Dudjom Tersar

The Dudjom Tersar, "the new treasures of Dudjom", is the cycle of terma teachings revealed by Dudjom Lingpa (1835-1904) and by H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche, Jigdral Yeshe Dorje (1904-1987). It is the main lineage of Rigdzin Dzogchen Ling and the tradition in which we practise week by week.

Why "new"

The name can mislead, because nothing here is a modern invention. Terma are teachings that Guru Rinpoche and Yeshe Tsogyal concealed in the eighth century, to be revealed at the moment they would be most useful. What is new is the length of the line.

In the long transmission a teaching passes from teacher to student from the eighth century onward, twelve hundred years of it, with everything that can wear thin along the way. A terma has only a few links: from Guru Rinpoche to the tertön who reveals it, and from him to his students. The tradition holds that the blessing therefore arrives undiluted. What you notice in practice is how direct the texts are. They read as though written for someone practising today rather than for a reader in the distant past.

Dudjom Lingpa was a tertön from eastern Tibet who revealed a large part of this cycle. His immediate reincarnation, Dudjom Rinpoche, revealed the remainder and brought the whole into its present form. He became head of the Nyingma school and was among the masters who kept the tradition standing in exile after 1959.

What the cycle contains

The Dudjom Tersar is not a loose collection of practices but a complete path. It opens with the Ngöndro and runs through guru yoga, the practices of the yidams and dakinis, chö and phowa, up to the Dzogchen instructions. Anyone following this cycle has no need to supplement it from elsewhere.

Its style is concise and direct. That is exactly what makes this Ngöndro workable for people with jobs and families: short enough to do daily, with nothing essential left out.

At Rigdzin Dzogchen Ling we gather every Saturday for the Dudjom Tersar Ngöndro, guided by Jigme Rangjung, and every Sunday for the group chö practice. On Guru Rinpoche day and Dakini day we practise tsok. Beginners are welcome.