Monlam Pavillion, Bodhgaya,
8 February 2025
How Atisha Spread the True Dharma in Ngari
While Atisha was staying in Ngari there was a chaotic religious situation that arose in Tibet. Nonetheless, he disregarded all difficulties in order to bring people into the pure dharma, teaching and giving empowerments. Additionally, he translated many sutra and tantric texts, and also wrote a few treatises himself. Many people were ordained as monastics.
His Teachings on Karmic Cause and Effect
After Atisha arrived at Toding Monastery, Jangchub Öd (the nephew of Lha Lama Yeshe Öd, previously king of the Yarlung lineage) told him how the dharma kings had established the dharma in Tibet, how Langdarma had persecuted them, and then how his predecessor had, disregarding his own life, re-established the teachings. In fact, many false teachers had mixed up the teachings. Jangchup Öd’s eyes filled with tears, and he asked, “Instead of teaching the most profound and the most amazing dharma teachings in Tibet, please teach the dharma of cause and effect.” That pleased Atisha greatly. He replied:
The most profound dharma is cause and effect. It is even superior to gain stable conviction in karma than to see the face of the yidam deity. For example, in India, a yoga who practiced Yamantaka saw his deity’s face and thought, “Because of this, there won’t be a problem,” and he used the common articles of the sangha in any which way. Consequently, he was born as a hungry ghost in a body that looked like Yamantaka.
He also told many other such stories. Atisha accepted Jangchup Öd’s suggestion and taught Tibetans extensively about karmic cause and effect. Thus people called him “Guru Karmic Cause and Effect”. Even that very name was extremely beneficial to the teachings.
The Writing of the Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment
When the translator Rinchen Sangpo realized how great Atisha was, he decided to follow him as his guru. Everyone encouraged him, saying “Atisha has only one year to stay in Tibet, so get all the teachings you can.” In response, the venerable Lhatsun Jangchub Öd offered a copious amount of gold and said, “In this land of Tibet, individuals with misconceptions about Buddhism who have not met authentic spiritual teachers pretend to know what they don’t know and have made up a lot of false dharma as well when they debate each other. Please dispel their doubts.”
He asked a few questions about the common vehicles: two about the transcendences, and three about the Vajrayana. He requested him to write a treatise that summarized the entire teachings of Buddhism in a few words, related to his own practice.
‘’There are pith instructions on the Guhyasamaja Tantra by Buddhajñāna, please write a sadhana with Avalokiteshvara as the main deity of the mandala’’. He made these two requests so earnestly that Atisha replied, ‘’Nagarjuna’s String of Jewels is already in Tibetan; that is enough, you won’t find anything better. There is the Samantabhadra sadhana.’’ Then he wrote the Lamp for the Path of Enlightenment.
The Lamp for the Path is only 67 stanzas long. As Tsongkhapa says in his longer version of the Stages of the Path, it has three features: it summarizes the points of both sutra and tantra, so the topic is complete; because it focuses on stages of taming the mind, it is easy to practice; and it is adorned with the advice of two gurus who are learned in the two traditions: (Rigpe Khujug who was learned in Nagarjuna’s tradition and Survarandivpa who was learned in Asanga’s) so it is superior to others. The greatness of its instructions is that a) one can realize that the teachings do not conflict with each other; b) it gives instruction in all scriptures; c) one can easily find the intent of the Buddha; d) misconduct will naturally stop. These are its four qualities.
It is said that because Atisha wrote this text, it was not necessary to block forcefully the false dharma and incorrect mantra that had developed in Tibet; it just stopped naturally. And when Geshe Dromtönpa meditated on its meaning, developed it in his being, and practiced it, the teachings of the Lamp for the Path became truly established. Without someone like Dromtönpa, it would be like Kamalashila’s Stages of Meditation—something that is only studied in the monasteries. This is Dromtönpa’s contribution. Once someone asked Dromtönpa, “Would it be good to have a commentary on The Lamp?” He replied, “This is not a commentary on the words. I am a student who received it directly from the author, so I am the commentary.”
In brief, in Jowo’s life story Path of Liberation it is said that Jangchub Öd asked seven questions. Following up on this, when Atisha went to Central Tibet, Khu, Ngok and others asked, “Can one achieve buddhahood when means and prajna are divorced or not?” Atisha replied, “Jangchup Őd asked most of those questions and they are in the Lamp for the Path.”
