Most Venerable Chenga Rinpoche

Most Venerable Chenga RinpocheThe Second Chenga Rinpoche was the reincarnation of the fourth Throne-holder of Drikung Kagyu School- Chenga Dragpa Jungne (spyan snga grags pa 'byung gnas, 1175-1255). In Lho rong chos 'byung (Buddhist history of Lho rong), it says: “Chenga Rinpoche and Won Rinpoche (the third throne holder of Drikung Kagyu) are the heart disciples of Lord Jigten Sumgon.” Chenga Dragpa Jungne was born to the Rlang family in Kham and was ordained under the seat of Sangye Yepa.

He first met Lord Jigten Sumgon at eighteen years old and became his attendant for twenty-one years. (Chenga means close attendant)  At that time, Jigten Sumgon was the abbot for both Phag-dru Den-sa Thil (Phag gru Gdan sa mthil) Monastery and Drikung Thil ('bri gung mthil) Monastery.  At age sixty-six, because of old age, Jigten Sumgon entrusted Chenga to be the abbot of Phagdru Densa Thil Monastery. Jigten Sumgön said: “In the past,  I was your guru. Now, you are the guru. You will bring glory to Phagdru Densa Thil.”

After Lord Jigten Sumgon passed away, Chenga Rinpoche became the incomparable great sage among other important practitioners. For example, when the third patriarch of Sakya School Drapa Gyatshan (Grags pa rgyal mtshan, 1147-1216) passed away, Sakya Pandita (1182-1251) invited Chenga Rinpoche to be the chief guest at the funeral. The invitation letter sent by Sakya Pandita was included in the Rlang gi Po ti (Family history of Rlang).

When Won Rinpoche passed into nirvana, Chenga Rinpoche was invited to Drikung Thil Monastery to be the abbot. He was then sixty-one years old. In the next twenty years, Chenga Rinpoche propagated the teaching of non-duality of Mahamudra and precepts without any fault. His dharma activities are so vast that he benefited many sentient beings. When the Mongolian army invaded Tibet, he protected the monasteries and various lineages from being attacked and destroyed. At age eighty-one, he passed away with many auspicious signs at the Drikung Thil Monastery on the eighth day of the twelfth month in 1255.

When Chenga Rinpoche became the abbot of Drikung Thil, his Rlang family member succeeded as abbot of the Phag-gru Monastery. Until the fourteenth century, Tai-si-tu Changchub Gyatshan (tai si tu byang chub rgyal mtshan, 1302-1364) from his Rlang family overthrew the Sakya Khon family's rule over Tibet, and founded the Phag-gru Dynasty, a very important dynasty in Tibetan history.

The title “Chenga” was developed into a special “Chenga” lineage in the Phagdru Kagyu School. The lineage of “Chenga” was inherited through guru to disciple rather than reincarnations. From the first Chenga, which was Drag-pa Jung-ne, until the fifth Dalai Lama of the Gelug School took over the political power over Tibet in the middle of seventeenth century, there were twenty-one Chenga Rinpoches. During that time, Chenga Rinpoche held the highest religious position in the Phag-gru Dynasty. Except that the fourth and the sixth Sharma Rinpoches of the Karma Kagyu School had been two Chenga Rinpoches, all others were from the Phagdru Kagyu School.

The second Chenga Rinpoche was born at Lhasa in 1974. He is Lamkhyen Gyalpo Rinpoche's nephew, belonging to the Brong-me family of Nangchen in the Kham area. His father, Dan-dzin Rinpoche, is a Karma Kagyu Rinpoche in Nangchen. In 1985, after graduating from high school, Chenga was ordained at Tsurpu Monastery, the root Monastery of Karma Kagyu School, and then he joined the three year three month retreat. In 1997, Ming-ling Khri-chen ( Smin gling Khri chen) Rinpoche, the head of Nyingma School, recognized him as the reincarnation of Chenga Drag-pa Jung-ne. Both the Drikung Kyabgon Rinpoches agreed on this special recognition. Kyab-gon Chetsang Rinpoche enthroned him as Chenga Rinpoche at Jangchubling Monastery in India on March 15th, 1999.

In these years, Chenga Rinpoche stayed at Gampopa Vajrayana Buddhist Center in New Jersey, U. S. A., and assisted Lamkhyen Gyalpo Rinpoche to give the dharma teachings. He also engaged in retreat for several months there in America.
 
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