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Jikten Gonpo Rinchen Pel ('jig rten mgon po rin chen dpal) is credited with the founding of Drigung Til Monastery in 1179 and the establishment of the Drigung Kagyu tradition. He was a close disciple of Pakmodrupa and briefly administered Densatil following Pakmodrupa's death. His close disciple was [[Sherab Jungne]].
He was born to an illustrious clan called the Kyura (skyu ra) at a town in Kham called Tsungu (tsu ngu), in 1123. He studied with teachers from many traditions and completed many years of retreat, after which he took monastic vows in 1177...
"...Jikten Gonpo and his Drigung lineage are best known for the set of teachings known as ''The Five Profound Paths of Mahāmudrā'' (''phyag chen lnga ldan''). Some of his sayings were collected by [[Sherab Jungne]] into what is known as the ''[[Single Intention]]'' (''dgongs gcig''), teachings of a profoundly philosophical character further developed in commentarial works written in the following generation. Some of Jikten Gonpo's teachings were collected by yet another disciple into what is known as the ''Heart of the Great Vehicle's Teachings'' (''theg chen bstan pa'i snying po'')..." +
Eldest of the children, six sons and one daughter, of Sanggye Pel (sangs rgyas dpal) and his wife Choden (chos ldan), Sherab Jungne (shes rab 'byung gnas) would be called Won (dbon), which means ‘nephew,' because he was a relative of Jikten Gonpo Rinchen Pel ('jig rten mgon po rin chen dpal, 1143-1217). He was born in 1187. He was not called ‘nephew' because he was a nephew in the strict sense of the world, although he was certainly a scion of the same Kyura (skyu ra) family.
As a child, he demonstrated outstanding ability not only in reading and writing, but also in conjuring the hail-stopping magic of his ancestors. He excelled at singing and dancing. Despite his childhood dreams of becoming a wandering yogi, when a famous teacher named Ngepuwa (ngad phu ba) arrived in the region he took monastic vows from him after obtaining the consent of his father. Ngepuwa gave him the ordination name Lha Rinchen Gyelpo (lha rin chen rgyal po) when he was ordained at age seventeen. Ngepuwa recognized the young man's potential but unfortunately died soon afterward when Sherab Jungne was twenty.
In the next year, in 1207, Sherab Jungne left his home in Kham for U-Tsang with a large group of three hundred people on their way to see Ngepuwa's teacher Jikten Gonpo, who was over sixty years old at the time.
For his first three years at Drigung Til ('bris gung mthil) he served as a household priest for one named Gompa (sgom pa), attending every single one of the teaching sessions. Eventually he came to the attention of Jikten Gonpo, became his personal attendant, and took on other responsibilities as well. Sometimes he is called Chennga Sherab Jungne (spyan snga shes rab 'byung gnas) because of his service as Jikten Gonpo's personal attendant (spyan snga ba). +
Drokmi Lotsāwa Śākya Yeshe ('brog mi lo tsA ba shAkya ye shes) was a member of the Ban (ban) branch of the Drokmi ('brog mi) clan. Little is known about his early life, but his year of birth is given as 992. He traveled to India and Nepal, learned Sanskrit, and then studied grammar, epistemology, writing, astrology, and tantra. In Tibet and Nepal, he translated nearly seventy tantric texts with South Asian Buddhist masters such as Gayādhara, Prajñendraruci, also known as Viravajra, the Ceylonese yogini Candramāla, Ratnavajra, Ratnaśrīimitra and possibly Prajñāgupta as well.
His two most important teachers were Gayadhāra and Prajñendraruci under whom he studied the Lamdre (''lam 'bras'') teachings, and the ''Hevajra Tantra'' together with its explanatory tantras, the ''Vajrapanjara'' and ''Samputa'', collectively known as the ''Kyedor Gyusum'' (''kye rdor rgyud gsum'').
