Kagyu

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Key Term	Kagyu
Featured People	Mar pa chos kyi blo gros, Sgam po pa, Karmapa, 3rd
In Tibetan Script	བཀའ་བརྒྱུད་
Wylie Tibetan Transliteration	bka' brgyud
Tibetan Phonetic Rendering	ka gyu
Alternate Spellings	bka' rgyud
Term Type	School
Source Language	Tibetan
Basic Meaning	The Kagyu traces its origin to the eleventh century translator Marpa and his famous disciple Milarepa. It split into as many as twelve sub-traditions, the best known being the Karma Kagyu, the Drigung, and the Drukpa.
Definitions

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.

The disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain individual liberation or nirvāṇa. The final goal of the Hearers is to become an arhat, a state in which one has totally eliminated the inner problems of attachment, hatred and ignorance, the main causes for rebirth in this cycle of existence. There are four stages of a śrāvaka path including eight phases.