Tsangpa Gyare

Samding Dorje Phagmo The great ascetic Drogon Tsangpa Gyare (1161–1211) was the main disciple of Lingchen Repa Pema Dorje and the founder of the Drukpa Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism the main or central branch of which was, until the 17th century, transmitted by his hereditary family lineage at Ralung in the Tsang region of Tibet.

In a terma, discovered by Guru Chokyi Wangchuk (1212–1270), it is said Guru Padmasambhava foretold the coming of Tsangpa Gyare: In another terma, said to have been revealed by Terton Ratna Lingpa (1403-1478/79) and Terton Padma Lingpa (1445–1521) on different occasions, Padmasambhava is recorded as predicting: When the famous disciple of Milarepa, Rechungpa received the teaching of Naropa's Six Points of Equal Taste from the Indian master Tipupa Sangag Dongpo, the master prophesied that Tsangpa Gyare would re-discover the text of the teachings.

[citation needed] Drogon Tsangpa Gyare was born into the Gya clan at a place near Kule in the Tsang province of Southern Tibet.

Whilst a giant eagle protected the vulnerable child with his wings, the new born kicked through the membrane leaving a footmark on the nearby rock.

[citation needed] As a young man, Drogon Tsangpa Gyare was a practitioner who studied the Sutra canon of the time, including Logic, The Way of the Bodhisattva, Metaphysics, the Transcendent Perfection of Great Wisdom and the Middle Path.