བྱང་ཆབ་ལམ་གྱ་སྒྲན་མ p5

p5

Atiśa’s most important teacher is referred to in Tibetan texts as Serlingpa (“The One from the Golden Island, Suvarṇadvīpa”), the Indonesian teacher also known as Suvarṇadvīpa Dharmakīrti. Atiśa heard tell of this great master of bodhicitta and resolved to undertake the perilous ocean journey to meet him and receive his teachings. He spent many tumultuous months at sea, rife with danger and obstacles, before he finally crossed the Strait of Malacca and arrived at the island of Sumatra where he met the sublime master. Atiśa remained on the island for twelve years, training intensively in bodhicitta and mind training (blo sbyong). He then returned to India as a lineage holder of Serlingpa’s precious teachings and later served as the abbot the great monastic university Vikramaśīla. In Tibet, he declared that of his forty-five teachers, Serlingpa was the most important; his numerous biographies report that the mere mention of Serlingpa’s name caused Atiśa’s eyes to brim with tears.