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 The 'Bhutan Abbot' of Ngor:
Stubborn Ideal i st
with a Grudge against Shugs-Idan
When the sGa-pa monk Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-
mtsho (l902-ca. 1963) came, at age thirty-one, from
Khams to assume for three years the abbacy of Ngor,
nobody foresaw that in two years his straightforward
idealism would provoke a "palace revolt" in the very
lama-palace that had sponsored him to the abbacy.'
On the other hand, he was the first (and last) Khams-
.pa monk ever to be made abbot from the Khang-gsar
lama-palace. Moreover, he was not JUStany Khams-pa
monk, but the nephew and successor to two of the
most steadfast Sa-skya-pa monks of the previous gen-
erarion: sGa Bla-ma 'Jam-dbyangs-rgyal-mtshan
(1870-1940) and Bla-ma dGe-'dun (ca. 1880-ca.
1940). For the monastic establishment at Ngor and
the Khang-gsar lama-palace to which he now
belonged, an abbot with his inflexible disposition
would mean trouble.
Paternal Ancestry
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho was born in sGa-pa
in northwest Khams, the descendant of Nang-chen
and sGa-pa noble families that were also noted for the
religious masters they produced. His paternal grandfa-
ther was 'Dzi-mda' Nor-Iu, chieftain of 'Dzi-mda'
town, a scion of the Nang-chen sDom-pa Be-hu noble
lineage that claimed as its ancestor the legendary war-
rior dPa'-thul Mi-spyang dkar-po. Ngag-dbang-yon-
tan-rgya-mtsho's paternal grandmother, Rin-Iu, was a
paternal niece of Ngor dPon-slob Ngag-dbang-Iegs-
grub (b. 1811),2 Ring-lu came from the '''Dzi-phu-
tshang" and was closely related to the 'Ozi-mda'-
tshang f.'lmily of thc sGa-pa master Nyi-dga' Rin-po-
che (I846-1925), whose youngesr sister (bOe-can-
dpal-sgron) married into the ruling house of Nang-
chen} Nor-Iu and Rin-Iu's ninc sons were:"
-
David Jackson
sGa Bla-ma 'Jam-dbyangs-rgyal-mtshan or "'Jam-
rgyal Rin-po-chen (1870-1940), the noted reli-
gious master.
2 A-pho Legs-grub, the senior layman of family.s
Lhun-grub, one of the younger sons' He was killed
in a dispute and had no offspring.
4 Ngag-dbang-tshe-ring (= ICags-khra?)6
5 sKal-bzang-phrin-las 'or sKaI-dga', a layman .
6 dGe-'dun-bzang-po or Bta-ma dGe-'dun (ca.
1880-ca. 1940), the noted religious master.
7 Tshul-khrims-rin-chen. His son the monk rOo-
rje-rab-'byams of Ra-nyag monastery was nmed
for his excellent memory.
8 Tshe-dbang-rin-chen. A monk, he served at tlrsr as
an attendant of the Phan-khang lama-palace at
Ngor. Later he served in the Khang-gsar lama-palace
as business manager (phyag mdzod) during the abba-
cy of his nephew Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mrsho.
9 dPal-mchog-blo-ldan, a monk. He died young.
The fifth son, sKaI-bzang-phrin-las or sKaI-dga', was
the father of the future Ngor abbot, Ngag-dbang-yon-
ran-rgya-mtsho. For his fitS[ marriage, sKal-dga' went
as an adoptive groom (mag pa) to Dung-'khor-ra-ba
on the other side of the 'Bri-chu to marry a woman
from the Dung-'khor Lab-kha-tshang (pronounced
"Lakha tshang") family. They had several children,
including also the monk Yon-can-dpal-bzang, who
actended 'Jam-rgyal Rin-po-che at Gwa-gu in Oerge
district. After the death of his first wife, sKal-dga' mar-
ried a woman from the Tshe-paug-rshang,7
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho's uncles 'Jam-
rgyal and Bla-ma dGe-'dLlI1 were hoth renowned for
rheir adamant charactcrs and strict conduct. 'Jam-
r6'Yal Rin-po-chc, when serving in rhe Iare l890s as
chant-leader (dbll mdzad) of Tharlam monasrery,
instituted strict reforms there, including the abolish-
ment of regular gifts of meat to the monks (specifYing
donations of grain instead). He was finally imprisoned

\',
Ngag dbang yon tan rgya mtsho (1902-ca,1963I, the 69th abbot of
Ngor, Picture possibly taken in Bhutan during the years 1937-1939,
(Collection Rev, G.Tharchin, presently kept in L1WA).
and then exiled from Tharlam and sGa-pa when his
forthright strictness led to conflict with the local
administraror and, ultimately, with the Dra.'u-dpon
chieftain,8 Bla-ma dGe-'dun's strictness and steadfast-
ness were also legendary. Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-
mtsho inherited this same stubborn streak.
Early Studies
N gag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho was originally a
monk ofThub-bstan dGon, a Ngor-pa monastery on
the eastern side of the 'Bri-chu in the terrirory gov-
erned by the Lab Be-cang, subchiefrains under the
Dra'u dPon of Jyekundo. As a youth and young man,
he studied under or received initiations from such
masters as Bla-ma dGe-'dun, Nyi-dga' Rin-po-che, and
sGa-sron N gag-dbang-Icgs-pa (1864-1941).
In 1920 Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho also
studied for nine months at Jyekundo under the famed
mKhan-chen gZhan-dga' (1871-1927), at the found-
ing of the scripture-exposition seminary (bshad grwa)
at Don-grub-gling l1lonasrery. Both uncles 'Jam-rgyal
and dGe-'dlln had been disciples of gZhan-dga' in ca.
1901-1906 during gZhan-dga's years at the rDzogs-
chen Shri-simha seminary. The main works that
gZhan-dga' taught at Jyekundo were two classics of the
Indian Madhyamaka tradition: Shantideva's Bodhi-
cflIJ'avatara and Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara.
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho's tutor at
Jyekundo was his uncle dGe-'dun-bzang-po, universal-
ly known as "Bla-ma dGe-'dun," a strict observer of
monastic discipline and an extremely demanding
teacher. He served as mKhan-po gZhan-dga's assistant
teacher (skyor dpon) who gave more derailed instruc-
tion on both the Bodhicaryavarara and Madhyamaka-
vatara. Later he would serve a few years as second
mkhan-po of the Jyekundo seminary before going to
head the small scriptural seminary at Ngor.
Bla-ma dGe-'dun had twO or three young monks
under his direct supervision, including also Ngag-
dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho's younger distant cousin
Dezhung Rinpoche (1906-1987), then the fourteen-
yeaNJ:d Tharlam monk dKon-mchog-lhun-grub.9 AI;
a teacher, Bla-ma dGe-'dun was so strict that both
pupils were afraid of him. If Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-
rgya-mtsho misbehaved or made serious mistakes in
his studies, he gOt beatings over the head with his
teacher's slipper. 10
Both youths would one day grow up to occupy
positions of eminence in their tradition, but at that
time they were JUStordinary gangly, teenaged monks
who were always hungry. Because dGe-'dun followed
the monastic rule so strictly, he never took meals after
noon. If his two young charges wanted food in the
evening, they had to gulp jt down surreptitiously, one
at a time, while the other kept a sharp lookout for their
teacher's rerum. Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho
became close friends at this time with his cousin-
schoolmate, whom he impressed with his strength,
being able to lift heavy burdens and do other strenuous
physical work, which Dezhung Rinpoche could no[.ll
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho also visited
Derge and received teachings from the renowned
rDzong-gsar mKhyen-brrse-chos-kyi-blo-gros (1893-
J 959). While there, he also studied under his own
"banned" uncle, 'Jam-rgyal Rin-po-che. In J 93 J,
N gag-dbang-Yl}n-tan-rgya-mtsho received at the Gwa-
gu hermitage in Derge district from 'Jam-rgyal Rin-
po-che the esoteric transmission of the Path with its
Fruit (Ltlm 'bras slob bshtld). At that time, one of his
main fellow disciples was the minor mKhyen-brrsc
sprul-sku dGon-chen mKhyen-brtse Chos-kyi-dbang-
phyug (191 0-1960s?).I~
-
 'Jam-rgyal tried to prepare him for the abbacy in
other ways. Previously, 'Jam-rgyal had possessed the
vows in the ordination lineage of Sa-skya Pandi-ta
(1182-1251), but he noticed that the lineage of their
school's founder, Ngor-chen Kun-dga'-bzang-po
(1382-1456), was becoming scarce. 'Jam-rgyal later
retook h.is monk vows in Ngor-chen's tradition from
Brag-ri rDo-rje-' chang 'Jam-dbyangs-chos-kyi-nyi-ma
and passed these new vows to his nephew. Thus when
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho went to Ngor and
ordained many monks, he contribured to the revival of
the N gor-chen ordination lineage.13
Appointment as Abbatial Candidate
Ngag-db:mg-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho was noticed as one
of the most promising of Bla-ma dGe-'dun and 'Jam-
rgyal Rin-po-che's nephews. One source relates:
Through the influence of his family and because of
his irlteillgence and wit, he was accepted as a
zhabs-drung ["candidate"] of the Khang-gsar bla-
brang of Ngor and proclaimed to be the rebirth of
Ngor-pa mKhan-po Ngag-dbang-kun-dga'-bstan-
pa'i-rgyal-mtshan [1863-1899) of the Phan-khan
bla-brang.14
The circumstances of N gag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-
mtsho's being named abbatial candidate (zhabs drung)
of the Khang-gsar lama-palace are not specified by my
sources. But he was recognized and appointed mainly
by the Khang-gsar abbot Dam-pa Rin-po-che Ngag-
dbang-blo-gros-gzhan-phan-snying-po (1876-1953),
sixty-fifth abbot (tenures ca. 1921-1924 and 1926-
1927).15 Both uncles Bla-ma dGe-'dun and 'Jam-rgyal
had close ties with Dam-pa Rin-po-che, already from
the first decade of the twentieth century, receiving
many teachings together from gZhan-dga' and Blo-
gter-dbang-po. Even before that, close links had exist-
ed between uncle 'Jam-rgyal and the Khang-gsar
abbot N gag-dbang-blo-gros-snying-po (early
1850s?-1906 or 1907?), fifry-ninth abbot (tenure ca.
1881? to ca. 1890).
Monks from sGa-pa-or from the IDan-ma
regional-dormitory [khang tshan] at Ngor to which
they belonged-could not normally become an abba-
tial candidate in any lama-palace (bla brang) except the
Phan-bde. Similarly, the Rong-pa regional-dormitory
monks belonged almost exclusively to the Thar-me
I lama-palace, and the Gling regional-dormitory monks
were divided for the most part betwcen thc Thar-mc
and Khang-gsar lama-palaces. Thus thc appoinrmcnc
of Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-nusho to the Khang-gsar
was exception;l\.
