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Choza Bonmo

Article · June 2024

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Dmitry Ermakov
Foundation for the Preservation of Yungdrung Bon
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གཅོ་བཟའ་བོན་མོ།
Choza Bonmo

Left: Choza Bonmo tsakali courtesy of Charles Ramble. Used by permission. Right: Detail of a painting by dge
bshes smon lam dbang rgyal, the “Heart Essence of the Khandro”, p. 16.

Choza Bonmo (gco bza' bon mo / co za bon mo) is an important female figure in
Bon narratives of early Tibetan religion, playing a role in the conflict that Bon
historians describe between Bon and Buddhism. She was born in Dakpo Tsasho
(dwags po rtsa shod) in the eighth century. Her name means "Bon lady, daughter
of the Cho clan." Her father was Gyimbu Lentsha of the Cho clan (gco gyim bu
lan tsha) and her mother was Gyamo Kyicham (rgya mo skyid lcam), also known
as Damocham (bda' mo lcam). It is said that while pregnant with Choza,
Damocham had various auspicious dreams and signs and Choza was said to have
been greeted by many ḍākinī, or khandro (mkha' 'gro) when she was born. She
is described as stunningly beautiful, with a naturally calm and clear mind, thanks
to which she easily mastered reading and writing at an early age. As a child she
would often dream of making offerings, of traveling to the god realms, and
receiving empowerments from shenpo (gshen po) masters of Zhang Zhung and
India— the followers of the Bon Buddha Tonpa Shenrab Miwo (ston pa gshen rab
mi bo). "Shenpo" is the title which distinguishes masters of Yungdrung Bon
(g.yung drung bon) from other kinds of Bon adherents.
When she grew up, her parents arranged for her to take a husband, but Choza
had no interest in marriage. Soon after this, Choza met her root lama, Drenpa
Namkha (dran pa nam mkha'), one of the major figures of early Bon who is also
claimed by the Buddhist tradition as a disciple of Padmasambhava. He is said to
have recognized her as an emanation of Zangza Ringtsun, (bzang za ring btsun),
a female buddha from the Mind Transmission Lineage of the Buddhas (bder
gshegs dgongs brgyud). To avoid alerting her parents of his intention to train her,
he pretended to be a beggar and came to the gates of Choza's house asking for
alms. It is said that as soon as Choza saw Drenpa Namkha, she was overcome
with joy and decided to leave the worldly life behind. Feigning madness, she ran
away from home and hid in the red rocks of Samye (bsam yas). Her relatives tried
to find her and bring her back but to no avail. Choza remained in seclusion
undertaking the preliminary practices (sngon 'gro) and meditation.
Choza Bonmo became both a consort and disciple of Drenpa Namkha, from
whom she received teachings and instructions, in particular the Bon Dzogchen
cycles of Magical Treasury of Space (nam mkha' 'phrul mdzod) and Liberating
Extremes of the Mind (ye khri mtha' sel) which she received together with his
two other pupils, her "Bon spiritual brothers" (g.yung drung spun grogs) the
Tibetan emperor Tri Songdetsen (khri srong lde'u btsan, 741–796), whom Bon
sources describe as having practiced Bon both before and after its persecution,
and the Tibetan translator Bagor Vairotsana (ba gor bai ro tsa na).
Choza Bonmo also met and became a consort of another great Bon saint,
Nyachen Lishu Takring (nya chen li shu stag ring). From him she received the four
initiations (dbang bzhi), many teachings and instructions, particularly on such
Bon Dzogchen cycles as The Triple Proclamation of Dzogchen (rdzogs bsgrags pa
skor gsum) and the Great Expanse of the Dzogchen Supreme Peak (rdzogs
chen yang rtse'i klong chen). She practiced all these teachings and instructions
in her hermitage on Hepori (he po ri), the hill above Samye Monastery.
Traditional Bon history describes a widespread and violent suppression of the
Yungdrung Bon tradition under the Buddhist government of Tri Songdetsen, an
event dated by scholar Samten Karmay to the years 783/784. Existing Bon
temples, holy objects and practice communities are said to have been destroyed
and Bon lamas were either killed, forcefully converted to Buddhism, or exiled.
Choza Bonmo stayed in retreat at Drak Kharwachen (brag mkhar ba can). Bon
narratives identify her as the only Bon practitioner left in central Tibet who still
practiced Yungdrung Bon, and state that due to their earlier bond, Choza was
under Tri Songdetsen's protection.
Seeing his country declining rapidly as a result of the persecution of Yungdrung
Bon, according to the Bon narratives Tri Songdetsen went to Drak Kharwachen
to ask Choza for her advice. She admonished the emperor for his policies against
Bon, declaring that unless he halted the persecution, recalled the surviving Bon
masters back from exile, and allowed them to practice Yungdrung Bon, Tibet
would completely fall apart. The emperor harkened to her advice and, giving her
a large amount of gold and silver to offer the exiled shenpos, asked her to
personally invite them back. The lamas thus returned and were permitted to
practice openly. They were also granted honorary titles and given various gifts,
including some lands in various parts of Tibet. The shenpos performed the
necessary rituals and built special chortens (mchod rten) to suppress
negativities. For his part, Tri Songdetsen issued an edict that Indo-Tibetan
Buddhism and Yungdrung Bon should henceforth be practiced side by side.
Continuing to practice according to her masters' instructions, Choza Bonmo is
said to have obtained various spiritual powers (dngos grub) such as swift
walking, tying a deer horn in nine knots, inviting masters from afar to appear in
front of her, sustaining herself only on the food of meditation, and so on. At the
end of her life, at the age of one hundred sixty, in the Bon cave (bon phug)
at Mount Kailash (ti se) Choza achieved a rainbow body of great transfer ('ja' lus
'pho ba chen po) without leaving any mortal remains behind; this is the highest
fruit of the Dzogchen path and ultimate realization of the Yungdrung Bon
tradition. She is known to today as one of the Six Female Bon Siddhas (bon mo
grub thob ma drug).
According to Lishu Takring's prophecy contained in Yangtse Longchen (in the
text Dgongs rgyud drug gi klad don nyi shu rtsa bdun nyams kyi man ngag gnad
kyi yig chung), after achieving Buddhahood Choza Bonmo later manifested
various emanations of her body, speech, and mind in Tibet and central Asia.
Body emanations: Yungdrung Gedenma (g.yung drung dge ldan ma) in Zahor (Za
hor); Dechyo Zangmo (bde spyod bzang mo) in the Zhang Zhung city of Deden
(bde ldan); a further eighteen emanations in various places between Tibet and
Kashmir.
Speech emanations: Labdron (lab sgon), Nyimadron (nyi ma sgron), Nyanya (nya
nya), Kunga Zangmo (kun dga' bzang mo) and others, thirteen in total in central
Tibet.
Mind emanations: Zhikmo (zhig mo), Negugyen (ne gu rgyan) and Shelza (shel
za) in Amdo and Kham.
According to the prophecy, many others will be continuously appearing in central
Tibet, particularly in Samye.

