The
Kagyu school, also known as the "
Oral Lineage" and "
the Spotless Practice Lineage" school, is one of four major schools of
Tibetan Buddhism, the other three being
Nyingma (
Rnying-ma),
Sakya (
Sa-skya), and
Gelug (
Dge-lugs).
Origins
Almost the entirety of the Kagyu school traces its origins to the teachings of the Indian mystics
Tilopa (
988-
1089) and
Naropa (
1016-
1100), whose lineage was transmitted in
Tibet by the great translator
Marpa (
1012-
1097). He took over the
mahamudra ("great seal") transmission lineage from Naropa. Moreover Marpa studied with the Indian Masters Maitripa and Kukuripa. On his third journey to India he met
Atiśa (
982-
1054) and studied the teachings of the
Kadampa masters
[1](both Kagyu and Gelug schools trace their roots to the earlier Kadampa school). Marpa spent 17 years in India and is known as one of the great translators of the second translation period. Marpa's principal disciple was
Milarepa (Mi-la-ras-pa) (
1052-
1135), widely considered one of Tibet's great religious poets and meditators. Among Milarepa's many students were
Dagpo Lharje Gampopa (Sgam-po-pa) (
1079-
1153), a great scholar, and the great yogi
Rechung Dorje Drakpa, also known as Rechungpa.
Following Gampopa's teachings, there evolved the so-called "Four Major and Eight Minor" lineages of the Dagpo (sometimes rendered "Tagpo") Kagyu School. This organization is descriptive of the generation in which the schools were founded, not of their realization or prominence. The Rechung Kagyu school that descended from Rechungpa has always been far smaller and more obscure.
The
Shangpa Kagyu, which was relatively obscure until the last hundred years, traces its lineage to Naropa's sister Niguma, and is sometimes not considered a "Kagyu" school at all.
Four major schools of the Dagpo Kagyu
- Karma Kagyu, also known as Kamtsang Kagyu, founded by Düsum Khyenpa (Dus-gsum Mkhyen-pa), later designated the first Karmapa
- Barom Kagyu, founded by Barompa Darma Wangchug
- Tsalpa Kagyu, founded by Zangyu Dragpa Darma Drag (Zhang Rinpoche)
- Pagdru Kagyu, founded by Pagmo Drupa Dorje Gyalpo, splintered into eight subschools as follows:
Eight Pagdru Kagyu sub-schools
- Drikung Kagyu, included the Lhapa sect, builders of the earliest dzongs in Bhutan, later eclipsed by the Drukpa
- Drukpa Kagyu, which combined lineages from both Gampopa and Rechungpa, is the state religion of Bhutan, giving the country the name Druk Yul. Drukpa monasteries are also found in Ladakh, Zanskar, Lahoul, Kinnaur, Spiti, and other parts of the Himalayas.
- Mar Kagyu
- Shugseb Kagyu
- Taklung Kagyu
- Trophu Kagyu
- Yamzang Kagyu
- Yelpa Kagyu
The only Dagpo Kagyu schools that continue to exist independently are the Karma, Drukpa, Drikung, and Taklung. The Drukpa school also contests this formulation, contending that Tsangpa Gyare (a direct disciple of Gampopa) is the founder of the school rather than his disciple Ling Repa (also Phagmo Drupa's disciple).
Teachings
The central teaching of Kagyu is the doctrine of
Mahamudra, "the Great Seal", as elucidated by Gampopa in his various works. This doctrine focuses on four principal stages of meditative practice (the Four Yogas of Mahamudra), namely:
- The development of single-pointedness of mind,
- The transcendence of all conceptual elaboration,
- The cultivation of the perspective that all phenomena are of a "single taste",
- The fruition of the path, which is beyond any contrived acts of meditation.
It is through these four stages of development that the practitioner is said to attain the perfect realization of Mahamudra. Important practices in all Kagyu schools are the tantric practices of
Chakrasamvara and
Vajravarahi.
External links
- Sites associated with Urgyen Trinley Dorje
- Sites associated with Trinley Thaye Dorje
- Drikung Kagyu sites
- Unaffiliated sites
Tibetan}}}
Official status
Official language of: Tibet Autonomous Region (PRC)
Regulated by: Committee for the Standardisation of the Tibetan Language
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TibetanISO 15924
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The International
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IPA for English The
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The People's Republic of China's Tibetan Pinyin is the official transcription system for the Tibetan language in mainland China. Tibetan Pinyin is based on the Lhasa dialect and reflects the pronunciation very accurately, except that it doesn't mark tones.
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Anthem
March of the Volunteers (义勇军进行曲)
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The THDL Simplified Phonetic Transcription of Standard Tibetan (or THDL Phonetic Transcription for short) is a system for the phonetic rendering of the Tibetan language.
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Chinese or the Sinitic language(s) (汉语/漢語, Pinyin: Hànyǔ; 华语/華語, Huáyǔ; or 中文, Zhōngwén) can be considered a language or language family.
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Pinyin, more formally called
Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese:
汉语拼音; Traditional Chinese:
漢語拼音..... Click the link for more information. Tibetan Buddhism is the body of religious Buddhist doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and the Himalayan regions which include northern Nepal, Bhutan, India (Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Sikkim), Mongolia, Russia (Kalmykia, Buryatia and Tuva) and northeastern China
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Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism (the other three being the Kagyu, Sakya and Gelug). "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as the "school of the ancient translations" or the "old school" because it is founded on
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Sakya (Tibetan: ས་སྐྱ་) 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 and Kagyu.
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Buddhism
History of Buddhism
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Tilopa (Tibetan; Sanskrit: Talika, 988 - 1069) was born in either Chativavo (Chittagong), Bengal or Jagora, Bengal.[1] He was a tantric practitioner and mahasiddha.
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9th century - 10th century - 11st century
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985 986 987 - 988 - 989 990 991
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Nāropa (Tibetan; Sanskrit: Nādapradā, 1016-1100) was an Indian Buddhist mystic and monk, the disciple of Tilopa and brother, or some sources say partner and pupil, of Niguma. Nāropa was the main teacher of Marpa.
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Tibet (see Name section below for other spellings) is a Plateau region in Central Asia and the indigenous home to the Tibetan people. With an average elevation of 4,900 metres (16,000 ft), it is the highest region on Earth and is commonly referred to as the "Roof of the World.
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Marpa Lotsawa (1012-1097), or Marpa the translator was a Tibetan Buddhist teacher credited with the transmission of many Buddhist teachings to Tibet from India, including the teachings and lineages of Vajrayana and Mahamudra.
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10th century - 11st century - 12nd century
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Mahāmudrā (Sanskrit: great seal or great symbol), (Tibetan: Chagchen, Wylie: phyag chen, contraction of Chagya Chenpo, Wylie: phyag rgya chen po
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Atiśa Dipankara Shrijnana (Bangla: অতীশ দীপঙ্কর শ্রীজ্ঞান) (982-1054 CE) was a Buddhist teacher from the Bengal region of old Indian territory who, along
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979 980 981 - 982 - 983 984 985
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The Kadam (Tibetan: བཀའ་གདམས་པ་; Wylie: Bka'-gdams-pa) tradition was a Tibetan Mahayana Buddhist school.
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