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From Buddha-Nature
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Nyo Gyelwa Lhanangpa Sanggye Rinchen (gnyos rgyal ba lha nang pa sangs rgyas rin chen) was the only child of both of his two parents, he had two half brothers and two half sisters. His father was Nyo Drakpa Pel (gnyos grags pa dpal), one of the four most powerful and wealthy men in U-Tsang in those times. He was not only wealthy but a religious person as well, a bearer of the special Guhyasamāja lineage that came from his famous great-grandfather Nyo Lotsāwa Jungpo Yonten Drak (gnyos lo tsa ba 'byung po yon tan grags), Marpa Chokyi Lodro's (mar pa chos kyi blo gros, c.1012-1097) traveling companion in India.
Drakpa Pel, although a layman, often gave Guhyasamāja teachings and initiations to monks. On these occasions, his son Lhanangpa, then known as Zibji Pel (gzi brjid dpal), would sit on his lap and be the first to receive the empowerments. Once he went with his father to Gungtang (gung thang) to visit the famous Zhang Yudrakpa Tsondru Drakpa (zhang g.yu brag pa brtson 'grus grags pa, 1123-1193). Zhang identified him as a reincarnation of the Great Siddha of India known by the name Kṛṣnācharya, in Tibetan Nakpo Chopa (nag po spyod pa). +
Nyoshul Khenpo Jamyang Dorje was one of the great Nyingma Dzogchen masters of the twentieth century. Born in Kham, he trained under Khenpo Ngaga and many other of the era's great teachers. He spent several years in solitary retreat and taught at Katok before fleeing the Communist take over of Tibet in the 1950s. Settling in Bhutan, he taught both high officials and young monks. He travelled and taught widely in the West. +
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Pelchen Chokyi Yeshe was born some time in the twelfth century. His place of birth is not known, but may have been in or near Drigung.
He was initially a disciple of a student of Ngok Sengge Khapa (rngog seng ge kha pa), after which he became a disciple of Jikten Gonpo Rinchen Pel ('jig rten mgon po rin chen dpal, 1143-1217), the founder of Drigung Til Monastery ('bri gung mthil) . . .
He wrote several treatises of Drigung teachings, including one with the title of Rinpoche Zhidro (rin po che bzhi 'gros). He is likely the author of an influential biography of Pakmodrupa Dorje Gyelpo (phag mo gru pa rdo rje rgyal po, 1110-1170) titled ''Yon tan rin po che'i phreng ba gzi brjid 'bar ba'i sgron me''. +
Pelgyi Lhunpo was a Tibetan monk and translator active during the ninth century. He is credited with the translation of seven texts in the Kangyur and three in the Tengyur. He collaborated with multiple men from India, Kashmir, and Zahor: Sarvajñādeva, Dharmākara, Vidyakaraprabha, Dharmaśrīprabha, Vidyākarasiṃha, and Jnāñaśānti. +
Dza Patrul Rinpoche, the author of the famed ''Words of My Perfect Teacher'', was among the most significant transmitters of the Longchen Nyingtik practice lineage in the nineteenth century. Patrul was renowned for his uncommon humility, his forthright honesty, his brilliant oratory, and beyond all his skillful diffusion of the heart of the dharma. +
Patsab Lotsāwa Nyima Drakpa was a major translator of Madhyamaka texts into Tibet. A monk of Sangpu Monastery, he traveled in in Kashmir to work with paṇḍitas such as Jñānagarbha and Kanakavarma. Among his translations are Nāgārjuna's ''Mūlamadhyamakakārikā'' (D 3824), Āryadeva's ''Catuhśataka-śāstra'' (''Four Hundred Verses'') (D 3846), and Candrakīrti's ''Madhyamakāvatāra'' (D 3861). Tibetans consider him the founder of the Prasangika school of Madhyamaka. +
The Fifteenth Ganden Tripa, Paṇchen Sonam Drakpa (dga' ldan khri pa 15, khri chen bsod nams grags pa) was born into the family of Nangpa Ralampa (nang pa ra lam pa) that was based near the Tsetang Monastery in Lhoka (lho kha rtse thang dgon pa) in 1478, the earth-dog year of the eighth sexagenary cycle. At the young age Sonam Drakpa received the vows of novice monk from Lechenpo Sonam Tashi (las chen po bsod nams bkra shis, d.u.), who gave him the ordained name Sonam Drakpai Pel (bsod nams grags pa' i dpal).