Learn more about the Women Initiative, an effort to add 100 new biographies of women by 2026.

Dmitry Ermakov is Director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Yungdrung Bon and author
of Bѳ and Bon: Ancient Shamanic Traditions of Siberia and Tibet in their Relation to the
Teachings of a Central Asian Buddha (Vajra Publications, 2008).

Published June 2024 on Treasury of Lives.

Copyright © Dmitry Ermakov 2024.

Bibliography
Sman ri'i yongs 'dzin slob dpon bstan 'dzin rnam dag rin po che. Gco bza' bon
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Nag ru dge bshes dge legs sbyin pa. Mkha' 'gro co za bon mo'i rnam thar skal
ldan sems kyi sgron me. In The Heart Essence of the Khandro, Experiential
Instructions on Bonpo Dzogchen: Thirty Signs and Meanings from Women
Lineage-Holders, pp. 157–169. Translated, transcribed, and edited by Nagru
Geshe Gelek Jinpa, C. Ermakova, and Dmitri Ermakov. New Delhi: Heritage
Publishers.
 Karmay, Samten G. 1972. The Treasury of Good Sayings. Delhi: Motilal
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Kvaerne, Per, and Dan Martin. 2023. Drenpa's Proclamation: The Rise and
Decline of the Bon Religion in Tibet, Vajra Academic Vol. III. Kathmandu: Vajra
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