After the founding of Ngor in 1429, originally its
abbots had been selected primarily for their spiritual
attainments, without regard to their family or region-
al origins. In the next century, certain eminent abbots
amassed great wealth, some of which was kept after
their death by family members, and this became, from
the sixteenth century onward, the kernels of the three
oldest lama-palaces (Thar-me, Klu-sdings and Khang-
gsar), to which Phan-bde or Phan-khang was added as
a fourth in the mid-eighteenth century when dPal-
ldan-chos-skyong (1702-1769) founded it as a sort of
offshoot of the Klu-sdings.
In about the time of Thar-rese abbot Byams-pa-
kun-dga'-bstan-'dzin (1776-1862), who was abbor
1811-1821, a new system was institUted whereby the
abbatial appointment rotated through the four lama-
palaces.16 The Thar-rese lama-palace had at this time a
highly capable chamberlain (phyag mdzoriJ. Byams-pa-
kun-dga' -bstan-'dzin's younger brother mDwd-pa
rGya-bo Nor-Idan-shes-rab-bzang-po, who was influ-
ential in ca. 1837 in negotiating a peace after pro-
tracted hostilities between Derge and Gling-tshang,17
and who in 1855-1856 was very helpful to the Central
Tibetan government during the w~r against the
Gurkhas, for which he was officially rewarded in
1857.1R He petitioned the Central Tibetan Govern-
ment to approve [his organizational change, also
restricting the abbatial term to rhree years (though
that second provision had less effect in practice).
One could speculate that the new system was insti-
tuted partly as a reaction to the growing tendency of
the Khams-pa monks at Ngor-who were in the
majority-to select eminent monks from their own
midst, and nor from the "religious aristocracy" of
gTsang with their four lama-palaces. During the early
1800s, friction occasionally arose benveen the gTsang-
pa abbots and Khams-pa regional dormitories. 19 From
1751 to 1811 there had been only two abbots selected
from the four lama-palaces-one Khang-gsar and one
Thar-me, but six Khams-pa abbors. After the new sys-
tem was approved, henceforth the rob of the five
lama palaces of Ngor (bla khag Inga) would be more
clearly defined: four familial lama-palaces nominated
abbots by turn to rhe fifth lama-palace, that of the
incumbent abbot.
Regional tensions were, to some extenr, built into
the traditional system of Tibetan monastic organiza-
tion, which divided [he monks according to geograph-
ic origins among regional dormitories (khang tshan).
Such tensions also owed themselves in part [0 the
marked differences in personality types that were lYP-
ical of Tibet's major regions. The founder of Ngor
monastery, N gor-chen Kun-dga' -bzang-po, is said to
have remarked:
The people of Far-west Tibet (mNga'-ris) are like
monkeys, the people of Central Tibet (dBus
[gTsang?]) are like horses, and the people of
Khams, like oxen.
The Khams-pas wete thus known for cemuries as
more forceful and straightforward than other
Tibetans. It is said that through much of the history of
Ngor monastery, the "central row" of the assembly was
reserved them; Khams-pas were almost inevitably
appointed to the influential positions of dpon-siob
("ritual master"), disciplinarian (chos khrirm';;;) and
cham-leader (dbu mdzad).20 But the highest posicion
of all, that of abbot (mkhan po), remained from the
early nineteenth century onward closed to Khams-pas,
and it was only a century later that the next Khams-pa
was enthroned: abbot no. 64, Phan-khang 'Jam-
db yangs -k u n- bz ang- th u b -bs tan -chos- kyi - rgyal-
mtshan (b. ca. late IS70s?; d. ca. 1930), who served as
abbot from ca. 1917 [0 1921. Ngor had several high-
ly deserving Khams-pa dpon-siob (and even zhabs-
dnm~ in the mid- and late-lSOOs, but none reached
the position of abbot.21
In the second half of the nineteenth century, Thar-
me and Khang-gsar vied for the position of richest and
most powerful lama palace. Then the Khang-gsar expe-
rienced several major setbacks, and in the early 1900s
the Klu-sdings overtook the Khang-gsar to gain the
number twO position. Phan-bde remained for many
generations deeply in debt because it was obliged to
borrow (mainly from me Thar-rrse lama-palace) bricks
of tea and other things [0 use in the compulsory tea
offerings to the general assembly at Ngor.22
Each lama-palace was originally headed by monks
sent from single families of the gTsang religious aris-
tocracy. The Klu-sdings lama-palace managed to con-
tinue its link with the Shar-pa family in an unbroken
succession down ro the present. But the malp. lines of
the other three original families died out in the late
nineteenth ceneury, and the Khang-gsar and Phan-bde
lama-palaces both reacted by adopted a nominally
sprul-sku-based system for most important appoint-
menrs of abbatial candidates, though in practice they
still rook most of their candidates from established
families of gTsang. The Thar-rtse Brang-ti family rook
in an adoptive groom (mag pa) from the Shu-khud-pa
hmily to marry one of the last Brang-ti daughters and
thus preserve the family.!3 The Thar-nse lama-palace
thus continued to receive candidates from a single
family, though it also began to identify important can-
didates as rebirths or incarnate lamas (spml sku).
Only the poor Phan-khang (Phan-bde) lama-
palace from the late 1800s onward sought out promis-
ing Khams-pa monks to name as abbatial candidates
and gave them a good chance to become abbot. Not
every monk they approached could or would auto-
matically accept an appointment as zhabs-drung.24
Because the Phan-khang lama-palace was closely
linked to the IDan-ma regional dormitory, it appoint-
ed several monks from sGa-pa as candidates in the
early twentierh century, three of whom actually
reached the abbacy.
In the mid- and late-1800s many of the greatest
Ngor-pa monks, judged by actual achievement and
not family background or wealth, came from eastern
Tibet. (The same trend of Khams-pa excellence can
also be observed in other schools.) The Phan-bde
lama-palace by the early 1900s thus came to represent
Khams-pa aspimrions and achievements at Ngor more
directly man the other (still predominantly gTsang-pa)
lama-palaces.
The strategies adopted by the Khang-gsar lama-
palace to appoint its abbatial candidates were still
more complicated. In the second half of the nine-
teenth CentUry,when the old Khang-gsar (Bla-brang
dKar-po) male line was verging on dying OUt, Ngag-
dbang-blo-gros-snying-po from the Zhwa-Iu sKu-
zhang ICe family was brought in as rebirth or sprul-
sku of Khang-gsar-ba Ngag-dbang-blo-gros-bstan-
'dzin (tenure 1842-1849).25 The Zhwa-Iu sKu-zhang
family already had hereditary lama-palaces at Zhwa-lu
and Na-lendra, and Ngag-dbang-blo-gros-snying-po's
brother was the bCo-brgyad khri-chen at Na-lendra.26
Ngag-dbang-blo-gros-snying-po evidently tried to
start a similar relation for the Zhwa-Iu family at Ngor
with the Khang-gsar lama-palace. These attempts
aroused considerable opposition, but he did succeed in
making his nephew Ngag-dbang-mkhyen-rab-'jam-
dpal-snying-po (1871-1952) a zhabs-drung of the
lama-palace (who served in the 1890s as sixtieth
abbot),27 After N gag-dbang-blo-gros-snying-po's
death, N gag-dbang-mkhyen-rab- 'jam-dpal-snying-po
arcempted to find his uncle's sprul-sku within the
Zhwa-Iu sKu-zhang family.28But finally the sprul-sku
was chosen from outside the family, and he became in
due course abbot no. 73, Kl1ang-gsar Ngag-dbang-
mkhyen-bnse-thub-bstan-snying-po (1913-1988) .29
Similarly, the future bCo-brgyad Khri-chen Thub-
bstan-legs-bshad-snying-po (b. 1919) of Na-lenJra
was originally claimed by Ngag-dbang-mkhyen-rab-
'jam-dpal-snying-po as a Khang-gsar zhavs-drung in
rhe 1920s, but this, roo, did nor work out,·10
At the rime of Ngag-dbang-yon-ran-rgya-mtsho's
selection as candidate. another important faction
existed at the Khang-gsar lama-palace, also disciples of
the late Ngag-dbang-blo-gros-snying-po. It included
the Khang-gsar abbot Dam-pa Rin-po-che of the
gNubs lineage; his elder brother the Gu-zi zhabs-
drung; and his elder half-bromer Brag-ri Zhabs-drung
'Jam-dbyangs-chos-kyi-nyi-ma,31 The latter [\'10 spent
most of their lives in Khams and never became abbot,
though they were highly respected masters.32
Khang g5ar Dam pa rin po che Ngag dbang blo gr05 gzhan phan
snying po (1876-1953), sixthy-fifth abbot of Ngor
AMI Visual Archives (Collection TashiTserlng).
Ngag-dbang-yon-ran-rgya-mrsho's most important
teacher within the Khang-gsar lama-palace was thus
Khang-gsar mKhan-chen Dam-pa Rin-po-che, from
whom he received his monastic name. Dam-pa Rin-po-
che was an important disciple of Ngor dPon-slob Blo-
gter-dbang-po (1847-1914), and he is said to have been
extremely enthused about the "universalist" (ris med)
masters mKhyen-brrse (1820-1892) and Kong-sprul
(1813-1899). He gave many disciples names that
included the element "mKhyen-brrsc." It was he who
gave rhe fmure 'Brug-pa mldlan-po the name of Kong-
sprul: Ngag-dbang-yon-ran-rgya-mtshoJl lr Illay be
that Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho received rhis
name during Dam-pa Rin-po-che's first abbatial tenure
(as sixty-fifth abbot) ca. 1921-ca. 1924. Bla-ma dGe-
'dun visited Ngor during the early 1920s during Dam-
pa Rin-po-che's tenure, and it would have been normal
for Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho at his age to
accompany his uncle there for ordination and teachings.
The Years as N gar Abbot
(1933-1936)
Ngag-dbang-yon-ran-rgya-mtsho came to Ngor as a
candidate of the Khang-gsar lama-palace, expecting to
serve from 1933 to 1936 as sixry-ninrh abbor of
Ngor. In 1933, the "Mus mkhan-po," Ngag-dbang-
blo-gros-theg-mchog-bstan-pa'i-rgyal-mtshan (1906-
ca. 1960) ended his three-year tenure, returning to
the Phan-bde lama-palace. At this time Ngag-dbang-
yon-tan-rgya-mtsho was enthroned as abbot in a
grand ceremony attended by a number of nobles such
as the Drung-chen of Sa-skya and by the monks and
leaders of all the regional-dormitories of Ngor.
