Padmasambhava, Tibetan Buddhism, and the Mists of Myth

Padmasambhava, Tibetan Buddhism, and the Mists of Myth January 14, 2025

Padmasambhava was probably a real person. I understand this is according to most academic scholars who focus on Tibet, which may not be a large group. Real or not, Padmasambhava is one of the most venerated figures in all of Tibetan Buddhist history. I think it could be said that the life and legends of Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, are foundational to Tibetan Buddhism. They also stand as an illustration of the problem of sorting myths from history when dealing with ancient times.

The myths and legends tell us that Padmasambhava was an 8th century master of Buddhist tantra who became one of the first great teachers of Buddhism in Tibet. He was born at the age of eight from a flowering lotus. He was especially famous for taming terrible demons and converting them to Buddhism. These demons are now the iconic dharmapalas, or protectors of the Buddha’s teachings, in Tibetan art. Here and there he hid secret, advanced teachings called termas that can be found only by worthy practitioners who are ready to receive them. Once assassins tried to kill Padmasambhava, but he froze the assassins with magic and escaped. Some Tibetan Buddhists believe him to be an emanation or nirmanakaya of the historical Buddha. Now he dwells in a pure Buddha-field, Akanishta.

Mahakala, one of the most popular of the dharmapalas of Tibet. He is fierce, and wearing an apron decorated with severed heads, but he’s not considered evil. Source: Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Most 21st western readers might assume from this that Padmasambhava was an entirely mythical figure. But historians say he probably was a real person whose biographical details were overwritten by myth long ago. The historical figure Padmasambhava may have been from what is now the Swat Valley of northern Pakistan. This area had been a center of Buddhism since about the 2nd century BCE, and in Padmasambhava’s lifetime the Buddhism there had not yet been pushed into oblivion by the spread of Islam.  Padmasambhava is believed to have been both a student and a teacher at the great Buddhist university in India, Nalanda. He is associated with the building of the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet, Samye. He is credited with founding the oldest school of Tibetan Buddhism, Nyingma.

Padmasambhava and Tibetan History

There is no record of Buddhism in Tibet until 641 CE. In that year, King Songtsen Gampo of Tibet is said to have taken two Buddhist wives, Princess Bhrikuti of Nepal and Princess Wen Cheng of China. Some historians today are skeptical about the existence of Princess Bhrikuti, but there was a Chinese Tang Dynasty princess who was married to the King of Tibet, and the history of Buddhism in Tibet begins with her. King Songtsen built two small temples to house the venerated Buddhist images his wife or wives brought to Tibet, but otherwise he had little interest in Buddhism.

The first king of Tibet to take an interest in Buddhism was Trisong Detsen, whose reign began in 755 and ended some time between 794 and 804 (sources disagree). And here is where Padmasambhava entered Tibetan history. The King, who planned to build Tibet’s first Buddhist monastery, had invited a renowned Buddhist scholar from Nepal, Shantarakshita, to his court. However, a series of natural disasters — floods, lightning strikes, that sort of thing — stirred Tibetans’ fears that their local gods were angry about the new religion. The King sent Shantarakshita back to Nepal.

In time Shantarakshita returned to Tibet, bringing Padmasambhava with him. Padmasambhava was known to be a master of rituals that would pacify demons. And when he was done performing his rituals, the demons were considered pacified, and construction on the new monastery could begin. The construction of Samye was completed in the 780s, and it still stands. However, Padmasambhava was asked to leave Tibet. Rumors that he intended to seize the throne for himself were making people nervous. As he left, archers were sent after him to finish him off and make sure he did not return. But, the stories say, he used magic to freeze the archers, and then the tantra master went on his way.

Padmasambhava: So Who Was This Guy?

The possible reality of a flesh and blood, historical Padmasambhava seems to rest mostly on two sources. One source is the Testament of Ba, which is the official record of the reign of King Trisong Detsen. I understand the earliest extant copies of this record date to the 9th and 10th centuries, but that doesn’t necessarily make them invalid as a source. There are also fragments of texts from the Dunhuang cave library that discuss a tantra master named Padmasambhava but do not mention Trisong Detsen. So it’s very possible there was such a person, and he could have visited Tibet at some point. And if he did, he must have made quite an impression. 

In his book Tibet: A History (Yale University Press, 2013)  Sam van Schaik wrote of Padmasambhava, “His sojourn in Tibet had been brief, but his full legacy would only become apparent in later centuries when he would rise to fill the role of Tibetan culture hero as the ‘Precious Teacher,’ Guru Rinpoche.”  Something about Padmasambhava caught the imaginations of Tibetans all those centuries ago, and an icon was born.

However, he also might have stayed in Tibet a bit longer. Robert E. Buswell Jr. and Donald S. Lopez Jr., both clear-eyed academics who write a lot about Buddhism, suggest in The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (Princeton University Press, 2013) that Padmasambhava remained in Tibet as a court priest for some time. They also say “It is difficult to access the many legends surrounding his life and deeds, although the scholarly consensus is that he was a historical figure and did visit Tibet.”

Postscript

Today there are all manner of teachings and practices attributed to Padmasambhava, including the well-known Bardo Thodol, or “liberation through hearing during the intermediate state.”  It is better known to English speakers as The Tibetan Book of the Dead.  It is considered a terma, buried by one of Padmasambhava’s students and discovered in the 14th century by a monk named Karma Lingpo.

Many rituals and liturgies of Tibetan Buddhism commemorate Padmasambhava. The tenth day of every lunar month is dedicated to Padmasambhava, a time when many monasteries perform religious dances about him.

A statue of Padmasambhava in Kathmandu, Nepal. Photo by Christopher J. Fynn. Source: Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
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