Tsangpa Gyare Yeshe Dorje (1161-1211) is considered the founder of the Drukpa Kagyu tradition, named after the Druk Monastery, one of three monasteries he established, the most famous being Ralung, which he founded in 1180. A member of the Gya clan that would continue to control Ralung until the seventeenth century, he was the most important disciple of Lingrepa, a student of Pakmodrupa. He is counted as the first in the line of Drukchen incarnations, although the second Drukchen would not be born until a few centuries after his death, when the Gya family line ended. As an author Tsangpa Gyare is best known for his spontaneous songs of realization, rich with spiritual advice. He discovered treasure texts written by Tipupa for Rechungpa, The Six Cycles of Equal Taste, still an important teaching of the Drukpa Kagyu today.
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