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| Tibetan Sakya | |
|---|---|
| Name | Sakya |
| Founded | 1073 |
| Founder | Khön Könchok Gyalpo |
| Headquarters | Sakya Monastery |
| Lineage | Khön family |
| Parent tradition | Tibetan Buddhism |
Tibetan Sakya
The Sakya tradition is one of the major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, founded in the 11th century and centered on the Khön family and Sakya Monastery. Influential in religious, scholastic, and political spheres, Sakya intersects with figures and institutions across Tibet, Mongolia, China, and Himalayan polities such as Tibet, Bhutan, Ladakh, and Nepal. Its relations include exchanges with schools and figures like the Nyingma, Kagyu, Gelug, Padmasambhava, Marpa, Milarepa, Je Tsongkhapa, Kublai Khan, and numerous monasteries, courts, and translators.
Sakya emerged during the Tibetan Buddhist renaissance alongside the revival associated with figures such as Atisha, Rangjung Dorje, Tibetan Empire, Gandhara, Nālandā, Vajrabharaṇa and monastic centers including Samye Monastery and Yungang Grottoes. The foundation at Sakya Monastery by Khön Könchok Gyalpo integrated scholarship from translators like Rogden, Nyangrel Nyima Özer, Drogo Chog and later patrons such as Kublai Khan, Mongol Empire and Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen. The Sakya hegemony in the 13th century involved interactions with the Yuan dynasty, the Pax Mongolica, and emissaries including Phagpa and envoys to the Imperial Court at Dadu. Subsequent eras saw engagement with figures like Tsongkhapa, Altan Khan, Ganden Palace, Lhasa and reform movements that also connected Sakya to Bhutan, Ladakh, Ngari, and Himalayan polities.
Leadership traces through the Khön family and incarnate lineages such as the Sakya Trizin and the Khön lineage, intersecting with incarnations like Sakya Pandita and disciples including Phagpa, Jetsun Dragpa Gyaltsen, Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo, Palden Yeshe, and later holders such as Ngawang Kunga. The Sakya system includes transmission lines like the Lamdre (Path and Fruit) associated with masters including Maitreya, Asanga, Vasubandhu, and translators like Butön Rinchen Drub, Taranatha, Chökyi Dragpa, and connections to scholasticists such as Gyaltsab Je and Khedrup Gelek Pelzang. Political-religious leadership entailed roles recognized by dynasties including Yuan dynasty, Qing dynasty, and interactions with figures like Güshi Khan and rulers of Tibet and Mongolia.
Sakya doctrine emphasizes the Lamdre, a synthesis of sutra and tantra sourced from Indian treatises by authors such as Maitreya, Vajrapani, Vasubandhu, Nagarjuna, Asanga, and transmitted by Indian masters like Nāgārjuna and Vasubandhu through Tibetan translators including Marpa Lotsawa, Rangjung Dorje, and Rongton Sheja Kunrig. Core texts include works associated with Hevajra, Samvara, Sakya Lamdre, Kadam and tantric cycles connected to Kadampa and Kalachakra. Scholastic engagement with philosophies such as Madhyamaka, Yogachara, Pramana and debates with figures like Tsongkhapa, Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen, and contemporaries at institutions such as Drepung Monastery, Sera Monastery, and Ganden Monastery shaped Sakya doctrinal development.
Sakya ritual life centers on tantric empowerments, liturgies, and practices including the Hevajra sadhana, Chöd rituals linked to practitioners such as Machig Labdrön, and protective rites influenced by translations by Padmasambhava and ritual manuals similar to those used at Samye Monastery and Tsurphu Monastery. Ritual specialists include the Ngor and Tsar subtraditions and figures like Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo who developed monastery-specific rites analogous to ceremonies at Jokhang and Ramoche Temple. Practices also involve scholastic debate, retreat regimes comparable to those in Kagyu hermitages associated with Milarepa and transmission lineages related to Marpa and Milo Rinpoche.
Key Sakya institutions include Sakya Monastery, the Ngor Monastery complex, Tsi Nyingpo centers, and affiliated houses across regions such as Shigatse, Gyantse, Lhasa, Shannan and Himalayan sites like Leh and Solu Khumbu. Architectural features show connections with styles from Yuan dynasty court architecture, Tibetan fortress-monasteries like Dzong structures, and decorated chapels resembling murals at Potala Palace, Tashilhunpo Monastery, Rongbuk Monastery, and frescoes akin to those in Drepung and Sera. Libraries and scriptoria preserved manuscripts comparable to collections at Drepung Loseling and Sera Je.
Sakya produced commentaries, treatises, and art including thangka painting, sand mandalas, and ritual implements paralleling works at Tibet House collections, manuscript traditions aligned with Sanskrit and Tibetan corpora, and scholarship by luminaries such as Sakya Pandita, Butön Rinchen Drub, Taranatha, Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo, and later scholars who engaged with libraries like Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center and collections similar to British Library and National Library of China. Important textual genres include Lamdre commentaries, tantras like Hevajra Tantra, scholarly treatises in Pramana epistemology, and concordances paralleling catalogues of Nalanda and Dunhuang manuscripts.
Sakya played central roles during the Mongol-Yuan period through figures such as Phagpa and relationships with Kublai Khan, leading to administrative positions in Tibet and precedents for later patronage like Güshi Khan and patron-priest ties seen with the Dalai Lama institution. Sakya elites engaged with courts in Beijing, negotiations with the Qing dynasty, and regional governance in areas like Tsang, Ngari, Amdo, Kham, and Himalayan polities including Bhutan and Ladakh. Social roles included education, dispute arbitration, and cultural patronage that connected Sakya monasteries to networks across Nepal, Sikkim, Bengal, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia.