The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet
Category Rinpoche
The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet
Award of Geshé Lharampa Degrees
2
Jan
2024
The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet
The lineage & incarnations of Kenting Tai Situpa
The lineage of the Kenting Tai situpas can be traced to one of the main disciples of the Goutama Buddha, the Bodhisattva Maitreya.
Since that time there have been a successive chain of incarnations, whose achievements are recorded in Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan annals, a direct lineage that continues to the present day.
Origin of the Kenting Tai situpa lineage
There are twelve incarnations crowned as Kenting Tai Situ till now.
Furthermore, according to some historical records and .
Karmapa – Tibet’s first consciously incarnating lama
The Karmapa is the head of the Karma Kagyu, the largest sub-school of the Kagyu, itself one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
Karmapa was Tibet's first consciously incarnating lama.
The historical seat of the Karmapas is Tsurphu Monastery in the Tolung valley of Tibet.
The Karmapa's principal seat in exile is the Dharma Chakra Centre at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, India.
His regional monastic seats are Karma Triyana Dharmachakra in New York and Dhagpo Kagyu .
Termas & Tertöns – Padmasambhava & Yeshe Tsogyal’s succession
Tertön is a term within Tibetan Buddhism meaning a person who is a discoverer of ancient hidden texts or terma.
Origin of the Tertöns
Many tertöns are considered to be incarnations of the twenty five main disciples of Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche), who foresaw a dark time in Tibet.
Padmasambhava and his consort Yeshe Tsogyal hid teachings to be found in the future to benefit beings.
According to generally accepted history, the rediscovering of terma began with the first .
The Tulku system & the preservation of Dharma lineages
A tulku is a reincarnate custodian of a specific lineage of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism who is given empowerments and trained from a young age by students of his or her predecessor.
Historically, the tulku system of preserving Dharma lineages operated in Tibet with the first being the Karmapas.
After the first Karmapa died in 1193, a lama had recurrent visions of a particular child as his rebirth.
This child (born ca. 1205) was recognized as .
Tibetan Buddhist enlightened teachers & ritual masters
In Vajrayana Buddhism's Tantric teachings, the rituals require the guidance of a teacher.
The teacher is considered essential and to the Buddhist devotee, the guru is the "enlightened teacher and ritual master".
The teacher is known as the vajra guru (literally "diamond .
Drikung Kagyu lamas – From the founding of the Monastery to the present day
The Drikungpa, or more formally the Drikung Kyabgön, is the head of the Drikung Kagyu, a sub-school of the Kagyu itself one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
Like all other Kagyu lineages, origins of Drikung Kagyu can be traced back to the Great Indian Master Tilopa who passed on his teachings to Mahasiddha Naropa who lived around 10th and 11th century.
The founder of the Drikung Kagyu lineage was Jigten Sumgön (1143-1217) .
The Dharma transmission – Founders & patriarchs of Buddhist currents
A lineage in Buddhism is a line of transmission of the Buddhist teaching that is "theoretically traced back to the Buddha himself."
The acknowledgement of the transmission can be oral, or certified in documents.
Several branches of Buddhism, including Chan (including Zen and Seon) and Tibetan Buddhism maintain records of their historical teachers.
These records serve as a validation for the living exponents of the tradition.
In Chan and Zen Buddhism, dharma transmission is a custom .
Nyingma Lamas – The decentralized network of practitioners
Nyingma traditional histories consider their teachings to trace back to the first Buddha Samantabhadra (Güntu Sangpo) and Indian mahasiddhas such as Garab Dorjé, Śrī Siṃha and Jñānasūtra.
Traditional sources trace the origin of the Nyingma order in Tibet to figures associated with the initial introduction of Buddhism in the 8th century, such as Padmasambhava, Yeshe Tsogyal, Vimalamitra, Vairotsana, Buddhaguhya and Shantaraksita.
Nyingma teachings are also known for having been passed down through networks of lay practitioners .
Honorific titles in Tibetan institutions and clergy
Buddhist monasticism is an important part of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, all the major and minor schools maintain large monastic institutions based on the Mulasarvastivada Vinaya (monastic rule) and many religious leaders come from the monastic community.
There are also many religious leaders or teachers (called Lamas and Gurus) which are not celibate monastics and in some cases the lama is the leader of a spiritual community.
Some lamas gain their title through being .
Well-known Lamas in Tibetan Buddhism
Lama is a title for a teacher of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism.
The name is similar to the Sanskrit term guru, meaning "heavy one", endowed with qualities the student will eventually embody.
The Tibetan word "Lama" means "highest principle", and less literally "highest mother" or "highest parent" to show close relationship between teacher and student.
This is a list of some well-known Lamas in Tibetan .