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Jamyang Drakpa (Tib. འཇམ་དབྱངས་གྲགས་པ་, Wyl. `jam dbyangs grags pa) was a disciple of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. His teachings on Jamgön Kongtrul Rinpoche's commentary on the ''Lamrim Yeshe Nyingpo'' had been recorded by Jokyab Rinpoche as the ''Yeshe Nangwa Zurgyen''. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Jamyang_Drakpa Source Accessed Sept 8, 2020]) +
A Tibetan exegete and visionary, renowned as one of the premier treasure revealers (''gter ston'') in the Rnying ma sect of Tibetan Buddhism. 'Jigs med gling pa was born in the central Tibetan region of 'Phyong rgyas (Chongye), and from an early age recalled many of his previous incarnations, including those of the Tibetan king Khri srong lde btsan, the scholars Sgam po pa and Klong chen pa and, in his immediately preceding birth, Chos rje gling pa. After a period of monastic education, in his late twenties, he undertook an intense series of meditation retreats, first at Dpal ri monastery and then at the Chims phu cave complex near Bsam yas. In one of the numerous visions he experienced during this period, he received the klong chen snying thig, or "Heart Sphere of the Great Expanse," from a ḍākinī at the Bodhnāth stūpa in Kathmandu. The revelation of this text is considered a “mind treasure” (''dgongs gter''), composed by Padmasambhava and revealed to the mind of a later disciple. 'Jigs med gling pa kept this revelation secret for seven years before transcribing it. The klong chen snying thig corpus systematized by 'Jigs med gling pa, including numerous explanatory texts, tantric initiations, and ritual cycles, became a seminal component of the rdzogs chen teachings in the Rnying ma sect. While based in central Tibet, 'Jigs med gling pa was also influential in Tibet's eastern regions, serving as spiritual teacher to the royal family of Sde dge and supervising the printing of the collected Rnying ma tantras in twenty-eight volumes. His patrons and disciples included some of the most powerful and prestigious individuals from Khams in eastern Tibet, and his active participation in reviving Rnying ma traditions during a time of persecution earned him a place at the forefront of the burgeoning eclectic or nonsectarian (''ris med'') movement. Numerous subsequent visionaries involved in promulgating the movement identified themselves as 'Jigs med gling pa's reincarnation, including 'Jam dbyang mkhyen brtse dbang po, Mdo mkhyen brtse Ye Shes rdo rje, Dpal sprul Rinpoche, and Dil mgo mkhyen brtse. (Source: "'Jigs med gling pa." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 387–88. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
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Indian tantric Buddhist master who was born into a brāhmaṇa family in either Orissa or northeast India near Bengal. Sources vary regarding his dates of birth and death, although most agree that he was a contemporary of the Pāla king Rāmapāla, who began his reign during the final quarter of the eleventh century. Abhayākaragupta became a Buddhist monk in response to a prophetic vision and trained extensively in the esoteric practices of tantra, while nevertheless maintaining his monastic discipline (''vinaya''). Abhayākaragupta was active at the monastic university of Vikramaśīla in Bihar and became renowned as both a scholar and a teacher. He was a prolific author, composing treatises in numerous fields of Buddhist doctrine, including monastic discipline and philosophy as well as tantric ritual practice and iconography. Many Sanskrit manuscripts of his works have been preserved in India, Nepal, and Tibet, and his writings were influential both in India and among Newari Buddhists in Nepal. Translations of his works into Tibetan were begun under his supervision, and more than two dozen are preserved in the Tibetan canon. To date, Abhayākaragupta’s writings best known in the West are his treatises on tantric iconography, the ''Vajrãvalī'' and ''Niṣpannayogāvalī'', and his syncretistic abhidharma treatise ''Munimatãlaṃkāra''. (Source: "Abhayākaragupta." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 2. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
