Following a dream Milarepa had, the great translator Marpa Lotsawa prophesied:

A chick born to the vulture
Is a sign of the appearance of an unparalleled disciple.
The whole of space filling with birds
Is a sign of the flourishing of the Kagyupa lineage.

Thus was foretold the coming of Dharma Lord Gampopa, all his disciples and his lineage.
   
During the time of Buddha Shakyamuni, Gampopa had taken birth as the bodhisattva Candraprabhakumara. In response to his request the Buddha taught the teachings on the ultimate nature of mind in the King of Samadhi Sutra. The Buddha then asked his assembled disciples which of them would vow to take birth in the future to serve as guardian of this precious wisdom, the bodhisattva Candraprabhakumara vowed to do so. The Buddha thus foretold the birth of Gampopa as the Bhikshu Physician in Tibet in the King of Samadhi and the White Lotus Sutra.
   
To Gampopa’s teacher Milarepa, Vajrayogini said he would gather many disciples like the sun, moon, and stars. Among them, Gampopa would be like the sun. Thus, Gampopa is the object of offerings and a refuge to all beings.
   
Gampopa was born in Nyal, in southern Tibet accompanied by many marvelous signs. Even as a child he was of gentle and compassionate nature, without a trace of anger, and quickly became expert at many arts and games. His father was a great scholar, practitioner and doctor. By the time Gampopa was sixteen he was an acknowledged scholar of the tantric teachings and a great physician. He became such a great healer and physician, benefiting so many beings, that it was as if the Medicine Buddha had reappeared.
   
He married when he was twenty-two and had a son and daughter. The law of impermanence somehow took both his son and daughter. Soon afterward, a serious disease tortured his wife, and she could not recover by any means. At the end, with attachment to him, she said, “There is no happiness in the householder life. After my death, Physician, practice dharma wholeheartedly.” He replied, “Whether you die or live, I promise to practice the dharma.”
  
This event gave rise to great renunciation in Gampopa, and at age twenty-five he took full ordination vows and received the name Sonam Rinchen (Precious Merit). He studied the Vinaya well and became the best of all the monks at keeping precepts. He had many teachers and received the bodhisattva vows and instructions, the practices of Chakrasamvara along with many other tantra teachings and empowerments. He eventually realized all phenomenal appearances to be as a rainbow and experienced the great non-conceptual thought where there is no differentiation between day and night. He could dwell in meditative absorption for many days and go without nourishment for five days at a time. He had little need for sleep but when he did various signs presaging liberation arose in his dreams.
   
Furthermore he studied monastic discipline as well as the perfection path and so forth. He studied the graded path of the Kadampa tradition in vast detail and became the light-beacon of that school.
    
During this time, there appeared to him in dreams and during ordinary experience a tall yogin of bluish color wearing a cotton cloth slung loosely over his shoulder and carrying a walking stick. This figure would put his hand on Gampopa’s head, then blow on it and disappear. Following this Gampopa’s meditation developed even better than before. When he mentioned this to another monk, the monk advised, “You are a bhikshu with very pure morality. The appearance of such a yogin is an obstacle created by Pekar (a Dharma protector). You had better meditate on Miyowa.” Gampopa practiced as instructed but the visiting yogin came more often.
    
Meanwhile, Milarepa, the Lord of Yogins, who attained the state of Vajradhara in one lifetime, was giving teachings to his disciples at Red Rock Cave. The senior disciples said to him, “Now you are getting old. In case you depart to another Buddhafield and need a regent, please appoint whomever you trust and give them the complete teachings. Otherwise there will be no one who can lead disciples.”
    
Milarepa said, “I am a yogin. There will be no regent for me. But there will be a disciple who can perform all my activities. Tonight I will see where he is. Come back early tomorrow morning.
    
The next morning, all his disciples gathered anxiously and Milarepa said, “Soon will come one named ‘Physician’ who became a monk in the Vinaya tradition. He will receive my complete teachings like filling one vase from another. This one can perform activities in all ten directions. Last night in my dream, he came with an empty crystal vase and I poured all the ambrosia from my silver vase into his.”
    
He continued, “A son is born and the father is old. There will be a great being to advance the dharma like the sun rising and benefit countless beings.”
    
At that time, Gampopa took a walk and came upon three beggars talking about the miraculous qualities of Milarepa. Upon hearing this, Gampopa spontaneously developed such great devotion for Milarepa that tears came to his eyes and for a long time he couldn’t even walk.
    
Later he invited the three beggars to his room and made them a nice meal. He inquired as to the whereabouts of the great yogin they had been talking about. The beggars replied that they had not seen him but that he stays in the mountains of Drin and Nyenam. They said many people go there to see him but many do not find him. He manifests in many different forms, some see a crystal stupa, while others see him as Buddha Shakyamuni.
    
Gampopa set out to find Milarepa, traveling like a man possessed, sometimes fainting from exhaustion and weakness. Eventually he reached the feet of Milarepa, made offerings of a gold mandala, prostrated and requested Milarepa to accept him as his student. Milarepa then said, “I have no need for the gold you have offered me. Gold does not agree with this old man. If you want to practice the dharma properly, observe my conduct and my practice, and do as I do.” So Milarepa returned the gold to Gampopa for provisions for his meditation and then bestowed all the blessings of the Hearing Lineage, including the Six Yogas of Naropa. He then sent Gampopa to meditate in a desolate cave where many experiences quickly arose. On one occasion Gampopa received a vision of the Five Dhyani Buddhas, on another occasion he saw the entire universe turning like a wheel. Another time he saw myriad Chenrezig forms seated on moon discs, filling all of space. On another he saw the Hell Realm of Black Lines. Each time he recounted these experiences, Milarepa told him not to cling to what appeared, saying, “It’s neither good nor bad. Go on with your meditation.”
    
He continued to follow the practices Milarepa had taught and all his obstacles were dispelled and he progressed rapidly. Eventually Milarepa transmitted to Gampopa all the precious teachings, empowerments, and pith instructions he possessed and sent him to Central Tibet to develop his practice.
     
As Gampopa was departing Milarepa called him back, saying he had one last pith instruction. Gampopa was very happy and asked, “Should I make a mandala offering?” Milarepa said, “No, there is no need, but do not waste this instruction.” Milarepa then raised the back of his clothes and showed his buttocks, which was full of calluses. “In all the pith instructions, there is none more profound than meditation practice. I meditated persistently until my buttocks became like this and I achieved great qualities. So you should also practice meditation with perseverance.” This made a deep impression on Gampopa’s mind. Then as the lama foretold, he went to Central Tibet.
    
After meditating in hermitages and wild mountains for many years, Gampopa realized the basic nature of the mind, and the full meaning of his lama’s words. Realizing the lama’s great kindness he thereafter had no increase or decrease in realization, nor any acceptance, rejection, or doubt. Even his sleep became the experience of clear light.
    
Later Gampopa said, “It took me a long time to stabilize the mind, and I had to work hard, but for you it will be less difficult because you possess the instruction of the profound method path. This Kagyupa lineage has a blessing like no other. If they meditate diligently, many will reach the path. To dispel obstacles, experience the teachings, and increase meditation practice, it is enough to follow the profound guru yoga, Mahamudra practice and Tummo.”
   
As Milarepa prophesied local deities invited Gampopa to establish a monastery and teach at Dagpo, where vast numbers of disciples gathered to receive the Kagyu teachings he expounded. During this period, Gampopa frequently displayed supernormal powers, often manifesting as Buddha Shakyamuni and the bodhisattva Chenrezig. In addition many people reported seeing him simultaneously presiding over a feast in one place, performing a consecration in another, and teaching in yet another.
   
Once, Geshe Gyalwa Chungtsang Chen thought, “The precious lama does not permit the novice monks to do anything but meditation, so how can they acquire knowledge?” That night he dreamt that the entire mountain of Dagla Gampo was transformed into caves, in each of which was a precious stupa beautifully carved and radiating light. Some were fully finished and some were still being painted. Many people were doing prostrations before them, saying that they were the refuge of all beings in samsara, including the gods.
   
The next morning he went to Gampopa’s room to tell him of the dream. Before he had time to recount it, Gampopa said, “Generally, those who rely on intellect hate me and have contempt for me, but my novice monks are exactly like the stupas in your dream. These beggar children are the refuge of all beings in the six realms of samsara, including the gods. I can encompass the needs of all, both high and low. Some say I cause the teachings to decline, but if you watch closely, those who benefit from the Buddha’s teachings will be well known in the years to come.”
   
Gampopa led all his disciples through the graded path, and to advanced practitioners he gave Mahamudra instructions and the Six Yogas of Naropa. Thus, he gave countless vast and profound teachings to many great disciples. This Dharma Lord, who was the embodiment of compassion, had excellent skill in leading disciples to the enlightenment that is free of all confusion and the causes of suffering.
    
Even though he himself had transcended the concepts of birth and death, he thought to demonstrate the impermanence of all phenomena, particularly the subject of birth and death, in order to warn those who are lazy. Close to death, Gampopa said, “When I enter the non-dual, all-pervading element, you shouldn’t think, ‘Now the lama does not exist.’ My mind is inseparable from all the precious lamas and Buddhas of the three times, permeating all time and all places. Meditate, supplicate, and think of me, and my blessings will be there without yielding.”
    
Further he said, “In the future, those who think, ‘Alas, I haven’t met him’ should simply study and practice the texts that I composed: The Precious Jewel Rosary of the Supreme Path, The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, and others. There is no particle of difference; it is the same as meeting me. Those who are having a hard time understanding and practicing the dharma, think of me and supplicate with devotion. The blessings will arise naturally.
    
At the age of seventy-five, during the sixth lunar month, on the fifteenth day, wearing the three dharma robes and sitting in full lotus position with straight posture, his eyes gazing toward the sky, absorbed in the clear light free from all arising and cessation, the mode of abiding of all phenomena, Dharma Lord Gampopa passed away. At that time the sky was filled with countless rainbows, images of white stupas, and a rain of flowers, music and offerings to mark the passage of a fully enlightened being.
    
Thus, Gampopa, one of the greatest teachers, a manifestation of Buddha, purposefully appeared at the right time and in the right place to establish the complete form of Buddha’s teachings. Even though Buddha’s teachings had already been introduced to Tibet and flourished in some parts, he was the one who made the teachings come forth like the rising of the sun. Because of him, all the sutra and tantra teachings can be practiced by one person without contradiction.