lha chen dgongs pa rab gsal

892-975 or 832-915? - Lhachen Gongpa Rabsel, who helped to save the monastic lineage in Tibet [RY]

Also "bla chen dgongs pa rab gsal" and "dge ba rab gsal." The dates given for him traditionally are 952-1035. This however seems a mistake repeated by all later Tibetan historians based on their dating the death of king Langdarma (glang dar ma) a whole sixty-year cycle too late. While 832-915 seems the most likely dating for Gongpa Rabsel, it can not be confirmed either by any of the histories dealing with this early period. His ordination lineage survives to the present day, known as the "Mindroling Lineage" among Nyingma monastics and as the "Abbot's Lineage of Lachen" among followers of the Gelugpa monastic system. [TSD]