Kathok Monastery

Last updated
Kathok
Katok Monastery.jpg
Kathok Monastery in 2014
Religion
Affiliation Tibetan Buddhism
Sect Nyingma
Deity Anuyoga
Location
Location Baiyu County, Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, traditionally known as Do Kham
CountryChina
China edcp location map.svg
Gold temple icon.png
Location
China Sichuan adm location map.svg
Gold temple icon.png
Kathok Monastery (Sichuan)
Geographic coordinates 31°18′45″N98°56′29″E / 31.3126°N 98.9414°E / 31.3126; 98.9414
Architecture
Founder Kathok Dampa Deshek
Date established1159

Kathok Monastery (Tibetan : ཀཿཐོག་དགོན།, THL Kathok Gön), also transliterated as Kathog, Katok, or Katog, was founded in 1159 and is one of the "Six Mother Monasteries" in Tibet of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, built after Samye Monastery. It is located in Payul (Chinese Baiyu County), Garzê Prefecture, Sichuan, China, in the region traditionally known to Tibetans as Kham.

Contents

Description

Kathok Monastery is located 4,000m above sea level on the eastern flanks of a mountain range in Baiyu County, Garzê, Sichuan. [1] The entire monastery complex is approximately 700m above the valley floor and is accessed by a dirt road containing 18 hairpin turns. The nearest town is Horpo (Chinese :河坡; pinyin :Hépō), 17 km to the north. [2]

History

Kathok is a famous early Nyingma monastery which grew to include numerous branch monasteries within the Do Kham region and beyond. It is also credited as influencing the spread of the Nyingma monasteries known of as the "Six Mother Monasteries". [3]

Padmasambhava, or Guru Rinpoche, spent 25 days visiting the site before the monastery was built, and sat on a rock with a double vajra, called Dorje Gatramo, with a ཀཿ (ka, with visarga , or རྣམ་བཅད Wy.: rnam bcad) syllable on top. The monastery was built on this rock, giving it its name, which means "on top of the kaཿ ", and it is considered one of Guru Rinpoche's 25 sacred sites in Do Kham.

Kathok Monastery was founded in 1159 by a younger brother of Phagmo Drupa Dorje Gyalpo, Kathok Kadampa Deshek, [4] prophesied by Guru Rinpoche to be an emanation of Yeshe Tsogyal. He built at Derge, the historic seat of the Kingdom of Derge in Kham. The prophecy that 100,000 people would achieve rainbow body at Katok is said to have been realized.

Kathok Monastery's third abbot, Jampa Bum (1179-1252), whose 26-year tenure as abbot ended in 1252, "is said to have ordained thousands of monks from across Tibet, and especially from Kham region of Minyak (Wy.: mi nyag), Jang (Wy.: 'byang), and Gyémorong (Wy.: rgyal mo rong)." [5]

The original gompa fell into disrepair and was rebuilt on the same site in 1656 through the impetus of tertöns Düddül Dorjé (1615–72) and Rigdzin Longsal Nyingpo (1625-1682/92 or 1685–1752). After 1966, the monastery was destroyed by the Chinese while lamas were imprisoned. The monastery was rebuilt through the efforts of Moktsa Tulku after he was released from prison, and of Khenpo Ngakchung tulku. [6]

Kathok Monastery held a reputation of fine scholarship. Prior to the annexation of Tibet in 1951, Kathok Monastery housed about 800 monks.

Kathok was long renowned as a center specializing in the oral lineages (as opposed to terma) and as a center of monasticism, although both of these features were disrupted under Longsel Nyingpo (1625–1692). [7]

According to The Tibetan Buddhist Resource Centre, disciples of Kenpo Munsel [8] and Kenpo Jamyang compiled a Kathok edition of the oral lineages (Wylie : bka' ma shin tu rgyas pa (kaH thog)) in 120 volumes in 1999: "[T]wice the size of the Dudjom edition, it contains many rare Nyingma treatises on Mahayoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga that heretofore had never been seen outside of Tibet." [9]

