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75-626: Terma can refer to: Terma (religion) , traditions of revelation in Tibetan Buddhism, Bön and the Greater Himalayan region "Terma" (The X-Files) , an episode of The X-Files Terma A/S , a Danish company Terma Foundation , American charity working in Tibet Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

150-415: A vision . "Pure visions" are pure teachings received from the vision of deities. These are not necessarily terma, because they do not require mindstream transmission from a guru to the practitioner experiencing the pure vision. The esoteric teachings resulting from pure vision are based on the tantras , and are sometimes considered as terma due to their merit. One of the most famous terma known throughout

225-506: A class of priests known as kushen ( sku gshen , “Priests of the Body”, i.e., the king's body). This religion was eventually marginalised with the coming of Buddhism and Buddhists wrote critiques and polemics of this religion, some of which survive in manuscripts found in Dunhuang (which refer to these practices as "Bon"). Likewise, Powers notes that early historical evidence indicates that

300-406: A negative, adversarial light, with derogatory stories about Bon appearing in a number of Buddhist histories. The Rimé movement within Tibetan Buddhism encouraged more ecumenical attitudes between Bonpos and Buddhists. Western scholars began to take Bon seriously as a religious tradition worthy of study in the 1960s, in large part inspired by the work of English scholar David Snellgrove . Following

375-413: A physical object such as a text or ritual implement that is buried in the ground, hidden in a rock or crystal, secreted in a herb, or a tree, hidden in water, or hidden in the sky or in space. Though a literal understanding of terma is "hidden treasure", and sometimes refers to objects that are hidden away, the teachings associated should be understood as being concealed within the mind of the guru—that is,

450-678: A self-conscious religious system under the influence of Buddhism". Followers of Bon, known as "Bonpos" (Wylie: bon po ), believe that the religion originated in a kingdom called Zhangzhung , located around Mount Kailash in the Himalayas . Bonpos hold that Bon was brought first to Zhangzhung, and then to Tibet. Bonpos identify the Buddha Shenrab Miwo (Wylie: gshen rab mi bo ) as Bon's founder, although no available sources establish this figure's historicity. Western scholars have posited several origins for Bon, and have used

525-684: A semi-mythical holy land in Bon (like Shambala ). Various dates are given for his birth date, one of which corresponds to 1917 BCE. Some Bon texts also state that Sakyamuni was a later manifestation of Tonpa Shenrab. Tonpa Shenrab is said to have been born to the Tazig royal family and to have eventually become the king of the realm. He is said to be the main Buddha of our era. He had numerous wives and children, constructed numerous temples and performed many rituals in order to spread Bon. Like Padmasambhava, he

600-415: A subject of debate. According to the modern scholar Geoffrey Samuel , while Bon is "essentially a variant of Tibetan Buddhism" with many resemblances to Nyingma , it also preserves some genuinely ancient pre-Buddhist elements. David Snellgrove likewise sees Bon as a form of Buddhism , albeit a heterodox kind. Similarly, John Powers writes that "historical evidence indicates that Bön only developed as

675-406: A tradition he dates from tenth and eleventh centuries CE, the tradition which developed into the modern Bon religion. Kvaerne identifies this tradition as "an unorthodox form of Buddhism," but other scholars such as Samten G. Karmay take seriously Bonpo narratives which define Bon as a separate tradition with an origin in the land of 'Olmo Lungring. The term Yungdrung Bon (Wylie: g.yung drung bon )

750-495: A trigger to help the tertön reach the subtle level of mind where the teaching has really been concealed. It is the tertön who actually composes and writes down the resulting text, and so may be considered its author. The earth-terma are physical objects—which may be either an actual text, or physical objects that trigger a recollection of the teaching. The mind-terma are constituted by space and are placed via guru -transmission, or realizations achieved in meditation which connect

825-406: A vast " cosmic egg ", from which a primordial being, Belchen Kékhö, was born. Little is known about the pre-Buddhist religion of ancient Tibet and scholars of Bon disagree on its nature. Some think that Bon evolved from Zoroastrianism and others say Kashmiri Buddhism. Bon may have referred to a kind of ritual, a type of priest, or a local religion. In ancient Tibet, there seem to have been

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900-454: Is a more recent development in the Bon tradition, which is closely related to both Eternal Bon and the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. It is centered on the figures of Drenpa Namkha , Tsewang Rigdzin and Padmasambhava , which in this school are considered to have transmitted and written commentaries on the works of Tonpa Shenrab in around the 8th century. According to Jean Luc Achard,

975-510: Is also held to have defeated and subjugated many demons through his magical feats, and like King Gesar , he is also believed to have led numerous campaigns against evil forces. Tonpa Shenrab is held to have visited the kingdom of Zhangzhung (an area in western Tibet around Mount Kailash ), where he found a people whose practice involved spiritual appeasement with animal sacrifice . He taught them to substitute offerings with symbolic animal forms made from barley flour. He only taught according to

1050-399: Is as follows: Dmitry Ermakov also adds an extra category which he terms "mixed Bon" and which he defines as: ...   a blend of these three types of Bön in different proportions, often with the addition of elements from other religions such as Hinduism, Taoism, Himalayan Tribal religions, Native Siberian belief systems etc. Mixed Bön would include Secular Bön or the civil religion of

1125-401: Is believed to have received the teaching from the transcendent deity Shenlha Okar in a pure realm before being reborn in the human realm with the purpose of teaching and liberating beings from the cycle of rebirth. He attained Buddhahood several hundred years before Sakyamuni Buddha , in a country west of Tibet, called Olmo Lungring or Tazig (Tasi), which is difficult to identify and acts as

1200-491: Is evidence of anti-Bon polemics. Some sources claim that a debate between Bonpos and Buddhists was held, and that a Tibetan king ruled Buddhism the winner, banishing Bon priests to border regions. However, Gorvine also mentions that in some cases, Bon priests and Buddhist monks would perform rituals together, and thus there was also some collaboration during the initial period of Buddhist dissemination in Tibet. Bon sources place

1275-449: Is good and virtuous. He created the sun and moon, and taught humans religion. These two forces remain in the world in an ongoing struggle of good and evil which is also fought in the heart of every person. Powers also writes that according to Bon scriptures, in the beginning, there was only emptiness , which is not a blank void but a pure potentiality. This produced five elements (earth, air, fire, water, and space) which came together into

1350-588: Is not unique to Tibet . It has antecedents in India and cultural resonances in Hindu Vaishnavism as well. The Vaishnava saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is said to have rediscovered a fragment of the Brahma Samhita in a trance state of devotional ecstasy . There is another occasion involving Chaitanya , who deposited his divine love ( prema ) for the great saint Narottama Dasa in

1425-662: Is one on the western outskirts of Kathmandu . Bon's leading monastery in India is the refounded Menri Monastery in Dolanji , Himachal Pradesh . Bonpos remained a stigmatised and marginalised group until 1979, when they sent representatives to Dharamshala and the 14th Dalai Lama , who advised the Parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration to accept Bon members. Before this recognition, during

1500-402: Is sealed as authentic. The tertön is required to realise the essence of the terma prior to formal transmission . In one sense, all terma may be considered mind-termas, since the teaching associated is always inserted in the essence of the mind of the practitioner; in other words the terma is always a direct transmission from the essence of the mind of the guru towards the essence of the mind of

1575-435: Is sometimes used to describe this tradition. "Yungdrung" refers to the left-facing swastika , a symbol which occupies in Bon a similar place as the vajra (Wylie: rdo rje ) in Tibetan Buddhism, symbolising indestructibility and eternity. Yungdrung Bon is a universal religion , although it is mainly limited to Tibetans, with some non-Tibetan converts. There is also a kind of local village priests which are common throughout

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1650-662: Is the Dzogchen master and translator Vairotsana , who according to some sources also translated Bon texts into Tibetan and also hid some Bon termas before leaving Tibet. While Yungdrung Bon and Nyingma originated in similar circles of pre-Sarma era ritual tantric practitioners, they adopted different approaches to legitimate their traditions. Nyingma looked back to the Tibetan Empire period, and Indian Buddhist figures like Padmasambhava. Bonpos meanwhile looked further back, to Tibet's pre-Buddhist heritage, to another Buddha who

1725-427: Is the indigenous Tibetan religion which shares many similarities and influences with Tibetan Buddhism . It initially developed in the tenth and eleventh centuries but retains elements from earlier Tibetan religious traditions . Bon is a significant minority religion in Tibet, especially in the east, as well as in the surrounding Himalayan regions . The relationship between Bon and Tibetan Buddhism has been

