Khardo Hermitage (Khardo Ritrö)
Khardo Hermitage (Khardo Ritrö)
by José Ignacio Cabezón
April 27, 2006
Sera Monastery Sera Hermitages (2004) Khardo Ritrö Sera Monastery མཁར་རྡོ་རི་ཁྲོད རི་ཁྲོད
Location and Layout 1

The ruins of Khardo Hermitage.

Khardo Hermitage is located northeast of Lhasa (and of Sera) on the side of a mountain north of the DodéValley. The hermitage is also located across the road leading from Lhasa to Penpo on the side of a mountain facing Purchok Hermitage (Purchok Ritrö). It is possible to walk directly up the mountain to Khardo from this road, but it is more common to take the footpath from the Negodong nunnery instead. From the nunnery it takes a little over one hour to walk to Khardo.

It may be that the hermitage derives its name from the local site deity (nedak), whose name is Khardo Songtsen.

As is the case with most of the hermitages, certain features of the landscape – and especially of the mountains – around Khardo are seen as signs of the holiness of the site. One group of peaks behind the monastery is called the Soul Mountain of the Buddhas of the Five Families (Gyelwé Riknga Lari). To the left of these is a mountain called the Birth Deity Peak (Trungwé Lhari or Trung Utsé).2 In the middle of this mountain there used to be a ledge that housed a small chapel to the protector deities of the regions of Tibet from which the various Khardo Lamas hailed, hence the name “Birth Deity Peak.” Another prominent peak (to the east) is called the Soul Mountain of Cakrasaṃvara (Demchok Lari). Tradition has it that various hand-implements and bone-ornaments of the deity have been discovered as treasure on this mountain by different Khardo incarnations. On one side of this mountain there is a cave called the “Offering Place Cave” (Drak Chösa),3 in which an entire copy of the Scriptures (Kangyur) was discovered as treasure during the time of the third Khardo incarnation Chökyi Dorjé (Khardo Kutreng Sumpa Chökyi Dorjé).4 The monastery itself is said to have been built on the site of the Haha Göpé Durtrö, one of the classical charnel grounds of the Indian tantras. For these various reasons, the site is considered extremely holy.

The various holy mountains behind the hermitage.

But the location was also made holy by virtue of having been the abode of saints. Above the various buildings there is a cave called Great Heap of Light (Özer Pungpoché). The site-deity, called Khardo Songtsen, is said to have shown the founder of the monastery, Zöpa Gyatso, this cave and told him that he was to reside here. On one particular holy day Khardowa, while living in this cave, found that he had nothing to offer except for a single butter-lamp. His prayers were so pure, however, that when he lit the lamp the entire mountain glowed, “as if thousands of butter lamps were burning.” This is how the cave got its name. Khardowa lived in this cave, and in another nearby one called Cave of Mila (Milé Drak), during his early and mid twenties, before the first buildings were erected at the site.

The hermitage had three major compounds, located one above the other on the side of the mountain. Lowest on the hill was the main compound (usually referred to simply as “the hermitage”). Above that was the so-called “Upper Residence” (Zimkhang Gongma), and above that the Temple of the Sixteen Arhats (Nechu Lhakhang). Today all of these compounds lie in ruins. From an informant’s report, however, we have a good sense of what the hermitage looked like before 1959.

Main compound: This was by far the largest group of buildings in the monastery, housing various important temples, a library, and the residential quarters of the Khardo Lamas. At the front (lowest on the mountain), the compound was three stories tall; at the rear it was two stories in height. As one went in the main door (zhunggo), located at the front of the compound at the bottom-most level, one first came to a room that is said to have been built on top of the uppermost part of the Haha Göpé Durtrö. This was a large (eight-pillar) room that was in almost total darkness. It housed many self-arisen images, but apparently was not for any specific purpose.

As one went up the central staircase, one came first to the (four-pillar) temple that is said to date to the time of Khardo Zöpa Gyatso. This small temple had seating for about 20 monks. It contained statues of the sixteen arhats as well as the large silver funerary stūpa of Zöpa Gyatso built by his student, the Seventh Dalai Lama Kelzang Gyatso (Dalai Lama Kutreng Dünpa Kelzang Gyatso). The mummified corpse (mardung) of Khardowa was contained within this stūpa. In the rear portion of the temple there was a chapel to Maitreya (Jampa). Tradition has it that the two-story statue of Maitreya in this temple was created by a deity. Inside the heart of this statue there was a tooth-relic of the Buddha Kaśyapa, and there was a small window on the body of the Maitreya statue where this tooth could actually be seen.

Inside the ruins of the main compound.

On this same level of the compound there was also a round room that contained the monastery’s collection of wood-blocks and texts. This library contained many special works, such as the texts discovered as “treasure” (ter) by the third Khardo incarnation Rikdzin Chökyi Dorjé (Khardo Kutreng Sumpa Rikdzin Chökyi Dorjé): the Cycle for Gathering Power (Wangdü Khorlo), the Cycle on Gaṇeśa (Tsokdak Lakna Khorlo), etc. Important blockprints of artwork and of the monastery’s ritual texts (yikcha) were also kept there. The collection included texts of all traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. Most of these texts and blockprints were confiscated when the monastery came under the receivership of the government after the Radreng (d. 1947) affair (see below).

If one turned left as one exited the library, one came to the protector deity chapel (gönkhang). This room contained statues of the four traditional deities propitiated in most Geluk institutions (Gönpo, Chögyel, Lhamo, and Namsé) as well as a statue of the protector deity of the monastery, Terdak Songtsen. In the rear of the protector deity chapel, there was another smaller chapel that was only open for one day each year (during the New Year festivities). It contained a large self-arisen image of the deity Wangchuk Chenpo.

Coming out of the protector deity chapel, one arrived at the central courtyard where the side door of the main compound was located. From that courtyard one had access to a variety of rooms which included the tenkhang,5 a large (eight-pillar) storage room, the lama’s estate’s (labrang) (two-pillar) kitchen, a (two-pillar) manager’s room (nyertsang) that served as the office and living quarters for the hermitage’s manager (nyerpa), and a variety of other small rooms where fuel (wood, straw and dung) were kept. Around this courtyard there was also a three-pillar guest room, as well as a room for frying and storing dough cookies.

If one went up one level, to the third floor, one came first to the two-pillar quarters for the Dalai Lama, called the Palace of Great Bliss (Dechen Podrang). The Thirteenth Dalai Lama Tupten Gyatso (Dalai Lama Kutreng Chuksumpa Tupten Gyatso) stayed here, as perhaps did other of his predecessors. The principal image in the Dalai Lama’s rooms was a very special image of Maitreya that is said to have originally belonged to a monastery in Penpo. It is said that the statue levitated, flew to Khardo and proclaimed that Khardo was its true home. There were also metal statues of the Twenty-One Tārās (Drölma) in the Dalai Lama’s rooms. The central Tārā image was of solid silver. There were also statues of the Sixteen Arhats, and various tangkas. Going down the hall from the Dalai Lama’s quarters, one came to the Khardo Assembly Hall (Khardo Tsomchen), a temple that could house over 100 monks. This temple was also called the Gyaré Tsomchen, because the deity Gyaré was supposed to have built the large Maitreya statue found here. The temple had ten “short pillar” (katung), and two “long pillar” (karing); it also had three doors. This temple contained:

  • One-story tall metal statues of the Buddhas of the Three Times
  • A one-story metal statue of Tsongkhapa (1357-1419)
  • The throne of the Dalai Lama
  • A life-size statue of the fifth Khardo incarnation Jamyang Chökyi Wangchuk (Khardo Kutreng Ngapa Jamyang Chökyi Wangchuk)
  • A life-size statue of Padmasambhava (Pema Jungné)
  • A one-story “speaking-statue” (sungjönma) of Tārā
  • On one side of the temple there was a complete copy of a printed edition of the Scriptures (Kangyur), and on the other, a manuscript version of the same. The manuscript version is apparently dated to the time of Khardo Kutreng Zhipa Pema Gawé Dorjé. This lama’s steward began a custom of having the monks do at least one yearly ritual reading of the Kangyur, a tradition that was kept alive up to 1959.
  • The murals on the walls of the assembly hall were of the Thousand Buddhas of the Fortunate Age.

As one exited the temple, one immediately encountered the four-pillar Palace of the Rays of the Sun (Nyiwö Podrang). This chapel held the funerary stūpa of the third Khardo incarnation Rikdzin Chökyi Dorjé (Khardo Kutreng Sumpa Rikdzin Chökyi Dorjé). It also contained self-arisen images of the sixteen arhats, statues of the twenty-one Tārās, a statue of Tangtong Gyelpo, of Penden Lhamo, a statue of the fourth Khardo incarnation Pema Gawé Dorjé (Khardo Kutreng Zhipa Pema Gawé Dorjé), a statue of Padmasambhava (Pema Jungné) and other lesser images.

Exiting the Palace of the Rays of the Sun, one next came to the series of rooms that constituted the lama’s estate proper – that is, the living quarters of the lama and his immediate family and steward. The first of these rooms was a two-pillar chapel called the Siddha Chapel (Druptop Lhakhang) that housed clay statues of the eighty-four mahāsiddhas of India. They are said to have been made by the third Khardo Lama himself. There were also images of the Five Visions of the Lord (Tsongkhapa) (Jé Zikpa Ngaden). The next room was the private residence of the mothers of the Khardo Lama incarnations. Adjacent to that was a balcony or sun room (rapsel), on the other side of which were the quarters of the administrator administrative head (chandzö) of the lama’s estate. Beyond the steward’s quarters were the private rooms of the Khardo Lama. The lama’s reception room contained various metal statues, including statues of Padmasambhava (Pema Jungné) in eight forms, a statue of Hayagrīva (Tamdrin), statues of Tsongkhapa and the two disciples, and others as well.

