The Four Schools of Tibetan Buddhism

1. Nyingma

The Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism claims as its founder Padmasambhava, also called Guru Rinpoche, "Beloved Master," which places its beginning in the late 8th century. Padmasambhava is credited with building [link url=http://www.sacred-destinations.com/tibet/samye-monastery.htm]Samye[/link], the first monastery in Tibet, in about 779 CE.

Along with tantric practices, Nyingma emphasizes revealed teachings attributed to Padmasambhava plus the "great completion" or Dzogchen doctrines. Unlike the other three schools of Tibetan Buddhism, Nyingma has no one head.

2. Kagyu

Some accounts name Marpa "The Translator" (1012-1099) as the founder of the Kagyu school, while other accounts name as the founder Gampopa (1084-1161), also known as Dagpo Lhaje, who was a student of Marpa's disciple Milarepa. Kagyu is best known for its system of meditation and practice called Mahamudra.

The head of the Kagyu school is called the Karmapa. The current head is the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, who was born in 1985 in the Lhathok region of Tibet.

3. Sakya

In 1073, Khon Konchok Gyelpo (1034-l102) built Sakya Monastery in southern Tibet. His son and successor, Sakya Kunga Nyingpo, founded the Sakya sect. Sakya teachers converted the Mongol leaders Godan Khan and Kublai Khan to Buddhism. Over time, the Sakya school gave rise expanded to two subsects called the Ngor lineage and the Tsar lineage. Sakya, Ngor and Tsar constitute the three schools (Sa-Ngor-Tsar-gsum) of the Sakya tradition.

The central teaching and practice of the Sakyapa is called Lamdrey (Lam-'bras), or "the Path and Its Fruit." The headquarters of the Sakya sect today are at Rajpur in Uttar Pradesh, India. The current head is Ngawang Kunga Theckchen Rimpoche (b. 1945).

4. Gelug

The Gelug school was founded by Je Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), one of Tibet's greatest scholars. The first Gelug monastery, Ganden, was built by Tsongkhapa in 1409.

The third head lama of the Gelug school, Sonam Gyatso (1543-1588) converted the Mongol leader Altan Khan to Buddhism. It is commonly believed that Altan Khan originated the title Dalai Lama, meaning "Ocean of Wisdom," given to the heads of the Gelug school.

By means of a military alliance with the Mongol leader Gushri Khan, the 5th Dalai Lama became temporal and spiritual leader of all Tibet. Succeeding Dalai Lamas ruled Tibet until the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950. The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso (b. 1935) fled Tibet in 1959 and has lived in exile since.