Lineage of Transmission
- The Transmisson Lineage of the Wisdom Minds of the Buddhas
The transmission lineage of the wisdom mind of the buddhas was transmitted from dharmakaya Samantabhadra to the limitless peaceful and wrathful deities of the sambhogakaya to the great Vajradhara nirmanakya, to the teacher Vajrasattva, and to the secret lord Vajrapani
- The Symbolic Transmission Lineage of the Vidyadharas
The symbolic transmission lineage of the Vidyadharas was transmitted from the emanation Garab Dorje to the guru Jampal Shenyen, to the scholar Shri Simha, to the victorious one Jnanasutra, Padmasambhava and to the great pandita Vimalamitra.
- The Oral Transmission Lineage of Superior Individuals
The oral transmission lineage of superior individuals was transmitted from Nyang Tingdzin Sangpo to the elder Dangma Lhungi Gyaltsen, Chetsen Seng-ge Wanhchuk, the emanation Gyalwa Zhangton, to the guru Khepa Nyibum, Chodag Guru Jober, Trulshik Seng-ge Gyabpa, Drubchen Dawa Munsel, the one who has passed into the land of the vidyaharas – the precious dharma lord Kumaradza, up to Kunkhyen Ngag-gi Wangpo.
Kunkhyen Longchenpa
Longchen Rabjam Drime Ozer (1308-1364), was the reincarnation of Princess Pemasal, the daughter of King Trisong Deutsen and direct student of Guru Rinpoche. His birth in the Tra Valley of Southern Tibet was accompanied by miraculous events and auspicious omens. He began his Dharma training at the age of seven, when he received empowerments and teachings from his father, a tantric yogi. At twelve, he took novice monastic vows at Samye monastery.
Longchenpa studied and practiced teachings from a variety of lineages and masters. He received and mastered so many teachings, in fact, that he became known as Samye Lungmangwa, the One of Samye with Many Transmissions. Though he is associated primarily with the Nyingma lineage, he also studied many teachings of the Sarma, or New Schools, including the Kalachakratantra, Chöd, and the Path and Result teachings of the Sakya lineage. He shared a particularly close relationship with the third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje, with whom he studied under the Dzogchen master Rigdzin Kumaraja.
Rigdzin Kumaraja was Longchenpa’s most important master. He lived with him for two years, practicing the Dzogchen teachings of the Heart Essence of Vimalamitra under extremely harsh conditions. Rigdzin Kumaraja eventually empowered Longchenpa as the lineage holder for these teachings. Longchenpa also reawakened a connection with the Heart Essence of the Dakinis, the Dzogchen lineage of Guru Rinpoche, and practiced these teachings for years in isolated mountain retreats.
Longchen Rabjam’s influence upon the Nyingma lineage is unparalleled. He united and compiled teachings concerning the two main Dzogchen Heart Essence lineages in a work entitled Four Volumes of the Heart Essence, adding three commentaries of his own to the teachings of Guru Rinpoche and Vimalamitra. He also wrote the famed Seven Treasuries, texts that present various aspects of the view, meditation, and conduct of the Nyingma school’s nine vehicles.
Longchenpa passed away at the age of fifty-six. He left over two hundred and fifty treatises behind, many of which are still regarded as the most comprehensive and authoritative works yet written concerning the view and practice of the Great Perfection.
