
Traditional attribution · Essential works
The Copper Island (Zangling ma): Life of Padmasambhava
པདམ་བཀའ་ཐང་ཟངས་གླིང་མ། (padma bka' thang zangs gling ma)

The first complete biography of Padmasambhava, in prose, narrating his birth from a lotus, arrival in Tibet, the founding of Samye, the initiation of the twenty-five disciples and his departure. It is the source of nearly all later versions of the legend and evidence of how the figure was constructed in the twelfth century. Its colophons attribute the writing to Yeshe Tsogyal.
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Authorship note
A 'treasure' text (gter ma): Nyingma tradition holds that Padmasambhava taught it in the eighth century, that Yeshe Tsogyal wrote it down in code and that it was hidden to be revealed centuries later by a discoverer (gter ston). For historical criticism it is a composition from the revealer's period. Revealed by Nyangral Nyima Özer (1124–1192); critically studied by Lewis Doney (2014).
Editions and translations
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English
Padmasambhava
The Zangs gling ma: The First Padma bKa' thang Revelation
The Conscious LibraryThe Zangs gling ma: The First Padma bKa' thang Revelation
International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, 2014
Translation: Lewis Doney
Edición crítica y estudio.

The Lotus-Born: The Life Story of Padmasambhava
Shambhala, 1993
Translation: Erik Pema Kunsang
ISBN 9780877738695
Reed. Rangjung Yeshe Publications 2004: 9789627341550.
Other works by Padmasambhava
- The Great Liberation by Hearing in the Intermediate State (Bardo Thödol, 'Tibetan Book of the Dead') · 1350
- The Chronicle of Padma (Padma Kathang) · 1352
- Garland of Views: An Essential Instruction · 800
- The Self-Liberation of the Intention of the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities (Karma Lingpa's cycle) · 1350
- Self-Liberation through Seeing with Naked Awareness · 1350
- Dakini Teachings: Padmasambhava's Advice to Yeshe Tsogyal · 1150
- Advice from the Lotus-Born (Zhal gdams)
- The Gradual Path of the Wisdom Essence (Lamrim Yeshe Nyingpo) · 1856
- The Prayer in Seven Chapters (Le'u Dünma) · 1350
- The Seven-Line Prayer
- The Fivefold Chronicles (Kathang Denga) · 1350
- Gathering of the Sugatas of the Eight Commands (Kagye Deshek Düpa) · 1150
- The Great Treasury of Precious Termas (Rinchen Terdzö) · 1880
Sources
- Doney, Lewis. The Zangs gling ma: The First Padma bKa' thang Revelation. Andiast: International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, 2014.
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