New Kadampa

For the new religious movement founded in England, see New Kadampa Tradition.

The term New Kadampa (Tibetan: བཀའ་གདམས་གསར་པ, Wylie: bka' gdams gsar pa) is a synonym for the 14th century Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, as founded by Je Tsongkhapa (Wylie: rje tsong kha pa).^[1] Being a great admirer of Kadam teachings, Je Tsongkhapa was an enthusiastic promoter of the 11th century Kadampa school's emphasis on the graded path to enlightenment and Mahayana principles of universal compassion as its fundamental spiritual orientation. Though the synonym is less well known in English-speaking countries, in Tibet the Gelugpa was well known as the "New Kadampa," while the earlier school was referred to as the "Ancient Kadampa" (Tibetan: བཀའ་གདམས་རྙིང་མ, Wylie: bka' gdams rnying ma) or "Original Kadampa" (Tibetan: བཀའ་གདམས་གོང་མ, Wylie: bka' gdams gong ma). Je Tsongkhapa considered the New Kadampa tradition he founded to be the successor to Atiśa's Old Kadampa tradition.^[2] Geoffrey Samuels remarks that Tsongkhapa "was following in the footsteps of Atisha, and indeed the Gelugpa are sometimes known as the 'New Kadampa' and regarded themselves as above all a continuation of Atisha's work."^[3]

In the 1990s Geshe Kelsang Gyatso founded the "controversial"^[4][5][6] New Kadampa Tradition (NKT), which was officially rebuked by the Dalai Lama.^[7] Its name derives from, but should not be confused with this synonym of the Gelug.

References

1. Das, Sarat Chandra (1902). A Tibetan—English Dictionary. Calcutta: The Bengal Secretariat Book Depot. pp. 63–64.
2. Powers, John. "Gelukpa Tibetan Buddhism" entry in Melton, J. Gordon, and Martin Baumann. 2002. Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO. p. 533.
3. Samuel, Geoffrey. 1993. Civilized Shamans: Buddhism in Tibetan Societies. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
4. Bluck, R. (2006). British Buddhism: Teachings, practice and development. Routledge critical studies in Buddhism. London: Routledge. p. 129
5. The Dorje Shugden Conflict: An Interview with Tibetologist Thierry Dodin, 8 May 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2014. "The NKT can be described typologically as a cult on the basis of its organisational form, its excessive group pressure and blind obedience to its founder."
6. Mills, Martin (2003) Identity, Ritual and State in Tibetan Buddhism – The Foundations of Authority in Gelukpa Monasticism, p. 366, Routledge
7. Kay, David N. (1997). "The New Kadampa Tradition and the Continuity of Tibetan Buddhism in Transition". Journal of Contemporary Religion. 12 (3). Routledge: 277–293. doi:10.1080/13537909708580806.