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Takthok Monastery
Takthok Monastery (''tib.'' བྲག་ཐོག་ ''Wylie = Brag Thog'', ''pron. Trag Thog,'' "Stone Roof" in english) is a Buddhist monastery in Sakti village in Ladakh, northern India, located approximately 46 kilometres east of Leh. It is the only monastery in Ladakh belonging to the Nying-ma-pa or Red Hat sect. The name is Takthok, literally meaning 'rock-roof' was named because both its roof and walls are made of rock. It belongs to the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and approximately 55 lamas reside there. It is the only Nyingma monastery in Ladakh. The monastery was founded around the mid-16th century during the reign of Tsewang Namgyal I (1575-1595) on a mountainside around a cave in which Padmasambhava is said to have meditated in the 8th century. Description The main temple is very dark and gloomy with a low ceiling of rock completely covered with the residue from centuries of butterlamps having been burned there. The paintings that once adorned the walls ...
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Sakti, Leh
Sakti () is a village in the Leh district of Ladakh, India. It is located in the Leh tehsil. The Takthok Monastery is located here. Demographics According to the 2011 census of India, Sakti has 370 households. The effective literacy rate (i.e. the literacy rate of population excluding children aged 6 and below) is 67.7%. See also * List of buddhist monasteries in Ladakh * Geography of Ladakh * Tourism in Ladakh Tourism is one of the economic contributors to the union territory of Ladakh in Northern India. This union territory is located between the Karakoram mountain range to the north and the Himalayas to the south, and is situated at a height of ... References {{Leh district Villages in Leh tehsil ...
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Maitreya
Maitreya (Sanskrit) or Metteyya (Pali), is a bodhisattva who is regarded as the future Buddhahood, Buddha of this world in all schools of Buddhism, prophesied to become Maitreya Buddha or Metteyya Buddha.Williams, Paul. ''Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations 2nd edition.'' Routledge, 2009, p. 218. In some Buddhist texts, Buddhist literature, such as the ''Amitabha Sutra'' and the ''Lotus Sutra'', he is also referred to as Ajitā (Invincible, Unconquerable). In Tibetan Buddhism he is known as the "Lord of Love" or the "Noble Loving One" (Pakpa Jampa). The root of his name is the Sanskrit word ''maitrī'' (Pali: ''metta''; meaning friendliness, loving-kindness). The name Maitreya is also related to the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian name Mitra.Jayarava, Visible Mantra: Visualising & Writing Buddhist Mantras, pp. 142-43. 2011 In Hinduism, Maitreya is prophesied to be the king of Shambala, which is also the birthplace of the Kalki Avatar. In all branches of Buddhism, ...
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Buddhist Monasteries In Ladakh
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE. It is the world's fourth-largest religion, with about 500 million followers, known as Buddhists, who comprise four percent of the global population. It arose in the eastern Gangetic plain as a movement in the 5th century BCE, and gradually spread throughout much of Asia. Buddhism has subsequently played a major role in Asian culture and spirituality, eventually spreading to the West in the 20th century. According to tradition, the Buddha instructed his followers in a path of development which leads to awakening and full liberation from '' dukkha'' (). He regarded this path as a Middle Way between extremes such as asceticism or sensual indulgence. Teaching that ''dukkha'' arises alongside attachment or clinging, the Buddha advised meditation practices and eth ...
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Tourism In Ladakh
Tourism is one of the economic contributors to the union territory of Ladakh in Northern India. This union territory is located between the Karakoram mountain range to the north and the Himalayas to the south, and is situated at a height of 11,400 ft (3,475 km). Ladakh is composed of Leh and Kargil districts. The region contains prominent Buddhist sites and has an ecotourism industry. Inner Line Permits There are no open border crossings to the neighbouring Tibet Autonomous Region and Xinjiang, administered by China, or to Gilgit-Baltistan, administered by Pakistan. No special permit is required to visit most of Ladakh, including Leh and Kargil towns. Inner Line Permit (ILP), which can be obtained online, are required for all tourists to visit the "Inner Line" areas, the geostrategic restricted military border areas, such as Nubra Valley; Pangong Tso and Durbuk block (north of the Chang La pass); Tso-Moriri and Tso Kar lakes; Dah and Hanu villages; are ...
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Geography Of Ladakh
Ladakh is an administrative territory of India that has been under its control since 1947. The geographical region of Ladakh union territory is the highest altitude plateau region in India (much of it being over 3,000 m), incorporating parts of the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges and the upper Indus River and valley. Political geography Historic Ladakh consists of a number of distinct areas (mainly under Indian rule), including the fairly populous main Indus valley, the more remote Zanskar (in the south) and Nubra valleys (to the north over Khardung La in the Ladakh mountain range, a high motorable pass at ), the almost deserted Aksai Chin (under Chinese rule) and the predominantly Shi'ite Muslim Kargil and Suru valley areas in the west (Kargil being the second most important town in Ladakh). Historically populated by the Ladakhi people, continued immigration and preferential treatment to Kashmiris by the J&K government have led to demographic changes in t ...
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All Ladakh Gonpa Association
All Ladakh Gonpa Association (ALGA) is the central organisation of the Buddhist monasteries in Ladakh, India. It aims to preserve and strengthen the monastic institutions. It was founded by the 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche in 1949 and he acted as its president for 41 years, from 1949 until 1991. In 1949, the first meeting of the great monasteries was held and ten monasteries took part. All Ladakh Gonpa Association was registered in 1959 and is run by a governing body consisting of fifteen lama members belonging to all four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. There are sixteen major monastic institutions with hundreds of monks in each monastery. List of monasteries These are listed by the river valleys. These monasteries are located on the banks and mountain slopes of various rivers within Indus River system. * Shyok River valley: * Nubra River valley: ** Diskit Monastery, north of Leh. ** Hundur Monastery, north of Leh, west of the Diskit Monastery and east of Thoise. ...
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Guru Rinpoche
Padmasambhava ('Born from a Lotus'), also known as Guru Rinpoche ('Precious Guru'), was a legendary tantric Buddhist Vajra master from Oddiyana. who fully revealed the Vajrayana in Tibet, circa 8th – 9th centuries... He is considered an emanation or Nirmāṇakāya of Shakyamuni Buddha as foretold by the Buddha himself. According to early Tibetan sources including the '' Testament of Ba'', he came to Tibet in the 8th century and designed Samye Monastery, the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet during the reign of King Trisong Detsen. He, the king, and Khenpo Shantarakshita are also responsible for creating the Tibetan Canon through translating all of the Buddha's teachings and their commentaries into the Tibetan language. According to Lewis Doney, while his historical authenticity was questioned by earlier Tibetologists, it is now "cautiously accepted.” Padmasambhava himself was recorded as saying he was an historical person, and his footprints left in rocks are evid ...
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Butter Lamps
Butter lamps or butterlamps (; ) are a common feature of Tibetan Buddhist temples and monasteries throughout the Himalayas. The lamps traditionally burn clarified yak butter, but now often use vegetable oil or vanaspati ghee. The butter lamps help to focus the mind and aid meditation. According to the ''Root tantra of Cakrasaṃvara Tantra'', "If you wish for sublime realization, offer hundreds of lights". Pilgrims also supply lamp oil to gain merit. The monks in the monastery manage the actual lamps, taking extreme care to avoid starting one of the devastating fires which have damaged many monasteries over the years. For safety, butter lamps are sometimes restricted to a separate courtyard enclosure with a stone floor. Externally, the lights are seen to banish darkness. Conceptually, they convert prosaic substance into illumination, a transformation akin to the search for enlightenment. Esoterically, they recall the heat of the ''tummo yoga'' energy of the Six Yogas of ...
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Kanjur
The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a defined collection of sacred texts recognized by various schools of Tibetan Buddhism, comprising the Kangyur and the Tengyur. The ''Kangyur'' or ''Kanjur'' is Buddha's recorded teachings (or the 'Translation of the Word'), and the ''Tengyur'' or ''Tanjur'' is the commentaries by great masters on Buddha's teachings (or the 'Translation of Treatises'). Tibetan Buddhist canon In addition to earlier foundational Buddhist texts from early Buddhist schools, mostly the Sarvastivada and Mahayana texts, the Tibetan canon includes Tantric texts. The last category is not always sharply distinguished from the others: the Tantra division sometimes includes material usually not thought of as Tantric in other traditions, such as the Heart Sutra and even versions of material found in the Pali Canon. The Tibetans did not have a formally arranged Mahayana canon, and so devised their own scheme with two broad categories: the "Words of the Buddha" and later th ...
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14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served as the resident spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet before 1959 and subsequently led the Tibetan government in exile represented by the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala, India. A belief central to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition as well as the institution of the Dalai Lama is that he is a living Bodhisattva, specifically an emanation of Avalokiteśvara (in Sanskrit) or Chenrezig (in Tibetan), the Bodhisattva of Compassion. The Mongolic languages, Mongolic word ''dalai'' means ''ocean.'' He is also known to Tibetans as Gyalwa Rinpoche ("The Precious Jewel-like Buddha-Master"), ''Kundun'' ("The Presence"), and ''Yizhin Norbu'' ("The Wish-Fulfilling Gem"). His devotees, as well as much of the Western world, often call him ''His Ho ...
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Butterlamp
Butter lamps or butterlamps (; ) are a common feature of Tibetan Buddhist temples and monasteries throughout the Himalayas. The lamps traditionally burn clarified yak butter, but now often use vegetable oil or vanaspati ghee. The butter lamps help to focus the mind and aid meditation. According to the ''Root tantra of Cakrasaṃvara Tantra'', "If you wish for sublime realization, offer hundreds of lights". Pilgrims also supply lamp oil to gain merit. The monks in the monastery manage the actual lamps, taking extreme care to avoid starting one of the devastating fires which have damaged many monasteries over the years. For safety, butter lamps are sometimes restricted to a separate courtyard enclosure with a stone floor. Externally, the lights are seen to banish darkness. Conceptually, they convert prosaic substance into illumination, a transformation akin to the search for enlightenment. Esoterically, they recall the heat of the ''tummo yoga'' energy of the Six Yogas of ...
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Ladakh
Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India and China since 1959.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the WP:TERTIARY, tertiary sources (a) through (e), reflecting WP:DUE, due weight in the coverage. Although "controlled" and "held" are also applied neutrally to the names of the disputants or to the regions administered by them, as evidenced in sources (h) through (i) below, "held" is also considered politicised usage, as is the term "occupied", (see (j) below). (a) (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcontinent ... has been the subject of dispute between India and Pakistan since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. The northern and wester ...
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