Nyingma
Nyingma (rNying ma) — “the ancient ones” — is the Old Translation tradition of Vajrayana Buddhism, established in the ninth century by Padmasambhava and Yeshé Tsogyel. It is the oldest of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism and the tradition within which Dzogchen is carried and transmitted.
Key Points
- Old Translation refers to the body of tantras translated into Tibetan before the reforms of the eleventh century; the later schools (Sakya, Kagyüd, Gelug) are “new translation” (sarma) schools.
- Founders: Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) and Yeshé Tsogyel are the first human teachers of the Tantric Buddhism that became Nyingma.
- Dzogchen is the pinnacle of Nyingma’s nine-yana doctrinal arrangement; for Dzogchen specifically, Garab Dorje is held as the first human teacher.
- Ngakpa lineage: Nyingma carries both monastic and non-monastic tantric ordinations. The ngakpa (male) / ngakma (female) lineage — white-and-red-robed, long-haired, often householder — transmits Vajrayana and Dzogchen outside the gelong monastic form. Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen teach from within this lineage.
- Aro gTér: the specific lineage cycle of Roaring Silence is Aro gTér, a gTérma cycle within Nyingma.
Relation to Roaring Silence
The authors state plainly: “We belong to the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, and the methods outlined are part of that tradition.” Practitioners from other traditions may benefit, but the methods’ native context is Nyingma ngakpa Vajrayana.
Related
- Dzogchen — the pinnacle teaching
- Aro gTér — the specific lineage of Roaring Silence
- Vajrayana — the vehicle Nyingma belongs to
- Ngakpa Chögyam, Khandro Déchen — authors teaching from within Nyingma