Mahasiddha in the context of "Sādhanā"

Siddha (Sanskrit: सिद्ध siddha; "perfected one") is a term that is used widely in Indian religions and culture. It means "one who is accomplished." It refers to perfected masters who have achieved a high degree of perfection of the intellect as well as liberation or enlightenment. In Jainism, the term is used to refer to the liberated souls. Siddha may also refer to one who has attained a siddhi, paranormal capabilities.

Siddhas may broadly refer to siddhars, naths, ascetics, sadhus, or yogis because they all practice sādhanā.

The Kagyu school, also transliterated as Kagyü, or Kagyud (Tibetan: བཀའ་བརྒྱུད།, Wylie: bka' brgyud), which translates to "Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission" school, is one of the main schools (chos lugs) of Tibetan Buddhism. The Kagyu lineages trace themselves back to the 11th century Indian Mahasiddhas Naropa, Maitripa and the yogini Niguma, via their student Marpa Lotsawa (1012–1097), who brought their teachings to Tibet. Marpa's student Milarepa was also an influential poet and teacher.

The Tibetan Kagyu tradition gave rise to a large number of independent sub-schools and lineages. The principal Kagyu lineages existing today as independent schools are those which stem from Milarepa's disciple, Gampopa (1079–1153), a monk who merged the Kagyu lineage with the Kadam tradition. The Kagyu schools which survive as independent institutions are mainly the Karma Kagyu, Drikung Kagyu, Drukpa Lineage and the Taklung Kagyu. The Karma Kagyu school is the largest of the sub-schools, and is headed by the Karmapa. Other lineages of Kagyu teachings, such as the Shangpa Kagyu, are preserved in other schools.

Nyingma (Tibetan: རྙིང་མ་, Wylie: rnying ma, Lhasa dialect: [ɲ̟iŋ˥˥.ma˥˥], lit. 'old school'), also referred to as Ngagyur (Tibetan: སྔ་འགྱུར་རྙིང་མ།, Wylie: snga 'gyur rnying ma, Lhasa dialect: [ŋa˥˥.ʈ͡ʂuɹ], lit. 'order of the ancient translations'), is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Nyingma school was founded by Padmasambhava as the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Pali and Sanskrit into Tibetan occurred in the eighth century. The establishment of Tibetan Buddhism and the Nyingma tradition is collectively ascribed to Khenpo Shantarakshita, Guru Padmasambhava, and King Trisong Detsen, known as Khen Lop Chos Sum (The Three: Khenpo, Lopon, Chosgyal).

The Nyingma tradition traces its Dzogchen lineage from the first Buddha Samantabhadra to Garab Dorje, and its other lineages from Indian mahasiddhas such as Sri Singha and Jnanasutra. Yeshe Tsogyal recorded the teachings. Other great masters from the founding period include Vimalamitra, Vairotsana, and Buddhaguhya. The Nyingma tradition was physically founded at Samye, the first monastery in Tibet. Nyingma teachings are also known for having been passed down through networks of lay practitioners, and of Ngakmapas (Skt. mantrī).

Gorakhnath (also known as Gorakshanath (Sanskrit: Gorakṣanātha) (Devanagari : गोरक्षनाथ / गोरखनाथ), c. early 11th century) was a Hindu yogi, mahasiddha and saint who was the founder of the Nath Hindu monastic movement in India. He is considered one of the two disciples of Matsyendranath. His followers are known as Jogi, Gorakhnathi, Darshani or Kanphata.

Gorakhnath is considered a Maha-yogi (or "great yogi") in Hindu tradition. He was one of nine saints, or Navnath, in the spiritual lineage of nine masters with Shiva as their first direct teacher. Hagiographies describe him to be a person outside the laws of time who appeared on earth during different ages. He did not emphasize a specific metaphysical theory or a particular Truth, but emphasized that the unbiased search for Truth is a valuable and normal goal of man. Gorakhnath championed Yoga, spiritual discipline and enlightened guidance of a realized master (Guru) as the means to reaching samadhi or spiritual liberation.

Virupa (Sanskrit: Virūpa; Tib. bi ru pa or bir wa pa, lit. 'ugly one'), also known as Virupaksa and Tutop Wangchuk, was an 8th–9th century Indian mahasiddha and yogi, and the source of important cycles of teachings in Vajrayana Buddhism.

Songs of realization, or Songs of Experience (Tibetan: ཉམས་མགུར, Wylie: nyams mgur; Devanāgarī: दोहा; Romanized Sanskrit: Dohā; Oriya: ପଦ), are sung poetry forms characteristic of the tantric movement in both Vajrayana Buddhism and in Hinduism. Doha is also a specific poetic form. Various forms of these songs exist, including caryagiti (Sanskrit: caryāgīti), or 'performance songs' and vajragiti (Sanskrit: vajragīti, Tibetan: rDo-rje mgur ), or 'diamond songs', sometimes translated as vajra songs and doha (Sanskrit: dohā, दोह, 'that which results from milking the cow'), also called doha songs, distinguishing them from the unsung Indian poetry form of the doha. According to Roger Jackson, caryagiti and vajragiti "differ generically from dohās because of their different context and function"; the doha being primarily spiritual aphorisms expressed in the form of rhyming couplets whilst caryagiti are stand-alone performance songs and vajragiti are songs that can only be understood in the context of a ganachakra or tantric feast. Many collections of songs of realization are preserved in the Tibetan Buddhist canon, however many of these texts have yet to be translated from the Tibetan language.

Although many of the songs of realization date from the mahasiddha of India, the tradition of composing mystical songs continued to be practiced by tantric adepts in later times and examples of spontaneously composed verses by Tibetan lamas exist up to the present day, an example being Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche. The most famous Tibetan composer of songs of realization is Milarepa, the 11th century Tibetan yogi whose mgur bum, or 'The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa' remains a source of instruction and inspiration for Tibetan Buddhists, particularly those of the kagyu school.

Nāropā (c. 1016 - 1100 CE) (Prakrit; Sanskrit: Nāropāda, Naḍapāda or Abhayakirti) was an Indian Buddhist Mahasiddha. He was the disciple of Tilopa and brother, or some sources say partner and pupil, of Niguma. As an Indian Mahasiddha, Naropa's instructions inform Vajrayana, particularly his six yogas of Naropa relevant to the completion stage of anuttarayogatantra.He was also one of the "gatekeepers" of Vikramashila monastery and was also associated with Nalanda monastery where he rose to the position of abbot.

Although some accounts relate that Naropa was the personal teacher of Marpa Lotsawa, other accounts suggest that Marpa held Naropa's lineage through intermediary disciples only.

Maitrīpāda (c.  1007–1085, also known as Maitreyanātha, Advayavajra, and, to Tibetans, Maitrīpa), was a prominent Indian Buddhist Mahasiddha associated with the Mahāmudrā transmission of tantric Buddhism. His teachers were Shavaripa and Naropa. His students include Atisha, Marpa, Vajrapani, Karopa, Natekara (also known as Sahajavajra), Devākaracandra (also known as Śūnyatāsamādhi), and Rāmapāla. His hermitage was in the Mithila region (also known as Tirhut), somewhere in northern Bihar and neighboring parts of southern Nepal.