Gyurme Tsewang Chokdrup

Getse Mahapandita (si trön mi rik petrün khang, 2014)

Gyurme Tsewang Chokdrup (Wyl. ‘gyur med tshe dbang mchog grub) aka Katok Getse Mahapandita (Wyl. kaH thog dge rtse) (1761-1829) — an important Nyingma scholar from Katok Monastery who famously wrote a catalogue to the Nyingma Gyübum.

He was born in the Iron Snake year of the thirteenth calendrical cycle (1761) and recognized as an incarnation of Tsewang Trinlé, the nephew of Longsal Nyingpo (1625-1692). His teachers included Dodrupchen Kunzang Shenpen, Ngor Khenchen Palden Chökyong, Changkya Rolpé Dorje and Dzogchenpa Ati Tenpé Gyaltsen. Through his connection with the Derge royal family, he arranged for the printing of the Collection of Nyingma Tantras (Nyingma Gyübum) and the writings of Longchenpa and Jikmé Lingpa, and took responsibility for proofreading.

Writings

• Husks of Unity: A Clarification of the Development Stage Rituals (Wyl. bsKyed pa'i rim pa cho ga dang sbyar ba'i gsal byed zung 'jug snye ma)
  • English translation: Sangye Khandro, published in Generating the Deity, which includes a commentary by Gyatrul Rinpoche (Ithaca: Snow Lion, second edition 1995)
  • English translation: Dharmachakra Translation Committee, published in Deity, Mantra and Wisdom: Development Stage Meditation in Tibetan Buddhist Tantra (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 2007)

Students

Among his students were the Third Dzogchen Rinpoche and the Third Shechen Rabjam, Rigdzin Paljor Gyatso (1770-1809).

Incarnations

• His immediate incarnation, who was called Tsewang Rigdzin Gyatso, died quite young (1830?-1885?).
• The Third Getse Tulku, Gyurme Tenpa Namgyal, was born in 1886 and passed away in 1952.
• The Fourth Kathok Getse Rinpoche, Gyurme Tenpa Gyaltsen, was born in Tibet and was recognized as a tulku by His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa, Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö, and Adzom Gyalse Gyurme Dorje. He lived outside of Tibet and divided his time between Kathmandu, where he oversaw a small retreat center in Pharping, India, and Bhutan. Getse Rinpoche shared an especially close relationship with H.H. the Dalai Lama.

Further Reading

• Jigme Lingpa and Getse Mahapandita Tsewang Chokdrub, Deity, Mantra and Wisdom: Development Stage Meditation in Tibetan Buddhist Tantra, translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 2007), page 17
• Tomoko Makidono, "Ka˙ thog Dge rtse Mahāpaṇḍita’s Doxographical Position: The Great Madhyamaka of Other-Emptiness (gzhan stong dbu ma chen po)" in Indian International Journal of Buddhist Studies (IIJBS) vol. 12 (2011), pp. 77-119
• Tomoko Makidono, "The Turning of the Wheel of Mantrayāna Teachings in the Rnying ma rgyud ’bum dkar chag lha’i rnga bo che by Kaḥ thog Dge rtse Mahāpaṇḍita ’Gyur med tshe dbang mchog grub (149-186)" in IIJBS vol. 13 (2012), pp. 149-186

Internal Links

• Katok Getse Incarnation Line

External Links

• TBRC Profile