Victorious Ones, limitless and all-present,
Origin and base of all qualities,
Supreme, incomparable teachers, powerful Buddhas,
Stay with us always and protect us with your love.

In the sublime country of Tibet the precious teachings of the peerless Buddha - the path of the three trainings and the erudition of the three baskets - scripture and realization, are explained, listened to, meditated upon and practiced within the eight great vehicles, the practice lineages. Their famed root and origin is the glorious great secret ancient translation lineage, the celebrity of which is widely proclaimed by six great monasteries, one of which, in Kham is the seat of the greatly realized Dzogchenpa, where incredible beings have held, preserved and spread the teachings, and from where comes Dzogchen Ranyak Patrul Rinpoche. That which follows is a brief account of his successive incarnations as well as his own biography.

The first incarnation was born in the Dzajut region of Kham. His father, Ranyak Gyalse, who was also known as Ranyak Drupchen Rinpoche, lived the life of the highest of enlightened beings. It is mentioned, for instance, in the biography of Do Khyentse Sheewi Yeshe Dorje that when the latter went to Dzagyal Dorje Phenchuk, he met there a dark-skinned man who wore a conch-shell for an earring. They placed a boulder between them and amused themselves by parrying it with their swords and slicing it as if it were butter. Apparently, it can still be seen to this day. He would also kill animals, take their meat and, once sewn up again, tap them on their heads with his pipe. They would become just as they had been before, unwounded, and he would set them on their way. Ranyak Patrul Rinpoche was born then as a son to such a being.