Karma Kagyu School
The Karma Kagyu School is one of the major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It is a lineage of direct oral transmission and treasures meditation and view as a means to attain enlightenment. The Karma Kagyu methods originate from the historical Buddha Shakyamuni and were given to his closest students. They were later passed on through the Indian Mahasiddhas, Tilopa, Naropa, Maitripa, and the famous Tibetan yogis Marpa and Milarepa. In the 12th century, Gampopa taught the first Gyalwa Karmapa, whose successive incarnations have kept these teachings powerful and vibrant over centuries. Today, great Tibetan and Bhutanese teachers (lamas) such as H.H. the 17th Karmapa Thaye Dorje, H.H. Kunzig Shamarpa, and Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche transmit this unbroken tradition when visiting the many Karma Kagyu centers around the world.
The Karma Kagyu school offers practical teachings applicable to everyday life. It gives a wealth of methods for lay people and yogis to develop mind's inherent richness and clarity both through formal meditation and in one's daily activities.
Overview
Karma Kagyu Lineage is the Yogic transmission among the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It
encompasses both the old (Nyingma) and the new (Sarma) teachings which reached
Tibet. Being heavily practice oriented, the Kagyu is called the "oral" or the "perfection"
school. The origin of the Kagyu Lineage dates back to the ninth century at the time of the full flowering of
Tantric Buddhism in India. The first teacher in this tradition was Tilopa, the renowned yogi and
Mahasiddha (perfected one). Tilopa received the transmission directly from Dorje Chang (Skt. Vajradhara),
the celestial Buddha who symbolizes the Dharmakaya, the ultimate mind. Tilopa in turn gave the
whispered teachings to Naropa who had previously been chancellor of Nalanda University in India.
Naropa's twelve years of service to Tilopa are regarded as a great example of devotion to one's teacher. more>
A Brief History of the Karma Kagyu Lineage of Tibet
by Topga Yulgyal Rinpoche
The Kagyu lineage, sometimes referred to as the "oral lineage" of Tibet, originated with the great yogi Tilopa, who lived in Northern India around the 10th century A.D. He is considered the founder of the lineage and, in addition, he received four special transmissions (Tib: bka-babs-bzhi) for which he became the lineage holder. more>
