Since his early years, he clearly displayed signs of being an excellent person, such as having faith [in Buddhism] and renunciation. When he was young, he left a clear footprint in the stone as if trampling the mud, as he subdued a samaya-breaking evil spirit by manifesting in the form of Guru Drakpo and bounded it by oath. 

Once, looking to the southwest, he exclaimed: “I’m so delighted that the Yarlung valley will have a good harvest this year!” The elders sitting there inquired, “Why are you happy about the harvest in the Yarlung valley?” He replied: “Because my teacher from previous lives, the omniscient Second Buddha, lives there.” 

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On another occasion, when all the local people were upset about having to pay the yearly tax to the kingdom of Derge, he made the following statement to his father: “You may be afraid of these chieftains now, but when I’m older, I’ll be the Derge king’s preceptor, and there’ll even be a time when I’ll be the object of their worship.” Through such assertions, he displayed mastery over the superknowledges and signs of a siddha. 

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Since the age of eight or nine, he trained in writing and reading, which he had no difficulty comprehending. He also became proficient in the daily liturgical texts of the Dzogchen tradition [held at his monastery]. At the age of thirteen, he went to the mother monastery, Rudam Orgyen Samten Chöling, and was ordained by his spiritual mentor Sengdruk Pema Tashi.[4] Then, he took the bodhisattva vows of the two oral teachings from Gyalse Zhenpen Taye.[5] Additionally, learned and accomplished ones of this monastic center, such as the Jewön Pema Kundröl Namgyal, Ngedön Tenzin Zangpo, and so on, bestowed upon him maturating empowerments and liberating instructions of the Oral Transmission and the Revealed Treasures, as well as endless instructions on the traditions of sūtra and mantra.[6] Because of these trainings, he became known as Getse Lama Sönam Tenzin (“Meritorious Doctrine-Holding Lama of Getse”).[7]

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Then, when he was about thirty, as all the interdependent phenomena coincided—the deities’ [520] divine, symbolic prophecies, and Ngedön Tendzin Zangpo’s requests—it became evident that the time was ripe. Therefore, he went to meet his lineage lord of many lives, the Omniscient Lama Jigme Khyentse Özer.[8]

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After he was lovingly accepted as a disciple, he was given the name Jigme Ngotsar Gyatso, and became one of the heart disciples known as the Four Jigmes.[9] For a long time, he adhered to the three pleasing ways,[10] and as a result he received the general oral and treasure teachings of the Early Translations school, as well as tantras, transmissions, and pith instructions of the highest vehicle—the Secret Heart Essence, as if filling a vase to the brim.[11]

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He attained the highest view of realization after penetrating the vital points of the practice. At one point the Omniscient Lama [Jigme Lingpa] predicted: “Now, you will go to Dokham. There, you’ll establish a monastic community of the Heart Essence teachings and build a two-story temple on the scale of sixteen pillars, with newly constructed statues and sacred objects. This will benefit the Dharma as well as sentient beings extensively.” 

He then named the monastery Gönsar Ogmin Rigzin Pelgye Ling.[12] As for the inner sacred object of worship, he gifted him a chölichima bronze statue of Vajrakumāra in union,[13] handwritten notes of the Vajrakīlaya tantra tradition, a Kadam “lotus-bouquet” stūpa, a primary blessed kīla wrapped in the high-quality golden silk threads, an elephant tusk, Götsangpa Natsok Rangdröl’s hat,[14] the Omniscient Lama’s own empowerment hat, and offerings. He also bestowed a ceremonial bell of Chinese darlima bronze,[15] a silver-brimmed cup made from a yeti’s skull, a handmade life-force chakra of the three protectors Ekajaṭī, Rāhula and Vajrasādhu, a longevity arrow made of white sandalwood, nine wall-sized tangkas based on Ocean of the Eight Heruka's Pronouncement painted in gold on a black field, and a portrait of the Omniscient Lama.[16] Blended into the paint were countless sacred substances—namely, the nose blood of the Omniscient Lama himself, relics of the paṇḍitas, siddhas, and bodhisattvas from India and Tibet, some of the relics had the power to multiply. Powerful guardians of the Heart Essence such as Ekajaṭī, Rāhula, Vajrasādhu, and others offered their service by personally unrolling the canvas and preparing the painting materials, such as pigment. The way in which the Omniscient Lama himself created the tangka with his own hands is clearly delineated in the autobiography, An Ear of Grain Comprised of Excellent Deeds.[17]  

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When this excellent master, Lama Jigme Ngotsar Gyasto, insistently requested the supreme Omniscient Lama [Jigme Lingpa] to ride out to Domé one time to carry out the earth-taming liturgy and site consecration for the temple,[18] the Omniscient Lama responded: “I’m now burdened with old age. Even if I were to go, the environment of a distant land wouldn’t suit me. There’s little need to do so and more reasons to say no.”

