The Path to Enlightenment: Atisha and Tibetan Buddhism - An Historic Overview Deidre Collings

The main event during His Holiness' tour was a three-day teaching on an 11th century text Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment (Bodhipathapradipa), by the famous Indian Buddhist teacher Atisha Dipamkara (982-1054). The Dalai Lama personally chose to give this teaching during the Australian tour. This text was written by Atisha nearly 1,000 years ago, in 1041 at Ngari, western Tibet. It was written in response to the request of prince Jangchub Wo, who asked Atisha to write from his personal experience on the fundamental meaning of the Buddha's teaching, presenting it as a complete path that was not too profound and that was easy to practise.
Before reviewing His Holiness' teachings on Atisha's Lamp for the Path, it may be useful to provide an overview of Tibetan history prior to Atisha and a few details of Atisha's own life.

Early History of Tibetan Buddhism

Atisha continues to be an eminent figure in Tibetan Buddhist history. He shaped the religious history of Tibet, his reformations of the Tibetan Buddhist landscape - such as it was at that time - were part of a religious renaissance in Tibet with his influence continuing well into the 20th century under the auspices of the highly influential Gelug tradition. Born in western Bengal at Candragarbha, he was predominantly known in India by his ordination name Dipamkarashrijnana (Dipamkara is the name of a previous Buddha). In the Tibetan language, he was most commonly referred to as Jowo Je (jo bo rje), which means 'the noble lord,' or Atisha, which is a Sanskrit equivalent of Jowo Je. While Atisha is a reverential epithet that never really had the status of a proper name, it is the name by which this influential figure is most popularly known.

Atisha went to Tibet at a critical time in its religious history. Buddhism became firmly established in Tibet in two distinct periods between the ninth and fourteenth centuries. The first of these periods is historically known as the first diffusion of Buddhism and took place from the seventh to early ninth centuries. Famous figures from this era are king Songtsen Gampo, the Indian monks Shantarakshita and Kamalashila and the Tantric adept Padmasambhava. Shantarakshita established the first Buddhist monastery at Samye, which began with the ordination of seven Tibetans. However, in reality, there was no monastic tradition in Tibet during the ninth century.

Buddhism had gained some influence in the Tibetan courts during this period, largely due to the influence of the powerful kings Songtsen Gampo and Trisong Detsen, who were both devotees of the Buddhadharma and astute enough to recognise the need to undermine the power of the Tibetan aristocracy, who were all part of the hereditary Bonpo priesthood. Bon was the native religion of Tibet at this time and the Tibetan aristocracy had been quite successful in undermining the authority of the Tibetan royal family. Many political and religious intrigues centred around this conflict between supporters of Bon and supporters of Buddhism during this early diffusion of Buddhism in Tibet.

One such intrigue was the assassination of King Relpacan, a pious follower of Buddhism, and the replacement of him by Brother Lang Darma, a devotee of Bon. This final intrigue precipitated the destruction of Buddhism in Tibet and the collapse of any centralised government in Tibet for over 140 years.

Lang Darma is famous for his ruthless persecution of Buddhism, which began in 841, and saw the banishment of the great panditas, the assassination of many notable Buddhist figures and the complete withdrawal of the great translators of the time. Lang Darma was himself assassinated at the height of these persecutions. Tibetan tradition has it that Lang Darma was murdered by a humble Buddhist monk who acted out of the wish to protect the Dharma. However, a recent historian, Samten Karmay, argues that Lang Darma was not as anti-Buddhist as Tibetan historians claim and that Buddhism continued to flourish under his reign. Karmay's research suggests that it was one of the abbots of Samye who murdered Lang Dharma, because of his systematic undermining of the power and wealth of the monastic establishment, which angered the Buddhist authorities. This act, however, hastened the complete withdrawal of royal patronage and spelt the end of the fledgling monastic system. Karmay argues that later Tibetan historians falsified the historical accounts of Lang Darma's death to protect the reputation of the Samye authorities, who were responsible for their own demise.

While monastic growth was destroyed by these historical events, during the so-called dark period (842-978) of political and social unrest, the tantric tradition that had been introduced in this early period continued to flourish throughout the tenth century. These yogins were the predecessors of the Nyingma tradition, which did not consolidate itself into a fully self-conscious movement until the schools of the second diffusion of Buddhism arose. However, not everybody was happy with this tantric, non-celibate form of Buddhism. A revival of Buddhism was begun in western Tibet during the late tenth and early eleventh centuries. The royal lineage that had been decimated with the collapse of the kingdom still survived in Purang, in western Tibet. It was these kings who were responsible for the revival of monastic and academic Buddhism. The early kings had always attempted to strictly control the translation and practise of Tantra in Tibet. It was in this same spirit that the kings of Purang tried to control the lay tantric lineages that flourished in Tibet, as they preferred the sutric approach to Buddhism.
The second diffusion of Buddhism was already beginning at this time, but there appeared to be confusion about how Buddhism was to be practised. King Yeshe Wo sent a group of Tibetans to study in Kashmir, many of whom died due to the unaccustomed climate. The two that returned advised the king that Atisha would be the best person to invite to Tibet to resolve the conflicts about Buddhism. Yeshe Wo was captured and imprisoned by a neighbouring king who was hostile to Buddhism. His grand-nephew Jangchub Wo continued with his uncle's plans and succeeded in inviting Atisha to Tibet.

