Darig Thokmay

This project produces the first complete, annotated, and critical English translation of “The Biography of the First Jamyang Shépa” (1648-1721), a pivotal Tibetan text that reveals the interplay between monastic reform, religious politics, and trans-regional Buddhist networks. The study compares four versions of the biographies to preserve authenticity, and examines Jamyang Shépa’s scholastic reforms at Drepung Gomang, his ideological conflict with Desi Sanggyé Gyatso, and the founding of Labrang Monastery that spread Geluk influence across Amdo and Mongolia. This volume illuminates the intellectual diversity, the entanglement of religion and politics, and the expansion of Geluk tradition in Inner Asia—a rare and indispensable resource for scholars of Buddhism and Inner Asian history.