Atisha Dipamkara  b.982? - d.1054

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.

Dangma Lhungyel  b.1000?

Dangma Lhungyal was an early proponent of the Bima Nyingtik teachings. He is credited with discovering the seventeen Dzogchen tantras in the Sha Temple near Lhasa in the 11th century, which he transmitted to Chetsun Sengge Wangchuk.

Draktengpa Yontan Tsultrim  11th cent.

Draktengpa Yontan Tsultrim was a student of Rinchen Zangpo and a teacher of Mal Lotsawa Lodro Drakpa, in a lineage of Vajra Panjarnata Mahakala, the protector associated with the Hevajra tantra.

Drapa Ngonshe  b.1012 - d.1090

Drapa Ngonshe was the treasure revealer who produced the Four Tantras, the root texts of Tibet’s medical tradition. A master in the Nyingma, Shije, and Kadam traditions, he established numerous religious communities in Tibet, including the great Dratang monastery which was later absorbed by the Sakya. Ordained in the Eastern Vinaya tradition, he was instrumental in popularizing tantric practices among that community, and later returned his vows to live as a tantrika.

Drokmi Shakya Yeshe  b.992? - d.1072?

Drokmi Lotsawa Shakya Yeshe was a translator active in the 11th century, during the second diffusion of Buddhism to Tibet, and is known to have spent a number of years in India and Nepal. Drokmi is primarily known for bringing the Lamdre teachings to Tibet, on which the Sakya tradition was founded.

Dromton Gyalwa Jungne  b.1004? - d.1064

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.

Dzeng Dharmabhodhi  b.1052 - d.1168

Dzeng Dharmabodhi was an important teacher in the Dzogchen lineage of the Vast Expanse Class (klong sde), credited with the transmission of The Vajra Bridge.

Gampopa Sonam Rinchen  b.1079 - d.1153

Gampopa Sonam Rinchen, also known as Dakpo Lhaje, is credited with founding the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Trained first as a medical doctor and then ordained as a Kadam monk, Gampopa met Milarepa when he was thirty years old, and spent much of the next decades in meditation retreat. Never renouncing his monastic vows, he combined the Indian Mahasiddha practices brought back to Tibet by Marpa and others with the monastic order of his Kadampa teachers. He also united the Kadam teachings of Lamrim with the Mahamudra teachings he received from Milarepa. He founded Daklha Gampo in 1121 and trained many of the greatest Kagyu masters of all time, including the 1st Karmapa and Pagmodrupa.

Gomchen Barwa  b.late 11th cent. - d.early 12th cent.

Gomchen Barwa, a Bon master active in the late 11th and early 12th century, was the second lineage holder of the Atri system of Dzogchen practice, which he received from Damap Ritropa Me'u Gongdzo.

Khon Konchok Gyalpo  b.1034 - d.1102

Khon Konchok Gyalpo was the founder a small temple that later grew into Sakya Monastery. Having turned his back on most of the Nyingma teachings that his family had maintained since the early days of Buddhism in Tibet, he studied the newly-translated tantras of Hevajra, Chakrasamvara, Guhyasamaja and others. Most famously, he received the Lamdre teachings from Drokmi Lotsawa. His son was Sachen Kunga Nyingpo.