The mDo-chen bKa’-brgyud-pa school represents a little known Buddhist tradition from Mang-yul Gung-thang in south-western Tibet. It goes back to a Buddhist yogin known as Ma-bdun-pa or Ma-bdun ras-chen (12th/13th c.) and was later mainly spread by mem­bers of the Gur family. Although belong­ing to the “Upper ’Brug” (stod ’brug) branch of the ’Brug-pa bKa’-brgyud-pa school, the mDo-chen tradition has always been deeply infused with the “spoken teachings” (bka’ ma) and “treasure teachings” (gter ma) of the rNying-ma-pa school, and the cult of the “Seven Ma-mo Sisters” (ma mo mched bdun) was part­ic­ularly practised and transmitted by its members. This book presents a critical edition, an annotated translation and a photo­graphic reproduction of a manuscript copy of a rare chronicle of the Gur-rigs mDo-chen tradition written by Brag-dkar rta-so sPrul-sku Chos-kyi dbang-phyug (1775–1837). The text provides us with an over­view of the tradition’s development mainly through biographical accounts but also through pro­ph­ecies, prayers and praises for individual masters. The study concludes with two appendices based on the mDo chen bka’ brgyud gser ’phreng, a lin­­eage history composed in the 15th century, and the “records of teachings received” (thob yig) of three important mem­bers of the Gur family, thus allowing us to gain an insight into the trans­missions of the mDo-chen bKa’-brgyud-pa school and the interactions of its represen­tatives with other important Bud­dhist teachers up to the 18th century. The present work is a further outcome of the author’s investigations into the cultural and religious tradi­tions of south-western Tibet and the neighbour­ing Himalayan valleys.

Second only to the famous Rin chen bzang po (958–1055) in receiving the title of a “Great Translator” (lo chen) during the period of the “Later Propagation” (phyi dar) of Buddhism in Tibet, rNgog lo tsā ba Blo ldan shes rab (or rNgog lo) was one of the most influential figures in the establishment of Tibetan Buddhist scholasticism. After having devoted seventeen years of his life to the study of Sanskrit under scholars in Kashmir, India and Nepal, he became renowned for his more than fifty painstaking translations and revisions of Buddhist scriptures. Apart from being the foremost Tibetan translator of works on Buddhist logic and epistemology (Pramāṇa), rNgog lo’s activities as a commentator and teacher are regarded as fundamental for the later development of this field of learning in Tibet, and his tradition came to be well-known in Tibetan literature as the “rNgog tradition” (rngog lugs). This book presents a detailed examination of rNgog lo’s life based on the available Tibetan accounts, including his biography (rnam thar) written by Gro lung pa Blo gros ’byung gnas (fl. late 11th to 12th c.). Annotated translations of great parts from the latter work (one of the earliest surviving examples of the rnam thar genre, possibly unique regarding its complicated and elegant style) are included in the book. rNgog lo’s oeuvre as a translator and writer is dealt with in detail, making the book an important source on this hitherto little studied scholar and his tradition.

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