Timeless Rapture: Inspired Verse from the Shangpa Masters

KUNGA DROLCHOK
Kunga Drolchok (1507–1566) was a master whose inclusive
vision of tantric Buddhist practice would later be called rimé,
nonsectarian. He began his religious career in the Sakya tradition and
showed a tremendous appetite and aptitude for all subjects of study. His
reincarnation, Taranata, called himself “the king of sloth” and credited
Kunga Drolchok’s hard work in intense study for the brilliance he effortlessly
displayed.
Kunga Drolchok received the Shangpa transmission at an early age and
met Niguma in a vision, yet he includes details of neither event in his
lengthy autobiography. He may likely have saved the stories for another,
more intimate recounting of his life, but the impression the book gives is
the same as that of the song Kongtrul included in the collection above:
In the past, my karmic affinity was not insignificant.
From a young age, I completely [realized phenomena to be] illusion’s
display.
Although I saw the mother dakini’s lovely face,
My mind wasn’t satisfied; it was just illusion’s own appearance.
When I first saw the vase of my spiritual father Lekpa Gyaltsen’s face,
All my hesitations were freed by themselves.
At that time, a single certainty without any doubts was born
And it remains unchanged.
When he was twenty-seven, in the course of a wide-ranging and deep
education, Kunga Drolchok’s life changed course; he decided to meditate
to the exclusion of all else. He doesn’t explain what caused this dramatic
shift, but we can surmise it was due to meeting Niguma, for he states that
his spiritual life was to center upon the Shangpa teachings:
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