If one traveled one flight of stairs up from the lama’s private rooms, one would arrive at another small (two-pillar) protector deity chapel called the Chapel of the Four Statues (Kuzhi Khang), so called because it contained four statues of mgon po. This is the location of the famous “Khardo (Hermitage’s) Lord of Death Machine” (Khardo Shinjé Trülkhor), a mechanical device for conjuring wrathful magical powers (drakchokkyi lé). This “wheel of weapons” (tsönché khorlo) had been utilized at different points in Tibetan history to magically defeat invading forces.6 The machine had the ability to conjure up the powers of different sets of deities (gods, nāgas, etc.) depending upon the direction in which it was turned. Various “trophies” from the defeated parties hung from the beams of the ceiling of this room, including the desiccated hand of the leader of the Dogra troops (defeated, it is said, chiefly as a result of using this form of magic at the time of the third Khardo Lama in 1856). The hands of famous bandits and other criminals had, throughout the years, been added to the collection of human limbs suspended form the ceiling. Next to this chapel, there was a room called the Treasure-House of Vaiśravaṇa (Namsé Bangdzö). It contained eight “wealth-box” (yanggam) where the ritual wealth-vases for the monastery were kept. This room was opened only once a year on New Year’s day; otherwise it was kept locked.

Exiting from the protector chapel and going down the hall one came to the Kadam Chapel (Kadam Lhakhang), a four pillar temple. It contained a one-story statue of the Buddha, as well as statues of the sixteen arhats, statues of 138 lamas of the Kadampa tradition, and the funerary stūpa and image of the fourth Khardo Lama. Next to this chapel, there was the small (one-pillar) “Three Roots” Chapel (Tsasum Lhakhang), which contained a statue of the Thirteen-Deity Vajrabhairava (Jikjé Lha Chuksum) as well as important statues of Tsongkhapa and of Acala (Miyowa). The name of the chapel (“three roots”) derives from the fact that the main statue of Yamāntaka in this room was made from clay over which the three root teachers of this tradition – Drupkhangpa, Purchok Ngawang Jampa (1682-1762) and Khardo Zöpa Gyatso – had recited 100,000 repetitions of the “Yamarāja” mantra of Yamāntaka.

The ruins of the Upper Residence.

The Upper Residence. Just uphill from the main compound is the so-called “Upper Residence” (Zimkhang Gongma).7 This compound was not, strictly speaking, under the aegis of the hermitage, but rather was administered by Tibetan government. It had two floors. On the first floor it contained a protector deity chapel. The Tibetan government would send monks from the Tantric College (Ngakpa Dratsang) once a year (in the summer) to conduct rituals in this chapel. The second floor contained the private quarters of the Seventh Dalai Lama Kelzang Gyatso (Dalai Lama Kutreng Dünpa Kelzang Gyatso), and of Khardo Zöpa Gyatso. It may be that this compound was originally constructed to serve as the residence of the Seventh Dalai Lama when he visited his teacher, Zöpa Gyatso. If this is the case, then this small compound predates the main compound.

The Temple of the Sixteen Arhats.

The Sixteen Arhat Temple. Farther north up the mountain from the Upper Residence is the Temple of the Sixteen Arhats (Nechu Lhakhang), the first structure built by Khardo Zöpa Gyatso at the site. It originally contained only the temple and a small room that served as the first residence that Zöpa Gyatso occupied at Khardo. Later it was expanded, and at a certain point in history the compound was converted into monks’ living quarters, though it is not clear when precisely this occurred.

Farther up the mountainside still are the caves originally used by Khardo Zöpa Gyatso before he built the first structures at the site. Before 1959, women were not allowed inside these caves. Today, nuns use these as retreat places. The nuns also serve as caretakers.

One of the caves occupied by Khardo Zöpa Gyatso when he first arrived at the site. Today it serves as a nun’s meditation cell.

The one former monk from the hermitage who served as our informant in 2004 (and who, as far as we know, is the only member of this hermitage still alive today) told us that he contemplated refurbishing the monastery when liberalization took place in the 1980s. He decided not to pursue this because, on the one hand, he was unsuccessful at receiving permission from the relevant offices of the Lhasa municipal government, and, on the other, because he received a letter from the present Khardo Rinpoché (who lives in the United States) who discouraged him from proceeding with the renovations.

History

A statue of Khardo Zöpa Gyatso preserved at Rakhadrak Hermitage (Rakhadrak Ritrö).

Khardo Hermitage was founded in 17068 by Khardo Zöpa Gyatso,9 a student of Drupkhang Gelek Gyatso (1641-1713).10 Zöpa Gyatso entered the Jé College (Dratsang Jé) of Sera at age nine, and studied intensively for the next six years. When he was fifteen he asked permission to pursue intensive retreat. His teacher was agreeable, and he began to travel in Southern Tibet, visiting various holy sites, and remaining in isolated retreat in various locations for the next five years of his life. He returned to Sera when he was twenty, and it was at this time that he met the charismatic Drupkhangpa, who was giving teachings on the graded stages of the path (lamrim) at his hermitage above Sera. After this cycle of teachings was over (around the time that Zöpa Gyatso was twenty-four years old), he decided to go into more permanent retreat and, as the result of certain visionary signs, chose a cave at Khardo as his home.

Zöpa Gyatso initially lived as a hermit in caves at Khardo. Certain events,11 however, brought him to the attention of the Seventh Dalai Lama, who then requested Khardowa to become his assistant tutor (tsenzhap). From this time forward, the Dalai Lama acted as Khardowa’s patron and it was as a result of the Dalai Lama’s financial assistance that the first temple (Temple of the Sixteen Arhats) was built at Khardo. Shortly after this temple was completed, the Seventh Dalai Lama provided the funds for the construction of a residence at the site, which he used when he went to Khardo to visit his teacher. This building is what came to be known as the Upper Residence (see above). The Seventh Dalai Lama is also credited with having sponsored the construction of the first buildings in what later became the main compound. It was upon the completion of this latter project that he gave permission for eight fully ordained monks to live at the site. He also provided the hermitage with one small estate in the Dodé Valley for its support.

Detail of a painting of the Seventh Dalai Lama in the collection of the Rubin Museum of Art, from the www.himalayanart.org website, no. 212.

After the death of Zöpa Gyatso, the Seventh Dalai Lama performed all of the necessary funerary rites for his teacher, and sponsored the construction of his funerary stūpa and of his statue. (This existed at Khardo Hermitage until 1959.) The Dalai Lama also undertook the search for his teacher’s reincarnation, whom he found in Penpo, not far from Lhasa. Just as with Zöpa Gyatso and the Seventh Dalai Lama, a teacher-student relationship was established between the second Khardo Lama and the Eighth Dalai Lama Jampel Gyatso (Dalai Lama Kutreng Gyepa Jampel Gyatso). The second Khardo Rinpoché travelled extensively in northern Tibet, and he founded at least two monasteries in Nakchu which then became satellite monasteries of Khardo Hermitage.12 This shows us how even relatively small hermitages (Khardo) could, because of their power and connections, become the mother institutions to larger monasteries (like those in Nakchu). It may be the case that this was as much an economic as it was a religious relationship for Khardo, for the nomads of the region of Nakchu in which the two monasteries were located apparently used the lands belonging to the Khardo Hermitage in Lhasa as a base of operations in the summer when they came to barter in Lhasa. One assumes that having this type of relationship with the Nakchu nomads also meant that Khardo Hermitage hermitage had a source of meat, butter and other dairy products, which the Khardo Lamas probably received as offerings and/or as fees for services rendered.

The third Khardo Lama, Rikdzin Chökyi Dorjé (b. 1790?) had the habits of a tantric siddha. Like the Sixth Dalai Lama (Dalai Lama Kutreng Drukpa), he was renowned for enjoying the diversions Lhasa had to offer, especially its bars. He is credited with several important “treasure” discoveries. So great were his powers that when he was coming back from Lhasa on one of his outings, the statue of Penden Lhamo at Drapchi Temple (Drapchi Lhakhang) would turn its head to look at him.13 The footprint in stone of Rikdzin Chökyi Dorjé was preserved at Khardo until 1959. After he died – sitting next to a small tsen chapel (tsenkhang) at Khardo – the monks tried to cremate his body, but every time they lit the fire it would be magically extinguished, and so the monks decided instead to preserve his mummified body, which was housed in a stūpa in one of the chapels of the hermitage until 1959. The most important Khardo religious festival is one commemorating this lama.

We know little about the next two Khardo incarnations, although it seems that each of them expanded the hermitage and its holdings. For example, the fourth Khardo Lama, who, it seems, was born into a prominent Rnying ma pa family, is known to have built a set of residential rooms at Khardo known as the Gachö Ying.14 And the fifth Khardo Lama reestablished the relationship with one of the monasteries in Nakchu called Jang Chökhor Ling, where, in fact, he died.

The situation is quite different when we get to the sixth Khardo incarnation Jampel Tupten Nyendrak Gyatso (Khardo Kutreng Drukpa Jampel Tupten Nyendrak Gyatso). He entered the Jé College of Sera and became renowned as a scholar. He was a close friend of the famous fifth Radreng incarnation (Radreng Kutreng Ngapa, or “Reting”), who was regent of Tibet between 1934 and 1941, and who studied at Sera around the same time as the sixth Khardo Lama. Khardo Rinpoché had backed Radreng Rinpoché (d. 1947) during his failed attempt to recoup the regency. After Radreng Rinpoché was executed in 1947, the government also retaliated against the Khardo Lama. He was imprisoned, all of his land-holdings and many of the religious artifacts inside the hermitage (for example, the library) were confiscated by the Tibetan government, and an edict was issued forbidding the search for future incarnations. After some time, the Khardo Lama was transferred to the Norbu Lingkha prison, and there are many stories of miracles that occurred during his stay there. He was freed after a few years, but never returned to Khardo Hermitage (over which he no longer had any rights). He lived for some time on the top floor of the Drapchi Temple. He then visited Jang Chökhor Ling in Nakchu, and finished out the rest of his days at the monastery of one of his students, Tokmé Rinpoché (twentieth century), in Nemo.

All of these events were obviously catastrophic for Khardo Hermitage and its monks. Within a matter of a few years Khardo went from being one of the richest and most powerful monasteries in the Lhasa valley to being one of the poorest and most marginalized. However, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama (Dalai Lama Kutreng Chuzhipa) reversed the decision of his regent. He allowed for the next Khardo Lama to be found, and restored to him his previous titles and rights. Tennor Khardo (b. 1957),15 the seventh Khardo incarnation Jampel Tendzin Nyendrak Gyatso (Khardo Kutreng Dünpa Jampel Tendzin Nyendrak Gyatso), was born in Lhasa. He left Tibet in 1984, and presently lives in the United States.

After the events of 1959, the sixty-plus monks of Khardo were forced to leave the hermitage. Except for a few nuns who live in the caves above the hermitage, the site has remained unoccupied ever since. Today, all of the buildings lie in ruins.

Nuns sit outside one of the Khardo caves. Nuns are the only residents of the site today.

Ritual Cycle

Daily. The 20 fully ordained monks who formed the ritual core of the monastery would gather for “daily tea/prayer” (gyünja), every morning in the smaller of Khardo’s two temples.

Monthly. Five days each month were always celebrated:

  • First of the month: Tārā Ritual (Drölchok); and bi-monthly confession ritual
  • Tenth: Offering-Ritual to the Lama (Lama Chöpa Tsok)
  • Fifteenth: Medicine Buddha (Menla); and bi-monthly confession
  • Twenty-fifth: Offering-Ritual to the Lama
  • Twenty-ninth: propitiation ritual (kangso)
  • First Tibetan month: A cycle of rituals, lasting seven days, focusing on Yamāntaka, Guhyasamāja, and Cakrasaṃvara. These began at the end of the New Year festivities.
  • Second Tibetan month: For seven days either the Scriptures would be read, or else the Prayer to the Twenty-One Tārās would be recited.
  • Fourth Tibetan month: unknown ritual
  • Fifth Tibetan month: The self-initiation rituals of Sarvavid Vairocana, or else of Kālacakra.
  • Sixth Tibetan month: the Sixth-Month/Fourth-Day (Drukpa Tsezhi) holy day is celebrated. In addition, one-hundred monks would gather to read the scriptures for seven days during a separate convocation in this same month.
  • Ninth Tibetan month: 100,000 repetitions of the Tārā prayer would be accumulated during this month.
  • Tenth Tibetan month: Winter Solstice Ritual (Gün Nyidokgi Choga).
  • Eleventh Tibetan month: The monks split into two groups. One group would perform White Mahākāla (Gönkar) rituals, and the other, rituals focusing on Tamdrin.
  • Twelfth Tibetan month:
    • Fifteenth day of the month: the hermitage celebrated the famous Khardo Tünchö, a festival commemorating the third Khardo Lama. During the festivities, monks from Nenang Nunnery (Nenang Gönpa) came to Khardo to perform various propitiation rituals (for example, to the deity Vajrakīla) in front of the stūpa containing the mummified body of the third Khardo incarnation Chökyi Dorjé (Khardo Kutreng Sumpa Chökyi Dorjé). While the Nenang monks were performing those rituals, the monks of Khardo were simultaneously engaged in other protector deity rituals in one of the other temples. All of the local people from Dodé who worked for the Khardo Lama’s estate (Khardo labrang) came up to the hermitage on this day. Upon leaving, they received a bit of money, some butter, meat, and fried dough cookies.
    • Twenty-ninth day: A ritual involving the Throwing of the Torma as an offering to Mahākāla (Gönpo Torgyak).

Glossary

Note: The glossary is organized into sections according to the main language of each entry. The first section contains Tibetan words organized in Tibetan alphabetical order. To jump to the entries that begin with a particular Tibetan root letter, click on that letter below. Columns of information for all entries are listed in this order: THL Extended Wylie transliteration of the term, THL Phonetic rendering of the term, the English translation, the Sanskrit equivalent, associated dates, and the type of term. To view the glossary sorted by any one of these rubrics, click on the corresponding label (such as “Phonetics”) at the top of its column.

