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Rendawa Zhönu Lodrö was a highly distinguished Sakya scholar who is credited with reviving Madhyamaka studies in Tibet. A holder of the Kadam teachings, he was a teacher of Tsongkhapa, as well as hundreds of others, and is counted as seventy-fourth in the line of Lamrim lineage. +
An important 10th century Kadam master that was one of the main Tibetan students of Atiśa and the uncle of the famed translator Ngok Lotsāwa Loden Sherab. Lekpai Sherab founded the influential monastic university Sungpu Neutok in 1072. +
Rongton Sheja Kunrik is the second in the line of great Sakya masters known as the Six Ornaments of Tibet. Among these teachers he is particularly revered for his mastery of the Buddhist sutras. Rongton studied and taught at Sangpu Neutok Monastery. He founded Penpo Nalendra Monastery in 1436. +
An important figure in the renaissance of the Rnying ma tradition in Tibet. His collected works in two volumes include the ''Rdzogs pa chen po’i lta sgom'' (''Instructions on Cultivating the View of the Great Perfection'') and a seminal work on sdom gsum (''three codes'') ''Dam tshig mdo rgyas''. He was learned in the older traditions based on earlier translations and in the new traditions that spread after the return of the translators Rin chen bzang po and Rngog Legs pa'i shes rab. Traditionally, he is said to be the recipient of teachings deriving from Heshang Moheyan, Vairocana, and Vimalamitra—important figures of the early dissemination (''snga dar'')— and it is said that upon meeting Atiśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna after his arrival in Tibet, Atiśa considered him a manifestation of his teacher Nag po pa (Kṛṣṇapāda). Rong zom instructed many important figures of the day, including the translator Mar pa, prior to his departure for India. (Source: "Rong zom Chos kyi bzang po." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 720–1. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
"Rinchen Yeshe, an expert on the five works of Maitreya, flourished in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and was primarily a teacher of Tokme Zangpo (1295–1369). He also briefly taught Dölpopa and is mentioned in Butön’s biography as an esteemed colleague." (Adapted from ''[[When the Clouds Part]]'', p. 308.) +
Tsele Natsok Rangdrol (Tib. རྩེ་ལེ་སྣ་ཚོགས་རང་གྲོལ་, Wyl. rtse le sna tshogs rang grol) (b. 1608) was born near the border of the Tibetan provinces Kongpo and Dakpo. He was recognized as the immediate reincarnation of Tendzin Dorje (1535-1605?), and also as a reincarnation of Götsangpa, a great master of the Drukpa Kagyü lineage, an emanation of Milarepa. In his youth he studied with the Third Pawo Rinpoche and the famous tertön Jatsön Nyingpo as well as other great teachers of the Kagyü and Nyingma lineages. Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche encouraged the study of his writings, as they are particularly suited to beings of these times. Several of them have been translated into English by Erik Pema Kunsang. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Tsele_Natsok_Rangdrol Source Accessed Feb 27, 2020]) +
A prominent 14th century scholar associated with Kadam and Skya schools that was a student of Butön, as well as his biographer. He was also an early teacher of Tsongkhapa and is reported to have given the bodhisattva vow to Rongtön. +
''The following biography is a traditional account of the life of the Fourth Shamarpa Chodrak Yeshe as written on Sharmapa.org.''
The 4th Shamarpa was born in Kangmar in the Treshö province of Kham, eastern Tibet. Wonderous signs were ablaze at his birth, which were variously interpreted by the local monastic communities, according to their own anticipation. Some were of the mind that it could only be the long awaited Karmapa Incarnate, while others were more inclined towards the Shamarpa Incarnate or that of a Mahasiddhi. Seven months had passed, speculations abound; conclusions, there were none. The infant Rinpoche was invited formally to Tara Kangmar Monastery, where a collection of books was laid before him to select. He took none but works by the Karmapa. The indecisive took this to be unmistakably an indication of the Karmapa’s return. Thus the solemn matter of identification was settled arbitrarily on a simple test. From then on, the Shamarpa remained in the monastery. The 6th Karmapa Tongwa Dönden was born the year after. When he was four years of age, he embarked on an extensive Dharma tour through Tibet. In due course, he arrived at the Lhündrup Gön Monastery in the south, not far from Dra-Kangmar, where, all the while, the disciples of the Shamarpa were anxiously waiting for their Guru’s return, without avail. They came to the Karmapa, labourously recalling the passing of their Guru, whose last word was “Dra-Kangmar”, they said. It was to be the name of the place of his next rebirth. The Karmapa reassured them that their Guru had indeed taken rebirth, but in distant Tre-Kangmar. Tre and Dra, an understandable confusion of words for his griefing followers, in time of stress. His now jubilant disciples, planned on an instant return of their Guru to his long awaited monasteries. The Karmapa told them it was not to be so. As the Karmapa, he must himself invite him, in full ceremonial honours, as befitting the return of the Shamarpa.
