Sakya Pa is one of the oldest sects of Tibetan Buddhism. It is also the first sect of Tibetan Buddhism to be introduced into the Chinese and Mongolian regions. It has a very important position in Tibetan Buddhism. Its teachings is profound, and it initiated and developed traditional knowledge culture of Great Five Sciences and Secondary Five Sciences
“Great Five Sciences” means: technology; medicine; acoustics; logic; Buddhism.
“Secondary Five Sciences” means: rhetoric, rheology, rhyme, drama, and calendar.
The Sakya ancestors became the earliest emperors and created a history of “integration of politics and religion”
Origin
In 1073 AD, a monastery was built on the side of the Pon-pori Hills where the soil is with grey white color. This is the famous Sakya monastery. Sakya Pa, which means “grey and white earth” in Tibetan, is the name of a temple and later became the name of a sect.
Since its establishment, the monastery has been the center of the Sakya Pa sect. Because its walls are painted with red, white, and black three-colored strip that symbolize the three mantras of Manjushri, Avalokitesvara, and Vajrayana, so that it is commonly known as the “Flower Religion” in Chinese Dynasty.
The funder, who was from a rather ancient aristocrat in Tibet, was Khon Konchog Gyalpo (1034 AD – 1102 AD). He was originally a Nyingma pa monk from the powerful noble Tsang’s family and became the first Trizin. It ruled Tibet during the 13th century after the downfall of the kings until they were eclipsed by the rise of the new Gelug pa of Tibetan Buddhism.
Development
Sakyapa was developed during the second period of translation of Buddhist scripture from Sanskrit into Tibetan in the late 11th century. It had two lineages, which were “Descent”, and “Legal System”. There were three more lineages (Or, Gonga, and Chaer) appeared after Yuan Dynasty.
The main monastery of the Sakya pa is Sakya Monastery, its library of Buddhist scriptures behind its assembly hall can be called the repository of wisdom. The collection of more than 10,000 Buddhist scriptures was meticulously copied by the scribes from the central Tibet, Southern Tibet and the east Tibet of Kham during the Drogon Chogyal Phagpa period by using gold, silver, cinnabar, gemstones, and ink.
There is another scriptures in shape of square with size of one meter in Length and width, both sides are protected by splints. All written in gold, it is regarded as a treasure among treasures. There are more than 40,000 volumes of Buddhist scriptures in the entire Sakya Monastery, including a large number of Palm-leaf manuscript. The Dege Printing House (Derge Parkhang) was founded by the Sakyapal in Dege county in 1550 AD. This is the most famous printing house in Tibetan Cultural Area. Specially engraved various classics such as Tibetan Buddhist scriptures, important denominations, calendars and medicine, it has played an important role in protecting and promoting Tibetan Buddhist culture.
Palm-leaf manuscripts
This is a scripture written on the Palm-leaf. It is known as the “Buddhist Panda” and originates from ancient India. The Palm-leaf manuscripts are mostly Buddhist classics, and some of them are ancient Indian Sanskrit documents, which have high cultural relic value. Palm-leaf manuscripts has a history of more than 2500 years. Some of it were written in two languages, and some are acupunctured. It is an important source for studying ancient Tibetan culture, language, Buddhism, and religious art. Palm-leaf manuscripts was written mainly between the 8th and 14th centuries. Due to the dry climate in Tibet, and unique conservation methods, the Palm-leaf manuscripts found in Tibet are very well preserved.
