The Nyingtik Teachings
Within the Nyingtik teachings, there are tantras and instructional texts. Regarding the instructional texts, Tulku Thondup explains:
The instructional teachings are elucidated and condensed in two major traditions of Nyingtik. The first one is the detailed teachings for/of the scholars, brought to Tibet by Vimalamitra and known as Vima Nyingtik. It is mainly based on the Seventeen Tantras and the Troma tantra. The second one is the profound teachings for/of mendicants [or yogis], brought to Tibet by Guru Padmasambhava and known as Khandro Nyingtik. It is mainly based on the Longsal Barma tantra.
In the fourteenth century in Tibet, the great master Longchen Rabjam became the lineage holder of both of these Nyingtik traditions, and wrote a commentary on each tradition.
Longchen Rabjam, Jikmé Lingpa, and the Longchen Nyingtik Lineage
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| Longchen Rabjam |
Longchen Rabjam (1308-1364)
Longchen Rabjam (1308-1364), also known as Longchenpa, was one of the greatest Dzogchen masters in the Nyingma tradition, and amongst the most brilliant and original writers in Tibetan Buddhist literature. He brought together into a cohesive system the teachings of Vima Nyingtik and Khandro Nyingtik, on which he wrote the ‘Three Yangtik’ or Inner Essencess.
Four centuries later, Jikmé Lingpa was tremendously inspired by the teachings of Longchenpa. After Jikmé Lingpa discovered the terma of Longchen Nyingtik (which included tantric sadhanas and teachings) he entered into a three-year retreat in the caves of Chimphu in which he fervently invoked Longchenpa with a Guru Yoga he had composed. Longchenpa appeared to him in three visions, through which he received the blessing and transmission of the wisdom body, speech and mind of Longchenpa, empowering him with the responsibility of preserving the meaning of the teachings of Longchenpa, and of spreading them. As a result, Jikmé Lingpa’s mind became one with the wisdom mind of Longchenpa.
In this way, Jikmé Lingpa became the lineage holder of Longchenpa’s teachings on the Vima Nyingtik and Khandro Nyingtik. Jikmé Lingpa was a reincarnation of both King Trisong Detsen and Vimilamitra. Therefore, the Nyingtik teachings of these two major lineages flowed together in Jikmé Lingpa.
The Longchen Nyingtik lineage includes both the terma of Longchen Nyingtik discovered by Jikmé Lingpa, and teachings of Longchen Rabjam on Vima Nyingtik and Khandro Nyingtik that were revealed to Jikmé Lingpa in a series of visions.
Most of the rituals and mudras of the Longchen Nyingtik tradition find their source in the Lama Gongdü, on which Jikmé Lingpa wrote his famous commentary, called a Detailed Commentary on the Lama Gongdü. The Lama Gondü is therefore held in high regard.
The Stages of Practice
Longchen Nyingtik Dieties
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche said:
The cycle of the Longchen Nyingtik is composed of many sections. It includes the preliminary and main practices, the development and completion stages, and, most important, the practice of Ati Yoga, or Dzogchen. It thus constitutes a complete path to enlightenment.[5]
In the Longchen Nyingtik tradition, the preliminary (or ngöndro) practices are commonly referred to as the Longchen Nyingtik Ngöndro.
After completing the ngondro, training in the development and completion stages is done through sadhana practices such as Rigdzin Dupa. Traditionally, a student trains in a series of three sadhanas known as the Three Roots.
Finally, if the student is sufficiently prepared, a qualified teacher may give the students instructions in Dzogchen, which focus on the direct realization of the nature of mind.
