Hidden for the Sake of Future Generations

Pema Dragpa May 16, 2018

“Many of the Vajrayana teachings of Guru Padmasambhava were hidden in various parts of Tibet for the sake of future generations. These hidden treasures are called terma in Tibetan, and the people who reveal them are called tertons. The terma treasures include texts and ritual objects that were hidden by Guru Padmasambhava and Lady Yeshe Tsogyal in Tibet in the eighth century. Yeshe Tsogyal, one of Padmasambhava’s nine heart students, attained enlightenment in one lifetime. Yeshe Tsogyal left signs of her accomplishment, such as writing verses in solid rock with her finger.

The terma teachings were written down mainly by Yeshe Tsogyal, as well as a few others teachers, as instructed by Guru Padmasambhava, for the sake of future generations who would be living in different situations. They were hidden throughout Tibet, many of them in inaccessible locations, such as inside rock mountains and under the water of lakes and rivers. They were placed there by masters like Yeshe Tsogyal, who did so by the power of her realization. In most cases, she did not actually travel to those places, but she hid them through the power of her mind.

The terma can be retrieved only through the meditative power of the tertons. There are 108 great tertons and one thousand lesser tertons in the Nyingma lineage. The tertons are very special and powerful people, who often have special dreams, even as children, in which they receive blessings and teachings directly from Guru Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyal.”

Venerable Khenpo Rinpoches
The Buddhist Path