Lawapa or Lavapa () was a figure in

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, D ...

who flourished in the 10th century. He was also known as Kambala and Kambalapada (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

: ). Lawapa, was a

mahasiddha Mahasiddha (Sanskrit: ''mahāsiddha'' "great adept; ) is a term for someone who embodies and cultivates the "siddhi of perfection". A siddha is an individual who, through the practice of sādhanā, attains the realization of siddhis, psychic and ...

, or accomplished

yogi A yogi is a practitioner of Yoga, including a sannyasin or practitioner of meditation in Indian religions.A. K. Banerjea (2014), ''Philosophy of Gorakhnath with Goraksha-Vacana-Sangraha'', Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. xxiii, 297–299, 331 ...

, who travelled to

Tsari Dakpa Sheri (, ), explained as "Pure Crystal Mountain" and also known as Tsari (), is a mountain in the eponymously named Tsari region in Lhöntse County of Tibet's Shannan Prefecture. The mountain is considered sacred for Tibetans and the pilgr ...

. Lawapa was a progenitor of the

Dream Yoga Dream yoga or ''milam'' (; , ''svapnadarśanayoga'')—the Yoga of the Dream State—is a suite of advanced tantric sadhana of the entwined Mantrayana lineages of Dzogchen ( Nyingmapa, Ngagpa, Mahasiddha, Kagyu and Bönpo). Dream yoga consist ...

sādhanā ''Sādhanā'' (; ; ) is an ego-transcending spiritual practice in Indian religions. It includes a variety of disciplines in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives. ...

and it was from Lawapa that the mahasiddha

Tilopa Tilopa (Prakrit; Sanskrit: Talika or Tilopadā; 988–1069) was an Indian Buddhist tantric mahasiddha who lived along the Ganges River. He practised Anuttarayoga Tantra, a set of spiritual practices intended to accelerate the process of attaini ...

received the Dream Yoga practice lineage. Kambala Pa

Bhattacharya, while discussing ancient

Bengali literature Bengali literature () denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time and dynastic patronization or non-patronization. Bengali h ...

, proffers that Lawapa composed the '' Kambalagītika'' ( "Lawapa's Song") and a few

songs of realization Songs of realization, or Songs of Experience (; Devanāgarī: दोहा; Romanized Sanskrit: ''Dohā''; Oriya: ପଦ), are sung poetry forms characteristic of the tantric movement in both Vajrayana Buddhism and in Hinduism. Doha is also a spe ...

in the ''

Charyapada The Charyapada is a collection of mystical poems, songs of realization in the Vajrayāna tradition of Buddhism from the tāntric tradition in Assam, Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. It was compiled between the 8th and 12th centuries in late Apabhra ...

''. Simmer-Brown (2001: p. 57) when conveying the ambiguity of ḍākinīs in their "worldly" and "wisdom" guises conveys a detailed narrative that provides the origin of Lawapa's name:

Nomenclature, orthography and etymology

Alternate English orthographies are Lwabapa, Lawapa and Lvapa. Simmer-Brown, Judith (2001). ''Dakini's Warm Breath: the Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism''. Boston, USA: Shambhala. (alk. paper): p. 57; p. 311 An alternate English nomenclature for Lawapa is Kambala.

Hevajra

The Hevajra Tantra, a yoginī

tantra Tantra (; ) is an esoteric yogic tradition that developed on the India, Indian subcontinent beginning in the middle of the 1st millennium CE, first within Shaivism and later in Buddhism. The term ''tantra'', in the Greater India, Indian tr ...

of the ''

anuttarayogatantra Classes of Tantra in Tibetan Buddhism refers to the categorization of Buddhist tantric scriptures in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism inherited numerous tantras and forms of tantric practice from medieval Indian Buddhist Tantra. There wer ...

'' class, is held to have originated between the late eighth century C.E. (Snellgrove), and the "late ninth or early tenth century" (Davidson), in Eastern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, possibly

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

Tāranātha Tāranātha (1575–1634) was a Lama of the Jonang school of Tibetan Buddhism. He is widely considered its most remarkable scholar and exponent. Taranatha was born in Tibet, supposedly on the birthday of Padmasambhava. His original name was Ku ...

lists Saroruha and Kampala (also known as "Lva-va-pā, "Kambhalī", and "Śrī-prabhada") as its "bringers":

... the foremost yogi Virūpā meditated on the path of Yamāri and attained siddhi under the blessings of Vajravārāhi,...His disciple Dombi Heruka...understood the essence of the Hevajra Tantra, and composed many śāstras like the ''Nairātmā-devi-sādhana'' and the ''Sahaja-siddhi''. He also conferred abhiṣeka on his own disciples. After this, two ācāryas Lva-va-pā and Saroruha brought the Hevajra Tantra. ... Siddha Sarouha was the first to bring the ''Hevajra-pitṛ-sādhana.''Chattopadhyana, Debiprasad (ed.) (1970). ''Taranatha's History of Buddhism in India''. Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Simla. p.245-246

Principal teachers

The Tibetan Buddhism Resource Center (2006) identifies three principal teachers of Lawapa: * Anangavajra (Sanskrit; Tibetan: ''yan lag med pa'i rdo rje'') * (Tibetan: ''Deng ki pa'') * Vajravarahi ( Yeshe Tshogyal) (Sanskrit; Tibetan: ''rdo rje phag mo'').The Tibetan Buddhism Resource Center (2006). ''kambha la pa.'' Source

(accessed: January 30, 2008)

Principal students

The Tibetan Buddhism Resource Center (2006) identifies two principal students of Lawapa: * (Tibetan: ''nag po spyod pa'') * (Tibetan: ''indra bhu ti'').

Nomenclature, orthography and etymology

Hevajra

Principal teachers

Principal students

See also

Notes

Further reading