Choying Tobden Dorje then traveled to Dzogchen Orgyen Samten Choling in Kham, where, in the presence of many learned and accomplished masters, including Dzogchen Tulku Migyur Namkha Dorje and his nephew Pema Kundrol Namgyal, he studied and trained in the doctrinal traditions of sūtra and mantra in general and insatiably drank from the nectar stream of maturational [empowerment] and liberating [guidance] according to the transmitted precepts and treasures. In particular, at that time, from Dodrub Kunzang Zhenpen [Trinle Ozer] who was staying at the Rudam Shinje meditation cave, he received many tantras, transmissions, and pith instructions pertaining to the vehicle of indestructible reality, including the Earlier and Later Innermost Spirituality (sNying thig gong ’og). Later also, when Dodrubchen Rinpoche resided at Yarlung Pemako, Choying Tobden Dorje went there to see him repeatedly and received [instruction on] the Secret Nucleus from the Net of Magical Emanation (sGyu ’phrul gsang ba’i snying po), the Trilogy of Rest(Ngal gso skor gsum), Unsurpassed Pristine Cognition (Ye shes bla ma), and so forth.
In 1828 (the earth male tiger year of the fourteenth sexagenary cycle) at Ko’ude Valley in Repkong, Choying Tobden Dorje founded the monastery of Dzogchen Namgyeling and nurtured an infinite number of students, including those known as the twenty-one teachers of the Great Perfection: Shardakpa Rabjampa, Bongtak Marik Munsel, Rigdzin Hūṃnak Mebar, and so forth.
The First Dodrubchen Rinpoche, the main teacher of Choying Tobden Dorje
Further, Dodrub Rinpoche had once remarked that the auspicious conditions existed for the preceptor, master, and religious king to converge in the same household. In accordance with that prediction, Choying Tobden Dorje accepted the ḍākinī Kunga Chodron as his consort (rig ma). To them were born two sons: the omniscient Tenpe Nyima, an emanation of the great preceptor Śāntarakṣita; and Togden Tenpe Gyeltsen, an emanation of the religious king Trisong Detsen. Choying Tobden Dorje himself was unmistakably an emanation of Guru Rinpoche. Likewise, based on the timely ripening of the superb aspirations of three masters—Choying Tobden Dorje, Dola Jigme Kalzang Choying Dorje, and Khamla Namkha Gyatso—the large community of awareness holders known as Repkong Longchen Ngagmang developed.
The Precious Treasury of Sūtra and Tantra [presented here in translation as The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra] is the magnum opus among Choying Tobden Dorje’s compositions, which were said to have filled almost twenty volumes. These writings included an autobiography (rang rnam), a collection of his songs of spiritual realization (mgur tshogs), a cycle on the practical application of wrathful mantra (drag sngags lag len gyi skor), and a supporting cycle on the profound doctrine (zab chos yang rgyab skor). Nevertheless, some of those very important books vanished, with only their titles remaining, in the midst of turbulent times. Apart from The Precious Treasury of Sūtra and Tantra, his remaining extant works have been published by the Qinghai Ngagmang Research Institute in two volumes: the Guide to the Great Perfection according to the Cycle of the Further Secret: Wish-Fulfilling Gem of Hayagrīva and Vajravārāhī (Yang gsang rta phag yid bzhin nor bu) and An Anthology of the Miscellaneous Writings of Dzogchen Choying Tobden Dorje (rDzogs chen chos dbyings stobs ldan rdo rje’i gsung thor phyogs bsgrigs). These two were printed in 2006 and 2010, respectively, through the Beijing Nationalities’ Publishing House.