Born in the year of 1799, Namkha Tenkyong showed a lot of affinity towards the Dharma. He spent most of his younger days doing retreats, studies and debates in Sera Monastery which he entered at a young age. He grew up to be a very well respected Lama to the point that his tenure as abbot of Sera Tantric College was extended.

At the age of 48, he made the decision to go to Ngulchu, a location situated within the province of Tsang to take teachings from the famed Ngulchu Dharmabhadra as well as his nephew, Yangchen Drupey Dorje.

Namka Tenkyong was a very accomplished master. He excelled in his studies and went on to become a reputable teacher in the Ganden tradition, earning him also the position as lineage holder of the Ganden Mahamudra teachings and the Five-Deity Heruka initiation lineage; he is even included within the lineage prayers of the practice, on par with his teachers Ngulchu Dharmabhadra and Yangchen Drupe Dorje.

Namka Tenkyong came to be known for his many writings including five different texts on the many practices of the Five-Deity Heruka and seven different texts on the Yoga Tantra practice of Kunrig (Four-headed Vairochana). Aside from that, he also produced commentaries on the six preparatory practices.

However, one of the most interesting works attributed to him is a ritual on Dorje Shugden by the name of The Miraculous Swift Messenger That Beckons the Four Activities: a Brief Method to Fulfill and Activity for the Great Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden. This ritual can be found in the Dorje Shugden collection of works, Pe Bum.

A unique point of this text is that it equates Dorje Shugden as an emanation of Vajrapani, which was a common view held by the older masters, especially of Sera. Another mention of this is found in the letter composed by Ngulchu Dharmabhadra as an answer to a query, found under the collected replies section of his works. In here, there is a letter written to Shabdrung Rinpoche that talks about combining the practices of Ganden Lha Gyama and Dorje Shugden, and the torma offering that should be used.

This text is pivotal as it shows that during the first half of the 19^th century there was already confirmation that Dorje Shugden was the absolute reincarnation of Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen. This totally disproves George Dreyfus’s claims the two beings were not of the same mind-stream and that Pabongkha Rinpoche had made this up to make this practice popular.