Dromtön

Dromtönpa
འབྲོམ་སྟོན་པ་རྒྱལ་བའི་འབྱུང་གནས་
Personal
Born	Chos 'phel 1004 or 1005 Tolung
Died	1064 Reting Monastery
School	Initiator of the Kadam school
Other names	Dromtön Gyelwé Jungné
Dharma names	Gyélwé Jungne
Senior posting
Teacher	Chief disciple of Atiśa; Grum gyi Mkhanbu Chenpo Sebtsun; studied reading and writing with Paṇḍita Smṛti
Reincarnation	45th incarnation of Avalokiteśvara
Students Chekawa Yeshe Dorje, g.Yungchosmgon, Potoba Rinchen Gsalphyogslas Rnamrgyal *1027-1105), Phuchungba Gzhonnu Rgyalmtshan (1031-1106) and Spyansnga Tshulkhrims ’bar (1038-1103)
Ordination	Lay vows with Snanam Rdorje Bbangphyug (976-1060); never ordained.
Post	Founded Reting Monastery, 1056

Dromtön or Dromtönpa Gyelwé Jungné (Tibetan: འབྲོམ་སྟོན་པ་རྒྱལ་བའི་འབྱུང་གནས་, 1004 or 1005–1064) was the chief disciple of the Buddhist master Atiśa, the initiator of the Kadam school of Tibetan Buddhism and the founder of Reting Monastery.

Biography

Dromtönpa was born in Tolung at the beginning of the period of the second propagation of Buddhism in Tibet. "His father was Kushen Yaksherpen (sku gshen yag gsher 'phen) and his mother was Kuoza Lenchikma (khu 'od bza' lan gcig ma)." His father's title skugshen indicates he was an important figure in the Bon tradition. He began preaching in Tibet in 1042.

Dromtön is considered to be the 45th incarnation of Avalokiteśvara, an important bodhisattva and thus a member of the early lineage of the Dalai Lamas (the First Dalai Lama is said to have been the 51st incarnation).

Dromtön founded Reting Monastery in 1056 in the Reting Tsampo Valley north of Lhasa which became the seat of the Kadampa lineage and brought some relics of Atisha there.

It was Dromtönpa's student Chekawa Yeshe Dorje who first compiled Atiśa's core teachings on the practice of bodhicitta in written form, as The Seven Point Mind Training.

References

• Dilgo Kyentse. Enlightened Courage, Snow Lion 1993. ISBN 1-55939-023-9