History of the Bodong Tradition

Historical Background
The monastery of Bodong E was established in AD 1049 by Mudra Chenpo – a Kadampa master. It was one of the earliest monasteries of Tibet. It was offered to the great Indian master Pandita Sthira¬pala, alias Trilaksa (Bumtrak Sumpa). The Feast for Scholars authored by Pawo Tsuklak Trengwa (1504-1566) reports that the great master was invited to this place to consecrate the Hundred Thousand Perfection of Wisdom texts written in golden letters. He implied that there were some impediments, and he sat down on them. After getting up he realised that all the writing had dis¬appeared. Only after throwing flowers did the writing appear again. This text became a religious symbol of great consequence and around it Bodong E monastery grew. This had the shape of a triangle and resembled the “place of birth”. Because of the resemblance, the place was called “Bu-mo’i-dong” meaning “woman’s hole” or “E”.

The Lamp Illuminating the History of Bodong au¬thored by Chemi Woser reports that Nyen Darma Drak¬pa, a renowned translator, invited Pandita Sthirapala to Tibet from East India. This monastery became his main seat during his sojourn in Tibet. He wrote, “At that time, there were only two spiritual teachers who gained the title of ‘Jowo’ (chief amongst men and gods): Jowo Ati¬sha and Jowo Bumtrak Sumpa. Likewise, there were only two monasteries that gained the title of ‘Choedra Chenpo’ (great monastic learning center): Bodong E and Sangphu.

Jowo Bumtrak Sumpa introduced many teachings in the monastery such as the Abhidharma (Treasury of Higher Knowledge) texts and other fields of knowledge. Gradually a multitude of monks gathered there, and it became a great monastic learning centre. Eventually hundreds of famous scholars emanated from it. (No de¬tails of the monastery are found.)

Pang Lotsawa Lodoe Tenpa (1276-1342) was re¬quested by the monks of Bodong E monastery to take over the abbotship of Bodong E monastery. He was the 20th abbot of the monastery. (No details of the previ¬ous abbots of this monastery have been found.) He was learned, pure and noble. By virtue of his proficiency in all aspects of traditional fields of knowledge, he was invited three times to China by the emperor but he de¬clined the offer. He translated several important texts, revised many translated works and wrote several exege¬ses as well. He established the unprecedented exegetical tradition of studies on the sutra and tantra in the mon¬astery. Many eminent spiritual masters such as Kunkhen Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (1292-1361), Gyalse Ngül¬chu Thokme Zangpo (1295-1369), Buton Rinchendrup (1290-1364), Lama Dampa Sonam Gyaltsen (1312-1375), Taklung Choeje Ratnakara (1300-1361), Jamy¬ang Dhonyoe Gyaltsen (1310-1344), Lochen Jangchub Tsemo (1315-1380), and Tai Situ Jangchub Gyaltsen (1302-1364) were his disciples.

The 21st abbot of Bodong E monastery was Lochen Jangchub Tsemo (1315-1380) who was a nephew of Pang Lotsawa Lodoe Tenpa. The uncle-nephew lineage runs through Pang Lotsawa Lodoe Tenpa, Lochen Jang¬chub Tsemo and Lochen Drakpa Gyaltsen to Bodong Chokley Namgyal. From his youth, Lochen Jangchub Tsemo became proficient in Sanskrit, pramana and sets of discourses. In particular, he received the complete teachings from Pang Lotsawa, Buton Rinchendrup, Gyalse Ngülchu Thokme Zangpo and Lama Dampa Sonam Gyaltsen. He was said to be the embodiment of knowledge of all these masters. It is said that most of the spiritual masters of Tibet became his disciples at that time. He also wrote and translated many texts. Many people, especially those possessed by evil spirits and those who were deaf received great benefits from see-ing his face and from his blessings. His blessings and miracles healed numerous people suffering from eye diseases, deafness and diseases of the arms and legs. He also possessed pristine clairvoyance.

