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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. +
Jayulwa Zhonnu Wo was a Kadam monk who established Jayul Monastery in 1138. A student of Tolungpa Rinchen Nyingpo and then Chengga Tsultrim Bar, Jayulwa is remembered as having gained enlightenment through devotional service to his masters. +
Jangdak Tashi Tobgyel was the founder of Sangngak Tekchok Choling Monastery. He was the reincarnation of Ngari Panchen Pema Wangyel and the father of Rigdzin Ngakgi Wangpo, the founder of Dorje Drak Monastery. +
The Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Tubten Gyatso, lived through a turbulent time in Tibetan and world history. Forced into exile first by a British invasion and then by a Chinese invasion, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama learned about modern technology and different forms of government. Following the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, he declared independence for Tibet. His reforms and religious eclecticism put him in conflict with many conservative members of the Geluk clergy, who resisted his efforts to modernize Tibet. +
The Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobzang Gyatso, popularly known "The Great Fifth", was the first Dalai Lama to assume political rule of Tibet, forging lasting alliances with Mongol armies and the Qing court in China. He was both a brilliant tactician and a religious thinker, authoring numerous commentaries and ritual manuals, as well as histories and biographies. Although responsible for considerable sectarian violence and Geluk hegemony, including the suppression in Tibet of the Jonang tradition and the forcible conversion of many monasteries to the Geluk faith, the Fifth Dalai Lama never abandoned his family’s Nyingma affiliations, and he sponsored the establishment or renovation of several Nyingma monasteries. The great palace of Potala that he built as his residence and seat in Lhasa was named after that bodhisattva’s pure land, Potalaka, a naming that contributed to the dissemination of the identification of the Dalai Lama as an emanation of Avalokiteśvara. +
The life and legacy of the Sixth Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso is an uncertain admixture of tradition and controversy. Kept under virtual house arrest for a decade following his discovery, he was enthroned at a time of great political unrest in Tibet. He is often portrayed as a poet and libertine, who disrobed rather than take full monastic ordination. Following the murder of his regent, Sanggye Gyatso, he was ordered to the court of the Manchu Emperor in Beijing. According to one tradition, he died of fever in 1706 at Kunganor, but there is another tradition, in which he escaped and died in Alashan in 1746. +
The First Dodrubchen Jigme Trinle Wozer, a principle disciple of Jigme Lingpa and a chaplain to the Derge royal family, was one of the foremost Longchen Nyingtik lineage holders of the nineteenth century. +
The Third Dodrubchen, Jigme Tenpai Nyima was a prominent lineage holder of the Longchen Nyingtik. He was the eldest son of Dudjom Lingpa. He renovated Dodrubchen Monastery, the seat of his line established by his previous incarnation, spending the last decades of his life in near-seclusion in a hermitage nearby. +
Dölpopa Sherab Gyaltsen was one of the most influential Buddhist masters in Tibetan history. He first became an important scholar of the Sakya tradition, but then moved to Jonang Monastery. There he became the fourth holder of the monastic seat and constructed a monumental stupa. Dölpopa’s ideas, specifically his famous formulation of the zhentong view and his interpretations of Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna doctrine, have elicited controversy for nearly seven hundred years. +
Dza Patrul Rinpoche, the author of the famed ''Words of My Perfect Teacher'', was among the most significant transmitters of the Longchen Nyingtik practice lineage in the nineteenth century. Patrul was renowned for his uncommon humility, his forthright honesty, his brilliant oratory, and beyond all his skillful diffusion of the heart of the dharma. +
Tsangpa Gyare Yeshe Dorje is considered the founder of the Drukpa Kagyu tradition, named after the Druk Monastery, one of three monasteries he established, the most famous being Ralung, which he founded in 1180. A member of the Gya clan that would continue to control Ralung until the seventeenth century, he was the most important disciple of Lingrepa, a student of Pakmodrupa. He is counted as the first in the line of Drukchen incarnations, although the second Drukchen would not be born until a few centuries after his death, when the Gya family line ended. As an author Tsangpa Gyare is best known for his spontaneous songs of realization, rich with spiritual advice. He discovered treasure texts written by Tipupa for Rechungpa, The Six Cycles of Equal Taste, still an important teaching of the Drukpa Kagyu today. +
Mingyur Namkhai Dorje was the Fourth Dzogchen Drubwang and the seventh abbot of Dzogchen Monastery in Kham. A student of the First Dodrubchen, he was a widely venerated Dzogchen master who taught dozens of prominent masters across Kham, and forged close ties with Ninth Dalai Lama, with whom he shared a familial relationship. With the sponsorship of the king of Derge he restored Dzogchen Monastery after it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1842. +
The Fifth Dzogchen Drubwang, Tubten Chokyi Dorje was instrumental in building Dzogchen Monastery’s Śrī Siṃha monastic college into a major center of learning. Having received teachings from many of the most prominent lamas of his era, he passed on the Dzogchen teachings to countless twentieth century Nyingma lamas of Kham and Amdo. +
Yakton Sanggye Pel (g.yag ston sangs rgyas dpal, 1348-1414) was a great master of the Sakya tradition and the first in the line of men known as the Six Great Ornaments of Tibet. He was born in Trang ('phrang). His father's name was Tsetang Chenpo Changchub Rinchen (rtse thang chen po byang chub rin chen). ''The Blue Annals'' also suggests the name by which Sanggye Pel is known came from an attendant called Yak Yu (g.yag yu) who took care of him when he was a boy.
His early education took place at Sangpu Monastery (gsang phu) monastery, where he studied Buton's (bu ston, 1285-1379) commentary on the Prajñāpāramitā and was praised for his skill in memorization. His root teacher was Kunga Pel (kun dga' dpal, 1285-1379), the tenth abbot of Jonang Monastery (jo nang dgon).
Sanggye Pel became a prominent teacher in U and Tsang, renowned for his teachings on Prajñāpāramitā. Among the Six Ornaments of Tibet, who were known for their different strengths in teaching, he is known for masterful teachings on the Sutras. Sanggye Pel's main disciple and eventual successor at Sakya was the renowned scholar Rongton Sheja Kunrik (rong ston shes bya kun rig, 1367-1449). Sanggye Pel primarily taught Rongton the Prajñāpāramitā scriptures and treatises on logic and epistemology. Sanggye Pel's prominent students also included Zhonnu Lodro (gzhon nu blo gros, 1349-1412), Konchok Gyeltsen (dkon mchog rgyal mtshan, 1388-1469), Zhonnu Gyelchok (gzhon nu rgyal mchog, d.u.), Sherab Sengge (shes rab seng ge, 1383-1445), and Kunga Gyeltsen (kun dga' rgyal mtshan, 1382-1446). +
Lingrepa Pema Dorje was a student of Pakmodrupa and the main teacher Tsangpa Gyare, who founded the Drukpa Kagyu tradition. He is frequently credited with founding a "Lingre Kagyu" school, though this is historically inaccurate. He initially developed the site that Tsangpa Gyare would build into Ralung Monastery. He is widely regarded as the one Tibetan who best exemplifies the Indian ideal of the Mahasiddha. +
Lowo Khenchen Sonam Lhundrub was a member of the ruling house of Lo Montang; like his family he was a devotee of Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo and his disciples. He twice traveled in Tsang, visiting Nedong, Sakya and Ngor. A great commentator of the works of Sakya Paṇḍita, he was later considered to be his reincarnation. +
Sanggye Yeshe (sangs rgyas ye shes) was born into the Nub (gnubs) clan in the Dra (sgrags) region of U (dbus) around the year 844. His father was Selwa Wangchuk (gsal ba dbang phyug) and his mother was Chimo Tashi Tso (mchims mo bkra shis 'tsho). His birth name was Dorje Tritsuk (rdo rje khri gtsug). Sanggye Yeshe was his ordination name; his tantric initiation name was Dorje Yangwang Ter (rod rje yang dbang gter).
At the age of seven he began studying with Odren Pelgi Zhonnu ('o bran dpal gyi gzhon nu), who heads a long list of luminaries with whom he studied. According to later historians he received tantric initiation from Padmasambhava, his flower landing on the maṇḍala of Yamāntaka, the wrathful form of Mañjuśrī. In his own biography Nubchen claims to have met Padmasambhava on the border of India and Nepal, and to have received teachings from him, but it is unlikely that he lived early enough to have actually encountered him.
The list given of the Indian masters who he met includes Śrī Siṃha, Vimalamitra, and Kamalaśīla, who ordained him. He also trained with Nyak Jñānakumara (gnyags dznya na ku ma ra) and his disciples Sokpo Pelgyi Yeshe (sog po dpal gyi ye shes) and Zhang Gyelwai Yonten (zhang rgyal ba'i yon tan), both of whom had also been disciples of Ma Rinchen Chok (rma rin chen mchog). +
Gorampa Sonam Sengge, the Sixth Ngor Khenchen, was a disciple of Rongton Sheja Kunrik and Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo. He was an important thinker of the Sakya tradition, establishing a Madhyamaka view that was critical of both Dolpopa and Tsongkhapa. Gorampa founded Tanak Serling and Tanak Tubten Namgyel monasteries. The latter would become an important teaching center for the Sakya tradition. Famed for his learning in both sutras and tantras, he became known as one of the “Ornaments of Tibet” an epithet granted to six of the Sakya tradition's most revered masters. +
Drapa Ngonshe was the treasure revealer who is credited with producing the Four Tantras, the root texts of Tibet’s medical tradition. A master in the Nyingma, Zhije, and Kadam traditions, he established numerous religious communities in Tibet, including the great Dratang Monastery which was later absorbed by the Sakya. Ordained in the Eastern Vinaya tradition, he was instrumental in popularizing tantric practices among that community, and later returned his vows to live as a tantrika. +
Perhaps best known today as the author and publisher of the famous biography and collected songs of Milarepa, Tsangnyon Heruka was also one of the most influential mad yogins of Tibet. He is famous for having renovated the Svayambhū Stūpa in the Kathmandu Valley, and for inspiring a whole school of textual production and printing, sometimes referred to as “the School of Tsangnyon.” Tsangnyon practiced and disseminated the core teachings of the Kagyu tradition: the Six Dharmas of Nāropa, Mahāmudrā, and the Aural Transmissions that had been transmitted by Milarepa’s closest disciples. +
Guru Chowang is considered the second of five kingly treasure revealers, famous for the Lama Sangdu and the Kabgye Sangwa Yongdzok, among other revelations. He was an early historian of the treasure tradition and codified many elements of the tradition that became standard in later years. +
Jomo Menmo was a Nyingma treasure revealer and a consort to Guru Chowang. Little about her is known outside of legend. Her revelations were said to have been rediscovered by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo in the ninetenth century and are included in the Rinchen Terdzod. +
Yonten Gyatso (yon tan rgya mtsho) was born in 1260 in a family that practiced the Nyingma tradition in the Dok (mdog) region of Tsang. He first studied at Dar Monastery (mdar dgon), where he became an expert in Abhidharma and epistemology.
He visited various other places and received teachings from many masters of tantra. At Sakya Monastery (sa skya dgon) he became a disciple and the main assistant teacher for the Sakya master Sharpa Jamyang Chenpo Rinchen Gyeltsen (shar pa 'jam dbyangs chen po rin chen rgyal mtshan, d.u.), who served as the Tenth Sakya Tridzin (sa skya khri 'dzin) for eighteen years beginning in 1287. From Jamyang Chenpo he received many teachings such as the Tantra Trilogy of Hevajra and the related oral instructions, and the Mahāyāna treatises of the Pramāṇavārttika, Abhisamayālaṃkāra, and Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra.
From Jamyang Chenpo's elder brother, the Kālacakra expert Dukorwa Yeshe Rinchen (dus 'khor ba ye shes rin chen, 1248-1294), Yonten Gyatso received teachings such as the Kālacakra Tantra, the Hevajra Tantra, and the Abhisamayālaṃkāra. He was also required to go as Yeshe Rinchen's attendent to the imperial court of Kubilai Khan in China. +
Lodro Pel was one of Dolpopa’s fourteen major disciples. A Sanskrit scholar, he completed a new translation of the ''Kālacakra Tantra'' and the ''Vimalaprabhā''. Dolpopa personally selected Lodro Pel as his successor and the fifth holder of the monastic seat of Jonang Monastery. Lodro Pel also made important new additions to the art and architecture of the Jonang stupa. +
Tsewang Norbu later received the entire Jonangpa tradition's teachings from Drubchen Kunzang Wangpo (grub chen kun bzang dbang po, seventeenth century), and he is credited with bringing about a renaissance of the teachings, particularly of the Jonang zhentong, or “other emptiness” view (gzhan stong). Tsewang Norbu had first attempted to meet with Kunzang Wangpo in 1726, while en route to Nepal, but was unable to do so. When he returned to Tibet the following year, the two met, and Tsewang Norbu received the extensive transmission at the hermitage Genden Khacho (dga' ldan mkha' chos) in Tsang, which was named Rulak Drepung (ru lag 'bras spung) prior to its forced conversion to Geluk. Tsewang Norbu transmitted the Jonang teachings to many Kagyu and Nyingma lamas, most importantly to the Eighth Tai Situ, Chokyi Gyeltsen (ta'i si tu 08 chos kyi 'byung gnas, c.1699-1774), with whom he spent time at the Swayambhunath Stupa in Kathmandu in 1748. +
The Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje, was a prominent Karma Kagyu hierarch who also held Nyingma and Chod lineages. He was likely the first man to carry the title of Karmapa, following his identification by Orgyenpa Rinchen Pal as the reincarnation of Karma Pakshi, whom Orgyenpa posthumously identified as the reincarnation of Dusum Khyenpa. He spent much of his life traveling across Tibet and made two visits to the Yuan court in China. +
Dilgo Khyentse Tashi Peljor was one of the most prominent Nyingma lamas of the twentieth century, widely known also in the West. The mind reincarnation of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, his seat was Shechen Monastery, which he reestablished in Boudhanath, Nepal, in 1980. After fleeing the Communist takeover of Tibet, Dilgo Khyentse settled in Bhutan. A prolific author and treasure-revealer, his compositions are collected in twenty-five volumes. Although he received novice vows at age ten, he never fully ordained, living the life of a householder with wife and children. +
Khyungpo Neljor initiated the Shangpa Kagyu tradition. Initially a Bonpo, he converted to Buddhism before going to India to study with mahāsiddhas. He is said to have studied with one hundred and fifty siddhas, chief among them Niguma and Sukhasiddhi. Khyungpo Neljor is said to have founded one hundred monasteries, although the names of only two are known: Zhangzhong Dorjeden in Shang and Chakar in Penyul. He had six main disciples, but he transmitted the complete doctrine he received from Niguma to only one, Mokchokpa. In addition to the Nigu Chodruk, the Six Yogas of Niguma, he also transmitted the Mahāmudrā Gauma. Tradition has it that Khyungpo Naljor lived for one hundred fifty years. +
Kunga Drolchok (kun dga' grol mchog) was born in 1507 in Lo Montang (glo smon thang), the capital of the Mustang (glo) region of present-day Nepal. His main teacher as a youth was his uncle, the Sakya master Drungpa Choje Kunga Chokdrub (drung pa chos rje kun dga' mchog grub, d.u.), who was a disciple of the great Sakya master Dakchen Lodro Gyeltsen (bdag chen blo gros rgyal mtshan, 1444-1495).
