The Nine Heart Children: Transmission Masters of Padmasambhava’s Teachings

Guru Padmasambhava, who is better known by his title Guru Rinpoche, maintains a status as one of the most influential Tibetan Buddhist masters of his time. Padmasambhava established Vajrayana Buddhism in Tibet during the 8th century because of his ability to establish himself as a mystic scholar and tantric adept. Guru Padmasambhava instructed nine exceptional disciples to the extent of bestowing upon them the title "Nine Heart Children." Padmasambhava's disciples exhibited his teachings perfectly while transmitting these powerful lineages through subsequent generations. This extensive blog article explores each aspect of the nine Vajrayana disciples who bore Heart Children designations.

An extensive examination of the Nine Heart Children reveals their lifestyle details along with transformation experiences, as well as their religious achievements and graphic representations. Their dedication and realization established the basis of the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition in Tibet, which continues to support practitioners even in the present.

Guru Padmasambhava: His Journey to Tibet

Known as Padmasambhava (meaning "Lotus-Born"), he is said to have been miraculously born on a lotus flower in a kingdom of Oddiyana, which is often identified with Swat Valley in present-day Pakistan. Trained in both Buddhist traditions and in the tantras, he had mastery of the Dharma and traveled extensively through the lands of India, Nepal, and Central Asia. Because of his knowledge of both Sutra and Tantra, he was an extraordinary adept. Eventually, he received a summons to come to Tibet from King Trisong Detsen in order to subdue the spiritual and supernatural obstacles that were preventing the completion of the construction of the Samye Monastery. 

Once he arrived in Tibet, Guru Rinpoche subdued obstructing spirits and local deities, and incorporated them into the Dharma as protectors. He gave extensive teachings on Vajrayana, including Mahayoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga, which have become the different classes of the Nyingma tradition. He offered empowerments, oral instructions, and hidden treasure (termas) to be found by a tertön in the future.

Who Are the Nine Heart Children of Guru Rinpoche?

The Nine Heart Children (Tibetan: thugs sras dgu) are the closest circle of realized practitioners who were fully initiated into the Vajrayana program by Guru Rinpoche. Each was selected based on their karmic situation, spiritual capability, and devotion. Each practitioner was initiated based on a specific aspect of Vajrayana with auspicious selections. They were trained, given transmissions, and initiations, and ultimately emerged as the embodiment of Padmasambhava's views. The nine Heart Children are:

1. King Trisong Detsen
   

2. Namkhé Nyingpo
   

3. Nupchen Sangyé Yeshé
   

4. Gyalwa Chokyang
   

5. Yeshe Tsogyal
   

6. Palgyi Yeshé
   

7. Langchen Palgyi Sengé
   

8. Vairotsana
   

9. Nyak Jñanakumara
   

Their accomplishments are often depicted in sacred art. In thangkas and statues, each of the Heart Children can be identified by their specific iconographic attributes.

1. King Trisong Detsen 

As an emanation of noble Manjushri, King Trisong Detsen was the Tibetan emperor who invited both Guru Rinpoche and Shantarakshita to Tibet in the 8th century. He centrally directed the process of establishing Buddhism as the state religion. 

Originally a political figure wanting to strengthen his kingdom with spiritual glue, Trisong Detsen committed himself to the Dharma. Through Padmasambhava's teachings and his own resolution to these teachings, Trisong Detsen went through many initiations, especially in relation to all of the assemblies of Sugatas tantras and sadhanas, and became an extremely strong lay practitioner and devotee of Buddhism.

Teachings and Legacy

Though not a teacher according to our conventional understanding, his ultimate contribution to Tibetan Buddhism is laying the conditions for Vajrayana to flourish in Tibet. He instigated the construction of the Samye Monastery, the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet, commissioned translations to help Tibetan practitioners access the Buddhist canon, and bestowed further offerings on the Tibetan community. Yeshe Tsogyal was a consort to King Trisong Detsen but was willingly given to Guru Rinpoche by the king as an act of his devotion to Guru Rinpoche during an empowerment ceremony as a mandala offering. The legacy of Yeshe Tsogyal is now more attributable to the groundwork offered as a major patron towards bringing Buddhism to Tibet through exhaustive offering, initiation, and sponsorship of Guru Rinpoche's great efforts within the Tibetan Empire.

Iconographic Features

King Trisong Detsen's statue is generally represented seated as a king dressed in royal clothing and a triple-pointed crown. Above each shoulder are two blossoming lotuses, holding a book and representing a sword of wisdom. The means of offering through these two tools symbolizes the wisdom and knowledge emerging from his efforts.

