Norzang Gyatso was an early master of the Geluk Lamrim teachings. The author of several famous books on diverse topics, including Mahāmudrā and Kālacakra, he was a teacher of the Second Dalai Lama.

Taktsang Lotsāwa Sherab Rinchen was a polymath scholar-monk of the Sakya tradition. Active during a great period of classical scholarship and translation, he was a prolific commentator on a wide range of topics, with special focus on medicine, poetry, Vinaya, and Kālacakra. He is said to have had an encyclopedic knowledge of not only the five topics of monastic study -- Vinaya, Abhidharma, Pramāṇa, Madhyamaka, and Prajñāparamitā -- but also the five major fields of traditional learning -- grammar, art, medicine, logic, and the inner science. However, he is perhaps best known for his critique of Tsongkhapa's interpretation of Madhyamaka in his philosophical treatise, Knowing All Philosophical Systems, which generated centuries of often polemical Geluk-Sakyapa debate.

Drubwang Yungdrung Puntsok was the twenty-eighth holder of the Atri lineage of Bon Dzogchen. A native of the Derge region of Kham, he was primarily based at Tarde Hermitage, where he briefly taught Jamgon Kongtrul. 

The tenure of the Eighth Dalai Lama, Jampel Gyatso, was a tumultuous era in the Himalayan region, filled with battles and intrigues. This period saw the emergence of the first contacts between Tibet and the British, and the Manchurian representatives of the Qing Empire also managed to enhance its position in Tibet when it was called upon to eject the invading Gurkhas. The Eighth Dalai Lama was an active leader in the midst of all of this, despite being disinclined to rule.

Buddhaguhya was an eighth-century Indian tantric master who is believed to have resided at Mount Kailash and composed numerous commentaries, treatises, and liturgies of broad scope, ranging from the Kriyā tantras to the Guhyagarbha Tantra of the Mahāyoga class.