The Buddha left 84,000 kinds of teachings, enough for an appropriate
teaching for every kind of mind. These can be classified in three, nine,
twelve, fourteen and fifteen yanas or vehicles.
The first cycle of teachings was concerned with the Hinayana, the second
and third with Mahayana. See 9 YANAS
Shravakayana teachings form the basis for all Buddhist study and practice,
and the Bodhisattvayana teachings are the basis of vision and practice
of the Great Vehicle, the Mahayana. The Bodhisattvayana includes the
Sutrayana teachings such as Prajnaparamita and Tathagatagarbha and the
Mantrayana teachings revealed in thousands of Tantras.
Tantrayana or Vajrayana traditionally was taught in private first at
the request of King Indrabodhi of Oddiyana (O.rgyan). He taught chosen
disciples of high merit how to transform phenomenal appearance into
a pure mandala. In order to teach this he emanated the Guhyasamaja mandala
(gSang.ba Dus.pa), gave empowerment of this and then gave the
tantric teachings. Thus it was taught apart from the three turns of
the Wheel of Dharma. He also prophesied that he would in a future time
emanate to teach the Vajrayana. In the Mahaparinirvana Sutra (Mya.ngan
las das.paI mdo) he said he would be reborn in a lake. This
was fulfilled by the Birth of Padmasambhava (Pa.ma byung.gnas)
also known as Pema Jungne, the lotus Born Lama and Guru Rinpoche.
The Hinayana view is that Shakyamuni transmitted his teachings to seven
accomplished disciples: Odsung, Kungawo, Shane Göchen, Nyerbe, Phagpa
Dhidhika, Nagpopa and Lgthong. The Mahayana account is that it was transmitted
through the boddhisattvas including Maitreya, Manjusri etc as intermediaries
to Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, Asanga, Vasubandhu, Gunaprabha, Sakyaprabha,
Dignana and Dharmakirti. (Tibetan: Ludrup, Phagpa Lha, Thogme, Yingyen,
Yönten Od, Shakya Od, Choglang and Chödrag); to the two wonderful teachers
Santideva (Zhi.ba Lha) and Candragomin (Tsan.dra.go.mi); to the four
great teachers, Mahabrahamana Saraha(Dramze Chenpo Saraha), Dharmapala
(Khepa Chenpo Palden Chökyong), Rahula (Tsunpa Chenpo Drachen Dzin)
and Virya (Lobpön Chenpo Pawo). The Tantric Vajrayana teachings were
transmitted through Vajrapani and the eighty-four mahasiddhas.
The Vajrayana is classified within Nyingma as Outer and Inner Tantras.
The Outer Tantras are Kriya, Carya and Yoga Tantras. The Inner Tantras
are Mahayoga, Anuyoga and Atiyoga. The inner Tantras belong specifically
to the Nyingma tradition. It was the first two of these that were passed
on to King Indrabodhi. They were transmitted through the Vidyadaras
Kukkuraja, Lilavajra, Buddhaguhya, Padmasambhava and others. Atiyoga
was passed to the first human Vidyadhara dGa-rab rDorje to Manjusrimitra,
Sri Simha, Jnanasutra, Vimalamitra, Padmasambhava and others.
Five years after the Parinirvana of Shakyamuni Buddha, as he predicted,
Guru Padmasambhava, the Lotus Born Lama arises in Oddiyana to transmit
the Mantrayana teachings known as the Inner Tantras: Mahayoga, Anuyoga,
28 Years After the Parinirvana of the Buddha, King Indrabodhi
of Sahor, also known as King Dza, received the transmission
of the Mahayoga and Anuyoga Tantras from the Bodhisattva Vajrapani.
He began a long lineage of Vidyadharas (Knowledge Holders) who realised
and transmitted these teachings for many centuries in India.
Garab Dorje was born 166 Years after Buddhas Parinirvana in Oddiyana,
northwest of India. He was an incarnation of Vajrasattva. He was the
first human to teach the Atiyoga Tantras. He passed the Atiyoga to Manjushrimitra,
an emanation of the Boddhisattva Vajrapani between the first and third
Century CE. In turn he transmitted them to Shri Simbha. He realised
them and passed them to Jnanasutra, Buddhaguhya, and to the masters
who brought them to Tibet: Vimalamitra, Padmasambhava, and Vairotsana.
During the 7th-8th CE
Lilvajra transmitted the Mahayoga Tantras to Buddhaguhya,
Padmasambhava, and Vimalamitra who later carried the teachings to Tibet.
Possibly some of these teachings reached Tibet by the 5th
Century CE. Nevertheless, it was not until the 8th Century
CE that Buddhism began to be established in any systematic and general
way. King Trisong Detsen (b.circa 742 CE) invited an Indian abbot, Shantarakshita
to Tibet to establish a great monastery and after encountering difficulties
on his advice he solicitated the help of a tantric practitioner, Padmasambhava.
Padmasambhava is known as the second Buddha throughout the Himalayan
region. His legacy is found throughout the region and in many caves
he used for meditation one can still see handprints and footprints he
impressed into solid rock such was the extraordinary power of his realisation.
Modelled on the famous Otantapuri Temple in Bihar, Samye Monastery
was eventually completed. The sixty-four hundred thousand teachings
of rDzogs-pa-chenpo obtained from Bodhgaya in India and elsewhere were
introduced to Tibet by Padmasambhava. Under the direction of Padmasambhava,
Vimalamitra, and Vairotsana oversee the translation of the Mahayoga,
Anuyoga, and Atiyoga Tantras into Tibetan and more than a hundred each
Tibetan and Indian panditas translated most of the then known Buddhist
teachings into Tibetan. Buddhaguhya the renowned Pandita of Nalanda
transmitted the Mahayoga teachings to Tibetan disciples such as Nyags
Jnanakumara, who brought them to Tibet.
The inner tantras were transmitted from generation to generation in
two ways: The bKa-ma (long) transmission from realised master
to student which might be an unbroken chain of individuals over a long
period of time and the gTer-ma (short) transmission. The latter is derived
from teaches concealed by Padmasambhava and his spiritual consort Yeshes
Tsogyal to be discovered when the circumstances were right by tertons
(gTer-stons). They are therefore a very direct communication and are
appropriate to circumstances now whereas the long transmission offers
the confidence of knowing that it has worked and been realised by a
succession of people before.
The Treasure transmission comprises the innumerable treasure texts
revealed by subsequent Treasure Masters, which were hidden by Guru Rinpochey
himself in 9th century as well as numerous teachings later revealed
through enlightened minds and meditative visions of Nyingma masters.
Hundreds of masters have appeared who have revealed treasures. Among
them, Nyangral Nyima Özer (1124-92), Guru Chowang (1212-70), Dorje Lingpa
(1346-1405), Padma Lingpa (b.1405) and Jamyang Khyentse (1820-1892)
are renowned as the Five Kings of the Treasure Masters. Their revealed
treasures concern, among others, the cycle of teachings and meditations
related to Avalokiteshvara, Guru Rinpochey's sadhanas, the Dzogchen
teachings, the Ka-gyey cycle of teachings, the Vajrakila or Phurba cycle
of teachings, medicine and prophecies.
Consequently, as well as the standard Mahayana Buddhist canon of the
Kangyur and Tangyur, many further teachings may be found in the Collection
of a Hundred Thousand Nyingma Tantras, compiled in thirteenth century
by Tertön Ratna Lingpa (1403-1473) and organised by Kunkhyen Longchen
Ramjampa (1308-1363). Besides this, numerous works such as the sixty
volumes of the Rinchen Terdzod compiled by Kongtrul Yonten Gyatso (1813-1899)
and the writings of Rongzom, Dodrupchen, Paltrul, Mipham and many others
have added to the rich collection of Nyingma literature.
Yeshes Tsogyal, King Tri-song De-tsen, Vairocana the Translator, gNyags
Jnanakumara, Sang-gye Yeshe and Rin-chen Chogother 25 disciples of Padmasambhava
were charged with the responsibility to pass the Dharma on to future
generations. They have all repeatedly been reborn as masters of kama
and terma to guide successive generations of practitioners and protect
the Nyingma School evn to the present day.
Unlike the other Buddhist traditions the Nyingmapas did not become
institutionalised until much later in their history. Apart from Samye,
no major monasteries were built until the 12th century.
