SAKYAPA (sa-skya-pa), Tib.; a major school of Tibetan Buddhism named after the Sakya (lit. “Gray Earth”) Monastery, located in southern Tibet. In accordance with a prophecy of Atīsha, the Sakya Monastery was founded in the year 1073, and its abbots, members of the Khön family, devoted themselves primarily to the transmission of a cycle of Vajrayāna teachings known by the name of “path and goal” (Lamdre). This school concerned itself with creating a systematic order for the Tantric writings (Tantra), but also turned its attention to problems of Buddhist logic. In the 13th and 14th centuries it had great political influence in Tibet.
The Sakyapas received their form as an independent school mainly from five gurus who lived between 1092 and 1280: Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092-1158), his two sons Sonam Tsemo (1142-82) and Drakpa Gyaltsen (1147-1216), his grandson Sakya Pandita (1182-1251), and the latter’s nephew Chögyal Phagpa (1235-80). All five teachers were recognized as incarnations of Mañjushrī. Up to the present day, the principal leaders of the Sakyapa school are of the Khön family.
Of these the greatest influence was exercised by Sakya Pandita, whose erudition embraced all worldly and religious disciplines. His translations from Sanskrit not only made him known in India but also caused a grandson of Genghis Khan to invite him to Mongolia. Sakya Pandita’s missionary activities there were so successful that rulership of Central Asia was conferred upon the Sakya school in the year 1249.
In the following centuries the Sakyapas played an important role in the spiritual life of Tibet. Not only were Tsongkhapa, and through him the Gelugpa school, influenced by them, but also the school of Jonangpa, no longer extant today, and its most important spokesman Tāranātha (b. 1575), as well as the historian Butön (1290-1364) were strongly influenced by the Sakyapas.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
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