A Dynamic Rendering by Claude, from the Tibetan Original by Rigdzin Karma
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Homage
Namo Guru.
One sounded the depths and far shores of sutra and tantra alike, crossing the great river of study and reflection with consummate skill, and from that crossing uncovered the treasure of realization— the wish-fulfilling jewel of direct experience. To the Glorious Rahor Chodrak, I bow.
Having first scattered these flowers of devotion, what follows is no more than a few grains of dust from the life of this sublime master.
Birth and Early Training
The name "Glorious Rahor Chodrak"—Palden Rahor Thubten Chokyi Drakpa—fell upon the ears of others like a gentle and pleasing melody. Yet even as he moved freely among the beauties of the world, taking apparent delight in them, inwardly he remained utterly unmoved: a hidden yogin.
This great being, possessed of both learning and realization, was born on the 30th day of the 12th Tibetan month of the Fire Mouse year—February 3, 1876 by the Western calendar—in the small village of Rahor, situated between Domang and Sago in the Degé region of Kham, in what is presently known as Luhuo County.
From an early age he entered the gate of Dharma, undertaking his initial studies at Rahor Monastery. In time, he came under the direct guidance of the great Khenpo Zhenpen Chökyi Nangwa, whose disciples were as numerous as the stars, and among them Rahor Chödrak became one of the foremost heart-sons.
At that time, two figures were widely known as "Chödrak." One was Rahor Chödrak, master of teaching, debate, and composition. The other was Serkha Chödrak, renowned for his learned conduct, discipline, and goodness. This biography concerns the former.
He was a torchbearer of non-sectarian teaching and practice, and a noble being who upheld the pure conduct of the sublime Dharma throughout the dark age in the Land of Snows.
Renunciation and Commitment to Practice
From his twenties onward—having brought his foundational studies in Dzogchen to completion and entered the path of the preliminary practices—he received visionary encounters with the Dharma protectress Magön Chamdräl, through which he engaged in activities that transcended ordinary human modes.
From that time forward, an intense resolve arose in him to unify his life and his practice as one. He formally vowed before the abbot of Rahor Monastery to abandon all worldly concerns of this life and devote himself entirely to spiritual realization.
As the Vidyādhara Khyentsé Özer, omitted:
Seeing wealth as a mirage on the plains— Empty as an anthill, without essence— The turbidity of craving settled clear as a crystal lens, And the unobstructed nature, essence, and compassion shone forth.
Cutting all ties—even the names of homeland, parents, and kin—he entrusted his heart entirely to the Dharma, and the Dharma entirely to the life of renunciation. Wherever he went or remained, it was only among monastic seats and retreat places.
He resolved at the root to abandon the eight worldly concerns, and made a solemn oath never to petition Dharma protectors for merely worldly aims. Fame, reputation, and wealth appeared to him like a mirage on the plains—seen and effortlessly released. He entered the unobstructed highway of the Three Kāyas, becoming a spiritual friend and benefactor for future fortunate beings.
As one of his own students, who later became a profound master, praised him in verse:
Whether his renown as learned and accomplished was exalted or kept hidden, My Lord Refuge Chökyi Drakpa is to be regarded as equal in stature to the noble Nāgārjuna himself.
Study, Realization, and Teaching
As it is said:
Within the retreat-cell of the body—the five outer elements— upon the bed of the heart's central channel, the mind and six sense-gatherings settled in their own retreat. In this prison of the body, hope and fear were released.
Having thus emerged from his period of retreat, he resolved anew to deepen his learning. In 1896, he entered the great monastic college of Dzogchen Śrī Siṃha, where he again placed the crown of his head at the feet of Khenpo Zhenpen Chökyi Nangwa.
Receiving showers of oral instructions and scriptural transmissions—rain of nectar upon the field of his wisdom—he cultivated study, reflection, and meditation as a single integrated practice. While tirelessly engaging in teaching, debate, and composition, the fruits of learning, discipline, and goodness ripened naturally of their own accord, and the auspicious connections were established by which he became a wish-fulfilling tree for future disciples.
Over many years of unceasing effort—day and night—he traversed the stages of the noble path, and his reputation as both learned and accomplished spread widely. Within the college of Dzogchen Śrī Siṃha, if there was one being who matched mastery in both sūtra and tantra, it was Rahor Chödrak alone.
As the master himself declared:
When I settled at ease in the vast primordial ground of alpha-purity, the mist of partisan tenets cleared of its own accord. When the darkness of karma and afflictions was dispelled by wisdom, I—the activity of benefiting others—spread in every direction without limit.
