Ngor

for the commune of Senegal see Ngor, Dakar

Ngor or Ngor Êwam Qoidain (Tibetan: ངོར་ཨེ་ཝམ་ཆོས་ལྡན།; ZYPY: Ngor Êwam Qödän; Chinese: 鄂尔艾旺却丹寺) is the name of a monastery in the Ü-Tsang province of Central Tibet, about one and half hours drive from Shigatse, and is the Sakya school's second most important goinba.^[1] It is the main temple of the large Ngor school of Tibetan Tantric Buddhism, which represents eighty-five percent of the Sakyapa school in Tibet and overseas^{[citation needed]}.

History

The origins of the Ngor school go back to Ngorchen Kunga Sangpo or Kun dga 'bzang po (1382-1444 CE), who was born and educated at Sakya and founded this monastery in 1429. It was renowned for its rich library of Sanskrit texts and magnificent 15th century Newar-derived paintings. Of its 18 colleges, and Upper and Lower Tsokangs, only one building, the Lamdre Lhakang, has been restored. There were once some 400 monks, but now there are only a few.^[2][3][4]

Below the lhakang there is a row of 60 stupa renovated but missing the magnificent mandala paintings they once contained, but which, fortunately, are now preserved in Japan and have been documented and published.^[5]

Ngorchen Konchog Lhundrup, born in Sakya in 1497, was a famous practitioner who became the tenth abbot of Ngor Ewam Choden monastery.

The two other main sects of the Sakya school are Sakya proper and Tsar. The main Ngor temples are found in the Kham region of Tibet.

The Ngorpa school is characterized by an emphasis on tantra balanced with study and practice. It is known for a mastery of ritual and practice of long retreats including life-long retreats. The present leader of the Ngor is HE Luding (or Lhuding) Khenpo, who now lives in northern India.^[6]

Footnotes

1. ^ Dowman (1988), p. 274.
2. ^ Dorje (1999), pp. 276-277.
3. ^ Dowman (1988), p. 275.
4. ^ Tucci (1980), p. 37.
5. ^ Dorje (1999), p. 277.
6. ^ Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael. (2005), p. 280.

References

• Dorje, Gyurme. (1999). Footprint Tibet Handbook: with Bhutan, 2nd Edition, p. 261. Footprint Travel Guides. ISBN 1900949334, ISBN 9781900949330.
• Dowman, Das (1988). The Power-places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide. Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., London & New York. ISBN 0-7102-1370-0.
• Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael. Tibet. (2005). 6th Edition. Lonely Planet. ISBN 1-74059-523-8.
• Tucci, Giuseppe. (1980). The Religions of Tibet. University of California Press. Paperback edition 1988. ISBN 0-520-03856-8 (cloth); ISBN 0-520-06348-1 (pbk.)

External links

• Link to the French Buddhist Ngor temple.
• For a photo of HE Lhuding Khenpo