THE GOLDEN KAGYU GARLAND

Excerpts from The Garland of Moon Water Crystal by Situ Chokyi Jungnay and Belo Tsewang Kunkhyab

Gyalwa Yungton Dorje Pal (1296-1376) was born at Tsongdu Gurmo in Southern Tibet. At the age of five, when his mother took him to the market place, he met Trophu Khenchen Sonam Senge, a great scholar. The child showed great devotion and was given the refuge-vows and the precepts of a lay practitioner on the spot.

By the age of fifteen he entered the famous Nyingma monastery Ugpa Lung where he was instructed in the Tantrayana by Lama Zurchung and Lama Bale.
He also studied at the monastic college Shalu and became a famous scholar. He was known as a teacher who had mastered the teachings of both the Sutras and the Tantras.
It is recorded that he attained the highest realization after he met with the third Karmapa who imparted the ultimate meaning of the teachings to him. Thus, Gyalwa Yungtonpa became the next lineage holder. He passed away at the age of eighty-two.

The Fourth Karmapa,Rolpai Dorje (1340-1383)