Jetsun

Jetsun (Standard Tibetan: རྗེ་བཙུན་/རྗེ་བཙུན་མ་;) or Jetsunma (Wylie transliteration: rJe-btsun/ma; the "ma" suffix is feminine) is a Tibetan title meaning "venerable" or "reverend." It is a specific term applied to revered teachers and practitioners of Vajrayana Buddhism. The title is applied to adepts and learned lamas such as Jetsun Milarepa. "Je" (Wylie transliteration: rJe) refers to those of high rank, including kings and nobles; "tsun" (Wylie transliteration: bTsun) refers to 1) those of noble rank, 2) those who are monastics, or 3) those who combine the three characteristics of being learned, noble, and good. The two together emphasize the honorific while "tsun" applies the term specifically to ecclesiastics.^[1]

In terms of Jetsunmas, the title could refer to:

• Jetsunma Chime Tenpai Nyima (rje btsun ma 'chi med bstan pa'i nyi ma) (b. 1756) ^[2]
• Jetsun Chonyi Dechen Tsomo
• Jetsunma Dechen Wangmo ^[3]
• Jetsun Dolma
• Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo
• Jétsunma Khandro Yeshé Réma ^[4]
• Jetsunma Kushok Chimey Luding, sister of Sakya Trizin ^{[5][6][7][8][9]}
• Jetsunma Niguma
• Jetsun Milarepa
• Jetsunma Mingyur Paldron, Minling Jetsunma Mingyur Peldron (smin gling rje btsun mi 'gyur dpal sgron, (1699-1769),^[10] daughter of Terton Terdak Lingpa ^[11]
• Jetsunma Pema Trinle ^[12]
• Jetsunma Shukseb, Shukseb Jetsun Choying Zangmo (shug gseb rje btsun chos dbyings bzang mo, (1865-1951) ^{[3][13][14][15]}
• Jetsunma Tamdrin Wangmo Kelzang Chokyi Nyima (rje btsun ma grub pa'i rta mgrin dbang mo skal bzang chos kyi nyi ma) (1836-1896) ^[16]
• Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, a well-known western yogini
• Jetsunma Thinley Chodron ^[3]
• Jetsunma Tsewang Lhamo (1874-1950) ^[17][18]
• Jetsun Pema, Queen of Bhutan
• Mindrolling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche

Footnotes

1. Das, Sarat Chandra. A Tibetan English Dictionary. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1991.
2. Benard, Elisabeth (August 2012). "Chime Tenpai Nyima". The Treasury of Lives: Biographies of Himalayan Religious Masters. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
3. "Dharma Fellowship: Library - Women Buddhas: A Short List of Female Saints, Teachers and Practitioners in Tibetan Buddhism" (2005-2013). Website of the Dharma Fellowship of His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
4. Ngak’chang Rinpoche (2013). "Mother Essence Lineage – Part 4". Aro Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
5. "Jetsün Kushok Chimey Luding". Rigpa Wiki. 2010-11-18. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
6. "Jetsun Kushok Chimey Luding". Rangjung Yeshe Wiki - Dharma Dictionary. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
7. "Biography of Jetsun Chimey Luding". Sakya Tsechen Thubten Ling. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
8. "Her Eminence Jetsun Kushok Chimey Luding". The Chronicles of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
9. "Her Eminence Jetsun Kushok Chimey Luding". buddhistwomen. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
10. Chhosphel, Samten (August 2011). "The Second Dzogchen Drubwang, Gyurme Tekchok Tendzin". The Treasury of Lives: Biographies of Himalayan Religious Masters. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
11. "Jetsunma Mingyur Paldron". Rangjung Yeshe Wiki - Dharma Dictionnary. 2008-11-27. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
12. Benard, Elisabeth (May 2013). "Pema Trinle". The Treasury of Lives: Biographies of Himalayan Religious Masters. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
13. Martin, Dan (August 2008). "Gyergom Tsultrim Sengge". The Treasury of Lives: Biographies of Himalayan Religious Masters. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
14. "Shuksep Lochen Jétsün Chönyi Zangmo". Rangjung Yeshe Wiki - Dharma Dictionnary. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
15. Havnevik, Hanna (1999). "The Life of Jetsun Lochen Rinpoche (1865-1951)". Journal of Religious Culture - Journal für Religionskultur. No. 27 (11). ISSN 1434-5935. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
16. Benard, Elisabeth (September 2012). "Tamdrin Wangmo". The Treasury of Lives: Biographies of Himalayan Religious Masters. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
17. Ronis, Jann (May 2013). "Tsewang Lhamo". The Treasury of Lives: Biographies of Himalayan Religious Masters. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
18. "History - the Trirab, the Khenrab, the Jetsunma". Retrieved 2013-08-10.