The Terma Tradition of the Nyingmapa School

The Terma Tradition of the Nyingmapa School]]

TULKU THONDUP

People who have well-being of mind, even if the Buddha is not present, will receive Dharma from the midst of the sky, walls and trees. For those Bodhisattvas whose minds are pure, teachings and instructions will appear just by the wishes in their minds. -Buddha1

In a great number of spiritual traditions of the world there are many instances of the discovery of teachings and objects by mystical power. Similarly in various traditions and lineages of Buddhism, in India as well as Tibet, numerous discoveries of teachings and objects have been taken place.

In the Nyingmapa school of Tibetan Buddhism the tradition of concealment and revelations of teachings and materials of religious value through the mystical power of enlightened beings is most prevalent by far. This tradition of mystical discovery is known in Tibet as Ter (gTer, Treasures), Terma (gTer-Ma , Treasured Ones) or Tercho (gTer-Chos, Dharma Treasures or Treasured Teachings).

Ter do not belong to the category of revelations through psychic power ( rTsa Kfiams ) or through the beings of the spirit world (Mi Ma-Yin). Psychic discoveries take place through the

power of mind, which is a gifted but conceptual cognition. Further, most spirits have more physical power and knowledge than ordinary human beings, but their spiritual wisdom and true virtues are limited. The discoveries of Terma take place from

the omnipresent enlightened nature of the mind through the spontaneously arisen wisdom power of the enlightened nature itself whereas other discoveries are through dualistic concepts and supernatural deeds.

In Mahayana Buddhism in general and especially in Tantra the true nature of the universe is viewed as the ultimate peace, emptiness, openness, the enlightened, awakened state, bliss,

THE TERMA TRADITION OF THE NYINGMAPA SCHOOL 151

The main source of the Terma tradition of the Nyin school is Guru Padmasambhava. He was one of the gr Tantric masters and saints of Buddhist history. In t century A.C., at the invitation of king Trisong Deutsen of

he came to Tibet from India and fulfilled three major m First, through the display of spiritual power, he pacifi human and non-human forces who were obstructin founding of Dharma in Tibet. Secondly, he brought Bu

in general and especially the transmission of the teachin blessing powers of tantra for his many Tibetan disciple their followers. Thirdly, through his enlightened po concealed numerous teachings and transmission as w religious objects as Ter for the benefit of the future fol While transmitting esoteric teachings to his realized disc

in Tibet, Guru Padmasambhava concealed ( sBas ) teachings with the blessings of his enlightened mind str the nature of the intrinsic awareness ( Rig-Pa ) of the m his disciples through the power of "mind-mandate trans ( gTad-rGya )", and thereby the master and disciple united as one in the teachings and realization. Here, the

has concealed the teachings and blessings, the eso attainments, as Ter in the pure nature of the mind disciples through his enlightened power and has aspirations that the Ter may be discovered for the

beings when the appropriate time comes. By the power method, which is called the mind-mandate transmission actual discoveries of the teachings take place. The m mandate transmission is the heart core of the Ter tradition of Guru Padmasambhava.

Then in succeeding centuries, when the time for benefiting beings with a particular teaching arrived, the reincarnations of the realized disciples of Guru Padmasambhava discovered those teachings which had been transmitted and concealed in them by the master in their past lives, through the power of the

enlightened aspirations of the master and disciples and the good karmas beings. There are thousands of images, symbolic scripts, complete texts, medicinal material and ritual tools concealed by Guru Padmasambhava and discovered as Ter substances igTer - rDzas), but the main Ter is the teachings and the blessings

transmitted through the minds of the disciples. Transmission of Ter: The transmission of Ter has been channelled through six kinds or stages of lineages ( brGyud-P Drug). Of the six lineages, three are identical to the lineage o general tantric transmissions in Nyingmapa scriptures. They a the lineage of transmission from "enlightened mind t

enlightened mind among the Buddhas ( rGyal-Ba-dGongs brGyud)", the lineage of transmission through mere "indications among the knowledge-holders (Rig- 'Dzin brDa-brGyud)", and the lineage of "oral transmission among ordinary beings ( Gang-Za sNyan-brGyud)" .

