introduction
Among the holders of the traditions of Buddhism in general and particularly the noble Sakyapas, Ngor Pal Ewam Choden is like a crown jewel - one of the six or nine ornaments of the beautiful Land of Snows. It is renowned as the supreme among the "two Ngor Dzongs" (representatives of the tantric tradition) or the "three Ngor Tsars" (those learned in tantra).
historical foundation
This is the root monastery of the great Ngor tradition established by the great master Ngor Chen Dorje Chang Kunga Zangpo, who was repeatedly praised in many sutras and tantras including the Sutra of Complete Retention of Virtuous Roots and the White Lotus Sutra. When Ngor Chen Dorje Chang was in his eighty-eighth year, mainly residing at the great monastery of Sakya upholding and spreading the teachings, in accordance with the prophecy of the glorious goddess Palden Lhamo, he founded this great monastery - like a second Pure Land - in the place called Ngor in the Gyang-ru region of upper Tsang, Tibet, in the year 1429 CE (the Earth-Bird year of the seventh Rabjung cycle). He named it Pal Ewam Choden.
educational excellence
For twenty-seven years he maintained this monastery, and through teaching, debate, and composition, he performed services to the Buddha's teachings like a second Buddha. His direct disciples who upheld his tradition included great bodhisattvas like Muchen Konchok Gyaltsen and the omniscient Gorampa Sonam Senge. The successive abbots who held his direct lineage maintained this monastery through the dual approach of study and practice, making it an incomparable abode for the three activities of hearing, contemplating, and meditating on sutras, tantras, and fields of knowledge.
Particularly, until political changes occurred, approximately seventy-five learned and accomplished abbots came to this monastery, greatly flourishing and spreading the Vajrayana teachings in general, and specifically the profound and extensive teachings of the noble forefathers and their sons - the treasure house of scriptural transmission and realization of the royal teachings, and the complete and unerring tradition of Dorje Chang Kunga Zangpo through the three gates of upholding, maintaining, and spreading.
They bestowed empowerments, transmissions, guidance instructions, and tantric teachings to countless fortunate disciples who came from China, Tibet, Mongolia, and elsewhere - like stars gathering in the sky. Innumerable holders of the teachings who benefited the unbiased teachings and all sentient beings emerged from here. Particularly, through the inspiration of the noble forefathers and the pure activities of Ngor Chen Dorje Chang, several hundred branch monasteries upholding the Ngor Ewam Choden lineage were established throughout upper, lower, and central Tibet.
