Name Gampopa Gampopa Died 1153 | ||
 | ||
Books Jewel ornament of liberation Similar People Milarepa, Marpa Lotsawa, Jamgon Kongtrul, Phagmo Drupa Dorje Gy, Rechung Dorje Drakpa | ||
Dorzin dhondrup rinpoche teachings on the four dharmas of gampopa session 2
Gampopa "the man from Gampo" (Tibetan: སྒམ་པོ་པ་) or Sönam Rinchen (Tibetan: བསོད་ནམས་རིན་ཆེན་, Wylie: bsod nams rin chen, 1079–1153), also known by the titles Dakpo Lharjé "the physician from Dakpo" (Tibetan: དྭགས་པོ་ལྷ་རྗེ་, Wylie: dwags po lha rje) and Daö Zhönnu, "Candraprabhakumara" (Tibetan: ཟླ་འོད་ཞོན་ནུ་, Wylie: zla 'od gzhon nu) established the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Contents
- Dorzin dhondrup rinpoche teachings on the four dharmas of gampopa session 2
- Dorzin dhondrup rinpoche teachings on the four dharmas of gampopa session 5
- Short biography
- References
Dorzin dhondrup rinpoche teachings on the four dharmas of gampopa session 5
Short biography
Gampopa, a physician from the premodern region of Dwagspo in southern Tibet, was the foremost student of Milarepa. Gampopa was renowned for the clarity of his perception and his knowledge of both Kadam and Mahamudra methods. "He studied medicine as a youth, married a daughter of a man named Chim Jose Darma Wo (mchims jo sras dar ma 'od) and had a child, but they both died, causing him to renounce the householder's life. In 1104, at the age of twenty-five he took ordination, either in Dakpo (dwags po) or in Penyul, at Gyachak Ri monastery ('phan yul rgya lcags ri), receiving the name Sönam Rinchen (bsod nams rin chen)."
Gampopa's position in the transmission lineage of the Mahamudra teaching is as follows:
- Tilopa (988-1069), the Indian yogi who experienced the original transmission of the Mahamudra
- Naropa (1016–1100), who perfected the methods of accelerated enlightenment described in his Six Yogas of Naropa.
- Marpa (1012–1097), the first Tibetan in the lineage, who translated the Vajrayana and Mahamudra texts into Old Tibetan
- Milarepa (1052–1135), poet and master who overcame Marpa's reluctance to teach but nonetheless attained enlightenment in a single lifetime
- Gampopa, Milarepa's most important student, who integrated Atiśa's Kadam teachings and Tilopa's Mahamudra teaching to establish the Kagyü lineage
This lineage sequence, taken together, is called the "Five Founding Masters" by the Kagyüpa.
Prior to studying under Milarepa, Gampopa had studied the Kadam school, which is a gradual path based on the lamrim teachings. He eventually met Milarepa and attained realization of ultimate reality under his guidance.
Gampopa wrote The Jewel Ornament of Liberation (Wylie: dam chos yid bzhin nor bu thar pa rin po che'i rgyan) and established various gompas, taught extensively, and attracted many students. Four of his disciples founded the four "major" Kagyu schools:
The succession of Gampopa's own monastery passed to his nephew, Dakgom Tsültrim Nyingpo (Wylie: dwags sgom tshul khrims snying po, 1116-1169).