As his first public teaching as abbot, Ngag-dbang-
yon-tan-rgya-mtsho gave a minor initiation for Vajra-
pani ('Byung-po-'dul-byed). in order to pacify obsta-
cles. To begin an important series of religious teach-
ings by giving this initiation was established Sa-skya-
pa tradition. Then he gave initiations for the three
deities of long-life ( Tshe fha rnam gsum). After that, he
taught the exoteric transmission of the Path with Its
Fruit (Lam 'bras tshogs bshad), giving, as abbot, the
practical instructions in the morning and the text
reading-transmissions after noon.
At this time, his guru Dam-pa Rin-po-che did not
live permanently in the Ngor Khang-gsar Iama-
palace, but stayed at such places as Sa-skya ami rTa-
nag. The lama in permanenr residence at the Khang-
gsar lama-palace was the Zhwa-lu sKu-zhang lama
and previous abbor, Ngag-dbang-mkhyen-rab-'jam-
dpal-snying-po (sixtieth abbot).H Ngag-dbang-yon-
tan-rgya-l1ltsho t;liled to get along with this older
abbot, and this wa.~the root of many later troubles. As
one source reported;
The young zhabs-drul1g [now abhut] soon demon-
strated not only a native intelligence and wit. but
 Ngor monastery, founded in 1429 by N_ctorchen Kun dga' bzang po (1382-1456), before destruction. (After Choyang).

also a distressing stubbornness and independence. his uncle, he was a major devotee of rDo-rje-phur-pa
He soon quarrelled with the aged Khang-gsar (Vajrakila) in the Sa-skya tradition, establishing, for
mKhan-po. As a result of this conflict, he with- example, at Khrom-rdo monastery in Derge the annu-
drew from the Khang-gsar Bla-brang and set up his al ritual practice and worship (sgrub mchod) of that
own separate ecclesiastical palace,35 deity.37The practice of rDo-rje-phur-pa as a protective
deity was highly unusual for Ngor-pa lamas, and it
In the traditional hierarchy, the senior Khang-gsar
proves that for these Khang-gsar lamas at least, their
abbot occupied a superior position resembling that of
devotion [QShugs-Idan by no means entailed an aU[Q-
a teacher, whereas Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho's
matic sectarian rejection of rNying-ma practices.
position was like that of a disciple. Even though he
In the summer of the third year of his abbacy (1935),
now served as abbot, Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho
during the time of the rainy-season retreat, Ngag-dbang-
was the old abbot's junior by more than thirty years.
yon-tan-rgya-mtsho courced open conflicr. He sharply
During his abbacy, Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-
criticized the monks of the Khang-gsar lama-palace's
mtsho failed to visit and pay respects to his senior
~w? monk-community (grwa tshan~, calling them
teacher at the Khang-gsar lama-paiace. He was reluc-
thieves and breakers of sacred rantric commirmenrs."
tant to do so because he was suspicious of the cult of
The monks of the Khang-gsar monk-community,
the protector-deity Shugs-ldan, which was practiced
led by th~ old white-haired monk Nyi-ma-phun-
by the old abbor. He was also critical of certain old
rshogs, politely offered him a white scarf and request-
practices of Ngor monastery, such as its tradition of
ed clarification, saying. "It would be impossible for us
sending a monastery-appointed functionary to collect
all to be thieves and to have broken our sacred tanrric
animals from the nomad regions for their flesh.
commitmems. Please point out which individual
The senior Khang-gsar abbot, Ngag-dbang-
monks you mean."
mkhyen-rab-'jam-dpal-snying-po (1871-1952), was a
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho replied, "When
well-known devotee of Shugs-Idan.-l6 He was a skilled
rhe time is ripe, I will name them individually, even if
artisan, capable of making fine masks and images
you say 'Please don't name rhem!' But For me to speak
though he had never received Formal training, and he
no,: when you rell me 'speak,' chattering mechanical-
had personally made a number of masks for the wor-
ly like a parrot, woulJ have no point."
ship ofShugs-ldan. Barh he and his late unde mKhan-
The monks of the Khang-gsar monk-communitY
chen Ngag-dbang-blo-gros-snying-po visited Khams
stalked our of the rainy-season retreat assembly. Th~
and established there in the 1890s in numerous monas-
senior Khang-gsar abbot told them, "It would not be
teries the cult of Shugs-Idan, beFore the dGe-Iugs-pa
right to break ofl your observances of the rainy-season
zealot Pha-bong-kha-pa (1878- J 94 J) and his disciples
retreat. YOlimusr conrinue [() meer as a rainy-season-
brought the CLIltinto disrepute through their sectarian
retreat assembly." Therefore thc monks of the Khang-
excesses. Ngag-dban g- mkh ycn-rab- 'jam-dpal-snying-
gsar monk-community mer in the rDo-bcal chapel.
po enjoyed dose ties with the Derge royalty, and, like
and the future Khang-gsar mkhan-pa (Ngag-dbang-
mkhycn-brcse-thub-bstan-snying-pa, 1913-1988),
who. later lived many years in Spiti, served as their
rainy-seasan-retrear abbat.
After the rainy-seasan retreat had ended, the
mcnks af the Khang-gsar monk-community, antago-
nized beyond endurance, decided to seize Ngag-
dbang-yan-tan-rgya-mtshe and teach him a lessen.
Ngag-dbang-yen-tan-rgya-mtsho [noticed that some-
thing sinister was afoat far he quickly] left the abbat's
residence and went [fer refuge] first to the 'Dan-ma
regianal dormitory. Not remaining there, he went to
the Bro-khang house cf the Phan-bde lama-palace.
Then he went to. the Phan-bde lama-palace, where, in
a four-pillared room called "Phan-khang Ka-bzhi," his
younger cousin, [he Phan-bde candidate Ngag-dbang-
mkhas-grub-rgya-mtsho (1917 -ca. 1969), stayed in
meditatian retreat and at the moment was still in the
middle af a meditation sessian. Ngag-dbang-yan-tan-
rgya-mtsho toak refuge in a small interior raom,
where previausly Bla-ma dGe-'dun had stayed.
Ngag-dbang-.yan--tan-rgya-mtsha remarked, "1
didn't even bring my rosary." The Phan-bde candi-
date's attendant Phende Lhakpa roak ane afhis uncle's
rosaries and affered it to. him.
Groups af Khang-gsar monks began .loitering
araund the building, inside and autside. Some
approached Ngag-dbang-yan-tan-rgya-mtsho and
began grabbing him and wauld nat ler him go.at ance.
dBu-gdugs sKu-nga, a nableman lawyer who. was
the maternal nephew of the late Thar-me abbat, gat
wind af the conflict and rushed to Ngor to mediate.38
He first went to. the Thar-rtse lama-palace to refresh
himself and then visited the senier abbot at Khang-
gsar to discuss the problem. He was favarably
impressed by the campetent manner and reasanable
wcrds af the aid lama. (Bath came fram similar Cen-
[ral-Tibetan nable families.)
Meanwhile the chamberlain af the aId Thar-me
abbct and gNyer-pa sPen-pa af the K1u-sdings lama-
palace visited Ngag-dbang-yan-tan-rgya-mtsha,
requesting him, "Please came dawn and talk with the
Khang-gsar lama-palace seniar abbot. Let's settle this
withaut any scandal reaching autside the manastery."
Ngag-dbang-ycn-tan-rgya-mtsha refused.
When Phan-bde Zhabs-drung Ngag-dbang-
mkhas-grub-rgya-mtsha came aut af his meditatian
sessian, a mank-afficial called the Byang-chung
mkhan-pa,39 an aid monk from Derge, visited him to
try to. head cff the impending crisis, and the two.went
to the protector's chapel af the Phan-khang, where
they cauld canverse with aut being averheard.
At a certain poim, a gang af Khang-gsar monks
grabbed Ngag-dbang-yan-tan-rgya-mtsha, and since
he resisted strenuausly, fcur ar five of them using all of
their strength carried him aff to the Khang-gsar lama-
palace, accampanied by the infuriated barking af the
Phan-bde lama-palace's guard dags.
The manks carried him to a new side building af
the Khang-gsar also. called the "Paur-pillared" (bka'
bzhz). They tried to. farce him to go.upstairs [to see the
aid abbcr] , but he resisted every step af the way. Final-
ly they gave up and lefr him cied up in a lower rcam.
Meanwhile two. IDan-ma mcnks clase to Ngag-
dbang-yan-tan-rgya-mtsha, including his maternal
half-brother, rushed to Shigatse and reparted what had
happened to the mank-official rDzang-shar rTse-
drung_ dBu-gdugs sKu-ngo later warned them against
making a formal earn plaint to the central gavernment,
saying, "If yau bring a CCUrtcase, the gavernment will
appoint a mank-official (me dnmg) to reside in the
monastery, who. will canvert the whole manastery to
the dGe-lugs-pa."
That evening it was planned that the old Khang-
gsar abbat, accompanied by a few servants, wculd
came dawn and talk directly with Ngag-dbang-yon-
tan-rgya-mtsho. The yaung abbat would nat hear a
ward of it, saying, "The old abbat is bad! He appoint-
ed the 'Byang-chung mkhan-pa' (or 'Byang-chen Bla-
ma') to go. to the nomadic areas and collect every year
five ar six hundred goats and sheep, which were then
driven back and said far butchering at places like Shi-
gatse and Narthang, where they were all killed. That is
a terrible deed! It is no.different than butchering them!
Myoid father (sKaI-dga') of the Lab-kha-tshang
spared the lives of hawever many goats, sheep ar other
animals came to aur family hause, and we had no. tra-
ditian af sending animals to be slaughtered."
The Byang-chung mKhan-po, the mank-official
whose activities had been criticized and who. had
already talked with the Phan-bde zhabs-drung, came
and tried to talk with N gag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-
mtsho. When he saw the abbor tied up, the aId monk
said, ''These Khang-gsar monks are terrible! To tie up
a Ngor abbor like this-such a thing has never hap-
pened since the faunding af the monastery!" He talked
the monks into untying him.
When that visitor left, Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-
mtsho resisted again and tried to escape, and the
manks had to tie him up_ He made it very difficult far
them because whenever they did nat restrain him
campletely, he would shower them with painful blaws
ar wriggle out of their grasp. At one point they tied
him around the waist to a pillar.<iO
 The scnior Khang-gsar mkhan-po From the Zhwa-
lu sKu-zhang family-a widely rcspcctcd master-Alad
been deeply insulted by Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-
mtsho's intransigence and now aimed at removing him
from the position of abbot. Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-
mtsho's actions amoumed to open revolt against the
senior lama of the Khang-gsar lama-palace. whom,
many people believed, he should have revered as guru.
