by Christopher Bell
| Type | Information |
|---|---|
| Name | Kaḥtok (ཀཿཐོག་) |
| Period | 12th century |
| Transliteration form | Kaḥ thog |
| Pronunciation | Katok |
| Etymology | the letter Ka-on top of. The monastery was established on top of terrain connected to Ka hill and which looks like the letter Ka |
| Sectarian affiliation | Nyingma |
| Source of information | Dung dkar blo bzang 'phrin las. 2002. Dung dkar tshig mdzod chen mo. Beijing: Krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang. Samuel, Geoffrey. 1993. Civilized Shamans. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press. Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center #G17 |
| Location | Near Pombor Gang in Kham, on the banks of the Drichu River. |
| Nation | China |
| Province | Sichuan |
| District | Pombor Gang (spo 'bor sgang) |
| Cultural location | Kham > Peyul (dpal yul) county |
| Location's language | Kham dialect (khams skad) |
| Location description | "The monastery was established on top of terrain connected to Ka hill and which looks like the letter Ka. Because of this, it became renowned as Kaḥthok." |
| Date founded | 1159 |
| Founder | Kadampa Deshek (ka dam pa bde gshegs) [1122-1192] |
| Blue Annals References | (pp. 158, 484). The two mentions of this monastery discuss Kaḥtok as one of the three great Nyingma monasteries at this time, established near sbom po on the banks of the 'bri chu river, and an important site for the maintainance of the Sūtra (mdo) and Net of Magical Display (sgyu 'phrul) transmissions(158). Furthermore, the figure of Tsangtön Dorjé Gyeltsen [1137-1226], Kadampa Deshek's disciple, is mentioned as the second abbot of Kaḥtok (484). |
Kaḥtok Dorjé Den (kaH thog rdo rje gdan) is the oldest of the major Nyingma monasteries, having been established nearly a millenium ago. During the Tibetan renaissance period it was an important religious center in Kham and a site for the transmission of the Net of Magical Display (sgyu 'phrul), which was maintained by many of Kaḥtok's abbots. Samuel (1993, pp. 78, 321, 533) discusses Kaḥtok—and the other great Nyingma monasteries of Kham in Dergé—but mainly in the context of later centuries, it's refounding in 1656 after it had fallen into disrepair, and its importance during the Rimé (ris med) movement in the 19th century.
Kaḥtok is a monastery that was previously founded in the middle of the 12th century, in the Earth Rabbit year (1159) of the third Tibetan sixty-year cycle, by the great Nyingma doctrine-holder Kadampa Deshek [1122-1192] in a region near [the Kham district of] Pombor Gang, on the banks of the Drichu River. Nowadays it exists in the Tibetan autonomous region of Kardzé in the province of Sichuan. Kadampa Deshek’s root lama, Dzamtön [Drogön], said to him, “Go to the abode of Kampo [Kam Lotsāwa] and practice!” It was prophesied that, “If he went to a region called Kaḥtok, the [Buddhist] teachings would come to be greatly increased.” Accordingly, he was 38 years old, and in the Earth Rabbit year (1159) of the third Tibetan sixty-year cycle the monastery was established on top of terrain connected to Ka hill and which looks like the letter Ka. Because of this, it became renowned as Kaḥthok. There were thirteen in that monastery’s abbatial line, from Kadampa’s disciple Tsangtön Dorjé Gyeltsen [1137-1226] to the learned and accomplished Yeshé Gyelsten [b.1395]; these came to be known as the thirteen gurus of Kaḥtok. A detailed history of this is illuminated in pages 309-312 of the “Gutra Chöjung” composed by the eternal and virtuous Guru Trashi. (Dung dkar 2002, p.4)