One teacher, two epic voyages — to Sumatra, then over the Himalayas

Before he ever went to Tibet, the Indian master Atiśa is traditionally said to have sailed to Suvarṇadvīpa (Sumatra) and studied there for about twelve years under the teacher known as Serlingpa. Decades later, in 1042 CE, he crossed the Himalayas into Tibet at roughly the age of sixty; he never returned to India, dying at Nyethang near Lhasa in 1054.

One of many fact-checked wonders across eight traditions at The Spring of Wisdom.