Guru Rinpoche: The Mural Path

Panel 06 of 10

Mastery Over Life

Then I went to attain immortality in Māratika,
And Lord Amitāyus appeared before my eyes,
Bestowing one hundred and eight sādhanas on longevity.
I then proceeded to the Akaniṣṭha Realm of Dense Array,
And to the pure realms of the five buddha families.
There I requested tantras from all the sugatas
And conversed with all the nirmāṇakāya buddhas, who declared:
'There is no buddha apart from this: your mind!'
— The Wish-Fulfilling Tree
At the cave of Maratika, Buddha Amitāyus bestows the siddhi of immortality
At the cave of Maratika, Buddha Amitāyus bestows the siddhi of immortality

Mandarava, the spiritually inclined princess of Zahor and Padmasambhava travel north towards the Himalayas. At the cave of Maratika in Eastern Nepal, the master and his student disclose the mandala of Buddha Amitayus and perform the practice of mastery over life. After three months, the Buddha of Boundless Life, Amitayus, appears in person. He confers empowerment upon them and blesses them to be inseparable from him. Padmasambhava and the Indian princess attain the Vajra Body, the 'invincible body' transcending birth and death.

In the upper practice cave of Yangleshö,
In order to attain the siddhi of the Great Seal,
I performed the practice of glorious Yangdak Heruka.
Hindrances arose, inflicting pain upon India and Nepal,
So I asked my masters to send me Dharma methods to repel them.
The messengers carried back the Sublime Knowledge of Kīla,
And by its mere arrival in Nepal, all hindrances were quelled.
Thus, I achieved the supreme siddhi, the Great Seal.
— The Wish-Fulfilling Tree

At the upper cave of Yanglesho in Nepal, Padmasambhava discloses the mandala of the nine-faced glorious Vishuddha Heruka to the Nepalese princess, Shakyadevi. Finding his presence in the valley a great disturbance, the native spirits of Nepal and India create havoc. Rain stops falling from the skies and the parched land yields no crop resulting in famine, disease and death of men and animals. Padmasambhava realizes that the local deities are trying to hinder him from the accomplishment of his spiritual practice.

In order to restore the peace and well being of the natives, Padmasambhava realizes that the only solution lies in wrathfully taming and subduing the haughty spirits. Requesting his former master, Prabhahasti, in India for a skillful method to revert and repel the hindrances, Padmasambhava dispatches two of his disciples to India. On their return from India, the Nepalese disciples hand over the texts to Padmasambhava with the words, 'Master Prabhahasti's advice is that the practice of Vajrakilaya will help.' Padmasambhava accepts the texts with great reverence and says, 'On entering the border of this land, these precious texts have quelled the obstacles.'