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Along with Trisong Detsen and Shantarakshita, Padmasambhava is considered one of the principal early teachers to bring Buddhism to Tibet in the 8th century, Padmasambhava has numerous forms representing outer, inner and secret aspects of his spiritual being. He is also known by many different names which generally follow chronologically his life story. Aside from Trisong Detsen and Shantarakshita, the most important figures to interact with Padmasambhava were his principle Tibetan consort Yeshe Tsogyal and the principal Twenty-five Disciples. There are various Padmasambhava Number Sets which help to organize the important topics and essential subjects of his life and chronological sequence of important events, along with grouping the various sub-sets of important disciples. An 18th century curiosity is the inclusion of Padmasambhava as one of the pre-incarnations in the line of Panchen Lamas.
Concerning the life story of Padmasambhava there are at least four different versions of his birth and early childhood. Within the Oral (Kama) Tradition of the Nyingma School, Padmasambhava was born in Northern India as the son of a king, or minister. In the Revealed Treasure (Terma) Tradition he was born on a lotus in Dhanakosha lake, in the country of Oddiyana, as an emanation of Lokeshvara and the Buddha Amitabha. The Treasure King, Dorje Lingpa, revealed a number of Buddhist and Bon treasure texts where the Bon explain a completely different narrative of the life story and have Padmasambhava born in Tibet. There is also some evidence to suggest that Padmasambhava came from South India and that he was the brother-in-law of the Indian Abbott Shantarakshita, founder of Samye, the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet. ([https://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=100 Source Accessed Jan 21, 2020]) +
A Tibetan scholar and adept who is counted as one of the great disciples of the key Bka’ brgyud founder Sgam po pa Bsod nams rinchen, and is venerated as the source for many subsequent Bka’ brgyud lineages. Born in the ’Bri lung rme shod region of eastern Tibet, Phag mo gru pa’s parents died while he was still young. Receiving ordination as a novice Buddhist monk at the age of eight, he studied under a variety of teachers during the early part of his life. At eighteen, he traveled to central Tibet, receiving full ordination at the age of twenty-five. There he trained under a number of Bka’ gdams pa teachers, and later, under the great Sa skya master Sa chen Kun dga snying po, from whom he received extensive instruction in the tradition of the path and its result (lam ’bras). At the age of forty, he traveled to Dwags lha sgam po in Southern Tibet, where he met Sgam po pa, who became his principal guru. Sgam po pa famously held up a half-eaten ball of parched barley flour mixed with tea and said to Phag mo gru pa, “This is greater than the results of all your previous meditation.” After he demonstrated his humility by carrying stones to build a stūpa, Sgam po pa gave Phag mo gru pa the transmission of instructions on mahāmudrā meditation and, through their practice, is said to have attained great realization. In 1158, Phag mo gru pa established a simple meditation hut where he lived until his death in 1170; this location later served as the foundation for the influential monastery of Gdan sa mthil. Phag mo gru pa was renowned for his strict adherence to the vinaya, even going on alms rounds, a rare practice in Tibet. Several individuals among his many followers established a number of important branch lineages, the so-called “eight minor Bka’ brgyud subsects” that collectively came to be known as the Phag gru Bka’ brgyud. (Source: "Phag mo gru pa Rdo rje rgyal po." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 639. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
Indian Paṇḍita who lived in the 11th century and was one of Ngok Lotsāwa Loden Sherab's teachers, instructing him in "the ''Abhisamayālaṃkāra'' together with its commentary, the seven treatises of epistemology [by Dharmakīrti], and the 'Four Later Treatises of Maitreya[nātha] (Leonard van der Kuijp, ''Contributions to the Development of Tibetan Buddhist Epistemology: From the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Century'' [Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1983], 33. Pal Gomi Chime collaborated with Ngok on a revised translation of the ''Abhisamayālaṃkāra''. Ngok went on to write two Tibetan commentaries on the ''Abhisamayālaṃkāra'', playing a major role in establishing its transmission in Tibet. (Apple, ''Stairway to Nirvāṇa'', 2008, 32) +
Kashmiri Paṇḍita who became an important teacher and collaborator for several influential Tibetan scholars and translators that spent time studying in Kashmir in the 11th Century. According to Karl Brunnhölzl in ''When the Clouds Part'':
