Gö Lotsawa

gZhon-nu-dpal (1392-1481), also known as 'Gos Lo-tsa-ba (full name: Yid-bzang-rtse gZhon-nu-dpal) was a famous Tibetan historian and scholar, known as the author of the "Blue Annals".

Life and achievements

He was born in 1392 at lho kha 'phyongs rgyas. He was a student of the fifth Karmapa Lama, Deshin Shekpa (1384-1415), from whom he received the bodhisattva precepts, as well as Tsongkhapa, and was a teacher of the sixth Karmapa, Thongwa Dönden (1416-1453).

He was the abbot of the Karmarñing Monastery and the author of the Blue Annals.

Works

• His most famous work, the "Blue Annals" (Deb-ther sngon-po), was completed in 1478, near the end of his life, and the text was dictated by him to some of his attendants.
• 'Khrul-sel, written in 1442-1443.
• His wrote a commentary on the Ratnagotravibhaga which extensively explored and contrasted Buddha-nature, described by Mathes (2008).

• Roerich (1949), p. ii.
• Vostrikov, A. I. (1970). Tibetan Historical Literature, pp. 31, 104-107. Translated from the Russian by Harish Chandra Gupta. Indian Studies Past & Present. Calcutta.
• Mathes, Klaus-Dieter (2008). A Direct Path to the Buddha Within: Gö Lotsāwa's Mahāmudra Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhāga. Somerville, MA : Wisdom Publications, Inc. ISBN 0-86171-528-4