According to Alexander Berzin,

Katog has 112 branch monasteries, not only in Tibet, but also in Mongolia, Inner China, Yunnan, and Sikkim. For instance, Katog Rigdzin-tsewang-norbu (Ka:-thog Rigs-‘dzin Tshe-dbang nor-bu) (1698-1755) founded a large branch in Sikkim, and when the Eighth Tai Situ Rinpoche, Situ Panchen Chokyi-jungney (Si-tu Pan-chen Chos-kyi ‘byung-gnas) (1700-1744), visited China, he stayed at the Katog branch-monastery at the Five-Peaked Mountain of Manjushri (Ri-bo rtse-lnga, Chin: Wutai Shan), to the southwest of Beijing. [10]

Anuyoga

Kathok Monastery became a bastion of the Anuyoga tradition when it became neglected by other Nyingmapa institutions. [11] The Compendium of the Intentions Sūtra (Wylie: dgongs pa ’dus pa’i mdo) the root text of the Anuyoga tradition was instrumental in the early Kathog educational system. [11] Nubchen Sangye Yeshe wrote a lengthy commentary on the Compendium of the Intentions Sūtra rendered in English as Armor Against Darkness (Wylie: mun pa’i go cha). [11]

Expansion

Kathok Monastery's new complex under construction in 2014 Katok construction.jpg
Kathok Monastery's new complex under construction in 2014

In 2016, an expansion of the Kathok Monastery to the northeast was completed. This expansion included a new temple and assembly hall, directly adjacent to the existing monastery complex. [12]

People from Kathok Monastery

Lauded scholars seated at Kathok Monastery

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Padmasambhava</span> 8th-century Buddhist lama

Padmasambhāva, also known as Guru Rinpoche and the Lotus from Oḍḍiyāna, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from medieval India who taught Vajrayana in Tibet. According to some early Tibetan sources like the Testament of Ba, he came to Tibet in the 8th century and helped construct Samye Monastery, the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet. However, little is known about the actual historical figure other than his ties to Vajrayana and Indian Buddhism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nyingma</span> School of Tibetan Buddhism

Nyingma, often referred to as Ngangyur, is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Nyingma school is founded on the first lineages and translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan in the eighth century, during the reign of King Trisong Detsen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo</span> Tibetan educator, scholar, and tertön (1820–1892)

Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, also known by his tertön title, Pema Ösel Dongak Lingpa, was a renowned teacher, scholar and tertön of 19th-century Tibet. He was a leading figure in the Rimé movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamgön Ju Mipham Gyatso</span> Tibetan Buddhist master (1846–1912)

Jamgön Ju Mipham Gyatso, or Mipham Jamyang Namgyal Gyamtso (1846–1912) was a very influential philosopher and polymath of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. He wrote over 32 volumes on topics such as painting, poetics, sculpture, alchemy, medicine, logic, philosophy and tantra. Mipham's works are still central to the scholastic curriculum in Nyingma monasteries today. Mipham is also considered one of the leading figures in the Rimé (non-sectarian) movement in Tibet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö</span>

Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö was a Tibetan lama, a master of many lineages, and a teacher of many of the major figures in 20th-century Tibetan Buddhism. Though he died in 1959 in Sikkim, and is not so well known in the West; he was a major proponent of the Rimé movement within Tibetan Buddhism, and had a profound influence on many of the Tibetan lamas teaching today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje</span>

Kyabje Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje was known as Terchen Drodül Lingpa and as Dudjom Rinpoche. He is considered by many Tibetan Buddhists to be from a line of important Tulku lineage, and a renowned Tertön. Per lineage, he was a direct incarnation of both Padmasambhava and Dudjom Lingpa (1835–1904). He was a Nyingma householder, yogi, and a Vajrayana and Dzogchen master. According to his disciple Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal, he was revered as "His Holiness" and as a "Master of Masters".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chatral Sangye Dorje</span> Buddhist philosopher

Chatral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche was a Tibetan Dzogchen master and a reclusive ngagpa yogi, known for his great realization and strict discipline. Chatral Sangye Dorje was a disciple of Khenpo Ngawang Pelzang and was widely regarded as one of the most highly realized Dzogchen yogis. In addition to his relationship with Khenpo Ngagchung, Chatral Sangye Dorje also studied with some of the last century's most renowned masters, including Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje, Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö, and the famed Kunzang Dekyong Wangmo. Chatral Sangye Dorje was one of the primary lineage holders of the Longchen Nyingthig, and in particular the lineage that descends through Jigme Lingpa's heart son Jigme Gyalwe Nyugu and then on to Patrul Rinpoche.

