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Kagyu Tradition Outline Page

Kagyu Tradition"The Kagyu tradition [Outline Page] originated in the 11th century with the Tibetan translator Marpa (mar pa), his famous disciple Milarepa (mi la ras pa) and his disciple Gampopa (sgam po pa), who merged the lay tradition with the Kadampa (bka' gdams pa) monasticism and scholarly focus that he had previously studied. Gampopa founded the first Kagyu monastery, Daglha Gampo (dwags lha sgam po) in Dagpo, southern Tibet. Following Gampopa the tradition split into multiple autonomous subsects, listed below. All claim allegiance to the tantric teachings of the Indian Mahasiddha tradition, primarily that of Naropa, in the form of the Six Doctrines of Naropa (na ro chos drug) and the doctrine of Mahamudra. The Kagyu were also heavily involved in the transmission of the Chakrasamvara, Hevajra, among other tantras of the Second Propagation era.


The traditional - though not very old - way of classifying the Kagyu lineages was evidently invented by members of the Drugpa Kagyu. These are all covered by the general term Dagpo Kagyu (dwags po bka' brgyud), the name stemming from the monastery Gampopa founded in 1121." (Dan Martin, 2009)