Kunga Drolchok received ordination as a novice monk from Drungpa Choje when he was ten years old, and stayed with him constantly for the next four years, receiving many initiations and teachings of the Sakya tradition, including Lamdre three times.
In 1519, when Kunga Drolchok was thirteen years old, he traveled with his elder brother to U and Tsang for further studies. They first went to the great monastery of Sakya and the nearby retreat center of Khau Drakdzong (kha'u brag rdzong), where they received teachings from the master Kunpang Doringpa (kun spangs rdo ring pa, d.u.).
Then they proceeded to the Sakya monastery of Serdokchen (gser mdog can), the monastic seat of Paṇchen Śākya Chokden (paN chen shAkya mchog ldan, 1428-1507), where they began the serious study of epistemology and other scholastic subjects under the guidance of Shākya Chokden's disciple and successor, Donyo Drubpa, known by the Sanskrit version of his name, Amoghasiddhi (a mo g+ha sidd+hi, don yod grub pa, d.u.). But tragedy soon stuck. A smallpox epidemic claimed the lives of nineteen of the twenty-two students, including Kunga Drolchok's elder brother. +
Kunpang Tukje Tsondru (kun spangs thugs rje brtson 'grus) as he was later known, was born in 1243 in the Dok (mdog) region of Tsang. He studied in many of the monasteries of U and Tsang, such as Sakya (sa skya dgon).
When he was staying at the master Jamyang Sarma's ('jam dbyangs gsar ma) monastery of Kyangdur (rkyang 'dur), Kunpang received the transmission of all the treatises and oral instructions possessed by the great Choku Ozer (chos sku 'od zer). In particular, although he had previously studied the Ra (rwa) tradition of Kālacakra, he now received from Choku Ozer the Kālacakra initiation, the explanation of the Kālacakra Tantra, the great Vimalaprabhā commentary, and an experiential transmission of the Kālacakra completion-stage practices of the six-branch yoga in the Dro ('bro) tradition. This caused exceptional experience and realization to burst forth. He also studied with Yeshe Rinchen (ye shes rin chen).
In total, Kunpang received and practiced about seventeen different traditions of the six-branch yoga. When he was meditating on stopping vitality (srog rtsol), which is the third of the six branches, it is said that the vital winds of the five elements became extremely forceful and he gained amazing paranormal abilities. He also had visions of countless deities, such as the eleven-faced form of Avalokiteśvara. +
Layakpa Jangchub Ngodrub (la yag pa byang chub dngos grub) was born in Layak, in Lhokha. He is sometimes called Layak Jose (la yag jo sras) or Layakpa Bawachan (la yag pa lba ba can). This last name signifies that, in addition to hailing from Layak, that he had a goiter (''lba ba''), a rather common medical condition in Tibet in those times.
Layakpa's childhood name was Chokyi Ngodrub (chos kyi dngos grub). His father, Tarka Pelkyi (star ka dpal skyid), was a learned man versed in Abhidharma as well as the tantras, both old and new. His grandfather Tarka Bodhirāja (star ka bo dhi rA dza) developed siddhis through his practice of the old tantras and lived to be one hundred and twelve years old. His mother, Taklo Dadron (stag lo zla sgron), was said to be a manifestation of a wisdom ḍākinī.
According to his hagiography, as a baby when there was no one to look after him, Chokyi Ngodrub was cared for by a mysterious white hand wearing ornaments. One day when he was three and his father started teaching him the alphabet, he protested saying, “Father, I know it, too!” A sensitive child who couldn't bear the thought of anyone suffering, he once fainted when a playmate burned a flea.
Chokyi Ngodrub's earlier studies focused on Prajñāpāramitā Sutras and the Chod practices, along with the treatises by Maitreya. He went at age seventeen for a brief stay in Tsang province, and when he returned two well-known disciples of the Kadampa philosopher Chapa Chokyi Sengge (phya pa chos kyi seng ge, d.u.) were there for the funeral of their teacher. He took this opportunity to further his understanding of the Prajñāpāramitā. People were very impressed by his performance in philosophical debates, and Chapa's student promised him he could be made into a master of Prajñāpāramitā in just one year of tutoring. +
Konchok Jungne (dkon mchog 'byung gnas) was born in Yaru Chang Tanak (g.yas ru byang rta nag) in Tsang and became an influential minister at the court of King Tri Songdetsen (khri srong lde'u btsan), under the name Langdro (lang gro). Later on he became a monk and translator, taking the name Konchok Jungne, and received the Nyingtik teachings from Padmasambhava. +
Lerab Lingpa, also commonly known as Terchen Sogyal, was a prominent Nyingma treasure revealer based in Kham. A teacher to many of the twentieth century's major figures, including the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, his treasures are collected in over twenty-volumes. +
The Third Changkya, Rolpai Dorje (lcang skya 03 rol pa'i rdo rje) was born in 1717 in the Drakkar territory of Nub Padmo De Monastery (nub padmo'i sde dgon) outside Liangzhou (lang gru), modern-day Wuwei. Nub Padmo De was one of four monasteries that Sakya Paṇḍita Kunga Gyeltsen (sa skya paN+Di ta kun dga' rgyal mtshan, 1182-1251) and Pakpa Lodro Gyeltsen ('phags pa blo gros rgyal mtshan, 1235-1280) established in the region in the thirteenth century. His father was Tsangpa Guru Tenzin (tshangs pa gu ru bstan 'dzin, d.u.) and his mother was called Bukyi (bu skyid). His family was of Monguor descent.
