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Jamgön Kongtrül is a name of a prominent line of Tibetan Buddhist teachers (lama), primarily identified with the first Jamgon Kongtrul, but also the name shared by members of a lineage held by tradition to be his subsequent reincarnations (tulku), to date.
The first Jamgon Kongtrul, Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thayé, was one of the preeminent scholars in 19th century Tibet. Tibetan Buddhists believe that he had multiple simultaneous emanations; only one of these, Khyentse Özer, was called the second Jamgon Kongtrul. The recognition of the fourth Jamgon Kongtrul is presently in dispute, complicated by the ongoing controversy regarding the recognition of the genuine reincarnation of H.H. the 17th Karmapa.
The Jamgon Kongtruls are honored as lineage-holders of all the lineages of Tibetan Buddhism, although they are primarily identified with the Karma Kagyu lineage. The Jamgon Kongtruls have had a profound influence on many teachers and masters of the different schools.
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The first Jamgon Kongtrul, named Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thayé (Wylie: 'jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas) was one of the most prominent Buddhist masters in Tibet in the 19th century. He is credited as one of the founders of the Rime movement of Tibetan Buddhism and he compiled what is known as the Five Great Treasuries. He achieved great renown as a scholar and writer, and authored more than one hundred volumes of scriptures.
The 15th Karmapa's biography mentions that he had a vision in which he saw 25 simultaneous emanations of the master Jamgon Kongtrul. Preeminent among these was Karsey Kongtrul (1904–10 May 1952) (Tibetan: ཀར་སྲས་ཀོང་སྤྲུལ་ Wylie: kar-sras kong-sprul)), who was said to embody Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye's mind. Karsey Kongtrul was born as the son of the 15th Karmapa. Karsey means "son of the Karmapa"; his formal religious name was as Jamgön Palden Khyentse Özer (Wylie: 'jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse'i 'od zer).
Karsey Kongtrül was identified and enthroned by his father at age twelve in 1902, in Samdrub Choling at the monastery of Dowolung Tsurphu. Karsey Kongtrül resided at Tsadra Rinchen Drak, the seat of his predecessor in eastern Tibet. He received the full education and lineage transmission from the Karmapa. Among his other teachers were Surmang Trungpa Chökyi Nyinche, the 10th Trungpa tulku. He attained realization of the ultimate lineage, was one of the most renowned Mahamudra masters and transmitted the innermost teachings to the sixteenth Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpa’i Dorje. On many occasions, he gave teachings, empowerments, and reading transmissions from the old and new traditions, such as the Treasury of Precious Termas (Rinchen Terdzö), and he rebuilt the retreat center of Tsandra Rinchen Drak, his residence at Palpung Monastery. Karsey Kongtrül died on 10 May 1952 at the age of 49.
The third Jamgon Kongtrul, a tulku of Khyentse Özer, was born on the 1st of October, 1954. He fled to India in 1959 in the aftermath of the 1959 Tibetan Rebellion and grew up at Rumtek Monastery under the care of the 16th Karmapa. Following the Karmapa's death, the third Jamgon Kongtrul was actively involved in the search for his successor. However, he died in a car accident on April 26, 1992, before the search could be completed.
The recognition of the fourth Jamgon Kongtrul is presently in dispute, complicated by the ongoing controversy regarding the recognition of the genuine reincarnation of H.H. the 17th Karmapa. The two proposed candidates are:
The first recognition occurred in August 1996 and was formally installed by Ogyen Trinley Dorje later that year with the name Lodrö Chökyi Nyima. He had been born on November 26, 1995 near Chushur Dzong in Central Tibet. In 1997, he travelled to India and has since lived at the monastery established by the previous Jamgon Kongtrul in Lava, West Bengal. This recognition was confirmed by H.H. the Dalai Lama, H.H. Sakya Trizin, the head of the Sakya sect, and H.H. Mindroling Trichen, the recently deceased head of the Nyingma tradition. All three performed hair-cutting ceremonies and bestowed names, as is traditional.
