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Chapter One

Atisha

I. Showing the greatness of the teaching's author in order to establish that it is of noble origin

A. How he took rebirth in an excellent lineage

B. How upon that basis he gained good qualities

1. How, knowing many texts, he gained the good qualities of scriptural knowledge

2. How, engaging in proper practice, he gained the good qualities of experiential knowledge

A. That Atisha possessed the training in ethics

1) How Atisha possessed superior vows of individual liberation

2) That Atisha possessed the bodhisattva vows

3) That Atisha possessed the vows of the Vajrayana

b. That Atisha possessed the training in concentration

1) The training in concentration common to sutra and tantra

2) The training in the uncommon concentrations

c. That Atisha possessed the training in wisdom

1) The common training in wisdom

2) The uncommon training in wisdom

C. Having gained those good qualities, what Atisha did to further the teachings

1. What he did in India

2. What he did in Tibet

* * *

I. Showing the greatness of the teaching's author in order to establish that it is of noble origin

These instructions, in general, are those of the Ornament for Clear Knowledge (Abhisamayalamkara), composed by the venerable Maitreya. [4] In particular, the text for this work is Atisha's Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment (Bodhi-patha-pradipa); hence, the very author of the Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment is also the author of this [work].

    The other name by which the great master Dipamkarasrijñana is widely renowned is the glorious Atisha.

A. How he took rebirth in an excellent lineage

As is set forth in the Eighty Verses of Praise (bsTod pa brgyad cu pa) composed by the great translator Nag-tso (Nag-tsho):

In the excellent land of Za-hor [Bengal] in the east,

Is a great city, Vikramanipura.

In its center is a royal residence,

A palace extremely vast,

Called the "Golden Banner."

Its resources, might, and fortune

Were like that of the eastern emperor of China.

The king of that country was Kalyanasri,

The queen was Sriprabha.

They had three sons, Padmagarbha,

Candragarbha, and Srigarbha.

Prince Padmagarbha had five queens and nine sons.

His eldest son, Punyasri,

Is a great scholar of our time

Known as Dha-na-shri.

The youngest, Srigarbha,

Is the monk Viryacandra.

The middle [son], Candragarbha,

Is our present venerable guru [Atisha].

B. How upon that basis he gained good qualities

How he gained good qualities is explained in two parts:

1. How, knowing many texts, he gained the good qualities of scriptural knowledge

2. How, engaging in proper practice, he gained the good qualities of experiential knowledge

1. How, knowing many texts, he gained the good qualities of scriptural knowledge

Nag-tso's Eighty Verses of Praise says:

At the age of twenty-one,

He had mastered the sixty-four arts,

All forms of crafts,

The Sanskrit language,

And all philosophy.

As it states here, by the time he was twenty-one, he had become a full-fledged scholar after training in the topics of knowledge common to Buddhists and non-Buddhists, the four knowledges--of grammar, logic, the crafts, and medicine. [5] More specifically, the great Dro-lung-ba (Gro-lung-pa) said that at age fifteen, after hearing Dharmakirti's Drop of Reasoning (Nyaya-bindu-prakarana) one time, Atisha debated with a famous scholar, a non-Buddhist logician, and defeated him, whereby his fame spread everywhere.

    Then, he received complete initiation from the guru Rahulagupta, lord of contemplation of the Black Mountain Temple, who had a vision of the glorious Hevajra and had received prophecies from Vajradakini. He was given the secret name Jñanaguhyavajra. By training through his twenty-ninth year in the Vajrayana with many gurus who had achieved spiritual attainments, he became skilled in all the tantric texts and instructions. When the thought occurred to him, "I alone am skilled in the mantra vehicle," his pride was subdued by dakinis in a dream showing him many volumes of the mantra path that he had not seen before.

    Then, his gurus and chosen deities, either in person or in dreams, urged him to become a monk, saying that if he did so, it would benefit vastly the teaching and many beings. Upon their urging, he became a monk, receiving ordination from an abbot who had attained a meditative concentration in which he engaged reality from one perspective, having reached the path of preparation. This abbot was a Mahasamghika elder, a great upholder of the texts on discipline, called Silaraksita. As it states in Nag-tso's Eighty Verses of Praise , "Your abbot was renowned by all as having attained the path of preparation." Furthermore, Atisha was given the name Sri Dipamkarajñana.

