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From Bodhicitta
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Tsongkhapa Lobzang Drakpa was one of the most influential Tibetan Buddhist scholars of the last millennium. Born in Amdo, he travelled to U-Tsang in his youth, never to return to his homeland. In U-Tsang he studied with numerous teachers of all traditions and engaged in many retreats resulting in his development of a fresh interpretation of Nāgārjuna's Madhyamaka view and a reinvigoration of the monastic Vinaya. Widely regarded as an emanation of Mañjuśrī, Tsongkhapa composed eighteen volumes of works of which the majority dealt with tantric subjects. He was the founder of Ganden Monastery, which became the central monastery of the Geluk tradition that was founded on his teachings and writings. +
Tsongkhapa Lobzang Drakpa was one of the most influential Tibetan Buddhist scholars of the last millennium. Born in Amdo, he travelled to U-Tsang in his youth, never to return to his homeland. In U-Tsang he studied with numerous teachers of all traditions and engaged in many retreats resulting in his development of a fresh interpretation of Nāgārjuna's Madhyamaka view and a reinvigoration of the monastic Vinaya. Widely regarded as an emanation of Mañjuśrī, Tsongkhapa composed eighteen volumes of works of which the majority dealt with tantric subjects. He was the founder of Ganden Monastery, which became the central monastery of the Geluk tradition that was founded on his teachings and writings. +
Tukwan Lobzang Chokyi Nyima was a prolific author, composing works in subject as diverse as biographies, dramas, astrology, doxography, tantras, poetic works, correspondences and official documents, and so forth. Originally there were about five hundred titles collected into fifteen volumes that were preserved in traditional wooden blocks in Gonlung Jampa Ling out of which ten volumes are currently preserved in the Nationalities Publishing House (mi rigs dpe bskrun khang) in Beijing.
One of the best known of his compositions is his religious history, The Crystal Mirror: An Excellent Exposition That Shows the Sources and Assertions of All Tenet Systems (grub mtha' thams cad kyi khung dang 'dod tshul ston pa legs bshad shel gyi me long). This important work was completed in 1802, shortly before Tukwan passed away. In it he surveys the Buddhist traditions of India, Tibet, Mongolia, and China, including Bon, which he compares to Chinese Chan. The work is well-regarded for the relative impartiality of its presentation, combining the insults to Bon, Jonang and Nyingma one would expected in a work of its time with sympathetic descriptions of what the author found admirable in the non-Geluk traditions. In contrast to one of his famous teachers, Sumpa Khenpo, the Third Tukwan, looking more towards Beijing than to Lhasa as a base of support, was known for his ecumenical outlook. All three Tukwan incarnations, as well as the first two Changkya incarnations, were known as protectors of the Nyingma in Amdo. +
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Vidyākaraprabha was an Indian translator active during the Tibetan imperial period. He is credited with collaborating on the translations of the ''Mahābherīsūtra,'' the ''Vinayavastu,'' the ''Vidhyottamātantra,'' and Haribhadra's important ''Abhisamayālaṃkāra'' commentary, the ''Abhisamayālaṃkāra-nāma-prajñāpāramitopadeśa-śāstra-vṛtti.'' He is also credited as the author of a work in the Madhyamaka section of the Tengyur, with the title ''Madhyamakanayasārasamāsaprakaraṇa,'' which he translated with Kawa Peltsek Rakṣita. +
The Indian Dzogchen master Vimalamitra is believed to have translated, composed, and concealed some of the central tantric teachings of the Nyingma tradition during the late eighth century reign of Tri Songdetsen. Historically, very few details surrounding his life and teachings can be confirmed. The dates of his birth, the location of his birthplace in India, the names of his parents, and the date of his arrival in Tibet have all been disputed. According to contemporary Nyingma accounts, he was born in India and became proficient in the sūtra-based scriptures before traveling to China to receive instructions from Śrī Siṃha. In China he received the Nyingtik teachings and achieved realization, then returned to India. Only then, at over one hundred years of age, did he enter Tibet. In Tibet, he taught and translated a wide array of esoteric tantras, concealed the Nyingtik terma, and returned to China where he achieved the rainbow body. +
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Wangpabzhun (wang phab zhwun) is the Tibetanized version of the name of a man who collaborated on the translation of the ''Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra'' (D119) from the Chinese. His Tibetan colleagues in the task were Gewai Lodro (dge ba'i blos gros) and Gyatso De (rgya mtsho'i sde), who presumably were Tibetan. They likely worked from the earliest Chinese version (T374), translated around 421–432 by the central Indian monk Dharmakṣema (385-433) in the northern kingdom of Beiliang 北涼.
No details of his life are known, and no other translations of his appear to be extant. Based on what is known of his collaborators, he most likely lived during the eleventh century.
The ''Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra'', a refashioning of the similarly-named Pāli sutta, is narrative of the final days of the Buddha according to Mahāyāna doctrine. It is one of the earliest and most important sources for the doctrine of tathāgatagarbha, or buddha-nature. Two other translations of the ''Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra'' were made it Tibet. The first of these (D120, corresponding to T376) was done in the early ninth century by Jinamitra, Jñānagarbha, and Devacandra. The second (D121) was made in the eleventh century by Kamalagupta and Rinchen Zangpo (rin chen bzang po, 958–1055). +
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Nyak Jñānakumara was one of the twenty-five disciples of Padmasambhava and one of the most important lineage holders in the Nyingma tradition, as the four lineages stemming from Padmasambhava, Vairocana, Vimalamitra, and Yudra Nyingpo all flowed into him. Nyak was the first of the originators of the three lineages of the Kama, or spoken transmission of Nyingma tradition. He was particularly important in the transmission of the Anuyoga and of the Semde and Longde Dzogchen teachings. He was a formidable master of Vajrakīla, able to slay his enemies and also an able translator whose work is preserved in the Kangyur and Tengyur. It is said that from his mastery of Vajrāmṛṭa he was able to bring forth flowing water. +
Yeshe De (ye shes sde) was born into the Nanam clan (sna nam) and became one of the three foremost translators of the imperial era. He is counted among the twenty-five disciples of Padmasambhava.
