The Tibetan Terma Tradition
In his lecture “Gesar Terma in Tibet: The Contemporary Search for Buddhist Treasure Texts” given at Columbia University’s Weatherhead East Asia Institute (Nov. 20, 2006) Prof. Norbu Wangdan from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing explored the general features of the Terma tradition and contextualized it in contemporary Tibetan culture. The Terma revelation system is a fascinating and complex topic of research and much can be said about its origins, development, taxonomies, and its present-day legacy. Nevertheless, Prof. Wangdan gave an interesting overview of this tradition describing some of its basic characteristics. Additionally, drawing on fieldwork he carried out in eastern Tibet he presented groundbreaking ethnographic material on Terma revelation linked to the cult of King Gesar in Tibet.
The Terma (gter ma) Tradition is one of the distinctive features of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana). A method of textual production (both human and divine-authored) based on visionary experience and revelation, the Terma tradition stems back to imperial Tibet (7th to 9th c.) when religious kings such as Songtsen Gampo, Trisong Detsen and Tri Relpachen ruled the land and pioneered a Buddhist conversion of their subjects. Traditionally, Padmasambhava is considered by and large the creator of this tradition and the source of the Terma Treasures. An Indian Tantric master from Uddiyana (Swat), Padmasambhava, is believed to have transmitted Buddhist teachings and ritual instructions to his closest disciples in the 9th century, when, invited by the then King Trisong Detsen, he contributed to the diffusion of Buddhism in the land of snows. The Terma Treasures can be divided in two categories: material, or “earth Treasures” (sa gter), namely religious scrolls or books but also ritual implements that Padmasambhava and his disciples concealed in geographical locales; and “mind Treasures” (dgongs gter), which are teachings impressed in the natural state of the disciples’ minds that—when revealed—inspire written composition. Following Padmasambhava’s prophecy and aspiration that these Terma Treasures would re-appear in times of sociopolitical dislocation and spiritual degeneration to benefit the Buddhist Doctrine and Tibetans, Treasure revealers, known in Tibetan as “Tertön” (gter ston), have appeared since the 10th century. These religious figures claim to discover and retrieve material Terma Treasures from the material landscape of Tibet (i.e. earth and mountains), and to be able to reveal Padmasambhava’s Treasure teachings through the power of their enlightened minds. This tradition still survives today and Treasure revealers can be found predominantly in some regions of eastern Tibet.
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Among the major features of Terma revelation is the production of many textual teachings derived from a system of meditation called Dzogchen (Great Perfection); practices associated with the cult of Padmasambhava; and others related to the visualization of deities such as Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of compassion, Hayagriva, and Vajrayogini. King Gesar is also among the deities of the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon whose spiritual power is continually re-strengthened by Terma revelations.
Prof. Wangdan’s recent work has been with a young Treasure revealer (see photo) from the eastern Tibetan area of Golok (today Sichuan Province of the People’s Republic of China) whose material revelations are particularly focused on King Gesar. This mythological warrior king, who incarnates a Tibetan nationalistic spirit and the support of the imperial era, is still particularly popular in eastern Tibet where his cult is active and his epic adventures are told by storytellers and read by many people, lay and monastics alike. The video footage shared by Prof. Wangdan offers a rare opportunity to actually “see” a Treasure revealer in action at the moment he retrieves a sacred object from a rock and the dynamics—often dramatic—associated with the complex ritual.