Mule Yongzhonglin Temple

Mule Yongzhonglin Temple

Mule Yongzhonglin Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

The auspicious Mule Yongzhonglin Temple, located beside the Xiangdisi Lang Sacred Mountain in the lower part of Xinlong County, Kham, was first built by Asha Lhodrub, a descendant of Kobo Lodro Thukmey, when he visited Mule's Eighteen Plains from Quge Sutra Practice Monastery due to various karmic connections.

Since its establishment, the temple has continuously upheld the Bon religion’s teachings. Today, below the ruins of the original temple, one can still see stupas, clay statue halls, and more, including a sacred site known as the Asha Area.

Kobo Gengye, son of the realized being Qiongge who was the son of Kobo Lodro Gyaltsen, and his own son, Dengpa Gyaltse, became the temple’s abbot. He had great mastery in karmic rituals and attained profound attainments. He received empowerments in the Vajrayana path and the fruits of secret mantra from Rendak Rinpoche, the throne holder of Sakya Dhakin, and served as the guru to the Zhongdui (old Xinlong) chieftain.

The monastery’s spiritual lineage has been passed down through the descendants and disciples of Asha Lhodrub. Kobo Dengpa Gyaltse had three sons, forming three branches: Geya, Yojinpa, and Mule. Mule Sherab Rinchen relocated the original temple to a place called Rendor below the original site, performed a Vajrayana purification ritual, and built a new temple with four long pillars. He thoroughly studied the Pratimoksha vows.

The monastery flourished with the practice of the ancient pre-translated Bon scriptures, particularly the “Chupu Xiong.” His brothers had three sons, one of whom, Dengzi, became a monk. Tashi Gyaltse retrieved a hidden terma statue of the Buddha from the Gebu Drakqing Sacred Mountain. At that time, the Zhongdui area was under the control of the Ganden Phodrang (the former Tibetan government). Due to Tashi Gyaltse and his son being punished, they were imprisoned in separate rooms within the Rulong Castle. One night, the father and son emitted sunlight toward each other. The next day, the local magistrate Penra Wa, upon learning of this, invited them into his private quarters and asked the guru to perform divination for him. The guru, angered by imprisonment, said, “I will not divine for you—go divine for yourselves!” When he threw his mala (prayer beads) into the magistrate’s lap, it instantly transformed into a snake. Panicked, the magistrate begged the guru to take the snake back. Calmly, the guru picked up the snake, placed it around his neck, and it turned back into his mala. From then on, the magistrate Penra Wa became a devotee and honored the guru as the root guru of the Zhongdui Rulong government. He offered the three areas of Hiri, Yilu, and Yilupu to the guru. His son, who had emitted sunlight while imprisoned at night, was named Nyima (meaning “sun”). Later, the spiritual seat was passed down through successive Mule abbots such as Yongzhong Yeshe and Chemchun Barong.

Nyima respectfully invited the great realized master Tashi Gyaltse to the monastery to bestow the empowerment and transmission of the “Chupu Xiong” to the faithful. The treasure revealer Song Nang Lingpa personally came to transmit the twelve rites and taught his own treasure practices, including the sadhana and ritual dance for the Three-Body Vajra of the Self-Manifested Deity. Since then, the treasures of Song Nang Lingpa have flourished at the monastery. Mule Yongzhong Yeshe invited Master Ban-de Zla-ong Ga-ron Dengbi Gyaltse and the tertön Tse-ong Ji-may to Mule Monastery, where they conferred the precepts of the “Su Xiong Ang” and the “Ocean of Buddha’s Words – Preliminary Practices” upon the monastic community.

The monastery features murals depicting the Five Buddha Families, the Twelve Rites, and the Six Classes of Protector Deities.

Among the Three Jewels representations: the Body Jewel includes a one-arrow-height subjugating Buddha statue, sixteen Arhat statues cast in copper and gold, one-kadag-height statues of the Thirty-Five Confession Buddhas, and clay sculptures of the Guru Chime Me’u-po and the Mother Deity in the upper shrine hall; the Protector Deity Hall houses the deity Tiger Fire Buddha, the Six Classes of Protectors, and the Xiangdisi Lang Sacred Mountain.

The Speech Jewel includes: over a hundred volumes of both sutric and tantric scriptures, primarily the “Stainless Majesty,” along with countless commonly used texts.

The Mind Jewel includes: eight one-foot-tall gilded copper stupas, as well as countless earthen and stone stupas.

Ritual instruments and offerings include: thirty pairs of cymbals led by the “Bu Jia Ma,” five gongs, three single cymbals, three pairs of brass trumpets, three pairs of suonas, four pairs of conch shells, four pairs of thigh-bone trumpets, as well as various three-root offerings and treasure vases made of gold and silver.

There are seasonal ceremonies throughout the year: the Great Aspiration Ceremony for fifteen days in the first month, the Observance of the Eight Precepts in the fifth month, the one-month Summer Retreat for thirty monks in June, and the Winter Cham Dance and “Chupu Xiong” ceremony from December 20th to 30th.

The expenses of the ceremonies are supported by the monastery’s farmland. Four villages elect four stewards (Shuba) to manage communal property.

The monastery currently has several lama monks: two elders, two summer retreat khenpos, and over sixty monks. During the Cultural Revolution, apart from the outer walls and some inner Buddha statues, the rest of the monastery was destroyed. Later, through the joint efforts of former abbot Chemchun Barong, current abbot Nyima Ozer, Nyima Dengji Rasa, and many monastic and lay followers, the main hall was rebuilt, the Bon scriptures such as the “Words of the Buddha” and “Commentaries” were reinstalled, and seasonal ceremonies were reinstated. Now there are four elders, two summer retreat khenpos, over ninety monks, and about twenty to thirty studying elsewhere.

The monastery is developing at an unprecedented pace and continues to need the support and assistance of the wider monastic community.