| Gonpawa Wangchuk Gyaltsen (Sep. 03) Gonpawa Wangchuk Gyaltsen was an eleventh century Kadampa monk, a close disciple of Dromton, and early abbot of Reting for five years, from 1078 to 1083. |
| Dromton Gyalwa Jungne (Sep. 03) Dromtonpa was one of the primary disciples of Atisha and is considered the founder of the Kadampa school of Tibetan Buddhism. A layman, he nevertheless established Reting Monastery in 1057, one of the great centers of the Kadampa tradition. |
| Atisha Dipamkara (Sep. 03) The Bengali monk Atisha Dipamkara was of pivotal importance in the second transmission of Buddhism in Tibet. Invited from the Indian monastery-university of Vikramalasila to Tibet by the Purang kings, Atisha spent thirteen years in Ngari and U-Tsang. He is credited with the propagation of the Lamrim and Lojong teachings that later became the core of the Gelug tradition; his composition, the Bodhipathapradipa is a central text for the Lamrim, or Stages of the Path. He was also instrumental in the spread of the cult of Tara in Tibet. Atisha’s disciple Dromton founded several important monasteries and gave rise to the Kadam tradition, which was later absorbed by the Gelug and, to some extent, the Sakya and Kagyu traditions. |
