Kama and Terma Transmission in Nyingma Tradition
Excerpts from The Treasury of Lives Website in service of educating self and others (cont.)
Kama Transmission
Nyingma Kama (rnying ma bka’ ma)
literally means the Oral Lineage of the Ancient Ones. The term Kama in
general refers to the Buddhist teachings that came through a long
lineage from one master to another. Nyingma Kama specifically is a
collection of teachings from the three inner tantras (nang brgyud sde gsum)
that are considered to have been brought to Tibet from India and
translated into Tibetan during the early translation period (8th and 9th
centuries). Every major Nyingma master since the 8th century holds the Kama lineage.
These
Kama teachings were transmitted through a long line of masters dating
back to the Indian origins of Buddhism through the time when it was
first brought to Tibet. It is said to be the very teachings that
Padmasambhava and his disciples were actually practicing. Padmasambhava
extracted the quintessence of these elaborated practices as a concise
corpus of teachings that where then concealed as termas (gter ma), and revealed later for the sake of future generations.
The
Kama is comprised of the teachings of the Trilogy of Sutra, Mayajala,
and Citta. Within this structure, the Mayajala serves as the basis or
tantra, the Sutra is the commentary or agrama (lung), and the Citta is the essential instruction.
The
Mayajala teaching belongs to the Mahayoga. It is based on the
philosophical view of the intrinsic purity of all appearances, as well
as the equality of samsara and nirvana. It employs meditations on the
mandalas of the One Hundred Peaceful and Wrathful Deities as explained
in the Guhyagarbha Tantra.
The Sutra belongs to Anuyoga. It is based on the tantric scripture, the Samdhisamgraha Sutra, The Gonpa Dupa Do (dgongs pa ’dus pa mdo),
which regards the meaning of all the Buddhist vehicles in the context
of the view of Anuyoga. It is path has two aspects: the path of means
which uses yogic exercises, and the path of liberation.
Citta
refers to the instructions of the mind class of the Great Perfection.
These teachings are concerned with sustaining the recognition of mind’s
undeluded clarity, unstained by the confusion of samsara. This is a most
profound path, through which many generations of meditators attained
enlightenment. Some, like Vairochana’s octogenarian student, Mipam Gonpo
(mi pham mgon po), even dissolved their bodies into light.
It
is said of the Kama teachings that they “first fell to Nyak, then to
Nub, and finally to Zur.” This means that they first were held and
propagated by Nyak Janakumara (gnyags dznya na ku ma ra), next by Nub
Sanggye Yeshe (gnubs sangs rgyas ye shes), and finally by the masters of
the Zur lineage. Both Nyak Janakumara and Nub Sanggye Yeshe were direct
disciples of Padmasambhava and Vimalamitra and are among the
Twenty-five Disciples.
The Zur lineage began with Zur Shakya Jungne (zur po che shakya
’byung gnas), Zungchung Sherab Drakpa (zur chung shes rab ’byung gnas),
and Zur Shakya Sengge (zur shakya seng ge). This lineage was well-known
for its practice of Yangdag Heruka, and also established an important
lineage of teaching the Sutra, Mayajala, and Citta Sections.
From
these masters onward, the Kama teaching spread widely. The tradition of
the Zur clan remained a hub of the Nyingma Kama teachings in Central
Tibet. In eastern Tibet the Kama was preserved at the Katog monastery
which was established by the great master Dampa Deshek (dam pa bde
gshegs) in the 12th century.
Terma Transmission
Since
the tenth century, Tibetan Buddhist traditions have recognized the
discovery of concealed teachings – terma – as a profound and authentic
form of transmission of the teachings. This mode of transmission is
considered the “short” mode, as opposed to the “long” mode of the Kama,
which has been transmitted person to person since the 8th century. Terma, in contrast, claims to be a direct transmission from Padmasambhava (or, less frequently, Vairocana or another 8th century master) and the treasure discover, bypassing the centuries inbetween.
The
treasures are said to have been concealed by Padmasambhava to be
discovered in the appropriate time. They are considered to be the
condensed quintessence of the Kama, which contains the main teachings
practiced at the time of Padmasambhava and upon which the termas are
based.
