Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s1.t6: sa skya pa Sect
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s1.t6
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sa skya pa Sect
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sa skya pa, one of the major sects of Tibetan Buddhism and its Buddhist *dharma* lineage, attributed to Indian master birlawpa and Tibetan translator vbrog mi shwakya ye shes (993-1074) who went to India to study Buddhism *dharma* and returned to Tibet to teach vkhon dkon mchog rgyal po (1034-1102). In 1073, vkhon dkon mchog rgyal po built temples and taught Buddhism *dharma*, founding sa skya pa that advocated, preached and practiced lam vbras. Sa skya gong ma rnam lnga, namely, kun dgav snying po (1092～1158 CE), bsod nams rtse mo (1142～1182 CE), grags pa rgyal mtshan (1147～1216 CE), kun dgav rgyal mtshan (1180～1251 CE) and vgro mgon vphags pa blo gros rgyal mtshan (1235～1280 CE) made a great contribution to promoting the development of sa skya pa.
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Sa skya pa was in its heyday in the Yuan Dynasty, fell into decline in the Ming Dynasty and was at a low ebb in the Qing Dynasty. With its temples distributed across Tibet, Sa skya dgon in sa skya County, Shigatse, Tibet was renowned as an ancestral temple and central temple.
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Since the foundation, sa skya adopted family hereditary system. In the late Yuan Dynasty (1324 CE), the sect split into four bla brangs, namely, gzhi thog, rin chen sgang, lha khang and dus mchod that had their own people, land and religious power. In the middle of Ming Dynasty, the hereditary system of gzhi thog, rin chen sgang, lha khang was ceased and dus mchod held the *dharmaraja* power of Sa skya. Subsequently, dus mchod split into phun tshogs and sgrol ma whose immediate family members succeeded as *dharmaraja* in turn with the religious power of sa skya in name only. Actually, they were granted limited appeal and power.
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Many eminent monks stood out from others and formed different schools such as Exoteric Buddhism, Tantric Buddhism and Tantric lineages. For Exoteric Buddhism, gayg phrug sangs rje dpal (1350～1414 CE) imposed the precepts for studying and practicing the doctrine of Exoteric Buddhism and his disciple rong ston smra bavi seng ge (1367-1449 CE) carried forward the precepts. In 1435 CE, rong ston smra bavi seng ge built na len dra in vphan po (present-day Lin Zhou County, Lhasa) and established teaching system for studying and
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Drepung Monastery, Lhasa, Tibet
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Sakya Monastery in Shigatse, Tibet, China
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practicing the doctrine of Exoteric Buddhism to teach monk tshad ma rnam vgrel, mngon par rtogs pavi rgyan, dbu ma, mngon pa mdzod, sdom gsum rab tu dbye ba and other sutras. Na len dra used to house 700 to 1,000 monks and some eminent monks who completed their study built temples and preached Buddhism *dharma* in different regions. Therefore, dbu ma established many branch temples and had important influence on Tibetan Buddhism.
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Tantric Buddhism featured three major Buddhist dharma lineages, namely, ngor lugs, rdzong lugs and tshar lugs. Among them, ngor lugs lineage was founded by ngor kun dgav bzang po (1382-1456 CE). In 1429 CE, ngor kun dgav bzang po built Ae lwang chos idan in ngor in Shigaste, Tibet (present-day Kangma County, Shigaste, Tibet) and taught Sakya Tantra, founding the Tantric lineage of ngor lugs which spread widest among other Tantric lineage of sa skya pa. In the Qing Dynasty, Aelwang chos ldan and dgon chen were renowned as temple for preaching the Trantric lineage of ngor lugs.
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Monks at the Sakya monastery in Lhasa
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Rdzong lugs split into rdzong ba snga rabs or mus srad pa and rdzong ba phyi rabs. The Buddhism dharma originated from bstan pa bsod nams rgyal mtshan (1312-1375 CE) and rdzong pa kun dgav rgyal mtshan (1382-1446 CE) studied and preached dharma, founding rdzong ba snga rabs or mus srad pa. In 1464 CE, thu ston kun dgav rnam rgyal (1432-1496 CE) built gong dkar rdo rje gdan (vajrasana dgon) in Gongga County, Shannan Prefecture, Tibet as preaching centre to teach the Tantric lineage of rdzong lugs and come up innovation, founding rdzong ba phyi rabs, also known as gong dkav ba.
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As direct Tantric lineage of sa skya pa, Tshar lugs, also known as hearing lineage of Tantra, was founded by blo gsal rgya mtsho (1501-1561 CE). Although it enjoyed prestige within and outside sa skya pa, tshar lugs didn't spread wider than Tantric lineage of ngor lugs. In the Qing Dynasty, sa skya dgon at Shigatse of Tibet and surrounding temples were known as temples for preaching tshar lugs.
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In history, sa skya pa attached importance to studying Sanskrit and carrying out academic exchange with Indian scholars. Saban kunga gyaltsen debated with six Indian scholars and defeated them, wining reputation across Tibet and starting the campaign for studying Sanskrit.
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In modern times, sa skya pa spread to Nepal and India and built many temples.
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(*Kalsang gyal*)