2601:5C2:1:7800:B96A:90AD:5D29:FAC7 at 22:00, 18 April 2022

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{{Infobox religious biography
|name = Maitripada
|native_name = Maitrīgupta
|native_name_lang =
|image = Maitripa.JPG
|caption =
|alias =
|dharma name =
|birth_date = {{circa|1007 CE}}
|birth_place = Jhatakarani, [[Magadha]] (modern-day India) <br />
|death_date = {{circa|1085 CE}}
|death_place =
|nationality =
|religion = [[Buddhism]]
|school = [[Vajrayana]]
|lineage =
|title =
|location =
|education =
|teacher =
|reincarnation of =
|predecessor =
|successor =
|students =
|spouse =
|children =
}}

{{Buddhism}}

'''Maitrīpāda''' ({{Circa|}} 1007–1085, also known as '''Maitreyanātha''', '''Advayavajra''', and, to Tibetans, '''Maitrīpa'''), was a prominent [[India]]n [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] [[Mahasiddha]] associated with the [[Mahāmudrā]] transmission of [[Vajrayana|tantric Buddhism]].<ref name=":0">Roberts, Peter Alan, Mahamudra and Related Instructions: Core Teachings of the Kagyu Schools (Library of Tibetan Classics) 2011, p. 11-12.</ref> His teachers were [[Shavaripa]] and [[Naropa]].<ref name=":0" /> His students include [[Atiśa|Atisha]], [[Marpa Lotsawa|Marpa]], Vajrapani, Karopa, Natekara (also known as Sahajavajra), Devākaracandra (also known as Śūnyatāsamādhi), and Rāmapāla.<ref name=":0" /> His hermitage was in the [[Mithila (region)|Mithila]] region (also known as Tirhut), somewhere in northern [[Bihar]] and neighboring parts of southern Nepal.<ref>{{cite book|title=Mahamudra and Related Instructions: Core Teachings of the Kagyu Schools|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xzGyzKTZdU4C|date=17 May 2011|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-86171-444-5}}</ref>

==Early life==
As per Tibetan and Nepalese sources, Maitripada was born into a [[Brahmin]] family in [[Magadha]] in a village near [[Kapilavastu (ancient city)|Kapilavastu]] during the rule of the [[Pala empire]]. His year of birth has been commonly placed 1007 C.E. as per the writings of [[Taranatha]] who places him around the rule of King [[Mahipala]].<ref name=tatz87>{{cite journal |last1=Tatz |first1=Mark |title=The Life of the Siddha-Philosopher Maitrīgupta |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=107 |pages=695–711 |jstor=603308}}</ref>
Prior to becoming a Buddhist, he was educated in [[Pāṇini|Pāṇinian grammar]] and Hindu treatises for 7 years.

After his education, he encountered the Buddhist siddha [[Naropa]] who engaged him in a debate. Maitripada lost the debate and subsequently converted to Buddhism and was ordained as a monk at the monasteries of [[Nalanda]] and [[Vikramashila]] in modern-day [[Bihar]].
During his stay at these monasteries he was taught by eminent masters such as [[Ratnākaraśānti]].<ref name=tatz87 />

===Time at Nalanda and Vikramashila===
Maitripada had his initial monastic ordination at Nalanda following which he dwelt in Vikramashila where he stayed for four years. While he was noted as an excellent monk, he was also said to be practicing [[tantra]] in secret. This was followed by a dispute with his guru, Ratnākaraśānti.<ref name=tatz87 /> Nepalese sources detail that following this dispute, the bodhisattva, [[Avalokiteśvara]] appeared in Maitripada's dreams and urged him to renounce the monastic life. Supposedly, he was expelled from the monastery after the abbot, [[Atiśa]], discovered liquor in his dorms.

===Travels in South India===
Following this, he travelled for four months to South India via boat where he became a disciple of [[Shavaripa]] from who he received various tantric instructions. During the latter part of his life, he returned to North India where he composed numerous treaties which are now preserved in the [[Tibetan Buddhist]] canon.<ref name=Buswell2014>{{cite book |last1=Buswell |first1=Robert |last2=Lopez |first2=Donald |title=The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism |date=2014 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=9780691157863 |pages=519 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Princeton_Dictionary_of_Buddhism/EGmYDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0}}</ref>

==Works==
Maitrīpāda composed commentaries on the Buddhist ''dohas'' of Saraha. His most important works are a collection of 26 texts on "non-conceptual realization" (''amanasikara''), 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' (''apratisthana''), and Buddhist tantric practices, and they also teach an "instantaneous" path to awakening.<ref>Mathes, Klaus-Dieter, A Fine Blend of Mahamudra and Madhyamaka: Maitripa's Collection of Texts on Non-Conceptual Realization (Amanasikara), (Sitzungsberichte Der Philosophisch-Historischen Klasse), 2016, p. 1.</ref><ref>Ulrich Timme Kragh, Tibetan yoga and mysticism : a textual study of the yogas of Nāropa and Mahāmudrā meditation in the medieval tradition of Dags po 2015, p. 72-73</ref>

Maitrīpāda's ''Amanasikara'' cycle of 26 texts is composed of the following:<ref>Mathes, Klaus-Dieter, A Fine Blend of Mahamudra and Madhyamaka: Maitripa's Collection of Texts on Non-Conceptual Realization (Amanasikara), (Sitzungsberichte Der Philosophisch-Historischen Klasse), 2016, p. 5.</ref>
* ''Kudrstinirghatana''
*''Kudrstinirghatavakyatippinika''
*''Mulapattayah''
*''Sthulapattayah''
*''Tattvaratnavali''
*''Pañcatathagatamudravivarana''
*''Sekanirdesa''
*''Caturmudranvaya''
*''Sekatatparyasamgraha''
*''Vajrasattva-Pañcakara''
*''Mayanirukti''
*''Svapnanirukti''
*''Tattvaprakasa''
*''Apratisthanaprakasa''
*''Yuganaddhaprakasa''
*''Mahasukhaprakasa''
*''Tattvavimsika''
*''Mahayanavimsika''
*Nirvedhapañcaka''
*''Madhyamasatka''
*''Premapañcaka''
*''Tattvadasaka''
*''Amanasikaradhara''
*''Sahajasatka''
*''Dohanidhinamatattvopadesa''
*''Shes pa spro bsdu med par 'jog pa 'i man ngag gsang ba dam pa''

==See also==
*[[Marpa Lotsawa|Marpa]]
*[[Naropa]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Notes==

*"The Life of the Siddha-Philosopher Maitrīgupta" by Mark Tatz'' Journal of the American Oriental Society'' Vol. 107, No. 4, 1987, Oct. - Dec. pgs 695-711

== External links ==

* [https://www.shambhala.com/maitripa.html ''Maitripa: India’s Yogi of Nondual Bliss'' by Klaus-Dieter Mathes]
{{Buddhism topics}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Maitripada}}
[[Category:Mahasiddhas]]
[[Category:Buddhist yogis]]
[[Category:Indian Buddhists]]
[[Category:Indian scholars of Buddhism]]
[[Category:Monks of Nalanda]]
[[Category:Monks of Vikramashila]]
[[Category:1000s births]]
[[Category:1085 deaths]]
[[Category:11th-century Buddhist monks]]

Maitripada - Revision history

2601:5C2:1:7800:B96A:90AD:5D29:FAC7 at 22:00, 18 April 2022