THE GURU EMBODIMENT OF ALL SECRETS (LAMA SANGWA DUPA) WITH PADMASAMBHAVA AS VAJRADHARA: Guru Chowang, the Second Karmapa and the treasure transmission of “Eight Chapters: An Activity sadhana for “Lama Sangwa Dupa”

THE GURU EMBODIMENT OF ALL SECRETS (LAMA SANGWA DUPA) WITH PADMASAMBHAVA AS VAJRADHARA: Guru Chowang, the Second Karmapa and the treasure transmission of “Eight Chapters: An Activity sadhana for “Lama Sangwa Dupa”

Dakini Translations
Introduction

In the rich tapestry of Tibetan Buddhism, the transmission of hidden treasure texts, or termas, creates a profound bridge between different lineages. Among these, the interaction between the Nyingma (Ancient) school and the Karma Kamtsang (Karma Kagyu) tradition contains some of the most specialized esoteric practices. While the Kagyu lineage is historically celebrated for its New Translation (Sarma) tantras and its pristine system of Mahamudra, it holds a deeply revered repository of ancient Nyingma revelations at its core.

Central to this cross-lineage heritage is an extraordinarily important terma treasure that addresses the very heart of Guru Padmasambhava: the text known as “The Eight Chapters: An Activity Sadhana for Guru Guhyasamaja” (Lama Sangwa Düpa)[i].This text is a foundational Nyingma terma (revealed treasure) practice centered on Guru Rinpoche in the form of a dark-blue Vajradhara, rather than the classic Sarma (New Translation) Indo-Tibetan Guhyasamāja Tantra[ii].

The primary reference is “The Eight Chapters: An Activity Liturgy for Guru Guhyasamaja” (gsang ‘dus bla ma’i las byang le’u brgyad pa). The term Lama Sangwa Düpa translates literally to “Guru who is the Gathering (or Embodiment) of Secrets”, representing the gathering of the minds of all Buddhas into a single non-dual essence.

Guru Chowang (1212–1270)

This profound liturgy was revealed by Chögyi Wangchuk, famously remembered as Guru Chöwang (1212–1270), who stands as the second of the Five Sovereign Tertons (Great Treasure Revealers) of Tibet.

Rather than keeping this revelation confined to the Nyingma school, Guru Chöwang offered this crucial text directly to the Second Karmapa, Karma Pakshi (1206–1283). Karma Pakshi was recognized as the terdak—the karmically ordained, rightful owner and custodian of this specific terma. From that historic 13th-century meeting to the present day, this liturgy has passed down through the unbroken line of the Karmapas, remaining a crown jewel of practice for the contemporary Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje.

To grasp the immense spiritual weight of “The Eight Chapters,” one must consider the historical context of its two primary figures. Guru Chöwang was a peerless luminary who revolutionized the Nyingma terma tradition. Blessed with acute realization from early childhood, he unearthed a vast array of scrolls from the cliffs and caves of Southern Tibet, focusing extensively on the inner core of Guru Rinpoche’s enlightened mind, speech, and body.

Simultaneously, the Second Karmapa, Karma Pakshi, was cementing his reputation as an unprecedented mahasiddha. He was the first universally recognized reincarnate lama (tulku) of Tibet, establishing a system of continuous rebirth that would define Tibetan religious authority. Karma Pakshi was famous for his dynamic spiritual energy, his performance of awe-inspiring miracles to tame Mongol emperors like Kublai Khan, and his total realization of both Mahamudra and Dzogchen (The Great Perfection).

Karma Pakshi regarded this wrathful practice as a definitive remedy for degenerate times, intended to subjugate outer demonic forces, clear negative karma, and stabilize inner realization.  True to Karma Pakshi’s style, his Lama Sangwa Dupa instructions merge the structured energywind-mind (rlung sems) techniques of the Kagyu lineage with the vast, non-conceptual nature of Nyingma Dzogchen.

In this article I have compiled and brought together contemporary research, and teachings of the 17th Karmapa to give readers and overview of the practice and its unique heritage in the Karmapa lineage.

17th Karmapa on Guru Chowang, 2nd Karmapa and Lama Sangwa Dupa
Guru Chowang one of the most important and eminent early treasure-revealers.

