Thangtong Gyalpo (Tibetan: ཐང་སྟོང་རྒྱལ་པོ་, Wylie: thang stong rgyal po) (1385 CE–1464 CE[1] or 1361 CE–1485 CE[2]), also known as Chakzampa, the "Iron Bridge Maker" (Wylie: lcags zam pa), Tsöndrü Zangpo "Excellent Persistence" (Wylie: brtson 'grus bzang po), and the King of the Empty Plain.[3] He was also known by a variation of this name, Madman of the Empty Valley.[3][4] He was a great Buddhist adept, a Chöd master,[5]yogi, physician, blacksmith, architect, and a pioneering civil engineer. He is considered a mind emanation of Padmasambhava[1] and a reincarnation of Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen. He founded the Iron Chain lineage of the Shangpa Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, and he recognized the first Samding Dorje Phagmo, Chökyi Drönma (1422–1455), the female incarnation lineage of Vajravārāhī.[6]
Thangtong Gyalpo is said to have built 58 iron chain suspension bridges around Tibet and Bhutan, several of which are still in use today. He also designed and built several large stupas of unusual design including the great Kumbum at Chung Riwoche, Tibet; established Gonchen Monastery in Derge; and is considered to be the father of a style of Tibetan opera called Lhamo.[4] Associated with the Shangpa Kagyu, Nyingma and Sakya traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, and with the tradition of "mad yogis" known as nyönpa, Thang Tong Gyalpo is also known as a sorcerer character in the popular Tibetan story of Gesar.[4] In addition, he is believed to be the most widely traveled person in Tibetan history.[6]
Biography
Thangtong Gyalpo was born at Ölpa Lhartse in upper Tsang (modern Ngamring County) in 1385 CE (wood ox year, sixth cycle).[7]
Thangtong Gyalpo is best known for his founding of lhamo or Tibetan opera as well as the numerous iron suspension bridges he built to ease travel and pilgrimage though the Himalayas. He established a song and dance troupe of seven sisters to raise the money needed to build these bridges.[8][9]
Thangtong Gyalpo also founded Gonchen Monastery, a large Sakya vihara and printing centre in the town of Derge, Kham (modern Sichuan, China).[10]
Thangtong Gyalpo opened the route through the land of the Kongpo aborigines (the Lhoba people), where he obtained iron for his bridges and rights of passage for Tibetan pilgrims to visit the holy places in Tsari to the southeast of Dakpo near the Indian border.[11]
He is also considered to be the patron saint of theatre and became known as "the madman of the empty land" (Wylie: lang ston smyon pa). Plays traditionally have an altar erected in the middle of the stage surrounded by trees, where the "god of drama", Thangtong Gyalpo, is worshiped as an elderly man with a white beard.[12]
He is said to have made 108 iron-chain suspension bridges (though another account says 58 suspension bridges and 118 ferry-crossings),[13] the most celebrated being the one over the Yarlung Tsanpo near modern Chüshül. He is often shown in murals with long white hair and holding some chain links from his bridges.[8][9]
One of his iron chain suspension bridges, Chushul Chakzam, about 65 kilometres (40mi) from Lhasa on the Yarlung Tsangpo River still existed in 1948, though it was in need of repairs and no longer used, the crossing being made by ferry. The old bridge was destroyed when a new one was opened about a hundred metres west of it. The old bridge was described as being of ancient design: "two thick chains are tied to heavy wooden beams underneath the pillars, from the top of which are suspended 12-foot (4m) ropes hung from the chains and support wooden boards a yard (1m) long and a foot (30cm) broad, allowing passage for one man. The bridge is a hundred paces long."
At the south end of the Tsangpo bridge was Thangtong Gyalpo's main gompa founded in 1444, Chaksam Chuwo Ri (Tibetan: ལྕགས་ཟམ་ཆུ་བོ་རི) and he lived in the Chaksam Labrang, the main building of the complex which included the assembly hall. The gompa had a hundred monks supported by the toll on the bridge. There was also a large stupa known as "Tangtong's Kumbum" at the southern end of the bridge which contained his relics, and a chapel at the top contained an image of him. The gompa was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. Dowman reports that "all evidence of its existence has now vanished".[14][15][16]
Teachers and students
Teachers
Thang Tong Gyalpo is said to have studied with over 500 teachers in Tibet, India, and Nepal.[5] Part of the impetus for his intensive travel throughout the region was to meet and study with various Vajrayanatulkus, teachers, lineage holders, and yogis and yoginis.
