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R
Rongton Sheja Kunrik is the second in the line of great Sakya masters known as the Six Ornaments of Tibet. Among these teachers he is particularly revered for his mastery of the Buddhist sutras. Rongton studied and taught at Sangpu Neutok Monastery. He founded Penpo Nalendra Monastery in 1436. +
An important figure in the renaissance of the Rnying ma tradition in Tibet. His collected works in two volumes include the ''Rdzogs pa chen po’i lta sgom'' (''Instructions on Cultivating the View of the Great Perfection'') and a seminal work on sdom gsum (''three codes'') ''Dam tshig mdo rgyas''. He was learned in the older traditions based on earlier translations and in the new traditions that spread after the return of the translators Rin chen bzang po and Rngog Legs pa'i shes rab. Traditionally, he is said to be the recipient of teachings deriving from Heshang Moheyan, Vairocana, and Vimalamitra—important figures of the early dissemination (''snga dar'')— and it is said that upon meeting Atiśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna after his arrival in Tibet, Atiśa considered him a manifestation of his teacher Nag po pa (Kṛṣṇapāda). Rong zom instructed many important figures of the day, including the translator Mar pa, prior to his departure for India. (Source: "Rong zom Chos kyi bzang po." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 720–1. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
S
An eleventh-century Kashmiri scholar that was the source from which many prominent Tibetan scholars and translators of the day received teachings. Most notably he taught the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' to Ngok Lotsāwa and Tsen Khawoche, which spread in Tibet as the Ngok and Tsen traditions and became the two primary trends that influenced much of the history of the Tibetan exegesis of the treatise. He also helped Ngok translate the text and worked with several other Tibetan translators on works that were later included in the Tibetan canon. +
The present 10th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche was recognized by H.H. 16th Karmapa, who saw through His undiluted wisdom eye the birthplace, the name of the parents, the year and sign of birth and thus gave clear indications. Nyenpa Rinpoche was born in a family of practitioners; Sangye Lekpa and the mother Karma Tshewang Choden, who resided at Guru Rinpoche’s temple, the Tiger Nest Pharo Tagtsang in Bhutan. He was invited to Rumtek Monastery where he was enthroned by H.H. Karmapa and given the name of Karma Palden Rangjung Thrinle Kunkyab Tenpe Gyaltsen Pal Sangpo. At the age of 5 he started his studies, writing and reading as well as the outer and inner sciences relying on H.H. Karmapa, H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and other great masters. In particular he received from H.H. the novice and Bodhisattva vows, many empowerments of the highest Yoga Tantra, instructions on Chagchen Da Ser (Moonbeams of Mahamudra), Marig Münsel (Eliminating the Darkness of Ignorance), Chöku Tzubtsug (Pointing the finger at the Dharmakaya) etc. and thus was introduced to the ultimate realisation. He completed 10 years of studies at the Nalanda Institute in Rumtek and obtained the title of an Acharya. Thereafter he was teaching for 3 years at the institute. Nyenpa Rinpoche is one of the most learned Rinpoches in both philosophy and tantric rituals. Presently he lives in his monastery Benchen Phuntsok Dargyeling Kathmandu, Nepal giving teachings to the monks and other disciples. The rest of the time he spends in retreat. (Source: [https://www.benchen.org/en/sangye-nyenpa-rinpoche Benchen Monastery]) +
''The following biography is a traditional account of the life of the Fourth Shamarpa Chodrak Yeshe as written on Sharmapa.org.''
