Terma (religion)
hidden teachings in various Buddhist traditions
Terma (Tibetan: གཏེར་མ, Wylie: gter ma; "hidden treasure") are various forms of hidden teachings that are key to the Vajrayana of Tibetan Buddhism and Bon spiritual traditions. In the Vajrayana Nyingma school tradition, two lineages occur: an oral Kama lineage and a revealed Terma lineage. Terma teachings were originally concealed by eighth-century Vajrayana masters Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyal, to be discovered by treasure revealers known as tertöns, when the time was ripe. As such, the termas represent a tradition of continuous revelation in the Vajrayana of Tibetan Buddhism.
Background
The terma tradition of rediscovering hidden teaching is not unique to Tibet. It has antecedents in India and cultural resonances in Hindu Vaishnavism as well.
The Vaishnava saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is said to have rediscovered a fragment of the Brahma Samhita in a trance state of devotional ecstasy.
There is another occasion involving Chaitanya, who deposited his divine love (prema) for the great saint Narottama Dasa in the Padma River in Bangladesh. When Narottama Dasa turned twelve years of age, he collected this treasure after a revelation in a dream.
The central Mahayana figure Nagarjuna rediscovered the last part of the "Prajnaparamita Sutra in one hundred thousand verses" in the realm of nāga, where it had been kept since the time of Gautama Buddha.
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