Adzom Drukpa Drodul Pawo Dorje
Tulku Thondup starts his biography of Adzom Drukpa with the following statement: “Adzom Drukpa Drodul Pawo Dorje was one of the greatest lineage holders and propagators of the Longchen Nyingtik teachings.” Therefore, it seems appropriate to write a few words about this great master on his anniversary.
Adzom Drukpa was born in 1842 in the Tromtar region of Kham. When he was a teenager he was ordained and received teachings from the Second Katok Situ Chökyi Lodrö on the preliminary practices and focused on purification for a few years. Then he received teachings on the channels and wind-energies (tsa-lung) and the Great Perfection and at the age of twenty-one realized the nature of mind. From then until the age of thirty-four he meditated on the natural state of awareness and gained realization. Keeping with the advice of both Nyala Pema Dündul and Khenpo Pema Vajra he remained a layman and let his hair grow long in the style of a tantrika.
Image from his collected works, dpe rnying dpe skrun khang, 2013.
From Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo he received the ‘Four parts of Heart Essence’ (Nyingtik Yabshyi), the Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse (Longchen Nyingtik), and many other teachings. From Patrul Rinpoche he received his famous Words of My Perfect Teacher and the Yeshe Lama. He also received teachings from the likes of Jamgön Kongtrul, Nyoshul Lungtok and Mipham Rinpoche. Tulku Thondup writes that throughout his later life he taught the great lamas of Katok, Dzogchen, Shechen, and Palyul monasteries. Some of his students include Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lödro, Tertön Sogyal Lerab Lingpa and Yukhok Chatralwa Chöying Rangdrol.
There are many stories about Adzom Drukpa, and Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche once related the following story. Instead of introducing his students to the nature of mind before their retreat, Adzom Drukpa would have his students meditate on calm abiding (Skt. śamatha) for five years. Only then he introduced them to nature of mind.
Adzom Drukpa educated his son Adzom Gyalse Gyurme Dorje himself, and he later became a noted master as well. Gyurme Dorje’s reincarnations continued the tradition of his father (his current incarnation, named Adzom Gyalse, presently lives at Shechen Monastery, Nepal). His son also wrote a long biography of his father counting 350 pages ('gro 'dul dpa' bo rdo rje'i rnam thar skal bzang yid kyi gdung sel). Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche (1938-2018) was considered to be a reincarnation of Adzom Drukpa.
Adzom Drukpa edited and published many important Nyingma texts, including the complete writings and treasure teachings of Longchenpa and Jigme Lingpa. Although the main treasures of the Longchen Nyingtik can be found in Jigme Lingpa’s collected works, a separate Core Texts collection was also produced at Adzom Gar (it can be found here). This might have been the first Core Texts of the Heart Essence (Nyingtik Tsapö).
Among his writings related to the Longchen Nyingtik, the largest one is a commentary on the Longchen Nyingtik preliminary practices called A Lamp Illuminating the Path of Liberation, counting 300 pages. Another smaller text comments on the arrangement of the preliminary practices by the First Dodrupchen Jigme Trinle Özer, The Excellent Path to Omniscience (which is what most people would refer to as the Longchen Nyingtik Ngöndro), and is called Illuminating The Excellent Path to Omniscience. Then there is his concise explanation of the Yeshe Lama, especially written with beginners in mind and with emphasis on the preliminaries, and a liturgical arrangement for the Longchen Nyingtik transference (powa) practice. Finally, there is an empowerment manual for the inner practice of the twenty-one Tārās related to the Queen of Great Bliss (Yumka Dechen Gyalmo) called An Excellent Wish Fulfilling Vase. This text is signed with the name Drodul Pawo Dorje, which is the reason it is attributed to Adzom Drukpa. In the introduction the text mentions it is arranged according to the tradition of ‘the second Khyentse’, which must refer to Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, and in the colophon it says the text was written in 1903. All of this is circumstantial evidence that Drodul Pawo Dorje is indeed Adzom Drukpa. Yet the text cannot be found in any of his collected works, which would confirm the identity of the author with more certainty.
Adzom Drukpa’s collected works have been newly published twice in recent years, in 2013 by dpe rnying dpe skrun khang in 10 volumes and in 2016 by si khron bod yig dpe rnying bsdu sgrig khang in 7 volumes.
“Never wavering from the constant experience of clear light,
All deluded thoughts and habitual patterns have faded into absolute space,
And with great non-referential compassion you come to beings’ aid—
Primordial lord and guru, to you I pray.”
Works related to the Longchen Nyingtik by Adzom Drukpa
A Lamp Illuminating the Path of Liberation: A Commentary on the Preliminaries of the Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse (klong chen snying thig gi sngon 'gro'i khrid yig thar lam gsal byed sgron me)
Illuminating The Excellent Path to Omniscience, the Preliminary Practice of the Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse (klong chen snying thig gi sngon 'gro'i ngag 'don rnam mkhyen lam bzang gsal byed)
A Guide to the Great Perfection Instruction Manual of Yeshe Lama that is Easy to Understand for Beginners (rdzogs pa chen po ye shes bla ma'i khrid yig las dang po pa rnams kyi 'jug bde zin bris)
An Authentic Liturgy for Daily Practice of the Treasure Text of Transference: Enlightenment Without Meditation, from The Heart-Essence of the Vast Expanse (klong chen snying gi thig le las: 'pho ba ma bsgoms sangs rgyas rgyun gyi nyams len gter gzhung gi dgongs pa 'khrul med khrigs su bsdebs pa)
An Excellent Wish Fulfilling Vase, The Deity Empowerment of the Twenty-one Tārās, Connected with the Vase Empowerment of the Female Practice of the Queen of Great Bliss (yum ka bde chen rgyal mo'i bum dbang gi rjes 'brel sgrol ma nyer gcig gi lha dbang dgos 'dod bum bzang), written in the water hare year (1903).
The Heart of the Swift Path, The Main Visualization for the Secret Path of the Vidyādharas, A Liturgy for Wish-Fulfilling Jewel: The Scroll of the Aural Lineage for the Praṇa-Based Perfection Stage of Bliss and Emptiness (bde stong rlung gi rdzogs rim snyan brgyud shog dril yid bzhin nor bu'i ngag 'don rtsa bskyed rig 'dzin gsang lam 'khrigs su sdeb pa)
Edited November 2023
Sources
Treasury of Lives, Adzom Drukpa.
Tulku Thondup. Masters of Meditation and Miracles: The Longchen Nyingthig Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Boston: Shambhala, 1996.