The next three lineages are unique to the Ter transmission and the accomplishment of Ter discoveries are based on thos transmissions. The first is "the transmission of aspiration empowerment ( sMon-Lam dBang-bsKur)" or the "mind-manda

transmission" whereby, through his concentration of enlightened power, Guru Padmasambhava transmits and conceals the esoteric attainments and the teachings in the field of intrins

awareness, the enlightened nature of the disciples's mind. Thi is the main aspect of the transmission. The second is th "transmission through prophetic authorization ( Lung-bsTan

bKa'-Babs)", in which the master inspires the disciple and giv prophesies concerning his becoming a Terton in the future. is not just a foretelling of the future; rather, by his enlightened power, he makes the things happen that he prophesies. Th third is "the entrustment to the dakinis ( mKha 'Gro gTad rGya )", in which the master entrusts the Ter, the Terton, th

teachers and the followers of the tradition to the protection the Dakinis and Dharma protectors. In the case of an Eart Ter, the master entrusts the objects, such as the caskets

containing the yellow scrolls with symbolic scripts, to th Dakinis and Dharma protectors to keep them and hand them over to the Terton when the time comes. Thus, every T teaching is transmitted through the six types of transmission.

Two Major Categories of Ter: While Ter can be divided into eighteen categories and so on, there are two major categorie of Ter based on their way of discovery. They are Earth Ter ( Sa - gTer ) and Mind Ter ( dGongs-gTer ). The discovery of Earth T involves earthly materials such as "symbolic scripts" ( brDa-Yig ) THE TERMA TRADITION OF THE NYINGMAPA SCHOOL 153 written on a scroll of paper known as a "yellow scroll" ( S

Ser), and so on. These are to assist the discovery of concealment or to awaken the memory of the Ter enshrin the enlightened nature of the mind of the Terton (gTer-sT the Ter Discoverer. However, people usually conceive

Mind Ter is transmitted through mind but that Earth Te something that Tertons discover from earthly objects su rocks, lakes, and so on. But actually, the symbolic script m becomes the key, but is neither the real Ter of teachings the transmission of the attainment, which comes only from Terton's mind.

Earth Ter (Sa-gTer)

Concealment of Ter: There are different ways of concealing the Ters, but mostly they involves three stages. First, Guru Padmasambhava transmitted his esoteric teachings and attainments to his disciples and concealed them in their minds' absolute nature. Ordinary mind is changing because of concepts and emotions, but the true nature is changeless and preserves the teachings intact within itself. That is the place where the actual concealment of Ter takes place. The third Dodrupchen writes3:

The ultimate place, the sacred treasure where the wisdom blessing of the vajra-speech is preserved without deterioration through the power of the mind-mandate transmission made by Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava), is the sphere of changeless intrinsic nature of the mind of the Terton.

Second, with his consort Yeshey Tshogyal, Guru Padmasambhava put the teachings into "symbolic or coded scripts" in various languages, mostly what is called Dakini language, and wrote them on "yellow scrolls", or on various objects such as images and ritual objects. Because of the power of the "aspirational transmission" of Guru Padmasambhava, the "symbolic script" will have the power to awaken the transmission

when the Terton, the discoverer, reads it. Then the Tert the yellow scrolls in a casket and conceals the "casket ( sGrom )" in a "place of Ter concealment (gTer-gNas )" s rocks, mountains, lakes, temples, images and sky throug her mystical power, and it becomes invisible until the t discovery.

Third, Guru Padmasambhava inspires his disciples Tertons and gives prophetic blessings concerning when a her or she will become a Terton. This is not a mere pre of the future but a blessing which makes the prophesied happen because of the power of the truth of the master's w Discoverer or Terton: It is said that there will be one

hundred major Tertons and a thousand minor Tertons. Starting from Sangye Lama (11th century), a great number of Tertons appeared in Tibet and thousands of volumes of teachings and

a vast number of religious artifacts were discovered as Ter. Even today, since the beginning of the 1980s, the discoveries of Ter resumed in Tibet. Tertons are the reincarnations of the disciples of Guru Padmasambhava, and from him they have

received the mind-mandate transmission of the teachings and have accomplished high attainments. With the exception of a few Tertons, most of them have been tantriks living at home

with families. They transmute their everyday life into the training of the union of bliss and emptiness without discrimination and propagate the teachings discovered by them. Some of the great Tertons are Nyang Nyina Odzer (1124- 1192), Guru Chowang (1212-1270), Ogyen Lingpa (1323- ?),

