39 Facts About Padmasambhava

Padmasambhava, known as Guru Rinpoche and the Lotus from Oddiyana, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who taught Vajrayana in Tibet.

Padmasambhava later came to be viewed as a central figure in the transmission of Buddhism to Tibet.

In modern Tibetan Buddhism, Padmasambhava is considered to be a Buddha that was foretold by Buddha Shakyamuni.

The contemporary Nyingma school considers Padmasambhava to be a founding figure.

Tibetan Buddhism holds that Padmasambhava's termas are discovered by fortunate beings and tertons when conditions are ripe for their reception.

Padmasambhava is said to appear to tertons in visionary encounters, and his form is visualized during guru yoga practice, particularly in the Nyingma school.

Padmasambhava is widely venerated by Buddhists in Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, the Himalayan states of India, and in countries around the world.

On his return, Santaraksita brought Padmasambhava who was an Indian tantric adept from Oddiyana, in present-day Swat Valley, Pakistan.

Padmasambhava's task was to tame the local spirits and impress the Tibetans with his magical and ritual powers.

The Tibetan sources then explain how Padmasambhava identified the local gods and spirits, called them out and threatened them with his powers.

Padmasambhava was said to have taught various forms of tantric Buddhist yoga.

The Testament of Ba mentions other miracles by Padmasambhava, mostly associated with the taming of demons and spirits as well as longevity rituals and water magic.

Recent evidence suggests that Padmasambhava already figured in spiritual hagiography and ritual, and was already seen as the enlightened source of tantric scriptures up to 200 years before Nyangrel Nyima Ozer, the primary source of the traditional hagiography of Padmasambhava.

The first full biography of Padmasambhava is a terma said to have been revealed by Nyangrel Nyima Ozer, abbot of Mawochok Monastery.

Hagiographies of Padmasambhava such as The Copper Palace, depict Padmasambhava being born as an eight-year-old child appearing in a lotus blossom floating in Lake Dhanakosha surrounded by a host of dakinis, in the kingdom of Oddiyana.

The king adopts him as his own son and Padmasambhava is enthroned as the Lotus King.

However, Padmasambhava kills one of his ministers with his khatvanga staff and is exiled from the kingdom, which allows him to live as a mahasiddha and practice tantra in charnel grounds throughout India.

In Himachal Pradesh, India at Rewalsar Lake, known as Tso Pema in Tibetan, Padmasambhava secretly gave tantric teachings to princess Mandarava, the local king's daughter.

Padmasambhava is then said to have returned home with Mandarava and together they converted the kingdom to Vajrayana Buddhism.

The waterfall was formed when Guru Padmasambhava flung his rosary against a rock and 108 streams gushed out.

Padmasambhava hagiographies discuss the activities of Padmasambhava in Tibet, beginning with the invitation by King Trisong Detsen to help in the founding of Samye.

Padmasambhava is depicted as a great tantric adept who tames the spirits and demons of Tibet and turns them into guardians for the Buddha's Dharma.

Padmasambhava is said to have spread Vajrayana Buddhism to the people of Tibet, and specifically introduced its practice of Tantra.

Padmasambhava was among Padmasambhava's three special students and is widely revered in Tibet as the "Mother of Buddhism".

Padmasambhava hid numerous termas in Tibet for later discovery with her aid, while she compiled and elicited Padmasambhava's teachings through the posing of questions, and then reached Buddhahood in her lifetime.

Padmasambhava's parting words of advice advocates for the worship of Avalokiteshvara.

Padmasambhava is said to have flown there from Tibet on the back of Yeshe Tsogyal, whom he transformed into a flying tigress for the purpose of the trip.

When Guru Padmasambhava appeared on earth, he came as a human being.

Padmasambhava is seated with his two feet in the royal posture.

Padmasambhava is wearing the dark blue gown of a mantra practitioner, the red and yellow shawl of a monk, the maroon cloak of a king, and the red robe and secret white garments of a bodhisattva.

Padmasambhava's left hand rests in the gesture of equanimity, In his left hand he holds a skull-cup brimming with nectar, containing the vase of longevity that is filled with the nectar of deathless wisdom and ornamented on top by a wish-fulfilling tree.

The Seven Line Prayer to Padmasambhava is a well-known prayer that is recited by many Tibetans daily and is said to contain the most sacred and important teachings of Dzogchen:.

The life of Padmasambhava is widely depicted in the Cham dances which are masked and costumed dances associated with religious festivals in the Tibetan Buddhist world.

Tantric cycles related to Padmasambhava are not just practiced by the Nyingma, they even gave rise to a new offshoot of Bon which emerged in the 14th century called the New Bon.

Some greatest scholars who revealed teachings related to Padmasambhava have been from the Kagyu or Sakya lineages.

Many of the students gathered around Padmasambhava became advanced Vajrayana tantric practitioners, and became enlightened.

Padmasambhava had five main female tantric consorts, beginning in India before his time in Tibet and then in Tibet as well.

That the women come from very different geographic regions is understood as a mandala, a support for Padmasambhava in spreading the dharma throughout the region.

Yet in reality, he [Padmasambhava] was never separate from the five emanations of Vajravarahi: the Body-emanation, Mandarava; the Speech-emanation, Yeshe Tsogyal; the Mind-emanation, Shakyadema; the Qualities-emanation, Kalasiddhi; and the Activity-emanation, Trashi [sic] Chidren.