The lama Yongzin Ngawang Zangpo

Yongzin (“Tutor”) Ngawang Zanpo (1546–1615) was the first reincarnate lama or tulku (sprul sku) of the Drukpa Kagyu teaching lineage. An emanation of Tibet’s first great yogi Milarepa, Yongzin’s life and teachings mirror those of his cotton clad (mi la ras pa) predecessor despite his own Kagyu style red hat. The precise recapitulation of life patterns between the Yongzin and Milarepa is no accident but occurs as a confirming set of signs and indications that augur reincarnate lamas.

In this sculpture we may imagine the Tutor Yongzin as our own instructor. Drawing from his predecessor Tilopa’s direct approach, he teaches: do not follow thoughts about the past, do not project yourself into the future, stop analyzing your mind right now. Relax your impulse to control anything. And relax into a total focus on the present moment. This instruction, rooted in the Kagyu tradition, guides practitioners to directly experience the mind’s intrinsic purity.

Under the Tutor’s guidance, the Drukpa Kagyu tradition experienced a renaissance in the sixteenth century. As his title suggests, the Yongzin tutor mentored numerous students, with forty-five attaining the state of “non-meditation,” the highest realization in Mahamudra practice. Each established monastic institutions, retreat practices, and lineages, leading to the widespread dissemination of his teachings.