Khyungpo Naljor (ཁྱུང་པོ་རྣལ་འབྱོར། khyung po rnal 'byor Khyungpo Neljor; गरुडयोगिन् - Garuḍayogin), universally revered across Tibet and the Himalayas as the illustrious founder of the Shangpa Kagyu (ཤངས་པ་བཀའ་བརྒྱུད། shangs pa bka' brgyud Shangpa Kagyü) lineage and celebrated as a master of one hundred and fifty Indian and Tibetan gurus, stands as one of the greatest yogis, translators, and tantric pioneers of the 11th century and 12th century second dissemination (Chidar) of Buddhist Dharma in Tibet. With his year of birth around 990 (or 1050 in alternative historical chronologies) and his year of death around 1127 (or 1139), Khyungpo Naljor was born into the noble Khyungpo clan in the Nyemo valley of central Tibet to his father, Khyungpo Tagkye, and his mother, Goshi. Displaying extraordinary spiritual precocity and miraculous healing abilities from childhood, he initially mastered the indigenous Bön traditions and the Ancient Translation Nyingma Dzogchen teachings under Jungne Sengge and Kor Nirupa before recognizing the pervasive reality of anicca and dukkha in samsara, practicing fearless renunciation, and taking formal refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
Determined to obtain the most authentic, unbroken Vajrayana Tantra transmissions directly at their source, Khyungpo Naljor converted his entire family inheritance into gold dust and undertook seven perilous journeys to Nepal and India across treacherous Himalayan passes. Studying tirelessly in Nepal under Vasumati, Atulyavajra, and Phamthingpa, and traveling across India to train under renowned Buddhist Masters including Maitripa (1007–1085), Shavaripa, Rahula, Vajrasanapa, and Suryagarbha, Khyungpo Naljor mastered Sanskrit grammar, the exoteric Tripitaka, Abhidharma, Madhyamaka dialectics, and Yogacara phenomenology while seeking out the supreme wisdom dakinis who held the highest esoteric lineages of northern India.
Khyungpo Naljor's defining spiritual breakthrough occurred in the sacred charnel ground of Sosa Ling in eastern India, where—following prophetic instructions from Maitripa—he offered five hundred ounces of pure gold to the transcendent wisdom dakini Niguma (निगुमा - Nigumā; ནི་གུ་མ། ni gu ma Niguma), the enlightened spiritual sister (or consort) of Naropa who had attained the rainbow body of full Buddhahood directly from Vajradhara. Recognizing Khyungpo Naljor's pure devotion and non-attachment, Niguma cast his gold into the forest, transformed herself into Vajrayogini, and transported him in a visionary ascent to a golden palace in the pure realm of Khechara, where she conferred upon him the complete Abhisheka consecrations and oral transmissions of the Six Dharmas of Niguma (ནི་གུ་ཆོས་དྲུག ni gu chos drug Nigu Chödruk), the Illusory Body, the Amulet Box Mahamudra (Ga'u Ma), and the five principal tantras of Chakrasamvara Tantra (Toh Number 368 in the Tibetan Tripitaka), Hevajra Tantra (Toh Number 417 and Taisho Number 892 in the Chinese Tripitaka), Guhyasamaja Tantra (Toh Number 442 and Taisho Number 885), Mahamaya Tantra (Toh Number 428), and Vajrabhairava.
Shortly thereafter, in the great cemetery of Cooling Grove (Sitavana) near Bodh Gaya, Khyungpo Naljor met his second supreme wisdom dakini guru, Sukhasiddhi (सुखसिद्धि - Sukhasiddhi; སུ་ཁ་སིདྡྷི། su kha sid+dhi Sukhasiddhi), an elderly Kashmiri woman who had attained instantaneous awakening and immortal rainbow-body realization through the blessings of Virupa. Offering her a mandala of gold, Khyungpo Naljor received from Sukhasiddhi the complete empowerment and completion-stage instructions of the Six Dharmas of Sukhasiddhi, Mahamudra, and longevity yogas, alongside receiving the White Mahakala (Chakdrukpa) protector transmission from Rahula on the island of Jambu, thereby uniting the Five Golden Dharmas (gSer chos lnga) of the Shangpa Kagyu.
Returning to Tibet laden with priceless Sanskrit manuscripts and unbroken oral lineages, Khyungpo Naljor eventually settled in the Shang valley of Tsang in southwestern Tibet, where he founded his principal monastic seat of Zhangzhung Monastery (along with over one hundred monasteries and retreat centers across Tibet), earning his lineage the famous name Shangpa Kagyu (the Oral Transmission of Shang). Unlike the Marpa Kagyu lineage—which was founded by the lay householder Marpa (1012–1097) and transmitted through Milarepa and Gampopa—the Shangpa Kagyu remained for its first seven generations a tightly guarded single-line transmission (Chikgyü) passed from one fully realized master to a single chosen heir, preserved in the Tibetan Tripitaka through Khyungpo Naljor's esoteric cycles and the later compilations of Jamgön Kongtrul's Damngak Dzö.
Philosophically and contemplatively, Khyungpo Naljor harmonized the rigorous Madhyamaka dialectics of Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, and Candrakirti regarding emptiness (शून्यता - śūnyatā; སྟོང་པ་ཉིད། stong pa nyid Tongpanyid) and dependent origination with the luminous Buddha-nature (tathagatagarbha) teachings of Maitreya's Uttaratantra Shastra (Toh Number 4024 and Taisho Number 1611) and the subtle-body alchemy of Niguma and Sukhasiddhi. Demonstrating that all appearances across samsara and nirvana arise through dependent co-arising like a magical illusion or dream, Khyungpo Naljor taught practitioners how to uproot the three poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion, dissolve attachment to the five aggregates, anatta, and emptiness of self, and integrate meditation, mindfulness, and single-pointed concentration into every waking, dreaming, and post-death moment.
Throughout his long teaching career in Tsang, where he guided tens of thousands of ordained monastics and lay practitioners, Khyungpo Naljor insisted that exalted Vajrayana skillful means and right view must always be grounded in Shakyamuni Buddha's foundational teachings on the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, strict ethical conduct, precepts, generosity, merit, loving-kindness, compassion, and bodhicitta. By uniting fearless equanimity with practical spiritual discipline, he liberated countless beings from karma, rebirth, and dukkha across the six realms.
Passing into final parinirvana at Zhangzhung Monastery in the Shang valley around 1127 (or 1139) at a remarkably advanced age amidst extraordinary miraculous displays—including rainbow canopies, celestial music, and the spontaneous transformation of his bodily relics into self-arisen sacred images—Khyungpo Naljor left an immortal spiritual legacy that enriched every school of Tibetan Buddhism. Transmitted through the Seven Jewels of the Shangpa Kagyu—beginning with Mokchokpa Rinchen Tsöndrü, Khyergangpa Chökyi Sengge, Sangye Nyentön, and Sangye Tönpa—and later assimilated into the Sakya, Kagyu, Nyingma, and Gelug traditions (notably influencing Tsongkhapa, Taranatha, and Jamgön Kongtrul), Khyungpo Naljor stands forever alongside Padmasambhava, Atisha, Marpa, and Longchenpa as a supreme guardian of the Middle Way.