Anuyoga is the designation of the second of the three Inner Tantras according to the ninefold division of practice used by the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. As with the other yanas, Anuyoga represents both a scriptural division as well as a specific emphasis of both view and practice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penor Rinpoche</span> Tibetan Buddhist monk and tulku (1932–2009)

Kyabjé Drubwang Padma Norbu Rinpoche, 1932 – 27 March 2009, was the 11th throneholder of the Palyul Lineage of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, and said to be an incarnation of Vimalamitra. He was widely renowned in the Tibetan Buddhist world as a master of Dzogchen. He was one of a very few teachers left from his generation who received all his training in Tibet under the guidance of what Tibetan Buddhists consider to be fully enlightened teachers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrul Rinpoche</span> Tibetan Buddhist teacher (Nyingma school) (1808–1887)

Patrul Rinpoche (1808–1887) was a teacher and author from the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tertön Sogyal</span> Tibetan Buddhist tertön

Tertön Sogyal Lerab Lingpa was a Tibetan Buddhist tertön and a teacher of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama.

Dorjidak Gompa or Tupten Dorjidak Dorjé Drak Éwam Chokgar is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery and one of the Nyingma school's "Six Mother Monasteries" in Tibet. It is located in the Lhoka (Shannan) Prefecture in the south of the Tibet Autonomous Region, older southeastern Ü-Tsang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palyul Monastery</span> Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Baiyü County, Sichuan, China

Palyul Monastery, also known as Palyul Namgyal Jangchub Choling Monastery and sometimes romanized as Pelyul Monastery, is one of the "Six Mother Monasteries" of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. It was founded in 1665 by Rigzin Kunzang Sherab in Pelyul in Baiyü County, Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in China's Sichuan province, on the eastern edge of Tibet in Kham. The monastery is the seat of the Nam Chö Terma of Terton Mingyur Dorje. Drubwang Padma Norbu was the 11th throneholder of the Palyul lineage. Upon his mahaparinirvana in March, 2009, Karma Kuchen Rinpoche became the 12th throneholder.

Rongzom Chökyi Zangpo, widely known as Rongzom Mahapandita, Rongzom Dharmabhadra, or simply as Rongzompa, was one of the most important scholars of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. Together with Longchenpa and Ju Mipham, he is often considered to be one of the three "omniscient" writers of the school. His elder contemporary Atiśa (980–1054) considered Rongzompa to be an incarnation of the Indian ācārya Kṛṣṇapāda, the Great. The Tibetan historian Gö Lotsawa (1392–1481) said of Rongzom that no scholar in Tibet was his equal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khenpo Shenga</span> Tibetan Buddhist scholar (1871–1927)

Khenpo Shenga Rinpoche, also Shenpen Chökyi Nangwa (1871–1927) was a Tibetan scholar in the Nyingma and Sakya traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche</span> Tibetan Buddhist monk and scholar (1938–2010)

Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche, also known as "Khen Rinpoche," was a teacher, a scholar, a lama, and a Dzogchen master in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. He was considered by Penor Rinpoche to be one of the most learned living Nyingma scholars. Palden Sherab founded the Orgyen Samye Chokhor Ling Nunnery, the first nunnery in Deer Park (Sarnath).

Getse Mahapandita (1761–1829) was an important Nyingma scholar affiliated with Kathok Monastery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katok Tsewang Norbu</span> Teacher of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism

Katok Tsewang Norbu was a teacher of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism who notably championed the shentong or "empty of other" view first popularised by the Jonang school as well as examining the Chan Buddhist teachings of Hashang Mahayana, known as Moheyan. Despite the shentong view being banned as heretical, he successfully taught and cultivated its teachings as a legitimate view among the Nyingmapa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phagmo Drupa Dorje Gyalpo</span>

Phagmo Drupa Dorje Gyalpo [1110-1170], was one of the three main disciples of Gampopa Sonam Rinchen who established the Dagpo Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism; and a disciple of Sachen Kunga Nyingpo [1092-1158] one of the founders of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. He was the elder brother of Kathog Dampa Deshek [1122-1192], who founded Kathog monastery and the Kathog branch of the Nyingma school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zhangton Tashi Dorje</span> Tibetan Buddhist Lama

Zhangtön Tashi Dorjé was a Tibetan Buddhist Dzogchen teacher who was an important treasure revealer (terton) in the Menngagde lineage of Dzogchen. He is particularly known for revealing the Vima Nyingthig, a key Dzogchen cycle of teachings which includes the Seventeen tantras of Dzogchen. Zhangton was born in Yamdrok Tonang and was a disciple of Chetsün Sengé Wangchuk.

