Tibetan Renaissance Seminar
Event Analysis of the Founding of Nyétang Monastery
Brief Description
Nyétang Monastery (snye thang) was founded in 1055 A.D. as a Kadampa monastery in the Kyichu Valley, near Lhasa by Bangtön. Blue Annals References: {Roerich}193, 259, 260, 262, 263, 288, 324, 330, 673, 794, 847, 948, 1021
Analysis
References to Nyétang in the Blue Annals almost entirely revolve around to whom Atiśa gave teachings while he was at Nyétang. In an effort to maintain the orthodoxy of their tradition, members of what later became known as the Kadampa sect invited the Bengali monk Atiśa (963?-1054) to Tibet in the 1030s. After spending time elsewhere in Tibet, Atiśa came to Nyétang Monastery in the Kyichu valley. Atiśa’s fame was established during his time at Nyétang and he died there in 1054. Atiśa’s influence on the burgeoning Renaissance period in Tibet is debated; Kadampa-produced historigraphies written in later centuries tend to exault his influence while modern Tibet scholars tend to downplay it.
The eleventh century was a time of rapid monastery building for the Kadampa sect. It’s estimated that by the middle of the century, 3-4 dozen monasteries has been built, without a break in stride. Like most of the great Kadampa monasteries founded in 11th century Tibet, Nyétang was established in the Eastern Vinaya lineage. Nyétang was specifically Ba Rak (a particular strand of Eastern Vinaya) in lineage but Kadampa in curriculum. After Atiśa’s death there was a struggle for control of Nyétang, which was eventually won by the Ba Rak group.
The term “Kadampa” was originally used to refer to Drömton’s disciples (Drömton was one of Atiśa’s lay disciples). Puchungwa Zhönu Gyeltsen (1031-1109), a monk who became renowned for his knowledge of meditation and his mystical abilities which were immortalized in Kadampa secret literature, studied with Atiśa at Nyétang and Drömton at Reting.
The character and story of Bangtön, Nyétang’s founder and the circumstances of modern Nyétang are two areas for further research.
Sources
China Tibet Information Center
TBRC
Blue Annals, Roerich Translation
Ronald Davison’s Tibetan Renaissance
University of Colorado’s Tibetan Monastery Inventory
Michael Kapstein’s The Tibetans