Nyingma Gyubum
Encyclopedia
'Nyingma Gyubum' is the 'Collected Tantras of the Ancients', that is the Mahayoga
, Anuyoga
and Atiyoga Tantras of the Nyingma
.
and Tengyur
by the Sarma traditions which for the most part excluded Nyingma literatures. Davidson (2005: p. 225) opines that the first edition of the Nyingma Gyubum began formation by the twelfth century with certain texts drawn from the Terma
literature.
texts of the Space Class and they are collected in the Nyingma Gyubum.
Harunaga & Almogi (July, 2009) hold that there are at minimum seven extant versions of the Nyingma Gyubum of different sizes, ranging from 26 to 46 volumes in length.
Ratna Lingpa (1403–1471) was important in the compilation of the Nyingma Gyubum's first evocation and Jikme Lingpa (1729–1798) built upon this compilation and it was published with the impetus of Getse Mahapandita
(1761–1829), one of Jigme Lingpa's disciples, through patronage of the royal house of Degé.
Further to this, Rigpa Shedra (2009) hold that the Nyingma Gyubum:
Jigme Lingpa gathered Nyingma
texts that had become rare, starting with Nyingma
tantras held in the manuscript collection of the Mindrolling Monastery. This collection of the Nyingma tantras led to the amassing of the 'Collection of Nyingma Tantras', the Nyingma Gyübum
(Wylie: rNying-ma rgyud-' bum) for which Getse Mahapandita wrote the catalogue, proofread and arranged for its printing by soliciting the expensive and labour intensive project of carving the wood blocks for the block printing. The wood block carving was forded through the patronage of the 'Degé' (Wylie: sDe-dge) Royal Family of Kham
who favoured and honoured Jigme Lingpa. Getse Mahapandita proof read the Nyingma Gyübum.
.
An admirable pioneering catalogue of this collection, including all titles, chapters and colophons, was made by Kaneko in Japan. Some years later, this was usefully rendered into a digital version by THDL.
Anthony Hanson-Barber provided the first title and colophons catalog of this collection. His work was then expanded into a fuller catalog including chapter headings by the THDL team.
Importantly, the Kunjed Gyalpo is the first text in the Tsamdrak edition of the Nyingma Gyubum.
traditions into the Himalaya and Greater Tibet in general, the Guhyagarbha Tantra
of the Mahayoga
class of literature "represents the most normative vision of what constitutes a tantra for these Nyingma lineages". Indigenous Tibetan exegetical works discuss what constitutes a 'tantra' in an enumeration of ten or eleven "practical principles of tantra" understood as defining the distinctive features of mainstream tantric systems as understood and envisioned at that point in time:
. In 1996 at the University of Leiden, Mayer completed the first PhD that was specifically on the rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum and its different editions. In his thesis he established for the first time the various branches of transmission of the rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum by stemmatic analysis. These three branches he identified as the East Tibetan, the Bhutanese, and the South Central Tibetan (which subdivides into two sub-branches). This remains the standard method to categorise the various rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum editions, since all editions subsequently discovered have been found to fall within one or another of these lines of transmission. Mayer's PhD also identified the first irrefutable proof of the sources of Mahāyoga texts, and reviewed what was then known of the rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum's history. Germano's earlier work was further appended with Germano (2000) specifically related to the Nyingma Gyubum. Cantwell, Mayer and Fischer (2002) in association with the British Library documented the Rig 'dzin Tshe dbang nor bu Edition of the Nyingma Gyubum. Cantwell and Mayer subsequently published their third monograph on the rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum, discussing its history and its various editions and providing critical editions of two sample texts: "The Kīlaya Nirvāṇa Tantra and the Vajra Wrath Tantra: Two Texts from the Ancient Tantra Collection". Vienna, 2006. Derbac (2007) tendered an MA thesis on the Nyingma Gyubum as a whole. In 2008, Mayer and Cantwell published their fourth monograph relating to the rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum, in which they showed that virtually all Dunhuang text on Phur pa subsequently reappeared within various parts of the rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum, thus proving that the rNying ma tantric materials are definitely contemporaneous with or older than the Dunhuang texts. As of 2010, they are still at Oxford University and completing their fifth volume on the rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum. As well as the monographs, they have also produced catalogues and many journal articles and conference papers on the rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum.
In saying this, Derbac is agreeing on the one hand with emic [traditional] scholarship, which frankly celebrates the major role of the famous editors such as Ratna Lingpa and Jigme Lingpa in compiling catalogues for the rNying ma'i rgyud 'bum. In addition, he is also confirming the conclusions of earlier scholarship, such as [1] Mayer's Leiden PhD thesis of 1996, which was later published as a book 'The Phur pa bcu gnyis: A Scripture from the Ancient Tantra Collection' [2] the conclusions of David Germano's THDL collection in the early 2000's, and [3] Cantwell and Mayer's book 'The Kīlaya Nirvāṇa Tantra and the Vajra Wrath Tantra: Two texts from the Ancient Tantra Collection', published in 2006 by the Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna.
