Author Topic: Drepung and Shugden's residence  (Read 6002 times)

Mana

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Drepung and Shugden's residence
« on: January 27, 2012, 01:41:11 AM »
Drepung Monastery


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Location
 

Mount Gephel, Lhasa Prefecture, Tibet, China

Founded by


Jamyang Chojey
 
Founded
 
1416
 
Sect
 
Gelug
 
Dedicated to
 
Je Tsongkhapa
 


Colleges
 
7 - Gomang, Loseling, Deyang, Shagkor, Gyelwa or Tosamling, Dulwa and Ngagpa
 

Monks in the great assembly hall at Drepung Monastery, 2006.
Drepung Monastery (Wylie: 'bras spungs dgon [1]),(literally “Rice Heap” monastery[2][3]), located at the foot of Mount Gephel, is one of the "great three" Gelukpa university monasteries of Tibet. The other two are Ganden and Sera.
 
Drepung is the largest of all Tibetan monasteries and is located on the Gambo Utse mountain, five kilometers from the western suburb of Lhasa.
 
Freddie Spencer Chapman reported, after his 1936-37 trip to Tibet, that Drepung was at that time the largest monastery in the world, and housed 7,700 monks, "but sometimes as many as 10,000 monks."[4]
 
Since the the 1950s, Drepung Monastery, along with its peers Ganden and Sera, have lost much of their independence and spiritual credibility in the eyes of Tibetans since they operate under the close watch of the Chinese security services. All three were reestablished in exile in the 1950s in Karnataka state in south India. Drepung and Ganden are in Mundgod and Sera is in Bylakuppe, South India.
 

Contents

 1 History
 2 Recent events
 3 Footnotes
 4 References
 5 See also
 

History
 
It was founded in 1416 by Jamyang Choge Tashi Palden (1397–1449), one of Tsongkhapa's main disciples, and it was named after the sacred abode in South India of Shridhanyakataka.[5] Drepung was the principal seat of the Gelugpa school and it retained the premier place amongst the four great Gelugpa monasteries.[6] The Ganden Podang (dga´ ldan pho brang) in Drepung was the residence of the Dalai Lamas until the Great Fifth Dalai Lama constructed the Potala. Drepung was known for the high standards of its academic study, and was called the Nalanda of Tibet, a reference to the great Buddhist monastic university of India.
 


Ganden Phodrang, the residence of Dalai Lama.
Old records show that there were two centres of power in Drepung: the so-called lower chamber (Zimkhang 'og ma) [7] associated with the Dalai Lamas-to-be, and the upper chamber (Zimkhang gong ma) associated with the descendants (future incarnations) of Panchen Sonam Drakpa, an illustrious teacher who died in 1554.[8] The estate of the Dalai Lamas at Drepung monastery, called Ganden Phodrang, had been constructed in 1518 by Gendun Gyatso Palzangpo (1476–1541), retrospectively named and counted as 2nd Dalai Lama.
 
Panchen Sönam Drakpa (1478-1554 CE) in 1535 succeeded Gendün Gyatso (1476–1541) on the Throne of Drepung, both of them being major figures in the history of the Geluk tradition. By the time Panchen Sönam Drakpa was appointed to the Throne of Drepung (Drepung Tri), he was already a famous Geluk master. He had already occupied the Throne of Ganden (Ganden Tripa) and was considered the most prolific and important Geluk thinker of his time. His successor was none other than Sönam Gyatso (1543-1588 CE), the lama who would receive the official title of the Third Dalai Lama (Talé Lama Kutreng Sumpa).
 
Before his death in 1554, Panchen Sönam Drakpa established his own estate (Ladrang), the Upper Chamber (Zimkhang Gongma), which was named because of its location at the top of Drepung, just below the Ngakpa debating courtyard "Ngagpa Dratshang".
 
Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center attributes the following Name variants to Panchen Sönam Drakpa: "bsod nams grags pa [primaryName], paN chen bsod nams grags pa [title], khri 15 bsod nams grags pa [primaryTitle], rtses thang paN chen bsod nams grags pa [title], gzims khang gong ma 01 bsod nams grags pa [title], this last one referring to the Seat of the Upper Chamber established in 1554.[9]

According to TBRC his successors referring to the estate of the Zimkhang Gongma were Sonam Yeshe Wangpo (1556–92),[10] Sonam Gelek Palzang (1594–1615)[11] and Tulku Dragpa Gyaltsen (1619–1656)[12] - closely connected to the famous story of Dorje Shugden. (Some say that Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen was Panchen Sönam Drakpa’s second reincarnation,[13] but usually he is considered to be the 4th incarnation of Panchen Sonam Dragpa [14]). It seems to be commonly accepted that Tulku Dragpa Gyaltsen was the fourth holder of the Zimkhang Gong ma incarnation line. According to Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center zimkhang gong ma Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen has been his "primary Title".[15] Since the search for his reincarnation has been banned by the then Tibetan Govt, he has been the last one.

The Tibetan Govt at the time of the 5th Dalai Lama and the 5th Dalai Lama's ministers were jealous of the fame Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen had. More came to recieve teachings and advice to Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen than to the 5th Dalai Lama. This was threatening the rise in power of the Dalai Lama they thought and had tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen strangled with a scarf. Confiscated his Ladrang (Zimkhang Gong Ma) and banned Tulku Drapka Gyeltsen's incarnation from being reinstalled. Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen's incarnation has been taking rebirth until now since the time of his murder over 350 years ago, but under other under incarnate lama's names.  There is a a Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen incarnation currently, but is is under another name. He will continue to incarnate and do his works.
 
Chapman reported that in the late 1930s Drepung was divided into four colleges, each housing monks from a different locality: "one being favoured by Khampas, another by Mongolians, and so on." Each college was presided over by an abbot who had been appointed by the late 13th Dalai Lama.[16]
 

The repaired entrance to Drepung
Drepung is now divided into what are known as the seven great colleges: Gomang (sGo-mang), Loseling (Blo-gsal gling), Deyang (bDe-dbyangs), Shagkor (Shag-skor), Gyelwa (rGyal-ba) or Tosamling (Thos-bsam gling), Dulwa (‘Dul-ba), and Ngagpa (sNgags-pa). It can be a somewhat useful analogy to think of Drepung as a university along the lines of Oxford or the Sorbonne in the Middle Ages, the various colleges having different emphases, teaching lineages, or traditional geographical affiliations.
 
According to local sources, today the population at the monastery in Lhasa is about 300 monks, due to population capping enforced by the Chinese government. However, the institution has continued its tradition in exile with campuses in South India on land in Karnataka given to the Tibetan community in exile by Prime Minister Nehru. The monastery in India today houses over 5,000 celibate monks, with around 3,000 at Drepung Loseling and some 2,000 at Drepung Gomang. Hundreds of new monks are admitted each year, many of them refugees from Tibet.
 
The Ganden-Phodrang-Palace situated at Drepung Monastery was constructed by the 2nd Dalai Lama in 1518 [17] and declared his chief residence/governmental palace until the inauguration of Potala Palace by the 5th Dalai Lama.

 Recent events

 
About 40% of the old monastic town was destroyed after the Chinese arrived in Lhasa in 1951, though luckily the chief buildings including the four colleges, the Tsokchen and the Dalai Lamas' residence were preserved.[6]
 
Drepung monastery was shut by Chinese authorities on 14 March 2008, after monk-led protests against Chinese rule turned violent and businesses, shops and vehicles were looted and torched. The PRC claims that 22 people were killed in the riots but Tibetan sources put the figure much higher. It was reopened in the last week of August after being shut for five months.[18]
 


Footnotes
 
1.^ TBRC
 2.^ Tibet, Tibet: A Personal History of a Lost Land. Patrick French. (2003) Alfred A. Knopf. New York City, p.240 (in quote from 13th Dalai Lama).
 3.^ Dialogues Tibetan Dialogues Han. Hannue. Quoting a monk at Drepung.
 4.^ Chapman F. Spencer. Lhasa the Holy City, p. 195. Readers Union Ltd., London.
 5.^ Dorje (1999), p. 113.
 6.^ a b Dowman (1988), p. 67.
 7.^ gong ma 'og ma - the higher and the lower, the one above and the one under
 8.^ [1]
 9.^ TBRC
 10.^ , TBRC bsod nams ye shes dbang po (gzims khang gong ma 02)
 11.^ TBRC bsod nams dge legs dpal bzang (gzims khang gong ma 03)
 12.^ TBRC grags pa rgyal mtshan (gzims khang gong ma 04)
 13.^ Drepung: An Introduction by Georges Dreyfus (April 10, 2006)
 14.^ Brief History of Ganden
 15.^ TBRC
 16.^ Chapman F. Spencer. Lhasa the Holy City, p. 198. Readers Union Ltd., London.
 17.^ [2] (german)
 18.^ Major Buddhist monastery reopens in Tibet. The Associated Press
 