::Parahitabhadra was a student of the Kashmirian Mahāpaṇḍita Somaśrī and also studied Madhyamaka with Ratnavajra. Parahitabhadra's main Indian student was Mahāsumati, and he also taught Ngog Lotsāwa, Patsab Lotsāwa, Sangkar Lotsāwa Pagpa Sherab (a student of Jñānaśrībhadra), Sherab Gyaltsen (a student of Atiśa), Shönnu Cho, Su Gawé Dorje, and Marpa Dopa. Together with these translators, Parahita translated or revised many sūtras, tantras, and treatises (more than twenty works in the ''Tengyur'', among them the ''Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra'' and the ''Dharmadharmatāvibhāga''). There is also evidence that he collaborated with Sajjana, as their common revision of the ''Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra'' shows. In addition, the ''Tengyur'' contains three works authored by Parahitabhadra (a ''Śūnyatāsaptativṛtti'', a ''Maṇḍalābhiṣekavidhi'', and a rather extensive commentary on the first two verses of the ''Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra''). Besides Kashmir, he was active in Toling in western Tibet. It seems that he was more of a Madhyamaka and Pramāṇa specialist, but there is no doubt that he was a part of the eleventh-century Kashmirian paṇḍita scene that was involved with the Maitreya texts and transmitted them to Tibet (he is also mentioned in one of the Tibetan transmission lineages of the Uttaratantra). (88) +
Prabhākaramitra. (C. Boluopojialuomiduoluo; J. Harahakaramitsutara; K. Parap’agaramiltara 波羅頗迦羅蜜多羅) (564-633). A monk from Nālandā monastery who traveled to China in 626, where he translated a number of important texts, including the ''Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra'' of Maitreyanātha and the ''Prajñāpradīpa'' of Bhāvaviveka. (Source: "Prabhākaramitra." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 653. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
Puṇḍarīka (Tib. Pema Karpo) (176-76 BCE) is considered the 2nd of the 25 kings of Shambhala, or Kalkins. King Puṇḍarīka wrote a commentary called ''Vimalaprabhā'' (Skt.), or ''Stainless Light''. This text, together with the ''Srī Kālacakra'', is the source text of the Kālacakra system as it is now practiced. Other practice texts are commentaries on these two. The Dalai Lamas are said to be incarnations of Puṇḍarīka. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_of_Shambhala Source Accessed October 16, 2019]) +
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In Sanskrit, "Bejeweled Intelligence," name of an Indian scholar and Chinese translator who lived during the fifth and sixth centuries CE. He was especially renowned for his prodigious memory of a great many sūtra verses. In 508 CE, Ratnamati traveled from India to the Northern Wei capital of Luoyang, where he began to work on a translation of Vasubandhu's "Treatise on the Ten Stages" (S. ''Daṡabhūmivyākhyāna''; C. ''Shidijing lun'') with Bodhiruci and Buddhaśānta (d.u.). However, disagreements between the collaborators over the nature of the ''ālayavijñāna'' (viz., whether it was pure, impure, or both) led them to produce different translations. Those who studied Bodhiruci's rendering came to be known as the Northern Di lun zong, while the followers of Ratnamati's version were known as the Southern Di lun zong. The Southern Di lun school was represented by Ratnamati's foremost pupil, Huiguang (468–537), who advocated that the ālayavijñāna was an ultimate truth (''paramārthasatya'') and coextensive with the buddha-nature (''foxing''), which thus was in fact innate. Ratnamati subsequently went on to collaborate with other scholars on the translation of other works, including the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'', and the ''Saddharmapuṇdarīkopadeśa'' attributed to Vasubandhu. Ratnamati is also the name of a bodhisattva who appears in various Mahāyāna sūtras. (Source: "Ratnamati." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 703. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.) +
A circa 11th century Indian scholar that was one of the gate-keepers at the great monastic university of Vikramaśīla, as well as being included in the list of the eighty-four mahāsiddhas under the name Śāntipa. He was a prolific author and proponent of the Yogācāra school that was outspoken in his attempts to harmonize this school of thought with the philosophy of the Madhyamaka school. Though the majority of his known works, many of which were preserved in the Tibetan canon, covered topics related to Tantra. +
Rendawa Zhönu Lodrö was a highly distinguished Sakya scholar who is credited with reviving Madhyamaka studies in Tibet. A holder of the Kadam teachings, he was a teacher of Tsongkhapa, as well as hundreds of others, and is counted as seventy-fourth in the line of Lamrim lineage. +