Derbac cites all the above three sources, as well as others of the works by Mayer and Cantwell on the rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum.
Mahayoga
Mahayoga is the designation of the first of the three Inner Tantras according to the ninefold division of practice used by the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism....
, Anuyoga
Anuyoga
Anuyoga is the designation of the second of the three Inner Tantras according to the ninefold division of practice used by the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism...
and Atiyoga Tantras of the Nyingma
Nyingma
The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as Nga'gyur or the "old school" because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, in the eighth century...
.
Canonization
The Nyingma Gyubum of the Nyingma was a dependent arising resulting from the 'normalization' of the KangyurKangyur
The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a loosely defined list of sacred texts recognized by various schools of Tibetan Buddhism, made up of the Kangyur or Kanjur and the Tengyur or Tanjur .-The Tibetan Buddhist Canon:In addition to earlier foundational Buddhist texts from early Buddhist schools, mostly...
and Tengyur
Tengyur
The Tengyur or Tanjur is the Tibetan collection of commentaries to the Buddhist teachings, or "Translated Treatises"...
by the Sarma traditions which for the most part excluded Nyingma literatures. Davidson (2005: p. 225) opines that the first edition of the Nyingma Gyubum began formation by the twelfth century with certain texts drawn from the Terma
Terma (Buddhism)
Terma are key Tibetan Buddhist and Bön teachings, which the tradition holds were originally esoterically hidden by various adepts such as Padmasambhava and his consorts in the 8th century for future discovery at auspicious times by other adepts, known as tertöns. As such, they represent a...
literature.
Space Class
According to Thondup & Talbott (1997: p. 48) there are only seven extantExtant literature
Extant literature refers to texts that have survived from the past to the present time. Extant literature can be divided into extant original manuscripts, copies of original manuscripts, quotations and paraphrases of passages of non-extant texts contained in other works, translations of non-extant...
texts of the Space Class and they are collected in the Nyingma Gyubum.
Extant versions
Cantwell and Mayer have since 1996 published four monographs on the rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum, and have critically edited a number of its texts. Their work has established that the nine easily available extant versions fall into three distinct lines of descent. Thus the four Bhutanese versions of Tshamdrag, Gangteng-A, Gangteng-B and Drametse form one line of descent, all from a Lhalung original. The Rigzin, Tingkye, Kathmandu and Nubri versions all hail from a common ancestor in South Central Tibet, but Kathmandu and Nubri are of a slightly different sub-branch to the Tingkye and Rigzin. Dege is unique unto itself.Harunaga & Almogi (July, 2009) hold that there are at minimum seven extant versions of the Nyingma Gyubum of different sizes, ranging from 26 to 46 volumes in length.
Degé (Wylie: sde dge) Edition
The tertonTertön
A tertön is a discoverer of ancient texts or "terma". Many tertöns are considered incarnations of the 25 main disciples of Padmasambhava. A vast system of transmission lineages developed...
Ratna Lingpa (1403–1471) was important in the compilation of the Nyingma Gyubum's first evocation and Jikme Lingpa (1729–1798) built upon this compilation and it was published with the impetus of Getse Mahapandita
Getse Mahapandita
Getse Mahapandita was an important Nyingma scholar affiliated with Kathok Monastery. Getse Mahapandita was instrumental in arranging the block printing of the 'Collection of Nyingma Tantras' gathered by Jigme Lingpa, and for which Getse Mahapandita wrote the catalogue...
(1761–1829), one of Jigme Lingpa's disciples, through patronage of the royal house of Degé.
Further to this, Rigpa Shedra (2009) hold that the Nyingma Gyubum:
"...was first compiled by the great tertön Ratna Lingpa after similar compilations of texts made in the 14th century, such as the Kangyur and the Tengyur, had omitted many of the Nyingma tantras. It was first published towards the end of the 18th century under the guidance of the Omniscient Jikmé Lingpa, in Derge, thanks to the patronage of the regent queen Tsewang Lhamo."
Jigme Lingpa gathered Nyingma
Nyingma
The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as Nga'gyur or the "old school" because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, in the eighth century...
texts that had become rare, starting with Nyingma
Nyingma
The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as Nga'gyur or the "old school" because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, in the eighth century...
tantras held in the manuscript collection of the Mindrolling Monastery. This collection of the Nyingma tantras led to the amassing of the 'Collection of Nyingma Tantras', the Nyingma Gyübum
Nyingma Gyubum
'Nyingma Gyubum' is the 'Collected Tantras of the Ancients', that is the Mahayoga, Anuyoga and Atiyoga Tantras of the Nyingma.-Canonization:The Nyingma Gyubum of the Nyingma was a dependent arising resulting from the 'normalization' of the Kangyur and Tengyur by the Sarma traditions which for the...
