HISTORY OF TIBETAN BUDDHISM

The Nyingma, or Ancient school of Tibetan Buddhism, is the name given to the followers of those original translations of the teachings of the Buddha into Tibetan which were carried out up until the time of the Indian translator Smritijnanakirti in the late tenth century. They are known as the ‘Earlier Translation School’, Ngagyur Nyingma, distinguishing them from the ‘New Schools’, Sarma, such as the Kadam, Kagyu, Sakya, and eventually Geluck, which followed the later translations made from the time of the great translator Rinchen Zangpo (958-1055) onwards.

Central to the Nyingma tradition is the extraordinary figure of Padmasambhava, Guru Rinpoche, the great guru who introduced Buddhism to Tibet in the eight century. Invited by the King Trisong Detsen upon the advice of the great Indian Khenpo Shantarakshita, Padmasambhava is said to have stayed in Tibet for more than half a century. He travelled throughout the country, teaching and practicing, taming the forces that were inhibiting the Buddhadharma, and infusing his blessing into the whole landscape of Tibet. As a result, the teaching of Buddha came to permeate the fabric of the lives of the people of Tibet, and the very vitality and success of Tibetan Buddhism owes everything to his kindness.

Padmasambhava founded the first monastic university of Samye, where many Indian pandits, such as Vimalamitra, came together with Tibetan translators to translate the Buddhadhama, and the first seven Tibetans were ordained as monks. At Chimphu, he opened the mandala of the Mantrayana teachings to the the twenty-five siddhas of Tibet, who included King Trisong Detsen, Yeshe Tsogyal and Vairochana. For millions of practitioners down through the centuries, Padmasamhava has continued to be the source of their realization, and the inspiration which breathes life into the heart of the practice.

The Nyingma teachings are divided into the Long Trnsmission of Kama and the Short transmission of Terma, other teachings were received by masters directly in Pure Visions from deities or gurus, in experiences or in dreams. The Kama, or canonical teachings, have been transmitted in an unbroken lineage from the primordial Buddha Samantabhadra down to the present day. Terma are teachings concealed mainly by Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyal, to be revealed at the time most appropriate for their discovery by treasure revealers, ‘Tertons’, a continuing series of emanations of Padmasambhava and his twenty-five disciples.

‘Particular to the Nyingma school is the division of the teachings into nine ‘yanas’ or vehicles. The special tantras of the Nyingmapas are the three Inner Tantras: Mahayoga, Anuyoga and Atiyoga or Dzogchen. Some of these appear in the Kangyur, the ‘Word of Buddha’, but there is a separate collection, the Nyingma Gyubum, ‘Collected Tantras of the Nyingmapas’ made by the Terton Ratna Lingpa (1403-78) in the fifteenth century. In the Nyingma School there are two Sanghas: the monastic and yogic communities. The nyingma tradition of vinaya, stemming from the buddha’s son rahula, follows the maha-mulasarvativadin ordination lineage, which was first brought to Tibet by Shantarakshita. The Nyingma Vinaya tradition reached its pinnacle in the eighteenth century with the reformer Dzogchen Gyalse’ Shenpen Taye’, who revitalized monastic standards of discipline and scholarship.

There were more than a thousand Nyingma monasteries in Tibet, and the Nyingma tradition spread throughout the whole of Tibet and the Himalayan regions of Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal and Ladakh. In Central Tibet, the most important six principles monasteries were Orgyen Mindroling, built by Minling Terchen Gyurme Dorje (Terdak Lingpa)
in 1676, and Thubten Dorje Drak, estabilished by Rigdzin Ngakgi Wangpo
(1580-1639) in 1610. In Kham, East Tibet, Kathok was founded by Kadampa Deshek in 1159, and

Palyul by Rigdzin Kunzang Sherab in 1665.
In 1685 the Dzogchen Monastery, destined to be the largest and one of the most influential of the Nyingma monasteries in East Tibet, was founded by Pema Rigdzin, the first Dzogchen Rinpoche.

Shechen was founded in 1735 by the second Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche Gyurme Kunzang Namgyal. There were also
number of Nyingma monasteries in Golok and Amdo provinces,

Each century or times has its own Tertons. This centuries Tertons are H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche and Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. The Terma lineage is the Short lineage and comes directly from Guru Rinpoche. All Dharma texts are very powerful however to make a connection with a Terma is especially powerful. Tertons are the representative of Guru Rinpoche, in whatever way an ordinary

being makes a connection with them, one thing is sure, they reach enlightenment much more quickly. For example the 5th and 13th and 14th Dalai Lamas each made a strong connection with Tertons and powerful results and long life resulted from their diligent practice.

