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Zhenpen Chökyi Nangwa, a disciple of Orgyen Tendzin Norbu, was the nineteenth abbot of Dzogchen's Śrī Siṃha college, the founder and first abbot of Dzongsar's Khamshe monastic college, and the teacher of countless Nyingma, Sakya and Kagyu lamas. He and his disciples are said to have established nearly one hundred study centers, emphasizing the study of thirteen Indian root texts. +
A contemporary of Ngok Lotsāwa and Tsen Khawoche, he was a translator that studied in Kashmir in the 11th Century, where he became a student of several prominent scholars including Sajjana and Parahitabhadra. +
Hakamaya Noriaki is a Japanese Buddhist scholar who is associated with what is known as "Critical Buddhism." According to Jamie Hubbard, "The term critical Buddhism (''hihan Bukkyō'') refers to Hakamaya Noriaki (1943– ) and Matsumoto Shirō’s (1950– ) critique of Buddha-nature (''tathāgatagarbha'') and original enlightenment (''hongaku'') as not Buddhist. Theological and apologetic in nature, yet using the traditional textual and philological methods of academic scholarship (both scholars are specialists in Indian and Tibetan Buddhist studies), critical Buddhism asserts that Buddha-nature and similar doctrines are examples of Hindu-like thinking of a substantial self (ātman), which Buddhism opposes with the doctrines of no-self and causality (''pratītyasamutpāda''). Critical Buddhism further asserts that these monistic doctrines deny language and thinking in favor of an ineffable and nonconceptual mysticism contrary to the discriminating awareness (prajñā) and selfless compassion that constitutes Buddhist awakening." (Source: "Critical Buddhism (Hihan Bukkyō)." In ''Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Vol. 1'', 189. Macmillan Reference USA, 2004) +
Haribhadra. (T. Seng ge bzang po) (c. 800). Indian Buddhist exegete during the Pāla dynasty, whom later Tibetan doxographers associate with the Yogācāra-*Svātantrika syncretistic strand of Indian philosophy. He may have been a Student of Śāntarakṣita and was a contemporary of Kamalaśīla; he himself lists Vairocanabhadra as his teacher. Haribhadra is known for his two commentaries on the ''Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitāsūtra'' ("Prajñāpāramitā in Eight Thousand Lines"): the longer ''Abhisamayālaṃ kārālokā-Prajñāpãramitãvyãkhyã'', and its summary, the ''Abhisamayālaṃkāravivṛti''. He is also known for his recasting of the twenty-five-thousand-line version of the prajñāpāramitā (''Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikāprajñāpāramitāsūtra'') in a work entitled the ''Le'u brgyad ma'' in Tibetan. Each of these works is based on the interpretative scheme set forth in the ''Abhisamayālaṃkāra'' ("Ornament for Clear Realizations"), a guide to the ''Pañcaviṃśati'' that Haribhadra explicitly attributes to Maitreya. His ''Abhisamayālaṃkārālokā'' builds upon Pramāṇa, Madhyamaka, and Abhidharma literature and was extremely influential in Tibet; its summary (known as "’grel pa don gsal" in Tibetan) is the root text (''rtsa ba'') for commentaries in the Gsang phu ne’u thog monastery tradition originating with Rngog Blo ldan shes rab. It is the most widely studied prajñāpāramitā commentary in Tibetan Buddhism to the present day. Haribhadra is known for his explanation of a ''jñānadharmakāya'' (knowledge truth-body) in addition to a ''svābhāvakāya'', viz., the eternally pure ''dharmadhātu'' that is free from duality. He is characterized as an alīkākāravādin ("false-aspectarian") to differentiate him from Kamalaśīla, a satyākāravãdin ("true- aspectarian") who holds that the objects appearing in the diverse forms of knowledge in a buddha's all-knowing mind are truly what they seem to be. He cites Dharmakīrti frequently but appears to accept that scripture (''āgama'') is also a valid authority (''pramāṇa''). There are two principal commentaries on his work, by Dharmamitra and Dharmakīrtiśrī. Buddhaśrījñāna (or simply Buddhajñāna) was his disciple. The ''Subodhinī'', a commentary on the ''Ratnaguṇasaṃcayagāthā'', is also attributed to him. (Source: "Haribhadra." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 345. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
