Origin from 1042
Two centuries after the Tibetan Empire's collapse, the Indian Buddhist master Atisha arrived in Tibet in 1042 CE at the invitation of Yeshe-O, king of the western Tibetan kingdom of Guge, who sought to restore a purer form of Buddhism to a land the empire's fall had left fragmented among competing local powers. Atisha spent three years at Tholing, compiling his Bodhipathapradipa, "Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment," working alongside the translator Rinchen Zangpo, who had earlier been sent to study in Kashmir on the same king's orders and built over a hundred monasteries across western Tibet. Tibetan tradition credits Atisha as a leading figure of the later diffusion (phyi dar) of Buddhism, and his teaching founded the Kadam lineage, one of the schools from which every major surviving Tibetan Buddhist tradition descends.
Facts
Dates
Start YearSourced to the subject's own account End YearSourced to the subject's own accountAtisha spent three years at Tholing after his 1042 arrival, compiling the Bodhipathapradipa alongside the translator Rinchen Zangpo before his teaching founded the Kadam lineage. StatusSourced to the subject's own account Learn More
How Atisha's Arrival Opened Tibet's Second Diffusion
This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.
Two centuries after the Tibetan Empire's collapse had left the plateau fragmented among competing local powers, the Indian Buddhist master Atisha arrived in Tibet in 1042 CE at the invitation of Yeshe-O, king of the western Tibetan kingdom of Guge. Yeshe-O sought to restore a purer form of Buddhism to a land the empire's fall, and Langdarma's persecution before it, had left without the coherent religious authority it once had under imperial sponsorship.
Atisha spent three years based at Tholing, where he compiled his best known work, the Bodhipathapradipa, or Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, working alongside the translator Rinchen Zangpo. Rinchen Zangpo had himself been sent by the same King Yeshe-O to study in Kashmir years earlier and, on his return, built more than a hundred monasteries across western Tibet, laying groundwork Atisha's own arrival then built upon further.
Tibetan tradition credits Atisha as a leading figure of the later diffusion, phyi dar, that restored Buddhism across Tibet after its imperial era ended. His teaching in Tibet founded the Kadam lineage, one of the schools from which every major Tibetan Buddhist tradition still practiced today ultimately descends, carrying his arrival's influence forward long after his own three years at Tholing had ended.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Atisha directly: "collapse, the Indian Buddhist master Atisha arrived in Tibet in 1042 CE at the invitation of Yeshe-O, king of the western Tibetan kingdom of Guge, who sought to restore a purer form of Buddhism to a..."
This source names Kashmir directly: "who had earlier been sent to study in Kashmir on the same king's orders and built over a hundred monasteries across western Tibet."
Occurred In
Tibet, Regions Guge, in western Tibet; anchored to the Tibet region entity, the same anchor Buddhism's first diffusion into Tibet already uses.
Spread Event Of
Tibet's second diffusion, the later dissemination (phyi dar) that answers the fragmentation following the empire's collapse and gives rise to the schools every major surviving Tibetan Buddhist lineage descends from.
Sources
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