1.
Samye
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Samye was the first gompa built in Tibet. The monastery is in Dranang, Lhoka and it was supposedly modeled on the design of Odantapuri in what is now Bihar, India. The 18th century Puning Temple built by the Qianlong Emperor of Qing China in Chengde, according to tradition, the Indian monk Śāntarakṣita made the first attempt to construct the monastery while promoting his sutra-centric version of Buddhism. Finding the Samye site auspicious, he set about to build a structure there, however, the building would always collapse after reaching a certain stage. Terrified, the workers believed that there was a demon or obstructive tulku in a nearby river making trouble. When Shantarakshitas contemporary Padmasambhava arrived from northern India, he was able to subdue the energetic problems obstructing the building of Samye and he went on to say that after Padmasambhava consecrated the ground he erected a thread-cross — a web colored thread woven around two sticks — to catch evil. Then the purifying energy of his dance forced the malevolent spirits into a skull mounted on top of a pyramid of dough. His tantric dance cleared away all the obstacles, enabling the monastery to be built in 767. )The abovementioned quotation makes reference to the relationship of the kīla to the stupa and mentions torma and namkha. Moreover, the building of Samye marked the foundation of the school of Tibetan Buddhism. This helps explain how Padmasambhavas Tantra-centric version of Buddhism gained ascendence over the teaching of Śāntarakṣita. Pehar, later known as Dorje Drakden, became the protector of the Dalai Lamas. The original buildings have long disappeared, as late as the late 1980s pigs and other farm animals were allowed to wander through the sacred buildings. 792-797. Gazing-at-mind is an original Northern teaching, as will become clear, Poa-tang and the Northern Chan dovetail in the Tibetan sources. Mo-ho-yens teaching seems typical of late Northern Chan, mo-ho-yen arrived on the central Tibetan scene somewhat late in comparison to the Chan transmissions from Szechwan. Samye Monastery is laid out on the shape of a giant mandala, other buildings stand at the corners and cardinal points of the main temple, representing continents and other features of tantric Buddhist cosmology. In corners are 4 chörtens - white, red, green, many Tibetan Buddhists come on pilgrimage to Samye, some taking weeks to make the journey. Rene de Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Tibetan Religious Dances Yeshe Tsogyel, The Life, kenneth Douglas and Gwendolyn Bays Pearlman, Ellen. Tibetan Sacred Dance, a journey into the religious and folk traditions, ISBN 0-89281-918-9 Luke Wagner and Ben Deitle
2.
Buddhism
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Buddhism is a religion and dharma that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. Buddhism originated in India sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, from where it spread through much of Asia, two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars, Theravada and Mahayana. Buddhism is the worlds fourth-largest religion, with over 500 million followers or 7% of the global population, Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to liberation, the importance and canonicity of various teachings and scriptures, and especially their respective practices. In Theravada the ultimate goal is the attainment of the state of Nirvana, achieved by practicing the Noble Eightfold Path, thus escaping what is seen as a cycle of suffering. Theravada has a following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Mahayana, which includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon, rather than Nirvana, Mahayana instead aspires to Buddhahood via the bodhisattva path, a state wherein one remains in the cycle of rebirth to help other beings reach awakening. Vajrayana, a body of teachings attributed to Indian siddhas, may be viewed as a branch or merely a part of Mahayana. Tibetan Buddhism, which preserves the Vajrayana teachings of eighth century India, is practiced in regions surrounding the Himalayas, Tibetan Buddhism aspires to Buddhahood or rainbow body. Buddhism is an Indian religion attributed to the teachings of Buddha, the details of Buddhas life are mentioned in many early Buddhist texts but are inconsistent, his social background and life details are difficult to prove, the precise dates uncertain. Some hagiographic legends state that his father was a king named Suddhodana, his mother queen Maya, and he was born in Lumbini gardens. Some of the stories about Buddha, his life, his teachings, Buddha was moved by the innate suffering of humanity. He meditated on this alone for a period of time, in various ways including asceticism, on the nature of suffering. He famously sat in meditation under a Ficus religiosa tree now called the Bodhi Tree in the town of Bodh Gaya in Gangetic plains region of South Asia. He reached enlightenment, discovering what Buddhists call the Middle Way, as an enlightened being, he attracted followers and founded a Sangha. Now, as the Buddha, he spent the rest of his teaching the Dharma he had discovered. Dukkha is a concept of Buddhism and part of its Four Noble Truths doctrine. It can be translated as incapable of satisfying, the unsatisfactory nature, the Four Truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism, we crave and cling to impermanent states and things, which is dukkha, incapable of satisfying and painful. This keeps us caught in saṃsāra, the cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha
3.