In Tibet he is said to have taught Sanskrit to Marpa Chokyi Lodro (mar pa chos kyi blo gros, 1002/1012-1097). He stayed at the Mugulung cave complex (mu gu lung) with his students and his consort Lhachamchik (lha lcam gcig), also known as Dzeden Wochak (mdzes ldan 'od chags), a princess of Lhatse (lha rtse). +
Dromtonpa Gyelwa Jungne was one of the primary disciples of Atiśa and is considered the founder of the Kadampa school of Tibetan Buddhism. A layman, he nevertheless established Reting Monastery in 1057, one of the great centers of the Kadampa tradition. +
Chekhawa Yeshe Dorje was a Kadampa teacher and an expert in the Zhungpa tradition, and the principal disciple of Sharawa. He founded Chekha Monastery in Meldro in 1141. +
Duldzin Drakpa Gyeltsen was one of the principle disciples of Tsongkhapa and Gyeltsab Je. He was famed for his writing on the Vinaya, some of which are included in traditional Geluk monastic education. +
Go Lotsāwa Zhonnu Pel was the author of the important Tibetan history ''The Blue Annals''. A Kagyu polymath, he studied under some sixty prominent lamas, chief among them the Fifth Karmapa Dezhin Shekpa. He was a Sanskrit scholar and served as translator to an Indian scholar Paṇḍit Vanaratna for five years. He was a teacher of the Seventh Karmapa, Chodrak Gyatso, and the Fourth Zhamar, Chodrak Yeshe. +
Pakpa Lodro Gyeltsen was the fifth of the Five Sakya Patriarchs, the men credited with having established the foundation of the Sakya tradition. His father was Sonam Gyeltsen, the younger brother of the great scholar Sakya Paṇḍita Kunga Gyeltsen. He went to Godan Khan’s court with Sakya Paṇḍita as a boy, and went on to play a central role in Tibetan relations with Khubilai Khan and the Mongol rulers of the Yuan Dynasty. Sakya became the capital of Mongolian-ruled Tibet, and using funds from the new Yuan state Pakpa built the Lhakhang Chenmo at Sakya, establishing what is commonly known as Sakya Monastery. He and Sakya Paṇḍita are also credited with developing a written script so that Buddhist texts could be translated into Mongolian, which had previously not been written. This is named Pakpa Script in his honor. +
Dzongsar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro was one of the most influential religious teachers in Kham in the first half of the twentieth century. One of multiple reincarnations of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, he served as head of Dzongsar Monastery, which he enlarged, founding the monastic college, Khamshe, in 1918. Chokyi Lodro fled Kham in 1955 during the Communist takeover of Tibet, settling in Sikkim, where he passed away in 1959. +
Nesar Jamyang Khyentse Wangchuk was a Sakya treasure revealer and an important teacher in the transmission of a number of Sakya teachings, including the Lamdre Lobshe. A disciple of Tsarchen Losel Gyatso, Khyentse Wangchuk was an important earlier master of the Tsarpa branch of the Sakya tradition. His main seat was Zhalu Monastery, where he served as the fourteenth abbot. +
Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo was one of the most prominent lamas of the nineteenth century of any tradition. He is said to have received teachings from over one hundred and fifty lamas of all traditions and served as teacher to most of the lamas of Kham in the second half of the nineteenth century. From his seat at Dzongsar Monastery in Derge, a branch of Ngor, he traveled twice to Tibet, and endlessly traversed Kham teaching and performing religious rituals. He famously worked closely with Jamgon Kongtrul and Chokgyur Lingpa, at the center of a religious revival the effects of which are still being felt. He was involved with the creation of Jamgon Kongtrul’s “Five Treasuries” and assisted Chokgyur Lingpa with the production of most of his treasures, authorizing and providing the organization of the revelations. He was a treasure revealer in his own right, included by Jamgon Kongtrul as the last in a list of “five kingly treasure revealers.” +
Jamgön Kongtrul is often described as one of the greatest scholars in the history of Tibet. A Karma Kagyu lama and model of rimay ecumenical activity, he collaborated closely with the Sakya lama Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and the Nyingma treasure revealer Chokgyur Lingpa, in the opening of sacred sites and the revelation of treasure. His prodigious literary output, categorized as the Five Treasuries, cover the entire range of Tibetan Buddhist theory and ritual as well as numerous other topics, and preserved scores of Tibetan religious traditions that were at the time in danger of being lost. Based primarily at Pelpung Monastery, in Derge in eastern Tibet, he built the nearby hermitage of Tsadra Rinchen Drak, which became his personal seat. Multiple incarnation lines were recognized after his death, including the main Jamgön Kongtrul line, based at Pelpung, the Dzokchen Kongtrul line and the Dzigar Kongtrul line. +
Jigme Gyelwai Nyugu was a principle disciple of Jigme Lingpa and lineage holder of the Longchen Nyingtik. He was one of Dza Paltrul’s main teachers, the inspiration for the later's famous Words of My Perfect Teacher. He lived most of his life as a hermit in the Dzachuka region of Kham, and trained many of the centuries Longchen Nyingtik masters. +
Adzom Drukpa was an influential Nyingma lama in the Longchen Nyingtik lineage of Dzogchen and a major figure of late nineteenth century Khams. He established the religious community of Adzom Gar in Tromtar, near the site of his birth. +
Dudjom Lingpa was a prolific treasure revealer based in Golok, Amdo. His eight sons were all religious teachers in their own right, establishing and important Dudjom family line of teaching transmission. His incarnation was Dudjom Jikdrel Yeshe Dorje, one of the most important Nyingma lamas of the twentieth century. +
Bötrul Dongak Tenpai Nyima was a Nyingma teacher based primarily at Dzogchen and Gegong Monasteries in Kham. A holder of the scholastic tradition begun by Mipam Gyatso, he also taught for several years at Drigung. He was considered by some to be a reincarnation of Patrul Rinpoche. +
Sonam Gyeltsen was a prolific author, although many of his writings were never printed. Most famously, he was the author of the genealogy, Gyal rab sal ba'i me long (rgyal rabs sal ba'i me long), commonly translated as The Clear Mirror: A Royal Genealogy. He wrote on various tantric subjects, particularly the Kālacakratantra, and composed a commentary on Shantideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra. His influential writings on the Lamdre (lam 'bras) tradition were collected in a volume called the Lamdre Ponak (lam 'bras pod nag), one of the first major written works on Lamdre. He also sponsored the first edition of the collected works of the Five Patriarchs of Sakya (sa skya gong ma lnga). +
Sonam Tsemo, the son of Sachen Kunga Nyingpo, was the second of the five founding patriarchs of the Sakya tradition. He was also the fourth Sakya Tridzin at Sakya Monastery, although he served as active head of the monastery for only a few years. +
Tsen Khawoche was an eleventh-century disciple of the Kashmiri paṇḍita Sajjana. He is credited by Tibetan historians for giving rise to the "meditative" tradition of exegesis of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'', a main source of buddha-nature theory in Tibet, which heavily influenced Mahāmudrā and the "other-emptiness" philosophical position. +
Butön Rinchen Drup, a Sakya lama raised in a Nyingma family, was the eleventh abbot of Zhalu Monastery, from 1320 to 1356. Some enumerations list him as the first abbot, as he significantly expanded the institution. He was an important teacher of the Prajñāpāramitā, and a key lineage holder of the Guhyasamāja and Kālacakra tantras as transmitted in the Geluk tradition, and the Kālacakra, Hevajra and Sampuṭa tantras as transmitted in the Sakya tradition. He is generally credited as the creator of the Tibetan Buddhist canon, the Kangyur and Tengyur, and his History of Buddhism is still widely read. In addition to his Sakya training he also studied in the Kadam and Kagyu traditions. +