PADMA SAMBHAV (GURU RIMPOCHE)
Padma Sambhav was a renowned
and highly learned tantric saint of Northern India. In the middle of the
eight century the Tibetan King Thi-Sron Detsan sent to India inviting the
learned guru to come to Tibet. Padma Sambhav was renowned for his knowledge
of tantras and of their efficacious application. He remained 50 years in
Tibet founding monasteries and teaching the tantra doctrine. He is said to
have subdued all the malignant gods in the Tibet sparing only those that
became converted to Buddhism and that promised to be defenders (Dharmapala)
of the doctrine. Padmasambhav, in his turn, promised to enroll them in the
Mahayana Pantheon. He claimed to have received from the dakini the books
from which he acquired his miraculous power. At the end of fifty years Padma
sambhav disappeared miraculously. Padmasambhav is represented seated on a
lotus asana with the legs locked, the right hand holding the vajra and the
left, lying in his lap, the patra. He holds his special symbol, the khatvang
pressed against his breast with the left arm.
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