2. Namkhé Nyingpo

Namkhé Nyingpo was a highly accomplished tantric master and one of Guru Rinpoche’s closest disciples. He was one of the five Tibetans ordained by the Master Bodhisattva to translate his teachings from India to Tibet at the request of King Trisong Deusten. 

Padmasambhava entrusted him with the Shri Heruka Tradition and the Vishuddha Mind tantras. His unwavering faith and deep meditative discipline allowed him to excel in esoteric practices. He was considered a supreme object of veneration by King Trisong Deusten due to his selfless nature and revealing in the Vishuddha Sadhana to the King. 

Teachings and Legacy

He is remembered as a realized master of many tantras, including Guru Santaraksita’s Sutrayana practice, Subitist tradition of Mahayana Buddhism, Dzogchen, as well as Tantrayana. His reincarnation, the seventh in line, helps to spread dharma and benefit sentient beings. He has also been credited with writing an important biography of Yeshe Tsogyal, helping us to understand the principal consort more. 

Iconographic Features

He is often depicted with a peaceful expression, and is said to have been able to ride the rays of the sun, which is why he is often depicted flying in the air, symbolizing his realization of Mahamudras. 

3. Nupchen Sangyé Yeshé

Nupchen Sangye Yeshe Depicted In Thangka
(Photo from Himalayan Art Resouce)

A scholar-yogi and powerful tantric adept, Nupchen Sangyé Yeshé was a key figure in maintaining tantric practices even during times of suppression.

He received direct instructions and empowerments from Guru Rinpoche, including Yamantaka, a wrathful emanation of Manjushri and the root Mahayana Tantra. He was also a devoted student of various other gurus, including Shri Simha, Vimalamitra, and others. 

Teachings and Legacy

Nupchen authored several commentaries and was instrumental in preserving Dzogchen during politically turbulent times known as the Tibetan “dark age”. His legacy endures in Nyingma practices and scholastic lineages. He is said to have lived for more than 110 years, during which he made an active effort to preserve Buddhism, co-writing various works and spreading his knowledge to further disciples.

Iconographic Features

He is depicted in a relaxed posture, holding a vajra and a phurba (ritual dagger). He is also said to have been able to stab his dagger into rock, hence his close association with the phurba. He may also have a mirror or skull cup to represent his Dzogchen realization. 

4. Gyalwa Chokyang

Gyalwa Chokyang Depicted In Thangka 
(Photo from Himalayan Art Resource)

Gyalwa Chokyang was a well-known and close disciple, who was famous for his renunciation and strictness, and amazing yogic training alone. He was thought to be the reincarnation of the master Kamaraja and was one of the seven Tibetans who initially received full empowerments from Sataraksita.

He received the advanced practices of Lotus Speech from Guru Rinpoche and is known to have mastered tummo and illusionary body practices. Having purified Hayagriva perfectly, when he displayed the horse-head deity, it was said to emerge from the top of his head and make the sound of a horse neighing. He, through the sadhana of the thread cross rite, cured and protected a king from the wrath of spirits.

Teachings and Legacy

He conveyed numerous Mahayoga teachings, and his lineage included yogic action and realization through retreat. He concealed the liturgy for the thread cross opening which was later opened by a Karmapa teacher.

Iconographic Features

Gyalwa Chokyang is typically depicted in the form of a monk performing mudras of blessing and protection from fear. He also displays the head of a horse on top of his own to symbolize his mastery of Hayagriva Heruka.

5. Yeshe Tsogyal

Yeshe Tsogyal is regarded as the major female disciple of Guru Padmasambhava and a manifestation of Vajrayogini and Sarasvati. Originally a princess from Kharchen who endured extreme suffering, including abduction and enslavement, she ultimately attained liberation with the help of Guru Padmasambhava. Among the earliest Tibetan women to receive the full set of empowerments and teachings of tantra, she is seen as the Mother of Tibetan Buddhism.

She received all levels of Vajrayana initiation, including all the teachings on Dzogchen, directly by Padmasambhava. She engaged in extended solitary retreats in places like Paro Taktsang and Chuwori, where she subjugated and tamed elemental spirits, accomplished practices like chod and karmamudra, and experienced deep states of visionary experience. At the height of her realization, she was said to be capable of raising the dead. She became completely realized in her lifetime and reached the level of a fully enlightened Buddha.

Teachings and Legacy

Yeshe Tsogyal recorded and protected Padmasambhava's oral instructions, concealing them as termas (hidden teachings) for later tertöns. Her spiritual autobiography is among the earliest accounts of female liberation in Tibetan literature. Yeshe Tsogyal is regarded both as a historical person and as an enlightened dakini, whose teachings and practices are the basis of many Nyingma transmissions.

Iconographic Features

Yeshe Tsogyal is normally depicted as a youthful, calm woman in dakini ornaments, with silken scarves and jewellery. She usually holds a skull cup in one hand and a kartika (curved knife), which visualizes both her realization of tantric practices and her status as consort of Guru Rinpoche.

6. Palgyi Yeshé

Palgyi Yeshé Depicted In Thangka
(Photo From Himalayan Art Resource)

Palgyi Yeshé, or Drokmi Palgyi Yeshé, was one of the very first Tibetan monks to have received direct transmission from Guru Padmasambhava. He is from the Drokmi family and was very important in the early dissemination of Vajrayana Buddhism in Tibet.

Palgyi Yeshé received ordination by the Indian master Shantarakshita; however, it was well-known that he received tantras and instruction directly from Padmasambhava. It is believed that he was trained in advanced rites and yogic practices, including the tantras and sadhanas of Liberating Sorcery of Mother Dieties. At the peak of his realization, he was said to be able to see the dakinis, and then command the mother deities to do various activities.

Teachings and Legacy

He became one of the earliest Tibetan practitioners to sustain and confer the empowerments of a tantrik teaching coherently with strength. Palgyi Yeshé's life and training bore out the intermingling of Indian and Tibetan traditions from the earliest manifestation of Buddhism in those regions. His own tantra would continue to have lasting effects on many generations of Tibetan yogis, and he would play an important role in establishing Vajrayana practice formally as part of a monastic system.

Iconographic Features

Palgyi Yeshé is generally depicted in monastic robes, expressively humble but at the same time attentive. He may be depicted with ritual implements (e.g., bell and vajra) and sometimes a scripture or teaching gesture that represents his esteemed role of joining Tantric methods into the monastic way of life.

7. Langchen Palgyi Sengé

Langchen Palgyi Sengé Depicted In Thangka 
(Photo From Himalayan Art Resource)

Langchen Palgyi Sengé (or Lang Pelgyi Sengé) was also an early disciple of Guru Padmasambhava and was the most renowned of Padmasambhava's disciples. He was born to the noble Lang clan and was famous for his scholarly perspicacity as well as accomplishment, maturity in Tantric practice . He was seen to have played an integral role in the spread of Buddhism during this early transmission period, and was seen to be an integral force in the translating and interpreting of key Vajrayana texts, while being of the utmost authenticity of symbols. 

Palgyi Sengé was cited as being one of the first Tibetans, along with his best friend Yaśas, in being ordained and authorized by the Great Indian Abbot Shantarakshita; Finally, having obtained his monastic robe and being ordained as a monk. After their monastic training, they began practicing Tantric practice on the path of knowledge, under Guru Rinpoche via empowerments of Mundane Worship systems. He was said to administer using the power of eight kinds of services of gods and demons. He was even said to travel to India to learn within the Buddhist 'Dharma' - where he received rare transmissions of wrathful deity practices and the textual basis/philosophy of their practices.

Teachings and Legacy

Langchen Palgyi Sengé is remembered as preserving lineages and terma through his sons. While writing valuable commentaries to support his translations, he trained capable students like Nubchen Sangye Yeshe and helped Yeshe Tsogyal on a need basis. He brought together scriptural translation, personal realization, and public dissemination to influence the early Tibetan Vajrayana tradition and ensured it was handed down from generation to generation. 

Iconographic Features

In sacred iconography, Langchen Palgyi Sengé is generally depicted in full monastic attire to convey his scholarly and ordained status. He is also depicted seated in a meditation and/or teaching position holding a vajra and bell, which indicates he is a teacher and translator. His thangkas depict him alongside eight other figures noting towards his mastery over the 8 kinds of gods and demons.

8. Vairotsana or Vairochana

Vairotsana (also Berotsana or Vairochana) was one of the most preeminent Tibetan lotsawas (translators) during the time of King Trisong Detsen in the 8th century. Padmasambhava recognized Vairotsana as a reincarnation of an Indian pandita and among the first seven monks ordained by Śāntarakṣita. His contribution to the transmission of the Dzogchen teachings to Tibet, along with Padmasambhava and Vimalamitra, is regarded as very significant.

Vairotsana was commissioned by King Trisong Detsen to travel to India, to receive transmissions from Śrī Siṅgha. In great secrecy, he received full teachings on the semde and longdé Dzogchen and was dosed out more divine tantras and sadhanas of Maledictory Fierce Mantra under Guru Rinpoche, and through his accomplishments was able to call forth mundane haughty spirits to bless those activities.

