Within the Nyingma tradition, Padmasambhava, or Guru Rinpoche, stands as the central founding figure and root guru, often revered as a “second Buddha.” He is regarded as the ultimate source of the school’s teachings and transmissions, the one through whom the authority of Nyingma practices is traced. His arrival in Tibet, in collaboration with figures such as King Trisong Detsen, is remembered as the decisive moment when Buddhism, and especially its tantric dimension, took firm root. In this sense, he is not merely a historical teacher but the archetypal master whose presence defines the lineage itself.

As a tantric master, Padmasambhava is credited with introducing and establishing the Vajrayāna practices that form the heart of Nyingma, including the profound Dzogchen or Great Perfection teachings. Many of the inner tantric systems and specific sādhanas are held to descend from his transmissions, making him the principal Vajrayāna and Dzogchen lineage holder for the school. The various manifestations associated with him are understood as expressions of enlightened activity—pacifying, enriching, magnetizing, and wrathful—offering practitioners a template for how awakened compassion can appear in different circumstances. Through these forms, he functions as both exemplar and living focus of meditative and ritual practice.

Padmasambhava is also revered as the great treasure concealer, the one who hid terma—spiritual treasures in the form of texts, objects, and subtle instructions—throughout the landscape and within the minds of disciples. These treasures, later revealed by tertöns, constitute a major scriptural and ritual foundation for Nyingma, renewing the tradition in successive eras while still pointing back to him as their source. In this way, his activity is seen as extending beyond a single lifetime, continually re-emerging to guide beings when conditions are ripe.

Finally, he is invoked as a powerful spiritual protector who subdues obstructing forces and safeguards the Dharma and its practitioners. Nyingma liturgies frequently place him at the center of devotion, supplication, and refuge, reflecting the conviction that his enlightened mind remains accessible and responsive. As the embodiment of wisdom, compassion, and miraculous capability, Padmasambhava serves simultaneously as founder, guru, protector, and ever-present wellspring of the Nyingma lineage.