The Biographies of Rechungpa: The Evolution of a Tibetan ...

Introduction 3
would never teach in his absence. Sumpa became Rechungpa’s successor at his seat in
Loro. 9
There was another principal pupil who was not a part of this community.
Khyungtsangpa (Khyung-tshang-pa, 1115–76) was a secret monk disciple, who
established a community independent from that of Rechungpa’s. It is this branch of the
Rechung Nyengyu, however, that has the greater number of lineage histories and
literature. This transmission is distinctive for having two female teachers in its succession
during its early centuries: Machik Angcho (Ma-cig Ang-co) and Rema Shigmo (Ras-ma
Zhig-mo). 10
Contemporary Kagyupa schools are part of the Dakpo Kagyu (Dwags-po bKa’brgyud)
tradition founded by Gampopa (1079–1153) (sGam-po-pa) a.k.a Dakpo Lharjé
(Dwags-po lHa-rje), who was another pupil of Milarepa’s. Gampopa was not a repa like
Milarepa’s other principal pupils, but a monk from the Kadampa (bKa’-gdams-pa)
tradition founded by Atiśa (982–1054), who came to Tibet in 1042, and by
his Tibetan pupil Dromtön (‘Brom-ston) (1005–64). Gampopa provided Milarepa’s
teachings with a monastic and scholastic setting. The Dagpo Kagyu tradition diversified
into numerous independent lineages within which were written texts dedicated to their
own histories, which were known as sertreng (gSer-’phreng) ‘garlands of gold’, each
presenting that particular lineage as the mainstream of the Kagyu succession. There are
also histories of Kagyu lineages that are not descended from Gampopa or Rechungpa,
such as those of Marpa’s pupil Ngoktön (rNgog-ston).
The Rechung Nyengyu lineages continued independently on a small scale, but the
transmission of its practices also formed a part of certain Dakpo Kagyu traditions,
particularly the Drukpa Kagyu and the Talung Kagyu, the former being a principal
preserver of Rechungpa biographies.
Tsangnyön Heruka’s famous works emphasise Gampopa’s primacy as Milarepa’s
successor: Gampopa is ‘the sun-like pupil’ while Rechungpa is secondary, being only
‘the moon-like pupil’. The earlier biographies of Milarepa are now mostly forgotten and
therefore Rechungpa’s pre-eminence in them remain largely unknown.
The available sources examined in this book form four principal phases in relation to
the evolution of the Rechungpa and Milarepa narratives:
1 The earliest phase, from the twelfth to the thirteenth century: The appearance of
localised narrative traditions that are independent of each other.
2 Thirteenth to fifteenth centuries: Independent traditions merge in various ways to create
new syncretic traditions.
3 The end of the fifteenth to the sixteenth centuries: What were to become the standard
biographical or historical works are created from the earlier works.
4 The seventeenth century to the present day: The modern Tibetan tradition of the last
three centuries, which are usually summarizes the standard works.
The available sources comprise biographies (rnam-thar), histories of Buddhism (chos-
’byung); Kagyu lineage histories, and initiation texts (dbang-dpe) that contain a history
of a specific practice. We witness the transmission of narrative units—such details of the
story as places, actions, people and objects—and also textual replication, with phrases or
sentences repeated with varying degrees of modification, as it was a common practice for
Tibetan authors to repeat the contents of earlier texts.