The 4th Shamarpa was born in Kangmar in the Treshö province of Kham, eastern Tibet. Wonderous signs were ablaze at his birth, which were variously interpreted by the local monastic communities, according to their own anticipation. Some were of the mind that it could only be the long awaited Karmapa Incarnate, while others were more inclined towards the Shamarpa Incarnate or that of a Mahasiddhi. Seven months had passed, speculations abound; conclusions, there were none. The infant Rinpoche was invited formally to Tara Kangmar Monastery, where a collection of books was laid before him to select. He took none but works by the Karmapa. The indecisive took this to be unmistakably an indication of the Karmapa’s return. Thus the solemn matter of identification was settled arbitrarily on a simple test. From then on, the Shamarpa remained in the monastery. The 6th Karmapa Tongwa Dönden was born the year after. When he was four years of age, he embarked on an extensive Dharma tour through Tibet. In due course, he arrived at the Lhündrup Gön Monastery in the south, not far from Dra-Kangmar, where, all the while, the disciples of the Shamarpa were anxiously waiting for their Guru’s return, without avail. They came to the Karmapa, labourously recalling the passing of their Guru, whose last word was “Dra-Kangmar”, they said. It was to be the name of the place of his next rebirth. The Karmapa reassured them that their Guru had indeed taken rebirth, but in distant Tre-Kangmar. Tre and Dra, an understandable confusion of words for his griefing followers, in time of stress. His now jubilant disciples, planned on an instant return of their Guru to his long awaited monasteries. The Karmapa told them it was not to be so. As the Karmapa, he must himself invite him, in full ceremonial honours, as befitting the return of the Shamarpa.
By the time the Dharma tour had reached the province of Treshö the Karmapa was seven years old. He set up camp near Kangmar, remaining in retreat, while he sent his gifted attendant-monk, to invite the Shamarpa. This learned monk, a man of exceptional realizations was none other than Paljor Döndrup, the 1st Gyaltsab Rinpoche, who was to become a Guru to the Shamarpa. When the Karmapa and the Shamarpa met, it was the renewal of a very close tie, stretching far beyond history. In terms of human relationship, it was to be compared to the joyful reunion of father and son. The Karmapa gave the young Shamarpa the name of Chöji Drakpa Yeshe Pal Zangpo. Returning the Red Crown, he enthroned him.
They had been successively each others Guru up to then. The Karmapa proposed that from then on, they were to propagate the Dharma together, each in a different region of the country, with the Shamarpa remaining in the Kongpo area in the south while the Karmapa himself proceeding towards eastern Kham.
Some years later, they were together again, at Treshö Kangmar. The Shamarpa arrived laden with offerings for the Karmapa; the Karmapa readily imparted to him the Mahamudra, the Six Teachings of Naropa and the numerous instructions of the Kagyü Lineage.
The Shamarpa became renowned as a great scholar and also for being unsparing on himself in practice, whether it was on the teachings received from the Karmapa, from Gyaltsap Rinpoche or from any of the great lamas and scholars, thus setting a challenging example of relentless perseverance.
The 4th Shamarpa went as far as to Bhutan to propagate the Dharma. In southern Bhutan, there remains to this day a monastery built by the Shamarpa. It stands sturdy and almost untouched by the passing years. Apart from it being a shining testamony to the craftsmanship of the period, it is indelibly a mark of his enduring blessings.
In central Tibet, where, at the insistence of the people, he became king for eleven years, ruling the country strictly in accordance with Buddhist principles. However, his first priority was Dharma. As he studied, so he taught and meditated, never neglecting his monastic obligations, thus fully accomplishing the three-fold task of a Holder of the Buddha’s Teachings. ([https://shamarpa.org/history/the-4th-shamarpa-shamar-chokyi-drakpa-yeshe-pal-zangpo-1453-1524/ Source Accessed Mar 4, 2020])
Lochen Dharmashri (Tib. ལོ་ཆེན་དྷརྨ་ཤྲཱི་, Wyl. lo chen d+harma shrI) aka Ngawang Chöpal Gyatso (Tib. ངག་དབང་ཆོས་དཔལ་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wyl. ngag dbang chos dpal rgya mtsho) (1654-1717) — one of the greatest scholars of the Nyingma school, whose collected writings fill twenty volumes and include important commentaries on the Guhyagarbha Tantra. He was an emanation of Yudra Nyingpo and the younger brother of Minling Terchen Gyurme Dorje, the founder of Mindroling Monastery. He was tragically killed during the Dzungar war of 1717-8, during which Mindroling was destroyed. [https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Lochen_Dharmashri Source Accessed Feb 25, 2020] +
Indian Buddhist philosopher associated particularly with [the] Yogācāra school. His dates are uncertain (leading one scholar to posit three figures with this name), but he is generally placed in the sixth century, although he is said to have been a disciple of both Vasubandhu and Guṇamati. Sthiramati seems to have been primarily based in Valabhī, but may have also studied at Nālandā. He wrote a number of important commentaries on such Yogācāra works as the ''Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra'' and ''Madhyāntavibhāga'' of Maitreyanātha and Vasubandhu’s ''Triṃśikā''. (Source: "Sthiramati." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 859. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