The senior abbor had expected great things from him
because of the excellent attainments of his uncles Bla-
ma 'Jam-rgyal and Bla-ma dGe-'dun. But then he
became bitterly disappoimed and was determined to
teach him a severe lesson, saying, "1 have the p0'i\Terto
life him up and put him on a shrine, and 1also have the
power ro take him down and put him in the gutter!"41
The dBu-gdugs sKu-ngo negotiated with both fac-
tions, and finally the Khang-gsar monks agreed.""
release Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho and emhrone
him again on the abbot's throne of the main temple of
Ngor. The Khang-gsar monk-communiry formally
apologized to him and offered him a mandala and the
three supports of enlightened body, speech, and mind
(for his longeviry].42 Still, he did not remain much
longer as abbot, just serving out what remained of the
fmal year of his term.
As a result of the trouble, Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-
rgya-mtsho's paternal uncle Tshe-dbang-rin-chen, who
held the post of business manager (phyag mdzod) in the
Khang-gsar lama-palace, was removed from his posi-
tion, so that he had less power (though he remained
active behind the scenes), and he was replaced official-
ly by the respected monk 'Jam-dbyangs-bzang-po of
the Lho-pa dormitoty, the former ritual assistam
(mchod dpon) of Dam-pa Rin-po-che.43
During these troubles, Dam-pa Rin-po-che was
staying at rTa-nag giving the esoteric transmission of
the Path with Its Froit(Lam 'brasslob bshad}. One day,
when he was reciting the text-transmission, he laid
aside the text he was reading and said, 'f\las, the young
abbot's horse has died!" Among the more than one
hundred disciples present, nobody understood what
the master had alluded to. In fact, this [harm to the
young abbot he mentioned] was caused by the rgyaf-
po spirit Shugs-Idan. It was said that one of Ngag-
dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho's horses kept in a stable at
Ngor actually died at this time;.
Dam-pa Rin-po-che, roo, had on sevetal occasions
rebuked the malignant rgyal-po spirit. During the
~oundjng of the rDzong-gsar scriptural seminary sev-
enteen years before in 1918, the same spirit had caused
obstacles.44 (Shugs-Idan was not specificaHy named,
but Dam-pa Rin-po-che's overcoming these obstacles
..
is described in some (krail in his biogtaphy in the
Indian reprint of the Lam 'brasslob bshad collection.)4'i
At the founding of the .'icripture-exposition seminary
(bshad grwa) at Ngor, similar obstacles bad occurred ..i6
Dam-pa Rin-po-che, too, was thus not at all fond of
this spirit, and tension in this regatd must have exist-
ed within the Khang-gsar lama-palace even before
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho brought it to a head.
In Sakya and Bhutan (1936-1939)
After completing his three-year tenure, Ngag-dbang-
yon-tan-rgya-mtsho wenc to Sa-skya (ca. early 1936),
where he stayed about one year. While there, he estab-
lished cordial relations with some (Bhutanese) artists,
who invited him to come to Bhutan.
In about 1937 he went (Q Bhutan, where he lived
for about two or three yeats. There he gave religious
instructions to members of the Bhutanese royal fami-
ly.47This was duting the middle of the reign of the sec-
ond king of Bhutan, 'Jigs-med-dbang-phyug (ruled
1926-1952), and the tenute of the fifry-ninth rJe
mkhan-po of Bhutan, Chos-kyi-dbang-phyug.48
Among his disciples at the Bhutanese court, the royal
lady A-lee dBang-mo was one of the most devoted.49
Accotding to one account, his visit (Q Bhutan was
part of a calculated effort to garher offerings for larer
use at Ngor:
In order [0 obtain rhe wealth necessaty to increase
his prestige at Ngor, he set out fOt Bhutan where
he attracted the attention of the King of Bhutan,
who lavished upon him considerable wealth. He
soon was the most wealthy of rhe ecclesiastical
princes of Ngor. so
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho behaved at rimes as
a sort of "holy madman," and some believed later that
his success in Bhutan was due in large parr to the errat-
ic behavior he sometimes displayed. 'i1
His initial bases in Bhutan were presumably the
small Sa-skya-pa establishments rhat still existed in the
19305. Two of the Ngor-pa monasteries in Bhutan were
founded by Nyag-re (or Nyag-rong?) Don-grub, the
same adept who identified the site of Ngor to Ngor-
chen before its founding. A great siddha, he is said to
have manifested three bodies at his time of death, one
in each of three monasteries)! Bhutanese sources cred-
it him with the founding of two Sa-skya-pa tcmples in
the norther region of Bhutan: Ri-tshogs dGon-pa and
Dol-ma-can.'i3 Another mastl:r of the Ngor-pa tradi-
rion, 'Phrin-las-rab-yangs, is said in a reccnt Bhutan
history to have founded in the second half of the fif-
teemh century three other Sa-skya-pa monasteries in
Bhutan: sPyi-zhing in Wang-yul, Shel-dmar dgon-pa in
sKyabs-khra, and sNe-ba dgon-pa in Shel-sna.,q
Every three years a lama was sent with several
attendants from Ngor to Bhutan for a three-year term,
tc serve as head of the small Sa-skya-pa monasteries
there, which then numbered three. That lama gathered
much rice and dried fruit, which he later brought to
Ngor. One recent Ngor-pa informant suggested that
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho may have gone to
Bhutan in such an official capacity. 55
Second Visit to N gor
While Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho was away
from Ngor, his cousin Phan-bde Ngag-dbang-mkhas-
grub-rgya-mtsho held the abbacy for the appointed
three years. Then bCo-brgyad. Khri-chen's older half-
brother, Thar-rtSe Byams-pa-nam-mkha'-kun-bzang-
bstan-pa'i-rgyal-mtshan (1907-1940) of the Zhwa-Iu
sKu-zhang, became abbot in late 1939. That wimer,
after serving for only four months in 1939-1940, the
young Thar-me abbot suddenly died during the break
when the monks receiving the Path with Its Fruit at
Ngor traditionally went to visit Sa-skya.
Returning to Ngor from Bhutan during this peri-
od, the now very wealthy '''Brug mkhan-po" Ngag-
dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho resided at the IDan-ma
regional dormitory. He made huge offerings, donating
to the central administration of the abbacy (bla brang
gzhuniJ such things as ornate silk curtains for the
mandala-offering ceremonies of the "seven mandalas
ofNgor" and also beautiful gnam-yol (bla re) hanging
brocade ornaments.s6
At Ngor, wealthy pam;ms sometimes donated fancy
silk curtains (yo/ ba) for the annual ritual practice and
worship (sgrub mchod) of the seven mandalas. Those
offered by the thirrY-fourth abbot, dPal-ldan-chos-sky-
ong (1702-1769) of the Phan-khang lama-pahce, for
instance; were legendary. But the ones given on this
occasion by Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho, made of
the finest Bhutanese silk, exceeded even thoseY
During his second stay at Ngor, Ngag-dbang-yon-
tan-rgya-mtsho was displeased by the facr that his
uncle Tshe-dbang-rin-chen's successor as business
manager (phyag mdzod), the monk 'Jam-dbyangs-
bzang-po, still occupied that position, and he used his
influence to remove him.
Evidently also during his second visit, he decid-
ed to attack at Ngor the deity Shugs-ldan, who was
worshipped there as a minor protector. 5~ He
explained to some monks how harmful this deiry
was. He made liberal gifts and decided to use this
chance to expel the cult of Shugs-ldan from the
monastery. This was one of the most important bat-
rles in what was to-become a lifelong crusade against
rDo-rje-shugs-ldan. ~~
One of the most important mgon-khang of rDo-
rje-shugs-ldan was the rTen-mkhar at Ngor.60
Having made significant gifts to the various polit-
ically significant personages and to the monastic
community, he assessed the climate to be ripe for
the destruction of the mask of Shugs-ldan and the
institution of the worship of a rival bstan-srung.61
Helped by a single trusted monk-a disciple of the late
Klu-sdings rGyal-sras 'Jam-dbyangs-chos-kyi-nyi-ma
(I864 or 1872-1926)-N gag-dbang-yon-tan -rgya-
mtsho threw the "life stone" (bla rdo) of Shugs-ldan
from the roof of the eastern side of the central abbatial
residence (bla brang gzhuniJ. People tater said that the
spot where the stone hit the ground seemed to be
smeared with blood. He also removed the mask and
thangkas of the rgyl1f-po spirit to the far side of the lCags
pass, and thus attempted to drive out that spirit.62
Shugs-ldan manifested his presence when Ngag-
dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho was carrying the cult
objects away from Kgor. The horse, though sweating
and struggling, remained for some time as if frozen in
place, arrested by the deiry.63
What can have pushed Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-
mtsho to engage in open "war" against that deity? He
saw Shugs-ldan as his personal enemy, blaming him
for causing the premature death of his previous life,
Phan-bde mKhan-po Ngag-dbang-kun-dga'-bstan-
pa'i-rgyal-mtshan (I 863-1899).6'\ He also professed to
be the rebirth of dBang-sdud-snying-po (1763-
1806?), the thirry-third throne-holder of Sa-skya who
had pitted himself against Shugs-Idan and likewise had
nor lived to old age.";
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho's mother and twO
siblings died mySteriously while crossing the Nyungka
La (?) pas~ in sGa-pa south of Khri-'du. Some said the
three had been killed by Chinese, but no Chinese had
been around at the time, and no human culprits were
ever caught. It was later believed they had directly fill-
en victim to the vengetul Shugs-ldan.
