Margapala

The Mārgapala ("Path and Result", Tib. "Lamdr"e, Wylie: "lam 'bras") - in the West commonly called Lam Dre - is a Vajrayana Buddhist teaching originating with the mahasiddha Virupa. It became and remains the heart of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism.

History

Virupa is said to have received the Hevajra tantra empowerments directly from Nairatmya, a female Buddha, and it is from the Hevajra tantra that the Margapala is derived.

The original Indian Margapala has two lineages: Commentarial Tradition, or Sudden Path lineage, and Instructional Tradition or Gradual Path lineage. The Gradual Path lineage entered to Tibet by Drogmi the translator, who had also received teachings according to Sudden Path lineage.

During the time of Konchok Gyaltsen, the Lamdre transmission broke into two sublineages: the "Explanation for Private Disciples" ("Lob Shed") and the "Explanation for Assemblies" ("Tshog Shed") transmissions. The two shared the same materials and sadhanas, in particular the Triple Visions, Triple Tantra, Hevajra sadhana with body mandala, Hevajra Guru Yoga, and Mahasiddha Virupa Guru Yoga, but the differ in the pith instructions on the visualizations and additional practices in found in the Lob Shed.

Bibliography

* "The Sakya Tradition: A Brief Overview," Watt, Jeff. The Sakya Resource Guide. ^{[http://mypage.direct.ca/w/wattj/history.htm]}
* "Margapala Lineage Paintings (Sakya)," Himalayan Art. ^{[http://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=77]}

ee also

* Sakya
* Hevajra
* Drokmi
* Vajrayana

External links

[http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/lamdre.pdf Lam Dre by Lama Choedak]