Born in Merseyside, England, in 1938, [Roger Jonathan Corless] began studying religion at the age of sixteen, understanding himself as being Buddhist, though attending Christian churches. He studied theology at King’s College at the University of London, receiving a Bachelor of Divinity in 1961. In wrestling with the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Bible, and particularly in the sacrament of the Eucharist, Roger experienced God’s presence. He was baptized into the Roman Catholic church in 1964 after coming to the United States to pursue a PhD in Buddhist Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, from which he received that degree in 1973. From there, he joined the Department of Religion at Duke University and remained there until his retirement in 2000.<br> In 1980, Roger took refuge as a Gelugpa Buddhist under Geshela Lhundup Sopa, having first obtained permission from his Catholic spiritual director and having explained to Geshela what he was doing. His refuge or dharma name was Lhundup Tashi, ‘‘spontaneous fortune’’ or ‘‘luck.’’ Later, Roger also became a Benedictine oblate, taking Gregory as his Oblate name after Pope Gregory, whose instruction to Augustine of Canterbury was not to destroy the pagan temples, but to bring them into the church by trying to find what was good and preparatory to the Gospel. Roger understood himself as a dual practitioner, but did not seek to blend the two practices or traditions. Rather, he sought to be present to each in their own irreconcilable differences and deep riches.<br> Roger was always reflecting and writing on something, wanting to be open to the insights emerging from his studies and practices. His works are prolific. Over the past thirty years, he published three monographs (''The Art of Christian Alchemy: Transfiguring the Ordinary through Holistic Meditation'' [Paulist Press, 1981]; ''I Am Food: The Mass in Planetary Perspective'' [Crossroad, 1981, and Wipf and Stock, 2004]; and ''The Vision of Buddhism: The Space under the Tree'' [Paragon House, 1989]), one edited volume (with Paul Knitter, ''Buddhist Emptiness and Christian Trinity: Essays and Explorations'' [Paulist Press, 1990]), essays in thirty-one books, thirty-seven articles in twenty journals, articles in six encyclopedias, and twenty-seven papers. Before his death, he had also completed six additional essays, forthcoming in edited volumes, and a draft of another monograph, ''Where Do We Go from Here? The Many Religions and the Next Step''. Over the years, his works examined Buddhist teachings and practices, Christian teachings and practices, Buddhist-Christian dialogue, and interreligious dialogue; more recently his focus had turned to queer dharma topics and same-sex issues. ([https://muse.jhu.edu/article/220092/pdf Adapted from Source Jul 21, 2020])
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.) +
An Indian student of Maitrīpa that wrote a commentary on his teacher's ''Sekanirdeśa'' that is preserved in Tibetan translation. +
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Indian author of tantric works who was a student of Maitrīpa and was known for a commentary on his teacher's work the ''Tattvadaśaka''. +
In Japanese, “Most Pure”; the monk traditionally recognized as the founder of the Tendaishū in Japan; also known as Dengyō Daishi (Great Master Transmission of the Teachings). Although the exact dates and place of Saichō’s birth remain a matter of debate, he is said to have been born to an immigrant Chinese family in Ōmi province east of Hieizan in 767. At age eleven, Saichō entered the local Kokubunji and studied under the monk Gyōhyō (722-797), a disciple of the émigré Chinese monk Daoxuan (702—766). In 785, Saichō received the full monastic precepts at the monastery of Tōdaiji in Nara, after which he began a solitary retreat in a hermitage on Mt. Hiei. In 788, he built a permanent temple on the summit of Mt. Hiei. After Emperor Kanmu (r. 781-806) moved the capital to Kyōto in 794, the political significance of the Mt. Hiei community and thus Saichō seem to have attracted the attention of the emperor. In 797, Saichō was appointed a court priest (naigubu), and in 802 he was invited to the monastery of Takaosanji to participate in a lecture retreat, where he discussed the writings of the eminent Chinese monk Tiantai Zhiyi on the ''Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra''. Saichō and his disciple Gishin received permission to travel to China in order to acquire Tiantai texts. In 804, they went to the monastery of Guoqingsi on Mt. Tiantai and studied under Daosui (d.u.) and Xingman (d.u.), disciples of the eminent Chinese Tiantai monk Jingqi Zhanran. Later, they