References
 Dorje, Gyurme. (1999). Footprint Tibet Handbook with Bhutan. 2nd Edition. Footprint Handbooks. Bath, England. ISBN 0-8442-2190-2.
 Dowman, Keith. (1988). The Power-places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London and New York. ISBN 0-7102-1370-0


source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drepung_Monastery
« Last Edit: January 28, 2012, 12:35:52 PM by Mana »

hope rainbow

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Re: Drepung and Shugden's residence
« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2012, 04:44:56 PM »
Thank you Mana for this post.

Neat!
The Dalai Lama and Dorje Shugden, neighbors sharing the same head-quarters!

Neat!
And what head-quarters, a historical essential spiritual super-duper power-house!

An observation also:
Even though the monastery in Tibet now counts only 300 monks (as compared to 10,000 monks in the recent past), it can still become such a threat the the mighty Chinese army that the monastery be forcefully closed for 5 months! Monks are so powerful! The Dalai lama could actually ignite a civil war in Tibet very easily, a civil war so deep that it would shake China proper. But of course this is not what the Dalai lama does, and there are still people to doubt that he is Chenrezig...  ::)

harrynephew

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Re: Drepung and Shugden's residence
« Reply #2 on: January 27, 2012, 11:38:04 PM »
Nice post!

I was wondering, Dorje Shugden have very strong presence in both Sera and Gaden of today due to the kindness of HH Kyabje Trijang and Zong Rinpoches. From this article, we see that the origins of the last recorded incarnation of Dorje Shugden, Je Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen and his predecessors were from the Sacred Heap of Drepung.

Is there by any chance that there's a group of monks in Drepung still silently keeping their commitments to the protector daily today?

Drepung is awfully quiet in our Dorje Shugden fiasco
Harry Nephew

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LosangKhyentse

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Re: Drepung and Shugden's residence
« Reply #3 on: January 28, 2012, 12:14:30 PM »
Nice post!

I was wondering, Dorje Shugden have very strong presence in both Sera and Gaden of today due to the kindness of HH Kyabje Trijang and Zong Rinpoches. From this article, we see that the origins of the last recorded incarnation of Dorje Shugden, Je Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen and his predecessors were from the Sacred Heap of Drepung.

Is there by any chance that there's a group of monks in Drepung still silently keeping their commitments to the protector daily today?

Drepung is awfully quiet in our Dorje Shugden fiasco




Drepung has not been quiet during the whole Shugden fiasco. Please check the old posts. But for now, I include a few:

1. The current abbot of Drepung Loseling is Drayab Thobthen Rinpoche is a powerful Shugden practitioner of many lives. He has gone underground with his practice. Another young Tulku named Gongkar Rinpoche in his 30's does alot of work to teach on behalf of Drepung Loseling also is a great practitioner of Dorje Shugden and also has close ties to Trijang Rinpoche. Gongkar's previous life saved Trijang Rinpoche's previous life from a assassination attempt. Whenever Trijang Rinpoche visits Drepung, he will stay at Gongkar Rinpoche's Ladrang (residence). They are very close. Even the ban has not 'soured' their relations. Drepung Loseling keeps silent on this.

2. Denma Locho Rinpoche a high lama of Drepung Loseling went to visit Serkong Tritul in Taiwan and recieved tremendous offerings. He gave many teachings to Serkong Tritul and Jamseng Rinpoche while in Taiwan at their centre.  Denma Locho offered the money to Loseling to pay off their debts for their new prayer hall. When Loseing found out the origins of the money, they made a big song and dance about the origins of the money but never not returned the money to Rinpoche. They posted letters all over the Monastery saying Denma Locho Rinpoche is recieving sponsorshop money from a well known Dorje Shugden practitioner (Serkong Tritul). All of Drepung Loseling recieved teachings from Denma Locho yet they treated him this way due to the pressure from the ex Tibet Govt now CTA.

