Maitripada


Maitrīpadā, was a prominent Indian Buddhist Mahasiddha associated with the Mahāmudrā transmission. His teachers were Shavaripa and Naropa. His students include Atisha, Marpa, Vajrapani, Karopa, Natekara, Devākaracandra, and Rāmapāla. His hermitage was Mithilā, somewhere in northern Bihar and neighboring parts of southern Nepal. He was influential as the major source of the teachings of mahamudra for Tibetan Buddhism.
He is the namesake of Maitripa College.

Works

Maitrīpāda composed commentaries on the buddhist dohas of Saraha. His most important works are a collection of 26 texts on "non-conceptual realization", which are a key Indian source of mahāmudrā in the Tibetan tradition. These works teach a synthesis of Buddhist Mahayana teachings on emptiness and 'non-abiding', and Buddhist tantric practices, and they also teach an "instantaneous" path to awakening.
Maitrīpāda's Amanasikara cycle of 26 texts is composed of the following: