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Nyingma

Nyingma is the oldest school of Tibetan Buddhism. It is commonly referred to as the “Ancient One”. This school was based on the lineage of traditions and teachings introduced during the times of the Buddhist Kings. The Buddhist Kings were from the Yarlong Dynasty during the Eighth and Ninth Centuries. These teachings and traditions are handed down from Padmasambhava, Shantarakshita, and Vilalamitra to name a few.

Kagyu

Kagyu tradition is based on a lineage that follows a teaching role Padmasambhava.
This tradition is commonly known as the “Oral Lineage”. The teacher passes his own intellectual understanding and meditational experiences to his disciple. Also, once the teacher has completed his own mastery of the teachings, he introduces mahamudra to his disciple. The teachings in the Kagyu lineage have been preserved over the years, and transmitted until the current times.

Sakya

Sakya tradition emerged during the eleventh century in Tibet. This tradition is known as “Grey Earth”. The tradition is associated with the Khon Family.In the eighth century, Khon Lui Wangpo Sungwa became a disciple of Guru Rinpoche. Sakya Monastery was built by Khon Konchok Gyalpo in 1073. The building of the Sakya Monastery established the Sakya Tradition in Tibet.

Gelug

The last school in Tibetan Buddhism is Gelug, or Gelupka. This school is more commonly known as “School of Virtue”. This lineage combines the practices and teachings of the Nyingma, Kagyu and Sakya lineages. This tradition takes the previous three traditions along with the Sutra and Tantra systems of Indian Buddhism, and creates one tradition. This lineage also includes the intellectual heritage of the Asanga and Nagarjuna.

Bon (Indigenous Faith of Tibetan)

Tibet's oldest spiritual tradition is Bön. According to Bönpo accounts, eighteen enlightened teachers will appear in this aeon and Tönpa Shenrab, the founder of the Bön religion, is the enlightened teacher of this age. He is said to have been born in the mythical land of Olmo Lung Ring, whose location remains something of a mystery. The land is traditionally described as dominated by Mount Yung-drung Gu-tzeg (Edifice of Nine Swastikas), which many identify as Mount Kailash in western Tibet. Due to the sacredness of Olmo Lung Ring and the mountain, both the counter-clockwise swastika and the number nine are of great significance in the Bön religion.
It is believed that Tönpa Shenrab first studied the Bön doctrine in heaven, at the end of which he pledged at the feet of the god of compassion, Shenla Okar, to guide the people of this world.

Jonang

In the early 14th century the monk Sherab Gyeltsen broke away from the Sakyapa school and established the Jonangpa school at Jonan about a 160 km northwest of the Tashilhumpo monastery in Shigatse. There the Jonangpa built a large monastery and constructed a printing press.
The Jonangpa school had generated a number of renowned Buddhist scholars, the greatest of whom was Taranatha (1575-1634). Taranatha placed great emphasis on the Kalachakra system of tantra which became an important part of Gelugpa teaching after the Gelugpa absorbed the Jonangpa monasteries. Taranatha's influence on Gelugpa thinking continues even to this day in the teaching of the present 14th Dalai Lama who actively promotes initiation into Kalachakra.
After several centuries of independence, however, in the late 17th century the Jonangpa order came under the the Gelugpa order.