The Omniscient Longchenpa (1308-1363)

Within the Nyingma lineage, the Omniscient Longchenpa is regarded as the most important master since the great Guru Rinpoche.

Longchenpa Drime Ozer was born in 1308 in the upper Dra valley of central Tibet. From a young age he exhibited a precocious intelligence and deep faith in the Buddhist teachings. By the time he entered the religious life at Samye Monastery at the age of twelve, he had already studied and contemplated numerous sutras and tantras. For the next fifteen years, he traveled from center to center, studying, ethics, epistemology, logic, metaphysics, soteriology and the different systems of tantra with many of the most famous teachers of his day. His mastery of Buddhist philosophy was legendary and his approach non-sectarian.

Then at the age of 27, he met Rigdzin Kumaradza, an emanation of Vimalamitra. Over the next number of months, the young Longchenpa endured numerous privations as his teacher moved from camp to camp. But his persistence was rewarded as Rigdzin Kumaradza took him under his care and bestowed upon him the empowerments, transmissions and pith instructions for the Luminous Great Perfection, Osel Dzogpa Chenpo. He stayed with his teacher for more than two years before setting off to devote himself to practice in isolated places.

His reputation drew numerous disciples as yogins and ordinary people flocked to hear him teach. Remarkable events and numerous miracles were reported to have occurred in his presence, yet most remarkable of all he directly introduced thousands of fortunate disciples to Dzogchen.

In his hermitage at Gangri Tokar, he wrote the Seven Treasuries: The Treasury of the Way of Abiding, The Treasury of Pith Instructions, The Precious Treasury of Philosophical Systems, The Wish-Fulfilling Treasury, The Treasury of Words and Their Underlying Meaning, The Treasury of the Basic Space of Phenomena, and The Treasury of the Sublime Spiritual Approach. Together, these seven works are said to give an exhaustive presentation of Dzogchen according to the extensive approach of a pandita. Dza Patrul Rinpoche said, “To encounter them is to encounter the very face of Samantabhadra.”

Another of Longchenpa’s great accomplishments was to codify the Nyingtik or ‘Heart Drop’ teachings in his hugely influential collection, the Four Higher Collections of the Heart Drop. This collection centers upon the Heart Drop of Vimalamitra (the Nyingtik teachings transmitted orally from Vimalamitra to Kumaradza) and the Heart Drop of the Dakini (the essence of Guru Rinpoche’s terma teachings). The collection is completed by Longchenpa’s summaries, which present the Dzogchen teachings according to the profound approach of a simple yogin: the Innermost Heart Drop of the Guru (a summary of the Heart Drop of Vimalamitra), the Innermost Heart Drop of the Dakini (a summary of the Heart Drop of the Dakini) and the Innermost Heart Drop of Profundity (a summary of the two Innermost Heart Drops).

As would have been common for a respected lama of the time, Longchenpa was asked to mediate in a long-running dispute between two rival parties, the Drigung and Phakmodrupa factions. The Phakmodrupas suspected Longchenpa of unfairly favoring the Drigung party however and forced him into exile into Bhutan. While in Bhutan, he established six major centers and continued to teach on a vast scale. Eventually, the Phakmodrupa leader, Tai Situ, changed his mind and Longchenpa was able to return to Tibet, where he lived out his days engaged in works aimed at benefiting the Buddhist teachings and beings at large.

It is difficult to overstate Longchenpa’s influence and importance. He is remembered by the tradition as a second Buddha, a second Samantabhadra, as an omniscient lord of the Dharma. His works on Dzogchen, which combine extensive quotes from the Dzogchen tantras with lucid explications, are considered authoritative. They are the standard against which all others are measured. His verse is fluid and beautiful poetry. In his discussions of Dzogchen, he refers again and again to sutra and tantra, demonstrating how Dzogchen is both consistent with and the pinnacle of the Buddha’s teachings. His is a contribution not likely to be matched.