A Chinese priest who lived during the fourth and fifth centuries. He studied under Hui-yüan at Mount Lu. Hearing of the master translator Kumārajīva, who had come to Ch'ang-an in 401, Hui-kuan became his disciple and joined in his translation work. He wrote ''An Introduction to the Essentials of the Lotus Sutra'', which won Kumārajīva's high praise. Kumārajīva exhorted him to propagate Buddhism in the south, and after Kumārajīva’s death he went to Ching-chou and later to Chien-k'ang, where he lived at Tao-ch'ang-ssu temple. Hence he was known as Hui-kuan of Tao-ch'ang-ssu temple. It is said that in Chien-k'ang he assisted Buddhabhadra with his translation of the Flower Garland Sutra. Together with Hsieh Ling-yün and Hui-yen, he revised the two existing Chinese translations of the Nirvana Sutra and produced what is called the southern version of the sutra. He also devised a classification of Shakyamuni Buddha's lifetime teachings into five periods according to the order in which he believed they had been expounded. He defined the Nirvana Sutra in this system as the teaching of the eternity of the Buddha nature, regarding it as the teaching of the fifth and last period, and the Lotus Sutra as the teaching of the fourth period. His concept of the five periods was widely known in China and was incorporated into other scholars' systems of classification. Hui-kuan held that enlightenment is achieved gradually in the course of practice. He thus opposed Tao-sheng, another disciple of Kumārajīva who held that enlightenment is attained suddenly and completely. He wrote ''The Discrimination of Teachings'' and ''The Treatise on the Doctrines of Immediate Attainment of Enlightenment and Gradual Attainment of Enlightenment''. ([https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/H/72 Source Accessed Aug 20, 2020]) +
A disciple of Kumārajīva and a translator of Buddhist scriptures in China. Together with Hui-kuan and Hsieh Ling-yün, he revised the forty-volume ''Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra'', the Chinese translation by [Dharmakṣema], in light of the ''Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra'' translated by Fa-hsien and Buddhabhadra. He produced this revision as [a] thirty-six volume ''Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra'' in 436. ([https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/H/79 Source Accessed Aug 20, 2020]) +
Hōnen was the religious reformer and founder of the first independent branch of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism called Jōdo-shū (浄土宗, "The Pure Land School"). He is also considered the Seventh Jōdo Shinshū Patriarch.
Hōnen became a Tendai initiate at an early age, but grew disaffected and sought an approach to Buddhism that anyone could follow, even during the perceived Age of Dharma Decline. After discovering the writings of the Chinese Buddhist Shandao, he undertook the teaching of rebirth in the pure land of Amitābha through nianfo or "recitation of the Buddha's name".
Hōnen gathered a wide array of followers and critics. Emperor Tsuchimikado exiled Hōnen and his followers in 1207 after an incident regarding two of his disciples in addition to persuasion by influential Buddhist communities. Hōnen was eventually pardoned and allowed to return to Kyoto, where he stayed for a short time before his death. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C5%8Dnen Source Accessed October 17, 2019]) +
An 8th century Indian author that was associated mainly with the Yogācāra school of thought. +
Jñānagupta. (C. Shenajueduo; J. Janakutta; K . Sanagulta 闍那崛多) (523-600). Indian monk from Gandhāra, who arrived in China around 559 and became a prolific translator of Indian materials into Chinese; some thirty-five of his translations are still extant and preserved in the Chinese canon (Dazangjing ). He is perhaps best known for his retranslation of the ''Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra'' ("Lotus Sūtra"), which included portions of the scripture that did not appear in Kumārajīva's pioneering translation made two centuries before, especially the important "Chapter on Devadatta." He also translated the ''Adhyāśayasañcodana'', the ''Vimalakīrtinirdeśa'', the ''Abhiniṣkramaṇasūtra'' (a possible translation of the ''Mahāvastu''), and several dhāraṇī sūtras. (Source: "Jñānagupta." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 396. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
