Minyak Kunzang Sönam

མི་ཉག་ཀུན་བཟང་བསོད་ནམས།
mi nyag kun bzang bsod nams
Thubten Chokyi Drakpa
ཐུབ་བསྟན་ཆོས་ཀྱི་གྲགས་པ།
thub bstan chos kyi grags pa

Short biography

    Minyak Khenpo Kunzang Sonam, Thubten Chokyi Drakpa (d.1901), was an amazing scholar from Minyak Kham. Kunzang Sonam was trained within the Geluk tradition, but later became one of the most important heart-students of Dza Patrul Rinpoche.

Literary Works


Main Teachers

    Patrul Rinpoche
    Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo

Main Students


Main Lineages

    Geluk
    Longchen Nyingtik

Alternate Names & Spellings

    Khenpo Kunzang Sonam


Thubten Chökyi Drakpa (Wyl. thub bstan chos kyi grags pa) or Minyak Kunzang Sönam (Wyl. mi nyag kun bzang bsod nams) (1823-1905) was an important disciple of Patrul Rinpoche famous for his commentaries on the Bodhicharyavatara and Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva. He was a teacher of Loter Wangpo and Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen, from whom the Dalai Lama received teachings on the Bodhicharyavatara. Although a follower of the Gelugpa school, he is also mentioned as a prominent figure in the Dzogchen lineage of Patrul Rinpoche, and is also said to have composed some Sakya writings.

==Writings==
Chökyi Drakpa's writings include:

• The Excellent Vase that Grants the Qualities of the Bodhisattvas - a major commentary on the first eight chapters of the Bodhicharyavatara
  
• The Brilliant Torch - one of two commentaries to the famous ninth chapter of the Bodhicharyavatara
  

==Further Reading==

• Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries, Khenchen Kunzang Palden and Minyak Kunzang Sönam, translated by Padmakara Translation Group, 1993, 2nd edition 1999, ISBN 2-906949-07-8
  

==External Links==

• An Overview of the Bodhicharyavatara by Thubten Chökyi Drakpa
  
• TBRC Profile