In a teaching on this text and tradition, the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje explains that Guru Chowang was one of the most important among the greater and lesser tertons who appeared in Tibet. The great tertons, known as the great nirmanakayas, are enumerated as the five great kings and the two supreme nirmanakayas. Guru Chowang was one of these two supreme nirmanakayas.

According to the Karmapa’s teaching at the very time of his birth in 1212, Guru Chowang’s father was writing out in gold ink the famous text, Reciting the Names of Manjushri. He had just come to the words, “Great Lord of Dharma” (Cho means “Dharma” and wangchuk means Great Lord”), so he gave this name to his son. That this child would be of great benefit to the Dharma was prophesized by many masters of the time ̶ Kadampa Geshes, Lord Jigten Sumgön, Lama Shang, and other tertons with precognition.

By his thirteenth year, Guru Chowang was fully trained in the common and uncommon arts and sciences as well as the disciplines of the Vajrayana. At the age of seventeen, he received the complete transmission of the ripening empowerments and liberating instructions of the famous terton Nyangrel Nyima Özer (13th century, the first of the great Tibetan treasure revealers) from his youngest son, Namkhape. Thus Guru Chowang became a holder of these termas and was recognized as a speech emanation of Nyangrel.

For these reasons, the termas of Nyangrel are known as the former termas and those of Guru Chowang as the later ones.

At the age of eighteen, Guru Chowang met the great scholar Shakya Pandita and studied Mahayana texts on bodhichitta with him. The young terton also and also studied with masters of other lineages, so by the time he was twenty, he was both highly learned and attained.

In general, most tertons and their recovered texts belong to the earlier Nyingma tradition, but Guru Chowang was unusual in that he discovered nyingma cycles of Dharma and also cycles of Dharma from the later traditions, which in general refer to the Kagyu traditions.

For example, Guru Chowang revealed a terma of Marpa the Translator known as The Tower Treatise (Sekarma), a text on the Six Yogas. Written in Marpa’s blood as it came from his finger, the text was concealed in Lhodrak.  The indication for the treasure, which said that it should be revealed in seven generations, came into the hands of Guru Chowang and he revealed the text. Another special trait of Guru Chowang’s terma is that most of his retrievals of terma were performed in public (tromter), another reason why he was considered an undisputed great terton.

This Terma Revelation: Guru Chowang

Drubwang Guru Chowang

A great terton is distinguished from a lesser one by whether or not they have revealed three types of terma:

  1. a guru sadhana,
  2. a terma related to the great perfection/Dzogchen, and
  3. one of the Great Compassionate One (mahakarunika).

Not only did Guru Chowang reveal cycles of terma in all three categories, he discovered numerous guru sadhana, especially those related to Guru Padmasambhava. Of all these, the most profound is from his five mind or heart terma and known as Lama Sangwa Dupa.

According to the 2014 teaching and empowerment of the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the  name can be translated in several ways: Guru Guhayasamaja; the Lama as the Embodiment of all Secrets; or in a meaning translation, The Practice of Guru Rinpoche (the lama): A Compendium of the Profound Meaning (which is self-secret).

Among his eighteen terma, Guru Chowang discovered five heart termas, which are mainly concerned with practices of devotion to the lama (guru sadhana), the terton’s main dispensation. This Lama Sangdu empowerment comes from these heart termas and offers a sadhana of the peaceful Guru in the form of Vajradhara.  The empowerment text quotes the terton as saying that he is the embodiment of all the Tathagatas.

I was able to find only two references to this specific text online on BDRC one was in the Terma of Guru Chowang[iii], the other was in a Palpung print of the Nyingma Terma[iv].

