Atiśa Dipankara Shrijnana ( Ôtish Dipôngkor Srigên) (980–1054 CE) was a Buddhist

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

 teacher from the Pala Empire

Pala Empire

The Pāla Empire was one of the major middle kingdoms of India existed from 750–1174 CE. It was ruled by a Buddhist dynasty from Bengal in the eastern region of the Indian subcontinent, all the rulers bearing names ending with the suffix Pala , which means protector. The Palas were often described...

 who, along with Konchog Gyalpo and Marpa

Marpa Lotsawa

Marpa Lotsawa , sometimes known fully as Lhodak Marpa Choski Lodos or commonly as Marpa the Translator, was a Tibetan Buddhist teacher credited with the transmission of many Buddhist teachings to Tibet from India, including the teachings and lineages of Vajrayana and Mahamudra.-Biography:Born as...

, was one of the major figures in the establishment of the Sarma

Sarma (Tibetan Buddhism)

Sarma In Tibetan Buddhism, the Sarma schools include the three newest of the four main schools, comprising:*Kagyu*Sakya*Kadam/Gelukand their sub-branches.The Nyingma school is the sole Ngagyur or "old translation," school....

 lineages in Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

 after the repression of Buddhism by King Langdarma

Langdarma

Langdarma was the last emperor of the unified Tibetan empire, who most likely reigned from 838 to 841 CE. Early sources named him Tri Darma meaning "King Darma"; "Lang" is a nickname meaning "ox". He was also called tsenpo or lhase Au Dunten...

 (Glang Darma).

Birth

Atisha is most commonly said to have been born in the year 980 in Vajrayogini village in Bikrampur

Bikrampur

Bikrampur pargana is situated 12 miles south of Dhaka, the modern-day capital of Bangladesh. It lies in the Munshiganj District of Bangladesh. It is a historic region in Bengal. The region is famous for its early Buddhist scholarships and in the later period for its cultural influences...

, the northeastern region of Bengal

Bengal

Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...

 (located in modern day Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

). His homestead in the village is still known to the local people as the "Ponditer bhita" (the homestead of the Pundit - a learned man). The exact year of his birth and death is widely disputed. Some sources indicate that Atisha was born in 982 and died in 1054, while more recent studies contend that his life began in 980 and ended in 1052. In any case, it is unanimously recognised that Atisha lived to the age of seventy-two. It is noteworthy that, while no direct connections can be made to the birth of Atisha, the year 980 also saw a major power shift in Bengali politics as the resurgent Pala dynasty

Pala Empire

The Pāla Empire was one of the major middle kingdoms of India existed from 750–1174 CE. It was ruled by a Buddhist dynasty from Bengal in the eastern region of the Indian subcontinent, all the rulers bearing names ending with the suffix Pala , which means protector. The Palas were often described...

 seized control of the region, disposing of the incumbent Kamboja

Kambojas

The Kambojas were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature.They were an Indo-Iranian tribe situated at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.The Kambojas...

 rulers. Atisha was allegedly born into royalty, and it would be intriguing to know if his royal status stemmed from one of these two contemporaneous contending powers.

The prince's birth is often described in traditional accounts as an auspicious or promising episode. For example, it is said that as Atisha was born "flowers rained down upon the city of Vikramapura, a rainbow canopy appeared, and the gods sang hymns which brought gladness and joy to all the people". This particular description is loaded with several themes distinctly typical of Buddhist literature. The image of flowers falling from the sky appears in the episode of Shakyamuni Buddha's attainment of perfect enlightenment, and the emergence of a rainbow canopy symbolises the reincarnation of a Bodhisattva

Bodhisattva

In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is either an enlightened existence or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." The Pali term has sometimes been translated as "wisdom-being," although in modern publications, and...

. Most importantly, however, is that the arrival of Atisha brought certain happiness to sentient beings. This effect of Atisha's birth corresponds directly with the Buddhist concept of dedicating one's life to the uplifting and enlightenment of all conscious beings.

Palace Life

The city of Vikramapura, the most probable candidate for Atisha's birthplace, was the capital of the ancient kingdoms of Southeast Bengal. Though the city's exact location is not certain, it presently lies in the Munshiganj District

Munshiganj District

Munshiganj also historically known as Bikrampur is a district in central Bangladesh. It is a part of the Dhaka Division and borders Dhaka District.-Geography:...

 of Bangladesh, and continues to be celebrated as an early center of Buddhist cultural, academic, and political life. Similar to Shakyamuni Buddha, Atisha was born into royalty; the palace in which he was raised, aptly named the Golden Banner Palace, "had a golden victory banner encircled by countless houses and there were great numbers of bathing-pools encircled by 720 magnificent gardens, forests of Tal (Borassus flabellifer

Borassus flabellifer

Borassus flabellifer, the Asian Palmyra palm, Toddy palm, Sugar palm, or Cambodian palm, is native to South and Southeast Asia, in the Indomalaya ecozone...

) trees, seven concentric walls, 363 connecting bridges, innumerable golden victory banners, thirteen roofs to the central palace and thousands of noblemen". His father was the king of Bengal known as Kalyana Shri, and his mother was Shri Prabhavati. One of three royal brothers, Atisha went by the name of Chandragarbha during the first part of his life. In fact, it was not until he traveled to Tibet and encountered the king Jangchub Ö (Byang Chub Od) that he was given the name of Atisha, a Tibetan reference to peace.

For the first eighteen months of his life, Atisha was sheltered and attended to by eight nurses in the royal palace of the capital city, Vikramapura. At eighteen months old, it is said that his parents then brought him into public for the first time, on a visit to a local temple in Kamalapuri. It was here that Atisha's potential as an extraordinary religious and spiritual leader initially emerged. People from all over the region gathered to witness his appearance. When Atisha learned from his parents of the crowd's status as his own subjects, he prayed that they may "be possessed of merit like that of [his] parents, rule kingdoms that reach the summit of prosperity, be reborn as sons of kings [and] be sustained by holy and virtuous deeds." Atisha then proceeded independently to worship the holy objects both inside and surrounding the temple, renouncing his ties to the world and his family and committing himself to religious pursuit.

Spiritual Yearning

Such an interpretation of Atisha's first public appearance, found in Buddhist texts and historical accounts, strongly reinforces a couple of critical components of Buddhist philosophy. The story clearly gives an impression of Atisha as a spiritually advanced and relatively enlightened individual at only eighteen months old. As such, the prince is seen to have acquired enough merit through virtuous actions in previous lives such that it carried over to dictate both his favourable experience as a venerated prince and enlightened personality as a compassionate individual. Moreover, Atisha's spiritual proficiency at this point is demonstrated through both kindness towards his subjects and non-attachment towards his familial, social, and overall life situation.

Mirroring the life of Shakyamuni Buddha, the young prince is depicted as having a natural capacity for swift learning in multiple fields and the practice of Dharma

Dharma

Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...

 at a young age. He had become "well-versed in astrology, writing and Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

" by the age of three, "able to distinguish between the Buddhist and non-Buddhist doctrines" by the age of ten, and would eventually become a master of the teachings of Mahayana

Mahayana

Mahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...

, Hinayana

Hinayana

Hīnayāna is a Sanskrit and Pāli term literally meaning: the "Inferior Vehicle", "Deficient Vehicle", the "Abandoned Vehicle", or the "Defective Vehicle". The term appeared around the 1st or 2nd century....

, and Vajrayana

Vajrayana

Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...

 Buddhism under the guidance of over 100 different instructors. As time elapsed Atisha's wish to enter the religious life strengthened, but his parents identified him as the brightest of their sons and natural successor to power. Therefore, as he turned the customary age of eleven years old, surrounding him with the luxuries and extravagance of royalty, Atisha's parents commenced the decorative courtship and matrimonial preparations so that the prince might find a bride among the kingdom's beautiful young women of nobility.

Renunciation

Atisha's response to his parents’ proposal as documented in Buddhist biographical texts evidences the level of commitment the young prince had for religious pursuit and enlightenment. On the eve of his wedding, Atisha experienced a momentous encounter with the Vajrayana goddess Tara, who would continue with him as a guiding spirit until the end of his life. Tara explained to the prince that in his past lives he had been a devout monk. Accordingly, he should not be overwhelmed by the lure of ephemeral pleasures in the world. If he should acquiesce, Tara continued, then "as an elephant sinks deeply into the swamp, [he], a hero, [would] sink in the mire of lust." Essentially, Tara's manifestation is symbolic for the prince's meaningful realisation of his own karmic potential. The deity's metaphor is illuminating: as an elephant's enormous weight prevents it from escaping the mud, so the prince's wealth and extravagance would prevent him from spiritual awakening. With this revelation at the forefront of his consciousness, Atisha renounced his kingdom, family, and social status in order to find a spiritual teacher—or as he told his parents—to go on a hunting trip.

Buddhist sources assert that, while feigning a hunting trip, an adolescent Atisha made the acquaintance of the brahmin

Brahmin

Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...

 Jetari, a Buddhist recluse and renowned teacher. Jetari taught the young man three things: 1) taking refuge in the Three Jewels

Three Jewels

The Three Jewels, also called the Three Treasures, the Siemese Triples, Three Refuges, or the Triple Gem , are the three things that Buddhists take refuge in, and look toward for guidance, in the process known as taking refuge.The Three Jewels are:* BuddhaTaking refuge in the Three Jewels is...

 of Buddha, 2) Dharma and Sangha

Sangha

Sangha is a word in Pali or Sanskrit that can be translated roughly as "association" or "assembly," "company" or "community" with common goal, vision or purpose...

 and 3) bodhichitta, described as the mind-oriented aspiration towards enlightenment with the intent of benefiting all sentient beings. Upon educating the young Atisha in the basic principles of Mahayana Buddhism, Jetari advised that he go to Nalanda

Nalanda

Nālandā is the name of an ancient center of higher learning in Bihar, India.The site of Nalanda is located in the Indian state of Bihar, about 55 miles south east of Patna, and was a Buddhist center of learning from the fifth or sixth century CE to 1197 CE. It has been called "one of the...

, a Buddhist center for learning in northeastern India. In Nalanda, Atisha received once again brief instruction regarding the Bodhisattva vows under the spiritual guide Bodhibhadra, who in turn advised him to seek out a teacher renowned for his perfect meditation of perceiving emptiness, Vidyakokila.

Training

Atisha's acquisition of the wisdom to perceive emptiness is particularly significant. It is during this stage of study that Atisha became aware of pure human nature

Human nature

Human nature refers to the distinguishing characteristics, including ways of thinking, feeling and acting, that humans tend to have naturally....

 and the fundamental freedom inherent to every sentient being's existence; a freedom exclusive of physical attachments and mental bondage. Buddhist narratives recount one story in which Atisha comes across a woman alternately crying and laughing. Confused with her behaviour, he inquires about her condition, and she responds: "[O]ne's own mind has been a Buddha from beginning less time. By not knowing this, great complications follow from such a small base of error for hundreds of thousands of sentient beings…. Not being able to bear the suffering for so many beings, I cry. And then, I laugh because when this small basis of error is known—when one knows one's own mind—one is freed." Coming from a background of nobility and material wealth, Atisha's realisation of value as a freely determined product of perception represents a relative challenge and an alteration of life principles with substantial ontological ramifications.

Upon completing his training for meditations on nothingness and emptiness, Atisha was advised to go study with Avadhutipa, a Vajrayana master. Though Avadhutipa consented to instruct the still young Atisha, he required that the prince first consult the Black Mountain Yogi. The Black Mountain Yogi tested Atisha in numerous ways. First, he cast a lightning bolt in Atisha's direction as he first approached. He then granted the prince thirteen days of instruction, teaching him the Hevajra

Hevajra

Hevajra is one of the main yidams in Tantric, or Vajrayana Buddhism. Hevajra's consort is Nairātmyā .-India:...

 lineage and bestowing him with the code name Indestructible Wisdom. Finally, the Black Mountain Yogi insisted that before Atisha continue in his studies that he gain permission from his parents to be formally acquitted of royal responsibility, summoning eight naked yogi

Yogi

A Yogi is a practitioner of Yoga. The word is also used to refer to ascetic practitioners of meditation in a number of South Asian Religions including Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.-Etymology:...

s and yogini

Yogini

Yogini is the complete form source word of the masculine yogi- and neutral/plural "yogin." Far from being merely a gender tag to the all things yogi, "Yogini" represents both a female master practitioner of Yoga, and a formal term of respect for a category of modern female spiritual teachers in...

s to escort the prince back to Vikramapura.

