namtrul Kunzang Thekchok
Dorje, the second and third Dodrupchens, Jigme Phuntsok Jungne and Jigme Tenpe
Nyima, Dechen Rigpe Raldri, who was the son of Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje, the
supreme incarnation Shenpen Chökyi Nangwa [i.e., Khenpo Shenga], Adzom
Druktrul Droddul Dorje, Tertön Lerab Lingpa, Ju Mipham Namgyal, Khenchen Pema
Damchö Özer [aka Khenpo Pema Vajra], Nyoshul Lungtok, Alak Dongak Gyatso and
others. In addition, his disciples included many great masters and holders of the
teachings of the Sakya, Gelugpa and Kagyü schools, such as Sershul Lharampa
Thubten, Palpung Lama Tashi Özer and Ju Lama Drakpa Gyaltsen.

Finally, on the eighteenth day of Saga Dawa in the Fire Pig year of the fifteenth
calendrical cycle, he displayed the signs of dissolving his form body into the all-
pervading space of reality.

Patrul Rinpoche composed countless works to suit the individual minds of his
disciples and fulfil their aspirations, and although they cherished these and kept
them for themselves, they were not collected by the master himself or by his
attendants, and thus many of them were never carved into printing blocks. Those
which were printed and which are now to be found, like nectar upon which we
might feast our eyes, comprise volumes equal in number to the six pāramitās.
Amongst these compositions, we find all manner of works, including commentaries
on and structural outlines (sa bcad) for the treatises of Maitreya, The Way of the
Bodhisattva, Treasury of Precious Qualities and other texts, profound crucial
instructions for guiding students experientially, such as The Words of My Perfect
Teacher, collections of advice and miscellaneous writings including The Drama in the
Lotus Garden, collections of praises and so on. In all that he wrote, he never went
into excessive detail simply to show off his knowledge, but explained things in order
to fit the capacity of students.

The extraordinary and special character of his teachings was described by

Dodrupchen Jigme Tenpe Nyima in his biography of Patrul:

“If analyzed by the wise, they are found to be very meaningful. If heard by the
dim-witted, they are easy to understand. As they condense the vital points,
they are easy to remember. Just the right length, everything is coherent and
connected from beginning to end. They are delightful to the ear, and
whatever words he uses, hard or gentle, they become ‘of one taste’ with the
instructions, and so captivate the minds of all, whether wise, confused, or
somewhere in between.”

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Written by Thubten Nyima

| Translated by Adam Pearcey and Patrick Gaffney, 2006.

1. Longchen Rabjam and Jigme Lingpa. ↩

2. In other words, he completed some two and a half million prostrations, and the
same number of hundred syllable mantras, maṇḍala offerings and repetitions of
the Seven Line prayer. Few masters in Tibetan history have accomplished such
a feat. Two notable exceptions are the great Je Tsongkhapa, who famously
completed three and a half million prostrations and approximately ten million
maṇḍala offerings, and, in more recent times, the Sakya master Gatön
Ngawang Lekpa, who accumulated a vast number of prostrations and other
practices during his fifteen years of strict retreat. ↩

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