Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment

Introduction

Atisha, a Bengali scholar from the monastery of Vikramashila, came to western Tibet in 1042 at the invitation of the rulers of Guge and wrote this short verse text there at the request of the monk-prince Jangchub Ö. It answers the question of how the many, sometimes conflicting Buddhist teachings fit together. Practitioners are grouped into three “scopes”: those who seek a better rebirth, those who seek their own liberation and those who seek awakening for the sake of all beings. The text also discusses which tantric initiations are compatible with monastic vows. Atisha’s student Dromtönpa founded the Kadam school, and Tsongkhapa’s Lamrim Chenmo (1402) builds directly on this model.

Connections

Builds on

• The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicaryavatara)c. 720 · Shantideva

Taken up in

• Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path (Lamrim Chenmo)1402 · Tsongkhapa