By the time the Dharma tour had reached the province of Treshö the Karmapa was seven years old. He set up camp near Kangmar, remaining in retreat, while he sent his gifted attendant-monk, to invite the Shamarpa. This learned monk, a man of exceptional realizations was none other than Paljor Döndrup, the 1st Gyaltsab Rinpoche, who was to become a Guru to the Shamarpa. When the Karmapa and the Shamarpa met, it was the renewal of a very close tie, stretching far beyond history. In terms of human relationship, it was to be compared to the joyful reunion of father and son. The Karmapa gave the young Shamarpa the name of Chöji Drakpa Yeshe Pal Zangpo. Returning the Red Crown, he enthroned him.
They had been successively each others Guru up to then. The Karmapa proposed that from then on, they were to propagate the Dharma together, each in a different region of the country, with the Shamarpa remaining in the Kongpo area in the south while the Karmapa himself proceeding towards eastern Kham.
Some years later, they were together again, at Treshö Kangmar. The Shamarpa arrived laden with offerings for the Karmapa; the Karmapa readily imparted to him the Mahamudra, the Six Teachings of Naropa and the numerous instructions of the Kagyü Lineage.
The Shamarpa became renowned as a great scholar and also for being unsparing on himself in practice, whether it was on the teachings received from the Karmapa, from Gyaltsap Rinpoche or from any of the great lamas and scholars, thus setting a challenging example of relentless perseverance.
The 4th Shamarpa went as far as to Bhutan to propagate the Dharma. In southern Bhutan, there remains to this day a monastery built by the Shamarpa. It stands sturdy and almost untouched by the passing years. Apart from it being a shining testamony to the craftsmanship of the period, it is indelibly a mark of his enduring blessings.
In central Tibet, where, at the insistence of the people, he became king for eleven years, ruling the country strictly in accordance with Buddhist principles. However, his first priority was Dharma. As he studied, so he taught and meditated, never neglecting his monastic obligations, thus fully accomplishing the three-fold task of a Holder of the Buddha’s Teachings. ([https://shamarpa.org/history/the-4th-shamarpa-shamar-chokyi-drakpa-yeshe-pal-zangpo-1453-1524/ Source Accessed Mar 4, 2020])
Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen (Tibetan: ཤར་རྫ་བཀྲ་ཤིས་རྒྱལ་མཚན, Wylie: shar rdza bkra shis rgyal mtshan) (1859–1933) or 1935) was a great Dzogchen master of the Bon tradition of Tibet who took not only Bon disciples, but gathered students from all traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. According to tradition, Shardza Tashi Gyeltsen famously realized the rainbow body.
Chaoul (2006) opened the discourse of Bon traditions of Trul khor into Western scholarship in English with his thesis from Rice University, which makes reference to writings of Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen, particularly the ''Most Profound Heavenly Storehouse None Other than the Oral Transmission of Trul Khor Energy Control Practices'' (Wylie: ''yang zab nam mkha' mdzod chen las snyan rgyud rtsa rlung 'phrul 'khor'').<br>
([https://commons.tsadra.org/index.php/Special:FormEdit/Person/Shar_rdza_bkra_shis_rgyal_mtshan#tab=BNW Source Accessed Sep 1, 2020]) +
Lochen Dharmashri (Tib. ལོ་ཆེན་དྷརྨ་ཤྲཱི་, Wyl. lo chen d+harma shrI) aka Ngawang Chöpal Gyatso (Tib. ངག་དབང་ཆོས་དཔལ་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wyl. ngag dbang chos dpal rgya mtsho) (1654-1717) — one of the greatest scholars of the Nyingma school, whose collected writings fill twenty volumes and include important commentaries on the Guhyagarbha Tantra. He was an emanation of Yudra Nyingpo and the younger brother of Minling Terchen Gyurme Dorje, the founder of Mindroling Monastery. He was tragically killed during the Dzungar war of 1717-8, during which Mindroling was destroyed. [https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Lochen_Dharmashri Source Accessed Feb 25, 2020] +
Tibetan Buddhist scholar recognized as the eighth Tai Si tu incarnation, remembered for his wide learning and his editorial work on the Tibetan Buddhist canon. He traveled extensively throughout his life, maintaining strong relationships with the ruling elite of eastern Tibet and the Newar Buddhists of the Kathmandu Valley. Born in the eastern Tibetan region of Sde dge, Chos kyi 'byung gnas was recognized as a reincarnate lama (''sprul sku'') by the eighth Zhwa dmar, from whom he received his first vows. He would go on to study with Kah thog Rigs 'dzin Tshe dbang nor bu (1698–1755), from whom he learned about gzhan stong (“other emptiness”). At the age of twenty-one, he accompanied several important Bka' brgyud hierarchs, the Zhwa dmar and