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From Khyentse Lineage - A Tsadra Foundation Project
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Gyurme Tsewang Tenpel was one of the four sons of Chogyur Lingpa's daughter Könchok Paldrön. He was recognized as the rebirth of his mother's brother, Tsewang Drakpa, the oldest son of Chogyur Lingpa, and so he became known as Tersey Tulku, "the Emanation of the Treasure-revealer's Son." He was instrumental in the transmission of grandfather's Treasures to many of last generation of lineage holders, such as the late Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, who was his nephew, and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. +
Jamyang Loter Wangpo was an important Rime Sakya master of Ngor Thartse Monastery who played a key role in the Rimé movement. He was a disciple of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and a teacher of Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö. He is well known for compiling the Compendium of Tantras under the inspiration of his guru, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo as well as publishing the very first printed edition of the Explanation for Private Disciples of the Lamdre system of the Sakya School, which before that had been transmitted only orally and was tenuously preserved in manuscript form. Jamyang Loter Wangpo also received Dzogchen instructions from Nyoshul Lungtok. The collection of 139 painted mandala thangkas for the Compendium of Tantras was saved in 1958 by Sonam Gyatso Thartse Khen Rinpoche, and later published in more than one edition. (Source: [https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Jamyang_Loter_Wangpo Rigpa Wiki]) +
Dzongsar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro was one of the most influential religious teachers in Kham in the first half of the twentieth century. One of multiple reincarnations of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, he served as head of Dzongsar Monastery, which he enlarged, founding the monastic college, Khamshe, in 1918. Chokyi Lodro fled Kham in 1955 during the Communist takeover of Tibet, settling in Sikkim, where he passed away in 1959. ([http://www.treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Jamyang-Khyentse-Chokyi-Lodro/9990 Source: Treasury of Lives]). Also see his collected works at [https://khyentselineage.tsadra.org/index.php/%27jam_dbyangs_mkhyen_brtse_chos_kyi_blo_gros Tsadra Foundation's Khyentse Lineage webiste] and the translations of his texts at [https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/jamyang-khyentse-chokyi-lodro/ Lotsawa House]. +
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Jñānapāda (autonym: Buddhajñāna, also referred to as Buddhaśrījñāna, *Buddhajñānapāda, *Śrījñānapāda; fl. c. 770–820 CE), was one of the most influential figures of mature Indian esoteric Buddhism. He is remembered first and foremost as the founder of the earlier of the two most important exegetical schools of the Guhyasamājatantra (→BEB I, Guhyasamāja), but he was also very likely a guru of some note in the Pāla court, the dominant power in East India at the time, and the first warden of the famous Vikramaśīla monastery. (Source: [https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/search?s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopedia-of-buddhism&search-go=&s.q=J%C3%B1%C4%81nap%C4%81da Brill Encyclopedia of Buddhism Online]) +
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Candragomin. (T. Btsun pa zla ba). Fifth-century CE Indian lay poet and grammarian, who made substantial contributions
to Sanskrit grammar, founding what was known as the Cāndra school. A junior contemporary of the great Kālidāsa, Candragomin was one of the most accomplished poets in the history of Indian Buddhism. His play ''Lokānanda'', which tells the story of the bodhisattva king Maṇicūḍa, is the oldest extant Buddhist play and was widely performed in the centuries after
its composition. He was a devotee of Tārā and composed several works in her praise. Tibetan works describe him as a proponent of Vijñānavãda who engaged in debate with Candrakīrti, but there is little philosophical content in his works that can be confidently ascribed to him. Among those works are the "Letter to a Disciple" (''Śiṣyalekha''), the "Confessional Praise" (''Deśanāstava''), and perhaps the "Twenty Verses on the Bodhisattva Precepts" (''Bodhisattvasaṃvaraviṃśaka''). (Source: "Candragomin." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 165. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
Candrākaragupta, often referred to in Tibetan as the Scholar with a Golden Umbrella (paN+Di ta gser gdugs can) was an Indian Buddhist scholar known for his sādhana practice of Mañjuśrī in the form of prajñācakra (''shes rab 'khor lo). +
Chöje Lingpa, also known as Rokje Lingpa as well as several other names, was initially recognized as the rebirth of a Kagyu master by the Seventh Shamarpa and installed at Rechung Phuk, an institution named after Milarepa's disciple Rechungpa and the site where Tsangnyön Heruka wrote his famous biography of Milarepa. Though Chöje Lingpa he would become an important teacher to several important Kagyu hierarchs including the Karmapa and Shamarpa, he we also involved with several Nyingma masters, including the tertön Taksham Nuden Dorje who granted him prophecies and made him the steward of his treasures. He would become a prolific tertön in his own right and came to be considered the penultimate emanation of Gyalse Lhaje, prior to his rebirth as Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. +
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His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, describes himself as a simple Buddhist monk. He is the spiritual leader of Tibet. He was born on 6 July 1935, to a farming family, in a small hamlet located in Taktser, Amdo, northeastern Tibet. At the age of two, the child, then named Lhamo Dhondup, was recognized as the reincarnation of the previous 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso.
