The Seven Instruction Lineages

Book excerpt: In the present work, Taranatha paints a miraculous picture of the great Siddhas of India their lives and the lineages which sprang from their teachings. In all, the lives of some 59 Siddhas are related some well known, others more obscure, but all linked by their various lineages and by the instructions handed down from Siddha to disciple. Taranatha’s account of these remarkable lives is especially valuable as he had as his gurus, and as the sources of these accounts, three Indians from the very traditions about which he wrote with such conviction. The lineage accounts are very important for a clear understanding of the Tantric upadesas themselves. In several places Taranatha makes quite sure that his own lineage is irrefutably established so that there is no doubt that he is a participator in the upadesas themselves, not merely a hander down of legends. The accounts were evidently passed on and, due to the special factors involved in the tantric oral tradition, we cannot but understand them as being accurate and reliable.