Cathy Cantwell in “The Formative Impact of Guru Chöwang’s (1212–1270) Secret Embodiment of the Lama (bla ma gsang ’dus) on the Padmasambhava Ritual Traditions,” one of the only academic articles on the terma text, outlines the textual history and massive legacy of this specific revelation (terma), detailing how Guru Chöwang’s work established the foundational templates for modern Guru Rinpoche practices. It traces these textual lineages through centuries of compilation, analyzing how later masters like the 17th-century Terdak Lingpa (gter bdag gling pa) collected, edited, and preserved these manuals. Cantwell highlights key elements, such as the introduction of the famous Seven-Syllable Supplication (tshig bdun gsol ’debs), which became central to subsequent Tibetan liturgy and visualization practices. Cantwell states (2020: 124) that:

“In fact, the most important single supplication to Guru Rinpoche, the Seven Syllable Supplication (tshig bdun gsol ’debs), is especially associated with the Secret Embodiment of the Lama (Lama Sangwa Dupa).”

Cantwell’s research tracks how the original manuscript collections migrated and transformed over time, looking closely at the role of subsequent masters—most notably the 17th-century scholar Terdak Lingpa (gter bdag gling pa) and the modern master Dudjom Rinpoche—who collected, edited, and arranged these early texts into functional ritual manuals. Interestingly though, Cantwell makes no reference to the 2nd Karmapa as lineage holder.

How was the “Lama Sangwa Dupa” terma revealed and passed from Guru Chowang to 2nd Karmapa?

How was this terma revealed? According to the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, a terton named Drakpa Ngonshe had revealed treasures from Samye Monastery, and one was a list (karchak), or parchment scroll, of mind treasures to be discovered. Based on this list, a disciple of his known as Lhatso Jamphel had made preparations to extract the terma, but he died.

Other Vajrayana practitioners had also wanted to investigate the list but due to hail and lightning, they were forced to flee. This scroll then came into the hands of Guru Chowang when he was thirteen, but when he showed it to his father, he said, “What are you doing with this parchment scroll? It has been the cause of death and ruin. Do you want to die?” So the father took the list and hid it.

Later, Guru Chowang was able to repossess the list. When he was twenty-two, the terton traveled with a realized practitioner of severance (chö) to a place in Lodrak called Staircase to the Sky. Since he had both the list of the terma to be recovered and their keys, Guru Chowang gradually revealed them.  There are many miraculous stories about this.

The 17th Karmapa concluded his explanation saying that since this a Guru Rinpoche practice, we regard him and our root guru as inseparable ̶ the main point of Guru Yoga. We should pray earnestly with complete devotion that he bestow the common and supreme siddhis for the benefit all living beings.

Prophecies embedded within Padmasambhava’s original hideaways dictated that this specific heart liturgy could not be held by just anyone; it required a master of immense spiritual capacity who could command the fierce energies of the lineage protectors.

When Guru Chöwang met Karma Pakshi, he recognized the Karmapa as the physical manifestation of those ancient predictions.  By formally handing over “The Eight Chapters,” Chöwang ensured that the Kagyu lineage would become a fierce protector of this unique Nyingma heart-essence.

Visual Art & Iconography: Guru Padmasambhava in the form of Oddiyana Vajradhara

At the structural center of “The Eight Chapters: An Activity Liturgy for Guru Guhyasamaja,” sits a highly specific, rare manifestation of Guru Rinpoche. While Padmasambhava is traditionally approached through his standard peaceful form or his eight common manifestations (such as Guru Dorje Drolö or Guru Shakya Senge), this liturgy singles him out as Oddiyana Vajradhara (Ugyen Dorje Chang).

In this advanced Highest Yoga Tantra presentation, Guru Rinpoche does not appear merely as an human master or an earthly scholar from the land of Oddiyana. Instead, he is visualized as completely identical to the primordial Buddha, Vajradhara. He represents the ultimate, unconditioned nature of reality, the absolute dharmakaya from which all enlightened activities spring. As Oddiyana Vajradhara, he is typically depicted in a deep, midnight-blue or radiant dark form, holding a vajra and a bell crossed at his heart, symbolizing the perfect, inseparable union of skillful means (compassion) and ultimate wisdom (emptiness).

By meditating on Guru Rinpoche in this precise configuration, the practitioner bypasses ordinary conceptual frameworks. The practice targets the transmutation of the subtlest levels of ignorance and mental fabrication. It addresses the “Heart Tantra” or the innermost mind of the Guru, inviting the practitioner to recognize that their own pristine awareness is fundamentally co-extensive with the mind of Oddiyana Vajradhara.

