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In The Tert\u00f6n<\/span>, Nils discusses the methods used by tert\u00f6ns to rediscover the treasures entrusted to them by Padmasambhava.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Feature 14″ _builder_version=”4.16″ min_height=”695px” custom_margin=”-1px|||||” custom_padding=”0px||49px|||” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_3,1_3″ use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”2″ make_equal=”on” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_margin=”|auto|-17px|auto||” custom_padding=”0px||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ module_class=”column1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding_tablet=”||50px|” custom_padding_phone=”” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” global_colors_info=”{}” padding_tablet=”||50px|” padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” custom_padding__hover=”|||” padding_phone=”||50px|”][et_pb_text quote_border_weight=”0px” quote_border_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” module_id=”up1″ _builder_version=”4.27.6″ text_font=”Montserrat||||||||” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em” link_font=”Montserrat|700||||||#BF9E77|” link_text_color=”#BF9E77″ link_font_size=”18px” link_line_height=”1.8em” quote_font=”Cormorant Garamond|700|||||||” quote_text_color=”#13204d” quote_line_height=”1.3em” header_font=”|700|||||||” header_2_font=”Quattrocento Sans|700|||||||” header_2_text_color=”#13204d” header_2_line_height=”1.6em” header_3_font=”|700|||||||” header_3_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_letter_spacing=”12px” header_5_font=”|300|||||||” header_5_text_color=”#bfbfbf” header_5_letter_spacing=”12px” header_6_font=”|700|||||||” header_6_letter_spacing=”12px” module_alignment=”left” min_height=”845.7px” custom_margin=”||-4px|||” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|tablet” custom_padding=”2px||2px||true|” hover_enabled=”0″ quote_font_size_tablet=”” quote_font_size_phone=”” quote_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” saved_tabs=”all” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Among the beings of Enlightenment who work for the benefit of sentient beings, there is a very particular category: the tert\u00f6ns<\/em>.<\/p>\n These tert\u00f6ns are “treasure discoverers.” The treasures are the hidden teachings \u2014 the termas<\/a> \u2014 concealed for the most part by Guru Rinpoche and Yeshe Tsogyal.<\/p>\n In most cases, their discoverers are emanations of one of the twenty-five principal disciples [1]<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0of this 8th-century master, or directly an emanation of Guru Rinpoche himself (and sometimes a confluence of both).<\/p>\n Therefore, a tert\u00f6n does not choose to be a tert\u00f6n. Whether or not they are one depends on whether they rediscover the treasure (or treasures) that Padmasambhava entrusted to their care. This is where things become complicated. As Mila Khyentse Rinpoche explains<\/a>, there are many failures in the rediscovery of termas.<\/p>\n When Guru Rinpoche entrusted the spiritual mandates to his disciples so that they might rediscover the termas in their future lives, he accompanied each one with a prophecy describing the conditions for its rediscovery.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cWhen the terma is retrieved, the tert\u00f6n replaces the treasure with a substitute in order to satisfy the protector and to maintain active the prosperity that the terma’s presence confers on the region.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text quote_border_weight=”0px” quote_border_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” module_id=”up2-2″ _builder_version=”4.27.6″ text_font=”Montserrat||||||||” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em” link_font=”Montserrat|700||||||#000000|” link_text_color=”#BF9E77″ link_font_size=”18px” link_line_height=”1.8em” quote_font=”Cormorant Garamond|700|||||||” quote_text_color=”#13204d” quote_line_height=”1.3em” header_font=”|700|||||||” header_2_font=”Quattrocento Sans|700|||||||” header_2_text_color=”#13204d” header_2_line_height=”1.6em” header_3_font=”|700|||||||” header_3_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_letter_spacing=”12px” header_5_font=”|300|||||||” header_5_text_color=”#bfbfbf” header_5_letter_spacing=”12px” header_6_font=”|700|||||||” header_6_letter_spacing=”12px” module_alignment=”left” min_height=”538.5px” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|tablet” custom_padding=”29px|||||” hover_enabled=”0″ quote_font_size_tablet=”” quote_font_size_phone=”” quote_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” saved_tabs=”all” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n These conditions are generally found in the prophetic guide received by the future tert\u00f6n. These prophecies indicate how, where, and when the treasures in the tert\u00f6n’s keeping are to be rediscovered, the person who must offer their support (a consort \u2014 not necessarily present in the flesh \u2014 whose participation may be represented by a simple token such as a lock of hair or a sacred object), the holder who will transmit the terma, the principal disciples, and other details that vary from treasure to treasure. (A detailed article on this subject awaits you.)<\/p>\n The discovery of earth treasures (Tib. sa gter<\/em>) follows a protocol defined by this prophetic guide. The tert\u00f6n must complete a number of preparatory practices to ready their mind and to verify that the moment for the rediscovery has come.<\/p>\n Here is how things generally unfold: the tert\u00f6n goes to the location where the treasure was hidden \u2014 a lake, a rock or a temple pillar, for example \u2014 and performs a specific ceremony before retrieving the the terma. This may involve plunging a hand into solid rock or, as Pema Lingpa did at Mebartso in Bhutan, diving into a lake with a burning butter lamp and emerging with a small chest containing the Dzogchen Longsel cycle \u2014 the butter lamp still alight.