Who is padmasambhava

She received Dzogchen teachings directly from Padmasambhava and a number of important texts are attributed to her. Together, they travelled all over Tibet and the Himalayas, and blessed and consecrated the entire land. Tibet, Nepal, Mustang, Sikkim and Bhutan all have epic stories about the legendary couple. Guru Rinpoche visited Bhutan three times and spend many months in meditation.

He is an important symbol of enlightenment in the Dzogchen teachings and his image is often visualized as an object of meditation. He is said to have had eight manifestations, including both the peaceful and wrathful forms. He is closely associated with the terma tradition of the Nyingma school, in which specially empowered lineage holders called tertons discover secret teachings. For each of these terma treasures, Padmasambhava predicted the time for its revelation, the identity of the revealer terton , and those who would receive and hold the teachings.

So, after 55 years in Tibet, in the Wood Monkey year C. Many students attained realisation and the rainbow body and never came out of retreat. The great Buddhist saint travelled to Bhutan before he went to Tibet. He felt that it is ideal for the sacred Mantrayana or Vajrayana teachings to flourish. Just by traveling there, one would find the path [to.

If you did this what you accomplish in seven years in Tibet. You will accomplish it in seven days in these sacred places. And at the forested gorges, so forth, in all types of gorges,. I, Padmasambhava, blessed and left them as it is. Dharma Yogis could obtain accomplishment in these places very quickly. Even devils and non-Buddhist heretics will not occur. It is the fatherland of all the dharma practitioners.

Eight lesser hidden lands, and ten thousand sub-hidden lands,. I, Padmasambhava, concealed them as they will of use in future! Other sources site his first visit in C. He established many places of pilgrimage Nea and hid termas, or treasure teachings, to be rediscovered in future by tertons treasure revealers.

Some sacred sites from his first visit include:. Guru Rinpoche was invited by King Sindhu after he was seriously sick and possessed by the evil spirits. Padmasambhava subdued the evil spirits and imparted the inner tantric teachings to the King and his family members of the Kurjey Lhakhang, Jambay Lhakhang and the Chagkhar Lhakhang.

Ugyen Zangpo describes the Iron Castle with fantastical details. It is filled with treasures and one entrance is to the river and the other facing west.

It was from such a palace King Sindhu started to extend his domain as far as Dorjidrak in Tibet and Sindhabari in India. The Buddha of Limitless Life, Amitayus appeared, empowered them with longevity, and blessed them as inseparable from him. The king of Zahor and his ministers arrested Guru Rinpoche and Mandarava and burned him alive, but he transformed the pyre into a lake, and was found sitting, cool and fresh, on a lotus blossom in its centre.

Overcome with remorse, and in homage, the king offered Padmasambhava his entire kingdom, beginning with his garments and his five royal robes. In paintings and statues, Guru Rinpoche is portrayed wearing the clothing of the king of Zahor.

Guru Rinpoche taught the king and subjects of Zahor, and many attained realization. With Mandarava, he then returned to Oddiyana, but was recognized, and burned on a sandalwood pyre. After some time, they were found seated on a lotus in a lake of sesame oil, wearing a garland of skulls, as a symbol of their liberating all beings from samsara through compassion. For thirteen years Padmasambhava and Mandarava remained to teach in Oddiyana, as a result of which the king, queen and many others attained realization and the rainbow body.

Manifesting himself as the monk Indrasena, it is said that Padmasambhava inspired the great king, Ashoka 3rd century BC , to have faith in the Buddhadharma. Padmasambhava challenged and defeated five hundred upholders of wrong views in debate at Bodhgaya.

He reversed their magic with the aid of a wrathful mantra given him by the lion-faced dakini Marajita. Powerful spirits caused a three year drought, with famine and disease, and Padmasambhava asked his teachers in India for a teaching to counter them.

Two men returned, laden with the tantras and commentaries of Vajrakilaya , and the moment they arrived, the obstacles were pacified.

Guru Rinpoche recognized that Yangdak is like a merchant engaging in trade—the achievement can be great, but so can the obstacles, whereas Vajrakilaya is like an armed escort; he is needed to guard against obstacles and overcome them.

He then composed sadhanas of Yangdak and Vajrakilaya combined, and bound the guardians of Vajrakilaya to protect the teachings. As for the Dzogchen teachings, it is said that Padmasambhava met Garab Dorje in a pure vision, and he also received the Nyingtik teachings from Manjushrimitra. He stayed for twenty-five years, receiving and contemplating on this teaching.

In this subtle light body, great masters such as Padmasambhava and Vimalamitra can remain, without dissolving into the dharmakaya , for as long as there is service to perform for sentient beings. Now, the thirty seventh king of Tibet, Trisong Detsen , had invited the great pandita Shantarakshita , also known as Khenpo Bodhisattva, to establish Buddhism in his country.

The author of the famous Ornament of the Middle Way Skt. Madhyamakalamkara and Compendium on Reality Skt. Shantarakshita urged the king to invite Padmasambhava, and he despatched envoys under the leadership of Nanam Dorje Dudjom. With his prescience, Guru Rinpoche knew already of their mission, and had gone to meet them at Mangyul, between Nepal and Tibet.

It is said that he was then over a thousand years old. According to legend, after various unsuccessful attempts by Santaraksita to build the monastery, he suggested to Trisong Detsen, the 38th emperor of Tibet,that the tantric master Padmasambhava be invited to build the monastery.

By using a thread-cross called namkha , and through the tantric form of the Vajrakilaya dance, he pacified the local spirits. It is believed that the areas where his shadow fell on the ground, marked the boundaries of the Samye monastery.

According to the Testament of Ba the earliest written account of Buddhism in Tibet , Trisong Detsen requested Padmasambhava to translate Buddhist texts into Tibetan and reinvigorate Buddhist thought in the region.

Along with 25 disciples females and males , translators and Santaraksita the abbot of Nalanda , he translated various Buddhist texts to Tibetan. It is believed that the grand translation project took years to complete. Padmasambhava supervised the translation of the scriptures while establishing the tenets of Vajrayana Buddhism, hence earning the title of 'Buddha of the Vajrayana' [vii].

It was Padmasambhava who, through his efforts and teachings, helped counter the negative connotations attached to the practice of tantra—using love, compassion, gratitude and non-violence—and promoted the ritualistic method as a means to attain moksha. In Vajrayana Buddhism, the termas can be tangible objects hidden in the earth, lakes or in the sky, or intangible—those which come to tertons as revelations. The written termas are usually in the Dakini script, which only a terton can decipher.

According to scholars, he represents a consolidation of many strands of culture ranging from yogic and tantric practices to meditation, art, music, dance, magic, folklore and religious teachings.

Most of these feature a statue of Guru Padmasambhava, alongside that of Gautam Buddha and the image of one of the Bodhisattvas most often Tara, Amitabha or Maitreya. However, some sects also believe it to be in Odisha.