IOverview
Zhangzhung Nyengyud means the oral transmission of Zhangzhung. It is one of three Dzogchen, or Great Perfection, lineages kept within Yungdrung Bön, alongside A-tri and Dzogchen Yangtse Longchen. It is not a separate school but a body of teaching that Bön monks and lay practitioners receive within the shared tradition.
What Bönpos stress above all is that it is not terma, texts hidden and later rediscovered. According to tradition it passed from master to disciple without interruption. The researcher John Myrdhin Reynolds notes that this makes it especially valuable for understanding the historical origins of Dzogchen.
IIThe Lineage
As the lineage tells it, the teaching began with Kuntu Zangpo, the All Good, passed through nine mind to mind transmissions and then through twenty four masters in Tagzig and Zhangzhung, each giving it to a single disciple. The last of the twenty four was Tapihritsa, said to have attained the rainbow body. Tapihritsa appeared to Gyerpung Nangzher Lödpo, master to King Ligmincha of Zhangzhung, and allowed him to write the teaching down.
Reference works place Tapihritsa around the 7th or 8th century and treat Gyerpung Nangzher Lödpo as a contemporary of King Trisong Detsen, who lived from 742 to 797. Sources drawing on Reynolds regard Gyerpungpa as almost certainly historical and date the translation from the Zhangzhung language into Tibetan to the 9th or 10th century. The lineage later divided into two lines, known as the upper and lower transmissions, which came together again in the Bön monasteries.
- 7th or 8th centuryTapihritsaThe twenty fourth and last master of the early line, according to tradition.
- 8th centuryGyerpung Nangzher LödpoPermitted to set the teaching down in writing in the Zhangzhung language.
- 13th centuryDru Gyalwa YungdrungA master of the Dru family who wrote practice manuals still in use.
IIITeachings and Texts
The corpus comprises the Four Cycles of Oral Transmission, arranged as outer, inner, secret and very secret, together with the experiential transmission, which records the practical instructions of the masters. Two texts often translated and taught in the West are the Twenty One Nails and the Six Lamps.
In the lineage's teaching, the nature of mind is kunzhi, the ground pure from the beginning, and rigpa, self luminous awareness. The practitioner does not create awakening but recognises it. The five pure lights, linked to the five elements, are taught as the natural display of that ground.
IVPractice
Students usually begin with preliminary practices, including refuge, the awakening mind, prostrations and guru yoga directed to Tapihritsa as a symbol of the awakened mind. Then come calm abiding meditation and the master's direct introduction to the nature of mind. Advanced practices include work with light and dark retreat, given only to those who are prepared. By the lineage's custom, these teachings are received directly from a qualified master.
VWhere It Is Taught Today
The lineage is part of the curriculum at Menri Monastery in Dolanji and Triten Norbutse in Kathmandu. Lopön Tenzin Namdak, who died in 2025, brought much of it to Western students. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, who founded Ligmincha in 1992, published Wonders of the Natural Mind in 1993, introducing the lineage in English. The two monasteries, along with the Ligmincha centres and Shenten Dargye Ling, still hold retreats following the lineage's programme.
VIIn Vietnam
The library has found no practice group of this lineage in Vietnam. Some books on Dzogchen by Bön teachers are read by Vietnamese readers in English, but there is no source for an official Vietnamese translation.
VIISymbol of the Branch
No symbol of its own is recorded with a source for this branch, so the library uses the common symbol of the path.
VIIIOther Branches of Bön
Yungdrung Bönགཡུང་དྲུང་བོན་ g.yung drung bonThe main living tradition, tracing its teachings to Tonpa Shenrab through Zhangzhung, with its own canon, monasteries and Nine Ways.Zhangzhung Nyengyudཞང་ཞུང་སྙན་རྒྱུད་ zhang zhung snyan rgyudOne of the three Bön Dzogchen lineages, held to be an unbroken oral transmission, including the master Tapihritsa.Uses the common symbol of the path
A-triཨ་ཁྲིད་ a khridOne of the three Bön Dzogchen lineages, meaning instruction on the letter A, codified by Meu Gongdzo (1038 to 1096).Dzogchen Yangtse Longchenརྫོགས་ཆེན་ཡང་རྩེ་ཀློང་ཆེན་ rdzogs chen yang rtse klong chenThe third Bön Dzogchen lineage, based on a treasure text said to have been discovered in 1080.Uses the common symbol of the pathNew Bönབོན་གསར་ bon gsarA movement from the 14th century centred on Drenpa Namkha, Tsewang Rigdzin and Padmasambhava, blending Eternal Bön with Tibetan Buddhist elements.Uses the common symbol of the pathOld Bönབོན་རྙིང་ bon rnying, also གདོད་མའི་བོན་ gdod ma'i bonThe pre-Buddhist religion of the Tibetan plateau, linked to the early kings.Uses the common symbol of the pathBön Centres in the WestNo shared original name. Centre names: Ligmincha, Shenten Dargye LingSince the late 20th century Bön teachers have founded centres in Europe and the Americas, notably Ligmincha (founded 1992 by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche) and Shenten Dargye Ling in France.Uses the common symbol of the pathIXSources
The library cross-checks the sources below. Where they disagree, the page gives both.
?Quick Questions
Is Zhangzhung Nyengyud a separate school?
No. It is a Dzogchen teaching lineage within Yungdrung Bön. Bön monks and lay practitioners receive it within the shared tradition.
Who was Tapihritsa?
According to tradition, the twenty fourth and last master of the lineage in Zhangzhung, living around the 7th or 8th century and said to have attained the rainbow body. Historians have no independent record of him.
Why is this lineage so valued?
Because Bönpos regard it as an unbroken oral transmission, not a rediscovered text. Scholars also see it as an important source for the history of Dzogchen.