Dudjom Lingpa (1835–1904) was a Tibetan

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

master, spiritual teacher and

tertön Tertön () is a term within Tibetan Buddhism meaning a person who is a discoverer of ancient hidden texts or '' terma''. Many tertöns are considered to be incarnations of the twenty five main disciples of Padmasambhava ( Guru Rinpoche), who fores ...

. He stands out from the norm of

Tibetan Buddhist Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

teachers in the sense that he had no formal education, nor did he take ordination as a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

or belong to any established

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

school or tradition of his time. He was met with great skepticism by many of his contemporaries, due to the fact that, despite not studying under any established Buddhist teachers of his time, he claimed to receive teachings on

and

spiritual practice A spiritual practice or spiritual discipline (often including spiritual exercises) is the regular or full-time performance of actions and activities undertaken for the purpose of inducing spiritual experiences and cultivating spiritual developme ...

directly from non-physical masters like

Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava ("Born from a Lotus"), also known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru) and the Lotus from Oḍḍiyāna, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who may have taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries)... According ...

and

Yeshe Tsogyal Yeshe Tsogyal (c. 757 or 777 – 817 CE) , also known as "Victorious Ocean of Knowledge", " Knowledge Lake Empress" (, ཡེ་ཤེས་མཚོ་རྒྱལ), or by her Sanskrit name ''Jñānasāgara'' "Knowledge Ocean", or by her clan n ...

, as well as

Bodhisattvas In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

such as Avalokitesvara and Manjushri. It was not until his disciples started showing clear signs of spiritual maturity, that he was accepted by his contemporaries as an authentic teacher and

. Today his teachings and literary works, especially those on non-meditation ( dzogchen), are highly regarded within the

Nyingma Nyingma (literally 'old school') is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It is also often referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), "order of the ancient translations". The Nyingma school is founded on the first lineages and transl ...

-tradition of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

''Dudjom Tersar''

''Dudjom Tersar'' is the collective name for the large collection of terma teachings revealed by Dudjom Lingpa and

Dudjom Rinpoche Kyabje Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje (, THL ''Düjom Jikdrel Yéshé Dorjé'') was known as Terchen Drodül Lingpa and as Dudjom Rinpoche (10 June 1904 – 17 January 1987). He is considered by many Tibetan Buddhists to be from a line of importan ...

. As a class of texts, ''Tersar'' () means "new or recently-revealed treasure teachings". Dudjom Rinpoche was a major tertön () or revealer of hidden teachings.

''Nang Jang''

''Nang Jang'' (refinement of perception) is the name given to a visionary text of the Tibetan Dzogchen tradition, in which the Dzogchen master, Dudjom Lingpa, experiences visionary visitation from fourteen awakened beings, including Avalokiteshvara and

Longchenpa Longchen Rabjam Drimé Özer (), commonly abbreviated to Longchenpa (1308–1364, an honorific meaning "The Vast Expanse") was a Tibetan scholar-yogi of the Nyingma school ('Old School') of Tibetan Buddhism. According to tibetologist David Ge ...

, who teach him of the illusiory nature of all things and how they arise from the basis or primordial state. According to the teachings bestowed upon Dudjom Lingpa by the highly advanced spiritual beings who visit him in this text, all phenomenal, sensible things are empty and illusory. Yet there is that which is not separate from them, nor they from it, and which can be described as the 'ground of being'. Orgyan Tsokyey Dorje (one of the spiritual visitants) states: The text also tells of how the

Buddha nature Buddha-nature refers to several related Mahayana Buddhist terms, including '' tathata'' ("suchness") but most notably ''tathāgatagarbha'' and ''buddhadhātu''. ''Tathāgatagarbha'' means "the womb" or "embryo" (''garbha'') of the "thus-gone ...

, the heart of awareness, is utterly pure and lucid and constitutes the very life essence of all things, both samsaric and nirvanic. Ekajati declares: This is ultimate reality, a state of truth beyond ordinary mundane consciousness and beyond the power of words to describe. It is designated by Zurchhung Sheyrab Dragpa in the text as "a supreme and inexpressible state," the "fundamental nature beyond ordinary consciousness." The practitioner of this spiritual path is urged to strive for obtaining of an ultimate all-knowingness which transcends time:

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dudjom Lingpa 1835 births 1904 deaths 19th-century lamas 19th-century Tibetan people 20th-century lamas 20th-century Tibetan people Nyingma lamas Nyingma tulkus Rinpoches Tertöns Tibetan Buddhists from Tibet