Drikung Kagyu or
Drigung Kagyu (
Wylie: <nowiki>'</nowiki>bri-kung bka'-brgyud) is one of the eight "minor" lineages of the
Kagyu school of
Tibetan Buddhism. "Major" here refers to those Kagyu lineages founded by the immediate disciples of
Gampopa (1079-1153) while "minor" refers to all the lineages founded by disciples of
Phakmo Drupa (1110-1170), one of the three main disciples of Gampopa. The first and main Drigung Kagyu monastery is
Drikung Thil Monastery, by
Drikung Kyobpa Jikten Gönpo Rinchen Päl (1143-1217) approximately 150 kilometers northeast of
Lhasa. Aside from the Drigung Valley in Central Tibet, Drikung Kagyu has a strong presence in Nangchen in eastern Tibet, in western Tibet (including Kailash) and Ladakh. Tsari and Lapchi - two important sacred sites for all Tibetan Buddhists - also have a strong Drikung Kagyu presence. Among the so-called "four major and eight minor" Kagyu lineages, Drikung Kagyu is one of four Kagyu lineages that continue to exist as independent institutions (the other three being,
Karma Kagyu,
Drukpa Kagyu and
Taklung Kagyu).
A sub-school of the Drikung was the
Lhapa or Lhanangpa sect which was influential in western
Bhutan from the arrival of Gyalwa Lhanangpa (b.1164) in 1194 down to the time of
Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. Members of the Lhapa...
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