According
to the foundational legend, when Padmasambhava bestowed the ripening
empowerments and liberating instructions upon the king Trisong Detsen
(khri srong lde’u btsan), Yeshe Tsogyal and other of his twenty-five
main disciples, he entrusted many teachings to each of them for later
dissemination. With their assistance he then concealed these as
treasures in various places – rocks, lake, temples, statues, and even in
the sky and in the mindstream of the recipient. He then prophesied
that, in the future, these disciples would reincarnate, reveal these
teachings from their place of concealment and spread them for the sake
of beings.
Those who reveal treasure are called tertons (gter ston). In due time, a terton is said to experience visions or signs indicating how and where to discover his or her destined terma. Often they experience a vision of a being who hands them an inventory of the treasures to be revealed, with the location.
A kind of treasure that is sometimes considered a third stream of transmission is dagnang (dag snang)
or pure vision. As explained by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, in pure
visions the terton has a vision of Padmasambhava or another saint from
the lineage who transmits the teaching. Two other primary methods of
revelation, to be discussed below, are earth treasure (sa gter), which are physical objects revealed from actual places, and mind treasure (dgongs gter), which are extracted from the mind of the treasure revealer.
The terma
teachings are considered powerful because they were not corrupted by
the impurities that inevitably occurred in the history of lineages and
are particularly relevant for the time of their prophesized discovery.
That is, as direct transmissions from Padmasambhava or other
Imperial-era saints, they did not suffer from scribal errors or
innovations introduced by lineage holders over the centuries.
There are customarily three ways by which Padmasambhava set forth a teaching as a treasure:
1)
By giving a prediction: Padmasambhava predicted that the benefit of
these teachings for sentient beings will be accomplished by a certain
disciple and that the terma will be revealed at a certain appropriate
time, place, and circumstance.
2)
By means of an empowerment through wishing prayers: While focusing his
wisdom mind, Padmasambhava prayed that the teachings and pith
instructions given at the time of bestowing the empowerment may fully
and clearly arise in the mind of the disciple in the rebirth during
which he or she is meant to reveal the treasure. The disciples also
prayed in the same way. This is why almost all Nyingma termas were
revealed by incarnations of directs disciples of Padmasambhava, the main
ones being known as the “Twenty-five, The Lord and Subjects” or jebang
nyernga (rje ’bangs nyer lnga).
3)
By entrusting the dakinis to look after the terma: Padmasambhava put
the dakinis in charge of ensuring that, in due time, the terton will
find the treasure, will be able to transmit it to suitable disciples,
and that his lineage will carry great blessings while being kept secret
from unqualified disciples.
The
terma teaching is said to have then been placed under the guardianship
of a specific protector, referred to as a Terma Protector (gter srung),
who will only allow the right person to be given access to the
treasure. One some occasions, however, a terton may bless another
realized master to extract the treasure in his place. This is how, for
instance, Jedrung Trinle Jampa Jungne (rje drung phrin las byams pa ’byung gnas) of
Riwoche (ri bo ches) asked the famed yogi Gara Lama (mgar ra bla ma),
in front of a large crowd, to retrieve a terma on Amitayus, the Buddha
of Infinite Life.
Out
of these three aspects of the transmission, the wishing prayer of
Padmasambhava is considered to be the most important, as it is the means
by which the entire process unfolds. In fact, it is sometimes said that
whichever form the terma is found, such as dakini symbolic scripts
written on a yellow parchment (shog ser), this is said to be a
mere support for remembering the time when the terton received the
teachings from Padmasambhava. The real transmission is said to have been
given from mind to mind given by Padmasambhava.
On the basis of this symbolic support, the terton with proper karma will thus be able to “establish” (brtan la ’bab)
the whole teachings, sometimes in the flash of an instant, and put it
in writing without any of the hesitations and discursive thinking that
normally characterize ordinary literary compositions. It is said that
the terton may see the whole text “as if looking into a mirror.” It is
explained that the sight of the dakini scripts acts as a trigger so that
the teachings arise effortlessly from the creative power of the vast
expanse of pure awareness.
Some
termas arise in ways that are clearly and beautifully written, complete
and in perfect order, such as the Prayer in Seven Chapters revealed by
Rigdzin Godemchen (rig ’dzin rgod ldem chen), some in a seemingly
disordered and obscure style that requires it to be rearranged and
clarified, for instance some of the termas revealed by Rigdzin Longsel
Nyingpo (rig ’dzin klong gsal snying po). This is why, in addition to
the root terma, a great master in the terton’s lineage usually needs to
prepare a text which incorporates the terma teachings but is arranged in
the form of a “means of accomplishment” or sadhana, or a ritual text
that can readily be used by practitioners.
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