Glossary

The Zhamarpas are an important tulku lineage within the Karma Kagyu branch of the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, second after the Karmapas. Founded in the fourteenth century, the Zhamar and Karmapa lineages have a close teacher-student relationship, when one passes away the other takes charge of identifying and educating the new incarnation. In 1788, the Tenth Zhamarpa became involved in a conflict between the Shah synasty of Nepal, the Dalai Lamas’ Ganden Podrang, and the Qing dynasty. As result the Geluk-led Ganden Podrang government banned the Zhamar lineage, which went underground until being formally pardoned by the Fourteenth Dalai Lama in 1963.

Zhije is a set of meditative practices taught by Padampa Sanggye (d.1117), an Indian tantric master, or siddha, who spent much of his life traveling and giving teachings in Himalayan regions and Tibet. Usually associated with the chod or “cutting” practices, the Zhije practices involve the visualization of cutting away one’s body, and ultimately the ego, as a means of reaching enlightenment. These teachings were further spread and popularized in Tibet by his student, Machik Labdron (1055–1153), one of the most prominent female tantric masters and lineage holders in Tibetan Buddhism. She widely transmitted these practices focused on the deity Vajrayogini and even became identified with this deity.