For coercing or repelling Shugs-Idan, no lama was
more powerful in those days than Ngag-dbang-yon-
ran-rgya-mtsho. In J direct confrontation, the lama
could overpower him. But in the long run, the deity
was more powerful. because he was able to harm the
lamas family members, attacking and killing his moth-
er and twO siblings.66
in the late 1950s. when dPon 'Chi-med-rnam-rgyal
was still a youth, Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho told
him many times, "One day you will be lord of this
land. At that time I am going to build a big memorial
srupa for my dead mother and two siblings, and you
will suPPOrt the project, okay?" The young 'Chi-med-
rnam-rgyal, being his disciple, promised he would.67
To this day, monks of the Ngor tradition consider
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho's photo to be a very
effective talisman against "that rgyal-po spirit. "68 Still,
his victory was not as definitive as he would have
wished. Afterwards a servant from the Phan-bde lama-
palace and a yak-herdsman from the Thar-me lama-
palace went to that spot and retrieved the mask and
other articles, bringing them back to a so-called" rgyal-
po residence."69 These objects were in the 1950s not
enshrined within the monastic precincts, but in a
small shtine JUStoutside,7°
After his dramatic reappearance from Bhutan,
N gag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho was commonly
referred (0 by the monks at Ngor as "the Bhutan
Abbot" ('Brug-pa mKhan Rin-po-che). He did not
like to be called that, or later, in Khams, to be called
the "Lab-kha mkhan-po." He would retort, "There is
no [Ngor-pa] red throne (khri dmar mal in Bhutan or
at Lab-kha-tshang. ''71
After concluding his sumptuous offerings, Ngag-
dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho left N gor and went (via Sa-
s"-l'a) to Lhasa. There he stayed at the home of his sis-
ter. who was married to a crader named dGa' -ri Yon-
bzang. n In Lhasa he made offerings at the great
shrines of the holy ciry,73
Return to Khams
When going home to Khams, Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-
rgya-mtsho visited Nang-chen briefly, where he met
up again with his younger cousin Ngag-dbang-
mkhas-grub-rgya-mtsho. now also an ex-abbot of
Ngor returning home. Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-
mtsho's paternal grandmother was from the 'Ozi-
phu-tshang. a family closely related to the Nang-
chen royal consort bOe-can-dpal-sgron, a daughter
of the 'Ozi-mda'-tshang (gCen-ngar Jo-sras) family
who had wed the Nang-chen king about tWOgener-
ations earlier.
In 1940, the year of his return [Q Khams, both
u!lci<.:dGe-'dun and 'Jam-rgyal passed away. In sGa-
pa, Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho went to his
hnme monastery, Thub-bstan dGon-pa, south of Lab
monastery on the eastern side of the 'Bri-chu, and gave
religious teachings for awhile. Then he went to the
nearby rGya-nag Mani holy-spot, where he led the
recitation of one hundred million Mani mantras.
Then he went to Jyekundo. After that he went to
Nang-chen. and then returned to sGa-pa.
N gag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho's iconoclastic
success at N gor made him only more eager for anoth-
er victory against Shugs-ldan, whom he viewed as a
physical enemy.74 Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho
was officially appointed by the Sa-skya throne-holder
Ngag-dbang-mthu-stobs-dbang-phyug of the Phun-
csh.ogspalace 0900-1950, tenure 1935/36?-1950) to
the position of chief lama of 'Oam-thog monastery
('Oam-thog Bla-ma), and his business manager (phyag
mdzod) was appointed 'ltOam-thog dPon." But he did
not reside for a long period at 'Oam-thog monastery.
Instead, he travelled here and there in northwest
Khams to such places as Nang-chen and Jyekundo,75
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho did, however, use his
authority at 'Oam-thog monastery to expel the cult of
Shugs-Idan, destroying the cult images and utensils.76
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho also intensely
disijked the particular tradition within the dGe-lugs-
pa represented by Pha-bong-kha-pa, a lama who in
1940, a year before his death, continued his sectarian
machinations. decrying to a Kuomintang governor
("Lu'u Cun-krang") the fact that uncle 'Jam-dbyangs-
rgyal-mtshan had published Go-rams-pa's works, and
even--oddly enough--criticizing the exposition of the
Thirteen Great Indian Buddhist Works (gzhung chen
bcu gsum) by mKhan-chen gZhan-dgis followers at
Oerge.77 But Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho's main
wrath was directed against the cult of the protector
rOo-rje-shugs-ldan-which Pha-bong-kha-p~ had
popularized in various dGe-lugs-pa circles. (In the
early 1940s gangs of young monks in certain dGe-
lugs-pa dominated areas ofKharns such as Chab-mdo,
Brag-g.yab and Lho-rdzong were causing so much
havoc through their Shugs-ldan group-"possessions"
that the Central Government's governor of Khams
[mOo-khams spyi-khyab] in Chab-mdo finally was
compelled to punish three ringleaders by flogging.'H)
Khri-'du bsKal-bzang-dgon was a venerable and
important Sa-skya-pa monastery in sGa-pa, founded
by Chos-rgyal 'Phags-pa (1235-1280) and the seat of
the Yuan imperial preceptor sGa A-gnyen Oam-pa
Kun-dga'-grags (ca. 1230-1303). It housed about one
I
 thousand monks ~llld was the m:lln Ngor-pa
monastery of Khri-'du, the other cwo being gDong-
sprad and dGon-gsar monasteries. Ngag-dbang-yon-
tan-rgya-mtsho used his influence here, toO, to eradi-
cate the practice of rOo-rje-shugs-ldan. The invoca-
tion of rOo-rje-shugs-ldan as a protective deity was
not common in upper sGa-pa. Elsewhere in Khri-'du,
at dGon-gsar-dgon, a handful cif monks invoked him,
and at gDong-sprad monastery; none at all. Even most
dGe-lugs-pa monks of sGa-pa worshiped other srung-
ma (for instance the monks who went to the Se-ra
IOan-ma regional dormitory), since the dGe-Iugs-pa
monasteries had been founded after forced conver-
sions of bKa'-brgyud-pa monasteries in the 1640s by
victorious Mongol armies. BUt the old srung-ma,
notably A-phyi, had been retained from the formerly
bKa'-brgyud-pa establishments ..
As a former Ngor abbot, Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-
rgya-mtsho's prestige was tremendous, second only to
the Sa-skya throne-holder. He used this in his crusade.
He was also the guru of most people in Khri-'du,
including even many non-Sa-skya-p~.79
At bsKal-bzang-dgon there had been a small group
of monks, forming less than one tenth of the monk
community, who privately invoked Shugs-ldan as a
protector. They had learned the practice from a Ngor
abbot who had visited the monastery. so The 'practice
was neither condoned nor supported by the central
administration of the monastery.
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho eXplained to the
Khri-'du monks and people, "Shugs-Idan is no good.
He is evil! He's not a protector, he's a ghost! He ha..~a
long history of causing harm. There's no use invoking
a ghost!" In this way he convinced the monks to cease
their practice, and removed all images and articles of
worship from the monastery.Sl
He did not need to expel the cult of Shugs-Idan
from his home monastery ofThub-bstan because the
cult had never gained a foothold there.s2 BUt at Thar-
lam monastery, the main monastery on the opposite
side of the 'Bri-chu from his home, in which previous
generations of his family down to his uncle 'Jam-rgyal
had been monks, he expelled the cult of Shugs-Idan in
about 1948, acting in the absence of the monastery's
abbot, Dezhung Rinpoche, his distant cousin who was
then at Sakya on pilgrimage.
He summoned the monks and told them of his
campaign against Shugs-Idan. That deity, he said, was
nor a protector of religion, but rather an evil spirit who
destroyed the doctrine. He cold them that this deity
I had caused him great obstacles in his previous lifetime
as che Phan-khang Ngag-dbang-kun-dga'-bstan-pa'i-
rgyal-mcshan, and that Shugs-Idan had then actually
caused his early death at age chirty-six. He proposed co
descroy, if they would agree, che mask of this deity che
next mormng.
Many of che monks feared the consequences of so
provocarive an act, and they were afraid of reprisals
from the angered deity. But being the disciples of the
'Brug-pa mkhan-po, they felc obliged to follow his
wishes. The next morning, after prolonged prayers, he
led a procession of monks into the Protector's chapel
(mgon khan~. He took down a revered mask of che
deity from its shrine and carried it outside. He hurled
it into a bonfire and drew a pistol, shooting at the
mask numerous times. After annihilating the mask, he
reentered the Protector's chapel and removed the ocher
ritual articles, which he had the monks carry down to
the banks of the 'Bri-chu and fling into the water.
Afterward, he reconsecrated che chapel to the deity
Beg-tse. He defied Shugs-Idan to take revenge. When
nothing occurred, the monks lost faith in Shugs-Idan
and accepted the new protective deity.83 In sGa-pa,
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho rhus stamped our
the practice of rDo-rje-shugs-ldan, at least in Sa-skya-
pa circles, almost completely.
In about 1948 or 1949, when Dezhung Rinpoche
was on pilgrimage in central Tibet, Ngag-dbang-yon-
tan-rgya-mtsho the Lab-kha mkhan-po (as he then
was known locally) gave the Path with Its Fmit (Lam
'bras) instructions at Thub-bstan dGon-pa, his home
monastery. Ie was the only time he gave the Lam 'bras
in sGa-pa.84
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho, as great Ngor
abbot, was the highly respected guru of che Khri-'du Be-
hu-rshang chieftain family,one of the twenty-five chief-
tains under the Nang-chen king, led by dPon Nam-
mkha' -rdo-rje. One day in about the early or mid-l 940s,
when giving this noble family religious teachings, Ngag-
dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho told the facher of the family,
"I have a connection with your daughter Shes-rab-
dbang-mo from a former life. The Dakini's have proph-
esied her as my consort. This will be of great benefit to
sentient beings. Please give her to me as my bddg-mo."
dPon Nam-mkha'-rdo-rje, a proud and powerful
chieftain, refused. Bur Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-
mtsho was cheir main guru. Some time later, when the
chieftain's younger brother died, Ngag-dbang-yon-t:m-
rgya-mtsho was invited co perform a great transfer-of-
consciousness ritual ('pho chen). On that occasion,
without gaining her father's permission, but without
her father's preventing it, he rook her as his consort.
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mrsho's consort (grang
yum or bdag mo) was che nun Shes-rab-dbang-mo.
Though a nun from her girlhood, she was hot-tem-
pered and powerful, able to boss around other mem-
bers of the chieftain family,85
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho and Shes-rab-
dbang-mo had three children: one girl (the oldest) and
twO boys. Shes-rab-dbang-mo still remained a nun and
to this day is a devoted religious practitioner.86 The
eldet son was born in the mid-1940s.87 Some of the
conservative monks of the Ngor-pa school viewed this
as a major obstacle caused by Shugs-ldan, since their
"sGa-pa mkhan-po" had been lost as a celibate monk.88
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho visited gTsang
and Shigatse again in about 1949 or 1950, accompa-
nied by twO sons, the elder of whom was about three
and was said to be the rebirth of 'Jam-rgyal Rin-po-
che. Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho still wore
monks's robes and had a shaved head, and not the
more typical long hair and white lower robe of a lay
tantrika (sngags pa).89
His consort. Shes-rab-dbang-mo, later endured
nearly twenty years in Chinese prisons. In the mid-
1980s, several years after her release, her younger broth-
er dPon 'Chi-med-rnam-rgyal visited Tibet and man-
aged to bring her out to India. She now lives with their
older brother, the Khri-'du sprul-sku, in Bylakuppe
(Mysore),90 All three children were left behind in
Khams. One son is said to resemble his father.91
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho was sensitive to
spiritual phenomena. Once during an initiation from
Dam-pa Rin-po-che, he felt the "wisdom spirit" Cre
shes pa) descend, and he got up and starred to dance
around. His uncle Bla-ma dGe-'dun swatted him and
said, "Sit down and behave yourselfl" Later in Khams
when he gave initiations, it was well known that some
disciples might react in the same way. The Dra'u chief-
tain Rin-chen-tshe-ring, for instance, as a young man
was afraid that it might happen to him.n
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho lived as a sort of
"holy madman" (rhos smyon) and was subject to ecstat-
ic trances in which deities entered his person. On
numerous occasions, when bestowing the initiation of
Na-ro mKha' -spyod-ma, he rose and began dancing
and whirling about. Sometimes it seemed as if Ngag-
dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho's were physically struggling
for the possession of his body with another deity:
Shugs-ldan.93
'Chi-med-rnam-rgyal. the youngest brother of his
consort, was as a youch skeptical about Ngag-dbang-
yon-tan-rgya-mtsho and, like his father, had not been
happy that the lama had just gone ahead and taken his
sister Shes-rab-dbang-mo as consort. Once. when
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho and 'Chi-med-
rnam-rgyal were travelling together on horseback
through Patshong Khogpa in Dza, a parr of sGa-pa
ruled by the Dra'u-dpon of Jyekundo, the lama dis-
mounted, jumping onto a flat rock. His feet sunk into
the rock as if it had been mud.