Traditionally counted among the Seventeen Great Paṇḍitas of Nālandā, Asaṅga was an illustrious Indian scholar who, along with his brother Vasubandhu, is credited with the founding of the Yogācāra school and the introduction of the associated theories of mind-only (''cittamātra''), the storehouse consciousness (''ālayavijñāna''), the three natures (''trisvabhāva''), and so forth, into the milieu of Indian Buddhist philosophical discourse. He is most famously eulogized in the Tibetan tradition for his association with the Five Dharma Treatises of Maitreya (Byams chos sde lnga), which he is reported to have received directly from the bodhisattva Maitreya. In terms of the ''Uttaratantra'', the Tibetan tradition, which divides the text into two distinct works, asserts that Asaṅga was the author of the prose commentary (''vyākhyā'') of this work, while Maitreya, himself, is the author of the actual verses of the treatise (''śāstra''). +
Indian Buddhist monk and scholar revered by Tibetan Buddhists as a leading teacher in the later dissemination (''phyi dar'') of Buddhism in Tibet. His name, also written as Atisha, is an Apabhraṃśa form of the Sanskrit term atiśaya, meaning “surpassing kindness.” Born into a royal family in what is today Bangladesh, Atiśa studied Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophy and tantra as a married layman prior to being ordained at the age of twenty-nine, receiving the ordination name of Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna. After studying at the great monasteries of northern India, including Nālandā, Odantapurī, Vikramaśīla, and Somapura, he is said to have journeyed to the island of Sumatra, where he studied under the Cittamātra teacher Dharmakīrtiśrī (also known as guru Sauvarṇadvīpa) for twelve years; he would later praise Dharmakīrtiśrī as a great teacher of bodhicitta. Returning to India, he taught at the Indian monastic university of Vikramaśīla. Atiśa was invited to Tibet by the king of western Tibet Ye shes 'od and his grandnephew Byang chub 'od, who were seeking to remove perceived corruption in the practice of Buddhism in Tibet. Atiśa reached Tibet in 1042, where he initially worked together with the renowned translator Rin chen bzang po at Tho ling monastery in the translation of prajñāpāramitā texts. There, he composed his famous work, the ''Bodhipathapradīpa'', or “''Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment'',” an overview of the Mahāyāna Buddhist path that served as a basis for the genre of literature known as lam rim (“stages of the path”). (Source: "Atiśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 77. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
Indian scholiast of the eighth century CE and successor to Bhāvaviveka [alt. Bhāvya] in the Svātantrika school of Madhyamaka. Avalokitavrata wrote the ''Prajñapradīpaṭīkā'', an extensive subcommentary to Bhāvaviveka's ''Prajñāpradīpa'', his commentary on Nāgārjuna's ''Mūlamadhyamakakārikā'', in which he defends Bhāvaviveka from Candrakīrti's critiques. That subcommentary is extant only in Tibetan translation. (Source: "Avalokitavrata." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 82. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
Aśvaghoṣa was a Sarvāstivāda Buddhist philosopher, dramatist, poet and orator from India. He was born in Saketa in northern India. He is believed to have been the first Sanskrit dramatist, and is considered the greatest Indian poet prior to Kālidāsa. He was the most famous in a group of Buddhist court writers, whose epics rivaled the contemporary Ramayana. Whereas much of Buddhist literature prior to the time of Aśvaghoṣa had been composed in Pāli and Prakrit, Aśvaghoṣa wrote in Classical Sanskrit. . . .<br> He was previously believed to have been the author of the influential Buddhist text ''Awakening of Mahayana Faith'', but modern scholars agree that the text was composed in China. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%C5%9Bvagho%E1%B9%A3a Source Accessed July 22, 2020]) +
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Vairotsana was the greatest of all Tibetan lotsawas. Together with Padmasambhava and Vimalamitra, he was one of the three main masters to bring the Dzogchen teachings to Tibet.
