The Kadampa: A Formative Movement of Tibetan Buddhism
Ulrike Roesler, University of Oxford
https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.568
Published online: 30 October 2019
Summary
The Bka’ gdams pa (pronounced “Kadampa”) emerged as a distinct tradition of Tibetan
Buddhism in the 11th century CE. The most common understanding of the name in
Tibetan sources is that this tradition taught the complete word of the Buddha (bka’) as
explained in the instructions (gdams) of the Indian teacher Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna (982–
1054). This is sometimes specified as referring to his instructions on the graded path
(lam rim) toward Buddhahood that were later adopted and propagated by the Dge lugs pa
(pronounced “Gelugpa”) school, beginning with Tsong kha pa’s (1357–1419) influential
Lam rim chen mo. It is commonly assumed that during the 15th century, the Bka’ gdams
pa were absorbed into Tsong kha pa’s reform movement of the “new Bka’ gdams
pa” (bka’ gdams gsar ma), later known as the Dge lugs pa, but further research is needed
on this issue.
Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna, also known by his Indian honorific title Atiśa[ya] or Adhīśa, was
invited to western Tibet by its rulers and arrived there in 1042. At the request of King
Byang chub ’od (984–1078), he composed his famous “Lamp on the Path to
Awakening” (Bodhipathapradīpa; Tib. Byang chub lam sgron), which became an
important model for Tibetan works on the graded path to awakening. He then accepted
an invitation to central Tibet where he spent the rest of his life. He passed away in Snye
thang near Lhasa in 1054.
Several of Atiśa’s Tibetan students played an important role in the development of
Buddhism on the Tibetan plateau. However, it is his student ’Brom ston Rgyal ba’i ’byung
gnas (pronounced “Dromtön Gyelway Jungnay,” 1004–1064) who is traditionally regarded
as the founding father of the Tibetan Bka’ gdams pa lineage since his students became
instrumental in spreading the Bka’ gdams pa teachings in central Tibet. In addition to the
lam rim, they became famous for their instructions on “mental purification” or “mind
training” (blo sbyong, pronounced “Lojong”), which is meant to free the mind from
attachment to the ego and generate the attitude of the “awakening mind” (Skt.
bodhicitta). Lam rim and blo sbyong became highly popular doctrinal and didactic genres
and have had an impact on Tibetan Buddhism far beyond the Bka’ gdams pa and Dge lugs
pa traditions.
The Bka’ gdams pa are often perceived as a tradition with an emphasis on monasticism
and Mahāyāna ethics, rather than on yogic and tantric practice. However, it should be
kept in mind that Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna himself had grown up in the tantric traditions of
Bengal. His work on the stages of the path to awakening includes instructions on tantra,
but states that tantric practice may not contradict the vows taken (thus excluding
antinomian practices for monastics). The early Tibetan Bka’ gdams pa masters take the
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same stance and promote the idea that Pāramitānaya (i.e., non-tantric Mahāyāna
Buddhism) and tantra have the same validity and lead to the same goal, thus trying to
strike a balance between the two approaches.
Keywords:
Tibetan Buddhism, Bka’ gdams pa (Kadampa), lam rim, blo sbyong, Atiśa
Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna, ’Brom ston Rgyal ba’i ’byung gnas
The Bka’ gdams pa Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism
1
The Bka’ gdams pa are one of the four major traditions or “schools” of Tibetan Buddhism that
2
were formed in the context of the 11th-century revival of Buddhism on the Tibetan plateau.
Schools or traditions of Tibetan Buddhism can be characterized according to a whole range of
criteria, including their philosophical views and doctrines, their preferences for specific
tantric cycles, their meditation practices, their institutional identity through main monastic
seats, and their lineage of teachers. The last of these criteria seems of particular importance,
given the emphasis on lineage and transmission in tantric Buddhism in general, and in
Tibetan Buddhism in particular. The Tibetan Buddhist teaching and transmission lineages
trace themselves back to Indian teachers, which from a Tibetan point of view means that they
represent an authentic form of Buddhism coming from the homeland of Buddha Śākyamuni.
In the case of the Bka’ gdams pa, the Indian teacher from whom the lineage originates is
Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna (982–1054), a tantric master and Buddhist scholar from Bengal, who is
also known by his Indian honorific title as Atiśa[ya] or Adhīśa, or in Tibetan as Jo bo (“the
master”), Jo bo rje (“the supreme master”), or Lha gcig (“the sole lord”). He was invited to the
western Tibetan kingdom of Gu ge and arrived there in 1042. He then accepted an invitation
to central Tibet where he stayed until he passed away in the autumn of 1054.
His Tibetan disciples became instrumental in passing on his legacy; the most important to be
mentioned here are his translator and travel companion over nineteen years, Nag tsho lo tsa
ba Tshul khrims rgyal ba (1011–c. 1064), as well as three students who are often named as the
triad of “Khu, Rngog, and ’Brom.” Khu ston’s impact on the tradition is the least obvious;
Rngog Legs pa’i shes rab (b. 10th century) and his nephew Rngog Blo ldan shes rab (1059–
3
1109) founded an important school of logic and epistemology; and ’Brom ston Rgyal ba’i
’byung gnas (1004–1064) is traditionally regarded as the founding father of the Bka’ gdams pa
tradition proper. At his monastery of Rwa sgreng (pronounced “Reting”), some of the most
influential Bka’ gdams pa masters taught or were trained, and the central Tibetan Bka’ gdams
pa tradition spread from there. The region of ’Phan yul (modern-day Phempo), north of Lha sa
and not far from Rwa sgreng, became one of their main home regions; another important
center of Bka’ gdams pa learning was the monastery of Lo on the northern side of the Skyid
chu River.
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Figure 1. Map of Phempo with early Kadampa monasteries.
Map courtesy of Hans-Ulrich Roesler (2004).
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From the 14th century onward, another important monastic seat started collecting and
publicizing the Bka’ gdams pa legacy: the monastery of Snar thang (pronounced “Nartang”) in
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the province of Gtsang. Several abbots of Snar thang were involved in compiling Bka’ gdams
pa works and creating mainstream collections of biographies and doctrinal works. Bka’ gdams
pa texts were reproduced early on when the technique of blockprinting became popular on
the Tibetan plateau; the 16th-century blockprints of some Bka’ gdams pa works helped to
5
enhance their literary impact and ensured a trans-regional distribution. By this time,
however, the Bka’ gdams pa had already disappeared as a distinct tradition, and the Dge lugs
pa tradition regarded itself as the rightful heir to the Bka’ gdams pa legacy.
It should be noted that the influence of the Bka’ gdams pa masters reaches far beyond Bka’
gdams pa and Dge lugs pa circles; Atiśa is a highly revered figure for other traditions, too
(especially the Bka’ brgyud pa, who trace themselves back to the tantric guru Nā ro pa, who
was also one of Atiśa’s teachers). Moreover, the doctrinal genres associated with the Bka’
gdams pa, the expositions of the graded path to Buddhahood (lam rim, bstan rim) and the
instructions on “mind training” (blo sbyong), became highly popular across school boundaries,
and works of this type were composed by authors from different strands of Buddhism. The
early Bka’ gdams pas flourished at a time that was generally fairly nonsectarian (or perhaps
better: pre-sectarian), and it was common that students of Tibetan Buddhism studied with
famous masters of different traditions. Thus, what is said here about the Bka’ gdams pa
should not be understood as applying to an exclusive school or sect, but rather to a strand
with many interconnections within the emerging lineage network of Tibetan Buddhism.
Early Bka’ gdams pa Teachers
Given the importance of teaching lineages, this survey needs to begin by introducing the most
important early Bka’ gdams pa teachers, those who shaped the tradition and are generally
regarded as the most instrumental figures within the tradition. Their lives were recorded in
writing at an early date and in a wide range of sources.
Biographical Sources
The earliest biographies were produced locally, in many cases by the disciples of a Buddhist
teacher, who produced oral or written accounts of their teacher’s life story. Most of the early
accounts are relatively brief; in subsequent centuries the biographies grow in length and
detail and develop a tendency toward a more hagiographical presentation. From the 13th
century onward, the life stories of the Bka’ gdams pa masters were also collected and
assembled into collective lineage histories of the Bka’ gdams tradition; this process of
compiling the Bka’ gdams pa legacy went hand in hand with the move to larger monastic
centers, which also means a movement from local traditions to trans-regional mainstream
traditions. From the late 15th century onward, after the emergence of the Dge lugs pa, the
biography collections were circulated in the form of large-scale Bka’ gdams pa histories (Bka’
gdams chos ’byung) that became the mainstream versions of the life stories of the Bka’ gdams
pa masters as well as their successors, the Dge lugs pa. They are usually arranged in
chronological order and according to the individual teacher-student lineages, thus forming a
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“life story” of the tradition as a coherent whole. In terms of literary genres, the main sources
of biographical information are:
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a. Verse eulogies (bstod pa) and prayers (gsol ’debs)
Verse eulogies (bstod pa) are among the earliest biographical sources available. A famous
eulogy of Atiśa, the Bstod pa brgyad cu pa (“Hymn in eighty verses”) was composed by his
long-standing student Nag tsho lo tsa ba Tshul khrims rgyal ba (b. 1011) when he learned that
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his teacher had passed away. Another famous eulogy, the Bstod pa sum bcu pa (“Hymn in
thirty verses”), is traditionally ascribed to ’Brom ston pa, an ascription that most scholars
8
regard as spurious. Prayers (gsol ’debs), too, may contain biographical information; a famous
lineage prayer known under its short title as Lam mchog sgo ’byed, composed by Tsong kha pa
(1357–1419), was used as the framework for two important 18th-century works on the Bka’
9
gdams pa and Dge lugs pa masters.
b. Individual prose biographies (rnam thar)
Prose biographies of Bka’ gdams pa masters were composed at least from the 12th century on,
recorded in writing either immediately by a direct disciple of a teacher, or after a certain
period of oral transmission. The latter is the case for the earliest prose biographies of Atiśa,
the Rnam thar rgyas pa and the Rnam thar rgyas pa yongs grags (12th–13th century). Both are
based on the same source, which ultimately goes back to an oral account by Nag tsho lo tsa
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ba. Some early biographies of other teachers have survived as well, such as the biography of
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Rngog Blo ldan shes rab (1059–1109) by his disciple Gro lung pa. Not all of the early Bka’
gdams pa biographies are still extant, but there is reason to hope that some more may surface
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since plenty of new material became available in the 2000s.
c. Biographical information embedded in doctrinal works, commentaries, and “collected
sayings”
When the disciples of the early Bka’ gdams pa masters recorded their instructions in writing
from the early 12th century onward, they often included biographical details of their
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teachers. Another interesting source for the early Bka’ gdams pa masters is anthologies of
“collected sayings.” The earliest of these, the Bka’ gdams gsung gros thor bu by Lce sgom
Shes rab rdo rje (1124/25–1204/05), consists of short and pithy instructions of the early
teachers; a later anthology, the Bka’ gdams gces btus nor bu’i bang mdzod (19th century),
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adds biographical sketches of the individual teachers to these instructional vignettes.
d. Larger hagiographical compilations and lineage histories
The earliest lineage history of the Bka’ gdams tradition currently known is a work by Mchims
Nam mkha’ grags (1210–1285), the seventh abbot of Snar thang monastery. It is known as the
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Snar thang gser phreng (“Golden rosary of the Narthang tradition”). This “rosary” does not
provide a full sketch of all Bka’ gdams pa lineages, but traces one specific lineage, beginning
in India with Atiśa’s teachers including Nāropa and Ḍombhipa, followed by the life stories of
Atiśa and his Tibetan disciple ’Brom ston pa, and ending with the lineage from ’Brom ston’s
disciple Po to ba to the abbots of Snar thang.