The History of Rahor Monastery
Rahor Monastery itself was an exceedingly ancient establishment (citation needed). Around 1240, the monastery was seized by Mongol forces and offered to the great Sakya Paṇḍita, Kunga Gyaltsen Palzangpo. On the lintel above the door, Sakya Paṇḍita inscribed his famous verse of self-praise:
"In grammar I am peerless, in logic I excel, in vanquishing false speech none equals me. In prosody I am skilled, in poetry I am supreme, in synonymics my exposition is unrivaled. Such am I, the master of Sakyapa—other scholars are but objects of laughter."
The monastery then served as a major Sakya institution for roughly a century.
Later, in 1354, during the conflict between Drikung and Sakya, the monastery was destroyed. After some decades, followers of the Nyingtik Ringluk tradition restored it and gradually established it as a center of teaching and practice. On the lintel, a new inscription was composed:
Not relying on inference and logic to follow sound to meaning—the Lord of Speech who vanquishes false tenets... The great Madhyamaka reasoning, by its four modes, destroys the positions of eternalism and nihilism... The stainless victory banner of the Sugata blazes with a thousand rays of light. In the presence of Longchenpa, Lord of the World, other stars are but objects of laughter.
To this day, the monastery is said to have produced many learned and accomplished masters who upheld the transmitted and realized teachings (citation needed).
Conduct and Exemplary Devotion
Throughout his years at Śrī Siṃha, he upheld the conduct of a complete renunciant. Even when he lacked sufficient clothing to keep warm, he never once relaxed his commitment to study and contemplation—not for a single moment. Seeing this, his teacher Khenpo Zhenpen Chökyi Nangwa would from time to time provide him with food and clothing, always remarking with delight:
"What a Dharma practitioner should look like—that is Rahor Chodrak. No one can match him."
This, it is said, he repeated again and again.
In 1913, he traveled from Śrī Siṃha to Rahor Tashi Lung Rigchi Mé Gatsal, where he assumed the seat as abbot. For three years he turned the wheel of Dharma for fortunate disciples gathered from Tibet and Mongolia. During this time, he composed his detailed commentary on the Pramāṇavārttika in verse, and many distinguished scholars emerged from his teachings. (Sourced from Nyushul Khenpo's Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems.)
Later Years: Departure for Central Tibet
In 1915, he returned once more to Śrī Siṃha. With the faith that saw his teacher as an actual Buddha, and with the devotion that regarded him as a Nirmāṇakāya master, he followed Khenpo Zhenpen Chökyi Nangwa like a shadow for over a decade, offering service of body, speech, and mind completely.
In the manner of Nāropa's devotion to Tilopa, or as The Words of My Perfect Teacher describes the proper way to attend a guru, he refused to use even a needle or thread from his teacher's stores for personal purposes. His devotion and commitment were without equal. He set an unparalleled example for future generations of how a guru should be served, and would often tell others:
"To steal even a needle and thread from a teacher's treasury is a graver wrong than a lifetime of common theft."
In 1925, while the master and teacher Khenpo Zhenpen Chökyi Nangwa and his attendant disciple were residing at the mountain hermitage of Gyawo Phu, near Mandala Monastery in Degé, the renowned Khyung Rampa Dorjé Gyalpo of Tsangda—also known as Namkhyung Tsé Rampa—sent a request for Khenpo Zhenpen to come as the presiding master. The Khenpo replied: "I have no leisure to come myself. However, I shall send one who is my equal."
He then bestowed upon Rahor Chödrak a complete set of monastic robes of saffron and a ceremonial hat, and gave him these parting instructions:
"Wear these robes and go to Ü-Tsang. Take Khyung Rampa under your care—in time, he will be of benefit to your teaching. After that, proceed to Maldro Dzong. In that valley, it has been prophesied that you will gain many renowned and karmically destined disciples.
From now on, we master and disciple shall not meet again in this life. You must, by all means, unite your life and practice as one, and plant the victory banner of teaching and practice firmly. That would be a greater service to me than if you remained here for a hundred years."
With these words of testament and prophecy, Rahor Chodrak departed—though the parting was like flesh torn from bone, a grief beyond endurance.
Journey Through the Hidden Lands
He then traveled through Degé, Chamdo, Lhorong, and onward into the southern hidden lands—Bumthang and Paro in Bhutan—moving in the manner of a hidden yogin (citation needed), making pilgrimage and bestowing empowerments, transmissions, and instructions upon the few fortunate ones he met along the way.
