this time ~ this space

The great Indian Buddhist Master Atisha (982-1054 AD) was responsible for reintroducing pure Buddhism into Tibet. Although Buddhism had been introduced into Tibet some two hundred years earlier by Padmasambhava and Shantarakshita, Buddhist practice in the country had largely been destroyed during the anti-Buddhist purges of the Tibetan king, Lang Darma (circa 836 AD), a follower of Bön, the pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet.

Invited by Jangchub Ö, a ruler of Ngari in western Tibet, Atisha was asked to present a Dharma that everybody could follow and that would show how all the paths of Sutra and Tantra could be practiced together. He studied and mastered all of the traditions of Buddhism in India. The great Indian Buddhist Master Atisha (982-1054 AD) was responsible for reintroducing Buddhism into Tibet.

Some Tibetan sources say he was also abbot of Vikramshila University at one point, one of the great centers of Buddhist learning after Nalanda University.

This was Atisha’s Wisdom:

• The greatest achievement is selflessness.

• The greatest worth is self-mastery.

• The greatest quality is seeking to serve others.

• The greatest precept is continual awareness.

• The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything.

• The greatest action is not conforming with the worlds ways.

• The greatest magic is transmuting the passions.

• The greatest generosity is non-attachment.

• The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind.

• The greatest patience is humility.

• The greatest effort is not concerned with results.

• The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go.

• The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

To learn more about Atisha, see (The Bodhisattva Vow) by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso.