Property:TolExcerpt
From Buddha-Nature
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B
Bamda Gelek, whose given name was Tubten Gelek Gyatso, was one of the greatest scholar-practitioners of the Jonang tradition. Based largely at Dzamtang, he was considered the reincarnation of various masters, including the Indian saint Candrakīrti, the siddha Nāropa, and two famous early Jonang lamas, Tāranātha and Kunga Drolchok. Because of his strong interest in the Geluk tradition, some thought him to also be an incarnation of the great Geluk scholar Jamyang Zhepa. His intellectual prowess and strong devotion to the deity Mañjuśrī, his tutelary deity, led others to surmise that he might be an emanation of the deity himself. +
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. +
Bötrul Dongak Tenpai Nyima was a Nyingma teacher based primarily at Dzogchen and Gegong Monasteries in Kham. A holder of the scholastic tradition begun by Mipam Gyatso, he also taught for several years at Drigung. He was considered by some to be a reincarnation of Patrul Rinpoche. +
C
Jayulwa Zhonnu Wo was a Kadam monk who established Jayul Monastery in 1138. A student of Tolungpa Rinchen Nyingpo and then Chengga Tsultrim Bar, Jayulwa is remembered as having gained enlightenment through devotional service to his masters. +
Chokgyur Lingpa was one of the most prolific treasure revealers of the nineteenth century. Based in Kham, he was a close collaborator with Jamgon Kongtrul and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, with whom he revealed treasure and opened sacred sites. Among his best-known revelations are the Barche Kunsel, the Zabpa Kor Dun, and the Lamrim Yeshe Nyingpo, for which Jamgon Kongtrul wrote a famous commentary. Chokgyur Lingpa also revealed an enumeration of great sites in Khams that had a significant impact on the sacred geography of the region. He established two monastic centers, Tsike and Netan, seats of the Tsike and Neten lines of his reincarnation. +
Chokgyur Lingpa was one of the most prolific treasure revealers of the nineteenth century. Based in Kham, he was a close collaborator with Jamgon Kongtrul and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, with whom he revealed treasure and opened sacred sites. Among his best-known revelations are the Barche Kunsel, the Zabpa Kor Dun, and the Lamrim Yeshe Nyingpo, for which Jamgon Kongtrul wrote a famous commentary. Chokgyur Lingpa also revealed an enumeration of great sites in Khams that had a significant impact on the sacred geography of the region. He established two monastic centers, Tsike and Netan, seats of the Tsike and Neten lines of his reincarnation. +
Chokle Namgyel (phyogs las rnam rgyal), who is also known by the name Chokyi Gyelpo (chos kyi rgyal po), was born in the western region of Ngari (mnga' ris) in 1306. As a young child he received teachings from several Tibetan masters and studied Sanskrit with the Indian or Nepalese paṇḍita Umapati (u ma pa ti). In 1313, when he was eight years old, he traveled to the central Tibetan region of Tsang and began the study of Madhyamaka philosophy with the expert scholar Tsangnakpa (gtsang nag pa) and other teachers. He also studied epistemology, the literature of the vehicle of perfections, abhidharma, the monastic code, and tantric subjects at different monasteries for some years.
In 1325 Chokle Namgyel studied at the great monastery of Sakya (sa skya) and also at Drakram (brag ram dgon). At this point he was a strong advocate of the rangtong (rang stong) view. He then visited many monasteries in central Tibet and Tsang for further studies and during this trip received the nickname Chokle Namgyel, “Victorious in All Directions” because of his consummate skill in debate. He returned to Sakya, where he was again victorious in debate, and also traveled to several other places in central Tibet and Tsang, including Zhalu Monastery (zhwa lu) Monastery. There he received teachings from the great master Buton Rinchen Drub (bu ston rin chen grub) +
D
Dharmatāśīla was an Indian paṇḍit who collaborated on Tibetan translations during the early ninth century. He was also involved in the composition of the ''Two-Volume Lexicon'', the commentary on the ''Mahāvyutpatti.'' +
Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje, considered the mind incarnation of Jigme Lingpa, was a prominent holder of the Longchen Nyingtik. He was a disciple of the First Dodrubchen. Among his students were Dza Patrul and the Second Dodrubchen. +
Choje Dondrub Rinchen was a Kadam master from Amdo who, after studying in central Tibet, established Shadrung and Jakhyung monasteries. He was Tsongkhapa's first teacher, the man who gave him his novice vows as well as the ordination name of Lobzang Drakpa, and he remained a major source of guidance and inspiration throughout the latter's life. +
Chennga Dorje Sherab (spyan snga rdo rje shes rab) was a disciple of both Jikten Gonpo Rinchen Pel ('jig rten mgon po rin chen dpal, 1143-1217), the founder of Drigung Til Monastery ('bri gung mthil), and one of his main disciples, Won Sherab Jungne (dbon shes rab 'byung gnas, 1187-1241). Details about his life are not currently available. Some sources mention an extensive biography but it appears to have been lost.
