Gyurme Tsewang Chokdrup

Gyurme Tsewang Chokdrup (Wyl. ‘gyur med tshe dbang mchog grub) aka Katok Getse Mahapandita (b. 1761). 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 (1625-92). 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.

Students

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

Incarnations

His immediate incarnation, who was called Tsewang Rigdzin Gyatso, died quite young. The third Getse Tulku, Gyurme Tenpa Namgyal, was born in 1886.

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, Snow Lion, 2007