Padmasambhava

Padmasambhava (trans. “Lotus Born”), also know as ‘Guru Rinpoche’ was invited to Tibet from his kingdom of Oddiyana (identified as being maybe the present day Swat Valley region) by the Dharma King Trisong Detsen in the eighth century CE to help establish the Buddhadharma. Along with the Pandit monk Santarakshita, these three are held as the founders of Buddhism in Tibet. Padmasambhava taught twenty-five main disciples who disseminated his teachings throughout Tibet from which the ‘Nyingma’ lineage was founded.