Returning to the royal palace, Atisha's parents and subjects believed he had gone mad during his jungle refuge. He explained to his parents, however, that his pursuit of Dharma was for the greater benefit of all sentient beings and that "if [he] had become a king [he] would be with [them] only for this life. In future lives [they] would never meet, and this life, for all its luxury and wealth would have been for nothing" . Essentially, Atisha's motivation in renouncing the wealth and luxury in his life was to repay his parents and fellow beings. In understanding his reasons and remembering the religious signs that accompanied the prince's birth, Atisha's mother willingly gave her consent and approved her son's decision to pursue the Dharma. Atisha's father, on the other hand, was much harder to convince and, like the Shakyamuni Buddha's own father, only conceded after multiple requests.

Driven forth by his parent's approval, Atisha went back to Avadhutipa to continue his studies, learning the Madhyamaka

Madhyamaka

Madhyamaka refers primarily to a Mahāyāna Buddhist school of Buddhist philosophy systematized by Nāgārjuna. Nāgārjuna may have arrived at his positions from a desire to achieve a consistent exegesis of the Buddha's doctrine as recorded in the āgamas...

 middle way and various tantra

Tantra

Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....

 practices. At one point, he assumed a slight amount of pride in his accomplishments. Such an assumption was immediately met with a reminder that he knew relatively little through the visit from a dakini

Dakini

A dakini is a tantric deity described as a female embodiment of enlightened energy. In the Tibetan language, dakini is rendered khandroma which means 'she who traverses the sky' or 'she who moves in space'. Sometimes the term is translated poetically as 'sky dancer' or 'sky walker'. The dakini, in...

 in a vision. Consequently, Atisha's unnecessary pride was reduced to humbleness overnight and he continued towards the path of enlightenment.

Monastic Life

One day, as Atisha considered practising his tantra with all the energy he could summon until he achieved his full potential he was confronted by a contending voice. The Black Mountain Yogi appeared to him in a dream, and advised him to take his time through steady practice in order to achieve the enlightenment he was seeking. Rather than extend all his powers at once, the Black Mountain Yogi warned, he should endeavour to become a "spiritual seeker who has renounced family life", a monk. Therefore, in his twenty-ninth year, Atisha was formally declared a monk under an ordination of the great Shilarakshita, and given the new name of Dipamkara Srijnana, meaning "He Whose Deep Awareness Acts as a Lamp."

Even as a monk, Dipamkara Srijnana yearned for the fastest and most direct means of attaining perfect enlightenment. He made a pilgrimage to Bodhgaya and, as he was circumambulating the great stupa

Stupa

A stupa is a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, typically the remains of Buddha, used by Buddhists as a place of worship....

 there, had a vision consisting of two materialisations of Tara. One asked the other what the most important practice for attaining enlightenment was, and the other duly replied that "the practice of bodhichitta, supported by loving kindness and great compassion is most important." Atisha thenceforth dedicated himself to refining his understanding and practice of bodhichitta. Thus, at the age of thirty-one, the monk arranged for a perilous journey, traveling for thirteen months to Sumatra

Sumatra

Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...

 in order to study under the reputable Suvarnadvipi Dharmakirti, sometimes called Dharmarakshita and known in Tibetan as Serlingpa (Wylie:Gser-gling-pa), a supposed master of bodhichitta. Under the guidance of Dharmarakshita, Atisha remained on the island of Sumatra for twelve years studying bodhichitta and exclusive mind training techniques of oral origination. Finally, after over a decade of intensive training, Dharmarakshita advised Atisha to "go to the north. In the north is the Land of Snows." Dharmarakshita was referring to Tibet, a region with a Buddhist tradition forever changed after the arrival of Atisha Dipamkara Srijnana. From his Master, Dharmarakshita, Atisha learnt one meditation that became one of Tibetans fundamental meditation techniques, i.e. Tongleng Meditation. A meditation that aims to recycle supposedly negative energy into loving and healing energy.

