Zangpo, N.

Zangpo, N. on the DRL

Translators • Authors of English Works

Hugh Leslie Thompson

English Phonetics	Ngawang Zangpo
Title Prefix	Lama

Tibetan calendar dates

Dates of birth

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

Dates of passing

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

About

Primary Language:	English
Translates from:	Tibetan
Translates to:	English

Primary Affiliation (Workplace)

Tsadra Foundation

Religious Affiliation

Kagyu

Teachers

Kalu Rinpoche

Current projects

The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra, Volume 5

Biographical Information

Ngawang Zangpo (Hugh Leslie Thompson) completed two three-year retreats under the direction of the late Kalu Rinpoche at Kagyu Ling, France, 1976–1980 and 1980–1983, and he served as translator for Kalu Rinpoche from 1985–1989. He is the founding resident lama of a Buddhist center in Taipei, Taiwan (1985), a founding member of Kalu Rinpoche's International Translation Group (1987), and he was a Tsadra Foundation Fellow from 2000 to 2018. He is presently working on a number of translation projects that were initiated under the direction of Chadral Rinpoche and Lama Tharchin Rinpoche. He has also contributed to the Kalu Rinpoche Translation Group's books Myriad Worlds and Buddhist Ethics. Source: Tsadra.org and Shambhala Publications

Completed Projects as a Tsadra Foundation Fellow:

• Sacred Ground: Jamgön Kongtrul on Pilgrimage and Sacred Geography, Jamgön Kongtrul
• Guru Rinpoche: His Life and Times, Taranatha, Jamgön Kongtrul, and Sera Khandro
• Timeless Rapture: Inspired Verse of the Shangpa Masters, compiled by Jamgön Kongtrul
• The Treasury of Knowledge: Books II, III, and IV; Buddhism’s Journey to Tibet, Jamgön Kongtrul
• A History of Buddhism in India and Its Spread to Tibet, Butön Rinchen Drup
• Refining Our Perception of Reality, Sera Khandro
• The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra, Books 1 to 10, Foundations of the Buddhist Path, Choying Tobden Dorje
• The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra, Book 14, An Overview of Buddhist Tantra, Choying Tobden Dorje

Previously Published Translations:

• Jamgön Kongtrul’s Retreat Manual, Jamgön Kongtrul
• Enthronement: Recognition of the Reincarnate Masters of Tibet, Jamgön Kongtrul

Links

Wiki Pages

• Zangpo, N. on the DRL
• Zangpo, N. on the LIB
• Zangpo, N. on the BNW

Buddha Nature Project

Person description or short bio

Expand to see this person's philosophical positions on Buddha-nature.

Is Buddha-nature considered definitive or provisional?
Position:
Notes:
All beings have Buddha-nature
Position:
If "Qualified", explain:
Notes:
Which Wheel Turning
Position:
Notes:
Yogācāra vs Madhyamaka
Position:
Notes:
Zhentong vs Rangtong
Position:
Notes:
Promotes how many vehicles?
Position:
Notes:
Analytic vs Meditative Tradition
Position:
Notes:
What is Buddha-nature?
Position:
Notes:
Svātantrika (རང་རྒྱུད་) vs Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་པ་)
Position:
Notes:
Causal nature of the vajrapāda
Position:

URIs of the form "ngawang@earthlink.net; Ngawang@tsadra.org" are not allowed.

Other Information

• Ngawang's user page

The Kagyu school traces its origin to the eleventh-century translator Marpa, who studied in India with Nāropa. Marpa's student Milarepa trained Gampopa, who founded the first monastery of the Kagyu order. As many as twelve subtraditions grew out from there, the best known being the Karma Kagyu, the Drikung, and the Drukpa.

The Nyingma, which is often described as the oldest tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, traces its origin to Padmasambhava, who is said to have visited Tibet in the eighth century.

Refers to something that is taught for a specific reason, rather than because it is entirely true.

Along with Madhyamaka, it was one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu around the fourth century CE, many of its central tenets have roots in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the so-called third turning of the dharma wheel (see tridharmacakrapravartana).

Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā.

The state of being devoid of that which is wholly different rather than being void of its own nature. The term is generally used to refer to the ultimate, or buddha-nature, being empty of other phenomena such as adventitious defiling emotions but not empty of its true nature.

The state of being empty of self, which references the lack of inherent existence in relative phenomena.

Tsen Khawoche's "meditative tradition" of exegesis of the Uttaratantra; it is one of two major Tibetan traditions of exegesis, both stemming from students of Sajjana.