Timeless Rapture: Inspired Verse from the Shangpa Masters

KYUNGPO NALJOR
To this point, we have examined some aspects of the lives of
Kyungpo Naljor’s Indian masters. Two remarkable facts emerge
from any study of this period. First, most of these teachers were interrelated
and most were connected to Atisha, as was Kyungpo Naljor. Despite their
disparate birthplaces in India, the men mentioned thus far all took monk’s
vows at Nalanda Monastery and spent some time at Vikramashila Monas -
tery. Such an illustrious gathering at these two institutions was probably
due to the fact that tantric colleges were rare in India, even at the height
of Buddhist India’s tantric phase. There may in fact have been other major
institutions for the transmission, study, and practice of tantra, but these
monasteries (as well as Odantapuri) were located in northern India, relatively
near Bodhgaya, where all Tibetan pilgrims eventually gather.
Second, the Tibetans who traveled to India at the same time as Kyungpo
Naljor returned home with most of what we now call Tibetan Buddhism.
Of Tibet’s eight major lineages of meditation practice, only the Ancient
Instruction Lineage (Nyingma) 33 predated this period and only one other,
Intensive Meditation and Accomplishment (Nyendrup), came later. This
brief confluence of Indian masters and their Tibetan disciples shaped
Tibet’s spiritual landscape forever. Consider these contemporaries of
Kyungpo Naljor:
Rongzom Chökyi Zangpo (1012–1131) is still revered and studied as one
of the greatest Nyingma scholars ever; he taught Marpa.
Rinchen Zangpo (958–1055), one of the most important translators of
the later period, met Kyungpo Naljor with Atisha. His work formed part
of the basis of the Buddha’s Word as Instruction (Kadampa) lineage.
Dromtön (1005–1064), Atisha’s main Tibetan disciple, founded that lineage’s
monastic institutions.
Drokmi the Translator (d. 1064 or 1074) traveled to India and studied
with Virupa (Sukasiddhi’s teacher), among others. His transmissions
254