Dromtön
Dromtön, Drom Tonpa or Dromtönpa Gyelwé Jungné (Tibetan: འབྲོམ་སྟོན་པ་རྒྱལ་བའི་འབྱུང་གནས་, 1004 or 1005–1064) was the chief disciple of the Buddhist master Atiśa, the initiator of the Kadam school of Tibetan Buddhism and the founder of Reting Monastery.
Dromtönpa | |
|---|---|
འབྲོམ་སྟོན་པ་རྒྱལ་བའི་འབྱུང་གནས་ | |
 | |
| Personal | |
| Born | Chos 'phel 1004 or 1005 |
| Died | 1064 |
| Religion | Buddhism |
| School | Initiator of the Kadam school |
| Other names | Dromtön Gyelwé Jungné |
| Dharma names | Gyélwé Jungne |
| Senior posting | |
| Teacher | Chief disciple of Atiśa; Grum gyi Mkhanbu Chenpo Sebtsun; studied reading and writing with Paṇḍita Smṛti |
| Reincarnation | 45th incarnation of Avalokiteśvara |
Students
| |
| Ordination | Lay vows with Snanam Rdorje Bbangphyug (976-1060); never ordained. |
| Post | Founded Reting Monastery, 1056 |
Early life and education
Dromtönpa was born in Tolung at the beginning of the period of the second propagation of Buddhism in Tibet. "His father was Kushen Yaksherpen (sku gshen yag gsher 'phen) and his mother was Kuoza Lenchikma (khu 'od bza' lan gcig ma)."[1] His father's title skugshen indicates he was an important figure in the Bon tradition. He began preaching in Tibet in 1042.
Career
Dromtön is considered to be the 45th incarnation of Avalokiteśvara, an important bodhisattva and thus a member of the early lineage of the Dalai Lamas (the First Dalai Lama is said to have been the 51st incarnation).[2]
Dromtön founded Reting Monastery in 1056 in the Reting Tsampo Valley north of Lhasa which became the seat of the Kadampa lineage and brought some relics of Atisha there.[3]
Students
It was Dromtönpa's student Chekawa Yeshe Dorje who first compiled Atiśa's core teachings on the practice Lojong for developing of bodhicitta in written form, as The Seven Point Mind Training.
Footnotes
- Gardner, Alexander (February 2010). "Dromton Gyelwa Jungne". The Treasury of Lives: Biographies of Himalayan Religious Masters. Retrieved 2013-10-29.
- Stein, R. A. (1988). Tibetan Civilization ([Nachdr.] ed.). Stanford, Calif.: Stanford Univ. Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-8047-0806-7.
The First Dalai Lama, Gedün-trup (1391-1474), was already the 51st incarnation; the teacher Dromtön, Atiśa's disciple (11th century), the 45th; whilst with the 26th, one Gesar king of India, and the 27th, a hare, we are in pure legend
- Dowman, Keith. (1988). The Power-Places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide, p. 93. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London. ISBN 0-7102-1370-0.
Further reading
- Dilgo Kyentse (1993). Enlightened Courage. Snow Lion. ISBN 1-55939-023-9.