Shangpa Kagyu

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The Shangpa Kagyu school (shangs pa bka' brgyud) developed independently and is not counted among the Four Greater and Eight Lesser Kagyu schools, even though many of its teachings and practices have been assimilated into, and continue to be transmitted by the Karma Kagyu school today. It is one of the eight great practice lineages of the Tibetan tradition and exists as an unbroken lineage to the present day. It was established by the great scholar and accomplished master Khedrub Khyungpo Naljor (11/12th cent.), who travelled several times to India and studied under many masters, predominantly under the two great female Mahasiddhas Niguma and Sukhasiddhi and under Maitripa and Rahula, who also happened to be one of the early teachers of the great Atisha. Khyungpo Naljor hailed from the same family-clan, the clan of Khyungpo, as Jetsun Milarepa. The teachings and practices special to the Shangpa Kagyu school are what is known as "The Five Golden Dharmas of the Shangpa". They are likened to a tree with its roots, trunk, branches, flowers and fruits.

"The Five Golden Dharmas of the Shangpa" are:

The roots: the Six Doctrines of Niguma (rtsa ba ni gu chos drug)
The trunk: the Mahamudra of the Amulet Box (sdong po phyag chen ga'u ma)
The branches: the Three Carry-Overs of phenomena and appearances onto the path (yal kha lam khyer rnam gsum)
The flowers: the White and Red Forms of the Dakini (me tog mkha' spyod dkar dmar)
The fruits: the Deathlessness and Non-deviation of Mindnature ('bras bu 'chi med chugs med)

The first seven human masters, from the dakini Niguma until Choje Sangye Tonpa, are known as the "Seven Jewels" of the Shangpa Kagyu. Sangye Tonpa (sangs rgyas ston pa brtson 'grus seng ge - 1213-1285) had two main students, Khedrub Tsangma Shangton (mkhas grub gtsang ma shangs ston) and Khetsun Zhonu Drub (mkhas btsun gzhon nu grub). From thereon onwards, the Shangpa teachings continued to be transmitted through four main lineages. The Jonang transmission of the Shangpa teachings, as well as the Thanglug (thang lugs) and Jagpa ('jag pa) lineages, originated with Shangton, whereas the Nyangme Samding (nyang smad bsam sding) lineage originated with Zhonu Drub. However, none of these lineages established themselves with big institutions like monasteries or monastic universities. The Shangpa Kagyu as a lineage have always remained fairly unobtrusive, mainly because most of its principal lineage holders chose to live as hidden yogins, thus avoiding all the many responsibilities that come with running monasteries and affiliated institutions. In this way most Shangpa masters could devote themselves to many years of meditation in solitude.

The lineage succession, as far as I (TSD) could piece together, is as shown below. Since I do not have dates for many of these masters, I can only assume that the order in which they appear is correct (it just reflects the order of a number of short biographies of Shangpa masters in my possession). Also, there seems to be a rather large gap between Taranatha and Lama Karma Norbu, one of the masters from whom Jamgon Kongtrul received the Shangpa transmissions.

But many of the Shangpa teachings were also integrated into other schools. It is therefore not surprising that we find teachings and practices of the Shangpa even in the Sakya and Gelug schools. Jagchen Jampa Pal (1310-1391) for instance, a prominent holder of the Jagpa tradition of the Shangpa teachings, was one of the teachers of Tsongkhapa Lobsang Dragpa (1357-1419). Another great master of this particular Shangpa lineage was Lapchi Namkha Gyaltsen (la phyi nam mkha' rgyal mtshan - (1372-1437), who was also a lineage holder of both the Karma Kagyu and Drikung Kagyu traditions. Jetsun Kunga Drolchog (1495-1566), a great Sakya and Jonang master, was very fond of the Six Doctrines of Niguma and is known to have taught them many times to many masters from all sorts of schools and traditions.

The various existing streams of Shangpa transmissions were all received by Kongtrul Lodro Thaye and then passed on by him. He received the Tanglug lineage from the great Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. The Jonang lineage of the Shangpa teachings came to Kongtrul through Karma Shenpen Ozer (karma gshan phan 'od zer). Another master from whom Kongtrul received these transmissions was a Lama Karma Norbu, about whom we know virtually nothing. It was not made clear which of the Shangpa lineages Kongtrul received from him. I do hope that people more familiar with the Shangpa Kagyu school than I, will correct and expand upon my scribblings soon:

My collection of texts then contains a short text with very short sketches of the lives of the following four masters:

The lineage then continues with:

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External Links

  • The Shangpa Net[1]
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