    Then, until he was thirty-one, Atisha trained in the higher and lower scriptural collections of Buddhist knowledge within the tradition of philosophy. In particular, at O-tan-ta-pu-ri, he heard teachings for twelve years from the guru Dharmaraksita on the Great Detailed Explanation (Maha-vibhasa) . Through becoming very skilled in the texts of the four basic schools, he came to know according to the different schools and without confusion even the finest details of what behavior should be adopted and what avoided in such rules of monastic discipline as those regarding how to give and receive things such as food. [6]

    Thus, through crossing over the oceanlike tenets of our own and others' schools, he came to know accurately all the key points of the scriptural teaching.

2. How, engaging in proper practice, he gained the good qualities of experiential knowledge

In general, the three precious scriptural collections include all of the scriptural teachings of the Conqueror Thus, the three precious trainings must also include the teachings as they are realized. With respect to that, the scriptures and their commentaries repeatedly praise training in ethical discipline as the basis for all good qualities, such as the trainings in concentration and wisdom. Therefore, at the outset you must have the good qualities of knowledge that occur in the context of training in ethical discipline.

a. That Atisha possessed the training in ethics

That Atisha possessed the training in ethics is explained in relation to three aspects:

    1. The superior vows of individual liberation

    2. The bodhisattva vows

    3. The vows of the Vajrayana

1) How Atisha possessed superior vows of individual liberation

Nag-tso's Eighty Verses of Praise :

I bow down to the elder upholder of the texts on discipline, Supreme of monks, possessing the glory of pure deeds. You, having entered the door of the sravaka vehicle, Guarded ethical discipline as a yak guards its tail.

A yak is so attached to the hairs of its tail that when a single hair gets caught in brush, it will risk its life to guard that no hair be lost, even if it sees that it might be killed by a hunter Likewise, Atisha, after receiving the complete vows of a monk, guarded at the risk of his life every minor fundamental training, not to mention the major fundamental trainings to which he was committed. Therefore, as it is said in Nag-tso's Eighty Verses of Praise , he was an elder who was a great upholder of the texts on discipline.

2) That Atisha possessed the bodhisattva vows

Nag-tso's Eighty Verses of Praise :

You, having entered the door of the perfection vehicle, Developed the pure wholehearted resolve, and due to your Spirit of enlightenment, you would not desert living beings-- I bow down to you, intelligent and compassionate one.

Thus, it says that he trained in many instructions for developing the spirit of enlightenment, which is rooted in love and compassion. In particular, relying on Ser-ling-ba (gSer-gling-pa), he had trained for a long time in the supreme instructions transmitted from the venerable Maitreya and Mañjughosa to Asagaga and Santideva, respectively. [7]

    Through this, as the Eighty Verses of Praise says:

The one who set aside his own interests and took up The burden of others' interests is my guru [Atisha].

There arose in his heart the spirit of enlightenment that cherishes others more than oneself. That aspirational spirit induced in him the engaged spirit of enlightenment. He then learned the practices pursuant to his promise to train in the great waves of bodhisattva deeds, and with those good actions he never transgressed the boundaries of the code of conquerors' children.

3) That Atisha possessed the vows of the Vajrayana

Nag-tso's Eighty Verses of Praise :

Having entered the door of the Vajrayana,

You saw yourself as a deity and possessed the vajra mind.

Lord of contemplation, Avadhutipa,

I bow down to you who engaged in the secret conduct.

Nag-tso expresses praise in general, calling Atisha a chief of yogis due to his reaching the concentration of the stage of generation, in which he saw his body as divine, and the concentration of the stage of completion, whereupon he attained the vajra state of mind. In particular, with respect to his guarding properly the pledges and not transgressing the boundaries of the tantric rules, the Eighty Verses of Praise says:

Because you had mindfulness and vigilance,

You had no unethical thoughts.