The Dalai Lamas are believed to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and the patron saint of Tibet. Bodhisattvas are realized beings inspired by a wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings, who have vowed to be reborn in the world to help humanity. ([https://www.dalailama.com/the-dalai-lama/biography-and-daily-life/brief-biography Read more here . . .]) +
Dhongthog Rinpoche Tenpé Gyaltsen (Wyl. gdong thog bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan) aka T.G. Dhongthog Rinpoche (1933-2015) was one of the foremost Tibetan Buddhist scholars of recent times, noted especially for his work as a historian, lexicographer and prolific author. From 1979 Rinpoche was based in Seattle, USA. He published a number of books in Tibetan and English, especially through the Sapan Institute, of which he was the founding-director.
After being recognized as the fifth reincarnation of Jampal Rigpai Raldri by the Sakya Dagchen Ngawang Kunga Rinchen, Rinpoche studied Tibetan literature and Buddhist philosophy at Dzongsar Shedra. Before leaving Tibet in 1957, Rinpoche was the head teacher of Dhongthog Rigdrol Phuntsog Ling Monastery, Kardze, Tibet. Rinpoche served the Tibetan Government-in-Exile for 13 years before moving to the United States in 1979. In those 13 years, Rinpoche worked at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala and at Tibet House in New Delhi.
He wrote several books, including The History of Sakyapa School of Tibetan Buddhism, The Cleansing Water-drops, The Earth Shaking Thunder of True Word, The History of Tibet, and New Light English-Tibetan Dictionary. In addition, he worked as a translator and editor on the Tibetan version of Sogyal Rinpoche's The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying and translated David Jackson's biography of Dezhung Rinpoche into Tibetan.
Ven. Dhongthog Rinpoche passed away on the morning of 13th January, 2015 in Seattle, Washington.
([http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Dhongthog_Rinpoche Source Accessed, April 10, 2015]) +
"After the death of 'Jam dbyangs chos kyi grags pa (the 3rd Drukchen or Gyalwang Drukpa), monks found the rebirth in the house of a minor aristocrat of Kongpo, to the disappointment of both the families of Rwa lung and Bya. This child, the sprul sku Ngag dbang nor bu, was to be the great Padma dkar po. Padma dkar po was one of those rare renaissance men. The breadth of his scholarship and learning invites comparison with the Fifth Dalai Lama. It was Padma dkar po who systematized the teaching of the 'Brug pa sect. It is no wonder that the 'Brug pa Bka' brgyud pa always refer to him as Kun mkhyen, the Omniscient, an epithet reserved for the greatest scholar of a sect. Padma dkar po was a shrewd and occasionally ruthless politician. His autobiography is one of the most important sources for the history of the sixteenth century. Padma dkar po was a monk and insisted on adherence to the vinaya rules for his monastic followers. He also held that in the administration of church affairs the claims of the rebirth and the monastic scholar took priority over those of the scion of a revered lineage. Although he preached often at both Rwa lung and Bkra shis mthong smon, the seats of his two immediate predecessors, he never exercised actual control over these monasteries and their estates. He founded his monastery at Gsang sngags chos gling in Byar po, north of Mon Rta dbang, which became the seat of the subsequent Rgyal dbang 'Brug pa incarnation." (Gene Smith, ''Among Tibetan Texts'', 81) +
Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche or Dudjom Jikdral Yeshe Dorje (Tib. བདུད་འཇོམས་འཇིགས་བྲལ་ཡེ་ཤེས་རྡོ་རྗེ་, Wyl. bdud 'joms 'jigs bral ye shes rdo rje) (1904-1987) — one of Tibet’s foremost yogins, scholars, and meditation masters. He was recognized as the incarnation of Dudjom Lingpa (1835-1904), whose previous incarnations included the greatest masters, yogins and panditas such as Shariputra, Saraha and Khye'u Chung Lotsawa. Considered to be the living representative of Padmasambhava, he was a great revealer of the ‘treasures’ (terma) concealed by Padmasambhava. A prolific author and meticulous scholar, Dudjom Rinpoche wrote more than forty volumes, one of the best known of which is his monumental ''The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History''. Over the last decade of his life he spent much time teaching in the West, where he helped to establish the Nyingma tradition, founding major centres in France and the United States. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Dudjom_Rinpoche Source Accessed Feb 20, 2020]) +