Rolpai Dorje was recognized as a reincarnation of the Second Changkya, Ngawang Lobzang Choden (lcang skya 02 ngag dbang blo bzang chos ldan, 1642-1714) in 1720 and brought to his monastic seat, Gonlung Jampa Ling (dgon lung byams pa gling), one of the four most important Geluk monasteries in Amdo.
He was taken to the Qing imperial court in 1724, after his home monastery was destroyed by Qing troops in response to the rebellion led by Lobzang Danjin (blo bzang dan jin, d.u.). Rolpai Dorje was later identified as an incarnation of the great Sakya scholar and statesman, Pakpa Lodro Gyeltsen ('phags pa blo gros rgyal mtshan, 1235-1280) as well. +
Chokgyur Lingpa was one of the most prolific treasure revealers of the nineteenth century. Based in Kham, he was a close collaborator with Jamgon Kongtrul and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, with whom he revealed treasure and opened sacred sites. Among his best-known revelations are the Barche Kunsel, the Zabpa Kor Dun, and the Lamrim Yeshe Nyingpo, for which Jamgon Kongtrul wrote a famous commentary. Chokgyur Lingpa also revealed an enumeration of great sites in Khams that had a significant impact on the sacred geography of the region. He established two monastic centers, Tsike and Netan, seats of the Tsike and Neten lines of his reincarnation. +
Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje, considered the mind incarnation of Jigme Lingpa, was a prominent holder of the Longchen Nyingtik. He was a disciple of the First Dodrubchen. Among his students were Dza Patrul and the Second Dodrubchen. +
Kunzang Sonam of Minyak studied widely, especially in the Geluk tradition, before becoming one of the principal disciples of Patrul Rinpoche and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. After his studies, he returned to his homeland of Minyak, where he spent time in isolated hermitages. He was renowned for his ethical conduct and his mastery of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'', a text on which he wrote three major commentaries, including his monumental, 460-folio magnum opus, ''Excellent Vase''. His writings also include a guide to Ngulchu Tokme Zangpo’s ''Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva'', commentaries on two sūtras, and, it is claimed, several texts published in the name of his own student, Loter Wangpo. +
Ju Mipam Gyamtso was a prolific author who brought formal philosophical study, including debate, to the Nyingma tradition. Based in Kham during a period of great inter-sectarian exchange, he trained with the Kagyu lama Jamgön Kongtrul and the Sakya lama Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, among others, even as he preserved a strong Nyingma identity. Among his most celebrated works are the ''Beacon of Certainty'' and a commentary on the Ninth Chapter of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra''. In addition to his considerable literary output he spent decades of his life in retreat. +
Khedrubje Gelek Pelzang (mkhas grub rje dge legs dpal bzang) was born in Tsang in 1385. His father, Gunga Tashi Pelzang (kun dga' bkra shis dpal bzang, d.u.), was a member of the Se clan, said to have originated in Khotan, and his mother was Budren Gyelmo (bu 'dren rgyal mo, d.u.).
His name Gelek Pelzang was given to him as a child when he took novice ordination at the age of seven from Khenchen Sengge Gyeltsen (mkhen chen seng ge rgyal mtshan, d.u.). From the age of sixteen he studied at the Sakya monastery of Ngamring Chode (ngam ring chos sde), training with Bodong Paṇchen Jikdrel Chokle Namgyel (bo dong paN chen 'jigs bral phyogs las rnam rgyal, 1376-1451), the founder of the Bodong tradition, who taught him logic and philosophy.
When Gelek Pelzang was twenty-one he studied with Rendawa Zhonnu Lodro (red mda' ba gzhon nu blo gros, 1349-1412), with whom he took full ordination. He studied Darmakīrt's Pramāṇavārttika, Abhidharma, and the Five Books of Maitreya, Nāgārjuna's works on Madhyamaka, and the Vinaya.
At the age of twenty-three, in 1407, he went to U to meet with Tsongkhapa Lobzang Drakpa (tsong kha pa blo bzang grags pa, 1357-1419) at Sera Choding (se ra chos sdings – not to be confused with the famous Sera Monastery). Khedrub Je received instructions on both sutra and tantra from Tsongkhapa, and soon became one of his most devoted disciples, receiving teachings alongside Tsongkhapa's other disciples such as Gyeltsabje Darma Rinchen (rgyal tshab rje dar ma rin chen, 1364-1432) and Duldzin Drakpa Gyeltsen ('dul 'dzin grags pa rgyal mtshan, 1374-1434). +
Ngari Paṇchen Pema Wanggyel was a major Nyingma lama of the early sixteenth century. Born in present day Mustang, Nepal, he traveled widely around Tibet promoting the Jangter tradition with his brother, Lekden Dorje. He is remembered to have strictly observed his monastic vows and was the author of many texts, including Ascertaining the Three Vows, which lays out the Buddhist path according to the Nyingma tradition. +
Tsonawa Sherab Zangpo was an important early Tibetan Vinaya scholar as well as a lineage holder of the Lamrim tradition. Two of his Vinaya texts are considered the most complete and lucid works on the Vinaya written in Tibet and are still studied in all traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. He is the first incarnation in the line of Mon Tsona Tulkus. +
Naktso Lotsāwa Tsultrim Gyelwa was a prominent Tibetan translator of the early eleventh century who, at the order of Lha Lama Jangchub Wo, brought [[Atiśa]] to Tibet. He is credited with almost one hundred translations in the Kangyur and Tengyur. +
Ngawang Lodro Drakpa was a vajra master at Tsangwa Monastery in the Dzamtang region of Amdo. Often referred to as “Mati Rinpoche,” he was one of the leading intellectual figures and most prolific Jonangpa authors of the twentieth century. He is regarded by the living Jonang tradition as a miraculous manifestation of the Tibetan masters Dolpopa Sherab Gyeltsen, Kunga Drolchok, and Tāranātha, among others. +
Jamyang Amnye Zhab Ngawang Kunga Sonam, who served as the twenty-eighth Sakya Trichen, was a disciple of Muchen Sanggye Gyeltsen. He was a prolific author, composing over seven hundred titles, among them famous histories of the Khon family, the Lamdre lineage, the Kadampa lineage, and of tantric teachings at the center of the Sakya traditions including the Kālacakra, Cakrasaṃvara, Guhyasamāja, Yamāntaka, and Mahākāla. He was fully ordained in his youth but returned his vows after being enthroned in order to take a wife and produce an heir for the Khon family. He took an active role in negotiating the end to conflicts both between Tibet and Bhutan and among Bhutanese factions. +
Ngakgi Wangpo was the main lineage holder of the Jangter, or Northern Treasures tradition. He was the founder of Dorje Drak Monastery and served as its first throne holder. For this he earned the title of Dorje Drak Rigdzin, which was posthumously assigned to his previous incarnations; at least in some sources; Ngakgi Wangpo is occasionally known as the First Dorje Drak Rigdzin. +
