| Kathok | |
|---|---|
 Kathok Monastery in 2014 | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Tibetan Buddhism |
| Sect | Nyingma |
| Deity | Padmasambhava |
| Location | |
| Location | Baiyu County,Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture,Sichuan, traditionally known asDo Kham |
| Country | Tibet |
  Location Show map of China Kathok Monastery (Sichuan) Show map of Sichuan | |
| Geographic coordinates | 31°18′45″N98°56′29″E / 31.3126°N 98.9414°E /31.3126; 98.9414 |
| Architecture | |
| Founder | Kathok Dampa Deshek |
| Date established | 1159 |
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| Tibetan Buddhism |
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Institutional roles |
History and overview |
Kathok Monastery (Tibetan:ཀཿཐོག་དགོན།,THLKathok Gön), also transliterated asKathog,Katok, orKatog, was founded in 1159 and is one of the"Six Mother Monasteries" inTibet of theNyingma school ofTibetan Buddhism. It was built afterSamye Monastery, inthe Kingdom of Dege (Ch.Baiyu County,Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture,Sichuan), in Tibet's region ofKham also known of asDo Kham.
Kathok Monastery is located 4,000 m (13,000 ft) above sea level on the eastern flanks of a mountain range inBaiyu County,Garzê,Sichuan.[1] The entire monastery complex is approximately 700 m (2,300 ft) above the valley floor and is accessed by a dirt road containing 18hairpin turns. The nearest town is Horpo (Chinese:河坡;pinyin:Hépō), 17 km to the north.[2]
Kathok is a famous earlyNyingma monastery which grew to include numerous branch monasteries within the Do Kham region and beyond. It is also credited as influencing the spread of the Nyingma monasteries known of as the "Six Mother Monasteries".[3]
Padmasambhava, or Guru Rinpoche, spent 25 days visiting the site before the monastery was built, and sat on a rock with a double vajra, called Dorje Gatramo, with aཀཿ (ka, withvisarga, orརྣམ་བཅདWy.:rnam bcad) syllable on top. The monastery was built on this rock, giving it its name, which means "on top of thekaཿ ", and it is considered one of Guru Rinpoche's 25 sacred sites in Do Kham.
Kathok Monastery was founded in 1159 by a younger brother ofPhagmo Drupa Dorje Gyalpo,Kathok Kadampa Deshek,[4] prophesied by Guru Rinpoche to be an emanation ofYeshe Tsogyal. He built Kathok atDerge, the historic seat of theKingdom of Derge inKham. The prophecy that 100,000 people would achieve rainbow body at Kathok is said to have been realized.
Kathok Monastery's third abbot, Jampa Bum (1179–1252), whose 26-year tenure as abbot ended in 1252, "is said to have ordained thousands of monks from across Tibet, and especially from the Kham areas of Minyak (Wy.:mi nyag), Jang (Wy.: 'byang), and Gyémorong (Wy.:rgyal mo rong)."[5]
The originalgompa fell into disrepair and was rebuilt on the same site in 1656 through the impetus oftertöns Düddül Dorjé (1615–72) andRigdzin Longsal Nyingpo (1625-1682/92 or 1685–1752). After 1966, the monastery was destroyed by the Chinese while lamas were imprisoned. The monastery was rebuilt through the efforts of Moktsa Tulku after he was released from prison, and of Khenpo Ngakchung Tulku.[6]
Kathok Monastery held a reputation of fine scholarship. Prior to the annexation of Tibet in 1951, Kathok Monastery housed about 800 monks.
Kathok was long renowned as a center specializing in the Nyingma school Kama lineages (oral lineages), as opposed to theTerma lineages, and as a center of monasticism, although both of these features evolved under Longsel Nyingpo (1625–1692).[7]
According toThe Tibetan Buddhist Resource Centre, disciples ofKenpo Munsel[8] andKenpo Jamyang compiled a Kathok edition of the oral lineages (Wylie:bka' ma shin tu rgyas pa (kaH thog)) in 120 volumes in 1999: "[T]wice the size of the Dudjom edition, it contains many rare Nyingma treatises on Mahayoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga that heretofore had never been seen outside of Tibet."[9]
According toAlexander Berzin,
Katog has 112 branch monasteries, not only in Tibet, but also in Mongolia, Inner China, Yunnan, and Sikkim. For instance, Katog Rigdzin-tsewang-norbu (Ka:-thog Rigs-‘dzin Tshe-dbang nor-bu) (1698-1755) founded a large branch in Sikkim, and when theEighth Tai Situ Rinpoche, Situ Panchen Chokyi-jungney (Si-tu Pan-chen Chos-kyi ‘byung-gnas) (1700-1744), visited China, he stayed at the Katog branch-monastery at the Five-Peaked Mountain of Manjushri (Ri-bo rtse-lnga, Chin:Wutai Shan), to the southwest of Beijing.[10]
Kathok Monastery became a bastion of theAnuyoga tradition when it became neglected by other Nyingmapa institutions.[11] TheCompendium of the Intentions Sūtra (Wylie:dgongs pa ’dus pa’i mdo) the root text of the Anuyoga tradition was instrumental in the early Kathog educational system.[11]Nubchen Sangye Yeshe wrote a lengthy commentary on theCompendium of the Intentions Sūtra rendered in English asArmor Against Darkness (Wylie:mun pa’i go cha).[11]
In 2016, an expansion of the Kathok Monastery to the northeast was completed. This expansion included a new temple and assembly hall, directly adjacent to the existing monastery complex.[12]
