Jamyang Zhepa | |||||||||
Tibetan name | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tibetan | འཇམ་དབྱངས་བཞད་པ་ | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Chinese name | |||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 嘉木样协巴 | ||||||||
|
The Jamyang Zhepas (Tibetan: འཇམ་དབྱངས་བཞད་པ་, Wylie: 'jam dbyangs bzhad pa) are a lineage of tulkus of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. They have traditionally been the most prestigious teachers at Labrang Monastery in Amdo, Tibet (modern Gansu, China).[1]
The first Jamyang Zhepa, Ngawang Tsöndrü (1648–1721), was a native of Amdo and, after studying at Drepung Monastery near Lhasa, was invited by the local Mongol king to return and teach Buddhism there. There, Ngawang Tsöndrü later founded Labrang, one of the two great monasteries of Amdo. As the first Jamyang Zhepa was educated at Drepung, the lineage has subsequently belonged the Gelug.[2]
Ngawang Tsöndrü was a great scholar. He wrote Roar of the Five-Faced [Lion], a series of verses on tenets, along with a massive commentary to the root text (around 530 folios), called Great Exposition on Tenets. According to Daniel Cozort, Jamyang's works "are the most comprehensive of the tenets texts" (in Tibetan Buddhism).[3] He also wrote various textbooks which are used today in numerous Gelug colleges.
Gönchok Jikmé Ongpo (1728–1791), is also known for his shorter tenets text called Precious Garland of Tenets as well as other works on the bodhisattva path, the Presentation of the Grounds and Paths, Beautiful Ornament of the Three Vehicles.[4]
The current Jamyang Zhepa is the 6th, Lobsang Jigme Thubten Chökyi Nyima (born 1948). During the Cultural Revolution, he became a layman and married.[1] Tibetan Buddhist teachers may be either laypersons or monks, but the Jamyang Zhepas used to be traditionally monks. He lives in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu.