Rechungpa

Tibetan name
Tibetan script : རས་ ཆུང་ རྡོ་ རྗེ་ གྲགས་ པ་
Wylie transliteration : ras chung rdo rje grags pa

Rechungpa ( Tib .: ras chung pa ; also: Rechung Dorje Dragpa , Tib .: ras chung rdo rje grags pa ; * 1084 ; † 1161 ) was, together with Gampopa, the main student of the great Tibetan yogi Milarepa , one of the forefathers of the Kagyü school tradition of Tibetan Buddhism .

Rechungpa line

Rechungpa was the head of Milarepa's student body and, together with Gampopa, was the teacher of the first Karmapa Düsum Khyenpa , the founder of the Karma-Kagyu , an important Kagyu school. While Gampopa as a monk placed significantly more emphasis on the monastic tradition of Buddhism, which is characteristic of the Kagyu schools that originated from him, the lineage originating from Rechungpa stands much more strongly in the yogi tradition of the Indian masters. This is why Rechungpa is also known as “younger Milarepa”. He was also Tertön (treasure finder of spiritual treasures) and, according to tradition, received teachings from Guru Rinpoche in pure vision . Rechungpa traveled to India several times and brought from there special tantric teachings that flowed into a very own lineage. According to tradition, Rechungpa realized the so-called rainbow body when he died . This is considered to be the highest result of the realization of the teachings of Dzogchen , in which the deceased master dissolves his body into light phenomena as the essence of the elements of his body over a period of one week. Usually only hair and nails are left behind as leftovers. Rechungpa's disciple Gyalwa Kyang Tsangpa transmitted the lineage of Rechungpa to the Yogini Machik Ongyo (12th century). This transmission continues uninterrupted to this day. Among other things, Changling Tulku Rinpoche , who also passes the transmission of the Northern Treasures of the Nyingma School, holds the line of Rechungpa. Changling Tulku also teaches in the west.

literature

• Thrangu Rinpoche: Rechungpa: A Biography of Milarepa's Disciple . Namo Buddha Publications, 2002, ISBN 0-9628026-8-9
• Peter Alan Roberts: The Biographies of Rechungpa . Routledge Chapman & Hall, 2010, ISBN 978-0415596220 ( Online ; PDF; 2.5 MB)

Rechungpa (alternative names of the lemma)
Rechungpa, ras chung pa, Reqiongba Duojie Zhaba 热 琼巴 • 多杰札巴, Rechungpa Dorje Dragpa, ras chung pa rdo rje grags pa, Reqiongba 热 琼巴; 热 穷 ​​巴