T
Tibetan Buddhist scholar recognized as the eighth Tai Si tu incarnation, remembered for his wide learning and his editorial work on the Tibetan Buddhist canon. He traveled extensively throughout his life, maintaining strong relationships with the ruling elite of eastern Tibet and the Newar Buddhists of the Kathmandu Valley. Born in the eastern Tibetan region of Sde dge, Chos kyi 'byung gnas was recognized as a reincarnate lama (''sprul sku'') by the eighth Zhwa dmar, from whom he received his first vows. He would go on to study with Kah thog Rigs 'dzin Tshe dbang nor bu (1698–1755), from whom he learned about gzhan stong (“other emptiness”). At the age of twenty-one, he accompanied several important Bka' brgyud hierarchs, the Zhwa dmar and the twelfth Karma pa, to Kathmandu, a journey that was to have a profound impact on the young Si tu's life. He returned to eastern Tibet in 1724, where he was received favorably by the king of Sde dge, Bstan pa tshe ring (Tenpa Tsering, 1678–1738). Under the latter's patronage, Chos kyi 'byung gnas founded Dpal spungs monastery in 1727, which became the new seat for the Si tu lineage (they are sometimes called the Dpal spungs si tu). Between the years 1731 and 1733, he undertook the monumental task of editing and correcting a new redaction of the bka' 'gyur section of the Tibetan Buddhist canon, to be published at the printing house of Sde dge. Although in his day Tibetan knowledge of Indian linguistic traditions had waned, Chos kyi 'byung gnas devoted much of his later life to the study of Sanskrit grammar and literature, which he had first studied with Newar paṇḍitas during his time in Kathmandu. He sought out new Sanskrit manuscripts in order to establish more precise translations of Sanskrit works aiready translated in the Tibetan canon; he is esteemed in Tibet for his knowledge of Sanskrit grammar. In addition to his prolific scholarly work, Chos kyi 'byung gnas was an accomplished painter as well as a gifted physician, much sought after by the aristocracy of eastern Tibet. In 1748, he visited Nepal once again, where he translated the ''Svayambhūpurāṇa'', the legends concerning the Svayambhū stūpa, into Tibetan. He was received amicably by the rulers Jayaprakāśamalla (1736–1768) of Kathmandu, Raṇajitamalla (1722–1769) of what is now Bhaktapur, and Pṛthvīnārāyaṇa Śāha, who would unify the Kathmandu Valley under Gorkhali rule several decades later. Chos kyi 'byung gnas' collected writings cover a vast range of subjects including lengthy and detailed diaries and an important history of the Karma bka' brgyud sect coauthored by his disciple Be lo Tshe dbang kun khyab (Belo Tsewang Kunkyap, b. 1718). He is retrospectively identified as an originator of what would become known as Khams ris med movement, which gained momentum in early nineteenth century Sde dge. (Source: "Chos kyi 'byung gnas." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 189. Princeton University Press, 2014)
Gyalse Tokme Zangpo was a Kadampa master of the fourteenth century based at Ngulchu Monastery where he sat in retreat for twenty years. He had previously served as the abbot of Bodong E for about nine years, from 1326 to 1335. Significant in the transmission of Lojong teachings, his compositions include the famous ''Thirty-seven Practices of the Bodhisattva'', one of the classics of Tibetan buddhist literature. A specialist in tantric Mahākaruṇā, he was a disciple of Butön Rinchen Drup and a teacher of Rendawa Zhönu Lodrö, and is counted as seventy-third in the Lamrim lineage. +
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. +
V
Vasubandhu, who lived around the Fourth century CE, was one of India's most prominent Buddhist philosophers. His prolific writings record an odyssey through the systems of the leading Buddhist schools of his day. Though primarily venerated by later Buddhists as co-founder of the Yogācāra school with his half-brother Asaṅga, his pre-Yogācāra works, such as the Abhidharma-kośa and his auto-commentary (-bhāṣya) on it, have continued to be seriously studied until the present day. He wrote commentaries on many Mahāyāna texts, works on logic, devotional poetry, works on Abhidharma classifications (see below), as well as original and innovative philosophical treatises. Many of his writings survive in their original Sanskrit form, but others, particularly his commentaries, are extant only in Chinese or Tibetan translations. (Source: [http://www.acmuller.net/yogacara/thinkers/vasubandhu.html Dan Lusthaus]) +
Indian paṇḍita associated with works in the Kangyur. He is the co-translator, along with Śīlendrabodhi and Ye shes sde, of the ''Gaganagañjaparipṛcchāsūtra'' (''Questions of Gaganagañja Sūtra''). He also appears as the translator, along with Mañjuśrīgarbha, Śīlendrabodhi, and Yeshe De of the ''Dharmasaṃgīti''. +
X
Xie Lingyun (SHEE-EH LIHNG-yewn) was born into one of the most powerful aristocratic families of the Six Dynasties, one that was at the center of cultural and literary movements. The Xie family moved from Henan to Zhejiang province. His great wealth gave him all the leisure he needed. His book collection made him one of the most learned poets of his time, and he was famous as a calligrapher and painter. He was an eccentric and had a special love for nature. Xie spent much time wandering around the country looking at celebrated landscapes.