Tibet
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Tibet is a region on the Tibetan Plateau in Asia, spanning about 2.4 million km2 and nearly a quarter of Chinas territory. Tibet is the highest region on Earth, with an elevation of 4,900 metres. The highest elevation in Tibet is Mount Everest, Earths highest mountain, the Tibetan Empire emerged in the 7th century, but with the fall of the empire the region soon divided into a variety of territories. The current borders of Tibet were generally established in the 18th century, following the Xinhai Revolution against the Qing dynasty in 1912, Qing soldiers were disarmed and escorted out of Tibet Area. The region subsequently declared its independence in 1913 without recognition by the subsequent Chinese Republican government, later, Lhasa took control of the western part of Xikang, China. There are tensions regarding Tibets political status and dissident groups that are active in exile and it is also said that Tibetan activists in Tibet have been arrested or tortured. The economy of Tibet is dominated by agriculture, though tourism has become a growing industry in recent decades. The dominant religion in Tibet is Tibetan Buddhism, in there is Bön, which is similar to Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism is an influence on the art, music. Tibetan architecture reflects Chinese and Indian influences, staple foods in Tibet are roasted barley, yak meat, and butter tea. The Tibetan name for their land, Bod བོད་, means Tibet or Tibetan Plateau, although it meant the central region around Lhasa. The Standard Tibetan pronunciation of Bod, is transcribed Bhö in Tournadre Phonetic Transcription, Bö in the THL Simplified Phonetic Transcription and Poi in Tibetan pinyin. Tibetan people, language, and culture, regardless of where they are from, are referred to as Zang although the geographical term Xīzàng is often limited to the Tibet Autonomous Region. The term Xīzàng was coined during the Qing dynasty in the reign of the Jiaqing Emperor through the addition of a prefix meaning west to Zang, the best-known medieval Chinese name for Tibet is Tubo. This name first appears in Chinese characters as 土番 in the 7th century, in the Middle Chinese spoken during that period, as reconstructed by William H. Baxter, 土番 was pronounced thux-phjon and 吐蕃 was pronounced thux-pjon. Other pre-modern Chinese names for Tibet include Wusiguo, Wusizang, Tubote, the English word Tibet or Thibet dates back to the 18th century. Historical linguists generally agree that Tibet names in European languages are loanwords from Semitic Ṭībat orTūbātt, itself deriving from Turkic Töbäd, literally, according to Matthew Kapstein, From the perspective of historical linguistics, Tibetan most closely resembles Burmese among the major languages of Asia. More controversial is the theory that the Tibeto-Burman family is part of a larger language family, called Sino-Tibetan
4.
