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Nyingma (Tibetan: རྙིང་མ་, Wylie: rnying ma, Lhasa dialect: [ɲ̟iŋ˥˥.ma˥˥], lit. 'old school') can be referred to as Ngangyur (Tibetan: སྔ་འགྱུར་རྙིང་མ།, Wylie: snga 'gyur rnying ma, Lhasa dialect: [ŋa˥˥.ʈ͡ʂuɹ], lit. 'order of the ancient translations'), is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism.[1] The Nyingma school was founded by Padmasambhava[2] as the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Pali and Sanskrit into Tibetan occurred in the eighth century.[1] The establishment of the 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 Three: Khenpo, Lopon, Chosgyal).[3]
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.[4] The three primary founding figures of Tibetan Buddhism include Khenpo Shantarakshita, Lopon Padmasambhava, and Chopon Trisong Detsen, collectively referred to as Khen Lo Cho.[2] Yeshe Tsogyal recorded the teachings, and many great masters from the founding period include Vimalamitra, Vairotsana, and Buddhaguhya among others.[5] The Nyingma tradition was physically founded at Samye, the first monastery in Tibet.[2][6] Nyingma teachings are also known for having been passed down through networks of lay practitioners, and of Ngakmapas (Skt. mantrī).[7]
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.[8] 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.[9]
The most influential Nyingma scholar yogi of the Great Perfection is Longchenpa (1308–1364), and his voluminous works mark a turning point in the scholastic systematization and refinement of the Nyingma Dzogchen system.[10]
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.[11] 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.[12]
- ^ a b Powers 2007, p. 367.
- ^ a b c Claude Arpi, A Glimpse of the History of Tibet, Dharamsala: Tibet Museum, 2013.
- ^ Sarnath International Nyingma Institute, "Khen Lop Chos Sum", 2013.
- ^ Powers 2007, pp. 367–369.
- ^ Powers 2007, pp. 367–368, 371.
- ^ Powers 2007, pp. 367–368.
- ^ Sherpa 2008, p. [page needed].
- ^ Powers 2007, p. 375.
- ^ Powers 2007, pp. 383–85.
- ^ Germano 1994, p. 301.
- ^ Powers 2007, pp. 375–380.
- ^ Powers 2007, p. 383.