Drukpa Kagyu

The Drukpa(Tib. འབྲུག་པ / ’brug pa) [ Druk ~ "dragon", pa ~ "person"] — or Drukpa Kagyu (Tib. འབྲུག་པ་བཀའ་བརྒྱུད ’brug pa bka' brgyud / འབྲུག་པ་དཀར་བརྒྱུད ’brug pa dkar brgyud), or Drukpa Kargyud (white lineage) — are one of the major independent branches of the Kagyu school of Buddhism. It is considered to be one of the Sarma or "new" schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Within the Drukpa Lineage, there are further sub-schools, most notably the eastern Kham tradition and middle Drukpa school which prospered in Ladakh and surrounding areas. In Bhutan the Drukpa Lineage is the dominant school and state religion.

History

The Drukpa school was founded in western Tibet by Drogon Tsangpa Gyare (1161-1211), a student of Lingchen Repa who mastered the Tantric Buddhism practices of the mahamudra and six yogas of Naropa at an early age. As a terton, or finder of spiritual relics, he discovered the text of the Six Equal Tastes, previously hidden by Rechungpa, the student of Milarepa. While on a pilgrimage Tsangpa Gyare and his disciples witnessed a set of nine dragons roaring out of the earth and into the skies, as flowers rained down everywhere. From this incident they named their sect Drukpa.

Also important to the lineage was Ling Repa, the root guru of Tsangpa Gyare, Phagmo Drupa (another of Gampopa's disciples) and Dampa Sumpa, one of Rechungpa's main disciples.

Dagpo Kagyu lineages are traditionally divided into the "Four Great and Eight Lesser." The adjectives in this case are not value judgements on the accomplishment or prominence of the sub-schools, but rather indicators of the generation in which they were founded. The Drukpa Lineage is considered by some as one of the "lesser" schools, as it was founded by a grand-disciple of Gampopa rather than a direct disciple, although widely the Drukpas do not employ this formulation based on a supplication prayer written by Karma Kagyud's Second Pawo Rinpoche Tsuklak Trengwa (1440-1503) .

A prominent disciple of Tsanga Gyare's nephew, Onre Darma Sengye, was Phajo Drugom Shigpo (1208-1276) who went on to convert the valleys of western Bhutan to Drukpa Lineage in 1222.

Name

In the Drukpa school, the word "Kagyu," which means "lineage of instructions" and is normally rendered bKa'brgyud when transliterated with the Wylie system, is generally rendered dKar-brgyud. In this usage it has the meaning "the white lineage," refering to the white cotton robes of founding yogins such as Milarepa and Rechungpa. In March of 2008, the spiritual head of the Drukpa Lineage, H.H. Gyalwang Drukpa, declared his preference that:

.. The spiritual lineage [should] be known throughout the world firmly and clearly as "Dongyu Palden Drukpa", meaning the Spiritual Lineage of the Glorious Dragons or simply the "Drukpa Lineage". I hope and pray that as holders of the Dragon Order, all of my colleagues would be mindful of their activities and their efforts. They have to know and be clear about which household they belong to, and surely they need to be aware of others' ulterior intention.

He goes on to note that the "different lineages within a major Tibetan Buddhist branch are like brothers, of course some brothers do better than others, but that doesn't mean that those doing better could self-appoint themselves as the heads of other weaker brothers' households and take over their assets, wives and children, in the name of 'helping' and in the name of 'supporting'," and for that reason it is better that dKar-brgyud not be used any longer.

Branches of the Drukpa Lineage

The outstanding disciples of Tsangpa Gyare Yeshi Dorje (1161-1211), the first Gyalwang Drukpa, may be divided into two categories: blood relatives and spiritual sons. His nephew, Onre Darma Sengye (1177-1237), ascended the throne at Ralung, the main seat of the Drukpa lineage. Darma Sengye guided the later disciples of Tsangpa Gyare, such as Gotsangpa Gonpo Dorje (1189-1258), onto the path of realization, thus becoming their guru as well. Darma Sengye's nephew and their descendants held the seat at Ralung and continued the lineage.