There two questions on the paramitas and three on tantra are clear, but to know what the two on the common path are, in Panchen Lobsang Chögyen’s commentary, it mentions a commentary by Nagtso. In that, it is said each of the seven questions are given. I have read a few old commentaries by Kadampa masters out of five or six. The questions and the answers are clearly written. Panchen Lobsang Chogyen says, “The explanations of the text are detailed, and the ways beginners should practice are excellent.”
Returning to India After Three Years Had Passed
As I mentioned earlier, before Atisha went to Tibet, Nagtso Lotsawa had made the oath to the elder bhikshu from Vikramashila, “After three years, I will definitely bring Atisha back to India.” When the three years were close to finishing, there was nothing Nagtso could do but remind Atisha that he needed to return to India. Atisha accepted. Then Atisha and his retinue went to Purang. After arriving in Purang, Jangchup Öd asked him to once again give dharma teachings and instructions, due to which Atisha wrote the Heart Treasure for the Heroes Who Long for Liberation.
Meeting Dromtönpa
As I mentioned yesterday, while Atisha was in India, Tara had prophesied that if he went to Tibet, he would benefit a householder. That householder turned out to be Atisha’s most famous student, Dromtönpa Gyalwai Jungne. Many historical documents write about how after Atisha went to Purang, Dromtönpa met him for the first time. Atisha always kept Tara’s prophecy in mind, but in his travels he had met no special householder, so he felt somewhat regretful. When he had arrived in Purang, Tara prophesied, “A great lay practitioner will soon arrive.” He waited for that lay practitioner every day.
Where was Dromtönpa at that time? Originally, he lived in the area of Kham. He heard of Atisha’s fame while in Kham and traveled from Kham gradually. When he arrived in Purang and came close to Atisha’s residence, a sponsor had invited Atisha to his home, but Atisha had not returned. The people in Atisha’s house asked Dromtönpa , “Wait a bit, Atisha will come back soon.” so he waited in the area of the sponsor’s house.
What is amazing is, it just happened as Atisha was leaving the sponsor’s house to return, that he met Dromtönpa in a narrow street. As soon as Dromtönpa saw him, Dromtönpa did a full prostration. Atisha was overjoyed, placed his head on Dromtönpa’s head, and recited many auspicious prayers in Sanskrit. The scene was extremely similar to Atisha’s meeting with Suvarnadvipa. Dromtönpa knew Sanskrit, so they had no difficulty conversing and making a connection. From the evening they met, Atisha and Dromtönpa stayed in the same bedroom. Though it is said in the Vinaya that a layperson and monastic may not stay together within the boundary of a monastery, because Atisha had gone forth in the Mahasamghika school, it was permissible if a curtain were hung between their beds.
How War in Nepal Blocked His Return
Nagtso thought that he must continue to bring Atisha back to India but war broke out in Nepal and they were unable to continue on their journey. They turned back to Tibet, planning to continue after the war came to an end.
During that period, there were many Tibetans who thought that Atisha should not return to India but stay in Tibet instead, but no one was able to ask him, “Please stay.” Dromtönpa was quite skillful, and although he was unable to ask Atisha not to return to India but to stay in Tibet, every day he told him, “There are so many monasteries in Central Tibet and so many monastics.” As soon as Atisha heard this, he was delighted and said, “These days, there are not that many monastics in India. This is an extremely rare situation. If they would be pleased by my going there, I will think about traveling to Central Tibet. The reason is that I have made the commitment that in this lifetime, I shall do whatever the sangha directs me to do.” Once Dromtönpa knew the situation, he sent a letter to the important people and lamas in Central Tibet, encouraging them to invite Atisha to Central Tibet.
Sending a Letter to India
At that time, Nagtso Lotsawa had made the promise to bring Atisha back to India, but was unable to because of the war in Nepal. He became extremely anxious, but Atisha reassured him, “Do not worry, you tried, but the situation did not turn out as you hoped. So you do not need to worry. We can send a letter to India explaining the situation.” Atisha sent a letter and a copy of his Lamp for the Path of Enlightenment together with some gold to India. The letter arrived in India, and the panditas gathered to discuss the manuscript of the Lamp for the Path of Enlightenment, but there is not enough time to discuss that today.
Dromtönpa Sending Letters to Central Tibet
As I mentioned before, Dromtönpa had sent letters to important people and lamas in Central Tibet suggesting they invite Atisha. Dromtönpa wrote the actual names of many of these powerful lamas in the letter, including Bodhiraja and Ngok Lekpay Sherap, among others.
