Eight Changes of Guru Rinpoche | One article to understand the life of Guru Rinpoche

As the main founder of Tibetan Buddhism, Guru Rinpoche is not only one of the greatest Mahasiddhas in the history of Buddhism, but also known as the "Second Buddha". , Guru Rinpoche was born in eight different forms in order to purify all sentient beings.

The eight incarnations are Sea-born Vajra, Padmasambhava, Aihui Guru, Lion Roar, Shakyamuni, Sun Guru, Wrathful Vajra, and Pema Sambava. Each incarnation represents the story of a different time and place in the Padmasambhava's life.

Wujinguo (now northwest of India) After years of drought and famine, King Indra Bodhi could only pray to the Buddha in addition to giving. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva could not bear all living beings to starve to death, so he begged Amitabha Buddha to solicit all living beings in this country. So Amitabha projected the word "she" in his heart onto the lotus flower of Dana Guo Xiahai in Wujin Kingdom, and an eight-year-old boy was born in the lotus core.

King Indra Bodhi happened to pass by this place. The king asked him where he came from? The child replied, "I am the incarnation of Amitabha Buddha and Guanyin Bodhisattva. My mission is to purify all sentient beings and promote the teachings of the Vajrayana." After listening to the king, his eyesight was completely restored, and he invited the boy to the palace as a Prince, and gave the name "Sea Born King Kong".

When the prince grew up and showed extraordinary talents, King Indra Bodhi put him in charge of state affairs. The prince who ruled the Kingdom of Wujin wore a king's attire, a turban, a crown and a bead chain. He held a double-sided skull drum in his right hand and a precious mirror in his left. He was sitting in the king's posture. During his 13 years in politics,Guru Rinpoche felt that the world was full of falsehood and troubles. In order to escape from this life, he asked his father to resign, but was not allowed.

The Lotus King knew that the current important minister was a traitor and invited his son to play with him. The Lotus King took advantage of his unpreparedness and killed him with his three-pronged staff. Because Wujin Kingdom is a country with the rule of law, the emperor violated the law and the common people were guilty of the same crime, so the Lotus King was exiled.

After being exiled, Padmasambhava started to study Buddhism. He decided to study in Bangladesh . He practiced all the yoga tantras in front of the Barbahattan Master, but the master said that if you want to become ordained, you have to ask another expert. After finishing his studies, Padmasambhava went to find Venerable Ananda to seek Dharma according to the instructions of his guru.

And Venerable Ananda has already transformed into an ordinary person and lived in the Ashura Cave outside the city of Raja Sherpa, waiting for the arrival of the Lotus King. After all the hardships and dangers, the Lotus King finally found the Venerable Ananda and accepted the ordination. Then the sky showed all kinds of auspiciousness, and in the mysterious realm, the great Venerable Kasyapa personally shaved the lotus king, and the goddess of the earth offered cassocks to him. At this time, the Buddhas of the ten directions also appeared as the blessing of the Lotus King, and gave them the Dharma name "Shakyamuni Lion".

According to legend, after Master Padmasambhava practiced with the Venerable Ananda for decades, Guru Rinpoche set off for Baida, where there is a very large cold forest (cold forest is in Sanskrit The transliteration of the corpse forest, the ancient Western Regions designated a forest as a cemetery, and the corpses were transported here and discarded.Because this kind of forest is dark and gloomy, it is creepy to walk in, so it is called cold forest) , there are skeletons and rotting corpses everywhere, which is extremely eerie. At this time he appears in the form of a yogi or a Mahasiddha. During this practice, Guru Rinpoche showed various gods in the sun

Guru Rinpoche learned about Dzogchen in the presence of many masters such as Siri Sankha, Sangye Sangva, etc. Many esoteric dharmas. Later, Guru Rinpoche listened to the tantras such as "The Eighteen Tantras of Raising Mahayoga" from Vajrasattva .

Guru Rinpoche, as the master of learning, shines wherever he is. As long as it is any Buddhist scriptures he has studied or heard, he can understand it like the back of the hand and understand it without hindrance, so he is also called Luodan Quezhe, which means "scholar", and the transliteration is Aihui.

Guru Rinpoche defeated 500 sectarians and followers in a Buddhist debate in Bodh Gaya ( present-day southern Bihar, India) . When the outsiders tried to subdue him with spells, he relied on the power of the Lion-faced Dakini mantra to cover up the outsider spells. As the outsiders were suppressed, Guru Rinpoche persuaded the outsiders to submit and convert to Buddhism. At this time he was called "Senhanada", which means " lion's roar ".

▲ Guru Rinpoche

Another way of saying that Guru Rinpoche lived in the cold forest after being exiled, preached the Dharma to the Dakinis. Because of the loud voice, even evil spirits can hear the Dharma,Hence the name "Lion's Roar".

Guru Rinpoche subdued the son of a traitor, and the king exiled him to the corpse forest. In different shrine forests, he preached all kinds of special teachings for the destined people and the non-human beings. For those ghosts and gods who have wrong knowledge and wrong views of Buddhism, they all subdue in the image of wrathful vajra, so they are called "wrathful vajra".

Guru Rinpoche showed all sorts of miraculous changes in the kingdom of Saho. The king refused to acknowledge his achievements and ordered people to pile up firewood and burn him. As a result, the fire turned into a lake, and the firewood turned into a lotus flower. Guru Rinpoche sat on the lotus flower with a bone garland around his neck for solemnity. He was not damaged in the slightest, so he was also called "Pema Sambava".