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Khandipa was a low-caste sweeper who made his clothes by sewing rags together. A yogin offered to teach him the dharma and gave him the Cakrasaṃvara initiation. However, Khandipa was unable to make any progress because he kept thinking about sewing. In order to overcome his distraction, the yogin told him how to use those thoughts in his meditation practice, explaining that in reality there is no sewing and there is nothing to be sewn. After twelve years of meditation, Khandipa achieved mahāmudrā. (Source: Lopez Jr., Donald S. ''Seeing the Sacred in Samsara: An Illustrated Guide to the Eighty-Four Mahāsiddhas''. Boulder: Shambhala Publications, 2019: p. 93.) +
Theckchok Dorje was born in the village of Danang in the Kham region of eastern Tibet. He was born in mid-winter, and the histories say that flowers spontaneously blossomed and many rainbows appeared. The baby recited the Sanskrit alphabet. He was recognized by Drukchen Kunzig Chokyi Nangwa, the holder of the thirteenth Karmapa’s letter giving the details of his forthcoming reincarnation. He was enthroned and later ordained by the ninth Tai Situpa. The Karmapa received teachings and the lineage transmissions from Situ Pema Nyinche Wangpo and Drukchen Kunzig Chokyi Nangwa. (Source: [https://kagyuoffice.org/kagyu-lineage/the-golden-rosary/the-14th-karmapa-theckchok-dorje/ Kagyu Office]) +
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 Pel 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. ([http://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Third-Karmapa-Rangjung-Dorje/9201 Read more at the source: Treasury of Lives]) +
Katok Situ Chökyi Gyatso was the third incarnation from Katok monastery of the great master from Palpung, Situ Panchen Chökyi Jungné. He was born in 1880, near Katok monastery, and was the nephew of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. He received his name Chos kyi rgya mtsho during his ordination, in front of Jamgön Kongtrul and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. Following his ordination, miraculous signs appeared which led to his recognition as the reincarnation of the deceased Katok Situ. He was then brought to Katok Dorje Den, where he studied the sutras and tantras from more than eighteen great masters, particularly Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Jamgön Kongtrul, Patrul Rinpoche and Mipham Rinpoche. After Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo passed he begged Jamgön Kongtrul to recognize an incarnation of the great master for Katok monastery. Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö was recognized as Katok Khyentse and Katok Situ Chökyi Gyatso took care of his upbringing and education. (Source: [https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Katok_Situ_Ch%C3%B6kyi_Gyatso Rigpa Wiki]) +
Dilgo Khyentse Tashi Peljor was one of the most prominent Nyingma lamas of the twentieth century, widely known also in the West. The mind reincarnation of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, his seat was Shechen Monastery, which he reestablished in Boudhanath, Nepal, in 1980. After fleeing the Communist takeover of Tibet, Dilgo Khyentse settled in Bhutan. A prolific author and treasure-revealer, his compositions are collected in twenty-five volumes. Although he received novice vows at age ten, he never fully ordained, living the life of a householder with wife and children. ([http://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Dilgo-Khyentse-Tashi-Peljor/P625 Source: Treasury of Lives]) +