His poems were a blending of sentiment, reason, and beauty of nature with Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucian philosophy. Xie edited the southern version of the ''Mahaparinirvana-sutra'', wrote a “discussion of essentials,” and identified the combination of Nirvana and Samsara with the doctrine of Void. These were tasks well suited to a mind accustomed to the Daoist teachings of the ''Dao De Jing'' . . .
Xie was regarded as the first of the nature poets and the founder of the school of mountains and waters poetry (''shanju fu''). His editions and commentary on Buddhism popularized this religion with educated Chinese scholars. ([https://www.enotes.com/topics/xie-lingyun Source Accessed Aug 20, 2020])
In the Jin Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, [the] ''Mahaparinirvana-sutra'' spread in the Central Plains [and] had two versions: the southern one and the northern one. The northern version was translated by Tan Mochen, while the southern one by Xie Lingyun, Hui Yan and Hui Guan. The two versions had many differences in their structure, content and style. According to many documents, Xie played a quite important role in the retranslation and the compilation of [the] ''Mahaparinirvana-sutra''. He participated in and presided over it. In addition, he did a lot of pertinent research and annotating work. ([https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Xie-Lingyun-and-the-Retranslation-and-the-of-Yan-jun/eeecb39bd8afa62bac6d7c87552fea54365b7664 Source Accessed Aug 20, 2020])
Z
Shechen Gyaltsap Gyurme Pema Namgyal, a remarkable master who lived at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning o f the twentieth century, wrote ''The Great Medicine that Conquers Clinging to the Notion of Reality''. He was a disciple of the greatest luminaries of the nineteenth century, including Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye, and Lama Mipham Rinpoche. Shechen Gyaltsap was indisputably one of the most learned and accomplished lamas of his time. The thirteen volumes of his large collection of writings contain many lucid and profound commentaries on various aspects of philosophy and practice.
Shechen Gyaltsap was also an accomplished practitioner. He spent
much of his life in retreat above Shechen Monastery in eastern Tibet, and achieved many signs of accomplishment. Once he started a three-year retreat based on the ''Vajrakilaya'' practice, but to everyone's surprise after only three months he emerged saying that he had completed his intended program. The next morning, his attendant noticed an imprint of his footprint on the stone threshold of the hermitage. Shechen Gyaltsap's disciples later removed the stone and hid it during the Cultural Revolution. Today, it is possible to see it at Shechen Monastery in Tibet. The imprint was an outer sign of his inner realization of the ''Vajrakilaya'' practice. (Source: ''The Great Medicine'', introduction, 21) +
d
Geshé Dölpa was a prominent transmitter of the Kadam teachings known by several names, including Dölpa Marshurwa, Sherap Gyatso, and simply “Spiritual mentor of Döl” (Geshé Dölpa), after his home region. After studying with a number of teachers, he met the highly influential Kadampa master Potowa Rinchen Sal (1017/31-1105) and stayed with him for twenty-two years. In later years Geshé Dölpa founded his own monastery of Yangang in Döl. The chronicles mention that he had more than a thousand disciples, including the famous Kagyu hierarch Phakmodrupa Dorjé Gyalpo. (Adapted from ''[[Stages of the Buddha’s Teachings]]'' (Wisdom Publications, 2015), 6) +
Ś
In Sanskrit, “Sage of the Śākya Clan,” one of the most common epithets of Gautama Buddha, especially in the Mahāyāna traditions, where the name Śākyamuni is used to distinguish the historical buddha from the myriad other buddhas who appear in the sūtras. The Śākyas were a tribe in northern India into which was born Siddhārtha Gautama, the man who would become the historical buddha. According to the texts, the Śākya clan was made up of kṣatriyas, warriors or political administrators in the Indian caste system. The Śākya clan flourished in the foothills of the Himālayas, near the border between present-day Nepal and India. (Source: "Śākyamuni." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 741. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
Medeival Indian master of the Vinaya, renowned in Tibet, together with Guṇaprabha, as one of the "two supreme ones" (mchog gnyis). Apparently from Kashmir, he was an expert in the Mūlasarvāstivāda vinaya. He is best known for his work ''Śrāmaṇeratriśatakakārikā'' ("Three Hundred Verses on the Novice"), to which he wrote an autocommentary entitled ''Prabhāvatī''. (Source: "Śākyaprabha." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 742. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
Eighth-century Indian Mahäyäna master who played an important role in the introduction of Buddhism into Tibet. According to traditional accounts, he was born into a royal family in Zahor in Bengal and was ordained at Nālandā monastery, where he became a renowned scholar. He is best known for two works. The first is the ''Tattvasaṃgraha'', or "Compendium of Principles," a critical survey and analysis of the various non-Buddhist and Buddhist schools of Indian philosophy, set forth in 3,646 verses in twenty-six chapters. This work, which is preserved in Sanskrit, along with its commentary by his disciple Kamalaśīla, remains an important source on the philosophical systems of India during this period. His other famous work is the ''Madhyamakālaṃkāra'', or "Ornament of the Middle Way," which sets forth his own philosophical position, identified by later Tibetan doxographers as Yogācāra-*Svātantrika-Madhyamaka, so called because it asserts, as in Yogācāra, that external objects do not exist, i.e., that sense objects are of the nature of consciousness; however, it also asserts, unlike Yogācāra and like Madhyamaka, that consciousness lacks ultimate existence. It further asserts that conventional truths (''saṃvṛtisatya'') possess their own character (''svalakṣana'') and in this regard differs from the other branch of Madhyamaka, the *Prāsangika. The Yogācāra-Madhyamaka synthesis, of which Śāntarakṣita is the major proponent, was the most important philosophical development of late Indian Buddhism, and the ''Madhyamakālaṃkāra'' is its locus classicus. This work, together with the ''Madhyamakāloka'' of Śāntarakṣita's disciple Kamalaśīla and the ''Satyadvayavibhaṅga'' of Jnānagarbha, are known in Tibet as the "three works of the eastern *Svātantrikas" (''rang rgyud shar gsum'') because the three authors were from Bengal. Śāntarakṣita's renown as a scholar was such that he was invited to Tibet by King Khri srong lde btsan. When a series of natural disasters indicated that the local deities were not positively disposed to the introduction of Buddhism, he left Tibet for Nepal and advised the king to invite the Indian tantric master Padmasambhava, who subdued the local deities. With this accomplished, Śāntarakṣita returned, the first Buddhist monastery of Bsam yas was founded, and Śāntarakṣita invited twelve Mūlasarvāstivāda monks to Tibet to ordain the first seven Tibetan monks. Śāntarakṣita lived and taught at Bsam yas from its founding (c. 775) until his death (c. 788) in an equestrian accident. Tibetans refer to him as the "bodhisattva abbot." The founding of Bsam yas and the ordination of the first monks were pivotal moments in Tibetan Buddhist history, and the relationship of Śāntarakṣita, Padmasambhava, and Khri srong lde btsan figures in many Tibetan legends, most famously as brothers in a previous life. Prior to his death, Śāntarakṣita predicted that a doctrinal dispute would arise in Tibet, in which case his disciple Kamalaśīla should be invited from India. Such a conflict arose between the Indian and Chinese factions, and Kamalaśīla came to Tibet to debate with the Chan monk Moheyan in what is referred to as the Bsam yas Debate, or the "Council of Lhasa." (Source: "Śāntarakṣita." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 773. Princeton University Press, 2014)