An anthology of a much more varied character is the Bka’ gdams glegs bam (“The book of the
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Bka’ gdams”). This work is based on a variety of biographical, legendary, and doctrinal
17
sources and was redacted and committed to writing in 1302 in Snar thang monastery. The
overall agenda of the Bka’ gdams glegs bam is the promotion of ’Brom ston pa, who is
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portrayed as a manifestation of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara and reincarnation of King
Srong btsan sgam po (7th century), who honed and demonstrated his bodhisattva qualities
over many previous lifetimes.
The late 15th century saw the emergence of comprehensive Bka’ gdams pa histories (Bka’
gdams chos ’byung) that present the main teacher-student lineages, arranging the life stories
of the Bka’ gdams pa masters in the form of a lineage tree. The most important ones are (in
chronological order) the Bka’ gdams histories by Ye shes rtse mo (1484), Bsod nams lha’i
dbang po (1484), Las chen Kun dga’ rgyal mtshan (1494), and Paṇ chen Bsod nams grags pa
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(1529). They were written in a period of religio-political competition, when the Dge lugs
tradition was on the rise, and Tsong kha pa’s school came to be understood as the true heir to
the Bka’ gdams pa lineages. Another Bka’ gdams pa history was composed by the famous Sa
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skya scholar A myes zhabs (1597–1659/60). Two further important lineage histories were
written in the 18th century, one by Paṇ chen bla ma Blo bzang ye shes (1663–1737) and one
20
by Tshe mchog gling yongs ’dzin Ye shes rgyal mtshan (completed in 1787).
The following survey will introduce some of the main actors of the early Bka’ gdams pa
tradition: the Indian teacher Atiśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna and his Tibetan disciple ’Brom ston pa,
as well as his three disciples known as the “three [spiritual] brothers.” Among the
biographical sources, preference will be given to early accounts. Because of constraints of
space, other important students of Atiśa, including Nag tsho lo tsa ba Tshul khrims rgyal ba
(1011–c. 1064), Dgon pa pa Dbang phyug rgyal mtshan (1016–1082), and Rngog Legs pa’i
shes rab and his lineage, cannot receive the attention they deserve.
Atiśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna (982–1054)
The following brief account of Atiśa’s life is based on his earliest available biographies, the
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Rnam thar rgyas pa and the Rnam thar rgyas pa yongs grags (12th and 13th centuries). Atiśa
was born in 982 in the city of Vikramapura or Vikramapuri in Za hor (Bengal), as the middle
son of the ruling family. His birth name was Candragarbha. As a young man he went to study
tantra at Kālaśilā, one of the seven hills near Rājgir, and was initiated into the Hevajra Tantra;
his tantric initiation name was Jñānaguhyavajra. He studied for seven years with the yogi
Avadhūtipa, and for three years he concentrated on yoga, learned tantric “vajra songs,” and
participated in tantric feasts (gaṇacakra).
When he was twenty-eight years old, he was ordained into the Vinaya of the Mahāsāṅghika
school at the Mativihāra in Bodh Gayā and received the ordination name Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna.
The early biographies point out that as a tantric practitioner he could only be ordained into
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the Mahāsāṅghika Vinaya, an interesting remark that deserves further investigation. He
spent several years studying the doctrines of the “four great schools” of Indian Buddhism
(Mahāsāṅghikas, Sarvāstivādins, Sammitīyas, and Sthaviravādins) as well as Abhidharma,
which was taught by Dharmarakṣita at the monastery of Odantapuri. In addition to his studies
of the Pāramitānaya (i.e., the Mahāyāna), he continued to study tantra with teachers such as
Kusali, Jetāri, Ḍombhipa, Nāropa, and Ratnākaraśānti. His most important teacher of
Mahāyāna doctrines and the “generation of the awakening mind” (bodhicittotpāda) became
Suvarṇadvīpa Dharmakīrti (Tib. Gser gling pa Chos kyi grags pa), named after his home
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country Sumatra (Skt. Suvarṇadvīpa), with whom he studied Śāntideva’s famous works during
his visit to Sumatra. Later on, Atiśa again visited Kālaśilā, which indicates that his studies of
Mahāyāna doctrines did not make him abandon his engagement with tantric practice.
Atiśa became a senior scholar (gnas brtan chen po) at the monastic university of Vikramaśīla,
which was famous for its tantric scholarship. While Tibetan biographies highlight Atiśa’s
purity of conduct and accomplishment as a scholar, it is difficult to assess his role within the
Indian tradition because neither his own works nor Indian commentaries on his writings have
survived there. This absence may at least in part be due to the fact that the Buddhist monastic
universities were destroyed not very long after his lifetime, and the survival of works from this
period is slightly haphazard. In Tibet, however, Atiśa has left a rich literary legacy, consisting
not only of his famous Bodhipathapradīpa but also numerous small-scale works as well as
23
translations of Buddhist Sanskrit literature into Tibetan.
Atiśa was invited by the kings of the western Tibetan kingdom of Gu ge, where Buddhism saw
a revival under the royal patronage of King Lha bla ma Ye shes ’od (“Yeshe Ö,” 947–1019/24)
and his nephew and successor Byang chub ’od (“Changchub Ö,” 984–1078). Two of Ye shes
’od’s missions to invite scholars from India had reached Vikramaśīla, but it was only at the
time of Byang chub ’od that a delegation headed by Nag tsho lo tsa ba Tshul khrims rgyal ba
succeeded in bringing Atiśa to Tibet. Ratnākara, the abbot of Vikramaśīla, gave permission for
this journey, but asked Nag tsho lo tsa ba to bring Atiśa back after three years. The party
traveled via Nepal where Atiśa composed the Vimalaratnalekha, an epistle to King Neyapāla,
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and founded a monastery in Kathmandu. In 1042 they arrived in western Tibet. At Mtho
lding, the capital of the kingdom of Gu ge, Atiśa gave Buddhist instructions, had an encounter
with the famous translator Rin chen bzang po (“Rinchen Sangpo,” 958–1055), and met King
Byang chub ’od who asked for explanations on the Śrāvakayāna, the Pāramitānaya (i.e., the
Mahāyāna), and on tantra, as well as a handbook on the Guhyasamājatantra. In response to
this request, Atiśa composed his famous Bodhipathapradīpa, which defines three categories of
Buddhist practitioners and then provides step-by-step instructions for the most advanced of
these, the followers of the Mahāyāna. This work laid the foundations for later Tibetan
literature on the graded path to awakening (lam rim). While in Pu hrangs, Atiśa met ’Brom
ston Rgyal ba’i ’byung gnas, and the biographies do not fail to highlight the importance of this
encounter that would lead to a long-term teacher-student relationship and, ultimately, to the
foundation of the Bka’ gdams pa tradition.
Since the way to India was barred by civil war on the Nepalese border and ’Brom ston pa had
invited him to visit the Buddhist sites of central Tibet, Atiśa did not return to Vikramaśīla, but
traveled toward the province of Dbus (central Tibet). During a stay at Bsam yas, the famous
first monastery of Tibet founded in the late 8th century, Atiśa collaborated in translation
projects and gave tantric instructions and initiations. His student Khu ston invited him to his
home region in Yar klungs, but Atiśa and ’Brom ston pa left because Khu ston did not let his
own students study with Atiśa. The biographers vividly describe their clandestine flight across
the Gtsang po River, with Khu ston following in hot pursuit and falling into the river. Back in
Bsam yas monastery, Atiśa was excited to discover rare Sanskrit manuscripts. A noble lady
from the Mchims family began spreading slander about Atiśa, and so he and his followers left
for Lhasa. Here, Atiśa is said to have discovered the Bka’ chems ka khol ma (“pillar
testament”), a famous “treasure text” (gter ma) related to King Srong btsan sgam po, in the Jo
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khang temple in 1048.
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Atiśa and his disciples spent the summer in the mountain hermitage of Brag Yer pa, where the
dialogues recorded in the famous Bka’ gdams glegs bam (“The book of the Bka’ gdams”) are
said to have taken place. Then they followed an invitation to Snye thang near Lhasa, where
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Atiśa stayed until his death in the late autumn of 1054. The stūpa that contained Atiśa’s
relics can still be visited there. After Atiśa’s death, the community split up after a last joint
assembly held in 1055, and it seems that the four Vinaya groups of Lhasa became involved
27
with the Bka’ gdams pa movement. Atiśa’s disciples left Snye thang and went their own
ways, taking their share of his relics to their own new monastic residences.
’Brom ston Rgyal ba’i ’byung gnas (1004–1064)
Later authors of the Bka’ gdams pa and Dge lugs pa traditions tend to highlight ’Brom ston
pa’s role as the most important of Atiśa’s disciples and the true Tibetan founding figure of the
Bka’ gdams pa (bka’ gdams kyi mes po), in spite of the fact that his role and activities are in
some ways frustratingly elusive. Episodes from his life are included in the early Atiśa
biography Rnam thar rgyas pa; the earliest full biography currently known, however, was
written by Mchims Nam mkha’ grags (1210–1285), the seventh abbot of Snar thang
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monastery. Further accounts of ’Brom ston’s life can be found in the Bka’ gdams chos
29
’byung-s and other religious histories such as the Deb ther sngon po. The biographical
sketch presented here is primarily based on Mchims Nam mkha’ grags’ Snar thang gser
phreng.
