Samye Library

Belwong Kālasiddhi was a wisdom ḍākinī and one of the five principal consorts of Guru Rinpoche. She is accepted as an emanation of the enlightened qualities of Vajravārāhī.

The “Lord of Secrets”, Dharmevajra is an emanation of Samantabhadra and Vajradhara as the requester and compiler of the tantric teachings.

Söntar Chönchok Rinpoché (19th-20th century) was a close dharma friend of Samten Gyatso. He was known as a great renunciant and meditator who spent most of his life in mountain hermitages. According to tradition he was the emanation of Namkhai Nyingpo, one of the twenty-five disciples of Guru Rinpoche. He was the root guru of Tsangsar Chimé Dorje.

Sangyum Dechen Chödrön, (Sukha Dharma) was the first spiritual consort, or “sangyum” of Chokgyur Lingpa. She was known more widely as Lady Degah, and also by the name Dekyi Chodron.

Gyurme Tsewang Tenpel (1889–1956), also known as Tersé Tulku, was one of the four sons of Chokgyur Lingpa's daughter Könchok Paldrön. He was recognized as the rebirth of his mother's brother, Tsewang Drakpa, the oldest son of Chogyur Lingpa.

The Sangtik Dorsem practice comes from one of the profound treasures of the great Tertön Chokgyur Dechen Shikpo Lingpa, the Triple Cycle of the Secret Essence (Sangtik Korsum).

Kurukulla is a powerful semi-wrathful female deity belonging to the Lotus family. She is a feminine embodiment of enlightened wisdom and is a dakini skilled in magnetizing everything required by the practitioner.

Lha Bab Düchen in Tibetan translates as, ‘The Festival of the Descent from Heaven.’ We celebrate this great event on the 22nd day of the ninth month of the Tibetan lunar calendar, marking the descent of the Buddha from the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven (the Heaven belonging to the thirty-three deities).

Guru Dorjé Drolö, or ‘Wild Wrathful Vajra’ is an extremely wrathful form that Guru Rinpoche manifested at thirteen different places in the Himalayan region named Taktsang or ‘Tiger's Lair’.

Vajrasattva, (Tib. Dorjé Sempa) is the sambhogakaya buddha, the sovereign of all the buddha families. His name translates as "Diamond being" or "Thunderbolt being".

Ratnasambhava’s name (Tib. Rinchen Jungné) translates as ‘Source of Jewels’ or ‘Unobstructed Accomplishment’. He is the buddha of the Ratna or Jewel family and presides over the buddha field known as Śrīmat, (Tib. Paldangdenpa) translated as ‘Realm of Splendor’ (or Magnificence) located to the south.

The city of Sarnath, referred to in early texts as Isipatana, was the site of the Buddha's first teaching to five followers, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta.

Nyungné is a fasting ritual practice from the Kriya Tantra collection focused on the 1000-armed Avalokiteshvara. This practice helps to purify negative karma and to develop great compassion in a swift way.

Longchen Rabjam was said to be an an emanation of Princess Pema Sal,the youngest daughter of King Tri Song Detsen and a direct student of Guru Padmasambhava.

The Sanskrit term adhiṣṭhāna has multiple meanings including “presence”. In the context of Vajrayana Buddhism, it is most frequently translated into blessings, or inspiration.

All Buddhist traditions emphasize the importance of cultivating these positive mental states known as the four immeasurables, or the four boundless, or unbounded, attitudes.

Born in 1101 at Luro, Chekawa Yeshe Dorje studied as a young boy with the great disciple of Milarepa, Rechungpa. He took the vows of novice monk at the age of twenty-one at Loro Zhingsar and was given the name Yeshe Dorje.

Riwo Sangchö is a terma that was hidden by Guru Rinpoche and revealed in the seventeenth century by the great yogin and tertön Lhatsün Namkha Jikmé. Lhatsün Namkha Jikmé was an incarnation of both the great pandit and Dzogchen master Vimalamitra, who attained the rainbow body and of the omniscient Longchenpa.

In Tibetan Buddhism, we celebrate the 10th day of each lunar month as Guru Rinpoche Day. Guru Rinpoche or Padmasambhava is the Buddha who established Vajrayana Buddhism in Tibet. On the outer level, the Mahaguru is the essence of all buddhas and lineage masters.

Nagi Gompa Nunnery was given to Kyabje Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche in the early 1960s by His Holiness the 16th Karmapa. In his thirty-three years at Nagi Gompa, he completed a total of two decades in retreat, including four three-year retreats.

Gyalsé Tokmé Zangpo (1297-1371), also known as Gyalsé Ngulchu Tokmé, was born in Puljung, southwest of the Sakya Monastery in Tibet.

The Tibetan word lo means the thinking mind. The word Jong translates to train, work with purify, or refine. Thus this term in Tibetan is usually translated as ‘mind training’. Lojong teachings are also known formally as The Instructions for Training the Mind in the Mahayana Tradition.

Ārya Tārā or in Tibetan, Jetsun Dölma is especially revered in Tibetan Buddhism. The word “Dölma” in Tibetan means “she who liberates”.

In Vajrayāna contexts, Amitābha in his sambhogakāya form is referred to as Buddha Amitāyus, 'The Buddha of Boundless Life.' He is particularly associated with longevity.

Amitābha Buddha is associated with the realm of Sukhāvatī and serves as the principal buddha of the Pure Land tradition of eastern Buddhism.

Amoghasiddhi’s name translates as ‘Infallible Success’ or ‘Unobstructed Accomplishment’. He is the buddha of the Karma family and presides over the buddhafield known as Karmaprasiddhi or Prakuṭā (Tib. Lerab Drubpa) located to the north.

Avalokiteśvara or Chenrezik represents the essence of the speech of all the buddhas and also embodies all of their compassion. Often invoked as ‘The Great Compassionate One’, he is known as one of the Eight Great Bodhisattvas.

Akṣobhya Buddha’s name translates as ‘Not Disturbed’ or the  ‘Immovable One.’ He is the buddha of the eastern realm of Abhirati. A well-known buddha in early Mahāyāna, within the Vajrayāna tantras he is the head of the vajra family in the east.

According to the Tibetan historians Butön and Taranātha, Śāntideva (late 7th to mid-8th century CE) was a prince born in Saurāṣṭra, on the west coast of India in modern-day Gujarat.