After the letters arrived in Central Tibet, the important people and lamas gathered and had a meeting to discuss the issue. But Dromtönpa had forgotten to write Lama Khutön’s name in the letter, so he was not invited to the meeting. Khutön was angry and said, “If you are going to ignore me like this, then I will invite him first.” He led some people and set off on horseback toward Ngari. Shortly afterward, the important people and lamas of Central Tibet also set out on the road.
At that time, Atisha and his retinue had left Ngari heading south. When they were getting close to Central Tibet, the Tibetan great lamas came on horseback wearing cloaks and hats, looking very intimidating. Being Indian, Atisha had never seen such a sight before and exclaimed, “There are ghosts! Tibetan ghosts!” and quickly covered his head with his robe. Khutön’s party saw that the master had been frightened and were terrified. They quickly changed their robes and put on proper yellow dharma robes when they invited him to make Atisha feel comfortable. Each of the monks came before him, prostrated to him and bowed respectfully as they asked him to come to Central Tibet. Atisha smiled in delight and prostrated in reply. “The living conditions and robes of the Tibetan sangha are better than those of Indian bhikshus,” he said.
There were so many invitations that Khutön became irate and rushed up to Dromtönpa. “In the letter you sent to the important people in Central Tibet,” he asked, “You didn’t write my name! Why?” When he was asked that so unexpectedly, Dromtönpa did not know how to reply and said, “I included your name. I wrote ‘Ngok Lotsawa et cetera,’ so you were included in the ‘et cetera.’” When he heard that, Khutön became even more irate and bellowed, “Is it right for him to include such an important person as me in an et cetera?” From then on, Khutön disliked Dromtönpa, and friction developed between the two of them.
On the way to Central Tibet, Atisha planned to write a doha or spiritual song, but Dromtönpa said, “This is not appropriate for Tibetans.” Atisha then put it aside. Dromtönpa likely thought he must stop it because at that time incorrect mantra had spread widely, and Atisha had been invited to reform the teachings. Thus if he taught such profound mantra as this, people might possibly use it incorrectly. However, if one takes a long-term view, Atisha was learned in the tantras, and his not being able to give a good explanation of tantra at that time was a great loss for Tibet. I have heard that many scholars and practitioners say, for example, that Milarepa said how foolish Tibetans had prevented the teaching of the tantra. I wonder if this was what he meant.
Traveling to Samye and Praising the Sage Mahabodhi
Atisha reached Central Tibet in 1047 when he was 66 years old and arrived at Samye. There is an anecdote that when Atisha was given a tour of Samye and saw the main statue of the Munendra Mahabodhi, he praised it by saying, “This is very much like the statue at the Mahabodhi in Bodh Gaya.” At that time, many Tibetan scholars heard that Atisha had gone to Samye and all went there themselves and requested a teaching on the Prajnaparamita in 25,000 Lines.
Establishing a Permanent Residence
In that period, Dromtönpa thought it necessary to establish a permanent residence for Atisha in a good location. At that time, there were four choices. One was in Yarlung, where Khutön lived, the second in the vicinity of Samye where he was staying, which was near Bodhiraja. Both Khutön and Bodhiraja shared one trait—they were both great men and therefore very proud. The third was Lhasa where Ngok Lotsawa lived. The fourth was the area of Nyetang where Bangtön lived. Comparing the latter two, the region of Nyethang was slightly better. For that reason, Dromtönpa sent a letter to Bangtön in which he wrote, “Your region of Nyethang has good land and good weather, too, so it is an appropriate place for Atisha to live permanently. Therefore, you must invite Atisha to Nyethang.” When Bangtön received the letter and saw what Dromtönpa had writte,n he announced to everyone, “This time Atisha must not go anywhere else. We all must take the responsibility and bring Atisha to Nyethang.”
But what Dromtönpa had not thought of was that Khutön had, in secret, said to Atisha, “If Dromtönpa or someone like Bangtön provides you with a place to stay and living conditions, you will not have any opportunity to benefit beings. A person like me has the ability and resources to serve you. In addition, the region of Yarlung where I live has been the residence of many past kings. The mountains and rivers are beautiful, so you will be able to benefit many people. Not only that, but I can prepare separate summer and winter residences for you, where you will be warm in winter and cool in summer,” he promised.
