THE SNOW LION BUDDHIST NEWS & CATALOG

 The Geden Phacho Bhucho Project

The Geden tradition of Buddhism in Tibet was founded by the highly revered Buddhist master and scholar-practitioner, Je Tsong Khapa, in the 14th century. Je Tsong explored the entire range of Buddhist doctrines in all Buddhist schools flourishing at the time and sought to synthesize these into a cohesive whole. Je Tsong Khapa's legacy is enormous; he is credited with having revitalized many sutra and tantra lineages that would otherwise have become extinct.

Je Tsongkhapa's legacy, compiled in the thirty-seven volumes of the Collected Works of Je Tsongkhapa, consists of two parts: the Father or (Phacho) teachings, and the Son (Bhucho) teachings. The "Teachings of the Fathers" are the root texts and contain the writings of Je Tsongkhapa and his two main disciples. The "Teachings of the Sons" include works by direct disciples of the three 'Fathers' along with the commentaries by Indian Buddhist scholars.

Although different schools of Tibetan Buddhism each follow their own set of unique traditions laid out by their founders, the root of these traditions can be traced to Buddha Shakyamuni himself, whose teachings Je Tsongkhapa studied extensively.

The objectives of this project are:

  1. To compile a working reference catalogue to serve as a master copy of all the lineages belonging to the Geden Tradition.
  2. To determine a program and process of oral transmissions of the Geden lineages based upon the expertise and advice of the highly revered Buddhist Masters and scholars of Geden Tradition.
  3. Following this process, to facilitate the oral transmission of all the known Geden Lineages to the most appropriate students.

The project, conceived of by H.E. Lelung Rinpoche, is endorsed by many within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. To learn more about the Geden Phacho Bhucho Preservation Centre Project, or to support their work of preserving these teachings and disseminating them, please visit www.gedenphachobhucho.org or email them directly at info@lelung.org.