As one of Rinpoche’s senior students, Martin Boord is well known already to many people within the Khordong sangha.

Visiting India and Nepal as a teenager in 1967, Martin became a devoted Buddhist and immediately embarked on the study of Sanskrit in order to read the original texts. Receiving teachings from many of the great Tibetan masters of all schools who had become settled in India following the takeover of their country by Chinese communists, he studied the doctrines of both sūtra and tantra. Over the years, he carefully surveyed the entire Buddhist Tripiṭaka with the lamas of Tibet before immersing himself fully in the guhyamantra practices of the Nyingma school under the guidance of H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche and Lama Khamtrul Yeshe Dorje, the renowned “weather man” of the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala. It was whilst on a pilgrimage with Yeshe Dorje to Sarnath in 1973 that Martin first met with the Khordong Terchen Tulku, Lama Chhimed Rigdzin, with whom he immediately began to form a close bond of attachment.

Subsequently, Martin invited Lama Chhimed Rigdzin to Great Britain in order to inaugurate his new Dharma Centre, granting empowerments and teaching the Byang-gter Dorje Phurpa (Northern Treasures Vajrakīla) for the first time in the west.

Later, moving from Europe back to India, this master and disciple together translated a number of Byang-gter texts, including hundreds of pages of Vajrakīla Sādhana (practice texts), which have remained the major focus of Martin’s life.

Taking the Byang-gter Phurpa as his theme, Martin went on to study at the School of Oriental & African Studies at the University to London, for which he was awarded a BA in Religious Studies (Buddhism), followed by the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1992. His doctoral thesis was subsequently published as The Cult of the Deity Vajrakīla, by the Institute of Buddhist Studies, Tring, 1993.

Having completed his studies at SOAS, he was awarded a scholarship from the Stein-Arnold Exploration Fund which enabled him to return to India in order to research the sacred geography of Sikkim, one of the seven “hidden lands” of Rigzin Godem. This work was eventually published in the Bulletin of Tibetology.

Reading Sanskrit and Tibetan languages, as well as having studied Tibetan art for many years, Martin has acted as a consultant to the Ashmolean Museum, one of the oldest public museums in Europe, helping to identify and arrange their holdings of Tibetan cultural artefacts and paintings, and he continues to work on similar projects at different times when called to do so. The British Museum, for example, requested his assistance when they were offered a collection of Tibetan phurba for purchase, about which they had no specialist knowledge, and he has collaborated with the makers of documentary films for television, etc.

Having spent many years developing his understanding of the Dharma in meditation retreats, in 1998 Martin was invited by Lama Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche to accompany him as an assistant teacher on his European Dharma tour, in order to give teachings on the Deity Vajrakīla as part of the Pfauenhof retreat in Germany. This was so successful that the invitation was repeated in the following years, so that Martin again gave Vajrakīla teachings in Berlin in 1999 and he accompanied Rinpoche to Oxford, Wales and Vienna in the year 2000, where he taught many aspects of the Vajrayāna path, as well as his special subject — the deity Vajrakīla. Since then Martin has given innumerable teachings on many aspects of the Byang-gter tradition, throughout Europe and the USA.

He now lives and works in Oxford, pursuing his research interests with like-minded academics and Dharma practitioners at the Oriental Institute, reading manuscripts at the Indian Institute Library and working on an ad hoc basis as Academic Visitor with those studying for doctorates in Buddhist Studies, etc.

In recent years, he has completed a translation of the most illustrious commentary on Phurba practice, known as The Black 100,000 Words (Phur ‘grel ‘bum nag). This important text is a report of a group retreat that was undertaken by the three masters, Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra and Silamanju, in Nepal in the 8th century. It was transmitted in Tibet by Padmasambhava to Yeshe Tsogyal and the translation of this text is now available from edition khordong (published 2002). He has also expanded his work on the Northern Treasures texts to include further research on the Hidden Lands of Rigzin Godem, as well as the ritual cycle of the Greatly Compassionate Avalokiteśvara. His text on the Byang-gter funeral ceremonies of Avalokiteśvara will shortly become available from Wandel Verlag.

Martin’s youngest daughter Tara was recognised by Lama Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche as the reincarnation of the Northern Treasures yoginī, the Shukjung Khandro. Rinpoche’s full text of certification can be found here.

Summary of Publications:

Forthcoming (Editor) The Guhyagarbha Tantra and its Commentary Moonbeams, translated by Gyurme Dorje

Forthcoming Illuminating Sunshine: Buddhist funeral rituals of Avalokiteśvara

2011 Editor The Five Nails – A Commentary on the Northern Treasures Accumulation Praxis edition khordong by Wandel Verlag, Berlin 2011

2010 A Roll of Thunder from the Void 
(Vajrakīla texts of the Northern Treasures Tradition, Volume 2)

2010 (Index) Jokhang: Tibet’s most sacred Buddhist temple, Edition Hansjorg Mayer

2006 Meditations on the Great Guru Padmasambhava, Khordong Newsletter, Berlin

2006 Entering the Maṇḍala Gates, Tiger’s Nest Dharma Diary for 2007, Sussex

2005 Editor (Tibetan & Sanskrit) The Complete Tibetan Book of the Dead, translated by Gyurme Dorje, Penguin Books, London

2003 A Bolt of Lightning From the Blue, edition khordong, Berlin

2003 “The symbolism of the gCod drum, by ’Gyur-med blo-gsal” (English translation)
 in Dzogchen Journal, London

