Commemorating the Mar-Ngok Lineage

About a week ago H.H. Drikung Kyabgon Thinley Lhundub arrived at Milarepa Retreat Center (MRC) in Germany, the main seat of Drikung Kagyu Lineage in Europe.

On August 30st is the anniversary of Ngok Choeku Dorje’s parinirvana. Therefore the official program started this morning with a warm welcome from the director of MRC Carolina Gravenreuth to the participants from 11 countries. Mandalas have been offered by the MRC and representatives of German and Italian Drikung Centers to H.H. The Mar-Ngok group had prepared various new texts which they presented and offered to H.H. In his speech H.H. gave an overview on the research on the commentaries of Hevajratantra in the Marpa-Ngok lineage.

In the afternoon the official Commemoration of the Mar Ngok Lineage was broadcast worldwide. H.H. gave the participants an introduction to the biography of Ngok Choeku Dorje, who was one of the main disciples of Marpa Lotsawa. Ngok Choeku Dorje wrote the profound short commentary called Bum Chung Nyima on the Hevajratantra based on the teachings he had received from Marpa. A more detailed commentary was written by Ngok Choeku Dorje’s son later. H.H. collected these texts over years as they were hard to find.

Sonam Spitz from Germany has started to translate the earliest commentary on Hevajra in the Kagyu tradition to English in spring 2020 after H.H. asked him to do this in 2019. Sonam studied Sanskrit and Tibetan and can use both languages for this translation. He explained how a lot of fortunate circumstances supported his work in the last two years. Even a rough translation is done now, it will take a year or more until the final translation can be published.
Carl Djung who initiated the Mar-Ngok group (mar-ngok.org) in 2016 shared his vision of Two Sources and Four Rivers with the audience. The two sources are the Hevajratantra and the Vajrapanjaratantra which flow into the pond of India. From there four rivers start to flow: the explanation of the tantra, the nine-deity Hevajra, the fifteen-deity Nairatmya and the Marpa’s special approach on the yogas of Naropa.

It was very inspiring to see that H.H. Drikung Kyabgon Tinley Lhundub, H.E. Choeze Kuchen Rinpoche, the members of Mar-Ngok group and others put much effort in reviving the Hevajratantra and the practice of Hevajra and Nairatmya so that this profound method will continue and flourish.

Text by Christian Licht, photos by Piet Bernhard.