Teaching Dharma in Tangpoche
Atisha and Dromtönpa then went their different ways. Dromtönpa and Bangtön went to Nyetang. Atisha went to Yarlung along with an escort sent by Khutön. When he arrived in Yarlung, Atisha and his retinue stayed in a place called Tangpoche. While there, Atisha taught the Prajnaparamita in 25,000 Lines and its commentary, The Sublime Continuum, Distinguishing Phenomena and Their Nature, and other texts. Similarly, along with Nagtso Lotsawa, he translated many secret mantra texts. However, while Atisha was staying in Tangpoche, he and his retinue suffered many hardships due to Kuton. Sometimes the people and horses did not receive food for seven days.
Fleeing Yarlung
While Dromtönpa was staying in Nyetang, he would always worry about Atisha. He said to Bangtön, “We must bring Atisha to Nyetang. Khutön is too proud; he will not serve him well. So I will go to Yarlung first to see what the situation is and do what I can to bring Atisha to Samye. Then you can send people to bring him from Samye.” The two of them happily agreed, and Dromtönpa went to Yarlung.
The sun was about to set when Dromtönpa arrived in Tangpoche. First he looked for a student of Khutön’s whom he knew and asked where Atisha was staying. But Khutön’s students ignored him and would not tell him where Atisha stayed. At that time, a student of Atisha’s from India appeared, who was delighted to see Dromtönpa and brought him to Atisha’s residence.
Though Atisha had not spent more than one month in Tangpoche, it was as if Atisha had suffered more than a year’s hardships. His flesh was sagging and he appeared to have great difficulties. As soon as Atisha saw Dromtönpa, he said, “Great lay person, please take me away from here soon. We are all having a hard time here. The horses are also our mother sentient beings. Khutön has as many supplies as a universal monarch, and it is as if I have been reduced to an ordinary person” and he wept.
Dromtönpa said, “If you wish to go somewhere nice, I have a good place to stay. In the area of Nyetang, there are many leafy forests, and flowers bloom even in the winter.”
Atisha was immediately pleased and said, “Layperson, let’s go now.” Dromtönpa said, “It wouldn’t work to do that. Not at all. Khutön is an important person, so I will look for a way for us to escape.” Atisha said, “Do not worry. I have a way to keep him from knowing. Let’s go now.” They packed that same night and left at dawn.
A student of Khutön’s saw them fleeing and quickly went to inform Khutön. But what was strange was that on that day, it took much longer than usual for him to get to Khutön’s residence. Normally Khutön would be outside in the morning walking, but on that day, unusually, not only had he not gone outside, but the gates were shut tight. The monk got anxious and knocked on Khutön’s door and shouted, “What are you doing with the door closed? Dromtönpa has taken Atisha away!” As soon as Khutön heard this, he ran outside, prepared his horses and men, and planned to follow Atisha.
Khutön was rich, so he had an excellent horse that was named Tang Nak. Normally whenever he called, Tang Nak would come to him, but on that day, unusually, no matter how much Khutön called, Tang Nak just ran from here to there, and no one was able to catch him. In the end, many people worked hard and just barely managed to catch Tang Nak. Everyone mounted their horse and set off after Atisha.
Arriving at the River
Atisha and his party reached the riverbank at sunrise. Tibetan boats were small and made of leather, so not much would fit in them. Dromtönpa said to Atisha, “Let me cross first. Otherwise when Khutön comes, he will beat me.” He got in the boat and crossed first.
The boat returned and as soon as Atisha got in it, Khutön’s horse guard came from afar, kicking up dust. Riding Tang Nak, Khutön led them all. When he arrived, he shouted, “Did you leave without telling any of my servants? Have you forgotten about me?” Atisha replied, “Didn’t you forget about me? You, a great Tibetan scholar! Now go away!”
Just then Khutön had reached the riverbank. He was unable to stop Tang Nak. He fell into the river and was almost swept away by the current. It was lucky that his students could protect him. Khutön continued speaking, saying, “Atisha! You Indians are ungrateful. We can work things out if we talk.” Atisha requested, “Great scholar, please do not say that.”
In the end there was nothing Khutön could do, so he said, “In that case, please give us something to worship.” Then Atisha took off his hat and threw it across the water. Khutön took the hat and asked his servants to help him get back to the bank. Then they turned back.
