Drigung Thil

Tibetan name
Tibetan script : འབྲི་ གུང་ མཐིལ
Wylie transliteration : 'bri gung mthil dgon pa
Official transcription of the PRCh : Zhigungtil
THDL transcription : Drigungtil
Other spellings: Drigungthil, Drikung Thil, 'Bri-kuṅ etc.
Chinese name
Traditional : 直貢寺
Simplified : 直贡寺; 直贡梯寺; 直贡替寺
Pinyin : Zhígòng Sì

Drigung Thil

Drigung Monastery ( Tib . 'Bri supply mthil , Tibetan : འབྲི་ གུང་ མཐིལ) is a monastery of Tibetan Buddhism in the circle Meldro Gongkar of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China , about 150 km east of Lhasa .

history

Drigung Thil was founded in 1179 by Drigung Juchten Gönpo (Tib .: 'bri gung' jig rten mgon po ; 1143–1217) as the seat of the Drigung Kagyü order and is still an important center of the Kagyü today . The monastery was named after the place where it was built, and the order is named after the monastery. During the Mongolian Yuan dynasty , the Kagyu order was in opposition to the Sakya order and Drigung Thil was under military attack in 1290. During the subsequent Ming Dynasty , Drigung Thil was able to assert itself again.

In Drigung Thil special emphasis is placed on tantric meditation according to the teachings of the founder, and the monastery is surrounded by meditation caves and huts. Until the 19th century Drigung Thil had two faculties, Drubdra Shar (tib .: sgrub grwa shar ) and Drubdra Nub (tib .: sgrub grwa nub ). Then the 34th abbot of the monastery, Kyabje Zhibe Lodrö (tib .: skyabs rje zhi-ba'i blo gros ), Nyagtrül Jamyang Wanggyel Rinpoche (tib .: nyag sprul 'jam dbyangs dbang rgyal rin po che ) invited to the monastery to teach, and a third, theoretical and philosophical faculty - Nyichang Shedra (Tib .: gnyis' chang bshad grwa ) - was founded.

Drigung Thil was destroyed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and the monastery was rebuilt in the 1980s. Above the monastery there is a popular place for heavenly burials . Drigung Thil has several side monasteries again today, including the Terdrom Jomo Gönpa nunnery (Tib .: gter sgrom jo mo dgon pa / Dézhòng Nísì德仲尼寺), which is located in a side valley with thermal springs .

Nearby is also Katshel (tib .: ska tshal ), one of the four temples that King Songtsen Gampo (tib .: srong btsan sgam po ) had built.

An incarnated Lama of Drigung Thil, Chösang Lobsang Champa (Tib .: chos bzang blo bzang byams-pa ), is today Deputy Secretary General of the Buddhist Society of Tibet and a member of the Political Consultative Conference of Tibet.

The monastery is on the list of monuments of the Tibet Autonomous Region .

Ceremonies and festivals

From the 4th to the 15th day of the first month of the Tibetan calendar major sutras are read and from the 3rd to the 13th day of the fourth month important ritual dances are held, in which Chökyi Drölma (Tib .: chos kyi sgrol ma ), the four-armed Yeshe Gönpo (tib .: ye shes mgon po ) and the protector of the teaching Tsimar (tib .: rtsi dmar ) are represented. The teachings begin on the 18th day. From the 24th day to the end of the fourth month there are other major ceremonies : dances, exhibitions of statues and sacrifices. On the 4th day of the sixth month prayer rituals take place, from the 27th to the 29th day the death of Peljor Rinpoche (Tib .: dpal 'byor rin po che ) is commemorated. From the 22nd day of the ninth month, a two- to three-day ritual to appease the gods takes place. On the 25th and 25th day of the tenth month, the Ganden Ngachö ceremony (Tib .: dga 'ldan lnga mchod ) takes place, during which posts are filled. From the 15th day of the eleventh month to the 15th of the twelfth month, sutras are recited day and night for the mani ceremony.