Ka | Kha | Ga | Nga | Ca | Cha | Ja | Nya | Ta | Tha | Da | Na | Pa | Pha | Ba | Ma | Tsa | Tsha | Dza | Wa | Zha | Za | ’A | Ya | Ra | La | Sha | Sa | Ha | A
Ka
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
ka thung katungshort pillar Term
ka ring karinglong pillar Term
kang shi KangshiKangxi 1654-1722 Person
kun rig rnam par snang mdzad Künrik Nampar NangdzéSarvavid Vairocana Buddha
ke’u tshang Keutsang Monastery
ke’u tshang keutsangcave, cavern, or overhang Term
ke’u tshang sku phreng lnga pa Keutsang Kutreng Ngapathe fifth Keutsang incarnation Person
ke’u tshang sku phreng gnyis pa Keutsang Kutreng Nyipathe second Keutsang incarnation b. 1791 Person
ke’u tshang sku phreng gnyis pa blo bzang ’jam dbyangs smon lam Keutsang Kutreng Nyipa Lozang Jamyang Mönlamthe second Keutsang incarnation Lozang Jamyang Mönlam b. 1791 Person
ke’u tshang sku phreng dang po byams pa smon lam Keutsang Kutreng Dangpo Jampa Mönlamthe first Keutsang incarnation Jampa Mönlam d. 1790 Person
ke’u tshang ’jam dbyangs blo gsal Keutsang Jamyang Losel Person
ke’u tshang nub Keutsang NupKeutsang West Monastery
ke’u tshang nub ri khrod Keutsang Nup RitröKeutsang West Hermitage Monastery
ke’u tshang sprul sku Keutsang TrülkuKeutsang incarnation Person
ke’u tshang bla brang Keutsang LabrangKeutsang Lama’s estate Monastery
ke’u tshang bla ma Keutsang Lama Person
ke’u tshang ri khrod Keutsang RitröKeutsang Hermitage Monastery
ke’u tshang shar Keutsang SharKeutsang East Monastery
ke’u tshang shar ri khrod Keutsang Shar RitröKeutsang East Hermitage Monastery
kong po jo rdzong Kongpo Jodzong Place
krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang Trunggö Börikpa Petrünkhang Publisher
klong rdol bla ma ngag dbang blo bzang Longdöl Lama Ngawang Lozang 1719-1794 Person
dkar chag karchakinventory Term
dkar chag karchakcatalogue Term
bka’ ’gyur KangyurScriptures Tibetan text collection
bka’ ’gyur lha khang Kangyur lhakhangScripture Temple Building
bka’ brgyud Kargyü Organization
bka’ gdams pa Kadampa Organization
bka’ gdams lha khang Kadam LhakhangKadam Chapel Room
bka’ babs bu chen brgyad kabap buchen gyéeight great close disciples Term
bka’ babs ming can brgyad Kabap Mingchen Gyéthe “eight great ones who were named to receive the oral instructions”
bkra shis chos gling Trashi Chöling Monastery
bkra shis chos gling ri khrod Trashi Chöling RitröTrashi Chöling Hermitage Monastery
bkra shis gser nya trashi sernyatwo auspicious golden fish Term
bkra shis lhun po Trashi Lhünpo Monastery
sku mkhar kukharcastle Term
sku mkhar ma ru Kukhar MaruMaru Castle Building
sku bzhi khang Kuzhi KhangChapel of the Four Statues Room
sku rim grwa tshang kurim dratsangritual college Term
bskang gso kangsopropitiation ritual Ritual
bskal bzang rgya mtsho Kelzang Gyatso 1708-1757 Person
Kha
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
khang tshan khangtsenregional house Term
khams Kham Place
khal khela unit of weight/volume equal to about 25-30 lbs. Term
khri byang sku phreng gsum pa blo bzang ye shes Trijang Kutreng Sumpa Lozang Yeshéthe third Trijang incarnation Lozang Yeshé 1901-1981 Person
khri byang rin po che Trijang Rinpoché 1901-1981 Person
khrod tröin the midst of Term
khrod tröon the side of Term
mkhan ngag dbang bstan ’dzin Khen Ngawang Tendzin Person
mkha’ spyod dbyings Khachö Ying Room
mkhar rdo Khardo Monastery
mkhar rdo sku phreng lnga pa jam dbyangs chos kyi dbang phyug Khardo Kutreng Ngapa Jamyang Chökyi Wangchukthe fifth Khardo incarnation Jamyang Chökyi Wangchuk 19th-20th centuries Person
mkhar rdo sku phreng drug pa ’jam dpal thub bstan nyan grags rgya mtsho Khardo Kutreng Drukpa Jampel Tupten Nyendrak Gyatsothe sixth Khardo incarnation Jampel Tupten Nyendrak Gyatso 1909/12?-1956? Person
mkhar rdo sku phreng bdun pa ’jam dpal bstan ’dzin nyan grags rgya mtsho Khardo Kutreng Dünpa Jampel Tendzin Nyendrak Gyatsothe seventh Khardo incarnation Jampel Tendzin Nyendrak Gyatso Person
mkhar rdo sku phreng bzhi pa padma dga’ ba’i rdo rje Khardo Kutreng Zhipa Pema Gawé Dorjéthe fourth Khardo incarnation Pema Gawé Dorjé 19th century Person
mkhar rdo sku phreng gsum pa chos kyi rdo rje Khardo Kutreng Sumpa Chökyi Dorjéthe third Khardo incarnation Chökyi Dorjé b. 18th century Person
mkhar rdo sku phreng gsum pa rigs ’dzin chos kyi rdo rje Khardo Kutreng Sumpa Rikdzin Chökyi Dorjéthe third Khardo incarnation Rikdzin Chökyi Dorjé Person
mkhar rdo mthun mchod Khardo Tünchö Festival
mkhar rdo ba Khardowa Person
mkhar rdo bla brang Khardo LabrangKhardo Lama’s estate Organization
mkhar rdo tshoms chen Khardo TsomchenKhardo Assembly Hall Room
mkhar rdo ri khrod Khardo RitröKhardo Hermitage Monastery
mkhar rdo rin po che Khardo Rinpoché Person
mkhar rdo srong btsan Khardo Songtsen Buddha
mkhar rdo sgrub sde gsum Khardo Drupdé Sumthe three practice centers of kardo Monastery
mkhar rdo ba Khardowa Person
mkhar rdo bla ma Khardo Lama Person
mkhar rdo bzod pa rgya mtsho Khardo Zöpa Gyatso 1672-1749 Person
mkhar rdo gshin rje ’khrul ’khor Khardo Shinjé TrülkhorKhardo (Hermitage’s) Lord of Death Machine Term
mkhas grub rje Kedrupjé 1385-1438 Person
’khon ston Khöntön 1561-1637 Person
’khon ston dpal ’byor lhun grub Khöntön Peljor Lhündrup 1561-1637 Person
’khrungs dbu rtse Trung UtséBirth Peak Place
’khrungs ba’i bla ri Trungwé LariBirth Soul Mountain Place
’khrungs ba’i lha ri Trungwé LhariBirth Deity Peak Place
Ga
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
ga ru Garu Monastery
ga ru Garudance Term
ga ru dgon pa Garu GönpaGaru Nunnery Monastery
gar gardance Term
gar dgon bsam gtan gling Gargön Samten LingDance Gompa: Place of Meditative Equipoise Monastery
gar dgon bsam gtan gling gi lo rgyus mun sel mthong ba don ldan Gargön Samten Linggi Logyü Münsel Tongwa DöndenA History of Gargön Samten Ling: Clearing Away Darkness, Meaningful to Behold Tibetan text title
gar lo GarloA History of Garu [Nunnery] Tibetan text title
gu ru rin po che Guru Rinpoché 8th century Person
grub thob lha khang Druptop LhakhangSiddha Chapel Room
grog mo chu mig Drokmo ChumikRavine Spring Place
grong smad Drongmé Place
grwa tshang byes Dratsang JéJé College Monastery
grwa tshang smad Dratsang MéMé College Monastery
grwa bzhi Drapchi Building
grwa bzhi lha khang Drapchi LhakhangDrapchi Temple Building
glang dar ma Langdarma d. 842 Person
dga’ chos dbyings Gachö Ying Room
dga’ ldan Ganden Monastery
dga’ ldan khri pa Ganden tripathrone-holder of Ganden Term
dga’ ldan lnga mchod Ganden Ngamchöthe Ganden Feast of the 25th Festival
dga ldan chos ’nyung bai ḍūrya ser po Ganden Chönyung Baidurya SerpoYellow Lapis: A History of the Ganden [School] Tibetan text title
dga’ ldan pho brang Ganden PodrangGanden Palace Organization
dga’ spyod dbyings Gachö Ying Room
dgun nyi ldog gi cho ga Gün Nyidokgi ChogaWinter Solstice Ritual Ritual
dge lugs Geluk Organization
dge lugs pa Gelukpa Organization
dge bshes geshé Term
dge bshes pha bong khar grags pa Geshé Pabongkhar drakpa“Geshé Pabongkha” Person
dge bshes brag dkar ba Geshé Drakkarwa 1032-1111 Person
dge bshes ye shes dbang phyug Geshé Yeshé Wangchuk b. 20th century Person
dge bshes seng ge Geshé Senggé d. 1990s Person
dge slong gelongfully-ordained monk Term
dgon pa gönpamonastery Term
dgon pa gsar Gönpasar Monastery
dgon pa gsar gönpa sarnew monastery Term
dgon pa gsar sku phreng dang po ngag dbang don grub Gönpasar Kutreng Dangpo Ngawang Döndrupfirst Gönpasar incarnation Ngawang Döndrup 18th century Person
dgon pa gsar ri khrod Gönpasar RitröGönpasar Hermitage Monastery
mgon dkar GönkarWhite Mahākāla Buddha
mgon khang gönkhangprotector deity chapel Term
mgon po GönpoMahākāla Buddha
mgon po gtor rgyag Gönpo TorgyakThrowing of the Torma to Mahākāla Ritual
mgon po phyag drug Gönpo ChakdrukSix-Armed Mahākāla Buddha
mgon po a gho Gönpo Agho Buddha
’gyed gepmoney offering to monks Term
rgya mtsho mtha’ yas Gyatso Tayé Person
rgya res Gyaré Buddha
rgya res tshoms chen Gyaré Tsomchen Building
rgyal chen karma ’phrin las Gyelchen Karma Trinlé Buddha
rgyal ba lnga pa chen po Gyelwa Ngapa Chenpothe Great Fifth Dalai Lama 1617-1682 Person
rgyal ba’i rigs lnga bla ri Gyelwé Riknga LariSoul Mountain of the Buddhas of the Five Families Place
rgyal mo tshe ring bkra shis Gyelmo Tsering TrashiQueen Tsering Trashi 18th century Person
rgyal tshab rje Gyeltsapjé 1364-1432 Person
rgyal rabs gsal ba’i me long Gyelrap Selwé MelongThe Clear Mirror: A Royal History Tibetan text title
rgyal rong khang tshan Gyelrong KhangtsenGyelrong Regional House Monastery subunit
rgyugs gyukexamination Term
rgyud stod GyütöUpper Tantric [College] Monastery
rgyud smad GyüméLower Tantric [College] Monastery
rgyud smad grwa tshang Gyümé DratsangThe Lower Tantric College Monastery
rgyun ja gyünjadaily tea or prayer Term
sgo gnyer gonyertemple attendant Term
sgo srung gosungdoor-keeper Term
sgom chen gomchenmeditator Term
sgom sde nam kha’ rgyal mtshan Gomdé Namkha Gyeltsen 1532-1592 Person
sgom sde pa Gomdepa 1532-1592 Person
sgra ’dzin chu mig Dradzin ChumikSound-Catcher (or Ear) Spring Place
sgrub khang drupkhangmeditation hut Term
sgrub khang dge legs rgya mtsho Drupkhang Gelek Gyatso 1641-1713 Person
sgrub khang pa Drupkhangpa 1641-1713 Person
sgrub khang sprul sku Drupkhang TrülkuDrupkhang incarnation Person
sgrub khang bla brang Drupkhang LabrangDrupkhang Lama’s estate Organization
sgrub khang bla ma Drupkhang lama Person
sgrub khang ri khrod Drupkhang RitröDrupkhang Hermitage Monastery
sgrub grwa drupdrapractice center Term
sgrub thabs druptapritual method of realization Term
sgrub sde drupdépractice-center Term
sgrub phug druppukmeditation cave Term
sgrol chog DrölchokTārā Ritual Ritual
sgrol ma DrölmaTārā Buddha
sgrol ma lha khang Drölma LhakhangTārā Chapel Building
brgya gyahundred Term
brgyad gyéeight Term
Nga
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