However, even though the great lamas of the past have left, if you have devotion to them, then their blessings and teachings and termas will never leave you. They are very much still alive.

The action of the sublime scholar-abbot of Zahor and the view of the glorious, peerless Nagarjuna
are united and sealed as the tradition of this lineage- May the teachings of the Lake-Born Buddha flourish and spread!
May the tradition of Jamyang Khyentse Wanpo, who is master of the ocean-like Rime mean. nonsectarian tradition teaching of Tibet, The Lord who wields the wonderful Seven Special Direct Blessings, and Manjushri himself in person, Spread, prosper and grow!

The one and only father of all buddhas is Manjushri, Manifesting as the incomparable human master, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, His blessing emanation is Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Tashi Paljor: To you I pray! Bless my mind and inspire my understanding.

as Dudjom Rinpoche says in his new treasury Ngondro Commentary,

“If there is no devotion for the Lama, even if one completes the requirements of sadhana practice according to the six tantric teachings of meditation deities, supreme spiritual attainment will never be obtained. Even many of the common spiritual attainments such as long life, prosperity, magnetizing and so on, will not be accomplished. If by chance there is some minor accomplishment, it requires great hardship and the path will not be profound. If unerring devotion develops in the mind, obstacles on the path will be cleared, advancement will be made, and all common and supreme spiritual attainments will be accomplished without relying on anything else. Thse are the reasons this practice is called the profound path of Lama’i Naljor”

Without respect and devotion, no matter how much dharma you think you know the blessings of the Buddha’s lineage will be blocked in your mindstream. You need to take your commitment to practicing seriously. Otherwise you are wasting your time and creating negative karma and your only connection with the teachings is egoistic, leaving you with the result of a more deeply ingrained ego. Buddhist devotion is not meant to be a blind devotion that needs to be adopted without question. All of the holy texts state that a teacher must be examined and that if in your process of examination you find he is a true and authentic master, that he teaches the Buddha’s wisdom and brings benefit to beings, then devotion will naturally spring from that realization. In the West and East there are good and bad teachers. Thousands of Buddhist teachers exist and naturally not all of them by virtue of carrying a Buddhist name are genuine spiritual friends. Westerners especially should be aware of this. If you have a good teacher you have a chance of becoming a good disciple, however if you have a bad teacher, you will absorb his qualities and will not develop along your spiritual path. Whether they are good or bad disciples, all practicioners wish is the same: Enlightenment. By not following a qualified teacher, your journey to enlightenment meets a traffic jam, for example, people wish to go to California for scuba diving but along the way have an accident or get caght in a traffic jam and they need to wait in the middle of their journey for a long time. It is the same, if you are unlucky enough to meet a bad teacher or practice a sadhana without authentic lineage, your journey to enlightment will be put to a halt. Lineage, for those who may not know, refers to the actual transmission of the Buddha’s Wisdom. It is like light from one candle passed to the next candle and so on. The lineage is like a golden chain that has never been tarnished and can only be recieved from a supreme and highly realized Lama who is recognized to be the actual Buddha. To pracitce a Sadhana the minimum is to have recieved the Oral Transmission and an introduction of how to practice it. According to the Vajrayana you need to recieve an empowerment, oral transmission and secret instructions for each Sadhana. In the tantric teachings of the Buddha to try to practice outside of the lineage and without the proper empowerments and transmissions is akin to wishing for an ocean in the desert. It is most important to follow in an authentic lineage with teachings of lama from that lineage and with little taste for excitement and drama. I am telling you this with the pure intention that you recieve the true Buddhist teachings without any negative intention. Many of us have bad habits which lead to bad karma. Buddhism is practicing Dharma and meditation which will lead us to positive karma and good habits which is then followed by the development of pure wisdom. If you have developed this wisdom then it will bring benefit to other beings. Academic wisdom alone is does not prevent us from developing bad habits. We need to know of the quality of a direction given to us by pure wisdom in order to make good choices. A good direction will lead to happiness and a better life while a bad direction will bring us the opposite.

This is not my idea alone, it is supported by the teachings of the great past masters. For this reason whether you as a reader agree or disagree it makes no difference to me.

From Shantideva:

Why should I be pleased when people praise me?
Others there will be who scorn and criticize.
And why despondent when I’m blamed,
Since ther’ll be others who think well of me?

So many are the wants and tendencies of beings,
Even Buddha could not please them all-
Of such an evil man as me no need to speak!
Better to give up such worldly thoughts.