08/08/2026
Padmasambhava, the 8th century Buddhist Vajrayana master, also known as the Lotus born Vajra Guru, or Guru Rinpoche, became the founder of the Nyingma tradition of Buddhism in Tibet and left a treasury of wisdom including the Tibetan Book of the Dead and my favorite, Self-Liberation through Seeing with Naked Awareness. Padmasambhava gave some of the clearest instructions for entering the primordial state of clarity and awareness, and taught mantric prayer empowered visualizations as practices to accelerate spiritual development.
I use this image as a focusing device for my morning meditations, (CoSM Vajra Guru Prayer Card) as I recite his Seven line prayer. The Guru yoga practice is meant to align your consciousness with the force of enlightenment alive in everyone, and exemplified in this extraordinary spiritual genius. Padmasambhava’s teachings are more alive today than ever before, as Dharma publications and centers of Tibetan Buddhism are growing throughout the world.
Vajra Guru, 2016