Also known as Klong chen pa (Longchenpa). An esteemed master and scholar of the Rnying ma sect of Tibetan Buddhism known especially for his promulgation of rdogs chen. Klong chen pa is believed to be the direct reincarnation of Padma las 'brel rtsal, who revealed the ''Rdzogs chen snying thig'', and also of Padma gsal, who first received those teachings from the Indian master Padmasambhava. Born in the central region of G.yo ru (Yoru), he received ordination at the age of twelve. At nineteen, he entered Gsang phu ne'u thog monastery where he engaged in a wide range of studies, including philosophy, numerous systems of sūtra and tantra, and the traditional Buddhist sciences, including grammar and poetics. Having trained under masters as diverse as the abbots of Gsang phu ne'u thog and the third Karma pa, Rang 'byung rdo rje, he achieved great scholarly mastery of numerous traditions, including the Rnying ma, Sa skya, and Bka' brgyud sects. However, Klong chen pa quickly became disillusioned at the arrogance and pretention of many scholars of his day, and in his mid-twenties gave up the monastery to pursue the life of a wandering ascetic. At twenty-nine, he met the great yogin Kumārarāja at Bsam yas monastery, who accepted him as a disciple and transmitted the three classes of rdzogs chen (rdzogs chen sde gsum), a corpus of materials that would become a fundamental part of Klong chen pa's later writings and teaching career . . . Among the most important and well-known works in Klong chen pa's extensive literary corpus are his redaction of the meditation and ritual manuals of the heart essence (Snying thig), composed mainly in the hermitage of Gangs ri thod dkar. Other important works include his exegesis on the theory and practice of rdzogs chen, such as the Mdzod bdun (“seven treasuries”) and the Ngal gso skor gsum (“Trilogy on Rest”). (Source: “Klong chen rab 'byams.” In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 439. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
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Murub Tsenpo was the second of the three sons of King Trisong Deutsen. Also known as Yeshe Rolpa Tsal and Lhase Lotsāwa, several prominent tertöns were considered to be his emanations, including Sangye Lingpa, Zhikpo Lingpa, and Chogyur Lingpa. +
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Known in Tibetan as the "Lord of Love" or the "Noble Loving One" འཕགས་པ་བྱམས་པ། (Pakpa Jampa), the "Loving Protector" བྱམས་པའི་མགོན་པོ་ (Jampay Gonpo), in Chinese as 弥勒佛 (Mi Le Fo), Japanese as Miroku, and commonly as Maitreya throughout Asia and beyond. Maitreya is the bodhisattva called the "future Buddha" who resides in Tushita heaven until coming to the human realm to take the role of the next Buddha after Śākyamuni Buddha. According to tradition, Asaṅga received teachings from Maitreya and recorded them in the Five Dharma Treatises of Maitreya, which form the basis for buddha-nature teachings and the larger Yogācāra teachings in general.
The list of five is: Ornament of Clear Realization (Abhisamayālaṃkāra, mngon rtogs rgyan, 現觀莊嚴論); Ornament for the Mahāyāna Sūtras (Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra, theg pa chen po mdo sde rgyan, 大乘莊嚴經論); Differentiation of the Middle and the Extremes (Madhyāntavibhāga, dbus mtha' rnam 'byed, 辨中邊論頌); Differentiation of Phenomena and Their Nature (Dharmadharmatāvibhāga, chos dang chos nyid rnam 'byed, 辨法法性論); and The Mahāyāna Treatise of the Highest Continuum (Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra, theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos, 分別寶性大乘無上續論). +
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Nāgārjuna was living in his hermitage when a thief approached, intending to rob him. Reading his mind, he threw a golden plate out his door. The thief became his disciple, receiving the Guhyasamāja initiation and instructions on how to overcome his greed by visualizing the things that he desired as horns on his head. Placing a pile of jewels in the corner, Nāgārjuna told him that jewels have no inherent value and to
meditate on the clear light. The thief, named Nāgabodhi, was so successful in his meditation that horns grew from his head; they were so large that he bumped into things wherever he went. Nāgārjuna taught him that everything is empty of intrinsic nature and that believing that they are not is a cause of suffering. After six years of meditation, Nāgabodhi understood the inseparability of samsara and nirvana and attained the eight siddhis. Nāgārjuna told him to remain in the world for two thousand years working for the benefit of sentient beings. (Source: Lopez Jr., Donald S. ''Seeing the Sacred in Samsara: An Illustrated Guide to the Eighty-Four Mahāsiddhas''. Boulder: Shambhala Publications, 2019: 195.) +
