Padmasambhava

The Lotus born.
Padmasambhava was a renowned and highly learned tantric saint of Northern India ( Swat Region ). In the middle of the Eight century the Tibetan king Thi- Sron Detsan invited this learned guru to Tibet to teach Tantrism . Padmasambhava was renowned for his knowledge of Tantra and of their efficacious application. He remained fifty years in Tibet founding monasteries and teaching the doctrines of Tantra. He is said to have subdued all the malignant gods in Tibet ,sparing only those that converted to Buddhism and promised to be the defenders ( Dharmapalas ) of the doctrine.Padmasambhava in return promised to enroll them in the Mahayana Pantheon. He claimed to have received from the dakinis , the books from which he acquired his miraculous power. At the end of fifty years he disappeared miraculously from Tibet.
Padmasambhava is represented seated on a lotus asana with his legs locked up, the right hand holding the Vajra and the left hand holding a patra, lying on his lap. He holds his special symbol, the khatvanga pressed against his chest with the left arm.