The Dakini Niguma
One of Thang Tong Gyalpo's most important teachers was the great dakiniNiguma.[5][17][18][19] who visited him in visions three times over a period of years.[20]
Thang Tong Gyalpo had other notable teachers as well who also offered him direct teachings of Niguma's spiritual practices. He
After receiving teachings from Jangsem Jinpa Sangpo, Thang Tong Gyalpo went into retreat and was visited in vision by Niguma.[5] Niguma gave him "direct transmission" of the Six Yogas of Niguma.[21]
During a profound visionary experience, the dakini Niguma herself bestowed upon him the four initiations, specific instructions concerning the esoteric significance of her Vajra Lines, and an extraordinary technique for transference of consciousness through meditation on the white and red forms of Khecarī. Tangtong's mastery of these practices is said to have given him the ability to instantly emanate many forms, to know what other people were thinking, and to perform the transference of consciousness from afar for the benefit of another person.[5]
The second vision of Niguma
The second visionary visit of Niguma to Thang Tong Gyalpo was a few years later.
. . . Tangtong Gyalpo was traveling from his birthplace to Lhasa soon after he had returned to Tibet from Uddiyana. In a grove of juniper trees at a place called Sinpo Dzong (Demon Fort), he was approached again by the dakini Niguma, this time in the form of a fifteen-year-old shepherd girl. On this occasion she gave him special instructions concerning the sequence of visualizations during meditation, and bestowed the blessing of the illusory body.[20]
The third vision of Niguma
Thang Tong's spiritual instructions from Niguma only were recorded many years later, in 1458. This was the same year of his third vision of Niguma.
. . . he finally received, in a third vision, permission to write down what Niguma had previously given him. This event occurred at Riwoché, and the instructions were recorded by Tangtong's disciple Lodrö Gyaltsen, through whom the major lineage was subsequently transmitted. These instructions, known as the Collection of the Essentials (Snying po kun ’dus), and a group of related teachings, have been passed down as the Tangtong Tradition (Thang lugs) of the Shangpa Kagyu lineage, and are among the few texts actually signed by the great adept.[22]
Chökyi Drönma, the Samding Dorje Phagmo, (1422–1455) was one of Thang Tong Gyalpo's students and his main consort.[23] He is said to have recognized her as the incarnation of Vajravārāhī and to have associated her with this deity's prophecies, and later to have identified her reincarnation.[24]
Lineage founding
Thang Tong Gyalpo began a spiritual lineage called the Thangluk (Wylie: Thang lugs) or Chakzam "Iron Chain" (Wylie: lcags zam) lineage, inside of the Shangpa Kagyu school. What are known as the Collection of the Essentials (Snying po kun ’dus), along with a collection of related teachings, came to Thang Tong Gyalpo in visions from the great wisdom dakiniNiguma.[22] Thang Tong Gyalpo combined the Shangpa and Jangter "Northern Treasures" (Wylie: byang gter) teachings[25] and traditions.[26]
Incarnation lineage
There is an incarnation line for Chakzampa Thang Tong Gyalpo, in Bhutan, that continues on into contemporary times. The current incarnation was born on the 16th of November, in 1973.[27][28]
Surviving prayers, spiritual practices, and empowerments
The teachings that are alive today are associated with the Shangpa Kagyu lineage,[29] the "Northern Treasures" tradition, and within the cycles of MahamudraChöd.[5]
Sādhanā and prayers
Thang Tong Gyalpo is known for writing an Avalokiteśvarasādhanā entitled For the Benefit of All Beings as Vast as the Skies, which is practiced in dharma centers today.[30] In 2013 and in 2014, spiritual retreats were held at Rangjung Yeshe Gomde in Europe focused on this sadhana.[31][32]
Other texts written by Thang Tong Gyalpo, and translated into English, can be found at Lotsawa House.[33] They include a prayer for dispelling famine, a refuge practice to Thang Tong Gyalpo, and a prayer for pacifying the fear of disease. Contemporary social media has included postings containing prayers to Thang Tong Gyalpo to relieve suffering from earthquakes natural disasters as well.[34]
Empowerments
Sakya Trizin gave the Vajrayana empowerment of Thang Tong Gyalpo's long life practice, called thangyal tsédrup (or bka' gter dag snang zung du 'brel ba'i tshe sgrub shin tu nye brgyud kyi sgrub thabs), at Lerab Ling in southern France in 2011.[35]
In 1433, Drubthob Thangtong Gyalpo and his disciples traveled to Pagri in the Chumbi Valley of Tibet, and from there to Paro Taktsang in Bhutan. According to his biography, while performing rituals of Vajrakilaya there, he had a vision of the assembly of the Eight Classes of Heruka (Wylie: sgrub pa bka' brgyad) meditational deities with Vajrakumara as the central figure.
