Kathok is a famous early
Nyingma monastery which grew to include numerous branch monasteries within the Do Kham region and beyond. It is also credited as influencing the spread of the Nyingma monasteries known of as the "Six Mother Monasteries".
Padmasambhava, or Guru Rinpoche, spent 25 days visiting the site before the monastery was built, and sat on a rock with a double vajra, called Dorje Gatramo, with a (
ka, with
visarga, or
Wy.:
rnam bcad) syllable on top. The monastery was built on this rock, giving it its name, which means "on top of the
kaཿ", and it is considered one of Guru Rinpoche's 25 sacred sites in Do Kham. Kathok Monastery was founded in 1159 by a younger brother of
Phagmo Drupa Dorje Gyalpo,
Kathok Kadampa Deshek, prophesied by Guru Rinpoche to be an emanation of
Yeshe Tsogyal. He built Kathok at
Derge, the historic seat of the
Kingdom of Derge in
Kham. The prophecy that 100,000 people would achieve rainbow body at Kathok is said to have been realized. Kathok Monastery's third abbot, Jampa Bum (1179–1252), whose 26-year tenure as abbot ended in 1252, "is said to have ordained thousands of monks from across Tibet, and especially from the Kham areas of Minyak (
Wy.:
mi nyag), Jang (
Wy.: '
byang), and Gyémorong (
Wy.:
rgyal mo rong)." The original
gompa fell into disrepair and was rebuilt on the same site in 1656 through the impetus of
tertöns Düddül Dorjé (1615–72) and
Rigdzin Longsal Nyingpo (1625-1682/92 or 1685–1752). After 1966, the monastery was destroyed by the Chinese while lamas were imprisoned. The monastery was rebuilt through the efforts of Moktsa Tulku after he was released from prison, and of Khenpo Ngakchung Tulku. Kathok Monastery held a reputation of fine scholarship. Prior to the annexation of Tibet in 1951, Kathok Monastery housed about 800 monks. Kathok was long renowned as a center specializing in the Nyingma school Kama lineages (oral lineages), as opposed to the
Terma lineages, and as a center of monasticism, although both of these features evolved under Longsel Nyingpo (1625–1692). According to
The Tibetan Buddhist Resource Centre, disciples of
Kenpo Munsel and
Kenpo Jamyang compiled a Kathok edition of the oral lineages () in 120 volumes in 1999: "[T]wice the size of the Dudjom edition, it contains many rare Nyingma treatises on Mahayoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga that heretofore had never been seen outside of Tibet." According to
Alexander Berzin,
Anuyoga Kathok Monastery became a bastion of the
Anuyoga tradition when it became neglected by other Nyingmapa institutions. The
Compendium of the Intentions Sūtra (Wylie:
dgongs pa ’dus pa’i mdo) the root text of the Anuyoga tradition was instrumental in the early Kathog educational system. == People from Kathok Monastery ==