the twelfth Karma pa, to Kathmandu, a journey that was to have a profound impact on the young Si tu's life. He returned to eastern Tibet in 1724, where he was received favorably by the king of Sde dge, Bstan pa tshe ring (Tenpa Tsering, 1678–1738). Under the latter's patronage, Chos kyi 'byung gnas founded Dpal spungs monastery in 1727, which became the new seat for the Si tu lineage (they are sometimes called the Dpal spungs si tu). Between the years 1731 and 1733, he undertook the monumental task of editing and correcting a new redaction of the bka' 'gyur section of the Tibetan Buddhist canon, to be published at the printing house of Sde dge. Although in his day Tibetan knowledge of Indian linguistic traditions had waned, Chos kyi 'byung gnas devoted much of his later life to the study of Sanskrit grammar and literature, which he had first studied with Newar paṇḍitas during his time in Kathmandu. He sought out new Sanskrit manuscripts in order to establish more precise translations of Sanskrit works aiready translated in the Tibetan canon; he is esteemed in Tibet for his knowledge of Sanskrit grammar. In addition to his prolific scholarly work, Chos kyi 'byung gnas was an accomplished painter as well as a gifted physician, much sought after by the aristocracy of eastern Tibet. In 1748, he visited Nepal once again, where he translated the ''Svayambhūpurāṇa'', the legends concerning the Svayambhū stūpa, into Tibetan. He was received amicably by the rulers Jayaprakāśamalla (1736–1768) of Kathmandu, Raṇajitamalla (1722–1769) of what is now Bhaktapur, and Pṛthvīnārāyaṇa Śāha, who would unify the Kathmandu Valley under Gorkhali rule several decades later. Chos kyi 'byung gnas' collected writings cover a vast range of subjects including lengthy and detailed diaries and an important history of the Karma bka' brgyud sect coauthored by his disciple Be lo Tshe dbang kun khyab (Belo Tsewang Kunkyap, b. 1718). He is retrospectively identified as an originator of what would become known as Khams ris med movement, which gained momentum in early nineteenth century Sde dge. (Source: "Chos kyi 'byung gnas." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 189. Princeton University Press, 2014)
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. +
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. +
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According to Anne Burchardi, "Zhang Tshe spong ba cho kyi bla ma was, together with Blo gros 'byung gnas, a direct disciple of Rngog [blo ldan shes rab]. After the death of Rngog, Zhang took over the abbot's chair at Gsang phu and held it for 32 years. He upheld all of Rngog's transmissions and composed several commentaries. So far very little is known of him and his ''RGV'' commentary is considered lost." (Anne Burchardi, "[[A Provisional List of Tibetan Commentaries on the Ratnagotravibhāga]]," [''The Tibet Journal'' 31, no. 4: 2006], 8). +
Shechen Gyaltsap Gyurme Pema Namgyal, a remarkable master who lived at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning o f the twentieth century, wrote ''The Great Medicine that Conquers Clinging to the Notion of Reality''. He was a disciple of the greatest luminaries of the nineteenth century, including Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye, and Lama Mipham Rinpoche. Shechen Gyaltsap was indisputably one of the most learned and accomplished lamas of his time. The thirteen volumes of his large collection of writings contain many lucid and profound commentaries on various aspects of philosophy and practice.
Shechen Gyaltsap was also an accomplished practitioner. He spent
much of his life in retreat above Shechen Monastery in eastern Tibet, and achieved many signs of accomplishment. Once he started a three-year retreat based on the ''Vajrakilaya'' practice, but to everyone's surprise after only three months he emerged saying that he had completed his intended program. The next morning, his attendant noticed an imprint of his footprint on the stone threshold of the hermitage. Shechen Gyaltsap's disciples later removed the stone and hid it during the Cultural Revolution. Today, it is possible to see it at Shechen Monastery in Tibet. The imprint was an outer sign of his inner realization of the ''Vajrakilaya'' practice. (Source: ''The Great Medicine'', introduction, 21) +
An esteemed 20th century Kagyu master from Zurmang Monastery in eastern Tibet with strong ties to the Nyingma and Ri-me traditions. He was a student of the 11th Tai Situ and the famed Khenpo Zhenga with whom he studied at the Śrī Siṃha monastic university at Dzogchen Monastery. His pedogical manual (''yig cha'') for the latter's interlinear commentaries to the thirteen major Indian treatises came to form an important part of the curriculum at the monastic university at Dzongsar Monastery. +