1800-646: The Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950, Bonpo scholars began to arrive in Europe and North America , encouraging interest in Bon in the West . Today, a proportion of Tibetans – both in Tibet and in the Tibetan diaspora – practise Bon, and there are Bonpo centers in cities around the world. Early Western studies of Bon relied heavily on Buddhist sources, and used the word to refer to the pre-Buddhist religion over which it

1875-515: The Nyingma lineage. Two of the most famous 20th-century tertöns, Jigdral Yeshe Dorje (2nd Dudjom Rinpoche) and Dilgo Khyentse , were Nyingmapa. Tertön are also prevalent in Bön traditions and a few tertön are Kagyupa . Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyal and principal students secreted away and hid religious texts , ritual objects, relics , et cetera, to be discovered when conditions were ripe for

1950-516: The Padma River in Bangladesh . When Narottama Dasa turned twelve years of age, he collected this treasure after a revelation in a dream. The central Mahayana figure Nagarjuna rediscovered the last part of the " Prajnaparamita Sutra in one hundred thousand verses" in the realm of nāga , where it had been kept since the time of Gautama Buddha . Tradition holds that terma may be

2025-525: The Pumi people are both believed to have originated from Bon. As noted by Dmitry Ermakov, "the word Bön is used to denote many diverse religious and cultural traditions." Bon sources acknowledge this and Bon authors like Shardza Rinpoche (1859–1935), Pelden Tsultrim (1902–1973) and Lopön Tenzin Namdak use a classification of three types of "Bon". Modern scholars also sometimes rely on this classification, which

2100-477: The Sipe D zop ’ug ) in which a creator deity, Trigyel Kugpa, also known as Shenlha Okar , creates two eggs, a dark egg and a light egg. According to Bon scriptures, in the beginning, these two forces, light and dark, created two persons. The black man, called Nyelwa Nakpo (“Black Suffering”), created the stars and all the demons, and is responsible for evil things like droughts. The white man, Öserden (“Radiant One”),

2175-733: The "Southern Treasure" ( Wylie : lho gter ). The Northern Treasure is compiled from texts revealed in Zhangzhung and northern Tibet, the Southern Treasure from texts revealed in Bhutan and the southern area of Tibet, and the Central Treasure from texts revealed in central Tibet close to Samye . A Cavern of Treasures ( Tibetan : མཛོད་ཕུག , Wylie : mdzod phug ) is a terma uncovered by Shenchen Luga ( Tibetan : གཤེན་ཆེན་ཀླུ་དགའ , Wylie : gshen chen klu dga' ) in

2250-612: The "short transmission" of terma. The foremost revealers of these terma were the Five Terton Kings and the Eight Lingpas. In the 19th century, the most famous three were the Khyen-Kong-Chok sum : Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo , Jamgon Kongtrul and Orgyen Chokgyur Lingpa . Terma has been relayed by nāga and the dakini —of the underworld and the heavens, respectively—and has also been hidden by teachers such as

2325-408: The Bon religion, but in all Tibetan sciences. More than three hundred Bon monasteries had been established in Tibet before Chinese occupation. Of these, Menri Monastery and Shurishing Yungdrung Dungdrakling Monastery were the two principal monastic universities for the study and practice of Bon. In 2019, scholars estimate that there were 400,000 Bon followers in the Tibetan plateau . When Tibet

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2400-702: The Fifth Dalai Lama, Bon was also officially recognised as a Tibetan religion. Bon suffered extensively during the Dzungar invasion of Tibet in 1717, when many Nyingmapas and Bonpos were executed. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Bon tradition (both New Bon and Eternal Bon lineages) flourished in Eastern Tibet, led by charismatic Bonpo lamas like bDe ch en gling pa, d Bal gter sTag s lag can (bsTan 'dzin dbang rgyal), gSang sngags gling pa, and Shardza Rinpoche. Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen (1859–1933)

2475-594: The Himalayan borderlands studied by Charles Ramble in his The Navel of Demoness, as well as Buryatian Bѳ Murgel, from the shores of Lake Baikal, the religion of the Nakhi in Yunnan, and so on. From the traditional point of view of the Bon religion, Bon was the original religion of Tibet and Zhangzhung which was taught there by various Buddhas, including Tonpa Shenrab (whose name means “Supreme Holy Man”). Tonpa Shenrab

2550-678: The Himalayas that are called "bon", "lhabon" or "aya" (and bombo in Nepal). These are not part of the Bon religion proper, but are lay ritual specialists, often on a part time basis. Samuel states that it is unclear if these "bon" priests go back to the ancient period or if the term developed after Yungdrung Bon. Furthermore, the Dongba (东巴) practices of the Nakhi people and the Hangui (韩规) religion of

