Ra lag (or Ru lag) gYung drung gling

Starting from the sTag gru kha ferry on the Lhasa-Shigatse highway, one arrives

at gYung drung gling Monastery after crossing a small bridge on the ’O yul Ra

chu river. When the river rises in summer, this small bridge is impassable;

instead, one must take a roundabout way, crossing another bridge, which takes

an hour to get to the monastery.

The monastery was founded by sNang ston Zla ba rgyal mtshan (b.1796) in 1834 on

the bank of the Yarlung Tsangpo river, at the foot of Mount ’O lha rGyal bzang.

Later, the second abbot, sKal bzang nyi ma (b.1841), extended it. Nyi ma bstan

’dzin (b.1813), the 23rd abbot of sMan ri Monastery, came to help set up

philosophical studies and became the chief teacher there. Later, the 5th abbot

of the monastery, mKhan chen Shes rab blo ldan, further extended the monastery

by building the temple mThong grol lha khang, and Shes rab grags pa, who was a

chief teacher, had the large assembly hall (’du khang)

built. There was a residence for the abbot (bla brang) and seven hostels (khang tshan) for the monk students, as well as individual

houses for the chief teacher and the monks who completed their studies.

Formerly, the monastery possessed a great number of gilt-bronze and copper

statues, including those of rNam par rgyal ba. In the temples there were

reliquary gilt-copper stupas containing the remains of abbots. The monastery

was an important seat of learning for Bonpo monks coming from Amdo, rGyal rong,

Khyung po, Hor, Khams and nomad regions in Byang thang. It was particularly

renowned for its extensive library and had its own woodblocks for printing

religious texts. There were normally about two hundred monks resident in the

monastery.

The 9th abbot, Shes rab bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan (1911-1979), had a large gilded

rooftop erected on the main hall; he also had a gilt-copper statue of rNam par

rgyal ba made, two storeys high. In 1959 he fled to India, and the monastery

itself was razed to the ground in 1965 during the Cultural Revolution. In 1982

Shes rab bstan ’dzin and Kun gsal blo gros, who were monks in the monastery

before its destruction, were put in charge of its reconstruction. They managed

to have the assembly hall and two temples rebuilt.

The monastery had a system of abbotship. Abbots were appointed by a lottery

from among those well versed in religious philosophy and having the dge bshes degree. The line of abbots of the monastery is as

follows:

1. sNang ston Zla ba rgyal mtshan
2. sKal bzang nyi ma
3. Phun tshogs dbang rgyal
4. Tshul khrims dbang rgyal
5. Shes rab blo ldan
6. Shes rab bstan pa’i nyi ma
7. Blo gros rgyal mtshan
8. Blo gros nyi ma
9. Shes rab bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan

• mkhan po

• slob dpon

• dbu mdzad

• dge bskos

• bla brang gnyer pa

• sgrub khang a mchod

• mchod dpon

• las pa

• dkon gnyer

• khang tshan dge rgan

• ja g-yog

Presently the monastery has no abbot, but there are about forty monk

students.

Monks are required to study both elementary and religious philosophy, mainly in

winter and spring. Since its reconstruction after the Cultural Revolution, the

monastery has kept seven dge bshes.

At present, other Bonpo monasteries, mainly in dBus and gTsang regions, send

their monks to study in gYung drung gling, and they are to return to their own

monasteries after completing their studies. In addition, various monasteries,

such as sKyid mkhar Ri zhing (No.4) and Pus mo sgang (No.8) in Gro mo, invite

tutors from gYung drung gling to their monasteries for a few months at a

time.

These consist of offering daily prayers and the propitiation of the monastery’s

protective deities.

- First month: on the 5th day, the memorial service of mNyam med Shes rab rgyal

mtshan; then, up to the 15th day, a debate on metaphysics ending with the

examination for the dge bshes degree.

- Fourth month: a congregation for prayers and debate for fifteen days.

- Fifth month: on the 15th, a performance of the ’Dzam gling spyi bsang ritual,

based on the brNgan bsang chen mo by sTong rgyung mthu chen.

- Eighth month: a festival celebrating the founding of the monastery.

- Eleventh month: on the 7th, the memorial service for the death of the founder

of the monastery.

- Twelfth month: from the 25th to the 30th, a performance of the dgu gtor rite, ending with the performance of religious

dances. In addition, the bskang gso ritual is regularly

performed for the guardians of the monastery.

During the summer the monks go to recite scriptures at private homes of farmers

and herdsmen in areas such as Nagchukha, Hor, and Khyung po. The rest of the

time the monks stay in the monastery, and their families provide their daily

necessities.

These include five sets of the bKa’ ’gyur

published by Ayung Lama and sKal bzang phun tshogs in Chengdu, 1985-87,

and two sets of The Collected Works of mNyam med Sherab rgyal mtshan and more

than ten separate volumes of scriptures.

The money the monks earn by conducting religious ceremonies and reciting

prayers is used mainly for the renovation of the monastery. No detailed account

is set up for this.

There are fifty households in Ru lag village, where followers of Bon and rNying

ma pa live together. The villagers are farmers who engage mainly in grain

production and also keep a small number of livestock.

Only the men and boys of each household participate in the propitiation

ceremony dedicated to the sacred mountain, ’O lha rGyal bzang, on the 3rd day

of the first month and the 15th of the fifth month.