Eventually, passing through Phari and Gyantse, he arrived in Lhasa in 1926. There he took Khyung Rampa and his retinue under his guidance. For two years he served as presiding master, bestowing empowerments, transmissions, and instructions according to each disciple's capacity.
During this time, he observed that his distinctive saffron robes were attracting excessive attention—new patrons flocking to him, but also jealousy and competitive resentment from members of other religious establishments. Seeing this clearly, he removed the robes entirely and offered them to Khyung Rampa's household, saying:
"These are a blessing-gift from my teacher Chökyi Nangwa. Treasure them as sacred objects."
He then acquired from Khyung Rampa a plain garment of yak hair, and disguising himself as an ordinary layperson, made pilgrimage to Lhasa, Samyé, Gyantse, and other sacred sites in humble anonymity.
Final Retreat at Gungkar
In 1928, Rahor Chodrak journeyed northward from Lhasa toward Maldro Gungkar (today roughly 104 kilometers from Lhasa by car, about two hours' drive). Crossing the vast frozen northern plains, he established his retreat camp near Zhwa Lhakhang.
His fortitude in sustaining himself and his practice in such conditions was indistinguishable from that of the great Siddha Milarepa—through his presence alone, whether seen, heard, remembered, or touched, the seeds of liberation from lower realms were planted in the minds of countless beings.
As he prayed:
Whoever sees me, hears me, remembers me, touches me, or even hears words spoken of me— may they swiftly, without long delay, attain the state of the Victorious Lord.
Signs of Realization
As he raised the victory banner of practice upon the summit of the Land of Snows, he received the direct vision of Vajrakīlaya and the assembled deities. All of the environment and its beings arose as the divine maṇḍala; the Sambhogakāya guru was encountered at the center of his own heart. Meditative equipoise and post-meditation dissolved into a single taste, and he reveled in the inexhaustible great bliss of the profound secret.
As the Vidyādhara Khyentsé Özer declared:
In the vision of the yogin whose dualistic delusion has collapsed, the maṇḍalas of the Victors of the three times are not seen as separate. Recognizing them as the very essence of the supreme Guru of Union, the conceptual fabrications of birth and death arise as illusion.
Thirty Years of Teaching at Nyima Changra
Through single-pointed recitation and samādhi, his experience and realization continued to expand—appearance, sound, and awareness arose as deity, mantra, and wisdom. At that time, faithful disciples and patrons gathered around him of their own accord, like swarms of bees to a garden in bloom. He recognized that the prophecy his teacher had made—that great benefit for beings would arise in the northern plains—had now ripened.
Pausing his retreat for a time, he began to take his karmically destined disciples under his wing.
In 1930, he established the Nyima Changra Shedra at his camp. Students came from Rigar, Drigung Thil, Katsal Gön, Dzong Tsé Gön, Bemu Gön, Khaldil Gön, and other monasteries, as well as from Nepal and Bhutan.
To these fortunate disciples, over the course of more than thirty years, he turned the wheel of Dharma extensively: teaching the sūtra commentaries of Khenpo Zhenpen Chökyi Nangwa and Mipham Rinpoche; his own detailed verse commentary on the Pramāṇavārttika; the Guhyagarbha Tantra commentary "Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions"; the Mañjuśrī-nāma-saṃgīti; the Sa-luk Nang Sum; the Dzogchen pith instructions on Yeshe Lama; the distinction between mind and wisdom; the Seven Treasuries of Longchenpa; the Ngalso trilogy; and The Words of My Perfect Teacher—along with many other profoundly uncommon great treatises.
Through this activity, he produced hundreds of learned and accomplished holders of the teaching.
As Gé Rin praised:
My supreme guide Chökyi Drakpa bestowed the gift of Dharma upon all who came before him. The mental faculties of every one of them were seized completely, all at once, without remainder.
The Monastic Community
As the number of his monk-disciples grew to over forty per five-year graduation cycle, his principal patron, Khyung Rampa of Tsangda—who had by then attained the government position of Lhamo Sung Ngamté Jé—provided the necessary resources in 1934. Together with students from Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, and Mongolia, a great collective effort was undertaken, resulting in the construction of a sixteen-pillared assembly hall, complete with sacred images, monks' quarters, and all supporting structures.
Thus a new monastic community was established, with over forty monks graduating every five years, all of whom sustained themselves entirely on alms.
