Urgyenpa

1230 - 1312

Urgyenpa already knew how to meditate while he was still a child. It is said that he was an emanation of Rechungpa and Khorlo Demchog. Despite this natural gift, he decided to study philosophy before beginning a serious meditation practice. 

He was very headstrong, which meant that he only succeeded in making the transition from being a scholar to becoming a tantric practitioner late in life. He is known for his incredibly long journeys on foot, which he undertook to receive all the teachings he was able to. It is said that Urgyenpa was obsessed with finding Shambala because he thought that only there could he realize the ultimate meaning of Kalachakra. Only very late - at the age of 53 - did he meet the 2nd Karmapa, who gave him the Kagyü lineage transmissions and thus made him the next lineage holder.

„I traveled in the deserted Byang regions for nine months, subsisting on water and pebbles, and soup prepared from fish bones, and meat and claws (= of dead animals). Certainly I am supreme among renouncers.“

- Urgyenpa

Urgyenpa was born in Latö, in Northern Tibet to a family of Vajrayana Buddhists. The times he lived in were filled with famine, plagues and warfare.

He had already mastered the yidam practice on Vajrakilaya and other teachings and practices from his father’s lineage at a very young age. He was ordained as a lay attendant by Götsangpa, his main teacher, and began to study intensely: From the age of seven, he was already devoting himself to the basic teachings. When he was 16, he began to study various philosophical texts such as Vinaya, Abhidharma, Madhyamaka and other topics of the sciences in a monastery in the Tsang province which was famous for the quality of its teaching. It was there that the wish to find Shambala in order to realize the ultimate meaning of Kalachakra arose, because he thought that this was not possible otherwise.

It took Urgyenpa many years to successfully make the transition from a Buddhist scholar to a tantric practitioner. With almost stubborn diligence and through Götsangpa’s highly realized abilities, he was finally able to meditate on his Lama as the Buddha. Only then was Urgyenpa open to receive his first Mahamudra teachings. He meditated according to his lama's instructions and ultimately attained the direct experience of the Mahamudra and the inseparability and equanimity of samsara and nirvaṇa. Nevertheless, Urgyenpa’s obstinate character sometimes drove his main teacher, the yogis and yoginis of his sangha, and even a dakini to despair and anger. Although Urgyenpa was headstrong, he never dared to contradict his teacher.

Urgyenpa traveled to Nepal, India, China, Pakistan, Tsari, Mount Kailash, Jalandara, and Uddiyana to learn and practice further at the sacred places. He achieved great accomplishments in his practice and became a realized tantric master.

When he was 53 years old, he met the 2nd Karmapa, Karma Pakshi and received the full Kagyü lineage teachings and transmissions (Karmapa even placed his Black Crown on Urgyenpa’s head denoting that he would hold the lineage). After receiving the key instructions, he attained high realization, and he and Karma Pakshi became inseparable. Urgyenpa’s activities of benefiting beings flourished throughout Tibet and he focused mainly on instructing his disciples through Gampopa’s tradition of Mahamudra teachings, which many sources confirm led him to perfect clairvoyance and omniscience.

He had countless students, scholars and yogis in Tibet and India. However, his main disciple and next lineage holder was the 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje.

 

Bandits were a major threat on the road while travelling in North India. After leaving Jalandhar in spring of 1256, despite traveling at night to reduce the risk of being harassed by bandits, Urgyenpa still felt frightened and agitated. Perhaps because of this, he fell down a gorge (likely in the dark) and badly damaged his teeth. It is said that the ḍakinis came to heal him and taught him the magic to deal with diseases and injuries. Shortly afterwards he was nearly killed by four savage Sogpo horsemen (probably an Islamic tribe), who kidnapped and tortured him (presumably intending to make him their slave).

STORY

In his childhood, Urgyenpa displayed his precocity and strong inclinations towards Buddhism. His natural devotion towards the dharma practice was at least as big as his compassion towards all sentient beings. Despite his intelligence, he sometimes cried when he saw other children injure small creatures and would try to save and heal them. The games he preferred most were meditation and giving Buddhist talks. He often meditated for days without eating anything. This unsusal behavior made some people think that he was an idiot. As a little boy, he already had a mind to explore Dharma to find out how one could be liberated from suffering. He could recognize dakinis and recall significant episodes from his former lives.

During the six years from early 1253 to early 1259, driven by his burning desire to acquire the highest tantric teachings and supported by invincible spiritual trust, the young Urgyenpa, with limited means, carrying hardly anything except perhaps a primitive bag pack and a walking stick, had traversed twice the Western Tibetan Plateau and dozens of formidable mountains of the Himalaya and Karakorum ranges, crossed hundreds of high passes, forded or waded numerous rivers and streams, and penetrated many warfare-infested countries, at elevations of 300−5,800 meters and a temperature ranging from below −30o C to over 40o C. Yet he survived all imaginable and unimaginable hazards. He was traveling and nearly always risking his life. One can only admire his astonishing physical and mental strength. Apart from all the hazards, he is believed to have walked all of the journey except for rare occasions. If all destinations and stopovers were joined with a straight line and the distance added up, the total distance is believed to be at least 4,650 kms. If all ups and downs and detours are also taken into consideration, the total distance might easily come to twice or even three times this number – as many as 14,000 kms; an unbelievable effort to develop for the benefit of all beings! Later, he continued his travels.

Key Transmissions

Received Transmissions (an excerpt)

As for all future lineage holders the following four are the core transmissions of the Kagyü and later the Karma Kagyü Lineage:

  • Mahamudra

  • Six Teachings of Naropa (including Father, Mother and Non-Dual Tantras)

  • Path of Insight > Shinay/Lhaktong

  • Secret Path > Guru Yoga

  • Vajrakilaya (= Diamond Dagger or Dorje Purbha) – it helped him to overcome obstacles on his travels mainly in Eastern Tibet

  • Pramana (= Logic)

  • Madhyamaka

  • Sarma tantric cycles of Hevajra (in the Marpa tradition), Chakrasamvara (= Buddha of Highest Bliss), Vajrapani (= Diamond in Hand) plus nine more major tantric practices

  • channel and energy yoga

  • 12 years of Kalachakra tantra studies

  • complete Kagyü and Nyingma transmissions

  • Approach and Accomplishment of the Three Vajras (= Orgyen Nyendrub)

Additional Given Transmissions (an excerpt)

  • He is known as the founder of the tradition ‚Approach and Accomplishment of the Three Vajras‘

  • He was one of the principal holders of the Kalachakra Tantra lineages

Additional Special Abilities

  • exposition, debate and composition, the three activities of a learned person according to the Indian tradition

  • astrology and astronomy

  • healing and pacifying activities

  • Key-instructions how to conquer death
  • Fundamental Verses of the Middle Way (Mūlamādhyamakakārikā or Madhyamaka)
  • Mahamudra-Transmission in meditation/in a vision from Ratnamati in Southern India (where Ratnamati had lived)
  • Tripitaka-texts (Triple Basket)
  • Seventy Verses on Emptiness (Shunyatasapati)
  • Two Truths Doctrine - about relative and absolute level (= level with delusion and level without delusion)“
  • Six Collections on Reasoning (text)
  • Root Verses on the Middle Way, called "Discriminating Awareness"
  • Precious Garland
  • Refutation of Objections
  • Seventy Verses on Emptiness
  • Sutra Called “Finely Woven”
  • Sixty Verses of Reasoning
  • Collections of Praises (text)
  • Praise to the Sphere of Reality
  • Praise to the Deepest Truth
  • Praise to the Supramundane (Buddha)
  • Collections of Didactic Explanations (text)
  • A Commentary on (the Two) Bodhichittas
  • Selected text-collection of Sutras
  • Letter to a Friend
  • all Mahakali and Mahakala-Tantras
  • Guyhasamaja-Tantras

  • Della Santina, Peter: Causality and Emptiness: The Wisdom of Nāgārjuna, Singapore: Buddha Dharma Education Association, 2002
  • Garfield, Jay L. (1995), The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way.Oxford: Oxford University Press
  • Garfield, Jay L. and Graham Priest (2003), “Nāgārjuna and the Limits of Thought”, Philosophy East and West 53 (January 2003): 1-21
  • Hopkins, Jeffrey: Buddhist Advice for Living and Liberation: Nāgārjuna’s Precious Garland, Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion, 199
  • Jones, Richard H. (2014): Nagarjuna: Buddhism's Most Important Philosopher, 2nd ed. New York: Jackson Square Books
  • Kalupahana, David J. (1986): The Philosophy of the Middle Way. Albany: SUNY Press
  • Lindtner, Christian (1982): Nagarjuniana: Studies in the Writings and Philosophy of Nāgārjuna Akademisk forlag
  • Murty, K. Satchidananda (1971), Nagarjuna. National Book Trust, New Delhi. 2nd edition: 1978
  • Ruegg, D. Seyfort (1981): The literature of the Madhyamaka school of philosophy in India (A History of Indian literature), Harrassowitz
  • Siderits, Mark and Shōryū Katsura, 2013: Nāgārjuna’s Middle Way. Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, Boston: Wisdom Publications
  • Tuck, Andrew P. (1990), Comparative Philosophy and the Philosophy of Scholarship: on the Western Interpretation of Nāgārjuna, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  • Walser, Joseph (2005), Nāgārjuna in Context: Mahāyāna Buddhism and Early Indian Culture. New York: Columbia University Press
  • Westerhoff, Jan (2009), Nāgārjuna's Madhyamaka. A Philosophical Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press
https://www.shambala.com/nagarjuna-readers-guide https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nagarjuna/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbUzz0_Oy1k

Historical events at this time

Foundation of the Tsurphu monastery (1189)

The 1st Karmapa gave the order to build the main seat for all future Karmapas around ten years before passing away.

