Nyingma
Nyingma, also referred to as Ngagyur, is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Nyingma school was founded by Padmasambhava as the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Pali and Sanskrit into Tibetan occurred in the eighth century. The establishment of Tibetan Buddhism and the Nyingma tradition is collectively ascribed to Khenpo Shantarakshita, Guru Padmasambhava, and King Trisong Detsen, known as Khen Lop Chos Sum.
The Nyingma tradition traces its Dzogchen lineage from the first Buddha Samantabhadra to
Garab Dorje, and its other lineages from Indian mahasiddhas such as Sri Singha and Jnanasutra. Yeshe Tsogyal recorded the teachings. Other great masters from the founding period include Vimalamitra, Vairotsana, and Buddhaguhya. The Nyingma tradition was physically founded at Samye, the first monastery in Tibet. Nyingma teachings are also known for having been passed down through networks of lay practitioners, and of Ngakmapas.
While the Nyingma tradition contains most of the major elements of Tibetan Buddhism, it also has some unique features and teachings. The Nyingma teachings include a distinctive classification of the Buddhist Yanas, or vehicles to liberation, called the Nine Yanas. The Nyingma teachings on the Great Perfection or Dzogchen is considered the highest of all Buddhist teachings. As such, the Nyingmas consider the Dzogchen teachings to be the most direct and profound path to Buddhahood. The main Dzogchen sources like the Seventeen tantras are seen as communicating a path that goes beyond the methods of Highest Yoga Tantra, which are seen as supreme in other schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
The Nyingma school also has an important tradition of discovering and revealing "hidden treasure texts" called Termas, which allows the treasure discoverers or tertöns to reveal teachings according to conditions. Many Nyingma lineages are based on particular termas. For example, Mindrolling Monastery focuses on the revelations of Nyangrel Nyima Özer, while Dorje Drak is based on the Northern Treasures of Rigdzin Gödem.
History
Mythos
The Nyingma school recognizes Samantabhadra, the "primordial buddha"as an embodiment of the Dharmakāya, the "truth body" of all buddhas. The Nyingma school sees the Dharmakaya as inseparable from both the Sambhogakaya and the Nirmanakaya. The origin of Nyingma's teaching traditional is attributed to Samantabhadra, which is divided into apparitional, the eighteen tantric cycles of great yoga, sūtra, the subsequent yoga, and mind, the teachings of the great perfection.
The Vajrayana or Tantra of the Nyingma school traces its origins to an emanation of Amitaba and of Avalokitesvara, Guru Padmasambhava, whose coming and activities are believed to have been predicted by Buddha Shakyamuni. Nyingma origins are also traced to Garab Dorje and to Yeshe Tsogyal.
Nyingma also sees Vajradhara and other buddhas as teachers of their many doctrines. Samantabhadra's wisdom and compassion spontaneously radiate myriad teachings, all appropriate to the capacities of different beings and entrusts them to "knowledge holders", the chief of which is Dorjé Chörap, who gives them to Vajrasattva and the dakini Légi Wangmoché, who in turn disseminate them among human siddhas. The first human teacher of the tradition was said to be Garab Dorje, who had visions of Vajrasattva. Padmasambhava is the most famous and revered figure of the early human teachers and there are many legends about him, making it difficult to separate history from myth. Other early teachers include Vimalamitra, Jambel Shé Nyen, Śrī Siṃha, and Jñānasūtra. Most of these figures are associated with the Indian region of Oddiyana.
Historical origins
Buddhism existed in Tibet at least from the time of king Thothori Nyantsen, especially in the eastern regions. The reign of Songtsen Gampo saw an expansion of Tibetan power, the adoption of a writing system, and the promotion of Buddhism.
Around 760, Trisong Detsen invited Padmasambhava, later recognized as the most significant Nyingma teacher, and the Nalanda abbot Śāntarakṣita to Tibet to introduce Buddhism to the "Land of Snows." Trisong Detsen ordered the translation of all Buddhist texts into Tibetan. Padmasambhava, Śāntarakṣita, 108 translators, and 25 of Padmasambhava's nearest disciples worked for many years on a gigantic translation project. The translations from this period formed the base for the large scriptural transmission of Dharma teachings into Tibet and are known as the "Old Translations" and as the "Early Translation School". Padmasambhava supervised mainly the translation of tantras; Śāntarakṣita concentrated on the sutras. Padmasambhava and Śāntarakṣita also founded the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet: Samye. However, this situation would not last:
The early Vajrayana that was transmitted from India to Tibet may be differentiated by the specific term "Mantrayana". "Mantrayana" is the Sanskrit of what became rendered in Tibetan as "Secret Mantra" : this is the self-identifying term employed in the earliest literature.