Nyingma
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The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Nyingma literally means ancient, and is referred to as Ngangyur because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Old Tibetan in the eighth century. The Tibetan alphabet and grammar was created for this endeavour, in modern times, the Nyingma lineage has been centered in Kham. The Nyingmapa, a Red Hat sect of Tibetan Buddhism, incorporate local religious practices and local deities and elements of shamanism, the group particularly believes in hidden terma treasures. Traditionally, Nyingmapa practice was advanced orally among a network of lay practitioners. Monasteries with celibate monks and nuns, along with the practice of reincarnated spiritual leaders are later adaptations, Nyingma maintains the earliest tantra teachings that have been given the popular nomenclature of Vajrayana. Early Vajrayana that was transmitted from India to Tibet may be differentiated by the specific term Mantrayana, T least in Eastern Tibet, there existed during and after the time of Lha-tho-tho-ri a solid knowledge of Buddhism and that the upper classes of the people were faithfully devoted to it. But the border regions in the north and west probably had also come into contact with Buddhism long before the time of Srong-btsan-sgam-po, there used to be contacts with the Tibetan population in these border regions. It is possible that the knowledge gained from these encounters was spread by merchants over large areas of Tibet, thus, when Srong-btsan-sgam-po succeeded to the throne of Tibet in the year 627, the country was ready for a systematic missionary drive under royal patronage. Around 760, Trisong Detsen invited Padmasambhava and the Nalanda abbot Śāntarakṣita to Tibet to introduce Buddhism to the Land of Snows, Trisong Detsen ordered the translation of all Buddhist texts into Tibetan. Padmasambhava, Śāntarakṣita,108 translators, and 25 of Padmasambhavas nearest disciples worked for years in a gigantic translation-project. The translations from this period formed the base for the large scriptural transmission of Dharma teachings into Tibet, Padmasambhava supervised mainly the translation of tantras, Śāntarakṣita concentrated on the sutras. Padmasambhava and Śāntarakṣita also founded the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet, from this basis, Tantric Buddhism was established in its entirety in Tibet. From the eighth until the eleventh century, the Nyingma was the school of Buddhism in Tibet. Langdarma persecuted monks and nuns, and attempted to wipe out Buddhism and his efforts, however, were not successful. A few monks escaped to Amdo in the northeast of Tibet, indeed, the Nyingma traditionally had no centralized authority or Nyingma-wide hierarchy. Only since the Tibetan diaspora following the Chinese annexure of Tibet have the Nyingma had a head of the Tradition, even so, the Nyingma tradition is still politically decentralized and often decisions are made in an oligarchy or community of the senior sangha within a given jurisdiction or locale. There was never a single head of the lineage in the manner of either the Ganden Tripa or Dalai Lama of the Gelug and it was only recently in exile in India that this role was created at the request of the Central Tibetan Administration and it is largely administrative
5.
Tibetan Buddhism
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Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet, the regions surrounding the Himalayas and much of Central Asia. It derives from the latest stages of Indian Buddhism and preserves the Tantric status quo of eighth-century India, Tibetan Buddhism aspires to Buddhahood or rainbow body. Religious texts and commentaries comprise the Tibetan Buddhist canon, such that Tibetan is a language of these areas. Among its prominent exponents is the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, the number of its adherents is estimated to be between ten and twenty million. Westerners unfamiliar with Tibetan Buddhism initially turned to China for an understanding, there the term used was lamaism to distinguish it from a then traditional Chinese form. The term was taken up by scholars including Hegel, as early as 1822. Insofar as it implies a discontinuity between Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, the term has been discredited, another term, Vajrayāna is occasionally used mistakenly for Tibetan Buddhism. More accurately, it signifies a certain subset of practices included in, not only Tibetan Buddhism, the native Tibetan term for all Buddhism is doctrine of the internalists. There is an association between the religious and the secular the spiritual and the temporal in Tibet. The term for this relationship is chos srid zung brel, in the west the term Indo-Tibetan Buddhism has become current, in acknowledgement of its derivation from the latest stages of Buddhist development in northern India. Tibetan Buddhism comprises the teachings of the three vehicles of Buddhism, the Foundational Vehicle, Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna, the Mahāyāna goal of spiritual development is to achieve the enlightenment of buddhahood in order to most efficiently help all other sentient beings attain this state. The motivation in it is the mind of enlightenment — an altruistic intention to become enlightened for the sake of all sentient beings. Bodhisattvas are revered beings who have conceived the will and vow to dedicate their lives with bodhicitta for the sake of all beings, Tibetan Buddhism teaches methods for achieving buddhahood more quickly by including the Vajrayāna path in Mahāyāna. Buddhahood is defined as a free of the obstructions to liberation as well as those to omniscience. When one is freed from all mental obscurations, one is said to attain a state of continuous bliss mixed with a simultaneous cognition of emptiness, in this state, all limitations on ones ability to help other living beings are removed. It is said there are countless beings who have attained buddhahood. Buddhas spontaneously, naturally and continuously perform activities to all sentient beings. However it is believed that ones karma could limit the ability of the Buddhas to help them, there is a long history of oral transmission of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism
6.