Konchok Lhundrub was the tenth abbot of Ngor Monastery, serving from 1534 to 1557. He is remembered as one of the most accomplished and prestigious Ngor abbots, comparable in reputation to Ngor's founder Kunga Zangpo. +
Drangti Panchen Namkha Pelzang was the Thirteenth Ngor Khenchen, or abbot of Ngor Monastery, a post he held twice, from 1579 to 1582, and again from 1590 to 1595. +
Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo was one of the most famous and influential Sakya teachers of the fifteenth century. A student of Sharchen Yeshe Gyeltsen and Buddhaśrī, he played an important role in the revitalization of the Sakya tradition following the collapse of Yuan patronage, with the establishment of Ngor Monastery in 1429, and the cultivation of support from Mustang and the Rinpung family in Shigatse. He famously engaged in a polemical debate with Khedrubje over the authenticity of the Sakya Hevajra teachings. Among his disciples were Muchen Sempa Chenpo, Gorampa Sonam Sengge, and Shākya Chokden. +
Khedrup Norsang Gyatso (1423–1513), a well-known scholar and adept of the fifteenth century, was a student of the First Dalai Lama and a principal teacher of the Second Dalai Lama. Though belonging to the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism, Norsang Gyatso is recognized as a seminal figure in the promotion of a syncretic approach—between the Geluk and Kagyü schools—to the teachings and practices of mahamudra. Along with Phukpa Lhundrup Gyatso, Norsang Gyatso is credited also with the founding of the highly influential Phuk school of Tibetan astronomy and astrology. Because of his dedication to intensive meditative practice for more than four decades as a wandering hermit, Norsang Gyatso came to be revered by the Tibetan tradition as a great meditator and teacher, and he is included among the lineage masters of many important practice traditions, including the lineage of Kalachakra. (Source: [https://wisdomexperience.org/product/ornament-stainless-light/?attribute_pa_format=ebook Wisdom Experience]) +
Nyawon Kunga Pel (nya dbon kun dga' dpal) was born in 1285 into the royal family of Gyantse in the Nyang region of Tsang. It is said that when he was three years old he could recite the Litany of the Names of Mañjuśrī from memory.
At four years of age his mother took him to Jonang Monastery (jo nang dgon), where the master Yonten Gyatso (yon tan rgya mtsho, d.u.) stared at him, pointed his finger, and exclaimed with a laugh, "He is the rebirth of Jamyang Sarma ('jam dbyangs gsar ma, d.u.)!" Nyawon was then taken to Sakya Monastery (sa skya dgon), where he learned to read and write, and for five years studied Prajñāpāramitā, epistemology, Abhidharma, and the monastic code.
He was a brilliant youth, and after receiving the vows of a novice monk from the abbot Nyima Gyeltsen (mkhan chen nyi ma rgyal mtshan, d.u.) when he was twelve years old, Nyawon traveled around for further studies at many of the great Sakya, Kadam, and Kagyu centers of learning in U and Tsang. At the age of nineteen he received full ordination from the abbot Tashi Sengge (bkra shis seng ge, d.u.) at Nyetang Monastery (snye thang dgon), and gained the reputation of being invincible in debate. +
The first of the great Tibetan Buddhist treasure revealers, Nyangrel Nyima Wozer lived in the Lhodrak region of south-central Tibet. Among his treasure finds was the first set of The Eight Instructions: Assembly of the One Gone to Bliss, which remains a foundation of fierce deity yoga in the Nyingma tradition. He also promoted the cult of Avalokiteśvara as the patron deity of Tibet through his extensive revelations of what became known as the Maṇi Kambum, and he compiled the earliest biography Padmasambhava, initiating the apotheosis of the eighth-century ritual master into Tibet's "Second Buddha," who conquered native demons and concealed treasures across Tibet. +
Pema Lingpa was a prolific treasure revealer and one of the most influential religious figures in Bhutanese history. A native of Bumtang, he trained as a blacksmith before embarking on a long career of treasure discovery and teaching across the southern Tibetan Plateau. He established as his seat the Tamzhing Lhundrub Choling Lhakhang. His lineage, continued through three lines of incarnations -- the Peling Sungtrul, the Peling Tukse and the Gangteng Tulku, dominates the Nyingma tradition in Bhutan. +
The Fourth Paṇchen Lama, Lobzang Chokyi Gyeltsen, who was the first to hold the title, lived during a time of tremendous political and religious change in Tibet. During his near-century long life the Geluk government of the Fifth Dalai Lama, the Ganden Podrang, took power in Tibet, and Bhutan established itself as an independent state under the rule of the Drukpa Kagyu, both events in which he was intimately connected. Lobzang Chokyi Gyeltsen was a teacher to many powerful Tibetan, Bhutanese and Mongolian political and religious figures, including the Fourth and the Fifth Dalai Lamas, and the First Jetsundampa of Mongolia. The Sixteenth abbot of Tashilhunpo, he was given the title Paṇchen Lama by the Fifth Dalai Lama, who declared him an emanation of Amitabha. By the system advanced by the Ganden Podrang, Chokyi Gyeltsen is considered the First Paṇchen, not counting three previous incarnations, beginning with Kedrubje, one of Tsongkhapa’s close disciples. A prolific author, Chokyi Gyeltsen is credited with over a hundred compositions, including a number of commentaries and ritual texts that remain central in the Gelukpa tradition. +
The Second Pawo Tsuklak Trengwa was a prominent sixteenth-century Kagyu scholar whose best known composition was the ''Chojung Khepai Gaton'' (''chos 'byung khas pa'i dga' ston''), or ''Scholars Feast'', a history of Buddhism in India and Tibet, as well as the history of the Karma Kagyu tradition. He is also famous for a massive commentary (975 folios) on the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' (''The Way of the Bodhisattva''), which is still the standard for Karma Kagyu commentaries. He was a disciple of the Eighth Karmapa, the Fourth Zhamar, Dakpo Chokle Namgyel and other Kagyu lamas. He supervised the cremation the Eighth Karmapa, enthroned the Fifth Zhamar and also later organized the enthronement of the Ninth Karmapa. +
Chokle Namgyel (phyogs las rnam rgyal), who is also known by the name Chokyi Gyelpo (chos kyi rgyal po), was born in the western region of Ngari (mnga' ris) in 1306. As a young child he received teachings from several Tibetan masters and studied Sanskrit with the Indian or Nepalese paṇḍita Umapati (u ma pa ti). In 1313, when he was eight years old, he traveled to the central Tibetan region of Tsang and began the study of Madhyamaka philosophy with the expert scholar Tsangnakpa (gtsang nag pa) and other teachers. He also studied epistemology, the literature of the vehicle of perfections, abhidharma, the monastic code, and tantric subjects at different monasteries for some years.
