Guru Chokyi Wangchuk (1212-1270), universally known as Guru Chowang, was one of the Five Terton Kings and among the most important treasure revealers (tertons) in the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. He is credited with first codifying the eight manifestations of Padmasambhava (Guru Tshengye) and revealing the scripture that gave rise to the Guru Tshengye Cham, a foundational masked dance performed at religious festivals throughout Bhutan.
Guru Chokyi Wangchuk (1212–1270), universally known as Guru Chowang, was a thirteenth-century treasure revealer (terton) recognised as the second of the Five Terton Kings (gter ston rgyal po lnga), the most exalted category of tertons in the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. His revealed treasures (terma) include liturgical cycles, historical writings, and dance scriptures that profoundly shaped religious practice across the Himalayan world, particularly in Bhutan, where his legacy endures in the sacred Guru Tshengye Cham performed at annual tshechu festivals.[1]
Regarded as a speech emanation of the Dharma King Trisong Detsen and a reincarnation of Gyalse Lhaje, Guru Chowang occupies a pivotal position in the transmission of Padmasambhava's teachings. He was the first master to systematically codify the eight manifestations of Guru Rinpoche, an iconographic and liturgical framework that became central to Bhutanese Buddhist identity.[2]
Early Life
Guru Chowang was born in 1212 in Lhodrak, a region of southern Tibet that borders present-day Bhutan. From a young age he demonstrated extraordinary aptitude for spiritual practice. According to traditional accounts, he began studying Bon religion at the age of six before turning to Buddhist teachings. His career as a treasure revealer commenced at thirteen, when he came into possession of a treasure inventory (kha byang) said to have been originally revealed at Samye Monastery by the earlier terton Drapa Ngonshe. This inventory served as a guide to the locations and keys of concealed terma awaiting discovery.[3]
Treasure Revelations
At the age of twenty-two, Guru Chowang travelled with a realised practitioner to a site in Lhodrak known as "Staircase to the Sky," where he began the systematic process of revealing hidden teachings. Over the following decades he uncovered an exceptionally wide range of terma, making him unusual among Nyingma tertons in that he discovered treasure cycles belonging not only to the earlier Nyingma tradition but also to the later traditions of the Kagyu and Sakya schools.[4]
Among his most influential revelations are the Lama Sangdu (bla ma gsang 'dus), a comprehensive sadhana and practice cycle on Padmasambhava that includes the widely recited Seven Line Supplication prayer; and the Kabgye Sangwa Yongdzok (bka' brgyad gsang ba yongs rdzogs), one of three major treasure cycles on the Eight Commands (Kabgye), which is central to the Mahayoga section of Nyingma tantra. He also revealed a terma of Marpa the Translator known as The Tower Treatise (Sekarma), a text on the Six Yogas written in Marpa's blood and concealed in Lhodrak.[5]
The Guru Tshengye Cham
Guru Chowang's most visible legacy in Bhutan is the Guru Tshengye Cham, a revealed treasure dance (tercham) derived from scriptures he discovered. The dance depicts the eight manifestations of Padmasambhava — Shakya Sengge, Pema Jungne, Nyima Wozer, Sengge Dradrok, Dorje Drolo, Tsokye Dorje, Pema Gyelpo, and Loden Chokse — each representing a different aspect of the master's enlightened activity. It was Guru Chowang who first codified these eight forms into a unified iconographic and ritual system.[6]
The Guru Tshengye Cham is a two-hour performance typically presented on the final day of major tshechu festivals. Through the dance, practitioners and spectators are understood to enter a living mandala, recreating a vision of the perfect universe and placing themselves in the company of Padmasambhava's spiritual manifestations. The dance remains one of the most sacred and widely performed cham dances in Bhutan, a direct transmission from Guru Chowang's thirteenth-century revelations to the present day.[7]
The Five Terton Kings
Guru Chowang is the second of the Five Terton Kings, a group comprising Nyang Ral Nyima Ozer (1124–1192), Guru Chowang (1212–1270), Dorje Lingpa (1346–1405), Pema Lingpa (1450–1521), and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820–1892). These five are considered the supreme treasure revealers, prophesied by Padmasambhava himself, whose discoveries were destined to preserve the dharma across successive centuries. Guru Chowang also produced the earliest known historical account of the terma tradition, the Ter Chung Chen Mo, composed as part of his two-volume autobiography.[8]
Legacy
Guru Chowang's influence extends well beyond the Guru Tshengye Cham. His revealed liturgical cycles are practised across the Nyingma world, and his historical writings on the terma tradition remain foundational reference texts. In Bhutan, the annual performance of the Guru Tshengye Cham at festivals from Paro to Jakar ensures that his thirteenth-century revelations continue to shape the country's religious and cultural life. The last of his thirteen prophesied reincarnations was identified as the great nineteenth-century master Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, a central figure of the nonsectarian (rime) movement in Tibet.