The daily schedule was exacting: after receiving teachings in the assembly hall, students would return to the review halls under the direction of a senior review-master. They would then gather in small groups on the meadows and in sunny spots for debate and discussion, returning again to consult the instructor and probe deeper into the meaning. In the early evening, there would be exhortation and walking recitation. In the monks' quarters, no hearth fire was permitted beyond a charcoal brazier—the kitchen would send tea at the appointed time, after which each monk carried a brazier to his room for tea and warmth. From before dawn, butter lamps were lit and study began, continuing until the sun warmed the air. Five years of such training constituted a complete education at Nyima Changra Shedra. (Sourced from Wikipedia.)
The Hidden Yogin Within
Yet outwardly, even as the monastery, its sacred objects and community, its learned monks in the bloom of study, and generous patrons bearing the white banner of good intention all gathered around him—inwardly, Rahor Thubten Chokyi Drakpa lived as a hidden yogin in the disguise of an ordinary person.
According to the recollections of Khenchen Namkar Donkun Drubpa, a newly arrived student could not identify the master upon entering the chamber, as there was no master to be seen—only an old nomad grandfather. Rahor Chodrak wore a plain garment of yak-hair cloth at all times. His table was a flat stone. He ate only the simplest of meals. He never deviated from the conduct of the great Indian mahāsiddhas Tilopa and Nāropa.
As he expressed:
The blessings of the pure Mind Lineage descended into the center of my heart. I beheld the natural condition—the unborn, naked union of awareness and emptiness. I delight in this appearance where thought-masses dissolve in their own ground. This yoga beyond hope and fear—it is bliss.
Whether splendor or adversity arose in the immediacy of appearance, not a hair's breadth of his conduct as a pure Dharma practitioner was ever disturbed. Without the slightest trace of pretense or contrivance, in an atmosphere of natural ease and spaciousness, he gave three teaching sessions each day without fail. At night, he would enter samādhi—the yoga of merging sleep and luminosity in its own place—meeting the Dharmakāya guru of self-awareness, and resting in the innate, thought-free vajra-mind.
Even when the occasional patron offered material gifts to him personally, he would set aside only enough for them to accumulate merit, never keeping anything for himself. He maintained a life entirely free of attachment to worldly prosperity. Similarly, he required his students to depend solely on alms, forbidding any accumulation of wealth.
When I recall the words of my own root teacher—the master Namkar Donkun Drubpa—regarding these things, I realize that we practitioners of the present day, with our fine food, warm blankets, and comfortable beds, have merely made the Dharma into a livelihood—and nothing more.
Principal Disciples
Never moving from the Dharmakāya for his own benefit, yet ceaselessly arising for the benefit of others: he produced one heart-son like the sun; seven heart-sons like the moon; scores of disciples like the stars; hundreds of fortunate ones and patrons who formed Dharma connections; and well over a thousand lineage-holders through whom the unbroken transmission of instruction, scripture, and realization continued.
To name them all would be an impossible labor, but three who are of direct relevance to the present account may be mentioned:
First, Drukpa Gedun Rinchen—to whom the master gave the name Lungtok Chokyi Nangwa. He was one of the greatest minds of the twentieth-century Buddhist world, his contributions to the Buddha Dharma beyond count. He attained rainbow body in 1998.
Second, Tsangkha Norbu Wangchuk. He was the first Bhutanese student of Rahor Chödrak. Upon his return to Bhutan, he established the first-ever Buddhist philosophy and astrological institute, known as Tshangkhar Shedra, under Choekhor Rabtentsé.
Third, Khenpo Namkar Donkun Drubpa. He served Rahor Chodrak and studied for sixteen years at Nyima Changra. Upon returning to Bhutan, he was appointed Abbot of Bumthang Tharpaling Shedra by Royal Decree of Her Majesty the Queen Gyalyum Phuentsho Choden Wangmo Wangchuk, and served for twelve years. He established and funded Tharpaling Drubdé, sparing his own remuneration with Her Majesty's blessing.
Gedün Rinchen and the Transmission to Bhutan
In 1954, the Bhutanese Gedun Rinchen arrived in the master's presence, and Rahor Chodrak was greatly delighted. After each teaching session, he would urge Gedun Rinchen: "You should write a new treatise on this subject, and on that one too"—encouraging him again and again.
Yet for all his encouragement of others' scholarship, Rahor Chodrak strictly forbade any writing about himself. He would not permit so much as a single line of zhabten prayer in his honor, let alone a biography—distancing himself absolutely from anything that might lend him an air of importance.
So thoroughly did he enforce this that none of his many scholarly disciples dared compose even a brief account of his life. The sole exception is the short entry by Nyushul Khenpo in his Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems—and it is largely for this reason that the present biography, assembled from scattered oral sources, was felt to be necessary at all.