(Wylie: rNying-ma rgyud-
Kham
Kham , is a historical region covering a land area largely divided between present-day Tibetan Autonomous Region and Sichuan province, with smaller portions located within Qinghai, Gansu and Yunnan provinces of China. During the Republic of China's rule over mainland China , most of the region was...
who favoured and honoured Jigme Lingpa. Getse Mahapandita proof read the Nyingma Gyübum.
Collected Tantras of Vairochana (Wylie: bai ro’i rgyud ’bum)
The 'Collected Tantras of Vairochana' is collection of ancient tantras and esoteric instructions compiled and translated by the eighth century Tibetan master VairochanaVairotsana
This article is about the Tibetan translator. For the primordial Buddha Vairocana, please see VairocanaVairotsana of 'Pagor' was a Tibetan translator living during the reign of King Trisong Detsen...
.
Tingkyé (Wylie: gting skyes) Edition
- In late last century, Dil mgo mkhyen brtse rin po che (顶果钦哲仁波切) (1910–1991) discover more manuscripts in BhutanBhutanBhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
, 46 boxes in Mtshams brag monastery (禅扎寺) and 36 boxes in Gting skyes monastery (定切寺). This version is more complete. The texts were published by The National Library of Bhutan (不丹皇家政府国家图书馆) in 1982.
An admirable pioneering catalogue of this collection, including all titles, chapters and colophons, was made by Kaneko in Japan. Some years later, this was usefully rendered into a digital version by THDL.
Tsamdrak (Wylie: mtshams brag) Edition
Anthony Hanson-Barber provided the first title and colophons catalog of this collection. His work was then expanded into a fuller catalog including chapter headings by the THDL team.
Importantly, the Kunjed Gyalpo is the first text in the Tsamdrak edition of the Nyingma Gyubum.
Catalog of the Master Edition
Though not a true extant edition, the THL Tibetan Literary Encyclopedia under the directive of Germano has distilled a Master Edition taking the abovementioned editions into account.Rig 'dzin Tshe dbang nor bu Edition
Cantwell, Mayer and Fischer (2002) in association with their partnerships document the Rig 'dzin Tshe dbang nor bu Edition of the Nyingma Gyubum.'Gangteng' (Wylie: sgang steng) Edition
Cantwell, Mayer, Kowalewski & Achard (2006) have published a catalogue in English of this edition of the Nyingma Gyubum.What constitutes a tantra according to the Nyingma?
Early in the naturalization and acclimatization of Indian and Chinese tantric Buddhadharma and siddhaSiddha
A Siddha सिद्ध in Sanskrit means "one who is accomplished" and refers to perfected masters who, according to Hindu belief, have transcended the ahamkara , have subdued their minds to be subservient to their Awareness, and have transformed their bodies into a different kind of body dominated by...
traditions into the Himalaya and Greater Tibet in general, the Guhyagarbha Tantra
Guhyagarbha tantra
The Guhyagarbha Tantra is the main tantra of the Mahayoga class and the primary Tantric text studied in the Nyingma tradition as a key to understanding empowerment, samaya, mantras, mandalas and other Vajrayana topics....
of the Mahayoga
Mahayoga
Mahayoga is the designation of the first of the three Inner Tantras according to the ninefold division of practice used by the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism....
class of literature "represents the most normative vision of what constitutes a tantra for these Nyingma lineages". Indigenous Tibetan exegetical works discuss what constitutes a 'tantra' in an enumeration of ten or eleven "practical principles of tantra" understood as defining the distinctive features of mainstream tantric systems as understood and envisioned at that point in time:
- 'A viewView (Buddhism)View or position is a central idea in Buddhism. In Buddhist thought, in contrast with the commonsense understanding, a view is not a simple, abstract collection of propositions, but a charged interpretation of experience which intensely shapes and affects thought, sensation, and action...
of the real' - 'determinate conductBuddhist ethicsEthics in Buddhism are traditionally based on what Buddhists view as the enlightened perspective of the Buddha, or other enlightened beings who followed him. Moral instructions are included in Buddhist scriptures or handed down through tradition...
' - 'mandalaMandalaMaṇḍala is a Sanskrit word that means "circle". In the Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions their sacred art often takes a mandala form. The basic form of most Hindu and Buddhist mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point...
array' - 'successive gradation of empowermentEmpowerment (Tibetan Buddhism)An empowerment is a ritual in Tibetan Buddhism which initiates a student into a particular tantric deity practice. The Tibetan word for this is wang , which literally translates to power. The Sanskrit term for this is abhiseka which literally translates to sprinkling or bathing or anointing...