Another day when their paths happened to cross
while travelling to different destinations, the master
remarked, "You don't have real faith in me." Then he
said, "You know, your mother is just now shouting! A
wolf is carrying off one of the lambs."
Later 'Chi-med-rnam-rgyallearned that the fami-
ly's herd of sheep back in Khri-'du had indeed been
attacked by a pack of wolves on the same day. (Ngag-
dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho had told him this, he
believed, in order to increase his faith.)
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho was thus highly
exccpi.ivnal, and he attracted all the Sa-skya-pa and
even many Kagyupa and Nyingmapa adherents in
sGa-pa as his disciples. If he gave them his personal
blessing or a protection-cord, they would not be trou-
bled by Shugs-ldan.94
Final Pilgrimage to Central Tibet
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho was endowed with
clairvoyance and could foresee the future. In the mid-
1950s, he told the people in sGa-pa what the Chinese
would do, predicting accurately many of the changes
that would come, urging them to practice religion. He
said "All this wealth and ornaments will be of no use
when the Chinese come."
Nobody had any idea about what he was talking
about or of what lay ahead. Everyone was lulled by the
still reassuring talk of the Chinese, and no radical
changes in the old ways of life had yet been made.
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho was openly criti-
cized in public meetings, but the local people and
monasteries and nobles remained behind him. The
local lords had given no thought to organizing a prop-
er resistance, beyond pitching tents high in the hills
and engaging in minor skirmishes.95
In about 1956, Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho
taught the people in Khri-'du and sGa-pa, "Times are
bad, and the Chinese policies are harmful. We have no
religious freedom or happiness!" He strongly urged
everybody to practice religion.
After his urging [Ook some effect, he announced,
"1 am going on pilgrimage to central Tibet. There I
will give away all my worldly possessions, making
offerings to the Ja-bo in Lhasa and to the monasteries
of'Sa-skya and Ngor." After that, he said, he would "You should not go to Bhutan!" replied rDzong-
conrinue his pilgrimage. He was the guru of the gsar mKhyen-brrse. "Only three lamas in Khams
Bhutan king (having been invited three or four times), have the power to stop the Chinese-one is the
and he planned to visit Bhutan again.96 rDzogs-chen Padma-rig-'dzin (incarnate lama) and
As an important parr of his pilgrimage, Ngag- one is you. All three of you must go back to Khams.
dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho reached Ngor in about You must hold a major religious convocation (chos
late 1957 or early 1958 . .l3y then~ the senior Khang- 'khor) and perform a great gtor-ma exorcism ritual to
gsar abbot had passed away (d. 1952), as had Ngag- repel the Chinese!"97
dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho's guru Dam-pa Rin-po-
che(d.1953).

Last Teachings and Rituals at Ku-se

gSer-ljongs
To fulfill this direct command of his guru, Ngag-
dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho gave up the planned trip to
Bhutan. Turning back at Sikkim, he rushed to Khams,
going by rhe shortest route to Derge district without
visiting sGa-pa. As he arrived, troubles with Chinese
soldiets were just starring.98
In abom late 1958, Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-
mtsho arrived at Ku-se near Derge, and at gSer-
Ijongs Monastery he began his last major public
teaching, the esoteric transmission of the Path with
Its Fruit (Lam 'bl'llsslob bshad). Many Derge nobles
came to receive the teachings and also [Q consult
him about the great impending changes being intro-
duced by the Chinese Communists. He openly crit-
icized the Communists and encouraged those pres-
ent to resist them.
He led a great exorcism ritual (mdos chen) to
repel the harm caused by the Chinese. In the course
of the ceremony (based on a mChog-gling gter-ma?),
they burnt over one thousand bundles of goods and
many effigies. At the end, many of those present per-
rDzong gsar mKhyen brtse chos kyi blo gros (1893-1959), formed a great dance, with the dancers divided into
Ngag-dbang·yon-tan-rgya-mtsho's teacher from Khams four groups: monks, lay-tanrrikas (mgags pal, lay-
AMI Visual Archives (Collection Tashi Tsering). men and la}'\vomen.')9
During the ceremony, a number of bad signs
After making offerings at Ngor, Ngag-dbang- occurred. When they tried to carry the main gtor-ma
yon-tan-rgya-mtsho came [in about 1958J to sacrificial cake outside, it was roo heavy to [ifr.
Sikkim, where his main living guru, rDzong-gsar When the leader shot an arrow, it somehow flew
mKhyen-brrse-chos-kyi-blo-gros (1893-1959), was back in the direction from which it was shot. (By
staying at the royal palace. That great lama had qui- this time it was early spring 1959, the time of the
etly fled rDzong-gsar and Khams in 1955, telling his Lhasa revolt.)
disciples he was "going on pilgrimage," not wanting N gag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya- mtsho meanwh ile
co create an uproar but already foreseeing the trou- encouraged the local nobles to fortify rhe monastery
bles to come. and to defend it against Chinese attacks. When rhe
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho reported to his Chinese army approached with overwhelmingly supe-
teacher, "I've performed big ceremonies to repel the rior weaponry and troops, and it became clear they
Chinese Communists and to reduce their harm. Now could not hold out. many ran away,lOn
I am going to Bhutan at the invitation of the king."
 Flight from the Chinese
When the situation in Ku-se was untenable, Ngag-
dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho fled with his family and
some others westward toward Chab-mdo. One day
during their flight, Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho
turned to his consort and said, "Your father died today,
you know. Recite some manis in his memory!" He
could nor have learned about her father's death by any
normal means-he died many days' journey distant at
a soldier encampment in sGa-pa, and intense fighting
with the Chinese had already broken all lines of com-
munication.
[They evidencly paused in their flight to perform
rituals for her father, for] he later said, "If your father
hadn't died, we would have reached safety in India."
In Chab-mdo, flight as a group also became
impossible. He was forced to leave his family behind.
Before parting, he cold Shes-rab-dbang-mo, "Don't
worry. You'll go co prison and experience many bad
things, but in the end conditions will get better."
Shes-rab-dbang-mo went with the three children
(the youngest a little boy of about three) to Chab-
mdo, where she stayed about two months. She was
detained and sene back to sGa-pa, where she was
imprisoned and tortured severely. As a nun from a
chieftain family, she wore twO "hats" of disgrace-reli-
gious and political-and the persecution she endured
was twice as bad. She survived only because not all of
her old retainers were rabid in their criticisms during
the endless accusation sessions, and now and then they
gave her a few scraps of food. Many others died at this
time of starvation. 101
The Last Years in Prison
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho could not stay safely
in Chab-mdo town, bur went high up into the moun-
tains, hoping to escape. There he ran into Chinese sol-
diers, who took him prisoner. They asked him where
he was from. When he told them "from sGa-pa," they
led him back to his homeland.
Later, reportS circulated that Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-
rgya-mtsho was caught and first imprisoned in Chab-
mdo, and afterwards sent to a large prison in Qinghai
(mTsho-sngon). But his consort believed he went first
to sGa-pa and then to a prison in Qinghai.
When he left for prison, he said to his remaining
disciples, "I am going there, and will die after being
torrured. If any of you have real faith and trUSt in me,
- -
come along with me!" Two disciples accompanied him
to prison, both dying there before their maSter. At the
death of each, he sat in meditation and performed the
transfer-of-consciousness rirual ('pho ba}.I02
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho died in the early
1960s at about age sixty,103in a large prison near si-
ling holding thousands of prisoners. Ie is said he man-
ifested wonders even in prison, for instance, freeing
himself from his shackles. (His lineage was known to
have special powers-such as to bend steel swords and
to withstand being muck by lightning.) 104
In Lhasa in the 1980s, a rNying-ma incarnate lama
from Khams who spent months together with Ngag-
dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho in that prison reported to a
senior Ngor-pa monk:105
I rec:eiyed many teachings from Ngag-dbang-
yon-tan-rgya-mtsho. He was a realized adept. If
you tried co restrain him with manacles or hand-
cuffs, he could bend them and take them off. If
no people were around, he could leave his cell
and go outside, even though all the doors were
locked.
Conclusion
Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho was one of the most
powerful, dramatic. and, in the end, quixotic abbots of
Ngor. I regret that I have only now begun to work
direccly on his biography and that most of my main
oral accounts were gathered almost accidentally-with
no follow-up interviews-when researching other top-
ics. Still, I hope that this preliminary sketch may
inspire others to take a closer look into the life of this
exasperatingly dogged idealist.
Appendix
The Scholastic Seminary at Ngor
Several attempts were made in the twentieth century
to found a scripture-exposition seminary (bshad grwa)
in gZhan-dga's readition at Ngor. though few met with
much success. The first attempt to found a scholastic
seminary was made by gZhan-dga's disciple Mi-nyag
A-dpal, who came to N gor in about 1917 and died
JUStfour years later in ca. 1920,106 He is said to have
been poorly received by both the lama-palaces and the
regional dormitories at Ngor.
 Brag-g.yab Thub-bstan-bzang-po (I 891/92-
1930/31), another direct pupil of gZhan-dga', came co
Ngor after Mi-nyag A-dpal's death, staying co teach in
ca. 1920-1921. When Bla-ma dGe-'dun arrived at
Ngor in ca. 1922, he took over, and Brag-g.yab Thub-
bstan was invited e1sewhere.107 Bla-ma dGe-'dun's
tenure was not a great success, owing i.n part to his
strictness as a tea::her.
