Karma Lingpa (1326–1386) was the

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 ...

(revealer) of the

Bardo Thodol The ''Bardo Thodol'' (, "Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State"), commonly known in the West as ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead'', is a terma text from a larger corpus of teachings, the ''Profound Dharma of Self-Liberation ...

, the so-called ''Tibetan Book of the Dead''. Tradition holds that he was a

reincarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is ...

of Chokro Lü Gyeltsen, a disciple of

Padmasambhava 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 ...

History

Karma Lingpa was born in southeast

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

as the eldest son of Nyida Sanggyé, a great

Vajrayana Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

practitioner. At an early age, Karma Lingpa engaged in esoteric practices and achieved many siddhi. When he was fifteen years old, he discovered several terma texts on top of Mount Gampodar, including a collection of teachings entitled "Profound Dharma of Self-Liberation through the Intention of the Peaceful and Wrathful Ones" (''zab-chos zhi khro dgongs pa rang grol'', also known as ''kar-gling zhi-khro''), which includes the two texts of '' bar-do thos-grol'', the so-called "Tibetan Book of the Dead". According to Chogyam Trungpa, Karma Lingpa was a

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 ...

teacher, but all of his students belonged to the Kagyu school. His teachings were transmitted in the Surmang monasteries of the Trungpa-lineage, and from there also spread to the Nyingma school.Chogyam Trungpa (2010), ''The Collected Works of Chogyam Trungpa: Volume Six: Glimpses of Space; Orderly Chaos; Secret Beyond Thought; The Tibetan Book of the Dead: Commentary; Transcending Madness; Selected Writings'', p.269 The ''bar-do thos-grol'' was translated into English by Kazi Dawa Samdup (1868-1922), and edited and published by W.Y. Evans-Wenz. This translation became widely known and popular as "the Tibetan Book of the Dead", but contains many mistakes in translation and interpretation. Another text from the "Profound Dharma of Self-Liberation" is "Self-Liberation through seeing with naked awareness" (''rigpa ngo-sprod''), which gives an introduction, or

pointing-out instruction The pointing-out instruction () is an introduction to the nature of mind in the Tibetan Buddhist lineages of Mahāmudrā and Dzogchen. In these traditions, a lama gives the pointing-out instruction in such a way that the disciple successful ...

(''ngo-spro''), into

rigpa In Dzogchen, ''rigpa'' (; Skt. vidyā; "knowledge") is knowledge of the ground. The opposite of ''rigpa'' is ''ma rigpa'' ('' avidyā'', ignorance). A practitioner who has attained the state of ''rigpa'' and is able to rest there continuously ...

History

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References

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Further reading