The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (285 page)

 
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Ati
a
(also At
a and D
pa
kara
r
jñ
na
;

c.
982–1054).
Indian teacher who strongly influenced the development of Buddhism during its ‘second diffusion’ in Tibet. As one of the most revered teachers in India, Ati
a left to enter Tibet in 1042 at the invitation of King Byang.chub.’od, and stayed until his death.
On arrival in Tibet, Ati
a found that Buddhism was only beginning to reassert itself there following the earlier persecution by King Langdarma, and that the monks lacked guidance on interpretation of the ‘old’
tantras
such as Ati
a found at Samye, and the ‘new’ tantras being freshly introduced by the great traveller-translators such as Rinchen Zangpo. Ati
a's main task was to correct their superficial interpretations. Ati
a accomplished this essentially by emphasizing monastic discipline, the grounding of
Tantrism
in the philosophy and ethics of the
s
tras
, and the need for a pupil to devote himself to a single teacher. Ati
a is credited with the introduction into Tibet of the worship of
T
r
, and of the popular system of meditation and philosophy known as Lojong (
blo.sbyong
, ‘mind training’), which involves such meditations as the consideration of all beings as having been one's mother in a previous existence. Of more than 200 works ascribed to Ati
a, his most famous is
Bodhipathaprad
pa
(A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment), elucidating the correct development of the
bodhisattva
.