B44-Master Thangtong Gyalpo (1361-1485)

Master Thangtong Gyalpo (1361-1485), Tibetan Patriarch of the Shangpa Kagyu, was known as the wild engineer-saint of both Tibet and Bhutan. This heroic mahasiddha was known for his accomplishments in technology (he invented a process for building iron bridges that were amazing structures that lasted until modern times), the arts (he founded the first Tibetan Opera Drama troupe), medicine (some of his cures are still used in Tibetan medicine), and transmission of the highest dharmas of liberation including transmitting the Four-Armed Kuan Yin or Vajra Yoga Perfection Dharma (P03X) . Although most unconventional in appearance and methods, he was also the most traveled of the early Tibetan holy men, traveling all over India, Afghanistan, probably Sri Lanka, and visiting the holy Mt. Wu-Tai in China. Not only did he attain the rainbow body when he left this world, but over 100 of his disciples also achieved that level.

In 2005 his current incarnation H.E. Tangtong Gyalpo XVI became a disciple of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III at a Dharma Assembly held at Hua Zang Si in San Francisco.When he heard that G01(A)-H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III: A Treasury of True Buddha-Dharma was about to be published, he organized several rinpoches and disciples to recite the Kuan Yin Dharma many times as an offering to His Holiness. A brief biography of this saint can be found in “Category 30-Saving Lives by Liberating Them” in G01.

See also B24-Lady Niguma, One of the Matriarchs of the Shangpa Kagyu tradition who was one of Master Thangtong Gyalpo’s gurus and who taught him certain dharmas.

This course is included even though it has not yet been developed as a course for LFBCS as it includes an important Tibetan Patriarch of the Shangpa Kagyu tradition, who is worthy of our study and will be added in the future.

King of the Empty Plain: The Tibetan Iron-Bridge Builder by Cyrus Stearns will be the text for this course.

This course requires that “G02-Spiritual Autobiography,” “G03(A)-Evolution of Buddhism,” and “D35(A)-The 128 Evil and Erroneous Views” be completed as prerequisites to taking this course.