In 1325 Chokle Namgyel studied at the great monastery of Sakya (sa skya) and also at Drakram (brag ram dgon). At this point he was a strong advocate of the rangtong (rang stong) view. He then visited many monasteries in central Tibet and Tsang for further studies and during this trip received the nickname Chokle Namgyel, “Victorious in All Directions” because of his consummate skill in debate. He returned to Sakya, where he was again victorious in debate, and also traveled to several other places in central Tibet and Tsang, including Zhalu Monastery (zhwa lu) Monastery. There he received teachings from the great master Buton Rinchen Drub (bu ston rin chen grub) +
Ratna Lingpa was a prolific treasure revealer, famous for compiling an extensive edition of the Collected Nyingma Tantras. According to tradition, when Ratna Lingpa was twenty-seven, he experienced a vision of Padmasambhava in the form of a yogi dressed in yellow raw silk. He showed him three scrolls, a white, a red and a blue one, and asked Ratna Lingpa to choose one of them. Ratna Lingpa answered that he wanted all three. Because of the auspicious connection created by his answer, Ratna Lingpa received all three inventories, and was able to reveal in a single lifetime the termas he would have otherwise revealed in three successive lifetimes. He is therefore also known as Zhikpo Lingpa (zhig po gling pa) and Drodul Lingpa ('gro 'dul gling pa). +
Dorje Lingpa, who is counted as the third of the five kingly treasure revealers, is said to have revealed one hundred eight treasures. A prominent figure in the history of Bhutan, as many of his revelations were took place in Bhumtang and the surrounding region, and his revelations are still part of the Bhutanese yearly ritual schedule. Dorje Lingpa considered himself a reincarnation of Vairocana, and revealed both Buddhist and Bon Dzogchen treasures, bringing considerable innovation to the teachings. +
Gotsangpa is considered the founder of a special branch of the Drukpa Kagyu school known as the Upper Drukpa. He traveled widely in western Tibet and present-day Himachal Pradesh, India, and is particularly well known today in Ladakh and Lahaul. +
Gyaltsap Je Darma Rinchen was one of the chief disciples of Tsongkhapa. He was a prolific writer, composing on Madhyamaka and tantric topics, most famously a commentary on the Bodhicaryāvatāra. He served as the second abbot of Ganden Monastery, following the death of Tsongkhapa in 1419, and occupied the position, known as the Ganden Tripa, until the year before his own death. +
Kumārarāja was a holder of the Dzogchen Nyingtik lineage. He was a disciple of Melong Dorje and the master of Longchenpa. +
Rigdzin Godemchen was a Nyingma treasure revealer who discovered the Jangter, or Northern Treasures. He was posthumously known as the First Dorje Drak Rigdzin after the Third Dorje Drak Rigdzin claimed to have been the reincarnation of Lekden Dorje, who was himself identified as the reincarnation of Godemchen.
According to legend, when he was eleven years old three feathery growths appeared on the top of his head; by the time he was twenty-three there were five. Because these growths looked like the feathers of a vulture, he became famous as Godkyi Demtruchen (rgod kyi ldem 'phru can), ‘the one with vulture’s feathers’, which is generally shortened to Godemchen. Later in life he became known as Rigdzin Chenpo (rig 'dzin chen po; mahāvidyādhara) and this title has been held ever since by each of his successive incarnations. +
Jetsun Drakpa Gyeltsen of the aristocratic Khon family was the third of the five men credited with founding the Sakya order. He was also the Fifth Sakya Tridzin, or throne holder. His father Sachen Kunga Nyingpo and his elder brother Sonam Tsemo were the first and second Sakya patriarchs. Drakpa Gyeltsen was instrumental in the early recording and compiling of the Lamdre teachings that form the basis of the Sakya tradition. +
Ngok Lotsāwa was nephew of Ngok Lekpai Sherab, the founder of Sangpu Neutok, and not only carried on the teaching activities of his uncle but raised the fame and prestige of Sangpu to new heights. He was important not only to his own Kadam lineage, but to the development of Tibetan education in general. Ngok Lotsāwa, working with the Kashmiri paṇḍita Sajjana, produced the sole-surviving translation of the Ratnagotravibhāga, the central text of buddha-nature theory in Tibet. His commentary on the text is said to have initiated the "analytical" exegetical tradition. +
Rok Bande Sherab O was a Nyingma scholar and yogi who was a major figure in the transmissions of the Guhyagarbha Tantra and the "later lineage" of Zhije tradition of Padampa Sanggye. +
Rongzom Chokyi Zangpo was an eleventh-century Tibetan translator, author, and exegete of Buddhist literature. Among his translations and commentarial works are important scriptures transmitted as part of the first and second period of Buddhist diffusion in Tibet. He is a seminal figure for the Nyingma, traditionally described as the last translator of the early translation period. His work as a translator and exegete is nevertheless also important to the later translation period and the so-called New Schools of Tibetan Buddhism. His prodigious literary output––including his early and influential commentary on Guhyagarbhatantra and his vociferous defense of Tibet's Dzogchen tradition––affirm his place as the first of the three luminaries of the Nyingma tradition, alongside Longchenpa and Ju Mipam Gyatso. +
Sabzang Mati Paṇchen Lodro Gyeltsen was one of Dolpopa’s fourteen major disciples. He was a great master of sutra and tantra, especially the Five Books of Maitreya and the Kālacakra Tantra. He completed a new revised translation of the Kālacakra Tantra and the Vimalaprabhā. He later lived and taught at Sabzang Ganden Monastery. +
Sachen Kunga Nyingpo was the first of the Sakya Jetsun Gongma Nga, the five founding patriarchs of Sakya. These five men of the Khon family are credited with having laid the foundations for the Sakya tradition. Sachen was a layman and the third Sakya Tridzin or throne holder, a position distinct from his later designation as a patriarch. His father, Khon Khonchog Gyelpo, was the first Sakya throne holder and the founder of what became Sakya monastery. +
Sakya Paṇḍita Kunga Gyaltsen, commonly referred to as Sapaṇ, was the fourth of the Five Patriarchs of Sakya and the sixth Sakya throne holder. A member of the illustrious Khon family that established and controlled the Sakya tradition, he was an advocate for strict adherence to Indian Buddhist traditions, standing in opposition to Chinese or Tibetan innovations that he considered corruptions. In this regard he was a major player in what has been termed the Tibetan Renaissance period, when there was a move to reinvigorate Tibetan Buddhism’s connections to its Indian antecedents. He was instrumental in transmitting the Indian system of five major and five minor sciences to Tibet. As an ordained monk, Sapaṇ was instrumental in laying the groundwork for adherence to the Vinaya at Sakya Monastery, built under his successors. He authored more than one hundred texts and was also a prolific translator from Sanskrit. His writings are among the most widely influential in Tibetan literature and prompted commentaries by countless subsequent authors. Sapaṇ’s reputation as a scholar and Buddhist authority helped him forge close ties with powerful Mongols, relations that would eventually lead to the establishment of Sakya Monastery and its position of political power over the Thirteen Myriarchies of central Tibet. +
The treasure revealer Sera Khandro was the most prolific female author in Tibetan history. Considered an incarnation of Yeshe Tsogyel, her main treasure revelations are The Secret Treasury of Reality Ḍākinīs and The Ḍākinīs’ Heart Essence. She also wrote her own autobiography, a commentary on Dudjom Lingpa’s Buddhahood Without Meditation and a biography of her main consort, Drime Ozer. +
Gampopa Sonam Rinchen, also known as Dakpo Lhaje, is credited with founding the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Trained first as a medical doctor and then ordained as a Kadam monk, Gampopa met Milarepa when he was thirty years old, and spent much of the next decades in meditation retreat. Never renouncing his monastic vows, he combined the Indian Mahāsiddha practices brought back to Tibet by Marpa and others with the monastic order of his Kadampa teachers. He also united the Kadam teachings of Lamrim with the Mahāmudrā teachings he received from Milarepa. He founded Daklha Gampo in 1121 and trained many of the greatest Kagyu masters of all time, including the First Karmapa and Pakmodrupa. +
Śākya Chokden was one of the most important thinkers of the Sakya tradition. His teachers were Rongtön Sheja Kunrik, Dönyo Pelwa and Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo. A thinker who accepted both the rangtong and zhentong, or "self-empty" and "other empty" views of Madhyamaka, Śākya Chokden's seat was at Serdokchen Monastery near Shigatse in Tsang. Influential and controversial in his own day, his writings fell out of favor over time and many were banned in the seventeenth century. +
Kawa Peltsek was one of the first Tibetans to take Buddhist ordination. He later became a disciple of Padmasambhava, who identified him as an incarnation of an Indian mahapaṇḍita. A famed translator, he was instrumental in designing forms of Tibetan calligraphy. +
Kyotön Mönlam Tsultrim was born into the Kyo (''skyod'') clan at a place named Tanakyang (''rta nag yang''), in U (''dbus''), in 1219, the earth-rabbit year of fourteenth sexagenary cycle.