’Brom ston was born in Phug rings in the nomad area of Byang Rtswa sgye mo in Stod lung
(northwest of Lha sa) in the year 1004, according to Bka’ gdams pa histories. Some
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biographical sources report that his childhood name was Chos ’phel. The name of his father,
Yag gzher sku gshen (with numerous spelling variants across the sources), points to a Bon po
background, although this is not stated explicitly. His mother died early, and the young Chos
’phel who did not get on with his stepmother longed to leave home. In his fourteenth year he
was sent to do trade in Snye mo, which gave him a chance to study reading and writing with a
certain G.yung chos mgon.
He met the scholar Se btsun Dbang phyug gzhon nu (“Setsün Wangchuk Shönnu”) from
Khams (eastern Tibet) and decided to study with him. Before setting out to Khams, he took the
lay vows from Zhang Sna nam Rdo rje dbang phyug (“Shang Nanam Dorje Wangchuk”) and
received the name Rgyal ba’i ’byung gnas. He then traveled east; in Mdo smad he studied the
Abhidharmasamuccaya with a local household priest called Gru Nam mkha,’ and then went to
Khams where he studied Abhidharma and the Old Tantras with Se btsun, with whom he stayed
for nineteen or twenty years. He and two of his fellow students became known collectively as
“Khu, Rngog, and ’Brom” (i.e., Khu Brtson grus g.yung drung, Rngog Legs pa’i shes rab, and
’Brom Rgyal ba’i ’byung gnas). ’Brom ston also studied the “Indian language” with a scholar
called Sgra tsher ma (“language thorn”).
When news about Atiśa reached eastern Tibet, ’Brom ston decided to go and meet this
important teacher. During his journey via central Tibet, ’Brom ston met his future patron,
’Phrang kha ber chung, and ’Brom convinced him not to go to war, but to build a temple at
Phong mdo instead. He also went to visit his father and Sna nam Rdo rje dbang phyug from
whom he had taken the lay vows, and urged the Buddhist teachers of the region to invite Atiśa
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once the time was ripe. Farther west, in Pu hrangs, he met Atiśa, who formally accepted him
as his student and gave him his own statue of the six-armed Mañjuvajra, a meditation deity of
the Guhyasamāja system, which is said to be the one still housed in Rwa sgreng monastery
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today. ’Brom ston invited Atiśa to central Tibet and accompanied and supported him for the
following twelve years, until the teacher died.
About a year after Atiśa had passed away, ’Brom ston pa and other students left Snye thang,
apparently due to leadership disputes. ’Brom ston followed an invitation from a son of Phrang
kha ber chung to found a monastery in the Rwa sgreng (“Reting”) Valley. The investigation of
the geomantic features of the valley (1056) and the consecration rituals for the monastery
(1057) are described at some length, highlighting the importance of this place for the later
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Bka’ gdams pa tradition. Among the texts and doctrines taught by ’Brom ston, the biography
mentions the Prajñāpāramitā, Bo-dhi-sattvacaryāvatāra, Bodhipathapradīpa, Bhāvanākrama,
and treatises on Cittamātra and Madhyamaka philosophy. He is also said to have taught the
“graded path” to awakening (lam rim), although he did not compose a written work on this
topic himself, perhaps due to the largely oral nature of the early Bka’ gdams pa movement.
According to the Snar thang gser phreng ’Brom ston passed away on the twentieth day of the
middle summer month in a dragon year, which corresponds to 1064.
The Bka’ gdams pa Lineages after ’Brom ston pa
The Bka’ gdams pa tradition is usually mapped out in several main lineages, although there is
33
some slight variation in the way the teacher-disciple lineages are defined. Of particular
importance are three lineages originating with the “three (spiritual) brothers” (sku mched
gsum), a term collectively used for the most important students of ’Brom ston pa at Rwa
sgreng. These three lineages are the scriptural tradition (gzhung pa) going back to Po to ba
Rin chen gsal (“Potowa Rinchensel,” 1027–1105), the instructional tradition (gdams ngag pa
or man ngag pa) going back to Spyan snga ba Tshul khrims ’bar (“Chengawa Tsültrimbar,”
1033–1103), and the tradition of biographical and esoteric transmissions that later fed into
the Bka’ gdams glegs bam (“book of Bka’ gdams”), transmitted by Phu chung ba Gzhon nu
rgyal mtshan (“Puchungwa Shönnu Gyeltsen,” 1031–1106).
As the designation gzhung pa indicates, this tradition transmitted a range of important
Buddhist works, including the so-called six Bka’ gdams pa core texts (gzhung drug): the
Jātakamālā, Udānavarga, Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra, Bodhisattvabhūmi, Śikṣāsamuccaya, and
Bo-dhi-sattvacaryāvatāra. They also produced works on “mind training” (blo sbyong) and on
the graded path to awakening (lam rim), including two works containing Po to ba’s oral
instructions on the graded path, written down by his students (see the section on “The Graded
Path to Buddhahood” below). The most influential teachers among Po to ba’s disciples were
Glang ri thang pa Rdo rje seng ge (1054–1123), to whom the short but influential “Blo sbyong
in Eight Verses” is attributed, and Sha ra ba Yon tan grags (1070–1141). The latter became the
teacher of ’Chad kha ba Ye shes rdo rje (1101–1175), author of the famous Blo sbyong don
34
bdun ma (“Mind training in seven points”).
The instructional lineage (gdams ngag pa or man ngag pa) goes back to Spyan snga ba,
famous as an accomplished yogi and meditator, who founded the monastery of Lo (Lo dgon) in
1093 based on the Guhyasamāja maṇḍala; this monastery became an important Bka’ gdams pa
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35
seat. He later stayed in Smyug rum, where his teachings continued to flourish. Among his
most important students were Smyug rum pa Brtson grus ’bar (1042–1109) and Bya yul ba
Gzhon nu ’od (1075–1138).
The third of the “three brothers,” Phu chung ba Gzhon nu rgyal mtshan, is traditionally
credited with the transmission of the biographical tradition that is codified in the Bka’ gdams
36
glegs bam. In the Bka’ gdams chos ’byung-s his lineage is also identified as the lineage of
the blessing (byin rlabs), which he received from ’Brom ston pa. He is said to have focused on
his own meditation practice rather than teaching larger numbers of students, and one may
wonder whether his small monastery in ’Phan yul was later abandoned because he did not
37
initiate a broader student lineage.
While these three main lineages originate with ’Brom ston pa’s disciples, the Bka’ gdams pa
tradition in the wider sense also includes lineages going back to other important students of
Atiśa, such as Nag tsho lo tsa ba and his disciples, Rngog Legs pa’i shes rab and his disciples,
38
and Dgon pa ba and his disciples. In later times, after the disappearance of the Bka’ gdams
pa as a distinct tradition, the idea emerged that all main transmission lineages come together
in Tsong kha pa Blo bzang grags pa (1357–1419), the founder of the Dge lugs pa, who is thus
regarded as the heir to the entire Bka’ gdams tradition.
The Graded Path to Buddhahood (lam rim and bstan rim)
The Bka’ gdams pa have become famous for their systematic step-by-step approach to the
Buddhist path, laid down in works on the “steps of the path” (lam rim) or “stages of the
doctrine” (bstan rim). As Jackson has pointed out, the former typically operate with a
subdivision into three kinds of Buddhist practitioners and the teachings related to each of
them, and they normally close with a section on tantra as the most advanced (and most risky)
form of practice. Works of the bstan rim genre tend to present the same step-by-step program,
but without the division into three kinds of practitioners and they typically close with an
39
exposition of the bodhisattva levels and Buddhahood as the highest goal.
Atiśa’s Bodhipathapradīpa is the locus classicus for the definition of the three types of
individuals: Buddhist beginners, the śrāvakas, and the Mahāyāna Buddhists, a subdivision that
40
goes back to a stanza from Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośabhāṣya. Later works on the lam
rim usually refer to Atiśa’s definition of the three kinds of individuals; however, the
Bodhipathapradīpa itself cannot be regarded as a comprehensive blueprint for the lam rim as
a whole since it does not discuss the complete graded path, but focuses on the steps for the
most advanced practitioners, those following the Mahāyāna. However, two short works
preserved in the collection of the “Short Treatises of Atiśa” (Jo bo’i chos chung) briefly outline
the path from beginning to end and thus seem to bear witness to the fact that Atiśa did indeed
teach the complete lam rim in basically the same form as later Buddhist masters taught it. It
therefore seems justified to trace these teachings back to him, even if he did not elaborate on
41
them in detail in his written works.
Numerous Bka’ gdams pa masters taught or composed works on the graded path; the works
42
that are currently available all follow a similar structure. They typically begin with
propaedeutic considerations for the “inferior type of individuals” who are meant to consider
(a) the rare opportunity of a human rebirth with its advantages for Buddhist practice, (b) the
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impermanence of this state, and (c) the fact that their future fate is driven by their current
actions (karman). These considerations are meant to lead them to the stage of the
“intermediate beings” (or śrāvakas) who are striving for their own liberation and who are
advised to consider the unsatisfactory nature of saṃsāra and take the monastic vows. The
final and longest section is for the “excellent individuals” who have developed the Mahāyāna
attitude; they are encouraged to cultivate wisdom and compassion, generate bodhicitta, and
practice the six perfections. They may also use the methods of tantra to traverse the path to
awakening even faster, as long as they make sure not to contradict any of the vows they have
taken.
The charm of the early Bka’ gdams pa lam rim literature lies in its accessible and witty style,
which is due to the fact that these instructions were mostly given orally in the early
generations of teachers. In the case of Po to ba Rin chen gsal, his disciples committed his
instructions to writing and created two highly popular works, the Dpe chos rin chen spungs pa
(“Dharma Exemplified”) and the Be’u bum sngon po (“Blue Compendium”). Both are fully
fledged lam rim works, but what distinguishes them from later more scholastic expositions is
their colloquial language and the use of similes and anecdotes to illustrate the Buddhist path,
as the following example from the “Dharma Exemplified” may show:
An abbot in Khams, who had taken the monastic vows, drank small amounts of beer.
