Taklung Kagyu

to
Taklung Kagyu

"Kagyu" literally means nothing other but "oral transmission". That being the case one could call any lineage that transmits its teachings orally a "Kagyu lineage", e.g. the "Jonang Kagyu" or "Ganden Kagyu", etc.

Nowadays the name "Kagyu" refers most often to the Shangpa Kagyu and Dakpo Kagyu schools. The Shangpa Kagyu was introduced into Tibet by the master Khyungpo Naljor (990-1139), while the school that was to develop into the Dakpo Kagyu traditions, was introduced to Tibet by the great Lotsawa Marpa (mar pa lo tsa ba chos kyi blo gros) (1012-1097/9) and his student Milarepa (mi la ras pa) (1040-1123). Milarepa's student Gampopa (sgam po pa) (1079-1153) later fused the teachings of Marpa with teachings he had received in the Kadampa (bka' gdams pa) lineage of Atisha (jo bo rje dpal ldan a ti sha) (982-1054). The lineages stemming from Gampopa came to be known as the Dakpo Kagyu (dwags po bka' brgyud; a common epithet for Gampopa being Dakpo Lharje (dwags po lha rje, "the physician from Dakpo"). The Dakpo Kagyu developed into the so-called four greater and eight smaller Kagyu schools. The "four greater" lineages were established by direct disciples of Je Gampopa and his nephew and dharma heir Dakpo Gomtsul Tsultrim Nyingpo (dwags po sgom tshul tshul khrims snying po) (1116-1169), while the "eight smaller" ones were founded by students of Phagmo Drupa Dorje Gyalpo (phag mo gru pa rdo rje rgyal po) (1110-1170), one of the four main students of Gampopa.

The Four Greater Kagyu lineages (bka' brgyud che bzhi):

The Kamtshang or Karma Kagyu (karma bka' brgyud) founded by the 1st Karmapa Dusum Khyenpa (dus gsum mkhyen pa) (1110-1193), the Barom Kagyu ('ba' rom bka' brgyud) founded by Darma Wangchuk (sdar ma dbang phyug) (1127-1199), the Tsalpa Kagyu (tshal pa bka' brgyud) founded by Zhang Yudragpa Tsöndrü Drakpa (zhang g.yu brag brtson 'grus grags pa) (1123-1193), and the Phagdru Kagyu (phag gru bka' brgyud) founded by Phagmo Drupa Dorje Gyalpo (phag mo grub pa rdo rje rgyal po) (1110-1170).

Taglung Kagyu

The Taglung Kagyu lineage (stag lung) was established by Taklung Thangpa Tashi Pal (stag lung thang pa bkra shis dpal, 1142-1210). A great and famous master of this lineage was Sangye Ön (sangs rgyas dbon, 1251-1296). He was the founder of the great monastery of Riwoche (stag lung ma thang ri bo che). The Riwoche branch of the Taglung Kagyu almost became an independent lineage. One of its great masters, the 7th Phakchok Rinpoche, a son of Tsike Chokling Rinpoche, lives in Kathmandu, near the great Boudanath stupa. The present head of this school is Shabdrung Rinpochey, who now lives in Sikkim.

One of the two seats of the Taklung Kagyu was the Riwoche Monastery near Kham, Tibet. In 1959, the invading Chinese Communist Army destroyed the monastery, killed or imprisoned its monks and nuns, and destroyed Riwoche 100,000 volume library. The entire canon of Taklung Kagyu texts were lost or destroyed. Recovery efforts for these lost texts began about the time that the young Phakchok Tulku was recognized by His Holiness Karmapa in 1981. Today many of the core texts have been recovered through the Tiger Valley Sacred Texts Campaign and will soon be reprinted and distributed to continue their traditions of teaching to future monks and nuns. His Holiness Phakchok Rinpoche received the transmissions of these recovered Texts from H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche just before his death. These miraculous events secured the continuation of the Taklung Kagyu lineage, which remains unbroken to this day, since its founding by Taklung Thangpa (1142-1210).

© 2007 Phakchokrinpoche.org
This site has been optimized for current versions of Opera, Firefox, and Internet Explorer. If you have problems viewing this site, please e-mail us at webmaster@phakchokrinpoche.org.