are also known to have received bodhisattva precepts (bosatsukai) from Daosui at Longxingsi. He is also said to have received tantric initiation into the kongōkai and taizōkai (ryōbu) maṇḍalas from Shunxiao (d.u.). After nine and a half months in China, Saichō returned to Japan the next year with numerous texts, which he catalogued in his ''Esshūroku''. Emperor Kanmu, who had been ill, asked Saichō to perform the esoteric rituals that he had brought back from China as a therapeutic measure. Saichō received permission to establish the Tendai sect and successfully petitioned for two Tendai monks to be ordained each year, one for doctrinal study and one to perform esoteric rituals. After the death of Kanmu in 806, little is known of Saichō’s activities. In 810, he delivered a series of lectures at Mt. Hiei on the ''Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra'', the ''Suvarṇaprabhāsottamasūtra'', and the ''Renwang jing'' ("Scripture for Humane Kings"). In 812, Saichō also constructed a meditation hall known as the Hokkezanmaidō. Later, Saichō is also said to have received kongōkai initiation from Kūkai at the latter’s temple Takaosanji, but their relations soured after a close disciple of Saichō’s left Saichō for Kūkai. Their already tenuous relationship was sundered completely when Saichō requested a tantric initiation from Kūkai, who replied that Saichō would need to study for three years with Kūkai first. Saichō then engaged the eminent Hossōshū (Faxlang zong) monk Tokuitsu (d.u.) in a prolonged debate concerning the buddha-nature and Tendai doctrines, such as original enlightenment. In response to Tokuitsu’s treatises ''Busshōshō'' and ''Chūhengikyō'', Saichō composed his ''Shōgonjikkyō'', ''Hokke kowaku'', and ''Shugo kokkaishō''. Also at this time, Saichō began a prolonged campaign to have an independent Mahāyāna ordination platform established at Mt. Hiei. He argued that the bodhisattva precepts as set forth in the ''Fanwang jing'', traditionally seen as complementary to monastic ordination, should instead replace them. He argued that the Japanese were spiritually mature and therefore could dispense entirely with the hīnayāna monastic precepts and only take the Mahāyāna bodhisattva precepts. His petitions were repeatedly denied, but permission to establish the Mahāyāna ordination platform at Mt. Hiei was granted a week after his death. Before his death Saichō also composed the ''Hokke shūku'' and appointed Gishin as his successor. (Source: "Saichō." In ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 737. Princeton University Press, 2014.)
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. +
A Kadam scholar from Sangpu Neutok Monastery that was known for his expertise in the ''Five Treatises of Maitreya''. He was a senior contemporary of both Dölpopa and Butön and a teacher of the Sakya scholar Yakde Paṇchen and the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje. +
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]) +
During the lifetime of the Seventh Karmapa, the Great Encampment of the Karmapas expanded greatly, earning him the epithet “Chödrak Gyatso of the Great Encampment.” Chödrak Gyatso created the practice of holding massive prayer festivals on the major Buddhist holidays, establishing the precedent for today’s Kagyu Monlam Chenno.
The widely learned Chödrak Gyatso introduced a formal study institute (''shedra'') into the Great Encampment itself, and similarly created a shedra at Tsurphu Monastery. An accomplished scholar, the Seventh Karmapa authored a number of influential commentaries on Indian philosophical treatises. His text on epistemology, the multi-volume ''Ocean of Reasoning'', remains one of his most important works, alongside his commentary on the ''Abhisamayalaṅkāra'', the ''Lamp of the Three Worlds''.
While these formed his major deeds, Chödrak Gyatso’s varied activities to benefit beings also included bridge construction, the resolution of factional disputes and protection of animals. As had been the case in the Great Encampment since its inception, no meat whatsoever was consumed—or even allowed within the camp. ([https://karmapafoundation.eu/karmapas/7th-karmapa/ Source Accessed July 28, 2020]) +
Shangton Tenpa Gyatso was born in Tseshung (rtse gzhung) in 1825. His father's name was Nyingkar bum. and his mother was Tsering Drolma. He entered Bkra-shis-'khyil monastery in 1837. He later took the Tshogs-bsags rab-'byams-pa degree in 1845. He went to Pe-cin to become the yongs 'dzin of the Thu'u-bkwan in 1854. His collected works (gsung 'bum) comprise four volumes (79 sections). His Collected Works can be found [https://archive.org/details/bdrc-W29232/mode/2up here]. ([https://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=P257 Adapted from Source Sep 1 2020]) +