Vairotsana was born into the Pagor clan, and was sent to India by Trisong Detsen to study with Indian panditas. He also travelled widely in China, Khotan, Nepal, Shangshung and elsewhere. He was one of the original seven monks ordained by Shantarakshita. (Source: [https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Vairotsana Rigpa Wiki]) +
Famous Kadam scholar connected with Nartang (''snar thang'') monastery. His collected works are said to have once filled sixteen volumes and includes the earliest extant Tibetan commentary on the ''Uttaratantra'' that cites both tantric and sutric sources to corroborate the claims made in the treatise. +
Tashi Özer received his name while still a child from the Seventh Karmapa along with some meditation instructions on the six syllable mantra. He later took novice ordination with the First Goshir Gyaltsab. However is early education occurred within the Geluk and Sakya traditions. He encountered the Seventh Karmapa again when he was a young man and received a wide range of instructions from him, which he was said to have thoroughly mastered and experienced numerous visions of buddhas while in extended retreat. He went on to become a prominent teacher of the Kagyu tradition, especially at Zurmang Monastery. His students included some of the most important Kagyu hierarchs of the day, including the Eighth Karmapa and the Third Goshir Gyaltsab. +
Also known as Bhāviveka and Bhavya, an important Indian master of the Madhyamaka school, identified in Tibet as a proponent of Svātantrika Madhyamaka and, within that, of Sautrāntika-Svātantrika-Madhyamaka. He is best known for two works. The first is the ''Prajñāpradīpa'', his commentary on [[Nāgārjuna]]’s ''Mūlamadhyam- akakārikā''; this work has an extensive subcommentary by [[Avalokitavrata]]. Although important in its own right as one of the major commentaries on the central text of the Madhyamaka school, the work is most often mentioned for its criticism of the commentary of Buddhapālita on the first chapter of Nāgārjuna’s text, where Bhāvaviveka argues that it is insufficient for the Madhyamaka only to state the absurd consequences (''prasaṅga'') that follow from the position of the opponent . . . The other major work of Bhāvaviveka is his ''Madhyamakahṛdaya'', written in verse, and its prose autocommentary, the ''Tarkajvālā''. The ''Madhyamakahṛdaya'' is preserved in both Sanskrit and Tibetan, the ''Tarkajvālā'' only in Tibetan. It is a work of eleven chapters, the first three and the last two of which set forth the main points in Bhāvaviveka’s view of the nature of reality and the Buddhist path, dealing with such topics as bodhicitta, the knowledge of reality (''tattvajñāna''), and omniscience (''sarvajñātā''). The intervening chapters set forth the positions (and Bhāvaviveka’s refutations) of various Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools, including the śrāvaka, Yogācāra, Sāṃkhya, Vaiśeṣika, Vedānta, and Mīmāṃsā. These chapters (along with Śāntarakṣita’s ''Tattvasaṃgraha'') are an invaluable source of insight into the relations between Madhyamaka and other contemporary Indian philosophical schools, both Buddhist and non-Buddhist. (Source: "Bhāvaviveka." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 114. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
(Chokle Namgyal) (1376-1451). The twenty-third abbot of Bo dong E monastery, founded in about 1049 by the Bka' gdams geshe (dge bshes) Mu dra pa chen po, and the founder of the Bo dong tradition. His collected works, said to number thirty-six titles, include his huge encyclopedic work ''De nyid 'dus pa'' ("Compendium of the Principles"); it alone runs to 137 volumes in the incomplete edition published by the Tibet House in Delhi. Phyogs las rnam rgyal (who is sometimes confused with Jo nang pa Phyogs las rnam rgyal who lived some fifty years earlier) was a teacher of Dge 'dun grub (retroactively named the first Dalai Lama) and Mkhas grub Dge legs dpal bzang, both students of Tsong kha pa. Among his disciples was the king of Gung thang, Lha dbang rgyal mtshan (1404–1463), whose daughter Chos kyi sgron me (1422–1455) became a nun after the death of her daughter and then the head of Bsam lding (Samding) monastery, which her father founded for her. The monastery is the only Tibetan monastery whose abbot is traditionally a woman; incarnations are said to be those of the goddess Vajravārāhī (T. Rdo rje phag mo), "Sow-Headed Goddess." (Source: "Bo dong Phyogs las rnam rgyal." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 139. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