ngag dbang byams pa Ngawang Jampa 1682-1762 Person
ngag dbang blo bzang rgya mtsho Ngawang Lozang Gyatso 1617-1682 Person
ngag dbang sman rgyal Ngawang Mengyal 20th century Person
ngul gyi par khang ngülgyi parkhangmoney printing press Term
sngags ngakmantra Term
sngags pa ngakpatantric priest Term
sngags pa grwa tshang Ngakpa DratsangTantric College Monastery
Ca
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
gcig bu pa chikbuparecluse Term
bca’ yig chayikconstitution Term
Cha
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
chab rdzing gling kha Chapdzing LingkhaPond Park Place
chu mo yos chumo yöfemale-water-hare (year) Date
chu bzang chupzanggood waters Term
chu bzang Chupzang Monastery
chu bzang dgon Chupzang GönChupzang Nunnery Monastery
chu bzang ye shes rgya mtsho Chupzang Yeshé Gyatso 1789-1856 Person
cho ga phyag len choga chaklenritual Term
chos kyi rdo rje Chökyi Dorjé b. 18th century? Person
chos kyi seng ge Chökyi Senggé Person
chos skyong chökyongprotector deity Term
chos khang rtse ba dgon pa Chökhang Tsewa GönpaChökhang Tsewa Monastery Monastery
chos ’khor dus chen Chönkhor DüchenFestival of the Turning of the Wheel of the Doctrine Festival
chos gos chögöyellow ceremonial robe Term
chos rgyal ChögyelDharmarāja Buddha
chos rgyal khri srong lde’u btsan Chögyel Trisong Detsenthe Buddhist king (of Tibet) Trisong Detsen 742-796 Person
chos rgyal srong btsan sgam po Chögyel Songtsen Gampothe Buddhist king (of Tibet) Songtsen Gampo 617-650 Person
chos thog chötokritual cycle Term
chos sdings Chöding Monastery
chos sdings ri khrod Chöding RitröChöding Hermitage Monastery
chos me khang chömé khangbutter-lamp offering house Term
chos mtshams chötsamdoctrine retreat Term
chos gzhis chözhiestate lands Term
chos rwa chöraDharma enclosure or Dharma courtyard Term
mchod mjal chönjelworship Term
mchod rten dkar chung Chöten KarchungLittle White Stūpa Monument
’chi med lha khang Chimé LhakhangChapel of Deathlessness Building
Ja
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
ja bdun dang thug pa gnyis ja dün dang tukpa nyiseven teas and two soups Term
jo khang Jokhang Monastery
jo ston bsod nams rgyal mtshan Jotön Sönam Gyeltsen 17th century Person
jo bo jowothe Lord Term
jo bo mi bskyod rdo rje Jowo Mikyö Dorjé Buddha
jo mo si si Jomo Sisi Place
’jam dpal bla ri Jampel LariMañjuśrī Peak Place
’jam dpal dbyangs kyi bla ri Jampelyangkyi Larithe Soul-Mountain of Mañjuśrī Place
’jam dbyangs grags pa Jamyang Drakpa Person
’jigs byed kyi me long Jikjekyi MelongMirror of Vajrabhairava Place
’jigs byed lha bcu gsum Jikjé Lha ChuksumThirteen-Deity Vajrabhairava Buddha
’jog po Jokpo Monastery
’jog po ngag dbang bstan ’dzin Jokpo Ngawang Tendzin b. 1748 Person
’jog po bla brang Jokpo LabrangJokpo Lama’s estate Organization
’jog po bla brang Jokpo LabrangJokpo Lama’s residence Organization
’jog po ri khrod Jokpo RitröJokpo Hermitage Monastery
’jog po rin po che Jokpo Rinpoché b. 1748 Person
’jog ri ngag dbang bstan ’dzin Jokri Ngawang Tendzin b. 1748 Person
rje btsun nam mkha’ spyod sgrol rdor dbang mo Jetsün Namkhachö Dröldor WangmoJetsün (or Khachö) Dröldor Wangmo Person
rje btsun bla ma ngag dbang rnam grol Jetsün Lama Ngawang Namdröl Person
rje gzigs pa lnga ldan Jé Zikpa NgadenFive Visions of the Lord (Tsongkhapa) Painting series
rje shes rab seng ge Jé Sherap Senggé 1383-1445 Person
Nya
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
nyang bran Nyangdren Place
nyang bran rgyal chen Nyangdren Gyelchen Buddha
nyi ’od pho brang Nyiwö PodrangPalace of the Rays of the Sun Room
nye ba’i gnas bzhi nyewé né zhiFour Principal Sites Place
gnyer pa nyerpamanager Term
gnyer tshang nyertsangmanager’s room Term
rnying nyingold Term
rnying ma Nyingma Organization
rnying ma sgrub grwa Nyingma drupdraNyingma practice center Term
rnying ma pa Nyingmapa Organization
rnying ma bla ma Nyingma lama Term
snying khrag nyingdrakheart’s-blood Term
bsnyen pa nyenpaapproximation retreat Term
Ta
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
tā rā’i bla ri Taré Larithe Soul-Mountain of Tārā Place
trak shad Trakshé Buddha
gter tertreasure Term
gter bdag srong btsan Terdak SongtsenTreasure Lord Songtsen Buddha
gter nas ston pa terné tönpadiscovered as treasure Term
rta mgrin TamdrinHayagrīva Buddha
rta mgrin gsang sgrub Tamdrin SangdrupHayagrīva in his “Secret Accomplishment” form Buddha
rta ma do nyag Tama Donyak Place
rta tshag ye shes bstan pa’i mgon po Tatsak Yeshé Tenpé Gönpo 1760-1810 Person
rtag brtan taktenpermanent and stable Term
rtags brtan taktenstable sign Term
rtags brten Takten Monastery
rtags brten ri khrod Takten RitröTakten Hermitage Monastery
rtags bstan taktenrevealed sign Term
rtags bstan Takten Monastery
rtags bstan sgrub phug Takten Druppuk Monastery
rtags bstan ri khrod Takten RitröTakten Hermitage Monastery
rten khang tenkhang Term
mchod rten chöten stūpa Monument
bstan ’gyur tengyurCollection of Translated Śāstras Tibetan text title
bstan ’gyur lha khang Tengyur lhakhangTengyur chapel Building
bstan nor mkhar rdo Tennor Khardo b. 1957 Person
bstan ma Tenma Class of deities
Tha
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
thang ka tangka Term
thang stong rgyal po Tangtong Gyelpo 1361-1485 Person
thu’u bkwan Tuken 1737-1802 Person
theg chen gso sbyong Tekchen SojongMahāyāna Precepts Term
phyag stong spyan stong chaktong chentong Thousand-​Armed Thousand-​Eyed Avalokiteśvara Buddhist deity
thogs med rin po che Tokmé Rinpoché 20th century Person
thod smyon bsam grub Tönyön Samdrup 12th century Person
thon mi Tönmi 7th century Person
Da
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
dā ma dama Term
dā ma la nyag Damala Nyak Place
da lai bla ma Dalai Lama Person
da lai bla ma sku phreng dgu pa Dalai Lama Kutreng Gupathe Ninth Dalai Lama 1806-1815 Person
da lai bla ma sku phreng brgyad pa ’jam dpal rgya mtsho Dalai Lama Kutreng Gyepa Jampel Gyatsothe Eighth Dalai Lama Jampel Gyatso 1758-1804 Person
da lai bla ma sku phreng lnga pa Dalai Lama Kutreng Ngapathe Fifth Dalai Lama 1617-1682 Person
da lai bla ma sku phreng lnga pa ngag dbang blo bzang rgya mtsho Dalai Lama Kutreng Ngapa Ngawang Lozang Gyatsothe Fifth Dalai Lama Ngawang Lozang Gyatso 1617-1682 Person
da lai bla ma sku phreng bcu bzhi pa Dalai Lama Kutreng Chuzhipathe Fourteenth Dalai Lama b. 1935 Person
da lai bla ma sku phreng bcu gsum pa Dalai Lama Kutreng Chuksumpathe Thirteenth Dalai Lama 1876-1933 Person
da lai bla ma sku phreng bcu gsum pa thub bstan rgya mtsho Dalai Lama Kutreng Chuksumpa Tupten Gyatsothe Thirteenth Dalai Lama Tupten Gyatso 1876-1933 Person
da lai bla ma sku phreng drug pa Dalai Lama Kutreng Drukpathe Sixth Dalai Lama 1683-1706 Person
da lai bla ma sku phreng bdun pa Dalai Lama Kutreng Dünpathe Seventh Dalai Lama 1708-1757 Person
da lai bla ma sku phreng bdun pa bskal bzang rgya mtsho Dalai Lama Kutreng Dünpa Kelzang Gyatsothe Seventh Dalai Lama Kelzang Gyatso 1708-1757 Person
da lai bla ma sku phreng gsum pa Dalai Lama Kutreng Sumpathe Third Dalai Lama 1543-1588 Person
ḍākinī dakiniḍākinī Term
dam chen chos rgyal Damchen ChögyelDharmarāja Buddha
dung dkar blo bzang ’phrin las Dungkar Lozang Trinlé 1927-1997 Person
dung dkar tshig mdzod Dungkar TsikdzöDungkar Dictionary Tibetan text title
dung dkar tshig mdzod chen mo Dungkar Tsikdzö ChenmoThe Great Dungkar Dictionary Tibetan text title
dung dkar rin po che Dungkar Rinpoché 1927-1997 Person
dur khrod durtröcemetery Term
dus ’khor DükhorKālacakra Buddha
de bi ko ṭi Debi KotiDebikoṭi Place
de mo sku phreng brgyad pa ngag dbang blo bzang thub bstan ’jigs med rgya mtsho Demo Kutreng Gyepa Ngawang Lozang Tupten Jikmé Gyatsothe eighth Demo incarnation Ngawang Lozang Tupten Jikmé Gyatso 1778-1819 Person
dog bde Dodé Place
dog sde DokdéDodé Place
dog sde lho smon Dodé Lhomön Place
dwags po grwa tshang Dakpo DratsangDakpo College Monastery
drag phyogs kyi las drakchokkyi léwrathful magical powers Term
drang nges legs bshad snying po Drangngé Lekshé NyingpoThe Essence of Eloquence that Distinguishes between the Provisional and Definitive Meaning Tibetan text title
drug pa tshe bzhi Drukpa TsezhiSixth-Month Fourth-Day Festival
drung pa brtson ’grus rgyal mtshan Drungpa Tsöndrü Gyeltsen fl. 17th century Person
drung pa rin po che Drungpa Rinpoché fl. 17th century Person
gdan sa densaseats of learning Term
gdan sa gsum Densa Sumthe three great Geluk seats of learning
gdugs dkar Dukar Buddha
gdugs pa’i bla ri Dukpé Larithe Parasol Soul Mountain Place
gdugs yur dgon Dukyur Gön Monastery
gdung rten dungtenfunerary stūpa Term
bdag bskyed dakkyéself-generation Term
bdag ’jug danjukself-initiation Term
bde chen pho brang Dechen PodrangPalace of Great Bliss Room
bde mchog DemchokCakrasaṃvara Buddha
bde mchog gi pho brang Demchokgi PodrangPalace of Cakrasaṃvara Place
bde mchog bla mchod Demchok LachöOffering to the Master Based on the Deity Cakrasaṃvara Ritual
bde mchog bla ri Demchok LariSoul Mountain of Demchok Place
mdo skal bzang Do KelzangSūtra of Good Fortune Tibetan text title
’du khang dukhangassembly hall Term
’dra sku drakusimulacrum (type of statue) Term
rdo sku dokustone image Term
rdo cung cong zhi’i phug pa Dochung Chongzhi PukpaCavern of Dochung Chongzhi Place
rdo rje ’jigs byed Dorjé Jikjé Vajrabhairava Buddha
rdo rje rnal ’byor ma Dorjé NeljormaVajrayoginī Buddha
rdo rje btsun mo Dorjé Tsünmo Buddha
rdo rje g.yu sgron ma Dorjé Yudrönma Buddha
rdo rje shugs ldan Dorjé Shukden Buddha
rdo rje sems dpa’ Dorjé SempaVajrasattva Buddha
rdo gter Dodé Place
rdo ring Doring Clan
sdig pa chen po dikpa chenpogreat sin Term
sde srid desiregent Term
sde srid sangs rgyas rgya mtsho Desi Sanggyé Gyatso 1653-1705 Person
Na
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
na chung rtse mo ri Nachung Tsemo Ri Place
na ro mkha’ spyod ma Naro Kachöma Buddha
na ro mkha’ spyod ma’i bdag ’jug Naro Khachömé DanjukSelf-initiation Ritual of Naro Khachöma Ritual
nag chu Nakchu Place
nag chu zhabs brtan dgon pa Nakchu Zhapten Gönpa Monastery
nag ril chen po zhig nakril chenpo zhika large dark shape Term
nang rten gtso bo nangten tsowomain inner image(s) Term
nam mkha’ rgyal mtshan Namkha Gyeltsen 1532-1592 Person
nor bu gling kha Norbu Lingkha Place
gnas kyi bla ma nekyi lamahead lama Term
gnas sgo gdong Negodong Monastery
gnas sgo gdong ri khrod Negodong Hermitage Monastery
gnas bcu lha khang Nechu LhakhangTemple of the Sixteen Arhats Building
gnas chung Nechung Buddha
gnas brtan bcu drug Neten ChudrukSixteen Arhats Ritual
gnas brtan bcu drug Neten ChudrukSixteen Arhats Buddha
gnas brtan phyag mchod Neten ChakchöOffering of Homage to the (Sixteen) Arhats Ritual
gnas brtan bla ri Neten Larithe Soul-Mountain of the Arhats Place
gnas bdag nedaksite deity Term
gnas nang Nenang Monastery
gnas nang dgon pa Nenang GönpaNenang Nunnery Monastery
gnas nang ri khrod Nenang RitröNenang Hermitage Monastery
gnas mo Nemo Place
gnas rtsa chen po né tsa chenpoa holy site Term
gnas ri nerimountain-abode Term
rnam grol lag bcangs Namdröl LakchangLiberation in Our Hands Tibetan text title
rnam rgyal Namgyel Monastery
rnam sras NamséVaiśravana Buddha
rnam sras bang mdzod Namsé BangdzöTreasure-House of Vaiśravaṇa Room
rnal ’byor ma’i bdag ’jug Neljormé DanjukSelf-Initiation Ritual of Vajrayoginī Ritual
Pa
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
padma ’byung gnas Pema JungnéPadmasambhava 8th century Person
paṇ chen sku phreng gsum pa Penchen Kutreng Sumpathe Third Penchen Lama Person
paṇ chen bde legs nyi ma Penchen Delek Nyima 16th century Person
paṇ chen bla ma Penchen Lama Person
paṇ chen blo bzang ye shes Penchen Lozang Yeshé 1663-1737 Person
po ta la Potala Building
po to ba rin chen gsal Potowa Rinchen Sel 1027/31-1105 Person
dpa’ grong shag pa Padrong Shakpa Clan
dpal ldan lha mo Pelden Lhamo Buddha
dpal ’byor rab rgyas Peljor Rapgyé 1604-1669 Person
dpal lha mo Pel Lhamo Buddha
dpe cha ba pechawatextualist Term
dpe mtshams petsamtextual retreat Term
dpyid kyi rgyal mo’i klu dbyangs Chikyi Gyelmo LuyangThe Nāga Song of the Queen of Springtime Tibetan text title
spang lung Panglung Monastery
spang lung ri khrod Panglung RitröPanglung Hermitage Monastery
spangs lung sku phreng dang po blo bzang thugs rje Panglung Kutreng Dangpo Lozang Tukjéthe first Panglung incarnation Lozang Tukjé 1770-ca. 1835 Person
spo ’bo ra spyi khang Bombora Chikhang Building
spyi mi chimirepresentative Term
sprul sku trülkuincarnation Term
Pha
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
pha dam pa Pa Dampa b. 11th century Person
pha dam pa sangs rgyas Pa Dampa Sanggyé b. 11th century Person
pha bong PabongThe Boulder Building
pha bong kha Pabongkha Monastery
pha bong kha PabongkhaThe Boulder House Building
pha bong kha rgya mtsho mtha’ yas Pabongkha Gyatso Tayé b. 18th century Person
pha bong kha bde chen snying po Pabongkha Dechen Nyingpo 1878-1941 Person
pha bong kha pa Pabongkhapa 1878-1941 Person
pha bong kha sprul sku Pabongkha TrülkuPabongkha incarnation Person
pha bong kha bla brang Pabongkha LabrangPabongkha Lama’s estate Organization
pha bong kha ri khrod Pabongkha RitröPabongkha Hermitage Monastery
pha bong kha rin po che Pabongkha Rinpoché 1878-1941 Person
pha bong kha’i dkar chag Pabongkhé KarchakA Catalogue of Pabongkha Tibetan text title
phag mo gru pa Pakmo Drupa Organization
phun tshogs ’phrin las Püntsok Trinlé 20th century Person
phun tshogs rab rgyas Püntsok Rapgyé 20th century Person
phur lcog Purchok Monastery
phur lcog sku phreng gnyis pa blo bzang byams pa Purchok Kutreng Nyipa Lozang Jampathe second Purchok incarnation Lozang Jampa 1763-1823 Person
phur lcog sku phreng dang po ngag dbang byams pa Purchok Kutreng Dangpo Ngawang Jampathe first Purchok incarnation Ngawang Jampa 1682-1762 Person
phur lcog sku phreng gsum pa blo bzang tshul khrims byams pa rgya mtsho Purchok Kutreng Sumpa Lozang Tsültrim Jampa Gyatsothe third Purchok incarnation Lozang Tsültrim Jampa Gyatso 1825-1901 Person
phur lcog sku phreng gsum pa yongs ’dzin byams pa rgya mtsho Purchok Kutreng Sumpa Yongdzin Jampa Gyatsothe third Purchok incarnation Yongdzin Jampa Gyatso Person
phur lcog ngag dbang byams pa Purchok Ngawang Jampa 1682-1762 Person
phur lcog bla brang Purchok LabrangPurchok Lama’s estate Organization
phur lcog bla ma Purchok lama Person
phur lcog blo bzang tshul khrims byams pa rgya mtsho Purchok Lozang Tsültrim Jampa Gyatso 1825-1901 Person
phur lcog ri Purchok RiPurchok Mountain Place
phur lcog ri khrod Purchok RitröPurchok Hermitage Monastery
phur lcog rigs gsum byang chub gling gi byung ba mdo tsam brjod pa Purchok Riksum Jangchup Linggi Jungwa Dotsam JöpaA Brief Explanation of the History of Purchok Riksum Jangchup Ling Tibetan text title
phur lcog rigs gsum byang chub gling gi byung ba mdo tsam brjod pa dad gsum ’dren pa’i lcags kyu Purchok Riksum Jangchup Linggi Jungwa Dotsam Jöpa Desum Drenpé ChakkyuA Brief History of Purchok Riksum Jangchup Ling: A Hook to Draw in the Three Types of Faith Tibetan text title
phur lcog rin po che Purchok Rinpoché Person
phur bu lcog Purbuchok Monastery
phur bu lcog ri khrod PurbuchokRitrö Monastery
phur byung PurjungA Brief History of Purchok Tibetan text title
pho brang ngos podrang ngöthe actual palace Term
pho lha nas Polhané 1689-1747 Person
phyag mdzod chandzöadministrative head Term
phyi dar chidarlater propagation period Term
phrin las rgya mtsho Trinlé Gyatso d. 1667 Person
’phags pa Pakpa 1235-1280 Person
’phags pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa brgyad stong pa’i mdo Pakpa Sherapkyi Paröltu Chinpa Gyetongpé DoEight Thousand-Line Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra Āryāṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra Tibetan text title
’phan po Penpo Place
’pho ba powatransition of consciousness Term
Ba
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
bar skor Barkor Place
sangs rgyas sanggyé Buddha Buddhist deity
bai ḍūrya ser po Baidurya SerpoYellow Lapis Tibetan text title
bod ljongs nang bstan Böjong NangtenTibetan Buddhism Tibetan journal title
bod ljongs mi dmangs dpe skrun khang Böjong Mimang Petrünkhang Publisher
byang JangNorthern Tibet Place
byang chub chos ’phel Jangchup Chöpel 1756-1838 Person
byang chos ’khor gling Jang Chökhor Ling Monastery
byams khang JamkhangMaitreya Chapel Room
byams chen chos rje Jamchen Chöjé 1354-1435 Person
byams pa JampaMaitreya Buddha
byams pa gling Jampa Ling Monastery
byams pa bstan ’dzin ’phrin las rgya mtsho Jampa Tendzin Trinlé Gyatso 1878-1941 Person
byams pa thub bstan rin po che Jampa Tupten Rinpoché 20th century Person
byin can jinchenblessed Term
byin rlabs jinlapblessing Term
byes Monastery
byes mkhan po rgyal mtshan don grub Jé Khenpo Gyeltsen Döndrup 17th century Person
byes sgom sde khang tshan Jé Gomdé KhangtsenJé Gomdé Regional House Monastery subunit
byes ’du khang Jé DukhangJé College Assembly Hall Building
byes har gdong khang tshan Jé Hamdong KhangtsenHamdong Regional House of the Jé College Monastery subunit
brag mchod sa Drak ChösaOffering Place Cave Place
brag ri Drakri Monastery
brag ri drakricrag Term
brag ri sku phreng gnyis pa rgya mtsho chos ’byor Drakri Kutreng Nyipa Gyatso Chönjorthe second Drakri incarnation Gyatso Chönjor b. 19th century Person
brag ri rgya mtsho mtha’ yas Drakri Gyatso Tayé Person
brag ri sprul sku Drakri TrülkuDrakri incarnation Person
brag ri sprul sku blo bzang theg mchog dbang po Drakri Trülku Lozang Tekchok Wangpothe Drakri incarnation Lozang Tekchok Wangpo Person
brag ri bla brang Drakri LabrangDrakri Lama’s estate Organization
brag ri bla ma Drakri lama Person
brag ri ri khrod Drakri RitröDrakri Hermitage Monastery
brag ri rin po che Drakri Rinpoché Person
bla brang labranglama’s estate Term
bla ma lama Term
bla ma mchod pa tshog Lama Chöpa TsokOffering-Ritual to the Lama Ritual
bla ma zhang Lama Zhang 1123-1193 Person
bla ri larisoul mountain Term
blo bzang sgom chung Lozang GomchungLozang the Little Meditator Person
blo bzang ye shes bstan ’dzin rgya mtsho Lozang Yeshé Tendzin Gyatso 1901-1981 Person
dbang ’dus ’khor lo Wangdü KhorloCycle for Gathering Power Tibetan text title
dbang phyug chen po Wangchuk ChenpoMaheśvara Buddha
dbu gdugs ri UdukriMount Parasol Place
dbu mdzad umdzéchant leader Term
dben gnas enésolitary site Term
dben sa ensasolitary place Term
dben sa pa ensaparecluse Term
dben sa pa EnsapaEnsapa 1504/5-1565/6 Person
dben sa pa blo bzang don grub Ensapa Lozang Döndrup 1504/5-1565/6 Person
dbyar gnas yarnérainy-season retreat Term
’bras spungs Drepung Monastery
’brog pa drokpanomad Term
sba ri Bari
sba ri bla brang Bari LabrangBari Lama’s estate Organization
sba ri bla ma Bari lama Person
sba ri ri khrod Bari RitröBari Hermitage Monastery
sba ri rin po che Bari Rinpoché Person
sbyin bdag jindakpatron Term
Ma
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
ma cig lab sgron Machik Lapdrön 12th century Person
ma ṇi bka’ ’bum Mani KabumThe Compendium on the Maṇi [Mantra] Tibetan text title
ma ṇi ’khor lo mani khorlomani wheel Term
ma ṇi lha khang mani lhakhangmani [wheel] temple Term
maṇḍala mendelmaṇḍala Term
mi chos gtsang ma bcu drug michö tsangma chudruksixteen rules of purity for the populace Term
mi dbang byams pa Miwang JampaMaitreya as Lord of Men Buddha
mi g.yo ba MiyowaAcala Buddha
mi la’i brag Milé DrakCave of Mila Cave
mi ser miserserf Term
me tog char babs metog charbaprained flowers Term
me mo phag memopakfemale-fire-pig (year) Date
mes dbon Mewön Person
mo barha nyag Mo Barha Nyak Place
dmar gdung mardungmummified corpse Term
rmog tho ’go Moktogo Place
smad Monastery
smad ’du khang Mé DukhangMé College Assembly Hall Building
smad bla zur blo bzang don grub Mé Lazur Lozang Döndrup Person
sman bla MenlaMedicine Buddha Buddha