Then the Omniscient Lama assured him: “Indeed in the past, when the Derge king’s escorts came to invite me, I only gave them [in return] a letter and three representations of body, speech, and mind, without having to go there myself. But student, for you and faithful disciples, signs of blessing and virtue will surely manifest, just as if I were going there myself.”

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Then the lord [521] ventured to his homeland of Dokham on foot. He surveyed the land for an appropriate site for the monastery but could not find anything for certain. Thus, feeling discouraged, he prayed to his teacher concentratedly. At that time, one night in his dream, three lamas in white robes appeared in a luminous manifestation from the western sky. They used their shawls as wings and, flying like birds, they descended upon the eastern-facing side of the vale. There, by hovering in the sky and performing a vajra dance, they left footprints on a boulder that looked like a white tent and chanted the mantra of Vajrakīlaya. The sounds of the environment and beings of that valley, including the creatures, plants, earth, stones, river, and so on, naturally resonated with the chant of Vajrakīlaya.

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The next day, in a group of five, the master and his disciples departed. In accordance with his dream, they found that the valley and the boulder with footprints were exactly there. The location of the monastery was thus identified. Because the vale possessed the natural sounds of Vajrakīlaya and was an empowered abode of the great, glorious Kīla, it was named Kilung (“Valley of Vajrakīlaya”).[19] At this sacred site, there was a housewife named Tashi Chözom.[20] As they went to a yak-hair tent, she held a ladle full of milk to welcome the master and his disciples. Auspicious connections, such as this, naturally coincided.

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Around the same time, the king of Derge requested a divination from the Omniscient Jigme Lingpa and Do Drubwang Rinpoche to see what kind of rituals should be performed for the prince. They said [to the king]: “Jigme Ngotsar, the disciple of the Omniscient Jigme Lingpa and a wonderful and fearless yogin practicing the Vajrakīlaya teachings, lives in Getse, which is in your jurisdiction. Invite him and command that he must not only perform a Vajrakīlaya drubchen ceremony but also give a longevity empowerment.”  

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Accordingly, an important minister was specifically dispatched to invite him to the capital, where he fulfilled the wishes of the king, the queen, and the prince. The lord received innumerable worship for his service and all the required resources for establishing the new monastery. 

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As soon as everything related to the monastery and the sacred objects it houses was completed, the great siddha Jigme Trinle Özer and the lord Jigme Ngotsar, with a hundred monks, performed a consecration ceremony.[21] Tens of regional people became permanent monks in the monastery, and the theories and practices of the Victor’s teachings were conducted as time went by. Especially, throughout the summer and winter, the lord continuously turned the wheel of the Dharma of the Great Perfection’s Secret Heart Essence. As a result, countless great disciples, who were sure to be inheritors of the lineage, arose: Jigme Gyalwe Nyugu, Mahāsattva Paltrul Rinpoche, Do Khyentse, and so on.[22]

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At that time, Ritrö Rigzin Gyatso, the great treasure revealer Nyima Drakpa’s heart disciple, and the first tulku of Mura in Dza, a great spiritual mentor and emanation of the noble and supreme Avalokiteśvara, resided in the Gödum valley in upper Dza, engaging in the essential practice and establishing a domain where people adopted virtue and abandoned evil deeds.[23] There he lived as a great being, benefiting whomever he encountered through such deeds as constructing, for the glorious merit of gods and humans, the Mura Dokhar Chenmo (“Mura Maṇi Wall”).[24] [522] The wall was replete with a great many collections of Dharmas carved onto stone plates—the Kangyur, Tengyur, and an incredible amount of dhāraṇīs and mantras. After being invited to the monastic seat, he was entrusted with the teachings of Gönsar Ogmin Rigzin Pelgye Ling. Having exhibited the completion of his disciples’ training for the time being, the lord [Lama Jigme Ngotsar Gyatso] passed into nirvāṇa around sixty years old. 

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Subsequently, the second [Kilung] reincarnation, Jigdral Chokle Namgyal, born in Troshul of lower Dza, was identified by [the Fourth Dzogchen Drubwang] Mingyur Namkhe Dorje. His incarnation, Jigme Trinle Dorje, was born in the lower part of Getse. Along with Jigme Trinle Dorje’s reincarnation, Shedrub Nyide Özer, this lineage of tulkus sat on the monastic seat in succession. Because of them, the teaching there kept flourishing.[25]