Klong chen pa

Names

Tibetan: ཀློང་ཆེན་རབ་འབྱམས་ / ཀློང་ཆེན་པ་དྲི་མེད་འོད་ཟེར་

Chinese: traditional: 隆欽然絳巴 simplified: 隆钦然绛巴 Pinyin: Lóngqīn Ránjiàngbā

Wylie:

• klong chen rab 'byams
  
• klong chen pa dri med 'od zer
  
• dri med 'od zer
  
• kun mkhyen ngag gi dbang po rdo rje gzi brjid
  

Other Transliterations in use:

• Honorary title "Second Buddha" (Tib. rgyal ba gnyis)
• Longchen Rabjam (klong chen rab 'byams; realization of vast knowledge)
  
• Longchen Rabjampa (klong chen rab 'byams pa)
  
• Longchenpa Drimey Özer (klong chen pa dri med 'od zer)
  
• Künkhyen Longchenpa (kun mkhyen klong chen pa; the omniscient Longchenpa)
  
• Künkhyen Longchen Rabjam (kun mkhyen klong chen rab 'byams)
  
• Künkhyen Chenpo (kun mkhyen chen po; Omniscient Great One)
  
• Künkhyen Chenpo Drimey Özer (kun mkhyen chen po dri med 'od zer)
  
• Künkhyen Chökyi (kun mkhyen chos kyi rgyal po; All-knowing Dharma King)
  
• Gyalwa Longchen Rabjam (rgyal ba klong chen rab 'byams)
• Gyalwa Longchen Rabjam Drimey Özer (rgyal ba klong chen rab 'byams dri med 'od zer)
  

Dates

Born: 1308 at g.yo ru stod grong
Died: 1364 or possibly 1369
TBRC says: "L. van der Kuijp has verified that the year of death of the subject was 1364. Also the unrecorded teacher Ston tshul may have been Btsun pa Ston tshul, Sa-skya scholar and author of at least two works on Tshad ma." Source

Affiliation

Nyingma School - School of the Ancients

Subsequent main lineage holders include lha btsun chen po/ gter chen 'gyur med rdo rje/ 'bri gung rin chen phun tshogs/ rig 'dzin 'jigs med gling pa/ mi 'gyur nam mkha'i rdo rje/ 'jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse'i dbang po
Among them, 'jigs med gling pa received the nye brgyud via direct vision of klong chen pa. 'jigs med gling pa passed his lineage to rdo grub phrin las 'od zer, who passed it to mi 'gyur nam mkha' rdo rje, who in turn had a vision of klong chen pa and received the yang tig from him.
snga 'gyur rdzogs chen chos 'byung chen mo (251)

Other Biographical Information

• TBRC RID: P1583
• Dzogchen Project Extensive bibliography with information regarding available translations

Main Students

chos grags bzang po
khyab brdal lhun grub
grags pa 'od zer
bkra shis 'byung gnas
ye shes rab 'byams
bde legs rgya mtsho
dpal 'byor rgya mtsho
sangs rgyas kun dga'
blo gros bzang po
chos kyi grags pa
bzod pa grags pa
dpal mchog
gzhon nu sangs rgyas
pha rgod rtogs ldan rgyal po
'od zer go cha
'od gsal rang grol
bsod nams 'od zer
sangs rgyas dbon po
bsod nams seng ge
'o rgyan chos rje
grags dpal
sangs rgyas dpal rin
bya bral chos rje
'jigs med gling pa mkhyen brtse 'od zer

Main Teachers

• Karmapa, 3rd
• bstan pa srung
• bsam 'grub rin chen
• kun dga' 'od zer
• bkra shis rin chen
• blo gros brtan pa
• gzhon nu rgyal po
• g.yag sde paN chen
• dbang phyug ye shes
• za lung rin po che
• gzhon nu don grub
• gzhon nu rdo rje
• btsan dgon pa
• chos dpal rgyal mtshan
• gzhon nu rin chen
• bsod nams rgyal mtshan
• khro phu pa
• tshong 'dus pa
• sangs rgyas grags 'od
• grags pa rgyal mtshan
• dbang ye

Seat

shug gseb dgon (chu shur rdzong)

klong chen pa dri med 'od zer did most of his writing at gangs ri thod dkar (White Skull Snow Mountain, hermitage of Longchenpa above Shukseb monastery-now Shungsep nunnery, a few hour drive from Lhasa, one day hike from Dorje Drak).

Quotes

sbyor ba sems bskyed dngos gzhi dmigs pa med//
rjes la bsngo bas yong su zin pa ni//
thar lam bsgrod pa'i gces pa rnam gsum yin//
Begin with bodhicitta, do the main practice without concepts,
Conclude by dedicating the merit. These, together and complete,
Are the three vital supports for progressing on the path to liberation.

thams cad mnyam rdzogs sgyu ma'i rang bzhin la//
bzang ngan blang dor med pas dgod re bro//
Since everything is but an illusion,
Perfect in being what it is,
Having nothing to do with good or bad,
Acceptance or rejection,
One might as well burst out laughing!
The Great Perfection’s Self-Liberation in the Nature of Mind, chapter 1

shes bya nam mkha'i gza' skar 'dra//
bslab dgos gnas la zad pa med//
da res chos sku'i snying po'i don//
'gyur med btsan sa bzung na legs//
Knowledge is as infinite as the stars in the sky;
There is no end to all the subjects one could study.
It is better to grasp straight away their very essence—
The unchanging fortress of the dharmakaya.

'gro ba'i dus babs mgron po lam zhugs bzhin//
'chi bas dga' ba'i rnyed pa legs grub pa//
rgya mtsho'i don yongs grub pa'i tshod la dar//
g.yul las rnam par rgyal ba'i lha dbang dang//
bsam gtan grub pa'i bde bas ches lhag go//
da ni mi sdod padma las 'brel rtsal//
'chi med bde chen btsan sa zin du 'gro//
My delight in death is far, far greater than
The delight of traders at making vast fortunes at sea,
Or the lords of the gods who vaunt their victory in battle;
Or of those sages who have entered the rapture of perfect absorption.
So just as a traveller who sets out on the road when it is time,
I, Pema Ledrel Tsal, will not remain in this world any longer,
But will go to dwell in the stronghold of the great bliss of deathlessness.
Last Testament entitled ‘Immaculate Radiance’

• Famous Quotes from Longchenpa
  

Writings

The Seven Treasuries are justly Longchenpa's most famous works, and are considered by many scholars (present included) to represent the culmination of the over two thousand year history of Buddhist thought - David Germano Source

• Dzogchen Project Extensive bibliography with information regarding available translations
  
• Lotsawa House - Featuring translations of several texts by Longchenpa.
  

Longchenpa is widely considered the single most important writer on the Dzogchen teachings. He is credited with more than 250 works, both as author and compiler, among which are the famous Seven Treasures (mdzod bdun), the Trilogy of Natural Freedom (rang grol skor gsum), the Trilogy of Natural Ease (ngal gso skor gsum), his Trilogy of Dispelling Darkness, and his compilation - plus commentaries - of the Nyingtig Yabshi. He is also a commentator of the Kunyed Gyalpo Tantra (Tib., kun byed rgyal po'i rgyud; "The King Who Creates Everything"), a text belonging to the Mind Class (Tib., sems sde) of the Ati Yoga Inner Tantras.
Longchenpa combined the teachings of the Vima Nyingtig lineage with those of the Khandro Nyingtig, thus preparing the ground for the fully unified system of teachings that became known as the Longchen Nyingthig (by Jigme Lingpa).Source

Translations in English

• Dowman, Keith, Old Man Basking In the Sun: Longchenpa's Treasury of Natural Perfection, Vajra Publications, 2006
• Guenther, H.V., Kindly Bent to Ease Us, vols. 1-3, Dharma Publishing, 1975-6
• Klong-chen rab-'byams-pa, Looking Deeper: A Swan's Questions and Answers, translated by Herbert V. Guenther, Timeless Books, 1983
• Rabjam, Longchen (Longchenpa) (2000). You Are the Eyes of the World. (trans of kun byed rgyal po by Kennard Lipman & Merrill Peterson and with an introduction by Namkhai Norbu). Snow Lion Publications; Revised Edition. ISBN 1559391405; ISBN 978-1559391405
• Longchen Rabjampa, 'The Four-Themed Precious Garland: An Introduction to Dzogchen, with commentaries by Dudjom Rinpoche and Beru Khyentse Rinpoche; translated by Alexander Berzin, LTWA, 1978
• Longchen Rabjam (author), Richard Barron (trans): The Precious Treasury of the Basic Space of Phenomena (Chöying Dzöd). Padma Publishing
• Longchen Rabjam (author), Richard Barron (trans): A Treasure Trove of Scriptural Transmission: A Commentary on the Precious Treasury of the Basic Space of Phenomena. Padma Publishing (2001) ISBN 1881847306
• Longchen Rabjam (author), Richard Barron (trans): Precious Treasury of the Way of Abiding. Padma Publishing (1998) ISBN 1881847098
• Longchen Rabjam (author), Richard Barron (trans): The Precious Treasury of Philosophical Systems (Drupta Dzöd): Padma Publishing (2008) ISBN 1881847446
• Longchen Rabjam (author), Richard Barron (trans): The Precious Treasury of Pith Instructions (Man-ngak Dzöd): Padma Publishing (2007). ISBN 188184742X
• Longchen Rabjam, The Practice of Dzogchen, translated by Tulku Thondup, Snow Lion, 2002
  

Source

• Footnotes: