The Biographies of Rechungpa: The Evolution of a Tibetan ...
The Biographies of Rechungpa: The Evolution of a Tibetan ...
The Biographies of Rechungpa: The Evolution of a Tibetan ...
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<strong>The</strong> biographies 33<br />
A River <strong>of</strong> Blessings’ sources were obscure enough ar the time <strong>of</strong> its compilation, for<br />
the information about them to be qualified by the non-honorific verb zer, which carries<br />
the meaning <strong>of</strong>, ‘it is said…’ Signifying a certain degree <strong>of</strong> uncertainty. 138<br />
<strong>The</strong> Sources for A River <strong>of</strong> Blessings<br />
A River <strong>of</strong> Blessings states that it relied on two other sources apart from <strong>The</strong> Life and<br />
Songs <strong>of</strong> Shepay Dorje, by the title ‘Dark Treasury’ and two other sources.<br />
As this text repeats material from <strong>The</strong> Life and Songs <strong>of</strong> Shepay Dorje practically<br />
verbatim, the use <strong>of</strong> that source is evident. <strong>The</strong>re are also sections <strong>of</strong> the text that<br />
correspond with Clouds <strong>of</strong> Blessings, the second Shamarpa’s life <strong>of</strong> Milarepa. As the<br />
second Shamarpa, Khachö Wangchuk (mKha’-spyod dBang-phyug) (1350–1405) was the<br />
successor <strong>of</strong> the fourth Karmapa, he would have used the third Karmapa as a source, if he<br />
was indeed the author <strong>of</strong> the Shepay Dorje text. However, there seems to be no direct<br />
reliance upon the Shepay Dorije text, which under the title Dark Treasury was atributed<br />
to the third Karmapa.<br />
A River <strong>of</strong> Blessings clearly has a third component in the content <strong>of</strong> its narrative.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se idiosyncratic and delightful passages are written in a colloquial manner, quite<br />
distinct from the usual literary style <strong>of</strong> the third Karmapa, and they contain amusing and<br />
fascinating alternative versions <strong>of</strong> incidents in the life <strong>of</strong> Milarepa. It appears to have<br />
been born out <strong>of</strong> a tradition <strong>of</strong> humorous story-telling. <strong>The</strong>se must have been derived<br />
from the untitled life-story described in the colophon as a compilation <strong>of</strong> a 127<br />
biographies. <strong>The</strong> eighteenth-century Katok Tsewang Norbu (Kah-thog Tshe-dbang Norbu)<br />
refers to just such a text as a source for his chronology. He states that it was<br />
composed by Shiché Ripa (Zhi-byed Ri-pa), who was renowned for his having read a 127<br />
biographies <strong>of</strong> Milarepa, here written in the eastern form <strong>of</strong> ‘Myi-la’ (zhi byed ri pa bya<br />
ba myi la’ i rnam thar brgya dang nyer bdun gzigs par grags pas…). 139 This appears to<br />
be what Lhalungpa refers to as:<br />
among the comparatively little known versions is one compiled by Shijay<br />
Repa, a contemporary <strong>of</strong> the great Bodong Panchen [Bo-dong ]<br />
(1377–1451). <strong>The</strong> life <strong>of</strong> Situ Chokyi Junnay [Si-tu Chos-kyi ‘byung-gnas<br />
(1700–1774)] refers to this version as ‘the manuscript preserved at the<br />
monastery <strong>of</strong> Chuwar [Chu-dbar] in Drin [Brin]. 140<br />
Ripa (Ri-pa) was incorrectly written as Repa (ras-pa) in Lhalungpa. <strong>The</strong> reference to<br />
Chuwar matches A History <strong>of</strong> Drakar Taso’s description <strong>of</strong> Shiché Ripa’s text, which it<br />
calls A Dark Treasury, being in Chuwar.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Bodong Panchen referred to by Lhalungpa is the founder <strong>of</strong> the Bodongpa (Bodong-pa)<br />
school. According to the biography written in 1453 by Bodongpa’s own pupil,<br />
Jigme Wangpo (‘Jigs-med dBang-po), Bodong Panchen’s dates are 1376–1451 (firedragon<br />
to iron-sheep). 141 <strong>The</strong>se are also the dates given by the <strong>Tibetan</strong> Buddhist Resource<br />
Center data base. 142 As he was not born in the last months <strong>of</strong> the fire-dragon year,<br />
Lhalungpa’s date <strong>of</strong> 1377 appears to be inaccurate. Jigme Wangpo noted that there was a<br />
discrepancy concerning Bodongpa’s dates because his father, to protect him from<br />
sorcery, had kept his real birth year secret and therefore most people believed he was