Sangphu Neuthok, (near) Lhasa, Xizang, CN

Raw data

"Atisha had three chief students. Besides the famous Dromtonpa (Drontön Gyalwe Jungne), who established the Radreng [= Reting ] monastery, there were Khu (Khutön Tsöndru Yungdrang [ven.khutöntsöndru]) and Ngok (Ngok Legpe Sherap [ven.ngoklegpe]). Ngok established the dharma center of Sangphu Neuthok and this institute was later developed further by his nephew, the translator, Ngok Loden Sherap [ven.ngokloden] and it became the source of all the Tibetan centers for advanced study (Shedra).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadam_(Tibetan_Buddhism)

"Ngok Lotsawa Loden Sherab was born in 1059. At the age of seventeen, he studied with Ngok Lekpe Sherap, who was his uncle. After a year, he began to travel to India with Tsen Khawoche [ven.tsenkhawoche] and others to study with great Indian masters. He studied with many Indian panditas for seventeen years and then returned to Tibet in 1092 C.E., and became one of most important Tibetan translators. He translated the pramana (logic/valid cognition) literature and abhisamaya-alamkara (ornament to clear realization) literature and made a great contribution to the buddhism of Tibet. He taught extensively and became the second seat holder of the Sangphu Neuthok monastery, which was founded in 1071 C.E. by the Ngok Lekpe Sherap, who was the first seat-holder of Sangphu Neuthok Monastery. Ngok Loden Sherap passed away at the of fifty-five, in 1109."
http://www.kagyuoffice.org/buddhism.10pillars.html

Longchen Rabjam (1308-1363) [….] "At nineteen, he went to the great university of Sangphu Neuthok, a popular center for advanced studies that was founded by Ngog Lekpei Sherab, the reputed Tibetan scholar of logic. There, under Lopon Tsengonpa and Ladrangpa Chopel Gyaltsen, he studied the Buddhist teachings of the Causal Vehicle including Maitreya’s Five Classes of Teachings, Dharmakirti’s Seven Treatises on Valid Cognition, the Madhyamika philosophy, Pranjnaparamita and so on. He also received the five profound sutras, which include the Samadhirajsutra (Sutra of the King of Contemplation) from Pang Lodroe Tenpa. In addition, he learned the common sciences of poetry, grammar, prosody, so forth, and mastered whatever he studied."
http://www.tibetanbuddhistaltar.org/2012/02/nectar-for-faithful-disciples-from-drops-of-nectar-by-ngagyur-nyingma-institute/

Sangphu Neuthok (Tib. Wyl. gsang phu ne'u thog) - A Kadampa monastery founded by Ngok Lekpé Sherab in 1071/2, and famous for its scholarship. Among its most famous abbots and teachers were Ngok Loden Sherab, Chapa Chökyi Senge, Yaktön Sangye Pal and Rongtön Sheja Kunrig. The great Longchen Rabjam also studied here in his youth. In its heyday it was home to some eleven separate colleges, affiliated with both the Gelug and Sakya schools. But by the end of the eighteenth century there was no resident community of monks, and when Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo visited the site in the mid-nineteenth century he said it had become an ordinary village of lay people (grong nag).
Further Reading

  • Onodo, Shunzo. Abbatial Successions of the Colleges of gSang phu sNe'u thog Monastery. Bull. of the National Museum of Ethmology 15 no 4 (1990) 149-1071.
  • van der Kuijp, Leonard. The Monastery of Gsang-phu Ne'u-thog and Its Abbatial Succession from ca. 1073 to 1250. Berliner Indologische Studien 3 (1987) pp. 103-127. - http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Sangphu_Neuthok

"gsang phu ne'u thog dgon pa - ancient bka' gdams pa [= Kadampa - tmc] school near lha sa [= Lhasa - tmc]
founded in 1072 by 'jam dbyangs rnam 'phrul rngog legs pa'i shes rab"
http://tbrc.org/link/?RID=G226#library_place_Object-G226

Sangphu (Gsangphu) Monastery in Central Tibet (founded 1071 or 1073)
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=nVM2hQezgRQC&pg=PA20#v=onepage&q&f=false

"Sang Phu 桑浦寺
Sang Pu Temple in Lhasa City Doilungdegen County, located in County resident southeast of Lhasa, the south bank of the inner Wu care places. The temple is famous advocated because of the (Buddhist logic), the debate on the history of Tibetan Buddhism occupies a certain position, is one of the important monasteries of the Tibetan Buddhist Kadampa revered." [Automated Goole chinese-to-english translaation]
http://info.tibet.cn/newzt/rsxzzt/xzsm/t20050704_39907.htm

"Located on the southern bank of Lhasa river deep in a valley is Sang Pu Temple, where Tibetan Buddhist practice system was first established. […]
At its peak, Sang Pu temple housed more than twenty thousand lamas. Yearly during summer, lamas from twenty over major temples, pre Tibet temples like the above mentioned and Tibetans from Ja Sem Lun Bu temple alike, took part in a debate match. This match lasts a full day, with the winner conferred the “La Ran Ba Ge Xi” , the equivalence of a doctorate in Buddhism. Thus the Sang Pu temple played an important role in the development of Tibetan Buddhism."
- http://sangpusi.blogspot.com.au/

Input by: tmciolek, Aug 16, 2012

"Born in East Tibet—Markham, Chöjé Marpa [ven.chöjemarpa] was chosen at age twenty to study at Sangphu the great monastic college of the Kadampa tradition in central Tibet. After five years he became a great scholar.” - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kagyu

Final data (and their sources)

Input by: tmciolek, Jan 18, 2012

Last updated: 11 Mar 2013

Lat/Long coordinates' accuracy:
The monastery in question is assumed to be situated actually no farther than 200 m from the point defined by the coordinates below.

Location of Sangphu Neuthok monastery, CN.

General location of the Sangphu Neuthok monastery, CN.
Lat 29.5220 Long 91.1123
Mapping & images: Falling Rain Genomics (http://www.fallingrain.com), 2009.


Google Map link:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=29.5220+91.1123(Approx.%20loc.%20of%20the%20Sangphu%20Neuthok%20monastery,%20CN)&ll=29.5220,91.1123&spn=05.0,05.0&t=k&hl=en


Final data - explanatory notes

1. Monastery's name


2. Monastery's modern country & province

  • China:Xizang Zizhiqu

3. Monastery's alternative/historical names


4. Monastery's lat/long coordinates

  • Approx., Lat 29.52209 Long 91.11237 - based on the visual indentification of the site in satellite imagery in maps.google.com, tmciolek, Aug 16 2012.
  • Approx., Lat 29°31'19"N   (= 29.52194 tmc) Long 91°6'45"E (= 91.1125 tmc) - http://wikimapia.org/7571124/Sangpu-Monastery

5. Other known nearby Buddhist monasteries


6. Modern name of the known nearest city, town, or village


7. The settlement's alternative/historical names


8. The settlement's coordinates


9. Monastery's major Buddhist tradition

  • Vajrayana

10. Monastery's Buddhist sub-tradition


11. Date-early

  • MBM chrono-tag 1067-99c - tmciolek 18 Jan 2013
  • 1067-99c 1100-32c 1133-66c 1167-99c 1200=> dated-el

12. Date-intermediate

  • [missing data]

13. Date-late

  • By the end of the eighteenth century there was no resident community of monks, and when Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo visited the site in the mid-nineteenth century he said it had become an ordinary village of lay people (grong nag) - http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Sangphu_Neuthok
  • Destroyed by the communist Chinese after 1959 - Dowman (1988:141)
  • MBM chrono-tag 1200=> - tmciolek 18 Jan 2013

14. Details of contacts with other monasteries

  • Dusum Khyenpa [b.1110 - d.1193] [ven.düsumkhyenpa] went to “Sangpu Neutok (gsang phu ne'u thog) [where] he studied with the abbot Chawa Chokyi Sengge (phywa pa chos kyi seng ge, 1109-1169) [ven.chokyisengge] and Patsab Lotsāwa Nyima Drakpa (pa tshab lo tsA ba nyi ma grags pa) [ven.lotsawanyima], who taught him Madhyamaka.” http://www.treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/First-Karmapa-Dusum-Khyenpa/2683

15. Type of evidence regarding the monastery

  • Archaeological, architectural

16. Additional notes

  • Sanhpu Neutok - A monastic academy. Had a 9 storey pagoda - Dowman (1988:138).
  • At its peak, Sang Pu temple housed more than twenty thousand lamas - http://sangpusi.blogspot.com.au/

17. Corrections & addenda to this page were kindly provided by

  • [missing data]

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