2003 “A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Hidden Land of Sikkim: Proclaimed as a Treasure by Rig-’dzin rgod-ldem” in Bulletin of Tibetology 39(1), Gangtok

1999 (with Stephen Hodge) The Illustrated Tibetan Book of the Dead, Thorsons, London

1998 A India, Pórtico do Norte Exhibition catalogue (contributor) Auditorio de Galicia, Santiago de Compostela

1998 “Maṇḍala Meaning & Method: Ritual delineation of sacred space in tantric Buddhism” in Performance Research Vol.3, No.3, Winter 1998, Routledge/ARC, London

1998 Editor (Tibetan) High Peaks, Pure Earth: Collected Writings on Tibetan History and Culture, by Hugh Richardson, Serindia Publications, London

1998 East Asian Books, Tibetan MSS, Catalogue 19, Sam Fogg Rare Books, London

1998 “Tibet” & “Mongolia” in Encyclopaedia of World Mythology, The Foundry Creative Media Company Limited, London

1996 Manuscripts from the Himalayas and the Indian Subcontinent, Tibetan MSS, Catalogue 17, Sam Fogg Rare Books, London

1996 (with Losang Norbu Tsonawa) Overview of Buddhist Tantra by Panchen Sonam Dragpa, Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala

1996 Maṇḍala Meaning & Method, Kailash Editions, London (unpublished)

1994 “Buddhism” in Sacred Space, edited by John Holm with Jean Bowker, Pinter Publishers, London, New York

1993 The Cult of the Deity Vajrakīla (Buddhica Britannica Series Continua IV), The Institute of Buddhist Studies, Tring 
This book is currently being reworked as Gathering the Elements (Vajrakīla texts of the Northern Treasures Tradition, Volume 1

1993 “Tibet and Mongolia” in World Mythology: The Illustrated Guide, Roy Willis, Simon & Schuster, London

NOTE from Martin: Over the years I have had many book reviews published in The Middle Way (journal of the Buddhist Society, London) and other such journals and, of course, I did a fair amount of work with C.R. Lama, the details of which I have forgotten. These include:

Padmasambhava’s teachings on the downfalls of tobacco
The Dragon Roar that fulfills all wishes (Protector text)
The Violent Storm of Meteoric Vajras (sādhana of rDo rje gro lod)
A Gentle Rainfall of Honey (sādhana of Guru mTshan brgyad)

TSULTRIM ZANGPO (1884-c.1957)*

Tsultrim Zangpo, also known as Tulku Tsurlo, one of the greatest Tibetan scholars of the last century, was an important student of Tertön Sogyal Lerab Lingpa, as well as the author of his secret biography and a lineage-holder of his terma teachings. He was also a student of the Third Dodrupchen Jikmé Tenpé Nyima and of Amye Khenpo Damchö Özer of Dodrupchen Monastery. Khenpo Damchö said of him on one occasion, “I am just a dog, but I have a lion for a student.” Although it was notoriously difficult to meet Dodrup Jikmé Tenpé Nyima in his later years, Tsurlo was able to do so because of his work as a scribe. He copied many texts for Dodrupchen Rinpoche’s personal library and used the work as an opportunity to get access to Rinpoche and to receive clarifications.

Tsultrim Zangpo’s father was Gonpo Wangyal and his mother was Shyiwam Tso, daughter of Khordong Terchen Nuden Dorje. His main residence was at Shukjung (shugs ‘byung) monastery in the Do Valley, which is located about 15 to 20 miles from Dodrupchen Monastery and which belongs to the Northern Treasures (Byang gTer) tradition. He also spent time at Khordong monastery, which was under the care of his younger brother, Gyurme Dorje.

Tsultrim Zangpo was a monk who upheld the Vinaya, as well as an accomplished tantric adept, and among his writings is a two-volume commentary on Ngari Panchen’s Ascertainment of the Three Types of Vows (sDom gSum rNam Nges), as well as several texts on Dzogchen, including an instruction manual (Khrid Yig) for the Gongpa Zangthal, which has been translated into English by Tulku Thondup#, and a commentary on the famous Prayer of Kuntuzangpo. His other writings include a commentary to Padmasambhava’s Garland of Views+ and many works related to the tantras of the New Translation tradition.

Those who saw him say that he looked statuesque, seated in meditation posture, hardly ever moving, and with an impressive white beard.

He was the root teacher of Khordong Tertrul Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche, popularly known as C.R. Lama (1922-2002), as well as Tulku Gyenlo and Zhichen Öntrul, who passed away recently in Tibet.

Footnotes:
* The birth year of 1884 is given in Tulku Thondup’s Masters of Meditation and Miracles. According to the Khordong website he died at the age of seventy-three. We know that he wrote the secret biography of Tertön Sogyal in 1942.
# This translation of the commentary to the Gongpa Zangthal is partly now available here The Five Nails – A Commentary on the Northern Treasures accumulation praxis.
+ The Garland of Views by Padmasambhava was translated by James Low and is available in his book Simply Being: Texts in the Dzogchen Tradition (Antony Rowe Publishing Services, 2010). Also available in French and German.

James Low began studying and practicing Tibetan Buddhism in India in the 1960’s. He received teachings from Kalu Rinpoche, Chatral Rinpoche, Kanjur Rinpoche and Dudjom Rinpoche. Having met his root teacher, Chhimed Rigdzin Lama (also known as C R Lama), he lived in his home in Bengal for many years, serving him as required and being taught many aspects of the tradition. During this period in India James did several retreats and pilgrimages in the Himalayas. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, on his return to Europe, he also had teachings and guidance from Namkhai Norbu.