Terma

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As Terma ( Tib. : Gter ma གཏེར་ མ་) are in the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism (especially in the Nyingma religious texts, "Treasures" tradition) means that Padmasambhava is said to have hidden so that they in later centuries of incarnations of his students to be found again. The texts in question should not only be found in the earth, but even in the spirit of the “discoverer”.

Historical authenticity

The Tibetologist Donald S. Lopez writes:

With one laudable exception, Ari 1989, Western scholars have not directly addressed the problem of the historical legitimacy of the terma, nor have they considered the assumption that these works were written by their discoverers and only hidden to be retrieved. The fact that this pious fiction of authenticity has been upheld for so long even by Tibetologists is itself a fascinating subject of research within the larger realm of mystification .

Guru Rinpoche

Terma in particular are a phenomenon of the Tibetan Nyingma tradition. Guru Rinpoche and his closest disciples are said to have hidden a large number of texts, ritual objects and relics in secret places in the 9th century in order to protect the teachings of Buddhism from destruction by the Tibetan King Langdarma , who is hostile to Buddhism .

Terma lines

In the Nyingma tradition in particular, two types of transmission emerged: the so-called “long” transmission line from master to disciple in one uninterrupted line, and the “short” transmission line of “hidden treasures” (terma). The termas discovered were later rediscovered by masters with special skills, so-called "treasure hunters" (Tib .: gter ston གཏེར་ སྟོན་; Tertön), and passed on to their students. The discovered termas differ in their type according to "earth terma" (tib .: sa gter ས་ གཏེར་), "spirit terma" (tib .: dgongs gter དགོངས་ གཏེར་) and "pure vision terma" (Tib .: dag snang དག་ སྣང་). The Terma Masters are often seen as the incarnations of the 25 main disciples of Guru Rinpoche. Thus, over the centuries, a complex system of lineages emerged that continually supplemented the teachings of the Nyingma schools with “fresh” teachings that were appropriate to their time.

Tertön

A tertön is someone who finds termas. Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thayes script The precious lapis lazuli wreath contains the life stories of 108 important Tertöns. The discovery of Terma took place until the recent past.

Nyingma-Tertön

Tertön Rigdzin Gödem

Finding the termas began with the first Tertön Sanggye Lama (1000–1080). Important Tertöns were among others:

Sarma-Tertön

The 5th Dalai Lama

But also in the three new schools ( Sarma ) and in the Tibetan Bon - a little less often than with the Nyingma - Tertöns appeared. Significant Tertöns of the New Schools:

Bon-Tertön

Nagarjuna

In the Buddhist context, however, hidden treasures are not something completely new. Termas have already been found in India. Nagarjuna, for example, is said to have discovered the last chapter of the “ Prajnaparamita Sutra in One Hundred Thousand Verses” as a terma in the realm of the Nagas .

literature

  • Michael Aris : Hidden Treasures and Secret Lives. A Study of Pemalingpa (1450-1521) and the Sixth Dalai Lama (1683-1706) . London / New York: Paul Kegan, 1989.
  • Tulku Thondup: The Hidden Treasures of Tibet - An Explanation of the Terma Tradition of the Nyingma School of Buddhism . Theseus Verlag, Zurich-Munich 1994, ISBN 3-85936-067-1
  • Tulku Thondup: The Hidden Treasures of Tibet - An Explanation of the Terma Tradition of the Nyingma School of Buddhism . New edition of the revised and authorized translation. edition khordong im Wandel Verlag, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-942380-08-9

Web links

Commons : Tertöns  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Donald S. Lopez: The Strange Case of the Englishman with the Three Eyes. In: Thierry Dodin, Heinz Räther (ed.): Mythos Tibet. Perceptions, projections, fantasies . Cologne: Dumont, 1997; here p. 203.
  2. Donald S. Lopez: The Strange Case of the Englishman with the Three Eyes. In: Thierry Dodin, Heinz Räther (ed.): Mythos Tibet. Perceptions, projections, fantasies . Cologne: Dumont, 1997; here p. 203f.