According to the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, Samantabhadra is the supreme embodiment of buddhahood. Samantabhadra transmitted the Dzogchen teachings in the three heavenly realms of Akanishtha, Tushita, and the Realm of the 33 Gods. About 50 years after Buddha Shakyamuni’s mahaparinirvana, the sambhogakaya buddha Vajrasattva — who is inseparable from Buddha Shakyamuni — transmitted the 6,400,000 tantras of the Great Completion to the first human guru of the Vajrayana, the Awareness-Holder Garab Dorje.
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Garab Dorje transmitted the combined essence of the words, meanings, and esoteric instructions of Dzogchen to the great pandita Master Manjushrimitra, who in turn passed the teachings in one single lineage to his principle disciple Shri Singha. From Shri Singha the Dzogchen teachings passed to Jhanasutra, Guru Padmasambhava, and Vimalamitra — who was the principle teacher of the 500 great panditas of India at that time — and later to Vairochana.