He studied the complete Kadam traditions under the guidance of the sixth abbot, Sanggye Gompa Sengge Kyab (sangs rgyas sgom pa seng ge skyabs, 1179-1250) and the seventh abbot of Nartang Monastery (''snar thang dgon''), Chim Namkha Drak (mchims nam mkha’ grags, 1210-1285). +
Kyoton Monlam Tsultrim (skyo ston smon lam tshul khrims) was born into the Kyo (skyod) clan at a place named Tanakyang (rta nag yang), in U (dbus), in 1219, the earth-rabbit year of fourteenth sexagenary cycle.
He studied the complete Kadam traditions under the guidance of the sixth abbot, Sanggye Gompa Sengge Kyab (sangs rgyas sgom pa seng ge skyabs, 1179-1250) and the seventh abbot of Nartang Monastery (snar thang dgon), Chim Namkha Drak (mchims nam mkha’ grags, 1210-1285).
Due to his extensive practice of Vajrapāṇi, of whom he was believed to have been an emanation, he was said to have been capable of curing diseases caused by malicious spirits. He was also said to have been an emanation of Avalokiteśvara and Mañjuśrī.
In 1285 he was appointed to the abbatial throne as the eighth abbot of Nartang Monastery. During his tenure he established the printing house and had a wall built around the monastery.
He composed a commentary on Prajñāpāramitā, but this does not appear to be extant. Among his disciples were Chomden Rikpai Reldri (bcom ldan rig pa'i ral gri, 1227-1305) and Drakpa Tsondru (grags pa brtson 'grus, 1253-1316), the tenth abbot of Nartang.
He wrote a biography of his master, Chim Namkha Drak, which is stored in the Cultural Palace of Nationalities (民族文化宫) in Beijing.
He passed away at the age of eighty one, in 1299, the earth-pig year of the fifth sexagenary cycle. +
Chennga Lodro Gyeltsen, one of the principal students of Khedrubje, was an early Geluk scholar-adept. He was educated in the classical scholastic curriculum and gained a reputation as a learned scholar at an early age. After his ordination, he received special instructions from Tsongkhapa's close disciple Tokden Jampel Gyatso. He served as abbot of two monasteries for a few years, but spent most of his adult life as a hermit. Although he wrote on a variety of topics, Lodro Gyeltsen is renowned for his extensive writings on Lojong, or Mind-Training, and Lamrim, or the Stages of the Path. +
In the history of the Jonang tradition Tāranātha is second in importance only to Dölpopa himself. He was responsible for the Jonang renaissance in U-Tsang during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, and the widespread revitalization of the zhentong teachings. Like his previous incarnation, Kunga Drolchok, Tāranātha practiced and taught from many different lineages and was nonsectarian in his approach to realization. He was also one of the last great Tibetan translators of Sanskrit texts. The abbot of Jonang Monastery, he emphasized the practice of the Sakya teachings of Lamdre and the esoteric instructions of the Shangpa Kagyu, but he specially focused on the explication of the Kālacakra Tantra and the practice of its Six-branch Yoga as the most profound of all the teachings given by the Buddha. It is clear in his writings that Tāranātha considered Dölpopa to be the ultimate authority in matters of doctrine and practice. +
The Third Tai Situ, Tashi Peljor, was a student of the Seventh Karmapa. He recognized the Eighth Karmapa by means of showing him items that had belonged to the Seventh Karmapa, possibly the first time such a method was used to identify reincarnations. +
The Ninth Situ, Pema Nyinje Wangpo, was a student of the Thirteenth Karmapa and the Tenth Zhamar. He was a main teacher to Jamgon Kongtrul and the Fourteenth Karmapa. He built the Gyude Temple at Pelpung Monastery. He spent the twenty years in retreat, from about age sixty to age eighty. +
Gyalse Tokme Zangpo was a Kadampa master of the fourteenth century based at Ngulchu Monastery where he sat in retreat for twenty years. He had previously served as the abbot of Bodong E for about nine years, from 1326 to 1335. Significant in the transmission of Lojong teachings, his compositions include the famous ''Thirty-seven Practices of the Bodhisattva'', one of the classics of Tibetan buddhist literature. A specialist in tantric Mahākaruṇā, he was a disciple of Butön Rinchen Drup and a teacher of Rendawa Zhönu Lodrö, and is counted as seventy-third in the Lamrim lineage. +
Bamda Gelek, whose given name was Tubten Gelek Gyatso, was one of the greatest scholar-practitioners of the Jonang tradition. Based largely at Dzamtang, he was considered the reincarnation of various masters, including the Indian saint Candrakīrti, the siddha Nāropa, and two famous early Jonang lamas, Tāranātha and Kunga Drolchok. Because of his strong interest in the Geluk tradition, some thought him to also be an incarnation of the great Geluk scholar Jamyang Zhepa. His intellectual prowess and strong devotion to the deity Mañjuśrī, his tutelary deity, led others to surmise that he might be an emanation of the deity himself. +
Jigme Rigpai Lodro was one of the great Tibetan polymaths of the twentieth century, writing extensively on Tibetan history, language, astronomy and Buddhism. By dint of his historical life and dedication to Tibetan scholarship, he acted as a conduit between “traditional” and “modern” Tibet. He is most famous for his role as one of the so-called Three Great Scholars after the Cultural Revolution. This epithet is drawn from tenth century Tibetan history when the first Three Great Scholars brought the Dharma to Eastern Tibet due to Langdarma’s persecution of Buddhism in central Tibet. Thus this title indicates how Alak Zhabdrung and the other two Great Scholars, Dungkar Lobzang Trinle and Muge Samten, contributed significantly to the revival of Tibetan scholarship, both at monasteries and secular institutions, following a near twenty-year vacuum due to various political campaigns. Many of today’s great Tibetologists both in the PRC and abroad studied with one of these Three Great Scholars. +
Tsongkhapa Lobzang Drakpa was one of the most influential Tibetan Buddhist scholars of the last millennium. Born in Amdo, he travelled to U-Tsang in his youth, never to return to his homeland. In U-Tsang he studied with numerous teachers of all traditions and engaged in many retreats resulting in his development of a fresh interpretation of Nāgārjuna's Madhyamaka view and a reinvigoration of the monastic Vinaya. Widely regarded as an emanation of Mañjuśrī, Tsongkhapa composed eighteen volumes of works of which the majority dealt with tantric subjects. He was the founder of Ganden Monastery, which became the central monastery of the Geluk tradition that was founded on his teachings and writings. +
Tukwan Lobzang Chokyi Nyima was a prolific author, composing works in subject as diverse as biographies, dramas, astrology, doxography, tantras, poetic works, correspondences and official documents, and so forth. Originally there were about five hundred titles collected into fifteen volumes that were preserved in traditional wooden blocks in Gonlung Jampa Ling out of which ten volumes are currently preserved in the Nationalities Publishing House (mi rigs dpe bskrun khang) in Beijing.