2625-534: The New Bon movement begins in Eastern Tibet with the works of Tulku Loden Nyingpo (1360–1385), a terton who discovered the Zibji ( gzi brjid ), a famous Tonpa Shenrab biography. His reincarnation, Techen Mishik Dorje is also known for his terma revelations. The movement continued to develop, with new Bon terma texts being revealed well into the 18th century by influential tertons like Tulku Sangye Lingpa (b. 1705) and

2700-568: The Tibetan Buddhist tradition. With the translation of Bonpo histories into Western languages as well as increased engagement between Bonpos and Western scholars, a shift took place in Bon studies towards engaging more thoroughly Bonpos' own histories and self-identification, recognising Bon as an independent religious tradition worthy of academic study. The term Bon has been used to refer to several different phenomena. Drawing from Buddhist sources, early Western commentators on Bon used

2775-652: The Tibetan kings which had special tombs made for them. Robert Thurman describes at least one type of Bon as a "court religion" instituted "around 100 BCE" by King Pudegungyal, ninth king of the Yarlung dynasty , "perhaps derived from Iranian models", mixed with existing native traditions. It was focused on "the support of the divine legitimacy of an organized state", still relatively new in Tibet. Prominent features were "great sacrificial rituals", especially around royal coronations and burials, and "oracular rites derived from

2850-583: The arrival of new Buddhist traditions from India which had greater prestige, new ritual repertoires and the full backing of Indian Buddhist scholarship. Both Nyingmapas and Bonpos used the concept of the terma to develop and expand their traditions in competition with the Sarma schools and also to defend their school as being grounded in an authentic ancient tradition. Thus, Bonpo tertons (treasure finders) like Shenchen Luga and Meuton Gongdzad Ritrod Chenpo revealed important Bon termas. An interesting figure of this era

2925-666: The blame of the decline of Bon on two persecutions by two Tibetan kings, Drigum Tsenpo and the Buddhist King Tri Songdetsen (r. 740–797). They also state that at this time, Bon terma texts were concealed all over Tibet. Bon sources generally see the arrival of Buddhism in Tibet and the subsequent period of Buddhist religious dominance as a catastrophe for the true doctrine of Bon. They see this as having been caused by demonic forces. However, other more conciliatory sources also state that Tonpa Shenrab and Sakyamuni were cousins and that their teachings are essentially

3000-408: The circumstances in which the teaching will be re-accessed. Especially in the case of an earth-terma, this usually includes a description of locality, and may specify certain ritual tools or objects which are required to be present, and the identities of any assistants and consorts who are required to accompany or assist the tertön. Though somewhat contentious, the kind of revealed teaching embodied in

3075-946: The early eleventh century. Martin (n.d.: p. 21) identifies the importance of this scripture for studies of the Zhang-Zhung language : For students of Tibetan culture in general, the mDzod phug is one of the most intriguing of all Bon scriptures, since it is the only lengthy bilingual work in Zhang-zhung and Tibetan (some of the shorter but still significant sources for Zhang-zhung are signalled in Orofino 1990. [REDACTED] Media related to Tertöns at Wikimedia Commons Bon Bon or Bön ( Tibetan : བོན་ , Wylie : bon , ZYPY : Pön , Lhasa dialect : [pʰø̃̀] ), also known as Yungdrung Bon ( Tibetan : གཡུང་དྲུང་བོན་ , Wylie : gyung drung bon , ZYPY : Yungchung Pön , lit.   ' eternal Bon ' ),

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3150-584: The first Kundrol Drakpa (b. 1700). New Bon figures do not consider their revelations to be truly "new", in the sense that they do not see their revelations as being ultimately different from Yungdrung Bon. However, some followers of more orthodox Yundrung Bon lineages, like the Manri tradition, saw these termas as being influenced by Buddhism. Later New Bon figures like Shardza Rinpoche (1859–1934) responded to these critiques (see his Treasury of Good Sayings , legs bshad mdzod ). The work of these New Bon figures led to

3225-547: The flourishing of New Bon in Eastern Tibet. Some Tibetan tertons like Dorje Lingpa were known to have revealed New Bon termas as well as Nyingma termas. Lobsang Yeshe (1663–1737), recognised as the 5th Panchen Lama by the 5th Dalai Lama (1617–1682), was a member of the Dru family, an important Bon family. Samten Karmay sees this choice as a gesture of reconciliation with Bon by the Fifth Dalai Lama (who had previously converted some Bon monasteries to Gelug ones by force). Under