He wrote two extensive commentaries on Won Sherab Jungne's compilation of Jikten Gonpo's teachings, known as The Single Intention (dgongs gcig). These commentaries are titled The Lamp of Illuminated Wisdom (snang mdzad ye shes sgron ma) and O Gema ('od ge ma). Together they are known as the Dorshema (rdor she ma), a contraction of the name Dorje Sherab. Author: Evan Yerburgh, translator and member of Esukhia. +
Pakpa Lodro Gyeltsen was the fifth of the Five Sakya Patriarchs, the men credited with having established the foundation of the Sakya tradition. His father was Sonam Gyeltsen, the younger brother of the great scholar Sakya Paṇḍita Kunga Gyeltsen. He went to Godan Khan’s court with Sakya Paṇḍita as a boy, and went on to play a central role in Tibetan relations with Khubilai Khan and the Mongol rulers of the Yuan Dynasty. Sakya became the capital of Mongolian-ruled Tibet, and using funds from the new Yuan state Pakpa built the Lhakhang Chenmo at Sakya, establishing what is commonly known as Sakya Monastery. He and Sakya Paṇḍita are also credited with developing a written script so that Buddhist texts could be translated into Mongolian, which had previously not been written. This is named Pakpa Script in his honor. +
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. +
Dudjom Lingpa was a prolific treasure revealer based in Golok, Amdo. His eight sons were all religious teachers in their own right, establishing and important Dudjom family line of teaching transmission. His incarnation was Dudjom Jikdrel Yeshe Dorje, one of the most important Nyingma lamas of the twentieth century. +
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
Gampopa Sonam Rinchen, also known as Dakpo Lhaje, is credited with founding the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Trained first as a medical doctor and then ordained as a Kadam monk, Gampopa met Milarepa when he was thirty years old, and spent much of the next decades in meditation retreat. Never renouncing his monastic vows, he combined the Indian Mahāsiddha practices brought back to Tibet by Marpa and others with the monastic order of his Kadampa teachers. He also united the Kadam teachings of Lamrim with the Mahāmudrā teachings he received from Milarepa. He founded Daklha Gampo in 1121 and trained many of the greatest Kagyu masters of all time, including the First Karmapa and Pakmodrupa. +
Śākya Pel, or Gar Dampa Chodingpa, was a disciple of Jikten Gonpo. He wrote one of the three earliest works on the Gongchik, the Single Intention, and he was one of the three masters who ‘opened’ the region of Tsari for retreatants and pilgrims. He founded Choding Monastery and, in the last days of his life, a monastery called Rinchen Ling. His reincarnations are known as the Garchen Rinpoche. +
Amdo Gendun Chopel, a twentieth-century philosopher-artist-historian, has emerged as one of the most controversial figures in the recent history of the Land of Snows. He remains to this day the most admired and loved writer and poet, bridging the divide between tradition and modernity. He traveled widely in India and the Himalayan region in the 1930s and 40s, encountering philosophers and revolutionaries and absorbing their ideas. His compositions, from descriptions of New York skyscrapers to brilliant commentary on Madhyamaka philosophy, are widely read. In the chaotic last days of the Tibetan state he was accused of being a Communist spy and was imprisoned in Lhasa, his unfinished Political History of Tibet destroyed, and his spirit broken. He died just weeks after the Chinese Communists arrived in Lhasa. +
Gewai Lodrö was the name of a Tibetan who collaborated on the translation of several texts in the Tibetan canon. These included the ''Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra'' (D119) from the Chinese, in collaboration with Gyatso De (rgya mtsho'i sde) and a Chinese man whose name was Tibetanized as Wangpabzhun (wang phab zhun/zhwun). They likely worked from the earliest Chinese version (T374), translated around 421–432 by Dharmakṣema in the northern kingdom of Beiliang 北涼.
He appears to have been a close collaborator with Atiśa Dīpaṃkara Śrījñāna (982-1055?), as he is listed as the translator of some twelve of Atiśa's compositions, and co-translator with Atiśa on around eleven other texts. He also collaborated with Jānaśrībhadra, Buddhaśānti, and others. +
