How an 11th-century Buddhist school vanished but shaped all of Tibetan practice
In short: The Kadam school, founded by the Bengali master Atisa in 11th-century Tibet, ceased to exist as an independent institution by the 16th century. Yet, its core teachings—including the famous stages of the path and mind-training techniques—were absorbed into every major school of Tibetan Buddhism, leaving an indelible mark.
The Kadam tradition emerged during the 'later diffusion' of Buddhism in Tibet, catalyzed by the arrival of the Indian master Atisa in 1042. Atisa’s arrival provided a stable foundation for monastic scholarship that lasted for a thousand years. His primary disciple, Dromton, established the school's organizational structure, founding Reting Monastery in 1056. The school became defined by its emphasis on compassion, pure monastic discipline, and rigorous study of Indian Buddhist philosophy, particularly the Madhyamaka school of emptiness.
The school’s intellectual legacy was anchored by the 'three brothers'—Dromton’s main students, Potowa, Chen Ngawa, and Bu chungwa—who developed three distinct lineages: authoritative treatises, essential instructions, and oral transmissions. Institutions like Sangpu Monastery, founded in 1071, became centers of a renaissance in scholasticism, where monks studied epistemology, psychology, and the perfection of wisdom literature. These scholars, including figures like Ngog Loden Sherab and Patsab Nyima Drakpa, defended a form of realism regarding conventional truth, distinguishing their approach from other contemporary interpretations.
Beyond high philosophy, the Kadampas pioneered strategies to engage the Tibetan laity, countering the elite bias of the era. They utilized popular teaching methods, including easily memorized verses, artistic representations, and storytelling, to make Buddhist ideals accessible. Their 'mind training' (lojong) techniques and 'stages of the path' (lamrim) schema were so influential that they were eventually adopted by the Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, and Gelug schools. By the 15th century, Tsongkapa synthesized these lineages into the Gelug school, which he initially referred to as the 'New Kadam'. Today, while the original Kadampa institution is gone, its pedagogical DNA remains central to the practice of Tibetan Buddhism worldwide.
It is worth noting that the modern 'New Kadampa Tradition' (NKT), founded in 1991 by Kelsang Gyatso, is a distinct religious movement. While the NKT claims to emulate the purity of the original Kadam school, its status remains controversial within the broader context of contemporary Tibetan Buddhist centers and politics.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Kadam (Tibetan Buddhism)
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