Tibetan artwork of the Guru Sangwa Dupa manifestation. Housed by the Rubin Art Museum.

Textual Analysis: Structure of the Eight Chapters

The liturgy itself is named “The Eight Chapters” because it provides a complete, progressive map for entering, stabilizing, and radiating the mandala of Guru Guhyasamaja. Rather than treating the sadhana as a disjointed series of prayers, the text is engineered as a highly organized, active ritual framework.

The progressive sequence of the eight chapters generally mirrors the classic architectural stages of Mahayoga and Anuyoga generation stage (kyerim) methodologies:

  1. The Preliminary Purifications and Refuge: Establishing the sacred boundary and arousing the altruistic intention of bodhicitta.
  2. The Evocation of the Mandala: Dissolving ordinary perceptions into emptiness and arising as the divine form of Oddiyana Vajradhara.
  3. The Invitation and Absorption of Wisdom Beings: Requesting the actual, cosmic essence of the lineage to merge inseparably with the visualized form.
  4. The Offering of Outer, Inner, and Secret Elements: Presenting cosmic sensory delights, transmutational substances, and non-dual realization to the deity.
  5. The Praise of the Qualities and Activities: Singing structural verses that celebrate the absolute liberation embodied by the mandala.
  6. The Heart Recitation and Mantra Work: Utilizing specialized internal focal points, channels, and drops to recite the core seed syllables of Guru Guhyasamaja.
  7. The Feast Offering (Tsog): A vital component where dualistic concepts of pure and impure are shattered through the consumption of blessed substances.
  8. The Dissolution and Dedication: Absorbing the visualization back into the unconditioned dharmakaya, and dedicating the accumulated merit for the liberation of all sentient beings.

Living Tradition: Vajra Lama Dancing and Monastic Ritual Contemporary Resurgence under the Seventeenth Karmapa

17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, dancing in the Guru Rinpoche Tsechu dance (January 2014)

For the Karma Kamtsang lineage, “The Eight Chapters” is far from an ancient, dusty scroll kept hidden away in a treasure chest. It functions as an intensely active, living ritual drama.   Every two years, this extensive ritual occurs at Tsurphu Monastery, the traditional historical seat of the Karmapas located in the Tolung Valley of Central Tibet. Following the geopolitical disruptions of the mid-20th century and the flight of Tibetan masters into India, the late Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, took meticulous care to transplant this exact ritual apparatus to his exile seat at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, India.

In the modern era, the Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, has demonstrated a passionate commitment to preserving and elevating this specific terma inherited from Karma Pakshi. His activities have brought this ancient ritual out of regional isolation and onto the international stage of global Buddhist practice.

A milestone event occurred in Bodhgaya, India—the sacred place of the Buddha’s enlightenment. There, the Seventeenth Karmapa performed “The Eight Chapters: An Activity Liturgy for Guru Guhyasamaja” for the very first time in that region, leading a vast gathering of international monks, nuns, and lay practitioners. The Karmapa himself engaged in the preparatory practices, oversaw the creation of the intricate sand mandala, and guided the specialized ritual structures.  See the Youtube video here:

The current Karmapa continuously reminds his students that practicing the Guru Guhyasamaja liturgy is particularly vital in the contemporary world. He notes that the wrathful, swift, and uncompromising wisdom of Oddiyana Vajradhara is uniquely suited to cutting through the dense materialism, anxiety, and fragmented attention spans that characterize modern global society. By keeping the transmission of Guru Chöwang’s heart-treasure unbroken, the Karmapa ensures that the profound spiritual bridge built eight centuries ago remains a vibrant path to liberation today.

Works Cited and Sources
Endnotes

[i]  I was able to find some texts on the BDRC in the Karma Kagyu for the Guru Sangwa Dupa, the earliest one I found was in the Collected Works of the 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje. Karma pa 03 rang byung rdo rje. “gSang ʼdus sgrub thabs phyi nang gzhan gsum gsal ba.” gSung ʼbum rang byung rdo rje, vol. 9, [mTshur phu mkhan po lo yag bkra shis], 2006, pp. 127–58. Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC), purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW30541_29EE17. [BDRC bdr:MW30541_29EE17]

[ii] This text is to be distinguished from the Root Guhyasamāja Tantra, which refers to the classic Indo-Tibetan Father Tantra (gSangs ba ‘dus pa) consisting of 17 or 18 chapters. While it was heavily practiced and transmitted by Kagyu founders like Marpa the Translator, it is distinct from the specific ritual cycle known as “The Eight Chapters”.