There are multiple authors associated with this name, that were active in the 12th century who transmitted Tantric lineages that spread to Tibet. These include one from Kashmir ([https://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=P7148 BDRC: P7148]) and one from Nepal ([https://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=P4CZ15139 BDRC: P4CZ15139]). Some have also suggested that the author of the ''Tathāgatahṛdayālaṃkāra'', a commentary on the ''Laṅkāvatārasūtra'', was Chinese due to the colophon, which refers to the author as Rgya'i mkhan po. However, this could either refer to India (Rgya mkhar) or China (Rgya nag). Nevertheless, this is the only non-Tantric work attributed to an author by the name of Jñānavajra. +
Late Indian Yogācāra philosopher and logician of the school of Dharmakīrti at Vikramaśīla monastery, born between 975 and 1000. Within the Yogācāra, he held the so-called “aspectarian” (sākāra) position regarding the nature of cognition, taking a position opposed to that of Ratnākaraśānti. He is credited as the author of twelve treatises, including an important work on apoha, the ''Apohaprakaraṇa''. In his works on logic, he upholds the interpretation of Dharmakīrti by Prajñākaragupta against the interpretation by Dharmottara. (Source: "Jñānaśrīmitra." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 398. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
The mythical second king of Shambhala, who is reported to have written the ''Vimalaprabhā'', an important commentary on the ''Kālacakra Tantra''. He is considered to be an emanation of Avalokiteśvara and subsequently the Dalai Lamas are considered to be emanations of this king. +
[https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/kalu-rinpoche/12180 A new biography is available on Treasury of Lives (February, 2021)]
An important modern meditation master and teacher of Tibetan Buddhism. Recognized as an incarnation (sprul sku) of the Karma Bka' brgyud master 'Jam mgon kong sprul, Kalu Rinpoche was ordained at the age of thirteen by the eleventh Situ Rinpoche. Kalu Rinpoche began serious meditation study at an early age, undertaking his first three-year retreat at the age of sixteen. He also received the transmission of the teachings of the Shangs pa sect of Bka' brgyud. He later served as the meditation teacher at Dpal spungs monastery. Following the Chinese invasion, Kalu Rinpoche left Tibet in 1962 and first stayed at a small monastery outside of Darjeeling, India. He later settled in Sonada, West Bengal, where he built a three-year retreat center, teaching there before traveling internationally for ten years (1971–1981). In 1971, he traveled to France and the United States, at the request of the Dalai Lama and the Karma pa, in order to educate Westerners in Buddhism. During those ten years, Kalu Rinpoche founded many meditation and dharma centers in Canada, the United States, and Europe, with his main meditation school in Vancouver, Canada. Kalu Rinpoche led his first three-year retreat for Western students of Tibetan Buddhism in France in 1976. His full name is Kar ma rang 'byung kun khyab phrin las. (Source: "Kalu Rinpoche." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 410. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
For a recent publication about the life of Kyabje Dorje Chang Kalu Rinpoche, which contains accounts written by others about him, his writings—including his autobiography, songs, poems, essays, letters, and his own guru yoga—and translations of oral teachings, see ''Lord of the Siddhas: The Life, Teachings, Paranirvana and Legacy of Kyabje Dorje Chang Kalu Rinpoche'', 2019. https://www.namsebangdzo.com/Lord-of-the-Siddhas-p/9780692160442.htm
For information about the 2nd Kalu Rinpoche, Yangsi Kalu Rinpoche, see, https://paldenshangpa.org/his-eminence-the-2nd-kalu-rinpoche/
Kamalagupta was a noted Kashmīri paṇḍita active in the tenth and eleventh centuries. According to Jean Naudou (''Buddhists of Kashmir'', 1980), he was among many Kashmīri paṇḍitas, "including Śraddhākaravarman, Padmākaragupta, Ratnavajra, Buddhaśrīśānta and Buddhapāla, who came to Tibet at the invitation of Ye-śes ’od : that is the start of a period of continuous exchangs [''sic''] between Kaśmīr and Mṅa-ris . . ." (163).
Kamalagupta and Rinchen Zangpo (958–1055) translated the ''Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra'' in Tibet in the eleventh century (D121). An earlier translation of this text (D120) was made in the ninth century by Jinamitra, Jñānagarbha, and Devacandra.