<\/p>\n In such cases, when the terma is retrieved, the tert\u00f6n replaces the treasure with a substitute in order to satisfy the protector and to maintain active the prosperity that the terma’s presence confers on the region.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/dzogchentoday.org\/wp-dzogtodaychen-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Terton.jpg” alt=”dzogchentoday-Terton” title_text=”Tert\u00f6n” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” width=”67%” module_alignment=”center” min_height=”418.5px” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text quote_border_weight=”0px” quote_border_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” module_id=”up2″ _builder_version=”4.27.6″ text_font=”Montserrat||||||||” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em” link_font=”Montserrat|700||||||#000000|” link_text_color=”#BF9E77″ link_font_size=”18px” link_line_height=”1.8em” quote_font=”Cormorant Garamond|700|||||||” quote_text_color=”#13204d” quote_line_height=”1.3em” header_font=”|700|||||||” header_2_font=”Quattrocento Sans|700|||||||” header_2_text_color=”#13204d” header_2_line_height=”1.6em” header_3_font=”|700|||||||” header_3_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_letter_spacing=”12px” header_5_font=”|300|||||||” header_5_text_color=”#bfbfbf” header_5_letter_spacing=”12px” header_6_font=”|700|||||||” header_6_letter_spacing=”12px” module_alignment=”left” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|tablet” custom_padding=”29px|||||” hover_enabled=”0″ quote_font_size_tablet=”” quote_font_size_phone=”” quote_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” saved_tabs=”all” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Whether it is earth or mind treasures (Tib. dgongs gter<\/em>), a protector keeps watch \u2014 as mandated by Guru Rinpoche \u2014 to guard the treasure and prevent just anyone (or nearly anyone) from rediscovering it. This non-human protector plays a crucial role in the rediscovery of termas. On certain occasions, the protector may even go so far as to move treasures in order to enable their rediscovery. For example, it is said that the 15th Karmapa, a tert\u00f6n whose duties kept him in one place, would sometimes find a yellow scroll on his desk in the morning that had been left there by a protector during the night.<\/p>\n Although prophetic lists of future tert\u00f6n and the treasures they will rediscover do exist, nothing is ever guaranteed: it happens that a tert\u00f6n, despite being foretold, never activates their potential. Thus, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo was only second in line to become the fifth king tert\u00f6n. One or two centuries earlier, the first \u201ccandidate\u201d on the list \u2014 a monk \u2014 had chosen to keep his vows by not taking a consort, despite repeated visions in which Padmasambhava urged him to do so \u2014 and despite the advice of his teacher. As a result, he never discovered a single terma.<\/p>\n Finally, the most important aspect of the terma process is that when a tert\u00f6n rediscovers a treasure, they do so for the benefit of all beings, including themselves. The emergence of the terma allows the tert\u00f6n to immediately reconnect with the state of practice that Padmasambhava had transmitted to them. Everything that occurred between those two states \u2014 all their intermediate lives \u2014 dissolves like morning dew in the sun. [2]<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n If Guru Rinpoche concealed termas, it was therefore also to remind his disciples, throughout their future existences, that they are not different from him in essence. Whoever receives the blessing of a terma can likewise merge with the mind of Padmasambhava.<\/p>\n Let us therefore rejoice that treasure cycles are still being transmitted and practiced today, and that major and minor tert\u00f6ns \u2014 both men and women alike \u2014 continue to appear!<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#FFD62F” divider_position=”center” divider_weight=”3px” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” module_alignment=”left” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text quote_border_weight=”0px” quote_border_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” module_id=”down” _builder_version=”4.27.6″ text_font=”Montserrat||||||||” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em” link_font=”Montserrat|700||||||#000000|” link_text_color=”#BF9E77″ link_font_size=”18px” link_line_height=”1.8em” quote_font=”Cormorant Garamond|700|||||||” quote_text_color=”#13204d” quote_line_height=”1.3em” header_font=”|700|||||||” header_2_font=”Quattrocento Sans|700|||||||” header_2_text_color=”#13204d” header_2_line_height=”1.6em” header_3_font=”|700|||||||” header_3_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_letter_spacing=”12px” header_5_font=”|300|||||||” header_5_text_color=”#bfbfbf” header_5_letter_spacing=”12px” header_6_font=”|700|||||||” header_6_letter_spacing=”12px” module_alignment=”left” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|tablet” custom_padding=”29px|||||” hover_enabled=”0″ quote_font_size_tablet=”” quote_font_size_phone=”” quote_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” saved_tabs=”all” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n [1] <\/span><\/strong>The names of the 25 disciples vary slightly depending on the list, notably depending on whether King Trisong Detsen is included (sometimes listed separately). The following is one such list: Nupchen Sangye Yeshe, Ngenla Gyalwa Chokyang, Namkhai Nyingpo, Nyag Lo Yeshe Sh\u00f6nnu, Yeshe Tsogyal, Drogmi Pelgyi Yeshe, Lang Pelgyi Senge, Vairocana (Tib. Nampar Nangdze), Yudra Nyingpo, Nanam Dorje Dudjom, Yeshe Yang, Sogpo Lhapel, Nanam Yeshe, Khartchen Pelgyi Wangchuk, Denma Tsemang, Kawa Peltsek, Shubu Pelgyi Senge, Dre Gyalwa’i Lodro, Kyeuchung Lotsawa, Drenpa Namkha, Otren Pelgyi Wangchuk, Ma Rinchen Chok, Lhalung Pelgyi Dorje, Langro K\u00f6nchok Jungne, Lasum Gyalwa Changchub.<\/span>\u00a0BACK<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/h5>\n
Series: Highlighting the Terma Lineages<\/h5>\n
The Tert\u00f6n<\/span><\/h2>\n
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