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Kagyu

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Kagyu
Tibetan name
Tibetan བཀའ་བརྒྱུད་
Transcriptions
Wyliebka’ brgyud
THLKagyü
Tibetan PinyinGagyü
Lhasa IPAkacy
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese白教、噶舉派
Simplified Chinese白教、噶举派
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinbáijiào, Gájǔpài
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Kagyu
Jonang
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Samding Dorje Phagmo

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Teachings
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History and overview

The Kagyu school, also known as the "Oral Lineage" or Whisperd Transmission school, is one of four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism today, the other three being the Nyingma (རྙིང་མ Rnying-ma), Sakya (Sa-skya), and Gelug (Dge-lugs). The Kagyu is considered to be one of the Sarma (གསར་མ) or "New Transmission" schools.

Name

Strictly speaking, the term Kagyu བཀའ་བརྒྱུད (“Oral Lineage” or “Precept Transmission”) applies to any line of transmission of an esoteric teaching from teacher to disciple. We sometimes see references to the "Atisha Kagyu" (“the precept transmission from Atiśa”) for the early Kadampa[1], "Jonang Kagyu" for the Jonangpa and "Ganden Kagyu" (dge ldan bka’ brgyud) for the Gelugpa sects[2].

Today the term Kagyu is almost always used to refer to the Dagpo Kagyu the main branch of the Marpa Kagyu which developed from the teachings transmitted by the translator Marpa Chökyi Lodrö; and to the seperate Shangpa Kagyu traditin which developed from the teachings transmitted by Keydrup Khyungpo Naljor.

Marpa Kagyu & Dagpo Kagyu

Origins

Almost the entirety of the Kagyu school traces its origins to the teachings of the Indian mystics Tilopa (988-1089) and Naropa (1016-1100), whose lineage was transmitted in Tibet by the great translator Marpa (1012-1097). He took over the mahamudra ("great seal") transmission lineage from Naropa. Moreover Marpa studied with the Indian Masters Maitripa and Kukuripa. According to some accounts, on his third journey to India he met Atiśa (982-1054) and studied the teachings of the Kadampa masters[3] (both Kagyu and Gelug schools trace their roots to the earlier Kadampa school, although generally this is traced back to Gampopa). Marpa spent 17 years in India and is known as one of the great translators of the second translation period. Marpa's principal disciple was Milarepa (Mi-la-ras-pa) (1052-1135), widely considered one of Tibet's great religious poets and meditators. Among Milarepa's many students were Dagpo Lharje Gampopa (Sgam-po-pa) (1079-1153), a great scholar, and the great yogi Rechung Dorje Drakpa, also known as Rechungpa.

Following Gampopa's teachings, there evolved the so-called "Four Major and Eight Minor" lineages of the Dagpo (sometimes rendered "Tagpo" or "Dakpo") Kagyu School. This organization is descriptive of the generation in which the schools were founded, not of their realization or prominence. The Rechung Kagyu school that descended from Rechungpa has always been far smaller and more obscure.

Twelve Dagpo Kagyu Lineages

Although few survive as independent linages today, there were originally twelve main Kagyu lineages derived from Gampopa and his disciples. Four primary ones stemmed from direct disciples of Gampopa and his nephew; and eight secondary ones branched from Gampopa's disciple Phagmo Drupa. [3]. Several of these Kagyu lineages in turn developed their own branches or sub-schools.


In addition to these


Four primary schools of the Dagpo Kagyu=

=


The Karma Kagyu itself has three subschools in addition to the main branch:[4]

Eight Pagdru Kagyu sub-schools

Drikung Kagyu

One of the most important of the Kagyu sects still remaining today, the Drikung Kagyu (འབྲི་གུང་བཀའ་པརྒྱུད་པ) takes it's name name from Drikung Thil Monastery founded by Jigten Gonpo Rinchen Pal (‘Jig-rten dgon-po rin-chen dpal) (1143-1217) also known as Drikung Kyopa.

Several sub-sects branched off from the Drikung Kagyu including the Lhapa Kagyu, founded by Gyalwa Lhanangpa (1164-1224) which was at one time important in Bhutan but later eclipsed by the Drukpa Kagyu.

Since the 15th Century the Drikung Kagyupa were greatly influenced by the teachings of Nyingma tradition.

Drukpa Kagyu

The Drukpa Kagyu, which combined lineages from both Gampopa and Rechungpa, is the state religion of Bhutan, giving the country the name Druk Yul. Drukpa monasteries are also found in Ladakh, Zanskar, Lahoul, Kinnaur, Spiti, and other parts of the Himalayas.


Martsang Kagyu

  • Martsang Kagyu (སྨར་ཚང་བཀའ་བརྒྱུད). Founded by Marpa Drupthob Sherab Yeshe (སྨར་པ་ཤེས་རབ་ཡེ་ཤེས) who established Sho Monastery (ཤོ་དགོན) in E. Tibet.

This Kagyu sub-sect was eventually absorbed by the Palyul branch of the Nyingma school.

Shugseb Kagyu

Taklung Kagyu

Throphu Kagyu

Yabzang Kagyu

Yelpa Kagyu


The only Kagyu schools that continue to exist independently are the Karma, Drukpa, Drikung, and Taklung.

Teachings

The central teaching of Kagyu is the doctrine of Mahamudra, "the Great Seal", as elucidated by Gampopa in his various works. This doctrine focuses on four principal stages of meditative practice (the Four Yogas of Mahamudra), namely:

  1. The development of single-pointedness of mind,
  2. The transcendence of all conceptual elaboration,
  3. The cultivation of the perspective that all phenomena are of a "single taste",
  4. The fruition of the path, which is beyond any contrived acts of meditation.

It is through these four stages of development that the practitioner is said to attain the perfect realization of Mahamudra.

Important practices in all Kagyu schools are the tantric practices of Chakrasamvara and Vajrayogini, and particularly the Six Yogas of Naropa.

In terms of view, the Kagyu (particularly the Karma Kagyu) emphasize the Hevajra tantra with commentaries by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye and Dakpo Tashi Namgyal, the Uttaratantra with commentaries by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye and another by Gölo Shönu Pal as a basis for studying buddha nature, and the the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje's Profound Inner Reality (Tib. Zabmo Nangdon) with commentaries by Rangjung Dorje and Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye as a basis for tantra.

History

Karmapa controversy

Main article: Karmapa controversy

The Karmapa is the head of the Karma Kagyu, the largest subschool of the Kagyu lineage. Since the death of the 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, in 1981 followers have disputed the identity of his successor. The two main candidates are Ogyen Trinley Dorje and Trinley Thaye Dorje, and others have been identified as well. The Tai Situpa and Goshir Gyaltsab tulkus of the Karma Kagyu order have recognized Ogyen Trinley Dorje and the Shamarpa, Mipham Chokyi Lodro, has recognized Trinley Thaye Dorje.

Shangpa Kagyu

Main article: Shangpa Kagyu


TheShangpa Kagyu(shangs pa bka' brgyud) was founded by Khyungpo Naljor (khyung po rnal ‘byor) in the second half of the eleventh century. The tradition takes its name from the valley of Shang (ཤངས) where Khyungpo Naljor established the monastery of Zhong Zhong ཞོང་ཞོང or Zhang Zhong (ཞོང་ཞོང).

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ Smith, E. Gene. "Golden Rosaries of the Bka' brgyud Schools." in Among Tibetan Texts: History and Literature of the Himalayan Plateau, ed. Kurtis R. Schaeffer, p.40. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2001
  3. ^ Tenzin Gyatsho, Dalai Lama XIV. The Gelug / Kagyü Tradition of Mahamudra p. 262
  4. ^ " Transcriptions of teachings given by His Eminence the 12th Kenting Tai Situpa (2005)," [2]

Further Reading

  • Kapstein, Matthew. “The Shangs-pa bKa'-brgyud: an unknown school of Tibetan Buddhism” in M. Aris and Aung San Suu Kyi (eds.), Studies in Honor of Hugh Richardson (Warminster: Aris and Phillips, 1980), pp. 138-44.
  • Khenpo Konchog Gyaltsen. The Great Kagyu Masters: The Golden Lineage Treasury. Ithica: Snow Lion Publicaions, 1990. [A translation of part of the Bka' brgyud kyi rnam thar chen mo- a collection of 'Bri gung Bka' brgyud hagiographies by Rdo rje mdzes 'od]
  • Smith, E. Gene. "Golden Rosaries of the Bka' brgyud Schools." in Among Tibetan Texts: History and Literature of the Himalayan Plateau, ed. Kurtis R. Schaeffer, 39-52. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2001. ISBN 0-86171-179-3
  • Smith, E. Gene. "The Shangs pa Bka' brgyud Tradition." in Among Tibetan Texts: History and Literature of the Himalayan Plateau, ed. Kurtis R. Schaeffer, 53-57. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2001. ISBN 0-86171-179-3
  • Smith, E. Gene. "Padma dkar po and His History of Buddhism" in Among Tibetan Texts: History and Literature of the Himalayan Plateau, ed. Kurtis R. Schaeffer, 81-86. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2001. ISBN 0-86171-179-3
  • Thaye, Jampa A Garland of Gold. Bristol: Ganesha Press, 1990. ISBN 0950911933


Barom Kagyu


Drikung Kagyu sites

Drukpa Kagyu

Karma Kagyu

Sites associated with Trinlay Thaye Dorje

Sites associated with Urgyen Trinley Dorje

Unaffiliated sites

(Note: Karma Kagyu related sites that apparently do not take sides on the so called “Karmapa controversy”).

Taklung Kagyu

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