Atisha

Atisha (982-1054) – Atisha Dipamkara Srijnana, born as a prince into a royal family, is one
of the main representative of the Kadampa school.

He studied texts of different Buddhist (and Hindu) schools and philosophies, music, logic and art. He was the discipline monk of Vikramashila; Atisha met Marpa once on his way to Tibet, when Marpa wanted to meet his main teacher Naropa.

Atisha‘s Kadampa (= oral instruction) teachings included the lamrim, the stepwise path, which entered the Kagyü teachings and methods through Gampopa who, as a child and young man, had mainly
practiced Kadampa methods.