FiguresVajrayana
Padmasambhava
Eighth-century tantric master from Uddiyana who brought Vajrayana to Tibet at the invitation of King Trisong Detsen, founded Samye monastery in 779 CE, subdued the protector spirits of the Himalayan land, and concealed teachings — the terma — for retrieval by future generations. The founding figure of the Nyingma school and, in the Tibetan imagination, a second Buddha.