Studies

According to Tibetan sources, Atisha was ordained into the Mahasamghika

Mahasamghika

The ' , literally the "Great Saṃgha", was one of the early Buddhist schools in ancient India.The origins of the sect of Buddhism are still extremely uncertain, and the subject of debate among scholars. One reason for the interest in the origins of the school is that their Vinaya recension appears...

 lineage at the age of twenty-eight by the Abbot Shilarakshita and studied almost all Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools of his time, including teachings from Vishnu

Vishnu

Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....

, Shiva

Shiva

Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...

, Tantric Hinduism and other beliefs. 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, practiced and transmitted the three main lineages were the Lineage of the Profound Action transmitted by Maitreya

Maitreya

Maitreya , Metteyya , or Jampa , is foretold as a future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology. In some Buddhist literature, such as the Amitabha Sutra and the Lotus Sutra, he or she is referred to as Ajita Bodhisattva.Maitreya is a bodhisattva who in the Buddhist tradition is to appear on...

/Asanga

Asanga

Asaṅga was a major exponent of the Yogācāra tradition in India, also called Vijñānavāda. Traditionally, he and his half-brother Vasubandhu are regarded as the founders of this school...

, Vasubandhu

Vasubandhu

Vasubandhu was an Indian Buddhist monk, and along with his half-brother Asanga, one of the main founders of the Indian Yogācāra school. However, some scholars consider Vasubandhu to be two distinct people. Vasubandhu is one of the most influential figures in the entire history of Buddhism...

, the Lineage of Profound View transmitted by Manjushri/Nagarjuna

Nagarjuna

Nāgārjuna was an important Buddhist teacher and philosopher. Along with his disciple Āryadeva, he is credited with founding the Mādhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhism...

, Chandrakirti, and the Lineage of Profound Experience transmitted by Vajradhara

Vajradhara

Vajradhara is the ultimate primordial Buddha, or Adi Buddha, according to the Gelug and Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism.In the evolution of Indian Buddhism, Vajradhara gradually displaced Samantabhadra, who remains the...

/Tilopa

Tilopa

Tilopa was born in either Chativavo , Bengal or Jagora, Bengal in India. He was a tantric practitioner and mahasiddha. He developed the mahamudra method, a set of spiritual practices that greatly accelerates the process of attaining bodhi...

, Naropa

Naropa

thumb|right|NaropaNāropā was an Indian Buddhist yogi, mystic and monk. He was the disciple of Tilopa and brother, or some sources say partner and pupil, of Niguma. Naropa was the main teacher of Marpa, the founder of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism...

. It is said that Atisha had more than 150 teachers, but one prominent teacher above all else was Dharmakirti from Sumatra, Indonesia.

Preaching in Sumatra and Tibet

Before journeying to Tibet, however, Atisha first returned to India. Once back, the increasingly knowledgeable monk received much attention for his teachings and skills in debate and philosophy. On three separate occasions, the monk Atisha was acclaimed for defeating non-Buddhist extremists in debate. 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 the venerable Buddhist college Vikramasila, established by the King Dharmapala of Bengal

Dharmapala of Bengal

Dharama Pala was the second ruler of the Pala Empire of Bengal region in the Indian Subcontinent. He was the son and succeessor of Gopala , the founder of the Pala Dynasty. He greatly expanded the boundaries of the Pala Empire founded by his father and made the Palas the most dominant power in...

.

Atisha's return from Sumatra and rise to prominence in India coincided with a flourishing of Buddhist culture and the practice of Dharma in the region, and in many ways Atisha's influence contributed to these developments. As Dharmarakshita had predicted, however, Buddhism in Tibet was in desperate need of resuscitation. Some Tibetans, for example, believed that "ethical self-discipline and tantra were mutually exclusive and that enlightenment could be achieved through intoxication and various forms of sexual misconduct." The politically unstable rule of King Langdarma had suppressed Tibetan Buddhism's teachings and persecuted its followers for over seventy years. According to the Blue Annals

Blue Annals

The Blue Annals completed in 1476, authored by Gö Lotsāwa Zhönnu Pel , is a Tibetan historical survey with a marked 'ecumenical' view, focusing upon the dissemination of various sectarian spiritual traditions throughout Tibet.An English translation by George de Roerich with help from Gendun...

, new king of the Western Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

an kingdom of Guge

Guge

Guge was an ancient kingdom in Western Tibet. The kingdom was centered in present-day Zanda County, within Ngari Prefecture of Tibet Autonomous Region, China. At various points in history after 10th century AD, the kingdom held sway over a vast area including south-eastern Zanskar, Upper Kinnaur,...

 by the name of Lha Lama Yeshe Yod, however, was a strict believer in Dharma and so sent his academic followers to learn and translate some of the Sanskrit Buddhist texts. Among these academics was Nagtso, who was eventually sent to Vikramasila college to study Sanskrit and plead with Atisha to come teach the Dharma in his homeland.

At first, Atisha declined the offer to come reintroduce the Buddha's teachings in Tibet. He believed that he was getting too old for travel and had much unfinished work at the monastic college. On the evening following his declination, however, he received a vision in which his tutelary guide Tara informed him that his trip to Tibet would be very successful: not only would he greatly honour and assist the Tibetans, but he would also find a dedicated disciple and further contribute to the spread of Dharma. In exchange for these benefits, however, he would only live to seventy-two years.

In truth, Atisha's undertaking in Tibet was never in doubt. Prophecies of the impending departure begin with Dharmarakshita in Sumatra and follow Atisha's story up until his vision of Tara. During his travels across the perilous Himalayas, the Tibetan scholar Nagtso "vaguely realised that […] miraculous manifestations assisted me in an uninterrupted flow." Nagtso was referring, whether he knew it or not, to the numerous assistances provided by Avalokitesvara

Avalokitesvara

Avalokiteśvara is a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. He is one of the more widely revered bodhisattvas in mainstream Mahayana Buddhism....

 throughout his trip to Vikramasila. As such, it seems as though Atisha's two-year journey to Tibet is interpreted within the Buddhist tradition as a fulfilment of destiny.

Once he arrived, Atisha grasped very quickly the Tibetan peoples’ enthusiasm for the Dharma, but relative lack of comprehension. At Ngari, he was very impressed with the king's request for "a teaching of the people […] had [Atisha] been asked for advanced empowerments into tantric deity systems […] he would have been far less pleased" . It was during the three years Atisha spent in this town that he compiled his teachings into his most influential scholarly work, A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, and encountered the disciple forecast by Tara, Dromtonpa.

According to Jamgon Kongtrul, when Atisha discovered the store of Sanskrit texts at Pekar Kordzoling, the library of Samye

Samye

The Samye Monastery or Samye Gompa is the first Buddhist monastery built in Tibet, was most probably first constructed between 775 and 779 CE under the patronage of King Trisong Detsen of Tibet who sought to revitalize Buddhism, which had declined since its introduction by King Songtsen Gampo in...

, "he said that the degree to which the Vajrayana had spread in Tibet was unparalleled, even in India. After saying this, he reverently folded his hands and praised the great dharma kings, translators, and panditas of the previous centuries."

Death

As he grew old, Atisha moved on from Ngari and accepted an invitation from Dromtonpa to explore Central Tibet. In Nyetang

Nyêtang

Nyêtang is a village in Qüxü County in the Lhasa Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It is located approximately 12 miles south-west of Lhasa.-See also:*List of towns and villages in Tibet*Nyethang Drolma Lhakhang Temple...

, a town near Lhasa

Lhasa

Lhasa is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China and the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau, after Xining. At an altitude of , Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world...

, Atisha spent nine years during which he discovered Tibetan libraries with impressive collections written in both Sanskrit and Tibetan

Tibetan language

The Tibetan languages are a cluster of mutually-unintelligible Tibeto-Burman languages spoken primarily by Tibetan peoples who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering the Indian subcontinent, including the Tibetan Plateau and the northern Indian subcontinent in Baltistan, Ladakh,...

. The venerable monk moved around the region for another five years before passing away in 1052 at the prophesied age of seventy-two. He was enshrined near his last permanent home in the town of Nyetang.

After staying for thirteen years in Tibet, Atisha died in 1052 CE in a village called Lethan, near Lhasa

Lhasa

Lhasa is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China and the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau, after Xining. At an altitude of , Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world...