Sonam Drakpa enrolled at Tsetang Monastery and received his primary monastic education such as reading and writing, and memorization of daily and frequent prayer texts and other root-verses of important texts. He studied Pramāṇa (''tshad ma'') for some time, and then went to Yabzang (g.ya' bzang) for some clarification on the critical points of the subject with some scholars. There he studied traditional philosophical texts under the tutorship of Choje Dakpo Rabjampa (chos rje dwags po rab 'byams pa, d.u.) and other scholars. He also studied grammar, poetry, composition, and so forth.
Sonam Drakpa travelled to Lhasa and then matriculated at Sera at the age of sixteen. There he studied Abhisamayālaṃkāra, Mādhyamak, Abhidharmakośa, Pramāṇavārttika and Vinaya, the five major subjects of the Geshe Lharampa curriculum, mainly under the three eminent masters: Donyo Pelden (don yod dpal ldan, 1445-1524), the tenth abbot of Sera Monastery; Nyelton Peljor Lhundrub (gnyal ston dpal ' byor lhun grub, 1427-1514) and Tonpa Khetsun Yonten Gyatso (thon pa mkhas btsun yon tan rgya mtsho, 1443-1521). While studying these traditional texts he also received many teachings on tantra. In the meantime he received the vows of full ordination at the age of twenty from Wona Lama Sanggye Zangpo ('od na bla ma sangs rgyas bzang po, d.u.). +
Prajñāvarman was an eighth-century Indian author, three of whose works survive in Tibetan translation. These include the ''Viśeṣastavaṭikā'', the commentary on the hymns of praise to the Buddha that opens the Kangyur. A Prajñāvarman was also a prolific translator of Indic works into Tibetan, including works by Kamalaśīla, Asaṅga, and Śāntarakṣita, among other masters. His Tibetan collaborator was Yeshe De. The author and the translator were probably the same person, but it is not certain. +
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Ratnākaraśānti was an Indian scholar and tantric adept who lived during the late tenth and early eleventh century. The head of the great Indian monastery Vikramaśīla, he was a teacher to Atiśa, Maitrīpā, Śraddhākaravarman, and Drokmi Śākya Yeshe, among others. Forty of his compositions are included in the Tibetan Tengyur. In his esoteric works he sought to explain tantric practice from a Yogācāra interpretation of the Perfection of Wisdom literature. +
Rigdzin Godemchen was a Nyingma treasure revealer who discovered the Jangter, or Northern Treasures. He was posthumously known as the First Dorje Drak Rigdzin after the Third Dorje Drak Rigdzin claimed to have been the reincarnation of Lekden Dorje, who was himself identified as the reincarnation of Godemchen.
According to legend, when he was eleven years old three feathery growths appeared on the top of his head; by the time he was twenty-three there were five. Because these growths looked like the feathers of a vulture, he became famous as Godkyi Demtruchen (rgod kyi ldem 'phru can), ‘the one with vulture’s feathers’, which is generally shortened to Godemchen. Later in life he became known as Rigdzin Chenpo (rig 'dzin chen po; mahāvidyādhara) and this title has been held ever since by each of his successive incarnations. +
Rinchen Jangchub (rin chen byang chub) was born in a village called Lhadra (lha sgra) in Dento ('dan stod), Kham. His father, Tonpa Sanggye Pel (ston pa sangs rgyas dpal), was said to be an incarnation of Marpa Chokyi Lodro (mar pa chos kyi blo gros, 1012?-1097). His mother's name was Choden (chos ldan). They were members of the Kyura (skyu ra) clan, and relatives of Jikten Gonpo ('jig rten dgon po, 1143-1217), the founder of Drigung Til Monastery ('bri gung mthil dgon pa). Rinchen Jangchub had one sister and five brothers, including an elder brother, Won Sherab Jungne (dbon shes rab 'byung gnas, 1187-1241), who served as the third abbot of Drigung Monastery, and a youngest brother named Chennga Gampopa (spyan snga sgam po pa), another close disciple of Jikten Gonpo. The names of his other siblings are not known. . . .
