31 Facts About Longchenpa

Longchen Rabjam Drime Ozer, commonly abbreviated to Longchenpa was a Tibetan scholar-yogi of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism.

Longchenpa is responsible for the scholastic systematization of Dzogchen thought within the context of the wider Tibetan Vajrayana tradition of philosophy which was highly developed at the time among the Sarma schools.

Longchenpa is known for his voluminous writings, including the highly influential Seven Treasuries and his compilation of Dzogchen scripture and commentaries, the Nyingthig Yabshi.

Longchenpa was a terton and some of his works, like the Khadro Yangtig, are considered terma.

Longchenpa's work unified the various Dzogchen traditions of his time into a single system.

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Longchenpa is known for his skill as a poet and his works are written in a unique literary voice which was widely admired and imitated by later Nyingma figures.

Longchenpa was the abbot of Samye, one of Tibet's most important monasteries and the first Buddhist monastery established in the Himalayas.

Longchenpa was born to the Nyingma lama Lopon Tsensung, a descendent of the Rog clan.

Longchenpa's mother died when he was nine and his father died two years after.

Longchenpa was an avid student with a great capacity for memory.

In 1327, Longchenpa moved to the Kadam monastic college of Sangpu Neutok, the most esteemed center of learning in Tibet at the time.

Longchenpa stayed for six years at Sangpu, mastering the entire scholastic curriculum of logical-epistemology, yogacara and madhyamaka as well as poetics.

Longchenpa studied under various teachers, including the famous Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje, from whom he received the six yogas of the Kalacakra and the six dharmas of Naropa.

Longchenpa left Sangpu to practice in the solitude of the mountains, after coming into conflict with certain Khampa scholars.

Longchenpa accompanied Kumaradza and his disciples for two years, during which time he received all of Rigdzin Kumaradza's transmissions.

Longchenpa was permitted to teach after a three year period of retreat in mChims phu, not far from Samye.

Longchenpa is said to have had various visions of different deities, including Padmasambhava, black Vajravarahi, Guru drag po, and the goddess Adamantine Turquoise Lamp.

Longchenpa then gathered a group of eight disciplines in order to initiate them into the Dzogchen teachings.

Longchenpa embarked on a project of compiling the main texts of the Vima Nyingthig and the Khandro Nyingthig along with a series of his own commentaries on these works.

In 1350, at the age of 42, Longchenpa had a vision of Vimalamitra which asked him to restore the temple of Zhai Lhakhang.

Longchenpa founded a series of small monasteries in Bhutan, including Tharpa Ling, his main residence.

Longchenpa is widely considered the single most important writer on Dzogchen teachings.

Longchenpa was a prolific author and scholar, as well as a compiler of Dzogchen texts.

Longchenpa describes this fundamental basis as being primordially pure and empty while having the nature of a subtle self-arising awareness.

Longchenpa brought Dzogchen thought more closely into dialogue with scholastic Buddhist philosophy and the Sarma tantric systems which were normative in the Tibetan academic institutions of his time.

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Longchenpa's work posits that this supreme Dzogchen view is not just the pinnacle of Buddhism, but it is in fact a keystone to the entire Buddhist Dharma, without which the "lower vehicles" cannot be fully understood or justified.

Furthermore, Longchenpa defended the validity of Dzogchen as a stand alone system of formless and effortless perfection stage practice, which did not require preliminary practice of the generation stage of deity yoga nor standard tantric initiation rituals.

For Longchenpa, Dzogchen relies on simple and more natural methods which are based on the recognition of the nature of the mind and the Dzogchen view of reality.

Longchenpa retains the emphasis on the body's center and light-experiences, yet undercuts the tone of control and manipulation.

Longchenpa compiled various Dzogchen Menngagde scriptures into the collection known as the Nyingthig Yabshi.

Longchenpa composed a supplementary commentary to the Nyingthig Yabshi, called the Zabmo Yangtig.