The Second Penor Rinpoche

Prophesied Birth

The venerable Thubten Chökyi Langpo, whose full name was Pema Künzang Tenzin Norbu and who was known to the world as Drubwang Pema Norbu, was born in Kham in the Fire Pig year of the fifteenth sexagenary cycle of the Tibetan calendar (1887), in accordance with a prophecy of the First Pema Norbu. The lineage reveres him as the reincarnation of the First Pema Norbu, and regards him as the emanation, manifesting once more in this land, of the eighth-century Indian master and Nyingma Dzogchen forefather, the venerable Vimalamitra. At around the age of seven, the venerable one was invited to the mother monastery of Palyul, where Jamgön Kongtrul Rinpoche personally recognized him as the reincarnation of Pema Norbu and enthroned him. From childhood he displayed extraordinary pure visions: at about the age of nine, Guru Padmasambhava himself appeared to him, bestowing blessing and empowerment, foretelling that throughout his life he would shoulder the great responsibility of upholding the Palyul dharma stream and widely propagating the Old Translation Nyingma teachings.

Wide-Ranging Study and Service

The venerable one relied upon many great spiritual masters of his age, receiving in full the empowerments, oral transmissions, and pith instructions of both the new and old tantras. His root guru was Khenpo Ngakchung (Khenpo Ngawang Palzang), at whose feet he received full ordination and was bestowed the dharma name Thubten Chökyi Langpo; between master and disciple there was a mutual and auspicious bond of relying upon one another and transmitting the dharma. The venerable one further received the root teachings of Palyul from the eighth throne-holder of Palyul, the Third Karma Kuchen Do-ngak Chökyi Nyima; received the Longchen Nyingtik from Drodul Pawo Dorje; obtained the transmission of peaceful and wrathful Mañjuśrī before Mipham Rinpoche; and received the guru-mind practice of Chokgyur Lingpa from Jamgön Kongtrul Rinpoche. Palpung Lama Tashi Chöphel and Khenpo Gyaltsen Özer were likewise among his teachers. Most rare of all, the venerable one once, within the pure vision of a dream, personally received the transmission of the Kabgyé Deshek Düpa (the Assembly of the Sugatas of the Eight Great Sādhana Teachings) from an emanation manifested by the eighth throne-holder Do-ngak Chökyi Nyima — testament to the depth of his connection and communion with the deities and the gurus.

Mastery of the Five Sciences

The venerable one was naturally gifted and incisive, refined in study and contemplation, and thoroughly versed in all the five sciences: he mastered the science of medicine and could heal the sick and benefit the world; he was skilled in the science of language and adept in Sanskrit phonology; he was expert in the craft sciences of constructing sand maṇḍalas and chanting the liturgies; and he was further versed in astrology and calculation, geomancy, and poetics. Later generations praised his learning as having had few equals in his time. Throughout his life the venerable one was diligent in composition, producing some seven great volumes of treatises and dharma texts, and writing numerous liturgies and works for the various teaching categories of the Longchen Nyingtik. He skillfully integrated the Longchen Nyingtik transmission into the Palyul teaching system, harmonizing the innermost-essence intent with the old Palyul norms without obstruction, to the profound benefit of later disciples.

Five Transmissions of the Treasury

During his tenure presiding over Palyul, the venerable one spared no effort in transmitting the teachings of both the earlier and later propagations. In the course of his life, he five times completed the bestowal of all the empowerments and oral transmissions of the entire Rinchen Terdzö (the Precious Treasury of Termas), showering the dharma rain widely upon practitioners in every direction. Beyond this, the venerable one also widely transmitted the Namchö (Sky Treasure) Dzogchen, the Nyoshul-tradition Longchen Nyingtik established according to the pith instructions of Khenpo Ngakchung, the Guhyagarbha Tantra of the Secret Essence, the Yönten Dzö (Treasury of Qualities) of the Longchen Nyingtik, and the teachings of the three vows. He was especially accomplished in the essential points of the generation and completion stages, and of trekchö (cutting through) and tögal (direct leap). His realization of Dzogchen is praised in the lineage as having attained the state of the luminosity of intrinsic awareness; in the gate of tögal, the venerable one personally led many onto the path of the rainbow-light dharmakāya. He was a great vidyādhara of the Palyul lineage who upheld what came before and opened the way for what followed.

Founding the College

In 1922, the venerable one founded the Buddhist college Tösam Norbu Lhünpo at Palyul, establishing for the lineage a teaching system that gave equal weight to study, contemplation, and meditation. At its founding the college had some fifty student monks, and the venerable one invited his root guru, the great Khenpo Ngakchung (Khenpo Ngawang Palzang), to serve as its first khenpo and to preside over the teaching. From this time onward, the Palyul lineage, in addition to its empowerments and oral transmissions, possessed a complete progression of scriptural study and retreat practice, and a new generation of khenpos, ācāryas, and student monks issued forth from it. The establishment of this college allowed the venerable one to inherit the dharma stream of the eighth throne-holder Do-ngak Chökyi Nyima from above, and to inaugurate from below the institutionalized teaching that would safeguard the Palyul teachings far into the future — a great service to the lineage.

Auspicious Signs at His Passing

In his later years, while in solitary retreat at Khachu Trag, the venerable one manifested a slight illness. On the third day of the third month of the Water Monkey year of the sixteenth sexagenary cycle of the Tibetan calendar (1932), the venerable one passed away serenely within profound samādhi, at the age of forty-six. At his cremation, auspicious signs appeared in abundance: the earth trembled, the sky was filled with rainbow light, a wondrous fragrance pervaded the air, and the ritual instruments sounded of their own accord — all manifesting the marks of a vidyādhara's realization. His relics were enshrined in a golden stūpa one story high, for all to venerate. After his passing, the venerable one again appeared in pure vision before his root guru Khenpo Ngakchung, consoling and instructing the lineage. At the end of his life the venerable one had promised to reincarnate swiftly, and he thereafter manifested as the Third Penor Rinpoche, who revived the Palyul dharma lineage in South India and widely propagated the Great Perfection, so that the compassionate aspiration of Drubwang Pema Norbu continues unbroken and flows forth throughout the world.