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The Sakya (, 'pale earth') school is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug. It is one of the Red Hat Orders along with the Nyingma and Kagyu.
The Sakya tradition developed during the second period of translation of Buddhist scripture from Sanskrit into Tibetan in the late 11th century. It was founded by Drogmi, a famous scholar and translator who had studied at the Vikramashila directly under Naropa, Ratnākaraśānti, Vāgīśvarakīrti and other great panditas from India for twelve years.Luminous Lives, Stearns, Wisdom 2001
Khon Konchog Gyalpo became Drogmi's disciple on the advice of his elder brother.Ch. 25, Treasures of the Sakya Lineage, Tseten, Shambhala, 2008
The tradition was established by the "Five Venerable Supreme Masters" starting with the grandson of Khonchog Gyalpo, Sachen Kunga Nyingpo, who became known as Sachen, or "Great Sakyapa":Powers, John. Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. Snow Lion Publications. 1995. p. 382.
Buton Rinchen Drub (1290–1364) was an important scholar and writer and one of Tibet's most celebrated historians. Other notable scholars of the Sakya tradition are the so-called "Six Ornaments of Tibet:"
The leadership of the Sakya School is passed down through a hereditary system between the male members of the Sakya branch of the Khon family.
The fourth Sakya patriarch, Sakya Pandita, was notable for his exceptional scholarship and composed many important and influential texts on sutra and tantra, including "Means of Valid Cognition: A Treasury of Reasoning" (), "Clarifying the Sage's Intent" () and "Discriminating the Three Vows" ().
The main Dharma system of the Sakya school is the "Path with its Result" (), which is split into two main lineages, "Explanation for the Assembly" () and the "Explanation for Close Disciples" ().
The other major system of the Sakya school is the "Naropa Explanation For Disciples" ().
Another important series of teachings is based on verses of Günga Nyingpo (1092–1158) called "separating from the four attachments" which is the subject of commentaries by numerous Sakya masters like Drakpa Gyeltsen, Sakya Pandita, Ngorchen Günga Sangpo, and Gorampa Sönam Senggé. The verses are:Powers, John. Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, Revised Edition (2007) Snow Lion Publications, p. 438.
If you cling to this life, then you are not a dharma practitioner.
If you cling to existence, then you do not have renunciation.
If you are attached to your own interests, then you do not have the mind of awakening.
If you hold to a position, then you do not have the correct view.
There were three "mother" monasteries of the Sakya school: Sakya Monastery, founded in 1073, Ngor, founded in 1429, and Phanyul Nalendra in Phanyul, north of Lhasa, founded in 1435 by Kuntchen Rongten. Nalendra became the home of the 'whispered-lineage' of the Tsar school. The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art by John C. Huntington and Dina Bangdel. Serindia Publications. pg 42
The Bodongpa, founded by Bodong Panchen Chögle Namgyel 1376, is considered by some scholars to be a sub-sect of the Sakya tradition.
The leaders of the Sakya regime were as follows.
Traditionally, hereditary succession has alternated between the two Sakya palaces, since Khon Könchok Gyelpo's (1034–1102) reign. The Ducho sub-dynasty of Sakya survives split into two palaces, the Dolma Phodrang and Phuntsok Phodrang. Sakya Trizin is head of the Dolma Phodrang. Jigdal Dagchen Sakya (1929–2016) was the head of the Phuntsok Phodrang, and lived in Seattle, Washington, where he co-founded Sakya Monastery of Tibetan Buddhism with Dezhung Rinpoche, and constructed the first Tibetan Buddhist Monastery in the United States. Dagchen Sakya's father was the previous Sakya Trizin, Trichen Ngawang Thutop Wangchuk, throne holder of Sakya, and his mother Dechen Drolma. Dagchen Sakya was married to Dagmo Jamyang Kusho Sakya; they have five sons, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
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