Thurman, Essential Tibetan Buddhism Introduction (part) - Tibet House

ivers, and sacred springs, gods of sky and gods of earth. He thus planted the seeds
of the internal transformation of the people, starting a chain reaction of changing
individual hearts from egocentric violence and insensitivity to openness of identity,
altruism of sensibility, and peacefulness of fulfillment.
After the high point of Samye’s ascendancy during the ninth century, a period of
confusion ensued, brought about by the contradictions of a military dynasty
sponsoring a national pacfication campaign. There was a revolt within the royal
family itself. Assassinations and coups d’etat ended with the collapse of the dynasty,
the regional fragmentation of the nation, and the suppression of Buddhism as the
official culture. However, the twenty five major and numerous minor lay teachers
who had become Great Adepts under the tutelage of Padma Sambhava evaded the
suppression and preserved many of the teachings in a counter-cultural movement
that endured. These lineages of masters of inner knowledge persisted through the
next century, and a sense of the power and benefits of Buddhism, a longing for the
beauty of its vision of a higher world, was kept alive at the grass roots level. In fact,
after a little more than a century, when regional rulers returned to official patronage
of Buddhism, their efforts resonated with a groundswell of popular support that
was the flowering of the seeds planted by Padma Sambhava.
7. The Later Dissemination of Buddhism
The second major phase of the spread of Buddhism began with the advent of Atisha
Dipamkara Shrijnana (982-1054) in 1042. Atisha’s impact on Tibet was extremely
great: it was only possible, as in the case of Padma Sambhava in the early period,
because he was perceived as a superior being, as a Buddha, the proof of the
pudding, so to speak.