Schools of Tibetan Buddhism

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There are various schools or traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.

Tibetan Buddhism has four major schools, namely Nyingma (c. 8th century), Kagyu (11th century), Sakya (1073), and Gelug (1409).

The four major schools of Buddhism

The four major schools are sometimes divided into the Nyingma (or “Old Translation”) and Sarma (or “New Translation”) traditions, which follow different canons of scripture (the Nyingma Gyubum along with Termas and the Tengyur-Kangyur respectively).

The four main traditions overlap markedly, such that “about eighty percent or more of the features of the Tibetan schools are the same”.

The differences between Buddhist Tibetan schools

Differences include the use of apparently, but not actually, contradictory terminology, opening dedications of texts to different deities and whether phenomena are described from the viewpoint of an unenlightened practitioner or of a Buddha.

Each school also traces itself to a certain lineage going back to India as well as certain important Tibetan founders.

Glossary of Buddhist Tibetan schools

This is a non-exhaustive list of influential Buddhist Tibetan schools around the world.

Kagyu

The Kagyu, Kagyü, or Kagyud school, also known as the “Oral Lineage” or Whispered Transmission school, is today regarded as one of six main schools of Himalayan or Tibetan Buddhism. The central teaching of Kagyu is the doctrine of Mahamudra, “the Great Seal”.

Nyingma

The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. “Nyingma” literally means “ancient,” and is often referred to as Ngangyur because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Old Tibetan in the eighth century. The Tibetan alphabet and grammar was created for this endeavour.

Sakya

The Sakya school is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug. It is one of the Red Hat Orders along with the Nyingma and Kagyu.

Gelug

The Gelug is the newest of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It was founded by Je Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), a philosopher and Tibetan religious leader. The first monastery he established was named Ganden, and to this day the Ganden Tripa is the nominal head of the school, though its most influential figure is the Dalai Lama. Allying themselves with the Mongols as a powerful patron, the Gelug emerged as the pre-eminent Buddhist school in Tibet and Mongolia since the end of the 16th century.

Jonang

The Jonang is one of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Its origins in Tibet can be traced to early 12th century master Yumo Mikyo Dorje, but became much wider known with the help of Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen, a monk originally trained in the Sakya school. The Jonang school was widely thought to have become extinct in the late 17th century at the hands of the 5th Dalai Lama, who forcibly annexed the Jonang gompas to his Gelug school, declaring them heretical.

Drikung Kagyu

Drikung Kagyu or Drigung Kagyu is one of the eight “minor” lineages of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. “Major” here refers to those Kagyu lineages founded by the immediate disciples of Gampopa (1079-1153) while “minor” refers to all the lineages founded by disciples of Gampopa’s main disciple, Phagmo Drupa (1110-1170). One of these disciples, Jigten Sumgön (1143-1217), is the founder of Drikung.

Bodongpa

The Bodongpa or Bodong tradition, is one of the smaller traditions of Tibetan Buddhism falling outside the classification of the four main schools.

New Kadampa

The term New Kadampa is a synonym for the 14th century Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, as founded by Je Tsongkhapa. Being a great admirer of Kadam teachings, Je Tsongkhapa was an enthusiastic promoter of the 11th century Kadampa school’s emphasis on the graded path to enlightenment and Mahayana principles of universal compassion as its fundamental spiritual orientation. Though the synonym is less well known in English-speaking countries, in Tibet the Gelugpa was well known as the “New Kadampa,” while the earlier school was referred to as the “Ancient Kadampa” or “Original Kadampa”. Je Tsongkhapa considered the New Kadampa tradition he founded to be the successor to Atiśa’s Old Kadampa tradition. Geoffrey Samuels remarks that Tsongkhapa “was following in the footsteps of Atisha, and indeed the Gelugpa are sometimes known as the ‘New Kadampa’ and regarded themselves as above all a continuation of Atisha’s work.”

Phagdru Kagyu

The Phagmo Drupa Kagyu or Phagdru Kagyu (ཕག་གྲུ་བཀའ་བརྒྱུད) is a subschool of the Tibetan Kagyu school.

Changling Rinpoche

The Changling Rinpoche are a Tibetan Buddhist lineage, founded by the Tibetan Rechungpa who lived in the eleventh century. Rechungpa himself was a student of Milarepa.

Coloured hat

In Tibetan Buddhist cultures, coloured hats are sometimes used to symbolise attitudes towards various different abstract concepts. Several sects are distinguished by the colour of their hats:Yellow Hat – the Gelug sect Red Hat – the Nyingma, Sakya, and Kagyu sects Black Hat – the Karma Kagyu sect

Kadam (Tibetan Buddhism)

The Kadam school of Tibetan Buddhism was founded by Dromtön (1005–1064), a Tibetan lay master and the foremost disciple of the great Bengali master Atiśa (982-1054). The Kadampa were quite famous and respected for their proper and earnest Dharma practice. The most evident teachings of that tradition were the teachings on bodhicitta. Later, these special presentations became known as lojong and lamrim by Atiśa.

Red Hat sect

In Tibetan Buddhism, the Red Hat sect or Red Hat sects, named for the colour of the monks’ hats at formal occasions, includes the three oldest of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, namely:Nyingma Sakya Kagyu

Rimé movement

The Rimé movement is a movement involving the Sakya, Kagyu and Nyingma schools of Tibetan Buddhism, along with some Bon scholars.