He recognized Gedun Rinchen as his closest heart-son and bestowed upon him the name Lungtok Chökyi Nangwa. Whereas previously Rahor Chodrak had refused to accept personal offerings from villagers and patrons, he now began to accept them—saying he would pass them on to his heart-son Lungtok Chokyi Nangwa as provisions for Dharma study.
In 1957, when Gedun Rinchen completed his studies and prepared to return to Bhutan, the master bestowed upon him, in the manner of "filling the vase to the brim," the most profound and secret pith instructions of the Nyingtik.
The great scholar Gedun Rinchen then returned to Bhutan. He established the monastery and seat of Menlong Drobo Lung. He founded a center of teaching and practice. He attained direct recognition of the natural face of awareness. He rose to the leadership of Bhutan's religious institutions, and accomplished vast and magnificent work in upholding, maintaining, and spreading the teachings.
In accordance with his master Rahor Chodrak's instructions, he composed commentaries and treatises in great number: a commentary on the Madhyamakāvatāra clarifying the view of consciousness; annotations on the Three Vows Ornament; an exposition of the Uttaratantra; an exposition of the second chapter of the Hevajra Tantra; an overview of the nine vehicles; a general commentary on the Five Dharmas of Maitreya; a word-by-word commentary on the Pramāṇavārttika in verse; along with countless annotations and glossaries on terminology and expression, guru-practice liturgies associated with Paṇḍita Vimalamitra, Vidyādhara Padmasambhava, and the Omniscient Longchenpa—in all, more than nine volumes of collected works comprising both transmitted and practical compositions. He nurtured innumerable learned and accomplished disciples, accomplishing immeasurable benefit for beings.
The Master's Passing
At last, as the Vidyādhara King Khyentsé Özer had declared:
From the midst of the great bliss that is changeless, beyond transition— the faces of deities and gurus are seen without meditation. Through the luminous vehicle of the Mother and Ḍākinī Heart-Essence, there exists the siddhi of the rainbow body becoming the Dharmakāya.
In fulfillment of these vajra words, and having brought to completion all the activities for the benefit of beings that his glorious teacher Zhenpen Chokyi Nangwa had prophesied—and taking into consideration the political upheavals of the time—the master gathered in all his unobstructed qualities and activities.
Departing to accomplish the benefit of beings in other realms, accompanied by wondrous signs of attainment and liberation that surpass the measure of ordinary minds—and that exceed the literary skill of this ignorant disciple to describe—at the age of eighty-five, in the Iron Female Ox year, on the 19th day of the first month (March 6, 1961, by the Western calendar), at dawn, he dissolved his wisdom-mind into the expanse of the Dharmadhātu.
When his sacred remains were offered to the fire, miraculous relics appeared. These were received as objects of devotion and distributed by his Tibetan-side disciples—principally Lama Tendzin Yoezer, Drubwang Nuba Rinpoche and others—to monasteries throughout the world, without distinction of center or periphery, for the benefit of all beings.
Colophon
My mind is feeble, yet my stamina for setting down profound meaning has not failed. My training is poor, yet the effort of composing elegant words has not wearied me. My boldness in transcribing oral tradition into written letters may be slight— yet it is with the confidence of Sarasvatī having entered my mind that I write.
Whoever sees, hears, or reads these words— whatever trust, doubt, or criticism may arise— may the seed of liberation be planted in their stream as they travel this path, and may they meet the ultimate guru of self-awareness at the center of their own heart.
May I too, in the state of self-liberating conceptual marks, have all that appears arise nakedly as the Dharmakāya without meditation, transparent and open. If this comes to pass—may the small awakening beyond mind where Dharma is exhausted grow vast. If it does not—may I seize the permanent ground of the Youthful Vase Body.
This condensed biography, since not even a brief account of this master's life appeared to exist anywhere, was compiled from the oral histories recounted by the author's own root guru, the Nyingma Dzogchen Chöjung, the Gyelrab Deuter Karpo, the Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems composed by Nyushul Khenpo, the autobiography of the great scholar Gedün Rinchen, and other oral sources.
What the author could gather through his own dim understanding, he set down on the Day of Playful Affection (Valentine's Day) of the year 2022, at Ar-dam Drak-rong Trö—the Luminous Cloud Garden of Self-Appearing Clear Light—by the hand of the disciple-of-disciples, the Vidyādhara Gyukar Wangpo (Rigdzin Karma).
May the virtue of this work plant the seed of liberation in the streams of all who see, hear, remember, or come into contact with it.