Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen () (1859–1933 or 1935) was a great

Dzogchen Dzogchen ( 'Great Completion' or 'Great Perfection'), also known as ''atiyoga'' ( utmost yoga), is a tradition of teachings in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Bön aimed at discovering and continuing in the ultimate ground of existence. The goal ...

master of the

Bon Bon or Bön (), also known as Yungdrung Bon (, ), is the indigenous Tibetan religion which shares many similarities and influences with Tibetan Buddhism.Samuel 2012, pp. 220–221. It initially developed in the tenth and eleventh centuries but ...

tradition of

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

who took not only Bon disciples, but gathered students from all traditions of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, D ...

Biography

Shardza was born in 1859 in

Kham Kham (; ) is one of the three traditional Tibet, Tibetan regions, the others being Domey also known as Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The official name of this Tibetan region/province is Dotoe (). The original residents of ...

.Gayley, Holly; Schapiro, Joshua (2017). ''A Gathering of Brilliant Moons Practice Advice from the Rime Masters of Tibet''. Wisdom Publications. pp. 97-99. He took

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

at age 30. He wrote philosophical works and became an influential Bon scholar. Shardza has been cited as a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

as he refused to eat the meat of any animal that was slaughtered. However, Shardza would eat meat from animals that died naturally from accidents or attacked by wolves as the consumer has no involvement in the death of the animal. According to tradition, Shardza Tashi Gyeltsen famously realized the

rainbow body In Dzogchen, rainbow body (, Jalü or Jalus) is a level of realization. This may or may not be accompanied by the 'rainbow body phenomenon'. The rainbow body phenomenon is pre-Buddhist in origin and is related to the indigenous Tibetan Bon religi ...

. Chaoul (2006) opened the discourse of Bon traditions of

Trul khor ''Trul khor'' ('magical instrument' or 'magic circle;' Skt. ), in full ''tsa lung trul khor'' ( 'magical movement instrument, channels and inner breath currents'), also known as yantra yoga, is a Vajrayana discipline which includes pranayama ( ...

into Western scholarship in English with his thesis from

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

, which makes reference to writings of Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen, particularly the ''Most Profound Heavenly Storehouse None Other than the Oral Transmission of Trul Khor Energy Control Practices'' ().

Literary works

*'The Self-Dawning of the Three Bodies' ()Gorvine, William M. (2006). ''The Life of a Bonpo Luminary: Sainthood, Partisanship and Literary Representation in a 20th Century Tibetan Biography''. Dissertation. University of Virginia: Department of Religious Studies. Source

(accessed: Saturday October 31, 2009), p.2 *byang zab nam mkha' mdzod chen las snyan rgyud rtsa rlung 'phrul 'khor (a Commentary on

Trul Khor ''Trul khor'' ('magical instrument' or 'magic circle;' Skt. ), in full ''tsa lung trul khor'' ( 'magical movement instrument, channels and inner breath currents'), also known as yantra yoga, is a Vajrayana discipline which includes pranayama ( ...

)

Notes

References

*Lopön Tenzin Namdak and Dixey, Richard (2002). ''Heart Drops of Dharmakaya: Dzogchen Practice of the Bön Tradition''. Snow Lion Publications. *Gorvine, William M. (2006). ''The Life of a Bonpo Luminary: Sainthood, Partisanship and Literary Representation in a 20th Century Tibetan Biography''. Dissertation. University of Virginia: Department of Religious Studies. Source

(accessed: Saturday October 31, 2009) *Jean-Luc Achard (2008). ''Enlightened Rainbows: The Life and Works of Shardza Tashi Gyeltsen''. Brill's Tibetan Studies Library. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Gyaltsen, Shardza Tashi 1859 births 1930s deaths Bon Tibetan people

Biography

Literary works

See also

Notes

References