3300-650: The folk religion, especially magical possessions and healings that required the priests to exhibit shamanic powers". The king was symbolised by the mountain and the priest/shaman by the sky. The religion was "somewhere between the previous "primitive animism", and the much changed later types of Bon. According to David Snellgrove, the claim that Bon came from the West into Tibet is possible, since Buddhism had already been introduced to other areas surrounding Tibet (in Central Asia ) before its introduction into Tibet. As Powers writes, "since much of Central Asia at one time

3375-645: The great translator Longchenpa . Sometimes terma are discovered by a master and re-concealed for a later tertön to find. Fremantle writes that according to tradition: Termas are of two main kinds: earth treasures and intention, or mind, treasures. Teaching concealed as an intention treasure appears directly within the mind of the tertön in the form of sounds or letters to fulfill the enlightened intention of Padmakara . Earth treasures include not only texts, but also sacred images, ritual instruments, and medicinal substances, and they are found in many places: temples, monuments, statues, mountains, rocks, trees, lakes, and even

3450-513: The now traditional approach of practice in most Bon po monasteries." His tradition emphasises the importance of combining the study of sutra, tantra and Dzogchen. The most important Bon monastery is Menri monastery , which was built in 1405 in Tsang . Bon monks, like their Buddhist counterparts, study scripture, train in philosophical debate and perform rituals. However, Bon also has a strong tradition of lay yogis. "New Bon" ( bonsar , or sarma Bon)

3525-572: The orthodox Manri tradition of Eternal Bon, while also holding New Bon terma lineages. Shardza Rinpoche is also known to have had connections with the non-sectarian Buddhist lamas of the Rime movement and to have taught both Buddhists and Bonpos. Shardza Rinpoche had many disciples, including his nephew Lodro Gyatso (1915–1954) who led the lineage and Shardza's hermitage and college, after Shardza's passing. His disciple Kagya Khyungtrul Jigmey Namkha trained many practitioners to be learned in not only

3600-514: The period of decline under King Trisong Deutsen , and rediscovered around the 11th century. Teachings were hidden by masters such as Lishu Tagring and Drenpa Namkha , often inside Buddhist temples, as in Samye and Lhodrak . For the Bonpo, Gankyil denotes the three principal terma of Yungdrung Bon, the "Northern Treasure" ( Wylie : byang gter ), the "Central Treasure" ( Wylie : dbus gter ) and

3675-422: The persecutions against Bon, such as during the time of Trisong Detsen . Bon histories hold that some of Tonpa Shenrab's teachings were hidden away as termas and later re-discovered by Bon treasure revealers ( tertons ), the most important of which is Shenchen Luga (c. early 11th century). In the fourteenth century, Loden Nyingpo revealed a terma known as The Brilliance ( Wylie : gzi brjid ), which contained

3750-400: The practitioner directly with the essential content of the teaching in one simultaneous experience. Once this has occurred, the tertön holds the complete teaching in mind and is required by convention to transcribe the terma twice from memory (if of textual nature) in one uninterrupted session. The transcriptions are then compared, and if no discrepancy or inconsistency is evident the terma

3825-435: The renaissance period) and contains many similarities to Tibetan Buddhism. According to Samuel, the origins of modern Yungdrung Bon have much in common with that of the Nyingma school. Samuel traces both traditions to groups of "hereditary ritual practitioners" in Tibet which drew on Buddhist Tantra and "elements of earlier court and village-level ritual" during the 10th and 11th centuries. These figures were threatened by

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3900-473: The revelation of their contents. The hidden teachings also secured and protected Buddhism during the time of persecution under Langdarma . Some of these terma have been rediscovered and special terma lineages have been established throughout Tibet as a result. Out of this activity developed, especially within the Nyingma tradition, two ways of dharma transmission : the so-called "long oral transmission" from teacher to student in unbroken disciplic lineages, and

3975-462: The same. The most influential historical figure of this period is the Bon lama Drenpa Namkha . Buddhist sources mention this figure as well and there is little doubt he was a real historical figure. He is known for having ordained himself into Bon during a time when the religion was in decline and for having hidden away many Bon termas. Bon tradition holds that he was the father of another important figure, Tsewang Rigzin and some sources also claim he

