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Padmasambhava

Padmasambhava

Guru Rinpoche

 

Padmasambhava is the Lotus-Born Guru, the Buddha of the Vajrayana teachings who established fully the Buddhadharma in Tibet in the 9th c. CE, by request of King Chögyal Trisong Detsen. Padmasambhava was indispensable for the sure founding of the spiritual tradition of Vajrayana Buddhism in a majestic (though stormy) Tibet, the Land of Snow.

 

His coming was prophesied by Buddha Shakyamuni in the Mahaparinirvana-sutra, the holy scripture that registers his last words before departing this life, and where we can read:

 

“The essence of all compounded phenomena is impermanence. Death being unavoidable, the time has come for me to pass into the Parinirvana. You should not be saddened by this. Twelve years from my death a man shall come, the Lotus-Born, from northeast Uddyana, and he shall transmit the path of the Secret Mantra”.

 

And also on the Manjusri-nama-sangiti:

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“A glorious Buddha Lotus-Born shall come, omniscient, carrying the treasure of the transcendental wisdom. He shall be the supreme manipulator of illusion, the great Buddha who shall teach the Path of the Secret Mantra.”

 

In such a way the Guru Rinpoche was spontaneously born, emanating from the heart of the Buddha Amitabha, and appearing as a eight-year old child on a lotus blossom in a mystical lake in the north of India. This was the way, over two thousand years ago, how Padmasambhava the Lotus-Born Guru blessed this world with his presence — and yet he is more alive than ever in the hearts of those who hold faith.

 

"I am never far away from those with faith,

Or indeed, even from those without,

Though these may not see me.

My children shall be always and constantly

Protected by my compassion.”

 

Farewell words of the Guru Rinpoche to Yeshe Tsogyal.

 

Known since always as the Lotus-Born Lord and the Precious Guru, he manifested wondrous spiritual skills to help the beings tame their minds. By spreading the Vajrayana Path, he would allow many spiritual practitioners to overcome the afflictive emotions, delusion, and disharmony. Today, his teachings remain as alive to the practitioners of the Dharma as they were one thousand and two hundred years ago to the practitioners of that age in Tibet.

 

Padmasambhava is completely without precedent in his aspects of compassion, wisdom, and power. He opened — and still does — the gates to realisation for countless beings, and his example is as mighty today as it always was. The lineages he inspired still provide the spiritual nourishment for realization in all the spheres of the Dharma.

 

Padmasambhava subdued all the negative forces opposing the Dharma and established Buddhism in its supreme form in Tibet. The spiritual connection through his Temple will lay a strong foundation for the future of the Vajrayana Buddhism in Portugal.

 

Padmasambhava is the personification of the wisdom of all the past, present, and future Buddhas, and he encompasses the methods of all the Eighty-Four Mahasiddhas from India. Padmasambhava manifested the realisation of the four levels of Vidyadhara and is also known as Du-sum Sangye Guru Rinpoche: the Precious Teacher, the Buddha of the Three Times.

 

With his consort, the dakini Yeshe Tsogyal, he hid countless Termas — spiritual treasures — throughout Tibet, Buthan, Sikkim, Nepal, and the whole Himalayan region, to be found and revealed in the future by foreordained disciples; the one hundred Finders of spiritual treasures, prophesied by Padmasambhava to spread the Vajrayana teachings in the future.

 

The Terma is Vajrayana’s transmission method through hidden treasures, concealed mainly by Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyal, to be found at the right moment by a Terton — Treasure Finder — for the swift realization of the disciples in the future. It is one of the two main lineages of the Nyingma tradition: the Short Lineage (Terma) and the Long Lineage (Khama).

 

Padmasambhava resides in the wisdom space known as the Glorious Copper-Coloured Mountain.

 

"Buddha of the Three Times, Guru Rinpoche,

Master of all siddhis, Great Bliss,

Dispeller of all obstacles, Wrathful Tamer of the Maras,

To you I beg: grant us your blessings.

Appease the outer, inner and secret obstacles,

And spontaneously fullfil all our wishes."

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