Zhang Yudrakpa Tsöndru Drakpa


Zhang Yudrakpa Tsöndru Drakpa ', also known as Gungtang Lama Zhang ' and often simply as “Lama Zhang,” was the founder of the Tshalpa Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Zhang Yudrakpa was a prominent religious figure, and his extensive involvement in the political and military conflicts of Tibet was controversial at the time.
Zhang Yudrakpa was probably the first to establish a system of theocratic rulership centered on the figure of the charismatic lama in the Lhasa area of Central Tibet. Together with Phagmo Drupa Dorje Gyalpo and Tsongkhapa, Zhang Yudrakpa was considered as one of the "Three Jewels of Tibet" .

Biographical details

Zhang Yudrakpa was born in August, 1123 at Tsawadru in the Kyi River Valley located in the southern part of present-day Lhasa and was named Darma Drak. He was the son of Zhang Dorje Sempa, a lay tantric practitioner belonging to the important Nanam clan, and Shümo Zamangkyi, who had formerly been a Buddhist nun. Tibetan hagiographies relate many auspicious signs occurring at his birth and during his infancy.
During his childhood his mother encouraged his religious education, taking the young Zhang to listen to religious discourses by the woman teacher Majo Darma. On the other hand, in his autobiography Zhang also records his “contradictory traits” and struggles with evil impulses from an early age—including killing of and cruelty towards animals.
At the age of seven, Zhang received teachings in the basic Buddhist doctrines of prajnaparamita, abhidharma and pramana from Sambu Lotsawa, and teachings in different tantras, including Hevajra and Mahākāla, from Lama Ngokpa, one of his most important tantric teachers. At this time he also received teachings in the practice of black magic.
He established the monastery of Tsel Gungtang, to the south of Lhasa, in 1175.

Disciples

A collection of the works of Zhang Yudrakpa in 9 volumes has recently been published as dpal ldan tshal pa bka' brgyud kyi bstan pa'i mnga' bdag zhang g.yu brag pa brtson 'grus grags pa'i gsung 'bum rin po che: . Kathmandu: Shree Gautam Buddha Vihar, 2004.
The work "The Ultimate Supreme Path of the Mahamudra" has been translated in "Mahamudra and Related Instructions: Core Teachings of the Kagyu Schools."