Tibetan Buddhism - Schools

Schools

Tibetan Buddhism has four main traditions:

• Nyingma(pa), “the Ancient Ones”. This is the oldest, the original order founded by Padmasambhāva and Śāntarakṣita. Whereas other schools categorize their teachings into the three vehicles: The Foundation Vehicle, Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna, the Nyingma tradition classifies its into nine vehicles, among the highest of which is that known as Atiyoga or Dzogchen (“Great Perfection”). Hidden treasures (terma) are of particular significance to this tradition.

• Kagyu(pa), “Lineage of the (Buddha's) Word”. This is an oral tradition which is very much concerned with the experiential dimension of meditation. Its most famous exponent was Milarepa, an 11th century mystic. It contains one major and one minor subsect. The first, the Dagpo Kagyu, encompasses those Kagyu schools that trace back to the Indian master Naropa via Marpa, Milarepa and Gampopa and consists of four major sub-sects: the Karma Kagyu, headed by a Karmapa, the Tsalpa Kagyu, the Barom Kagyu, and Pagtru Kagyu. There are a further eight minor sub-sects, all of which trace their root to Pagtru Kagyu and the most notable of which are the Drikung Kagyu and the Drukpa Kagyu. The once-obscure Shangpa Kagyu, which was famously represented by the 20th century teacher Kalu Rinpoche, traces its history back to the Indian master Naropa via Niguma, Sukhasiddhi and Kyungpo Neljor.

• Sakya(pa), “Grey Earth”. This school very much represents the scholarly tradition. Headed by the Sakya Trizin, this tradition was founded by Khon Konchog Gyalpo, a disciple of the great translator Drokmi Lotsawa and traces its lineage to the Indian master Virupa. A renowned exponent, Sakya Pandita 1182–1251CE was the great grandson of Khon Konchog Gyalpo.

• Gelug(pa), “Way of Virtue”. Originally a reformist movement, this tradition is particularly known for its emphasis on logic and debate. Its spiritual head is the Ganden Tripa and its temporal one the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama is regarded as the embodiment of the Bodhisattva of Compassion. Successive Dalai Lamas ruled Tibet from the mid-17th to mid-20th centuries. The order was founded in the 14th to 15th century by Je Tsongkhapa, renowned for both his scholasticism and his virtue.

These major schools are sometimes said to constitute the ”Old Translation” and ”New Translation” traditions, the latter following from the historical Kadampa lineage of translations and tantric lineages. Another common differentiation is into "Red Hat" and "Yellow Hat" schools. The correspondences are as follows:

Besides these major schools, there is a minor one, the Jonang. The Jonangpa were suppressed by the rival Gelugpa in the 17th century and were once thought extinct, but are now known to survive in Eastern Tibet. It has been recognized by the Dalai Lama as fifth living Buddhist tradition of Tibet.

Thuken Chökyi Nyima's Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems is a classic history of the different schools provides broad and useful historical information.

The pre-Buddhist religion of Bön has also been recognized by Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama, as a principal spiritual school of Tibet.

There is also an ecumenical movement known as Rimé.