Gyalwa Lorepa, Gyalwa Gotsangpa and Gyalwa Yang Gonpa, a disciple of Gyalwa Gotsangpa, are known as Gyalwa Namsum or the Three Victorious Ones in recognition of their spiritual realization. The followers of Gyalwa Lorepa came to be called the 'Lower Drukpas'. The followers of Gyalwa Gotsangpa came to be called the 'Upper Drukpas'. And the followers of Onre Darma Sengye came to be called the 'Middle Drukpas'.

After the death of 4th Gyalwang Drukpa Pema Karpo in 1592, there were two rival candidates for his reincarnation. Pagsam Wangpo, one of the candidates, was favored by the King of Tsang and prevailed. His rival, Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, fled to Bhutan, where he unified the country and established Drukpa as the preeminent Buddhist school from Haa all the way to Trongsa. The Drukpa Lineage was divided from that time on into the Northern Drukpa (Chang Druk, Wylie: Byang-'Brug) branch in Tibet headed by the Gyalwang Drukpa and the Southern Drukpa (Lho Druk, Wylie: lHo-'brug) based in Bhutan and headed by the Shabdrung incarnations. Nonetheless, the 4th Gyalwang Drukpa Pema Karpo left a prediction that he would return with two reincarnations. His other reincarnation, Pagsam Wangpo, continued the lineage in Tibet.

Organisation

The Lho Drukpa (Southern Drukpa) are led by the King of Bhutan and Je Khenpo (a title of office, not a tulku lineage), who is the chief abbot of the Central Monk Body. Both are lineage holders of the Drukpa school. The Shabdrung Rinpoche was the traditional titular head, but his position was usurped over the centuries until he finally fled to India in 1962.

The Chang Drukpa (Nothern Drukpa) are led by Jigme Pema Wangchen, the 12th incarnation of the Gyalwang Drukpa. In Kham, Khamtrul Rinpoche traditionally has been the most prominent Drukpa Lineage master, and still commands a huge following in Kham.

Unlike previously where the lineage was divided geographically into Northern, Middle and Southern Drukpa, the Drukpa Lineage masters today often cross these traditional borders and communicate to strengthen the lineage and the teachings. In December 2008, the first of a yearly event known as the Annual Drukpa Council will take place on Druk Amitabha Mountain in Kathmandu, Nepal. Up until May 31, 2008, more than 40 masters of the lineage from India, Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet have registered for this event and over 2,000 lay practitioners and at least 1,000 monks and nuns or more are expected to meet. This will be the first time an annual event for the Drukpa Lineage involving all the three major branches will be held.

In July 2007, when the lineage celebrated its 800-plus-years' legacy in Shey, Ladakh, more than 150,000 attended the event that included celebrations and prayers, as well as mask dancing by 300 nuns. This event, boasted of the first firework in the Himalayas, the first 800 sky lanterns being lit in the Himalayas and the first 12,000 bio-degradable balloons sent to the sky, was covered by international media

The Drukpa Lineage under the guidance of its spiritual masters, in particular His Holiness the Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa , has established centers across the world, especially in Europe.

Monasteries

Important monasteries of the Drukpa order include:

• Ralung Monastery in central Tibet just north of Bhutan
• Druk Sangag Choeling Monastery
• Hemis Monastery
• Thimphu Dzong, which houses the Central Monk Body in summer
• Punakha Dzong, the winter home of the Central Monk Body
• Namdruk Monastery

External links

• Drukpa facts and a biography of H.H. the Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa
• The award-winning Druk White Lotus School in Ladakh
• Drukpa Publications
• Namdruk Institute
• Nangchen
• H.E. the Ninth Khamtrul Rinpoche Shedrup Nyima b. 1980
• H.E. the Ninth Khamtrul Rinpoche Jigme Pema Nyinjadh b.1981
• The European Centres of Gyalwang Drukpa
• Drukpa Trust
• ADC Annual Drukpa Council