Termas

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Termas are key Tibetan Buddhist teachings, many of which were hidden by Padmasambhava around the Tibetan region for future discovery at auspicious times. As such, they represent the only tradition of continuing revelation in Buddhism. The tradition is particularly prevalent in the Nyingma tradition.

Termas can be either of the "earth" or "mind". The former are physical objects -- which may be either an actual text, or physical objects that trigger a recollection of the teaching. The "mind" termas are states of mind discovered in meditation which connect the practitioner directly with the essential content of the teaching in one simultaneous experience. Once this has occurred, the tertön or discoverer of the terma then holds the whole teaching in his mind and is hopefully able to write it down at some future point, and transmit it. In this way, one can see the tradition of termas and tertöns as analogous to that of inspiration.

Really all termas are to be considered as mind-termas; the teaching is always "hidden in the mind" of the student, to be rediscovered in a future incarnation. The process of hiding implies that the student must gain realisation in that life. At the time of hiding, a prophecy is made concerning the circumstances in which the teaching will be rediscovered. Especially in the case of an earth-terma, this often includes a description of a place, may specify certain ritual objects that must be present, and the identities of any assistants and consorts that must accompany the terton.

It is said that earth-termas may be buried in the ground, hidden in a rock or a tree, or hidden in a lake, or hidden in the sky. If the concealed object is a text, it is often written in dakini script - a non-human type of writing. As the terton studies such a text, it is said that sometimes the text changes, sometimes the meaning changes, and sometimes both the text and the meaning change. The terton must continue to study until the meaning is completely stable, and then he must practice the teaching until he gains the realisation it embodies; only then can he write it down or transmit it.

The most famous terma is the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

References

Tulku Thondup Rimpoche: Hidden Teachings of Tibet, ISBN 0-86171-041