Eight practice lineages

Eight practice lineages, aka the Eight Chariots of the Practice Lineage (T. sgrub brgyud shing rta brgyad). Eight independent schools of Buddhism in Tibet that were based on Indian practice lineages.

Ringu Tulku (2006) states:

In Tibet... there have been several greater and lesser traditions of Buddhist practice lineages. The practice lineages are broadly categorized and usually known as the Eight Great Chariots.

The eight lineages are:

1. Nyingma (rnying ma),
2. Kadam (bka' gdams),
3. Sakya (sa skya),
4. Marpa Kagyu (mar pa bka' brgyud),
5. Shangpa Kagyu (shangs pa bka' brgyud),
6. Shijey (zhi byed) and Chöd (gcod),
7. Kalachakra (dus 'khor) or Jordruk (sbyor drug), and
8. Orgyen Nyengyu (o rgyan bsnyen brgyud).

This classification system was followed by Jamgon Kongtrul in his Treasury of Oral Instructions.

Note: the Jonang and Gelug schools are not part of this list because these schools formed within Tibet.

Sources

• sgrub_brgyud_shing_rta_brgyad, Rangjung Yeshe Wiki
• སྒྲུབ་བརྒྱུད་ཤིང་རྟ་བརྒྱད་ , Christian-Steinert Dictionary
• Eight practice lineages, Rigpa Shedra Wiki
• Ringu Tulku (2006), The Ri-Me Philosophy of Jamgon Kungtrul the Great, Shambhala 

Further Reading

• Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé, The Treasury of Knowledge, Book Eight, Part Four: Esoteric Instructions, A Detailed Presentation of the Process of Meditation in Vajrayana, Snow Lion, 2007
• Matthew Kapstein, 'gDams-ngag: Tibetan Technologies of the Self' in Cabezón and Jackson, ed., Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre, Snow Lion, 1996
• Ngawang Zangpo, Jamgon Kongtrul's Retreat Manual, Snow Lion, 1994