As a young monk his scholarship earned him the title of 'bande' (teacher). He was perhaps the most prolific Tibetan translator in history, with hundreds of translations. Scholar Sherab Rhaldi lists 347 translations in collaboration with fifteen Indian paṇḍitas. [He] is also credited with translating the Nyingma tantras.
He is said to have taught the Abhidharma to Lhalung Pelgyi Dorje (lha lung dal gyi rdo rje).
According to Nyingma legend, he was a master of the Vajrakīlaya tantra, and is said to have realized the illusory nature of phenomena and cut the cord of mind-made karmic conditioning, which left him free to soar in the sky like a bird. +
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Zhalu Lotsāwa Chokyong Zangpo was a prominent teacher and translator based at Zhalu and Dratang who has forty-eight translation titles in the Tibetan canon. He wrote and taught extensively on Sanskrit, poetics, Tibetan grammar and tantric practices. +
Zhabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol was a Nyingma lama in Amdo active in the first half of the nineteenth century. A native of the tantric practice center of Rebkong, Zhabkar meditated in sacred places across the Tibetan Plateau, including Labchi and Kailash. His autobiography is a classic of Tibetan literature, much beloved for its simple and moving account of the life of a wandering yogin from childhood until his ultimate spiritual realization. He was a teacher to many of the nineteenth century's greatest lamas of Kham and Amdo. +
Zurchung Sherab Drakpa was a relative of Zurchen Shakya Jungne and one of his chief disciples. As a member of the Zur clan, he is credited with maintaining the Kama, or Spoken Word tradition of Nyingma teachings. Like teacher he was based in the Tanak valley in Tsang. +
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Dza Patrul Rinpoche, the author of the famed ''Words of My Perfect Teacher'', was among the most significant transmitters of the Longchen Nyingtik practice lineage in the nineteenth century. Patrul was renowned for his uncommon humility, his forthright honesty, his brilliant oratory, and beyond all his skillful diffusion of the heart of the dharma. +
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Kunzang Sonam of Minyak (b.1823 - d.1905) studied widely, especially in the Geluk tradition, before becoming one of the principal disciples of Patrul Rinpoche and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. After his studies, he returned to his homeland of Minyak, where he spent time in isolated hermitages. He was renowned for his ethical conduct and his mastery of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'', a text on which he wrote three major commentaries, including his monumental, 460-folio magnum opus, ''Excellent Vase''. His writings also include a guide to Ngulchu Tokme Zangpo’s ''Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva'', commentaries on two sūtras, and, it is claimed, several texts published in the name of his own student, Loter Wangpo. +
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Sakya Paṇḍita Kunga Gyaltsen, commonly referred to as Sapaṇ, was the fourth of the Five Patriarchs of Sakya and the sixth Sakya throne holder. A member of the illustrious Khon family that established and controlled the Sakya tradition, he was an advocate for strict adherence to Indian Buddhist traditions, standing in opposition to Chinese or Tibetan innovations that he considered corruptions. In this regard he was a major player in what has been termed the Tibetan Renaissance period, when there was a move to reinvigorate Tibetan Buddhism’s connections to its Indian antecedents. He was instrumental in transmitting the Indian system of five major and five minor sciences to Tibet. As an ordained monk, Sapaṇ was instrumental in laying the groundwork for adherence to the Vinaya at Sakya Monastery, built under his successors. He authored more than one hundred texts and was also a prolific translator from Sanskrit. His writings are among the most widely influential in Tibetan literature and prompted commentaries by countless subsequent authors. Sapaṇ’s reputation as a scholar and Buddhist authority helped him forge close ties with powerful Mongols, relations that would eventually lead to the establishment of Sakya Monastery and its position of political power over the Thirteen Myriarchies of central Tibet. +
Ga Rabjampa Kunga Yeshe was born in Kham and educated in U-Tsang under some of the most famous Sakya teachers of his day. After receiving instruction from the likes of Rongton Shākya Gyeltsen Kunrik and Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo, he was awarded the degree of Rabjampa, the highest educational rank at the time. Returning to Kham he spent years in retreat and then taught extensively. He founded Tarlam Monastery in 1436. +
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. +
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Śākyaśrībhadra was a Kashmiri paṇḍita who was invited to Tibet by Tropu Lotsāwa Rinchen Sengge. He arrived in 1204, at the age of either fifty-nine or seventy-eight, and remained for ten years, leaving in 1214. Active primarily in Tsang, his significance to Tibetan Buddhism is characterized by his initiating four important lineages of teaching: to Sakya Paṇḍita he taught exoteric philosophy; pith instructions to Tropu Lotsāwa; tantra to Chel Lotsāwa; and Vinaya to Tsang Sowa Sonam Dze. He is also credited with initiating the "upper" ordination platform of Tibetan Buddhism, followed by all traditions save Nyingma and Geluk. Śākyaśrībhadra was the last abbot of Nālandā Monastery, which was sacked by Muslim invaders in 1192. +
Śīlendrabodhi was an Indian translator active in the eighth century. Among his work, he collaborated with the prolific Tibetan translator Yeshe De on Vasubandhu's ''Abhidharmasamuccaya'' and the ''Vajraccedikāsūtra''. +
