The Tree of Enlightenment

throughout India. Nagarjuna and Asanga played a major role
in its growth at the outset; later, the Vajrayana tradition was
greatly influenced by the eighty-four Mahasiddhas. You may be
surprised to find the names of Nagarjuna and Asanga occurring
in this context, but the Vajrayana tradition is unanimous in calling
them its founders. We will understand why this is true from
the conceptual point of view when we examine the philosophical
and religious background of the Vajrayana in Chapter 23.
For now, let us look at the traditional biographies of Nagarjuna
and Asanga, which will help us understand the environment in
which the Vajrayana originated and developed.
According to the traditional Tibetan biographies of Nagarjuna,
it was predicted that he would not survive beyond the age of
seven. e biographies tell us that, when the boy’s seventh birthday
drew near, his parents, unwilling to watch him die, sent him
away with companions and provisions on an extended journey.
e accounts say that Nagarjuna proceeded north and eventually
reached Nalanda University. ere Nagarjuna met an adept professor
by the name of Saraha. When Saraha heard of Nagarjuna’s
predicted early demise, he counseled him to recite the mantra of
Aparamitayus, the Buddha of Limitless Life. After reciting the
mantra throughout the night of his seventh birthday, Nagarjuna
escaped the death that had been predicted for him.
Whether or not we want to credit this account as history, we
can learn something rather important about the climate in which
it was accepted as biography – namely, that it was one in which
mantras were believed to have the power to influence reality.
In the biographies of Nagarjuna we also learn that, during
a famine, he sustained his colleagues in the monastery by
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