Invasion of Turkic Muslims in Northeast India (1197-1206)

The Invasion of Turkic Muslims 1197 in Northeast India by Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalj led to the destruction of the famous Nalanda and other Buddhist universities. Persecution and systematic killing of monks in the area. De facto the end of Buddhism in India, besides a few isolated communities in Southern India and Kashmir. 

Around 1200 Buddhism was wiped out at a large extent in India

After a couple of Muslim-invasions it was not possible anymore to travel to India for Buddhist studies, the Tibetan Buddhism started to develop independently. The full transmission within the Karma Kagyü Lineage still existed. 

13th century

In our tradition the principle of succession through reincarnation was evolved. The 2nd Karmapa revealed himself as the rebirth of Düsum Khyenpa in the early 13th century (the lineage-holder Pomdrakpa had found the prediction-letter, which was in the hands of the Tsurphu abbott (who has forgotten about it); Shamar Tulku became a second lineage of rebirths during the 14th century. The tulku system in all other traditions appeared later.
1292 Marco Polo visited India around 1292-1294 during his return journey from China to Europe.

The Mongols under Genghis Khan appear on the borders of Tibet

The Tibetan princes decide to pay tribute to the Mongols in order to secure peace (for 20 years) .

Mongols conquered Tibet

1240: Mongol ruler Godan Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan invaded and conquered Tibet with 30.000 troops, looting monasteries and caused many victims. 
1244 Godan Khan considered religion a tool to control people. He wrote a letter to Sakya Pandita dema nding him to travel to Mongolia. The lama understood he could not decline the “offer” and traveled to the curt of the Khan in Lanzhou (Gansu), where he arrived in 1247. He was accompanied by Phagpa Lama, his nephew. Godan obviously was personally impressed by the Sakya Pandita and became his student. The Khan died shortly after the Sakya Pandita. His cousin Kublai Khan followed him on the throne. Thus a special relationship is installed which secured the supremacy of the Sakya-School in Tibet, the troops returned and annexed Kha m and Amdo. 
1247 Godan Khan bestows Sakya Pandita with the right to rule over the 13 Myriarchies (districts) of Tibet: reconstruction of (more or less) centralized rule over major parts of the country.
1254 Kublai Khan became a student of Chogyal Phagpa Rinpoche (1235 – 1280), the nephew of Sakya Pandita. Kublai made Phagpa the ruler or regent, ‘Desi’, of Tibet.
1281 Mongols controlled China completely under the Yuan Dynasty (1281-1368)
1287 A revolt of the Drikung Kagyüs with the support of Duwa Khan ended in 1290 when the Sakyas and Eastern Mongols burned down Drikung monastery and killed many people.

1322 Changchub Gyaltsen (1302-1364) was the founder of the Phagmodrupa dynasty in Tibet. He became the ruler of Central Tibet after overthrowing the Mongol-backed Sakya regime around 1354. He overthrew the weakening Sakya government, reorganized and reformed it: secular administration, like fiefdoms; improved, fairer tax-system; created agricultural farms; social reforms; art and sciences flourished; peace. Changchub Gyaltsen was an admirer of the Karmapas.

1357-1419 Tsongkhapa founded the Yellow Sect (Gelug) and in 1407 he founded the Ganden monastery. At the time of his death the new Gelug School had already remarkable influence around Lhasa.

1358-1430 Central Tibet came under control of the Phagmodrubpas (a Kagyü branch-line until 1432/35). The following decades were of relative stability. The Tibetans call this period of the Phagmodrupa-reign "an old woman who carries gold"; this means Tibet was so safe and civilized that an old woman could have carried a bag of gold unscathed from one end of Tibet to the other. 

 

1368 When the Mongols' Yuan Empire fell to the Chinese Ming dynasty, Tibet reclaimed independence and refused to pay further tribute to the new Chinese Emperor. The Ming Dynasty lasted until 1688. Several emperors kept close bonds to prominent  lamas, e.g. some of the Karmapas, and supported monasteries financially.

1430 Tibet entered in a period of internal power struggles. The Rinpung-rulers expanded their power in Central-Tibet; they were close to Karmapa. 

 

Further Information

Li, Brenda W.L.: "A Critical Study of the Life of the 13th-Century Tibetan Monk Urgyanpa Rinchen Pal - Based on his Biographies", Wolfson College Tibetan and Himalayan Studies Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford 2011

https://collab.its.virginia.edu/wiki/renaissanceold/recognition%20of%20the%20Karmapa.html

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