sman bla MenlaMedicine Buddha Ritual
sman bla bde gshegs brgyad Menla Deshek GyéRitual of the Eight Medicine Buddhas Ritual
sman bla bde gshegs brgyad Menla Deshek GyéEight Medicine Buddhas Buddha
sman bla yid bzhin dbang rgyal Menla Yizhin WanggyelMedicine Buddha [Ritual]: Yizhin Wanggyel Ritual
smyung gnas nyungnéfasting ritual Ritual
Tsa
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
tsa khang tsakhangclay tablet repository Term
tsa tsa tsatsapressed-clay tablets Term
tsong kha brgyad bcu Tsongkha GyepchuEighty Deeds of Tsongkhapa Series of paintings
tsong kha pa Tsongkhapa 1357-1419 Person
gtsang Tsang Place
btsan khang tsenkhangtsen chapel Term
rtsa shes ṭīk chen Tsashé TikchenGreat Commentary on the Prajñāmūla Tibetan text title
rtsa gsum lha khang Tsasum Lhakhang“Three Roots” Chapel Room
rtsam pa tsampa Term
Tsha
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
tsha khang tshan Tsa KhangtsenTsa Regional House Monastery subunit
tshal pa bka’ brgyud Tselpa Kagyü Organization
tshe mchog gling Tsechokling Monastery
tshe dpag med lha dgu Tsepakmé LhaguNine Deities [related to] Amitāyus Buddha
tshes bcu phug TsechupukCave of the Tenth Day Room
tshes bcu lha khang Tsechu LhakhangTemple of the Tenth Day Room
tshogs chen TsokchenGreat Assembly Hall Building
tshogs chen sprul sku Tsokchen Trülkuincarnation of the Great Assembly Hall Term
tshogs gtam tsoktampublic admonition Term
tshogs bdag lag na ’khor lo Tsokdak Lakna KhorloCycle on Gaṇeśa Tibetan text title
tshong pa tsongpamerchant Term
tshoms chen shar Tsomchen SharEastern Assembly Hall Building
mtshan zhabs tsenzhapassistant tutor Term
mtshams pa tsamparetreatant Term
mtsho tsolake Term
mtsho sngon po Tso NgönpoKokonor Place
mtshon cha’i ’khor lo tsönché khorlowheel of weapons Term
Dza
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
mdzo dzo Term
’dzam gling rgyas bshad Dzamling GyeshéExtensive Explanation of the World Tibetan text title
Wa
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
wāginḍamatibhadrapaṭu bandashāsadharasagara Vagindamatibhadrapatu Bandashasadharasagara Person
Zha
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
zhang ’gro ba’i mgon po g.yu brag pa Zhang Drowé Gönpo Yudrakpa 1123-1193 Person
zhabs rjes zhapjéfootprint Term
zhabs brtan zhaptenritual Term
zhi byed ZhijéPacification Organization
zhing pa zhingpafarmer Term
gzhi bdag zhidaksite-spirit Term
gzhung dgon zhunggönstate monastery Term
gzhung sgo zhunggomain door Term
gzhung pa khang tshan Zhungpa KhangtsenZhungpa Regional House Monastery subunit
Za
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
zangs dkar ZangkarZangskar Place
zangs mdog dpal ri Zangdok PelriGlorious Copper-Colored Mountain Place
zangs ri Zangri Place
zangs ri mkhar dmar Zangri Karmar Monastery
gzim khang zimkhangresidence Term
gzims khang gong ma Zimkhang GongmaUpper Residence Building
gzungs ’bul zungbülto offer zung [inside of statues] Term
bzod pa rgya mtsho Zöpa Gyatso 1672-1749 Person
’A
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
’od zer phung po che Özer PungpochéGreat Heap of Light Place
’ol khar ÖlkharÖlkhar Place
Ya
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
yang gam yanggamwealth-box Term
yi dam yidamtutelary deities Term
yig cha yikcha(a monastery’s) ritual texts Term
yul nyer bzhi’i ya rgyal/ de bi ko ṭi dang ming gzhan pha bong kha byang chub shing gi nags khrod du bkod pa’i dkar chag dad ldan padmo rgyas byed gzi sbyin ’od stong ’bar ba’i nor bu Yül Nyerzhi Yagyel/ Debi Koti dang Mingzhen Pabongkha Jangchup Shinggi Naktrödu Kopé Karchak Deden Pemo Gyejé Zijin Ötong Barwé NorbuAn Inventory of [the Institution that,] from among the Four Sites, is Debikoṭi, a.k.a. Pabongkha, Forest of Bodhi Trees: A Jewel Radiating a Thousand Rays, the Resplendent Ripener of the Lotus of the Faithful Tibetan text title
ye shes rgyal mtshan Yeshé Gyeltsen 1713-1793 Person
yongs ’dzin ye shes rgyal mtshan Yongdzin Yeshé Gyeltsen 1713-1793 Person
Ra
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
ra kha brag Rakhadrak Monastery
ra kha brag ri khrod Rakhadrak RitröRakhadrak Hermitage Monastery
ra kha brag a zhu bsod nams Rakhadrak Azhu Sönam b. 17th century Person
ra mo che RamochéGreat Female Goat [Temple] Building
ra sa Rasa Place
rang byon rangjönself-arisen image Term
rab byung rapjungcalendrical cycle Term
rab gsal rapselsun room Term
ri rithe mountain Term
ri khrod ritröhermitage Term
ri khrod pa ritröpahermit Term
ri ’khor rikhormountain circumambulation
ri ’go sgo ma Rigo Goma Place
ri chen gsum Richen SumThree Great Mountains Place
rigs pa’i rgya mstho Rikpé GyatsoOcean of Reasoning Tibetan text title
rigs ’dzin chos kyi rdo rje Rikdzin Chökyi Dorjé b. 1790? Person
rigs gsum mgon po Riksum GönpoThree Protectors Buddha
rigs gsum mgon po lha khang Riksum Gönpo LhakhangTemple of the Three Protectors Building
rin po che rinpoché Term
rus sbal pho rübelpomale turtle Place
rus sbal mo rübelmofemale turtle Place
rwa sgreng Radreng d. 1947 Person
rwa sgreng sku sgreng lnga pa Radreng Kutreng Ngapathe fifth Radreng incarnation d. 1947 Person
rwa sgreng rin po che Radreng Rinpoché d. 1947 Person
La
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
lam rim lamrimgraded stages of the path Term
lam rim ’jam dpal zhal lung Lamrim Jampel ZhellungThe Revelations of Mañjuśrī: A Lamrim Tibetan text title
lam rim bde lam Lamrim DelamThe Easy Path: A Lamrim Tibetan text title
las rung lerungenabling retreat Term
li thang Litang Place
lo gsar LosarNew Year Festival
Sha
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
shug pa’i nags bla ri Shukpé Nak LariThe Soul-Mountain of Juniper Forests Place
shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa’i mdo Sherapkyi Paröltu Chinpé DoPerfection of Wisdom Sūtras Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra Tibetan text title
gshin rje’i rang thag Shinjé Rangtakthe Mill of the Shinjé Term
bshes gnyen tshul khrims Shenyen Tsültrim 20th century Person
Sa
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
sa skya Sakya Organization
sa skya pa Sakyapa Organization
sa skya pa bsod nams rgyal mtshan Sakyapa Sönam Gyeltsen Person
sa brtag sataksite investigation Term
sa bdag sadakgeo-spirits Term
sa dpyad sachésite investigations Term
sa pho bya sapojamale-earth-bird (year) Date
sa sbyang sajangpurity of the site Term
sangs rgyas rgya mtsho Sanggyé Gyatso 1653-1705 Person
sad mi mi bdun semi midünthe first seven Tibetan monks Term
sin dhu ra sindura sindhura Term
se ra Sera Monastery
se ra byes grwa tshang Sera Dratsang JéSera Jé College Monastery
se ra sngags pa grwa tshang Sera Ngakpa DratsangSera Tantric College Monastery
se ra chos sdings Sera Chöding Monastery
se ra chos sdings ri khrod Sera Chöding RitröSera Chöding Hermitage Monastery
se ra theg chen khang gsar Sera Tekchen Khangsar Building
se ra theg chen gling Sera Tekchen LingSera Mahāýāna Monastery Monastery
se ra pa ’jam dbyangs grags pa Serapa Jamyang Drakpa b. 17th century Person
se ra spyi so Sera chisoSera as a whole Monastery
se ra phur pa Sera purpaSera dagger Term
se ra byes Sera JéSera Jé (College) Monastery
se ra dbu rtse Sera Utsé Monastery
se ra dbu rtse Sera utséSera peak Term
se ra dbu rtse ri khrod Sera Utsé RitröSera Utsé Hermitage Monastery
se ra smad Sera MéSera Mé (College) Monastery
se ra rtse Sera tséSera peak Term
se ra tshogs chen Sera TsokchenSera Great Assembly Hall Building
se ra’i ri khrod Seré ritröhermitage of Sera Term
se ra’i ri ’khor Seré RikhorSera Mountain Circumambulation Circuit Pilgrimage cycle
seng gdong ma SengdongmaLion-Headed Ḍākinī Buddha
ser smad thos bsam nor gling grwa tshang gi chos ’byung lo rgyus nor bu’i phreng ba Sermé Tösam Norling Dratsanggi Chöjung Logyü Norbü TrengwaA History of the Sermé Tösam Norling College: A Garland of Jewels Tibetan text title
ser smad lo rgyus Sermé LogyüA History of Sermé Tibetan text title
srung ma sungmaprotector deity Term
srog snying soknyinglife-essence Term
srong btsan sgam po Songtsen Gampo 604-650 Person
slob dpon loppönsenior teacher Term
gsag sbyang sakjangaccumulation and purification Term
gsang ba ’dus pa Sangwa DüpaGuhyasamāja Buddha
gsar sarnew Term
gsung byon ma sungjönmaspeaking-statue Term
gser ma hā Ser Maha Buddha
gser yig pa seryikpabearer of the golden letter Term
gso sbyong Sojongmonastic confession ritual Ritual
bsangs gsol dar ’dzugs sangsöl dardzuk(to) make burnt juniper offerings and raise flags Term
Ha
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
ha ha rgod pa’i dur khrod Haha Göpé Durtrö Place
har gdong khang tshan Hamdong KhangtsenHamdong Regional House Monastery subunit
hwa shang Hashang Person
lha mo Lhamo Buddha
lha mo khar Lhamokhar Place
lha mo nyi ma gzhon nu Lhamo Nyima Zhönnu Buddha
lha mo nyi gzhon Lhamo Nyizhön Buddha
lha btsun rin po che Lhaptsün Rinpoché Person
lha btsun rin po che’i bla brang Lhaptsün Rinpoché LabrangLhaptsün Rinpoché’s estate Organization
lha btsun rin po che’i bla brang Lhaptsün Rinpoché Labrangestate of Lhaptsün Rinpoché Organization
lha bzang Lhazang d. 1717 Person
lha bzang khāng Lhazang KhangLhazang Khan d. 1717 Person
lha lung dpal gyi rdo rje Lhalung Pelgyi Dorjé 9th century Person
lha sa Lhasa Place
lha sa’i dgon tho Lhasé GöntoA Catalogue of the Monasteries of Lhasa Tibetan text title
lha sa’i dgon tho rin chen spungs rgyan Lhasé Gönto Rinchen PunggyenA Catalogue of the Monasteries of Lhasa: A Heap of Jewels Tibetan text title
lho pa khang tshan Lhopa KhangtsenLhopa Regional House Monastery subunit
a kha bsod nams bzang po Akha Sönam Zangpo b. 17th century Person
A
Extended WyliePhoneticsEnglishSanskritDateType
a khu rin po che Akhu Rinpoché 1803-1875 Person
a mdo rdo rje sku ’bum Amdo Dorjé Kumbum Place
a ma amamother Term
oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ om mani peme humoṃ maṇi padme hūṃ Mantra

