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Atiśa
Atish Dipankar Shrijnan (Sanskrit transliteration: Atīśa Dīpaṅkara Śrījñāna) (c. 982–1054 CE) was a Bengali Buddhist religious teacher and leader. He is generally associated with his body of work authored at Vikramaśīla Monastery in modern day Bihar, India. He was a major figure in the spread of 11th-century Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism in Asia and traveled to Sumatra and Tibet. Atiśa, along with this chief disciple Dromtön, is regarded as the founder of the Kadam school, one of the New Translation schools of Tibetan Buddhism. In the 14th century, the Kadam school was supplanted by the Gelug tradition, which adopted its teachings and absorbed its monasteries.
Atiśa was born as Candragarbha in c. 982 CE as the second of three sons to a ruling family in Bengal in the city of Vikrampura. His father was a king known as Kalyānaśrī and his mother was Prabhavati Sri. The early part of his life was typical of noblemen of the period, and he was trained in various fields, including art. He is referred to as a "Bāngāli" in his two books named Ekavirasādhanā and Balavidhi.
As a young man, he began to study tantra in what is now Rajgir, where he was tutored by a monk named Rāhulaguhyavajra. Under Rāhulaguhyavajra, Atiśa was initiated into Hevajra and taught specific meditations. He then studied for seven years under a master named Avadhūtipā, where he focused on yoga and engaged in tantric feasts known as Ganachakra.
According to Tibetan sources, Atiśa was ordained into the Mahāsāṃghika lineage at the age of twenty-eight by the Abbot Śīlarakṣita in Bodh Gaya and studied almost all Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools of his time, including teachings from Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Tantric Hinduism and other practices. He also studied the sixty-four kinds of art, the art of music and the art of logic and accomplished these studies until the age of twenty-two. Among the many Buddhist lineages he studied, practised and transmitted the three main lineages were the Lineage of the Profound Action transmitted by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu, the Lineage of Profound View transmitted by Nagarjuna and Candrakīrti, and the Lineage of Profound Experience transmitted by Tilopa and Naropa. Atiśa engaged with many notable teachers during this period, including Ratnākaraśānti, Naropa and Jitari. He also studied Dharmarakṣita at the monastery of Odantapuri.
Atiśa rose to become a senior scholar at the monastery of Vikramaśīla at a time when it had no more than one hundred ordained monks present. Tibetan hagiographies on his life have a tendency to portray him as one of the greatest scholars to stay at Vikramaśīla, who would be noted for his strict adherence to the ethics of Mahayana Buddhism. It was during this period that the King of the Tibetan polity of Guge, Lha bla ma Ye shes 'od began to send missions to Vikramaśīla to invite scholars to visit Guge so that they could teach the "pure form of Buddhism".
Atiśa finally departed Vikramaśīla in 1040 CE. The then abbot of Vikramaśīla, Ratnakara, gave his permission for Atiśa to leave but on the condition that he return in three years.
Tibetan sources record that Atiśa spent 12 years in Sumatra of the Srivijaya empire, and he returned to India in 1025 CE which was also the same year when Rajendra Chola I of the Chola dynasty invaded Sumatra.
Upon his return, he received much attention for his teachings and skills in debate and philosophy. On three separate occasions, Atiśa was acclaimed for defeating non-Buddhist extremists in debate.[citation needed] When he came into contact with what he perceived to be a misled or deteriorating form of Buddhism, he would quickly and effectively implement reforms. Soon enough he was appointed to the position of steward, or abbot, at Vikramaśīla which was established by Emperor Dharmapala.[citation needed] He is also said to have "nourished" Odantapuri.
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Atiśa
Atish Dipankar Shrijnan (Sanskrit transliteration: Atīśa Dīpaṅkara Śrījñāna) (c. 982–1054 CE) was a Bengali Buddhist religious teacher and leader. He is generally associated with his body of work authored at Vikramaśīla Monastery in modern day Bihar, India. He was a major figure in the spread of 11th-century Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism in Asia and traveled to Sumatra and Tibet. Atiśa, along with this chief disciple Dromtön, is regarded as the founder of the Kadam school, one of the New Translation schools of Tibetan Buddhism. In the 14th century, the Kadam school was supplanted by the Gelug tradition, which adopted its teachings and absorbed its monasteries.
Atiśa was born as Candragarbha in c. 982 CE as the second of three sons to a ruling family in Bengal in the city of Vikrampura. His father was a king known as Kalyānaśrī and his mother was Prabhavati Sri. The early part of his life was typical of noblemen of the period, and he was trained in various fields, including art. He is referred to as a "Bāngāli" in his two books named Ekavirasādhanā and Balavidhi.
As a young man, he began to study tantra in what is now Rajgir, where he was tutored by a monk named Rāhulaguhyavajra. Under Rāhulaguhyavajra, Atiśa was initiated into Hevajra and taught specific meditations. He then studied for seven years under a master named Avadhūtipā, where he focused on yoga and engaged in tantric feasts known as Ganachakra.
According to Tibetan sources, Atiśa was ordained into the Mahāsāṃghika lineage at the age of twenty-eight by the Abbot Śīlarakṣita in Bodh Gaya and studied almost all Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools of his time, including teachings from Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Tantric Hinduism and other practices. He also studied the sixty-four kinds of art, the art of music and the art of logic and accomplished these studies until the age of twenty-two. Among the many Buddhist lineages he studied, practised and transmitted the three main lineages were the Lineage of the Profound Action transmitted by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu, the Lineage of Profound View transmitted by Nagarjuna and Candrakīrti, and the Lineage of Profound Experience transmitted by Tilopa and Naropa. Atiśa engaged with many notable teachers during this period, including Ratnākaraśānti, Naropa and Jitari. He also studied Dharmarakṣita at the monastery of Odantapuri.
Atiśa rose to become a senior scholar at the monastery of Vikramaśīla at a time when it had no more than one hundred ordained monks present. Tibetan hagiographies on his life have a tendency to portray him as one of the greatest scholars to stay at Vikramaśīla, who would be noted for his strict adherence to the ethics of Mahayana Buddhism. It was during this period that the King of the Tibetan polity of Guge, Lha bla ma Ye shes 'od began to send missions to Vikramaśīla to invite scholars to visit Guge so that they could teach the "pure form of Buddhism".
Atiśa finally departed Vikramaśīla in 1040 CE. The then abbot of Vikramaśīla, Ratnakara, gave his permission for Atiśa to leave but on the condition that he return in three years.
Tibetan sources record that Atiśa spent 12 years in Sumatra of the Srivijaya empire, and he returned to India in 1025 CE which was also the same year when Rajendra Chola I of the Chola dynasty invaded Sumatra.
Upon his return, he received much attention for his teachings and skills in debate and philosophy. On three separate occasions, Atiśa was acclaimed for defeating non-Buddhist extremists in debate.[citation needed] When he came into contact with what he perceived to be a misled or deteriorating form of Buddhism, he would quickly and effectively implement reforms. Soon enough he was appointed to the position of steward, or abbot, at Vikramaśīla which was established by Emperor Dharmapala.[citation needed] He is also said to have "nourished" Odantapuri.