See also
References
- "Guru Chowang." Treasury of Lives.
- "The Moving Mandala: Inside Bhutan's Sacred Dance Festivals." Tricycle.
- "Guru Chowang." Treasury of Lives (alternate entry).
- "Guru Chowang." Treasury of Lives.
- "Guru Chowang." Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia.
- "The Moving Mandala." Tricycle.
- "The Moving Mandala: Inside Bhutan's Sacred Dance Festivals." Daily Bhutan.
- "Five Terton Kings." Rangjung Yeshe Wiki.
See also
First Hospital in Bhutan
The first modern hospital in Bhutan opened in Thimphu in the 1950s, growing out of a single-room dispensary and establishing the foundation for a healthcare system that today provides free medical services to all Bhutanese citizens.
history·4 min readBuxa Chogar
Buxa Chogar (formally Buxa Chogar Tosam Tardo Ling) was a monastic study centre established in 1959 for Tibetan refugee monks at the site of a former British colonial prison camp at Buxa Fort in West Bengal, India. Negotiated by the Dalai Lama with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the nonsectarian institution housed approximately 1,500 monks from the great monasteries of Tibet, including Drepung, Sera, and Ganden. Despite devastating conditions — tuberculosis killed nearly half the monks — Buxa Chogar preserved the scholarly traditions of Tibetan Buddhism through twelve years of intensive study before the community relocated to Bylakuppe and Mundgod in Karnataka in 1971.
history·6 min readTrongsa Penlop
The Trongsa Penlop (ཀྲོང་གསར་དཔོན་སློབ་) was the governor of central and eastern Bhutan under the pre-1907 dual system of government. In the 19th century the office became the most powerful in the country, produced the Wangchuck dynasty, and today survives as the formal title of the heir apparent to the Bhutanese throne.
history·11 min readBhutan's First Five-Year Plan (1961-1966)
Bhutan's First Five-Year Plan (1961-1966) was the country's inaugural national development programme, entirely funded by India as a grant. The plan prioritised road construction — building 1,770 kilometres of motorable roads including the landmark Phuntsholing-Thimphu highway — along with the establishment of the first modern schools and hospitals.
history·5 min readJigme Singye Wangchuck
Jigme Singye Wangchuck (born 1955) was the fourth Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan, reigning from 1972 to 2006. He coined the concept of Gross National Happiness, initiated Bhutan's transition from absolute monarchy to constitutional democracy, and voluntarily abdicated the throne — but his reign also encompassed the ethnic cleansing of over 100,000 Lhotshampa from southern Bhutan.
history·6 min readKingdom of Bumthang
The Kingdom of Bumthang was one of the earliest and most prominent independent chiefdoms in the region that would become Bhutan. Ruled by kings who claimed divine origins, including the legendary Sindhu Raja in the 8th century, Bumthang was the cradle of Buddhism in Bhutan before being absorbed into the unified Bhutanese state under Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in the 17th century.
history·5 min read
Test Your Knowledge
Think you know about this topic? Try a quick quiz!
Help improve this article
Do you have personal knowledge about this topic? Were you there? Your experience matters. BhutanWiki is built by the community, for the community.
Anonymous contributions welcome. No account required.