Hailing from Tibet, Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee continues the ancient tradition of the Chodpa, the Yogi who wanders from charnel ground to charnel ground, from stream to stream, and from mountain to mountain throughout the Himalayas, practicing the prayers and meditations of Chod.Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee’s main teachers have been Lama Wangdu Rinpoche and Lama Thuptan Choedak Rinpoche. He is the founder of the Khandro Labdron Chod Shije Institute in Boudha, Nepal.
He has more than a decade of experience practicing Chod and has accomplished the difficult, secret retreat in Nepal’s charnel grounds under the advice of his gurus, Lama Wangdu Rinpoche and Lama Choedek Rinpoche. Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee can often be found on pilgrimage to holy spots and power places around the subcontinent and the Himalayas.
Extended Biography
Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee was born in the province of Dingri, Tibet. His native village is called Bartso and is close to Lankor Monastery where the great founding father of Chod, Padampa Sangye, taught.
Kunzang Dorjee’s homeland ; Dingri, Bartso Tibet
Kunzang Dorjee’s family given name was Sonam Dorjee, so he is also known as Chodpa Sonam. His teacher, Lama Wangdu Rinpoche, gave him his dharma name of Kunzang Dorjee.
In the area where Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee was born, there once was a huge, poisonous lake that created horrible problems for all of the inhabitants of the area. Many birds and animals were dying because they drank the poison water and there seemed to be no solution in sight. News of this travesty spread far and wide and hearing this story, four of the great yogis, or Mahasiddhas, of India, traveled to Tibet to remedy this situation. They covered the poisonous lake with a enormous mountain which had been magically lifted from near Vulture Peak in Bodh Gaya, the site where Buddha gave his second teaching. This mountain is now a famous, holy mountain and to this day it is a revered pilgrimage site known as Tsib-ri-re.
After many many years, four Indian yogis, or sky-walkers, came to the holy site of the now famous mountain. They wanted to take this mountain back to India, however, the Tibetan practitioners had become very powerful by then and they didn’t allow the mountain to be taken back to India. So the legends say that they transformed the four Indian yogis into four big rock mountains known as “nails” so that the mountain could not be moved. Ding Ri people called this mountain ZIR-CHEN-SHI, ‘the four big nails.’ One of these Tibetan yogis who protected the mountain was the ancestor of Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee-la, Unkar Tashi. Today this mountain is a very famous area for retreat, it has been visited by Milarepa, Mahasiddhas, Marpa, Bonpo practitioners, and many generations of great Buddhist masters as well as Indians.
In Tibet, generally, the eldest child assumes the management of the household. Since Kunzang Dorjee’s mother had married his step-father when he was very young, and he now has other half siblings, in order to avert a possible struggle about inheritance between the siblings, his mother decided to give him the opportunity for a better life. Thus when he was seven or eight years old, his mother took him away from Tibet on a perilous journey into freedom.
Crossing the Border
Kunzang Dorjee lacked the appropriate paperwork to cross the border from Tibet into Nepal, so his mother made a deal with a truck driver going into Kathmandu and they cleverly hid him inside of a Merchant’s bundle of sheep wool with enough tsampa,(for food )to last the journey. Upon his safe arrival in Nepal, he again met up with his Mother who had traveled on a legal bus separate from him. After a joyous reunion and food, they stayed in Kathmandu Valley for few days, doing pilgrimage and getting acquainted with his precious maternal Aunt and Uncle. Then, they continued on to India where he would, unbeknownst to any of them at the time, eventually becoming a student in Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV), the Dalai Lama’s school for Tibetan refugee kids.
Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee’s mother went with him to India and took him to Bodhgaya so that he could become a monk. Five prospective candidates to become monks were tested, but only two passed. The test was to write an essay. The only thing that Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee knew how to write was what he had been taught in school in Chinese occupied Tibet was “Long live Mao Zedong.” Thus, he wrote this phrase in his essay and as a result, he was not selected to be one of the monks. This was the first sign that he was not to practice as a monk, but that he would live the lifestyle of a yogi.
Journey to Dharamsala
Upon reaching Dharamsala, he and the approximately twenty children he arrived with, were enrolled in the Tibetan Children’s Village, the school under the patronage of the Dalai Lama’s sister, Ama Jetsun Pema la. At TCV it was customary for the new arrivals from Tibet to be quarantined, checked for TB and other communicable diseases, and it was mandatory that they finish a round of parasite medication. As a result, the children were all vomiting and had diarrhea but that was all fun hence it established a lifelong bonds between them. After the ‘cleansing’ subsided all of the children were well cared for, happy, and given a very good education that allowed them to freely learn the Tibetan language and culture in exile.
