Sakya

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Sakya (Tib., Sa-skya). One of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, taking its name from its original monastic centre at Sakya (‘grey earth’) in southern Tibet. It was founded in 1073 by members of the Khon family who, though laymen, have traditionally acted as the heads of the school. While the Sakya school preserves the lam-dre (‘path and result’) teachings transmitted by Virūpa, it is is also renowned for a keen interest in Buddhist logic (pramāṇa) and epistemology which derives from the seminal work of Sakya Paṇḍita (1182–1251). The Sakya school was politically influential during the 13th and 14th centuries, especially through their dealings with the neighbouring Mongols (see Mongolia). The head of the school is known as the Sakya Trindzin or ‘throne holder’ (Tib., Sa skya khri 'dzin), and the present head now resides in India at Sakya College, after fleeing Tibet following the Chinese invasion.

Sakya (Sa.skya, ‘Grey Earth’). One of the four principal schools of Tibetan Buddhism, taking its name from the Grey Earth monastery founded by Konchok Gyalpo in 1073 CE. Konchok Gyalpo had been a Nyingma follower until meeting the traveller, translator, and yogin Drokmi, from whom he learnt the Hevajra cycle of tantras and the system known as Lam Drey (lam.'bras, ‘The Way and its Fruit’), which is attributed to the Indian Siddha Virupa. Konchok Gyalpo's son Kunga Nyingpo formally systematized the Sakya teachings from the writings of Drokmi, with Lam Drey at the centre relating tantra to sūtra and offering enlightenment in a single lifetime. The Sakya school has always hosted a wide variety of views, producing two subsects, the Ngor (15th cent.) and the Tshar (16th cent.). The Ngor and the Tshar appoint their own heads on a merit basis. A tulku system is recognized in the Sakya, but it is not always connected with the transmission of major posts.

Śākya. Name of the clan or tribe into which the Buddha was born. Like other tribes resident in the foothills of the Himalayas and northern Bihar who were tributary to the great kingdoms but exercised internal autonomy, the Śākyas most likely practised a republican form of government. Though in later legend the Buddha's father, Śuddhodana, is depicted as a king, he was most probably a tribal chief, depending on the support of an assembly of householders who gathered regularly to discuss tribal politics in a meeting-hall. If it is assumed the Śākyas were like other kṣatriya tribes of north-east India or elsewhere (as described in the sources of the Mauryan period or later, such as the Arthaśāstra), then each adult noble would have had the title rāja or ‘prince’, but would not be a ruler unless consecrated as such (mūrdhābhiṣikta). At certain periods some at least of such tribes would have had an oligarchic constitution, but at other times a monarchic one. There are no non-Buddhist sources extant on the Śākyas which could shed light on their political constitution.