Tapihritsa

Tapihritsa or Tapahritsa (c 7th ~ 8th century) was a Bon practitioner who achieved the Dzogchen mastery of the rainbow body and consequently, as a fully realised trikaya Buddha, is invoked as an iṣṭadevatā by Dzogchen practitioners in both Bon and Tibetan Buddhism. He is known for his achievement of the rainbow body.

The historical Tapihritsa was born in Zhangzhung to a family of nomad. Tapihritsa's principal teacher was Dawa Gyaltsen.

Tapihritsa was contemporaneous with Ligmincha, King of Zhangzhung, and Trisong Detsen, Emperor of Tibet.

Iconography Tapihritsa is typically depicted as a naked and unadorned white figure, with his pure body transparent as a crystal, symbolizing the pure and primordial state of awareness and often visualized as representing the realization of all the masters of the Zhangzhung Whispered Transmission lineage, one of the three Bon Dzogchen lineages.

Works

Tapihritsa's primary notable work is The Twenty-One Nails (rdzogs pa chen po zhang zhung snyan rgyud las gzer bu gnyis shu rtsa gcig). There are two translations of this text and commentary into English, as follows:

A translation of Tapihritsa's The Twenty-One Nails.