4050-416: The sky. In the case of texts, they are not, as one might imagine, ordinary books that can be read straightaway. Occasionally, full-length texts are found, but they are usually fragmentary, sometimes consisting of only a word or two, and they are encoded in symbolic script, which may change mysteriously and often disappears completely once it has been transcribed. They are simply the material supports that act as

4125-474: The story of Tonpa Shenrab. He was not the first Bonpo tertön , but his terma became one of the definitive scriptures of Bon. Bon histories also discuss the lives of other important religious figures, such as the Zhangzhung Dzogchen master Tapihritsa . Bon myth also includes other elements which are more obviously pre-Buddhist. According to Samuel, Bonpo texts include a creation narrative (in

4200-492: The student's capability and thus he taught these people the lower vehicles to prepare them for the study of sutra , tantra and Dzogchen in later lives. It is only later in life that he became a celibate ascetic and it is during this time that he defeated his main enemy, the prince of the demons. After Tonpa Shenrab's paranirvana , his works were preserved in the language of Zhangzhung by ancient Bon siddhas. Most of these teachings were said to have been lost in Tibet after

4275-410: The systematised Bön religion. Hoffmann's study was foundational for Western understandings of Bon, but was challenged by a later generation of scholars influenced by David Snellgrove, who collaborated with Bonpo masters and translated Bonpo canonical texts. These scholars tended to view Bon as a heterodox form of Buddhism, transmitted separately from the two transmissions from India to Tibet that formed

4350-484: The term "Bon" in many ways. A distinction is sometimes made between an ancient Bon ( Wylie : bon rnying ), dating back to the pre-dynastic era before 618 CE; a classical Bon tradition (also called Yungdrung Bon – Wylie : g.yung drung bon ) which emerged in the 10th and 11th centuries; and "New Bon" or Bon Sar ( Wylie : bon gsar ), a late syncretic movement dating back to the 14th century and active in eastern Tibet. Tibetan Buddhist scholarship tends to cast Bon in

4425-415: The term "bon" originally referred to a type of priest who conducted various ceremonies, including priests of the Yarlung kings. Their rituals included propitiating local spirits and guiding the dead through ceremonies to ensure a good afterlife. Their rituals may have involved animal sacrifice, making offerings with food and drink, and burying the dead with precious jewels. The most elaborate rituals involved

4500-500: The term for the pre-Buddhist religious practices of Tibet. These include folk religious practices, cults surrounding royalty , and divination practices. However, scholars have debated whether the term Bon should be used for all of these practices, and what their relationship is to the modern Bon religion. In an influential article, R. A. Stein used the term "the nameless religion" to refer to folk religious practices, distinguishing them from Bon. Per Kvaerne uses Bon solely to refer to

4575-734: The terma system is based in solid Mahayana Buddhist traditions. The example of Nagarjuna is often cited; the Prajnaparamita teachings are traditionally said to have been conferred on Nagarjuna by the King of the nāgas , who had been guarding them at the bottom of a lake. Similarly, the Six Treatises of Asanga are considered to have been conferred on him by the Buddha Maitreya , whom he visited in Tushita heaven during

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4650-400: The tertön himself has to practice them for many years. In this way, one may see the tradition of terma and tertön as analogous to that of inspiration and providing a legitimate cultural forum to ensure continuation of tantric tradition, and ensure Tibetan Buddhism 's and Bön 's continued relevancy in an evolving world. The terma tradition is particularly prevalent in, and significant to,

4725-409: The tertön. The terma may also be held in the mind of the tertön and realised in a future incarnation at a beneficent time. A vision of a syllable or symbol may leaven the realisation of the latent terma in the mind of the tertön. The process of hiding in the mind implies that the practitioner is to gain realisation in that life. At the time of terma concealment, a prophecy is generally made concerning

4800-695: The thirty-fourth Abbot of Menri Monastery (destroyed in the Cultural Revolution , but now rebuilt), who now presides over Pal Shen-ten Menri Ling in Dolanji in Himachal Pradesh , India. The 33rd lineage holder of Menri Monastery , Menri Trizin Lungtog Tenpei Nyima and Lopön Tenzin Namdak are important current lineage holders of Bon. A number of Bon establishments also exist in Nepal ; Triten Norbutse Bonpo Monastery

4875-498: The title Terma . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Terma&oldid=1127406126 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Terma (religion) The terma tradition of rediscovering hidden teaching

