Chapter 13 - Staglungpa (xvi): General Remarks on Monastic History

In general, in this Snowy Country of Tibet, as told on the stone pillar (rdo rings) of Lhasa, "since the miraculous lha btsun po 'od Ide spu rgyal had founded the kingdom and tilled the soil^[1] , they ruled as very great kings of Tibet." From gnya khri btsan po 'od Ide until ral pa can, 42 kings, without interruption of the line, protected their Tibetan subjects. Long was their lineage and great was their grace^[2] .

The Dharmarāja khri srong Ide btsan acted as almsgiver (of the Buddhist community). The mahā upādhyāya Śāntarak̄ṣita acted as upadhyāya. The Seven Men on Trial (sad mi mi bdun) and others were ordained, and all the ordained ones possessed faultless moral precepts. Though all of them were able to expound the Three Pitakas with the help of their learning, Dar ma caused the Doctrine to disappear. In this manner the Doctrine, of Ordination (rab tu byung ba'i bstan pa) did not last in Tibet for more than 67 years. After that, for more than seventy years, the natives of dbUs and gtsang fought one another, and monastic communities were not to be found anywhere. Then by the grace of bla chen po and the "Six or Ten Men of dbUs and gtsang", the number of monastic communities greatly increased.

But during the period of civil wars between the various monasteries, and in later times when the Mongol troops reached rwa sgreng, about 500 monks were killed. At rgyal about a hundred men, and horses were killed. Many similar upheavals took place. Later, by the grace of the Teacher ‘phags pa, the sa skya pas, acted as overlords of dbUs, gtsang and khams. But later, because of internal feuds among their descendants, their Doctrine did not last for more than 75 years.

Then again the disciples of the Master dags po and their disciples have each of them founded great monasteries. At gdan sa thel after the death of 'gro ba'i mgon po (phag mo gru pa) for a long time there was no abbot, and disorganization set in. In this country of Tibet, 'bri khung thel is the greatest of the monastic congregations founded in one place. Later, the sa skya pas burnt down the monastery. The vihāra itself and all the holy objects perished in the fire, and there was much hardship.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The words yul byung sa dod have become effaced on the pillar of Lha sa. (Verbal communication of Rev. dge 'dun chos phel).

[2]:

bka' 'dring is an old orthography; the modern word is written bka' 'drin.