One of the best known of his compositions is his religious history, The Crystal Mirror: An Excellent Exposition That Shows the Sources and Assertions of All Tenet Systems (grub mtha' thams cad kyi khung dang 'dod tshul ston pa legs bshad shel gyi me long). This important work was completed in 1802, shortly before Tukwan passed away. In it he surveys the Buddhist traditions of India, Tibet, Mongolia, and China, including Bon, which he compares to Chinese Chan. The work is well-regarded for the relative impartiality of its presentation, combining the insults to Bon, Jonang and Nyingma one would expected in a work of its time with sympathetic descriptions of what the author found admirable in the non-Geluk traditions. In contrast to one of his famous teachers, Sumpa Khenpo, the Third Tukwan, looking more towards Beijing than to Lhasa as a base of support, was known for his ecumenical outlook. All three Tukwan incarnations, as well as the first two Changkya incarnations, were known as protectors of the Nyingma in Amdo. +
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Yanggonpa Gyeltsen Pel (yang dgon pa rgyal mtshan dpal), also known as Lhadongpa Gyeltsen Pel (lha gdong pa rgyal mtshan dpal) was born in the Lato (la stod) region of Tsang (gtsang), in 1213. Yanggonpa, the informal name he adopted, came from a hermitage he refers to in his Inner Autobiography as Yanggon (yang dgon), where he did his first Vajravārāhī retreat. The village of his birth was Chuja (chu bya), a lay settlement associated with the small monastic complex of Lhadong Monastery (lha gdong dgon pa), in the principality of Gungtang (gung thang), not far form the Tibet-Nepal border. This small monastic complex of Lhadong was the place of Yanggonpa's early religious education, and he did not stray far from the area of Gungtang during his lifetime.
He was born into the Tong (stong) clan, as the youngest boy in a Nyingma family. He had two older brothers and one older sister. He was given the name Dungsob Pelbar (gdung sob dpal 'bar) by his father, a lay lama associated with Lhadong, who passed away before his birth. He began his religious training at about age five and entered Lhadong monastery at age nine. Both his father's brother, Drubtob Darma (grub thob dar ma) and his mother, Chotongma (chos mthong ma), who was a respected Buddhist practitioner, transmitted teachings to him as a boy. Read more on Treasury of lives +
Sumpa Khenpo Yeshe Peljor was a prominent eighteenth-century Geluk lama of Amdo. He was ethnically Mongol -- most likely Oirat, from the Dzungar Federation. He was educated in Amdo monasteries such as Kumbum and at Drepung Gomang in Lhasa, and served as abbot of many monasteries including Gonlung, Dreyul Kyetsel, Pari Tashi Choling, Serlung, and Ganden Chodzong Hermitage, which he founded. He visited China several times at the request of the Qianlong Emperor, and spent about eight years in Mongolia giving teachings and empowerments as per the requirement. A prolific author, he composed works on many subjects, most famously his history of Amdo and of Buddhism in India, Mongolia, and Tibet. Present in Lhasa during the upheavals of the early eighteenth century in which Mongolian tribes and the Manchu Empire vied for political control of Tibet, Sumpa Khenpo wrote with a strident Geluk partisanship. +
Yeshe De (ye shes sde) was born into the Nanam clan (sna nam) and became one of the three foremost translators of the imperial era. He is counted among the twenty-five disciples of Padmasambhava.
As a young monk his scholarship earned him the title of 'bande' (teacher). He was perhaps the most prolific Tibetan translator in history, with hundreds of translations. Scholar Sherab Rhaldi lists 347 translations in collaboration with fifteen Indian paṇḍitas. [He] is also credited with translating the Nyingma tantras.
He is said to have taught the Abhidharma to Lhalung Pelgyi Dorje (lha lung dal gyi rdo rje).
According to Nyingma legend, he was a master of the Vajrakīlaya tantra, and is said to have realized the illusory nature of phenomena and cut the cord of mind-made karmic conditioning, which left him free to soar in the sky like a bird. +
The Jonang tradition would ultimately place Yumo as a key link in the Tibetan Kālacakra lineage; Tāranātha would cite him as an advocate of their distinctive position of "other-emptiness" (gzhan stong) in a tantric context. +
Zhabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol was a Nyingma lama in Amdo active in the first half of the nineteenth century. A native of the tantric practice center of Rebkong, Zhabkar meditated in sacred places across the Tibetan Plateau, including Labchi and Kailash. His autobiography is a classic of Tibetan literature, much beloved for its simple and moving account of the life of a wandering yogin from childhood until his ultimate spiritual realization. He was a teacher to many of the nineteenth century's greatest lamas of Kham and Amdo. +
Dawa Gyeltsen the First Peling Tukse, was the son of Pema Lingpa. A prominent Bhutanese Nyingma lama, he was considered an emanation of Hayagrīva and a reincarnation of the Buddha's disciple Śāriputra and of Indrabhuti. He established the monasteries of Lhundrub Deyang and Gongto Sergyi Lhakhang. His son, Gyelse Pema Trinle, recognized as a reincarnation of Pema Linpa's disciple Khenchen Tsultrim Penjor, was the First Gangteng Tulku. +