Lest we forget:
Atiśa
Lubna Marium August 13, 2016 The Daily Star
‘Dharma is the lamp (which guides us
through)
The darkness of ignorance,
And it is the ship in which one
Crosses the ocean of existence.'
(Dipankara Srijnana, Charya-giti, verse 24)
The above lyrics, from medieval Bengal, is an example of the
earliest 'kirtan', or musical accolade, which began the practice of
presenting philosophical notions through music, and is continued
till date by our Bauls. Written by 'Atiśa', meaning
'preeminent', which is the honorific title of the great Buddhist
saint, Dipankara Srijnana, of 10th century Bengal, this song is
part of a bulk of Buddhist literature, known as 'charya-giti'.
Atiśa himself states in 'Carya-giti-vritti', 'Pure philosophy
(samyak siddhanta) is explained here in a two-fold way. It is
a 'vajra-giti' in form and in it is primarily shown 'nirodha-satya'
(the cessation of suffering)'.
Preserving
history, specially the history of thought and philosophy, is a
vital task, as it is through this account of the past that a nation
understands it's present identity and is able to preserve it
responsibly. Today, it has become imperative for Bangladesh
to look back and comprehend the many facets of history that has
made us who we are. I would like to begin this sojourn, into
history, with an account of, probably one of the most influential
sons of this soil, Buddhist Mahasiddha Atiśa Dipankara Srijnana,
from 10th century Bengal, whose indelible message of compassion
still resounds all over the world.
From the
abounding hagiographies of Atiśa we learn that he was born into an
affluent Hindu household in Vikrampura (present Bangladesh) and
named Chandragarbha. However, following the footsteps of his
spiritual mentor, the 'Enlightened' Gautama Buddha, he abandoned
hearth and home to become an ascetic and begin a quest for
knowledge that led him to far away shores. Having reached the
pinnacle of scholarship and enlightenment, Atiśa's fame spread so
far and wide, that a learned Tibetan king invited him to spread the
word of Sakyamuni in the 'Land of Snow'.
On his way
to Tibet, Atiśa, spent a year in the Kathmandu Valley. Much
of this detailed information is based on the 'Itinerary of Atisha's
Travels', authored by Dromton, the chief disciple of the Buddhist
master Atiśa and the initiator of the Kadampa school of Tibetan
Buddhism. From this we learn about Atiśa's role in the
foundation of the Bikramshila Vihar of Tam Bahil in what is now the
quarter of Kathmandu town known as Thamel. It is at this time
that Atiśa composed the 'Charyasamgrahapradipa' that contains some
kirtan verses.
Although
Buddhism had been introduced into Tibet some two hundred years
earlier by Padmasambhava and Shantarakshita, Buddhist practice in
the country had largely been destroyed during the anti-Buddhist
purges of the Tibetan king, Lang Darma (circa 836 AD), a follower
of Bön, the pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet.
Invited in
1042 by Jangchub Ö, a ruler of Ngari in western Tibet, Atiśa was
asked to present a Dharma that everybody could follow and that
would show how all the paths of Sutra and Tantra could be practiced
together.At Ngari, he was very impressed with the king's request
for "a teaching of the people. Had he been asked for advanced
empowerments into tantric deity systems, Atiśa would have been far
less pleased".In response, Atiśawrote 'Bodhi-patha-pradipa' or
'Lamp for the Path', the original Lamrintext that served as the
basis for the revival of pure Buddhist practice in
Tibet.
Lamrim is a
special set of instructions that includes all the essential
teachings of Buddha arranged in such a way that all his Hinayana
and Mahayana teachings can be put into practice in a single
meditation session. The stages of the path to enlightenment, or
Lamrim in Tibetan, is the backbone of Kadampa Buddhism, which
inspires all to be compassionate towards fellow humans.'I shall
take no delight in attaining enlightenment
By a speedy
means for my own self,
But shall
remain until the end of the future,
If it be a
cause for (helping) one limited being.'
(Dipankara
Srijnana, Bodhi-patha-pradipa, verse 29)
Atiśa chose
to live the last nine years of his life at the Buddhist Monastery
of Nyethang, near Lhasa, nested between ethereal and verdant hills
besides the Lhasa River, under an azure sky - almost a bit of
heaven on earth. In Tibet it is, endearingly, said that the
Master chose this place because of its proximity to River Lhasa,
which reminded him of the land of his birth.