The four main lineages of Tibetan Buddhism are Karma Kargyu, Shakya, Ningma and Gelup traditions. Each lineage can trace the teachings of their lineage from present day realized lamas as having received the teachings from their teachers and their teachers before them, all the back through history to Shakyamuni Buddha.
Zanabazar Gelug Lineage Masters
His Holiness
the XIV Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lamas are believed to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and the patron saint of Tibet. Bodhisattvas are believed to be enlightened beings who have postponed their own nirvana and chosen to take rebirth in order to serve humanity.
Öndör Gegeen
Zanabazar
(Eshidorji)
Öndör Gegeen Zanabazar, born Eshidorji, was the first Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism for the Khalkha Mongols in Outer Mongolia. His name is the Mongolian rendition of Sanskrit Jñānavajra “Vajra of Wisdom”.
Jhado Tulku
Rinpoche
Rinpoche was born in 1954 to a nomadic family living in the area of Namtso Lake, 220 kilometers north of Lhasa, Tibet. At the age of three he was recognized and enthroned as the 6th incarnation of the abbot of Jhado Monastery.