The 7th Rigzin Chenpo Ngawang Jampal Migyur Lhundrup Dorje

The 7^th Rigzin Chenpo Ngawang Jampal Migyur Lhundrup Dorje

The seventh Dorje Drak Rigzin Ngawang Jampal Migyur Lhundrup Dorje was born at Monkhar Namseling, a palace and monastery belonging to the Namseling family located on the south bank of the Tsangpo river opposite from Samye Monastery, in the southern central region of Tibet. This was also the birthplace of the Fourth Dorje Drak Rigzin, Pema Trinle (1641-1717). While there is some discrepancy regarding his birth date, he was most likely born around 1810, during the 14th Tibetan Rabjung cycle.

Although his parents’ names are unknown, it is said that his mother passed away when he was very young, causing him to fall ill. According to legend, he encountered hundreds of naga (subterranean serpent spirits) at a lake named Mahe (ma he’i mtsho) near the palace. The nagas gave him a wish-granting piece of amber the size of an old man’s fist, which miraculously produced milk that Ngawang Jampal sucked from the stone for six years while his body regained strength. It is said that this worn-out piece of amber bearing his fingerprints was visible on his reliquary until recently.

He was identified as the reincarnation of the Sixth Dorje Drak Rigzin, Kunzang Gyurme Lhundrub, by Chuzang Rinpoche Namkha Longyang, a close disciple of the Sixth Rigdzin. Chuzang Namkha Longyang brought him to Thupten Dorje Drak Monastery and enthroned him as the fourth throne holder of this main Nyingma monastery. From his birthplace, he was also bestowed a high-quality handwritten copy of the Kangyur as his inheritance.

Chuzang Namkha Longyang became his principal teacher and provided him with his foundational Buddhist education, giving him transmissions, empowerments, and instructions from the Jangter (Northern Treasures) tradition, which was upheld by his incarnation lineage. It is said that by the age of thirteen, he had already become an accomplished scholar, composing a prayer to the dharma protector Dorje Yudronma as well as notes for a maṇḍala offering to the Dalai Lama.

Through extensive study and contemplation, he became renowned for his vast knowledge and became a great pandit learned in the five sciences. He particularly mastered astrology and medicine. Ngawang Jampal was known for strictly maintaining his monastic vows and for being a master of the Dzogchen teachings of the Jangter tradition, titled the Gongter Namkha Dzod and other esoteric teachings.

There are longevity sadhanas from the mind treasures of both his previous and current incarnations contained in the treasure collection. Without completing his full life span, he passed away at the age of thirty-four (some accounts state twenty-five) and proceeded to another realm.