Atisha’s Stay in Samye
This was the way that Atisha left Yarlung and was happy to arrive in Samye. One reason is that there were many Sanskrit manuscripts in Samye, in particular many tantras of the secret mantra, which he read. He said, “Previously I thought I had read all the tantras but the tantras are as vast as an ocean. The Indian monasteries burned down three times and many scriptures were lost in the fire, but they can still be found here.” While staying there, he would sometimes read scriptures and sometimes circumambulate the temple. His retinue gathered many students to copy the manuscripts and send them back to India.
Atisha wanted to spend a long time at Samye, but the monk-king Bodhiraja was both a king and a monk, and some in his retinue grew jealous, which prevented Atisha from spending a long time in Samye. Then Bangtön sent a horse guard of over 200 riders to escort Atisha to Nyethang. They went through Lhasa on the way from Samye to Nyethang. While there, Ngok Lekpay Sherap, one of Aisha’s three most important disciples, invited him to Lhasa, Ngok Lekpay Sherap and many others requested many empowerments and transmissions from him in Lhasa. At the same time, they translated many secret mantra texts including a Tara sadhana. In particular, at the request of Ngok Lotsawa, he translated the commentary on the essence of the Middle Way Blazing Logic.
The Last Years of His Life
While in Nyethang, Atisha translated many tantric texts with Nagtso Lotsawa. Though Atisha had plans for spreading Buddhism in Tibet, many did not turn out as he had hoped. Atisha thought that the Sarvastivadas were too relaxed about the offense of alcohol and the Mahasamghikas were stricter, so he should establish the Mahasamghika tradition in Tibet. But the Tibetan emperors had decreed that one may not give any vows other than the Sarvastivada, and secondly, in India there were many disputes between the schools, so it was possible the same would happen in Tibet. With this in mind, Dromtönpa prevented Atisha from giving vows.
Also Atisha wanted to spread the tantras and pith instructions of the secret mantra, but Dromtönpa asked him not to actually teach the secret mantra. It is said that Atisha was disappointed and said, “What is the point of my coming to Tibet?” Milarepa, who was essentially a contemporary of Dromtönpa’s, said to Gampopa, “A ghost has wormed its way into Tibetans’ hearts so that they won’t allow Atisha to teach the tantra. For this reason, even though the Kadmapas do have some Vajrayana teachings, they do not have pith instructions.” This criticism is recorded in Gampopa’s biography.
After Atisha had traveled to Tibet and reached the age of 70, he came to the last years of his life in which he did not teach much dharma. Occasionally he would sing a doha and later translate those doha into Tibetan. When he had time, he would go visit the areas around his residence, viewing the mountains, rivers, flowers, and grasses of Tibet. In particular, he was delighted by how clean and pure Tibetan water was and praised it.
“In Tibet, one may gather merit by offering water. The Indian climate is hot so the springs are not as cool as in Tibet,” he said. For that reason, Atisha would make water offerings every day. Our modern tradition of offering water bowls is said to have originated from Atisha.
When Atisha saw poor animals, he would ask them, “Little goat, are you well? Little horse, are you well?” In particular, he loved puppies, and whenever he saw a puppy, he would pick it up and say, “Little puppy, are you well? You made a mistake to take a body like this,” and he treated them lovingly.
When Atisha was about to pass into parinirvana, he summoned his close disciples and gave each of them some advice. He told them, “In the future when I am not here, Dromtönpa has my blessings, so follow him.”
Dromtönpa asked, “If you are not here, who should I follow?” and Atisha replied, “When I am gone, make the scriptures your teacher. Likewise, do not do much to benefit beings until you achieve clairvoyance. Otherwise, do whatever you can to spread the Buddha’s teachings. Whether or not the teachings flourish depends on the sangha, and whether the sangha flourishes depends on disciplined bhikshus, so in the future, you must nurture many disciplined bhikshus,” Atisha advised.
Some disciples asked what do with his remains when he passed, and Atisha replied, “It is fine to do as the Sutra of the Mahaparinirvana explains was done to the Buddha’s remains.”
Then Atisha passed away and his remains were cremated in Nyethang. After the cremation, while everyone was having lunch at midday, Khutön came with a metal box for Atisha’s ashes, saying, “If I do not take them now, Dromtönpa will take them all later and I won’t get even a little bit.” He took a small amount of the ashes and later used them to make many tsa-tsas that he left in various locations in Tibet. It is Khutön’s kindness that allowed Atisha’s relics to spread all throughout Tibet.