Notes
[1] Most of the account of Khardo Hermitage (Khardo Ritrö) is based on an extensive interview with a former monk of the monastery conducted in Lhasa in 2004. This informant states that there exists a catalogue (karchak) for the hermitage (ritrö) written by its founder, Khardo Zöpa Gyatso (1672-1749), but this text was not available to me; neither is it mentioned in the TBRC database entry that lists Zöpa Gyatso (1672-1749)’s texts.
[2] Or it may be that the informant said Khrungs ba’i bla ri, in which case it would be “Birth Soul Mountain.”
[3] The spelling of this name is conjectural. If it is accurate, it means The Cave That Is a Place of Worship.
[4] When the Khardo Lama found the texts, he asked for 100 monks to be sent from the Lhopa Regional House (Lhopa Khangtsen) of Sera to help carry them away, but the regional house (khangtsen) only sent one monk. As a result, only the volume of the Sūtra of Good Fortune (Do Kelzang) was recovered from the cave (the rest presumably disappeared because they were not disinterred in time). This special volume of the Sūtra of Good Fortune apparently still exists, being kept at Sera .
[5] Both the spelling and the meaning of this term are unclear.
[6] Réne de Nebesky-Wojkowitz has described this machine in his Oracles and Demons of Tibet (Taipei: SMC Publishing, nd), 493, where he calls it “the Mill of the Shinjé” (Shinjé Rangtak): “It consists of two millstones. The lower is firmly fixed, the upper one can be turned with the help of a handle. Into the surface of the upper stone has been chiseled a number of powerful mantras. The gShin rje rang thag serves as an instrument to kill the leader of a hostile party, and it may be turned only by a learned, high-ranking priest specially nominated by the authorities. In the initial stages of this action the priest has to concentrate his thoughts upon a few seeds of white mustard, into which he tries to transfer the ‘life-essence’ (srog snying) of the enemies. As soon as certain secret signs indicate that this process has been successfully accomplished, he has to place the seeds between the millstones and grind them under the chanting of mantras. Tradition alleges that turning the gShin rje rang thag is a process dangerous even to the person who handles the mill, and several priests who have carried out this task are said to have died soon afterwards.”
[7] The word gong ma can mean “upper/higher,” but it can also refer to the emperor (in this case, the Dalai Lama). Either interpretation makes sense, given that this building (a) is higher on the mountain than the main compound, and (b) was constructed as a residence for the Seventh Dalai Lama Kelzang Gyatso (Dalai Lama Kutreng Dünpa Kelzang Gyatso) when he came to visit his teacher Zöpa Gyatso.
[8] This is the date given by Dung dkar blo bzang ’phrin las, Dung dkar tshig mdzod chen mo (Krung go’i bod kyi shes rig dpe skrun khang, 2002), 432. However, according to an informant, Zöpa Gyatso lived at the site from the time he was 24 years old (that is, from 1796/7), and perhaps even a few years before that.
[9] The details of the life of the various Khardo incarnations that follow are based on an informant’s account. For a slightly different version of the life of Khardowa, see the Introduction to the Hermitages.
[10] On this figure, see the Introduction to the Hermitages.
[11] See above concerning the miracle associated with the Great Heap of Light Cave.
[12] One of these, Nakchu Zhapten Gönpa, eventually came under the aegis of the Drupkhang Lama’s estate (Drupkhang labrang).
[13] From this point on, there has been an important connection between Drapchi and Khardo. For example, only the Khardo rituals are performed at Drapchi even though the temple itself belongs to the Purchok Lama’s estate (Purchok labrang).
[14] The spelling of this word is uncertain. Alternatives include Gachö Ying and Khachö Ying.
[15] This is the seventh Khardo incarnation Jampel Tendzin Nyendrak Gyatso (Khardo Kutreng Dünpa Jampel Tendzin Nyendrak Gyatso).

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About

Collection Sera Hermitages
Visibility Public - accessible to all site users
Author José Ignacio Cabezón
Year published 2006
Language English
Subjects
Places
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UID mandala-texts-16270
DOI
Rights Copyright © 2006 by José Ignacio Cabezón and THL