. The site of his last rites at Lethan has turned into a shrine. His ashes were brought to Dhaka

Dhaka

Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...

 (modern-day Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

) on 28 June 1978 and placed in Dharmarajika Bauddha Vihara.

Legacy

Atisha remains an important figure in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition for several reasons. First, he refined, systematized, and compiled an innovative and thorough approach to bodhichitta known as "mind training" (Tib. lojong), in such texts as A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, and established the primacy of bodhichitta to the Mahayana tradition in Tibet. In this sense, Atisha not only dictated a scholarly model for bodhichitta but acted as a living human example.

Second, after King Langdarma

Langdarma

Langdarma was the last emperor of the unified Tibetan empire, who most likely reigned from 838 to 841 CE. Early sources named him Tri Darma meaning "King Darma"; "Lang" is a nickname meaning "ox". He was also called tsenpo or lhase Au Dunten...

's intolerant reign, the monastic Buddhist tradition of Tibet had been nearly wiped out. Atisha's closest disciple, Dromtönpa, is considered the founder of the Kadam school, which later evolved into the Gelug

Gelug

The Gelug or Gelug-pa , also known as the Yellow Hat sect, is a school of Buddhism founded by Je Tsongkhapa , a philosopher and Tibetan religious leader...

, one of the four main school of Tibetan Buddhism. Although monasticism and the lojong teachings were of greatest centrality to the Kadam/Gelug, they were incorporated into the other three schools—the Nyingma

Nyingma

The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as Nga'gyur or the "old school" because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, in the eighth century...

, Kagyu

Kagyu

The Kagyu, Kagyupa, or Kagyud school, also known as the "Oral Lineage" or Whispered Transmission school, is today regarded as one of six main schools of Himalayan or Tibetan Buddhism, the other five being the Nyingma, Sakya, Jonang, Bon and Gelug...

, Sakya

Sakya

The Sakya school is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug...

—as well.

Finally, Atisha mobilised his influence in India towards the goal of reforming the impurities and redirecting the development of Buddhism there, in the native country of the Shakayumi Buddha. For these reasons and more, Atisha remains a central figure in the history and religious study of Buddhism.

Writings

Atisha wrote, translated and edited more than two hundred books, which helped spread Buddhism in Tibet. He discovered several Sanskrit manuscripts in Tibet and copied them himself. He translated many books from Sanskrit to Tibetan. He also wrote several books on Buddhist scriptures, medical science and technical science in Tibetan. Dipamkara wrote several books in Sanskrit, but only their Tibetan translations are extant now. Seventy-nine of his compositions have been preserved in Tibetan translation in the Tengyur

Tengyur

The Tengyur or Tanjur is the Tibetan collection of commentaries to the Buddhist teachings, or "Translated Treatises"...

 (bstan-sgyur). Following are his most notable books:

• Bodhi-patha-pradipa or Bodhipathapradīpa
  Bodhipathapradipa
  Bodhipathapradīpa is a Buddhist text composed in Sanskrit by the teacher Atisha and widely considered his magnum opus. The text reconciles the doctrines of many various Buddhist schools and philosophies, and is notable for the introduction of the three levels of spiritual aspiration: lesser,...
  
  (Tib. Byang-chub lam-gyi sgron-ma)
• Charya-sanggraha-pradipa
• Satya-dvayavatara
• Bodhi-sattva-manyavali
• Madhyamaka-ratna-pradipa
• Mahayana-patha-sadhana-sanggraha
• Shiksa-samuchchaya Abhisamya
• Prajna-paramita-pindartha-pradipa
• Ekavira-sadhana
• Vimala-ratna-lekha

Vimalaratnalekha is a Sanskrit letter to Nayapala, king of Magadha

Magadha

Magadha formed one of the sixteen Mahājanapadas or kingdoms in ancient India. The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganga; its first capital was Rajagriha then Pataliputra...

. Charyasamgrahapradipa contains some kirtan

Kirtan

Kirtan or Kirtana is call-and-response chanting or "responsory" performed in India's devotional traditions. A person performing kirtan is known as a kirtankar. Kirtan practice involves chanting hymns or mantras to the accompaniment of instruments such as the harmonium, tablas, the two-headed...

verses composed by Atisha.