Property:TolExcerpt
From Damngak Dzö
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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. +
A disciple of Lorepa, Jamyang Gonpo was the main transmitter of the Lower Drukpa school. He was also an important teacher of the Chod tradition. +
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. Kalu Rinpoche Karma Rangjung Kunkhyab (kar lu rin po che karma rang byung kun khyab, 1905-1989), was identified as the activity incarnation of Jamgon Kongtrul and was based at Tsadra Rinchen Drak. +
B
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). +
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. +
Buddhaguhya [also known as Buddhagupta] was an eighth-century Indian tantric master who is believed to have resided at Mount Kailash and composed numerous commentaries, treatises, and liturgies of broad scope, ranging from the Kriyā tantras to the Guhyagarbha Tantra of the Mahāyoga class. +
D
Gendun Gyatso was the reincarnation of Gendun Drub. He served as abbot of three of the most powerful Geluk monasteries in both U and Tsang, significantly contributing to the spread of the Geluk tradition. Gendun Gyatso retained relations to his family’s religious traditions, which included Nyingma, Shangpa Kagyu, and Sakya teachings. He built the Ganden Podrang at Drepung around the year 1530, which came to be the residence of the Dalai Lamas and the seat of their government of Tibet in later centuries. His abbacies occurred during a time of intermittent war between the Kagyu rulers of Tsang and the Geluk leaders of Lhasa. +
Sonam Gyatso was given the title of Dalai Lama by the leader of the Tumet Mongols, Altan Khan, which was posthumously applied to his previous incarnations, Gendun Drub and Gendun Gyatso. A tireless missionary of the Geluk teachings, he was instrumental in what is known as “the second conversion of the Mongols”, bringing the Geluk teachings to the region. Sonam Gyatso founded several important Geluk monasteries, including Kumbum, Litang Ganden Tubchen Chokorling, and Namgyel Monastery. in 1581 he served as the thirteenth throne-holder of Chamdo Jampa Ling for six months. +
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. +
G
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. +
J
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. +
K
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. +
Among Tibetans of his day, Tropu Lotsāwa was most famous for building an eighty-cubit-high image of the future Buddha Maitreya, consecrated by Śākyaśrī in 1212. He was one of the significant figures in the early Tropu Kagyu, responsible for bringing the very important Indian Buddhist teachers Mitrayogin, Buddhaśrī, and Śākyaśrī to Tibet. Many of his translations, but only a few of his writings, are available today. +
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. +