4950-468: The true place of concealment is in the tertön's nature or essence of mind. If the concealed or encoded teaching or object is a text, it is often written in dakini script, a non-human type of code or writing that only a tertön can decipher. Fremantle states: ...termas are not always made public right away. The conditions may not be right; people may not yet be ready for them; and further instructions may need to be revealed to clarify their meaning. Often,

5025-804: The world is the Bardo Thodol ( Tibetan : བར་དོ་ཐོས་གྲོལ་ , Wylie : bar do thos grol ; "Liberation by Hearing in the State of Bardo "). It is popularly (but incorrectly) known as the Tibetan Book of the Dead . As a set of funerary texts and practices, it had a very specialized utility, and was revealed by Karma Lingpa , who also revealed the Zhitro teachings. Among other terma cycles are: A terma tradition also exists in Bön. Most Bön termas were hidden during

5100-420: Was Buddhist , it is very plausible that a form of Buddhism could have been transmitted to western Tibet prior to the arrival of Buddhist missionaries in the central provinces. Once established, it might then have absorbed elements of the local folk religion, eventually developing into a distinctive system incorporating features of Central Asian Buddhism and Tibetan folk religion." According to Powers, ancient Bon

5175-603: Was a particularly important Bon master of this era, whose collected writings comprise up to eighteen volumes (or sometimes twenty). According to William M. Gorvine, this figure is "the Bon religion's most renowned and influential luminary of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries." He was associated with the orthodox Eternal Bon Manri monastery tradition as well as with New Bon figures like the 5th and 6th Kun grol incarnations, gSang sngags gling pa (b. 1864) and bDe chen gling pa (1833–1893) as well as with dBal bon sTag lag ca n, bsTan ' d zin dbang rgyal (b. 1832). These figures maintained

5250-714: Was also during this era of Bonpo renewal that the Bon Kanjur and Tenjur were compiled. Just like all forms of Tibetan Buddhism, Yungdrung Bon eventually developed a monastic tradition, with celibate monks living in various monasteries. Bon monks are called trangsong , a term that translates the Sanskrit rishi (seer, or sage). A key figure in the establishment of Bon monasticism was Nyamme Sherab Gyaltsen (mNyam med Shes rab rgyal mtshan, c. 1356–1415). According to Jean Luc Achard, "his insistence on Madhyamaka , logic, gradual path ( lamrim ) and philosophical studies has modeled

5325-400: Was closely associated with the royal cult of the kings during the early Tibetan Empire period and they performed "ceremonies to ensure the well-being of the country, guard against evil, protect the king, and enlist the help of spirits in Tibet's military ventures." As Buddhism began to become a more important part of Tibet's religious life, ancient Bon and Buddhism came into conflict and there

5400-581: Was invaded by the People's Republic of China , there were approximately 300 Bon monasteries in Tibet and the rest of western China . Bon suffered the same fate as Tibetan Buddhism did during the Chinese Cultural revolution , though their monasteries were allowed to rebuild after 1980. The present spiritual head of the Bon is Menri Trizin Rinpoché , successor of Lungtok Tenpai Nyima (1929–2017),

5475-530: Was said to have lived before Sakyamuni, as well as to other masters from the kingdom of Zhangzhung. The main Bonpo figures of the Tibetan renaissance period were tertons (treasure revealers) who are said to have discovered Bon texts that had been hidden away during the era of persecution. These figures include Shenchen Luga (gShen chen Klu dga'), Khutsa Dawo (Khu tsha zla 'od, b. 1024), Gyermi Nyi O (Gyer mi nyi 'od), and Zhoton Ngodrup (bZhod ston d Ngos grub, c. 12th century). Most of these figures were also laymen. It

5550-450: Was the father of Padmasambhava , which is unlikely as the great majority of sources say Padmasambhava was born in Swat, Pakistan . A great cult developed around Drenpa Namkha and there is a vast literature about this figure. Yungdrung Bon (Eternal Bon) is a living tradition that developed in Tibet in the 10th and 11th centuries during the later dissemination of Buddhism (sometimes called

5625-399: Was thought Buddhism triumphed. Helmut Hoffmann's 1950 study of Bon characterised this religion as "animism" and "shamanism"; these characterisations have been controversial. Hoffmann contrasted this animistic-shamanistic folk religion with the organised priesthood of Bonpos which developed later, Shaivism , Buddhist tantras . Hoffman also argued that Gnosticism from the West influenced

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