' - 'commitmentSamayaThe samaya , is a set of vows or precepts given to initiates of an esoteric Vajrayana Buddhist order as part of the abhiṣeka ceremony that creates a bond between the guru and disciple.According Keown, et al., Samaya may be defined as:*A particular system of teaching or...
which is not transgressed' - 'enlightened activity which is displayed'
- 'fulfillment of aspiration'
- 'offeringsOffering (Buddhism)In Buddhism, symbolic offerings are made to the Triple Gem, giving rise to contemplative gratitude and inspiration. Typical material offerings involve simple objects such as a lit candle or oil lamp, burning incense, flowers, food, fruit, water or drinks....
which brings the goal to fruition' - 'unwavering contemplationSamadhiSamadhi in Hinduism, Buddhism,Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools is a higher level of concentrated meditation, or dhyāna. In the yoga tradition, it is the eighth and final limb identified in the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali....
' , and - 'mantraMantraA mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
recitation' accompanied by 'the sealMudraA mudrā is a symbolic or ritual gesture in Hinduism and Buddhism. While some mudrās involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers...
which binds the practitioner to realization' .
Timeline of salient scholarship
Germano (1992) discussed the Atiyoga tantras in his thesis. Ehrhard (1995) documents the discovery of manuscripts of the Nyingma Gyubum from NepalNepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
. In 1996 at the University of Leiden, Mayer completed the first PhD that was specifically on the rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum and its different editions. In his thesis he established for the first time the various branches of transmission of the rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum by stemmatic analysis. These three branches he identified as the East Tibetan, the Bhutanese, and the South Central Tibetan (which subdivides into two sub-branches). This remains the standard method to categorise the various rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum editions, since all editions subsequently discovered have been found to fall within one or another of these lines of transmission. Mayer's PhD also identified the first irrefutable proof of the sources of Mahāyoga texts, and reviewed what was then known of the rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum's history. Germano's earlier work was further appended with Germano (2000) specifically related to the Nyingma Gyubum. Cantwell, Mayer and Fischer (2002) in association with the British Library documented the Rig 'dzin Tshe dbang nor bu Edition of the Nyingma Gyubum. Cantwell and Mayer subsequently published their third monograph on the rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum, discussing its history and its various editions and providing critical editions of two sample texts: "The Kīlaya Nirvāṇa Tantra and the Vajra Wrath Tantra: Two Texts from the Ancient Tantra Collection". Vienna, 2006. Derbac (2007) tendered an MA thesis on the Nyingma Gyubum as a whole. In 2008, Mayer and Cantwell published their fourth monograph relating to the rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum, in which they showed that virtually all Dunhuang text on Phur pa subsequently reappeared within various parts of the rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum, thus proving that the rNying ma tantric materials are definitely contemporaneous with or older than the Dunhuang texts. As of 2010, they are still at Oxford University and completing their fifth volume on the rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum. As well as the monographs, they have also produced catalogues and many journal articles and conference papers on the rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum.
Etic discourse and narrative
In his MA thesis for the University of Alberta, in the terrain of scholarly etic discourse of the manifold Nyingma Gyubum editions, Derbac (2007: p. 2) proffers:"...that the major editors of the various rNying ma'i rgyud 'bum editions played a far greater role in emending colophons, catalogues, and editions than scholars have previously assumed."
In saying this, Derbac is agreeing on the one hand with emic [traditional] scholarship, which frankly celebrates the major role of the famous editors such as Ratna Lingpa and Jigme Lingpa in compiling catalogues for the rNying ma'i rgyud 'bum. In addition, he is also confirming the conclusions of earlier scholarship, such as [1] Mayer's Leiden PhD thesis of 1996, which was later published as a book 'The Phur pa bcu gnyis: A Scripture from the Ancient Tantra Collection' [2] the conclusions of David Germano's THDL collection in the early 2000's, and [3] Cantwell and Mayer's book 'The Kīlaya Nirvāṇa Tantra and the Vajra Wrath Tantra: Two texts from the Ancient Tantra Collection', published in 2006 by the Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna.
Derbac cites all the above three sources, as well as others of the works by Mayer and Cantwell on the rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum.
Primary resources
- http://www.tbrc.org/kb/tbrc-detail-outline.xq;jsessionid=EE6E9B31850717C30F73488694721AA9?RID=O1CT1003&wylie=nTBRC has graciously made available freely online in PDF pecha format the largest known version of the Nyingma Gyubum. The manuscripts from which this collection were printed were found at the monastery of Tsamdrag in western Bhutan and comprises 46 volumes. This version was published in 1982 by The National Library, Royal Government of Bhutan, Thimphu. It is held to have been calligraphed c18th century. The Outline was created by David Germano of the Tibetan Himalayan Digital Library.]