In Tibetan Buddhism, Padma Gyalpo (or Pema Gyalpo) is one of the

Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava ("Born from a Lotus"), also known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru) and the Lotus from Oḍḍiyāna, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who may have taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries)... According ...

's eight manifestations and appears in the form of a young prince. Pema Gyalpo means Lotus King. Padma Gyalpo is first of the Guru Rinpoche's Eight Manifestation, and is the form in which Guru Rinpoche took birth.

Birth

According to Tibetan historical account, Guru Rinpoche was born just four years after the historical

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

Mahaparinirvana In Buddhism, ''parinirvana'' (Sanskrit: '; Pali: ') is commonly used to refer to nirvana-after-death, which occurs upon the death of someone who has attained ''nirvana'' during their lifetime. It implies a release from '' '', karma and rebirth a ...

on the wood monkey year in the monkey month in a kingdom known as

Oddiyana (also: ''Uḍḍiyāna'', ''Uḍḍāyāna'' or ''Udyāna'', Sanskrit: ओड्डियान, उड्डियान, उड्डायान, उद्यान; , , mn, Үржин ''urkhin''), was a small region in early medieval India, ...

. In

Tibetan calendar The Tibetan calendar (), or Tibetan lunar calendar, is a lunisolar calendar, that is, the Tibetan year is composed of either 12 or 13 lunar months, each beginning and ending with a new moon. A thirteenth month is added every two or three years, s ...

, monkey years are considered Guru Rinpoche years. Oddiyana may have been located somewhere in today's Pakistan in

Swat Valley Swat District (, ps, سوات ولسوالۍ, ) is a district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. With a population of 2,309,570 per the 2017 national census, Swat is the 15th-largest district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa prov ...

and at the time it was ruled by King

Indrabhuti Indrabhuti (alternatively King Ja) is a name attributed to a number of individuals that have become conflated in Vajrayana Buddhism. One Indrabhuti, considered a Mahasiddha, was a disciple of Lawapa. Identities of the king Samten Karmay attempte ...

. According to the legend, the king had a vision in a dream where a five-pointed golden vajra came very close to him, while there was sun and moon both rising in the eastern sky as an omen predicting Guru Rinpoche's birth. The next day he saw Padma Gyalpo in form of an eight-year-old boy. When

Padmasambhava Padmasambhava ("Born from a Lotus"), also known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru) and the Lotus from Oḍḍiyāna, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who may have taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries)... According ...

(Guru Rinpoche) was born in the form of Padma Gyalpo, he already had the appearance of an eight-year-old. It is typical that great saints in the Tibetan Buddhist cultural context had a "miraculous birth" as in to add to the devotion deeply superstitious Tibetans could have to a meditation Master such as

. Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche explains in ''Crazy Wisdom':''

"He was inquisitive, bright, youthful, untouched by anything. Since he had never been touched by anything, he was not afraid to touch anything. He was surrounded by dakinis making offerings to him and playing music."

According to Trungpa Rinpoche, in his birth form, Padma Gyalpo, Padmasambhava represents the childlike state of no duality, a state where there is no "this" or "that", a state of freshness. Because there is no dualistic reference point, there is also no any kind of concept.

References

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External links

The Eight Manifestations of Padmasambhava

Guru Pema Gyalpo, Rigpawiki

Padma Gyalpo, Himalayan Art

Great Clouds of Blessing, Lotsawa House
History of Tibetan Buddhism