It is said that a nine-headed nāga spirit, who was the guardian of the sacred place of Paro Taktsang, declared "your religious inheritance was concealed here by Ogyen Rinpoche, please make your discovery and reveal it". Thereupon Drubchen Thangtong Gyalpo extracted a sacred scroll ten body lengths long from the cliff of Taktsang.
The line of mountains where Taktsang is located is shaped like a black snake with its head in the middle of the Paro valley. On the nose of this snake the Drubthob constructed Jangtsa Dumtseg Lhakhang, a stupa-shaped temple and pronounced that all diseases caused by evil spirits residing under the ground were suppressed and that the valley would be free from leprosy.
Tachog Lhakhang established by Thangtong Gyalpo
Arriving at a place called Phurdo, he saw a five-coloured rainbow upon which were seated Buddha Amitabha, Avalokitesvara and Padmasambhava and declared that the place was as sacred as Potala mountain. At Tamchogang, at the foot of the Phurdo mountains, he established Tamchog Lhakhang temple and made sacred representations of the Buddha's body, speech and mind. This temple, which located opposite the road from Paro about 5 kilometres (3.1mi) before Chudzom, is still maintained by the descendants of Drubtob Thang Tong Gyalpo.
From there he travelled to Drawang Tengchin where a rich man named Olag presented him three hundred and forty coins and turquoises and requested him to extract water. He did so and the water was sufficient to feed not only the people and cattle but also irrigate the fields. He then arrived at Gophog and told Lama Gyaltshen that he needed large quantities of iron to help him build links for compassionate purposes. Lama Gyaltshen answered that he would make available one hundred pieces of iron if the Drubthob could show him a proof of his attainment. The Drubthob told him to bring a boulder that was near the bridge which he split it into two just by pointing his finger. Within the stone they saw a live scorpion, the size of a thumb with innumerable of new-born scorpions. The Drubthob prayed in Samadhi and the insects instantly disappeared in the form of a rainbow and he proclaimed that he had sent them to Sukhavati.
At Wundul Shari, he climbed a steep mountain cliff, impossible to climb by the ordinary humans and stayed there for a month. He said that the cliff contained caves like Tashigomang and the place resembled Shambala in the north. However, he said, as the ordinary people could not go there, he had made a door. When the people looked up they found an opening that did not exist earlier on the face of the cliff. Then he travelled to Wundul, Gyaldung and Langsamar, and upper and lower Ha region. He converted the offerings that he received into iron and renovated the iron bridge there. Then he went back to Dromo Dorje Gur in Tibet.
From there, he travelled again to Thimphu and Thed valleys where he built an iron bridge at Bardrong. His journey then took him to Rued and Kunzangling where Lama Thuchen presented him with two hundred and fifty pieces of iron. It is said that he also built the Chiwotokha Lhakhang [in Shar district] during this visit. He took all the offerings including the iron pieces to Paro, turning himself into eighteen persons, he went into different villages such as Dolpoiphu, Tsharlungnang, Dungkhar, Jiwu, Nyagbu and Lholingkha, and instructed eighteen blacksmiths to forge iron links.
After about three months, he had seven thousand iron links and many iron hammers and bars. At Kewangphug and other places, he built stupas to subdue the spirits of these areas. At Changlungkha Rawakha, Nyal Phagmodrong, Tachogang, Wundul Dronkar, Silung, Bagdrong, Binangkhachey, Daglha, Gyirling and Nyishar, he conducted a lot of religious activities by providing image, scripture, stupa, iron bridges and established meditation centres.
When he returned to Phari, the patrons and monks of the new monastery in Paro, reached one thousand four hundred loads of iron (fifteen pieces of iron making a load), and seven hundred loads of ink, paper and other goods to Phari.
The bridge can be still seen today featuring majestically on the hill beside the river of Pa-chu. The suspension bridge was very old enough during the year of 2017 thus it is closed for either renovation or for people's safety.
Death
Thangtong Gyalpo is said to have "passed away bodily, in the way of a sky-farer" in his 125th year at Riwoche.[7]
Gyatso, Janet: "Thang-strong rGyal-po, Father of the Tibetan Drama Tradition: The Bodhisattva as Artist" inJamyang Norbu (1986). Zlos Gar: Performing Traditions of Tibet. Library of Tibetan Works & Archives.
Stearns, Cyrus. The Life and Teachings of the Tibetan Saint Thang-strong rgyal-po, "King of the Empty Plain" (Univ. Washington, Master's thesis, 1980)
Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche and the Lotus Born from Oḍḍiyāna, was a semi-legendary tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who fully revealed the Vajrayana in Tibet, circa 8th – 9th centuries. He is considered an emanation or Nirmāṇakāya of Shakyamuni Buddha as foretold by the Buddha himself. According to early Tibetan sources including the Testament of Ba, he came to Tibet in the 8th century and designed Samye Monastery, the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet during the reign of King Trisong Detsen. He, the king, and Khenpo Shantarakshita are also responsible for creating the Tibetan Canon through translating all of the Buddha's teachings and their commentaries into the Tibetan language.
The Kagyu school, also transliterated as Kagyü, or Kagyud, which translates to "Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission" school, is one of the main schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Kagyu lineages trace themselves back to the 11th century Indian Mahasiddhas Naropa, Maitripa and the yogini Niguma, via their student Marpa Lotsawa (1012–1097), who brought their teachings to Tibet. Marpa's student Milarepa was also an influential poet and teacher.
A tulku is a distinctive and significant aspect of Tibetan Buddhism, embodying the concept of enlightened beings taking corporeal forms to continue the lineage of specific teachings. The term "tulku" has its origins in the Tibetan word "sprul sku", which originally referred to an emperor or ruler taking human form on Earth, signifying a divine incarnation. Over time, this term evolved within Tibetan Buddhism to denote the corporeal existence of highly accomplished Buddhist masters whose purpose is to ensure the preservation and transmission of a particular lineage.
The Shangpa Kagyu is known as the "secret lineage" of the Kagyu school of Vajrayana or Tibetan Buddhism and differs in origin from the better known Dagpo Kagyu schools. The Dagpo Kagyu are the lineage of Tilopa through his student Naropa, often traced through Naropa's famous student Marpa Lotsawa and thus called "Marpa Kagyu", while the Shangpa lineage descends from Tilopa's student Niguma, who was Naropa's sister, as well as from the teachings of Sukhasiddhi. Its founder was Khyungpo Naljor, the student of both women, whose monastery in the Shang Valley gave its name to the tradition.
Tertön is a term within Tibetan Buddhism meaning a person who is a discoverer of ancient hidden texts or terma. Many tertöns are considered to be incarnations of the twenty five main disciples of Padmasambhava, who foresaw a dark time in Tibet. He and his consort Yeshe Tsogyal hid teachings to be found in the future to benefit beings. A vast system of transmission lineages developed. Scriptures from the Nyingma school were updated by terma discoveries, and terma teachings have guided many Tibetan Bon and Buddhist practitioners.
A Kumbum is a multi-storied aggregate of Buddhist chapels in Tibetan Buddhism. The most famous Kumbum forms part of Palcho Monastery.
Kyabje Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche was a major modern teacher in the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, and patron of the Vajrayana Foundation. He was the eldest son of Dudjom Rinpoche, the former head of the Nyingma lineages, and also the father of Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche and Dungse Garab Rinpoche. His association with the Dudjom Lineage is a long one: he is held to be the incarnation of Tulku Drime Oser, who was one of seven sons of Dudjom Lingpa. He also was considered to be an emanation of Longchen Rabjam, the great 14th-century Nyingma scholar and siddha who composed the Seven Treasuries. He died in California on December 26, 2011, according to the Tibetan Buddhist Lunar Calendar the 2nd day of the 11th month of the Iron Rabbit year. His cremation was held in a public buddhist cremation ceremony in Paro, Bhutan on March 3, 2012, which was attended by several thousand people, including some of Bhutan's royal family.
Ngamring County is a county of Xigazê in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. "Ngamring County, sometimes referred to as the gateway to Mount Kailash and Far West Tibet, is the barren area which divides the Raga Tsangpo and the Brahmaputra."
Palyul Monastery, also known as Palyul Namgyal Jangchub Choling Monastery and sometimes romanized as Pelyul Monastery, is one of the "Six Mother Monasteries" of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. It was founded in 1665 by Rigzin Kunzang Sherab in Pelyul in Baiyü County, Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in China's Sichuan province, on the eastern edge of Tibet in Kham. The monastery is the seat of the Nam Chö Terma of Terton Mingyur Dorje. Drubwang Padma Norbu was the 11th throneholder of the Palyul lineage. Upon his mahaparinirvana in March, 2009, Karma Kuchen Rinpoche became the 12th throneholder.
Lhamo, or Ache Lhamo, is a classical secular theatre of Tibet with music and dance that has been performed for centuries, whose nearest western equivalent is opera. Performances have a narrative and simple dialogue interspersed with comedy and satire; characters wear colorful masks. The core stories of these theatrical plays are drawn mostly from ancient Indian Buddhist folk tales, lives of important people and historical events from Tibetan civilization. However the ceremonial, dance and ritual spectacles strongly reflects the Tibetan Royal Dynastic period.
In Tibetan Buddhism, Vajravārāhī is considered a female buddha and "the root of all emanations of dakinis". As such, Vajravarahi manifests in the colors of white, yellow, red, green, blue, and black. She is a popular deity in Tibetan Buddhism and in the Nyingma school she is the consort of Hayagriva, the wrathful form of Avalokiteshvara. She is also associated with the Cakrasaṃvara Tantra, where she is paired in yab-yum with the Heruka Cakrasaṃvara.
Kongpo is a region of central-eastern Tibet, centered in modern Gongbo'gyamda County, Nyingchi Prefecture. It is situated on the Nyang River, a northern tributary of the Yarlung Tsangpo River.
The Samding Dorje Phagmo is the highest female incarnation in Tibet and the third highest-ranking person in the hierarchy after the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. She was listed among the highest-ranking reincarnations at the time of the 5th Dalai Lama, recognized by the Tibetan government and acknowledged by the emperors of Qing China. In her first incarnation, as Chökyi Drönma, she was the student and consort of the famous polymath Thang Tong Gyalpo, who first identified her as an emanation of Vajravārāhī, and the consort of Bodong Panchen. The seat of the Samding Dorje Phagmo is at Samding Monastery, in Tibet.
Jangtsa Dumgtseg Lhakhang[zlum brtshegs lha khang] is a Buddhist temple in western Bhutan. The temple is notable as it is in the form of a chorten, very rare in Bhutan. It is located on the edge of a hill between the Paro valley and the Dopchari valley, across the bridge from Paro. The Buddhist iconography depicted in the Chorten is considered a unique repository of the Drukpa Kagyu school.
The Chushul Chakzam, or simply Chakzam which literally means "iron bridge" in Standard Tibetan, was a suspension bridge that spanned the Yarlung Tsangpo river in modern-day Qüxü County near Lhasa, Tibet. It was built in 1430 by Thang Tong Gyalpo. The southern bridgehead was built on the mountain Chowuri, which is sacred in Tibetan Buddhism. This mountain was a site where Guru Rinpoche and Trisong Detsen had meditated during the 8th Century. When it was built, its main section was the longest unsupported span in the world, with a central span estimated at around 150 yards.
Niguma is considered one of the most important and influential yoginis and Vajrayana teachers of the 10th or 11th century in India. She was a dakini, and one of the two female founders of the Shangpa Kagyu school of Vajrayana Buddhism, along with dakini Sukhasiddhi. Her birth name was Shrijnana. Like many of the mahasiddhas and Tantric practitioners of the time, Niguma was known by several names both during her lifetime and afterwards. She was called Yogini Vimalashri, or Vajradhara Niguma, or Jñana (wisdom) Dakini Adorned with Bone (ornaments), or The Sister referring to her purported relationship to the great Buddhist teacher and adept Naropa. She was also sometimes called Nigupta, which is explained by the historical Buddhist scholar Taranatha as follows: "The name Nigu accords with the Indian language, which is Nigupta, and is said to mean 'truly secret' or 'truly hidden.' In fact, it is the code-language of the dakinis of timeless awareness."
