Minyak Kunzang Sönam
Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia is now 14 years old
Our Encyclopedia recently received a wonderful opportunity for a major renewal on its 14th birthday . After many years of growing our Encyclopedia had become bit slow and sometimes even decided not to answer when people knocked on the door.
A very big thank you and blessings to Dmytro Rudiy (rudiy.nl) for his great work in upgrading the server, website and all of the infrastructure and helping make TBE fast and reliable again for everyone!
We kindly ask our readers to help us cover the cost of this important upgrade and also help with the ongoing costs of keeping the Encyclopedia alive and freely available.
or card![]()
Every little donation helps and every one is deeply appreciated. 🙏🙏🙏
OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM 🙏🙏🙏
May blessings shower down on all of yous 🙏🙏🙏



མི་ཉག་ཀུན་བཟང་བསོད་ནམས།
mi nyag kun bzang bsod nams
Thubten Chokyi Drakpa
ཐུབ་བསྟན་ཆོས་ཀྱི་གྲགས་པ།
thub bstan chos kyi grags pa
Short biography
Minyak Khenpo Kunzang Sonam, Thubten Chokyi Drakpa (d.1901), was an amazing scholar from Minyak Kham. Kunzang Sonam was trained within the Geluk tradition, but later became one of the most important heart-students of Dza Patrul Rinpoche.
Literary Works
Main Teachers
Patrul Rinpoche
Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo
Main Students
Main Lineages
Geluk
Longchen Nyingtik
Alternate Names & Spellings
Khenpo Kunzang Sonam
Thubten Chökyi Drakpa (Wyl. thub bstan chos kyi grags pa) or Minyak Kunzang Sönam (Wyl. mi nyag kun bzang bsod nams) (1823-1905) was an important disciple of Patrul Rinpoche famous for his commentaries on the Bodhicharyavatara and Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva. He was a teacher of Loter Wangpo and Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen, from whom the Dalai Lama received teachings on the Bodhicharyavatara. Although a follower of the Gelugpa school, he is also mentioned as a prominent figure in the Dzogchen lineage of Patrul Rinpoche, and is also said to have composed some Sakya writings.
==Writings==
Chökyi Drakpa's writings include:
- The Excellent Vase that Grants the Qualities of the Bodhisattvas - a major commentary on the first eight chapters of the Bodhicharyavatara
- The Brilliant Torch - one of two commentaries to the famous ninth chapter of the Bodhicharyavatara
==Further Reading==
- Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentarieswww.wisdom-books.com, Khenchen Kunzang Palden and Minyak Kunzang Sönam, translated by Padmakara Translation Group, 1993, 2nd edition 1999, ISBN 2-906949-07-8
==External Links==