Conscientious and alert, with no deceit or pretension,

You were not stained by the faults of infractions.

Thus, Atisha was not only courageous in promising to train in the ethical discipline of the three vows, but he also guarded that ethical discipline by keeping his promises and not transgressing the boundaries of the rules. Even when he slightly transgressed, he immediately purified that infraction with the appropriate rite for restoring the vow. Know that this biography delights scholars who understand the key points of the scriptures; emulate such excellent beings. [8]

b. That Atisha possessed the training in concentration

1) The training in concentration common to sutra and tantra

His mind became serviceable by means of meditative serenity.

2) The training in the uncommon concentrations

He reached a very stable stage of generation due to having practiced the deeds of proficient conduct for six or three years. At that time, after hearing the secret tantric songs sung by dakinis in Oddiyana, he committed them to memory.

c. That Atisha possessed the training in wisdom

1) The common training in wisdom

He gained a concentration of insight that was a union of meditative serenity and insight.

2) The uncommon training in wisdom

He gained a special concentration of the stage of completion. Eighty Verses of Praise :

It is clear that you achieved the path of preparation In accordance with the texts of the mantra vehicle.

C. Having gained those good qualities, what Atisha did to further the teachings

1. What he did in India

In the palace of the great enlightenment at the glorious Bodh-gaya, he upheld the Buddhist teaching three times by using the teachings to vanquish the poor instruction of non-Buddhist philosophers. With regard to the higher and lower of our own Buddhist schools, he furthered the teachings through clearing away the corruptions of ignorance, wrong ideas, and doubts, So it is that all of the schools, without partisanship, consider him a crown jewel. Eighty Verses of Praise :

In the palace of the great enlightenment

When all were assembled together,

With speech like a lion's roar

You confounded the minds of all

Who argued for the poor tenets

Of our own and others' schools.

Also:

At Otantapuri there were

Two hundred fifty monks,

At Vikramalasila

There were almost a hundred.

All four root schools were present.

You did not take up the boasts of the various schools

But became the crown jewel of all

Four followers of the Teacher

In all of the areas

Of the land of Magadha. [9]

Because you stayed with the general teachings

Of all eighteen sects [and thus were nonpartisan],

Everyone received teachings from you.

2. What he did in Tibet

The royal renunciates, uncle and nephew, sent to India in succession the two translators, Gya-dzön-seng (brGya-brtson-seng) and Nag-tso Tshul-trim-gyal-wa (Nag-tsho-tshul-khrims-rgyal-ba). Because they made great efforts to invite him again and again, Atisha went to Upper Nga-ri (mNga'-ris) during the time of Jang-chup-ö (Byang-chub-'od).

    When they welcomed him there, his hosts prayed that he might purify the Buddhist teaching. Based on this prayer, he furthered the teaching through activities such as composing the Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment , a text that brings together the stages of practice, condensing all the key points of the sutra and mantra vehicles. Moreover, for three years at Nga-ri, nine years at Nye-tang (sNye-thang), and five years at other places in Ü (dBus) and Tsang (gTsang), he taught all the instructions for the texts of the sutra and mantra vehicles to fortunate students. The result was that he reestablished the practices of the Buddhist system that had disappeared; he reinvigorated those that remained only slightly; and he removed corruption based on misconceptions. Thus he made the precious teachings free of defilement.

    In general, the glorious Santaraksita and Padmasambhava introduced the practices of the Buddhist system to the Land of Snow [Tibet] during the early dissemination of the teaching. However, the Chinese abbot Ha-shang (Hva-shang) caused the teaching to decline. He did not understand emptiness correctly and thereby denigrated the factor of method and negated bringing anything to mind, even virtues. The great master Kamalasila, after refuting Ha-shang well, established the Conqueror's intent; hence, his kindness was most great.

    In the later dissemination of the teaching to Tibet, some who fancied that they were scholars and yogis misconstrued the meaning of the collections of tantras. Because of this, they did great damage to the maintenance of ethical discipline, the root of the teachings. This excellent being [Atisha] refuted them well. Moreover, he caused their erroneous conceptions to disappear and then reinvigorated the flawless teaching. [10] Thus, his kindness reached all those of the Land of Snow.

    Furthermore, there are three ideal qualifications for an author of texts that elucidate the intent of the Sage in this way. The author (1) should have mastered the five topics of knowledge; (2) should possess instructions that are the key points for practicing the meaning of the topics of Buddhist knowledge which have been transmitted in an unbroken lineage through excellent beings from the perfect Buddha; and (3) should receive permission to compose the text in a vision of his or her chosen deity. If someone with any one of these qualifications can compose a text, then when all three are present it is ideal. This great master was endowed with all three as follows:

    1. With regard to how his chosen deities looked after him, Eighty Verses of Praise :

Due to having visions and receiving permission

From the glorious Hevajra,

Trisamayavyuharaja,

The hero Lokesvara [Avalokitesvara],

The noble and venerable Tara, and so forth,

He listened always to the excellent teaching

Of the profound view and the vast deeds of compassion

Either in dreams or in person.

     2. With regard to the lineages of gurus, there are two lineages: that of the vehicle common [to both the Hinayana and Mahayana] and that of the Mahayana. Within the latter, there are again two: those of the perfection vehicle and those of the mantra vehicle. Within the perfection vehicle, there are two more divisions--the lineage of the view and the lineage of deeds--and within the lineage of deeds, there are lineages descended from Maitreya and from Mañjughosa, making three lineages in the perfection vehicle. Further, with respect to the mantra vehicle, there are five systems of lineages. In addition, there are such lineages as the lineages of tenets, the lineages of blessings, and the lineages of various instructions. Atisha was endowed with instructions from these many lineages. The gurus from whom Atisha received teachings directly are as Nag-tso says:

The gurus on whom you always relied

Had achieved spiritual attainments; they were many:

Santi-pa and Ser-ling-ba,

Bhadrabodhi, and Jñanasri.

And, in particular, you possessed

Instructions on the profound view and the vast deeds

Passed down over the generations from Nagarjuna. [11]

It is well known that he had twelve gurus who had achieved spiritual attainments, and there were many others as well.

    3. His mastery of the five topics of knowledge has already been explained.

Therefore, this master was able to determine well the intent of the Conqueror.

    This master who had such qualifies had an inconceivable number of students in India, Kashmir, Oddiyana, Nepal, and Tibet. To mention the chief of these, in India, there were the four great scholars Bi-do-ba (Bi-to-pa), Dharmakaramati, Madhyasinha, and Ksitigarbha, all equal in knowledge to the Elder [Atisha]. Some also include Mitraguhya as a fifth. From Nga-ri, there were the translator Rin-chen-sang-bo (Rin-chen-bzang-po), the translator Nag-tso, and royal renundate Jang-chup-ö. From Tsang, there were Gar-gay-wa ('Gar-dge-ba) and Gö-kuk-ba-hlay-dzay ('Gos-khug-pa-lhas-btsas). From Hlo-drak (lHo-brag), there were Chak-ba-tri-chok (Chag-pa-khri-mchog) and Gay-wa-gyong (dGe-ba-skyong). From Khams, there were Nal-jor-ba-chen-bo (rNal-'byor-pa-chen-po), Gön-ba-wa (dGon-pa-ba), Shay-rap-dor-jay (Shes-rab-rdo-rje), and Chak-dar-dön-ba (Phyag-dar-ston-pa). From central Tibet, there were the three, Ku-dön Dzön-dru-yung-drung (Khu-ston-brtson-'grus-gyung-drung), Ngok Lek-bay-shay-rap (Ngog-legs-pa'i-shes-rab), and Drom-dön-ba Gyel-way-jung-nay ('Brom-ston-pa-rgyal-ba'i-'byung-gnas).

    From among these, the great holder of the lineage who furthered the activities of the guru [Atisha] himself was Drom-dön-ba Gyel-way-jung-nay who was prophesied by Tara.

    This, in brief, is the greatness of the author. It can be known in detail from the great biographical literature.

Excerpted from The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment by Tsong-kha-pa. Copyright © 2000 by Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.