Teachings and Legacy

Once he returned to Tibet, Vairotsana suffered political karma and was sent into exile in East Tibet, but despite many hurdles, he was able to teach many disciples such as Yudra Nyingpo, Sangtön Yeshe Lama, Pang Gen Sangye Gönpo, and Lady Yeshe Drönma. Some students were able to pass on many accomplishments through many generations, including the remarkable feat of the rainbow body. The breathing of Vairotsana's translations and teachings created many streams of lineage that allowed several to blossom as systèmes around the Dzogchen tradition.

Iconographic Features

In paintings and statues, Vairotsana is typically depicted in monastic robes, signifying his roles as monk, translator, and teacher. He may be carrying some texts or scriptures or a vajra to show accomplishment in scholarly endeavors and mastery of tantrism. He likely exhibits a very sweet expression to embody the thoughtful meditative mind, seeing restfulness in the teachings of Dzogchen.

9. Nyak Jñanakumara

Nyak Jñānakumara, or Nyak Yeshe Zhonnu, was an 8th-century Tibetan translator and one of the twenty-five principal disciples of Guru Padmasambhava. He was born as a member of the Nyak clan in the Yarlung Valley. Nyak Jñānakumara is recognized for helping to establish Vajrayāna Buddhism in Tibet by integrating its four primary transmission lineages from Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra, Vairocana, and Yudra Nyingpo. 

Ordained by Śāntarakṣita, he received extensive teachings from Padmasambhava from empowerments in Nectar Medicine, and could reportedly draw water from a rock at the place of his practice. He also worked closely with Vimalamitra, translating important tantric texts like the Guhyagarbha Tantra, and played a part in Padmasambhava's transmission of commentary.

Teachings and Legacy

Nyak Jñānakumara is recognized as one of the initial originators of the Kama (oral) transmission lineage in the Nyingma tradition. He was a master of Vajrakīla practices and transmitted the Semde and Longde portions of Dzogchen to students, such as Sokpo Pelgyi Yeshe and Wodren Pelgyi Zhonnu. Nyak Jñānakumara's most adept students, called the "Eight Glorious Adepts of Vajrakīlaya," included Lhalung Pelgyi Dorje and Taksang Pelgyi Dorje.

Iconographic Features

Nyak Jñānakumara is normally depicted in representations of him in monastic robes, holding a ritual dagger (phurba), demonstrating his expertise in tantric practice. Some representations include a stream of water flowing out of a rock, relating to his legend of becoming realized in Vajrāmṛta and producing water.

The Collective Legacy of the Nine Heart Children

The Nine Heart Children of the Guru Rinpoche exemplified the multi-dimensional luster of the Tibetan Vajrayana path, from royal patronage and scholarly preservation, to yogic actualization and esoteric appropriation.

Each of them played their part, with Trisong Detsen as the main player who institutionalized Buddhism in Tibet, and Yangchenma (Yeshe Tsogyal) who preserved and concealed the terma treasures of Guru Rinpoche, and Namkhé Nyingpo and Nupchen Sangyé Yeshé who crafted advanced meditation practices, and the translators Vairotsana and Nyak Jñanakumara who ensured those various methods of transmission would remain available for the purpose of future generations.

Their lifework, as a group, demonstrates that different skills, whether political, intellectual, or esoteric, may be applied to the Dharma when motivated by realization and compassion. While external circumstances could challenge their situation, these nine remained steadfast in the lineage of wisdom from Padmasambhava, helping ensure its continuity regardless of the external turbulence.

The structure of Nyingma Vajrayana, what was cultural, situational, socio-political, and the imprints upon its many continued legacies today, the factors of lineages, liturgies, retreats, and iconographies are braided within the lives of these students and transmission methods.

However, simply referring to character as history does not acknowledge the implication for inner transformation, which was the process, as evident within their lived experiences, of learning devotion to the guru, and understanding the need for concentrated study/and practice, a life's commitment to caring, confronting hardship, and honoring life’s sacred treasures for others who may also benefit from discovering them.

The Nine Pillars of Vajrayana’s Golden Transmission

Guru Padmasambhava’s Nine Heart Children were not just historical figures—they are living avatars of awakened potential and continuity of lineages. Their narratives provide a tether from the time of Padmasambhava into our contemporary spiritual lives. Through their devotion, mastery, and incidences of transmission, they underpinned what we know and practice today as the Vajrayana tradition. Their extraordinary lives, thoughts, forms, and actions continue to motivate practitioners around the globe to experience both realization and compassionately act, and to base their Abram practice in unbroken wisdom. 

By studying and hearing their lives, we do not just memorialize, we inhabit their living presence in our hearts and minds. Their examples ask us to practice ethically, transmit learning with clarity, honor the sacred relationship with our teachers, and ultimately maintain the flame of the Dharma without the diminishment of time's passing. 

May their practice continue to illuminate our minds and awaken our hearts!