Gyelse Tokme Zangpo was a Kadampa master of the fourteenth century based at Ngulchu Monastery where he sat in retreat for twenty years. He had previously served as the abbot of Bodong E for about nine years, from 1326 to 1335. Significant in the transmission of Lojong teachings, his compositions include the famous Thirty-seven Practices of the Bodhisattva, one of the classics of Tibetan buddhist literature. A specialist in tantric Mahākaruṇā, he was a disciple of Buton Rinchen Drub and a teacher of Rendawa Zhonnu Lodro, and is counted as seventy-third in the Lamrim lineage. Learn more in biography by Samten Chhosphel https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Gyelse-Tokme-Zangpo/3153 (fb)

Today is the anniversary of Pakmodrupa Dorje Gyelpo (1110-1170). Pakmodrupa was a disciple of Gampopa and is one of the earliest patriarchs of the Kagyu tradition. His monastery, Densatil, which he founded in 1158, was the training ground for most of the founders of the Kagyu sub-traditions, such as Taklungtangpa and Jikten Gonpo, who went on to establish the Taklung and Drigung Kagyu, respectively. He integrated teachings that he received from Kadam, Sakya and, in vision, Zhije instructors into those he received from Gampopa. A widely learned but humble monk, he gave a clear priority to meditation over textual scholarship and philosophical reflection. Learn more in biography by Dan Martin: https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Pakmodrupa-Dorje-Gyelpo/2539 (fb)