Maitripa (Advayavajra)

Maitripa (मैत्रीप), also known as Advayavajra and Maitrigupta (c. 1007–1085), was an Indian Buddhist master counted among the 84 mahasiddhas and one of the principal architects of the Mahamudra tradition. He is remembered for the doctrine of amanasikara — “non-attention” or non-conceptualization — and as a teacher of Marpa the Translator.

Life and Legend

Traditional accounts relate that Maitripa was born in southern India into a Brahmin family and studied at Vikramashila monastery under the abbot Naropa. Questioning the necessity of tantric ritual while debating non-Buddhists — accounts say he declared ritual optional and, in some versions, drank wine or struck ritual texts — he was expelled from Vikramashila. He then wandered to southern India, where he studied under the siddha Shavaripa and other yogis, and attained realization. At the request of his former abbot, he later composed treatises reconciling sutra and tantra. Unlike most of the 84 siddhas, Maitripa is a well-attested historical figure: he authored some twenty works under the name Advayavajra, and his dates and career are corroborated by Tibetan biographies.

Teachings

• Amanasikara — non-conceptual resting of the mind, in which reality is realized free from mental fabrication.
• Mahamudra synthesis — uniting the sutra-level and mantra-level Mahamudra paths.
• Scripture and direct experience — authority of realization over ritual formalism.

Legacy

Through Marpa and the Kagyu lineage, Maitripa’s Mahamudra transmission profoundly shaped Tibetan Buddhism.

Verification notes

• Dates c. 1007–1085 follow scholarly reconstructions from Tibetan sources.
• Substantial authentic corpus survives in Sanskrit and Tibetan.
• Audited against Wikipedia (September 2026).