What
Does it Mean to Be a Terton?
It
is widely believed, especially within the Nyingma school of Tibetan
buddhism, that only few chosen ones can receive dharma teachings
mystically, non-physically, and be "dharma treasure revealers",
or tertons. I asked my good friend and student Karl Eikrem to write
down his initial account of receiving his first nonphysical teaching,
or terma as they are traditionally called. In this video he reads his
account (follow the link to read it) and then guides the actual
practice that he learned. At the end of the video I read a couple of
related quotes and expound the matter a bit more. I hope this sheds
light on this matter and makes people think a bit more open mindedly
about it all.
To
conclude I would like to present a quote from Kunzang Dechen Lingpa,
as stated by his close student Acharya Malcolm Smith:
”My
late teacher, an important terton, said if you want to be a terton,
the only real requirement is faith in Guru Rinpoche. If you
supplicate him strongly enough with genuine compassion for sentient
beings, then you might be able to reveal terma.”
Link
to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMbgSRNSBZw
