Biographical Details
Drogon Tsangpa Gyare was born into the Gya clan at a place near Kule in the Tsang province of Southern Tibet. His father was Gya Zurpo Tsabpey and his mother Marza Darkyi. According to legend and hagiography, the child was born with his birth membrane intact, causing his parents to abandon him through fear. Whilst a giant eagle protected the vulnerable child with his wings, the new born kicked through the membrane leaving a footmark on the nearby rock.
As a young man, Drogon Tsangpa Gyare was a practitioner who studied the Sutra canon of the time, including Logic, The Way of the Bodhisattva, Metaphysics, the Transcendent Perfection of Great Wisdom and the Middle Path.
He met his Guru Lingchen Repa when he was 23.
After establishing Longbol (kLong rBol) and Ralung monasteries Drogon Tsangpa Gyare went to a place called Nam Phu to build a monastery. It is said that when he and his disciples reached the place nine roaring dragons arose from the ground and soared in the sky. The Tibetan word for dragon is 'Brug which is pronounced as 'Druk'. The flying dragons were taken to be an auspicious omen and the monastery and the lineage which sprang from it came to be known as the Drukpa. This school eventually became very popular in Tibet and surrounding regions. Many followers of this school were simple people, content with few material possessions, known for their deep practice of the dharma. There is a Tibetan proverb which says:
- "Half the people are Drukpa Kagyupas,
Half the Drukpa Kagyupas are beggars,
And half the beggars are Drubtobs (Siddhas)."
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