བཀའ་ནོན།
འབའ་མདའ་ཐུབ་བསྟན་དགེ་ལེགས་རྒྱ་མཚོ།
'Ba' mda' thub bstan dge legs rgya mtsho
Short biography
Bamda Thubten Gelek Gyatso (1844–1904) Born in the village of "Bamda," a few kilometers from Tsangwa Monastery in the Dzamthang valley of Amdo, Bamda Tubten Gelek Gyatso was educated within the Jonang tradition at Dzamthang from the time he was a child. As a young man, Bamda Lama then traveled to the Derge district of Kham in eastern Tibet and became immersed in the Rime eclectic movement. While in Kham, he studied closely with Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye (1813-99) and Dzogchen Patrul Rinpoche (1880-87).
After several years of staying in Kham, Bamda Lama returned to his home in Dzamthang where he received extensive training in the Jonang Kalachakra tantric system. At that time, he studied intensively both Chogle Namgyal's and Lochen Ratnabhadra's instruction manuals (khrid yig) on the six-fold vajrayoga, the details concerning the specific yogic techniques and postures ('khrul 'khor), and the entire cycle of ancillary practices involved in the perfection process.
Bamda's comprehension and experience of these complex subjects are made clear in his own writings, especially his writings on the Kalachakra practices. These remain some of the most extensive and authoritative works on the Kalachakra according to the Jonangpa.
He left a large corpus of collected works, compiled in 22 volumes. Apart from his many works on Prajnaparamita and Kalachakra, he also wrote extensively on the perfection process meditations of the Six Doctrines of Naropa. Many present-day Kagyu masters consider his works on these to be the most detailed and extensive ones available.
Literary Works
Main Teachers
Main Students
Main Lineages
Alternate Names & Spellings
- Bamda Gelek ('Ba' mda' dge legs)
- Bamda Lama ('Ba' mda' bla ma)