A school named after a place
Sakya means “pale earth”, a name taken from the greyish hillside in Tsang, southern Tibet, where the school’s first monastery was built. The Sakya Monastery was founded in 1073 by Khon Konchok Gyalpo, a member of the Khon family, according to the traditional dating. The Khon family claim an older noble descent and had earlier links to the Nyingma tradition, which means the Sakya school in some ways bridges the old and new translation periods.
Unlike most of the other schools, the Sakya developed a hereditary system for its leadership. The head of the school, known as the Sakya Trizin (“holder of the Sakya throne”), has traditionally come from the Khon family, passing from uncle to nephew or father to son, and the family has divided into branches known as palaces.
The early masters and the Mongol court
In the thirteenth century, Sakya teachers became prominent in Tibetan political life. Sakya Pandita, a scholar of wide learning, travelled to the Mongol court in the 1240s, and his nephew Drogon Chogyal Phagpa later became a teacher to Kublai Khan. According to Tibetan accounts, this relationship led to Sakya leaders being given authority over Tibet within the Mongol imperial system for roughly a century. The exact nature of that authority is debated by historians, but its effect on Tibetan history is widely recognised.
Sakya tradition honours five early masters as the “Five Venerable Supreme Ones”, beginning with Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092-1158), the founder’s son. Their writings remain central to Sakya study.
Teaching tradition
Sakya is known for scholarship in logic, epistemology and philosophy, and for producing treatises on the Buddhist path. It is also known for the Lamdre (“path and result”), the central instruction system of the school, which has been transmitted in a carefully guarded manner over many centuries. Public sources describe it only in general terms, and this article does the same. Sakya teachers, like those of other schools, require students to prepare properly before receiving advanced instruction.
Within the Sakya there are traditions that emerged from the work of later masters, in particular the Ngor and Tsar lineages. Ngor Monastery, founded in the fifteenth century, became the seat of a major subschool. These branches differ in details of ritual and organisation, but all trace themselves back to the same early masters.
A number of Sakya scholars were also active in the Rime, or non-sectarian, movement of the nineteenth century, in which teachers from different schools collected and preserved each other’s lineages. The Rime idea has influenced how the schools relate to one another in modern times.
Sakya Monastery
The main Sakya monastery in Tibet is a large fortress-like complex with a great hall known for its massive pillars and its wall paintings. It holds a notable library of manuscripts. It was damaged in the twentieth century and has been partly restored. The Sakya Monastery is described in its own article, and visiting Sakya town is covered in another.
Reaching Sakya normally involves long road travel at high altitude in the Tsang region. Entry rules for Tibet change, so consult official sources.
Where Sakya communities are today
After 1959, Sakya teachers and many families moved into exile. Today the school is represented by:
- India. A major centre exists at Rajpur near Dehradun in Uttarakhand, and further communities exist in other Tibetan settlements.
- Nepal. Sakya monasteries are found in the Kathmandu Valley, where the Tibetan community around Boudha includes houses of every school, and Sakya teachers have long been active in Nepal.
- Sikkim, Ladakh and Bhutan. Smaller Sakya communities and temples exist, though Sakya is not the leading school in these regions.
- Elsewhere. Sakya centres have been founded in Europe, North America and Asia.
Within Tibet and the borderlands, there are Sakya communities in Kham and Amdo as well, and the Kham monasteries article touches on the wider eastern picture.
Distinctive features for a visitor
Sakya temples often stand out for their grey, white and red striped walls, a colour pattern linked with the school’s identity. The colours are traditionally given symbolic meanings, and Buddhist colour symbolism more broadly is explored elsewhere. Look also for images of the early masters, which are often grouped in a lineage arrangement on altars.
As in other traditions, practice and etiquette vary by community. Dress modestly, remove your shoes when entering halls, walk clockwise around shrines and stupas, and ask before taking photographs. If a ceremony is taking place, observe quietly or ask whether it is appropriate to enter.