Denma Locho is in the late 70's and has been the abbot of Namgyal Monastery, direct disciple of Ling Rinpoche and a great esteemed lama, yet they accuse him. He is a scholar of the highest calibre and a very prolific gentle monk. Because of the ban, letters were posted all over Drepung against this saintly Rinpoche.


3. Kensur Rinpoche Lobsang Denpa of Gomang from Shungpa khamtsen who is also the current Drepung Tripa and sits on the throne in Drepung Lachi complains quietly he wishes the Shugden ban is off. As he is a great practitioner. He complains he cannot speak about Shugden his lifelong practice openly because of the current political climate due to CTA.

4. Drepung Gomang Ngari khamtsen which has over two hundred monks currently for the past hundreds of years had Shugden as their principal protector of their khamtsen. By tradition each khamtsen in the Monastery will have their own protector sometimes differing from the protector of the main Monastery.  They have been silenced. Ngari Khamtsen was forced to change their protector Shugden which has been with them for hundreds of years. The CTA made them change their protector by force or face expulsion. In Drepung, Shugden was very strong many monks now still practice secretly. Dalai Lama complained last year during his visit, there are still many monks practicing Shugden secretly in Drepung (which is very true). And he warned them to becareful. He warned them to not pretend they are not practicing when they are. 

5. A very high lama named Jampa Rinpoche in his 70's and in Drepung Loseling has recently been found out by the Dalai Lama still practicing Shugden. Dalai Lama during a talk in Drepung last year hinted at Jampa Rinpoche.  Shar Gaden monks come to Jampa Rinpoche even today to recieve teachings. He compassionately answers their questions and gives teachings to the Shar Gaden monks when requested. The CTA is not happy about this. They want Jampa Rinpoche to have no contact with Shugden Monastery Shar Gaden. Jampa Rinpoche is a great tantric master and is attained and treats all who seek teachings from him equally with no bias. He is the student of Kyabje Trijang and Ling Rinpoche. He is very accurate in dice (mo) divinations. Hundreds seek him for divinations. He often still makes donations to Shar Gaden Monastery openly till today.

6. Ten years back, Drepung Loseling was printing anti-Shugden material. They have their own printing press in the Monastery itself. They were all excited about this. Then one day while the abbot was in his room (upstairs on top of the prayer hall), there was lightning and it struck the cement victory banner (see pic below). This one single victory banner toppled down and hit right near the abbot's room. It had a loud crash. It damaged the flooring (roof of the Monastery). No one was hurt. It was late at night and many monks ran to see what happened and saw the fallen victory banner after hearing a loud crash and lightning.

On top of every Monastery you have Victory banners representing victory over mara (negative mind). When this topples down, it is a very inauspicious sign. These victory banners have been up for years and are a permanent fixture, and no such thing has every happened. It was a very bad omen.

The disciplinarian (Gekul) of Drepung Loseling ordered the monks not to speak about this. If they do, it will be expulsion. The Drepung Monastery was very embarrassed about this incident hence the Gekul's issued this warning. They hushed it up. But many Drepung monks quietly spoke about it and it leaked out into the Tibetan communities.

A few weeks later, Setrab took trance in Delhi through the Kameng Kuten and said Dulzin (Dorje Shugden) is very patient but I am not. I struck the victory banner down to let them know they are doing the wrong actions. I am displeased.

Remember Setrab and Shugden abide within the same mandala. Or same divine palace.

8. Drepung Gomang had thrown rocks at Dagom Ladrang, forcing Dagom Rinpoche to leave and reside in Nepal until his passsing.  The lay people threw rocks at Guru Deva Ladrang because of his Shugden practice forcing Guru Deva to leave for Nepal also. Guru Deva was a high lama and main sponsor of Drepung Gomang. He was an emanation of Shugden Gyenze.
The incarnation of Kundeling Tulku now residing near Mysore was expelled from Gomang for Shugden also.

So this and many other events have happened in Drepung. Interesting and very sad.