This first period was known as the Early Translation, Ngagyur (sna
gyur) and those who practiced the tradition that this gave rise
to were eventually to be called the Nyingma (rnying ma, tr. Ancient
Ones) to distinguish them from the followers of later traditions which
later evolved known as the Sarma (gsar ma).
Following the murder of the last Dharma King, Ral-pa-can in 836
CE, his brother, King Glangdarma, waged war on Buddhism and the
monasteries were destroyed. Protected by the disciples of Padmasambhava
and Vimalamitra, Buddhism survived in Tibet through the lineages
of ordained lay yogins or ngakpas
The Vinaya (monastic) sangha was preserved by three monks, sMar, Rab
and gYo who smuggled sacred texts to the remote province of A-mdo where
they could be kept safely.
The official persecution only lasted about a dozen years but Tibet
remained in confusion. Tibet had fragmented into ten small kingdoms.
It wasnt until the tenth century CE that the ruined monasteries
and temples started to be restored. Slowly practitioners started crossing
to and from India and Tibet. Of these the most important was Smrtijnanakirti
At Ukpalung Monastery in Central Tibet, the Nyingma master Zurpoche
Shakya Jungney collected thousands of texts during the 10th
Century CE, classifying and arranging Tantras together with their commentaries,
practice and ritual manuals.
Led by Rinchen Zangpo (957 1055) who had studied in Kashmir
in the 10th and 11th Centuries CE a second wave
of translation and interpretation occurred resulting in the New Translation
period of the Sarma. The resulting traditions of this second wave included
the Kadam, (later to evolve into the Gelug), Sakya, Kagyud, Shangpa
Kagyud, Chöd and Shije, Kalachakra and Urgyen Nyendrub. Together with
the Nyingma these are sometimes referred to as the Eight Chariots of
Spiritual Accomplishment (sgrub brgyud shing rta brgyad).
All the major Sutrayana teachings of the Buddha and the sastras of
the Mahapanditas were preserved in revised and modified translations
by the new schools and constitute a heritage shared by all schools.
The texts of the Inner Tantras which were translated in the early period
are the unique heritage of the Nyingma School.
Nechung Monastery was built in Central Tibet by Chokpa Jangchub Palden
and Kathok Monastery was founded in Kham by Ka Dampa Desheg (1112-92
CE) in 1159 CE. From the 15th century onwards, great monastic universities
were built, such as Mindroling, founded in 1676CE by Rigzin Terdag Lingpa,
otherwise known as Minling Terchen Gyurmed Dorje (1646-1714CE) and Dorje
Drag founded in 1659 CE by Rigzin Ngagi Wangpo in central Tibet; and
Palyul established by Rigzin Kunsang Sherab in 1665 CE; Dzogchen built
by Dzogchen Pema Rigzin in 1685 CE and Zhechen established by Zhechen
Rabjampa in 1735 CE, all in Kham province. Dodrupchen and Darthang monasteries
were established in Amdo.
In the 15th Century CE, the Inner Tantras preserved at Ukpalung
Monastery were gathered together by Nyingma Master Ratna Lingpa into
a collection known as the Nyingma Gyudbum.
Orgyen Terdag Lingpa and Lochen Dharmashri collect ancient Nyingma Kama
texts together thus preserving them in the 17th
In the 18th Century CE Kunkhyen Jigme Lingpa and
Gertse Mahapandita verify the authenticity of the Nyingma Gyudbum inner
tantra texts and compose catalogues and histories for a blockprint edition
made at Derge, eastern Tibet.
During the 19th Century CE Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo,
Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, and Chogyur Dechen Lingpa assembled thousands
of Terma treasure texts from throughout Tibet, creating a collection
known as the Rinchen Terdzod.
Monastic institutions re-established in exile include Thekchok Namdrol
Shedrub Dargye Ling, in Bylakuppe, Karnataka State; Ngedon Gatsal Ling,
in Clementown, Dehradun; Palyul Chokhor Ling and E-Vam Gyurmed Ling
in Bir, and Nechung Drayang Ling at Dharamsala, and Thubten E-vam Dorjey
Drag at Shimla in Himachal Pradesh, India.
The Nyingma classifies the teachings into 9 yanas or vehicles.
These can each be considered both as being complete within themselves
having a ground, a path and a fruit, or alternatively as steps along
a continuum towards the Great Perfection. It is also said that each
contains all of the other yanas.