Kamalagupta often collaborated with Rinchen Zangpo, and they translated many books from Sanskrit to Tibetan together. ([https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Wangpabzhun/P8276 Source Accessed Aug 19, 2020]) +
One of the most important Madhyamaka authors of late Indian Buddhism, a major representative of the Yogācāra-Madhyamaka synthesis, and a participant in the famous Bsam yas Debate. According to Tibetan doxographies, he was a proponent of the Yogācāra-Svātantrika-Madhyamaka. Although little is known about his life, according to Tibetan sources he was a monk and teacher at Nālandā. Tibetan sources also count him as one of three (together with Śāntarakṣita and Jñãnagarbha) “Eastern Svātantrikas” (rang rgyud shar gsum), suggesting that he was from Bengal. He was clearly a direct disciple of Śāntarakṣita, composing important commentaries on his teacher’s two major works, the ''Madhyamakālaṃkāra'' and the ''Tattvasaṃgraha''. The latter commentary, which is extant in Sanskrit, is an important source for both Hindu and Buddhist philosophical positions in the eighth century. (Source: "Kamalaśīla." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 411. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
Kangyur Rinpoche, Longchen Yeshe Dorje (Tib. བཀའ་འགྱུར་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ཀློང་ཆེན་ཡེ་ཤེས་རྡོ་རྗེ་, Wyl. bka' 'gyur rin po che klong chen ye shes rdo rje) (1898-1975) was a great master and tertön from Riwoche Monastery in Kham, East Tibet; his root teacher was Jedrung Trinlé Jampa Jungné. In exile, he lived in Darjeeling, where he met and taught some of the very first western students of Tibetan Buddhism, including Matthieu Ricard. Kangyur Rinpoche is the father of Pema Wangyal Rinpoche, Rangdröl Rinpoche, and Jigme Khyentse Rinpoche. His commentaries on Jikme Lingpa's ''Treasury of Precious Qualities'' and Nagarjuna's ''Letter to a Friend'' have been translated into English by the Padmakara Translation Group. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Kangyur_Rinpoche Source Accessed Jan 27, 2020]) +
An important master of the Dakpo Kagyu tradition. He was a student of the Seventh Karmapa and a teacher to the Eighth Karmapa and the Second Pawo Rinpoche. An immanent scholar, he wrote works on both sūtra and tantra, as well as an acclaimed commentary on the three cycles of ''doha'' of the famed Indian master Saraha. +
From his very recognition and enthronement as the Fifteenth Karmapa, Khakhyab Dorje continued his previous incarnation’s ties to the Rimé Movement of eastern Tibet. Khakhyab Dorje was identified by a group of lamas that included two of the main figures driving the movement: Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820–1892) and Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye. From an early age, Khakhyab Dorje directed his energies to his education, seeking out the most learned teachers and applying himself to his studies with great results. At the age of 15, he traveled from Tsurphu to Palpung Monastery to meet Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye, from whom he received the entire Kagyu transmission and Lodrö Thaye’s own vast collection known as the Five Treasuries. From there, the Fifteenth Karmapa began traveling across eastern Tibet seeking out other transmissions and teachers—Sakya, Nyingma, Drukpa Kagyu, Shangpa Kagyu and his own Karma Kagyu. In this way, Khakhyab Dorje fully embodied the spirit of inclusiveness and openness that characterized the Rimé movement. ([https://karmapafoundation.eu/karmapas/15th-karmapa/ Source Accessed Sept 8, 2020]) +
A renowned Tibetan master recognized as the first in the lineage of Karma pa incarnations and early founder of the Karma bka' brgyud sect of Tibetan Buddhism. He was born in the Tre shod region of eastern Tibet and at the age of sixteen was ordained by a monk of the Bka' gdams sect and received tantric instruction from a disciple of Atiśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna. He went on to study Madhyamaka and the Kālacakratantra with some of the leading scholars of the day. At the age of thirty, Dus gsum mkhyen pa met his principal guru, Sgam po pa B sod nams rin chen, from whom he received many teachings, including so-called “heat yoga” (''gtum mo''; see ''candālī''). He also studied with Mi la ras pa’s renowned disciple Ras chung pa. He devoted himself to the teachings that would become the hallmark of the Bka' brgyud, such as the six yogas of Nāropa and mahāmudra, but he also received teachings from a number of Bka' gdams and Sa skya masters. He went on to found three important Bka' brgyud monasteries: Kam po gnas nang in 1164, Karma dgon in 1184, both in eastern Tibet, and Mtshur phu northwest of Lha sa in 1187. The latter became a powerful central-Tibetan institution as the primary seat of the Karma pas up to 1959. It is said that at the age of sixteen Dus gsum mkhyen pa received a hat woven from the hair of one hundred thousand ḍākinīs. This hat has been passed down to subsequent Karma pas, and seen in the so-called “black hat ceremony” (''zhwa nag''). (Source: "Dus gsum mkhyen pa." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 274–5. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
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. +