Rinchen Changchup wrote many treatises including a commentary on Single Intention (''dgongs gcig'') titled ''Rinjangma'' (''rin byang ma''). +
Rinchen Zangpo was one of the most important translators in Tibetan history. Working under the sponsorship of the kings of Guge, he was responsible for the translation of many of the texts of the Second Propagation of Buddhism in Tibet. Seventeen volumes of his translations are in the Kangyur, and thirty-three volumes in the Tengyur. He is credited with one hundred and eight volumes of tantric translations, as well as numerous volumes of texts relating to science and medicine. Rinchen Zangpo is also considered responsible for the construction of numerous temples across western Tibet and the Northwest Indian Himalaya, although almost all of the attributions are tenuous. He was the first to introduce the Cakrasaṃvara tantra and the cult of the deity Mahākāla to Tibet, and was responsible for translations of several important Prajñāpāramitā scriptures. Many of the lineages he introduced, particularly those of the Yogatantras, are maintained in the Sakya tradition. +
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. +
Rongzom Chokyi Zangpo was an eleventh-century Tibetan translator, author, and exegete of Buddhist literature. Among his translations and commentarial works are important scriptures transmitted as part of the first and second period of Buddhist diffusion in Tibet. He is a seminal figure for the Nyingma, traditionally described as the last translator of the early translation period. His work as a translator and exegete is nevertheless also important to the later translation period and the so-called New Schools of Tibetan Buddhism. His prodigious literary output––including his early and influential commentary on Guhyagarbhatantra and his vociferous defense of Tibet's Dzogchen tradition––affirm his place as the first of the three luminaries of the Nyingma tradition, alongside Longchenpa and Ju Mipam Gyatso. +
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Sachen Kunga Nyingpo was the first of the Sakya Jetsun Gongma Nga, the five founding patriarchs of Sakya. These five men of the Khon family are credited with having laid the foundations for the Sakya tradition. Sachen was a layman and the third Sakya Tridzin or throne holder, a position distinct from his later designation as a patriarch. His father, Khon Khonchog Gyelpo, was the first Sakya throne holder and the founder of what became Sakya monastery. +
Sakya Paṇḍita Kunga Gyaltsen, commonly referred to as Sapaṇ, was the fourth of the Five Patriarchs of Sakya and the sixth Sakya throne holder. A member of the illustrious Khon family that established and controlled the Sakya tradition, he was an advocate for strict adherence to Indian Buddhist traditions, standing in opposition to Chinese or Tibetan innovations that he considered corruptions. In this regard he was a major player in what has been termed the Tibetan Renaissance period, when there was a move to reinvigorate Tibetan Buddhism’s connections to its Indian antecedents. He was instrumental in transmitting the Indian system of five major and five minor sciences to Tibet. As an ordained monk, Sapaṇ was instrumental in laying the groundwork for adherence to the Vinaya at Sakya Monastery, built under his successors. He authored more than one hundred texts and was also a prolific translator from Sanskrit. His writings are among the most widely influential in Tibetan literature and prompted commentaries by countless subsequent authors. Sapaṇ’s reputation as a scholar and Buddhist authority helped him forge close ties with powerful Mongols, relations that would eventually lead to the establishment of Sakya Monastery and its position of political power over the Thirteen Myriarchies of central Tibet. +
Sabzang Mati Paṇchen Lodro Gyeltsen was one of Dolpopa’s fourteen major disciples. He was a great master of sutra and tantra, especially the Five Books of Maitreya and the Kālacakra Tantra. He completed a new revised translation of the Kālacakra Tantra and the Vimalaprabhā. He later lived and taught at Sabzang Ganden Monastery. +
Chokyi Gyeltsen was the twelfth abbot of Sera Monastery. He studied in Tashilhunpo and Sera and served as disciplinarian of Tashilhunpo. His collected works are in seven volumes. +
The treasure revealer Sera Khandro was the most prolific female author in Tibetan history. Considered an incarnation of Yeshe Tsogyel, her main treasure revelations are The Secret Treasury of Reality Ḍākinīs and The Ḍākinīs’ Heart Essence. She also wrote her own autobiography, a commentary on Dudjom Lingpa’s Buddhahood Without Meditation and a biography of her main consort, Drime Ozer. +
Zhabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol was a Nyingma lama in Amdo active in the first half of the nineteenth century. A native of the tantric practice center of Rebkong, Zhabkar meditated in sacred places across the Tibetan Plateau, including Labchi and Kailash. His autobiography is a classic of Tibetan literature, much beloved for its simple and moving account of the life of a wandering yogin from childhood until his ultimate spiritual realization. He was a teacher to many of the nineteenth century's greatest lamas of Kham and Amdo. +