Karl Brunnhölzl is one of the most prolific translators of Tibetan texts into English and has worked on all of the Five Treatises of Maitreya. He was originally trained as a physician. He took Buddhist refuge vows in 1984 and, in 1990, completed a five-year training in higher Buddhist philosophy at Kamalashila Institute, Germany, receiving the traditional Kagyü title of "Dharma tutor" (Tib. ''skyor dpon''). Since 1988, he received his Buddhist and Tibetan language training mainly at Marpa Institute for Translators in Kathmandu, Nepal (director: [[Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso]] Rinpoche), and also studied Tibetology, Buddhology, and Sanskrit at Hamburg University, Germany. Since 1989, Karl served as a translator, interpreter, and Buddhist teacher mainly in Europe, India, and Nepal. Since 1999, he has acted as one of the main translators and teachers at Nitartha Institute (director: [[Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche]]) in the USA, Canada, and Germany. In addition, he regularly taught at Gampo Abbey's Vidyadhara Institute from 2000–2007. He is the author of several books on Buddhism, such as ''The Center of the Sunlit Sky'', ''Straight from the Heart'', ''In Praise of Dharmadhātu'', and ''Luminous Heart'' (all Snow Lion Publications). He has also completed several ground-breaking translations in the Tsadra Foundation series, including a three-volume work on the ''Abhisamayālaṃkāra''. He has also completed the work ''[[Prajñāpāramitā, Indian "gzhan stong pas", and the Beginning of Tibetan gzhan stong]]'' in the Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde series, and of course, ''[[When the Clouds Part]]'', a translation of the ''Gyü Lama''. In 2019 his translation of the ''Mahāyānasaṃgraha'' with Indian and Tibetan commentaries was published and won the [https://khyentsefoundation.org/2019-outstanding-translation/ Khyentse Foundation Prize For Outstanding Buddhist Translation]. +
Tenpa Gyatso 1825-1897
1837. Enters Bkra-shis-'khyil
1845. Took the Tshogs-bsags rab-'byams-pa degree
1854. Went to Pe-cin to become the yongs 'dzin of the Thu'u-bkwan
Gsung 'bum in four volumes (79 sections)
Students (not recorded): 1884: Lcang-skya given name Blo-bzang-ye-shes-rgya-mtsho ; 1874: Sde-khri
W19801
[p. 1449]
W19837
[Vol. 2, p. 201]
W19836
[p. 727]
W19803
[p. 922] source contains brief biography
dates given: 1825-1897 +
The namesake of the Tsen Tradition (''btsan lugs'') of the exegesis of the ''Uttaratantra'', commonly referred to as the Meditation Tradition (''sgom lugs''). He travelled to Kashmir when he was in his mid-50's in 1076 along with Ngok Lotsāwa and others to study with various scholars, including Sajjana. With Zu Gawai Dorje acting as his translator, he famously requested instructions on the ''Uttaratantra'' from Sajjana in order to make it his "death practice" ('''chi chos''). These instructions became the basis for the Tsen Tradition, which was an important progenitor for later interpretations of the ''Uttaratantra'', such as those associated with Zhentong and Mahāmudrā. He returned to Tibet in 1089, some two or three years before Ngok, and thus was likely the first Tibetan to begin propagating the teachings he had received from Sajjana on the ''Five Treatises of Maitreya'' on Tibetan soil. +
Important early translator of Indian Buddhist texts into Chinese, also known by the Chinese translation of his name, Juexian, or "Enlightened Sage" . . . According to the "Biographies of Eminent Monks" (Gaoseng Zhuan), Buddhabhadra was born in north India and joined the saṃgha after losing both his parents at an early age. Buddhabhadra studied various scriptures and was adept in both meditation and observing the precepts; he was also renowned for his thaumaturgic talents. At the behest of a Chinese monk named Zhiyan, Buddhabhadra traveled to China along the southern maritime route. Upon learning of the eminent Kuchean monk Kumārajīva's arrival in Chang'an, Buddhabhadra went to the capital in 406 to meet him. Due to a difference of opinion with Kumārajīva, however, Buddhabhadra left for Lushan, where he was welcomed by Lushan Huiyuan and installed as the meditation instructor in Huiyuan's community; Buddhabhadra came to be known as one of the eighteen worthies of Lushan. He devoted the rest of his career to translating such scriptures as the Damoduoluo Chan Jing, ''Guanfo sanmei hai jing'', and Avataṃsakasūtra, to name just a few. Buddhabhadra also translated the Mahāsāṃghika vinaya with the assistance of Faxian and contributed significantly to the growth of Buddhist monasticism in China. (Source: "Buddhabhadra." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 150. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
Buddhaprabha was an Indian translator of Sanskrit texts into Tibetan, about whom little is known. Given the fact that he was a contemporary of Jinamitra, Dānaśīla, and Yeshe De, he probably lived between the late eighth and early ninth centuries. The Buddhist Digital Resource Center (TBRC.org) does not attribute a single text to him as translator (see https://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=P8268), but he is listed as the co-translator of the ''Questions of Sāgaramati Sūtra'' (Skt. ''Sāgaramatiparipṛcchāsūtra'', Tib. '' 'Phags pa blo gros rgya mtshos zhus pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo'') along with the above figures. +
After receiving Buddhist refuge vows from Kalu Rinpoche in Kagyu Ling, France, 1976 at the occasion of the first 3-year retreat in the West, Anne began her Buddhist studies with Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche in 1977, when he first arrived in Europe as part of the entourage of The 16th Karmapa.