Early Adult Life
Kunzang Dorjee graduated from TCV school and then joined an Accounting & Auditing Course in Mundgod. After graduating from the multi year course, he applied for an accounting job with TCV. Ironically, he was told that what they really needed at TCV was an assistant Civil Engineer and that with his head for figures and his natural aptitude for engineering, he should attend a Civil Engineering workshop in Pondicherry. Dutifully, he went to Pondicherry, completed his workshop as a civil engineer, and then served at TCV for three years in order to give back to the school system that so graciously educated, fed, and clothed him once he left Tibet.
After resigning from TCV, Kunzang Dorjee founded the first Tibetan private building contract firm. At that time he was still quite young, and in the spirit of youth, he was living a lifestyle of fun including, soccer and parties. He also participated in the group street fighting that was a part of the exile scene in Dharmasala at that time. It was during these years that he would go to Nepal for holidays and stay with his Uncle, Ngawang Dorjee, who was a close student of Lama Jadrel Sangye Dorjee Rinpoche and Lama Wangdu, the now famous Chod master. At this time Lama Wangdu was relatively unknown and he would come to his uncle’s house to perform rituals and give empowerments.
Life in Nepal
In the late 1990’s, Kunzang Dorjee decided to leave India and tried to go back to Tibet. He found that it was impossible, though he tried many times, so he had to come to terms with the fact that he was stuck in Nepal. Accepting his fate, he worked as a supervisor for the building of HIIMS school for three years. Then, he resolutely took a job at the Annapurna Carpet Factory in Boudha which was recommended to him by a client. It just so happened that this very carpet factory annually invited Lama Wangdu to do a puja, and during one of Lama Wangdu’s auspicious visits, taking the opportunity, he requested and received the lung,(the whispered empowerment)for the prostration preliminary practices. He immediately started his prostrations but at that time he was still getting into fights. In one of these ominous fights, Kunzang Dorjee stepped into a fight to protect his friend and then, in a cruel twist of fate, found that his friend had run away, leaving him alone to be knifed and beaten by the malicious gang. In the aftermath of this bloodbath, with his head and hand heavily bleeding, he ended up unconscious and fighting for his life in the hospital. At this time he became a ‘She-log’, or a person reborn. Accordingly, in the hospital, upon his miraculous recovery of consciousness, he had a life changing realization that he was using his bravery for the wrong things. He was risking his life over petty matters when he should be risking his life and using his bravery to liberate all sentient beings from suffering. Thus, he decided to be reborn and go seriously into the life of a Vajrayana Practitioner.
Kunzang Dorjee had made the decision to be a practitioner but he was still a householder with family obligations and conventional concerns such as a job, finances, etc. The fire to be out of samsaric concerns burned brightly within him and as time passed, he found it harder to be fully present in worldly concerns. On one such occasion, he found himself in a heated argument with family members where he decided to take his dharma text, his bike, and himself, and leave the life of a householder.
His plan was to take his bike and ride it until it ran out of gas and then to leave it in the forest where he would go to practice. In retrospect, it was his first unconscious attempt to cut his attachment to his motorbike and conventional concerns. However, as he was leaving, his family noticed a bulge under his shirt and fearing that he was taking valuables and being unreasonable, his family called for help from his friend, Dhargyal, who came and tried to physically stop him from leaving Boudha with anything precious. A struggle ensued where his friend tried to pull his hand out of his shirt and he strongly resisted. This continued for a half hour and only ceased when it was discovered that the ” valuables” that he was trying to leave with were, in fact, his dharma text and daily prayers. Upon this discovery, everybody laughed and made amends. Jokes were made and Kunzang Dorjee decided to stay with his family. However, the fire was lit and he knew that one day he would need to leave for a bit with his text and do some serious Vajrayana practice outside of the confines of worldly concerns. This was his first attempt to leave.
Entering the Chod Practice
A couple of months after his failed attempt to leave his family, Chodpa Kunzang went to where Lama Wangdu was giving an audience. Once there, he asked him to train him in Chod. To his delight, Lama Wangdu agreed. That day he received his first official teaching from Lama Wangdu. Upon asking for instructions on how to practice Chod, Lama Wangdu replied with the story of Takmo Lujin. Takmo Lujin is one of the popular Jataka tales of the Buddha’s past lives where the Buddha gave his body to a hungry tigress mother to save her and her five babies from starvation. Giving one’s body selflessly is the main instruction of authentic practice. He then sent Kunzang Dorjee off with the instruction that to do real chod practice, he must be willing to practice like this!
After giving this pith instruction, Lama Wangdu told Kunzang Dorjee to return after four days to get more empowerments. At that time some Chinese sponsors had sponsored an empowerment so Kunzang Dorjee was lucky to get the transmission along with them.
