Dharmarakshita

Dharmarakshita (c. 9th or 10th century AD) was an Indian Buddhist teacher to whom the authorship of The Wheel of Sharp Weapons (Theg-pa chen-po’i blo-sbyong mtshon-cha ’khor-lo) is ascribed. He is said to have transmitted this precursor to the mind-training genre of texts orally to his student, Atisha. Subsequently, Atisha’s lineage of students taught it widely in Tibet.

Dharmarakshita liked solitude and spent much of his life staying in retreat in wild jungles populated with various fierce animals, yet he would always remain unharmed due to his bodhichitta. It is said that the extent of his compassion was so great that he once cut off a chunk of flesh from his own leg to give as medicine to a sick man, who was cured when he ate it. Thus, Dharmarakshita, who personally favored the Vaibhashika view, is regarded as one of Atisha’s three main teachers of bodhichitta.