Atish Dipankar

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 his 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.

Training under Sa Drepa Chenpo, Jampé Naljorpa and Ku Sa Li Chungwa is recorded. Gya Lotsawa Tsöndrü Sengé, Tolungpa Rinchen Nyingpo and Padmakaravarma are recorded as having studied under Atish Dipankar. The recorded working language is Sanskrit. Works named in the authority record are Bodhipathapradīpa.

• Name — Atiśa • Dharma Name — Atiśa • Born — c. 982 CE • Birthplace — Vikrampura, Bengal • Died — c. 1054 CE • Place of death — Nyêtang, Tibet • Religion — Buddhism • Education — * Vikramashila • Odantapuri • Teacher — Jñanasrimitra • Students — Dromtön

Atiśa was born as Candragarbha in c. 982 CE as the second of three sons to a ruling family in Bengal most probably in the village of Vajrayogini in Vikrampura, the latter was one of the capitals of the Pala Empire. 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.

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.