After Lama Wangdu taught him how to practice Chod, Kunzang Dorjee attempted to receive instructions every morning during Lama Wangdu’s daily audiences. He received all of the Shije Chod empowerments (Chod Wang Gyantsa) from Sangye Nyimba Rinpoche.
He also received the twenty day Nyingthik Yapshi Empowerment from Yangthang Rinpoche. He also received the Yunka Dechen Chod (Longchen Nyingthik/ Laughter of the Dakinis) Empowerment from Lama Choedek Rinpoche and the Troma Nagmo empowerment from Garab Dorjee Rinpoche.
After several years of sincere and consistent chod practice, Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee took a pilgrimage to Labchi where he had an auspicious meeting with Lapchi Drubpon Dordzin Dondrub Rinpoche who instructed and guided him in Chod practice. He also told him a series of inspiring stories about Shivji and Parvati. As a token of his gratitude for the teachings, Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee offered his most treasured flashlight to Lapchi Drubpon Dordzin Dondrub Rinpoche. This was recognised as an auspicious gift as light symbolizes wisdom. In return, Lapchi Drubpon Dordzin Dondrub Rinpoche offered him a precious robe of a very high Drikung Yogi that had been passed from yogi to yogi five time
Lapchi Retreat Master: Drubpon Dordzin Dondrub Rinpoche
The robe was very old, unwashed, and smelled very bad. Realizing the power of this lineage and the auspiciousness of the robe, Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee wore it for many years while doing Chod. One time this robe was lost on the way to a puja in Boudha. After dicovering this immense loss, Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee frantically searched for hours until he finally found the precious robe in the trash pile. Reluctantly, he washed the robe and to this day he occasionally wears the robe. Even a rubbish dump can’t dull a diamond and this robe proved this lesson a myriad of times.
For many years, Kunzang Dorjee traveled from place to place, practicing Chod and looking for Chod lamas to help him in his chod research. From Garab Dorje Rinpoche and Dudjom Yangsi he received the Troma Chod.
When Garab Dorje Rinpoche was giving the empowerment, many guests came to receive them but only a few were selected to receive the Troma Wangchen, the Great Empowerment. Kunzang Dorjee was one of these people who was chosen to receive them. He also returned to Lama Wangdu and received the Machig Chod and the empowerments for Opening the Sky Many Times.
Tso Pema Lama Tashi Chorjor
Tso Pema
In Tso Pema, he was lucky enough to meet Tashi Chojor, who was a great Yogi and who, subsequently, became one of his gurus. From him, Kunzang Dorjee received all the teachings of the Dzinpa Rangdrol Chod, the Longchen Nyingthig Ngondro, along with the Kunzang Lamai Shelung and the Tsokley Rinchen Trengwa. Tashi Chojor advised Kunzang Dorjee to go wandering from place to place alone practicing Chod in frightful places. He told him to go without planning for any provisions and to just live on offerings. He told him that if one has Buddhadharma, then they will never be impoverished completely. Keeping this in mind, this is exactly what Kunzang Dorjee did as he traveled from place to place as a wandering Yogi. Even when Tashi Chojor sent him into retreat, Kunzang Dorjee went with only a little bit of tsampa, surviving on the food offerings that were occasionally given to him by devout people.
Meeting Lama Thuptan Chodak 
As Lama Wangdu started to get older and more famous, he started spending most of his time in America. Kunzang Dorjee still wanted to continue his training and, by chance, Lhakba Tsering, a school friend of his ,was Lama Choedak’s Rinpoche’s student. This friend spoke very highly of Lama Choedek Rinpoche and suggested him for further guidance. In a fit of inspiration, Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee took his Chod Refuge Tree and set off to visit Lama Choedak Rinpoche in Pharphing. Their first meeting involved Kunzang Dorjee requesting Lama Choedek to explain the Refuge field. Lama Choedek’s detailed explanation of the visualizations and his erudite response to questions took many hours. Impressed with his knowledge, humility, compassion, and devotion, Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee asked Lama Choedek Rinpoche to be one of his root gurus. To his delight, he was accepted as one of his students and, since then, has received a steady stream of teachings and empowerments, as well as personal guidance from this amazing teacher.
One of Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee’s great teachers was Ani Dawa, who was affectionately called Momo-la. Ani Dawa was a ninety something year old hidden Dakini who lived in full-time retreat in Nagakort. She passed away in 2019. She previously lived in Pharphing, Nepal and took care of many retreat Lamas in her earlier days. She is a renowned practitioner who has many teachings about Chod and its practice. She patiently guided Kunzang Dorjee through her own direct experience, such as the time when she was practicing Chod and one Nepali guy threatened her and threw blood at her while telling her to leave the place. She realized that this man was not a human and continued to do Chod. In the early morning, this man reappeared and begged her to teach him the dharma. Then he slowly disappeared. This is just one example of of her advice and her practical teachings about the nature and efficiency of Chod.
Over the years, Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee has traveled to many sacred places to do Chod. One time when he was performing a Chod tsok offering in Princess Mandarava’s Well Shrine in Mandi, a miracle took place where five roses fell onto his lap. However, as Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee’s eyes were closed, he thought that somebody had thrown dana at him. This is not an unheard of occurrence in public places so he didn’t think much about it until he finished the puja, opened his eyes, saw the five roses, and, then, saw the caretaker of the cave weeping in disbelief and joy. He incredulously asked the caretaker why she was crying and she promptly replied that this puja was so special and powerful that he had miraculously gotten the “blessing of the mother.” Looking around the cave, Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee realized that the cave was a closed place and that there was no place for the roses to fall from, so this most definitely was a very auspicious sign from the deities that he was on the right path. In honor of this special occasion, he wrote a spontaneous song.
Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee continued to practice in the cemetery according to the traditional Chod customs, living naked and without plans or provisions. Facing wild animals, facing weather heat and cold, times with food and without.
Chod Pilgrimage Challenges and Select Memory
At one time he went to practice in Sailong, an area that the locals believed had been haunted by an evil spirit. He spontaneously offered cabbage and milk in his ritual offerings. When the locals came, they were delighted and relieved because this was said to be the only way that the spirit could be appeased. Through his Chod practice, they now felt the area was safe again.
Practicing Chod in the wilderness led to many dangerous encounters, but Kunzang Dorjee used the Chod practices to face the dangers that arose. Whether it was running out of food or facing wild animals he continued his practices with faith.
An incident with an ox
One time he was doing Chod practice in the wilderness, in the evergreen glade of trees where children are buried outside of Pashupati forest. Suddenly, a large Red Ox charged him from the hills above. Remembering Lama Wangdu’s incident when he was attacked by a mastiff dog, he did the Chod mantra cry of Phat and visualized Dorje Phagmo, the female Dakini of the Chod he was practicing. Kunzang Dorjee continued doing Chod dance as the Ox was coming, waving and blowing his thighbone trumpet. He thought he would probably die but he remained there and did the practice. But then, just as the Ox descended on him, the slobbering angry Ox suddenly slowed down and stopped. So he survived.
One of the hallmarks of a Chodpa’s training is the traditional 108 Cemetery, or Charnel Ground, Retreat. Lama Wangdu Rinpoche instructed Kunzang Dorjee to do a variation of this and to do a twenty-five day retreat starting on a Friday at Jamon Dara Cemetery. It just so happened that he started this on the first day of Saka Dawa month where any good deed is multiplied a thousandfold. After Jamon Dara, he was instructed to continue onto Pashupathi, Swayanbyu, and Ramato Cemetery where he would stay for three days. After these four core places, he was free to choose auspicious and frightful cemeteries to commence this powerful and secret retreat. Thus, during this time he went to the major cremation grounds practicing Chod continuously, living alone and traveling from one cremation ground to the next. He travelled by leg during the day to the next cremation ground and practiced chod at night. His retreat ended on Dakini Day on the auspicious month of Saka Dawa in Pharphing Vajra yogini temple.
The first students came after that asking for Chod training. Kunzang Dorjee asked Lama Wangdu if he could teach and was told that “Yes, he could.” The first student was a talented woman from Ukraine. Since then, students have come from all over the world: India, Nepal,Tibet, Eastern Europe, Europe, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, USA, Canada, South America, Australia, and Russia.
In 2017, Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee founded the Khandro Labdron Shije Chod Institute, in Boudha, Nepal. The name of the Institute was auspiciously conferred by Lama Choedak Rinpoche. That year he also hosted a three month residential retreat in Sankhu, Nepal with students from India, Nepal, USA, Sweden, and Russia.
Whenever he is not traveling, he stays at the Institute with his family. At the Institute, he teaches students about Buddhism, Chod practice, and Tibetan Yoga practices. Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee speaks good English and because of this he has been able to seamlessly merge into the international teaching scene and, as a consequence, now has students from all over the world who come to visit him for teaching and pilgrimage guidance. He also continues to conduct Chod practice at funerals, cremations, and local Charnel Grounds, continuing this rare tradition of Tibetan Buddhism in its original form of the wandering Yogi.
The original biography was written down by Pema Khandro of Chodpa Kunzang Dorjee who told this history to Pema Khandro at the Khandro Labdron Shije Chod Institute in Nepal, in 2017: some minor edits made in 2021 and 2023.