mgon po tshe brtan

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མགོན་པོ་ཚེ་བརྟན་

Gönpo Tseten(1906 - 1991) 

Born in:

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Amdo

Gönpo Tseten was born in 1906 in Amdo, an eastern province of Tibet, into a family heritage of ngakpas. At the age of seven he was sent to Sangchen Mingye Ling, a Nyingmapa monastery. At the age of 15, having shown great promise as a future teacher, he studied with Kargi Tertön and accomplished the preliminary practices of Tibetan Buddhism.

At Sangchen Mingye Ling, Gönpo Tseten continued his Dharma studies and the traditional Tibetan arts and sciences. It was at this time that he began to display great skill in drawing, painting, and sculpture. In 1925, at the age of 18, he completed two images of Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara, each standing over six feet high.

About the age of twenty he married and had a son, Pema Rigdzin. He then undertook a journey of twenty days in order to study for a year with the Tertön Choling Tuching Dorje, a disciple of Dodrupchen Rinpoche.

After this, he studied with the great Dzogchen master Khenchen Thubten Chöpel, who was also a guru of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Khenpo Jikmé Phuntsok, and the Sixth Dzogchen Rinpoche. During that time he received the complete transmission of the Rinchen Terdzö—he later received it twice more from Dilgo Khyentse around 1950 and 1978. Later, the ngakpa Gönpo Tsering taught him Tu, the art of overcoming enemies. This was essential since his gompa in Amdo needed protection from surrounding afflictions, including ruthless bandits and wild animals. After this, he studied sutra and tantra, including the Yönten Dzö, at Sukchen Tago Gompa in Golok, which was established by the First Dodrupchen Rinpoche in 1799. (Full bio available at Rigpa Wiki)