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Practices & Rituals Lama Ngakpa Namkha Chöd Phurba Kora
Important Figures Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche Dawa Gyaltsen Tapihritsa Shenchen Luga Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen Drenpa Namkha Lungtok Tenpai Nyima Lopön Tenzin Namdak Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
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Drenpa Namkha (དྲན་པ་ནམ་མཁའ་ Tibetan:dran pa nam mkha') was born in the 8th century nearMount Kailash in Chunlung Ngul Kha (Khyung lung dngul mkhar) in south-westernTibet. As a young student he was a blessed with eight principalBon teachers. Drenpa Namkha became a self-realized supreme master of the three Bon practices, known asSutra,Tantra andDzogchen. Drenpa Namkha is the primary long-life deity according to Bon.^{[citation needed]}

Drenpa Namkha is a popular personage in the Bon tradition. Drenpa Namkha's biography in eight volumes was published by sPa-tshang Sonam Gyantsan, Delhi in 1983. Drenpa Namkha is said to have had twin sons: Tshe-dbang Rig-'dzin, a Bon teacher, and Pad-ma 'Byung-gnas, the famous Buddhist teacher Padmsambhava.^[1]

Later masters said to be reincarnations of Drenpa Namkha include Bonpo Traksel (bon po brag tshal, d.u.), Rigdzin Trinle Lhundrub (rig 'dzin phrin las lhun grub, d.u.), and Drenpa Zungi Namtrul (dren pa zung gi rnam 'phrul, d.u.).^[2]

Drenpa Namkha holds aYungdrungchakshing in his right hand to indicate the indestructibility and permanence of the Bon teachings. Victory over heretics is symbolized by the eye on the sole of his foot.

• Karmay (1972).The Treasury of Good Sayings, Oxford University Press, London.
• Kvæne, Per (1995).The Bon Religion Of Tibet: The Iconography Of A Living Tradition.

• Bon

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