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

The biographies of Rechungpa 172
Tibet, for the first time in 1426, and the last time in 1453. There he taught, among others,
Gö Shönnu Pal, the author of The Blue Annals. 184
But Śākya Rinchen also identifies Siddharājñī as the sister of Ghayadhara, Tipupa’s
father, thus indeed making her a paternal aunt (a-ne), as she was referred to by Bharima
in Götsang Repa. However that earlier passage was probably using the term only in an
honorific sense, which Śākya Rinchen, may have taken literally. He explains away the
resulting inconsistencies in his identification of her by saying she was able to lead
multiple lives simultaneously.
Pema Nyinché Wangpo (Padma Nyin-byed
dBang-po) the ninth Taisitupa (1774–1853)
The ninth Taisitupa, who was a hierarch of the Karma Kagyu, describes the transmission
of the Jinasāgara practice in his initiation text. The practice is traditionally of great
importance for the Karma Kagyu because of its association with the Karmapas, the
principal hierarchs of the lineage. Rechungpa is portrayed as receiving three separate
transmissions of this practice in a fusion of Kagyu and Nyingma traditions. In relation to
our narrative, Rechungpa is said to have ‘actually’ met Siddharājñī on Tipupa’s
instruction, implying that she did not have a mundane existence that anyone could
perceive. She gave him the text of the practice written not in human but in script.
As Lenchung Lotsawa (gLan-chung Lo-tsā-ba) translates it into Tibetan, this probably
refers to Text no. 2140 in the Tengyur (bsTan-’gyur) (See Appendix 1).
Rechungpa receives another transmission that is not mentioned in any other
biography. This was passed on by Maitripa to and then to a Newar named
Sumatikīrti who transmitted this initiation to Rechungpa in Nepal.
In The Blue Annals, Ngok Loden Sherab (rNgog Blo-ldan Shes-rab) is said to have
studied under him in Tibet before his visit to Nepal (in the 1790s) to study under
Atulyavajra and Varendraruci, a.k.a Hadu Karpo (Ha-du dKar-po). 185
Sumatikīrti worked on the translation of eight texts 186 with Ngok Loden Sherab,
eighteen texts 187 with Marpa Dopa (Mar-pa Do-pa) and another text with both Ngok and
Marpa Dopa together. 188
Sumatikīrti gave Rechungpa the initiation at the Ratnavikrama (Rin-chen-tshul)
temple. In Lhatsun’s biography of Tsangnyön Heruka, Rin-chen-tshul is also named
Thang Bihari. This is the Tham Bahil or Tam Vihara in the present-day Thamel area of
Kathmandu. Also known as Vikramaśila 189 it was founded, or re-founded, by Atiśa
in 1040. It was the residence of Cha Lotsawa during his thirteenth-century
stay in the Kathmandu valley and appears to have been a popular residence for Tibetans,
for in the Tsangnyön Heruka biography it is also referred to as ‘the Tibetan Thang
Temple’ (bod thang dgon pa). 190 As stated in Götsang Repa, it was in this area of
Khatmandu, known as Yambu, that Tibetans stayed.
The third transmission is a Nyingma terma transmission of which there is also no
mention in the biographies. It is said that Nyangral Mikyö Dorje (Nyang-ral Mi-bskyod
rDo-rje) transmitted this to Rechungpa. Mikyö Dorje received it from his father, the
discoverer of this ‘hidden treasure’. 191 This was Nyangral Nyima Özer (Nyang-ral Nyi-