Drenpa Namkha
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Drenpa Namkha (Tibetan: dran pa nam mkha' ) was born in the eighth century near Mt Kailash in Chunlung Ngul Kha in south-western Tibet. As a young student he was a blessed with eight principal Bön teachers. Drenpa Namkha became a self-realized supreme master of the three Bön practices, known as Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen. Drenpa Namkha is the primary long-life deity according to Bön and is also historically important as the father of Padmasambhava.
One of the foremost Bonpos of the time, Drenpa Namkha (Dran-pa Nam-mkha'), played an important role during the second persecution of Bön. He headed the Bonpo side in a contest against the Buddhists organized by the king to discover which side had the greatest miraculous power.[1]
Drenpa Namkha is a popular personage in the Bön tradition. Drenpa Namkha's biography in eight volumes was published by sPa-tshang Sonam Gyantsan, Delhi in 1983. Drenpa Namkha is said to have had twin sons: Tshe-dbang Rig-'dzin, a Bön teacher, and Pad-ma 'Byung-gnas, the famous Buddhist teacher Padmsambhava.[2]
[edit] Iconography
Drenpa Namkha holds a Yungdrung chakshing in his right hand to indicate the indestructibility and permanence of the Bön teachings. Victory over heretics is symbolized by the eye on the sole of his foot.
[edit] Notes
- ^ http://www.yungdrung-bon.net/page/anglais/A-histoire/A-HISTOIRE2_BON.html (accessed: Tuesday, 9 January 2007)
- ^ Karmay, The Treasury of Good Sayings, Oxford University Press, London 1972: xxxii n.4
[edit] References
- http://bonpo.net/deities.html#Drenpa%20Namkha (accessed: Tuesday, 9 January 2007)
- Moulin, Christophe (undated). History of Bön - second part: The Propagation of Bön in Zhang-zhung and Tibet http://www.yungdrung-bon.net/page/anglais/A-histoire/A-HISTOIRE2_BON.html (accessed: Tuesday, 9 January 2007)
- Karmay (1972). The Treasury of Good Sayings, Oxford University Press, London.
- Kvæne, Per. (?). The Bon Religion Of Tibet: The Iconography Of A Living Tradition.