[iii] “gSang ʼdus bla maʼi las byang leʼu brgyad pa.” Chos dbang gter ma, pp. 305–34. Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC), purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW1PD45090_19AAA5. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026. [BDRC bdr:MW1PD45090_19AAA5]

[iv] “gSang ʼdus bla maʼi las byang leʼu brgyad pa kha skong dang bcas pa.” dPal spungs dpe rnying gsar bskrun las dkyil chog phyogs bsgrigs (pod bco lnga nas sum cu so gnyis), vol. 1, dPal spungs gsung rab nyams gso khang, 2005, pp. 3–34. Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC), purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW3CN12210_63669A. [BDRC bdr:MW3CN12210_63669A]

THE TIMELINE of LAMA SANGWA DUPA IN THE KARMAPA LINEAGE

  1. The 13th-Century Foundation (1240s–1270s)
  • The Revelation: Guru Chöwang unearths the Lama Sangwa Düpa cycles from their structural cache in Southern Tibet.
  • The Transference: Guided by Padmasambhava’s direct prophecies, Chöwang seeks out the Second Karmapa, Karma Pakshi. Recognizing the black-crowned mahasiddha as the terdak (rightful treasure custodian), he transmits the full text and empowerments.
  • The Anchor: Karma Pakshi integrates this liturgy into his own dual realization of Mahamudra and Dzogchen, solidifying the Nyingma heart-essence as a pillars of the core Kamtsang ritual cycles.
  1. The Tsurphu Monastic Core (1280s–1959)
  • Monastic Codification: For nearly seven centuries, the text remains safely housed inside the library vaults of Tsurphu Monastery, the historical seat of the Karmapas in Central Tibet.
  • Lineage Transmission: Successive Karmapas—most notably the Eighth Karmapa, Mikyö Dorje, and the Fifteenth Karmapa, Khakhyap Dorje—actively maintain the daily text recitations and print fresh woodblocks of the liturgy to distribute to specialized retreat centers throughout Kham and Central Tibet.
  1. The 1959 Crisis and Preservation in Exile
  • The Flight from Tibet: As military conflicts escalate across Central Tibet in early 1959, the Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, recognizes the imminent threat to the lineage’s unique textual heritage.
  • Securing the Scrolls: Rather than fleeing with material wealth, the 16th Karmapa and a dedicated group of attendants pack the oldest, most irreplaceable woodblock prints, hand-written manuscripts, and ritual sadhanas—specifically wrapping the Lama Sangwa Dupa texts inside protective silks.
  • Crossing the Border: The lineage texts are carried on the backs of monks and pack animals across the treacherous Himalayan passes, arriving safely in the Kingdom of Bhutan, and eventually moving to Sikkim, India.
  1. Resettlement at Rumtek Dharma Chakra Centre (1966–2000)
  • Re-establishing the Mandala: Upon building Rumtek Monastery (The Dharma Chakra Centre) in Sikkim, the 16th Karmapa unrolls the rescued texts and constructs a new printing house to duplicate the liturgy.
  • Reviving the Ritual Movement: The full multi-day execution of The Eight Chapters, alongside the intricate construction of its sand mandala and its highly demanding sacred cham dances, is formally re-instituted as an annual or biennial standard for the refugee monastic community.
  1. Modern Proliferation under the 17th Karmapa (2000–Present)
  • The Second Escape: In January 2000, the Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, completes a dramatic escape from Tsurphu Monastery to India, ensuring the dual administrative seats of the lineage remain closely aligned regarding ritual practice.
  • Global Transmissions: The 17th Karmapa expands the presentation of The Eight Chapters from closed monastic settings into public arenas, bestowing the Lama Sangwa Düpa empowerment at historic gatherings in Bodhgaya, India, and at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra (KTD) in New York, keeping Guru Chöwang’s 13th-century transmission active for global practitioners.

 

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