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Nyingma |
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Nyingma
is the oldest school of Tibetan Buddhism. It is
commonly referred to as the “Ancient One”.
This school was based on the lineage of traditions
and teachings introduced during the times of the
Buddhist Kings. The Buddhist Kings were from the
Yarlong Dynasty during the Eighth and Ninth Centuries.
These teachings and traditions are handed down
from Padmasambhava, Shantarakshita, and Vilalamitra to
name a few. |
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Kagyu |
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Kagyu
tradition is based on a lineage that follows a teaching
role Padmasambhava.
This tradition is commonly known as the “Oral Lineage”. The teacher passes his own intellectual understanding and meditational experiences to his disciple. Also, once the teacher has completed his own mastery of the teachings, he introduces mahamudra to his disciple. The teachings in the Kagyu lineage have been preserved over the years, and transmitted until the current times. |
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Sakya |
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Sakya
tradition emerged during the eleventh century in
Tibet. This tradition is known as “Grey Earth”.
The tradition is associated with the Khon Family.In
the eighth century, Khon Lui Wangpo Sungwa became
a disciple of Guru Rinpoche. Sakya Monastery was
built by Khon Konchok Gyalpo in 1073. The building
of the Sakya Monastery established the Sakya Tradition
in Tibet. |
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Gelug |
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The
last school in Tibetan Buddhism is Gelug, or Gelupka.
This school is more commonly known as “School
of Virtue”. This lineage combines the practices
and teachings of the Nyingma, Kagyu and Sakya lineages.
This tradition takes the previous three traditions
along with the Sutra and Tantra systems of Indian
Buddhism, and creates one tradition. This lineage
also includes the intellectual heritage of the Asanga
and Nagarjuna. |
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Others:
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Bon
(Indigenous Faith of
Tibetan) |
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Tibet's
oldest spiritual tradition is Bön. According
to Bönpo accounts, eighteen enlightened teachers
will appear in this aeon and Tönpa Shenrab,
the founder of the Bön religion, is the enlightened
teacher of this age. He is said to have been born
in the mythical land of Olmo Lung Ring, whose location
remains something of a mystery. The land is traditionally
described as dominated by Mount Yung-drung Gu-tzeg
(Edifice of Nine Swastikas), which many identify
as Mount Kailash in western Tibet. Due to the sacredness
of Olmo Lung Ring and the mountain, both the counter-clockwise
swastika and the number nine are of great significance
in the Bön religion.
It is believed that Tönpa Shenrab first studied
the Bön doctrine in heaven, at the end of which
he pledged at the feet of the god of compassion,
Shenla Okar, to guide the people of this world.
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Jonang |
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In
the early 14th century the monk Sherab Gyeltsen
broke away from the Sakyapa school and established
the Jonangpa school at Jonan about a 160 km northwest
of the Tashilhumpo monastery in Shigatse. There
the Jonangpa built a large monastery and constructed
a printing press.
The Jonangpa school had generated a number of renowned Buddhist scholars, the greatest of whom was Taranatha (1575-1634). Taranatha placed great emphasis on the Kalachakra system of tantra which became an important part of Gelugpa teaching after the Gelugpa absorbed the Jonangpa monasteries. Taranatha's influence on Gelugpa thinking continues even to this day in the teaching of the present 14th Dalai Lama who actively promotes initiation into Kalachakra.
After several centuries of independence, however, in the late 17th century the Jonangpa order came under the the Gelugpa order.
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