Nāgabodhi

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नागबोधि

Nāgabodhi

ཀླུའི་བྱང་ཆུབ་

Buddhist Digital Resource Center

Nāgārjuna was living in his hermitage when a thief approached, intending to rob him. Reading his mind, he threw a golden plate out his door. The thief became his disciple, receiving the Guhyasamāja initiation and instructions on how to overcome his greed by visualizing the things that he desired as horns on his head. Placing a pile of jewels in the corner, Nāgārjuna told him that jewels have no inherent value and to

meditate on the clear light. The thief, named Nāgabodhi, was so successful in his meditation that horns grew from his head; they were so large that he bumped into things wherever he went. Nāgārjuna taught him that everything is empty of intrinsic nature and that believing that they are not is a cause of suffering. After six years of meditation, Nāgabodhi understood the inseparability of samsara and nirvana and attained the eight siddhis. Nāgārjuna told him to remain in the world for two thousand years working for the benefit of sentient beings. (Source: Lopez Jr., Donald S. Seeing the Sacred in Samsara: An Illustrated Guide to the Eighty-Four Mahāsiddhas. Boulder: Shambhala Publications, 2019: 195.)