The 5th On Gyalse Rinpoche was enthroned at the age of four. The following year, he was given the name Thubten Jigme Gyatso by the 7th Dalai Lama who also performed the first hair cutting ritual on him.

At the age of 10 years old, he was ordained as a novice monk. At 20, he received full ordination from the famous Gelugpa master Phurcho Ngawang Jampa. He went on to obtain his Geshe Lharampa degree in 1766 and met the Panchen Rinpoche at Tashi Lhungpo the following year.

On Gyalse Rinpoche received sutric and tantric teachings from some of the most illustrious teachers of the time, including Phurchog Ngawang Jampa, Panchen Rinpoche Palden Yeshe and Changkya Rolpa Dorje. At a later time, he also sought teachings and initiations – notably the Vajrayogini and Kurukulle initiations – from the famous Sakya Throne-holder Kunga Lodro.

Having excelled in his studies, he reached the highest level of study, Geshe Lharam – usually requiring over 30 years of study – when he was only 23. By the time he was only 26, he was already engaging in single-pointed meditation in a cave for three years.

Under his tutelage, On Gyalse Rinpoche produced some of the most erudite masters of his time including Longdol Lama Ngawang Lobsang, the 3rd Tagphu Lobsang Chokyi Wangchug and the 1st Dragri reincarnation, Dragri Gyatso Thaye, all of whom have gone on to give unexcelled teachings and write highly respected texts and rituals in their own right.

On Gyalse Rinpoche is also famed for having written a ritual on torma offering to Dorje Shugden performed through Yamantaka and is an adept of Tibetan poetry, which can be seen clearly in his written works and the rituals he authored.

Another notable work is a short incense offering called Sang Choe Dogyur Chibey Ga-tsoen She-Ja-Wa Shugsol, very powerful for clearing obstacles and for purification. This in particular is the practice of offering fragrance to Vajradhara, Buddha Shakyamuni, the Seven Patriarchs, the Six Ornaments, the 84 Mahasiddhas, Heruka, Hevajra, Yamantaka, Guhyasamaja and a vast number of protectors such as Dorje Shugden.

This showed very much that he had a strong reliance on and great reveance for this Protector Shugden. Lamas of such calibre would not compose texts to deities if it would be damaging to their students or practitioners in any way

During the later part of his life, On Gyaltse was bestowed the title Nomenhan and became a Yongdzin, or academic tutor, to the 9th Dalai Lama. This is no ordinary accolade as the term Yongdzin refers to the attainment of an enlightened state. Yongdzins are the most respected Lamas because the lineages they hold are passed on directly to the line of Dalai Lama reincarnates.

The Dragri line of incarnations was significant enough for Trijang Dorje Chang, who is Heruka himself, to take an interest in them. Revealing the origins of this ancient lineage, Trijang Rinpoche wrote that the incarnations were some of the most profound Indian masters including Arhat Kanakavatsa (a direct disciple of Shakyamuni), King Chandrabhadra, and Pamting Ngawang Chugje and Gonpo Sonam Coden of Tibet. However, lacking in a formal recognition system, these incarnations did not carry the Dragri name.

More recently, the line of incarnations to carry the Dragri name began with Dragri Gyatso Thaye who was born in the first half of the 18th century. He was followed by Lobsang Chojor and Lobsang Thubten Namgyal, both born in the 19th century, and then by Lobsang Nyengyu Lungrig Gyatso who was born in the 20th century.

The traditional seat of the Dragri line was at Dragri hermitage located not far from Sera Monastery where Gyatso Thaye and many of his disciples such as Retreng Tritul Tenpa Rabgye studied. The hermitage, with formal buildings and structures, was founded by Gyatso Thaye. The location however, has always had a spiritual significance from as far back as the 7th century, when Buddhism first came to Tibet.

The hermitage was located close to Pabongka Monastery and Chuzang Hermitage. In fact, Gyatso Thaye was once the abbot of Pabongka Monastery, thus earning him the name Pabongka Gyatso Thaye. Dragri Rinpoche was also abbot of Garu Nunnery, taking charge in 1792 and continuing to take charge over successive lifetimes.

Gyatso Thaye’s incarnations were also famed for other aspects of Dharma practice and teachings. Lobsang Chojor, the incarnation immediately after Gyatso Thaye, became a lineage holder of the Solitary Hero Yamantaka practice from the Gelugpa lineage. The third incarnation of the Dragri line, Lobsang Thubten Namgyal, became one of Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo Rinpoche’s teachers.

By Gyatso Thaye’s time, there already existed notes and complete rituals written by Morchen Kunga Lhundrup and Drukpa Kunley propitiating Dorje Shugden. However, Gyatso Thaye was requested by his student Retreng Tritul Tenpa Rabgye to compose an extensive kangsol invoking Dorje Shugden’s blessings.

Thus Gyatso Thaye composed the Treasury of the Four Activities: Complete with Offerings, Praises, Fulfilment and Requests to the Dharmapala Dorje Shugden Tsel which was published in the Dorje Shugden sebum. This ritual was to become the first official extensive Gelug kangsol of Dorje Shugden in the Gelugpa lineage, calling upon him to protect the Gelug lineage and doctrine. Before this text, practitioners would refer to compositions written by older masters such as Morchen Dorje Chang, Dreuley and the Sakya Throne Holders who had been the first to officially propitiate him.

It is important to know that this kangsol was composed by Gyatso Thaye as early on as the 18th century, long before Pabongka Rinpoche. This completely counters the modern critics who claim that Dorje Shugden’s practices only came into prominence because Pabongka Rinpoche promoted it aggressively in the 20th Century.