Persecution
From this basis, Vajrayana was established in its entirety in Tibet. From the eighth until the eleventh century, this textual tradition was the only form of Buddhism in Tibet. With the reign of King Langdarma, the brother of King Ralpachen, a time of political instability ensued which continued over the next 300 years, during which time Buddhism was persecuted and largely forced underground because the King saw it as a threat to the indigenous Bön tradition. Langdarma persecuted monks and nuns, and attempted to wipe out Buddhism. His efforts, however, were not successful. A few monks escaped to Amdo in the northeast of Tibet, where they preserved the lineage of monastic ordination.The period of the 9–10th centuries also saw increasing popularity of a new class of texts which would later be classified as the Dzogchen "Mind series". Some of these texts present themselves as translations of Indian works, though according to David Germano, most are original Tibetan compositions. These texts promote the view that true nature of the mind is empty and luminous and seem to reject traditional forms of practice. An emphasis on the Dzogchen textual tradition is a central feature of the Nyingma school.
In a series of articles, Flavio Geisshuesler explores the persecution of the proponents of the Nyingma school from multiple perspectives, including trauma studies. In a monograph, he suggests that Dzogchen might actually be a pre-Buddhist tradition indigenous to Tibet. Exploring a series of motifs that are found pervasively throughout the contemplative system, such as the hunting of animals, he argues that the tradition was originally associated with shamanism and the Eurasian cult of the sky-deer.
Second dissemination and New translations
From the eleventh century onward, there was an attempt to reintroduce Vajrayana Buddhism to Tibet. This saw new translation efforts which led to the foundation of new Vajrayana schools which are collectively known as the Sarma "New translation" schools because they reject the old translations of the Nyingma canon. It was at that time that Nyingmapas began to see themselves as a distinct group and the term "Nyingma" came into usage to refer to those who continued to use the "Old" or "Ancient" translations. Nyingma writers such as Rongzom and Nyangrel were instrumental in defending the old texts from the critiques of the Sarma translators and in establishing a foundation for the mythology and philosophy of the Nyingma tradition.Rongzom Chokyi Zangpo was the most influential of the 11th century Nyingma authors, writing "extensive exoteric and esoteric commentaries." He upheld the view that sutra teachings such as Madhyamaka were ultimately inferior to the teachings found in the Buddhist Tantras and Dzogchen. Rongzom also wrote a commentary on the Guhyagarbha tantra, which is the main tantra in the Nyingma tradition.
The period of the new dissemination of Buddhism which saw the rise of the Sarma schools also saw the proliferation of fresh Nyingma Dzogchen texts with fresh doctrines and meditative practices, mainly the 'Space class' and the 'Instruction class' , particularly important were the seventeen tantras. To vitalize the legitimacy of these new texts against the criticism of the Sarma schools, the Nyingma school expanded the tradition of the "Terma", which are said to be revealed treasure texts by ancient masters, usually Padmasambhava, which had been hidden away and then discovered by tertons. The first tertons dating to the 11th century were Sangyé Lama and Drapa Ngönshé. Another important terton, Nyangrel Nyima Özer, was the principal promulgator of the Padmasambhava mythos, according to Janet Gyatso. Guru Chöwang was also influential in developing the myths of Padmasambhava. Nyangrel and Chögi Wangchuk are known as the "sun and moon" of tertons, and along with Rikdsin Gödem, are called the "three grand tertons".
By this period we see the establishment of three major classes of Nyingma literature; those translated and transmitted without interruption from the beginning of the Buddhist dissemination are called "transmitted precepts", the hidden "treasures" are called gter ma and lastly there are those collected works of individual Tibetan authors.
Systematization and growth
is a central thinker and poet in Nyingma thought and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. He is mainly known for his systematized integration and exposition of the major textual cycles such as the Menngagde in his various writings, which by his time had become central texts in the Nyingma tradition. His main writings include the Seven Treasuries, the "Trilogy of Natural Freedom", the "Trilogy that Clears Darkness", and the Trilogy of Natural Ease.The 14th and 15th centuries saw the work of many tertons such as Orgyen Lingpa,
Pema Lingpa, Sangye Lingpa and Ratna Lingpa. Another key figure was Karma Lingpa, who wrote down an important work called "Profound Dharma of Self-Liberation through the Intention of the Peaceful and Wrathful Ones" which includes the two texts of the bar-do thos-grol, the "Tibetan Book of the Dead". Lochen Dharmaśrī wrote important commentaries on the Guhyagarbha tantra and his brother Terdak Lingpa was the founder of the Mindrolling Monastery in 1670, one of the six major Nyingma monasteries.
A later seminal figure in the development of the Nyingma system was Jigme Lingpa "the greatest treasure finder of the eighteenth century", whose Longchen Nyingthig is a systematization of the path which is one of the most widely used Nyingma Dzogchen teachings today. The innovations that emerged within the Nyingma tradition during the 17th and 18th centuries significantly accelerated its revival, which was also greatly supported by the favorable attitudes of the Fifth Dalai Lama and the ruler of Central Tibet in the early 18th century, P'olhané.