The Buddhist temple of La Boulaye

Brief History Point

The Glorious SHANGPA Lineage

The Tibetan founder of the Shangpa school is named Kyoungpo Neljor. He was probably born in 984 in Nyemo Ramang, in the central west of Tibet. During his life he visited India and Nepal seven times in search of the authentic Buddhist teachings. He is known to have had many masters, such as Maitripa, Dorjedenpa and Rahula. Among them, there were two extraordinary women who had attained perfect enlightenment: Niguma and Sukkhasiddhi. It is even said that they had received teachings directly from Buddha Vajradhara, the primordial Buddha, the essence of all Buddhas. “Shang” is the name of the region where he settled.

He transmitted Niguma’s teachings to only one of his disciples, Mochok Rinchen Tsondru (Mochokpa).
The Shangpa lineage is often referred to as the “secret lineage” because Nigouma instructed Kyoungpo Neldjor to transmit the teachings to only one disciple for the first seven generations (starting with Buddha Vajradhara and including Nigouma). From Mochokpa, the lineage passed to Kyergang Chökyi Sengué (Kyergangpa), then to Nyentön Rigung Chökyi Sherab (Rigongpa), and Sangye Tönpa.

Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche

These first seven masters are known as the Seven Great Jewels of the Shangpa tradition. Sangye Tönpa was the first master who gave these instructions to more than one of his disciples, and from that point on, several lineages of transmissions developed. It was to prevent it from becoming a monastic tradition that the lineage remained secret; it was to be practiced rather than codified.

Among the holders of the lineage, we find very famous masters such as Thangtong Gyalpo (author of the text of the Tchenrezi liturgy, among others), Kunga Drölchok, Jetsün Taranatha who had a great influence in the history of Tibet and was known to have received directly the blessing of the dakini Nigouma.

Throughout its history, the Shangpa Lineage has never become an institution or a school. It is primarily a lineage of practice and has never been involved in struggles for power or wealth. Most of its holders were great yogis living in hermitages, all of them having reached a high level of spiritual realization.
The Shangpa lineage had very few monasteries, was without hierarchy, and remained for a long time a “secret” lineage transmitted from master to disciple. With each generation, several branches appeared; some of them disappeared and others endured. In addition, it was often held by masters from other lineages and schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

Although the Shangpa teachings were considered very high and were assimilated by many schools, the tradition never became an institution with large monasteries. Nevertheless, its teachings are still practiced and transmitted in small retreat centers throughout the Himalayas. In the nineteenth century, Jamgön Kongtrul collected the surviving transmissions and ensured their continuity by including them in his famous Treasury of Sacred Instructions (dam ngak mdzöd).
The current main holder of the lineage is Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche.

From Kyoungpo Neljor to Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche, our master and founder of this Paldenshangpa La Boulaye center, the transmission has been maintained without degradation, in all its integrity. It is a great fortune to be able to be linked to such a lineage.