Rongzom Mahapandita

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Rongzom Mahapandita (Tibetan: rong zom pa chos kyi bzang po) (1012-1088) was regarded as one of the "omniscient" (Kunkhyen) Nyingmapa. Together with Longchenpa and Jigme Lingpa he is one of the few to be honored with this title.

Germano (2002: unpaginated) states that:

In the eleventh century, Rongzom Chokyi Zangpo was without doubt the greatest Nyingma author, with extensive exoteric and esoteric commentaries.^[1]

Barber (1990: p.301) links together Atisha, Ch'an, Dzogchen, Vairotsana, Vimalamitra and holds that:

The rNyingma master Rong Zom lived at the time of Atisa. Two generations before him the Ch'an teachings that survived after the suppression of Ch'an (in Tibet), were unified with the rDzogs pa Chen po teachings of Vairocana. Rong Zom received the entire teachings of both Vimalamitra and Vairocana. He was the first person to do so. After the time of these two masters. Because the Ch'an teachings were already preserved in the system of Vairocana, with Rong Zom the whole of the rDzogs pa Chen po and Tibetan Ch'an were united.^[2]

In "Part 3" of the Blue Annals, Go Lotsawa held that Rongzom Chökyi Zangpo was the pre-eminent Sanskrit scholar of his age and that no scholar in Tibet was his equal.^[3] Rongzompa was the only Nyingmapa to be given their own chapter by Go Lotsawa in the Blue Annals. Go Lotswawa states that he drew upon two separate biographies of Rongzompa: one composed by yol dge bsnyen rdo rje dbang phyug (Tibetan) and the other by g.yag rdo rje 'dzin pa (Tibetan).^[4]

Déchen (undated: unpaginated) states that Rongzompa was key in the propagation of the 'Mind Class' (Wylie: Sems-sde) division of Dzogchen and mentions Manjushri, siddhi, terton, Nyingma and rlung:

Rongdzom Chökyi Zangpo was a great master of Dzogchen in the 11th century. At the age of eleven he was able to remember teachings after hearing them only once. For this reason he was known as an emanation of Manjushri. He also possessed great siddhis and during the one hundred nineteen years that he lived he had many students, wrote prolifically and developed the system of teaching known as Rong-lug. Many more lines branched out after this but after the 11th century it declined. By the 17th century sem-dé had become extinct as a separate living tradition. Rig’dzin gTér-dag Lingpa, one of the great Nyingma gTértöns, stated that practically nothing survived of sem-dé in his day (17th century) apart from the transmission of the rLung (permission to practise).^[5]

Contents 1 Nomenclature 2 Hagiographic / iconographic representation 3 Writings 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References

[edit] Nomenclature

Alternate orthographic renderings in English: Rongzompa, Rongzom Pandita, Rongzompa Chokyi Sangpo, Rongzom Chokyi Zangpo.

[edit] Hagiographic / iconographic representation

In hagiographic/iconographic representations of Rongzom Mahapandita, he is often depicted with a bumpa as an aureole, holding a ghanta (ritual bell) upturned like a bowl or vessel in his left-hand or prajna-hand and a dorje in his right-hand or upaya- hand.^[6]

[edit] Writings

Works of Rongzompa held in esteem are:

• Entering the Approach of the Middle Way, (Tib: theg chen tshul 'jug);
• Establishing the Divinity of Appearances (Tib: snang ba lhar grub);
• A commentary on Padmasambhava's Key Instructions: A Rosary of Views (Tib: man ngag lta phreng).

[edit] See also

• Generation stage
• Completion stage
• Moheyan
• Samye

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Barber, A. W. (1990). The Unifying of Rdzogs Pa Chen Po and Ch'an. "Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal". Vol.3 April, 1990. Source: [7] (accessed: November 30, 2007)
• Ray, Gary L. (undated). The Northern Ch'an School And Sudden Versus Gradual Enlightenment Debates In China And Tibet. Berkeley: Institute Of Buddhist Studies. [8] (accessed: November 30, 2007)

Persondata
NAME
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Tibetan Buddhist llama and scholar
DATE OF BIRTH	1012
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH	1088
PLACE OF DEATH