Twenty years later, a new attempt was made by two
learned monks from Khams who had arrived at Ngor
in 1945: Bo-dar rGyal-mtshan (d. 1946) and g.Yon-ru
Rab-gsal (d. ca. 1949). Bo-dar rGyal-mtshan was from
Jyekundo in sGa-pa and was the senior of the two.
Shud-khud-pa bSod-nams-dbang-rgyal (1915?-ca.
1974/75), who served as Thar-me phyag-mdzod for
some years, was instrumental in organizing and
financing this attempt. He was an ex-monk who then
maintained the home estate of the family (gzhis ka
bzhugs).108 He was concerned about the education of
his nephews, who included three Ngor zhabs-drnng. In
about 1945, after consulting with the other lama-
palaces, he started up the classes and arranged -for the
teachers' salaries. The classes met in the Chu-'dus
regional dormitory.
The idea was not universally well received. Many
Ngor-pa monks had a sort of superstition that study of
the scholastic texts was neither necessary nor useful for
them. They considered themselves a "tantric college"
(sngags grwa tsha'lg) and not a "scholastic college"
(mtshan nyid gnva tshang).
At first about thirty students attended, and then
the numbers steadily dwindled year by year. The stu-
dents included at first the three zhabs-drnng. Khang-
gsar Zhabs-drung Ye-shes-bstan-'dzin, and Thar-me
Zhabs-drung bSod-nams-rgya-mrsho and Thar-rtse
Zhabs-drung Kun-dga'. The latter was too young to
benefit much from the classes, so he was taken out and
given separate instruction. His older twO brothers con-
tinued, and it was there that they got their basic edu-
cation in the Mahayana classicS,Io9
Bo-dar rGyal-mtshan died after about two years
(ca. 1946). He was then succeeded by g.Yon-ru Rab-
gsal. a learned scholar who had served at the
rOzong-gsar seminary as assistant teacher during the
tenure of sOe-gz.h.ung Chos-'phel (mkhan-po ca.
1936-40). He was a devout disciple of Legs-pa Rin-
po-che and had offered rull prostrations before sGa-
ston's residence at the 'Ozi-mda' gNas-gseb retreat
until his feet bled. He also performed prostrations
the entire way rrom Khams to the Lhasa Jo-bo. After
Legs-pa Rin-po-che's death in 1941, he also ofFered
many butter lamps and other things. Though he was
originally a poor monk, tWOcomrade monks from
Jyekundo helped suppot( him, including Bo-dar
rGyal-mtshan. Both of them had received the rGyud
sde kun btllS teachings from Oam-pa Rin-po-che ae
rTa-nag" 10
g.Yon-ru Rab-gsal acted as the head of [he small
seminary from ca. 1946 until his own death (in ca. late
1949/1950?). Then some of his advanced disciples
acted as teacher. In the mid-1950s mkhan-po A-pad
(Ku-se gSer-ljongs Yon-tan-bzang-po, b. 1927) came
to Ngor and was requested [0 revive the struggling
seminary, though with little support from the
monastery's central administration.
The seminary at Ngor always faced resistance and
was never widely appreciated. But in helping educate a
few promising zhabs-drnng, it played an important
role in the late 1940s.
Notes
1. The following account has been based primarily
on oral sources, the most important of which were
interviews with Phan-bde Lhag-pa, May 5, 1994,
Bodhnath, Kathmandu (transcribed in part by T.
G. Dhongthog Rinpoche), and Khri-'du dPon
'Chi-med-rnam-rgyal by Carole McGranahan,
June 26, 1999, Majnu-Ka-Tilla, Delhi, kindly
arranged by Mr. Tashi Tsering Josayma.
2. Oezhung Rinpoche, Jam rgyal rnam fhar, p. 2a.
IOan-ma dPon-slob Ngag-dbang-Iegs-grub, some-
times called "bKa'-'gyur-ba" in contemporary
sources, was a lama of great importance for rhe
Ngor-pa tradition in the mid-nineteenth century.
He was seriously considered for rhe Ngor abbacy at
least once, bur lacked the necessary wealth. His
collected works comprised five volumes, including
his sDom gsum j"am dbyangs bla ma'i dgongs rgyan
(composed Oerge, 1855) and numerous works for
tantric meditation practice that were included in
the rGyud sde klm btus collection. See Khenpo
Appey et a!., p. 161, and O. Jackson (1983), p. 22.
3. Phende Lhakpa 1994.
4. Phendc Lhakpa 1994. See also Oezhung Rill-
poche, Jam rgyal rnam thar, p. 2a.
5. Phende Lhakpa referred [0 Nor-lu's family as "A-
pho Legs-grub-tshang," but said [here may have
 been an earlier ancescor-a father or grandfa-
ther-with this same name.
6. According to Phende Lhakpa 1994, one of Nor-Iu
and Ring-Iu's sons, possibly no. 4, Ngag-dbang-
tshe-ring, was commonly known as ICags-khra.
He wenr as an adoptive groom (mag pal to the
Khri-'du Khar-tshang, and his son was the Zhe-
'dzang monk dBang-'dus.
7. Phende Lhakpa 1994.
8. Dezhung Rinpoche, Jam rgyal roam thar, p. 8.
9. According to Phende Lhakpa 1994, another co-
disciple under Bla-ma dGe-'dun at this time was
another of Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho's
cousin, the Zhe-'dzang monk dBang-'dus, who was
the son of dGe-'dun's brother lCags-khra.
17. Byams-pa-kun-dga' -bstan-pa'i-rgyal-mtshan,
ro. Ane Chime, September 1992.
[6. E. Gene Smirh (1963), recording the assertion of
Dezhung Rinpoche. I have not found this yet in
Byams-pa-kun-dga' -bstan-pa'i-rgyal-m cshan,
biography of Byams-pa-kun-dga' -bstan-'dzin, bm
his biography of Byams-pa-nam-mkha'-'chi-med,
pp. 87.2-88, mentions a provisional adoption of a
rotating abbacy already in 1793 when dpon-slo b
Ngag-dbang-dam-chos at first did not accept the
abbacy. It will be possible to extract many more
details about the history of Ngor from the three
biographies ofThar-me abbots of the 19th centu-
ry written by Byams-pa-kun-dga'-bstan-pa'i-rgyal-
mtshan ::::1dKhu-na 'Jam-dbyangs-shes-rab-rgya-
mtsho's biography of Byams-pa-kun-dga' -bstan-
pa'i-rgyal-mcshan. Khu-na 'Jam-dbyangs-shes-
rab-rgya-mtsho was a teacher of Blo-grer-dbang-
po, who printed all four biographies in the Lam
'bras slob bshad.
biog-
raphy of Byams-pa-kun-dga'-bstan-'dzin, p. 259.6.

II. Dagmo Kusho and Ane Chime, Seattle, September
1992.
12. Dezhung Rinpoche, Jam rgyal roam thar, p. 44.
After dGon-chen mKhyen-brtse 'Jam-dbyangs-
chos-kyi-dbang-phyug faced troubles at the Derge
dGon-chen, he went co Len-steng monastery in
sGa, where he became known as "sGa Len-steng
mKhyen-bme."
13. Dezhung Rinpoche, Jam rgyal rnam thar, p_ 45f.
14. E. Gene Smith (1963), p. 7. According to Phan-
bde Lhag-pa 1993, Dezhung Rinpoche (1906-
1987) was a youth, there had been talk thac he was
the rebirth of Phan-bde mKhan-po Ngag-dbang-
kun-dga' -bstan-pa'i-rgyal-mcshan (1863-1899),
sixty-first abbot of Ngor in 1895-98. These
rumors were stopped when che Sa-skya prelate
Drag-shul-phrin-Ias-rin-chen recognized one of his
sons (probably Ngag-dbang-kun-dga' -rgyal-
mtshan, ca. 1903 or 1905-ca. 1940) as che latter's
rebirth. According to Thartse Gelong Tenzin,
Bodhnath, April 1999, Ngag-dbang-yon-can-rgya-
mcsho also claimed CO have been the rebirth of
dPal-ldan-chos-skyong and 'Gro-mgon dBang-
'dud-snying-po,
I). Pon Chime Namgyal, Delhi, 1999.
18. Ibid., pp. 276-278.
19. Byams-pa-kun-dga' -bstan-pa'i-rgyal-mtshan, biog-
raphy of rNal-'byor-bzang-po, pp. 426-428, men-
tions for instance che institution of a strict monas-
tic code in 1836 ac che suggestion of che Sa-skya
khri-pa, and the resulting "revolt" of the Mi-nyag
khang-tshan.
20. Phende Lhakpa 1994.
21. Kllu-na Pandi-ra dPon-slob 'Jam-dbyangs-shes-
rab-rgya-mtsho in his biography of Byams-pa-
kun-dga' -bstan-pa'i-rgyal-mtshan, p. 585, men-
tions that mKhyen-brtse-dbang-po and Ngag-
dbang-Iegs-grub were boch considered for the
abbacy in 1851, bue were rejected because they
lacked sufficient wealth. One assumes that both
were formally Thar-me zhabs-drung. According
to Dezhung Rinpoche, oral communication
1979, in the next decades the author of that
biography, Thar-rcse Khu-na 'Jam-dbyangs-shes-
rab-rgya-mtsho (d. ca. 1894?), who was born in
sGa, served as dpon-slob and acting-abbot (khri
tshab) at Ngor. though he was never officially
installed as abbot. Buc in the opinion of
Dezhung Rinpoche and his masters, he actually
deserved to be counted among the abbots at
about number 59.

-
22. Lama Thamc Kunga, 1994.
23. See also S. Carnahan and Lama Kunga Rinpochc
(1995), p. 16f.
24. sDe-gzhung sPrul-sku A-'jam (1885-1952) as a
youth was named by Phan-bde mKhan-po dPal-
Idan-blo-gros-rgyal-mtshan (1840-1900) to be the
rebirth of Phan-bde mKhan-po Kun-dga' -bstan-
pa'i-blo-gros' (1822-1884) and also Phan-bde
Zhabs-drung, but the monks of his home
monastery in Li-thang sDe-gzhung, a branch of
Na-Iendra, resisted vociferously. See Phrin-Ias-
chos-'phel, p. 49 (fol. 25a). In ca. 1925 or 1926
the Phan-bde phyag-mdzod Zla-ba-nor-bu
attempted to name Tharlam Dezhung Trulku
(Kun-dga' -bstan-pa'i-nyi-ma 1906-1987) as Phan-
bde Zhabs-drung, but this was blocked by
Dezhung Trulku's teachers Ngag-dbang-nyi-ma
and sGa-sron Ngag-dbang-Iegs-pa.
25. Abbots no. 55, Khang-gsar mKhan-chen Ngag-
dbang-bsod-nams-rgyal-mtshan (b. 1830s, d.
1890s), tenure 1859-1866, and abbot no. 56,
Khang-gsar 'Jam-dbyangs-shes-rab-rgya-mtsho (d.
1873?), "seven-year tenure" (1866-c. IS70?], seem
to have been the last of the original Bla-brang
dKar-po lineage of Khang-gsar.
26. Possibly Ngag-dbang-blo-gros-snying-po had [\'10
brothers at Na-lendra: the nineteenth Na-lendra
khri-pa bsTan-pa'i-dbang-phyug-mchog-grub and
his (younger?) brother the f\'Ientieth khri-pa, dGe-
'dun-bkra-shis-dpal-'byor. Both were from the
Zhwa-Iu line and were nephews of the eighteenth
khri-pa Ngag-dbang-kun-dga'-mkhyen-rab. dGe-
'dun-bkra-shis-dpal-'byor is, moreover, counted in
the rTse-gdong sprul-sku lineage, as was his prede-
cessor, the fourteenth khri-pa.
27. E. Gene Smith (1963), foomote 21.
28. According to Chobgye Rinpoche, 1994, the first
candidate Ngag-dbang-mkhyen-rab-'jam-dpal-
snying-po proposed to identify as sprul-skll was
the Zhwa-lll son who later became Thar-rtse Wa-
f:! Zhabs-drung (and eventually Thar-nse abbot)
Byarns-p a-nam-mkha' -ku n-bzan g-bstan -pa' i-rgral-
mtshan 0907-1940).
29. E. Gene Smith (1%.3). foutnote 21.
3Q. Chobgye){inpochc 1994.
31. The record of teachings received (gsan yij) of H. H.
Sakya Trizin, vol. 1, p. 159, mentions, for instance,
that Dam-pa Rin-po-che Ngag-dbang-blo-gros-
gzhan-phan-snying-po received the initiation for
Nyang-ral's Gu-ru-drag-dmar and the Sarvavid-
vairocana (Kun-rig) initiations from (1) Ngag-
dbang-blo-gros-snying-po, (2) Brag-ri Zhabs-
drung Rin-po-che, and (3) 'Gu-zi Zhabs-drung.
The same record of teachings received, voL 1, p.
165.3, lists Brag-ri Zhabs-drung 'Jam-dbyangs-
chos-lq'~-nyi-ma as a disciple of Ngag-dbang-bio-
gros-snying-po and master of Ngag-dbang-blo-
gros-gzhan-phan-snying-po in the lineage of the
nine deities of Amitayus (tshe dpag med lha dgu).
32. A still later Khang-gsar Zhabs-drung who was an
important disciple of Dam-pa Rin-po-che was Ye-
shes-bstan-'dzin or Ngag-dbang-blo-gros-bstan-
'dzin-snying-po (1927-ca. 1956) of the Shu-khud-
pa family. See S. Carnahan (1995), p. 140, for his
photograph. He only survived his teacher by abom
three years.
33. Phende Lhakpa 1994.
34. Phende Lhakpa 1994.
35. E. Gene Smith (1963), p. 7.
36. In this Ngag-dbang-mkhyen-rab-'jam-dpal-sny-
ing-po followed his uncle Ngag-dbang-blo-gros-
snying-po. who was famous for having brought the
rgyal-po spirit under his control. See Bla-gter-
dbang-po. p. 645.4 (ya 76a) , who wrote concern-
ing Ngag-dbang-blo-gros-snying-po: rgyal chen rdo
rje shugs ldan bran du 'khol bas gdug pa can JUS
kyang bka'las (/a' mi nus/. Blo-gtcr-dbang-po wrote
this in the firsr few years of the 1900s, while Ngag-
dbang-blo-gros-snying-po was still alive.
37. Blo-gter-dbang-po, p. 646 (ya 76b).
38. According to Tharrse Lama Kunga. oral informa-
tion, dBu-gdugs sKu-ngo may also haY<:been relat-
ed to the Zhwa-Iu sKu-zhang.
39. The "Byang-chung mkhan-po" was called by
Phende Lhakpa 1994 "Byang-chen bla-ma" or
"Byang-chcn [shong-dpoll." He had it husiness
fUllction and Ilot a religiuus om:.
40. Phendc L1ukpa 1994.
41. Chobgye Thrichen Rinpoche, Bodhnath 1994.
42. Phende Lhakpa 1994.
43. Ibid.
44. Ibid.
45. T. G. Dhongthog. Dam pa rin po che rnam thar.
Lam 'bras slob bshad, nya foJ. 4b (p_ 396).
46. Phende Lhakpa 1994. On rhe founding of the scrip-
tural seminary ae Ngor. see rhe appendix, below.
47. Phende Lhakpa 1994.
48. M. Aris (1979), p. 274.
49. Thartse Gelong Tenzin. Bodhnath. April 1999.
50. E. Gene Smith (1963), p. 7.
51. Ibid., p. 9.
52. Tharrse Gelong Tenzin, Bodhnarh, April 1999.
53. M. Aris (1979), p. 196.
54. Ibid., citing dGe.'dun-rin-chen, Lho phyogs nag
mo'i ljongs kyi chos 'byung, foJ. 89a-b.
55. Tharrse Gelong Temin, Bodhnarh, April 1999.
56. Phende Lhakpa 1994.
57. Tharrse Gelong Tenzin, Bodhnath, April 1999.
58. The sources are unclear. bur seem ro indicate that
Ngag-dbang-yon-ran-rgya-ll1rsho tried co expel
Shugs-Idan from Ngor in 1935 or 1940. Accord-
ing ro Pan Chime Namgyal, Delhi, 1999, he
attempted this in 1957, during his last visir to
Ngor, which was probably roo lare.
59. E. Gene Smith (1963), p. 7.
60. R. de Nebesky- Wojkowirz (l956), Oracles find
Demons of Tibet, p. 14 I .
61. E. Gene Smith (1%3), p. 7.
61. Phende Lhakpa 1994.
63. Pan Chime Namgyal, Delhi, 1999.
64. E. Gene Smith (1963). p. 7.
65. Pon Chime Namgyal, Delhi, 1999.
66. Pon Chime Namgyal, Delhi, 1999.
67. Ibid.
68. Tharrse Gelong Te"zin, Bodhnath, April 1999.
69. Phende Lhakpa 1994.
70. Lama Tharrse Kung •••..;. ••l information, 1999.
71. Tharrse Gelong Tenzin, Bodhnath, April 1999.
72. Phende Lhakpa 1994. According co S. Khedrup,
New Delhi, March 1996, Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-
rgya-mtsho also had some sisters who were nuns,
one called A-ne bZang-mo.
73. Phende Lhakpa 1994.
74· E. Gene Smith (1963), p. 7.
75. Phende Lhakpa 1994.
76. Dezhung Rinpoche, as r..:rorded by E. G. Smith
(1963), p. 8.
77. Pha-bong-kha-pa's letter, preserved in his collected
works, is quoted in T. G. Dhongchog (1979), Dus
kyi me 'char (The Timely Flame), pp. 116-117.
78. S. Carnahan (1995), pp. 88-89, 91-92. After his
arrest, the fourth ringleader, Brag-g.yab Bla-ma
Lam-rim, expressed his sincere remorse, saying he
had become "like an old dog running with a pack
of young hounds" and had gone against the prin-
ciples of the Buddhadharma. He was noe Hogged
bur was allowed to go into retreat (ibid., p. 93).
79. ron Chime Namgyal, Delhi, 1999.
80. According to Pan Chime Namb'Yal, Delhi, 1999,
that abbot had been from the Thar-rrse lama palace.
81. Pan Chime Namgyal. Delhi, 1999.
I
82. Phende Lhakpa 1994. 100.
83. This accoum was later related to Dezhung Rin-
poche by [he Tharlam monks, as recorded by E. G.
Smith (1963), p. 8.
84. Ane Chime, April 1996.
101.
85. Pon Chime Namgyal, Delhi, 1999.
102.
86. Ibid.
103.
8y. Ane Chime. Bodhnath, April 1999.
104.
88. Some said Ngag-dbang-yon-tan-rgya-mtsho had
been in retreat and tossed around some offering 105.
grains, a few of which landed outside and sprouted,
turning miraculously into a little field of grain. He 106.
became entranced with tending this field, and as he
did so, thoughts of a worldly nature entered his mind. laY. See ibid., pp. 147-148.
(Tashi Tsering, Dharamsala, April 1999, remember-
ing the account of the Yen. Losang Drakpa.) 108.
89. Tharcse Gelong Tenzin, Bodhnath, April 1999.
90. Pon Chime Namgyal, Delhi, 1999.
109.
91. Ane Chime, Bodhnath, April 1999.
110.
92. Tharrse Gelong Tenzin, Bodhnath, April 1999.
Khenpo Appey, March 1996. Later when the Chi-
nese inv'c~tigatedin more detail, trying to idemif.l
and puni,h the ringleaders, the head of Ku-s'c
monastery, 01gag-dbang-grags-pa, declared [hat
the whole thing from start to finish had been his
idea and that he would take all the blame.
Pon Chime Namgyal, Delhi, 1999.
Ibid.
Khenpo Appey, March 1996.
S. Khedrup, New Delhi, March 1996.
Tharrse Gelong Tenzin. Bodhnarh, April 1999.
See D. Jackson (1997), pp. 145.
Lama Tharne Kunga, interview B0rlhnath 1994.
For Shud-khud-pa bSod-nams-dbang-rgyal's
photo in ca. 1950, see S. Carnahan and Lama
Kunga (1995), p. 79.
Lama Tharrse Kunga, interview Bodhnath 1994.
Dhongthog Rinpoche, 1994.

93. Dezhung Rinpoche, as recorded in E. G. Smith

(1963), p. 9. Bibliography
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96. Ibid. This was during the first decade of the reign
of the third king of Bhutan, 'Jigs-med-rdo-rje-
dbang-phyug. reign 1952-1972.
97. Pon Chime Namgyal. Delhi, 1999.
98. Ibid.
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99. Later, during the Communist "srruggle sessions,"
the head lay-tantrika (sngags-pa) was accused by a
local layman of dancing at this time with the othcr
lay-tantrikas. The latter looked his accuser in the eye
and retorted: "Yes, I did dance with the lay-tanrrika
group, but you danced in the laymen group!"
---- (1997). "A Reviver ofSa-skya-pa Scriptural
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khu dbon gsum g;yi thun mong ba'i nags pa
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'Phrin-las-chos-'phel. rJe bla ma }am dbyangs kun dga'
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