The 22nd abbot was Lochen Drakpa Gyaltsen (1352-1405), who became proficient in all fields of knowledge from an earlier age. He received the complete teachings from Lochen Jangchub Tsemo and founded the monastic learning centres of Shelkar Choede in 1385 and Gungth¬ang Choede in 1394. He also wrote and translated sev¬eral texts and had thousands of eminent disciples. Even Yak Mipham and Rongton were his disciples. He gave blessings and protection to demented and sick people. It is said that just by looking at his face they were relieved of all sufferings.

The 23rd abbot was Bodong Chokley Namgyal (1376-1451). After this unparalleled spiritual master and his works – De-nyid ‘dus-pa – a new school of thought called the “Bodong Tradition” came into being.

The Bodong tradition, which claims direct descent from India, was characterised by its own name and the adoption of the teachings contained in the masterpiece of Bodong Chokley Namgyal, a number of rituals spe¬cific to the tradition established by him, and also by its divine protectors. The Lamp Illuminating the History of Bodong reports eleven ideal characteristics of Bodong Tradition:

1. the ideal monastic seat is the Indian monastic seat
2. the ideal tradition is that of Indian panditas and siddhas
3. the ideal scripture is the great De-nyid ‘dus-pa
4. the ideal philosophical view is the union of profundity and clarity
5. the ideal meditation is the two stages: generation and completion
6. the ideal attitude is the attitude of equalising all tastes
7. the ideal deed is the very thought of enlightenment
8. the ideal application is benefiting others only
9. the ideal upholders of the tradition are great translators, panditas and incarnations
10. the ideal spiritual abode is the land without borders and fixed directions
11. the ideal enlightened activity is to prosper without degeneration

Confusion over Bodong Chokley Namgyal and His School of Thought

Since the decline of the Bodong tradition there have been many reasons why there has been confusion over the Bodong Panchen and his school of thought. The research to find the living lineage of the tradition has been like a mystery tour. In Tibetan pronunciation ‘Bodong’ and ‘Buton’ sound very similar. Many elderly monks and lay Tibetans when asked if they know of the Bodong tradition think that it was a part of Bon. (Bon is the ancient Tibetan pre-Buddhist faith) According to his biography Bodong Chokley Namgyal earned many names during his life. This also makes the research of his lineage difficult as at different times of his life he referred to by different names.

One reason why Bodong Chokley Namgyal is not so well-known in the present era is that historians, either intentionally or unintentionally, have confused him with Jonang Chokley Namgyal (1306-1386), a staunch pro-ponent of the doctrine “emptiness of the other”, while others of the present generation confuse him with Buton (1290-1364). Some think that he was a Bonpo scholar. Bodong Chokley Namgyal was nineteen years younger than Je Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), nine years younger than Rongton Sheja Kunrig (1367-1449), nine years older than Khaedrub Gelek Pelsang (1885-1438), the first Panchen Lama, fifteen years older than Gedun Drup (1391-1474), the first Dalai Lama. The first Panchen Lama and the first Dalai Lama were his disciples.

Gene Smith writes in his Among Tibetan Texts: His¬tory and Literature of the Himalayan Plateau: The origins and affiliations of the Bodongpa School have per¬plexed a number of Tibetan scholars who sought to classify it and subsume its views within a hierarchy of tenets. A series of curious coincidences and misunderstandings led the Bodongpas to be brand¬ed as adherents of the gZhan-stong doctrine, the chief proponents of which were the Jonangpa. Both the Bodongpa and Jonangpa School specialized in the Kalacakra Tantra, especially the Six-limbed Yoga (sadangayoga) of Kalacakra Tantra. The monasteries of both the Bodongpa and Jonangpa were located in Tsang. There was a con¬siderable overlap of lay patronage that led some to group the two to¬gether. The most significant reason for this misunderstanding, how¬ever, was the confusion of Jonang Chokley Namgyal (1306-1386), a teacher of Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), with Bodong Chokley Namgyal (1376-1451). Many later Gelukpa scholars come to identify Bodong Chokley Namgyal with earlier Jonang Chokley Namgyal, a gZhan-stong partisan. As this confusion spread, gZhan-stong theories were attributed to the whole Bodongpa School – a school that had pro¬duced its finest in Bodong Panchen and was dying.