Atisha's Life Story

Atisha renounced his life as an Indian prince and was already a qualified tantric practitioner before he took Buddhist ordination as a monk at the age of twenty-nine. He travelled abroad two years later, in 1013, sailing a perilous journey from India to Indonesia on a rudimentary merchant ship - a journey that took fourteen months - specifically to meet a renowned teacher by the name of Serlingpa (his religious name was Dharmakirti). Serlingpa was famous throughout the Buddhist world for being a great scholar and the holder of the bodhicitta teachings known as 'mind training' (lojong). Serlingpa resided at the still famous Buddhist site at Borobudur in Java at the time of the Shailendra Empire (which included Java and a large part of the Malay archipelago and Malay peninsula). According to the journals of the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim I-tsing, Borobudur was already an important centre of Buddhist culture in the seventh century. Serlingpa is said to have been of royal birth and to have studied at Vikramashila monastery in northern India. Indeed, Atisha's own stature as a great scholar appears to have been earned whilst studying with Serlingpa. Atisha had made the arduous journey to find Serlingpa after a vision of his deity Green Tara had told him that the most important teaching for attaining Buddhahood was bodhicitta.

Atisha studied with Serlingpa for twelve years, before returning to India at the age of forty-four. On his return, he received an academic position at Vikramashila, one of the famous monastic centres in northern India (Bengal), which remained his main seat for the following fifteen years. Atisha is famous for having brought together two main streams of Mahayana teachings, insight into reality (prajna) and the mind of awakening (bodhicitta). His main message was one of moral purity, selfless sacrifice for others, the virtuous life and adherence to pure Mahayana teachings. Due to his early training in Tantra and the tantric focus of the monastic universities in northern India during the tenth to twelfth centuries, Atisha represented a synthesis of Sutra and Tantra that had not been apparent in Indian Buddhism during the first diffusion of Buddhism to Tibet.
At the invitation of the Tibetan kings, who sent the Great Translator, Rinchen Zangpo to urge him to come, Atisha eventually accepted and left for Tibet in 1042. He worked to establish a proper perspective and understanding of the Buddhadharma by teaching a synthesis of Madhyamaka and Yogacara and to a much lesser extent, the tantric lineage of Tilopa.

Atisha spent three years in western Tibet before moving to central Tibet where he spent the last twelve years of his life. He met his foremost student and wealthy patron Dromtönpa ('Brom ston pa 1004-1064) who helped him to undertake the reformation of Buddhism in Tibet. Atisha founded the monastery of Nyetang, near Lhasa, which was later to become the centre of the Kadam order that was founded by Dromtönpa. The Kadampa monks seem to have concentrated on moral observance and the development of bodhicitta. Despite being an accomplished tantrika himself, Atisha was dissuaded by Dromtönpa from openly teaching tantra to his students.

Atisha's Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment concentrates on three types of individuals and three stages of the path. These are placed in order of preference to demonstrate the superiority of the bodhisattva motivation, which has the development of bodhicitta at its core. The text explains that the bodhicitta vow should be taken after one of the seven types of individual liberation (pratimoksha) vows in front of a competent guru. Foundation of morality, training in means and wisdom. Tantric practices should only be undertaken after thorough training in sutric practices and once one has developed the right motivation of bodhicitta. The initiations that relate to the sexual yogas were strictly forbidden to the monastic sangha, i.e. those who had taken vows of celibacy. Atisha was restricted in his dissemination of tantric practices and teachings, principally by Dromtönpa and also by the mandate of the Tibetan rulers, who wished to re-establish monastic and academic Buddhism in Tibet and who felt that the practices of the lay tantrikas threatened the orthodoxy of the monastic system.

Atisha never denied the validity of the tantric path however, and was an accomplished tantrika himself with a lifelong devotion to Tara. He helped to establish a true synthesis of Sutra and Tantra and in so doing, shaped the religious history of Tibet for the next millennium. The Kadampa tradition, despite dying out in Tibet, was the basis of the monastic traditions of the Kagyu, Sakya and later Gelug traditions. The Gelug, which was founded by Tsongkhapa (1357-1419) as a reformation of the existing monastic order, is sometimes referred to as the New Kadampa and regards its tradition as a continuation of Atisha's work.

The Gelugpa teachings, of which His Holiness Dalai Lama is an adherent, base their graduated path (lamrim) teachings on Atisha's Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment. The character of the Gelug teachings are remarkably similar to Atisha's own teachings: the moral renunciation of secular life, the development of the bodhicitta motivation and a correct understanding of dependent origination (pratityasamutpada) and the Middle Way (madhyamaka) philosophy.

The text of Atisha's Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment consists of sixty-eight four-line stanzas, which cover the three kinds of motivation (stanzas 1-6), generating the aspiration to bodhicitta (stanzas 7-18), the bodhisattva vow (stanzas 18-33), training in the vow: which includes training in higher perception (vipashyana), calm abiding (shamatha), skilful means (upaya) and wisdom (prajna) (stanzas 34-59) and tantra (stanzas 60-68). The tantric section however, is in summary form and essentially forbids any practices with a sexual content for fear of irrevocably breaking one's monastic vows.

Bodhicitta and the Bodhisattva Path

Bodhicitta means 'mind of awakening' and expresses the core of the Mahayana teachings. It is essentially the fundamental aspiration to benefit others and encompasses both love and compassion. There is a conventional and an ultimate level to bodhicitta, however. The conventional level is the aspiration to achieve enlightenment in order to help other beings, along with the engagement in various trainings of the mind. This begins with the development of love and compassion for others, through the practice of the six perfections, the bodhicitta vow and training in means and wisdom. Ultimate bodhicitta refers to the direct understanding of the nature of reality (emptiness, or shunyata), which arises from the training in wisdom. When conventional and ultimate bodhicitta (or compassion and a direct non-conceptual experience of reality) become joined, one becomes a bodhisattva. A bodhisattva is a kind of 'awakened warrior' - 'awakened' because of the realisation of wisdom and compassion, and a 'warrior' because of the commitment to continue to engage in the world in order to relieve the suffering of other beings.

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