The second recognition occurred in December 1996, when Thaye Dorje gave him the name Karma Migyur Drakpa Sengge Trinley Kunkhyab Palzangpo. The child, often referred to as Jamgon Yangsi, had been born the son of His Eminence Beru Khyentse Rinpoche on the 17th of December, 1995 in the Kathmandu valley, Nepal on the anniversary of the birth of Tsongkhapa (the 25th of the Tibetan month). When Thaye Dorje first visited Bodhgaya on the 23rd December 1996, Yangsi Rinpoche despite his young age was able to spontaneously pick up some rice and toss it into the air as a mandala offering, signifying the auspicious connection between Karmapa and Jamgon Kongtrul. In 1997, at H.E. Beru Khyentse Rinpoche's request, H.H. Dalai lama performed the hair-cutting ceremony for Jamgon Yangsi in Bodhgaya. In the year 2000, His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, then head of the Nyingma sect, again reconfirmed Jamgon Yangsi as the genuine reincarnation of the Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye.
In addition to Karsey Kongtrul Khyentsé Özer (1904–1953) (the principal incarnation), there were four other reincarnations of the first Jamgon Kongtrul: Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Dzogchen Kongtrul Rinpoche, and Shechen Kongtrul Rinpoche. Kalu Rinpoche, also recognized post-facto as the incarnation of Lodrö Thaye's activity, was never enthroned as such.
The main corpus of Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thaye vast scholarly activities (comprising more than ninety volumes of works in all) is known as the Great Treasuries:
Jamgon Kongtrul's (1813–1899) 'The Infinite Ocean of Knowledge' (Tibetan: ཤེས་བྱ་མཐའ་ཡས་པའི་རྒྱ་མཚོ, Wylie: shes bya mtha' yas pa'i rgya mtsho) is constituted by ten books or sections and is itself a commentary on the root verses 'The Encompassment of All Knowledge' (Tibetan: ཤེས་བྱ་ཀུན་ཁྱབ, Wylie: shes bya kun khyab) which is as well the work of Jamgon Kongtrul.[1] The Encompassment of All Knowledge are the root verses to Kongtrul's autocommentary The Infinite Ocean of Knowledge and these two works together are known as 'The Treasury of Knowledge' (Tibetan: ཤེས་བྱ་མཛོད, Wylie: shes bya mdzod).[2]
Of the Five, the Treasury of Knowledge was Jamgon Kongtrul's magnum opus, covering the full spectrum of Buddhist history, philosophy and practice. There is an ongoing effort to translate it into English. It is divided up as follows:
• The Great Path of Awakening : The Classic Guide to Using the Mahayana Buddhist Slogans to Tame the Mind and Awaken the Heart translated by Ken McLeod, Shambhala, 2000. ISBN 1-57062-587-5
• Buddha Nature, The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra with Commentary Arya Maitreya, with commentary by Jamgon Kongrul Lodro Thaye and Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, Snow Lion, 200. ISBN 1-55939-128-6
• Cloudless Sky commentary by Jamgon Kongrul the Third. Shambhala, 2001. ISBN 1-57062-604-9
• Jamgon Kongtrul's Retreat Manual translated by Ngawang Zangpo. Snow Lion Publications, 1994. ISBN 1-55939-029-8
• The Torch of Certainty Foreword by Chogyam Trungpa. Shambhala, 2000. ISBN 1-57062-713-4
• Creation and Completion: Essential Points of Tantric Meditation translated by Sarah Harding. Wisdom Publications, 2002. ISBN 0-86171-312-5
• The Autobiography of Jamgon Kongtrul: A Gem of Many Colors translated by Richard Barron, Snow Lion Publications, 2003. ISBN 1-55939-184-7
• Sacred Ground: Jamgon Kongtrul on Pilgrimage and Sacred Geography Snow Lion Publications, 2001. ISBN 1-55939-164-2
• Enthronement: The Recognition of the Reincarnate Masters of Tibet and the Himalayas Snow Lion Publications, 1997. ISBN 1-55939-083-2
• The Teacher-Student Relationship Snow Lion Publications, 1999. ISBN 1-55939-096-4
• Essence of Benefit and Joy Siddhi Publications, 2000. ISBN 0-9687689-5-4
• Timeless Rapture : Inspired Verse from the Shangpa Masters Snow Lion, 2003. ISBN 1-55939-204-5
• Light of Wisdom, Vol. 1 by Padmasambhava, commentary by Jamgon Kongtrul, translated by Erik Pema Kunsang, Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 1999. ISBN 962-7341-37-1
• Light of Wisdom, Vol. II by Padmasambhava, commentary by Jamgon Kongtrul, translated by Erik Pema Kunsang, Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 1999. ISBN 962-7341-33-9
• Light of Wisdom, Vol. IV by Padmasambhava, commentary by Jamgon Kongtrul, translated by Erik Pema Kunsang, Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 2001. ISBN 962-7341-43-6 (restricted circulation)