When all his students imitated him and drank beer as well, he said: “Don’t drink beer,
because you and I are not the same,” but they didn’t listen. One day he assembled
the students, poured a handful of needles into each tea cup, and said: “If you want to
imitate me, then take these into your mouth!” And as he poured the needles into his
mouth and chewed them with a crunching noise, the others were defeated, it is
43
said.
This story is used in the text to illustrate that a good Buddhist teacher needs special abilities
to restore faith and proper behavior in his students.
The humorous and down-to-earth teaching style was well-suited to explain the complexities of
the lam rim to largely untrained Tibetan audiences in the 11th and early 12th centuries and
made these works highly popular. Their long-term impact has been enormous, beginning with
Tsong kha pa’s famous works on the graded path and continuing with numerous lam rim and
bstan rim works up to the 20th and 21st centuries. Far from being limited to the Bka’ gdams
pa and Dge lugs pa schools, the lam rim and bstan rim genres have been adopted by other
traditions, too, and expositions of the graded path to Buddhahood can be found throughout
44
the centuries and across the schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
Mind Training (blo sbyong)
In early Bka’ gdams pa literature blo sbyong is frequently used as a verb (“to purify or train
the mind”) and qualified by the topic in which the mind should be trained. A 19th-century
anthology defines blo sbyong in the following way: “The foundational oral instruction of the
45
Bka’ gdams pa called blo sbyong consists in generating the awakening mind.” Blo sbyong
instructions teach various techniques that lead to this goal, such as contemplating the
propaedeutic steps of the graded path, reflecting on the fact that oneself and others are equal,
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and mentally taking all suffering upon oneself and giving all happiness and well-being to
others (gtong len). While blo sbyong as a genre is a Tibetan creation, many of its key ideas go
back to Indian Mahāyāna literature; Nāgārjuna’s Ratnāvalī is considered a source of blo
sbyong thought, and chapter eight of Śāntideva’s Bo-dhi-sattvacaryāvatāra is of particular
importance for the idea of the equality of “self” and “other” (parātmasamatā).
Since blo sbyong instructions are defined through their topic and aims rather than their
specific contents, their form is more varied than that of lam rim and bstan rim works. Blo
sbyong texts are often fairly brief; Bka’ gdams pa histories explain that they were originally
given as personal oral instructions from teacher to disciple, but teachers of the 12th century
began to pass them on publicly and committed them to writing. Among blo sbyong texts, the
Blo sbyong don bdun ma (“Mind training in seven points”) by Bya ’Chad kha ba (1101–1175)
has become particularly famous, partly through the commentary by Tsong kha pa’s disciple
Hor ston Nam mkha’ dpal (1373–1447). ’Chad kha ba himself had developed an interest in the
blo sbyong through the “Mind training in eight lines” (Blo sbyong tshig brgyad ma) of Glang ri
thang pa (1054–1123), and received blo sbyong instructions from Sha ra ba Yon tan grags
(1070–1141). Later on, an extensive collection of blo sbyong works and related materials was
compiled by two scholars of the Sa skya pa tradition, Sems dpa’ chen po Gzhon nu rgyal
46
mtshan and Mus chen Dkon mchog rgyal mtshan (1388–1469). Because of its short format
and straightforward instructions, the blo sbyong has remained highly popular, and Tibetan
blockprints of blo sbyong texts are still reproduced in large numbers today.
Like the lam rim, blo sbyong works, too, are sometimes classified into instructions for the
three types of practitioners, although this is not fundamental to the genre as such and is never
expressed in the early blo sbyong works themselves. Even so, it is fair to say that lam rim and
blo sbyong are closely related genres, and the Tibetan tradition itself tends to present them
47
together in Buddhist compendia, doxographies, and historical works. Both have had a farreaching impact on the Buddhist traditions of Tibet, far beyond Bka’ gdams pa and Dge lugs
pa circles.
Tantra and Monasticism
The Bka’ gdams pa have often been portrayed as a tradition that contributed to the growth of
monasticism in Tibet and that valued monastic vows over tantric practice, especially the
48
antinomian practices of the higher tantra classes. It is true that the early Bka’ gdams pa
literature puts an emphasis on basic Buddhist ethics and Mahāyāna doctrines, rather than
propagating the highly developed late tantra cycles from India. Compared to the
developments in western Tibet in the 11th century, where scholars such as the famous
translator Rin chen bzang po brought tantric traditions from Kashmir to Tibet and where
tantric art has been preserved in the monuments of this period, the Bka’ gdams pa of central
Tibet appear to have been a largely rural community that was happy to establish small and
unassuming monasteries, with a building style not too different from local Tibetan
farmhouses, and often situated in or near their own home regions. Central Tibetan mchod rten
(stūpas) of this era are mostly simple cylindrical structures with a small roof and spire,
distinctly different from the vase-shaped structures of other regions and later times. The early
monasteries of teachers such as Po to ba and Spyan snga ba and their disciples consist of
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smallish temples, usually facing south to catch the sunlight, with simple living quarters for the
49
monks and (in some cases) nuns. These establishments were not designed to look grand, but
were constructed as pragmatic community environments for practicing Buddhists.
In terms of tantric transmissions, it must be remembered that Atiśa himself was steeped in the
tantric traditions of Bengal, but there is no textual evidence about whether he passed these on
to his Tibetan disciples to any significant degree. According to Tibetan sources, Atiśa’s main
meditation deities were Buddha Śākyamuni, Avalokiteśvara, Acala, and Tārā, and their
meditation practice, together with the tripiṭaka, became known under the name of “the seven
deities and teachings” (lha chos bdun ldan). These practices are obviously quite different from
the complex rituals and antinomian practices of the late tantric period in India, or indeed of
other strands of Tibetan Buddhism.
The significance of Atiśa’s Bodhipathapradīpa lies in the fact that it condenses the highly
developed Indian Buddhism of the time into a system, with a strong emphasis on the
Mahāyāna; tantra is included as an advanced technique to achieve the same goal, but the
work warns against practices that would lead to a breach of one’s vows. The biographies of
the Tibetan Bka’ gdams pa teachers do not give the impression that tantric initiations and
transmissions played a major role in their Buddhist training. However, physical traces of
Atiśa’s own tantric practice have survived. As mentioned above. Rwa sgreng houses a statue
of the six-armed Mañjuvajra of the Guhyasamāja system that is said to have belonged to Atiśa
himself, and Lo dgon is said to be based on the Guhyasamāja maṇḍala. A peculiar feature of
the Bka’ gdams tradition is that it has created a tantric system of its own, known as the
“sixteen spheres” (thig le bcu drug). It consists of a meditation in which the thousand-armed
Avalokiteśvara is the central figure, and fifteen other figures are visualized emanating from
him in a specific sequence. These figures include not only Atiśa’s four main meditation deities
50
but also Atiśa and ’Brom ston pa themselves. The practice of the “sixteen spheres” seems to
have played a significant role in constructing a Bka’ gdams pa identity, both fulfilling the
demand for a “tantra of one’s own” and elevating the founding fathers of the tradition. It is
being actively revived at Rwa sgreng monastery nowadays and is documented in a voluminous
51
modern publication.
It should also be mentioned in this context that the Bka’ gdams pa have their own—albeit very
limited—stories of gter ma revelation. One of these is the “pillar testament” (Bka’ chems ka
khol ma) mentioned in the context of Atiśa’s life story summarized above (Atiśa
Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna, 982–1054). The other is—to a certain degree—the “Book of the Bka’
gdams” (Bka’ gdams glegs bam). To a certain degree because this work is a compilation of
very diverse materials, built around a versified explanation of Mahāyāna ethics composed by
Atiśa, and including biographies, prophesies, pre-birth stories, and a long section of dialogues
between the early Bka’ gdams pa masters. In these dialogues, the Bka’ gdams glegs bam itself
appears as a “magical book” (’phrul pa’i glegs bam); it manifests, but then disappears, and is
finally enclosed in a stūpa in Stabs ka (“Tabka”). While this “magical book” seems like an
inspirational, nonmaterial object, one passage mentions a concrete number of pages, which
makes “the book” oscillate between a material and an immaterial object. While of course not
being a gter ma proper, which would require a prescribed process of hiding and rediscovering
the text, the ’phrul pa’i glegs bam is certainly conceived as a book with special supernatural
52
properties, and the process of its transmission is described with revelatory overtones. Quite
in tune with this, “the book” describes its contents as a secret knowledge that should not be
disclosed publicly, not because of tantric esoteric practices but because—as Bka’ gdams pa
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authors sometimes remark—the workings of karman, and therefore also life stories and prebirth stories, are a great mystery that can be fully gauged only by an omniscient being, i.e., a
Buddha or a fully realized Buddhist master.
A Formative Movement
In conclusion, is it fair to say, as the title of this article suggests, that the Bka’ gdams pa were
a formative movement of Tibetan Buddhism? After all, the early Bka’ gdams pa have not
developed a sophisticated Sanskrit scholarship like the Sa skya pa, they have not brought
forth spectacular yogi poets like the Bka’ brgyud pa, they have not gained any significant
political power in central Tibet, and they even disappeared as a distinct tradition altogether
about four hundred years after Atiśa’s arrival in Tibet. Yet, it seems justified to regard them as
a formative movement in several respects, apart from creating and disseminating the
instructional genres of lam rim and blo sbyong discussed in the sections on “The Graded Path
to Buddhahood” and “Mind Training” above.
The central Tibetan Bka’ gdams pa movement, established locally by ’Brom ston pa and
disseminated by his main disciples and their students, seems to have had an enormous impact
on the growing popularity of Buddhism in the region. The Tibetan biographies (rnam thar) of
the early Bka’ gdams pa masters give a vivid impression of this process. Several of these life
stories begin with the remark that the family followed the indigenous Bon tradition, but the
child was drawn toward Buddhism, found a Buddhist teacher and entered one of the small
local monasteries, and later in life became a major figure with hundreds or even thousands of
students. After the collapse of the Tibetan Empire in the 9th century, the centralized state
sponsorship of Buddhism had disappeared, and there had been a rapid decline of the tradition
in central Tibet. The monastic ordination lineage was reintroduced from eastern Tibet in the
late 10th century, but Buddhism was far from being popular and widespread among the
people on the plateau. The Bka’ gdams pa began as a grass-roots movement that spread
locally in the province of Dbus through the creation of relatively small-scale monasteries and
hermitages, situated typically in remote places hidden at the upper end of the valleys, and
thus well-suited for a secluded religious practice.