Sumpa Khanpo Yeshe Paljor (1604-1688), in his Pagsam Jonzang (a history of the Gelukpa School) and Desi Sangye Gyatso (1653-1705), in his Baidurya Serpo (a history of the Gelukpa School) incorrectly mentioned that Je Tsongkhapa received the teachings of the Six-limbed Yoga (sadangayoga) of Kalacakra Tantra from Bodong Chokley Namgyal instead of Jonang Chokley Namgyal. This misunderstanding developed amongst the later Tibetan scholars, especially Gelukpa scholars, who branded Bodong Chokley Namgyal and his tradi¬tion holders as adherents of the doctrine of “emptiness of the other” where the chief proponents of which were the Jonang tradition holders. (During the time of the 5th Dalai Lama the doctrine of “emptiness of other” was not in favour and it was banned in the central Tibet.)

Bodong Chokley Namgyal advocated the tradition that passed through Buton Rinchendrub and Lama Dampa Sonam Gyaltsen rather than that which was transmitted through Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen and Jonang Chokley Namgyal. In Bodong Chokley Namgyal’s detailed expla¬nation on the Madyamaka texts, especially his Essential Exposition on Middle Way Philosophy (dbu-ma stong-thun), it is apparent that Bodong Chokley Namgyal was a staunch advocate of the doctrine “emptiness of self” and of the Prasangika dialectic. Some religious histories and his great biography are clear on this point as well.

Many Names of Bodong Chokley Namgyal

Bodong Chokley Namgyal had over one hundred different names. The names by which he was most com-monly known were Bodong Panchen, Jigme Drakpa, Panchen Jigme Drakpa, Bodong Panchen Jigme Drakpa, Bodong Jigme Drakpa, Choekyi Gyaltsen, Yangchen Gawa, Yangchen Gawae Pandita, Sangye Kyang, Lodroe Mizaepa, Panchen Lodroe Mizaepa, Bumtrak Gyapa, Sangwae Jin, Chiwa Mepaide, Jigdrel Rinpoche, Bodong Choegyal, Je Budongwa and Je Bodongwa.

The Doctrine of the Bodong Tradition

The doctrine of the Bodong tradition is the De-nyid ‘dus-pa itself. The complete title of Bodong Chokley Namgyal’s major literary works is dPal De-kho-na- nyid ‘dus-pa, translated as the “Glorious Compendium of Reality”. It is generally known as De-nyid ‘dus-pa. The De-nyid ‘dus-pa is a great masterpiece holding the complete and unmistaken teachings of the ordinary and extraordinary teachings of Buddha embodying the scrip¬tural teachings and spiritual realizations.

Many believe that the De-nyid ‘dus-pa is just one vol¬ume. The De-nyid ‘dus-pa is an encyclopaedic manual containing studies from the theories of conception to the highest Buddhist teachings of Kalacakra Tantra for an individual person to attain the state of Buddhahood. There are four different forms of the De-nyid ‘dus-pa comprising one hundred and thirty-three volumes, each volume having 500 folios (1000 pages) each: [ 04 ]

1. Extensive Version contains 120 volumes
2. Middling Version has 20 volumes
3. Condensed Version has 2 volumes
4. Extremely Condensed Version is 1 volume.
(Details of the De-nyid ‘dus-pa works are contained in Dr. Chok Tenzin Monlam’s critique on the “Life and Works of Bodong Chokley Namgyal” published in the Tibet Journal, Vol. XXX, No. 3, Autumn 2005.)

Bodong tradition

The monastery of Bodong E was established in AD 1049 by Mudra Chenpo - a Kadampa master. It was one of the earliest monasteries of Tibet. It was offered to the great Indian master Pandita Sthirapala, alias Trilaksa (Bumtrak Sumpa). [more]

Message from Director

Many great scholars including the great Bodong Chokley Namgyal have appeared to flourish the Bodong tradition. However, since 17th century the teachings of De-nyid �dus-pa began declining to just a point that only the mention of its name survived even before Tibet lost its independence in 1959. [more]

All the works in the site are property of Bodong Research Centre.2008