Chung Riwoche is a large stupa of unusual design established in 1386 in the traditional Tibetan province of Ü-Tsang. It was later re-established and built by Mahasiddha Thangtong Gyalpo in 1426. Chung Riwoche is the seat of the Chakzampa sub-lineage of the Shangpa Kagyu, and is still an active Kumbum with 9 monks as of 2014.
Chökyi Drönma (1422-1455) was a Tibetan princess and Buddhist leader. She was the main consort of Thang Tong Gyalpo, who recognized her as an emanation of Machig Labdrön through the lineage of Vajravārāhī and appointed her as the first Samding Dorje Phagmo.
Chakzam or Chaksam or Jagsam means "iron bridge" in the Tibetan language. It may refer to:
↑ Barbara Gerke. Long Lives and Untimely Deaths: Life-span Concepts and Longevity Practices in the Darjeeling Hills, India. (2011). Brill Academic Publishers. P. 230. ISBN978-9004217034
1 2 Sarah Harding. Niguma, Lady of Illusion. Snow Lion Publications. 2010. p. 265, n. 84
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Cyrus Stearns. King of the Empty Plain: The Tibetan Iron Bridge Builder Tangtong Gyalpo. (2007). Snow Lion Publications. p. 18. ISBN978-1559392754
↑ The Power-Places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide, pp. 136–137. Keith Dowman. (1988) Routledge & Kegan Paul, London & New York. ISBN0-7102-1370-0.
↑ Gerner, Manfred (2007). Chakzampa Thangtong Gyalpo: Architect, Philosopher and Iron Chain Bridge Builder(PDF). Translated by Verhufen, Gregor. Centre for Bhutan Studies. ISBN978-99936-14-39-5. Archived(PDF) from the original on 2023-07-20. Retrieved 2022-03-17. (p12) This monastery is located at the holy mountain of Chuwo Ri (Chu bo ri), above the southern bridgehead of his iron chain bridge across the Yarlung Tsangpo river. Chuwo Ri is one of eight original meditation caves of Guru Rinpoche and the eighth century king of the Dharma, Trisong Detsen. (p32) In Tibet, the large monastery of Chakzam Chuwo Ri (lCags zam Chu bo ri) that Thangtong Gyalpo founded in 1444, located at the southern bridgehead of his famous 'Chakzam' across the Yarlung Tsangpo river, above its confluence with the Kyichu river (sKyid chu) became his main seat. Later, the monastery of Chakzam Chuwo Ri became the main monastery of the Chakzampa school as well as the seat of the Chakzampa Tulkus. (p83) Chinese engineers tore down this bridge during the construction of the new concrete bridge in about 1950 (p85) 30 centimetres wide
↑ Lungta. Amnye Machen Institute. 2001. Archived from the original on 2024-02-21. Retrieved 2022-03-17. the monastery of Lcags zam Chu bo ri ... was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.
↑ Sarah Harding. Niguma, Lady of Illusion. Snow Lion Publications. 2010. pp. 10.
1 2 Cyrus Stearns. King of the Empty Plain: The Tibetan Iron Bridge Builder Tangtong Gyalpo. (2007). Snow Lion Publications. Pp. 18-19. ISBN978-1559392754
↑ Sarah Harding. Niguma, Lady of Illusion. Snow Lion Publications. 2010. p. 136.
1 2 Cyrus Stearns. King of the Empty Plain: The Tibetan Iron Bridge Builder Tangtong Gyalpo. (2007). Snow Lion Publications. p. 19. ISBN978-1559392754
↑ Cyrus Stearns. King of the Empty Plain: The Tibetan Iron Bridge Builder Tangtong Gyalpo. (2007). Snow Lion Publications. p. 4. ISBN978-1559392754
↑ Hildegard Diemberger. When a Woman Becomes a Religious Dynasty: The Sanding Dorje Phagmo of Tibet." (2007). Columbia University Press. Pp. 46-47. ISBN978-0231143202.
Chakzampa Thangtong GyalpoChakzampa Thangtong Gyalpo: Architect, Philosopher and Iron Chain Bridge Builder. Manfred Gerner. Translated by Gregor Verhufen. (2007). Center for Bhutan Studies. ISBN99936-14-39-4.
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