The early generations of teachers in the 11th century did not generate a large-scale written
legacy, but taught their disciples orally, often on an individual basis. The oral nature of their
instructions shines through in the written works that do exist: anthologies of “sayings” of the
Bka’ gdams pa masters and works in a highly colloquial style with dialect expressions (yul
skad) and idiomatic language. They have a strongly local flavor, referring to specific places in
central Tibet, the flora and fauna of the Tibetan plateau, local people and their customs, and
well-known figures of the early Bka’ gdams pa environment. Thus, they adapt the doctrines of
Indian Buddhism for their audiences on the plateau, both preserving and indigenizing the
Buddhist teachings.
The originally oral instructions, such as Po to ba’s Dpe chos introduced in the section on “The
Graded Path to Buddhahood” above, were written down by students in the early 12th century
to preserve them for future generations. Some of these students also moved to more public
places by founding monasteries in the main valleys, along the routes of travel and trade. Their
biographies record rapidly growing numbers of disciples. At the same time, the teachers of
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the 12th century initiated public instructions on lam rim and blo sbyong, and they began
composing their own written texts on this topic, beginning with works that often did not have
proper titles, but were just known as “the blo sbyong of teacher X,” or “the lam rim of teacher
Y.” This seems to indicate that the focus was on the contents of the instruction, rather than on
the work as a literary composition. It is therefore sometimes hard to pin down whether a “blo
sbyong of teacher X” was actually written down by this teacher, or by a student of the teacher,
or after several steps of oral transmission. What matters to the Tibetan tradition is intellectual
authorship, i.e., the individual who created the content, rather than literary authorship, i.e.,
the person who wrote it down. Yet, there are intriguing vignettes that reflect a growing
interest in the written medium. For example, the religious history of Yar lung jo bo Shākya rin
chen sde, composed in 1376, describes the origin of the Blo sbyong don bdun ma in the
following way:
While he was staying in ’Gres phu, [’Chad kha ba] was wondering whether he should
teach these instructions publicly or not, and he intended to pass them on individually
to certain suitable persons. However, he was uncertain for whom this would be
beneficial or not beneficial. So he said to those present: “If you have butter, invite the
meditation masters. We will hold a feast for the name-giving for these instructions of
mine.” At this time he had subdivided [the blo sbyong instructions] into seven
sections and put them down in writing, and therefore it became known as don bdun
53
ma (“[Blo sbyong] in Seven Points”). From then on, he taught [it] in public . . .
According to this testimony, writing the instruction down in a structured literary form, giving
a name or title to the text, and passing it on to larger numbers of students go hand in hand.
The early Bka’ gdams pa masters were thus among those who not only made Buddhism
popular by adapting it for their Tibetan audiences but also experimented with new Tibetan
writing styles, blending oral and written forms, and creating new literary genres that
remained popular throughout the centuries and across the Buddhist traditions of Tibet.
Review of Literature
While the figure of Atiśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna attracted scholarly curiosity relatively early on,
the Bka’ gdams pa as a whole have—until recently—largely been neglected in academic
scholarship, partly perhaps because they were overshadowed by their successors, the Dge
lugs pa. Among the earlier scholarship, mention should be made of Sarat Chandra Das’s
sketch of Atiśa’s life story published in 1893, based on two biographical sections from the Bka’
54
gdams glegs bam and on Sum pa mkhan po’s 18th-century work on the history of Buddhism.
It served as a source for Laurence A. Waddell’s now outdated book on The Buddhism of Tibet:
or Lamaism, published in 1895. Bell’s Religion of Tibet (1931) also provides a sketch of Atiśa’s
life and activities. The first extensive Tibetan historical source available in English was the
Deb ther sngon po (The Blue Annals) by ’Gos lo tsa ba Gzhon nu dpal (1392–1481), translated
55
by G. N. Roerich and published in Calcutta in 1949–1953. Its comprehensive nature and
richness in biographical detail has made it one of the most popular sources for scholarly
research on the history of Tibetan Buddhism; it served, for example, as the basis for Hadano’s
56
pioneering survey of the Bka’ gdams pa tradition published in Japanese in 1954.
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With the growth of Tibetan Studies as an academic discipline, scholarship on the Bka’ gdams
pa masters began to flourish in the second half of the 20th century. The first substantial
monograph devoted entirely to Atiśa was published in Calcutta in 1967 by Alaka
57
Chattopadhyaya. The book is unprecedented in its detailed exploration of the subject and
provides useful material, in particular in the appendices, but the academic literature as well
as the Tibetan sources available to the author were limited. The first systematic collection and
analysis of biographical materials related to Atiśa was undertaken by Helmut Eimer in his
Berichte über das Leben des Atiśa (Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna) (1977), which drew attention to the
enormous number of Tibetan sources available and the broad range of literary genres that
58
need to be considered. It is a pioneering survey of sources indispensable for any scholarly
work on this topic. It was followed by Eimer’s synoptical edition and German paraphrase of
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the earliest biographical record, the Rnam thar rgyas pa (yongs grags), in 1979. Kaie
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Mochizuki has also published various studies on Atiśa and his written legacy. In 2019, James
Apple published a book with a detailed life story of Atiśa based on early Tibetan biographical
61
sources, and translations from a selection of works by Atiśa.
It took some time until due scholarly attention was given to the Bka’ gdams pa tradition as a
whole. David Snellgrove’s Indo-Tibetan Buddhism (1987) provides an insightful survey of the
62
role of Atiśa and the early Bka’ gdams pa masters. However, while the 11th-century revival
of Buddhism in Western Tibet, with its royal patronage, high-profile scholars, and stunning art
and architecture, had triggered scholarly attention already in the 1980s and 1990s, the
testimonies of the Bka’ gdams pa tradition in Central Tibet have been studied on a broader
63
scale beginning only at the turn of the 21st century. The first detailed conspectus of the Bka’
64
gdams pa tradition was written by Meenakshi Rai (2006). The monograph provides a useful
survey based on a good range of Tibetan sources, using them in a comparative way, but it
does not aim to go much beyond the traditional narrative in its analysis of the material. MarieStella Boussemart wrote an accessible life story of ’Brom ston pa, based on Tibetan sources
65
(1999). Academic studies of individual teachers, works, and historical contexts have
increased in recent years, for example through articles on lesser-known Bka’ gdams pa
masters, studies of the “Book of the Bka’ gdams” (Bka’ gdams glegs bam), translations and
discussions of lam rim and blo sbyong works, a translation and study of Po to ba’s Dpe chos,
Vetturini’s presentation and analysis of the Bka’ gdams history by Bsod nams lha’i dbang po,
Schuman’s study of the developments at Snar thang monastery, and Iuchi’s work on various
66
Bka’ gdams pa institutions and sources. Important works from the Bka’ gdams tradition
have been made available in translation; for example, The Book of Kadam; Wisdom of the
Kadam Masters; and Essential Mind Training: Tibetan Wisdom for Daily Life, translated and
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introduced by Thupten Jinpa.
Primary Sources
Many of the Tibetan sources mentioned in this article can be accessed online at the Buddhist Digital Resource
Center <https://www.tbrc.org/>. A flood of Tibetan original sources has become available through two
monumental series published by the Dpal brtsegs bod yig dpe rnying zhib ’jug khang: the Bka’ gdams gsung ’bum
phyogs bsgrigs (120 vols.) and the Bod kyi lo rgyus rnam thar phyogs bsgrigs (120 vols.). For the issues
addressed here, the following primary sources are of particular relevance:
Atiśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna: see the bibliography on “Bka’ gdams pa Doctrines and Doctrinal Literature”
below, under Eimer and Sherburne.
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Bka’ gdams glegs bam, vol. 1, Jo bo rje dpal ldan a ti sha’i rnam thar bka’ gdams pha chos; vol. 2,
’Brom ston rgyal ba’i ’byung gnas kyi skyes rabs bka’ gdams bu chos. Edited by Mkha’ ’gro tshe ring.
Xining: Mtsho sngon mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1994.
Bkaʼ gdams gsung ʼbum phyogs bsgrigs bzhugs so. Edited by the Dpal brtsegs bod yig dpe rnying zhib ʼjug
khang. 120 vols. [Chengdu]: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2006–2009.
Bod kyi lo rgyus rnam thar phyogs bsgrigs bzhugs so. Edited by the Dpal brtsegs bod yig dpe rnying zhib
ʼjug khang. 120 vols. Zi ling: Mtsho sngon mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2010–.
Bsod nams lha’i dbang po. “Bka’ gdams rin po che’i chos ’byung rnam thar nyin mor byed pa’i ’od stong.” In Two
Histories of the bKa’-gdams-pa Tradition from the Library of Burmiok Athing. 207–393. Gangtok:
Gonpo Tsetsen, 1977.
Las chen Kun dga’ rgyal mtshan. Bka’ gdams kyi rnam par thar pa bka’ gdams chos ’byung gsal ba’i
sgron me. Lhasa: Bod ljongs mi dmangs dpe skrun khang, 2003.
Mchims Nam mkha’ grags. Snar thang gi gdan rabs gser phreng. Lha sa: Bod ljongs bod yig dpe rnying dpe
skrun khang, 2015. An dbu can manuscript of the same work was published in Bod kyi lo rgyus rnam thar
phyogs bsgrigs, vol. 62 (khu) (Zi ling [Xining]: mTsho sngon mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2012), folios 167a–196a.] [Also
available on tbrc.org, W2CZ7888.]
Mchims Nam mkha’ grags. Rnam thar rgyas pa yongs grags. See Eimer, Rnam thar rgyas pa under the
Further Reading heading “The Lives of the Bka’ gdams pa Masters.”
Nyang Nyi ma ’od zer. Chos ’byung me tog snying po sbrang rtsi’i bcud. Lhasa: Bod ljongs bod yig dpe
rnying dpe skrun khang, 1988. Third ed. published in 2012.
Paṇ chen Bsod nams grags pa. Bka’ gdams gsar rnying gi chos ’byung yid kyi mdzes rgyan. In Two
Histories of the bKa’-gdams-pa Tradition from the Library of Burmiok Athing. 1–206. Gangtok: Gonpo
Tseten, 1977.
Paṇ chen Bsod nams grags pa. Bka’ gdams gsar rnying gi chos ’byung yid kyi mdzes rgyan. Lhasa: Bod
ljongs bod yig dpe rnying dpe skrun khang, 2001.
