This year marks the 100th anniversary of Tenzin Chökyi Jungne (1909–1940). His life is a strong reminder of the damages caused by intrigues and discord in the Sangha not only to individuals but to the lineage in general. It may serve as an advice for unity, understanding, and harmony in order to support the flourishing of the Buddha Dharma in general and of a lineage in particular.

Tenzin Chökyi Jungne was the 35^th throne holder of the Drikung Tradition. He was born in the year 1909. At the age of six in the Wood-Tiger year 1914 he was recognized by the 6^th Chetsang, Tenzin Shiwe Lodrö (1886-1943), as the seventh reincarnation of the Chungtsang Rinpoche and was brought to Drikung Thil. He took his novice vows in 1917 and in 1920 he traveled to the south, to the holy mountain of Tsari. On the way he paid a visit to Daglha Gampo, the sacred place of Gampopa. In Tsari Khilkhor Thang he gave the transmission of Phowa and a long life empowerment to a crowd of more than 100.000 people. He circumambulated mount Tsari and to the monastery at the Clear Crystal Mountain (Dagpa Shelri) he donated a golden roof ornament as a sign that the Drikung lineage will last long.

Back in Drikung Thil he received a Red Tara treasure statue from Tertön Özer Dorje, telling him, that he is the owner of the treasure, and subsequently he was enthroned.

In the Water-Pig year (1923) he gave the Pig-Year Teachings before a gathering of 100.000 people. Once he visited the Padmasambhava festival (Tsechu) at Samye Monastery accompanied by a small group of attendants. He tried to remain unnoticed and humbly sat in the midst of the crowd. But unexpectedly an oracle possessed by the Dharma protector Tsimar came up to him right through the crowd, prostrated before him and proclaimed: Don’t you know that this is the manifestation of a sublime being, the Drikung Chungtsang! Tsimar escorted Chungtsang to an appropriate place and presented him with a Lado (bla rdo, “life stone”), a Sogkhor (srog 'khor, “protective wheel”) and a Tendung (rten mdung, “staff of an oracle”). Everyone was very surprised and had great reverence for Chungtsang and came up to him to receive his blessings. After Samye he went on a pilgrimage to Chimbu, Yamalung and other holy places.

Subsequently he returned to Drikung and lived most of the time in the monasteries of Yangrigar and Yamari in solitary meditation. In 1928 he began his studies of Buddhist philosophy at the Nyima Changra Shedra. When he was 21 years of age he took the vows of a fully ordained monk from Shiwe Lodrö.

In the Water-Monkey year (1932) he went to Terdrom in order to give the Monkey-Year Teachings at the Drikung Phowa Chenmo, but soon a scandal erupted. A subordinate of the top-ranking monastic disciplinarian had beaten a monk from Drikung Thil. The result was a heated dispute between the monks of Yangrigar and Thil. Chökyi Jungne tried to mediate between the enraged parties and finally decided to have the monks of the two monasteries sit in two separate tents. But the monks did not follow his instructions. The quarrelling men calmed down only after the household servant Simpön Legden laid down the law. By refusing to follow Chungtsang Rinpoche’s orders the monks had disgraced him in front of the huge numbers of pilgrims. Chökyi Jungne was very disappointed and discouraged by this incident, not least because the conflict between the two monasteries was threatening to become chronic, with Drikung Thil following Shiwe Lodrö and Yangrigar Chökyi Jungne. Henceforth, as a legacy of this period of discord, two main tents were set up at the Drikung Phowa Chenmo.

Since that incident, Yangrigar and Drikung Thil were locked in a serious conflict. Chökyi Jungne lacked authority, although he had attained great mastery in scholarship. Since his failure to successfully mediate between the monks of Yangrigar and Drikung Thil during the Monkey Year Teachings in Drongur, the monks had even less respect for him. Chökyi Jungne became the victim of calumny and defamation by malevolent subjects trying to cause a rift between the two Kyabgön Rinpoches. He would never recover from this loss of authority. At that time, Shiwe Lodrö was living in Drikung Thil most of the time and Chökyi Jungne in Yangrigar. Shiwe Lodrö’s strong personality was unaffected by all of this, but the sensitive Chungtsang, seemingly stalked by misfortune, suffered all the more.

During a severe drought in 1938, Chökyi Jungne went to the sacred lake of Medro Sijin to perform a rain ritual. Medro Sijin is regarded as a sacred Naga lake where rituals were held and offerings made to pray for rain. He brought a very revered magical horn filled with mantras made by the 1^st Chungtsang, Rigzin Chödrak (rig 'dzin chos grags, 1595-1659), who had been regarded as a great sorcerer. Chökyi Jungne was to drive the horn into the ground on the river bank during the ritual. Thereupon unusually powerful rains broke out and turned into a wild snow storm. The wind and snow were so severe that none of his attendants was able to reach the river bank and retrieve the precious horn. It sank into the waters and disappeared.

After he lost Rigzin Chödrak’s magic horn during the rain ceremony at Medro Sijin Lake, Chökyi Jungne became seriously ill. This was interpreted as an attack by the Nagas who lived in the lake. As he was not given good medical care in the monastery, in June 1940 he went to the home of the aristocrat and government official Khyungram Theji in Lhasa. At this very time, Khyungram was found guilty of conspiring to overthrow the government and consequently he was arrested, dismissed from government service and deported from Central Tibet. Chökyi Jungne’s servants fled in fear, the house was sealed shut, and Chökyi Jungne, severely ill, remained locked in alone for three days.

Saddened by his own fate and the internal conflicts of the lineage, he wrote many letters to Shiwe Lodrö, whom he missed greatly, but the messengers misappropriated them. His misery and a feeling of having been abandoned by everyone deepened and all he wanted now was to die. When Shiwe Lodrö intended to pay him a visit on his way to Drikung Dzong in 1940, his servants prevented him from doing so and Chökyi Jungne was mockingly informed that the Drikung Kyabgön Chetsang had not stopped by to see him on his way to Drikung Dzong. That evening his sorrow was so great that he passed away.