The Buddhist Tradition of Tibet

By Rigpa

Over a number of years, profiles of the different Buddhist traditions of Tibet have appeared in Rigpa’s Tibetan Calendar.
They have been compiled here, and accompany the reproduction of a set of five unique ‘Rimé thangkas’ commissioned by Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche that show the Buddha and the principal figures in the development of the main Tibetan Buddhist traditions.
Apart from the initial praise of the Buddha, the verses quoted in each section come from a prayer composed by Kyabjé Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, to be found in his Practice of the Masters of All Lineages (Tib. Rimé Lachö).

For their inspiration, help and guidance in compiling these portraits of the Tibetan Buddhist lineages, many thanks are due to H.H. Sakya Trizin, Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Sogyal Rinpoche, Orgyen Topgyal Rinpoche, Lodi Gyari Rinpoche, Tulku Thondup Rinpoche, Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, E. Gene Smith, Khenpo Pema Wangdrak, the Sakya Centre, Peter Roberts and many others.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Zam Sarl
• Release date: Dec 18, 2017
• ISBN: 9782376610021

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The Buddhist Traditions of Tibet

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Preface

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Over a number of years, profiles of the different Buddhist traditions of Tibet have appeared in Rigpa’s Tibetan Calendar. Upon Sogyal Rinpoche’s request, they have been compiled here, and accompany the reproduction of a set of five unique ‘Rimé thangkas’ commisioned by Orgyen Topgyal Rinpoche that show the Buddha and the principal figures in the development of the main Tibetan Buddhist traditions.

Apart from the initial praise of the Buddha, the verses quoted in each section come from a prayer composed by Kyabjé Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, to be found in his Practice of the Masters of All Lineages (Tib. Rimé Lachö).

For their inspiration, help and guidance in compiling these portraits of the Tibetan Buddhist lineages, many thanks are due to H.H. Sakya Trizin, Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Sogyal Rinpoche, Orgyen Topgyal Rinpoche, Lodi Gyari Rinpoche, Tulku Thondup Rinpoche, Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, E. Gene Smith, Khenpo Pema Wangdrak, the Sakya Centre, Peter Roberts and many others.

The Buddha and Great Masters in the Lineage of the Teachings in India, up until their Introduction into Tibet

The Buddha and Great Masters in the Lineage of the Teachings in India, up until their Introduction into Tibet

The Buddha and Great Masters in the Lineage of the Teachings in India, up until their Introduction into Tibet

The Buddha and the Spread of his Teachings

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With your skilful wisdom and compassion,

you were born into the Shakya clan,

Conquering the forces of delusion that none could overcome.

Like a mountain of pure gold,

your body shines in majestic splendour:

Shakyamuni, King of the Shakyas, to you I bow in homage!

The Buddha Shakyamuni, ‘the sage of the Shakyas’, was born in the pleasure grove at Lumbini, which is situated in present-day Nepal. His family name was Gautama, and at birth he was given the name ‘Siddhartha’. Two popular estimates of the dates for his life are 566-486 or 484-404 BCE. He grew up as a prince of the Shakya clan, and, it is said, upon witnessing old age, sickness and death, at the age of twenty-nine he left the luxury of the court for life as a wandering mendicant, a shramana, seeking liberation from samsara. After studying with various sages and six years of ascetic practice, he sat beneath a pipal tree in a place now called Bodhgaya, and vowed not to get up until he had attained full enlightenment. He was thirty-five years old.

At dusk on the eve of the full moon in the month of Vaishakha (April/May), Gautama’s loving kindness overwhelmed Mara, the forces of delusion, and passing through states of deep absorption, in the first watch of the night, he saw his countless lifetimes of birth and death; in the second watch, he contemplated the law of cause and effect, which aroused in him a deep compassion; and in the third watch he understood the interdependent nature of all things and the lack of any permanent self. As dawn was breaking, and the morning star appeared in the sky, he entered a vajra-like meditation, exhausted all traces of obscuration and attained enlightenment:

Profound peace, natural simplicity, uncompounded luminosity:

Like nectar is the dharma I have realized…

The Buddha gave his first teaching to his five former spiritual companions at the Deer Park in Sarnath, beginning the First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma by elucidating the four noble truths. For forty-five years he would travel on foot in northern India, teaching men and women from every walk of life, and serving the community of followers who gathered around him. Gradually, as the need arose, he introduced rules of discipline for the Sangha community,