[Po to ba Rin chen gsal]. Dpe chos dang dpe chos rin chen spungs pa. Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2001.
For further editions, see Roesler, Frühe Quellen.
Rnam thar rgyas pa. In Biography of Atiśa and his disciple Ḥbrom-ston: Zhö ed. Vol. 2. Edited by
Lokesh Chandra, 820–862. New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1982. See also Eimer, Rnam thar
rgyas pa.
Links to Digital Materials
Buddhist Digital Resource Center <https://www.tbrc.org/>.
The Treasury of Lives <https://www.treasuryoflives.org/>.
Asian Classics Input Project <https://www.asianclassics.org/>.
Himalayan Art Resources <https://www.himalayanart.org/>.
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Further Reading
History of the Bka’ gdams Tradition and Its Institutions
Davidson, R. M. Tibetan Renaissance: Tantric Buddhism in the Rebirth of Tibetan Culture. New
York: Columbia University Press, 2005. See esp. chapters 3 and 8.
Iuchi, Maho. An Early Text on the History of Rwa sgreng Monastery: The Rgyal ba’i dben gnas
rwa sgreng gi bshad pa nyi ma’i ’od zer of ’Brom Shes rab me lce. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press, 2016.
Iuchi, Maho. “The Bka’ gdams chos ’byung Genre and the Newly Published Ye shes rtse mo’s
Bka’ gdams chos ’byung.” In The Historical Development of Tibeto-Himalayan Civilization.
Edited by Iwao Kazushi and Ikeda Takumi, 338–355. Kyoto: Rinsen Books, 2018.
Kano, Kazuo. “The Transmission of Sanskrit Manuscripts from India to Tibet: The Case of a
Manuscript Collection in the Possession of Atiśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna (980–1054).” In Transfer of
Buddhism Across Central Asian Networks (7th to 13th Centuries). Edited by Carmen Meinert,
82–117. Boston: Brill, 2015.
Kuijp, L. van der. “Die Dalai Lamas von Tibet und die Ursprünge der Lama-Wiedergeburten.” In
Die Dalai Lamas: Tibets Reinkarnationen des Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. Edited by M. Brauen,
14–31. Stuttgart: Völkerkundemuseum der Universität Zürich, 2005.
Martin, Dan, in collaboration with Yael Bentor. Tibetan Histories: A Bibliography of TibetanLanguage Historical Works. London: Serindia, 1997.
Miller, Amy Sims. “Jewelled Dialogues: The Role of The Book in the Formation of the Kadam
Tradition within Tibet.” PhD diss., University of Virginia, 2004.
Rai, Meenakshi. Kadampa School in Tibetan Buddhism. Delhi: Saujanya, 2006.
Roerich, George N. The Blue Annals. Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1949. See esp. Book V,
The Venerable Lord (Jo-bo-rje, Atiśa) and His Spiritual Lineage.
Roesler, Ulrike. “On the History of Histories: The Case of the bKa’ gdams pas.” In Contributions
to Tibetan Buddhist Literature: Proceedings of the 11th Seminar of the International Association
for Tibetan Studies, Königswinter 2006. Edited by Orna Almogi, 393–413. Halle, Germany:
International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, 2008.
Schuman, Michael D. “Building Place and Shaping Lives: Nartang Monastery from the 12th
through 15th Centuries.” PhD diss., University of Virginia, 2016.
Snellgrove, David L. Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists & their Tibetan Successors.
Boston: Shambhala, 1987. See esp. chapter V.3.
Vetturini, Gianpaolo. “The bKa’ gdams pa School of Tibetan Buddhism.” PhD diss., SOAS,
University of London, 2007.
The Lives of the Bka’ gdams pa Masters
Apple. James B. Atiśa Dīpaṃkara: Illuminator of the Awakened Mind. Boulder: Shambhala, 2019.
Page 18 of 26
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Boussemart, Marie-Stella. Dromteunpa, l’humble yogi. Marzens, France: Vajra Yogini, 1999.
Chattopadhyaya, Alaka. Atīśa and Tibet: Life and Works of Dīpaṃkara Śrījñāna in Relation to the
History and Religion of Tibet. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1981 (1st ed. Calcutta 1967).
Das, Sarat Chandra. “Indian Pandits in Tibet.” Journal of the Buddhist Text Society of India 1, pt.
1 (1893): 1–31. A slightly revised version was published as Sarat Chandra Das, Indian Pandits in
the Land of Snow. Edited by Nobin Chandra Das (Calcutta: Baptist Mission Press, 1893).
Decleer, Hubert. “Master Atiśa in Nepal: The Tham Bahīl and Five Stūpas’ Foundations
According to the ’Brom ston Itinerary.” Journal of the Nepal Research Centre 10 (1996): 27–54.
Eimer, Helmut. Berichte über das Leben des Atiśa (Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna): Eine Untersuchung der
Quellen. Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz, 1977.
Eimer, Helmut. Rnam thar rgyas pa: Materialien zu einer Biographie des Atiśa
Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna. 2 vols. Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz, 1979.
Eimer, Helmut. “Hymns and Stanzas Praising Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna.” In Glimpses of the Sanskrit
Buddhist Literature. Edited by K. N. Mishra, 9–32. Sarnath, India: Central Institute of Higher
Tibetan Studies, 1997.
Eimer, Helmut. Testimonia for the Bstod-pa brgyad-cu-pa: An Early Hymn Praising
Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna (Atiśa). Lumbini, Nepal: Lumbini International Research Institute, 2003.
Eimer, Helmut. “Sources for the Vita of ’Brom ston.” In Contributions to Tibetan Buddhist
Literature. Edited by Orna Almogi, 337–392. Halle, Germany: International Institute for Tibetan
and Buddhist Studies, 2008.
Kramer, Ralf. The Great Tibetan Translator: Life and Works of rNgog Blo ldan shes rab (1059–
1109). Munich: Indus Verlag, 2007.
Sørensen, Per K. “The Prolific Ascetic lCe-sgom Śes-rab rdo-rje alias lCe-sgom źig-po: Allusive,
but Elusive.” Journal of the Nepal Research Centre 11 (1999): 175–200.
Sørensen, Per K. “An XIth Century Ascetic of Buddhist Eclecticism: Kha-rag sgom-chuṅ.” In
Tractata Tibetica et Mongolica: Festschrift für Klaus Sagaster zum 65; Geburtstag. Edited by
Karénina Kollmar-Paulenz and Christian Peter, 241–253. Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz,
2002.
Bka’ gdams pa Doctrines and Doctrinal Literature
Ehrhard, Franz-Karl. “The Transmission of the Thig-le bcu-drug and the bKa’ gdams glegs bam.”
In The Many Canons of Tibetan Buddhism. Edited by Helmut Eimer and David Germano, 29–56.
Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2002.
Eimer, Helmut. Bodhipathapradīpa: Ein Lehrgedicht des Atiśa (Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna) in der
tibetischen Überlieferung. Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz, 1978.
Jackson, David. “The bsTan Rim (“Stages of the Doctrine”) and Similar Graded Path Expositions
of the Bodhisattva’s Path.” In Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre. Edited by J. I. Cabezón and R.
R. Jackson, 229–243. Ithaca, NY: Snowlion, 1996.
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Jinpa, Thupten. Mind Training: The Great Collection. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2006.
Jinpa, Thupten. The Book of Kadam: The Core Texts. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2008.
Karmay, Samten G. “The Ordinance of Lha Bla ma Ye shes ’od.” In The Arrow and the Spindle:
Studies in History, Myths, Rituals and Beliefs in Tibet. Vol. 1. By Samten G. Karmay, 3–16.
Kathmandu: Mandala Book Point, 1998.
Miyazaki, Izumi. “Atiśa (Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna): His Philosophy, Practice and Its Sources.” Memoirs
of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko no. 65 (2007): 61–89.
Roesler, Ulrike. Frühe Quellen zum buddhistischen Stufenweg in Tibet. Indische und tibetische
Traditionen im dPe chos des Po-to-ba Rin-chen-gsal. Wiesbaden, Germany: Rei-chert Verlag,
2011.
Roesler, Ulrike, trans. “Be’u bum sngon po: The Blue Compendium: Teachings on the Graded
Path by Potowa Rinchen Sal, Compiled in Verse by Dölpa Sherap Gyatso.” In Stages of the
Buddha’s Teachings: Three Key Texts. Translated by U. Roesler, K. Holmes, and D. Jackson, 37–
117. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2015.
Sherburne, Richard, trans. The Complete Works of Atiśa, Śrī Dīpaṃkara Jñāna, Jo-bo-rje: The
Lamp for the Path and the Commentary, Together with the Newly Translated Twenty-Five Key
Texts. Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 2000.
Sweet, Michael J. “Mental Purification (Blo sbyong): A Native Tibetan Genre of Religious
Literature.” In Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre. Edited by J. I. Cabezón and R. R. Jackson,
244–260. Ithaca, NY: Snowlion, 1996.
Material Culture
Henss, Michael. The Cultural Monuments of Tibet. Vol. 1, The Central Regions / The Central
Tibetan Province of Ü. Munich: Prestel, 2014.
Roesler, Ulrike, and Hans-Ulrich Roesler. Kadampa Sites of Phempo: A Guide to Some Early
Buddhist Monasteries in Central Tibet. Kathmandu: Vajra Publications, 2004.
Notes
1. The name is explained as referring to the word of the Buddha (bka’) as explained in the instructions (gdams) of
Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna, see Gianpaolo Vetturini, “The bKa’ gdams pa School of Tibetan Buddhism” (PhD
diss., SOAS, University of London, 2007), 165. See also Las chen Kun dga’ rgyal mtshan, Bka’ gdams kyi
rnam par thar pa bka’ gdams chos ’byung gsal ba’i sgron me (Lhasa: Bod ljongs mi dmangs dpe skrun
khang, 2003), 3–5.
2. The Bka’ gdams pa, Bka’ brgyud pa, Sa skya pa, and Rnying ma pa all emerged as distinct traditions during the 11th
century, even if the Rnying ma pa trace themselves back to an earlier period. On Tibetan Buddhism in this period see,
for example, David L. Snellgrove, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists & their Tibetan
Successors (Boston: Shambhala, 1987), chapter V.3; and Ronald M. Davidson, Tibetan Renaissance:
Tantric Buddhism in the Rebirth of Tibetan Culture (New York: Columbia University Press,
2005).
