Padmasambhava
Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, was a semi-legendary tantric Buddhist Vajra master from medieval India, who according to hagiographical sources fully revealed the Vajrayana in Tibet, circa 8th – 9th centuries. He is considered an emanation or Nirmāṇakāya of Shakyamuni Buddha as foretold by the Buddha himself. According to early Tibetan sources including the Testament of Ba, he came to Tibet in the 8th century and designed Samye Monastery, the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet during the reign of King Trisong Detsen. He, the king, and Khenpo Shantarakshita are also responsible for creating the Tibetan Canon through translating all of the Buddha's teachings and their commentaries into the Tibetan language.
According to Lewis Doney, while his historical authenticity was questioned by earlier Tibetologists, it is now "cautiously accepted.” Padmasambhava himself was recorded as saying he was a historical person, and his footprints left in rocks are evidence. Padmasambhava later came to be viewed as a central figure in the transmission of Buddhism to Tibet. Starting from around the 12th century, hagiographies concerning Padmasambhava were written. These works expanded the profile and activities of Padmasambhava, now seen as taming all the Tibetan spirits and gods, and concealing various secret texts for future tertöns. Nyangral Nyima Özer was the author of the Zangling-ma, the earliest biography of Padmasambhava. He has been called "one of the main architects of the Padmasambhava mythos – who first linked Padmasambhava to the Great Perfection in a high-profile manner."
In modern Tibetan Buddhism, Padmasambhava is considered to be a Buddha that was foretold by Buddha Shakyamuni. According to traditional hagiographies, his students include the great female masters Yeshe Tsogyal and Mandarava. The contemporary Nyingma school considers Padmasambhava to be a founding figure. The Nyingma school also traditionally holds that its Dzogchen lineage has its origins in Garab Dorje through a lineage of transmission to Padmasambhava.
In Tibetan Buddhism, the teachings of Padmasambava are said to include an oral lineage, and a lineage of the hidden treasure texts. Tibetan Buddhism holds that Padmasambhava's termas are discovered by fortunate beings and tertöns when conditions are ripe for their reception. Padmasambhava is said to appear to tertöns 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.
History
Early sources
One of the earliest chronicle sources for Padmasambhava as a historical figure is the Testament of Ba, which records the founding of Samye Monastery under the reign of King Trisong Detsen. Other early manuscripts from Dunhuang also mention a tantric master associated with kilaya rituals named Padmasambhava who tames demons, though they do not associate this figure with Trisong Detsen.According to the Testament of Ba, Trisong Detsen had invited the Buddhist abbot and Indian philosopher Śāntarakṣita to Tibet to propagate Buddhism and help found the first Buddhist monastery at Samye. However, certain events like the flooding of a Buddhist temple and lightning striking the royal palace had caused some at the Tibetan court to believe that the local gods were angry.
Śāntarakṣita was sent to Nepal, but was then asked to return after the anti-Buddhist sentiments had subsided. On his return, Śāntarakṣita brought Padmasambhava who was an Indian tantric adept from Oddiyana. 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. After they had been tamed, the construction of Samye went ahead. Padmasambhava was also said to have taught various forms of tantric Buddhist yoga.
When the royal court began to suspect that Padmasambhava wanted to seize power, he was asked to leave by the king. The Testament of Ba also mentions other miracles by Padmasambhava, mostly associated with the taming of demons and spirits as well as longevity rituals and water magic.
Evidence shows that Padmasambhava's tantric teachings were being taught in Tibet during the 10th century. 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 Özer, the primary source of the traditional hagiography of Padmasambhava.
Lewis Doney notes that while numerous texts are associated with Padmasambhava, the most likely of these attributions are the Man ngag lta ba'i phreng ba '', a commentary on the 13th chapter of the Guhyagarbha tantra and the Thabs zhags padma 'phreng ,'' an exposition of Mahayoga. The former work is mentioned in the work of Nubchen Sangye Yeshe and attributed to Padmasambhava.
Development of the mythos
While in the eleventh and twelfth centuries there were several parallel narratives of important founding figures like Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra, Songtsen Gampo, and Vairotsana, by the end of the 12th century, the Padmasambhava narrative grew to dominate the others, becoming the most influential legend of the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet.The first full biography of Padmasambhava is a terma said to have been revealed by Nyangrel Nyima Özer, abbot of Mawochok Monastery. This biography, The Copper Palace, was very influential on the Padmasambhava hagiographical tradition. The narrative was also incorporated into Nyima Özer's history of Buddhism, the Flower Nectar: The Essence of Honey .
The tertön Guru Chöwang was the next major contributor to the Padmasambhava tradition, and may have been the first full life-story biographer of Yeshe Tsogyal.
The basic narrative of The Copper Palace continued to be expanded and edited by Tibetans. In the 14th century, the Padmasambhava hagiography was further expanded and re-envisioned through the efforts of the Orgyen Lingpa. It is in the works of Orgyen Lingpa, particularly his Padma bka' thang, that the "11 deeds" of Padmasambhava first appear in full. The Lotus Testament is a very extensive biography of Padmasambhava, which begins with his ordination under Ananda and contains numerous references to Padmasambhava as a "second Buddha."
Hagiography
According to Khenchen Palden Sherab, there are traditionally said to be nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine biographies of Padmasambhava. They are categorized in three ways: Those relating to Padmasambhava's Dharmakaya buddhahood, those accounts of his Sambhogakaya nature, and those chronicles of his Nirmanakaya activities.Birth and early life
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.However there are other birth stories as well, another common one states that he was born from the womb of Queen Jalendra, the wife of king Sakra of Oddiyana and received the name Dorje Duddul because of the auspicious marks on his body were identified as those of a demon tamer.
As Nyingma scholar Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche explains:
In The Copper Palace, King Indrabhuti of Oddiyana is searching for a wish fulfilling jewel and finds Padmasambhava, who is said to be an incarnation of Buddha Amitabha. The king adopts him as his own son and Padmasambhava is enthroned as the Lotus King. However, Padmasambhava's khaṭvāṅga staff falls on one of Indrabhuti's ministers, killing him, and Padmasambhava 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. The king found out and tried to burn both him and his daughter, but it is said that when the smoke cleared they were still alive and in meditation, centered in a lotus arising from a lake. Greatly astonished by this miracle, the king offered Padmasambhava both his kingdom and Mandarava.
Padmasambhava is then said to have returned home with Mandarava and together they converted the kingdom to Vajrayana Buddhism.
Nepal
Padmasambhava and Mandarava are also said to have travelled together to the Maratika Cave in eastern Nepal to practice long life rituals of Amitāyus. It was the place where, after the penance, they achieved the blessing of immortality from lord Amitāyus, the Buddha of long life. In the village of Pharping, located on the southern edge of Kathmandu district, the Guru is said to have done long penance combining the practices of Yangdak Heruka and Vajrakilaya, and attained the ultimate Mahamudra.The Tibetan Buddhism also mentions that Guru Rinpoche meditated at Muktinath temple in western Nepal before departing for Tibet. The nuns residing in the temple complex of Muktinath are revered as goddesses and offspring of the women who were taught and initiated by Padmasambhava. A statue of Padmasambhava, which is believed to have built by him in his own image, currently resides in the Mharme Lhakhang Gompa and is taken care of by these nuns.
Tibet
Padmasambhava hagiographies also discuss the activities of Padmasambhāva 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. He is also said to have spread Vajrayana Buddhism to the people of Tibet, and specifically introduced its practice of Tantra.The subjection of subduing deities and demons is a recurrent theme in Buddhist literature, as noted also in Vajrapani and Mahesvara and Steven Heine's "Opening a Mountain".
Because of his role in the founding of Samye monastery, the first monastery in Tibet, Padmasambhava is regarded as the founder of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. Padmasambhava's activities in the Tibet include the practice of tantric rituals to increase the life of the king as well as initiating king Trisong Detsen into tantric rites.
The various biographies also discuss stories of Padmasambhava's main Tibetan consort, princess Yeshe Tsogyal, who became his student while living in the court of Trisong Deutsen. She was among Padmasambhava's three special students and is widely revered in Tibet as the "Mother of Buddhism". Yeshe Tsogyal became a great master with many disciples and is widely considered to be a female Buddha.
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. Many thangkas and paintings depict Padmasambhava with consorts at each side, Mandarava on his right and Yeshe Tsogyal on his left.
Many of the Nyingma school's terma texts are said to have originated from the activities of Padmasambhava and his students. These hidden treasure texts are believed to be discovered and disseminated when conditions are ripe for their reception. The Nyingma school traces its lineage of Dzogchen teachings to Garab Dorje through Padmasambhava's termas.
In The Copper Palace, after the death of Trisong Detsen, Padmasambhava is said to have travelled to Lanka in order to convert its blood thirsty raksasa demons to the Dharma. His parting words of advice advocates for the worship of Avalokiteshvara.
According to Tibetan Buddhist legends of the local Monpa tribe, Chumi Gyatse Falls, also known as the '108 waterfalls' got created after a mythical showdown between Guru Padmasambhava and a high priest of the Bonpa sect that ruled supreme in Tibet and surrounding areas including Arunachal Pradesh in the pre-Buddhist times. The waterfall was formed when Guru Padmasambhava flung his rosary against a rock and 108 streams gushed out. Chumi Gyatse waterfall is revered and holy for the Monpas, the Tibetan Buddhists.