What does sakya point to?
In 1073 Khön Könchok Gyalpo founded a monastery on a hillside of pale grey earth in the Tsang region of southern Tibet. The place gave the tradition its name: Sakya, "grey earth". Ever since, the school has been guided by the Khön family, whose head bears the title Sakya Trizin, holder of the Sakya throne.
At the heart of the tradition lies the Lamdré, "the Path and its Fruit". These teachings go back to the Indian master Virupa and were brought to Tibet by the translator Drogmi. They rest on the view that samsara and nirvana are not two separate things: the awakening one seeks is not found somewhere else, but in the nature of the mind itself.
The foundations of the school were laid by five early masters, among them Sakya Pandita, a scholar of logic and author of the "Treasury of Good Sayings". In the thirteenth century Sakya masters held a central place in Tibet's relations with the Mongol court. Over time the Ngor and Tshar traditions grew up within the school, each with its own line of transmission.
A short teaching received by Sachen Kunga Nyingpo as a boy, "Parting from the Four Attachments", is still taught as a summary of the whole path. Its first line reads: if you are attached to this life, you are not a practitioner of the Dharma.
After 1959 the seat of the school was re-established in exile in India. Today Sakya teachers give teachings and empowerments in Asia, Europe and the Americas.
Teachers across every lineage of Sakya.
Sakya holds many schools and lineages beneath it. Its teachers are gathered below.
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Bhutanese lama, filmmaker and writer in the non-sectarian Khyentse lineage, known for books such as What Makes You Not a Buddhist and for films including The Cup.
Gyana Vajra Rinpoche
Gyana Vajra Rinpoche became the 43rd Sakya Trizin, head of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism, in March 2022, succeeding his elder brother Ratna Vajra Rinpoche. He is the younger son of the 41st Sakya Trizin and gives teachings and empowerments in Asia, Europe and North America.
Jetsun Kushok Chimey Luding
Jetsun Kushok Chimey Luding was born in Tibet in 1938 into the Khön family that leads the Sakya school, and is the sister of the 41st Sakya Trizin. She gave her first transmission of the Lamdré, one of the few women in the history of the Sakya lineage to do so. After leaving Tibet in 1959 she later settled in Vancouver, where she began teaching in the early 1980s at the request of the Sakya Trizin.
Lama Jampa Thaye
Lama Jampa Thaye, born in 1952, is a teacher in the Sakya and Karma Kagyu traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, authorised by Karma Thinley Rinpoche and the 41st Sakya Trizin. He is spiritual director of the Dechen network of Buddhist centres, teaches and gives initiations internationally, and is the author of several books, including "Wisdom in Exile".
Ratna Vajra Rinpoche
Ratna Vajra Rinpoche was born in 1974 in Dehradun, India, and served as the 42nd Sakya Trizin, head of the Sakya school, from 2017 to 2022. He studied Buddhist philosophy at Sakya College, and his teachers include his father, the 41st Sakya Trizin, as well as Chogye Trichen Rinpoche, Luding Khenchen Rinpoche and Dezhung Rinpoche. He teaches internationally in English.
Sakya Gongma Trichen Rinpoche
Sakya Gongma Trichen Rinpoche, the 41st Sakya Trizin, was born in Tibet in 1945 and was head of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism until 2017. He is the father and root teacher of the 42nd and 43rd Sakya Trizins, and continues to give teachings and empowerments, including the Lamdré, the central meditation system of the Sakya tradition.
Events across sakya.
Events tagged to an unpublished school or lineage automatically remain discoverable here while that level stays unpublished.
The Excellent Vase of Nectar
Los Angeles, United States · Weekend teaching
The Initiation of Chenrezik Mahamudra
Los Angeles, United States · Initiation
Talk on Dependent Origination and the Initiation of Green Tara
Los Angeles, United States · Day teaching and initiation
Parting from the Four Attachments
Mexico City, Mexico · Day teaching