Rangjung Dorje
Encyclopedia
Karmapa
The Karmapa is the head of the Karma Kagyu, the largest sub-school of the Kagyupa , itself one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism....
, an important figure in the history of Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
. He reportedly produced a spontaneous black crown
Black Crown
The Black Crown is an important symbol of the Karmapa, the Lama that heads the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. The crown signifies his power to benefit all sentient beings. A corresponding crown, the Red Crown, is worn by the Shamarpa...
(which would later be a symbol of the line) at the age of three and declared himself to be the mindstream
Mindstream
Mindstream in Buddhist philosophy is the moment-to-moment "continuum" of awareness. There are a number of terms in the Buddhist literature that may well be rendered "mindstream"...
reimbodiment of Karma Pakshi
Karma Pakshi
Karma Pakshi was the 2nd Gyalwa Karmapa. He was a child prodigy who had already acquired a broad understanding of Dharma philosophy and meditation by the age of ten. His teacher, Pomdrakpa, had received the full Kagyu transmission from Drogon Rechen, the first Karmapa's spiritual heir...
. Born to a Nyingma
Nyingma
The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as Nga'gyur or the "old school" because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, in the eighth century...
family, he received the full transmission of the Nyingma
Nyingma
The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as Nga'gyur or the "old school" because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, in the eighth century...
tradition in addition to the Karma Kagyu
Karma Kagyu
Karma Kagyu , or Kamtsang Kagyu, is probably the largest and certainly the most widely practiced lineage within the Kagyu school, one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The lineage has long-standing monasteries in Tibet, China, Russia, Mongolia, India, Nepal, and Bhutan, and current...
.
Exegesis
Suchan (1998: unpaginated) links Rangjung Dorje to Rigdzin KumaradzaRigdzin Kumaradza
Rigdzin Kumaradza was a famed Dzogchen master in the lineage of the Vima Nyingthig.-Nomenclature, orthography and etymology:Kumārarāja, Kumārāja and Kumaraja is sometimes also orthographically represented as Kumārarādza and Kumārādza.-Overview:Kumaradza was a Tibetan yogic mendicant famous for...
, Vimalamitra
Vimalamitra
Vimalamitra ), an 8th century Indian adept, is key to the history of Tibetan Buddhist Dzogchen practice. He lived equally in China, Oddiyana and Tibet, but was known as the "Sage of Kashmir". According to tradition, he was born in Western India and travelled to China to become a disciple of Shri...
and Padmasambhava
Padmasambhava
Padmasambhava ; Mongolian ловон Бадмажунай, lovon Badmajunai, , Means The Lotus-Born, was a sage guru from Oddiyāna who is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighbouring countries in the 8th century...
:
The third Karmapa Lama, Rangjung Dorje, was a disciple of Nyingma Kumaradza. The latter taught Rangjung Dorje the nying-thig, "heart-essence," teachings transmitted by Padmasambhava [the Khandro Nyingtik] and Vimalamitra [the Vima NyingtikVima NyingtikVima Nyingthig or "Vimalamitra's Seminal Heart" is a practice lineage of Mantrayana. It is one of the nyingthig or seminal heart teachings of the Mennagde cycle of Dzogchen and was codified and collated by Longchenpa in the fourteenth century...
]. Therefore, Rangjung Dorje belongs to the nying-thig lineage of the Nyingma school. As a group, the Karmapa Lamas were among the earliest recognized Tulku, or lamas reincarnated as deities or lineage of deceased teachers. They were particularly influential at the Yuan and Ming courts of China.
Suchan (1998) traces the influence of the first several Karmapas upon the Yuan
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
and Ming
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
courts as well as the Tangut Western Xia
Western Xia
The Western Xia Dynasty or the Tangut Empire, was known to the Tanguts and the Tibetans as Minyak.The state existed from 1038 to 1227 AD in what are now the northwestern Chinese provinces of Ningxia, Gansu, eastern Qinghai, northern Shaanxi, northeastern Xinjiang, southwest Inner Mongolia, and...
Kingdom, and mentions the first Karmapa, Düsum Khyenpa
Düsum Khyenpa
Düsum Khyenpa was the 1st Gyalwa Karmapa, head of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.Düsum Khyenpa literally means "Knower of the Three times"...
:
The first several Karmapas are distinguished by their important status at the Yuan and Ming courts of China where they served as the spiritual guides to princes and emperors. Their influence also extended to the court of the Tangut Xia Kingdom where a disciple of Dusum Khyenpa was given the title "Supreme Teacher" by a Tangut Xixia King..."