References

  1. ↑ Sichuan Sheng Dituce. Beijing, China: Star Map Press. 2013. ISBN   9787547109151.
  2. ↑ McCue, Gary (2010). Trekking Tibet: A Traveler's Guide. Seattle, WA: The Mountaineer's Books. p. 308. ISBN   9781594852664.
  3. ↑ 4th Katok Rinpoche, A Brief History of Katok Monastery: A talk given by the Fourth Katok Getse Rinpoche, Gyurme Tenpa Gyaltsen, https://www.bodhicitta.org/chamtrul-rinpoche/katok-monastery/ Archived 2020-09-26 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ Chhosphel, Samten (March 2011). "Katokpa Dampa Deshek". The Treasury of Lives: Biographies of Himalayan Religious Masters . Retrieved 2013-08-19.
  5. ↑ Chhosphel, Samten (March 2011). "Jampa Bum". The Treasury of Lives: Biographies of Himalayan Religious Masters . Retrieved 2013-10-08.
  6. ↑ Jann Ronis, Katok Monastery, http://www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.com/en/index.php/Katok_Monastery_by_Jann_Ronis
  7. ↑ "Celibacy, Revelations, and Reincarnated Lamas: Contestation and Synthesis in the Growth of Monasticism at Katok Monastery from the 11th through 19th Centuries" by Jann Michael Ronis. Ph D. dissertation, University of Virginia May, 2009. pg ii
  8. ↑ Chhosphel, Samten (March 2013). "Khenpo Munsel". The Treasury of Lives: Biographies of Himalayan Religious Masters . Retrieved 2013-10-08.
  9. ↑ The Tibetan Buddhist Resource Centre (2006). "bka' ma shin tu rgyas pa (kaH thog)". Source: (accessed: Sunday August 17, 2008)
  10. ↑ "A Brief History of Katog Monastery". Study Buddhism. Original version published in "Nyingma Monasteries." Chö-Yang, Year of Tibet Edition (Dharamsala, India), (1991). 2003. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  11. 1 2 3 Dalton, Jake (2003). 'Anuyoga Literature' in rNying ma rgyud 'bum - Master Doxographical Catalog of the THDL. (accessed: Sunday August 24, 2008)
  12. ↑ Katok Monastery, Tibetan Trekking, https://tibetantrekking.com/tibetan-buddhism/nyingma/katok-monastery/
  13. ↑ Chhosphel, Samten (December 2011). "The First Chonyi Gyatso, Chopa Lugu". The Treasury of Lives: Biographies of Himalayan Religious Masters . Retrieved 2013-10-08.
  14. ↑ Gardner, Alexander (December 2009). "Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro". The Treasury of Lives: Biographies of Himalayan Religious Masters . Retrieved 2013-10-08.
  15. ↑ Chhosphel, Samten (December 2011). "The Fifth Nyingon Choktrul, Gyurme Kelzang Tobgyel Dorje". The Treasury of Lives: Biographies of Himalayan Religious Masters . Retrieved 2013-10-08.
  16. ↑ Chhosphel, Samten (July 2012). "Jamyang Gyeltsen". The Treasury of Lives: Biographies of Himalayan Religious Masters . Retrieved 2013-10-08.
  17. ↑ Tibet Review, Freak accident claims head of Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism’s life, https://www.tibetanreview.net/freak-accident-claims-head-of-nyingma-tradition-of-tibetan-buddhisms-life/
  18. ↑ Tibet Sun, Nyingma head Kathok Getse Rinpoche dies after accident, https://www.tibetsun.com/news/2018/11/21/nyingma-head-kathok-getse-rinpoche-dies-after-accident
  19. ↑ Adhe Tapontsang; Joy Blakeslee (1999). Ama Adhe, the Voice That Remembers: The Heroic Story of a Women's Fight to Free Tibet. Boston: Wisdom Publications. p. 133. ISBN   9780861711499.
  20. ↑ "Katok Situ Incarnation Line - Rigpa Wiki". www.rigpawiki.org. Archived from the original on 25 October 2016. Retrieved 2018-12-02.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.