Lama Karma Sang-ngak Rinpoche

Siddha of union, Sang-ngak Rinpoche.

Sang-ngak Rinpoche’s full name was Lama Karma Sang-ngak Rinpoche. He was Konchok Paldron’s third son. He had extraordinary experience and realization. In terms of incarnation line, he was a rebirth of the tulku of Sertsa Monastery from the district of Gegyal Riwo, but Konchok Paldron never gave her permission for the monastery to take him. He remained with his Precious Mother and was a tremendous help to her, serving her as cook and bursar. He never forgot what Konchok Paldron taught him which was his greatest quality: perfect recall. He never forgot anything that he had learnt, which is quite unusual. And so, it was from her that he learned the entire tradition of Chokgyur Lingpa: the melodies for all the chants and the details of the various tormas, the tradition of which rested entirely upon the terton’s daughter. After Konchok Paldron passed away, he spent much of his life in retreat.
Sang-ngak Rinpoche became a monk when still young and kept his vows with great purity. Outwardly he was a virtuous monk strictly adhering to the Vinaya, inwardly he adhered to the bodhisattva trainings, and, on the innermost level, the commitments of Secret Mantra. He lived the simple life of a meditator which was a very good life, indeed. He had amazing perseverance only sleeping a little bit at night. To be honest, I haven’t met anyone who was more persevering, doing nothing but meditating. He kept a very low profile, had a very easy-going personality and was very honest. He was a fine hidden yogi.
After his mother passed away, Sang-ngak Rinpoche lived at Dzong-go with Samten Gyatso and often acted as Samten Gyatso’s assistant, serving him in many ways. Even though he too was a tulku, he never asserted himself as Samten Gyatso’s equal. He received the pointing-out instruction and all the pith advice from Samten Gyatso. He never went to any other teacher about such matters and his main practices were Kunzang Tuktig and Chetsun Nyingtig, just like Samten Gyatso. He had such respect for his older brother that he would never remain seated when Samten Gyatso entered the room. You rarely see that kind of behavior among siblings.
People told me that whenever Sang-ngak Rinpoche was the chopon (shrine master) for Samten Gyatso during empowerment ceremonies, he was like a cat walking among offerings on a shrine, never clumsy, spilling anything nor tripping over anyone, no matter how busy he got. His footsteps never made a sound nor did he ever make noise in any other activity.
Sang-ngak Rinpoche didn’t have many students and he never gave meditation instructions, unlike his brothers who were known everywhere like the moon and stars. Only after Samten Gyatso and Chimey Dorje had passed away could he be convinced to confer a few empowerments from the Chokling tradition. Slowly, his renown grew and people from all around showed more devotion to him because they started to appreciate that he had the pure lineage from Chokgyur Lingpa through his mother. In the end, people said that the transmission of the Chokling Tersar came to rest on him. He died at the age of 66.

--extract from Blazing Splendor, the momoirs of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche