Transmission: the enlightened wisdom of the Buddha was carried to Tibet by the great Indian master, Padmasambhava, or Guru Rinpoche, in the 8th Century. Renowned as a second Buddha, he tamed the savage local spirits and established the Vajrayana teachings in the Land of Snows. The Nyingma lineage, the oldest of the four major schools, traces its origin back to Padmasambhava—to the initial spreading of the Dharma in Tibet and the first translation of the Sanskrit scriptures into Tibetan. His close disciple, Yeshe Tsogyal, who attained a level of enlightenment equal to Guru Rinpoche himself, compiled his teachings and hid many around Tibet for future generations. In Part Two of its yearlong series on the Four Major Schools of Tibetan Buddhism, Bodhi is honored to present teachings on the history, view and meditation of the lineage of the “ancient ones” by some of the most venerable masters of this esteemed tradition.


LINEAGE

Aspiration Prayer
A Pranidhana for the Accomplishment of True Words
Jig me Ling pa

NYINGMA LINEAGE HISTORY

The Teachings of the Nyingma Lineage
Ringu Tulku Rinpoche
The KAGYU Nyingma, or Early Translation school, is said to come from three lineages: the Mind Transmission of the Enlightened Beings, the Symbolic Transmission of the Vidyadharas, and the Hearing Transmission of the Individuals.

Nyingma Lineage Charts

Pith Instructions
Profound Essential Points
H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Pith instructions of the Nyingma lineage: on how to relate to aspects of the guru.

Teachings

PADMASAMBHAVA

Introductory Teaching on Padmasambhava’s Advice to Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal
by Kyabje Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
Master Padma said: The welfare and happiness of all sentient beings result from the teachings of the Buddha. So study the tantras, scriptures, and sutras and listen to the words of the masters.

First of All
Padmasambhava
The Master Padmakara appeared in different forms with various kinds of attire….He orally taught the nine gradual vehicles and thus showed the view and conduct as a unity, descending with the view while ascending with the conduct.

Yeshe Tsogyal

Yeshe Tsogyal Supplication
The Fifteenth Karmapa Khakhyab Dorje

Yeshe Tsogyal: Buddhahood
By Gyalwa Changchub and Namkhai Nyingpo
She placed the seal of secrecy on her teachings and proceeded to open for her eleven disciples the mandala of Dzogchen Ati, giving them her last oral transmission: the hundred pith instructions, the heart of everything. And in that very instant, all her disciples attained liberation.

Samantabadra, the Buddha- body of Reality
H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche
Samantabhadra is the teacher in whom both samsara and nirvana are indivisible, the antecedent of all, who holds sway over existence and quiescence in their entirety, and who is the expanse of reality and the nucleus of the sugata.

A Brief Presentation of the Nine Yanas
Alak Zenkar Rinpoche Thubten Nyima
Our teacher, the fourth guide of this fortunate aeon, the incomparable lord of sages, Shakyamuni, gave infinite teachings as means to enter the Dharma of the causal and resultant vehicles, in accordance with the particular temperaments, spiritual faculties and attitudes of disciples.

Different Thoughts
Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
In the path of enlightenment, continuous mind becomes an aspect and quality of the power of wisdom. When continuous mind becomes indistinguishable from the emanation of complete, clear wisdom, it becomes its originally stainless purity.

The Melodious View of Trekchö
Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche
Our fear, anxiety, and other emotions are completely intertwined with mind’s awareness—and many practitioners do not realize that the on-going struggle to separate these tendencies from the true essence is unnecessary.

Space
Kyabje Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
Two basic principles in the innermost Dzogchen teachings are space and awareness, in Tibetan ying and rigpa. Ying is defined as unconstructed space devoid of concepts, while rigpa means the 'knowing of that basic space.

The Dawn of Utter Openness
The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
When we dismantle such fixations…there will dawn an experience of non-thought that is utter openness, or utter starkness, and we should rest within that experience with no reference point. Within that starkness, we relax at ease.

Devotion and Lineage - From the Womb of the Mother
Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche
As our natural appreciation grows, we begin to perceive the nature of the guru's mind and our own as inseparable. The student realizes that his or her own wisdom potential is inseparable from the teacher's, which comes from the same source as the wisdom of all the buddhas.


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