The continuity of Mahamudra within the Kagyu tradition rests above all on an unbroken stream of direct teacher‑student transmission. From the early Indian siddhas through Marpa, Milarepa, Gampopa, and later lineage holders, the teachings have been handed down as living instructions rather than as abstract doctrine. Kagyu is often described as an “oral instruction lineage,” emphasizing that realization is communicated heart‑to‑heart, through personal guidance, “whispered” advice, and especially the pointing‑out of mind’s nature. This mode of transmission depends on the realization of the teacher and the readiness of the disciple, so that what is passed on is not only words but a way of seeing and being.

To safeguard this living current, the lineage has relied on a structured triad of transmission: empowerment (wang), reading transmission (lung), and oral instruction (tri). Empowerments establish a karmic and devotional connection to the Mahamudra stream and authorize specific practices. Reading transmissions preserve the exact wording of root texts, songs of realization, and practice manuals through recitation and listening, while oral instructions explain how to apply these teachings in meditation. Within this framework, distinct streams of Mahamudra instruction have been maintained as coherent systems of view and practice, entrusted to recognized lineage holders whose authority is grounded in their own meditative realization.

Institutionally, monasteries, study colleges, and retreat centers have provided the stable vessels needed for this oral heritage to endure. Major seats and practice centers train successive generations of lamas, tulkus, and retreat masters, who are carefully educated to carry both the textual and experiential sides of the tradition. The three‑year retreat system, in particular, has functioned as an intensive crucible in which practitioners receive progressive instructions, practice them in a disciplined setting, and have their experiences corrected and refined by seasoned teachers. In this way, Mahamudra is preserved not as a museum piece but as a method that must prove itself in the laboratory of meditation.

Alongside formal structures, the lineage has cherished more intimate vehicles of transmission such as pith instructions and songs of realization. Dohas from great masters encapsulate profound insight in memorable, poetic form, and are passed on orally and then unpacked through commentary. Short, essential instructions are often kept within close teacher‑disciple circles to protect them from dilution or misunderstanding, while still being grounded in the broader scriptural and commentary traditions. Throughout, the decisive criterion for authenticity remains experiential confirmation: teachings are regarded as truly preserved when they reliably lead practitioners to the same liberating insight that inspired the lineage at its source.