Nepal
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Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked central Himalayan country in South Asia. Nepal is divided into 7 provinces and 75 districts and 744 local units including 4 metropolises,13 sub-metropolises,246 municipal councils and 481 village and it has a population of 26.4 million and is the 93rd largest country by area. Bordering China in the north and India in the south, east, Nepal does not border Bangladesh, which is located within only 27 km of its southeastern tip. It neither borders Bhutan due to the Indian state of Sikkim being located in between, Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the worlds ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Kathmandu is the capital and largest city. It is a nation with Nepali as the official language. The territory of Nepal has a history since the Neolithic age. The name Nepal is first recorded in texts from the Vedic Age, the era which founded Hinduism, in the middle of the first millennium BCE, Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in southern Nepal. Parts of northern Nepal were intertwined with the culture of Tibet, the Kathmandu Valley in central Nepal became known as Nepal proper because of its complex urban civilization. It was the seat of the prosperous Newar confederacy known as Nepal Mandala, the Himalayan branch of the ancient Silk Road was dominated by the valleys traders. The cosmopolitan region developed distinct traditional art and architecture, by the 18th century, the Gorkha Kingdom achieved the unification of Nepal. The Shah dynasty established the Kingdom of Nepal and later formed an alliance with the British Empire, the country was never colonized but served as a buffer state between Imperial China and Colonial India. In the 20th century, Nepal ended its isolation and forged ties with regional powers. Parliamentary democracy was introduced in 1951, but was suspended by Nepalese monarchs in 1960 and 2005. The Nepalese Civil War resulted in the proclamation of a republic in 2008, modern Nepal is a federal secular parliamentary republic. Nepal is a nation, ranking 144th on the Human Development Index in 2016. The country struggles with the transition from a monarchy to a republic and it also suffers from high levels of hunger and poverty. Despite these challenges, Nepal is making progress, with the government declaring its commitment to elevate the nation from least developed country status by 2022
7.
Arabs
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Arabs are an ethnic group inhabiting the Arab world. They primarily live in the Arab states in Western Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Arabs are first mentioned in the mid-ninth century BCE as a tribal people dwelling in the central Arabian Peninsula. The Arabs appear to have been under the vassalage of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, tradition holds that Arabs descend from Ishmael, the son of Abraham. The Arabian Desert is the birthplace of Arab, there are other Arab groups as well that spread in the land and existed for millennia. Before the expansion of the Caliphate, Arab referred to any of the largely nomadic Semitic people from the northern to the central Arabian Peninsula and Syrian Desert. Presently, Arab refers to a number of people whose native regions form the Arab world due to spread of Arabs throughout the region during the early Arab conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries. The Arabs forged the Rashidun, Umayyad and the Abbasid caliphates, whose borders reached southern France in the west, China in the east, Anatolia in the north, and this was one of the largest land empires in history. The Great Arab Revolt has had as big an impact on the modern Middle East as the World War I, the war signaled the end of the Ottoman Empire. They are modern states and became significant as distinct political entities after the fall and defeat, following adoption of the Alexandria Protocol in 1944, the Arab League was founded on 22 March 1945. The Charter of the Arab League endorsed the principle of an Arab homeland whilst respecting the sovereignty of its member states. Beyond the boundaries of the League of Arab States, Arabs can also be found in the global diaspora, the ties that bind Arabs are ethnic, linguistic, cultural, historical, identical, nationalist, geographical and political. The Arabs have their own customs, language, architecture, art, literature, music, dance, media, cuisine, dress, society, sports, the total number of Arabs are an estimated 450 million. This makes them the second largest ethnic group after the Han Chinese. Arabs are a group in terms of religious affiliations and practices. In the pre-Islamic era, most Arabs followed polytheistic religions, some tribes had adopted Christianity or Judaism, and a few individuals, the hanifs, apparently observed monotheism. Today, Arabs are mainly adherents of Islam, with sizable Christian minorities, Arab Muslims primarily belong to the Sunni, Shiite, Ibadi, Alawite, Druze and Ismaili denominations. Arab Christians generally follow one of the Eastern Christian Churches, such as the Maronite, Coptic Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, or Chaldean churches. Listed among the booty captured by the army of king Shalmaneser III of Assyria in the Battle of Qarqar are 1000 camels of Gi-in-di-buu the ar-ba-a-a or Gindibu belonging to the Arab
8.
Kagyu
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Along with the Sakya and Gelug schools, the Kagyu tradition is classified as one of the Sarma or New Transmission schools of Vajrayāna founded during the second diffusion of Buddhism into Tibet. It is a Red Hat sect along with the Nyingma and Sakya and these lineages are hereditary as well as mindstream emanation in nature. Strictly speaking, the term bka brgyud oral lineage, precept transmission applies to any line of transmission of a teaching from teacher to disciple. There are references to the Atiśa kagyu for the Kadam or to Jonang kagyu for the Jonang, today, however, the term Kagyu almost always refers to the Dagpo Kagyu and, less often, to the Shangpa Kagyu. The term Bka brgyud pa simply applies to any line of transmission of a teaching from teacher to disciple. We can properly speak of a Jo nang Bka brgyud pa or Dge ldan Bka brgyud pa for the Jo nang pa, similar teachings and practices centering around the Ni gu chos drug are distinctive of the Shangs pa Bka brgyud pa. These two traditions with their offshoots are often referred to simply as Bka brgyud pa. The term Dkar brgyud pa refers to the use of the white cotton meditation garment by all these lineages and this complex is what is normally known, inaccuratly, as the Bka brgyud pa. Nevertheless, it is fine if are all called Bka brgyud, at Thuu kwans suggestion, then, we will side with convention and use the term Bka brgyud. One source indicates, he term Kagyu derives from the Tibetan phrase meaning Lineage of the Four Commissioners, the Shangpa Kagyu differs in origin from the better known Marpa or Dagpo school that is the source of all present-day Kagyu schools. The Dagpo school and its branches primarily came from the lineage of the Indian siddhas Tilopa and Naropa transmitted in Tibet through Marpa, Milarepa, Gampopa and their successors. In contrast, the Shangpa lineage descended from two female siddhas, Naropas consort Niguma and Virupas disciple Sukhasiddhi, transmitted in Tibet in the 11th century through Khyungpo Nenjor, the tradition takes its name from the Shang Valley where Khyungpo Nenjor established the gompa of Zhongzhong or Zhangzhong. For seven generations, the Shangpa Kagyu lineage remained a one-to-one transmission, although there were a few temples and retreat centres in Tibet and Bhutan associated with the Shangpa transmission, it never really was established as an independent religious institution or sect. Rather, its teachings were transmitted down through the centuries by lamas belonging to different schools. In the 20th century, the Shangpa teachings were transmitted by the first Kalu Rinpoche, who studied at Palpung Monastery, the seat of the Tai Situpa. Kagyu begins in Tibet with Marpa Lotsawa who trained as a translator with Drogmi Lotsawa Shākya Yeshe and his principal gurus were the siddhas Nāropa - from whom he received the close lineage of Mahāmudrā and Tantric teachings, and Maitrīpāda - from whom he received the distant lineage of mahāmudrā. Marpas guru Nāropa was the disciple of Tilopa from East Bengal. From his own teachers Tilopa received the Four Lineages of Instructions, Marpa married the Lady Dagmema, and took eight other concubines as mudras
9.
Sakya
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This articles concerns the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. For information on the ancient Śākya tribe, see Shakya, the Sakya school is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug. It is one of the Red Hat sects along with the Nyingma, the Sakya tradition developed during the second period of translation of Buddhist scripture from Sanskrit into Tibetan in the late 11th century. Konchog Gyalpo became Drogmis disciple on the advice of his elder brother, from Drokmi comes the supreme teaching of Sakya, the system of Lamdre Path and its Fruit deriving from the mahasiddha Virupa based upon the Hevajra Tantra. Mal Lotsawa introduced to Sakya the esoteric Vajrayogini lineage known as Naro Khachoma, from Bari Lotsawa came innumerable tantric practices, foremost of which was the cycle of practices known as the One Hundred Sadhanas. Other key transmissions that form part of the Sakya spiritual curriculum include the cycles of Vajrakilaya, Mahākāla and Guhyasamāja tantras. The main Dharma system of the Sakya school is the Path with its Result, the other major system of the Sakya school is the Naropa Explanation For Disciples. In due course, two subsects emerged from the main Sakya lineage, Ngor, founded in Tsang by Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo, the Ngor school is centered on Ngor Evam Choden monastery. It represents 85% of the Sakyapa school and most if not all the monasteries in India are Ngorpa, tshar, founded by Tsarchen Losal Gyamtso. Nalendra became the home of the whispered-lineage of the Tsar school, the Bodongpa tradition, founded by Bodong Panchen Chögle Namgyel, is considered by some scholars to be a sub-sect of the Sakya tradition. The Mongol conquest of Tibet began after the foundation of the Mongol Empire in the early 13th century, in 1264, the feudal reign over Tibet was given to Drogön Chögyal Phagpa by Kublai Khan, founder of the Yuan dynasty. The leaders of the Sakya regime were as follows, Drogön Chögyal Phagpa 1253-1280 Dharmapala Raksita 1280-1282, d. The present Sakya Trizin, Ngawang Kunga Tegchen Palbar Trinley Samphel Wanggi Gyalpo, today, he resides in Rajpur, India along with his wife, Gyalyum Kushok Tashi Lhakyi, and two sons Ratna Vajra Rinpoche and Gyana Vajra Rinpoche. Ratna Vajra Rinpoche being the son, is the lineage holder and is married to Dagmo Kalden Dunkyi Sakya. Traditionally hereditary succession alternates between the two Sakya palaces since Khon Könchok Gyelpos reign, the Ducho sub-dynasty of Sakya survives split into two palaces, the Dolma Phodrang and Phuntsok Phodrang. Sakya Trizin is head of the Dolma Phodrang, dagchen Sakyas father was the previous Sakya Trizin, Trichen Ngawang Thutop Wangchuk, throne holder of Sakya, and his mother Dechen Drolma. Dagchen Sakya was married to Her Eminence Dagmo Jamyang Kusho Sakya, they have five sons, without Khyentse and Kongtruls collecting and printing of rare works, the suppression of Buddhism by the Communists would have been much more final. Tibet under Yuan rule Sakya Monastery Lamdré Tibetan Buddhism Jonang Patron and priest relationship Davidson, preliminary Studies on Hevajras Abhisamaya and the Lam bras Tshogs bshad
10.