TK

To see photos of Drepung Tripa, Jampa Rinpoche, Serkong Tritul, Kundeling Rinpoche, Denma Locho Rinpoche, Drayab Thobthen Rinpoche, Guru Deva Rinpoche please go here: http://dorjeshugden.com/wp/?page_id=37

Pictures attached:

Victory banner above Tibetan Monasteries

dsiluvu

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Re: Drepung and Shugden's residence
« Reply #4 on: January 29, 2012, 01:16:59 PM »
Quote
According to TBRC his successors referring to the estate of the Zimkhang Gongma were Sonam Yeshe Wangpo (1556–92),[10] Sonam Gelek Palzang (1594–1615)[11] and Tulku Dragpa Gyaltsen (1619–1656)[12] - closely connected to the famous story of Dorje Shugden. (Some say that Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen was Panchen Sönam Drakpa’s second reincarnation,[13] but usually he is considered to be the 4th incarnation of Panchen Sonam Dragpa [14]). It seems to be commonly accepted that Tulku Dragpa Gyaltsen was the fourth holder of the Zimkhang Gong ma incarnation line. According to Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center zimkhang gong ma Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen has been his "primary Title".[15] Since the search for his reincarnation has been banned by the then Tibetan Govt, he has been the last one.


This is funny, how can anyone ban an incarnation? Even if the search is banned, an enlightened being can and would incarnate back to benefit... http://dorjeshugden.com/wp/?p=3979


And all this from Wikipedia! It is interesting to see that from before there was political rivalry from those who served the Dalai Lama.
As Tulku Drakpa’s fame grew, it eclipsed the Dalai Lama’s. Tulku Drakpa was often considered to be more popular because he received more sponsorships and had more students than the 5th Dalai Lama. Many people and royalty from all over Tibet, Mongolia and China would come to pay their respects to Tulku Drakpa, and request teachings from him. As both Tulku Drakpa and the 5th Dalai Lama both resided in Drepung, this caused a lot of jealousy and tension among the attendants of the 5th Dalai Lama. One in particular was Sonam Rabten / Sonam Chopel. He was the regent during the 5th Dalai Lama’s time and became very concerned about his master’s position in Tibet. He was very devoted to the 5th Dalai Lama. Hence, he believed that something had to be done. This led them to plot the murder of Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen without the Dalai Lama’s knowledge.

Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen and the Dalai Lama were both good friends and share the same teacher the 4th Panchen Lama... http://dorjeshugden.net/wp/?p=8479

They studied together, debated with one another and spent quite a lot of time together.

Tulku Drakpa lived in the “Upper House” of Drepung and the 5th Dalai Lama lived in the “Lower House” of Drepung. Their ladrangs were named as such due to the actual locations of their household.

At this time, Potala Palace was not yet built and Tibet was going through a period of unrest. The 5th Dalai Lama was not recognised as the sovereign ruler of Tibet and had not been given the title of Dalai Lama.




DharmaSpace

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Re: Drepung and Shugden's residence
« Reply #5 on: January 30, 2012, 02:05:52 PM »
Thank you Mana for sharing information about the Drepung and the Dorje Shugden practitioners still there.

I really like Jampa RInpoche he is so courageous and his mind is in the right place. If we take the reasoning that Dorje Shugden is a spirit, then Jampa Rinpoche is truly compassionate to share buddha dharma with those who still engage Dorje Shugden. Isn't that compassion? I am sure many of the monks due to their intense training can remember all the Dorej Shugden practises so if they practise in secret no one will know. 

Barzin

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Re: Drepung and Shugden's residence
« Reply #6 on: January 30, 2012, 06:17:59 PM »
Wow, this on wikipedia.  Someone out there is really doing the research, a clear history of the Shugden lineage.  It all started off so beautiful.  Two high scholars who turned out to be the greatest scholar in the world.  What amazes me is the reincarnation will go back to continue the work of the previous lives... this is still amazed me a lot!  If you look at it from afar, His Holiness and Panchen Sonam Drakpa or Tulku Drakpa always stay very close to each other.  This can be seen life after life even until Dorje Shugden arises...

Same thing now, His Holiness also stays very close with the Shugden lineage, if not why the ban? Why talk about Shugden?  Out of compassion, someone needs to be the bad guy, on the surface it might seem that HH as the head of Buddhist always get the glory and recognition; but Shugden is always right next to HH... therefore I would say that Shugden's level of attainments are the same as His Holiness and he is up on par with HH.  Now even Shugden is perceived as a demon, he is almost equally as famous as HH.   How wonderful to see them work together hand in hand to spread Buddha dharma life after life.