Śāntirakṣita

Indian teacher

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History

Śāntirakṣita (flourished 8th century) was an Indian Buddhist teacher and saint who was instrumental in the development of Tibetan Buddhism.

Invited to Tibet by King Thī-srong-detsan (ruled 740–786), Śāntirakṣita was forced to flee to Nepal after adherents of the nativistic Bon religion blamed him for the outbreak of an epidemic. After his return to Tibet, according to late 14th-century accounts, he urged the King to invite the Indian Buddhist teacher Padmasambhava to help him.

Śāntirakṣita became the first abbot of the monastery at Samye (Bsam-yas), which he headed for 13 years and where he and Padmasambhava taught the doctrines of the Buddhist Yogācāra sect and Tantric philosophy. He ordained the first seven Tibetan Buddhist monks and is credited with incorporating several elements of Bon, including its pantheon, into the lowest level of Tantric Buddhism and with instituting symbolic worship to take the place of Bon animal sacrifices.