| Key Term |
Kagyu |
| Hover Popup Choices |
Kagyü; Kagyu |
| Featured People |
Marpa Chökyi Lodrö, Gampopa, Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje, Gö Lotsāwa Zhönu Pal, Eighth Karmapa Mikyö Dorje, Thrangu Rinpoche, Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso, The 17th Karmapa, Orgyen Trinley Dorje, Elizabeth Callahan |
| In Tibetan Script |
བཀའ་བརྒྱུད་ |
| Wylie Tibetan Transliteration |
bka' brgyud |
| Tibetan Phonetic Rendering |
ka gyu |
| English Standard |
Kagyu |
| Alternate Spellings |
bka' rgyud |
| Term Type |
School |
| Source Language |
Tibetan |
| Basic Meaning |
The Kagyu school traces its origin to the eleventh-century translator Marpa, who studied in India with Nāropa. Marpa's student Milarepa trained Gampopa, who founded the first monastery of the Kagyu order. As many as twelve subtraditions grew out from there, the best known being the Karma Kagyu, the Drikung, and the Drukpa. |
| Has the Sense of |
The Marpa Kagyu (mar pa bka’ brgyud) tradition originated in the eleventh century with the Tibetan translator Marpa Chokyi Lodro, who studied in India with Nāropa. Marpa’s disciple Milarepa famously attained enlightenment in the caves of southern Tibet after renouncing a life of violent revenge; his disciple Gampopa merged the lay siddha practice of his master with the Kadampa monasticism and scholarship that he had previously studied. Gampopa founded the first Kagyu monastery, Daklha Gampo, in southern Tibet. Following Gampopa the tradition split into multiple autonomous subsects known as the four primary (Barom, Pakdru, Karma, and Tselpa), and eight secondary traditions (Drigung, Drukpa, Martsang, Shukseb, Taklung, Tropu, Yabzang, and Yelpa Kagyu). Read more at Treasury of Lives |
| Definitions |