Naropa

Samding Dorje Phagmo Nāropā (Prakrit; Sanskrit: Nāropāda,[1] Naḍapāda[2] or Abhayakirti[3]) [4] was an Indian Buddhist Mahasiddha.

Newman observes: "As a rule we must be very sceptical of the miraculously precise dates late Tibetan sources provide for events that occurred hundreds of years earlier in India.

If we follow the Indian tradition, Nāropāda wrote major works on the Kālacakra tantra, something barely noted in the Tibetan hagiographies.

[17] From an early age, Naropa showed an independent streak, hoping to follow a career of study and meditation, but succumbing to his parents' wishes, he agreed to an arranged marriage with a young Brahmin girl.

He eventually gained the title "Guardian of the Northern Gate", engaged in many debates and taught and won many students.

According to his Tibetan namtar, or spiritual biography, one day, while he was studying, a dakini appeared to Naropa and asked if he understood the words of the Dharma, the Buddha's teachings.

At this point the dakini burst into tears, stating that he was a great scholar, but also a liar, as the only one who understood the teachings was her brother, Tilopa.

While studying and meditating with Tilopa, Naropa had to undergo a further twelve major hardships, and training to overcome all the obstacles on his path, culminating in his full realisation of mahāmudrā.

At the bank of the Bagmati river, in the precinct of the Pashupatinath Temple, there is the cave where he was initiated by Tilopa and attained Siddhi.

[18] One of the few reliable historical accounts of him comes from a Tibetan translator named Ngatso Lotsawa, who made an effort to visit Naropa at the monastery of Phullahari while waiting to visit with Atiśa at Vikramashila: Because I went alone as an insignificant monk to see the Lord Atisha —— and because he tarried for a year in Magadha – I thought I would go see the Lord Naropa since his reputation was so great.

I looked and the Lord was physically quite corpulent, with his white hair [stained with henna] bright red, and a vermilion turban on.

He is also remembered as part of the "Golden Garland", meaning he is a lineage holder of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism and was considered an accomplished scholar.

Many subsequent Karmapas have been particularly adept at one or more of these practices, which in Vajrayana tradition are held to have been given by the Buddha and were passed on through an unbroken lineage via Tilopa to Naropa, Marpa and Milarepa and on to the present day.