Writings and doctrinal development
Rangjung Dorje was a noted scholar who composed many significant texts, the most famous of which is the Profound Inner Meaning (Wylie: zab mo nang don), which concern the VajrayanaVajrayana
Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...
inner yoga practices. Other important texts of his include the Aspiration Prayer of Mahamudra (Wylie: nge don phyag rgya chen po'i smon lam gyi 'grel pa grub pa mchog gi zhal lung), the Prayer to the Lineage of Chö, the thirty-six verse doha
Songs of realization
Songs of realization are sung poetry forms characteristic of the tantric movement in both Hinduism and in Vajrayana Buddhism. Doha is also a specific poetic form...
(Sanskrit) Distinguishing Consciousness from Wisdom (Wylie: rnam shes ye shes ‘byed pa), Instructions on Sahajayoga Mahamudra, and A Treatise on Buddha Nature (Wylie: de bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po gtan la dbab pa; or, de bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa). His mastery of both the Kagyu Mahamudra
Mahamudra
Mahāmudrā literally means "great seal" or "great symbol." It "is a multivalent term of great importance in later Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism" which "also occurs occasionally in Hindu and East Asian Buddhist esotericism."The name refers to the way one who...
and Nyingma Dzogchen
Dzogchen
According to Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, Dzogchen is the natural, primordial state or natural condition of the mind, and a body of teachings and meditation practices aimed at realizing that condition. Dzogchen, or "Great Perfection", is a central teaching of the Nyingma school also practiced by...
was widely renowned, and he was a Kalachakra
Kalachakra
Kalachakra is a Sanskrit term used in Tantric Buddhism that literally means "time-wheel" or "time-cycles".The spelling Kalacakra is also correct....
master as well.
In 1321 the famous scholar Dolpopa (1292-1361) visited Tsurphu Monastery for the first time and had extensive discussions with Rangjung Dorje about doctrinal issues. It appears that Rangjung Dorje almost certainly influenced the development of some of Dolpopa's theories, possibly including his Zhentong (gzhan stong) method.
According to Karma phrin las, Dri lan yid, 91-92, his teacher, Chödrak Gyatso
Chödrak Gyatso
Chödrak Gyatso , also Chödrag Gyamtso, was the seventh Gyalwa Karmapa, head of the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism.Chödrak Gyatso was born in Chida in the north of Tibet...
, the Seventh Karmapa, interpreted the nature of Zhentong (gzhan stong) accepted by Rangjung Dorje.
Yungtön Dorjepel
Yungtön Dorjepel
Yungtön Dorjepel was born at Gorma near Shalu Monastery, in the province of Tsang, in 1284 CE into the family of a tantric priest of the Len clan....
(1284-1365), (the previous incarnation of the First Panchen Lama
Panchen Lama
The Panchen Lama , or Bainqên Erdê'ni , is the highest ranking Lama after the Dalai Lama in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism...
, Khedrup Je), studied the 'Great Perfection' due to the great inspiration of Rangjung Dorje.
He visited China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, where the emperor Toghon Temur became his disciple. Upon his death, Rangjung Dorje's face is said to have appeared in the moon there.
Chod
Schaeffer (1995: p.15) conveys that the Third Karmapa was a systematizer of the ChödChöd
Chöd , is a spiritual practice found primarily in Tibetan Buddhism. Also known as "Cutting Through the Ego," the practice is based on the Prajñāpāramitā sutra...
developed by Machig Labdrön
Machig Labdrön
Machig Labdrön was a renowned 11th century Tibetan Tantric Buddhist practitioner and teacher....
and lists a number of his works on Chod consisting of redactions, outlines and commentaries amongst others:
" Rang byung was renowned as a systematizer of the Gcod teachings developed by Ma gcig lab sgron. His texts on Gcod include the Gcod kyi khrid yig; the Gcod bka' tshoms chen mo' i sa bcad which consists of a topical outline of and commentary on Ma gcig lab sgron's Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa zab mo gcod kyi man ngag gi gzhung bka' tshoms chen mo ; the Tshogs las yon tan kun' byung ; the lengthy Gcod kyi tshogs las rin po che' i phrenb ba' don bsgrigs bltas chog tu bdod pa gcod kyi lugs sor bzhag; the Ma lab sgron la gsol ba' deb pa' i mgur ma; the Zab mo bdud kyi gcod yil kyi khrid yig, and finally the Gcod kyi nyams len."