In 1978 she began the study of ''The Gyulama'' (''Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma’i bstan bcos'') with him in Dordogne, France and published her first Danish translation of this text in 1981. She became a member of Khenpo Rinpoche’s Translating Board of Kagyu Tekchen Shedra, Institute of Mahayana Buddhist Studies, in Bruxelles, Belgium, in 1980.
She went on to become interpreter for many Kagyu, Nyingma and Gelukpa Lamas, including the Dalai Lama, for the next 35 years, mainly in Europe and Asia.
During the 80’s and 90’s she lived in Kathmandu where she acted as teacher, secretary and course coordinator at Khenpo Rinpoche’s Marpa Institute for Translators, Nepal.
Back in Europe she became Tibetan language teacher and associate professor at University of Copenhagen for 18 years, as well as research librarian and curator of the Tibetan Collection at The Royal Library for a decade, which included work on The Twinning Library Project with The National Library of Bhutan, Thimphu. She taught Buddhist Studies at Naropa University as a visiting professor, 2004-2005 and continued this at The Buddhist University, Copenhagen, for the next ten years.
She is currently finalizing her Danish translation of Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye's commentary on the Gyulama, ''Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma’i bstan bcos snying po’i don mngon sum lam gyi bshad srol dang sbyar ba’i rnam par ‘grel pa phyir mi ldog pa seng ge’i nga ro''. (Source: Anne Burchardi, personal communication, January 19, 2021.) +
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An important Madhyamaka master and commentator on the works of Nāgārjuna and Āryadeva, associated especially with what would later be known as the Prāsaṅgika branch of Madhyamaka. Very little is known about his life; according to Tibetan sources, he was from south India and a student of Kamalabuddhi. He may have been a monk of Nālandā. He wrote commentaries on Nāgārjuna’s ''Yuktiṣaṣṭikā'' and ''Śūnyatāsaptati'' as well as Āryadeva's ''Catuḥśataka''. His two most famous and influential works, however, are his ''Prasannapadā'' (''Clear Words''), which is a commentary on Nāgārjuna's ''Mūlamadhyamakakārikā'', and his ''Madhyamakāvatāra'' (''Entrance to the Middle Way''). (Source: "Candrakīrti." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 165. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche (Tib. ལྕགས་མདུད་སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་, Wyl. lcags mdud sprul sku) (1930-2002), Padma Gargyi Wangchuk, was a renowned teacher of the Nyingma school. He was known and respected in the West for his teachings, and also for his melodic chanting voice, his artistry as a sculptor and painter, his limitless compassion, and his sense of humour. He was the source of treasured Nyingma lineage transmissions for the thousands of people whom he taught in North and South America, Asia, Australia, and Europe.
Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche was the fourteenth recognized Chagdud incarnation; and his root incarnation was Gyalwa Chokyang. Chagdud means 'iron knot', and is said to derive from one Sherab Gyaltsen, the first Chagdud incarnation, who folded an iron sword into a knot with his bare hands. This feat deeply impressed the emperor of Mongolia and inspired him to shower honours on Chagdud. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche demonstrated the same extraordinary power several times in his youth when he compressed stout swords into folds. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Chagdud_Tulku_Rinpoche Source Accessed Feb 6, 2020]) +