Page 20 of 26
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3. See Karl-Heinz Everding, “gSang phu Ne’u thog, Tibet’s Earliest Monastic School (1073): Reflections on the Rise of Its
Grva tshang bcu gsum and Bla khag bcu,” Zentralasiatische Studien 38 (2009): 137–154; Pascale Hugon,
“Enclaves of Learning, Religious and Intellectual Communities in Tibet: The Monastery of gSang phu Neʼu thog in the
Early Centuries of the Later Diffusion of Buddhism,” in Meanings of Community Across Medieval Eurasia,
ed. E. Hovden, Ch. Lutter, and W. Pohl (Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2016), 289–308; and Leonard van der Kuijp, “The
Monastery of Gsang-phu ne’u-thog and Its Abbatial Succession from ca. 1073 to 1250,” Berliner Indologische
Studien 3 (1987): 103–127.
th
4. Michael D. Schuman, “Building Place and Shaping Lives: Nartang Monastery from the 12
th
through 15
Centuries” (PhD diss., University of Virginia, 2016).
5. Franz-Karl Ehrhard, “The Transmission of the Thig-le bcu-drug and the bKa’ gdams glegs
bam,” in The Many Canons of Tibetan Buddhism, ed. Helmut Eimer and David Germano (Leiden,
The Netherlands: Brill, 2002), 29–56; and Marta Sernesi, “Bibliography and Cultural History: Remarks on the
Bka’ gdams glegs bam,” in The Illuminating Mirror: Tibetan Studies in Honour of Per K. Sørensen on
the Occasion of his 65th Birthday, ed. Olaf Czaja and Guntram Hazod (Wiesbaden, Germany: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 2015), 411–444.
6. For more details, see Ulrike Roesler, “On the History of Histories: The Case of the bKa’ gdams
th
pas,” in Contributions to Tibetan Buddhist Literature: Proceedings of the 11
Seminar of the
International Association for Tibetan Studies, Königswinter 2006, ed. Orna Almogi (Halle,
Germany: International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, 2008), 393–413.
7. As Eimer has shown, in its transmitted form the eulogy is a composite text containing verses by Nag tsho lo tsa ba
and verses composed by Atiśa’s student Kṣitigarbha; see Helmut Eimer, Testimonia for the Bstod-pa
brgyad-cu-pa: An Early Hymn Praising Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna (Atiśa) (Lumbini, Nepal: Lumbini
International Research Institute, 2003).
8. Helmut Eimer, “Hymns and Stanzas Praising Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna,” in Glimpses of the Sanskrit
Buddhist Literature, ed. K. N. Mishra (Sarnath, India: Central Institute of Higher Tibetan
Studies, 1997), 9–32.
9. These are Ye shes rgyal mtshan’s biographies of the Bka’ gdams tradition (Byang chub lam gyi rim pa’i bla
ma brgyud pa’i rnam par thar pa rgyal mtshan mdzes pa’i rgyan mchog tu phul byung nor bu’i
phreng ba) and Sum pa mkhan po’s history of Buddhism (Dpag bsam ljon bzang). On both works, see Andrej I.
Vostrikov, Tibetan Historical Literature, trans. Harish Chandra Gupta (Calcutta: Indian Studies: Past & Present,
1970).
10. Helmut Eimer, Berichte über das Leben des Atiśa (Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna): Eine Untersuchung
der Quellen (Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz, 1977), 279–292.
11. Ralf Kramer, The Great Tibetan Translator: Life and Works of rNgog Blo ldan shes rab (1059–
1109) (Munich: Indus Verlag, 2007).
12. There are two monumental series of relevant materials: the Bka’ gdams gsung ’bum phyogs bsgrigs (120
vols) and the Bod kyi lo rgyus rnam thar phyogs bsgrigs (120 vols), both published by the Dpal brtsegs bod
yig dpe rnying zhib ’jug khang; see above under “Primary Sources.”
13. The earliest source for the life of Po to ba Rin chen gsal, for example, is found in the 12th-century commentary on
the Be’u bum sgnon po, a collection of Po to ba Rin chen gsal’s oral instructions written by his disciple Dol pa Rin
po che, and further information is given in a commentary on his Dpe chos written in the 14th century by ’Gro mgon
Dpal ldan ye shes; see Roesler, “On the History of Histories,” 399–403.
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14. Legs par bshad pa bka’ gdams rin po che’i gsung gi gces btus nor bu’i bang mdzod (Zi ling:
Mtsho sngon mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1996). The author is Tho yon Ye shes don grub bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan (1792–
1855).
15. Mchims Nam mkha’ grags, Snar thang gi gdan rabs gser phreng (Lha sa: Bod ljongs bod yig dpe rnying dpe
skrun khang, 2015); see “Primary Sources” above for further editions.
16. A partial translation is available in Thupten Jinpa, The Book of Kadam: The Core Texts (Boston:
Wisdom Publications, 2008). See also Amy Sims Miller, “Jewelled Dialogues: The Role of The Book
in the Formation of the Kadam Tradition within Tibet” (PhD diss., University of Virginia, 2004).
17. On the transmission of the Bka’ gdams glegs bam, see Ehrhard and Sernesi in note 5 above.
18. Ye shes rtse mo, Bka’ gdams rin po che’i bstan ’dzin rnams kyi byung khungs. This work has only
recently become available; see Maho Iuchi, “The Bka’ gdams chos ’byung Genre and the Newly
Published Ye shes rtse mo’s Bka’ gdams chos ’byung,” in The Historical Development of TibetoHimalayan Civilization, ed. Iwao Kazushi and Ikeda Takumi (Kyoto: Rinsen Books, 2018), 338–
355. Bsod nams lha’i dbang po, Bka’ gdams rin po che’i chos ’byung rnam thar nyin mor byed pa’i ’od
stong. For an analysis and translation, see Vetturini, “The bKa’ gdams pa School.” Las chen Kun dga’ rgyal mtshan,
Bka’ gdams kyi rnam par thar pa bka’ gdams chos ’byung gsal ba’i sgron me. See note 1. Paṇ chen
Bsod nams grags pa, Bka’ gdams gsar rnying gi chos ’byung yid kyi mdzes rgyan, in Two Histories of
the bKa’-gdams-pa Tradition from the Library of Burmiok Athing (Gangtok, India: Gonpo Tseten, 1977),
1–206.
19. See Dan Martin in collaboration with Yael Bentor, Tibetan Histories: A Bibliography of TibetanLanguage Historical Works (London: Serindia, 1997), no. 216; and Vetturini, “The bKa’ gdams pa
School,” 3. The title of A myes zhabs’ work is Dge ba’i bshes gnyen bka’ gdams pa rnams kyi dam pa’i
chos byung ba’i tshul legs par bshad pa ngo mtshar rgya mtsho.
20. These are the Byang chub lam gyi rim pa’i bla ma brgyud pa’i rnam thar pad ma dkar po’i
phreng ba by Paṇ chen bla ma Blo bzang ye shes (1663–1737) and the Byang chub lam gyi rim pa’i bla ma
brgyud pa’i rnam thar by Tshe mchog gling yongs ’dzin Ye shes rgyal mtshan (on the latter see note 9).
21. Published in Helmut Eimer, Rnam thar rgyas pa: Materialien zu einer Biographie des Atiśa
Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna, 2 vols. (Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz, 1979). The Rnam thar rgyas pa
yongs grags version was produced in the 13th century by Mchims Nam mkha’ grags, the seventh abbot of Snar
thang, and is included in his Snar thang gser phreng and in the Bka’ gdams glegs bam.
22. Eimer, Rnam thar rgyas pa, episodes 129, 334.
23. See the appendices in Alaka Chattopadhyaya, Atīśa and Tibet: Life and Works of Dīpaṃkara
Śrījñāna in Relation to the History and Religion of Tibet (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1967).
24. Hubert Decleer, “Master Atiśa in Nepal: The Tham Bahīl and Five Stūpas’ Foundations
According to the ’Brom ston Itinerary,” Journal of the Nepal Research Centre 10 (1996): 27–54.
25. Bka’ chems ka khol ma, ed. Smon lam rgya mtsho ([Lanzhou]: Kan su’u mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1989). See
Martin, Tibetan Histories, 24, no. 4. According to later biographies, the text was retrieved from a pillar, but the
early biographies describe how a beggar woman indicated a place in the ground of the Jo khang Temple where Atiśa
was to find the text. The protective deity guarding the treasure text allowed them to copy as much as they could
within one day; see Eimer, Rnam thar rgyas pa, episode 337; and George N. Roerich, The Blue Annals
(Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1949), 258.
26. Eimer, Rnam thar rgyas pa, episode 410f.
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27. Roberto Vitali, “Bka’ gdams pa Religious Politics in Dbus: The One Hundred Years after A ti sha’s Death,” in The
Illuminating Mirror: Tibetan Studies in Honour of Per K. Sørensen on the Occasion of his 65th
Birthday, ed. Olaf Czaja and Guntram Hazod (Wiesbaden, Germany: Dr. Ludwig Rei-chert Verlag, 2015), 511–525.
28. The biography is included in Mchims Nam mkha’ grags, Snar thang gser phreng (see above under Primary
Sources). See Helmut Eimer, “Sources for the Vita of ’Brom ston,” in Contributions to Tibetan
Buddhist Literature, ed. Orna Almogi (Halle, Germany: International Institute for Tibetan and
Buddhist Studies, 2008), 337–392. Parallel sections are found within the early biographies of Atiśa mentioned
above, the Rnam thar rgyas pa (yongs grags), as well as a work by ’Brom Shes rab me lce composed around
the beginning of the 14th century, see Maho Iuchi, An Early Text on the History of Rwa sgreng
Monastery: The Rgyal ba’i dben gnas rwa sgreng gi bshad pa nyi ma’i ’od zer of ’Brom Shes rab
me lce (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016), 7–12.
29. See Marie-Stella Boussemart, Dromteunpa, l’humble yogi (Marzens, France: Vajra Yogini,
1999); Meenakshi Rai, Kadampa School in Tibetan Buddhism (Delhi: Saujanya 2006), 28–38; and
Roerich, Blue Annals, 251–265.
30. Rai, Kadampa School, 33.
31. Iuchi, An Early Text, 33; image in Michael Henss, The Cultural Monuments of Tibet, vol. 1, The
Central Regions/ The Central Tibetan Province of Ü (Munich: Prestel, 2014), 285.
