HH Minling Trichen Rinpoche
The Mindrol Ling tradition – its female and male siddhas
The Nyo tradition of Mindrol Ling is noted for its female Lamas, such as Jétsunma Min’gyür Paldrön who was a daughter of gTérdag Lingpa. Jétsunma Min’gyür Paldrön was an incarnation of Yeshé Tsogyel. Jétsunma Min’gyür Paldrön’s incarnations include Jétsunma Thrin-lé Chödrön, Jétsunma Bu-ra Karmo (rJe bTsun ma dBu sKra dKar mo), and Jétsunma Bu-tra Nakmo (rJe bTsun ma dBus sKra nak mo). When Mindroling was destroyed by the Dzungar Mongols, Jétsunma Min’gyür Paldrön rebuilt it, and when the Nyingma tradition was being corrupted and the Mindrol Ling lineage was near extinction, she restored it to its original spiritual brilliance – these are among the many reasons why she is regarded so highly in the Mindrol Ling lineage. Included with Jétsunma Thrin-lé Chödrön’s close disciples was the first Khyentsé, who also greatly helped to restore the Nyingma tradition to its original form. Mingling Trichen Rinpoche’s daughters are now following the traditions of their predecessors – and particularly Jétsunma Khandro Rinpoche has grown famous in the West as a highly experienced Lama within the Kagyüd and Nyingma Traditions.
There were approximately one hundred and eleven branch gompas of the Mindrol Ling tradition in Southern Tibet and the Gyé-ta regions – the largest of these gompas being Pompo-ra, Pu-chö, and Déchen Lhundrüp. Mindrol Ling itself was a branch gompa of the original mother gompa of Dar-gyé Chöling. Dar-gyé Chöling was founded by the father of gTérdag Lingpa, Sang-dag Thrin-lé Lhundrüp, and built by Kun-khyen Dong-gog Ten’dzin Rinpoche. Today the Mindroling tradition is somewhat reduced in scale from what it was in the past – but its power is undiluted at the gompa in Dehra Dhun in Northern India. All the traditions are being maintained uninterruptedly, but they are currently at risk due to lack of financial support. Recently Minling Trichen’s brother Shabdrung Rinpoche passed away in Nyarong in a remarkable way (Shabdrung Rinpoche was Minling Trichen’s immediate younger brother). Shabdrung Rinpoche resided at Pompo-ra Gompa – which was the throne of Kusum Sang-dag Lingpa. As there was no throne holder of Pompo-ra at that time, Shabdrung Rinpoche became the resident Lama of the gompa. Minling Trichen Rinpoche’s brother Pénang Rinpoche was a Drüpchen and manifested such profound Wisdom-chaos that it was said of him that ‘he could not be counted as belonging to the race of human beings’.
