Daklha Gampo Monastery (''Dwags lha sgam po''), also romanized as Daglha Gampo, is a

Kagyu The ''Kagyu'' school, also transliterated as ''Kagyü'', or ''Kagyud'' (), which translates to "Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission" school, is one of the main schools (''chos lugs'') of Tibetan (or Himalayan) Buddhism. The Kagyu lineag ...

Tibetan Buddhist Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

monastery founded in 1121 CE by Je

Gampopa Gampopa Sönam Rinchen (, 1079–1153) was the main student of Milarepa, and a Tibetan Buddhist master who codified his own master's ascetic teachings, which form the foundation of the Kagyu educational tradition. Gampopa was also a doctor and ...

(1079-1153), the disciple of the famous and much-loved

bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

, Jetsun Milarepa (c. 1052—c. 1135) It is located in Gyatsa County in the old district of Dakpo in southern Tibet on land sanctified as a

geomantic Geomancy (Greek language, Greek: γεωμαντεία, "earth divination") is a method of divination that interprets markings on the ground or the patterns formed by tossed handfuls of soil, rock (geology), rocks, or sand. The most prevalent ...

power-place ('head of the ogress') by the first Tibetan emperor,

Songtsen Gampo Songtsen Gampo (; 569–649? 650), also Songzan Ganbu (), was the 33rd Tibetan king and founder of the Tibetan Empire, and is traditionally credited with the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet, influenced by his Nepali consort Bhrikuti, of Nepal ...

(605 or 617? - 649), and made a repository of '' terma'' by

Padmasambhava Padmasambhava ("Born from a Lotus"), also known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru) and the Lotus from Oḍḍiyāna, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who may have taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries)... According ...

Description

The monastery is located on a ridge to the northeast of the eight-peaked Dalka Gampo mountain range (after which it was named), on the right bank of the Gyabpurong River just north of its junction with the

Yarlung Tsangpo The Yarlung Tsangpo, also called Yarlung Zangbo () is the upper stream of the Brahmaputra River located in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is the longest river of Tibet and the fifth longest in China. The upper section is also called Dan ...

History

After Gampopa received the Kargyu teachings and transmissions from Milarepa. He established himself at Daklha Gampo after Milarepa had died. He taught several students who became instrumental in the flourishing of the Kagyu lineage. Daklha Gampo became the main Kagyu centre for

Mahamudra Mahāmudrā (Sanskrit: महामुद्रा, , contraction of ) literally means "great seal" or "great imprint" and refers to the fact that "all phenomena inevitably are stamped by the fact of wisdom and emptiness inseparable". Mahāmudr ...

studies and practice in Tibet. During the 14th century, the great terton,

Karma Lingpa Karma Lingpa (1326–1386) was the tertön (revealer) of the Bardo Thodol, the so-called ''Tibetan Book of the Dead''. Tradition holds that he was a reincarnation of Chokro Lü Gyeltsen, a disciple of Padmasambhava. History Karma Lingpa was b ...

, unearthed the famous ''

Tibetan Book of the Dead The ''Bardo Thodol'' (, "Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State"), commonly known in the West as ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead'', is a terma text from a larger corpus of teachings, the ''Profound Dharma of Self-Liberation ...

'' (''Bardo Thodol Chenmo'') by Padmasambhava at Mount Gampodar which is within the territory of the monastery. The

Dzungar Dzungar may refer to: *Dzungar people, Oirat tribes in the Dzungar Khanate *Dzungar Khanate, a historical empire * Jungar Banner, an administrative division of China *Junggar Basin The Junggar Basin () is one of the largest sedimentary basins in ...

Mongols The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...

destroyed the monastery in 1718, but it was quickly rebuilt. It was again totally destroyed after the Chinese invasion in 1959, but some chapels have since been restored and there are still the original images of Avalokiteshvara and Cakrasamvara.Dorje (1999), p. 222.

Footnotes

References

* Dowman, Keith. (1988). ''The Power-places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide'', pp. 73-79. Routledge & Kegan Paul. London. * Gyume Dorje. (1999). ''Footprint Tibet Handbook with Bhutan''. Footprint Handbooks, Bath, England. . {{coord, 29, 07, N, 92, 48, E, type:landmark, display=title Buddhist monasteries in Tibet Dagpo Kagyu monasteries and temples History of Tibet 1121 establishments in Asia Buddhist temples in Shannan, Tibet