Amoghavajra takes us back 2,500 years to the Kingdom of Magadha in Northern India to the birth of a boy called Kassapa. He grows up happily and as he gets older he becomes less and less worldly. Kassapa marries Bhadda who has equally renunciant tendancies. They both go forth together.

Kassapa meets the Buddha, becomes his disciple and gains Enlightenment. He is known as a superb meditator and was foremost among the bhikkus for practising austerities. According to Amoghavajra’s story,...