The movement of Naropa’s teachings beyond the Indian subcontinent unfolded above all through the intimate bond between master and disciple. The pivotal figure in this transmission was the Tibetan translator and yogi Marpa Lotsawa, who undertook several arduous journeys from Tibet to India specifically to study with Naropa and other Indian siddhas. Through this direct apprenticeship, Marpa received the complete transmission of Naropa’s tantric instructions, especially the cycle known as the Six Dharmas, or Six Yogas, of Naropa. This living encounter between an Indian mahāsiddha and a Tibetan seeker became the bridge by which a profoundly experiential lineage crossed cultural and linguistic frontiers.

Upon returning to Tibet, Marpa rendered Naropa’s teachings into Tibetan and established them as a core spiritual current there. These translations were not merely technical exercises; they were embedded in a lineage of practice, passed on through the guru–disciple relationship. Marpa transmitted Naropa’s instructions to his foremost disciple Milarepa, and from Milarepa they flowed to Gampopa, who shaped what became known as the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. Through Gampopa and subsequent masters, Naropa’s teachings spread widely across Tibet, giving rise to various Kagyu sub-lineages in which the Six Dharmas of Naropa and related meditative instructions held a central place.

The diffusion of Naropa’s legacy was not confined to a single school. Other Tibetan translators and practitioners who traveled to India during the later transmission period also carried elements of his instructions back to Tibet. Some of these teachings were incorporated into other Tibetan traditions, including the Sakya school, showing that Naropa’s influence permeated more than one doctrinal stream. From Tibet, the lineages stemming from Naropa extended further into regions shaped by Tibetan Buddhism, such as Mongolia and Bhutan, carried by teachers who regarded the careful preservation of authentic transmission as paramount.

Over time, this web of lineages allowed Naropa’s insights to reach cultures far removed from the India of his lifetime. The emphasis on direct experiential realization, safeguarded through unbroken lines of transmission, enabled his teachings to remain vibrant even as they moved into new languages and social worlds. Institutions inspired by his name and example, along with the activity of Tibetan masters teaching abroad, further contributed to the global presence of his tradition. In this way, Naropa’s realization, once rooted in the soil of Indian tantric Buddhism, came to nourish practitioners across a wide geographical and cultural horizon.