September – 2014 – KTD Publications

The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso (July 6, 1935), is the spiritual leader of Tibet. The Dalai Lamas are believed to be manifestations of Chenrezik, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and patron saint of Tibet.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a man of peace. In 1989 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent struggle for the liberation of Tibet. He has consistently advocated policies of nonviolence, even in the face of extreme aggression. He also became the first ...

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dalai lama

Yongey Mingyur Dorje Drakpo Nuden Tsal

Yongey Mingyur Dorje Drakpo Nuden Tsal, who was born in the Lhatok region of Kham in 1628, was an extraordinary individual who embodied the wisdom and goodness of his tradition, Tibetan Buddhism, while transcending the status quo of its institutions.

In his early years he had visions of Padmasambhava, Karma Pakshi, Hayagriva, Vajra Varahi, and Mahakala and composed a guru sadhana for Karma Pakshi from a mind treasure received in a pure vision.

On one occasion the Kagyu lineage was severely weakened ...

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Yongey Mingyur Dorje Drakpo Nuden Tsal

Terchan Barway Dorje

The great treasure-revealer and visionary Terchan Barway Dorje (1836-1918) was one of the most important Tibetan Buddhist teachers of his day. A student of many great masters of his time, he was initially associated with Surmang Monastery. He devoted a good portion of his life to reviving the lost teachings of the Barom Kagyu Lineage, and revealed nine volumes of terma or “treasure teachings.” Terchen Barway Dorje was an incarnation of both Yeshe Tsogyal and Nupchen Sangye Yeshe. Toward the end of ...

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terchan barway dorje

Karma Chakme Rinpoche

The first Karma Chakme (1613-1678) was a very learned and realized Buddhist master who founded the Neydo Kagyu Lineage. He was revered in Tibet for his remarkable qualities and accomplishments. Most notably, he composed the Mountain Dharma Retreat Manual, which is regarded as the definitive text on retreat practice in the Karma Kagyu, Drikung Kagyu, and Nyingma orders of Tibetan Buddhism.

Karma Chakme was known for being a prolific writer and scholar, for his ardent devotion to the practices of Sukhavati, and for being ...

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karma chakme

The Eighth Gyalwang Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje

The Eighth Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje, was one of the most erudite and prolific scholars of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Mikyo Dorje was born in eastern Tibet, to a family of devoted yogins, the eighth Karmapa was said to have spoken the words “I am the Karmapa” at birth.

He was one of the most renowned of the Karmapas, a great meditation master as well as a prolific and learned scholar, author of over thirty volumes of work, including very ...

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karmapa

Gampopa (Dakpo Lhaje)

The great master Gampopa (1084-1161), also known as Dakpo Lhaje, and Rechungpa (1084-1161) were the principal students of Milarepa. Gampopa was prophesized in the sutras by Buddha. He pioneered in establishing the framework of the lineage by unifying Milarepa’s Mahamudra lineage with the stages of the path tradition of the Kadampa lineage. This lineage and tradition is known as the Dakpo Kagyu.

Gampopa had three heart disciples: Düsum Khyenpa, Phakmo Drupa, and Saltong Shogom. Düsum Khyenpa (1110-1193), also known as Khampa ...

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gampopa

Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso

Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, one of the foremost living teachers of the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, is a great scholar and master of meditation who traveled the world teaching in Buddhist centers.

In his late teens and early twenties he trained as a yogin in Tibet with a local yogin known as Zopa Tharchin. He spent his early youth in retreat in the mountains until his teacher told him to study for the benefit of others. A renowned scholar, he excels ...

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khenpo tsultrim gyamtso

Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche

Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche is renowned and celebrated for his immeasurable devotion that knows no bounds, his unwavering steadfastness in fulfilling the commands of the Karmapa despite horrendous difficulties and obstacles, his attainment in mahamudra, his accomplishments in all monastic arts, his pure ethics and flawless morality, as a brilliant scholar, and as a skilled and inspiring teacher.

Born in eastern Tibet in 1924, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche is one of the great living masters of the Karma Kagyu tradition. Rinpoche, who received most ...

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khenpo karthar rinpoche

Lama Yeshe Gyamtso

The exceptionally skilled Lama Yeshe Gyamtso, is one of the foremost translators of Tibetan Buddhist written and oral teachings.

After completing two traditional three-year retreats under the guidance of Kalu Rinpoche and Lama Norlha, at Kagyu Thubten Choling in Wappingers Falls, New York, he has served as an interpreter for many eminent teachers, including the Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa, the Third Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, and Mingyur Dorje Rinpoche.

Lama Yeshe’s published translations include Chariot of the Fortunate: The ...

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lama yeshe gyamtso

The Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje

Motivated by the purest of compassion, the Gyalwang Karmapas have taken rebirth continuously since the eleventh century. The present Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, was born in Eastern Tibet in 1985. Seven years later, he was recognized by a letter of prediction and brought to Tsurphu Monastery, the seat of the Karmapas in Tibet. Here, he received a traditional education in practice and philosophy, and at the turn of the millennium, he journeyed over the Himalayas to India where ...

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David Karma Choephel

Khenpo David Karma Choephel studied Buddhist philosophy at the Vajra Vidya Institute in Namo Buddha, Nepal, and Sarnath, India. He currently serves as Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche’s main English-language translator, and also translates for the Gyalwang Karmapa and the Kagyu Monlam.

His published translations include Ngondro for Our Current Day by the Gyalwang Karmapa, Heart of the Dharma by Khenchen Trangu Rinpoche, Jewels from the Treasury, Vasubandhu’s Verses on the Treasury of Abhidharma, with commentary by the Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje, all published by ...

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david choephel

Michele Martin

A long-time student of Buddhism and an accomplished translator, Michele Martin has spent many years based in Nepal and India studying with Tibetan lamas and working as a translator of oral and written Tibetan. With graduate degrees from Yale University and years of work as an editor, her publications include numerous translations from Tibetan texts on philosophy and meditation and also articles on Buddhism, including Music in the Sky: The Life, Art, and Teachings of the Seventeenth Karmapa Ogyen Trinley ...

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michele martin

The Ninth Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche

Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche (1955-2012) was born in Eastern Tibet and recognized at the age of two by the Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa—head of the Karma Kagyu lineage—as the ninth incarnation of the Traleg tulkus. This lineage can be traced back to the time of Saltong Shogam, a contemporary of the First Karmapa Dusum Khyenpa.

Traleg Rinpoche was enthroned as the Abbot of Thrangu Monastery in Tibet before being taken to safety in India following the Chinese invasion of his country. There he continued ...

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the ninth traleg kyabgon rinpoche

Asanga

Asanga (5th century AD, b. Puruṣapura, India) was an influential Buddhist philosopher who established the Yogacara school of idealism that held that the external world exists only as mental images that have no real permanence. His brother was Vasubandhu who, before he encountered the Mahayana, authored the Abhidharmakosa.

“As so often happens, it is very hard to really grasp or understand what Asanga was like as a person and what events really took place in his life because he lived roughly in the ...

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asanga