Guru Rinpoche is an enigmatic figure who is highly venerated as the founding father of Tibetan Buddhism. He is also widely known as Padmasambhava which translates as “lotus born”.

In Northern India, Guru Rinpoche developed a reputation as being very persuasive in the spiritual realm. As a result, he was called to Tibet in the 8th century to assist with the establishment of the first Buddhist monastery.

Afterwards, Guru Rinpoche stayed in Tibet at the request of the Tibetan king. Over time, his Tantric Buddhist teachings were chosen by the Tibetan king over the sutra teachings of Santaraksita. As a result, Guru Rinpoche is believed to be a second Buddha and he is the founder of the Tibetan Buddhism.

According to tradition, he was a native of Udyāna (now Swat, Pak.), an area famed for its magicians. Padmasambhava was a Tantrist and a member of the Yogācāra sect and taught at Nalanda, a centre of Buddhist studies in India. He was invited to Tibet in 747 by King Thī-srong-detsan and arrived at Samye (Bsan-yas), where he is said to have exorcised demons that were inhibiting the construction of a Buddhist monastery by causing earthquakes. He supervised the completion of the monastery in 749.

The Tibetan Buddhist sect Rnying-ma-pa (the Old Order) claims to follow most closely Padmasambhava’s teachings, emphasizing Tantric ritual, worship, and Yoga. Texts basic to the sect’s teachings, which were said to have been buried by Padmasambhava, began to be found around 1125. He also had many Tantric books translated from the original Sanskrit into Tibetan.

Padmasambhava Guru Rinpoche Mantra