Gelug
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The Gelug, Gelug-pa, dGe Lugs Pa, dge-lugs-pa or Dgelugspa is the newest of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It was founded by Je Tsongkhapa, a philosopher and Tibetan religious leader, the first monastery he established was named Ganden, and to this day the Ganden Tripa is the nominal head of the school, though its most influential figure is the Dalai Lama. Allying themselves with the Mongols as a patron, the Gelug emerged as the pre-eminent Buddhist school in Tibet since the end of the 16th century. Ganden is the Tibetan rendition of the Sanskrit name Tushita, the Pure land associated with Maitreya Buddha, at first, Tsongkhapas school was called Ganden Choluk meaning the Spiritual Lineage of Ganden. By taking the first syllable of Ganden and the second of Choluk this was abbreviated to Galuk, the Gelug school was founded by Je Tsongkhapa. A great admirer of the Kadam school, Tsongkhapa was a promoter of the Kadam emphasis on the Mahayana principle of compassion as the fundamental spiritual orientation. He combined this with extensive writings on Madhyamaka and Nagarjunas philosophy of Śūnyatā that, in many ways, in 1577 Sonam Gyatso, who was considered to be the third incarnation of Gyalwa Gendün Drup, formed an alliance with the then most powerful Mongol leader, Altan Khan. Sonam Gyatso was very active in proselytizing among the Mongols, and this brought the Gelugpas powerful patrons who were to propel them to pre-eminence in Tibet. The Gelug-Mongol alliance was strengthened as after Sonam Gyatsos death, his incarnation was found to be Altan Khans great-grandson. By the end of the 16th century, following violent strife among the sects of Tibetan Buddhism, according to Tibetan historian Samten Karmay, Sonam Chophel, treasurer of the Ganden Palace, was the prime architect of the Gelugs rise to political power. Later he received the title Desi, meaning Regent, which he would earn through his efforts to establish Gelugpa power, from the period of the 5th Dalai Lama in the 17th century, the Dalai Lamas held political control over central Tibet. The core leadership of this government was referred to as the Ganden Phodrang. Scottish Botanist George Forrest, who witnessed the 1905 Tibetan Rebellion led by the Gelug Lamas, according to his accounts, the Gelugpas were the dominant power in the region, with their Lamas effectively governing the area. Forrest said they used force and fraud to terrorise the, the central teachings of the Gelug School are Lamrim, based on the teachings of the Indian master Atiśa, and the systematic cultivation of the view of emptiness. The Guhyasamāja tantra is the principal one, as the Dalai Lama remarks, There is a saying in the Gelug, If one is on the move it is Guhyasamāja. If one is still, it is Guhyasamāja, If one is meditating, it should be upon Guhyasamāja. Therefore, whether one is engaged in study or practice, Guhyasamāja should be ones focus, the Gelug school focuses on ethics and monastic discipline of the vinaya as the central plank of spiritual practice. In particular, the need to pursue spiritual practice in a graded, arguably, Gelug is the only school of vajrayāna Buddhism that prescribes monastic ordination as a necessary qualification and basis in its teachers
11.
Padmasambhava
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Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, was an 8th-century Indian Buddhist master. A number of legends have grown around Padmasambhavas life and deeds, and he is venerated as a second Buddha across Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan. The Nyingma school considers Padmasambhava to be a founder of their tradition, nyangrel Nyima Özer was the principal architect of the Padmasambhava mythos according to Janet Gyatso. Guru Chöwang was the major contributor to the mythos. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries there were several competing terma traditions surrounding Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra, Songtsän Gampo, and Vairotsana. At the end of the 12th century, there was the victory of the Padmasambhava cult, according to tradition, Padmasambhava was incarnated as an eight-year-old child appearing in a lotus blossom floating in Lake Dhanakosha, in the kingdom of Oddiyana. Padmasambhavas special nature was recognized by the local king of Oḍḍiyāna and was chosen to take over the kingdom. In Rewalsar, known as Tso Pema in Tibetan, he secretly taught tantric teachings to princess Mandarava, the king found out and tried to burn him, but it is believed that when the smoke cleared he just sat there, still alive and in meditation. Greatly astonished by this miracle, the king offered Padmasambhava both his kingdom and Mandarava, Padmasambhava left with Mandarava, and took to Maratika Cave in Nepal to practice secret tantric consort rituals. They had a vision of buddha Amitāyus and achieved what is called the rainbow body. Both Padmasambhava and one of his consorts, Mandarava, are believed to be alive and active in this rainbow body form by their followers. She and Padmasambhavas other main consort, Yeshe Tsogyal, who hid his numerous termas in Tibet for later discovery. Many thangkas and paintings show Padmasambhava in between them, with Mandarava on his right and Yeshe Tsogyal on his left. According to this story, King Trisong Detsen, the 38th king of the Yarlung dynasty. Śāntarakṣita started the building of Samye, demonical forces hindered the introduction of the Buddhist dharma, and Padmasambhava was invited to Tibet to subdue the demonic forces. The demons were not annihilated, but were obliged to submit to the dharma and this was in accordance with the tantric principle of not eliminating negative forces but redirecting them to fuel the journey toward spiritual awakening. According to tradition, Padmasambhava received the Emperors wife, identified with the dakini Yeshe Tsogyal, King Trisong Detsen ordered the translation of all Buddhist Dharma Texts into Tibetan. Padmasambhava, Shantarakṣita,108 translators, and 25 of Padmasambhavas nearest disciples worked for years in a gigantic translation-project
12.
Milarepa
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UJetsun Milarepa is generally considered one of Tibets most famous yogis and poets. He was a student of Marpa Lotsawa, and a figure in the history of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. Born in the village of Kya Ngatsa – also known as Tsa – in Gungthang, a province of western Tibet, to a family, he was named Mila Thöpaga. His family name, Josay, indicates noble descent, a sept of the Khyungpo or eagle clan, when his father died, Milarepas uncle and aunt took all of the familys wealth. At his mothers request, Milarepa left home and studied sorcery, the villagers were angry and set off to look for Milarepa, but his mother got word to him, and he sent a hailstorm to destroy their crops. Milarepa later lamented his evil ways in his years in conversation with Rechungpa. Now, released from both good and evil, I have destroyed the root of karmic action and shall have no reason for action in the future, to say more than this would only cause weeping and laughter. What good would it do to tell you and he ascribes his gift to the clever control of internal air. David-Néel comments that at the house of the lama who taught him black magic there lived a trapa who was fleeter than a horse using the same skill, after witnessing such a monk David-Néel described how, He seemed to lift himself from the ground. His steps had the regularity of a pendulum, the traveller seemed to be in a trance. This esoteric skill, which is known as Lung-gom-pa in Tibet, is said to allow a practitioner to run at a speed for days without stopping. This technique could be compared to that practised by the Kaihōgyō monks of Mount Hiei and by practitioners of Shugendō, knowing that his revenge was wrong, Milarepa set out to find a lama and was led to Marpa the Translator. Before Marpa would teach Milarepa he had him build and then demolish three towers in turn, Milarepa was asked to build one final multi-story tower by Marpa at Lhodrag, this 11th century tower still stands. When Marpa still refused to teach Milarepa, he went to Marpas wife and she forged a letter of introduction to another teacher, Lama Ngogdun Chudor, under whose tutelage he practiced meditation. However, when he was making no progress, he confessed the forgery, Milarepa returned to Marpa, and was finally shown the spiritual teachings. Milarepa then left on his own, and after protracted diligence for 12 years he attained the state of Vajradhara and he then became known as Milarepa. Mila is Tibetan for, great man, and repa means, at the age of 45, he started to practice at Drakar Taso cave – Milarepas Cave, as well as becoming a wandering teacher. Here, he subsisted on nettle tea, leading his skin to turn green with a covering, hence the greenish color he is often depicted as having, in paintings
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