Rigdzin Göddern (1337-1408), Sangye Lingpa (1340-1396), Dorjee Lingpa (1346-1405), Ratna Lingpa (1403-1478), Padma Lingpa (1450- ?), Rigdzin Jatshon Nyingpo (1585-1656), Minling T erdag Lingpa ( 1646- 1714), Rigdzin Jigmed Lingpa ( 1 729-1798), and Khyentse'i Wangpo (1820-1892).

Most of the Tertons, before discovering any Ter, seem to be ordinary people. They do not necessarily appear as scholars, meditators or Tulkus. However, due to their inner spiritual attainments and the transmissions thy have received in their past lives, at the appropriate time, they suddenly start discovering mystical Ters without the need of any apparent training. At the beginning, sceptics often raise doubts about THE TERMA TRADITION OF THE NYINGMAPA SCHOOL 155

discoveries of such unexpected people. In some c Terton's natural directness and honesty may app unconventional or even impolite to those who hold conse values. But gradually, if they are true Ter discoveries,

the recognition of higher spiritual authorities and establ respect of and benefit for the people. It is importa understand this cultural context, otherwise a great Terton be mistaken for a charlatan. For example, it is unfortunate a Western author has recently disclaimed one of th

authentic Tertons of the Nyingmapa tradition of Tibet b some criticisms made by unqualified contemporaries or for ulterior motives, and the Terton's own express

humility, which are characteristic of Buddhist sages. Discovery: The following is a description of the co process of Earth Ter discovery, but it is certainly not t one, for Ters have been discovered in many other ways.

the Terton receives the "prophetic guide ( Kha-Byang )" visions, directly or in indications from Guru Padmasam Dakinis or deities. Then he or she performs "t preparatory practices ( gTer-sGrub )", doing meditations or as instructed in the prophetic guide.

When the time comes, the Terton goes to the concea place, either alone or with selected followers, such as his consort and heart disciples or just onlookers. Man

discoveries take place in secret (gSang-gTer) and many in ( Khrom-gTer ). There, while performing "the feast of ceremony ( Tshogs ), the discovery takes place in different It may be that the Ter descends from the concealment into the hands of the Terton at the end of a rainbow beam or that the Terton climbs up the rock, which in ordinary

circumstances is too steep to climb, opens a door in the rock and climbs down with kthe caskèt, or that the Terton disappears and then reappears with the Ter, or the Terton uses a tool such

as a chisel to dig into the rock, and after hard digging takes out the Ter, or the Terton jumps into a lake and brings out the Ter; or sometimes the Terton discovers the Ter from images,

temples and from the sky. Sometimes Tertons discover Ters concealed at far distances through their meditative power, without needing to go there, for the Ter protectors bring the

Ters to them. Among the discovered Ter there are also images, religious objects and ritual tools, but the important ones are the symbolic letters written on yellow scrolls. Most of the scrolls are kept in the sealed Ter caskets made of precious materials, stone, wood and so on.

Again by the performances of more Ter preparatory practices, the Ter casket spontaneously opens and in it the Terton discovers the yellow scroll. It is called "yellow scroll" because most them are of yellowish or golden colour, but in fact

they could be of any colour, length or design. One the yellow scrolls the Tertons find the symbolic scripts in any of various human and non-human scripts and languages such as those of India, Tibet and the Dakini land.

The symbolic scripts are in various characters and they are categorized in three groups: Just visible ( sNang-Tsam ) is one syllable or more, but not necessarily a word. Just a basis ( rTen - Tsam) is a phrase or a few phrases, a sentence or a few sentences related to the teachings of the text, such as a brief

outline of the text, a part of the text, the title of the text or an event linked to the concealment. Sometimes it is a piece of writing unrelated to the subject. Complete text ( mThar-Ch'ag ) is a discovery of the whole text.

The Terton sees, contemplates or unites his naked wisdom, (which is) self-arisen from his innate luminous nature, with the symbolic scripts and thereby awakens the power of Guru Padmasambhava's Vajra speech wisdom, which is concealed in him. He decodes the words in the symbolic scripts ( brDa-bKrol ) and discovers the meaning, the Ter, from them. The discovery

of Ter is the arising of the Dharma-treasures of the ultimate sphere ( Ch'os-dByings ) as the power of the intrinsic awareness ( Rig-rTsa ) or the arising of the power of the intrinsic awareness as the teachings.4 If you do not have the realization of intrinsic awareness of Dzogpa Chenpo, which pervades the ultimate

sphere, you cannot discover a Ter or Guru Padmasambhava, which comes through mind-mandate transmission. So the symbolic scripts become the key to awaken the memories of the teachings and attainments from the expanse of intrinsic nature of the Terton's mind. Then, after more Ter

preparatory practices, when the Terton sees the sings of appropriate time, he transcribes the teachings. Thereafter Terton transmits the teachings to the followers and entru them to the chief recipient of the Ter, called the doctr holder ( Ch'os-bDag ). Doctrine-holders are mostly people w also have received the transmission of the teaching from G Padmasambhava and have taken responsibility for t propagation of the teachings.

Mind Ter: The methods of concealment, transmission a discovery are similar to those of Earth Ter, except that t don't rely on any external earthly source, such as yellow scrol as the key to discovery. In many instances of Mind Ter, se or hearing symbolic words or sounds in visions causes discovery of the Ter, but usually the discovery does not rel

any external sources and there is no involvement of earth objects as the means of discovering the Ter. A Mind Te discovers' the Ter by awakening the mind-mandat transmission spontaneously from the expanse of intri awareness of his mind, when the circumstances have matu and the time has come.

There is a third category of discovered teachings known as Pure Vision ( Dag-sNang ). Pure vision teachings are not Terma. They are merely teachings given by Buddhas, deities and teachers in visions. For this discovery the discoverer does not need to be such a highly realized person, and there is no mind- mandate transmission. However, there are cases in which Ter teachings have been discovered or designated as pure vision teachings, and when that is the case they are in fact Ter teachings.

In the Nyingma literature there are thousands of volumes of Ter texts discovered by hundreds of Tertons starting in the 11th century and continuing to this day. The majority of texts concern Sadhana, ritual, prayer and various esoteric performances (Las). There are a great number of texts on

philosophy, meditations and the result of Buddhist practice in general and especially of the tantric tradition. Also there are numerous texts on medicine, astrology, history and biography. It is astonishing to realize the scope and impact of the spiritual treasures conferred by Guru Padmasambhava in order

to improve the value of social, literary and spiritual Tibetan society and the offspring of its tradition, for o centuries without cessation. And it is shocking to see th many Tibetans have little awareness of the significance tradition. According to Tibetan historians, Buddhism m never been able to be established in Tibet without the

of Guru Padmasambhava. In Tibet there is hardly a significant mountain, lake or valley which is not blessed individually by visiting, meditating, displaying miracl concealing Ters in them. Even many physical marks imprints, spontaneously arisen images or caves of med

are still visible. The Ter tradition includes some of the most striking evidence of the great imprint left in Tibet for the welfare of the world through the enlightened activities of Guru Padmasambhava. At the time of his departure from Tibet, he

expressed is kindness and his promise to the Tibetans in the following words5: When you face the bad times of the dark age, Every day and night I will come to Tibet. I will come to you riding the rays of the sun, and On every 10th of the waxing moon I will come to you in person.

Footnotes:

1. Arya-dharmasamgiti-sutra ('Phags-Pa Ch'os Thams-chad Yang-Dag-Par Sdud-pa).84b. 2. Las-'Phro gTer-drGyud Kyi rNam-bShad Ngo-mTshar rGya-mTsho by the third Dodrupchen Jigmed Tenpa'i Nyima. 3. Les-'Phro gTer-brGyud Kyi rNam-bShad Nyung-gSal Ngo-mTshar rGya- mTsho by the Third Dodrupchen Rinpoche, 4b/2. 4. Las-'phro gT er-brGyud Kyi rNam-bShad Ngo-mT shar rGya-mT sho by the third Dobrupchen Rinpoche. 30b/4. 5. gSol-'Debs Leu bDun-Ma discovered by Rigdzin Gödder