The enlightened ruler, Muchi Tsanpo, was born in 1074 BCE, the Year of the Fire Tiger. His father was the Tibetan King Nyatri Tsenpo, and his mother was Langsa Mumu. He ascended the throne at a young age and received teachings in various Bön practices under his father’s guidance.

One day, on the 15th day of the first month in the Tibetan calendar (Losar), the king and his people climbed a mountain to perform a smoke offering (sang) ritual. At that moment, a remarkable and radiant child appeared before them—this was the revered master Namkha Langwa Dorje. Overjoyed, King Muchi Tsanpo and his court prostrated and invited him to the royal palace. However, Namkha Langwa Dorje, a devoted hermit, politely declined and insisted on returning to his meditation cave in Kongpo Benri Mountain.

Inspired by the master’s dedication, King Muchi Tsanpo renounced his throne and followed Namkha Langwa Dorje to the hermitage, where he received profound esoteric teachings. The master transmitted to him the Fierce Great Empowerment, Mother Tantra, The Compendium of Scriptures, and the Nine Secret Teachings of the Divine Temple. Through dedicated practice, Muchi Tsanpo gained visions of the deities from the Fierce Great Empowerment.

Determined to spread the esoteric teachings, he invited 108 great khenpos from the Zhangzhung region to Tibet, establishing a systematic tradition of Vajrayana teachings. He constructed 37 temples across 37 sacred sites, marking the beginning of formal teachings on the Bön doctrine in Tibet. Under his leadership, sacred celestial texts were systematically translated: first into the Pungyik (སྤུང་ཡིག) script, then into the Zhangzhung language, and finally into the Mardrak (སྨར་བསྒྲག) script. Mardrak was divided into two forms—Great Marchen (སྨར་ཆེན), which was later adapted into Tibetan block script, and Small Marchung (སྨར་ཆུང), which evolved into cursive Tibetan for easier learning.

For a time, Muchi Tsanpo cherished these esoteric teachings as a precious treasure, believing they were too sacred for ordinary people. As a result, he sealed the secret doctrines within the royal archives, temporarily halting their transmission.

The Preservation and Mastery of the Secret Teachings

During this time, a devoted follower named Jochen Manshi feared that the esoteric teachings would be lost forever if they remained locked away in the royal archives. Determined to prevent their disappearance, he secretly took the sacred texts and entrusted them to two practitioners, Takwer Liwer (སྟག་ཝེར་ལི་ཝེར) and Hara Cipa (ཧ་ར་ཅི་པ). These two individuals, though naturally gifted, had not yet received the essential oral instructions and deep transmissions required to fully comprehend the teachings.

Recognizing their limitations, they humbly approached Muchi Tsanpo and requested direct transmission of the core teachings. The king, seeing their sincerity, imparted the empowerments and secret instructions to them in their entirety, like pouring beans from a bamboo tube—without reservation.

Later, Muchi Tsanpo took a wisdom consort, Saran Tingtingma (ས་སླན་ཏིང་ཏིང་མ), as his secret practice partner. Together, they engaged in intensive meditation on advanced esoteric teachings, including Jukpung Tsoworanpa (meaning “The Compendium of Fierce Deity Practices”), The Great Fierce Empowerment, The Wrathful Deity’s Subjugation Method, The Manifestation of Wrathful Deity’s Miracles, and The Hundred Thousand Verses of the Wrathful Deity. Through his unwavering dedication, he attained extraordinary spiritual feats—transforming into divine forms such as a celestial dragon, a mystical bird, and a sacred lion soaring through the sky. He displayed miraculous powers, vanquishing all demonic forces and manifesting the pure mandala of the wrathful deity in the sky.

Because of King Muchi Tsanpo’s deep faith and virtuous rule, Tibet prospered with wealth, vast territories, and a flourishing civilization. The people, having embraced the Bön esoteric teachings, abandoned the ten non-virtuous deeds and cultivated the ten virtuous actions. The sacred sounds of Bön mantras resonated throughout the land.

Upon fulfilling his enlightened activities for the benefit of beings, Muchi Tsanpo attained the state of Vashé Ongpa Bodhisattva. In his final transformation, he dissolved into a radiant rainbow body and ascended to the pure land of rainbow light.