32. Ulrike Roesler, “A Palace for Those Who Have Eyes to See: Preliminary Remarks on the Sacred Geography of Reting
(Rwa-sgreṅ),” Acta Orientalia Vilnensia 8, no. 1 (2007): 123–144.
33. For a brief survey, see Ulrike Roesler, Frühe Quellen zum buddhistischen Stufenweg in Tibet:
Indische und tibetische Traditionen im dPe chos des Po-to-ba Rin-chen-gsal (Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag, 2011), 107–115. For an alternative outline, see Rai, Kadampa School, 133.
34. The “Blo sbyong in Eight Verses” is translated in Rai, Kadampa School, 151–152. On the Blo sbyong don
bdun ma, see Michael J. Sweet, “Mental Purification (Blo sbyong): A Native Tibetan Genre of
Religious Literature,” in Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre, ed. J. I. Cabezón and R. R. Jackson
(Ithaca, NY: Snowlion, 1996), 249–250.
35. For Spyan snga ba’s biography see Vetturini, “The bKa’ gdams pa School,” 109–114; and Roerich, Blue Annals,
284–285. The designation of his tradition is not entirely fixed; the term gdams ngag pa seems the most common,
but the term man ngag pa is also occasionally found. See Nyang ral Nyi ma ’od zer’s Chos ’byung me tog
snying po, 434; and the Bka’ gdams gces btus nor bu’i bang mdzod, 285. On Spyan snga ba’s monastery Lo
dgon see Maho Iuchi 井内真帆, “Lo ji: shyoki kadamuha ji’in no hensen” [The history of Lo dgon pa: The vicissitudes
of an early bKa’ gdams pa monastery], Ōtani daigaku kenhyū nenpō/Annual Report of Researchers of
Otani University 62 (2010): 37–77.
36. On Phu chung ba, see Vetturini, “The bKa’ gdams pa School,” 105–107; and Roerich, Blue Annals, 267–268; on his
role in the transmission of the Bka’ gdams glegs bam, see Ehrhard, “The Transmission,” esp. 38–41.
37. Ulrike Roesler and Hans-Ulrich Roesler, Kadampa Sites of Phempo: A Guide to Some Early
Buddhist Monasteries in Central Tibet (Kathmandu: Vajra Publications, 2004), 50.
38. Sketches of their lives can be found in Rai, Kadampa School; Roerich, Blue Annals; and Vetturini, “The bKa’
gdams pa School.”
39. David Jackson, “The bsTan rim (‘Stages of the Doctrine’) and Similar Graded Path Expositions
of the Bodhisattva’s Path,” Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre, ed. J. I. Cabezón and R. R.
Jackson (Ithaca, NY: Snowlion, 1996), 229–243. The distinction between lam rim and bstan rim is not
very clear-cut; the colophon of Tsong kha pa’s Lam rim chen mo, for example, names Gro lung pa’s Bstan rim
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chen mo as a model for this work, which shows that the genres were perceived as similar. Similarly, Las chen Kun
dga’ rgyal mtshan’s discussion suggests that he was not trying to draw clear borderlines (Las chen, Bka’ gdams kyi
rnam par thar pa, 5–6).
40. Bodhipathapradīpa stanzas 2–5. Richard Sherburne, trans., The Complete Works of Atiśa, Śrī
Dīpaṃkara Jñāna, Jo-bo-rje: The Lamp for the Path and the Commentary, Together with the
Newly Translated Twenty-Five Key Texts (Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 2000), 4–5.
41. Sherburne, The Complete Works, 439–465; and Roesler, Frühe Quellen, 44–45. On the collection Jo bo’i
chos chung, see also Kaie Mochizuki, “Some Remarks on the Small Texts Attributed to Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna,”
Sŭngga (僧伽)/Joong-ang Saṅgha University Magazine 20 (2004): 61–74. James Apple has drawn attention
to yet another virtually unknown work on the graded path attributed to Atiśa that awaits further study, see James B.
Apple, Atiśa Dīpaṃkara: Illuminator of the Awakened Mind (Boulder: Shambhala 2019), 193–
232.
42. Jackson, “The bsTan rim”; and Roesler, Frühe Quellen, 37–44.
43. Roesler, Frühe Quellen, 389.
44. For a brief survey of lam rim works from other traditions, see David Seyfort Ruegg, introduction to The Great
Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, vol. 1, by Tsong kha pa, ed. Joshua W. C. Cutler and
Guy Newland (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2000), 26.
45. Bka’ gdams gces btus nor bu’i bang mdzod, 8.
46. The collection is known as the Blo sbyong glegs bam. See Thupten Jinpa, Mind Training: The Great
Collection (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2006).
47. Roesler, Frühe Quellen, 13–14.
48. Chattopadhyaya, Atīśa and Tibet, chapter 2, emphasizes this point in defense against possible accusations
against the Indian master. On the issue of antinomian practices, see also Mark Tatz, “Maitri-pa and Atiśa,” in
Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the 4th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan
Studies, ed. H. Uebach and J. L. Panglung (Munich: Kommission für Zentralasiatische Studien Bayerische Akademie
der Wissenschaften, 1988), 473–482.
49. Roesler and Roesler, Kadampa Sites, esp. 8–9 and images; examples of the cylindrical type of stūpas can be
found in Henss, Cultural Monuments, vol. 1, 269, 274, 290, 291.
50. See Ehrhard, “The Transmission,” 53–56.
51. Rwa sgreng dgon pa’i nyams bzhes chos spyod kyi brjed byang chen mo, ed. Gzigs pa sprul sku Blo
bzang bzod pa and Phun tshogs rab rgyas (Lhasa: Bod ljongs mi dmangs dpe skrun khang, 2006), 82–106 and 672–717.
52. Ehrhard, “The Transmission”; and Miller, “Jewelled Dialogues.”
53. Śākya rin chen sde, Yar klungs jo bo’i chos ’byung (Lhasa: Bod ljongs mi dmangs dpe skrun khang, 1987),
103.
54. Sarat Chandra Das, “Indian Pandits in Tibet,” Journal of the Buddhist Text Society of India 1,
pt. 1 (1893): 1–31, and Indian Pandits in the Land of Snow, ed. Nobin Chandra Das (Calcutta:
Baptist Mission Press, 1893). See also Helmut Eimer, “The Sources for Sarat Chandra Das’ Life of Atiśa
(Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna),” Zentralasiatische Studien 28 (1998): 7–10.
55. Roerich, Blue Annals.
56. Hakuyu Hadano 羽田野伯猷, “Kadamuhashi: shiryōhen (カーダム派史資料篇)” [The history of Bka’ gdams pa:
Materials], in Chibetto indogaku shūsei (チベット・インド学集成) [Collected works on Indo-Tibetan studies],
vol. 1–1, by Hakuyu Hadano (Kyoto: Hōzōkan, 1954), 46–191.
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57. Chattopadhyaya, Atīśa and Tibet.
58. In addition to his Berichte (1977), Helmut Eimer has published a wide range of articles on aspects of Bka’ gdams
pa sources, which are too numerous to be listed here.
59. Eimer, Rnam thar rgyas pa.
60. See, for example, Kaie Mochizuki 望月海慧, A Study of the Mahāsūtrasamuccaya of
Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna: A Report of Grant-in-Aid for Encouragement of Young Scientists (Minobu,
Japan: Minobusan University, 2002); “Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna’s Activities at the Vikramaśīla Monastery in Relation with
the Pāla Dynasty,” Tōyō Bunko (東洋文化) 96 (2016): 63–80; and “Some Remarks on the Small Texts Attributed to
Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna,” Sŭngga (僧伽)/Joong-ang Saṅgha University Magazine 20 (2004): 61–74.
61. Apple, Atiśa Dīpaṃkara.
62. Snellgrove, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, 470–484. Insightful as this presentation is, Snellgrove seems to overstate
the impact of the Bka’ gdams pa on monasticism when he writes: “It would therefore seem that Atiśa and ’Brom ston
pa in founding the Bka’ gdams pa order were in effect the founders of the whole later Tibetan monastic
tradition” (Snellgrove, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, 493). A similar statement regarding ’Brom ston pa is found in
Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, 508. However, it needs to be kept in mind that neither Atiśa nor ’Brom ston pa had taken
the monks’ vows according to the Mū-la-sarvā-sti-vā-da Vinaya, which is the monastic code adopted by the Tibetan
Buddhists. Atiśa had been ordained according to the Mahāsāṅghika Vinaya, and ’Brom ston remained a lay Buddhist
throughout his life, therefore neither of them would have been able to ordain monks in Tibet.
63. See, for example, Roberto Vitali, The Kingdoms of Gu-ge Pu-hrang: According to the mNga’-ris
rgyal-rabs by Gu-ge mkhan-chen Ngag-dbang grags-pa (Dharamsala, India: Mtho-gliṅ gtsug lag khaṅ,
1996); Deborah E. Klimburg-Salter et al., Tabo, a Lamp for the Kingdom: Early Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Art
in the Western Himalaya (Milan: Skira, 1997); and Davidson, Tibetan Renaissance, 108–116 with further
references. It should be mentioned that the cultural heritage of Ladakh was explored much earlier, for example
through the pioneering work of August Hermann Francke and Giuseppe Tucci’s work on the famous translator Rin
chen bzang po.
64. Rai, Kadampa School.
65. Boussemart, Dromteunpa.
66. On individual teachers see, for example, Per K. Sørensen, “The Prolific Ascetic lCe-sgom Śes-rab rdorje alias lCe-sgom źig-po: Allusive, but Elusive,” Journal of the Nepal Research Centre 11 (1999):
175–200; and Per K. Sørensen, “An XIth Century Ascetic of Buddhist Eclecticism: Kha-rag sgomchuṅ,” in Tractata Tibetica et Mongolica: Festschrift für Klaus Sagaster zum 65. Geburtstag, ed.
Karénina Kollmar-Paulenz and Christian Peter (Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz, 2002), 241–
253. For studies of the “Book of the Bka’ gdams” (Bka’ gdams glegs bam), see note 5 and 16 above. On works
from the Bka’ gdams tradition see Jackson, “The bsTan rim”; Sweet, “Mental Purification”; Roesler, Frühe Quellen.
On the tradition itself and its institutions see Vetturini, “The bKa’ gdams pa School”; Iuchi, “Lo ji: shyoki kadamuha
ji’in no hensen”; and Schuman, “Building Place and Shaping Lives.”
67. Thupten Jinpa, see bibliography under “Bka’ gdams pa Doctrines and Doctrinal Literature.”
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